Recently updated blogs

Common Misconceptions About the Complexity in Robotics vs AI A roboticist breaks down common misconceptions about what's hard and easy in robotics. A response to everyone asking “can't we just stick a large language model into its brain to make it more capable?” Contrary to the assumptions of many people, making robots perceive and move in the world in the way humans can turns out to be an extraordinarily hard …

This is pretty late, but really, no hurry. This would probably feel like a repeat of my 2023 review.January 😔 Got disappointed by recent events. 📢 Made a statement that it’s impossible for an app to make everyone happy. February 😮 Gathered quite a lot of attention from an experimental UI that I did for catching up on posts on Mastodon. 🤩 My web app got mentioned on The Verge …

Just spent two hours (!) booking trains and intermediary hotels for a work trip to the UK in March. For some reason, the usually reliable Deutsche Bahn were unwilling to sell me any tickets for the journeys required, which usually means they’re waiting to release them due to e.g. track maintenance or timetable adjustments. However SNCB (the Belgian railways, basically) were happy to sell me tickets and reservations for everything …

Just occasionally, my silly research for this site turns up something wonderful. So, there I was, perusing the archives of that august organ Huddersfield Daily Examiner, when I spotted the following Channel 4 programme scheduled on the 30th November 1992: 11:00 CATHOLICS AND SEX Examining the Catholic Church’s attitudes towards birth-control and pre-marital sex. Catholic women talk about the ban on contraception, and teenagers give their views on virginity. A …

For a change, rather than looking at the past, today’s post is rather topical, and looks at a subject that at first glance may seem irrelevant to the blog – Artificial Intelligence, or AI. When I write a post for the blog, I try to apply a degree of intelligence. I use a wide range of sources – books (old and new), maps, national and local archives, old newspaper archives, …

Looks Unfamiliar with Joanne Sheppard talking to Tim Worthington about p Fax, First Born, Chimera, Next Of Kin, Mother Love, I'm Your Number One Fan, The History Trail, The Yolk Folk, Victoria Plum televised Cluedo and more...!

Last month we held the first-ever LittleJS Game Jam and it has been a huge success! A whopping 571 people signed up for the jam, showing just how much interest there is in LittleJS! Out of those that joined, 35 games were submitted using the theme “Animals”, showcasing the creativity and talent of our community. […]

It was pretty cold this week, so we took advantage of everything being frozen over to spend a bunch of time outside. The Met Office says that the weather is going to turn this next week, reaching balmy highs of like 14 degrees and turning the country into a massive mud pit.ReadingI liked Sam Valenti IV’s review of pop music in 2024, where he basically argues that modern pop music …

Notes for Fringe season 1, episode 3, “The Ghost Network“ 01:04 The camcorder being used by a bus passenger is a Panasonic SDR-H40 (2008) 01:44 The female passenger is carrying a blue Jansport T2650307 backpack 07:20 I assume that when Walter describes the drugs he’s taking, there’s some network TV liability thing that prevents the names of actual psychotics being used. 07:58 Peter’s phone is a Nokia 6110 Navigator (2007) …

In addition, the annual Vanguard Awards will be presented at the event to Sean Wang, writer and director of "Dìdi (弟弟)," and Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie, co-directors of "Sugarcane," who premiered their acclaimed films at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.

Those who follow my blog know that I like a lot the 400 m hurdles event. All the more so, since the decathletes have a fascination for this gruelling event. I have posted on several occasions articles on the low hurdles and there are frequent references to the ones I call the musketeers of the 400 m hurdles. This article is inspired by a post on the World Athletics site …

I stumbled upon an article on the Spartacus Educational website this morning about the JFK assassination and realized I was looking at the deepest of rabbit holes—a better organized rabbit hole than that of Wikipedia—which is saying something. There’s a ton of stuff to dig into there, on a site whose design dates back to about 2002, which is oddly comforting.

content warning: child abuse When I was 13, a grown man beat me up. A doctor had to photograph my body for the police. It was evening in the children’s hospital. A dark, hospital blue across the interior design, like the sky needed picking up too. The doctor’s office was bigger than I would have liked, already feeling overexposed after I’d taken my school shirt off. I avoided eye contact …

...it gets very peaceful. Boats aren't moving, and the ducks congregate in swim-holes, keeping them open with their splashings around.I had to defrost my bike before cycling down into Bath, so I decanted the hot ash from the stove into a bucket, then put it under an old overcoat on the handlebars. And the gears and brakes presently started working again.I was getting a bit worried, because I was down …

After the doom and gloom of the previous post, you’ll be relieved to learn that I've got something a lot lighter for today. Yesterday was the first Pub Friday, not just for January, but for the coming year, and despite freezing conditions I headed off to explore a location I’d only visited on a handful of occasions. Naturally there was a pub involved as well, and it was one that …