Making AI Practical and Practicable
One of the most useful skills I picked up during my Ph.D. studies was how to turn light refreshments into a whole meal. The trick is to combine hunger and the ability to ignore shame for personal gain. Then one needs only spend an awful lot of time at the…
We’ve discussed several applications of machine learning before. We teach a machine a concept from stored data so that it can: The common thrust is that, using supervised learning, we’re teaching a machine some concept from recorded data so that we can identify the same concept in data we haven’t…
ChatGPT describes the solo ttrpg thusly: In a typical tabletop RPG, a group of players collaborates with a game master to create and navigate a story within a fictional world, making decisions and interacting with the narrative. Solo tabletop RPGs adapt this concept for individual play. The player takes on…
I have a relative that frequently has medical problems. This despite the fact that he’s a healthy young man. His problem is that he has too many names. He’s James-Robert, but depending on whom you ask, you’ll hear him called: He has five names at least, and that’s before considering…
Death Stranding was a surreal experience for several reasons. First, the game has a weird story line that’s a little hard to follow at times; exactly what you’d expect from the game’s director Hideo Kojima. Secondly, I’m still not used to seeing recognizable famous people in games. Facial capture isn’t…
Heuristic search is a subfield of artificial intelligence. It is the study of algorithms meant for general problem solving. The problems solved with heuristic search come from a variety of domains, including: These varried domains have two things in common. First, the difficulty of solving these problems grows far faster…
I love conferences. I love getting up and presenting. I love the chance to catch up with friends from different companies and different states. I love the opportunity to see new perspectives and learn new ideas. What I love most of all is how kind and respectful people are at…
Disclaimer Before I get too far, I should reiterate, this story is largely from my recollections. It was… a rough time in my life. I’m not big on diaries. Almost all of what I’m relating happened in a non-archival way. Other people who were there may feel it went down…
I really loved my undergraduate experience. I had supportive friends, engaging classes, and I finished it off by meeting the woman whom I’d later marry. All of that and the freedom to start figuring myself out. As I discussed previously, I wasn’t out yet. I didn’t even realize, that I…
It’s been a little over a year since I started hormone replacement therapy (HRT). I almost missed the anniversary of it. Several fires in my personal and professional life have been dominating my attention. I’m glad I caught it though, because it feels like a big deal to me, and…
