stonlyb

Workhorse is a CLI set of scripts / tools that turns an old laptop into a headless SSH compute/storage node that my main machine offloads to.

Main components are: - a router script (onpro) that probes the box and runs the command there, falling back to local automatically if it's asleep or unplugged. - a PreToolUse hook in my AI coding setup intercepts the heavy commands like builds, test suites, ffmpeg, OCR, big pandas jobs. Forces them onto the workhorse instead of melting my MacBook Air.

The agent decides what to run, and a deterministic layer guarantees the heavy stuff lands on the right machine.

Testing Workhorse a bit more before sharing.

Also https://motate.app/ was an attempt to make math writing easier for me (as I recently needed to hold my newborn through most of my LinAlg refresher course) but I've since started trying to figure out how to make it useful for broader science/math writing and education.

Another good AI use-case: cleaning up notes. What I've written in my scratch pad (https://motate.app/@sblue/linalg-exam-2-notes-755e73c1-8ddc-...) would be unusable as a reference at exam time.

But I was able to AI generate an audited and cleaned up 2 pager based strictly on my notes (https://github.com/stonly/public_share/blob/main/linalg_exam...)

Word of caution: A few versions ago of the models (and myself), I learned a hard lesson about generating reference guides. My physics exam performance paid the price. So this is not without risk as with anything AI, and your prompt mileage may vary.

As noted in my own parent comment: I loved reading this (it's too well written it could not be AI despite the emdashes), and especially appreciate any mention of "The Whispering Earring", which is one of my spinning tops to remind me to remain vigilant of my cognitive health despite my almost complete embrace of AI.

I'm a current student, who also happens to be a full-time professional who is "all in on AI", and I think most are missing the true opportunities AI opens up for education.

Because my student path is non-linear (vs just following a life script), I may be a bit weird / not the average student, but it's especially true for me that I'm very intentional about actually learning the things I sign up for classes to learn.

My point is that I'm not taking classes just for the motions or to create slop. With that context, here is how AI helped me very specifically in a recent linear algebra course:

1. I was able to prompt very specific questions, usually audits of my work, in ways that provided responses that were more like a socratic tutor and not a cheating parter. In this way I did not need to bother my professor as much or seek out a tutor, when I was stuck. But I also didnt shortcut my way to answers. I was intentionally limiting the AI assistance to finding small errors or jogging my memory about steps missed or next steps.

2. I vibe coded a note taking web application (started as a chrome plugin for notion) so that I could shortcode and pick math symbols while my other arm was full holding my newborn (yes I'm a dad too). This has since evolved into a full-on science writing platform that I love whether or not anyone else ever uses it (though I am trying to turn it into a business). Maybe I actually ended up adding more work to my math class but it added a layer to the learning (what math symbols are needed, what are typical patterns for this subject, etc) that I think helped with my overall absorbtion of the subject.

I dont know if #2 is transposable to other students or to other subjects but I imagine there is some version of a double major yet to be created that is Core Subject + "how to properly use AI to learn (including vibe coding tools to help yourself and other students)".

There are many other smaller ways AI can be used to help learning (flash cards, generated quizzes, etc) that are oft mentioned but that articles like this gloss over.

Having said that, I loved reading this (so well written it could not be AI despite the emdashes), and especially appreciate any mention of "The Whispering Earring", which is one of my spinning tops to remind me to remain vigilant of my cognitive health despite my almost complete embrace of AI.

Pilling on to say well done on the interactivity and visuals / design overall. I'm working to make producing posts like this universally accessible (http://motate.app/) and posts like yours are an inspiration.

Agree that there will be and should be more scientific writing. I’m building https://motate.app/ to help writing and sharing papers more easy including enhancing with interactive visuals. Also good for math note taking. Not perfect yet but you can use trust and I’ll share on Show HN soon.

Thank you. This didnt come from place of peace or strength but from grief and a sense of need to honor her. One possibility for vibe coding is that it may turn app / web development into a form of therapy for more non-professional developers, and eventually all non-developers.

Thank you. I for one appreciate the curtsey of expressing sympathies. I don't question the motivation or whatever. It's just a kind gesture.

I will note that I'm trying not to think of her death as a loss. It certainly is in many ways for grandkids and others who were just starting to get to know her. But for the rest of us, I like to think we have a part of our deceased loved ones with us that we now have the responsibility to cary forward.

Loveable

https://inlovingmem.com/ - is a tribute to my recently deceased mom that I vibe coded over the last week. I felt her life deserved to be celebrated widely but wanted to be sensitive to her privacy. I've also built in a number of interactive features for participation in funeral services etc, before, during, and after.

Folks have reached out about having an 'In Loving Memory Of' site for their loved ones, so I'm turning this into a side business to help out more with my (now widowed) father's retirement and care.

Can you quantify how much this approach saved you in time and $ versus what you were doing before?

81. Failure is Not an Option by Gene Kranz

82. Mrs. P’s Journey by Phyllis Pearsall

83. River of Doubt by Candice Millard

84. Longitude by Dava Sobel

85. Dreaming in Code by Scott Rosenberg

86. The Last Viking - A biography of Roald Amundsen

87. The Wager by David Grann

88. Simply Fly by Captain G. R. Gopinath

89. Engines That Move Markets by Alasdair G. M. Nairn

90. The Education of Cyrus by Xenophon

91. Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War by Robert Coram

92. Madhouse at the End of the Earth by Julian Sancton

93. How to Make a Spaceship by Julian Guthrie

94. West with the Night by Beryl Markham

95. The Age of Uncertainty by Tobias Hürter

96. American Steel by Richard Preston

97. Showstopper by G. Pascal Zachary

98. Eccentric Orbits by John Bloom

99. The Great Bridge by David McCullough

100. Loonshots by Safi Bahcall

101. The Art of Doing Science and Engineering by Richard Hamming

102. Where Wizards Stay Up Late by Katie Hafner

103. The Evening Star by Henry S. F. Cooper

51. The Dream Machine - A deep dive into the history of computing.

52. Mindstorms by Seymour Papert - Groundbreaking work on computers in education.

53. Sunburst and Luminary: An Apollo Memoir by Don Eyles - The Apollo Guidance Computer.

54. Build by Tony Fadell - Memoir and innovation lessons.

55. Fall of Carthage by Adrian Goldsworthy - Punic Wars and Carthage's fall.

56. Making PCR - The story of polymerase chain reaction development.

57. Moonwalking with Einstein - Memory training and championship.

58. The Rickover Effect by Theodore Rockwell - First nuclear-powered submarine.

59. The Idea Factory - Bell Labs and American innovation.

60. Hackers by Steven Levy - History of computer hackers.

61. Fire in the Valley - Personal computing revolution.

62. Monk in the Garden - Life of Gregor Mendel.

63. Leadership Moment - Lessons from leaders in crises.

64. The Man Who Discovered Quality - W. Edwards Deming and quality management.

65. Eccentric Orbits - Iridium satellite network's rescue.

66. The Road to Character - Human nature and moral development.

67. The Spy and the Traitor - Soviet spy Oleg Gordievsky's story.

68. Billion Dollar Spy - Cold War espionage.

69. Skunk Works - Lockheed's F-117 and SR-71 programs.

70. Working by Robert Caro - Insights into Caro's research.

71. The Wager by David Grann - 18th-century British maritime disaster.

72. Caro's LBJ Series - Biography of Lyndon B. Johnson.

73. The Prize by Daniel Yergin - Oil industry history.

74. The Invention of Nature by Andrea Wulf - Alexander von Humboldt's contributions.

75. Bad Blood by John Carreyrou - Theranos scandal.

76. Losing My Virginity by Richard Branson - Memoir and business insights.

77. The Hard Thing About Hard Things by Ben Horowitz - Leadership lessons.

78. Billion Dollar Loser by Reeves Wiedeman - WeWork's rise and fall.

79. Tuxedo Park - Invention of radar during WWII.

80. Insisting on the Impossible - Edwin Land and instant photography.

list of (most of) the books mentioned in this thread so far. I tried reading every comment but used chatGPT instead.

1. The Big Rich - Texas oil boom.

2. Barbarians at the Gate - Private equity origins.

3. Masters of Doom - John Carmack and Id Software.

4. Einstein by Walter Isaacson - Einstein's discoveries.

5. Houdini!!! - The escape artist and magician.

6. The Double Helix - DNA discovery.

7. Stress Test by Tim Geithner - Financial crisis.

8. Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl - Concentration camp survival.

9. The Chariots of Apollo - NASA's space program.

10. Across the Airless Wilds by Earl Swift - Development of the moon buggy.

11. Apollo: The Race to the Moon by Charles Murray and Catherine Bly Cox - Apollo missions.

12. The Secret Life of Groceries by Benjamin Lorr - Food supply chains.

13. The Prize by Daniel Yergin - Oil industry evolution.

14. Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson - Ambitious wreck divers.

15. The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes - Manhattan Project.

16. American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin - Robert Oppenheimer.

17. Conquistador by Buddy Levy - Hernán Cortés and the Aztecs.

18. Cadillac Desert by Marc Reisner - Water infrastructure in the American West.

19. The Wright Brothers by David McCullough - The invention of flight.

20. Walt Disney by Neal Gabler - Vision and innovation in entertainment.

21. Tuxedo Park by Jennet Conant - Invention of radar.

22. Insisting on the Impossible - Edwin Land and instant photography.

23. The Logic of Failure - Understanding and avoiding failure.

24. The Big Short by Michael Lewis - 2008 financial crisis.

25. The Box by Marc Levinson - Shipping container revolution.

26. Latitude by Nicholas Crane - Cartography innovations.

27. When the Heavens Went on Sale by Ashlee Vance - Space startups.

28. The Founders by Jimmy Soni - PayPal's early days.

29. The Perfectionists by Simon Winchester - Precision engineering.

30. The Little Engine That Could - Children's classic.

31. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell - Success mechanics.

32. Shoe Dog by Phil Knight - Founding of Nike.

33. Black Hole Blues by Janna Levin - Building LIGO.

34. Freedom’s Forge - WWII industry mobilization.

35. Empires of Light by Jill Jonnes - Electrification by Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse.

36. The Path Between the Seas by David McCullough - Panama Canal construction.

37. Annapurna by Maurice Herzog - Climbing a Himalayan peak.

38. Soul of a New Machine by Tracy Kidder - Data General engineers.

39. Showstopper by G. Pascal Zachary - Development of Windows NT.

40. Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand - WWII survival.

41. The Measure of All Things by Ken Alder - Defining the meter.

42. The Cuckoo’s Egg by Clifford Stoll - Tracking a hacker.

43. The Man Who Knew Infinity by Robert Kanigel - Srinivasa Ramanujan.

44. The Power Broker by Robert Caro - Robert Moses and New York infrastructure.

45. How Big Things Get Done - Large-scale project execution.

46. Dealers of Lightning by Michael A. Hiltzik - Xerox PARC.

47. Built by Roma Agrawal - Civil engineering insights.

48. The Will to Keep Winning by Daigo Umehara - Competitive gaming.

49. Absolute Zero and the Conquest of Cold - Low-temperature physics.

50. Carrying the Fire by Michael Collins - Apollo 11.

Not a book but here's Biochemist Katalin Karikó on her journey from a childhood in communist Hungary to her Nobel-winning work on mRNA. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/katalin-karikos-n...

What are the next set of library additions you're planning? Will tune in for when you release something on VC term sheets, convertible note / SAFE note conversions, and Techno Economic Analysis.

Half-way through "Essential Calculus-based Physics Study Guide Workbook: Waves, Fluids, Sound, Heat, and Light".

Training for my first Muay Thai competitive fight.

Any examples of free body diagrams (from physics) as ASCII art?

Is generative ASCII art a thing? Anything tools similar to Monodraw out there or possible to assist in taking a description and generating an image? Would think even LLM could be trained to think of this as some sort of language.

Both but yes more interested in "religiously presented" science. Again, based on the assumption that most religions started as tools approximately explaining what was known at the time (or for defining and increasing adherence to local policy).

Im reminded of Roko's basilisk which I suppose may have gained a significant number of new believers in the last year.

What I'm looking for is something specific to physics or astrophysics and that is at the scale of god / mythical creature creating. Like someone writing a literal (mythical?) interpretation of "Maxwell's Demon" into a new-new testament.

Thanks. Thought of these. I wondered if anyone has taken it a step further and created new gods (of the hologram, of the multiverse, etc) beyond the metaphysical/new-age trend towards "the self as god". I suppose Roko's basilisk true believers and their AI god counts.

I've been curious lately about the existence of any religion, mythology, folklore, etc that capture something closer to the current edges of modern physics and astrology. Basic assumption is that most/all are based on dated observations of seasons, planets, stars, etc -- things that were once mysteries in the mechanical universe.

Are there any that touch on quantum weirdness or more recent astrophysics (black holes, gravity waves, FRBs, etc)?

Would be interesting to see if new myths are being born. Even more interesting if a really ancient one touch on some of these only recently discovered mysteries.

This is inspiring. I'm a student in the Arizona State University online Physics BA degree (soon to transition to BSc). And by student I mean adult learner with a full plate of other commitments doing this for fun and I dont know when I'll finish.

I live in a condo with no backyard. I'd mostly be paying for peace of mind that my compost is going to be upcycled.

CEO shadow as a service would be a great startup.

Related story of another African king and some of the erasure that enables the bias towards believing Africa had no pre-colonial wealth or tech. From the article: “When Europeans first came to Africa, they considered the architecture very disorganized and thus primitive. It never occurred to them that the Africans might have been using a form of mathematics that they hadn’t even discovered yet.” https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/mar/18/story-of-citi...

I've co-written and edited our newsletter covering climate tech and urban tech startups for over 8 years https://thirdsphere.com/updates/

Love this and am looking for more ways to teach programing and stem generally without putting my child in front of a screen all the time. Will be starting with shoots and ladders from as early an age as possible. Looking for other tools to fill the gap between shoot and ladders and this, which may take years to bridge together.

https://climatebase.org/ and https://jobs.urban.us/ are two good places to look for higher end and more nuanced career opportunities to help mitigate climate change.