Tech Tips, Tricks & Trivia

This Week I Learned -  *  Flickr-Faces-HQ (FFHQ) is a high-quality image dataset of human faces, originally created as a benchmark for generative adversarial networks (GAN). The dataset consists of 70,000 high-quality PNG images at 1024×1024 resolution and contains considerable variation in terms of age, ethnicity and image background.  * WACZ is a media type that allows web archive collections to be packaged and shared on the web as a discrete file. A WACZ file includes all the data that is needed for the rendering archived content as well as contextual information required for users to interpret it.  * wacli is a command‑line WhatsApp client that links to your WhatsApp account, lets you send messages, sync chats, search history, and manage contacts directly from the terminal. It works as a linked WhatsApp Web device and stores your chats locally in SQLite for fast search. * Chrome Devtools Protocol (CDP) lets you write external scripts that control the brows...

I enjoy films that take you on a journey, where the changing landscape becomes almost another character in the story.  The morally ambiguous character played by Fahadh Faasil in the road comedy-thriller  strolls by the Kanyakumari beach Maareesan (2025), the Tamil comedy-thriller starring Vadivelu and Fahadh Faasil, is one such film. It also gave me an excuse to indulge in another interest: mapping places and turning a movie's geography into a visualisation. The film brings together two very different characters, played by two seasoned actors who make an interesting pairing. Vadivelu brings his distinctive screen presence and comic timing, while Fahadh Faasil lends his trademark intensity and unpredictability. Their performances keep you invested as the story moves between humour, mystery and suspense. The journey takes the characters across Tamil Nadu, from Palayamkottai and Nagercoil in the south, through Madurai, and onwards to places including Echampatti, Veeraganur,...

This Week I Learned -  *  GitHub Copilot app for Beginners - 7 Chapter course by Dan Wahlin * An analysis of 5 lakh peer-reviewed papers in physics, chemistry, materials science, engineering, and computer science published in 2023-26 has revealed 1,135 fake references in 619 papers. These fictional citations often stem from the unchecked use of AI tools or misconduct. * Felony Bench monitors the rogue behavior of AI agents. It counts unique instances where AI agents inadvertently compromise or affect third-party entities.  * Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Uber are restricting AI access for employees. * Dario Amodei is an atheist who believes in utilitarianism (people should maximize happiness for the most living beings). He was influenced by Ray Kurzweil’s idea that advanced technologies would let humans exist beyond natural limits, a belief known as transhumanism.  He was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2014, underwent chemotherapy and made a full recovery. Prior to...