PicoBlog

Join 12,000+ readers for monthly ideas about career strategy, learning, and work-life integration. By Nick DeWilde · Over 13,000 subscribersNo thanks“Whenever a new issue of the Jungle Gym pops up in my inbox, I make time to read the whole thing. Nick is an excellent writer + always thought-provoking.” ncG1vNJzZmiipaO0rbHGsqRnq6WXwLWtwqRlnKedZA%3D%3D

This newsletter is presented by Rebuy, the commerce AI company. If you like the newsletter, feel free to get in touch or follow me on Medium, X, and LinkedIn. I try my best to produce useful and informative content. Recent AI research has revealed that reinforcement learning (RL)—reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF) in particular—is a key component of training large language models (LLMs). However, many AI practitioners (admittedly) avoid the use of RL due to several factors, including a lack of familiarity with RL or preference for supervised learning techniques.

Hello Everyone, Mykola and I recorded a new episode of the Ukraine-Russia War Talk Podcast just a little while ago, and it will be released tomorrow (Sunday) morning. In it we discuss the Biden Administration’s decision to allow the Ukrainians to fire (in a limited way) into Russia. I will discuss that briefly in this update, but I thought I might writ… ncG1vNJzZmiomJ65rbXPrKeomqKesq960q6ZrKyRmLhvr86mZqlnp5qyrLHNnWSuqJSWwaZ5l2xkraCVYriprdGkoK9ln5uzprrSoq2e

Listen to me read it here: I’ve been wanting to talk about a population of kids who I’ve become increasingly concerned about: The kids who talk like adults. These are the kids who present with an authority and maturity wise beyond their years; they articulate their thoughts and feelings in a manner that often leaves adults astonished. These kids are often called “old souls” or “mature for their age.” They may also be known as “precocious” or may even struggle to relate to same-age peers.

“I’m no genius,” says the titular character (Michael Fassbender) in one of the many internal dialogues in David Fincher's latest movie, The Killer. That may be true, but he’s a skilled and methodical “freelancer” who’s excellent at his job, which happens to be murdering people professionally by drawing the least amount of attention. He knows his trade inside out: The endless boredom that comes with it, the rigorous cautionary routines that keep him safe and vigilant, and the anonymity it requires.

“Kobayashi Maru” is a Star Trek term that people who are not Star Trek fans know the meaning of. The phrase "Kobayashi Maru" has entered the popular lexicon as a reference to a no-win scenario. The term is also sometimes used to invoke Kirk's decision to "change the conditions of the test." In Star Trek stories, “Kobayashi Maru” is a test designed to test the character of Starfleet Academy cadets, by placing them in a no-win scenario.

I’ve been thinking about who had the biggest rap comeback in 2022 and the best answer I could come up with was…Kodak Black. I know just saying that will upset some people, but Kodak’s second wind of relevance says a lot about the moral posturing of our current era.  I was a fan of Kodak as far back as 2015. He won me over with his mixtape, Lil B.I.G. Pac. I thought he had a lot of talent but he was obviously a wild dude who I assumed had a traumatic upbringing.

The Ladies Man has the distinction of being the first and only film based on a Saturday Night Live sketch with an African-American protagonist and an African-American director.  That protagonist is of course Leon Phelps (Tim Meadows), a throwback to the grooviest days of the 1970s with a towering Afro, a wardrobe that seemingly hasn’t been updated since the Carter administration, a lisping purr of a voice and an obsession with doing it in the butt.

This is a movie website, though I feel comfortable including the made-for-TV "The Last Days of Patton" here, since it is the largely unknown sequel to 1970's seminal "Patton." General George S. Patton was surely the signature role of George C. Scott's long film career, and that's saying something. He won a Best Actor Oscar for the 1970 film (which he declined) and no doubt relished the chance to revisit the character, who died shortly following the end of World War II after being paralyzed in a freak auto accident.