Pao Ramen
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Introduction to AT Protocol
This article provides an in-depth technical explanation of the AT Protocol, the underlying architecture for decentralized social networks like Bluesky. It details key components such as records, blobs, lexicons, DIDs, PDS, relays, and AppViews, explaining how they interact to form a functional social network. The post also discusses handles, AT URIs, facets, labeling, custom feed generation, and client applications, offering a comprehensive guide for developers interested in building on or understanding ATProto.
Aug 21 ⎯ mackuba.eu
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Channel3
Channel3 provides an API and SDKs for accessing a comprehensive, up-to-date database of products from over 50,000 brands, designed for AI use cases. The platform allows users to discover, recommend, and sell products, earning commissions on sales driven by their AI applications. Channel3 ensures high data quality by matching identical products across sellers and grouping variants, even when merchants do not.
Aug 21 ⎯ trychannel3.com
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Darts, Dice, and Coins
This article explores various algorithms for simulating discrete probability distributions, commonly known as 'loaded dice.' It begins with simple conceptual methods like partitioning the [0, 1) range and progresses to more advanced techniques such as the alias method. Key algorithms discussed include simulating loaded dice using fair dice, using biased coins, and roulette wheel selection, culminating in Vose's alias method, which offers efficient O(1) generation time after O(n) initialization.
Aug 19 ⎯ www.keithschwarz.com
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Quasicrystals Spill Secrets of Their Formation | Quanta Magazine
Recent studies offer new insights into quasicrystals, materials with atoms arranged in non-repeating patterns. One study found certain quasicrystals to be thermodynamically stable, aiding in understanding their formation. Another developed a new method to engineer and observe quasicrystal formation using microspheres, while a third logged previously unknown properties. These advances could pave the way for easier synthesis and potential industrial applications.
Aug 19 ⎯ www.quantamagazine.org
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Shamelessness as a strategy
The article explores 'shamelessness' as a strategic approach, drawing parallels from games like Avalon, celebrity culture exemplified by Paris Hilton, political elections, and leadership styles of tech figures like Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey. It argues that this strategy, by defying expectations and generating confusion, can attract followers and gain influence, especially in fluid online communities where traditional sanctions are less effective and can even backfire.
Aug 19 ⎯ nadia.xyz
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Left to Right Programming
The article advocates for a programming paradigm where code is valid and predictable as it's being typed, contrasting inefficient Python examples with more ergonomic Rust syntax. It argues that such a left-to-right, progressively discoverable approach enhances editor support, reduces guesswork, and aligns with progressive disclosure principles.
Aug 19 ⎯ graic.net
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Easy will always trump simple
The article explores the distinction between 'simple' and 'easy' in the context of software design, drawing parallels with biological evolution. It discusses how 'easy' solutions, often chosen due to production pressure and familiarity, can lead to complexity over time, while advocating for the long-term benefits of 'simple' systems. The piece highlights that complex systems, even if difficult to fully grasp by individuals, can function and evolve through collective understanding and 'easy' heuristics like exaptation and leveraging existing tools.
Aug 19 ⎯ surfingcomplexity.blog
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Book review: How Life Works
In the 1980s, the anthropologist Lucy Suchman studied how office workers interacted with sophisticated photocopiers. What she found was that people’s actions were not determined by predefined plans. Instead, people decided what act to take based on the details of the particular situation they found themselves in. They used predefined plans as resources for helping … <a class="more-link" href="https://surfingcomplexity.blog/2024/07/07/book-review-how-life-works/">Continue reading <span class="screen-reader-text">Book review: How Life Works</span> <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>
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Aug 19 ⎯ surfingcomplexity.blog
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BeyondWeb: Lessons from Scaling Synthetic Data for Trillion-scale Pretraining
The paper introduces BeyondWeb, a synthetic data generation framework for large language model pretraining that produces high-quality data, outperforming existing datasets and enabling faster training. It also shares insights into optimizing synthetic data generation for LLMs, emphasizing that successful outcomes require a coordinated approach to multiple factors rather than a single solution.
Aug 19 ⎯ arxiv.org
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Berkson's paradox
Berkson's paradox, also known as collider bias or Berkson's fallacy, describes how conditional probability can lead to counterintuitive statistical results. This bias arises from ascertainment bias in study designs, where selecting a subset of a population (e.g., hospital patients or a dating pool) can create spurious correlations between variables that are otherwise independent in the general population.
Aug 19 ⎯ en.m.wikipedia.org
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OverType - The Markdown Editor That's a Textarea
OverType is a lightweight markdown editor that functions as a transparent textarea placed over a rendered markdown preview. It achieves WYSIWYG functionality with native textarea features, avoiding complex dependencies, virtual DOM, or ContentEditable. The editor emphasizes simplicity, transparency, and ease of understanding with a minimal footprint.
Aug 18 ⎯ overtype.dev
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Derivatives, Gradients, Jacobians and Hessians – Oh My!
This article explains the relationship between derivatives, gradients, Jacobians, and Hessians. It details how derivatives are used for optimization and finding function minima. Gradients are introduced as vectors of partial derivatives for multi-variable functions, indicating the direction of steepest ascent. Jacobians are presented as matrices of partial derivatives for functions with multiple inputs and outputs, used to describe spatial warping. Finally, Hessians, which are matrices of second-order partial derivatives, are discussed for their role in understanding function curvature and accelerating optimization.
Aug 18 ⎯ blog.demofox.org
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Tension between graphs and trees
The article explores the inherent tension between graph and tree data structures, highlighting humanity's preference for legible containment (trees) versus the flexibility of graphs. It argues that while graphs offer decentralization, the desire for understanding often leads to tree-like representations or the imposition of hierarchical structures on graphs. A robust composition system, the author suggests, should acknowledge and manage this tension by layering graph abstractions with human-friendly tree interfaces.
Aug 18 ⎯ glazkov.com
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Composing graphs with Breadboard
This post introduces Breadboard, a library designed to make creating and sharing generative AI patterns accessible and fun. It utilizes a graph structure with nodes, kits, and boards for composition, inspired by electronic breadboards. The traversal machine is built on principles similar to pure functions and actor models to handle complex graph structures, including cycles.
Aug 18 ⎯ glazkov.com
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Recipes for Thought
The content introduces two methods for interacting with large language models (LLMs): 'chat' for conversational exchanges and 'recipe' for structured, step-by-step guidance. The 'recipe' approach involves refining prompts iteratively to shape the LLM's output, akin to mentoring or following a recipe. This method encourages metacognition, allowing users to better understand their own thinking processes and transfer cognitive know-how into repeatable, scalable actions.
Aug 18 ⎯ glazkov.com
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Inside Netflix’s $1 Billion Algorithm - How Recommendations Predict Your Next Binge
This article details Netflix's billion-dollar recommendation algorithm, based on Matrix Factorization. It explains how user behavior is analyzed using techniques like collaborative filtering and matrix factorization to predict viewing preferences. The content also touches on algorithmic evolution, deep learning approaches like NCF, real-time systems, and the production insights into A/B testing and distributed computing that power Netflix's personalized user experience.
Aug 18 ⎯ beyondit.blog
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How Do Committees Fail To Invent?
The article explores how committees, particularly Standards Development Organizations (SDOs), can fail to innovate due to internal sabotage, often termed the "fifth column problem." This occurs when a minority obstructs progress through tactical silence or spurious objections, frequently driven by major tech companies prioritizing proprietary platforms over open web standards. Issues like strong consensus, survivorship bias, and the misdirection of focus onto trivialities exacerbate this gridlock, hindering the evolution of the web.
Aug 18 ⎯ infrequently.org
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The Best Companies Are Dictatorships
The article argues that the most successful companies operate as benevolent dictatorships, led by founders with a clear, unyielding vision. It posits that this model, characterized by founders who are unreasonable about product but reasonable about people, fosters greater impact and innovation than democratic or consensus-driven management styles. The piece contrasts this with collaborative environments that can lead to indecision and highlights that while such leadership can be demanding, it is effective for building exceptional organizations by prioritizing a singular, detailed vision over compromise.
Aug 18 ⎯ writing.nikunjk.com
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ScienceDirectScienceDirect
A study involving 63 lecturers evaluated the ability of humans and AI detectors to identify AI-generated academic text. Results indicated that both human evaluators and AI detectors performed only slightly better than chance, with no significant difference between the two. Professional-level AI texts were the most challenging to identify, and the findings suggest current written examination practices are vulnerable to undetected AI use, recommending a reconsideration of traditional assessment formats.
Aug 16 ⎯ www.sciencedirect.com
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The Timmy Trap – Scott Jenson
The article argues that people tend to anthropomorphize Large Language Models (LLMs), mistaking their fluency and ability to reconfigure existing text for genuine intelligence and understanding. This tendency, termed the 'Timmy Trap,' leads to misinterpretations like LLMs "summarizing" when they merely "shorten" text by recombining existing information without external context. The author uses examples like ELIZA and the movie "The Matrix" to illustrate how LLMs can bypass skepticism due to their sophisticated mimicry, cautioning that true intelligence is a social and contextual phenomenon, not just pattern recognition.
Aug 16 ⎯ jenson.org