Category Archives: Thoughts on the World
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Panasonic G9. Close? Yes. Cigar? No.
This article was also published as a guest article on "The Online Photographer". My Panasonic GX8 arrived pretty much on the day of official availability and has been my primary camera for almost three years, including two major photographic trips, Continue reading
OK Google, Here’s Another One…
Having established that there’s a real, valuable use case for Google’s phone-call-making AI (making outgoing calls which have to be routed via complex menus, lengthy queues, or security gatekeepers) I got thinking. When I was in my early 20s and Continue reading
They’re All Missing the Point
Since Google’s demo of an AI bot making a phone call a few weeks ago, the reaction I have read seems to be completely polarised. About half the reviewers are blown away, believing it to be unleashing AI wonders/horrors which Continue reading
How Hard Can It Possibly Be?
I really should have known better. In last week’s piece on random music player algorithms, I made the rather blasé statement "I can live with it for a while and I can probably resolve the issue by downloading another music Continue reading
Inferring Algorithms: How Random is Your Music Player?
“You’re Inferring that I’m stupid.” “No, I’m implying that you’re stupid. You’re inferring it.” – Wilt, by Tom Sharpe My latest contract means spending some time on a bus at each end of the day. The movement of the bus Continue reading
To BD or Not to BD
Should I buy the Blu-Ray? So you have a collection of several hundred DVDs, you’ve finally managed to remove almost every VHS tape from the house, and you’ve bought a shiny new TV and disk player. Which, if any, of Continue reading
An Odd Omission
Let’s start with a common use case… "I have a television / hi-fi / home cinema system which has several components from different manufacturers. I would like to control all of them with a single remote control. I would like Continue reading
The Decisive Moment
My old mum has recently moved from her house to a smaller retirement flat, and is still in the process of sorting out some of the accumulated lifetime’s possessions. On this visit, I was presented with a large carrier bag Continue reading
The Hut of Alleged Towels
The Crane Hotel, Barbados has a hut whose purpose is to take in used beach towels, and dispense fresh ones. It has no other purpose. It is staffed during daylight hours by a helpful young chap, but on our recent Continue reading
Architecture Lessons from a Watch Collection
I recently started a watch collection. To be different, to control costs and to honour a style which I have long liked, all my watches are hybrid analogue/digital models. Within that constraint, they vary widely in age, cost, manufacturer and Continue reading
Integration Or Incantation?
I was travelling recently with Virgin Atlantic. I went to check in online, typed in my booking code and selected both our names, clicked "Next", and got an odd error saying that I couldn’t check in. I wondered momentarily if Continue reading
Singing With Each Other
We went to see The Hollies at G Live in Guildford last night. While the words and melodies were those we loved, and the instrumental performances were good, the trademark harmonies sounded, frankly, a bit flat, and I wondered if Continue reading
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