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writing less code and going with the grain

Periodically we need to remind ourselves of good common sense coding practices. Two simple but very powerful are: 1. write less code Sometimes the best solution is just to write less code. We need to think before implementing: how can I write less code?  I may come up with an acceptable solution, but there may be a better solution with less code. Its possible my first solution is not the best. A good time to do this thinking is before you get too far into an implementation. At a certain point you're too deep, too far along to easily change or reverse course. But even if you are, don't be afraid to change course, even if you may lose some time. Its still typically more efficient to change when building a feature than after its been released to production. 2. "go with the grain" Systems are often built in a certain way and when we change those systems we should try to follow that way. Build on the existing architecture, on the current algorithm on existing conventions o...
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openAI buying Jony Ives company

Update: after I wrote this post I thought more about it and have realized I was thinking too small. Jony Ive doesn't partner with you just to "build a better iphone". These guys have got to be thinking bigger. Much bigger than that. Jony Ive designs the future. Pair up massive compute with some of the most advanced AI models. What do you get? A new world. They mentioned replacing "decades old legacy products". Think form factors that fit the new technology. Like Apple devices did. Think ecosystem. Think holistic AI user experience that's end to end.  Think a world of autonomous devices. Think robotics, and not just the sci fi classic 2 legs 2 arms types.  I know this sounds "hypyie" but they have to be thinking this big. OpenAI spending more of that investment round. A cool ~$6.5bn to buy/merge Jony Ives startup company, so cute picture .  (yeah, that Jony Ive). The announcement this past week says they've been collaborating for two years and J...
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thank you Matt Pocock for typescript cursor rules

Matt Pocock of "Total typescript" has shared his cursor rules files for typescript.  Thank you Matt. 14 rules files.  I already opened a PR and added to our codebase. I recommend.  Some adjustments: removed this rule from ts-naming-conventions "Use kebab-case for file names (e.g., my-component.ts)"  installing-libraries, jsdoc-comments, default-exports added as global advice in cursor, not just typescript
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cursor rules and customizing AI developer IDEs

This is a post I wrote in linkedin about cursor rules We use cursor as the IDE in work and defining rules makes it better.
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Apples AI struggles

On Feb. 14, Bloomberg News reported that Apple was struggling with bugs and engineering problems on its planned artificial intelligence tools for Siri. "Apple Inc.’s top executive overseeing its Siri virtual assistant told staff that delays to key features have been ugly and embarrassing, and a decision to publicly promote the technology before it was ready made matters worse." "...the company’s woes boiled over last week, when it acknowledged publicly that critical features would be delayed indefinitely." "Despite not being ready, the capabilities were included in a series of marketing campaigns and TV commercials starting last year." "Walker said the decision to delay the features was made because of quality issues and that the company has found the technology only works properly up to two-thirds to 80 per cent of the time — which is to say it doesn’t work every one out of three times. He said the group “can make more progress to get those percenta...
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"fast follow" and agile

Anyone else over the term "fast follow"? We're already sprinting, now we're "fast following"?  What next? some marketing guru to add some new terms such as "quick gallop" or "speedy stagger" to the agile vernacular? 😄 Jokes aside, I have concerns because: Agile already provides us all the guidance and mechanisms to deliver the highest priorities, continuously to the customer. There is no need to invent new terminology. It's almost like some folks don't understand or trust Agile, so the term "fast follow" is invented as a useful way to market/manage expectations.  "We can't get xyz in for launch, but we really really promise to release it very soon" i.e. we understand it's a high priority (<- priorities, Agile is good at that) But that in itself (looking backwards) may take attention away from learning from the launch and figuring out what the next set or priorities, or perhaps the pivot needed (lo...
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Andrew Ng - Agentic AI talk

This is a good talk from Andrew on Agentic AI He packs a lot of info and ideas into this talk.  Andrew starts with his view that "AI is the new electricity" - because its a general purpose technology to allow building of new applications Andrew provides an overview of the current AI tech stack, but adds a new layer: an "agentic orchestration layer" applications: credo, woebothealth, workera, meeno etc. new agentic orchestration layer: langchain, crewai etc. models: openAi, anthropic, llama infrastructure: aws, google, azure chips: nvidia, amd etc. Most of the opportunity will be in building new AI applications (even though models are currently getting the most attention).  Andrew said he is "most excited" by Agentic AI (AI agents). Agentic AI is an automonous workflow which uses advanced reasoning to solve problems by reasoning, trial and error and iteration. "zero shot" when you ask a question and get back an answer e.g. original chatGpt. Agent...
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