Cheap turpentine
“When art critics get together they talk about form and structure and meaning. When artists get together, they talk about where you can buy cheap turpentine.” — attributed to Pablo Picasso
flurries of latent creativity
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Community is a product decision
I’ve learned over the years that shipping fast compounds exponentially only if you’re also learning fast. Otherwise, you’re just pushing volume (and many mistakes) into production, celebrating the wrong kind of momentum.
Dreamer – why we built it!
Dreamer is the name of the platform and company I started with Hugo, Nicholas and others a little over a year ago. The company was lovingly christened /dev/agents in homage to Stripe while we contemplated our real name.
Coding agents have crossed a chasm
Coding agents have crossed a chasm Somewhere in the last few months, something fundamental shifted for me with autonomous AI coding agents. They’ve gone from a “hey this is pretty neat” curiosity to something I genuinely can’t imagine working without.
picowx – An APRS powered RPi Pico-W eInk Weather Station
This project began as a quick hack to make use of the cool Pimoroni Inky Pack. I was quickly nerd-sniped into exploring the depths of micropython and power optimization on the Pico.
Situational awareness and kindlegen
On June 4th Leopold Aschenbrenner dropped a 165 page PDF – “Situational Awareness: The Decade Ahead” – a comprehensive essay series exploring the future trajectory of artificial intelligence, particularly focusing on the development and implications of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).
More Advent of Code optimization
Warning, if you plan to complete Advent of Code 2023, this post contains spoilers so don’t read it until you’re done. My last post on Advent of Code spurred a bunch of discussion which inspired me to optimize my 2023 solutions in python even further.
Advent of code 2023 in under a second in python (ish!)
Warning, if you plan to complete Advent of Code 2023, this post contains spoilers so don’t read it until you’re done. This was my second year completing Advent of Code live during December.
Irish stew
Irish stew There are many recipes for irish stew on the Internet, but not a single one that comes close to the stew my mum makes. This is her recipe.
Lamb al asador
Lamb al asador is a classic Patagonian method of barbecue with a whole lamb flayed and hung on an asado cross over an open fire. I had the good fortune to be able to eat lamb al asador in Chile in early 2020 (pre lockdown!
Advent of code
The contest Advent of Code is an advent calendar of programming puzzles made by Eric Wastl. It’s been going since 2015 and really gained popularity in 2020. I’d heard about AOC peripherally (is… peripheral hearing a thing?
TOTP tokens on my wrist with the smartest dumb watch.
I recently took delivery of a new replacement logic board for the ubiquitous classic Casio F-91W from Sensor Watch. The F-91W needs no introduction. It’s probably the most popular quartz watch in the world with something like 90 million total units sold.
Stable diffusion on an M1 Mac
As you’ll know if you follow me on Twitter, I’ve been kindof obsessed with the text-to-image GPT models OpenAI released as DALL-E recently. I’ve enjoyed generating art and even collaborating with DALL-E to riff on paintings I’ve made myself.
Pita bread
Yeast-leavened round flatbreads baked from wheat flour, common in the Mediterranean, Middle East, and neighboring areas. Ingredients 500g strong white bread flour (plus a little more for dusting) 360g lukewarm water 3 tsp instant dry yeast 1 tsp salt 1 tsp sugar 1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil Steps Bloom the yeast in the water and sugar, 10 mins.
Okonomiyaki
Delicious Japanese savory pancake. Okonomiyaki Ingredients 3 tbsp vegetable oil 100g green cabbage, finely sliced 2 rashers smoked streaky bacon 100g plain flour 4 large eggs 300 ml milk kewpie mayonnaise tonkatsu sauce 1 nori sheet 2 scallions bonito flakes Steps Fry the cabbage and bacon in 1 tbsp oil.
Kālua pork, cooked in an imu.
If you’ve ever enjoyed a Luau in Hawaii, chances are that the pièce de résistance was delicious melt-in-the-mouth Kālua Pork which is often served as the centrepiece of the Luau feast.
Olive and Rosemary Focaccia
Olive and rosemary focaccia Ingredients 7 grams (1 envelope) active dry yeast 625g bread flour 2 1/2 cups lukewarm water 2 tsp honey or caster sugar 5 tsp salt for dough 2 tsp flaky sea salt 8 tbsp extra virgin olive oil bunch fresh rosemary 10 fresh olives Steps Bloom the yeast (10 mins) in the water plus honey or sugar.
Aloo Gobi
Aloo Gobi Indian spiced potatoes and cauliflower. Ingredients 2 potatoes 1 whole cauliflower 1 onion 2 diced tomatoes 1 tsp turmeric 1 tbsp minced ginger 3 cloves minced garlic 1 minced serrano chile 2 tsp cumin seeds 1 tbsp garam masala 2 tbsp chopped coriander / cilantro 1 tsp red chili powder salt to taste oil Steps Break the caulflower into small florets (~6 cm in diameter) Chop the potatoes…
Brioche burger buns
Brioche burger buns Ingredients 7g active dry yeast 1 tsp sugar (to bloom the yeast) 50g water (lukewarm) 80g milk (lukewarm) 300g all purpose flour 1 large egg for the dough 1 egg for brushing 45g sugar for the dough 100g butter (room temp) 5g salt sesame seeds Steps Combine the water, milk and tsp of sugar with the yeast and allow to bloom 10 mins.
The joy of building a ray tracer, for fun, in Rust.
TLDR? You can find the code and a bunch of examples on GitHub at dps/rust-raytracer . Over the holiday break, I decided to learn Rust. Rust is a modern systems programming language which has a really interesting type system. The type system can catch broad classes of common programming mistakes - e.g. ensuring memory is accessed safely - at compile time while generating tight, performant machine…
About
I’m David Singleton. This is my personal website / blog. You can find my professional profile on LinkedIn. I grew up in Belfast, spent more than a decade in England and now live in San Francisco, CA.
Probabilistic Spreadsheet
I’ve had an idea kicking around at the back of my mind for years and finally spent a few hours over the last couple of weekends building it. It’s a probabilistic spreadsheet.
Jellyfish clouds
I saw these amazing jellyfish clouds at sunset over Sea Ranch, CA last week. Their shape - with solid bodies and flowing tentacles - together with the beautiful sunset colors (each photo is completely unfiltered) really grabbed me.
Radiohead - Live at the Astoria (May 1994)
😍🎸 Vintage Radiohead concert - Live at the Astoria (May 1994).
I made a spreadsheet
Visicalc, the world’s first spreadsheet, was also the original killer app. Steve Jobs said that Visicalc “propelled the Apple ][ to the success it achieved”. As one of the first mainstream digital tools, I’m fairly sure the first spreadsheet inspired Jobs’ later quote that “…the computer is the most remarkable tool that we’ve ever come up with. It’s…
I wrote a compiler
I have a Computer Science degree. I attended a whole course of lectures on compilers (and have a certain fondness for “the red dragon book” as a result). However, I had never actually written a compiler from start to finish until a rainy day last weekend.
BBQ ribs
BBQ Ribs (a continuous work in progress) Ingredients 2 racks baby back pork ribs For the rub 1/2 cup brown sugar 4 tablespoons chili powder kosher salt black pepper 2 tsp oregano 1 tsp cayenne pepper 1 tsp garlic powder 1 tsp onion powder Steps sous vide method
Wine update and 2020 vintage
Amid the pandemic and California fires, September saw a flurry of activity on the wine-making front. We bottled our 2019 primativo and picked, crushed, fermented and pressed our 2020 vintage - a (tricky) pinot noir.
Chicken Tikka Masala
Authentic Chicken Tikka Masala. Authentic to British takeaway curry houses, that is.
Non-alcoholic "spirits"
I’m trying to make something better than seedlip. August 15th 2020, “Summer Sun” Ingredients Zest of two lemons One largish jalapeno two lime tree leaves 20g coriander seeds 1/4 cup sugar 16 oz water Steps toast the jalapeno seeds and coriander seeds mince the rest of the jalapeno macerate in a pestle and mortar simmer ~15 mins, dissolving the sugar chill Tasting notes Grassy and…
How to Land the Space Shuttle... from Space
I happened upon Bret Copeland’s awesome 20 minute talk from 2016 this week. Landing the space shuttle is an amazing feat. Delightful talk, you won’t be disappointed.
New York style bagels
Bagels, the way they make them in the Big Apple. Recipe makes 8 bagels. Ingredients 500g bread flour 23g baker’s sugar 7g packet of instant yeast 297g water at 32C/90F 6g salt 1 egg Seasoning if desired (e.
Carrot and red lentil daal
Absolutely inauthentic, but yummy. Ingredients 1/2 cup red lentils 2 carrots, grated 20g finely diced cilantro stalks handful fresh cilantro 2 tsp honey 1 tsp cumin salt and pepper to taste Steps Fry diced cilantro stalks with cumin.
Bill Gates - TED - How the pandemic will shape the near future
Bill Gates’ TED episode “how the pandemic will shape the near future” is the most lucid overview I’ve heard of where we stand with respect to fighting COVID-19.
Chicken udon soup
This recipe is a great way to use roast chicken leftovers. Hearty umami flavor. Guaranteed to make you smile.
Making concrete is fun
I asked my son what he wanted to do for his fourth birthday and he said “make concrete”! I suppose this was to do with my having waxed lyrical about how incredible concrete is. Stone! That you can make wherever you want, in any shape that you desire.
Apricot and date stuffed pork loin
Work in progress. Ingredients 2 lb pork loin 1 apple (optional) for the stuffing 1/2 cup dried apricots 1/2 cup dates 1/2 cup cashew nuts (unsalted) 1 cup breadcrumbs 1/2 cup olive oil 1 tbsp cumin 1 tbsp black pepper Steps Combine the stuffing ingredents in food processor and blend until finely chopped Butterfly the pork loin and tenderize Spread the stuffing evenly across the loin (about 1/2…
Brussels Sprout and Sweet Potato Tacos
Weird but delicious. Ingredients 1 onion 8 oz brussels sprouts 1 sweet potato 1 tbsp cumin 1 tbsp chilli powder 2 tsp paprika 1/2 oz hot honey 1 tbsp olive oil 4 flour tacos Steps roughly chop onion dice brussels sprouts peel and grate sweet potato toast the spices then add olive oil and fry the onion add the brussels sprouts and grated sweet potato, fry until slightly caramelized add 1/4 cup…
Bonjour ma classe!
When COVID-19 hit, my kids’ school, like many others around the world, moved over to a fully remote/online learning program. The school and some of the other parents were looking for ways to help the students keep in touch during lockdown. Over the course of a couple of weekends back in April, I built a little web app for them. It collects availability and matches kids for 1:1 online video…
Appreciating Duolingo
This is #NotAnAd - Duolingo is my favorite app of the year. Duolingo is an app for learning a new language at your own pace and in your own time. I recently achieved a 100 day streak on Duolingo, part of the way to my New Year’s resolution to do 365 days of French this year. I’m un peu fier (a little bit proud) of myself, but I’m also a little bit in awe of quite how polished,…
Carrot Risotto
Sweet ribbons of grated carrot make this simple risotto sweet and delicious Ingredients 1 1/2 cups arborio rice 3 large carrots, grated in fine ribbons 300 g cherry tomatoes, halved 1 large onion, diced 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped 1 pint vegetable stock or broth 3 tbsp olive oil 1/3 cup vermouth or white wine salt to taste Steps In a large saucepan, Fry the tomatoes until blistered, set aside…
Artbruary
For the month of February, friends challenged me to produce a piece of art every day. I’m a little surprised but quite proud to report that I did! In 29 days, I produced 25 pencil sketches, 2 photographs, 1 piece of graphic design and a study for a large art project I hope to complete later in the year.
Eggplant curry
Sri lankan eggplant curry Ingredients Eggplant (salted), deep fried (veg oil) black mustard seeds cumin seeds roughly chopped onion curry leaves green chili garlic ginger chopped tomato cinnamon (optional) dried chili flakes lemon juice sugar (optional) black pepper Steps Cook Serving Serve with rice and sprinkle with coriander.
Superhero stew
I made this stew for my kids. It contains many of their favorite ingredients. My daughter Emily named it and promises you that it is scrumdiddlyumptuous. Ingredients 1 red onion 1 yam 1 sweet potato 3 large carrots 300g split red lentils 600ml vegetable stock 1 tin (400g) kidney beans 1 tin (400g) chopped tomatoes tomato paste 2 tsp ground ginger 2 tsp cinnamon 2 tsp cumin 1 bay leaf Steps Toast…
Exploring SwiftUI with Recipes
Apple recently released SwiftUI, which is a new declarative system for building user interfaces across Apple platforms. When Mac OS X came out, Apple introduced Objective-C and Project Builder including the NeXT-inspired Interface Builder tools (since integrated in XCode).
Shakshuka
a dish of eggs poached in a sauce of tomatoes Ingredients 1 red onion 1 1/2 bell peppers 3 cloves garlic 2 tbsp cumin 1/2 jalapeno pepper bunch of cilantro 1 large tin tomatoes (800g) tomato paste 8 eggs (optional) feta cheese Steps Toast the cumin, finely slice the garlic and dice the onion and jalapeno, fry in olive oil with the very finely diced stalks of cilantro.
Adventures in winemaking at home
I’m making wine. The process is a delightful combination of craft and science. I had no idea where this mission would take me - from harvesting grapes in bucolic Sonoma, to exploring the micro-biology of malolactic fermentation.
Santa Maria style Tri-Tip
The mainstay of California’s culinary heritage, apparently. Also, very tasty. Ingredients 3 lbs beef tri-tip (Costco is great for this) 1 tsp sea salt 1 tsp ground black pepper 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder 2 tsp paprika 1 tsp onion powder 1/2 tsp dried rosemary 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper 3 tbsp olive oil 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard 1/3 cup red wine vinegar Steps Mix the marinade in a bowl Cut the tri-tip…
Laser cut Tic-Tac-Toe
My daughter recently learned to play Tic-Tac-Toe (that’s Noughts and Crosses for all the English readers and “exie ohsies” for the norn-iron crew). I made her a wooden board using our Glowforge which came out so well she wanted to give one to her friend for their birthday.
Better known...
Last year, Ivan Wise interviewed me for his Better Known podcast, where each guest names six things they think should be better known. Here’s a transcript of the episode.