For a while now I've been interested in experimenting with stuff that can improve mental functioning so I've spent some time researching nootropics (a broad class of psycho-active supplements) in depth.

Watch this. It's a TED talk on Deep Learning AI algorithms:

I think the presenter is overhyping the implications of the technology in the short term. But in the longer term, he's right. Software is eating the world, AI is disrupting the value of human labor (starting with unskilled labor and gradually moving upstream) and those jobs are never coming back.

XMPP, the eXtensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (translation: open IM) rocks. It has a rich feature set. It's well designed. And as a bit of a security nut I especially like that it supports strong encryption and uses a decentralized, federated protocol like e-mail. Anyone can install their own Jabber server (like TurnKey ejabberd). That way private conversations within your domain never leave the security of a server under your direct control. Just like e-mail.

OK, I admit it. I used to program in Perl. And I liked it! My Perl programs were terse. If I could shave a line off, I did. In fact, I spent a non-trivial amount of time figuring the shortest possible programs that solved various problems. Often that meant resorting to various tricks and arcane features of Perl that nobody other than me would bother to understand. I took pride in that.