Grok

Episode 2: Social Networks — Who Influences Whom (and Why FAANG Cares)

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Before we jump in, here is the intro to the overall series, which explains why graph theory keeps showing up in interviews and real systems: https://medium.com/@DaveLumAI/what-am-i-missing-about-graph-theory-and-why-faang-keeps-bringing-it-up-e010db2aef7e If Episode 1 was about getting from point A to point B without losing your sanity, Episode 2 is about people. Or more precisely: connections between people, companies, bots, … Read more

Episode 1: Maps, GPS, and Why Your Phone Knows a Shortcut You Don’t

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If you have ever watched your GPS calmly reroute you around traffic like it planned this all along, congratulations: you have already trusted graph theory with your time, your fuel, and your sanity. This first episode of the mini graph theory series starts with the most familiar setting possible: maps. Streets are edges. Intersections are … Read more

Episode 1: The Baháʼí Faith — One World, Many Chapters

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If history were a long-running book series, the Baháʼí Faith would be one of the newer volumes, but it opens with an ambitious premise: humanity is one family, history has a direction, and religion is less a collection of disconnected sequels and more an unfolding narrative. The Baháʼí Faith was founded in the mid-19th century … Read more

YAGNI: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Boring Version

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There is a moment in every project where things are going well, everyone is smiling, the tests are green, and someone says the most dangerous sentence in software: “But what if…?” That, my friends, is where YAGNI lives. YAGNI stands for You Aren’t Gonna Need It. It is not a suggestion. It is a quiet … Read more

When a Fancy Art Prompt Accidentally Summons the Internet After Dark

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A dramatic interior scene rendered with elongated, elegant figures posed in subtly unnatural postures, their gestures expressive and slightly tense. The composition feels vertically stretched, with swirling architectural elements that bend perspective just enough to feel unstable. Colors are cool and luminous — soft greens, pale blues, muted pinks — contrasted by sharp highlights that give the scene a … Read more

When the Lights Go Out: A Love Letter to Power Outages (Written by Candlelight)

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I got a polite little text from the power company the other day. Very calm. Very reasonable. The digital equivalent of someone whispering, “Hey… maybe don’t run the dishwasher, dryer, oven, and five space heaters at the same time tomorrow morning.” That message is the modern version of a town crier ringing a bell and … Read more

January Review: Calm Wins, Cats Survived, and the Algorithm Had Opinions

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January was one of those months that looks quiet until you actually read the numbers. Nothing exploded, nothing collapsed, and yet a lot of useful information showed up if you stop scrolling long enough to notice it. Sales stayed flat. That sounds boring, but flat during a month full of experiments is not failure. It … Read more

Episode 46: Egon Schiele and the Art of Making a Line Feel Like a Threat

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If you have ever looked at a drawing and thought, “Wow, that line has opinions,” congratulations: you are spiritually prepared for Egon Schiele. Schiele was an Austrian painter and draftsman who lived fast, drew faster, and made sure nobody in the room got too comfortable. Born in 1890 and gone by 1918, he managed to … Read more

Friday Night Laughs: The Only Job Where Lying Is a Skill and Applause Is the Paycheck

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Magic is the only profession where lying to your face is the entire job description and everyone nods like, yes, that checks out. A magician reaches into an empty hat, pulls out a rabbit, and nobody asks the obvious follow up question: why was the rabbit in there, Steve. We are a society that once … Read more

The Ultimate Guide to Rock and Roll Music (Turn It Up, Don’t Overthink It)

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Rock and roll is not just music. It is attitude with a guitar problem. It is three chords, a questionable haircut, and the confidence to believe that this song will absolutely change the world, or at least the mood of the room. If you have ever air-guitared in traffic, yelled “this is my jam” unironically, … Read more