Life update: bad days make good stories

Child 2, who is turning out to be a musicophile, showed me this tune about someone who is grateful for the sour grapes in their life. The lyrics include the following verses: We had to work a bit more hard Only just to get a little bit less far We could laugh about it all … Continue reading Life update: bad days make good stories

[Miscellany] Science communication, writing as craft, and why new stuff makes us (un)happy

Science communication I love this quote, that I read in the book “Communicating your research with social media” (page 40), recently: 2. Writing: Genius vs craft Sometimes, it is easy to feel disheartened about this “business” of writing. It seems to come so easily to others. So… effortlessly. Take famous writers, like Jane Austen, … Continue reading [Miscellany] Science communication, writing as craft, and why new stuff makes us (un)happy

[Miscellany] Fear sells, Facial recognition banned in San Francisco, and RIP Grumpy Cat

Fear sells What would be really, really useful, if you lived in a dangerous area, and wanted to keep an eye on your house when you are not there? A doorbell with a camera, perhaps?! Maybe, a doorbell with a camera powered by a facial recognition system?! Or even a doorbell with a camera … Continue reading [Miscellany] Fear sells, Facial recognition banned in San Francisco, and RIP Grumpy Cat

[Miscellany] Poorly placed advert, Guardian on Google Home, and reads

Poorly placed advert I spotted this advert on an in-flight magazine, aboard a plane. It was from Turkey's tourist board: Sounds like a great use of old and new technology: the company grabs the customer’s attention with a high impact photo on glossy paper; then, the customer uses their phone to scan the QR … Continue reading [Miscellany] Poorly placed advert, Guardian on Google Home, and reads

Monday Miscellany 6 May 19

The not-so-smart speaker Artificial intelligence is as biased as the data used to train it, and the coders programming it. Last week, I came across a simple exam of the latter: It turns out that, if you are in England and ask Google Home to “play the national anthem”, you get the US version. If … Continue reading Monday Miscellany 6 May 19

Day in the Life of an Academic #8: fragmented vs focused work days

While I was reading the book ‘Deep Work’ by Cal Newport, about the value and challenges of doing focused work, I started paying more attention to the instances of deep vs shallow work in my life and, in particular, how it impacted on how I felt. I kept a diary for a couple of weeks. … Continue reading Day in the Life of an Academic #8: fragmented vs focused work days

Monday Miscellany 29 April 19

What AI is not Given my research interests on the use of AI in customer interfaces, I have been reading several definitions of what AI is and what it can do. So, it was somehow refreshing to read this definition of what AI is not and can’t do. It is from the book The Inevitable, … Continue reading Monday Miscellany 29 April 19

Monday Miscellany 15 Apr 19

Ship work Last week, Seth Godin shared the video from one of his talks and Q&A sessions. It is almost two hours long but super interesting - well worth grabbing a coffee and sitting down to enjoy this talk, available at: https://seths.blog/2019/04/new-video-new-workshop-and-other-launches-too/ One of the questions that resonated the most with me, came at around … Continue reading Monday Miscellany 15 Apr 19

Thank u 2018, next

The thing with time in general, and years in particular, is that you can’t go back. So, for me, the year’s end is a time for a brief reflection and some learning, but, most of all, moving on. Going back through my monthly reports from 2018, it looks like I had a rough start of … Continue reading Thank u 2018, next

Are Robots taking too big a byte out of our workforce?

The teen has been working on a school project about the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on jobs. As part of that, she reached out to several experts, and has interviewed three of them. Here is the link to the podcast that she produced, as a result. Highlights include: 0:15 Statistics on jobs vulnerable to … Continue reading Are Robots taking too big a byte out of our workforce?