Town Hall #5: Outdoing Myself
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Big news first: I’m starting a tech conference for outland-ish ideas!
Outland 2023 will be on August 26 in Palm Springs, California. It’s going to be a blast! Tickets go on sale next month, so sign up for the mailing list. And I’ve still got a few open slots for speakers, so email me if you know of anybody with outland-ish ideas!
In other news, I’m allocating 500 hours to learn Spanish. I’ve already made tremendous progress in ~3 hours, thanks to Paul Noble’s audio course.
I’ve also started life-coaching strangers! I have no idea what I’m doing, but I feel like I’m making a positive impact. Let me know if you’d like to try a free 12-week life “sprint” with me!
New Writings
- How to Learn a Foreign Language in 500 Hours
- How to Cultivate Joy
- Deflect External Acceptance
- How To Stop Being Fake
- Some thoughts on prime numbers
Open Questions
If you have questions or answers, send me an e-mail.
- How many engineers should a company hire (given expected profit, project complexity, and risk tolerance)?
- I think the tech layoffs were avoidable. To my ignorant mind, the VC growth model seems to poorly allocate labor and capital. Does anybody have any opinions or resources on this?
- How many software bugs are caught by staging environments? Are staging environments safety nets that are worth their costs?
Recommendations
You may skip to software, books, purchases, images, videos, podcast episodes, or music.
Software
- rewind.ai: This program records your screen and runs OCR so that you can search everything you do on your computer. It’s nifty.
- DiffusionBee: Free and easy stable diffusion!
- DALL•E (iOS Shortcut): Generate images with DALL•E from an iOS shortcut. I edited this shortcut to automatically copy to my clipboard.
-
GPT (iOS Shortcut):
Generate GPT text from an iOS shortuct. I edited this shortcut to accept
dictation or typed text. Also, make sure to update it to use
da-vinci-003. - jackMort/ChatGPT.nvim: “a Neovim plugin that allows you to interact with OpenAI’s GPT-3 language model”
- jameshiew/nvim-magic: “pluggable framework for integrating AI code assistance into Neovim”
Books
- ★★★★☆ The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson :: If Sanderson’s Mistborn is The Chronicles of Narnia, then The Stormlight Archives is The Lord of the Rings. It’s magical, political, and finely crafted. Brandon Sanderson knows how to write payoffs. This book alone contains 383,000 words, so clear your schedule before reading.
- ★★★★★ Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami :: This book should be labeled with an extreme trigger warning. It covers death and sex and more death and more sex and a whole lot of depression. Imagine blending together Catcher in the Rye, The Great Gatsby, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Scott Pilgrim, and a smut novel. I think I learned a lot about selfishness and happiness from this experience. I wish I read this when I was 19.
- ★★★★☆ Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice :: Imagine The Count of Monte Cristo meets Faust meets Twilight – it’s an epic tale with deep philosophical underpinnings… and vampires! This book is worth reading if you want to dramatically ponder death, love, and evil.
- ★★★★☆ God’s Debris by Scott Adams :: From few axioms, God’s Debris forms a surprisingly coherent religion, philosophy of science, and practical life advice; a worthwhile ~90-minute read.
- ★★★☆☆ The War of Art by Steven Pressfield :: If you need inspiration or a swift kick-in-the-butt, read this book. Since reading, I’ve been unable to make my usual excuses that divert me from my art and career and health. For me, every page contained a mixture of timeless wisdom and awful advice. This book is overall charming and pragmatic.
- ★★★★☆ Hyperion by Dan Simmons :: Hyperion is unusually refreshing sci-fi. It’s 6-8 interconnected short stories with drama, horror, mystery, and awe. Some sections didn’t age well, but the writing is incredible in some parts, and some of its ideas are downright brilliant.
- ★★★☆☆ Artemis by Andy Weir :: This book is a well-researched sci-fi MacGyver adventure story. It’s got great characters and a fast plot. Solid book.
Purchases
- peepy
- 2018 Fuji Touring Bicycle
- Align II MIPS helmet (mint)
- Arboretum
- eyeglass repair kit
- clear stadium backpack
- clear stadium f*nny pack
- colored fuzzy socks
- grey fuzzy socks
- wooden baby playpen
- L-Citrulline Malate Powder
- Whey Protein Powder
- Micronized Creatine
- Continuity Camera Mount for iPhone
- tiny waffle iron
Images
- very bad cat
- tree lights
- tiny lion
- netflix and meow
- texadermy
- pensive starfish
- raw knees
- swiss mac
- comfort quest
- snout
- a stoat observation
- sleep at the office
- minivan-truck
- working under pressure
- giant isopods eating doritos
- duck pound
- tennis leek
- very handicapped
- equations of anarchy
Videos
- Bicycles Don’t Need Traffic Lights
- Sympawny No.4 (Chubby Cat)
- Urbanism: Not Just a Big City Thing!
- I Fasted for 5 Days and Walked 7 Hours a Day
- Survivor Audition Tapes: The Ultimate Guide
- Norm Macdonald’s Turtle Joke
- RARE Japanese Toshiba Typewriter
- Architecture Model Making Tips - Part 2
- Log Cabin Building TIMELAPSE Built by ONE MAN (and Grandson)
- Robed ‘Wizard’ Taunts Police Struggling in Mud
- Skiers vs Snowboarders 1985
- The Most Philosophical Video Game Ever Made
- My friend and I made up a case and sued each other on Court TV
- Making a Game for FIVE Different Consoles
- Inside a Floating House Hidden In The Woods
Podcast Episodes
| ★★★ | 99% Invisible :: A Sea of Yellow |
| ★★★ | Chemistry For Your Life :: Is “dry cleaning” actually dry? |
| ★★★ | Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History :: Twilight of the Aesir |
| ★★★ | Deep Questions with Cal Newport :: How Well Are You Living? |
| ★★★ | Deep Questions with Cal Newport :: The Lumberjack Paradox |
| ★★★ | Endless Thread :: Worm Wars |
| ★★★ | Everything Everywhere Daily :: The Destruction and Rediscovery of Pompeii |
| ★★★ | Everything Everywhere Daily :: The Passenger Pigeon |
| ★★★ | Everything Everywhere Daily :: Tokyo Rose & Axis Sally |
| ★★★ | Everything Everywhere Daily :: Why Does the Year Start on January 1? |
| ★★★ | Software Unscripted :: Bootstrapping a Compiler via WASM with Loris Cro |
| ★★★ | Software Unscripted :: Scaling Slack’s Infrastructure |
| ★★★ | The Memory Palace :: Numbers |
| ★★★ | The Memory Palace :: Safe Passage |
| ★★☆ | Chemistry For Your Life :: How do snowflakes form and look so cool? |
| ★★☆ | Conversations with Tyler :: Paul Salopex on Walking the World |
| ★★☆ | Conversations with Tyler :: Rick Rubin on Listening, Taste, and the Act of Noticing |
| ★★☆ | Cortex :: A Barometer of Twitter |
| ★★☆ | Deep Questions with Cal Newport :: Developing Discipline |
| ★★☆ | Deep Questions with Cal Newport :: Escaping Your Tyrannical Inbox |
| ★★☆ | Deep Questions with Cal Newport :: Fight Burnout with Work Cycles |
| ★★☆ | Epic Gardening Daily :: Companion Planting for Pest Management |
| ★★☆ | Epic Gardening Daily :: Companion Planting for Soil Health |
| ★★☆ | Epic Gardening Daily :: Companion Planting for Weed Management |
| ★★☆ | Epic Gardening Daily :: Companion Planting to Improve Pollination |
| ★★☆ | Epic Gardening Daily :: Southern California Gardening |
| ★★☆ | Everything Everywhere Daily :: Limnic Eruptions: The Rarest Natural Disaster |
| ★★☆ | Everything Everywhere Daily :: Sherman’s March to the Sea |
| ★★☆ | Everything Everywhere Daily :: Snake Oil |
| ★★☆ | Everything Everywhere Daily :: The City of Troy and the Trojan War |
| ★★☆ | Everything Everywhere Daily :: The Carrington Event |
| ★★☆ | Everything Everywhere Daily :: The Glorious Revolution |
| ★★☆ | Everything Everywhere Daily :: The Invention of the Airplane |
| ★★☆ | Everything Everywhere Daily :: The Morgenthau Plan |
| ★★☆ | Everything Everywhere Daily :: The Statue of Liberty |
| ★★☆ | Everything Everywhere Daily :: Zeno’s Paradoxes |
| ★★☆ | Freakonomics Radio :: Do You Know Who Owns Your Vet? |
| ★★☆ | Freakonomics Radio :: Should You Trust Private Equity to Take Care of Your Dog? |
| ★★☆ | Permaculture Podcast :: Around the World in 80 Plants |
| ★★☆ | Quanta Podcast :: High-Temperature Superconductivity Understood at Last |
| ★★☆ | Radiolab :: Games |
| ★★☆ | Software Unscripted :: Scratch-Building an Operating System with Steve Klabnik |
| ★★☆ | What’s Your Problem :: The Fake-Meat Frontier |
| ★★☆ | YAGNI :: Staging servers w/ Justin Duke |
Music
| ★★★★★ | Benjamin Alard :: Johann Sebastian Bach: The Complete Works for Keyboard, Vol. 4 “Alla Veneziana” |
| ★★★★★ | Dirty Projectors :: Bitte Orca |
| ★★★★☆ | Aesop Rock :: Spirit World Field Guide |
| ★★★★☆ | Blümchen :: Herzfrequenz |
| ★★★★☆ | Chick Corea :: Light As a Feather |
| ★★★★☆ | Deerhoof :: Breakup Song |
| ★★★★☆ | Esperanza Spalding :: Emily’s D+Evolution |
| ★★★★☆ | Glassjaw :: Worship and Tribute |
| ★★★★☆ | Jeff Buckley :: Grace |
| ★★★★☆ | MONO :: Rays of Darkness |
| ★★★★☆ | Perturbator :: Dangerous Days |
| ★★★★☆ | Poil :: Sus |
| ★★★★☆ | Quadrupède :: Tobogan |
| ★★★★☆ | Russian Circles :: Enter |
| ★★★★☆ | TTNG :: 13.0.0.0.0 |
| ★★★★☆ | Wild Nothing :: Nocturne |
| ★★★☆☆ | Andrea Motis :: Do Outro Lado do Azul |
| ★★★☆☆ | Flybear :: Soon… - Single |
| ★★★☆☆ | Helloween :: Helloween |
| ★★★☆☆ | Kimbra :: Vows |
| ★★★☆☆ | Niechec :: [Self-Titled] |
| ★★★☆☆ | Osamu Sato :: LSD Revamped |
| ★★★☆☆ | Oso Oso :: basking in the glow |
| ★★★☆☆ | Perturbator :: I Am the Night |
| ★★★☆☆ | Popol Vuh :: Hosianna Mantra |
| ★★★☆☆ | Sewerslvt :: if you’re out there i miss you ｡ﾟ･ (>﹏<) ･ﾟ｡ - EP |
| ★★★☆☆ | St. Vincent :: MASSEDUCATION |
| ★★★☆☆ | The Cabs :: Kaiki Suru Kokyu - EP |
| ★★★☆☆ | The Cure :: Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me |
| ★★★☆☆ | YURiKA :: TV アニメ「リトルウィッチアカデミア」第 2 クールオープニングテーマ “Mind Conductor” - EP |
| ★★★☆☆ | Yung Bae :: Bae |
| ★★☆☆☆ | Akron/Family :: S/T II: The Cosmic Birth and Journey of Shinju TNT |
| ★★☆☆☆ | Apparatjik :: Square Peg In a Round Hole |
| ★★☆☆☆ | Archaeologist :: Winter’s Wake - EP |
| ★★☆☆☆ | Architecture in Helsinki :: Moment Bends |
| ★★☆☆☆ | Boards of Canada :: Geogaddi |
| ★★☆☆☆ | CHANCE デラソウル :: Virtual Girls Band a.k.A. Sparkle |
| ★★☆☆☆ | Cookiee Kawaii :: Club Soda, Vol. 2 |
| ★★☆☆☆ | Crown the Empire :: The Fallout |
| ★★☆☆☆ | Devendra Banhart :: Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon |
| ★★☆☆☆ | Dirty Projectors :: Lamp Lit Prose |
| ★★☆☆☆ | Eat Your Heart Out :: Mind Games - EP |
| ★★☆☆☆ | Giraffage :: No Reason - EP |
| ★★☆☆☆ | Hella :: There’s No 666 in Outer Space |
| ★★☆☆☆ | Horse the Band :: R. Borlax |
| ★★☆☆☆ | KEN mode :: Success |
| ★★☆☆☆ | King Mothership :: The Ritual |
| ★★☆☆☆ | Laryssa Okada :: Manifold Garden (Original Soundtrack) |
| ★★☆☆☆ | Leprous :: Aphelion |
| ★★☆☆☆ | Massive Attack :: Mezzanine |
| ★★☆☆☆ | Moon Tooth :: Phototroph |
| ★★☆☆☆ | Morphine :: Good |
| ★★☆☆☆ | Nu:Tone :: Little Spaces |
| ★★☆☆☆ | Orchards :: Lovecore |
| ★★☆☆☆ | Sewerslvt :: Tortvred Lesbians Ripped Apart - EP |
| ★★☆☆☆ | Snail’s House :: Alien Pop III - EP |
| ★★☆☆☆ | Startle the Heavens :: Find Yourself Here |
| ★★☆☆☆ | Swod :: Gehen |
| ★★☆☆☆ | TNGHT :: II |
| ★★☆☆☆ | The Chicks :: Gaslighter |
| ★★☆☆☆ | The Frozen Autumn :: Emotional Screening Device |
| ★★☆☆☆ | The Human Abstract :: Nocturne |
| ★★☆☆☆ | VersaEmerge :: Fixed At Zero |
| ★☆☆☆☆ | Jaejoo Boys :: 유년에게 |
| ★☆☆☆☆ | Spiritualized :: Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space |
| ★☆☆☆☆ | The Impossible Nothing :: Rock Beats Giant |
| ★☆☆☆☆ | Various Artists :: 13 Ways to Live |
| ★☆☆☆☆ | twenty one pilots :: TOPxMM - EP |