Chuck Grimmett

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  • In reply to More book editing and AI by Manton Reece.

    I sometimes have a similar conundrums when woodworking: Do I spend the next couple hours flattening this piece with a No. 5 plane or run it through the machine planer a few times? Do I carve out this dough bowl by hand with a gouge or put a carving disk on the electric grinder?

    I really like using hand tools, but certainly will use power tools to save time and energy. Where I personally draw the line with woodworking is that I have no interest in using a CNC, but I don’t mind when other people do.

    In some aspect it is the artist’s creative vision that counts most, but there is definitely a sliding spectrum on which the method of execution matters, too. An AI prompt is a kind of creative vision, but there is a lot to be said for a human grappling with and creating art manually.

  • There were some ice floes on the Hudson in the Highlands section this morning (Garrison to Beacon). Nice to see some ice on the river.

  • Stratification of my workshop dust collection bag.

  • Observation: I remember very little about the Blinkist summaries I “read” (perhaps consumed is a better word) a few years ago, whereas I remember a lot about the full-length books I read a few years ago.

    Perhaps I wasn’t taking the Blinkist summaries seriously or there is a selection bias going on (I chose to read the full version of things I was interested in and was thus more engaged), but either way they were a waste of time.

  • Eastern Hemlock branch covered in snow. The sled Charlie and I were riding came to a stop underneath this branch with tiny pine cones.

  • What radicalized me? Probably System of a Down when I was 11.

    Deer Dance could be an anti-ICE song 24 years later.

    Pushing little children with their fully-automatics
    They like to push the weak around

    We can’t afford to be neutral on a moving train!

  • Dark patterns are alive and well on Shopify. Three times in the last three months I’ve thought I was making a one-time purchase, but learned a month later I had made a recurring subscription purchase and I had to contact support to cancel.

  • I love this store map at Bruised Apple Books.

  • I made red curry soup with leftover turkey. Nice change in flavor profile from yesterday’s meal.

  • Turkey is spatchcocked and dry brining, cocktail syrup made, green bean casserole assembled, and gravy is on the stove.

  • The only thing you need to buy on Black Friday is Leave Me Alone so you can unsubscribe from all the mailing lists that spam you this week. https://leavemealone.com/

  • Black Friday deals are getting out of hand. Who is going to buy lab tests from Quest on Black Friday?

  • Saw these funny little pedal delivery vehicles today in Manhattan.

  • First snow of the season.

  • I’m on an OFTD kick. Tiki-inspired hot toddy tonight: OFTD, Falernum, lemon juice, honey, and hot water.

  • I came up with a decent drink tonight on the fly: 1.5oz OFTD rum, 1oz sweet apple brandy (17%), 1oz Campari, 3 dashes of Elemakule tiki bitters.

  • My unsubstantiated working theory is that LLMs are too verbose because they weighted SEO’d content too much in the training data, probably because that is what was easily crawled and obtained.

  • So what is the deal with Jeep Wranglers and rubber ducks? Every Wrangler I see has them on the dash and I don’t get it.

  • It finally feels like autumn. Cool weather, walks in the woods, potato leek soup for dinner, and a glass of calvados with a good book before bed.

  • In reply to Scoring books – Manu.

    I decided to eschew reading apps entirely and I keep a single page with what I’ve read since 2016. To keep the “rating” simple, I just add a star if it is something I highly recommend. https://cagrimmett.com/reading