Important note - All of the information in all of my posts is only for educational and entertainment purposes. None of this is financial or technical advice, or any kind of advice for that matter. Please use your head and research everything yourself before use any of the code or projects described here.
Welcome to the first edition of What Nerds do on the Weekend. Quite a long title i know, but I didn’t have time to make it shorter. Things move fast in this space. With this newsletter I hope to share with you things that gets me excited. Things that i spent nights and weekends ‘geeking’ out about. Sharing it with you gives me an excuse to do some more in depth research. That’s what I get out of this. What I hope you get out of it is that you can stay in touch with the changing time a little easier. You might have a job or a private life that doesn’t give you the time to geek out anymore. Or you might not be technical inclined enough to quite get why X project or Y idea is exciting for ‘nerds’, I hope this newsletter will serve as a starting point (and sometimes a deep dive) into topics that could interest you. I was inspired by Chris Dixon 2013 post:
And with this introduction, let’s get straight into the first issue of
What Nerds do on the weekend!
I have writting a deeper dive into Arweave, the permaweb and how Mirror.xyz utilizes Arweave to permissionlessly store blog post forever. The following is a short summary of this. To read the deep dive, please look at this [Link]
Arweave is a 'Layer 1' blockchain that provides a platform for permanent data storage. It introduces the concept of the Permaweb, an everlasting web where data, once stored, remains accessible indefinitely for a one-time fee. It leverages technological advancement and economic incentives to ensure data's permanence. Their claims is that by paying a premium once, users can ensure their data is stored for the next 200+ years. It currently costs roughly 6 USD to store 1GB of data on Arweave for 200+ years, marking a significant step towards the realization of a truly immutable internet.
Mirror.xyz is an innovative platform that employs the Arweave blockchain for its operations, enabling users to create permanent, blockchain-stored blog posts. With its seamless integration of blockchain technology, Mirror.xyz simplifies the publishing process for authors who, instead of traditional sign-ups, use their Ethereum wallets to authenticate their identity, making this a true Web3 technology.
Once a piece of content is ready for publication, Mirror.xyz stores it on Arweave's blockchain, effectively rendering it permanent and unmodifiable. Additionally, it offers unique features such as the ability to mint blog posts as NFTs, providing writers with new ways to monetize their work. However, it's crucial to note that Mirror.xyz still relies on centralized elements for optimizing user experience and still has the power to control content visibility on its platform, despite the permanent storage of the content on Arweave.
The landscape of AI is dynamically evolving, with LangChain emerging as an exciting player in the field. Positioned in an intense rivalry with OpenAI's ChatGPT plugins, LangChain creates interfaces between AI models and a wide variety of technologies, which can range from API requests functioning like web searches, to persistent storage for maintaining application context. The deep dive can be found here [Link]
One of the areas LangChain is making waves in is the development of Chat Bots. Projects such as 'mayooear / gpt4-pdf-chatbot-langchain' are effectively transforming PDF interactions, by enabling users to converse with their PDF documents. This allows individuals to instantly access and understand detailed content, whether for a crucial meeting or exam preparation, through an easy-to-understand explanation from a large language model (LLM).
Another interesting area of LangChain applications is in the realm of Autonomous Agents, which are intriguing steps toward a potential AI-dominated future. An interesting project in this domain is BabyAGI, which explores the concept of AI performing tasks autonomously, generating new tasks based on results, and prioritizing tasks in real-time.
The potential implications are immense. A mature version of projects like BabyAGI could potentially autonomously research and write newsletters, replace human roles in software development, or even take over the planning and execution of manufacturing processes.
In the world of blockchain technology, understanding the distinction between hot and cold wallets is essential. This is a small summary of my deeper dive which can be found here [Link]
A cold wallet is a form of long-term storage for cryptocurrencies. They can hardware wallets like Trezor or Lattice1, but they can also take the form of paper wallets or software on an 'air-gapped' computer. These wallets are designed for security, similar to a bank account that safely stores your money.
On the other hand, a hot wallet is designed for regular use and quicker transactions, much like the cash you carry around in your pocket. Examples include mobile apps like Rainbow Wallet or browser extensions such as Metamask. However, these platforms carry a higher risk due to their online and active nature.
An exciting new addition to the hot wallet scene is Frame.sh. Frame.sh supports an easy connection to hardware wallets, facilitates transactions on multiple chains, and allows users to choose their own RPC provider. An RPC provider serves as your bridge to the blockchain.
It's important to note that Frame.sh isn't perfect. Its use of Javascript implies a set of dependencies and potential vulnerabilities, which could be a source of security concerns. Users should always approach new platforms with a degree of caution. Despite these concerns, Frame.sh represents a novel and interesting development in the evolving landscape of blockchain wallets.
The deep dive for Gorilla can be found following the link here [Link]
Gorilla is an Large Language Model (LLM) that can process natural language queries and suggest appropriate APIs to address them. LLM fine-tuned specifically for API requests. The platform claims to perform its tasks effectively according to their own documentation, but the real question is whether this kind of service is truly necessary.
A primary use case for Gorilla could be in the planning phase of a project, helping to identify existing solutions and how to incorporate them. Furthermore, integrating Gorilla with other AI systems, like LangChain and its Autonomous Agents, could make these agents even smarter by enabling them to identify which APIs they need to use.
