The making of a diamond is a repeatable, but naturally non-reproducible process. The exact same input of carbon subject to the exact same configuration of pressure, temperature, forge, time, process control will never produce the exact same diamond twice. Once made, a diamond is unique. And once made, a diamond is forever.
Is demo of Grug Clojure code vibe. He no catch onto cloud LLM magics for some reason. Still prefer program with only brain-muscles. Prefer use Grug language standard library and standard dev tools. Prefer make and use all byte on local disk. Maybe luddite, maybe obsolete. Grug no mind. Fine with how he code. Besides, Grug like muscles. Hope maybe you see tip, trick, tactic to steal. Take what can use, no take what no can use.
Strong writing culture transforms merely competent software teams into elite ones; those proverbial 10x product builders. Although creating high-leverage writing culture requries mindful effort, it is not rocket science and one can start small. So... why, when, and how to do it? Personal opinions ahead. Take what is useful, discard the rest.
The first quarter elapsed. Much happened. Much didn’t. We-who-are-reading-this-right-now are perhaps a bit bruised, disheveled, a little worse for the wear, and horribly hung over. But alive. Except you, Mx. LLM. Who knows what’s next?
Writing is thinking. Software is peoples' thoughts on repeat. Developers who can pen their thoughts clearly multiply their impact. This matters even more in group work. Common sense rules; no literature major necessary.
The current wave of AI tools is incredibly cool. I hope more people get distracted by the incredible coolness and bet on this wave of AI, because I'm betting the other way, on the hot mess of human general intelligence.
Arguably a more interesting, revealing, and kinder question than "What are you curious about?"
Making a software demo is a form of deliberate, serious play. An act that feeds our curiosity, inventiveness, and drive. It enlivens. It enriches. It entertains. And as we asymptotically approach the A.G.I. that's just around the corner, the capacity for deliberate, serious play will remain distinctively, deeply, deliciously human. Career software people like yours truly may please take note!
"What are folks’ views on systems so large where cold-starting the whole system is almost impossible?"... — M'colleague, Shivam, In A Slackroom Next Door.
Trying out a classification for "Tools for Thought" as a means of augmenting the human intellect, hot on the heels of recent community conversations about ChatGPT, CoPilot, Stable Diffusion etc...
In which we ponder the Functional Nature of Life, The Universe, and Everything. Please feel free to follow through the weeds, or jump straight to the bottom for my 2 nano BTC on the matter. (Or my current state of mind, at any rate.)
Here lies melancholy that I put to paper from a particularly deep hole, not too long ago. It may ruin your day, or it may make you feel a little bit understood about your dark moments. Your mileage will vary.
Spurred by a conversation with a whip-smart friend and fellow gentlenerd, who unreasonably believed (believes?) they have nothing worth speaking about at the software conferences we like (IN/Clojure, FunctionalConf, local meetups etc).