Notes from the Field
A miscellany of personal musings and curiosities that don't quite fit elsewhere.
February 2026
Qwen3 vs XKCD
A quick test of the Qwen3 VLM illustrated through the historical challenges of image recognition.
Experiments with Nano Banana 2
Some preliminary tests with generating images using the newest version of Google's multimodal generative model - NB Pro 2.
Animated Plants with AI
A quick comparison between Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google to generate an interactive potted plant animation using pure SVG.
Hobbes Animation
An example of using ControlNet to generate a consistent walk cycle for an animated sprite
LLMs and ASCII Diagrams
Keeping a continuously updated architecture document with clear, text-based diagrams helps developers stay grounded and reduce overhead as projects grow.
December 2025
Reporters Without Freedom
An analysis of the United States' declining press freedom over the past decade using the World Press Freedom Index.
Spritesheets using Gemini 3.0 Pro
Exploring how the editing capabilities of Google's NanoBanana Pro model can be used to generate spritesheets and pixel art.
Slalom for the NES
A satirical look at the disconnect between NES box art and actual gameplay graphics.
November 2025
Preliminary Testing with Z-Image Turbo
Playing around with the distilled version of Z-Image optimized for consumer hardware, showcasing its capabilities and limitations.
Food Prompts
Attempts at mixing generative AI with food.
Periodic Motion with Nano Banana Pro
Exploring the capabilities of Nano Banana Pro with a focus on images which contain repeating patterns.