I can buy that but it leads to an interesting question..

If it was deliberate, why? To what purpose? Is there a cabal or cult or even one thought leader who was on the committee that had strong enough opinions on this, enough to scheme.

Maybe a kid who, in school, got a question wrong about Pluto and was made fun of. Looked it up afterwards, rationalized his answer instead of accepting they were wrong in forgetting, Vowed to get revenge. Studied and progressed to get on the committee and slowly over the years, schemed to engineer this. I hope they slept soundly that night.

Your use cases are quite similar to what I've been trying to action.

One question I keep wondering about is the "security" aspect of it. And how the inputs to the model might work. Yes it can read your calendar and you could "Jeeves, please remind me to hang out with Wooster next week" but it's easy to forget and I have a hard time logging spontaneous events.

Any ideas on how you imagine the friend/activity tracker could work?

Was thinking maybe it could read my smartwatch location history. Or scan the photos I take. But that gets dystopian fast (yes it'll be local but then I'm worried about security).

Fun to ponder!

One phrase I have eaten from Joe Abercrombie for anything eloquenty put is simply "those were good words". Even simple words hit hard when meant sincerely.

Would recommend the book series (First Law trilogy)!

(Attenborough voice) Espresso finch finds itself newly evolved in this concrete jungle. Sometimes competeing with the cocaine finch for energy sources, this species has evolved to consume coffee beans and used grinds it finds due to the gentrification of this jungle. It builds up pressure by holding in its urine for weeks and then using it to dissolve the nutrients for easy digestion. Sadly, this species is now on the verge of extinction being sought by hipsters and bored millionaires for their unique methods.

Great episode!

Bits that remained with me:

• The interview was well done. Stoic enough to feel like a thousand year entity was chatting with someone who exhibits the "perfect soldier". We see John's mask but we juust about see glimpses of what John actually wants or where his principles are. Definitely feels like that chaotic "anti authoritarian" training Hal is performing will have benefits.
• I am appreciative of the racial focus taken (reading some reddit comments.. damn.. people be hating). You can't have an agent without an arena and that arena back in the day mattered. Also.. the guardians don't care about petty worldly squabbles but they sure can use any justified anger for their purposes.
• In the end, with the racial dynamics, superheroics, warring factions.. it boils to power and trust. John wields power being precise while Hal is chaotic and it was fun to see how John used what little power he wielded (guns, art, character). He didn't feel resentful and and angry. He was trained to trust while it seems Hal runs on suspicion. Which can juuust as easily turn into fear :)

One nice thing is that they've kept the suspense and each party has reasonable justifications for their actions. The newest one is how the guardians don't like the ring choosing their own candidates. They don't trust Hal due to his uncontrollable character and less so now that he may be tainted by Sinestro or AbinSur. Sinestro may have just cause in hating the guardians and their "rules"..

Let's see!

The Green Lantern magic does seem like a good hand wavey tool in terms of solving plot issues. Just hope it doesn't turn into Lantern ex machina, especially since they're going with a detective theme.

It was John who explained about the "hail".

My only guess on the codedness is that Hologram didn't really trust John (guess he doesn't trust the job hiring criteria). The halogram was explained to be a failsafe so if Hal had died, I presume the message wouldn't be so cryptic.

To your point, I'm also mildly perturbed by the coincidence that the Halogram/Alert got activated exactly on the day the shooting/something fishy happened 10 years after. Feels like the rat scene in Avengers Endgame haha.

Find out next week in Lantern Ball Z!

Good summary!

One question I had was:

Why did Hal immediately rush to Nebraska in 2016 once told of "hail"?

Like did he just forgot about it, until reminded of the "hail". He couldn't have predicted that the hologram would have reliably alarmed him since it was somewhat of a fluke that another wore the ring.

When Hal received the message.. maybe the ring could have told him of a mass shooting which confirmed something suspicious.. but this smells of memory manipulation. Which could explain why the last backup was 2006. And why he immediately rushed.

I know it's a joke but I've legit curbed my snacking habits by eating a single chip as slowly as I possibly can.

A bit tough at the start but over time, that need to inhale yummy foods does reduce. Would recommend trying!

And now you've given me a new way to level up in Zen. Going to win Zen so hard, you'll be eating my Cheese & Jalapeño flavour dust.

Appreciate your reccs!

Love the voice notes idea. And zettel seems quite fit for purpose especially compared to Obsidian. Will have to see what transcription services are available.

I only was using it as a category!

A few people are great friends of mine!! I like all people equally.

Ooh haven't taken a bath in years! Pray the book isn't too interesting otherwise you'll prune into old age.

Thanks for the input! If I may ask, where exactly do you do your academic reading? On your desk? And how do you make time/ritual for it?

Thank you for the answers! Sounds like great experience and a nice chance to actually give back.

Hope it goes well 😇 Appreciate all your efforts.