Dale Lane
@dalelane.co.uk
Developer for IBM. Kafka. Kubernetes. AI. ML. Gadgets. Mobiles. Gaming. Coffee. Creator of Machine Learning for Kids.
https://dalelane.co.uk
https://dalelane.co.uk
one of the quotes on the back cover didn't age well... 😬
November 8, 2025 at 2:05 PM
one of the quotes on the back cover didn't age well... 😬
"Superintelligence" is an exploration of the dangers posed by future advances in AI.
I first read it in 2015. Reading it in 2025, it's still as bleak and depressing as I remember, but with recent advances in tech it's much harder to dismiss than it was then.
www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
I first read it in 2015. Reading it in 2025, it's still as bleak and depressing as I remember, but with recent advances in tech it's much harder to dismiss than it was then.
www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
November 8, 2025 at 1:58 PM
"Superintelligence" is an exploration of the dangers posed by future advances in AI.
I first read it in 2015. Reading it in 2025, it's still as bleak and depressing as I remember, but with recent advances in tech it's much harder to dismiss than it was then.
www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
I first read it in 2015. Reading it in 2025, it's still as bleak and depressing as I remember, but with recent advances in tech it's much harder to dismiss than it was then.
www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
This is a photo of my desk. You can tell where I typically chuck my ground coffee scoop after making a coffee... but it's not a good look for my poor little desk monkey! 🙈🤣
November 6, 2025 at 2:19 PM
This is a photo of my desk. You can tell where I typically chuck my ground coffee scoop after making a coffee... but it's not a good look for my poor little desk monkey! 🙈🤣
November 1, 2025 at 4:03 PM
sticking with my usual habit when visiting a new city for work and going for the tallest view I can find - with a drink at the top of Vue Orleans
October 30, 2025 at 10:29 PM
sticking with my usual habit when visiting a new city for work and going for the tallest view I can find - with a drink at the top of Vue Orleans
no rain, so I've strapped my umbrella to the side of my bag
partly so I don't have to carry it
mostly so I can feel like I'm a ghostbuster
partly so I don't have to carry it
mostly so I can feel like I'm a ghostbuster
October 24, 2025 at 4:48 PM
no rain, so I've strapped my umbrella to the side of my bag
partly so I don't have to carry it
mostly so I can feel like I'm a ghostbuster
partly so I don't have to carry it
mostly so I can feel like I'm a ghostbuster
pleasingly (and partly why I chose this task for the worksheet) the performance doesn't solely correlate with the size and complexity of the model
October 18, 2025 at 10:18 AM
pleasingly (and partly why I chose this task for the worksheet) the performance doesn't solely correlate with the size and complexity of the model
even with the small selection of language models I have on #MLforKids you can see differences between models for this particular task
October 18, 2025 at 10:18 AM
even with the small selection of language models I have on #MLforKids you can see differences between models for this particular task
One of the neat new ideas from #IBMTechXchange this year was that we got water bottles with a Blockbusters-style grid of hexagons on it. Each activity at the event gave a different sticker - so the encouragement to explore was customizing a bottle instead of ticking off items on a list.
October 11, 2025 at 1:21 PM
One of the neat new ideas from #IBMTechXchange this year was that we got water bottles with a Blockbusters-style grid of hexagons on it. Each activity at the event gave a different sticker - so the encouragement to explore was customizing a bottle instead of ticking off items on a list.
Nice to see occasional references to IBM's role. Nothing overt, and if you didn't already know you'd likely not notice
October 10, 2025 at 5:56 PM
Nice to see occasional references to IBM's role. Nothing overt, and if you didn't already know you'd likely not notice
I made the most out of being in Orlando for #IBMTechXchange and stayed on an extra day - which I'm spending in the Kennedy Space Center.
I'm so glad I did - the tech and engineering is seriously impressive, but the pervasive sense of ambition and determination here is kind of inspiring.
I'm so glad I did - the tech and engineering is seriously impressive, but the pervasive sense of ambition and determination here is kind of inspiring.
October 10, 2025 at 5:31 PM
I made the most out of being in Orlando for #IBMTechXchange and stayed on an extra day - which I'm spending in the Kennedy Space Center.
I'm so glad I did - the tech and engineering is seriously impressive, but the pervasive sense of ambition and determination here is kind of inspiring.
I'm so glad I did - the tech and engineering is seriously impressive, but the pervasive sense of ambition and determination here is kind of inspiring.
My work at #IBMTechXchange is complete! I gave four presentations, spoke on four panel discussions, ran a few instructor-led labs, had a dozen formal organised customer meetings and countless other informal meetings. It's been a great, but exhausting week! dalelane.co.uk/blog/?p=5659
October 9, 2025 at 5:21 PM
My work at #IBMTechXchange is complete! I gave four presentations, spoke on four panel discussions, ran a few instructor-led labs, had a dozen formal organised customer meetings and countless other informal meetings. It's been a great, but exhausting week! dalelane.co.uk/blog/?p=5659
always nice to see a @nodered.org logo in the wild #IBMTechXchange
October 8, 2025 at 8:14 PM
always nice to see a @nodered.org logo in the wild #IBMTechXchange
my aeropress is starting to be dwarfed by the other coffee gadgets people have in the office!
September 25, 2025 at 2:09 PM
my aeropress is starting to be dwarfed by the other coffee gadgets people have in the office!
Finished giving my apidays session: which was a (if I'm honest - opinionated and slightly rambling) session about how I think AsyncAPI could better serve Kafka developers, architects and ops teams
September 24, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Finished giving my apidays session: which was a (if I'm honest - opinionated and slightly rambling) session about how I think AsyncAPI could better serve Kafka developers, architects and ops teams
That's a really good point - a dedicated translation model doesn't have anywhere near the same problems with this that a language model does, which helps illustrate the point you're making about how language models work.
September 24, 2025 at 6:30 AM
That's a really good point - a dedicated translation model doesn't have anywhere near the same problems with this that a language model does, which helps illustrate the point you're making about how language models work.
Maybe I should clear the context before each translation, in case the output is influenced by the model "remembering" earlier iterations of the text? 🤔
Not sure if any of this would work as a school project but it's interesting to see how much more quickly that goes off the rails
Not sure if any of this would work as a school project but it's interesting to see how much more quickly that goes off the rails
September 23, 2025 at 9:02 PM
Maybe I should clear the context before each translation, in case the output is influenced by the model "remembering" earlier iterations of the text? 🤔
Not sure if any of this would work as a school project but it's interesting to see how much more quickly that goes off the rails
Not sure if any of this would work as a school project but it's interesting to see how much more quickly that goes off the rails
Playing with an idea for a possible #MLforKids project. I'm using a language model in #Scratch to repeatedly translate a sentence from English to another language and then back again.
If I do that over and over again, what mistakes are introduced? Is that interesting? Educational?
If I do that over and over again, what mistakes are introduced? Is that interesting? Educational?
September 23, 2025 at 8:52 PM
Playing with an idea for a possible #MLforKids project. I'm using a language model in #Scratch to repeatedly translate a sentence from English to another language and then back again.
If I do that over and over again, what mistakes are introduced? Is that interesting? Educational?
If I do that over and over again, what mistakes are introduced? Is that interesting? Educational?
I wrote a new #MLforKids worksheet - based on creating an AI-controlled golf game in #Scratch
Students train a #machinelearning model to predict the best speed and direction to putt the ball.
Full instructions at machinelearningforkids.co.uk/worksheets
Students train a #machinelearning model to predict the best speed and direction to putt the ball.
Full instructions at machinelearningforkids.co.uk/worksheets
September 22, 2025 at 8:20 AM
I wrote a new #MLforKids worksheet - based on creating an AI-controlled golf game in #Scratch
Students train a #machinelearning model to predict the best speed and direction to putt the ball.
Full instructions at machinelearningforkids.co.uk/worksheets
Students train a #machinelearning model to predict the best speed and direction to putt the ball.
Full instructions at machinelearningforkids.co.uk/worksheets
Apparently, "Dane" will be talking about effectively documenting #Kafka applications at apidays.global this week - don't know who he is, but I bet that session will be great 😜
September 20, 2025 at 12:31 PM
Apparently, "Dane" will be talking about effectively documenting #Kafka applications at apidays.global this week - don't know who he is, but I bet that session will be great 😜
We walked up to Merdon Castle for lunchtime - a 12th century monument that's a mile up the hill from our office. It was a rare chance to see it up close (thanks to www.heritageopendays.org.uk) and a lovely way to end a busy week!
September 19, 2025 at 1:22 PM
We walked up to Merdon Castle for lunchtime - a 12th century monument that's a mile up the hill from our office. It was a rare chance to see it up close (thanks to www.heritageopendays.org.uk) and a lovely way to end a busy week!
Getting ready to give a keynote about Gen AI at the professional day for Hampshire Music Service. I'll be talking to a room full of music teachers from across Hampshire about the implications of AI. Should be fun!
September 3, 2025 at 9:55 AM
Getting ready to give a keynote about Gen AI at the professional day for Hampshire Music Service. I'll be talking to a room full of music teachers from across Hampshire about the implications of AI. Should be fun!
"RAG-time" is a #MLforKids project that introduces how we use language models to answer questions about recent events.
Adding relevant documents to the context transforms the answers the model can give
Step-by-step instructions to create this in #Scratch at machinelearningforkids.co.uk/worksheets
Adding relevant documents to the context transforms the answers the model can give
Step-by-step instructions to create this in #Scratch at machinelearningforkids.co.uk/worksheets
September 1, 2025 at 1:02 PM
"RAG-time" is a #MLforKids project that introduces how we use language models to answer questions about recent events.
Adding relevant documents to the context transforms the answers the model can give
Step-by-step instructions to create this in #Scratch at machinelearningforkids.co.uk/worksheets
Adding relevant documents to the context transforms the answers the model can give
Step-by-step instructions to create this in #Scratch at machinelearningforkids.co.uk/worksheets