Maggie Appleton
Design engineer exploring applied AI and hacky prototypes.
Adores digital gardening, end-user development, and embodied cognition. Makes visual essays about design, programming, and anthropology.
📍 London
🌱 maggieappleton.com
- Much FOMO that I'm missing out on Local-First Conf @localfirstconf.com this year. One of my fave conferences. A smaller crowd (~200?) where everyone cares a lot about the problem. Lots of friendly collaboration and collective problem-solving. In Berlin, May 26-28th – www.localfirstconf.com
- I went to this as a database muggle and learned tons from the talks. Good case of being thrown in the deep end. Even if I couldn't grok the more technical implementation details, all the speakers framed problems well and made me care on a philosophical level. TLDR No previous knowledge required.
- The next time I'm invited to a baby shower, rather than bringing baby clothes, I'm gifting earplugs, a nice thermos, super comfy button-down pyjamas, and a bum bag. IYKYK.
- Literally blogged similarly last year hahaha cassidoo.co/post/gifts-f...
- Lol, it’s so funny and clarifying from the other side what is actually useful! Ditto on the heating pad. I use a hot water bottle and it’s one of my most valued possessions. Cures almost everything.
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- Yeah no earplugs are going to block out the volume level of a hungry baby, ha. I have Loops which are designed to reduce noise vs. block out out and they work perfectly. Can still hear major squeaks, grunts, and cries - even when sleeping - but at a less acute and panic-inducing level.
- Portioned frozen food has also been really helpful for us
- Yes, also a good one! A few people gifted us subscriptions to healthy ready meal companies. I did a ton of bulk cooking ahead of time to load up the freezer which I don't regret at all.
- My sister got my wife and I one of these each when we had ours: ember.com/products/emb... Hugely recommend, even if the price is eye-watering for what it is. Never really got on with Thermoses, always felt like they tasted a bit weird, but this is just like a normal cup.
- Oh yeah that's a nice indulgent option. Good for a gift! My tea definitely tastes worse/different out of a thermos. But I also like having it covered. Slightly terrified of spilling hot liquid over the baby 😬
- Why does anyone need to use an LLM to adjust a brownie recipe?
- They’re good at explaining how small adjustments will affect the outcome. E.g. I can ask how to make brownies fudgier, more cake-like, vegan, GF. They’ve read enough baking theory online to synthesise the principles behind it well. And can suggest ingredient swaps if you’re out of something.
- I have some (misplaced?) optimism that all mediocre content will be branded "AI slop", even if it isn't AI, and we'll have renewed appreciation for excellent content with personal character.
- I think of this as “higher floors and higher ceilings”. We’ll have higher standards for standard, everyday content (and everything that falls below it gets dismissed as slop/not worth our time). And then higher ceilings for what we expect the best people to produce.
