June Twenty-Fifth


Emacs + LLMs

I’ve been continuing to integrate chatgpt-shell with Emacs and my workflows, specifically org-mode. The config below 1) changes the results formatting to be org + markdown friendly, 2) drops the temperature to zero to make it “deterministic”, and 3) takes advantage of the built in programming prompt.

(require 'a)
(setq org-babel-default-header-args:chatgpt-shell
      `((:results . "code")
        (:version . "gpt-4-0613")
        (:system . ,(a-get chatgpt-shell-system-prompts "Programming"))
        (:temperature . 0)
        (:wrap . "EXPORT markdown")))

The prompt and exporting config targets markdown. Let’s try reconfiguring it to use org, because when in Rome. First let’s reconfigure the system prompt to ask the LLM to use org formatting. Here’s the existing prompt:

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June Twentieth


GT7 racing with SJO, sixteen laps at Spa. We’re not quite equal on pace but damn it’s a fun track.

LLMs continue to rock the world:

  • Prompting Is Programming: A Query Language for Large Language Models – “we present the novel idea of Language Model Programming (LMP). LMP generalizes language model prompting from pure text prompts to an intuitive combination of text prompting and scripting. Additionally, LMP allows constraints to be specified over the language model output. This enables easy adaption to many tasks while abstracting language model internals and providing high-level semantics.”
  • Sourcegraph – Code Intelligence Platform. This is the layer that brings in coding context. I was unimpressed by Sourcegraph’s new client, Cody, which was buggy at the moment (libraries not indexing, black screens, etc). Still, I’ve heard good things, so I have a feeling that when it clicks it’s good. Uses Anthropic LLMs.
  • CollabGPT – Business oriented AI companion that integrates with the various systems of record. This is the layer that brings in business context. Signed up for the waitlist to learn more 🤨
  • vLLM – a new high performance inference library on the block. Competes with HuggingFace Transformers (and llama.cpp?). Uses PagedAttention to achieve it’s throughput.
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F1 Montreal Monday


I was visiting my family in Marin for Father’s Day, so couldn’t see the race till today. Thrilling to watch Alonso and Hamilton clash initially, but Alonso had pace in hand when it came down to it. Consistent with the season, Max had by far the most pace to spare.

Went for a bike ride after watching the race. Looped Calero Park from the South parking lot. I practiced carrying momentum and flow through the turns – keeping off the brakes while hitting the apex made a big difference. Strikingly unintuitive.

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F1 Barcelona Sunday


SUPERMAX! More surprising than Max taking the top of the podium was Lewis and Russel giving Merc the second and third places. They had shipped some upgrades in Monaco, but Barcelona is a classic circuit that seemed to showcase their potential. Second place drama as Aston Martin is now twenty points off Merc in the constructors and Lewis is chasing third. Also, dropping the chicane into the final straight was fantastic – T1 was a helluva dueling ground.

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Saturday after LiB


Summer kicked off with a whole lotta music.

All sorts of faves from LiB:

  • Sofi Tukker: Did you all watch White Lotus? Cause we did.
  • Meute: Odesza-like brass band. I’d first heard their cover of You & Me back in 2018 when it went viral, and couldn’t believe that an 11 piece brass band was able to nail the bass synths. Most of their live music was more rhythmic, less melodic. I think they wrote it?
  • Daily Bread: CEO’s find, Pretty Lights-esque twang.
  • William Close & the Earth Harp Collective: hundreds of yards of taut wires made harp, and the music made us cry.
  • Beats Antique: their show has come so ridiculously far, it was a true spectacle.
  • ZHU
  • 070 Shake: tripped out on The Pines, which riffed on Where Did You Sleep Last Night, a folk song Nirvana covered on unplugged.
  • Purple Disco Machine: Woogie had a bumping funktion-one setup. Groovy.
  • Ben Boehmer: I’ll admit I wish Boehmer would’ve performed his Cappadocia Cercle set, but I still dug his DJ set.

CEO and I also went to see Jamie XX and LCD Soundsystem at Stanford’s Frost Amphitheater. LCD Soundsystem was a full band and majestic and post-modern.

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