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June, 2024

 
 
 

Jess and Spencer are joined by ESPN F1 General Editor, Unlapped and Pad-Hoc co-host, Nate Saunders. The group discuss Charles Leclerc finally achieving his dream victory at the Monaco GP, what can be done to improve that race, the incoming game of musical chairs with F1 driver seats, Josef Newgarden and Pato O’Ward’s dramatic final lap at the Indianapolis 500 and F1 drivers’ favorite movies. Nate Saunders on Social Media, ESPN Unlapped and the Pad-Hoc Podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By DNF

 
 

Follow the mythic journey of Paul Atreides as he unites with Chani and the Fremen while on a path of revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the known universe, Paul endeavors to prevent a terrible future only he can foresee.

Watched on Trakt

 
 
 
 
 

Finally watched Dune: Part Two last night. It lived up to the hype. The cinematography, particularly the black and white stylization of the scenes with the Harkonnans, was phenomenal.

 

What Power Five win totals intrigue Stew and Bruce the most this season? They share their predictions. Then, they talk about Dabo, Air Force and more in today’s mailbag. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By The Audible with Stew & Bruce: A show about college football

 
 

D-Money and Peter Ariz discuss the latest update on Simeon Barrow and him possibly trending BACK to Miami. Plus, Peter Ariz sits down with new Miami Hurricane Sam Brown in his first interview in the orange and green.

By The CanesInSight Podcast

 
 
 

It is official: Esteban Ocon and Alpine will part ways at the end of season. But where will he go next? We rank the various possibilities! You can sign up to our Patreon here! You’ll get access to exclusive episodes you won’t hear anywhere else, every P1 episode ad-free, full driver interview videos, early access to merch, tickets & more!Follow us on socials! You can find us on Twitter, Instagram, Twitch, YouTube and TikTok. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

By P1 with Matt and Tommy

 

Matt Baker is joined by David Croft and Simon Lazenby to answer all your questions in a season so far Q&A. They discuss why Esteban Ocon has left Alpine and what is next for Carlos Sainz after he loses his seat next year to Lewis Hamilton. They also consider if Red Bull are paying the price for overhauling their 2023 car and if it is possible for Mercedes to win a race this year.

By Sky Sports F1 Podcast

 

Another day, another reminder of how incredibly broken the healthcare system is in America. Every other major country has this figured out, and here we are, stuck in a profit-driven system that costs more than anywhere else in the world to get inferior results.

 
 

Canada is coming up but all we can do is talk about the most recent driver news.. and snowmobiles. SHOW NOTES Canada 2011 extended highlights Williams’ Team Torque on a boat HAM on Hot Ones It’s a snowmobile drag fest Minatur Wunderland’s Monaco circuit and making of Support the show on Patreon and get all our bonus episodes! Follow us on the socials Email us at [email protected] Join our fantasy league with invite code P6LYFWPN404 New to F1? Check out our primer episode Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By Shift+F1: A Formula 1 Podcast

 
 

Welcome to Buford Palms High School! You read that right: We imprisoned Matt Brown of Extra Points for nearly two goddang hours and talked about CERTAIN video game matters NEAR AND DEAR TO THE HEARTS OF OUR HOSTS AND AUDIENCE pretty much the entire time Learn why Matt’s wife says he has “Nick Jr. energy” Holly shares her personal struggles with one particular aspect of the game Spencer and Jason discuss their experiences with roster building Taking the opportunity of having our favorite Brazilian blogger in the building to check in on our boy Bolsonaro’s latest hospitalization What age is appropriate for introducing one’s children to THE GAME? How to activate Alito Mode™ in College Station This week’s theme song arranged and performed by Wes Hunt Follow Jason’s work and upcoming book-related appearances on Vacation Bible School, Shutdown Fullbooks, and elsewhere at jasonkirk.fyi Find Holly and Spencer writing and chirping at channel-6.ghost.io, if you dare Listen to Ryan’s other, less harrowing podcast,…

By Shutdown Fullcast

 
 
 

Shit.

 

If you’re just a general fan of , or a fan of a baclmarker, mixed condition racing is amazing because of the total chaos. If you’re a fan of a leading team? It sucks. 😂

 

Couldn’t even finish watching the race replay I was so pissed. No question it’s an incredibly gripping and exciting race, but man does this feel like 2022 Ferrari all over again. Bin the weekend 🗑️ and focus on the next race.

 

A strange but useful new product, how LLMs can learn, and our hopes and expectations for WWDC next week.

By Accidental Tech Podcast

 

Chemo treatment 7 of 12 today for my wife. Treatment 6 was tough. She had to take an extra “off” week, which featured severe neutropenia and a late-night trip to the ER for emergency IV fluids, including antibiotics to prevent sepsis, and to address tachycardia and a scary 170+ heart rate.

 

But, here we are, inching closer to the finish line. We’re over the hump, and can see the light at the end of the tunnel. 🙏

 

Unsurprising, but also disappointing, to see a lot of scoffing at Apple’s AI announcements. I’m excited for the future, especially if tech giants can drive ethical/responsible use of generative models to change our relationship with computers. Acknowledge the challenges and push for responsible use.

 

Also, the notion that you can’t have fantastic results with generative models training on only content you have permission to use is ridiculous. OpenAI and Meta are bad actors that are disengenuous. Its *easier* to get good results with ethical shortcuts, but you can acehieve amazing results without stealing.

 

Last note on AI for today, w.r.t. energy.

Every computer uses power. The apps we use, SaaS apps in data centers, etc. This is fine, provided that the use provides real utility. For crypto, energy complaints are relevant, as it provides little utility.

If you give this first generation of AI tools a real shot at enhancing your day-to-day, you’ll quickly see real utility *now* and potential for even more.

Push for renewables and regulation requiring data centers to reduce carbon footprint, don’t kneecap the future.

 

I hope all of the other engineers took the tvOS guy out to lunch to celebrate WWDC.

 
 

Magic Poster on the Wall

7 min read

This post originally appeared in my Techish newsletter on LinkedIn.

You’re the Coolest AI of All

From a young age, I’ve always loved the magical experience of going to the movies. Torn ticket stubs, big booming sound, giant screens, and popcorn fill my heart with joy. There is nothing in the world quite like sharing in the community experience of enjoying a blockbuster in a movie theater. I suppose it's no surprise that I’ve loved living in LA so much!

Since 2020, theaters have struggled quite a bit, and for good and obvious reasons. I’ve truly missed taking my family to the theater. I’m a bit of a digital packrat, with a healthy collection of Blu-Rays stored on my home NAS. About a year ago, I finished renovating my home theater, which was a big step toward recapturing the magic of the movies with my family. But, no matter how great the picture and sound are, I still felt something was missing.

If you’ve been following me, you’ll be unsurprised to hear that I decided to scratch my itch with technology. What better way to explore the emerging and promising power of GenAI while honing my skill with HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and WebSockets?

Picture This

Part of visiting a movie theater is walking by a wall of big, colorful movie posters, which are, in my view, an underappreciated art form. A great movie poster creates a sense of excitement, anticipation, and wonder. A few months ago I stumbled on a project called Movie Posters Perfected, which was a huge inspiration for this project. While I could have gone down the path of just showing movie posters from this curated collection using a Fire TV stick, I wanted to create something even more magical. So, armed with inspiration, I set to the task of creating what I call my “Magic Poster.”

The hardware ingredients for the Magic Poster are simple:

Assembly was straightforward, thanks to double sided tape and zip ties. The one piece of hardware I wouldn’t use again is the Samsung monitor, which is a little too “smart” for it's own good. Getting it to be happy in portrait orientation was a nightmare! Still, I soldiered on and was able to mount the TV on the wall and drive the display with my Raspberry Pi 5, with the LED backlight matching the content on screen. Now, it was time to build some software.

Magic Poster’s Software Stack

While Raspberry Pis have become surprisingly powerful, they are still constrained computers with limited performance. I knew that I wanted to do more than just display static posters. I wanted to enhance the magic factor with animations, context awareness, and generative AI. When it comes to rendering performance, modern web browsers have decades of optimization, hardware acceleration, and features. I decided that my best bet was to use Chromium in “kiosk” mode, which displays websites in full screen, free of window decorations, toolbars, and tabs.

For the backend, I chose my programming language of choice, Python, along with libraries like Flask and SocketIO. Magic Poster is a JavaScript-powered frontend that communicates with a Python backend using WebSocket. I deployed modern CSS animations and transitions to create delightful views that can scroll, flip, and fade in and out.

After a few weeks of insomnia-fueled development, I had Magic Poster serving up beautiful posters from a hand-picked set of over 1,200 high-resolution movie posters, with four different styles: single poster, a “marquee” view with dozens of small animated posters, a “scroll” view that shows medium sized posters with a smooth scrolling animation, and a “flip” view that experiments with animation that really make the LED backlight sing.

Magic Poster displaying a poster for the movie Thor Love and Thunder

Magic Poster displaying a poster for the movie Groundhog Day

Magic Poster displaying a animated marquee view of dozens of movie posters

Context Awareness

One of the benefits of powering Magic Poster with a network attached Raspberry Pi is that it can integrate with other systems on my home network. In my theater, I have an Apple TV 4K, a Zidoo Z9X and a gaming PC running ChimeraOS. Thanks to open APIs, I am able to detect when I am watching a movie or show, or when a game is being played. Using these APIs, I was able to have a small overlay appear on Magic Poster that displays information about the current activity.

Magic Poster was really taking shape, with a variety of different modes, context awareness, and even a simple REST API for controlling what is on screen at any given time. Still, I felt that there was something missing: interactivity. With the rapid and accelerating evolution of AI, there was an opportunity to take Magic Poster to the next level.

A Magic Sprinkle of GenAI and ML

Interactivity requires two-way communication. Attaching a keyboard or physical buttons to Magic Poster would be an easy path to providing input, but buttons are decidedly un-magical. I wanted Magic Poster to have a personality – to feel alive. Technology has an opportunity to become increasingly personal and interactive thanks to AI, and I concluded that the most magical way to interact with Magic Poster would be through conversation. Could I simply speak to Magic Poster, and more importantly, have Magic Poster respond?

Voice assistants have been “a thing” for quite some time. My experience with the three major players (Apple’s Siri, Google, and Amazon’s Alexa) have been mixed at best. All three assistants require “wake words” to begin an interaction, which feels forced. In the years since these assistants were developed, technology has evolved and advanced significantly. If possible, my goal was to have conversations with Magic Poster feel more natural.

As a longtime member of the Python community and a Fellow in the Python Software Foundation, I follow a number of prominent community members. Simon Willison is a Python developer that has become deeply interested in AI and LLMs, producing some great tools including Datasette, and more recently, Python LLM, which makes using both local and hosted LLMs from Python fun and easy. Through Simon, I discovered Vosk, which is an open source ML powered speech recognition toolkit with impressive accuracy and a very small footprint. I was quickly able to leverage Vosk to have Magic Poster passively listening to me in the background, ready to respond or take action based upon my feedback, including changing views, requesting specific posters, and more.

Now that Magic Poster could listen and take action, I wanted to give it the power to respond in its own voice. One of my favorite sites on the web is The Movie Database (TMDb), which is a free platform chock full of features, including an API with excellent Python client libraries. TMDb contains a lot of user-generated content, including a large number of reviews, with useful insights from a broad range of people. I decided to give Magic Poster the power to take hundreds of user reviews to generate a short summary of audience sentiment. When requested, Magic Poster reached out to The Movie Database, quickly pulls down all of the reviews for a movie, and then generates a summary using Ollama and the Llama 3 LLM. Finally, I feed the generated content to a text-to-speech system, and Magic Poster finally has a voice.

What’s Next?

It's been a lot of fun working on Magic Poster, and I am really happy with where it stands today. Of course, I have so many ideas about where to go from here, with additional voice features, display styles, and more. What do you think about Magic Poster? Do you have any suggestions for how to make it even more magical? Talk soon!

 
 

The final four chefs must create a dish highlighting fish and cheese to impress Kristen, Tom, Gail and local guest judge Helmi Smeulders; the chefs then set sail on Holland America Line's Eurodam where they enjoy a meal prepared by chef Morimoto.

Watched on Trakt

 

New 311 slaps.

I’m so 👴

 
 

A musical trip down memory lane about the time the show reached the end of the Internet NEW LIVE SHOW ANNOUNCEMENT The crew runs up against a rare real-life First Comic Book encounter How to fashion a murder weapon out of a peewee soccer uniform Holly meets a cell phone scammer while taping the show Find out why this episode was almost called “I want pictures of Spider-Man’s pussy” This episode Not sponsored by ReptiCon, coming soon to cities where we don’t live All of that takes a solid hour and disguises the fact that this is our Caitlin Clark episode. Caught ya! Jason poisons his own search algorithm to introduce us to a new conspiracy theory This week’s theme song arranged and performed by Anjuli Shah Follow Jason’s work and upcoming book-related appearances on Vacation Bible School, Shutdown Fullbooks, and elsewhere at jasonkirk.fyi Find Holly and Spencer writing and chirping at channel-6.ghost.io, if you dare Listen to Ryan’s other, less harrowing podcasts, We’re Not All Like This and Buried Treasure,…

By Shutdown Fullcast

 
 

As we brace for perhaps the silliest silly season of all time, we’ve worked out who we think will be on the 2025 F1 grid. Do you agree with our line-up predictions?You can sign up to our Patreon here! You’ll get access to exclusive episodes you won’t hear anywhere else, every P1 episode ad-free, full driver interview videos, early access to merch, tickets & more!Follow us on socials! You can find us on Twitter, Instagram, Twitch, YouTube and TikTok. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

By P1 with Matt and Tommy

 

WHEN WE WERE WIZARDS is a 14-episode documentary podcast that charts the rise and fall of Gary Gygax, the co-creator of the role-playing-game phenomenon Dungeons & Dragons and co-founder of the company that produced it, TSR Hobbies. It’s a story about the personal toll success can exact on friendships and families, especially when corrupted by greed, lust, and human folly. WHEN WE WERE WIZARDS is told in the voices of the people who were there - covering everything from the game's creation, to the Satanic Panic, TSR's dysfunction, Gary's adventures in Hollywood and more. Never before has this tale included so many insights, discoveries, heart-wrenching recollections, and stunning revelations. This is a story for anyone interested in unique subcultures, Americana, corporate chaos, history, cautionary tales, and human drama. Follow our instagram @whenwewerewizards —- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/traction-media/support

By When We Were Wizards

 
 

Listened to Eye of the Beholder

Chapter 1 - In the early 1960s, Gary and Mary Jo Gygax move their young family to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin to escape their urban life in Chicago,. Though he works as an insurance underwriter by day, Gary spends his nights and weekends as a central figure in a burgeoning community of wargame players seeking camaraderie and a distraction from a turbulent era. When he’s fired from his job, Gary begins a second career as a shoe-cobbler while continuing to pursue his creative ambitions. Barely able to make ends meet, Gary is on the verge of abandoning his dream altogether when a fellow gamer from the Twin Cities introduces him to a game that will change both of their lives forever. —- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/traction-media/support

By When We Were Wizards

 
 

Checked into Armondos

Father’s Day date with my daughter. 💕

 
 
 

Listened to Detect Magic

Chapter 2 - In Minneapolis, a hive-mind of creative synergy reaches a critical mass with a game from Dave Arneson called “Blackmoor.” Convinced of its potential, Gygax and Arneson work furiously to develop the idea into what eventually becomes Dungeons & Dragons. But when he is unable to find a publisher for it, Gary and a childhood friend start their own company to print and sell D&D. The future looks bright until a tragedy tests Gary’s resolve. —- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/traction-media/support

By When We Were Wizards

 

Listened to System Shock

Chapter 3 – Seizing the momentum of D&D’s growing popularity, Gary and his partner Brian Blume press on with an investment from Brian’s father, Melvin. The company moves into a new headquarters and hires on friends from the Twin Cities and Lake Geneva. It looks like Camelot, but underneath the surface, grievances fester and friendships fracture. Then, a reckoning at a shareholder’s meeting threatens the company’s future. —- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/traction-media/support

By When We Were Wizards

 

Listened to Creeping Doom

Chapter 4 - Gary Gygax and Brian Blume reassert control by instituting new company policies and focusing exclusively on D&D. Dave Arneson strikes out on his own, but struggles to match TSR's impressive growth. Just months after the company moves into a new headquarters at the former Hotel Clair, Arneson files suit against the company for attempting to remove his name as co-author of D&D and withholding royalty payments. —- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/traction-media/support

By When We Were Wizards

 

We’ve got a triple-header coming up, with our first stop in Barcelona (the best track in the world). So let’s find out who’s being sensible and who wants to see the world burn. You can sign up to our Patreon here! You’ll get access to exclusive episodes you won’t hear anywhere else, every P1 episode ad-free, full driver interview videos, early access to merch, tickets & more!Follow us on socials! You can find us on Twitter, Instagram, Twitch, YouTube and TikTok. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

By P1 with Matt and Tommy

 

Listened to Reaction Adjustment

Chapter 5 - To keep up with growing product demand, TSR hires a new crop of young designers, developers, and editors. Wages are low, but it’s a chance to work with their hero in a brand new industry. On the management side, Brian Blume's older brother Kevin joins the company and rises through the ranks. —- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/traction-media/support

By When We Were Wizards

 
 
 
 
 

Years after Logitech killed the Harmony, there are *two* very promising universal remotes on Kickstarter. Unfolded Circle’s Remote 3 looks the most well-considered, and is where I am placing my bets, but I backed the Haptique RS90X as well. 🤞

 
 

Took the kids to see Inside Out 2 tonight. What a fantastic movie. The level of care taken to capture big, hairy emotional concepts like anxiety and sense of self was impressive. I’ve never seen as effective a presentation of what it’s like to suffer from anxiety.

 
 

Meet French Randy! You at home may never know true happiness for yourselves, but you can get pretty close by listening to the crew’s reaction to seeing Batman ice cream bars for the first time Semi-factual attempt at a French political interlude Will inevitably become known as “the sherbert episode” for reasons that will repeatedly be made clear This week’s theme song arranged and performed by Trey McClure Follow Jason’s work and upcoming book-related appearances on Vacation Bible School, Shutdown Fullbooks, and elsewhere at jasonkirk.fyi Find Holly and Spencer writing and chirping at channel-6.ghost.io Listen to Ryan’s other, less harrowing podcast, We’re Not All Like This, and check out his new project at assigned.substack.com Purchase only the finest Fullcast gear and keep up with our live show schedule at sunny preownedairboats.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

By Shutdown Fullcast

 
 
 

Listened to The Snake Pit

Chapter 7 - New divisions emerge within the company. Gary’s camp includes his wife, his kids, and a cadre of executives and freelance designers known as “The Friends of Gary.” The Blume camp includes more than a dozen relatives and in-laws. The employees caught in the middle become cogs in a gaming factory, punching a clock at the direction of Kevin Blume, seeking to mold TSR into the kind of efficient enterprise he learns about in books. —- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/traction-media/support

By When We Were Wizards

 
 

Listened to Tomb of Horrors

Chapter 8 - As sales of D&D continue to skyrocket, tensions between the designers and upper management reach a boiling point. The employees turn to Gary for help, but find him missing in action. With his marriage on the rocks and exhausted by the company in-fighting, Gary looks for new opportunities to expand the D&D brand in Hollywood. —- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/traction-media/support

By When We Were Wizards

 
 

Okay, this looks super cool. Eventually, when Apple makes a headset that doesn’t cost a hojillion dollars, I may actually buy one just for this.

https://github.com/cbusillo/BD_to_AVP

 

Thanks you, LabCorp, for being so incredibly incompetent that you delayed my wife’s chemo by an entire week, ruined our July 4th vacation plan, and caused her to have to endure yet another week of suffering. ‘Eff you very much, forever and ever.

 
 
 

Okay, S3E4 of The Boys was officially “too much” for me. Really hard to watch.

 

Don’t worry! This isn’t entirely a college baseball episode! Mostly, it’s a pro hockey episode One host is out, two others are sick, and everybody has a Good Sports Hangover Holly has some FATHERS & SONS feelings to work through re: the College World Series, and that’s going about as well as you’d expect Celebrating Ft. Lauderdale as Hockeytown, USA Disturbing new allegations come to light regarding a MacGuffin known only as “the Jason robot” Stanley Cup trivia ruined by Jimmy Fallon A visit with Arthur Blank’s actual falcon Surber delivers an assortment of wipes-based confessions This week’s theme song arranged and performed by Shawn Pryor Follow Jason’s work and upcoming book-related appearances on Vacation Bible School, Shutdown Fullbooks, and elsewhere at jasonkirk.fyi Find Holly and Spencer writing and chirping at channel-6.ghost.io Listen to Ryan’s other, less harrowing podcast, We’re Not All Like This, and check out his new project at assigned.substack.com Purchase only the finest Fullcast gear and…

By Shutdown Fullcast

 

Stew and Bruce begin the show by talking about Bruce’s CFP 12-team projection. Then, they share their thoughts on EA Sports’ toughest place to play rankings and Bruce talks about his time at the Elite 11 showcase. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By The Audible with Stew & Bruce: A show about college football

 

Yeah, I don’t care, I’m still voting for “Weekend at Biden’s.”

 

Alright, episode five of The Boys S3 was far better than episode 4, which skeeved me out quite a bit. Back to a good balance this week, plus a bonus of a scene on a farm that I’ll never forget.

 

D-Money and Peter Ariz talk about Miami landing Top-100 OL prospect Max Buchanan. Plus, Canes G Kyshawn George was picked in the 1st round of the NBA Draft. Also, the guys interview new Canes Hoops standout AJ Staton-McCray.

By The CanesInSight Podcast

 
 
 

Genuinely irritated that Ferrari has the 4th fastest car at this stage of the season. Such a promising start, but since Monaco, it’s been a mess. Barring significant upgrades, it’ll be a P4 in the constructors. Ah, Ferrari fandom.

 

I do hold out some hope that Ferrari will be much stronger on street circuits featuring more low speed corners like Singapore and Vegas.

 

Apparently, the Monaco curse didn’t die, it just turned into “nothing good can happen to Charles Leclerc now that he has won Monaco.” 😭

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