Latest Activity > middleearth

Sites

All the latest Neocities site news!

Neocities allows anyone to create a free web site to express themselves. Want to create your own awesome site? Join us!

Here's another little epilogue to the AI problem. Robin Hobb (AKA Meghan Lindholm) has discovered that she and other authors' work have been used by Meta in a data set to train AI without their consent. Here's a couple of links to the Author's Guild about the issue... https://authorsguild.org/news/meta-libgen-ai-training-book-heist-what-authors-need-to-know/
1 like
1 like
bright-eyes's avatar bright-eyes 5 months ago

I did a search on this site to see which authors are in the Lib Gen database, and works from everyone I looked up came up in it, from authors like Tolkien to modern day writers like Marie Brennan.

1 like
readingproject's avatar readingproject 5 months ago

It's pretty disgusting. You've obviously been following this. You suggested I do a blog post last month about it. I think I'll wait to the beginning of next month when the post will be active for longer. Think I will also include something in my next newsletter. If you want to write anything for either of those I'd be happy to include it in either of those. Thanks

Odinists - 1% spirituality and 99% hating everything.
Everyone thinks that AI is going to destroy the world in the same manner that you see in Terminator, I, Robot or Humans, but in actuality it's going to be through spreading mis-information through over consumption of power/water contributing to climate change, AI generated content, copyright infringement, bogus crafting patterns that don't work and fake art.
In other news, Harper-Colins is once again having a 50% off sale, so I managed to snag four Raymond E. Feist books, and a Meghan Lindholm...
Stuff like this really pisses me off, and it's an insult to my grandmother's generation... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clynxz2ypv8o
I was hoping to have an afternoon on LOTRO, but it looks like it's their maintenance day. Always seems to happen...
One thing that cracks me up is when you're cleaning, reorganizing, packing up to move home/unpacking after you've moved home, you always find a random object that you didn't know how you came to possess it, what is actually is or what it's used for, all you know is that you have no use for it or that it's trash...
bright-eyes's avatar bright-eyes 6 months ago

Random metal objects that seem to come from something mechanical/DIY seem to be the most common, plastic second.

I thought that you might be interested in doing a piece about this on the blog portion of the Reading Project. I've noticed over the past year or so that there are a lot of low quality e-books showing up on Amazon in particular - you can usually tell them because the author doesn't have a fantastic fiction page about them and their books, and they usually have
1 like
bright-eyes's avatar bright-eyes 6 months ago

a series of books which have a lot of books in them in an inconceivably short period of time. https://www.404media.co/ai-generated-slop-is-already-in-your-public-library-3/

1 like
readingproject's avatar readingproject 6 months ago

I've been noticing ads pop up on my feed promoting 'AI' programs that will get your novel written in the afternoon so you can have it published and selling by dinner, sort-of-thing. I made comment about this sort of thing in the sidebar for a recent review on Richard Osman's We Solve Murders. It's a depressing situation

readingproject's avatar readingproject 6 months ago

I've just finished reading the article. It's really terrible. I hadn't thought about the issue librarians face, of trying to curate their collections and the problems of paying to use low-quality AI-produced material that is not clearly labelled as AI generated. I was speaking to several authors last year who were also depressed about how this is changing their industry

bright-eyes's avatar bright-eyes 6 months ago

It is. I first came across the problem with Kindle e-books because I looked up some that looked interesting and then when I opened the page, they were badly written. There are several apps that e-mail kindle book suggestions to you which you can download for free, or low cost and I suspect that most of those are AI generated, or at least poorly written and edited. I now only buy/download kindle books from authors I

1 like
bright-eyes's avatar bright-eyes 6 months ago

recognize. It is frustrating as a reader and it's probably equally as frustrating for authors, especially new ones because people will be reluctant to buy/read their work. In some ways, I wished I'd bought a different e-reader because I don't see the same problem associated with other e-readers, and kindle unlimited isn't that useful.

1 like
readingproject's avatar readingproject 6 months ago

I had an ereader many years ago but didn't enjoy the experience. Reading old fashioned books mitigates this problem to a large degree. But I can see scenarios, long-term, where even that could be affected.

There's a nazi bloke on dreamwidth moaning about people with disabilities and chronic illnesses like it's some kind of spiritual and moral failing. Should I tell the guy that it could happen to anyone, including him? My partner was diagnosed with a heart condition last year, his son in law almost died from a brain hemorrhage in the summer and has only now gone back to work (I hope he stays ok), countless people -
1 like
bright-eyes's avatar bright-eyes 7 months ago

we've known have become ill and died with cancer, one friend witnessed a bloke getting shot in the head while he was at work and getting severe ptsd from it, folks in the military can at any time, get permanently injured during their day's work, a person can get injured while crossing the road, a baby can be born with genetic condition...

1 like
We have a normal winter, relatively speaking, compared to what we've had for yonks... OK, it could be because we are further north than we have lived before, but still... So we have a normal winter, and the BBC posts this rubbish... What do you want? We have a normal winter and you try to say that it is abnormal, but ignore years of warm winters because it's more - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn938ze4yyeo
bright-eyes's avatar bright-eyes 7 months ago

There you have it, folks. A normal winter is more abnormal than an abnormal one...

Time marches on... But what I think is worrying in conjunction with all of this, is the rise of the far-right all over the world, not just in the US (for obvious reasons), but also elsewhere. I've been following the Bulletin for a number of years now (heck, it always surprises me that the seconds countdown was only announced a couple of years back - it seems longer to me!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqifSCvzaFI
1 like
bright-eyes's avatar bright-eyes 7 months ago

Moving it on one second only seems a little bit optimistic - I would have moved it on further. I wonder if Starmer and the rest of the politicians will grow up and start making sensible moves to make things better? Probably not, because we wouldn't be in this mess if they had.

If tech companies can rip off creators with AI, then fan ficers, fan artists, musicians, etc, should be able to make money of work that isn't their own too. (I don't believe that, but changes in law to allow tech companies to use AI to generate money like this is a farce.) https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c8xqv9g8442o
2 likes
Is Channel 5 feeling alright? An actual, traditional, sci-fi space show? I didn't know that those were made now adays...
bright-eyes's avatar bright-eyes 7 months ago

Real Sci-Fi is a rarity on British run channels these days.

Storm Eowyn is wrecking havoc with our internet connection and has blown down a panel of the rickety fence... Just about what I would expect from a storm named after the slayer of the Witch-King.
Here's my response to people moaning about students - I want more students because I want more books!

Popular Tags

art   music   videogames   programming   anime   games   personal   food   writing   cats   blog   movies   gaming   books   fashion   photography   comics   design   animation   horror   game   coding   drawing   furry   manga   portfolio   technology   poetry   cute   ocs   programacion   education   arte   kpop   reading   history   fun   sports   html   musica   animals   film   roblox   philosophy   literature   programing   science   tech   web   nature   politics   travel   minecraft   videogame   gamedev   retro   school   computers   youtube   cartoons   pokemon   2000s   videojuegos   life   illustration   video   blogging   diary   fantasy   dogs   memes   internet   random   love   comic   videos   pink   gardening   test   linux   idk   webcomic   queer   kawaii   nostalgia   news   fanfiction   fandom   oc   tv   y2k   arg   business   worldbuilding   emo   ai   silly   aesthetic   cars   cooking   journal   health   stuff   vocaloid   learning   90s   fiction   space   math   media   website   css   scifi   crafts   stories   films   graphics   cutecore   software   homestuck   lgbt   football   cat   sanrio   marketing   culture   etc   goth   painting   punk   commissions   3d   arts   pixelart   sport   artist   digitalart   archive   funny   javascript   characters   religion   dnd   metal   me   trans   lgbtq   entertainment   cinema   diy   development   baking   psychology   cool   comida   fanart   dance   program   graphicdesign   scene   journaling   crochet   streaming   sonic   code   rpg   aboutme   webcomics   makeup   story   editing   friends   roleplay   indie   webcore   comedy   plants   creativity   gay   webdesign   hacking   weird   educacion   cyberpunk   series   shows   ttrpg   electronics   guitar   languages   lifestyle   computer   zines   engineering   clothes   reviews   rock   informatica   it   soccer   oldweb   originalcharacters   weirdcore   basketball   community   aesthetics   social   vaporwave   fnaf   everything   discord   sewing   vtuber   study   about   pets   html5   spirituality   project   information   photos   beauty   nintendo   testing   shop   storytelling   language   movie   clothing   japan   architecture   mlp   vintage   blogs   undertale   magic   biology   crypto   money   shopping   cosplay   blinkies   digital   radio   experimental   coffee   thoughts   deltarune   nothing   tecnologia   ttrpgs   fitness   lore   flowers   resume   chat   furries   info   physics   book   creative   japanese   lain   bugs   autism   hobbies   futbol   occult   other   websites   wip   birds   site   cybersecurity   witchcraft   alternative   ghchs   profile   vr   singing   astronomy   dolls   research   television   juegos   finance   band   fandoms   system   gamedevelopment   events   carrd   webdevelopment   sleep   anything   projects   linguistics   apps   splatoon   genshin   python   transgender   work   theatre   sleeping   meme   dreams   free   fish   rap   personalwebsite   photo   pixels   fortnite   toys   vampires   robots   deportes   aliens   knitting   developer   mentalhealth   crafting   windows   tvshows   touhou   fanfic   all   app   interests   wiki   security   puzzle   drawings   astrology   dog   family   a   links   collecting   online   animations   fnf   pizza   fansite   mathematics   humor   cartoon   data   stamps   lol   bio   modding   coquette   english   roleplaying   skateboarding   interactive   characterdesign   gothic   dragons   adventure   mystery   moda   visualnovels   gamedesign   no   gallery   zonelets   dancing   twitch   poems   teaching   hobby   breakcore   hiking   gyaru   intro   yaoi   rp   osc   romance   tarot   twine   gifs   pixel   journalism   scenecore   essays   zine   medicine   objectshows   ffxiv   home   privacy   frutigeraero   resources   jfashion   chess   android   tf2   death   hiphop   noise   gatos   marvel   dreamcore   creepypasta   danganronpa   gym   meow   puzzles   audio   rpgs   graphic   blender   vkei   awesome   shrine   mythology   progamming   communism   plushies   ecommerce   law   swag   podcast   robotics   socialmedia   myself   deporte   recipes   car   ocean   none   indiegames   hellokitty   dark   bfdi   omori   piano   musicals   novels   introduction   animes   bitcoin   misc   traveling   paranormal   lolita   mario   boardgames   production   stars   things   christianity   activism   yuri   pictures   scratch   electronic   utau   girls   wrestling   old   educational   popculture   anarchism   vent   computing   bunnies   pjsk   java   clowns   doom   spanish   foods   lesbian   flash   images   student   webdev   pc   god   jpop   dev   geography   feminism   80s   vtubers   birthday   realestate   epic   jewelry   help   style   transformers   store   running   maths   sharks   travelling   tumblr   3dmodeling   brasil   filmmaking   environment   js   designing   computerscience   college   trains   creepy   plurality   cafe   translation   starwars   southpark   bts   dinosaurs   grunge   tools   baseball   unblocked   outdoors   otherkin   programar   event   jogos   programas   pastel   lego   tabletop   warriorcats   songs   estudiante   craft   stickers   services   retrogaming   peliculas   monsters   cyber   persona   collection   novel   collage   forum   yoga   multimedia   enstars   chemistry   jazz   yes   weed   podcasts   studying   tcc   construction   homepage   gamer   therian   volleyball   escuela   videoediting   curso   fotografia   hardware   techno   shoes   mcr   search   whatever   bl   acting   args   closedspecies   weather   cine   supernatural   cricket   horses   opensource   blue   tea   kirby   kidcore   truecrime   insects   libros   turismo   shitposting   freedom   jesus   angels   miku   sound   medical   maps   lgbtqia   trading   amor   skating   theater   ecology   petz   restaurant   learn   pop   bsd   vhs   people   pinterest   text   tourism   hi   salud   surrealism   socialism   hockey   economics   dj   digitalmarketing   videography   programmer   depression   analysis   service   vlog   animanga   conspiracy   kandi   egl   cryptocurrency   did   drama   drugs   world   alt   ideas   blockchain   modeling   historia   tiktok   swimming   animales   author   furniture   mobile   artwork   edm   species   rats   cv   surreal   skincare   fishing   ropa   tattoos   bible   miriadax   general   frogs   informacion   cultura   homework   green   alterhuman   racing   truth   academic   videogaming   tutorials   rpgmaker   sciencefiction   healthcare   chatting   academia   halloween   wedding   plural   draw   scary   css3   3dprinting   cleaning   literatura   genshinimpact   networking   foss   chill   brazil   jjba   women   estudio   nerd   ambient   knowledge   programa   cozy   soft   dc   server   aviation   anarchy   library   mods   google   practice   twitter   cryptids   noticias   ghosts   christian   hair   onepiece   bands   visualnovel   glitch   society   water   hardcore   erotica   conlang   tennis   manhwa   sculpture   company   review   analog   class   friendship   guns   live   girly   cycling   ux   sociology   f1   bot   graffiti   frontend   sustainability   quotes   neocities   anthropology   cs   retrogames   kids   trinkets   lostmedia   shitpost   schoolproject   gacha   programacao   university   programs   kdrama   instagram   rhythmgames   advertising   creation   sites   prompts   archives   character   colors   crime   batman   future   startrek   blood   dating   writer   synthesizers   theory   eating   church   sketching   training   revival   camping   interactivefiction   evangelion   filmes   ultrakill   datascience   tareas   bikes   idols   apple   house   theology   esoteric   meditation   shrines   building   tattoo   jobs   artes   vampire   purple   tecnology   articles   garden   performance   cards   industrial   webseries   3dart   play   otaku   chaos   disney   medieval   illustrations   tic   entretenimiento   viajes   neopets   hack   analoghorror   silliness   magazine   animal   sims   communication   tarea   rainbow   youtuber   superheroes   spooky   rants   designer   desarrollo   liminal   finalfantasy   php   magick   shoegaze   photoshop   new   livros   notes   something   cult   writting   content   mylittlepony   ceramics   zelda   facts   halflife   desing   download   visualkei   overwatch   ar   french   anthro   animalcrossing   creatures   rambling   miscellaneous   repair   joke   originalcharacter   disability   black   vrchat   talking   mangas   tokipona   os   paganism   jokes   musicproduction   voiceacting   developing   wellness   satire   commission   doodles   conlangs   selfship   exercise   vinyl   party   index   cheese   spiderman   harrypotter   folklore   trabajo   scp   webring   handmade   vtubing   crocheting   kin   csgo   shifting   embroidery   yugioh   forsaken   club   archival   geek   hotel   map   decor   nails   quiz   agriculture   lolitafashion   marxism   tokusatsu   private   mtg   military   generator   mushrooms   gender   spiritual   calculator   sweets   4chan   unblockedgames   yapping   pet   oldroblox   tips   vegan   kink   happy   self   rave   ranfren   beer   thrifting   projectsekai   stupid   digimon   terror   adhd   time   retrocomputing   musician   bass   tutorial   chiptune   secret   animating   doctorwho   proyecto   ciencia   ios   mecha   creating   streamer   seals   pruebas   words   underground   conlanging   lofi   songwriting   beginner   videgames   products   riddle   creativewriting   netflix   hosting   islam   crk   men   ui   randomstuff   statistics   city   unix   mha   collections   electronica   motorcycles   tamagotchi   whimsy   studio   minimalism   sonicthehedgehog   casino   nct   oldinternet   gis   more   arcane   educativo   concerts   daily