August 2, 2025

Notes from Valencia

  • Spain may be closer to Florida in GDP, but it is a near-perfect match to California in landscape and climate — without the earthquakes and with much more affordable real estate. I am not surprised they have a problem with foreigners buying up properties, but I was surprised not to see even more tourists in Valencia and towns south like Dénia.
  • American service industry know-how never quite recovered after covid lockdowns, so it was a pleasant surprise to see it alive and well in Valencia province and the city proper. Even the worst establishment we’ve visited — a newly-opened, somewhat touristy restaurant with an unexperienced server — was better than the median East Coast sit-down place.
  • An excellent example of effortless hospitality was the Westin hotel in Mestalla that made us, three sloppy Serbian-Americans (not all of the children came, and I should write more about this strategy of bringing kids over to trips), not feel out-of-place even though most other visitors dressed as and behaved as royalty. We are very familiar with the “you shouldn’t be here” look, and it just wasn’t there.
  • This may be too specific, but that Westin also had the best indoor swimming pool out of the many we have used.
  • There is no bad place to put a few small tables and chairs and serve cold beer, nuts, olives and a plate of cheese and ham for a few euros each. Or, if you live close to the beach, put up your own folding table and chairs and have a friend & family gathering.
  • The above are so widespread because even the “big” apartments are generally small by American standards — yes, I have been looking at real estate listings — so most people want to hang out in “third places”. Every other article from Chris Arnade mentions this so it isn’t a groundbreaking thought, but it’s nice to see it confirmed.
  • Speaking of real estate: price per square foot in Valencia is cheaper than in Belgrade which tells me that either Valencia is massively underrated, Belgrade is overrated, or most likely both.
  • Bad people sometimes do good things, and Franco did a good one for Valencia by moving the Turia river out of and around the town which 1) saved the city itself from being flooded including just last year and 2) gave it acres and acres of priceless green spaces that are within walking distance to most of the population.
  • This was my second time in the area and I plan on coming back at least a few more so yes, I liked it.

August 1, 2025

Just another ("AI") Friday

And with these four links I hereby declare a moratorium on LLM-related matters on this blog, until further notice.

July 31, 2025

An important note from Dave Winer:

I say ChatGPT instead of “AI” because I’m not comfortable characterizing it as intelligence. Deeper you get into it you learn that these beings whatever they are have serious character flaws that are counter-intelligent.

Exactly. LLMs are closer in intelligence to a screwdriver than to a human.

For a contrarian take on LLMs as intelligent machines, here is Alexey Guzey saying that:

I remain dubious.

July 30, 2025

Mid-week links

July 29, 2025

Tuesday links (actual hyperlinks included)

Note: While these link posts are usually untitled, this one is in reference to recent troubles at the Marginal Revolution blog. Isn’t HTML great?

I have updated my now page. The last update was in March so let’s call this my Quarterly-ish update.

July 28, 2025

A version of Poisoning Pigeons in the Park was the first mp3 I downloaded and played — on Winamp, of course — some time in the mid 1990s, spurred by an episode of Chicago Hope of all things. R.I.P. Tom Lehrer.

July 22, 2025

The cell phone of my childhood, still in operation. If you are in Serbia and need to leave the Matrix there are quite a few of them around.

A red phone booth with a public payphone stands on a sidewalk, surrounded by green trees and pedestrians.

July 21, 2025

Yesterday I learned about talismanic shirts, and now I know what nerds from 500 years ago did for fun and profit.

A richly decorated manuscript page features intricate geometric and floral patterns, Arabic calligraphy, and a combination of gold and blue hues.A detailed textile features intricate geometric patterns and a central diamond shape surrounded by smaller square designs, each with unique motifs.A detailed textile piece featuring intricate geometric patterns, squares, and diamonds with colorful embroidery.A detailed poster explains the historical significance and details of talismanic shirts worn by Ottoman sultans and princes for protection against misfortune and illness, including astrological correlations and inscriptions from the collection of Mehmet the Conqueror's son, Cem Sultan.