Interests, Curiosities, and Hobbies

Today I'm making Ultimate Ginger Cookies.  Currently the dough is in the refrigerator chilling.  :D

EDIT 9/7/25 -- These turned out as molasses spice gingersnaps, quite zesty.  They're tricky to bake because you have to take them out while they still seem quite raw in order to leave them chewy.  If they're starting to set up at all, they are crunchy when cold.  However, if you want to make a gingersnap crust or crumble -- or you just prefer crunchy cookies -- that's the way to go. 

The earlier "ultimate ginger cookies" recipe I had was a lot lighter than these, but I couldn't find that one.  I'll probably try again for a version of that, but these really are excellent molasses spice gingersnaps.

These clear windows can secretly produce solar power

Cholesteric liquid crystal coatings enable transparent, unidirectional solar concentrators compatible with modern windows.

Scientists have created a transparent solar coating that turns ordinary windows into clean energy generators without affecting clarity. Using cholesteric liquid crystal layers, the coating redirects polarized sunlight to the window edges where solar cells collect it. A small prototype already powered a fan, and full-sized windows could boost efficiency 50-fold while cutting the need for costly photovoltaic cells.


Useful, if it's affordable.

Today is mostly cloudy and mild.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.

EDIT 9/6/25 -- I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 9/6/25 -- I watered the patio plants and the old picnic table plants.

EDIT 9/6/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 9/6/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

EDIT 9/6/25 -- I watered the irises, the telephone pole garden, and a few of the savanna plants.

EDIT 9/6/25 -- I watered the new picnic table garden and the septic garden.

I am done for the night.

One of the ways that LLM-authored code improves productivity is by merely SAYING it does things. It's way faster than the whole time-consuming process of actually doing things.

This is exactly the kind of problem I expected to come out of AI-generated code.  If all you reward is speed, then you'll get sloppy fake code like this.  If you want to persist in trying to make AI create usable code, then you also have to reward it for accuracy and penalize it for lies and mistakes.  The trouble is, AI is bad at juggling contradictory commands like "Do this as fast as possible to be accurate, but not so fast that it produces bad output."  It becomes very prone to freezing.

Annnnnnd that's why human computer programmers are valuable.

Today we went to the Broomcorn Festival in Arcola. This is a big harvest festival, well worth catching, and it runs the whole weekend if you want to check it out. The weather was beautiful, cloudy and mild, couldn't ask for better weather.

( Read more... )

Today is cloudy and mild.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 9/5/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 9/5/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 9/5/25 -- I watered the old picnic table, new picnic table, telephone pole garden, and a few of the savanna seedlings.

I picked 2 yellow pear tomatoes.

Cicadas and crickets are singing.

As it is now dark, I am done for the night.

How Parking Day Brought This Louisiana City Back to Life

To break the impasse, the city of Lafayette partnered with a local nonprofit to host a Park(ing) Day event. Together, they installed 16 temporary parklets throughout the downtown, several of which simulated outdoor dining areas. “People enjoyed the experience, and it allowed downtown business owners and stakeholders to experience the change in a temporary way,” explained Carlee Alm-LaBar, then Lafayette’s planning director and now Strong Towns’ chief of staff. “They started to see the vision of how Lafayette could use its public space differently and how it might bring more energy to the downtown neighborhood.”

That experience mattered. Less than a year later, the city passed an ordinance allowing for parklets and outdoor dining to be built in former parking spots.


Other things you can playtest with this method:

* food truck parks

* busk stops

* pop-up shops (e.g. selling local art, fresh produce, seasonal decor)

* skateable / climbable sculptures

* new types of public seating

Today is partly sunny and mild.  It dribbled a bit last night, just enough to rinse some of the dust off the leaves, not enough to do any real good.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 9/4/25 -- We got the cover fully back over the septic tank. \o/

I saw a gray squirrel.  This one looked adult or nearly so.  Last fall we had a young one arrive, but it was only here for a month or two before disappearing, presumably eaten.  I hope this one sticks around.  We have grays occasionally, and they make a nice contrast to the established fox squirrels, but they've never managed a breeding population.

EDIT 9/4/25 -- I gathered a large amount of Shithouse Marigold seeds.  :D

I've seen a gray catbird and a male rose-breasted grosbeak.  It looks like the fall migration is starting.

EDIT 9/4/25 -- I gathered a large amount of small yellow and orange marigold seeds.  

EDIT 9/4/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 9/4/25 -- I did more work around the patio.

*goflopnow*