Author Archives: Beecher

LLMs as a component

Posted on November 22, 2024 by Beecher

Source code: github.com/neolefty/madlibs. Large Language Models are everywhere, and programmers should all be trying them out. So here’s a really simple app! full screen view It’s just a chat UI with two additions: A framework can really help. This app … Continue reading →

Posted in Bedtime Story, Techno-biological | Leave a comment

Happy Quiltsgiving

Posted on November 24, 2023 by Beecher

For Thanksgiving each year our family (my wife’s family really) gives small gifts, and this year we decided to make them handmade. What can I hand-make? Well, software. I decided to make an app for each person, but I ended … Continue reading →

Posted in Hexerals, Life | Leave a comment

Benchmarking JavaScript Collections

Posted on August 19, 2023 by Beecher

Code for this post: github.com/neolefty/js-collection-benchmarks Hexerals uses immutable.js for its game state — could it switch to JavaScripts native collections? That would make the code more readable, but how would effect performance? Summary: In Chrome, object operations are much faster than … Continue reading →

Posted in Hexerals | 1 Comment

Updating Hexerals!

Posted on August 18, 2023 by Beecher

I’m updating Hexerals for modernity — I wrote it in 2018-2019 to practice React and TypeScript. I’m thinking: And behind the scenes: You can “play” the old version at hexpansion.io. Updates:

Posted in Hexerals | Leave a comment

You can’t detect AI, but you can vouch for truth.

Posted on July 29, 2023 by Beecher

Proposal: Add that browser padlock to long-lived documents. In an age of undetectable fakes, how do you know what is true? We can at least prove a source, and with a little work — and help from HTTPS — archive that … Continue reading →

Posted in Techno-biological, The World | 1 Comment

UBI Coin

Posted on September 10, 2021 by Beecher

A digital currency with built-in universal income, minimal energy requirements, and a bias towards equality. If you were designing a digital currency that could actually promote justice and equality, would would it look like? Here’s one approach. It is rather … Continue reading →

Posted in The World | Leave a comment

Minimalism: A Quilt Color Doodler

Posted on October 9, 2019 by Beecher

Try the doodler. Bahiyyih is making a quilt, and she was looking for someone to make a color sketch of her design. She said the word gradient, and had to do it. But I had to do it quickly because … Continue reading →

Posted in Fleeting, Life, Techno-biological | 1 Comment

Belated Sigh

Posted on September 25, 2019 by Beecher

Publishing negative results helps everyone learn. Here’s my negative result: Instacart didn’t work out in the end. I had a great time there, but the combination of legacy code, a 3-hour timezone difference, and an on-site team of 200 programmers … Continue reading →

Posted in Fleeting, The World | Tagged , | Leave a comment

The Middle Class and a Peaceful Planet

Posted on May 25, 2019 by Beecher

Join the Middle Class. Have a life that’s good enough. This morning I was just sitting at my dining room table, playing Threes, when the concept of the Middle Class poked its elephant head in through a window and explained … Continue reading →

Posted in Life, Techno-biological, The World | Leave a comment

Macro-commuting

Posted on August 25, 2018 by Beecher

I plan to start working for Instacart, in San Francisco, in a couple of weeks — my first day will be September 10. I’ll still live in West Lafayette — for the first three weeks I plan to fly out Sunday night … Continue reading →

Posted in Life, Techno-biological | Leave a comment