tag:elgan.com,2013:/posts elgan.com 2023-12-01T18:10:54Z Mike Elgan tag:elgan.com,2013:Post/2057297 2023-12-01T18:09:52Z 2023-12-01T18:10:54Z The fast pace of AI change is an illusion

AI doesn’t advance with big breakthroughs that instantly change everything. OpenAI changed everything because it made generative AI tools available to the public and to developers. It was the public access to AI that changed everything, not a sudden set of breakthroughs specific to OpenAI.

Read my Computerworld column debunking hyperbolic rumors about OpenAI's Q* and setting the context for the actual slow pace of change in the AI field

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Mike Elgan
tag:elgan.com,2013:Post/2055874 2023-11-28T00:04:36Z 2023-11-28T00:05:53Z Hybrid work trend of the moment: "coffee-badging"

"Coffee badging" is the practice of hybrid workers to show up to the office just to show their face and "make an appearance" to create the false impression that they're spending more time in the office than they really are. Some 58% of hybrid workers admit to "coffee badging," according to a June survey by Owl Labs

Some see it as a passive-aggressive protest against back-to-office mandates. But "Coffee badging" may be driving high levels of employee engagement. But it could reveal other cultural problems within the organization

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Mike Elgan
tag:elgan.com,2013:Post/2054656 2023-11-23T21:32:42Z 2023-11-24T20:25:50Z Thanksgiving!


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Mike Elgan
tag:elgan.com,2013:Post/2054231 2023-11-23T07:26:09Z 2023-11-23T07:26:09Z My Thanksgiving rolls are done. Cause that’s how I roll.
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Mike Elgan
tag:elgan.com,2013:Post/2054174 2023-11-23T00:50:41Z 2023-11-23T07:41:30Z My sourdough Thanksgiving rolls are already done. Cause that’s how I roll.

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Mike Elgan
tag:elgan.com,2013:Post/2054099 2023-11-22T16:19:13Z 2023-11-22T16:29:23Z Check out the Day of the Dead Ofrenda at Frida Kahlo's house in Mexico City

They do a different one every year, but this year's is pretty great. 

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Mike Elgan
tag:elgan.com,2013:Post/2053859 2023-11-22T01:56:38Z 2023-11-22T01:56:38Z Follow this guy. He's headed to one hell of a party.

(Spotted in Mexico City.) 

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Mike Elgan
tag:elgan.com,2013:Post/2053417 2023-11-21T02:35:46Z 2023-11-21T02:35:47Z Home-made Aztec chow at our friends' house during The Mexico City Experience

This is a tlacoyo filled with fava beans and topped with cactus and other veggies. We made this during The Mexico City Experience

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Mike Elgan
tag:elgan.com,2013:Post/2049354 2023-11-17T14:39:03Z 2023-11-17T15:37:34Z My daughter-in-law's elegant ceramics are finalists in the Sprudge Design Awards

My daughter-in-law, Nadia, is the extremely talented ceramicist that owns Habibi Ceramics. Her work for Oakland's Mr. Espresso coffee shop is a finalist in the Sprudge Design Awards, and the finals are determined by public vote. 

If you love these cups as much as I do, go here and vote for "Mr. Espresso" in the "Outstanding Design Achievement, Vessels Finalists" category!!

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Mike Elgan
tag:elgan.com,2013:Post/2049214 2023-11-17T03:09:30Z 2023-11-17T03:09:30Z These next-level tacos brought to you by The Mexico City Cocktail Experience (now in progress)

Wish you were here

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Mike Elgan
tag:elgan.com,2013:Post/2047369 2023-11-11T22:57:17Z 2023-11-11T22:58:25Z A rough road to get there, but we made it to a pre-wedding beach party near Puerto Escondido!

Video and mezcal picture taken via Ray-Ban Meta glasses.

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Mike Elgan
tag:elgan.com,2013:Post/2047311 2023-11-11T19:38:36Z 2023-11-11T19:38:37Z From Mike's List: Why Humane's AI Pin won't succeed

I love the fact that someone is trying a whole new wearable platform concept in the market. The innovation is real and the design impressive. And many of the elements of the AI Pin are appealing. For example, the idea of having access to AI, and to some elements of a smartphone, without an addictive and anti-social smartphone screen — or without anything covering your eyes or ears — is a wonderful idea.

Unfortunately, it doesn't stand a chance

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Mike Elgan
tag:elgan.com,2013:Post/2046932 2023-11-10T19:40:52Z 2023-11-10T19:41:05Z We’re renting a car, and the car rental place is literally a shack

But that’s Puerto Escondido for you. 

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Mike Elgan
tag:elgan.com,2013:Post/2046899 2023-11-10T17:37:58Z 2023-11-10T17:38:49Z Where I’m at: a flight from Mexico City to Puerto Escondido (in an exit row with scads of legroom)

We’re going there for the weekend to attend the wedding of our friend’s daughter. 

(Picture taken with Ray-Ban Meta glasses.)

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Mike Elgan
tag:elgan.com,2013:Post/2046722 2023-11-10T02:56:19Z 2023-11-10T02:56:20Z The five cent ice cream cone of your youth is alive and well in a Mexico City ice cream truck
Is this legit? ( I spotted this truck in Mexico City’s Juárez neighborhood tonight.)
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Mike Elgan
tag:elgan.com,2013:Post/2046167 2023-11-08T23:44:15Z 2023-11-08T23:44:25Z Sunset from our Mexico City apartment through Ray-Ban Meta glasses

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Mike Elgan
tag:elgan.com,2013:Post/2045995 2023-11-08T17:17:04Z 2023-11-08T17:17:51Z How regular Oaxacans celebrate Day of the Dead far away from the touristy areas

On our way to a Day of the Dead party with friends, the road was closed for a local carnival-market type festival. You'll see all the flowers for sale, most of which will be taken to the cemetery. Here's the video from my Ray Ban Meta glasses -- a glimpse of the real Oaxaca during Day of the Dead. 

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Mike Elgan
tag:elgan.com,2013:Post/2045971 2023-11-08T16:47:01Z 2023-11-08T16:48:17Z "Señora Influencer" is the name of a Mexican comedy, according to this bus station poster in Mexico City

I looked it up. Here's the trailer. Here's the IMDB page

(In related news, "influencer" in Spanish is: "influencer.")

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Mike Elgan
tag:elgan.com,2013:Post/2045951 2023-11-08T16:10:53Z 2023-11-08T16:15:26Z The sound system district of Mexico City is really, really loud

Around the historic center of Mexico City, there are thousands of retail stores, each grouped by neighborhood according to what they sell. There are blocks and blocks of nothing but tire stores, for example, or lighting fixtures. 

Hilariously, the sound system section of the city features stores trying to draw attention over the others by blasting music. They're ALL blasting music. And so walking down the street is an extremely noisy experience, according to my Apple Watch's sound level warning feature. 

(Video taken via Ray-Ban Meta glasses.) 


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Mike Elgan
tag:elgan.com,2013:Post/2045268 2023-11-07T00:48:40Z 2023-11-07T00:48:40Z Me taking a picture of Amira taking a picture in Mexico City
Via Ray-ban Meta glasses. 
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Mike Elgan
tag:elgan.com,2013:Post/2045227 2023-11-06T23:05:01Z 2023-11-06T23:05:30Z Here's the video I took via Ray-Ban Meta glasses during TWiT I was on TWiT yesterday, I demonstrated the warning light on Ray-Ban Meta glasses by taking a video.

Here's that segment of the show

Here's the video I took through the glasses.

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Mike Elgan
tag:elgan.com,2013:Post/2045045 2023-11-06T16:49:54Z 2023-11-06T16:49:54Z Watch the sun set over Mexico City while I'm on This Week in Tech!

Watch host Leo Laporte and guests Christina Warren, Shoshana Weissmann and me on TWiT 952: "A Gathering of the Protons."

On the show, we talk about Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses, Elon Musk's XAI concept GROK AI, Twitter, Biden's AI executive order, Epic's antitrust lawsuit against Google, Jeff Bezos' move to Miami and much more!!

Watch now

Subscribe

Join the Club!

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Mike Elgan
tag:elgan.com,2013:Post/2044246 2023-11-04T20:15:17Z 2023-11-04T20:15:17Z It’s time to take your genAI skills to the next level

The word of the year should be “complementarity.” Whoever best combines their existing skillset with AI knowledge wins. Read my opinion column on the Computerworld website.

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Mike Elgan
tag:elgan.com,2013:Post/2043974 2023-11-04T01:39:28Z 2023-11-04T01:39:29Z The view from our apartment in Mexico City
We just arrived from Oaxaca. So happy to be back in CDMX!
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Mike Elgan
tag:elgan.com,2013:Post/2043538 2023-11-02T18:35:49Z 2023-11-02T18:35:49Z Huaraches for breakfast in Oaxaca
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Mike Elgan
tag:elgan.com,2013:Post/2043518 2023-11-02T17:39:54Z 2023-11-02T17:44:01Z Amira getting her soul purified with incense by our friend, Lily
With our friend (and her husband), Alex, looking on. It was a wonderful Day of the Dead gathering with a few of Alex’s and Lily’s family and friends at their home. 
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Mike Elgan
tag:elgan.com,2013:Post/2043079 2023-11-01T18:28:23Z 2023-11-01T18:30:01Z Israel-Hamas war propagandists are churning out disinformation, including AI-generated images

And the sad part is that people are believing the falsehoods and sharing them broadly on social media. 

The picture above, for example, which appears to show a man carrying his children out of the rubble. The Chinese embassy in France claimed on Xitter that "This image will symbolize the West for decades to come. They will not forgive and will not forget and those children (if they survive) will grow up angry, very angry."

Except those children don't exist. The picture is generated by AI. And not even good AI. The children have the wrong number of toes, clothing blends together and it has other telltale problems. 

AFP has a good fact-check page chronicling some of the disinformation. AP is doing a pretty good job as well. FactCheck.org is doing a great job. And DW has a nice "how to spot fake content" explainer. 

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Mike Elgan
tag:elgan.com,2013:Post/2042798 2023-11-01T01:34:41Z 2023-11-03T02:12:38Z The ofrendas (offerings) of Oaxaca during Day of the Dead

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Mike Elgan
tag:elgan.com,2013:Post/2042793 2023-11-01T01:09:43Z 2023-11-01T01:09:44Z This pan dulce in Oaxaca is next-level

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Mike Elgan
tag:elgan.com,2013:Post/2042792 2023-11-01T01:04:49Z 2023-11-01T01:04:49Z Breakfast in Oaxaca this morning

That's fried cheese on top. So good.

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Mike Elgan