Blog
On GenAI Optimism
If you’ve been anywhere near the internet lately, you’ve probably noticed that Generative AI (GenAI) has gone from “that weird thing that makes creepy faces” to “the technology that’s apparently going to either save or destroy civilization.” But here’s what’s fascinating: depending on who you ask, you’ll get wildly different takes on what this technology actually is and what it means for our future. I’ve noticed something curious in conversations about AI. Those who work in machine learning tend to roll their eyes when business folks start waxing poetic about AI consciousness (“I for one welcome our new AGI overlords”), while those same business folks get frustrated when the ML crowd keeps saying “Well ackchyually… it’s just statistics!” Who’s right? Well, that’s where things get interesting.
September 9, 2025
Building an Infinite Canvas with Skia in React Native
Building an infinite canvas in React Native seems straightforward until you actually try to do it. You quickly run into performance issues, coordinate system headaches, and gesture conflicts that make you question your life choices. After spending way too much time figuring this out, here’s everything I learned about building a proper infinite canvas that actually works. Why React Native Skia? First, why not just use a ScrollView? Because ScrollView has fixed dimensions and doesn’t give you the fine-grained control you need for things like:
September 8, 2025
On Nonlinear Impact
Throughout my life I’ve met many different types of people, some content to lead a simple life, some striving for something more. A simple life, with family and friends, is absolutely a wonderful aspiration that can be fulfilling for many. There are however some who for some reason need to find meaning in something more than the simple life, who have a need to have “impact”, whatever that means for them. Having an impactful life is quite a nebulous and difficult to define aspiration, and what it means will be different for everyone. Does one define impact through community/public service; educating future generations and passing on learnings to help propel future generations forward; or through making scientific discoveries and inventing new things; or perhaps building businesses to give people jobs and help grow economies? Whatever the endeavour, for someone to have impact and achieve that “something more”, what this seems to translate to is having an outsized impact on the world around us, creating more for others than you consume for yourself. For this I use a mental model of Nonlinear Impact.
December 8, 2024