I'm Alex Kearney. I work on Artificial Intelligence and Epistemology.
I'm Alex Kearney. I work on Artificial Intelligence and Epistemology.
For the first time in my life, I've been fooled. Dylan slowly carved the centre of a block of butter out, waiting for me to notice. I just happened to find out on April Fool's day.
I've been quarantined. To stop myself from going stir-crazy I took a walk.
Went to Tartine and got a big loaf of crusty country bread.
This painting isn’t just colourful: it’s an also an optical illusion. If you stare at it, it looks like there’s grey dots in the intersections.
At Baker beach eating a bar of chocolate and watching the sun set over the golden gate bridge.
I met some of my Canadian neighbors on a walk through golden gate park. Seems like I’m not the only one escaping the winter in sunny California.
I feel like I am the god of improvised baking. Did you know that the mysterious empty jam jar in your AirBNB kitchen cupboard is exactly a cup? Did you know that ikea glasses make excellent cookie-cutters?
I'm away interning in SF for three months: too short a time to really get build up the comforts of home. Life can be kind-of spartan without them, so I try to make small changes. Maybe get a tea-pot, maybe do some baking. This time I made and froze 55 scones.
Me and my new twitter friends going for ice cream at Salt & Straw after work.
The ice cream at Salt & Straw is described as some of the best in North America. That may be true, but it still doesn't hold a candle to the perfection of Mary's Milk Bar.
I wander the earth in search for an equally revelatory scoop.
I'm at my first Homebrew Website Club in three years, and It's the San Francisco Meetup in the Mozilla office! I feel like I've made a pilgrimage to a spiritual centre of the indieweb.
All of us indie-folks are really fortunate that the indieweb is such a warm and welcoming community.
Recently, I was invited to give a talk at a philosophy workshop co-located with one of the conferences on interdisciplinary science in Porto. I spent close to two weeks in town. Dylan was in London for a meeting; we were lucky enough to be able to overlap our trips and take a little break in Porto for a few days.
Porto seems like a city in flux. When you talk to locals, they say it was very different five years ago. There's evidence of this in the cityscape. Wandering around parts of porto you'll find brand new developments sprouting out, giving the city a new face.
While the city seems to be growing and changing, by taking a few steps off the path---or, in some cases while staying on the path---you'll find derelict buildings. Walking to my accommodation when I arrived, I spotted a hollowed out building wedged between two still in use. Looking in the vacant windows you could see the roof had fallen in and only a few beams were left. This is the case in some of the more touristy areas as well. Next to some of the major museums, the university, or on your way to one of the port houses, you'll find buildings that are boarded, or with shattered windows.
I'm not sure what the story is there.
One of the reasons to visit Porto is to enjoy the architecture. Many of the city's historic buildings are covered in beautiful tiles. The facades and interiors of public spaces---including churches and train-stations and the like---are covered in scenes that are painted on tiles. The waterfront buildings are vibrant and colourful. You'll find bright buildings with clotheslines air-drying laundry above wine houses with delicious tapas.
There are also many examples of Baroque churches throughout town. These are gilt to excess, putting even spanish churches to shame. I guess that's the historical bounty of pillaging Brazil on display. While impressive, these churches are overwhelming: one was enough for me.
Interestingly, the cathedral is less visually shocking. Situated at the top of the hill overlooking both sides of the river, it's an older, more reserved example. I visited in the hopes of escaping a torrential downpour until the weather cleared. This was an excellent opportunity. While gargoyles have kept watch over many places I've visited, this was the first time that I'd seen one performing it's less spiritual duty: siphoning water away.
While I was aware of the cathedral before making my impromptu visit, I didn't know that one of its towers was open to the public. Clerigos Tower is most frequently suggested by travel guides, but the view from the cathedral is much more grand. Climbing up from the courtyard, you emerge to a panoramic view---possibly the highest in town.
The character of the city's architecture can be found not just in the facades of buildings, but also in the details and construction techniques. Many of the historic buildings in Porto with rich wood panelling actually have no wood at all! For instance, the walls and staircase of the famous bookstore, Livraria Lello, are made from plaster. At first glance, you wouldn't think it. Even when you're primed and looking for examples around town, it's difficult to discern the plaster imposters from the genuine lumber articles. Only when the facades are worn and chipped is it possible to be certain.
The people in Portugal are friendly and patient. They even overwhelmingly tolerated my terrible Portuguese. Some even taught me words so that I could make it through my next order at the local bakery a little more efficiently. Portuguese bakeries are as good as they are prolific. It's easy to start the day by grabbing and espresso and a tart while sitting in in a square.
Dylan and I happened to be visiting Porto during the 2019 Canadian federal election. When we sat down for dinner on the eve of the election, we found that the couple seated next to us at the bar were a couple from Calgary living in Vancouver. It's a small world.
How do you catch a cloud and pin it down?
Sunset over a fortress at the end of the workshop. I learned a lot hanging out with the Porto gang.
There's so much interesting research on perception and embodiment out there. I'm excited to see how it shapes future work in machine intelligence and robotics.
It's been 10 years since I've been to the Tate. The last time I visited was the beginning of a trip through London and Paris to visit the major galleries.
I remember seeing the turbine room when How It Is was on display: a massive empty container that swallowed the light up as you walked inside.
My first visit to the Tate was also my first introduction to modern art. Now I'm visiting on a stop-over.
Here are the four exhibitions that struck me most:
A retrospective of Panayiotis Vassilakis' work. Many of Takis' pieces made tangible the invisible electromagnetic forces around us. Impossibly large pieces---likely made of lighter materials---brought from their resting position to hover next to a large magnet.
In the exhibition they also had a number of Takis' notebooks, where he had engineering drawings and plans for sculptures. Curator notes had quotes where Takis discussed the interdisciplinary nature of Art and it's relation to engineering and sciences. You can feel that sentiment in his work. Early pieces used aeronautical instruments salvaged from WWII aircraft, taking functional technical gauges and repurposing them for sculpture. Some of his later pieces were simple enough to be made commercially available.
Ed Ruscha is an artist that started their in design. Many of their pieces are serious, visually appealing paintings, with weird mish-mashes of slogans typeset on top: bliss bucket.
Turning around the corner to enter the main exhibit, I was caught by a beautiful Rocky Mountain sunset with exaggerated blues and deep contrasting colours interrupted by typesetting over top: PAY NOTHING UNTIL APRIL. Every time Dylan and I re-entered the main room from one of the peripheral displays, I had to laugh.
One of the quieter exhibitions was Naoya Hatakeyama's cityscape photos of Japan. Naoya layers paper prints and transparencies over a lightbox. The resulting photos are scaled-down intimate photos of urban environments that seem to twinkle.
Dylan recently watched a documentary on Olafur Eliasson's work, and was taken with the mono-frequency light installations he did. While we were on our way to the Tate's rooftop lookout, we decided to take the elevators: a largely unused space. Once the elevator doors closed, and the outside light was shut out, the colour was sapped from the room by the yellow mono-frequency light. The elevators---a space you only use to get from one place to the other---was turned into an installation.
Serendipity.
The @tern gang at #ghcbeachboardwalk. I had a blast meeting all these cool folks at #ghc19 this year. Can’t wait to see what sort of shenanigans they get up to in the future. #sheinspires
Went wandering through James Bay on the way back from Beacon Hill Park. We took a detour down a side-street and found one of the city trees had been converted into a tea-tree. ☕️ 🌳
It's always interesting to see the origins of an artist you admire. Dylan and I meandered up to beacon hill to see Emily Carr house---the house Emily Carr and her sisters grew up in.
The museum was uniquely curated: sparse on details, but scattered with quotes that captured the family's experiences. It's fitting for a modernist.
The Carr's house was a large victorian home close to the sea-side, butting up against Beacon Hill Park. Many of the quoted passages throughout the home captured the. It's easy to see where Emily Carr's interest in capturing landscapes came from.
One of the most exciting aspects of the home isn't restoration-related. During the winter months, when the home is closed off to the public, Emily Carr house is hoping, to have a artist residency. I'm excited to see what comes of that.
Found a fun place for brunch in Victoria: John's Place.
Penut butter milkshakes; eggs benedict and waffles.
Quadra Island → Campbell River, British Columbia → Telegraph Cove → Blinkhorn Peninsula → Johnstone Strait → Hanson Island → Plumper Islands → Hanson Island → Telegraph Cove
Hanging out on Quadra island before we put in tomorrow 🚣🏼♀️ with all the driftwood on the beach, I’m really tempted to make a throne 😬
Yesterday I made it to the top of mount Hieie: the second highest mountain in the Kyoto prefecture (according to the family I met at the top). At the top of the mountain I took a break to enjoy some tea and met three groups of people who made it to the top.
The first was a Canadian from Toronto who was traveling.
The second was a trail-runner. He started digging around behind one of the trees and retrieved a mysterious granite pyramid which he placed in front of the tree. He said it was famous. I’m still confused by this.
The third was a Japanese family who hiked the mountain. The father started telling me how young Japanese people don’t like hiking and that Japanese people don’t hike anymore. He told me about all the mountains in the area, the number of mountains in japan, and the heights of their peaks.
I left the mountain informed.
Kyōto Station → Ōtsu → Mount Hiei
Wandered up to Kiyomizu-dera yesterday: a temple founded in 778. The view of Kyoto from the pagoda is breathtaking. Overlooking the city there’s an architectural gradient from the ancient to the modern. Like many Buddhist temples in Kyoto, the gardens have a dense canopy covering the paths. I found a spot where the pagoda was peeking through the trees.
Photograph of the the moment I consider giving it all up to become a tea-farmer. Maren recommended coming to @obubuteafarms for a tour of their estate. The tea tasting we had was so memorable because we also got to see the whole process: from tending to the bushes, to harvesting and processing! I even learned a few new brewing techniques 🍵
Kyōto Station → Kamo, Niigata → Wazuka, Kyoto
Unexpected upside to traveling in a country who’s language you don’t understand: all location-based ads are effectively blocked by being uninterpretable.
It’s like Lorem Ipsum.
I found this little friend yesterday! A cute little Nudibranch. I love how varied the colours and shapes and sizes of sea-slugs are! They’re so delicate and beautiful. I could sit and watch these guys inch along all day 🐛
I’m really fortunate my trip aligned with the right season to see them. They only come out when the water is cooler; when it warms up, they head inside the coral to avoid the heat.
It’s my first day diving in Okinawa! Plenty of fish hiding away in sea anemone 🐟 This is my first time diving in Asia, and I’m really enjoying taking in all the surprising differences to what we see in the Americas.
Today was my first day in okinawa. Tetsu picked me up from the hotel and we made our way to a small harbour for the day. I was the only person picked up, but three Thai kids around my age met us at the boat. They were lovely.
We saw so many nudibranchs in every shape and size: my favourite sea creature. Seeing so many was a real surprise. During the summer, these sea slugs make their way into the coral to beat the heat. Being on the cusp of the season, it was a gamble as to whether we'd see them. This was the first time since high school that I'd seen them. Unlike my encounters in the Florida keys, the nudibranchs were so varied in colour: jet black, pale cream, bright blue. Spiky, smooth, and geometric.
It felt good to jump in the pool. To be honest, I hadn't quite relaxed since arrived in Japan. I had a lot of fun, but there was no down-time. Laying back on the boat between dives and letting the sun warm me up provided a much needed breather.
When we arrived back on land, Tetsu asked if I wanted lunch. After spending the morning swimming with the fishes, we ate at a local fish market. We wandered around the stalls and settled on a local soba place: the best soba I've had.
Today was the last day of Haru-no-Taisai, the spring grand festival at the Meji Jinju. Today’s service is the largest Shinto ceremony of the year for the shrine. Amongst the rituals is a sacred dance based on a poem written by Emperor Showa that calls for world peace.
I was wandering around Shinjuku looking for food and found this little flower shop with a tea house in the back 🍵 I ended up waiting in line for over an hour, but it was totally worth it. The parfait has rose jam and edible flowers, and the mojito was one of the best I’ve had. Of course, sitting in a little indoor garden probably helped, too 🌿 . . . . #tokyo #japan #travel #travelphotography #yummy #foodporn #explore #flowers #food #foodphotography
The pagoda at Sensō-ji with the Tokyo sky-tree peeking through the trees. A mixture of the old and the new.
Shibuya Crossing is one of the busiest crossings in the world. People pour into the scramble from all directions, zig-zagging frantically as they all meet in the center of this vast intersection.
I was walking downtown this morning and caught the last moments of sunrise painting the buildings. The way the light reflects off the golden glass makes the neighboring building look like it has calligraphy scrawled all over it. #yeg #yegdt #urbanphotography
I finished some green socks just in time for St. Patrick’s day ☘️🧦 ended up re-knitting the heels three times trying to get the fit right. During the process, I discovered that I have a fairly high instep, so I can’t use a number of toe-up heel patterns. The fit turned out great, especially considering this is my first pair of socks! I can see custom socks being a regular fixture on my needles this year 🍀
Colourway is ‘Endor’ by @blackcatcustomyarn
Went for a chilly afternoon walk in Belgravia with my uncle and his dogs. We made a few friends along the way.
The most difficult part of any knitting project: unraveling because you dramatically underestimated how much yarn you have 🤦🏼♀️ I suppose I should be more mindful of my gauge.
My aunt took me out to Stoney Plain to hit up Jo's Yarn Garden: one of the best yarn stores in Alberta. As a thank-you I decided to make her a cabled tam.
I used some ice-blue yarn with a white heather that my cousin got for me from Iceland. I was looking for something simple, but with cabling to add some visual interest. I opted for the Bramble Beret, which felt appropriately Scottish.
New signs at the border crossing for #legalizationincanada at PET. There was even a can to bin your bud before the border 🚮
It’s really impressive to see so many women in #tech in the same room for #ghc18. Even the nosebleeds are filled! #WomenInTech
Everyone in the lab is using macs now; to prevent mixups at conferences I used #washitape to mark which chargers are mine. #diy #crafts #technology
One of my favorite parts of @edmfolkfest is the @ckuaradio tent with their live broadcasts. Had a chance to listen to @shakeygraves perform some songs acoustic and talk about songwriting. Dozens of people were huddled in the rain and mud to listen to Alberta public radio! #publicradio #livemusic #indie
I made my first 3D print today! Now I have an adorable Gengar desk friend 🔮 #3dprinting #tech #phdlife #pokemon
Yesterday I hade Thai tea ice cream 🍦 and learned about dialog systems #gradcohort2018 #gradschool #tech
In San Fran for #gradcohort2018. Currently eating my weight in nigiri 🍣 and enjoying the excellent conversation. It’s not often I get to hang out with so many women in tech.
Snug as a bug in a rug 🐕 . . . #dogsofinstagram #dachshundsofinstagram #dachshund #weinerdog #dog #aww #pet
I’ve been waiting a long time for this! My @inputclub white fox keyboard is finally here! So excited to start typing on my hako trues 😍 . . . #mechanicalkeyboard #mechkeyboard #whitefox #tech
I went to see @alvvaysband at the starlight room last week. The serendipitous highlight for me was getting to see @thisisfrankierose. They were in a few playlists that I used to listen to in highschool, but lost their music when my harddrive died. Im getting crazy nostalgia after finding them all over again.
I am unreasonably excited about this Grace Hopper sticker my lab-mate gave to me.
All done. Finished just in time for some spring strolls. 🍃 . . . #diy #knittersofinstagram #knitting #yarn #craft #fashion #diyfashion #sweaterweather
More progress on my fisherman sweater! I don’t like seaming, so I followed @bygumbygolly’s instructions for modifying patters for set in sleeves. Just two sleeves to go!
@brooklyntweed docklight sweater with @malabrigoyarn in archangel . . . #yarn #fiber #diy #diyfashion #crafts #crafty #knitting #knittersofinstagram #workinprogress #fashion
Late night second-hand book store haul: a magical copy of Robert Brandon’s “Making it Explicit”: the big-kid version of my favorite philosopher’s work . . . #book #philosophy #secondhand
Pretending I’m at hockey night in Scotland 🏴 but I’m really just in Edmonton 🤷🏼♀️ there is a shortage of wine and cheese and commentary from @jammy_stuff
Enjoying some cello suites at @yellowheadbrewery with the @edmontonchambermusic society. The best part of chamber music is how intimate the venues are ☺️ and I love it when artists talk about the pieces they perform • • • #yeg #yegarts #music #classicalmusic #arts #livemusic
There are some crazy ice sculptures at @iceonwhyte. It’s one of three international competitive ice sculpting competitions in Canada and all of the sculptures were made in 35 hours.
The detail on some of the sculptures is incredible, and the use of transparency and opacity in the ice is really neat. • • • #art #sculpture #ice #yeg #yegwinter #winter
I found the best little tea place in Edmonton. It’s a wholesale tea store and the only place where you can get good Taiwanese oolong. 🍵
The nao robots are positioned a bit ominously today 😐 • • • • #technology #tech #robot #robotics #artificialintelligence #ml
My pair programming partner keeps falling asleep 🤷🏼♀️ he’s napping on the job 🐕 • • • #dogsofinstagram #dachshundsofinstagram #dachshund #olddog #doggie #doggos #dog #pupper
At watari playing sushi go and eating all you can eat sushi 🍣 . . . . #boardgames #games #foodie #yummy #foodporn #sushi #japanesefood #tasty #instafood
When it’s warmed up a bit, but you still just want to stay inside wrapped in blankets. . . . #dogsofinstagram #dogs #dachshundsofinstagram #dachshund #petsofinstagram #cute #animals #adorable
Homemade bagel -> breakfast sandwich. Everyone needs garlic in the morning 🙆🏼♀️ . . . #keto #breakfast #ketobreakfast #coffee #food #foodie #foodporn #eat #instafood #delicious #stuffed #yummy #yum😋
Enjoying a little cappuccino at @transcendcoffee while I work out what experiments I want to run. ☕️ Probs my my favorite espresso in Edmonton. #yeg #coffee #espresso #fountainpen #notebook #stationary
More holiday parties 🎈 more cat snuggles 🐈 #cat #catsofinstagram #petsofinstagram #christmas #family
Merry Christmas from the guard woof. 🐕🎄🎁 #dog #dogsofinstagram #christmastree #woofer #doggo #christmas #christmasparty #christmastime
Helped my aunt decorate her house for Christmas 🎄 and hung out with her cats 🐈 Sir William Starburst was looking especially relaxed today.
#catsofinstagram #cat #cats #interiordesign #decor
#knitting and #coffee. The brownie is made with prince of darkness espresso and is probably the tastiest thing ever. #yarncraft #yarn #knittersofinstagram #crafts #sweaterweather
Working on a modified @brooklyntweed docklight jumper ✨using @malabrigoyarn arroyo in archangel. Swapped the lace out for a simple cable inbetween the fisherman’s rib. #knittersofinstagram #knitting #knittinglove #knitagram #sweaterweather #diyfashion #fibercraft #crafts #yarncraft
Hey @abethcrane, I found a HoloLens being used for visualizing the @cloud.dx tricorder data at @sucanadasummit.
I’m at #sucansummit listening to @peterhdiamandis talk about exponential thinking and disruptive technology. #tech #ai #singularity
Spotted at the UofA: the most adorable eldritch horror. 🐙 #cthulhu #eldritch #eldritchhorror #lovecraft #hplovecraft #callofcthulhu
Another year, another symphony under the sky with Edmonton symphony orchestra! Getting ready for some outdoors Tchaikovsky, Wagner, and Bruch. 🎼🎻🏞 #yeg #yegarts #music #livemusic #symphony #classicalmusic #tchaikovsky #wagner
Uncle Tetsu! 🍮 time for cheesecake. It took us half an hour for Beatrice and I to get them, but it was totally worth it.
Landed in Great Falls, Montana for immigration ✈️ Apparently over 30 small aircraft came down in the morning heading to the eclipse 🌚🌝
Festival cardigan knitting progress. 🏔🎻🎼
I spent my first weekend in Toronto looking for two things: coffee and yarn.
I went on an adventure looking for two things in Toronto: coffee and yarn.
I wanted to explore the city through it's cafes---something Edmonton doesn't have enough of. Finding odd coffee shops around town in the different neighbourhoods was a way for me to scratch my caffeine-addiction itch while planning my way through the different villages.
This is the building RBC reasearch and a number of other startups are based out of. It's right next to UofT campus and was apparently the first hospital in Upper-Canada. The research team is based out of what used to be the surgery room. Rumour has it unlucky patients were shuttled across the street via underground tunnels to the former biology building.
Up until this point, I hadn't had a chance to explore the city very thoroughly, so my impression of Toronto was based off of the university and it's downtown core---condos and offices. However, if you head in the right direction, a couple blocks away from the lab the high-rises immediately disappear and you're left with small houses and duplexes.
I ended up at yarns untangled, a small knitting store on the edge of Kensington market. One of the challenges of I've had in Edmonton is finding a knitting community that's close enough to where I live. I figured that in Toronto I might be able to find interesting hand-dyed Canadian yarn---stuff I wouldn't be able to get in Edmonton. I wasn't wrong. I just finished a jumper, and was looking to start a cardigan. They had the most beautiful green yarn. After petitioning the patrons on colour choices, I walked out with the buttons and wool to start a new sweater.
One of the things that really impressed me, was the number of people who were just knitting and socializing in the store. They really had a community going---everyone seemed to know each other. It was like a hub for near-by knitters.
I played trains with Danny and Felicia at tabletop and created a glorious green-machine railway empire.
My last stop on the Danube: Passau, Germany. It's a tiny town which is notable for it's gothic and baroque architecture.
The sight I was most excited about: Melk Abbey. It's *very* baroque.
An austrian monastery established in 1114.
A gothic cathedral in Vienna. It's got a really good clock.
The Viennese treasury. Filled with ridiculous things: The Holy Roman Empire's Crown, one of the largest emeralds in the world, etc.
Unexpectedly fun city of the trip: Budapest.
An odd foray into Serbia: It's a weird city with sad history.
This is the first lock I went through down the danube. It's got a fairly interesting history.
A stop in Romania to say I stopped in Romania. Went to see an oddity: a church built in the 1970s.
My last stop in Bulgaria before getting on a boat and heading down the Danube.
Day one on my trip down the danube: Sofia, Bulgaria. I walked around some of the popular sights, seeing orthodox cathedrals, Serdician ruins, and an actual yellow-brick road.
This year I completed my Undergraduate studies, graduating with a first in Artificial intelligence and computer science from the University of Edinburgh.
Unfortunately, due to refurbishment I didn't get to graduate in McEwan hall. As a result, the only time I've been able to appreciate McEwan was during my second year Probability exam. It wasn't really a good occasion to be staring at the murals on the ceiling.
As a surrogate we used Usher hall, the venue most of the symphony and chamber music events are held in.
Given how diminutive the informatics class is, we got bundled up with the school of Engineering. As a result, we had two honorary degree speeches. I forgot what the engineering guy did. The Computer Science speaker got the deal to develop minecraft for the X-box.
I guess that's vaguely interesting.
One of the quirks of the University of Edinburgh is that we don't wear mortarboard cap. Instead all graduates share the same hat. When walking across the stage, the vice-chancellor bops each student on the head.
Fun-fact: Piers Sellers offered to take the hat into space. Given space-ships occasionally explode (and the hat is sort-of important) a university emblem was taken to space and later sewn on the hat.
I got booped on the head with a space-hat.
I was fortunate enough to be able to get enough tickets for both my parents and grandparents. My family came over a couple weeks prior and we traipsed across Ireland and the highlands together.
I had one ticket left-over and Jammy had a free-morning. As a result, I was able to get Jam-Jam, father of polar bears, first of his name, to come along to my graduation.
Through Jammy's coaching, I was able to get booped on the head and collect a degree without falling in front of everyone.
Field trip to the highland wildlife park. The polar bears were eating meatcicles.
Rebuilt Colossus: first digital computer.
Bombe machine internals. Apparently the volunteers that maintain it have enigma code breaking competitions with GCHQ annually.
A thing to represent a thing that Churchill may or may not have stood on at some point.
We will win the Edmonton Folk Fest tarp this year. It has been foretold.
Here's an example of a collection of images, or an album. So I've started this as a means of collating a group of related items.
I wanted the extension to be as minimal as possible. As a result, I treat a collection post the same way as any other post: there's no additional information or details associated with a collection. I manage this by making albums that are simply 'responses' to other posts on the site with the in-reply-to field. This lets me give all the individual images additional information, by letting them be their own posts. It's a bit of a hack and I'm kind-of using in-reply-to fields for something other than what they were originally intended for.
It's just a mock up, really, but it does what I need it to do. I still need to figure out what the most sensible way to display all this is. :/
Found this gem when going through photo's yesterday. Portrait of the Fargeys circa 1900.
I won the 50/50 at the free will showing of Coriolanus! With ticket 2345, no less!
