Neal Caren
@haphazardsoc.bsky.social
AOL Keyword: Carolina Sociology
[Coding Snippets](https://nealcaren.github.io/notes/)
[Website](http://nealcaren.org)
[Coding Snippets](https://nealcaren.github.io/notes/)
[Website](http://nealcaren.org)
I've been testing the accuracy of LLMs in transcribing printed and handwritten historical texts stored as images. I put together a corpus of 400 pages from the Library of Congress.
Current leader is GPT4.1-mini, which at 11 cents per 1K pages, is also the cheapest option. github.com/nealcaren/In...
Current leader is GPT4.1-mini, which at 11 cents per 1K pages, is also the cheapest option. github.com/nealcaren/In...
September 11, 2025 at 8:11 PM
I've been testing the accuracy of LLMs in transcribing printed and handwritten historical texts stored as images. I put together a corpus of 400 pages from the Library of Congress.
Current leader is GPT4.1-mini, which at 11 cents per 1K pages, is also the cheapest option. github.com/nealcaren/In...
Current leader is GPT4.1-mini, which at 11 cents per 1K pages, is also the cheapest option. github.com/nealcaren/In...
It used to be much easier to get a faculty position.
September 4, 2025 at 1:34 PM
It used to be much easier to get a faculty position.
I just realized that AJS articles are sorted within each issue by the number of authors and then alphabetically by the first author.
August 7, 2025 at 11:17 AM
I just realized that AJS articles are sorted within each issue by the number of authors and then alphabetically by the first author.
I ballparked estimates of a 15% cap on NIH indirects based on awards granted in 2024 (which is different from funded in 2024). My numbers are less than NIH's, but still pretty devastating, including $250 million loss for North Carolina institutions. nih-funding-direct.vercel.app
February 8, 2025 at 11:29 PM
I ballparked estimates of a 15% cap on NIH indirects based on awards granted in 2024 (which is different from funded in 2024). My numbers are less than NIH's, but still pretty devastating, including $250 million loss for North Carolina institutions. nih-funding-direct.vercel.app
Found one!
[The AI Overview is based on the plot of a pretty great episode of AP Bio.]
[The AI Overview is based on the plot of a pretty great episode of AP Bio.]
January 28, 2025 at 1:29 AM
Found one!
[The AI Overview is based on the plot of a pretty great episode of AP Bio.]
[The AI Overview is based on the plot of a pretty great episode of AP Bio.]
Jo Freeman reached #1 on Hacker News today. Surprisingly, the non-relational database joke wasn't even the top comment.
January 22, 2025 at 6:01 PM
Jo Freeman reached #1 on Hacker News today. Surprisingly, the non-relational database joke wasn't even the top comment.
We switched from MailChimp to beehiiv.com for our quarterly Moby newsletter. Better design tools and painless setup. Slightly higher Open and Click through rates. Plus, it's free since we have < 2,500 subscribers.
January 17, 2025 at 8:11 PM
We switched from MailChimp to beehiiv.com for our quarterly Moby newsletter. Better design tools and painless setup. Slightly higher Open and Click through rates. Plus, it's free since we have < 2,500 subscribers.
"Unless there is a bunch of Asians involved?"
Great @theassemblync.bsky.social article on UNC trustees texting our admissions officers about specific applicants.
www.theassemblync.com/education/hi...
Great @theassemblync.bsky.social article on UNC trustees texting our admissions officers about specific applicants.
www.theassemblync.com/education/hi...
December 19, 2024 at 1:18 PM
"Unless there is a bunch of Asians involved?"
Great @theassemblync.bsky.social article on UNC trustees texting our admissions officers about specific applicants.
www.theassemblync.com/education/hi...
Great @theassemblync.bsky.social article on UNC trustees texting our admissions officers about specific applicants.
www.theassemblync.com/education/hi...
Three Harlem Renaissance classics from 1929 enter the public domain in a few weeks:
* Plum Bun by Jessie Fauset
* Passing by Nella Larsen
* Banjo by Claude McKay
* Plum Bun by Jessie Fauset
* Passing by Nella Larsen
* Banjo by Claude McKay
December 8, 2024 at 8:34 PM
Three Harlem Renaissance classics from 1929 enter the public domain in a few weeks:
* Plum Bun by Jessie Fauset
* Passing by Nella Larsen
* Banjo by Claude McKay
* Plum Bun by Jessie Fauset
* Passing by Nella Larsen
* Banjo by Claude McKay
This is the first I've seen betting lines for regular season NCAAW games on ESPN.
December 5, 2024 at 7:36 PM
This is the first I've seen betting lines for regular season NCAAW games on ESPN.
Playing around with llama3.2-vision to look at media protest photos. There are some random images, but the model still goes hard:
"Overall, the image effectively conveys the idea that WOWT-TV will be broadcasting live news coverage at 10:00 PM."
"Overall, the image effectively conveys the idea that WOWT-TV will be broadcasting live news coverage at 10:00 PM."
December 5, 2024 at 6:46 PM
Playing around with llama3.2-vision to look at media protest photos. There are some random images, but the model still goes hard:
"Overall, the image effectively conveys the idea that WOWT-TV will be broadcasting live news coverage at 10:00 PM."
"Overall, the image effectively conveys the idea that WOWT-TV will be broadcasting live news coverage at 10:00 PM."
Microft's 2FA texts look sketchy AF.
November 26, 2024 at 6:45 PM
Microft's 2FA texts look sketchy AF.
Class activity/academic procrastination:
Find other references to colors and gender in the HathiTrust archive. Here's the oldest "pink for boys" (1890).
Find other references to colors and gender in the HathiTrust archive. Here's the oldest "pink for boys" (1890).
November 25, 2024 at 7:01 PM
Class activity/academic procrastination:
Find other references to colors and gender in the HathiTrust archive. Here's the oldest "pink for boys" (1890).
Find other references to colors and gender in the HathiTrust archive. Here's the oldest "pink for boys" (1890).
Found this anti-Beckett gem in a 2012 right-wing proposal to revamp UNC's curriculum.
November 11, 2024 at 9:57 PM
Found this anti-Beckett gem in a 2012 right-wing proposal to revamp UNC's curriculum.
Tried to extract text from an old NYT article PDF using Gemini Pro.
Instead of transcribing the text, it just went "Sorry, copyright!" and dropped a link to the Times website.
Instead of transcribing the text, it just went "Sorry, copyright!" and dropped a link to the Times website.
November 9, 2024 at 2:04 PM
Tried to extract text from an old NYT article PDF using Gemini Pro.
Instead of transcribing the text, it just went "Sorry, copyright!" and dropped a link to the Times website.
Instead of transcribing the text, it just went "Sorry, copyright!" and dropped a link to the Times website.
I have an offer for 15%, but I'm willing to accept higher bids.
October 28, 2024 at 2:23 PM
I have an offer for 15%, but I'm willing to accept higher bids.
Here's a transcript of a section of a podcast based on 12 oral histories of ACT UP members with prompt of "Focus on emotions. Audience is social movement scholars."
October 17, 2024 at 5:17 PM
Here's a transcript of a section of a podcast based on 12 oral histories of ACT UP members with prompt of "Focus on emotions. Audience is social movement scholars."
October 17, 2024 at 5:03 PM
I saw a thing about HDR on websites, so I recreated the first UNC sociology page with better colors. Warning: it produces nausea after about ten seconds.
claude.site/artifacts/63...
claude.site/artifacts/63...
October 9, 2024 at 7:18 PM
I saw a thing about HDR on websites, so I recreated the first UNC sociology page with better colors. Warning: it produces nausea after about ten seconds.
claude.site/artifacts/63...
claude.site/artifacts/63...
Where do I put on my CV that when I asked an LLM for a list of sample citations, it hallucinated about *me*?
October 3, 2024 at 11:44 AM
Where do I put on my CV that when I asked an LLM for a list of sample citations, it hallucinated about *me*?
Writing all letters of recommendation in .xlsx from now on.
Here's my Intefolio upload for Chesapeake Bay University.
Here's my Intefolio upload for Chesapeake Bay University.
October 1, 2024 at 8:30 PM
Writing all letters of recommendation in .xlsx from now on.
Here's my Intefolio upload for Chesapeake Bay University.
Here's my Intefolio upload for Chesapeake Bay University.
This map of football rivalries posted at r/cfbmemes might be the greatest American network graph ever.
September 20, 2024 at 12:07 AM
This map of football rivalries posted at r/cfbmemes might be the greatest American network graph ever.
Google's NotebookLM is great, but I don't need another folder with names like my Jupyter notebooks.
September 19, 2024 at 6:14 PM
Google's NotebookLM is great, but I don't need another folder with names like my Jupyter notebooks.