Sorry for neglecting all you nostr folks!
Most important thing you missed: I did as careful an analysis as I could to dig into AND stress test the @SeedSigner image entropy feature.
Could AI find flaws? What kind of entropy quality does the actual image data provide? What are the degenerate worst-case scenarios?
I structured this so it would be easy to be adversarially reviewed by anyone else's AI. Don't trust, verify.
Could AI find flaws? What kind of entropy quality does the actual image data provide? What are the degenerate worst-case scenarios?
I structured this so it would be easy to be adversarially reviewed by anyone else's AI. Don't trust, verify.
SeedSigner AI Analysis
SeedSigner image entropy — how a photograph becomes a seed phrase
What the camera actually contributes, measured on instrumented builds of the shipped release, from the live preview frames to the final photograph.
It has a special place in my heart since I first saw it when I was probably a little too young for it: it was scary and challenging and hideous and magical.
I was hoping to watch it with my teenage nieces, but it definitely would NOT work for them. The creepy creatures and various delights would still land, but there's just too much slower paced / puppet awkwardness "meh" that would make it a slog for them to get through.
If you think of it fondly, definitely watch this restored version (dunno if it's available via streaming or only on the 4k disc). It's an absolutely marvelous effort to capture everything this had to offer 44 years ago.
4k is so sharp that you can now see the wires holding up the crystal 🤣!
The film is a remarkable achievement... but also an artifact of the past.
Part of the fun in revisiting some of these movies is when they have a new 4k UHD restoration. This one looks great, relative to its modest source material (though it's astonishing to think that THE MATRIX was just one year later and looks incredible).
* Biggest complaint (mild spoilers): After being completely isolated for almost 3 years, Sam awakens to find there's a clone of him(!!) at the base. His reaction: mild, dull confusion. And moments earlier his clone (not knowing he's a clone) finds Sam #1 near death and rescues him. Sam #2's reaction is also way too muted and internal.
Both of them should have been:
I have no clue why they chose to play it this way.
* (bigger spoiler) It's clear that the clones have a 3yr lifespan and Sam #1 discovers a long history of Sam clones hitting their expiration date, just as he's about to. But, oddly again, that realization is only half played out. And he doesn't share that info with Sam #2 who will be similarly doomed in 3yrs.
* So the writing and directing is a disappointment here. Surprising considering how well-executed Jones' follow-up SOURCE CODE was.
* The vapid THE SIXTH DAY (2000) covered some of the same philosophical / moral ground and, embarrassingly, did it better than MOON.
Interesting faux-science-y premise: Mostly hand-wavey quantum state magic leftover in a dead person's brain lets a soldier explore that person's last eight minutes of life. Not just replaying their memories, but fully interacting with the world as it existed in those 8 minutes.
They boot up this full clone of the universe's quantum state at that point in time over and over again so he can figure out who's responsible for the terrorist attack that goes off at the 8min mark.
* Strikes a nice balance between the ticking clock of uncovering terrorist (can't stop the train from exploding; that already happened. But CAN stop the next, bigger attack), the soldier's own internal struggles and priorities, and a growing bond with a girl on the train (which is hopeless; we already know she died in the explosion).
* The human side is the highlight and really well delivered by the three leads (Gyllenhaal, Monaghan, and Farmiga).
* So it's a shame I won't really remember this movie. Has a lot of great things going for it, but just somehow ends up not being that memorable, perhaps in part due to its small scale (it's mostly a "locked room" thriller in 2 train cars).
* Clever way to make a low-budget sci-fi movie without the audience noticing. Only 2.5 sets: the train where the 8min replay takes place. The command center managing the quantum reboots. And the soldier's cramped technopod.