Paul Ganssle @pganssle@qoto.org

I adjusted the prompt that generates example sentences for my Spanish vocabulary Anki deck so that it intermittently tries to include interesting facts in the cards, and it has worked out marvelously.

Apparently sperm whales (cachalotes) are the loudest animals in the world.

#anki #spanish

Traveling to Seattle without renting a car or bringing an umbrella...

I don't know how long I've seen these signs before realizing the fundamental mismatch between the medium and the intended audience here...

#hashtag

Do they have this specific brand and flavor of yogurt outside of Spain? I think it is basically Oikos Triple Zero, but this particular flavor is super good (it has little chunks of banana in it), and doesn't compare to the banana cream flavor we have in the States.

Apparently if you filter a Danish it turns into a donut, which is something smokers prefer?

"This is not going to be Python 4".

I am taking this as implicit approval of @hugovk's proposal to switch to #calver.

#python #pyconus

Man, some folks do such a good job with the design of their slides, it makes me want to do better.

Picture is from [Steph Orella Bello](https://sporella.xyz)'s talk, but there are many other intimidatingly good presentations out there.

#pyconus

By the way for various reasons I happen to have a bunch of Google Open Source swag to give away and nowhere to give it away, so if you are at #pyconus and want a flashlight, let me know.

Ok, I am traveling to Spain soon, and when I travel I usually bring a bit of protein powder (I put it in cottage cheese or yogurt to add some flavor and texture).

However, I suspect that my usual approach — Ziploc baggies in a freezer bag — might invite, uh... extra scrutiny... at customs (see photo).

Anyone have alternative ideas about how to transport this stuff without creating suspicion? The original packaging won't work because it is very bulky.

#travel #customs #advice

Any #python folks know of a library for drawing pretty-looking, clean boxes arranged in various patterns?

I am looking to make some simple images like this to demonstrate addition, subtraction, multiplication, etc.

Bonus points if it has support for some existing pedagogical framework (e.g. "ten frames").

#pedagogy #education #earlyeducation #visualization #homeschooling

The Japanese version of Jeopardy! is basically exactly as I expected (though I didn't think they would have more than 3 contestants)

OK, I bought a used gaming computer so I can run my own ML models locally, so now you get to see what it would look like if Abraham Lincoln had a baby with Chris Evans.

#stablediffusion #sdxl #genai

Better double check with ChatGPT.

Now, I'm not an expert in #spanish, but I think this may mean something slightly different than what #ChatGPT says it does...

Sssh, no one tell my life insurance company.

#electronics #cursed

Having trouble remembering the difference between the flag of Belgium and the flag of Germany?

Remember this simple rhyme:
"Black touches Red, you're in Germany like Kaiser Fred¹.
Black touches yellow, you're in Belgium, so have a waffle with marshmallow²."³

¹This assumes that you know that Kaiser Frederick III was the second Emperor of Germany.
²This is only a slant rhyme, and it barely works since — while dessert waffles are associated with Belgium, and they *would* be pretty good with marshmallows on them — marshmallows are not particularly associated with Belgian waffles.
³Yes, I am not particularly good at coming up with mnemonics.

#flags #vexillology #mnemonics

I dunno if you can tell from my open tabs, but I miss my #pebble... 😿

(And my #PineTime is really not cutting it...)

Tried to go extremely stereotypical, specifying the "three eyes" multiple ways. The closest I got was a lemur with a little yellow light on its forehead.

“a three-eyed lemur; the lemur is sitting in a lotus position and all three of its eyes are open. The third eye is centered on its forehead. highly detailed digital art trending on artstation”

Just finished with my son's reading lesson (using *Teach Your Child To Read in 100 Easy Lessons*, which is working *amazingly*, by the way); afterwards, I was trying to looking up the history of the character "a" and was reminded of how rigged the game is.