Favorites November 26th 2023
If I understand correctly, this new LCM system makes it possible to run Stable Diffusion models at about 10x the speed they previously ran. This makes it possible to run it live as you draw a sketch for guidance. I really do recommend trying the live draw demo.
So, what you'd want to find is that by installing ShotSpotter, people are more worried about getting caught, so there are fewer shootings. My impression from skimming this is that the increase in response times to non-shooting incidents is so significant from fewer shootings.
This overall argument for equality in processes like these is one I actually had not seen before. It's not hard to think of other examples. I wonder what the dividing line for this is, it seems progressive income taxes don't have this issue, perhaps because there's absolutely no subjectivity? I'm not sure.
Longer Reads
• Review of the new Napoleon film. TL;DR: Film isn't sure what it's about, so ends up not being about anything, and also ridiculously historically inaccurate. (src)
Flotsam and Jetsam
– The water use for Los Angeles has gone down while the population has gone up. (src)
– Claims on TikTok that Americans have worse purchasing power than during the great depression are obviously false (src)
– India is beginning to focus more on improving manufacturing capacity (src)
– Recent Film The Creator might not be especially good, but I thought it was interesting that they got the aesthetic for their film from 'what if Sony won' (src)
– CEOs of so many major US companies were born in India, and yet India has far and away the longest wait for a green card, 11 years. Immigration is America's superpower, we should use it. While we're at it, many leaders in modern AI research were born outside the US. (src)
– Bill Gates would be worth $1.3 Trillion today if he had not diversified his investments. (src)
– Texan goes to Japan, visits a Texas themed bar, is overwhelmed (src)
– Studying economics does not make you more selfish (src)
– Chinese hackers have extensively targeted US infrastructure (src)
– While kid's clothing has gotten cheaper, and birth rates have lowered, parents are spending way way more on kids clothes. (src)
– We should probably ban smartphones in schools. (src)
– "America is a heartbeat away from a war it could lose": China situation continues to be worrying (src)
– Argument that woman-led superhero movies are doing poorly because they aren't following the standard superhero story arc. (src)
– I missed this earlier, but some pretty bad accusations regarding safety against Cruise's outgoing CEO (src)