PicoBlog

It is a strange feeling to be writing about Demons on the day Trump leaves office. It was equally as strange to read the novel over the last couple weeks, which included a white nationalist riot at the Capitol. But I’m not about to spend my time making a bunch of overly simplistic comparisons of the chaotic events of Dostoevsky’s novel to the mess of current American politics. There is already an article that does exactly that.

Mixtral 8x7B, Mistral AI’s new sparse Mixtures of Experts LLM, recently made a lot of waves, with dramatic headlines such as: Mistral AI Introduces Mixtral 8x7B: a Sparse Mixture of Experts (SMoE) Language Model Transforming Machine Learning Mixtral 8x7B: Elevating Language Modeling with Expert Architecture What is Mixtral 8x7B? The open LLM giving GPT-3.5 a run for its money Mistral AI’s Mixtral 8x7B surpasses GPT-3.5, shaking up the AI world

One of the biggest misunderstandings in the story of Seattle is that Denny Hill no longer exists. My job in this newsletter is to show you that it’s still here. You just need to know where to look and why to look there. For those ambitious types, it would help if you were a diver who could descend into Elliott Bay. Between 1897 and 1930, five regrades lowered Denny Hill by 100 feet, reducing it from a mid-sized hill to its present pancakian topography.

Share Note: I wrote this for my WORLD Media column space…only to find out that somebody else had beat me to the punch.  Oh well.  Now I can use it here.  I didn’t really know who Derek Webb was, which is no big deal because I don’t know who a lot of people are.  When I grew up, the kind of tacit understanding was that you wouldn’t know (much less care about) most people.

A colleague and friend recently proffered this revelatory thought-starter: If you were stranded on a desert island, what three dried spices would you want to have stocked in endless supply? Salt has humanely been included, but pepper has not. Everyone’s responses were fascinating. Z. chose cumin, chili peppers, and oregano. My brother went with Korean chili, ginger, and garlic powders. My answer—black pepper, red pepper, and saffron—evinced staid practicality punctuated by sheer indulgence, which is, coincidentally, how I’d describe the fool-proof foundations of an elite wardrobe, though regrettably not mine.

Through the cacophony of existence, "Desiderata," a poem penned by Max Ehrmann in the whispering twilight of 1927, glides elegantly as a wisp of smoke, inviting the reader into its quiet sanctuary. The poem is a whispered lullaby in the midst of an orchestral storm, a guide for finding the marble in the vast ocean of sand. "Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.

Exploring the intersection of AI and design. Through experimentation, I'll share observations and reflections on emerging tools, inspiring examples of AI in action, and reflections on the future of design as a discipline. By Mia Blume · Over 5,000 subscribersNo thanksncG1vNJzZmiclai2qLrIp56woaSdrqp60q6ZrKyRmLhvr86mZg%3D%3D

Welcome to the weekend! Here’s what you’ll find in today’s newsletter: Weekender Favorites: Nine years in, Selden Standard is the standard-bearer for Detroit’s dining scene. The Order: Naming a favorite mac and cheese is a tall order, but this Raleigh, North Carolina version has our number. Weekend Reading List: Tropical drinks with the Los Angeles Times and a new pizza destination in the Delta from John T. Edge. October’s Featured Destination: In Door County, a Jamaican ex-pat and her husband are selling an authentic jerk sauce with Wisconsin flair.

Get 30% off for 1 year Follow us on Twitter: @AlexC_NJD, @NJD_OnTheRush There's no question the New Jersey Devils have some needs to address before the March 8 trade deadline. Goaltending and defense are among the priorities, but some forward depth can't hurt, especially with the injuries they've dealt with.  On yesterday's 32 Thoughts episode, Elliotte Friedman loosely mentioned the Devils with old friend Adam Henrique. Friedman mentioned, "I would find it very hard to believe that the Devils, in particular, have not looked into Henrique.