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Stable Diffusion on a Mac M1

Stable Diffusion on a Mac M1

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You can get stable diffusion to work on the new Mac M1 (and M2’s). Above is me getting stable diffusion running on my Mac Mini M1 with 16gb of ram (using these instructions).

It’s definitely not as fast as dedicated GPU’s, but it does have the advantage of not running out of memory like you will with graphics cards that only have 8gb or 16gb of memory. Most GPUs require at least 24gb of ram to run 512×512 stable diffusion images (without using lower resolution models). I was able to generate 512×512 and 768×768 images with my 16gb mac mini m1

This is one of the really big advantages of a unified memory architecture in which the CPU and GPU can access the same memory without needing to be transported across a PCI bus first.

Links

The pay gap for college and non-college jobs is narrow

The pay gap for college and non-college jobs is narrow

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What are the fastest/best growing jobs for entry-level jobs?

This study by Indeed looked at entry-level roles (with an average salary of more than $40,000) to find those with the strongest demand across the US. Entry-level jobs were defined as those require no more than three years of experience, and demand was measured by assessing the growth in the share of postings for each role from September to February compared with the same period the year prior.

The top 3 college jobs are not nearly as sexy as years past (sales representative, transportation coordinator and quality auditor) and the average salary for the college grad was $69,000. For non-grads the average salary was $54,200.

As has been noted by many, trades make some great career paths now with faster-than-average rising salaries and high demand, while college degrees might have reached oversaturation in some fields. A problem that some see as one of the causes of recent sociopolitical stress as many educated people cannot find work in their field and turn to protests/political disenfranchisement.

Here’s the breakdown summarized on Bloomberg:

Eyes Wide Shut is just a remake

Eyes Wide Shut is just a remake

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Did you know that Stanley Kubrick’s last film Eyes Wide Shut was the movie version of a German story called Traumnovelle (Rhapsody: A Dream Novel, or also known simply as Dream Story) by Arthur Schnitzler? The book was even made into a movie in 1969 and is free on Youtube. Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut is a near identical re-creation with some updated scenes but same themes.

If you want to read the original book, it’s available for free.

https://youtu.be/d172U5tmTwQ
Dec 2023 Update: newer video that says the same as the above
Hints for New Priests – Easter Edition

Hints for New Priests – Easter Edition

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This didn’t happen this year, nor hasn’t happened in many years, but always good info for new/visiting priests:

  • Know how and remember to shut off the fire alarm before going at it with the incense.
  • Know how and remember to shut off the regular/intruder alarm before the late Easter vigil mass if it turns on automatically after normal business/weekend hours.
  • Have complete instructions on how to turn off alarms as well as the phone numbers handy for fire, police, and the alarm services when you forget to do the first two. Print them and post them right where people will look to turn them off (even if that spot is wrong – post it where someone in a panic would probably look)
  • Train your staff and as many key assistants (sacristans, deacons, readers/extraordinary ministers, visiting priests, etc) at each celebration with that same information.
  • Do you know how sensitive your smoke detectors are in your parish? Is the alarm system an intruder system, smoke system, or fire suppression heat-activated system?
    • Ensure you know how much it takes to set off the fire suppression system (sprinklers) installed in your parish. Ensure it was designed to handle the levels of incense you want to use.
  • Practice it – try a dry run and really incense the place up to see how much smoke it takes to set it off the alarm, how loud it is, how to call the alarm service/fire/police, and then how to turn it off.
Discussion before making a modern period romance

Discussion before making a modern period romance

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Karolina Żebrowska knows a ton about historical clothes. Sadly, she has to put up with largely ignorant modern period showmakers who make incorrect accusations about sexism of women’s fashions from the past. Here she re-enacts what happens when writers/self-styled designers try to bully experts like Karolina by (as one person put it) ‘basically wanting to produce a slightly altered fanfic they wrote when they were 13.’

Definitely check out her other videos on how modern sensibilities, including many modern gender commentators, actually get what was going on in the past completely wrong. But can you blame them? After all, almost none of those gender and similar degrees actually study the actual history, design, or the societies they are denouncing. They just study the criticisms of them.

Touring Egypt from your living room

Touring Egypt from your living room

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I love to travel, but during Covid that was not really a thing. Even if you did travel, it was a very muted experience as most places you would visit were closed, severely restricted, and (my personal real goals) of interacting with local culture/food/people severely curtailed. Even in 2023 many cities are nothing like what they were pre-Covid, and I suspect that travel and tourism is going to look very different as we come back out of Covid.

Even with that, like many, I turned online. I have been amazed how many YouTube channels have 4k and higher video quality visits to just about anywhere in the world: Disneyland in Tokyo, Palace of Versailles, Assisi, St Petersburg Russia, inside the Great Pyramids, Chongquing cave shopping, etc. If you can imagine a place, someone has almost certainly done a very high quality 4k video walkthrough of it – or ride through of it.

Recently I started watching the various Sound and Light shows of the various Egyptian locations. I was inspired by a scene in the James Bond movie The Spy Who Loved Me which features the famous show at the Great Pyramids.

Philae, Temple of Osiris:

Karnak Sound and Light Show:

Great Pyramids:

Scoppio del Carro, Florence

Scoppio del Carro, Florence

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The Scoppio del Carro (“Explosion of the Cart”) is a folk tradition of Florence, Italy.

On the morning of Easter Sunday, the 30-foot-tall antique cart (in use for over 500 years), moves from the Porta al Prato to the Piazza del Duomo. It is hauled by a team of white oxen festooned with garlands of the first flowers and herbs of spring. The cart is escorted by 150 soldiers, musicians, and people in 15th century dress.

Meanwhile, a fire is struck using the historic flints from Jerusalem at Chiesa dei Santi Apostoli. It is then carried in procession to the cathedral square by members of the Pazzi family, clerics, and city officials.

The cart is loaded with fireworks while a wire, stretching to the high altar inside the cathedral, is fitted with a mechanical dove (the “colombina”). Shortly thereafter, at the singing of the Gloria in excelsis Deo during Easter Mass, the cardinal of Florence lights a fuse in the colombina with the Easter fire. It then speeds through the church to ignite the cart outside. It ignites the cart, then speeds back inside the church. During all of these stages, the bells of Giotto’s campanile ring out.

The complex fireworks show from the cart lasts about 20 minutes. A successful display from the “Explosion of the Cart” is supposed to guarantee a good harvest, stable civic life, and good business.