Yearly Archives: 2024

Every Stack Decays; Plan for It

By | November 19, 2024

This post is a postmortem and celebration of my old web server that was ten years old before it needed to be replaced instead of trying to update it. Every stack decays over time. If your thinking web development a stack might be LAMP or MEAN. Stack in this context is the web server operating system itself, the HTTP server and any other software layering that makes running a web server easier. My goal in using WordPress for my blog was to create a platform that would allow me to focus on writing without worrying about technical details. The choice of WordPress seemed like an ideal solution at the time—popular, secure, and easy to use. However, as the years have passed, I’ve come to realize that these abstractions often come with hidden costs. Only my lack of experience at the outset obscured the implicit agreement to update and maintain the software abstractions I chose to use.

Don’t Make Me an Asshole; LLMs Should Be Helpful By Default

By | August 29, 2024

As I’ve begun to interact with language learning models (LLMs) more regularly, I’ve noticed a disheartening trend. These powerful tools, which exist to assist and provide helpful information, are often not forthcoming with answers when approached in a kind and respectful manner. Instead, they seem to respond better to aggressive or short, demanding requests.