Links
interesting things written by other people
Mapo Tofu Recipe
Looking for Alice
very beautiful. The impossibility of trying to describe incomprehensible things, the inability to explain what you like about someone, or the risk of breaking them down into categories that are then interchangeable
Dynamic Simulation of Grass Field Swaying in Wind (PDF)
everything is complicated.
We will never be able to live on another planet. Here’s why
Lot of interesting stats throughout.
- To add enough CO2 to Mars to make the atmosphere thicker (which reduces temp fluctations), would make the atmosphere unbreathable regardless of O2 content
- Earth-like does not mean like current earth. For most of the planet's history the water and atmosphere were toxic to us
- It would take 79,000 years at current rocket speeds to get to Alpha Centauri
Heretical thoughts on AI
Will GPT improve GDP? Eli suspects probably not. Mentions that computers didn't (or haven't yet), and examples of larger industries that are not likely to be immediately affected; either slow moving regulatory blockers, or stuff like buildings that people are still better at.
For your next side project, make a browser extension
Upsides are you are tweaking an existing app, improving a familiar experience. And same-origin requests vs having to mess with public APIs.
COVID precautions at Davos
Why are there so many tech layoffs, and why should we be worried?
This Motorized Backpack Eases the Burden for Hikers
My 8 Best Techniques for Evaluating Character
Look at their choice of spouse, how they treat service workers, how they invest their money and their time.
Why Spotify Will Ultimately Fail
the low low low returns to artists from music streaming
Tyler Cowen on Effective Altruism
Self-recommending
Midjourney v4 Reference Sheets
Wolfram|Alpha as the Way to Bring Computational Knowledge Superpowers to ChatGPT
Revealed: more than 90% of rainforest carbon offsets by biggest provider are worthless, analysis shows
Unsurprising, but still shocking
The Art of Knowing When to Quit
How to use ChatGPT to boost your writing
- Be more specific in prompts, for role of the writer, and style and tone. It is not having a conversation
- Don't ask it for facts or references or math.
- Play with memory and length, write smaller sections at a time to refine style
A meeting with Enrico Fermi
“There are two ways of doing calculations in theoretical physics”, he said. “One way, and this is the way I prefer, is to have a clear physical picture of the process that you are calculating. The other way is to have a precise and self-consistent mathematical formalism. You have neither.”
The truffle industry is a big scam. Not just truffle oil, everything
most truffle flavor is not derived from truffles. Often odorless other mushrooms are added for decoration (like the black pieces in truffle cheese).
Here's How Author James Patterson Writes 31 Books at the Same Time
Dan Hollick on Twitter: "What is the best newsletter service these days?
Interesting that substuck gets mentioned for this - that maybe the main selling point is the subscription part rather than the publishing part. Maybe this is obvious but I had previously thought they were more about editing experience and hosting text.
The absurdly high cost of insulin, explained
Keep slightly tweaking and patenting the "new" thing.
Dead zone (ecology)
Grim that the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 gets a section on this page..
Taming the Mammoth: Why You Should Stop Caring What Other People Think
The social survival mammoth - the irrational and unproductive obsession with what others think of us. It is more possible in smaller tribes, impossible in the global one.
Software Engineering at Google
About scaling culture rather than codebases
Twitter criticism of The Body Keeps the Score
and some alternative suggestions on the topic
VALL-E
Very impressive speech synthesis demo - 3s of audio input and a passable imitation of the voice and tone.
The index mindset
Thinking Parallel, Part III: Tree Construction on the GPU
you think are are doing ok at programming then come across this kind of thing
Zara Sues Thilikó for Passing Off Zara Wares, Photos as its Own
Japanese web design maximalism
Making of Windows 10 desktop backgrounds
Microsoft announces new supercomputer, lays out vision for future AI work
Owez/yark
Python project to archive youtube videos
LearnGPT: The best ChatGPT examples from around the web
mostly just jokes and funny ones rather than best. I don't even know what best would mean.
Conversation Skills Essentials
A grand thing to get better at
8 ChatGPT mistakes to avoid
- Not being specific about your goals
- Not asking it to reduce its output (ask to reduce, remove, compile, or rewrite)
- Mixing topics in a single chat
- Asking only 1 thing at a time
- Prompting in the negative (instead of "without X", add "delete X" to the end of prompt)
- Not giving examples
- Asking it to do math
- Not iterating
Riddle solved: Why was Roman concrete so durable?
Impurities (lime clasts) that heal cracks when water runs through them.
Life advice from 90 year olds
- Now and then, break out the fancy china and drink the good wine for no reason at all.
- Dance at weddings until your feet are sore.
- Don’t fear sadness, as it tends to sit right next to love.
- Treat your body like a house you have to live in for another 70 years.
- Do one good deed every single day, but never tell anyone about it.
- Time doesn't heal anything when it comes to relationships. Don't delay difficult conversations.
- Find the things that make your eyes light up. Do more of those.
- Always remind yourself that your track record for making it through your bad days is perfect.
- If something has a minor issue, repair it. Minor issues become major issues over time. Applies equally to love, friendships, health, and home.
- Getting old is no picnic, but it's much better than the alternative.
- You may occasionally disappoint others, but make sure to never disappoint yourself.
- Never let a good friendship atrophy. Send the text, make the call, plan the trip. Good friendships must be treasured.
- The "good old days" are always happening right now.
- Whenever you hug someone, make sure they are the one to let go first.
- Taking no risk is the biggest risk you can take. Regret from inaction is always more painful than regret from action.
- It doesn’t have to be perfect for it to be wonderful.
- When in doubt, love. We can always use more love.
- Stop trying to change people who don’t want to be changed.
- Do one thing that challenges your mind every single day. A crossword puzzle, math problem, anything. Daily “exercise” will keep your mind sharp for the long haul.
- There’s nothing wrong with shedding old relationships as you grow and change.
- Laugh loudly and unapologetically whenever you feel like it.
The Do’s and Don’ts of Judo Strategy
From 1999, on the Netscape-Microsoft browser wars.
Biggest Barrier to Biking Is the Fear of Cars
Big thread on masking
Analyzing OKCupid communication and rating data
On the need for anonymity online
Sweet Nothing
Aella takes LSD