John Worsnop
@g4bao.bsky.social
Chartered Engineer, former wage slave, Radio Amateur, Moonbouncer, RadCom GHz bands columnist, radio propagation nerd and RF PA design nut.
Rare one just worked just now on 30m doodle mode.
ZL7/LZ1GC.
My only other QSO with Chatham Island was with ZL7DK in 1998 on 40m CW
ZL7/LZ1GC.
My only other QSO with Chatham Island was with ZL7DK in 1998 on 40m CW
November 10, 2025 at 4:34 PM
Rare one just worked just now on 30m doodle mode.
ZL7/LZ1GC.
My only other QSO with Chatham Island was with ZL7DK in 1998 on 40m CW
ZL7/LZ1GC.
My only other QSO with Chatham Island was with ZL7DK in 1998 on 40m CW
Reposted by John Worsnop
Is it 'wanking'?
October 31, 2025 at 10:07 PM
Is it 'wanking'?
That was a bit too easy! 9L8MD Sierra Leone worked on 24.898MHz CW up 2 2nd Call. They're now calling CQ
October 31, 2025 at 4:51 PM
That was a bit too easy! 9L8MD Sierra Leone worked on 24.898MHz CW up 2 2nd Call. They're now calling CQ
Reposted by John Worsnop
The Chinese Box and Turing Test: Is AI really intelligent?
The Chinese Box and Turing Test: Is AI really intelligent?
No, it's just good at mass-production copy and paste. And yes, we're correctly applying Betteridge's Law
Opinion Remember ELIZA? The 1966 chatbot from MIT's AI Lab convinced countless people it was intelligent using nothing but simple pattern matching and canned responses. Nearly 60 years later, ChatGPT has people making the same mistake. Chatbots don't think – they've just gotten exponentially better at pretending.…
dlvr.it
October 27, 2025 at 9:02 AM
The Chinese Box and Turing Test: Is AI really intelligent?
Pleasant surprise in the post today!
#gettingold
#gettingold
October 16, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Pleasant surprise in the post today!
#gettingold
#gettingold
Reposted by John Worsnop
You don’t get to bankroll a genocide…
Embolden and cheer on the perpetrators
…and then call yourself a hero for pulling the plug.
Embolden and cheer on the perpetrators
…and then call yourself a hero for pulling the plug.
October 9, 2025 at 6:37 AM
You don’t get to bankroll a genocide…
Embolden and cheer on the perpetrators
…and then call yourself a hero for pulling the plug.
Embolden and cheer on the perpetrators
…and then call yourself a hero for pulling the plug.
Reposted by John Worsnop
Reason No. 324 why no-one should think that "AI" (artificial but certainly not intelligent) is an unmitigated Good Thing: it's mathematically inevitable that AI will hallucinate.
We need far more discussion of the risks of all this and less frantic hype. I mean, really, what's the hurry?
We need far more discussion of the risks of all this and less frantic hype. I mean, really, what's the hurry?
OpenAI admits AI hallucinations are mathematically inevitable, not just engineering flaws
In a landmark study, OpenAI researchers reveal that large language models will always produce plausible but false outputs, even with perfect data, due to fundamental statistical and computational limi...
www.computerworld.com
September 24, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Reason No. 324 why no-one should think that "AI" (artificial but certainly not intelligent) is an unmitigated Good Thing: it's mathematically inevitable that AI will hallucinate.
We need far more discussion of the risks of all this and less frantic hype. I mean, really, what's the hurry?
We need far more discussion of the risks of all this and less frantic hype. I mean, really, what's the hurry?
Disgraceful
www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teessid... What a lousy decision #hamradio
Radio user says council decision on poles has 'taken away my life'
Ray Pratt, 92, says Stockton Council has told him to take down the poles which enable him to continue his hobby speaking to people around the world
www.gazettelive.co.uk
September 17, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Disgraceful
Reposted by John Worsnop
Why could I possibly want to redesign an Ali Express DCDC 3 times? I'll be talking at the RSGB Convention on the importance of switch mode power supply PCB layout in a month's time. Would be great to see you if you're around.
September 17, 2025 at 8:12 AM
Why could I possibly want to redesign an Ali Express DCDC 3 times? I'll be talking at the RSGB Convention on the importance of switch mode power supply PCB layout in a month's time. Would be great to see you if you're around.
Love this! This absolutely gets this Month's #topbodging award, and must be in line for #bodgeroftheyear.
September 16, 2025 at 8:50 AM
Love this! This absolutely gets this Month's #topbodging award, and must be in line for #bodgeroftheyear.
Reposted by John Worsnop
Engineer turned a vape into a web server
Engineer turned a vape into a web server
Breathe deep on internet fumes
Discarded vapes are becoming the new cigarette butts in pollution terms, but a hacker has found a novel way to repurpose the chips they contain to build a web server.…
dlvr.it
September 15, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Engineer turned a vape into a web server
The photos previously are from the Warsaw uprising exhibition at the Wolf's Lair in Northern Poland
September 13, 2025 at 1:07 PM
The photos previously are from the Warsaw uprising exhibition at the Wolf's Lair in Northern Poland
.....Yesterday we were at a small exhibition and came upon this exhibit. Plus this moving photo of a Polish partizan with a kitten, who could have been (but isn't) Mr Mack
September 13, 2025 at 1:05 PM
.....Yesterday we were at a small exhibition and came upon this exhibit. Plus this moving photo of a Polish partizan with a kitten, who could have been (but isn't) Mr Mack
When I visit Poland, I always spare a moment to remember Stefan Mackewicz. Fondly known as "Mr Mack." My School chemistry teacher, who at the end of term used to regale us with stories of his exploits in the "kanals" (sewers) during the Warsaw uprising........more....
September 13, 2025 at 12:59 PM
When I visit Poland, I always spare a moment to remember Stefan Mackewicz. Fondly known as "Mr Mack." My School chemistry teacher, who at the end of term used to regale us with stories of his exploits in the "kanals" (sewers) during the Warsaw uprising........more....
While visiting the Jesuit monastery and pilgrimage centre at Święta Lipka Basilica in N Poland on Wednesday, I noticed this medallion of St Maximilian Kolbe SP3RN who gave his life in #Auschwitz to save a fellow prisoner. #hamradio #martyr
September 13, 2025 at 7:22 AM
While visiting the Jesuit monastery and pilgrimage centre at Święta Lipka Basilica in N Poland on Wednesday, I noticed this medallion of St Maximilian Kolbe SP3RN who gave his life in #Auschwitz to save a fellow prisoner. #hamradio #martyr
Reposted by John Worsnop
If you think you are smarter than the previous generation...
50 years ago the owners manual of a car showed you how to adjust the valves. Today it warns you not to drink the contents of the battery.
50 years ago the owners manual of a car showed you how to adjust the valves. Today it warns you not to drink the contents of the battery.
September 12, 2025 at 3:29 PM
If you think you are smarter than the previous generation...
50 years ago the owners manual of a car showed you how to adjust the valves. Today it warns you not to drink the contents of the battery.
50 years ago the owners manual of a car showed you how to adjust the valves. Today it warns you not to drink the contents of the battery.
These guys just get better and better.....(Unlike most consumer products)
September 10, 2025 at 8:33 AM
These guys just get better and better.....(Unlike most consumer products)
Reposted by John Worsnop
I will think of this as the Ponte to Leeds trains backs out of Castleford at 3mph
I enjoyed this. And what an infectious laugh. ❤️
"Reporter left speechless after witnessing Japan's new $70 million Maglev train in action at 310 mph"
"Reporter left speechless after witnessing Japan's new $70 million Maglev train in action at 310 mph"
September 3, 2025 at 8:26 AM
I will think of this as the Ponte to Leeds trains backs out of Castleford at 3mph
Reposted by John Worsnop
The legends who fed the @thesquareball.net charity walkers this summer have had their van nicked from outside their house. Keep your eyes out please, it's incredibly distinctive and obviously means the world to them.
Share far and wide too.
#lufc
Share far and wide too.
#lufc
September 2, 2025 at 7:23 PM
The legends who fed the @thesquareball.net charity walkers this summer have had their van nicked from outside their house. Keep your eyes out please, it's incredibly distinctive and obviously means the world to them.
Share far and wide too.
#lufc
Share far and wide too.
#lufc
Nostalgia day.
Picked up my Casio fx-100d to do some calcs this morning.
Bought it around 1986. Been round the world with me, case a bit battered, still original battery, still the first thing I go to when I want to calculate something. How many phones will still be going 40 yrs on? #vintage #tech
Picked up my Casio fx-100d to do some calcs this morning.
Bought it around 1986. Been round the world with me, case a bit battered, still original battery, still the first thing I go to when I want to calculate something. How many phones will still be going 40 yrs on? #vintage #tech
August 29, 2025 at 9:21 AM
Reposted by John Worsnop
Hello. I wrote a nice long essay about AI and this very strange moment where we're constantly told we're living in the dawn of a strange new future but the only thing that's actually clear is that everyone feels pretty unmoored and uncertain. I hope you'll read it
AI Is a Mass-Delusion Event
Three years in, one of AI’s enduring impacts is to make people feel like they’re losing it.
www.theatlantic.com
August 18, 2025 at 9:21 PM
Hello. I wrote a nice long essay about AI and this very strange moment where we're constantly told we're living in the dawn of a strange new future but the only thing that's actually clear is that everyone feels pretty unmoored and uncertain. I hope you'll read it