So many different websites and newsletters jumping on “generative AI’s” hype cycle at the moment. A course I completed recently made a range of resources available and I wanted to put them in one place. The intriguing sounding “Hugging Face” shows a range of different approaches to high-speed use of AI tech, along with the …
Author Archives: cafedave
competitive hotdog eating
Some of the horrors that professional hot dog eaters put themselves through. [via flowing data]
Convergence of digital marketing approaches
I woke up early today to dial into a webinar for a product that claimed to be able to revolutionise my productivity. It’s the season for such things, the Christmas to New Year lull, where approaches to work are up for review more than at other times of year. It was a ninety minute webinar …
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Death of the college essay
An article in The Atlantic, considering the quality of essay output that AI can make, reflects on the stasis of the humanities over the last 40-odd years and suggests a way forward. Have we under-valued a broad education in a range of disciplines, and are now reaping what we have sowed?
Escherian stairwell
Learning about the legendary Escherian Stairwell at RIT. [via farnam street brain food]
What I learned trying to fly a plane
There’s a scene in Get Smart where Max fights with the KAOS agents while they’re on a plane. It turns out that both of the pilots on the plane were agents, and Max comes back to the passengers and asks “does anyone know how to land a four-engine jet?” And that was the premise for …
BOOST feedback method
Just watched a video a friend posted about (among other things) how to give feedback using the BOOST method. Feedback should be Balanced, Objective, Observed, Specific and Timely. Balanced: not just an emphasis on the negative, but both negative and positive. Objective: not framed emotionally, but looking at the facts. Observed: based on something you …
waiting – a lesson from elevators
Last weekend was the first sermon I’ve preached in a long while, on Acts 6:1-7. It’s a story from the early days of the church where a complaint had come up that some of the widows (of a particular people group) were being neglected in the daily distribution of food. We can learn some lessons …
end of another era
It’s the end of four years studying towards an MBA. It’s a degree with a strange configuration, really; split into two parts, the first stage is comprised of eight subjects to complete in trimesters. The MBA attracts people with different levels of ambition and so for some people, despite demanding full-time jobs, they manage …
meta
A lot of press coverage this week on Facebook’s corporate name change to Meta. An interview with Mark Zuckerberg at The Verge shows some of the thinking behind the announcement. What do you do when you have billions of customers who are using your service on a platform you don’t control, and where your ability …