Humane Pin rise and fall

Humane Pin rise and fall

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[Update 3-4-2024: Humane has sold itself to HP for $116 million – which is surprising since they sold less than 10,000 units. The pins no longer work as of Feb 28, 2025]

[Update 1-10-2024: Things aren’t looking good. The press has been brutal about how bad it is and sales appear to be brutally bad. Humane layed off 4% of it’s workforce and the CTO has transitioned to an ‘advisor’ role before they have even shipped a single device (estimated March 2024)]

[Update – 6-6-2024 It appears that Humane had an unbelivably toxic culture that prohibited questioning the product – an arrogant and sure fire way to deliver a disaster.

The Times interviewed “23 current and former employees, advisers and investors”. The two former Apple employee founders “preferred positivity over criticism, leading them to disregard warnings about the AI Pin’s poor battery life and power consumption. A senior software engineer was dismissed after raising questions about the product, they said, while others left out of frustration.” Another software engineer was fired for questioning if the AI pin would be ready for launch, the report describes a staff meeting where the founders “said the employee had violated policy by talking negatively about Humane.” ]

It looks like the Humane pin has finally launched at a relatively reasonable cost of $699. We finally have some details. I’m pretty sure it’s not a smartphone killer – Humane has definitely backed off from that original stance. In fact, it’s turned into something of a disaster.

The translation feature is a really excellent usage and having a simple assistant that can let you check flight times and send text messages without pulling out your phone is pretty slick. But I’m not sure about a lot of the rest. Needing a $20 monthly subscription and not tethering with your existing phone plan is a troubling extra expense.

Having to interact with it with talking will definitely make it a bit awkward in social and public situations. I bet it would have problems at a dinner party or louder venue. Gesture recognition is a finicky technology (especially in strange lighting conditions, if you’re wearing gloves, etc), so if there are any issues there it could be very frustrating and you can only do so much with simple gestures.

The screen projection looks limited to high contrast basic information. You certainly won’t be reading lots of text – which is problematic if you want to read text messages instead of having them read aloud to you (and everyone else around you). I certainly wouldn’t want everyone to hear what people are texting me; but maybe they’ll allow blue tooth headphone tethering.

I think the biggest issue is that it didn’t live up to the hype. Almost all of these things can be done with your average smart phone – albeit with a little more fiddling. The AI just isn’t really delivering a unique enough set of features to live up to the promise of the device. It really seems to just be giving you a more vocal interface – which I’m not sure is enough of a selling point. The reality is people likely do not want to be talking to their devices in public. I could easily see the iWatch or smart phones integrating some of these features though.

The one thing is does do is make me start thinking of how we interact with our technology very differently. How would a truly smart AI assistant be like to interact with? What would a really functional assistant like this operate like? I’m glad someone is trying this out. Even if it’s not successful, it’s going to breed a lot of new ideas.

The reddit chat on the device seems to mirror a lot of the concerns. Also, it seems they only have about 100,000 interested folks sign up to purchase one. I’m one of those people who signed up, but it required no deposit/etc so it’s uncertain how many actual buyers there will be.

Final thought: The way you tap it makes me think immediately of Star Trek communicator badges. I bet it’s not long before someone mods one.

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Fold-out housing

Fold-out housing

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Boxabl has made folding houses that can be taken to your location and installed in just a few hours. While not actually shipping any buildings yet, they’re getting tons of press. They’re very modern looking and they appear to be getting lots of traction.

How much does it cost? One of their first offerings is the Casita – a 375 square foot unit. Supposedly, these units will be stackable and connectable to other units.

odelBedroomsBathroomsSquare FeetAll-in Cost Estimate (Not Including Land)
CasitaStudio1375$54,500 – $99,500+
Introduction to Generative AI

Introduction to Generative AI

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AI’s can be applied to a number of different classes of problems. Recognizing and predicting are some of these tasks. But when it comes to generating something, you’re probably using a GAN.

This is a video from about 3 years ago when GANS were really getting started. If you’re trying to get your feet wet, this is a great, brief introduction to the history of AI systems like GANs (generative adversarial networks). Or, check out some of these other networks.

Links to referenced material:

Perfect code vs perfect products

Perfect code vs perfect products

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For one-shot things like games – focus on the experience above all else.

Update 2024/01: More proof that technical limits have little impact for making great games. Slay the Spire’s graphical glitches were there because the author only had two $70 monitors that were so bad he literally didn’t see the issues.

Authenticity is rare

Authenticity is rare

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37 “You are a king, then!” said Pilate.

Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

38 “What is truth?” retorted Pilate.

John 18:33-38

The Merriam-Webster’s team of lexicographers choose the 2023 word of the year via a simple process. They look at how many hits and searches words receive, and among the words in the pool, they pick the one that represents the zeitgeist for that year. Last year, it was “gaslighting”. 

And perhaps, it’s no surprise then, that the word of the year for 2023 is “Authentic“.

Is it any wonder people are struggling and searching for something ‘authentic’ in a world where there are no absolutes, no truths that aren’t considered just someone’s opinion? Well, except pesky science that keeps proving the world is based on absolute, objective, and verifiable facts. I guess that’s why we see groups across the entire left to right political spectrum denying science: from environment to biology.

We are increasingly casting off the notion of objective, scientific truths for little more than opinions couched in the whole ‘speaking my truth’ phenomenon. Instead, social truth comes solely from the conviction of your opinion. It’s ironic that this means we’re becoming slaves to charismatic people instead of facts. Charismatic and sometimes well-meaning people, however, have lead us to some of the most horrific periods of the 20th century.

Faith is inescapable. Even an atheist puts their faith in countless things all day. For some it’s news sources, political parties, social media stars, to simple things like trusting electricity works by flipping switches and their car will protect them in a crash. And yes, spiritual faith. Yet, it’s a bit terrifying to see us throwing out honest debate, science, verification of facts, and seeking truth with intellectual curiosity for opinions based on emotion, violence, and charismatic leaders instead.

If you think proving objective truth is limited to just science, there is a way to test other facts. You drive down the road having faith in the engineers that made it that the car will be safe. You can also have faith in the teachings of Christ, and you can test them the same way: by experiment.

I recommend that if you want to try out real truth in your life – you can easily give it a try.

Prenuvo: The age of full body scan

Prenuvo: The age of full body scan

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As my doctor told me, we do not have medical tricorders like they do on Star Trek. Devices that could quickly and safely scan your whole body and give you a diagnosis. The closest things we have today are MRI or CT scans, but those kinds of scans are not usually done unless there is a problem suspected and require a doctor to read and interpret. They’re not generally available to the public without a doctor’s orders because they have been very expensive, require trained doctors to read the results, and carry their own risks such as radiation for CT’s and chemical toxicity if chemical contrast is used.

But maybe things are changing.

Prenuvo is starting to offer MRI scans to the general public that can detect more then 500 conditions such as congenital defects that might go unnoticed and early stages of cancer. Despite being fairly new, it’s already started saving lives – especially for people in stage 1 cancer when there may be absolutely no symptoms.

This is particularly important for me because I had not one, but two independent stage 1 cancers. The worse part, just like Julianne Santarosa in the article, I had no symptoms. My first cancer was found via a routine exam; and during the investigation for the first cancer I got a MRI scan that revealed the second. I had surgery very quickly for both and it appears we successfully caught it before it spread. I’m now in a 5 year monitoring period, but the early detection definitely and massively improved my odds of survival.

Right now Prenuvo is open in a few major cities, but has expansion plans to many other cities. Personally, I plan on making use of them if I make it through my 5 year monitoring phase for my current cancer recovery.

They offer different plans which includes a torso scan for $1799 and a full body scan for $2499. For the price of a holiday trip, I think it’s an absolutely worthwhile diagnostic tool.

Y combiner is also pushing for more CT scan startups such Neko.

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No, seriously – don’t go there

No, seriously – don’t go there

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Just for fun, I was looking at exotic places to travel. In looking at UNESCO heritage sites, the ancient and fascinating city of Timbuktu came up. But in looking at travel advisories to Mali, uhhhh – yeah.

The US State Department Travel has a great website with travel advisories for every country around the world. They have a rating system from 1-4. Right now, Mali (where Timbuktu is located) is a 4 due to crime, terrorism, and kidnapping. But I mean, how bad can it really be? I bet they’re over-exaggerating. Let’s read the description

Terrorist and armed groups continue plotting kidnappings and attacks in Mali. They may attack with little or no warning, targeting locations frequented by foreigners. The U.S. government is unable to provide emergency services to U.S. citizens throughout much of Mali as U.S. government employee travel outside Bamako is restricted due to security concerns.

Well, that’s not encouraging. But I’ve traveled abroad a lot and get along with just about everyone by being cool, respectful, and staying low-key. How bad could it be right? Let’s continue reading the advisory…

If you decide to travel to Mali:

  • Draft a will and designate appropriate insurance beneficiaries and/or power of attorney.
  • Discuss a plan with loved ones regarding care/custody of children, pets, property, belongings, non-liquid assets (collections, artwork, etc.), funeral wishes, etc.
  • Share important documents, login information, and points of contact with loved ones so that they can manage your affairs if you are unable to return as planned to the United States. 
  • Establish your own personal security plan in coordination with your employer or host organization, or consider consulting with a professional security organization.
  • Develop a communication plan with family and/or your employer or host organization so that they can monitor your safety and location as you travel through high-risk areas. This plan should specify whom you would contact first and how they should share the information.
  • Identify key sources of possible assistance for you and your family in case of emergency, such as the local U.S. embassy or consulate, FBI, the State Department, your employer (if traveling on business), and local friends/family in the high-risk area. 
  • Be sure to appoint one family member to serve as the point of contact with hostage-takers, media, U.S. and host country government agencies, and Members of Congress if you are taken hostage or detained.
  • Establish a proof of life protocol with your loved ones so that, if you are taken hostage, your loved ones will know specific questions and answers to ask the hostage-takers to be sure you are alive and to rule out a hoax.
  • Leave DNA samples with your medical provider in case it is necessary for your family to access them.

Uhhhhh – yeah. Not traveling to Mali anytime soon.

Creating really cool camp stove fire

Creating really cool camp stove fire

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Hoshizora Camping demonstrates a cool way of making your camp stove super cool. He first angles the holes in the secondary combustion layer and then adds a fire ring to an ordinary, boring camp stove. With some tweaking, the flame coming out of your stove will be tornadoed into a cool braid-like effect. I like how he shows how he experiments with different configurations to get the best effects.

I think this would be a great way to add a luxury touch to your camp stove and give you something cool to watch at the end of a long day of hiking or climbing.