The Daily Dad — Mar 23, 2024

Things you might want to know:

• Walmart Brings the Popular MacBook Air With the M1 Chip to Its Shelves
  💭 This is interesting for two reasons. First, this is the first Mac that Walmart has tried to sell, and it looks like Apple is producing it exclusively for them. Second, $699 for an M1 Air is a fantastic deal… frankly, getting the base M1 for $300 less than a base M2 makes the M1 a no-brainer. The M1 has a slightly slower SoC and a significantly faster SSD, so I wouldn’t even consider the M2. (The M3, on the other hand… particularly a 15” model… that would be tempting.)
• “We’ve done our job”: Baldur’s Gate 3 devs call off DLC and step away from D&D
  ❝ Larian boss says BG3 is “a story with a beginning, a middle, and an end.”
• Man banned from Buc-ee’s ‘for life’ after bringing service duck to store
  ❝ During the video, an employee comes over to tell Wood that pets aren’t allowed in the store, though Wood explains that Wrinkle is a service animal.
• Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton, Announces Cancer Diagnosis
  💭 It’s of course sad that she has cancer. But even sadder is realizing that this news is going to validate conspiracy theorists of all kinds… they can be wrong 100 times in a row, but if they eventually, accidentally get one right, just one time… look out.

• Vanderpump Rules’ Raquel Leviss sues Ariana Madix, Tom Sandoval over revenge porn
  💭 It feels like the case against Ariana is tenuous at best, but she might actually be able to nail Sandoval if she can convince a jury that she was unaware she was being recorded.
• Here’s Proof You Can Train an AI Model Without Slurping Copyrighted Content
  ❝ OpenAI claimed it’s “impossible” to build good AI models without using copyrighted data. An “ethically created” large language model and a giant AI dataset of public domain text suggest otherwise.
• Users shocked to find Instagram limits political content by default
  💭 Oh come the fuck on. Who cares?
• A24’s Problemista is a surreal fairy tale about finding the people who truly see you
  ❝ A24’s Problemista — in theaters nationwide March 22nd from writer / director Julio Torres — is a breathtakingly honest and beautiful fairy tale.
• How Evangelicals Use Digital Surveillance to Target the Unconverted
  ❝ The hot new thing in proselytizing is an app that allows Christian conservatives to collect data on whole neighborhoods of potential converts.

• R.I.P. M. Emmet Walsh, character actor extraordinaire
  ❝ Walsh, who appeared in Blade Runner, Knives Out, Blood Simple, and hundreds of other movies and shows, was 88
• DNA tests like 23AndMe and Ancestry are laying bare the frightening extent of incest in the US – including woman who discovers her ex-lover was her BROTHER
  ❝ The prevalence of incest in the US is far more common than previously thought, with research including common genealogy tests putting the rate at one in 7,000.
• Olivia Munn shares breast cancer diagnosis and double mastectomy procedure
  💭 Holy shit, Munn! Yee-fucking-ikes! I did not see that one coming… hope she’s okay.
• The end of the MrBeast era
  ❝ Jimmy Donaldson warped YouTube in his image — but YouTube is warping him back
• Robert Downey Jr. has finally won his first Oscar
  ❝ More than 30 years after first being nominated for Chaplin, Robert Downey Jr. has brought home his very first Oscar

• 3 Body Problem is the kind of TV epic we need
  💭 I call bullshit on this and every positive review I’ve seen. I tried to remain hopeful, but this Weiss/Benioff travesty is everything I feared it might be —shallow, only vaguely interested in the book’s characters/ideas, as disappointing as Game of Thrones— and even less— the performances are uniformly mediocre, except when they actually suck. It’s clear now that the first few seasons of GoT were entirely due to a series of elaborate flukes and Maisie Williams’ charm.)
• ‘Y2K’ Review: A 1999 Teen Nostalgia Comedy Turned Computer Zombie Film
  ❝ Jaeden Martell and Rachel Zegler star in Kyle Mooney’s amusing for a while but ultimately listless satirical sci-fi disaster comedy.
• A Small Steam Game Shows How LLMs Could Kill the Dialogue Tree
  ❝ Verbal Verdict is the best use of generative AI I’ve seen.
• Hours after denying Paula Abdul’s accusations, American Idol producer hit with fourth sexual assault lawsuit
  ❝ Abdul sued American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance producer Nigel Lythgoe for sexual assault. He is asking the case be “dismissed in its entirety.”
• The Science Behind Ozempic Was Wrong – The Atlantic
  ❝ The weight-loss effects of GLP-1 drugs have little to do with the gut.

• The reeducation of Tom Sandoval continues on Vanderpump Rules
  💭 Is there anyone anywhere who actually wants to see T-Sandy grow into a fully-functional human? His role in this life is Creepy Dick #2 —because as it turns out, he actually wasn’t the #1 guy in the group— and I’m not interested in any other form of him.
• 19 Common Phrases Invented By TV And Movies
  💭 It’s weird to think that there are a significant number of people out there who don’t already know most of this shit.
• Is Justin Timberlake the pop star anyone wants?
  💭 Dear media: figure out your stance. Either Gen Z is utterly broke and focused on mindlessly grazing on Mom’s Spotify and YouTube accounts, or Gen Z is a thriving economic force whose tastes will determine the success/failure of any entertainer over the age of 35. It can’t be both. Also, I find it hilarious that someone thinks Justin Fucking Timberlake has ever been masculinity’s standard bearer.
• MacPad: How I Created the Hybrid Mac-iPad Laptop and Tablet That Apple Won’t Make
  ❝ It all started because I wanted a better keyboard for my Vision Pro. I had no idea that, in looking for one, I’d accidentally create the hybrid Apple computer of my dreams. As I quickly discovered after working on the Vision Pro daily, you can get by without an external trackpad, but a keyboard is
• Dodge debuts the 2024 electric Charger Daytona, with 670 horsepower
  ❝ A “Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust” makes this EV as loud as a V8 Hellcat.

• Megan Fox’s Ex, Brian Austin Green, Says ‘Love Is Blind’ Star Can’t Compare
  💭 Holy shit, an unimaginable day has arrived: I agree with Brian Austin Green! ‘Cause Chelsea, girl, are you fucking kidding…?
• Abortion meds can now be sold in drugstores. Here’s why that’s so important.
  ❝ Some actually good news about Americans’ abortion access.
• ‘Big Brother’ Star Memphis Garrett Files to Divorce Christmas Abbott
  💭 I dislike both of them, so this is a big ol’ 🤷‍♂️
• Music Is TikTok’s Past. Sounds May Be Its Future
  ❝ More Universal Music songs are disappearing from TikTok as the two companies fail to reach new agreements. Sound clips are ready for their big break.
• ArtPrompt: ASCII Art-based Jailbreak Attacks against Aligned LLMs
  💭 A research paper demonstrating the use of ASCII art to circumvent the behavioral/topical restrictions placed on ChatGPT and similar LLMs. It’s kinda hilarious, kinda scary, and an important step in showing everyone how little we understand these systems.

• This Is Spinal Tap at 40: the note-perfect rock satire still goes up to 11
  ❝ Christopher Guest and Rob Reiner made a 1984 classic that ingeniously straddles the ‘fine line between stupid and clever’
• Driving at ridiculous speeds should be physically impossible
  ❝ Reckless speeding is epidemic in the US. This simple technology could save tens of thousands of lives.
• A WordPress ‘Firehose’ Allows AI Companies to Buy Access to a Million Posts a Day
  ❝ There is a complex chain of companies buying access to WordPress and Tumblr posts through a company called SocialGist.
• It’s Like Death Stranding, But For Real [Update]
  ❝ With a sequel to Hideo Kojima’s transport sim in the works, the humble ‘bokka’ has gone viral again
• Who fakes cancer research? Apparently, lots of people.
  ❝ Faked cancer data is the latest sign of science’s fraud problem.

• Bravo has another major Vanderpump break-up on its hands
  💭 …and now the #3 guy has to have his headline. (Yes, this means Schwartz is #1. I’m as surprised as you are.) Honestly, Jax and Brittany could both disappear up their own asses and I wouldn’t care. Won’t stop me from watching The Valley, though, because their misery amuses me.
• Apple is turning William Gibson’s Neuromancer into a TV series
  ❝ Apple has announced its latest sci-fi series for Apple TV Plus, an adaptation of William Gibson’s seminal cyberpunk novel Neuromancer.
• Dark Forces Remastered makes a classic Star Wars shooter feel fast and fluid
  ❝ A faithful but generous repackaging of LucasArts’ early Doom-alike.
• Why Merriam-Webster says it’s OK to end a sentence in a preposition | CBC Radio
  ❝ In a post on Instagram last week, Merriam-Webster has found itself dividing commenters by asserting that it is permissible for a sentence to end in a preposition. Peter Sokolowski from Merriam-Webster weighs in to the debate.
• New regulation could stop abusers from stalking via connected cars
  ❝ FCC chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel is proposing to expand on the Safe Connections Act to require connect-car makers include protection for survivors of domestic abuse.

• Annie Lennox, Wendy and Lisa Working Together on Trio Project
  ❝ Wendy and Lisa revealed that they are writing new music with Annie Lennox, asking the audience if anyone has a ‘band name’ for their project.
• Liam Neeson’s Naked Gun Reboot Moves Forward, Lands 2025 Release Date – IGN
  💭 This is either going to be a triumph of unconventional casting and franchise rebooting, or the dumbest fucking idea anyone ever had.
• Tattle Life: The influencer gossip forum where thousands vilify online creators
  ❝ Tattle Life users speculate about influencers’ lives, spout rumours, make hateful comments about them, and judge their life decisions.