Free for all Friday

You want links? We've got links. Let's see how the sausage gets made.

Apr 14, 2023

ChatGPT Can Give Great Answers. But Only If You Know How to Ask the Right Question

That’s why companies are hiring ‘prompt engineers’—experts in talking to AI systems effectively.

Today in AI:

With the new generative AI tools, like ChatGPT, anyone can put in a prompt—type in a few words and get a result. But that doesn’t mean that the results will be relevant or accurate.
The key is putting in the right prompt. That’s why some businesses are now hiring prompt engineers—people with the skills, background and practice to talk to so-called large-language AI systems effectively—and why many people expect prompt engineering to be a desirable skill for many kinds of workers to add to their resumes. (WSJ)

Rewrite This Story, But Do It Like It's the Opening Song From the Musical 'Hamilton'

Kinda related, maybe. Do you guys remember the story I wrote about Julia Sand, the 19th century shut-in who wrote a bunch of letters to the President Chester Arthur, only to have him SHOW UP AT HER HOUSE UNANNOUNCED? I poured it into Chat GPT the other night, and OK, maybe I'd had a flaming rum punch or two, whatever, I asked it to rewrite the entire story in as a rap along the lines of the opening song in Hamilton.

What it came up with in 20 seconds—20 seconds!!!—was pretty wild, and scary. You can find the whole thing here, but my favorite two-line stretch was:

He was widowed and lonely, she was sickly, confined
But their lives intertwined through the letters she signed (Understandably)

Understandably by Bill Murphy Jr.

Rewrite This Story, But Do It Like It's the Opening Song From the Musical 'Hamilton'

Do you guys remember the story I wrote way back in 2020 about Julia Sand, the 19th century shut-in who wrote a bunch of letters to the President Chester Arthur, only to have him show up at her house, unannounced? (I also revisited it during Low Power Mode…

a month ago · Bill Murphy Jr.

He’s From a Patriotic Family — and Allegedly Leaked U.S. Secrets

Online, the suspect in the breach of dozens of classified documents took on a persona seemingly at odds with his military career

We are going to hear so much about Airman 1st Class Jack Teixeira, 21, the baby-faced military member who stands accused of the worst leak of U.S. intelligence in a decade or more.

Teixeira has been identified as the suspected leaker of hundreds of photographs of highly classified military documents that have proliferated across the internet over the past week. The leak, probably the military’s largest in at least a decade, has revealed secrets about everything from gaps in Ukrainian air defenses to the specifics of how the United States spies on its allies and partners.
Teixeira, who used online handles that include “jackthedripper” and “excalibureffect,” posted the images to Discord, a chat platform popular with gamers, people familiar with the case said. Some Discord members showed The Washington Post video of Teixeira shouting racist and antisemitic slurs before firing a rifle. Like some others interviewed for this story, they spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
The arrest appeared to bring to an end a weeklong mystery that both law enforcement officials and internet sleuths had attempted to unravel. The photos of documents posted online included a trail of clues, with items in the background that included Gorilla Glue, a Boston Red Sox hat, and hunting magazines. (Washington Post)

We also have real-time helicopter footage of Teixeira’s arrest. Maybe most fascinating is that the media got to his house before the FBI, and videoed him sitting on his parents’ back deck, enjoying the spring weather, and reading a book—maybe his last moments of freedom for a long while. (WCVB)

The First Round-the-World Passenger Cruise Took Place 100 Years Ago. Here’s What It Was Like On Board

The cruise came just a few years after the world and its borders were disrupted by the First World War. The Laconia seemed to usher in a new era—that winter, several other passenger liners followed the Laconia on subsequent world voyages.
But this was also a fleeting moment in time. Less than 20 years later, the Second World War ground passenger cruise travel to a halt. The SS Laconia was requisitioned for the British war effort and was sunk off the coast of western Africa in 1942.
While cruise travel recommenced post-war, the Laconia’s 1922-1923 voyage was a specific moment in history.
“It was the roaring 20s,” she says. “It was that wonderful window.” (CNN)

Yes, People Will Pay $27,500 for an Old ‘Rocky’ Tape. Here’s Why.

Collectors are finding that their childhood has a price—and it’s going up. When the future is frightening, it’s boom times at the nostalgia factory. (NYT)

What Happens If You File Your Taxes Late—And How to Avoid Big Penalties

Don’t panic if you don’t have the cash to pay your tax bill in full, but don’t ignore it either

If you get motivated by deadlines, here’s one to bookmark: [Tuesday] April 18, 2023. That’s Tax Day 2023, and the date by which you must either file your income tax return for the 2022 tax year or request a tax extension. It is also the deadline for paying any taxes owed, as an extension to file isn’t an extension to pay.
But each year, some taxpayers choose “none of the above” and either don’t file or file late without requesting an extension. The Internal Revenue Service frowns on both, but penalties are most severe if you owe taxes.
Failing to pay your tax bill when it is due could mean penalties up to 47.5% of your original tax bill, plus interest. In the most extreme cases, the IRS could collect its money without your permission by garnishing your wages, taking money from your bank account or seizing and selling your home or car.
Here’s what you need to know about the late penalty for filing your taxes, including tips for procrastinators to keep you on Uncle Sam’s good side. (WSJ)

Yang Bing-yi, the Man Who Brought Soup Dumplings to the World, Has Died at 96

Starting with a modest shop in Taiwan in 1958, he built Din Tai Fung into a global dumpling and noodle empire, earning a Michelin star along the way.

Mr. Yang and his wife, Lai Pen-mei, opened their first modest storefront in 1958, laying the foundation for what would become a franchise that their children and grandchildren have expanded to more than 170 locations across Taiwan, mainland China and 13 other countries, including the United States, Japan, Australia and the United Arab Emirates. It offers a menu that includes such specialties as wontons in red chili oil, shredded tofu and seaweed salad, and steamed truffle-and-pork dumplings.
A Hong Kong branch has been awarded a Michelin star five times.
although it did not invent the soup dumpling, or xiao long bao—delicate dumplings ingeniously loaded with succulent, soupy fillings—Din Tai Fung introduced it to a global market at a time when few people outside China knew what it was. (NYT)