For anyone curious about this, go google “cheese caves”. The US government has massive caverns full of cheese. The government keeps buying cheese to subsidize the dairy industry, and ensure they keep enough dairy cows around.
But this also means they have a metric fuckload of cheese, and no way to get rid of it. They can’t just give it away to the public or sell it at cost, because that would crash the price, which would harm the farmers, which would defeat the entire purpose of the subsidy in the first place. So they just lock it in a cave. The government has entire caves that are just packed full of cheese. It’ll never be eaten, and is simply left there to age.
I believe one of the biggest reasons for even keeping the cheese around at all (instead of just doing something like tossing it into a volcano) is so they can use it as a strategic food reserve during war or famine. If, for instance, the government suddenly needs to feed a much larger army, it can start tapping into that massive food reserve simply by opening the cheese caves and pulling out the (now very aged) cheese. But that’s a very large “what if”. Or maybe there’s some big disease that wipes out the majority of the dairy cows. The government would be able to keep shelves stocked while farmers work on replenishing their herds.
Government cheese is called that for a reason. Anyways I totally agree with you but it’s interesting so I’m just providing a link for anyone who is interested in learning more.
Government cheese is a commodity cheese that was controlled by the US federal government from World War II to the early 1980s. Government cheese was created to maintain the price of dairy when dairy industry subsidies artificially increased the supply of milk and created a surplus of milk that was then converted into cheese, butter, or powdered milk. The cheese, along with the butter and dehydrated milk powder, was stored in over 150 warehouses across 35 states.
Isn’t there the thing where the cheese needs to age by just sitting there, the farmer needs cash flow, so the cheese is put up as collateral. (But yes there is government cheese too.)
I was always wonder how the heck did beef and milk are so cheap in US. I live in south Asia btw. Our income and wages are dog shit compared to the USA, yet our (normal) beef cost US$15 per kilo (the “good stuffs” could cost up to US$25 per kilo).
It’s been rough and it’s not over yet. Lots of broken pipes and sprinkler heads. Thankfully there wasn’t much ice on the roads or it would’ve been very dangerous.
I am worried about the future, as long as I’ve been alive I’ve only been in negative wind chills 2 times in Texas and the last one was 2021. Last weekend, i saw wind chill around -5 or -8 and this was after a particularly hot summer with plenty of Temps around 110. Usually we are in the 40s with dips down to the 20s when it gets cold.
And of course, the government is doing more to male the problems worse tha better
But when you think about it, beans should be cheaper than meat or something. Yeah a bag makes a whole bunch of beans but it’s straight ground to plate vs feeding a cow from birth. In fact relatively speaking of seems like the bean to cow cost ratio is out of proportion, the beans should be cheaper or the cow should be more.
Another thing I didn’t see mentioned is the positioning of the strings and the opening of the piano lid. In a grand piano with the lid open, the strings are slightly above the base of the piano and the sound bouces up to the lid and out to the audience. In an upright piano with the lid open, the sound bounces between the walls of the piano before bouncing off the lid toward the audience. This will lead to a difference in tone and make the upright sound a little more stuffy than a grand piano.
Reading through the comments, I think OP’s question is skipping the root of the controversy here, which is whether or not that content even is art.
As a child of the 90s, a good example that comes to mind would be something like the Windows Media Visualizer - colorful and fun to look at, but it’s just an algorithm interpreting a sound.
If I sneezed into a microphone, ran that recording through Windows Media Player, then posted a screenshot of the swirly colors here exclaiming “Hey Lemmy - Do you like this art I made?” …would that even be an honest question? It’d probably just get downvoted cuz folks would take one look at it and conclude “You didn’t make that, and it’s not art.”
If I posted that same picture but instead with the title “Lol I sneezed into Windows Media Player, and the visualizer went nuts!” I’d probably get a more positive response - it’d still be a shitpost, but readers wouldn’t feel like they’re being lied to.
So… is an algorithm even capable of producing art?
And if no, is it the end product we have an issue with, or just the perception of being misled? …cuz even if something isn’t “art” doesn’t mean it can’t have beauty or some other feature worthy of our attention. Another poster mentioned sunsets - those aren’t art, but we still admire the hell out of them.
My take on all of the above:
Don’t give a fuck if it’s technically art or not
If it’s presented in a dishonest way, I don’t like the post, and will downvote regardless of the content.
If the content looks cool, I can appreciate that in-and-of-itself; so, as long as the presentation isn’t misleading, I don’t mind it at all.
So… is an algorithm even capable of producing art?
What is it exactly do you think humans do? An algorithm is a sequence(s) used to achieve goal(s). Isn’t problem solving one of the most important aspects of our existence?
I’m not bothering because you’re an LLM maximalist troll who’s consistently had the most braindead, utterly ridiculous takes in any thread even vaguely related to AI, and anything I say gets ignored because you’re too busy gargling OpenAI’s balls. So instead, I’ll just point and laugh at your absurdist takes. :)
If I sneezed into a microphone, ran that recording through Windows Media Player, then posted a screenshot of the swirly colors here exclaiming “Hey Lemmy - Do you like this art I made?” …would that even be an honest question? It’d probably just get downvoted cuz folks would take one look at it and conclude “You didn’t make that, and it’s not art.”
I’d argue there is potentially up to three artists here. The creator of the algorithm, the creator of the sound/music, and the person mashing the two together to create the final product. Just because a machine is used in the process doesn’t remove the acts of expression.
Same with most AI tools. You have the creators of the training material (or culmination of inspiration), the engineers creating the AI, and the person leveraging both to create a derivative work. All artists in their own right, IMO.
Even if you created an LLM that just took a randomized seed and spit out trash poems and displays them only in an enclosed dark box all without any human interaction, I’d still consider that art. Put that in an art gallery installation and people would stand around and speculate over what was happening in the black box.
Something else I haven’t seen mentioned yet: many upright pianos do not have a proper ‘una corda’ pedal.
Typical pianos have between 2 and 3 strings for each note, all tuned to the same pitch, so the sound is full and more easily heard. The hammer typically hits all these strings with each key press.
On a grand piano, the leftmost foot pedal moves the actual keyboard and hammer assembly slightly to one side so that only a single string for each note is struck (una corda = single string). This results in a sound more like that of a pianoforte which is almost harp-like in sound.
On many upright pianos I have seen, the left pedal simply lowers a felt strip in between the hammers and strings making the sound quieter. While this is similar, it may not be what the composer had in mind for the particular piece.
40, I want to go back to when my body was in great condition. At 20, I didn’t feel any of the aches and pains I had in my early 30s. It would give me 10 years to do a better job taking care of it and hopefully avoid the current state it’s in now.
asklemmy
Newest
This magazine is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.