{"id":46903,"date":"2026-09-13T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-13T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/?p=46903"},"modified":"2026-09-11T09:08:18","modified_gmt":"2026-09-11T16:08:18","slug":"paper2audio-infinite-slop-identify-feather-tool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/paper2audio-infinite-slop-identify-feather-tool\/","title":{"rendered":"Paper2Audio \/ Infinite Slop \/ Identify Feather Tool"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Easy text to audio<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Paper2Audio<\/a> converts text documents into audio files. Feed it a PDF, EPUB, plain text, Word document, or URL, and in a few minutes it generates an audio file playable on your computer or a smartphone app. The free version satisfies my needs: up to 56 hours of audio per week, a variety of AI voices, adjustable listening speed, and a reader view so you can read along while listening. The plus plan, $9.50 a month, gives you 168 hours a week and lets you export audio files. I haven\u2019t needed to do that yet. \u2014 MF<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Endless slop<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Wow, a whole new genre is emerging: real-time AI video generation. Exhibit A is Infinite Slop<\/a>, which calls itself \u201can endless AI-generated TV channel that chat decides what airs next.\u201d Thousands of commenters vote up prompts in response to what is playing, and new video is generated instantly, soliciting more prompts, ad infinitum, in a cycle. The result is a 24-hour stream of absurd, surreal, bizarre, silly, astounding, meme-maxing video slop from the hive mind \u2013 that is also weirdly mesmerizing, and even satisfying. Hard to look away. Some bits are genius. The new ability to generate video as fast as you can watch it will be used in other ways, such as in games, but this infinite slop is the first crude step as performance art. It is one week old and already has millions of fans and ads. \u2014 KK<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Identify Feather Tool<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

For the past couple months, I\u2019ve been photographing feathers I find on my favorite hiking trail and feeding each one to AI for identification. No matter the markings, colors, or patterns, it kept telling me they belonged to a turkey. Turns out there are a lot of different-looking turkey feathers. But then I found one I was certain was from a Cooper\u2019s hawk, and AI called it a turkey again. I got a more accurate ID from The Feather Atlas<\/a>, a database run by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Its Identify Feather Tool lets you narrow things down by pattern, color, and size until you land on a match, and it confirmed what I was hoping for. The interface is clunky, but I like that it isn\u2019t AI. \u2014 CD<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Better box cutter<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Slice 10400 Box Cutter<\/a> is a utility knife with a curved design that lets you cut open boxes more stably, as the curved part rests on the box while you cut. You can adjust the blade to 3 different positions. The 1st position extends the blade slightly, which is good for cutting the tape on a box without worrying about cutting through the cardboard and into the contents. When you extend the blade further, it\u2019s good for breaking down larger cardboard boxes. The blades are ceramic rather than metal, and Slice claims they last 20 times as long as a metal blade. I\u2019m not sure, since I haven\u2019t had it long enough to test that, but the ergonomics alone make it worth it. \u2014 MF<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Small-space design tricks<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m getting my garage replaced with a 410-square-foot studio guest house in my backyard, and I want it to feel as spacious as possible for visitors, so this article with five clever design tricks for making small homes look bigger<\/a> got instantly bookmarked. The tips are basically this: get furniture off the floor, float pieces away from the walls, hang curtains higher and wider than the window, commit to one color throughout, and size furniture to the room to avoid the \u201cdollhouse effect,\u201d where too many small pieces make a room feel more cluttered instead of bigger. We\u2019re installing a Murphy bed to help free up floor space, and I\u2019m most intrigued by the tip to float furniture by pulling sofas, chairs, and tables away from the walls, leaving 18 to 24 inches of walking room behind them. Apparently that gap creates the illusion of depth by introducing more light, shadow, and overlapping sight lines, so I think I\u2019ll try that out. \u2014 CD<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Story lessons<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

One of the best tutorials on story writing I know is this hour-long YouTube lecture by the author of Toy Story 3. He explains Pixar\u2019s story process \u2013 which anyone can borrow \u2013 and then goes through all the ways he failed and the lessons he learned from finally getting it right. The coolest parts of this lecture, Toy Story 3, Mistakes Made, Lessons Learned<\/a>, are that he shows very early versions of the film that clearly don\u2019t work, despite months of work. The general lesson of creating things iteratively applies to all art forms. As a bonus, you get a master class on how the story of Toy Story works, and why it\u2019s so powerful. \u2014 KK<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Recomendo – issue #531<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47588,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[2323],"tags":[2324],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46903"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/47588"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46903"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46903\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46904,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46903\/revisions\/46904"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kk.org\/cooltools\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}