#chiang

[noosphe-re]

"There was an exchange on Twitter a while back where someone said, ‘What is artificial intelligence?' And someone else said, 'A poor choice of words in 1954'," he says. "And, you know, they’re right. I think that if we had chosen a different phrase for it, back in the '50s, we might have avoided a lot of the confusion that we're having now." So if he had to invent a term, what would it be? His answer is instant: applied statistics. "It's genuinely amazing that...these sorts of things can be extracted from a statistical analysis of a large body of text," he says. But, in his view, that doesn't make the tools intelligent. Applied statistics is a far more precise descriptor, "but no one wants to use that term, because it's not as sexy".

'The machines we have now are not conscious', Lunch with the FT, Ted Chiang, by Madhumita Murgia, 3 June/4 June 2023

[asianmenarewinning]

[hang-on-lil-tomato]

the new excuse is that our flag means death was cancelled for “violence”. 🙄🙄🙄🙄

Farscape was also cancelled for bogus reasons, but fans brought it back for Peacekeeper Wars!

[dailydccomics]

Robin by Cliff Chiang

[jontheblogcentric]

2023 Oscars Short Films Review: Documentaries

Once again with the Academy Award nominations being awarded for the biggest feature-length films of the year, the AMPAS Academy also rewards the short films in three categories. I’m lucky to live in Vancouver where I can see the short films on the big screen. The first set of films I will be focusing on is Documentaries. In each of my blogs about the short films, you will also get my predictions…

[triflingthing]

A journaling session followed by a little surprise from the angel beside us

[thecollectibles]

Art by Jaz Chiang

[galina]

Mae Suai on 35mm

[casualavocados]

Chen Bowen as CHEN YI & Chiang Tien as AI DI KISEKI: DEAR TO ME (2023) behind the scenes

[charliejaneanders]

Imagine what it would look like if ChatGPT were a lossless algorithm. If that were the case, it would always answer questions by providing a verbatim quote from a relevant Web page. We would probably regard the software as only a slight improvement over a conventional search engine, and be less impressed by it. The fact that ChatGPT rephrases material from the Web instead of quoting it word for word makes it seem like a student expressing ideas in her own words, rather than simply regurgitating what she’s read; it creates the illusion that ChatGPT understands the material. In human students, rote memorization isn’t an indicator of genuine learning, so ChatGPT’s inability to produce exact quotes from Web pages is precisely what makes us think that it has learned something. When we’re dealing with sequences of words, lossy compression looks smarter than lossless compression.

Ted Chiang’s essay about ChatGPT is required reading

[noosphe-re]

Our biggest source of confusion was the heptapods' "writing.” It didn't appear to be writing at all; it looked more like a bunch of intricate graphic designs. The logograms weren't arranged in rows, or a spiral, or any linear fashion. Instead, Flapper or Raspberry would write a sentence by sticking together as many logograms as needed into a giant conglomeration. This form of writing was reminiscent of primitive sign systems, which required a reader to know a message's context in order to understand it. Such systems were considered too limited for systematic recording of information. Yet it was unlikely that the heptapods developed their level of technology with only an oral tradition. That implied one of three possibilities: the first was that the heptapods had a true writing system, but they didn't want to use it in front of us; Colonel Weber would identify with that one. The second was that the heptapods hadn't originated the technology they were using; they were illiterates using someone else's technology. The third, and most interesting to me, was that the heptapods were using a nonlinear system of orthography that qualified as true writing.

Ted Chiang, Story of Your Life

[asianmenarewinning]

[vestaignis]

Магия света фестиваля Йи Пэн.

Йи Пенг (или Йи Пенг, фестиваль фонарей в Чиангмае) - это еще один фестиваль света, отмечаемый в северной части Таиланда наряду с Лой Кратонг. Это ланна-фестиваль с самым большим праздником, проходящим в Чиангмае, древней столице бывшего королевства Ланна.

Основное событие - выпуск множества небесных фонарей, украшенных огнями, которые ‘плывут’ в небе. На самом деле, небесные фонари на тайском языке называются "ком лои", что означает "плавающие фонари". Ком лои изготавливаются из рисовой бумаги, натянутой на бамбуковую раму, к которой прикреплена свеча. Горячий воздух от свечи удерживается внутри и поднимает фонарь с земли. Однако, так как фонари могут быть опасны, на ком лои накладываются все больше и больше государственных ограничений.

На протяжении веков Йи Пэн не только символизировал конец сезона дождей и начало прохладного сезона, но и отражал принципы буддистской культуры. По традиции запуск фонарика означает избавление от тьмы и движение к свету — напоминание, что каждый из нас может начать новую главу, оставив за спиной трудности

Во время фестиваля можно увидеть различные виды фонарей: дома и храмы украшаются ком фай (бумажные фонари); ком туе - это фонари на палке; ком париват - это вращающиеся фонари, установленные в храмах.

The Magic of Lights at the Yi Peng Festival.

Yi Peng (or Yi Peng, Chiang Mai Lantern Festival) is another festival of lights celebrated in northern Thailand along with Loy Krathong. It is a Lanna festival with the largest celebration taking place in Chiang Mai, the ancient capital of the former Lanna Kingdom.

The main event is the release of many sky lanterns decorated with lights that ‘float’ in the sky. In fact, sky lanterns are called ‘kom loi’ in Thai, meaning ‘floating lanterns’. Kom loi are made from rice paper stretched over a bamboo frame with a candle attached to it. The hot air from the candle is trapped inside and lifts the lantern off the ground. However, because the lanterns can be dangerous, there are more and more government restrictions on kom loi.

For centuries, Yi Peng has not only symbolized the end of the rainy season and the beginning of the cool season, but also reflected the principles of Buddhist culture. Traditionally, releasing a lantern signifies getting rid of the darkness and moving towards the light - a reminder that each of us can start a new chapter, leaving behind difficulties

During the festival, you can see different types of lanterns: houses and temples are decorated with kom fai (paper lanterns); kom tue are lanterns on a stick; kom pariwat are rotating lanterns installed in temples.

Источник:/t.me/roundtravel, /www.tripadvisor.ru/Attraction_Review-g293917-d8820428-Reviews-Yi_Peng_and_Loy_Krathong_ Lantern _Festival-Chiang_Mai.html, /fanclubthailand.co.uk/yi-peng-lantern-festival-chiang-mai-north-thailand/, /yipenglanternfestival.in.th, //dzen.ru/a/Zy3Q9rhhnHkGJ2pn, /life-thai.com/noch-nebesny-h-fonarikov-v-chiang-mae/, //www.phuketferry.com/ru/yi-peng-lantern-festival.html.

[alphamecha-mkii]

Star Wars: The Phantom Menace - Droid Starfighter Concept Art by Doug Chiang

[jontheblogcentric]

2023 Oscars Short Films Review: Documentaries

Once again with the Academy Award nominations being awarded for the biggest feature-length films of the year, the AMPAS Academy also rewards the short films in three categories. I’m lucky to live in Vancouver where I can see the short films on the big screen. The first set of films I will be focusing on is Documentaries. In each of my blogs about the short films, you will also get my predictions…

[pharawee]

"His face was covered, but I know it was a man. Tall and wearing black clothes."

—SPARE ME YOUR MERCY · การุณยฆาต · Episode 01