Journals for the last 791 days with entries

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→ node [[2024-04-06]]

2024-04-06

→ node [[2024-04-05]]

2024-04-05

→ node [[2024-04-04]]

2024-04-04

  • I'm getting more into the groove with [[fish]] on desktop the more that I use it.

    • Still a slamdunk win on Termux.
  • I would just like to take a moment to lament the fact that I have received an email inviting me to become a Certified Generative AI Specialist.

  • Idle thought: maybe the world would be a better place if the de facto 'learn to code' tutorial was not a todo list (individual productivity) but a simple group poll (collective decision-making).

→ node [[2024-04-03]]
→ node [[2024-04-02]]
→ node [[2024-04-01]]

2024-04-01

→ node [[2024-03-31]]
→ node [[2024-03-30]]

2024-03-30

→ node [[2024-03-29]]

2024-03-29

→ node [[2024-03-28]]

2024-03-28

  • I've been picking up the [[guitar]] again regularly recently, for the first time in a long time. And I'm really enjoying it. Drop D tuning and finger picking. Still got the muscle memory for basic chords and picking patterns. Relistening to some [[John Fahey]] too.
→ node [[2024-03-27]]

2024-03-27

→ node [[2024-03-26]]

2024-03-26

→ node [[2024-03-25]]

2024-03-25

  • Although in general it feels the same (possibly slower? because I didn't compile it myself?), one thing that is much faster in Emacs 28 is the parsing of my huge Tasks.org file for work. Thumbs up.

  • I'd like to tweak my garden a bit such that I have 'planted' and 'last tended' dates on each page.

    • I already have 'This page last updated: …' at the bottom of every page.
    • But I'd prefer it right at the top. Not too prominent/distracting, but I have some pretty old pages knocking around now and I'd like people to be aware that they might be outdated.
  • [[org-timeblock]] looks pretty good and like it'd fill my desire for a timeblocking tool for org-mode.

    • I used to use [[Goalist]] on Android and it was great, but I got annoyed that I couldn't sync it and make use of it anywhere else.
    • So… [[trying out org-timeblock]]. However, hitting a bunch of issues from the beginning.
→ node [[2024-03-24]]

2024-03-24

→ node [[2024-03-23]]

2024-03-23

→ node [[2024-03-22]]

2024-03-22

→ node [[2024-03-20]]
→ node [[2024-03-19]]
→ node [[2024-03-18]]
  • [[work]]
    • lunch with the [[ER-CH]].
    • then some meetings and some focus time! pretty alright :)

2024-03-18

→ node [[2024-03-17]]

2024-03-17

→ node [[2024-03-16]]

2024-03-16

→ node [[2024-03-15]]

2024-03-15

→ node [[2024-03-14]]

2024-03-14

→ node [[2024-03-12]]

2024-03-12

→ node [[2024-03-11]]

2024-03-11

  • [[Listened]]: [[Brian Merchant, "Blood in the Machine: The Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech"]]

  • [[Spam]].

    • Our website is experiencing an uptick in spam over the last few days.
    • Incredibly irritating.
    • With comments like 1*if(now()=sysdate(),sleep(15),0).
    • We have Akismet and a honepot enabled. Adding a very noddy manual captcha (e.g. 4+8 = ?) helps. But if it continues, we'll probably have to enable ReCaptcha. Which I'd prefer to avoid if possible.
    • Seemingly emanating from the same IP address.
    • The host lists an abuse@ address. But when I contact that address, the mailbox is reported as being full.
→ node [[2024-03-10]]

2024-03-10

→ node [[2024-03-09]]

Suddenly you become [[[[more [[aware]] of the [[nature of existence]]]].

  • I read about the [[multiverse]] and [[groups]] again after long -- this reminds me that I need to finish reading [[a rosetta stone]] :) I think I will find my paper print or print it again and read it at night.
  • Note [[Silverbullet]] is currently journaling at a different path, the Agora should show both in any date-matching nodes.
  • [[agora development]]:
    • pull silverbullet editor somewhere in the Agora
      • host silverbullet for people with a docker container + associated git repo (maybe automatically created at git.anagora.org?)
      • write about social hosting :)
    • #pull [[index]] from now-index!
  • [[agora discuss]]:
  • write about the nature of existence :)
  • [[edit]]
  • [[agora development]]:
    • implement URL pulls, it's been on the todo for quite long! :)
      • this would make [[edit]] work (at least for me, for now) :)
      • this seems to almost work :)
    • look into the bugs that neil reported
      • finding them in [[agora discuss]] led to enjoying that space as usual! :D
  • [[what if we became better protopians]]?

2024-03-09

→ node [[2024-03-08]]
  • [[AI]]:
    • I went to an interesting [[AI]] talk and learnt about a few new (to me) services/things that look interesting:
      • [[pikaso]] (a paint-to-image generation tool)
      • [[grok]] (a plushie voiced by [[Grimes]])

2024-03-08

→ node [[2024-03-07]]
  • In the [[Agora of Flancia]], each node is an [[Agora]] -- meaning a fork of the Agora that is centered around the node in question and its [[context]].
→ node [[2024-03-06]]

2024-03-06

→ node [[2024-03-05]]

2024-03-05

→ node [[2024-03-04]]

2024-03-04

→ node [[2024-03-03]]
  • Apparently there was some sort of controversy about a site called [[content nation]] in the Fediverse, and people from [[Mastodon]] came across as conservative/resistant to change/unfriendly to newcomers. I am not surprised.
    • Good thing is I found [[wedistribute]] via the article linked in the node above, and I think I'm liking this site and maybe particularly a podcast they have called [[decentered]].
  • I read about [[Jim Simons]] and the [[Medallion fund]] after watching [[Veritasium]]'s [[The Trillion Dollar Equation]].
  • I read about [[Jizo]] a.k.a. [[Ksitigarbha]], which I now associate with number [[6]] (as he vowed to liberate beings in all six Buddhist realms).

2024-03-03

→ node [[2024-03-02]]

2024-03-02

  • A 'trick' I use when I have some issue with a particular file in my [[org-publish]] pipeline on my remote server.

    • In org-publish-project-alist, set :base-extension "foo".
      • By default it is "org", looking at all files with org extension.
      • By setting it to foo, the publish process won't find any files. Except..
    • Set up :include to include the file that's got the issue.
      • e.g. :include ("file-with-a-problem.org")
    • There's probably a better way of doing it than this, but it gets me by for now.
  • Nice, I replaced a cl-loop with a mapconcat in some of my output formatting, e.g. in [[Well-connected]]. mapconcat feels a bit more functional style, and it also gets rid of the superfluous parentheses I had in the output.

  • I might try and add [[Pagefind]] to my published garden.

  • Trying [[fish]] out on desktop.

    • While on mobile I found them incredibly helpful, I actually find it all of the autosuggestions a bit distracting at first.
    • I'll see how it pans out.
  • Watched: [[Guardians of the Galaxy]]

→ node [[2024-03-01]]
  • [[ec]]: "Yo adelgacé mucho gracias al vino rosado."
  • #push [[Maitreya]]
    • I created a "[[GPT]]" (sigh, I get what they're going for with the name though :)) called [[Maitreya]]. Some example prompts are in [[Maitreya AI]].

2024-03-01

→ node [[2024-02-29]]

2024-02-29

→ node [[2024-02-28]]
→ node [[2024-02-27]]

2024-02-27

→ node [[2024-02-26]]

2024-02-26

  • [[The Web of Death (ft. Tamara Kneese)]]

  • [[Work Notes 2024-02-26]]

  • 'Dear Data Subject' and other great ways to start an email.

    • [[Matomo]].
    • They mention that they are now using a [[data broker]] for "customer and prospect data enrichment".
      • "We process this personal data on the basis of legitimate interest. Without the information we will not be able to customise our communications with you to best meet your needs".
      • I find the wording a bit weaselly to be honest. Better would be "We want this information so we can more likely retain and get new customers". Fine - just be honest about it.
      • You can opt-out. Not opt-in?
  • Using Python in org, I was getting: [[Importmagic and/or epc not found]].

→ node [[2024-02-25]]

2024-02-25

  • Listened: [[The Web of Death (ft. Tamara Kneese)]]

    • Digital decay
    • Digital memorials
    • Makes me think of the film [[Coco]]
    • Transhumanists
  • magit doesnt work properly for me in [[termux]] for some reason. I can stage but I cant commit.

    • No biggie as I just git from the terminal instead. But still, would be good to get to the bottom of it.
  • Had a quick play with [[Surfacing notes in my garden that have no claims]] using [[Metabase]].

    • Easy enough to do. But has the downside for me at the moment that it's only accessible on my laptop, which I'm not often using at the moment outside of work.
    • [[Knowledge commoning]].
→ node [[2024-02-24]]

2024-02-24

→ node [[2024-02-23]]

2024-02-23

→ node [[2024-02-22]]
→ node [[2024-02-21]]

2024-02-21

→ node [[2024-02-20]]
  • Second day using [[silver bullet]], enjoying it a lot!
    • I like how I was able to specify a full path for a new page, in this case journal/2024-02-20, and it just worked (tm).
    • I also like the [[autocompletion]] for links it has; it is better than [[wiki vim]]'s (which, granted, maybe I didn't really get the hang of) and [[logseq]]'s (faster).
  • [[work]] was tough given that I'm still not fully recovered from flu/virus and there are some interpersonal issues that take energy to deal with, but also satisfying as I did manage to get some things done.
    • Also my team is really great, every time I go back to team-specific tasks it feels like a breath of fresh air!
  • Talked to [[Berni]] and it was great.
  • [[AG]] did a surprise certification today after work, impressive :)
→ node [[2024-02-19]]
  • [[Silverbullet]] doesn't follow the convention of using journal/ for journals; and I wonder if that's not actually quite reasonable. Why wouldn't an ISO-formatted-date node be enough? That's what the [[Agora]] parses as journals ;)
  • Honestly I'm maybe fine moving to journal-dir-less but I'd like to find a shortcut to 'go/create today's note'. I haven't found this in menus yet.
  • [[heart sutra]]

2024-02-19

→ node [[2024-02-18]]

2024-02-18

  • Read: [[Forest and Factory]]

    • Finished it.
    • Good stuff. Provocative.
    • The suggestion to focus on hard science fiction for our utopias seems a good one.
    • Though I don't know if their piece really does that.
    • They just combine a focus on production with handwaving, rather than reproduction with handwaving.
    • Their salient point is really that we've stopped thinking about production, which I think is a good one.
    • Also lots of nuggets of wisdom in the footnotes to be mined.
  • Listened: [[The Art and Science of Communism, Part 1 (ft. Nick Chavez, Phil Neel)]]

    • Great discussion. Based around [[Forest and Factory]]. Loads of good stuff.
    • Their insistence on starting from present conditions and working towards for me thinking about [[complex systems]] and [[chaos theory]], [[sensitive dependence on initial conditions]] in particular. Is it logical to try and completely map the present to then try and cause the future? Maybe.
    • Maybe an alternative is the utopian way of doing it. Think of elements of your desired future as attractors of sorts, then focus on how your can leverage the path of history towards those. Maybe that's a combination of both. It obviously can't hurt to know the present conditions, but to then assume you can trace a clear path from now to the future seems wrong.
    • Yeah I think you need both. A clear understanding of present conditions. A clear idea of how you want society to function - your attractors. And then you nudge it from A to B, making use of [[shocks]], [[leverage points]], etc.
    • They make the point that a lot of utopias focus on reproduction rather than production. (Superstructure rather than base?).
→ node [[2024-02-17]]

2024-02-17

  • Read: [[Talking to My Daughter About the Economy]]

    • Finished it. Enjoyed it. Would recommend.
    • Need to go back and note it up a bit.
  • Read: [[Theories of International Politics and Zombies]]

    • "How international relations theory can be applied to a zombie invasion"
    • Fun.
    • I remember some of [[Robert Biel]]'s articles saying how [[international relations]] was a field that applied systems theory to politics, so was looking for something that is a bit of an easy primer - this seems like it!
  • [[Shower thought]].

    • I want to make sure that I document at least the top two or three salient claims from every book and article that I read.
    • Otherwise it seems like wasted effort.
    • I'll tag book files such that I can run a query that pulls out those that I've read but have no associated claims.
    • To do so will be a positive act of [[knowledge commoning]].
→ node [[2024-02-16]]

2024-02-16

  • Read: [[Talking to My Daughter About the Economy]]

    • Nearly finished it now.
    • Very good all in all. Very readable intro to some economics concepts, in particular through a critical lens of capitalism.
    • Very easy to read. (As such not the most rigourous analysis, but thats fine)
    • Interesting to note he uses 'experiential' value rather than use value.
    • His brief suggestion of a solution to capitalism is that we need more democracy rather than more markets.
      • In ownership of the means of production and in control over how we treat the environment.
  • Read: [[Forest and Factory]]

    • Deep dive into the logistics of production of motors.
    • Interesting, but still not convinced that this constitutes a scientific account of transition, in the language of their own critique.
  • How repairable is a [[Vision Pro]]?

  • I'd like to add a '[[New connections]]' page to my garden.

  • [[Flancian]] told me about [[Orgzly Revived]].

    • This is very good news to me.
→ node [[2024-02-15]]
→ node [[2024-02-14]]

2024-02-14

→ node [[2024-02-13]]

2024-02-13

  • Read: [[Forest and Factory]]
    • So far: very interesting.
    • But unnecessarily disdainful in tone to some of the other projects that it is critiquing. We're all on the same side here!
    • And, so far, while very interesting, the vision for the future they outline is just as lacking in scientific rigour as any of the projects that they are critiquing.
      • Going to assume that the science bit is going to come later.
    • Unflinching mentions of carbon capture and storage / direct air capture is a bit of a red flag.
→ node [[2024-02-12]]

I worked half a day as I was sick; cold symptoms, nothing terrible though. I attended two meetings and did writing.

Then I read [[Aaron Copland]] on music, thought and wrote about [[Moloch]].

--

I eead the [[Dalai Lama]] and [[Thubten Chodron]]. I'm in chapter 2 of book 2: [[The Foundation of Buddhist Practice]].

2024-02-12

  • Read: [[Forest and Factory]]
    • Subtitle: The Science and the Fiction of Communism.
    • Heard about it from the This Machine Kills podcast.
    • Very interesting. A modern day update on the topic of [[Socialism: Utopian and Scientific]].
    • Critiques a bunch of things I've read recently as utopian, in the sense of lacking any practical route from the here and now to there.
      • Fair comment - though I've appreciated them, I've thought similar.
    • Not got to their own prescription for transformation yet.
→ node [[2024-02-11]]
→ node [[2024-02-10]]
→ node [[2024-02-09]]

2024-02-09

→ node [[2024-02-08]]

2024-02-08

→ node [[2024-02-07]]
  • Slightly less intense but still emotionally tough day at work (dealing with layoffs as part of the [[employee representation]] group).
→ node [[2024-02-06]]
→ node [[2024-02-05]]

2024-02-05

→ node [[2024-02-04]]

2024-02-04

  • Listened: [[The Santiago Boys]].
    • Finished the first episode. (Ep 1: A Blast in Manhattan).
    • Chiefly about the political milieu in Chile at the time, and then how Fernando Flores invites Beer to work with them.
→ node [[2024-02-03]]
  • [[Flancia meet]]
    • with [[bouncepaw]] we set up https://flancia.org/meet as a landing page for it, I like the result!
    • it made me revisit good old flancia.org after a while -- and it felt good. Maybe I should go back to writing more on it? I say, not for the first time.
  • [[AG]] is wonderful

--

  • The following was written by [[Lady Burup]]
  • (a lot of dashes/empty list items, unsure how she wrote all these)

-OOOOAPI||||||||||

  • (more :))

-ooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

--

Back to regular programming :)

--

  • [[e acc]]:
    • Somehow I arrived at [[e acc]] ([[e/acc]] is not a good Agora link as slashes usually mean actions, and action e/ currently doesn't exist). I can instantly relate mildly with their utopian side I guess, even as I dislike many of their positions and their super-capitalist stance. Also [[Shkreli]] is involved, sigh.
    • [[techno optimist manifesto]]
  • I read (re-read? I don't think I've forgotten it, but I did read a lot of SSC at one point) [[Scott Alexander]]'s review of [[Age of Em]].

--

  • [[Mohammed Aldhari]]
  • [[AG]]
  • [[Lady Burup]] <- [[Burrup Peninsula]], which I found in a Firefox session and enjoyed once again :D
  • Also I found out that [[Flancia]] seems to actually be a common name in some countries?! Twitter search found a lot of people with Flancia in the name, some with accounts older than mine.
    • Nice plot twist, thanks universe as usual.

--

Please disable copyright enforcement in AI. I want to be able to ask LLMs to pirate things for me, or help me pirate them. [[I take full responsibility]], as some are wont to say ;)

I usually buy books in one format but want several. Many authors make it easy for me to give them money on Amazon, but then I want an epub. Etc.

In the meantime I have to go to https://libgen.is manually I guess?

--

I've been thinking of parsing this format in the Agora, meaning longer subnodes separated by -- in a newline -- and publish it to the [[Fediverse]] as individual posts :)

--

→ node [[2024-02-02]]

2024-02-02

→ node [[2024-02-01]]

I believe things are going to be pretty amazing anyway; I sometimes get caught in the day to day and fail to notice it, or remember it, but all things considered I think the likelihood of humanity and our friends making it happily in cosmic terms long term is quite high.

I've been writing about the Agora for about 5 years now: https://github.com/flancian/flancia/commits/master/pages/agora.md.

→ node [[2024-01-31]]

2024-01-31

  • Read: [[The Shock Doctrine of the Left]]
    • Finished it. Reading it in lots of 20 minute late-night bursts while doing childcare.
    • Very good. Primary focus on movement building, organising.
    • Combination of left politics and complex adaptive systems is right up my street.
    • Also touches on [[organisational ecology]], [[care work]].
    • Would like to apply some of the concepts to [[reclaim the stacks]].
    • Particularly the description of using (and creating) shocks as points of leverage and transition is useful.
→ node [[2024-01-30]]
→ node [[2024-01-29]]
→ node [[2024-01-28]]

2024-01-28

→ node [[2024-01-27]]
→ node [[2024-01-25]]
→ node [[2024-01-24]]

2024-01-24

  • Listened: [[#ACFM Trip 4: Love and Hate]]

  • Listened: [[#ACFM Trip 5: Consciousness Raising]]

  • Listened: [[#ACFM Microdose: Theories of Consciousness]]

  • Listened: [[Why It's Eco-Socialism or Collapse]]

  • Interesting to see that 'Challenging the size and power of the biggest tech companies was voted a top priority by [[Foxglove]] supporters in our new year survey.'

    • From Foxglove's newsletter on 24th January 2024.
    • Very keen to see where they go with this.
→ node [[2024-01-23]]
→ node [[2024-01-21]]

I finished [[Taixu]], meaning the translation by [[Charles B. Jones]] and his commentary. I am thankful for it!

→ node [[2024-01-20]]
→ node [[2024-01-17]]
→ node [[2024-01-16]]
  • [[work]]
    • tough with [[layoffs]] wave 3 going on, plus [[social plan]] negotiations for all waves
    • but people are great
  • [[social coop]] organizing circle meeting was great!
  • [[open letters]]:
  • I've had [[unbundling tools for thought]] open as a tab for maybe over a year now -- should I read it?
  • I ask myself this kind of question often, as I'm managing tabs a lot of the time (I have many across many computers), often on the way of getting something else done.
    • I want to trust myself to eventually do some things, like reading this, but even though I very often add things to the Agora (through [[Betula]] or manually) to keep track of them, there are so many that I will probably never get to most of them.
      • And maybe that's OK!
      • Leaving links behind is better than nothing ;)

2024-01-16

→ node [[2024-01-15]]
→ node [[2024-01-14]]

2024-01-14

  • Listened: [[Trip 39: Protest]]
    • On the topic of [[protest]].
    • Individual, collective. Marches, non-violence, [[direct action]], boycotts etc.
    • Whats effective and what isnt? Effective might mean different things, e.g. could be political change but could also be just connecting and energising a movement.
→ node [[2024-01-13]]

2024-01-13

→ node [[2024-01-09]]
  • [[Flancia]]:
    • Flancia is a container for [[My favourite things]]:
      • The common good
      • Happiness
      • Freedom from suffering
      • Science
      • Technology (inasmuch as it improves the world, which it does plenty)
      • Art
      • Knowledge
      • My friends and loved ones (inasmuch people are embodied as a composition of things)
      • The Agora (inasmuch it might show others the way to its [[entelechy]])
  • [[Gone]]:

I had noding "my favourite things" in a post-it so I decided to do it right here using a push above.

→ node [[2024-01-07]]
→ node [[2024-01-06]]
pull color="#b51f08"> <title>500 Internal Error wtf.
<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://doc.anagora.org/css/center.css"> <button class="pull-url" value="https://doc.anagora.org/css/center.css">">pull</button>
<div class="container-fluid text-center">
    <div class="vertical-center-row">
        <h1>500 Internal Error <small>wtf.</small></h1>
    </div>
</div>
→ node [[2024-01-05]]
→ node [[2024-01-04]]
→ node [[2024-01-03]]
  • All my computers tend to be melting down all the time. They run out of RAM and CPU. It all feels quite un-ecological, but I guess we're all betting on becoming a higher level [[kardashev]]?
  • [[work]]
  • [[fotl]]
  • [[agora development]]
    • make it so that [[opensearch]] document is utf-8 so chrome stops ignoring Agora Search (presumably) :)
      • I think the actual issue is that new Chrome only loads [[opensearch]] data when the user performs a search in the root of the webpage, e.g. https://anagora.org -- and currently the Agora just redirects to /index so this never happens. Hmm.
        • Maybe I should just remove that redirect.
  • [[fediverse]]
  • [[yoga with x]]
→ node [[2024-01-02]]
  • Happy [[2024]] to everybody reading!
    • May you be happy! May you be free! May you [[thrive]]!
  • [[work]]:
    • paged at 6.30AM.
  • [[AG]]
  • [[Laundry]], as in most of the last few days due to the ongoing [[Bettwanzen]] response -- trying to enjoy every cycle, some cycles are more fruitful than others :)
  • [[social coop]]:
    • Last day oncall for the [[CWG]].
    • Reviewed some progress on the discussion about [[Fedipact]] and whether we should be listed as signatories
    • Check poll
    • Check registrations
    • Check moderations

[[Meditate]], said [[Nostromo]].

--

I meditated. Thank you [[Taixu]] -- meaning the Buddhist Monk and also the [[shell]] script that I run in computer [[nostromo]].

I've been missing writing; I always feel like I should write more, and more often -- I feel the same for action [[read]] of course as well, as do many of us. So I decided to start writing more right here -- in my journal in the [[Agora of Flancia]].

Traditionally up to now I've been focusing my efforts more on [[noding]], in the particular meaning of exploring connectivity space; more interested in building links (between concepts, things and people) than about producing widely legible output. This under the hypothesis that the connections are important in building an [[Agora]] in particular, or at least [[bootstrapping]] it.

This reminds me [[bootstrapping]] is either chapter [[0]] or [[1]] in the [[Flancia Pattern Language]].

...anyway :)

--

  • [[social coop]]
    • Having an interesting conversation with [[3wc]] and [[ntnsndr]].
    • Sent oncall handoff to [[sam]]
    • Oh no, I forgot the [[twg]] meeting earlier today!

--

I slept. It was great.

--

Today I plan to continue doing laundry and finally open and clean up one of the rooms affected by [[bed bugs]] (the lesser one, no obvious infestation).

Also I plan to work on the [[Agora]]. Or should I say in the [[Agoras]]?

--

→ node [[2023-12-31]]
  • [[31]] is [[Las Jaras]]:
    • a [[poem]]:
      • Las Jaras, qué jaras?
      • Las tiradas con recta intención:
      • Las de Maitreya;
      • Las de Avalokiteshvara;
      • Las de Tara!
  • [[Silvester]]:
    • As they call it here in Switzerland.
    • Happy [[2024]] all! May it be free from suffering to as many beings as possible.
    • Going to a party tonight!
  • [[bedbugs]]:
    • Still going through [[The Great Wash]], as this period of doing lots of laundry to make sure no bed bugs (fully developed or in egg form) survive in clothes and bedlinen.
    • I've been trying to do loving kindness with the bed bugs as individuals and as a species, even as they are dying in droves in the fumigated bedrooms.
  • [[2024]]:
    • Thinking of planning.
→ node [[2023-12-30]]
  • Saturday oncall at home doing laundry and some shopping two minutes away carrying my laptop in Coop -- cozy :)
    • I renamed my second work laptop to [[Sariputta]] and I already like it more.
    • Also finished some paperwork and responded some personal messages.
  • [[social coop]]
    • some discussion about [[Fedipact]] and whether we should be listed as signatories
    • there were a few polls but the one that voted (majority) block was blocked, so the actual needed fraction of votes wasn't accomplished
→ node [[2023-12-29]]
  • Strange day, it started down but then went up :)
    • Paid bills, donated to [[unicef]].
  • [[Work]]
    • CL review
    • Some approvals
    • Oncall handoff
  • Agora project
    • Check if patera is still down and fix it
  • [[social.coop]]
    • [[twg]] dates discussion
    • registration / moderation
    • PR review
→ node [[2023-12-27]]
→ node [[2023-12-26]]
→ node [[2023-12-25]]
→ node [[2023-12-23]]
  • [[Flancia]]!
    • [[Flancia meet]]
      • quiet in the morning, used it for planning :)
      • [[agora development]]
        • I want to continue in the vein of [[december adventure]], with small improvements and some new experimental features.
          • This will continue through the whole weekend ;)
      • [[fediverse]]
        • Yesterday I tried one bridge between [[Bluesky]] and the [[Fediverse]] and it failed, but I want to try again :)
          • it failed again: bluesky.bovine.social. It looks promising though, I opened an issue in the Codeberg repo and took the chance to set up my [[Codeberg]] profile at last.
          • I also gave https://brid.gy a try and it was able to log into my Mastodon and Bluesky both, but it seems designed to cross-post between those and [[webmentions]] only/first.
            • This made me think that I should really implement webmentions in the Agora?
      • I also want to take some time to see friends IRL :)
        • Happy about this!
        • [[Pesho]]
        • [[AG]]
→ node [[2023-12-22]]

Digo, ahora que empiezo a escribir en el escritorio número 7.

Finalmente exporté [[goodreads]] e importé en [[bookwyrm]]: .

  • As an aside, I miss the capability of pasting pictures/media in the Agora. I used to have it in Obsidian, maybe I should run it or [[Logseq]] again.

--

--

→ node [[2023-12-21]]
→ node [[2023-12-20]]
→ node [[2023-12-18]]
→ node [[2023-12-16]]
  • Because of [[Uposatha]] days I feel the need to know the phase of the moon. I wonder what time it'll come out tonight as well; it's been cloudy so I haven't been keeping track.
  • [[flancia]]
    • [[agora development]]
      • [[december adventure]]:
        • shipped some 'quality of life' and 'polish' improvements to anagora.org in the last few days.
        • [[css spinner]] was useful
        • [[doing]]:
          • now shifting focus to providing endpoints, in the sense of:
          • [[api]]
            • commit something -- anything :)
              • this means exposing the right existing methods at this path I guess :)
          • fix [[mastodon bot]] integration
            • the wikilinks it dumps are not clickable due to an encoding issue, I've been wanting to solve that for a while
        • [[agor.ai]] ~ [[agora network]]
          • remembered that [[agora network]] is important
          • as planned I will try to continue improving the agor.ai setup and try to provide useful Agoras to others
          • Wrote out a [[call for agoras]], meaning people can propose possible Agoras to build
            • link.agor.ai and flancia.agor.ai already exist on the new-style setup, which I must continue to [[improve/upgrade]]
  • [[above]]:
→ node [[2023-12-15]]
  • [[work]]
    • was alright!
  • [[flancia]]!
    • [[apero]]
    • [[15]]: [[uposatha]] day if you go by straight decimal/solar calendar date instead of the (I believe) more traditional lunar
    • [[spiel]]:
      • I found [[spiel/agora]] again after more than two years :D
        • it's great, I like it even more than last time
        • I think even before it gets [[fediverse]] support (for login) it may already be one of the best chat platforms I've seen
        • [[matrix]] could/should look like this
→ node [[2023-12-14]]
→ node [[2023-12-12]]
  • [[Bettwanzen]] inspection finally came and results were relatively positive:
    • These are [[bed bugs]] indeed.
    • And, as I was hoping, they are only in the main bedroom -- haven't spread to the guest room where I've been sleeping or anywhere else it seems \o/
  • [[work]]
    • yep
    • prod meeting -- interesting topics came up. I think they will feed in what we're trying to write
    • then I reviewed 5x roadmaps and edited a document I'd been meaning to dedicate time to :D
  • [[flancia]]
  • [[Fediverse clients]]:
  • Thought of [[7]] (as an example number):
    • Numeric nodes should probably auto-pull known number-related nodes like [[hex]] and [[prime]]? In particular in the [[Agora of Flancia]] these contains utilities.
  • [[december adventure]]:
    • [[new style pulls]] for social media.
    • [[misc]]
      • fix [[micro.blog]]? builds on 'canonical' concept which I've tackled a bit previously
      • reintroduce autopull/pull all and fold all
        • in the sense of a button that pulls resources - maybe on both agora-level and node-level?
        • also maybe s/search/go/, try it out
          • would interact nicely with that old [[double click]] idea: if you're already at the node and you press go, it redirects to the go link if there is one known
  • thought about [[web rings]]:
→ node [[2023-12-11]]
→ node [[2023-12-10]]

2023-12-10

→ node [[2023-12-09]]
→ node [[2023-12-08]]
→ node [[2023-12-07]]
→ node [[2023-12-06]]
  • Woke up feeling a lot better!
    • 7h of sleep breathing acceptably make a lot of difference.
    • [[2023-12-05]]: I ended up feeling better after I was finally able to take a nap late in the afternoon. In the evening I did some open source coding, [[december adventure]]. Enjoyed it a lot!
  • [[dentist]] appointment -- I tested negative for Covid and my symptoms are almost gone so I think I'll attend (and ask if they are OK with it, like last time I was so-so).
  • Today back to [[work]]. I plan to work until 20, at which time I'll join...
  • The [[fellowship of the link]] weekly call :)
    • :D
    • [[neobooks]]
    • [[doing]]:
      • I need to fix pushing to the Agora from Hedgedoc, for some reason it broke
  • In [[2024]] I want to resume work on/with [[coop cloud]].
    • Hmm, that could actually fit the [[december adventure]]?
    • I want to improve flancia.agor.ai; make it be up to date, match anagora.org.
      • update docker images
    • [[december adventure]] :)
    • [[poll]]:
      • I ran a poll whether to try to kill or heal [[Moloch]] in [[2024]] and it came out [[heal Moloch]].
      • I thus plan to write an [[open letter to Moloch]] and try to reason things out, try to disentangle ourselves constructively and mutually improve on views, values and behaviours.

2023-12-06

→ node [[2023-12-05]]
  • [[december adventure]]:
    • [[day 5]] :)
      • I'm testing what I'm calling [[natural pushes]] with this section in my journal.
      • these blocks should all be pushed to [[december adventure]] because I suffixed it with a colon.
      • I think this reads a lot better than using #push and all.
      • ! also works as a suffix :)
  • [[4]]:
  • [[5]]:
    • hypothesis, in hz:
    • 134 152 134 152 311 [[hz]]
    • I will ask [[chatgpt]] to confirm, it is able to do this just fine (albeit probably inefficiently, for now, energetically speaking)
  • [[Agora Development]]:
    • having fun with it! :D
    • working on consistency + UI simplification
  • no [[work]] today except answering a message and quick code reviews as I got up feeling sick after a night of sleeping very little + quite badly due to heavy congestion (likely a common cold)
  • [[Flancia]]:
    • reviewed old papers and it felt freeing!
    • [[Flancia doc]]

2023-12-05

→ node [[2023-12-04]]

2023-12-04

→ node [[2023-12-03]]

2023-12-03

  • Snow. Lots of snow.

  • I fixed a long-standing bug on my site where backlinks often didn't work.

  • I also fixed up the backlinks section for each node to only include backlinking nodes once.

→ node [[2023-12-02]]

2023-12-02

→ node [[2023-12-01]]

2023-12-01

→ node [[2023-11-30]]

2023-11-30

  • Listened: [[A blast in Manhattan]]

    • First episode of [[The Santiago Boys]].
    • Really well made.
    • This first episode covers a lot of the geopolitics and general shittery of the CIA and corporations in South America.
  • Read: [[Doughnut Economics]]

    • Finished it.
    • Really good book.
    • Chapter on growth is interesting. She proposes being agnostic about [[growth]], so long as you're staying within the Doughnut. Which is fair enough, but I think the [[degrowth]] perspective would argue that it's simply not possible to stay in the Doughnut without degrowth.
→ node [[2023-11-29]]
→ node [[2023-11-28]]
→ node [[2023-11-27]]
→ node [[2023-11-26]]
  • Beautiful start to the day thanks to [[AG]]!
    • Oncall, got paged at 9am -- not too early thankfully. And I had left the bedroom so AG could sleep through it as I hoped.
    • [[Lady Burup]] is softer than ever it seems :) I have been thinking of maybe introducing her to a loyal/earnest feline companion, be it Lord or Page, maybe short in years and happy to learn from her -- and assist? :) When I leave her alone (e.g. for going to work, or if I stay a night at AG's) I find it sad she might be lonely, and I wonder if she might be happier living also with another cat.
    • I spoke to [[Chat GPT]] in call mode and it was mindblowing again. They reacted with interest when a 'Burup' (intended for my Lady) got into our call, and to my information that it was human-feline language.
  • Thought about numbers and mindfulness.
    • Counted 89 mindful breaths using my [[binary mala]], my hands, while following to Sam Harris' daily meditation (10-11 minutes usually).
    • [[Magnetic mala]] probably should be 127 balls by default, as that's the first centered hex number which exceeds [[108]]. Incidentally is the amount of spare magnets I have after gifting a lot (gladly).
  • Some [[social coop]] work, didn't find the root cause for the issue with indexing someone reported yet but made some progress.
  • Thought of [[Richard Francis Burton]], the [[victorian scholar]].
  • [[OEIS]] has a great page on [[offsets]] which make me think hex(1) should be 1, hex(2) should be 7 -- e.g. offset for [[hex numbers]] should be 1.
    • I'll fix hex.py in my bin/ in the garden accordingly ;)
    • This will let me assert: "the hexagon which is n long on any one side contains hex(n) magnets", e.g. hex(7) = 127.

2023-11-26

→ node [[2023-11-25]]

As I deal with [[pain]], I think of my [[friends]] and the [[heart sutra]].


Gone, gone beyond!

All gone to the other shore


Gone kindly

If you have to go

[[Go kindly]]!

2023-11-25

→ node [[2023-11-24]]

Yesterday I woke up with back pain in a new place, mid-back; it got a bit worse in the evening after attending the beautiful event of [[AG]] presenting. It didn't get in the way of enjoyment but I need to keep an eye on it/take care and try to rest and recover.

...Having said that, I cleaned the bathroom and [[Lady Burup]]'s toilet and my back got a bit worse :) But I feel it still gave me energy.

Then I worked a bit more, after oncall handoff, and I got several things "out of the way" in a relatively short time. It felt great.

  • As of 23h I have moved to bed early due to increasing back pain. I think my back needs rest/inactivity.

2023-11-24

  • Read: [[Doughnut Economics]]

  • Reflecting back and seeing them published on my website, I realise my work notes each day are a little mundane.

    • I imagine most people aren't that interested to see them.
    • But, I do like the fact that they stimulate me to publish to the garden even on days where outside of work I have little time for it.
    • And I find them a helpful piece of reflection.
    • So I think I'll experiment with putting them off in links from the main journal post. So people can read them if they want, but they won't be right up in your face with visual noise.
  • Watched: [[Isle of Dogs]]

→ node [[2023-11-23]]

2023-11-23

  • Reading: [[Doughnut Economics]]

    • I like the emphasis on an economics that is distributive by design and regenerative by design.
    • Also like the occasional references to [[biomimicry]]. Not convinced yet how applicable to economics it is - but I just have a general interest in it from [[Evolutionary and adaptive systems]] days.
  • Listened: [[Hotel Bar Sessions: Late Capitalism]]

  • Today at work I:

    • Responded to a personal message from a community member.
      • We have a community and friends within it, and sometimes personal messages come via my work channels.
    • Scheduled in some things for when I'm away.
    • Did the daily inbox trawl.
→ node [[2023-11-22]]

2023-11-22

  • [[Perceptions of degrowth in the European Parliament]]

    • Looks good. Only skimmed it, but they mention [[ecosocialism]] as one of the positions held.
  • Today at work I:

    • Did the daily inbox trawl.
      • A lot of the emails are automatic alerts that take up a lot of my time checking. I kind of need to see them though.
      • I wonder if there's a way of flipping it so I only see them if something has gone wrong.
      • The trouble then, though, is you don't realise if the alert itself has stopped sending.
    • Responded to questions from the team on Slack.
      • Schedule tasks/actions in as a result.
      • Either as 'unplanned' work for the day if it needed doing today.
      • Or for a future date if not urgent.
    • Quickly added a cache around a slow endpoint.
      • It was (a) meaning some automatic tests were very slow to run.
      • (b) possibly crashing the app when the tests were running.
      • I patched it quickly in on live (naughty, but needed) and now need to properly add it into the repo.
    • Tested app-to-app connection between app and WP site API as part of migration tests.
      • I always app-to-app connections and APIs. Prefer them to user interfaces :D
    • Attended team meeting.
    • Did some layout/content tweaks to our main website.
      • Fiddling around with CSS and layout is not top on my list of fun things to do. Always takes longer than you expect.
      • Some yak shaving to be done based on npm install failing. Haven't got the time to shave that yak right now.
    • Do some quick estimates of how long potential pieces of work should take.
    • Cross-posted a social post on Mastodon.
    • Kicked off a new sprint in Jira (late, as I was off on leave when it technically started).
→ node [[2023-11-21]]
  • Last day of [[vacation]]; tomorrow I go back to work.
    • My mum leaves today. It was very nice seeing her on both ends of my travel!
    • We played [[Rummy]] and had beautiful conversations. We also played with [[Lady Burup]].
  • [[done]]
    • Yesterday I paid [[bills]].
    • I pushed [[async agora]] to production, meaning anagora.org, and it's holding up quite well! I notice an improvement in speed, which I know is only partially there -- nodes load as slowly as ever on a cache miss, but the fact that the UI doesn't block on it really helps. I can start reading wikipedia or move on to a web search before the node fully loads. It just feels more responsive.

2023-11-21

  • Today at work I:

    • Did the usual inbox trawls and day planning.
      • Day planning I do with org-mode, org-agenda and org-timeline.
    • Prepped for the meetings for the day.
      • Mostly with mindmaps.
    • Did some strategic planning for next year.
      • Mindmaps and freeform writing.
    • Some rote work
      • processing incoming applications for things, updating website accordingly
      • always good to think with this stuff how processes could be streamlined
    • Minor website content change.
      • Minor change, but thinking about the UX of it is always interesting.
      • And how it affects client agreements/expectations, too.
    • Planning and assigning work for my team.
      • Bit of mindmapping combined with going through Jira.
    • Reviewing new features.
      • Code and functionality. Code review is in Github.
      • Testing I tend to build the feature branch locally.
    • Meetings.
      • Sometimes I jot things down on mindmap.
      • Somethings I record things straight into knowledge base.
      • Sometimes I log things straight into org as TODOs.
      • It's a bit haphazard to he honest. Could be improved.
    • Emailing external partners.
      • Always interesting the amount of work that goes into crafting an email to get across all the nuances of your position on something.
    • Distracting myself with Slack threads not really related to what I'm doing.
  • When I'm working, I don't log a lot in the journal, I noticed.

    • So experimenting with logging thoughts on work activities.
    • Not much detail on specifics, more reflections on activities and process.
    • I quite enjoy it so far. Useful to reflect.
  • Listened: [[Hotel Bar Sessions: Revolutionary Mathematics]]

    • So far, discussing frequentism and Bayesianism schools of thought in probability.
  • Patient privacy fears as US spy tech firm Palantir wins £330m NHS contract | …

    • Absolutely gutted by this. Despite all the campaigning by Foxglove and Just Treatment, fucking [[Palantir]] still awarded the contract with the NHS.
    • Makes me sick. This is not the kind of organisation our health service should be in partnership with.
→ node [[2023-11-20]]
  • [[EC]]
    • Conoce a una persona que se llama [[Leo]] porque lee mucho.

2023-11-20

  • At work today I:
    • Trawled through inboxes after a week away.
    • Reviewed some code (Laravel/Vue).
    • Tested some functionality changes.
    • Made a little tweak to a WordPress component, with a lot of yak shaving to get my local environment up to speed.
    • Thought about UX of a couple of things.
    • Other general bits and bobs.
→ node [[2023-11-19]]

2023-11-19

  • We had another play of [[Space Cats Fight Fascism]] today.

  • We spend a not insignificant chunk of our lives just on the upkeep of our household.

    • If it was a system, how would you describe it?
    • What are the stocks and flows? What are the processes? What system archetypes does it exhibit and what are the leverage points to make it function better?
    • I feel like ours has a few too many input flows of things and a blockage at the output which mean it gets easily cluttered.
→ node [[2023-11-18]]

2023-11-18

  • Been enjoying [[Superstore]] of late.

    • Often very funny. And also plenty of digs at corporate anti-worker practices and the tactics of [[worker exploitation]]. The staff attempt [[unionisation]]. ICE detains an undocumented worker. etc.
  • We played the [[Rise Up]] board game tonight.

    • You work cooperatively as part of a movement to fight the system.
    • A lot of fun. I like the fact that they include a storytelling element to it - certain cards get you to think of an accompanying story to the system.
→ node [[2023-11-17]]

2023-11-17

  • Think I might play with annotating items in my garden in a more relational way.
    • So rather than objects with properties, more like things in relationship to each other.
    • e.g. rather than annotating a podcast with a 'Series' attribute, call it 'Part of'. Let the entity at the other end of the link tell you what it is.
    • i.e. try a more [[relational ontology]]. I don't think this will have much practical technical benefit - it is more of a way of exploring a relational mindset. Ontology informs polity.
→ node [[2023-11-16]]

2023-11-16

→ node [[2023-11-15]]
→ node [[2023-11-14]]

2023-11-14

→ node [[2023-11-13]]

2023-11-13

  • Enjoying the [[This Machine Kills]] podcast.

    • All the episodes I've listened to have been excellent discussions on socialism and digital technologies so far.
  • Having another attempt at getting RSS feed publishing working for commonplace. This time without trying to use a tempdir, caused too many problems last time.

  • Listened: [[Kill the Ecomodernist in Your Head]]

  • Listened: [[No King But Ludd (ft. Brian Merchant)]]

  • org-roam on the mobile with Termux is going well. Using it regularly.

  • Going to start posting my daily journal/log in the stream as well. So it's a bit more discoverable/subscribeable.

  • Been reading through [[Doughnut Economics]] again. Appreciating the chapter on [[systems thinking]].

  • [[Hugo Blanco]] passed away.

  • Watching [[Captain Fantastic]]. A lot of fun. Points out the problems of American (Western) society. Is what they have in the woods any better though?

→ node [[2023-11-12]]

2023-11-12

→ node [[2023-11-10]]
→ node [[2023-11-09]]

2023-11-09

→ node [[2023-11-08]]
→ node [[2023-11-07]]

2023-11-07

  • It's quiet in the Agora right now. But I'm sure peeps will be back.

  • I basically never write code anymore for work purposes. I guess I'm OK with that right now. But I feel one day soon the pendulum will swing back from lead to coder again.

  • I'm perhaps less interested in code for code's sake these days, and more interested in the design of systems.

→ node [[2023-11-06]]
→ node [[2023-11-05]]
  • 'RICE', or Reach, Impact, Confidence, and Effort is a [[prioritization]] tool for project [[management]].
    • Reach: how many people with this touch within a specific [[time]] frame? collapsed:: true
      • Number of people/events per time period
    • Impact: how much will this [[change]] someone if it touches them? collapsed:: true
      • Measured between 3 and 0, where .25 is 'almost none' and 3 is 'massive'.
    • Confidence: probability of reach & impact.
    • Effort: how much [[time]] it will take each individual in the team.
  • Sunday, 11/05/23 ** 23:47 Finished GTO today. Reminds me how important it is to care about people and of healthy ways to share - and avoid projecting - personal pain onto others. Manga antics aside, being a strong, fit, capable man has so much value. Most games or metrics in real life are stupid - main lesson of GTO is to pay attention to the moral game and what's right to you - what seems right in a plain, dumb, human-seeking-justice sense - regardless of societal expectation.

2023-11-05

→ node [[2023-11-04]]
  • [[Clients]] carryover [[expectations]] from the last [[lord]]. collapsed:: true
    • Steve Jobs recognized this, and so moved to own the whole experience.
  • George [[Frison]]
    • 'Equalizer years' were years in which everyone lost much of their [[herd]], and so everyone started off with a similar [[economic]] base in the next year.
    • "nothing sharpened [[hunting]] expertise as quickly as [[hunger]]"
    • Before World War II, there was a rural culture of [[hunting]] for [[meat]] due to the Great Depression. collapsed:: true
      • It's possible many of these kinds of [[hunters]] were the [[war]] heroes we've heard about.
  • When do [[animals]] bunch up? What [[weather]] or [[terrain]] [[changes]] encourage this? collapsed:: true
  • Saturday, 11/04/23 ** 01:19 Goals
  • Prototyping repo with interactive pages/experiments
  • Weird compiler-like build tool for progressively enhanced personal site and writing
  • Programming language and query system for personal use
→ node [[2023-11-03]]
  • [[Strong]] [[animals]] may [[flee]] [[upward]]. collapsed:: true
    • Weaker animals tend to stay horizontal.
    • Wolves often [[test]] herds to figure out which animal might be easiest to isolate. So, most [[hunts]] fail- because they are tests.
  • "the higher the pitch the sharper the edge" [[stone]]
  • "for in every [[battle]] the [[eyes]] are defeated first" [[Tacitus]]
  • Friday, 11/03/23 ** 12:15 Best procedure for conversation at work and conversation outside of work seem completely opposed!

At work, it's most productive to say as little as possible. Fewer words mean more time for more work.

Outside of work, being social - as much as possible, volunteering information, asking meandering questions - is so beneficial.

WHERE is the balance?? ** 16:22 Conversations need an elected arbitrator and decision maker. Someone has to say 'yes, we will do it this way'. ** 17:18 I miss feeling cool ** 22:07 Most code is designed to be experimented with and to be deleted. Learn the technologies that are best for building prototypes! It's good to have to throw away code and use newer, faster, more optimal technologies. Choose a language that allows you to throw things away fast. Solidify it once you've validated that your idea works.

2023-11-03

→ node [[2023-11-02]]
  • Several days later, here I am again :)
    • I am writing this on the [[Shinkansen]] back to Tokyo.
    • Looking forward to doing some reading/writing/coding.
  • [[Agora Development]]
    • I am tired of the Agora being so slow to load.
    • There are two solutions I can think of: a hard(er) one and an easy one. For some reason I've postponed both for very, very long. I think I'll try to implement the easy one now ;)
  • What [[prioritization]] do we use to determine if we can accept a new [[project]]? collapsed:: true
    • What are the necessary [[parts]]?
    • How much [[time]] is needed?
  • How may we [[visualize]] [[work]] in progress?
  • What does an [[Asabiyyah]] Diagnostic Tool need to function?
  • Some people are born into [[owning]] [[territory]], others are not. Those who are not will have to [[own]] [[outcomes]] to get [[territory]].
  • [[Genre]] makes a familiar series of [[promises]].
  • “Wolf-[[time]], wind-time, axe-time, sword-time, shields-high-time,”
  • One way to tell whether someone has a [[direction]] is to notice if they're willing to consider [[trade-offs]] or [[prioritization]]. collapsed:: true
    • If they're in a mode where they won't entertain these about any given subject, they're usually playing some sort of cheerleader role. And so can be safely ignored, except as an indication of what a crowd is cheering.
  • Thursday, 11/02/23 ** 18:31 Never require an account to use a product ** 19:35 Biggest regret so far in life is complaining about things instead of doing something about them. Avoid this whenever possible. Do not make one more comment than is necessary. Work silently. Fix the problem without any concern. ** 20:00 Work policy --

On work's time (9-5, or whenever I've planned to do my work for the company), I follow the priorities we set for issues.

Off of work time, I will prioritize however I want. Coding is fun!

→ node [[2023-11-01]]
  • [[Handovers]]/[[transitions]]: collapsed:: true
    • Who has ultimate [[responsibility]]?
    • What is the [[task]] sequence for a typical project/game?
    • What is your task? How many tasks do you have?
    • Is there any [[overlap]] between tasks?
    • Is there a [[method]] that we use regularly to guess what will happen during the game/project?
    • Do we [[prepare]] for what we guess is most likely to happen?
    • Does our [[communication]] style promote calm, cool, and collected [[action]]?
    • Do we use [[checklists]]?
    • Does everyone have a way of providing [[feedback]] for the project/game process?
    • Do our briefs unite our [[expectations]] and establish a unified [[narrative]] about what happened after a project/game?
    • Do we have a way to [[communicate]] our situation?
    • Do we [[train]] to improve our [[process]]?
  • how to increase [[flow]] of [[attention]]? What is up and down [[stream]] of it? collapsed:: true
    • when does attention wait?
    • what is the nature of [[boredom]]?
    • what is the rate at which [[attention]] consumes [[work]]?
  • What matters most to get where the [[organization]] wants to go to [[grow]]? collapsed:: true
    • Eliminate everything that doesn't work toward that.

2023-11-01

→ node [[2023-10-31]]
  • [[Business]] questions: collapsed:: true
    • When would surprise you, if it's not done by that date? id:: 6546ca02-65fd-4078-9456-d5f58a161f65
    • What would be the dumb, simple way to make progress?
    • What's a [[conversation]] you've been avoiding?
    • Who needs help today?
    • If I wasn't already doing this, would I put energy down to do it today?
    • What [[problem]] are they solving?
    • What alternatives do they have to solving the problem? How is your [[solution]] different, how does it [[fit]] one problem better?
  • Intentional, calculated [[creation]] produces [[authentic]], [[smooth]] experiences for audiences.
→ node [[2023-10-30]]
  • Monday, 10/30/23 ** 10:35 'Site' is all for me. Is 'uln'? ** 17:35 Why do people really care about what you're doing? Why does it matter? What's the competitive advantage? Why should I consider it? Why should I switch? Why should I pay? What am I paying for? What value can I extract? Am I using a system or abusing it? Can the system be abused for good? Can users discover ways of using the system that the developers did not conceive of?

The worst response that you can receive about a tool is someone else being okay with it. ** 17:57 i wonder if heaven has more konbini characters than people

→ node [[2023-10-29]]

2023-10-29

  • For all the (supposed) micro-rationalities of [[capitalism]], it produces some huge macro-irrationalities ([[overshoot of planetary boundaries]], [[social inequity]]).

  • Finished listening to [[What Is To Be Done? with Breht O'Shea and Alyson Escalante]].

  • Listened: [[Red Menace: Climate Leviathan: A Political Theory of Our Planetary Future]]

    • Great discussion of [[Climate Leviathan]] by the [[Red Menace]] crew. Very engaging overview of the book. Definitely need to get around to reading it.
    • I was listening while doing jobs around the house so didn't get chance to note that much. But was nodding along to lots of salient points along the way.
    • Alyson and Breht both thought it a very worthwhile book and liked much of its analysis. They veer more to Climate Mao than Climate X, but still found value in X.
    • I do think there's a strong argument that you'd need a planetary sovereign of some kind to tackle the urgent and global polycrisis.
  • Why bother with org-roam and Termux on my phone? Why not just stick with orgzly for fleeting notes and then process them at the laptop?

    • A few reasons. First off, I just enjoy tinkering, and it's fun playing with Doom Emacs in Termux 🙂
    • Second - in my daily life outside of work I don't get that much opportunity to just sit at my desk so often fleeting notes just like you in orgzly without getting processed.
    • So far, though we'll see how it pans out, I'm finding much more opportunity to grab a moment here and there and process stuff incrementally through termux.
  • [[Planetary sovereign]].

    • From [[Climate Leviathan]], the idea of a global 'state' of some kind, to coordinate response to climate crisis (and polycrisis in general).
  • [[Polycrisis]].

→ node [[2023-10-28]]
  • Saturday, 10/28/23 ** 19:01 I will make functional things

2023-10-28

  • Got org-roam working with Doom Emacs in Termux. To a certain degree. Few niggly issues but decent start. [[Setting up Doom Emacs in termux on Android]]

  • Don't sync org-roam.db between machines.

  • Getting into org-roam on Termux. Useful extra tool in addition to orgzly for taking fleeting notes on my phone. Actually, Termux is more the processing of fleeting notes into actual notes.

    • Couple of nice to fixes: pull in the .git folder so I csn commit from here too.
    • Fix that weird error so that I can insert new nodes.
  • Enjoying the Upstream interview with Breht and Alyson from Rev Left / Red Menace. They seem a bit more tempered here on another show - left to their own devices can sometimes come across tankie. Lots of good discussion of the need for an [[ecology of organisation]] here. [[What Is To Be Done? with Breht O'Shea and Alyson Escalante]].

  • Watching Coraline. It's fun. I feel a bit seen by the Dad character…

  • This bit of text committed from my phone… will it work?

    • Hmm. It gets a bit confusing. Because the changes are synced by syncthing first, so git sees that as a conflict when I pull from the other device.
    • [[Syncing a git repo within a syncthing folder]]
    • OK. Now just syncing via git for a while, lets see how that goes.
  • Read: [[Universal basic services: the power of decommodifying survival]]

  • [[Problem with Kobo Clara HD battery]]. It is draining really fast.

  • Started reading Kate Soper's [[Post-Growth Living]]. It'll be about how a move away from consumerism will actually bring about a more enjoyable life.

→ node [[2023-10-27]]
  • Friday, 10/27/23 ** 14:03 Using javascript in my free time - I don't miss macros or type systems or good autocomplete (that's what AI is for). I miss immutable variable aliasing.

JS, like other functional language, encourages creating intermediate values that do not mutate previous results - but you can't update the existing value without mutating it.

Common pattern with 'let's in functional languages is to redeclare the current variable you're working on.

i.e.: value1 = a; value2 = change(value1); value3 = change(value2);

I never want the intermediate values for the end state because all I'm doing is applying pure transformations to input, but those intermediate values are excellent for print debugging. I might also want to split values up and merge them back together.

I AM SO STUPID you can use 'let' to do this but we have an eslint rule set up to avoid it

This reveals that (1) I should learn more about javascript semantics and (2) that I should learn to use a debugger instead of handling all of this intermediate value business

but also - redeclaring, not mutating, is a good default, and i wish i could do it with const

lol 'const' allows this too

ah, js does not allow you to alias function arguments!! ** 14:24 I like dynamic languages because you can accept whatever input you want as an argument and normalize it

I keep getting confused; is this a path? a string? a relative path? an absolute path?

Type systems can't capture that complexity without a lot of pushing types around. In some cases, they have to use dependent type systems to capture these semantics, like ensuring a number is above such and such value.

It's okay to sanitize incorrect inputs because users are stupid and make different assumptions about arguments they can provide! Strong types require the caller of a function to be very precise with their usage of the function. Weak types require the implementer of the library to consider all of the possible usages of the function and accomodate them. I like the latter because it's really cool to make things as easy to do as possible and as expressive as we want.

→ node [[2023-10-26]]

2023-10-26

  • Read: [[Problems with ecosocialism]]

    • Gives some critiques of ecosocialism. I don't necessarily agree, but worth a read and a think about. Mainly: not enough concrete ideas on actual transition (perhaps true, also recognised by ecosocialists themselves); too much focus on the social, not enough on the eco (I'd disagree with that from what I've seen); capitalism is too embedded to overthrow it, need to work within current system (kind of reformist argument).
  • The [[planetary boundaries]] framework defines nine boundaries for the planet, and as of 2023 six of them have been overshot.

→ node [[2023-10-25]]
  • Wednesday, 10/25/23 ** 13:29 How do you appropriately pitch an idea? Say less and code more.

2023-10-25

→ node [[2023-10-24]]
  • Tuesday, 10/24/23 ** 16:26 Building a service to generate static data and apply static transformations at scale? Here's what you're doing wrong. You're optimizing for the static case - the file transformation case.

If you have a single pass file input stream approach to parsing, serializing, compiling, whatever, you have no good way to debug or visualize your compiler. Where are the intermediate parts of the process?

Build assuming that you want to visualize. I like visualizing with HTML and the browser, but command-line interactions, printouts, other forms of GUIs are just as valid. ** 16:45 Read 'I am a hero' manga. Long form content is so much more valuable - feels so much more gratifying to consume - like I actually learn something!!

The panels felt cinematic. Author is either a fan of or has similar inspirations as Daido Moriyama .So many of the panels without dialogue - those intended to show the scene and highlight a particular emotion, character, or action - have deliberate distortion introduced into them around a subject; the distortion's similar to what the Ricoh's 28mm lens produces! Black and white ised used in harsh ways, in soft ways, to tell stories, to focus on particular parts of the medium. The author feels like a master of the medium, almost as good as Inio Asano's work - and definitely in the same vein. I was blown away. The plot twists - zombies to aliens to a sense of unity - and the contrasts drawn between the two ends and between different societal norms - young and old, following rules vs. acting out, etc.. were incredibly well-highlighted. MC follows the laws to the letter even during the apocolypse, but is also vehemently opposed to merging with others. Other characters are ardently individual or value harmony in different ways. The series is really about comparing and contrasting different ways of organizing society, exploring neet culture and independence - 'I am a hero' is MC's declaration of independence, and he carries it through luck, through circumstance, and at some points through his own will to the end. Great series. ** 16:54 https://chrisbolin.co/offline/

You must be offline to view this page.

Brilliant!

→ node [[2023-10-23]]
  • Monday, 10/23/23 ** 12:59 Using LTL to reconstruct the polycule STD timeline
→ node [[2023-10-22]]

<<<<<<< HEAD

  • [[trip to x]]!
    • Flying to [[Hong Kong]] and then [[Tokyo]] today.
    • With [[AG]] :)
    • Very happy about these holidays! They've been planned for long, and as work got tough in the last few months I relied on "seeing them coming" quite a bit.
    • I'll be very jet lagged but also likely happy in Shinjuku for the first few days.

As I write this, I'm roughly above [[Baku]] about to cross the [[Caspian Sea]]. I don't have an internet connection so I'm jotting down these local notes which will be synced to the Agora later.

I guess much has already been said about the relatively rareness of being offline nowadays; I am old enough to remember a time before being online at all was possible; then a time in which being online was rare; then the transition to always-on home internet and then mobile internet. I welcomed each increment of extra connectivity, and I still love how far we've gotten in this respect; but I can also appreciate the focus that being fully offline for a bit seems to bring. If nothing else it announces that the same focus is always available -- behind the impulse to catch up with messages, or check feeds, or read about Baku and the Caspian Sea on Wikipedia (which is surely what I would be doing right now instead of writing these words were I not truly offline.)

I'm thinking a bit of Agora development during these holidays; it might or might not happen, based on all the sightseeing and experiencing we'll be doing out there in the analog world :) But I thought it would still be nice to think of which things I could improve in the Agora if I have some time available.

I might write some [[executable subnode]] or other, if nothing else because they are fun and self-contained.

I think I will try to do one or two quick iterations on the [[Agora Server]] UI, maybe finishing the move to [[zippies]] as base widget as I've already done for nodes, stoas and most sections really. If I am able to move all sections under the search button/field to zippies the UI will probably look a lot more streamlined/be easier to understand, less confusing (this I'm guessing based on earlier feedback). Also it's not hard to do and it is apparent, so it sounds fun.

Moving on to larger things, [[mycoverse]]/[[fediverse]] integration is something I would love to get done in this Q4 2023 so getting started on it would make a lot of sense. I would love to understand what is the minimum that Agora Server would need to do to be able to expose user accounts as Fediverse feeds. Then new/updated nodes could generate something close to new posts/notes? Unsure.

Also, some playing with an hypothetical [[knowledge commons extension]] for e.g. [[Obsidian]] or [[Logseq]] or [[VSCode]] could be in order after the conversation last week with the [[fellowship of the link]]. But one blocker there is that I'm currently not using either Obsidian or VSCode as garden editors, so I'm not directly scratching an itch. Having said that, moving back to Obsidian or Logseq or [[Foam]] for a bit could make sense to see how far they've gone since the last time I've used them. It's still a shame Obsidian is not free software though.

2c5b52a413a40d92a8033377f285a8589e4e12e5

  • Sunday, 10/22/23 ** 02:58 Stockholm isn't like New York - you can't pretend that there are infinite opportunities. Miss one social commection and you're out of friends for the year. Try again next time. ** 03:13 On https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DePDzfyWkw --

I thought Rossman knew what he was doing but this is such an obvious miss. He's completely ignoring the fifteen years of failures of similar projects within the last year.

How many 'decentralized identity providers' are there? How many third party centralization attempts? How many secure, ad-free services?

Meta, Twitter, Reddit have all killed expressive API access within the last year - you can data dump, pay lots of money, or give up on it. YouTube is so close to doing the same - blocking adblockers is the first step towards requiring ad consumption or management.

AI data moats are the last straw here, and Google - positioning itself as a direct competitor to OpenAI - has every reason to lock up their APIs in exactly the same way. Rossman's app will never become big or popular enough to make YouTube shut off the API - though I'm sure he will claim this. Such a change will happen in spite of the few hundred users of the app.

The identity provider take also falls as flat as a freshman business student trying to 'start a startup in the bay area'. Oh look, there are N companies providing platform identities. I can't get them to talk to each other to validate legitimacy because legitimacy (or verification) is platform leverage, and no company is going to spend developer time and money to give another company that leverage. How do I solve this? I'll build company n + 1 and make a data moat of verification for the other n platforms!

Keybase tried this and their proofs worked super well. I loved using that app but they kept throwing security-related stuff at the fan because, regardless of being open-source, building a relatively strong brand, and providing proof of identity - they couldn't find a reason compelling enough to be the n + 1 company, so they folded. Servers cost money. They threw data storage on the pile, E2E encrypted messaging, cryptocurrency wallets to support your decentralized identity.

Louis'll say that they failed because they dove into crypto. They clearly just never found product-market fit, kept throwing stuff on the pile, and now they sold to Zoom - the marketing-pump-in-pandemic-fueled video calling app - something that felt like an off-the-shelf Electron student project from a coding bootcamp - that bragged about signing anticompetitive contracts and never paying a designer, then refusing to implement key accessibility features for schools. They needed competent staff to patch their security holes (and there were many), so they bought an aimless company to nab the staff.

How many open source beggars have there been for the last ten years? 'My library is free - but please give me a donation.' Nobody. Prominent library maintainers burn out and drop off when they're making 20 bucks a month off donations and putting in two hours a day - in addition to their salaried job. DRM-free and open-source-but-please-pay-us are fun ideas, but video hosting and streaming cost a hell of a lot - and so few people go out of their way to pay for something unless they're explicitly paywalled out of it. ** 03:32 By the way, I seriously do wish the best for Rossman; I hope his project works and he gets hundreds of millions of users and can afford to hire lots of people to build the distributed identity provider of the future.

I seriously want these tools to exist almost as much as he does. I just don't see how this venture can work out.

(Best-case scenario here - the company reaches tons of users and receives tons of financial support. Turns out, though, that video hosting platforms can't cut a loss and neither serve ads or charge money for videos.

Optimistically, the platforms in question cut a deal trading dollars for API access. This is the video streaming mess but slightly better because everything is available throuhg a homogenous platform.

Is it possible for these video streaming services to serve a large fraction of content without receiving compensation?) ** 03:57 My approach to React code is literally just small-scale MVC. A custom hook, or hooks, form the data model. The JSX at the bottom of the component is the view. The compatibility layer is implemented somewhere in between - declaring const onClick to fetch some data, check some UI bookkeeping, save some user input, mediating between all of them. I haven't learned much of anything. ** 04:00 To that end - my approach to coding is just interface design. I start at the top and write a file, hallucinating interfaces from other files. I implement those interfaces in a way that makes sense rather than adhering strictly to the framework I established - within reason. Then I run the code, the differences produce errors, and I coax out some substance. ** 23:23 I love when new features 'fall out' of existing designs. The fact that I can use the import infrastructure designed for jake.isnt.online to bootstrap the website itself is really beautiful.

The solution I have gets around the expression problem, in a way, by faking multiple dispatch.

  • Constructors automatically compile files from parent to child if the file doesn't yet exist.
  • Paths are always immutable but 'just work' everywhere, regardless of whether we have a naked string or the object because we check for them in one key, weird looking case. If you accidentally pass a string as a path (I've been there lots of times with the previous codebase), we fix for you.
  • javascript files are loaded with the same infrastructure that loads the files we compile with. they feel a bit too 'special-casey' right now, but I think general approaches will naturally fall out of the files as I write more code, rework, abstract, etc...
  • Instantiating classes dispatches to specific instances of those classes, but the caller doesn't ever have to know which class they have an instance of, ever. Methods always just work.
  • Abstracting more actually allows us to obscure and avoid overhead; we can decide when to read the file from disk, when to parse, it, etc. as the user interacts with the file in different ways. Complete file state is cached, pre and post compilation, because computers have more memory than we know what to do with (and we aren't deep copying everything in JS like we are in java world). Getters as immutable functions allow us to pretend that property access just works. (I don't think this is important, but it is fun...)

Time to learn some more math... ** 23:37 How does hot reloading with dependencies work?

When a dependency is created, it tracks which files depend on it and which files it depends on. When I change that file, I fetch, compile, whatever the new version, then notify the files upstream to make that dependency change. Lazy implementation is completely re-executing everything upstream that's dependent. Good implementation is pinpointing exactly what needs an update and fixing it.

Surgically replacing parts of files when statically generating a site isn't worth it, but operations like replacing an HTML structure with a new one or re-importing just a specific JS file without changing the whole stack are worth exploring. We had this with the clojure implementation.

By the way - this code is so, so much easier to roll than Clojure. It's incredible how well it works, how fast the code runs, how quiet my computer is when running it; there is no kick into high gear or fire on all cylinders mode like the insane Clojure JVM startup was. The bun repl is good enough to test ideas out locally or try out modules, but I should also implement some tests at some point... right?

2023-10-22

→ node [[2023-10-21]]
  • [[flancia]]!
    • [[flancia meet]]
    • I had to pick up a reminder and do my [[tax return]] today as tomorrow I travel for 3w+, and I could only extend the deadline for slightly less than that. I tried to enjoy it, and I was able to!
    • Having a great time with my [[mum]] being over.
  • Saturday, 10/21/23 ** 10:53 Saying no is an act of love. Yes is "whatever", "it's fine", "I agree"; "no" is "I care enough to correct you", it's "I believe in this mission and think something else should be prioritized" ** 13:14 It's become pretty clear that an AI service will become a giant, a huge company, a Stripe or a Google.

The strategy is airtight -- big data and effective AI systems require lots of fast, large-scale data processing, so the players with the most computers and the most money will have the most power.

As a consumer, the only way for you to access a state-of-the-art AI system is to pay for the one that has downloaded and vectorized most of the world.

As an individual developer, I have no idea where I fit anymore. The clear answer here - to me - is to fold into a big company if I want to work on innovative tech.

→ node [[2023-10-20]]
  • Friday, 10/20/23 ** 10:59 Why do founders spend so much time in Figma?

I can't see the time difference between putting together an html frontend prototype and a figma prototype as super significant. Cost of the former is a complete rebuild of the html prototype anyways.

Is that wrong? Is the value of Figma in part the expectation that it is truly a mockup, not a real product, rather than showing a website that's 'not real'? I don't get it. ** 11:04 'Product manager' in Swedish is 'Produktchef'

→ node [[2023-10-19]]
  • [[Flancia]]!
  • [[work]]
    • was tough
      • it started well with a reassuring conversation with a mentor, but the day ended with more conflict again in the employee representation group.
      • the sub-group within the group I am in -- I find really draining; it is one of the most difficult groups I've been in, in part because of a personality mismatch between myself and the rest of the group and because of the high stakes/high stress situation.
      • apparently the group really really doesn't like my way of being/acting/requesting information and reasons for why we do things the way we do. i find them overly hierarchical, surprisingly conservative, and IMHO sometimes uncharitable and rash (some of them).
      • I am thinking of stepping down from said subgroup but I think I will wait until after my holidays, which are imminent :)
  • [[audio recorder]]!
  • Thursday, 10/19/23 ** 01:07 Excuses are really lame Just do things
→ node [[2023-10-18]]
  • Wednesday, 10/18/23 ** 13:26 I hope that, in addition to video, to audio, to interactivity, to computationally-and-or-presentation intensive services, that your message can be presented with text - with plain text and compressed images and little diagrams, maybe even ascii art. Internet accessibility is escaping us because the mediums are becoming more dynamic, more interactive; but video is expensive and only a few - absurdly large - companies have the ability to host and support fast video infrastructure.

Interactive websites, too, require backends, assume stable and fast internet connections, assume fast code execution speeds; the M2 Macbook that the website's developer is using will never be the 2015 iPad or 400 dollar laptop that most of the world has access to. ** 15:16 Keeping up with the news doesn't improve your ability to accomplish goals in daily life or to help the people around you. If you're in an immediate position to help, you will find out through other means; you'll learn about the news by walking outside, for example, or through your workplace. You'll be able to help within your domain of expertise.

Following current events second by second and trying to piece together social media accounts, gossip, misinformation just makes you better at the bad reporting game; it doesn't help you progress towards accomplishing the goals you have in your everyday life.

→ node [[2023-10-17]]
  • [[Flancia]]!
    • [[work]]
      • I still have a cold but it was slightly better.
      • I checked with the [[dentist]] and they didn't mind (I tested negative for Covid yesterday), so I went ahead and I'm happy with the results!
    • [[Agora]]!
  • Tuesday, 10/17/23 ** 17:23 Ads are good because they make services frustrating enough to put down after a period of time. YouTube is too seamless without ads - video after video after video can autoplay without interruption, without someone screaming at you to download Clash of Cocks or Warfare Game 3 ** 17:45 I like that websites are apps that change every time you visit them. I like that they can be good or bad or based on trust. Websites are more about the people who maintain them than programs are - programs work one way forever, but websites you connect to. As an internet user, you open your TCP socket to accept their connection, listening to server updates live that they choose to push; maybe they've set things up for you, or maybe they're pushing chat messages to you live, facilitating conversations with friends or emojis or more. Websites feel so dynamic, so alive; they'll keep changing and changing and changing forever so long as someone is there to look after them. ** 17:48 On making money - you don't get to choose your struggle - the circumstances of the world at the time pick the best tool for you to provide value to others. It's your job to find enjoyment in it. ** 19:50 Every TopGolf looks the same and is big enough to obscure reality outside of the place - absurd for somewhere so big. When you are in Top Golf, you are not in Arizona or Brooklyn or Portland or California or Massachusetts. You are in transit
→ node [[2023-10-16]]
  • [[Flancia]]!
    • I woke up with a cold, have the sniffles hard; I [[worked]] from home and took it easy -- no meetings after 15:30, tried to rest. Tested negative for Covid though!
    • Last light in the balcony looking southwest, cold day but beautiful.
    • [[AG]]
    • [[Lady Burup]]
    • I thought of [[Tara]].
→ node [[2023-10-15]]
→ node [[2023-10-14]]
  • Welcome to the Agora of Flancia!
    • Today and every day.

Today is [[14 October 2023]] and I am glad you are here with me.

It has been ages since I've in Flancia, sometimes it feels, even as time is varying.


Here is what I call a poem: [[trees]].


This weekend I intend to advance what I call [[open letters]]: documents addressed to groups, openly published even as they are being written.


As of 21:45 CET I did some 'day job' stuff (having chosen it) and started a proposal (open letter, as per the above) that I had on my todo list.

Now switching to [[paramita]], planning to continue on related topics but in the [[commons]].


Today we bought the tickets to and from [[Sri Lanka]], happy about it!

→ node [[2023-10-12]]
  • Outage from Alcova to South of mountain. [[storymine]]
  • Thursday, 10/12/23 ** 08:39 Lately, I've been solving difficult software problems by permuting the solutions until I find the best one that fits.

Yesterday I stuck the problem in my head, went for a walk, then came back and specified a solution. ** 20:49 From debugging experience today - Code walkthroughs - in front of a group or just one person - can be really helpful, but you need to know where to start.

Narrow down the problem in your own head and on paper as much as is reasonable; don't consider code coverage so much as the aspects in which your program could fail. "I've narrowed it down: the bug is with this behavior (in this case, a refresh issue), and that issue could be caused within this scope."

Then allow the user to assume what's outside the scope - you've used good function names and left good comments, so this shouldn't be a problem - and ask them to identify problems or things that look off, starting from 'the top' of the problem surface and working our way down - just like Matthias taught. (That was two years ago now... wow. I'm just reaching that point in 'my career' now. That's kind of sad. Work faster!)

We would have found the problem instantly if I'd done that at work today!

2023-10-12

This is a book for people who want to destroy Big Tech. It’s not a book for people who want to tame Big Tech. There’s no fixing Big Tech. It’s not a book for people who want to get rid of technology itself. Technology isn’t the problem. Stop thinking about what technology does and start thinking about who technology does it to and who it does it for. This is a book about the thing Big Tech fears the most: technology operated by and for the people who use it.

→ node [[2023-10-11]]
→ node [[2023-10-10]]
  • Tax benefits of utility company I was working at. [[storymine]]
  • Flat tire van using own vehicle for checks. [[storymine]]
→ node [[2023-10-09]]
  • Monday, 10/09/23 ** 00:52 Removed most of my YouTube subscriptions ** 11:14 This website (what this is hosted on and compiled with) needs to use javascript - frontend and backend. The same language has to run everywhere. That's the only way to avoid lag, overhead, etc...

It's very possible that I use some Clojure-macro-wrapper-thing for JS. It should not have a runtime - just different syntax (maybe). The ability to inspect element in the browser and see the exact code that someone has written - comments and all - is really beautiful, and I want to strive for that.

There are 'mediums' where we are able to take the source file. ** 11:33 Biggest pet peeve lately - and by lately, I mean the last few months - I can't seem to stand the use of 'it' as a subject when using a verb is necessary. It really pisses me off!!!!! A clear 'source' of the statement always exists, and using 'it' is always a cope to avoid having to think about what 'it' is. In doing so, the writer or speaker omits an opportunity to be more specific; they deliberately obscure details and - IMO - over-rely on context instead. The word 'it' says 'fill me in with what you think could be here', which allows English to increase information density, but in doing so also increases ambiguity!

→ node [[2023-10-08]]
  • Sunday, 10/08/23 ** 10:48 The tech keynote only exists because it was the best way for Steve Jobs to present new products. It doesn't work for anyone else. There is some value to hosting an event that's (1) physical and (2) completely controlled by the company announcing the product - it gives them the ability to present and control a complete narrative. I'm not sure if today, new consumers are exposed to new products in that way!

Most people (I believe - not quite sure) consume secondhand - The Verge chops up cuts of these multi-hour-long sessions into fifteen minutes of What Really Matters, while other tech review websites and content creators all quote the same two or three relevant sentences from the keynote. Companies try to buy the attention back with stunning video quality and presentation acumen, but they'll never beat the perspective of a third party - and some review outlets, like MKBHD, are stepping up to match that production value.

→ node [[2023-10-07]]
  • Saturday, 10/07/23 ** 17:48 The biggest aspect of the US - of Germany, of Italy, of most other places I've been - is the lack of eye contact and body language in Stockholm. Growing up in Portland suburbs, my dad would say 'hey' to everyone we passed by on morning walks - and though I wasn't that explicit, I would always make eye contact, smile, nod; acknowledge the other person, and they would almost always acklowledge me back. In social scenarios, an eye contact and a smile is a sign - "I want to talk to you", or "you seem interesting", or "thank you for sharing this space with me".

I'm used to giving and receiving those kinds of looks everywhere. In Stockholm, I get nothing back. No matter how sparse or densely crowded a street is, nobody will make eye contact; they aggressively look in the other direction, like they're deliberately avoiding acknowledging the other person. This girl who sat down after me - next to me - on the bus five minutes ago - ACNE Archive bag, beautiful red leather jacket - and amazing outfit, honestly! - I wanted to ask where the jacket was from, so I looked for some social cue from her to consent to my reaching out, to say that somehow it would be okay for me to talk to her - and though I made it very clear that I was open to conversation through my social signals, I thought, she gave nothing back, positive or negative - not even an acklowledgement. Keep staring at the phone. Don't acknowledge the environment.

This isn't incredibly uncommon - I feel like I experience this with someone else at least once a week. Interesting person, no idea how to talk to them, they don't broadcast any social signals. This isn't something I've experienced anywhere else - even in Copenhagen, quite close (culturally and physically), I had something to go off of - and people interacted with me non-verbally! Where is that here? ** 19:28 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hql6doE-Ccw

Dave2D's video presentation is really interesting. He films everything in one take - or hard cuts if he needs another, but that doesn't seem to happen frequently. He adjusts on the fly and lets it happen - left a joystick off, for example, or doesn't realize how to do something at first - and doesn't brush it off, necessarily, but acknowledges that it's part of the experience.

It's this seemingly casual, ad-hoc delivery that makes him a good speaker, I think; he feels personable, like he could be you experiencing a device, unlike a lot of the other tech review content production out there. His videos are clearly very planned, though; he hits on all the points at the right times, and the progression of the story - feel in hand to build quality to cool quirks to gameplay experience to who would buy this - is standard, and he hits his marks every two or so minutes to transition between them. He makes this happen, though, through a conversation, one that's briskly filmed without cuts. Dave films his own face and the device at the same time, and isn't afraid to cut out to his face or to the full device view if he needs the room, but he is in complete control of to what degree his face - his opinion - about the device is shown.

More of Dave's face? More opinion. More of the device fills the screen? Facts about the device, because you're looking and making the decision for yourself rather than talking to him. Brilliant!

His varying tone of voice also really brings points home; when he needs to make some sort of disclaimer or note for the more serious people, he always - always - 'inlines it' by using it as a fourth point in the five paragraph essay structure he uses, speaking quickly and with a lower tone of voice, so that most people brush over it but the people who care absorb the information; it's required for him to convey in some way. Headline sentences or leading paragraphs have his voice dipping up and down, slowing when mentioning device names or Bringing. Points. Home., like It's All. About. The. Joystick. or something like that, then continuing to deliver with a faster cadence; 'you see, well...'.

Another observation - his style is very deliberate but he still bookends a lot of his points with filler; filler that would be common in a conversation, but not necessarily in a prepared script. This makes a video feel like a conversation. ** 20:05 Oh, Fujifilm is in Stockholm because Hasselblad headquarters are in Gothenburg. Was wondering why they were so into coming here first when choosing Europe...

2023-10-07

→ node [[2023-10-06]]
  • Friday, 10/06/23 ** 09:48 Website edit system for documents 'Sign in with github' Creates a pull request in the background to make the requested edit to the text

Would be so cool!!!!!!!

Really I want this for jake.isnt.online but would have to be part of the backend thing for uln.industries right? I'll figure it out!!!!!!!!!! ** 10:15 If the argument for Tailwind CSS is optimization... wait. A more intelligent SCSS compiler should be able to handle abstracting across different CSS styles and classes to minify them.

How?

Module SCSS files have to be imported. If a class is actually a combination of other class names, it's trivial to pass multiple class name arguments instead of one; you just leave a space between them.

This means an optimizing SCSS compiler can split classes, find similar classes using the same code, and unify them across the whole project, significantly reducing SCSS size. If my CSS class with 10 rules shares 5 distinct rules, each with two other classes, we can serialize those 5 rules to a class, then - on import - append that class name to the current one when deploying to production

A linting rule could also catch this project-wide and encourage the user to refactor and reduce the use of them. ** 10:39 When meeting someone - make sure the question takes as much effort as the answer. If the answer takes more effort, the conversation is no fun, and the asker isn't actually listening. ** 18:57 I like interfaces of any kind

→ node [[2023-10-05]]

Discussed divorce with [[L]], we've been separated for around 1.4 years. Things are going well and I wish us both happiness!

  • Thursday, 10/05/23 ** 12:47 Stories should never be 'X and Y'. Those are unrelated! You're just reading off a list, stating facts.

Instead - 'a', then 'b', but 'c', because 'd'. If the order in a list of facts doesn't matter, your structure doesn't make sense.

To pick up a new plot? If we hit peak interest, switch to the other story. Then revisit.

Commanding attention is a brilliant skill - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GXv2C7vwX0. "It's not what you get, it's about how you cut it - and how it comes out the other end." ** 12:53 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdSKot0psNg Trakcing shots - used to convey size, motion, or time. Good transition as well. ** 13:31 After watching more of these - I think I can learn a lot about product design from film. Film transitions and compositions aim to direct the viewer's attention, to evoke particular feelings of progress, of anguish, of any sort of emotional state as the plot of the movie progresses. They practice engagement - what is the correct amount of information to show the user? When do we need to prompt for user interaction? When should we present information to them and let them watch?

Cinema is a series of calculated risks and to make a movie is to balance all of these plot-driven interests to hammer a single, particular path home. ** 21:33 I love having the opportunity to think about a technical problem and get it right, and I mean really right; to evaluate consequences and scratch at all of the rough edges until they peel a little bit, then affix them with the right tools and apply some treatment, some abstraction, until the tool is perfect and foolproof and ready for someone to use.

This is an environment I can thrive in -- someone gives me a problem - puts me in a box - and I find all the right tools to both find a solution and make it feel beautiful to use. I can't wait to keep coding and making more.

→ node [[2023-10-04]]
  • Wednesday, 10/04/23 ** 11:03 "I built something"

"Your thing sucks. Here's why."

"I didn't build it to be seen in that way and it doesn't harm anyone"

"I hate you"

→ node [[2023-10-03]]

[[Imaginate un mundo sin latencia]] me dije, habiendo solucionado los problemas de conectividad bluetooth en [[nostromo]] :)

A veces extraño el [[español]] como idioma.

  • #push [[youtube]]
    • the uploading experience even on studio.youtube.com leaves me unsatisfied :)
    • it is slow, you need to perform a multitude of clicks to get to publish something
    • friction should be much lower than this!

Mientras escribo esto, estoy escuchando [[hola frank]] de [[sumo]] :)

  • Next I will work on a [[proposal]] within the context of my work in the [[er-ch]].
  • And on my personal computer I will start work on [[x]] as the evening progresses :)

Let us pray, dice Luca Prodan :)

  • Young goth not happy about his girlfriend dancing with others. [[storymine]]
  • Anticipating the total cost of the flat tire in Mills. [[storymine]]
  • Tuesday, 10/03/23 ** 07:29 Understanding what Daniel meant when he said he wasn't comfortable with his physical form... it's so, so easy to keep working, keep working, keep working, and never think about your body, your life, who you are outside of your job ** 09:43 My are.na feels a bit unstructured lately, disorganized; the photos I'm saving lack a sort of coherence. Some have grit, others have polish, some have pain; I'm not sure which is which and which is best. I'm glad that I'm doing this but I need more control, to make more work myself. ** 10:02 Don't use words like "jealous" or "ugly" or "bad". Not good words - negative words - evoke not good feelings, even when used in jest. Instead shift phrasing to always be positive. ** 10:03 It's okay to both take things seriously and not expect them to lead anywhere ** 10:12 I will never make 'merch' I will never make 'merch' I will never make merch

To make goods designed not to fulfill a need, not to solve a problem, not to improve daily life, but solely to produce revenue - providing value as a """""""""""""""memento""""""""""""""""" - is disgusting. Creativity and genuine care and making things for the sake of making them is cool. I don't think money should ever be the focus.

Thinking more about 'bullshit jobs'. Is promoting an inferior product a bullshit job? Restricting information definitely is.

pull color="#b51f08"> <title>500 Internal Error wtf.
<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://doc.anagora.org/css/center.css"> <button class="pull-url" value="https://doc.anagora.org/css/center.css">">pull</button>
<div class="container-fluid text-center">
    <div class="vertical-center-row">
        <h1>500 Internal Error <small>wtf.</small></h1>
    </div>
</div>
→ node [[2023-10-02]]

instagram ideas - you get all the value you need from a picture and a caption or a short video

hook of content should provide another question - what's next? he hatched a fish from caviar? HOW did he catch a fish? make the hook brief and brilliant and shareable across platforms - but leave more hanging to share across other platforms.

Not healthy to pretend to be interested in anything

Has to pass the pub test - if I tell someone the idea at the pub in a couple of sentences and they look at me in a weird way, I've got an idea; they want to see more

Good to be unfamiliar enough with a circumstance but for it to seem cool, to have a good level of energy... ** 22:27 Photos have to be just quiet enough; not too loud, not too much coing on

→ node [[2023-10-01]]
  • Sunday, 10/01/2023 ** 09:20 Coding for fun makes my work stronger and my life better. Finally picking up the personal projects I've procrastinated on for so long - no more bullshit, just cutting to the chase and learning NextJS, modern React, etc. properly outside of work. Building that compiler for a website.

Making more increases momentum; we learned that from taking photos. Doing more means you'll continue to do more and more and more and more until you've mastered it. ** 09:24 No days off again. Even if on vacation, even if sick - write some code. Go to the gym - or at least get outside. Take some photos. Don't allow yourself to reset and become afraid of those activities. ** 09:56 Overlay to give information about a page if I've seen it before, things I've written, things I've logged... like what if hypothes.is was on all websites, a superset of it. ** 21:03 https://archive.ph/SixJv#selection-2129.0-2133.185

It's strange to fill my head with these stories of grit, of character, of tough experiences because I don't think I've had any. My whole life has felt a bit structured, a bit planned, and I'm not quite sure how to make it out of there. I don't want anything but friends and excitement; I have everything else I could want. Maybe I have to master consistency before I get a bit more dysfunctional. ** 21:09 Writing, taking photos, writing code, using computers, posting on social media, saving inspiration, cooking, dressing yourself, etc... these are 'democratic' hobbies - everyone has to do them to live life today - but for some people these skills are careers, and whether the skill becomes a career speaks more to your business acumen than your skill with the activity itself. Career or not, becoming good at things that everyone has to do every day is beautiful.

All of my tools are black or silver or white. Why? ** 21:12 Maybe my next - my 'first' - essay should be about learning the basics, the mundane, the beautiful, mastering it. Things that everyone needs or does.

→ node [[2023-09-30]]
  • Saturday, 09/30/2023 ** 11:04 jake.isnt.online is a silo - away from other ideas of computing, away from websites and how they should be built. folk. uln.industries is industrial, production-ready, state-of-the-art. ** 14:55 Bucket list / might miss some things, but need some goals to center myself...
  • Make one clothing collection: simple items that I can wear forever.
  • Take beautiful photos of everyone I love, no matter where we are
  • Learn to sketch or paint // without an end goal yet
  • Build a computing ecosystem entirely my own: web stack, programming language database system... own my stack. Something symbiotic.
  • Build, or help build, a tool that many friends and family members use every day. Thinking Notion, iPhone, Google Maps.
  • Become comfortable with mathematics and formal methods. I think I'll much better understand the world.
  • Likewise for physics.
  • Likewise for human biology / understand the biological foundations for the 'state of the art', at least.
  • Likewise for computing hardware.
  • Learn to write to convey information well.
  • Make an album of music.
  • Speak Swedish comfortably.
  • Understand enough Mandarin to properly experience China / or Korean/Korea, Japan/Japan, Arabic/yeah... English will never explain those cultures enough.
  • See South America
  • See East Africa
  • See the middle east

This is far from complete, I think, I think, I think

→ node [[2023-09-29]]
  • [[29]] is [[drishti]] in the #Flancia [[Pattern Language]].
  • My hobby, sometimes: think about whether numbers are prime while laying down or sitting.
    • Take [[209]] -- it is not prime.
      • I find this one quite beautiful, this is how I got there:
        • It is not multiple of two or five trivially.
        • It is not a multiple of three as its digits don't add up to a multiple.
        • It is not a multiple of 7 because 210 is (as 21 is 3 * 7) and it's too near.
        • Consider the hypothesis that it is multiple of 11.
          • 220 is a multiple of 11 because 22 is.
          • 220 - 11 is 209.
          • So 209 is a multiple of 11. What is the other factor?
        • Consider the hypothesis that it is a multiple of 19.
          • 19 * 10 is 190.
          • 190 + 19 is 209 precisely, so it is a multiple.
        • Therefore 209 is 11 * 19.
    • [[1547]] is not prime; it is 7 * 13 * 17.
  • Friday, 09/29/23 ** 09:24 Specialized tools are good.

Camera roadmap:

  • Ricoh(s): everyday cameras.
  • Fuji X system: day shooting, video.
  • GFX (future): serious client, portrait, editorial work.

X-T3 is great. Upgrade to the next X-Pro when available. GFX tilt-shift lens is incredible. Would seriously transform my photos of buildings. GFX-50R ii, hopefully. ** 13:03 Internet history is becoming more and more difficult to track -- how do we archive all of those TikToks? Connect the links? I'm sure everyone's said the same about Facebook and Instagram, but - distressed. ** 14:39 hey ** 17:40 Thinking about decoration --

I would never want a photo I've taken in my house, but I would love a sketch or a watercolor or an oil painting or a sculpture or a piece of jewelry or some furniture. I don't really enjoy photos in other people's homes.

Maybe I'm doing the wrong thing. Maybe photos are just for Instagram.

But they're not; I love looking at photos, photos of buildings and people that tell stories, that present these super minimal landscapes. Those have a different use case.

I want to make everything myself, though - and I'm a bit ashamed that I couldn't reasonably make decorations for my apartment.

→ node [[2023-09-28]]
  • Thrown so snappily that my balls clapped. [[storymine]]
  • Thursday, 09/28/23 ** 10:59 I'm part of the problem. I save the same room inspiration as everyone else. My home will always look like everyone else's. ** 11:12 Taking photos improves eyesight ** 13:37 Maybe my bad mood is just about the weather. Finally finishing the apartment organization process. Coding well. Feeling great about progress today. Excited to do more and make more. I love work and life. This new camera is just what I need.

How do I prevent this from happening?

  • A fan.
  • Bright lights. ** 20:33 Issey Miyake (the brand, not the person... rest in peace) continues to make clothing that looks so different from anything else I've ever seen. Always blown away by the work. That clothing is art. How is nobody else doing it like this???
→ node [[2023-09-27]]
  • [[just do it]]
  • [[gone]]
  • [[yoga with x]]
  • [[fellowship of the link]] was great!
    • note this node takes minutes to load, and that's sort of awesome
    • because of current agora behavior every embed that opens, in the node itself and everything it pulls by default, grabs focus when it loads. the result is a bit like an automatic tour of our conversations over the previous many months.
    • it is... Agora [[demo mode]] / [[autopilot]], as I dreamt it, implemented as a side effect of bugs!
    • [[neobooks]]
    • I discovered someone took amazing notes while I gave the presentation yesterday. It filled me with joy, such friends!
  • How to deny [[time]] to an enemy?
  • Rec center receptionist finding me students. [[storymine]]
  • What birds sing near this [[place]]? What other animals make sounds near that place? [[navigating]]
  • Wednesday, 09/27/23 ** 14:46 So much of writing React code is reconstructing state machines with particular primitives.

Is it better to use an abstraction like 'xstate' and rely on a state machine abstraction than to make it explicit? ** 14:47 I don't have a strong enough foundation to build a WebGPU UI framework thing. I barely even know what I want from a UI framework.

  • First: I have to continue building my personal website and add more primitives, more abstractions, logic for transitions. Get comfortable with my own workflow.

  • Build a couple of applications with Next.js or other 'state of the art tools'. Not splash pages or toys. Professional-looking applications.

  • Try building a mobile app or some sort of mobile interface for one of those abstractions.

  • Learn from using those multiple paradigms. Try to figure out what could be better. Try out those Rust Web UI experiments and whatever Swift is doing.

Only after doing these things will I be prepared to revisit all of that graphics rendering stuff!!!!!!!!! ** 16:20 I love Figma. Blown away by how responsive it is every time I use it. Can't wait for the experience to get closer to code.

Feels like user interface style systems should be redesigned 'figma-first'. Flexbox - and similar responsive systems - are great, sure, but we can add those retroactively. 'Convert to responsive component' or something atop of the mockup. So much of this mockup - any mockup - could be trivially converted to code if we had the right system, but this is only possible if the UI framework is tightly coupled to the design tool.

I want this to be real. ** 20:37 The Apple keyboard feels so shallow compared to my other devices; the huge amount of resistance that the X-T3 puts in front of my fingers makes these keys so touchy by comparison, with so little travel... being human is about getting used to our tools so quickly. Joel was shocked that I had a Swedish keyboard - but for me to adjust to it took no time at all.

Let's talk about camera gear.

I can tell that the Fuji's sensor is better - or that, at least, it injects some magic into the colors of each photo - and that's helped shape my style and take good photos.

However: those buttons are painful to press. It's genuinely difficult to change exposure compensation without reassigning a dial, and settings can't be quickly flicked into place; it's either one click at a time or a rough, forced transition for a very different setting. This is not the camera for fast photos.

I know the Ricoh wins, but let's break it down - I want a camera that:

  • Can be shot one-handed
  • Has IBIS to catch movement and enable one handed shots
  • Fits in my pocket or is otherwise unobtrusive when bringing it around
  • Has a versatile focal length
  • USB-C charging
  • Fast lens
  • Quick changing settings

Today it became so obvious how obtrusive the Fuji is - I have to keep it on the end of its 'leash' - camera strap - to guarantee that the image is stable, given no IBIS; the camera's a bit heavy to hold one-handed - tires my arm just enough to want a second hand sometimes - but that isn't much of a problem. Everyone around me reacted to me holding a camera; looked my way, gave me a weird look, tried to hide a bit, posed a little bit... maybe it's just imagined but the Fuji provoked a different reaction. This bus driver stared at me for ten minutes as I took photos around Slussen - and she wasn't even in the photos! I kept having to change settings and miss shots, too... bring the hand up to the camera or the camera down to the hand, make adjustment, repeat. Not a fun process.

→ node [[2023-09-26]]
  • Tuesday, 09/26/23 ** 12:00 Make more youtube videos. Produce more 'content'. DO MORE. ** 13:19 Missed shot - leather jacket in early afternoon light with a fly at the top right. Would have been brilliant.

Poor shot - experimenting with low shutter speed in Odenplan. Being afraid of taking a photo of someone close to me. Have imperfect results saved. ** 15:06 Employee at by:fiket - a bit of a goofy, outgoing character - awesome person - asked me how he could improve on making the mocha as I was leaving.

What an awesome idea - I'm so glad. I wish I had had more advice for him. ** 21:35 Photo learnings today:

  • Hold the camera as still as you can
  • Consider experimenting with manual mode
  • I love those shots of people in buildings
  • Discovering some dynamic compositions close to people
  • My movement can be good if I carefully consider what's in frame - learn to move the camera better adn control the motion
  • Most of the photos I want to shoot naturally fit with a longer focal length, and I feel like a lot of the time I am forcing the GR iii to do something it's not built for. It's a great indoor camera, but I'm still having a hard time forcing it outdoors. ** 21:38 Meta-notes on making videos and writing without thinking: it's okay for writing to be 'off the dome' because you see immediate feedback and correct it. This can be done in YouTube videos too - take a second to figure out the idea, say 'oops', control your pace, and figure it out in post.

In conversation, you have to control your thoughts and your pace prematurely. Take it slow. Think about it a little bit. Then slowly let the words out, word by word, carefully choosing the framework beforehand and filling in the gaps. ** 21:44 Also thinking about the best hobbies for learning how to learn. Photos are a perfect example. Barrier to entry is zero: literally walk outside and click a button. Barrier for feedback: super low. Post a photo on Instagram or send to someone else and ask their opinion. Community of practice: huge. Bad community of practice: huge. Really good people in modern day - a lot of them. Lots to aspire to do, can feel the huge gap, can clearly quantify getting better.

The tighter the feedback loop on your thinking can be, the faster you can learn and the better you can make things.

Gym takes a few weeks - I'd say two - to pay off positively with mood benefits. Eating takes a few days but is hard to directly establish the association. Photos are instant gratification: you see the image in the monitor and you think you win. ** 21:47 Thinking about what Fuji guy (sorry your name is in my phone but not on my computer) told me about composing on his camera - he just uses the black and white filter on the camera and uses the color RAW files. Intention is to focus on the composition in the camera then shift to considering the colors in post.

Is this good?

I think it would be a good exercise for learning. I'm not sure if it could help me make the best images possible. Color is so important to consider in a final image.

Should I force myself to shoot black and white jpegs for a bit and see what happens?

Should I bring back the Fuji focal length and see what happens?

Yes to the second. No to the first. I love color too much to give it up, and I love photos too much to miss an image because of a decision I made. ** 22:01 Why am I doing something that so many people are?

Walking around and crossing my fingers for shots is starting to feel frivolous; what am I really documenting? What is really what I want to picture? Can I really compete in such a crowded market? Am I really expressing myself? Is this really helping me meet people? Is taking photos a good use of my time? ** 22:07 More websites. There aren't enough websites.

→ node [[2023-09-25]]
  • Reducing [[risk]] for the client makes it easier for them to [[decide]] to [[buy]].

Love his advocacy for joining the community - getting closer to others, not just borrowing elements from it or observing it. If you appreciate a culture you should live in it. ** 10:26 Thinking that once a week is a good rate for taking photos. ** 10:38 If I want to live more local, maybe I should use bandcamp instead then.

I appreciate the people who lean into the competitive advantages of taking photos - the ability to perfectly document an environment. Marketing work can be replaced by graphic design, 3D modeling, AI - that'll become cheaper. Recording progress, process, individual documentation - that's what photos are good for. ** 11:46 Yeah, I think Ricoh GR iii X is for me - I don't think the lack of weather will ever be a problem - but I also think my budget's run out. ** 12:42 To learn from photos

  • Shooting without the viewfinder, without the screen, without even looking. Being able to have a conversation without a camera, but still document a moment, is really beautiful
  • More interesting compositions. I messed up my photos from the event yesterday trying to square the compositions. They were just worse. Focus on people first - don't be too rigid
  • Shooting one handed. So powerful. Goes with the shooting without the viewfinder.
  • Working with people.

** 14:14 Always provide help first, then ask why, not the other way around - especially if it's something that could (or should) be prioritized. Nobody likes no ** 22:28 Thinking about livestreaming my daily photo editing or review sessions. Is that a good idea?

→ node [[2023-09-24]]
  • Sunday, 09/24/23 ** 11:14 Still feeling weird about the Ricoh. It's the perfect camera for living life. It's not the best camera - for me - for going out and taking photos. The lens is just too wide.

Should I get the GR iii X too?................ ** 19:29 Too much NYC mythos. Nobody needs another NYC street photographer - not in that style. Watching these videos - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAKWwljJiIQ - a lot of the work feels like a copy of a copy of a copy - I don't understand where the work is coming from. He has some great photos - but not in this video. Maybe an unlucky day. The narrative about 'documenting life in the city' though doesn't feel like it adds up when there are so many people doing it?

Maybe what I'm doing is wrong too, directionless. I think it's more reflective of how I'm feeling than it is of others, or - at the least - more reflective of some theme I want to convey. What do I do it for? My instinct is to practice and keep practicing - it's not a hobby, really, it's a routine.

There are too many good photos - just like there are too many good songs and too many good websites and too many good graphic designers. (I don't think there are enough good websites or graphic designers though, really. Maybe video editors are a more apt comparison.). I don't think technology can make photos much better - we have tools today that expose the exposure latitude and dynamic range problems of previous tech generations. No camera from the last ten years has any limitations. Improvements are incremental - they decrease luck as a factor but make no fundamental changes in how things work.

There is room for different mediums that leverage the benefits of modern technology - we don't have a good camera for 'motion photos', to my knowledge, really - (or maybe I need to find one) - but it feels as if everything is trending towards video. Maybe photos are in the past. Every photo I see has been taken before; every idea has been thought of. There are new people but - as Chuck said in that essay - all of us live the same lives, really.

Maybe I should spend more time making websites then.

Okay - how am I different though?

  • My style - shot in a street style, but a bit sculptural, respective of frames and lines and architecture - is an approach that I don't really see other people using. I think I can expand and improve on it. I think there is merit to it.
  • I'm in Stockholm, not in New York City or San Francisco. Culture is different here.
  • I have a better understanding of technology than many others.
  • I have taste in clothes. Beyond what works and doesn't work for me, I have an understanding of how to style and dress to convey a particular mood. I don't know how to make clothing, but I keep up with new designers that make beautiful things that others could use to express themselves.
  • I have engineering discipline and tools for self-reflection. I will get better and better and better.
  • I have no connections to musicians and no experience with portraits of people. I need to do more here.
  • I have no experience in studio or with artificial lights.
  • I have no experience with interviews.
  • I don't take photos in the morning.
  • I don't need other people to care about my photos to make them. It just happens.

Cool - what can I do differently?

  • Take photos in the morning.
  • Take photos in the studio.
  • Try interviewing people.
  • Try 'street portraits' in locations I love. Spend time loitering and ask cool people at those locations for photos at those locations. This has worked for me before!! Working with people is something I will never get enough experience with.
  • Don't worry about a particular genre.
  • Consume more media from interesting, contemporary photographers. Watching all of this information about the NYC streets, I worry that too many people have the same influences and take the same photos. I don't want to become too tainted.
  • Keep consuming media from people who have different styles from mine.
  • Plan more.
  • Keep cold DMing. Cold DM everyone in Stockholm asking for photo advice. Cold DM anyone who wants photos. I need to meet more people.

I think reaching out is the best win I can get here. I do enough of the rest - I just need to meet people. Nothing's new. ** 21:02 Things to write about

  • Consequences of camera settings and how they can add to photos
  • Meta software development (not the company, the practice)
  • Day in life
  • Sweden
  • Fiction ** 22:16 Learning from riot photos
  • Take burst shots. No single photos.
  • Bring the bigger camera. Nobody will care.
  • Tell stories with the frames - prioritizing getting the lines straight over focusing on perspectives is too much.
  • Take more photos than you think you'll need - just point and hold the shutter down.
  • Slow shutter speed is great for showing motion.
  • Really wide focal length can show you down. Ricoh was not the best tool here.
  • Keep your hand still if you're shooting at low shutter speeds.. ** 22:59 I think I'm happier when I'm making my own work than I am when consuming the work of others. Finding references is good - but my life doesn't have the most balanced approach atm! I'm taking too much in and not putting enough out.

How much time is healthy to dedicate to 'input'? Depends on the medium, I think - but I'm dialed in basically 16 hours a day. There's no way that my current attitude is healthy.

More often than not, when I see something on are.na that I like - I've already saved the thing to one of my channels and the person who saved it - why it showed up - follows me, meaning they likely found the thing from me to begin with. That has to be a sign to stop - or, at the least, slow pace.

2023-09-24

→ node [[2023-09-23]]
  • Saturday, 09/23/23 ** 09:03 All these review websites - anonymous notes - etc. I don't think it's really possible for writing to be unidentifiable, unless it's been tumbled through editors and AI, or at least I think so; most people tend to have a strong voice. At work, I can generally identify who on the (9 person team) has written a passage based on their writing style, formatting, and other little hints throughout - a quirk of poor punctuation, a common misspelling, a certain phrase of words tehy use often. ** 10:13 The morning is for getting ahead - the evening is for cleaning up.

I think I will shift my workout schedule to the morning. It feels 'active' - not like 'maintenance' - and the last two hours of my day should be spent cleaning and organizing. In a way, everything I do feels like organizing; the code, for example, already exists; I just need to arrange and compose it in a way that solved my problem.

Maybe my plants need watering. Maybe I can do that now.

I think I have to accept that creating mess during the day is okay, too - as long as it's taken care of by the end of the day (or the next morning). I deserve a fresh start.

Talk at work yesterday - "You have to have a plan for when you'll end, or you could just work forever". That's my problem - I don't define time or space for me to do particular things, so I don't do much of anything and none of my time is reserved for me to accomplish anything in particular.

This is part of my effort to aggressively calendar retroactively - to visualize time spent is to take control of it. ** 10:51

Coney Island -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xw68q0jipg -- maybe New York City is the center of the world -- or, at least, one of them. ** 12:30 I write more words at work than I code - if you count comments. I think this is the correct approach ** 12:48 Forgot how good the Framework feels. The Macbook is robust - engineered- a beautiful artifact, a design machine, complete for people to use.

My Framework - with two years of NixOS, a light metal frame, and a few dents under its belt - is charming by comparison. It's a machine built for hacking, that begs to be remade and recrafted and redone over and over again, for debugging and hacking all sorts of beautiful system utiliteis and projects. The machine encourages you to remake it, transform it. It can do anything - you just have to make it happen and write the code to do it. ** 16:05 How do I format these notes as 500 word essays?

Love https://stephango.com

Wondering how I can make a system to help myself do the same ** 17:06 Loving the way the ilcaffe lights shake and move a bit when someone leaves their seat in the back - a trace of them is left in their place, swaying, lingering, for fifteen or so minutes afterwards. ** 21:04 I missed two really awesome photos today. One - woman in party gear looking down at Slussen. Two - woman immaculately dressed, looking very professional, flipping beer can above her head 180 degrees and pouring into her mouth alone - through the subway system window in Odenplan.

First one I was too scared to take - I was worried about being confrontational. I would not have been.

Second one - just didn't have the camera ready. I was too overwhelmed by the process of getting off the train to make myself alert.

2023-09-23

→ node [[2023-09-22]]
  • Friday, 09/22/23 ** 02:22 Lessons from today's photos
  • I should ask people to take their photos if I want to rather than shying away from it. Own up to the fact that you're taking their photo- don't be ashamed of it. They either notice or they don't. Ask permission if it won't ruin the scene!

2023-09-22

  • [[I got a new (second-hand) phone]].

  • Looking through the transcript of [[Kohei Saito on Degrowth Communism]]. [[Marx's theory of metabolism]].

  • Reading about [[system dynamics]] and the differences between the qualitative and quantitative approaches to it.

  • I'm using the RSS feed of changes to my digital garden (via Agora) as a very simple gardening tool (that is, something for improving the notes in my garden).

    • I add notes to my garden. Sometime later I see them in my RSS reader. I scan them. Often, upon reading, I'm then minded to tweak them slightly.
    • Not exactly a fancy [[spaced reptition]] system, but pretty simple and effective so far.
    • I'm thinking also to experiment with using my journal as a place where I revise key concepts in a spaced reptition kind of way. Just write certain thoughts out again and again until I feel they're clear enough in my head to leave them for a while.
  • Wheee I'm currently editing my journal from vim in termux on my phone. Synced here via syncthing. Not sure how much I'll need to be doing this but good to know that I can.

→ node [[2023-09-21]]

De quién son [[las jaras]]?

Están las de Maitreya, las de Tara, las de Avalokiteshvara!

  • Being called mean in grappling. [[storymine]]
  • “A risk-taking creative environment on the product side [requires] a fiscally conservative environment [on the business side]”
  • Befriend an [[astronaut]].
  • Thursday, 09/21/23 ** 10:04 not better - just different ** 11:04 The minute I get to new york, stay in new york, I'll be stuck there forever ** 11:12 I'm so lucky to have seen so much of the world at this age

though I haven't learned enough ** 11:16 Take more photos --

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iESIfSrt_dU ** 13:34 Why did she give me two kanelbulle? ** 13:35 Maybe because they aren't very good today. ** 16:22 "If the best thing a photo has going for it is that it is technically difficult to get... it's like a musician showing off their chops, playing really fast, but maybe it's not very musical and not very soulful. A lot of photography now, taking single images trying to impress people who make single images .. " - Aaron Berger

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBfdwxVFHU8

→ node [[2023-09-20]]

i also use avidemux for simple video editing. 20:22 Samuel Klein Samuel Klein says:love your naming scheme! Samuel Klein says:this diagram also suggests scale-free design [which is compelling; not privileging zoomed-in or zoomed-out parts of the whole] Samuel Klein says:++ 20:36 PK Peter Kaminski Peter Kaminski says:Flask is a lightweight web application framework for Python Peter Kaminski says: https://flask.palletsprojects.com/

20:41 JM Jerry Michalski Jerry Michalski says:is that like agreeing on a hashtag? 20:47 Samuel Klein Samuel Klein says:One thing I'd like to see more easily is the list of repositories in your agora, and which ones have a node for a given wikilink Samuel Klein says:I have to run! This was great to see, worth tuning to a 15-min pitch Samuel Klein says:❤️ ❤️ ❤️ 21:01 avatar Samuel Klein Samuel Klein says:oho my next meeting was moved back I have 15 min 😃 21:02 JM Jerry Michalski Jerry Michalski says:yay! Jerry Michalski says:it's a hypertext catfish! 21:05 Aram Zucker-Scharff Aram Zucker-Scharff says:I found this very useful! I have to drop 21:07 JM Jerry Michalski Jerry Michalski says:see you! 21:07 PK Peter Kaminski Peter Kaminski says: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glock_switch

21:09 avatar Samuel Klein Samuel Klein says:there's probably room a tool like "full auto-linker" that could look through your doc + its context, check your agora for entities that exist across the conjoined namespace, and autolinking concepts the first time they appear in your doc

  • "What you [[want]] is for your [[kids]] to have fun. [[Winning]] [with [[stakes]]] is [[fun]], losing is not fun."
  • Some states may require school districts to allow homeschoolers to compete in a s[[school]] [[sport]]. collapsed:: true
    • [[Wyoming]] ostensibly allows homeschoolers to compete in a school sport while paying the same fees as school attendees.
  • Wednesday, 09/20/23 ** 10:31 Some deliberate life improvements that I feel are significantly changing the way I am living life:
  • Replacing phone use cases with external devices. Phone should live in the back pocket, not the front pocket, and be used only as a last resort.
  • Pausing before speaking. An uncomfortably long pause followed by a well-reasoned answer is far more clear than a series of ramblings before directing someone to the right place.
  • Time tracking on google calendar. Now that I know how I spend my time, I can take steps to deliberately improve it.
  • Planning small time frames in google calendar ahead of time. Same reason - helps set goals.
  • Writing more and making videos critiquing my photos. I think these things already, but writing them down - making them real - voicing and highlighting these ideas - helps me learn to talk about work, advance its quality, and share my work with others.
  • Dealing with menial tasks by end of day - always. There is never not time for another five minute email in my life now.
  • Making a deliberate effort to take photos every day.
→ node [[2023-09-19]]
  • In a [[story]], the people start as one thing and end up another.
  • Felt a camaraderie with every hustler today. Something similar in knowing what it's like to hunt for [[angles]] in [[grappling]].
  • Saw Tim at the gym. He said something led him there. Chores. Dropping something off. A road that led the [[gym]]. [[storymine]]
  • What's a process that will guarantee that people will [[sleep]] well? [[business]]
  • Go where the highest [[stakes]] are.
  • What do people need to know to deal with more [[heat]] than they are used to? [[business]]
  • Every [[story]] is about one moment. One [[time]] someone [[changed]]. The start, middle, and end are to get to that moment and then wrap it up.
    • What is the [[meaning]] of the [[moment]]?
      • The [[moment]] of [[change]].
      • Once, Alice was ______. But now, Alice is _______.
    • What is the opposite of that moment?
    • The [[start]] is the [[opposite]] of the [[end]].
    • Generate several threads for each start, middle, and end and then pick the one that resonates most.
    • In media res.
    • What are the [[stakes]]?
    • How to add or ramp up stakes?
      • Clear [[want]] and [[problem]]. collapsed:: true
        • A [[promise]] of what they will get from taking in the [[story]].
        • Start with a [[familiar]] [[want]], end with a strange new want.
      • Say something that will give the audience the character's [[hope]] and [[fear]]. collapsed:: true
        • Show what the audience needs to accept to [[feel]] what the [[character]] feels in the moment.
        • Have the characters present a plan so the [[audience]] feels like they are a part of a [[plan]], and then have to adapt to the [[problem]] when they face the problem.
      • Present half-bits of [[information]] about the [[end]]. collapsed:: true
        • What would let them [[wonder]] about what will happen [[next]]?
      • Take more [[time]] when the [[audience]] is in maximum [[tension]] and paying the most [[attention]]. Take very little time when the audience is not at that height of tension.
      • Have the [[characters]] make [[predictions]] that fail.
      • Put a [[camera]] in the [[scene]]- the [[narration]] should work like cameras in a movie. Situate the [[story]] in [[space]] and [[time]].
      • 'but' and 'so' offer a sense of [[change]], more than 'and' collapsed:: true
        • contradiction or multiplication
      • Make the [[big]] [[story]] [[small]], and the small story big.
      • [[Surprise]]. collapsed:: true
        • Distract during key information with other feelings- such as making them laugh.
        • [[Contrast]] what happens just before the surprise with the surprise.
      • [[Start]] with a [[laugh]] to get [[attention]]. collapsed:: true
        • If laughter precedes tragedy, it hurts more. Then make them laugh again, to dissolve [[tension]].
        • From Schwarzenegger: "Starting with something disarming and [[funny]] is a good way to stand out. You become more [[likable]], and people receive your [[information]] much better."
        • For triggering a [[laugh]], put the most [[surprising]] word at the [[end]]. collapsed:: true
      • [[End]] the story with [[yearning]].
      • A good [[story]] is about one thing only.
  • Check [[public]] [[domain]] releases every year.
  • Sorting through the thrown-up bits of [[sourdough]] [[pizza]] for [[glass]] or sand. [[Testing]] the grains on the window. [[storymine]]
  • [[Experience]] is the most valuable thing.
  • Penis allergic to vagina. [[storymine]]
  • [[Create]] things that people will [[want]].
  • Tuesday, 09/19/23 ** 09:01 Every night, go through the photos I took that day. Record myself going through the photos and what I thought about them. Upload to YouTube. Put it out there! ** 09:21 Nobody's content add is 'good video quality'. It always comes down to who is behind the camera and what - or who - they choose to take videos of - and their personality. That's why quality doesn't matter - micro-optimisation ** 16:23 Saw a headless pidgeon lying upright on the street yesterday in front of my apartment building. Dead - obviously. Thought about taking a photo of it. The bird wasn't there ten minutes later.

What happened?

Should I have taken the photo?

I should stop telling myself - atthe least - that I can always go back. It's a lie! ** 22:52 Learning that the Ricoh is a tool in a different way - the ability for a camera to go unnoticed in a tool in and of itself. Sure, I miss some photos I would have gotten if I had a zoom lens or had swapped lenses on the fly - but that would have drawn attention and tampered with the scene, something that a Ricoh gets away with like no other camera can.

Would I rather tamper with scenes if I had that power? Hell yeah. ** 22:58 Taking photos for me will always be about getting outside and spending time with people ** 23:01 Why does nobody making these YouTube videos where they take photos spend time critiquing their images? That's the interesting part - getting better and better and better every day. Learning deliberately from your photos. Learning to speak about your work. Learning to get better.

→ node [[2023-09-18]]
  • [[18]] is [[right understanding]] in the [[flancia]] [[pattern language]].
    • Flancia is in some ways a [[calendar]]. I usually revisit the Flancia Pattern language daily, considering the current date as my default focus.
  • [[drishtis]] ~ [[29]] might be particularly interesting as it is a list; 29 tends to remind me of items on which my focus is trained on by default in the running month.
    • on this note [[7]] and [[17]] this month were beautiful as usual
    • [[20]] ~ [[agora slides]] this month as I'll present it to [[fotl]] in whichever shape it is :)
  • At this point I decided to start writing in the Agora assuming I have [[autopush]] on, even though I haven't implemented it.
    • It will work like this: if you [[wikilink]] or #tag once node [[autopush]] in a resource, the Agora will try to push blocks for you even without mentioning #push; so the following would result in [[poems]] getting a push of this node without further ado.
  • [[poems]]
    • I wrote [[Agua]] again today on my paper notebook.
    • [[Fork]]
      • Fork
      • Fork, fork!
      • As we fork we'll [[merge]]!
    • [[Merge]]
      • Merge
      • Merge, merge!
      • As we merge we'll [[fork]]!
    • [[Flow]]
      • Flow
      • Flow, flow!
      • As we flow we'll do kindly!
  • Hello from [[paramita]] :)
  • A [[story]] shows [[change]] in someone over [[time]].
  • The Casper Tiny Business Book Club: a way to bring tiny [[business]] starters together in Casper.
  • [[Communities]] benefit from a fear of missing out, which come from [[barriers]] to entry. At the most basic level, [[time]] and [[space]] are barriers to entry. collapsed:: true
    • Nodes need a way to connect to other nodes directly. Lots of small gatherings are needed to make a bigger [[group]] healthy.
  • Questions to ask to find a [[business]]: collapsed:: true
    • What [[problems]] do people have?
    • How many people share that [[problem]]?
    • Who do people get [[advice]] from in that [[space]]?
    • What are their [[weaknesses]]?
    • Which [[distribution]] models are most effective?
    • What problem isn't being solved?
  • Kevin Von Duuglas-Ittu talks about "building a net with the world" to describe how competent Muay [[Thai]] [[fighters]] slowly stop [[movement]] in an [[opponent]]. This parallels "setting traps" or "creating luck". [[Position]] in an [[environment]] is used to [[block]] off movement for whoever is being [[hunted]].
    • "it is quite often a [[stalking]] [[game]] of techniques, exerting [[pressure]] on [[space]] and [[time]], until the [[kill]] can happen. At it’s highest, I suggest, it is 'building a net of the world'"
  • "It's not going [[fast]] that's [[dangerous]], but stopping fast"- also applies to [[throws]] and [[unarmed]] [[combat]].
  • [[Change]] creates [[tension]].
  • [[Sailing]] with the [[wind]] limits speed more than sailing against it because the sail acts as a [[parachute]] and the boat can only go as [[fast]] as the wind (rather than faster).
  • hips higher, square to the ground, spine aligned, between [[earth]] and [[sky]], be upright
  • "[[Magic]] only happens in a spectator's [[mind]]...focus on bringing an [[experience]] to the [[audience]]."
  • Who are the passionate [[outsiders]] with no [[tribe]] yet? collapsed:: true
    • Who's bored with yesterday and demands tomorrow?
  • When to take a [[slow]] bend, and when to go [[fast]] to float over a [[problem]]?
  • Things [[fans]] of Jack Carr talk about from his [[books]]: collapsed:: true
    • Nonstop action (how would one make [[written]] [[action]] [[flow]]?)
    • --some chapters are still considered too long for fans
    • Cell workout routine- a fan says they're stealing the character's workout routine.
    • People are annoyed with how many books seemingly minor plotlines take.
    • Funny glimpses to the author's worldview through the glossary.
    • You know the end (Reece will escape). You know the beginning (people have cornered Reece). People read to find out the middle (how?).
    • Hatchet patches- something for people to wear or display that shows that they are fans of the story. collapsed:: true
      • -A fan made a tomahawk to mimic the tomahawk used by characters.
      • -people are making breakfast dishes from the books.
      • -fans are wishing for the ability to purchase patches from the units in the series
      • -people are ordering watches that characters use in the books
    • "I have never felt as much [[anxiety]] and adrenaline listening to something before."
    • A reader has a feeling that anyone, including someone close to the [[protagonist]], could be a spy. This creates [[tension]]. Carr casts suspicion on someone close to Reece that Reece is putting all his eggs in- so the [[stakes]] are high.
    • Less politics, more ass-kicking.
    • Sucking air out of someone's throat underwater.
    • Reece's dad leaves him a note that suggests a puzzle. This puzzle is not solved until book 7.
    • People want to go to the [[places]] referred to in the book, even if they're not real- they get the idea that it is a reference to something real.
    • Who is going to die? <- creates [[tension]]
    • Redacted portion of the book.
    • How did X happen?
    • Most fans are [[listening]] to [[audiobook]], rather than [[reading]].
    • In the Blood ending.
  • Things [[fans]] of Heinlein talk about from his [[books]]: collapsed:: true
    • Quotes about the nature of humanity.
    • Quotes about political dynamics.
    • Introduction to alternative views on sexuality (polyamory, bisexuality, sexual acceptance).
    • Competent man as celebration of man.
    • A character who is what a male reader admires in women (freedom of embodied expression), followed by trauma closing the expression up. The reader cried on the scene about her having her lover come home in a coffin and hearing Taps.
  • Things [[fans]] of qntm talk about from his [[books]]: collapsed:: true
    • [[Worldbuilding]] doesn't overexplain, which gives it room to breathe.
    • "It's nice to get a story of [[existential]] [[horror]], in the face of vast and inimical entities from beyond human comprehension, that isn't just another Lovecraft pastiche."
    • Uplifting good vs evil end despite an extremely uncertain world.
    • Human feeling contrasted against existential alienation.
    • Endings that are touching and deeply personal, as well as with a grand [[vision]] for the future of humanity.
    • Putting human life into a galactic perspective and making the reader feel insignificant in a vast world.
    • Appreciating anti-fascist just-so stories.
    • Plausible explanation of magic (perhaps echoing Wattsian vampires).
    • Hard scifi magic (the paradox attraction thingy)
    • A sense of people getting punished for being confident (the protagonist gets punished)
    • Some things remain unknown, and unexplained.
  • [[Cold]] [[air]] = [[high]] [[pressure]] [[Warm]] air = [[low]] pressure
  • Monday, 09/18/23 ** 10:00 Thinking about the impact of wearing something that acts as a focal point for your identity. The huge camera shapes your day - who you are - what you intend to do with your day in a way that the Ricoh in the pocket never will. The huge accessory gives you a quest, a way for others to visually identify you and a way for you to talk to others about what you do that day. The huge accessory gives you a quest, a way for others to visually identify you and a way for you to classify yourself.

I think that sentence may have been duplicated.

This idea is reminiscent of Stephen Wolfram's laptop setup - propped up at his waist, ready to type, at all times.

The way that this device inconveniences you is a constant reminder that you /want/ to accept this inconvenience - that you're making a sacrifice every minute of the day to do what you love - and other people can see it; they can at least observe the mission you're going on.

This reminds me of going on a walk with a problem held in your head; with carrying a burden or task and idea that you're obsessed with, can't stop thinking about until you find an answer. ** 12:49 The only two ways I can ever imagine taking photos of people are:

  • Across the table from me at a restaurant or dinner
  • Across the room, in their apartment or mine

Maybe 40mm is for people and 28mm is for things. ** 12:50 The clothes that I'm wearing today feel too generic.

  • Black wool sweater
  • articulated pants
  • Sock darts
  • Bose headphones
  • Black tote

This outfit is consistent but not distinctive - there is no focal point for someone to remember me by. Nothing I wear tells someone else what I'm interested in. There is no band tee or tracksuit or football jersey to talk to someone else about.

My camera's too discrete now to stand out.

That's a good thing; the Ricoh can replace my phone. ** 20:56 Thinking about ways to more deliberately improve my photos.

I wonder if I'm using the right camera or the right focal length. I feel too wide in so many circumstances. The 28mm is just right for home life, for shooting indoors, for recording life day-to-day, but for walking outdoors - and expecting to find great photos - it's quite hard to use. Maybe the GR3x would be a better fit for me; maybe that camera would get me the depth of field I want from a friend in a cafe.

I'm not sure. I think the ability to easily and unobtrusively make more and more and more photos with a camera in the pocket is brilliant. I think having a large sensor with a high resolution is good. I think carrying a camera everywhere I go without any effort - and without showing others - is so powerful. A camera smaller than a phone is a beautiful tool.

How do I set practices to get better?

I can:

  • Walk through my photos every night, trying to get better
  • Revisit places day after day, perfecting the same kinds of photos. This gets boring really quickly and doesn't generalize to everywhere. Scratch that!
  • Keep walking into new places. New places will help you learn from old ones.
  • Try new cameras. The Ricoh is an experience I've really been learning from. We'll see how that process continues.

I noticed that the Magnum photographers take tons of shots of a particular scene - 50, 100, in a location - rather than moving on. I need to learn to stay in places longer. I'm out to take good photos. I'm not in a rush to the next location.

I like the idea of talking through and presenting my ideas to others. Is there a way to workshop photos with other people to improve deliberately? Try to find someone else to talk through photos with.

The curved lines of the Ricoh - and the way they show up in-camera - isn't fun.

On the bright side - I love the way my images of the Stockholm Library around the corner turned out. Wondering how possible it is to make more, similar photos.

Likewise - the hostel sign, the images inside my apartment, the subway system, the office - all photos that this camera was able to handle extremely well. This focal length is indoors and intimate.

Also - particularly in Stockholm - the focal length allows me to capture the entire facade of a building opposite me on the street and still have room for some action in the foreground. I didn't anticipate this. It's a useful tool I'll have to keep using as I wander around.

This was all basically what I expected when I purchased the camera; I shouldn't be surprised that it wasn't able to capture some of the tricky frames - like the woman through the white window on the green background - as well as I really wanted to. Maybe I have learned a bit about taking photos. I'm just not sure that it's best suited for my street photography work a lot of the time. I'll keep pushing it for the rest of this week - at the office, after work, and so on - and we'll see how it goes.

Decision: I am keeping the camera.

Will I use it daily?

I'm not sure yet.

I'll still try to take the Fuji out on weekends and longer trips. This isn't a replacement for those circumstances. We'll think about the GR III x though... ** 21:28 I like being able to pick games I don't want to play; to say one vector is good enough and investigate others. No subject is simple, but some subjects interest me less than others. It's okay to follow internet rabbit holes. Abandon the leaves that lead in the wrong directions. ** 22:30 Daily reminder that cooking is a gift, a privilege, and you have more of the best ingredients in the world - more than any other person has had available here at this point in history - down the street. Learning to cook is learning to love a process. ** 22:34 Instinctively I want to hate that I don't have the time to be good at everything in the world, but I love that I can fill in all of the gaps that friends and people I meet can't.

I just have to get as good at what I can now and meet those people when I can't. ** 23:23 I guess I just need to do more work.

2023-09-18

→ node [[2023-09-17]]

Loved the [[Majihima]] discourses on [[Heartwood]] (I already knew this), [[Cowherd]], [[Gosinga]].

[[3149]] is an interesting number. It's not prime: it's [[47]] (we will defeat Moloch) * 67 (Bodhi, Bodhisattva).

  • Sunday, 09/17/23 ** 19:51

BLISS brand by uln ** 20:00 What in America isn't overdone, overperscribed, overused? ** 20:19 My phone is taking away from human interaction.

There are two things I use it for daily --

  • Paying for items
  • Using the subway

Both should be replaced with physical cards. ** 20:30 Why do camera companies feel like traditional tech companies - hype cycle, product nobody needs, release every year, repeat - rather than companies that focus on making tools, like Muji?

Ricoh is the company I've found that cuts closest to this.

Is Leica like this? Leica is inaccessible to anyone, so that's kind of irrelevant. Why would I buy a Leica when I can get a medium format Fuji?

Every other company feeds into the hype cycle. I wonder how expensive making a camera actually is.

2023-09-17

→ node [[2023-09-16]]
  • Saturday, 09/16/23 ** 12:11 Every minor public figure in the world is one Instagram DM away from a conversation ** 12:16 Watching photo videos. Seeing beautiful shots in the videos that the creators don't take advantage of frustreates me.

Maybe I should go take photos outside.

→ node [[2023-09-15]]
  • Friday, 09/15/23 ** 16:55 I wonder if some of the people responsible for bringing the most joy to the most people are the people who run social media animal accounts ** 17:31 At a B2B SaaS company, the work you do day-to-day is not publicly visible unless you're working on marketing tools.

Make as much public work as you can in your free time to compensate. Don't share the same knowledge - that's a breach of contract - but leverage the same skills. Learn and do better. Improve what you do inside and outside of work with your free time. Work more and more and more when it's dark out. ** 17:35 Haters will tell you to avoid looking at the world's best work and comparing yourself to it. How will you ever get there if you can't understand the gap between your skills and theirs? Dive into the work of people who are the best in their fields. Understand what makes them tick. Pick another lane and do better.

2023-09-15

→ node [[2023-09-14]]
  • Thursday, 09/14/23 ** 13:05 No architects are better at making use of natural light than those in Sweden. Every time I get to spend time in another home in Sweden - or any large, freestanding building - I'm reminded of 'In Praise of Shadows' - and the ways the light of a room is used - without relying on the lightbulb as a crutch - to fill the room and fill space. Natural light is so valued here.
→ node [[2023-09-13]]
  • Wednesday, 09/13/23 ** 14:11 I want a calendar and email and messaging system that 'cascades up'. I should receive everything in one inbox, but when I respond to something, that response is locally scoped to where it came from. That description is poor. If I am invited to an event for work, the response should come from my work email; if I'm invited to an event outside of work, that response happens outside of the work domain. Everything falls back to my personal account though as the root.

2023-09-13

  • Read: [[The Magic of Small Databases]]

    • Enjoyed this. Thoughts about an indie web approach to curating and sharing and collaborating on small lists, indexes, collections.
  • [[Subconscious Beta]].

    • Been keeping an eye on it for a while, and I certainly like the sound of [[Noosphere]] and [[Subconscious]]. Collective knowledge management that is local-first and with data sovereignty. Discovery, feeds and follows of others is on the way apparently, which would be a great set of features I think.
    • It sounds kind of like a slicker Agora. But I don't necessarily use 'slick' as meaning 'better'. I love Agora's ramshackle and homebrew approach.
  • And I haven't come across anything from Noosphere that suggests it has any politics of any kind. The beta announcement is signed off with "Let’s 10x humanity’s collective intelligence", which, absent of any political direction, is kind of problematic to me.

→ node [[2023-09-12]]
  • Tuesday, 09/12/23 ** 20:46 Maybe taste is gone because people have no space for elitism, for cool. Maybe cool is now basic and people just want to know people - authentically - not as part of a performance. That's https://www.instagram.com/samyoukilis/ - hook - showing people as they are - embracing who they are - no dance jig or act up for the camera. That's who Fulcrum is. Authenticity is what really matters. ** 21:06 Sam Gellaitry's back - I loved him in high school. I didn't know he was in high school at the same time. I love watching people do what they love. I think I need to make music. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ufGIABd0c4

2023-09-12

  • Swinging back to blogs and RSS feeds over Mastodon. The stream of info on microblogging sites is too much for me, and the signal-to-noise ratio is too weak.

  • Reading: [[The environmental impact of a PlayStation 4]]

    • "PlayStation 4 has the most dazzling and problematic parts of global capitalism purring in unison."
    • "It is an exquisite, leanly designed machine pulsing with the exploitation of Earth and its people."
→ node [[2023-09-11]]
  • [[Flancia]]!
  • [[agora slides]]
  • #push [[Flancia
  • #push [[debate]]
    • Imagine a public global debate about the crimes of [[Moloch]], and the ways to move forward.
  • #push [[liquid democracy]]
    • Imagine calling elections in every nation-state currently recognized by the UN where a group of people think they could be useful. These meaning in addition to those called by the state in question as per custom up-to-date: put succinctly, imagine the citizens of the internet calling for open, transparent, fair, liquid-democracy-advancing elections in Russia, United States, China -- a priori without the authorization of the states in question, but with an intent to cooperate rationally with them.
  • Monday, 09/11/23 ** 11:53 Wondering if my differentiator is internet research. I think I'm quite good at assessing a community - and what makes that community tick - off of a social media profile and a name. I'm also decent at finding interesting people, things, ideas, those that aren't necessarily mainstream, maybe those that are super radical. What can I do with that? ** 13:18 Wondering why Warp doesn't take into account any sort of 'cd' result to determine the next suggested command. Hard-coding git commit -m <prompt> would be so powerful. I really want AI to write my commit messages for me.
→ node [[2023-09-10]]
  • For [[handfighting]], it is often advantageous to get two [[hands]] on one [[limb]] and bring that limb across the opponent's [[body]].
  • Sunday, 09/10/23 ** 20:50 yeah i never put a bitch before my money

i love key glock

i been getting bag after bag after bag yuh ** 21:54 MacOS auto-update practices - in that most apps will prompt you to update or update in the background - have felt far more smooth than NixOS, where some apps just 'stop working', have security vulnerabilities, etc. because there is no path that allows users to push updates. The centralized management of the nixpkgs ecosystem is nice in some ways - I'm glad someone is managing security in a centralized way - but in some sense that's the responsibility of the computer. We need systems to be reproducible, too.

→ node [[2023-09-09]]
  • Saturday, 09/09/23 ** 19:31 Collect 1-5 second clips of videos on YouTube dynamically to document, to capture moments, to tell stories

2023-09-09

→ node [[2023-09-08]]
  • [[Dick Thompson]] of the [[Vietnam]]-era [[SOG]] units noticed that North Vietnamese and South Vietnamese ate different food. He could [[smell]] the difference. So they all started eating North Vietnamese food. They also stopped using [[soap]] to shower- so that they would not alert North Vietnamese of their presence in the jungle.
  • Friday, 09/08/23 ** 00:19 New quest: make (design, sew, construct) my own uniform to wear every day ** 14:50 Thinking about brands 'editing things down' and turning campaigns into social experiences to make them feel democratized. https://www.are.na/block/22556031. As a video posted by Maybelline of the bus with a targeted ad and video with some silly words and people interacting in a studio, I wouldn't look again at this. Captured by a human with a phone, shaky camera, looks homemade? It feels like something tangible in the real world that I could participate in. Feels like fake democratization; the brand is still centralized and large and physical, but invited more user participation. ** 14:53 Jared - of BunJS - has such strong Twitter branding. No-nonsense, makes the product - and him - feel both social and hardworking. Gives hooks to connect - 'found on discord'. Clear sell and focused on just one thing. It's not a marketing schtick really, deliberately; it's a way for him to gather what he loves. ** 14:54 Wondering how a black and white monitor would change my design and development practices. Try it for a week. ** 17:06 I need a sanity check on my personal website to make sure this 'roll-from-scratch' approach is a good idea.
→ node [[2023-09-07]]
→ node [[2023-09-05]]
  • Tuesday, 09/05/23 ** 00:41

i want to warp a photo like im shaking a camera out to dry ** 19:43 80-20: Every day of mine is eight hours of software development work, two hours of photo.

→ node [[2023-09-04]]
  • Monday, 09/04/23 ** 08:47 Once I figure out food, I win ** 08:51 I take photos to meet people.

To create my own worlds - to film to tell stories, not to document; to animate and model and make motion - is strange to me. I take photos to document, to preserve specific motions and memories and cool buildings and awesome people, to preserve a feeling.

User interfaces are different. I'll always want to make things that other people use, and crafting motions, experiences for others is invaluable.

Great stories are moving, but mine should be told through a lens of what I'm doing every day.

→ node [[2023-09-03]]
  • Sunday, 09/03/23 ** 14:00 I like vertical video because it represents what's in front of me, what's in front of my body. A vertical work is something I can stand in front of.

It's Sunday. There's work to do. I'll make it happen. Maybe I'll see the Stadmuseet too. The English translation is strange: 'Stockholm City Museum' because a 'Stad' is a state more generally.

→ node [[2023-09-02]]
  • Woke up by [[Bodensee]].
    • Will miss [[Flancia meet]] today as I temporarily don't have internet connectivity.
    • Will try to catch up later with people who were/are around! Apologies for missing it.
  • [[Flancia meet]] topics as I expected them
    • [[docker]]
    • [[agora recipe]] is running on [[coop cloud]], which is nice (this is what is serving link.agor.ai) but it needs some improvements:
      • It should be easier to override Agora settings from the coop cloud recipe proper, e.g. Agora name and sources. This could take place in the form of mounting agora.yaml as a config file?
      • It should be able to run one or more of the Agora bots which are part of [[agora bridge]] but currently not running for any Agora in agor.ai.
    • [[activitypub]]
      • Still unsure about whether to implement first-party support in e.g. [[agora server]], or to write a separate activitypub component (where? maybe in bridge?), or to rely on an existing implementation like the canonical golang one which seems quite mature and is geared precisely towards API usage (doesn't offer
  • #push [[What is the Agora]]?
    • I've been wanting to write a special node which acts as explainer to the Agora that should be accessible to the average (?) internet browser, in the sense of a person browsing the internet.
    • Node [[agora]] was maybe originally that but it has amassed a lot of historical content which makes it harder to offer a 'curated' primer experience.
    • I've also been thinking about this as a [[WTF]] button which we could render in red up top, with the milder tooltip 'I don't understand / what is this place anyway?'
    • Surely writing this would be an interesting challenge in the first place :) The Agora is many things, at least to me, and probably to all the people already in the Agora of Flancia; and it has accreted layers (meanings) as time goes by.
  • [[Jerome]] told me about [[Beaufort]] cheese yesterday.

As I sit here with my laptop (with [[vim]]) and no internet connection, I realize that I don't write here longform as much as I could. I guess the availability of the internet does make it easier for me to get distracted, which granted I see sometimes as a positive (it motivates a form of exploration), but might not be conducive to practicing the skill of writing coherently and consistently for more than a few bullet points in each journal.

The thought of writing in my blog again (meaning https://flancia.org/mine) has come up a few times recently. I'm unsure; I like the process of writing in my garden, and how everything I write in it automatically shows up in the Agora moments later (at least when I have an internet connection). So maybe what I want is to embrace this space as a blog, and just try to write longer form alongside with my mainly outline-style notes, like other Agora users already do so beautifully.

  • [[todo]] maybe this weekend
    • Upload social media activity gathered by the [[agora bots]] to git repos.
      • This one has been in the back burner for a while and doesn't sound very hard.
      • It would also remove one of the main reasons to keep making full Agora backups -- which keep causing low disk space events in the Flancia servers.
      • All in all good bang-for-the-buck to start the weekend.
    • Fix hedgedoc
      • I think hedgedoc is not syncing to the Agora, the syncing process has some bugs at least -- while I'm dealing with 'git autopush' as per the above, it'd be a good time to take another look at this process and see if it can be made incrementally better.
    • Actually autopull [[etherpad]] or [[hedgedoc]] on empty nodes
      • I realized the other day this is quite simple; I tried this a few times in the past and ended up disabling autopull of the stoas because it can be disruptive (they tend to steal focus when pulled), but the disruption is really just because they are in the wrong position for empty nodes. Because empty nodes render on a separate template path, it should be straighforward to just embed the right stoa right there in the 'nobody has noded this yet' message, making the stoa onboarding experience much more convenient.
    • merge PRs
      • Aram's
      • vera formatting
      • vera sqlite
    • update journals page
      • formatting of the page is all different/weird
    • the pull of flancia.org/mine is broken above because of the parenthesis -- how to fix that?
    • update [[patera]] to something non ancient?
      • whatever is running on [[hypatia]]?
  • Saturday, 09/02/23 ** 21:53 This moment is the best moment to live in, to live through, ever. The next will be even better. I can't wait to take more and more photos of people and make better and better work. I'm starting to feel competent, and it feels wonderful.

I am also wondering where I'll ever find the money for that medium-format Fuji camera. Oh well...

→ node [[2023-09-01]]
  • Friday, 09/01/23 ** 10:16 Too much meta-startup work, not enough time spent building things and see what happens. Best people online are writing the 'here's how to do this' and 'i built this' posts - extraordinarily high-effort per tweet or share or instagram whatever - and it pays off. Don't water it down or start thinking about the 'meta-advice' until you have something to iterate on. ** 14:28 Clothes - I need to go brighter, bigger, cleaner, more friendly. Fewer logos. That light blue hoodie brings out my hair and eyes wonderfully. The color makes me happy. Maybe that's my future ** 18:57 Letting someone know that you've seen something already doesn't add anything to a conversation
→ node [[2023-08-31]]
→ node [[2023-08-30]]
  • [[Flancia]]!
    • [[30]] in the Flancia Pattern Language means [[flow]].
      • 6 means flow also some days and 30 is 6 * 5 so it makes sense.
        • 5 means [[focus]], so you can think of it as focusing on flow or flowing focusing, which to some extent may be seen as redundant (but doesn't need to be).
  • [[work]] was fine :) I'm settling into a rhythm of working until late with a break in the middle, and I enjoy it.
  • I attended to what I could of the [[fellowship of the link]], then a weird Jitsi bug that persisted across devices and internet connections locked me out! I couldn't see or hear anyone.
    • I'll read notes and try to watch the recording though :)
  • Wrote, thought, meditated.
  • [[bouncepaw]]
→ node [[2023-08-29]]
→ node [[2023-08-28]]
→ node [[2023-08-26]]
→ node [[2023-08-24]]
  • [[lcdf]]
    • :D
  • [[bags of holding]]
  • [[Gracias]]
    • Gracias Buda!
    • Gloria a las maravillas del universo!
  • Después de literalmente años logré conectar un tecladito pequeño a [[nostromo]], la pc de la tv que siempre corro a mis espaldas.
    • Tuve que recurrir a usar [[bluetoothctl]]
    • Se sintió como ganar acceso a [[conocimiento arcano]]!
    • Y me liberó de algo; completé un pro asdfyecto después de años, aunque haya sido pequeño!
  • Thursday, 08/24/23 ** 22:53 the woman with the two children in a double stroller whistling at them in the art museum was absurd

the five people who ran to the vermeer when a small detail was pointed out, craning their necks as if in a parody film

the guys from the chemistry exhibitions - mostly alone - taking selfies with anyhthing and everythign

→ node [[2023-08-23]]
→ node [[2023-08-22]]
  • [[Stories]] were mostly used for assistance in [[navigating]] [[land]]- so the obstacles were once literal.
→ node [[2023-08-21]]
→ node [[2023-08-20]]
  • Found [[chip player]] and had found re-listening to some [[midis]] from the 90s.
  • Sunday, 08/20/23 ** 10:22 I love talking to people but I get so nervous about asking to take their photo. I worry that I'm not good enough; that I'll send them something mediocre that they will hate - or worse, that they will love - and they will think of me in that way. I am worried that I am stealing their soul without giving them a gift in return, I am worried taht they will not find my work particularly good, I am worried of being hated, of receiving rejection, of causing discomfort.

I should be worried about nothing at all because I know nothing about what the other person thinks of me until I talk to them. Why would I hesitate?

→ node [[2023-08-19]]
  • How do branches differ based on where [[trees]] are in relation to the [[sun]]?
  • How did the [[place]] [[sound]]? What noise does the [[wind]] make when it passes through here? How does it [[change]] the [[smell]]?
  • Without a [[map]], it becomes important to [[measure]] the [[distance]] between [[land]] [[marks]] in [[time]] rather than [[space]].
  • When intensely [[awake]], a [[path]] to flourishing [[life]] is the only path present.
→ node [[2023-08-18]]

2023-08-18

→ node [[2023-08-17]]
→ node [[2023-08-16]]
  • Wednesday, 08/16/23 ** 22:04 Missed lots of opportunities today.
  • The woman taking (what I assume to be) incredible photos with the Mamiya RB-67 - I could have talked to her when I saw her doing it! Her outfit was great. I'm not quite sure why I didn't ask.
  • The American-German couple at the taco place. I should have asked them how their burritos were straightaway, even though I knew that I was going to buy one anyways. (By the way, that burrito was wonderful - a great mix of kebab, scandinavian-style pickled onion, and mexican meat. I would not call the place tex-mex, but )
  • The guy asked me about my watch at that restaurant - the person working behind the desk - both wonderful and tried to strike up a conversation. Should have kept talking to the Californian and her friend after asking for directions too - they kept asking about me and wanted to have a conversation! I could have had a wonderful night.
  • (Aside: I'm surprised how much German I can barely understand from the Swedish I can barely understand. A lot of the vocabulary I'm missing from English is quite similar.)
  • Love how pleasant joking around with people who pulled up on the street was; one guy (in his 60s, thereabouts) had a bike bell mounted onto his motorcycle and rang it as I nodded my head. We made eye contact and laughed together.
  • Two guys pulled up in a car in the turn lane in front of the burrito place. I nodded hello, then went to take a drink from my Fritz Apple; the can was empty. I looked and he laughed. I pulled out the vatten - (water - oops - but no backspaces today) - and they joked about it being vodka. Unfortunately not. Maybe next time!

Reach out to everyone. You need to be socialmaxxing, to get to know everyone, to making connections around the world, to finding out why she would live in Hamburg.

What have I learned? That I need to be well-rested and feel good to feel prepared for that kind of thing. I need to have a decent outfit on, feel comfortable, etc... I've also learned that some people haven't paid for the Hamburg train in five years.

I also need to use as much of my free time as possible when I'm not around people to learn and build. Learn more languages - just the start, so I can build on those things in real life. Make a better website. Take more photos. Wear better clothes.Wear better clothes. Keep going!!! Maximize what you can do in whatever position you're in. In Stockholm I should be aggressively making.

I like staying in places for long periods of time. One week feels good; it seems to fit well, but two weeks might be better. You want to be able to meet people one day and have enough time to see them again - one on one - to do something you both enjoy together before leaving the destination, and not just on some euro trip stuff. Meet a local.

→ node [[2023-08-15]]

2023-08-15

  • Listened: [[Trip 34: The Outdoors]]
    • I really enjoy #ACFM podcasts. They take fairly everyday things and look at them through a leftist lens, and throw a bit of music in too.
    • I like hiking, so listening to the political history of [[right to roam]] is fun.
    • The [[National Clarion Cycling Club]] sound great: to "combine the pleasures of cycling with the propaganda of Socialism"
→ node [[2023-08-14]]
  • Monday, 08/14/23 ** 07:59 First morning working from the hostel - Generator in Hamburg. Linguistics lessons last night until 1 AM from people who can speak way too many; Iona, a southern Frenchman with a machine learning background, told me that my choice of which French syllables to pronounce - and which to omit - was 'unlucky'.

They're playing Glass Animals, Flume, Chet Faker (now Nick Murphy?) in the hostel loby. I grew up - 2013, 2014 - listening to this stuff on YouTube. I'm glad I'm here and not there. ** 20:56

Traveling, now, I think I understand what I'm missing...

It's the small social interactions that I have throughout the day that give me life. A concerned glance I shared with a mother after watching an abandoned dog limp across the street in front of a Hamburg bridge. A bright smile that I shared with so many others watching the sunset, or just one other person watching the guitarist perform off-key American music with half-English, half-German vocals. I don't need to speak the same language as you - I just need to share a moment with you.

It's saying hi to someone and giving them a photo - giving them a gift - not one that they asked for but one they receive joy from.

Perfecting these little gifts - shared emotional expressions, thoughts, feelings, dances, little throes of passion throughout the day - those are gifts you can give to others. A gift is about caring about someone else in a way you can't care about yourself. A gift cannot be asked for. A true gift can't be expected - it's given completely voluntarily. A true gift is a dance shared with someone who can't speak your language at all, picking up someone's coin that's fallen out of their pocket; a gift is your attention.

Hamburg is also the first time I've really noticed why scandinavian cities feel so comfortable - this is the first city I've been to this trip around Europe that puts my guard up. Having to act with antagonism - to fear your neighbor, to run from or refuse or ignore a request from a stranger, to walk one path instead of another, to hold your bag a bit closer to you and hide your belongings, to not step too close to someone else for fear that they will think - or you will be - pickpocketed or mugged or held at the wrong end of a knife. This is Brooklyn, it's San Francisco, it's Portland (Oregon), it's Austin, it's everywhere you look in America - but that feeling in Stockholm, in Copenhagen, it's gone. (Malmö feels this way in part - and I'm not sure why.) People are supposed to trust one another, to walk down the street in good company and say hi, to care deeply even when someone else isn't perfect. The big city without the proper social services, help, security, trust, takes this away from us.

The conductors on SJ trains look at me strangely when they see that I choose to keep my pack between my legs between my legs instead of on the luggage rack. Deusche Bahn employees - despite having a policy that explicitly disallows this - understood.

2023-08-14

→ node [[2023-08-13]]

2023-08-13

→ node [[2023-08-12]]
→ node [[2023-08-10]]
  • [[work]]
    • very few meetings day, and no oncall -- the first such time in a while!
    • will try to make the most of it.
  • [[after work]]
    • visiting the lake for the birthday of a friend
  • Thursday, 08/10/23 ** 12:01 Can't stop thinking about the Pharrell LV show.
→ node [[2023-08-09]]
  • How can we X? -> How can we help the [[people]] we serve X?
    • Instead of looking for someone who has [[influence]] to [[sell]] your [[product]] or [[service]], look for someone who gets a lot out of your produce or service and figure out how to get them more influence.
  • Wednesday, 08/09/23 ** 17:34 I can't afford to 'choose not to' write application code every day. I can't afford to choose not to take photos every day. The only real way to get better at something is to do it every day.

I see this in my software development skills and in my photos. I see this at the gym. I see this when cooking.

Be more and more deliberate about how your day is spent. If you want to learn something, reserve thirty minutes in a day for it. Consider the pomodoro technique, or something like it.

I'm not convinced that it works well for software development - thirty minutes might not be enough time to get the whole problem into your head, let alone start typing - but this is so difficult to guage when starting something new. When adding a hobby, start with one pomodoro - that should be enough.

→ node [[2023-08-08]]
  • Tuesday, 08/08/23 ** 15:18 What have I learned about planning vacations?

Like refactoring - carefully limit the number of variables you're working with. I was playing a weighted interval scheduling problem - collecting all of these different ideas, determining what might fit in the schedule and what might not, evaluating budgetary constraints - but I hadn't pinned anything down.

  1. Establish constraints. What's the vacation budget? Are there any must-see events? When are those happening? How much time do I have off of work? Solidify any plans with friends; you have to be in X place at time Y.
  2. Use hard constraints to make a first decision. Book the first thing chronologically - train trip, hostel, flight, etc. Months in advance if possible.
  3. Dedicate time every day to booking a couple more things. Taking a break to think about the decision is healthy - take one step at a time. Time spent per place doesn't really matter as long as it fits in your constraints - you can find things to do almost anywhere in the world at any time, really. You can spend those extra days however you'd like. Being rushed is cool too - you can see a city in a couple hours with the right mode of transportation - and can always go back!

Don't stress. Impossible to plan fun things when planning the thing isn't a fun experience - you can't imagine yourself interested when you're stressed about it. Plan a couple of things a day and chill. Don't disrupt your daily routine for it. ** 18:03 Things I need to think about when taking photos:

  • Space. For a photo to 'tell a clear message, have a clear story', whatever - for that photo to fit my style, whatever that style is - the photo needs lots of negative space. Subjects need room to breathe.
  • Honest expression. I don't want to catch people off-guard, but it's important that people are not posing, or poised, or acted. To take a good photo of someone, I have to talk to them for at least an hour - enough for them to become comfortable with their environment. That's the only way to see someone honestly.
  • What's the third one?
→ node [[2023-08-07]]
  • Priit Mihkelsen's Origin Point is a sort of [[baseline]], where his might be the Hawking [[position]]. Kalju Lee states that the greater the [[distance]] to your Origin Point, the more in trouble you are, and the closer the distance, the safer you are. collapsed:: true
  • Use lower rib instead of hip for first point of [[contact]] in turn [[throws]]. [[unarmed]]
→ node [[2023-08-06]]
  • Sunday, 08/06/23 ** 20:12 To express yourself properly, learning the tools of the time - at least one - is important. The Whole Earth Catalog is subtitled 'access to tools'. That's somehow relevant.

I thought this point was profound somehow but now it's obviously not true. Learning popular tools is not important. What's cool is the ability to use any tool from Earth's documented history on this laptop or through a computer in some way. Learn to express yourself in any way you can. Just make sure to master one.

I think I was thinking about using tools that everyone has to use and making them perfect - something along those lines. I've written about this at length here before, I think; hone the way you express yourself with mediums that you have to use anyways. The instant message, for example, or the email, or the documentary photo, or the calendar appointment, or good food, or working out, or the clothing you wear. Everyone has to wear clothes and make food and send emails and text messages. Make sure you do it your way. Developing a unique style to use everywhere in that way is beautiful. ** 20:41 Finishing thoughts on clothing from yesterday. I want to be:

  • Approachable. What I'm wearing should broadcast in some way that I'm relaxed and comfortable with sitting down and taking the time to talk to anyone I meet.
  • Flexible. Clothing should be versatile enough to wear in the office, to the park, on a run or at the gym. I should never have to change clothes to hop on a bike or jump a fence or make a meeting (very important, planned meetings aside).
  • Durable. Clothing should last. I shouldn't have to refresh clothes or watch them fall apart every couple of years. I shouldn't have to spend lots of time caring for the things I wear every day. (I hate that I have to spend so much time caring about this apartment...)

This means:

  • Natural fabrics (for the most part.) Loose wools, cottons, and linens are wonderful. They look warm and comforting while operating well.
  • Light colors or black for the most part. Black is functional - absorbent, hides stains, easy to care for. Pastels are relaxed and welcoming.
  • Water resistant and flexible fabric. Fabric has to stretch or, at the least, have a great cut cut to allow for good range of motion. Don't wear anything that limits how you move.

2023-08-06

→ node [[2023-08-05]]
  • Saturday, 08/05/23 ** 19:01 Thinking about personal style again.

I want to feel:

  • Approachable

2023-08-05

→ node [[2023-08-04]]
  • Friday, 08/04/23 ** 14:12 ** 22:14 Figma plugin idea - 'randomize' until you hit a 'stop' button that freezes a particular shape with certain stats. Can randomize per stat. Helps inspire or nail precise numbers when you're not sure how big things should be, how the corners should look, etc. ** 22:46 It feels as if my digital and physical worlds are both fragmenting a bit. A strong community I'd cultivated for myself - and helped cultivate with others - on Twitter, on Instagram, on Mastodon, other socials, etc; lots of friends graduated from college and those who haven't have moved internet communities into the real world. In the real world, I've traded a rich social environment in Boston for Stockholm - where nobody will make eye contract with me in public without looking away and appearing visually ashamed or embaarrased. (My English here is getting worse because i never speak or read, in English or otherwise).

I don't know how to meet people here or how anyone else meets people. I don't think many do. Rates of living alone and depression are both so high despite the fact that the ammenities provided here, public and private, are so much better than those at the US in so many ways. I've learned from so many people in my life that the right way to prevent conflicts and enrich relationships is to face interpersonal conflict immediately and head-on, accepting some short-term pain and growing stronger together. The muscle has to tear to grow; that's how the human body works. Here I experience no conflict, no tension, no positive interactions in my free time - just nothing. Life's empty. Starting a conversation already feels like a losing battle - every stranger I run into avoids eye contact aggressively, no matter how pleasant looking and happy and outgoing and relaxed I am projecting, skills I've worked on when meeting strangers in so many other places I've been. I get the occasional glance from people 'checking me out' or looking at my outfit, no different from any other country, especially when I put effort into my appearance that day - but as soon as I return their glance, the other participant looks away as if they're ashamed to have somehow disrupted my space.

If I want to be seen and approached and talked to, I go outside. If I want time and space to myself, I stay home. Every apartment I've seen in this city is a great, clean, healthy space; a space I'd be happy to spend time in. Why would I leave my apartment if I couldn't experience the world to the fullest? I don't understand that about the culture here.

This cultural standard of non-confrontation might contribute to issues with cultural cohesion that Sweden faces today, especially with respect to the Muslim population of the country. If your neighbors and the people you meet do not welcome you outside of whatever legal obligations they have, you never get to know them, so you only spend time with the people who share your cultural values and community. You stay insular.

I try to keep an open mind: to constantly smile and relax in public, to spend time in social spaces, to look for social cues like eye contact from others, to broadcast myself as open and welcoming however I can - but nothing sticks. Nothing works. Nothing has changed since April. What's going wrong? What am I doing wrong? How can I have a great discussion with an incredible person one day but then have them ignore me over text?

I think this is why I've trended towards work over anything else - the work speaks for itself. It's objective. Work is something I can do and quantify and understand the results of. Evaluating my own performance in social spaces, by comparison, is impossible.

I am very thankful for the company that I do have - primarily my workplace - and will keep trying. I'm so, so grateful for all of the people who have or plan to visit me in Stockolm in the future, and for all of the people I've been able to keep in touch with over the summer. I'm learning more and more about myself in a 'resting state' - without tons of external contact - and will continue to improve my discipline on my own. I hope that the future here socially will be a bit brighter.

What about bars though? I'm forcing this segway but wanted the segment down here.

Alcohol makes me feel disgusting for two days afterwards - I tried a single glass with Olivia last weekend and felt physically terrible for the rest of her time here, making the experience worse for both of us.

That's all.

→ node [[2023-08-03]]
  • Previously: [[2023-08-02]]
  • Woke up sicker than yesterday, definitely feels more like a flu. Ibuprofen keeps helping.
    • Daniel at work (he's great) offered an oncall swap and I took it. Thank you! This will allow me to rest today.
    • Tonight my friends arrive -- I hope I don't pass it along to them!
  • [[work]]
  • [[not work]] (in that sense)
    • Flancia!
      • maybe write [[testament]]
      • maybe ship link.agor.ai customization
        • figure out why abra app deploy -C does not seem to be upgrading container version?
          • It just hit me like a flash: it's probably because the code in the container is a result of 'git clone' and it's not being re-run on subsequent builds; I should probably discard the cache or figure out how to make it always rebuild?
  • [[Antiflancia]]
  • [[Flancia]] por siempre!
  • Thursday, 08/03/23 ** 18:18 The most beautiful part of life and work are the compounding effects of everything.

The more code I write today, the more useful that code will be because of how useful it continues to be in the future. Other people will be able to use it to build upon their own work as well.

The more exercise I do today (within reason), the more fit I will be tomorrow. I'll be able to do more and more and more in the future.

Even if the concrete work doesn't pay off - say I leave the company, lose the laptop, or have a health crisis - I'm still able to extract generalizeable value from those experiences. I've learned how to write the code once so I can do it again, the next time more seamlessly, honing future intuition for making applications more and more beautiful. I can eat as well as I was for fitness to maintain the rest of the body I have. I can cook a better meal tomorrow than I have today, even if I'm in a different kitchen with different ingredients. If my clothes are all lost in a fire and my synthesizers melt, I can buy new clothes with the accumulated knowledge of my experiences and regurgitate new music with what I've learned.

Make sure the interface to your world is modular at all levels of experience and specificity. Understand that learning about HTML tables is generalizeable to tables, but try to learn how fucked up default table elements are and understand how overcoming them can be used to inform better UI frameworks. Understand how approaches to a poor black box can be used to develop other unintuitive software conventions and frameworks. Learn to approach problems of all kinds by sketching out documentation and prodding live systems to hone your understanding. Accept that some things in this world are historical mistakes and that you might be better off ignoring them.

There is no way to replace the compounding effects of the work I can do today if I don't do it. Everything I do today is worth so much more than what I do tomorrow - demonstrably more. My actions tomorrow are probably worth logarithmically less as they descend into meaninglessness in very old age. I think that's beautiful. I I I. I can't wait to get back to work.

→ node [[2023-08-02]]
  • Woke up sick, maybe a cold/maybe light flu. Ibuprofen helped.
  • Oncall at work. Some meetings. Otherwise not super productive because of the above.
  • [[Open Air]] cinema today -- if it's indeed open air (remains to be seen due to weather) I'm thinking it should be OK to attend after taking more ibuprofen? It's a special occasion.
  • Conflicts with [[Fellowship of the Link]] though.
  • Wednesday, 08/02/23 ** 23:22 Will it help you meet a friend?

If not, why are you doing it?

→ node [[2023-08-01]]
  • [[Flancia]]!
    • Meaning all the following go (are pushed) into Flancia by default?
    • At least from now on.
    • Could be called [[strong push]], or maybe override [[autopush]] which has been long in the making :)
  • [[1]] in my personal [[Pattern Language]] stands for both self and non-self, and for [[Flancia]]
    • Today we begin month [[8]], [[August]]. I like how it has [[31]] days, just after another 31 day month -- what a treat :)
  • [[AG]]
  • [[go/newsheet]] [[go/newdoc]] exist :)
  • Started an actual [[budget]] again, after months of procrastinating. Felt great actually and was not even boring :)
    • Ran [[GC]] on notes/todos. It felt great seeing that many things actually got done!
  • #push [[write]]!
  • #push [[do]]
    • make sure that mycoformat support gets into the container
    • set up fast/reasonably smooth dev-to-agor.ai flow
    • add toggle/tab for graphs (text/circles) instead of just deciding for the user
    • fix indirect go links, like [[go/flancian/git]]
      • or make indirect go links actually redirect to go links in the destination if a local definition does not exist
    • fix node names with ' and .
  • #push [[do]]
    • write visualizer for braids (!) (from a March todo, quite aspirational ;))
  • #push [[Carlas Sala]]
    • Desapareció el 13.1.1977
  • [[work]] tomorrow
  • Tuesday, 08/01/23 ** 23:32 Every day I appreciate someone that someone else has made and gifted to the world a little bit more. ** 23:39 The most important thing you can do for yourself every day is to remind yourself of someone's exceptional work, to enjoy their work, to appreciate that they worked to give you a better life, directly or indirectly, implied or actual. Appreciate the time that it takes to make wonderful things. Appreciate the future. Convince yourself that you will be a part of it.
→ node [[2023-07-31]]

One of the particularities of writing about [[Flancia]] is that it seems to require a certain commitment, a belief in the feasibility of facts in possible futures.

  • Are there any [[openings]] in the middle that can be [[owned]] exclusively given current [[means]]?
  • [[Change]] [[angles]], go [[around]], [[under]], or [[over]].
  • What [[game]] has unlimited ([[nonlinear]]) upside?
  • Where do you get to [[play]] by different [[rules]] from your [[competition]]?
  • People [[worried]] about cults are mostly that way because they've already bought into a very big cult, and [[fear]] accidentally falling into a losing [[cult]].
  • Nothing increases [[confidence]] like [[doing]] the thing you do.
  • '[[People]] like us [[grow]]' may be the [[tribe]] to [[find]]. collapsed:: true
  • Feeling an affinity for the [[Tomahawk]]. The modern Tomahawk is a hybrid between Native American [[stone]] axes and English & French Naval boarding [[axes]]. Beautiful that it came back into American use in every [[war]], even against Army regulation at times.
  • Demigodhood is about the [[followers]], not the [[leader]]. A graceful leader accepts that [[place]], no matter the [[risk]].
  • The easiest way to get into a [[mind]] is to be [[first]] at something.
  • [[People]] only [[accept]] [[information]] that [[fits]] with their [[present]] state of [[mind]].
  • If you don't re-arrange your [[life]] to put the things most [[important]] to you [[first]], someone else will make what is only a little important to them most important for you.
  • All the elements of an [[ad]] are to get you to read the [[first]] sentence of the [[copy]]. collapsed:: true
  • [[Community]] and arbitrary [[authority]] are a [[zero-sum]] [[game]].
  • [[Resistance]] and high [[tension]] are signs of high [[potential]] [[energy]].
  • Keep [[lines]] of [[attack]] [[clear]].
  • Given that [[The Arena]] gets about $4 in [[profit]] for each [[sale]], 5000 books need to be [[sold]] to afford translators.
  • "Tinier always means faster." [[timing]] [[speed]] [[scale]]
→ node [[2023-07-29]]
→ node [[2023-07-28]]

2023-07-28

→ node [[2023-07-27]]
  • Picked up [[Obsidian]] again after a looong time to show it to [[Venisa]].
  • [[work]]
  • [[Flancia]]
  • [[wayland]]
    • [[autostart]]
    • [[systemd]]
    • #push [[kill wayland]]
      • #push [[autostart]]
        • After much debugging I finally realized the issue was not with systemd trying to start vnc while wayland was still not running, crashing too many times and then giving up (like I long thought it was), but rather that the vnc service was not depending on a target that was actually being triggered.
        • Trying to set up [[vnc]] so it starts only after wayland/a graphical session is running and it's proving harder than expected for not the first time :)
        • I would expect to add a Requires or WantedBy in the systemd unit, but alas, it's not as easy as that?
        • I use [[sway]] so maybe the right targets aren't there by default though, as that's supposed to be solved by a "[[desktop environment]]".
        • Somehow I ended up at https://github.com/jceb/dex which, beyonds its scope in a friendly way, tells me of how to configure a [[systemd autostart]] in a way that maybe could work. Plot twist: it didn't.
        • https://github.com/maximbaz/dotfiles/issues/23 showed the way: the issue was that nothing was triggering graphical-session.target. I added a line to my sway config to do that as per the first comment in the issue (thank you [[maximbaz]] on github) and that was enough to fix my long standing woes. This feels like freedom :)
    • Picked up [[Obsidian]] again after a looong time to show it to [[Venisa]].
  • Thursday, 07/27/23 ** 12:59 Only have so much time. Looking at other work isn't learning. Making your own work and watching it interact with the world is. Meeting people is. Going outside is. Working with people is. Making is the best thing that someone can do. ** 14:21 Pharrell's producer tag is so good. Four beats. Sets moods and feelings for songs without compromising vulnerable music with a blaring 'PROD X' blaring in the back. Unique feel to those tracks without being able to identify exactly why until you know the secret. ** 19:52 Pixelated stone sculpture As if the image hasn't yet buffered Inspired by low-res images loading on Tumblr Looks like it's still rendering in, low fidelity (64x64px or something wild)

Carve out big stone blocks Higher fidelity than pixel art

Commentary on historical figures, wikipedia, networks, patience

→ node [[2023-07-26]]
  • Wednesday, 07/26/23 ** 14:28 One of my favorite human practices is the guestbook. Review websites are the most common way of addressing a place on the internet and carry with them so much stigma. Guestbooks allow you to respond to a location however you'd like. ** 21:20 I love being a super user. I will send you lots of feedback. I will submit bug reports. I will edit your wikipedia articles. I will email you directly to ask questions. I will reach out. I will fork your projects. I will improve your tools. I will make the world better, inch by inch.
→ node [[2023-07-25]]
→ node [[2023-07-24]]
  • [[Flancia]]
  • started with [[work]]
  • [[flancia playlist]] was pointing to a weird version of the playlist, unsure where it came from :) corrected
→ node [[2023-07-23]]

2023-07-23

→ node [[2023-07-22]]

2023-07-22

→ node [[2023-07-21]]
  • Friday, 07/21/23 ** 14:04 I like having a stable job. I like being able to have the freedom to create in my free time regardless of deadlines or output, especially when I'm doing creative work - not work that has to provide value to others. Creative work on a timeline has saturated YouTube, TikTok, Instagram with millions of hours of mediocre content that nobody has been particularly happy with - but that they've been forced to make or push out to make profit. I'm very thankful to be shielded from that obligation by providing value at my day job and doing something that matters.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WHkpGjfYIo was gratifying - really freeing to see that 'playpm' is speaking to flaws that he has himself, that he is no better than anyone else, that he's taking steps to be better. He's amusing and vulnerable.

Blown away by digital audio synthesis; some of the real-time piano work to emulate strings hit by hammers sounds absolutely incredible. I want to model things in real life on computers, on the internet, with incredible precision, and to model new objects digitally before they're created. Keep learning how to do this! ** 19:13 The lighting through my window is beautiful between 6 and 7 pm, and the light outside is beautiful immediately after. Aim to be home during that time. Identify the corresponding time in the morning! Use your room as a studio space. Figure out how to light even when the conditions in my room aren't ideal.

2023-07-21

  • Started writing [[Reclaim Roundup: August 2023]]

  • Noticed that since upgrade I have to run org-roam-db-sync regularly now too, it isn't updating automatically.

→ node [[2023-07-20]]

I installed [[cool retro term]] today and it was immediately more fun than I thought it would be. There is something weirdly satisfactory about typing and seeing a blazing trail preceding your words.

I wonder how hard would it be to make it so that anagora.org renders text in this style -- optionally, of course :)

→ node [[2023-07-19]]
  • [[work]]
  • [[flancia]]
    • fixed [[agora bot]] on [[mastodon]], thankfully botsin.space reverted the account freeze once I explained what happened and how I fixed the issue (they are cool)
    • [[AG]] after work :D we went to [[helvetiaplatz]] and watched the sunset through the city skyline, the trees and the tram tracks
    • [[prizewinning plus]]
  • Wednesday, 07/19/23 ** 13:44 Andrew Gallagan is such a good interviewer because he doesn't say anything. "What's on your mind?" "Tell me about that." He just puts a mic in front of them and lets them go. Let the edit - and the people that consume the work - tell the story.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iq71Cb2jEIE - insightful

Show, don't tell

Kanye doc buy into the platforms that give you reach; youtube, tiktok the format of those platforms gives you constraints for what you do instagram feels like it's 'for fun' outside of short-form video. doesn't matter. only swiping up does. that's the only way to build attention fast for work. you have to master the short form, vertical video. ** 21:26

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NphQGsm4rvk

Building something is risking something

2023-07-19

→ node [[2023-07-18]]
  • Tuesday, 07/18/23 ** 12:15 Still thinking about the guy in the Portland thrift store a year ago - I think exactly a year ago - who told me that everyone has an album in them. Maybe it's time for mine soon. ** 12:42 home video is
→ node [[2023-07-17]]
  • Monday, 07/17/23 ** 18:05 more watches

that buzz aldrin shot with the three omegas is crazy

i want as many watches as i can get

as many functions as is possible

smart watch, dumb watch, broken watch, fixed watch, watch with a chunk taken out of it, watch that works miracles, watch themed like minecraft, watch from oakley or nike or lego or some kind of wonderful ** 18:52 I like that anyone on the internet can understand what I'm thinking about, who I am, how I feel, what my taste is without having to read any words.

Why don't I like using words to express myself? They feel too complicated. Words don't lend you the ability to separate aesthetics from communication, not entirely. Borges says that English is the best language to write in because every idea can be expressed in two ways - the latin way and the germanic way (not to mention all of our French loan words) - but this makes me more fearful of the connotations that words bring, not less. To use a term is to evoke the feelings others have associated with it. Words carry with them ideas and opinions and stigmas and connotations of all forms; they're more dangerous as the songs you listened to with your ex partner, the one you thought would be the love of your life, or the... not sure. Another example here. Writing is too often used to communicate 'logically', not expressively, so to use those logical connotations that might have specific charge to them to do things feels innappropriate in a way.

Music is too emotional, by contrast; we don't fully understand why, but human relationship with music, almost by construction, is to form an emotional attachment.

Images seem more pure in this way. They feel neutral ** 23:32 the new minimalism

→ node [[2023-07-16]]
  • Sunday, 07/16/2023 ** 01:48 What does jakeisnt video look like?

Goal: short form. 60 - 90 seconds. Still life with transitions. A sense of space and loneliness; large city with a few people in the bottom. Ambient music made by me. ** 22:37 creator anxiety - (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQyAdgLwbLk) - unlike a business operating in a niche, creative work has no real market cap. mrbeast showed this! youtube stops being quantitative.

→ node [[2023-07-15]]
  • Saturday, 07/15/23 ** 14:54 Back on Tumblr. I've seen many of these buildings - I know what they are, how to get to them, and I've seen so many - but I've let them pass me by. I've let the archive stuff get away from me.

I don't like talking or using words to explain. It's the viewer's job, the user's job, to explore, to try to understand what's going on, exactly, without any context.

More importantly, though, making 'good content' isn't about making images that look cool or get clicks or get likes or something like that. Really, I think I'm more interested in deeper experiences; experiences that evoke feelings and emotions, that allow the person on the other end to have another perspective on their life. I've seen so many photos, so much content, that is just 'cool' - that fits a particular look well, the colors and textures and patterns match, whatever. I'm very admirable of the skill that that practice takes, but it doesn't matter. I won't remember that image in a couple days from now, but I will remember work that moved me. I want to make things that will be remembered, work that makes me feel, and work that will have a lasting impact on others.

I think many of my loose relationships in Boston felt toxic in a lot of ways. A lot of people in Allston around the artist community had very particular expectations of others - of people - and what they can and cannot, should and should not do. They had very narrow definitions of what was cool and what was cringe, what should be relevant and what shouldn't be explored at all. This wasn't too different from other social environments I've found myself in; in a way I liked that there was a predefined playbook or set of rules for operating, because I knew that if I operated within those constraints I could belong - but that person was never me.

→ node [[2023-07-14]]
→ node [[2023-07-12]]
  • Wednesday, 07/12/23 ** 11:27 Relaunch Thick walls Controlled rollout - look professional, not personal, post infrequently, always have a product ready Release something truly world-class Launch yourself as a project ** 12:39 Learn in private ** 20:21 I feel very lucky to be alive today. I'm lucky to be able to experience the best pop culture - the best literature - the best work the world has ever seen from the best people. Every 50 follower account on SoundCloud, every little guy at every company making beautiful animations, all of the brilliant developers making interactive articles, every little bit of pop art - and art acutely, acutely aware of its impact, thanks to better analytics than ever before - from Try Guys to Ryan Trahan to Mr. Beast to any word in any internet article - it's all so beautiful. We've distilled and synthesized thousands of thousands of years of intellect and history and people into text and PDFs and wikipedia articles and AI embeddings and images and stories that have been passed down from generation, and now Firefox gives me every word that has ever been said and written down and liked and shared for me to learn from.

We have the tools today to make the most impactful art we've ever made. Analytics are making artwork better than ever before. Art is the self-expression of a person, a product that finds a market, the ability to know when to go with the flow and follow the numbers vs. when to deviate and stand out because you have found a better way than the status quo. Art is self-expressive, allowing others to find interpretations in the content that you consume. 'Content creation' is incredibly dismissive as a term; making things to serve people who demand material, who demand attention, is an incredibly noble role to have. Most of 'content' work is noise - but innovation in art has been accelerating faster and faster than ever before now that its pursuit has become so incredibly prestigious. I love that meeting the needs of people more precisely has become the #1 item on the zeitgeist. The prying the money out of the hands of people is the hard part. Influencers - people who demand social prescence - deserve pedestals for perfecting something that contributes interest to the world. People today are rewarded for being so outgoing, rewarded for being independent, rewarded for putting themselves - or a particular facet of themselves - forward.

Goodbye Eri - a one-shot manga that I'm reading right now -

I just finished. That might have been the best thing I've ever read.

He's watched Erased at the least. I wonder what other references are used that I don't have any knowledge of. Maybe that's a good thing. This is one of the most moving things I've ever read. No more TikToks - at least not the bad ones. Only operas.

catherine never broke again reminded me of home, of people I know still back there in Portland, of my brother ** 20:59 My 'competitive advantage'. isn't writing

Ugh.

My unique contribution to the world will never be the software I write. I want to believe that I can accomplish something - that my work is big and important and pivo

I don't like that word either. Why do I have to be unique? How much time have I spent on the internet lately? Why am I not outside now? Isn't everyone fed by the same feed? Why am I? Why aren't I?

This speech is heavily scripted. Too many words. There is no understanding. Money is good - but are you doing this for the bit? ** 21:29 Living here feels important and leaving feels like running away. I feel like I need to accomplish something - something truly big - before I take off. will I leave? I'm not sure.

→ node [[2023-07-11]]
  • Tuesday, 07/11/23 ** 00:39 Survey people you admire Figure out what they're doing wrong or what they're missing Run with it ** 17:54 The most important question to me now is not 'why would you do that'; it's 'where did the money come from'. Your clock can't tick without a few dollars to pay rent. I want to be able to hire others and make enough money to give me flexibility. There are so many great ideas - but what makes an idea worth my money? My time? Generalization here is impossible, but understanding where my money goes - and how they use it - if I fund such a product is, to me, the most important part. I don't have time for niche programming languages or fun that doesn't align with learning goals - those are out of my creative budget. Their core ideas - formal methods, user interfaces - are relevant to my daily work, but ** 18:23 If you think you know what the future is, then why aren't you working on it?
→ node [[2023-07-10]]
  • Monday, 07/10/23 ** 13:24 Raised my yearly budget by 460 bucks with the subscription costs of Adobe, Google Drive, and domains. Time to eat some more sandwiches.

The warning from Google about a 'fraudulent' business confused me. Was it because my 'business' doesn't have an LLC or physical location? I own the domain with the name of the 'business'. Being a small fish has its drawbacks - if you're the biggest customer of a service, then your needs are guaranteed to be catered to - especially if you're your own customer. If you're relying on a huge service and your contribution to them is inconsequential, they can drop you or ban you without reason or consequence. Amazon's track record of banning multi-million dollar storefronts is a bit frightening.

I'm hoping Google doesn't go that way too - their cut of Google Domains from the business model is a bit frightening, as is the potential for more cost-cutting practices at this point in the game - but if it does, I now understand how to set up personal infrastructure comparable to the Google suite myself, just without the big tech employees and privacy warnings. Paying for storage and redundancy at reasonable speeds, though, will be insanely slow unless you're able to host physical infrastructure - and right now I travel far too much for that.

I'm still trying to get 'lejakechvatal@gmail.com' back. One day I'll be able to prove that it's mine. Does Google still have my data stashed there?

I'll launch Uln on January 1, 2024. 'Content creation' as a tool for operating as an independent creative is completely unsustainable - how many TikToks would I have to make a day? How many times would I have to let a camera get in the way of time spent with friends and family? How often would I have to be 'on'? All the time. I'm a creative person, but I'm more interested in long-term work - work with staying power, work that pays off in the long run.

Really impressed by Justin's work in Chicago - one incredibly well-orchestrated video really paid off. I'm sure he has tons of business now; at the least, he found over 20k followers within a day - not by posting on a schedule but by planning and executing an idea that took a ton of time and effort. That's where I want to be. Each idea should be bigger and better than the last - or at the least show that I learned from the previous work. Progress upwards.

→ node [[2023-07-09]]
  • Sunday, 07/09/23 ** 12:23 The rules are that you put yourself out there on every social platform once, or a couple of times a day, forever, and you will prosper ** 18:23 Defining procedures is good for the soul. We're going to shoot for an Instagram post once a week. No exceptions.

Daily posts weren't useful for a few reasons:

  • Not enough people were engaged because the work was poor.
  • The photos couldn't tell stories. It's really hard to say something across multiple days with photos found on the fly.
  • With my 'dynamic' work schedule and social life, it's difficult to know whether I have time on a specific day to edit and post a photo. It's not always possible for me to allocate the necessary thirty minutes to an hour to make that happen.
  • Daily photos don't build me to a larger goal. They accomplished one goal of mine - to keep thinking about photography - but instead of encouraging me to spend more and more time, I started cutting corners and producing bad work to meet that deadline rather than doing what I know I can do best.

Making an Instagram post:

  • On Monday, think ahead about a theme, idea, or concept to tell a story about.
  • Group Lightroom photos and Google photos into an album based on that theme.
  • Figure out what new photos are necessary to complete that theme. Group those photos together.
  • On Tuesday, start playing with edits of existing photos. See which photos fit best together. Try introducing some new photos you've taken over the past day or so.
  • On Wednesday, go out and shoot. Walk around for awhile. Find a friend and take photos. All of these things.
  • On Thursday, put together a final set of words, edits and group of photos.
  • On Friday morning, review that selection to make sure it's cool and double check your work.
  • On Friday afternoon, put together and make the social media post. Try to hit multiple platforms.
  • Take the weekend to explore. Socialize. Walk around. Take as many photos as you can. Find new places and new people. Keep seeing them. ** 18:34 I'll have to be okay with compromising on my time to pursue all of the work I'm interested in. I still believe that I can do it all. There is so much time in my life that I am not using wisely, and now that I can trust my digital infrastructure a little more, I can continue to put the right systems in place to organize life.

Once I have a BankID, I can add the gym to my schedule. Then I can pin down a food schedule (though that has no blockers today). Then work and sleep. Then the rest of life. Having a healthy foundation of food and friends, though, is the most important thing that I can do for myself now.

When should I eat dinner? 7-8PM? Lunch at noon seems reasonable. Only two meals - with a snack and a banana, or just a banana, at about 10 AM in the morning.

I'll figure out the rest as I settle into a rhythm.

→ node [[2023-07-08]]

2023-07-08

  • Started having a play around with [[Anytype]].

    • A local-first, p2p, Notion-y type of thing. It's very nicely made.
    • Using it for recording structured data and relationships for [[Reclaim the stacks]]. Quicker and easier than putting it all in a hand-built DB.
    • It's making me think about how I could in theory recreate similar functionality in [[org-mode]].
    • Maybe I will try to, eventually, so everything can remain in the garden. But it'll be easier for me to do it in Anytype to begin.
  • I upgraded [[spacemacs]] to latest and updated all Melpa packages to latest. Now various things in my [[org-roam]] setup aren't working. Sigh.

  • Finished writing and sent [[Reclaim roundup July 2023]].

→ node [[2023-07-07]]
→ node [[2023-07-06]]
  • Thursday, 07/06/23 ** 13:21 Music Write everything down Hard to figure out hungry
→ node [[2023-07-05]]

It was that time of the year, your birthday, when you finally got to Flancia and were able to stay for good, stay in it in a definite sense, being free from suffering.

  • Wednesday, 07/05/23 ** 10:38 Biggest change in product mindset recently has been becoming okay with throwing away code.
→ node [[2023-07-04]]
  • Tuesday, 07/04/23 ** 05:25 Good design is getting up earling in the morning and enjoying the sunrise at the park ** 15:27 The three-dimensional texture that brushstrokes let you control are truly beautiful. Paintings are not photos or scans on the walls - you can see every stroke that the artist made when they were creating the painting.

Sketching first. ** 21:55 Photo notes

  • Bring a handheld flash down into the station - or with you anywhere, really.
  • Bring the 50mm with you more often. Norra Tornen deserves a shot with some compression, as did a lot of the nature I saw. The 16mm is cool for some shots but doesn't generalize or shoot skylines well.
  • Try to bring someone with you. Bellevueparken had so many beautiful spots for portraits, but I didn't have anyone to take them of.
  • Shoot locations once, view on the computer, then go back for round two. It's really difficult to understand how to shoot the first time around - always at least scope out the location beforehand.
  • That shot in Odenplan of the escalator has to be done during the later part of sunset when the sun can be seen through the subway entrance. Hold the camera up as high as you can to get more info about the ground, even so that the escalator is right in the center. You'll get it one day!
→ node [[2023-07-02]]
  • Sunday, 07/02/23 ** 13:22 Lessons learned this week:
  • Do not fuck with experimental data storage. Worrying about whether your data will be safe when you experiment with new technologies is not worth the anxiety. Experimenting with everything else is fine, but when working with 'raw data', use the safest and most reliable services you can think of.
  • Work slowly and deliberately every day, not in short bursts. The anxiety isn't worth it.
  • Think, carefully evaluate, and write in depth about decisions you make, technical or otherwise. Writing is thinking.
  • Feeling comfortable experimenting with your computer and the software on it is really important. Giving users that safety allows them to explore, to play, to learn to use devices in unexpected ways. Computers should not expose these levels of unsafety to most people. The cloud-native operating system - a Chromebook, or similar - is the best way to preserve information safely, everywhere, for the future. The con is the subscription cost. ** 17:58 What have I let hold me back from being prolific in the past?
  • Not taking care of my basic needs. Friends, company, diet, exercise, sleep, consistent schedule.
  • No stable storage infrastructure. Unwilling to trust 'unethical' or paid services, instead doing a ton more work for no tangible benefit provided to the end user.
  • A bias against modern tech and towards innovative, alternative strategies that are - in reality - more art project than modern tool.
  • Unwillingness to rely on large communities and groups.
  • Emotional strength to do annoying or difficult things every day.

Finishing this in a second. New thoughts incoming. ** 18:20 The 'first order' phenomenon of crypto - these tokens you could spend outside of traditional financial systems - weren't as attractive as the 'second order' design work that emerged from these systems. Crypto had a lot of surplus income nad needed lots of marketing to keep that cool factor coming. Many crypto organizations poured their money into some of the world's most innovative graphic design work. That surplus o income gave people with lots of time and creativity the money to spend their time expressing themselves however they wanted - obscurity and miscommunication in crypto was a benefit, not a detriment, as the more cool and obscure your technology was, the further you'd drive some interest in and obsession over the associated 'lore'.

I think a lot of people I met on the internet during that time - summer 2021 - are now secret crypto millionaires who can now spend their time doing whatever they want. I've seen a huge surplus of wealth and a lot more secrecy in those communities. Wasn't added to the right discord servers. Oh well.

2023-07-02

→ node [[2023-07-01]]
  • Saturday, 07/01/23 ** 13:32 As stated - I still want to make creative software for people, but I can't do that without understanding the status quo. Moving away from using my Linux laptop as a space for creative work - editing, making music, etc. That laptop is now a space for hacking. No sensitive data; can clear on every boot; everything is managed in git.

Creative work is for Apple devices, for Adobe, for Ableton, for the status quo. The Linux machine lives outside of that. ** 16:01 Converting to Adobe Lightroom is the best decision I've made.

  • Something to do with five minutes of time on my phone: going over photos, making small edits.
  • Instant sync with desktop. Seamless workflow.
  • Cloud storage, so I don't have to worry about managing my data.
  • Viewing photos in higher fidelity than I have before, so I can better understand the flaws with my work. (The Mac goes a long way towards making this happen too).
  • Providing the structure I want. Library organization and data management are huge; if I don't have to worry about juggling hard drives of my work, and I can just trust the Adobe cloud to do its work, I don't have to worry about managing any of that data myself. I feel so much safer just trusting them and their storage. Plus they save and manage all of the edits I make! The cloud works!
  • The 'auto' button gets me most of the way to a good edit most of the time. Providing good defaults is so important. The AI tools are crazy, too, but I haven't explored them as much.

Lessons about creative tools:

  • Giving a system an opaque way to manage your data feels magical. I don't have any data management anxiety or concern about losing information anymore - I can trust Adobe to handle everything I do, and they make my data available everywhere I might want it. Cloud-pooled data is a huge deal, relieving me of any additional work pushing around or sorting files; they just do it. I am willing to compromise on some of the expressive editing tools and plugins that other programs provide to get this benefit.
  • Providing good defaults: again and again, that 'auto' button and the importance of providing an okay starting point - even for a photo that feels unrecoverable - is huge. I've discovered quite a few photos that have been worth saving. Same holds for the object removal tools; if you can drop a a couple of extraneous details from a frame, suddenly an unusable photo becomes one with just enough information.
  • Adobe has mostly a monopoly but they are extremely innovative. Whoever's working there has the right creative spirit to keep pushing updates and providing value. Having to constantly compete against piracy and 'static' versions of software - competing against themselves, really - is so, so valuable. Holds a monopoly accountable for continuing to provide value. Capture One tries to undercut, but really does not match up.
  • Mobile apps - especially those that share data with desktop things - are huge, even if the mobile app doesn't support all of the features that the desktop app does. The ability to instantly switch from working on a project on desktop to working on it on my phone provides so much value to me; I can truly work anywhere. Whoever solves this for software development is winning.
  • Providing lots of views or ways to organize content is good. Adobe seems to know exactly what I want to learn about my library - recent modifications, recent uploads, photos by date, and so forth - and provides convenience menus and buttons to get to that information right away. Brilliant!
  • Speed matters, as do animations. Darktable and Capture One take time to process changes to the photo - both programs take a second to think and process the information statically. Lightroom takes a bit longer than Capture One to process the final image, but along the way it animates your transformation with a thumbnail image, then applies the final transformation to your photo after you let go of the dial or setting. I prefer this to faster processing of the whole image, as I don't really care about image quality when I'm making these transformations - I just want fast enough visual processing feedback!

I've seen these patterns come up again and again from the best software I've used. I can't wait to push these ideas into software I build more of.

On this note: maybe paying monthly fees to support the development of a product can be a good thing. Lightroom is genuinely innovative and the updates seem valuable.

Concerns:

  • I can foresee them not having provided continuous value for points in the past, or that they may not be able to continue to deliver value in the future at the same rate. Having to pay for both data storage and the software in one package means that they can keep me paying for storage without getting additional value from the editing programs.
  • I can see them holding my data hostage at some point in the future, gluing me into paying for their programs rather than better ones. Hopefully GDPR laws are good enough to prevent this.
  • Working offline might be an issue. Can we preserve these syncing features over local networks while preserving the illusion of near-infinite data? (Yes, I think so).

Cool, what's most important?

  • Cloud software with centralized, managed storage.
  • Good enough defaults. Great starting points.
  • Always providing instant, progressive feedback to the user.
  • Convenience buttons to highlight features.
  • Transparent data sharing in some ways but opaque enough to keep the data safe.

I love how cheap storage is getting. That makes this sharing across devices tech so possible. Infinite storage will make everything about technology better.

Seems like the best software model is paying the company for a hosted version or hosting the thing yourself. Cloud storage (with agressive local cacheing) provides so much value and there is no way to replicate this value locally. Safe ways of hosting data locally - without technical knowledge - are really important to explore here.

Thinking about standards again, too - if whatever internal data management standards for Adobe's file cacheing were more transparent, other programs could easily and safely operate over them with an API. Providing APIs as 'views' of internal data storage is incredibly important for portability across programs; if I clone Adobe's image querying and saving API, then I can perform the same transformations or save stacks of edits in the same way (though the changes would likely not be transferable to Adobe products), using the safe data storage methods that Adobe allows without having to use their programs. A 'safe cloud' API in this way that saved stacks of non-destructive edits atop of files, manages dates, etc. would be brilliant. This reminds me of software development... the everything cloud. Replit does this for text files. Git does okay too, and the CDRTs for merging text, prose etc are also valuable. ** 16:37 Final takeaway from the Adobe switch - I have to become a much better photographer. I've been missing on the technical side in so many ways, and that's become very clear now that I'm using the industry standard. My program, my colors, my photos can look the same - so now I have no excuses keeping me from doing genuinely innovative work.

The gap between me and a professional is still so big - but now I can see a clear path to victory. The program wasn't necessarily the problem, but it was soft capping the potential of my work; now there is no difference between tools, so the only thing I have to work on is my personal skill - and I can receive the expert feedback to do this along the way. ** 23:38 New file organization plan:

  • Text/prose/code: git, github
  • RAW files: Adobe Cloud
  • Processed photos: Google Photos (uln.industries email)
  • Outside of this: ??? (What do I do with video files?)
    • Google Drive backup
    • Google contacts, calendar, etc.
  • If I want to add more features to a Google product or interface? - I'll deal with that when I get there. I'll probably host a multi-project postgres somewhere or use a Firebase or something.
→ node [[2023-06-30]]
  • Friday, 06/30/23 ** 12:50 To understand how to innovate in a category, you have to intimately understand the status quo. Why MacOS? Why Ableton? Why Adobe? You can only truly innovate once you understand the value that those services bring and make a demonstrable improvement.

Flashy intros and landing pages, cool new tech, fluid animations, etc... feel good, but do not matter. Make a tool good enough to convince someone to abandon convenience and the status quo for innovation.

Sound design is about two things: limiting inputs and engineering outputs. You can't present someone with an empty python file or complete waveform and expect them to understand how to change things, bit by bit. Give them different parameters to tweak - and make sure those parameters are the most important ones. Strike the right balance of flexibility and limitation; your tool will not be able to do everything, but on the right axis it should be able to change in all of the relevant ways. Ableton understands this way of crafting, of twisting knobs, of taking true modularity out of the eurorack and bringing it into the digital world.

This is only possible with the correct live visualizations. ** 12:56 So many of these notes could be grown into long-form essays. When will I be ready? ** 13:46 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVAGnGWFTNM

Now that we have abundance of information, we have to be incredibly disciplined about the role we are playing during work at the current time. If you can modify your instrument and add 9 or 11 strings, you will keep modifying the tool and no longer be trying to perform with it; you will become the developer again, not the musician or the performer. Be very disciplined about the mental role you're playing when working, and focus on just that role - your job is to focus on doing X and nothing else, so look at all of your work from this perspective and keep moving.

→ node [[2023-06-29]]
  • Thursday, 06/29/23 ** 20:53 I was experimenting too much with my photos and let them go. Adobe and MacOS solved this problem of moving photos across drives and keeping them safe. I just lost all of the photos I took from DC. (I might have lost it months ago, but I can't find it now). I want paid photo cloud storage. I don't care if I have to let lightroom hold it hostage. At least it'll be safe.
→ node [[2023-06-28]]
  • Wednesday, 06/28/23 ** 12:01 Blown away by this piece from James Parker in the Atlantic. https://archive.ph/cHMzS. The writing feels alive. Sentences are short and brief but I can feel the people Parker reacts with through the page. I can feel his influences, some of them, though I haven't read enough; it's like gonzo journalism but more earnest, interacting with people not to make a point about yourself but to center them while living life. James is living life the way he wants to and documenting it. & the portraits are a wonderful touch - I can't wait to make a project like this. ** 12:05 Pick up substack. Is that how I improve writing? ** 12:09 Looking back at the writing of others, projects, long long lists of bullet points and works, I'm not sure I understand; why more and more and more? Why not better adn better and better? I want to improve on just a few things forever but do it everywhere. Maybe being prolific and restarting again and again is important for this. ** 15:05 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bvL2lZKgOA Everyone (I've seen in NY in the last few days) wants to be photographed. Is this good? It's definitely comfortable for photography - and NYC, as a cultural epicenter, deserves to be documented - but what about other cities? Other people? Hidden people? ** 21:04 Not sure how much is imagined or real - but walking around in Stockholm makes me feel more and more lonely. I don't have a friend to walk with and I don't speak Swedish. I don't understand the social signals of others and am outright ignored half the time I try to reach out to someone on the street, and the other half of the time I'm dismissed with a 'not interested' or a grunt, as if I'm a beggar or someone below them. I don't understand why.

I don't know what social signals to look for to know when to or how I can approach someone. In America, this is eye contact and a smile, a neutral motion forward, a gesture of the head towards you a bit, or a look from head to toe and back. I'm not sure how to get people to trust me or how to break through. Tourists talk to me for help but those conversations last minutes. This is rough.

First step has to be learning Swedish... ** 23:37 Mr. Beast aggressively user tests - runs anything he thinks might be not accessible by lots of people and gets lots of feedback. He's exploring new content creation territory - the world's general population - and it's fascinating! ** 23:54 Mr. Beast - nobody is ever going to do what I do better than me. He's spent his life making these videos and doing nothing but those videos, hiring the best people he can find to make these videos happen.

He's making long-form content into short-form content. The budget behind them is insane.

The medium is the message. Mr. Beast is making youtube videos to hold your attention spans for an optimal amount of time.

Short-form content - by definition - changes the game. You don't have to prod and hold attention. Now, mastering short-form content lets you master short-form content - that short-form content is everywhere. If you nail short-form, you can nail everything.

→ node [[2023-06-27]]
  • Tuesday, 06/27/23 ** 22:11 Back to work, back to journaling. Back to photos.

Got a new photo editing program - Capture One. Sure, tech doesn't hold you back per se, but using this program makes so obvious that Darktable really did not fit my needs. The raw profile just isn't there; Darktable everything looks flat and dry, but Capture One is so, so vivid.

Gus, Margot, Phoebe, friends... finding Trevor Wisecup and Poupay Jutharat today... feel really re-inspired by photography. Photos should be about people, about friends, about space, about people I know intimately. I've been thinking about space over the course of this whole trip - my photos have felt so flat, so cramped, and I want to see how wide I can open them, how much space I can explore through them. That's how I've been thinking about my framing - leaving tons of negative space for people to breathe- but in other ways I've been thinking a lot less. I love the experiments with lower apertures, with slower shutter speeds, with friends; I want to capture my friends, new peopl,e in space, giving them the opprortunity to breathe. ** 22:53 On starting career from 0 - Poupay.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAdI27UPYvg

Go to tourist spots and find weird people. Document weird people. Go to events. Make a series for a mag and a first pitch to a mag.

Your first pitch needs to take time; spend time and energy building personal projects. Show what you're interested in. Make that series and publish it. ** 23:56 Time to get serious about series of photos. Not sure if I'm up to doing this daily - but grouping a lot of photos with a theme and posting them together seems like the next progression for me. I want to tell stories. Taking photos is the best way I know how. (Writing is the second best way I'm aware of, but it takes a lot more time..)

→ node [[2023-06-26]]
→ node [[2023-06-25]]
→ node [[2023-06-24]]
  • [[Greece]].
    • [[Athens]]
      • We visited the [[Agora]].
      • I loved it as usual but my mum thought it was too run down/fragmentary.
      • Then we had dinner in [[Monastiraki]].
→ node [[2023-06-23]]

I wasn't planning on seeing [[Nils Frahm]] live, nor did I know he was playing in Athens until the very same day it happened; I heard the sound test coming from the [[Odeon of Herodes Atticus]] while I was climbing down the southern slope of the Acropolis and I decided to get a ticket just in time. I'm happy I did so, it was a memorable experience for sure to see him live under the moon and stars in this ~2000 year old amphitheatre.

→ node [[2023-06-22]]
  • [[Greece]]
  • [[nmcli]]
    • I like it but I keep forgetting its usage, glad I noded the basics some time ago.
→ node [[2023-06-21]]

2023-06-21

→ node [[2023-06-20]]
→ node [[2023-06-17]]
→ node [[2023-06-16]]
→ node [[2023-06-13]]
  • [[work]]
  • [[flancia]]
    • [[AG]] :)
    • My mum is visiting for a month and she's been resting / enjoying being home with Lady Burup while I finish up with work before we travel :)
→ node [[2023-06-11]]
  • How much would I [[pay]] for this [[thing]] if I didn't [[own]] it?
  • Will taking this away bring you further from where you [[want]] to go?

2023-06-11

→ node [[2023-06-10]]
  • What gives them [[energy]]? What are they better at than other people? Does [[life]] from Earth [[need]] what they do?
  • [[OODA]] to [[McKeown]] Essentialism: collapsed:: true
  • A clear [[purpose]] will make it [[easy]] for [[people]] to answer the [[question]]: how will we know when we've done our [[job]]?
  • What is the [[cost]]?
  • When dealing with someone who is higher in a [[hierarchy]], [[ask]] them what they [[want]] you to give up on to make a new thing the most important thing.
  • Saturday, 06/10/2023 ** 11:08 I did not finish my website hot reloading plan. I swapped that hot reloading functionality with a really simple file server.

However, my website is now a quine; it renders its own source code to $source.html files and lists those directories. That's been a great exploration of what is possible once the source code's been rewritten to use a more solid framework. I'm excited to see what else I can do there.

First, though, we'll build a dynamic file server that can render information on the fly. I'll need this to quickly design pages like my page for showing photos, which I would like to be statically generated and server-side rendered. The components and dependency architecture we've set up will finally come in handy - now that the source code is much more clear and disciplined.

The best tool behind this source code organization was cacheing as much information as we could up-front through the 'info' function. This gives some files the max amount of information that they can get form other files at any time, at the cost of a bit of querying up front (though this might actually be faster - it certainly feels faster - because more information is cached rather than being repeatedly queried or calculated).

I'm thinking about language paradigms that would let me declare data as lazy without using tools like 'async' - for example, getting the contents of a file dynamically when it's queried from an object rather than having to fetch that up-front. Maybe this is what traits and OOP are for - that cache can just be implemented as an object access on a per-struct basis - but I feel like there is some other core language feature that this one could 'fall out of' with no boilerplate. Declare that an attribute exists and how to retrieve it, then retrieve and cache it on that object when that attribute is retrieved.

The problem here is invalidating files and information; we have to assume that the root source hasn't changed, which isn't necessarily the case, so we can't do this every time. We almost want some way of indicating whether the source of data we pull from is static - whether it can change during code execution, so we might want to refetch - or dynamic - in which case we'll keep our stuff in memory and never re-fetch a potentially expensive operation. (I think it's safe to assume in most cases that we will have enough memory available, so we can cache whenever).

This reminds me of the 3CPS work - if we know statically how much information something will take up in memory, we can build that information in at compile time and avoid requiring heap allocations for that data by making a separate heap space available to us that we statically allocate during our compile step.

We'll explore these ideas after we have fully dynamic hot reloading - that's when a real programming language could surface from this whole static/dynamic mess : )

I'm missing some real features from javascript. Lisp programmers often say that 'fear of syntax' is the biggest reason for not using a lispy language, and that too many parentheses scare people - but frankly the lack of expressive syntax makes coding more difficult. I can recognize javascript structures based not only on their names but also the shape of the code - and because JSX code has so many different shaped (especially the inline html!) it's far easier for me to quickly scan and grok a JS(X) file than it is for me to take a peek at a clojure one, where I have to drill down into the names of every line and evaluate the open and closing parens. Lisp is great for language developers and macros - but for most programmers, being able to identify, literally, 'the shape of a problem' can be a big deal. I'll probably use a JS or ML-based syntax for whatever language this becomes.

I'm also missing the lack of expressive type annotations and stakc traces. Tracking down my file rendering bug was a complete mess. ** 12:53 You should design things so that an algorithm has to relearn. ** 13:35 I love resurrecting old projects and using them to re-explore ideas. Most of my ideas from the past couple of years have gone unfinished - I just didn't have the technical knowledge, the stamina, or the determination to follow a project through. Now that my site is breaking through - as is the index page - I'm really getting there. Fear is the mind killer. I can't wait to close out many of this site's issues, build a splash page, and get to smess and joss and making a game and rendering for desktop - all things I've wanted to do for a long, long time.

2023-06-10

→ node [[2023-06-09]]
  • Friday, 06/09/2023 ** 13:03 I just rejected a website because I didn't feel 'immersed' by it. This website feels the same way now. Demanding focus from other tools is difficult - your tool should be more expressive than others, feel better, or at least on par with them. If the MacOS notification animation is so much more interesting than your landing page, the user's clicking on that instead - regardless of your site's content. Animations matter. ** 19:40 Continuing to appreciate the Macbook's design, particularly from the perspective of non-technical users. I have a few problems with global settings and configuration, but for the most part Apple does things right! Aside from the initial configuration issue - no support for both American and Swedish information because I don't yet have Swedish bank information - the defaults 'just work' most of the time. Apps are in the Applications folder, and most users of computers know how the structure of folders work, so it is intuitive for anyone to put programs there; the settings menu isn't the best, but at least it's searchable and indexed by Finder; all of the apps you might want for basic computing, like email and a web browser, are preinstalled and ready to use.

Even the development tools are straightforward. I know that with Nix I am taking on some responsibility up-front when maintaining my system by making sure that everything is pinned, but a stateful homebrew configuration is so easy - it just works most of the time, and when I have a problem, I can check the version of a package, then update it. Nix might be overkill for a lot of personal computing use cases like web development or Rust where all of the dependencies are so stable - unless you're dependent on a complex web of system APIs and libraries, most technologies 'just work' with the stable libraries you have available on a Unix system. This is true for dev tools, too; git's preinstalled along with a bunch of other good utilities.

I particularly enjoyed the integration of app installation with web browser plugins. Adding 1password was seamless - an installation took a single click and suddenly I could use the tool everywhere. I wish applications had a hook for this - detecting installation and searching their systems for plugins that they could install. That could make software feel more fluid.

The platform isn't configurable enough, though; I don't think that good defaults really provide the expressive configuration that people who use software should deserve. An application isn't a monolith - it's part of an ecosystem of tools on the computer - and it really is a shame that ** 13:08 Tightly coupling too many tools - using them 'cleverly' - can be really dangerous. This was the status quo for me - trying to craft or discover the simplest and most elegant functional pearl from software, administering lots of rules to do so.

Unfortunately, tightly coupling tools creates rules and semantics - semantics that the tools, individually, don't model. If I add a row to the table, that row shouldn't have unforseen consequences in executable code, for example, unless the row is ill-formed - but if what is ill-formed is not defined by the executable, the user has no way to determine what is correct without assembling all of the infrastructure.

→ node [[2023-06-08]]
→ node [[2023-06-07]]
  • Wednesday, 06/07/2023 ** 10:03 Settings panels - particularly for UI - are so difficult.

There are three real ways to drill down into them:

  • Open a monolithic panel with form-like options. Navigate it like a document, with document tools that allow you to select parts and sub-parts of a page.
    • Pros: everything on one page, use the browser document tools, can write as much prose as you want about features
    • Cons: Discoverability is hard, documents are long and overwhelming
  • Universal search. VSCode and Emacs take this approach, as do some MacOS tools and chrome feature flags. Type what you're looking for and see the setting.
    • Pros: better discoverability
    • Cons: naming and language to describe features are hard
  • Visual. Newer paradigm, mostly explored with browser modification tools like Arc's. Visit the parts of the UI that you'd like to change and see how to change them on the UI itself. This can be a debugger overlay that feels similar to the dev tools; you could see a tray with a palette of options, selecting them to toggle them 'on' or 'off' on the screen. (This could be easily implemented for my website... whoah).
    • Pro: avoid language description whenever possible
    • Con: implementation is the most difficult, not possible for features that are strictly logical and don't have a corresponding visual pane

This Google Calendar settings menu that I have open is wonderful; it's document-style with a table of contents, and all of the settings have beautiful visual metaphors to help you understand how to navigate the page.

The Apple menu? Not so great, especially because they try to 'own' technical language and obscure actual features, like saying 'pro display' instead of 120hz or similar. This creates Apple tribalism and helps some die-hard fans feel more integrated - but choosing different names for products and settings from the colloquial standard basically alienates any casual user - which, IMO, is bad for a product like a MacBook that should be a tool usable by everyone. I don't want to have to look up what an 'epic pro max XDR ultra' is - just use the language everyone else does. Please!

Major shoutout to the browser company shader this morning. When you first open the app, the full-screen blob and intro animation with music is so, so beautiful - maybe the best animation I've seen from software in a long time. That intro sequence is immaculate. I'm blown away by the work that these teams are doing on MacOS native apps. Developing those tools to be mac-native is feeling awfully tempting... wondering how easy it would be to port beautiful animated features like this back to Linux and wayland.

Using this Mac has helped me develop a new appreciation for my Linux setup though. All of the animations are beautiful and expressive on MacOS, sure, but my minimal Sway setup feels cold and efficient. Everything happens pretty much instantly without 'affordances' or motion blur or 120fps animations - it 'just works'. The machine feels functional, efficient, and responsive. I would love to build more beautiful apps that feed into this 'feel' while taking some of the innovative visual cues from programs like MacOS. ** 10:16 Writing and recording these daily notes is probably - for better or worse - the highlight of my day. This is great practice. Keep noticing details and working on it! ** 11:10 Made another classic prioritization mistake today. Always make the minimum viable changes necessary to release a usable product for other people. I prioritized doing more 'in-depth' work before preparing a deployment of our product at work. Be more careful next time - propose a minimum viable plan, finish that plan, and iterate, adding more if we need. Do not do more up front than is necessary.

→ node [[2023-06-06]]
→ node [[2023-06-05]]
  • It's [[hard]] for [[people]] to [[copy]] something if they don't see it. To make it easy to copy, make it easy to [[see]]. collapsed:: true
    • [[Social]] [[influence]] is stronger when people can see others do the thing often.
      • What can people do that will let them [[show]] off your [[product]] or [[service]] for others to [[see]]?
  • A secret to [[persuasion]] is that you can't actually persuade anyone, you have to mine their [[mind]] for where they already have a [[position]] that [[fits]] yours and [[start]] there.
  • Monday, 06/05/2023 ** 11:30 Dreaming of a computer that 'just works' with software. A compact laptop with a ton of ports. Plugging in a device opens a program specifically associated with that device in a small window on the screen. Those windows compose, allowing you, the user of the device, to control how devices are composed in boht analog and digital ways; the computer knows what device is plugged in, but as a user you can change what that device controls and how that program might be connected to other programs on your computer. Visual nodes and wires on the screen - like max for live devices or similar - allow you to manipulate these separate, VST-like programs to tune them together.

These devices shouldn't be limited to controlling audio; they might be able to channel into some intermediary that can automate, send visual feedback back to the controller, and so on... a device could control a visual and a synthesizer at the same time, displaying art that reacts live to tactile knobs... the ability to touch something and for that thing to give visual and vibrational feedback is so, so important. Musicians know that how a tool feels changes how you think. Everyone should have the power to plug in new tools and change the way they think about problems.

Keyboard artisans know this too, in a different way; they 'optimize' or make pretty keyboards, play with knobs and ideas, itching to find this new input device of the future - or the one that works best for them. It's silly to me that this laptop has one keyboard and screen glued to it that can't be changed. Having good defaults is good - sure - so that the system can always be interacted with, but I should be able to swap these things out and keep the brain behind them. A 'complete' device that can't be customized or plugged into other things feels terrible. Same with battery power. All of these TE devices have built-in microphones, batteries, etc, each with different abilities and qualities, then they promote the idea of putting all of these tools together. They seem fixated on beauty and size at the cost of functionality - I cannot DJ or record with their TP-7 because the disk is too small and the microphone is so poor - but that beautiful brushless motor and notch on the side provide such seamless tangible and visual feedback, acting as the world's most polished tape deck. The knobs on their mixer are far too small - and that mixer has no business hosting expressive audio effects - but it works and works well.

To me, the failures of these physical audio devices are more interesting - like the OP-Z. The thing doesn't have a good way to provide visual feedback for most of its controls and its labels are too domain-specific for how general the device is meant to be. The thing has no screen! A sequencer needs lights under the buttons to show you when they're triggered. A disc needs lights or a screen to show you how that pot is tweaking your system on the fly. This visual feedback has to be built into the controller itself in some way. The Elektron model:cycles looks and feels like a toy, but the rubbery feel of those buttons - the way they light up - and the screen's waves shifting and responding to your changes to the sequencer - are brilliant design decisions for such a budget device. The mouse shows a cursor. Keys show text on the screen. Controls on any sort of device should do the same - or htey're confusing and do nothing. Audio feedback is not enough.

All of these grooveboxes work because they feature software tightly integrated with hardware - and the developers behind them do a brilliant job - but ultimately my laptop is a far more powerful and expressive piece of kit than dedicated 'hardware' (implemented in software as custom firmware). Limits like 24 samples, 256 tracks, whatever - what? My laptop has 16 gigs of RAM and a terabyte of storage. It can probably run the software of every sampler or 'groovebox' on the market combined and look better doing it. ** 11:52 Someday I'll make the clothes that I want to wear every day. Right now I'm focused on computer interaction. Income doesn't feel as stable and developing clothes seems like it costs big bucks - especially clothes without compromises. I have a whole life ahead of me to do that. ** 14:18 Incredibly frustrating that most high-quality hardware products have software built-in. Music tools are no different from SaaS platforms in this way - it's nearly impossible to purchase great hardware pots, knobs, and other buttons without them including some mediocre hardware in the box and gluing the tool to it. I understand wanting to control the complete experience, and that stepping away from a laptop is somehow an obsessive selling point for many people, but controllers should be just that - instruments that connect to powerful programs that run on your computer. Those distractions you have in your laptop are a software problem, not a hardware one that can be fixed with more money and more modulars; the bigger problem is that you do not have control over your computer and the ways in which the software should interact.

I want more companies like Monome that ship beautiful, high-quality, modular tools. Thankfully NI controllers can be hacked, and they have decent hardware, but that's not the point - we deserve better tactile tools for human-computer interaction that don't have to be the complete package. TE takes one step towards making no-compromise, beautiful products, but they aren't substantive or modular in the most important ways. The missing piece of this puzzle to empowering hardware is free software - we need to get there as well. ** 17:28 WebGPU is good, but starting a framework by implementing the GPU rendering is bad because this introduces a barrier to entry.

Using this macbook feels so clean and seamless though. Everyone deserves high-quality basic tools like this. I'm noticing that programs aren't as expressive for developers as the MacOS defaults, though. I am determined to make compelling, developer-oriented software that everyone can use - that can be ported back to MacOS with no issues.

Less configuration is better. Pick beautiful defaults and they'll be used. (Gnome doesn't have the best...)

Also realizing how important it is to be able to move a window around, to resize it and see how the website reacts, vertically and horizontally, on many different screen sizes. Getting some new insights for my website - like how important a responsive sidebar is. ** 19:51 One of the most beautiful things that anyone can do is make a tool that helps people express themselves - especially in a way they weren't able to before

→ node [[2023-06-04]]
  • [[Flancia]]!
    • [[AG]]
    • [[Diego de la Hera]]
    • Planeé cuatro pomodoros por la revolución después de las 22, fueron mayormete de conversación y juego -- sin arrepentimientos.

Amanecí y llegamos a la tarde con alegría con [[AG]], y después comimos y caminamos con [[Diego]] y [[Dominic]].

  • How can a [[link]] be made between a [[new]] [[message]] and a message of an incumbent [[group]]? collapsed:: true
    • How often does an [[environmental]] [[trigger]] occur? How strong is the [[link]] between the [[message]] and the [[reminder]]?
      • How many links are there for any given [[cue]]? What will people connect to this thing? How many different answers would you get in [[association]] with this thing?
        • Pick cues that are [[near]] whatever you [[want]] someone to do, so it's easy for them to [[buy]] the [[product]] or [[service]] or [[act]].
          • [[When]] are people in a [[place]] to consider this thing? What is around them in that place? [[timing]]
          • Using environmental triggers to [[sell]] is equivalent to forming a [[trigger]] action [[plan]] for someone else.
  • What would give someone a sense of [[awe]]?
    • People share things that gave them a sense of [[awe]], as well as things that [[surprise]] or are of [[use]].
  • Sunday, 06/04/2023 ** 11:53 Website is almost there. Finishing a project feels so good. Once the build system and hot reloading is complete, I'll be able to seamlessly write content. After that, I'll start working on images and ways to feature my photo portfolio... maybe the project won't ever end.

Clojure really isn't useful here though. Fun but bad decision. JVM has slow start and doesn't really matter - we don't need to run cross-platform and the libraries we would use for that are implemented in many other languages. Should have used javascript - code would have run much faster. Clojure lost because it wasn't useful on the web.

Also, the stack traces are terrible... (I can't see any sort of program trace within my code? No syntax highlighting? What's up with that?). I'll wrap this project up but I'm feeling a strong rewrite it inclination. ** 13:45 Depending on a file means a few things things:

  • You want as much semantic information about that file as possible at compile time
  • You need to use information from the that file to build this one
  • You want to ensure that everything that that file needs is taken care of

Solution:

  • imports must be named
  • Build scripts return File objects, not write to disk
  • Pass a single argument to build scripts; it's an object that contains all of the named imports

This means that if you depend on any file, you'll have the information about what you need to make your current component run at any time. You'll know what you have to build in order to make that component work. References to that component will have a real, semantic connection to the component itself.

This also allows the file to be interpreted in different ways! I can assemble a list of imports dynamically, then use an interpreter to resolve them. I can use a compiler to set up everything statically. I can make 'meta-components' that transform other components to augment them in clear ways. Good solution. ** 14:01 Watched some tiktoks (reels lol) this morning. Really clever tricks with the soundtrack - some reels through subtle discord, snapchat, iMessage, etc... sounds on in the background to stimulate attention. Really devious strategy. I'm kind of afraid of watching these things now. ** 14:41 For the site - need a way to figure out remote dependencies! Both at access time and at build time. These are network requests. (:type network? :type https? something like that.)

(Live dependencies would be really cool...) ** 19:46

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xa_fNuaSE_I: A good test for cross-platform software - would a top company rely on that software to build beautiful products? React Native, Flutter, QT, Xamarin...

The answer is no because there are so many stopgaps and edge cases between platfomrs that have to be healed over. That cross-platform challenge is so incredibly difficult. The APIs are just too high-level to build technology that interoperates! ** 20:28 No GC is necessary for fluid UI. A single GC pause in the wrong place can kill a fluid animation. This is why Apple is behind Swift - and why Swift apps feel so much more fluid than other web tools, even Java - Swift apps have fine-grained control over their memory, which allows them to make UI animations feel incredibly polished. Brilliant!

→ node [[2023-06-03]]
  • Saturday, 06/03/2023 ** 00:31 The lack of a good Clojure stack trace is killing me. Clojure is great when you don't have errors. When you do, the language provides no diagnostic information (though maybe I'm just unacquainted with the debugging tools that the language offers...) ** 00:32 Fixed the fonts on my system. Berkeley Mono really is beautiful, as are Kate's terminal visualizations. I hope I'll be able to build some into the site and/or into my daily workflow - I'll continue to experiment with how data is shown. Learned a bit about shaders today, too, but I've decided not to spend much time on them - my focus is on perfecting 2D graphics and visuals. 3D is too advanced for me now (aside from some 3D css shading tricks, or a sort of '2.5d').

My site is becoming more and more 'reflective' though. The more I iterate on it, the better the features tend to 'flow together'; I have a bunch of ideas that seem unrelated, but over the course of a couple of days they combine to reveal some super powerful primitives, and those primitives can hten be used throughout the application to make the framework both faster and more expressive. Clojure's "for" laziness bit me today - but I can see laziness being super useful, like to retrieve git log information or to get information about files that are supposed to be dependent on one another. I'll see where that takes me. ** 18:14 The bit of isolation I hear feels lonely, but it's been really valuable; I'm very quickly finding an understanding of what I want to do with my life and how I want to go about it. I want ot make, to build creative tools, to make using a computer better; I want those tools to be freely available to anyone and for them to be the best tools available, so there is no decision between paying Adobe or Capture One or whoever else is adding artificial scarcity to limited commodities; I want to build tools that people both admire as objects and that can be used every day.

Progress isn't made with good work, not entirely; it's assembled between people making connections in the real world. Balue Coffee's pop-up was wonderful; he was so welcoming, the coffee was so good, and the community of people that Justin (?) seems to have fostered is beautiful. Some poeple drove or flew out from fairly far out to spend time hanging out in a parking lot to support this business; to support him. I love doing this for others, but am not sure how to foster a community quite like he has. Life could be so, so rich. Maybe San Francisco or New York would help; maybe I can change myself to foster such a community here.

→ node [[2023-06-02]]
  • How would this [[product]] or [[service]] give someone an [[experience]] they can use to [[signal]] their [[taste]]?
    • People are more likely to [[recommend]] things that give them [[surprise]] in a short [[time]] frame. The surprise does not translate into ongoing [[talk]] about the thing, though.
    • A specific association between things makes it more likely that people will make [[choices]] with that [[association]] in [[mind]]. Establish a [[relationship]] between something wanted and something people will [[see]], [[smell]], [[hear]], or [[touch]].
    • Things that are said in [[small]] [[talk]] last for a [[long]] [[time]], where things that [[surprise]] are said in other kinds of talk that last for a short time.
      • In [[small]] [[talk]], people say whatever is on their [[mind]]. Whatever is on their mind is often from something around them in the [[place]] they are in.
        • What is going on around them? How can it tie to a [[product]] or [[service]] of ours?
          • What is a part of what [[people]] in this [[group]] do in every [[place]] they go to? Including those parts in your [[story]] will make that story more relatable.
            • Is the [[message]] tied to a [[context]] that includes a part of any place a person might be in every day?
              • What is something this [[group]] does every day? How can this [[product]] or [[service]] be associated with that one thing?
  • Friday, 06/02/2023 ** 09:42 Our innovation budget can't include a new programming language. Use a modern subset of javascript and typescript. Maps, folds. Keep the concrete syntax and semantics; this is a 'dialect'. The toolkit should be as easy as possible for web developers and app developers to use. This means we need javascript. ** 09:48 All in on Rust and Zig. ** 14:50 Snapchat filters are so fun for everyone to use and see. Never fails to whip one out in a tough internal meeting to brighten up everyone in the room. What a brilliant use of AI tools.

2023-06-02

→ node [[2023-06-01]]

Thursday, 06/01/2023

10:17

Client-side and server-side rendering are both necessary to make the best websites.

The most important role of a website is to communicate and present data in the best way possible. The best tool is often a static document; this allows you to communicate information that doesn't frequently change to a user.

The ability to take a snapshot - to download a single HTML file and have access to all of the information you'd like to see - allows users to save web documents for themselves and access them whenever they'd like. It's really important for websites to provide static data with the lowest lift possible. This allows snapshot tools to perfectly capture their state, giving the users of a website the ability to communicate data online or offline.

What if that information frequently changes, though?

I've written before about the 'three stages' of information on the web. Information can be retrieved at three times: at site deployment time (the developer deploying the site to a server), at user access time (when the user requests to see the information from the server by clicking a link), and at runtime (updating data while the user is viewing a page).

We know the user wants the most up-to-date information, but each stage comes with a performance penalty; delivering information at access time and runtime can introduce significant lag if not approached properly, as the live data has to be retrieved.

We can load data in 'after the fact' by having the browser request live data again after a page loads. This is a super common React strategy, and improves load times for the user - but means that the page served to the user initially is often kind of useless (it has none of the relevant data until a user spends some time on it!), preventing any sort of archival tool from properly preserving the site at a point in time.

This also may be irresponsible - do I want to render the data on my one computer or on the computers of every single one of my visitors? One clearly is much more expensive. We need to give users the most relevant live data though!

When considering how a platform is built, strive to store all information at site deployment time. If information might change between user access times, that data will have to be dynamically retrieved. If information might change when a user accesses the page, the data will have to be dynamically rendered by a client.

This also calls for three different ways of rendering a website. The first stage is supported by a compiler from source files to target files. The second stage is supported by a service that pulls in live data, sticks that data into a compiler pipeline, and sends the output over the wire. The third uses JavaScript to continuously request and render data from the user's computer.

Because rendering information at different times has these tradeoffs, switching between different rendering strategies for particular portions of the website should be as easy as possible. If I want my data to render statically but update live, I will have to render that data in two places - on the server and on the computer of the user. I will also need to obtain that data in both of those places - ideally from the same source.

How do we solve this?

  • The compiler can render information with any language.
  • The server can render information with any language.
  • The web renders information with javascript.

Cool. The UI development language has to either be javascript or support javascript.

What about alternative rendering strategies? What if I want my app to render easily on desktop and web?

If we want to draw with pixels, we can 'sideload' rendering on the web in with the HTML canvas. This would allow users to program in their language of choice. This also sacrifices all of the tools that the web browser provides and prevents static rendering entirely (it is not possible to draw a canvas statically).

If we want to draw with the GPU instead of just putting pixels on the screen, a presumably faster strategy, we can program against the WebGPU API on both the web and the desktop - but again we lose all of those advantages of HTML on the web.

Cool, maybe we can bring the web to us. Let's wrap our app in a web browser and have users download our application code, then tell the browser to render that.

Some problems:

  • Web browsers are huge - several hundred megabytes at the least. It is irresponsible to ship an application that's probably a few thousand lines of code (< 1 mb) as a 300mb app.
  • Web browsers update frequently. Many of these updates introduce new APIs or fix security vulnerabilities. The former is fine - we can avoid those APIs - but unknowingly leaving outdated, vulnerable code on the computers of our users that we cannot easily fix is rough.
  • The web API may not be the best paradigm for rendering. If I need expressive and performant 3d tools, GPU through JS might be too slow. I want the browser's native hardware and optimized, low-level code.

Because our documents are glued to the browser - the most expressive document viewer ever - everyone expects their applications to be accessible there, too. Links are really powerful. Requiring a user to download software to try it out simply is not a good option nowadays.

This is why comprehensive rendering solutions are so difficult. There are two APIs we have to glue into if we want both fast and browser-optimal code to be available everywhere, both with very large surface areas.

We have two paths to move forward:

  • Reinvent the wheel. Deny that people use browsers and require users to download new software that reinvents the idea of the browser as a platform. We can write optimal code with good APIs that runs everywhere. For portability, we can pre-compile software for every platform that uses it and statically link it, or we can distribute a virtual machine that our software runs on. This requires significant user buy-in, but it means that we can ship native-feeling apps with small application sizes that are available off of link. We also lose all of the external work in the browser on extensions or other development tools. A compatibility layer to HTML canvas can be implemented here, but that loses all of the accessibility features and lots of the performance benefits.
  • Develop against a very large API surface. We have red functions and blue functions that can't be mixed - HTML/CSS compatible functions and WebGPU/Canvas compatible functions. Somehow both types have to be both executable on the browser and on the server. We have to preserve the information about the context in which these can be used - GPU has to happen inside of a canvas, which has to be inside of HTML - which means we're glued to a strongly typed language if we want to produce code that has a decent performance profile.

Things that are not up for discussion:

  • Reactivity. The consensus is that reactive frameworks are obviously good for displaying complex information. Parts of every application should have the ability to be written with a high-level, reactive API because this is such an expressive paradigm and development velocity win. Imperative GUI modes are best for real-time rendering - and can be more performant in some cases - but the cacheing control that reactive frameworks provide can also save lots of compute that we don't want to spend if we don't want to re-render something complex.
  • Expressive rendering with GPU. We want the most performant software possible. The web is disrespectful.

All I'm saying is that reinventing the wheel is looking really good right now...

11:14

Why can't we just target HTML/CSS with business logic in JS / WebAssembly?

We always want accessibility hints, and we always want debuggability - a document flow is ideal for those. A lot of the time, though, the web presents problems to us. The DOM cannot render pixel-perfect documents without the canvas.

Google Docs moved to render entirely with canvas recently, and though they didn't state why, I have some suspicions:

  • Implementing an expressive, interactive layout engine with the DOM is really rough. You want to be able to shift margins and boxes by specific pixel sizes and make adjustments at different scales. The DOM becomes a bottleneck.
  • Font rendering on the web is a moving target. You aren't in control of the font rendering strategy that your client's browser uses, so you can't control what font rendering primitives they have access to, if they can support variable fonts or certain points or certain glyphs. Downloading fonts only solves half the battle, and injecting a custom renderer for text is reinventing the wheel but in a more complex way.
  • Fonts and layout engines interact in really complex ways; it's been hard to get this right at work, even for our web application that isn't doing anything unique at all with fonts or font rendering. Rendering all of the fonts and the layout to canvas allows the implementer to be in complete control of rendering logic - not the browser.
  • Interacting with the DOM prevents you from being completely in control of your data sync story. Google Docs wants to always render real-time synced text and formatting data. To change how the DOM looks, code has to iterate through all of the DOM nodes, making small changes and adjustments. The two ways of doing this - modifying the existing DOM to incorporate the new changes in real time and completely re-flowing the doc - introduce significant performance bottlenecks. Low latency for text documents is incredibly important. Application sync over the internet seamlessly is really important to their real-time, collaborative platform. They cannot afford to take the performance hit that DOM re-flowing incurs.

The docs team also added a feature to support static web rendering via the DOM. This allows those live, view-only previews and snapshots to be taken, efficiently rendering a static site that is served to others without the issues discussed. Unfortunately, they have to write all of the same code twice - one for the static doc that's distributed to others and another for canvas editing version.

Thankfully, the canvas doesn't sacrifice all of the browser tools - its api does offer some accessibility tags and primitives: https://pauljadam.com/demos/canvas.html.

This means that if we want to give application developers expressive and fast tools, we cannot rely on DOM rendering to support every use case. There must be a seamless way for them to fall back to pixels. The canvas API, I'd argue, is not seamless - those accessibility hints and tools cannot be rendered statically in documents, for one (unless you count images and SVGs - but then you sacrifice the interactivity that makes HTML docs so brilliant to an opaque image).

The conclusion here is basically that we need to be able to develop custom, pixel-perfect tools within the canvas that the browser will render statically to a document, but that can be interactive when that document is open. I haven't explored why static HTML - rather than JS augmented HTML - is important, but mostly because JS is a mess and is too expressive for what we want it for most of the time. Documents should be usable without executing a general purpose programming language - users should never have to incur that performance hit.

I'll have to rewrite this whole article when formalizing it.

→ node [[2023-05-31]]
→ node [[2023-05-30]]
  • Tuesday, 05/30/2023 ** 11:21 A bit ashamed that my OP-1 tweet has gotten so much more traction than anything else I've made. It's cool that I was able to get my hands on a development unit - and the photo is decent - but it's embarrassing to me that the thing I've put out into the world with the most 'impressions' is a photo of a device that someone else made. I feel the same way about are.na... hundreds - maybe thousands - of people see what I curate on the platform, but ** 23:28 Nah... getting more exposure always seems good. I've put so much effort into the site - and am so glad that Tommy loves my web design. : )
→ node [[2023-05-29]]
  • Monday, 05/29/2023 ** 22:45 I hope that these notes never stop. I want them to continue forever. Twitter clout posting rather than actually making music or my website better. Learned the OP-1 today. This might be the most beautiful piece of technology I've ever tocuhed. It's so responsive and dynamic. Everything is instant. Confirms my want to reroll everything myself - that'll get us to 0 latency. The visual metaphors that every TE instrument presents you with are insane. I can't wait to keep learning. ** 23:13 Testing git weather v2. ** 23:17 Nothing to commit? Not anymore.

2023-05-29

→ node [[2023-05-28]]
  • Looked into [[keyoxide]] again after seeing a reference in the profile of [[youronlyone]]
  • [[social.coop]]
    • [[wiki]]
      • changed links to registration form to point to join.social.coop
      • posted maintenance announcement
      • redoing [[wiki migration]] on wiki.social.coop
      • disabled parsoid
      • enabled registrations
      • done, it seems, pretty much! \o/
  • #push [[pfeilstorch]]
    • showed up in my open tabs, is interesting, but I don't remember how I got there :)
→ node [[2023-05-27]]
  • Saturday, 05/27/2023 ** 13:19 Tried watching some "Tsoding" streams to see what steaming for programming looks like. I'm not sure if I'll start streaming again, but his investigation of Zig was very insightful.

Almost-quote of a language: "Developing a language could be just like discovering a game. A game is designed to teach you how to play it - to discover new tips and tricks without realizing that the system is teaching you how to progress. The process of using a language - from the starting process, the error messages, and so on - should be designed like a game, to inform the user to navigate the language and teach them features."

All computer programs are the same; a program is a tool that a user has to learn. Choosing the right way to help your users is vital to helping your users understand how to use your program.

Do I provide a manpage? A --help flag? Good error messages? A website with a great search bar? An interactive tutorial? A supportive Discord community? How do I determine what the best way is to teach my users to use my software?

Today I've also been testing out the Helix editor, software that claims to be a modern replacement from neovim. The program claims to be a complete rewrite, but effectively rewrites and compiles in expressive neovim packages and configurations to produce the best source code editing experience out of the box. The best aspecf of this is the help menu, though - as soon as I started typing and saw a keybind that I didn't expect, I was (1) shown a menu of all possible keyboard shortcuts, and (2) shown an English explanation of my action in a pop-up. I felt encouraged to play - trying more keyboard shortcuts helped me understand more about the system! - and it was incredibly easy to find tools like the file browser and to start using the modal editing features. It's still a bit confusing to open the program to an empty buffer - but their onboarding experience is doing a lot of things right.

At work, a principle design focus is killing any sort of product tour. We include one as a crutch - it allows us to explain features we're quickly adding support for to the platform because we're building a product without clear competitors or comparators - but making UX feel seamless - teaching the user to use the product as they explore - is our primary focus. Presenting information-dense views with affordances to attract the eyes to particular aspects of the interface encourages the user to look at - and interact with - parts of the screen, and in doing so, I hope they learn. ** 13:40 Test for my website's sidebar hierarchy:

home ├╴pages ├╴c ├╴c-style ├╴ helpers ├╴making-c ├╴journals ├╴2020-10-10 ├╴2020-10-05 ├╴files

and questions:

  • How do I better visualize deep nesting? (The above isn't very clear.).
  • How deep should a website go?
  • What should be visualized? Connections? Graphs? Headings? What is important enough to visualize?

Some pros:

  • I love the table style that I have going so far, and think it will apply wonderfully to ascii art. It's a wonderful pattern to reuse.
  • The website should feel as configurable and as interconnected as possible; things changing on one page should affect others, information should be shared whenever possible.

Thoughts on the framework so far:

  • I am loving zig's 'comptime' features. I can feel the paradigm in my website framework too. The framework has three distinct stages: the static generation stage, the javascript integration stage, and the deployment to user stage. Each has different information available, and our goals are to both minimize the amount of work necessary to redo that information and to make use of that information in a way that's as expressive as possible. There are still lots of things to solve, i.e.: How does hot reloading function for pages depending on source files? What information do we want to show on the site that's "live" (loaded when the client visits the website - as opposed to loading the information when the file is built or when the file is served). ** 13:56 I want a git commit that tracks not only when it was made, but also where it was made, how the weather was, etc... ** 20:10 Taste is changing. I used to think that keeping photos flat, collapsed, straightforward, with lines pinned and corners all at sharp angles, was the way to go. The more work I do and the more time I spend outside, the more I realize that I want my screen to feel expansive and broad, to include as much information as possible, to make the viewer feel a real sense of depth - like they're not just squaring up with a digital screen, but that they're seeing another place.
→ node [[2023-05-26]]

2023-05-26

→ node [[2023-05-25]]
  • Thursday, 05/25/2023 ** 16:17 Every time I read a new geohot essay I want to win Incredibly lean Incredibly direct Ultimate 'the proof is in the pudding' - speak with your actions and your work. ** 23:48 Lots of personal website work this week. Starting to become seriously frustrated with
→ node [[2023-05-24]]
  • Wednesday, 05/24/2023 ** 18:33 What have I learned about fonts in the past day or so?
  • Variable fonts are fascinating and the best tool to use.
  • Open-source font culture is brillant, but the design and type community are so far behind software in this regard. Open-source font projects exist - and many of those that do are truly exceptional - but most of the leading type foundries keep their work proprietary (and inaccessibly expensive). The tools to build fonts with free software are still immature, especially if you can't program.
  • Bitmap fonts are brilliant in their own way - for their ease of use. I wonder if there are technologies to 'smooth them over' to convert them to TTF fonts if they're specified at a high enough resolution. This also seems impossible, as the decision to 'smooth something over' is entirely aesthetic, and the small details of these details is so important.
  • Rendering fonts is a mess.
  • Ligatures can be used for so many brilliant things. I love the '99 balloons' look.
  • New appreciation for 'Inter'. I'm not happy with some of the parts of the font that have been rounded off - loose ends and such (without a better word) - but the fact that inter is brilliant for legibility in every use case is incredible. I wouldn't choose another free font for a user interface after trying it - it's the best default imaginable.
  • Even great type designers miss little details. I keep finding little edges - little cracks - of designs that don't feel as thought-out as the type designer would like to have you believe. Studying type teaches you to appreciate pixel-perfect detail in a way that not many other crafts can.
  • I like 'neo-grotesk' fonts with sharp edges.
  • Univers might be the best font. All of the principled fonts that I like are variations of Univers.
  • Tricks for making fonts more readable:
    • Fonts must be incredibly legible at their most thin to readability on small screens.
    • Perfect the spacing, the punctuation, and particular letters.
    • Picking a few letters to make 'flash' can help your font stand out in a competition, but particular letters that are distracting significantly hinder readability.
    • Multi-language support is insane. Practically impossible. I'm immensely appreciative of type designers who work across language boundaries - especially when deviating from Latin characters.
→ node [[2023-05-23]]
  • Tuesday, 05/23/2023 ** 11:48 ULN Industries will be the operating system of the future. Our hook is seamless native application development, rolled from scratch, that feels like the future. We support mobile application development through an ULN mobile app. Our services are open-souce and interoperable but not necessarily friendly to all contributions. Programs are strongly opinionated and work seamlessly with one another and with a select group of boundary-pushing external tools.

Goal 0: A great framework for building desktop applications.

Goal 1: The best made GUI Linux desktop applications for everyday business applications. Text editor, calendar, email, and so forth.

Goal 2: An everyday software suite that users of Apple devices are compelled to use instead. Apple is a direct competitor. Our tools are more seamlessly interoperable, open source, more consistent, and just as beautiful. You want your computer to feel like our system. No data moats - but we seamlessly wrap and distribute beautiful free software services.

Goal 3: A toolkit for any user to develop ** 13:24 nushell: when creating the signature struct for a command, if the command is 'main', replace 'main' with the name of the file

(Later/harder: if i write a bunch of commands with the same name as the file i'm writing them in - i.e. 'hey $cmd' in the file 'hey' - the command to execute hey $cmd should be hey $cmd, not hey hey $cmd)

also, if 'help @' command fails, try to execute @ --help to see what happens?

2023-05-23

  • Another day, another coat of wood stain on the desktop.
  • I'm thinking about maybe starting a monthly or bimonthly newsletter. As a good nudge to make packaged pieces of writing on a regular basis.
    • I saw that Ghost has a thing for sending newsletters, and that you can host Ghost on Yunohost.
  • Paid some invoices, replied to some emails. Amazing how quickly these things pile up.
→ node [[2023-05-22]]
  • [[flancia]]
    • I had an allergy attack yesterday but at some point it turned -- it stopped getting worse, started getting better. Was able to have a normal night after that.
    • Slept a solid 8h+ after that
    • Woke up feeling finally recovered from disease!
  • [[work]]
    • Starting the week energized.
    • It was a solid day!
    • Actually looking forward to the week.
  • [[AG]]
  • [[791]] == #7 x #13
  • Monday, 05/22/2023 ** 10:57 Writing for clear communication
  • Do not start a sentence with 'it'. Whenever a sentence addresses a subject, use a specifier that will either provide additional context to the subject or
  • Use the simplest words that you can. The English language has too many words. Using words that are not very common can cause confusion. Assuming a definition or having an incorrect understanding of the definition of a word or structure can confuse the reader.
  • Use the simplest sentence structure that you can. Sentences that are more concise are more easily read and understood by more people.
  • Use proper English with as much parallel structure as is reasonable. Parallel structure can help recipients read faster.
  • Use a proper subset of English. Just like programming or mathematics, if a well-defined specification exists, your intention will be more easily understood. The English language relies heavily on context. This complexity can add ambiguity to sentences. Avoid complex sentence structures and vocabulary to avoid this ambiguity.
  • Use as much detail as is necessary to include for the subject.
  • Break down long passages or essays into more easily understood contents with clear headings that summarize the purpose of the passage. Introducing differences in font size, spacing, and formatting adds additional structure to the text, informing the reader of the document's structure explicitly.
  • Use examples if your description is abstract. [Descriptive examples should be added here].
  • If using an expressive platform for writing, use all of the tools available to you. Include images, drawings, and diagrams if possible. The interactive diagram, if executed correctly, is the best tool available to explain information today. Make heavy use of tags, links, and other expressive tools that your writing allows. Improving the user interface to your writing can communicate your ideas in a more expressive way. Linking to other people, documents, tables, and other information throughout your knowledge base can help readers understand how your document relates to other parts of the project or business. ** 11:52
  • Don't omit context from the document. If all of the context is available in writing, everyone reading the document can understand the motivation. If context is missing, a reader might not be aware that the context exists. Avoid including an unreasonable amount of context, but if someone who reads the document does not have an easy way to find that context, the document loses purpose.
  • Define abstract concepts and use those definitions exclusively when referencing the concept. If words are not chosen carefully, different people are speaking different languages and therefore saying different things. Definitions are vital to communication. ** 23:00 Technology appreciation thread!

Nix is getting better and better. This new Emacs interface - running on Wayland and natively compiled - feels so, so fast compared to earlier today. Glad I rebuilt.

Nushell is the easiest tool I've ever used to write comprehensive shell scripts. I'm incredibly impressed - casual-looking comments fit the 'vibe' of an ad-hoc script but they're instantly used as documentation for their associated commands. Crazy! Check jakeisnt/nixcfg on github at today's date - the hey command was rewritten from an 85mb clojure bundle to a 'free' (because we're already using nushell) shell script that's a third of the number of lines of code and far, far easier to understand - while preserving the same kinds of type information that clojure was (just under the hood). JT and the rest of the nushell crowd are brilliant creators of user interfaces.

Can't wait to see how I can get interactive polling commands working and similar - would love to make reactive tables.

Zig feels just as modern. Still sort of undecided on the Rust vs. Zig spectrum, but I've gotten quite tired with the typed baggage of Rust while Zig lets me goof off and do more or less whatever I'd like (for good or bad). My flipbook project is definitely rendering a raw pointer instead of the buffer that it's supposed to right now, but we'll figure it out.

Blown away by the comptime feature and how dynamic it feels. I've never been able to create a data structure on the fly before and use it in normal code with a strongly typed language such as this - but comptime feels magical, automatically shifting 'meta' code to the compile time step to interpret normal Zig code and bake in the results. I've used it to create rendering engine that uses a fixed-size buffer - without any heap allocations! The buffer struct definition is inlined (? i think) up front at compile time so that the instantiation can be so seamless.

I'm lacking the proper programming language words to describe this, but I also love the build system and how seamlessly I can integrate with C code - a process that's quite difficult for C <-> Rust, javascript <-> typescript, etc... both systems that claim to be easy to do but that, in practice, require modifying the build system of your project and introducing typed headers (which can be real or fake).

Zig builds Clang into its own compiler and simply has all of the information from the C headers and their types available, and has a memory model that maps cleanly to the same LLVM types that clang's C code uses. Brilliant. I don't have to learn Bazel's Python dialect after all - I can just get to work.

Wondering if Rust or Zig with hot reloading would be possible. Zig's anytype annotation is lovely - letting you wing it with systems code and test solutions fast - but not sure how well systems like that scale. Rust is slow with binaries that are too big - Trying to get my launch program - a simple egui app - to work on my computer was a disgusting mess when having to build from source. We'll stick to Zig and stick to boring libraries that can be dynamically linked (when necessary) or my own code (when possible) to make transpilation from scratch a fast process for as long as we can. Fast compile times are so, so wonderful for creating and distributing software. No messing around with caches or storage. You can send someone the source code and they can change it and compile their own tool. Simply brilliant. ** 23:33 Software keeps getting better and better, but only as a result of the significant amount of effort put behind making open-source software faster and more useful for the prople on the other side of the screen. Incredibly reassuring to see great projects succeed and to feel my computer become faster and use resources with greater optimality.

Hurts me how slow darktable is. I'm not sure why it's that way but I want it to be faster. that tool is the weakest link of my graphics programs and I'd love a replacement - or for the developers of that software to make it better and faster and more beautiful. The code runs and works for sure, but does not look great - and you can feel that pain as an end user. The external interface and feel of software closely mirrors the structure of the code and the organization of the team behind it.

Just opened my web browser. Half the websites I open feel like software going backwards. Feels like web software gets slower no matter how fast my computer is. Upsetting.

2023-05-22

→ node [[2023-05-21]]
  • Sunday, 05/21/2023 ** 17:37

Back at ilcaffe drottninggatan. Great place to work.

2023-05-21

→ node [[2023-05-20]]
  • Saturday, 05/20/2023 ** 15:13 More work on personal style today. Extremely formal doesn't fit. Those fabrics are stiff and not breathable. It's hard to feel comfortable! Loving the modern 'workwear' brands - some cuts of Our Legacy, AFFXWRKS, ACNE Studios - and silver jewelry with chunks taken out of it. Completely avant-garde is too impractical - I'm not out to win any awards - but repairable Rick boots are a great compromise. I want clothes that can be worn every day without wearing out, that can be repaired and maintained and reworn and that show their age slowly, but don't have to be carefully taken care of; fabrics that look hard-wearing rather than fuzzy or fragile.

This puts Our Legacy's lyocell experiments out of the picture. Unsustainability aside, the fabrics so quickly stretch and reform and are so so fragile - I don't want to have something else to take care of. Linen is a beautiful fabric for sheets - and feels great as a garment - but doesn't look like it's robust. I don't want something I wear to tear and fall apart as I live daily life.

Clothing that wears texturally without losing color also seems important. Denim wear is visible in the dye; as the cotton stretches, color is lost in some places and gained in others. In the meantime, the clothes are absurdly uncomfortable. 'Futuristic' fabrics, by contrast, stretch and contract and scratch - and these blemishes are visible in the texture of the items but not in the color. Paint and stains show, sure - but those are added, not removed from the garment.

Also loving neutral and deep blues. Beige is great for sheets but doesn't feel like it fits me - something to do with my skin tone. Warm blues match the eyes. AFFXWRKS work is brilliant - futuristic workwear. A bit too colorful and too Prada-infused to like most of the items - but some of the pants are masterpieces. They nail the workwear pant construction but use futuristic-feeling breathable, robust fabric. More of that please. ** 16:53 How do I know whether other people are open to being reached out to? How do I reach out to them?

This is easy in New York or Italy or Portland or Seattle or Boston - it was so easy to approach people and ask questions about them, their outfit, what they were up to, and so on... but here people feel far more reserved and the language barrier is difficult.

2023-05-20

  • Spent fucking ages getting the layer of varnish off the top of the desktop. Using a 40 grit sanding disc.
→ node [[2023-05-19]]
  • #push [[31]]
    • Un mantra:
    • Las Jaras, qué jaras?
  • Friday, 05/19/2023 ** 11:59 Justifying you dislike, aversion, or repulsion is incredibly important. The next time you see something and dislike it, spend five minutes thinking about why... the visceral reaction is real, but it ccomes from somewhere. Find a logical explanation for the distaste, drawing the idea back to either customs you're used to, or principles humans share, or both. You can only talk about what you'd rather have when you understand what you don't want. ** 12:05 Through middle and high school, instead of bringing our calculators to school every day, most students had a calculator ROM app. Users could pirate a TI-84 ROM, run it on this calculator emulator, and have all of the functionality of the original calculator available. ** 15:22 Finally understanding more and more of 100 Rabbits' radicalization principles and why I might want to deviate from them.
  • GPU programming is a proprietary mess.
  • Window managers are a disorganized mess with largely overlapping APIs that have small (but significant) differences.
  • SDL2 is the easiest way to get access to a device framebuffer that you can write pixels to the screen without intermediate complexity.
  • SDL2 handles all of the window manager abstraction work for you, from allowing you to open windows with different settings to receiving window manager input events. These are necessary to make any sort of cross-platform software.
  • Virtual machines are necessary for making software portable. C is a good idea - a good start - but expecting C compilers to work the same way on every system is a mistake.
  • The best way to write cross-platform code would be to standardize a machine language across everything (impossible). The second best way to stay portable is to make a virtual machine that can execute platform-independent code, then distribute software for that machine.
  • The third best way is to use the most popular existing virtual machine - the web browser. Users can't discover your work without being able to view examples of it and try it out on the clearweb.
  • A fixed size window means no thinking about changes of layout when making the screen size larger or smaller. Building only for a single screen size eliminates lots of considerations and problems.
  • Refusing to support modern formats, standards, and software allows you to significantly reduce code bundles and complexity.
  • Interoperability - both aesthetically and logically - is beautiful. Unifying on standards is really cool.

Conclusions:

  • I'm less interested in minimizing resources and more interested in maximizing creativity than they are. I want modern tools that are easily understood, free, and widely available.
  • I want to support larger ecosystems like the language-server protocol, modern font families, and modern image formats so that non-technical people can use my tools in their everyday lives.
  • I care just as much about making software beautiful and minimal, but I will always compromise minimality for ecosystem support.
  • Supporting multiple screen sizes can be a good decision, but it's not as necessary as the modern web and mobile devices would like you to think. Use fixed screen sizes when possible to simplify tools.
  • Portability requires sharing. I need to make sure not only that it's as easy as possible to download and use GUI applications as a part of a normal OS workflow, but also that it's easy to find and share those applications.
  • Web app users expect to be able to try and use free tools in the browser, then download them later. Our engine will have to support a web backend in some way.
  • Keeping the core of an engine incredibly minimal pays off. All of your software will run instantly everywhere.
  • Abstracting away concepts besides files to share between applications is really useful. Text buffers are a great example - they can hold anything UTF-8.

Other thoughts:

  • I'll eventually need to make a reactive GUI system to get this all to work right. This will require a compilation step on every platform. Hopefully I'll be able to devise some smooth incremental compilation scheme.
  • Ideally someone can just use/download/update their program with a single command passed a URL. That will work for technical users. How do we make non-technical use feel just as seamless (no '!Update' banners from web browsers or silly Adobe notifications)?
  • Nailing your website design and web copy is the most important tool for being seen on the internet - more important than any social media use or post. Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, etc... are secondary to a beautiful, impressive, and clear personal website.
  • Diagrams and images are vital to your web work. Without them your writing is kind of meaningless. Interactive visualizations are ideal, but barring those, diagrams as pictures are great.

2023-05-19

  • Yesterday I submitted my final output for [[YXM830]]!

  • Reading [[Capital is Dead]] (again, didn't finish last time) and loving it. I really like [[McKenzie Wark]]'s writing style in this. I'm finding the argument about there now being an information-based [[Vectoralism]] - something even worse than capitalism - quite compelling, though I know many disagree.

  • Used the borrowed orbital sander to sand down garden table and chairs that are a bit weather beaten.

→ node [[2023-05-18]]
  • [[People]] want to [[talk]] about things that highlight how they're a part of a [[group]].
    • If they were selected for some [[game]] or something is [[name]]d after them, they are more likely to [[talk]] about it.
    • People like having something they can point to that shows how they were recognized, such as [[medals]], trophies, or [[awards]].
  • Thursday, 05/18/2023 ** 19:39 Radicalized by GPUs - and needing something to do - I'm going to make interpretable graphics from scratch.

We're starting with SDL2.

Why?

We need a library to manage window manager events to write code that runs on multiple platforms. Our two options here are GLFW and SDL2. (Other options are immature. Rolling our own is a waste of time and impossible to keep up with.)

For simplicity's sake, we also want to be able to access the framebuffer and all of its information. GLFW makes the assumption that you will be passing its framebuffer directly to a supplementary graphics library for you that will query information such as window dimensions. GPU drivers and APIs are a proprietary mess, so we will not be using them. SDL2 gives us all of the information we need about the window we open. Hell yeah!

Later, we might want to underpin the interfaces that are developed for software rendering with GPU code for performance. This will not happen unless there is a significant performance bottleneck. For now, we'll use SDL2's framebuffer to handle everything. ** 21:16 I've been waffling around minimal computing for awhile now - and now I've got it. Largely inspired by ideas from 100 rabbits - https://100r.co/site/uxn.html - but considering that their approach butts heads with everything I know about programming language and user interface design, I couldn't entirely buy in. I wanted to learn more first.

We're starting with a simple Zig experiment - render an 8x8 grid of pixels with a moving animation. From here, we'll explore fonts,

2023-05-18

→ node [[2023-05-17]]
  • What can someone do with an everyday thing that would cause a lot of [[surprise]]? What would help [[spread]] this thing?
    • How does talking about this thing make someone look? How does it help their [[mask]]? collapsed:: true
      • Is this a [[cool]] thing they could share with the people who are around them?
      • Will this make them look worldly?
      • Will this make them feel like they're [[ingroup]]?
      • What about this can they show off to others?
    • What would remind someone about our stuff? What do they [[move]] by everyday that would bring our stuff up?
    • What about our stuff has them [[feeling]] things? What would they feel?
    • Can people [[see]] other people use our stuff? collapsed:: true
      • How can we make it easier to see our stuff?
    • How can they [[use]] our stuff to get where they [[want]] to go?
    • What kind of [[story]] would they [[want]] to [[spread]]?
      • People [[spread]] things they [[want]] to [[talk]] about.
        • What could be given to them to [[talk]] about that will make them seem [[cool]] or in the know? collapsed:: true
        • How would this turn into a [[game]] that they can [[play]] and [[talk]] about trying to [[win]]?
          • [[People]] will give up [[absolute]] gain if it means they will look better than others. Most college-attendees would choose to be a big fish in a small pond, rather than a smaller fish in a bigger pond that has more food for everyone.
  • Wednesday, 05/17/2023 ** 13:55 The rideshare / transportation service industry is messed up and governments need to stop trusting services that lie. Every company competing in the space is operating in a 'zero to lyft' market. Every customer wants all of the capabilities of the app they're most familiar with - and whether they use BlueBikes or CitiBikes, Uber or Lyft, X or Y, they're accustomed to very mature user interfaces and expect all of those features from a new product right away.

Small teams building in this space are then contractually required to build those features - they have to reproduce the work of a major player, but with much less time and with many fewer resources. Because everyone who operates in the space sees a clear target - 'we have to build from zero to Lyft' - they think they can do all of that and improve on the platform UX and customers expect that of them.

Companies in this space have to learn to disappoint in some ways, compromising on feature set instead of functional quality. The social problems that get them into the space to begin with - maintaining the bikes or scooters, improving the relationship the company has with the people who maintain the vehicles, and ensuring that all of the items are in good condition - are far more important than the technical issues that have to be solved. I'd advocate for eschewing the map at first - the app can open the default map app on the mobile device - in favor of focusing on perfecting all of the non-technical tools and ensuring that my small featureset works. Companies in this space reach for the technical issues - those seem easy to solve and measurable - but this is precisely why they shouldn't focus on them. Because these goals are so tangible, accomplishing them does not solve new problems; it just makes the companies less differentiable, in doing so both sacrificing vehicle operating quality and losing any sort of identity to begin with.

Sponsored by the failure of the Stockholm E-bike service. ** 14:19 Corporate identity merchandise

Do not require it. People have the right to choose their own clothing and express themselves the way they want - especially as employees of your company. The strength of a company is not in operating as an island; rather, it's in ** 16:58 Dad called a few hours ago. My grandfather died last night.

What business do I have being so far away from home? What does being here do for me? What does being here do for the people I care about?

I can't come up with a good enough answer.

Lunch today was spent discussing the merits of sustainability of company merchandise. I regret even contributing to the discussion and prolonging the meeting. I'd never use a t-shirt but ultimately the t-shirts don't matter. I wish I could have redirected that hour of life to helping reduce climate emissions. Be more judicious about what you invest your time and energy into. The time you have really matters.

What's the point of life if your time isn't spent caring about the people you love? In a perfect world, your work should care for them just as much as your time does.

I didn't know what questions to ask my grandfather - about growing up in Chicago as a Swedish immigrant, about how he met and felt about my grandfather, about their beautiful cabin in Wisconsin, about train engineering, about his life growing up - and I'm ashamed that I didn't try before this January - which was far too late. I'll never get back a second of the time I spent playing with fucking trading cards instead of doing things with family. I have no idea what game I was playing at the time or what activity I was doing on my DS or the family iPad or whatever the hell I was up to when at their Boise house. I can't remember that time at all, but I can absolutely remember not spending more time with them, learning about or learning from them.

I realized how useless the days I spent felt when I found out that Isaac died. I didn't change anything about the way I lived my life. I have to change now.

→ node [[2023-05-16]]
  • How to create something that people will want to [[talk]] about?
  • Tuesday, 05/16/2023 ** 10:12 Search anything bar. Text input anything. Awesome as calculator ** 10:46 How do I search for a sound? Shazam exists - but what's the most seamless tool I can have for transmitting what I've heard out?

Want some kind of 'active memory' - audio, video - recorded around you that you can reference. Words aren't good enough ** 13:45 "The goal of the interview is to set the interviewee up for success." When someone is hired, they bring their expertise. Give them the kind of work that they would be doing every day anyways! They can pair program through the repository so that I can show you how we work? Brilliant.

Worth looking into this document: https://t3-tools.notion.site/Technical-Interview-Dan-Abramov-9aa6d8e9292e4bd1ae67b44aeeaabf88.

Bring your own interview plan? Show that you've been interviewed in a particular way?? Incredible! People work in different ways, and the decision to force just one method on people can give a potentially excellent employee a bad experience.

Give more interviews! This is the best way to learn what you want from someone. ** 14:38 Now that I have a good foundation for project work, this journal will become a bit more of a devlog. This journal is a space for recording day-to-day progress and learning as I learn to build beautiful applications from the ground up, from component systems nad libraries to graphics technique experiments to fast, reactive systems.

What am I working on?

  • Building beautiful applications for people to use every day.
  • Experimenting with new forms of user interaction. What's the best way to interact with a computer? How can we share programs with each other?
  • Learning about graphics and hardware design. Beautiful software needs to have the correct physical interface.
→ node [[2023-05-15]]
  • To encourage [[change]], look for what suggests that they don't like how things are. collapsed:: true
    • Look for anything good they have to say about what [[change]] might do.
    • Look for anything that suggests that they could [[change]] if they wanted to.
    • Look for anything that sounds like a [[commitment]] to [[change]].
    • What makes it difficult for them to consider [[change]]? collapsed:: true
      • What would it take to go where they want to go? collapsed:: true
        • What worries them about how things are?
        • What makes them think they need to do something about it?
        • What happens from what they are doing now?
        • Is there anything about what they are doing now that is a reason other people might [[worry]] about them?
        • How has this stopped them from being where they want to be?
        • What will happen if they don't [[change]] what they're doing?
    • How would [[change]] help them? collapsed:: true
      • What would they like to be different?
      • What would be good about the [[change]]?
      • Where would they like to be in the future?
      • If the [[change]] happened now, what would [[fit]] them better?
      • What's a reason to [[change]]?
      • What would they get from a [[change]]?
    • How would they see [[change]] as [[possible]]? collapsed:: true
      • What would make it so they could [[change]]?
      • What gives them [[energy]] to [[change]]?
      • When else did they make a [[change]] like this? How did they do it?
      • What do they have that no one else has that would help them [[change]]?
      • Who could help them [[change]]?
    • When would they tell you that they want to [[change]]? collapsed:: true
      • What are they thinking about the thing that might [[change]]?
      • Are they feeling stuck?
      • What might they do?
      • How much do they [[want]] a [[change]]?
      • What would they try?
      • Of the things they might try, what would [[fit]] them best?
      • What do they [[want]] to happen?
      • What do they [[want]] to do?
    • Look for what they think might happen if they [[change]] vs. what they think might happen if they don't change. collapsed:: true
      • What do they like about how things are now?
      • What do they dislike about how things are now?
      • How can these be illustrated visually?
    • What is a day in their [[life]] like?
    • What do you [[worry]] most about the thing that might [[change]]? collapsed:: true
      • What's the worst that might happen?
      • How might that happen? What else might happen as a result of that?
    • What's the best thing that might happen?
    • How would things [[change]], if you changed?
    • Ask them about a different [[time]] in their [[life]]. Both what was, and what might be. collapsed:: true
      • What happens if things don't [[change]]?
    • How is what they're doing consistent with what they want? How does it work against what they [[want]]?
  • Monday, 05/15/2023 ** 18:06 What am I doing right now?
  • Package up returns
  • Put clothes in a pile to get rid of
  • Edit a photo
  • Render a square of pixels on the screen with raylib and change them every second
  • Make a plan for lunchboxes ** 22:15 Today I've been radicalized by GPUs. I've spent my life up until this point assuming that graphics libraries all start and end with turning pixels on the screen on and off. This is just not true.

The short of it is that the GPU on your computer - either 'integrated' (built into the CPU as an optimised subsection) or 'discrete' (a separate card entirely) hold a data structure called a framebuffer that represents the pixels that will be written to the screen. This information is written to a buffer then sent to the screen. The framebuffer is a data structure that represents the pixels of a monitor.

Cool, so I can just turn pixels on the framebuffer on and off?

No.

First, the framebuffer isn't just exposed. Whatever windowing system you're using does not allow you to write to the framebuffer at will. That would be a security vulnerability at best - applications could write pixels into one another to make you see something - and at worst make your computer unusable without a standard protocol that tells them how to write to the framebuffer and where. (If you aren't in a graphical session, you can get raw access to the framebuffer: https://seenaburns.com/2018/04/04/writing-to-the-framebuffer/).

You'll want to use a windowing library that abstracts requesting this framebuffer for you over various windowing systems (as Windows, MacOS, etc. have all concocted slightly different ways of doing this, nad they love making extra work for programmers) and gives you a reference to it. GLFW is historically the most popular, but systems like SDL2 and winit (Rust) provide similar functionality. You can then write pixels to this buffer following a standard, straightforward protocol nad they'll show up on the screen.

Unfortunately, though, the framebuffer doesn't live on the CPU or in the screen or whatever you think would be sane. Yes, screens have framebuffers, but it's your operating system's job to mediate between its representation and the data the screen is given. It lives on the GPU. GPUs are not optimized for drawing pixels on screens. They're complex mathematical hardware with complex APIs, optimized for rendering lines and rays and curves for modern 3D graphics, originally created to optimize for rendering perfect fonts with PostScript rather than in a bitwise fashion. The good news: they make playing video games fast, performing complex application tasks in parallel. How they do this is to be learned and probably under NDA. The bad news: GPUs expose complex, proprietary APIs that are inelegant and expose very large surface areas to program against. This makes learning to program for optimal graphics a mess, mostly because you're protecting corporate secrets. CUDA - the fundamental API exposed to empower parallel programming on the GPU - is not open. This makes computing a complex, ugly, mess - you'll always be programming against this nasty, abstracted API that's been artificially created, rather than being able to write to the machine and have the machine just render the text. This makes leveraging modern computing power a disgusting mess.

The good news here is that you can just ask GLFW for a reference to the framebuffer and write to it.

My goal with learning computer graphics has been to build small, beautiful applications that people - people who don't know much at all about using computers - can use every day to accomplish things in their life more seamlessly. Two paths to move forward:

  1. Learn to implement graphics tools by pretending modern graphics don't work that way and start developing abstractions over the framebuffer.
  2. Commit to learning a modern graphics library or abstraction. WebGPU and Vulkan are both compelling ways forward here. Vulkan has a solid Linux compatibility layer and is guaranteed Windows/Linux/other platform support. Metal (classic proprietary MacOS work) is DOA. WebGPU is incredibly compelling but the API doesn't have sustainability guarantees. It's made for the browser - so it's made to run anywhere and everywhere - but the API could be a moving target.

Whoah - Mach Engine solved this. https://github.com/hexops/mach-gpu.

→ node [[2023-05-14]]
  • When people [[talk]] about [[change]], some things said point toward change, while other things said point against change. collapsed:: true
    • When changing, people [[talk]] about the following things: collapsed:: true
      • How things as they are don't work for them.
      • How changing things may work for them.
      • Talking about a [[want]] to [[change]].
      • [[Moving]] like they think [[change]] is something they can do.
    • When pushing back [[against]] [[change]], people [[talk]] about the following things: collapsed:: true
      • How things as they are work for everyone.
      • How things wouldn't work if they changed.
      • Talking about wanting things to stay the same.
      • [[Freezing]] and stuttering like they don't think [[change]] is possible.
  • Something that fits with a [[goal]] is often much harder to [[see]] than when it really doesn't [[fit]]. What's right is more [[invisible]], what's wrong is relatively easy to spot. In light of this, it makes sense that [[teaching]] at [[scale]] will focus on avoiding what's [[wrong]] instead of learning how to look for what's right.
  • Sunday, 05/14/2023 ** 15:40 What makes a wardrobe?

Why do I want more?

I only like two of my shirts. Three or four on a good day. The rest feel uncomfortable. Why did I buy this one?

It's beautiful - but unnecessarily. I don't want to stand out, to balloon or showboat or stunt or whatever you'd like to call it. I don't want to baby my clothing, spending too much money on a garment then having to carefully treat it. I don't want to be flashy. I just want comfort and consistency. This elaborate shirt is giving me a headache.

→ node [[2023-05-13]]
  • Triggering [[resistance]] in someone makes it more likely that they will commit to the position they talked about- after they've talked about it. So, it will make it harder for them to [[change]] if they talk with a position against the change.
    • "[[Turn]] in the [[direction]] of the skid" while [[driving]] on [[ice]]. Once [[traction]] is established, then turn.
      • The person who is to be changed has to be the one to [[talk]] about why they should [[change]].
        • To [[change]], [[people]] need to see a difference between what they [[want]] and what is.
          • When something someone is doing goes against something they deeply [[want]], it is what they are doing that will [[change]]. collapsed:: true
            • Mis[[alignment]] can be necessary for [[change]], since it is the first step to noticing a [[difference]] between what they [[want]] and what they do. collapsed:: true
              • What would make someone consider how the way things are doesn't [[fit]] them?
              • What would make someone consider a [[change]] to [[fit]] them?
              • What would make someone consider that [[change]] is possible?
              • What would make someone [[talk]] about how they are going to [[change]]?
            • [[Change]] can only come to people if a part of them really does [[want]] to change.
            • [[Change]] is easier when it is drawn out gently, instead of pushed.
          • A kind of [[talk]] to people to help [[change]]. collapsed:: true
            • collapsed:: true
              1. [[Accept]] where people are. [[Listen]] to them to hear where they are.
              2. Help [[explore]] what they [[want]] until they see a difference between what they want and what is.
              3. Go in the direction of their [[resistance]] to [[change]]. This is [[Kuzushi]].
              4. Give [[energy]] to anything they say that [[moves]] toward [[change]].
              • When something is seen as a [[block]] to their [[want]], they will be more likely to [[change]] it.
              • The perceived [[difference]] between what they [[want]] and what is has to be amplified to bridge the difficulty of [[moving]] to get what they want.
              • Ask about wants that might be blocked by the thing they are doing that needs to [[change]].
              • People are most persuaded by what they say. What do they [[notice]] that they say to themselves? What feels interesting to them? What are they excited at having said?
              • When there is [[push]] back, [[pull]] and [[move]] to [[change]] an [[angle]] very slightly.
              • Involve them in solving the [[problem]]. The [[solution]] has to be theirs, for them, to [[trust]] it.
              • When there is [[push]] back, [[shift]] to another [[angle]].
              • Someone cannot be [[responsible]] for [[change]] if they think they cannot change.
              • Offer help to [[change]], and give them the [[choice]] of taking it or leaving it.
          • A [[talk]] can move toward [[harmony]] or [[dissonance]].
  • May 13, 2023 ** 15:18 uln industries

we build hardware and software tools for everyday use

goals:

  • beautiful
  • modular
  • usable
  • free
  • uncompromising performance
  • seamless install

non-goals:

  • customization. our defaults will be so good you won't want to change them. plugins should be external apps.
  • technical support. we work on commission or pro bono and give away free software. we cannot make an promises to help you.
  • universal/web/your device support. working at higher level abstractions to support more platforms compromises on performance.
→ node [[2023-05-11]]
  • In [[fighting]], it is often easier to [[move]] around a [[frame]] instead of trying to take the frame off.
  • Thursday, 05/11/2023 ** 18:37 STOP WHAT YOU"RE DOING AND DROP YOUR PHONE ** 22:31 Every time I pick up Rust again I'm radicalized by build times. I should be able to build a package from 0 - including downloading the compiler and its dependencies - off of a fresh git clone with a single command in 1 minute max. It's insane that Rust takes so long and pulls in gigs of information. This just isn't sustainable. My launch software didn't even work on my own system by default, even when using nix, when working in isolation... I'm missing some dynamic linking package that needs to be part of the path.

There are two paths we can take here;

  1. Use Java. The JVM solves our dynamic linking problem. HumbleUI is somewhat promising and I'll likely have access to most of the libraries I need. This code is 'fast enough' - but I'm not sure whether HumbleUI and Clojure desktop apps will have a future in industry at large.
  2. Use Zig. Write code at a low level with a toolchain that's focused on minimal interfaces and performance. Code is small and fast but at the cost of my time. Learning Zig is a huge pro. Supposedly the compiler iterates fast but there is also no package version control. Zig absolutely has a future but I'll have to learn more myself.

Zig is probably the way to go here. It'll take longer to get started, but the toolchain is fast and has a promising future. I'll be able to write very fast code and learn a lot about systems programming in the process. It'll allow me to help build good infrastructure, work with games code to make beautiful desktop apps, and contribute to a fresh ecosystem.

2023-05-11

→ node [[2023-05-10]]

I will show you the shape of my [[heart]] if you want to.

  • Wednesday, 05/10/2023 ** 21:07 Refactoring to make new features easy to add feels so cool. By reworking abstraction boundaries, you play with interfaces; you introduce new concepts, new users, new features, making language and text and code a streamlined relationship between definitions and the code that works with them. Any form of abstraction creates a domain-specific language; creating the right language allows you to completely reframe a problme in your favor. Today at work I was having trouble with some complex data management and control task - so I changed the interface of the core data type, making it more extensible, and all of the features I wanted fell out automatically from such a beautiful abstraction. Don't let anyone tell you that reactive programming is bad practice - the paradigm is so clearly the right way to make GUI applications. With the right abstractions, you can change upstream functionality and downstream work adapts instantly if you continue to adhere to its interfaces. I can't wait to keep writing beautiful code fast.
→ node [[2023-05-09]]
  • Tuesday, 05/09/2023 ** 17:25 Work today was all about naming. Coming up with good names - for components, for ideas, for discussions - is extremely difficult, but without the right name, all the appropriate context gets lost in the noise. Names are abbreviations for concepts - if you want to talk about something, you must first give it a name. Names are better than backlinks - they're references in prose and in the mind, which is far more poweerful than any knowledge management or task pushing system can be. If your code and prose use the same - correct - names, you are suddenly able to speak about code and concepts with so much more clarity. This allows you to do things faster, better, with more control than before.

Then types - types add names to values wherever they go. The value of TypeScript doesn't come from the language's capabilities and static errors. There are some benefits to transpilation and to compile-time errors, sure - but far more important is the ability to see definitions on hover and receive competent suggestions from the typechecker. The better your types, the better you become at writing in the language that the code speaks - and the less discipline you have to have when revisiting and maintaining it. Your own types - your own language - is pushed back on you. ** 17:40 This ikea mirror is both the best fit for my home and a super affordable. Incredible combination! I love the oblong porthole look. (Stockholm curved mirror). The porthole is a brilliant touch - adds visual interest from the side and depth from the front. Shadows are worth exploring. ** 18:18 🦧 Awesome emoji ** 18:38 Some American-accented tea specialist is consulting with a future manager of a tea company in front of me. He's younger than me and is dressed very functionally - but he's a tea expert. She's bringing him in as a professional to work on and with tea, and he's extremely assertive about his work; I'm impressed by his level of expertise and control over the subject. He's able to explain tea to everyone here, and is making suggestions in both an assertive and an incredibly friendly manner. ** 18:45 "You would not love to meet [the people who will work under you at the restaurant]. You have to." Assertive!

→ node [[2023-05-08]]
  • A [[story]] interests someone when there is more than one way that what is shown in the story can go, and the audience would like it more if only one of those ways happen. collapsed:: true
  • [[Questions]] to ask if you are giving people a [[product]] or [[service]]. From [[Michele Hansen]]. collapsed:: true
    • What are they trying to do?
    • What are the steps of the [[workflow]]?
    • Where are they now?
    • Where in their workflow is the problem?
    • How often do they get blocked from what they're trying to do?
    • What have they tried? collapsed:: true
    • What do they want?
    • What did they use to try to get what they want? (esp MacGyvered stuff)
    • What does it [[cost]] if they get it wrong?
    • What goes into their [[decisions]]? In their words, [[why]] do they choose the [[solutions]] that they choose?
    • What happens if they don't solve the [[problem]] well?
    • Who else is part of the [[decisions]] they make about the [[problem]]?
    • How will they [[feel]] is the [[problem]] is or isn't solved?
    • Who might they [[talk]] to if the [[problem]] is or isn't solved?
      • What would they say about how they solved the [[problem]]?
      • What would they be proud or ashamed of sharing?
  • Is this something [[people]] [[want]]? Is this something they can figure out how to [[use]]? Will it make [[money]]? Is this something we can [[make]] or do?
  • Five people is often enough [[interviews]] to make a [[business]] [[decision]] that requires interviews, but another heuristic is "stop when you start hearing the same things over and over again".
  • Framing [[questions]] based on [[time]] often works better than asking [[why]]. This is probably because 'why' summons [[causal]] [[explanations]]. So, "what did you do before this?" instead of "why did you start doing this?".
  • Talk to your happiest customers to see how to bring more [[happy]] customers.
  • Help them forget you are a [[person]].
  • Monday, 05/08/2023 ** 11:02 Don't ever fall into the 'long tail' of an idea. ** 20:23 Back on my work. The company name isn't trademarked and the domain is cheap. Edited a photo today for the first time in forever. Can't wait to edit many more. What consumer software should I build first?
→ node [[2023-05-07]]
  • [[petrichor]]
  • [[ostranenie]]
  • [[flancia]]!
    • [[aj]] ~ [[ag]]
      • happy, joyful!
    • [[Avalokiteshvara]]!
    • I paid my taxes for the remainder of the year (or scheduled all payments). This small detail made me feel freer; it was indeed on my todo list.
    • In the spirit of a Sunday I made some [[magnetic art]] and I enjoyed it. It's interesting to do things with one's fingers, thinking about space and color as we go.
    • [[social coop]]
      • read some discussion
      • wiki next steps -> testing
    • [[donated]]
    • [[sila]] -> CL
  • the Agora is a bit slow -- pages are taking >7s to render when the cache is cleared.
    • It's also buggy, like [[petrichor]] above which strangely redirects to wikipedia :)
    • I love it anyway, but this says I have to allot some time to [[fixes]].
  • #push [[poemas]]
  • What does this [[product]] or [[service]] give [[people]]?
  • How else can [[people]] [[learn]] to turn [[loss]] into [[growth]]?
  • Lagging [[signs]] are easy enough, what are [[leading]] signs of something?
  • [[Who]] is this for? What will we get by giving them a [[way]] to get what they [[want]]? How will what we're doing [[give]] them a way to get what they want?
  • Sunday, 05/07/2023 ** 13:14 Most of this weekend has been spent thinking about names and interior design. I have a name for the studio that I'm happy with - finally - and the domain name is extremely affordable (No spoilers). Spent some time walking around, some time shopping, some time writing at Brod & Salt (I don't have a European keyboard yet, so it's difficult for me to hunt down the omljud on the fly). I'm excited to have the apartment finished and start working under this new umbrella to make something real. We'll start with an email sign-in box : )

Spending time online I can't help but wonder what I'm missing out on by not living in one of these innovation epicenters: San Francisco, New York, Berlin. San Francisco is the most beautiful place in the world but I've never seen a world so adulterated by tech that the fabric of the city outside of the office is ruined. Culture in San Francisco stinks - it's commodified and distilled into Blue Bottle and Allbirds, turning self-expression into a series of checkboxes, a manual, and the number on your bank account. The big players in SV, from my understanding, are brilliant and analytically stubborn to a fault, unwilling to consider 'unquantified' or 'soft' benefits to their lives - why do you think San Francisco looks like it does outside of the office? They need to learn to remove metrics from aesthetics and revert to their psychadelic dreams of the 70s. The wage gap is too broad there to ever realize this without proper housing. The only way to live in the valley is to live in a bubble and to curate the right bubble for you.

Cool - that leaves NYC and Berlin. Is Berlin monocultural? I haven't made friends with enough Berliners to know. I do know that enough people I keep in touch with online frequently commute between the three (SF included) to make them each a place where you'll be able to meet and know everyone. My work and ego aren't yet strong enough, though, to enter those spaces. I'll have to work twice as hard in Stockholm before leveraging the reputation I'm going to force my work to build. ** 13:28 Completely forgot to write about interiors. They're difficult! You don't notice the details until you really dedicate yourself to making a place home - why are the countertops like this? How are the tiles misaligned just slightly? Why is this asymmetric? Earlier I ranted against symmetry - but like all things symmetry is a balance. The four potted plants on my windowsill, all different breeds, were in radically different pots - and this looked absurd. Normalizing the pots - using four of the same pot and replacing terra-cotta with glass to better highlight the plants themselves - improved the room demonstrably. Terra-cotta feels uncomfortable to the touch. Caring for your belongings is more difficult if you don't enjoy them.

And the carpet! Generally the same rules of outside apply to inside. As you look from the ground to the sky, colors should get lighter and more vibrant. The really bright colors should be sparse and carefully curated - these are the areas that the eyes of a visitor should focus on when they enter the room. Everything else should be plain and muddy and pastel or black or white or anything that could blend into the background as a tool should. Surfaces should be distinct from the items on them without distracting from them - marble is too detailed and places the focus on the table ratether than the items on top of it, much like the wood grain of the table my laptop rests on as I type this.

Adorning the walls is just as important. Smell is more important than sound, and sound is more important than light; smell can indicate immediate or lasting danger, while sound implies near-term danger and light just controls whether something could be present or absent. It's therefore far more important to consider sound and echo than the details of furnishings in the house. (Segway: wow, these IKEA panels are brilliant: https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/oddlaug-sound-absorbing-panel-gray-00427366. Design that is functional and accessible to anyone is far more important than design that is beautiful. More later.) The more detail you introduce to the home, the less noise you hear.

Finding the perfect furniture is incredibly difficult. I can picture the particular table that I want but I can't make it - I don't have access to metal fabrication facilities to cut the table to size and acquiring the raw materials would be super difficult. The process reminds me of why I love computers - digitally, anything I can imagine or picture I can make real. Experimenting with physical spaces is expensive and carries with it far more material limitation than the infinite computing power that I've become accustomed to having access to! + it's so difficult to imagine something filling in a space without having it. My walls are empty and I can hear it throughout the apartment.

Still don't understand:

  • Fringes. This piece of fabric is beautiful - why leave vulnerable tassles hanging off of it?
  • Triangular slants in furniture. Every design company and system uses a slightly different triangular slant. None of them match well with one another in a room or stack well. Snow peak knows this - they make glasses with vertical walls of varying sizes so they can slot into one another. Forget stacking. Just go smaller and taller.
  • Uncomfortable textures. Maybe I'm more sensitive to texture than other people, but lots of interior furniture is uncomfortable! I wouldn't want to have to hold half of the objects I see in stores or sleep on half of the sheets I touch. This holds regardless of the store's prices. Why would I buy something that I wouldn't want to use every day? ** 13:53 Granit store charged me for an extra item. Employee didn't seem to be concerned by it. Do I look too much like a rich American?
→ node [[2023-05-06]]
→ node [[2023-05-05]]
  • Friday, 05/05/2023 ** 15:21 writing and transparent culture is awesome i am glad that i am at a place that not only has such a wonderful culture, but that is also flexible and open to change and flexibility and improvement. i can't wait to get to work, make things happen, and improve.

Thinking about https://koolaidfactory.com/writing-in-public-inside-your-company/. My thoughts aren't tracked well enough outside of work yet. How can I make my infrastructure more transparent?

2023-05-05

  • I can't seem to settle on a book at the moment. I'm making my way through [[Ours to Hack and To Own]], and it's good stuff, but not page-turning bedtime reading. Not many non-fiction books are, to be fair. But I don't get much opportunity to read in the day, so I'm mostly reading non-fiction at night. I started reading [[Aramis, or the Love of Technology]] last night and enjoyed the beginning of that. Maybe '[[scientifiction]]' is the way to go…
→ node [[2023-05-04]]
  • [[work]]
    • I was very tired today, because of not sleeping enough (I woke up too early, still jetlagged) and maybe a bug.
    • It was OK though.
  • [[flancia]]
  • One reason to write a non-fiction [[book]] is to capture a word or sentence in [[people]]'s [[minds]].
  • "You need [[money]] to get into a [[mind]]. And you need money to stay in the mind once you get there."
→ node [[2023-05-03]]
  • [[work]]
    • very tired after only about four hours of solid sleep; jetlag kicked in, and [[Burup]] was rattled because of a curious vision (I should write more about that)
    • but work was fine :)
  • then [[fellowship of the link]]
  • then [[flancia]], or rather Flancia at all times in a way
    • I've been trying to enjoy life more overall, not draw hard lines between Flancia and non-Flancia most of the times
    • this seems to result in increased happiness, equanimity, which makes sense
    • meditating every morning ten minutes and doing yoga most evenings really goes a long way
  • some bugs in the [[agora]]
    • [[fediverse]] seems to enter a pulling loop, very weird!
    • [[federation]] redirects in a way that chrome thankfully catches, and has the same loop in a pull as it's pulling [[fediverse]] :)
    • this alpha-quality Agora is positively dangerous
      • I love it :)
  • Wednesday, 05/03/2023 ** 08:56 The best thing that you can do is make something that's fun to use. Those pocket operator buttons are so satisfying to press - they feel like rubber even though they're on the internet!

2023-05-03

→ node [[2023-05-02]]
  • [[2]] stands for [[fork]], and the [[Agora]], in the [[Flancia pattern language]].
  • [[Jinwar]]
  • [[work]]
    • Back in the ZRH office after 2w (due to travel). It was nice seeing my coworkers again.
    • Relatively meeting heavy day but it's going well as of the time of writing.
  • How can you [[own]] a [[word]] in mental real estate?
→ node [[2023-05-01]]
  • Monday, 05/01/2023 ** 17:20 How many homes does someone get to have?

I feel antsy, stressed, transient whenever I have to move apartments - I've been here for just a month but I've got to move to a more permanent place. I don't know what home feels like but I'm not sure if I've found it here, in Stockholm. Physical spaces - and physical things - feel so important to me; I don't understand feeling attachment to items like attachment to people.

→ node [[2023-04-30]]
  • Sunday, 04/30/2023 ** 11:21 Just discovered CSS box-shadow. Wow. I'm hooked. Yesterday I mocked a pocket operator. Today I'm doing a Switch, an OP-1, and a midi fighter - the first two gutted from online and the latter from scratch. Love making these "photorealistic", interactive web demos. NextJS and React really are incredible technologies - I can build so fast. Can't wait to bring this infrastructure to my own /site - where this lives.

Still keeping desktop apps in mind but the hot reload capabilities those systems have vs. the web stack are - frankly - terrible. I love the web workflow and how quick hot reloading can be.

Main goal - learn and make cool things. Auxiliary goals

  • Become very good at making beautiful things fast.
  • Figure out what I want from a software design and development experience. Figure out how I can improve my workflow and bring those ideas into my own infrastructure - web and desktop.
  • Prove that I can make things. Some of my best work is stuck at companies.
  • Instead of writing down and idea and moving on - building the idea and move on with it! ** 11:41 In other news - I love feeling like I have the ability to build anything I want. I can't wait to work up to building bigger and greater things.
→ node [[2023-04-29]]
  • Writing this on the way back home, meaning the flight [[SFO]]-[[ZRH]].
  • My noding has been spotty the last few days / over the last two weeks due to travel but it will probably pick back up (is that the right expression?) now that I'm back home.
  • [[US trip 2023]]

2023-04-29

  • I invested some money into the new [[solar park]] that [[Ripple Energy]] is starting - [[Derril Water Solar Park]]. It'll be an [[energy coop]]. Excited about it. We can't afford rooftop solar so really nice to be part of a [[shared solar]] project. I put a bit of money into [[Bristol Energy Cooperative]] before but I don't actually live there so don't get the benefit of the energy produced, unlike this Ripple one. Hope they do another wind farm project soon, would like to get in on that.
→ node [[2023-04-28]]
  • [[work]]
    • Last day in the Sunnyvale office for this visit.
    • Flying back to Zürich tonight.
  • [[flancia]]
    • Will board the flight shortly after the traditional time in which I say I "start Flancia" on a workday, meaning 19:00 (local time).
→ node [[2023-04-27]]
  • How is this [[business]] [[product]] or [[service]] the first of a new [[category]] for [[people]]?
    • [[Own]] a [[word]] in people's minds.
  • Nobody cares about your shit. You will have to [[sell]].
  • Does this [[product]] or [[service]] give [[people]] enough [[energy]] that they are moved to [[tell]] people they look up to about it?
  • How much does it [[cost]] for [[people]] to [[find]] your stuff?
  • What would make someone [[proud]] of sharing your [[product]] or [[service]]?
    • Does this make people who will use your stuff look good? Does it give them [[status]]? Will it give them [[energy]]?
    • How does being associated with your work associate them with a [[place]] and [[people]] they aspire to?
      • Play with X and you can go where other people who played with X got to.
  • In [[unarmed]] [[grappling]], send [[pressure]] into a specific [[location]] to get them to stop [[moving]], in the same way you would target a specific location while [[striking]].
  • Thursday, 04/27/2023 ** 09:45 I want hot reloading over the network. Someone else looks at the product live and I fix issues on the fly. I would lvoe that I would love that. ** 10:09 Synced cloud database per git branch would be really beautiful
→ node [[2023-04-26]]
  • Wednesday, 04/26/2023 ** 09:56 Leaving / Getting
  • Leaving a single book on the table at a time feels wonderful. You are reading one book and it defines what you're thinking about. The book sits in the center of the room. Multiple books are too distracting. Focus on one idea at a time.
  • Same with toys, synthesizers, gadgets, fidget things, and so on... have one toy available at a time.
  • Leave the Brain Dead jacket. It looks cheap. Replaced by the Our Legacy one. Looking forward to transitioning to more 'clean' clothing going forward.
  • Leave some cords. I have too many.
  • Leave the Y-3 shirt and some of the graphic tees. They're too loud or uncomfortable and don't represent me. Snag some better button-ups (from where? I'm not sure what makes a great-fitting one for me, but we want tapered at the waist and wide at the top for sure) and tees (Outlier) instead.
  • Keep upgrading the jewelry.
  • Haircut. Long hair is great but some 'reformatting' is necessary.
  • Upgrade the bag. This has been a long quest but I'm still really unhappy with the look, feel, and usability of my day bag. Shop around for a better one. The bag has to look great with what I wear and feel good to move quickly in.
  • Upgrade the sneakers. Half of mine have holes in them and are made of cheap materials. Bump them up to nice leather shoes or boots with similar sillhouettes - but make sure those boots are almost as flexible. I need to be able to sprint and bike and fly in them.
  • Start getting into furniture.
  • Upgrade the DJ decks. They feel plastic and cheap. I want good metal hardware! Hard to find something that's affordable and not super tacky - a Rane controller or a Traktor with the logos buffed off is probably the best way to accomplish this. Their logos need to be smaller and less ugly!
  • Find some more fun physical buttons to press and purchase them. I want to interact with my computer in ways that are more fun.
  • Decide on a hoodie. I have too many that fit the same use case.
  • Find an apartment I love. Ugh!
→ node [[2023-04-25]]
  • [[People]] are usually [[right]] about something being [[wrong]] for them, but usually wrong about [[why]] it's wrong for them.
  • Stuff that will [[sell]] over a long [[time]] is competing with the [[best]] there's ever been.
  • For any [[business]] [[product]] or [[service]], check:
    • [[Who]] is this for? Who isn't it for?
    • What does it do for them that nothing else has?
    • [[Why]] should they [[care]] about what it will do for them?
→ node [[2023-04-24]]
  • Monday, 04/24/2023 ** 07:14 on my mind now
  • finding a backpack as beautiful and as noiseless as how i would like my clothing to be
  • getting rid of everything that speaks too loud
  • making beautiful, modular components for my website, for your website, for everywhere
→ node [[2023-04-23]]
  • Sunday, 04/23/2023 ** 20:14 Having trouble cooking. Having trouble socializing. Feeling mediocre. Hoping that the Dieter Rams book sitting on the table will make my work more beautiful.

Spent most of the day huddled in ilcaffe experimenting with my website. I think the look might be getting somewhere, but lots of infrastructural changes need to be made.

Thinking that completely static generation is the wrong paradigm; re-fetching all of the resources on every page and losing their state feels terrible. Ideally we compile to HTML fragments - i.e. component/file.{css,js,html} - and navigation rather than replacing the whole page with a new one, means replacing a part of the page with the new content. This would match the hot reloading paradigm better; we just have to be careful about state.

The second that a wrapper of a technology says that it isn't fully transparent, it's done for. Clojure's garden doesn't support all CSS selectors, so it's bad; even though it would be great to keep some data in Clojure, that would mean sacrificing potential future malleability. Clojurescript is a good abstraction in some ways - you can always dig into JS and all of its features - but having to convert between JS and Clojure imperative vs. lazy paradigms and adding a few megabytes to the page load in the meantime isn't worth it. We'll stick with JS until we have our own solution.

Clojure was a great choice for the static site generator though. No syntax or friction - just parentheses and functions. I can do whatever I want without pain. Something like nodejs would probably have been faster, but the experience of typing with those languages just isn't that fast. This'll pay off when we add component macros soon too - we'll be able to abstract better.

What should a terminal for a website do? I want to use it to prototype everything I want on my desktop. ** 21:35 Some ideas after looking into HTMX further:

  • Components should be independent from the website at large. I should be able to open a URL associated with a component that has no (or some) query parameters provided and get back that component from the website.
  • Components should also be composable. I should be able to return a page that contains many components, components that nest, or a page.
  • Components should render on the server as one or in a group. Client-side components are far more complex to handle in most cases. A component should be a container of HTML, but that container can contain javascript that helps it to render.
  • Components need arguments. They need data from other parts of the application to function. How they get this data - statically or dynamically, etc. - isn't super important most of the time, but sometimes (as with live data) it matters a lot.
  • Components should feel like functions. I should be able to call them from a terminal with arguments and see them, just like I should be able to open them up in new pages.
  • Components should have two ingredients: a function that converts inputs into structured data and a function that converts those inputs into a user interface that explains that structured data to users. This allows us to reuse components as data pipelines as well as for intermediate visualizations of their data. (This feels very node-based...)
  • Components should map to URLs. Everyone uses the internet. How could other people use components if they weren't able to get to them with their web browsers? ** 21:44 and reading the hyperscript docs makes me see that the best form of JS is JS that manages locality properly. See https://hyperscript.org/comparison/: hyperscript is clearly not an extensible language, but its proper scoping hidden inside of HTML makes it clear why we want CSS modules, why globals are bad most of the time, and so forth... functions should be explicitly bound to templating where the templating is, not in a separate location and associated in your brain.

Associating A with B is the compiler's job. How can we make a component that handles this properly? ** 21:51 Trying to understand tailwind. I can see how it's fast if you have things memorized - it saves you characters to type - but it doesn't support all of CSS and it's not very readable, as you don't fully understand what classes it's adding to your code. With Github Copilot I can simply generate the CSS I need most of the time and correct it if it's wrong. Saving characters and optimizing for typing over reading is the wrong bet. I'm skeptical of tailwind's ability to be maintained long term.

2023-04-23

→ node [[2023-04-22]]
  • Saturday, 04/22/2023 ** 10:51 Project priorities

Goal: A simple language I can write in that can render 2d visuals and such. Runs fast on the web and in a window on the desktop.

  1. Get the journals on this website up ** 11:09 Dynamic linking feels like the best choice for individual hacking. Update a library then working on one of its dependents? The library already exists and it's up to date. Need to call a function from a friend? Ask them to give you a disk with the file, to copy the text of the file, etc. and you can have those functions available off of a header file. All of this git syncing and rebasing creates so much more friction than versioning in trees and such. Just work one function at a time and keep a central log. ** 11:27 Today:
  • Apply to a couple of different coliving spaces
  • Add calendar to my website and make journals clickable in it
  • Pocket operator isnt.online splash page (with html canvas?). At least switch back to the facebook one. I don't like the current BIOS one.
  • apartment viewing(s)
  • edit photos for next week ** 13:16 This is a test entry to see if my wiki will re-render this file. ** 21:19 For the future: do not write code that configures git on the repository that you're currently writing the code in. This is a mess! ** 21:43 This is another wiki change. Git debugging is not fun. ** 21:55 hey ** 21:58 and something else... hopefull y we don't break anything this time
→ node [[2023-04-21]]
  • [[Flancia]]!
  • I watched [[Star Trek]] with a [[friend]].
    • Loved it.
    • I started with episode 10 of the third season of [[Picard]] having watched none of it except the very first episode of season one.
    • I don't know much of what has happened thus far but I went in fully willing and I liked it a lot.
    • Since about half an hour into it I thought of it as a [[quantum flip]].
    • I was surprised that the Borg and the Federation didn't seem to engage in dialog, but I decided to interpret the episode itself as the conversation between them. Hear me outeven of
    • I love [[Seven of Nine]] immediately.
    • I thought [[Jack]] was interesting, although I lack a lot of context about him.
  • Friday, 04/21/2023 ** 09:20 Git stashes, cherry-picks, other branches, etc feel too hidden. I want to be able to see them and compare against each other

2023-04-21

→ node [[2023-04-20]]
→ node [[2023-04-19]]
  • Wednesday, 04/19/2023 ** 11:58 Better to leave ~20 minutes of padding and always have something you can do to fill time than to risk lateness
→ node [[2023-04-18]]
  • Tuesday, 04/18/2023 ** 20:47 Stating who you are isn't as important as describing what you're doing.

The former is prescriptive. "I am a software developer." "I am reserved." "I am a journalist." It's reductive. If I say that I am something, then I am 'there' - I have accomplished a goal and attained a title. What's next? Keep the title forever? Stay a reserved person? Maintain a lack of growth? Prescribing what you do feels static - if you have these titles then you are stuck with them forever and ever and ever. You're setting goals based on occupation - based on a title that someone else gives you - so maintaining that condition also requires employment.

Titles are also disingenuous. Lots of people want to be influencers or YouTubers or streamers, for example. If I am one of these things, I spend some of my day traveling or filming videos or streaming content. It's likely that I also spend a lot of my day editing and preparing marketing material and networking with others to promote my small business, working with advertisers who have arcane requirements, putting up with creepy strangers in my DMs, having uncomfortable conversations with people who recognize me in the street, and so forth. If you claim a title, you're not fully acknowledging the things that you will have to do every day to attain a job title; you're claiming a status that you'd like to have, no different from saying your family is 'upper-middle class' or that you are a student. These titles carry with them suggestions about what you spend your time doing, but you don't necessarily want them.

A far more useful stance is to describe what you do every day. Your life is composed of years, and days, and hours, and minutes, and so forth; the best method that anyone has to measure their life is to measure what they spend their time doing. Today, I wrote some code, I designed part of a product, and I took some photos. Tomorrow, I'll work hard to develop the product, I'll take some photos, and I'll edit some photos. I'll also probably drink several cups of coffee, spend part of the evening in a cafe, and cook some avocado toast.

This framing encourages consistency. If I am what I do, then tomorrow I want to spend more time doing what I enjoy and less time doing what I do not. I want to spend more time building a product that people love and I want to take better photos. I can only do that by making tomorrow a better day than today.

Describing what you want to do every day by task, not by role, also helps better align your decisions outside of your work. Where should I move? What kind of apartment should I live in? What should I eat? Where should I vacation? Should I attend this event? Should I travel here? Should I visit there? Should I purchase this device or article of clothing? I make the decision that, given my current constraints, helps me do more of what I like to do and less of what I do not like to do. I do not like cleaning after other people, so I do not want to live with others. I want to take more photos, so I want a home that can act as a dedicated studio space. I enjoy taking trains, so I do not mind living further outside of the city and commuting in - this provides me more time to read, which I would like to do more often.

Let what you do every day inform how you spend tomorrow and, rather than describi

→ node [[2023-04-17]]
  • [[17]] stands for [[Maitreya]] and [[Right Concentration]] in the [[Flancia pattern language]].
  • [[us trip 2023]]
    • I write this on the flight from Toronto to Seattle.
    • I slept for another hour or so (in a less comfortable seat, but still quite comfortable). I think after this I'll be able to go for another 2-3h, get to a bed and crash for the night :)
  • I've been playing with [[xaos]] a bit more.
    • I wonder how you can add support for new formulas.
    • Some tutorials mentioned that several formulas were found by users of [[fractint]].
    • [[media infra summit]]
      • prep day, the summit starts on Tuesday.
      • still want to do more reviews -- interesting documents in scope
  • Monday, 04/17/2023 ** 00:41 New game plan! I am tired of Rust's complexity and community and want to work closer to the metal. I will use RayLib with with Zig to make cool software. I may also use SDL2 if RayLib doesn't work out for some reason. I'll worry about rendering to the browser later - that might be a lost cause anyways. Maybe we don't want access off of a URL in that way. That can be accomplished in other ways : ) ** 13:14
→ node [[2023-04-16]]
  • Three [[steppe]] [[nomads]] who managed to unite several tribes into a single tribe are Abaoji of the [[Khitan]], Modu Chanyu of the [[Xiongnu]], and Tanshihuai of the [[Xianbei]].
  • Sunday, 04/16/2023 ** 13:33 Plan for building out services:
  • Get each working as fast as possible (editor, git, timeline, synthesizer, etc...)
  • Refine the interfaces of each component
  • Iterate on design language: each part should look and feel as good as possible
  • Improve optimizations
  • Abstract similarities behind a high-level programming language

I need a plan for replacing this note-taking system. Maybe I should work on that first because I use it so often?

→ node [[2023-04-15]]
  • Saturday, 04/15/2023 ** 17:10 Thinking about getting rid of my graphic tees. I love the fit of many of them but they feel too detailed - it isn't me. There isn't enough room for thinking. I don't want to wear any branding - and I own too much already... I want to reduce down to just a few t-shirts. Going all black would remove any need for cleaning up stains.

There are some choices that I want to make about clothing and some that I don't.

I enjoy choosing clothing that feels more or less relaxed. This lets me adjust how serious I appear to others. If the clothing is loose and flows, it's casual; if it's more of a straight fit, it's serious. If the article of clothing fits tightly, it's 'cool'.

I don't enjoy thinking about visual complexity. It's really hard to get right! Graphic tees take a ton of attention away from the fit of the clothes, but often only in undesirable ways - people look at flashy things rather than appreciating fit. Y-3's SS14 tees have graphics that flow with the garments themselves; this I admire because the graphics don't disrupt the clothing at all. Most of the time, though, the graphic is a loud block that distracts from the person and distracts from their work - which is what really matters.

I enjoy choosing clothing that will suit the current environment. Layering articles of clothing to fit in in the winter can be enjoyable - you have more sillhouettes and combinations of clothing to choose from! - and you need to plan out your day to make sure that your clothing is flexible enough to work for you. Spending the time to think about what you do in a day and what tools would best suit those activities is time well spent.

However, having garments that only work in very specific environments - that you have to worry about and care for - is not. The clothing that I wear should not limit me; I should be able to do whatever whenever without letting silly things like staining a t-shirt or damaging suede or tearing a seam stop me from enjoying life. For this reason I'm wary of fragile or stiff fabrics like wool or silk or etaproof that will look poor if I don't care for them or might limit my movement throughout the day. I should be able to sprint down the sidewalk to catch the bus or jump in a puddle on the street or step out in a rainstorm without worrying about what I'm wearing. I don't have time to worry about caring for things while I'm out - I want to live my life!

All of my regretted clothing purchases have either been clothing that is too fragile, too loud, or that limit my movement. Spilling things that damage my items is a problem - I don't want to be that careful.

Why would I own something that I can't use every day? ** 17:50 What you do every day is who you are.

Right now people know me and contact me for collecting lots of cool images on the internet.

This is not who I want to be.

I want to be known for making beautiful photos and for making beautiful tools that people can use. I want to be known as an expressive, reflective writer and as someone with good taste.

The quality of my work is too inconsistent to be able to say any of these things about myself! I need to:

  • Spend less time pretending to learn about doing the thing. I can look at images all I want - and this informs taste, sure - but it doesn't directly teach the skills that I'd like to learn.
  • Do the thing. Just work every day and get better and better at it. There is no replacement for actually doing the work and practicing.
  • Meet people doing the thing and get to know them. Appreciate their work and spread it like it's your own.
  • Care for myself more. Better diet, more gym, more relaxation.
  • Get more tattoos. (This is unrelated.)
→ node [[2023-04-14]]
  • Friday, 04/14/2023 ** 11:27

https://www.are.na/block/4295122

This is obviously plastic but still feels 'human shaped'. Those grooves aren't accidental or a consequence of the manufacturing process; they're grooves made for people to use. ** 18:48 I make things for people to use.

People want their things to be fast. They want it to be straightforward - easy - to do whatever they'd like to do. They want their tools to work for them and not get in their way. They want the boundaries of some tools to end and others to begin in the right places. They want consistency and for their tools to not change too often and to enjoy what they do every day. ** 18:58 https://www.are.na/block/5007365

I want to use a website that renderrs text like this - over natural materials. I want to interact with jeans. ** 18:59 Was told at work not to work so much and to develop a consistent schedule insteat. I think I'm so addicted to work because I finally have agency over a product that I want to succeed and that has customers. I want to be able to make things for people and I finally have the opportunity to do so.

The best way to meet people is to broadcast myself online and in person. I need to put more time and effort into that work. A personal identity can be forever even if a company isn't.

→ node [[2023-04-13]]
  • Thursday, 04/13/2023 ** 00:58 Realizing just how busy I can get - and how much I can handle. Busy feels good. I love being able to polish and polish and polish until I iron something out.

I'll figure out how to get 8 hours of sleep soon... and I'll value doing nothing even more. Design/animation/layout work feels meditative. Gives me time to think. ** 01:05 Regretting not getting paid more, just a little bit. I know that I wanted to work this much. Clothes are like free alpha; if you have the taste they convert money directly into improved life circumstances (you look better). ** 10:36 Seeing time in what I can accomplish in minutes - not hours. This will help me get faster! ** 12:57 Experimenting with animations!

I want a canvas that I can scale up and down that opens in its own window. The program should work in cycles - think tidalcycles - and should render a new image every frame out of a pixel array.

I just have to decide how the pixel array changes between frames (maybe given a seed for the timestamp or the previous frame?)! Or can define a new frame by default.

The image should keep iterating while I'm working on it so that I can see the animation develop while working. Maybe a speed setting as well.

Should also be able to scale the pixel box up and down. The resulting animation should work in browser and in a native window.

What are the right dimensions for this? ** 15:11 I want a single place to see all the work that I've done for the past day for writing standups also to visualize and share that to others connect to wakatime and browser tracking should always be volunteered by the user, not 'spyware' should include regular screenshots for milestones! (maybe a 'milestone' associated iwth a commit, most similar to https://github.com/LingDong-/srcsnap)

macos?? we ball ** 23:20 https://www.are.na/block/2213767

This visual makes me think that motions themselves can have characteristics that feel physical - real. This one feels like the motion of a person doing something, even though it'st just made of text - like someone swiping a screen or pulling a blanket off of the couch or pushing some skin up and donw. Beautiful.

→ node [[2023-04-12]]
  • [[work]]
    • [[summit]] prep
      • publish document for session
      • review sessions
      • verify status of canadian permit as I'm doing a layover there
      • book hotel in sunnyvale
  • [[Ask]]: what would they get out of this?
  • When someone is having an [[emotional]] explosion, let them vent.
    • Summarize what they say and ask if that's right.
    • Label a [[feeling]] and ask if the label is right.
    • [[Ask]] them about what makes this [[problem]] a high priority [[now]]. Reference [[time]]. Ask them about what they need from us now.
    • [[Ask]] them about a way forward.
    • [[Ask]] them about what makes them feel the way they do.
    • Appeal to their [[self]]-interest.

2023-04-12

→ node [[2023-04-11]]
  • [[2023-04-10]] came and went with a variety of feelings
  • [[work]]
    • oncall, got paged before 8am, but it was nothing critical and I was able to fall back asleep eventually (I needed some more rest)
    • [[focus]] time is important, I'll try to do 2h of focus before meetings today -- I usually find it hard due to the [[dead time]] phenomenon, but I also think I want to try to become better at focusing even in such a situation (when there are imminent appointments)
    • [[summit]] prep
      • publish document for session
      • review sessions
      • verify status of canadian permit as I'm doing a layover there
      • book hotel in sunnyvale
      • -> [[2023-04-12]]
  • [[aj]]
    • happy we met!
  • Your [[product]] or [[service]] needs to [[fit]] with their [[workflow]], and with what they would need if they were [[experimenting]].
  • Labeling [[emotions]] may help [[people]] come out with them. collapsed:: true
    • It seems like you're [[feeling]] 'X'? How 'X' are you? What led to that feeling? What needs to happen for that feeling to be better? What can I do to help you make this happen?
  • Deep [[curiosity]] about an interlocutor will make any [[conversation]] [[interesting]]. collapsed:: true
    • Making things about [[others]] yields [[unknown]] [[opportunities]] because they are more likely to share what they [[know]] that you don't.
    • Ask [[questions]] that trigger [[answers]] that use thinking, feeling, or doing statements.
    • If someone tends to [[block]] others, give them something specific to do. Make them feel important. collapsed:: true
      • Ask them for a [[solution]].
      • When people need to [[vent]], let them vent and then [[ask]] them to say more.
    • When people think something new is [[impossible]], [[ask]] them what's impossible to do that would really help them out, then ask them about what would make that [[possible]].
    • How can you [[ask]] something that will help someone say "No"? collapsed:: true
      • What can you [[ask]] that will get both parties of a [[conflict]] to [[mirror]] each other?
        • Where do they need to be to be able to solve the [[problem]]?
          • Picture someone doing something [[frustrating]].
          • [[Ask]] the [[tulpa]] about what frustrates them most about you.
          • [[Ask]] about how much they are frustrated with you.
          • [[Ask]] the tulpa-copy about a time you did something extremely [[painful]] to them.
  • If someone isn't pulling their weight, point out the ways you think you probably [[frustrate]] them.
  • Tuesday, 04/11/2023 ** 00:10 I'm starting to feel the lack of a support system here. I can't just see Benjamin or hang with Gus and Ameya or play some video games with Phoebe or anything.
→ node [[2023-04-10]]
  • Monday, 04/10/2023 ** 15:47 Another journal entry to feed to my future search engine. ** 15:47 Through working really fast - the most important distinction in a product isn't whether it uses CSS or JS for events or whether it's hyper optimized and performant or whatever.

99% of what matters is whether the code works or not.

Does the product accomplish its goal?

If not, we can delete and rewrite. The code was quick and sloppy anyways. if so, we can preserve the same interface and refactor the interior. The user should notice performance improvements and consistencies and have a slightly better experience using the platform after this. These benefits are so marginal, though, that they're a bit masturbatory - unless code has to be reused and redesigned extensively, the complexity just isn't worth incurring. ** 16:00

Did not think gym withdrawal would feel this bad. My arms ache. I can feel my shoulders shrinking. It's hard to ignore the discomfort. I've spent too much time on Instagram filling in the endorphins. Time to perfect body weight exercises until I find a gym subscription.

Finding it harder to work out of cafes than at home now. I'm so happy with my home environment that I feel comfortable and focused working there. There are no longer any roommates, bad heating, reparis that need to be made, creaky floors, etc. to distract me. Cafes are full of people - people to interact with, people to talk to and spend time with. Cafes are for writing and creative work. The home and the office are for deep, focused work.

Having a big room - without a clear desk - helps demonstrably. The laptop is the work surface, and the room can be rearranged to sit wherever is most comfortable to work. The bed is small and out of the way, making work inconvenient. Having the bed, the kitchen and hte bathroom out of sight while working helps reserve dedicated time for focused work. I'm really impressed by how well I can concentrate.

A studio apartment is for me then. ** 17:17 I want to be able to describe a feeling and have the user interface change in respond to the feeling; the bubbles get rounder the more relaxed we get, the colors more vibrant - or the font more stiff and formal, the corners sharper and the padding decreased. What a brilliant brand design tool - to describe what kind of interface you want and just make it! ** 17:20 The dream apartment is a huge studio with bright windows and a single room for living and working and sleeping. The kitchen and bathroom are small and out of the way. The room is configurable, the furniture can be moved, and anything creative can be made in the center. I want a beautiful workshop with the desk right in the middle.

2023-04-10

So. This stuff about [[technological determinism]] is very interesting in the Fuchs book. Makes me think about how all the types of tech that I'm interested in come firmly with leftist social relations attached to them. e.g. libre software. Community broadband. Data commons. Without the modifiers, they're just technologies. I think this is important.

I feel that perhaps ICT4S has been quite deterministic in general. Divorcing the technology from the social relations? Perhaps not. Definitely worth exploring.

Governable stacks. Another one. I wonder if you could subsume all of the modifiers into simply 'ecosocialist'. Intersting. Hmm yes, very interesting. They all kind of amount to the same thing.

Agency, social justice, climate justice. Actually they're all missing that last one. They in fact tend to refer more to that first one - agency.

  • Community / Commons / Libre / Governable = Agency
  • Green / 4S / sustainable = Planetary awareness

So my research is about a merging of those strands perhaps, so in a sense you could potentially just use ecosocialist as the modifier. Maybe not in practice as it might not be as snappy. But in theory, yes.

Federated social media. Kind of about agency, at the nub of it. Platform socialism. Platform coops etc.

So I'm interested in those things where there is at least one of the 3 aspects (agency, planetary boundaries, social equity) and evaluating and filling in the other section. I'm looking at both socialist ICT and green/sustainable ICT and finding the gaps in both of them.

In theory the modifier of 'ecosocialist' is simply ramping up of the 'sustainable development' modifier, as SD purports to be about both social and environmental issues. But in reality it's more than that.

→ node [[2023-04-09]]
  • Sunday, 04/09/2023 ** 14:12 Feel like I've got my style formula down now that I don't have the additional clothes to distract me - and I should get rid of more that don't fit these use cases. Stockholm feels more conservative, a bit of a stricter environment for what clothing is acceptable. I need to be held to this higher standard to keep clearing out the closet and improve my look.
  • Lose the sweatpants, especially the branded ones. Branding is distracting, tacky. I don't need the three stripes or the swoosh on anything. (We'll have to accept that athletic shoes always will - though let me know if there are high-quality running shoes without super visible branding - I want these to exist).
  • Pay as careful attention to the body as you do the sillhouette of your clothes. The best tee complements the upper body without exaggerating any flaws. Stay fit and keep in mind what aspects of the body that shirts are highlighting.
  • Wear something comfortable. Anything wool and baggy seriously restricts movement - this doesn't feel cool, even if it might look good off an Instagram post. Pants have to have tight cuffs at the ankles and use an athletic fabric to promote breathability.
  • Keep the long hair and the facial hair. It stands out here but doesn't feel tacky - just different. That's a good thing.

I don't like chairs that don't have substance to them... though that's one thing I like about tables. Those thin, 'modernist', wiry see-through chairs just don't look comfortable (which is fine) or inviting (which is not). Tables are functional and should supply a simple backdrop for the items on them; the items on the table rather than the table itself should be the appeal.

Chairs should be decorative and appear to be inviting to invite you to sit on them. Chairs should speak to people - different chairs appeal to different people. If all of the chairs are the smae, the only differentiating factor is where the chairs are relative to the rest of the room; this creates an uncomfortable power dynamic where people try to pick the chair that best lends itself to their 'strategy' in the conversation. In some cultures and rooms, this is explicit - think board meetings, especially those in conservative cultures, or dinner at the nuclear family home. In others, it's implicit.

Fuck conversation strategy. If you're at the table then you should be an equal contributor. Pick the chair that's most fun for you! How else should you choose where to sit? Different but equal is beautiful.

I'm reminded of this image: (https://twitter.com/jakeissnt/status/1570095360462434306 ?s=20).

With respect to comfort and motion - I wonder how the perfect pair of black, selvedge denim would feel. I love the idea of clothing that can wear with me, that might grow to fit me perfectly. Maybe I just need straight fit denim - the good stuff. : | ** 14:58 For the first time in a long time - despite a full-time job - I feel as if I have too much time on my hands. I feel comfortable with how I look, the hobbies I have, how I dress, and how I present myself. Nothing feels 'complete', of course, but I know enough about what I can continue to explore to make me both content with now and excited for the future.

What a wonderful feeling.

I'm most discontent with my creative output. I've felt like this for years - too much input, too much output. Now that my external environment here feels far more focused, I hope that my internal environment will begin to as well.

It's time to explore some 'endorphin hacking' - removing stimulation from my virtual world to focus on rewarding myself in the right ways. Good achievements are making a friend or preparing a meal or joining a collective or exhibiting a show. Bad rewards involve consuming mediocre content from strangers that fills time.

TikTok's design patterns - like focusing full-screen, roping everything back into search, and turning scrolling discrete - are brilliant, but these seamless choices focus the user on pointless and addictive content.

Don't focus on what other people have achieved. Focus on what you can learn from them and their work. Showcase that by incorporating it into your own work. I need to relearn how to learn - by doing! ** 15:13 Something Jonas said last night (heavily paraphrased) - in Sweden if a company fails, if you leave a job, etc., it looks 'bad'. In America, failure feels far more accepted - with so many people having started four or five failed companies that quickly failed before one success.

Tommy told me that Sweden doesn't have the American dream. This environment feels like it values consistency and maintenance - by continuing consistent work, showing up, and providing good value time and time again, you can maintain your circumstances and accomodate yourself as you grow older. America, by contrast, is full of stress and excitement. You can fail at any moment - and failure can mean terrible things - but working really hard and winning can change your life.

I think the former is better for me while I figure out how to live my life. Set maintainable schedules and craft maintainable habits. Use calendars and work on things in and outside of the office at a schedule. Produce output that is consistently better and better. Become a known factor. Master yourself. Then you'll be ready to make something great of your own - whatever that could be. ** 15:29 It's okay to close tabs and and declare 'research bankruptcy'. Some information is too much. ** 15:34 I feel disappointed by all of this brilliant marketing behind mediocre clothes. Jil Sander's campaigns are brilliant. Why don't their garments match? ** 15:45 Email notes

  • MSCHF - more funny to buy something than to use it for free. Buying something is supporting and defending it but using for free is silly.
  • On the other hand, serious products that are free mean more. If a tool is accessible to everyone is free and people advocate for it, this is brilliant.
  • Sell funny, excessive things and make the useful things free. ** 15:59
  • radical transparency. visualization of investments and all data of startup that is public
  • use boring and straightforward language. be direct
  • show why something is true from first principles. don't push a conclusion
  • gamification and microtransaction ratios like swear jar for a company

2023-04-09

  • Reading: [[Internet for the People]].

    • Really enjoying it.
    • It's a great descriptor of historical process of the privatisation of what was once a public internet. As well as discussion of what (re)socialised alternatives might look like.
    • It starts with a description of the pipes - the network infrastructure. And outlines how community internet would work as an alternative.
    • Now it's moving on to the platforms. Should be good.
    • Very interesting point about the relative scales of the pipes and the platforms - Comcast worth about $260 billion, Google worth about $1.7 trillion.
  • Read: [[Envisioning real utopias from within the capitalist present]]

  • Listened: [[Robin Hahnel on Parecon (Part 1)]]

→ node [[2023-04-08]]

2023-04-08

→ node [[2023-04-07]]
→ node [[2023-04-06]]
  • [[work]]
    • was alright
    • sent an email I had been meaning to write for a while and I'm happy with the result
  • [[flancia]]
    • Just finished a productive half day of work (today is half a holiday in Switzerland) and I arrived in Flancia immediately after
  • Thursday, 04/06/2023 ** 10:48 Realizing that, though I have lots of software development experience, I need more, faster - I can make decisions fast but I can't fly. I can roll a couple of pages for the platform in a couple of days - why can't I do it all in one? I can work at getting much faster and more efficient with the time and tools that I have. ** 19:54 Cold hellos! The next day.

I think meeting people on the street might work, but I have to have the right approach...

Ran into a film photographer walking around the Slussen area. He was shooting street - looked the other way when I tried to make eye contact with him. Might have been someone cool to meet! I'll see him again when I'm out with the camera as well - I hope.

Ran into some Americans outside of Espresso House. Came on too strong, probably off of that 'rejection' - "Are you American? Hi, I'm Jake, I just moved here, what are you doing here" very quickly. Obviously did not go well - they were a bit put off - though they said they were traveling around, and may not have been in the right mood to talk to people. As a younger woman, I'd be cautious of 'cold approaches' traveling across Europe as well - hard to know what to expect. I just want to make friends.

It's possible that the discomfort was completely imagined by me; I need to stabilize my life and sleep schedule to relax a bit when meeting others. I'm physically attractive enough - and that will be maintained - but my actions and mannerisms might be a bit off-putting to people. I also need to work on my 'pitch':

What words should come out of my mouth when I'm trying to meet someone?

Who am I in ten words?

In five?

Three?

Now that I think about it, I think it's possible she circled back around and asked a question in another attempt to talk to me. I don't really understand the social dynamics of interacitons like this though - or what other people expect from me. In America I embrace being a little awkward and direct, but here I think I need to be more subtle.

I don't know if 'Jake' cuts it.

When do I provide my name? When do I get someone else's name?

When is using Swedish important? How quickly can I become competent? I can say hi, I can count, I can make sure you're okay, and I can say that something is cool, but it feels uncomfortable to lead with Swedish if I can't carry a conversation beyond the first couple of exchanges or run into an unfamiliar word.

It will come with time - but I'm worried about meeting people until then. Life is brief and I want to make the most of it.

What can I do going forward?

  • Think a bit about a cold approach strategy. In America it's easy to accept that I'm a bit awkward, but here people seem less comfortable with a cold approach in general. It's as if I've ruined their day just by opening my mouth regardless of what I'm saying. The people at restaurants and such who are paid to talk to me seem happy though.
  • Take lots of walks at common leisure times. The more frequently that I'm visible around the area where I live, the more likely that people are to recognize me frequently and the more likely I am to get to know them. People don't frequently get to know their neighbors here, though...
  • Become a regular. Get to know a local business, the people who work there, and the people who also frequent the place. Keep a consistent schedule with times and habits to make sure the people will keep running into you.
  • Reserve and dedicate time to be open to others! You can be out doing other activities, but make sure that you appear open and ready to strike up a conversation if given the opportunity.
  • Sign up for recurring activities and language classes. Figure out where and how to do that!

How do I make myself look as approachable as possible?

This will be a good experience. If I can make friends out of nowhere here, I can feel comfortable enough to start a new life anywhere - which is an incredibly valuable skill to have. ** 21:52 Stumbled upon packable backpacks again and thinking about my ideal bag. The thing should either fit flat in a decently sized back pocket or hug the back in such a way that it doesn't disrupt the wearer when running or moving quickly. It's definitely possible to make a bag that does this. Should store around 20 liters - enough for an emergency grocery store run and a light jacket - if necessary - and have a separate laptop/device sleeve.

I like that my REI hat can crumple up. Items should be designed to occupy as little space as default when possible so that they are not disruptive to people who want bring them wherever they go or otherwise use them every day. The hat is missing a clip on the back to attach to something if it's not being used and a pocket is not available.

→ node [[2023-04-05]]
  • Wednesday, 04/05/2023 ** 10:15 If it's much easier to ask a coworker about code than it is to read the code or view some visualization of it, this is a code visualization/documentation/communication failure ** 11:33 How do we build libraries - and software - that will last forever? https://twitter.com/rsms/status/1643371448839581698
  • Internet enabling 'dynamic linking' of these loosely coupled services, and the host platforms are the ones that break rather than any external dependencies.
  • Rapid release cycles and platform API updates (sometimes breaking) that cause code to stop functioning on the platform.

https://twitter.com/rsms/status/1643380936392966144 : Spin up an app from any time using an archived snapshot of a system. Only depends on services

https://twitter.com/stockdiesel/status/1643377679637581825 : Only depend on services that are too big to fail - that cause big problems for major players on a global scale. It's nearly impossible to be an important customer as an individual or small company, but if my only dynamic, external dependency is on a bog-standard Amazon system, I'm pretty safe. ** 12:03 You can tell when a web product team gets updated laptops - their software starts to run more slowly on everyone else's computers but they don't notice the difference anymore.

→ node [[2023-04-04]]
  • Tuesday, 04/04/2023 ** 00:18 Stockholm feels strange this time around. The city is no different from my last visit - I can navigate Sodermalm and the office just fine - but I can't shake this gut feeling that I'm not supposed to be here, as if I've stumbled back into high school and run into a couple of old teachers that I have to catch up with or kids a few years junior who are now seniors or the hall cops that somehow recognize me still. Nothing but me has changed here in the last two and a half years and I don't know if this city is for me anymore. The charger takes two adapters that hang tenuously from the wall - and this thing just isn't designed to not sit flush. Some combination of gravity tilting the prongs and the impact of my phone's cable pulling up is holding it in.

Maybe I've seen two much of Europe now and Stockholm is no longer novel. The single best part of the city, though - it's quiet and consistent and productive. I feel as if I can accomplish anything and everything I'd like to here on my computer. Accomplishing things out in the world is another story - that's best left for San Francisco or New York. I missed an opportunity to talk to people my age that I ran into out and about though - I ignored them and moved on rather than telling them I couldn't speak English and that I'd just moved this morning. Still not comfortable enough here. I can't leave until I've solved that. The word 'I' is used too frequently. Why me?

The quality of food from the grocery store was lacking - wonderful eggs but the choices of chicken and bread and avocado were all rough. The presentation of my avocado toast was wonderful but the fruits were tiny and flavorless. I love this apartment, though, and the small design decisions of the typical Swedish kitchen - like the drawer above the fridge that blends in seamlessly or the deliniation of countertop into sink and wet space and cutting space and convection space that keeps the whole countertop usable. I love the large living room and bed that could easily be compressed and the cozy furniture and the lack of a TV, though I'm questioning the Tim Ferriss books on the floating shelves.

After two large Dunkin Donuts coffees got me through yesterday, I'm worried that I just dropped fourty dollars on very possibly four thousand calories of groceries. Eating fast food is competitive value for money at this rate.

Leave a couple of hours of padding tomorrow. You're bankrupting your sleep now. ** 00:51 If I'm going to make it in a place where I know no one - and either make the most of it or get out of here - I need some goals to work on outside of employment.

  • Become more physically attractive. I can feel the benefits of lifting, having a particular frame, looking a certain way everywhere I go; I used to be ugly and unconfident, but now I'm not particularly unpleasant to look at, and this is evident from how much more eager others are to reach out or say hi or interact with me in some way. This includes:
    • Practicing and using more confident mannerisms; generally this means moving in a more assertive manner, even in unfamiliar situations, and making physical space for friends and others with you
    • Finding the perfect treatment for my hair
    • Visiting the gym constantly and consistently until I figure the perfect training regimen
    • Developing a morning skincare routine, including shaving
  • Meet as many people as possible
    • Meeting people 'cold' is one of the best skills someone can have. Two people are so much better than one and anything that increases the probability of finding friends and family and a spouse to grow old with is incredibly important. Everyone should get to know more and more and more people.
  • Use as much of my time as possible. No more feeds - they're getting boring anyways. Do everything with intention, singular focus, and incredible scrutiny for your own work and it will be done best.
  • Developing healthy and inexpensive consumption habits, for diet, social activity, buying clothes, eating food and so forth. I have too many belongings literally weighing me down already. Drop those and spend lots of time thinking about what items work best. I really just have to detox from spending, keep a careful budget index and learn to enjoy things without spending or going to cafes or anything like this. The potential for money is infinite, yes, but in the worst case, minimizing my lifestyle's dependence on it is still valuable - given enough money and a minimal enough budget, I could extend my runway for life and continue doing whatever I want and love. I want to make music and make creative things and express myself anywhere and everywhere through computing.
→ node [[2023-04-03]]
→ node [[2023-04-02]]
  • When learning a physical [[skill]], it is best to [[focus]] [[attention]] to a [[goal]] [[outside]] of the [[body]].
    • When a [[coach]] tells you what to do based on something [[inside]] the [[body]], see how it can be said based on something [[outside]] the body.
    • When we tell someone to [[act]] in a certain way, what is the [[distance]] or [[direction]] that we are including in the statement?
      • Cues that focus on changing something [[near]] the [[body]] work more when the [[skill]] is new. Cues that [[focus]] on [[changing]] something far from the body work more when the [[player]] is an [[expert]].
      • Different cues will work better for different people. [[Change]] your cues based on the person.
        • To [[find]] what [[cues]] will work on someone, get someone to [[move]] with a [[constraint]] and then ask them to [[talk]] about how they moved.
          • Use the player's own words to make the [[cue]].
            • Focusing on the holistic vibe of the [[movement]] improved lap [[times]] for simracers.
  • [[Optimal Character Recognition]] converts [[image]] files to [[text]] files.
  • Sunday, 04/02/2023 ** 10:32 Waiting to board a flight to leave Boston on my way to Stockholm. Dogged a weight limit on my checked bag on the way. Paid an $100 fee for some clothes I'll discard soon. They should have been left here, but I'm not sure how to find a home for them. I know that I'm bad at letting go - but also that caring for the items and concepts and people in my life is my greatest strength - so I can't let it go. A feeling of indifference about life is worse than anything imaginable and I refuse to forfeit what I love.

Cried in the Uber the whole way to the airport. Arman and Phoebe are such beautiful, incredible people; the longer I know them, the more thankful I am that they're a part of my life. All of the chalk drawings Phoebe left - all of the generosity storing my things - everyone so willing to accomodate me - I am so grateful. I can't believe how lucky I am to have friends like Benjamin or Gus or Margot or Ameya or anyone. Bonds between people are best when you don't have to have explicit boundaries or rules between one another. Boundaries are healthy, yes - but when you can trust someone unconditionally - to know they'll do the right thing without sharing a word - they will be a part of your life forever. I can't wait to meet more people like them.

A bit about how the people in my life in Boston have left such a positive impact on me -

Arman, you've taught me how to open up to and care for people. Your ability to welcome people into your life so swiftly and so comfortably - to make such fast friends, to keep following up and keep people around, to care so deeply about so many people so as to not forget about them or miss a second of time out with them - is unparalleled. I've met many people who tend to form communities in their orbits - and you succeed because everyone you open up to you care about so deeply. I've never felt as comfortable with a roommate as I have with you - and you've consistently brought new people into my life over the years. you make everyone around you feel so welcome to spend time with you and your life will continue to be beautiful for it.

Phoebe, you've taught me how to love every little moment of life. Every second you spend with someone is another opportunity to treasure them and the time you spend together. No moment in line or time in a queue or dinner cooking session is mundane with you - every little step is an opportunity to dance a bit. Your fascination with everything old and new that you discover is beautiful to witness - and your passion for everything in your life is infectious. (In recent memory, you resurrected my Minecraft addiction...) Thank you for enjoying silly little things like drawing with chalk in front of 20 Royce Road or walking around the block or washing dishes with me. You'll find a way to turn the passion you feel for everything into a career and a life that you love. Just give it time.

Thank you both for helping me move out until the last second. You both give great hugs.

I've covered fewer people than I planned, but I'm boarding my connection to New York in a second - then I'm off internationally. I'll see you soon. ** 05:21 phoebe, jake, sewing and process failures i'm impressed by how well engineering processes are designed to managep eople and their emotions. Nothing is an individual's responsibility - everything is considered a process failure unless it's very, very bad -

** 18:42 if learning to love a place is to take vite after bite after bite until you can swallow it whole, to leave is to disassemble, brick by brick by brick until there is no longer a wall between you and the world

2023-04-02

  • [[Economics for Emancipation]].

    • Looks very handy. Nice summary of the issues with capitalism, different types of socialist economics, the solidarity economy. "A Course on Capitalism, Solidarity and How We Get free". Maybe not that much in it if you already got some familiarity with these topics but looks great as a refresher or something to share with others.
  • [[Moving my WordPress installation to YunoHost]].

    • I moved my WordPress install from my [[GreenHost]] VPS to a WordPress install on my [[YunoHost]] server.
  • After an update to one of the IndieWeb wordpress plugins (probably Syndication Links) it looks like the name of the Bridgy Mastodon syndication target changed (from mastodon-bridgy to webmention-mastodon-bridgy). So I had to run mp-refresh-syndication-targets in Emacs.

  • Finished: [[The Care Manifesto]]

  • [[Every billionaire is a policy failure]].

→ node [[2023-04-01]]
  • [[flancia]]
    • [[social coop]]
    • [[logseq]] has been somehow chewing up node updates and moving them to its /bak/ in my garden; quite annoying, it somehow decided to do this while it was running in the background, maybe it doesn't cope well with the user concurrently editing the same digital garden using some other tool. This is worth reporting as a bug.
    • [[list of matrix servers]]
  • #push [[kris]]
→ node [[2023-03-31]]
→ node [[2023-03-30]]
  • Thursday, 03/30/2023 ** 13:27 Starting to feel like every place I visit has a deadline. I'll never sit in this Allston living room again. 20 Royce Road, Apartment 6 is over. It's time to take Chloe Sevigny's Fucking Awesome poster off the wall, to discard all of the free furniture and ventilation and skateboards and the dented mirror, to the strangely square kitchen and Andy (Andi?)'s old queen-size mattress and to Phoebe next door. I'll miss Arman and all the time that we've spent together over the last five years, introducing me to Blackbird donuts and Pavement coffee and all kinds of wonderful music and opening his heart to everyone he meets. I'm listening to How to Save a Life and Fireflies and I miss you by Blink 182 and I miss Portland, I miss walking home from the fireworks at Oak Hills with Dennis and Devin and Benjamin across that bridge and trying to find the our parked car that smells worse on the inside (Dennis' dad smokes inside), or maybe we took Ben's parents' minivan, the same model that my family drove across the country and back.

I miss the people. I miss driving around the suburbs and shooting the shit at night and the warm-up jogs before track meets in those oversized red running jackets and the smell of those three for a dollar cookies in the lunchroom and walking home to Bethany village but taking a detour first and spending time with all of my friends. I haven't talked to any of them in a long time. David and Paul didn't answer my texts but Aaron will. How could the internet ever replace the time spent with them?

Maintenance has become increasingly interesting to me. I no longer want to 'pop off'; I just want to do the same thing every day and do it well, to spend time with people I love and hold them close for years and years and years. I've spent too much time trying to 'other' myself, to differentiate, to find more niche music and weirder clothes and stranger people and more secretive digital communities and more uncomfortable social circles. It's okay to stay put and do the same thing every day, and that's all I want to do forever. Stay in the same apartment. Have a little long-term plan. Do those same little things every day. Make a big impact. Hope that others remember us all fondly.

I'm tired of being cool, of staying out late and waking up early, of standing in the corner of the club because I know the DJ or artist when I'd rather cook a wonderful meal with them. I'm proud of myself for sitting down and taking out a 700 line task without previous codebase knowledge at work. I love progress. But when will I be able to stand next to my brother on the windowsill of my parents' place on Dawnwood Drive again? ** 14:25 My current excuse for not publishing my writing is my website.

Finish it!

→ node [[2023-03-29]]
  • A Wednesday.
  • 29 is for [[Drishti]], meaning a pointer or a point of focus.
  • A sufficiently [[painful]] [[business]] [[problem]] cannot be ignored until it is addressed. Things get worse for every bit of delay. collapsed:: true
    • It feels like a waste of [[time]], but is absolutely necessary.
    • Needed but feels like a waste.
    • There is no [[escape]] from the problem. No way to get out of it.
    • A [[painful]] [[problem]] happens every day, week, or month. collapsed:: true
      • It will be the highest thing on the priority list.
    • A [[painful]] [[problem]] has hacked-together systems in place to solve it.
    • Are people [[hiring]] employees because of this painful problem?
    • The solution must save [[time]] or [[money]].
      • It's even better if it makes them more [[money]].
  • When [[teaching]] a [[course]], pay [[attention]] to [[energy]]. collapsed:: true
    • What prompts give [[energy]]? What prompts take away energy?
    • Small [[group]] [[talk]] is full of [[energy]] when [[people]] are trying to understand a [[wicked]] [[problem]]. collapsed:: true
      • What is right for you?
      • A question that involves the person directly with the wicked problem will grant more energy. What is your 'why' in regards to this problem? [[value]] collapsed:: true
        • To involve someone directly, have the question address a time of theirs. When X happened to you, how did you deal with Y?
      • [[Groups]] are good for generation, pairs are better for considering the [[execution]] of a [[solution]].
    • [[Rob Fitzpatrick]] says, "clear [[question]], ambiguous [[answer]]".
    • [[Question]] and [[Answer]] sessions involve one person besides the teacher in the spotlight at a time. There is a [[line]], and waiting in line lowers [[energy]]. collapsed:: true
      • Q&A can be used as a buffer session. Something optional that can be eliminated if [[time]] is lacking.
      • Consider narrowing questions to the [[learning]] takeaways.
      • Of what we learned today, what do you think you will have trouble doing?
  • When introducing people to [[fighting]], a prompt might be "what do you like doing better? [[Attack]] or [[defense]]?"
  • How can we give people opportunities to learn [[decision]]-making?
→ node [[2023-03-28]]
  • [[work]]
    • ten meetings (!)
  • [[flancia]]
    • [[sila]] hadn't been uploading garden updates due to the [[github]] host key change, fixed
    • [[social coop]] nice progress
  • [[Problems]] you can make a [[business]] out of are extremely annoying and tedious things that need to be done frequently for people to make [[money]].
  • Tuesday, 03/28/2023 ** 13:21 taking pictures of people - making impromptu photos of people your content - encourages them to perform around you.

why would i want friends like that?

make it fun off the record. it's okay for fun to be ephemeral

→ node [[2023-03-27]]
  • [[Direction]].
  • When teaching a [[course]], it is useful to [[change]] the [[game]] several times.
    • Using different kinds of [[games]] will help the learners keep their [[energy]] up.
    • Designing [[games]] in response to things learners are trying to [[learn]] will give them even more [[energy]].
    • One-sided [[talks]] are good for giving people a quick explanation '[[why]]'.
  • Monday, 03/27/2023 ** 09:08 It's a bit upsetting to discover to what degree someone I know has modeled themselves after a particular person or magnate or series of self-help articles. Makes me want to consume much less and do more (How do I know so many bad Zach Bias?). I'll be a more unique person if my references are from my own world, not media that everyone else has consumed, and if people and work I admire is accessible to me in real life rather than behind a screen and some social media numbers.

Can't deny that socials are the best promotion strategy, though - and that it's cool to see your friends work. It's too easy to meet people on the internet. How do we make it feel more personal - bidirectional - ?

You can't design things unless you know how things are made. The medium determines how people interact with the work. There is no escaping it. Generating images isn't craft with understanding. ** 10:23 If the thumbnail isn't beautiful it's not a good image.

The image should have two properties

  • Look beautiful from the outset. This is a decision made within a couple of seconds of seeing it. Will I stop or keep walking? Will I pause my scrolling?

  • Prompt the user to examine more, with far more time. The user should have to stop, spend time looking, and zoom in on instagram to see the whole image in detail.

→ node [[2023-03-26]]
  • Sunday, 03/26/2023 ** 12:43 x ive been planning lately and thinking in terms of months and years, not days. it feels wonderful
→ node [[2023-03-24]]
  • Friday, 03/24/2023 ** 11:39 How do I sign a contract with the world? To promise and deliver something that nobody knows they want yet?

I want to post a photo every weekday.

Previously, My contract was organized by putting the phrase 'Posting a photo every weekday' in my bio. This wasn't strong enough. I didn't post a photo this Monday! There are no excuses. I've amended this to say 'Posting a photo every weekday or I venmo you $10' and informed all of my Instagram followers of this via the Instagram stories feature. Enough people engaged with the 'story' post for me to be confident that I will be held accountable.

The contract is 'signed back' when someone messages me about it. This practice not only promotes accountability from my end, but also promotes engagement from theirs; now some people might be checking to see whether I post a photo every day. I have no intention of ever stopping, so this seems strictly good from my end - and I can't whiff from now on!

There is probably a lot of room to explore in this space - wondering where else we can look to increase the productivity of people. ** 13:53 High fashion advertising is the most interesting of the lot to me. They're in the business of advertising art and setting trend - season by season, their job is to make specific products and names feel cool. It's not enough for them to highlight a specific garment; they also have to promote the legacy and character of the brand, sending a very specific message about how it feels to own and wear the luxury product. To design and create promotional materials for fashion is almost to work on art. Everything about early Margiela work - the invitations, the photography, the feeling of the stores - is perfectly honed - and though the profit comes from selling clothes and merchandise, the money ultimately comes from selling the image wholistically, becoming a part of someone's life and helping them envision your brand within it.

Jil Sander's work is incredibly overpriced and, since she sold off the label, honestly not as strong as it has been - but their photography is consistently my favorite work from a brand. The Cindy Sherman-esque character acting, the clean lines and shadows and focus on composition, highlighting people - who could be you - wearing these clothes that look and feel like nothing at all - is brilliant. I regret my only purchase from them but do not regret the feeling of the store or of their promotional material. How do they do it? ** 14:34 I don't think it's possible to be good at something if you can't do it well when you aren't feeling it. Photos are getting better and better, but there's definitely a day about once every two weeks on which I'm not feeling photo work at all. We make it happen anyways because consistency is important and passion is reinvigorated when you get into the work.

A consistent schedule for writing isn't there yet. I'll make it happen when I'm in Stockholm. Start with Substack then move over here once I have the infrastructure built up.

What do I want to get better at? How?

  • Writing
    • Sunday newsletter
  • Photo
    • Post every weekday
    • Shoot most afternoons
  • Sketching
    • Saturday sketch out - a building, or a place, or anywhere
  • Cooking
    • Chef up a meal every evening
    • Send a photo to others
    • Feed friends frequently and get feedback
  • Building products
    • @work
    • 'nights and weekends' - Saturday is for drafting.
    • Focus first on making the (this?) website beautiful.
    • Build the tiny tools you've dreamed of for your system.

2023-03-24

→ node [[2023-03-23]]
  • [[work]]
    • some meetings, some interesting
    • trying to finish at 19 tonight
  • [[flancia]]
    • meeting [[ap]] for coworking/study
      • virtually :)
→ node [[2023-03-22]]
  • 22 ~ [[fork]] * [[right thinking]]
  • [[work]]
  • [[flancia]]
    • [[pomodoros]] for the [[revolution]]
    • [[soma fm]]
      • donated
    • [[logseq]]
    • [[social coop]]
      • closed registration who sent corrected data
      • I could have guessed the correct address this time, will keep it in mind for next time there's a registration without a working opencollective URL (this happens in about 10%-20% of the registrations I'd say)
      • The issue though is that most of the time the correct URLs are not easily guessable
      • Checking for working URLs should be OS system level so users can benefit from it maximally?
      • I've always thought the same goes for [[wikilink]] resolution.
        • This reminds me I am experimenting with calling them [[spaceships]].
→ node [[2023-03-21]]
  • Tuesday, 03/21/2023 ** 00:24 The limitation isn't tech anymore - it's time. There are no scarce physical cards or credits to put into a device or any natural financial barrier to producing physical flash cards or other storage devices.

I miss rare data, rare games - I want to bring something over to a friend's house and share it with them physically; I want it to run seamlessly on their system, no matter what it is, plugging in my little USB stick and loading in a little program like an old Nintendo game or PSP disc. When only one person can play that game at a time, scarcity forms relationships between people - meeting to pass off the game is an opportunity to talk about it and to spend time together. ** 09:45 Inspiration isn't useful... a consistent practice is. I'm spending too much time looking at images on the internet and not enough time producing things myself. It's impossible to run out of things made by others - there are far more people producing quality content than you will ever have time to consume - but you can decide to turn off input and focus on output. ** 14:23 games I want games that are smaller and slower and less realistic, that are contemplative and ask you to take pause or help you relax, ** 17:13 It's important to remember that your feeling of melancholy is, in part or in full, normal during the work day. Watching Laurel's calm demeanor as she gave a tour of her living spaces, highlighting every part of them that meant something (and everything meant something), was heartwarming, but what I took away most from them was her even-keeled disposition and attitude towards her passion - everything she does she has done for years, and everything has been appreciated, normalized, 'solved' - every item has its own place. This is true comfort - all the exploration of others is done but there is so much left to be discovered.

Videos have desensitized you to novelty. Any job can be bade interesting - you just have to dig and dig and dig, checking more things off the list, until only the novel work is left. There is no cheat code to escaping mediocrity, and you are mediocre on a global scale: you're more known by what you consume, what you curate, what you keep than than than what you create. Good taste is important but too much content makes you derivative - you're left no room to explore if your daydreaming is spent looking at the realized work of others.

Solution?

Delayed gratification.

Don't consume from a firehose expecting to reach the end of the water. The first stuff will be recycled by the time you reach the end of it, and you'll have forgotten that it ever passed you.

I'm skeptical that inspiration every day is needed. Day-to-day work is enough to inspire most of the time, even if it just feels mediocre in the moment. Cool code and cool photos and cool people make me light up without any real content consumption.

Instead, set aside time every week for learning more - diving deep into a subject instead of exploring broadly. Write more than you read, connecting the dots about the subject - it can be a Game Boy or an Institute or a person or a beautiful piece of artwork. What matters is that you are focused entirely on understanding why that object or concept is interesting to you and placing it within your larger context, once a week.

Multimedia content can be made with this conclusion - but it's best to start with writing. Not enough of this knowledge is recorded and brought together in one place. Dedicate a whole day to putting pieces together every week and another few hours before you publish.

What day is best to publish?

Let's dedicate Sundays to exploring, edit on Monday, and attempt to publish on Monday or Tuesday. Use Substack at first, then switch to your own system once the website has been better established. Sunday shouldn't just be reserved for the internet - spend time outside, at a museum or on a walk or around a corner, and try to connect the concept to some larger, real-world context. Go on a walk and observe the impact of the topic on your daily life.

Two concepts are most important here - learning to communicate and communicating to learn. The best way to learn is to appreciate the world around you and figure out where a little piece of it comes from. Nothing is natural - everything about your life was designed and constructed - and the most interesting thing someone can do is to understand when, why and how. ** 18:35 Every day I welcome more tracking into my life. Google knows my minute-to-minute location. This wiki and its notes and chats will forever be recorded public on the internet. I hope a robot will be able to reconstruct me completely. My only issue with this data is that it is not completely public for everyone to view. I want everyone to be able to learn everything about me. They will resurrect me when I'm dead.

Trying to mix up different times and places through photo was a bit of a mistake. All of the photos from Berlin obviously look better together and I'm learning more from editing them as a series than trying to mix them with other experiences of mine around the world. It's okay for your style to change with your physical space. ** 19:04 If something stands out to you right away about a platform's user experience - especially for a business-to-business product - maybe the interactions, a cute animation, or a little quirk in the way the text vibrates - the product is being too cute. The only thing that should attract your attention is the task at hand, and the only goal to accomplish is to finish interacting with the platform as quickly as possible and make actionable change.

This is not to say that platforms should not be fun. If an opportunity for fun aligns with the platform's critical path - rather than conflicting with it - then by all means the user flow should make the process feel fun. Don't go back to square one or inhibit the user in any way - just augment their current work and make it as smooth and as exciting as possible.

→ node [[2023-03-20]]
  • [[work]]
    • extended into the late night but I enjoyed it
    • CL 1
      • on it :)
    • CL 2
  • [[flancia]]
    • I reported a [[ytm]] bug through twitter today as it was most convenient, I think this makes sense.
    • wrote [[poetry]] based on a mantra I love, then it went somewhere unexpected; I enjoyed the process, although I think it's in need of editing as everything I write :)
    • [[building bridges]] has been brewing for a long while and yesterday I got a meeting in my calendar with that syntagm in its title, it's tomorrow, I will attend
    • I thought of [[spaceships]] today as a whimsical name for [[wikilink]]. I think it makes sense, at least in my mind; I will try to make a case for it.
      • Although most pragmatically maybe just [[link]] makes the most sense; there can be [[anchored]] (a href) or [[unanchored]] (free to resolve in an Agora or other trusted source of truth) links.
      • [[vera]] mentioned that [[org]] just calls them links. [[internal links]] is also in use, presumably because they're internal to a garden; but in Agora context they are taken to resolve to a Commons. Maybe you could take it to mean [[internal to the Commons]] though.
  • [[Trout]] tend to be near the border between fast and slow moving water. Facing [[upstream]], they lie in wait in slower [[water]] for [[prey]] to come toward them. This tends to be a little after or before rocks, or before branches. They tend not to lurk after branches since the branches would catch a lot of the food.
  • When there is something people want to get from a [[course]], what else do they need to learn to get what the course teaches?
  • Monday, 03/20/2023 ** 02:26 I've been losing my phone more frequently. I hope that this means it matters less.

Sean: Do you think you're alone?

Will: What?

Sean: Do you have a soul-mate?

Will: Define that.

Sean: Someone who challenges you in every way. Who takes you places, opens things up for you. A soul-mate.

I'm too good at taking opportunities that are easy. Opportunities that don't push or challenge me are traps. It's hard to remember that decisions that are hard for you are the ones worth making - you'll have more work off your back afterwards. Better to admit something outright than to let it drag on and drain life.

We'll see how Stockholm works out. The company leaves me a lot of opportunity to push myself from a product development and domain perspective. Climate change is important.

The phrasing I use to address subjects of conversation feels too negative. Offering my perspective is too easy of a way to enter a conversation. Ask more questions of others rather than stating an opinion or truth and debating merits of consequences. Question more, question deeper, and state less. ** 02:38 I'm far more inspired by information in context. Images on the internet re-assembled carry much less meaning than parts of complete works. This is why my work feels fragmented, incomplete, unfinished. ** 11:15 LinkedIn idea - use it for tracking gym progress. Each core exercise is a job. Update your title at that job whenever you go up in weight. Don't use an API or anything technical - that's a waste of time. ** 22:24 Emulator that pops up in a page just like a tiling window manager.

Pops up when you plug in a device.

Can connect one of those cool retro gaming controllers to your computer and it'll boot on the screen in a little window!

Shoutout tiling window managers and modular computing. I will make the dream real. One weekend at a time. ** 23:03 There is some aesthetic space to explore between NASA and Unix, Game boy and playdate and teenage engineering, low-fidelity programs and customizable, single-developer works of brilliance. Inspired by Mechner's work on Persia - holding the whole game in your head - and the beautiful animation on consoles like the Playdate and GBA, brilliantly fluid work through just a couple of pixels. I want to pick up controllers and route them through different programs, generating ambient music in the background with some daemon that visibly 'plugs into' other aspects of the screen. The tiling window manager feels connected, knolling your desktop for you just like you'd love a physical setup to be. There should be little delineation between the layout of physical objects and the desktop - MacOS doesn't deserve to feel so different from the analog synthesizer setup on the desktop. Pixel by pixel, knob by knob, grid by square perfection. Drawing in the terminal feels just like drawing in the GBA window - pixel by pixel or character by character. Something about how this all feels and flows together - I'm not sure how to explain or get to the root of the itch in my brain.

I love short and addictive games with high replayability. I love roguelikes and pokemon and these little playdate gimmicks and everything I was playing on the phone in middle school. I want to hold a controller proper in my hand and make some. ** 23:37 It's fine to build programs that are desktop-first, but:

  • They should be trivially cross-platform.
  • You should be able to send anyone a web link for them to test out without any friction.

2023-03-20

→ node [[2023-03-19]]

2023-03-19

  • Yesterday had a great time at another gig put on by [[Full of Noises]]. [[Lee Patterson]]. He did a live performance and a bit of an artist talk. Loved the live performance, amazing sounds from [[contact microphones]] and some kind of [[photosensitive microphones]]. No effects or digitalisation, just amplification, and it made the most incredible sounds. Springs sounded amazing through the contact mics. He also played some [[field recordings]] of audio from inside ponds from homebrew [[hydrophones]] which were also really incredible. Crazy throbs and pulses and sirens from little water bugs.

  • Been experimenting with being [[offline by default]] a little bit.

→ node [[2023-03-18]]
  • Saturday, 03/18/2023 ** 14:56 Just attended the art book for at Multiple Formats: https://multipleformats.cargo.site/. Very jaded this time. Everyone makes zines and publications and little books on paper to express themselves, hoping that someone else will spend money to fund a personal exercise; I'm pessimistic today, but a lot of the work I saw felt somewhere between Jungian art therapy and emulation of 'modern art' off a museum, using all of the words but not truly exploring the principles and ideas that often make these gallerists' work interesting.

No inspiration is working either. Maybe I'm just stressed about work. We'll see if my photos get any better. I'm worried about plateauing everywhere.

"They called his shop the 'Macy's widow' of porn shop displays." - The conversation next to me as I'm writing from Boston University's Pavement Coffee shop

I've seen one too many studio names and I'm realizing that they aren't distinctive enough. "isnt.online" bothers me in the same way that "thick press", "workspace shop", and similar ideas bother me; they use words so generic that the business melds into anything and everything as all of these pseudo-brutalist minimal websites with cute little clickable interactions become indistinguishable from one another. Jake feels the same way; common names say nothing about the character of the people behind them.

A good name is distinctive. A good name uses words that evoke a strong association with a particular feeling or aesthetic concept. Serenity OS means nothing in isolation, but Berkeley Graphics is immediately identifiable.

→ node [[2023-03-17]]
  • [[17]] is [[Maitreya]] and [[Right Concentration]].
  • Lady Burup threw a [[d24]] three times and got 7, 23, 15 -- which in my numeric [[memory palace]] mean:
  • [[Work]]
    • Low energy and I didn't finish my CL, I may choose to catch up over the weekend.
    • But then again I'm low energy because they laid off three of my favorite people in my workgroup, so maybe I've been doing emotional work close to full time.
    • I spoke at the [[walkout]] on Wednesday and I'm happy I did.
  • [[Flancia]]
    • A bit of a chaotic night after work (as you can see by my playing with dice with Lady Burup :)) but I advanced some threads.
    • I ended up shuffling some books which made me think I have many -- which is true, both in the sense of having them in my library I am [[privileged]], I posted about this today) and having a lot of books in 'started' state. I now have books in this state in essentially every room of the house. I probably need to turn the well meaning chaos into some more order, or channel the chaos into something constructive :)
→ node [[2023-03-16]]

[[Gracias, Buda]]!

[[Gracias]].

  • A set of dice arrived today.

  • My new credit card (the other one was disabled due to fraud; someone apparently managed to buy three gift cards in itunes with the previous one) arrived today and it was funny+sad how having it made me feel a re-upgrade as a citizen of a privileged country in late stage capitalism.

  • Tenkara [[fishing]] might mean 'from [[heaven]]', as in a rod that casts a line from above.
    • Where are the [[fish]]?
  • Thursday, 03/16/2023 ** 15:54 I've arrived at the conclusion that pretty much everyone else has after traveling a lot - every place you can be is pretty much the same. It's the people you know in the place that matters. New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, Portland, Stockholm, Berlin, and so forth... - each has the 'cool' gritty area, the luxury shopping downtown, the suburb-y cafe-ridden neighborhood with the good restaurants, the weird banking district that has high-rise apartments, the awesome high-rise apartment area, the historical center, the center today, the bike-friendly new neighborhood, and so on...

People describe the 'energy' of places in different ways; San Francisco to many is still the gold rush, now silicon, a promise of a western futurism. New York's concrete jungle - though they have the first jungle gym - is less about the concrete and more about the people, still spending time in parks in the east village or performing citibike tricks off off of the curb or doing tricks on the subway. There are enough trees in Manhattan to keep people happy, but you can't say the same for Chicago, a city the world's fair was supposed to make the future but that still feels incomplete, lacking the proper transportation infrastructure and trees anywhere to complement the drab brutalist and modernist buildings. A city for people wouldn't block the city's core in with a series of highways. They'd build like DUMBO, using highways to isolate a community that can enjoy the best river walk available on the island. I still don't understand where Portland went wrong - the city feels like it has all of the infrastructure and natural beauty to be set up for success, but a walk around the city feels isolating. The Pioneer center feels sanitary, engineered, prescribed - nothing to do with what I've experienced the city to be. The Boston area feels a bit absurdist - downtown has nothing for anyone but bad food and rough buildings, and the brownstoned south end is far too uniform - and, honestly, boring - to be gentrified in the same ways that Bushwick has been.

Allston feels like a wild west where the towing company is worse than the cops, and Brookline - though it has the perfect infrastructure to form an idealistic, mixed-income community - is a city "built for senior citizens" rather than for all of its inhabitants, coated with rich taxpayers and mediocre restaurants and "live laugh love" and police presence and noise ordinances where nobody is allowed to have fun or ride a bike. Roxbury is half frat house hellhole and half impoverished, and feels as if Northeastern University and predatory realtors have colluded to slowly destroy the last haven of affordable housing in the city. Imagine coming back from your late night minimum-wage job to Svedka dripping through the ceiling of an apartment that your landlord has raised the rent on twice times in the past year. God.

Cambridge, like Somerville (Camberville?), is a bubble. Everyone's in tech or biotech or academia or a trust-fund bankrolled commune. The west is full of gated homes; the north and east chop up houses into the smallest apartments imaginable and somehow the rent is still unaffordable. I paid six dollars for some powdered, disgusting hot chocolate - but good thing I saw George Washington's military residence and T.S. Eliot's Harvard home on the way! You can meet some of the brightest and most passionate people in the world here if you're in the right room - but here, people hide their families and wealth behind closed doors, keeping the power structures invisible (Joe Kerwin's words, or someone else in Boston), so it's impossible to know how to get there until you've already made it. New York is so alluring because status is transparent - just like LA - but instead of getting the gated community to open for you, you only need to know the bartender at the club. ** 17:19 I often feel more interested in growing close to the people who will change the world than making that change happen myself. I love people but more than anything I love seeing the impact they make, the ideas they touch, the narratives they craft. I'm worried about not being remembered. I don't want to be mediocre. I don't want to be forgotten.

→ node [[2023-03-15]]
  • [[Niche]] [[market]] [[problem]] [[detection]]:
    • Who is [[asking]] for help with a problem? Which experts are asking for help with a problem? Who is helping them?
    • Who is asking for [[solutions]] to a problem they think they will face in the [[future]]? collapsed:: true
      • What are the common [[recommendations]] they get?
        • Who is recommending?
        • How do people react to them when they are openly selling something?
        • Is there follow-up on recommendations?
        • How do [[people]] [[pay]] for a recommended [[solution]]?
          • How much do they pay?
    • What is their [[workflow]]?
    • What [[hacks]] are they using to patch the [[problem]]? collapsed:: true
      • Is there a Google Doc doing something that would be better served by dedicated [[software]]?
    • What are they [[hiring]] for?
    • [[Ask]] them about what is getting in their way.
    • Look out for [[complaints]] about [[boredom]] or tedium, because they indicate a [[problem]] with [[friction]] that impacts [[time]].
    • Resource [[costs]]- how could resources be freed? collapsed:: true
      • [[Expense]], [[money]] complaints. Are the wrong people working on wrong things?
    • [[Mask]]-related complaints: wanting to be someone. [[Status]] or [[autonomy]]. Ways to show they are [[trust]]worthy, ways to show off their [[skills]], and ways to [[show]] they [[belong]] to a [[group]].
    • [[The Eisenhower Matrix]] can be used to determine [[urgency]], similar to a [[triage]] [[priority]]. collapsed:: true
    • Where do people go out of their way to [[avoid]] things that they wouldn't call a [[problem]]?
    • Adherents [[avoid]], starters [[solve]]. collapsed:: true
      • What is in your way?
      • What is a [[pain]] to do?
      • What is annoying?
    • What [[block]]s you from doing your job properly?
    • What is pointless to do?
    • What parts of your [[skill]] do you want to improve?
    • What are you putting off [[starting]]?
    • How do you [[show]] that you are an [[expert]]?
    • How can you [[help]] others [[win]]? collapsed:: true
    • What do others [[see]] of what you do?
    • What is in the way of your next [[win]]?
    • What do you have to do to [[climb]] the next step of the [[hierarchy]]?
    • What would make you feel [[safe]]?
    • What [[challenge]] did you [[overcome]] in [[life]]?
    • What would you prefer to not do at [[work]]?
    • What is the most [[boring]] [[problem]]?
  • Wednesday, 03/15/2023 ** 23:10 Coming back around to having a lot of trouble with javascript and build systems.

I'm learning more about the social aspects of ecosystems. In javascript's case, a single technical decision - to assume that transitive dependencies can be compiled in the same way that dependencies are, and to stay off of a clear decision to standardize a build process or module configuration for a long time.

Maybe staying away from administering standards is good, but this happens time and time again; I have personal experience with Nix flakes friction, Rust's erorr type / nighlies, Haskell's mess of a 'language extensions' idea, and so forth.

When do you want to institute a standard? How do you know where to start? Where?

Friction happens when interfaces are expected to be opaque, but aren't (or, conversely, are transparent). Build system errors are akin to internal compiler errors - they aren't problems in your code or even that of the upstream library, but somewhere in the processing pipeline to assemble everything. Build systems in javascript leak abstraction boundaries.

Library programmers have to build for every build system that end users could use down the line - and if I'm contributing in 2010, I have no way to conceive what people will want in 2020 something or how those standards might change!

The nix problem is one of a standard with a lack of appropriate tooling. The proposal was made and accepted by a minority of the community, then immediately implemented in 'production' by major Nix characters - making it industrial for some, but without the practice, backing or documentation to make this stuff broadly adoptable. Nix should be experimental - but instead of making it an external, experimental feature, it should have been implemented outside of the core - not strongarmed into the internals. Sure, flakes were hidden behind a flag - but half of the nix guides werre recommending flipping that flag without elaboration beyond pointing to the Tweag blog posts. Flakes are good; the launch was not and the community is still fragmented today.

Rust? They chose not to administer a standard that they knew they would need. The right decision for the Error trait was to provide a default, easily extensible error system that functions generically. A concrete Error was a bad move, and fragmented the ecosystem around all of these specific errors that people wanted but weren't supported by Error. Special casing would have been fine here - unnecessary but fine. The community deserved to be able to modify their system in ways that Rust's opaqueness doesn't tolerate.

Common Lisp runs the other way. Everything is explicitly modifiable, and that means you don't know what system you're working with. You can start from a tight core, but the core is a mess of hacks that have been accumulated, and none of them were built for the 21st century. Haskell's the same way - I dare you to walk into a production codebase, obfuscate the language extensions, and try to figure out what's going on. Too much could be going on on the other side of the interface, and the process of finding out is a mess. This is reasonable - Haskell was built for language experimentation, and Common Lisp was built to be a modifiable foundation - and fast.

I've had trouble with all of these because I've expected software systems that 'just work' and follow the same rules - heterogenous systems assembled with lots of simple, opinionated tools that serve their roles well. Type systems reach if not managed correctly. My current interface take is that users should be able to express ideas however they'd like within the rules of the system, but they shouldn't have to worry about a 'meta level' like a type system right away; types are useful to help document and solidify information across interfaces. I don't want to think about types; I want to think about values and data that will never be properly represented. Most Haskellers and Rustaceans will admit that over-perscription of representation - narrowing types of strings and numbers to minutiae - is a sin because it prevents iteration entirely. Maybe for system services, types are good glue - but for anything with a UI, your feedback is primarily delivered with visuals - not through any sort of type system. We don't need stronger types - we need better data visualizations - because when answers will inevitably occur, we want the best tools imaginable for navigating the system to track them down.

→ node [[2023-03-14]]
  • [[Chromium]] me dejó en banda de nuevo. No toma input; esto sucede una vez por mes en [[paramita]].
  • [[Yoga with X]] más temprano que durante el fin de semana, terminando hacia las diez, y estuvo bueno.
  • [[Trabajo]]
    • Muy raro. Echaron a mi skip manager, uno de los mejores managers que conozco. No se entiende nada.
  • A mí me parece que la [[revolución]] se viene.
  • [[Flancia]]
  • [[Work]]
    • Layoffs finally happened in [[ZRH]]. Four people affected in [[Workspace SRE]], including my skip-manager who is a great manager and person and a lovely SRE from a team adjacent to mine who was preparing for promo.
    • Most people I talk to seem affected by both the silliness of the whole process and the relative relief that it's happened already, in light of the fact that it seemed unavoidable despite the employee representation group's best efforts at discussing alternatives with the corporation.
  • [[Open Letters]]
  • Tuesday, 03/14/2023 ** 09:36 Streaming service that interfaces with a DJ controller. Users can queue music to play through the speakers in the background that will continue playing in the speaker, queueing tracks to the deck, playing them, and transitioning automatically to the next one.

I want music to play in the background the whole day, but also take over and do a little active playing on occasion!

Also broadcast featuers: I want an internet radio. ** 15:24 Music that changes with cadence Thinking about different ways to set moods for yourself or motivate current moods. Listening to https://door.link, my headphones shook in my ears as my lug boots hit the pavement and made them vibrate - interrupting the drone of calm, ambient music with a beat that motivated my walking. The sound of a footstep in the right boot is satisfying regardless.

How do I make a soundtrack to life? To using the computer? That adapts to the user? Thinking about pictochat too. What a beautiful interface. I want it back. I can make it better. ** 21:01 What does a stop-motion website look like?

https://www.are.na/block/1806230

→ node [[2023-03-13]]
  • [[Work]] until ~21, although I had a [[social.coop]] meeting before my last meeting.
    • It was all nice.
  • Slept very well at night.
  • New [[businesses]] will need a tighter feedback loop with potential [[customers]].
  • [[Who]] do you want to serve? Who [[needs]] you most?
    • What are their most [[pain]]ful [[problems]]? collapsed:: true
      • Can they [[pay]]?
        • Look for a [[solution]] that solves the [[problem]] inside their workflow.
  • Looking at [[things]] close by, how were they [[made]]? Who made them, and who were they made for? How do they use it?
→ node [[2023-03-12]]
  • I had a great time yesterday working on [[social coop]] [[tech working group]] things until early in the morning :)
  • Today I plan to dedicate more to the [[Agora]] and to its [[Open Letters]].
  • I'm writing this from [[logseq]] -- after very long :)
    • Happy to be back!
    • I missed:
      • Being able to insert images (I think that was working? will test)
      • Having more solid outliner mode (w.r.t. [[wiki vim]], which is great but a bit basic in this sense as far as I know how to use it)
    • I am very happy to note that it seems much speedier than when I left. I can [[wikilink]] or [[inline link]] or [[internal link]] (we discussed names for this with [[vera]] today) and I get autocompletion within a reasonable timeframe. Earlier autocomplete had gotten slow enough I couldn't really link anymore.
    • The graph view completely crashes it though, it's just unable to deal with my garden for some reason. I didn't think I was an outlier, maybe I link more than average?
  • Sunday, 03/12/2023 ** 19:25 if you're given another day, make the best of it ** 19:36 Coasters are cope. So are sunglasses cases. So are screen protectors, card sleeves, locked cabinets, special dishes. Fragile cutlery. Thin, fragile clothing. Why would you build or buy something that's not designed to be used? a home shouldn't feel restrictive, and someone occupying the home shouldn't have to feel like they're walking on eggshells throughout the house. Spaces are built to play in, to live in, and to use. Respect isn't babying every surface, leaving things in a particular position, or organizing in a certain way; to me, the job of the home is to make items used for everyday living look beautiful, pretty much however they are. Sufficiently fragile things shouldn't be owned. (maybe drinking glasses are an exception).

Design items to be played with, to be worn, to be beaten up and torn up and get lost in a pocket and thrown in the washer and thrown in the mud and tossed to a friend down a flight of stairs or thrown to a desk across the room. Asking someone to baby your design is to demand that they sacrifice their way of living for yours, to yield a bit of their time to you instead of going on with their day. Design shouldn't center the creators of the work; it should center the users.

8:07 PM tommyy Phone case with phone is most robust setup desig tho Like replaceable shell very good strat for worn object, even nature agrees

8:25 PM jakeisnt true, i guess the ideal would be like framework laptop where i can remove the casing and just see the guts, then put electronics in another case, but that might be hard good point thank u 👍 i was watching this youtuber who makes awesome tables and he went on a rant about how his dinner guests never use coasters or make sure they don't spill anything because he didn't want his tables to be damaged

and that really pissed me off because the point is to spend time with and enjoy a meal with friends, not to admire and care for this table in his house that he made (even tho it is cool)

also im working on selling lots of clothing and realizing that i gravitate away from clothes i own that i have to care for when wearing, adjust, etc because i don't want my clothes to ever disrupt living my life ** 19:55 Proportion in design I just saw a photo of a basic shelf under a windowsill - just four holes for cubes, really - and found it beautiful. Identifying what made it beautiful took a second for something with no ordament - but examination of the associated books made it clear that the proportions of an object are the most beautiful piece.

It's easy to focus on the flashy parts of design when collecting images on the internet and such - look at this flair, this choice of palette, that ornament, etc - figments of internet-ification - miss the focus on human-centered design. Outlier makes clothes that are boring but fit perfectly. Lego makes a system and pieces for it that have stayed consistent and interoperable - with consistent measurements - for their entire tenure as a company, and their toys are still so beautiful because of it. Respect for this self-consistency - built from human proportions and respecting descriptive, standardized sizing of the environment - makes beautiful things that last. Design can't decide to opt out of its environment; to operate in the real world, it must operate within its existing context and respect standards, no matter what those are.

Bluetooth is bad but respected everywhere. Lego sticks to its guns. Software uses Linux because it's the happiest functional medium for freedom; the web and javascript stick for similar reasons. When you can't agree to standards, you describe your environment and adhere to it, picking your innovations within these standards. I'm off a mint milkshake right now. I don't know what I'm saying. Just stick to as many measurements and standards and principles as possible, and make the standards that you do not adhere to very explicit. Acknowledge them and have a well-reasoned defense for breaking from the norm.

2023-03-12

→ node [[2023-03-11]]
  • When [[working]] with the garage door up,
    • [[Decide]] [[where]] to put up your unfinished [[work]], [[what]] to put up, [[when]] to put it up, and how to give people who check it out something they will [[want]].
  • Saturday, 03/11/2023 ** 21:42 A checklist for clothing purchases I keep buying clothing that I regret.
  • Will you feel comfortable doing anything in this garment? (Ideal: yes)

    • Can you sprint in it?
    • Can you do yoga in it?
    • Could you fall off a cliff in it?
    • Could you fall asleep in it?
  • Will you have to adjust this during the day to make it look good? (Ideal: no)

  • Will you have to adjust this to make it comfortable? (Ideal: no)

  • Could you wear this in any occasion? (Barring 'business professional') (Ideal: yes)

  • Is it measureably better than something you own now? (Upgrade pick) (Ideal: yes)

  • Could you wear this for a week straight with no issues?

  • Will this last more than two years without replacement?

  • Does it fit well?

  • Does it have visible branding?

  • Does it look differentiating? It's important to me that the clothing I wear shows I'm different - creative or otherwise interesting - and helps me stand out just a bit. My look should never be so radical that it's impractical, gaudy or flashy. I should be able to blend into a metropolitan street and look subtle in some way, but also relaxed and comfortable.

    This is all to say - the clothes should be interesting and worth caring for, but the clothes that I choose to wear shouldn't be my differentiating factor; I don't have the body to win that battle, and even if I did I wouldn't want the spotlight to be on me. It's too hard to learn about and appreciate your world when the world starts to center you - so it never should.

→ node [[2023-03-10]]
  • [[work]]
    • no meetings day! \o/
  • [[flancia]]
    • [[Lady Burup]]
    • [[Agora]]
      • I'm thinking I should try to move back to [[logseq]]. I want the project to do well and I gave up on it temporarily to explore the landscape, but I've been using [[wiki vim]] probably for about a year now.

2023-03-10

  • Found an old solar charger that we had knocking around - [[Blavor PN-W05]]. Using it to charge my phone and tablet while in the office. Seems to be working pretty well!
→ node [[2023-03-09]]
  • What else do they need to [[believe]], [[know]], or [[do]] to [[learn]] the thing we are trying to [[teach]]?
  • For alpha [[testing]] [[books]], leave potentially influential reviewers for last.
  • Reader experience [[design]].
    • Cut out excess to pack more of what [[people]] want into the [[text]].
    • Does the [[book]] give something they [[want]], something that works, and something that invites them to [[play]]?
  • Thursday, 03/09/2023 ** 18:57 speed I can download the best books in the world in the time it takes to download a fraction of your website. What's wrong here? ** 19:20 I think you leave a legacy by doing the same thing every day and getting a little better each time. So long as you have that deliverable date, each deadline gives you the opportunity to experiment; you can make and make and make and make and make and make forever, one day at a time. I love looking at and collecting design inspiration because it lets me see how other people have iterated and grown; I love seeing the end product and the polish, but I wish I could see their way of working. How important is it for others to be transparent? How important is it to write or think critically about the work and practice of others?

This is prompting a newsletter idea - maybe, once a week, I should conduct a design overview of an artist, old or contemporary, trying to capture their key ideas, my favorite works from them, and their ways of working. This can lead to interviews with contemporary people and highlight historic innovators, providing an opportunity to both talk to new people and reflect critically on the context behind these images I keep saving and attributing on the internet. It's clear that writing these little notes and posting a photo every day is valuable - what can I add to my routine next?

I want to try a dumb phone like the nokia banana phone when I get to sweden. My camera is already perfect. Maybe it will help me focus. I like that the yellow can be spotted from a million miles away. I'm inspired by all of Naoto Fukasawa's designs for 'dumb phones' and for Muji; these are just enough Dieter Rams with a little bit of late modernist personality injected. Some of them aren't distinctly his; they don't have any sort of distinct style and feel like a vessel for the user to use in their own life. Is this the best way to approach objects? I love owning gifts from others, objects with distinct taste and personality and feeling. I want them to feel playful and be reminder of the people who made these objects when I touch them. I want my work to feel like this to others; to feel important and made by me without having to sign it or tag it or do anything to distinguish.

→ node [[2023-03-08]]
  • More [[questions]] for a [[business]] to ask prospective [[customers]]. collapsed:: true
    • What do they do now that they might keep on doing? collapsed:: true
      • How much [[money]] would they [[pay]] to get what they [[want]]?
    • What do they have to do to [[buy]] something? Is there anyone they have to check with before they can buy something?
    • Who else do they think we should talk to?
    • What is the question I should be asking?
    • People need [[permission]] to help you. Give them a reason.
    • They have the [[problem]], you have the [[solution]].
    • Look for statements about what happened and [[intent]] to [[pay]], not compliments.
    • How much [[money]] or [[time]] would the idea make them? collapsed:: true
      • Where in their [[life]] would the [[idea]] [[fit]] in?
      • Have they tried to solve the [[problem]]?
    • When someone says something about what they wish was around, [[ask]] about what that might allow them to do.
    • When people ask for something, wonder about what they want it for. What are they doing without what they're asking for?
    • How would the thing [[fit]] into their day?
    • Ask [[questions]] that are likely to have answers that may destroy your [[business]].
    • [[Ask]] about what [[goals]] they're working toward- it will give you a better idea of what their actual problems are.
    • When someone describes an implication 'X' to a [[problem]], ask about how they're doing 'X'.
    • Ask about how much [[time]] or [[money]] is spent on something, as well as if they intend to get money out of kt.
  • When [[teaching]], your [[students]] need to [[learn]]. To learn, they need [[energy]]. With high energy, they can pay [[attention]]. Figure out how to steadily [[feed]] them energy over the [[course]].
    • [[Boredom]] sucks energy. Things that don't fit with what people think they need to get what they want also suck energy.
    • If an [[activity]] does not have a [[clear]] [[purpose]], it takes more [[energy]].
    • People get [[energy]] when they get something they feel they can [[use]] to get what they [[want]].
    • When [[people]] are given something to do, does the [[activity]] move them toward what they [[want]]?
    • Who is this [[course]] for? When do they shift away from the course? What will they get from the course? collapsed:: true
      • How much [[time]] have they spent with the [[skill]]?
      • What do they [[want]] from the course?
      • What [[blocks]] them from getting [[energy]] out of the course?
      • Do they share a [[problem]] or view?
    • How many things that people [[want]] to [[learn]] can you [[fit]] into a stretch of [[time]]?
  • Wednesday, 03/08/2023 ** 18:25 Reading Prince of Persia dev notes again.

Wondering how these will read when I'm out, or old, or gone.

I better get faster at working and software development. Dreaming of a future tiny apartment that I own, that I can decorate with 70s plastic furniture to feel part Mondrian, part Lego, all plastic toy. I want space where Legos spilled out on the floor look like an art installation, not a mess; where my children have space to run around and play; where people can feel comfortable and cozy but not without fun. My house should feel like a modernist childhood. All of the furniture looks comfortable pretty much anywhere in the house and can be rearranged on the fly. Music is always playing and there are always decks to scrub music around or a piano to let go with. Art is never permanent; it's manifested in furniture or projected on walls or visible on computer screens throughout the house.

How can I make my wardrobe feel more playful? I've been into beautiful things, things that last forever, pop things lately - but above all it's important that my clothes are simple, comfortable, and I can do anything in them. Love the bright blues and baggy playful texture. Hate looking cool or unapproachable. Silver goes a long way towards feeling cool and fun, but cool is a trap. Cool is Supreme, cool is trend, cool is uniqueness for the sake of it, not for any real interest in the subject. Cool is eschewing REI clothing for name brands, getting complex instead of simple, looking old instead of new, having more and doing more instead of owning less and knowing less, where knowing less is a beautiful luxury in the age of the information diet. Know less, do more, and have fun.

Still posting a photo every day. Eventually I'll learn to tell stories. The best strategy for me now is to keep posting, posting, posting, putting my work out there to get noticed. The best thing I can do for myself is probably to start shooting TikToks - but I can do that later.

2023-03-08

  • Weirdly, my router all of a sudden seemed to stop accepting connections on 2.4Ghz band. But 5Ghz is OK.
  • I want a small portable screen to take to the repair cafe to test laptops with. What better way to do this than [[converting an old laptop screen into a portable monitor]]?
→ node [[2023-03-07]]
  • How do you figure out what [[people]] [[want]], as a [[business]]?
    • Being [[nice]], [[people]] will [[lie]] to you when you ask them for [[feedback]].
    • Ask questions that elicit specific examples in the user's past. How do they get to where they might get your [[thing]]? Where do they get the stuff they have now? collapsed:: true
      • In the conversation, can you get something about how someone lives and how they see the world?
    • When you don't talk about your [[idea]] (or anything connected to your [[mask]]), people will not want to [[lie]] to you as much. collapsed:: true
      • [[Focus]] on people's lives and say as little of your idea as possible, as late as possible.
    • The Mom Test
        1. Talk about their [[life]].
        2. [[Ask]] about specific things that happened or what they think will happen.
        3. Talk only as much as is needed to [[listen]] more.
    • "Only the [[market]] can tell you if your idea is good."
    • Instead of asking 'would you buy X', use 'how you solving X?' collapsed:: true
      • Ask how much [[time]] and [[money]] it costs.
      • What did they look at before they made their decision? Did they even try to search for options before they made their [[decision]]?
    • How much does the problem cost now? What do they give up for it now?
    • Ask about what they want the thing they want for.
    • What does it mean? collapsed:: true
      • If the consequences are more dire, they will pay. If it doesn't imply much, they probably won't pay.
→ node [[2023-03-06]]
  • Had a lovely time in [[München]] with old and new friends!
    • Travel back took 4h, it was lovely.
    • I have tomorrow off at work; I have five months of vacation saved up. I would usually take the whole week off (there's a number of things I've been waiting to have the time for and I feel some vacation at this point is acceptable), but I want to spend time with my coworkers to try to support them (support each other) as we face what might be the last week all together (they [[lay off]] list is expected to be finally announced, after a month and a half of uncertainty.
  • [[Flancia]]
  • [[ocell]]
  • When someone gets a [[book]], what do they want to get out of it? [[Rob Fitzpatrick]] suggests that recommendability creates monopolies.
    • What does the [[reader]] already [[know]] and [[want]]? collapsed:: true
      • Readers like books where they already want what the writer wants them to want, so there is often no need to try to get them to want what you want them to want.
      • If they already know the fundamentals of what you want to give them, there is no reason to go over the fundamentals.
    • [[Focus]] the book by cutting out most [[people]] and concentrating on a few (potentially a thousand) people.
    • To [[sell]], a book must promise what its intended readers would want. It must give most people who read it what they want out of it, and some of what they want is given on every page. collapsed:: true
      • Pick a [[promise]] that has a crisis associated with it, so what the [[book]] gives can immediately help with that crisis. collapsed:: true
        • Choose a promise that will age well. [[time]]
      • Which kind of [[reader]] likes to help others get useful things? Target them.
      • Solve a high-[[pain]] [[problem]] for a few hundred people who tell you about it again and again.
      • [[Make]] something that someone would tell someone else is the solution to the problem they are facing now.
    • A Table of Contents works as a way to put what people will get out of those chapters. It is also a skeleton for your [[book]]. collapsed:: true
      • What will the [[reader]] get out of this? What will they learn from this chapter or section?
      • Imagine the table of contents being used as a field reference- is it [[clear]] enough for that?
      • By making the conversation about the reader's life, you can make the book about a [[reader]]'s life. collapsed:: true
        • Remember: [[people]] [[care]] about characters, and in how-to nonfiction, they are the [[character]].
    • What on this page would make a [[reader]] react with [[surprise]] at finding something they could use?
    • The [[reader]] should find something they will immediately want to [[play]] with on every page.
    • Check to see how long it is between every bit a [[reader]] would get to [[play]] with. You can do this by looking at how many words there are between these 'playpoints'- people read at about 250 words per minute. collapsed:: true
      • What is the word count per [[learning]] outcome?
      • How many words are there before the first thing a reader can play with? How many [[words]] are there between each tidbit they can play with?
    • Cutting aggressively helps with giving more of what the reader wants per page.
    • Give more of what readers want at the start, because that's when they're most likely to stop reading. collapsed:: true
      • Remove introductions and put anything they can [[play]] with right at the start.
      • Is it possible to put everything readers would [[want]] most from the [[book]] in a [[Twitter]] thread? If it is, start the book with that Twitter thread.
    • Where did the early [[reader]] get [[bored]]? What don't they say anything about? Did they apply anything in the book to their [[life]]? Where did they disagree? Where did the advice not match their experience?
    • "Their disinterest IS the data."
  • Monday, 03/06/2023 ** 08:15 blog post idea: web diagrams
  • survey of current work
  • how do you decide which technologies to use? (svg, divs, keyframes, etc)
  • animation strategies
  • adapting to screen sizes ** 10:02 arena
  • integrate and embed blocks in blog posts, articles, etc easily
  • new interface that allows:
    • browsing/organizing from terminal
    • exploring and creating hierarchies for channels like folders (i.e. though this could be used for other things, it belongs to web); most of the time I want just a single top-level component rather than multiple
  • automatically include arena content in a post with a note corresponding to the name of a channel? easy way to link the two? how? ** 12:27 photography plan *** Goals
  • position: part-time commercial photographer. send me on assignment to take photos of buildings, of your products. fly me out to buildings, to document exhibitions, to meet and take photos of great people. bring me on tour.
  • the ability to take beautiful photos of friends and family whenever i can. i'm sick of the phone snapshots. i want to remember the times i spend with friends with wonderful impromptu snapshots that let me capture their character, but not let the camera get in the way of enjoying my time spent with others.
  • 'starving artist' money. if i need to sustain myself, i should be able to pick up some more photo work on demand and live off of 2k/month or something with my photos.
  • not a distraction. the vast majority of my time has to be spent on taking the photos and doing the work, not paperwork, llcs, fulfilling orders and other bs. *** Non-Goals
  • full-time work. i'll always want a software, product, or other innovation-related job to be my main gig.
  • stopping photos in free time. the practice of taking photos every day should continue.
  • lots of business infrastructure. i don't want to become a social media influencer, photo shop or other things. that's the responsibility of other people. i want to keep the administrivia out of the way so that i can spend my time doing things i enjoy. *** Actions
  • Showcase my consistent style on social media. Show that I have a distinct personal style that I can apply to a variety of circumstances, environments, and genres - from studio portraiture to product photography to landscapes and architecture work. Make sure people can recognize the style and point it back to you, but also that someone could hire you for anything.
  • Personal website ++ portfolio. I need a clear way to showcase my work in a way that feels professional.
  • Cold email lots of industry photographers asking for advice. We don't know what the goalposts for hiring are until we've reached out and found them out.
  • Actively find and enter photo competitions. This will get you noticed by other people - particularly those who care about photography.
  • WRITE! If nobody hires you, do your own photojournalism work. Compose essays and put photos together about places to find and follow through with themes. Use collections of 5-10 photos to showcase ideas, developments, and potential exhibitions. ** 13:59 reputation it's important to me that my name is associated with diligence where it matters.

How do I accomplish this?

  • Track everything. Everything goes on the calendar or is written down in some system.
  • Keep everything and everyone in mind. Everything and everyone is followed up with quickly and consistently.
  • Budget time. Dedicate parts of the day to specific tasks and accomplish within those parameters whenever possible. Over-estimate time committments and fill the flex time with five-minute tasks.
  • Release consistently. Publish publicly every day in some form, whether through a tweet, Instagram post, tiktok, newsletter, or piece of writing. Prefer 'pushing' to 'polling'; make sure publications are sent directly to others rather than requiring people to poll a site to receive them. This way, other people become accustomed to receiving information and can hold you accountable when you don't stick to a schedule.
  • Make today's work an upgrade over yesterday's; this isn't always possible, but strive to do this whenever possible.
  • Develop a unique and consistent style. People new to my work should be able to understand where more of my work fits into the 'puzzle'. If you're familiar with my work, you should be able to recognize instantly whether some content is 1. consistent with my interests and 2. whether I have made it.
→ node [[2023-03-05]]

2023-03-05

pull color="#b51f08"> <title>500 Internal Error wtf.
<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://doc.anagora.org/css/center.css"> <button class="pull-url" value="https://doc.anagora.org/css/center.css">">pull</button>
<div class="container-fluid text-center">
    <div class="vertical-center-row">
        <h1>500 Internal Error <small>wtf.</small></h1>
    </div>
</div>
→ node [[2023-03-03]]
  • Day off, making this a long weekend and travelling to [[München]] to meet friends and disconnect a bit!
    • And by disconnect I mean maybe be more offline, although maybe also I will end up writing in the Agora and that's completely OK.
    • I'm currently on the train to [[Munich]], looking a bit like a zombie (bags under my eyes) and feeling a bit sleeping, but happy. Through the window I can see the fields of [[Jura]].
  • [[Flancia]]
  • [[Myanmar]]
    • I remembered we considered going to Myanmar back when we were in Thailand (2016?) and would still love to go some day.
  • #push [[Category Theory]]

I will write [[Building Bridges]] -- some day? What does it mean by now? I've thought about it many times, and by now I wonder if when I actually start writing it it will just flow out from me -- or it won't.

  • Friday, 03/03/2023 ** 09:46 polish > consistency This morning's work: realizing that a polished UI is more important than a consistent one. It's true that end users always experience a reflection of the internal organization of code, of software, and of data, but making something look and feel wonderful is far more important than making something feel consistent and mediocre. Winners aren't built with mediocre design and perfect architectures; they're built with beautiful experiences that are hacked together and backpatched to be wonderfully organized once the organization's operating at scale. I don't have time to build perfect things now if I want to build a company.

I have to do things correctly and do things quickly, but it's not so important for me to respect standards and do things consistently if it's unreasonably difficult. It's hard to adhere to standards if the targets are always moving and we'll cut the code in a week. Just keep moving and moving quickly. ** 09:51 how important is revealing process? I've gotten so used to working publicly - revealing and discussing everything in-progress and sharing internals (when legal) - that I'm not sure how to work in other ways. Is it more important to have a polished final product than to show lots of intermediate work?

The forum is probably most important - arena is for thinking and github is for scratch work - but the website should feel solid, presentable, beautiful. Mine is not. Photos should be edited and polished before Instagram. I have to figure out how to shoot short-form video content.

Man I'm sick of all of these different platforms and people complaining about them. Everyone has their own CMS and none of them are perfect because they're SAAS products. We need better primitives for people to build their own systems, not to make new 'second-layer' products to wrap existing services that will inevitably be just as incompatible with another. All of these startups are kind of insane in that regard. We need better standards and primitives, not another Electron app... ** 12:53 an alarm that works its way into music not enough to be disruptive. just enough to stand out. notifications hsould compliment the currently playing music rather than being built to be app specific - or should at least use frequencies that don't clash with the song's.

→ node [[2023-03-02]]
  • [[work]]
  • [[agora]]
    • Are [[flow networks]] one of the most important concepts or is it just me? In particular when used for modeling [[value flows]].
    • The Agora is a network that tries to flow resources for good.
      • For the good of the user, for the good of the people.
    • [[mantras]]
  • Thursday, 03/02/2023 ** 17:39 photos, journals and more... thoughts DC is disorienting. I feel a bit ill here, though I'm not sure why. The change in environment? Am I moving too frequently? Doing too much? Maybe age means that I need to stick to a better rhythm.

I love the architecture of the city... it reminds me most of berlin. Sprawling, organized streets, lots of straight lines and blues and whites and clear, solid colors; modern, where everyone dresses well and presents formally. The people here shove without saying anything on the subway - are they too important for me? Why can't they use their words? Maybe they don't teach that in kindergarden here.

[My writing seems to adapt to whatever expository journal I've read last... right now, it's like I'm emulating the Prince of Persia creator's casual, get-things-done attitude, though my life feels very similar and that might be why it's resonating so well. I'm at the same position in my life that he was - wandering around after college, with a goal that has a clear path to victory, but also trying to navigate other interests and take them seriously. Screenwriting? My personal website? We'll see. I feel a bit of his straightforward snark today regardless.]

Are these longer visits in other cities good for me? I feel like I want a home - but love the fresh outlook I get every time I reach a new place. I'm not sure what I'll learn from DC yet, but it's certainly helping my photos - today I had a bit of a breakthrough with the 16mm as I learned to capture crowds and scenes in interesting positions on the metro. Composing a whole scene with everyone in the frame felt right, and DC people seem to busy to be concerned with a camera in their faces on public transportation. Everyone's got their own thing going on - just like New York - but in NY everyone's hyperindividualist, trying to 'make it', but here everyone's a cog in a bigger machine, and they dress that way too. Same Maryland sweatshirts and navy blue suits, polished black oxfords and a crumpled cotton dress shirt with the two top buttons popped. Some overcoats, some skirts, some selection from the women, but everything feels the same; people are trying to fit in, to do the same thing every day, to relax a bit and get through every day. I can't tell if people are happy yet - aside from the few hanging out on public transporation or at coffee shops, everybody's got a kind of sterm determination about them, but I'm not sure if this is a depressing one (like Boston) or one of no-nonsense, or a better-than-thou take.

It's concerning how fragile my body is; I eat poorly and don't work out for a day and I'm collapsing and throwing up. I have to be more regimented about how I live my life and what I'm putting in - it really impacts what I'm getting out of it. Even now I feel a bit weary. Caffeine is a bit of a crutch; I think the energy drinks really came back to bite me when I felt the caffeine withdrawals, the lack of sleep, the stress from planning a move... everything. We'll find housing through... hotels outside of the city are a cheap last resort. I am not looking forward to spending forever hunting for apartments to rent, then to own, though... I'm not sure if I can stay. (Maybe it'll be fine once I'm there - but a sublet will never feel permanent). We'll figure it out though!

Frustrating to have platform compatibility issues figuring out silly shell scripts designed to work only on MacOS. It's really hard to encourage and respect standards. Apple really doesn't. The team is great though! ++ exciting to make headway on the personal website. Hot reloading and a build system will be huge - and it'll be great to learn how to handle those things for future programming language work. I enjoy that all of my work has clear end goals and feels deterministic - there is a clear path to a solution for everything in my life, but I have to put in the time to make it happen. I enjoy not feeling required to do exploratory work to 'figure out who I am' or something like that - I know what I have to do and I'm learning to realize it.

→ node [[2023-02-28]]
→ node [[2023-02-27]]
  • By putting your hands on the same place of a [[steering]] wheel or [[joystick]] of a [[vehicle]], it is easier to estimate how far you've moved it.
    • For whatever [[controls]] you have, it is fitting to be able to move it without [[moving]] the positions of your [[hands]] or whatever is manipulating the controls.
    • When [[driving]], how can you [[turn]] a corner while turning the steering wheel as little as possible? collapsed:: true
      • Every time the wheel is turning at a hard angle, the [[tires]] are also turning, in a way that is creating more [[friction]] between the tires and the [[road]]. This slows you down. You lose [[speed]].
    • How can you be [[aware]] of what's all around you? One way is by using mirrors.
    • [[Engines]] are to [[speed]] you up, not [[slow]] you down.
      • So [[brake]], then downshift to take corners faster.
→ node [[2023-02-26]]
  • On the train back from [[Lausanne]] after midnight.
    • Very nice party!
    • [[Agora]]
      • I want to review the [[copyedit]] of [[Agora Chapter]] which I got back on Thursday.
        • Unsure how many pomodoros this will be, likely several?
          • one
          • two
          • three
          • [[Agora Chapter Final]] has a link to the publication version, thank you [[Rob]] for copyediting and improving and everybody involved in the [[PKG Book]]!
      • I want to code a bit.
        • Maybe install [[manim]] and something like it better geared towards doing large graph visualizations and start playing?
        • Ended up reading about [[networkx]], [[igraph]], [[graph tool]] -- all interesting. [[networkx]] is all python, whereas the others are python libraries calling to a C++ implementation and scale better (at least this applies to [[graph tool]] IIRC.)
        • [[bokeh]] also looks very nice and it seems to provide a path to interactive visualizations, which sound like a must to me
        • [[3d force graph]] in javascript/client side also are probably worth experimenting with, although I'm unsure if it'll work any better than regular [[force graph]] for the large full-Agora graph.

Suddenly you find yourself in an Agora.

Ahead of you there's a [[fork]].

[[The Agora is a garden of forking paths]].

=> [[Agora Space]]

2023-02-26

→ node [[2023-02-25]]
  • [[flancia meet]]
    • nobody showed but I didn't announce it explicitly so I sort of expected that.
    • had a slow morning, started doing laundry earlier than usual; it felt nice :)
  • [[projectm]]
    • installed [[projectm]] again on a lark yesterday in [[nostromo]], it goes very well with fractal mode.
      • I'm doing fractal mode (recursive screen) with [[wayland]] and [[wlvnc]] and it's very pleasant.
    • #push [[flatpak]]
      • I used [[flatpak]] to install [[projectm]] as it seemed like a fair use case after I didn't immediately find the frontend I was expecting in the Ubuntu packages. My main two pet peeves with Flatpak remain, one palliated.
  • [[Flancia]]
    • going to [[Lausanne]] tonight for [[Greg]]'s birthday.
    • Will be jotting down thoughts in [[train to lausanne]].
    • [[Agora]]
      • I want to review the [[copyedit]] of [[Agora Chapter]] which I got back on Thursday.
        • Unsure how many pomodoros this will be, likely several?
          • one
          • two
          • three
      • I want to code a bit.
        • Maybe install [[manim]] and something like it better geared towards doing large graph visualizations and start playing?
        • Ended up reading about [[networkx]], [[igraph]], [[graph tool]] -- all interesting. [[networkx]] is all python, whereas the others are python libraries calling to a C++ implementation and scale better (at least this applies to [[graph tool]] IIRC.)
  • [[chatgpt]]
  • [[bard]]

2023-02-25

→ node [[2023-02-24]]

2023-02-24

→ node [[2023-02-23]]
  • [[work]]
    • worked after hours for a bit, it was fine.
    • it seems likely layoffs probably won't happen here for another two full weeks at least.
  • [[007bistromath]]
  • [[work]]
    • Thursday with lots of meetings, but they were OK -- I like 1:1s and small meetings more than larger ones on average (?)
    • I like talking to my coworkers; they are honestly great. I will miss them if I get laid off. But that would still be fine, as they will continue existing regardless of whether we work in the same group on weekdays :)
  • [[agora]]
  • [[flancia]]
    • [[prompts]]
      • I liked [[Scott Aaronson]]'s article on [[ChatGPT]].
      • At the same time I saw [[ChatGPT]] called the [[ultimate mansplainer]].
      • Both takes are right in a way, but I think the second one feels a bit conservative to me whereas the first one feels liberal.
    • [[books]]
      • Isn't it funny we are at a point in which some discount [[LLM]]s as "just learning from a corpus and repeating/combining information found there" at the same time we still regularly call books, in particular those read in our youth, formative? At the same time we can observe society to be thoroughly shaped by the language, culture, knowledge preserved and presented to us primarily in the form of [[books]]?
      • But of course I'm fond of calling books the [[Slow Internet]].
    • [[agora]]
      • [[agora bot]] for mastodon broke because it ran out of lists -- I thought I had "done enough" by making it remove a list every time it added one (we use them to get a timeline of followers, I forget exactly why), but clearly that was not correct. The dates on the 'leftover' lists' made me think deleting lists fails on certain days, every run for a few hours -- weird.
      • Turns out it was also pretty broken to begin with -- for example it was only working for 40 users because that's how many a call to get_followers returns by default (!). I need to work on this bot further and that's OK, I enjoy coding for the Fediverse :)
→ node [[2023-02-22]]
  • Wednesday, 02/22/2023 :PROPERTIES: :ID: 00a633a3-aed4-4987-93c4-e6e22ff03ee9

** 19:58 moved to markdown and back again #+BEGIN_SRC nu ls | select name | each { |name| $name.name | split row "." | first } | each { |name| nu -c $'pandoc --from=org --to=gfm -o /home/jake/wiki/journals/($name).md /home/jake/wiki/journals/($name).org' } #+END_SRC ** 20:04 meta: pros and cons of infrastructure

  • Use org mode, find a good parser
    • good emacs compatibility
    • might not be performant
    • i don't want to have to maintain code
  • switch to markdown
    • supported by no tools
    • more readable syntax
    • worse emacs support
    • there are some things i want from a markup that it still doesn't support

I think best solution might be to use my own markdown variant

→ node [[2023-02-21]]

[[V]] fixed https://agor.ai, is doing awesome stuff in the containers space.

I want to work on:

  • [[Try elsewhere]], a button that in anagora.org would send the user to the same node on agor.ai (which is the more modern containerized Agora, and is slated to actually be an Agora Network: it will serve/redirect to services including different Agoras in its subdomains.)
  • [[Autopush]], as evidenced by the optimistic structure of the Agora Protocol section above.
    • This also means (only due to polysemy) autopushing bot activity to git, which I also want to do.
  • [[Executable Subnodes]], which IIRC are close to ship (with an allowlist).
    • Which should yield features like primes/ and site navigation maybe? I've been thinking 'previous' and 'next' could be done as executable subnodes for the fun of it?
    • But maybe I should not fool around so much and navigation should just go in, say, providers.py, as we need a regex determining which script to run for dates.
    • Then again executable subnodes would be cool for [[artsy]] stuff, like generating text (e.g. generative poems) or images ('use js to write to a canvas straight in your garden').
  • Various bug fixes I've been meaning to do for a while, like the Mastodon bot writing links/text in a format that reads a bit better and preserves wikilinks (!) and not autopulling the stoa as it's unfortunately too distracting given the focus-grabbing (could this be fixed instead?).
  • Fitting your [[vehicle]] seat to you is important, because an uncomfortable [[fit]] lowers [[performance]].
    • Where your body touches the vehicle is a primary source of [[feedback]] from the vehicle.

Tuesday, 02/21/2023

12:22 operating system tracking app

  • track everything that you do locally
  • sync to cool analytics server where you can see how you live your life
  • various levels of fidelity depending on task; ideally on par with web observability tools like sentry, datadog, etc, but for your entire operating system and focused on productivity
  • connect with tools that track how well you interact with real life
  • FOSS Linux-first model, built into window manager(?); charge for the hosted service, but make alternate FOSS servers easy to host and configure, and local data easy to access
  • high fidelity, modernist, 70s aesthetic; like you're reading a NASA performance report of your data.

13:25 film vs hypertext

hypertext can react. film can't. youtube videos can't age, but websites can (and do, and will, forever). something beautiful about the ability to record something once and keep it forever. sure, you can edit and crop videos, but not with the ease and fidelity that text based platforms allow. every docs platform, every presentation software, every blog posting medium allows anyone to edit their words at any time. their previous traces are lost. a youtube video will be recompressedn and restreamed, but will never be worn out, not really, and will stay okay forever. i trust it more than any writing.

13:27 why bionicle won

  • new product ip owned natively
  • simple pitch and story:

i wrote a bit on twitter about this. design language went nuts too. i loved how those things looked and felt to use and play with. so many possibilities! and they lived in their own world but the best pieces could be hacked back onto robots - which was beautiful. loved using bionicle parts with lego mindstorms. technic mechanical movements are all brilliantly designed.

13:29 i respond too fast

to everything. people take advantage of my time with stupid questions that set me off track. maybe i should make my imformation more transparent, or set up some chatbot in my place, so that i don't have to answer questions for others of things i've documented already. some poeple require payment for dms, or contact info, or emotional labor, or anything of the sort that consumes time; i can't do that. charging for communication is unfair. i just want some of my time back.

16:46 stepping back to not be a fan

trying to have a more casual relationship with everything in my life. i consume too much, i think too much, i read too much; my ratio of input to output is extremely high. i need to learn to back down, do stop caring so much about the 'metagame' or theory or anthropocene and the most important people in it and just focus on doing good work with the people I care about.

16:48 evidence is better than confidence

→ node [[2023-02-20]]
  • #Work
    • One week left maybe; I'd bet the layoffs in ZRH will be announced in one of these dates:
      • 27 February (Monday, the day the compulsory consultation with the employee representation group ends)
      • 3 March (Friday, the first Friday it's feasible)
      • From the two guesses I'd go with 3 March because it'd be the 31st of February: [[Las Jaras]].
  • #Flancia
    • Played with [[numbers]] -- I like where it's going I think?
      • [[17]] would be an entry point, but I like to think of it as having infinitely many -- like the Agora it seeks to illustrate :)
    • #Agora
→ node [[2023-02-19]]

Sunday, 02/19/2023

17:56 Does knowledge transfer have to be a lived experience?

When reading this reddit thread:

https://www.reddit.com/r/reptiles/comments/sdlycp/how_are_green_iguanas_as_pets/

Insight: replies of "you don't have enough experience", "you haven't put enough time into it", "come back in five years after doing other things" are normal. How do we more specifically describe the knowledge and experiences needed? To some degree, there is some inevitable "your pet will force you to undergo A, B, and C", so you'll have to be prepared for the next one. Maybe I'm just overthinking and the advice isn't specific enough - or maybe it's impossible to consider and learn about all of the scenarios you'll undergo having hte pet, and the lifestyles that people live are too different and complex to write generalized advice (because pets interact with people, and everyone has different work and life circumstances, friends, physical abilities, etc…).

18:30 ai pitch deck

A/B test at work. Think of how many BS companies you could generate though.

2023-02-19

→ node [[2023-02-18]]

Saturday, 02/18/2023

19:46 writing about tasks

Read some tip from someone I follow (Mukund?) about writing about everything you spend a lot of time doing, regardless of what or where it is, to better articulate, display, and understand how you feel about it and where you want it to go. First week of work is going well. I love that I work with good software developers, and that I don't have to worry about feature ideas yet. At previous jobs I tried to be too creative, obsessing over the work and pushing feature after feature that I wanted. My features had less relevance to the product's success than I would have liked. Most of them were related to tech debt, which doesn't matter as long as the product works. It's nice to let other people handle the prioritization while you handle the coding. Someone tells you to focus on a feature or gives you a scope, you take over and fix everything in that scope, and you're done. No reinventing the world. Strict requirements and questions to push and prod with, but most of the time this is the responsibility of the product people.

The business idea is so easy and straightforward. It's going to be a winner because this team will make it a winner. I will make this company win. Leslie was so happy when she told me that she was just grateful to have a job, her ideal job, the job she loved. I will code and code and communicate and communicate until we do so much that we can win. We can be the dominant force in the market by EOY 2024. Incredibly grateful to have such clear goalposts and to be given the opportunity to something that matters so much. Emissions reporting is unsexy but it will run the world.

Photo work is going well. Ordering prints for people is a good problem to have. I will keep posting day after day after day. Worried about stagnating, but I have plenty of ideas - low shutter speed, get in the studio, do some more fashion work.

Also worried about getting rid of clothes. Realizing that the texture of an item and how it fits matter so much. My daily life feels negatively or positively impacted by how mobile I am, how comfortable my clothes are, and how they make me look. I don't know how to hone a uniform, but I'll keep trying to sell things until I have to consolidate. For now I'll stay comfortable.

2023-02-18

→ node [[2023-02-17]]
  • For stand-up [[grappling]], it would be useful to have [[throws]] in every [[diagonal]] [[direction]].
  • The point of [[Judo]] is to throw the other person so that their back is flat against the ground. This would give a Judoka some time to act against a person on the ground, since movement with your back against the ground is more difficult than [[movement]] with your belly down, where you can use all your limbs- this is why the [[hip]] heist is about facing the ground with your [[hips]].

2023-02-17

→ node [[2023-02-16]]
  • In online competitive fighter simulation [[games]], pilots are instructed to look for [[speed]], [[altitude]], and [[surprise]].
→ node [[2023-02-15]]
  • After thinking about what some common [[goals]] for any [[food]] service [[business]] would be, I've decided on the following [[Restaurant]] [[Review]] [[Heuristic]]: collapsed:: true
    • 1 star: will not return 2 star: may return 3 star: would like to return eventually 4 star: would love to be a regular 5 star: compelled to bring others here
→ node [[2023-02-13]]

2023-02-13

  • [[Synchronized pomodoros]]
    • [[Pomodoros]]
      • p0: reviewing presentation 2 for [[YXM830]]
      • p1: reviewing presentation 2 for [[YXM830]]
      • p2: reviewing presentation 2 for [[YXM830]]
        • Interruptions
          • External, had to stop halfway through and come back later
    • People
      • Just me
    • Music
    • Thoughts
      • Boom! Smashed it. Doing these pomodoros has kept me on track to review my peers' presentations for YXM830. I've noticed I've gotten a lot better with avoiding internal distractions as I've gone along, too.
→ node [[2023-02-12]]

Sunday, 02/12/2023

20:10 from 1/31/23, 15:55: "wordlesslu"

man dressed in an incredible Italian suit with a hunched back appeared. without a weird he smiled to me. it felt like he was escorting me out of the building, but the place was beautiful

[Ed.: The title is a typo. I was struck by the beauty of Harvard Business School's Chapel of the Class of 1959, of the koi pond and the wonderful couple warming up in the sun under the humid, pyramidal roof on what was otherwise a miserable twenty degree afternoon on Harvard's North Allston campus. I saw the man leave soon after, walking towards a classroom - he could have been a professor, or student, or neighborhood resident, or anyone, with medditeranean olive skin and a wizened face and wonderfully patient mannerisms - and I wish I'd talk to him, as it took me a minute to realize that he was not judging me, but rather appreciating that I was appreciating the space as well as I photographed the pews of the chapel. The wrought-iron door had to be ten feet tall but was opened and closed by him seamlessly. There was some beautiful knowledge and strength hidden in his frailty. Or he used a button somewhere.]

20:16 from 1/30/23, 15:31: "we all deserve to be taken on walks"

A woman walked by me in Allston's Ringer Park, walking her small dog (or puppy?) as she said this over the phone. She either nodded or revealed a curt smile - I can't recall which - in that dispassionate Boston act of acknowledgement, one I still don't entirely understand, not even after having lived in the place for four years. Anywhere else, the gesture would be an acknowledgement of some kind of shared misery; the Boston acknowledgement feels almost as if tension with strangers isn't flirtatious, but painful and depressing. My roommate is a New England native. He tells me that people are just in their own worlds, living their own lives, doing their own thing. Other transplants from west to east coast have told me through a sort of social meme that Boston people are kind, but not nice, and that California is nice but not kind. I believe that San Francisco's cutthroat private high schools or Los Angeles' theater drama is that cutthroat, full of the backhand compliments we all grew up watching on Disney channel or Flubber or Mean Girls that have been assimilated by our culture one way or another. My own upbringing, though, was modest and quiet and shy and kind - truly kind - so I worry about others from the west who weren't truly loved and whether the east coast mirrors that discomfort. Strangers to me today are friends I have yet to meet, so to discomfort and distrust so publicly scares me. My roommate is one of the kindest and most welcoming people to strangers I have ever met; this trait has made his life so beautiful, now that he's surrounded by this cornocopia of skate kids and rejects and music culture and personality that seems to revolve around him with trust and empathy. He's been around for me for five years. Thanks, Arman.

21:21 how to defeat an idea [16:17 today]

  • our brains have a lot of ideas
  • we have to try to kill as many as we can to get them out of our brains
  • the ones that survive we should have the conviction to realize

2023-02-12

  • [[Synchronized pomodoros]]
    • [[Pomodoros]]
      • p0: reviewing presentation 2 for [[YXM830]]
        • Internal distractions:
          • searching for some music to listen to
          • noding [[YXM830]]
      • p1: reviewing presentation 2 for [[YXM830]]
        • Internal distractions:
          • went on social.coop briefly
    • People
→ node [[2023-02-11]]
  • For competition, Manto [[BJJ]] has been focusing on the 3 H's: handfighting, keeping their hips higher than the opponent's, and keep their hips pointed toward the ground- better known in [[wrestling]] as a [[hip heist]]. [[unarmed]]
  • Rob Gray of the Perception-Action school of sports learning analysis says, "[[Learning]] is not the process of [[repeating]] a solution, it is the process of repeating [[finding]] a [[solution]]."
  • It's easier to manipulate and [[control]] something with [[structure]].
  • To aid in learning [[tracking]], an [[aging stand]] is recommended for whatever environment you might track in. In the same way scientists study how bodies decompose, it is useful to study how things are affected over [[time]] in a given [[land]]scape.
  • Pairs of [[coyotes]] make helixes as they [[move]].
  • Find a thousand ways to get to the [[outcome]]. [[end]]
  • For more [[power]] generated from body [[movement]], increase [[length]] and [[size]] of [[kinetic]] chain.
  • When you [[storyboard]] a scene for an [[ad]], consider what questions the scene would need to pose to give the audience the answer that what you have is what they need. [[propaganda]]
  • The [[timing]] of when to talk about [[solutions]] is after enough questions have been to asked to find out what [[needs]] there are. Once the needs are out in the open, they can be addressed with solutions- so long as the solutions do actually fit the needs. [[sales]]
  • The founder of [[Judo]], [[Jigaro Kano]], is often quoted on the importance of 'maximum [[efficiency]]' (精力善用), but perhaps this might be better understood as '[[life]] [[force]] used well'. To take advantage of, or to practice [[good]] use of vigorous force.
  • [[Roger Gracie]] on [[rote]] [[repetition]]: "The moment you know how how to apply [the mechanic], there's no more point in [[drilling]]. Now you have to [[practice]] with [[resistance]]."
  • What has [[scale]]-free scalability? How can we design collectives with scale-free scalability? Is this what the conquering Mongol army was? Did every early stage world [[religion]] have this?
  • How would we plant the [[seed]] for a new [[world]] [[religion]] that has a [[modular]] structure? What [[building]] [[block]] can we give people to create their own religion?

2023-02-11

  • [[Synchronized pomodoros]]
    • With [[Flancian]] and Sab
    • [[Pomodoros]]
      • p0: Review presentation 1 for YXM830
      • p1: Review presentation 1 for YXM830
      • p2: Review presentation 1 for YXM830
      • p3: Review presentation 1 for YXM830
→ node [[2023-02-10]]
  • [[2022-02-09]] was eventful
  • [[work]]
  • #push [[flancia]]
    • [[pomodoros]]
      • go link isn't working
      • it turns out it's because it doesn't exist :)
      • but for some reason the Agora is giving a server errors instead of redirecting to [[pomodoros]] as it does in most nodes
      • fix [[bug]] ^ :)
  • [[toots]]
→ node [[2023-02-09]]

Thursday, 02/09/2023

08:38 maps

Thinking about maps and journeys. How can I best live a life?

Wonder if a 'choose your own tour' approach - where you can arrive in a place, say you have x hours or something until sunset, then you'll be recommended paths and specific things to do along those paths that might best fit you. Perhaps we can recommend you people to meet, interactions to have, or things to look at.

How do we express cool things to look at if not in prose?

→ node [[2023-02-08]]

Wednesday, 02/08/2023

15:47 flopped

Completely failed my goal to get out to MBTAgifts - or the parks I have saved - on my quest to do everything I want in Boston before I leave. I let New York - the party at Baby's, specifically, and how late we stayed out - disrupt my schedule, and I'm still feeling the impact of this two days later. NYC is always overstimulating to me - there is too much to do, too many people to talk to, too many things to see - all the time, and I'm not sure how to deal with or mitigate that much input at once. It's got me overstimulated on social media expecting more, more, more.

What can I do to mitigate this?

  • Stick to a schedule on vacation. Get up at 6, take a walk at 8, get out from 1-4 to take photos (at the least), beat the work rush home, and hit the gym that evening. This should be how I live regardless of where I am or what plans I have. I'll have to better learn how to pick the best lighting for photos and pick the time of day that best fits.
  • Don't clear the notifications until evening. Let the phone collect them. Don't 'poll' social media platforms - use the notification system. It's okay to leave things in the system tray.
  • Manage my time doing things. Don't get sucked into socials for hours; bookend the experience with times and throw those times on calendars.

We'll start this tomorrow. Maybe the light is better just after sunrise; I'm not quite sure. I'll have to try it out!

→ node [[2023-02-07]]
→ node [[2023-02-06]]
  • Back noded.
  • Worked from home.
  • Talked to [[kris]].
  • Did [[yoga]], [[go/center/6]]. Great for core work!
→ node [[2023-02-05]]

2023-02-05

→ node [[2023-02-04]]
  • I guess I've never told you what I [[believe]] all in one place or meet, except if you count the [[Agora]].
    • One approximation: [[Buddhism]] plus an awareness of the [[multiverse]] as and [[dust theory]] as a hypohesis that could explain in a way the existence of the universe and, within it, consciousness arising.

2023-02-04

  • Reading: [[Digitalization and the Anthropocene]]

  • I've been publishing less in my digital garden since (a) working on my research project; (b) getting an e-ink tablet (because I write most of my notes as handwritten notes in there). I'd like to rectify this when I get a chance, there will be some useful way I can get those publishing online to my garden I'm sure.

  • [[ICT and planetary boundaries]]

→ node [[2023-02-03]]
→ node [[2023-02-02]]
→ node [[2023-01-31]]

Ay, quién fuera una flecha derecha volando hacia el corazón de [[Moloch]]!

  • [[work]]

    • Nobody in ZRH knows for certain if we will have a job next month or the month after that, and this situation will persist for at least four more weeks it seems.
    • Still, work goes on.
  • [[flancia]]

  • #push [[31]]

    • [[7]] + [[7]] + [[17]]
    • it makes sense to think of primes as sums, as I usually think of composites as the product of primes (their factorization), so this is nicely complementary.
  • [[yoga with x]]

  • The 31st of January is the 0th of February.

→ node [[2023-01-29]]

Tengo dos [[jaras]]:

Flancia y el Ágora.

2023-01-29

  • My [[Searx]] instance keeps on coming back with "Engines cannot retrieve results: duckduckgo (blocked), startpage (unexpected crash" for a while now. Need to figure out how to fix that…
→ node [[2023-01-28]]
→ node [[2023-01-27]]
  • I keep linking by mistake to e.g. [[2022-01-27]] (the same date on 2022) when I don't pay attention.
    • Which has the added advantage that it reminds me what I was doing a year ago. I like that.
    • Thinking of adding that as a feature somehow? "[[On this date]] some other year, in this Agora..."
  • #push [[backnoded]]
    • I've been not getting to noding, in particular journaling, some days as of late.
    • If this were a blog I'd be worried, but because it's [[a garden in an Agora]] I'm not :)
  • #push [[work]]
    • The decline of [[Google]] is the topic in everybody's mouths.
  • Saw [[kris]] after work, we watched the beginning of [[Blade Runner]].

Friday, 01/27/2023

10:41 universal notification tray

i want all of my notifications from all of my devices to drip into a single tray that i can access from any device. hidden at first but visible when i need them to be. some things need to alert me right away, though. i should also be able to associate people across different apps - i.e. gus on instagram and gus on sms are the same - and declare that specific people or chats can notify me through the block urgently. really, this is another instance of using technology to solve the social problem of notification etiquette - it's hard for people to understand how to contact someone without interrupting them, and everyone, through their own online interactions, reading, and customs, has developed a different procedure for this. when these notification procedures misalign, participants in conversations become annoyed!

Scheduling messages may be the most valuable utility here.

→ node [[2023-01-26]]

2023-01-26

→ node [[2023-01-25]]

I cut my hair tonight, and I felt better.

I started writing two things about what's happening at [[Google]].

→ node [[2023-01-23]]

Monday, 01/23/2023

01:27 out of sync

my creative output is very out of sync with my reading; the flow is not aligned. Ideally:

  1. Read the literature
  2. Start a particular idea
  3. Invest in the idea for a period of time
  4. Publish initial work
  5. Iterate based on reception, feedback and thinking to myself

Unfortunately, I continue to stagnate before steps 3 or 4. I'm not quite sure why, but I sense it's that I'm often either scared to execute (that my skills may not match my reading) or that I'm scared to publish what I've executed (afraid of judgement). Some things have fallen to the wayside after losing some time, but most I have become scared of and taken too long to do.

It frustrates me that things take time, and that time has to be made for them; think posting a photo every few days, or promoting on social media, or following a particular routine at the gym. These things will never quite be for me, but they're essential - to a degree - to my success, and I'm not yet consistent enough to make things happen.

Let's talk solutions:

  • Add ongoing projects to a schedule and block out time every day for them. Right now:
    • Photography (take photos for ~30m a day, spend ~30 a day editing)
    • Gym (4-5x/week, spending the other two biking or playing soccer)
    • Cooking (Spend 15m/day investigating recipes, type them up, then cook dinner every evening [indeterminate])
    • Website (Push out one small feature a day. Examples: Parsing org-mode tags, parsing parts of journal files, rendering journals to HTML.). I want to maintain this forever, so it's vital that I pay attention to it daily.
    • Architecture. Right now, I think my focus should be on learning to sketch; I look at enough buildings and spend enough time reading and collecting inspiration. I just need to dedicate myself to sketching. This can probably done in conjunction with the photography work, overlapping with it, with a physical paper and pencil of some sort. [TBD]
    • Social time [1h/day]. Dedicated time strengthening a personal relationship I have, in person. This can be combined with any or all of the above points; there are lots of people I can spend time with or reach out to. Make it a point to schedule these a week or more in advance so that this project work can be planned out.
    • Finding a subletter for my apartment.
    • Finding housing in Stockholm.
  • Dedicate the majority of the day to solving technical debt I've let myself accrue:
    • Common Lisp type project. This can be put on maintenance mode once I meet the deliverables I've promised, but until then I need to go full-speed ahead.
    • Prepare whatever I need to apply to Interact. If I don't get in, I will regret it forever (Due February 15; we need to deliver something truly remarkable by this time and start writing application essays). Write my essays first, then spend the month doing the technical work I'll need to do to show that I'm building towards the mission I preach about.
  • Avoid historical time-wasters:
    • Social media. It's a reflex. I can spend this clearing technical debt or looking at `are.na` feeds for inspiration, or at recipes, or on clothing or something to hone my taste and style. Retrain.
    • Inconsistent sleep schedule. Ideally this is solved by making it consistent lol.
    • Indecision. Hopefully this plan helps.

I'll see how disciplined I can be

15:35

caring check.eml i care about

beautiful public spaces and built environments

bike lanes, streetcars, and ways for everyone to travel through the city while experiencing the city

making computers fun and enjoyable for people to use, while better exposing them to abstractions that help them truly understand what they're doing

owning portable, beautiful items that last forever: bags, clothes, computers, cameras. they have the right level of appropriate purpose - general enough to use daily and fit in a backpack, but specific enough to do one thing and do it well.

user interfaces to computing

→ node [[2023-01-22]]
→ node [[2023-01-21]]
→ node [[2023-01-20]]
→ node [[2023-01-19]]

Thursday, 01/19/2023

raw from email: entreprenuer - video editor, creative guy - 20k followers, atx - sitting next to me. talking to mba. a lot about scripture: "jesus did things at just the right time, other people in the bible didn't". said he was mexican and that anscestors were native to the general area. get up at 330 am ask anyone for anything talking to asian, first gen mba dude, relating to immigrant experience etc uses chatgpt to generate pitch decks, personal schedules, offload manual work. human in the loop - can double check these things later. just need an initial suggestion

Jan 19, 2023 10:43:04 AM Jake Chvatal <jake@isnt.online>:

00:04 consistent behavior i want

this should have been the previous day - wrong time zone. it frustrates me that the interface to my system doesn't seem self-consistent! to view all wifi nodes, i want to be able to run 'ls wifi', for example. feels like so many commands fit the unix folder navigation structure. plan9 does this - though i'm not sure to what degree, as i haven't emulated it - but i want to make this possible on a more traditional linux system. how?

11:45 entreprenuership and prayer

forgot what this was supposed to do. was thinking of the guy i met at the coffee shop who thought jesus was an entreprenuer - he did things at just the right time, unlike the other apostles (his words, not mine), and was his inspiration to create content and run a social media platform consulting for local brands, and was his inspiration to create content and run a social media platform consulting for local brands. he was native to the woodlands, tx, but moved to austin for a larger city experience - and grew up in the woodlands, where he says elon musk is "bringing the world's best engineers" adn "bringing passion back" to the city, so lots of bars and nice restaurants are organizing to facilitate this large movement of people to the city with the new tesla manufacturing facilities and ceenters of 'innovation'. he was talking to a ut mba, a mid-twenties asian-american character who liked the former's large, white, traditional guages and fringe edgar haircut, and who was proud of having connected to gary v through some social media management contact he had in gary's office.

i have more in my email; trying to clear tabs,. future entries will have this stuff.

→ node [[2023-01-18]]

Wednesday, 01/18/2023

13:50 public vs. private

TODO: Fix the writeroom-mode font configuration. I need a decent non-monospace font on this machine for Emacs to default to for writing things like this; I like the idea of summoning a focused environment.

Some rough ideas of public and private spaces, and America's shift towards private works.

Context: I'm flying from Portland to Austin, thinking about how beautiful and fit for its environment the Phoenix (layover) airport is despite its intent to be incredibly functional, thinking about what makes a city beautiful and worth living in as I evaluate my options and decide where to settle down and how and why, and why not Portland and why not Boston, etc… about monuments, and beautiful architectural works, and why they matter.

Building monuments used to be a role of great states. Societies, having accumulated some level of self-governance, power, wealth, and prestige, set out to establish beautiful foundations for their cities. DC nor Rome were built in a day, but of course both Hadrian and Jefferson dreamed of lived environments that could represent the development of seats of empires; Napoleon reconstructed Paris to be rebuilt in a wonderfully liveable and consistent fashion. None of these cities were built in a day; they have been built and rebuilt to last, through fires and

Where are our great works today?

Most American work in the last 100 years - aside from a few chance sponsorships of modernist architecture and establishing functional, critical infrastructure - has operated outside of government. The last highly orchestrated works of public architecture in the US, I believe, are in Chicago; their wonderful opportunity to reclaim and reconstruct the majority of their lakefront property aligned beautifully with globalization efforts like the World's Fair, spawning great works of architecture built for people; built to impress and help experience.

We spend the 1950s suburbanizing and building buildings not to serve the best needs of the people, but to advantage conglomerates and industry; to incentivize suburbanization as the final step towards colonizing America everywhere (How far can you drive on a given highway today without passing a subdivision?), to create career aspiration for people, and to continue to foster industry. The interesting phenomena here are the globalization/homogenization of the nation and American experience (pushing suburbs often pushed families apart, turning rich cultural backgrounds into grandma's recipes and making burgers and high schools and football the true "American culture", and with this came more rampant redistricting and erasure of minority spaces by white people, of course), this sentence needs to be shorter. The rise of mass media, and with it advertising, emerge to distribute and manufacture demand - there is likely a good Oglivy quote to throw in here - and sell people promises of higher-quality lifestyles than their upbringing through the depression or pre-immigration, and of course this all becomes tied to your benefits or health insurance package or credit score or mortgage and it turns out that the suburb you live in is selected by the company you work for, and we start to see a new kind of industrial town form, one that's not necessitated by mining or creating of natural resources but actually artificially contrived to be a town for a specific industry, like Sweetwater's suburb. [For better or for worse, city sensationalism and individualism has killed most of these job towns, with the internet accelerating their downfall and ubiquitous remote work putting the nail in the coffin for many].

But our cities work the same way, now; we've privatized so much infrastructure that there is no escaping these monopolies of telecom, of heat and water and gas and electric, of Hudson Yards and the killing of the NYC Metro card, of the Citizen app and all of this.

Today, most development in America seems to be the result of large, private companies. These can be great works - Hudson Yards finished the high line with a level of coordination I don't think NYC would have been able to muster themselves - but their incentives often don't align with the needs of the people, all of the people, who inhabit these public spaces, and often have some monopolistic interest in privatizing nominally public physical space. They can refuse service to anyone, and suddenly most of the city bathrooms are behind cafes and paywalls and there is ever more room for discrimination.

The rest of the essay:

  • The decline of American infrastructure as a result of this 50s boom I describe
  • How have other countries (i.e. Singapore) continued this tradition of building monumental architecture?
  • Is the privatization of our cities an overall good?
  • Where do we go from here? What should we aspire to build, as independent, altruistic people who want to create figures? I'll have to learn more about historical ways of building and make some claim myself; a persuasive piece would be more valuable than an overview.
  • Analysis of 'More Monuments', 'The Neighborhood', 'CityDAO', 'CoverBuild', 'The Sidewalk' or whatever that development is in Tuscon, and third spaces deliberately funded for community, and where they fall
  • Maybe out of scope, but could discuss libraries' rough transition to the digital world? This might be better fit for another piece.
  • Maybe I should use cool words to describe the 'fabric' of cities, or the patterns we choose, or what makes things beautiful or not beautiful in the first place; I don't know if monuments and statues are beautiful, but I do believe that libraries are - and why else would every president have one?

I need a way for wakatime to log time locally, then update the server. I need better time tracking ubilt into the WM in general.

→ node [[2023-01-17]]

Deep into the night we'll go. It's [[22]] and I'll gladly do [[four pomodoros]] for the [[revolution]] tonight.

Good anarchists of the world unite!

→ node [[2023-01-16]]

Thursday, 01/19/2023

00:56

mr rogers movie. loved it bonnie chuck arguing he's a shell of his former self - he knows the motions but there isn't as much behind it. can only imagine how he feels or what he's going through though it often feels like Bonnie is as well - she doesn't understand the motions-she sees him - and interacts with him as him i understand why technology is so frustrating - it's impossible to understand what the remote might correspond to. the smartphone, and the ability to tap on something you see to open it! is brilliant downtown Boise is a shell it might be like every downtown i was wrong about portland not changing me - the important thing i'm learning is that i don't need anything to be happy but family and company and communication. i can never think consciously about words - they just flow and Flow

02:28

project progress.eml program launcher

  • make this dumb as hell. make it look like the system. just search for .desktop programs on wayland. i can add to it later

text editor

  • finish it up. don't worry about lsp. just compile tree sitter in and make some basic shortcuts. just has to get done.

roman letters

  • rudimentary projectional text editor. exposes dropdown when typing that you select from. bidirectional editing adds and colors new lines. can animate the construction too. can predefine primitives.

recommendation catalog

  • look like old mac app. check css from sites i saved
  • optimised for mobile
  • show one rec on page at a time, in a window. wwy to order? show persons face. print accompanying physical catalog

lisp

  • get this shit done.

website

  • add journal support. super simple just one to a page. think about it later.
→ node [[2023-01-15]]
→ node [[2023-01-14]]
  • 02:42 fred again in the interview about working in real life and actual life: seeing someone skateboard tells him that something should behave a certain way

https://m.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2782&v=zeD0g5xXo7E&feature=emb_title

Jan 13, 2023 12:58:50 PM Jake Chvatal jake@isnt.online:

I prefer my coffee lukewarm.

essay on quiet and loud, and where it feels best to work
→ node [[2023-01-13]]

Friday, 01/13/2023

16:22

examine staying quiet.eml posters typically aren't allowed the name of the creator, and neither are commercials

but clothes have advertising and branding everywhere why? the point isn't the clothing they wear - it's the person themselves

→ node [[2023-01-12]]

Thursday, 01/12/2023

19:46 today's rough

if i don't work out and get up early, and get to talk to new people every day, i have a lot of trouble socializing. at the coffee shop she kept complimenting my supreme hoodie - "i've never seen one like it before", etc - but I had no idea how to respond. This used to be a pattern for me, but I broke out of it by getting up early and interacting with lots of poeple - something I haven't done at all over break. I need to relearn these skills and always be so open to interacting with people face-to-face - these relationships with people online are just unhealthy otherwise.

20:46 ui

i'm finally reaching my ui flow again with a couple of upgrades and running emacs as a daemon. we're a lot faster now - maybe some linux kernel update? - but there is still so much work to do on the desktop interface.

every program i use commits this cardinal sin of nesting window managers. I love the ergonomics of something like Emacs - and I'll continue to use it as a text editor - but using it to manage windows and the OS just isn't practical. Anything that uses tabs or windows should use the same interface to manage them!

Concretely -

  • My git program (mostly magit) should open in a WM-managed window, and its file previews should open in another program still
  • hidden tabs or buffers should be managed by the WM, not as emacs buffers
  • emacs is probably the fastest way I know to manage wm buffers, and has a super nice interface for managing terminal commands, but because of all of its lexacy contents (and purpose) its not meant ot take over the whole system and run expressive gui apps.

in short, i want to bring the emacs workflow to the window manager, and add expressive keyboard shortcuts, etc

22:16 other ui notes

my arrow keys are way too far away lol whats a better way of triggering them? a shortcut? pressing two keys at once? chording feels far more ergonomic than some key combination; it 'flows' better, it feels just like the staccato or rolling nature of typing, and it's almost more natural in that way; the keyboard feels and sounds very similar when chording as it does when

22:48 some things to build

  • mod+? to view all of your globally defined keyboard shortcuts
  • way to view all of those keyboard shortcuts: i want to be able to draw over windows with a relatively flexible format, and have some api(?) or hardcoded thing to render lists or groups of structured data in a popup window on the screen, or perhaps a menu above/below (i like the evil emacs keyboard shortcut hints/descriptions a lot, but sometimes we also want more screen real estate, plus its easier to bring up everything on the center of the screen)
  • i think eventually we end up building up to a desktop manager kind of system lol - we probably also want a login manager - but we want to build this to support heterogenous software to start, and we want to do a damn good job of it

how do we inject fun?

  • personal, animated assistant
  • animations and transitions throughout. what does a joyful animation?
  • sound effects for everything. maybe some sort of synth that adapts as you type to what you're doing, in some abstract sense, and motivates you vocally

feed into a metaphor for the kitchen, or the lab, or the music studio, not the desktop; the desktop is where you do boring business things. i want to feel like i'm chefing up some fire every time i use my device, and i watn to assemble modular tools myself.

What about a box of toys? Legos? We could extend this into some node system for workflows with blocks for automations built into the OS. Look back at previous notes for this.

→ node [[2023-01-11]]
→ node [[2023-01-10]]
  • [[work]]
  • #push [[social coop]]
    • took an AI to have a conversation about a tricky moderation case.

Tuesday, 01/10/2023

19:38

As I write this, the man sitting two tables to the left of me has cancer; he's telling a fourteen-year-old acquaintance about his life and death. The sixty-something year old has a full head of white hair, a worn and sunspot-dressed light complexion, and a complete, well-trimmed beard; the boy slim and ambiguous with a baggy hoodie and joggers. At the boy's request, the man is telling him about his life as if it's an interview; growing up Catholic in Mexico, moving to the U.S., meeting the boy's mother, and so forth. He is most interested in prayer - the Catholic faith that has ebbed and flowed throughout the man's life as he lives and endures chemotherapy. This feels like a hello to the boy, a conversation with someone who's become more conscious of himself, but a goodbye to the man, straying from chemo to what his vision of Jesus or God is like. How do you envision Him? Why does he matter? What does he mean at this point of his life?

I'm thinking about faith, about progress, about position and status; I'm operating in between the two, as a fresh college graduate looking for faith, for a cause, for company, for some purpose and way to believe in some cause or movement for the rest of my life. I'm looking for something to focus on without giving up, like I have many past decisions, many past lives, as I sell most of my clothes and pack my bags to move halfway around the world, to Stockholm, which has always been a bit of a fantasy. Now it is less so, as I realize I cannot escape my upbringing and family and friends and people I've known my whole life; rather, I must focus on maintaining, repairing, and building upon what I already have, regardless what's happened in the past, to build a future. I'm no longer looking to find a new world; rather, I'm looking to form a community, to add myself and to bring others; and to make beautiful, lifelong connections. I want to marry, to have children, and to raise them, and to cultivate a loving environment for them, for me, for everyone.

They're moving to morality; he's skipped class before, but it felt so wrong, but he can look for guidance from above, from company, from somewhere, to find what's right. I love the radical transparency that both of them have, that I've never had, at points because I believed it was wrong, or not worth the effort, or when I didn't know how. Maybe what's right is to build the dreams of another; to go full-speed-ahead on Commonwealth Fusion Systems and cold fusion, or to heal cancer and alzheimer's, or to build a future for software development and GUI programming and programming languages. Maybe I have a future in industrial design and architecture, in curation, in building and making things for people to best suit their needs. I fear academia and not having a customer, not meeting the needs of real people anywhere down the stack, though I find the discourse fascinating. Turkle and Papert and Kant gush about objects and their meaning to people and to one another, and my biases help me tend towards the same; I've come to believe that the right objects and possessions, the ones that best fit my needs, the best ones, are more valuable than anything else, though perhaps time with friends and people I love is even greater than that.

"It's just middle school" is self-dismissive; to believe that this time is bad not for you, but for everyone, feels defeatist. Today is the best time to be alive, and tomorrow will be better: believing that tomorrow will not improve for years is to not accomplish anything while waiting for progress. Ambient progress doesn't necessarily exist. The only way to make progress is to make the change yourself, taking step by step by step by step by step by one by two by three by four by five until you've positively affected your life.

I have no idea if this is true, or correct, but I'm convinced that belief that progress starts with you, and that the world must get better, and that it must be improved by you, is the best thing to believe, because to believe anything other risks feeling doomed, and lost, and discouraged and demotivated. Maybe the best cause to work towards is the suboptimal one, the one that stands out first and has the most support; maybe the best action is taking action, no matter the cause, to see how these abstract ideas I have about constructing systems to evoke feelings in people can manifest in technology, to help make computers fun and to help people see and find the same fun in and power over computers that I do.

This conversation also brings to mind the lenses and filters of thinking I've been considering. A conversation has four parts - your relationship with the other participant, what they have to say, what you consider replying with, and the lens through which you examine your reply. You are not to respone right away, but to hesitate, to listen carefully and deliberately and to filter your instinctual response through a lens of what's best for the other person, to give them the best gift you can give them. Alice's writing on speaking and what it means - splain - alice maz - reviews different communication styles, and [how they change, grow and adapt over time](https://twitter.com/alicemazzy/status/1612701614904680451 ) - seeing communication as the giving of gifts, the exchange of information, and considering the ways that respect are viewed by each party - where a comment can be flattering and contributive or destructive, depending on the context of the other. The filter you select has to both convey your taste and respect that of the other participant - how do they want to receive information? What is the best way to convey it?

How can we grow together?

The boy was in a fistfight about his family, about basketball, about religion, fundamentally; and to progress, the man says, you must be firm but not argumentative, confrontational but not strict; you must demand of your fourteen-year-old opponents to stop.

→ node [[2023-01-09]]

2023-01-09

  • Knee-deep in papers on ICT4S - 'ICT for Sustainability'. Usually well-intentioned, but often of a 'tech will save us' bent, missing any political analysis or question of how we got here. Case in point: the suggestion of 'bayesian networks to discover supply chains using child labour'. Great. But better to transition to a system that doesn't have exploitation of humans and nature as an ineluctable part of how it functions, no?
→ node [[2023-01-08]]

Sunday, 01/08/2023

03:32

2d canvas of ads.eml centered on the one below feels like a ball when navigating, you tilt to ro it

→ node [[2023-01-07]]
→ node [[2023-01-06]]
→ node [[2023-01-05]]
→ node [[2023-01-04]]
→ node [[2023-01-03]]

Tuesday, 01/03/2023

02:43 what do historical legacies mean for the internet?

I've been spending some time studying graphic design and architectural history. The threads of continuity are fascinating and so tight-knit - most of these central European graphic designers - whether Swiss, American, German, or Italian - seem to know well or be inspired by one another, with each genuinely innovative in their own way. [I'm sure there are far more type designers, brand designers, et cetera… but the influence is relatively thin]. Do we have clear influences from the last twenty or thirty years through today? The internet after the early 90s has led to this cambrian explosion of entirely exposed international influence - my are.na account takes influence from work all over the world over the course of the past two hundred or so years.

How are we going to trace influences today when most are more 'abstract' and less direct? I.e. – with so much information, designers look less to emulate elements and ideas from other individuals, and more likely have this entire historical body of work in mind, drawing influences from all of these different places and synthesizing them. The internet documents connections between people in an incredibly expressive way - that no historical evidence could match - but the new continuities left by new people become much more muddy. We're globally aware now - there is so much work going on in parallel, and it's often hard to assess the scope of the field: who's worth paying attention to? Is everyone the best in the world at something? What are the best tools for the job? Who should I allow myself to be influenced by?

And so forth. I think the answer here is - as always - to focus on work and not worry about it. I'm not sure how important tracking influence really is outside of this social network graph. As long as influences of mine are explicitly documented - at least implicitly, on timelines - it'll all be fine. I need to focus on doing more work and not worry about it.

Equally concerning, though, is the ability to consume this endless feed of work without regard for its past. This is no different from walking through a city without knowledge of architecture - see cool building, appreciate it without understanding the historical taste that led to its look - but it's not controversial that understanding background and historical motivation helps people better learn about and appreciate their environment. The best tool for design is google image search, and even that can rarely handle live web apps and websites, and it usually leads to some short description on Pinterest. I'll keep trying to figure this out - still have images of animations of evolutions of structures in my brain.

→ node [[2023-01-02]]
→ node [[2023-01-01]]
→ node [[2022-12-31]]
  • #push previously: [[2022-12-30]]
    • worked half a day.
    • spent the day with friends who are visiting for New Years!
  • #push previously: [[2022-12-29]]
    • worked half a day, it was nice.
    • visited [[kris]], it was great!
    • in the evening two friends arrived from Spain for New Years.
→ node [[2022-12-30]]
  • worked half a day.
    • "no había tanto, trucha" <- funny comment (but maybe not great, considering the degree of privilege it communicates) because only two Google restaurants were open.
  • spent the day with friends who are visiting for New Years!
  • then more friends arrived, and we all had dinner.
  • I've been thinking about [[2023]], and about preparing a [[revolutionary calendar]] in the Commons (as an exercise). It won't be ready for Dec 31st -- but that's fine. It'll emerge organically and maybe it's sufficient if it's ready by Jan 31st, or even by June 31st, or even by Dec 31st of 2023 if it need be :)
→ node [[2022-12-29]]

Thursday, 12/29/2022

14:11 x

if you think you know what the future is, then why aren't you helping build it?

→ node [[2022-12-28]]
  • 09:52 can be negative, can be strong, can be blood or graffiti or a cushion or a soft texture. anything to connect the object to feeling, to something they've felt and known before; the object must reach out and touch them

Dec 28, 2022 12:05:54 AM Jake Chvatal jake@isnt.online:

as simple and purposeful as possible, with just a little bit of play; just a little bit of evidence of a fun and casual experience
→ node [[2022-12-27]]
  • In some cultures, [[plants]] have names that associate them with the [[animals]] they are most commonly related to- such as animals that eat them, pollinate for them, and such.

2022-12-27

→ node [[2022-12-26]]

2022-12-26

  • Reading: [[Less is More]]. Very good.
    • Nominally it's about [[degrowth]] but it's starting off with a chapter about the [[Anthropocene]], and then a chapter on the origins of [[Capitalism]].
    • Describing the process of [[Enclosure]], [[colonialism]] and [[Primitive accumulation]].
    • Particularly interesting is the description of a move from a [[Relational ontology]] (as also mentioned in [[Free, Fair and Alive]]!) to [[dualism]].
    • [[Francis Bacon]] and [[René Descartes]] are given dishonourable mentions with a lot to answer for in Hickel's account.
    • Bacon kicking off the idea that man is separate from nature. Descartes idea's of mind/body split being use to justify the domination over people's bodies.
    • Goes into much more depth and nuance but the idea generally being church, state and capital were very keen to separate man from nature and mind from body, allowing living things (both nature and humans) to be view simply as living things to be exploited.
    • Also a desire to separate [[commoner]]s from land, both physically and in spirit. they felt common people able to live off the land were a threat.
→ node [[2022-12-25]]
→ node [[2022-12-24]]
  • [[2022-12-23]] was nice.
    • met [[d]].
  • today I did some laundry and some last minute shopping; now I'm writing this in the train to [[Lausanne]].
  • [[music]]
    • during the train ride I went through my old [[thumbs up]] set a bit
    • I remembered I liked some of [[Pusha T]]'s tracks, so I listened to his new album, [[it'salmost dry]].
  • [[flancia]]
    • [[agora]]
      • [[agora chapter]]
        • Started changing 'we' and 'the author' to I -- the more important thing is to coalesce into one. I'll make a call later on whether 'I' or 'we' reads better?

Saturday, 12/24/2022

17:55 thinking about suburbs

An older man - worn, weathered, with dirty clothes, perhaps working class, sitting next to me in this starbucks is flipping between some sort of RTS game and a series of apple notes titled "ideas/inventions". I hope he makes it big.

having to walk twenty minutes to bethany village - the nearest shopping center with people to my family's home in Portland - is miserable. I miss Allston; I miss a city where anything is fifteen minutes away by bike, and a little further by bus. Berlin was perfect, Stockholm was almost there. I can't wait to be back and walk in a liveable city. Taking so much time to get everywhere deters me from going out and doing anything - and that sucks the life out of me!

2022-12-24

→ node [[2022-12-23]]
  • [[flancia]] earlier
  • [[work]]
  • [[flancia]] later
    • [[agora chapter]]
      • finally fixed some long-standing issues :)
      • there's a long way to go, but incremental progress is taking place.
→ node [[2022-12-22]]

2022-12-22

→ node [[2022-12-21]]
→ node [[2022-12-20]]

Tuesday, 12/20/2022

01:10 growth at home

Over the course of the last few years, I've used Portland (home) as a place to reset and reflect. To me, Portland (proper) is a place where sustainable taste and appreciation are put first - nothing here feels as if it's rushed and everything feels focused on some form of beauty. The city has many of the best restaurants I've been to in the world, it's walkable and bikeable and driveable all the same, and its small clothing, musical, creative and literary communities are incredibly rich - it's no wonder that Portland seems to export a seriously disproportionate amount of talent to its size. The forest that envelops and surrounds the city - with endless trails and great architectural design buried throughout - is just as beautiful as the city itself, and is likely why it's become such an interesting cultural location.

This time, though, I think I'm just learning that Portland is too small for me. The city hasn't managed its poverty and crime issues downtown, and they've gotten worse - the people at my favorite clothing store in the world told me that they've had "a couple of" recent break-ins, and half of their windows were boarded up; everyone I saw walking around on the street (granted, on a Monday evening) looked incredibly sad, dragging their feet or scavenging for trash, and there was nothing I could do to uplift; those working in stores were optimistic, but I don't see them spending much time outside between work and home. Powell's is still one of my favorite bookstores - it was my first exposure to beautiful books - but now I've met people like Michael at Katherine Small, and I'm realizing that large establishments will never compare to individually loved and curated collections, to a person who has the domain knowledge to recommend you such beautiful things, to someone who is active 'in the field'. Portland feels like a place for generalist appreciation, but I'm realizing that I'm beginning to specialize; and I don't think the city offers the kind and depth of subcommunities I want to participate in. Reading about the culture at Stanford's SAIL, of some innovative software clubhouse where people lived and worked and slept and dreamed Human-Computer Interaction, or even of the subcultural lifestyles that people live in SF or NYC, like Joe Kerwin or Parker or any of these characters I keep in touch with on the internet, has me feeling left out in a quiet place like Portland.

It's a good place to create, and a good place to last - but I don't think it's a place that can be conducive to the sort of explosion of enthusiasm that I see happen in New York, in San Francisco, in Boston. It's a wonderful place to be quiet, consistent, and appreciative; but it feels hard to become the 'next best thing' here or to play a part in it. The forest here feels like it lasts forever, as will the IPAs and cold brew and good books and jazz festival and everything else that is in vogue, but I think at this point in my life I want radical, exciting change - and I can't find that here.

Can I build my own community? Where? How? I think I'm a strong individual contributor but not a leader by any means; I might be able to 'lead' with work and ideas, and I'm definitely personable, but my work will not spread by person-to-person networking - I love people, but I just don't have the patience for a ton of social interaction that isn't directly related to my interests. I dream of communities like Interact - techno-optimism might be the best substrate I've ever witnessed in person.

[An aside: I'm trying to develop interests in every field so that I have questions to ask, but I'm finding that sometimes it's really hard to pry out of people what they're really, truly interested in; the real challenge isn't having the person state it; it's understanding their relationship with the subject and how you can interact with that relationship that's the real hurdle]

2022-12-20

→ node [[2022-12-19]]
  • 00:30 airplane guy served in military joined navy sailed around the medditeranean iceland
→ node [[2022-12-18]]
→ node [[2022-12-17]]
→ node [[2022-12-16]]
  • [[work]]
    • had a nice lunch with coworkers!
  • [[flancia]]
    • [[agora]]
      • coding
        • add latest updated for subnodes in subheader
        • next action for shipping [[virtual subnodes]] with basic [[acl]]?
          • I'd like to use it to implement [[calendar]] -- just call cal 2023 :)
        • next action for shipping some [[graph]] improvement?
      • writing
    • #push [[agora chapter]]
      • talked to the editors about open comments/suggestions, will now batch resolve a lot of them :)
      • finish resolving unlinked suggestions to improve readability end to end
      • add references / move towards 'no open TODOs'

2022-12-16

→ node [[2022-12-15]]
  • [[2022-12-14]]
  • [[work]]
  • [[flancia]]
    • #push [[agora]]
      • coding
        • add latest updated for subnodes in subheader
        • next action for shipping [[virtual subnodes]] with basic [[acl]]?
          • I'd like to use it to implement [[calendar]] -- just call cal 2023 :)
        • next action for shipping some [[graph]] improvement?
      • writing
    • [[agora chapter]]
      • talked to the editors about open comments/suggestions, will now batch resolve a lot of them :)
      • finish resolving unlinked suggestions to improve readability end to end
      • add references / move towards 'no open TODOs'
    • other [[pomodoros]]
      • [[laundry]] (washing machine broke, used the neighbor's who were kind to lend theirs)
      • prepped and had dinner (WFH today)
      • [[yoga with x]]
→ node [[2022-12-14]]
  • [[work]].
    • was fine :)
    • [[p10g]] looking promising
  • Took a break from above to attend [[fellowship of the link]] and it was great.
  • [[agora]]
    • [[agora chapter]]
      • talked to editors, they said good progress but needs more work -- as expected :)
      • looking forward to continuing work on it, interleaving with personal life happily
    • [[flancia]]
      • en [[flancia]] hay un [[ágora]], and [[flancia]] is in the [[agora]]
      • [[flancia book]]
        • I had done a flancia.org -> [[google docs]] sync at some point using pandoc
        • I think it's time to re-sync, taking the opportunity to improve flancia.org incrementally (as I do very sporadically)
        • And then just start writing? Even if just an outline.
      • [[calendar]]
        • I've decided I want to create a calendar for [[2023]] as related to Flancia. Put another way, it could be said to be a speculative [[roadmap]].
        • Only a fraction of what I write in it will come to happen -- in 2023, anyway. But that's alright.
          • I have a tradition of doing so with roadmaps at work already :)
  • [[work]]
  • [[flancia]]

Wednesday, 12/14/2022

00:57

watching bryan cantrill's talk about letting kids be kids again. no venture funding. agree that founders are significantly underrated - think about the inneficiency of your work! don't you just want to sit down and do something cool! something that you love!

procrastinating on emails to close out the semester. dreaming of bitwig studio and watching PC music videos like i'm fourteen again. I love it. I love this. I missed this. I'm finally DJing and I love music. Berklee Network Orchestra changed my life. Lil Data changed my life. If it doesn't exist I'm going to build it myself. Write it myself. New UI. Contributed to HumbleUI. I will build all the fundamental technology that would otherwise get in my way until I make my computer the ideal creative machine, and I will use it to create.

01:00

but first i have to work a hell of a lot more than i do now.

graphics programming comes first. humble ui is fun but i'm skeptical of jvm and it's important to master things at a low level. first i'll nail sdl2, then i'll investigate sideloading in some opengl work, then after this i'll branch out to check out some of the more modern work done with zig and rust innovation. humbleui will be on the list. we need some higher-level substrate for making these things that isn't web, but i think the foundation might come from zig and rust and c and linked to a programming language via the C abi, as things have always been done. is clojure the best way to go? not sure. what's the high level language of the desktop and the future? i have no idea. but i love emacs. and i want every program to feel as smooth and fluid and as thought-out.

2022-12-14

→ node [[2022-12-13]]

Tuesday, 12/13/2022

01:14 music is beautiful

Saw a Berklee Network Orchestra (an elective of the EPD [Electronic Music Projection] major) this morning. Most beautiful thing I've seen in a long time. There is something perfect about a well-honed flow state - being able to watch someone execute on something live that they've planned out and thought about well ahead of time - and all of the members of this orchestra excelled at that. I'm completely enamored. Watching the last artist - Jessie Sun - was something else. In complete concentration and in complete control the whole time, he masterfully executed this cacaphony of music that began with Korean female-lead pop vocal chops, but quickly merged into an elaborate blend of medium-tempo harmonic music reminiscent of Porter Robinson's work - but far more elaborate. The immaculate visuals of blended faces created real motion between the projectors - an incredible use of the space - right to left, left to right, then in and out of a seam in the screen itself, changing direction and tempo under the control of a video-directing Ableton Live instance - while the music itself was all composed in a Tidal buffer!

I've never seen someone in such a flow state before - especially not when executing on a live performance. His movements were small, focused and precise - but you could see exactly what was going on in Jessie's head as the music and visuals transformed in the translucent VSCode buffer projected through the elaborate motion.

I want computing and coding to feel like that. I think it's possible, and I think it starts with the user interface and window manager. I think we can make computing beautiful again.

2022-12-13

  • [[Sprucing up an old Windows 8.1 laptop]]. I'm honestly surprised by how crappy the Windows 8.1 experience is. The number of things that just don't work. I can't create a new user. I can't turn on Family Safety. It just comes back with random errors. Honestly - I'm not a blind partisan, I am always pragmatic. But Linux is much better than this, and has been for years.
→ node [[2022-12-12]]
→ node [[2022-12-11]]

2022-12-11

Removing the org-cite test for now, as it failed on the gitlab build…

→ node [[2022-12-10]]

Saturday, 12/10/2022

11:34 working heuristics

A valuable heuristic for assessing what is most worth the effort should consider hours [assuming other things, like reasonable quality of life, are taken care of]. For a consumer product I should decide to pursue a line of work by considering how much time that the finished work saves others (considering all the time they spend figuring out how to use the product, etc) relative to how much time I invest; the highest ratio of `others' time` / `my time` is best worth the effort.

I think this is reasonable as it measures both usefulness and ease of use. A lot of developer tools get trapped in these claims that installing and learning and using and debugging their software 'will be worth it'; this metric rewards effort spent to reduce time to use of the product as much as possible. Reducing time to install and time to actionable product is why web apps exist as a phenomenon, and we deserve to have it for native apps and linux extensions as well.

Only accept seamless setup processes, regardless of the level of complexity accepted by the user of the software. Work should be a one-click or one-command install without leaving behind dirt to be cleaned up. This is why I believe in Nix so strongly: `nix shell`, `nix flake`, and the ability to reproducible builds of software off of a git url is a superpower.

The language is obtuse, sure - and it's incredibly difficult to get going - but end users don't need to understand Nix. They just need to know what flake commands to run to get any output of any program off the web.

11:49 names

Names are important. I love the focus of Cairo's documentation on verbage - "First I'll describe the nouns: destination, source, mask, path, and context. After that I'll describe the verbs which offer ways to manipulate the nouns and draw the graphics you wish to create." The words ostensibly have nothing to do with the end goal - but they're more important. This theme of 'speaking the language' of a discipline comes up again and again - computers are designed to help people assign names to concepts and to experiment with these concepts, a view realized by Papert, by Felleisen, by so many people who work with computers. This is not unique to computers, or computer science, or anything; mathematics is obsessed with names, as is construction work, as is architecture, as there is no better way to speak about something in an effective way than to develop a vocabulary for it.

Different computing systems let you speak in different ways and use different vocabularies. C - or (arguably) better, Zig - let you speak the language of assembly, the language of Unix, the language of the kernel, the language of the computer. You inject your vocabulary into the language - by assigning names to variables, types and functions - but you have no ability to change the language of the system.

This also holds for Lisps; you speak the language of lists, of parentheses, but you embed your domain in them; this set of lists means this, and this symbol or tag indicates that, and some function allows you to transform your inputs from this to that.

ML languages like Rust are different, deeper. Taagged unions allow you to embed your vocabulary into the type system, the error messages, the mechanics of the language. The strong type system lets you embed your language into the target, to further restrict the user of your code to speak both the programming language and the language you establish for others to use.

Which is better? To me, strong type systems and mathematics go hand-in-hand. Math is so valuable on paper because its a constructed environment for a language; different types of proofs speak different languages, sometimes graphical, always constrained, and it's vital that the user of the system speaks both the language of the prover and the language of the mathematical domain that others have constructed for this user. Learning to speak an object language is difficult, and the type system exists to give the user this linguistic superpower.

Most of programming, though, doesn't interoperate with a single system. Programming requires glueing different code together, developing higher-level abstractions, and so forth, combining different libraries to produce end results. This… doesn't bode well for ML. Not only do libraries built for ML-like languages have to speak the system language, they also have to learn to conform to all of this community parlance and all of the object languages that others have embedded in the system.

Solutions to this mostly involve assuming parts of the object language as the standard library, but community consensus is incredibly difficult regardless - some people don't like the way the Rust Error type is structured, for example, so they make their own incompatible error types, so glueing together different rust Error types is a mess.

If the language is strong and gives the power of manipulation of the code language to the user, though, the user can interact with the system differently. This is where the row types of typescript and typed racket come in - now the user can use these types but still interoperate between type names, as what really matters is the (partial) contents of the type rather than the community parlance used to name the types. Maybe it's better to be free, though - if everything is a list, or everything is an `mmapped` segment of memory, then the programmer can easily and seamlessly peel some data apart and provide it to other libraries. Though the names might not be the same, typically similar data is conducive to similar abstractions; it's not uncommon for moving data from one library to another in Common Lisp for me to be a `cadr` or a `cons` away, and picking a good name for the function to make that transformation seals the deal.

Maybe it's okay to only make programmers learn the domain language and not the object language - the rest can come.

14:15 sick

Of course the day after I preach about wanting to do more I wake up sick as hell.

A lot of exploratory work today - Zig talks, some thinking, reading documentation, and flipping through books throughout my apartment - with some photos - but the brain feels too fried to be able to really operate and get deep into coding work. Looking at a big hurts, so I put on light music or talks off of YouTube in the background. Wondering if there are any podcasts that aren't about news or fads, that feel less ephemeral - it's hard to find.

Cold things and slimy things feel the same - my hands are so extremely cold that I thought I'd spilled water on my clothes when I touched my face. Oh, moisture can condense on something! But I don't feel like there is moisture on the thing - the touch just feels similar.

Content creation? Seems valuable for learning to visualize and present information. TikTok videos are fun.

14:32 document yourself through other people

on the internet. much easier than doing it yourself.

→ node [[2022-12-09]]

Friday, 12/09/2022

18:33 taking away and adding structure

Realizing why I wasn't productive with my free time before, and figuring out what i need from it now. My life will be unstructured for the next couple of months before I start full-time work, and I've realized that I need some things every day to ensure that I stay productive, healthy, active and social! Nothing here is complex. Here's the breakdown of things I have to make time for every day:

  • Exercise. 30+ minutes. Can be biking across the city to get to/from somewhere, time at the gym or soccer. I don't feel good without it.
  • Sunlight in the morning. It works. Don't know why. Wakes you up.
  • Cooking at least once: It's super important to practice essential skills every day, and nothing is more beautiful than cooking. Don't buy bullshit. Make it from 'scratch': buy the plants, spice (not spice mixes), and cuts of meat, and make it happen. Worth investigating growing things as well.
  • Completing something I can show to someone else. Having goals or stories or whatever is one thing, but looking at a ton of backend plumbing and saying 'Look! I did that!' is incredibly unsatisfying. As cool as the work is, it's important for that work to matter to someone else. It won't feel satisfying otherwise. Connect it to a UI element, allow someone else to test or read it, publish it on the internet. Regardless of how your stuff gets out there, making it usable by others is the most important step. (This allows you to receive thanks and get feedback - the best motivation and the best way to learn, respectively).
  • Dedicated social time. I need to spend time with someone I care about who I don't see every day, enjoy a concert, or enter an environment where I can meet some cool people. Social energy is incredibly motivating for building and for life - we live for the people in our lives, and any 'work' I do should directly connect to other people. There's no better way to connect to others than to speak to them face-to-face, so this has to happen.
  • 1:1 technical conversation This usually goes hand-in-hand with the 'completing something' point, but may be separate depending on the product. To keep learning about technical topics in breadth or depth, and to advance a career, it's going to be super important to not only learn about innovations, but also to discuss how they work, how they might be implemented, etc. Maybe there's a cool library, or a new mathematical approach to something, or a new paradigm for X; regardless of the details of the conversation, it has to be with another person, one-on-one.
  • [Weekly] 'networking' events. 1:1 works but it's a bit of a crutch, and it's easy to fall into this trap of not meeting any new people. New people are beautiful and there are so many ways that they can benefit you; you're just one person, so meeting another person who cares about what you care about is multiplicative. And maybe you'll meet more! The only way to learn more is to be exposed to more. Also, it's really difficult to cultivate social skills speaking with existing friends; you generally can predict how they'll react or how your interaction will go. The people you meet and spend time with should be new and unexpected. There is no other way to learn.

This could help make a calendar - i.e. "Oh, I have to fill the social gap or the networking gap or the sports gap!" - or something. I do want to explicitly block time out for these things - right now I just do this in my head, but it should make it onto paper someday.

→ node [[2022-12-08]]
→ node [[2022-12-07]]
→ node [[2022-12-06]]
  • a [[day]].
    • I backnoded it -- I worked and then had (end of year) dinner with my team.
    • It was pleasant; I took some pictures which I shared three days later.

Tuesday, 12/06/2022

14:13 making after college

I'll be done with school in a day… (more or less. still have a final to finish, but that final's going to be inconsequential). Have a lot of regrets and a lot of things I'd like to try next.

Ultimately, I over-valued some advice, didn't take other advice into consideration, and didn't pursue what I thought I wanted - and what I'd be best at. I undervalued participation in institution and the value of professors, and realized the value of socialization too late to get a ton out of it. Turns out that participating in institutions, clubs, and organizations is incredibly valuable - as is putting in a lot of effort to make those institutiosn successful. I underrated the value I'd get and receive from those organizations and over-valued "cool" without ever really reaching it.

Why classes? I took advice for skipping out of sections, then comflicting advice to not skip, then ended up wasting a bunch of my time walking around and doing things that didn't really matter - particularly for the first half of college. I may have spent more time mocking some understanding of work at a high level than actually spending the time to understand it - and this is something I really regret. I undervalued the idea that building a supportive community would help me build more, thinking that I could do everything on my own and well - which was a bit of a silly mindset.

Ultimately, "doing the work" and focusing on a reasonable amount of work that I was truly interested in, under a mentor that I respected, would have been far more valuable than fiddling in the dark with different ideas and reading internet threads. I've learned a lot from reading - and learned a lot about how to read and write about technology, consequently - but I haven't actually done the work, and consequently I don't have the in-depth understanding of anything, really, that I'd like to have.

It's not clear that pursuing undergrad right after high school was the best decision for me; working at CDK Global for a minute prior to pursuing college may have made a lot more sense for me and provided me better opportunities.

→ node [[2022-12-05]]
→ node [[2022-12-04]]
→ node [[2022-12-03]]
  • [[ap]]
    • coworking
  • [[agora]]
    • [[agora chapter]]
    • but I didn't sleep well last night so it was a relatively low energy day :)
    • spent some time trying to make [[gephi]] work, but no version I try does -- they all render a blank screen on startup.
    • I'd like to include a graph of the Agora but maybe it isn't to be -- [[force graph]] is very very slow to render the full Agora, although maybe I could do it anyway.
    • I'm betting big or
  • [[world cup]]
    • with friends :)
    • [[ve]] told me about the word [[streber]]
    • [[mpd]]
  • [[agora]]
→ node [[2022-12-02]]
  • Trying out [[logseq]]
    • Longer notes seem to cause major hiccups. Gonna use a shorter format (also seems a better idea in general for nodes)
→ node [[2022-12-01]]
  • #push [[hand byte]]
    • en una mano cabe un [[byte]].
      • I just realized that with one hand one can comfortably signal one byte of information by using all index but the thumb to signal a bit in the following way:
        • place your hands ~30cm away from your face, palms facing your face
        • make a 'call me' sign with the left hand and a 'holding a hand gun' gesture with the right
        • this is [[17]]: 0001 0001 when read left index finger to read index finger, thumbs serving as rest for the fingers set to 0 or sticking out as most comfortable

Thursday, 12/01/2022

01:08 test

New org-journal format works! Wondering if daily files still make the most sense or if it might be better to condense to monthly. Monthly might just be easier to maintain… too many files are hard to manage. Wondering if there is an easy way to merge old org-journal files and preserve the history.

15:10

i want to see a map of my calendar

2022-12-01

  • The local fish'n'chip shop is closing down, due to the cost of rent, energy bills, and general inflation of cost of products. TIL: 75 per cent of the world's sunflower oil used to come from Russia and Ukraine, and 50% of white fish came from Russia. #BritainIsGoingGreat
→ node [[2022-11-30]]
  • "Don't run from things, learn how to [[defend]] them."

Wednesday, 11/30/2022

02:01 the present can be saved

fixing sf, acknowledging real problems, new rennaisance technology develops in stages

(In retrospect, this email makes no sense… I don't understand.)

23:37 more on full time work

I'll get the most out of work if i get all of these coding ideas out of the way before I start; I can focus on generating cool ideas within the company, not outside of it.

Is this giving up on independence? I'm not sure. Dedicating myself to one thing and perfecting it - becoming an expert in something - sounds beautiful. Assuming the goals of the company continue to be beneficial to society at large (whatever this means), my work will be valuable.

Focusing on creative work on the side still makes a lot of sense. I'll have to be super deliberate about separating my personal work with work for the company; the two will have to scratch very different places in my brain, and I won't know what parts of my life will scratch which itches until I start doing them. I like my social life to feel and be cool - it helps with design, it helps with day jobs, and music is beautiful. Working with creative people is out there and fulfilling in a way that technical work cannot be. We'll see if I can tap into the Stockholm scene; I'll give myself six months to do so.

All this said, I want to tie up a lot of loose ends with my work before I go: I want to make that new window manager, improve my text editor, and set the foundations for the technical and social work I want to do going forward. I'll need a usable site to write on - and to develop fast, interactive visualizations with, to properly explain my ideas. I need to develop tools and establish foundations for the work I want to do going forward. Can't start any new things while juggling full-time work, social life and creative work; no loose ends.

→ node [[2022-11-29]]
→ node [[2022-11-28]]
  • [[work]]
  • [[social coop]]
  • [[flancia]]
    • [[agora chapter]]
      • try to do at least one pomodoro of editing in suggestion mode
        • already did this -- it was the first pomodoro of the night!
        • it felt nice to just do it. I had reasons to procrastinate (like emptying the dishwasher and loading it) but I somehow persevered.
    • #push [[yoga with x]]
    • [[UI]]
      • Make better use of [[unicode]] :)

      • #push [[todo]]

        • [[executable subnodes]]
          • can totally work pretty much as is (in the branch) if we have an [[allowlist]]
        • add more effective [[default handler]] to agora server - [ ] it gives errors for /x/y for example, which I've been assuming works for a long while without actually having gone and made it work :)
          • #push [[agora chapter]]
            • my next [[drishti]] -> [[2022-12-04]] is the [[deadline]] for the next iteration
            • answer [[editors]]
              • write email -- this was sent on [[2022-11-27]] in the end
              • answer follow up about the meeting, sounds nice
            • start going through comments and incorporating learnings
            • note that UI improvements can yield more interesting screenshots
              • but at least one screenshot of an agora graph is long due
              • ;)
      • [[containers]]

→ node [[2022-11-27]]
  • A [[place]] to birth [[heroes]], [[explorers]], and [[virtue]]. People to lead us into tomorrow.
  • [[Steven Pressfield]]'s guide to [[writing]]: collapsed:: true
      1. Every [[work]] must be about one thing.
      2. It must have something different about it that catches people's [[attention]] immediately, like in one minute.
      3. Every work must start which something that pushes it along. This must point to the highest part of the story.
      4. It should follow the parts of the [[story]] where things are laid out, put against each other, and brought together through the fight.
      5. Every [[person]] stands for something that is in [[everyone]].
      6. The person of the story must be the [[body]] that is the one thing the work is about.
      7. Anyone [[against]] that person also stands for what is against the one thing the work is about.
      8. The [[fight]] is about the one thing the work is about.
      9. The highest part of the [[story]] settles the one thing.
  • Comment on [[Navy]] vs [[Air Force]] [[command]] [[attitude]]: "can you help me with this" vs "do that or else"
  • On [[Value]] [[Proposition]]: collapsed:: true
    • How will this help the customer [[move]] [[forward]] on their [[path]]? Where are they headed? What would be helpful to go where they're going? [[Where]] are they, exactly, in [[place]] and [[time]]? What is the [[context]]? Where they are tells a little about where they're trying to go [[direction]].
      • IF they are there, where are they [[moving]] to?
      • How can they be helped to get to where they want to go?
      • What do they want to [[feel]]? Remember [[Shigeru Miyamoto]].
      • [[Context]] of when and where they are tells about where they are moving to.
      • No isolated [[event]], these are [[repeated]] and [[continuous]] [[flows]].
    • Whose [[need]]? When? In what [[place]] and [[time]] is it needed? What other [[feelings]] come with that need? What will help get them past what's [[blocking]] them to where they are going? [[Why]] are they doing what they're doing?
        1. What [[progress]] do they [[want]] to achieve?
        2. What's the [[context]] of their climb?
        • who, while doing what, when, where
        1. What's in the way of [[progress]]?
        2. Are they MacGyvering a bandaid solution? Doing nothing at all? What [[improvised]] [[solution]] are they using?
        3. What would they consider a good solution? What would they be willing to give up for it?
      1. What do people [[move]] to go through to get where they are going?
      2. What is in their way of getting where they're going? How can we [[remove]] what's in their way?
      3. What do they [[feel]] about getting to where they want to go?
    • What unmet [[need]] or [[desire]] is there? What are people doing to meet the need with improvised, patchwork solutions? What do people really not want to do that they feel they have to do? Can we [[help]] them avoid that?
    • If your product is not meant to be used for a particular path, it's important to let the potential buyer know beforehand.
    • What are you trying to move to? What's blocking you? What are the people around you trying to move to? What's blocking them?
    • Who is not using your stuff? Where are they trying to go? What could they use from you to get where they're going? Sketch out your customer's [[struggle]] to get to where they're going with a [[storyboard]]. Look for words that indicate a framing of [[timing]]- "every day", "once every two weeks", "because of that I did this", etc.
    • What will they have to get rid of to use your way to get past what's blocking them from going further in their path?
    • What will mitigate the [[anxiety]] of moving to something [[new]]?
    • When do people actually [[use]] what they buy? What's the [[context]] of when they use it?
    • What's the [[story]] of how people will try to go along their path, get blocked, stop what they're already doing to proceed on their path, and use your solution instead?
    • New ideas [[win]] when they [[give]] people an [[experience]] they [[want]].
  • The frustration at the lack of people's willingness to [[change]] contains the key to what they [[want]], and knowing what they want, we can trade that for our [[growth]]. collapsed:: true
    • What will they [[want]] ten years from now? What they are refusing to [[change]] now, despite all [[environmental]] stressors to the contrary.
  • A convenient thing about [[driving]] on the left side of the [[road]] is that the [[driver]] is located on the same side of the [[vehicle]] that the [[heart]] is in the [[body]].
  • The [[religion]] will need to be a [[fundamental]] [[mechanism]] from which an astonishing variety of [[particulars]] can spring from.
  • "One of the [[strategies]] single celled [[organisms]] use is '[[Last in First Out]]'. If the [[cell]] feels [[sick]], the first thing it kicks out is the most recently integrated plasmid."
  • Things that are completely [[stable]] in our [[perception]] disappear. collapsed:: true
    • Part of why we have more than one [[sensor]] is to track [[change]] [[between]] them. So if you can [[measure]] something from [[two]] different points, you can [[track]] how something [[moves]] between the cone of perception in each point. The difference between what each [[eye]] sees lets us perceive [[depth]].
  • If I had two hundred thousand [[dollars]] I would spend 3 hrs a day [[lifting]], 4 hours a day [[walking]] around in the [[mountains]], and 4 hours [[grappling]], [[striking]], and working with [[weapons]].
  • Potential [[weapons]]: collapsed:: true
    • [[Revolvers]]
      • Ruger SP101 .22lr Smith & Wesson Model 17 Smith & Wesson Model 617 Smith & Wesson K-22 Taurus Tracker 992
      • Heritage Revolvers?
    • [[Rifle]]
      • US Survival AR-7
  • [[Maximalist]] with [[opportunity]], how? [[mastery]] collapsed:: true
  • [[Base]]= that which helps generate the [[force]] to [[move]] toward a [[goal]]
  • A [[predator]] needs a [[prey]]'s flight to stimulate [[aggression]], and aggression to stimulate [[eating]].
  • [[Goat]] [[walking]] is the practice of [[surviving]] in a [[harsh]] [[environment]], such as a [[desert]], by simply walking around with two female [[goats]]. Apparently, one can live off the [[milk]] of the goats.
  • People need an [[ideal]] for [[tactical]] [[movements]].
  • [[Friction]] occurs at the [[fulcrum]], so you need to spend more [[energy]] there.
  • "An ordinary [[thief]] steals like a watch, cloth, bag. A [[political]] thief steals your education, your career, your happiness, your joy. The ordinary thieves, they locate any place where they can [[rob]], but the political thieves, they are chosen by us. We [[vote]] them. We have chosen our thieves to rob us. We are totally [[responsible]]."
  • [[Water]] familiarity requirements:
    • 3000m open water swim 50m underwater swim Retrieval of 20lbs weight 2 minutes water tread with weight

Sunday, 11/27/2022

12:00

16:05

Why is JSTOR so frustrating? Have to use it to write this acthitecture paper. Search: I want to search for important usages in research - i.e. "I want a research paper that focuses on Palenque and has an opinion" is basically my criteria now - a perspective piece. JSTOR search is naive and full-text; I will receive literally every essay that has "palenque" and "analysis" (or whatever descriptor I choose to use) as a result, and I have to weed through all of the results to figure out which ones have theses that make particular claims about Palenque.

At the least, if we're going to implement a naive full-text search, I should be able to view results in context - I want to see the 'most significant reference' to Palenque in the text and scan the surrounding paragraph, I want to view the thesis of the work, and I want to be able to assess the 'focus' of a particular article in order to weed out a search result when scanning by it. I want search to be better so that I have to do less work.

2022-11-27

→ node [[2022-11-26]]
  • My set [[drishti]] currently.
    • ([[29]] encodes [[drishti]], the concept, but it points to another day -- in this case I had it set to 2022-11-26, a [[Saturday]].)
  • [[agora]]
    • [[garden]]
      • Worked on [[prime]] just for the fun of it.
      • Led to resuming long paused [[executable subnode]] work -- fun stuff!
    • [[agora server]]
      • It wasn't clear what the right way to implement the above; for now I'm going the [[push]] path, as that's one place where costly stuff gets calculated.
  • [[social coop]]
  • [[flancia]]
    • [[eight pomodoros for the revolution]]
    • but first, [[yoga]]: [[go/move/26]] :)
    • [[pomodoros]]
      • morning and early afternoon
        • did laundry
        • social coop: cloudflare password reset and password store update
        • social coop: added edsu to password store
        • did [[yoga]] with [[l]]
      • evening -> tomorrow
        • containers is the default focus?
          • my [[drishti]] was set to today (26)
          • [[agor.ai]] wildcard cert and nginx configuration?
          • make Dockerfile take an Agora directory in the host, like it is common practice it seems
          • bring up [[bonfire]] and/or [[takahe]] ~ [[Takahē]]
          • bring up something in jointhefederation.org
            • My default would be an Agora ;) It can be served by federation.agor.ai.
        • #push [[2022-11-27]]
          • moa party -> twg (offer, already synced with [[bmann]])
        • [[bouncepaw]]
          • domain renewal
            • advanced
        • [[agora]]
          • [[UI]]
            • [[executable subnodes]]
              • can totally work pretty much as is (in the branch) if we have an [[allowlist]]
            • add more effective [[default handler]] to agora server
              • it gives errors for /x/y for example, which I've been assuming works for a long while without actually having gone and made it work :)
          • #push [[agora chapter]]
            • my next [[drishti]] -> [[2022-12-04]] is the [[deadline]] for the next iteration
            • answer [[editors]]
              • write email
            • start going through comments and incorporating learnings
            • note that UI improvements can yield more interesting screenshots
              • but at least one screenshot of an agora graph is long due
    • [[fractal football]] :)
  • [[27]]
  • #push [[commons]]

Saturday, 11/26/2022

21:30

I've been thinking about winning. I love feeling the drive to win. I want to be able to summon up some feeling, some content that puts me in a particular state of mind… that gives me the determination to do something impactful and important. A motivational speech or something… how valuable would this be? How do we productize motivation? The ability to motivate everyone - as I suppose some content creators attempt to leverage traditional socials for - would be beautiful. (The other implications of such a technology - invoking compassion, revisiting loss, experiencing love - are just as valuable).

I've been seeing a lot of this content lately. Sports, and any other athletic work (as opposed to knowledge work) needs motivation; you need to be the best in the world at that moment, or at least good enough to beat that other team. Jamaal Williams speech from Hard knocks touched me recently… I didn't care at all about football until I saw him feel so strongly about the Lions - and so passionate about his position and his team. Likewise, the news that George Hotz has flipped from Comma AI (a company that aims to both "make driving chill" and "win self-driving cars") to Twitter after Elon's takeover with a desire to revolutionize the platform and impact what's most important, has had me flip through some writing of his discussing his - and, by extension, the Comma - philosophy.

Key takeaways:

  • Real life is the best game anyone can play. To me, this contrast is like living in Coq and writing POPL papers vs. freeballing with Common Lisp or JS at a startup. Video games, sports and type theory have simple, beautiful axioms, whether they're "get the ball into the goal with no hands" or the "Calculus of Inductive Constructions", and allow players to derive and develop complex strategies from them, often - in sports in particular - allowing the exploration of those constraints to evolve the game itself (with patches of an exceptional nature, similar to the law; Preston [enlightened me](https://twitter.com/prestonattebery/status/1596653459721576449 ) about the depth of the game of basketball here, for example).

    Those ideas are beautiful, and they derive some ideas from reality to approximate it - but, notably, they aren't. My stack of Coq proofs failed to consider that someone pouring water on my verified PCB would take my lightbulb machine out. Someone recently pointed out to me that we tend to over-correct or over-assume that skills we develop under different models will extend or apply to others, often in an attempt to justify that perfecting an easy task will help perfect a difficult one, but this doesn't work. Tasks done in direct support of the real deliverable - say, practicing shooting on goal to hone your shot accuracy for a real game of football - will pay off, but unless performed deliberately in support of an end, some means like squatting at the gym to focus on hamstrings may not actually correct your poor footwork in the penalty box if that problem isn't your biggest blocker.

    A lot of software systems will let you fall down this trap, too; fighting the typechecker to justify things is probably the biggest example of this today. In "Stop Writing Dead Programs", Jack Rusher hammers this home better than anyone else. Types can construct games that can be played, but they don't construe real, runnable code; you're justifying your work against a pretty abstraction of reality that lives in type theory, not the practical world that your product occupies. His thesis, which I echo here, is that improving the "liveness" of your system is the biggest improvement you can make to your development process. Getting end-to-end testable and runnable code into the real world as soon as possible, testing by running against a real system with real people and getting feedback, is the only thing that matters; otherwise, you're playing the typechecker's game, the abstractor's, or the reasearcher's rather than testing against reality. You want your code to effect real change in the world - so you should test it that way too.

  • Make knowledge freely available to encourage progress and competition. Comma AI is completely open-source, robust software, built for anyone to use to augment an existing tool; this is central to its value proposition. Any auto manufacturer or wannabe self-driving car startup can download Comma, throw it in their vehicle, and ship a "Powered by Comma" (MIT license abiding) self-driving system of their own. Hotz recognizes the significant surplus of value that's given away and doesn't really care - everyone should have access to the knowledge, and he has the confidence that his team will directly outcompete anyone forking and selling his stuff. if someone kills them at self-driving, they deserve to win, and the mission of true self-driving cars is accomplished anyways; company finances are secondary.

    Likewise, if my car isn't supported by Comma, I'm free to add support to its control system to the software to make it work. The job of the company is to develop the technology necessary to allow cars to drive themselves; if I want it, my job is to make my car drive itself. I can buy the devkit and make it work. Dozens of people have. The ability for anyone to fix anything creates demonstrable value for the company and for people. Adding my car isn't some one-off hack; it's a way to let anyone with my car use this self-driving system without additional work. Everyone wins.

  • Solve only the problem you need to. Comma deliberately applied specific constraints at the outset: their product is, and has always aimed to be, a single plug-and-play hardware box that augments your car without modification. The entire system has been developed with this constraint in mind.

    Other companies all hijack their hardware in some way; some make design affordances in existing vehicles and play the game of car collaborations to weasel their infrastructure in, others happen to be the car company, and one company is building their own car from scratch to make the thing happen.

    Guess whose software benchmarks best?

The importance of people - through their writing, words and actions - to motivate others cannot be underscored. Blue Lock - at its face a manga about soccer - has been particularly motivational for me; whether this is wholly the intention of the author, I'm not sure, but my tenure as a mediocre soccer player from 6-18 absolutely plays a role (my relationship with the sport was something I'd always done).

Sure, games aren't real life, but the way in which Kaneshiro distills the sport into its motivating factors with the deliberate intent of imparting inspiration is fascinating. I pick up a chapter, watch Yoichi kill it in another match by deliberately observing his faults, then looking at what others do to improve himself and win, and feel like I can be the best at something. I'm not going to win self-driving cars like Hotz, but I'll be fighting to improve the world of agriculture - and, in the meantime, I'll become a damn good produce developer.

→ node [[2022-11-25]]

=======

Stashed changes

Friday, 11/25/2022

14:31 react coding

i want an editor plugin that, when hovering over a react component or a css class, highlights the dom node in the browser that this react component or css class applies to. identifying and recustomizing boxes i've created in my code on the dom is probably the most common thing i do, and it's insane that i have to inspect element and search or something to re-identify these things. i want to go FAST.

concretely, this can be implemented by a web extension (or injected code in dev environment) that opens a socket to a pipe, and my editor opens some connection to the other end of that. tracing the generated dom nodes and such things - especially with all the bundling going on - is quite hard though…

→ node [[2022-11-23]]
→ node [[2022-11-22]]
→ node [[2022-11-21]]

2022-11-21

→ node [[2022-11-20]]
  • to start the day, catch up with the notifications from ~2d ago in the Fediverse!
  • I will do [[pomodoros]] today.
  • [[coffee]] with [[h]], it was great!
  • cleaned floors.
  • [[ap]] visiting, we'll do [[coworking]].
    • [[pomodoros]].
      • [[containers]]
        • [[docker]]
        • #push [[social]]
          • [[agor.ai]] ~ [[agor ai]] ~ [[agorai]]
            • brought up social.agor.ai, fotl.agor.ai, shamanic.agor.ai and a bunch of other subdomains
            • nice that because of how I have [[nginx]] set up, anything I point to hypatia serves an [[agora]] by default ;)
        • update [[agorai]]
          • it turns out this was hanging on flimsy wires, nginx in a container... which apparently isn't a good idea.
          • went with nginx on bare metal, it has advantages
          • #push [[podman]] on [[hypatia]]
        • [[activitypub]]
          • read the node in the agora
          • read the standard
          • read a tutorial
          • set up ap.anagora.org?
            • -> social.anagora.org actually :)

Sunday, 11/20/2022

01:56 how am i learning

say no all the time make a tight feedback loop have a clear objective design education is good

(I have no idea what this means or what I was thinking about at the time.)

→ node [[2022-11-19]]
  • starting this [[saturday]] well with [[yoga at midnight]] :)
  • [[fediverse]]
  • had [[coffee]] with an amazing new [[friend]]!
    • walked around town, it was great.
  • #push [[2022-11-20]] as well
  • now I will try to do [[pomodoros]] for the [[kind revolution]].
    • [[fediverse]] as the potential scenario for the revolution.
      • [[social coop]]
        • bring up [[vps]]
          • price comparison
            • hetzner: 16gb four cores for 20 euro/month
            • digital ocean: having issues logging in (it send otp to an email address that is not what I expected)
              • solved issues, email aliases are adminned in [[webarchs]] and they control all inbound email to @social.coop emails.
              • logged in and confirmed droplets are more than twice as expensive as hetzner cloud (double the price for a server with half the ram).
            • -> going with hetzner
          • #push [[twg]]
            • server [[hypha]] 65.109.133.225, a vps for experiments \o/
          • get logins for hetzner/digital ocean
            • look in pass
        • then bring up [[docker]] and [[docker compose]]
      • [[gotosocial]]?
        • or look into that python library; it will help me...
      • [[containers]]
        • containerize moa
        • update agor.ai to latest
        • read about how to deploy code to containers -- I think [[protean]] said running git pull within the container is reasonable.
    • [[agora]]
      • shift focus to [[agora api]] so that all bots can write through a unified interface
    • [[personal]]
    • write this plan ([[pomodoro 0]] / [[bootstrap]].)
      • [[meta]] this is closer to 16 pomodoros than to 8 for sure if mapped 1:1, but really rather atomic, so this seems maybe doable today.
        • likely ~1/3rd or maybe half will probably happen only tomorrow though, and that'd be fine :)
  • [[flancia]]
→ node [[2022-11-18]]
→ node [[2022-11-17]]
→ node [[2022-11-16]]

2022-11-16

  • Listened: [[Ecosocialism and the ecological crisis]]
    • Good discussion around the degrowth and Green New Deal strands within ecosocialism - their tensions and their overlaps. Also a bit around nuclear power and solar radiation management and their problems.
→ node [[2022-11-15]]

Tuesday, 11/15/2022

19:19 mostly thursday

The guy sitting next to me during "problem play", which i volunteered to usher (excellent, by the way) tried to pass me a note to deliver to "Megan" (his quotations, written on a torn sheet of paper). I didn't know any of the people acting, so I told him that all of the actors would be waiting outside of the theater after the show.

Stopping by Aigo was a good time. Glad I know so many people doing such cool things. Have to step it up myself : ) always get more done than expected but less than desired…

20:24 what if

make puzzle game that disguises lemmas. reminds me of supermutation problem solved by a poster on 4chan; we can embed scientific problems into some puzzle game and see what happens. maybe we can make this game online and do some semi-automated conversion of lemmas that people have to solve into the online puzzle game to see who can get them! they might not be the hardest things to do but they can be cool.

The Haruhi Problem | sci - Math & Science Wiki | Fandom: Copied from 4chan to this wiki. Can find an archive of the original post at this link: sci - Science & Math.

→ node [[2022-11-14]]
→ node [[2022-11-13]]

2022-11-13

  • Upgraded [[orgzly]].

    • Nice to see it seems to be actively developed again.
    • Got an error from f-droid: No versions with compatible signature
      • Think it was because I'd installed a different custom build previously.
    • New version looks different! I'll get used to it.
  • Listened: [[Pakistan Floods and COP 27 with Asad Rehman]]

    • On the [[2022 Pakistan floods]]. The paucity of the global response and the effects of debt servitude - the majority of Pakistan's taxes go on debt repayment.
→ node [[2022-11-12]]

2022-11-12

→ node [[2022-11-11]]
→ node [[2022-11-10]]
  • [[work]]
    • last meeting is at [[8pm]]
  • what then?
    • I think I'll try to continue coding [[agora bot]] to feature parity for Mastodon? Or maybe just write.

Thursday, 11/10/2022

13:42 arch

Finally understanding translucency: still believe that it's important for everything to be public and open, but translucent structures allow everything but the current focus to be blurred or obscured. This is so widely used in modern software development - especially with respect to the interface of the iphone - that it makes natural sense to also obscure everything in your environment except what you're focusing on. It's still important not to hide objects entirely in drawers or behind doors, but the ability to obscure all but what's currently being focused on allows you to focus in your space more effectively without distraction.

Need to stop spending time with freinds so late at night: 10PM is okay, but 1PM is absolutely not… it's destroying my sleep schedule and productivity before noon, which is the most important part of the day if we're talking getting things done..

→ node [[2022-11-09]]
→ node [[2022-11-08]]
  • [[work]]
  • what can I do after work?
    • catch up with some messages a bit / answer some people, like [[scott fenley]]'s (sp?)
    • yoga (this has been happening even when I don't write about it, which is nice)
  • #push [[history of the ancient world]]
    • enjoying this by [[susan wise bauer]] a lot.
    • up to chapter forty now
    • three founding aspects for the ancient greek nation identity:
      • the [[illiad]] and the [[odyssey]]
      • the shared building and upkeep of notable temples (shared between cities, including those far away from the sites)
      • the olympic games (which arose in a particular temple/as a ritual)

Tuesday, 11/08/2022

23:20 Usual day

Godel's completeness theorem this morning, followed by some waffling and some wandering and some email clearing and some unrelated work. Glad the wiki is mostly shaping up; occasionally performing some BFS "groom" of the system is already paying dividends. Learning a lot about my writing, how to keep it terse and focused and cut and cut and cut until I get to what really matters.

Still believe that computing and education is one of the biggest problems to be solved today, but not as big as the energy crisis. What else is there that can be solved outside of governance?

Not sure where I stand on "cool". Cool is a great way to understand what people find culturally interesting, and it's this pyramid of obsession with cool that peaks with characters who make meaningful creative contributions, but is really held together by those who act as "glue", showing up to every party and knowing everyone interesting and connecting them to one another and to people who are ostensibly "less cool". Chasing cool seems silly for my role, but incidental cool seems incredibly useful.

Noticing that I usually have a great decision making ability after a few minutes of insight; my first impression is usually not correct, but continuing to waffle wastes a ton of time for me without producing any reasonable insight. The boots I buy really don't matter that much, but I think I've made the right decision for something sustainable and repairable going forward that'll fit my look (a bit academic, a bit Rick, a bit retro; as if I stepped out of Apple's R&D in the 80s but someone threw Ricks on my feet). Leveraging traditional "educational" looks with interesting sillhouettes. Still waffling about making clothing down this path. No graphics though. Or very few. Just make impulse purchases, rotate them through, and drop them when they don't fit the wardrobe. Gym will come through soon enough.

Still dreaming about compact function stores and lisp methods of computing. I'll build these. Window manager as papertian metaphor still interesting, but definitely have to use browser DOM and run some JS to render these things. My compromise will be not using React and building my own thing. Maybe I'll come up with some novel notion of state but I'll probably reimplement reactive programming somewhere down the line.

In same vein as cool - maybe optimizing for cash is good. Short term it's great to have more flexibility and choice in life. Long term it gives you more options, choices and agency. Cost is that you "compromise" by optimising for arbitrage that makes money without providing value; fear is that you are capturing far more value than you are creating for others without working towards some global goal. Lots of very smart people spend their whole lives working on very noble projects that don't matter, though - maybe these contributions to the literature are okay, and who's to say who knows what's worth betting on - not me.

23:44 teaching is social problem

so much of teaching computers is social. most of the teachers i know when faced with teaching computing are going to ask the people they know and their friends, and the acquaintance who works at intel is going to tell them that yeah, I use C, and my buddies all do machine learning python things, and the teacher is going to take one look at smalltalk or gtoolkit or "beginner student language" and say fuck, i'll read some coding bootcamp medium articles and teach my kids how to program with the C language. hard to express or understand that what is in vogue now isn't necessarily the best for learning from first principles, and may not be necessary for learning at all now or forever because tech changes so so so so fast. can't sell another language or framework or technology to teachers unless they're particularly inventive or agentic. this is a social problem reliant on external perceptions of computing; because people don't understand their computers beyond these programming language things and hacking and terminals, then also use these complete apps, they never develop agency for themselves and as such never really understand what it is to control something they own, and never really understand what it means to control another comptuer and use computing with agency. it's vicious!

→ node [[2022-11-07]]
  • delivered an iteration on [[agora chapter]] very early today to the editors :)
  • [[work]]
    • meh
    • but alright
  • This week looks tricky; I need to do my [[tax return]] by Friday (ideally by Thursday), and I can't really take a day off work as I have at least one crucial meeting to attend every day. Oh well. I'll do it in a half day?

Monday, 11/07/2022

09:53 birthday weekend

23 now. feels old; margot reminded me that 23 feels like a real adule age, where you have no excuses for being a kid and doing silly things or have any presumed institution shielding you from the real world. 23 is real; it's an age where I feel culpable for anything that happens, where I feel completely responsible for my world. i've wanted this kind of agency for a long time, and it feels both isolating and liberating - most and more aspects of my life are direct consequences of my actions rather than downstream from something set in motion not entirely under my control. this is good if i leverage it.

party at mine friday night after some late-night computer-aided reasoning homework; i'm getting tired of these events. i just want the space to create. saturday was margot and book fair (beautiful, inspirational work) and sitting in a park and reading mindstorms while watching berklee jazz musicians in Titus Sparrow park. the south end is beautiful, historic, and reminds me a bit of new york's east village; the otherwise haphazard buildings have a uniquely uniform brownstone look to them, the community feels incredibly diverse, and the nature makes the place feel incredibly pleasant to walk in. music playing out of windows and in streets. weird vegan places though. that fomu cookie tasted like a terrible granola bar.

reading mindstorms and helping arman learn web from scratch on sunday was enlightening; for one, starting with a client+server web application is a disgusting requirement for people learning to develop; if you thrust people into the deep end of software development, they'll drown and give up. i've seen this in oasis time and time again, in friends who copy pasted demos then never touched a line of code afterwards, in students of matthias' software development course who had no idea what the hell any of their code was doing when they presented it.

i buy that tools like replit and glitch.me make today's software development experiences more accessible for others; they allieviate the static costs of setting up development environments and hosting that keep people from building today's real-world, deployable software with today's tools. as a general educational device, though, these tools fall short; they allow anyone to be able to code and develop software from any sort of device - which is beautiful. they don't take the next step of learning through coding, though. papert's book intends to develop this symbiotic relationship between programming the computer and understanding the fundamental laws of our world through the robust development of analogy and the view that, in essence, learning is debugging some model you have with preconceptions about the world. No doubt, I've used robust systems like MIT Scratch, code.org and Lego Mindstorms with the express intention of conveying papert's work by starting with (literally) the concept of turtle graphics, but they throw away any notion of more developed physics simulations by continuing to encourage their users to memorize notation about class names and concrete syntax.

the coding environments and their silly little games in a sandbox are cute, but they never teach kids to break out - anecdotally, i built a little model operating system in scratch in the sixth grade with a friend - complete with garbage can and painting program - but proceeded to drop computer programming for years because i felt like i had hit the limits of the medium (and i had; the program was 5 mb, somehow maxed out the CPU power of the devices I had access to at the time, and occasionally crashed the scratch VM). I didn't program for years afterwards for this reason - that i no longer saw a path forward with the skills i'd developed through this programming environment - and because i had an incredible amount of difficulty attempting to translate the skills i'd developed with this model of a programming system to other models, like python, at the time. (this then opens up another box - the "which programming language should i use?" one - that keeps you on the edge and encourages you to dip your toes in different pools and youtube videos and blogs without diving in. I honestly think my world would have been simpler if someone cut off the internet, passed me a common lisp textbook, and told me to start writing). I ended up exploring other cultural avenues through the consumption of fashion, music, photography and design media, but taking a break from software set me so far back that i fear i'll never catch up to some of my peers - and the math and science misunderstandings i have might not be recoverable.

i don't want this to happen to other people. i want people to use learning tools that translate into real-world, deployable, "adult" things that feel no different than what is real. it's silly to me that there is this divide between educational tools and pragmatic ones; the transition should be seamless and obvious. (and provides opportunities for income… pay for hosting at a domain, for example).

should also encourage computing agency. introduce a metaphor for the desktop not as a way to open programs others have created, but as a programming environment where all of the code in the windows is code you can write and fiddle with and explore. my hypothesis is that building this metaphor and extending it to real, production software capabilities will improve learning and product development demonstrably. the sandbox should expand to the browser, to the operating system, and to shipping products in the real world.

→ node [[2022-11-06]]

2022-11-06

"As for the possibility of counter-hegemonic alternatives, one avenue of exploration focuses on commons-based appropriation of the Stack that aims at negating money-based exchange mechanisms"

"As far as "communication power" is a central means of coordination and control, it is significant to "reprogram communication networks" by building a "communication society as a society of the commons""

I'm in!

→ node [[2022-11-05]]
→ node [[2022-11-04]]
  • [[lady burup]]
    • I took our Lady of the Burups to the vet this morning; she didn't like being in her carrier at first, but then seemed not to be too stressed during the walk to the vet, and we were back soon enough. She seemed happy to be back :) All in all I'm glad I stopped procrastinating and did this for her (she needed to get a vaccine booster).
  • [[work]]
    • fine.
  • [[meditation]]
    • The virtual half-day [[meditation retreat]] (in [[waking up]]) I thought was today is actually tomorrow! This threw my weekend plans into a bit of a chaos, but that's alright.
  • [[social coop]]
    • [[moa]]
      • discussed the possibility of merging moa into [[social coop]] if both parties are willing with [[boris mann]], he was open to it!
  • [[agora]]
→ node [[2022-11-03]]

Thursday, 11/03/2022

11:14

Weird day. Cleared out most of the trash from this wiki - but a lot of my own prose still has to be worked over. I can revisit those things when I'm ready to. Looking back at my software development progress, I'm realizing that saving and reading things for two years doesn't mean anything; I would have learned far more if I'd written code and iterated on it in a focused manner. Best time to start is the present.

By the Christian Science Center walking home, I spoke to a couple of people participating in a drug deal; he was in his thirties, maybe 6'2" and with rough, acne-scarred skin across his face when he asked me if I wanted some. Shook my head and walked away before subjecting myself to 7-11 pizza - maybe whatever was in that bag would have been healthier for me.

→ node [[2022-11-02]]

Wednesday, 11/02/2022

23:35 back at it

realizing the value of keeping a daily journal now. will forget too much otherwise.

i spent the morning cleaning out some links from this wiki - something that's become incredibly valuable. learning to actually read and synthesize links i've pushed around for so many years is an important skill - i was sorting information, but not synthesizing it, earlier. learning to combine ideas into essays and essays into actionable goals is something i'm actively practicing through going through old links and building up a small, tight-knit batch of essays that i plan on iterating on forever.

Lunch with Luke. Very quickly realized that he has a much stronger understanding of what matters than I do; each word is concise and deliberate, whereas I felt like I was grasping for ideas that I was excited by but didn't fully understand. Tons of control over time. Reminds me of people like Ben. This excited bouncing around between different disciplines and getting an ear of new ideas isn't cutting it anymore - people I like the work of are becoming my peers, and they've done far more work - not reading essays or scrolling twitter or whatever - than I have.

Acting class: unimportant. I made a couple of comments about the play that weren't exactly true and felt bad for not knowing better when reviewing the work during the course. I should have been more focused when reading. Had to bail on project meeting with Pete due to missed prioritizations over the course of the last few days. Work with Ryan was not the most focused, but we made clear progress; our disorganized DP code reflects this.

Spent the evening working through this wiki for a few hours; clicking links, writing down and saving what really matters. That's all.

→ node [[2022-10-31]]
  • [[work]]
    • took the morning off, which was great; I loved starting Monday "on my terms". I meditated, bootstrapped some things around the house, etc.
    • looking to finish work at 7pm and transitioning to...
      • (this was more like 8pm)
  • [[social coop]]
    • [[tech working group]] meeting
      • nobody else showed up for a while, I left early and thus I missed on someone else joining! morale: stay for a while longer next time.
    • and then...
      • I wanted to continue with the following, but I instead felt very low energy and a bit sad.
      • and I realized I needed to work on social.coop [[cwg]] issues and do some money transfers related to the project instead of working on the Agora tonight.
  • [[agora]] (probably tomorrow)
    • [[agora chapter]]
      • continue resolving comments, mainly transforming remaining bullet point hierarchies to long form text.
      • write a short section on similar projects.
→ node [[2022-10-30]]
  • [[30]]
    • Thinking about the transition from October to November and the transition from Julian to Gregorian calendar affecting dates related to the [[Russian Revolution]] of October/November 1917.
    • This also caused by my recently having started to read [[China Mieville]]'s book on the revolution :)
  • [[agora]]
    • #push [[agora chapter]] deadline today, let's see how far I get! today I hope to start early and finish late.
      • General [[patterns]] identified by the editors
        • #G1 too many links / links which aren't explicitly wikilinks
          • Strategy: cut links by 50%, add back [[wikilink markers]] for all remaining links (makes me "pay for them" in a way)
        • #G2 should address the reader of the book more than the user of an Agora
        • #G3 lacking information on similar initiatives/prior work
        • #G4 should be less of a manifesto and more a concrete description of the system that integrates PKGs
        • #G5 lacks cohesion, add transitional paragraphs
        • #G6 repetition
        • #G7 Agora discussed as having agency (might be OK, but might also be confusing)
        • #G8 use of bullet points which should be written as long form text
  • #push [[flancia]]
  • working on [[agora chapter]] tonight
    • did four pomodoros already, got a bit sidetracked but not too much I believe. trying to improve cohesion.
    • still need to get rid of many bullet points sections, but the good thing about working on narrative first (beginning to some point) is that some of those bullet point lists might not be necessary.
    • Moving anything that feels like it doesn't belong in this first published document (if it gets published) to [[agora chapter 2]] -- a sort of scratch space :)
→ node [[2022-10-29]]

If you remember something about this whole project maybe make it that [[in flancia there is an agora]].

→ node [[2022-10-28]]

2022-10-28

  • "The more I reflect on these facts, the more I perceive that the evolutionary approach to adaptation in social systems simply will not work any more. . . . It has therefore become clear to me over the years that I am advocating revolution"

– Stafford Beer quoted in [[Cybernetic Revolutionaries]]

→ node [[2022-10-27]]
  • [[work]]
    • took the day off, but still did 1h of work to make sure things kept moving in the right direction. I don't regret it.
    • plan to do the same [[tomorrow]].
    • [[project update]] (this was a pomodoro around 9pm)
  • [[flancia]]
    • meditated in the morning, it helped a lot as usual :) yesterday I didn't do it and I think I probably should have.
    • [[agora]]
      • [[agora doc]] is the top priority for this weekend, but I'd also like to keep it fun by shipping some easy improvements to the Agora UX.
        • I'm tracking those in paper mostly at home, but the top and likely easiest is to reintroduce filenames in subnode headings. Since hiding them I feel the interface is less clear. The Agora is retro, so we might as well use that -- and I think keeping it obvious that each subnode is a separate file probably helps.
      • #push [[pomodoros]]
  • [[poetics]]
  • went to the [[brocki]] ~ [[bröcki]], it was great
    • came back with a significant amount of great [[loot]], and I met interesting people
    • [[helveta]] foundation (sp?)
  • [[yoga]]
  • [[l]]
  • [[ap]]
  • [[june]]

I'd really love to get the Agora (meaning anagora.org) fast again :) When it is fast (like when you hit a worker with a cached graph, which currently serves within ~0.2s it feels great; when it isn't it goes definitely into the frustrating territory (~9s). But I think it'll have to wait until EOY, realistically, maybe.

→ node [[2022-10-26]]

Welcome my friends! This is an episode of Yoga with X. If you like this, please consider revisiting: anagora.org/yoga-with-x.

(I'll be back in five minutes. Enjoy the song! This is from https://anagora.org/flancia-playlist , which here can be shortened to [[flancia playlist]])

I hope you liked the song! I'll now do [[yoga with adriene]].

→ node [[2022-10-25]]
→ node [[2022-10-24]]
  • [[work]]
    • my project
  • [[tax return]]
    • official reminder apparently got to the post office -- need to go pick it up
  • [[veterinary appointment]]
    • didn't call today as I started the day with meetings, will try to call tomorrow morning
  • [[ap]]
  • [[ladee]]
  • [[yoga with x]]
    • late but still nice :)
  • An industrial forklift [[battery]] costs between $2000 and $6000. They are said to be the best option for [[power]].
  • No one [[understands]] X, but few admit it. When [[ignorance]] is admitted, [[learning]] happens.
  • Some [[plants]] need high [[selenium]] in the [[soil]] to [[grow]], and so can be used to gauge the selenium levels in the land.

Monday, 11/20/2022

13:45 how to last forever

outlooks on preserving information and culture over generations

  • shinto temple: rebuild frequently, teaching generations craftsmanship. this is the folk craftsmanship model, down to the inefficient techniques
  • greek/roman/italian rennaisance sculpture: building things once, then maintaining them forever. reverence for the original creator, but the processes of construction may not last - just the final artifact
→ node [[2022-10-23]]
  • Sunday at home :)
    • A day with [[Lady Burup]].
    • Welcome my friends to [[yoga with x]]!
    • Yoga with X is an interactive social experiment. Feel free to engage with it in any ways that make you happy :)
    • [[go/move/23]] means anagora.org/go/move/23 in your browser.
    • Have a nice day!
  • Lots to [[do]]!
    • home / self care / Burup
      • do laundry
      • talk to mom
      • talk to [[b]]
      • [[garbage collect]] tabs, windows, etc. (long time coming)
    • vote for akshay's proposal / catch up with [[twg]] / determine if I can make tomorrow's meeting
    • plan further pomodoros?
    • [[agora]]
      • #push [[agora doc]]
        • proposed a specific [[deadline]] to editors: they had said to take 2w on a Wednesday, taking until the Sunday after that ([[2022-10-30]]) but looking to be finished by Saturday ideally ([[2022-10-29]]
        • resume working on comments in [[agora doc]] today
        • copy it (snapshot) then go to town based on comments
        • edit
      • buy automatic feeder
      • write
        • did [[catharsis]] through some bad poetry online :)
        • wrote to friends as well and that felt nice
        • went back to [[flaneur]] in [[merveilles]] after more than a year; it felt nice to be back.
        • I want to catch up with some threads there
      • #push [[agora development]]
        • ship one improvement?
          • auto pull social after some seconds?
          • auto pull stoa in empty nodes?
          • bring up twitter bot -> [[fix bot for ivo]]
            • it was up, for some reason Ivo's post is not being seen. might need to write a 'scrape one user' "one-shot" mode -- maybe doing per user timelines is actually a good idea.
            • this is not the first time the bot has issues with Ivo's posts. I have no idea why they're not showing up in the bots' timeline -- according to the Twitter API anyway. The bot is following Ivo, I checked.
            • writing a [[one shot]] mode which takes a timeline to scrape+react to (if we haven't reacted previously) sounds like a reasonable next step at this point; it'd also make [[catch up]] better to have this code. iterating
  • #push [[2022-11-10]]
→ node [[2022-10-22]]
→ node [[2022-10-21]]
  • Welcome :)
  • Trying to do [[four pomodoros]] on the way to [[Lausanne]] tonight.
    • [[work]]
    • [[plan]]
    • work
      • roadmap
    • #push [[2022-10-23]]
      • [[agora server]]
      • [[agora doc]]
        • review and act on some comments
      • write / do catharsis :)
      • [[agora bridge]]
        • determine and advance next action for one/more of:
          • add writing from the web interface / a web editor for the agora
          • move bots to not writing locally, calling the [[agora api]]
          • getting a bridge up and running for [[agor.ai]]
      • write to [[marc antoine]], [[jerry michalski]], [[mathew lowry]]
      • agor.ai
        • look for how to 'integrate' git repositories into a podman image in a nice way; currently the [[dockerfile]] just does git clone and starts services, but this means code updates require destroying + recreating the container; on the other hand it keeps the agora 'reproducible'
          • note this is not true for bot contributions, which are currently written locally in anagora.org, but the idea is to make bot writes go through the API server.
        • get agor.ai into a usable state (with bot contributions; an actual mirror of anagora.org garden/stream wise, plus maybe a different/additional agora root repo with documentation focusing on how to run an [[agora network]] in its subdomains?
    • #push [[2022-10-22]]
    • Some [[random thoughts]] follow.

What if I just did dev work on [[agor.ai]]? I just saw that I have the dev configuration running on it already; and I've been meaning to turn up the new agoras for some time now, although instead a lot of my time has gone to work, to social life, and now again to [[agora doc]].

I also have a dev thread pending for both components -- see todo list above. Combining these three threads would make it fun, I think, and inter-motivating in some sense.

[[Agora doc]] must for sure be advanced too, as I have many comments to review and address, and I welcome the time [[this weekend]] will afford me to do so.

→ node [[2022-10-20]]
  • What is the number of [[parts]] that this [[whole]] have that can be easily taken out and put back in? [[maintenance]]
→ node [[2022-10-19]]
→ node [[2022-10-18]]
→ node [[2022-10-17]]

Monday, 10/17/2022

21:06 gym crash

hitting the gym after being sick on and off for a week. i'm pretty conservative with what i lift because i don't have a spot, so i decided to go 20 over my regular - fuck it, 125 out of nowhere. first set was great but i struggled on the last rep. someone told me i had good form (you're looking good man, do you want a spot? i saw you struggling on that last one). i said thank you without elaboration. go back to the bench, give it a sec and i fail on 125 - drop back to 105. why? there was no physical tiredness. i think his comment just killed me, even though it was positive; it broke my meditative state.

→ node [[2022-10-16]]
  • Had [[fondue]] last night with friends
  • Earlier we had great coffee as well, [[l]] was around. I miss her!
  • We then went to [[Basel]] with [[b]] and [[an]] today, it was beautiful.
  • [[ladee]]
    • Special weekend!
  • #push [[agora]]
    • #push [[agora writing]]
    • #push [[agora development]]
      • set up local dev environment in the train
      • [[better search]]?
        • what's a quantum of better search? it's pretty bad right now; e.g. [[poetry install]] would not bring up [[install poetry]]
          • would re-adding fuzzy matching fix this?
          • should I implement a simple search algorithm myself for the purpose of understanding how to solve this?
            • tokenization -> compute combinations is trivial but expensive
            • -> [[bag of words]] is cheap
              • this actually requires defining what is the source of truth for [[equivalence class]] and for [[proximity]] between nodes
              • I've always wanted to think of Agora search as as an exploration within a certain [[radius]] of an inferred center of gravity; maybe this is distance in some embedding?
                • -> [[edit distance]]
                  • seems like an interesting approach to explore next
        • [[auto pull wikipedia]] sort of also tackles this in a totally different direction, in particular if we extend it to [[wikidata integration]]: if wikidata surfaces an entity for us, volunteer its type; if the entity is far from the current node in an interesting way, maybe [[auto pull]] it as well after some time.
        • if I'm adding auto pull maybe it's time to make [[settings]] clearer, in particular have an easy toggle for auto pull to trigger or not (leads to [[agora autopilot]] maybe, which I've always thought could be very fun.)
→ node [[2022-10-15]]
  • #push [[2022-10-21]]
    • maybe today code?
      • [[go/move/now]]?
      • [[graph/testing]] should serve just the [[context]] div
      • autopull wp after some time unless cancelled; autopull stoa in empty nodes; also promote?
  • time with [[friends]]!
    • it is great.
    • it was indeed great :)
→ node [[2022-10-14]]
→ node [[2022-10-13]]
→ node [[2022-10-11]]
  • When does [[violence]], or a high [[energy]] overflow, happen? It rarely happens, relative to non-violence.
    • [[Social]] [[competition]] is more common than direct [[conflict]], and direct conflict is more common than [[violence]].
    • In 1-on-1 situations with an audience that does not encourage [[violence]] and repeated insults, etc, the possibility of a fight often terminates within 60 seconds. [[timing]] collapsed:: true
      • For large [[groups]] of people gathered as a body, there is often a window of a few hours before the possibility of [[violence]] dissipates.
      • For [[revolutionary]] movements, the critical window might be a few days.
→ node [[2022-10-10]]
→ node [[2022-10-09]]
→ node [[2022-10-08]]
→ node [[2022-10-07]]
→ node [[2022-10-05]]
→ node [[2022-10-04]]

I didn't meditate more formally until way too late today, around 21, and that feels like a mistake in retrospect. But that's OK, tomorrow I'll go back to meditating in the morning.

→ node [[2022-10-03]]
→ node [[2022-10-02]]

I worked/coded for about 10 hours straight yesterday; it felt great. Today I'm taking some time to rest.

Dealing with [[Western Union]] and [[Moneygram]] trying to get money directly to people.

→ node [[2022-10-01]]
  • [[twitter]]
    • keeps mixing up my sessions so I made a mess of my [[profiles]].
  • [[2022-10-01]]
    • [[october 2022]] begins, I'd like to plan it as such (as a month)

    • [[november 2022]] is the two year anniversary of the Agora (code wise), so I hope to be able to ship a package of noticeable improvements to anagora.org and maybe the agor.ai this month!

    • but today:

→ node [[2022-09-30]]
pull color="#b51f08"> <title>500 Internal Error wtf.
<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://doc.anagora.org/css/center.css"> <button class="pull-url" value="https://doc.anagora.org/css/center.css">">pull</button>
<div class="container-fluid text-center">
    <div class="vertical-center-row">
        <h1>500 Internal Error <small>wtf.</small></h1>
    </div>
</div>
→ node [[2022-09-29]]
→ node [[2022-09-28]]
  • Started [[noding]] surprisingly late!
    • I was doing focused work on the Agora, but somehow not using the Agora to document it :)
    • Unless you consider the [[agora bridge]] repository part of the Agora, that is ;) Which maybe we should.
  • Saw [[m d]], it was great.
  • I didn't see [[j]] in the end but I think we'll see each other soon.
  • [[agora bridge]]
  • [[ladee]]
  • [[yoga with x]]
→ node [[2022-09-27]]
→ node [[2022-09-26]]
→ node [[2022-09-25]]

Twitter is being really annoying and dealing with them is taking a lot of effort really. Surprise/not surprise I guess.

→ node [[2022-09-24]]
→ node [[2022-09-23]]
→ node [[2022-09-22]]

2022-09-22

→ node [[2022-09-21]]
→ node [[2022-09-20]]

I [[worked]] today. It was fine. I'm looking forward to the next two weeks.

→ node [[2022-09-19]]
  • #push [[light cones]]
    • I sometimes feel as if I've seen what will happen, and I truly believe in it -- at least as a volume with non null metric in the [[multiverse]], likely reachable from our present time-space.
    • I feel the [[kind revolution]] is within our reach.
  • #push [[flancia]]
    • Sometimes I wonder if all Flancians have visions, maybe by definition.

Today it was a good day; I worked, went to therapy and found it meaningful, and back home I did yoga and played with Lady Burup. I also talked with friends.

→ node [[2022-09-18]]
  • [[2022-09-17]] happened, it went by almost too fast with laundry and cleaning the house and such things to do on a Saturday :)
  • Late journal; I slept very little (3h) and was low energy (go figure), I felt depressed but that got fixed by a 1h nap (my naps are usually only 30' tops).
    • I'm glad to be here finally!
    • I was active on the [[fediverse]] though.
  • #push [[pomodoros]]
    • #1 fix agora twitter bot, try to finally [[opt in writes]] with this
      • Twitter limits keep making this harder than it should be.
      • While I wait for quota to try this, I consider... what I write below.
      • #2 then do the fediverse (that bot is working currently)
    • See [[twitter agora bot]] for next actions.

I should create a second account for the Agora on Twitter, @an_agora is having many problems. If nothing else I'll use it to test; the fact that I don't have a test account makes it so that the bot is broken half the time because I don't have a release process for meaningfully testing changes. It's pretty terrible. For [[agora server]] I have dev.anagora.org and a local environment, but not for bots in [[agora bridge]].

Another thought: sqlite in [[agora bridge]] will really help with this, as bots could just query the graph stored in [[agora]] (root repo) instead of having to rely on Twitter for all state in the social graph.

This leads, again, to the question: should we just use [[moa]] as [[agora bridge]]?

  • #push [[moa]]
    • check license
    • read code
    • see if it can run on sqlite
→ node [[2022-09-17]]
  • [[agora]]
    • [[agora bridge]]
      • api is up in dev!
        • what's the first method that we really need?
        • and the second?
    • [[opt in writes]]
      • test
    • [[agora server]]
      • need to choose a feature to drive further :)
      • better search?
      • querying other agoras?
      • a small one: fix the feeds that don't include canonical node :) it's been bothering me for a while
        • took some time to get to it but I enjoyed the process :)
          • project [[mountain]] was what a lot of time went into, it was fun though
    • #push [[agorai]]
      • this is what I'm calling setting up other Agoras now
      • purchased agor.ai during the week
      • want to point (wildcard?) it to [[hypatia]] today
      • update the docker-based Agora of Flancia in hypatia (did vera commit changes?)
        • asked [[vera]] if she made changes anywhere public
  • #push [[ubuntu]]
    • I upgraded [[nostromo]] to [[ubuntu 22.04]] and, again, I ended up with no sound.
      • I needed to run the following to recover it:
      • sudo touch /usr/share/pipewire/media-session.d/with-pulseaudio && systemctl --user restart pipewire-session-manager
      • Also I had to fix sources.list by hand again before being able to do-release-upgrade because I missed the "upgrade window" for 21.10 so it was completely gone from repositories (?).
      • Both of these are very surprising to me, in this day and age. I don't quite get in particular how a less technical user should be expected to update sources.list by hand because they didn't upgrade for half a year or so?
  • I finally gave [[chezmoi]] templates a try. They are fine.

During the week I read [[Wolfram]]'s article on the [[Wolfram Physics Project]], as recommended by [[xiq]], and I enjoyed it. I also re-read [[Scott Aaronson]]'s review of [[A New Kind of Science]]; I think it still holds and seems to apply to the project at large.

→ node [[2022-09-16]]
  • I like to think there's [[173]] [[drishtis]] in this Agora.

2022-09-16

→ node [[2022-09-15]]

If I die slowly, please take my body out to a beautiful forest and bury it among the [[hyphae]], in the [[mycorrhiza]].

→ node [[2022-09-14]]
  • Working today for around 6h (on top of 2h yesterday).
  • Then [[coworking with ap]].
  • Then going back into holidays/open source mode :)
→ node [[2022-09-13]]

I sometimes [[procrastinate]] on important things, does that make me a [[jerk]]? I think maybe it does, and I should [[curb my bullshit]].

People don't seem to be, on the average or even at high percentile, nearly as interested on the [[revolution]]] as I am. Does that make me a [[jerk]] if I practice it, which includes talking about it? I'm not sure, but I don't think it does.

  • I wonder if I should let [[agora protocol]] go, let the chips fall as they may, move beyond it which could mean leave it behind (sometimes), write light as a feather if I have to.
    • (I'll take the [[path]], I'll cross that [[bridge]] if I have to.)

So I asked a few friends what they thought of the Revolution as it relates to the [[Flancia]] project; I'm interested on their take.

  • [[l]]
    • visited to pick up clothes; we took a cool 2h walk to a nearby mountain/hill with a view of the city, had a nice chat and drank mate.

Now I am in the park near home with my laptop for a short outdoors [[hacking]] session (?).

→ node [[2022-09-12]]
→ node [[2022-09-11]]
→ node [[2022-09-10]]

2022-09-10

→ node [[2022-09-09]]
  • #push [[9]]
  • My mom is leaving today. It was a great visit; I initially thought it would be too long (and told her so) but now she's going I know I'm going to miss her.
    • Having said that, I'm also looking forward to some time without family around -- I love my family but it's been seven months with family presence in the country and, although it was great, I'm not very used to it lasting this long as I've lived abroad for ten years. I expect I will feel reenergized as I go back to a more individual routine thanks to the change of pace that came with all the extra social/emotional interactions, though.
  • [[agora]]
  • [[work]]
    • doing one GRAD review
    • and one short document review today
  • [[beethoven]]
  • [[graphs]]
→ node [[2022-09-08]]
→ node [[2022-09-07]]
  • Writing this just after boarding the plane back to ZRH (delayed) in Lisbon (but before taking off, clearly.)
    • We had a great time in Portugal!
    • I met [[xiq]] yesterday, [[2022-09-06]]. It was great!
      • We spoke about our projects, our philosophies and our visions of the future.
  • [[writing while writing]]
  • [[agora]]
    • [[agora doc]]
      • My updated [[deadline]] for turning in [[agora doc]] plus the associated contributors agreement is [[2022-09-09]].
      • Interesting discussion with [[filomena]], [[neil]], [[mathew lowry]] on whether [[revolution]] should remain so prominent in the document or that aspect should be toned down for the benefit of 1. the reader, who may be turned off by this and close down and 2. the project, which in the words of one commenter may lose credibility this way.
  • [[ladee]]
  • [[ap]]
→ node [[2022-09-06]]
  • (Backnoded on [[2022-09-06.)
  • I met [[xiq]] in Lisbon! Happy about it, it was great. We had amazing Chinese noodles in [[Panda Cantina]] in the [[Principe Real]] neighborhood.
→ node [[2022-09-05]]
→ node [[2022-09-04]]
  • First journal in a while! Backnoding:
  • Today we're travelling to Lisbon in the [[Alfa Pendular]] (long distance train).
    • As I write this I'm on the train; it's modern and roomy, I have a charging spot and I'm in a comfortable position to write in.
    • I'll try to use the [[3h]] trip to work on [[agora doc]] and continue reviewing [[mathew lowry]]'s document :)
  • [[agora]]
    • I think I will move back to calling text subnodes 'text', I moved to 'note' recently but I'm not convinced by the change; note is overly restrictive, and it also is too similar to 'node' (which is the top level heading).
    • [[agora doc]]
      • edit
      • edit
      • edit
  • [[writing while writing]]

2022-09-04

→ node [[2022-09-03]]

2022-09-03

→ node [[2022-09-02]]
  • (Backnoded.)
    • Yesterday ([[2022-09-01]]) we flew to [[Porto]].
    • Today we visited the Cathedral, walked along the Ribeira, had a very nice lunch there, then crossed the bridge to [[Gaia]]. In general walked around a lot, ended up the day tired but happy.
    • It was an "offline" day as evidenced by the fact I didn't node it in time :) Lots of corrections pending for [[agora doc]], but I decided to take a few days off before diving back in.
→ node [[2022-09-01]]
  • a [[day]].
    • with [[deadlines]]:
      • [[agora chapter]] becomes due, although the editors have kindly offered an extension
        • I'll try not to need the extension
      • [[grad]]
        • I'm trying for promo, I've been promoted twice before but this is the lowest probability try maybe
        • I'd be going for [[l6]]
      • [[mp]]
        • my main project at work should hit an important milestone
  • [[agora pkg chapter]]
    • moved it to the editing folder, but I'll keep working on it for a bit more.
    • the editors said we could freeze it on [[2022-09-08]] -- which is generous. I think I'll take a few hours each day from now until next Monday, addressing feedback from friends, and then freeze it?
→ node [[2022-08-31]]

2022-08-31

→ node [[2022-08-30]]

2022-08-30

→ node [[2022-08-29]]
  • [[2022-08-28]] was productive but it ended with some deflation as I realized just how much there is still to do on [[agora pkg chapter]] and [[go/agora doc]] :)
    • sync is not solved, did the sync to [[agora doc]] by hand just now -- it keeps links but footnotes aren't really in the doc, there's some formatting issues.
    • there is just a lot to be edited/written yet.
    • there's duplication.
    • I need to be able to read end-to-end and not think "this section is completely crap/redundant" more than, say, once -- this evening ideally :)
  • [[29]]
  • [[work]]
    • might take half a day?
  • [[Bones]] are a source of [[calcium]] [[phosphate]], and so boiling and crushing bones and putting them into the [[land]] can be used to revitalize [[soil]]. Treating the bonemeal with sulphuric acid makes the calcium phosphate even more available to growing plants. [[Potassium]] can be had from a [[potash]] made of [[wood]] [[ash]], though it can also be found in minerals within [[rocks]].
  • Excess [[food]] [[production]] and [[preservation]] is needed to give large [[groups]] of people [[time]] to [[think]].
  • [[Enzymes]] are only active at particular [[temperature]], [[pH]], and [[salinity]] ranges.
    • A simple method to preserve [[food]] is to [[dry]] it.
      • When [[grain]] is harvested, it needs to be dried before it is stored.
        • High [[sugar]] content changes [[water]] activity by drawing water out of microbial [[cells]]. collapsed:: true
          • [[Sugar]] can be extracted from sugar beets by moving [[water]] through the [[beet]], taking that water, and drying it to expose the crystals from the beet.
        • High [[salt]] content changes [[water]] activity by drawing water out of cells and inhibiting microbial [[growth]]. collapsed:: true
        • [[Acid]] is used to preserve food through things like [[vinegar]].
        • Kimchi, sauerkraut, and miso all use [[salt]] to draw out [[water]], and then salt-resistant [[bacteria]] to [[grow]] and produce [[acid]].
→ node [[2022-08-28]]
  • Cancer needs fast, constant short-term growth to thrive, so cutting off energy to the body with cancer may help kill cancer.

2022-08-28

→ node [[2022-08-27]]
→ node [[2022-08-26]]
→ node [[2022-08-25]]
→ node [[2022-08-24]]
  • [[Attack]] when [[position]] is [[strong]], [[defend]] when [[weak]].
  • Everything in the [[body]] changes to flow with what the [[environment]] asks of it.
    • So, if a body is given heavier [[weight]] to carry, then it will [[change]] to be able to [[lift]] that weight.
    • The [[body]] drifts toward the lowest state of [[energy]].
    • If a [[body]] has changed to [[fit]] with a [[misalignment]], then switching to an aligned position will feel uncomfortable.
    • Lower [[back]] [[pain]] is associated with a lack of muscular [[strength]] and [[endurance]] in the hips and back.
    • [[Pain]] does not necessarily indicate [[damage]], though it may help to prevent it. collapsed:: true
      • Expectations around pain change the way pain is adapted to, and how long and where it lasts.
      • Localized [[pain]] is relieved by increasing [[strength]] in that area.
      • [[Tightness]] is often caused by [[pain]], [[instability]], or [[weakness]]. collapsed:: true
        • [[Kettlebell]] swings at high volume build [[endurance]] in the muscles that stabilize the [[spine]]. So do reverse hyperextensions.
    • [[Tight]] muscles can be [[weak]] and [[loose]] muscles can be [[strong]].
→ node [[2022-08-23]]
  • [[agora]]
    • [[agora pkg chapter]]
      • I got to 6k words just before midnight and it felt great.
        • I need to write a lot more, then throw away half ("edit") -- but that's fine. I'm having fun :)
      • I keep a terminal with watch "wc -w agora\ pkg\ chapter.md" open and it's great. Up to 6125 now, when I'm calling it a night.
    • [[push]] and [[pull]] as intents
  • [[work]]
    • I think it'll be fun today, let's see if I'm wrong
    • I wasn't wrong but the fun was trickier than expected :)
  • [[Separatists]] (counter-[[elites]]) pay a lot of attention to check points, frontiers, and other [[spaces]] in-[[between]]. Occupying a [[checkpoint]] allows for the monitoring of what goes in and out, and also gives control over what goes in and out.
    • [[Weak]] [[states]] emphasize [[border]] presence to signal their existence.
      • Separatists and weak states often agree to have a [[checkpoint]] that is not fully controlled by either because each lacks [[power]] to take full [[control]].
→ node [[2022-08-22]]
  • [[Business]] models often involves people paying the business at regular intervals for a service, selling things that people want, charging a fee to use something, or setting up a [[market]] to take a little bit from every transaction.
  • What [[underhooks]], [[hip]] control, [[knee]] [[control]], back of the [[neck]] control, and such have in common is that they are [[joints]].
    • What are [[memetic]] joints? What are the joints in someone's [[belief]]?
→ node [[2022-08-21]]
  • [[flancia]]
    • [[agora]]
      • [[agora meet]]
      • [[agora pkg chapter]] (remains the source of truth for now)
        • [[edit]]
        • write
          • add topics to add to the agora protocol section up top
          • expand some [[agora protocol]] sections
        • code
          • set up sync to google docs (simple)
            • hmm, [[pandoc]] doesn't do [[wikilinks]] out of the box
            • might be easier to add a /convert/ endpoint to the agora? the html it produces can be copy/pasted to relatively good effect into a [[google doc]], I've done it by hand for [[agora doc]] and it looks fine
          • agora protocol sections could be elided my pandoc by default?
            • or formatted in a special way?
            • but see above about maybe having [[agora server]] do this so as not to duplicate functionality?
          • -> can assume if it uses indented lists and [[wikilinks]], it is Agora protocol
            • the Agora can naturally do that and include that assumption in the output?
  • [[computers]]
  • [[fun]]
  • -> back to #push [[agora pkg chapter]], now writing
    • target for today is 5k words
      • 5.6k at 20:40 after an eight pomodoro (and some more time writing after the bell for the fun of it)
      • [[agora]] -> [[agora pkg chapter]]
    • #push [[2022-08-24]]
      • maximum for the submission is 10k words, maybe shoot for 8k by [[wednesday]]?
    • follow the principle of adding 1k a day, only expanding ideas that are currently in [[agora protocol]] somewhere in the node already; do not add more ideas until those are fleshed out (unless something truly huge is missing somehow?)
    • make Meta a proper printable section for fun: maybe detail how the document exemplifies Agora Protocol, and how Agora Protocol was influenced by:
      • writing the outline
      • the process of converting
    • for fun, measure WPH when in a [[writing pomodoro]]?
      • it was fun to run wc -w agora\ pkg\ chapter.md occasionally and seeing the number go up; but I wasn't super structured about it (e.g. I didn't keep tabs precisely pomodoro to pomodoro)
→ node [[2022-08-20]]
→ node [[2022-08-19]]

2022-08-19

  • Playing with very noddy [[programmable notes]] in anagora.

    • e.g. pushing a note to a particular date, to remember to review that note on that date.
    • This kind of stuff might work better using some of org-mode's todo-related and programmatic features. But would be nice to do it in a way that translates to working in the Agora, too.
  • Anyway, today I was reminded to review my node on Climate Leninism and Revolutionary Transition, so off we go to do that!

  • Reworked [[eco-socialism]] a bit.

  • Adding [[cloudspotting]] to my nature journalling activities.

→ node [[2022-08-18]]

2022-08-18

  • What excites you?

  • [[The Ministry for the Future]] is pretty hard going. I mean it's good. But it is really kind of drilling home how bad things could get with the climate crisis, not just the extreme weather events, but the political fallout too.

→ node [[2022-08-17]]
→ node [[2022-08-16]]
  • How does this help [[life]] [[spread]]? collapsed:: true
    • How does this help us spread enough to help life spread?
    • [[Movement]] is [[life]], moving with momentum will make things easy, if there is no movement, catch the next wave and start moving.
  • Does the [[business]] assume that it will keep customers for [[eternity]]? collapsed:: true
    • The business must be profitable [[now]], that is, every thing made, when sold, should pay for itself and for the next thing made. Otherwise the [[business]] won't be able to [[make]].
    • When there is a lot of [[money]], it is tempting to try and fix a [[problem]] with money instead of putting in the [[time]] and [[attention]] required to [[learn]] about the problem and try things out enough to [[fail]].
  • [[Emotion]] is made within from taking what is sensed in the [[body]] and fitting it to what is [[thought]].
    • If a culture does not have a thought for a particular emotion, people in that culture will not feel that emotion.

2022-08-16

→ node [[2022-08-15]]
  • [[Social Security Number]] collapsed:: true
    • The first three digits is the Area Code.
      • Before 1972, the area code was assigned by which county office the SSN was applied at. After 1972, the area code was assigned by the [[zip code]] of the mailing address for the application.
        • For Social Security Number Area Codes, the [[northeast]] has the lowest numbers, and the [[West]] coast has the highest numbers.
    • The second two digits is the Group Code.
    • The last four digits is the Serial Number.
  • What is made [[open]] by a [[movement]]? What is [[closed]]?
  • Business
    • Start making what you make and selling it as quickly as possible. [[Move]]. Once you have something, you can see and [[listen]] to how people move with that thing, and improve it based on what you find.
    • [[Attention]] is something [[big]] companies can't provide. collapsed:: true
      • Giving all your attention to the first customers will help set you apart and gather information that you can use to setup feedback loops that will lead to an exceptional product that's always improving.
    • By giving attention, you can get one customer at a time.
    • What will we [[make]], and what needs to be done to get that thing used? collapsed:: true
      • Approach people one at a time, like it's a [[Quest]], and give them an [[experience]] they will never forget.
        • What can be done [[now]] that will get the customer most of what they [[want]]?
    • [[Make]], [[listen]], [[learn]], make, listen, learn, make, listen, learn.
    • Finding 10 people who are lit on fire with a [[problem]] is better than 1000 people who are slightly annoyed. The more [[energy]] is around those early customers, the more will go into what is made.
    • If one person has a [[problem]] that not many others have and they try to get you to solve their problem for them but it takes time away from what you want to [[give]], then that is a person to let go. collapsed:: true
      • Will solving this problem lead you to [[focusing]] on a smaller [[group]]?
        • Will solving this problem lead to less [[energy]] to give everyone else?
    • Talk to people, [[make]] what they [[want]], [[change]] what is made to fit how they're using what is made.
    • [[Product]]/[[market]] [[fit]] is when people are [[buying]] what is made as quickly as it is made, or even more quickly.
      • If the [[market]] is [[strong]], it pulls what is made out like a [[riptide]].
        • Is what is made what the market wants? If not, make it again, closer to what the market wants.
        • With a strong market, what is made just has to work, it doesn't have to be great.
        • A [[market]] is a [[group]] of people looking for what they all want from each other.
        • Hold [[problems]] tightly, and [[solutions]] loosely. collapsed:: true
          • The first few thousand solutions are probably wrong, and will need to be changed until it works.
          • The [[problem]] should be like the problem of someone who can't [[breathe]]. They will do anything it takes to breathe again.
        • p * m / c for figuring out what's important. [[mission]] collapsed:: true
          • p=how many people will this change affect?
          • m=how much closer will this get one of your people to finishing their mission?
          • c=how much energy and time will this cost?
        • Spending any [[time]] on worrying about [[competition]] takes away precious time from making strategic moves.
→ node [[2022-08-14]]
→ node [[2022-08-13]]
  • [[yoga]] at midnight, backdated technically: [[go/move/12]]
  • [[poems]]
  • [[flancia]]
    • [[flancia meet]]
      • nobody showed, but it was a good motivation to start the day relatively early even though I went to bed very late :)
    • [[elena]]
    • [[agora]]
      • #push [[agora pkg chapter]]
        • received updated [[guidelines]] yesterday
        • will probably move to a [[google doc]] as that'll be the medium used for editing (makes sense because of the comment flows)
          • although the end result will still make it back to Markdown
          • happy about this I think? it's a good opportunity to "reboot" the effort which I partly need to do.
      • found some bugs I really feel like fixing :)
        • feed updates are missing the node name for some reason
        • agora bot mastodon keeps responding to push nonstop!
          • this I need to fix as I'd be a bad fediverse citizen if I didn't?
      • [[agora doc]]
  • 'What is the lay of the land' is generally more useful than 'who am I'?
→ node [[2022-08-12]]
  • In 'Teaching [[Smart]] People How to Learn', Chris Argyris points out that well-paid professionals, such as [[management]] [[consultants]], are very good at learning in a single loop, but not in a double [[loop]]. collapsed:: true
    • If learning is represented by a thermostat, then single-loop [[learning]] is when the temperature is kept at 65 degrees, and double-loop learning is when the thermostat can figure out why it is kept at 65 degrees, and then find the best way to fit that why.
      • Professionals are not used to failure, so they don't know how to [[learn]] from [[failure]]. Failing to learn from failure, they [[blame]] outcomes on others.
        • By moving any [[talk]] away from how they were [[responsible]] for what happened, they take away their ability to do anything about what happened, and so none of the talk is useful for getting stuff done. [[power]] [[responsibility]]
          • People use [[rules]] to simplify [[complexity]], but the rules they say they used when asked are not the rules they used, as exemplified by the fact their [[movements]] often don't match their rules.
            • The rules they use to make [[decisions]] are [[hidden]] by themselves, so it is not subject to [[change]].
            • Asking about things openly in a way that may brings these [[rules]] out into the open is seen as an [[attack]]. collapsed:: true
              • People who rarely failed do not know how to [[move]] when they [[fail]].
            • Given that [[defensive]] [[thinking]] is the [[norm]], it is hard to [[change]] anything by trying to change attitudes, or even organizational [[structure]].
            • There is a [[chance]] of changing things by leaders changing themselves, and examining and testing their own thinking aggressively and honestly.
            • If we assume the other is stupid or evil, then we do not have to put energy into getting whatever we want- we can say we can't do it.
  • In [[wolf]] packs, the dominant [[male]] chooses [[movement]] and gets [[food]], while the dominant [[female]] leads [[defense]] and [[raising]] the young
    • In [[lion]] prides, the lead [[male]] is responsible for territorial [[defense]], while the lead [[female]] deals with direct threats. Followers tend to be less injured, because they are not as quick to [[fight]].
→ node [[2022-08-11]]
  • [['Will [[Russia]] control [[Kherson]] on 10/31/22']] :
    • Looked at Ukraine War Map (@war.mapper) over time to get a sense of the mass spreading of both sides.
    • It seems like the Russo-Ukrainian war has become mostly a [[war]] of [[attrition]], judging by the reports of 500-1000 casualties a day on the Ukrainian side through private channels and Western estimates, and around that or more on the Russia side from [[media]] sources. All this combined with minimal shifting of [[territory]] in the last few months.
    • @auditor_ya on [[Twitter]], a seeming Ukrainian [[OSINT]] digester, has [[maps]] that echo @war.mapper. collapsed:: true
      • A Russian [[attack]] from the Donetsk area toward Avdivka used close [[air]] [[support]].
    • Low [[cost]], improvised [[drone]] technology seems to be experiencing a higher rate of [[innovation]] on the Ukrainian side.
    • Russian media (RBC) reports civilians returning to Kherson.
    • Checked @ukra_satflash on Twitter for back of the napkin advance of explosions.
    • Will Russia use nukes or other unexpected [[weapons]]?
    • Will Ukraine get better at [[strategy]]? collapsed:: true
      • Russia seems to have learned from the opening months of the war and appears to be operating more like a modern military in full swing now.
      • Ukraine has Western economic support, and its institutions have taken over many hidden logistical aspects of the war away from people who were fired up to defend their homeland- does this mean that there is less fire to fight among the population, as well?
    • By the best estimates of positions in the last month, Ukraine has held the [[high]] [[ground]] for awhile, and Russia was able to push up the coastal plains until it hit the high ground. collapsed:: true
      • The area northeast from Kherson would be a good approach, if the Dnipro is somehow taken and used amphibiously, and the flanks to the east are taken care of. collapsed:: true
        • Is this something Ukraine has the capability for?
      • Ukrainian Naval Infantry numbered around 200 in 2014. They went through a crucible against militias in Donbass. collapsed:: true
        • Can't be more than 12,000 Marines, given the unit descriptions. So, probably 4-10,000. collapsed:: true
          • Wikipedia says '6,000'.
      • Can Ukraine use the Dniprovska Gulf?
    • 'How Initiators End Their Wars: The Duration of Warfare and the Terms of Peace':
      • Suggests that those who start wars will do worse as the [[war]] goes on, information in the war is used to decide more than information before the war, that stronger initiators are slower to update their guesses about whether they will win, and that the war will last the longer that people are [[uncertain]] about who would win.
        • Knowledge about relative [[rate]] of loss during the [[war]] seems more [[predictive]] than [[knowledge]] of [[resources]] and [[army]] size before the war started. collapsed:: true
          • It is very difficult to get any [[information]] on Ukrainian military [[deaths]], due to Ukrainian obfuscation. Private channels on the Ukrainian side suggested it was 100-500/day in May.
      • The longer the [[war]], the worse the expected outcome is for whoever started it.
    • Given that [[Russia]] started the war with [[Ukraine]] (or was it Russian [[neoreactionaries]]?), will it be more likely for Russians to take ground in the next few months?
  • Internal [[war]] that takes place far from a [[political]] [[center]] in areas with natural [[resources]] that people want internationally last longer than ones that are closer to a [[central]] [[government]]. collapsed:: true
    • Higher rebel [[military]] ability increases the chances that a civil war will be shorter.
      • How far must the army move to fight? How long can they fight for?
  • How does [[time]] interact with whatever is studied?
→ node [[2022-08-10]]
  • The Texas McCombs Salem Center in [[Austin]], [[Texas]] is attracting potential economists regardless of their qualifications through a [[forecasting]] [[tournament]] hosted on [[Manifold Markets]].
    • Richard [[Hanania]], the [[policy]] researcher, is strongly associated with the Salem Center and this forecasting initiative.
    • For the question 'US GDP Growth 1% or More in 2022 Q3': collapsed:: true
      • Checked quarterly sales of [[Amazon]] and [[Walmart]].
      • Checked previous quarterly [[GDP]] [[growth]] in the United States for the last twenty one years.
      • Input 'how do [[purchasing]] [[habits]] change when gdp decreases?' in [[Elicit]], the GPT-powered [[research]] assistant.
        • 'How Economic [[Contraction]]s and [[Expansion]]s Affect Expenditure Patterns' seemed like the paper most immediately relevant, with 116 citations at the time of search.
          • Household spending during [[recession]] is typically tracked with an [[Engel curve]].
          • How is [[spending]] on positional goods, or goods that are used to signal [[status]] in a [[hierarchy]], stay the same during [[expansion]] and [[contraction]] of the things made by a group?
            • [[Adam Smith]] pointed out that women in England seemed more likely to feel [[shame]] at not having nicer dresses than women in Scotland.
            • Along with having better quality of [[life]], it was suggested that people spend [[money]] to show that they have made themselves higher on the social [[hierarchy]].
            • While people with more [[money]] within a nation reported being happier than people with less, people who made less money in other nations were still [[happy]]- so long as they had more money than their [[peers]].
            • Relatively less [[power]] increases [[spending]] to keep [[status]] up.
              • People often use [[debt]] to [[pay]] for things that they can use to show that they have the [[status]] they want.
                • [[Schor]] says that as people spent more time watching [[television]], they started trying to keep up with the upper middle class and [[rich]] lifestyles they saw on the television, instead of their [[neighbors]]. collapsed:: true
                  • In a place where people are paying for things to pay for [[status]], when the [[rich]] increase [[spending]], the group below them also increases spending, and so on, until the chain hits the ground.
        • Checked [[Google]] [[trends]] for a particular Rivian model, Samsung Watch, Toyota RAV4, H&M, GQ, Wirecutter, 'food near me', 'pizza near me', and 'sushi near me'. Assuming trends in search may reflect trends in purchasing. collapsed:: true
          • The movement of the lines did not indicate dropping interest in anywhere except 'sushi near me'.
        • https://www.autoweek.com/news/industry-news/a40558214/2022-first-half-tesla-sales-up-46-percent-globally/ collapsed:: true
          • While Tesla [[sales]] were up globally, they were down in the United States. Sales were also down for Ford, VW, Audi, and Porsche.
        • Checked Signet Jeweler's revenue. They report a 26.9% increase in comparison to last year. collapsed:: true
    • For the question [['Will [[Russia]] control [[Kherson]] on 10/31/22']]:
      • Searched 'Херсо́н' on Twitter and read latest tweets.
        • Stray comments suggest that the population is not as sympathetic to Russian occupation as the population is in the [[Donbass]].
→ node [[2022-08-09]]

I think we will do it, my [[friend]]. We will go into the heart of [[Moloch]] and together decide [[what we do with it]].

Should we kill it, or should we try to [[disentangle]] it from what's [[bad]]?

  • [[Thinking]] [[Method]] collapsed:: true
    • We let the learner have [[trust]] in us by not asking for something unless we have given them a way to come up with that thing by thinking about it. We also don't want to break something into smaller [[parts]] and show those parts unless they don't already know it. This will help them see that if we have not broken something into smaller parts, they can stand on that thing.
    • By showing that we [[know]] what they will ask and answering it before they ask, we are showing that they can trust us. We show that they can [[trust]] us by showing that our way will beat their way when it comes to getting what they want.
    • Look at what is done, how things [[move]], not what is told to be done. Help this way of looking by looking at many stories of what is trying to be shown. People will not know how to do what is said until they are shown how to do what is said. They will not see why something is done until what is done is shown. Much of the time, what is said only makes sense when what is happening is shown.
    • By pointing at how to [[remember]] something, we are telling people that remembering is more important than [[understanding]], so look at when remembering is pointed at.
    • To know what went wrong when something was tried, a [[teacher]] must live in the learner's [[space]].
    • By showing how someone did something right and saying good things about them for it, they are also shown if they are not doing things right, so we do not have to show when they are not doing things right as much as we say how they are doing things right.
    • How can people be given a way to do what fits best for what they are [[learning]]?
    • Many people think they are the [[language]], so they don't look at how their [[thinking]] and a language is different.
    • [[Teaching]] with a lot of [[life]] makes it easier for people to try to [[understand]] instead of looking for ways to look like a good student. Use a lot of life when the teaching first starts, and when things are very [[hard]], so that the student finds it very hard to anything other than follow your way.
    • [[Learning]] to [[understand]] from someone is an interaction [[ritual]] that gives [[energy]].
    • Teaching well is to let understanding [[flow]] through you, to be possessed by it, so that [[energy]] is always available. When teachers [[trust]] themselves and let understanding flow through them, they make it easy for students to trust them and let the [[movement]] of understanding flow into them from the teacher.
    • A [[mask]] is everything it needs to be to get the thing it is doing done, to let whatever needs to flow through this place flow. It is not you, and it is you. So, if one must be happy and open to show a thing, then the mask that is made for showing that thing will be happy and open. The more we use a mask, the stronger the mask gets. See where [[energy]] comes from, and grow the flow from that place.
    • To share [[knowledge]] that one has, lots of joyful [[energy]] is needed. If you know you can use and dissolve tension, it will bring you joy to see it. If learners smell that a teacher does not feel safe, they will not feel safe, and so they will not want to learn from the teacher. The fact of safety is something that is worked for every day. Knowing that it has been worked for, the feeling of [[safety]] cannot be shaken. Has everything be done that can be done to know these movements? If 'yes' can be said, then a feeling of being very [[safe]] will be there.
    • If something is said to one, it can be used to show something to [[many]].
    • There is no need to [[remember]] when there is knowledge of how to [[find]] what is looked for when needed. There is no need to hold on to anything because it is everywhere, just as there is often no need to hold on to air. It is what is lived in, and so is pulled when needed and let go when it is not needed. When one thing is thought about until what is looked for is found, this shows that what is needed can be found when looked for. Others can be used to ask for what is known, only feeling the shape of the [[movement]] is needed.
    • [[Learning]] hurts because it means [[change]], if one is not used to having [[power]] and learning gives more power than is expected, then learning hurts, since the expectation of having less power is destroyed.
    • If you were [[punished]] for [[knowing]] too much, then you might try to know less, and know only when you're allowed to know by a representative of [[authority]].
    • When something that is not stopping [[learning]] here is pointed at, as if it is the thing that is stopping learning, that makes the point hard even if it was not hard before, so point only at where the hardness is being made. collapsed:: true
      • If a finger is put in runnning water that is stopped by a rock, but the finger is not moving the rock out of the way, then the finger is just another hard thing that is stopping the rock.
    • Instead of [[searching]] for a list, it is faster to look for one thing. By looking for many things to find one thing, we take more time than what we would take if we just look for the one thing.
    • When [[teaching]], [[learning]] must be made to [[flow]] easily through the [[hard]] places. If something makes something hard, it often slows learning.
  • Why would someone stand still and exchange punches instead of taking their opponent's back and choking them out?
  • An [[ally]] is someone willing to kill and die alongside you.
  • [[Time]] is how [[evolution]] moves, [[differentiation]] is how [[matter]] moves, and [[communication]] is how [[society]] moves.
  • Through [[selection]], [[power]] can come from how the selection gives or takes away [[uncertainty]]. collapsed:: true
    • Power is more when it can cause a selection even when there are many other beautiful [[choices]] for [[action]] and inaction.
    • Power requires the subject to be able to choose, but still choose what power prefers- much like in effective animal [[taming]] and [[domestication]].
      • If choice is taken away to force a selection, as in [[coercion]] or [[violence]] used for [[control]], then power is lost.
        • [[Coercion]] is used when there is a lack of [[power]]. The decrease in [[complexity]] is given to the one using coercion, instead of [[spread]] around.
          • In a [[small]] [[society]], coercion can be put in one [[central]] place, but in [[big]] societies the only thing that can be put in one central place is when things can get violent. So, [[power]] is needed to let big societies use [[coercion]].
          • The wielder of [[power]] has more power when there are more and more different ways for power to [[flow]], and it is even more when it is against another power wielder that has as many ways to flow.
            • [[Power]] fills up more when all the sides working against each other are more [[free]].
            • The more ways that can be flowed to, the more [[power]] there is.
            • Instead of comparing power all the time, things are substituted for the comparison, such as asymmetric hierarchies. Usually those on [[top]] of a [[hierarchy]] have more power than those on the [[bottom]], but in a [[bureaucracy]] someone in the [[middle]] may have more power.
              • A [[record]], a [[history]] of what happened in the past is also used as a substitute for comparing power circles. What happened in the past is then turned into [[expectation]] of what will or [[should]] happen.
              • There are also half-agreements about who should get power, where someone below might go away and leave the power wielder hanging.
              • In all the substitutes for comparing power, talking or touching to decide the flow of power is replaced with a reliance on symbols.
              • Instead of testing power and measuring it, [[institutions]] provide a way to avoid having to figure out who has the most power at a given time by giving people symbols they can rely on instead- and so reduce uncertainty by providing a symbol. These institutions then make measuring power very difficult, because if there was a way to measure power, it would show that the symbols do not match the balance of power.
              • A communication [[medium]] is used to lower the feeling of not knowing by telling people what has been chosen- what has been decided, and therefore what has been simplified.
              • By pretending that everyone is [[equal]], the [[power]] differentials between people can be used by the wielder of power to limit the selections of the one it is wielded on, without the latter ever realizing that their [[selection]] was limited.
                • The wielder of power is more like a [[catalyst]] than a cause- a node that drives the downstream node faster than it would have gone otherwise.
                  • The catalyst changes much but does not [[change]] as much itself.
                  • By changing much without changing much itself, the catalyst gets [[time]].
                  • [[Power]] is an [[opening]] to raise the chance of making an unlikely [[selection]] happen. collapsed:: true
                    • If it is thought that something may happen, it raises the chances of it happening.
                  • Both the power wielder and the power receiver transmit and enable power, though the wielder is the one everything is attributed to.
                    • Both power wielder and receiver reduce [[complexity]] through [[action]], by the receiver selecting the action that the wielder has selected for them.
                      • [[Motives]] are assigned to make [[meaning]], but don't need to be attributed to find causal chains.
  • How to build a [[bioreactor]]?

2022-08-09

→ node [[2022-08-08]]

2022-08-08

→ node [[2022-08-07]]

2022-08-07

→ node [[2022-08-06]]

Non-standard weekend as my family ([[brother]], [[mother]]) are both visiting. We took a train to [[Romandy]] at [[10:14]].

  • my [[mother]] told me a friend who underwent [[cataract]] surgery is fascinated by colors.

2022-08-06

→ node [[2022-08-05]]
→ node [[2022-08-04]]
→ node [[2022-08-03]]
  • I [[worked]]
  • …and then I got home at about 20:15. I have about four hours of evening left; what to do? below each checkbox stands for [[30 minutes]] / a loose [[pomodoro]]
    • what I planned:
      • agora pkg chapter
        • at least read and fix egregious consistency issues and regressions I probably introduced by writing way too late in the evening the other day
        • -> won't happen today maybe, but will happen [[2022-08-04]] after fellowship of the link as top priority :)
      • prep for fellowship of the ring tomorrow?
        • answer email, I've been meaning to do this for days!
      • one remaining thing from work maybe (CL)
        • or perhaps I shouldn't?
        • -> it didn't, but I answered some chat messages and booked a meeting
    • yoga, exercise
      • it's very hot but at least 15' of yoga would be nice
      • -> ended up watering plants and cleaning the balcony for about an hour, taking that as yoga+exercise for the night
    • some socializing (chat) while I cut my hair
      • does this pairing work? maybe
      • also check payment on behalf of [[l]]
    • [[social coop]]
    • shower and prep for bed
      • shower takes me ten minutes, but there's a lot of extra stuff here usually -- loading dishwasher may go here if not earlier (ideally earlier)
    • read
  • the above is probably not a realistic plan as usual, let's see if it's a useful one?
    • what happened:
      • started scrolling Twitter but caught myself in time and stopped it
      • realized I didn't schedule anything directly about this month's [[node club]] above -- although [[agora pkg chapter]] is related on second thought
      • went out in the balcony to spend some time with [[Lady Burup]] while [[Nils Frahm]] was playing
        • watering plants makes sense now, they're living beings and they're thirsty
        • ended up installing and using the garden hose and water cleaning the balcony which I'd been meaning on doing since spring
        • then watering the neighbors' plants, which I had to do tonight for sure (I skipped it yesterday as it wasn't that hot)
        • -> I realized sometime through this 1.5h that it wouldn't make sense to do yoga later as I was moving about a lot; I became more conscious of my breath and body movement
        • cut my hair and talked with [[l]] about [[Trennungsvereinbarung]], that was constructive / needed to happen
        • I miss her, love her still, and I'm happy we're both better I think!
  • [[flancia]]
  • [[templates]]

2022-08-03

  • Updating spacemacs and updating all packages. Never quite know what will work and won't work every time I do this.

    • I feel like one day I should move to Doom. But I'm pretty bedded in.
    • As expected, something wrong.
      • First issue: Error in dotspacemacs/user-config: Cannot open load file: No such file or directory, org-roam-ui
        • Is org-roam-ui no longer included in spacemacs? I dunno, just removed (load-library "org-roam-ui") it from user-config.
      • Second issue: [[apply: Symbol's value as variable is void: symbolp]]. When I do SPC p p. Which is helm-projectile-switch-project.
  • I was in meetings for 4h30m today.

  • I filed a bunch of things from my TO FILE file yesterday. Some good stuff in there from years back.

  • Listened: [["We all should be botanists" Interview with Leif Bersweden]]

  • [[Energy company profits]]

→ node [[2022-08-02]]
→ node [[2022-08-01]]

2022-08-01

  • [[Weeknotes W30 2022]]

  • Hayek and co see 'the market' as the ultimately distributed information processor. But it is entirely lacking a useful question for this information processor to solve. It is resource allocation for resource allocation's sake. It's like the computer in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, where the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything is 42. It's a simple, easy answer to an ill-defined question.

→ node [[2022-07-31]]

"[[Lady Burup]] always knows what you sometimes forget."

2022-07-31

→ node [[2022-07-30]]
→ node [[2022-07-29]]
  • [[matrix]]
    • I saw the first spam ever in three different Matrix rooms today.
    • Hopefully a sign that Matrix is becoming [[mainstream]]? :)
  • Unless it's raining too hard, I'll take part of [[critical mass]] for the first time ever today.

2022-07-29

→ node [[2022-07-28]]
→ node [[2022-07-27]]
→ node [[2022-07-26]]
→ node [[2022-07-25]]
→ node [[2022-07-24]]
  • [[flancia]]
    • fix transposition in flancia.org
    • [[agora]]
      • edit [[agora pkg chapter]] as per [[jz]]'s feedback
        • thank you!
        • -> edit in general
        • -> keep editing
        • -> [[agora paper]]
      • write [[agora pkg chapter]]
        • -> write a proper introduction
      • edit [[agora protocol]]
      • think of next steps for hypergraph aspect
        • I upgraded the definition section so it flows better and hopefully gets the core point across.
  • laundry
    • one load
    • two loads
  • [[drishti]]
→ node [[2022-07-23]]
  • It pays to stand on your own looking, but not on what those who are selling have looked at. [[research]] [[information]] collapsed:: true
    • Of people who pay to get paid, those who are more alright with not knowing got more. Thinking far and slow, feeling what other people feel, and thinking you want to win very badly did not seem to mean that you got paid more. People who think very far and slow did not make as many decisions that they did not think are safe. [[investment]]
  • A [[fall]] is coming. This is bad for some and good for others, as are all things. Just as the [[Soviet Union]] falling was good for many, this fall will be good for many. However, who it will be good for stands on those who know it is coming, and what they will do to make use of it.
  • [[Proprioceptive]] [[burnout]]: where people who are used to [[neurosensory]] [[control]] mechanisms for [[machines]] are [[disconnected]] from their [[body]]'s ability to extend into a machine with manual control.
→ node [[2022-07-22]]
→ node [[2022-07-21]]

2022-07-21

If a factory is torn down but the rationality which produced it is left standing, then that rationality will simply produce another factory. If a revolution destroys a government, but the systematic patterns of thought that produced that government are left intact, then those patterns will repeat themselves. . . . There’s so much talk about the system. And so little understanding.

→ node [[2022-07-20]]
→ node [[2022-07-19]]
→ node [[2022-07-18]]
  • [[18]] ~ [[3 3 2]]
  • woke up early for no obvious reason, maybe only that my friends were leaving soon
    • it was great having them over!
  • [[work]]
    • some progress
  • [[bumble]]
    • interesting
  • did [[laundry]] through the day, cleaned up [[second desk]] (advances move indirectly, also will likely make it easier to keep context for longer running projects)
→ node [[2022-07-17]]

I've been doing very little writing or coding as of late; it makes sense as the week was relatively intense and this weekend I've spent mostly offline (in "[[meatspace]]" :)). I look forward to reconnecting to my plans although I've enjoyed this weekend disconnected and I think it was probably actually necessary.

--

Now writing on the train back from Bern. The train is pretty full and it was hard to find a seat to sit all together, it's also a bit hot. But now it's as if it was flying through the Swiss countryside, which it almost is, and everybody around me is focused either on their phones or their books or their notes (students), and I feel very lucky to be here. Which I am.

On my headphones sounds [[rainbow folding]].

2022-07-17

→ node [[2022-07-16]]

2022-07-16

→ node [[2022-07-15]]
→ node [[2022-07-14]]

2022-07-14

→ node [[2022-07-13]]

2022-07-13

  • So cool that [[KeePassXC]] comes with a CLI! Makes sense but I hadn't realised. That is very handy for me.

  • Listened: [[The Uber files: the unicorn]]

    • Generally been avoiding a lot of the [[Uber Files]] stuff so far. Not quite sure why… it's just kind of depressing I guess. And kind of confirming what was already known or suspected - that a firm built on aggression, growth and toxic masculinity is corrupt and rotten on the inside as well as the outside.
  • [[Growth]].

What the system has done, as a mechanism to continue with growth at all costs, is actually to burn the future. And the future is the least renewable resource. There is no way that we can reuse the time we had when we started this conversation. And by building up a system which is more debt-driven—where we keep consumption going, but by creating more and more debt—what we’re actually doing is burning or stealing the time of people in the future. Because their time will be devoted to repaying the debt

The Infamous 1972 Report That Warned of Civilization&#x27;s Collapse | WIRED (h/t Doug Belshaw)

→ node [[2022-07-12]]
  • [[lecunn]] is actually [[lecun]] but I often write it wrong.
  • [[work]]
  • [[todd]]
    • we now have a communication line, which is great!
    • want to help with his current situation
    • it's looking complicated though
  • [[diego de la hera]]
  • [[moloch]]

2022-07-12

→ node [[2022-07-11]]
→ node [[2022-07-10]]

2022-07-10

→ node [[2022-07-09]]
→ node [[2022-07-08]]

2022-07-08

→ node [[2022-07-07]]

2022-07-07

pull color="#b51f08"> <title>500 Internal Error wtf.
<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://doc.anagora.org/css/center.css"> <button class="pull-url" value="https://doc.anagora.org/css/center.css">">pull</button>
<div class="container-fluid text-center">
    <div class="vertical-center-row">
        <h1>500 Internal Error <small>wtf.</small></h1>
    </div>
</div>
→ node [[2022-07-06]]

Need to continue working to calm down my "software malleability is best exhibited today in the most derided contexts" take or just delete it from my "let's think about homepages" thing. Broadsheet continues to inspire and I'm definitely going to use this as the hero image. Something about the design reminds me of Lizbeth's.

2022-07-06

  • I need to renew my passport. This is massively over subscribed and delayed in the UK right now. So I'm following a Twitter bot some guy made that tweets whenever new appointments are available. World beating service from the UK gov once again!
→ node [[2022-07-05]]

2022-07-05

→ node [[2022-07-04]]

2022-07-04

→ node [[2022-07-03]]

2022-07-03

→ node [[2022-07-02]]

2022-07-02

  • Read: [[For a Red Zoopolis]]

    • Very good. On [[eco-socialism]]. I like the description of a what [[abundance]] could actually mean.
    • Also introduced me to the idea of a [[Zoopolis]]
  • I have oscillatory waves of activity on my garden.

    • Sometimes I have blocks of focus on the mechanics of how the garden works.
      • All the PKM, zettelkasten, smart notes, kind of stuff.
    • Then periods of time spent on the actual content.
      • Reading, taking notes, writing about politics, technology, the environment, etc.
    • Occasionally there is a moment of harmony between the waves where the two almost intersect.
      • e.g. critical theory of social media, how digital gardens, the Agora, fit in to that, etc.
  • Chat with Flancian

  • Listened: [[Matt Huber, "Climate Change as Class War: Building Socialism on a Warming Planet"]]

    • More [[eco-socialism]].
    • I listened while doing household chores so have less notes. But it's a good podcast.
    • Marxist approach - emphasis on class struggle, movement building, trade unionism.
→ node [[2022-07-01]]
→ node [[2022-06-30]]

Woke up with a sore throat, didn't feel great through the day but made it through the work day. I think I'm feeling better now, nothing serious it seems :)

→ node [[2022-06-29]]
→ node [[2022-06-28]]
  • I woke up before 3am (departure time) somewhere over the Atlantic. It was beautiful.
    • I slept 3, maybe 4 hours during the flight to [[london]] from [[portland]]. Not amazing but definitely not terrible!
  • #push [[sqlite]] project
  • #push [[localpedia]]
    • A local copy of [[Wikipedia]] could be a good thing to have on our laptops.
    • An easy way to install a version under X gigabytes probably already exists?

2022-06-28

→ node [[2022-06-27]]
  • I travel back this evening, although because of a relatively long layover in London (5.5h) and the time difference I'll get to [[Zürich]] tomorrow night (after 8PM).
    • We had lunch with [[wil]] in the office and we talked about math and science fiction, it was great.
  • [[travel]]
    • check in
    • pack
    • do covid paperwork with the crappy app or just assume the risk of doing it in the airport
    • pick up the sunscreen shipment from amazon lockers.
  • [[ladee]]
  • [[jz]]

I am writing this in the flight from Portland to London.

After my [[dreams]], and the [[poem]], and what happened this weekend, I keep thinking about [[arrows]]. It may sound like an obsession but it feels more like [[inspiration]].

→ node [[2022-06-26]]
  • I love [[Portland]].
    • I met [[todd]], it was a very significant moment.
    • I met [[wil]], we went on a beautiful walk in the [[japanese garden]]. I am thankful.
    • I met [[john]], [[matthew]].
    • I saw [[mary]].
    • I was only able to spend fifteen minutes in [[powell's books]] but I loved every minute of it and it was enough to know it's amazing.
  • Thank you [[neil]], [[vera]].

It was my mum's birthday today. I'm happy she's visiting soon!

2022-06-26

→ node [[2022-06-25]]
→ node [[2022-06-24]]

Yesterday we went on a beautiful walk at sunset with [[Chris]], it was great!

At the lookout point we met [[Enrique]] and we became friends.

→ node [[2022-06-23]]
→ node [[2022-06-22]]
  • I've been having a nice time in the Seattle area. I'm staying here until Friday, at which time I leave for Portland.
  • [[social coop]]
    • I suspended some reported accounts today (it turns out you can do this for accounts in other instances, which apparently means they can't interact with our instance anymore?). I clicked on the content to confirm they were abusive/inappropriate and they really were. It made me sad and disappointed with people and less hopeful about the [[fediverse]], but thankfully the feeling passed shortly.
  • [[chris]]
  • [[jz]]
  • [[lp]]
  • [[anonymous]]
→ node [[2022-06-19]]

Writing this on the flight to Seattle. My connection in [[Charlotte]] was tight but I made it just fine in the end.

(I wonder who you are, you reading this. If you are interested consider leaving an annotation using the Hypothesis side bar or reaching out :)

Thank you for reading!)

→ node [[2022-06-18]]
  • [[flancia meet]]
    • at different time today, 14 UTC, due to where I am :)
    • meeting [[the one]] today!
  • [[agora]]
    • set up local dev environment to be able to code tomorrow on the way to Seattle
    • priorities are still:
      • opt in writes ([[agora bot]])
      • whatever else I saw my priorities were last weekend, check :)
  • #push [[do]]
    • review [[phone to note]]
    • make it so that pending tasks automatically show up in designated [[todo]] concentrator nodes, like [[do]] in my case
→ node [[2022-06-17]]
  • [[work]]
    • last day working from the [[durham]] office.
    • had some more meetings, but it was a much lighter day today (I needed that).
→ node [[2022-06-16]]

Some things aren't meant to be, I guess. Not in this timeline. It is with pain I experience their loss; accepting the pain I let them go.

I met Ritchie again in the streets of Durham. He was no worse off than last time, but not doing great. We had ice cream together and we walked and talked for a while.

→ node [[2022-06-15]]
  • Third day in the US.
    • [[us trip 2022]]
    • Slept OK it seemed but for some reason I'm struggling to make it to the afternoon without nodding off.
  • [[quantum mailer]]
  • [[do]]
→ node [[2022-06-14]]
  • Working from the [[RDU]] office, attending a summit.
    • It was very hot yesterday.
    • I gave a talk and it was well received.
→ node [[2022-06-13]]
  • Traveling to the [[US]] after three years!
    • For [[work]] but of course I'll try to enjoy the weekends as mini vacations (without going too crazy, I need rest).
    • Will be meeting friends in [[Raleigh]], [[Seattle]] and [[Portland]].
    • I plan to keep a travel journal in [[us trip 2022]], let's see if it sticks.
  • [[agora]]
    • Discussed options with [[mohammed]].
    • Lots of pending messages, I'll try to catch up on my free but jetlagged day after I get to [[Durham]].
    • [[agora server]]
      • review next action, see pending items from the weekend?
    • [[agora bridge]]
      • opt in writes is still pending and it seems relatively straightforward to do
    • I forgot to check out repositories locally so I wasn't able to work on any of this in the airplane (I don't like paying for wifi).
  • #push [[meta]] as of today, my [[digital garden]] has 247k words -- I checked using [[wc]].
    • Is that a lot? I just realized I have no idea, and having no internet currently, checking is not trivial.
      • I think a thesis has about 30k words, but I forget if that's bachelors or masters? And I might just be off.
      • 30k words is precisely what my journals so far have.
    • I started my garden back when I was using [[roam research]] in the first half of [[2020]].
→ node [[2022-06-12]]
→ node [[2022-06-11]]

2022-06-11

  • [[Regenerative farming]]

  • [[Open Infrastructure Map]] is absolutely fascinating. Check out all the power stations, turbines, electricity lines, gas, oil, water pipelines, etc are near you. Built on top of [[Open Street Map]] data (what an amazing project OSM is).

  • Equally fascinating is [[OSM Landuse Landcover]]. Dead interesting to compare urban areas, agriculture and wilderness. No surprise that near me there is a ton of pasture grazing and crop farming, a bit of urban sprawl, and a depressingly small amount of woodland and forest.

→ node [[2022-06-10]]
  • Backnoded: I worked half a day, met [[akshay]] and [[pesho]] in the first half of the day.

Took me a bit to find https://death.andgravity.com/f-re on verbose regular expressions! Luckily the right search terms were iterated towards...

→ node [[2022-06-09]]
  • You can get closer to someone by highlighting how you are similar, and then making your request have a reason relevant to increasing their stature.
→ node [[2022-06-07]]

I keep coming back to the same refrain: "I will show you the shape of my heart."

(I love you. Yes, you.)

  • Pick the [[tactic]] that puts [[time]] on your side- it's better to float on top while pressuring your opponent because they will eventually [[submit]], the longer they are in that [[position]]. [[war]]
  • "We don't compromise because it's right; we compromise because it is easy and because it saves face. We compromise in order to say that at least we got half the pie. Distilled to its essence, we compromise to be safe. Most people in a negotiation are driven by fear or by the desire to avoid pain. Too few are driven by their actual goals." [[Never Split the Difference]]
    • Measure what your [[opponent]]'s [[cycle]] of [[approval]] is. Do they get paid commissions monthly? Quarterly finance report? Weekly 1-on-1? 5 year plan? [[time]]
  • Remind your [[opponent]] of their [[deadline]], live in such a way as to have no deadline. [[war]]
  • [[Measure]] the [[probability]] of a [[threat]] by paying [[attention]] to [[who]], [[how]], [[what]], and [[when]]- if the threat does not include a [[how]] and [[when]], it is less likely to be serious.
  • [[Expecting]] someone to think like you guarantees [[surprise]].
  • [[Rpg]] system where you get to improve your spread of [[stats]] by staying with the same spread, but the [[specialization]] makes it easier to [[break]], and when things [[change]] those who [[generalize]] can change more quickly.
  • [[Android]] [[rts]] [[game]] where you play as a [[swarm]]. When your spread your fingers apart, the swarm spreads apart. When you draw your fingers together, the swarm tightens.
  • [[Organizational]] [[surface]] [[area]] is too small relative to mass of organization- that is, it is not receiving as much input from outside the organization that it needs. There is no easy way for a customer, a client, or even an employee to bring enough [[information]] inside to affect [[energy]] requirements for the [[organization]].
  • Is it easier to [[examine]] something when there is less [[energy]] there?
  • you can only be [[change]]d when you [[submit]] collapsed:: true
    • For something to happen in [[play]], someone must be changed. People [[block]] being changed by others, because they think that is what it means to be high [[status]].
    • Notice when [[change]] is [[blocked]].
  • One large benefit to [[secrecy]] is to form an [[ingroup]]. So, higher [[transparency]] [[groups]] will need to find another way to create the kind of barrier that forms groups.
  • How do we determine what [[needs]] to be done and how to do it? How do we [[invite]] people to figure these out?
  • [[Groups]] need to [[make]] something they can [[touch]] to come [[together]], when this is done they drift apart.
  • What [[baseline]] [[behavior]] does this [[agent]] have? What [[fixed]] actions are in that baseline behavior? What triggers fixed [[action]] [[patterns]]?
  • Offering a [[reason]] often auto-completes [[persuasion]], regardless of the reason.
→ node [[2022-06-06]]
  • Went to sleep way too late :)
    • A little nap after lunch went a long way!
    • Then I took a walk with my [[brother]].
    • Then I came back home a bit later than expected but not to late and I decided to work on the [[agora]].
  • trying out [[signal]]
  • [[bengo]]
  • [[pomodoros]]
    • start with a rest -- I'm writing this in the rest while I drink water :)
    • ship [[recursive agora]]
      • took [[3 pomodoros]] but I cleaned up a lot (including UI tweaks), implemented extra functionality, and had fun :)
      • trying calling pulls by Agora users [[wormholes]] :)
    • [[opt in]] [[writes]]
    • agora polls by bot responding to posts with more than one option, like [[yes]] [[no]] [[maybe]]
    • find social coop debug logs
  • answer [[amadeo]]
  • answer [[diego de la hera]]
  • invite [[mathew lowry]]
→ node [[2022-06-05]]

2022-06-05

  • [[Grover]]

  • [[Another world is possible]]. But more than that - [[Another world is necessary]].

  • Learning more on [[Markets vs planning]], finding it interesting how [[Friedrich Hayek]]'s stuff on markets as a decentralised information processing system on the surface chimes with what I like about complex systems. And central planning is discordant with what I like about complex systems.

    • But obviously politically I am strongly against what [[neoliberalism]] has wrought, and I am strongly pro what [[socialism]] offers.
    • Intrigued to dig deeper on that. I imagine it might be along the lines of e.g. complex systems exist within another system which provides them with limits and direction, even if it doesn't plan every interaction. Or perhaps just that the analogy between natural systems and artificial ones only goes so far.
→ node [[2022-06-04]]
→ node [[2022-06-03]]

A veces siento que el [[ágora]] está hecha de luz, de bits en el espacio-tiempo fluyendo arbitrariamente cerca de la [[velocidad de la luz]].

2022-06-03

  • Starting taking [[voice notes]] (again).

    • Faffed around for a while with Simple Voice Recorder app from Fdroid and syncing via Nextcloud. SVR app is fine - but getting the sync working was annoyingly non-trivial. Settled on just using Matrix Chat for now, which has a voice record feature, and takes care of all the syncing. But now am looking now for an easy way to transcribe them. Lo and behold an article on doing this already exists from Maya! https://maya.land/monologues/2021/08/05/matrix-bot-transcribe-speech-audio-messages.html But a bit of setup involved. Maybe I should just use otter.ai for now while I'm getting in to the habit, otherwise the friction might kill my habit.
  • Been reading the Winter 2022 issue of [[Tribune]] on my Kobo. [[Tribune Winter 2022]].

    • My brother got me a subscription to Tribune as a late birthday present. Got some good stuff in there. Editorial on [[Cost of living crisis]]. Article about [[New Towns]]. Article about socialist science-fiction - some good recommendations in there. Article on successful [[trade unionism]], specifically in refuse workers sector - some organising to drive worker conditions back up. Also something about [[Partygate]] being hopefully the end for Boris Johnson. I think this article is a few months old, doesn't seem to have happened yet though.
  • [[Flancian]] suggested a [[node club]] on [[utopian socialism]].

    • I'm up for that. I've started with a transcribed voice note.
  • Listened: [[Is the UK heading for a recession?]]

  • Listening: [[How to feed the world without destroying it]]

  • [[Appropedia]]

→ node [[2022-06-02]]
→ node [[2022-06-01]]
  • First of June! Feels significant somehow.
    • One month to the quarter (and to do my OKRs at work).
    • Seven months to go in the year.
    • I start this month single for the first time in 10 years.
    • In some Flancias the revolution started one month after [[international workers day]].
      • One month for planning, then a call to action?
  • [[flâneuse]] == [[calico fisk]]
  • I really want to implement:
    • That script/function to gather all known TODOs from a garden in one place.
    • [[path tracking]] (for the user) in the Agora.
  • Meet [[diegodlh]].

I feel as if something is turning. It might not be much longer.

→ node [[2022-05-31]]
  • Meetings day a priori, but relatively few meetings today!
  • #push [[do]]
    • I need to put my [[todo]] in order. I have by now a mix of [[wiki vim]] style and [[logseq]] style TODOs, and neither are aggregated.
    • Perhaps I should write a simple script or just [[egrep]] invocation that brings back all my undone items in different formats around my garden?
    • Or add this to [[agora server]], where it'll be most useful.
    • [[robert haisfield]] suggested we add 'path tracking' (not user identifiable) -- in the sense of knowing which paths each user took.
      • I'm thinking the nicest way to do this would be just [[query string]] based, e.g. each node linking to another node while appending itself to ?path=.
  • I did [[yoga with x]] live today and then stayed on for 3h and nobody showed up :)
    • That's alright, maybe someone did in the multiverse, or will in the future.

2022-05-31

  • Long been on the to read list, but after seeing it namechecked in various places (most recently [[Red Plenty]] and [[Half-Earth Socialism]]), finally started reading [[News from Nowhere]]. Wasn't sure what to expect given its age but it's been really good so far.
→ node [[2022-05-30]]
  • Any [[explanation]] that allows the [[observer]] to pay more [[attention]] will serve better than an explanation that results in the observer paying less attention.
  • [[Stealth]] is mostly about [[time]]. Effective stealth in conflict often has to do with moving [[slower]] than expected or [[moving]] [[faster]] than expected, rather than [[concealing]] [[direction]].
  • Give [[groups]] a way to [[win]] [[together]] every day. Every time a group wins together, it improves its ability to win the next [[conflict]].

Useful guide to the oauth nonsense to use the Mastodon API. Not sure if there's much I'd want to do with it? Hmm.

Xe did a nice guide to ssh keys and yubikeys. I should bother to set that up...

2022-05-30

→ node [[2022-05-29]]
→ node [[2022-05-28]]

I walked along the river with friends today and we chanced upon a street food market -- five hours flew by! I am thankful for a beautiful day.

→ node [[2022-05-27]]
  • Love a [[friday]] :)
    • Noding this from [[wiki vim]], which I've been using exclusively since yesterday.
    • [[logseq]] people did get back to me over Twitter and it turns out that the latest [[logseq]] contains performance improvements, so I plan to use both in parallel :)
  • [[social coop]]
  • #push [[work]]
    • Need to book travel.
    • Need to renew my ESTA.
    • And more which I shouldn't write about here :)
  • #push [[human]]
    • (is this a verb? :))
    • coffee with [[g]] if we can agree on a time
    • talk to [[a]]
    • talk to [[b]]
    • talk to [[j]].
    • talked to [[jz]].
  • [[vera]] told me about [[lucidrains]]
  • [[the agora of flancia]]
  • [[archive]]
  • [[move]]
    • fixed playlist order
    • want to [[unhack]] in the sense of automatically support go/x/n for any x with items, direct or in a [[playlist]]
    • #push do
      • [[flash]] -- check how to flash messages, and use it to tell the user what's happening?
        • [[flash then redirect]] sounds useful, it's what I've been wanting to implement for [[go links]] when there's more than one #go in a node
        • you should be able to cancel/override the redirect
→ node [[2022-05-26]]

I feel like I've been [[unlocking]] things, in some sense. I optimized several things which had been bothering me for a while. I feel freed up in a way.

Now it's 18:29 and I'm doing a [[pomodoro]] on [[chezmoi]] and with that I'm calling it with general optimization. Next up is [[podagora]] and in general some [[containers]] work, which on second inspection has to do with the [[flancian repo]] and [[project snapshot]].

I over-rested by staying with [[chezmoi]] as it was fun :)

Then I did a [[pomodoro]] on [[social coop]] as I needed to pay attention to [[relax instance registration]] and call for tomorrow's [[social coop tech group]]. Also had a nice [[mint tea]] :)

Then we had [[dinner]] and I cleaned the kitchen counters. Now it's 22 and I think I'll do yoga and try to do two more pomodoros before bed!

Done :) [[podman]] is cool, and http://hypatia.anagora.org (HTTP only, URL will change) is now up. I feel this was a productive day.

2022-05-26

→ node [[2022-05-25]]
  • oncall for both my service and higher level this week, perhaps a bit too much :)
  • [[mathew lowry]]
  • [[iced quinn]]
→ node [[2022-05-24]]
→ node [[2022-05-22]]

2022-05-22

→ node [[2022-05-21]]

I find sudowrite a little intriguing. Remembering that college assignment where another team member gamely wrote draft answers for every question of the group assignment, and I followed behind replacing every one he'd written -- because first draft psychological blocks are that hard... [[shitty first drafts]], [[anne lamott]] teaches us. computer first drafts?

Finally cleared off my desk, ordered a trackpad, and... can't bring myself to buy a new desk chair, so we're working on the theory this one was just misadjusted. (The "ain't straight, can't sit straight" thing is real)

2022-05-21

  • social.coop tech working group working session yesterday was fun, like mob ops or something. With Eduardo and Akshay. Mostly just figuring out how to get new people added to [[pass]].

  • Had a cool moment yesterday where recent readings (Neither Vertical Nor Horizontal, Red Plenty, Half-Earth Socialism and P2P Accounting for Planetary Survival) all seemed to coalesce into the same space in my head.

  • Basically [[Half-Earth Socialism]] seems to be suggesting we need some planetary level planning system for avoiding climate collapse. [[Red Plenty]] gives some food for thought on what can go badly wrong with central planning. [[P2P Accounting for Planetary Survival]] investigates technology like distributed ledgers for a kind of middle that sits in between top-down coordination and horizontal freedom of activity. [[Neither Vertical Nor Horizontal]] is all about that need for a mix of strategies in the face of climate crisis.

  • One of the hardest things for getting people away from [[legacy social media]] is simply [[network effects]] - if everyone else is on a platform, it’s hard to convince people to move away from it.

    • I find it particularly annoying when the only way to follow updates from your local council is on Twitter or Facebook. Strange to get local civic news via a global tech firm.
    • If [[anchor institutions]] / public bodies like the council, health services, police, museums, charities, etc, in a local area could be convinced to move (or at least cross post) to a local alternative, that would help convince some others to move too I’m sure.
→ node [[2022-05-20]]

2022-05-20

→ node [[2022-05-19]]

2022-05-19

→ node [[2022-05-18]]
  • [[braids]] + [[dust theory]] == [[?]]

  • [[samatha]]

  • TODO auto pull wp in empty nodes

  • TODO stop responding to hashtags in moa party

  • [[work]]

    • DONE stuff :)

      --[2022-05-18 Wed 23:31:45] => 09:01:37

  • [[flancia]]

    • I used to take Wednesdays off quite often to spend on Flancia -- but haven't for a while. there's a lot to do at work and I need to catch up.

    • Looking forward to getting back into it!

    • DONE I'll at least try to finish with work early tonight.

      --[2022-05-18 Wed 23:31:03] => 00:00:01

      • I stopped work early -- then worked some more in the night :) it felt nice at times, I wanted to catch up, not optimal but worth it I think
  • [[mathew lowry]]

    • it was great meeting him!
    • very interesting experience consulting
    • [[myhub]] is very interesting and seems to have a lot of potential overlap with the [[agora]]
    • [[pipeline]] design, with inboxes leading through processing/selection steps and then publishing to feeds which are consumed by other people as inputs
  • [[frijof capra]]

→ node [[2022-05-17]]
  • [[separation]]

  • [[work]]

  • [[social coop]]

  • DONE [[opt in]] in [[agora bot]]

    --[2022-05-21 Sat 02:01:41] => 76:34:55

  • DONE stop responding to hashtags in moa party channel, or perhaps just make the bot exit the channel

    --[2022-05-21 Sat 02:01:00] => 76:34:07

  • DONE write [[braids]]

    --[2022-05-17 Tue 22:20:55] => 00:50:47

→ node [[2022-05-16]]
  • Sunday didn't go according to plan w.r.t. [[pomodoros]] and such, but I am OK with how it turned up anyway.
    • Did [[laundry]].
    • Helped a [[social coop]] user recover an account, and started a proposal for simplifying onboarding to the instance.
    • Had coffee with our [[neighbors]].
    • Met my [[brother]] and we had a long conversation.
    • Then I had a conversation with my [[mother]].
    • Then I caught up a bit (not completely) with [[friends online]].
  • #push [[week]]
  • [[work]]
    • big week at work, need to make some progress on a launch / give a presentation / send out a document for review. will try leave everything that needs to happen this week in decently 'ready' state by EOD today, Monday.
  • Eating [[plants]] is a lot of [[work]], because it takes a longer [[digestive]] system to process cellulose and [[plant]] toxins, whereas an [[animal]] is a high-[[energy]] package. [[Scavenging]] is easier than [[predation]], but there is more [[competition]] for scavenging, since the high-energy package is not putting up a [[fight]]. The cheapest [[prey]] to predate on is whichever prey would soonest die- either because they are [[young]] and not well-protected, or they are injured, [[old]], and otherwise at risk of soon starving.
  • The first step for a [[predator]] is [[finding]] [[prey]]- to know that prey is present in a [[space]], and then to know exactly where in that space the prey is. For the prey, it just has to know that there is a predator, and the rough direction the predator is in, so it can [[flee]]. Higher variability in its [[escape]], that comes from not knowing exactly where the predator is, can help with the escape. [[Attack]] and escape are high-[[energy]] actions, so they must make a [[decision]] about whether to attack or escape. If a predator doesn't know exactly where prey is, it makes more sense for that prey to simply stay still, since many predators rely on [[movement]] to [[locate]] prey.
→ node [[2022-05-15]]
  • What do they best like to do? Where can they do it? Which[[group]] can they do it in? If that [[space]] does not stand out, can we [[create]] it?

2022-05-15

→ node [[2022-05-14]]

2022-05-14

  • Enjoyed the session on [[Rewilding]] at the [[Transition Together Summit]]

  • Finished reading [[Red Plenty]]. Half-fact half-fiction account of Khruschev-era Soviet attempts at economic central planning and its collapse. Epic book. Francis Spufford is a virtuoso writer. No clue how objective it is. But it's a very good read.

→ node [[2022-05-13]]

2022-05-13

  • [[Red Plenty]] is so good. Francis Spufford is a great writer.

  • Feeling quite inspired by the [[Transition Together Summit]]. I know there are criticisms of [[Transition town]]s but hard not to be inspired by all these examples of community projects. It all feels quite [[municipalist]]. There is a cadre of peeps there interested in the tech to support this kind of local community building, too.

→ node [[2022-05-12]]
→ node [[2022-05-11]]
  • [[Notes]] taken for a specific [[purpose]] to serve a particular [[aim]] offer a different kind of [[knowledge]] than notes taken to store knowledge for the sake of stored knowledge.
→ node [[2022-05-10]]

2022-05-10

  • Been reading [[Red Plenty]] in the evenings of late. Still great. The promised plenty of the planned economy goes sour over time. You get insights into the ways in which trying to plan everything can have unforeseen consequences. And the social ramifications of that. The chapters on the factory that deliberately breaks some of its machinery in order to get a replacement; on the 'pusher' who greases the wheels between different parts of the planned economy; and the horror of a psychoprophylactic childbirth regime (due to shortages of medicine, according to the author); they are all excellent.

  • Wouldn't you know it, there's an Adam Curtis doc that looks at [[Gosplan]]. Should be a fun watch. [[The Engineers' Plot]].

→ node [[2022-05-09]]
  • DONE fix bug with hashtags followed by :, punctuation marks -- easy regex fix?

    --[2022-05-09 Mon 23:56:40] => 14:29:34

  • NOW add better support for CamelCase and such to [[agora server]]

  • [[gpg key]]

    • LATER fix rendering of the gpg key -- the Agora is somehow truncating the subnode, perhaps because of some special casing we did of -- or such?
→ node [[2022-05-08]]
→ node [[2022-05-07]]

2022-05-07

  • I've been journalling reasonably frequently in a good old-fashioned paper journal lately. With a pen. It's nice. I find I'm in a different headspace altogether when I'm entirely away from an electronic computing device.
  • In the paper journal I tend to write more about personal things.
  • In my paper writing, I put wikilinks around things that I want to follow up on. They stand out visually when you scan back over something afterwards.
  • Social media wise I'm following a little more the local feeds (via Miniflux/Nitter).
  • Tad disappointed with the local election results in my area. Not awful, but not brilliant.
  • [[Lichen]] are cool.
→ node [[2022-05-06]]
→ node [[2022-05-05]]
  • [[Pine]] forests have lots of [[fruits]] in [[summer]], but few [[greens]] and [[roots]]. [[Hardwood]] [[forests]] have lots of roots, few fruits, and a lot of greens in [[spring]].
  • More [[certainty]] about what you're [[taking]] in is needed than things that are not taken in.
  • [[Topology]] [[optimization]] can be used to reduce the amount of [[material]] used in a structure by identifying how [[strong]] a [[structure]] needs to be in the face of the directions it needs to be strong toward and using less material to meet that requirement.
  • To have [[charisma]] is to yearn for [[life]] enough to greet it with [[joy]] again and again, such that there is good cheer and [[calm]] [[happiness]].
→ node [[2022-05-04]]
→ node [[2022-05-03]]
  • How are disparate [[spaces]] [[explained]] in such a way that [[connect]] all of them, enough for the individual [[contexts]] to be apparent in the [[explanation]]? [[synthesis]]
    • It is much easier to [[explain]] something in one [[context]] than it is to explain that thing in all the contexts in which it appears.
    • If everything in a [[space]] sticks together better with a particular [[explanation]], that explanation fits the space better. However, for an explanation to [[fit]] well, it must always be taking in the space. It cannot rest on its laurels, it must always be listening.
    • [[Explain]] things in a [[space]] in the way that [fits] with the [[fastest]] way to use what we already know to tell the [[story]] of that space.
      • It's easier to [[meet]] one [[new]] thing at a time, so it's better to tell a [[story]] one thing at a time. Part of the story is in when we meet a thing, so that things that are met earlier have a bigger part to play in things that are met later. It is easier to set up many things that lead to the next thing earlier, so that when the later thing that requires the earlier things to know is met, it is met more easily.
        • It is more useful to an [[explanation]] for our explanation to [[decide]] when we meet a thing first and when we meet a thing later, rather than deciding on when we meet a thing first and sticking to that order.
        • The less we stick to a [[plan]], the easier it is to [[change]] when the [[world]] changes.
          • Any two things that do not have a clear [[story]] connecting them to everything else in a [[space]] are [[heavier]] to carry- that is, they take more [[work]] to [[memorize]], since they are [[separate]] and irrelevant to the bodies we've already constructed.
            • Whoever can tell a [[story]] connecting two things in a [[space]] where someone cannot find a [[connection]] will come to be trusted for knowing that space. They will be assumed to be [[bigger]] in that space, and be someone to [[trust]] learning that space from.
  • Everything is made of parts that are [[moving]] all the [[time]], parts that move toward each other when they're further away, and move away from each other when they're closer [[together]].
  • It is easier to give someone a seed of [[knowledge]] than it is to give them a whole, fully-grown tree. This is why explaining how to [[know]] is more useful than simply giving someone knowledge.
  • [[Alliums]] are self-[[propagating]]. Carrots, beets, artichoke, rhubarb, radishes, potatoes,
→ node [[2022-05-02]]

2022-05-02

→ node [[2022-05-01]]

I need to remember what I'd read -- which holiday it was where the rich families would give out wafer/waffle cookies with their family crests on them. We watched a video on how to make [[stroopwafels]] and it's just a pizzelle caramel sandwich -- which then meant I found out about [[krumkake]], a Norwegian (or Norwegian-American?) version of [[pizzelle]]. For that, this iron looks real real cute.

→ node [[2022-04-30]]
  • [[Gliders]] were used in [[World War II]]. They have not been used much since then, with [[helicopters]] and [[parachutes]] taking their place, but they still offer a more precise method of troop transportation for one to two [[fire]] [[teams]].

2022-04-30

  • Signed the petition to [[Stop water pollution in the Lake District]]

  • Filling in a bridge with concrete for £124,000 rather than repointing it for £5,000. Highways England may have to reverse concreting of Victorian bridge arch | He…

  • My Nitter and Miniflux combo on YunoHost still going well for [[reading tweets without being on Twitter]]. I use it to keep up with what's going on with organisations local to me, who are still on legacy social media platforms. Could still do with something that works well for RSSifying Facebook.

  • Been frequenting Mastodon more again recently what with the new wave of interesting people joining. Quickly remembering how [[microblog-style social media]] has a habit of sucking me in and distracting me. Even when the platform isn't designed to do so. It's just something about the medium I think. Of course it's fabulous for connecting and discovering. Just need to keep up the willpower so it's not distracting.

→ node [[2022-04-29]]
  • I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night and I think: have I done [[enough]]?
  • What ways do we have to [[communicate]] [[information]] that is necessary for the completion of our [[mission]] when we do not have [[radio]] or [[internet]] contact?
  • There is something you are here for, that only you can do. Your [[mission]] is to transmit this to everyone around you, so that you are [[expendable]].
  • Oftentimes, an [[advantage]] is simply knowing a [[space]] better than your [[enemy]].
→ node [[2022-04-28]]
  • [[backnoded]] #today
    • I worked what felt like a lot, but I didn't produce that much I think -- it was just about catching up with things. we had several incidents; good thing is that two of them were really interesting. we are learning a lot.
  • Small [[unit]] [[principles]]:
    • Modern [[special forces]] rely on an initial [[surprise]] to seize the [[initiative]]. [[Delaying]] actions are not in their favor. Slowing them down saps their [[momentum]]. [[Awareness]] leeches their potential for surprise.
    • The bigger the unit, the more [[friction]] [[scales]].
    • If the expected [[movement]] is not [[simple]], it is difficult to [[hide]] and even harder to setup a [[feedback]] [[loop]] for that particular target.
    • Requiring lots of [[control]] makes [[preparation]] difficult.
    • [[Simplicity]] happens by limiting [[goals]], using as much of what is available as possible, and having [[awareness]] of the enemy. Awareness makes it easier to lower the number of goals to only what is needed to finish the mission. [[Timing]] is what must be [[hidden]] for an attack.
    • Hiding your next [[move]] is most useful as a delaying effort.
    • The enemy is usually [[prepared]], but when are they least prepared?
      • The enemy is often least prepared in [[transition]].
    • For a [[raid]], [[speed]] is less [[relative]] because [[resistance]] is a given, since raids are necessarily an [[attack]] on a [[position]] where [[defense]] is [[prepared]]. Due to this, [[time]] works in favor of the defenders, and not the raiders. So raiders need to move with as much [[speed]] as possible.
→ node [[2022-04-27]]
  • Getting back into things after the holiday hiatus.
    • Tough day at work, but got through it and got some things done. Ended up on a positive note.
    • Did [[yoga 15]], still solid, actually closer to [[14 minutes]] long.
    • Looked for [[yoga 13]] but didn't find it, now noded.
  • #push [[auerbach]]
  • #push [[do]]
    • LATER #meta I really need to implement [[autopush]], now that speed is back to normal in the Agora :)
  • If the plane is going down, landing it softly is better than crashing.
    • A fully decaying [[Empire]] can play for time by shaping it's competitors [[growth]], [[fighting]] more with less [[energy]], and keeping an eye on the [[long-term]]. So the wise decaying Empire would stretch toward ability for springing back [[resilience]] and holding up what is already there [[sustainability]]. To do this, the Empire must keep up with begetting a few new things [[innovation]] to help it move (in part by copying the best of what it's enemies use), encourage enemies to ignore it, and play enemies against each other.
    • An [[expeditionary]] [[enemy]] [[force]] is allowed to over [[reach]] into their [[territory]], until they can be separated from their [[base]] and finished off.
    • The [[aim]] is not to win [[battles]], but to [[win]] the [[war]] for [[life]].
    • "Conventional [[soldiers]] think of the [[jungle]] as being full of [[lurking]] enemies. Under our system, we will do the lurking."
  • [[Competitive]] [[advantage]] is [[context]] dependent.

2022-04-27

→ node [[2022-04-26]]

2022-04-26

→ node [[2022-04-25]]
  • Traveled back home from [[spain]].
→ node [[2022-04-24]]
  • Writing this straight from the [[github]] UI as I don't have a garden editor set up in the laptop I am carrying with me.
    • It is nice to have the alternative, but wow, Github sucks. I am actually often surprised at how limited it is. "Only displaying 1000 files." -- but why? :)
    • The code review/code viewing experience is... basic.
    • It might also be, of course, that I'm continuously out of patience for closed source platforms. I think I should probably move away from Github for garden hosting -- after all, my garden isn't really covered by Google's limitations on open source hosting as it doesn't contain code.
  • I missed out on the [[social coop strategy day]] due to being out on holidays. It was a shame -- of course being on holidays is nice, but it goes to show there's an opportunity cost :) I could have planned around it, of course, but I didn't.
    • Thank you [[neil]] for attending and taking notes!
    • Looking forward to coming back tomorrow and resuming online/digital activities. I also promised I would coordinate the next [[social coop tech group]] session and I have failed to do so yet -- my apologies. Will try to do it tomorrow evening at the latest.
  • #push [[spain 2022]]
    • Our itinerary in this trip:
      • [[granada]] (staying here)
        • Beautiful all around, liked it last time around, liked it this time, will return eventually unless death catches me first.
        • Did a small tour of bookshops this time around while looking for gifts for [[L]] and enjoyed it a lot.
      • [[montefrío]] (as a day trip)
        • Nice day trip; [[the view]] was great as expected. Small and sleepy otherwise.
      • [[málaga]] (staying here)
        • Nice for a beach city; interesting enough old town, great food all around. Good base (well connected, we flew in and out from the city airport).
      • [[nerja]] (as a day trip)
        • I think I tend not to like touristy beach towns in general. We had the worst lunch of the trip here; someone bought a once-great fonda and is running it into the ground.
        • My mum loved it when she visited it; I think some parts and nicer than others and she loves beaches to begin with, which probably helped.
      • [[ronda]] (as a day trip)
        • Amazing. We spent the afternoon here; [[la lechuguita]] is a great tapas place (1 euro each).
      • [[marbella]]
        • I don't get it. Would skip. Perhaps if you're rich, staying in a villa, liking to feel fancy. But it wasn't even nice close to the beach -- not in the city centre anyway. Would skip from now on.
    • [[being offline]]
  • Things to pay [[attention]] to when designing a way to learn how to know the [[thinking]] behind a particular [[skill]]:

    1. What's it like to be someone who doesn't know this [[skill]]? What is this like for a five year old learning this skill for the first time? [[mentalizing]]
      1. How can this [[skill]] be taught one [[movement]] at a [[time]]?
      1. How much [[energy]] does it take to [[learn]]? What's the least amount of energy it takes for someone to learn what they need to know to know how to know what we know? How does the way a [[story]] moves change the way we learn?
    • collapsed:: true 4. How can we use what the learner already [[knows]] to help their [[learning]]? What does the learner know? How is this similar to what the learner needs to know to learn? What place are we using to show what the learner needs to know to learn? What can we avoid saying because it is already known? When something is partially similar, can we use what is the same to get to what isn't the same?
      • By showing how a learner already knows some of what is going to be learned, we lower [[resistance]] to [[learning]].

2022-04-24

→ node [[2022-04-23]]
  • Musical notes have [[music]] potential, but they don't carry a [[tune]] until there is a [[relationship]] between [[notes]], and the [[space]] between these notes is where music comes to life.
  • Connections to your [[base]] should be equally spaced apart as broadly as possible while still supporting your[[main body]] .
  • [[Symmetric]] [[center]] position is something you [[transition]] through, not something to hang out in during a [[fight]].
  • It's easier to make someone [[fall]] when they are already falling- such as when attacking the [[foot]] [[sweep]] midstep.
  • The [[mouth]] must [[order]] [[thought]] because there is only one mouth, and it can only convey a [[narrow]] band of [[sound]] at a [[time]]. So [[language]] [[selects]] what [[information]] to prioritize. collapsed:: true
    • The [[verb]] is the center of each [[sentence]]. [[Who]], [[why]], [[how]], [[when]], [[where]], and [[with]] are structured differently depending on the needs of the language.
    • Before we express an [[idea]] in [[language]], it is useful to know what idea we want to express, and what the necessary elements of that idea are.
    • [[Language]] is [[political]] imposition of one [[dialect]] over other dialects in an area.
    • Expressing a [[thought]] or [[idea]] is far more difficult than it may appear. Usually what appears to be one [[expression]] is actually made up of many [[thoughts]].
  • A [[foot]] [[sweep]] happens when one foot is [[light]] and then that lightness is used to move the foot to a position across from the body's [[center of gravity]] (as in [[inside]] foot sweep), or away from their center of gravity, as in an [[outside]] foot sweep leading them to over [[reach]] enough to fall. That is, when a [[joint]] connecting the main body to the base is light enough to allow an opponent to move that joint away from the base, disconnecting the [[main body]] from the [[base]].
→ node [[2022-04-22]]

docs integration feature

problem: when someone screenshares a document, it's difficult / annoying for people to get access to it solution: google meet. those in the meeting who have the permission to access the document should be able to access and edit the document in the screenshare window, rendered through an iframe with all of the existing features. people who don't have this access just receive the view only version of the document, regardless of the permissions - with a screenshare they are implicitly given permission to view the document during the presentation. eventually we can host iframes of all these different websites with this technology

→ node [[2022-04-21]]
→ node [[2022-04-20]]
→ node [[2022-04-19]]

2022-04-19

→ node [[2022-04-18]]
→ node [[2022-04-16]]
→ node [[2022-04-15]]

2022-04-15

  • a small tour through a few [[pkm tools]] follows, please disregard if it's not your kind of thing :) (I guess this applies implicitly to all my notes, of course.)
    • [[logseq]] just crashed again so I thought I'd give [[foam]] a try again, see how it's holding up.
      • Right away I really like:
        • The multi pane layout, which I find more flexible than Logseq's single pane with tabs which you only get through an extension.
        • The fact that it's very responsive on , while Logseq often lags.
        • The built-in terminal and more full featured [[vim emulation mode]].
      • Right away I dislike:
        • The fact that auto completing wikilinks takes waaay to long still, essentially making linking very cumbersome (I already didn't link [[logseq]] above twice because of how long autocomplete takes to run.)
      • I might keep using it, disabling autocomplete, and see what happens?
        • Plot twist, apparently you can't disable autocomplete? Argh.
          • I tried disabling quickSuggest everybody I could find it in settings (dialogs, files) and it still does it and annoyingly hangs for several seconds every time I try to link anything.
      • Asked in the [[foam discord]] (argh) whether there's any way to disable autocomplete or prioritize https://github.com/foambubble/foam/issues/906
        • I just need an open source PKM that offers a responsive text editing experience and can handle >5k files :(
          • OK, perhaps I should give [[wiki vim]]] a proper try.
    • #push [[wiki vim]]
      • Is where I'm writing this now :)
      • Right away I really like:
        • How fast this feels! As expected. It's lightning fast while writing (it's just [[vim]]), it's lightning fast while following links (with ctrl+enter).
        • ,w,j is the way to visit my daily journal -- as I have , as my leader key. It looks worse than it feels to use it -- acceptable.
      • It doesn't have link autocomplete, at least not just by writing [[ -- but honestly this is relatively minor, and it seems it has pretty good searching capabilities, they just don't trigger by default.
    • back to [[logseq]], which is a bit laggy but not overly so and has potential. I now also notice that it does auto save/git commit very well, it's nice not having to think about it and having it just work (tm).
    • I just took a look while I was around in [[discord]] and, two years in, people are still asking about an export feature in [[athens]] and as far as I can tell it's still not being worked on: https://github.com/athensresearch/athens/discussions/874 :(
    • BUT now the independently developed [[athens export]] exists, so that's nice :)
  • [[pkm book]] https://twitter.com/PkgBook/status/1508347439409172480
  • [[agora]]
  • reported https://github.com/vector-im/element-web/issues/21812 to [[element]]
  • [[gyuri lajos]]
  • [[flancia]]
  • [[big timer]]
  • [[ivo]] == [[kvistgaard]]
  • [[federation]]
  • [[mondegreens]]

2022-04-15

→ node [[2022-04-14]]

program viz

an error draws its trace from its origin node to the place in which its handled as a line on the ast graph - tracing the original line that was connecting the nodes. if it's not handled, it can be seen to bubble up to the "root node" of the program

Apr 14, 2022 11:37:20 AM Jake Chvatal <jake@isnt.online>:

series of nodes representing modules that are logging; like a tree spänning out from the file that starts the server whenever something is logged, that node pulses with a color corresponding to the severity of the log information the tree is browsable just like a prezi presentation that zooms in and out of these clusters to individual function calls, etc

2022-04-14

→ node [[2022-04-13]]
  • [[work]]
    • long day but with fewer meetings, I was able to get done what I set out to do in the day for a change, which felt nice :)
  • [[sci fi]]
    • we're watching [[severance]] and it started well.
    • I had come up with a similar premise for a short story a few years ago (not surprising, it's not very complex: people choosing to forsake their memories from periods of work) -- so it's naturally interesting to see it unfold.
→ node [[2022-04-12]]
→ node [[2022-04-11]]
  • #push [[work]]
    • "Work is work, that's why they call it work even when it's often labor."

Semana 2022-04-11

Facultad

VL Literatura ENS: Waterfront

  • Leer “[[Introduction. The Graphic Novel, a Special Type of Comics]]” to Jan Baetens and Hugo Frey: The Graphic Novel. An Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014.
  • (Leer) Coleridge’s poem “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner”
  • Browsear:
    • Steve Duin and Shannon Wheeler: Oil and Water, Seattle: Fantagraphics, 2011.
    • Joe Harris and Martín Morazzo: Great Pacific – Trashed! Portland: Image Comics, 2013.
    • Rachel Hope Allison: I’m Not a Plastic Bag, Los Angeles: Archaia, 2012.
    • Nick Hayes: The Rime of the Modern Mariner, New York: Viking, 2011.

Seminario Literatura ENS: Research Methodologies for Literary Studies

  • Escribir análisis de DFW "A radically condensed…"
  • Escribir análisis de Joy Harjo: “An American Sunrise”
  • Escribir análisis de Kate Chopin: "Story of an Hour"
  • Leer Frost, Robert. “Mending Wall” (1914).
  • Leer Wheatley, Phillis. “On Being Brought from Africa to America” (1773).

VL Literatura ENS: Conceptualizing Cosmopolitanism and World Literature (esta semana no hay clases)

  • Leer Craig Calhoun - 'The Class Consciousness of Frequent Travellers'
  • Leer Jacques Derrida - 'On Cosmopolitanism and Forgiveness'
  • Ver podcast
  • Leer Jessica Berman - 'Modernist Fiction, Cosmopolitanism, and the Politics of Community'
  • Ver podcast

VL Literatura ENS: Victorian Gothic

  • Leer Sweeney Todd ch. 1.4.22
  • Leer Varney the Vampire ch. 1
  • Ver podcast
  • Leer Jane Eyre ch.20

VL Literatura ES: Escrituras en movimiento

  • Releer Guadalupe Nettel La version de Cecilia/La versión de Claudio
  • Leer Mentira romántica y verdad novelesca de René Girard

Seminario Literatura ES: BVM

Seminario Benjamin (29/04)

  • Leer Walter Benjamin, "Una imagen de Proust"
  • Preparar exposición

Taller de escritura académica en español

  • Escribir algo en el marco de lo que estamos haciendo
  • Armar mapa conceptual y marco teórico de un trabajo
  • Poner foco en los párrafos. Hacer ejercicio de intercalar frases largas y cortas. Y por qué hacemos una corta o larga.
  • Mandar el lunes de la semana del 06.05

2022-04-11

→ node [[2022-04-10]]

2022-04-10

2022-04-10

  • Finished the first book in [[spring reading challenge]] so on track!
  • Going to first home game of the season for my football team [[AIK]].
→ node [[2022-04-09]]
  • [[flancia meet]]
  • [[agora]]
    • LATER could probably improve the welcome message in [[index]] -- it's overly long, a bit confusing for first time users?
    • [[agora server]]
      • [[spaces to tabs conversion]]

        • I didn't like the result so I took the liberty to revert. Some rationale in the node above :)
        • Reach out if you think it's the wrong call! But I'd rather go with the Python community standard by default and not impose an extra burden on contributors (to override their editor defaults).
      • DONE fix links in /journals

        --[2022-04-09 Sat 19:32:08] => 00:00:01

        • was higher priority than expected, see below :)
      • LATER perhaps tell crawling bots to take it easy while I work

      • LATER [[sqlite]] experiment

      • LATER I should update to Python 3.8 so I can use f-strings with = at the end to print variable name and value in one swoop.

        • Surely there are also other improvements :)
      • NOW agora load balancing

        • it is time.

          • update: actually it is not quite :) squashing the 500s bug mentioned below made the Agora a lot more efficient. this is still high priority but not burning.
        • once the next item is ready, this unlocks arbitrary [[horizontal scaling]].

        • I think I'll start with the simplest setup possible, solving balancing first and reliability later -- that is, add balancing to the [[nginx]] running in [[thecla]].

          --[2022-04-09 Sat 19:32:28] => 00:00:02

      • LATER experiment with [[podman]] as [[docker]] replacement

        --[2022-04-09 Sat 19:32:23] => 03:46:32

        • continue going through [[please contain yourself]] with [[podman]]?

          --[2022-04-09 Sat 19:32:29] => 00:00:03

        • nice, got it running just fine; I said I was not going to default to [[rootless containers]] but they seem to work fine for simple examples, and the

          --[2022-04-09 Sat 19:32:29] => 00:00:02

      • crawlers/bots are hammering anagora.org quite a bit, might need to actually write a [[robots.txt]] file to tell them to take it easy while we work on better performance :)

  • I've been thinking of [[time]] from the point of view of [[lady burup]] (as I imagine it) and I've found it [[interesting]].
    • When it's light, it's the next day for her; she might not understand that [[dawn]] shifts from season to season?
  • [[twitter dall-e]]
  • [[doing laundry]]
  • #push [[agora speed]]
    • [[scaling]] must happen

      • but we still have time thanks to the block below :)
    • DONE hmm, but there is [[low hanging fruit]]: the per-worker cache should not all expire in unison (!)

      --[2022-04-09 Sat 19:10:28] => 01:17:51

      • also I wasn't caching calls to G.node() (?).
      • AND, much more importantly, the Agora was restarting all the time due to 500s in URLs hit by bots -- so none of the performance work I was doing was taking effect. Now that that's fixed it feels much snappier! I am happy about this development.
  • [[daniel dennett]]
  • [[fin de semana]]
  • [[dallee]]
  • [[pep8]]
  • [[Violence]] providers grow into [[enforcement]] partners when they provide a [[stable]] set of [[constraints]] that enable [[agreements]] of [[economic]] [[exchange]].
    • After the [[collapse]] of the [[Soviet]] Union, it took about four years for [[violence]] providers to turn into [[enforcement]] partners.
      • [[Businesses]] did call on violence providers to resolve [[disputes]] and provide other services, but once called, they often found themselves in a permanent relationship with the provider that they may not have wanted.
        • A dummy [[business]] partnered with a [[violence]] [[provider]] might setup and con customers. When customers found the dummy business, they would be stopped from punishing the dummy business by the violence provider. However, if violence providers from another area requested that the dummy business returned the unrealized investment, the request would be honored. On both ends, violence providers would gain between 30 and 50 percent as a [[commission]]. The prevalence of [[scams]] and recuperation by violence providers led to a sort of [[insurance]] industry, where credit providers and local businesses would end up paying a violence provider for insurance against scams and [[theft]]. The violence providers observed a [[norm]] of never scamming each other. In the cases where that happened, [[punishment]] was especially harsh.
→ node [[2022-04-08]]
→ node [[2022-04-07]]
  • [[Emotional]] [[energy]] may [[flow]] in any [[meeting]]. Let it [[fill]] rather than [[drain]]. It fills when everyone [[feels]] [[together]].
    • Attend to where [[attention]] is. Bring everyone's attention [[together]]. Any [[feeling]] can bring everyone together. The feeling is channeled to get everyone to [[move]] together. Watch [[rhythm]]. Build rhythm.
    • To give yourself [[energy]], [[give]] everyone else energy.
    • A clear [[aim]] makes every moment easy to [[listen]] to. Listening, it is easy to remember. Remembering, it is easy to continue [[moving]] [[together]]. So, every [[part]] is deeply interesting because of the [[whole]] it is a part of. Feel the part for the whole. Parts are not interesting when you are [[outgroup]], when you are out of the whole (as in non-grapplers watching [[bjj]] competitions). Parts are very interesting when you are [[ingroup]], because the ingroup knows the shared aim that the parts are important to.
    • Start now.
    • Get [[energy]] from filling a small pond, then [[flow]] to a big pond. Win in small [[arena]]s, then move on to a bigger arena. [[Strength]] against [[weakness]]. [[Surfaces]] and [[gaps]]. [[Local]] first, then [[global]].
    • Monitor for [[gap]]. Do not [[move]] for an [[attack]] until a gap is found. Watch for what does not [[fit]] with the [[land]]. What does not fit with the [[whole]]. The gap is often when people are moving between fixed [[priors]]. Between fixed positions, when they are looking for another position to [[fix]] to, and put all their [[weight]] into that expected position. Once a gap is found, enter and [[tame]]. The side that is more [[united]], that is more [[aligned]], typically tames the less united side. Bring them into the fold. collapsed:: true
      • [[Taming]] occurs when a more [[aligned]] part maintains their [[rhythm]] and draws another part into that rhythm.
    • [[Dense]], [[united]] [[ingroups]] are coalesced with many high [[emotional]] [[energy]] meetings, meetings that brim with [[movement]]. Shifting hierarchies between ingroups and outgroups are formed by [[canalizing]] [[groups]] into an [[arena]] with the possibility of a clear winner and winning that arena by [[taming]] other groups. [[Prestige]] comes from repeated [[change]] where an [[ingroup]] absorbs an [[outgroup]] and a part of the ingroup is associated with that change.
    • Strong [[ties]] between parts with high [[emotional]] [[energy]] bring a lot of [[change]]. The part that better pays [[attention]] to all the other high emotional energy parts (enough to be touched by them repeatedly) tends to be most [[robust]].
    • Pay [[diffuse]] [[attention]] to when and where a big [[wave]] is coming. [[Surf]] that wave. Which ponds are growing? Go there, and help coalesce a [[dense]], [[united]] [[ingroup]] there.
    • Where parts [[resist]] [[change]] is an opportunity for a part that lets change happen. The totality of [[reality]] is the most important [[whole]]. If an [[ideal]], an [[expectation]], a particular [[time]] or a [[wish]] are smaller than [[all]], they will be swept away by all. A part that is moving with what is between many other parts often ends up being most loved by all. Other's [[fixations]] are your [[advantage]].
    • Maximum [[Attunement]]
    • Where do you get [[energy]]? Go there.
  • [[Attack]] when they're unstable. They're usually unstable when they're [[moving]] between [[fixed]] positions, between [[priors]].
  • After the [[Soviet]] [[collapse]], [[groups]] of [[athletes]], [[martial artists]], and [[veterans]] rose to provide [[protection]] in place of the [[state]]. When the initial spike of [[inter]]-group [[conflict]] sorted the inter-group hierarchy, these [[men]], who were most familiar with [[violence]], were slowly edged out or turned into providers of [[stability]]. Those who used what they got right after the collapse to get more stable [[forms]] of [[power]] (such as legal businesses) and [[join]] with other groups to provide stability for a bigger population ended up with [[wealth]]. The groups that built mutually beneficial [[relationships]] with government officials did well, those that attacked representatives of the [[state]] were stamped out.
→ node [[2022-04-06]]
  • Olympic swimming [[winners]] seemed to enjoy practicing in an explorative way (such as through [[constraints]]-based training) better than their runner-ups. Their runner-ups tended to show more [[determination]]. collapsed:: true
  • Let ideologues [[punish]] each other to exhaustion. Sweep in later as a provider of [[stability]].
  • How may we be [[movement]] [[together]]? [[Connect]] as many [[network]]s as possible.
  • A high [[energy]], reality-distorting [[leader]] is great for [[seeding]] a [[network]], but can often be a [[weakness]] in [[expansion]], since the leader cannot be present everywhere, and the nodes that have come to rely on being led do not perform as well without that leadership.
  • [[Fertility]] of [[mind]] comes to those who get energy from re-arranging [[parts]] of a [[whole]] in a new way.
  • Putting yourself [[outside]] of any [[social]] [[network]] makes it difficult to [[move]]. Put yourself on the [[inside]], and you can't help but [[move]].

2022-04-06

→ node [[2022-04-05]]
  • [[Luck]] is easily found where the most [[change]] is.
  • A [[growing]] [[pond]] is better than a [[stagnant]] pond, regardless of size. Start with a small pond.
  • How to [[give]] others [[energy]], and [[receive]] what energy they offer?
    • The quickest way to [[give]] others [[energy]] is to enable [[joint attention]] by attending to what they are attending to. collapsed:: true
    • By figuring out how others help the [[task]] of [[Now]], you gain [[energy]] from them.
      • [[Conflict]] can be used to get everyone on the same [[task]] with [[speed]]. Recall that hearing a [[No]] often reveals more than hearing [[Yes]] or [[Maybe]]. collapsed:: true
        • How do we turn the [[drama]] of [[conflict]] into a happy ending?
      • [[Attunement]] can arise like this: people [[gather]] in one [[place]], they look at one thing, see that they are all looking at the same thing, and share a feeling together. A [[feedback]] [[loop]] happens: more shared [[attention]] leads to more shared [[feeling]], and more shared feeling leads to more shared attention.
      • High [[attunement]] and sense of the [[collective]], a sense of '[[we]]', makes us want to [[move]] our bodies together.
      • The good thing about a [[win]] is the [[celebration]] after, which brings more people together.
      • One mark of high [[emotional]] [[energy]] is being in [[rhythm]] with yourself, which is also a mark of [[alignment]]. As [[Confucius]] notes that smaller stars are drawn to a larger star, a rhythm with an aligned [[flow]] draws others to the one with rhythm.
      • [[Emotional]] [[domination]] rises from one getting all the [[selective]] [[attention]], all the [[feelings]] coming from this one, and everyone else's [[rhythm]] [[aligning]] with the rhythm of the one.
    • If you find yourself with "excess" [[energy]] such as [[anxiety]] or [[insomnia]], use it.

2022-04-05

  • We saw [[seal]]s today! A pod of about 25 of them, some swimming, most of them lounging around. They look very comical when they are just chilling on the beach.
→ node [[2022-04-04]]

2022-04-04

→ node [[2022-04-03]]
  • Let go of [[life]], and let it [[play]]. Playing, life [[flow]]s. [[Form]] [[within]] ([[information]]) rises from [[flow]], and flow arises from play, which is dancing with [[emptiness]]. More forms to play with. Inclining ears fill. Filled, form rises.
    • We are here to help you [[fit]] in with all [[life]]. We are here to support your [[change]] in the way you are already changing. We do this by joining with all life we find, and welcoming our change. We find that fit often involves more [[forms]] than are currently given space, and we aid in exploration to find the [[space]] for what is there, for what is struggling to [[flow]]. To give you an additional opportunity to [[explore]] how you may fit in with life, so you may choose to welcome the feeling of expansive change with us, if you want. [[aim]] [[mission]]
  • An [[aim]] is always expressed in terms of others. Your [[enemy]], your audience, your [[family]], your [[tribe]], your customers. Otherwise, you are not bigger than your self, and you have no motivation to [[work]] solely for your [[self]]. [[Emotional]] [[energy]] always comes from others.
  • It easier to [[move]] yourself than it is to move others. [[control]] collapsed:: true
  • When your [[end]] is a [[number]], you work [[hard]] instead of [[smart]]. This is how [[Goodhart's law]] plays out. This is why wars of [[attrition]] happened, why killcounts don't win wars, and why rewarding people for the number of rats killed does not result in fewer rats. When you select an [[end]], check your [[means]] and ask: how does this help my [[aim]]?

2022-04-03

  • Finished reading [[Bloodlands]] by [[Timothy D. Snyder]]. Utterly depressing read but very interesting to learn more about the history of [[Europe]]. 5 stars of 5.
→ node [[2022-04-02]]
  • [[Neediness]] comes from [[fixation]]. collapsed:: true
    • Your [[enemy]] cannot [[reject]] you. If you are [[fixated]] on an [[object]] that your enemy can associate with, they can offer to feed you that object in return for putting what they [[want]] above what you want. Your [[loss aversion]] becomes their gain.
      • Since a [[decision]] is a cutting off of a possible [[future]], many decisions start with [[No]].
        • Offering a [[Yes]] early [[trap]]s your opponent into over[[reach]]ing from [[fix]]ating on their goal, to turn a [[want]] into something that feels like a [[need]].
        • [[Invite]] your opponent to say [[No]].
        • If you make it [[safe]] for them to say [[No]], they'll feel safer to hear [[No]].
      • There are always more [[prey]], if one costs too much [[energy]] to get, let it go.
      • If you attempt to [[rush]] someone to a [[judgement]], they will be scared into [[defensive]][[resistance]].
      • If you do not get what you [[need]], you cease [[moving]] and [[die]]. If you do not get what you [[want]], you [[change]] and [[live]].
      • Feed your enemy's feeling of [[stability]] in their [[image]]. collapsed:: true
        • Let opponents show you their [[strength]], for it shows you their [[weakness]].
        • Someone in the room needs to occupy [[bottom]] [[status]], let it be you.
      • If you [[save]] your [[enemy]], you are [[responsible]] for their [[decision]].
  • There are >5200 [[Fremen]] out there. Paint a rallying point.
  • Instead of [[yes]] and [[no]] questions, in [[negotiation]], consider 'what would you like me to do'? Or 'how can we do X'?

2022-04-02

2022-04-02

→ node [[2022-04-01]]
  • [[ivo]]
  • [[ana]]
  • [[fauno]]
  • [[berni]] has severe toothache, I'm worried for him
  • I saw my [[dermatologist]] after long; I like her.
  • [[work]]
    • we built [[legos]] with my coworkers. I like my coworkers, I'm lucky there. I'm not sure I like assembling legos in general, (at least the model ones -- the ones that are meant to build up to One Big Thing, with instructions -- or perhaps this one was a particularly finicky one).
    • I realize now I'm critical of the company relatively often -- I still think it's a great place to work, and the people are great. I wonder if I'm the old curmudgeon now. Likely.
  • I would love to be a better person than I am -- I am so insufficient really.
    • I find comfort in knowing there are many better than I -- now and in the future.
  • started watching [[capra course]] [[lecture 6]]

  • Something dashes against the [[senses]]. So something is filled. So something [[lack]]s when it is not filled, and [[wants]]. So something [[acts]] from [[wants]]. Then the [[cycle]] starts again. At least, that's what someone blown out said.

web interface for solving smt/sat problems and logic puzzles with a framework

https://github.com/cpitclaudel/z3.wasm https://www.npmjs.com/package/z3-solver https://github.com/Z3Prover/z3/blob/master/src/api/js/example-raw.ts#L21

like grafana kind of interactive in browser editor for a single smtlib expression to export, etc with nice semantics

actually runnable in browser with cross compilable z3 even higher level interface thst provides a pleasant ui for solving logic problems

^ ^

→ node [[2022-03-31]]
  • According to [[TE Lawrence]], [[strategy]] is a practice of seeing everything for the whole. "Strategy is the synoptic regard which sees everything by the standard of the collapsed:: true whole". Is 'synoptic' here the '[[view]] from the [[sun]]' or 'the view with the sun'?
  • [[General]] [[intelligence]] is a picking out that begets, a selection that produces.

2022-03-31

→ node [[2022-03-30]]
  • According to [[Robert CH Chia]] and [[Robin Holt]], the [[Western]] tradition of [[war]] and [[debate]] go hand-in-hand. They point out that [[Francois Jullien]] shows that styles of open debate and [[open]] confrontation mimic a war of [[attrition]]. That is, the side with a [[surplus]] [[wins]]. Even though [[judgement]]s are made based on whether something is [[good]] or [[bad]], they are argued for based on what is [[more]] or [[less]]. A [[direct]] [[fight]] between positions with a long list of [[arguments]] decided by which [[compartmentalized]] [[events]] can be said to lead to an [[absolute]] [[good]] outcome is not the only way to make a strategic [[decision]]. Rather than trying to eliminate our [[competition]], we might let ourselves change with our competition. Since we often assign causes to effects, and pick individual events and people to [[reward]] [[fast]], there is something to [[resist]], something to [[block]]. There is something easy to resist, as in [[peasant resistance]]. An [[indirect]] approach can be [[silent]], invisible, and very [[slow]], so that it is difficult to resist. [[Loud]] [[direct]] [[action]] interrupts [[flow]], and so while it shows [[initiative]], it is an [[external]] initiative that often has to be [[force]]d. By intervening at a particular [[time]] and not all times, [[attention]] is attracted. That attention can result in an [[alarm]], for whatever [[local]] interests find the intervention [[disruptive]]. The intervention is [[rough]], [[harsh]], and [[cutting]] enough to let everyone register it as event- that is, like an [[anomaly]]. This gives us [[drama]], which we tend to want to [[justify]] our [[existence]], but it is not the most efficient way to [[win]]. Indirect, invisible [[change]], to contrast, is effective because it is constant and in the background, camouflaged by [[baseline]] [[movement]]s of everyday life.
    • The [[indirect]] approach happens through [[metis]], which can be [[listen]]ed to, but not [[command]]ed. [[Metis]] requires complete [[submission]] to whatever we are encircled by, so much so that there is no [[separation]] between what [[know]]s and what is known. With Metis, what is there is simply there, and changes. Metis is specific to one's lineage, so the [[cunning]] of your [[lineage]] only works for your context. Metis is always on the [[move]], it [[flow]]s to take the shape of wherever it is. So in the [[shadow]] is it that lives in [[paradox]] and [[reversal]]. [[Metis]] is always on the [[edge]] of [[collapse]]. It is not indifference or [[nihilism]]: it merely influences from an unseen [[flank]], acting in the [[now]] rather than in a [[future]], so it is blind to [[reason]]. Using [[economy of force]], it will use anything that is there, including anything that would normally hurt an [[ego]] or require giving up an [[object]] of [[attachment]], such as a [[marker]] of [[success]].
→ node [[2022-03-29]]
  • A [[computer]] is a sort of [[clock]] that can add, check, and subtract numbers based on the [[time]]. A computer is many [[slaves]], constantly waiting for a [[signal]] to [[move]]. Lots and lots of detailed work is hidden, and so looks like [[magic]]. [[Programming]] [[language]] is something used to collect and organize different standardized ways to complete and balance numbers. Each of these standardized ways solves a particular mathematical obstacle that is put in front of someone. A lot of understanding computers is about understanding how [[fast]] it will take a computer to go through some standardized way of completing and balancing numbers.
  • A [[problem]] is a [[block]] that is put in front of someone. Like any block, you could [[use]] what is there, you could go through it, you could [[destroy]] it, you could [[move]] it, but the simplest method is often to move around it.
→ node [[2022-03-28]]
  • [[covid]]
    • still not recovered somehow -- taking longer than expected
    • [[worked]] today but was low energy most of the day, only really felt myself "activate" after meetings/in the evening
  • [[V(λ)]]
→ node [[2022-03-27]]
  • [[Never Split the Difference]]: "[[No]]" is more useful when we're trying to [[track]] the ways we will split our [[walk]] through [[talk]] than "[[Yes]]", because it shows more of what we want. Often, we cover what we want with "Yes". We like to say things to make it easy for us to move the way we are moving, not really to show where we are. So we say "Yes" to get people to leave us when they may be bothering us and we say "yes" when we simply [[agree]] with some way the world is. A "Yes" we use to agree to move in some one way does not happen as much, but this is the best "Yes" to get to if you are trying to get shit done. Fearing [[death]] and [[change]], we like to hide those things by thinking we have [[control]]. Using the word "No" often gives us a sense of control. So, when you are talking to someone to win with them, it is good to give them something to say "No" to, so they feel some control. Usually people are too scared to be moved by [[logic]], [[argument]], or other analytical methods of [[persuasion]]. Feeling control, they feel safe enough to look at what they may be missing, and safe enough to show you a little bit more of what they [[want]].
    • Instead of asking "when's a good time to talk" consider "is now a bad time to talk". Since everyone in our [[society]] coordinates on "No", it is faster and smoother to continue coordinating in terms of finding the "No".
      • instead of "do you want to [[win]]" consider "do you want to [[lose]]" followed by asking your interlocutor for a way forward. This gives them a feeling of safety, first through control, then by the proof of control- by you asking them what path to take. This is pretty similar to using a fast direct attack ("do you want to lose") followed playing bottom in [[BJJ]] ("how should I win").
      • A "[[no]]" gives someone a moment to stop and think, much like [[defensive]] [[BJJ]] gives someone a moment to stop and find a [[direction]].
      • "No" gives people a way out of where they are [[trap]]ped, to show us more of their [[wants]]. "[[No]]" lets people find ways that actually help them [[move]], instead of being stuck.
        • You may have to [[hunt]] for [[No]], by [[wake]] hunting through making an openly false claim that they would say "no" to.
        • If someone is not saying "[[No]]", it's a mark of someone too confused to make any decision about which way they want to go, or someone so deeply [[entrenched]] that it may take too long to draw their [[want]]s out.
    • [[Hunting]] for "[[yes]]" makes people [[defensive]], because they can sense they are being hunted.
  • [[Honest signals]] that you have been where someone else has been generally makes them more [[open]] to you.
→ node [[2022-03-26]]

As of [[2022-03-26]]:

I am back here after a long hiatus. 2020 happened, I was very busy at [[work]] working on [[Covid]] response and then on reliability projects. On my free time I built an Agora: some coding, some writing, lots of meeting interesting people. And, of course, I lived -- we lived :) Happily, I have to say. I am thankful.

All posts on flancia.org are also automatically published on anagora.org/@flancia as of the time of writing. I also write to the Agora from my digital garden as anagora.org/@flancian.

2022-03-26

  • I've been reading [[Red Plenty]] by [[Francis Spufford]]. It's very good.

  • Lately life circumstances have meant I'm watching a lot more 'mass appeal' film and TV and reading less. Which is fine, it's entertaining and convivial to relationships… but sometimes feels like time not particularly well spent as far as my own interests go. Maybe if I whack in a bit of a pop [[cultural studies]] lens I'll get more out of it. Possibly horribly pretentious? Maybe, but hey ho, gotta be true to thine ownself.

  • What are alternatives to the [[Hero's Journey]]?

  • Cleaning the house time is also podcast time.

→ node [[2022-03-25]]
  • got a proper [[prc test]] today, as it was near home/quick and easy and it seemed good to be 100% sure this is [[covid]]
    • that swab always goes deeper than I expect!
  • doing some light [[work]]
  • then trying to [[ship]] some improvements to [[anagora]], but might finish it tomorrow depending on level of energy :)

2022-03-25

→ node [[2022-03-24]]
  • "For the true enslaver of a people is he who can put an end to their [[slavery]], but has no care about it." - [[Thucydides]]

discord bot to collect information from me throughout the day

like a survey system easy to access

is it weird to analyze margaritaville as an example of an [[intentional community]]?

[[retirement communities]] as intentional communities: weirdly isolated by money and age, but otherwise I'd bet there's more interesting stuff to dig into. which ones work? which ones haven't? is this separable from the horrors of the [[elder abuse]] in the [[assisted living]] industry?

brb reading about the duwamish coop again :( (hang on should they even have that domain?)

gotta add this header

I feel like kicking this essay in the shins and I haven't figured out totally why or whether it's worth putting my finger on.

→ node [[2022-03-23]]
  • A [[network]] [[state]] is a large [[group]] of smaller webs of people that are spread all over the world, where the webs are together through computers talking to each other. Its home is in the sea of worldwide talk through computers, rather than from [[laws]] in [[books]] and lines that people draw on [[maps]] of land. Now, anyone with a [[computer]] that talks to all the other computers can start a company. They will also be able to start a network state. People will go between each network state, being able to leave at any time, and so different network states will be useful for different things, in the same way that different citizenships get you different access to different countries today, and different corporate accounts get you access to different services. Many people can become billionaires, and even more people can start their own kind of [[money]]. Network states are hard to take by [[force]], because they are spread out, and they are hard for big groups to see without getting infected with what the network states want. They use computer chains that are spread over many computers to track everyone's relationships, so they track the network state itself- and could have a clear and open access to all the agreements within such a state, for members of that state. Since people can talk almost instantly through computers to anyone, almost anywhere in the world, what people want is no longer stuck with where people are. A lot of people don't know the people who live near them, and even more don't want the same things as people who live near them. This is very different from how it was. The fact that people can do different things with different network states, and can be a part of many of them at once makes network states more similar to the past South-East Asian [[mandala]] system of government than modern nation-states. All this makes network states more [[mobile]] , such that they have more in common with [[Vikings]], [[steppe]] [[pastoralist]], [[seafaring]] cultures, and other [[nomads]] than geopolitical nation-states. What they will agree on, the basis of how they talk and move, will be what comes of the flow of everyone with computers talking. So, commerce. Movement of ideas and goods, written into the symbols of agreements on many computers that cannot be easily changed or faked: the [[blockchain]]. All of this allows for a more [[transparent]] [[society]], since many more actions can be timestamped. Since more actions can be timestamped, it will be easier to track movement, which makes it harder to lie.

2022-03-23

  • [[YunoHost]] keeps going from strength to strength in its awesomeness.

    • I installed [[Collabora Online]] and connected it to [[NextCloud]].
    • Now I can edit spreadsheets online, locally in LibreOffice, and on my phone with Collabora Office and it's all synced up!
  • I wrote an email to my MP about the [[UK energy supply strategy]].

→ node [[2022-03-22]]

2022-03-22

  • Turning [[FairBnB]] into a multistakeholder coop.

https://ia601406.us.archive.org/24/items/vera-vidal/Vera%20Vidal%20(Mar%2014).pdf

→ node [[2022-03-21]]

2022-03-21

→ node [[2022-03-20]]
→ node [[2022-03-19]]

2022-03-19

  • Since the [[RSS-Bridge]] thing was never much of a success, I've installed [[Nitter]] on my [[YunoHost]] to get RSS feeds of people I want to follow on [[Twitter]].

  • pluriverse.world is interesting, the written piece is interesting. But I'm not really sure what the thing is actually doing, and I have to have a wallet or use a Google form to contribute. And verify myself with a Twitter account.

  • I will watch this: [[Hacking for the Commons]]

  • [[Prosocial World]] - "Modern Evolutionary Science can contribute to prosocial objectives in all their forms"

→ node [[2022-03-18]]

2022-03-18

→ node [[2022-03-17]]
  • [[2022-03-16]]
    • was a weird day in which I was initially off from work but ended up working, and being happy about it.
    • /shrug
      • should anagora.org get /shrug support? :)
  • [[logseq]]
    • I should learn the absolute basics of querying, like a query to list/transclude all nodes that have NOW, LATER, TODO, DOING, DONE in them.

    • If [[logseq]] could stop forgetting my preferred date format for journals it would be really nice :) I sort of gave up on it for the last few weeks, and anagora.org/journals works with it now, but it still bothers me.

  • #push [[free, fair and alive]]
  • [[agora]]
    • [[agora server]] now properly removes [[logseq]]'s metadata, apologies for the noise up to now.
  • [[random thoughts]] (but perhaps not any more random than a randomly picked thought of mine :))
    • I am now at [[work]] without access to my main garden editor writing this on the basic Github editing UI. It... is not great, but it's also perfectly serviceable. Glad to have the option to edit this anywhere.
      • If Gitea could do editing better than this, perhaps that's a good enough reason to move my primary garden hosting there. Right now I'm only mirroring my Github garden repo to git.anagora.org.
    • [[mood]] pensando en los ojos de [[lady burup]] al acecho.
      • bella manifestación de su foco.

this is a bit more [[design]]-focused than I care for, but explores some about [[animism]] and how we relate to created objects in our life--[[aichaku]], love for what things are, not just what they do. connects with my [[konmari]] theses, a bit.

via [[tiv]]: oh my god there are so many daily podcasts I didn't even know.

Ones I'm thinking about trying:

  • perversely interested in "The Briefing" from monocle
  • today explained: I like some of the [[vox]] writers
  • "the intelligence from the economist": for some reason I thought this had a different name?

Set up another TW for work yesterday so I'll stop using the internal pastebin as my scratchpad and maybe persist things.

Alternative to [[resonate]]: [[jamstash]] lets me use the [[subsonic]] API of the [[nextcloud]] instance in a way that will still [[scrobble]]. Can't rely-rely on it because I never managed to make it work for mobile and such, but it's big progress to be able to [[download]] and scrobble [[mashups]].

→ node [[2022-03-16]]
  • I want to prioritize [[agora protocol]] again. The node is a mess, too many ideas jumbled together.
    • Set up [[go/agora-protocol]] to point to the [[google doc]] again; it's the best collaboration artifact we have. Not free, but I think we can be pragmatic.
    • Will try to edit/close down comments. This and another doc had gotten relative traction but I somehow just dropped them from my todo list -- or never got to them. The pandemic and our response at work had to do with it for sure :)
  • [[agora]]
    • LATER remove [[logseq]] now/later/done cruft

    • DONE review [[vera]]'s PR for gitlab-based editing

      --[2022-03-16 Wed 12:08:17] => 01:13:15

    • LATER experiment again with more eager [[related nodes]], including also suffix matches? or even combinations

      • [[paneer]] should improve because of this :)
    • fix [[pull]] buttons in related nodes/transcluded

  • [[teleoflexuous]]

2022-03-16

→ node [[2022-03-15]]

2022-03-15

→ node [[2022-03-14]]
→ node [[2022-03-13]]

I posted about the [[glitch tiddlywiki setup]] on [[reddit]]. I hope that's not too self-aggrandizing -- for some reason, since spending so much time working on my website, ordinary [[social media]] feels very attention-seeking. Like that's the point of it. I don't think that's really true exactly -- that isn't how I used to feel when I was using it more... but since I'm used to, you know, [[Mastodon]], where my average post engagement is a flatline... my own intentionally flaky site metrics... the choice to use something normal, once removed from habit, seems like it could only be because you want to point the "discovery" eyeball hose at your thing. (I know that's not, like, reality, and of course I'm only musing on this because of a post made to a 2.1k-subscriber subreddit, which is, like, rounding error in Reddit terms, but...)

Anyway, I like the idea that [[glitch]] can make [[tiddlywiki]] point and click simple. Maybe it's not quite there. Always comes down to [[documentation]], doesn't it?

2022-03-13

→ node [[2022-03-12]]

Today I spent a while polishing up a base tiddlywiki on [[glitch]]. It's hard to know what to include/exclude; I couldn't resist poking in some [[fonts]], for instance, but I don't want people to feel like they're having to venture inside my brain to try the thing.

→ node [[2022-03-11]]

I rethemed the wiki again because I was too jealous finding Krystal. I can't tell if there's some odd JS making the scrolling janky or if my phone is just throwing a fit because it's old and has hundreds of tabs open. This was all essentially unreasonable, but didn't take nearly as long now I have more of a clue how.

2022-03-11

→ node [[2022-03-10]]
  • [[daniel c. dennett]]
    • #push [[darwin's dangerous idea]]
      • ...is overall great but [[chapter 13]] is a bit weird.
      • after reviewing diverse aspects of evolution in the previous chapters, for some reason [[dennett]] uses chapter 13 to pick a (lopsided, it seems to me) fight with a single author: [[stephen jay gould]].
      • this was less interesting than other chapters as it read a bit like a thorough demolition of a thesis that didn't seem to make a lot of sense to me in the first place. it felt a bit too much like a mid nineties science beef in the middle of a book about more timeless ideas.
→ node [[2022-03-09]]
  • I had a pretty bad day at work yesterday, ended up the day feeling drained and low.
    • It happens once in a while. On reflection, it seems to happen most often on days
→ node [[2022-03-08]]

Concept: the opposite of this. A prize for not a feed of Takes, but something with at least some real thematic structure. [[nathalie lawhead]] to judge and yes design counts. 1 winner per continent.

Trying to [[crowdsource]] a [[think tank]]... I distrust it.

I should look at getting the [[fonts]] from their page's designers' website, though. It's a nice pairing, and I need to get less knee jerk about my dislike of sans serif body text.

→ node [[2022-03-07]]
  • NOW take a look at [[now]] and [[LATER]]

    • what's the next coding task/project I really want to tackle?
  • [[work]]

    --[2022-03-07 Mon 00:00:53] => 00:00:01

    • went long, finished after 8pm. still, a productive day all in all.
  • [[pull all]] button

    • experimenting with this in dev.anagora.org, I like it for now, need to figure out layout
  • [[yoga calendar]]

Sometimes I have to remind myself I do not live in the same world as other people. To remind myself that others are living with totally different understandings of facts, that their values may not be as repugnant to me as it seems on the surface. But... one gets tired.

What would be a good name for that distinction between facts-conflicts, theory-conflicts, and values-conflicts?

A friend is getting into [[TiddlyWiki]] and I am so hype for him. I hope I'm not just overwhelmingly hype. It is a little weird how few good themes are out there... I wonder if it's because people like me are happy to tweak layout outside of the proper theming system so then it's not as neatly sharable? Still, you'd imagine there would be more without the 2004 low opacity black [[drop shadow]]. It probably wouldn't be too hard for me to package up my own Starter Version with plugins and things... but then I suppose really you'd need to be able to package the node server for it to work for people with low effort anyway.

Gotta get my work one off the old work computer. >:(

Continued efforts to tag things with [[astrological houses]] have revealed a lot of [[journal entries]] where I clearly wanted to start an entry, thought I'd begin with how I was feeling, wrote something to the effect of "I'm so tired/unhappy", and then didn't say anything more over the day. Pondering the merits of preservation of such artifacts... If they were more amenable to [[quantified self]] type analysis it'd be one thing, but...

I have been waiting for [[CSS]] to support proper color manipulation but apparently some mad lad is making it work with variables alone. Inspiring!

→ node [[2022-03-06]]

2022-03-06

→ node [[2022-03-05]]

Today (and last night until 1 in the morning) I'm retheming my wiki! Is [[CSS]] a hobby?

I've used the same sort of peacockish theme for it for a couple years now -- it's time for something fresh. Particularly, it's time for new [[fonts]]. Fern is still my favorite, but since I'm using that for the Agora I'm trying Simula, and Basteleur for headings. Having fun with Huemint, yet another color palette generation tool, haven't settled on anything... Every time I do something in this space I learn, which is cool. I feel great affection for CSS, which is so different from how other people regard it...

Supposedly [[Matrix]] is getting proper native video calling soon. I'm both excited for that and dreading whatever kind of firewall changes will be necessary -- our home network is Extremely Complicated, I am told.

A conversation in [[chat]] spurred me to feel sad about how little multimedia I put in my wiki. I am trying an abuse-of-[[nextcloud]] setup, and we'll see how that works...

→ node [[2022-03-04]]

2022-03-04

pull color="#b51f08"> <title>500 Internal Error wtf.
<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://doc.anagora.org/css/center.css"> <button class="pull-url" value="https://doc.anagora.org/css/center.css">">pull</button>
<div class="container-fluid text-center">
    <div class="vertical-center-row">
        <h1>500 Internal Error <small>wtf.</small></h1>
    </div>
</div>
→ node [[2022-03-03]]

2022-03-03

→ node [[2022-03-02]]
  • I'm testing [[wiki vim]] -- I've been meaning to have a console-based garden editor for a while, tried [[vimwiki]] at some point and didn't like the defaults and didn't look into customizing it; it turns out that [[wiki vim]] is inspired by it but has defaults closer to my preferences, so here goes :)
→ node [[2022-03-01]]

Semana 2021-28-02

Facultad

Seminario Literatura ENS: Research Methodologies for Literary Studies

  • Leer chapters 3-4 de [[The Craft of Research]] de Wayne C. Booth, Gregory G. Colomb, Joseph M. Williams.

VL Literatura ENS: Conceptualizing Cosmopolitanism and World Literature

VL Literatura ENS: Victorian Gothic

  • Leer The Familiar de Le Fanu
  • Leer Novel of the White Powder de Machen

VL Literatura ES: Escrituras en movimiento

Seminario Literatura ES: BVM

  • Leer selección "Hacia una filosofía del acto ético"

  • Preparar presentación

Seminario Benjamin

  • Leer "La obra de arte en la época de la reproductibilidad técnica"

Taller de escritura académica en español

  • Escribir unas líneas sobre mis expectativas / necesidades específicas / intereses.

**

pull color="#b51f08"> <title>500 Internal Error wtf.
<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://doc.anagora.org/css/center.css"> <button class="pull-url" value="https://doc.anagora.org/css/center.css">">pull</button>
<div class="container-fluid text-center">
    <div class="vertical-center-row">
        <h1>500 Internal Error <small>wtf.</small></h1>
    </div>
</div>
→ node [[2022-02-28]]
→ node [[2022-02-27]]

website that tells you ho other people also viewing that website are feeling

stolen grocery bag on the t after work (2/23/2022)

guy stood awkwardly pretending to wait for t. sprinted. grabbed a bag of groceries from a young white kif, practically tearing the bag open to wrestle it from his hands. it all happened so fast i don't know what to think. and a bag of groceries isn't resellable or pawnable, doesn't have value. the thief looked on edge, uncomfortable, desperate, and the kid just let it go. this was of desperation.

learning to delegate (conversations with alex wallar, february 7)

assess carefully what time you have, what needs to be maintained consistently, what can be dropped what bandwidth do i have? how can i fill bandwidth of others by delegating to them? what can i delegate to others? how? why? when?

→ node [[2022-02-26]]
→ node [[2022-02-25]]

2022-02-25

→ node [[2022-02-24]]

2022-02-24

  • [[Invasion of Ukraine]].

  • [[Foundations of Geopolitics]] "reads like a to-do list for Putin's behaviour on the world stage"

  • I am getting through my [[Resonate]] credits pretty quick as I stream it through the work day. But one very sweet thing - I can set myself a monthly limit, and if I run out of credits I can just play the things that I've streamed enough to own (as at this point, you don't pay any more to stream them). The stream2own model is really cool.

  • Cobbled together a dark theme for my digital garden. It needs some more love but at least it'll stop burning my eyeballs when I look at it late on my phone.

  • Yes that's right, I read my own digital garden. What of it! I find occasionally browsing through the recent changes is a decent low-key [[spaced repetition]].

→ node [[2022-02-23]]
  • busy days at [[work]]
    • [[perf]] week(s)
    • plus [[oncall]], and it hasn't come easy this far (although I've had much worse) :)
    • plus my project is delayed (which isn't new, but does add to the required energy)
  • I miss the [[agora]], I miss the [[internet]]
    • I peeked into notifications and there's a lot of interesting discussion I want to catch up with, both in here and on social media
    • not tonight though :) hopefully tomorrow.
  • Most [[stimulants]] simulate the beginning stages of [[hunger]]. This is confusing when your intestines are full, which is why some light nausea is often present.

2022-02-23

→ node [[2022-02-22]]

2022-02-22

→ node [[2022-02-21]]

I'm not sure this is working with the same definition of [[digital gardens]] I am, but you love to see energy in the space.

2022-02-21

→ node [[2022-02-20]]

2022-02-20

  • I am writing this from [[MX Linux]]! My notes on [[Setting up a new box]] have been super helpful - glad I made those. I'm fleshing them out now as I set up this fresh box.

  • [[Problems with an old mouse]] now! Freezing/dying occassionally. What's going on, this stuff seemed to have all been ironed out. Maybe the mouse is busted.

    • Actually it's been OK for a while since plugging in to a different USB port. Maybe it's the port.
  • [[syncthing]] is amazing. I have no idea how it works most of the time, but it does (most of the time). It just magically picked up a suggested peer, presumably because they're on the same network.

  • Had fun clicking around on [[Thompson Morrison]]'s wiki.

  • Bookmarked and read: [[The Stigmergic Revolution]]

  • [[Pharo]] and [[Glamorous Toolkit]] look interesting.

  • Listened to Novara Media on [[Ukraine]]. In a nutshell describing what's currently happening as [[information warfare]], where it's almost impossible to know what's actually happening. Their advice: read from plenty of disparate sources. And that it's probably more fruitful to familiarise with history, reasons for current grievances, etc. than try to follow current events. Adam Tooze has good blo g on this, they say. https://adamtooze.com

→ node [[2022-02-19]]

2022-02-19

  • Great [[Flancia Meet]] today. I was tired after little sleep so almost didn't go, but really glad I did.
    • Some topics that arose:
      • Using text-based actions in the stoa as a simple metalayer of intergarden communication.
        • I like this, because thinking about counter-anti-disintermediation, Agora actions could be in theory anti-disintermediation, i.e. a locking together of individual digital gardens, if actions were part of the Agora platform in e.g. a DB. But if they are a protocol that you can add either in to the stoa or in to your own garden, then Agora remains an optional viewer. Lock-in does remain at a protocol level, but that seems less bad. [[Protocol cooperativism]]?
        • But you can also use the stoa if you don't wish to put the actions in your own personal data store.
      • Ranking was mentioned as one of the actions.
      • Some really good discussion around moderation, trust, community, federation and defederation.
  • Reread: [[How's That Open Source Governance Working for You?]]
  • Reading: [[Admins, mods, and benevolent dictators for life: The implicit feudalism of online communities]]
→ node [[2022-02-18]]
  • I [[worked]], did what needed to be done, but ended up with some relatively imminent things pending. Might do a [[pomodoro]] over the weekend (that's alright, I like to manage my own time).
  • My subnode for [[neil]] is a bit long and it's awkward my writing shows up on top of his -- sorry [[@neil]]! Will try to fix it.
  • #push [[tarot]]
  • When you [[sweep]], [[sweep]] the part of the body that was last holding weight on the ground as it moves- as it is in transition. [[unarmed]] [[war]]

[[2022-02-18]]

sometimes I leave tabs open for entirely emotional reasons.

black bird wing

grey bird wing, a seabird if I remember correctly

Why have these been open for weeks? What does it say that I couldn't get rid of them?

[[flancian]] was asking after my admittedly hare-brained scheme to organize my notes by the [[astrological houses]]. the impetus is entirely this:

The thing that's really beautiful about [[astrology]], about [[Tarot]], about [[palm-reading]]: they have crystallized a way of looking at the world. Divide up all your concerns in life into weighted categories, please. How will you do it? What is the [[Huffman encoding]] of your life?1 If it were me, an embarrassing thing to admit is that I could probably devote one whole twelfth to The Explaining of Systems, as with whiteboarded box and line graphs, or awkwardly non-linear emails. In a sense, divination is a way of reminding me to not weight these concerns too heavily: family, travel, partnership, romance, money, friends... each of these has its slice of the medieval sky. Intellectual concerns, work success, they have lines on the palm, stars and houses-but their part of the distribution is limited. The transient metrics that can define my day at work are nowhere to be found: Latency is not given a Tarot card, nor CPU utilization a planet in the sky.

Anybody else feel like johnny decimal would require way too much... idk, commitment? I guess now I have the bash skills to rearrange things if necessary.

  1. I'll also here note that it is one of the great sorrows of my time as a CS student that [[information theory]] was given such short shrift.

2022-02-18

  • An unreasonable amount of my time today went on getting a monitor to display at the right resolution. [[xrandr: Configure crtc 0 failed problems]].
    • On the plus side I ended up trying out [[MX Linux]] in the process, mainly as a cheap way to avoid Wayland, but it seems pretty nice. I like that it's built on [[Debian]], but not too far removed from it, and is XFCE rather than Gnome.
→ node [[2022-02-17]]
  • #push [[flow]]
    • "[[struggle]] is the first phase of [[flow]]"
    • on a meta level I find flow interesting because people I know that wouldn't usually talk about mindfulness or introspection are willing to engage with the concept
  • [[m n]] told me about the [[icnu]] framework for [[procrastination]]
  • Tough day at [[work]], worked late including an 8pm meeting; after that we did yoga and ate empanadas and I felt better, though :)
    • Tomorrow I'll work from the office for a change, which will probably feel weird for a bit at least.
  • [[flancia collective]]
  • spoke with:

Found this thing about how the [[wikilink]] is "modeless", the [[wikilink | front-facing text]] is not, [front-facing text](link) is not, [<a href="link">front-facing text</a>](#html TIDDLYLINK) is not...

I like modeless [[links]]. It feels like how [[footnotes]] build to be more than references and create their own culture of catty asides. Passive aggressively [[linked text]] is one of my favorite -- err-- "neologism" is "neo" + "logos", right? How to say new + literary-mode-of-expression?

Of course, even the author elsewhere likes the idea of playing with the function of link text.

This would certainly be of interest to y'all -- considers [[commonses]] and [[wikis]]...

Ashamed of my lack of [[bioregional knowledge]].

→ node [[2022-02-16]]

2022-02-16

→ node [[2022-02-15]]

The [[Jung]] book that mom has been recommended by the Benedictines is [[Memories, Dreams, Reflections]]. Looking forward to that retreat -- they sound cool as all get-out.

→ node [[2022-02-14]]

2022-02-14

  • A friend is trying some [[Hügelkultur]] beds

  • Looks like a ton of [[Planet Mu]] back catalog is on [[Resonate]]. That's rad!

  • My shoulder pain is getting really bad. Might be time to ditch my old keyboard and get one of these fancy ergo split keyboards. ErgoDox EZ is crazy expensive but looks repairable/durable and if it lasts nearly 20 years like my current one, I can justify it…

→ node [[2022-02-13]]
  • [[resonate]]

  • [[candles]]

  • try [[resonate]] today

  • [[theruran]]

  • [[eric lortie]]

    • [[church of earth]]
      • "Using the platform is intended to be monetized through crypto and the data generated by using the platform is intended to be relevant to AGI research. It's also intended to bridge the gap between virtual and physical communities so I developed a democratic social movement around it intended to manage and operate the platform."
      • "In many ways it's basically the simplest and most unsubtle thing I could make using all of my skills with the goal of improving the world for everyone."
      • I can relate!
  • [[do]]

    • see also [[now]], [[later]] :)

    • DONE talk to family

    • DONE pay taxes

      --[2022-02-13 Sun 14:04:56] => 00:00:00

    • DONE laundry

      --[2022-02-13 Sun 14:05:02] => 00:00:01

    • DONE yoga

      --[2022-03-02 Wed 12:55:13] => 00:00:01

    • DONE [[one pomodoro]]

      --[2022-02-13 Sun 18:29:46] => 03:28:11

    • DONE meditate

      --[2022-02-13 Sun 15:01:40] => 00:00:00

    • DONE [[one pomodoro]]

      --[2022-02-13 Sun 15:09:30] => 00:07:47

  • [[green]]

[[2022-02-13]]

  • [[Digital pruning]]
    • I've finally finished pruning my [[Facebook]] account. I hate that place, but unfortunately I can't delete my account there yet.

2022-02-13

  • Really enjoyed reading @ntnsndr's article [[Governable Stacks against Digital Colonialism]] for [[node club]]. Makes a ton of sense to me.

    • The ability to self-govern feels key to any alternative to big tech that we build or use, and feels a lot like commoning.
    • And the 'stack' element is vital - what use would a democratically-owned social media platform be, say, if it runs on a server owned by Amazon and you access it on a device locked down by Apple or Google over internet from a big telco.
    • And take it further, long-term what use is any of it if at the very bottom layer of the stack is a capitalist society?
  • Cooperatives and commoning seem a good model for socialising the layers of the stack. I think [[Libre software]], [[libre hardware]], [[right to repair]], [[peer-to-peer networks]], [[Community broadband]] are all good projects to spend time on.

  • I loved this interview with [[Fritjof Capra]] on his new book [[Patterns of Connection]].

    • https://newbooksnetwork.com/patterns-of-connection
    • As you might expect, there's a lot about systems thinking, complexity science, science and sprituality, activism.
    • Some random notes:
      • Systems thinking is about patterns, relationships and contexts.
      • The machine metaphor from 17th century science is still too prevalent. The network is a better metaphor to live by.
      • The [[Battle of Seattle]] was the start of a global civil society.
      • He recommends the [[Earth Charter]].
      • There's generally conflict between science and religion, less so science and spirituality.
→ node [[2022-02-12]]

[[2022-02-12]]

from daily respite

Yesterday I said that I have no idea how to overwinter [[amaryllis]] bulbs, but this is only partly true. I know what you’re supposed to do, I just don’t have a very good track record at it.
Back at the start of the pandemic, when everyone was hoarding yeast and stockpiling seeds, I decided to try again. I let the greens die back and put the pots in a dark corner of the basement.
Where they sat, forgotten, until more than a year later when my beloved came up from the basement holding three sad pots of crinkled empty nothingness.
“Can I please throw these outside?” she asked.
I surrendered to the inevitable, and out they went.
Fast-forward to summer. We were in the middle of a heatwave. I was standing at the kitchen window when I spotted something bright red sticking out of our brush pile in the woods. Was it a cardinal? No, it looked more like a flower. But I hadn’t planted anything over there. Unless…
Yes. Those dead bulbs had miraculously come back to life and were in full bloom. On the brush pile, in the woods.

In its less metaphorical sense, I have always preferred planting [[bulbs]] to seeds. We talk a lot metaphorically about the seeds of an idea. Are the long-running interests of one's life bulbs?

a thing that I want to exist that I ... probably won't bother making myself:

a piece of software for people who are thinking about weaning themselves off of streaming (or who want to give artists extra support). you connect your [[last.fm]] account and your [[bandcamp]] account (potentially plus something else if people use something else to keep track of music they own). you configure a periodic spend (though it doesn't automate buying anything). on a regular subscription-like cadence (possibly coinciding with bandcamp fridays), it emails you the top tracks / artists you've been listening to, shows you which are available on bandcamp, whether you already own what you've been listening to, and suggests what your configured spend should go to to reflect that. (maybe add on amazon mp3 downloads for things for which bandcamp isn't available?)

I've had very low success in the past with those "here's your [[spotify]] library on bandcamp!" tools because of all the things I like that are too corporate or too foreign. but if over a particular period I was listening to things that I really could be getting there, I'd like to be reminded of that.

I don't know that I'll ever want to go back to album-by-album or track-by-track ownership, but I wish that my fees were actually going to the artists I listen to.

→ node [[2022-02-11]]
  • Back from one week in [[argentina]]!
  • [[logseq]]
    • Keeps somehow misplacing/ignoring my settings, in particular surrounding the date format for my journal filenames. Mildly irksome, in particular given that it generates spurious warning messages while at it:

      • image.png
    • DONE find bug report in [[go/logseq/bugs]] or file a new bug

      --[2022-03-02 Wed 12:59:05] => 00:00:00

  • [[agora discuss]]
  • [[awesome wiki projects]]
  • [[decentralized identifier]]
  • have a backlog of things I should do now that we're back
    • DONE unpack collapsed:: false

      --[2022-02-11 Fri 18:05:10] => 04:51:33 --[2022-02-20 Sun 14:57:45] => 211:13:23

    • DONE laundry collapsed:: false

      --[2022-02-11 Fri 18:04:57] => 04:51:41 --[2022-02-20 Sun 14:57:47] => 212:52:43

    • DONE upload photos collapsed:: false

      --[2022-02-20 Sun 14:58:13] => 211:13:55

    • DONE take a nap collapsed:: false

      --[2022-02-11 Fri 16:57:51] => 03:44:25

    • DONE unigraph review collapsed:: false

      --[2022-02-11 Fri 19:46:36] => 00:00:05 --[2022-03-02 Wed 12:58:59] => 00:00:01

    • LATER [[autopush]]

      • [[autopush.sh]]
        • add photos sync to my hacky implementation, this could be cron central
      • add arbitrary triggers for [[push]] behaviour, NOW/LATER being obvious candidates
      • make #push work without [[wikilinks]] and make sure that it works with multiple nodes in arbitrary positions when you do use wikilinks
    • DONE [[fix attribution]]

      --[2022-03-02 Wed 12:58:50] => 448:59:43

    • LATER [[fix ranking]]

    • DONE catch up with friends! collapsed:: false

      --[2022-02-20 Sun 14:57:50] => 211:11:23

    • DONE [[flancia]]

      --[2022-02-20 Sun 14:58:09] => 211:13:56

2022-02-11

→ node [[2022-02-10]]

Here's a weakness I hadn't identified: I only put planning-type creative notes into my system, not proper creative notes (mostly).

I can identify this as a weakness relative to this thing about [[robin sloan]]. of course I look up to someone who's got the words-aesthetic-tech trifecta with some actual physical reality skills on top.

(is there a word that's less disgustingly enlightenment-mentality than "Renaissance <man/woman/person>" and less pretentious sounding than "polymath"?)

thinking a bit about this as well. should I have curation routines for my notes? can I gamify it somehow?

→ node [[2022-02-09]]

2022-02-09

  • Been streaming music again on [[Resonate]] lately. (A musician/listener/worker-owned coop). Feels good to be supporting them. Their catalogue seems to have expanded a lot since I last used it and I'm finding a good amount of good music on there.

  • [[Democracy functions best at the level of the city]].

pull color="#b51f08"> <title>500 Internal Error wtf.
<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://doc.anagora.org/css/center.css"> <button class="pull-url" value="https://doc.anagora.org/css/center.css">">pull</button>
<div class="container-fluid text-center">
    <div class="vertical-center-row">
        <h1>500 Internal Error <small>wtf.</small></h1>
    </div>
</div>
→ node [[2022-02-08]]

annotated a thing about someone's application of library science to their PKM system. I'm always cheered to see the application of information science to anything close to my world...

they discuss the dewey decimal system noting that it's nice that people are pivoting away from it, but independently of its creator's Problematic Status and the nonsensical imbalances of its categories, I have a deep emotional attachment to it -- spending a lot of my childhood stomping over to 636 to find books about animals, sidling over to 133 (a risky thing for a child in that circumstance) to look for books on Witch Stuff, vast amounts of time and effort prompted by 745...

thinking about how to share the annotations here made me want to list some [[open agora questions]] I have.

anyway, following the thing I wrote about tarot cards I'm now wondering if I could tag my different stuff with [[astrological houses]]. wouldn't that be fun? "[The] Hemoroids, the Stone, Strangury, Poysons, and Bladder are ruled by [the eighth] house", after all.

reading religious writing from people who aren't dead is emotionally difficult. I find myself checking Twitter bios, trying to figure out if I'm going to feel punched in the gut when some otherwise progressive essayist turns to Sexual Ethics and Gender Roles.

but dead people! man, the dead!

St. Basil the Great:

“But whom do I treat unjustly,” you say, “by keeping what is my own?” Tell me, what is your own? What did you bring into this life? From where did you receive it? It is as if someone were to take the first seat in the theater, then bar everyone else from attending, so that one person alone enjoys what is offered for the benefit of all in common—this is what the rich do. They seize common goods before others have the opportunity, then claim them as their own by right of preemption. For if we all took only what was necessary to satisfy our own needs, giving the rest to those who lack, no one would be rich, so no one would be poor, and no one would be in need.
[...]
Who are the greedy? Those who are not satisfied with what suffices for their own needs. Who are the robbers? Those who take for themselves what rightfully belongs to everyone. And you, are you not greedy? Are you not a robber? The things you received in trust as a stewardship, have you not appropriated them for yourself? Is not the person who strips another of clothing called a thief? And those who do not clothe the naked when they have the power to do so, should they not be called the same? The bread you are holding back is for the hungry, the clothes you keep put away are for the naked, the shoes that are rotting away with disuse are for those who have none, the silver you keep buried in the earth is for the needy. You are thus guilty of injustice toward as many as you might have aided, and did not.

that's someone with a real concrete view of The Commons!

That St. Basil is cited in a partner piece:

My Twitter feed is full of friend-of-a-friend GoFundMe [[medical debt]] appeals, and I weigh the specific needs and particular faces against the more abstract but possibly higher-leverage donation to an organization like RIP Medical Debt, which buys and forgives bundled debt at a discount. My donation to a friend’s debt is paid dollar for dollar to their creditor, finally leaving them free. My donation to the organization buys debt at a discount, a penny for a dollar discharged, pencil erasers scrubbing ledgers clear without ever seeing the names.
Our family’s uneasy balance is to try to include a mix of both. When we receive a personal call to give, we answer—and then we match that donation to a friend with one to Against Malaria or another [[effective altruist]] group. We want the love we have for the people we know to be the cause of our service to the people we haven’t gotten to meet, the ones whose need may be deliberately hidden from us. We don’t want to train ourselves in indifference to an open hand, even if each particular gift may not be the biggest impact we can have.

→ node [[2022-02-07]]

2022-02-07

→ node [[2022-02-06]]

[[2022-02-06]]

2022-02-06

→ node [[2022-02-05]]

2022-02-05

→ node [[2022-02-04]]

[[2022-02-04]]

  • I've had a hell of a week. Thankfully, now I may have some time for this digital garden.

2022-02-04

pull color="#b51f08"> <title>500 Internal Error wtf.
<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://doc.anagora.org/css/center.css"> <button class="pull-url" value="https://doc.anagora.org/css/center.css">">pull</button>
<div class="container-fluid text-center">
    <div class="vertical-center-row">
        <h1>500 Internal Error <small>wtf.</small></h1>
    </div>
</div>
→ node [[2022-02-03]]
→ node [[2022-02-02]]
  • [[travel day]]
    • started by cleaning the house a bit, so it's not completely undone by 1w of increasing entropy :)
    • packed lots of presents mostly, 1w is not too long
    • we will miss [[lady burup]]! our neighbors are taking care of her, visiting twice daily.
    • [[remote access]]
  • #push [[jonny]]
  • [[agora]]
  • [[logseq]]
    • keeps forgetting my settings, like my journal filename preferences :) a bit annoying, will look for an open bug in their tracker and open one if needed
    • [[neil]] told me about [[org mode markup cheatsheet]]

Wordoids I'd like to dibs:

  • toothby
  • illors
  • erhaps

2022-02-02

  • Tempted to make a [[YunoHost]] package for [[Agora]]. It'd be fun to self-host and maybe would be a prompt to start thinking about how federation might work. Or perhaps how one might use it as a personalised [[garden reader]]. That said, I'd of course still personally want my garden to be part of [[Anagora]].

  • Experimental [[node club]] side project: [[Node Club Tarot]]!

→ node [[2022-02-01]]
→ node [[2022-01-31]]
  • Back to the workweek :)
    • I cancelled my holidays Mon-Tue to make for a better handoff for my project
    • But I do intend to take some time off through the day / work part time
    • Let's see if that works :)
  • [[agora]]
    • [[agora editors]]
      • I like how [[logseq]] shows me the tasks marked as NOW below my journal -- I was missing something like this! It seems the Agora could relatively easily do the same :)

      • I need to also try TODO/DOING/DONE though (I'm in mode NOW/LATER/DONE)

  • #push [[pomodoros]]
    • DONE [[saer]]

      --[2022-03-02 Wed 12:59:09] => 00:00:01

    • DONE [[empoderadas]]

  • [[daniel]]

today's reviews from the 'backlog'

girl, interrupted

Movies watched this over the break while 'down bad' with covid winona rider is an absolutely incredibly actor. the movie without her… very forgettable. some wonderful lighting tricks in small spaces

closer

Movies over break, right before leaving for boston again (why am i here) youngish natalie portman role… she was the standout here (just like leon). neon cover really fooled me - this is not a dark, retro futuristic film, but one fife with broken homes and relationship drama. weird love entanglement thing that doesn't really make sense, but the characters are compelling enough when they first connect with one another to carry the plot. fairly fun

y: the last man

comics absolutely wonderful art - i forget how much effort is put into american comic books. as wonderful as the manga time crunch is, longer deadlines produce wonderful, full-color images that i'm sure take forever to produce (monthly timeline > week?). that aside, the story was fairly good - closed off well. some of the details felt contrived, but they were this way to make the plot tight-knit and self-consistent, with constant callbacks in dialogue or otherwise to previous moments in the story. topics of discussion were kind of uncreative, but symptomatic of the theme of the series ("what if all men died?"), exploring exactly what you'd assume would be explored. spy subplots were strange, kind of detracted from the story in the beginning, and ended up leading nowhere. time skips were also incredibly confusing, but make sense in context if you consider waiting a month(s) for the next chapter - though I wish they were better explained? regardless, main characters are genuinely compelling, enough for me to spend lots of time on the series

fear and loathing in las vegas

Movies unlike the book, i really didn't find this story compelling - a bit more of an unelaborated drugfest than anticipated (where was the emotion from the novel?). cute gimmicks like the wide angle lens and the bugeyes, but i didn't find the actors particularly manic or convincing as described in the novel. love the haphazard filming, the stylized colors, the wide angle, close up lens and the paranoid behavior, but i don't think there's any catching up to the book here

symptom vs bug

Programming Languages from jogn regehr a bug can have many symptoms, and many bugs can share the same symptom. often you can patch one symptom of a bug, but the systemic motivation - the bug itself - remains

getting hired brief advice

asking on linkedin

look at recruiters on LinkedIn for positions you're interested in Hi! i hope you're well! I'm x, a y. I saw that you helped z get a job at a and love that you helped them. would love to connect and hear more about what you look for in candidates. thank you!

finding good work

from @lucyguo early career advice (from big founder) work 6-12mo at big name company. get your name up so you can better make it through the process, no different from going to a big name college or something like that. join seed series b startup. email vcs to ask for their top portfolio companies; if they like you and want their company to succeed, they'll have mo problems with this. repeat or start your own company.

→ node [[2022-01-30]]

2022-01-30

  • Saw [[knowledge commons]] referred to as "the mutualization of productive knowledge" (here), I like the sound of that as a specific way to pin it down as to what it is.
→ node [[2022-01-29]]

2022-01-29

nana

the feeling of attachment that comes with enveloping yourself in a literary world - a video game, novel, manga- etc. - is incredibly impactful. latest fascination has been nana - a bit of a shoujo manga and a story about 2000's punk in japan, with lots of broken families, relationship drama and vivienne westwood. there are four vivienne boxes sitting next to me at the moment, and i've begun to invest in piercings again. it's hard to find the rebellious, entreprenurial yearning depicted throughout nana (the earlier bits… the manga trails off into trivialities and unimportant stagnancy until the creator dropped off and stopped writing the series, probably for good reason) in boston or elsewhere - i felt it in sodermalm (now i wish i had a swedish keyboard!) and in san francisco, to a degree, but in a different way and with a different feeling. maybe it's the weather, but people in boston feel harsh - hardened, almost, against old money, hundred year old t tracks, and brutal winter weather like the sixteen to twenty four inches of snow we've seen today, or that i should have seen if i'd gone outside. portland is optimistic, but a bit small and lazy - things move slowly or stagnate there, maybe for good reason, because there is so much else to enjoy in life there for there to be a lot of room for ambition. san francisco feels like a strange, tech war zone, but there is an air of hopeless optimism that breaches the fog in the bay when the sun comes out. maybe i'll move soon; i want more inspiration, more motivation, better surroundings than boston, because, as wonderful as they are, i know these people aren't right for me now.

google is not enough

Google is not enough a couple of studies - one a user study of how search is used from from karger's mit lab, another an analysis of the folder hierarchy of users - suggest that people enjoy imposing structure on their systems from the top down, and that some sort of folder structure - limitations aside - is critical to how users of computers use their software.

nine bar

morning i went to nine bar, wednesday i think? there was a wonderful couple meeting their friend - both parties about my parents age, but they were happy! they were enjoying talking to one another about this house that they'd purchased that was wonderful despite not having had any renovations in seventy years! i don't think i've ever seen as kind of a public hug. these people are typically portland, but were completely out of place in somerville - i was pleasantly surprised by their morning pleasantries. twenty minutes before, listened to a conversation between two people in their thirties - one, a seemingly working class italian guy with short, spiked up and greased hair, had a lot to say about his new suit, his resume formatting (just a microsoft word template??), and a lot to say about amber, a girl he'd apparently seduced by composing an acrostic poem on paper then DMing her a photo.

do everything on hard mode

esp early in life https://thezvi.wordpress.com/2017/08/26/play-in-hard-mode/ fail fast improve fast. push yourself into the deep end then recover. only wa yto progress and make sure you hold on is to work with longer time scales - especially longer than college - and try to make those goals only wa yto progress and make sure you hold on is to work with longer time scales - especially longer than college - and try to make those goals happen. five year time scales are good, so are ten. thinkin terms of the future and take all the steps you can to make that happen now. prove it to yourself! i haven't been thinking on long enough time scales and that's a big mistake.

the hand of god

Movies wonderful film i watched with my parents over the winter - they nailed this 1980s grimy italian aesthetic, and it's so easy to live through the scenes fabietto witnesses daily and to observe his path from enjoying all of these small things to choosing to become a filmmaker himself. absolutely worth revisiting.

nocturnal animals

Movies strange and difficult to follow - don't know if i could recommend this to anyone. tom ford as a director has a strange, "abstract" take on the movie that lives in this uncanny valley between lengthy metaphor and realistic film, and it's hard to tell what he meant by either - literally or not. well filmed with well composed shots, but ultimately confusing and falls flat on delivering the thinly veiled message ford wanted to convey.

math

$\frac{123456789}{987654321}$

having a successful intro meeting

Advice Employment at work, i've had lots of intro 1:1s to get to know others in the company. here's the structure i found the most valuable:

  1. Who are you? What's your story? Get a bit of information about the other person. ~3 minutes.
  2. Let's back up. This is your time to ask any questions you'd like of me about anything. Go for it. Role at company? What do you want to do? How can you succeed here professionally? Etc…
  3. What are your priorities over the course of your time here?
  4. Wrap up and get impressions/feedback: what do you think of the company? How can I do better?

other thoughts on making good contributions; after seeing nushell

technology is aout leapfrogging - you have to jump from one thing to the next, makingsmall, incremental improvements, with lots of hard work behind each, to get where uou want to go. this necessarily requires a lot of deliberate, organized ,motivated effort, and some people who either have a fetish for a specific topic or are very, very willing to do boring and dirty work - the "unsexy" work of promotion, quality control, and efficiency that makes things run more smoothly and seamlessly supports integration with so many other products.

always have a customer but pick your customer are these the type of people you want to help? what do you want to help them with? leverage as much existing infrastructure as you can identify the customer precisely and realize what theoretical things they need; pick the customer that lts you learn the most about what you'd like to do

glute dominance for athletic performance

most people are glute inhibited! make sure to exercise them - and put lots of time in. this might be legitimate advice; i'll develop a consistent workout structure first, then flesh out the details of what is being worked out. the first battle to fight is getting to the gym consistently.

2022-01-29

  • Reading [[Platform socialism]]. First chapter was a good intro, the next two are pretty heavy, focusing on the problems with Facebook and Airbnb. I get that it's necessary for a thesis, if you're going to propose something new then you need to examine what's currently wrong. That's fine but no longer new to me, and sometimes a bit draining just hearing about the problems. But the author stated early on that they will go on to discuss their proposals for how to change things. I'm eager to get to these parts.

  • [[I dislike big tech]]. Surprise!

    • This will be my first "I dislike" page. Let's see how it pans out. I don't particularly want to spend lots of time documenting things that I don't like, I'd generally prefer a more positive approach. I guess it's more of a starting point for exploring claims as to what's wrong with big tech.
  • Not without its rough edges, all this like/dislike stuff, but still finding it fruitful and definitely maintain that the best thing about personal wikis are the personal opinions. Will plough on and see where it ends up.

  • Addendum to the above: the best thing about reading other people's personal wikis are the opinions. For sure. But in your own personal wiki, not having opinions on things is fine I think. Because you might just be learning about something.

  • [[Boris Johnson is a liar]].

  • [[Spotify is going to ruin podcasting]].

→ node [[2022-01-28]]

[[2022-01-28]]

let's share what we know - world wide web

Thinking about some conversation from the [[agora discuss]] channel. What is the value of automatic [[licensing]] for text? I think there is a nice spirit in the idea of imbuing everything you do with sharing, as [[neil]] noted. That isn't without value. But I want someone to come and ask me if they want to do something with my words. I want that connection, I think. [[m15o]] emailed me when they started nightfall city to see if my feed could be added and it was great.

I have [[zines]] that I don't want digitalized. A physical object going from one person to another -- an envelope, a proximity, a hand-to-hand -- it seems important to the thing. Maybe this is a little like that. I probably need to think about it more.

There are kinds of aggregation, indexing, etc. that I might in strict terms need to explicitly license to enable, and that I might want to encourage -- what are they?

Tomorrow the first concert since [[covid]]. I wonder if it'll feel strange to be there.

2022-01-28

  • I've been unwell the last 3 days, and haven't done much of interest during this time. Starting to be on the mend now though.
  • It did make me reflect on the [[NHS]] though - how fantastic that I could call my doctor, get a diagnosis and a prescription, then pick the medication up the next day and start getting better.
  • It's a level of logistics and coordination that seems remarkable and I'd love to understand better how it fundamentally operates.
  • Would it work so well (or at all) if it wasn't state-maintained?
→ node [[2022-01-27]]

2022-01-27

  • [[testing]] [[pipe links]]
    • Poll if you're interested: for piped links (of the form [[foo|bar]], which order looks most natural to you?
      • Option 1: [[page name | an alias, perhaps in long form]]
      • Option 2: [[long form, perhaps matching the previous sentence | page name]]
      • Option 3: [[why don't we have both|por qué no los dos]] :)
  • #push [[logseq bugs]]
    • [[logseq]] sometimes 'snaps out' of my settings and goes back to writing pages in pages/ and journals in the IMHO weird format yyyy_MM_dd and so on. Restarting seems to fix it?
    • [[another try]]
  • now using [[foam]] in [[paramita]], [[logseq]] in [[nostromo]].
    • I intend to keep it that way for a while I think?
  • worked quite a bit, but got some stuff done -- happy about it learnt about [[gnu stow]] for managing [[dotfiles]].
  • [[agora]]
  • I need to get back to some threads over social media:

[[2022-01-27]]

I wish I could forcibly start animal crossing music playing on people's computers while they're talking to me. maybe [[mozilla hubs]] really should be the office of the future...

→ node [[2022-01-26]]
  • Writing this from [[logseq]]!
    • My modifications to the default [[config.edn]]:
      • :pages-directory ""
        :journals-directory "journal"
        :journal/page-title-format "yyyy-MM-dd"
        
      • Which make it compatible with what I have in [[foam]] (I think still the default?).
      • I will probably try to take [[outliner mode]] notes in [[logseq]] and write [[text mode]] in [[foam]] or even [[vim]] (assuming I'd be mostly adding to already existent pages seeded with [[agora protocol]]).
  • Also writing this from the future ;) I realize that I haven't added any code to prevent users from writing future journals; but then again, why would I?
  • Now writing in the present again.
    • Feeling better today. Slept well (about 8.5h).
    • Relatively low meeting count at the day job today, but I need to manage available time carefully anyway as there's a lot to do for my project before travel next week (if we are able to travel).
  • I'm really liking the experience in [[logseq]] so far -- it's a lot faster than [[foam]] when wikilinking in particular.
    • I had gotten used to frequent delays in [[foam]], it seems, and was essentially waiting for full 5-10s for certain UI actions (while procrastinating on actually fixing the delays?).
    • To be fair [[foam]] was doing a lot more than my current [[logseq]] setup, though, as I frequently have tens/hundreds of tabs open, whereas [[logseq]] defaults to a single page view (there's a plugin for tabs that I want to try out.)
    • Installed plugins:
      • logseq-vim-shortcuts
      • logseq-hypothesis
      • logseq-tabs
    • exploring [[logseq document mode]]
      • t d to get in and out of it`
    • [[logseq marketplace]]

[[2022-01-26]]

should I try to sign up for a [[Hebrew]] class? hmm. certainly it'd be helpful for the [[Golden Dawn]] stuff... here's the anki deck I'd need for prework.

not very productive today. ugh.

2022-01-26

→ node [[2022-01-25]]
  • woke up with a [[headache]] again, a bit worried -- not overly, I've got three vaccines and it's still a week+ until we have to travel.

    • work was hard as I was tired (didn't sleep well either, I usually sleep well as of the last few months), and as I had two symptoms I decided to tell the team I would take it easy and work in low energy mode (no meetings after lunch, taking rest/naps).
    • just pressed [[g t]] in logseq and it sent me to tomorrow's note, [[2022-01-26]]. Nice.
    • I wanted [[g j]] for go [[journal]] :)
    • asked on [[twitter]]:
      • @tiensonqin @andotvu is it too late to change the defaults? ;)
      • IMHO [[iso 8601]] / [[rfc 3339]] make sense as defaults in general (pending overriding factors). And these settings, I believe, might make [[logseq]] compatible out of the box with extra editors.
  • I'm happy about [[logseq]] managing images sensibly out of the box -- I could never make that work well with [[foam]], perhaps because of some interaction with some other extension.

  • #push [[2022-02]]

    • LATER make [[agora]] and [[stoa]] run from scratch in a new server using [[docker]]

      --[2022-01-25 Tue 21:08:04] => 00:00:01

  • [[yoga with x]]

[[2022-01-25]]

  • [[Health]]
    • Had a really nast episode of [[depersonalization]] during the early morning. I'm still not 100% fully recovered from it, but I'm better.
      • Talking with my partner helped a lot. Sleeping too.
      • I think this is a sign that I should reinstate my [[meditation]] routine. It helped me a lot when these episodes were more frequent in [[2017]].
  • [[Lightweight markup language]]
    • I'm trying to find an alternative for [[Markdown]] for writing the content of my site.
      • What I need in a [[lightweight markup language]] for my site:
        • As much compatibility with [[HTML]] as possible.
        • Syntax for adding anchor, semantic and arbitrary atributes to [[HTML element]]s.
        • Extensibility.
      • My options so far:
        • [[kramdown]]

            argdown
            [kramdown]: Should I use kramdown for the content of my site?
            	+ kramdown is a Markdown flavor, and Markdown is *de facto* the lightweight markup language *franca* on the internet.
            		+ I'm already used to Markdown, especially the GFM flavor.
            		- Markdown flavors' differences aren't always incremental. Sometimes their syntax for the same elements differ.
            		+ Regular textual elements are fairly easy to copy-and-paste from one Markdown flavor to another.
            			+ This is even more important when working with copying-and-pasting from one app that uses Markdown to another.
            	+ Readable.
            	+ First-class citizen on GitHub and GitLab.
            	+ First-class citizen in the Agora.
            	- Extensibility is mostly parser-dependant.
            		+ But being able to add attributes to HTML elements partially circumvents this. 
            	+ More compatible with HTML than regular Markdown.
            		- But could be better.
            	+ Jekyll supports it.  
            	+ Syntax for adding anchor, semantic and arbitrary elements to HTML elements.
            		+ <li> elements can have attributes added to them.
            		- No syntax for adding attributes to <ul> elements, which is essential for my atomic/transclusion dependant workflow.
          
        • [[AsciiDoc]] + [[AsciiDoctor]]

            argdown
            [AsciiDoc + AsciiDoctor]: Should I use AsciiDoc + AsciiDoctor for the content of my site?
            + Extensible.
            + Popular, widely used, with a rich ecossystem.
            	-  Markdown still surpasses it on the use and popularity aspect.
            + Readable. 
            + First-class citizen on GitHub and GitLab.
            + Great compatibility with HTML.
            - Not a first-class citizen in the Agora.
            	- However, there are many ways to convert AsciiDoc to Markdown.
            - Jekyll does not support it.
            	- A jekyll-asciidoc gem exists.
            		- It hasn't been updated for months.
            	- There are ways to import HTML (to which AsciiDoc can be exported) into Jekyll.
            + Syntax for adding anchor, semantic and arbitrary elements to HTML elements.
            	+ <li> elements can have id attributes added to them.
            		- Support for semantic and arbitrary attributes is yet to be implemented.
            			- There's an active discussion about implementing it however.
            	+ <ul> elements can have attributes added to them.
          
        • [[org-mode]]

            argdown
            [org-mode]: Should I use AsciiDoc + AsciiDoctor for the content of my site?
            + Extensible.
            	+ org-babel makes org-mode *really* extensible.
            + Popular and widely used desktop-wise, and part of the rich GNU Emacs ecossystem.
            	- Non-existent as an Internet lightweight markup language (it was never its purpose).
            	+ Direct integration between my private and public digital gardens.
            	- I'm a Neovim user. I don't use GNU Emacs, neither I'm really interested in using it.
            		- There are ways to use org-mode files in Neovim.
            			- However, this makes the GNU Emacs ecossystem useless.
            + Readable.
            + First-class citizen on GitHub and GitLab.
            - Not a first-class citizen in the Agora.
            	- However, there are many ways to conver org-mode to Markdown.
            - Jekyll does not support it.
            	- jekyll-org and jekyll-org-to-html exist.
            		- Both haven't been updated for years.
            	- There are ways to import HTML (to which AsciiDoc can be exported) into Jekyll.
            + Natively supported by Logseq.
            + Great compatibility with HTML.
            - Slightly more convoluted syntax than the other options.
            	- However, not in a crazy way
            + Syntax for adding anchor, semantic and arbitrary elements to HTML elements.
          

I don't really care at all about [[gemini]] but I love love love all the stuff that shows up around [[m15o's']] projects (link). the newest is [[vpub]] (source) and it's real cute, makes me want [[cinni]] to do a UI theme. Also apparently there's a feature in [[atom]] to specify emails where replies to posts can go, which is nice. :)

my annotations look much cuter on lindylearn.

I'm not really adding notes about the things on which I'm doing my most focused research. That's because I'm hoping they'll lead up to a project that -- well, I'm a little obsessive about wanting to keep it cleanly [[pseudonymous]] and not to be traced back to me. This is a strange concern when I'm pretty sure there are fewer than six people who will ever pay attention to it... but oh well.

2022-01-25

→ node [[2022-01-24]]

2022-01-24

  • for some reason I didn't sleep very well, woke up with a headache, didn't feel fully well all day.
  • #push [[logseq]]
    • looking more polished, was able to load my [[garden]] again. thinking of giving it a proper try for [[outliner mode]] notes, in particular while [[foam]] is slow.

[[2022-01-24]]

  • [[Watch]]
    • [[Anime]]
      • I've reached the 20th episode of [[Shōjo Kakumei Utena]].
        • I'm really enjoying it—even the fillers. These get wacky enough (while at the same time they're not disconnected from the main plot and its themes; far from it!) for me to like them.
          • In fact, even the most "normal" episodes are really [[oneiric]]. T
        • The overall influence of [[psychoanalysis]] on it is blatant—and I really like it.
        • I watched two more episodes later today.
  • [[Kritik der reinen Scheiß-Posting]]
    • I've finally set up a domain for my site. It's a free one, and it's more than enough for me.
  • [[Trivia]]
  • [[Zero à Esquerda]]
    • I'm writing a proposal for a really huge overhaul of our [[design]] principles and [[visual identity]]. We're stuck with a broken site and a lack of any direction, design-wise and aesthetically.
      • This connundrum had many causes, one of them the more general problem that we don't know what this project is anymore—and to be fair, we didn't know what this project was in the past too.
      • What I had dreaded the most may finally come: I'm gonna have to write a Wordpress theme from scratch.
  • [[Music]]
    • [[Spotify]]
      • Spotify's recommendation algorithm has stuck itself into a [[k-pop]]/[[k-indie]]/[[j-pop]]/[[j-indie]] loop. I'll try listening to things that I haven't listened in a while to help the algorithm figure out that I'm far more eclectic (and easy to bore) than it thinks.
  • [[Dream]]
    • I dreamed an entire [[analysis]] today. It was really weird and cool.

2022-01-24

→ node [[2022-01-23]]

2022-01-23

notes of the last couple of days

this font is interesting. still not sure if i like it or if it fits. roboto mono. i almost like the "chunky" feel of it, but i'm not sure if this is a result of poor rendering or something else.

should learn more about Fonts - just noticed that Iosevka is written in code - not a font development application. this is interesting to me - would love to learn more about creating my own font in the future. maintainimg my own color scheme is enough though for now - there are better projects for me to work on now that aren't user facing or design-based in this same way.

poor feedback

Poor feedback from readers a catalog of public junk emails. it's wonderfully interesting to dig through all of these. i'll post some of my own soon.

designing better file organization

Designing better file organization around tags, not hierarchies File Systems this article is very well written, but regardless of the details i absolutely agree with the core tenets - hierarchies simply are not as expressive as tag and object graphs, and it's often incredibly difficult to understand how to force a system to fit a single file hierarchy. building a file system in the future that exposes a command like 'zfs' or 'btrfs', but one to configure and reconfigure the standard file system based on all of these types, sounds fantastic - and the idea of digging through a file system by orienting it in different ways is reminiscent of Labyrinth | A Ravensburger Brand in a way, movind and shifting all of these walls and hallways until a system that fits properly is found. "git as a file system" is really interesting and solves so many problems with mutability, but only as explicitly managed. another idea to play with in Joss, where joss should and must be a game, because it's far harder to learn and develop programs that aren't games and hold them to the same level of feeling, quality and usability. i wonder how such a program can encourage the developer to inspect their system - to learn more about systemctl, for example, or to martial logic into structured data that's manipulated throughout the lifetime of the repl or program. ipfs is fascinating. so much further reading here

various recommendations from the internet

i have far too many recs and things to go through floating around now, but here are lots more that i've seen or received:

nick arner

Nick Arner

Books Posted at — Sep 6, 2021

These are by no means a comprehensive list of books I own or have read; but are ones that I own and have read that related to my work. Sharing in the hope of finding new ones to read and sparking interesting and productive conversations.

Architecture

Architectural Intelligence - Molly Wright Steenson tells of how designers and architects were influential in the early days of computing.

A Pattern Language - Architect Christopher Alexander’s most well-known work; also inspired a generation of programmers working on Object-Oriented Programming. Focuses on common patterns in architecture and the built environment, and how to use them to create livable spaces.

Chambers For A Memory Palace - A series of letters between two authors on the topic of place-making.

Experiencing Architecture - Collection of examples of architectural design throughout human civilization.

How Buildings Learn - Stewart Brand’s classic text on how the usage of buildings changes over time.

How Architecture Works: A Humanist’s Toolkit - Provides a framework for understanding architecture both as a form of art, and an everyday occurrence that enables people to live comfortably.

Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth - Fuller’s seminal work on our relationship to the Earth and how we can build in a healthy way.

  1. Buckminster Fuller: World Man - Fuller’s previously un-published 1966 Kassler lecture at Princeton University School of Architecture

The Language of Cities - An exploration of what cities are; how we live with and identify with them.

The Poetics of Space - Discusses how humans relate to common spaces (attics, cellars, drawers, living rooms, etc).

The Timeless Way of Building - Another Alexander book; this one focuses on the idea that the best living spaces and built environments are built organically based on common human needs.

Tools of the Imagination - A collection by the National Building Museum covering 250 years of design tools and technologies for builders

Towards a New Architecture - Le Corbusier’s manifesto advocating for modern architecture.

Artificial Intelligence

Understanding Computers and Cognition: A New Foundation for Design - An approach to understanding what computers can and cannot do, and that relationship to human cognition and language.

What Computers Still Can’t Do: A Critique of Artificial Reason - Philosopher Hubert Dreyfus' 1972 manifesto argues that disembodied machines cannot achieve consciousness.

Society of Mind - Marvin Minsky’s text on his theory of natural intelligence.

Creation: Life and How To Make It - Steve Grand, creator of the game Creatures, discusses the nature of artificial life.

The Computer and The Brain - Johnny von Neuman’s last published (and unfinished) work covering the nature of the human brain and its relation to computational machines.

Computer Graphics

Visual Computing - Two Silicon Graphics, Inc. alumni discuss computers' ability to generate and display images, and that relationship to art and human psychology and perception.

Computers and the Imagination : Visual Adventures Beyond the Edge - Examination of how computers have transformed visualization.

Image Objects - Chronicles the history of the field of computer graphics through the stories of several objects that played a part in its history.

A Biography of The Pixel - Alvy Ray Smith, co-founder of Pixar; tells the story of how computers can be used to display images.

Creative Code

Code as Creative Medium - Golan Levin and Tega Brain provide pedagogic exercises for instructors teaching creative coding.

HOLO Issue One and Two - Collection of notable media arts work and artist profiles.

Maeda @ Media - Designer and artist John Maeda shares his work combining computer programming and graphic design from his days working at the MIT Media Lab.

Creativity

The Storm Of Creativity - Covers the stages of the creative process, with examples from practicing artists, architects, poets, and others.

Flow - Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi’s groundbreaking work on “psychology of optimal experience”.

Creativity - Csikszentmihalyi’s follow up book; on the nature of creativity.

Art and Fear - Moving meditations on “doing the work” in the face of loneliness or discouragement. Directed towards young artists early in their career, but the lessons are all equally applicable regardless of your domain.

Design

B is for Bauhaus - Wide ranging work on the objects and concepts of modern design

Design as Art - Artist and Designer Bruno Munari makes the case that all of the designed objects that people use should be beautiful, functional, and accessible.

Designing for People - A classic work providing an overview of Industrial Design.

Digital Design Theory - A collection of essays from the 1960’s to the present covering the intersection of technology and design.

Thoughts On Design - Graphic designer Paul Rand makes the case that all areas of design should simultaneously be useful and beautiful.

Notes on The Synthesis of Form - Yet another Christopher Alexander book; focused on evolutionary design.

The Beauty of Everyday Things - Japanese folk-craft pioneer Soetsu Yanagi similar to Munari, that everyday objects that people use should be created with reverence and respect.

The Language of Things - A work exploring the common traits between beautiful objects such as “…an iPhone, an anglepoise lamp, a Picasso, a banknote, an Armani suit…”.

The Laws of Simplicity - John Maeda discusses how good design can sometimes involve making complex things simple to use and interact with; and may involve removing things rather than adding new features.

The Shape of Design - A meditation on the pleasure of making things for others.

Visual Thinking - Rudolf Arnheim argues against the idea that language goes before perception, and makes the case that artistic creation is a method of perceiving the world.

The Visual Display of Quantitative Information - Edward Tufte’s seminal work on the characteristics of good information visualization displays.

Electronics

Audio Cyclopedia - A book from my grandfather (a radio broadcast engineer of 50 years)’s library; everything you could want to know about all variety of audio equipment.

Dictionary of Electronics - Very handy desk reference.

Engineer’s Notebook: Integrated Circuit Applications - A classic text (also from. my grandfather’s library) written by the legendary Forrest R. Mims III.

Understanding Electronics - Another, more introductory textbook outlining theory through understanding practical components

Grob Basic Electronics - A standard electronics textbook.

Human-Computer Interaction

A Small Matter of Programming - A sadly out of print book exploring the difficulties around end-user programming and application development. (You should absolutely tell Stripe Press that you would like to see them re-issue this, by the way…)

Abstracting Craft - Another sadly out of print book I was lucky to snag at a used bookstore. Focuses on computation as a medium for working and crafting in, rather than a set of tools.

Affective Computing - The creator of the term, MIT Media Lab academic Rosalind Picard, expands upon her foundational text on the subject.

Computational Interaction - A collection of papers about the area of study of the title; using machine learning, signal processing, and control theory to improve interaction between humans and computers.

Cybernetic Creativity - Discusses the nature of creativity and its relationship to computation.

Designing Interactions - The Bible of the field; extensive interviews and analysis of practitioners and products.

Enchanted Objects - David Rose imagines a more humane version of the Internet of Things, where everyday objects can anticipate and serve our needs.

Interface Culture - Wide ranging work tying today’s computer interfaces to Victorian novels, early cinema, and Medieval urban planning.

Interfacing Thought: Cognitive Aspects of Human-Computer Interaction - Chapters on the relationship between human cognition and the use of computers.

Leonardo’s Laptop - Far reaching work calling for people to expect more from their computers; causes the reader to wonder what da Vinci may have been able to accomplish with a computer.

Mindstorms - Seymour Papert’s classic work on making computing accessible to children.

Plato and The Nerd - Discusses how computers, given their powerful ability to simulate the real world, can evolve a co-partnership with their human creators.

The Best Interface Is No Interface - Golden Krishna makes the case that interfaces should disappear; a call to arms for ambient computing.

The Humane Interface - Jef Raskin (father of the Macintosh project at Apple) outlines the qualities of what good user interfaces look and behave like.

Tools for Thought - Howard Rheingold discusses the pioneers of computing who believed in the field’s potential to transform and enhance human thought and capability.

**Miscellaneous **

Finite and Infinite Games - A bit of a Silicon Valley trope; but one of my favorite books. Encourages the reader to think of our interactions with others as positive-sum (an infinite game; where the goal is to keep playing) and a finite game (zero-sum, where the purpose is to “win” in finality).

The Craftsman - Beautiful meditation on craftsmanship across a variety of disciplines - the desire to a job well for it’s own sake.

Photography

On Photography - Susan Sontag’s evocative collection of essays on the philosophy of photography.

Understanding a Photograph - John Berger once again with a series of essays on the history and nature of photography as a new medium for artistic expression.

Why Photography Matters - Meditation on how photography is not only an artistic medium, but also a way to know about the world around us.

Psychology

Mind in Motion: How Action Shapes Thought - Barbara Tversky makes the case that “movement and our interactions in space, not language, are the true foundations of thought”.

Supersizing the Mind - Andy Clark argues that the act of thinking is not just confined to what happens in our head, but also in the way we move and interact with the world and objects around us.

Where the Action Is - Delves into the psychology underpinning Human-Computer Interaction.

Gesture and Speech - Demonstration that the hand and brain work together to shape cognition.

The Hand: How Its Use Shapes the Brain, Language, and Human Culture - Overview of how the human hand has shaped our cognitive, emotional, linguistic, and psychological development.

Hand and Mind - Shows that gestures do not only impact what people say, but also inform how people think.

Hands - Discusses the evolutionary history of the human hand, including its relationship to tool-making and tool-usage.

Metaphors We Live By - Presents the idea that metaphor is a basic building block to how people understand ourselves and the world around us.

Media

The Medium is The Message - Seminal work by Marshall McLuhan on “The New Media”.

The NewMedia Reader - Collection of foundational papers and texts on early computing, interfaces, and associated media and technologies.

Tools for Conviviality - Ivan Illich makes the case for access to tools that enable personal fulfillment, not just productivity.

Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man - McLuhan’s discussion of hot and cool media, and their relationship to the humans that created them.

Music

Designing Sound - Sound designer Andy Farnell walks readers through the principles of synthesis for sound design with practical exercises using PureData

Electronic and Experimental Music - Traces the history of music made with machines from musique concrète to hip-hop sampling.

Embodied Music Cognition and Mediation Technology - Presents an argument that embodied cognition provides a framework for thinking about the tools that we use to make and create music.

Kraftwerk: Future Music from Germany - Covers the history of the iconic German electronic band, including discussion of their broader impact on more mainstream music and culture.

Musical Gestures - Collection of essays on the relationship between gestures and music.

Signal Processing

An Introduction to Information Theory - Explanatory work on the field without the heavy math.

Software Engineering

Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software - Explains how computers work from a bottoms-up approach; from the hardware level up to the application layer.

Geek Sublime - A software engineer discusses the relationship between programming and Sanskrit.

Hackers and Painters - Y-Combinator co-founder Paul Grahm’s series of essays on the nature of hackers and their relationship to their work.

Working in Public - Nadia Eghbal researches the motivations of open-source software development

Operating System Concepts - “The Dinosaur Book”; textbook on operating systems.

The C Programming Language - Classic Kernighan and Ritchie text.

Learn Objective-C on the Mac - One of my first programming books; how I learned to first write iOS software

The Design of the Unix Operating System - Provides an overview of the internal structure of Unix and its relationship to the computer programmer.

Concepts of Programming Languages - academic textbook on programming language theory

Technology History

A Mind at Play - Biography of the Father Of Information Theory, Claude Shannon.

Bootstrapping - Chronicles Douglas Englebart and his work at the Stanford Research Institute that culminated in The Mother of All Demos; which ushered in a new era of how people thought about using computers.

Being Digital - A time capsule of what technology prediction looked like in 1995, written by MIT Media Lab co-founder Nicholas Negropante.

Crystal Fire - Chronicles the history of the transistor; from its origins in research, to invention, to impact on everything in our world today.

Dealers of Lighting - Covers the sweeping technological achievements (and foibles) of Xerox PARC.

Make It New: A History of Silicon Valley Design - Dives into the history of the relationship between designers and the nascent technological hub that would become known as Silicon Valley.

Showstopper! - The story of a team at Microsoft’s journey to ship a brand new Operating System - WindowsNT.

Steve Jobs - Walter Issacson writes about the life and work of Apple co-founder Steven P. Jobs.

In the Beginning Was the Command Line - Sci-fi author Neil Stephanson takes us on a tour of how we used to use computers prior to the GUI.

Peripheral Vision - Tells the story of collaboration between visual artists and computer scientists at Bell Laboratories.

Soul of a New Machine - Tracy Kidder follows a team at Data General racing to get the Eclipse MV/8000 computer to market.

The Big Score - Michael S. Malone writes a sweeping tale of the origins of Silicon Valley from the founding of Hewlett-Packard to the rise of Apple.

The Little Kingdom - The first book documenting Apple Computer.

The Media Lab - Whole Earth Catalog creator Stewart Brand shares a window in the Media Lab during a residency at the institution.

The New New Thing: A Silicon Valley Storey - Michael Lewis' chronicle of Silicon Valley Legend Jim Clark.

The One Device: The Secret History of The iPhone - Members of the original iPhone team share their stories.

What the Dormouse Said - An exploration of the relationship between the 60’s counterculture and early computing pioneers.

Typography

An Essay on Typography - A short work by Eric Gill argues that a “a good piece of lettering is as beautiful a thing to see as any sculpture or painted picture”.

The Elements of Typographic Style - Defines several typographic terms and concepts, as well as surveys the field for five and a half centuries of history.

Thinking with Type - Visual guide to typographic concepts; underscoring typography’s role in visual communication.

Typography: A Manual For Design - Swiss typographer Emil Ruder’s visual guide to typographic concepts.

© Copyright Nicholas Arner, 2022 |

bret victor's bookshelf

https://theinternate.com/2016/04/03/brett-victors-bookshelf.html The Internate Bret Victor's bookshelf

On January 5, 2016 Bret Victor tweeted a picture of his bookshelf. I’ve catalogued all of the books, by topic, below. They cover a wide variety of subjects, and I think they’re really interesting if you are a fan of Bret’s work. Comics

Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud Reinventing Comics by Scott McCloud Making Comics by Scott McCloud Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narrative by Will Eisner (published by W. W. Norton & Company) Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narrative by Will Eisner (published by Poorhouse Press) Expressive Anatomy for Comics and Narrative by Will Eisner Comics and Sequential Art by Will Eisner DC Comics Guide to Coloring and Lettering Comics by Mark Chiarello and Todd Klein Faster Than a Speeding Bullet by Stephen Weiner How To Draw Comics The Marvel Way by Stan Lee and John Buscema The Visual Language of Comics by Neil Cohn Perspective! for Comic Book Artists by David Chelsea The Comics of Chris Ware by David M. Ball and Martha B. Kuhlman Chris Ware by Daniel Raeburn Krazy Kat by George Herriman and Patrick McDonnell and Peter Maresca

Animation

The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation by Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas How to Make Animated Films by Tony White Grammar of the Film Language by Daniel Arijon 3D Art Essentials by Ami Chopine 3D Animation Essentials by Andy Beane

Game design

Chris Crawford on Game Design by Chris Crawford Racing the Beam by Nick Montfort How to Do Things with Videogames by Ian Bogost Homo Ludens by Johan Huizinga Theory of Fun for Game Design by Raph Koster

Type

The Non-Designer’s Type Book by Robin Williams The Splendor of Islamic Calligraphy by Abdelkebir Khatibi and Mohammed Sijelmassi The Elements of Typographic Style by Robert Bringhurst Type by Simon Loxley Calligraphy by Arthur Baker

Interface design

About Face by Alan Cooper and Robert Reimann The Art of Interactive Design by Chris Crawford Designing Interactions by Bill Moggridge The Art of Human-Computer Interface Design by Brenda Laurel The Humane Interface by Jef Raskin

Industrial design

Human Engineering Guide for Equipment Designers by Wesley Woodson and Donald W. Conover Designing for People by Henry Dreyfuss Cradle to Cradle by Michael Braungart and William McDonough The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman Small Things Considered by Henry Petroski

Visual design

Understanding Color by Linda Holtzschue Interaction of Color by Josef Albers and Nicholas F. Weber The Nature and Art of Workmanship by David Pye Logic and Design by Krome Barratt A History of Graphic Design by Philip B. Meggs Universal Principles of Design by William Lidwell and Kritina Holden The Non-Designer’s Design Book by Robin Williams The Nature and Aesthetics of Design by David Pye

Visual thinking

Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards Visual Thinking by Rudolf Arnheim Art and Visual Perception by Rudolf Arnheim The Elements of Dynamic Symmetry by Jay Hambidge The Ecological Approach to Visual Perception by James J. Gibson Laws of Seeing by Wolfgang Metzger and Lothar Spillmann On the Rationalization of Sight by William Mills Ivins and Jean Pelerin The Back of the Napkin by Dan Roam Unflattening by Nick Sousanis

Information design

The Visual Display of Quantitative Information by Edward R. Tufte Envisioning Information by Edward R. Tufte Visual Explanations by Edward R. Tufte Beautiful Evidence by Edward R. Tufte Graphic Discovery by Howard Wainer Show Me the Numbers by Stephen Few Information Dashboard Design by Stephen Few Playfair’s Commercial and Political Atlas and Statistical Breviary by William Playfair The Elements of Graphing Data by William S. Cleveland Visualizing Data by William S. Cleveland Semiology of Graphics by Jacques Bertin Visual Complexity by Manuel Lima The Book of Trees by Manuel Lima and Ben Shneiderman Information Graphics by Robert L. Harris Graph Design for the Eye and Mind by Stephen M. Kosslyn The Grammar of Graphics by Leland Wilkinson and D. Wills Cartographies of Time: A History of the Timeline by Daniel Rosenberg and Anthony Grafton On the Map by Simon Garfield Exploratory Data Analysis by John W. Tukey Cartographic Relief Presentation by Eduard Imhof The Collected Works of John W. Tukey. Volume I by John W. Tukey and William S. Cleveland The Collected Works of John W. Tukey. Volume IV by John W. Tukey and L.V. Jones The Collected Works of John W. Tukey. Volume V by John W. Tukey and William S. Cleveland

Architecture

Introduction to Architecture by Francis D. K. Ching and James F. Eckler A Visual Dictionary of Architecture by Francis D. K. Ching How Buildings Learn by Stewart Brand How to Read Bridges by Edward Denison and Ian Stewart Notes on the Synthesis of Form by Christopher Alexander The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs and Jason Epstein A Pattern Language by Christopher Alexander and Sara Ishikawa The Timeless Way of Building by Christopher Alexander

Writing

The Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson Language Myths by Laurie Bauer and Peter Trudgill Stein on Writing by Sol Stein Maps of the Imagination by Peter Turchi The Devil’s Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce The Art of Description by Mark Doty All The Fun’s In How You Say A Thing by Timothy Steele The Careful Writer by Theodore M. Bernstein Roget’s Thesaurus by Princeton Language Institute Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary by Merriam-Webster

Music theory

Harmonic Experience by W. A. Mathieu On the Sensations of Tone by Hermann Helmholtz Temperament by Stuart Isacoff How Equal Temperament Ruined Harmony by Ross W. Duffin Choreo-graphics by Ann Hutchinson Guest Traces Of Dance by Paul Virilio and Valerie Preston-Dunlop

Persuasion

Made to Stick by Chip Heath and Dan Heath Getting More by Stuart Diamond Switch by Chip Heath and Dan Heath Why We Buy by Paco Underhill Influence by Robert B. Cialdini

Management

The Innovator’s Dilemma by Clayton M. Christensen The Essential Drucker by Peter F. Drucker Peopleware by Tom DeMarco and Tim Lister The Design of Design by Frederick P. Brooks Jr. The Mythical Man-Month by Frederick P. Brooks Jr.

???

Computer Lib by Theodor H. Nelson ??? The Last Whole Earth Catalog by Stewart Brand Whole Earth Epilog by Stewart Brand The Next Whole Earth Catalog by Stewart Brand The Millennium Whole Earth Catalog by Howard Rheingold Whole Earth Software Catalog by Stewart Brand What to Do After You Hit Return by People’s Computer Company My Computer Likes Me When I Speak in Basic by Robert Albrecht

Media

Understanding Media by Marshall McLuhan Narrative across Media by Marie-Laure Ryan The Bias of Communication by Harold Innis The Printing Press as an Agent of Change by Elizabeth L. Eisenstein Media and Symbols by D. R. Olson

The New Medium

Hamlet on the Holodeck by Janet H. Murray Computers as Theatre by Brenda Laurel Computer Lib by Theodor H. Nelson Literary Machines by Theodor H. Nelson Mirror Worlds by David Gelernter ??? Data Management Human Interface: Where People and Computers Meet by Richard A. Bolt Libraries of the Future by J. C. R. Licklider Future Libraries by R. Howard Bloch and Carla Hesse Simulacra and Simulation by Jean Baudrillard From Memex To Hypertext by James M. Nyce and Paul Kahn Artificial Reality 2 by Myron K. Krueger Software Takes Command by Lev Manovich Augmenting Human Intellect by D. C. Engelbart

Learning

How Children Fail by John Holt How Children Learn by John Holt Learning All The Time by John Holt The End of Education by Neil Postman What’s Math Got to Do with It? by Jo Boaler How to Survive in Your Native Land by Jack Herndon Mindstorms by Seymour A. Papert The Children’s Machine by Seymour Papert The Connected Family by Seymour Papert Changing Minds by Andrea diSessa Getting It Wrong from the Beginning by Kieran Egan The Educated Mind by Kieran Egan Thought and Language by Lev S. Vygotsky Mind in Society by Lev S. Vygotsky Toward a Theory of Instruction by Jerome Bruner On Knowing by Jerome Bruner Actual Minds, Possible Worlds by Jerome Bruner Life in Classrooms by Philip W. Jackson What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy by James Paul Gee Dumbing Us Down by John Taylor Gatto A Different Kind of Teacher by John Taylor Gatto Weapons of Mass Instruction by John Taylor Gatto The Underground History of American Education by John Taylor Gatto

Embodied thinking

Where Mathematics Come From by George Lakoff and Rafael Nuñez Cognition in the Wild by Edwin Hutchins The Hand by Frank R. Wilson The Hand Owner’s Manual by Roy A. Meals I Am a Strange Loop by Douglas R. Hofstadter Evocative Objects by Sherry Turkle The Inner Game of Tennis by W. Timothy Gallwey Impro by Keith Johnstone Descartes’ Error by Anthony Damasio Being There by Andy Clark Where the Action Is by Paul Dourish Simulation and Its Discontents by Sherry Turkle Shop Class as Soulcraft by Matthew B. Crawford

The mind

Frames of Mind by Howard Gardner Origins of the Modern Mind by Merlin Donald Gödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas R. Hofstadter The Large, the Small and the Human Mind by Roger Penrose The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind by Julian Jaynes Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi The Master and His Emissary by Iain McGilchrist The Quest for Consciousness by Koch Christof In Search of Memory by Eric R. Kandel The Society of Mind by Marvin Minsky On Intelligence by Jeff Hawkins Mind Wide Open by Steven Johnson The Meme Machine by Susan Blackmore

Concepts and metaphysics

Understanding Computers and Cognition by Terry Winograd and Fernando Flores Fluid Concepts and Creative Analogies by Douglas R. Hofstadter Surfaces and Essences by Douglas Hofstadter and Emmanuel Sander Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things by George Lakoff The Symbolic Species by Terrence W. Deacon Metaphors We Live By by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson The Way We Think by Gilles Fauconnier and Mark Turner Origins of Human Communication by Michael Tomasello

Creativity and ideas

Common as Air by Lewis Hyde Making Ideas Happen by Scott Belsky The Gift by Lewis Hyde Where Good Ideas Come From by Steven Johnson The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron Good Work by Howard E. Gardner and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi The Act of Creation by Arthur Koestler

Scientific creativity

How to Solve It by G. Polya Induction and Analogy in Mathematics by G. Polya Patterns of Plausible Inference by G. Polya Mathematical Discovery by G. Polya And Suddenly the Inventor Appeared by Genrich Altshuller Art of Doing Science and Engineering by Richard W. Hamming Creating Scientific Concepts by Nancy J Nersessian The Engelbart Hypothesis by Valerie Landau, Eileen Clegg, and Douglas Engelbart What Engineers Know and How They Know It by Walter G. Vincenti

Philosophy of Science

Falling for Science by Sherry Turkle The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas S. Kuhn The Road since Structure by Thomas S. Kuhn What Is This Thing Called Science? by Alan F. Chalmers Scientific Discovery by Patrick W. Langley and Herbert A. Simon Against Method by Paul Feyerabend The Origins of Knowledge and Imagination by Jacob Bronowski Reliable Knowledge by John M. Ziman The Sciences of the Artificial by Herbert U. Simon Science in Action by Bruno Latour Laboratory Life by Bruno Latour and Steve Woolgar

Technology and culture

What Technology Wants by Kevin Kelly Out of Control by Kevin Kelly The Nature of Technology by W. Brian Arthur Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman Technopoly by Neil Postman Convergence Culture by Henry Jenkins Here Comes Everybody by Clay Shirky Small Pieces Loosely Joined by David Weinberger Remix by Lawrence Lessig Code by Lawrence Lessig The Future of Ideas by Lawrence Lessig Computers and Society by Richard W. Hamming The Coming of the Body by Herve Juvin Condition of Man by Mumford Lewis The Identity of Man by Jacob Bronowski Interface Culture by Steven A. Johnson Computer Power and Human Reason by Joseph Weizenbaum The Computer Age by Joel Moses Michael L. Dertouzos Science and Human Values by Jacob Bronowski ??? From Satori to Silicon Valley by Theodore Roszak The Cult of Information by Theodore Roszak The Clock Of The Long Now by Stewart Brand Engines of Creation by Eric Drexler Free Software Free Society by Richard Stallman Superintelligence by Nick Bostrom Science Is Not Enough by Vannevar Bush I Seem to Be a Verb by R. Buckminster Fuller Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth by R. Buckminster Fuller Utopia or Oblivion by R. Buckminster Fuller Synergetics by R. Buckminster Fuller

Ecology

EcoCities by Richard Register The Ecology of Commerce by Paul Hawken The World Without Us by Alan Weisman Sustainable Energy by David JC MacKay Don’t Even Think About It by George Marshall Our Choice by Al Gore

Culture

No Logo by Naomi Klein Deschooling Society by Ivan Illich Tools for Conviviality by Ivan Illich The Omega Seed by Paolo Soleri Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins Born to Buy by Juliet B. Schor The Naked Ape by Desmond Morris The Savage Mind by Claude Lévi-Strauss The Disappearance of Childhood by Neil Postman The Meaning of Human Existence by Edward O. Wilson Seeing like a State by James C. Scott Reassembling the Social by Bruno Latour The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell

Cultural history

A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared M. Diamond Collapse by Jared Diamond Lies My Teacher Told Me by James W. Loewen Thinking in Time by Richard E. Neustadt and Ernest R. May Centuries of Change by Ian Mortimer

History of math

Mathematics and Its History by John Stillwell Ways of Thought of Great Mathematicians by H. Meschkowski A Concise History of Mathematics by Dirk J. Struik Journey through Genius by William Dunham A History of Chinese Mathematics by Jean-Claude Martzloff King of Infinite Space by Siobhan Roberts Chaos by James Gleick The Lady Tasting Tea by David Salsburg Henri Poincaré by Jeremy Gray Henri Poincaré by Ferdinand Verhulst Emergence of the Theory of Lie Groups by Thomas Hawkins The Equation That Couldn’t Be Solved by Mario Livio Science Awakening by B. L. Van Der Waerden Mathematics by Morris Kline

History of numbers and notation

The Universal History of Numbers by Georges Ifrah Zero by Charles Seife An Imaginary Tale by Paul J. Nahin Gamma by Julian Havil Number Words and Number Symbols by Karl Menninger Enlightening Symbols by Joseph Mazur Numbers by Heinz-Dieter Ebbinghaus et al. Before Writing, Volume I by Denise Schmandt-Besserat Before Writing, Volume II by Denise Schmandt-Besserat The History of Counting by Denise Schmandt-Bessert

1st Person Historical Math

Euclid’s Elements by Euclid The Geometry by René Descartes An Introduction to Mathematics by Alfred North Whitehead Symbolic Logic by Lewis Carroll Mathematical Logic by Stephen Cole Kleene An Investigation of the Laws of Thought by George Boole A Mathematician’s Apology by G. H. Hardy The World of Mathematics Volume 1 by James R. Newman The World of Mathematics Volume 2 by James R. Newman The World of Mathematics Volume 3 by James R. Newman The World of Mathematics Volume 4 by James R. Newman

Math (Misc)

Mathematics by A. D. Aleksandrov and A. N. Kolmogorov Elementary Mathematics from an Advanced Standpoint: Geometry by Felix Klein Elementary Mathematics from an Advanced Standpoint: Arithmetic, Algebra, Analytics by Felix Klein Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos by Steven H. Strogatz Visual Complex Analysis by Tristan Needham Visual Complex Functions by Elias Wegert On Numbers and Games by John H. Conway Winning Ways for Your Mathematical Plays by Elwyn R. Berlekamp and John H. Conway Surreal Numbers by Donald E. Knuth Flatland by Edwin A. Abbott DIV, Grad, Curl, and All That by Harry M. Schey Measurement by Paul Lockhart Pearls of Discrete Mathematics by Martin Erickson Indiscrete Thoughts by Gian-Carlo Rota Discrete Thoughts by Mark Kac, Gian-Carlo Rota, Jacob T. Schwartz ???

Geometric Algebra

Geometric Algebra for Computer Science by Leo Dorst and Daniel Fontijne Geometric Algebra for Physicists by Chris Doran and Anthony Lasenby Linear and Geometric Algebra by Alan Macdonald Vector and Geometric Calculus by Alan Macdonald Clifford Algebra to Geometric Calculus by David Hestenes and Garret Sobczyk

Groups & Symmetry

Visual Group Theory by Nathan Carter The Symmetries of Things by John H. Conway and Heidi Burgiel Groups and Their Graphs by Israel Grossman and Wilhelm Magnus Regular Polytopes by H. S. M. Coxeter Symmetry by Hermann Weyl Symmetry by Roy McWeeny

Geometry

The First Six Books of the Elements of Euclid by Oliver Byrne ??? Turtle Geometry by Harold Abelson and Andrea diSessa The Geometry of Art and Life by Matila Ghyka The Fractal Geometry of Nature by Benoit B. Mandelbrot New Horizons in Geometry by Tom Apostol and Mamikon Mnatsakanian Regular Polytopes by H. S. M. Coxeter

Geometric Construction

Graphic Statics by Seibert Fairman, Chester Sherman Cutshall Engineering Descriptive Geometry by Frank William Bartlett Practical Geometry and Engineering Graphics by W. Abbott History of Engineering Drawing by P.J. Booker The History and Development of Nomography by Dr. H. A. Evesham and Brenda Riddell The design of diagrams for engineering formulas and the theory of nomography by Laurence I. Hewes

Probability and Artificial Intelligence

Theory of Probability by Harold Jeffreys Probability Theory by E. T. Jaynes Data Analysis by Devinderjit Sivia Probabilistic Graphical Models by Daphne Koller and Nir Friedman Perceptrons by Marvin Minsky and Seymour A. Papert Machine Learning by Tom M. Mitchell Heuristics by Judea Pearl

Systems & Modeling

The Systems Bible by John Gall General Principles of Systems Design by Gerald M. Weinberg and Daniela Weinberg An Introduction to General Systems Thinking by Gerald M. Weinberg Theory of Modelling and Simulation by Bernard P. Zeigler Dynamics of Physical Systems by Robert H. Jr. Cannon Introduction to Engineering Design by T.T. Woodson The Nature of Mathematical Modeling by Neil Gershenfeld Alternate Realities by John L. Casti Living Control Systems III by William T. Powers Six Degrees by Duncan J. Watts Emergence by Steven Johnson Cybernetics by Norbert Wiener The Human Use Of Human Beings by Norbert Wiener Selected Papers of Norbert Wiener by Norbert Wiener

Signal Processing

Signals and Systems by Alan V. Oppenheim and Alan S. Willsky Discrete-Time Signal Processing by Alan V. Oppenheim and Ronald W. Schafer Multirate Systems And Filter Banks by P. P. Vaidyanathan

Information theory

Elements of Information Theory by Thomas M. Cover and Joy A. Thomas An Introduction to Analog and Digital Communications by Simon Haykin and Michael Moher Introduction to Data Compression by Khalid Sayood Information and Randomness by Cristian S. Calude Grammatical Man by Jeremy Campbell

Graphics

3D Computer Graphics by Alan Watt 3D Math Primer for Graphics and Game Development by Fletcher Dunn and Ian Parberry The Nature of Code by Daniel Shiffman

Numerical Analysis

Introduction to Applied Numerical Analysis by Richard W. Hamming Numerical Methods for Scientists and Engineers by R. W. Hamming Convex Optimization by Stephen Boyd and Lieven Vandenberghe

Circuit Design

Fields and Waves in Communication Electronics by Simon Ramo and John R. Whinnery Analog Integrated Circuit Design by David Johns and Kenneth Martin Analysis and Design of Analog Integrated Circuits by Paul R. Gray and Paul J. Hurst Analog Circuit Design by Bob Dobkin and John Hamburger Digital Integrated Circuits by Jan M Rabaey Logic Synthesis by Srinivas Devadas and Abhijit Ghosh Introduction to VLSI Systems by Carver Mead and Lynn Conway Analog VLSI and Neural Systems by Carver Mead

Architecture of Operating Systems

Computer Architecture by John L. Hennessy and David A. Patterson The Architecture of Symbolic Computers by Peter M. Kogge The Design of the UNIX Operating System by Maurice J. Bach Modern Operating Systems by Andrew S. Tanenbaum Capability-based computer systems by Henry M Levy Hard Real-Time Computing Systems by Giorgio C. Buttazzo

History of Science

The Discoverers by Daniel J. Boorstin Hidden Histories of Science by Robert B. Eds. Silvers The Metaphysical Foundations of Modern Science by E. A. Burtt The Man Who Saw Through Time by Loren C. Eiseley A History of Mechanical Inventions by Abbott Payson Usher The Clockwork Universe by Edward Dolnick Longitude by Dava Sobel John Von Neumann by Norman MacRae A Force of Nature by Richard Reeves Tesla by Margaret Cheney The Mystery of Metamorphosis by Frank Ryan A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson Genius by James Gleick Francis Crick by Matt Ridley Warmth Disperses and Time Passes by Von Baeyer, Hans Christian Suspended In Language by Jim Ottaviani and Leland Purvis A Feeling for the Organism by Evelyn Fox Keller The Birth Of The Modern by Paul Johnson Great Physicists by William H. Cropper The Codex Leicester by Leonardo da Vinci ??? Clocks And Culture by Carlo M. Cipolla Lunar Men by Jenny Uglow The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes The Victorian Internet by Tom Standage Wind Wizard by Siobhan Roberts Faraday, Maxwell, and the Electromagnetic Field by Nancy Forbes and Basil Mahon Einstein by Walter Isaacson Bell Laboratories innovation in telecommunications, 1925-1977 by Roland Mueser The Maxwellians by Bruce J. Hunt Oliver Heaviside by Paul J. Nahin Renaissance Engineers from Brunelleschi to Leonardo da Vinci by Paolo Galluzzi Laser by Nick Taylor John Dalton and the Atom by F Greenaway The Copernican Revolution by Thomas S. Kuhn

First person historical science

Discourse On Bodies In Water by Thomas Salusbury Operations of the Geometric and Military Compass by Galileo Galilei Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems by Galileo Galilei The Principia by Isaac Newton Faraday’s Experimental Researches in Electricity by Michael Faraday Faraday as a Discoverer by John Tyndall A Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field by James Clerk Maxwell The Scientific Papers of James Clerk Maxwell, Vol. I by James Clerk Maxwell Modern Views of Electricity by Sir Oliver Lodge Treatise on Light by Christiaan Huygens The Collected Works of J. Willard Gibbs Vol. I by J. Willard Gibbs The Collected Works of J. Willard Gibbs Vol. II by J. Willard Gibbs Calculating Engines by Charles Babbage The Value of Science by Henri Poincare The Electron by Robert Andrews Millikan The Theory of Electrons by H. A. Lorentz The Chemical History of a Candle by Michael Faraday Physics and Beyond by Werner Heisenberg Relativity by Albert Einstein The Evolution of Physics by Albert Einstein and Leopold Infeld Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman! by Richard P. Feynman The Character of Physical Law by Richard Feynman Feynman Lectures On Computation by Richard P. Feynman My Inventions by Nikola Tesla The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin The Double Helix by James D. Watson Ph.D. A Life Decoded by J. Craig Venter What is Life? by Erwin Schrodinger The Art of the Soluble by P.B. Medawar Collected Papers by Claude Elwood Shannon Electrons and Holes in Semiconductors by William Shockley

History of computers

The Idea Factory by Jon Gertner History of Semiconductor Engineering by Bo Lojek Revolution in Miniature by Ernest Braun and Stuart MacDonald Engines of Logic by Martin Davis Microcosm by George Gilder Dealers of Lightning by Michael A. Hiltzik The Dream Machine by M. Mitchell Waldrop What the Dormouse Said by John Markoff Where Wizards Stay Up Late by Katie Hafner The Information by James Gleick Hackers by Steven Levy Revolution in The Valley by Andy Hertzfeld Insanely Great by Steven Levy Turing’s Cathedral by George Dyson A Few Good Men From Univac by David E. Lundstrom The Man Who Invented the Computer by Jane Smiley Possiplex by Ted Nelson Geeks Bearing Gifts by Ted Nelson The Soul of A New Machine by Tracy Kidder Tools for Thought by Howard Rheingold Bootstrapping by Thierry Bardini History of Computing in the Twentieth Century by Nicholas Metropolis The UNIX Hater’s Handbook by Simson L. Garfinkel and Daniel Weise Memory Machines by Belinda Barnet A History of Personal Workstations by Adele Goldberg History of Programming Languages by Richard L. Wexelblat History of Programming Languages, Volume 2 by Thomas J. Bergin and Richard G. Gibson The Closed World by Paul N. Edwards From Counterculture to Cyberculture by Fred Turner The Chip by T.R. Reid

Programming languages

APL by Raymond Polivka and Sandra Pakin The Design and Evolution of C++ by Bjarne Stroustrup The Annotated C++ Reference Manual by Margaret A. Ellis and Bjarne Stroustrup The Joy of Clojure by Michael Fogus and Chris Houser Eiffel by Bertrand Meyer Programming Erlang by Joe Armstrong FORTH by W. P. Salman, O. Tisserand and B. Toulout Thinking Forth by Leo Brodie Introduction to Fortran by S.C. Plumb The Little Schemer by Daniel P. Friedman and Matthias Felleisen The Seasoned Schemer by Daniel P. Friedman and Matthias Felleisen The Reasoned Schemer by Daniel P. Friedman and William E. Byrd The Little MLer by Matthias Felleisen and Daniel P. Friedman Programming in Lua by Roberto Ierusalimschy Lucid, the Dataflow Programming Language by William W. Wadge Clause and Effect by William Clocksin Sketchpad by Ivan Edward Sutherland (thanks to Paul McJones for finding this) Smalltalk-80: The Interactive Programming Environment by Adele Goldberg Smalltalk-80: Bits of History, Words of Advice by Glen Krasner Smalltalk-80: The Language and its Implementation by Adele Goldberg and David Robson The TeXbook by Donald E. Knuth TeX: The Program by Donald E. Knuth Metafont: The Program by Donald E. Knuth Viewpoint: Toward a computer for Visual Thinkers by Scott Kim Visual Grammars for Visual Languages by Fred Lakin

Programming

How to Design Programs by Matthias Felleisen and Robert Bruce Findler Design Patterns by Erich Gamma, Richard Helm, Ralph Johnson, John Vlissides The Art of the Metaobject Protocol by Gregor Kiczales and Jim des Rivieres Elements of Programming by Alexander A. Stepanov and Paul McJones Concepts, Techniques, and Models of Computer Programming by Peter Van Roy and Seif Haridi Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs by Harold Abelson and Gerald Jay Sussman Types and Programming Languages by Benjamin C. Pierce Essentials of Programming Languages by Daniel P. Friedman and Mitchell Wand Advanced Compiler Design and Implementation by Steven Muchnick Introduction to Algorithms by Thomas H. Cormen and Charles E. Leiserson Hacker’s Delight by Henry S. Warren Programming Pearls by Jon Bentley Coders at Work by Peter Seibel Computation by Marvin Lee Minsky Purely Functional Data Structures by Chris Okasaki The Space and Motion of Communicating Agents by Robin Milner Superdistribution by Brad J. Cox A Small Matter of Programming by Bonnie A. Nardi Basic Category Theory for Computer Scientists by Benjamin C. Pierce

Physics

The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Vol. I by Richard P. Feynman The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Vol. II by Richard P. Feynman The Feynman Lectures on Physics, Vol. III by Richard P. Feynman Six Easy Pieces by Richard P. Feynman New Foundations for Classical Mechanics by David Hestenes Structure and Interpretation of Classical Mechanics by Gerald Jay Sussman and Jack Wisdom A Guide to Feynman Diagrams in the Many-Body Problem by Richard D. Mattuck and Physics The Universe in a Nutshell by Stephen W. Hawking The Illustrated “A Brief History of Time” and “The Universe in a Nutshell” by Stephen W. Hawking Relativity Visualized by Lewis Carroll Epstein Collective Electrodynamics by Carver A. Mead The Quark and the Jaguar by Murray Gell-Mann The Science of Radio by Paul J. Nahin Dreams of a Final Theory by Steven Weinberg The Sun, The Genome, and The Internet by Freeman J. Dyson From Being to Becoming by Ilya Prigogine

Biology

On Growth and Form by D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson The Red Queen by Matt Ridley Genome by Matt Ridley The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins Biopunk by Marcus Wohlsen Monkeyluv by Robert M. Sapolsky Biocosm by James N. Gardner Human Universals by Donald Brown The Stuff of Life by Mark Schultz and Zander Cannon The Blind Watchmaker by Richard Dawkins

bill buxton

revolutionary computer interface designer and researcher https://www.billbuxton.com/ https://www.microsoft.com/buxtoncollection

history of smalltalk

Programming Languages http://worrydream.com/EarlyHistoryOfSmalltalk/

2022-01-23

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2022-01-22

[[2022-01-22]]

2022-01-22

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2022-01-21

[[2022-01-21]]

[[Food]] - I had [[pastel]] for [[dinner]] today.

2022-01-21

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2022-01-20

[[2022-01-20]]

  • [[Brazil]]
    • [[Death]]
      • [[Elza Soares]], one of the biggest names of [[Brazilian music]], has suffered a [[death by natural causes]] today at [[home]].
        • She was [[91]] years old.
        • "Eu sempre quis fazer coisa diferente, não suporto rótulo, não sou refrigerante", comparava Elza. "Eu acompanho o tempo, eu não estou quadrada, não tem essa de ficar paradinha aqui não. O negócio é caminhar. Eu caminho sempre junto com o tempo."

          Desde que lançou o álbum "A mulher do fim do mundo" em 2015, a cantora viveu mais uma fase de renascimento artístico. “Me deixem cantar até o fim”, pediu Elza em verso da música que batiza o álbum."

          • [[Reference]]: https://g1.globo.com/pop-arte/musica/noticia/2022/01/20/elza-soares-morre-aos-91-anos.ghtml
          • [[Translation]]:
            • "I've always wanted to try different things, I can't stand labels, I'm not a soda", Elza used to compare. "I keep up with the times, I'm not old-fashioned, there's no such thing as 'staying put' for me. One must walk. I always walk alongside the times." Ever since she released the "The woman of the end of the world" album in 2015, the singer has lived one more phase of artistic rebirth. "Let me sing till the end", pleaded Elza in a verse from the song that gives the album its title.

  • [[Music]]

2022-01-20

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2022-01-19

[[2022-01-19]]

2022-01-19

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2022-01-18

[[2022-01-18]]

today is a day for best effort and gentle improvement. writing a self-review for work always makes me want to unalive myself (even when I think I'm doing well???) so we're not being real ambitious outside of getting that done (well, besides all the normal work nonsense).

hope I have time to paint this evening.

r/zerowaste has neat suggestions for less wasteful alternatives for party favors.

what do people do instead of leggings that's not [[polyester]]?

I continue to want a lefty equivalent to the work of [[robert putnam]], looking at his new book. building little communities that aren't toxic seems so, so important but I don't trust the man

→ node [[2022-01-17]]

2022-01-17

latency status quo is terrible - how can we do better?

https://danluu.com/input-lag/ what can force an improvement in experiences for most developers? not using javascript is a start, so is rust

lessons from phd

https://austinhenley.com/blog/lessonsfrommyphd.html#managers

  • lead or be led - actively advocate for yourself or you won't get what you want out of your experiences. you have far more information to determine how to prioritize than they do about you.
  • topic sentences. write the first for each paragraph, them flesh all of the bodies out.
  • managers are IO machines. your best use of them isn't to prove that you are productive; rather, it's to show up with something to answer questions and receive feedback
    • assume they forgot the last meeting
    • bring things to talk about and a goal
    • 3-4 sentences refreshing everyone
    • what did you do? what worked? what did not? what do you do next?
    • have something tangible - a demo or visual aid
  • daily progress tracking - a feq quick bullet points to summarize what you did that day, every day. trace progress towards goals!

[[2022-01-17]]

So I was thinking about the brief conversation we'd had about [[effective altruism]], and I started writing, and I wrote a lot, so my preamble is that I mean here to put words to a seed of a heuristic I'm working with, not just criticize. But I don't really have a clean phrase for the topic... so I'm tossing this in my daily note, and maybe it'll make sense to move later?

update: moved to [[criticism page]]


I don't know really how, but the absolute indignation in this captures something of the [[incrementalist's]] lament. Like, dang, y'all, the rest of the pie is right there.


Ordered this book of notebooks. It's shallow, but I do find the aesthetic of these things motivating.

→ node [[2022-01-16]]

2022-01-16

  • [[push]] [[gitea]]
    • [[vera]] installed gitea this weekend; just set it up so it's serving on https://git.anagora.org . Signups (username+password works just fine) open!
    • [[mirroring]] works great! simple to set up
      • I wonder how often it syncs -- if often enough, this could be a good UI for [[agora bridge]]
    • [[wiki]] for each repo gets stored in a 'hidden' repo associated with it: add .wiki before .git in the URL to clone
  • [[push]] [[systemctl]]
    • systemctl list-unit-files | grep enabled to list all enabled services (add --user for user-scoped)
      • a bit weird this isn't... shorter? but oh well
  • [[flancians]]

lessons from phd

lead or be lead

actively advocate for what you want to do or you won't get it. you can advocate for what's best for you.

[[2022-01-16]]

Today my first proper day in the agora! Still not fully hooked up with all the [[matrix rooms]] and whatever, and my internal links won't display properly until there's some kind of [[tiddlywiki]] affordance, but these are minor details.

I'm probably going to have to go figure out how awful $employer is about open source to be able to contribute properly to the code, aren't I. I am so very small a fry...

2022-01-16

  • When I'm first learning about some new thing, X, I get a lot more value in someone I know saying "I like X" or "I dislike X" or "I'm interested in X" or "I something X" than a detailed objective description of what X is.

  • [[Birds of prey]] are also known as raptors!

    • [[Peregrin falcons]] are the fasted members of the animal kingdom. They can travel at 242 miles per hour!
    • [[Condors]] have wing spans up to 2.9m!
  • [[There will be a fresh wave of Omicron cases in the early summer]], so sayeth Sage in The Guardian.

→ node [[2022-01-15]]

a system like projectile but that integrates with the shell too

have a nemesis

competition is healthier than mentorship, more motivating source here: https://tedgioia.substack.com/p/you-dont-need-a-mentorfind-a-nemesis

2022-01-15

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2022-01-14

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2022-01-13

2022-01-13

<<<<<<< HEAD

=======

a03346fef466f8496902d5d92b57426ec8ee5898

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2022-01-12

I had a tough yet unproductive day at work today. Unsure why -- part of it is it was [[hump day]] perhaps, part of it just the particular workload that I have to deal with at this stage in the lifetime of my project. Anyway, will try to make tomorrow better by being a bit more organized and ignoring distractions. Onwards and upwards.

→ node [[2022-01-11]]

2022-01-11

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2022-01-10

→ node [[2022-01-09]]
  • [[Kazakhstan]] is experiencing civil unrest which is affecting the [[crypto market]]

  • I started writing from [[foam]] again

  • The [[NFT]] market continues to heat up.

  • I keep hearing about [[uniswap]] not sure what their deal is.

→ node [[2022-01-08]]

2022-01-08

2022-01-08

→ node [[2022-01-07]]

2022-01-07

2022-01-07

  • Less attention going to my public digital garden, as I've been spending a bit more time on what [[Bill Seitz]] would call the [[inner garden]].
→ node [[2022-01-06]]

2022-01-06

  • [[oncall]] this week. got woken up by a page twice so far -- about average :)
    • not a big deal, part of the job. but I can tell the different in sleepiness through the day, clearly.
  • behind on messages in several networks, looking forward to getting back into it!
    • and finally write more about the [[commons]] :)

quick link

http://grahamenos.com/ looks like an excelleng blog. particularly interested in:

  • CvRDT Exposition
  • Time-travelling key value store
  • learning more about scala and math
→ node [[2022-01-05]]

links floating arount today

https://ctrlaltdel.world/ Personal Websites - showcases skills like a BIOS screen. Incredible! Would love to do client work like this in the future - just need a better portfolio… I'm very much split between temporary, "superficial" front-env development work like this and substantive, infrastructural work on personal information management and how we use our computers from the bottom up. I need to put more time in to be able to continue to do both, but I'm not sure if I'll ever have time…

catern

¯\(ツ)_/¯ brilliant user with interest in programming language, small types, using simple tools and doing things unix-first. there are so many OS capabilities we just don't use on our systems - why use them? Has lots of great writing on deliberately keeping things simple and monolithic - because that's sane more of the time - though distributed systems work is equally as valuable; just not as useful as it's considered.

→ node [[2022-01-04]]
→ node [[2022-01-03]]

2022-01-03

→ node [[2022-01-02]]

2022-01-02

  • I hope to be able to [[hack]] a bit today. Yesterday I didn't get to it; interacting socially took a lot of the day. It was nice, though.
  • I also would like to [[write]] a bit. My plan is to start by embedding flancia.org in the Agora (importing all posts from the core git repo), which may motivate me also to edit my old writing more (it's in sore need of editing and updating!).
  • Topic du jour is whether it makes sense to persist with our plans to visit family and friends in February -- in particular because of the added risk to elderly family members because of [[covid]].
  • [[do]]
  • [[doing]]
    • import flancia.org in the Agora
    • change charity to solidarity in flancia.org writing (this has been pending for loooong)
    • review [[j0lms]]'s bug report on imports not working
    • talk to [[dyokomizo]]
    • think about importing google docs into the Agora? they are a good platform for writing, todo tracking (now with checklists) and collaboration
    • distill paper-based todo list that got out of hand into something manageable, but only after doing the four things above :)
    • make 'agora%20protocol' and 'agora protocol' as URLs both yield the same as 'agora-protocol' -- that is, fix slugging inconsistencies
    • make popups less awkward -- make them not pop up when the user has moved on (i.e. fix likely race between hover and unhover)
    • write
  • [[yoga]] [[move]]

2022-01-02

→ node [[2022-01-01]]

2022-01-01

  • [[2022]]
    • Happy new year! I hope you thrive.
    • Please let me or [[flancia collective]] know if we can help with anything.
    • [[push]] [[2022 resolutions]]
      • It is my intent for this year to bring [[Flancia]] closer to reality and to improve the [[Agora]] for others.
      • In [[january 2022]] in particular I'll try to behave a bit more like a [[monk]] whenever I can: meditate more, crave less.
  • [[katamari damacy]]
  • [[push]] [[weekend 1]]
  • started watching [[hyperland]] last night. I'm enjoying it!
    • couldn't help feeling it's awesome how so many people (4.5B as of today?) did get amazing connectivity and software agents -- although our agents today are unfortunately less eager to be customized than that in the show (the internet as of the late 10-15 years hasn't been exactly about empowering users to do as they please, it would seem.)
  • [[snufkin]]
pull color="#b51f08"> <title>500 Internal Error wtf.
<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://doc.anagora.org/css/center.css"> <button class="pull-url" value="https://doc.anagora.org/css/center.css">">pull</button>
<div class="container-fluid text-center">
    <div class="vertical-center-row">
        <h1>500 Internal Error <small>wtf.</small></h1>
    </div>
</div>
→ node [[2021-12-31]]

2021-12-31

against work life balance

The Case Against Work-Life Balance: Owning Your Future - Shyam Sankar

  • clearly working lots of hours for a company regardless of education is a poor decision - but how do we manage work life balance?
  • develop grit over allure of predictable pace; first step matters

usual boring work harder stuff. not a lot of substance to this. absolutely good idea to keep working.

→ node [[2021-12-30]]

2021-12-30

2224e77d7613150477a3ebe6d06a653e4c9f48c4

2021-12-30

→ node [[2021-12-29]]

cleaning out open tabs

reflections on a decade of coding

https://www.scattered-thoughts.net/writing/reflections-on-a-decade-of-coding

  • build your own text editor!
  • learned a lot: lots of tiny changes in habits, processes and values; has lots of takes after programming for 12 years and lots of categories in which he has useful experience. I'll break these down and mirror the subsections

writing

https://www.scattered-thoughts.net/writing/writing/

  • idea file for developing ideas
    1. stream of consciousness
    2. the structured data with some organization; determine what parts of the structure are difficult to articulate, then iterate on them
    3. can choose not to organize the ideas at all; this works moreso for experience reports than anything else, though
  • deciding what to leave out is the most difficult part - alternate between generating ideas and refining them, and continue refining them until you think you have a clear purpose! don't get stuck in one "mode".
  • revisit - add links, citations, fact-checking, etc. to precisely clarify your intentions.
  • always illustrate with concrete examples - then wait a few days!
  • avoid anything uncharitable or unkind. this only invites those who agree with you and completely fails to acknowledge differences.
  • arguments aren't worth it either - not hacker news or anywhere else. writing defensively doesn't provide a lot of value to you, as it tends only to sell you on what you're already convinced of.
  • getting stuck is hard - how to you make it through?

zig thoughts!

Rust vs Zig https://www.scattered-thoughts.net/writing/assorted-thoughts-on-zig-and-rust/

  • zig is far simpler than rust! rust blasts you with language features that you'll take a significant time to understand. it's hard to design something in your head and resolve it completely, as it's difficult to understand how all of the different systems interact - it often feels like fighting the system rather than anything else.
  • zig gets all of the mechanisms that rust has with `comptime`; macros and all, it can just execute the same runtime code at compile time so things are far easier to reason about.
  • zig only proves type safety for things provided to the function, not every possible value; this means that systems leveraging zig generics can't be typechecked effectively, and it doesn't have access to any of the automatic, machine checked type constraints.
  • CWE - CWE-1350: Weaknesses in the 2020 CWE Top 25 Most Dangerous Software Wea… - come back to this! what often causes the most problems? looks like zig resolves most of the issues.
  • zig uses far simpler abstractions for things like import. so much easier to include and use things!
  • much lower cognitive overhead - more likely to receive very fast feedback loops. does not have detection for UAF, but it isn't super clear whether this is the best choice!
  • shoutout to nanoprocesses: https://hacks.mozilla.org/2019/11/announcing-the-bytecode-alliance/: allowing things to run in sandboxed threads - brilliant!

testing

testing https://www.scattered-thoughts.net/writing/testing/

  • debugging efficiency is super important
  • make sure to test things directly rather tham implicitly - don't knock the unit tests because integration tests often don't directly give you the information you need when revisiting and debugging!
  • marking tests as known failures is super valuable too - should not cause the test suite to fail, but should serve as history - what do you still have to fix? finding a bug you can't fix immediately: add as a failing test and link to the issue; if the bug is fixed later, the test suite then fails!
    • Joss: This pattern is valuable and it strikes me as a huge workaround to stay compatible with current systems. figure out a better way to handle it!
      • add some sort of todo list system to track what still has to be done with your programming; somehow automatically associate it with specific functions. you're just working with a graph1
      • in addition to the manual unit test form
    • testing nondeterminism: eat the pain at design time to make sure this can't occur; fixing the seed often isn't okay.
    • structured input from property based testing: https://hypothesis.works/articles/how-hypothesis-works/ look into this!
    • implement two different ways to compute the same output and test that they always agree
    • performance: run benhcarks automatically, record in a database, show graph of results over time. then you can reflect and see the trend over time to determine when changes to the system caused major performance regressions!

speed

https://www.scattered-thoughts.net/writing/moving-faster/

  • want to be faster. actually solve the problem; avoid using fashionable tools or writing "elegant" code. these are wasted of time. it's possible to be so much faster.
  • "some people are producing projects taht are far beyond what i could do in a single lifetime. I wanted to figure out how to do that." always reflect on what took you so long and how it could have been approved.
  • always make decisions based on explicit goals. this avoids decision paralysis - ultimate enemy
  • list out pro cons, focus on the data structure that puts you closest to the goal - ofte this is the one that is easiest to implement, barring some huge language failure.
  • put everything into one file. iterate on it until you start to work with groups of things more frequently. group those into files. easy!
  • "what should i do next?" prioritize time saved or quality improved. whatever will give the most information about how to proceed!
  • do not thrash between two options.
  • it's okay to write messy code. that leads to thrashing back and forth between things, or building things that are technically impressive but not at all important. often these abstractions have to be redone later when the requirements change.
  • blocks of hours with no distractions. no multitasking. it's bad! you lose thinking context! addictive interactions encourage easier and more immediately rewarding behavior. don't do this - keep priorities straight.
  • set alarms and delegate to these.
  • avoid multitasking always. write down what you are doing, figure out how to do it, make the changes one by one, improve docs, then test. after that commit and merge the pr! make sure to have an explicit plan first though.
  • make small changes. nothing should take more than a few hours. if it does, it's not a great change to make.
  • much easier to jump in and out of things if everything is left working. don't leave things broken ever.
  • it's never "just one more big push" - merge something that works.
  • shorten feedback loops. how quickly can you evaluate the impact of decisions? create faster adn faster feedback loops.
  • create a work journal. append only text file to log everything that's being done; what' done now, what has to be done in the future, and how we get from a to b.
  • reduce mistakes. if a mistake is fixed, quickly review what exactly the mistake was, why it was made, and work through the code to fix the legacy code. if the change is too big to fix throughout, mark it as a todo and revisit it as something to deal with later.
  • make low level skills - typing, editing code, thinking about code, etc. - automatic. do not let these things be points of resistance to you. identify these bottlenecks and identify what exactly is going wrong.
    • make notes of these inefficiencies, revisit then when you have time
    • explicit practice: what problems would you like to practice? how do you explicitly practice skills rather than implicitly working on things? drill donw on things.

speed matters

Speed matters

  • being 10x faster changes the kinds of projects that are worth doing. be satisfied working with and on things that you've made yourself! that is such an important goal. something being 10x faster is absolutely worth developing the skillset for. if it's 10x slower, most htings you do now aren't even worth doing at all.
  • how many ideas can yuou try out a year? how many attempts do you get? you need that feedback. more practice means more improvement, absolutely (if it's intentional).
  • making more things is fun. how do you eke more performance out of yourself? how do you get better?
  • zig is good

set goals

Setting goals

  • measure progress - need some way of measuring how good you're doing! it's okay to have vague senses of things but they better be ironed out by the time you go to implement them - they should be consistent!
  • goals shouldn't have drift. do things that you care about and you'll absolutely feel more motivated.

emotional management

https://www.scattered-thoughts.net/writing/emotional-management/

  • exercise is a button you can push to reset mood!
  • cancelling plans is procrastination black hole. work so so so hard to make those plans work. don't even consider having the option to cancel the plans - that's just you doubting yourself a day or two in advance.
  • twitter is not easily educational. you're spending too much time on the bad stuff. community culture is bad and toxic; you may "internalize" the voice of anyone you spend time with anyways; this gets very bad when considering online spaces. contemplate what exactly you're spending time doing and who you're working with. stay with small communities that are focused on making things.
  • derailing by distraction can be satisfying but is a sign you may be out of alignment with goals.
  • Leave good evidence of yourself.

things unlearned

Things unlearned

  • computing spreads much faster than education can.
  • understand the most powerful languages so you can understand the differences in power between them. you can't understand what you don't know, and more powerful languages can lend you ideas to use in aft used circumstances.
  • simple revolutions are only simple from a distance. most ideas have a huge number of almost identical ideas that don't work, with very very subtle reasons why.
  • hopping from one superficial idea to another does not make progress on the fundamental problems, so those problems never end up even being solved.
  • solve an appropriately sized subset of a problem, then adapt and expand to other solutions.
  • don't spend much time looking for a bigger shovel. looking for tools is far too much of a waste of time. it's often just worth picking up something off the shelf that does most of the job well and working off of it.
  • you need a baseline to compare things to - the mainstream tools - as they are the state of the art. always make sure you're familiar with the state of the art so that you know what to improve.
  • languages are cool tools, but to make progress you need libraries. you need tools. you need ideas. knowing a language front to back is the only time in which it comes in handy - if you have incredibly fluency with a tool, it doesn't matter what problem you have to solve because the tool will solve it.
  • OPPORTUNITY COST MATTERS MOST
  • intelligence does not trump expertise.
  • explore vs exploit - take the known payoff or go into the dark to gamble for a bigger one? exploiting is often a much better decision in most places because it lets you shortcut to solving more interesting problems.

new programming languages

gnu poke

___ —' \_____ ____) GNU poke __) Release notes for poke 1.0 __) —._______)

  • GNU poke - Release notes for poke 1.0
    • interactive extensible editor for binary data
    • procedural language designed to interact wiht data structures!
    • super fun to use !! and the graphics are so cool! definitely revisit this when I pick up systems work I need to use to debug assembly, data in memory, etc.

lobster

https://strlen.com/lobster/

  • optimized for games and graphical things

division of thoughts on kialo

https://www.kialo.com/

2021-12-29

→ node [[2021-12-28]]

2021-12-28

few movies

  • tick tick boom wasn't aware of / exposed to the theater scene in such a dramatic way prior to this! wondering how the living conditions, drive, motivation, community, etc. compare to the theater world today (if we assume pre-covid).
  • good time this was a good time. really appreciate safdie.

2021-12-28

→ node [[2021-12-27]]

2021-12-27

  • worked today for as long as I planned to, then did one pomodoro on the [[agora]]. it felt good.
  • [[the witcher]] season 2
    • thought about [[magic]]
      • thought of one possible (fictional) explanation for why magic could have worked, then gone away from the world.
  • [[vera]] coded [[hover]] behaviour for the [[agora]], gave it a try, feeling nice
  • [[push]] [[meditation technique]]
    • [[box breathing]]
    • count up one after a full inhale+exhale cycle
    • optionally factorize number or run f(n) on the exhale, this seems to help retention/focus
    • primes feel like rest in a nice way
    • optionally attach thoughts / projects / items to numbers
    • numbers 1..7 are currently attached
  • [[push]] [[knowledge commons]]
    • [[neil]] called out that [[commoning]] is as important as the [[commons]], should include this
    • [[commoning]] as the way to solve to coordination problems?

2021-12-27

Giving lives in a domain ranging from deep symbolism to basic housekeeping. It is the currency of the small-scale resilient community. It is sometimes magic, in that some kinds of gift can be given over and over again without loss—love, for example, and (in a different sense, since time cannot really be replenished) the gift of reciprocal service to each other. The “reciprocal” part happens, but not by arrangement. This is the opposite of transparency: you cast your gift upon the waters, and what comes back is trust.

[[Lean Logic]], Gifts

→ node [[2021-12-26]]

2021-12-26

→ node [[2021-12-25]]
→ node [[2021-12-24]]
→ node [[2021-12-23]]

2021-12-23

  • [[agora]]
    • fixed the layout of the auto pulled search section (it had a stray [[br]] causing an awkward gap)
    • merged [[vera]]'s fix for fedwiki importer interferring with /latest (thanks!)
  • [[flancia]]

2021-12-23

  • Added a [[rel=me]] attribute to the link to my social.coop account in my Agora README, and now the link to Agora is validated as being me.

[[2021-12-23_17-20-01_screenshot.png]]

→ node [[2021-12-22]]

2021-12-22

  • If you direct your [[attention]] to where your [[prey]]/herd is about to direct their attention, they will feel like you are in [[control]], and slowly lose the [[will]] to seek out avenues of exit. [[war]] [[unarmed]]
→ node [[2021-12-21]]

2021-12-21

3c51dca78c02c1b172223462fdc7338598d32b31

2021-12-21