Last night I decided to have a play with an AI Art tool that takes written cues and generates finished paintings.  I'd been resisting doing this for a while but since there are now easily accessible cloud based tools I decided it would be OK to waste an evening on it.
Frankly I'm a bit horrified. This stuff is good.  I mean it's really good and I don't know what that means.  Certainly for concept art for games and movies this ability to endlessly remix and generate new images from existing content is a game changer.
The results were wildly better than I expected.  So good in fact that I was up half the night thinking about what this means. I think I have future shock. :-0 

If you want to try this stuff for yourself, it's very easy, you don't need a fancy computer or to install any software since the whole thing runs in the cloud. 
Here's a link to a tutorial that will get you started but essentially all you need do, is scroll down until you see the description of the image and replace that with your own text, then wait fifteen minutes. 

​Youtube tutorial: youtu.be/FA2MNG8D5x0

 I got an e-bike!  I used to be a keen cyclist, but I'm lazy and unfit.  CV19 seemed like a great excuse to get back out on a bike, especially if a battery could take some of the slog out of it.  I knew I wanted a basic exploring/hybrid type bike rather than an mountain bike and I didn't want to spend a huge amount of money.  Then there were stock issues, many bike stores have pictures of machines on their websites that they don't have in stock.  I didn't want to order something and then wait 3 months...   
Halfords have a family of bikes that all use the same tech, you just need to pick the flavor you like, I went for their urban commuting model called the Subway, which is sort of a cross between a fixie and a hybrid touring bike in appearance.  You could also describe it as an old school mountain bike with bmx tires. 

It's powered by a Suntour HESC system.  That's a geared rear motor system which is street legal.  250W and pedal assist cuts about at 25kph (16mph).  It doesn't have a hand throttle, which means it also doesn't need to have e-bike specific brake levers.  The crank contains cadence and torque sensors which combined with some software result in natural feeling riding experience for the most part. 

So what's it like to ride?
Well it's a lot like riding a bike honestly, but with a couple of foibles you quickly adapt to.  The first foible is that there is a bit of lag between the crank moving and the motor starting.  I'd guess this is around half a second. Same thing with the motor stopping.  This is actually fine for hill starts, you just have to trust the motor is going to kick in as you reach the bottom of your pedal stroke.   Where this can bite you is turning the bike around.  If you aren't expecting it at low speeds, having the motor kick in while manoevering can be bit disconcerting.  It's something that you quickly adapt to.  The motor makes a hum/whine while its operating so you get a useful audio cue as well as feeling the power. The other issue is the speed limiter. It really does limit your speed.  16mph takes about half the effort that 17mph does, so if you wanted a fast bike, this probably isn't it, unless you have the lungs and legs for it.

Batteries
The bike uses a 36v 8.7Ah 313Wh battery and they claim a 60 mile range.  But that range probably involves a small rider who lives somewhere flat and likes to use Eco mode.  What I found was that my range is probably a bit less than half that.  I'm about 240lbs and Wales has hills. Still 30 miles is a good couple of hours pedalling so can't really complain.  Overall I feel that the balance between range and power is pretty good.  I mean if the motor had more power, then the batteries would drain faster.

I'm scared of punctures
The motor is in the rear wheel.  There isn't a quick release for the backwheel.  Removing the back wheel involves disconnecting some electrics and cutting some cable ties as well as the usual stuff. It's not something I want to try for the first time at the side of the road.  At some point when I'm feeling brave I'm going to change out the tires for some puncture proof ones and maybe I'll put slime in the inner tubes. 

I wasn't sure if it had enough gears
It has gone up every hill I've found so far.  Don't get me wrong, I still have to pedal and I'm still a mess at the top but it goes up 1:10 gradients that I would normally have to walk up.


Rest of the bike
I'd budgeted for a better bike, I was kind of expecting this thing to feel cheap which is part of the reason I didn't get a model with cheap suspension, but its actually very solid, the frame is crazy stiff, the welds and paint look top notch. The hydraulic disk brakes work well.  The rear mech is a bit chintzy but easy to upgrade.  I was half expecting it to feel like the cheapest bike possible with a motor thrown on it considering the price. 
The only changes I made so far was to change the ergonomic bar grips out for some round ones and to add an adjustable stem to raise the bars about an inch.  Apart from that its fine, even the saddle is alright.

​Summary
I love it. It feels like riding a bike, BUT WITH BIONIC LEGS. I would definitely like to try one with a more powerful mid drive motor when lockdown ends and the mountain bike parks and trials are open.  I'll probably rent a modern full suspension MTB and see how I like it.  Hey you never know, if I ride the one I have enough, I might even be fit by then. 

Update: Feb23
I just noticed this post still gets lots of views so here's an update.  Bike has now successfully completed 115 rides and is still going strong.  I did get fitter and get a normal bike, but I still like to ride the Subway in winter when there isn't a lot of time to go for a long bike ride.   I think the e-bike marketers are missing a trick by not telling customers that a bike like this is a great way to get back into cycling. 
I did briefly have an issue where I was getting rear wheel punctures caused by cheap rim tape and a bit of swarf on the inner wheel rim.  I filed the sharp bit of metal down and replaced the rim tape with a heavier version.  At the same time I fitted slime puncture proof inner tubes for peace of mind.  
I also fitted swept back touring bars because I find them more comfortable than mtb bars. 

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At this point we all know that flying and driving are completely horrible for the environment and we should try to reduce the amount of both we do.  Given the recent dire warning from the UN I started to think about this stuff again. 
There are calculators on line that will give estimates for emissions but the estimates vary wildly.  I'll let you do your own research here, but I've used a couple of average numbers here for my personal use.
As a guess:

• Nonstop return flight from San Francisco to London = 3.3t
• Average car use for a year = 4.6t

As I need to fly twice this year, the flights are my biggest impact. In fact I really don't drive that much at all these days. 

Just to muddy the waters further this is an interesting article about the time scales of various pollution sources.  

So there aren't easy answers but generally it's not rocket surgery, we should all try to fly and drive less.
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Modern technology makes remote working not only viable but in many ways more productive and enjoyable that commuting or traveling to conferences.  I don't mean to minimize the importance of face to face contact, but if we don't change our ways we won't have a planet to live on in 50 years.
Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and Tele-presence are all technologies that will allow us to interact with the world without the need to burn vast amounts of fossil fuels.  In my last year at NVIDIA I learned to work from home several days a week. It was an adjustment in style but I was definitely productive and less stressed. I also presented at an entirely virtual global conference which was a good experience, the audience seemed engaged and asked good questions at the end which is a good indicator of success in my opinion, so it can work.  
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Soylent Green is the movie where people are eating people.. yeah right, but why are they eating people? Is it because of an environmental collapse caused by over population and resource exhaustion? The Solyent Corporation's Oceanographic survey (a big plot point in the movie) shows the oceans to be dying...  Our oceans are in trouble.

This documentary features Bostrom's simulation theory and Conway's Game of Life.  Absolutely brilliant. Get your mind blown :-)

 Could an advanced civilization create a simulation of the universe and if so, what are the odds that we are living it.  Odds are good, or bad, depending on how you view it.

• Simulation Argument   

How to write more clearer yo! Here are a some tools that automatically analyse your writing and make suggestions on how to improve.  Hemmingway seemed to be the most immediately useful to me.

• Hemmingway
• The Writer's Diet
• Expresso

These tools are all online so you should not test unpublished confidential material on them.  I took existing content from a variety of websites as well as some text from HPL to test them.   I'm making this blog post like so many others so I can remember where to find these links later.

Caught myself watching this video series on Hugo De Garis.  Fascinating and just a bit scary.  What does the future of AI and humanity look like?