I put “AI” in quotes because it’s not really about intelligence at all, people just glommed to the term because it:
Already existed
Sounds futuristic
Sounds high-tech
Google released an ad that has been airing during the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics (as an aside, this is the first Olympics that has been known probably as much for its meme generation as the athletic competition) which showed a father helping his young daughter write a fan letter to Olympic athlete Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone–by using Google’s Gemini AI.
The ad (and Google’s defense of “it tested well”) is wildly tone-deaf and a prime example of how people don’t want AI to work. Leave the creative stuff to humans, AI can handle the drudgery. And yet a lot of the big AI push is the exact opposite.
I reviewed the book (published in 2015) this movie is based on back in 2018, which feels like another lifetime ago. I found the characters smart, likeable, and far more quippy and quick-witted than I could ever manage, and the story an entertaining slice of teen life, with complications.
All of this holds true for the movie version, which came out the same year as the book. I caught it on Disney+ and have watched it three times now, most recently just yesterday, because watching this movie is like hugging the world’s softest, friendliest puppy.
I never reviewed it, because I am very lazy when it comes to movie reviews.
But I’m reviewing it now, because it’s fresh in my mind, and it is very faithful to the book, right down to the characters all being adorable, yet believable.
The only significant change from the book that I noticed (it’s been six years, there are probably more) is the musical in the story they perform at Creekside High is Cabaret instead of Oliver!, perhaps because Cabaret better known and offers more sizzle for the rehearsal scenes.
Seeing, rather than reading, about Simon’s teen life, underscores how on the surface everything is great–his family is well-off, they all love and support each other and Simon even admits his family would likely be fine with him announcing he’s gay. So unlike coming out stories from three or four decades ago, this one is less about being accepted as gay (although there is a smidgen of that) and more about keeping secrets, finding your identity, first love, and the value of friendship. All things that are perfect grist for the teen angst mill. Yes, that’s what I said: the teen angst mill.
The movie never wanders far off from its lighter touch, but when the bottom falls out on everything for Simon before the final act, you can’t help but feel bad for the guy and the foolish decisions he’s made.
Another thing I like is the cringy way they show teens acting. I remember high school. I was a cringy teen. The music is different now, but those vibes are eternal.
One of my favourite bits (and spoiled in previews) is very early on, where Simon is sitting in his car in the driveway and watches a very hunky gardener across the street with a weed whacker. He calls out to him about how he likes his boots, then instantly realizes how dumb that sounds. It’s delightful.
The whole film is delightful. I’ll probably watch it again someday. Yes, it’s aimed at high school teens, but it’s just so warm and fuzzy–and witty–that I can’t help but be drawn in. Maybe part of it is nostalgia. For all the changes in the last 40 years, this movie still captures the high school experience in ways that I can recall vividly.
Highly recommended, especially if you just want to watch good people go through some ups and downs, then triumph in the end.
Random trivia: Strange as it may seem, this was the first major studio film to feature a gay teen romance. 2018!
I’m not saying I wish I had to defrag disks again, mind you. This just recalls a simpler time and, perhaps, one where you were more directly in control with what happened on your home computer1Speaking of nostalgia, I remember when people consciously drew a distinction between a work computer and a home computer.
First, the name is twee and annoying to type, so I give them some credit for so effortlessly mimicking one of the worst aspects of Apple. But it is a superficial aspect, so let’s move on.
Installation
I have a spare 1 TB M2 SSD (holy initialisms1Yes, I am finally learning to stop using ‘acronym’ when the letters don’t actually make a pronounceable word, like SCUBA or NASA, though I suppose there might be someone out there who pronounces SSD as ‘sssdee”, Batman) in an enclosure and attached to my PC via USB 3.0, so transfer speeds are not terrible. I chose Advanced options during install and was able to get the OS in place without consulting any documentation. Victory!
What I didn’t realize at the time is that Pop!_OS doesn’t install a boot manager when you install it alongside another OS, so every time I restart my PC, it automatically boots into Pop!_OS, which is nice for it, but bad for me, because my primary operating system on the PC is still Windows 11. The interim fix is to tap F8 while rebooting, then select the Windows drive. Windows 11 loads normally after this. There are methods of creating a boot manager with Pop!_OS, but none are exactly simple, so I’ll probably leave it for now.
This does mean that removing the OS later will be simpler, since all I’ll need to do is boot into Windows 11’s recovery mode and execute this command at the command prompt:
bootrec.exe /fixmbr
As mentioned in a previous post, I kept getting pop-ups that the OS wasn’t working during install and had to keep dismissing them. This was annoying, but only added a bit of time to the install. Once done, it was simple enough to download my most-used apps from the Pop app store:
Thunderbird
Signal
Discord
Some apps I use are already included, most notably Firefox, but the list of apps I use that aren’t available at all in Linux remains a little too long:
Diarium (daily journal)
TickTick (to do list/reminders)
Affinity Designer (vector drawing)
Affinity Photo
Pixelmator Photo
Media Player (yes, I like it and use it!)
There are other apps I use, but haven’t installed yet. I used the Pop!_OS ISO with Nvidia drivers included, so this in theory means gaming should be simpler to set up. I’ll find out when I install Steam.
Built-in applications
Other than Firefox, you get the LibreOffice suite and a bunch of usual utilities like a calculator and such. I may tinker with LibreOffice to see how well it works with Word and Excel files (which I regrettably still use with others).
A lot of the included applications are more like applets–minimal, but functional. There is a built-in weather app, but it’s much simpler than the one in Windows 11 (though it doesn’t run ads, which the one in Windows 11 now does, to my noted chagrin). I may have more thoughts on these as I poke around.
User Interface and Design
The closest comparison to the GUI Pop!_OS uses is probably macOS. There is a dock, and also a bar that runs atop the display, reminiscent of the menu bar on Macs. It offers a decent amount of customization and in the end it didn’t feel like it was blatantly copying macOS. The “super” key (Windows key) defaults to a command line launcher, which is one of those handy things I now miss when it’s not available in any OS.
The system defaults to dark mode, but I’ve recently become a light mode convert, and switching over is easy. The title bars on windows still remain dark, which is a style choice I’m not sure if I agree with. I haven’t looked too much into customization here, so I’ll definitely have more thoughts on this later.
The system itself felt reasonably responsive, with moving windows, clicking and dragging all feeling zippy enough. My hardware was all configured automagically, including:
Bluetooth
Wi-Fi
Brother printer
Mouse (settings for this are minimal, we’ll see how that works out)
More to come
The fun par comes the next time I restart the PC and see if Pop!_OS loads smoothly or blows up. I’ll post more thoughts then, from within the OS itself (yes, I am being all ironic by writing this post on the Windows 11 side of things).
I am determined to exercise in some way every day, so late this morning I went out for walkies.
The summer weather has returned after a few days of intermittent showers and clouds, so it was already 26C when I headed out, and a bit humid. I kept up a brisk pace for the 4K walk to Burnaby Lake. When I got there, I decided to walk the approximate 2 km up the trail to find the nefarious tree root that I tripped on in a recent run. I set off, knowing the approximate location.
As I approached the area, I slowed and started scrutinizing the ground. At one point I even caught my toe on something. A-ha! I looked intently at the ground and could not find what I had snagged my toe on. I guess it was just a bump or something. It felt like it was too early for the tree root, so I pressed on. I observed that this area is perfect for nefarious tree roots, as there is a lot of canopy–ergo, shade–but the sun also pokes through in lots of areas, creating a dappled pattern that makes the ground hard to read.
I could not find the root.
I did find a large, smooth stone protruding a bit out of the trail, so it’s possible my foot happened to snag on it at just the right angle, but it feels like it’s a little too close to the middle of the trail, and I always run on the right. But maybe.
I walked to the bridge with the 8K marker and headed back, completing a second walk of 6 km and a very brisk pace of 9:01/km. I sweated a bit! It was nice to be out and touch trees, but not trip on them.
Foot bridge at the 8K marker.
Stats:
Walk 118 and 119 Average pace: 9:09 and 9:01/km Location: Brunette River trail/Burnaby Lake Distance: 4.02 and 6.02 km Time: 36:43 and 54:15 Weather: Sunny Temp: 26-28°C Humidity: 59-55% Wind: light BPM: 118 and 119 Weight: 166.6 pounds Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Total distance to date: 865.86 km
In BC, the first Monday of the month (this year, it’s the 5th) is BC Day, a statutory holiday. Who doesn’t like stat holidays? I mean, other than retail workers, essential service workers and…probably a lot of other people, actually.
The day before BC Day is the Pride Parade in Vancouver. I’ve been multiple times and while I haven’t been in a while, it’s not because I don’t enjoy the parade, it’s more it’s too successful for its own good, drawing crowds up to 600,000 strong, which is close to the entire population of the city of Vancouver. Young guys in underwear are very popular. I’m not going to knock it, but I don’t want to be there when the parade ends and those 600,000 people need to leave. Also, the forecast is sunny and hot. This leads me to…
It’s still summer, if you like summer. I like summer. I like the longer nights, the warm days, the sun (not so much heat domes and the like). I like wearing shorts and not having to bundle up for my runs because it’s raining/snowing/hailing.
August has 31 days, so if you like it, there’s more of it.
If you go to school, it’s another month of school-free hanging out, relaxing and seeing the world, or some parts of it.
It’s also a popular vacation time, with the usually good weather.
If you’re into the PNE (Pacific National Exhibition), it starts in late August, and it lets city slickers see cows, pigs and, uh, probably farm equipment, up close and personal.
Probably other things I’ve missed and will secretly add to this list later.
Monday’s run went sideways when I walked to the river trail (1.5 km) and realized I’d forgotten my SPI-belt™. It’s where I stash my phone when I run and keeping it in my pocket isn’t really practical, as it tugs on my shorts while jogging. I walked back (it was showering steadily at the time) and got the belt, but then decided to dry off a bit before heading back out, then ultimately put off the whole thing because at that point I was soaked and super unmotivated.
But today was different! It was merely cloudy, so off I went, planning and successfully executing a short counter-clockwise loop at the lake. I started late, but temperatures were still mild. What was not mild was the humidity, which started at 76% and only dropped slightly over the course of the run.
I was a bit droopy to start, with a pace of 5:58/km, then picked up a bit to 5:56/km, then an entire metaphorical wheel fell off as I slipped to 6:11/km. I ran to the 3K marker and decided to take a brief pause, by walking the short distance to Phillips Point, taking two photos, then walking back to the 3K marker and resuming the last 2K. This gave me my two best laps: 5:52 and 5:49/km. I was feeling a bit drained by the finish and I’ll admit to glancing at my watch a couple of times to see how much farther I had to go. But I managed to slip in under 6:00 minutes, with an average of 5:58/km. Woo (even with the cheating).
Interestingly, my BPM was lower at 151, likely because the humidity was moderating my pace. The trail was busier than expected, possibly due to my being out early afternoon instead of mid-morning, or maybe people were just excited to get out after two days of showers.
Also, summer is apparently “let your dog run free” time, if the river trail is any indication. That’s all I’ll say about that. [angry emoji here]
Overall, though, a decent effort and hopefully part of a successful return to regular runs.
Phillips Point, during the 3K break.
Stats:
Run 874 Average pace: 5:58/km Training status: Productive Location: Burnaby Lake (CCW, short loop) Start: 12:36 p.m. Distance: 5.03 km Time: 29:59 Weather: Mostly cloudy Temp: 21-22°C Humidity: 76-74% Wind: light BPM: 151 Weight: 166.9 Total distance to date: 6,230 km Devices: Garmin Forerunner 255 Music, iPhone 12, AirPods (3rd generation) Shoes: HOKA Speedgoat 6 (15/34/49)
I got in a silly mood again and decided to mess around again with Linux. That can only lead to trouble!
This time I decided to swap out of Linux Mint and try Pop_OS, a distro made by System76, a company that sells PC hardware with the OS pre-installed, so you know they’re committed!
I made a boo boo when removing Mint. The proper order is:
Remove the GRUB bootloader that gives you a menu to choose Mint or Windows when restarting the PC
Remove or format the Linux partition (in this case, a separate SSD)
I did this in the reverse order, which meant I had to do a bunch of other stuff to fix things. Thank you, internet, for still being at least useful enough to provide the steps to take!
Once I had Linux Mint gone, I booted from the Pop_OS USB stick and the installation went fine-ish. I would keep getting “Pop_OS has stopped working” pop-ups during the process and would have to wait before I could click them away. They would often come back multiple times, but in the end it was annoying and didn’t kill the process or anything.
I’m typing on Pop_OS now!
Why did I switch? A few reasons, but mostly to try something different as a point of comparison, and also because Pop_OS is different. Mint follows a lot of Windows conventions, for better or for worse, where Pop_OS does things a little differently with its UI. It’s maybe a bit more Mac-like, but not really Mac-like. It’s more its own thing, and I like that they are trying something a little different.
Now, the scary part: I haven’t rebooted to see what happens. In theory, I should get a menu and be able to choose Windows or Pop_OS. If that doesn’t happen, I may need to do the old bootrec.exe /fixmbr again, or other trickery to get Windows to load, because as nice as Pop_OS might be (I perhaps have a few more reservations than initially), it ain’t gonna replace Windows. Not yet, anyway.
In my next Linux update, I’ll talk a bit about new apps I’m testing to replace some of the Windows and Mac apps I regularly use. Fun! Sort of!
Woo, I’m down this month. Last week I hit a low of 166.3 pounds, then it started creeping back up and just two days before the last day of the month it took another 0.5 pound jump. Yikes, as they say. But today, the last day of the month, a minor miracle occurred, and I dropped enough to bring me down 2.1 pounds for the month, and down 5.4 pounds for the year. That’s pretty minor weight loss for seven months, really, but as long as it keeps dropping, I’m reasonably happy.
Also good news: My body fat percentage has dropped more than by just a rounding error amount, from 25.9% to 25.2%. I mean, it’s still just a big rounding error, really, but it’s trending the right way.
Overall, then, a good month in the Battle Vs. Fat.
Stats:
Weight: January 1, 2024: 172.3 pounds Current: 166.9 pounds Year to date: Down 5.4 pounds
July 1: 169.0 pounds July 31: 166.9 pounds (down 2.1 pounds)
Body fat: July 1: 25.9% July 31: 25.2% (down 0.7%)
Skeletal muscle mass: July 1: 30.0% July 31: 29.8% (down 0.2%)
For a long while I averaged two posts per day, which seemed like a good thing, somehow. It kept my mind agile or some other buzzword. But since November 2023 I have not been able to muster the will to post much more than once per day. Why is that?
I do not know. I have theories. Stress is probably a big one. Falling out of the habit may be another. Maybe I’m just lazy or going through a protracted creative funk, or PCF as scientists call it.
Since there’s only one day left in the month and this is post #37 for July, it seems rather unlikely that I will crank out 25 posts between today and tomorrow to hit the two-per-day average. I mean, it’s theoretically possible, and I am mildly curious what sort of spammy nonsense I’d write about to generate so many posts in so little time.
That means everyone in Discord is sharing YouTube clips that look like this to me:
It’s okay, though, the Olympics (in Paris right now as I type this) are yet another major cultural thing I just don’t have interest in any longer. It’s weird, because I don’t know why this changed. I used to watch and even get excited in anticipation of the Oscar broadcast. Now I often struggle to remember the last film to win Best Picture (I do remember this time–it was Oppenheimer, which, like most movies, I haven’t seen. The last movie I watched in a theatre was Pixar’s perfectly fine Onward, in March 2020). In fact, the full list of things that once engaged me that no longer does is both extensive and maybe a little unnerving, because I really don’t know what has changed.
The drop-off in reading has actually kind of disappointed me. It turns out a long commute was really important to enforcing a good reading habit.
On the plus side, I have spent more time doing other things that are engaging or even healthy, like running and drawing. I guess it all balances out.
