Tag: technology

Looks like someone else forgot to carry a one

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Something to mull over in pound-me-in-the-ass federal prison: Zulily employee attempts similar scheme from Office Space to similar results, but isn’t bailed out by an arsonist

Ultimately, the best part about this whole story is that it’s just a great excuse for everyone to make Office Space references all over again.  Like, people don’t realize just how timeless of a film Office Space really is, and that it was so perfectly created that it could very easily be watched in any decade with minimal age cringe, and still be relatable.

I just like how there were people out there who actually thought 20 years was sufficient time past the release of the film to think that they could actually get away with trying to enact the same plan as from the movie.  But then they somehow manage to make the same critical error in their program, and basically come to the exact same result as in the film, which was roughly around $300,000.

I mean, if fictional Initech were going to notice $300k, then a real company like Zulily was definitely going to notice $300k.  I don’t know if this guy and his team forgot to carry a one over somewhere in their code, or more likely just weren’t particularly bright, but it’s hilarious to think that they thought they would get away with this.

Worst part about the changing of the times is that companies like Zulily are largely virtual and decentralized now, so even if they did have an arsonist in place to be their contingency plan, all their data was probably all cloud-based anyway, so short of knowing what server farm in what continent it was running off of, the likelihood of them burning down the right one probably wouldn’t have been very high.

All the same, thanks to this story, Office Space is back in the forefront again, and perhaps the worthless kids of today can watch it and get a glimpse of what waits for them in the future, and bring them back down to earth a peg or two.

Ho hum, just more Korea > Japan

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Not surprising when you think about it: Korean webtoons surpassing Japanese manga in terms of popularity, profitability

Usually in my friends’ group chat, we talk about politics, futbol (right now), and an inordinate amount of conversation about fried chicken.  But out of the blue one of my friends posts this story, and it’s definitely the type of story that chubs me up, about how Korean webtoons are surpassing Japanese manga.  And when you stop and think about the state of the world and how in spite of what I primarily do for a living, everything is advancing towards a digital medium, it’s a pure no-brainer and not at all surprising.

Everyone has a phone, Korean or Japanese.  Or French, Portuguese, German, American or Canadian for that matter.  And regardless of one’s attitude about such a notion, among everyone who has one, the vast majority of these users are probably looking at their phones way more than they should be.  That being said, at least in Asia, it’s not a surprise that Korean webtoons are passing Japanese manga in popularity and profitability.

It really does boil down to the adage that the medium is the message, and that if you’re not using the right medium, the message might as well not exist.  The fact that webtoons are accessible on mobile devices that everyone already is carrying in the first place, will always make them more appealing than the need for a physical edition, or worse of, having to go hunt down the physical edition and risk not getting it.

But what I love about the article is the also-obvious observation of Japan’s tendency to be too Japanese, and always try and justify instances where they’re falling behind in the world under a bullshit veil of traditionalism and art.  Sure, there is some weight to the argument, but in the sheer rat race of the world and business, printed manga isn’t going to be able to keep up with the rise of artists who learn how to cater their art style to a digital medium.

If someone tells me about the next Squid Game or Itaewon Class and I’m interested, I’m going to want to check it out immediately.  Sure, it would be cool to have a physical edition of something, but as far as a customer experience goes, being unable to get it will definitely sour me on the property, even though such was out of their control.  But being able to hop on my phone and download it immediately and be immediately able to check it out, that’s the very definition of convenience and an immediate win for webtoons.

I understand the tradition argument, and there is merit to having physical shit.  But what all this really boils down to is the obvious conclusion that is the title of this post: ho hum, another instance where Korea has shown their superiority over Japan.  No matter how much all the fucking weebs of the world try and defend it, it’s hard to compete tangible evidence of dollars yen won.

Re: Lensa, AI artwork and theft

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

In most cases, I don’t have much idea of what’s going on in the world other than what I see people talking about on social media.  I simply don’t go out of my way like I used to, to seek out information and the happenings in the world as I occasionally did in the life before children.  However, over the last few days, the topic of some AI art generator, Lensa, has been noticeably a hot topic as far as my digital eyes can see.

Mostly because it’s been determined that Lensa’s art database in which it pulls its art generation from has been built up from billions and billions of images of photos and artwork from the internet, mostly with no sense of consent or permission, which ultimately concludes with the notion that they are using a fuckload of stolen artwork to feed the database.

In this debate, I’ve noticed that there are two very prevalent sides, both of which like in so many cases, have their feet firmly implanted in the mud and neither seemingly willing to yield a single digital e-inch on their opinions.  There’s the side of the creators, the people who have been creating, artwork, or rather content, whose creations have been absorbed and usurped into Lensa’s database without any sort of authorization, and feeding a machine that is spitting out AI-generated results at the beck and call for its increasing base of users.  This is the side of the equation that is unhappy, angry and calling for the cancellation of a service that has stolen the work and creations of countless artists, for use in a, for now, trendy art generator.

On the other side are, what I like to call, are the consumers.  These are the people who have been using Lensa to entertain themselves by creating all sorts of modified images of themselves or whomever they want to process through the Lensa AI.  All of these people are pretty much completely okay with Lensa and where they get their content from, and wish for people to leave Lensa alone and let them have their fun photo generator, regardless of negative perception of what their database is being fed from.

From what I’ve been witnessing, creators are furious because in most cases, many of them can cite examples of their work having already been fed into the Lensa database.  Understandably, they are very unhappy with some AI hoovering up the things they’ve created, and really wish that people, including their friends who fall into the other side to stop using Lensa, and try to educate them to why they shouldn’t.

However, the consumers, are in no rush to stop being Lensa, because regardless of education and regardless of how their artist friends may feel about it, they’re in no rush to stop using it.  It’s giving them entertainment, it’s giving them amusement, but most importantly, it’s giving them content in the form of digitally altered images of themselves in fun and kooky ways, in a variety of art styles generated by AI.  I’ve noticed that these people aren’t the types to just quietly use Lensa and hope nobody judges them for it, but instead are usually the ones who defend it, tell their artist friends to let it go and chill, and we all know how well that goes with people, especially on the internet.

If it wasn’t obvious, I’m of course on the side of the artists.  Out of curiosity, I floated some example images of photos of mine that I’ve known are pretty well seen, and sure enough, they’re populating in the Lensa, which means that I’m also “a victim” of AI theft.  I don’t want to delve deeper, because I know of the thousands of photos and images that I’ve uploaded onto the internet over the last 24 years, lord only knows just how much of my shit has already fed some AI.

I’ve concluded that it’s not really a situation where it’s artists versus Lensa, but really artists versus the narcissism of consumers, and when the day is over, that’s truly an unwinnable battle for those who create.  It’s like cockroaches, you can kill 99 out of 100 roaches in a home, but as long as that 100th cockroach lives, infestation is inevitable to occur again.  Artists can beg and plead with all of their friends and followers to stop using Lensa, but as long as they have the few people who will quietly use it, they’re never going to get any sense of victory in the matter.

Because that’s really all it is, at the root of things.  Consumers like getting fun pictures of themselves and they don’t really care where they’re coming from, and Lensa has, whether by design or not, tapped into a human behavior that is their biggest ally in getting their service off the ground.  The consumers are doing the defense for them, and the artists are exhausting themselves screaming into the aether, and Lensa is quietly growing and spreading without any consequence.

Whether it was intentional or not, it is an ingenious, albeit shithead execution.

Behavioral observations as a new Tesla driver

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

To cut to the chase, I bought a Tesla.  Okay, it’s really my wife’s car and she’ll be the one making the payments on it, but on paper, I’m the purchaser, since I don’t have student loans and my credit was more optimal to get the financing done.  But we have a Tesla, and I get to drive it around every now and then.

It hasn’t been long, but it’s definitely a fun new toy to drive around in.  There’s definitely an adjustment period getting used to regenerative braking, and how you can literally drive with your foot on a single pedal.  The feeling of there being no gears shifting at all as you accelerate, and the sheer lack of sound of motors or smells of exhaust definitely makes you feel like you’re driving a spaceship.

Without question, there’s still a treasure chest worth of experience yet to be tapped as far as diving deeper into ownership of our Tesla, and I’m sure weeks, months and maybe years down the line, there will be functions and features that we’ll still be discovering, and hopefully none that will have been gamechangers early in our ownership.

But the point of this post is about behavioral observations that I’ve had, now that I’ve been driving around in the Tesla myself for a few weeks now.  I didn’t really think much about it after experiencing some observations, I guess I can kind of understand what’s going on around me whenever I, or my wife are riding around in the Tesla.

  1. Surrounding drivers are more aggressive. This is really the big thing that I’ve noticed the most when driving around myself.  Turning on a turn signal to initiate a lane change, way more frequently than I’ve noticed in any other car I’ve been in or driven, results in adjacent drivers stepping on the gas to forcibly deny me entry.  If at a merge point, surrounding drivers are noticeably more aggressive and out to make sure they get ahead of me, regardless of our spatial positioning.  At stop lights, in just the last two weeks, I’ve had more people act like they’re Brian O’Connor on me, and turn a green light into an impromptu drag race, and seemingly make a point of getting in front of me like they just won the le Mans.  I’m all like, buddy, I’m still trying to learn the pedal of this car, I’m definitely not trying to get in any races here.  Plus, I’m 40 with kids, I’m long past caring about 95% of red light matchups.

    Don’t get me wrong, I’ve pushed the pedal a few times, and the acceleration is staggering.  In most cases, I probably could smoke a lot of the cars that have gone Dom Toretto on me, but just because I could doesn’t mean that I am, especially where I’m still new to this and learning about the car.

    But I don’t know if it’s the color of the car, or the notion that all Tesla drivers must be rich assholes, but it’s pretty undeniable that drivers all around me, when I’m in the Tesla, have their aggression ramped up like that one cheat code in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City where you can make everyone super aggressive.

Continue reading “Behavioral observations as a new Tesla driver” →

One step closer to Demolition Man

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

Impetus: Taco Bell opens a state-of-the-art, two story Taco Bell restaurant in Minnesota that prioritizes app and mobile pickup via drive thru lanes

And just like that, we’re one step closer to entering the world of Demolition Man.  The world is already full of pussies, the police are pretty ineffective at their jobs, and although not contained to one singular Simon Phoenix, there are insane sociopaths that run rampant who never seem to be brought to justice.  It only seems fitting that the time has come for Taco Bell to execute a preemptive strike at fulfilling their destiny of surviving the franchise wars, thus making all restaurants in the world, Taco Bell.

I eat way more fast food than I care to admit.  My excuse is that it really can’t be helped, because I’m still very much in daily survival mode with my two kid girls running rampant in my life, and by the time they’re fed, bathed and in bed, it’s already getting late, I’m hangry, and I just want something fast and delicious, regardless of the health detriment fast food is known to be.  All the same, I know what I like, and I would say that I know my way around the players in the franchise wars pretty decently.

I love Bojangles, I think Chick Fil-A’s app is the gold standard, and Zaxby’s is always a good way to break up the monotony.  Freddy’s has entered the market around here, and I hear that a Whataburger has opened up near Kennesaw State University, which isn’t an unreasonable drive if I actually had the time and patience to go there.  Wendy’s and Taco Bell are also welcome options, but with more of a gambler’s mentality, because you just don’t know when one of them will light a stick of dynamite in your digestive system, as satisfyingly delicious they reliably are.  I have no qualms with McDonald’s, and for whatever reason, Burger King doesn’t seem to do to well in the Atlanta market, but I’d consider them if there were one within a reasonable distance.

The thing is, at this current juncture of my life, and well fuck, at any juncture of my life, I tend to favor convenience and ease of getting my food, and hoping it’s accurate, above all else.  I know there are many who don’t like Chick Fil-A because of the original owning family’s religious anti-gay believing, but goddamn is their app good, and their restaurants loaded with hard-working brainwashed teenagers who get shit done fast, well, and like efficient machines.  So I go there above all else, because they’re reliable to get shit fast and consistent.  Bojangles and Wendy’s are like playing craps, because there’s like a 1/3 chance that the drive-thru line will be not be shitty.

But if this two-story Taco Bell in Minnesota goes gangbusters and inspires all Taco Bells around the country to adopt, that would be a game changer in like two seconds.  As efficient as all the Chick Fil-As are, their Achilles is usually the limitations of the sizes of their lots, and there are often times more cars hogging up space there than can be handled, so even if some of them have adopted app-only lines, if cars can’t get to them, they’re not really any better.

It looks like Taco Bell Defy’s saving grace is the fact that the mobile-only lines have independent entrances, and the most intriguing things are the way that the restaurant is literally built above the pickup area, so people are basically getting their food from a teller tube.  It does sound a little outlandish, but you know it has the capability of working miracles, and this is why that a Defy store is being tested in the first place.

What I’m really getting to is the fact that if Taco Bell Defy restaurants start popping up in other places, I have no doubt in my mind that they would rise up in my rankings if they were anywhere convenient.  As much of a luddite I can be sometimes, if there’s one thing about modern technology that I do love, it’s mobile food ordering, and I very much favor those companies that adopt it in well-functioning, logical and efficient manners.

I’m really rooting for this Defy, to defy the odds of surviving in the food industry, to where this can be somewhat of a standard throughout the world.  It would definitely inspire me to go to Taco Bell more, as long as they didn’t liquify my insides with their squirrel meat too frequently.  And then it would force other competitors to start trying to compete and copy, and hopefully we can embark in a world where more fast food joints are two stories and have mobile-priority lines for us gluttons who need our shit quick and efficiently.

I sometimes think only I can find the negative in a really great deal

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

So in my last bitchy dad post, I mentioned that some really great news came my way, that I couldn’t really feel happy about because I was too busy being a bitchy dad at that moment in my life.  But to any of my zero readers who read my shit with regularity might’ve seen a post a little while back that mentioned that I was in the hunt for a new job.

Well, I succeeded.  An offer came my way, that I’m 99% certain that I’m going to accept, because it’s a higher title than where I’m at now, a fairly substantial raise from what I make, and if/when the day comes when we have to occasionally go into the office, it’s actually a closer drive than my current job, and I wouldn’t have to get on a single highway.

All things considered, it’s a win in every aspect.

So why am I writing about it as if there was some sort of questionable catch?

The thing is, there really are none.  At least from most normal standards.  The only reason I’m not completely gung-ho about the whole opportunity is that in spite of all the wins, this wasn’t my first pick in my job search.

Continue reading “I sometimes think only I can find the negative in a really great deal” →

Get with the times or get owned

~ dannyhong ~ Leave a comment

TL;DR – smarmy New Yorker declares people who order their food online in advance are ruining lunch for everyone else

I know the topic of Chick fil-A is a contentious one for a lot of people.  Yes, they are/were run by some weird religious shitheads who are/were homophobic and probably also racist, and have been caught numerous times having donated money to some other hate-mongering shitheads and legitimately organized hate groups.

But their food is still delicious, there are two Chick fil-A’s within extremely convenient distance from my house, and I’ve got two kids that suck up all of my time and energy to where I have literally no time at all for myself, much less time to eat, and when I’m at a crossroads of Chick fil-A or starve to death, the chicken of bigots still wins out.  Sorry not sorry, is what the kids say these days, I hear.

Furthermore, Chick fil-A’s app is pretty much the greatest app on the face of the internet.  It’s smooth, has a clean and tidy interface, it’s smooth, executes clearly and without any bugginess or lagging, and it’s fucking smooth.  In less than 20 seconds, I can place an order and have it sent to one of the nearby CFA’s, and all I have to do is drive up and pick it up, and I barely have to interact with any of the eerily cheery teenagers and don’t have to do any exchanging of currency in person.

Not going to lie either, it gives me a semi whenever I show up to the restaurant, and pick the correct drive-thru lane, where I can check in and bypass multiple pleebs in the other lane, stumped by some luddite who doesn’t know what they want, needs a minute, and is paying in cash in person (and usually isn’t wearing a mask and is probably white but that’s besides the point here).

The point is, ordering food in advance and rolling in and picking it up is the true way of the future, and those who haven’t adopted it, or are not willing to adopt it, are fucking living in the past, and deserve to get owned for not getting with the times.

This smarmy Slate author and all the other pleebs he was in line with, deserved the loss of their lunch hours, for not having the wherewithal to be decisive and be prepared, because the pandemic only accelerated the timelines in which online ordering in advance was to become the more efficient and practical way to order food.

Chick fil-A has an outstanding app, but I’m definitely no stranger to using third-party apps or the restaurants’ sites themselves to put in my orders in advance.  Like Uber Eats or BeyondMenu, most of these sites will have no additional fees attached for pick ups, because you still have to get out of the house, drive somewhere and make a physical pickup, but most of the time, it’s still more efficient than waiting for someone to deliver, and usually cheaper too.

But the point is, those who are decisive and know what they want, deserve to be rewarded with the ability to get in and get out faster than those who want to rely on spontaneity or are indecisive on what they want to eat.  And if pleebs don’t want to get stuck in lines behind invisible customers, they need to both get with the times and learn to be more decisive in figuring out what they want to eat before they even put their shoes on and walk out the door.

Otherwise, I will continue to relish in skipping lines everywhere I go, to grab my pre-ordered, pre-paid shit, and be out the door while they’re stuck waiting, and getting owned.