Daily Journal in One Text-file For Life, Now With Copilot... Optional!
I got two new kitties and I'm reflecting on the advice that nothing good ever comes of social media. I disagree and believe that it takes optimism to be a good person. I'm using NeoVim and Copilot to journal in a text file, and I'm sharing my mission to inspire others with my formulaic happiness. I'm teaching people how to use NeoVim and Copilot, and I'm looking forward to telling you about other AI.
Living in the NOOSPHERE: My Journey of Journaling with NeoVim and Copilot
By Michael Levin
Thursday, July 27, 2023
I got 2 kitties. There are 2 little kitties I know. And they’re “new” little kitties still to me, because I so deeply miss Billy, Sammy and Charlie. Eri is being all stretchy cute as I write this. I’m staying in the flow. No pics. So tempted, haha. But really, this is to follow onto that last post quickly. I’ve recently received the advice that nothing good ever comes of social media, ever, ever… period. It was put to me with that much finality.
I respectfully disagree. Is writing in a way that allows others to read what you wrote always necessarily wrong. I lost sleep over this one because I let myself believe the opinions of others could be that much more correct than my own, because of their experience. But I’m not sure that’s true. I think it’s more a matter of the person’s own experience, and what they’re willing to believe about the world.
I believe good of the world. There’s been more than one occasion where confirmed pessimists have seemed to have wanted to forcibly open my head and insert their awful fatalistic and in my estimation unrealistic and unscientific belief that we will necessarily destroy ourselves. Some people apparently go around believing that, and can function day to day like there’s absolutely nothing wrong. I don’t know how they do it.
I think it takes optimism to be a good person and help improve the situation for everyone. One should have a mission to share whatever little bit of formulaic happiness one might have figured out. And for me, it’s typing into an environment like this, where the tools never really change on you from year to year, and your skills can just keep getting better forever. The application’s program interface (API) doesn’t change. There’s no tool obsolescence planned-in. It just works the same way, and quite well, and free forever.
I find vim, and now NeoVim quite cool tools. My mission I guess is to share that, perchance to inspire others. I have one particular way of doing it that involves making a standard Linux “container” or “virtual machine” running on whatever “host” operating system you’re most comfortable with. In this case, I’m using Windows 11. The purpose of my recent spat of videos is that I’m going back to Windows 10. I’m downgrading! And I’m switching hardware, because I’ve been looking at a cracked screen for 3 months. It was too hard to bring my Windows 10 laptop up from a fatal system crash, until just now.
My laptop crashed at the same time I did, hahaha! So you can imagine having to deal with the switch to Windows 11 which violates almost all my notions of what’s good in a host OS. But just all the subtle little needless changes compounded up is what really got me. It wears you down little by little, adapting to change after change. Fire and motion is what Joel Spolsky calls it in his essay on the topic. Keep tools changing, keep “developers” off balance. Rule the market. It’s a strategy. It’s a strategy that’s been working for Microsoft for a long time.
And Copilot is owned by Microsoft. It started out as the GPT tech from OpenAI, and is one of the ways it was adapted to be commercialized as a programming co-pilot, making automatic recommendations as you code, understating the context of since you began typing, and understanding the programming languages you’re using. But as a language model, it also understands just plain English, and so is very interesting in a journal environment like this.
Thank you, Copilot. I do have a love/hate relationship with you. Many times, I considered you being unable to make a recommendation a success. That meant I was being unpredictable. And unpredictable is good. This is probably where I part ways in belief systems from plenty of people. I always thought I’d be a settling down and planting roots sort of person, but as it turned out, I did not. I’m a rolling stone. I’m a tumbleweed. I’m a leaf on the wind.
Thanks for that, Copilot. I’m glad I’m making a video of this. This will probably explain a lot to folks. I’m teaching how to reproduce this environment, but I’m making it very clear to try to get started without you here. I’ll be able to do that. At minimum, if you’re not “configured” on an individual basis, you’re not here. I can’t distribute a WSL install script that sets you up. I’ll give instructions on how to activate you if folks want to.
My kitties ground me. I take care of them every day. I like having cats. My leopard gecko is quite old for leopard gecko, and I feed him by hand now. He/she (I never sexed it) is doing well enough. Seems blind. Seems frail. But eating and I’m getting the vitamins in. I’m doing my best. Fusilli will have as pleasant an old age lizard life as I can make.
I’m amazed at the quality level of Star Trek. Wow! I watch very little media and am preparing to basically cancel everything for cost, except maybe Paramount because I’m enjoying Star Trek in its various forms so much. I loved the Strange New Worlds / Lower Decks crossover. The actors were amazing. The story was good. And it was directed by Johnathan Frakes, who played Riker in the Next Generation.
I’m enjoying the little things before I get back into the swing of working. My employers have been wonderfully generous with me. I’m very lucky. And now it’s time to get back to work. And it’s time to take responsibility for my own breakdown. Cause I can see I kept it under control the best could, but even the best of us lose it once in awhile. And that’s life. Some might not think so, but it will be their time at some point, and I hope they have folks around to help. I’m flying solo.
I’m going to be a good person. I like to believe I am a good person. I will not rely on the AI to type for me. Function+Dim = Copilot: disable. BAM! Flying on solo 100% again, typing into vim to actualize thoughts of my own again. It’s amazing the difference. Teaching people how to do that alone makes this entire endeavor worth it. I’m living in the NOOSPHERE, for sure journaling into a text file as I do, using NeoVim with Copilot.
That’s one AI. There are others. I look forward to telling you about them.