Eyes Above The Waves

Saturday 29 August 2026

A Meta-Meditation On The Lord's Prayer (And DNA)

In my previous post I wrote down some thoughts I had about the Lord’s Prayer and noted:

Friday 28 August 2026

A Meditation On The Lord's Prayer

It’s amazing how the Lord’s Prayer, so short, so simple and so old, just keeps on giving. Just tonight I was half-dozing, praying it and thinking about it and seeing from new angles.

Sunday 9 August 2026

Queenstown Walks

Last week I was in Queenstown for a work event — pretty full-on social activities from Wednesday night to Friday, but then I stayed in Queenstown for the weekend and had that time to myself. So I treated myself to a couple of big walks.

Thursday 30 July 2026

Thoughts on 'Pacing The Frontier'

I signed the Pacing The Frontier petition for a very simple reason: I agree with the statement.

Wednesday 8 July 2026

Karangahake Gorge To Te Aroha

From Sunday to Tuesday I led a group tramp from Karangahake Gorge to Te Aroha via Waitawheta Hut in the Kaimai Range. The weather was very wet on the last day but overall we had a great time.

Wednesday 4 March 2026

Anthropic And AI Principles

I signed the We Will Not Be Divided open letter. I agree with Anthropic that AI should not be used for mass surveillance of a government over its own citizens, and that AI should not be used to kill people without human oversight. I hope my employer, Google, asks for the same restrictions. I applaud Anthropic and Dario Amodei in particular for taking their stand. I think Anthropic is clearly the leading AI company in terms of safety and responsibility, and (less importantly) in many dimensions of capability. Good for them!

Since that letter was promulgated, OpenAI claims to have made a deal with the US government that prevents their AI being used for those things. If true, good for them, but I don’t yet understand why Anthropic wasn’t able to get the same deal.

Sunday 4 January 2026

Why Trump Is An Antichrist

[Preface: The United States government plans to scrutinise the social media posts of visitors. I wondered whether it will still be safe for me to make a post like this. First I thought so, but then I thought that anyhow it would be sensible to be cautious and not post. Then I decided that if the USA becomes the kind of country that blocks visitors based on posts like this, I want to know about it and I want everyone else to know about it too. Being unable to visit the USA, or even being detained, would be inconvenient to me but no great trouble. So here we go.]

Saturday 13 December 2025

Taiwan

Our family went to Taiwan for a couple of weeks, in Taichung, Taipei and Alishan. It was our first overseas holiday together for many years, and perhaps the opportunity will not come again for a long time. My wife is Chinese and we’d never been to Asia, so it was good to spend some time there.

Sunday 23 November 2025

Pouakai Circuit 2025

My previous attempts to tramp the Pouakai Circuit and see the famous view of Mt Taranaki from Pouakai Tarns were fun, but not entirely successful due to foggy weather at the tarns, so I vowed to keep trying until we got good a view there. Last week I had another attempt, but once again it was fun but foiled by the weather!

Monday 10 November 2025

AI And Jesus In Late 2025: A Road Trip Report

Three things: I work for Google Deepmind; I believe AI will most likely be disastrous for humanity; and I believe Jesus rose from the dead. That combination possibly makes me unique. It certainly is awkward.