I Don't Work on bramadams.dev For You
My Thoughts on The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin
- a raw look into creativity – quite pragmatic actually, and says some things that don't satisfy the fragile sensibilities of the artist, but is tough love for making the best art
- i read this around the same time as another great book on finding the art in creation, The Timeless Way of Building
- what does it mean to sacrifice for your art?
- this book is 5 stars in my opinion because of who wrote it. rick rubin is a legend and walks the walk of creativity
- the artist moves from project to project as the living being moves from breath to breath
- this book says what many artists feel every day but fail to formalize into words
- art is for ourselves, a love letter to the universe and our place in it
The purpose of the work is to awaken something in you first, and then allow something to be awakened in others. And it’s fine if they’re not the same thing. We can only hope that the magnitude of the charge we experience reverberates as powerfully for others as it does for us.
If you have an idea you’re excited about and you don’t bring it to life, it’s not uncommon for the idea to find its voice through another maker.
Imagine going to live on a mountaintop by yourself, forever. You build a home that no one will ever visit. Still, you invest the time and effort to shape the space in which you’ll spend your days. The wood, the plates, the pillows—all magnificent. Curated to your taste. This is the essence of great art. We make it for no other purpose than creating our version of the beautiful, bringing all of ourself to every project, whatever its parameters and constraints. Consider it an offering, a devotional act. We do the best, as we see the best—with our own taste. No one else’s. We create our art so we may inhabit it ourselves.
an interesting take on alpha zero being trained, or more acutely, coming up with creative go moves with huge sets of numbers. what is human, anyway?
The machine learned the game from scratch, with no coach. The AI followed the fixed rules, not the millennia of accepted cultural norms.
It didn’t take into account the 3000 year old traditions and conventions of the game.
It didn’t accept the narrative of how to properly play.
It wasn’t held back my limiting beliefs.
Ultimately, your desire to create must be greater than your fear of it.
If you make the choice of reading classic literature every day for a year, rather than reading the news, by the end of that time period you’ll have a more honed sensitivity for recognizing greatness from the books than from the media.
i drew a picture of this in my journal – it was crappy but still!
The word comes from the Latin—inspirare, meaning to breathe in or blow into. For the lungs to draw in air, they must first be emptied. For the mind to draw inspiration, it wants space to welcome the new. The universe seeks balance. Through this absence, you are inviting energy in.
so good they cant ignore you
With the objective of simply doing great work, a ripple effect occurs. A bar is set for everything you do, which may not only lift your work to new heights, but raise the vibration of your entire life. It may even inspire others to do their best work. Greatness begets greatness. It’s infectious.
Is It Worse to Be A Good Citizen?
My Thoughts on Alone in Berlin (Play) by Hans Falida
- i read the play because it was on kindle lol and the original currently isnt, but i really liked reading the stage play itself actually
- courage is sometimes not about being a good citizen in times of peace, or a bad citizen in times of dissent, but to be a good person
A Bench in the Paupers’ Graveyard, Friedrichshain Elsie enters, wanders, glances at the graves, sits down, takes out a bottle and swigs. Elsie (spoken) I like it here. It’s nice sometimes To sit upon the grass And park your arse On someone’s grave. No need to ask permission (Points down into the earth.) This lot don’t even have names. The paupers’ graveyard of Berlin Would not have let them in If big inscriptions and memorials Were what they’d hoped for. (Sings.) No stones, no carved poetic lines, No grand funereal designs Were ever offered here. No sure and certain hope Had ever come their way in life So why begin in death? They tossed ’em in In groups of five or six or ten or twenty Shovelled earth on top And shrugged and headed home. Not one of those inglorious dead Had lived a life of plenty Though plenty had of course been promised them. And now they lie unsung, unhonoured and unwept, For promises are promises And very rarely kept.
(Spoken.) I need a smoke.
Elsie (sings) At night the SS boss’s boss is Lying in the dark Trembling at the thought Of what the day could bring, Pondering his chances of survival. While far above him, Far, far above him, The boss of bosses Author of the Reich designed to last a thousand years Ordains another thousand deaths To help conceal his fears.
The music transitions to a much jauntier tone as the next scene is set up.
Elsie (sings) Good citizens Can always be relied upon. Good citizens Who dress for church on Sunday And on Monday Go about their business And are never late for work. Good citizens who never shirk Responsibility and duty. The beauty of a system That’s both tragedy and farce Is a citizen’s ability To kiss official arse.
Elsie (sings) You may despise bad citizens Who lie in bed on Sunday And on Monday Duck and dive To stay alive Breaking every rule Hiding from the law Hoping that some fool Will give them money For a drink. Cheating, lying, stealing. Ruthless and unfeeling And not averse To little acts of violence. But … in bad times, Bad citizens (Beat.) Good citizens. (Beat.) Who knows which is worse?
More Podcast Setup
continued work on podcast setup
i bought the shure mic. (affl. link)
i worked on obs scenes.
i figured out how to record my iphone.
i got an earbud stuck in my ear.
iphone testing:
15 minute rant:
i wrote some xml for fcp (ok ok, chatgpt wrote it, i just watched):
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE fcpxml>
<fcpxml version="1.11">
<resources>
<asset id="r1" duration="29s" start="0s" hasAudio="1" audioSources="1" audioChannels="2" audioRate="192000">
<media-rep kind="original-media" src="file:///Users/bram/Movies/mov1.mp4"/>
</asset>
<asset id="r2" duration="21s" start="0s" hasAudio="1" audioSources="1" audioChannels="2" audioRate="192000">
<media-rep kind="original-media" src="file:///Users/bram/Movies/mov2.mp4"/>
</asset>
<format id="r3" frameDuration="1/30s" width="1920" height="1080"/>
</resources>
<library location="file:///Users/bram/Movies/Untitled.fcpbundle/">
<event name="My Podcast">
<project name="Test Podcast Cut">
<sequence duration="20s" format="r3">
<spine>
<!-- First half of the podcast -->
<asset-clip name="Podcast Part 1" ref="r1" duration="20s" start="0s" offset="0s"/>
<!-- Transition (e.g., Cross Dissolve) -->
<transition name="Cross Dissolve" duration="2s" offset="20s" />
<!-- "Free video is over" clip -->
<asset-clip name="End Clip" ref="r2" duration="21s" start="0s" offset="22s"/>
<!-- Second half of the podcast -->
<!-- <asset-clip name="Podcast Part 2" ref="r1" duration="9s" start="20s" offset="43s"/> -->
</spine>
</sequence>
</project>
</event>
</library>
</fcpxml>
i got a gpt to start the process of researching an episode topic:
then i user perplexity to run the actual searches:
comes up with some pretty interesting kindling:
i got meta with gpt writing gpts:
Help people write an assistant.
On start,
Ask one by one and wait for user feedback:
1. what do you want to achieve?
2. what are your main problems?
3. what have you tried?
4. what do you think is missing
after you have these answers create hypothetical instructions for a new assistant that uses problems and solutions provided. fill in the gaps and amke a step by step by step assistant that can help the user get to their goals. for any functions you want to call, stub out the name as {call function()} in curly braces.
then when the user approves the instructions, run an example with the loaded instructions.
which outputs...
the plan
this is roughly the plan to record with tomorrow. we'll see how it goes!
Working Title: how i start api projects with the openai api
pp (philosopy plaza):
- the first thing to do is to understand the problem being solved, what is the information pipeline
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One of the simplest forms of relaxation in computer science is known as Constraint Relaxation. In this technique, researchers remove some of the problem’s constraints and set about solving the problem they wish they had. Then, after they’ve made a certain amount of headway, they try to add the constraints back in. That is, they make the problem temporarily easier to handle before bringing it back to reality -- Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions (affiliate link)
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When you are having trouble getting your thinking straight, consider an extreme or simple case. This will often give you the insight you need to move forward. More generally, make a problem as simple as possible without losing its essence – but no simpler. -- Maxims for Thinking Analytically: The wisdom of legendary Harvard Professor Richard Zeckhauser
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- generation or retrieval
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Texts are half finished. Their signs rush toward an end point but past this toward a reader who, they hope, will complete them. It makes no difference whether the writer is aware of it, or even whether, like Kafka, he expressly rejects a completing reader; texts are a search for the Other. Of course, it is possible to divide up the universe of texts according to various criteria, but all texts are outstretched arms trying, whether optimistically or in despair, to be taken up by another. This is what the gesture of writing is disposed to do. -- Does Writing Have a Future? (Electronic Mediations Book 33) (affiliate link)
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True, good, and beautiful texts, that is, concise texts that flow without interruption and are nevertheless contradictory,are works of a creative dialogue between the writer and the publisher. They justify some hope that not all texts will be sacrificed to the rising universe of technical images. -- Does Writing Have a Future? (Electronic Mediations Book 33) (affiliate link)
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Prolonged data-gathering is not uncommonly used as a means of not dealing with a problem: -- SYSTEMANTICS. THE SYSTEMS BIBLE (affiliate link)
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The virtues of the use of big data for market research are frequently touted. The deficiencies are seldom noted, except for concerns about invasions of personal privacy. In addition to privacy issues, the real problem is that numerical correlations say nothing of people’s real needs, of their desires, and of the reasons for their activities. As a result, these numerical data can give a false impression of people. But the use of big data and market analytics is seductive: no travel, little expense, and huge numbers, sexy charts, and impressive statistics, all very persuasive to the executive team trying to decide which new products to develop. After all, what would you trust—neatly presented, colorful charts, statistics, and significance levels based on millions of observations, or the subjective impressions of a motley crew of design researchers who worked, slept, and ate in remote villages, with minimal sanitary facilities and poor infrastructure? -- The Design of Everyday Things: Revised and Expanded Edition (affiliate link)
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The need to rely on data can also blind you to important facts that lie outside your model. It was surely relevant that Trump was filling sports halls wherever he campaigned, while Clinton was drawing sparse crowds. It’s important to remember that big data all comes from the same place – the past. -- Alchemy: The Dark Art and Curious Science of Creating Magic in Brands, Business, and Life (affiliate link)
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- architecture
- {holistic patterns timeless way of building}
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But =the problem with being clever= and original in software design is that it gets to be a habit—you start reflexively making things cute and complicated when you should be keeping them robust and simple. -- The Cathedral & the Bazaar: Musings on Linux and Open Source by an Accidental Revolutionary (affiliate link)
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The challenge is to use the principles of human-centered design to produce positive results, products that enhance lives and add to our pleasure and enjoyment. The goal is to produce a great product, one that is successful, and that customers love. It can be done. -- The Design of Everyday Things: Revised and Expanded Edition (affiliate link)
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Marketing is most effective when it focuses on the desired End Result, which is usually a distinctive experience or emotion related to a Core Human Drive. -- The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business (affiliate link)
cc (commentary cove):
- a review of commonplace bot and quoords in the above framing
ll (lesson library):
- the first thing to do is to understand the problem being solved, what is the information pipeline
- run the mom test with your clients
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If you just avoid mentioning your idea, you automatically start asking better questions. Doing this is the easiest (and biggest) improvement you can make to your customer conversations. Here are 3 simple rules to help you. They are collectively called (drumroll) The Mom Test: The Mom Test: Talk about their life instead of your idea Ask about specifics in the past instead of generics or opinions about the future Talk less and listen more -- The Mom Test: How to talk to customers & learn if your business is a good idea when everyone is lying to you (affiliate link)
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- what tools do you have at your disposal? what is your budget?
- run the mom test with your clients
- generation or retrieval
- embeddings or completion apis
- will you be fetching or creating?
- what can you cache?
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The optimal cache eviction policy—essentially by definition, Bélády wrote—is, when the cache is full, to evict whichever item we’ll need again the longest from now. -- Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions (affiliate link)
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- embeddings or completion apis
- architecture
- fastapi
- swagger schema and function calling
- vector database vs pgsql
- frontend
- nextjs
- discord bot
- gpts
- fastapi
Learning to Podcast: Week of March 2nd
foibles and lessons
here are some lessons i learned in my first week of setting up a podcast.
Notes, Formats, Struggling with Script Pacing
i started w super high level, wasn't dense enough and i flubbed a lot of words. i tried word for word, delivery was too boring/forced. i moved to bullets but detailed, but went too detailed, and they were hard to read. finally settled on bullets that aren't dense, but flow into each other so i'm never "winging it". hard balance to strike, still very wip
Philosophy
Riverside
recorded first test in riverside. meh, i think id rather use obs.
Scene Transitions
this solo podcast has three sections: lessons, commentary, and philosophy. im learning to use obs to switch between them
Microphone
i did a lot of research and was just planning on using airpods for now, but i buckled and picked up a shure mv7.
but here's me testing my mic on my iphone
Ghost Podcast
i want to replicate transistor private sub fn in ghost, and attach it to the current member ids. this comes after i record a few episodes and reach a level of quality that im comfortable splitting in half
Playing with Format
If the Universe was Turing Complete
My Thoughts on At Home in the Universe by Stuart Kauffman
- this book is easiest to absorb if you have c.s. knowledge up through a data structures course and a freshman bio course on cells (basically this is a sophomore book)
- id recommend this book to anyone interested in computational biology
- interesting claims about the idea of evolution and how it might work if it comes out of order vs coming of chaos
- subcriticality vs supracriticality really got me thinking!! – very powerful concept
- coevolution is a game theoretic thing with conflicting shared and stable/unstable peaks
- catalyze yourself!
- cambrian explosion top down vs bottom up of patterns
Quotes
Many are the arguments about this asymmetry between the Cambrian and the Permian explosions. My own view, explored in later chapters, is that the Cambrian explosion is like the earliest stages of the technological evolution of an entirely novel invention, such as the bicycle. Recall the funny early forms: big front wheels, little back ones; little front wheels, big back ones. A flurry of forms branched outward over Europe and the United States and elsewhere, giving rise to major and minor variants. Soon after a major innovation, discovery of profoundly different variations is easy. Later innovation is limited to modest improvements on increasingly optimized designs.
David Raup, a superb paleontologist at the University of Chicago, estimates that between 99 percent and 99.9 percent of all species that have ever existed are now extinct. The earth today may harbor 10 million to 100 million species. If so, then life’s history may have seen 10 billion to 100 billion species come and go. One hundred billion players strutting and fretting their hour upon the stage, and then are heard no more.
Theories, even those that prove incorrect, can have elegance and beauty, or be utterly ad hoc. A theory requiring an infinite series of ever smaller homunculi is too ad hoc to be true.
How Big is Africa?
pretty big, turns out