A long, long time ago, on an old wordpress website found on the Wayback Machine, there is a blog post that I wrote. Back when I thought I had a better understanding of the world than I actually did….

A long, long time ago, on an old wordpress website found on the Wayback Machine, there is a blog post that I wrote. Back when I thought I had a better understanding of the world than I actually did, and believed myself to be the next great philosophical author, one of my earliest blog posts became one that likely shaped my future way of thinking. It wasn’t a great blog post, nor very eloquently or clearly written, but the conclusion still regularly pops into my mind to this day. 13 years and a dozen career changes later, it still impacts me. Tonight, I had this urge of wanting to go back through the Wayback Machine and read my ramblings and articles to see how much I had changed over the years. To my surprise, other than an awkward phase at the end of high school and going into college, I can still see shimmers of my current self reflected in…

If you want to make progress in your life and career, you’re going to need to meet people where they are. Please check your emails.

I’m going to sound a little rude in this blog post, but don’t take it the wrong way. I want the best for you, and I want the best for me, but sometimes people really love to get in the way of themselves achieving their goals. Common sense isn’t all that common. Given the wide variety of cultural, educational, and economic backgrounds, people are all quite different. The phrase “common sense” itself is a bit misleading, because it implies that all people at all times know the same “common” things, but that’s simply not the case. Kids have to learn these “common sense” things, and even some adults do. We all learn at a different pace. A classic xkcd comic that’s perfectly relevant My point is, today you might be learning something new that seems like it should be common sense to everyone. I might also learn something new. That’s alright! Don’t let it get you down. Learning means you’re…

I’ve been reading 1001 Nights, aka The Arabian Nights, and felt inspired to add my own story to the mix. For fun and to learn more how AI LLMs work, I used chatgpt to help me turn a familiar tale into something more sinister….

In the sprawling city of Baghdad, where narrow alleys intertwined and bustling markets sang with life, the Tigris River flowed majestically, carrying with it whispers of ancient secrets and bygone eras. The riverbanks bore witness to countless tales of love, loss, and adventure, as merchants, travelers, and dreamers from distant lands converged, weaving a tapestry of stories and memories. Here, amidst the golden sands and azure waters, a young mariner named Jamal found himself. With sun-kissed skin that bore the weathered lines of countless days at sea, eyes filled with dreams that glistened like the ocean’s surface, and a heart yearning for the vastness of the sea, he often stood by the docks, watching ships come and go, each carrying its own tale. The allure of the horizon, the promise of uncharted waters, beckoned him with an irresistible pull, a siren’s call that he could not ignore. Jamal’s life had been shaped by the rhythms of the tides and the…

Exploring the rise of AI in creative writing, this blog post highlights the irreplaceable value of genuine human experiences in storytelling. As AI produces volumes of content, artists are pivoting to real-life narratives, showcasing the authenticity and raw emotion only a human can convey. The future of professional writing lies in telling these true human stories, making them the standout choice in a digitally saturated age.

In the ever-evolving landscape of art and technology, the relationship between AI and human creators has been, to say the least, complicated. A recent advent in this dance of creativity and computation is the use of AI to produce fiction. As machines delve into the realm of crafting stories and creating art, some fear the eventual eclipse of human talent. Yet, in this transformative era, there emerges a powerful reminder of what makes human narratives unique: our lived experiences. The AI Landscape in Fiction Firstly, it’s crucial to acknowledge the genuine feats AI has achieved in the domain of creative writing. Algorithms have been designed to understand, mimic, and generate narratives, poems, and even entire novels. They are capable of churning out immense volumes of content, exploring various themes, styles, and genres. But while these systems can produce work that mimics human creativity, it remains just that – a mimicry. The Inimitable Core of Human Experience Art, in all its…

This blog post is not meant to be an authoritative look at the new Minecraft Usage Guidelines, commonly referred to by the Minecraft community as the “EULA”.

This blog post is not meant to be an authoritative look at the new Minecraft Usage Guidelines, commonly referred to by the Minecraft community as the “EULA”. There has been a LOT of misinformation and FUD spreading from people comparing the old Minecraft EULA with the new Minecraft Usage Guidelines, and I was curious about what ChatGPT-4 would find. TLDR (written by ChatGPT-4): While the structure and main sections of both documents are similar, the newer guidelines are more concise and straightforward. The older guidelines provide more detailed explanations and examples. The emphasis in the new guidelines is on clarity and ensuring that the community understands the boundaries for using Minecraft’s name, brand, and assets. To be clear, the new Minecraft Usage Guidelines change very little aside from adding a few minor sections (that impact a comparatively small group of people, like NFT creators) and improving the clarity of the rest. There are some loud claims that “the new EULA”…

Whether or not our level of confidence in areas of expertise can be mathematically explained, it’s worth keeping in mind.

The Dunning-Kruger effect has taken hold of the collective Internet hive-mind over the last 20 years. In just about every Discord group I’m active in, subreddit I’ve actively followed, or social network I’ve engaged with, someone at some point has brought up how inexperienced amateurs confidently believe they are more intelligent on a topic than life-long experts in the field. If you aren’t familiar with the Dunning-Kruger effect, allow me to quickly explain with all the conviction of someone who barely understands the math behind the concept. Like a person who has never watched Citizen Kane declaring that the 1941 film is a cinematic masterpiece, I will now tell you how the Dunning-Kruger effect explains the entirety of human social interactions…. Heh. Just kidding. I wouldn’t dare do that. All I know about Dunning-Kruger is summed up in the chart below. I stole this image from Addy Bhardwaj – go check out their article on the topic. The Dunning-Kruger effect…

“Temptation is just the feeling that you’re the most independent person on planet Earth.” – Kendrick Lamar

I found myself screaming in the hotel room the day the explosions went off. There were three explosions, and none of them were anywhere near me. They were near others. Human beings were lying dead in the street saying goodbye to loved ones who shrugged over them, and I was still the only one screaming. Or maybe I wasn’t the only one screaming. It’s not like it mattered either way. When Lucy took control of people’s emotional center, the only way to resist was through closing up our ears to the noise. If Lucy’s song couldn’t pierce through my 1st Gen R1G5 Headphones, then someone screaming next to me certainly wouldn’t. Shoot, I could barely hear myself. Barely. That would all change when I could finally get my hands on the 2nd Gen. Alan scribbled hurriedly on a piece of paper the first time he saw someone wearing a 2nd Gen set. It was down on Market Street, which we…

“To stay behind bars, until use and old age accept them, and all chance of doing great deeds is gone beyond recall or desire.”

This blog post is existential and talks about death. When I was a teenager, I wrapped the words of Eowyn, and therefore the words of Tolkien, around myself like a blanket. “What do you fear, lady?” [Aragorn] asked.”A cage,” [Éowyn] said. “To stay behind bars, until use and old age accept them, and all chance of doing great deeds is gone beyond recall or desire.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King This I still fear. I write in my journal regularly, and the topic almost always comes back to “impact”. Can I have an impact on the world? What kind of impact will I have on the world? How should I go about having a greater impact on the world? There’s only one answer to these questions I can ever give, “I don’t know, but I’ll sure as hell try.” Tonight I’m not so sure of some things. There are still questions that I ask, but tonight they…

Sometimes we walk away from the things we were passionate about doing as kids, but that passion never leaves.

Deep inside you can feel the weight of the pit.You’re hacking up your lungs while terrified. You’re trying to spit,but you cannot forget.And you want to but you cannot repentor turn away from all the thoughts and trials you represent. What we believe about ourselves right now is going to serveto read the past aloud but sanctified if you’ve got the nerve.So every wordyou’ve ever uttered, even absurd,goes from your mouth to the people’s. A delightful hors d’oeuvre. Might not be much but the people gather, ready for feasting.They’ll devour your life from childhood while always increasing.They’ll never be ceasing,and even worse, they’ll never be piecingall the clues that point to your built up habits of self-policing. When you were a kid you had some issues, no one denies,but what they ignore is all the good behind all the lies.Good burger with fries.You grew up hoping to impact the livesof those you love, and maybe those you will. But you’re…

Twitter might not be shutting down any time soon, but it will never be the same again.

There’s very little that can be said about the last few weeks on social media that hasn’t already been said in countless angry tweets. Twitter was bought by Elon Musk, the work force was shuttered, policies have been changed, services launched, changed, removed, relaunched, and removed again, and now Trump is reinstated thanks to an easily botted poll. Why give my views, and therefore more ad revenue, to a platform that is determined to be the new Gab? Why contribute any amount of my energy to a place that flies fundamentally against what I stand for? This isn’t even about “conservative” vs “liberal” values. There is a major difference between a place where the public masses can be balanced so that no “side” gets a direct benefit, where the left, right, or in-betweeners can co-exist and argue and flame and block each other, and a place where there is a culture of sarcasm, untruths, and misinformation boldly promoted to benefit…