Claymore

AI accuracy

Tue, 13 Jan 2026 11:07:45 GMT

A few days ago I needed to check which way the propellers rotated on my Hornet model kit, so I asked Chatgpt. It told me they rotated outward, and that the top of the blade tips rotated toward the cockpit (and it offered up an ASCII-drawn diagram that looked like a lozenge). That seemed contradictory, so I asked more questions. I was asked which kit I was building, and Chatgpt offered up some suggestions for improving the kit's accuracy - like lengthening the nose wheel. The Hornet did not have a nose wheel.

Then it talked about the clean lines, and how the tail wheel doors closed. The Hornet did not have tail wheel doors. It suggested lengthening the tail wheel so that the model would sit more nose-up. That is not how it works.

At this point I couldn't trust a single thing it was saying, so I went to other sources to check which way the propellers rotate. They rotate inward, not outward as Chatgpt said.

How much do you trust AI? I picked up those errors only because I'd been researching the aircraft.

Incidentally, I've tried Deepseek, which got the answer drastically wrong, saying the propellers are not handed, despite knowing the Hornet had different model engines on left and right.

Copilot says the props turn inward, quoting a pilot reference. Copilot is right. It got the different engines right too.

Gemini was correct too, and provided a video as reference.

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Technology integration entropy

Mon, 03 Jul 2023 11:40:59 GMT

I'm getting so annoyed with the deliberate entropy in technology lately. It used to be that social media apps and tools would interoperate and integrate with each other quite nicely, but companies have been locking down their environments into walled gardens.

For example, you used be be able to use a single app to connect to heaps of different messenger programs, like GTalk, ICQ, MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, and others. Now, every service requires its own dedicated app.

We all know what a shitshow Twitter has become, especially now that they are charging extortionate amounts for the use of the Twitter API. So now you cannot use any third-party app to use Twitter, you have to use only the clumsy, uncustomisable Twitter app.

Livejournal locked down its API too, preventing crossposts from Dreamwidth.

Now Reddit is doing the same as Twitter, charging for its API, and this has broken all third-party apps, broken many of the tools used for moderation, and broken access for the visually disabled. Reddit moderators in many subreddits tried to stand up to Reddit, but they're being strongarmed.

What's the result of this? Well, the number of messenger apps I use is limited to only a couple; I'm not going to be trying to use half a dozen chat apps on my phone. I've just about dropped off Twitter because of the rubbish app, but I can see increases in bigotry and misinformation, and less content from those I follow. I've dropped off Livejournal; manually crossposting is too much hassle. And on Reddit, some subreddits have markedly less content (IAMA's moderators have said they don't have the capabilities to go and get good content and manage it anymore), there's an increase in fake reposts, and some subreddits have basically dropped off.

It's all a bit disappointing. Where's all the integration we were promised?

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Windows 11

Fri, 14 Jan 2022 16:11:57 GMT

Yesterday I had a go at installing Windows 11. My PC is not compatible (some components, like the motherboard, are a decade old), missing Secure Boot, TPM, and a compatible CPU, but there's a fairly simple workaround to bypass those prerequisites.

Anyway, it installed in less than an hour, and had no issues at all. Everything is working and behaving as it should.

The interface seems smarter and improved from 10 (but maybe I felt like a change), the Settings panel is much improved, and I like some of the taskbar improvements (still on the fence about it being centre-aligned though). Generally a nice experience.

I have noticed my CPU running hot in the last few months, noticeable from the noise of the CPU fan. I opened the case up, plugged in my modelling airbrush, and blew the dust our from the fins of the heatsink. That seems to have helped a lot; CPU is about 10C cooler now.

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D&D Foundry and models

Wed, 25 Nov 2020 14:38:11 GMT

D&D is going very well (with the Monday group, at any rate!). We've been running on Foundry VTT for remote gaming. I downloaded a town for Foundry, complete with various buildings all set up, and I fleshed out the plot suggestions with townsfolk, creatures, plots, etc. It a lot of prep work, but very enjoyable. Foundry is a really amazing system, and getting better all the time. It's only been available for about 8 months.

Here's what my workstation setup looks like when we're gaming:

My centre screen is running the Foundry server, where I run everything from. I can control lighting, sound effects, movement, etc. etc. The left screen is connected via the web client, logged in as the group's NPC. That way, I can control the NPC separately, and see his point of view for lighting - though a new update in Foundry lets me do that from the server. The NPC is a cleric, nicknamed "Friar Fuck"; he was expelled from the monastery, oops. The right screen has OneNote, where I type up the campaign journals (and I transfer them to the jounals in Foundry too, for players to read). On that screen is also WhatsApp web client, and somewhere in the background is my web browser connected to jitsi, which we use for voice chat.

For my model-building, things are going slowly. I'm busy with a 1/48 scale Focke Wulf Fw-190S trainer. The base kit is poorly moulded, but it comes with resin and photoetched metal parts, which have incredible detail. It's interesting getting to grips with those.

Here's the rear instrument panel:

This is less than 1cm tall, and it will be largely hidden when in the plane. *sigh*

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Batteries

Mon, 20 Jul 2020 14:40:35 GMT

With the loadshedding we've been subjected to, we're looking at better battery backups. My old, depleted, 600VA UPS is enough to hold up the router, fibre, and access point for only about 2 minutes, so I need to get a bigger one, maybe 2kVA. I'm looking around for good prices on those.

The battery for the gate and the garage seem OK, and we're not using them constantly, so that's OK. The alarm system and the electric fence, however, were only lasting around two hours on the batteries they had, so I've replace both with more expensive, higher capacity deep-cycle batteries. Hopefully that'll last the full four hours. There were only R400 each, not too bad if they last.

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New keyboard

Fri, 26 Aug 2016 11:32:02 GMT

I bought myself a new computer keyboard last week to replace the 11-year-old Logitech G11 gaming keyboard that has served me so well. The replacement is a Logitech G19:

Logitech has stopped making them, and the replacements are not only not very nice, but really expensive. So I bought a G19 online from a site still selling them.

It's got a nice soft feel to the keys. The LCD screen can show a variety of things, but I'm using it as a clock. There are 12 programmable keys; I have programmed them to do things like Cut/Copy/Paste/Undo, and to insert text strings like my name or email address(es), all for convenience. The G19 acts as a USB hub too; it has two powered USB 2.0 ports. The keys are backlit, and the colour is configurable. It has big enter and backspace keys, just like I like them.

All in all, damn nice. Let's hope it lasts a decade, like its predecessor.

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Steve Jobs

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 13:44:30 GMT

I recently read Walter Isaacson's biography of Steve Jobs. It was absolutely fascinating, and I found myself riveted from beginning to end.

Jobs was a complex man. A genius, certainly, but a horrible human being. For the first part of the book I couldn't decide whether to pity him, or just to be disgusted. For example, he believed his fruitarian/vegan diet obviated the need to bath more than once a week...and he wandered around barefoot in the offices. He believed rules didn't apply to him, so he drove at high speeds, without number plates, and parked in disabled parking bays. When he rejoined Apple in the late '90s, he terminated all charitable donations. (By contrast, the oft-vilified Bill Gates has sunk $28 billion into charitable causes, and is estimated to have saved millions of lives.)

For a smart guy, he also seemed to be singularly oblivious in some ways. For example, when first diagnosed with pancreatic cancer his doctor was very relieved because it was the rare, easily curable variety. So Jobs avoided medical treatment for the next year, believing his fruit diet would cure it. We know how that ended...

His obsession with detail and his broad visions were his genius; he wanted everything just so. Of course, that meant that anyone who didn't want it that way was wrong - which is why Apple devices are so tightly locked down. I don't personally subscribe to the Apple way; I like my choices.

One thing I found interesting was the amount of emotion around Jobs. For example, there are numerous mentions of Jobs bursting into tears in board meetings or when arguing with people. Not just him either - it seemed to be a relatively regular occurrence with others too.

I did think there was quite a bit of post facto revisionism in some ways. For example, the book talks about how long Steve Jobs took with the design of the case of the original Apple II, and how beautiful and elegant it was. I went and took a look at pictures of some of the Apple II's contemporaries, and to be honest, the Apple II doesn't seem any better than most (e.g. the early Commodores). The same applies to various other Apple devices mentioned: hailed only as visionary because they became popular.

One curious omission in the book was any significant mention of operating systems. There are a couple of brief mentions, but by and large, iOS, MacOS and MacOS X are pretty much ignored. I don't know why that is, given how tightly integrated the Apple hardware and operating systems are.

Anyway: highly recommended.

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Opera

Thu, 21 May 2009 12:17:44 GMT

So I'm back to Opera as my primary web browser. For some reason, after I upgraded my work machine to Windows 7, Maxthon's screen no longer refreshed properly; I couldn't find a solution. Next best option is Opera. I found a workaround for Maxthon's most missed feature, the "Open all links as background tabs", by mapping mouse middle-button to one of the side buttons; now I can click on the side button to open a link in the background.

I do miss some of Maxthon's other features, like the Ctrl-Click to instantly save an image, and IE compatibility, but Opera is a lot quicker, and I love the instant "back" reload. Still, it's good to be using a totally rock-solid browser.

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