Mine isn’t even on this graphic! It was PRINT from good ol’ all-caps Microsoft BASIC with line numbers, which used to come built-in to what used to be called “home computers.”
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What was your first debugger?
If you’ve tried to go past the APIs like the ones OpenAI offers and learn how they work “under the hood” by trying to build your own neural network, you might find yourself hitting a wall when the material opens with equations like this:
How can you learn how neural networks — or more accurately, artificial neural networks — do what they do without a degree in math, computer science, or engineering?
There are a couple of ways:
- Follow this blog. Over the next few months, I’ll cover this topic, complete with getting you up to speed on the required math. Of course, if you’re feeling impatient…
- Read Tariq Rashid’s book, Make Your Own Neural Network. Written for people who aren’t math, computer science, or engineering experts, it first shows you the principles behind neural networks and then leaps from the theoretical to the practical by taking those principles and turning them into working Python code.
Along the way, both I (in this blog) and Tariq (in his book) will trick you into learning a little science, a little math, and a little Python programming. In the end, you’ll understand the diagram above!
One more thing: if you prefer your learning via video…
- The Global Nerdy YouTube channel will be kicking it into high gear soon. If you’d like, you can follow it now!
- Watch 3Blue1Brown’s video on how neural networks work:
My third experiment for 2024 involves trying out the ideas from Noah Kagan’s new book, Million Dollar Weekend.
ℹ️ In case you’re wondering: my first experiment of 2024 was to turn my layoff experience into a series of articles; the second was to take a chance working with a pre-seed startup.
Why conduct such an experiment? For now, let’s just say that current circumstances make it necessary, and hey, if anyone can pull off this kind of thing, it would be me.
The general idea of Million Dollar Weekend is that you can start a lucrative business by doing the following:
- Identify a problem that you can solve
- Solve that problem in a way that is hard to resist and profitable
- Test your solution at low (or no) cost by preselling it before you build it.
The prerequisite for the Million Dollar Weekend process is a certain amount of unmitigated gall. Time and again in the book, Kagan states that two things hold people back from starting businesses:
- Fear of starting
- Fear of asking
Kagan’s methodology is to start by trying out an idea, seeing if someone will pay for that idea, and then either refining that idea or coming up with a new one and repeating the cycle.
The methodology anticipates rejection, and in fact, it says that in selling your idea, you should aim for plenty of rejections. The idea is that if you’re getting rejected often, you’re asking often, and that’s what eventually leads to success.
I’ll write more as I continue with this experiment, but for now, if you’re curious, here are some resources I can point you to:
- Million Dollar Weekend on Noah Kagan’s site (you can get the first chapter of the book free, along with the book’s resources here)
- Million Dollar Weekend on Amazon
- Million Dollar Weekend on Audible
You might also find these interviews with Kagan interesting:
ℹ️ Also in case you were wondering: This is NOT a paid promo for the book — neither Noah Kagan nor his businesses have any idea who I am or how to deposit money into my bank account. I wish they did!
I don’t care if it’s not real. I want it to be real!
I found the above post not on LinkedIn, but on Blind, the anonymous discussion board app for white-collar workers. Think of LinkedIn, but make it anonymous, angry, toxic, and total-compensation-obsessed.
The Blind app will kill your soul if you use it too often. It’s an ugly agglomeration of late-stage capitalist cynicism, career despair, envy-inducing discussions of total compensation, and occasionally a place for sexually frustrated tech bros to vent.
But like that lemonade they’ve been serving at Panera, while it’s toxic if you consume the full serving, Blind is useful for keeping you awake and aware if you keep your dosage small. As nasty as its content can get, if you:
- Really want to get a sense of what’s going on in the business world,
- Get the inside scoop on what it’s like inside a given company, or
- Read some really unhinged stuff for poops and giggles…
…then you should download Blind and peruse it — very occasionally.
Here’s the text of the post:
Had an in-person 1-1 with my boss today. Was dreading this bc I hadn’t completed a task that was supposed to be done by the 1-1. —————————————————————-
I burst out in tears, and then boss comes over and gives me masculine pats on my shoulder. I don’t know why but I felt compelled to give him a hug, and HE RECIPROCATED!! Very warmly, in fact. We became locked in a double-man bear embrace, lol. Seems straight out of a bad tv drama, but it’s reality. We’re both guys too. (btw he’s really tall and muscular and manly)
He starts caressing my hair and rubbing the skin on my face, and at that moment, I felt something I’ve never had for any of my previous bosses. I’m in my early 30s; he’s in his late 30s, so age-wise, we’re not that far apart.
After about 5 minutes of being locked in this bear embrace, we both stand up and separate. He looks at me with a tenderness I’ve never seen before in his eyes.There was a spark
At that moment, I knew that everything was gonna be alright.
Here’s the “official unofficial” list of tech, entrepreneur, and nerd events for Tampa Bay and surrounding areas for Monday, May 6 through Sunday, May 12, 2024.
This week’s events
- Monday, May 6
- Tuesday, May 7
- Wednesday, May 8
- Thursday, May 9
- Friday, May 10
- Saturday, May 11
- Sunday, May 12
Monday, May 6
Tuesday, May 7
Wednesday, May 8
Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. at MiSource, Tampa: Tampa Devs and Tampa Bay QA Testing Meetup are teaming up to present “Harry Potter and Terrible Testing Mistakes!” Join them for an evening of hilarious horror stories and epic fails from the world of software testing with Lenar Mukhamadiev, the founder Idelsoft.com, a Tampa-based software consulting, who’s seen it all. With 30+ projects delivered by Idelsoft, Lenar has witnessed firsthand the good, the bad, and the downright ugly side of software development. Find out more and register here.
Thursday, May 9
Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at Embarc Collective, Tampa: Tampa Bay Healthtech Meetup brings the community together to hear from top healthcare thought leaders and foster connection among industry professionals. Find out more and register here.
Friday, May 10
Saturday, May 11
Sunday, May 12
About this list
How do I put this list together? It’s largely automated. I have a collection of Python scripts in a Jupyter Notebook that scrapes Meetup and Eventbrite for events in categories that I consider to be “tech,” “entrepreneur,” and “nerd.” The result is a checklist that I review. I make judgment calls and uncheck any items that I don’t think fit on this list.
In addition to events that my scripts find, I also manually add events when their organizers contact me with their details.
What goes into this list? I prefer to cast a wide net, so the list includes events that would be of interest to techies, nerds, and entrepreneurs. It includes (but isn’t limited to) events that fall under any of these categories:
- Programming, DevOps, systems administration, and testing
- Tech project management / agile processes
- Video, board, and role-playing games
- Book, philosophy, and discussion clubs
- Tech, business, and entrepreneur networking events
- Toastmasters and other events related to improving your presentation and public speaking skills, because nerds really need to up their presentation game
- Sci-fi, fantasy, and other genre fandoms
- Self-improvement, especially of the sort that appeals to techies
- Anything I deem geeky
Masterminds Tampa Bay is holding their AI Superpowers Unlocked panel on Wednesday, May 15th with the following panelists:
- Ken Pomella, CEO of RevStar, known for leveraging AI to enhance business growth and scalability.
- Lenar Mukhamadiev, from IdelSoft, focusing on GenAI solutions for organizations and developing an AI-powered startup.
- Sat Ramphal, CEO of Maya AI, a serial entrepreneur with deep expertise in AI applications in regulated industries.
- Yours Truly, Joey de Villa, Supreme Developer Advocate for Unified.to, AI enthusiast, Python instructor, and general computational person about town.
Here’s Tampa Bay Masterminds’ description of the event:
Unlock the future of Artificial Intelligence at “AI Superpowers Unlocked: An Expert Panel,” an event meticulously crafted for entrepreneurs, tech enthusiasts, and forward-thinkers ready to explore AI’s transformative potential. Join us to gain practical insights on becoming a leader in AI application and connect with industry pioneers.
AGENDA
- 6:00 PM – 6:30 PM: Socializing Time
- 6:30 PM – 7:15 PM: Expert Panel Discussion
- 7:15 PM – 8:00 PM: Audience Q&A / Conclusion
Main Takeaways:
🧠 Understand the crucial role AI plays and why mastering it is essential.
🧠 Learn strategies to best leverage AI for 2024 and beyond.
🧠 Discover essential AI tools beyond ChatGPT.
🧠 Explore best practices, ethics, and more through interactive FAQs.
Why You Should Attend:
🚀 Tailored for Forward-Thinkers: Designed for those poised to disrupt markets and lead innovations, this panel will help you stay ahead in the AI curve.
🚀 Unparalleled Insights: Spend an hour with AI luminaries discussing strategies and visionary applications to outpace competitors and drive success.
🚀 Networking Opportunity: Connect with like-minded professionals and innovators, and perhaps discover your next great collaboration.
This is a paid event — attendance is $35 and supports Tampa Bay Masterminds’ mission of fostering innovation and education in technology, with all ticket sales considered donations.
Want to attend? Register at lu.ma/superpowers!
Categories
Business cards!
It’s been five years and a couple of jobs since I’ve had business cards, but as Unified.to’s Supreme Developer Advocate, I’ve been issued a set, and they arrived in the mail earlier this week.
They came in nice packaging…
…and rather than the traditional rectangular design, ours are square. On the front is Unified.to’s octopus logo and mascot…
…and on the back in Unified.to’s QR code and URL:
And, damn, do I like that box. It reminds me of this tweet about boxes and being a grown-up:
I don’t know much about Jukebox, the company that made these cards, but it seems that they’ve matched MOO (whose cards I’m familiar with from a handful of previous companies) and beaten them at the unboxing experience.