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AI scammers — stealing our work then trying to trick us again for PR
“As a science fiction author, I’ve always loved hearing from fans of my fiction,” [US based author Jason Sanford] tells the Guardian. “But now when someone emails saying they loved one of my stories, my first thought is that this is yet another scammer setting me up for the kill.” https://www.theguardian.com/books/ng-interactive/2026/mar/12/ai-book-scams-publishing-fraud?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other Yet another reason I […]
“Don’t worry about it” — Van Allen A to burn up tonight
“For the average person, it will be a nice light in the sky if you get lucky and, otherwise, don’t worry about it,” Dr. McDowell said. “We have much more scary re-entries that happen. Occasionally, there is a 20-ton Chinese rocket stage that comes down. Those are much scarier for me.” https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/10/science/space/nasa-satellite-earth-re-entry.html?unlocked_article_code=1.SVA.dk5d.09lMgapDCbYq&smid=nytcore-ios-share OK, granted that the odds […]
Dear Diary – October 5, 2003
I feel as if I have two personalities, one which speaks English and one which speaks Japanese. The one which speaks English can never get past being a high school geek. The one which speaks Japanese cannot get past being a “strange foreigner.” The only time I feel comfortable now is when I am teaching. […]
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Tag Archives: kindergarten
End of an Era: Goodbye, Nursery School
And so it begins. The end of the start of the rest of my children’s childhood. By which I mean our youngest daughter graduated from nursery school / kindergarten. Thinking back, we’ve been coming to our local nursery school every … Continue reading
Farewell, Nursery. Hello, Kindergarten
After turning five in January, our youngest daughter finally made to the end of nursery school (“nen-cho,” 年長). Or so we thought. We had heard rumors in previous years that the system might change. It turns out that in this … Continue reading
“International” kindergarten open day
Today we went to “open day” at a nearby “international kindergarten,” where our oldest daughter has gone for two years to Saturday classes. The previous week, our youngest daughter joined the four-hour class for the first time, but we were … Continue reading
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