I’ve been enjoying cooking more lately! Found a Whole Foods-esque home delivery grocer with a spectacular assortment of good quality & organic ingredients. Finally bit the bullet and bought two carbon steel pans to add to my enameled Dutch oven and stainless steel pan. I spent a Saturday afternoon seasoning them and so far, they’ve been great at their job. Mostly I’m glad I can now cook without any nonstick pans. As per recipes, Rukmini Iyer is fantastic. I’m also still exploring NYT’s recipes so if y’all have veggie/vegan recipes that you love lemme know, as I’m now trying to cook three new meals a week. I also built an AI bot to copy all recipes (physical or digital) and throw it into a Notion cookbook I’m building. Have also been playing around with tools like Cursor and Wispr. I’m still regularly surprised at its simultaneous stupidity and genius. But I do feel AI slowly creeping into the useful territory.
One of my favorite things to make is farro (wheat berries) with collards, sweet potato and black eyed peas. Now I do make my collards with bacon, bake the cubed baked sweet potato with butter and use chicken stock with the farro but it would still be very satisfying without those things. Find a good sauce for it, we like Bitchin' Sauce which I think is vegan.
Maybe we should redefine AI as Artificial Interface. I think we’re finding out as we go that the scope of the word “systems” in your sentence can encompass a lot - it’s not just getting a recipe into Notion, it’s also starting to become useful as an interface between my notes and my email, or between a corpus of academic papers and my project outline. I’m tempted to start to record more meetings (or make voice notes after each?) just so I can create the data I need to become useful later. Extrapolating once gets me to wonder how much more useful OpenAI’s Deep Research would be if it would have access to all academic papers instead of just Google results. “I’ve found 726 relevant papers to your inquiry, do you want to pay $118 for me to access them once?” Reminds me of the people who used to shout “data is the new gold!!1!” years ago. Like, hell, as a government we have decades of letters, research, data, notes and reports all just gathering dust because there only interface on it is tedious, laborious, expensive, or all of the above. Extrapolating twice is what I’ve seen some tech bros do, where they are dreaming of the day when everything they say and everything they do is quietly monitored just so they create a wealth of data to query or dive into later. There are now people who have two years of (personal) conversations with ChatGPT, which they can use with its memory feature to do [shit like this][https://www.reddit.com/r/ChatGPT/comments/1guygcv/comment/ly3b4bz/). But somewhere here is a Rubicon I’m not willing to cross.
So something Kathy O'Neill beats like a dead horse in this book is that algorithms are just bias? Which is fine, because bias is how we choose. Shit goes off the rails when that bias is hidden or lied about. I know you've read it, but for the folx at home, algorithms are bad when: - They are opaque - They are widespread - They can do damage ...which is LLMs to a T. Go to a different cognitive model, however? Say, one where you can query the AI to see how it got from Point A to Point B? And one thing that happens is rights management is handled. If it used your prompt to remix fifteen images, those fifteen images count as sources for your derivative work and an AI can figure out what you owe to whom. You can ensure it's only working with Creative Commons content within the bounds of regulation. And it can say "based on these open sources I predict a 70% likelihood that the following journal articles are worth paying for." There's no debug in LLMs. There's no "what the fuck are you talking about" there's just "run through your model again until you generate the answer I know to be correct" which puts you in a hell of a pickle if you don't know the correct answer. If data is the new gold, it needs an assay certificate. Any '49er can tell you that.
One of my favorite LLM quips recently was someone commenting how LLMs are right about everything they know little about, and wrong about everything they know a lot about.
I like to email. I have never had a problem pursuing a spare thought to a Google'd email address and shipping it out. The response rate is actually high. Sometimes it's finding and responding to a 10+ year old email thread that I had let die off. Sometimes it's just for mutual amusement. I have a treasured email thread with with Royal Society where they delicately explained that I cannot elect myself to become a Royal Society Fellow. I think they interpreted it as a naive aspiration to become an Important Scientist. Some good fun can be had by taking a gander through your spam box and responding. The days of penis growth pills seem to have yielded mostly to phishing analogues and opportunities. I was intrigued by an opportunity to join the Illuminati. I responded and asked what the benefits are. we can offer you,wealth,high position in any area of your life either workplace or in politics we can offer you long life, you will forever be happy, you will be protected by the great Baphomet.. we can offer you a lifestyle that you have been wanting to have, just like those whom you already hear about on the news and everywhere. you will have money,fame,power,and you will be happy for all the days of your life, you will be problem freeman no more worries... A few emails later I learned that they issue ID cards. Here is what a member of the Illuminati looks like, apparently. Finally, the Grand Master himself texted me. To proceed they need me to pay an Illuminati membership fee of $150. Who falls for this stuff? We are the bearers of new dawns, the guardians of the human species. We are the Pyramid, the Eye, the Light, the Eternal Circle. We are the Illuminati.
Fun fact - every penis pill spam, and every online pharmacy banner ad - every single one - was the work of a Rhodesian supervillain by the name of Paul Calder Le Roux, who is basically what happens if Elon Musk grows up poor but is also actually smart. Mr. Le Roux went from being a software developer largely famous for creating E4M and probably TrueCrypt to being the single point control of Rx Limited to being involved in illegal logging, land scams, drug and arms running and, at one point, attempting to set himself up as a warlord in Somalia. He has been a guest of the United States penal system since September 26, 2012, about fourteen months after Satoshi Nakamoto's last message to the Bitcoin community. He's also under proffer, which means anything he owns is owed to the US government. He is, in my opinion, far and away the best candidate for Satoshi Nakamoto. I LOVE that you went deeper. Now I regret not replying.The days of penis growth pills seem to have yielded mostly to phishing analogues and opportunities.
I was intrigued by an opportunity to join the Illuminati. I responded and asked what the benefits are.
I spent a week in Italy for work. And, lo, a discovery! If you want to force debug mode in Italians, say 'mozzarella' but pronounce it 'moccarella'. Devoid of ire or thought, looking at their face was like perceiving the platonic ideal of disbelief. The only impediment was being repeatedly told my way of enjoying coffee is wrong. Keep it to yourself coffee-bitches. Gf, once unburdened of my presence, needed that week to go from "What's Blender?" to "It was a slow week at work, so here's darksouls-meets-Ancient Egypt armor ensamble I made out of a blob." Still processing that one; mostly in a supportive way, slightly in that "too amazed for envy" way. I finally found a soldering iron tip that's perfect for me. You gonna laugh, but it's that shitty ice cream cone that apparently all but mine soldering irons get as default. All good, I have a bunch of lab automation projects to go over this month, and the obligatory Arduino board should come by the weekend!
What’s “wrong” about how you enjoy coffee and what were they saying is the “right” way? The only impediment was being repeatedly told my way of enjoying coffee is wrong. Keep it to yourself coffee-bitches.
I listened for the first bit that kinda made sense: don't pour boiling water straight from the kettle, leave it for a moment because extraction vs temperature. I tuned them out when it transpired they made a 30-minute ritual out of pouring hot water on beans. Also, anyone who insists you can't have cappuccino after whatever hour is automatically disqualified. It's like listening to people with opinion on fonts or cuts of jeans: I get there's a difference, but as long as they're readable/don't look like celibacy aid bought by your mother... it basically doesn't matter to me. My method is to just straight up pour a half a cup of boiling water onto some ground beans I like, and then dump some instant coffee into it. After giving it about five minutes, I pour cold water to s̶t̶o̶p̶ t̶h̶e̶ s̶o̶l̶u̶b̶i̶l̶i̶t̶y̶ o̶f̶ a̶c̶r̶y̶l̶o̶g̶a̶r̶g̶a̶m̶e̶l̶o̶o̶g̶a̶b̶o̶o̶g̶a̶s̶ so that I can have it in a drinking temperature faster. That way I get complimentary tastes I like, get to drinking almost instantly, and also don't use as many (pretty expensive I might add) coffee beans.
life is too short to be told when you can and cannot have a cappuccino. is the adding instant coffee thing because you like instant coffee or to make the whole thing more economical? or both? that’s a new one! never heard of mixing brewed ground coffee and instant.
It turned out to serve both purposes, but the idea was brought by the same process that probably led to most discoveries: "wow X would be perfect if it had more Y quality." Ground coffee I like is on the mild side, but rich and nuanced. Instant coffee I like has a punch to it that could placebo me into overdrive on decaf. As long as I drink it before it gets room temperature, because then it becomes super bitter for reasons with which I'm sure aforementioned coffee-bitches would bore even a nerd like me to death, it just kicks my tongue's ass (it probably sounds better in klingon) with flavor.
1) Learn the true name of acrylogargameloogaboogas 2) Learn the reasons 3) Call it a "nescafe pourover" 4) lord it over the coffeebitchez 'cuz they don't know either Snobbery is really about who can be the most authoritative bully in the room and I gotta say - that is a truly novel coffee preparation method. I wanna see you own it and start a trend.
Sarcasm? Or bullying? Egad! begone fiend, with thy devilish mind games! Seriously though, I hate being a snob more than interacting with them. It's just some snob-themes attract people physiologically incapable of taking a hint. Also, in my experience, coffee snobs average out somewhere between "I get hints of fish oil [...] and the mouthfeel of chewing on old leather in this Gewürztraminer" and "I thught whiskey was synonymous with johnny walker and thought it tastes like turpentine, but the moment I got my techbro badge, it became my personality," but lose to either on "this is stupid, but I kinda want to hear the next dumb thing he says."that is a truly novel coffee preparation method.
I'll put it this way: I wouldn't be tempted to try your method of coffee brewing. But I'm pretty proletarian with my coffee. I made pour-over because it was easy, switched to a coffee maker because I needed it ready to go at 5:10am, then switched to a ridiculous Miele coffee robot because it was free. Fresh beans, ground as needed, is 90% of good coffee in my studied opinion. The Ethiopians can make a two hour ritual out of yergachefe but in the brief time I had an Ethiopian colleague (whose family's coffee plantation had been siezed by Haile Sellasie) I learned that preparing yergachefe like it's coffee works just fine. For reasons of finance and expediency you have strayed from "fresh beans, ground fresh." You have strayed far fucking afield in a charmingly novel direction. I myself have opinions about coffee snobs: And I think that if you were to own the confidence necessary to say "coffee is better when mixed with crystals" any number of people would be so cowed by everyone else's hipsterdom that they would probably try it. ON ALCOHOL There is indeed a spectrum of taste between $20 whisky (or whiskey, or any distillate really) and $100 whisky. If you don't like any of it, don't drink any of it. If you drink enough of it, you will develop a palate for what is good and what isn't. You will have your personal preferences but your inborn sense of refinement will, by and large, match that of other whisky enjoyoors. If you incorporate that palate into your persona you deserve all the mockery you will get.
Such a hilarious thread. And agreed on coffee makers, I don't have one because I was the only one dumb enough to get roped into cleaning the thing. Dunno if having a ridiculous Miele coffee robot could change that, but those I've seen were amazing. Confidence isn't as much of a problem as the need for tiktok or some other opinions-blaring app that I manage to avoid using with no effort. And while I knew you weren't ridiculing me, I honestly wouldn't be surprised if 'my way' wasn't yet another case of re-discovering something from 80s or 90s like I do seemingly every other week at work. Oh, I'm well aware of the differences, can appreciate them even though it's not my thing. Waaay too many people take it too far. I've witnessed discussions on wine that, should you do find-and-replace on a couple key phrases, it'd be every otaku 'dubs vs subs' thread. Whenever my brother is about to breach the ergosphere, I use subtle cues like "oh shush it, Niles!" to reel him in. For my part, I have a soft spot for gin and one particular beer (Ciechan Miodowe it's carbonated near-mead with hops but tastes waaaaay better than that description), but go low and sparingly on antidepressants.ON ALCOHOL
This is important because it's the core mechanism at play: (1) find a thing (2) like a thing (3) cross paths with the people who have incorporated "thing liking" into their personality and either bounce off their wall of bullshit or break through to become "one of us" "thing liking" uses all the same language, as you point out, and that language is generally deployed only around people who are either (a) in the circle of trust (b) are being invited into the circle of trust or (c) are used defensively against people who have mocked the circle of trust. I can go "Ardbeg uigeadail is 'angry scotch' because it tastes mean." That's because it's not particularly refined - it's literally 108 proof. And I can read ...but I can't take it seriously because "scotch aficionado" is not something I call myself, despite the fact that I'm apparently the only person I know who can list a few highland, lowland, islay and speysides without having to consult Wikipedia.I've witnessed discussions on wine that, should you do find-and-replace on a couple key phrases, it'd be every otaku 'dubs vs subs' thread.
Big barbecue smoke and sweet sauce, and plenty of peat. Meaty, full-bodied and rich even on the nose, and with a dark complexion throughout the experience. In terms of oak, it's a medium influence, and a decent ashy note low in the glass; also some mild black pepper, and a dry campfire on the beach. Decently coastal, with brine and iodine, just a bit of funk, even a hint of formaldehyde; the longer the bottle is open, the more salty and medicinal it gets. Then we get onto the fruits: dried raisins and prunes, juicy strawberry, cherry, and plum; there is earthy fig, as well as a bit of sweet orange oil. We finish this section with some smoked fish, as well as cinnamon raisin toast.
if hell is the absence of god then god is the absence of hell from an egg to a fish to a frog to a bridge to a branch to a bell if hell is the absence of god and god is the absence of hell then a hand reaching out through the fog is a hand sent from heaven as well
Met with my grad school's career services (they were expensive enough I get lifetime benefits lol) and they had some good advice on fancying up the CV. So I've done that and have started sending it out! Spent the weekend making a homemade chocolate hazelnut cake. The frosting was divine. It included a pastry cream and homemade Nutella (minus the chocolate) which were then whipped together. That cake was deadly.
House update. Settlement date is mid-May. We'll be on a bridging loan - on top of the mortgage - while we sell our apartment to help purchase the house. I don't know what it's like elsewhere (are they even called bridging loans elsewhere?) but the rates on bridging loans in Australia are high - as in 8-9%. So we want to sell our apartment asap to minimise the amount of time we're on the bridging loan. This means having the apartment open for inspection by potential buyers twice a week until it goes to auction at the end of March. This means having the apartment spotlessly clean and devoid of personal ephemera twice a week, which is itself a labour of hours every time. My wife's boss is ludicrously demanding at the moment (a whole other story I won't get into right now) which means it's me on me to take care of this while also managing a major increase in my own workload. Upshot of it is, there's not a lot of spare time at the moment.
Also, this little fellow is not a fan of being forced out of the house to sit in his carrier in the local park twice a week.
the most important and most unfortunate aspect of your update!!
Yeah, he's a private little guy. He likes the two of us, tolerates one or two others, and will literally hide for hours to avoid being seen by anyone else who visits our apartment. He does not like feeling exposed.
who’s the biggest bastard between hegseth, rfk jr, and linda mcmahon not political news, ordered a decently large print of a photo i took while out on a climb two years ago. excited to see what it looks printed and framed, and to start a photo wall! one goal this year is to take more photos with my lil sony camera, so far, have taken a few days worth of shots!
I'm also excited to hear how it turns out! We got a Sony a6700 with a Sigma 18-50 lens about a year ago and take it on hikes and to family events and definitely want to get pictures printed and framed but editing is an exercise in patience. Are you editing? If so, what does that process look like? Plus looking at printing options is overwhelming there are so many options but I haven't done the research to fully understand the differences in all of them, and I struggle to mentally picture the differences as well.
What's funny is we used to work in Photoshop, but then Photoshop became too tiresome for photos. So now you're supposed to work in Lightroom, but Lightroom blew away all of its useful library functions. It's also inordinately expensive to buy, so you're supposed to rent it with Creative Cloud for $60 a month which comes with all the other Adobe software you'll never use. Play around with Skylum Luminar. It's the easy button. I don't like its management suite as much as I liked, say, Lightroom circa 2009 but fuckin' hell that was 16 years ago. I haven't touched it in five or six years but it's basically all of Lightroom's "easy buttons" without the super-tedious Adobe shit. Photo printing comes down to how many colors of ink you use and how nice your paper is and there really aren't any pro printers hotter than the stuff you can buy at the camera store. It's all giant galumphing inkjets and has been since about 2004. If you're printing smaller than 8x10 your desktop inkjet and photo paper will be indistinguishable from professional prints and odds are good your easiest source of bigger stuff is Costco. If not there are dozens of online companies who will do large format or canvas or whatever for a nominal price. This shit has been sorted for decades and i've seen nothing to upset the apple cart in twenty years of looking. Keep in mind that anything over 8x10 is going to be viewed from arm's length at least and 300 DPI is all anyone has ever printed at. If you really wanna get fancy with it it comes down to calibration and the difference between all the online outfits is how well and how often they calibrate their shit. Here's the rule of thumb from the dark ages: an amateur should expect to get ONE good photo out of a roll of 24 exposures. A professional can expect to get three or four. What that should tell you is that your first move is to DISCARD 95% of what you've taken and tweak the rest. So - go out for a hike, take 50 photos, find the TWO that are really cool and spend 10-15 minutes polishing them. Show those off. Nobody wants to see you scroll through fifteen photos of people walking. A year from now that hike will be memorable because of one photo and it might not be the one you expect. I shot fifteen rolls of photos when I took my wife to Kauai the first time. I got a lot of great shots? But there's maybe ten that I still show off.
I love doubles tennis. It's fast-paced cooperative athletic chess. I am working with a group making a mobile device that we are shipping this summer, and we put a big battery in it. The EU passed a rule last summer that goes into effect in June that we need to show that it will retain 80% of its max charge after 800 cycles if we want to sell in the EU. If we fast cycle-it, it can damage the battery, but running it down takes well more than a day. So maybe we can't sell in the EU for at least 2.2 years? Way to go EU... Oh, we also have to drop it on concrete from 1 meter 45 times without functional impairment. Yeah.
LOL can you please take a video of your drop test. 45 times is a weirdly specific number. Oh, we also have to drop it on concrete from 1 meter 45 times without functional impairment. Yeah.