I really enjoyed this article about how LLM works. I was surprised that works are really stored as vectors of many dimensions. I need to read it a couple of times.
12 Rules For Life
…An antidote to chaos. This book was a gift and last week managed to finish it as I havent had much time lately for reading 🙁
I have seen this author books in airports and book shops, but never managed to take a look to see what was all about as it was a best seller, etc etc.
Something that surprised me was the deep analysis of several parts of the old and new testament to show his rules.
Another interesting topic, it was his strong anticommunist stance, focused on Stalin, Mao and Cambodia. And not sure I understood properly but he thinks that there is far-left in top education positions in USA. I find it hardly to believe that in USA apart from people like Noah Chomsky.
His rules are:
1- Stand-up straight with your shoulders back: Dont be like a defeated lobster.
2- Treat yourself like someone you are responsible for helping: This is based on the fact that people are more willing to look after their pets or other than for example taking their own medicines. Here there was a big strong connection to the Genesis with Adam and Eve being expelled from paradise.
3- Make friends with people who want the best for you: Like it is said in Spanish, “se pega todo menos la hermosura”. So if you have people around that are positive influence, you will move forwards, if it is not that case, you are in a bad place.
4- Compare yourself to who you were yesterday, not to who someone else is today: Typical in the instagram world…. and a source of depression and anxiety. Be the best version of yourself, better than yesterday but worse than tomorrow.
5- Do not let your children do anything that makes you dislike them: This is about kids education by parents. Very interesting as he describes cases based on his own kids and experiences. Not the typical pieces of advice you would fine nowadays.
6- Set your house in perfect order before your criticize the world: Get your shit together before criticizing others.
7- Pursue what is meaningful (not what is expedicit): He puts examples from the temptations from Christ in the desert. He shows that Christ could have asked for Gods help and all offers from the Devil were materialistic. And in general, the more materialistic goals we have, the more empty we feel and that makes us miserable and pushing for more stuff.
8- Tell the truth, or at least don’t lie: The basic of a society is trust. Telling lies destroys that fundation. And the same happens on yourself.
9- Assume that the person you are listening to might know something you dont: Learn to listen, you can learn stuff from other.
10- Be precise in your speech: Face the problems, think clearly on them and be specific about them. Communicate clearly and dont hide them.
11- Do not bother children when they are skateboarding: This is about children being able to play, take their own risks, learn and grown as humans beings and not be overprotected. There is a big focus in masculinity and how manhood is getting lost in our society. I was bit surprised in this topic as you read very frequently the contrary as we need more feminism in our world. In one side, I get his point, as I feel it myself.
12- Pet a cat when you encounter one on the street: This is not really about pets but about pain and suffering. How to cope in those situations and how to enjoy the moment.
In general, the rules look very general but then the author can go very deep and you got lost.
There are many references to Dostoevsky and Nietzsche. I really want to read at some point books from them but I am pretty sure I will struggle with deep philosophical inputs.
Tute Cabrón
A friend of mine showed me this cards game and really liked it! Although they way we played, the player who “canta” can give the points to any other player, so it is even more fun!
Glue + soda
I broke a piece of plastic from a key. I tried to fix it using a match so I could melt the plastic but it didnt work very well. Then I searched how to fix something similar and I found this video. I was amazed what you can do with glue and baking soda! I gave it a go to my problem, although the finish wasnt great, it looks the fix is solid. Will see how long it lasts.
Horror movies
Looks like are the best business in Hollywood based on this. Quite interesting and graphica!
Mushroom + Killifish
Based on this blog.
link1: lion’s mane mushroom improved brain cell growth and memory in pre-clinical trials.
link2: I didnt know Killifish can regenerate part of their brain. As they age this ability is lost because (like other animals) we tend to accumulate dysfunctional cells with age, called senescent. By using senolytics in old killifish, they were able to restore some of the amazing regenerative abilities.
Guisantes con Jamón
I had a bag of frozen peas at home and I wanted to make “Guisantes con Jamón”. It is an easy recipe but I checked some videos as I wanted to have a better idea. These ones were my “inspiration”:
video1: using tomate sauce
video2: using lot of water and flour to thicken up the sauce
video3: using potatoes.
At the end I did a bit of a mix and I didnt use jamon but had “lomo curado”.
Ingredients:
- 400g frozen peas
- 100g lomo or cure ham
- 1 onion chopped
- 2-3 garlic cloves chopped
- 1/2 medium potatoes chooped
- 1 egg
Process:
- Fry the onion and garlic
- Add the meat and fry a bit
- Add the potato and fry a bit
- Add the frozen peas.
- Stir until the peas are soft
- Add the egg and cook it with the peas, I scrambled it at the end.
How to apply silicone
This week I tried to apply new silicone to the flooring of my bathroom. Initially I watched a video and gave it a go. It was a disaster, I was lucky that I didnt do the whole thing, just one part that is not in direct view, so I managed to clean-up. Using a finger to level the silicone doesnt work for me…..
I kept checking videos and this one was a breakthrough!
In summary, cut your nozzle at the level of your “fungi” so the stream of silicone covers properly. Obviously buy a “fungi” or similar tool for levelling the silicone, dont use the finger, clean properly the old silicone (have white spirit around) and use good silicone.
In my case, I had to cut the nozzle twice as the gaps I needed to cover werent equal all round the floor. So I cut the nozzle for the small gap first, use the chosen fungi length, then cut again the nozzle for the “big” gap, and use again the chosen fungi
Vegan Cherry Almond Brownies
To be honest, this recipe wasn’t really good as a brownie. But with a cold class of milk, could do the job.
Ingredients:
- 75g margarine plus for greasing
- 2 tbsp ground flaxseed (not sure why this is needed…) + 6 tbsp water
- 120g dark chocolate
- 60g water
- 1 tsp coffee
- 125g self-raising flour
- 70g almond flour
- 50g cocoa powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 250g golden caster sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 70g frozen cherries (at room temperature)
Process:
- Pre-heat oven at 170C. Grease a 20cm square tin or crystal dish.
- Mix flaxseed with 6 tbsp of water and set aside
- In a sauce pan, melt the chocolate, coffee, margarine and water at low heat. Allow to cool down a bit.
- Put flours, cocoa, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Mix.
- Add the sugar to the chocolate mix. Use a hand mixer until everything is combined.
- Add the flaxseeds, vanilla and cherries to the chocolate.
- Then add the flour mix to the chocolate.
- It will very thick and difficult to manage with a whisk so use a wooden spoon.
- Pour the mix into the tin.
- Bake for 30 minutes or so until a skewer inserted in the middle comes nearly clean.
- Allow to cool down completely.
I had then for 35 minutes I think and the texture was too dry.
Vegan Chocolate Tart
Last weekend made some vegan desserts for a friend. This recipe was really good. Much better than I expected.
Ingredients:
Base:
- 350g vegan biscuits (ie Lotus Biscoff)
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1 tbsp plain flour
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 170g margarine + extra for greasing
Filling:
- 2x400g can coconut milk, CHILLED!!!
- 200g dark chocolate
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
Process:
- Pre-heat oven at 200C.
- Crush biscuits to crumbs (I used my food processor).
- Add the cocoa powder, flour, syrup and margarine to the biscuits. Mix and create a dough.
- Butter with margarine the bottom of a 23cm aprox tart tin.
- Spread the biscuit dough into the the tin. Press it carefully so it is thick and consistent.
- Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes. Then let it cool, VERY IMPORTANT!!!
- Make the filling. Open the coconut cans (I put them in the freezer for a bit). They should have separated the coconut water from the cococut cream. Make a hole with a knife and save the water. You can use it later for cereals or drink it directly.
- Put the solid coconut cream in a bowl and move to the next step
- Melt the chocolate using bain-marie or microwave.
- Add the melted chocolate and syrup to the coconut cream. And whisk until fully combined.
- Pour the filling over the base ONLY if the base is properly cool down. Spread it evenly and put it in the fridge for at least 3-4 hours to set.
- Optional you can decorate the top with fresh red berries.
This is the result. Very tasty and not very sugary.
