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Cabel Sasser

@cabel.panic.com

17K followers 590 following 1.6K posts

I work at https://panic.com Find me at https://cabel.com 📍Portland, OR

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Cabel Sasser @cabel.panic.com · Oct 14

I gave a talk at the final XOXO conference.

At first, I thought I'd revisit my first talk from ten years ago. But it turned into something different. Something about life, and art, and… McDonalds?

19 minutes. Try to go in without spoilers and watch until the end. 🙏

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Df_K...

Cabel Sasser, Panic - XOXO Festival (2024)

YouTube video by XOXO Festival

www.youtube.com

Cabel Sasser @cabel.panic.com · 8h

i’ve gotten a sharp uptick of this lately — even google making me pause before allowing me to search?! i’ve been assuming all defenses are raised due to the AI scraping epidemic 😮‍💨

Cabel Sasser @cabel.panic.com · 1d

nailed it on all counts

Cabel Sasser @cabel.panic.com · 1d

oh wait one more. it did, somehow, make the best possible drawing of a chibi donald duck:

Cabel Sasser @cabel.panic.com · 1d

(also please don't worry i will take fewer showers next week to make up for this)

Cabel Sasser @cabel.panic.com · 1d

PS: this all started when steve asked for an ascii ronald reagan. i had to try it too.

look, i know this stuff is improving at a mind-boggling rate. i know when sam altman sees this he'll spend $1.5T to build a massive server farm in Ohio dedicated to just ASCII art.

but for now… we have a laugh

a drawing of……… maybe a face… in a torso… with legs… and a sign above the head that says "RONALD REAGAN"

Cabel Sasser @cabel.panic.com · 1d

fred flintstone and barney rubble.

("Fred taller, broader, with his tie. Barney shorter and rounder with his cheerful grin.")

Cabel Sasser @cabel.panic.com · 1d

realistic fred flintstone.

("Big nose, thick eyebrows, stubbly chin and that signature goofy grin!")

An ASCII drawing of… maybe a cereal bowl with eyes and feet… with a kind of weird head emerging from the top of the cereal bowl?

Cabel Sasser @cabel.panic.com · 1d

fred flintstone.

("Here's our favorite prehistoric everyman!" hahahah my god)

an image of… maybe some part of R2D2, but with really long legs… and then, incredibly, ascii art of a nuclear blast mushroom cloud, under which is written "Fred Flintstone!"

Cabel Sasser @cabel.panic.com · 1d

lisa kudrow from friends.

("it's stylized and a bit abstract, like a posterized outline — evoking her kind and expressive Phoebe Buffay energy!")

an image of an alien head, attached to a skull.

Cabel Sasser @cabel.panic.com · 1d

the one thing i like about generative ai is when it is wrong. because it is always very, very funny. it is so confident and so enthusiastic while failing, like the very best clown.

so, i'm here to tell you that there MAY be NOTHING FUNNIER than asking ai to do ASCII drawings.

here's donald duck:

"please make an ascii art drawing of donald duck"

"here's a cute lil' donald-inspired ascii (sailor hat, pouty beak and all)"

an absolutely incomprehensible ascii art drawing of what seems to be a… maybe a robot with a baseball cap and long arms, with another… telephone robot on his head? i don't even know. there's a space ship underneath? maybe? what is this

Cabel Sasser @cabel.panic.com · 1d

damn that’s a lot of zip drives

Cabel Sasser @cabel.panic.com · 2d

i think you are absolutely right that it goes both ways, no doubt about it. i’ve been the receiver of exactly that too

Cabel Sasser @cabel.panic.com · 2d

the fidelity improvements will continue to melt my brain but imho there’s no technological solution to make these videos actually interesting or meaningful

Cabel Sasser @cabel.panic.com · 2d

these are 100% amazing. incredible work. me and my designer friends would love to see the path data!! 🫡

Reposted by Cabel Sasser

Aunt Mrgladys @mrgan.com · 2d

The video game industry is in turmoil and under threat, but there are still delightful gems out there……

💋 play.date/games/totall...

Cabel Sasser @cabel.panic.com · 2d

don't forget that text replacements are extremely useful, and even sync between iOS and macOS! very handy:

a list of automatic text replacements, including parentheses c turning into ©, xx turning into ×, and bal turning into Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever

Cabel Sasser @cabel.panic.com · 3d

oh hell yea

Cabel Sasser @cabel.panic.com · 3d

update: bin full!!! repeat, BIN FULL!!!

Cabel Sasser @cabel.panic.com · 3d

this is the only way i can keep it together, friend

Cabel Sasser @cabel.panic.com · 3d

*lowest-skilled hacker voice* i’m in…
reading system output…
confirmed, ice being made

Cabel Sasser @cabel.panic.com · 3d

while i wait for my hot dog at five guys, should i connect to this ice machine via bluetooth? y/n

Cabel Sasser @cabel.panic.com · 3d

I think he is 90% fixated on the sign that says R̴͉̖̲̊͌̈́̈́̋̔̄͋͘͠ả̵̧̧͖̥̮̰̜͈̳̬͌̒͘͜p̴̛̞̦̼̮̠̞͔͚͙͕̎͑̐̽̆͐͘u̶̡̘̮̗̪̥̣̹͊̽̔̋͐̍͗̾̉̈͘͘͝͠n̶̜͓̪̲͇͈͓̞̲̻̭͔͈͉̫̿́̈́͑z̸̗̦̤̣̥͚̜͙̄͛̊̎̚ͅel's Tower

Cabel Sasser @cabel.panic.com · 3d

riveted by this disneyland concept art. the powerfully intense oil painting filter, the huge amount of sharpening, the hand-drawn "artist concept only", and a boat full of people looking at everything BUT the actual new thing (Rapunzel's Tower)

Cabel Sasser @cabel.panic.com · 3d

it’s ok to just say “i enjoy bullying people online”. i would respect
the honesty! you didn’t even get your facts right in your first attempt, which means you enjoy the bullying part way more than the truth part. just own it and stop trying to dress it up as a noble cause

Cabel Sasser @cabel.panic.com · 3d

then don’t reply? yet here we are