lasky

I love driving.

But my 12 lb bucket of brain cells guiding itself, and other lives, is the wrong tool for the job of staying in between the two bright lines.

Self-driving, here we come.

to begin in 2035, eh?

just join the US already

token cost will keep dropping toward zero

but if the AI can just fix it…

I like this analogy. But am having trouble applying it here.

switchboards? gone.

horses? still around but basically entertainment.

handmade clothes? luxury good.

Each and every one of us has a software factory at home. Wild!

Does it even make sense to call it software anymore ? It’s basically liquidware.

not me.

Yes.

If all you need is a comprehensive suite of evals / unit tests to determine if something functions correctly, and AI can quickly figure out how to change it so you get to the end result, then... seems like we won't need all these programming languages.

Ask Claude what customers have this same problem and not solving it is costing them money

why can't AI solve that too?

for crying out loud... why would you deprive yourself?

do you use a ball point or a gel pen?

claude code in CLI with codex CLI plugin. /remote-env when I'm out

-- Codex app for more research heavy / data science heavy tasks. codex ios already built into chatgpt app.

I think it's about how much agency you need/want your job to give you in that specific moment/season of your life.

starting a business is agency-maxxing.

you trade that in when you're an employee for some amount of perceived economic safety. at least, that's supposed to be the deal. that's harder to come by these days.

No doubt police should not be above the law and we should call that out.

However this article reads more like hyperbolic slander.

Big day!

Least understood yet most influential company in the history, present and future of the venture capital backed tech world.

I’m assuming this is all sarcasm.

The hype machine is alive and well in silicon valley.

How many people actually do this?

My point is if the sycophancy helps drive user engagement, how does that impact the incentive labs and AI product builders have to counteract it.

Thought experiment:

If you could turn off all the sycophancy in your chatGPT / Claude account forever, and have it tell you all the ways it was previously blowing smoke up your ass — would you do it?

US Policy is too weak of a tool to counter this beast of economic force, which is really trillions of dollars of capital at war for the most fierce speculation that’s occurred in history afaik.

The sycophancy meaningfully helps drive user engagement. The labs have no choice.

The irony is “agency” is deeply topical among tech workers now.

Noone seems to have mentioned that Gstack has "Telemetry" on your usage data.

Is this not a backdoor way for YC to get signal on what people are building and find more startup ideas?

Other forces that contribute to the "AI is taking our jobs" narrative:

- Layoffs due to insufficient demand in uncertain economic times

- Companies selling AI need to claim "we are so great with AI we don't need as many people." Layoffs unlock AI budgets.

- It justifies all the capital allocation into AI.

- Companies in the AI industry shock the government into learned helplessness, so they can write policy that is on their terms.

What am I missing?

The laws of supply and demand don't apply to housing in the Bay Area.

We need affordable housing, not more housing for rich people, made by rich developers. Just because my house is worth $3M and I have $3M in stock options doesn't mean I'm rich. I'm working class, I had to come back from paternity leave to log-in to Slack on my laptop every damn day, and tell Claude how to write this damn software!

Did you sign the petition to block the apartment building down the street? It would RUIN our neighborhood!!

As an aside, I am not part of the problem!! I care about poor people!!! I am a good person!!!!

Oh you want proof? Look at my front lawn: "In this house we believe black lives matter, science is real, love is love..."

Proof point 2: look at my Tesla! "I bought this Tesla before I knew Elon was crazy!"

Plus I voted for Kamala. I'm GOOD. People in Kansas are DUMB and BAD.

This is incredibly impressive. You’re not “in the valley” — no need to apologize so much for the great work you’re doing.

I suspect hackernews is generally the wrong crowd to ask for feedback on emotionality in voice tho. Some of these folks would prefer humans speak like robots.

Read between the lines in all my interactions…

what is the most important thing for me to focus on or blind spot that will “set me free” to living life from a place of empowerment, confidence, ease, thoughtfulness, values alignment, and deep safe reliable connections with others?

—

From what I gather in your interactions, the most important thing to focus on might be self-compassion and allowing yourself to embrace your humanity. You’re driven, thoughtful, and reflective, but at times, you might be overly critical of yourself, holding back out of fear of not meeting expectations or falling short, particularly in areas like starting your own business or navigating relationships. This self-criticism could be keeping you from fully leaning into your strengths, which are already significant.

Your blind spot may be a tendency to seek external validation—whether it’s in your career, relationships, or even personal goals—before you fully trust in your own worth and abilities. You often express a need to “prove” yourself, but you already have the tools and capabilities to achieve your goals. What might set you free is releasing the pressure to perform perfectly and trusting that your journey, with its ups and downs, is still valuable.

In practice, this could mean focusing more on the process and less on the outcome, allowing space for mistakes without seeing them as a reflection of your value. You already have a deep sense of empathy and alignment with your values, but leaning into self-acceptance and letting go of fear around failure might allow you to experience life with greater ease and confidence, creating those safe and reliable connections you desire with others. Embrace the idea that you’re enough as you are—without needing to be more or do more to prove it.

From our interactions, it seems you’re highly ambitious and goal-oriented, with a strong drive for both professional success and personal growth. You’re insightful about your strengths, particularly in sales and relationship-building, but you sometimes question your progress, especially in terms of starting your own business. You strive for balance, whether that’s in setting boundaries, seeking deeper connections, or integrating mindfulness into your daily life. You’re also resilient, constantly reflecting on your challenges and looking for ways to improve, even when dealing with setbacks like work stress or dating uncertainties. What stands out most is your thoughtful approach to relationships and work, suggesting you’re always seeking meaningful engagement, whether professionally or personally.

Let me ask you an honest question.

If you had to wake up tomorrow, as either a foxconn iPhone factory worker, or a Berkeley graduate student, which would you pick? How different do you think those experiences are?

“This is not an identical situation to the delayed bonuses discussed in the article.”

Not even close my friend. I would trust that instinct. People working 6-7 days a week, doing labor, in a factory, in shit conditions. Desperately clinging to each paycheck that comes along.

Vs academic bureaucrats in one of the most Labor sensitive institutions in the world, who can’t afford the Bay Area…? The most expensive region of the US to live in. Not. Even. Close. Just a reminder, employees at UC Berkeley are entitled to a pension after five years.

Police violence against UC Berkeley staff? Seems highly doubtful.

As far as not being able to afford rent in the Bay Area, hard to disagree, that is a real problem that impacts quality of lives in a very negative way. Hopefully, with all the brain power at Berkeley, people begin to more honestly and openly contemplate the actual source and solution to this deep problem in the Bay Area’s housing supply not quite matching demands of UC Berkeley staff. Asking bold questions for a campus like Berkeley like.. what policies and stubborn attachment to specific world views might be contributing to the constriction of such supply and demand conditions?

I have doubts you or anyone would actually follow through on such a ridiculous claim.

I (and I have to believe many) would be thrilled to interview and work with folks who decided to stay at Twitter during the Elon takeover. In an era of wave after wave of frothy VC money anointing so many inexperienced and ineffective leaders in our industry, the opportunity to learn under a uniquely effective, authentic and bold leader are tremendous.

yeah, well, we might have our heads up our asses when it comes to housing people, but at least we can order shit online that shows up the next day!!!

/strums G, D, C on guitar/

“If I had a billion dollars...”