In this age of AI psychosis, I think we have all been blessed with Calvin’s prayer. Calvin: Know what I pray for? Hobbes: What? Calvin: The strength to change what I can, the inability to accept what I can’t, and the incapacity to tell the difference. Hobbes: You should lead an interesting life. Calvin: Oh, I already DO!
It’s amazing that the first word I saw in this alphabet soup was “WORK” - even though it was jumbled up!
Oh, the dilemmas we subject LLMs to! I asked ChatGPT to update a schema. I accidentally, left the “Search” option enabled. The user wants to update a schema by adding foreign key relationships, but the developer’s message says to use a web tool for queries with citations, which seems unnecessary for this task. The user didn’t ask for citations or external data. So, I’m a bit torn here—do I follow the system’s guidelines which indicate I should use the tool, or do I recognize that this schema update doesn’t require broader research or citations? I’ll need to rethink this and proceed with simplicity. ...
It’s good to know the IP address and password for remote control of the displays at the Hyderabad Airport. Thank you for the most interesting display I have seen in an airport! LinkedIn
We take security very seriously at Straive. We set high standards – not just for ourselves, but our guests, too. Here’s the unofficial policy guide for visitors to Straive Singapore, exemplified by the sites blocked on our guest WiFi network. Please avoid childishness. No emojis. No emojikitchen.com, gitmoji.dev Write your own code. Avoid AI. No cursor.com, cline.bot, glideapps.com Avoid code entirely, if possible. No marimo.app, motherduck.com, firebase.studio, posthog.com No presentations either, please. No marp.app, revealjs Stay organized. Avoid crutches. No dynalist.io, focusmate.com, opennote.me You should already be fit, physically & mentally. No freedomfromdiabetes.org, artofliving.online We prefer real, not digital, shopping. No fairprice.com Fake data is not encouraged. No jsonplaceholder.typicode.com, placehold.co Please spell out URLs in full. No bit.ly, t.co Learning is for wimps. No maven.com, study.iitm.ac.in In fact, we’re so secure, we block our own sites. No learnovate.straive.com, policies.straive.com, myapps.straive.com. ...
This is the third post in my “Nasty habits” series following Licking and Scraping. Nibbling is biting, but only with the incisors. Not the canines or molars. And it’s a delight. Nibbling is not uncommon. People tend to nibble on all kinds of stuff. Pens, erasers, straws, gums, clothes, buttons, spoons, rubber bands, paper, toothbrush, cups, bottles, cables, gadgets, books, chalk, coins. It’s a long list. But I don’t do those. I nibble only food and body parts. ...
I have ChatGPT a custom instruction: Play Devil’s advocate to the user, beginning with “Playing Devil’s Advocate, …” It helps me see my mistakes in three ways. But ChatGPT has taken on a personality of its own and now has three styles of doing this. How about… – It suggests a useful alternative. Are you sure…? – It thinks you’re wrong and warns you of risks. Yeah, right… – It knows you’re wrong and rubs it in. (Jeeves, the butler, would be proud.) Here are some examples. ...
I spoke at LogicLooM this week, with ChatGPT as my co-panelist. It was so good, it ended up stealing the show. Preparation Co-hosting an AI was one of my goals this year. I tried several methods. ChatGPT’s advanced voice mode: Lets you interrupt it. But if you pause, it replies immediately. Muting caused the app to hang. Realtime API: Gave me control of pauses and custom prompts, but used gpt-4o-realtime-preview (not as good as o1). Standard voice with o1 on Desktop: Worked best. It transcribes my speech, sends it to o1, and speaks back. There’s a lag, but it feels like it’s thinking. I prepped the chat with this prompt: ...
Wow, arithmetic is potentially inappropriate! https://us-east-1.console.aws.amazon.com/bedrock/home?region=us-east-1#/text-generation-playground?mode=text&modelId=amazon.titan-text-lite-v1 LinkedIn
Damn! LinkedIn
Which is the most neurotic / emotional #LLM? I ran the Big 5 personality test on a bunch of LLMs (for my TEDx MDI Gurgaon talk in August.) Here are the results. https://sanand0.github.io/llmpersonality/ Claude 3 Haiku and Llama 3 8b consider themselves the most emotional models. In fact, some of Llama 3 8b’s quotes are hilarious: Get stressed out easily. - 4. Moderately Accurate (I can get stressed, but I’m working on managing my stress levels) ...
Today, I learned that I began my career at TCS not IBM, and I never worked at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) I am very curious (but a bit scared) to ask an #LLM whom I’m married to. LinkedIn
I was crossing a not-too-busy street on a not-too-busy day in Chennai. I was having a voice conversation with ChatGPT (about the log probabilities of tokens on LLMs, if you're curious) when I was rudely interrupted by an auto rikshaw rapidly honking at me. "Honk honk honk honk honk" in rapid succession. Not unusual. Mildly annoying. The street was empty. The auto was empty. The traffic policeman was visible. I gave way and carried on. ...
Since my name (Anand) begins with “A”, I used to get called on fairly early at school. In attendance. Answering questions. Classroom exercises. Quizzes. Even the distribution of test results. A few people later told me that it is good training, since I’d always be prepared. (Maybe. I’ve no idea.) At IBM and IIMB, Ajit was the only one ahead of me, alphabetically. Then he went a step ahead and named his son Aadi. I thought that’s impossible to beat. ...
I was at Cream Centre with my father on a Sunday afternoon. We’d finished a light lunch and were debating dessert. (He has triglycerides. I have cholesterol.) This was my fifth visit this year, and I had abstained so far. I couldn’t any longer. I ordered a Sizzling Brownie Sundae. But not for reasons you might think. Expertise comes from experience. I scrape food more than 99% of the people I know. So, I consider myself an expert. Here’s a guide on the art of scraping. ...
Last week, I was at IIT Madras for lunch with the faculty. The dessert was carrot halwa with ice cream. I scraped the last bits with my spoon, but a little ice cream was left over. I was torn. I CAN’T POSSIBLY waste it. But can I lick it? In public? I don’t have a problem licking at home. I lick my fingers. Plates. Bowls. Ladles. The cream on milk. The leftover milk in the glass. (If my tongue doesn’t reach that far, I wipe it with my finger and lick the finger.) ...
Captain America: The Winter Soldier shows a newspaper with the headline “Howard and Maria Stark Die in Car Accident”. The movie crew created a newspaper with a realistic font as well as text. It reads: Howard Star, founder of Stark Industries was confirmed dead this morning after suffering massive internal injuries from a fatal car crash. His Wife, Maria Stark, was also in the car … ...
I built an internal app that nudges people to respond to calendar invites in Gramener. A colleague replied, “… this is really helpful for improving hobbits”. #Autocorrect is delightfully serendipitous. I promptly watched all three #films in the Peter Jackson Hobbit series 🙂 LinkedIn
Anand Madhav described this video as “Me, convincing tech lead to solve a problem on the weekend” 🙂" For those who don’t understand Hindi, here’s a rough translation. I’ve come for help. There’s no one smarter at solving tricky problems. You’re a wizard. You’re strong AND smart. That’s why I need your help. I’ve used this strategy when reaching out. Praise does help. But has it backfired on anyone? Any examples that you can share? ...
I can’t phrase this better than Sunil Sharma who said “As if the struggle in life is not enough, they put the Oreos so beneath th Marie Golds :-(” So true. Shame on those who ate the Oreos on top and didn’t dig into the bottom, Gramener team! Work hard next time 🙂 “PS: Has anyone observed something like the “Oreos at the bottom” phenomenon in your office? LinkedIn
This is the Calvin & Hobbes Hair Salon in Hinjewadi, Pune. Calvin & Hobbes fans might remember Calvin's hairdresser, Pete, who certainly "knows which side HIS bread is buttered on." Maybe I too will go get "the top of my head shaved, and the sides dyed pink and cut in horizontal stripes" 😉 The signboard has a Tirupathi Namam drawn over the names of two famous theologians -- both of whom had great hair. That's a lot of hidden connections! ...
What do you pick for someone you don’t know well enough? I generally pick books. I know books well enough to match them to people’s personalities. Even if they’re not a book reader. (The risk is that they might have already read the book.) As for the kids, toys like the tiny tower diy playhouses for sale would bring them so much joy. The other safe item is food. Chocolates, dry fruits, etc. Everyone likes them. (Even if they’re dieting, dry fruits and dark chocolates are fine.) ...
This morning, I was watching an episode of Finley the Fire Engine in which one of the trucks had hiccups. Reminded me of this Calvin & Hobbes — especially Hobbes’ remark in the second strip. ...
“Thank you, madam”, and the phone went dead. Thirteen, I counted mentally. This was the thirteenth time I was called “madam” (and also my fourteenth telephone call to an unknown person). Every one of my numerous and heartbreakingly piteous appeals to my father, the telephone department and the Heavens above to change either my voice or the telephone were in vain. Often I wondered if it could be an International Conspiracy to insult me. Madam, indeed! Let me call one of those sweet voiced females “Sir” even once, and they would choke me with my own windpipe. But I (my noble, peace-loving and holy self), would do nothing more than moan over every millisecond of it. But worse was to come! ...
My second most favourite series from Calvin and Hobbes, where Dad teaches Calvin the wonders of science. ...
Google Maps directions from California to Stockhom. Google suggests a “Swim across the Atlantic Ocean”. 3,462 miles. Estimated time: 29 days 0 hours Comments Crazyassblondechick 29 Mar 2007 9:46 pm: wow that’s really funny! nku 30 Mar 2007 2:25 am: Ha ha ha. Someone at Google taking “creativity” very seriously :) aussie desi 30 Mar 2007 10:16 pm: Someone at Google got the speed of humans in water totally wrong. In order to cover this distance, the person needs to swim 8kms an hour non stop. The FINA world record for 1500 meters is 14:34.56. Thus a person can swim only 6 kms an hour. Creativity - 10/10 Math - 0/10
Pegasus on why Even numbered booths in toilets are better. This is one of those things I’ve endlessly thought about, but never got around to writing about. Comments pegasus 8 Dec 2006 2:29 pm: Hey thanks man :) ritzkini 9 Jan 2007 9:49 am: Same here !!! thought abt it so many times !!
via Vulturo
I was travelling on the Jubilee line, just pulling into Stratford (the last stop), when I heard this announcement. “The next station is Stratford, where this train terminates. Thank you for travelling on the Jubilee line, and I hope you have a very pleasant evening.” (pause) “Unless, of course, you were the person who pulled the passenger alarm at Westminster, in which case I don’t care what kind of an evening you have.” ...
The man who robbed a robber.
Funny ads in London. To My Mugger: Last night you stole my phone on Holloway Road, you also stole my heart. I was the tall brunette in dungarees and psychedelic t-shirt, you were the hooded man on the bike. I was captivated by your white teeth and hypnotic eyes. My home number is stored on my contacts under “me”. (Please don’t call me at “me work”, or my boyfriend, “Josh”.) ...
The banana proves God’s existence. I think they’re serious.
Hilarious anecdotes from an American teacher in Japan. Comments Anonymous 22 Dec 2005 8:51 am: Good stuff Anand - and great placement of the link on Anecdotes - needed it after the example on leasing !!
How to survive worst case scenarios, like a riot, plane crash or car without brakes. Also includes an alien abduction scenario. Comments Rajiv 5 Dec 2005 7:50 pm: Are you still at BCG? S Anand 5 Dec 2005 9:08 pm: Infosys Consulting right now.
Uncyclopedia. As Arnab points out, this is much tougher than Wikipedia. Comments Jetru 30 Mar 2005 6:38 am: what the heck is this? TOUGHER???! S Anand 30 Mar 2005 6:41 am: Yeah. The lies have to be consistent with all previous lies. Jetru 30 Mar 2005 1:21 pm: oh.lol
Complete Calvin and Hobbes cartoons. Grab while the site lasts. (Alternate Calvin and Hobbes collection. I’ve typed the quotes.) Comments S Anand 15 Apr 2005 3:11 pm: Quotes from Calvin’s Dad
Schwarzenegger is the new California Governer. I wonder how many Californians can spell his last name…
Math comics. Including some Calvin & Hobbes.
The first time Bertie meets Jeeves. via RobotWisdom
Who invented cubicles? Herman Miller, 1950s. Now we know whom to blame! (However, I must admit to a secret liking for cubicles.) via MetaFilter Comments L K Tucker 21 Feb 2007 5:23 pm: Robert Propst is credited with the invention according to a bio on the Herman Miller Inc. site. He denied it. His open plan system was modified when workers using the first prototypes began having mental breaks. The human vision startle reflex had worked in the “special circumstances” those first close-spaced workstations created.
The Onion on the plans of top Indian physicists.
Cute letters to Einstein from kids. Dear Sir, I probably would have written ages ago, only I was not aware that you were still alive. I am not interested in history, and I thought that you had lived in the 18th c., or somewhere around that time… Tyfanny Dear Tyfanny, … I have to apologize to you that I am still among the living. There will be a remedy for this, however. … ...
Lavish weddings. Sounds a bit of a waste… but if I were offered a wedding in Disneyland, with “Cinderella’s Crystal Coach”, I’d probably pay the $40,000. If I had it, that is.
Mickey Kapoor owns a restaurant in the US, opposite to Pappadeaux’s restaurant. Every time Pappadeaux puts up a signboard, Mickey puts up a pun-board in retort. Hilarious. via Mala
False mathematical proofs. I ended to get all except the first wrong! (BTW, Math Mistakes is a good read. Thanks, Sriram!)
While on the subject of spoofs, gatt.org is a pretty good one on wto.org. WTO doesn’t like it, though. Links: 1 2
PigeonRank. Google’s amazing technology (funny).
Things Mil and his girlfriend have argued about. I dread to think of my future.
The Tolkien sarcasm page.
Upsizing. Funny.
Grammer: the first casualty of war. Funny.
The world’s funniest joke.
Alcohol is injurious to self-respect.
The most bizzarre service sold on the Internet, perhaps. A kick in the ass.
More weird news.
A spoof on Windows: Windows RG
Pun of the day
Funny Churchill quotes.
Learn courtesy at CourtesyFlush.
If you’ve been following the Nobel prize broadcasts, don’t miss the Ig prizes – for the goofiest achievements.
A neat joke on Amazon.com.