Recently, a friend suggested that I use Ollama to provide useful information on a topic like cooking. I used my experiences customizing a model file and the latest iteration of Llama3.1 to accomplish that goal. I will assume that you already have Ollama installed on your computer, but if not, here’s a quick way to … Read more
Continuing my exploration of using a locally hosted Ollama on my Linux desktop computer, I have been doing a lot of reading and research. Today, while having lunch with a university professor, he asked me some questions I didn’t have an immediate answer to. So, I went back to my research to find the answers. … Read more
Years ago, I watched a TED talk by Larry Lessig about laws that stifle creativity. He made several excellent points in his speech, and it got me thinking about whether we are reaching a critical point in terms of laws regulating the use of generative AI. Recently, I listened to a podcast where the host … Read more
Now that I’m working with Ollama, I needed to figure out how to locate the models on my storage medium and determine the amount of space they were occupying. This is especially important for the MacBook Air, which has a 256 GB drive that is already half full. My Linux computer, on the other hand, … Read more
Everywhere you look, someone is talking or writing about artificial intelligence. I have been keenly interested in the topic since my graduate school days in the 1990s. I have used ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Claude, Stable Diffusion, and other AI software to experiment with how this technology works and satisfy my innate curiosity. Recently, I discovered … Read more
I volunteer with Meals on Wheels once a week, and one of the clients on my route is a man my age. We frequently spend time visiting when I bring his meal to him. Last week, when I stopped, he asked me if I could help him put his laptop computer back in working order. … Read more
In the early stages of my experience with Linux servers, I had to learn how to edit text files using the command line. While there are other powerful text editors in Linux, such as vi and vim, I found Nano to be particularly useful. Nano is a simple yet powerful text editor that comes pre-installed … Read more
I have dozens of VHS tapes recorded, in some cases nearly 30 years ago, of our children when they were young. About ten years ago, I used a Linux computer and dvgrab to capture the video using a Firewire port on the computer and an aging digital video camera. The setup worked quite well. Using … Read more
I started using Linux and open-source software in the late 1990s, and the more familiar I became with it, the more uses I saw for it, whether on the server side of our school system data infrastructure or software applications for students and teachers. My contributions to our school system were significant. I developed a … Read more
The “rm” command in Linux is a powerful tool for deleting files and directories. While it may seem simple, mastering this command requires understanding its various options and potential pitfalls. Early on in my Linux journey, I managed an Apache web server and needed to remove files occasionally. That is when I became familiar with … Read more
