I just found out that the amazing text generator GPT-3 was opened to the public months ago! To use it, you need to sign up for an OpenAI account. If you have an account already (for access to DALL-E 2, for example), then you can use that account. If not, it looks like you can […]
It occurs to me that often, when I’m reading or watching a work of fiction, one part of what I’m doing is essentially like playing the storytelling card game Once Upon a Time in my head. When I play OUaT, at any given moment I usually have a pretty clear path in mind from where […]
This week in my family history project: A letter from Peter preparing for a visit from his parents; a placeholder postcard from Marcy; a note from me to say that two of the foster kids had bullied me once; and a pair of letters from Marcy giving updates on all sorts of topics—the foster kids, […]
Short version of this post: I recommend not using the “popcorn” system to have people in a meeting introduce themselves, because there are a variety of ways that that system can cause stress and upset to participants. Long version follows. Background A couple of times now, I’ve been in social-justice-related video calls with a bunch […]
When I was a kid, anytime the subject of bananas came up, my father would sing a little jingle, to which the words were: Chiquita Banana says you must never never put your bananas in the refrigerator. And so my entire life, I have taken as absolute fact the idea that bananas must never go […]
This week in my family history project: Three brief notes from me, hand-written in large shaky block capitals. Also a long letter from Peter that consists largely of an extended quote from the I Ching. April, 1974 In which I (having just turned 6) like Star Trek, and I have four foster brothers. Also: “I […]
About six months ago, I started to learn how to play guitar using the Simply Guitar iOS app, made by the same people who make the excellent Simply Piano app for piano learning. I’ve been using Simply Piano for a couple years now, and I mostly love it. Unfortunately, I don’t love Simply Guitar. My […]
This week in my family history project: Life updates, birthdays, and plans for George and Helen to come visit us. February 13, 1974 Marcy discusses arrangements for George and Helen to visit at Easter. “There will be plenty of room for you to stay here no matter how many kids we we have, as they […]
Some thoughts about a particular alternate-history TV show (that I mostly like, despite my dubiousness here): Imagine an alternate history in which a major event changed the world over 300 years ago, especially changing North America’s subsequent history in a big way. The change was so big that (for example) although the Revolutionary War still […]
Note: I almost never do anything that remotely resembles cooking, so what counts as an adventure for me is pretty low on the adventure scale for many other people. (No advice, please.) 1. A couple of times recently, I’ve acquired a bundle of scallions. I’ve then occasionally chopped one up and mixed it in with […]
I backed Supernova on Kickstarter, and I really like the idea of it: spaceships moving inward on a spiral path, harvesting energy cubes moving outward on the same spiral path. Loosely “inspired by the ancient Egyptian game of Mehen” (which did not involve spaceships). But Kam and I have now played it a couple of […]
This week in my family history project: Life updates and thank-yous, and a piece of kid art. January 22, 1974 Peter to George: “I’d very much enjoy listening to a tape of some of your [organ] repertoire; no matter what style you played, to me it would always be ‘pop music.’” …and other assorted notes […]