u/RainPlease9

The 0-100 use of AI over the last year by teams, brands, races, and the UCI has been do disheartening. Even my favourite teams for social media, like UnoX and EF, have used it. Demi, whose whole brand is about chasing your dreams, has used it multiple times. Dream, unless you are a creative, in which case your work will be stolen.

On the plus side, every AI post I have seen has had way more comments immediately pointing out their crappy use of AI rather than any other type of comment. And those comments have at least mostly been left alone.

The official uci_mtbworldseries instagram account posted a paid sponsorship reel yesterday, completely AI generated. It received about 30 comments calling out the use of AI, and 7 or 8 other comments. All the AI-critical comments are now gone. Or at least, I can no longer see them.

I know, I know. The UCI not giving a flying F what anyone thinks except the bean counters? Old news.

AI is not going anywhere, but it doesn't need to be overused, either. We just had the hottest cycling season on record, and we know AI is contributing to that through multiple different mechanisms.

The incredible creatives in the industry; the graphic designers, motion designers, photographers, videographers etc do a huge amount to drive engagement and the growth of the industry. Do we really want fewer voices, even less diversity, among them, with very little to no ability for young people to make it a career?

It's so easy to not use AI, and avoiding it has so many benefits. There are so many issues in the industry right now, most of them will take a lot of planning and time to solve. But not normalizing something that uses stolen work, takes jobs, and contributes to climate change? That's a very easy win.

I'm 4 years into long covid, which was moderate-severe PEM the first 2.5-3 years. I would say I'm about 85% recovered, and though there are a lot of factors, LDN has been significant for me.

I'm working on getting my working holiday visa (1 year) to France for January, and my biggest concern will be how to get my LDN. I've heard it's more difficult to find a doctor who "believes" (🙄) in long covid in France? I will not be able to bring more than a 2 month compounded supply with me. I will be paying mostly out of pocket, so I can't be jumping between doctors either.

How difficult is it to get prescribed LDN in France? Any advice?

Let me start off by saying...I have broken all the 101 rules of cybersecurity. I have had the same email for 15+ years and have 194 compromised passwords 😅 I have known this for awhile (it's not my first "critical security alert"), I just change up the password I use when I sign up for fresh accounts. Sorry 😳

Well, my stupidity has caught up to me.
I got a notification a few hours ago that someone attempted to sign in to my bank account from a city 3 hours away, on a linux device. I immediately changed my bank password. My bank account is the only place I DO use a fully unique password always.
Then I got the "critical security alert" email from google: "Some of your saved passwords were found in a data breach from a site or app that you use. Your Google Account is not affected."

So, what do I do now? I assume change the passwords on all the important stuff; emails, paypal, etc.. And I super promise to use unique passwords for the first time ever. Though how to manage them all I have no idea.
Do I really have to go through 194 old online accounts and manually delete them?

The only thing I can think of: a couple of days ago, I purchased a domain through Cloudflare, I bought an account on photodeck, and I signed up for Stripe and a Paypal business account. It may be coincidence, or something happened during that process.

My devices:
MacOS Tahoe 26.6.2 (only for a few weeks, I had a Windows 11 before that)
Pixel 10a: Android 17

I'm ready to give shooting on spec a go (sports, primarily cycling). I have seen other photographers who do similar use squarespace, photodeck, photoshelter, and one or two others.

I ideally would like LrC integration. Tagging is helpful. Each day/event would need it's own album/category. Each photo (digital only) would have two purchase tiers (two different license types). Each day would have 100-400 photos, and I need to be able to keep a large number of events up, so it has to be able to handle quantity.
What's most important is the easiest checkout process for the buyer, and across all currencies.

What would you recommend?

Hello! I'll be moving to France in January on a youth mobility visa, to learn French and to travel.

I was thinking somewhere close to Belgium; I'm very excited to go to as many road cycling and CX events as possible, so it seems like a good choice? I have been to Lille and enjoyed it, but I wonder if there are other places I should consider? (not Paris).

I'm looking for somewhere fairly well connected by bus and train as I don't drive. I do some bike touring, though I'm not much of a climber. Night life doesn't matter to me. I'm more the wander around while looking at cool buildings and stopping at ALL the cafes type of person. When I lived in the UK, I was hopping on a bus and heading off to a new town or place to hike almost every week. I don't need anywhere super exciting because I tend to be on the move a lot.

Somewhere not too competitive for rentals (I know, I'm asking the world) would be ideal, as temporary visas complicate things.

Hey all! I don't know a whole lot about flashes and what I should be looking for. I'm looking for an on-camera flash (I shoot outdoor course sports like cycling and running, and behind the scenes). I mostly use my Sony a6100 and a6000.

I'd love if I could get away with a mini, as my gear bag is starting to get heavy, but of course I'll get the right tool for the job if that won't do.

I have 2000+ sales on posh, but am new to eBay and still trying to figure it out.

I accepted an offer on an item after a couple back and forths 3 days ago.

The buyer didn't pay, and just sent me a message asking me for the weight and height of the bracelet, and telling me they will pay once they get an answer (it's costume, not precious metal, and some dimensions are available in the photos).

That feels odd enough that I'm sort of tempted to wait the 4 days and cancel for non payment, as I would imagine they are the negative feedback type. They don't have much eBay history.

Am I overthinking? Do I answer and wait for payment, or wait and cancel?

Hey! I'm about to take shot 6 of Ozempic. The .25 isn't working as well for me now, but I think .50 (what I'm prescribed for currently) would be too much. How many clicks do I do for .35?
I know there are some charts out there, but I have heard that some aren't accurate so I wasn't sure what to go with.

Edit: Canada, red pen. .25 or .50 doses, 2mg pen. 3ml, .68 mg/ml.

Hey all! I shoot sports, but my favourite photos are very up-close wide portrait style shots behind the scenes. My Rokinon 12mm f2 produces awesome shots. I'd like to get an AF replacement, but the budget is budgeting and I'm looking at $350cad (used is fine) max, or else I stay with the Rokinon.

I wouldn't want longer than 12mm. I shoot apsc, though all my other lenses are full frame in case I switch bodies down the road. So either is fine. I don't mind some barrel distortion, just not full fish-eye. I often manually add a little barrel distortion to my 12mm photos. Sharpness is the main priority.

I was thinking maybe a viltrox, but my only experience with them was I purchased a complete lemon that couldn't lock focus, so I'm a little nervous now. The sony 10-18 f4 can be grabbed decently cheap, but it doesn't seem like a great lens.

Any thoughts?

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My Mom swears that it helps her, but she is also the type of person who falls for MLMs 😅 I tried to find some info online about the serum and had no luck. Has anyone tried it?

I love my butt-length hair, so I'm terrified of ruining it. I have a lot of grey that I want to cover or blend.

I dyed my hair a month ago with Igor's vibrance 7-1 (one or two shades darker than my natural colour) and 6 vol. I liked it, but unsurprisingly the 6 did not offer enough grey coverage. The colour also faded fairly fast (more from my roots that get shampoo'd, so I had a subtle gradient). I have high porosity hair, fine and on the fragile side. It was virgin until I dyed it last month.

What would be healthier for my hair? Do I stick with demi, go for a higher volume and do that every month, or do I go for permanent? I'm worried about the upkeep and harsh growth line with permanent though. I don't know much about dying and how often hair can handle it.

My 7a battery is about to explode, so assuming I get offered the credits, it's new phone time.
I used my Mom's 8 pro awhile ago and was shocked at how good the camera was thanks to the telephoto lens. I'm a photographer and often have a camera with me, but having a semi-dependable one on my phone would be a huge bonus.

Sadly, pro is out of my budget. I can either get the 10a (same price as the 9a for some reason), or the 9 mid-tier model. I don't know if it would be worth the extra few hundred though. I'd definitely rather put that cash towards a new camera body if it's only going to be a small upgrade.

How does the mid-tier camera, especially the telephoto, compare to the pro?

I want to sell my tent and replace it with something lighter. I'm considering the NatureHike Star Trail EXT, but it's a light colour 10D fabric, so fairly see through. However, it's an option that would save me quite a bit of either weight or money.

I do a mix of wild camping and campgrounds, so I do end up camping around strangers fairly often. I'm not sure in practice how problematic it would really be? I suppose it means being careful getting changed. I guess I don't love the idea of people being able to see who is in the tent (small woman).

Anyone had a similar tent or faced a similar choice?

I'm a photographer and will be touring with my cameras and laptop. I'm really struggling to find the balance between bulk/weight and protection.

For those who have travelled with a laptop, did you go light with a sleeve? Or protection to the max with something like a hardshell Thule?

I'll be getting my first Ozempic pen on Tuesday, .25 dose. I would like to start it right away, but I have a dental cleaning appointment on Thursday 😬 Are the side effects bad enough that I should wait until after the appointment, or should I be ok?

Sports photographer here, looking to make the switch from Windows to Mac.

I'm working within a tight budget and the air is much more budget friendly. I could get an M5 and 24gb or 32gb (open box/refurb). If I go Pro, I'm getting 2 years old and 18gb.

It needs to be able to handle 2000+ photos. Speed is pretty important as they have to be finished soon after an event.

Can a MacBook air do the job?

And how much of a difference would there be between 24gb and 32gb? I wouldn't complain about saving a few hundred $$ if it's unnecessary.

Update: So the absolute max specs I could do if I went with a Pro is ( Fall 2023) Open box - M3 pro chip / 36gb / 1tb ($2500cad) And I would be risking a 3rd party seller with no ability to buy AppleCare. That scares me for such a big (to me) purchase. Or M2 Max /32 /1tb for the same price.

There is just no way I can do more ram than that.

Or I could buy Apple refurbished, including AppleCare for the same price: Air / M5 / 32gb / 512gb

If I wanted to buy a Pro from Apple refurbished, the absolute best I could do would be M4 pro / 24gb / 512

I'll completely trust you experienced lot for this one.

I have two tamron external zoom lenses, which for me are big investments. They are the first nice lenses I've ever had, so I don't want to be careless with them.

Is there such a thing as a lens sleeve that can stay on all the time and protects the lens from dust and moisture? Or is that overkill? Any other advice for keeping them in good shape?

Edit: They aren't weather sealed.