So over the last year or so we have started to resist this industry-wide push for narrow skills, by calling out this quality, which we call an Expert Generalist. Why did we use the word “expert”? There are two sides to real expertise. The first is the familiar depth: a detailed command of one domain’s inner workings. The second, crucial in our fast-moving field is the ability to learn quickly, spot the fundamentals that run beneath shifting tools and trends, and apply them wherever we land. As an example from software teams, developers who roam across languages, architectures, and problem spaces may seem like “jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none,” yet repeated dives below surface differences help them develop durable, principle-level mastery. Over time these generalists can dissect unfamiliar challenges, spot first-principles patterns, and make confident design decisions with the assurance of a specialist – and faster. Being such a generalist is itself a sophisticated expertise.
Author: Patrick
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Praise for the expert generalist
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Have AI attend that meeting for you
AI bots are attending meetings in people’s stead.
Some of the AI helpers were assisting a person who was also present on the call — others represented humans who had declined to show up but sent a bot that listens but can’t talk in their place. The human-machine imbalance made Sellers concerned that the modern thirst for AI-powered optimization was startingto impede human interaction.
“I want to talk to people,” said Sellers, who runs a content agency for entrepreneurs out of Birmingham, Alabama. “I don’t want to talk to a bunch of note takers,” he said — before adding that he hasoccasionally himself sent an AI note taker to meetings in his place.
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Coolness qualified
Science can now identify traits that make someone cool.
A new study suggests that there are six specific traits that these people tend to have in common: Cool people are largely perceived to be extroverted, hedonistic, powerful, adventurous, open and autonomous.
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Acid tripping with ChatGPT
People are using AI to ‘sit’ with them while they trip on psychedelics.
Peter—who asked to have his last name omitted from this story for privacy reasons—is far from alone. A growing number of people are using AI chatbots as “trip sitters”—a phrase that traditionally refers to a sober person tasked with monitoring someone who’s under the influence of a psychedelic—and sharing their experiences online. It’s a potent blend of two cultural trends: using AI for therapy and using psychedelics to alleviate mental-health problems. But this is a potentially dangerous psychological cocktail, according to experts. While it’s far cheaper than in-person psychedelic therapy, it can go badly awry.
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Cassette players roll back into popularity
While I don’t think they ever truly went away, cassette players are making a comeback of sorts with a thriving underground and indie tape scene. Maxell is making a new one with bluetooth and USB-C.
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USA brain drain coming soon
- Europe has invested nearly a billion dollars in attracting top US scientific talent, including special additional funding for researchers to move their labs/research programs overseas.
- Individual European nations, such as France, have developed special programs to bring in displaced Americans.
- Japan has built a fund of ¥100 billion to attract researchers from abroad, with the Kavli Institute for Physics and Mathematics of the Universe offering additional special postdoctoral positions for displaced scientists.
- Other countries, such as Canada and Australia, are also working to attract displaced American scientists.
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The Way of Code by Rick Rubin
I’m not sure if this is sincere or satire: The Way of Code by Rick Rubin, inspired by Lao Tzu. It contains 81 koans about programming, each accompanied by a AI generated gif.
The artwork above was created by vibe coding, generated based on the themes of each chapter. You can add prompts to change the images to your liking. You ultimately get to shape each of the art pieces.
This is how art creation always happens.
It starts with a prompt, a seed. It can be several sentences or something you notice on a walk. Anything can work as a first prompt. Only you can decide that.
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The DC pizza tracker
Domino’s has their fancy pizza tracker, allowing you to see where your order is in the process. In Washington D.C., pizzeria’s can track national security when the Pentagon orders large quantities of pizzas, especially outside of regular times.
On Saturday, June 21, at 7:13 p.m. EST – shortly before President Donald Trump announced via Truth Social of the U.S. bunker-buster attack, Pentagon Pizza Report tracked a “HIGH activity [of sales] at the closest Papa Johns to the Pentagon.”
@PenPizzaReport’s account is dedicated to “open-source tracking of pizza spot activity around the Pentagon (and other places).” The X handle went live last August — months before the 2024 election — and it already has over 203,000 followers.