We just fueled up at the church. Those entrances from both sides—that’s the gas station. By the way, gasoline costs $3.3 per gallon. And five minutes ago, we did NOT fuel up at the station outside the city opposite the CIA for $5.1 per gallon.
Exploring the Bizarre World of Enrico Robusti: An Unconventional Artistic Vision | September 28 2024, 16:23
Today, I want to share with you an artist whose works are truly bizarre—Enrico Robusti (born 1956). Imagine putting door peepholes over your eyes instead of glasses, downing some vodka, and then visiting your relatives after banging your head a couple of times on a speeding tram. The result? Probably nothing good, but at some point, you might start seeing something akin to what this artist captures in his paintings.
I’ve always believed that consistency and the development of a unique style are more important for an artist than technique. Even if that style is highly controversial, over time it gains value. Perhaps only among a small circle of enthusiasts, but that circle forms a solid foundation for future popularity, and who knows—you might even leave a lasting mark on art history.
I can’t say I like Enrico Robusti’s work, but I can’t deny that it grabs your attention and stands apart from everything else. Yes, the pieces are somewhat repulsive—some even more than others—but that’s precisely the point, so it works.
Posts like this are grouped under the hashtag #artrauflikes, and all 109 of them are available on beinginamerica.com in the “Art Rauf Likes” section (unlike Facebook, which tends to forget—or ignore—nearly half of them).
Serge Marshennikov | September 28 2024, 02:10
Today, the artist who adores capturing the stunning repose of maidens—Serge Marshennikov (1971)—continues to astound. Quite an achievement for a graduate from the Ufa Art School. Some might question the purpose of crafting oil paintings that mimic photographs to a near-perfect degree. On the flip side, however, the artist’s role extends well beyond merely transferring an image onto canvas. From conceptualizing and composing to setting the lighting and evoking the intended emotional response in viewers, every facet is impeccably realized here.
Related posts are found under the tag #artrauflikes, with all 108 entries available in the “Art Rauf Likes” section at beinginamerica.com (unlike Facebook, which overlooks nearly half).
Expecting Ads on Printers Soon | September 27 2024, 20:49
I gather I should already expect that my printer will soon start showing ads, right?
Embracing Luminism: Celebrating Emile Claus and Impressionist Art | September 26 2024, 02:45
I find myself returning to the “classics” from contemporary artists once again. Today, it’s the paintings of Emile Claus. In just a couple of days, he’ll be celebrating his 175th anniversary.
Impressionism, my favorite art movement, this time in its Belgian form. Claus’s technique gave rise to the artistic movement known as “luminism.” Other artists associated with this style include Joaquín Sorolla, whom I wrote about earlier in May.
Posts like these are grouped under the hashtag #artrauflikes, and you can find all 107 of them in the “Art Rauf Likes” section on beinginamerica.com (unlike Facebook, which tends to overlook nearly half of them).
Exploring Mobile Communication Vulnerabilities: The SS7 Network Exposure | September 24 2024, 20:42
A very intriguing video about vulnerabilities in mobile communication.
In brief, the gist is this: due to the expansion of the network of cellular operators, control over who enters “the club” has been lost, and it’s fairly easy to gain unauthorized access to the SS7 network, through which mobile connections are managed. From there, one can do anything: intercept calls and SMS, record calls without the caller’s knowledge, and even track locations — in cities, it’s incredibly accurate. Access to the network simply costs money. And, of course, one must know what to do and how—it’s just knowledge, albeit rare.
A notable example is the case with Princess Latifa from Dubai, who was captured after an attack via SS7 allowed the location of her yacht captain’s phone to be pinpointed.
A live attack is demonstrated, in which a hacker intercepted a phone call intended for someone else. This was done by deceiving the network into thinking that the victim’s phone was in roaming, which allowed the hacker to redirect the call.
In the discussion, it is emphasized that, although newer protocols introduced with 5G are more secure, the transition to them is slow due to network effects: all operators need to switch at the same time to fully benefit from the advantages.
Conclusion: SMS is evil. Use authenticator apps or hardware tokens for two-factor authentication. Or, just don’t stick out so much that someone would not mind spending a few thousand dollars to hack specifically you.
Links in the comments.
idea: PDF Management App for Mac | September 23 2024, 23:31
I wonder if it’s just me unable to find it, or if it doesn’t exist — an app for Mac where you can specify a folder with PDFs, let it work overnight to create a vector index, and then search through them using natural language queries. For creating embeddings and for the RAG reasoning phase, models could be downloaded onto the computer, and in this case, it would work as fast as the computer allows. If you enter an OpenAI key, then OpenAI would be utilized.
It would also be convenient if such a tool could take a URL as input – for example, through a click on a browser extension button, and then allow searches across all documents, including that URL.
It would be great if one could create indexes with a single click. Say you receive a 200-page PDF on biology, you throw it into the “biology” index, or one on mathematics, you throw it into the “mathematics” index.
I know how to build this from scratch. But all solutions require a somewhat advanced understanding. There’s something like automatic1111 for Stable Diffusion; I wish there was something similar for working with an archive.
Sleep-Sensitive Media Player Integration for Apple Watch | September 23 2024, 12:21
I wonder why no one has made a player that integrates with the Apple Watch, and turns off the background music (for example) when the pulse shows that the person has fallen asleep? Ideally, if it could do the same with YouTube or any other service. Essentially, it involves opening a browser window with YouTube, then I start whatever I need, and at the right moment, when the watch reports that I have fallen asleep, simply closing that window.
Evening Walk with an Echo | September 23 2024, 02:23
You’re walking the dog at ten in the evening, it’s dark, and suddenly from behind there’s this sound (already familiar)
Portrait of Emotion: The Art of Mostafa Keyhani | September 18 2024, 12:23
An interesting Canadian artist of Iranian descent, impressionist Mostafa Keyhani (born 1954). There is scant information available about him, yet each of his paintings narrates a tale—depicting cities, figures, emotions.
Similar entries are categorized under the tag #artrauflikes, and all 106 can be accessed in the “Art Rauf Likes” section at beinginamerica.com (in contrast to Facebook, which overlooks nearly half of them).
