I think empowering LLMs to be βcreativeβ with the goal of displacing artists is a mistake, and also a distraction β a glossy facade largely amounting to a party trick that gets boring fast and misses the bigger picture of how these AI tools may practically help us in the workplace, healthcare, biology, and other industries.
I could use the help with reducing busywork and letting me focus on the creative part. That’s what I’m looking forward to
I like having all of my sources (RSS, Micro.blog, Mastodon, Bluesky, and podcasts) consolidated into one feed with easy gestures to tag as “read later” or open in a native app. The recent addition of folders was helpful, as I’ve created an “Attention” folder for anything I really don’t want to miss. Everything else is part of the river of updates and I don’t worry about completion.
One issue with the consolidation is that I’m following people across multiple services and seeing duplicate posts. I’ve been standardizing to their Micro.blog timelines, when available. This fragmentation across services is a common complaint and I expect I’ll be experimenting with different solutions. Now that we can so easily cross-post, we also need to manage our conversations. Recent updates to Micro.blog have been really helpful for this.
The most productive thing Iβll do all week: Organized the giant box of cables by taking out anything we no longer need, had no idea what is was for, or already had at least three backups. The photo is of the discard pile
I want to focus on rigid science fiction armors because they offer an interesting lens to consider their design: how to armor a human body in a rigid substance is anΒ exceedinglyΒ solved problem: quite a few cultures have tackled this particular problem with a lot of energy and ingenuity, attempting to balance protection, mobility and weight. And the βproblem with sci-fi body armorβ begins with the fact that most of these futuristic βhardsuitsβ utilize little of any of the design language of those efforts.
Finished reading: Meditations for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman is a great companion to Four Thousand Weeks (my favourite non-fiction book of 2022). I followed the authorβs suggestion and read a chapter a day to help the ideas percolate π
Every so often, I audit every information source Iβm subscribed to. I ask three simple questions I picked up from the late Jim Rohn:
Who am I allowing to speak into my life?
What effect is that having on me?
Is that ok?
There are a lot of things I subscribed to a long time ago that I just never bothered to unsubscribe to. And every once in a while, I get annoyed and ask myself, βWhy am I still consuming this?β
Good advice. Obvious? Perhaps, though we often need reminders to do whatβs good for us.
π§ Having switched back to Albums (again) for music, I’m discovering what a mess my Apple Music library has become. I’ve got duplicate tracks within albums, duplicate albums, incorrect metadata, and all sorts of nonsense. Really tempting to just delete my entire music library and start over!
πͺ We had great fun at last nightβs Axe Pancreatic Cancer event. We started the event ten years ago to raise awareness and funds, after my Momβs short battle with the disease. So gratifying and amazing to see what the event has become, especially under the stewardship of Pancreatic Cancer Canada.
Finished reading: For You by Patrick Rhone is full of wisdom in short chapters. I read one every couple of days to let the ideas percolate before rushing to the next chapterπ
We are being given a runaround. When a party wins an election, its victory excuses every mistake or excess for years before the election.Β We won, didnβt we?Β Any new criticism is interpreted as sour grapes or denial of the result: the purest illustration of one day dominating every other. Every idea that pops into a new PMβs head is beyond reproach, because he just won an election. Later, as the next election approaches, criticism becomes a luxury the party canβt afford, because the leader must be given latitude to win the next election. Rinse and repeat.