Five Links #103
1. Finding curated public domain images
A nice collection of resources that make the search for public domain images just a little better.
2. Are you in the weights?
“In the weights” means that a model is able to recall someone without using tools like web search.
I guess this is the LLM equivalent of Googling yourself. It turns out I’m in here, but the incorrect details it hallucinates are amusing: one model thinks I’m from Belfast, Gemini thinks I write about Javascript(!), and Claude invented some side projects for me.
3. Hold on to your butts!
Who doesn’t love a good GIF domain?
4. Saying “No” in an age of abundance
So maybe the way you argue for saying “no” isn’t because it helps you as a business, but because it helps your customers. It helps them make sense of what you’ve made.
And yet: arguing for customer clarity has always been harder than arguing for internal efficiency or some bottom line.
Related/unrelated: I’m reminded of the famous Anne Lamott line, “‘No.’ is a complete sentence.”
5. LLMs and performative productivity
If you’re opening PRs faster than anyone can read through them, you’re not increasing productivity; you’re clogging the bottleneck. That’s closer to sabotage than it is to productivity.
What am I up to?
- Just published my own answers to the design process questions. I wasn’t going to publish this as it feels a bit icky, but I’m sharing to encourage other designers to talk about their process
- My next available Unoffice Hour slot is 8 July
- I have limited availability for new projects from July.
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Until next time,
Dave