Clones, Communication, and Listening
A Novel by Kazuo Ishiguro, Communication Skills Advice, Overcast Update, A New Favorite Alfred Workflow for Text Transformations, Thoughts on GPT 4o Mini
Hi guys! Here’s a few things that stood out from my previous week.
On Books
I just finished reading Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. It wasn’t until the end that I found out there’s a film based on the book, and I had already seen it years ago. I can’t say much about the movie (since I don’t remember it haha), but the novel was really special. I picked this one up after reading Klara and the Sun by the same author. With Klara and the Sun I was surprised to find a story that felt so real and human, even though it’s set in a futuristic world. This book is also set in a futuristic world and dives into some interesting ethical questions about clones. The novel explores values and ideas we tend to consider as human—but that could definitely be shared with something like AI in the future. It’s crazy that in many ways we are already kind of getting there.
On Communication
I don’t have kids, but I still read THIS ARTICLE about communicating with them in an emotionally intelligent way. I believe there’s always something new to learn about communication, and what better way than to learn this from communication with teenagers, or even more challenging, upset teens. Teenagers often experience intense emotions and struggle to express themselves effectively, making them ideal subjects for studying complex communication dynamics. The article focuses on how to be a better listener, recognizing and acknowledging feelings, and finding ways to communicate that are bold yet not confrontational. It's really interesting and practical.
On Close
I listened to THIS INTERVIEW with director Lukas Dhont, where he shares about his film Close . Close was one of my favorite films from 2022. It felt so honest and personal. The way it explores how we humans interact with one another as we grow and mature in life is brilliant. Hearing Dhont talk about his thoughts and inspirations added even more depth to the film. I recommend watching the movie first and then listening to this talk.
On Podcasts
A week ago, I mentioned the new update from Snipd that lets users upload and transcribe their own audio files or YouTube videos. Just a few days ago, Overcast also rolled out a big update to their free app. While we don’t have any AI features in there, I’ve been a fan of Overcast for years. I even used it as an alternative to transcribe and highlight my audio files and YouTube links long before Snipd added that feature. Unfortunately, this Overcast update broke my Shortcut for highlighting. Thankfully, the Snipd update came at just the right time! If any of you use the Overcast Shortcut, please note that the developer mentioned he’ll be restoring this functionality “soon.”
On Text Transformations
This past week, I found Quill, an Alfred Workflow for text transformations. Before this, I was using Text Soap and setting up some custom transformations with being triggered by keyboard shortcuts on my system. Text Soap is great, especially for beginners who want to chain multiple text transformations together. Over the past year, however, I’ve learned a lot about automation and decided to challenge myself by moving all my transformations to Alfred. Since Quill has excellent automation integration, I managed to recreate most of what I was doing there. For some of my more complex text transformations, I used some help from Sonnet 3.5 to do them with some scripting. I'm happy to remove one more app from my system thanks to Alfred!
On AI
Open AI introduced their new GPT-4o Mini model. I think GPT-4o was already mini compared to the earlier GPT-4 and struggled against Claude, especially Sonnet 3.5. Their Chat GPT 3.5 model seemed neglected for a bit, so I'm glad to see them back with this GPT-4o Mini. It’s pretty capable compared to Haiku, but its biggest advantage is the price—it's really affordable: the output tokens are about half of Haiku’s. I’ve been using it for the last few days in Kiki and it works great for everyday tasks. Now I can’t wait for Haiku 3.5 to see what they offer next!
On Cinema
Murina (2022) . This film is nothing close to what I was expecting. A coming of age film that masterfully portrays the complexity of relationships. Synopsis: A teenage girl decides to replace her controlling father with his wealthy foreign friend during a weekend trip to the Adriatic Sea.
The Breaking Ice (2023) . A film about loneliness, sadness, and life. I enjoyed it throughout and loved that it didn’t answer all the questions posed. Synopsis: In cold wintry Yanji, a city on China's northern border, young urbanite Haofeng, visiting from Shanghai, feels lost and adrift. By chance, he goes on a tour led by Nana, a charming tour guide who instantly fascinates him. She introduces him to Xiao, a personable but frustrated restaurant worker. The three bond quickly over a drunken weekend. Confronting their individual traumas, their frozen desires slowly thaw as they seek to liberate themselves from an icy world.
Evil Does Not Exist (2023) . I was already seeing Hamaguchi as a very poetic filmmaker (especially after Drive my Car), but this film is just something else. Super divisive reviews, but honestly, I loved it. Synopsis: Takumi and his daughter Hana live in Mizubiki Village, close to Tokyo. One day, the village inhabitants become aware of a plan to build a camping site near Takumi's house offering city residents a comfortable "escape" to nature.
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