New post published:
Advising Reasonable AI Criticism
We're the good guys. They're the bad guys.
A loose analysis of the unproductive criticism surrounding artificial intelligence from both pro and anti camps, with advocations for more nuanced, constructive engagement and how that can be achieved to allow more informed and respectful discussions about AI technology and its impact.
https://vale.rocks/posts/ai-criticism
Carousels are a web staple. Websites use them, and thus people do in turn. They’ve garnered a lot of hate over the years, primarily due to being largely inaccessible and poor ways of presenting information, yet still they persist. So, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.
The Chrome team put together Carousels with CSS which Sara Soueidan has examined in extreme depth. My main takeaway from the main article and Sara’s analysis is that while this is a vague step in the correct direction, it doesn’t address any of the core issues like accessibility and introduces new ones. I was disappointed to see the approach taken in regard to addressing those issues and think Eric Eggert hit the nail on the head.
It completely fails with regard to separation of concerns by using CSS for structure, rather than HTML. I don’t know how to address that other than asking why? I’ve noticed a lot of new CSS features, especially ones with the Chrome team’s influence, are getting a little too markup-y for my liking. David Bushell has covered this and the overreliance of pseudo-elements with touchings on the carousel kerfuffle.
HTML is for structure, CSS is for styling, JS is for anything that can’t be achieved with HTML/CSS, and accessibility isn’t omittable. We should be striving to build a web that is both functional and inclusive. Respect the web; respect users.
I wanted to see how the times Bluesky posts are published affect the popularity of those posts, so I put together a super quick and dirty little tool to do that.
https://tools.vale.rocks/bluesky-posting-analyser
My findings lined up with my hypothesis that posts around American mornings and evenings merit the most activity.
I was surprised to see that weekends are popular within technical communities, as I expected engagement to drop off when people aren’t ‘working’.
New post published:
Creativity Came to Pass
Creativity /kriːeɪˈtɪvɪti/ n. Obsolete. The process or act of a human engaging in artistic or expressive production.
A story where human creativity and art disappear as a result of artificial intelligence usage and prevalence. Written from the perspective of someone in the future.
https://vale.rocks/posts/creativity-came-to-pass
Cloudflare, its interface a mess.
It’s breaking my site and causing duress.
These settings confuse me, I must declare;
Working this out is quite the affair.
I hate it so much, but I don’t care.
Actually, I do, and I’m pulling out hair.
New post published:
How I'm Using AI
As long as AI isn't using me...
An overview of my personal usage of Large Language Models (LLMs) and other generative AI from 2022 onwards. Tracking my experiences with AI tools, specific models (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, etc), applying them practically, and realistic perspective on their strengths and limitations over time, from coding attempts to language learning assistance.
https://vale.rocks/posts/ai-usage
As it is getting rather close to publication, it seems prudent to advertise that I’m writing a novel!
Tad unusual for me, but it’s a proper, comprehensive work of fiction.
I’ll have more details to share in time, but it is pretty much Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas meets the corporate shittery of Silicon Valley venture capital.
New post published:
My Writing Style and Mannerisms
Stay tuned for my writing manorialism.
A look at the stylistic fingerprints marking up my writing. Covering and vaguely justifying my spellings, use of punctuation, sentence structure, and other prose crimes.
https://vale.rocks/posts/writing-style-and-mannerisms
New post published:
Why Video Isn't My Publishing Preference
I am a writer of words, not a vidier of videos.
Why I prefer not to publish video, including practical, technical, and personal reasons I find text a more maintainable, accessible, and effective medium for my online content.
https://vale.rocks/posts/why-not-video