Excel tip! Extract text from a string in a cell

=MID(E2,(SEARCH("V3/",E2,1)+3),50)

Where E2 is the text string, "V3/" is the text immediately before what you're trying to extract, +3 is the number of characters you've selected preceeding the text you're after and 50 is enough character to ensure you extract all the text you're after.

Of course, this works most easily when the text you're after is at the end of the string but the number of characters you're after varies.

You'd probably have to work on it a bit more to use it to extract text from the middle of a text string.

Something to come back to.

I can't believe it's been four years since my last post

...terrible!

It's time I get back into jotting down my thoughts and fascinations with world as it develops all around us.

Something things are fun, some scary and some just mesmerising.

Something that is fun and scary is the speed at which graphical manipulation is developing.

A great place to start is NVIDIA, they're not just a PC graphics card company anymore. They're one of the leaders in imaging research.

Nvidia has some great demo tools to show you how modern AI research is allowing us to control and manipulate imagery.

Of course, it's not all just about playing around with images, NVIDIA also utilise their imaging and spatial technology in things like the development of self-driving technology. Here's an example of how imaging research has a practical application in finding a car-parking spot.

But imaging research and manipulation can also have its downsides. Deep-fakes is an area that has the potential to sow seeds of doubt and confusion in the minds of the public. Indeed, we now have experts in the field saying we're very close to the point where it will be difficult to tell real from fake (read digitally manipulated) videos.

But then, Deep Fakes have also given us gems like this:

And this:

You can keep up to date with people playing around with Deep Fakes here on Reddit. And if you wish, have a go at making your own Deep Fake.

And now here's something completely different...

Warehouse Automation. Maybe it is the seemingly infinite loop of conveyor belts or the little armies of robots going about their duties, but I'm fascinated by automated warehouses and their videos are my jam.

And...

 

Fake humans on TV, no humans in the workforce. It begs the question, what sort of a world are we developing? And, is it what we want the future to be?