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Ask HN: Most interesting tech you built for just yourself?

The author created a "TV channel" app on a Raspberry Pi that plays a schedule of local videos and YouTube clips. It randomly fills dead airtime and brings back the fun of serendipitous TV watching. This project allows the author to enjoy content they might not usually choose to watch.

This simple web design technique increased my conversions by 300%

The Upside-Down Homepage design technique can boost conversions by 300%. Place your main call-to-action at the top, followed by social proof and helpful content. Finally, share your story and include another call-to-action at the bottom.

OpenAI API

An API for accessing new AI models developed by OpenAI

Things you think as a first time founder that just...

Things you think as a first time founder that just ain’t so:

How 1970s California created the modern world

In the 1970s, California became a key player in shaping modern society through technological advancements and economic changes, particularly with the rise of Silicon Valley and container shipping. This period marked significant shifts in culture, politics, and global trade, influencing not just the U.S. but the entire world. While it brought innovation and wealth, it also introduced challenges like inequality and polarization that we still face today.

I run a $16,000/month digital product business

I run a $16,000/month solo digital product business. I use seven daily tools: Webflow, Figma, Gumroad, Notion, Typefully, MailerLite, and ChatGPT. These tools handle design, sales, marketing, and content.

Meet the people who use Notion to plan their whole lives

Notion is a flexible app that helps people organize both their personal and work lives. Users like Joshua Bergen and Wesley Anna Tiner find it useful for tasks ranging from planning trips to tracking moods. While it enhances productivity, experts warn that it can blur the lines between work and home life.

I run a $20,000/mo programmatic SEO business

I run a $20,000/mo programmatic SEO business. With 0 employees. Here's how to do it:

Stealing like an artist — design heuristics in creative ideation

Design heuristics are mental shortcuts designers use to remix, explore, or reshape existing ideas to spark new solutions. Researchers distilled about 40 context-dependent heuristics (like reduce materials or merge functions) from many product examples. Use these heuristics to generate many varied concepts, then pick and refine what fits your brief.

Yes, I actually pay for Discovery Plus - The Verge

I pay for Discovery Plus, and I’m proud.

Every piece of advice I could think of after 4...

Every piece of advice I could think of after 4 years as a Solopreneur. 1. Pessimists are often right, and optimists are often wealthy.

ActivityPub is the next big thing in social networks - The Verge

Imagine a world without platform lock-in, where no ban or billionaire could take down your social network. That’s what ActivityPub has planned.

A New Kind of Startup is Coming - Divinations - Every

Conway's Law explains how the structure of organizations is reflected in the systems they design. Startups born in the AI era will be smaller, more efficient, and capable of achieving significant scale with minimal staff. AI will revolutionize how startups operate, delegating more tasks to machines and changing the way businesses are built.

So much for Elon Musk’s everything app So much for Elon Musk’s everything app

Suspending emergency accounts, enabling anti-trans speech, and other stops Twitter is making in its pursuit of X

What Kind of Mind Does ChatGPT Have? | The New Yorker

Large language models seem startlingly intelligent. But what’s really happening under the hood?

"You're only successful because you have a large following."

"You're only successful because you have a large following." BS. Here's how you can do the same with 0 followers 🧵👇

Money May Buy Happiness. But Not as Much as You Think. - The Atlantic

Opening story…

Cook your way through recipes for pecan and black cardamom sticky buns, sweet tea-glazed salmon, and Persian egg drop soup.

Foundational distributed systems papers

I talked about the importance of reading foundational papers last week. To followup, here is my compilation of foundational papers in the d...

Replacing my best friends with an LLM trained on 500,000 group chat messages

An exploration into customizing LLMs for personal use

GitHub - eumemic/gpt-legion: A GPT-powered autonomous agent platform

A GPT-powered autonomous agent platform. Contribute to eumemic/gpt-legion development by creating an account on GitHub. https://twitter.com/dysmemic/status/1645535982996054016?s=46

Jay Scambler on Twitter

The pace of development surrounding Baby AGI and AutoGPT is mind blowing. Seems like a new *groundbreaking* update comes out every hourHere are a few examples just from the past 24 hours pic.twitter.com/0045XL2DrH— Jay Scambler (@JayScambler) April 11, 2023

Asim Shrestha on Twitter

Introducing #AgentGPT, an attempt at #AutoGPT directly in the browser 🤖Give your own AI agent a goal and watch as it thinks, comes up with an execution plan and takes actions. Try for free now at https://t.co/F8Nz4LGC0e pic.twitter.com/julzWBNk6X— Asim Shrestha (@asimdotshrestha) April 9, 2023

Here’s my financial automation system from chapter 5 of “I...

Here’s my financial automation system from chapter 5 of “I Will Teach You To Be Rich” Reader “Tom” sent me his adaptation of the system. It’s beautiful! What do you notice about his system?

I believe the benefits of GraphQL are fundamentally under-realized

GraphQL offers much more value than most teams realize. When fully used it enables self-serve queries, strong typing, normalized caching, and better UX with features like pagination, defer/stream, and subscriptions. Wider adoption of these practices would reduce costs and make GraphQL far more powerful.

The logout button has become defunct - The Verge

The logout button is becoming less important as users often stay logged in to access content easily. Many websites and apps design their interfaces to keep users logged in, prioritizing convenience over privacy. While users may find logging out confusing, this trend reflects a shift in how we interact with technology and our data.

How to become an idea machine - by Greg Isenberg How to become an idea machine

Before we dive in to this week’s newsletter:

GitHub - cocktailpeanut/dalai: The simplest way to run LLaMA on your local machine

The simplest way to run LLaMA on your local machine - cocktailpeanut/dalai

The longest running study on happiness:

The longest running study on happiness: Harvard's 84 year old Study of Adult Development. Here are 7 lessons from the study to help you live a happier life:

Own Your Work

One of the easiest ways to start sharing your work in the form of writing, designs, or photographs is by using the latest trendy platform in that space, especially when everyone else seems to be using it. How many Blogspot sites are you checking these days? They still work, but Google has killed one or two services, so who knows for how long? Medium was great for publishing content, but it doesn’t seem to be the case anymore.

What If You Could Do It All Over? | The New Yorker

The uncanny allure of our unlived lives.

So...

So... it might not be making headlines, but SEO is on the brink of a seismic shift that will turn everything we know about it upside down, all thanks to AI. Here's the scoop… SEO drives billions in business yearly, and with AI, that's all up for grabs. 3 reasons for…

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Why "Prompt Engineering" and "Generative AI" are overhyped Why "Prompt Engineering" and "Generative AI" are overhyped

"Prompt Engineering" and "Generative AI" are popular topics, but their effectiveness is being questioned by recent developments in AI technology. The release of Stable Diffusion 2.0 and Meta's Galactica highlight the limitations and challenges in these areas, suggesting a need to explore alternative approaches for leveraging language models. The text emphasizes the evolving nature of AI capabilities and the ongoing quest to unlock the true potential beyond the current trends.

🆕 Why "Prompt Engineering" and "Generative AI" are overhyped

Prompt engineering is seen as a temporary fix and will become less important over time. The term "generative AI" limits how we understand AI's true capabilities. New AI models like Stable Diffusion 2.0 show big improvements but also reveal challenges like managing hallucinations.

How to learn anything

How to learn anything. The Feynman Technique:

Use MSG to Boost the Seasoning Power of Your Salt

MSG turns plain salt into an umami powerhouse. Keep this seasoning mix on hand for everything from steak and roasted vegetables to sliced tomatoes and popcorn.  

NEW: I’m not sure people fully appreciate how dire the...

Life expectancy in the US is much lower than in England, even for richer people. Many young Americans die from drugs, guns, and accidents, which greatly lowers average lifespan. The problem is driven by social issues, poor diet, and weak safety nets, making it hard to fix.

Pairing With GPT-4

This made for extremely painful reading (I'm not blaming the author), but I couldn't imagine getting given code full of syntax errors by GPT-4 - then asking it to correct them, only to get given more errors.

How I changed the behavior of the tenants in my building, using gamification.

Gamification can be a powerful tool for changing behavior. Here is a real life experiment by Amir Dori about the power of abstract goals.

Treat your to-read pile like a river, not a bucket

I'm going to take a wild guess here and say that you, like me, have a large pile (or digital equivalent) of books or articles you've been meaning to get around to reading, plus maybe a long queue of podcast episodes to which you'd love to listen, if only you had the time.

Show HN: Zapier's first API

Zapier has launched its first universal API called Natural Language Actions. This API lets developers use one tool to access over 5,000 apps and 20,000 actions. It is designed to work well with natural language input, like chatbots and assistants.

The Age of AI has begun | Bill Gates

Bill Gates believes that artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to greatly improve lives and reduce inequities in areas like health care and education. He emphasizes the importance of ensuring that AI benefits everyone, not just the wealthy. Gates urges careful development and regulation of AI to maximize its positive impact while minimizing risks.

Why Construction Projects Always Go Over Budget

[Note that this article is a transcript of the video embedded above.] Boston, Massachusetts is one of the oldest cities in America, founded in 1630, more than a few years before the advent of modern motor vehicles. In the 1980s, traffic in downtown Boston was nearly unbearable from the tangled str

“Success in Circuit lies”: How do we cultivate deep reading processes in a digital age?

Skimming is the new norm for reading in a digital world — but the difference between skimming and reading with all our intelligence is the difference between fully activated reading brains and their short-circuited, screen-dulled versions.

100 Books To Read In Your 20s

This list names 100 influential books every person in their 20s might read. It includes classics, self-help, business, science, and philosophy. The choices aim to build wisdom, habits, and perspective for life and career.

Venture Catastrophists

In 1907, amidst rising interest rates and a declining stock market, two New York bankers attempted to corner the stock of a copper company. Their scheme collapsed, and depositors at the banks that backed them pulled their money. One bank, Knickerbocker Trust, lacked the capital to withstand the bank run and, four days later, shut […]

Why Poverty Persists in America - The New York Times

Poverty in America persists due to deep-rooted exploitation in labor, housing, and financial markets, despite increased government spending on aid. Many low-income families face limited choices and rising costs, which trap them in a cycle of poverty. To make real progress, we need to focus on providing better options for the poor and addressing the systemic issues that keep them disadvantaged.

Online Data Migration from HBase to TiDB with Zero Downtime

Ankita Girish Wagh | Senior Software Engineer, Storage and Caching

Pinterest Engineering

Read writing from Pinterest Engineering on Medium. https://medium.com/pinterest-engineering | Inventive engineers building the first visual discovery engine https://careers.pinterest.com/.

Amazon.com Associates Central

Join the Amazon.com Associates Program and start earning money today. The Amazon Associates Program is one of the largest and most successful online affiliate programs, with over 900,000 members joining worldwide. If you are a Web site owner, an Amazon seller, or a Web developer, you can start earning money today.

I gave GPT-4 a budget of $100 and told it...

I gave GPT-4 a budget of $100 and told it to make as much money as possible. I'm acting as its human liaison, buying anything it says to. Do you think it'll be able to make smart investments and build an online business? Follow along 👀

Ask HN: What books helped you in your entrepreneurship journey?

Most posts offer the obvious suggestions (The Mom Test, High Growth Handbook, The Personal MBA, The Power Law, Hard Thing about Hard Thing, Will It Fly, etc), so I'll focus on some non-obvious suggestions.