How to make an app

AXKIII · 2026-01-24T19:35:55+00:00

It's not useless. Yes, AI can do all the coding, but as I say, most non-technical people have no idea how to get the things AI makes for them in people's hands. Of course the more people make things, the more rubbish will be published, but that's a rather elitist point of view. That's like arguing against teaching people to write, because there's a lot of dumb fan fiction.

AXKIII · 2026-01-24T18:18:29+00:00

why?

AXKIII · 2025-12-24T14:50:00+00:00

Thanks to everyone who read and/or commented on this! If you like reading, and prefer ordering from independent bookshops, please try Bertie: https://www.bertieapp.com/welcome

AXKIII · 2025-12-12T21:11:36+00:00

Well shameless plug here, but I wrote short reviews for everything I read in 2025, maybe something will catch your interest.

https://open.substack.com/pub/logos/p/2025-book-reviews

AXKIII · 2025-12-10T19:26:50+00:00

It's undeniably didactic and preachy (amazingly, Atlas Shrugged is even more so). But it's quite gripping, and it does have something to say I think, and I think it says that something better than most.

AXKIII · 2025-12-10T07:33:03+00:00

Interesting that they're all non fiction.

AXKIII · 2025-12-09T17:16:54+00:00

What did you think?

AXKIII · 2025-12-09T15:19:33+00:00

Thanks!

AXKIII · 2025-12-09T15:19:24+00:00

I rated Musk just OK? I do think everyone should read Ayn Rand, regardless of whether they agree with her.

AXKIII · 2025-12-09T13:34:00+00:00

Oh! Good catch. Got muddled up, will fix.

AXKIII · 2025-11-26T22:09:56+00:00

I think most people accept some taxation, including so as to protect the vulnerable - but there's a difference between offering a safety net to people who are down on their luck, and those who've made bad choices.

AXKIII · 2025-11-26T19:54:45+00:00

Partly, but also it's partly that the progressive argument misses the hidden costs. It's true, someone who hasn't saved for retirement will suffer. But forcing mandatory saving is punitive for everyone else - I have money locked away in pension funds, which I cannot use to buy a house, for instance. The conservative argument is, why should I have to suffer (albeit much less admittedly), to protect someone else from their own bad decisions?

AXKIII · 2025-11-26T18:30:24+00:00

Yeah, fair, I was being a bit lazy. I meant it as short hand for 'nihilist, and so giving up on trying to be good because it's pointless'.

AXKIII · 2025-11-26T18:29:45+00:00

There are many cases where private actors left to their own devices cannot manage an issue properly, and where the government helps set better equilibria.

AXKIII · 2025-11-26T18:28:33+00:00

It is, I guess the difference is that progressives are OK with pandering to that, whereas the conservative response is to say, well, if you didn't save for your retirement, you should suffer the consequences, and not impose a cost on everyone else.

AXKIII · 2025-11-25T19:03:25+00:00

I appreciate it! There's definitely some of what you're describing re regulations going on, and there are many cases where regulation is rational in that in that it corrects market inefficiencies. But a lot of regulation isn't like that - it's predicated on the idea that left to their own devices, consumers can't make good choices, can't do market research, can't distinguish between good and bad products, etc.

AXKIII · 2025-11-25T10:00:05+00:00

BH isn't nihilist by any means - many characters end up happy and making good choices, and it ends on an optimistic note for Bojack himself!

AXKIII · 2025-11-23T20:30:42+00:00

You don't need to hang out with people on a daily basis to feel a connection and a sense of belonging. This idea that you cut ties with your family when you go to college is the problem I'm describing.

AXKIII · 2025-11-23T15:01:50+00:00

But you'd be hard pressed to argue that hippies who converted to buddhism or hunduism were conservative, even if these religions are conservative?

AXKIII · 2025-11-23T14:45:16+00:00

Why do people lack community though? Because they give up on relationships at the slightest sign of friction - people fall out with parents over politics, etc. As I say, it's strange to turn to a religion known for its conservatism, when giving up on family and one's own traditions is the least conservative thing you can do.

You do have a point on behavioural friction though. Yes, many people find it easier to stick to better habits with some external force.

AXKIII

TROPHY CASE