⛱️ A Swift Senior Summer (#3)

Thirty days hath September, April, June, and November. That 31st day must really make a difference, because it feels like June flew by.

The saying time flies definitely applies. It’s been a busy month filled with exciting innovation and enlightening conversation.

From wrapping up a few ongoing projects to spending time with friends, I’m hoping to make the most of what time remains before heading off for the next adventure. Like Phineas, I’ve found a good way to spend it.

🚀 Updates

Botta has incorporated and merged with another edtech startup to become Friday, a tool for helping people become unblocked while learning. Our first goal is helping people studying computer science online through a conversational wiki-like experience.
I released version 2.2.0 of GoldInAndOut, which added multi-folder run support and A* to the EM immunogold particle analysis software. I imagine this will be one of the final versions.
I threw together a curated list of deals/discounts for anyone else attending Yale this fall.
I finished writing the script for a new FreeCodeCamp course I’ve been working on - I’m excited to hopefully share that with you all soon.

💭 Thoughts

(4 things I've been thinking about this month)

Have Smartphones Changed Our Lives For The Better?: I consider the massive ramifications of the smartphone and if it has been a net-positive for society.
Finding Your "Calling": I ask if there's anything you enjoy and could see yourself doing for the rest of your life - and contemplate if that will lead to personal fulfillment.
On Opening Worlds – The Majesty of Exploration: I muse on why well-designed exploration makes for better open-world game experiences.
The Centralization of Decentralization – Why Blockchain Isn’t Being Used To Truly Eliminate Platforms: Web3 has given rise to a new wave of dominant, centralized platforms - I posit this is because people prefer platforms.

👍 Recs

(2 articles, 2 novels, 2 videos, 2 tv/movies)

🗞 The Confessions of Marcus Hutchins, the Hacker Who Saved the Internet
🗞 Learning to Play Minecraft with Video - PreTraining a Neural Net (VPT)
📗 "For the Win: How Game Thinking Can Revolutionize Your Business" by Kevin Werbach & Dan Hunter
📘 "One More Thing: Stories and Other Stories" by B.J. Novak
📺 I read 156 Fantasy books and this is what I discovered
📺 Web3: A Libertarian Dystopia
🎬 "Severance" by Ben Stiller
🎬 "Everything, Everywhere, All at once" by Dan Kwan & Daniel Scheinert

Thanks for reading :)

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