Random things The RSS feed for Random things.

  • Got busy and forgot to eat. Why am I like this?

  • We’re getting one of our side fences removed today. Our neighbour needs to do some landscaping before the new fence goes in, so my desk is going to have a nice view of their backyard for the next week or so.

    The view from my desk with an outdoor table, a bbq and trees, but only half a fence as it is being removed.
  • I’ve spent today driving my wife around to appointments and we ended up over at Macquarie University. It’s been over 21 years since I graduated and every fibre in my body is overcome with a feeling somewhere between déjà vu and nostalgia. Like I should remember it more than I do…

  • I’ve been struggling a fair bit recently, but managed a nice bushwalk down at Minnamurra on Sunday. It was a perfect day for it, and helped me manage my stress significantly.

    But that was Sunday. Monday has a funny way of undoing Sunday’s good work…

    Lizard on a rockBushwalk at MinnamurraRocks and trees on a Bushwalk at MinnamurraDistant hills on Bushwalk at MinnamurraCrazy root system of a tree during a recent Bushwalk at MinnamurraLooking down the gorge on the Bushwalk at MinnamurraZoomed look at the gorge on the bushwalk at MinnamurraMinnamurra falls Zoomed view of Minnamurra falls

  • I’ve been getting more and more frustrated with AI-generated slop recently, but these images produced by the OPPO Reno12 for my review have just pushed me over the edge.

    Why does this crap exist? Who wants it? I can’t understand why companies are pushing it.

    Ai generated portrait of “me” apparently. Ai generated portrait of “me” apparently. Ai generated portrait of “me” apparently. Ai generated portrait of “me” apparently.

    Here’s the source image:

    selfie in front of some shelves and an air conditioner
  • Wow. This is an entirely unsurprising, yet still depressing read on Google and its search results.

    Google is so, so broken.

  • Last week was a battle between ambition and existential insignificance, and I didn’t really accomplish too much. I’m hoping this week will be a bit better.

  • With the re-emergence of feature phones, how long until we see other “dumb” tech?

    Personally, I would love to see dumb TV panels become common. Give me the best possible screen without the Smart TV software, and I’ll add my own set-top box…

  • I don’t like to spend a lot of time looking back wondering “what if?”, but in year 10 my career survey said I was best suited to be a Maths teacher and I often wonder if I didn’t fuck up my life by pursuing a career in the media instead.

  • I awoke today to my brain attacking my sense of self-worth.

    It’s hard to accomplish anything under these conditions. Taking the rest of the day.

  • Every time I go to the dentist, they ask me if I drink tea or coffee. I tell them I drink coffee, they tell me my teeth are stained from drinking coffee, and then they clean it all off.

    I look forward to the day they just clean it without the back and forth beforehand.

  • Just phenomenal stuff here, folks. Every time someone like me reports on Google’s AI getting something wrong, we’re training the AI to be wronger.

    Elizabeth Lopatto,  Google still recommends glue for your pizza, The Verge

    I really can’t wait for all the AI hype to die off. Sure, there are situations where AI can be helpful, but most of it is just crap, and the lofty promises of the technology will likely never become reality.

    But I particularly want the idea of AI in search results to die. It’s a completely inappropriate use of the technology, given it can’t (and will likely never will be able to) discern fact from fiction.

  • Just watched two (2!) absolute bell-ends do 3 point turns over double white lines in a school zone.

    A little old nanna walking past me couldn’t contain her shock. That’s how ridiculous it was.

  • Yesterday I was reviewing the espresso monitor for BTTR and drew a picture.

    My daughter was at Nanna’s, so I thought I’d send it to her. She loves that kind of thing.

    I searched for her in messages on the computer, pasted it in, wrote a quick message:

    “Hey beautiful, I drew you a picture”

    And hit send.

    Then I realised I had sent it to the cleaning company we use.

    I tried to delete it, and thought I had succeeded. Until I got a message today.

    “That’s lovely Nick but not sure if it was meant for Licence to Clean”.

    I am officially dead.

  • England was the better side overall tonight. But the Matildas were still phenomenal. Kerr’s goal was extraordinary.

    A couple of mistakes and a couple of missed chances was all it took for the match to go the other way.

    Let’s see them take third.

  • Yes.

  • Side of the house is coming along infinitely better than the 10 previous attempts. Still a long way to go though.

  • For probably the 10th time since we bought this house, I have cleared the weeds down the side to try and do something down here.

    Now, I am sore.

  • It’s been so long, it’s time for a life update

    The past few weeks have been hectic. I’ve been all over the place mentally, and things have changed fairly quickly. A quick summary: I got sick. Like, sicker than I’ve been in a long time. It took two courses of antibiotics to get me on the mend. Even then, the cough lingered, and I had to go get … read more

  • I’ve been testing an air purifier for work for a couple of weeks now and… I think I love it? I was a bit skeptical going in, but the air seriously just feels better around the home.