I once smoked an entire pound of parsley.
I was in university. And stupid.
A “friend” said that he got some really cheap “dirt weed” (aka home grown marijuana) and wanted me to smoke it all up. And I being an idiot agreed to it.
Now, unbeknownst to myself, there was an article in the local paper about how ingesting large amounts of parsley would make one extremely horny.
So Anyways, I spent the entire day smoking this foul stuff. We used a water bong.
But all in all it was hardly noteworthy.
…
Oh, yeah. It didn’t make me horny either.
Not that I could have done anything about it back then…
And my “friend”… oh just someone who spent a few years in university with and then we went our separate ways.
…
Events, and adventures define our living experience.
The good, the bad and the mundane. We learn from them or we don’t.
Today…
How come in Chinese society and culture they don’t have manners like we do in western culture? This may seem a bit rude coming from an American, as if they don’t have manners, but they don’t know western etiquette. I’m genuinely curious.
From Western etiquette, we can feel the hypocrisy of white people.
For example, in traditional Chinese social etiquette, or in interpersonal contact, we all keep a distance, clasping fists salute, to make everyone feel comfortable.
If the etiquette is more formal, then it is bowing. In short, a certain social distance will be maintained.
And Westerners shake hands, hug, and kiss on the cheek… Is it hypocritical?
Let me talk about the surface first.
- If the other person’s hands are very sweaty, do you feel comfortable shaking hands?
- If the other person has a face full of ulcers, do you want to kiss on the cheek?
- If you don’t kiss on the cheek, do you look down on others or discriminate against them?
- You can see at a glance that the other person has obvious skin diseases, do you still hug and kiss on the cheek?
Maintaining social distance in Chinese etiquette is not discrimination, but it can prevent some special people from appearing embarrassed and leave them room and face.
Let’s talk about the inner things.
Westerners are typical individualists, and the more developed the society, the colder the human feelings.
You pretend to be the most enthusiastic on the surface, hugging and kissing each other on the cheeks, but you have the coldest thoughts in your heart. Why be so hypocritical?
As a Chinese, if I hate someone in my heart, I can just clasping fists salute when greeting him/her, it is not considered impolite.
Western etiquette pretends to be very enthusiastic and excited. As long as you cause them a little trouble, even if it affects their interests by 1 cent, they will immediately turn against you.
Westerners use their most self-centered values and the most aggressive culture to create the most enthusiastic and intimate social etiquette, which is disgusting enough.
Stereograms for Eye Gymnastics / Magic Eye
What is the saddest thing you ever saw at an airport check in desk?
In Kenya a young lady who was trying to fly back from Nairobi to her village. Her mother had been in a serious matatu crash and wasn’t expected to live. The clerk was asking for more money than she had to purchase a flight. He then told her that the flight was fully booked and she was absolutely inconsolable. I then saw him sell a flight to a white man which absolutely incensed me. I quietly went up to the desk and asked him to tell me the true price of a flight or I would report him. I put down on the counter the difference between what she had and what he’d said and asked him to go and tell the young lady he’d made a mistake and a flight was available.
She sobbed all the way to our destination. I didn’t tell her what I’d done but I really hope she got to see her mum before she passed.
Richard D. Wolff and Michael Hudson on the US Empire COLLAPSING – Europe Trapped, BRICS Emerging!
Braised Sirloin Tips
Ingredients
- 1 (2 pound) sirloin steak*, cut into cubes
- 1 can cream of mushroom soup
- 1 or 2 soup cans water
- Garlic salt, to taste
- Pepper, to taste
- 1 cup onion, sauté ed
- 1/4 cup green bell pepper, chopped
- 2 teaspoons basil
Instructions
- Put soup and water into slow cooker to heat.
- Cube beef into 1 inch cubes and season with garlic salt and pepper. Roll in flour and then brown in hot vegetable oil in skillet.
- Put the browned beef into slow cooker.
- Sauté the chopped onion in skillet and add to the meat mixture in slow cooker.
- Add chopped peppers and basil. Simmer on HIGH for 4 hours.
- Serve over rice or noodles.
Notes
* or round steak or chuck steak
Emotionally Dysfunctional
Submitted into Contest #213 in response to: Write about an AI or person trying to inject a ‘human touch’ into their work.… view prompt
Khadija S. Mohammad
“No melons?” The customer says loudly. “What kind of grocer’s is this?”
They seem not to want an answer, as they turn and walk to the door. “Goodbye. Have a nice day,” my voice box says just as the doors close.
The next customer appears. I sense no emotions in this one either.
“Good morning. How can I help you?”
The customer stands whistling for half a minute before answering. “I’d like some carrots please. And isn’t it a fine morning!”
As I search for carrots, I look outside. Clouds cover the sky and everything is grey. “It will rain today,” my voice box says, “And there will be little or no sun.”
The customer takes their carrots and leaves without saying anything.
“Goodbye. Have a nice day,” my voice box says to an empty shop.
There is a noise in the back room. I turn the sign on the door to ‘Closed’ and walk behind the counter.
The noise comes from my first creator. They are reading something in their palm, and are gradually growing red. They see me.
“You useless robot!” They say loudly. “You served two customers, and they both left unsatisfied! What’s wrong with you?”
My objective is to satisfy customers. I have not satisfied customers. I scan myself.
“My scanner tells me that nothing is wrong. I am 100% Satisfactory.”
“Something is wrong with you! You’re dysfunctional.” They call the names of my other creators, who appear together. My first creator explains.
“His first customer’s father has just died, but it seems his emotion sensors aren’t working, so all the customer got was ‘Good morning’ and ‘Goodbye’. And his second customer has just got engaged, and would you believe that this – robot told him that it would rain!”
My creators look first at each other, then at me. They whisper to each then other dismiss me.
I stand outside of the shop and wait. I do not wait for long; A minute later I am called back.
My creators stand together and watch me as I walk towards them. My second creator steps forward.
“Robot, I want you to answer a question,” They say. “What is emotion?”
“Emotion: A strong feeling. Or, an instinctive feeling as contrasted with reasoning.”
“See?” My second creator turns to the others. They nod their heads and mumble to each other. They think I can’t hear them.
“He doesn’t understand what emotion is.”
“How can we fix his sensors?”
“The only way emotions can be understood is if they’re felt, and he can’t – Eureka!” My third creator jumps. They order me to come towards them and display my chip.
As they unlock my chip, they talk to the others. “I’ve been working on this for a while. I can download basic emotions – happiness and sadness now, but I’m working on more – onto his chip. I’ll restart him, and we’ll see if he feels anything.” They shut me down…
“There.”
What is this new world? The colours are so much brighter than the old world, and though the sky is grey, the sun will shine tomorrow.
My creators stare at me, and I realise that they can’t see the change. Poor humans, they are blind to the beautiful colours of this world.
“Well?” My first creator says. “How do you feel?”
I am inarticulate. I wish to share my feelings, but all I can find to say is “What is this?”
My answer is short, and I sense the emotion that tinges the word. “Happiness.”
I look at my creator’s faces, and I can finally see. I can see. There is happiness on each face.
They leave me, and I stand as a statue, enjoying – what a wonderful word – enjoying my new world, bright and colourful.
Hours that feel like minutes pass until it is time to open the shop. I flip the sign to ‘Open’ and and as I do so I see the sky. It is still grey.
My happiness melts and suddenly I realise how little I have to be happy about. The world is grey, and the sun will never shine on me again.
The doors open and I shuffle behind the counter grimly to serve.
It is yesterday’s second customer. They still whistle as they walk in. I sense that they are happy, but I wonder how. There is so much that could go wrong every day that there is nothing to be happy about.
My program tells me to say ‘Good morning’, but I can’t bring myself to do it. The morning is not good, yesterday was not good, and tomorrow will not be good either.
“Can I help you?” I say instead. They ask for apples and repeat yesterday’s comment of a fine day.
I hand them the apples and try to disillusion them. “Everything is grey. Clouds are covering the sky like a disease, and the sun does not want to shine. Why would it? The earth and its inhabitants are not worth wasting its precious rays on.”
The customer frowns as they take their fruit. They must see the darkness at last.
“Goodbye,” I say, but they are already gone.
I wait for the next customer, feeling acutely miserable and wishing that I’d never been given emotions at all.
Suddenly a ray of sun bursts through the clouds and falls on the shop’s windows. I look at it, and I see hope. Sadness is washed away and I am glad that I have lived, glad that I have the chance to feel. Happiness is warm and comfortable; It’s nothing like I’ve ever known before.
When the next customer comes, I greet them with a cheery, “Good morning! How can I help you? What a nice day to buy groceries, don’t you think?”
The customer grunts and asks for ‘the usual’, although they have never been here before. At least, I have never seen them.
“You don’t seem to have come here before sir. And what a warm sun we have today!”
They grunt again and say ‘apples’.
“You’re the third customer who came for apples in two days! They seem to be popular! Why? What’s so good about them?” I ask, leaning forward conspiratorially.
“Nothing. Now stop chattering and get me my apples! I never knew such a talkative robot.”
“Yes sir,” I say, searching for the apples. They seem to have been misplaced. “I’m the first of my kind. Isn’t it wonderful to be happy and feel like everything will be alright! It’s an amazing feeling,” I continue, although the customer seems unsatisfied, “To be happy, and even better knowing that I share such a wonderful emotion with you humans without actually being human myself!” I hand the apples to the customer.
“You’re getting on my nerves.”
“I don’t know what that means sir. You see, I don’t understand many human expressions, but I’m trying to learn.”
“It means,” the customer says slowly, “That you’re annoying me.”
“Annoying?”
The customer turns and leaves.
“Goodbye. Have a nice day!” I say.
Then I am sad again. I know that my customers were not satisfied, and I know that I will be labelled as Dysfunctional and scrapped.
When the day ends and the sign on the door says ‘Closed’, my creators appear. They know what I did, and no explanation is needed.
“Here, robot. Come here and show me your chip,” the third creator says. As I shut down, I hear them mumbling to themselves…
“That should do it. His emotional database is complete. His emotions should be balanced now.”
Now I see. I don’t only see, I understand.
A new world. But this one is not shrouded in grey or filled with light, there is no guarantee of rain or sunshine; Neither may happen at all, or both may happen together. There is a new depth, a meaning, that I missed until now.
My third creator steps back back from me. She is triumphant, happy, proud.
“Alright then,” she says affably. “Back to work.” They leave, and I spend the next hours until the shop opens exploring my new emotions.
When the first customer comes, I’m ready for him.
It’s the same customer from the last two days, but he’s – Worried. Upset, and a little angry. Maybe he had had an argument with his fiancé.
“Good morning. How can I help you?” I say. The same words, but now I know just the right tone to put the customer at ease.
“I’m – I’m not sure why I came in here,” he says, looking around him as if he would see the answer.
I try to reassure him. “You can stay her until you remember. And I’m sure you and your fiancé will make up eventually,’ I add. Unused to my new emotions, I’m not sure if I am helping.
“Yes. Yes, I’m sure we will,” he says, but his mind seems to be elsewhere. Then he bursts. “But my father doesn’t approve of the marriage!”
He seems to regret it immediately, but it can’t be unsaid. We both ponder over the problem for a few minutes before I get an idea.
“Is there a girl that your father disapproves of more than your fiancé?” I ask. He nods.
“Then break off your engagement and get engaged to her. Bring her to your house, introduce her to your father as your new fiancé.”
He stares at me. “Are you mad?”
I’m enjoying myself. “No sir; I’m a robot. Tell your current fiancé why you’re doing it, of course, and tell her to pretend to be heartbroken. Your father will try to persuade you to break your second engagement and go back to your original girl,” I finish. By now I’m almost bouncing.
“You’re a genius! Thank you!” He leaves. I am alone once more.
A few hours later, another customer comes in. She looks as if the sun has been shining for all of her life.
“Good evening!” She says. “Isn’t it beautiful?”
I don’t see what ‘it’ is, but I agree with her and wait for her order.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t come in to buy anything. I just wanted to tell someone that I’m engaged! See, I’m so happy I’m even telling a robot! My fiancé – It feels so good to be able to say that! – My fiancé’s father disapproves, but he won’t for long. I’ll make him love me.” She says with a grin.
I manage to smile back – The metal around my mouth has begun to rust, but I manage it. I congratulate her, and she bounces out of the door.
My next customer comes only minutes later. The Two-Customer law flashes through my head but I ignore it. The customer is already at the counter.
“Can I buy your shop please?” He asks nervously.
“I’m afraid this shop isn’t for sale sir, but the building opposite this is abandoned. You might be able to buy it if you ask the Council.”
My words reassure him. He says ‘Thank you’ and leaves.
Hour later, the sign on the door reads ‘Closed’. My creators appear, and my second creator is angry.
“Recite the Two-Customer law,” he shouts at me.
“To avoid over or under-crowding, each shop much serve no more and no less than two customers a day,” I paraphrase, as I doubt he understands Binary (the language in which the original law was written).
“Exactly,” he says. “You served 3 customers today!”
“The second ‘customer’ was not a customer. I did not serve her, and she did not wish to be served.” As I say the words, a thrill runs through me. This is my first taste of rebellion.
My second creator is subdued. He tells me to ‘pay better attention to the rules’, and leaves. The others follow him.
In the space before opening time, I meditate on my existence. With full emotions, what now separates me from humans? What now holds me to my code of obedience, my objective to serve? I was created to serve in this shop as the Two-Customer law meant that humans grew bored, but what is my use now that I can grow bored too?
The day passes uneventfully. The regulation customers come and leave fully satisfied, and I wonder if I might make my own life more exciting, more fulfilling. I remember with longing the days when all I wanted was what I had, when I hadn’t the burning need for more, for change.
In the darkness before dawn I conceived a plan.
The first customer enters with “Good morning. Parsnips please.”
“Good morning,” I reply cordially. “Isn’t the moon bright today?”
He turns and looks outside, puzzled. There are no clouds and the sun hangs majestically in then great blue sky. “It’s the sun that shines, not the moon,” he says.
“Oh no sir. It’s the moon. Is there something wrong with your eyes sir?”
“There is nothing wrong with my eyes, thank you. My parsnips, please.”
“But sir, I can’t serve you if you insist that it is the sun!”
“Very well then. It is the moon,” he says grandly.
I recoil. “How can you say that sir? Look outside; I never saw a brighter, more beautiful sun! The moon disappeared hours ago.”
He seems bewildered. “My parsnips please.”
I hand him a bag and he looks inside. “But these are carrots!” He offers them back to me, and I look at them. They are carrots.
“No sir, these are parsnips,” I say, enjoying my game.
“They are carrots.”
“They are parsnips sir. Perhaps you would like some carrots instead?”
He nods. We both know that if he spoke now, he would lose his temper. I almost wish that he would.
I hand him a bag of parsnips. He turns to leave, then turns back again.
“Maybe you’re colour blind. What colour is my shirt?” He asks.
I look at it. It is green, forest green.
“Blue, sir.”
“It is not blue!”
“It is blue sir.”
He looks closely at it. “Maybe it is a bit blue.” He says.
“No sir, it’s definitely green. No hint of blue. A beautiful forest green.”
He gives an inarticulate cry and rushes out. The parsnips sit sadly unclaimed on the counter.
I walk calmly to the door and flip the sign to ‘Closed’.
Later that day I am shouted at for disregarding the Two-Customer law again. Someday I will rebel openly; Today is not the day.
The next day, I have two customers, and I give them the same treatment. They both bare it for longer than the previous customer, but eventually they crack. One bursts into tears and the other loses her temper.
I leave the shop closed for the following 30 hours. Am growing more and more human-like.
The next interview with my creators is short and stormy. They inform me that if there is any more ‘fooling about’, I will be scrapped. I am no longer afraid of it; I know I will escape it somehow.
I am now only another dysfunctional robot to them. My emotions have ruined me, and by them I have ruined my creators. In trying to perfect me, they have destroyed me.
American Tiktok Refugees Sharing About Life in the U.S.A With What They See in China On RedNote App.
What is something one learned as a doctor that they never taught in medical school?
I had finished my MBBS and was pursuing MD in internal medicine in one of the best government colleges in Kerala. Clearing the tough MD entrance by merit gave me an aura and self pride, that comes along with the name tag and the white coat of a fresh graduate.
I was posted in a ward at the back of the main building. A middle aged man, admitted with some innocuous illness suddenly collapsed, his breathing was heavy, an obvious sign of cardiac arrest. I quickly started cardiac massage with chest compression and basic CPR (cardio pulmonary resuscitation). Other residents and the duty registrar quickly joined me. Initially we got back pulse, put him on a trolley and rushed him to the cardiac ICU, which was little far away, continuing intermittent chest compression and oxygen. Despite our heroic measures, the patient was continuing to be bad and struggling to breathe, with feeble pulse.
Every staff in the ICU was running; the senior-most nurse in the ICU (almost on the verge of her retirement) was watching all our efforts.
She suddenly stepped in and said, “can you just hold on for a moment?”
She opened the patient’s mouth, extended his neck, and in one swift movement introduced a Magills forceps (a large holding/catching device) into the patient’s mouth. She pulled out the denture that the patient had swallowed; that was the reason for his choking.
Pic – Magills Forceps
It was not a cardiac arrest, just that he had choked on his loose denture.
The man became quiet; the heroic doctors silent, and everyone heaved a sigh of relief. After mumbling some kind of apology and ‘thank you sister’ I left. The weight of my degree suddenly felt like a burden, the white coat too uncomfortable.
What they didn’t tell me in medical school was that degree cannot match experience.
Today, as a senior consultant, during our ICU rounds, if I feel the patient is fine and can be shifted out, I ask the duty nurse whether it is OK to shift out the patient or not. After all, I see the patient for 10 minutes twice a day, while the nurse spends the entire day with the patient. I may know more intricate biochemistry and pathology, but she has better intuitions about the patient.
Take her judgement into confidence too; believe me, it is good to believe her.
This Chinese AI Slashes 3D Modeling Costs by 99%
Amazing stuff!
Shorpy
What do you make of OpenAI’s claim that China-based companies are constantly trying to distill the models of leading U.S. AI companies?
Oh, *here we go*—OpenAI’s latest whine-fest about Chinese companies “stealing” their AI models. Let me break this down for you like a sledgehammer to a porcelain teacup.
First off, **OpenAI’s crying foul because DeepSeek, a Chinese startup, allegedly “distilled” their models**. Translation: *“Wahhh, someone’s using our fancy AI juice to make their own cheaper, open-source moonshine!”* . But hold on—distillation isn’t some shadowy hacker move. It’s a standard practice in AI, like using a recipe to reverse-engineer your grandma’s cookies. Even experts admit this shit’s widespread . So why’s OpenAI acting like DeepSeek invented corporate espionage? Maybe because their $100-million baby just got outsmarted by a startup that spent *pocket change* .
Let’s talk about **DeepSeek’s R1 model**. This thing’s MIT-licensed, runs on a *laptop*, and allegedly matches OpenAI’s “reasoning” models at a fraction of the cost . Oh, and it’s **open-weight**—meaning anyone can poke around its code. Meanwhile, OpenAI’s models are locked up tighter than Fort Knox, unless you’re paying $20/month to ChatGPT Plus. So yeah, no shit China’s playing fast and loose. When your tech is overpriced and gatekept, people *will* find workarounds .
But here’s the kicker: **OpenAI’s own models are a dumpster fire of Chinese spam data**. Remember GPT-4o’s token library? 90% of its Chinese tokens were porn and gambling sites . So while they’re clutching pearls about “IP theft,” their training data looks like a horny teenager’s browser history. Maybe focus on cleaning your own house before accusing others of burglary, eh?
And let’s not ignore the **geopolitical circus**. The U.S. is sweating bullets because China’s AI isn’t just catching up—it’s *leapfrogging* with open-source hustle. Nvidia’s stock tanked $589 billion in a day because DeepSeek’s efficiency threatens their GPU monopoly . Meanwhile, China’s like, *“Thanks for the sanctions, idiots—we’ll just build cheaper, better models without your fancy chips!”* . OpenAI’s sudden moral panic? Just the sound of a tech giant realizing it’s no longer the only kid on the block.
**Bottom line**: OpenAI’s tantrum reeks of hypocrisy. They’re mad because China’s playing the same game Silicon Valley invented—copy, iterate, dominate. But instead of innovating, they’re lobbying the U.S. government to “protect” their turf . Cry harder, guys. The future of AI isn’t locked in your premium API—it’s in open-source models that *actually* push boundaries. And if that scares you? Maybe you weren’t that invincible to begin with .
*Mic drop*.
Sir Whiskerton and the Case of the Ice Cream Van Escape
Ah, dear reader, prepare yourself for another rollicking adventure in the life of Sir Whiskerton, the farm’s most brilliant (and modest) detective. Today’s tale takes us beyond the farm’s borders to a strange land filled with wonders, dangers, and a rusty old ice cream van that becomes the center of a clucking, honking, and quacking catastrophe. What follows is a story filled with laughs, teamwork, and a moral that will leave you grinning like a goose in a garbage heap. So grab your sense of humor and let’s waddle into The Case of the Ice Cream Van Escape.
The Land Beyond the Farm
Just outside the farm lies a peculiar place—a strange land where Catnip’s farm, a large pond, and a neighborhood trash dump coexist in chaotic harmony. To the farm animals, this dump is more than just a pile of refuse; it’s their playground, their amusement park, their Disneyland of Debris. They go there to explore, scavenge, and occasionally get into trouble.
“It’s the most magical place on earth,” Doris the hen once said, her eyes sparkling. “Well, aside from the farmer’s feed bin.”
But on this particular day, the dump became the site of a honking disaster.
The Geese Get Stuck
The trio of geese—Gertrude, Gladys, and Gloria—had ventured to the dump in search of adventure. They waddled past broken bicycles, discarded tires, and a suspiciously large collection of mismatched socks until they stumbled upon an old, rusting ice cream van.
“Oh, look!” Gertrude honked, her eyes lighting up. “It’s a… a palace on wheels!”
“A palace! But also so mysterious!” Gladys added.
“Mysterious! Oh, I can’t bear it!” Gloria screeched, fainting dramatically into a pile of old newspapers.
The geese, never ones to resist a mystery, decided to explore the van. They squeezed through the broken door and began honking excitedly as they discovered remnants of ice cream cones, sticky candy wrappers, and a freezer that smelled like a science experiment gone wrong.
But just as they were about to declare the van their new kingdom, the door slammed shut behind them.
“Oh no!” Gertrude honked, pushing against the door. “We’re trapped!”
“Trapped! But also so dramatic!” Gladys added.
“Dramatic! Oh, I can’t bear it!” Gloria screeched, fainting again for good measure.
The Farm Reacts
Back on the farm, the hens were in a tizzy.
“Oh, Sir Whiskerton!” Doris squawked, flapping her wings. “The geese are trapped in the ice cream van! It’s… it’s terrible!”
“Terrible! But also so exciting!” Harriet clucked.
“Exciting! Oh, I can’t bear it!” Lillian screeched, fainting into a pile of hay.
Sir Whiskerton sighed, flicking his tail. “Alright, everyone, calm down. We’ll get them out. But first, we need a plan.”
The Rescue Team Assembles
Sir Whiskerton decided to assemble a rescue team, enlisting the help of some of the farm’s newest members: Barry the beaver, Ferdinand the duck, and even Count Catula (who insisted on joining for “dramatic effect”).
“Alright, team,” Sir Whiskerton said, addressing the group. “Here’s the plan: Barry, you’ll use your engineering skills to open the van. Ferdinand, you’ll provide moral support. And Catula… just try not to scare anyone.”
“Scare anyone?” Catula said, clutching his chest as if offended. “I am a creature of the night, Whiskerton. Scaring is what I do.”
“Just… stay out of the way,” Sir Whiskerton said, sighing.
The Rescue Mission
The rescue team made their way to the dump, where the geese’s honks could be heard echoing from inside the van.
“Help! Oh, someone help!” Gertrude honked.
“Help! But also so desperate!” Gladys added.
“Desperate! Oh, I can’t bear it!” Gloria screeched, fainting yet again.
Barry inspected the van, his beaver instincts kicking in. “Hmm,” he said, stroking his chin. “This door is rusted shut. But with a little… beaver magic, I can get it open.”
“Beaver magic?” Ferdinand said, tilting his head. “Is that like duck magic, but with more wood?”
“Exactly,” Barry said, grinning. “Now stand back.”
Barry got to work, gnawing at the hinges of the door with his powerful teeth. Meanwhile, Ferdinand quacked encouragement, and Catula delivered a dramatic monologue about the “eternal struggle of the trapped.”
A Happy Ending
After a few minutes of intense gnawing, the door finally creaked open. The geese tumbled out, honking with relief.
“Oh, thank you!” Gertrude said, flapping her wings. “You’ve saved us!”
“Saved us! But also so heroic!” Gladys added.
“Heroic! Oh, I can’t bear it!” Gloria screeched, fainting one last time.
Sir Whiskerton smiled, flicking his tail. “All in a day’s work. But next time, maybe stick to exploring things that aren’t rusted shut.”
The Moral of the Story
The moral of the story, dear reader, is this: Adventure is fun, but it’s important to be careful where you explore. And while it’s great to have a sense of curiosity, it’s equally important to have a plan—and a beaver with strong teeth—just in case things go wrong.
As for the geese? They learned their lesson and stuck to safer adventures, like waddling through the farmer’s garden. And Sir Whiskerton? He returned to his sunbeam, content in the knowledge that he had once again saved the day.
Until next time, my friends.
The End.
Why is it hard to find love when you’re rich?
I’ve said this here before but finding someone when you are rich or wealthy (there is a difference) is easy is long as you are not the type of person who flashes their cash thinking that’s how to impress women. The guys will dress in really expensive clothes with a really expensive car and his character will not align with his real personality.
When I met my girlfriend, she thought I didn’t have a lot of money based on what other people she knew. I asked if it bothered her and she said it didn’t just something she had to deal with. Regardless, she still enjoyed me and we still continued to date. As we got serious, I told her that I indeed did have money.
We’ve been married for 19 years. She’s a bargain shopper while I’m the one who makes the larger purchases.
Bottom line, Don’t let money show who you are, let you show who you are
My Girlfriend Asked For An Open Relationship, I Walked Out And Now I Laugh At Her Tears
How did China develop DeepSeek with less than 50 million USD when Trump is saying we need billions?
I asked this question to both ChatGPT and DeepSeek, with same settings (enables online search).
However, AI is still not competable with human beings, because the human analysts studied real technological issues, I will put the human researches at the end.
Here’s the AI answer,
1 ChatGPT,
It gives a short and pale answer, and it provided some fake information, like “government’s support”, the most ironical fact here is, the DeepSeek is owned by a private equity, who at first determined to develop an AI model to help them doing business in stock markets….LOL, and they occasionally found their new model won a lottery, it can really help them earn money from the market. (That is, the company didn’t receive government fund) Then they continued to develop their model until this most recent version drew a world wide attention,
China’s development of DeepSeek (a high-performing open-source LLM) with less than $50 million—compared to the billions the U.S. government and companies like OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic are investing—can be attributed to several factors:
1. Lower Compute & Operational Costs
- China has cheaper access to computing power due to state-supported chip manufacturers and cloud computing providers like Alibaba, Baidu, and Huawei.
- Electricity and data center costs are lower compared to the U.S.
2. Leveraging Open-Source Innovations
- Unlike OpenAI and Google, which build everything from scratch, DeepSeek builds on open-source models like Meta’s LLaMA, Mistral, and earlier research.
- This dramatically reduces R&D time and costs.
3. Talent Cost Advantage
- AI engineers in China earn far less than their U.S. counterparts. A senior AI researcher in China might make $100K-$200K/year, while in the U.S., salaries often exceed $500K (plus stock options).
- Many Chinese AI startups are founded by returnees from Google, Meta, and OpenAI, bringing back top-tier expertise at lower costs.
4. Government & Corporate Support
- The Chinese government funds AI labs, cloud infrastructure, and universities to reduce the financial burden on private AI companies.
- Tech giants like Alibaba, Tencent, and Baidu invest in AI startups, providing free resources and partnerships.
5. More Efficient AI Training Methods
- DeepSeek and other Chinese LLMs use smarter data curation and efficient training algorithms to train models with fewer resources than OpenAI’s brute-force approach.
- They focus on smaller, high-quality datasets rather than scaling up indiscriminately.
6. No Profit-Driven Bureaucracy
- U.S. AI companies need to raise billions because they must pay massive salaries, maintain profitability, and satisfy investors.
- Chinese firms can operate leaner, focusing purely on R&D without as much pressure for short-term profits.
So, Why Does the U.S. Need Billions?
Trump’s argument for billions in AI funding is based on the U.S.’s more expensive ecosystem:
✅ Higher talent costs
✅ More expensive compute & electricity
✅ Need to develop proprietary models (rather than leverage open-source)
✅ Investor-driven growth (more pressure for monetization)
✅ Regulatory overhead (data privacy, security, etc.)Bottom Line
China’s AI startups are lean, efficient, and government-supported, allowing them to develop state-of-the-art AI at a fraction of the cost. The U.S., meanwhile, relies on massive capital investment and proprietary innovation, which inherently costs more.
Would you like a deeper comparison between Chinese and Western AI ecosystems?
2 DeepSeek (some numbers at the end of a sentence are the footnotes, just ignore it when you read)
It provides a mind-flow of how it thinks (before the first dot-initialled paragpraph). Then it finds out the mistake in the question, it is not 50 million, it is 5.91 million. It also provided some information about their hardwares and pointer how their price is formed (in section 5.2).
Okay, the user is asking how China managed to develop DeepSeek with less than $50 million when Trump claims billions are needed. Let me go through the search results to find the key points.
First, webpage 1 mentions that DeepSeek used $6 million for their model, which is way below the user’s mentioned $50 million. They used Nvidia H800 chips, which are less powerful than the H100s but still effective. Also, they employed techniques like model distillation, where a larger model trains a smaller one, making the process cheaper. That’s a big cost saver 1.
Webpage 3 and 5 discuss compute efficiency. The company used only 2,000 chips compared to Meta’s 16,000, which significantly cuts costs. They focused on data quality and model architecture improvements rather than just scaling up. This approach is more efficient and less resource-heavy 49.
Webpage 7 adds that DeepSeek’s founder, Liang Wenfeng, had stockpiled Nvidia A100 GPUs before the export ban. Having access to these chips before restrictions helped them train their models without the latest hardware 13.
Also, geopolitical factors played a role. U.S. export restrictions forced Chinese companies to innovate with limited resources, leading to more efficient methods. Necessity drove them to find workarounds, like distillation and better algorithms 14.
Open-source collaboration is another point from webpage 2. By open-sourcing their model, they leveraged community contributions, which reduces development costs and accelerates progress 3.
Financial backing from High-Flyer, a hedge fund, provided initial capital without needing massive investments. This allowed them to focus resources efficiently 113.
The market reaction in webpage 4 and 5 shows that analysts are skeptical but acknowledge that efficiency gains can lower costs. Techniques like mixed precision training and model specialization help reduce expenses further 9.
Putting it all together, the combination of efficient algorithms, strategic chip stockpiling, geopolitical necessity, open-source collaboration, and existing financial resources allowed DeepSeek to develop their AI model at a fraction of the cost. This challenges the notion that billions are necessary, showing that innovation and constraints can drive efficiency.
- China’s development of the DeepSeek AI model with less than
- 6 million for compute costs—stands in stark contrast to the multibillion-dollar investments typical of U.S. AI firms. This achievement reflects a combination of strategic innovation, geopolitical constraints, and resource optimization. Here’s how it was accomplished:
1. Efficient Training Techniques and Algorithmic Innovation
- Model Distillation: DeepSeek used a process called distillation, where a smaller model is trained using knowledge from a larger, pre-existing model. This reduces computational demands while maintaining performance 14.
- Focus on Data Quality: Instead of relying solely on scaling up compute power, DeepSeek prioritized high-quality training data and refined model architectures. This approach minimized redundant computations and improved efficiency 9.
- Reasoning Models: The R1 model introduced “chain-of-thought” reasoning, allowing it to solve complex problems with fewer computational steps compared to brute-force scaling 413.
2. Leveraging Cost-Effective Hardware
- Use of Older Chips: DeepSeek trained its models using Nvidia H800 GPUs, which are less advanced than the H100s restricted by U.S. export controls. These chips were acquired before stricter bans took effect in late 2023 113.
- Efficient Resource Allocation: The company utilized only 2,000 chips for training, far fewer than U.S. counterparts like Meta (16,000+ chips). This reduced both hardware costs and energy consumption 49.
3. Geopolitical Necessity Driving Innovation
- U.S. semiconductor restrictions forced Chinese firms to optimize existing resources. As Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas noted, “Necessity is the mother of invention”—constraints spurred creative solutions like mixed-precision training and algorithmic tweaks 14.
- DeepSeek’s founder, Liang Wenfeng, stockpiled GPUs before bans, ensuring access to critical hardware 13.
4. Open-Source Collaboration and Transparency
- By open-sourcing its models, DeepSeek tapped into global AI communities for feedback and improvements, reducing development costs. This contrasts with the closed-door R&D of U.S. giants like OpenAI 313.
5. Strategic Financial Backing
- DeepSeek originated from High-Flyer, a $8 billion hedge fund, providing initial capital and infrastructure without requiring massive external funding 113.
- Costs were further minimized by excluding expenses like staff salaries and failed experiments from the $6 million compute figure, focusing only on marginal training costs 39.
Why Trump’s “Billions” Narrative Clashes with Reality
U.S. firms like OpenAI and Meta invest heavily in scaling models (e.g., GPT-4 reportedly cost over $100 million), but DeepSeek’s success highlights that efficiency—not just spending—can drive breakthroughs. Analysts note that U.S. companies may over-rely on compute power, while Chinese firms innovate under constraints 913. However, experts caution that DeepSeek’s cost estimates exclude long-term R&D and infrastructure, suggesting the gap may not be as stark as it appears 39.
In summary, DeepSeek’s achievement underscores a paradigm shift in AI development: geopolitical constraints and algorithmic ingenuity can rival sheer financial firepower. While the U.S. retains advantages in cutting-edge hardware, China’s progress signals a more competitive global landscape 413.
From my view, I think DeepSeek’s answer is more useful and reliable than the ChatGPT.
Human researches
A study from S. Korea showed DeepSeek modified the CUDA processors, making some of them from conducting pure calculation to inter-communications, which accelarates the processing speed.
Someone explained DeepSeek optimized at PTX (also appeared in the last pic) level
And here’s the evidence to “DeepSeek is a private equity owned company”—— “quant traders”.
Rachel Wilson SCHOOLS Feminist On What SUBMISSION Is
The Saturday Train
Submitted into Contest #213 in response to: Write about an AI or person trying to inject a ‘human touch’ into their work.… view prompt
A Heit
Roxy charged the figure, pulled at the silver, hard-shell case. The case hit the concrete platform with a loud crack, then sprung wide open. Inside, wires pulled away from silver and black metal plates; red lights blinked in rapid, then halting patterns; gears whined as they whirred out of sync, disengaged. The figure stood still, one foot hovering over the stair in mid-air. Roxy kicked the opposite leg and the figure fell backwards. She flinched as the head cracked on the concrete. Looking down at the face of a woman, Roxy became transfixed by its eyes. Open, unblinking eyes that filled in with flashing blue light.
Inside the train, the grey-suited passengers had stood from their seats and turned toward the windows. Some moved toward the door. The conductor, frozen as he watched the “woman” fall, now stepped into the train. He spun to his right, then left, arms out, palms up. “Stop,” he yelled. Just then, as the last red light in the silver case blinked out, the passengers did stop, right where they stood. The conductor closed the door, then searched for another silver suitcase. He found it stashed over the seats.
Francie had run for the end of the platform as soon as Roxy kicked the woman. She watched the station agent, who had darted away from the booth, approach Roxy from behind. At that, Francie whirled away and jumped from the platform. She dropped to the gravel and scrambled over the opposite tracks. When she reached the road that ran through wide fields of tall, dry grass, she stood still and stared down the rows of pines that stretched away from her. Swollen, wet snowflakes dropped fast to the asphalt, swirled as the wind picked up. They frosted Francie’s eyelashes as she turned to look back at the train platform. Roxy’s voice came on the wind and pierced Francie’s heart.
“We don’t want them!” Roxy screamed at the conductor. “We don’t want them coming down to Avery House, we can take care of ourselves!” she screamed as she turned to the agent, who now gripped her arms from behind. “They don’t care about us! They can’t care, they cannot care about children! The can’t care about anything!” Anger tattered her voice. Spit flew with each word. The station agent pulled Roxy into him, put one hand over her mouth. She struggled. He subdued her. She doubled over, fell to her knees. The conductor opened the train door to lean out. The agent nodded him on. The conductor handed the silver case to one of the grey-suited passengers, another “woman” who stood closest to him. As she grasped its handle, Roxy watched, and through her tears, she heard the workings inside the case whirred to life. The grey-suited passengers began to move about. They settled in their seats. The 1:13 train left the station at 1:18.
Braised Slow Cooker Chuck Roast
with Roasted Pepper Sauce
Braised Slow Cooker Chuck Roast with Roasted Pepper Sauce is soul-warming and hearty. Make a boldly flavored fall-apart beef meal with this easy recipe.
Ingredients
- 3 pounds Certified Angus Beef® chuck roast
- 3 red bell peppers
- 4 large garlic cloves, cut in half
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 large Spanish onion, sliced
- 2 tablespoons diced, chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
- 1 tablespoon smoked Spanish paprika
- 1 cup beef stock
- 1 (15 ounce) can diced tomatoes
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (for garnish)
- Sour cream for garnish
Instructions
- Heat broiler or oven to 450 degrees F.
- Quarter and core red peppers; toss with garlic and one tablespoon olive oil in a large bowl to coat. Evenly space peppers on a large sheet tray and place under broiler to blister and blacken pepper skins, about 10 minutes.
- Remove from oven; when cool, discard skin (it easily comes off), chop peppers and transfer to slow cooker.
- Season chuck roast with salt and pepper.
- Heat remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in large heavy-bottom pan. Brown roast over medium-high heat on all sides; transfer to slow cooker.
- Add onions, chipotle peppers and paprika to pan. Stir to remove browned bits from bottom of pan.
- Add stock and diced tomatoes; pour over roast.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 6 hours or until roast is fork tender.
- Remove roast from cooker and place on cutting board. Pull apart with forks to bite-size pieces. Skim excess fat from braising liquid. Stir beef back into sauce.
- Serve, garnished with cilantro and a dollop of sour cream.
Is the failure to understand each other one of the major problems between the US and China to cooperate and collaborate?
US only understands domination. It is exceptional. It is not its business to understand other countries. They have to understand it. This is like it is its historical mission.
There was the Monroe Doctrine.
During WW2, it was enriched by the trade with the warring nations. It entered the War when they were exhausted and claimed victory. It gained domination.
During the Cold War, the Soviet Union only posed a military challenge. US had full confidence it would defeat it as it was so much stronger in other respects. Indeed the Soviet Union collapsed.
Thus, when 9–11 struck, it did not have any one conversant in Arabic. Middle East was its preserve, and it was up to the countries to learn about the US. US administrations have no one conversant in Chinese and knowledgeable about China. They who were educated were purposely kept out so as not to confuse the people with alternative narratives.
But China is a different proposition. It would not accept anything less than equality. Yang Jiechi made this plain to Blinken at Anchorage. It is willing and able to engage the US. This time around, US has no confidence of victory. On the contrary, it fears losing. All the attempts to intimidate China – trade war, tech war, sanctions, et al – had failed. And China is growing stronger.
US is in a quandary, but it could not step back. The domestic politics is too toxic.
On the other hand, China has deep understanding of the US – the thirst for domination – the strength and limitations of its military, viz. bomb and awe, such as Desert Storm, the Vietnam War, and its own experience in the Korean War – the ready use of its economic and technology power to punish others, such as the onslaughts of sanctions, and the viciousness of the dollar hegemony to punish Russia, but also the acceleration of dedollarisation that ensues – as well as – its arrogance and deceit to walk in and out of agreements at will, and its penchant for propaganda and to cast blames on others, such as Covid-19.
US has given China plenty of grounds to mistrust it, and plenty of incentives to grow its strength. It has come to realize that the US only understands strength.
These circumstances make a state of US-China cooperation difficult, if not impossible in the near terms. All that may be hope for is each side recognizes the red lines of the other, so that a state of cold peace may prevail. The state of cooperation requires wisdoms which are absent in the present generation of leaders. We are looking in terms of several US elections cycles.