Althouse: At the Saturday Night Café...

April 12, 2025

At the Saturday Night Café...

... you can write about whatever you like.

27 comments:

Mason G said...: How often does the light bulb in your oven burn out? Not very, right? So why do they sell replacement bulbs in packs of two?; 4/12/25, 6:53 PM
Narr said...: Musk's XAI plant in Memphis is getting a lot of flak from the community. Or as the newspukes would say, "The Community."

There are some portable generators on site, that apparently are a health concern to some in regard to asthma and cancer.

Poor, mostly black South Memphis has always had a lot of asthma and cancer, but XAI just got there . . .; 4/12/25, 7:22 PM
Lem Vibe Banditory said...: The Batman Michael Caine quote says, "Some men just want to watch the world burn". Turns out "some men" also included women and children.

The horror... the horror.; 4/12/25, 7:28 PM
Lem Vibe Banditory said...: YouTube: If they bring back the Woolly mammoth (by 2028), will they have a gamey taste? Or are they going to taste like chicken?; 4/12/25, 7:46 PM
Aggie said...: ..."If they bring back the Woolly mammoth (by 2028), will they have a gamey taste? Or are they going to taste like chicken? "

It's not the taste, it's the hair.

This is the funniest f*ckin' story I've read all week, pure gold comedy: Donald Trump is a Master Troll; 4/12/25, 8:00 PM
Lem Vibe Banditory said...: Then again, the number of worms and crickets needed to feed the world's population are going to have to be raised in labs. Should there be no room at the Inn for the Woolly Monmouth. So, in Lem Vibe theory, worms and crickets will taste like chicken. Always look on the bright side and listen to the science.; 4/12/25, 8:24 PM
MadisonMan said...: My oven doesn't have an interior bulb. But the exhaust fan above has lights, and they need to be replaced -- two of them! Probably just come in packages of 1.; 4/12/25, 8:31 PM
MadTownGuy said...: AI is thirsty

Making AI Less "Thirsty": Uncovering and Addressing the Secret Water Footprint of AI Models

The growing carbon footprint of artificial intelligence (AI) has been undergoing public scrutiny. Nonetheless, the equally important water (withdrawal and consumption) footprint of AI has largely remained under the radar. For example, training the GPT-3 language model in Microsoft's state-of-the-art U.S. data centers can directly evaporate 700,000 liters of clean freshwater, but such information has been kept a secret. More critically, the global AI demand is projected to account for 4.2-6.6 billion cubic meters of water withdrawal in 2027, which is more than the total annual water withdrawal of 4-6 Denmark or half of the United Kingdom. This is concerning, as freshwater scarcity has become one of the most pressing challenges. To respond to the global water challenges, AI can, and also must, take social responsibility and lead by example by addressing its own water footprint. In this paper, we provide a principled methodology to estimate the water footprint of AI, and also discuss the unique spatial-temporal diversities of AI's runtime water efficiency. Finally, we highlight the necessity of holistically addressing water footprint along with carbon footprint to enable truly sustainable AI.

Copy of full article:
https://arxiv.org/pdf/2304.03271; 4/12/25, 8:52 PM
Jerry said...: Went to see the Minecraft Movie today.

Started off kinda lame but then completely embraced the concept, leaned into HARD then went fully LEGENDARILY ridiculous - and it was GREAT.

Cheesy? Hell, yeah.
Silly? Oh, yeah.
Fun seeing Jason Momoa as an aging, somewhat cowardly gamer?
Yep.
Watching Jack Black overact? Yeah... he does that well.

Would I recommend?

If you're looking for something that'll make you go "Oh no, they DIDN'T do that", something that makes fun of a LOT of villainous movie tropes, something that's fun in a ridiculous way - you'll probably like this.

If you've been complaining (like me) that the stuff Hollywood puts out is boring and formulaic or woke - this isn't. It's fun and crazy, and I thought it well worth the money.

And there's two different scenes in the credits, so stay for those. The second MIGHT be setting up for a sequel, though it's hard to imagine where they'd go from this.

Enjoy!; 4/12/25, 8:56 PM
Eva Marie said...: @Aggie: is she mentally ill?; 4/12/25, 10:05 PM
Jerry said...: @Eva Marie: Maybe more on the order of "I can't be seen actually consorting with Hitler incarnate! If I hide my face, nobody will know it's me!"; 4/12/25, 10:43 PM
Political Junkie said...: Wife and I did lots of gardening today. Can't believe she turned me into a gardening fan. Gardening is peaceful, long term, tiring, and sometimes expensive. But nice having something the wife and I share. Cheers all.; 4/12/25, 10:48 PM
Aggie said...: @Eva Marie, I was telling someone else that this is emblematic of the hollow and craven character these people have, that seek public office for its power, for the sake of power. She was the worst of the governors during COVID if you remember - closing down hardware and paint stores to prevent people from fixing up the home they were confined to, or gardening. Purely for authoritarian gratification. And don't forget, she's probably assuming that the press is going cooperate and run protective cover so her political brand won't be damaged by appearing with Trump, and not only that, but as a lesser supplicant seeking a favor.

Sure she's a disgrace - we're just seeing how big of one, how absolutely devoid of any value she is. I hope this gets a lot of sunlight.; 4/12/25, 10:48 PM
Curious George said...: "But nice having something the wife and I share."

How about golf?; 4/12/25, 10:53 PM
Kakistocracy said...: Trump Exempts Smartphones, Other Electronics From Chinese Tariffs ~ WSJ

Trump has now placed and removed tariffs repeatedly with zero concessions from other countries. Which chapter of Art of the Deal described negotiating with yourself? The message to other countries — seems to be they should wait for when Trump concedes to Trump.; 4/12/25, 10:54 PM
DINKY DAU 45 said...: BOND MARKET shows trump "the art of retreat" Market still not even near where DARK BRANDON gave to him JANUARY 20TH 43000 PLUS...lets go man...I know man woman cat dog nitwit,,,you passed the test again and your still 209 pounds 6 3 (wink); 4/12/25, 11:09 PM
gadfly said...: Full details of the Trump physical, which was conducted by Navy Captain Sean Barbabella, will be released by the Navy Doctor's famous wife, Barbarella Barbabella, on Sunday.

But one worry showed up. Trump was asked about the cognitive assessment included in his annual doctor’s visit. While he seemed unable or unwilling to recall specific details, he told the press, “It’s a pretty well known test." Whatever it is. I got every one right.”

For sure he got the "hens laying 5 eggs " partially right.; 4/12/25, 11:49 PM
Christopher B said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 4/13/25, 1:20 AM
Original Mike said...: Matt Tiabbi: "The global economy created by both parties from the eighties onward was not only designed to be a giant predatory clusterfuck, but nearly impossible to unwind. Forget ‘incrementally,’ it’s got to be exploded. Would more of the same and a slow death be better?”

And:

"[China is] a serial trade and human rights violator that with the help of decades of corrupt politicians from both parties polluted, price-dumped, and stole its way to a generation of American jobs and revenue, now owns so much of our debt that we must put up with its shit indefinitely. That’s the point of view of our own federal news agency. We have officially cucked ourselves past the point of no return.

Trump or no Trump, the international trade system needs to be blown to hell."

Disentanglement is not going to be easy, but it is necessary. We can not continue down the road we are on.; 4/13/25, 1:33 AM
wildswan said...: A Doge update
DOGE has found that the dead and the unborn are getting Unemployment Insurance and is putting a stop to it. DOGE found similar issues at the Small Business Administration a few weeks ago. $631 million in loans had gone to people over 115 or under 11.
I'm just surprised that a Dem judge hasn't issued an injunction to make the payments to the dead continue until they've had their day in court. After all, the dead are often loyal Dem voters I've heard and might well have provided the margin of victory for several Dem judges, maybe for the very judge that issues an injunction on their behalf. Anyhow, it seems you can take it with you. And furthermore, it is wrong to say "We brought nothing into this world and we take nothing out of it." Some of us do both. It's called American exceptionalism.

https://x.com/doge April 9
"An initial survey of Unemployment Insurance claims since 2020 revealed the following:
- 24.5k people over 115 years old claimed $59M in benefits
- 28k people between 1 and 5 years old claimed $254M in benefits
- 9.7k people with birth dates over 15 years in the future claimed $69M in benefits
In one case, someone with a birthday in 2154 claimed $41k."; 4/13/25, 1:45 AM
Kate said...: @MadTownGuy -- Alaska (and Greenland, probably) has unlimited water. AI needs to build in the North Country, but they won't. People think of the Arctic as an abstract, not a viable place for industry that isn't oil.

@Jerry -- I'm so glad to hear Minecraft is good. I was hoping.; 4/13/25, 3:08 AM
Christopher B said...: The people who spent the last four years claiming a shambling corpse was the best Biden evah (likely true but not how they meant it) are sure spending a lot of pixels trying to convince us a guy who meets the media and public virtually every day has cognitive issues.; 4/13/25, 6:38 AM
Breezy said...: It’s reaffirming the value of accepting things as they are and dealing with them forthrightly to see how twisted up in knots the left finds itself. Lying and gaslighting for years has put them in a wholly untenable position. Will they learn? Not likely.; 4/13/25, 6:44 AM
Mark said...: The White Potus skit from last night's SNL is the best thing they've done all year, if you get the Season 3 jokes.; 4/13/25, 6:53 AM
Jersey Fled said...: “
How often does the light bulb in your oven burn out? Not very, right? So why do they sell replacement bulbs in packs of two”

So you can lose one after several years and buy two more.; 4/13/25, 7:41 AM
DINKY DAU 45 said...: Im seeing trump claim Martial Law before the mid term elections so he dont have to face that and can claim,like Zelenski ,cant have elections during such times, It sounds like a feasible pln to continue disregarding the law and Bondi shes always an IN! It should become more evident as time moves along,watch out for the signals, this perp will stop at nothing .. Maybe bomb Iran just to juice it up a little. 224 pounds cmon man his tits are bigger than that..; 4/13/25, 12:41 PM
walter said...: " $631 million in loans had gone to people over 115 or under 11. " The latter under the category "incubators".
Dinker must be very upset the Lefty NGOs will be relieved of guvmint funding. Plus..Trump's fat!!! SKY is FALLING!!!; 4/13/25, 4:27 PM