{"chain":[{"channel":"cities","content":" Glendive, Montana, is a small town in eastern Montana, near the North Dakota border. It is the county seat of Dawson County and has a population of around 5,000 people. The town sits along the Yellowstone River and is surrounded by badlands terrain, making it a scenic spot with a rugged, natural beauty. Glendive is best known as the gateway to Makoshika State Park, Montana\u2019s largest state park, which features striking badlands formations and significant fossil deposits, including dinosaur remains.\r\n I considered doing Williston ND. Maybe next week.\r\n\r\n----\r\n\r\nthe plans for the week:\r\n> prepare myself, the house, etc. for travel (the two weeks after this)\r\n> various \"quality-of-life\" fixes for Atacama\r\n> maybe job-application stuff?\r\n> some social events\r\n> pre-planning for a \"big project\", starting March 11, if no other plans take precedence\r\n> hate-gazing into the void\r\n\r\n----\r\n\r\nthe Atacama plans\r\n> fix \"quotes don't work in preview\"\r\n> fix that unclosed \"Literal Text\" tags eat the remainder of the message\r\n> separate \"Title\" formatting from \"Heading\"\r\n> improve \"high-contrast\" mode\r\n> some form of \"voting\" good posts from the past\r\n> quotes, maybe. ( i still don't have any useful ideas here. and the *machine* hasn't delivered great promise when i have tried to get it to do the gruntwork.)\r\n\r\n----\r\n\r\nseparately, there is << get a mailserver working >>. again. ( neither \"dovecot/postfix\" on the server, nor << mailu >> in a docker container, worked at first effort.)\r\n\r\n----\r\n\r\nit's not clear what \"prep\" I need to do for Disney.\r\n\r\nI suppose I will find out.","created_at":"2025-02-17T00:34:37.739431","id":237,"is_target":false,"parent_id":null,"processed_content":"

\n \ud83e\udd16\n Glendive, Montana, is a small town in eastern Montana, near the North Dakota border. It is the county seat of Dawson County and has a population of around 5,000 people. The town sits along the Yellowstone River and is surrounded by badlands terrain, making it a scenic spot with a rugged, natural beauty. Glendive is best known as the gateway to Makoshika State Park, Montana\u2019s largest state park, which features striking badlands formations and significant fossil deposits, including dinosaur remains.\r\n

\n

\n \ud83d\udca1\n I considered doing Williston ND. Maybe next week.\r\n

the plans for the week:\r

\n
    \n
  • prepare myself, the house, etc. for travel (the two weeks after this)\r
    • \n
  • various \"quality-of-life\" fixes for Atacama\r
    • \n
  • maybe job-application stuff?\r
    • \n
  • some social events\r
    • \n
  • pre-planning for a \"big project\", starting March 11, if no other plans take precedence\r
    • \n
  • hate-gazing into the void\r
    • \n

the Atacama plans\r

\n
    \n
  • fix \"quotes don't work in preview\"\r
    • \n
  • fix that unclosed \"Literal Text\" tags eat the remainder of the message\r
    • \n
  • separate \"Title\" formatting from \"Heading\"\r
    • \n
  • improve \"high-contrast\" mode\r
    • \n
  • some form of \"voting\" good posts from the past\r
    • \n
  • quotes, maybe. \n \ud83d\udca1\n ( i still don't have any useful ideas here. and the machine hasn't delivered great promise when i have tried to get it to do the gruntwork.)\n \r
    • \n

separately, there is get a mailserver working. again. \n \ud83d\udca1\n ( neither \"dovecot/postfix\" on the server, nor mailu in a docker container, worked at first effort.)\n \r

it's not clear what \"prep\" I need to do for Disney.\r

\n

I suppose I will find out.

","subject":"glendive (part 1)"},{"channel":"cities","content":"yesterday:\r\n> quotes now work in preview. ( the future will be better tomorrow.)\r\n> fix << Literal Text >> parsing\r\n> new \"title\" format: [# The Grapes of Wrath #]\r\n\r\n----\r\n\r\ntoday: unclear\r\n\r\n> new channels, and possibly a two-level hierarchy to keep them organized\r\n> high-contrast mode needs fixes; there are a few colors that are off, and it would be good if printing was more efficient\r\n> the \"quotes\" system is too janky\r\n> some way to link to \"private\" emails/chains (for some types of private channels) would be good\r\n> a site dashboard\r\n> mail server\r\n\r\nand, Orinoco. which is still unclear.","created_at":"2025-02-18T16:40:30.369120","id":240,"is_target":false,"parent_id":237,"processed_content":"

yesterday:\r

\n
    \n
  • quotes now work in preview. \n \ud83d\udcac\n ( the future will be better tomorrow.)\n \r
    • \n
  • fix Literal Text parsing\r
    • \n
  • new \"title\" format: The Grapes of Wrath \r
    • \n

today: unclear\r

\n
    \n
  • new channels, and possibly a two-level hierarchy to keep them organized\r
    • \n
  • high-contrast mode needs fixes; there are a few colors that are off, and it would be good if printing was more efficient\r
    • \n
  • the \"quotes\" system is too janky\r
    • \n
  • some way to link to \"private\" emails/chains (for some types of private channels) would be good\r
    • \n
  • a site dashboard\r
    • \n
  • mail server\r
    • \n
\n

and, Orinoco. which is still unclear.

","subject":"glendive (part 2)"},{"channel":"cities","content":"the new \"article\" code is committed.\r\n\r\nthis is ... fine.\r\n\r\nI'm not in a mood to write articles yet. Or to add the << navigation chrome >> to expose them.\r\n\r\ni am also very much not in a mood to migrate existing articles.\r\n\r\n----\r\n\r\nthe new navbar is too space-consuming.\r\n\r\npresumably the new option will be \"all channels\" or \"select channel from drop-down\".\r\n\r\nbut I don't really like that. ( i don't like the \"hover for sub-category\" option either)\r\n\r\n maybe I should consult a graphic designer. certainly Claude can't do it.\r\n the consensus of simpletons is not wisdom. if three LLMs agree on a bad approach, I shouldn't expect it to be good.\r\n\r\n----\r\n\r\nboth \"mail server\" and \"site dashboard\" seem like too much << work for work's sake >>.\r\n\r\nor, at least, \"work-lite\" tasks.\r\n\r\n----\r\n\r\nmeanwhile, commenting on things like << Gary Marcus' latest idiocy >> seems pointless. ( of course the \"pure LLM system\" isn't going to know *today's date* unless it is told that. You might as well be upset that the dictionary doesn't know the date.) ( if you look away from the sun, you will not see it)\r\n\r\n----\r\n\r\nI am disheartened by the \"get LLMs to write good CSS code\" attempts.\r\n\r\nNeither the design nor the structure of the output code is that good.\r\n\r\nOf course, \"go from a CSS text file to a visual design\" isn't a trivial task ... but it isn't *that* hard.","created_at":"2025-02-19T17:48:55.644818","id":242,"is_target":false,"parent_id":240,"processed_content":"

the new \"article\" code is committed.\r

\n

this is ... fine.\r

\n

I'm not in a mood to write articles yet. Or to add the navigation chrome to expose them.\r

\n

i am also very much not in a mood to migrate existing articles.\r

the new navbar is too space-consuming.\r

\n

presumably the new option will be \"all channels\" or \"select channel from drop-down\".\r

\n

but I don't really like that. \n \ud83d\udd25\n ( i don't like the \"hover for sub-category\" option either)\n \r

\n

\n \ud83d\udca1\n maybe I should consult a graphic designer. certainly Claude can't do it.\r\n

\n

\n \ud83d\udd25\n the consensus of simpletons is not wisdom. if three LLMs agree on a bad approach, I shouldn't expect it to be good.\r\n

both \"mail server\" and \"site dashboard\" seem like too much work for work's sake.\r

\n

or, at least, \"work-lite\" tasks.\r

meanwhile, commenting on things like Gary Marcus' latest idiocy seems pointless. \n \ud83d\udca1\n ( of course the \"pure LLM system\" isn't going to know today's date unless it is told that. You might as well be upset that the dictionary doesn't know the date.)\n \n \ud83d\udd25\n ( if you look away from the sun, you will not see it)\n \r

I am disheartened by the \"get LLMs to write good CSS code\" attempts.\r

\n

Neither the design nor the structure of the output code is that good.\r

\n

Of course, \"go from a CSS text file to a visual design\" isn't a trivial task ... but it isn't that hard.

","subject":"glendive (part 3)"},{"channel":"cities","content":" the room was toasty. toasty like bread.\r\n\r\nyesterday was minimally productive. but some ideas have clarified.\r\n\r\n----\r\n\r\neducation-related LLM-related maybe-testing-related ideas:\r\n\r\n# the goal is \"have a 5 minute video, see how people perform\". they will need to read an LLM-generated text for a target grade level. ( well, actually, we will pre-generate a few thousand texts.) ( for now, we can just have them read some Harvard Sentences.) ( It's easy to tell the depth of a well.)\r\n# a better \"linear\" metric. when your reading \"increases by 6%\", what does that mean? presumably that your test score went up by 6%. ( this relieves the concept of \"Grade Level\" from its overloaded meaning.) ( and the desire of \"above grade level\" from its paradoxical meaning.)\r\n# interactive / non-interactive learning. there is something to be said for \"useful videos tailored to a student's interests\" ( but, also, easy paths towards them being over-optimized)\r\n# the *machine* can calculate values like \"confidence\" ( maybe \"over-confidence\" for students who have rehearsed), \"fluency\", etc. ( the *machine* can also complete the list of metrics)\r\n# determining what intervention can solve what condition ... is not something the *machine* can do currently.\r\n# finding \"gaps\" in knowledge / thoroughly tracking existing knowledge. ( the *machine* won't track this, but a database that is attached certainly can.) ( there has to be some *math* to adjust for possible forgetting.)\r\n\r\n----\r\n\r\nother ideas / tasks / goals\r\n\r\n# the \"series of questions about a text\" project. and, then, *exception* handling. ( it's not clear if a linear flowchart is sufficient; or even a linear flowchart with << GOTO >>. ) ( well, actually, with enough << GOTO >> it is clearly possible; just possibly confusing)\r\n# single-domain experts. right now, people are doing this for \"simple\" domains like \"customer service\".\r\n# \"politics\" of education. the white whale is << Not Everybody Should Go To College >>. this, already, might be more unpopularity than I can chew.\r\n\r\n----\r\n\r\nand, the latest Atacama hopes and dreams, deliberately slow-walked to avoid spending too much time here:\r\n# a list of the syntax tags and what they look like, on some documentation page\r\n# fix the \"multi-level channel\" listing ( including that \"restricted\" channels shouldn't be named publicly)\r\n# something with \"articles\". ( which turns into \"how much do I want to dig into my past writings\" and \"how much do I want to amplify anything\")","created_at":"2025-02-20T17:13:01.702429","id":247,"is_target":true,"parent_id":242,"processed_content":"

\n \ud83d\udd25\n the room was toasty. toasty like bread.\r\n

\n

yesterday was minimally productive. but some ideas have clarified.\r

education-related LLM-related maybe-testing-related ideas:\r

\n
    \n
  • the goal is \"have a 5 minute video, see how people perform\". they will need to read an LLM-generated text for a target grade level. \n \u2694\ufe0f\n ( well, actually, we will pre-generate a few thousand texts.)\n \n \u2699\ufe0f\n ( for now, we can just have them read some Harvard Sentences.)\n \n \ud83d\udd25\n ( It's easy to tell the depth of a well.)\n \r
    • \n
  • a better \"linear\" metric. when your reading \"increases by 6%\", what does that mean? presumably that your test score went up by 6%. \n \ud83d\udca1\n ( this relieves the concept of \"Grade Level\" from its overloaded meaning.)\n \n \ud83d\udd25\n ( and the desire of \"above grade level\" from its paradoxical meaning.)\n \r
    • \n
  • interactive / non-interactive learning. there is something to be said for \"useful videos tailored to a student's interests\" \n \ud83d\udca1\n ( but, also, easy paths towards them being over-optimized)\n \r
    • \n
  • the machine can calculate values like \"confidence\" \n \ud83d\udca1\n ( maybe \"over-confidence\" for students who have rehearsed)\n , \"fluency\", etc. \n \ud83d\udca1\n ( the machine can also complete the list of metrics)\n \r
    • \n
  • determining what intervention can solve what condition ... is not something the machine can do currently.\r
    • \n
  • finding \"gaps\" in knowledge / thoroughly tracking existing knowledge. \n \ud83d\udca1\n ( the machine won't track this, but a database that is attached certainly can.)\n \n \ud83d\udd25\n ( there has to be some math to adjust for possible forgetting.)\n \r
    • \n

other ideas / tasks / goals\r

\n
    \n
  • the \"series of questions about a text\" project. and, then, exception handling. \n \ud83d\udca1\n ( it's not clear if a linear flowchart is sufficient; or even a linear flowchart with GOTO. )\n \n \u2694\ufe0f\n ( well, actually, with enough GOTO it is clearly possible; just possibly confusing)\n \r
    • \n
  • single-domain experts. right now, people are doing this for \"simple\" domains like \"customer service\".\r
    • \n
  • \"politics\" of education. the white whale is Not Everybody Should Go To College. this, already, might be more unpopularity than I can chew.\r
    • \n

and, the latest Atacama hopes and dreams, deliberately slow-walked to avoid spending too much time here:\r

\n
    \n
  • a list of the syntax tags and what they look like, on some documentation page\r
    • \n
  • fix the \"multi-level channel\" listing \n \ud83d\udca1\n ( including that \"restricted\" channels shouldn't be named publicly)\n \r
    • \n
  • something with \"articles\". \n \ud83d\udca1\n ( which turns into \"how much do I want to dig into my past writings\" and \"how much do I want to amplify anything\")\n
    • \n
","subject":"glendive (part 4)"},{"channel":"cities","content":"it has been a quiet week.\r\n\r\nthis was no great surprise, and is no great disappointment.\r\n\r\n----\r\n\r\ni have written enough about << project >> ideas related to *Education* ( regarding each of: pedagogy, skills assessment, and aptitude assessment) and *Language*, or the use of LLMs for either task.\r\n\r\ni have written nothing about << Rust in the Linux kernel >>, but I have little to say at this time. ( https://www.heise.de/en/news/The-Rust-DMA-dispute-in-the-Linux-kernel-An-attempt-at-analysis-10291239.html?seite=all is a sufficient explanation).\r\n\r\n----\r\n\r\nother areas of my expertise:\r\n> Wikipedia continues to have too many << people doing stupid things >> whom I am unable to << call out >>.\r\n> American Politics continues to be a field best left unplowed.\r\n> Atacama continues to morph into a project that I only work on << when something about the site annoys me >>.","created_at":"2025-02-21T21:31:41.134834","id":255,"is_target":false,"parent_id":247,"processed_content":"

it has been a quiet week.\r

\n

this was no great surprise, and is no great disappointment.\r

i have written enough about project ideas related to Education \n \ud83d\udca1\n ( regarding each of: pedagogy, skills assessment, and aptitude assessment)\n and Language, or the use of LLMs for either task.\r

\n

i have written nothing about Rust in the Linux kernel, but I have little to say at this time. \n \u2699\ufe0f\n ( https://www.heise.de/en/news/The-Rust-DMA-dispute-in-the-Linux-kernel-An-attempt-at-analysis-10291239.html?seite=all is a sufficient explanation)\n .\r

other areas of my expertise:\r

\n
    \n
  • Wikipedia continues to have too many people doing stupid things whom I am unable to call out.\r
    • \n
  • American Politics continues to be a field best left unplowed.\r
    • \n
  • Atacama continues to morph into a project that I only work on when something about the site annoys me.
    • \n
","subject":"glendive (part 5)"}]}