This is of course because I build software for myself so my value vectors are always aligned.
I’m convinced there are a class of engineers that hate users and design for themselves instead.
I hate grep. I always have. I imagine it is in some way responsible for most of the misery in this world.
It occurs to me how fascinating I find all of the language tidbits that accrue around the tools we like using. Handles and taglines and slang, oh my! Just all of it: the names of obscure command line utilities, code comments, server names, API in-jokes, boot messages, slogans > tldr.txt
Especially satisfying is the passage starting at 3:48 or so. She holds a very long note over what I can only describe as intense humming. :-) Never fails to straighten my spine.
Just like every new teenager thinks they invented sex, every new programmer thinks they can create a free standing intelligence comparable to humans. #gentlelaughter
Hey, #chatbot dummies, here’s some free historical training material.
Check the record on Eliza, the Eliza effect, and J. Weizenbaum.
“I had not realized … that extremely short exposures to a relatively simple computer program could induce powerful delusional thinking in quite normal people.” — J. Weizenbaum
I love that. He stopped, listened, gently suggested not being asshats, stopped, listened again, grinned, and walked off. Get flipped!
Picture This
Okay, so I hope the basic idea is clear. This imaginary device simply brute-force generates every possible image for the resolution and colors we specified. It just keeps spitting out images, you see; I imagine them in a sort of slide show carousel. We are going to be dealing with a very large number here in a minute—but not to worry, it isn’t infinity, you won’t need any special equipment—and we’re not going to get all “mathy” or anything either.