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Every now and again, I get to show people around this Island in the middle of the Caribbean. I have friends over from the UK at the moment and I got to take them up the killer volcano. OK, I’m dramatising, but it is a volcano that killed around 30,000 people in 1902!
I love going up there but haven’t done it for several years. The night before the walk, I didn’t sleep well. I was anguished and couldn’t stop thinking about all the bad things that could happen during my attempt at sleep. I do that sometimes. I can’t help it. It contributes to me losing a lot of sleep. But on the bright side, at least I’m up early to prepare in time.
An early start of around 6 a.m. allowed us to be among the first groups to start the climb of nearly 500m of vertical ascension from the car park to the deuxième réfuge. The weather wasn’t with us, and visibility was limited, and even very limited at times, but the walk was really enjoyable and gave me the taste for doing more walks in the future.
I was worried about my fitness level, but I had no reason to worry as I was fine, apart from a slight knee pain while descending. I’m getting older, so it is to be expected.
I plan on going on more walks and possibly taking my dog along for the experience. She’d love it.
6 April 2024 — French West Indies
Just 24% said they were satisfied with the NHS in 2023, with waiting times and staff shortages the biggest concerns.
That is five percentage points down on last year and a drop from the 2010 high of 70% satisfaction.
The poll - the gold-standard measure of the public’s view of the health service - has been running since 1983.
This is the result of an age-old strategy of making things progressively worse, with one aim —to privatise— and get the architects and their friends rich off the spoils. This is nation-level short selling on an industrial scale and should be illegal or, at the very least, highly regulated.
27 March 2024 — French West Indies
Burning the planet to a cinder is the answer to getting fans to buy your music?
This is such an extraordinarily bad take. Repeat after me: blockchain is not the answer.
26 March 2024 — French West Indies
I spent the weekend replacing an ageing Apple Airport wifi network with some fancy gear from Ubiquiti.
I should have done this ages ago, but I’m glad I waited for this generation of Wi-Fi device. The configuration options are much better than those in my previous kit.
18 March 2024 — French West Indies
So much of the Internet is now a Hobson’s choice, that we’ve lost what its purpose was.
7 March 2024 — French West Indies
Generative AI accountability
Should owners of GenAI machines be made responsible for their outputs?
I’m not sure whether I entirely agree with that statement, but I think a more nuanced interpretation could be considered for regulation or rules of use. Something like: If you can’t precisely describe how the algorithm produces its results in a methodological and repeatable manner, then perhaps you shouldn’t be operating them, and at the very least, you should be held responsible for their output.
These are not like search engines or social media platforms, despite the concerted effort to portray them as in the same category. The implication is that Section 230, therefore, shouldn’t apply.
TLDR: No one knows ‘how’ these systems work.
6 March 2024 — French West Indies
They say RSS died years ago, killed by Google.
Lol.
2 March 2024 — French West Indies
“FineWoven cases are junk, say majority, sharing photos of peeling and scratches.”
From 9to5Mac.
I’d argue that pretty much all of Apple’s recent accessories are junk these days. The quality and longevity have generally nosedived over the last few years.
Present Apple has changed from supplying quality equipment to extracting rents on services because it can no longer grow as it used to. On a finite planet, there’s only a finite number of people to sell stuff to. Shareholders are contributing to the decline of the very thing they believe they’re going to get rich from.
This is not another “Apple is doomed” post, but it is a waypoint in the history and direction the company has chosen.
26 February 2024 — French West Indies