Larry

I should note that this is primarily the trend for big tech/FAANG in the United States.

I’ve also heard anecdotes of the next tier of employers (e.g. tech in finance/autos) seeing this as an opportunity to scoop up talent, especially junior talent, that would have been out of reach a few years ago.

I have a friend who recently gave me a speech similar to the below. He ended it with the analogy that if your career didn’t turn into a rocket ship between 2010 - 2022 then at this point you missed it and your job is to land the plane.

Careers in tech are only going to get harder not easier.

Every online space is now a casino that has been rigged against you

Image capture the film Terminator 2. Night time exterior view of an office park building engulfed in flames with a police helicopter in the foreground.

Day time street view image of the office park in Fremont CA where they filmed the Cyberdyne Systems exterior shootout scene in Terminator 2.

Many years ago, I spent way too many hours tracking down the filming location of Cyberdyne Systems in Fremont CA

A simple example, trying to win every argument may serve you well early in your career but is off putting for a potential leader.

The same goes for openly judging the ideas of others versus reserving judgement until explicitly asked or it’s required.

Is “vibe spreadsheeting” a thing? LLM was able to create a solve-for-x equation that I could probably figure out, but hadn’t done since school. Of course I did check the work…

My test for an agentic browser is for me to tell it what streaming I want to watch, and then the agent will sign me up for the most economical plan for the number of episodes. Then automatically cancel when I’m done watching.

“Lots of smart ideas, all wrong.”

Hot take: tech now is too influenced by the writings of Philip K. Dick and too little by Isaac Asimov

See Pete Pepper’s great video about Foundation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBPC5wBmYDA

I like this mental model in how to think about engineering (including software engineering).

It is a combination of building stuff for production, crafting, commercial production and science.

From the book Software Architecture by Mary Shaw and David Garlan

signs of cats who are running for cat mayor of somerville, massachusetts

a sign for a cat running for cat mayor named hermes squirmies

a pink sign for a cat running for cat mayor named beatrix. her slogan is “no kings, only princesses”

a sign for a cat running for cat mayor named Luna. her slogan is “pro zoomies, chaos, and attention”

there’s an election for Cat Mayor currently happening in Somerville, Mass. and every cat deserves to win

Google says it's working on a fix for Gemini's self-loathing 'I am a failure' comments Google Gemini users said the bot is sharing self-loathing messages while attempting to solve tasks, including "I am a disgrace to this universe."

Finally a LLM with imposter syndrome

In tech l, the narrative in tech for startips vs big corporate is mostly about the positive traits of startup folks: scrappiness, agility, mission oriented, etc.

But one positive for corp employees is that they tend to be able to set aside their personal agenda to make more money.

What if Apple is the most ready for an AI internet future because of iOS Safari’s bottom search bar can most transparently transition to chat?

https://support.apple.com/en-my/guide/iphone/iph6297b394b/ios

What if Apple released smart glasses under the Beats brand?

“Even in a world of extraordinary GPU power, people are still our greatest asset” - Brad Smith, Microsoft president
—
In a follow up interview he acknowledged that rising costs of AI infrastructure meant cutting costs which is “more about the number of employees than anything else.”

Interesting 🤔

I recall reading a sturdy that said, of the 3 factors of punishment - speed, certainty, severity - it was the first 2 that was a bigger deterrent.

Honda Unexpectedly Enters the Space Race With First Successful Rocket Launch The surprise announcement marks a significant milestone toward the Japanese car manufacturer's goal of achieving suborbital spaceflight by 2029.

Honda Unexpectedly Enters the Space Race With First Successful Rocket Launch https://gizmodo.com/honda-unexpectedly-enters-the-space-race-with-first-successful-rocket-launch-2000617042

The truth is privacy is a journey, not a destination.

For example: The goal is not just to install a private browser, but to continually refine browsing techniques that offer evolving usability and privacy advantages in alignment with your values over time.

As LLM’s get better, “prompt engineering” becomes just a liberal arts degree. Congratulations English majors!

Children’s Fairyland turns 75 and is celebrating with an exhibit at OMCA The items on display include memorabilia and rare artifacts.

The items on display include handcrafted miniatures created by Bay Area artists depicting scenes from Fairyland’s sets and attractions, memorabilia, and rare artifacts from longtime puppet theater director Randal Metz.

Pool day for Kenai

📸: Stephanie Sarchett

Apple is really leaning into Severance’s moment

https://www.apple.com/mac/lumon-terminal-pro/

When you encounter someone behaving irrationally, ask “Who’s hurt you?”

YouTube video by pgp Tilda Explains Nemesis and Reveals A Shocking Twist - Horizon Forbidden West

Especially not the Horizon Forbidden West youtu.be/8U09u_Jvjxg?...

Sony is experimenting with AI-powered PlayStation characters Sony’s advanced technology group is working on AI projects.

Nope, there is nothing Torment Nexus about Sony using Horizon Zero Dawn for the AI character demo. Not one bit.

Meta has stopped using Snapchat for product ideas and has begun using X.

Whenever I have a friend help me negotiate a contract or something, they consistently get better results ($ + work-wise) than I do.

I think it's because my way leads to negotiating price + work, but theirs negotiates more "what I can I get for the price".

(approaches in the replies)

Corporate America to workers in 2025.