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Don't forget to put a case of beer in your survival kit, it could save lives! 😁

Saturday, August 8 They have become a source of great comfort to me.—Col. 4:11. When we are suffering, our brothers and sisters are truly a living expression of Jehovah’s love for us. Fellow believers can comfort us by listening empathetically, or they may support us with their presence. They may share a reassuring Bible verse or say a prayer with us. (Rom. 15:4) At times, a brother or a sister may remind us of Jehovah’s thinking and thus help us maintain our balance. Fellow Christians can also give us practical support, such as by providing a meal when we are in distress. To receive support from others, we may need to ask for it. (Prov. 17:17) They may not know how we feel or what we need. (Prov. 14:10) So be willing to share your feelings with mature friends. Let them know what would help you. You might choose to confide in one or two elders with whom you feel at ease. Some sisters have found it comforting to speak with another mature sister. w24.10 10 ¶15-16

They had such programs in the 60s The M28 or M29 Davy Crockett Weapon System was a tactical nuclear recoilless smoothbore gun for firing the M388 nuclear projectile, armed with the W54 nuclear warhead, that was deployed by the United States during the Cold War. It was the first project assigned to the United States Army Weapon Command in Rock Island, Illinois.[3] It remains one of the smallest nuclear weapon systems ever built, incorporating a warhead with yields of 10 to 20 tons of TNT (42 to 84 GJ). It is named after American folk hero, soldier, and congressman Davy Crockett. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davy_Crockett_ They also had a similar program in the 80s The Special Atomic Demolition Munition (SADM), also known as the XM129 and XM159 Atomic Demolition Charges,[1] and the B54 bomb[2] was a nuclear man-portable atomic demolition munition (ADM) system fielded by the US military from the 1960s to 1980s but never used in combat. It had an estimated yield of up to 1 kiloton of TNT. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special_Atomic_Demolition_Munition

Do you use a drone? 🤣🤣🤣

I wonder what type of breakfast serial he eats...

For sure! Actually, I have 3 brothers start parking every other space. When they reach 60% of the lot, I have 1 brother start at the beginning to park vehicles in the empty spaces. The 3 will join him after they finish their first assignment. When the program starts I dismiss the entire crew to attend the RC. I take over the entire lot(s). Get out YETI chair and cooler, find a shady tree, and watch for single vehicles entering. Oh, and this is when I have the most fun; I will stop any vehicle that is driving over 5 miles per hour. That applies to everybody. I stopped two Convention Committee brothers for driving over the 'posted' speed limit.🤣 The very ones that instructed us to stop anyone. With a straight face, I stopped a sister, and asked her (like a State Trooper), "Do you know why I stopped you? Can i see your license and registration?" 😎Then I started smiling.🤣

'course there is an answer to this, There must be a glitch in the system.

The question is not if it is 'on par' - the question is, 'is it music'? Yes, it is music and it sounds fairly good. Could an actual human chorus sound better if you are there in person, sure ... but if this was played on a radio many would not assume AI. BTW - since you seem to enjoy non-AI music played in the hands of someone with tremendous mastery of the instruments you might like this YT channel Justin Johnson - YouTube Also, just curious, have you listened to any of my AI songs in this thread?

Yeah, I just made this in 5 minutes: https://suno.com/s/rHwXveT7fvTOX0Wv Do you think it's on par with what an actual musician can do? I don't

I realize that AI users can be sensitive because they feel I am attacking their creative direction, and I apologize if I offended you. However I stand by my opinion that AI replaces parts of the skill itself (whereas an electric guitar extend a person's existing abilities)

So, you are saying that all my experience of playing various instruments, how they sound, how to get the style and feel of the music I want to hear ... and composing lyrics that tell the story I want to tell are not part of any music I compose using AI? BTW - did you ever say if you actually play an instrument or have ever used AI?

With the organ the musican directly specifies the musical content With AI it independently generates substantial parts of the composition from a high-level prompt. The fact that both use "switches" is not relevant I believe, because the important question is what the machine decides after the human activates it. Also AI is different because generative models are trained on existing artists' work. Machines cannot genuinely feel or experience emotions. They cannot convey feelings in the same way a human musician can with an electric guitar or organ. Sure, electric guitars and organs sound electronic or mechanical, but there is still a person behind it who spent years developing their skill. Their hands, their body, their practice, their failures, and their experiences are part of the performance. The sound is the result of a human struggle. The effort is part of what gives value to the artwork I agree with you that technology has always reduced the amount of physical effort required, and I'm not arguing that AI cannot produce pleasing sounds, but lived experience is the essential part of what makes something art

No, I do not see the difference. On an organ, you press a switch, the organ makes the preprogramed sound/music it is programmed to make. All of the sounds are electronic reproductions, not actual instruments. With AI, the person physically composes the prompt that AI uses to do essentially exactly what an organ is doing ... electronically reproduce a sound. Just because the 'switches' aren't shaped like piano keys and are based off written/typed letters, doesn't change the fact that both, the organ and AI, are just fancy switches.

Electric guitars and organs amplify and transform what the musician physically does Ai moves the creative decision-making itself into the machine. Do you see the difference

I take it you don't consider electric guitars and organs as 'real instruments' and should not be used.

******************* I'm a bit confused No one ended a sentence with "Seven" and the word "close" had already been used and covered *************** World time may help us get this thread back on course.

Very true. 🤗 For me, the skills possessed determines if I will want to engage with someone's art - does it look or sound good to me? I admit, I am a bit of a snob where that's concerned... everyone's output is not good. To *me*. No participation trophies in this area. Singing off-key, playing an instrument, dancing, making art badly.. not my thing. I'm never saying I can do better; I can't dance and I canNOT draw. But if something *can* be done better, that's what I personally prefer.

I don't subscribe to the ideology of "the ends justify the means" in the case of art. I believe the creative process of part of the experience that makes it enjoyable.

Do you play the saxophone? Have you tried using AI to create a song that has the sound and feel you are after? I do both. Back in the 70's when we still had a live orchestra at assemblies, I played the electric bass and/or the sax in the orchestra. I also play guitar and trumpet - at least, I used to before my body began to fail me. I also use AI to make songs (I have a thread with some of the songs) Unless you have done both, you have no idea what is involved in each way of making music. A sax does not just take blowing air over a reed; there is also fingering to accomplish. AI does not instantly make a track exactly the way you want it to sound. You have to work at tweaking those prompts, and AI does not always want to cooperate. As a point of interest, I drive a vehicle to go most places. I can operate heavy equipment to dig. I use a smart phone. I am using a computer right now to type this. Some may say we shouldn't do these things. That unless I am digging with a shovel, I am not really digging. Unless I walk everywhere, I should just stay home. That using a computer to print a document is not really writing a talk or letter. I have used all of these skills to serve Jehovah on many construction projects, meetings and other spiritual endeavors. You may not like AI - that does not mean none of us should be using it. There is nothing wrong with using the tools at hand. Some tools are simple. like a shovel, some are more complex, like an excavator. Some tools are slow, like a hammer, some are fast, like an air nailer. Some are manual, some are automated. Why pick out one modern-day tool and say it is wrong to use while we accept the use of other modern-day time-and-effort-saving tools? Think about it, you are using a computer or smart device to take part on this forum and seem to think that is OK ... I'm sure there are some who would disagree.

Close can be closed when it's close to closing time.

Featured on our Home Page is the article What Does the Bible Say About Nuclear War? A few snippets from the article say ~ There is the fear that the use of just one small-scale nuclear weapon will ignite a full-scale nuclear war that will devastate our world. Will God permit nuclear war? The Bible does not say. It does say that "fearful sights", or terrifying events , would occur in our day. Even if man were to use nuclear weapons again, God would not allow the situation to escalate to the point of global annihilation. In the news today is an article about the Pentagon drafting a new nuclear strategy designed to give the USA more options for using shorter-range nuclear weapons. The theory is to have credible limited-response options short of an all-out strategic exchange. Our website provides us, and the public, with the comfort of knowing this planet will not be destroyed, even if there is some use of nuclear weapons again!

It is true that no one has to use it if they don't want to, neither does anyone have to force anyone to stop using Al if they love it. I believe though that you don't need "skill" to draw or make art though. All you need is heart and symbolism in your drawings, there are selective choices in strokes and posture to make a difference. Same with songs. They might not be as appealing or as detailed as other people may desire, yet in my own honest opinion, I prefer seeing stick people drawings over AI's version of what is considered art any day. We all may be different and that is fine too..💛

Nice! Do you have the parking attendants initially fill every other parking space so the occupants can safely exit their vehicles? Then the attendants go back and fill the blank spaces? I really like it when the brothers do that, but most of the time we are directed to park next to a car that just parked and everyone is trying to get out of their vehicles at the same time or even while some vehicles are still moving.