Author: Put Armstrong

Google’s Gemini

AI, Business and investments

I’ve spent a few days fooling around with Gemini and the Nano Banana image generator. I really like it. I find its reasoning more in depth both in chats about video/photographic equipment, possible investment ideas and geopolitics. I found some of the investment suggestion reasonings to be more in depth than ChatGPT.

I’ve also asked Nano Banana to put together a video of a witch and a dragon:

And a possible new logo for Androken.com:

I thought both came out better than earlier videos and images. I will try my pterodactyl next, although I may have used up all my Nano Banana credits for the day.

All in all, I think Alphabet has an AI winner. Looking forward to see where it leads.

As for investment, I closed all my put positions for the Thanksgiving week. I’m still long gold (ETFs), I have both domestic, developed international and emerging market ETF’s in equities and bonds, but over a third is in cash and money market.

I’m sure nincompoop will shake the investment tree hard over the next week about some slight. We shall see.

I Got my Medical Cert Back and More…

Aviation

Yay, I can fly again by myself. I actually enjoying it more when I am flying with others, but its nice to know I can go up alone. A big thank you to Congresswoman Chellie Pingree’s office for assisting me regain my certificate.

I think that it is time to redo this web site. Thus far I’ve been concentrating on aerial photography and video stuff. My overall photography, videography skill level needs improvement. So. I’ll be reworking this web site to incorporate both aerial and land based images, maybe even some drone work. My primary subject matter will be Maine, but other areas will be added when feasible.

Flight tomorrow (April 25, 2022)

Aviation

After a couple of test flights and a few tweaks, my plane is ready to fly. Unfortunately, the pilot is still waiting for the FAA to approve his medical certificate, but on photo shoots I take another pilot, so it’s all good.

If the weather is good we’ll either video the upper Androscoggin River or grab some shots of Mt Washington. Either, will be fun.

I’m busy improving my Final Cut Pro video editing chops, using Ripple Training. It’s an online course that digs deeply into all the nuances of FCP. Good stuff, there’s a lot to learn about that program.

More Research, More Learning

Uncategorized

I’m working to get a better handle on the scenes I see from the air. As I research the rivers and their contribution to human habitation, I’ve also relearned how recently the glaciers have disappeared and the first humans arrived. We are speaking of only 15,000 to 13,000 years ago. What did the landscape look like then?

Perhaps it had a similar appearance to the upper elevations of today’s Katahdin. Once the glaciers melted away, treeless tundra and plains were left behind. Maybe it looked something like this.

Katahdin above the tree line.

It seems the first humans arrived on foot, hunting game which included the Wooly Mammoth and Mastodons. Sea levels rose and fell and the forest crept in. As of approximately 9000 years ago, the tundra and plains had given way to tree and forests, impeding the easy movement by foot. Access and life along the rivers became essential.

Kennebec River, North of the Forks.