Send link/name if you can find it! I am professionally interested.

h/t @mkirschenbaum.bsky.social for the link

It's been a circular journey: Some key machine-learning techniques now used in all big AI models (heard of gradient descent?) were developed in the late 1980s to do handwriting recognition for the postal service. I tell this story in the intro to my book, which you can read...sometime next year!

Yeah I’ve found it very worth the effort. Can get into an “every Tuesday” routine with someone rather quickly, and squash at least has been a great way to make random interesting (non-academic) friends.

Hard same. After a very “fuck sports” youth, this is why I now like squash so much. Chasing a ball and trying to win a game are way more diverting than solo cardio. I think tennis or basketball would be just as fun. Makes me hate the bike/run days when there’s nobody to play.

I mean…

Your DMs are closed to me here, but I just emailed what I think is your gmail address. If you don't have an email from me, please send me a quick note...first name dot last name at gmail. Hope we can connect soon!

Hi! Can’t figure out how to DM you here but will send an email this afternoon.

…Dan had had not invoked “Mr. Penis” since age 8, when he falsified a summer read-a-thon form at his childhood public library in order to get a personal pan pizza.

I for one am doing my utmost to say the smartest things on page 1 of my book.

Close second: that thing where AI transcribes part of the ruler as "5/8"