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Week 1168 -- Launched ghiblify

Launched ghiblify (demo video) this week! Here are some stats from the 4 days it’s been public:

It was a fun practice project to get ourselves familiar with the loop of creating a custom image generation model, deploying it, building a product around it, and promoting it on social media.

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Reading:

Finished The Contrarian, a biography on Peter Thiel written by Max Chafkin. I didn’t know too much about Thiel before this, so it was interesting to learn about some of the stories behind one of Silicon Valley’s most successful businessmen.

Finished Permanent Record by Edward Snowden. I found the final few chapters to be the most interesting. He explains how he made his decision while being hyperaware of the consequences it would have on his personal life and the lives of his loved ones. I had never thought too deeply about it before, but there’s also a ton of risk and complexity in implementing his decision once he had committed himself to it. He illuminates some of the hurdles he went through in order to discreetly collect evidence and then find trustworthy journalists to pass the information to. I can’t imagine the fear and anxiety that he lived with during those climactic months but I appreciate getting a small glimpse into his psychology through this book. I’m also surprised that his girlfriend moved to Moscow to be with him in exile and married him. His decision forced her to go through intense scrutiny from the feds and press without her having any prior knowledge or preparation. I feel like most people would bear resentment towards the person who subjected them to such an experience. Hopefully I can find a partner like that someday.