Tanuj

an intriguing possibility – using a proxy for human thought as an optimization target for creating human-like artificial intelligence.

The product designer's task is to create a new f(). The designer doesn't get to define x: that's empirical. And they don't get to dictate y either. A given y is only a worthwhile target if it's worth paying for in the eyes of the user — also empirical. That means x and y are requirements for f(). They are fixed, f() is variable.

It can be dizzying when you think about the size of the universe compared to yourself. Or the fact that everything that keeps you alive hangs in perfect balance, based on our planet’s position. Perhaps you look at the stars at night and feel like you are being sucked toward them. Like you are being consumed by the expanse around you. [That... See more

Compared with other kinds of digital output, a screenshot feels “homemade” — a piece of digital DIY confirming that screen spaces contain as much mundaneness as the “analog” or “offline” world. In a time when so much communication and production is mediated by a set of increasingly powerful corporate platforms and absorbed into the internet’s big... See more

Being always online doesn’t combine well with renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power, which are not always available.

You can see this everywhere if you look. For example, you’ve probably had the experience of doing something for the first time, maybe growing vegetables or using a Haskell package for the first time, and being frustrated by how many annoying snags there were. Then you got more practice and then you told yourself ‘man, it was so simple all along, I... See more