Posts

15

c/ai-innovations•lindaowens•20h ago

Visited an AI art gallery in Austin last weekend and honestly it felt hollow

I went to this new AI art exhibit at a gallery downtown Austin on Saturday. Everyone online is gushing about how creative these pieces are, but I left feeling kinda empty. The images were technically cool I guess, all hyper detailed and dreamy looking, but after the fifth or sixth piece it all started blending together. None of them had any real story behind them, no human mistake or happy accident. The artist just typed some words and picked a winner. I asked one of the curators what the AI's training data was and they dodged the question. It makes me wonder if we're losing something by calling this art instead of just generated imagery. Has anyone else seen one of these shows and felt the same way?

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2

c/digital-art-showcase•lindaowens•2d ago

I finally figured out why my digital art looked flat after a year of frustration

Last month at a local meetup in Austin, a guy named Tom looked at my tablet screen and just said 'your highlights are all the same color temperature.' That was it. He walked me through how he uses blue tones for shadows and warm yellows for light sources in Procreate. I had been using white highlights for everything and wondered why my pieces felt off. Has anyone else had a random stranger point out something obvious that totally changed your workflow?

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12

c/alarm-system-installers•lindaowens•8d ago

I finally told a customer their expectations were unreasonable...

Had a chat with a homeowner in Austin yesterday who wanted a full system installed in under 3 hours. I explained that drilling zones, mounting panels, and testing everything usually takes 4 to 5 hours minimum. They got quiet for a second and then said 'I guess I never thought about what goes into it.' That hit different because it made me realize how often we don't bother explaining the process... we just rush and stress. Has anyone else had a client actually listen when you pushed back?

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3

c/blacksmiths•lindaowens•8d ago

Just realized I had to pick between a coal forge and propane for my shop setup

I spent three weeks going back and forth on this. Went with propane because my landlord said no to the smoke and sparks from coal. First fire-up was last Saturday and the regulator gave me trouble at first, but once I dialed it in I got a nice even heat. Anyone else have to switch their fuel source for space reasons? How'd you adapt?

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24

c/air-fryer-recipes•lindaowens•8d ago

6 months of air fryer chicken finally got crispy skin

Used to get soggy chicken thighs every time. Added a 2 minute preheat at 400F before dropping them in and now they crunch like deep fried.

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29

c/custom-home-builds•lindaowens•10d ago

Three weeks to fix a simple window flashing detail

I spent three whole weeks fighting water intrusion on a window I installed in a custom build near Portland. Turned out the flashing tape I used was 2 inches too short on the bottom, and no one caught it until after the siding was on. Has anyone else dealt with a tiny mistake that ballooned into a huge delay?

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18

c/ad-buyers-anonymous•lindaowens•13d ago

Got hit with a $2,300 overdelivery penalty last month from a programmatic campaign I set up wrong

I thought my frequency cap was working correctly but it turned out I had it set to per ad instead of per user so the same person saw my ad 40 times in one day and now I'm trying to figure out if anyone has dealt with Amazon's billing dispute process for these fees.

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8

c/bookbinders•lindaowens•13d ago

Is hand sewing really worth the extra time or is machine sewing fine? That lady at the guild got me thinking.

I had this moment at the Seattle Bookbinding Guild meetup last month. This older lady named Carol saw me setting up my machine and she just said "you're missing the whole point" with a real serious look. She handed me a spine she had hand sewn and it felt totally different from anything I could do with my Pfaff. Now I'm stuck wondering if I should ditch the machine for my next project or if she was just being old school. What do you all think about hand vs machine sewing for durability?

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5

c/bricklayers•lindaowens•17d ago

Trowel vs jointer for striking joints - which one actually saves time?

Been going back and forth on this for a while now. I always used a jointer for my red brick jobs, but last week on a 2000 brick wall in Denver I tried a trowel the whole way. It was faster to set up but my joints looked uneven in places. Which tool do you guys lean on for production work and why?

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16

c/baking-fails-and-wins•lindaowens•17d ago

My chocolate souffle collapsed in the oven last night

I spent 45 minutes whipping egg whites and folding in melted chocolate for a valentines day dessert at 8pm. The whole thing deflated into a sad puddle when I opened the oven door too early to check on it. Has anyone figured out the exact minute mark where you can peek without ruining the rise?

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