The Audio Blog of Steven Sirski

Rained just about all day! Workouts in! A slog of a run: 6.03km in 1hr 14 min 16 sec. 66 pull ups, 132 push ups and 198 squats. Rows, shoulders and deadlifts. Tried 150 kg again and couldn’t move it. 140 went up once, then 130. Got a couple videos done from Australia. Want to get these done as soon as possible so I can release some of the Chinese videos I have ready to go. Hulk Hogan has died, gue...

Rain rain go away come again … tomorrow? Steve, why do you need all of these agents for language learning? Don’t you live in China and have lots of tools and exposure to the language? Yes. But… SLV live stream all about the IELTS band descriptors. Spoke with that guy who runs an agency here and we got talking about the need to understand how the band descriptors work. So, this is an introduction t...

Ozzy Osbourne has passed away, aged 76. Life of sex, drugs and rock n roll… still dies. Manus agents worked! Both Chinese and Russian. Zapier? Only Russian worked. Chinese didn’t. Spent the morning looking at Deep Learning - what did I learn? It’s all very technical. Not sure I want to be digging into code at the moment. https://www.deeplearning.ai/courses/ SLV podcast out! Episode 49! Thinking wh...

Almost the end of July and the Dog Days are almost upon us! Hot, but not as hot as a few years’ back. SLV podcast edited, will post tomorrow. Now looking to cut back on some of the software I’m paying for (repurpose.io is one that comes to mind). Manus automation: we’ll see if it works AND can be done FREE with limited credits. Aaaaand is now not available in China. Don’t forget your language stud...

New week begins! Productive weekend! Saw a movie! The Lychee Road! Pretty good. Saw the new Huawei Matebook Fold SLV podcast recorded, should be up soon. Workouts in! 7.5km in 52.49, then maces and bells, then skips and circuits, then… Blue Frog! And damn… found cinnamon buns imported from Guangzhou! Donate to the show! PayPal link below! https://www.paypal.me/stevensirski?locale.x=en_CA *** Show...

Bought an API key! They got my money and my credit card deets! But can’t the Zapier+Claude connection to work because of OAuth… and the firewall. Need to tweak those AI Agents, still not doing what they’re supposed to. SSAB Newsletter in Chinese?! Why not?! STOP MAKING STUFF! USE WHAT YOU’VE GOT! Says the AI Man Behind the Curtain. Guess I should start building some courses. Workouts in! Shoulders...

More troubles with the AI Agents… are they worth it? Might be another way to get this done. Did some of the languages today, going back to the age-old argument: is it better to spend time learning the language or exploring the country and its culture? Shot some videos today, we’ll see how that goes. Live streams in! Characters and resources! Donate to the show! PayPal link below! https://www.paypa...

The burger is gone… because I had another pilates class or whatever it is! Went to PanemorFit. Smaller classes, a touch more difficult, but mainly because of holding the poses for so long. Run in! 7.02km in 43.36. Went fast today. Also managed to get the squats and bench in today too! Returned one of the cell phone sticks I bought, easy as pie! Apply for refund and they send a guy to pick it up! N...

Monday and back at it! But slow going. Got my Zapier AI Agents working again. Chinese done, thinking… should I do the HSK 5 test this year? Build it up on YouTube? SLV podcast recorded, will edit tomorrow. Didn’t know I could view my iPad screen from QuickTime! Workout in! 6.5 km in 43 min 56 sec. Tried to do the skips, push ups, tuck jumps and pistol squats but only got through three rounds. Knee...

SSAB - July 14, 2025 Monday and back at it! But slow going. Got my Zapier AI Agents working again. Chinese done, thinking… should I do the HSK 5 test this year? Build it up on YouTube? SLV podcast recorded, will edit tomorrow. Didn’t know I could view my iPad screen from QuickTime! Workout in! 6.5 km in 43 min 56 sec. Tried to do the skips, push ups, tuck jumps and pistol squats but only got throu...

Hot and humid but getting things done! Early morning Chinese character review. Workouts in, the gym was no cooler! Up early for a run (5.82km in 46.41), midday gym visit for 55 pull ups, push ups and squats + Turkish get ups, farmers carries, dips. Then out for another run (it was cooler outside) to finish up the pull ups by the tree and to run another 1.33 km. Stuff gone! Weights are moved and it...

Feeling stuffy for some reason, not sure if it’s allergies or sickness. Stuff’s a moving! Got rid of one box (Chinese flash cards!) with another bundle of stuff promised to move tomorrow and more next week! Made an APP! Micro APPs a go go! Claude to Replit to PUBLISHED! Looks spiffy. Now, how to make this language-independent? Gearing up for live streams and content creation. DID buy two stands fo...

Live stream failed! Gotta do it earlier! Workouts in! Squats, bench, rows, run (6.5km in 47.26), slam ball. Talking to a guy doing my old job, he’s leaving already! Started up at 6 am, worked till 11.30 or so, is this it? Do I really want to move? Donate to the show! PayPal link below! https://www.paypal.me/stevensirski?locale.x=en_CA *** Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com And on Notion: h...

Pilates again! How will my glutes fare for this one? Humid again, so feeling sluggish. What’s this Airtable thing? Replit, worth it? We’ll see. Chinese characters done! But no livestream. Donate to the show! PayPal link below! https://www.paypal.me/stevensirski?locale.x=en_CA *** Show notes n tracks up on stevensirski.com And on Notion: https://stevensirski.notion.site/SSAB-The-Audio-Blog-of-Steve...

Busy day but workouts in! SLV podcast recorded and set up to go, thinking… should I turn the transcripts into a membership offer? Going back to the body lab tomorrow! Run done today, slow going! 7km in 51 min or so, then skips, push ups, tuck jumps and pistol squats. Followed by mace and clubs workout. Chinese characters getting done, but how many do I really want to do? A visit to the new JingDon...

How are those glutes? Happy USAmerican Independence Day! Thought about recording, but why did I not? In talks to do some funny English videos, should be interesting to see how this goes. Hot and humid all over, workout in and done but slow going. 6km in 1hr 6min 2sec… very much dehydrated. Chinese character writing and live streaming. Content is king. Donate to the show! PayPal link below! https:/...

Feeling it today! Glutes are a sore! Getting up and getting busy - productive days all day. How long will this last? New SLV podcast out! Episode 46 all about our trip to Australia… and quick downloads! Learned a new term today: Forward deployed engineer. Basically a software engineer who does sales. That is, they meet with clients and then develop the products or services that the client needs. N...

I’m feeling it! TWO workouts in today, one at the Body Lab (kinda like the Sanlitun Rich Women’s club), another on my own. Out for dinner, then came back and was like: let’s see if I can get my run in. Second workout in at night, slow but done. 4km in 39.37, then 20 minutes of slam ball work at night. Tuna sandwich with… mustard, mayonnaise, wasabi aaaaand VEGEMITE! A bit too salty. Good thing is…...

Happy Canada Day! July 1, 1867 and now 158 years old! Chinese taxes done and done, how will this change if I have my own company? Back to live streaming… on ALL platforms. Will AI be able to do movie creation? Yes, but you still need a good story. It will just make it easier and cheaper for more people to do it.  Idea for my own animation… but going old school. AI movie article: https://www.wsj.co...

Back in Beijing and Chinese taxes done. How was Sydney? How was Melbourne? Wake Up Hostel Sydney. Power banks. Steven, did you say it was the Lord Arch? Or Loch Ard Gorge? FFS! Whole episode! How was the flight? My screen didn’t work. Wifi was slow. Free ten minutes. Movies watched: Moscow Mission Christmas on Cobbler Street Her Story Money Honey Phoney Nanjing overnight. Flight was uneventful.  h...

Tour of Melbourne! Probably should’ve done that first! will be the tour guide’s LAST one for a while as he’s off to Chengdu to study Chinese! -Library -Gaol (death of Ned Kelly) -888 movement - 8 hours work, 8 rest, 8 relax -RMIT brain goo -Old houses -Australian influencer pays 30 million for a condo atop a building, brings up his McLaren (forget his name) -Carlton Gardens (right by Melbourne Mus...

Aaaand we’re all but done! Chinese road trip accomplished! -Big tour group, big bus of people, 45-minute stays in each location How was it understanding everything? ViiTor Translation - use this for live translation 30 people * $20  =  $600 $60 x 12 hours  = $720·hour$720 for the driver Driver was from Shandong, been in Australia for 20 years, makes $60 an hour driving a bus (and we had to tip?)....

To the museum we go! Lego exhibit but we never made it. Another section of the museum (different building) was being used for exams. Workout in! At least a token effort. Laundry done. What have we seen so far? Library, Parliament, Flinders Street Station. Gold nugget stolen from library: https://blogs.slv.vic.gov.au/our-stories/ask-a-librarian/the-unsolved-mystery-of-the-pride-of-australia/ Read t...

Oi 麻烦啦that wine was no good. Rough. Not getting out of the hostel until midday, but why rush it?  Cold and windy today. Victoria Market for the afternoon, walked over to the Parliament building (tours were closed), The Windsor, then back for a nap before out with a former colleague at Le Mitre Why did he leave China? Have done some shopping, spend more than $300 in one store, get $100 back at t...

Off and into Melbourne! It’s colder here! Saw the fam, they’re doing well.  Hostels are a popping, some even have families staying. Hit the gym this morning, no morning run. Cold and… oi, we just got in! Maybe tomorrow? What’s my laundry schedule like? Did some pull ups with a modified pull up bar. The gents in their 20s couldn’t lol! Tried a kangaroo burger, Walker’s donuts.  Forgot to send out t...