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AI Limitations
I’m using GPT-4 to help write an ESL textbook, which is probably taking longer than if I just did it by myself. However, because I’m relying on AI for the graphics and audio files for conversations, it’s really forcing me to learn basic Python script debugging and troubleshooting for ChatGPT. The most frustrating things about this experience so far are: I have to get back to the textbook, but I leave you with these absolute gems of what AI thinks Bingo cards look like: According to the file name, the prompt was: “A 4×4 Holiday Bingo sheet with a clean, minimalistic design suitable for embedding in a Word document. Each…
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SUZU Truck with Cargo Crane
A year ago, on one of my daily walking routes. I see all kinds of vehicles here that I used to see in Japan – cars, trucks, ferries, heavy equipment. They often still bear company names and logos (other than the manufacturer) that were applied decades ago… It’s strangely comforting.
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Chit-chat Corner Ice Cream Session
The US embassy-sponsored conversation project that Mina and I have been facilitating on Wednesdays at Mahasarakham University every Wednesday in the evenings goes on break between terms. For the last session of the term, we usually do a special cooking project. Since there’s no kitchen facilities in the American Corner, I usually have to think of projects that require minimal cooking and no running water, etc. This term, I decided to do a throwback to simpler times. We made ice cream in Ziploc bags with ice and salt, and it turned out much better than expected. Normal Thai milk contains about 10-11% milk fat, so I spent the week before…
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Many centenarians actually do not live to 100?
An Ig Nobel prize winner this year says: The epitome of this is blue zones, which are regions where people supposedly reach age 100 at a remarkable rate. For almost 20 years, they have been marketed to the public. They’re the subject of tons of scientific work, a popular Netflix documentary, tons of cookbooks about things like the Mediterranean diet, and so on. Okinawa in Japan is one of these zones. There was a Japanese government review in 2010, which found that 82% of the people aged over 100 in Japan turned out to be dead. The secret to living to 110 was, don’t register your death. The Japanese government has run one…
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Piebald Python in Khon Kaen
Finally, a song I can play on the piano!
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AMD Software window annoyance
On Windows, if your AMD Software window is always popping up after reboot or waking from sleep, you might be able to fix it with the following:
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WordPress — undefined constant error
I try to follow cardinal rules of data management that were drilled into me since I got into computers at university by (#1) taking backups often and (#2) keeping stuff organized. Well, the first one caused my site to go down today because I didn’t really follow the second one. I try to keep on top of things by doing a full site backup at least once a year, on top of doing periodic database and blog backups. When I finished the full backup today, it stored the tarball (a compressed .tar.gz archive) in my hosted account right next to two other huge ones from last year that I forgot…
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ICS BKK
ICONSIAM is a huge mall and condo development on the banks of the Chao Phraya river that winds through the heart of Bangkok. It is a true testament to Thai consumerism and apparently cost a billion and a half USD. It’s huge and sleek and expensive, and it’s a great place to be a tourist and escape the heat.
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Moo Deng Livecam
Breakfast happens around 8:00 AM. The pen on the far side of the fence houses Papa Deng (Tony). Mama Deng’s name is Jona/Jonah. In typical Thai fashion, some of her siblings/half siblings are also named after pork dishes, Moo Wan (sweet pork) and Moo Toon (stewed pork). The most restful soundtrack via Moo Deng’s new webcam:
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Sushiro End Stack
I remember using QR codes for product tracking (with Keyence printers and scanners) as a salaryman around Y2K at an electronics factory on monster island. The only other place I’d ever seen them used was at kaiten (conveyor) sushi, on the bottom rim of the plastic plates. The codes would be scanned as they went by on the conveyor so old plates of sushi could be pulled – this was more than 20 years ago! Things certainly come full circle (although the new system seems to be RFID-based): There was a boom in QR code usage here in Thailand from around ten years ago specifically for adding friends in the…
