Daily Reads:
Watching a craftsman at work is fascinating. Why violins have f-holes has a couple of videos that were captivating.
Charlie Munger has legendary status in many circles so there’s quite a few articles about him in my feed. Bob Ewing joins the dots with Charlie Munger, Machiavelli, Epictetus, and ChatGPT all in one place. Gaping Void illustrates some of Munger’s lessons in How we communicate is how we succeed.
Kent Beck writes a reference letter about himself but three years out into the future. Interesting approach to get clarity around what he wants to accomplish, and establish priorities.
I’m catching up (barely) with Cory Doctorow’s blog posts. This one, titled "If buying isn’t owning, piracy isn’t stealing" tackles the one sided "terms and conditions" customers sign up to when the companies that sell you digital products can fuck you over at will by downgrading or changing features or the availability of features that you have already paid for.
HT Andrew Curry: Monica Ali Talking about AI’s and writing
Baldur Bjarnason, in Don’t be a correctness bully, makes the case that positive reinforcement alone can help someone change their mind. The idea applies in so many contexts for me right now.
Charlie Stross: Made of lies (and more lies) _LLMs don’t answer your questions accurately—rather, they deliver a lump of text in the shape of an answer
Benedict Cumberbatch reading a complaint of a notoriously grumpy playwright is a perfect end to my media consumption for the day.
QOTD:
Interpretations is the highest branch of the singer’s art.
– Harry Plunket Greene.
Music:
Glen Hansard and Lisa O’Neill sing "Fairytale of New York"at Shane MacGowan’s funeral