Daryl Sng
@darylsng.com
Public sector sustainability & strategy consulting at Accenture. Former Singapore diplomat & climate policy guy. Proud papa. Loves cities, wordplay, trivia, food, sport. Pronounced “suhng”
One of the best things you can do with ChatGPT (or any other LLM, really, but ChatGPT is the worst at it) is give it an explicit instruction that says "never use emoji unless absolutely necessary, and don't flatter me, your normal style of response is extremely cringey"
January 20, 2026 at 7:00 PM
One of the best things you can do with ChatGPT (or any other LLM, really, but ChatGPT is the worst at it) is give it an explicit instruction that says "never use emoji unless absolutely necessary, and don't flatter me, your normal style of response is extremely cringey"
What I'm doing with LLMs right now is exactly what I thought would never be possible a year ago
sounds wise but even this framing is a year out of date. people are talking almost exclusively about what they're doing with LLMs *right now*, and on top of that, what they're doing right now is exactly what the most hypebrained shill said would happen. so this is wrong about both now and a year ago
Part of the struggle with the LLM discourse is that genuine (i.e. non-grifter) proponents talk exclusively about the possibilities of the transformer architecture in an ideal future with a rational business model.
Whereas opponents largely talk about the world we live in today, and its constraints.
Whereas opponents largely talk about the world we live in today, and its constraints.
January 20, 2026 at 6:55 PM
What I'm doing with LLMs right now is exactly what I thought would never be possible a year ago
In a call today where one of the speakers had a Singaporean accent. Really nice to hear. I wonder if that's what other Singaporeans in the U.S. feel if they ever hear me speak.
January 20, 2026 at 4:07 PM
In a call today where one of the speakers had a Singaporean accent. Really nice to hear. I wonder if that's what other Singaporeans in the U.S. feel if they ever hear me speak.
Maybe it’s just the former military person in me but I find it odd that McDonald’s uses voice codes for pick up orders that aren’t easily legible over the drive-through intercom. I ended up saying Delta Zulu Oh Six
January 20, 2026 at 2:45 PM
Maybe it’s just the former military person in me but I find it odd that McDonald’s uses voice codes for pick up orders that aren’t easily legible over the drive-through intercom. I ended up saying Delta Zulu Oh Six
Books I finished this week: Tara Conklin’s The Last Romantics, Sara Paretsky’s Burn Marks, and Kate Atkinson‘s Normal Rules Don’t Apply. In switching I got occasionally confused between The Pause in Conklin’s book and The Void in Atkinson’s, even though they are very different.
January 20, 2026 at 2:25 PM
Books I finished this week: Tara Conklin’s The Last Romantics, Sara Paretsky’s Burn Marks, and Kate Atkinson‘s Normal Rules Don’t Apply. In switching I got occasionally confused between The Pause in Conklin’s book and The Void in Atkinson’s, even though they are very different.
Reposted by Daryl Sng
I just woke up from a nap and somehow while I was asleep, everyone on the bus has figured out we are not going to the right place
January 20, 2026 at 1:57 AM
I just woke up from a nap and somehow while I was asleep, everyone on the bus has figured out we are not going to the right place
I still don’t get why the iPhone alarm doesn’t have an option to skip public holidays
January 20, 2026 at 1:44 AM
I still don’t get why the iPhone alarm doesn’t have an option to skip public holidays
I watched Avatar 3 over the weekend with my wife and oldest kid. I liked it fine, my wife and kid loved it, but did they really have to have the teenage boys in the show say “bro” all the time?
January 20, 2026 at 1:11 AM
I watched Avatar 3 over the weekend with my wife and oldest kid. I liked it fine, my wife and kid loved it, but did they really have to have the teenage boys in the show say “bro” all the time?
Fourth quarter Caleb Williams is breathtaking
January 19, 2026 at 2:37 AM
Fourth quarter Caleb Williams is breathtaking
Lol at Tom Brady saying the good thing about being an announcer is that you get to be at the conference championship every year
January 18, 2026 at 4:05 AM
Lol at Tom Brady saying the good thing about being an announcer is that you get to be at the conference championship every year
Really great that Mayor Mamdani is rightly tackling regulatory barriers to housing
You probably don't know what SEQRA is - but you should know that it's slowing down the housing that we need. Deputy Mayor Leila Bozorg is here to explain why reforming it is key to cutting red tape and building more housing.
January 15, 2026 at 3:40 AM
Really great that Mayor Mamdani is rightly tackling regulatory barriers to housing
Updated list of discussions and terms I hope get retired in 2026:
1. “Age gap” if any of the parties is over 27
2. “They’re doing it for the grift”
3. “Late stage capitalism” discussions of phenomena that have happened since feudalism
4. “Nepo baby” when no actual nepotism has taken place
1. “Age gap” if any of the parties is over 27
2. “They’re doing it for the grift”
3. “Late stage capitalism” discussions of phenomena that have happened since feudalism
4. “Nepo baby” when no actual nepotism has taken place
January 15, 2026 at 3:39 AM
Updated list of discussions and terms I hope get retired in 2026:
1. “Age gap” if any of the parties is over 27
2. “They’re doing it for the grift”
3. “Late stage capitalism” discussions of phenomena that have happened since feudalism
4. “Nepo baby” when no actual nepotism has taken place
1. “Age gap” if any of the parties is over 27
2. “They’re doing it for the grift”
3. “Late stage capitalism” discussions of phenomena that have happened since feudalism
4. “Nepo baby” when no actual nepotism has taken place
When I was leading part of the UN/international organizations department at the Singapore Foreign Ministry, I learned that countries have very different philosophies about treaties. Almost no one went to the extreme quoted, but Singapore was meticulous/persnickety about compliance down to the letter
i actually love how much the junker class literally just did not understand the concept of why keeping your word is important
January 15, 2026 at 2:03 AM
When I was leading part of the UN/international organizations department at the Singapore Foreign Ministry, I learned that countries have very different philosophies about treaties. Almost no one went to the extreme quoted, but Singapore was meticulous/persnickety about compliance down to the letter
This reminds me, when I was a teenager, me and a few classmates created a board game about the Japanese invasion of Singapore modeled on Avalon Hill's D-Day. (It was for a history group project.) It was basically impossible to win our game if you were the Japanese and you decided to come by sea
January 15, 2026 at 12:18 AM
This reminds me, when I was a teenager, me and a few classmates created a board game about the Japanese invasion of Singapore modeled on Avalon Hill's D-Day. (It was for a history group project.) It was basically impossible to win our game if you were the Japanese and you decided to come by sea
Really enjoyed today's @heatmap.news webinar on "Data Center Opposition, Power, and Policy in 2026" with @jael.bsky.social, @goodjillian.bsky.social, @zeitlin.bsky.social, and @robinsonmeyer.bsky.social
January 14, 2026 at 2:46 AM
Really enjoyed today's @heatmap.news webinar on "Data Center Opposition, Power, and Policy in 2026" with @jael.bsky.social, @goodjillian.bsky.social, @zeitlin.bsky.social, and @robinsonmeyer.bsky.social
Reposted by Daryl Sng
The often mentioned "But China and India are still building new coal power plants" doesn't mean that the amount of electricity they generate from coal goes up. Actually, it went down last year, and the amount of coal used probably went down faster thanks to the increased efficiency of the fleet.
NEW: Coal-fired power generation fell in both China and India in 2025, for the first time since 1973. The drop came after record clean energy additions in both countries, and was the first time that clean energy was a major driver of falling coal power use.
January 13, 2026 at 8:01 PM
The often mentioned "But China and India are still building new coal power plants" doesn't mean that the amount of electricity they generate from coal goes up. Actually, it went down last year, and the amount of coal used probably went down faster thanks to the increased efficiency of the fleet.
Reposted by Daryl Sng
Ever since I read about the Whole Language Learning fiasco I’ve become convinced that we have an entire generation of people who you can’t even argue with because they simply cannot read
January 12, 2026 at 11:37 PM
Ever since I read about the Whole Language Learning fiasco I’ve become convinced that we have an entire generation of people who you can’t even argue with because they simply cannot read
The more likely explanation of this IMO is not “the screenwriters wrote the Stranger Things script with ChatGPT” and more “the screenwriters tried to research the 1980s with ChatGPT”, which could explain the anachronisms in the show
what do you mean the stranger things documentary shows them writing the script on a computer with 3 chat gpt tabs open
January 13, 2026 at 2:06 AM
The more likely explanation of this IMO is not “the screenwriters wrote the Stranger Things script with ChatGPT” and more “the screenwriters tried to research the 1980s with ChatGPT”, which could explain the anachronisms in the show
This post made me think, what’s the best movie / play watching experience you’ve had going in basically knowing nothing about it? For me it was picking up Monty Python and the Holy Grail on tape from the British Council and watching it with my friends none of whom knew anything about it either
Children of Men gets a lot of glazing by film nerds, but I really do consider it part of the essential contemporary media diet to understand discourse that references it. Take time in a dark room knowing nothing about it and just watch – like all cinema I recommend. You'll understand when you see it
January 13, 2026 at 12:20 AM
This post made me think, what’s the best movie / play watching experience you’ve had going in basically knowing nothing about it? For me it was picking up Monty Python and the Holy Grail on tape from the British Council and watching it with my friends none of whom knew anything about it either
Okay this is what Merriam-Webster says rhymes with “cod” (a 100 rhyme rating is a perfect rhyme). Does anyone actually pronounce “esplanade” this way?
January 12, 2026 at 11:06 PM
Okay this is what Merriam-Webster says rhymes with “cod” (a 100 rhyme rating is a perfect rhyme). Does anyone actually pronounce “esplanade” this way?
Kind of crazy / cool that a quarter of a century later people are still remixing Greece 2000
January 10, 2026 at 4:05 AM
Kind of crazy / cool that a quarter of a century later people are still remixing Greece 2000
Just finished Sara Paretsky’s Tunnel Vision, part of the VI Warshawski series. Had to skip a couple of earlier books in the series to because my library was out, so was a bit of a jump. Set in 1992 but the police and other authorities’ refusal to listen to Vic and other women still resonates today
January 7, 2026 at 1:24 AM
Just finished Sara Paretsky’s Tunnel Vision, part of the VI Warshawski series. Had to skip a couple of earlier books in the series to because my library was out, so was a bit of a jump. Set in 1992 but the police and other authorities’ refusal to listen to Vic and other women still resonates today
Saw this @popville.bsky.social post and now I have “Pho House / In the middle of U Street” stuck in my head
www.popville.com/2026/01/pho-...
www.popville.com/2026/01/pho-...
Pho House Opened on U Street! - PoPville
925 U Street, NW at Vermont Ave Ed. Note: This is the sister restaurant to the Pho House located at 634 Florida Ave, NW. I've been delinquent in my Pho Patrol - gonna remedy that right now - Pho House...
www.popville.com
January 6, 2026 at 2:27 PM
Saw this @popville.bsky.social post and now I have “Pho House / In the middle of U Street” stuck in my head
www.popville.com/2026/01/pho-...
www.popville.com/2026/01/pho-...