Author: laptopheaven

Hey there! In today’s blog post, we’re exploring a range of fascinating topics. From the technical art of randomly selecting points inside a triangle to the ethical stances musicians are taking against Spotify, we’ve got you covered. We delve into AI’s role in revolutionizing everything from coding to restaurant menu parsing. Plus, insights into modern publishing, startup critiques, and essential strategies for newsletter and email marketing. Dive in for an intriguing read!

• Randomly selecting points inside a triangle: Learn how to generate random points within any triangle using barycentric coordinates. Essential for simulations, graphics, and geometric algorithms.
• Here Are the Artists Who Have Ditched Spotify Over Its CEO’s Military Tech Ties: Track artists who protested Spotify CEO’s military tech ties. Stay informed on musicians taking a stand for ethical reasons.
• text.md: Test and benchmark suite for sort implementations. – sort-research-rs/writeup/unreasonable/text.md at main · Voultapher/sort-research-rs
• Construction Robot Printing Floor Plan: The Future of Building Design: Explore robotic floor plan printing for enhanced construction precision. See how autonomous systems like Dusty Robotics boost efficiency and accuracy.
• Marketers Are Losing the Inbox to AI: Stay ahead of the curve in marketing and CX. Get insights, data, and actionable strategies to navigate the evolving customer and tech landscapes.
• Qwen3-Coder: Is this Agentic CLI smarter than senior devs? – LogRocket Blog: Evaluate Qwen3-Coder’s capabilities and see if this AI agent can truly outperform senior developers, helping you understand AI’s role in coding.
• How DoorDash uses AI Models to Understand Restaurant Menus: Learn how DoorDash uses AI/LLMs to automate menu data extraction. Understand the technical challenges and solutions for scalable, accurate menu processing.
• Some thoughts on personal git hosting: Explore options and tradeoffs for self-hosting Git, including Gitea and service providers. Learn how to decentralize your personal projects.
• Rand Paul Reveals Venezuela Boat Attack Was a Drone Strike: Rand Paul’s exposé on the Venezuela drone strike: understand the senator’s criticisms of rules of engagement and due process violations.
• Follow the Money has almost 50,000 paying members. Can its model work across Europe?: Deep dive into European media models. Explore Tribuna’s “reinvent media” platform and its potential to replicate Follow the Money’s success.
• “When you’ve got a wave, surf!” — Finding the sparks of new life in a bleak landscape: Discover industry cycles and hopeful trends for renewal. Find strategies to leverage emerging opportunities in a shifting cultural landscape.
• Editorial Intelligence: The Role of Agentic AI in Modern Publishing: Explore Agentic AI’s impact on publishing. Learn about its opportunities, ethical challenges, and evolving newsroom roles for responsible implementation.
• Life as a backup NFL QB is a mental and emotional whirlwind: Explore the unique mental and emotional challenges of being an NFL backup QB. Gain insight into their journey, struggles, and surprising realities within the league.
• The Scam Called “You Don’t Have to Remember Anything” • Zettelkasten Method: Unpack the flawed assumption that memory is obsolete. Learn why prior knowledge and critical thinking are essential for genuine understanding, even with search tools and AI.
• Just Enough Automation: Actionable framework for deciding whether to automate a task, balancing value and effort to avoid wasted time. Return for insights on effective automation strategies.
• Born Outside The Matrix: Gain insight into brand chaos, cultural trends, and digital-native culture from a former VICE insider. Subscribe for weekly foresight into media and marketing.
• The Anti-Pitch: When haters hate your startup idea: Understand startup criticism & learn to counter common “anti-pitches.” Gain insights to refine your idea against skepticism.
• Code Complete with Steve McConnell: Unlock timeless software engineering wisdom from Steve McConnell, author of Code Complete. Gain career principles and learn what’s still relevant from his classic guide.
• How Often Should I Actually Send My Newsletter?: Optimize your newsletter sending frequency using practical factors like content, time, and monetization. Maximize engagement and strategy.
• 6 Popular Myths About Paid Subscriptions You Should Stop Believing: Debunk paid newsletter myths & boost your growth strategy. Gain clarity on common misconceptions to confidently build your successful subscription business.
• Five email newsletter must-haves in 2025: Optimize your email newsletters with 5 essential elements for 2025. Learn to maximize shareability and reader engagement.

In this blog post, I dive into a variety of intriguing topics, such as museums overloaded with screens and the reliability of AI model inferences. We also explore savvy shopping tips for Trader Joe’s, examine Microsoft’s AI strategy alongside Anthropic and OpenAI, and learn about vintage tech hacks and the intriguing rise of mushroom coffee. Join me for a blend of tech innovations, culinary adventures, and reflections on culture and technology!

• I didn’t bring my son to a museum to look at screens | Seth Purcell: Critique how museums fail to engage visitors with excessive screens, offering insights for more tactile, memorable experiences.
• Defeating Nondeterminism in LLM Inference: Master LLM reproducibility. This guide offers insights and techniques to achieve deterministic inference, boosting research and development reliability.
• Fraudulent Publishing in the Mathematical Sciences: Understand the problems of fraudulent mathematical publishing. Return for analysis of current issues and future recommendations to counteract them.
• Wirecutter’s Guide to Shopping at Trader Joe’s: Insider guide to top Trader Joe’s picks, pricing secrets, and navigating seasonal items. Find the best buys and understand TJ’s unique strategy.
• Building AI-Resistant Technical Debt: Strategize against AI-driven tech debt. Gain insights, tools, and best practices for resilient software development and architecture.
• Rackintosh Plus Is The Form Factor Nobody Has Been Waiting For: Explore a custom rack-mount solution for a classic Mac Plus. Discover how vintage hardware is creatively integrated into modern studio racks.
• A mental random number generator: Learn Marsaglia’s easy mental RNG. Generate “random enough” numbers without tools and avoid human bias in number generation.
• Is Mushroom Coffee Worth a Sip?: Demystify mushroom coffee. Understand its benefits, ingredients, and if this trend is right for your wellness goals with expert insights.
• Microsoft ends OpenAI exclusivity in Office, adds rival Anthropic: Track Microsoft’s AI strategy: learn how Office integrates Anthropic’s Claude alongside OpenAI for diverse productivity tools and competitive insights.
• Spotify peeved after 10,000 users sold data to build AI tools: Spotify’s battle against users selling data for AI-driven “Wrapped” alternatives. Understand the evolving data privacy landscape and future of personalized insights.
• Should Harris Have Told Biden Not to Run? ‘Perhaps,’ She Writes in New Book: Inside Harris’s reflection on Biden’s re-election bid. Gain insight into Democratic anxieties and internal dynamics shaping recent political strategy.
• Useful Delusions: The Power and Paradox of the Self-Deceiving Brain by Shankar Vedantam: Explore how self-deception paradoxically shapes our lives. Learn about its power and hidden strengths, blending psychology with engaging narrative insights.
• DAREBEE – Home Workouts: Your go-to for free, ad-free fitness routines and programs. Achieve your fitness goals with diverse workouts, challenges, and guides.
• How Your Tax Dollars Built Palantir’s Global Surveillance Empire: Uncover how public funds fuel Palantir’s global surveillance. Understand its origins, government ties, and the implications for privacy and power.
• Dijon Chicken With Tomatoes and Scallions Recipe: Savory slow-cooker Dijon chicken with barley & mushrooms. Your go-to for hearty, hands-off weeknight meals.
• Chile-Garlic Steak and Zucchini Recipe: Quickly make flavorful portobello steak and zucchini. Return for a reliable, simple recipe to impress.
• BoSacks Speaks Out: Kansas Prison Ban on Print Newspapers Is a Wake-Up Call for Publishers: Insights on the Kansas prison newspaper ban. Understand its implications for press freedom, inmate rights, and the future of print media.
• Kansas Prisons Ban Newspaper Subscriptions, Leaving Publishers Stunned and Inmates Cut Off From Vital News: Investigate Kansas’s newspaper ban in prisons, its impact on inmates and publishers. Understand the implications for news access, rehabilitation, and justice reform.
• Traditional media faces a new wave of online disruption: Understand how online disruption, AI, and platform shifts impact traditional media. Get key insights from the 2025 Reuters Institute Digital News Report.
• Swatting The Bots: Publishers Are The Most Likely Group To Block Them: Understand why publishers lead in blocking bots. Get insights on bot impact for media, marketing, and advertising professionals.
• Trump Administration Halts I.R.S. Crackdown on Major Tax Shelters: Understand Trump-era IRS policy shifts on corporate tax shelters. Revisit for details on rollbacks and their impact on wealthy individuals/companies.
• We all dodged a bullet: Insights into a recent NPM attack, its potential impact, and why it was a “good” attack despite being minor. Understand real-world security threats.
• I Replaced Animal Crossing’s Dialogue with a Live LLM by Hacking GameCube Memory: Hack classic games for fresh, AI-powered dialogue. Learn how to bridge vintage consoles with modern LLMs through memory hacking.
• Blog – Memory Integrity Enforcement: A complete vision for memory safety in Apple devices – Apple Security Research: Learn how Apple’s MIE provides industry-first, always-on memory safety for devices. Understand their comprehensive approach to combating even advanced threats.
• Claude can now create and use files: Create and edit files directly with Claude! Generate spreadsheets, documents, and presentations from your data and instructions. Automate tedious work into minutes.
• New Mexico is first state in nation to offer universal child care – Office of the Governor – Michelle Lujan Grisham: Discover New Mexico’s universal child care initiative. Learn how it impacts families, workforce, and the state’s future.
• E-Paper Displays Get a Speed Boost With Modos’ Open Source Kit: Track open-source e-paper advancements. See how Modos achieves LCD-like refresh rates, pushing epaper into new consumer electronics.
• How ICE Is Using Fake Cell Towers To Spy On People’s Phones: Uncover ICE’s methods of phone surveillance. Understand how fake cell towers work to spy on your data and compromise privacy.
• Clearing the Air: A Hopeful Guide to Solving Climate Change — in 50 Questions and Answers by Hannah Ritchie: ‘We urgently need Hannah Ritchie’ GUARDIAN ‘Hannah Ritchie does for the environment what Hans Ros…
• if a person was a house: When I try to picture someone’s inner space, I picture a house.
• Pfizer says this season’s COVID shot boosts immune responses fourfold: Positive results come as Americans face confusing access rules that vary by state.
• all vibe coding tools are selling a get rich quick scheme: i wrote a piece earlier about . i think of it less as vibe coding now, i kinda hate the term because it makes it seem like its not an involved process. it…
• I don’t want AI agents controlling my laptop:
• Microsoft is officially sending employees back to the office. Read the memo.: One of Big Tech’s last remaining RTO holdouts is officially ending full remote work for many staff.
• Improve your AI code output with AGENTS.md (+ my best tips): Stop re-prompting. Put the rules in AGENTS.md: do and don’ts, file-level tests, and real examples so agents ship code that matches your project.
• Memes, Media & The Mind: Why You Want What You Want: The recurring question—”Was I born for this kind of work, or is there something else I’m supposed to do?”—keeps surfacing. Sometimes, the mind drifts to wild…
• Inside Google’s Engineering Culture: Part 1: A broad and deep dive in how Google works, from the perspective of SWEs and eng managers. What makes Google special from an engineering point of view, engineering roles, compensation, and more
• The story of how RSS beat Microsoft: Massive tech companies tried to own syndication. They failed.
• Claude Code Framework Wars: How developers are experimenting with structure, orchestration, and standards to get more out of AI coding.
• The Need To Lead: In this third book in the Extreme Ownership trilogy, a retired fighter pilot and TOPGUN instructor teaches readers the importance of leadership and how to implement it.

On my latest blog dive, I explored a variety of trending topics! From job market revisions and OpenAI’s latest platform to Apple’s presence in the AI community, and the top fall recipes. I also uncovered insights into street food safety and highlighted traits of success with experts like Taylor Swift. Plus, a peek into Jared Kushner’s dealings and the debate on Chat Control. Dive in for more!

• Job Growth Revised Down by Nearly a Million, Updated BLS Data Shows: Preliminary annual revisions could add to political pressure on the agency that produces the data.
• OpenAI announces AI-powered hiring platform to take on LinkedIn: The OpenAI Jobs Platform is set to launch in mid-2026 and will use AI to match candidates with businesses.
• Apple: Org profile for Apple on Hugging Face, the AI community building the future.
• 49 Best Fall Recipes, Ranked: See which recipes made the cut, and which we’ve declared our #1 best fall recipe!
• Is that hot dog safe to eat? Experts share their street food smarts.: Street food experts share red flags for food poisoning and their best advice for eating adventurously.
• 7 traits of highly successful people like Taylor Swift—they don’t ‘dabble in things that aren’t important’ to them: Harvard-trained expert: Economist and investor Sinéad O’Sullivan explores the traits shared by highly successful people, citing Taylor Swift as a prime example.
• Your Bookmark Chaos Ends NOW! Linkwarden + Unraid Setup: 👍 👍 👍 WATCH THIS NEXT – 👍 👍 👍Tired of losing track of your bookmarks, drowning in cluttered folders, or relying on browser sync that never quite works…
• Build your own HomeLab Firewall! // OPNSense Tutorial: Boost your productivity and organize your tasks and projects with Akiflow: https://akiflow.pro/ChristianLempaAugustIn this video, I guide you through buildin…
• Jellyfin Definitive Guide 2025 (Redux) – Free Plex Alternative: 📺 Jellyfin is the best free Plex alternative in 2025 — no ads, no tracking, and 100% open source. In this updated Jellyfin Definitive Guide (Redux Edition),…
• I made AI coding agents more efficient:
• How I solved a distributed queue problem after 15 years: Learn how queues make horizontal scaling, scheduling, and flow control easier in cloud systems, and how to make them durable and observable.
• Writing Code Is Easy. Reading It Isn’t.: LLM can generate infinite code for us. But it cannot understand it for us. Our new challenge is to build technology that can help us understand as fast as we can generate.
• Kushner takes millions from Saudis, advises Trump on Middle East policy: Jared Kushner, who is being paid tens of millions of dollars in annual fees by the Saudi government and other Middle Eastern nations, has taken a central role advising President Trump on Middle East policy.
• The Last Programmers: We’re witnessing the final generation of people who translate ideas into code by hand.
• Why retention is so hard for new tech products: And how to apply these lessons to the current gen of AI apps
• I bought the cheapest EV (a used Nissan Leaf):
• Smart-Device Apps: 7 Best Practices to Make Devices Truly Smart: Smart-device apps need to support remote usage and input of complex settings, while promptly displaying feedback and status information.
• Practical AI Adoption Tactics for Tech Leaders: Unpacking OpenAI’s new guidance for tech leaders with real world examples and case studies. Examples from Dropbox, Shopify, Google, Notion, Stripe and more.
• The Dangers of Blind Consistency: The Curiosity Chronicle has quickly become one of the most popular newsletters for growth-minded individuals in the world. Each week, subscribers receive a deep dive that covers topics ranging from growth and decision-making to business, finance, startups, and technology. In addition, subscribers receive The Friday Five, a weekly newsletter with five ideas curated to spark curiosity headed into the weekend.
• As a developer, my most important tools are a pen and a notebook: Writing code is a part of being a software developer but often more important question is to figure what code to write and how and that I like to do away from computer with my notebook.
• Sketchy Calendar: Can we have a calendar that combines the convenience of a digital calendar with the simplicity and expressivity you get from pen & paper?
• Make Something Heavy: We’re creating more than ever, but it weighs nothing.
• House Democrats Release Epstein’s Birthday Letter Apparently Signed by Trump: The Oversight Committee released files turned over by Jeffrey Epstein’s estate, including a copy of a sexually suggestive note apparently signed by President Trump.
• iPhone dumbphone:
• Chat Control Must Be Stopped, Act Now!: Chat Control is back to undermine everyone’s privacy. There’s an important deadline this Friday on September 12th. We must act now to stop it!
• Experimenting with local LLMs on macOS: A developer’s guide to downloading and running LLMs on macOS, for experimentation and privacy.
• No adblocker detected.:
• A Slice of History: BYTE Magazine, the Small Systems Journal, Turns 50: Wayne Green and Carl Helmers’ chunky magazine was first published in September 1975 — and you can read every issue online now.
• The Last Martini: A Media Reporter’s Field Notes from the Age of Glossy Excess:
• Opinion | How MAHA Influencers Spread Conspiracies About Health Care: How does MAHA turn some health-conscious people against all health care? We found out.
• Why Reach turned to Substack for newsletter expansion and experimentation: Over the past two years, Reach plc has launched 13 paid newsletters and 21 free newsletters on Substack. Jenna Thompson discussed the reasons behind the new launches, and what they’ve learned about audience and community building.

In my recent blog post, I chat about the exciting world of paid podcasts and the confidence versus competence conundrum in the workplace. I’ve also delved into the hidden costs of understated competence, and even how Polycade is bringing retro arcade fun back to modern venues. Plus, I’ve caught up on the implications of AI surveillance and some surprising sunscreen efficacy findings. Curious? Dive in with me!

• Investments and rewards: where are publishers at with paid podcasts?: There are many ways to monetise a podcast. Sponsorships, direct subscriptions, events, even merchandise. But what does it take to get to that point – and what is the future of paid podcasts?
• Leading Through the Gap — Building Cultures Where Confidence and Competence Align: The Organizational Cost of the Gap The confidence/competence gap is often framed as an individual issue — something professionals must solve for themselves. Yet the gap is also a systemic problem. Organizations that consistently reward confidence over competence risk promoting style over substance. Those that ignore confidence entirely risk overlooking talent and discouraging visibility. For […]
• When Competence Outpaces Confidence — Making Sure Your Skills Don’t Go Unseen: The Hidden Cost of Understated Competence In many workplaces, the problem is not overconfidence. It is the opposite. Talented professionals with deep skills often undersell themselves, allowing their contributions to go unnoticed. They deliver results but hesitate to claim credit. They defer to louder voices, assuming that performance alone will speak for itself. The reality […]
• The Confidence/Competence Gap: Closing the Distance Between How You’re Seen and What You Know: The Double-Edged Sword of Confidence Confidence is often described as the fuel of opportunity. It helps professionals step into new roles, advocate for themselves, and make bold moves that competence alone might not secure. But when confidence significantly exceeds competence, it can backfire. Promises outpace delivery, credibility suffers, and reputations become fragile. This dynamic is […]
• 10 MCP memory servers/frameworks that actually make agents useful:
• absolutelyright.lol:
• https://chameth.com/making-a-font-of-my-handwriting/:
• Polycade: is a modern arcade gaming platform for home and commercial venues. Download new games and retro games, save your high scores, swap your arcade controls, and more! Polycade puts the retro future in your hands!
• formatting: and we knew this back in the 80s
• Using Claude Code to modernize a 25-year-old kernel driver:
• Air pollution directly linked to increased dementia risk: Long-term exposure accelerates the development of Lewy body dementia and Parkinson’s disease with dementia in people who are predisposed to the conditions.
• Belling the Cat:
• Keeping Secrets Out of Logs: There’s no silver bullet, but if we put some “lead” bullets in the right places, we have a good shot at keeping sensitive data out of logs.
• Minimal CSS Framework for Semantic HTML: Minimalist and lightweight starter kit that prioritizes semantic syntax, making every HTML element responsive and elegant by default.
• sam henri gold on X: “Did you know your MacBook has a sensor that knows the exact angle of the screen hinge? It’s not exposed as a public API, but I figured out a way to read it and make it sound like an old wooden door. https://t.co/qysTbr9TV4” / X:
• Angry and disappointed, if not surprised: The ad industry reacts to the Google search remedies ruling: The industry reacts to the ruling that Google will not have to divest Android or Chrome in latest antitrust development
• BoSacks Speaks Out: From The Niche summit – Revenue Trends You Need to Know NOW:
• AI surveillance should be banned while there is still time.: All the same privacy harms with online tracking are also present with AI, but worse.
• Over 80% of Sunscreen Performed Below their Labelled Efficacy Increase the Risks of Skin Darkening, Sunburn or Even Skin Cancer: The Consumer Council keens to be the trusted voice of consumers in striving to build in the market an environment of safe, fair and sustainable consumption.
• 996: There is cost to your lifestyle.
• Quiltfolk & homecooked: Two Successful Ad-Free Magazines Led By Publisher Michael McCormick. The Mr. Magazine™ Interview.: Cooking and quilting—two hobbies that require a lot of love and patience—find their match in homecooked magazine and Quiltfolk magazine, each providing that same love and patience to their audiences every quarter. These two beautiful, ad-free publications bring a tactile experience to two tactile crafts. Michael McCormick is the young man behind both magazines. He…
• Why ML Needs a New Programming Language:
• Switching from Docker to Podman: Podman offers better security, uses fewer resources, and integrates seamlessly with Linux and Kubernetes, making it a superior Docker alternative
• Different Resolutions: Welcome to Brain Food, a weekly newsletter full of timeless ideas and insights you can use in life and work.
• BoSacks Speaks Out: AI Is Now Infrastructure, Not an Accessory:
• Almost anything you give sustained attention to will begin to loop on itself and bloom: When people talk about the value of paying attention and slowing down, they often make it sound prudish and monk-like. But we shouldn’t forget how interesting and overpoweringly pleasurable sustained attention can be.
• How a Top Secret SEAL Team 6 Mission Into North Korea Fell Apart: The 2019 operation, greenlit by President Trump, sought a strategic edge. It left unarmed North Koreans dead.
• Bosses are seeking ‘AI literate’ job candidates. What does that mean?: Here’s what employers expect when they list AI as part of the job description—a growing trend for jobs across the board.

Dive into my latest blog post, where I explore an array of fascinating topics! From unraveling new discoveries in knot theory, real-world applications of AI with Google’s cloud tech, and tips on giving impactful talks, to insights on small language models and AI’s effect on job markets. I also highlight groundbreaking neurological research and a crafty Oxford neurologist’s trick to jumpstart brain energy.

• New Knot Theory Discovery Overturns Long-Held Mathematical Assumption: Mathematicians have unraveled a key conjecture about knot theory
• 101 real-world gen AI use cases with technical blueprints | Google Cloud Blog: Start implementing with AI. Use 101 technical blueprints to help you get started with the right Google Cloud tech stack.
• How to Give a Good Talk: In computer science, conferences are a focal point of academic attention. Conferences are a moment where computing communities—distributed over the globe—come together. Giving a talk at a conferenc…
• Agentic Design Patterns: A Hands-On Guide to Building Intelligent Systems, Antonio Gulli Table of Contents – total 424 pages = 1+2+1+1+4+9+103+61+34+114+74+5+4 11 Dedication, 1 page Acknowledgment, 2 pages [final, last read done] Foreword, 1 page [final, last read done] A Thought Leader’s …
• Archon: Beta release of Archon OS – the knowledge and task management backbone for AI coding assistants. – coleam00/Archon
• opcode: A powerful GUI app and Toolkit for Claude Code – Create custom agents, manage interactive Claude Code sessions, run secure background agents, and more. – getAsterisk/
• bytebot: Bytebot is a self-hosted AI desktop agent that automates computer tasks through natural language commands, operating within a containerized Linux desktop environment. – bytebot-ai/bytebot
• Build an AI Coding Agent in Python – Full Course for Beginners: Build your own functional AI coding agent from the ground up using Python and the free Gemini Flash API. This project-based tutorial provides a deep understa…
• Building Agents for Small Language Models: A Deep Dive into Lightweight AI: Exploring the architecture, challenges, and implementation patterns for building AI agents with small language models (270M-32B parameters) that can run on consumer hardware
• Understanding LLMs: Insights from Mechanistic Interpretability: 2 minute summary * At a high level, a transformer-based LLM is an autoregressive, next-token predictor. It takes a sequence of “tokens” (words or pa…
• Wild Performance Tricks:
• Oxford University neurologist: The No. 1 way I boost my brain energy when I ‘hit a mental wall’: Neuroscientist Dr. Faye Begeti shares the simple mental trick that “has consistently supported my brain health and energy levels more than anything else.”
• Your Biggest Customer Might Be Your Biggest Bottleneck: Dens Sumesh – Software Engineer
• Seeing like a software company: The big idea of James C. Scott’s Seeing Like A State can be expressed in three points: Modern organizations exert control by maximising “legibility”: by…
• Scientists chart new brain map revealing decision-making patterns: Global research maps 620,000 neurons, showing brain-wide decision-making in mice.
• 2025’s Willie Horton ad: Virginia’s Republican gubernatorial candidate dishonestly links her opponent to a notorious sex offender
• A New Ranking Framework for Better Notification Quality on Instagram: We’re sharing how Meta is applying machine learning (ML) and diversity algorithms to improve notification quality and user experience. We’ve introduced a diversity-aware notification ranking frame…
• What I’ve learned designing data systems: Notes on data system design, IFTT data architectures and functional data engineering
• Summarization is Sugar: The robot fever seems to be passing as I wrote a piece that at first glance has nothing to do with robots… except it sort’f does. As I was letting the final piece stew, I dropped a venty footnote that talks about a certain demographic that worries me quite a
• Understanding Transformers Using A Minimal Example: Visualizing the internal state of a Transformer model
• The Super-Simple Newsletter Format That Actually Helps You Retain Paying Subscribers, Members, or Donors: A behind-the-scenes note to readers can be a surprisingly effective way to retain paying Subscribers, Members, or Donors.
• 40 One-Sentence Email Tips: What I’ve learned about writing and managing email.
• 📈 Profitable Growth: The Exact Playbook We’re Using to Get Paid to Grow Our Newsletter Audience: And how tiny newsletters can implement the same strategy..
• Personalization Dissonance: Why Large Teams Struggle to Deliver a Consistent Email Experience to Readers: When you tailor emails in silos, your audience feels the misalignment in their inbox. Here’s how to do better.
• AI will change how we build startups — but how?: We still don’t know a lot. A list of the questions.
• MIT Study Finds Artificial Intelligence Use Reprograms the Brain, Leading to Cognitive Decline: By Nicolas Hulscher, MPH
• Pluralistic: The worst possible antitrust outcome (03 Sep 2025):
• Where’s the Shovelware? Why AI Coding Claims Don’t Add Up: 78% of developers claim AI makes them more productive. 14% say it’s a 10x improvement. So where’s the flood of new software? Turns out those productivity claims are bullshit.
• The Evidence That AI Is Destroying Jobs For Young People Just Got Stronger: A big nerd debate with bigger implications for the future of work, technology, and the economy
• 30 minutes with a stranger: Watch hundreds of strangers talk for 30 minutes, and track how their moods change
• Is the website dying?: The latest publishing news, jobs, analysis, comment, interviews and in-depth features about UK newspaper, magazine and online publishers.
• Using AI to model Keeneland September sale’s book 1 picks: The latest horse racing news from Horse Racing Nation!

In my latest blog post, I share fascinating reads on AI’s impact on the workforce, from required future skills to tools like AI doppelgängers. Dive into intriguing discussions on mechanistic interpretability, ethical AI, business challenges, and high-impact managerial habits. Plus, there’s insight on managing ADHD, unexpected revelations about CPU utilization, and a look at how publishing has evolved. Join me on this journey of discovery!

• Conversation: LLMs and Building Abstractions: How should we work with LLMs when growing abstractions?
• Your next job will require AI skills: Leaders from Clay, Vercel, Wiz and Zapier on how to hire AI-native GTM talent (and how to get an AI-native job)
• How To Become A Mechanistic Interpretability Researcher: This post is about the mindset and process I recommend if you want to do mechanistic interpretability research. I aim to give a clear sense of direction, so give opinionated advice and concrete recommendations.
  Mech interp is high-leverage, impactful, and learnable on your own with short feedback loops and modest compute.
  Learn the minimum viable basics, then do research. Mech interp is an empirical science
• The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers―Straight Talk on the Challenges of Entrepreneurship: Horowitz, Ben: 9780062273208: Amazon.com: Books: The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers―Straight Talk on the Challenges of Entrepreneurship [Horowitz, Ben] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers―Straight Talk on the Challenges of Entrepreneurship
• Criminal propaganda: On Tuesday, President Trump pledged to deploy the military in Chicago and Baltimore.
• Career advice, or something like it:
• The 25 Micro-Habits of High-Impact Managers: Sharp folks from across the First Round community share the small habits that great managers do, including delivering feedback with care, opening up about failure, and sending praise up the chain.
• The Business of Balance: Why Businesses Should Create a Culture of Tactical Disconnection
• The Magic of Showing Up on Your Bad Days: The Curiosity Chronicle has quickly become one of the most popular newsletters for growth-minded individuals in the world. Each week, subscribers receive a deep dive that covers topics ranging from growth and decision-making to business, finance, startups, and technology. In addition, subscribers receive The Friday Five, a weekly newsletter with five ideas curated to spark curiosity headed into the weekend.
• Junior Roles Aren’t Going Away: There’s been a lot of doom and gloom about AI wiping out entry-level jobs. Is it justified?
• Notes on Managing ADHD: Strategies and tactics for staying productive.
• Ethics in AI: The New Frontier for Product Managers: AI ethics is the new moat for product managers. Learn how to embed ethical AI in product management to build trust, avoid risk, and shape the future.
• Apple AirPods : a gateway hearing aid: The hearing aid features first available on Apple's AirPods Pro 2 are a good start to democratizing a crucial technology.
• I Started Talking to My Computer Instead of Typing. It Changed How I Think.: Voice-first AI removed the invisible friction between my brain and the page
• We only hire the trendiest:
• Can an AI doppelgänger help me do my job?: To some people, digital clones are the future of influence and productivity—faces, voices, and personalities at infinite scale. My clone was underwhelming.
• How Publishing Has Changed Since 2015: To mark the 10-year anniversary of this newsletter’s launch, here’s a look at some of the biggest industry changes in the past decade.
• The Website Traffic Apocalypse, Or A Deeper Dive Into The Impact Of Google Zero:
• DeepSeek: Unsafe for Publishers: choose AI platforms built for enterprise security, with clear safeguards, auditability, and robust controls against adversarial manipulation. That’s the way to harness AI benefits without putting your reputation, or that of your clients, on the line.
• For Bill Belichick’s debut, UNC came to party — but got a buzzkill instead: UNC threw the pregame party to end all pregames. But the Belichick-induced hype machine died out by the third quarter Monday night.
• First attempt will be 95% garbage: A staff engineer’s 6-week journey with Claude Code: This started as an internal Sanity workshop where I demoed how I actually use AI. Spoiler: it’s running multiple agents like a small team with daily amnesia.
• %CPU Utilization Is A Lie: I deal with a lot of servers at work, and one thing everyone wants to know about their servers is how close they are to being at max utilization. It should be easy, right? Just pull up top or another system monitor tool, look at network, memory and CPU utilization …
• No, you don’t want to hire “the best engineers”: I think this might be the meanest thing I’ve ever written.
• Your Phone Already Has Social Credit. We Just Lie About It.: Your credit score is social credit. Your LinkedIn endorsements are social credit. Your Uber passenger rating, Instagram engagement metrics, Amazon reviews, and Airbnb host status are all social credit systems that track you, score you, and reward you based on your behavior. Social credit, in its original economic definition, means
• linear-algebra: There is hardly any theory which is more elementary than linear algebra, in spite of the fact that generations of professors and textbook writers have obscured its simplicity by preposterous calculations with matrices. —Jean Dieudonne – the-litte-book-of/
• BoSacks Speaks Out: Ten Years That Rewired Magazine Publishing: