Rynling R&D

Large Language Muddle
https://www.nplusonemag.com/issue-51/the-intellectual-situation/large-language-muddle/

But a still graver scandal of AI — like its hydra-head sibling, cryptocurrency — is the technology’s colossal wastefulness. The untold billions firehosed by investors into its development; the water-guzzling data centers draining the parched exurbs of Phoenix and Dallas; the yeti-size carbon footprint of the sector as a whole — and for what? A cankerous glut of racist memes and cardboard essays. Not only is the ratio of AI’s resource rapacity to its productive utility indefensibly and irremediably skewed, AI-made material is itself a waste product: flimsy, shoddy, disposable, a single-use plastic of the mind.

We're now a month into the semester, and I'm working my way through my classes' first batch of reading responses. It's impossible to exaggerate how obvious the computer-generated essays are. How obvious, and how insulting.

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So, to me, this essay isn't wrong, necessarily, but it demonstrates an onanistic obsession with intellectual privilege that runs counter to its stated goal of resisting the encroachment of LLMs into public discourse. As the market for writing shrinks due to lack of funding, building even higher walls around "the literary community" isn't effective praxis.

How to Install Silksong mods on the Steam Deck
https://blog.joshnichols.com/post/how-to-install-silksong-mods-on-the-steam-deck/

I spent more than an hour following this guide and troubleshooting possible issues, but I couldn't for the life of me get any of the mods to work. The windows visualization of my Steam Deck system is slightly different from the system of the guy who made this video tutorial, and I suspect that my issue is probably something along the lines of "you put the wrong files in the wrong folder." But who can say.

And this is such a shame, honestly. Silksong is a gorgeous and fascinating game, but its developers seem to have assumed that everyone has spent the past seven years getting a PhD in Hollow Knight. Enemies move twice as fast, hit twice as hard, and have twice as much HP. In contrast, Hornet only gets half as many upgrades, which are only half as effective. Unless you have professional-level reflexes, some of the bosses are impossible.

Given the immense popularity of Hollow Knight, I question the decision of the Silksong developers not to include the sort of simple quality-of-life and accessibility features that are available through mods. I don't mind difficult games, but Silksong is severely unbalanced. I kind of want to put the devs in a Saw trap where they have to sacrifice one of their fingers for each accessibility feature they refuse to include.

A tour of dead and dying malls around Philadelphia
https://billypenn.com/2022/08/01/philadelphia-malls-tour-moorestown-exton-gallery-neshaminy-oxford/

Now officially called Voorhees Town Center, following a failed 2007 rebrand, the mall is a ghost town. Footsteps echo ominously through empty tile halls that contain just four or five operational storefronts, including a karate dojo and an inexplicably new-looking Bath & Body Works. The handsome corporate modern-style food court, complete with hotel lobby palm trees, is completely vacant. Every restaurant and every concession stand has closed, leaving nothing behind but dozens of tables and a few workers from a nearby behavioral health clinic enjoying their bring-from-home lunch in uncanny silence.

I also appreciate the writer's take on the Lovecraftian architecture of the King of Prussia mall:

The interior takes on the uncanny geometry and baffling architecture of a Las Vegas casino. The packed hallways seem to fold in on themselves, leaving you disoriented among apparently endless sunlit atriums and multiple redundant food courts.

Old LA Zoo in Griffith Park: An Abandoned Zoo
https://californiathroughmylens.com/old-la-zoo-griffith-park/

The Old LA Zoo is what remains of the original Los Angeles Zoo that was simply left in its place when the zoo changed locations. Also, picnic benches were added to some of the old animal areas, and it was adopted into Griffith Park, which welcomes tons of visitors each day. The zoo is a truly unique location in the urban jungle that is Los Angeles.

Something I appreciate about this abandoned zoo is that they're not even trying to keep people out; they just put up a few signs that say "no smoking" and left it at that. Fair enough.

People who have been accepted by Clarkesworld or have been slush readers, what exactly does Clarkesworld look for?
https://www.reddit.com/r/writing/comments/1mi8uym/people_who_have_been_accepted_by_clarkesworld_or/

Generally the two traits I've noticed among the authors we've published is that they steadily improve over time and persist long enough to cross the line. How long that can take is wildly variable. Some manage to land on their first try, but others have sold stories after 80 or more. Most authors give up before the third submission.

Words of wisdom from Neil Clarke himself. I love that he's not only active on Reddit but genuinely supportive of emerging writers. What a legend.

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What happened to Kanye?
https://pod.link/1740187810/episode/d3296dfdc71b51c6bf8143bb88ebe497

Akilah Hughes joins the podcast to discuss whether Kanye West has always been a mirror to the American zeitgeist, and what's wrong with all of us.

Panic World is a podcast about how internet culture has affected mainstream society, and I’ve been enjoying it so far. The quality of the episodes is variable depending on the guests, but I like this one. Hughes makes an argument that I agree with, which is basically that the “everyone has a voice” quality of the internet was great up until around 2016 or so, when many of us realized that the “silent majority” (of people with unfortunate political opinions) perhaps should have remained silent.

Along the same lines, the recent “What happened to JK Rowling” episode (here) is quite good as well. This episode isn’t saying anything that people who spend a lot of time on Tumblr don’t already know, but it’s good to hear the story presented as a cohesive narrative in the context of the broader conservative shift in people who formerly identified as progressives.

Black Earth Rising
https://artbma.org/exhibition/black-earth-rising

See nature’s beauty and power through the eyes of today’s leading artists. Organized by guest curator and renowned author Ekow Eshun, this exhibition explores today’s climate crisis from a new perspective and celebrates our shared connections to the natural world.

Not a lot of people know this, but the Baltimore Museum of Art is cool as hell. I will always show up for diaspora art and environmental justice. And plants!! Here's one of the installations:

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deltarune mettaton doesn’t get the amount of love he deserves
https://planetamarte.tumblr.com/post/786897660910125056/for-being-such-a-beloved-character-in-undertale-i

This is an interesting post about reading Mettaton as trans (among other things). I remember that this was a popular interpretation of the character in Undertale, and it's always good to see people finding trans joy in stories that speak to them.

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Anyway I think he and Tenna should kiss.

Collards Only
https://collardsonly.com/

These North Carolina Collard Farmers & Farmettes think they've got the grit — and the greens — to claim the title of North Carolina's Sexiest Collard Farmer, but the truth is, it’s all up to you! Do they have what it takes to charm your vote with their collard-growing prowess, mud-caked boots, & undeniable farm-fresh appeal? Cast your vote and let’s find out who’s got the true grit to be crowned the absolute hottest in Collard Farmer in all of North Carolina!

They're all very special, but I'm partial to the gentleman in the bathtub filled with collard leaves.

Fam, be careful with your time online.
https://greenjudy.tumblr.com/post/771760180357742592/weird-cultural-shift-detected

If reading longform, offline, makes you feel bored or anxious, be gentle and patient with yourself. Start with stories you remember well, reliable sources of well-being. But please know you will need to put some backbone into it in the long run.

I think we are going to need to rebuild our ability to think, to process experience. This will be an unsupported activity. In fact, most of the really powerful cultural forces are making it very hard for us to notice, feel, perceive, or think clearly.

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My post-pandemic experiences in higher education have led me to believe that a lot of us are, in a very real way, at the point of Long Covid where being able to read a book from cover to cover has become a distinct and useful cognitive skill that can almost visibly put you a head above your peers in terms of performance. Literally: reading makes you smarter.

Anyway, I want to shout out to all the writers who are still using their own human minds to create books worth reading. I love you.