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Most beautiful speakers in the world ?

Were they still teaching English way back in the 1990's? Could have fooled me.

I would have called the offense "intellectual poaching," but I think most of us understood post #4031 adequately. "Potato - potato*..."

* Ira Gershwin
I don't know how well they "taught" it, given I usually corrected many of my teachers (I had a 36/36 on my ACT English section, which elevated my overall score into the territory known as Free Ride), but after seeing a coworker's child's homework, particularly in math, I'm not convinced they're teaching anything of value these days. Young adults can't even sign their names in cursive anymore. It's sad.
 
The loss of cursive handwriting is positively criminal, as the neurological gains from its acquisition are pretty well documented. Of course, I'm prejudiced, having added Spencerian and English Roundhand to my style-arsenal a couple of decades ago. I even went so far as to use dip pens and brew my own iron gall ink. Maybe good old Ned Lud wasn't so wrong
 
Doctors don't want you getting "free" answers, particularly the correct ones on the first visit. That's just no profitable.

Doctor here. The problem with patients who self-diagnose, or get an AI diagnosis, or have friends who diagnose for them is that there is no proper weighting of evidence. A single test can be pretty misleading, even the "gold standard" test needs to be interpreted in light of the clinical picture. A doctor knows that the clinical picture is incomplete, and where to look for evidence. AI does not know that.
 
Doctor here. The problem with patients who self-diagnose, or get an AI diagnosis, or have friends who diagnose for them is that there is no proper weighting of evidence. A single test can be pretty misleading, even the "gold standard" test needs to be interpreted in light of the clinical picture. A doctor knows that the clinical picture is incomplete, and where to look for evidence. AI does not know that.
I have no idea where AI stands at the moment, but if what you say is true, it’s a temporary situation.
 
I have no idea where AI stands at the moment, but if what you say is true, it’s a temporary situation.

I hope so. I have been playing with AI, and what I have noticed about it is that it tries to give you an answer from the inputs you give. It does not ask you questions. For example, try asking your favourite AI why you have chest pain, an opacity on your chest X-ray, with elevated inflammatory markers. If you told me that, I would ask you if you have a cough, fever, try to find out the nature of the chest pain, etc. and can I look at the X-ray and blood tests please. If I can get a complete clinical picture from basic inquiries, that would be that. But if something does not fit, I will look deeper. An AI would simply do a search for "chest pain AND opacity on X-ray AND inflammatory markers".
 
I hope so. I have been playing with AI, and what I have noticed about it is that it tries to give you an answer from the inputs you give. It does not ask you questions. For example, try asking your favourite AI why you have chest pain, an opacity on your chest X-ray, with elevated inflammatory markers. If you told me that, I would ask you if you have a cough, fever, try to find out the nature of the chest pain, etc. and can I look at the X-ray and blood tests please. If I can get a complete clinical picture from basic inquiries, that would be that. But if something does not fit, I will look deeper. An AI would simply do a search for "chest pain AND opacity on X-ray AND inflammatory markers".
I think you are correct about current AI not engaging in this kind of dialog, but we are in the infancy of AI.

Looking at some google searches, it appears that the current approach is to provide AI with all the clinical findings. More of a sanity check on the diagnosis. Maybe providing additional possibilities.

The iterative diagnosis is in the works.
 
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Doctor here. The problem with patients who self-diagnose, or get an AI diagnosis, or have friends who diagnose for them is that there is no proper weighting of evidence. A single test can be pretty misleading, even the "gold standard" test needs to be interpreted in light of the clinical picture. A doctor knows that the clinical picture is incomplete, and where to look for evidence. AI does not know that.
This is getting off topic so I don't want to keep it going, but if you're a troubleshooting type, you might still be better off, particularly at least asking a specialist the right questions because in my experience, good doctors are hard to find and don't always consider the bigger picture, particularly if it overlaps more than one area.

I spent 2.5 years in pain (hurt worse throughout the day when I blinked) back in 2001-2003 right after going to a water park where I wore my contact lenses, which I didn't tolerate well (protein buildup) so these were weekly disposables, but the eye doctor said they were fine to wear to the park or the ocean as long as I took them out and cleaned/sterilized them or threw them out afterwards.

This took 2.5 years and 13 doctors to find the cause all because two idiot ENTs took a CT scan and concluded the pain by my left eye was, "100% NOT a sinus problem" and suggested I see an ophthalmologist or even a neurologist instead.

To make a 2.5 year long story shorter, seeing 13 doctors total (including two separate ENTs), it absolutely was a sinus problem. An allergy doctor finally figured it out. He said specialists are not well trained in actual troubleshooting, but by the book methods where if they don't see something on the CT scan like signs of an infection, they think nothing is wrong.

The sad thing is he did notice there was fluid buildup in my left cheek area, but he stupidly assumed that had nothing to do with pain by my eye when in fact it was back pressure building up as it drained to the wrong place (instead of into my nose) and that pressure wasn't infected sinuses, just poorly draining ones with what he said was 10-20% of the population being susceptible to hyper nerve sensitivity syndrome under some circumstances.

It was the pressure creating hyper skin sensitivity by my eye that hurt to blink as that's where the sinus was inflamed (but not infected). Regular decongestants short term had no impact (it's not like I didn't try Sudafed at all), but I needed prescription strength along with a mucus thinner (then a prescription now sold OTC as Mucinex brand or Guaifenesin generic) to get it back under control. 3.5 days later I was no longer in pain (the other doctors were prescribing Vicodin like it was candy back then). It turns out, 95% of the time, the mucus thinner alone is enough.

But he proved it that day with a simple test you'd think all ENTs would know about and that was to press on the opposite side of the nose and snort. It came out like a squirt gun into my nose.

I've had similar issues getting a correct diagnosis for simple muscle pulls because of the nerve overreaction (Formication). Being a troubleshooting Electronic Engineer with programming experience (I used to make VPM pinball recreation tables by the dozen in the early 2000s as "PacDude", some of which modified versions went commercial later), I've not been impressed by the average doctor or specialist's ability to troubleshoot. It should not take 13 doctors to change a light bulb (figure out a simple sinus issue).

In 2019, I was dizzy for 3/4 of the year. The ENT hearing specialist ran all kinds of tests including one where they blew warm air in one ear and cold in the other to induce a given room "spin" direction while wearing odd headgear that showed me lights on to track with my eyes. The end result was the doctor (a different one mind you) the same words again, "Whatever it is, it's 100% not an ear problem." It's funny how both ENTs said 100% like they were so sure the Big Bang Theory is correct they'd bet their life on it where I look at as an (increasingly unlikely by Webb findings) mere theory.

When the dizziness disappeared overnight after an airplane flight with lots of ear popping, I pretty much wrote him off as another 100% idiot doctor. But now in regards to evidence of a lacunar stroke with nothing recent (clean around it), it might just me he was correct and the dizziness was caused by the stroke damage in that part of the brain (8mm lesion on the right anterior commissure) and the airplane flight was a coincidence or did something to the blood flow or whatever that eliminated the dizziness other than clearing out the Eustachian tubes or whatever sinus cavity that might have been involved (he said the tubes weren't blocked).
 
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I have no idea where AI stands at the moment, but if what you say is true, it’s a temporary situation.

It's still just a fancy algorithm. No actual intelligence involved.
 
If you happen to have a girlfriend/wife/waifu at one point in time, it's obvious who is the most beautiful speaker, right? ;)
 
The most beautiful speakers in the world are the ones that disappear when you listen to them. My primary use for speakers is listening to them not looking at them. Call me a utilitarian. :rolleyes:

I own ugly ass JTR Speakers and don’t care what they look like. My Ears can’t see them no matter how hard I try…

Utilitarian !!! :p

For me life‘s too short for ugly speakers.

They’re going to sit in my living/listening room and be an unavoidable “ piece of furniture” so they need to look good to me. And a good looking speaker, like a nice plating presentation in a fine dining restaurant, brings together the senses in a richer aesthetic response.
 
Could not agree more. But then they also need to cater to taste buds. Luckily plenty to choose from for all shapes and tastes
 
I hate most of the speakers in this thread. Literally just give me a box with a really nice wood veneer.

Also, I would prefer not to have a glossy finish. It's a waste of good wood if you can't see it behind all the reflections, and it will be a visual distraction if you use them for home theater.
 
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Utilitarian !!! :p

For me life‘s too short for ugly speakers.

They’re going to sit in my living/listening room and be an unavoidable “ piece of furniture” so they need to look good to me. And a good looking speaker, like a nice plating presentation in a fine dining restaurant, brings together the senses in a richer aesthetic response.
Yes, I have a different perspective based on where I spent a large portion of time in my life. That being living abroad US Navy Ships of various kinds. I fully realize that my perspective is unique and not very common. Purpose and utility were all that mattered and I have carried that view into my life. I am very fortunate to have a Wife that is incredibly accommodating and she allows me to do my thing with little pushback. My view is I want performance for the task and I don’t want to pay extra for ascetics. But I do see the value of beautiful speakers and I do admire the craftsmanship and creativity of some. ;)
 
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