We visit an experimental community, a "wicked city", and multiple national parks.

#FlagstaffAZ #JeromeAZ #SedonaAZ #SlideOutRepair #OldRoute66 #WalnutCanyonNationalMonument #SunsetCraterVolcanoNationalMonument #AZsunset #WickedCity #Kaleidoscopes #PrescottNationalForest #ThunderMountainTrail #TealArches #AR89A #CoconinoNationalForest #CathedralRock #Arcosanti #WorldsLargestKokopelli #MontezumaCastleNationalMonument #OakCreekVista

http://happyvegancampers.com/2025/06/14/days-523-529-of-our-epic-trip/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=jetpack_social

I have used some of my #photography to make some #kaleidoscopes. Here's one such example: https://adam-gladstone.pixels.com/featured/kaleidescope-4-adam-gladstone.html

I think it's a great image to use for #postcards . I'm thinking of using other images to make into kaleidoscopes as well.

#buyintoart #ayearforart #mastoart #psychedelicart

I realised that my generation of nerds played heavily with Markov generation of text, back in the 90s and early 2000s. We enjoyed the hilarious monkey-cheese nonsense it spat out, and occasionally shouted in amazement as the roll of the dice landed on a unique or inspiring turn of phrase.

But that's how I see #LLMs: they're not a tool to write things in place of humans; they're a #OuijaBoard. It's fun to sit around the thing and turn the crank, generating eerie effects and complex narratives! But we all know it's a pseudo-random system based on reflexes rather than fact or conscious thought. The #kaleidoscope makes pretty patterns, but not out of any sort of artistic vision.

That doesn't mean we need a world without #kaleidoscopes or #Ouija Boards. But we're in a massive PR campaign from people who make money if we all succumb to FOMO and think "Oh gosh I dunno, I heard the AIs are smarter than us, so I should use this to generate my work for me. At least I think that's what my company's #AI initiative is about?"

I love that we're referring to the output as #slop now. I think that's a good way to deride the clear drop in quality these things bring. But we should look for more neutral metaphors like the ones I tagged above, so that people understand the limited role this stuff should play.

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I see that it is customary here on mastodon to do an #introduction but it isn't really my thing.

I am more of a lurker, I think, and I post some images, mostly #kaleidoscopes on a Saturday for #KaleidoSaturday, which is a thing I started on Twitter over 7 years ago just for the joy of it.

I've only been trying this out for a couple of weeks (#newbie) and I really haven't had time to be looking much. It is great that I have some followers already.