The fine guys at ASP Italia just published the video in case someone is interested.

Yeah, it is in Italian. I got a transcript from MacWhisper and then asked Claude to translate and clean it up. It did a pretty good job, so let me know if there’s any interest in an English transcript; I might post it here.

Speaking of English, I’ve started submitting to international events again, without any luck so far. The conference landscape has changed quite a bit, especially since the COVID break. I still get invited to local ones, while internationals have been elusive. I suspect my change in technology stack plays a role. It was relatively easy to speak abroad when I was into Python. With .NET, not so much. But again, I was into Python in the pre-COVID era, so it is hard to tell which factors are at play and what their weight is.

I’m fond of Flask. It was a breath of fresh air when it came out, and most of my Python open-source work is based on it.

This is the story of the world’s most beloved programming language: Python. What began as a side project in Amsterdam during the 1990s became the software powering artificial intelligence, data science and some of the world’s biggest companies. But Python’s future wasn’t certain; at one point it almost disappeared.

Python: The Documentary

He has always been an entertaining speaker and teacher. As it turns out, the TED format suits him perfectly.

And sanderlings running all over the place.

With no commentary or narration but made up of the protagonists’ testimonies alone, it effectively evokes the excitement and enthusiasm around the early computer game industry (and software development in general) of those early years. It is also a cautionary tale about how easy it is to fall once you reach the peak¹

I learned this and other intriguing tidbits by watching The Crazy Engineering of Venice on YouTube.

The footage, captured directly by NASA’s Mars rovers - Spirit, Opportunity, Curiosity, and Perseverance - unveils the red planet’s intricate details. These rovers, acting as robotic geologists, have traversed varied terrains, from ancient lake beds to towering mountains, uncovering Mars’ complex geological history.

As viewers enjoy these images, they will notice informal place names assigned by NASA’s team, providing context to the Martian features observed. Each rover’s unique journey is highlighted, showcasing their contributions to Martian exploration.

Stunning, and mesmerizing.

In case you can’t see the embedded video (hi mailing list folks), here’s the link.

As a Kahneman reader, I appreciated the Thinking Fast and Slow analogy proposed at about half-length in the video: “System 1” (fast automatic thinking, rapid decisions) is where we’re now; “System 2” (rational, slow thinking, complex decisions) is LLMs next goal. Also, I suspect Karpathy’s intriguing idea of LLMs as the center of a new “operating system style” is not too far off from what will emerge soon. The final segment on AI security and known attack vectors (jailbreaking, prompt injection, data poisoning) is also super interesting.

On his website, Karpathy also has a promising zero-to-hero video series, “a course on building neural networks from scratch, in code.”

Perhaps it attempts to fit too much information into a tight timeline: many guests, genres, places. There’s a lot to unpack, and, inevitably, a lot is left out. A series (like the excellent Hip-Hop Evolution recently aired on Netflix) could better cover all the material. Unfortunately, Modulations was released in 1998, when such an option wasn’t even in the books. And this takes us to my second qualm with this production: it of course doesn’t cover the recent years, let’s say from early 2000s up to today. A second part would be grand.

For the first time in 14 years, experience Daft Punk like never before! The first professionally recorded live show; revived meticulously by remastering and restoring the audio and video. The Alive 2007 show is considered a staple in live performances featuring the signature ‘Pyramid’ and groundbreaking visuals, which is now complemented by a fully remastered audio track which aims to maximize the experience. Presenting the ultimate authentic Daft Punk experience.