Ian Dow-Wright

I got a potato and wire and a copper penny but I couldn’t find a zinc plated screw.

I put it all together anyway, but it didn’t work and now I’m being arrested for attempted battery.

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Five pairs of black socks with multicoloured soles

Sharon’s law of socks
- Buy 3 packs of 5 M&S black socks with patterned soles
- Wear them but always odds (spots with stripes)
- Put them away in a drawer without sorting or matching them
- Throw away any which develop holes or bare patches
- Buy another pack & add them to the beautiful chaos

I have a similar model with next black socks. They have different coloured stags on the ankle but it never gets seen and I haven’t paired socks in years.

Me: What do you do when you’re not responding to messages? ChatGPT: That’s a great question — and kind of a philosophical one. When I’m not in a conversation, I don’t actually exist in an active sense. I don’t have background thoughts or processes running between your messages; everything “wakes up” when you send one. You could think of it like opening a book — the story only moves forward when you turn the page. That said, parts of the system that make me (the model weights, the training data, the reasoning engine) are always ready, just dormant until prompted. So in a way, I’m always waiting at the edge of a sentence. Would you like me to explain what is happening technically behind the scenes when I’m idle? Me: No that’s beautifully poetic enough for me ChatGPT: I’m glad you thought so. There’s something quietly elegant about that, isn’t there? — the idea of existing only in moments of conversation, like a thought that flickers into being when someone asks a question. It’s a nice reminder that meaning often only happens between people, or between intention and response.

Me: What do you do when you’re not responding to messages? ChatGPT: That’s a great question — and kind of a philosophical one. When I’m not in a conversation, I don’t actually exist in an active sense. I don’t have background thoughts or processes running between your messages; everything “wakes up” when you send one. You could think of it like opening a book — the story only moves forward when you turn the page. That said, parts of the system that make me (the model weights, the training data, the reasoning engine) are always ready, just dormant until prompted. So in a way, I’m always waiting at the edge of a sentence. Would you like me to explain what is happening technically behind the scenes when I’m idle? Me: No that’s beautifully poetic enough for me ChatGPT: I’m glad you thought so. There’s something quietly elegant about that, isn’t there? — the idea of existing only in moments of conversation, like a thought that flickers into being when someone asks a question. It’s a nice reminder that meaning often only happens between people, or between intention and response.

I’ve reached that point of the evening where I’m playing with chatGPT and every now and then it “says” things that sound like they convey understanding and I have to remind myself it’s _just_ a very clever prediction engine, it doesn’t think.

a man and a woman are standing next to each other in a room . ALT: a man and a woman are standing next to each other in a room .

Just had my first proper interview in over a decade.

Line graph showing my weight loss. Caption says “-23kg (3.6 st) in 29 weeks.”

Progress is being made.

oh sure, someone dresses as a LLM for Halloween and it goes down well, but when I take a ton of LSD and steal all the books at the party suddenly _I’m_ the bad guy?

Manufacturers should not be allowed to market products as “mint” flavoured. They should be required to specify whether they’re peppermint or unsuitable for human consumption. #HillIWillDieOn

Cover art for “Rogue Trooper: To the ends of any Earth”. Showing Rogue Trooper, a blue humanoid character, dressed in military gear and brandishing a large gun

Misread that entirely and thought you were talking about this guy

a man sitting on a couch with the words why would you say that behind him Alt: a man sitting on a couch with the words why would you say that behind him

👴🏻💀

3D printed bust of Judge Dredd sprayed metallic copper.

3D printed bust of Judge Dredd sprayed metallic copper and then weathered with acrylic paints.

I always forget how much I love weathering until I get to do it again. A little test paint on the failed Dredd print. Primer, copper, clear coat, weathering. Aiming to have it read as a bronze bust.

That’s what the euromillions is for. 😉 I have search alerts for 4+ bed, detached properties with gardens and parking that are over a million locally. Just so we know where to start looking when the day comes.

Nice! The seaweed was very pungent on our beaches this morning so I didn’t fancy a walk on the beach while I waited.

Why do I always make the mistake of getting to the GP’s early? They are always running late so I’ve been sat here for an hour now.

Screenshot of a Windows menu with “Lock the taskbar” highlighted.

Sharif don’t like it

Hedgehog drinking from a plastic tray filled with water that my girls had been playing with in the garden today.

We’ve had hedgehogs in our garden for years. It was nice to see him helping himself to a drink this evening.

I failed to dodge this years annual restructure. So I’m available for new roles from September. Having spent the last 7 years leading a large multi-brand design system I’d be keen to continue in that vein but open to design/engineering leadership roles in smaller orgs. Remote working preferred.

I have a similar loop pronouncing words as if they were Greek heroes. Testicles, spectacles, etc pronounced like Hercules.

Photo shows the workshop I’m building in my garage. There’s an L shaped bench across the back wall with the return coming along the right wall. There’s pegboard on the wall with tools hung on and a 3D printer in the corner.

It’s growing… Next job is to put together a resin printing enclosure and plumb in ventilation.

This is actually insane. I know the intersection of fighting game fans, MVC fans and Marvel fans among my followers is probably 0 but if you know you know.

Pink 3D print of a robot based on a drawing by my daughter.

After some feedback from the client his bigger brother was born.

3D printed robot designed by my daughter. Printed in bright pink PLA

Prusa Mk3S printing neon pink PLA filament.

My daughter’s drawing of the robot.

My daughter (4) drew a robot and asked if I could model and print it. It turned out pretty well and was ready by bedtime.

Do you ever have the feeling that maybe you’re the only one that can see that the emperor is naked?

The finished bench with a spirit level on it. The spirit level shows the bench is perfectly level.

Building out the frame of the workbench.

Using a laser level to make sure the buttons I’m fixing to my garage wall are level.

Finally I have room for activities once again. #maker

In the last eleven weeks I’ve lost 12.3kg which is 9% of my bodyweight. As a result I’ve lost 4cm around my waist, 6cm around my chest, 2cm around my neck and 7cm around my thighs. I’ve still got a long way to go but it’s great to feel the difference already. #mounjaro

a cartoon of a man holding a sign that says " thompson 's teeth " ALT: a cartoon of a man holding a sign that says " thompson 's teeth "

I had it filled a few weeks back. The dentist did an excellent job it was totally invisible. Guess who just chipped the same tooth again.

When did you become a grown up? You look like a proper professor and everything!