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Travel update #10: Sibenik Take #2, Croatia
Once again, what a beautiful day we had in Sibenik. The main objective today was to visit the three forts of the city, which offer a splendid view of the town and the islands off the coast. The weather was magnificent even though storm cells were threatening the region. Fortunately, we were spared from rain and lightning! We visited the three forts, which were overall interesting but are mainly worth visiting for the views they offer. Continue reading ā
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On My Writing Style As a Traveler
As you probably know, Iāve been writing and sharing my travel notes since the beginning of my trip to Croatia. Iām proud of maintaining the regularity to post each day, but not as proud of my writing itself. I canāt quite describe the quality of my writing, but when I read it back, it feels rather superficial. Why do I feel this way? Well, my writing tends to list the places I visited and whether I liked them. Continue reading ā
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Travel update #9: Krka National Park & Sibenik, Croatia
Itās been a day with ups and downs. We left the apartment at around 10:30 AM in direction of the Krka National Park, 45-minute drive to see some other waterfalls and translucide lakes. The first part of the visit was really nice because it was like a repeat of the other visit to the national park that we visited earlier in the week with great waterfalls and gorgeous lakes with transparent blue water. Continue reading ā
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Travel update #8: Kornati Islands, Croatia
Hereās todayās travel update. What a wonderful day we had, thanks to this day-cruise around the Kornati Islands, starting from Vodiceās port at 9 AM. We had lunch at around 11:30 AM, right before a 3-hour stop at one of the island (canāt remember the name!) where we could spend some time swimming at the beach or in a very salty small interior lake. I decided to go for the trail around the lake instead, a 2. Continue reading ā
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Travel update #7: Vodiceās Beaches, Croatia
We didnāt do much today: taking our time early in the morning when preparing and having breakfast and then spending time on the beach and relaxing. I did some writing too, from my iPhone while sitting on my sunbathing chair. Itās far from being ideal for writing longer posts but it is what it is. I had some thoughts to share about AI, generative AI more specifically (like this thought, this one and that one). Continue reading ā
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Pressure Might Be Mounting on Apple with Apple Intelligence in Unexpected Ways
Warning: Unsettled thoughts: I think many tech pundits are overestimating Apple Intelligence capabilities and influence potential. If Apple fails to deliver, even slightly, it might trigger a crash like the dot com crash. Some tech pundits are fast at expecting Apple to be the gateway to generative AI legitimacy. In this logic, if Apple fails, AI will fail too. I might be over simplifying things here. Continue reading ā
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Could Generative AI Content Usage Be THE Biggest Problem?
Iām wondering if the way someone elects to use generated content from generative AI models is way more potentially problematic and subject to debate than anything related to models training using content from the open web. Also: generative AI content used to train generative AI models is also source of concerns to me. I call that process āknowledge desinfectionā or āknowledge toxificationā or even better āknowledge asphyxiationā. Or should I replace āknowledgeā with āintelligenceā? Continue reading ā
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Maybe We Should Stop Crying Fool: Weāve Been Trained Ourselves!
Thinking out loud about generative models training. In a way, weāve all been trained ourselves in our life by the books we read, the movies we saw, the music we listened. Some people have been trained on very specific knowledge bodies, in very specific fields. People use this accumulated ātrainingā also forming ācultureā to create new things and produce new content. Some people might be trained on a specific music style or dancing style. Continue reading ā
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Travel update #6: Zadar + Vodice, Croatia
Today we left for Zadar and Vodice where we will stay for five days in a small apartment. We arrived at noon in Zadar and had a nice picnic in a small park, under the shade of big trees. It was a quiet place and we wondered about how few tourists seem to be present since we arrived in Croatia. It might not be peak season just yet. We spent nearly three hours in Zadar, a great coastal city of Croatia, to walk in the cityās small streets behind the fortified perimeter. Continue reading ā
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Travel update #5: Rastoke, Croatia
Earlier this morning, the weather was better than yesterday, so we decided to revisit Plitvicka Jezera National Park. The improved lighting allowed us to better appreciate the lakeās renowned blue and green hues, and there were fewer tourists. However, we didnāt stay as long as our previous visit because we wanted to explore a small village called Rastoke. This village, known for its charming houses and numerous waterfalls, was highly recommended by our host. Continue reading ā
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Travel update #4: Plitvicka Jezera Nation Park, Croatia
We left Zagreb today to go visit the Plitvicka Jezera national park. it was a two hour drive from Zagreb. After a nice and smooth ride we arrived at around 11:15 AM in the park ready to tackle the 4-6 hour circuit. Boy this place is wonderful! It took us about four hours. We had a rain shower or two but each time we were lucky to be at the right place either on the boat or in the forest so we didnāt get wet! Continue reading ā
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Travel update #3: Zagreb, Croatia
We went for another walking session in Zagreb after the rain finally went on pause in the second half of the afternoon. We visited another portion of the city before ending up near the restaurant where we planned to have dinner, a Sri Lanka restaurant called āCurry Bowlā which again was rated five stars. It was absolutely delicious. But just before going for the dinner we stopped at a little bar because the rain started again. Continue reading ā
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Travel update #2: Zagreb, Croatia
Iām currently writing this from our room as there are some heavy showers outside. We had a chance to walk a lot since morning in Zagreb and had a great lunch at the restaurant called āHeritageā which is close to our B&B. Itās a very small place where only maybe ten people can have lunch at the same timee (counting those 3 tables outside!). They make absolutely great sandwiches with Croatian ingredients (ham, truffle spread, local cheese, etc. Continue reading ā
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Travel update #1: Zagreb, Croatia
First full day in Croatia. It is the morning here in Zagreb. Yesterday, we arrived and spent the first few hours wandering in the city center where all the night life is happening. It was the time to spot the places that we were to revisit later (today). We were tired following our two flights by night. There was a soccer match at 9PM and people were quite excited and were looking forward to it. Continue reading ā
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When Will IT Support Guys Learn?
The CEO of the company I work for (450 employees) called me today over Microsoft Teams because he was seeking for help and explanations for a problem with repeated authentification requests when using Microsoft 365 services on his devices (an iPhone, an iPad). He wasn’t sure why he was getting that many requests. After calling the IT department for support, he was baffled by the responses he got for his problem: reboot your phone, uninstall Apple Mail and re-install, that type of shitty responses. Continue reading ā
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Pondering
In a week, I’ll be preparing to fly to Croatia for a three-week vacation with my wife. I’m still considering several aspects of the trip. How much blogging should I do during this time? Should I stay quiet and focus entirely on my vacation and photography? What camera equipment should I bring? Should I bring my MacBook Air in addition to my iPad Pro? I need to decide the right balance between being present in the moment and documenting the journey through my blog. Continue reading ā
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Apple Private Cloud Compute Curiosities
Apple announced a significant development at this year’s WWDC: the creation of its own cloud infrastructure named “Private Cloud Compute” for securely handling certain Apple Intelligence requests. As an IT professional working in data center technologies, I have a few questions that remain unanswered even after watching John Gruber’s The Talk Show Live: What CPU is used in each server? I wonder if Apple is utilizing high-end versions of its Apple Silicon chips. Continue reading ā
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Two Highly Different Approaches
Microsoft is recalling “Recall” after all, and this makes them look rather bad. This happens on the same week of Apple revealing Apple Intelligence which received a more positive set of reactions. We are witnessing two different approaches to the challenge of intelligently integrating generative AI prowess to the base operating system. These two events couldn’t be more evocative of how different Apple and Microsoft strategy and culture are. Guess which approach I prefer? Continue reading ā
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Apple Intelligence & Current Apple Silicon
If Apple Intelligence1 requires a new generation of hardware to be fully appreciated, I would be surprised and be a little sad. My expectation would be that last year’s generation of hardware should be, at the minimum, enough. Otherwise, it might send a wrong message that even current Apple Silicon isn’t enough to power generative AI-based experience. How could this be, after all, Apple always brag about its silicon superiority. Tim Cook said that their silicon was their current competitive edge… but was he referring to future chips only? Continue reading ā
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Apple's AI Push at WWDC 2024
“Apple will put a major emphasis on AI at its upcoming WWDC, as the company aims to catch up to competitors in this rapidly evolving space. While Apple’s approach has been more measured, the pressure is on to provide a clear growth narrative, which its AI initiatives may struggle to directly deliver. Unlike Microsoft and NVIDIA, Apple does not have an obvious path to monetize AI, instead focusing on using the technology to enhance its existing products and services. Continue reading ā
