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	<title>Hartzell-Baird.com</title>
	<subtitle>I write books. Sometimes.</subtitle>
	
	<link href="https://www.hartzellbaird.com/" rel="self" />
    <updated>2023-10-01T00:00:00Z</updated>
    <pubDate>2023-10-01T00:00:00Z</pubDate>
	<id>http://www.hartzellbaird.com/</id>
            <entry>
                <title>Revenge of the Stochastic Parrot</title>
                <author>will@hartzellbaird.com</author>
                <link href="https://www.hartzellbaird.com/ssg/blog/2023/llm_problems/"/>
                <updated>2023-10-01T00:00:00Z</updated>
                <id>https://www.hartzellbaird.com/ssg/blog/2023/llm_problems/</id>
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                    <![CDATA[
                        Alright, you knew this was coming. I knew this was coming. Even the LLMs
probably knew this was coming, and they're idiots. It took a bit longer than I'd
hoped, but I'm finally ready. So buckle up. It's time to shit on new technology.


(TECHNICAL) PROBLEMS

Now, full disclosure, my examples here wi...
                    ]]>
                </content>
            </entry>
            <entry>
                <title>Stochastic Parrots</title>
                <author>will@hartzellbaird.com</author>
                <link href="https://www.hartzellbaird.com/ssg/blog/2023/stochastic_parrots/"/>
                <updated>2023-05-30T00:00:00Z</updated>
                <id>https://www.hartzellbaird.com/ssg/blog/2023/stochastic_parrots/</id>
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                    <![CDATA[
                        I complained about what a pain my last post was to write because AI kept moving
too quickly.

So naturally I decided to write about large language models (LLMs).

You've probably heard of them, but you might not know it.
                    ]]>
                </content>
            </entry>
            <entry>
                <title>AI Art</title>
                <author>will@hartzellbaird.com</author>
                <link href="https://www.hartzellbaird.com/ssg/blog/2023/ai_art/"/>
                <updated>2023-03-14T00:00:00Z</updated>
                <id>https://www.hartzellbaird.com/ssg/blog/2023/ai_art/</id>
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                <content type="html">
                    <![CDATA[
                        Well, I'm a little late to the party, but I'm finally getting around to writing
about AI art. This post has been…a while in the making. Frankly, I've had
trouble keeping up with all the research I've needed to do on it, since everyone
keeps saying new stuff about it.
                    ]]>
                </content>
            </entry>
            <entry>
                <title>Into the Fediverse</title>
                <author>will@hartzellbaird.com</author>
                <link href="https://www.hartzellbaird.com/ssg/blog/2022/into_the_fediverse/"/>
                <updated>2022-11-14T00:00:00Z</updated>
                <id>https://www.hartzellbaird.com/ssg/blog/2022/into_the_fediverse/</id>
                <enclosure url="https://www.hartzellbaird.com/ssg/blog/2022/into_the_fediverse/fediverse_mosaic.png" length="247146" type="image/png" />
                <content type="html">
                    <![CDATA[
                        I've seen a lot (-ish) of talk about Mastodon on the Internet lately, thanks to
the latest dipshittery perpetrated by the Musky One.

A few years ago, some now-forgotten controversy spurred me to look into
alternatives to Twitter.
                    ]]>
                </content>
            </entry>
            <entry>
                <title>The Constitution</title>
                <author>will@hartzellbaird.com</author>
                <link href="https://www.hartzellbaird.com/ssg/blog/2022/constitution/"/>
                <updated>2022-09-08T00:00:00Z</updated>
                <id>https://www.hartzellbaird.com/ssg/blog/2022/constitution/</id>
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                <content type="html">
                    <![CDATA[
                        For some reason, people have been talking about the Constitution a lot lately.
But when you get down to it, what do you really know about the Constitution?


ORIGIN

The Current U.S. Constitution was written in 1787 and ratified in 1788.[1] I say
"current," because it served as a sort of do-over on ...
                    ]]>
                </content>
            </entry>
            <entry>
                <title>Freeeeeeee Books</title>
                <author>will@hartzellbaird.com</author>
                <link href="https://www.hartzellbaird.com/ssg/blog/2022/free_summertime_reads/"/>
                <updated>2022-08-12T00:00:00Z</updated>
                <id>https://www.hartzellbaird.com/ssg/blog/2022/free_summertime_reads/</id>
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                    <![CDATA[
                        Who loves FREE books? Answer: everyone. Except losers.

But for all the non-losers out there, you can head over to Vampires and Robots
this weekend to pick up any number of free books…or at least, any number lower
than about 44…including my books.

But there's a catch! The free books only last for t...
                    ]]>
                </content>
            </entry>
            <entry>
                <title>Book Recommendations</title>
                <author>will@hartzellbaird.com</author>
                <link href="https://www.hartzellbaird.com/ssg/blog/2022/shepherd/"/>
                <updated>2022-08-02T00:00:00Z</updated>
                <id>https://www.hartzellbaird.com/ssg/blog/2022/shepherd/</id>
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                <content type="html">
                    <![CDATA[
                        Do you enjoy books, but suck at finding them?

Are you a fan of novels like mine, but recently noticed that I only have two of
them?

Well, that's too bad, but at least I can help you find something else to keep
you occupied while I work on my next one.
                    ]]>
                </content>
            </entry>
            <entry>
                <title>Memorial Day</title>
                <author>will@hartzellbaird.com</author>
                <link href="https://www.hartzellbaird.com/ssg/blog/2022/memorial_day/"/>
                <updated>2022-05-30T00:00:00Z</updated>
                <id>https://www.hartzellbaird.com/ssg/blog/2022/memorial_day/</id>
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                    <![CDATA[
                        Happy Memorial Day!

Somber, Reflective Memorial Day!

Merry Memorial Day?

Memorial Day! [1]



Okay, by now you know the drill.

What is this holiday? Where did it come from? Where will it go? Why do I have
"Cotton Eye Joe" stuck in my head?


WHAT IS IT?

To begin with, Memorial Day is a federal ...
                    ]]>
                </content>
            </entry>
            <entry>
                <title>Up All Night</title>
                <author>will@hartzellbaird.com</author>
                <link href="https://www.hartzellbaird.com/ssg/blog/2022/up_all_night/"/>
                <updated>2022-04-28T00:00:00Z</updated>
                <id>https://www.hartzellbaird.com/ssg/blog/2022/up_all_night/</id>
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                <content type="html">
                    <![CDATA[
                        Gilbert Gottfried died this month. I've never been the type of person to dwell
on celebrity deaths--sure, it's sad, but it's still the death of someone I don't
know, and people I don't know die every day.
                    ]]>
                </content>
            </entry>
            <entry>
                <title>Tech for Ukraine</title>
                <author>will@hartzellbaird.com</author>
                <link href="https://www.hartzellbaird.com/ssg/blog/2022/tech_for_ukraine/"/>
                <updated>2022-03-21T00:00:00Z</updated>
                <id>https://www.hartzellbaird.com/ssg/blog/2022/tech_for_ukraine/</id>
                <enclosure url="https://www.hartzellbaird.com/ssg/blog/2022/tech_for_ukraine/flag_of_ukraine.png" length="1573" type="image/png" />
                <content type="html">
                    <![CDATA[
                        A few weeks ago now--February 24th, to be specific--Russia invaded Ukraine.

Naturally, if you have a television or a computer--and under the circumstances, I
suspect you have at least one of those--you've probably figured that out at this
point, but if not (or if you just want a bit more context), this...
                    ]]>
                </content>
            </entry>
            <entry>
                <title>Presidents&#39; Day</title>
                <author>will@hartzellbaird.com</author>
                <link href="https://www.hartzellbaird.com/ssg/blog/2022/presidents_day/"/>
                <updated>2022-02-21T00:00:00Z</updated>
                <id>https://www.hartzellbaird.com/ssg/blog/2022/presidents_day/</id>
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                    <![CDATA[
                        Happy Presidents' Day! Let's do that same thing I did last time again!


WHAT IS THIS HOLIDAY?

Every year, on the third Monday in February, the President will emerge from his
burrow and, if he sees his shadow or also if he does not see his shadow,
there'll be six more years of political gridlock.

...
                    ]]>
                </content>
            </entry>
            <entry>
                <title>Groundhog Day</title>
                <author>will@hartzellbaird.com</author>
                <link href="https://www.hartzellbaird.com/ssg/blog/2022/groundhog_day/"/>
                <updated>2022-02-02T00:00:00Z</updated>
                <id>https://www.hartzellbaird.com/ssg/blog/2022/groundhog_day/</id>
                <enclosure url="https://www.hartzellbaird.com/ssg/blog/2022/groundhog_day/groundhogWithHat.jpg" length="93589" type="image/jpeg" />
                <content type="html">
                    <![CDATA[
                        Happy Groundhog Day! And since we're all here anyway, why don't we take a minute
to discuss the question on all of our minds about Groundhog Day: "Seriously,
wtf?"

Admit it, you've wondered from time to time why there's a holiday named after a
giant squirrel, and what they have to do with weather.
                    ]]>
                </content>
            </entry>
            <entry>
                <title>PieCaken</title>
                <author>will@hartzellbaird.com</author>
                <link href="https://www.hartzellbaird.com/ssg/blog/2021/piecaken/"/>
                <updated>2021-11-27T00:00:00Z</updated>
                <id>https://www.hartzellbaird.com/ssg/blog/2021/piecaken/</id>
                <enclosure url="https://www.hartzellbaird.com/ssg/blog/2021/piecaken/whole_cake.jpg" length="28515" type="image/jpeg" />
                <content type="html">
                    <![CDATA[
                        I don't know if you're aware of this, but the pandemic has been hard on some
people.

So it was that last year, my wife and I decided to do something special for
Thanksgiving. The difficulty, however, lay in the fact that the reason it was
hard on us in particular is that we couldn't safely go anywh...
                    ]]>
                </content>
            </entry>
            <entry>
                <title>Shark Attacks</title>
                <author>will@hartzellbaird.com</author>
                <link href="https://www.hartzellbaird.com/ssg/blog/2021/sharks/"/>
                <updated>2021-10-24T00:00:00Z</updated>
                <id>https://www.hartzellbaird.com/ssg/blog/2021/sharks/</id>
                <enclosure url="https://www.hartzellbaird.com/ssg/blog/2021/sharks/shark_eye.jpg" length="35616" type="image/jpeg" />
                <content type="html">
                    <![CDATA[
                        You know what's a terrible place to go during a global pandemic?

Florida.



On an unrelated note, I was recently having a conversation with a
Floridian--we'll call her Flo, to protect her privacy--and the subject of sharks
came up.

I can't remember exactly how the conversation went, since--for reaso...
                    ]]>
                </content>
            </entry>
            <entry>
                <title>Feeling Insecure</title>
                <author>will@hartzellbaird.com</author>
                <link href="https://www.hartzellbaird.com/ssg/blog/2021/insecure/"/>
                <updated>2021-08-29T00:00:00Z</updated>
                <id>https://www.hartzellbaird.com/ssg/blog/2021/insecure/</id>
                <content type="html">
                    <![CDATA[
                        Security questions are terrible.

I mean, we can start with the obvious--you're in the middle of signing up for
some service that you were probably hoping to use now, when suddenly you're
prompted to fill out a pop quiz about yourself, and the "right" answer isn't
necessarily the one that's accurate--...
                    ]]>
                </content>
            </entry>
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