π Microcosm 2025 - Nov 8-15
π€π NOV 15 18:54
The Chatterbox TTS Demo on Hugging Face is impressive, but it doesn't seem to be able to replicate my natural voice very accurately based on the samples I've provided so far. That said, given no context, I think most people would prefer its approximation to my own voice,though, because it's a smooth-sounding voice.
πΊ NOV 15 10:17
One wild thing that occurred to me about Pluribus is that the hivemind should absolutely have the ability to simulate Carol's dead wife, Helen, with any of its members. They have all of Helen's internal memories, everyone but Carol's external memories and impressions of Helen, and the acting capabilities of the best living actors in the world.
ππ NOV 14 14:33
My Personal Voice turned out pretty good. It's recognizably me, but still clearly a computer and kind of hilarious depending on what I write for it. The one bummer is it's an Apple Silicon only feature so I can't use it on most of my macs.
ππ NOV 14 12:55
TIL: macOS has the ability create a custom Personal Voice if you have an Apple Silicon mac! i had to try it out of course. You record yourself reading 150 different sentences and then the software transforms it into a voice file of some kind. Very intrigued to see how it turns out.
π NOV 14 09:30
Figured out how to change the pronunciation of some family names and Minecraft usernames in Speech to Text on macOS. Cougra9, Eawyn, and Skullena are now pronounced like I expect.
βοΈNOV 13 19:29
Played Minecraft with four of my kids at once for the first time ever. It was pretty awesome. It was impressive to see how fast my son, Houston, could craft stuff and establish our base of operations. I mostly focused on making basic cosmetic stuff and adding stairs and a window to our base.
β½οΈ NOV 13 13:16
MLS owners vote to flip schedule to European calendar start in late summer take winter break in Jan/Feb and finish in May. Wonder if the USL mens leagues will follow suit since their Women's Super League led the way with this.
π© NOV 12 14:09
TIL: maple bars are basically a Pacific Northwest thing and donut shops in other parts of the country might call them long johns if they even have them.
πΊ NOV 11 22:40
Impressive, the second episode of Pluribus addressed my previous complaint and continued to be pretty mind-blowing with the reveals. 800 million+ deaths to complete the takeover is pretty awful, and all the other unjoined humans being okay with the situation doesn't surprise me.
πΊ NOV 11 21:04
Pluribus is absolutely wild. Just watched the first episode, and I'm completely intrigued to see where this story goes from here. My only complaint after watching episode one is that the group mind didn't deploy in more orderly fashion. The chaos was cinematic, but not in line with how orderly and systematic people that have joined the group mind appear to be.
πΆβπ«οΈ NOV 11 09:24
Cold and foggy morning. Glad I'm working from home in my office today.
πΊ NOV 10 21:13
Marvel Zombies is pretty good two episodes in. Dystopian with a fair amount of humor and a fun selection of random characters. A fun watch as long as you expect everybody to die by the end, and are okay with that.
β½οΈ NOV 9 20:01
Watching the replay of Spurs vs. Man United, even though I know how it turned out. Xavi has played well and I'm pleased with what Brennan Johnson has been doing on offense- some good runs and crosses. Richy continues to disappoint.