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funwareson The Lighthouse: How extreme isolation transforms the body and mind (2020)

For a real life complement to the film I would highly recommend this 1973 BBC documentary on life on Bishop Rock Lighthouse [0] and this modern day 2025 vlog of a lighthouse worker [1].

Sadly I did not see any mention of monkey pump in either of these, but I think they show nicely how lighthouse work self-selects for individuals who can handle (or even prefer) the solitude that comes with the job.

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bc9qxyf_suI

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhRbJ3DQdlQ

funwareson The e-scooter isn't new – London was zooming around on Autopeds a century ago

Yes, using AI as per the filename "backgroundexpandedusingai" [0], it seems to be an expanded version of this pic from Wikipedia [1] (but blurrier).

[0] https://8400e186.delivery.rocketcdn.me/articles/wp-content/u...

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Priscilla_Norman#/media/File:L...

funwareson First Murder-Suicide Case Associated with AI Psychosis

Both his Instagram [0] and YouTube pages [1] are still up. He had a habit of uploading screen recordings of his chats with ChatGPT.

It looks like fairly standard incomprehensible psychosis messages but it seems notable to me that ChatGPT responds as if they are normal (profound, even) messages.

The 'In Search of AI Psychosis' article and discussions on HN [2] from a few days ago are very relevant here too.

[0] https://www.instagram.com/eriktheviking1987

[1] https://youtube.com/@steinsoelberg2617

[2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45027072

funwareson OpenAI releases image generation in the API

Big thanks for the heads up, I had no idea about this.

It looks like I will not be able to get any prepaid money back [0] so I will be careful not to put any further money on it.

I guess I better start using some of the more expensive APIs to make it worth the $20 I prepaid.

[0] https://openai.com/policies/service-credit-terms/

4. "All sales of Services, including sales of prepaid Services, are final. Service Credits are not refundable and expire one year after the date of purchase or issuance if not used, unless otherwise specified at the time of purchase."

funwareson France high-speed rail traffic disrupted by 'malicious acts' on Olympic ceremony

I doubt these planned and coordinated attacks on infrastructure are carried out by the same individuals that opportunistically burn cars during New Years Eve.

funwareson Show HN: Banterai – Talk to any AI celebrity, human-like voice conversations

I've been using the Azure Cognitive Services speech recognition and text-to-speech for my own locally run 'speech-to-speech' GPT assistant application.

I found the Azure speech recognition to be fantastic, almost never making mistakes. The latency is also at a level that only the big cloud providers can reach. A locally run alternative I use is Vosk [0] but this is nowhere near as polished as Azure speech recognition and limits conversation to simple topics. (Running whisper.cpp locally is not an option for me, too heavy and slow on my machine for a proper conversation)

The default Azure models available for text-to-speech are great too. There are around 500 models in a wide variety of languages. Using SSML [1] can also really improve the quality of interactions. A subset of these voices have certain capabilities (like responding with emotions, see 'Speaking styles and roles').

Though in my opinion the default Azure voice models have nothing on what OP is providing. The Scarlett Johansson voice is really really good, especially combined with the personality they have given it. I would love to be able to run this model locally on my machine if OP is willing to share some information about it!

Maybe OP could improve the latency of Banterai by dynamically setting the Azure region for speech recognition based on the incoming IP. I see that 'eastus' is used even though I'm in West Europe.

But other than that I think this is the best 'speech-to-speech AI' demo I've seen so far. Fantastic job!

[0] https://github.com/alphacep/vosk-api/

[1] https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/cognitive-services/s...

funwareson Fun Fact: I own porn I can't watch

The IMDb page for the film [0] does appear to have an Emmy win as trivia, but I can't find anything about this documentary on the 2013 Sports Emmy Awards Wikipedia page [1] or its source [2].

It is not listed as 'Outstanding Sports Documentary' winner or even as nominee. Same for the 2014 Sports Emmy Awards.

[0] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2883206/

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/34th_Sports_Emmy_Awards

[2] https://web.archive.org/web/20131118154841/http://www.emmyon...

funwareson The BBC's dubbing process for “The Water Margin” (1976) [video]

That sounds similar to the Czechoslovak series Pat & Mat [0] which contains almost no dialog, but it became very popular in The Netherlands (as 'Buurman en Buurman', neighbor and neighbor) where Dutch dialog was added.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pat_%26_Mat

funwareson The BBC's dubbing process for “The Water Margin” (1976) [video]

From the video it seems as though the script writer (who doesn't speak any Japanese) wrote the script entirely using what he thinks the characters are saying and what he would 'want' them to say. The Wikipedia page for The Water Margin [0] adds that he also used brief plot synopses.

Still pretty baffling though. Does anyone happen to know how close they ended up getting to the original story/dialog?

Was it common to optimize for 'lip movement accuracy' over translation accuracy for dubs?

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Water_Margin_(1973_TV_seri...

funwareson The fake Twitter account of “Marina Ovsyannikova”

According to Meduza she's been fined 30k rubles (~€250)

https://twitter.com/meduza_en/status/1503766710863728647?t=7...

funwareson The fake Twitter account of “Marina Ovsyannikova”

This sounds like an extremely uncharitable interpretation of what (if genuine) is a very brave thing to do.

For some further information: Marina Ovsyannikova has been charged with "organizing an unauthorized public event" [0]. The punishment can be a fine, community service or up to 10 days in jail.

So she seems to not be charged with the new law that could land her 15 years in prison.

Corroboration of the theory that it was staged? Or a sign that Russia is slowly allowing more people to speak out against the war? Or something completely different? I truly do not know what to believe these days.

[0] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60749279

funwareson Mearsheimer on why the West is principally responsible for the Ukrainian crisis

Paywalled, anyone have an archive link?

A March 11th 2022 John Mearsheimer account on the Russian war in Ukraine sounds extremely interesting.

funwareson Stay tuned for Kaspersky source code leak

OP's post is from March 8.

Yesterday (March 10) the leak was released [0] and judging from a quick glance to the responses it's nothing more than the result of scraping of their websites. No actual source code leaks.

https://twitter.com/xxNB65/status/1501828676257730561?t=LV2s...

funwareson Analyzing Weapons of the War in Ukraine

Whoops. There are many different uploads of this song and it is hard to tell which is the original (if it is on YouTube in the first place).

This one should work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=828xmcujEaI

Otherwise, just searching for 'bayraktar song' on YouTube should result in several playable videos with the bayraktar war song.

funwareson Analyzing Weapons of the War in Ukraine

The bayraktar's performance this war has earned it a Ukrainian war song: https://youtu.be/iiaYZ3tpqRg

funwareson The voice of Utah's arches – Ambient seismic vibration sped up 25x

The first arch [0] has a note that says:

> this feature and the sounds of its vibration are sacred to Native American Tribes of the four corners region, and they ask that you listen and share with according respect.

Does anyone happen to know if this means they were actually hearing these vibrations in some way? (Only 25 times slower and less audible)

[0] https://geohazards.earth.utah.edu/tones/RainbowBridge.html

funwareson The Frog of War

To add specifically to the Lincoln assassination: One of the eyewitnesses appeared on a gameshow as mystery guest in 1956 (shortly before passing away)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RPoymt3Jx4

funwareson Second data wiper attack hits Ukraine computer networks

Master boot record

From the article:

> According to Silas Cutler, a security researcher for Stairwell, KillDisk.NCV doesn’t just destroy local data, but it also damages the master boot record (MBR) section of a hard drive, which prevents the computer from booting into the operating system after the forced reboot—behavior identical with the WhisperGate wiper attack from last month.

funwareson ICANN 1174 TLDs Registry Listings

Does anyone know what's up with the "xn--*" TLDs? e.g. xn--pssy2u

I didn't know TLDs could have dashes or maybe I'm misunderstanding these.

funwareson Show HN: A mastermind-like version of Wordle

The game was called Flappy Bird.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flappy_Bird

Though I don't think the term "flappening" is quite as endearing.

funwareson Show HN: Three Magic Words

Works absolutely flawlessly on mobile for me (Android Firefox).

The animations are very satisfying and the game is very fun.

Fantastic work!

edit: This is on OxygenOS 11.1.2.2 and FireFox 96.3.1

funwareson Ask HN: Is the past disappearing on the web?

Could you share an example of a YouTube video that does not have an upload date?

I watch quite a lot of YouTube and very frequently look up the date that videos were uploaded. I've never found this information to be missing.

funwareson Wiki History Game

Bad cards can be reported on this GitHub discussion page: https://github.com/tom-james-watson/wikitrivia/discussions/2

funwareson Uvariopsis dicaprio (Annonaceae) a new tree species

Named after Leonardo DiCaprio:

> This threatened and spectacular tree is named for the American actor and

conservationist Leonardo DiCaprio, who, through several months in 2020, lobbied

extensively on social media (e.g. https://www.instagram.com/p/B_0LSAhFRue/?hl=en;

https://twitter.com/leodicaprio/status/1257729388314943490?l... both accessed 12

April 2021) to draw attention to threats for the numerous rare Ebo species from the

logging concession that had been announced at Ebo earlier that year. The concession was

cancelled in August 2020, surely partly due to his efforts.

funwareson Belgian scientific base in Antarctica engulfed by Covid despite strict measures

If the topic is early Antarctic exploration then I would highly recommend Roland Huntford's book 'Scott and Amundsen' which serves as a sort of autobiography of arctic explorers Robert Falcon Scott and Roald Amundsen, and their exhilarating race to discover the South Pole.

funwareson Belgian scientific base in Antarctica engulfed by Covid despite strict measures

Belgium actually had the first winter expedition to the Antarctic in the late 1800s. Although it was mostly Belgian in name only and also a complete disaster, save for a commendable amount of scientific data being collected.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgian_Antarctic_Expedition

The book "Madhouse at the End of the Earth" by Julian Sancton is a great read for this story of the first humans to spend a sun-less winter in Antarctica.

funwareson Ask HN: What do you consider the best (long) reads of the year?

https://www.damninteresting.com/the-traveler-and-his-baggage...

This is one of my favorite long reads of the year, although it is extremely disturbing.

HN thread from earlier this year: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27435384

funwareson Batavia shipwreck reveals a key to Dutch success in 17th-century world trade

Batavia's Graveyard by Mike Dash is a book I'd highly recommend to anyone wanting to do a deep dive into this truly bizarre story.

funwareson Evergrande: How best understand and navigate what’s happening?

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1438944431734919175.html

funwareson Bolwoningen: Neighborhood of Spherical Homes

The author seems to have gotten the name of the architect wrong, it is 'Dries Kreijkamp' [1].

This video tour [2] makes the buildings look a bit roomier than the pictures, in my opinion. Although the interior is not as modern as the pictures in the article.

[1] From Dutch wikipedia: https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dries_Kreijkamp

[2] From the late architect's YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/tnlSNAl2l2w