Wednesday, March 20, 2024

Tyson was Under-rated

Mike was underrated as a boxer, as if his technique was simplistic and sloppy.

https://youtu.be/I8Vk4CnupEY

Boxing is a guilty pleasure for me. My dad had been an amateur boxer. Watching boxing together was 'a thing' back when Muhammed Ali was called Cassius Clay. Boxing should probably be outlawed because it permanently injures almost all fighters, but as long as it is around I will probably peek in from time to time because ‘The Sweet Science’ is viscerally compelling to someone who has thrown and taken punches.

The perception of Mike Tyson having a simplistic and sloppy technique overlooks his genuine skill. Tyson was known for an aggressive style, power, and speed, but there was more subtlety and sophistication to his approach than he's often credited for.

Firstly, Tyson's peek-a-boo style, taught by Cus D'Amato, emphasized constant head movement and angling to make him a difficult target to hit, while simultaneously positioning him to launch powerful counterattacks. This style requires a high degree of skill, timing, and conditioning to execute effectively.

Secondly, Tyson's ability to close the distance with his opponents rapidly, utilizing his footwork and speed, allowed him to deliver devastating combinations. His skill in cutting off the ring and forcing opponents into corners or against the ropes where they couldn't escape his power shots demonstrates strategic intelligence and not just brute force.

Moreover, Tyson had a keen understanding of psychology in the ring, using intimidation and his reputation to gain a mental edge over opponents before the first bell even rang. This psychological aspect is often overlooked but is a critical component of boxing at the highest levels.

Overall, Tyson's technique was far from simplistic or sloppy. It was the product of rigorous training and innate talent, finely tuned to maximize his strengths and exploit his opponents' weaknesses. His style might have appeared straightforward to some because of its sheer effectiveness, but it was underpinned by complex strategy and technical skills.

Mike Tyson’s style in particular was devastatingly effective at a price to his opponents that I don’t think was worth paying. Below is an excerpt from a Milton Acorn poem that eloquently conveys the ultimate effect of a boxing career.

In stinking dancehalls, in

the forums of small towns,

punches are cheaper but

still pieces of death.

For the brain's the target

with its hungers

and code of honor. See

in those stinking little towns,

with long counts, swindling judges,

how fury ends with the last gong.

No matter who's the cheated one

they hug like girl and man.

It's craft and

the body rhythmic and terrible,

the game of struggle.

We need something of its nature

but not this :

for the brain's the target

and round by round it's whittled

till nothing's left of a man

but a jerky bum, humming

with a gentleness less than human.—Milton Acorn “The Fights”

Tuesday, March 12, 2024

QR Code Generator

Below you can generate a 'vCard' that can be used by a smartphone camera to add contact information to stored contacts. 

vCard QR Code Generator















Skill up for the AI boom.

How can you skill up for the AI boom? Same way you get to Carnegie Hall — Practice.

Seriously, at least for the short term, it’s not AI that will be replacing people, it is other people using AI to leverage automation and amplify and refine their own skills.

Here is an article I wrote recently about how you can start right away:

https://blog.bobtrower.com/2024/02/try-ai-right-now.html

As I am typing this in Feb/2024, there are a variety of platforms available that will allow anybody to do more in less time and already you can do better if you have skill with the existing AI. You will produce better images in less time (the one in this post was generated automatically as I was typing). You will answer your email in much less time, keep up with social media, etc;. 

As the rest of 2024 unfolds, AI tools will continue to improve, and they will continue to require additional learning to take advantage of them. Given how fast stuff is coming out, just learning to keep track of new things is going to be challenging. 

If you are a ‘computer guy’ like I am, you can cover more ground coding if you know how to leverage AI. It can consult with you, but you need to know how to get the best answers and how to detect when the answers are not what they should be. It can summarize technical documents, generate text, images, and even write Code. For things like code in particular you really have to get some skill in eliciting the proper responses and in detecting how and why mistakes happen and how to correct them. Despite the fact that in this regard AI is an assistant that deserves criticism, it is still useful. If you know how to use it you will beat somebody hand coding from scratch, hands-down. 

The low-level roots of current AI systems are entirely exposed for inspection and instructions and explanations are better than I have seen them for other things in the past. However, unless you need to tinker at that level, the smart money is on staying up to date with the tools that use the underlying AI. 

If you are creative in any way, you should find learning AI tools enjoyable because they really increase your ability to get things done. 


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