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Posted in: 'Amazing' AI de-ages Tom Hanks in new film 'Here' See in context

There is more to acting, though, than just a face. There are plenty of good looking faces that cannot act. There are also plenty of plain or ugly talented actors whose roles are currently limited by their looks.

Things to keep in mind - even though AI can "learn" every John Grisham novel in under the time it takes you to read this article, and even though that AI can well mimic Grishams prose style, it cannot itself write a best selling novel. Likewise for music scores, AI cannot create great scores like John Williams can.

Human fashion models, Muzak musicians performing covers, Ad copy writers and Ad illustrators. Those jobs are currently in danger.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: More than 10,000 people have reached UK in small boats since January See in context

It seems arrivals by boats are a minor (but not insignificant) part of the total of refugee applicants.

67,337 asylum applications were made in the last 12 months [to Dec 2023] (relating to 84,425 people)

according to refugeecouncil dot org dot uk (a pro-refugee intake website). That says nothing about the number who came in without visas and without applying for refugee status.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Posted in: Japan economy suffers worse-than-expected contraction of 0.5% See in context

Even without weak yen, food and energy basic imports are more expensive. Increasing interest rates to compensate is not going to make them cheaper.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Posted in: Green mushrooms See in context

Whereas fireflies light up to attract mates, mushrooms light up to attract insects that will help them spread their spores. In the mushroom world, the phenomenon is called foxfire, and it occurs mostly amid fungi growing on decaying wood

never knew until today

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Posted in: Japan child population shrinks for 43rd straight year See in context

@Kumagaijin - The good news is that there will be plenty of land and abandoned farms for you ...

But you'll have to share with encroaching bears ... judging by your moniker you already know that, or maybe you're a bear?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: Driver arrested after fatally hitting woman on crosswalk in Hiroshima See in context

On the whole I think Japanese drivers are alert and careful, a necessity on streets with no sidewalks. Despite that, it seems most drivers do not stop when someone is waiting to cross a crosswalk - they expect the pedestrian to wait until for a gap. The problem with that is that pedestrians do have right of way, so accidents can happen.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: World wasted 20% of food produced in 2022: U.N. report See in context

@wallace - Don't overbuy food unless it can go into the freezer.

But freezers use electricity (not all from green sources) and the freon is a climate damaging gas.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Posted in: World wasted 20% of food produced in 2022: U.N. report See in context

@Gene Hennigh - What disgusts me is that supermarkets throw their stuff in trash bins ...

You can help by joining the 15 minutes to closing waribiki crowd and following the guy slapping the waribiki stickers on the goods. If everybody did that ...

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Posted in: U.S.-Japan missile development project to cost over $3 billion See in context

Cannot stop GPS guided nuclear bomb,

GPS jamming is a thing. But nuclear bombs don't need pinpoint precision - most are not equipped with GPS.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: Japanese companies urged to OK seated cashiers to spur job motivation See in context

My Japanese wife is a cashier in the US and can't sit down even when there are no customers. She prefers it most of the time.

I'm a desk worker but have a standing only setup. I much prefer it - I've tried sitting but find it very unhealthy and unnatural. When I was working in Japan I had a good boss who let me work standing up. I was the only one in the crowded office (no partitions) doing so.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

Posted in: Tesla CEO Elon Musk in China for talks See in context

A bully is identifiable by how quickly they cave in to a bigger bully.

8 ( +10 / -2 )

Posted in: S Korea to consult Naver, after report firm faces Japan pressure to divest stake See in context

One should only every communicate over Line using cryptic emoji. Especially government officials.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: 63 doctors, dentists sue Google for keeping reviews they say are unfair See in context

Like so much on the internet, reviews have devolved into high noise low value matter br trusted, and even though some of it is high value, it's hard to know which of it is real. AI is already make the situation worse.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: 1 dead, 7 missing after 2 MSDF helicopters crash in Pacific during night training See in context

Maybe they did detect a sub, which retaliated with an electromagnetic noise weapon to interfere with the altitude sonar causing one or both helo to crash. Hope they get the black boxes.

-3 ( +3 / -6 )

Posted in: Junior high school students arrested over suspected cocaine use in Gifu Prefecture See in context

@stewart gale. South America?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: Fan outcry over K-pop star's date highlights 'harsh' industry rules See in context

Just about the only beneficial use I could see for AI as a "human replacement" in the arts and entertainment would be to replace these already artificial and bogus idol personas.

Anyway dudes, you should get a real imperfect girlfriend and enjoy starting a natural family or Korea's population will drop to zero.

10 ( +12 / -2 )

Posted in: Kobayashi Pharmaceutical factory inspected over dietary supplement deaths, illnesses See in context

@lunatic - "A Review of Red Yeast Rice, a Traditional Fermented Food in Japan and East Asia: Its Characteristic Ingredients and Application in the Maintenance and Improvement of Health in Lipid Metabolism and the Circulatory System" -- ncbi nlm nih gov / pmc / articles / PMC8001704

Traditional it may be but (from the abstract)

In recent years, large-scale commercial production of red yeast rice using traditional solid-state fermentation has become possible, and various useful materials, including a variety of monascus pigments (polyketides) that spread as natural pigments, in addition to statins, are produced in the fermentation process.

in my opinion, "large scale commercial production" of supplement products opens up a whole can of germs and their byproducts.

5 ( +5 / -0 )

Posted in: School vice principal arrested for allegedly groping woman on train See in context

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKdaRyODJGI

The video states a man sitting across from them said () he witnessed it. ( I assume to the police).

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Posted in: Ohtani says he never bet on sports; claims interpreter Mizuhara stole money, told lies See in context

Ohtani is tainted by his association with Mizuhara alone. If that's all it is, then Ohtani will recover his reputation after a few months away from him. If his performance drops, however .... . I am really hoping it doesn't.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Posted in: Ohtani says he never bet on sports; claims interpreter Mizuhara stole money, told lies See in context

Would a bookmaker extend millions of dollars of credit to someone?

Yes. Once they know they've got a sucker they will keep on extending credit, as long as they keep getting partial payments. Because there is little risk to the bookie - the odds are on their side. Even if the borrower makes a big win, they will immediately double down and bet it all.

It's not like normal lending where the lender first hands over hard cash.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Posted in: Japan has no 'defensive line' against yen's fall, says finance chief See in context

@Spitfire - Even Japan's once much-vaunted technological ability has become old hat.

Japan has already opened a new hosted TSMC plant, while the US is still just jawing and politicking about doing so.

4 ( +9 / -5 )

Posted in: 5 dead, 114 hospitalized from recalled Japanese health supplements See in context

Monascus purpureus (beni koji) has been used for over a thousand years in oriental fermented foods, including red kōji-kin, red yeast rice or ank-kak, rice wine, kaoliang brandy, and as the coloring agent for Peking duck.

There are a number of related molds that look similar but aren't healthy. An inevitable consequence with insufficient quality control.

I wonder if the manufacturing was outsourced abroad. First thing would be to come clean about what went wrong.

11 ( +14 / -3 )

Posted in: U.S. Justice Department sues Apple, alleging it illegally monopolized smartphone market See in context

Wrong end of the stick. Apple, with expert lobbyists, has avoided the Trump initiated import taxes imposed on other Chinese manufactured products - right from the start because Tim kept up a good relationship with Trump. Apple have also been moving more and more of their design work over to China - as reported by the NYT:

As Mr. Guthrie was delivering his warnings, Apple set about keeping the Chinese government happy. Part of that effort was new research and development centers in China. But those R&D centers complicated Apple’s image as a California company. At a summit for its new Chinese engineers and designers, Apple showed a video that ended with a phrase that Apple had been inscribing on the backs of iPhones for years: “Designed by Apple in California.”

The Chinese employees were angered, according to Mr. Guthrie and another person in the room. If the products were designed in California, they shouted, then what were they doing in China?

“The statement was deeply offensive to them,” said Mr. Guthrie, who left Apple in 2019 to return to his home in Michigan. “They were just furious.”

The next iPhone didn’t include the phrase.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Posted in: Conditions inside Fukushima's melted nuclear reactors still unclear 13 years after disaster struck See in context

I've seen designs called "passively safe" that sit on top of a huge pit of lead, which in a case like Fukushima, would have quenched the reaction as soon as it melted downward - saving trillions of yen.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Posted in: Ceremony held to mark 79th anniversary of U.S. firebombings of Tokyo See in context

It should be possible to honor the commemoration without requiring a replay verdict on events of 80 years ago.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Posted in: Trump calls Oscars ceremony 'disjointed, boring and very unfair' See in context

Only 1/4 of us age 55+ are interested in oscars.

12 ( +18 / -6 )

Posted in: Palace releases altered image of UK's Princess Catherine See in context

Could have been the royal photograph polish-upper just doing their job. Thanks AP, someone's newly unemployed and now royal photograph polish-uppers everywhere are living in fear.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Posted in: Biden and Trump rack up wins on Super Tuesday See in context

I prefer Biden. However I think a ranked choice popular vote presidential election system would better serve US democracy. Fat chance.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Posted in: Gonoi attends White House ceremony for women of courage award See in context

Nana korobi yao oki : kocked down seven times, got back up eight times. A model of Japanese resilience.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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