Notices by David B. :SetouchiExplorer: (david@setouchi.social), page 2

This afternoon, we're having a meeting. Probably the meeting I'm dreading the most in the 10 years I've worked at the University. Most other teachers are going to push for adding a useless "AI" component to our classes (they also have fallen to the sirens of LLMs). I'm afraid I'll be the only one against it. Worse the most vocal teacher is the most AI-zealot of all, and in meetings where some people never speak, her voice carries enormous weight in decisions. ⤵️
#teaching #AI

I have these two sentences stuck in my head these days:

A French minister: we need to prepare ourselves for a future when temperatures are 4°C higher.

A climate scientist: with a rise of 4°C above pre-industrial age, up to 90% of the world's population may die.

#ClimateCrisis #Climate #ClimateEmergency

@Dana Are you sure it's a test?

@minorusaba Oh yes, Shodoshima is getting famous because of that anime (it's an anime, right?)

A quiz before I go to bed. Without googling or anything, this place holds a "geographical world record." Can you guess which one?

#geography #WorldRecord

Sure, Japan has four seasons, but what they don't tell you is that summer starts mid-May these days.

#Japan #ClimateCrisis

@skinnylatte Because they make non-American food. 🙂

(also, don't confuse "white" and "Anglo")

@skinnylatte "American chef" is a nice oxymoron.

Alright, I hadn't done my Political Compass in quite a while, I did it again. Strangely, it hasn't changed much (I guess getting older makes me more conservative but the state of the world makes me more of a raging Leftist and both are cancelling each other out?)

https://www.politicalcompass.org/

Note that I do not trust anyone not in the green zone these days.

#Politics #PoliticalCompass

This awkward moment when it's sunny but the sky is white.

(your reminder to avoid spending time outside if you're in Japan today, and to wear a mask if you have to)

#Japan #Dust #DustCloud

Good morning.
It's that time of the year in Japan again:
- Mist due to strong evaporation because of a sudden rise in temperatures? check (but harmless).

- Pollen levels off the chart that make half the country miserable? check.

- Dust cloud coming from the Gobi desert and grabbing from Chinese and Korean pollution along the way? Well, it'll mostly be tomorrow, but the first visible traces are here.

Wear your masks outdoors too this week.

#Japan #Morning #SetoInlandSea

Wanna be wowed? I know you want to be.
Look at these. My son's friend (9yo) made these.

That is all.

#Japan #origami #dragon #moose

This is not going to end well. I just stumbled upon a post on Reddit where someone made a travel plan in my area on Grok (so the LLM made the plan, really). And nothing is correct on the plan. Absolutely nothing is correct: ferry schedules? Wrong. Prices of museums, transportation and more? Wrong. Time frames? Wrong. Not a single thing is correct.

🤦♂️

#AI #LLM #Grok

Nice...

https://spoon-tamago.com/kei-endo-measure-exhibition/

#Japan #art #architecture

So my son tends to use Japanese syntax when he speaks French (I'm probably the only person on Earth who fully understands his French) but he has started learning English at school and I noticed that he sometimes used French syntax when trying to speak English.
🙃
#multilingualism #parenting #languages

@AnthoDerv Nice... Wait, is this a tea ceremony room?

@dalias And I'm condescending because?

Can people stop feeling attacked all the time? Is it possible?

@SeaFury

@SeaFury I think most of us are Indeed Gen Xers here because it's true that there is a certain degree of computer-literacy needed to easily understand the Fediverse, and it's mostly our generation that is computer-literate. Also, we do remember that the internet wasn't always owned by big companies. Younger generations don't, so they also have trouble understanding the Fediverse.

In which I wish all my readers a Happy New Year but also reflect on what has been hindering me from writing more lately, especially the lack of ways for financing the blog (donation buttons clearly don't work).
I'm thinking maybe creating a paying newsletter with "premium" content. Does anyone have experience with monetizing a smallish blog (not to make a living with it, but just pay for its expenses)

https://www.setouchiexplorer.com/happy-new-year-2025/

#blogging #newsletter

If you're in Taiwan right now, don't miss it.

https://youtu.be/uJ1WhTJPUoA?si=e2PGdGSe-jdwVoKW

#art #Taiwan #Octopus #OscarOiwa