25 May 2025 #misc
Public speaking starts with a clear message.
If you need to speak publicly:
- Start with a catchy story
- Share one main idea
- Use three points to expand your main idea. Yes, three points. Our short-term memory holds around 5 or 7 items, and three is the sweet spot.
- End by inviting listeners to do something about it.
And that already sounds like a good post. A good post should have a clear message too.
Even better, if you are already writing using your own voice, print your post and read it in front of your audience, making the right pauses and changes in intonation, of course.
And, don’t use a PowerPoint presentation. I learned that from James Altucher, from one of his interviews, I don’t remember which one. A PowerPoint presentation will distract the audience from the message: you and your speech.
That works for a TED talk, a keynote speech, or a sermon.
24 May 2025 #coding
Rejecting AI is like rejecting calculators or computers.
It’s here to stay and we have to adapt. That’s why I always keeping an AI chat open, looking for ways to automate my work. Or maybe I’m just getting lazier as I get older.
This week, I tried Copilot (on the browser) to help me with some coding tasks. Here they are:
#1. Translate a Visual Basic code block into C#. I’m working with an old legacy WebForms app in Visual Basic these days. And being honest, I’m not in the mood for learning Visual Basic, so why not just translate it using AI? And as a form of exploratory refactoring, I gave it a large convoluted block of code and asked it to explain what it does and refactor it into smaller functions. And once I understood what it did, I threw away the refactored version. Sorry, Copilot!
#2. Create a C# extension method from a code block. Sometimes I’m just lazy as an excuse to test Copilot’s capabilities.
#3. Naming is one of the most difficult tasks. So why not ask Copilot for help to come up with descriptive names? I gave Copilot a class definition, explained its purpose, and asked for a list of better names. I ended up choosing one of its options and got my PR approved.
#4. Generate Builders for test data. I gave it a sample Builder class and asked it to follow the same pattern but for some methods of a different class. Copilot nailed it.
#5. Replicate tests from a sample test class. While refactoring away from logic-heavy controllers to handlers, I gave it an existing handler and its tests. Then, after giving it the signature of my new handler, I asked Copilot to rewrite my controller tests as handler tests, following the pattern from the other handler tests and keeping my original assertions. Again, Copilot nailed this one.
And just for the record, I’m not using any fancy prompt, but this one,
“Act as a senior software engineer, with expert knowledge of the .NET stack, its libraries and ecosystem, and clean code. <Explain task here>”
I’ve found better results when I gave Copilot a sample class or code block to replicate. Think of AI as a fast junior engineer that needs clear and precise instructions. Otherwise, it takes a wild guess instead of asking for clarification.
Also as an experiment, I used Copilot to launch a coding course. And once I learned enough copywriting, I revisited some of the marketing materials I generated with Copilot. And recently, I’ve been using a prompt to replace Grammarly.
23 May 2025 #mondaylinks
Hey, there.
Here are 4 links I thought were worth sharing this week:
#1. Microsoft has made a lot of noise this week. It laid off around ~6K people. And it made the Windows Subsystem for Linux (5min) and the Copilot Chat extension (8min) open source. It seems the layoffs and the release of open source aren’t related. At least, that’s the official version.
#2. Speaking of Microsoft, they enabled Copilot on the Runtime repository. And it seems AI can’t fix simple bugs (4min).
#3. It seems I’m not the only one who doesn’t like it when web apps use my location to decide what language to use. There’s already a better alternative to using IP addresses.
#4. One of the most common mistakes when writing tests is duplicating the logic under test inside assertions. That’s what’s called circular reasoning (7min).
And in case you missed it, I wrote on my blog about stop optimizing for scale when we don’t need it (2min) and the key to survive a stressful job (2min).
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22 May 2025 #misc
I’ve heard life only guarantees two things: death and taxes.
One happens every year. The other? Just once.
As a thought experiment and writing exercise, if I only had 12 months to live, assuming I’m in good shape, mentally and physically, these are 7 actions I’d do:
#1. Transfer 50% of my retirement savings and net worth to my closest relatives. I want to make sure they don’t have to worry about covering their essential expenses for a while.
#2. Spend the other 50% of my net worth without any guilt. I’d backpack around Europe and South America. I definitely would walk El Camino de Santiago, the pilgrimage route along Spain.
#3. Share my blog and social media credentials with a loved one so my online presence outlives me and keeps generating income for my relatives.
#4. Write a book. The other day, while watching Chandler Bolt’s TED talk, I learned that “the best way you can serve humanity is to write a book.” I don’t expect it to become a best-seller. I just want to make sure part of my story is written somewhere for my relatives to read. That’s a good motivation to write a book. Hey if we’re still reading diaries from ancient Greece, maybe someone will read my blog or book centuries in the future. Who knows?!
#5. And, in the same spirit of sharing my story, take a picture every day for the remaining 12 months. Like a photo blog or something. Especially while walking El Camino de Santiago. That’s a perfect idea for a visual memoir.
#6. Write a letter to every family member, scheduled to be delivered after those 12 months. Okay, I know that sounds like the plot of a romantic movie.
#7. Get an organ donor card. My organs will help somebody else more than me by the end of those 12 months.
I just realized I don’t need to wait to do most of these things.
Oh, this list reminded me of one House M.D. episode where Dr. Wilson, an oncologist and Dr. House’s best friend, made a mistake and gave the wrong prescription to a patient. He told the patient he only had a few months to live. And when the patient was told about the mistake, he got angry because his family had already scheduled trips and celebrations. His life had already changed because of the prescription.
Why does life have to change when the clock is close to running out of batteries? Why wait?! Ok, maybe I got too philosophical. And I already got more than my 200 words for the day.
PS: This was a writing prompt from Ron Markley on Medium.
21 May 2025 #writing
I know we’re not supposed to multitask.
But recently, while doing the dishes, I listened to this YouTube interview between Ryan Holiday and Robert Greene, two best-selling writers.
Out of all the subjects they talked about, there’s one line that I still remember:
“It’s all material”
They both share how problematic people and unexpected situations end up being material for an email or a book.
And that line made me think about unexpected situations that have inspired me to write.
#1. The other day I took a loved one to a hospital. And I ended up writing about calming my mind, the future of hospital visits with AI, and random facts about health, which I learned on that visit.
#2. Another day, a cashier overheard a conversation I had with a friend, and her reaction inspired me to write about our definition of success.
#3. I used to feel guilty about watching movies and series. But when I started watching them through a creator’s lens, I realized how much they could teach about storytelling and writing. I’ve watched and written about Six Triple Eight, Scorpion, and House M.D.. No more guilt. Just writing lessons. After all, It’s all material.