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Q & AI
As a freelance financial writer, I was curious about the threat of my imminent obsolescence with the arrival of ChatGPT and similar generative AI chatbots. In an informal experiment, I asked ChatGPT a few questions that are typical of the kind of questions I answer in my freelance assignments, which consist largely of topics in…
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Books read 2022
Books! Best to worst. Colm Toibin, The Magician Superb. There is a serious factual error in the last chapter that I pointed out to Toibin on his website, but his response is nonexistent. Labatut, Benjamín, When We Cease to Understand the World Superb. Dan Charnas, dilla time Excellent narrative, thoroughly researched, brimming with ideas like the geographic grid…
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Top ten albums of 2022
In our household albums are always 100% unstreamed, played from start to finish, never shuffled, and usually played from manufactured CDs or from purchased digital files that are burned to CDs. In alphabetical order by artist: Cat Power – Covers Jorge Drexler – Tinta y Tiempo Eliane Elias – Quietude Melody Gardot & Philippe Powell…
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Books read 2021
Books! Best to worst. Taffy Brodesser-Akner, Fleischman Is in Trouble Excellent. I will read anything Taffy writes. P.G. Wodehouse, My Man Jeeves Flat-out great and hilarious. Mark Harris, Mike Nichols Immersive and deeply satisfying for a pop culture biography. Ron Brownstein, Rock Me on the Water Cultural history of California in the 1970s. Thich Nhat Hanh, How…
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Top ten albums of 2021
In our household albums are always 100% unstreamed, played from start to finish, never shuffled, and usually played from manufactured CDs or from purchased digital files that are burned to CDs. In alphabetical order by artist: Elbow – Flying Dream 1 Kurt Elling – SuperBlue Márcio Faraco – L’électricien de la ville lumière Fleet Foxes…
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Books read 2020
Books! Best to worst. Nate Chinen, Playing Changes Extraordinary essays on jazz and its recent history. Garth Greenwell, Cleanness Richly realized senses of dislocation and location. Andrea Camilleri, The Overnight Kidnapper Montalbano goodness. David Deutsch, Something about Infinity Well-written and thoughtful examination of creative explanations as a powerful source of knowledge and ultimately experience. Dismissals of…
Got any book recommendations?