iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

dorian @doriantaylor.com · 01/10/2026

here's gemini, for example

> there is a formulation on the order of "computation is applying known operations to known information to reveal latent information", but i can't identify an attribution

The phrasing you are remembering—"a computation is a known operation over known information that reveals latent information"—is commonly attributed to Claude Shannon (or framed as a paraphrase/synthesis of his Information Theory principles). (Dorian Taylor)

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dorian @doriantaylor.com · 29/09/2026

unread email achievement unlocked* (* that is a largely abandoned address lol)

my gmail account with 1337 unread messages

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dorian @doriantaylor.com · 29/09/2026

i don't mind as i'm actually feeling pretty productive rn but i am going to be this in a few hours

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dorian @doriantaylor.com · 25/09/2026

but only sorta the simulation is never completely faithful to the thing being simulated (and simulations within simulations further degrade) as alan cooper wrote (27 years ago): what do you get when you cross $THING with a computer? answer: a computer

What Do You Get When You Cross a Computer with a Camera?

Here is a riddle for the information age: What do you get when you cross a computer with a camera? Answer: A computer! Thirty years ago, my first camera, a 35mm Pentax Model H, had a small battery in it that powered the light meter. I merely swapped in a new one every couple of years, as I would a wristwatch battery.

Fifteen years ago, my first electronic camera, a 35mm Canon T70, used two AA batteries to power its rather simple exposure computer and its automatic film drive. It had a simple on/off switch so that the batteries wouldn't wear down needlessly.

Five years ago, my filmless Logitech, a first-generation digital camera, had a similar on/off switch, but it also had the smarts of a rudimentary computer inside it. If I forgot to turn it off, it automatically shut down after one minute of inactivity. Neat.

One year ago, my second-generation digital camera, a Panasonic PalmCam, had an even smarter computer chip inside it. It was so smart that its on/off switch had evolved into an "Off/Rec/Play" switch. It had modes: I had to put it into Rec mode to take pictures and Play mode to view them on its small video display.

My newest camera, a Nikon COOLPIX 900, is a third-generation digital camera and the smartest yet. In fact, it has a full-blown computer that displays a Windows-like hourglass while it "boots up." Like some mutant fish with extra heads, its on/off switch has four settings: Off/ARec/MRec/Play. "ARec" means "automatic record" and "MRec" means "manual record." As far as I can tell, there is no difference. There is no "On" setting, and none of my friends can figure out how to turn it on without a lengthy explanation.

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dorian @doriantaylor.com · 25/09/2026

maybe i should put this in context:

despair dot com ACHIEVEMENT demotivator poster:

you can do anything you set your mind to when you have vision, determination, and an endless supply of expendable labor.

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dorian @doriantaylor.com · 24/09/2026

i love the power law, it's so bad

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dorian @doriantaylor.com · 23/09/2026

just doing a little light review lol

Many Functions Are Intrinsically Unsuited To The Systems Approach.
Anyone who has tried to manipulate an umbrella in a high wind has an intuitive feel for what is involved here. Technically, it has something to do with rapid and irregular fluctuations in the parameters. The great secret of Systems Design is to be able to sense what things can naturally be done easily and elegantly by means of a system and what things are hard—and to stay away from the hard things.

Also, if you really must build a system, by all means remember the Systems Law of Gravity, otherwise known as the Vector Theory of Systems:

Systems Run Best When Designed To Run Downhill.

(from john gall's systemantics)

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dorian @doriantaylor.com · 18/09/2026

i mean look at this asshole

okay i was 21 here but you get the picture or maybe you literally don't so you have to take my word for it

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dorian @doriantaylor.com · 17/09/2026

(namely i have this thing which i started working on as a vocab back in 2012 and a prototype in 2013; basic idea is to bring IBIS back to life— en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Issue-b... —such that each element is addressable, then create a custom content pipeline for an audience of one: the agent)

Sense Atlas showing the issue "Documents Make make lousy documentation."

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dorian @doriantaylor.com · 17/09/2026

staring at this diagram i did two weeks ago and realized it's missing something important lol oh well i have to redraw it anyway because there was a default document setting that multiplied the scale and so now all the coordinates are goofed and it won't line up to the grid properly

https://doriantaylor.com/file/the-wholeness-stack

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dorian @doriantaylor.com · 17/09/2026

me, up at 5:45 am: welp guess that's when brain wants me up me, 7:03pm:

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dorian @doriantaylor.com · 07/09/2026

so this is kinda the direction i'm thinking (not 100% on anything in there yet)

2x2 with dimensions "means/ends" and "transaction/relationship"

transaction x means: capability ("they're the only ones who can do it")
relationship x means: lock-in ("we have to deal with them")
transaction x ends: style ("we agree with their take")
relationship x ends: service ("they take care of us")

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dorian @doriantaylor.com · 04/09/2026

(which is what all the math is about) other specific insights include: • if you are too eager to categorize you will end up with a bad partitioning scheme • because even for simple design problems, the number of valid partitions far exceeds the available words in the english language …

optimal vs suboptimal issue graph partitioning

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dorian @doriantaylor.com · 04/09/2026

imo the "political spectrum" should be replaced with a "political phase space" because ideas typically associated with the "right" generally don't require a lot of education to understand, nor are they especially morally demanding of their adherents, whereas the "left" usually needs a lot of both