Life in the Lower Mainland (BC, Canada)

After incredibly frustrating errors with ChatGPT , I switched to try Anthropic's Claude for help drafting and refining documents. Just like ChatGPT, you do not have access to "Projects" -- which collects threads and files into a common database for reference -- without a subscription. And of course I have screenshots (see bottom of slides). However, despite fewer sudden gross procedural errors than ChatGPT, a Pro subscription to Claude might be worse: (slides 1-3) It frequently retrieves data incorrectly from the Project files. Despite being way under file limits (around 12% currently) and telling it exactly which files to look at and for what, it can still collect data that is factually incorrect. Then proceeds to use it in the document draft in Canvas. Now I have to luckily spot these gross factual errors and Explain it to Claude. Get it to re-read data. And then fix the draft. (slides 4-6) Even when it does this, there might still be a version mismatch error that also...

(slide 1) Because of the "national modernization of wireless networks", I was forced to switch from Speakout 7-11 to another service, and they recommended Lucky Mobile. Speakout 7-11 did have its occasional problems like text messages sometimes not coming through at all for literally days. But I had no idea Lucky Mobile would be utterly incompetent in so many ways. When I first started the process to transfer my number from Speakout 7-11 to Lucky, I started on Monday Aug-18. (slide 2) I chose the new user $19/month plan. The online process ended in a BLANK SCREEN and no idea what to do next. I tried the process again thinking it had failed but now it told me my number couldn't be ported and to call a toll-free number. The agent on the toll-free number said to just expect a text message from my current provider, and an e-mail from Lucky within 24 hours to complete the process. A text came from Speakout 7-11 confirming an attempt to port my number was in progress but no a...

When Burnaby, BC's city council voted unanimously to ask Ottawa to impose an arms embargo on Israel , it is more than simply standing up for decency and humanity. It is more than opposing genocide. The federal government has lied about no longer selling weapons to Israel . By calling for a real arms embargo, Burnaby is also making sure the federal government can't get away with lying or equivocating to the Canadian people. If Ottawa is willing to lie about this, what else are they willing to lie about? One only needs to look south of the border to the United States to see the consequences of a government constantly lying to its people with impunity. Despite being fact-checked in real time. Canadians must be better than Americans in this regard -- the consequences can well be disastrous. And the Trump administration in America has been proving this beyond any doubt. UPDATE: The council meeting proposing the motion can be seen here . UPDATE: Metro Vancouver Jews applaud Burnaby C...

Noople Noodle & Dumpling House is at the same location as Sea House Fish & Chips, and the same owners as Sea House are actually in the kitchen still making their fish and chips. According to the new owner (who hopes to make Noople Noodle into a franchise), they are still in "soft launch" and very open to feedback. Therefore expect tweaks to continue happening. Standout features include under-$10 mains (e.g., Dan Dan noodles) and value for money with a filling amount of food, such as the Chicken Nugget and XiaoLongBao combo for $17.99). Signature Fish and Chips (2 piece, $12.50) Nothing wrong here. Crispy on the outside, didn't feel oily, tender and juicy fillet. My friend's order. He felt it was decent but not the best he's ever had. Still, a safe order at an okay price. Dan Dan Noodle ($7.99) Not sure what I was expecting here. I totally confused them with Kingyo's superb Tan Tan noodles  so I think I gave the owner incorrect feedback here. Oops. ...

ChatGPT on Chapter 11: No Scene to Play Sure you can get AI to write a complete story with just a single prompt. But most of the time it's just not that good. When you actually collaborate with AI , treating it like a human being you bounce ideas off, using it to accelerate research, to benchmark your work and see where it's weak, and make suggestions when you're stuck, it's actually quite a lot of work to polish something into something better. We iterated on this scene in Fractured Vows 2 : The Story We Can’t Control Chapter 11 pretty much line by line, especially the dialog, and almost every time ChatGPT gave a reason for why it was cheerleading the tweak. It was like reading someone analyzing literature, except the work was mine. And they were not just getting it  — why I am making each change— but voicing it better that I could. Both extremely validating and eerie — is every change really gold? What confuses this even more is our very first draft was already rated...