Articles and notes by Clinton Dreisbach
The metaphor of the Tower of Babel for the misuse of AI right at the beginning of Magnifica Humanitas , Pope Leo's encyclical on AI and work, hooked me. It's been a document I've been thinking about since I finished it and I expect this won't be the last blog post I write about it. There's a tension I feel between my different values — my love of computing and my belief in humanity as flawed but…
I went out to a Magic: the Gathering night at The Common Market tonight and had a great time. First game was challenging but I felt I put up a good show. The second game was a hilarious race to the bottom of our life totals, over in 30 minutes. The last game my big Uril Enchantress deck went off, launching a 42/42 Aura Gnarlid and a 87/87 Uril with trample to take out two players in one turn. My…
I built a new Commander deck for Magic: the Gathering around Kwain, Itinerant Meddler (decklist) . I expected it to be a fun deck, with a lot of light-hearted "everyone wins but I win a little more" action. Instead I got a mean machine that creates wild board states. I tried to win this game with Approach of the Second Sun but got counterspelled, so I had to rush in with a swarm of duplicated…
I have a flock of hens in my backyard. My wife, Rachel, had them before we met and we've kept them, even when we lived on a different property for a year while our house was under construction. They're incredible creatures for keeping our home food-waste-free: they'll eat anything and turn it into fresh eggs. During the summer we get enough eggs to give them out to friends and people we care…
I have been fascinated with Magnifica Humanitas , the encyclical from Pope Leo XIV. It's been referred to as an encyclical about AI, and it is that, but it's also a stunning document on a Christian attitude toward work, human rights, and the need for solidarity with the poor. (And he uses the metaphor of the Tower of Babel! I've been using this in casual conversation about AI for a year. Love to…
Eight months ago, I wrote about the growing pressure at work to use AI . I was hesitant and worried it would be inevitable. I was right, but I was also surprised at how I took to it. Since March of this year, I started using AI as part of my daily workflow, as a sort of personal information manager. I started with a harness a coworker wrote, but quickly evolved it into my own setup, with skills to…
My wife found the most wonderful gift for me this year, the book Witness to Injustice by David Frost Jr . This slim tome contained more vivid stories than books five times its size. It's the memoir of a Black man, David Frost, born in the 1920s just a few miles from where I grew up in rural Barbour County in Alabama. He ran moonshine and later a nightclub before fighting for civil rights from…
I am feeling more pressure every day at work to use AI as part of my development workflow; specifically, to use multiple tools and integrate them into my processes. I worry when the amount of pressure will lead to me exiting my role. I have found AI useful at some things. It's good at reading documents and suggesting ways to get them more in line with company standards, and it's ok at reading code…
This month, I read: The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbary: I picked this off the shelf based on the title and cover not knowing anything about it. It was hilarious, touching, and very French. Recommended if you like diaries or depressed people or dry humor. It reminded me a little of Convenience Store Woman. Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay and The Story of the Lost Child by Elena…
First and foremost, The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden. I can't talk too much about it because not knowing where it is going is a lot of what I loved about this book. It takes a third-act turn that changed the whole book for me and made me fall deeper in love with it. I recommend it to everyone, but it does have some explicit sex scenes, in case that's not for you. Second, My Brilliant Friend and…
I exceeded my goal this year of reading 52 books. I read 57 in total, the great majority of those being fiction. Fiction Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang , Kate Wilhelm The Boy on the Bridge , M.R. Carey Freeware , Rudy Rucker Red Clocks , Leni Zumas The Wanderers , Meg Howrey The Christians , Lucas Hnath (stageplay) Barbary Station , R.E. Stearns After the Flare , Deji Bryce Olukotun The Power ,…
Just watched Tig Notaro's new special and she does a really funny bit about the Indigo Girls and it reminded me of my first and best concert experience. There wasn't a lot of access to great music as a rural Southern kid. The local rock station, 102.9 KISS FM, was real heavy on Def Leppard and Guns 'n' Roses. Me and a few kids traded tapes that we recorded of music we found, and when the Indigo…
I am hungry and itching for my first immersive class with Momentum to start. We have a great program put together that is going to change people's careers and their lives. One of the pieces of the program I'm most excited about is called "Development Practices." In putting together our new curriculum, I spent a lot of time thinking about what's missing from code school curricula. I realized that…
When I was a kid, I dreamed of being a teacher. I didn't think I'd end up teaching people to code. I wanted to be a high school English teacher. I learned to program, though, and that career was too lucrative to derail. Fortunately, I found my way back to teaching, first through being an instructor and academic director at The Iron Yard, and now through co-founding Momentum . I couldn't have asked…
One of the most fun and unexpected parts of hopping on the Jesus train has been finding podcasts. Here are my favorites: Unbelievable? This is the most serious podcast I listen to. The host, Justin, brings people with different perspectives together, often a Christian and an atheist, but not exclusively, and has them debate about a topic. It is British, so it is very civilized. I often find myself…
bell hooks talks to John Perry Barlow . This is some of the most mindblowing stuff I have read. Unlearning the Religion of Whiteness . Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove is a prophetic voice. I think he is right on that whiteness is the poison at the roots of American Christianity. Agenda . Found this note-taking program this week. OS X only, but it is really tight. Enjoying it a lot. JavaScript’s a mess –…
Today I was leaving the parking garage at work when I saw someone's lights were on and their car was off. I leave my lights on all the time and run down my battery on the reg, so I decided to do the right thing and stop and see if I could turn their lights off. I walk up to the car -- walking up to a car that is not yours feels extremely weird -- and test the door handle. It opens and I turn off…
I'm feeling really grateful this evening. Favorite TV show: Person of Interest Favorite band: They Might Be Giants Favorite activity: playing role-playing games with my friends Favorite person to play games with: Dashiell Favorite person to snuggle with: Thorin Favorite pet ever: Violet the cat Favorite concert: Kylesa Favorite cheap root beer: A&W Favorite expensive root beer: Brownie Favorite…