Espresso Shots 3-16-25

Here's my weekly update with a few interesting random findings that I came across the last week or two. I am going to try to make sure they're here in time for you to enjoy with your morning coffee (or beverage of choice) every Saturday or Sunday, and include some of my thoughts around them.

The Latest Drippings ☕️

• My Thoughts on the Future of 'AI'. Having been down the road a bit for a few years on the whole 'generative ai' thing, I liked this unbiased post on AI's current and future state. The feeling that "there is a very real probability that in five years we look back at the LLM hype of 2023-2025, we see it like we now see the Internet bubble of 1998-2000" seems to be pretty accurate, given where things are today, and a good reminder that we need to be open-minded on which way this all can go.
• It's All J.J. Abrams' Fault! (Not Really.). Several years ago, I wrote about J.J. Abrams Mystery Box, so I thought it was an interesting correlation to life today. 'How it feels as though we're living in an era where our politics and our national culture have gotten stuck altogether inside that mystery box.'
• Common mistakes and what they secretly reveal about you!. If you haven't already started your own fail-a-bration, you need to consume more of Brad's work. His last book about celebrating failures was particularly significant, and the idea of 'failure can be a catalyst for creativity' is one I've returned to over the last year.
• The Slog - What No One Told Me About Writing A Book. 'Productive writing often comes from struggle and focused effort' - I feel this.
• The First King of Home Computing. When I was a kid, having a Commodore 64 was the centerpiece of our 'computer room' (err, guest room with a table), but I never knew the background of Commodore's founder, Jack Tramiel, until now. Read about one of the most explosive and ruthless computer industry founders who brought the PET, VIC-20, Commodore 64, and Atari ST to market.
• Ludic's Guide To Getting Software Engineering Jobs. I can't wait to see what my friends who read this blog think about this one.
• 40 Thoughts On Turning 40. I like these lists as they are a great reminder of what to focus on.
• Avoid the nightmare bicycle. The 'nightmare bicycle' was a new term for me this week, but I like it. Noted as one of the essential concepts in product design (from the book Changing Minds), avoiding the nightmare bicycle is when designs paper over the structure with superficial labels that hide the underlying system. For example, 'where the product manager says people don't get math so we cant have numbered gears. We need labeled buttons for gravel mode, downhill mode, etc.' - this type of thinking claims that we would lose the understanding of how to use the gears to solve any situation we encounter. Interesting read.
• The hardest working font in Manhattan. Gorton is the most popular font used in New York City, and I was unaware of the history of the George Gorton Machine Co, a Wisconsin-based company that produced various engraving machines. Its historic font can be found everywhere, including 'traffic control devices, elevators and escalators, locomotives and subway trains, submarines, and jet fighters. Gorton made its way to peace- and wartime nuclear facilities ... it was there on the elevator at the Kennedy Space Center with labels marked EARTH and SPACE.'
• Revenge Font. Speaking of fonts, the story of this font is awesome. Installed immediately.
• Welcome to the Opt-Out Project. How do you opt out of any large technology company? Here's a site for you.
• The Fediverse Isn't the Future. It's the Present We've Been Denied.. Most of my social networking today takes place on the fediverse; read more about how 'the fediverse is a jailbreak. It's not a product, not a single platform, it's not something you can buy stock in or use to enrich yourself at the cost of our shared humanity. It's a network of independent, interconnected social platforms, all running on open protocols like ActivityPub.'
• Becoming the scientist of your own life. I've mentioned neuroscientist Anne-Laure Le Cunff and her new book, Tiny Experiments. I found this interview really interesting.

Amor Fati ✌🏻