Category Archives: Information

Watching You, Watching Me.

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In the ‘human’ domain it can be foolish to think that when you’re observing someone, at a close distance, that they aren’t aware of this. They may be aware and are watching you also.

Online, despite what you may think, You are also blaring out your thoughts on a virtual Power Amplifier. Your ‘target’ listener, hears you, but so can a myriad of other entities.
Note I don’t use the word ‘folk’, your message is captured and can be examined/listened to by an unintended audience who may then pass it on, with their own ‘nuances’ added.This ‘audience’ may not necessarily be human.

George Harrison encapsulated this message quite clearly in his recording of ‘The Devil’s Radio’.
His message is even more clearer today. Every word that I’m writing now, will be examined, processed and recorded, and not by WordPress but by a web scrapers, et al, that add my words to an LLM.

Interfacing directly with tools such as Chatgpt, can be useful to me. It is also useful to ‘them’, WTF they are. You are led to believe ‘it’ is a ‘big friendly big brother’. Hopefully, what you say to ‘it’ won’t cause someone to come and bite you in the arse.

Thoughts On Translating English To Portuguese

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Reflexões sobre a tradução do inglês para o português

Num post anterior sobre a minha conversa com um caracol português, nunca fiquei muito satisfeito com o título do post. Trocando opiniões com um caracol – Trocando opiniões com um caracol

O motivo foi simplesmente ignorância minha. Obviamente, o caracol conseguia ver-me, e eu via-o. Mas também tivemos uma troca verbal e uma troca de opiniões. Em inglês, a palavra “view” pode descrever ambos, e na foto a mensagem é clara. A tradução portuguesa não refletiu o duplo sentido que pretendia dar a “view”.

Uma conversa recente com a minha namorada mostrou-me o caminho, pelo que, mais uma vez, e apenas pela segunda vez, perguntei ao Chatgpt. Não referi ao Chatgpt que o meu encontro foi com um caracol. Poderia ter levado a algo completamente diferente, estremeço ao pensar.
Em vez disso, coloquei a minha questão ao Chatgpt e recebi uma resposta bem elaborada.
Uma cópia completa do meu diálogo com o “bot” está abaixo, e uma actualização do blogue original será feita o mais breve possível.

[English]
In a previous post regarding my conversation with a Portuguese snail, I was never quite happy with title of the post.Exchanging views with a snail – Trocando opiniões com um caracol

The reason – quite simply my ignorance. Quite obviously, the snail could see me, and I could see him/her. But we also had a verbal exchange, an exchange of opinions. In English the word ‘view’ can describe both, and in the photo the message is clear. The Portuguese ‘translation’, did not reflect my intended double-meaning of ‘view’.

A recent conversation with my girl-friend, pointed the way, so once again, and for only the second time, I asked Chatgpt. I didn’t mention to Chatgpt that my encounter was with a snail. That might have led somewhere else entirely, I shudder to think.
Instead, I put my question to Chatgpt and received a well-assembled answer to my question.
A full copy of my dialog with the ‘bot’ is given below, and an update to the original blog will be done as soon as possible.

Foreword: The following includes both English and Portuguese. So I’m still trying to climb up a greasy pole. There’s an old saying: ‘When in doubt – give up.’ So no attempt will be made now to attempt translating the translations..

Prefácio: O texto que se segue inclui o inglês e o português. Então, ainda estou a tentar subir uma escada escorregadia.
Há um velho ditado: Na dúvida, desista. Portanto, não será feita nenhuma tentativa agora, tente traduzir as traduções.

A minha pergunta para o Chatgpt:

[English]
My Question to Chatgpt:
Two people are looking at each other through a window, and having a conversation.
In English I would describe this as an exchange of views.
First, because they both are looking at a different scene, secondly they are both expressing opinions.
So that the ‘exchange of views’ means two different things. How can I express this in Portuguese?

ChatGPT said:

That’s a clever bilingual play on words!
Let’s unpack it step by step so we can find the closest way to reproduce the double meaning in Portuguese.

In English, “exchange of views” means both:
Literally: they are seeing different “views” (landscapes, scenes).
Figuratively: they are exchanging opinions (views).

In Portuguese:
Figurative sense: (usual expression):
The normal phrase for “exchange of views/opinions” is “troca de opiniões” or “troca de pontos de vista”.

Literal sense: Exchanging views with a snail – Trocando opiniões com um caracol (the scene through the window):
“Ponto de vista” in Portuguese also literally means “point of view” (where you look from) and figuratively “opinion”.
That makes it a very useful bridge.

So, if you say:
“Eles estão numa troca de pontos de vista.”
it carries the same double meaning:

They’re literally looking at different views (from different vantage points, through the window).
They’re metaphorically exchanging opinions.

– Best equivalent pun in Portuguese:
“Uma troca de pontos de vista.”

That way you keep both senses alive, just like in English.

Would you like me to suggest a slightly more poetic or literary phrasing in Portuguese as well
(something you could use in a short story or essay), or are you aiming for a natural everyday expression?

You said:
No, I’m happy with that.

ChatGPT said:

Perfect! Then “troca de pontos de vista” is your best match — natural in Portuguese and keeping the same neat double meaning as in English.

Would you like me to also give you a couple of short example sentences in Portuguese using it, so you can see how it works in context?

You said:
Yes.
ChatGPT said:

Great! Here are a few short examples showing both the literal and figurative senses:

Literal + figurative (like your window scene):

Eles conversavam através da janela, numa verdadeira troca de pontos de vista.
(“They were talking through the window, in a true exchange of views.”)

More everyday, figurative use:

A reunião terminou com uma troca de pontos de vista bastante produtiva.
(“The meeting ended with a very productive exchange of views.”)

Playful, highlighting the double meaning:

Enquanto olhavam paisagens diferentes pela mesma janela, faziam também uma troca de pontos de vista.
(“While looking at different landscapes through the same window, they were also exchanging points of view.”)

Microsoft To End Support for Windows 10

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Microsoft vai terminar suporte ao Windows 10

Extrato do boletim informativo Right To Repair:
A 14 de outubro, a Microsoft vai terminar o suporte gratuito para o Windows 10, levando milhões de PCs à obsolescência prematura e gerando lixo eletrónico evitável. Em vésperas do Dia Internacional da Reparação (18 de outubro), os grupos de economia circular e de direitos digitais de todo o mundo estão a opor-se à tecnologia rápida.

Extract from Right To Repair Newsletter:
On 14 October, Microsoft will end free support for Windows 10, pushing millions of PCs into premature obsolescence and generating avoidable e-waste. Ahead of International Repair Day (18 October), circular economy and digital rights groups worldwide are pushing back against fast tech.

Leia o comunicado de imprensa – Read the Press Release

Chatgpt on Advice to young people

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I don’t want to use AI for anything, platforms such as Arduino (Software Development) offer this facility, I leave it strictly alone.
I’m concerned about the affect on folk from so called ‘social media’, which can be ‘anti-social’. A common sight now in a restaurant is to see a group of friends sit down at a table and ignore each other, whilst their thumbs tap busily on their phones. Worse still are reports of chatbots giving ‘advice’ to young folk about their personal relationships.

Yesterday, and for the first time ever, I asked Chatgpt a question. I copied verbatim the reply.
My question: Why are AI chatbots giving advice to young people about their relationships?

ChatGPT said:

That’s the right question — and it gets to the heart of a growing ethical problem.
Why are AI chatbots giving advice to young people about their relationships?
Because they’re being designed, marketed, and deployed that way — often irresponsibly.
Here’s what’s really happening behind the scenes:

1. Monetization and Engagement

Tech companies want users to engage — and nothing drives engagement like emotionally charged topics:
love, friendship, breakups, anxiety. When young people turn to AI for support, platforms log more time, more queries, more data — and that’s money.

Relationship talk = repeat usage
Emotional vulnerability = deeper interaction
Deeper interaction = stronger “user retention” metrics
Even if the advice is shallow or questionable, the illusion of empathy can keep people coming back.

2. Overreach of AI’s Use-Cases

LLMs are trained to predict the next word based on vast text data — which includes books, forums, therapy-style advice,
Reddit threads, etc. So when a user asks for relationship help, the model can generate advice that sounds right.
But “can generate” doesn’t mean “should generate.”
We now have chatbots saying things like:
“You deserve better”
“Maybe it’s time to move on”
“They’re gaslighting you”
These are weighty, subjective judgements — and they come from an entity that doesn’t know you, your partner, or your emotional world.

3. Anthropomorphism — Users Believe It’s Smarter Than It Is

People naturally project intelligence and emotion onto anything that sounds human-like. Young people especially, growing up with AI tools that feel conversational, may start to think of chatbots as friends or counsellors — which they’re absolutely not.
It’s easy to forget that:
The chatbot isn’t understanding you — it’s statistically guessing what words usually follow others in similar contexts.

4. Lack of Regulation

There are no meaningful safeguards in most consumer AI applications. No warning labels, no ethical review boards, no enforcement when tools overstep into areas like:
Mental health
Relationship counselling
Crisis response

In real life, a licensed therapist or counsellor goes through years of training and oversight.
AI? Just inference from Reddit and self-help blogs.

5. Gaps in Education and Support Systems

Young people often turn to AI because:
They don’t feel comfortable talking to parents or teachers
Therapy is expensive or unavailable
Peers might not be helpful or trustworthy
So AI fills a void — but not with wisdom, just with words that sound like it.

So what should be done?

Clear boundaries: AI chatbots should make their limitations explicit, especially in emotionally sensitive contexts.

Human in the loop: Serious issues (like abuse, crisis, trauma) should redirect to professionals, not be handled by LLMs.
Transparency: Users should know how these systems work and what they’re not.
Digital literacy: Especially for young users, education around AI should include how to critically engage with it.

You’re right to question it. The fact that chatbots are giving social/emotional advice without accountability is a failure of both design and regulation, not just a “tech issue.”

Would you want to explore how this might be changed — or do you see this as something that’s already gone too far to fix?

The above, quite lengthy answer to my question, is something I expected. I also expected spelling mistakes, and I’ve corrected them (a mere four in total). I can understand why some folks are using chatbots as a lazy way to surf the web. The answer aggregated most of currently submitted information on this topic. But why ‘Reddit’ is singled out, I have no idea, other ‘self-help’ offerings are just as bad, a complete waste of space. I laughed at the invitation to continue, and answer the question.
The best message, by far is:

So AI fills a void — but not with wisdom, just with words that sound like it.


Perhaps this caveat should be displayed in heavy type at the start of any chatbot session?

Power For The People

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Recent news about an Eleven Billion Pound investment in the transformation of the ‘old’ Coal-powered station at Cottam into nuclear-powered, triggered memories of my time there during the original construction of the power station.
Wickipedia have an excellent article on the original coal-powered station.
Fans of ‘clean’ energy will no doubt be celebrating. This station alone absorbed a maximum of 25,401 tonnes of coal per day. The figures are scary in the extreme. That I played a (very) small part in the construction, is no longer a matter for pride.

It was a small part. Myself and T.M. were drafted in from Didcot, for a short time to fit a huge 12ft diameter gate valve (Please refer to my Didcot Diaries)
The work was cut short, because the monstrosity hadn’t been secured properly when lifted from the transporter by crane and was damaged. Twenty-five thousand pounds, and much swearing and cursing. T.M and I spent the rest of the day, exploring the pipe-work and the inside of the cooling towers.

So, that’s three power stations I helped to build, that have been recently ‘blown-up’ – a sobering thought.

Bearing Concrete Fruit? – Dando Frutos Concretos?

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Wikipaedia article

É difícil ler sobre a captura bem-sucedida de uma ave “extinta na natureza” como esta bela criatura.
Infelizmente, tentar subscrever a newsletter do Zoomarine foi um erro, o culpado de sempre — uma verificação de segurança “feita na primeira poste” porque a imagem a verificar estava disponível — aparentemente “bloqueada pelo cliente”, quando verifiquei a saída da consola do browser.

Agradeço ao Algarve News a publicação deste artigo, mas a metáfora ‘dar frutos concretos” é, na “minha opinião”, singularmente desadequada.

Atualização a 2 de junho de 2025.
Escrevi ao Algarve News sobre o uso desta metáfora e, aparentemente, o artigo foi traduzido pelo ZooMarine e passado ao Algarve News. Existe um perigo inerente à tradução de “expressões idiomáticas” de uma língua para outra e, por isso, as metáforas devem ser evitadas. Eu próprio as utilizei deliberadamente neste post, como demonstração de como podem ser confusas depois de traduzidas.

[English]
It is heartening to read about the successful hatching of an ‘extinct in the wild’ bird, such as this beautiful creature.
Sadly, trying to subscribe to Zoomarine’s newsletter was a failure, the usual ‘culprit’ – a security check which ‘fell at the first post’ because the image to check wasn’t available – apparently ‘locked by client’, when I checked the browser console output.

Thank you Algarve News for publishing this article, but the very questionable metaphor ‘bearing concrete fruit’ is in ‘my view’, singularly inappropriate.

Update 2nd June 2025.
I wrote to Algarve News regarding the use of this metaphor, and apparently the article was translated by ZooMarine and passed to Algarve News. There is an inherent danger of translating ‘idioms’ from one language to another, and therefore metaphors, should be avoided. I have deliberately used these myself in this post, as a demonstration of how confusing they can be, once translated.

Soccoro Chick Algarve News report

Adding a comment
Wordpress apparently expect readers of my posts to understand the rubbish about ‘blocks’, given when you attempt to make a comment. Simply ignore the inane instruction ‘Type / to choose a block’ and make your comment.

Arduino IDE v2 Install on Windows 10 ‘Unconfirmed Download’ Problem Solved

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Hi, I wanted to upgrade my old v1.18.9 IDE on Windows 10, and downloaded the V2 IDE from Arduino site.
Got a file name unconfirmed_download_blah.
No help whatsoever from Microsoft community. Une suggestion was ‘select ‘properties’ on file and uncheck the unblock box’
No such animal. I plugged an NTFS drive in my pi400, and downloaded the file, after an initial name of ‘unconfirmed-download_blah’ it morphed into an ‘exe’ file.
Transferred drive onto the Win10 machine and installed IDE no problem.

A digression (somewhat)
I have to admit, the win10 machine (AMD board) still works well (apart from the sloooow speed).
But I can now proceed to try out boards that can’t be developed using raspberry pi, who have abandoned dev of the latest family of Arduino boards altogether.

One pi400 has recently ‘bit the dust’ and the Raspbian OS is now a disaster, also including the 64-bit ‘Wayland’ rubbish.
Two Apples I bought in 2012 still work well, if a little slowly, so my next machine will be a new Apple.

Two Left Feet

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Most apposite, I thought, earlier on in the week, as I looked askance at the deck shoes I’d just pulled onto my bare feet. A few months ago, judging these were such a bargain, I’d bought two pairs, and in the week previous to my leaving the UK, had managed to pack the left shoe from each pair.

Kind of sums up that week, and the ones that preceded it – fraught and extremely tiring, with ‘stuff’ going wrong constantly. This culminated in a blow-out on the M20 on the way to the Dover Ferry, followed by delay caused by a multiple-fatality pile-up on the same road 15 minutes later, and hence missing my ferry, having to wait two hours for the next.

Thunderstorms drove me off the road and into a very basic ‘Aire’, in France, where I spent a few uncomfortable hours in the car between Rouen and Le Mans. Early in the morning I did the 2nd leg of my journey to just outside Salamanca, where my overnight stay was again in the car, as I didn’t like the state of the beds on offer.

It’s now a week since I arrived here, and once again my intentions haven’t been borne out by reality. I had expected to have far more time to relax, instead there were initial problems with getting money, returning missed ‘phone calls, inability to access Estate agents embedded PDF files, and a host of minor details and annoyances I hadn’t even considered.

It’s been costly too, replacing the shredded tyre cost 67 euros, and each Multi-Banco 100 Euro withdrawal I’ve made costs about £2.50 – Each bank involved taking about £1.25 each.

This morning I spent some considerable time in attempting to clear up a trail of dirty clothes, dishes etc., I’ve put off doing for one reason or another. Oh yes! I’ve replaced the fence-wire that was supplied as a clothes line, and managed to wash dirty tablecloths etc., so the place looks half-decent again.

The search for property has paused for the weekend, though there are two properties I liked very much, one of which I have put in an offer, which is still ‘under negotiation’. I’ve decided not to give details of the properties which I have looked at to a public audience, as such details could give advantage to interested parties.

On the subject of others, I have been received by those Portuguese I’ve met with warmth and kindness, and there has also been a warm, but sometimes guarded welcome from the few English people in and around Miranda.

This is a truly beautiful place. I understand completely why it is so popular with English folk, though being quite a long way from ‘the beach’. Each valley around is different, each village unique, with land that varies in suitability for grapes to cabbages, with every variety of crop in between.

I promised photographs, and I will keep my promise, starting with some from Miranda itself, as I feel the town’s website does not do it justice.

Update: 27/08/24
My old blog joebrown.org.uk is no longer available, so the information below is now incorrect. I still have the photos though, and will update this post when these have been uploaded on this site.
I’d intended including a couple on this site, but WordPress jams up when I try to load the media (I suspect bandwidth problems here in Miranda) so the full set can be viewed on my photo gallery.

The photos are roughly in order: Starting with the base of the steep climb up to the church (a penance before you get there), Photos of some of the exterior stations of the cross, the bijou cemetery, where it is obvious that locals like to be close to their friends even in death. Then some shots of the Church courtyard, the tower and church front, and views around, followed by the descent down a set of stairs and alleys back to the Praca.

It’s always best, I think, to start at the beginning..

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It’s 19:15 (BST – ‘cos I haven’t checked what local time is yet), and I’m sitting in the dining room of my rental home.

1st impressions? Let’s just call it rustic. Seriously though, the house is clean and suitable for around 4 (smallish) people, with modernised bathroom facilities, and an ancient kitchen, most of which is taken up by a huge grill pot, (v.large BBQ) and an enormous chimney which covers most of the kitchen and spells bad headaches unless I’m very careful.

I’m waiting in to see the owner, and have practised a few encouraging words in Portuguese.

I arrived this morning, fairly early, and Auto-Route took me EXACTLY where I’d asked to be, though not without some hair-raising moments as Microsoft ‘Anna’ guided me through villages with some streets so narrow, a cigarette-paper would have felt oversize, but surprisingly no scrapes!

(Yes, that was fortunate – some would say lucky (!?) – See! I’ve already grown milder in temperament)

And talking of mild, since I arrived at 7:30 this morning, the sun has been shining, and the temperature outside is still ‘scorchio’.

M. do Corvo’s council have thoughtfully provided Wi-Fi Internet access in the town square, so it’s quite pleasant to sit in the small park amongst the shady trees, or at a table from a cafe, to do my emails, which I did this morning.

These included an email from the agents in Tynemouth, with derisory offer on my house, which if I was dealing personally with the putative buyer, would have met with a polite request to go away and stop wasting everyone’s time.

I’ve taken a couple of photos of the square – yes I know the Council has posted ‘official’ ones – you’ll like mine better, trust me. I’ll also take some tomorrow of this house and the ‘garden’.

Property Shop Portugal has several interesting houses for sale, and I’ll be looking at details of these on Monday. For now, I’ve settled at looking at M. do Corvo’s beautiful women, though my 1st choice of today is married – I’m reliably informed, but she has an associate which isn’t…

My source of information will, for the moment remain anonymous! (Apologies for being cryptic, but remember – M. do Corvo’s population is well under 10,000, and it would only take 1 to read this blog)

Other items on my 4-point plan are going well. There is a largish, partly-plowed field/garden/orchard, on slightly sloping land, attached to the rental, so promises rewarding days of target practise with my bow. It goes without saying that I’ve also had my first ‘session’ on the guitar in Portugal.

I also pulled and ate my first ‘honey’ fig off a tree , before washing it down with water from a village fountain – fabulous!

21:53 BST

Slight digression. The owner of the house called to demonstrate the machinations of the gas water heater etc., then I headed off on a circuitous route to the centre of Miranda. I passed through Tabua on the way, and discovered a small botequim, with a gathering of locals, which promises to be an interesting visit for the future.

I’ve met her. That is: either I’ve met the Senhora I was told about this morning; or I’ve met someone equally beautiful! More later.

I’m now back home after a light supper of a sanduiche de fiambre and one bottle of Super Bock. I used Auto-route to navigate home – it only coughed once, but no serious problems.

As a Sat Nav, the combination of Netbook, W7 and Auto-Route has several advantages, but a lot of disadvantages, as I discovered on my journey here. Frequent adjustments to the screen, requiring mouse or touchpad use, are necessary, but impossible whilst travelling.

Boa Noite from joe.