 |
| |
|
|
|
When developer James Somers in his recent piece for The New Yorker shared his reflections on the waning days of the craft of coding, it struck a chord with me, too. I wouldn’t call myself a developer, but we both share a history of tinkering with the early web. So many days and nights spent trying to speak the language of computers. Whereas today, to get a similar result, you simply describe your problem in everyday language and the AI gods spit out a pretty workable solution.
Don’t feel too sorry for developers just yet. They still enjoy a pretty cushy job and are in high demand, but it’s clear that their job profile is going to change quite dramatically. “As coding per se begins to matter less, maybe softer skills will shine,” Somers writes. I agree with his observation that writing code is more of an attitude than a skill:
“The coders of the agrarian days probably futzed with waterwheels and crop varietals; in the Newtonian era, they might have been obsessed with glass, and dyes, and timekeeping. I was reading an oral history of neural networks recently, and it struck me how many of the people interviewed – people born in and around the nineteen-thirties – had played with radios when they were little. Maybe the next cohort will spend their late nights in the guts of the A.I.s their parents once regarded as black boxes. I shouldn’t worry that the era of coding is winding down. Hacking is forever.”
Somers’ essay was well-timed. Just last week, I employed ChatGPT to help me make some changes to DD. After spending a considerable chunk of time iterating on my prompts to get the desired result, I was reminded of this quote, wrongly attributed to Einstein: “If I were given one hour to solve a problem, I would spend 59 minutes defining it and one minute resolving it.” We’ll soon be leaving the actual problem-solving to AI. Our challenge will be to define the problem as clearly as possible.
Let me use this preamble to tell you about some of the things I've been working on:
Readers are now able to pause their DD subscription via a link in the footer. We all get overwhelmed by too many emails from time to time. So pausing your subscription for 28 days (4 issues) gives you some breathing room without completely unsubscribing.
I also made some improvements to the archive, including an ‘Issue Zero’ – a beginner’s guide to DD where I highlight some of my favourite issues for new readers.
Friends of DD can now also disable advertising in their weekly newsletter. As a Friend, you can find this option in the footer of each issue of DD. I know from a survey that most of you find the ads in DD tasteful and useful, but making it optional for paying readers was always on my list.
I really enjoy this kind of tinkering with ideas which is why my setup is so manual and somewhat clunky. Shoutout to the lovely folks at EmailOctopus (my email provider) for their excellent support team which – along with ChatGPT – was crucial in making this work. If you have any feature ideas that could improve the experience of this newsletter, hit reply and let me know! – Kai
|
| |
|
Become a Friend of DD today →
With a modest contribution of just $1.83 per month, you’re not only helping keep Dense Discovery going, you also receive special discounts, get access to the DD Index (a searchable catalogue of past issues) and a range of other benefits. Plus, it removes this message.
You receive this email because you subscribed to Dense Discovery, a weekly newsletter with the best of the internet, thoughtfully curated. Writing to you from Melbourne is Kai Brach. Do you have a product or service to promote in DD? Find out more about advertising in DD.
|
| |
Sticky Note Meets CalendarSPONSOR
|
Easy to-dos, with the smarts of a calendar
As an indie developer (and fellow DD fan) I’m excited to share my iOS app Finalist with the DD audience: a unique blend of sticky notes and calendar that makes daily task-juggling more fun and more colourful. Try it for free and find out why 300+ ratings gave it an average of 4.7 stars.
|
|
| |
Apps & Sites
|
Personalised audio guides
|
|
An interesting AI application I would actually use: immersive AI-generated audio guides that adapt to your pace, needs and interests as you explore a new place when travelling. I haven’t tried it myself, but the idea of being able to ask an app to ‘tell me more’ about a landmark, building or restaurant as I make my way through a new city seems pretty magical.
|
|
|
I’m not a daily journalling kind of person myself but I think it can be a very powerful tool for processing emotions and improving overall mental health. Diarly is a feature-rich suite of Apple apps (Mac, iOS and Watch) to add text and imagery to your daily entries.
|
|
|
As I wrote in DD260, when it comes to GenAI tech I’m still trying to land somewhere – ethically, creatively, intellectually. Exactly lets artists feed/train their AI models to create images in their own unique style. It also comes with other features, like turning sketches into more refined artworks. The website claims that “everything belongs to you – from the AI model to the images”.
|
|
|
What a lovely idea for people who like to watch the night sky: Nights on Earth is a “customizable, free astro-calendar to help you plan your stargazing”. Set your location and the calendar tells you about upcoming meteor shower or, for instance, when Jupiter is at opposition.
|
|
| |
Favourite Books: William Hayden
|
|
Six book recommendations by entrepreneur, storyteller and advisor William Hayden
|
|
by Ursula K. Le Guin
A vision of life on an anarchist lunar colony forces a reader to negotiate against what we hold to be given and inevitable. I first read this at university and it led me to restructure my political and social identities, career aspirations, and value system.
by Louise Erdrich
A ghost story also exposes historical and present realities of federal threats to and terminations of Native American tribal rights. I only read a few nonfiction books a year, so getting a true historical perspective in a novel that felt perfectly executed was a particular joy.
by Charles Yu
A professional time traveller uses hard science to show us that time travel is easier and softer than we think, and maybe that it’s already happening. I particularly value how the book balances deep science with common instincts and sensations (like déjà vu) to get readers actively participating in the game it plays.
by Vladimir Nabokov
Family dynamics fall apart in a love triangle with a murderous undercurrent. I read it while single and its portrait of the violent capacity of a person in a little love made it easier to accept solitude (instead of chasing a social-instinctive romantic relationship for the sake of the definition).
by Katherine Dunn
A carnival story from 1989 covers topics like conformity, nuclear family dynamics, and blind faith that are relevant to our contemporary everyday. I had a childhood friend who was in a circus for a time, though I don’t think that one had a pattern of experimental drug use during pregnancies with an aim to produce children-as-carnival-attractions.
by Daniel Quinn
The intersection of religion and environmental studies is put into conflict by a priest that is introduced to nature-based ideology over a series of valuable lectures. As someone who has chased down many ideologies in an effort to find purpose, this story put nature at the center of it all (sans telepathic gorilla).
(Did you know? Friends of DD can respond to and engage with guest contributors like William Hayden in one click.)
|
|
| |
Books & Accessories
|
Typography tear-off calendar
I rarely recommend consumables here other than books or magazines, but I’m making an exception for one of my favourite calendars – perhaps the closest thing to a gift idea you’ll get from me: “The Typodarium is once again a source of inspiration and a treasure chest with 366 fresh fonts from 292 type designers from 34 countries and a decorative calendar for the whole year. 384 pages in 12 colors, printed on both sides.”
|
|
A new vision for the internet
Pick up this new, limited edition print zine that compiles “voices, perspectives, provocations and wisdom of myriad thinkers, creators and doers who have dedicated themselves to realizing a new vision for the internet”. Lovingly crafted by entrepreneur and co-newsletterer Sari Azout (a guest in DD256).
Friends of DD enjoy a 10% discount.
Become a Friend to access specials like this.
|
|
| |
Overheard on Mastodon
|
|
If God wanted us to have unlimited free energy, he’d have put a giant fusion reactor in the sky.
|
| |
Food for Thought
|
|
For those in software or web-related work, James Somers’ essay on the role of humans in a world of AI-assisted coding is a nice reflection on how quickly jobs can change and what sort of skills may become more important as machines do most of the problem-solving. “When I got into programming, it was because computers felt like a form of magic. The machine gave you powers but required you to study its arcane secrets – to learn a spell language. This took a particular cast of mind. I felt selected. I devoted myself to tedium, to careful thinking, and to the accumulation of obscure knowledge. Then, one day, it became possible to achieve many of the same ends without the thinking and without the knowledge. Looked at in a certain light, this can make quite a lot of one’s working life seem like a waste of time.” (Possible paywall – free archived view)
|
|
|
A short post by the wonderful Erin Remblance with a simple observation (quoting the late anthropologist David Graeber): when it comes to our private lives we tend to cooperate much more than compete with each other. Why? Because it’s an inherent feature of the natural system we’re a part of. “If a monkey hoarded more bananas than it could eat, while most of the other monkeys starved, scientists would study that monkey to figure out what the heck was wrong with it. When humans do it, we put them on the cover of Forbes.”
|
|
|
Until I listened to this podcast episode, I hadn’t heard of the terms ‘brandalism’ or ‘subvertising’ which describe the process of subverting ads to spoof, parody, satirise or flip the meaning of messages in commercial advertising. “By subverting public advertising space, they’re risking legal action to try and make serious points about the excesses of consumer culture and the perilous state of the environment.” Some great examples here and even a PDF manual on how to get started.
|
|
| |
Aesthetically Pleasing
|
|
Let Western Australia-based artist Nelson brighten up your day with cute, colourful motivational art.
|
|
|
I admire the landscape paintings by Ukrainian artist Oleg Dron, some of which were created with the help of a syringe. Prints available here.
|
|
|
You can easily spend hours exploring the vast body of weird and wonderful work by artist Tim Andraka.
|
|
|
Studio Feixen’s Ease is unlike any other sans serif typeface. This variable font allows you to customise the degree of roundness in various ways. It also comes with lots of beautiful alternates. The website is pure, playful joy, too. Try it out here.
|
|
| |
Notable Numbers
|
|
Portugal produced more than enough renewable power to serve all its 10 million customers for 6 straight days, from October 31 to November 6.
|
|
|
PepsiCo has been sued by New York state for plastic pollution along the Buffalo River that is allegedly contaminating the water and harming wildlife. A survey found that of the 1,916 pieces of plastic trash collected with an identifiable brand, over 17% were produced by PepsiCo.
|
|
|
Carbon emissions of the richest 1% surged to 16% of the world’s total CO2 emissions in 2019, as much as the 5 billion people who made up the poorest two-thirds of humanity, according to a report published by Oxfam.
|
|
| |
Classifieds
|
|
You wanted to run an agency, and now it’s running you. Work with Same Team Partners to get your company in order so you can focus on growing your business, not just managing it.
How to Network & Make New Friends: Learn the simple formula in my book. See how to host an amazing happy hour. You’ll meet new people and build your network in an authentic way.
¿Poco tiempo para leer mails como DD? Utonym es una newsletter en castellano que cada 15 días te manda los links + top ¡en menos de 700 caracteres! ¡Nos vemos en tu buzón!
Waitless: Create a viral waitlist for your next idea for free. People climb up as they invite friends. Set milestones, integrate it in minutes and build an audience pre-launch.
|
|
Classifieds are paid ads that support DD and are seen by our 35,000 subscribers each week.
Book yours →
|
|
| |
The Week in a GIF
|
|
Reply with your favourite GIF and it might get featured here in a future issue.
|
|
| |
|
DD is supported by Friends and the modern family office of  .
|
| |
