Huh. Maybe I can look into it and see if it’s possible for Trek.

I mostly agree with you. However, I think there are some caveats to upscaling; there are so many lazy “4K AI UPSCALE BEST QUALITY” videos online that just don’t look good and were clearly put there just to get views.

However, I’ve also found they have their uses; for instance, I wanted to laser cut a TMBG Flood logo once, but there were very few good images online that traced well in Inkscape. I ended up doing an AI upscale of the least terrible one with a white background, and that traced pretty well in Inkscape.

I think including the word “OpenAI” in the post name is somewhat a misnomer that implies an encrapification not really happening to the FFMPEG project.

Yes, it is true OpenAI originally developed the Whisper model, and I hate OpenAI; however:

• Whisper is actually open source, unlike most OpenAI crap.
• FFmpeg isn’t even directly using the OpenAI version, written in Python - they’re using a port to C++ called Whisper.cpp
• We’ve been able to use speech recognition for decades, so unlike other AI models, I don’t think a speech recognition model that does it better is problem.
• You don’t even necessarily have to compile FFmpeg with Whisper support.

I get the dislike of AI, but the idea of association with OpenAI is overblown and not really reflective of reality. Now I can get not wanting to use open source projects whose developers don’t reflect your principles; however, I think this ethical issue is more indirect than may initially appear and is not a strong reason to quit using what is still the most effective media conversion tool.

No need to panic in this case. While I hate OpenAI, there’s two things to note here:

• Whisper is an open source library for speech recognition rather than generative AI, run entirely locally. It’s just using ML to do something we could already do with computers (speech recognition), but better.
• They aren’t even directly using the OpenAI version - they’re using whisper.cpp, a port of the model.

I was hardly the target audience for Lower Decks; in fact, I was a little mad they had made an adult animated Star Trek comedy. However, after watching it, it has become a favorite. Season 1 is a bit difficult to get through, but once you get through that, overall, it’s a show that’s very sincere to what Star Trek is while still being a comedy. And it should have gotten 2 more seasons.

Same with Star Trek: Prodigy: it takes a second, and it’s still technically a kids show, but when it gets there, it’s worth it.

Honestly, I’m half hopeful for the show just because it’s a “We’re going for the {X} demographic” kind of show that sounds a little like a stupid idea that will actually turn out unexpectedly good but get cancelled before its time.

You know what would be really awesome, though? A Cali class MSD!

I think part of it is people are so annoyed with entertainment companies in general that it’s hard to know if you’re worried about something real about the show or you’re just fatigued.

Also, personally, I feel like people have actually been relatively quiet about STA, although maybe it’s just the community I’m in. Personally, with headlines about Robert Picardo’s character being “deeper”, I’m almost certain he’ll be 100% comic relief, and the show may be unexpectedly good, if Star Trek: Prodigy is anything to judge by.

Mostly, I just hope they don’t do the most basic Klingon plot they can think of - I think it would be great if the Qo’nos Klingons were relatively well off post-burn due to a philosophical shift, but they’ll probably have something like they were devastated by civil war after possibly being a Federation member.

EDIT: I mean, almost all of the better newer series have been forays into a genre - LD adult animated comedy and PRO children’s drama. If STA’s trying to aim towards a tween/teen niche, maybe it will also follow that. The only one to break the pattern is S31 somewhat, in the sense it was an action movie attempt, but still within the general sci-fi drama standard of Trek.

I mean, I think you have pretty based reasons to sail the high seas, frankly.

Janeway responds to “nuqneH” with a very aggressive, spit-filled “nuqneH”, which most Klingons would laugh at were it any other human.

Engage the core!

Cerritos strong!

I’m rather sad to have never attended a convention - I was born in Vegas and lived there the first 15 years of my life.

We could have a convoluted retcon about Trip Tucker surviving somehow, but I kind of just want them to pull a Shaxs; someone brings it up and Tucker says, “We don’t talk about that.”

The early decon scenes are comparatively mild, which is saying something… don’t Google Vulcan Neuropressure; I wouldn’t wish such horrors upon my worst enemy.

I also enjoyed Prodigy, although I will warn the first half of season one is a little difficult to get through, but the rest of the series welds you to your seat!

I second this. It’s basically just an extra TNG-era spinoff that fits really well after Voyager.

The first season is a bit rough (though you’ve got to watch it at least once - important info for the rest of the show’s plot) but then the show starts doing its characters really well and has a sincerity to it you wouldn’t expect from its genre.

When I first heard of the idea of an adult animated Star Trek comedy, I thought it was a terrible idea, but they executed it so darn well, and it’s my second favorite series behind DS9.

Watching Enterprise (currently on season 3), I’m not sure I can blame you, despite the plot getting interesting.

Each 90s series has their fair share of “I want to put Rick Berman in my trunk and [redacted]” moments, but Enterprise takes it to a bit of a disgusting level.

Like, with 7 in Voyager, you learn to tune out the unnecessary catsuit after a while and just enjoy an otherwise good character, but they take the sexualization of T’Pol’s character to such extremes that it interferes with her just being a person on the show.

I’m watching ENT because I’m a sucker for canon, but I totally don’t blame you if you skip it.

I use this image, which mostly just works (other than the need to throw model info and a made-up serial into a config.plist.

https://github.com/thenickdude/KVM-Opencore

I can’t say for 15.6, but mine is currently running 15.2 just fine; I usually fall a bit behind on updates since these days, I only really use it to upload They Might Ne Giants rarities to my cloud library via Apple Music.

The only annoyance with the VM is iPhones can’t connect over USB easily.

I don’t use Proxmox, but since it’s all libvirt anyway, I’ve frequently found someone doing something on it that helps me with my VMs.

For instance, my GPU passthrough Hackintosh VM is part based on some dude who made a tutorial for Proxmox that applies elsewhere.

I mean, that’s at least a grounded Anglicization that I could see someone in-universe coming up with. Pronunciation-wise, ”Fek’lhr” isn’t so bad either, but still incredibly stupid spelling-wise.