Bram’s Thoughts

Bram's Thoughts is a diverse Substack featuring commentary on technology, specifically blockchain and software engineering, alongside explorations into cognitive biases, game theory, and practical problem-solving in fields like video conferencing and cat training. It also critiques movements like Effective Altruism, delves into mathematics, and offers insights into AI safety and chess improvement.

Technology Blockchain Software Engineering Cognitive Biases Game Theory Practical Problem Solving Effective Altruism Critique Mathematics AI Safety Chess Improvement

The hottest Substack posts of Bram’s Thoughts

And their main takeaways

Teaching Juggling

98 implied HN points • 26 Jan 24
🚌 Education Teaching Learning Skills
  1. Teaching juggling effectively involves using stepping stones for gradual progression.
  2. Using a collaboration between a beginner and an expert can make juggling easier and more motivating.
  3. Starting with simpler patterns like four balls and three hands can lead to successful juggling skills.

Everything I Thought I Knew About Improving At Chess Was Wrong

78 implied HN points • 03 Feb 24
  1. Improving at chess is more about tactics than deep positional principles.
  2. Regularly practicing tactics with time constraints can lead to significant improvement.
  3. Around 2300 playing strength, the focus shifts from tactics to the importance of opening preparation.

The State of Merging Technology

137 implied HN points • 13 Dec 23
🕹 Technology Version Control
  1. There is a need for a feature that allows users to locally undo updates in merging technology.
  2. The merge algorithm in criss-cross merges should be history aware for better results.
  3. Git should consider switching to the histogram diff algorithm as the default option.

Beeping Booping Busy Beavers

157 implied HN points • 24 Nov 23
🔬 Science Mathematics Computing Numbers
  1. Busy Beaver numbers are a classic example of a noncomputable function.
  2. Beeping Busy Beaver numbers grow faster by making states emit 'beeps'.
  3. Beeping Booping Busy Beaver is a new concept that involves beeps and boops in its output interpretation.
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Transaction Bumping

137 implied HN points • 10 Nov 23
🕹 Technology Blockchain Cybersecurity Cryptocurrency Smart Contracts
  1. Transaction bumping is a form of attack in the Bitcoin network involving fee manipulation.
  2. In Chia network, conventional mempool behavior is already defending well against transaction bumping attacks.
  3. There are practical difficulties and complexities involved in executing transaction bumping attacks in practice.

Hello World

334 implied HN points • 05 Apr 23
🕹 Technology Blogging Engineering Puzzles
  1. The user is trying out 'real' blogging for the first time.
  2. The blog posts will likely cover various engineering topics unrelated to Chia.
  3. Readers can find the user's puzzles at a specific link or play a game on a website.

A model of models of probability

78 implied HN points • 23 Nov 23
🔬 Science Probability Models Human behavior
  1. People generally have a simplified internal model of probability with five main categories.
  2. People tend to struggle with accurately gauging differences in expected values within the 40-60% range.
  3. Individuals often display overconfidence in their predictions for probable events and can become overly upset when these predictions fail.

Sphere packing

39 implied HN points • 29 Nov 23
  1. Understanding sphere packing in higher dimensions starts with 4 dimensions.
  2. In 4 dimensions, gluing points to antipodes helps achieve equidistant packing.
  3. Implementing sphere packing in higher dimensions involves strategic stretching of dimensions.

Game musings

39 implied HN points • 19 Nov 23
  1. There's a family of games with lots of player spoilage and inferencing.
  2. An idea for a new game with maximum range inference is proposed.
  3. The game involves 2 players, 16 cards, and a twist in information revelation.

Video conferencing sucks and you can help fix it

137 implied HN points • 08 May 23
🕹 Technology Latency
  1. Video conferencing issues stem from A/V sync and round trip time.
  2. Improving video conferencing requires tools to audit setup and investigate problems.
  3. Apps can be developed to measure A/V sync and round trip time for better video conferencing experiences.

Merging Can Be Made Eventually Consistent

19 implied HN points • 18 Dec 23
🕹 Technology Version Control Conflicts UX Distributed Systems
  1. In distributed version control, there's a way to ensure consistent merging regardless of the order merges are done.
  2. File states can be represented as a set of line positions with generation counts to determine the winning state during merging.
  3. Handling conflicts in merging requires presenting changes in the order they'll appear to everyone, not based on 'local' or 'remote' changes.

Cat Training

98 implied HN points • 24 Apr 23
  1. Understanding cat psychology is key to effective training.
  2. Positive feedback for cats must be immediate and direct.
  3. Consistency and routine are important in cat training.

Zero is the Universal Bayesian Prior

19 implied HN points • 14 Jul 23
🔬 Science Mathematics Statistics
  1. Estimating values in multiple dimensions can be more accurate by making them slightly smaller towards zero.
  2. Using a Bayesian prior of zero in analysis can be counterproductive and arbitrary.
  3. Consider using realistic Bayesian priors, like room temperature, for more reasonable estimates.

Tessellating the Globe

0 implied HN points • 18 Jan 24
🔬 Science Geometry Topology
  1. The world jigsaw puzzle design has imperfections when trying to tessellate it without visible seams.
  2. Two geometries proposed to fix the issue involve dividing the globe into hemispheres and deforming them into squares or into triangles corresponding to a tetrahedron's faces.
  3. Alignment of these geometries with the equator and land bodies is an interesting challenge.

Small follow-ons

0 implied HN points • 07 Dec 23
🔬 Science Mathematics Technology Physics Engineering
  1. Fermat's Last Theorem is a level 1 question that an ordinary Busy Beaver can answer.
  2. The Twin Primes Conjecture is a level 2 question requiring a level 2 Busy Beaver with access to a level 1 Busy Beaver oracle.
  3. Level 3 questions are more difficult and less common in mathematics compared to level 2 questions.