I've been taking a break from posting for the last few weeks. I'd like to get posting again, so I thought I'd start with an easy one.I spent several years working for a defense contractor, during which time I sometimes had to meet with our points-of-contact in the Department of Defense. We'd usually end up going out to lunch, and one thing I learned pretty quickly is that … [Read more...] about Yes, It’s a Bribe
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What is ChatGPT doing wrong?
In my previous post on this subject, I gave a brief outline of how ChatGPT is based on a neural network that has been trained on a huge sample of digital documents to recognize human-written text, and how it generates responses to user prompts and questions by using that recognition capability to decode which token to add to the end of the conversation, thus building a response … [Read more...] about What is ChatGPT doing wrong?
COVID-19 is Not Endemic and the Fight is Not Over
I just saw an article at Reason arguing that the government should stop making COVID-19 tests free. It begins with this dubious statement:The consensus among scientists and lawmakers after two years of pandemic mayhem is that COVID-19 is officially endemic. That's good news for those of us looking to move on with our lives, but it also means it's time for society to make … [Read more...] about COVID-19 is Not Endemic and the Fight is Not Over
The Iron Rules of Covid Lag
Time and again, with wave after wave of COVID-19, certain observations seem eternal:You can't test positive for COVID-19 until after you catch COVID-19, therefore Covid testing always lags behind the actual Covid infections, typically about 2 weeks.All other things being equal -- masking, distancing, lockdowns -- the more people that have COVID-19, the more people that will … [Read more...] about The Iron Rules of Covid Lag
Workin’ From Home at the Washingtonian
In an op-ed at the Washington Post, Washingtonian Media CEO Cathy Merrill expresses concern about employees not wanting to return to the office:In several group calls with chief executives, I’ve found a great sense of pride in how well our teams have done during the past year. However, we all started at a place where we and our employees knew one another, which made remote … [Read more...] about Workin’ From Home at the Washingtonian