Lightly Seared on the Reality Grill<p><strong>Up the workers</strong></p><p>May 1st is Labour Day, also known as International Workers’ Day, and in Belgium it’s a public holiday. I still find it a bit strange to have a public holiday on whatever day it falls, rather than shifting it to the next Monday as tends to happen in the UK, but this does make for a very easy week workwise.</p><p>In effect, I had a two day week, followed by a one day weekend, followed by a two day week for which a sizable chunk of the company had taken the time off. I could do with more weeks like this.</p><p><strong>This week we have been mainly watching…</strong></p><p><strong>Bleach</strong></p><p><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5979872/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Bleach</a> is a live-action adaptation of a manga about which I know nothing. As is often the case with adaptations with a huge backstory behind it, it does struggle to cram everything into a running time of less than two hours.</p><p>To a non-fan such as me, Bleach does work a lot better than many other manga adaptations, but I can’t help that I and damning the film with faint praise when I say this.</p><p><strong>Alien: Covenant</strong></p><p>Whatever went wrong with the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_(franchise)" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Alien</a> franchise? <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078748/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Alien</a> was an utterly gripping horror film that happened to be set in space. Six films into the series and we have <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2316204/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Alien: Covenant</a> which is both too long and way too predictable.</p><p><strong>Ready Player One</strong></p><p>Steven Spielberg’s adventure in virtual reality. <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1677720/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ready Player One</a> is packed with pop culture references, but it all feels a bit pointless.</p><p><strong>Some Links</strong></p><p>Iain Thomson takes a look back at recent history: <a href="https://www.theregister.com/2024/05/05/microsoft_nokia_anniversary/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Ten years ago Microsoft bought Nokia’s phone unit – then killed it as a tax write-off</a>.</p><p>Bruce Schneier on <a href="https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2024/04/the-rise-of-large.html" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">the rise of large-language-model optimization</a>, the incipient industry of manipulating AI-generated material to serve clients’ interests. </p><p>In a remarkably specific post, Andrew Thaler explains <a href="https://www.scq.ubc.ca/how-to-brew-beer-in-a-coffee-maker-using-only-materials-commonly-found-on-a-modestly-sized-oceanographic-research-vessel/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">how to brew beer in a coffee maker, using only materials commonly found on a modestly sized oceanographic research vessel</a>.</p><p>Baldur Bjarnason discusses <a href="https://www.baldurbjarnason.com/2024/react-electron-llms-labour-arbitrage/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">the labour arbitrage theory of dev tool popularity</a>, and recommends a book.</p><p>Molly White says <a href="https://www.citationneeded.news/we-can-have-a-different-web/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">we can have a different web</a>.</p><p><a href="https://blog.lightlyseared.online/2024/05/06/ready-alien-bleach/" class="" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://blog.lightlyseared.online/2024/05/06/ready-alien-bleach/</a></p><p><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://blog.lightlyseared.online/tag/alien-covenant/" target="_blank">#AlienCovenant</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://blog.lightlyseared.online/tag/bleach/" target="_blank">#Bleach</a> <a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" class="hashtag u-tag u-category" href="https://blog.lightlyseared.online/tag/ready-player-one/" target="_blank">#ReadyPlayerOne</a></p>