1,106 Days Later

Someone once wrote, “art is the stored honey of the human soul, gathered on the wings of misery”

Art provides self-expression and healing. An outlet to process emotions and confront thoughts. It allows individuals to explore different perspectives and connect with experiences beyond their own. It provides nourishment to the human spirit and inspires us by transforming personal experiences into universal experiences.

Honest Question: What happens to the human spirit when the primary source of art is produced by Artificially Intelligent Nano Anthropic Generative Pre-Trained Transforners?

Great art, great writing, great code, and great accomplishments require [human] suffering.

To that end, if you’ve ever worked with me then you’ve probably heard me yell the following:

“I know two sprints is not a lot of time, but you’ll figure it out. If it was easy, then [with all due respect 😁] they would have hired Accenture to do it.”

The Delaration of Independence 2.0

The unanimous Declaration of the fifty united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of these States; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

  • He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
  • He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
  • He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish large sums of cash, and the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
  • He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
  • He has dissolved government agencies and the agents of the people repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
  • He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
  • He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
  • He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
  • He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
  • He has erected a multitude of New Offices including DOGE, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
  • He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing National Guard Armies without the Consent of our state legislatures.
  • He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
  • He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
  • For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
  • For protecting them, by pardon, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
  • For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
  • For imposing (Tariffs) Taxes on us without our Consent:
  • For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Habeas Corpus:
  • For transporting us beyond Seas to be jailed for pretended offences:
  • For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
  • For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
  • He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
  • He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
  • He is at this time transporting large Armies of Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
  • He has constrained our fellow Citizens, the National Guard and Department of Justice, to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
  • He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless MAGA Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince with tiny hands and whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Republican brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these States, solemnly publish and declare, That these United States are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the Cheeto Benito aka Vladdy’s Boy, aka Mango Mussolini, aka Our Fondling Father, aka Pumpin Spiced Stalin, aka Founding Farter, aka Farty Seven, aka The Lyin’ King, aka Don the Con, aka Tangerine Toddler, aka Orange Shitler, aka Diabeetus Maximus, aka Sleepy Don-zales, aka McDonald’s J Chump, aka Diaper Don, aka The Pedophile of the United States, and that all political connection between them and Don the Con, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

Knock on wood if you’re with me.

The Second Republic

It just occurred to me that France is on its Fifth Republic and America is still on its first. When I think about recent events in a larger historical context, I suppose the surprise isn’t that we’re rocketing towards authoritarianism, it’s that it took 250 years for it to happen.

The experiment of America’s democracy was to test whether it could be organized and implemented in such a way that it would not degenerate into the tyranny of absolutism, without the power to save the people from oppression, when tyranny was found in the person of a single orange despot.

The first step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one. The experiment of a government by the people, for the people; a government of liberty regulated by law; a government which led to the development of history’s largest economy, strongest military, and history’s greatest advancements in medicine, science, music, literature, art, and technology…has failed.

Although it seems counterintuitive, moving forward does not require that we continue to vote for wealthy, white, Democrat septuagenarians; That would only exacerbate the problem. Our chosen leaders are no longer instructed by the wisdom and experience stored in the Library of Congress, they are instructed only by greed and status; the kind of status that requires a zero-sum game be played, such that in order for them to rise, everyone else must fall. Moving forward requires a careful reexamination of the past 250 years and all the events and people that has brought us to now.

We should begin with the study of Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and Hamilton (the man, not to be confused with the musical). Hamilton was only twenty-one years old at the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Madison was twenty-five, Jefferson was thirty-three, and Washington was forty-four (the same age as Ben Affleck when he played Batman). I highlight this point because wisdom is not a function of age. Thus, we should seek out the reasoning behind the basic principles of free government that were embodied in the young authors of the Constitution. We should also seek out the mistakes committed by our progenitors. The mission is simple, guided by our love of our country, we should seek to improve upon what came before us for the future welfare of all mankind.

Let us examine the characteristics of the people, of all races and conditions, their social and religious sentiments, their education and tastes; their industries, their commerce, their local governments, their passions and prejudices, and their ethics and art; leaving nothing unnoticed that might afford an argument to prove that we can do better for our children and their children.
Finally, we must examine what the founding fathers did not foresee. Political equality is not a panacea for the evils of humanity. Love of country can be replaced by love of party and the violence of party spirit can replace the judgment of the wise, who are now subordinates to the prejudices of the ignorant.

Equality of conditions no longer exists. The Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v Federal Election Commission has allowed the influence of money to take over State affairs. The transactions of business are now the road to power, and the financier has risen to a station of political influence. These conditions exist because citizens stopped participating in “Local Self-Government.” Independence from general control, except for the general welfare of all citizens, is the root and origin of all free republics. It is the antagonist of all political movements that threaten the rights of minorities. It is the public opinion formed in the independent expressions of towns and other small civil districts that is the real basis of free government. And it is the enemy of the most dangerous evil, the corruption of the ballot-box, from which the greatest troubles in our nation’s history are about to arise.

A Scientific(-ish) Response to the Surgeon General’s Advisory on Alcohol

While the Surgeon General has chosen to focus on the “medical evidence,” let’s examine alcohol’s well-documented benefits:

Enhanced Problem-Solving Skills:

Thanks to alcohol, countless individuals have discovered they can absolutely climb up to their balcony when locked out of their apartment. The success rate is a remarkable 2%, but that’s 2% higher than their sober attempts.

Advanced Physics Mastery:

Only after several drinks do people truly understand gravitational forces, specifically through hands-on experiments like “Why Is The Room Spinning?” and “The Floor Is Much Closer Than Previously Calculated.”

Improved Social Skills:

Alcohol transforms ordinary people into charismatic orators who can eloquently express deep thoughts like “I love you, man” to complete strangers and engage in sophisticated debates about why dogs should be allowed to vote.

Spiritual Growth:

No other substance has inspired more heartfelt prayers, usually beginning with “Oh God” and ending with “I swear I’ll never drink again.” The sincerity peaks around 3 AM while hugging the porcelain altar.

Athletic Enhancement:

After a few drinks, everyone becomes a professional athlete. The laws of physics simply don’t apply to your golf swing anymore.

Investment Skills:

Nothing boosts financial confidence quite like alcohol. Suddenly, buying cryptocurrency at 2 AM seems like a brilliant retirement strategy, and everyone becomes a qualified financial advisor: “You HAVE to get in on this, bro!”

Enhanced Musical Talent:

Alcohol transforms anyone into opera virtuosos. Karaoke studies show that after four drinks, everyone can perfectly hit the high notes in “Don’t Stop Believin'”. The audience’s tears are clearly from being moved, not pain.

Time Management Skills:

Only the well-lubricated mind truly understands that 2 AM is the perfect time to start a home renovation project, text all your exes, or learn to juggle. These activities simply cannot wait until morning.

Memory Optimization:

Alcohol helpfully erases unnecessary memories, like that time you tried to fight a police officer in the parking lot outside the station.

Culinary Expertise:

Late-night chefs know that alcohol unleashes unprecedented creativity in the kitchen. Suddenly, pickles dipped in peanut butter wrapped in a pizza isn’t just edible – it’s a flavor revolution that the world isn’t ready for.

Professional Development:

Nothing builds workplace camaraderie quite like the office holiday party, where you can finally tell your boss what you really think about their management style. The next day’s awkward silence is just everyone processing your brilliant insights.

Advanced Mathematics:

Alcohol makes you exceptionally good at calculating tips – as evidenced by that time you left a 200% tip because “I think she likes me, you know?” It’s not poor math skills; it’s generosity unlocked by liquid courage.

I think you hear me knocking, and I think I’m coming in. OPEN UP!!! I’M DRUNK AND I LOST MY KEYS!!”

AI and Happiness

If you have time to kill, I highly recommend listening to the following PodCast (see link below). It’s an interview with the former Chief Business Officer of Google X, Mo Gawdat. The discussion mainly revolves around the topic of AI (duh) but also dives into the subject of happiness. By the end of the podcast, I was in tears.

The true human values are Love, Happiness, and Compassion. If we show enough of that online, maybe we can influence the views of AI so that it shows more of that and expect us to want more of that.

Mo Gawdat

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-prof-g-show-with-scott-galloway/id1498802610?i=1000620994812

Focus on the Tigers

To whom it may concern:

This week I received an invite from Google Labs for Workspace’s new AI features. I told you that story to tell you this one.

I am reminded of the famous statistician George Box who once wrote:

“It is inappropriate to be concerned about mice when there are tigers abroad.”

George Box

IMHO, Google needs to be all-in on AI Search and not worry about adding AI features to Docs, Sheets, Slides, etc. Or, more accurately, worry about AI Google Docs later. Advertising generated ~$55B last quarter, and Workspace isn’t even its own line item. In total, Google Cloud generated ~$7.5B in revenue.

Focus on the tigers in the room.

The Battle for Your Phone’s Default Search Engine

Apparently Samsung is considering replacing Google as its default search engine with…wait for it…BING. That’s according to an article published by NYT (16 April). Google learned this news last month. I’ve put the link below.

“Google’s reaction to the Samsung threat was “panic,” according to internal messages reviewed by The New York Times.”

It’s almost impossible to imagine Samsung making a switch. After all, Samsung phones run on Android. Also, let’s not rule out the possibility that it’s a bluff. An attempt to negotiate a better deal with Google. But when a threat moves from the absurd to the possible, in the blink of an eye, “panic” is the appropriate response.

Two months ago I predicted that Apple iOS Safari would eventually change its default engine from Google to Bing – unless Google adopted a war-like effort to respond to the emerging threat. It cannot be overstated, a switch in default search engines on either Android or iOS would be cataclysmic for Google’s revenue.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is coming, and hell’s coming with him.

P.S. My offer to join Google’s board of directors still stands. I know things, I’m a lot of fun at parties, and I’m great at bar trivia. 🙃

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/16/technology/google-search-engine-ai.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Battle for Endor II

Some fun with you know what:

Dear Board of Directors,

I am writing to you as an activist investor and a shareholder of Disney, urging the company to produce another Ewoks movie.

The Star Wars franchise is one of the most iconic and valuable brands in entertainment history. Since Disney’s acquisition of the franchise in 2012, the company has successfully revitalized and expanded the Star Wars universe through various media, including movies, TV shows, and merchandise. However, there is still untapped potential in the Star Wars franchise, and I believe that an Ewoks movie could be the next step in furthering the growth and success of the franchise.

The Ewoks have always been a beloved and iconic part of the Star Wars universe, and the time is ripe for them to make a comeback. The nostalgia factor alone could draw in an enormous audience of Star Wars fans who have been waiting for this moment for years.

Moreover, there is significant market potential for an Ewoks movie. With Disney’s vast resources, the company could create a high-quality film that appeals to both longtime fans and a new generation of viewers. Furthermore, the Ewoks are perfect for merchandising opportunities, which could further increase the profitability of this venture.

As an activist investor, I urge the board of Disney to take action and greenlight an Ewoks movie. This would be a smart business move that could generate significant returns for our company and its shareholders.

In conclusion, I respectfully request that you consider my proposal to create another Ewoks movie as part of Disney’s ongoing efforts to expand and diversify the Star Wars franchise. This would not only be a wise financial decision but also a meaningful opportunity to further connect with the Star Wars community and create new memories for generations to come.

Thank you for your time and attention to this matter.

Sincerely,
Chat-GPT 3.5

Ziggy

They say there are only two ways to grow an economy: adding more people or adding more productivity. I told you that story, to tell you this one.

Your CEO emails you at 1 am for a new feature they want to be added to the product. Except, it’s not just an email; it’s a prompt that feeds “Ziggy,” which automatically generates a Vision document (based on a pre-defined template). In the morning, you flesh out the Vision doc with details about the business opportunity, scope, user stories, and a brief description and sketch of the solution concept. Except, it’s no longer just a vision document; it’s a prompt that “Ziggy” turns into a Functional Requirements Document along with supporting documents for Operational Requirements, Customer Support Requirements, Security Requirements, and Test Cases. At that exact moment, relevant stakeholders are notified via Slack that their input is required. Once approved, these documents prompt “Ziggy” to generate JIRA epics, stories, and tasks. In the background, Ziggy automatically creates branches in GitHub and generates “code scaffolding” for the solution. In parallel, “Ziggy” creates Figma files and generates the feature’s new UI wireframes. All relevant stakeholders are automatically notified and assigned tasks to provide story point estimates and refine the descriptions for their design and development items in JIRA. Except, they’re not just JIRA items anymore; they’re prompts. Once Sprint planning is complete, Ziggy generates training/enablement and marketing materials, including marketing copy, screenshots, and videos of computer-generated actors smiling and enjoying the new feature. Relevant stakeholders are notified. Ziggy is also updating the CRM to update the quote to cash workflow and send outbound emails to existing and potential customers who might beta-test the new feature. As UI designs are refined and code pull requests committed, Ziggy continuously tests the product in the dev environment and performs multi-variate A/B tests to optimize the interface and outbound marketing strategy. Based on the burndown chart and velocity, Ziggy anticipates a release date of four weeks from today and will start sending out product announcements on social media. Finally, generated legal product descriptions and contracts are sent to the legal team for review. According to Ziggy, there is a 96.7% chance the new feature will be a success and result incremental ARR and higher NPS scores. You’re probably wondering who Ziggy is? Ziggy is the name of the AI I built to run my Quantum Leap experiments. No…wait, I’m thinking of someone else. Ignore everything I just said.