Archive of entries posted by Oppo

Promoted Comment: Charcoal California

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Courtesy of Bob B:

♪

On a dark desert highway, power cut off again
Warm smell of burnt embers rising up like back when
Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light
The fire leapt quickly and the sky grew dim, thick smoke turned daylight to night
Then they came to the doorway, a warning they did tell,
“You gotta get right on out of here, before this place turns to hell
Then they lit up the flashers and they peeled out away
There were voices down the corridor, I thought I heard them say
“Welcome to the Charcoal California
Such a smoky place (such a chokey place)
Such a burned-out place
Not enough trucks for the Charcoal California
Any time of year (any time of year)
It starts burning here”
The fire is pretty twisted, it torched the Mercedes-Benz,
The state is short of water stores, that means some fiery ends
Flames, they dance in the courtyard, no aid is in sight
Flames dance ’til they’re embers, some dance through the night
So I called up the Captain, “Please help me out here”
He said, “We haven’t had any chance here since 1969”
And still, those voices are calling from far away
Wake you up in the middle of the night just to hear them say
“Move out of the Hotel California
It’s a sucky place (turns to mucky place)
Such a big disgrace
They screwed it all up for the Charcoal California
That ain’t nice surprise (never a surprise)
They just pump out lies”
Smoke is on the ceiling, the pink retardant floats around
There is only one way out as it burns down to the ground
What’s left of burned out chambers, they stand in mute relief
They stab at us with steely knives, but we’ll never kill the grief
Last thing I remember, I was running for the door
I had to find the passage back to the place I was before
“Relax, ” said the governor, “We are programmed to receive
You can check out any time you like, but you can never leave”

♪

7

Straight Line of the Day: Now, What Good Would an A.I. Replica of You Be?

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Just 2 hours is all it takes for AI agents to replicate your personality with 85% accuracy
Live Science | 01/4/2025 | Owen Hughes

A two-hour conversation with an artificial intelligence (AI) model is all it takes to make an accurate replica of someone’s personality, researchers have discovered.

In a new study published Nov. 15 to the preprint database arXiv, researchers from Google and Stanford University created “simulation agents” — essentially, AI replicas — of 1,052 individuals based on two-hour interviews with each participant. These interviews were used to train a generative AI model designed to mimic human behavior.

Straight Line of the Day: Ever Run Across an Inanimate Object Demonically Possessed?

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How Demons Can Affect Objects
Catholic Answes | Tom Nash

Can objects be possessed by demons? … Is there biblical evidence for this?

Only people can be demonically possessed. But inanimate objects can be negatively controlled through curses. As Adam Blai, a lay Catholic expert on religious demonology and exorcism, writes:

A curse is simply a demon sent to do some harm. . . . Cursed objects are objects that have had the opposite of a blessing done to them. Instead of grace being attached to an object to make it holy, a demon has been attached to the object to make it associated with evil (Hauntings, Possessions and Exorcisms, p. 45).

I once had a burrito that, well, lemme tell you . . .

Straight Line of the Day: Checklist

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Supposing — just supposing — somehow you knew the date and hour of your death. What would you want to do beforehand? Assuming, of course, you’ve made your peace with you-know-who.

  1. Check to see if you have an estate.

2. If the answer to number 1 is “no,” run up your credit card to the maximum limit.

3. Regret it and feel sorry for the poor, innocent credit card company.

4. Buy FrnakJ’s latest novel, available wherever fine books are sold.

5. Feed the damn cat.

And what else?