477: Honoring an encryption hero, ChatGPT's inner workings, and tasteful trash art
SF is more expensive than I remember from only last year. Both sandwiches and Ubers are now almost $20! Must be the inflation.
I bought a ticket to Austin for SXSW time next week on a whim. Will be there from the 15th-21st - you around?
And I attended Peter Eckersley’s touching memorial this last weekend. I barely knew him, but learned about him and his work through this memorial. The man walked in encryption shoes similar to Aaron Swartz’s - bravo, hats off.
Tech
It looks like my previous tech accelerator On Deck is building a product similar to my now defunct startup Reciprocity - that helps you find people in your network who can solve your asks.
They’re going about it slightly differently though - and charging a lot more, straight to the members. We thought about that prosumer demographic but didn’t think there were enough of them to sustain a market. Then again, neither did our ‘charge the admin’ model, so we’ll see.
This meme about how ChatGPT and other AIs work has been making the rounds, and this thread explaining it was helpful for me to fully understand it.
Lifehacks (back from History)
Another banger from Supernuclear. Having the communal space on the exit path is the biggest one here. Then you can run into people without trying which leads to those creative collisions everyone wants.
Fun
I’m reading Jenny Odell’s wonderful book How to Do Nothing and found her art projects page, which is equally ersatz and wonderful. She’s held residencies at places ranging from the Internet Archive to Recology (the waste manager!).
Reminds me of Richie Rhombus’s ouvre. Bay Area artists ftw!
This snazzy mixed reality game about eggs is showcasing at SXSW this year - you manipulate eggs within IRL dioramas. Skylanders on steroids - love it.