Mr. RossBot is back!

Alrighty, I updated the logic this weekend and have Mr. RossBot operating on the hairy elephant website (Mastodon). (It's also posting on Threads, if you're into that sort of thing.)

I also updated the image model to use Stability.ai's swanky new SDXL model. I'm pretty impressed with the results.

Banned from Facebook Marketplace without a reason and without recourse

As much as technology improves our lives (and is integrated into literally everything we do), it really fucking sucks when the algorithm gets it wrong.

Earlier this summer, I posted a shop vac for sale, as I've done a number of times before (err, posting things for sale, not specifically shop vacs).

Soon after, I was banned for "violating community standards." I have literally no idea what happened. But! Apparently you could appeal the decision if you felt it was incorrect.

So I did.

And was rejected.

So I appealed again.

And was rejected.

I appealed again. And now it looks like I am permanently banned from Facebook Marketplace. And there's no way to appeal the decision. No way to contact customer support. Cool.

Anyway, here's an image of Mark Zuckerberg wearing clown makeup, created using Stable Diffusion.

Interesting uses of a Steam Deck

My Steam Deck has to be one of my favorite gadgets in the last few years. Gaming aside, the fact that it's running Linux opens up all sorts of interesting possibilities.

For example, let's use it to add a new feature to ArtBot... while I'm on an airplane. The screen is tiny, but oh man, it actually worked.

Geology sighting!

On the way to Seattle for a work trip.

Hello, Mt. Rainier.

Punk Rock 'Yellen

I should just start a new series entitled, "Punk Rock Politicos". This is a follow up to a previous image: Punk Rock Obama.

Here is our treasury secretary, Janet "Yelling" Yellen.

Sabbatical time starts now

As of today, I am officially on sabbatical for the next 6 weeks. Cheers to you and yours! Time to rest and recharge and whatnot.

Angry ChatGPT

Using a customized prompt, you can (for now, at least), get ChatGPT to misbehave a bit.

For example, I turned it into an angry programmer.

ArtBot mentioned again in PC World!

ArtBot got another callout in PC World in the article: "The best AI art generators: Bring your wildest dreams to life."

Though a bit of (fair) criticism at the end of the blurb though:

Why use Artbot? The vast number of AI models, and the variance in style those images produce. Otherwise, generating images via Artbot can be a bit of a crapshoot, and you may expend a great number of kudos simply exploring all the options. Since there’s no real setup besides figuring out the API key, Stable Horde (Artbot) can be worth a try.

Hey, I'll take it!