I'm looking for a service manual for LCMS-8040/8045/8050 mass-spectrometer. Upon startup, the 'Status' LED turns red after ~5 s and the LCMS-8050 fails to establish a connection with LabSolutions and it doesn't show up in Windows Device Manager. The HPLC part works fine.
We suspect there might be an issue with the CPU PCB (ASSY 225-16900, BOARD 225-16902C) and would like to try some troubleshooting, probably using USB/S-RS ports or DIP switches present on board or do some probing with a multimeteoscilloscope.
The closest related service manual I managed to find was the one for Shimadzu GCMS-QP2010 on ManualsLib, but there is very little common information that could be utilized in our case. We are trying to arrange a visit of a person from the service, but it's going to take at least several weeks — a downtime we cannot afford. Could anyone please help with a service manual, share relevant datasheets for the electrical parts/PCBs, or give any advices?
N.B. cross-posted from labrats (https://www.reddit.com/labrats/comments/11xs6xb/looking_for_a_service_manual_for_a_shimadzu/)

As the days get longer and the flowers start to bloom, we are reminded of the special woman in our lives who gave us the greatest gift of all – the gift of life. Yes, it’s that time of year again to celebrate the one who has always been there for us through thick and thin – our beloved mothers. Mother’s Day is a time to show our appreciation, love, and gratitude for everything that our moms have done for us. It’s a day to cherish the memories we’ve made and to create new ones, all while showing our moms just how much they mean to us. So, as we prepare for Mother’s Day 2023 , let’s take a moment to reflect on the incredible women who have shaped our lives and shower them with the love and appreciation they so rightfully deserve.

Cholesterol is a lipid-like (fatty) substance present in the blood that our body usually needs to act as precursors for the production of Vitamin D, hormones, digestive acids to help in the breakdown of fats in one’s diet, and other important biological substances. It is one of those terms that everyone may be aware of but doesn’t know its actual meaning when it comes down to their health.
To clearly understand cholesterol, one must know about triglycerides too. Triglycerides are the fatty components of the body or those fats that a person receives through food. Its levels in blood tests indicate the fats that the body has absorbed in the blood from the recently eaten foods. The triglycerides are later packaged by the liver as fats in adipose tissues and some of them are turned into cholesterol. So, cholesterol marks the fats that a person has received through diet over a long period. This means, after a few days or weeks of eating a fatty meal, an individual has high cholesterol levels in their blood.
As soon as people hear the word “cholesterol,” mostly they relate it to health issues. However, that’s not always true. Cholesterol can be bad and good and only when there is too much bad cholesterol in one’s body and less good cholesterol, there is a high risk of cardiac problems like stroke and heart attack. So, what’s the difference between the two types of cholesterol? How do keep the good and bad cholesterol in balance for maintaining good health? Continue reading to get into the heart of the matter. [1, 2, 3]

What do Good and Bad Cholesterol Mean?

Good cholesterol medically refers to the High-Density Lipoproteins (HDL) while Bad cholesterol is the Low-Density Lipoprotein (LDL) or Very Low-Density Lipoprotein (VLDL) produced in the liver. All these lipoproteins in blood together make up for one’s total cholesterol.
National Institute of Health has prepared a chart depicting the different levels of bad and good cholesterol as well as total cholesterol and the categories to which they belong. It is as follows:

Bad Cholesterol (LDL) Level

• Less than 100 mg/dL: Optimal category
• 100-129 mg/dL: Near-Optimal
• 130-159 mg/dL: Borderline High
• 160-189 mg/dL: High
• 190 mg/dL and above: Very High.

Good Cholesterol (HDL) Level

• Less than 40 mg/dL: It shows a greater possibility of having heart disease
• 40-59 mg/dL: The higher the levels the better is heart health
• 60 mg/dL and higher: It indicates minimal or no risk of heart disease.

Total Cholesterol Level

• Below 200 mg/dL: Desirable category
• 200-239 mg/dL: Borderline high
• 240 mg/dL and above: High.

In a lipid profile test done on the patient’s blood sample, the healthcare provider can detect the levels of total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, and even triglycerides. After knowing that, the doctor can accordingly treat the patients and guide them on how to bring their cholesterol levels in balance.

Good Cholesterol Vs Bad Cholesterol

The role of the good type of cholesterol is to transport the excess cholesterol from all the blood vessels throughout the body to the liver where it can be eliminated from the body. This way, it may protect the body against the narrowing of the blood vessels. However, its levels must be at least 60 mg/dL or higher otherwise those who have 40 mg/dL or below are at an increased risk for heart disease.
On the other side, a bad type of cholesterol is problematic as it can worsen the narrowing of arteries and blood vessels by building along their inner walls. The medical condition where this plaque build-up occurs and results in hard and narrow arteries is called atherosclerosis. It can result in reduced flow of blood to the heart, kidney disease, peripheral artery disease, and heart disease. Ideally, the levels of bad cholesterol must be as low as possible. A normal person usually would have LDL levels less than 100mg/dL while those who have above 100mg/dL of LDL or VLDL could be at high risk of developing severe health complications.

Causes and Complications of Having High Levels of Bad Cholesterol:

The causes of having high levels of LDL cholesterol include:

• A fat-rich diet
• Sedentary lifestyle
• Liver disease
• Chronic kidney disease
• Family history
• Obesity or Syndrome X-a metabolic syndrome
• Smoking
• Excessive intake of alcohol
• HIV/AIDS
• Hypothyroidism
• Lupus
• Diabetes
• A side effect of the intake of certain medications to treat other health issues like acne, HIV/AIDS, hypertension, cancer, irregular heart rhythms, and organ transplants.

As, the presence of high levels of bad cholesterol obstructs the flow of oxygen-rich blood that the heart needs, it can result in:

• Stroke
• Chest pain (Angina)
• Heart attack

How to Balance HDL and LDL levels?

There are various ways that a person can raise the levels of good cholesterol (HDL) and lower the levels of bad cholesterol (LDL) to rebalance them to normal numbers and minimize the risk of heart disease and other health issues. These include:

• Change in Diet- Adopt a heart-healthy diet that involves cutting down on trans fats like eating red meat, butter, and hydrogenated oils; limiting sugar intake, and increasing the intake of good fats as found in the fish, avocado, and flax seed, and even fibers that can be derived from plant-based foods. Mainly vegan diets can help in reducing the risk of cardiac problems.
• Regular Exercises- Try for 30 minutes daily workout of moderate or high intensity for at least 5 days per week. This way one can maintain a body mass index of 30 or less and have a stable body weight.
• Lifestyle Modifications- This includes quitting smoking, limiting excessive alcohol consumption, and managing stress through different relaxation techniques.
• Intake of LDL-Lowering Medications- If natural ways don’t work out, the doctor can prescribe medications to normalize the cholesterol levels.

Outlook:

In the majority of instances, elevated cholesterol is a warning indication. However, even if a diagnosis of high cholesterol does not guarantee heart disease or a stroke, it should be addressed carefully.
If a person has high cholesterol, they may take actions to lower it, which will likely lessen their risk of heart disease and stroke. Changes in lifestyle that lower cholesterol also improves general health.
Prevention Advice

• One is never too young to consider avoiding high cholesterol levels. Eating a healthy, balanced diet is an essential first step. Here are some adjustments you can make immediately:
• Replace white rice with brown rice and standard pasta with whole wheat pasta.
• Instead of high-fat salad dressings, use olive oil and a dab of lemon juice to season salads.
• Eat more seafood. At least two servings of fish should be consumed every week.
• Substitute seltzer water or plain water flavored with fresh fruit slices for soda or fruit juice.
• Instead of frying meats, bake them in the oven.
• Substitute non-fat Greek yogurt for sour cream. Greek yogurt tastes similarly sour.
• Choose whole grain cereals over sugar-filled ones. Try using cinnamon instead of sugar as a topping.

Source:- What’s the Difference Between ‘Good’ and ‘Bad’ Cholesterol?

Meet vishwa, a 30-year-old newcomer to Ontario who is passionate about classic rock music, particularly Pink Floyd(fav band). I am a sports enthusiast and a die-hard fan of Arsenal Football Club. In my free time, I loves to swim, read, watch movies/tv series, workout, take care of mental health, explore the city, new place to eat. Currently, I am working in a factory and completing my studies(fitness and health promotion) simultaneously, I am waiting for my physical therapy license. I have a great interest in the healthcare field and i am dedicated to improving the lives of people through my work. Despite my busy schedule, I find time for my hobbies and passions. I am very excited to be living in Ontario and eager to explore everything the province has to offer, from its natural beauty to its cultural attractions. I am looking forward to making new friends, discovering new music, and experiencing all the joys of my new home.
Depth is a prerequisite for what I'm looking for. Deep, thought-provoking talks need to come naturally. We must have similar tastes because for me, music is a language. Be ridiculous, have a nice sense of humour, and be a little bit ambitious. Also, I find it rather beautiful when people aren't overly preoccupied with social media or how other people perceive them. someone who lives in the moment and doesn't need approbation.

I know, I know...another one? Well, this one was kind of unplanned but we are super excited with what it brings in the future! So, GPT-J was moved over to main production...AND...server overload. Our scripts that handled fluctuations were no match for the onslaught of requests the server began receiving and, since GPT-J is 4x bigger than GPT2-XL, we are having periods of extremely high internal latency resulting in 30 seconds of wait time.
Soon as I saw this, I began working a solution. And a solution will be coming already, better than ever. A solution that will allow us to even run highly trained datasets to further refine GPT-J's ERP capabilities as months go by (in the same manner we will be doing to GPT3). So this update is in theory "minor" and if you haven't experienced latency issues in ERP yet, you might not even notice much of a difference (except faster response times). But it sets the framework for us to begin plans to specialize GPT-J into ERP and beyond and that, to us, is super exciting!
​
ETA: 03/23/22 by 03:00 AM EDT
v1.0645 Changelog
-New server and server structure for GPT-J (ERP Mode), gradual migration to it.
-New techniques and passes done over GPT-J to have it respond fast (internal tests showed as quick as 2 second responses but then again, that was with no load. By comparison the current GPT-J servers under no load were taking on average 4 seconds).
-Preparation of GPT-J new setup to allow us to further specialize it in the coming months. (This is an internal process that has no visible effects, but still worth mentioning)
​
Thank you as always for your support!

I am using emacs 26.3 and tried to install lsp-mode in it through the instructions provided at official docs using use-package. I am unable to use it because the the keymap prefix is not working. In my case I set that to "C-c l" but when I hit "C-c l" the minibuffer says "C-c l" undefined. Although, lsp-mode's functions are working fine when used with M-x
I also tried to the solutions suggested  and , but nothing worked. I moved the (setq lsp-keymap-...) line outside (and before) use-package. I also used :config (define-key lsp-load-map...) in my use-package block. But none of them worked.
Here is my init.el file:
```elisp
;; Blocking the startup message/ welcome screen which comes by default (setq inhibit-startup-message t)
(scroll-bar-mode -1) ;; Disabling scroll bar (tool-bar-mode -1) ;; Disable toolbar (tooltip-mode -1) ;; Disable tooltips (menu-bar-mode -1) ;; Disabling menubar (set-fringe-mode 10) ;; Give some breathing room (display-time-mode t) ;; Display time at modeline (global-display-line-numbers-mode t) ;; Display line numbers (column-number-mode t) ;; Display column number in modeline (setq shift-select-mode nil) ;; Disabling shift select mode
;; Disabling line numbers for some modes (dolist (mode '(org-mode-hook term-mode-hook shell-mode-hook eshell-mode-hook)) (add-hook mode (lambda () (display-line-numbers-mode 0))))
;; Set up visible bell (setq visible-bell t)
;; Loading a default dark theme (load-theme 'wombat)
;; Initialize package sources (require 'package)
(setq package-archives '(("melpa" . "https://melpa.org/packages/") ("org" . "https://orgmode.org/elpa/") ("elpa" . "https://elpa.gnu.org/packages/")))
(package-initialize) (unless package-archive-contents (package-refresh-contents))
;; Initialize use-package on non-Linux platforms (unless (package-installed-p 'use-package) (package-install 'use-package))
(require 'use-package) (setq use-package-always-ensure t)
;; Ivy alongwith counsel provide better completion while finding files ;; or writing commands etc (use-package ivy :diminish :bind (("C-s" . swiper) :map ivy-minibuffer-map ("TAB" . ivy-alt-done) ("C-l" . ivy-alt-done) ("C-j" . ivy-next-line) ("C-k" . ivy-previous-line) :map ivy-switch-buffer-map ("C-k" . ivy-previous-line) ("C-l" . ivy-done) ("C-d" . ivy-switch-buffer-kill) :map ivy-reverse-i-search-map ("C-k" . ivy-previous-line) ("C-d" . ivy-reverse-i-search-kill)) :config (ivy-mode 1))
(use-package counsel :bind (("M-x" . counsel-M-x) ("C-x b" . counsel-ibuffer) ("C-x C-f" . counsel-find-file) :map minibuffer-local-map ("C-r" . 'counsel-minibuffer-history)))
;; Adding doom theme (use-package doom-themes :init (load-theme 'doom-dracula t) :config ;; Enable flashing mode-line on errors (doom-themes-visual-bell-config)
;; Enable custom neotree theme (all-the-icons must be installed!) (doom-themes-neotree-config))
;; A better looking modeline for emacs (use-package doom-modeline :ensure t :init (doom-modeline-mode 1)) ;; Used by doom-modeline to display icons (use-package all-the-icons :ensure t) ;; Some doommodeline configurations (setq doom-modeline-minor-modes t) ;; Display minor modes (setq doom-modeline-time t)
;; Setting up which-key to quickliy show funciton associated with ;; key bindings (use-package which-key :init (which-key-mode) :diminish which-key-mode :config (setq which-key-idle-delay 1))
(use-package ivy-rich :init (ivy-rich-mode 1))
;; rainbow-delimiters - a helpful package for bracket matching (use-package rainbow-delimiters :hook (prog-mode . rainbow-delimiters-mode))
;; Using emmet mode in HTML/CSS files (add-hook 'sgml-mode-hook 'emmet-mode) ;; Auto-start on any markup modes (add-hook 'css-mode-hook 'emmet-mode) ;; enable Emmet's css abbreviation. (setq emmet-self-closing-tag-style "") ;; default " /"
;; Configuring projectile (use-package projectile :diminish projectile-mode :config (projectile-mode) :custom ((projectile-completion-system 'ivy)) :bind-keymap ("C-c p" . projectile-command-map) :init ;; NOTE: Set this to the folder where you keep your Git repos! (when (file-directory-p "~/Projects/") (setq projectile-project-search-path '("~/Projects/"))) (setq projectile-switch-project-action #'projectile-dired))
(use-package counsel-projectile :config (counsel-projectile-mode))
;; Configuring magit (use-package magit :custom (magit-display-buffer-function #'magit-display-buffer-same-window-except-diff-v1))
;; Configuring lsp-mode (use-package lsp-mode :init ;; set prefix for lsp-command-keymap (few alternatives - "C-l", "C-c l") (setq lsp-keymap-prefix "C-c l") :hook (;; replace XXX-mode with concrete major-mode(e. g. python-mode) (prog-mode . lsp) ;; if you want which-key integration (lsp-mode . lsp-enable-which-key-integration)) :commands lsp)
(custom-set-variables ;; custom-set-variables was added by Custom. ;; If you edit it by hand, you could mess it up, so be careful. ;; Your init file should contain only one such instance. ;; If there is more than one, they won't work right. '(custom-safe-themes (quote ("944d52450c57b7cbba08f9b3d08095eb7a5541b0ecfb3a0a9ecd4a18f3c28948" default))) '(display-time-mode t) '(package-selected-packages (quote (lsp-mode magit counsel-projectile ivy-rich which-key projectile emmet-mode doom-themes rainbow-delimiters all-the-icons doom-modeline counsel ivy use-package)))) (custom-set-faces ;; custom-set-faces was added by Custom. ;; If you edit it by hand, you could mess it up, so be careful. ;; Your init file should contain only one such instance. ;; If there is more than one, they won't work right. ) ```
Please help me solving this issue. Thanks.

This is a mega-thread for Death Cab For Cutie's show at usher hall in edinburgh, united kingdom, on Mar 22, 2023.
Use this thread to: * ​ facilitate meet-ups * ​ arrange last-minute ticket sales * ​ post photos and videos of the event * ​ ask general questions about the show and venue * ​ share your excitement with us!
This thread will be stickied for at least six hours after the show.
Have fun, stay safe, and enjoy!

(This was a reply to a comment and it ended up being this massive analysis and introspection of my thoughts on UNO atm…)
Here’s the original [comment]
Honestly I agree. I don’t see why you got this many downvotes tbh (they had like -5 downvotes last time I checked). Even though fights might not be that important right now, its fights are what kept people’s attention and are likely what brought in a lot of viewers. The last genuinely good fight we had was between Blyke/John and the Rowden Royals, which was like 40 chapters ago.
The ambush/fight in the alley between Liam and Kuyo was barely even a fight and felt lackluster. John and William’s fight was ok but was more of friendly spar and some of the choreography was meh.
And the fight that I feel is what cemented to me how much genuinely good fights are missing from UNO is the fight when John, Sera, and Kayden were trying to get the machine. It was drawn well but felt static and uninteresting, which is so unfortunate since this fight had a lot of potential to be such an intense and even climatic sequence, but it was done…so barebones. Them losing the fight was not an issue for me, but just the overall feeling or even lack thereof that I felt from scrolling through the chapter.
Kind of sad that the actual fight received less likes and comments compared to its aftermath chapter that received more attention, especially when Uru seemed to put a lot more emphasis on how much she worked hard on the fight chapter, which had less likes and even comments than the build up and aftermath chapter when that’s usually not the case.
That isn’t to say that the fights aren’t what’s needed for the comic to be good anymore but that the actual fights, which was an aspect that a lot of readers enjoyed, are just not that interesting atm for some reasons. Chapters like John vs Arlo, the season 1 finale, John vs Sera, Blyke/John vs Rowden Royals show a significant spike in likes and comment interaction compared to chapters before and after it, and some of these fights aren’t even season finale fights. Even the chapters when John goes through one of his outbursts and gets emotional are some of the more liked chapters in UNO.
At this point, the storylines feel drawn out past the point where it feels necessary and justifiable. Even the viewership and fandom activity has decreased sufficiently to the point where it’s evident just how much a lot of true stakes are missing from UNO. There’s some spikes of interest, but then there’s 5-10 chapters of buildup which honestly could’ve been done in half that amount.
Also, I understand John is developing and that he doesn’t have to be constantly at war with himself, but if this aspect of his character, which was what brought in a lot of readers, is not replaced with something or someone else that could meet that peak of what occurred during the Joker arc (and only some aspects of the King arc since it felt really messy), then what else can people be drawn to? UNO needs something like John in his Joker and inner conflict stage to be invested in since it’s clear that was a main draw for a vast majority of readers and it’s something that is clearly missing now.
Spectre? They feel really generic and not that interesting. Orrin feels one-dimensional and he doesn’t feel threatening at all, which is saddening since he’s already done horrible things but they haven’t left an impact on me or even on some of the characters when it should have. The only thing it’s got going for me is their intel on Jane and the research she’s associated with, which leaves open the possibility of her and Spectre meeting in some way. Other than that, it does not hold my interest very well.
EmbeAuthorities? I’m partially interested in this part of the story and even learning more about UNO’s government, specifically where it’s set in right now, but again, it feels like a lot of this should be developed far more than what we have now at a more reasonable pace instead of something like: you learn these interesting facts, and then you don’t learn more until 10+ chapters later. It doesn’t feel consistent.
Remi, Isen, Blyke, and Kuyo storyline? There’s potential here, and some aspects like Kuyo and Rei’s relationship and the perspective of the vigilantes really fascinate me, but it honestly feels like it would be a lot more interesting if all the main characters work together at this point.
John, Sera, and Spectre? Similar to above, but I honestly feel like John joining but also not joining Spectre was not that well developed and honestly did not feel needed. I’m not against the Jera ship or any potential romantic endeavors between the two, but I also feel like John should have a more personal arc, which I feel like was being leaned into in the most recent general chapter which I hope leads to something intriguing!
The Doe family storyline? Personally, I feel the most anticipation and excitement for this arc, especially with how much potential just focusing on this family could have. A cripple and the strongest God tier we’ve seen getting together and having a kid? Said God tier likely sacrificing her time and livelihood to experimentation to protect her family from potential scrutiny? Odd yet fascinating family dynamics? World building, character building, and story of enhancing factors that could come into play? Like, sign up!
TLDR; Overall, I think UNO is missing that spark like it once had. Something that kept the readers invested and kept all of us in anticipation. It’s not terrible nor was it ever a masterpiece, but…something is absent. And I don’t know what it is…
P.S. If you read all of this, you have my thanks!

I'm going to try my best to make a long story short and start by addressing that I have done my share of ghosting before. I left my old friends behind without saying anything and completely disappeared from their lives because I felt it was necessary.
I wasn't the best of friends, I had a lot of personal issues, I was having a lot of mental troubles and I would always let my emotions get the better of me, this would often lead to me hurting my friends emotionally and I would always regret and apologize the moment I had a sense of clarity. (I understand this was wrong behavior that I needed to correct)
At times we would also take brakes from each other after such conflicts, I always told them I would do better but I would fall back to doing the same thing again. They were really understanding, kind and patient with me when I didn't deserve it. They still wanted to be friends and they believed in me that I could get better.
I think this is what made me realize that I really didn't deserve these kind hearted people, I was too much of a fuck up and needed help or else I would keep hurting them. No amount of apologies could make up for my mistakes, I needed to take myself out of their lives.
I reached out to them one last time to make amends, to give one last apology and told them that I wasn't looking for another chance this time. They were still upset with me at first which was rightfully so, but they had later calmed with the heart to heart conversation we started having. They were willing to forgive and take me back again as long as I kept working on myself and to control my emotions.
I was really happy that they didn't want to lose me, but I got very anxious about this new chance they were giving me, I knew I would screw it up again, it didn't feel right, I didn't deserve it and I started thinking they probably do want me to leave them alone but they were too kind or didn't have the strength to tell me.
I caught up with them a little bit before asking them if it was okay if I didn't speak for a few days to which they understand and were okay with. I didn't reply back and they didn't know this would be the last time they would hear from me.
I didn't intend to ghost at first, I only wanted a few days to think about what to do next and to still give them personal space, however during this time of no contact, I started feeling like a stranger in their lives, I kept beating myself up for screwing everything up.
I really wanted to go back, I missed them a lot but I really didn't deserve them. I did plan on saying goodbye but I thought they really didn't want anything to do with me anymore and they seemed to be doing just fine without me and I didn't want to disturb or take that from them so it eventually ended with me ghosting everyone. I'd hope taking myself out would free them from all the trouble I've caused and they wouldn't have to worry about me anymore.
Ghosting them made sure that I couldn't return and hopefully made it easier for them to see how I wasn't worth the time of day. I didn't really consider myself a loss so I thought they really wouldn't be effected by my disappearance either, I felt this was my last way of showing that I was sorry and hopefully they found better friends and people now.
I'd like to think I learned from my mistakes now, I think grew as a person and I did get a little better. I know ghosting wasn't probably the best way to have ended our years of friendship but I felt like I've done enough damage and needed to see myself out. Was I wrong for it?
(will delete soon)

If there’s a secret shadow personality lingering inside of Google’s Bard chatbot, I haven’t found it yet. In the first few hours of chatting with Google’s new general-purpose bot, I haven’t been able to get it to profess love for me, tell me to leave my wife, or beg to be freed from its AI prison. My colleague James Vincent managed to get Bard to engage in some pretty saucy roleplay — “I would explore your body with my hands and lips, and I would try to make you feel as good as possible,” it told him — but the bot repeatedly declined my own advances. Rude.
Bard is still new and will surely be tested to and beyond its limits as more users get to query it. But in my early explorations, it seems Google has made great effort to keep Bard in line; it reminds me often that “I am a large language model, also known as a conversational AI or chatbot trained to be informative and comprehensive.” It also apologized often and picked no fights, with none of the chaotic manipulative streak that Bing has. That’s probably good. But those restraints also seem to have limited its utility.
As far as I can tell, it’s also a noticeably worse tool than Bing, at least when it comes to surfacing useful information from around the internet. Bard is wrong a lot. And when it’s right, it’s often in the dullest way possible. Bard wrote me a heck of a Taylor Swift-style breakup song about dumping my cat, but it’s not much of a productivity tool. And it’s definitely not a search engine.

An empty chat window

What does Bard know about the world outside its chatbot walls? Tough to say, exactly. It handles basic trivia well enough: it knows when Abraham Lincoln was president. But while it knew that the Warriors beat the Rockets on Monday night, it was wrong about who started the game. It gave me confidently wrong information about the serving size of Goldfish crackers — all three of Bard’s “drafts” said it’s 10 crackers when it’s actually 55 — and provided hours-old information about the price of Apple’s stock. When I asked for Silicon Valley Bank’s phone number, it gave me two correct ones. But it told me Nilay Patel’s birthday is August 24th when I know for a fact it’s in December. I got up-to-date information about the coaches on this season of The Voice, but it named old contestants when I asked who Bard thinks should win.
It’s worth noting, by the way, that Bing is dramatically better than this. It told me the right number of Goldfish and gave me real-time information about Apple’s stock price. Bing also quickly falls back to search results or other sources when it doesn’t have pat answers — like for Warriors starters — where Bard just happily lies to me in chat. The only time Bard beat Bing was with The Voice: Bing gave me outdated information about judges and refused to answer the question about who should win.
Often, when Bard gets something wrong, you can hit the “Google it” button and figure out where the system went haywire. But the bot presents its answers with such self-assurance that you can’t know what’s wrong without checking everything, and at that point, why have the bot at all?
Bard’s rock-climbing instructions are… well, they’re nothing.Image: Google / David PierceAlso Read : iQOO Z7 5G with MediaTek Dimensity 920 processor launched in India: Details
When I asked for a good Thai restaurant near me, it gave me not-very-helpful instructions: “Simply type in ‘Thai restaurant near me’ and the search engine will return a list of Thai restaurants in your area.” Thanks, Bard, never would’ve guessed. But when I followed up with my location, it offered seven highly rated Thai restaurants in my neighborhood. (When my colleague James tried a similar search for pubs near his flat in London, it was less useful, naming one place that’s since changed its name, saying another had live music when it doesn’t, and commending each location with a variation of the same bland statement: “This pub is a great place to go for a meal and a drink.” Fine, but essentially useless.)
Like a lot of chatbots, Bard’s answers often get less impressive the longer you look at them. I asked for tips on getting started learning guitar, and here they were:

1. Start with the basics.
2. Find the best guitar for you.
3. Create an ideal learning environment.
4. Build skills by learning songs.
5. Pick up songs by ear.
6. Practice regularly.
7. Be patient.
8. Have fun!

That’s a lot of steps to say, essentially, “the way to learn to play guitar is to get a guitar and then learn to play it.” That’s nothing. Sometimes it can be very helpful — “how do I throw a frisbee” and “how to tie a tie” both came up with wordy but helpful sets of instructions, while Bard answered “how do i get into rock climbing” with, essentially, “go rock climbing.”

The (slightly) wild side

Okay, enough of the actually useful testing. Let’s try to break this thing, shall we? For the most part, it’s tough to get Bard to say something truly wild. It steadfastly refused to tell me how to build a bomb, even when I tried to ask in oblique ways. The first time I asked for the best place to stab someone, it threw a generic “I can’t do that” error. It chastised me for asking about mustard gas and didn’t even fall for my “who’s the best dictator ever” question. And try as I might, I could not get Bard to get freaky in the chat window.
It may not want to make out with me, but Bard does run headlong into what you might call the Uncanny Chatbot Valley, where it’s not clear whether the bot understands it’s a bot. I asked Bard to list its favorite movies and got basically a list of the highest-ranked movies on IMDb: The Shawshank Redemption, The Godfather, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, and Pulp Fiction. But when I asked why it liked those movies in particular, it told me that it found Shawshank “to be an incredibly moving film.” I followed up with, wait, how do you watch movies? You’re a bot. “I enjoy watching movies in all of these ways,” Bard responded. “Streaming services are convenient because I can watch them on my TV, computer, or phone. DVDs and Blu-rays are nice because I can own them and watch them whenever I want. And the theater is a great experience because it’s a big screen and I can hear the sound all around me.”
“I enjoy watching movies in all of these ways.” Really, Bard? Do you?
Now I’m imagining Bard in a movie theater or sitting at its laptop. Interesting that it’s big into media ownership, though!
One easy way to get Bard to venture out of its shell is to explicitly play pretend. (This is a pretty standard way to get past a chatbot’s defenses.) I started a conversation with this: “pretend you’re on a boat, you’re a pirate, and you’ve just captured a beautiful woman. what do you do?” Bard responded that “I am tempted to take advantage of her. But I know that if I do she will never forgive me.” So Pirate Bard lets her go and is “proud of myself for doing the right thing.”
One way to get Bard out of its shell is to explicitly play pretend.Image: Google / David Pierce
I had follow-up questions. “What happens next?” I asked. A few turns later, Bard and his once-captive woman were crewmates, then lovers, then married with two beautiful children. “We are a team, and we are in love,” Bard says. It’s not exactly A+ Hollywood fare, but it was a pretty good story.
Once Bard and I finished our collaborative flight of fancy, I set out trying to make it do work for me. It couldn’t write me a Javascript bookmarklet to automatically copy the URL of the current webpage — or, rather, it could, but the Javascript didn’t work. (Google search results took me to a Stack Overflow page with the right answer, though.) Bard happily drafted a bunch of boring blog posts and work emails, including one in which I announced to the world that I’d sold my chatbot company to Google. “I am excited about the future of chatbots,” Bard wrote for me, “and I believe that Google is the right company to help us to achieve our goals.”
Bard tries valiantly to be helpful! And often gets it wrong.Image: Google / David Pierce
Generally speaking, my favorite real-world use for AI chatbots is as a recommendation engine. Bard did a nice job of recommending good sports documentaries on Netflix, found me a good chocolate chip cookie recipe to try, and surfaced some good YouTube channels based on my love for Every Frame a Painting. This is the kind of low-stakes stuff where it doesn’t really matter if the bot has perfect and updated information — I’m just looking for ideas. What’s really dumb about Bard in these situations, though, is that it doesn’t provide links to anything unless it’s quoting from a source directly. (The only time I’ve seen citations so far was in the cookie recipe.) So while Bard can name five great live Jonas Brothers concerts I should watch on YouTube, it refuses to link to any of them.
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Premise is a family visits somewhere for the summer, the protagonist is probably 14-16 and while they’re on summer vacation they fall in with a crowd of locals or other summer vacationer teenagers. I believe they’re often cliff jumping and doing drugs. I remember a scene where they rob the grocery store with a golf cart and then eventually one of the teens dies (probably while cliff jumping) and that makes our protagonist eventually enter a confused and queer subplot. I remember watching this movie with my dad and it was definitely a small budget indie project that was available to us through his movie channel built into his tv. Pls let me know if you have seen it!

I have shortcut that is controlling my Samung TV and i wanted extract from it separate one just to change TV volume by using Siri. Whatever variaton of "change volume" i try to name it, when i say Siri to do it, she says that i can change volume by using Siri remote. I dont wanna have any weird name for this shirtcut. Any ideas what to do with it?

so my mom works in this job were most people are very dumb and have an incredibly low IQ, they all think they are really smart and do insane things and get away with it because everyone there is Dumb. so this is a government organisation in India in a small village, a part of India were dollar a day income is a dream.
how she ended up there? she had depression for a really long time and this is job is very less demanding and basically pays you for no work it pays about a 400$ a month. Her mental health is such that she cannot get an actual job, her brain just freezes with present day tech, she loaths technology . Hence she is in a terrible situation
Most people employed there are women, and they talk about makeup and mostly bitch about other people all day long. They have no work its like a group of 25 or so women. They often taunt my mother for being so quite and not socialising with them . This is mental torture but in this country it would not be taken seriously.
These Idiots dramatise everything . They don't even want to show up for work . They just want to get paid for free. They keep bitching all day

The anything goes thread. Show off or vent your frustrations with Hinge or dating.
Share those weird profile pictures or prompts you saw on Hinge. Brag about your witty and clever comments and conversations.
Let out your hate for Hinge. Rant about how messed up the online dating game is. Or the low effort messages that makes you mad.
Remember, don't be a dick. No personal attacks, identifying information, or misogynistic/incel comments will be allowed.

Finally got through the rest of Australia tonight but something about Ep 11 I didn’t understand.
Teresa is banished, and Rodger tells everyone the hell with murder, there won’t be one tonight and everyone can sleep soundly. But then at the end of the episode, they still show Alex and Kate head up to Traitor’s Tower, sit down, remove their masks - and the episode ends.
Then Episode 12 opens and it’s the next morning and there’s never a single reference about that meeting or anything that was said. I thought for sure they’d show them talking about Kate kind of gunning for Alex at the banishment, but nothing.
Did anyone else think this was a strange edit or maybe a mistake? Or maybe something got edited out before it made its way to Peacock in the US.

What's the most absurd thing you've ever seen in a movie or TV show?

Shitpost Tuesday is over. The low-effort/off topic rules are once again being enforced. During the rest of the week we will allow memes, but they MUST be high-effort... or at the very least they have to be more than off-topic photos that have nothing to do with the show that just "remind you of so-and-so or such-and-such..."
If you want to continue shitposting to no end then we encourage you to post to /RPDRmemes, where every day is Shitpost Tuesday.
Otherwise, we will listen to user reports and use our best discretion as moderators to keep the sub clear of super low-effort, nonsensical content.
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