SunlightEdge

Thanks for your words - I live in hope :)

So this piece really resonates with me. I have a five month old child who I really like/love - but I am filled with a passionate software idea and everytime I get a tiny bit of time to work on it, it is heaven. A while back I was able to do one hour in the morning before work on it - but have lost that hur recently. At night, I occassionally look wistfully at my computer sometimes and wish I could build - but I am just trying to be patient and I am hopefully I will soon get back 'one hour' a day in my evenings. One day...

My partner and I are considering paying for a weekend nanny to look after the boy when he turns one on Sunday- so again we have free time to work on our passion projects. Its great to be a dad but it is so time consuming with young children.

python (.py) JavaScript are main but ideally all file types so I can just drop a folder into the notebook and Gemini can go explore.

Does anyone know when notebook llm will be able to accept all file types? I've got round it for understanding small repos by copying and pasting in the files as text. But not possible for big repos

coincidently, I too have started to avoid my phone and reach for my kindle instead. I remind myself I don't need to read about the news everyday. I'd prefer to read a novel/non-fiction than other stuff on the internet.

I do love listening to youtube talks about tech so I try to make space for that though.

When I do read a good book - I do try to makes notes of it. But I haven't had much time for it these days with a little one. (This is for non-fiction books). But even for fiction I keep a list and give a one liner of the plot and a rating. Its for my own personal use.

Writing down notes helps with later recall of the information - being handed the notes by others helps less with recall than doing it yourself.

In my experience, LLM's can be both impressive and also totally wrong in their reasoning when doing a code re-write. I was involved in an api migration a while back and while at times the llms were able to re-write the code - they also had instances where their totally misunderstood the platform and their recommendations for solving the issue was almost dangerously wrong. an over reliance on them can also make people lazy at what are quite simple programming issues (but they can code things up a hell of a lot faster) - its a tool and the outputs need to be carefully reviewed (with a dose of critique when its an uncertain area).

I've gotten into my 40s and honestly I've dropped about 25% of my friends - as they are also in their 40s but drink a lot and worse do cocaine. They also are really into making fun of each other. Maybe I'm an old bore, but none of that appeals. I haven't burnt my bridges but I much prefer to spend time with people that are healthy, into reading, are positive. I just can't be bothered... Still I may change my mind in time - but I am aiming for a long stint of not seeing the boys. I am married now and with my first kid (10 weeks old) and that has definitely made me time poor. But I only now text the friends that actually matter to me now.

Ah that makes complete sense. So they had to go with AOS for IP reasons which allowed them to have more control of videogames, comic, future movies etc. That makes sense.

Good to know your views on playing the game! I have similar feelings (but I stopped playing with the armies side when I was a teenager).

Oh that's really interesting. I hadn't thought about the health side of painting. My assumption was that the Citadel stuff would be fine in moderate use. I am aware that a solid mask should be used when applying a primer or with glue though.

I will look into the painting risks here.

My take on Games workshop is:

1. In general I don't like their boardgames - but I like co-op Euro style board games while the majority of their games are pvp (apart from Warhammer Quest line and maybe 1-2 other ones).

2. In the early 2000s the CEO stated that they are a model company first rather than a boardgame company (and it shows in my view). They do have fantastic miniatures though.

3. Most of the cool lore was written in the 80s. Their lore is fantastic (if dated) and I do enjoy reading from the black library. To geek out, I'm not a fan of the lore change in Warhammer fantasy battle world to Age of Sigma around 2015- even if they did need to revise change the battle system the new lore sucks and come across as a money grab. I have no problem with them wanting to make money - but the new lore seems so lame (looking at you storm cast eternals). Still the AOS line seems to be doing well - I'd argue they could have had the same system in the old world.

4. The model building and painting is a healthy hobby and a nice hobby for an adult/child to do. I am about to have a child and I do want to introduce them to painting and modelling and playing boardgames - but I would be cautious about introducing them to a warhammer store - the models are very pricey, the staff are pushy, and I don't really rate the games. Maybe something like killzone or lord of the rings (but probably not).

5. Still I did pick up the new warhammer quest so they do have things in there even for me.

Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11. Sadam was a dictator that kept the various religious factions in line. America was just looking for an excuse to go in again. Everyone knew there were no weapons of mass distraction too. The reasons for America going in are complex, but relate to control of the middle east, keeping USA currency top, resources, and money for various groups that benefitted.

I don't find Netflix "live action" movies to be super violent and there are a lot of non-violent shows. Its animations can be quite violent though (and those are good quality). From the little I know, it, like every other big platform, does shy away from sex. This has been a theme for decades - its ok to be violent but sex is a no no.

Its subjective, and full of nuance, but I do feel that Netflix has its own style that is very different to HBO's style. Consider the witcher vs game of thrones or black mirror pre-netflix vs post netflix. Its not black and white though, as Netflix animations (Castlevania, Pluto etc.) are amazing TV, but personally I would much rather watch a HBO show than a Netflix one - especially if its a fantasy/science fiction one where Netflix's style isn't one I find appealing.

Just think how many more interesting movies there could be, if the costs to produce them were drastically reduced. There are pros and cons with AI actors

One of the things that doesn't seem to be emphasised enough is that LLMs can be great as Tutors for students. E.g. They could really help students not understanding fully a section of Mathematics and really break down the logic.

Teachers can also use them to mark homework.

They are a boon as much as they are a bane.

I am wondering if the best way to interview IT people is:

1. Give them an IQ test

2. Have a coffee chat with them about their experience and ask a few technical questions

If people are smart, and decent communicators and broadly have worked in the role you are looking for (doesn't have to be same tool) they will likely be fine. I don't think testing for coding skills is needed - but that's just my opinion.

Ok! I can just use Google docs! it downloads automatically as a word file and it looks in word pretty much exactly how it looks in Google docs

Personal Office is a total waste of money

dumb question - but how best to edit/update word files on linux/ubuntu?

The only issue with linux I am wondering about is sharing my CV where most companies need a word file.

For dev work/play time - 100% linux

Agreed that is a classic - I think the essentials are true but the language is a bit dated. Definitely "trying to think positively about people and their actions/understand them", and giving people "a sense of importance" are very helpful social skills.

What does don't try to qualify people mean to you? Does it relate to putting people in boxes/labelling people and making very strong assumptions?

Great comment - it feels very true

For those who think they are decent at socializing, one book that may extend your skill further is ' Never split the difference'. Its a book about negotiating, but I think it does teach some key skills. Mirroring for example where you literally repeat back the last few words a person has said, I've found unexpectedly super useful - it almost allows people to expand on what they are saying and helps them go deeper into things. Basically the book (and other tools) has helped me become a better listener (I have always been decent at the talking side). https://www.amazon.co.uk/Never-Split-Difference-Negotiating-...

Note: I only 'mirror' 2-3 times in a conversation. I've found over using it makes it have less impact. But that's just me.

To give my own view of Foundry and the products - pipeline buider, Ontology Manager, and workshop.

I think that pipeline builder is a good tool for building pipelines - however maybe its just my company but there is a sea of very similar tables that have been generated and pipeline builder makes things a lot messier. Personally I would prefer to use data bricks or even M$ Fabric to do pipeline processing - its like a lego version of those tools.

At my company I don't think that the ontological layer is really any more useful than a strict RDBMS warehouse system. It feels like marketing speak when I hear engineers/product managers talk about it. I certainly don't think that it has added any more insights/interlinking. I would like to see clear examples of benefits to this data structure over traditional warehousing approaches rather than hype.

I'm not blown away by Workshop - for reporting/visualization I would use PowerBI/Tableau (far superior). For app development (i.e. some kind of intelligent spreadsheet to allow opps people to use it) its ok - but quite clunky. Its a lego like system - and I'm not convinced as an app its better than excel on sharepoint (broadly speaking its worse). Again I think its all marketing.

I played the game and didn't read any online stories about the game and experienced Abby as trans for a very long time into the game. I wasn't influenced by anyone. Her sexuality/gender was very unclear to me (this is about the video game).

There is no gotcha attempts in any of my writing (honestly).

I do think Abby (hyper muscular seemed trans), her transmale friend, Ellie having no interesting gravity and being a lesbian and her girlfriend being uninteresting and long romantic scenes of the two of them, all back up my perspective. But it's just an opinion.

What's undeniable is that these characters are a stark contrast to the original game. Naughty dog took the feel of the game in a very different direction.

I also know you will dismiss my viewpoint and insist I'm not seeing it "correctly". I will be strawmanned, my experience denied, and my opinions explained away.

But as I also said I have no problem with people making a diverse range of games.

TLOU2 is a very marmite game - and a lot of people loved it and a lot of people didn't like it. And the people it appeals to clearly is different from part 1. I appreciate you disagree.

Best wishes

Respectfully I don't agree. I didn't enjoy the story - so there's that (again just an opinion).

I literally thought Abby was a trans woman she was so muscular (and so have plenty of other gamers). She then later teams up with a transman. What's interesting is how you portray Abby vs how I and a lot of others saw here (a massive hulk that was kind of a woman but kind of something else). Note I am talking about the video game.

Ellie and her girlfriend were very alike and there wasn't an interesting contrast between them. The lesbian element seemed very played up. I also didn't find her interesting enough to want to play as her. That's not to say all women characters are not appealing. Ellie just wasn't likeable in the game.

Hence... I do think that while there certainly a lot of over reaction from some men about the game. There are also some legitimate points that left wing types refuse to see (see above). There is a ton of other examples I could give on this.

But honestly part 2 was a lame story (for me). We can agree to disagree. That's ok.

Respectfully I am not saying that, you are making that claim. TLOU part 2 in my view was very different in tone to part 1. I didn't enjoy the story. This is an opinion.

Respectfully I don't agree with you. I do think that part 2 massively changed the story to one where it catered to female/lgtb audiences. Examples: 1. Ellie and her girlfriend 2. Abby (who I really wasn't sure if they were trans or just a very butch woman (turned out to be the later) 3. Abby's male forest friend (who turns out to be a trans-man).

I have no problem with game companies creating a range of stories (in fact I fully support it) but it was very much a game for female/lgtb audiences. I do also think that the difference in tone between part 1 and 2 was quite striking.

Personally I do think it was a very bold creative direction but I know I will not play part 3 - its not a series that interests me anymore. But that's just an opinon.

The Last of Us Part II is a very marmite game - people either love it or hate it. Personally I didn't like the direction the story went down even if the gameplay and the graphics were amazing I was left cold. However I do respect that the story itself was pretty original and was catering to female/lgtb audiences (that's cool). Just not my thing.

That is true. But also covered in my last point about people wearing masks to an extent. If you have a limited amount of time with someone you can be fooled but a mask "can" slip if you really get to know someone. But yeah it's not fool proof and people can definitely be fooled. But having an understanding of the power dynamic between yourself and the other person can help.

But yeah some people can hide negative emotions (e.g. sadness) very well.

We all read people to an extent. Behavioural signs will show to a degree their emotional state, their status, their attention and interest in you/the conversation. Combine it with how they use language and you get a good idea of how they think and how self aware they are. You can see if people monologue at you or if they are interested in turn taking. You can get a feel for how quickly people can grasp information, how relaxed/restless they are, how internal they are, how nice they are, how insecure they are, how aggressive they are etc.

I suppose I also look also for how real a person is. For example in a work setting some people are much more prone to wear masks and fake emotions and some people don't do that. I do try to factor in how much games playing some people do/don't do.