Sigh.
I'm peeved, but for their sake, at least this chat GPT didn't smash the bottle and stab the researchers...
https://www.businessinsider.com/chatgpt-open-ai-balancing-task-convinced-microsoft-agi-closer-2023-5?amp
"ChatGPT's clever way of balancing 9 eggs with other objects convinced some Microsoft researchers that AI is becoming more like humans"
April 2022 -- the third World War rages on, the fighting still confined to Ukraine. Amidst the global economic uncertainty, on April 10th, the spot price of gold is at USD $1,957.01 per troy ounce. While this seems shockingly high to some people, particularly Libertarians (some of whom continue to side with Russia, politically), I redirect you to this blog post on the same subject of gold as a store of value or hedge against uncertainty, war, inflation or as an investment -- a blog post made by the prescient past self of this same blogger:
https://eltristan.blogspot.com/2010/10/october-23-2010tristan-morrow-these-are.html
Many things said then are still true today, "You buy gold, and it performs at the spot price for gold, and it will never outperform that." Others need updating, AAPL went from $9.40 to $174.31, or +1850% over these 11 and a half years. Not obscene returns, but still very decent (the hot stock would've been TSLA, of course) -- especially compared to gold's 147% run or 03.4% annual rate of return (which is barely more than the Fed's figure of 01.8% average annual inflation...)
Anyway, just thought to revisit this fwiw.
↑ A source of much peeving, especially as I interface with more standardized tests these days. Why? Here's a hypothetically random yet oddly specific example: stack a nail, a bottle, a laptop computer, nine eggs, and a book all on top of each other... Sounds hard? Logical difficulty-wise, it's as 3rd grade as the Aesopian small river ferry boat and the puzzle of get the bag of grain to the other side — along with the goat who will eat the grain, the duck, and the fox who'll eat the duck, etc... Most people quickly realize that they can place all nine eggs on the surface of the book, the laptop on top of that, then the bottle and nail — not hard any way (although you could make it it harder: a more "advanced" solution might involve nailing the book and opening the laptop or cracking the eggs into the bottle). Why am I seething with peeving? Because this is supposed to use both the real life knowledge and the 3D spatial manipulation parts of your brain, yet as an outside-of-the-box thinker I feel insulted by the artificial limitations: what are we stacking this ON? Do you assume it's a table? ...more importantly, WHY THE FUCK are we making an abominable stack out of all this? HOW the hell did I end up with these items in the first place? WHERE did my laptop charger cord go? WHO took those eggs out of the refrigerator (are they chicken eggs or ostrich eggs?) and why aren't they still in the carton? The absurdity of it all! So much in the "real world" has to go wrong before I'd end up in this silly stacking situation, that I'm sure I'd have bigger problems. As a puzzle, it really shows nothing, other than to what extent you're willing to accept rigid and artificial situations at face value — you're "definitely not" being held hostage by some sadistic puzzle making researcher in this scenario, and throwing the eggs at the researcher and smashing the bottle into an improvised weapon in an attempt to escape from this research facility would be futile, now wouldn't it? Good... Now, have I got a puzzle for you... Muawhahaha!
(Don't think too hard about this. But testing artificial scenarios like this bespeaks a kind of artificial intelligence rather than quantifiably measuring anything useful — if they won't stop foisting this kind of artificial logic on the school kids, at least stop using this shit in job interviews! Sigh. How did I get so peeved about this? I do feel better now [/peevedrant]
Yeah. What happened there after the Japan quake was nothing, really.A couple years ago, in the concrete-bunker hallways of the Humboldt State University Marine Laboratory at Trinidad Head, I came across this nifty poster: Tsunamis and Crescent City. Not being detail-oriented and having ADD, I didn't actually read it, just clicked and saved it for later... just kidding! Actually, reading it helped me to understand why all the tsunami warning signs were everywhere. You can read it too--full size, go here: *picture link*
This is the same tulip tree with flowers as: http://eltristan.posterous.com/warming-up ...just a couple days later, for comparison.
I think I will be using posterous infrequently from now on.
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Ran into a kid riding Amtrak this weekend, kicking off the Spring break, and somehow he opened up about a conundrum he had with a "romantic interest" -- the boy was smitten but paralyzed! ( btw, Hi :-) Not going to share personal details but let me know how it went, or didn't!)
The details don't matter but it was like looking in a mirror for me and here's why: chasing anything -- a job you really want, a college application, or someone to reciprocate unconditional love and admiration with -- chasing anything that you think you desire always feels nerve-wracking and paralyzing! And the more you care, the bigger the stakes become!
You're anxious BECAUSE you care a lot about the outcome. This doesn't make you weak, it's a sign of your strength of character. We're only able to give a fuck in the first place if we do care. Don't stop caring; in fact acknowledging that you care deeply and that this is important to you (it doesn't matter what other people think)
You care; now as you try to make it happen, be excited for the future and curious about the outcomes -- you'll still have the butterflies in the stomach and feel sweaty and clammy but think for a second: what is the difference between "anxiety" and "EXCITEMENT"? How about "dread" and "CURIOSITY"? This is where it's easier to stop caring about what you think other people think than it is to confront what YOU think about what you think...
Pulling a lever one more time on a slot machine that's been paying out is the extreme of you feeling curiosity and excitement versus feeling dread and anxiety -- so, yes, it is possible to go too far the other way if it becomes a problem like gambling addiction but RIGHT NOW that's not where you're at, so overcoming any self-paralysis that's keeping you from "pulling the lever" is just the last but most important thing, taking the easiest possible action just to see what will happen.
People like people like you and your crush wants to be asked just like the lever wants to be pulled.
(I don't think you can go wrong to start with, "May I ask you something?" And, if yes, follow up with a compliment-share-ask like, "You always do your hair really nice! Believe it or not, I've noticed you for weeks now and have been wanting to get to know you better -- you free now or this afternoon to share a nachos at the Mexican restaurant?"
You get a reality check if she says, "No" to the first one but also it's important that you're establishing that you respect her consent -- don't be creepy! And the ask is framed where she can say no, and you can respect that and now you know, but she if she changes her mind the balls in her court to approach you and say, "how about those nachos?" -- the door's still open if it's meant to be.)
I tutor highschoolers in various academic subjects: Spanish, Algebras and Geometry, Business and SAT prep -- but getting into a good college and trying to find out what you want to do with your life is only half the challenges of life being faced when people are that age (tbh highschool academics is the EASY half)... across all domains and even as you get older, it's the same attitude and skill set (your "soft skills" they call it). Kids in 2008 are over diagnosed with anxiety as a mental health disorder, it seems, but paralyzing anxiety is real and you have to assume that people will like you (my #1 here). "Not giving a fuck" is popular nowadays but just lying to yourself that it's NOT important to you actually makes you more anxious X-) ...it's better to instead acknowledge that you care deeply about the outcome, that caring is a sign that you're a great human being and not give a flying fuck if other people judge you for it because if they do they're wrong -- then move forward by checking if you're excited and curious -- it doesn't matter how anxious or depressed you feel, take the easiest possible action that makes you feel excited and curious about the outcome.
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