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Post by Slinger on May 16, 2024 18:46:10 GMT
Thought of the day - great music should be great music on a MW radio or a high end system. But, great music IS great music, be it on a MW radio or a high end system, or a crystal set with a pair of ancient ex-army headphones, if you allow it to be. The music doesn't change, no matter how it's delivered. Music only loses perceived greatness to people in relation to how far they have travelled up their own arses, hifilogically speaking. The same is true of shite music played through a £250K system. Even if you can hear the bass player scratch the end of his nose at the start of the 47th bar; it's still shite music.
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Post by Slinger on May 16, 2024 15:02:23 GMT
Great gig Steve Tyler from Aerosmith performed at the the end with the black crowes. Next week Limehouse Lizzy the week after Robin Trower I used to like Robin Trower, a lot. It'll be interesting to find out of he's still got "it".
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WORDLE
May 16, 2024 13:29:51 GMT
Post by Slinger on May 16, 2024 13:29:51 GMT
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Post by Slinger on May 15, 2024 20:45:52 GMT
Beware redheads. They bite... Only if you're very, very lucky, and ask nicely in my experience.
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Post by Slinger on May 15, 2024 18:43:20 GMT
This stuff is not as easy as just typing some vague stuff into a box and out pops the Mona Lisa, as some people think it must be. Unless... Yes, it's Gina again...
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Post by Slinger on May 15, 2024 18:22:53 GMT
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Post by Slinger on May 15, 2024 16:21:20 GMT
Not their greatest, but pretty good, and worth a 4/5. The only thing against it is that it reminded me of why I prefer their studio albums. Live, they tended towards disappearing up their own arses at times.
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Post by Slinger on May 15, 2024 13:57:10 GMT
The eyes are better than most AI generated 'photos' I've seen. You must have been playing with the settings for a while. I spent ages, but the eyes still looked like rather poor contact lenses. Do you know what solved it in the end, first I deleted all references to the eyes in my prompt, and secondly I added one word, believe it or not, "mascara". I don't know why those two things should have made such a big difference, but it's another trick tucked away in my bag now. Next I need a work-around to allow me to specify eye-colour without ruining what I've already achieved. This stuff is not as easy as just typing some vague stuff into a box and out pops the Mona Lisa, as some people think it must be. Unless...
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Post by Slinger on May 15, 2024 13:51:44 GMT
I'm already a fan, and have The Padget, and Greasy Truckers, but this is a live album I've missed, so I'm looking forward to it.
A bit about Deke Leonard, which I wrote in 2020. I hope you don't mind.
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Post by Slinger on May 15, 2024 13:41:44 GMT
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Post by Slinger on May 14, 2024 21:08:14 GMT
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Post by Slinger on May 14, 2024 18:17:06 GMT
RIP David Sanborn, aged 78. David Sanborn, jazz saxophonist known for work with David Bowie and more, dies aged 78 after a battle with prostate cancer. The musician who played sax solo on Young Americans, and released a series of Grammy-winning albums, is one of those guys you may not have heard of, but you will almost certainly have heard. OBITCheck out the famous names he played with, and answer all of those "I wonder who was playing sax on..? questions. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Sanborn#Discography
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Post by Slinger on May 14, 2024 18:00:41 GMT
For All Mankind: I'm enjoying it, it's a pretty decent alternative history sewing in real and imaginary events together very cleverly. Some of the alternative " twists" are great, and echo throughout the series. They're very well matched up with the real footage too, I thought.
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Post by Slinger on May 14, 2024 17:56:54 GMT
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Post by Slinger on May 14, 2024 15:23:22 GMT
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Post by Slinger on May 14, 2024 14:49:15 GMT
Was that all done descriptively with text, Paul, or did you feed it with seed photos? The basis of AI is text, but thankfully there are things called LoRAs. LoRA stands for Low-Rank Adaptation. It allows you to use what is known as low-rank adaptation technology to quickly fine-tune "models". To put it in simple terms, the LoRA training model makes it easier to train your chosen platform on different concepts, such as characters or a specific style. These trained models can then be exported and used by others in their own image generation(s). There are also "Checkpoint" files, which set the mood, if you like, of the image being created. Some favour reality, or even heightened reality, some are used for Manga, and so on. Additionally, some attempt to produce better nudes, for instance, or images more attuned to DXLR cameras, and lenses, but Checkpoint files are quite large, which is why we use LoRAs to " fine-tune" them. For the Freddie Mercury/Edvard Munch images, I used a LoRA for Munch's style, a ready-made Lora for Freddie, and then sorted it all out by writing a text " prompt" to marry the two. That sounds simple, but there is a lot to learn about the weight one gives certain words, or phrases, which words work, and which don't, and trust me, words that work in one scenario may not work in another due to using different Checkpoints. Characters, be they "real" people, or, like the one I've created wholly imaginary are a different ball-game. Long story short, you generally need a load of images of your proposed characters, bung them into some software (the details of which I'm not going to bore you with here) or, even better, upload them to a website and let it do all the work for you online after you've filled in the details of your character. You then hit enter and watch the magic happen. This is Gina. Gina started life as a single image of an imaginary woman I created, which I then worked on until I got the precise look I wanted. I then set my software (Fooocus) to create 10 variations on the way I had her posed. I then altered her pose, and made some more, and repeated that until I had 35 varied images from differing camera angles. Those are what I uploaded to the website I use, which turned out the character you see above, who is " permanent" so I can use her in any situation. She could be an astronaut, or simply sitting at the bar, and anything in between. It takes work and some application, but to me it's been time well spent, and I'm still learning. In fact, I can't see that I'll ever stop learning if I stick with the hobby. I actually find it quite therapeutic too.
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WORDLE
May 14, 2024 12:03:17 GMT
Post by Slinger on May 14, 2024 12:03:17 GMT
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Post by Slinger on May 13, 2024 21:23:56 GMT
I'm constantly learning new *tricks* and the latest is using the styles of different painters to produce a unique take on a modern subject. This, for instance, is Freddie Mercury, in the style of Edward Munch.
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Post by Slinger on May 13, 2024 15:22:48 GMT
The genius that is Mel Brooks, and yes, he did get John Hurt to reprise his role.
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WORDLE
May 13, 2024 13:02:40 GMT
Post by Slinger on May 13, 2024 13:02:40 GMT
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