20220308

2022 03 08

Starting to drift back into my habit of reading more about history of computer science and understanding the sort of “meta paths” that the field has taken since its inception. For example I learned about this framework that Alan Kay mentioned in a talk and I’m curious to learn more about it and understand better why Chuck Thacker thinks that computer architecture needs to be revitalized. I’ll share an Alan Kay quote (from here) that I occasionally think about:

“Small minds try to form religions, the great ones just want better routes up the mountain.”

Frankly, I think I’m a small mind, but I want to try and get my small mind to project itself as well as it can to be a great one to understand what the better route up the mountain of Computer Science is. It might be also that we reached the mountain top and are building our temple there. This is just what we’re trying to understand!

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Daily Listening

A favorite I found during the pandemic. Sharing the top comment for posterity since I like its vibe:

“First time I heard this track I was smoking a cigarette with my roommate outside the apartment I was staying in when I first moved to LA. There was some party going on up at one of the houses on the hills in Echo Park. I wasn’t paying much attention as I heard the beating kick drum, but as these chords slowly rolled in I found it difficult to maintain the conversation with my roommate as I was so enchanted by the beauty of this simple chord movement.

After my cigarette I went inside on my laptop and tried to make a song that captured the essence of what I just heard, but it’s still on my hard drive as it was just never up to snuff.

Today I discovered that this Pepe Bradock track from 1999 is the song I heard, and it’s bringing back colorful memories of my feelings moving to this new city. Feelings of wonderment that come from being in a new exciting place where you feel liberated like you can achieve anything. Music is cool”

Daily Reading

The Mysterious Island: The resourcefulness of the crew is really motivating to get you to want to do things with your life - granted they have nothing else to do but improve their situation stranded on an Island, but I think if you impose some constraints on your life you can live similarly “single-mindedly” to achieve your goals.