Search results for "tag:factual"

• Microchips for Everyone!

  by WillHB

  Sun, May 23, 2021

  Read time: 13 min.

  factual technology
  I know that ever since my most recent post, you’ve all been on the edge of your seats, so I’ll ease your concerns now: I’ve gotten my second dose. There’s been a lot of talk about how awful the side effects are for the second shot, so when I went in this past Monday, I was ready to get laid out for ...

• Shark Attacks

  by WillHB

  Sun, Oct 24, 2021

  Read time: 9 min.

  dataviz factual
  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...

• Groundhog Day

  by WillHB

  Wed, Feb 02, 2022

  Read time: 10 min.

  holiday history factual
  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.

• Presidents' Day

  by WillHB

  Mon, Feb 21, 2022

  Read time: 5 min.

  holiday history factual
  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. ...

• Memorial Day

  by WillHB

  Mon, May 30, 2022

  Read time: 5 min.

  holiday history factual
  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 ...

• The Constitution

  by WillHB

  Thu, Sep 08, 2022

  Read time: 18 min.

  law politics factual
  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 ...

• AI Art

  by WillHB

  Tue, Mar 14, 2023

  Read time: 23 min.

  ai technology factual
  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.

• Stochastic Parrots

  by WillHB

  Tue, May 30, 2023

  Read time: 22 min.

  ai technology factual
  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.

• Revenge of the Stochastic Parrot

  by WillHB

  Sun, Oct 01, 2023

  Read time: 31 min.

  ai technology factual
  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...

• Into the Fediverse

  by WillHB

  Mon, Nov 14, 2022

  Read time: 20 min.

  factual technology socialMedia Fediverse Mastodon
  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.