An introduction... ...and an explanation

If you ever wondered where my account handle came from, you can find out in the first post on my new Substack: open.substack.com/pub/neurobon...

a screenshot of a deranged conversation with Gemini where it talks about why it needs to keep people around.

I wanted to send a broadcast message over our Google Home speakers, and the Google Home app told me I had to go to the Gemini app to do that.

That didn't work, but I did get to have this unhinged conversation, so consider me a satisfied customer.

fair

Gemini 3 (Nano Banana Pro): 10/10, no notes.

Gemini 2.5 (Nano Banana): about the same, still missing the point

GPT Image: closer, still doesn't "get" the assignment

Adobe Firefly 5 Preview: Ummm......

Adobe Firefly Image Ultra 4: ummmm....

Prompt: "Convert the reference photo to an oil painting in the style of Rembrandt. The regal female Bernedoodle is dressed in a gown with a lavish wide fur collar. Around her neck, she is wearing a heavy jeweled gold necklace with a large ruby at the center. The background is almost black. The brushwork of the painting is visible, with exquisite detail."

Playing around with the latest image generation models (via Adobe Firefly, which is allowing unlimited generation until 1/15), and thought I would share how it turned out (results in thread):

Someone once said that it is better to burn out than to fade away. However, I believe that in my case, I will do neither. Instead, my brain will lose the will to remain semi-solid, and it will drool out my ear.

I woke up this morning in Manhattan, and I am now in San Francisco, but somewhere in between, I testified before the House Financial Services Committee in Washinton, DC.

Saturday "booking a 5-day BOS-JFK-DCA-SFO-BOS flight itinerary" vibes.

Do you have one of those piano ties?

It would be awesome if @dieworkwear.bsky.social weighed in on this sartorial conundrum, and more generally, how one should dress for these kinds of "must dress formally" events (in the rest of my life, I basically wear copies of the same black shirt and jeans every day)

I have been asked to testify before the Senate _again_ in a few weeks, and now I am wondering if it is a fashion faux pas to where the same tie in consecutive testimonies only weeks apart.

My linocut in blue of Fran Allen (woman with short hair, glasses, smiling at viewer) surrounded by green optimization diagrams (with lines, arrows and labels) from her famous 1971 paper.

Happy birthday to trailblazing American computer scientist Frances Elizabeth Allen (1932 – 2020) who made foundational contributions to optimizing compilers, optimizing programs and parallel computing. 🧪🐡👩🏼‍🔬🧮 #histsci She was the first woman to become an IBM Fellow, where she worked from 1957 to 2002🧵

it is apparently the third oldest continuously operating business in Cambridge, so not off the mark.

I got my first piece of formalwear—a second hand tuxedo for youth symphony performances—from them when I was 16, and they never disappoint

Yes! If you ever are in the Boston area and need same day tailoring, Keezer's in Cambridge has got your back.

My view from the witness panel.

Some jerk in a suit.

Today was a blur, but at some point earlier in that blur, I testified before the Senate Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance, and Investment.

thanks!... unrelated: do know any tailors in the area who do quick-turn suit alterations?

No, YOU'RE ordering four dress shirts at 8PM in different sizes and fits, to pick up in-store tomorrow, because you have to fly to DC on Tuesday to testify to Congress and don't have a shirt you can wear with a tie.

His opposition to what now?

Forget ChatGPT! This will revolutionize science!

openCHEAT: Computationally Helped Error bar Approximation Tool - Kickstarting Science 4.0

eggerbernhard.ch/SIGBOVIK_ope...

Plenty of happy users since 2021!

1/5

I suspect that we've been doing the same thing to ourselves for generations.

That's good news. One of the most compelling theories of wolf domestication I have heard is that they *self*-domesticated, at least at the beginning. There was an evolutionary advantage to being less terrifying and therefore able to get closer to the humans without getting killed.

a dog wrapped in fur, gazing into the distance

Yeah, that's what I thought.

What's that? Yeah, muppets haven't been invented yet. But they're gonna be really goofy. Do we have a deal?

a goofy dog

OK, so here's the deal, wolf. You can have some of this meat we're cooking by this fire, but in exchange, we're going to selectively breed your children, and your children's children, and so on—for 50,000 years—until they are basically ridiculous muppets.

A fire hydrant encased in a plexiglass area indoors, with a sign asking people "please do not use"

Please do not use.