My blog
When I look up a word in the dictionary, I get unusually annoyed when I see the word itself used in its definition. redundancy /rĭ-dŭn′dən-sē/ noun The state of being redundant . Something redundant or excessive; a superfluity. Repetition of linguistic information inherent in the structure of a language… The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition Yeah, ok, it’s not the…
What better way to start off the new year than with a little rant.
I’ve long wanted to be able to practice my Spanish by translating pieces of text. Trouble is, it’s impossible to do so without someone fluent in Spanish there to correct my errors and explain them.
Since the first time I started learning Spanish in school, 15 years ago, I have tried to rekindle the smouldered vestiges of vocabulary and grammar multiple times, failing to get any sort of fire going, like the pathetic metropolitan neanderthal that I am.
I recently got access to DALL•E and have been having a blast with it. There’s been an explosion of information and guides on how to construct good prompts for it. In some instances it appears to be almost formulaic – this got me thinking – can I teach GPT-3 to come up with funky prompts?
Siem Reap At the start of July we flew from Bangkok to Siem Reap. We had already sorted out our 30-day e-visas, making entry pretty smooth, though the lack of tourists certainly helped. We also took a slight risk in not booking an exit flight, something that is stated as a requirement for entry, but evidently it isn’t since we didn’t get asked for one. Stress on arrival We had organised a pick-up…
Bangkok After a delayed, long and uncomfortable economy flight, we arrived in Bangkok in the early evening. We passed immigration control, picked up our bags and bought SIM cards for the month ahead. Unlimited data for £23 probably wasn’t the best deal ever but it was quick and easy. We ordered a Grab (Thailand’s Uber) and had a relatively smooth ride to our hotel. As the driver approached the…
In May 2021 we packed our bags and left for Costa Rica. Originally having planned to do this trip a few months earlier, we had already quit our jobs and were solely waiting for the COVID-19 restrictions to be lifted for international travellers leaving the UK. A few stressful hours at the airport, one short layover in Madrid and 13 hours later we landed in San José, where our adventure begins.
Here are some bite-sized tips about life in Costa Rica that I learned whilst backpacking there for 2 months.