Dave Miller Blog

Author: Dave

  • LLM Eye Blink Test

    LLM Eye Blink Test

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    Introduction This is a comparison of OpenAI GPT-5 vs. Anthropic Claude Sonnet 4. These are comparably priced commercial LLMs and are available in reasoning and non-reasoning varieties. The prompt On Tuesday morning at 7:00 a.m., Jane Wilkenson of Akron, Ohio woke up and blinked. Her eye blink generated a gravitational wave. Calculate the strain h…

  • LLM Dreamcatcher

    LLM Dreamcatcher

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    Abstract In this experiment, I explored whether large language models could engage infree-association—like daydreaming—in a closed loop. For five open‐weight chat models, I seeded the loop with a short sentence and, at each step, used a prompt to get the LLM to generate one or two sentences that pivot tangentially from the prior text. Each…

  • Flashlight LLM Test

    Flashlight LLM Test

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    Introduction OpenAI recently released GPT-5 with mixed reviews. Here is my first comparison test between Anthropic Sonnet 4 and OpenAI GPT-5. The models are comparably priced per token. All tests were through their respective APIs. Test prompt Imagine that every person on Earth was given a common typical flashlight. Imagine that on a Tuesday at…

  • Models of Consciousness

    Models of Consciousness

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    Where does consciousness come from? The brain is certainly involved—but how? Scientists have been trying to figure out how consciousness works since the beginning of recorded history, and it’s still a mystery. There are a few modern theories that attempt to explain consciousness. One prominent model is called Integrated Information Theory (IIT). It claims that…

  • The Evolution of Email Headers

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    Early email messages contained a few simple header fields that recorded the sender, the recipient, and the path the message took through one or more intermediate email servers. Occasional spam was not yet a big deal. Here are all the email headers from a spam message I received in 2004: Received: from 137-34-50.adsl.terra.cl (200.50.34.137) by…

  • Security Risk in Microsoft Word normal.dotm

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    In Microsoft Word, by default, recently defined paragraph and character styles are automatically added to your normal.dotm file and then silently copied into new documents that you create. This can leak private information about what you have been doing or who you have been corresponding with. Here’s an example of the privacy and security issue.…

  • Mimicking human functional intelligence does not imply consciousness

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    Because ChatGPT and other large language models mimic some of the functionality of human intelligence, some people propose that the machine must be conscious. Let’s examine that.

  • AI Wars

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    ChatGPT and other large language models are accidental reasoning engines because the structure of reasoning is embedded in the structure of language. Hackers are going to use it for nefarious purposes.

  • Linux and ThinkPad X13 Gen 3 AMD—A Perfect Match

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    The short story is that Linux Mint 21.1 (based on Ubuntu 22.04) runs remarkably well on a Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Gen 3 AMD. Thermals and Kernels Reportedly, AMD added power management for the Ryzen “Rembrandt” mobile processors in the ACPI Platform Profile for recent Linux kernels. I couldn’t determine for sure what “recent” means, so…

  • Linux backups on a Synology NAS

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    The Synology NAS products work well for backing up or sharing media files and documents in an informal home environment. However, a Synology NAS is not well suited as a general backup device for a Linux computer. The problems below can be overcome by archving your Linux files with tar or an equivalent archive manager,…