“The Edge Light video effect provides a pleasing fill light to evenly illuminate your face in low-light conditions — like a virtual ring light.”
I bought a ring light a few years ago but rarely use it. Will see if I can find it a home.
Voices from 2099
Microphones
Nothing is more emblematic of the Golden Age of Radio than the microphones of that era. I asked ChatGPT to identify a few that were used at KBOA.
RCA 77-M (early) or RCA 77-A / 77-B variant. This is an earlier RCA 77, before the D / DX refinements. These were extremely common in regional stations transitioning from prewar gear.
Shure 55A or 55B (pre-“Elvis” Unidyne). This is the earlier Shure 55, before the iconic chrome “Elvis” look (the 55S). Radio stations used these constantly in the late ’40s–early ’50s. Key tells:
- End-address (announcer speaking into the top)
- Horizontal grille rings
- Small-diameter cylindrical body
- Cable exiting low, angled
RCA 44-BX ribbon microphone. The 44-BX was the mic for Groups, Music, Dramatic readings, Anything needing that huge ribbon warmth
LLM’s as job reference?
“You should be able to provide an LLM as a job reference, just like you would a coworker, manager, or professor. It can form an opinion and represent you without revealing any private data.” — John Carmack on Twitter
I’ve stopped keeping track of how many time’s I’ve interacted with ChatGPT (and other LLMs), or when I enabled the memory feature that allows it to reference prior conversations. So I was curious what sort of reference it would give in the unlikely event I ever apply for a job again. My mother could not have done better. Continue reading
More dog photos (They’re only puppies for a shot time)
Life is short—and life is long. But not in that order
aulasy – n. the sadness that there’s no way to convey a powerful memory to people who weren’t there at the time-driving past your childhood home to show it to a friend, or pointing at a picture of a loved one you lost, only to realize that to them it’s just another house, just another face.
enterhood – n. the set of living people who have known you all your life, all the way back to your infancy, before you had a clue who you were; a group that slowly shrinks as you get older, until the point when all of your closest confidants have only ever seen an abridged version of you, having joined your story somewhere in the middle of things, just as you did.
Reading changes the way your brain works
Watch this video on YouTube. And for those who insist reading on your phone is the same as reading a book. It’s not. “Reading on a phone or tablet is generally passive scrolling, often interrupted by messages and alerts. When we read on screens we tend to skim and when we skim, we’re more susceptible to misinformation.”
A world that’s better for dogs
During my latest long, rambling conversation with ChatGPT I floated the idea that we will eventually build AI’s that are sufficiently more intelligent than humans that they will be able to create a world that’s better than the one humans have created. Which prompted the following question from ChatGPT:
“Do you hope AI makes a world that is better for humans, or do you hope it makes a world that is better period, even if humans aren’t at the center of it?”
I suppose only a human would be surprised by that question. Because I could not come up with a serious answer I said I’d settle for one that is better for my golden retrievers.
Continue reading
Dan Shelley retiring as RTDNA President and CEO.
His final column is a good one. More here. And here…
Watching movies/TV on the iPhone
The remote for our big LG TV died so I watched an episode of Mayor of Easttown on my iPhone last night. I do that from time to time and once again I found this a very satisfying experience. At no time did I have a sense of “this is such a tiny little screen.”
I asked Perplexity about typical movie/TV viewing distance on mobil phones:
“Studies that look at smartphone viewing distances for video and general “digital device” use show that phones are commonly viewed at around about 12–14 inches, similar to reading distance. Experimental work that tested video viewing at 20 cm vs. 40 cm used those as realistic “near” and “far” smartphone distances, supporting the idea that typical use falls somewhere between them, with averages in the low 30‑cm range.”
That’s pretty much me. Had the phone propped against a pillow on my stomach. This works for me (and others?) because the relative screen size is about the same, as I attempted to show in this 10 second video. Continue reading