On writing
Today was my best writing day in a while. I’m in awe of writers like Lancali who blithely post about hitting nearly 6000 words in a day. That is not me. That is very far from being me. If I can hit a four figure word count, I consider
thoughts on the suicidal mind
This resonated with me a lot. What I'll say is: I'm glad Winnie is in the world. I know these feelings, intimately. I don't have much definitive to say about that. I haven't drawn any conclusions. It's a journey, daily.
In every reported case where police mistakenly arrested someone using facial recognition, that person has been Black
Black faces are overrepresented in databases used to train AI for law enforcement - and some facial recognition software used in this context fails 96% of the time. This practice is an accelerant for already deeply harmful inequities. Time to ban it. #AI [Link]
Zoom may be a bad choice for newsrooms
Update: Zoom has clarified its position in a new blog post which makes it clear that AI features are, in fact, opt-in. Zoom’s terms of service now allow meeting content to be used to train AI, without opt-out: What raises alarm is the explicit mention of the company'
Foundry, by Eliot Peper
A knockabout spy adventure that takes a few unexpected turns and sticks a landing that had me cheering. Truly a lot of fun - I inhaled it in one sitting. As always, it's deeply researched, but the detail only ever adds to the entertainment. (Without spoiling anything, I&
How I make annotated presentations
It's been a long time since I've given any talks (the pandemic put a stop to that) but I really like this approach, and I'll do something similar in the future. #Technology [Link]
Turn-On Found
None of this looks like it comes from 1969. Although some of the content is outdated today, the style is far more modern - this feels like something straight from the internet era. Fascinating and relentless (I couldn't watch the whole thing). #Culture [Link]
Possibilities
As a (relatively) new parent, one of the questions that preoccupies me is: how can we show our son that anything is possible, and that he can be anything he wants to be? More specifically, how can we ensure that he knows that the templates and stereotypes laid out for
Right-Wing Writer Richard Hanania's Racist Past Exposed
A prominent writer platformed by the New York Times and Washington Post, and championed by major figures in tech, including by Marc Andreessen and the CEO of Substack, turns out to be an actual white supremacist. #Society [Link]
Just normal web things.
Yes to all of this. These are basic functions that the web gives you almost by default. Everything on the web should let you do them. #Technology [Link]
Catching up on the weird world of LLMs
This is a really comprehensive history and overview of LLMs. Simon has been bringing the goods, and this talk is no exception. #AI [Link]
Engineering principles
Code is cumulative overhead. The more you write, the more you have to maintain over time. Self-hosted infrastructure is cumulative overhead. The more you configure and run, the more you have to maintain over time. Always watch your overhead and keep it as light as possible. The only code you