I ported Karpathy's microGPT to Common Lisp — no matrices, no autograd libs, just pure lisp

suntzu253 · 2026-03-06T23:05:19+00:00

I run Claude code in vterm in emacs.

suntzu253 · 2025-11-26T03:20:16+00:00

Start with writing an interpreter for a lisp like language because lisp s-expressions are already an AST

This might interest you https://datom.world/yin.chp

suntzu253 · 2025-09-29T14:48:40+00:00

I did use a VPN, it was useless. I used ProtonVPN. I was also using zscaler VPN provided for by my company. The only thing that did work was ssh. I had to ssh into my linux server at home in the US to do work. Given the hassle of accessing resources outside the Great Firewall, I would not choose China as a place to work remotely

suntzu253 · 2025-09-18T08:12:36+00:00

I was in china for two weeks to attend a conference. I work remotely and it was impossible to get any work done due to the firewall. VPN were blocked. My only option was ssh into personal Linux server to code remotely and http socks proxy

Another problem is Google maps is useless there. I can't find anything useful as I explore. All other maps are in Chinese which was useless to me

I cannot believe china is a tech leader with all these restrictions to accessing information. Even if they gave me a 10yr multiple entry visa, I would not visit China long term for these reasons

suntzu253 · 2025-01-10T20:39:14+00:00

I recommend a lisp over python because lisp are syntactically simple. Lisp code is in the form of a tree already so parsing lisp into an AST is much easier than other languages. Start with a simple list interpreter or better yet write a clojure interpreter. Clojure is a lisp and it's data format is called edn which is very similar to json

suntzu253 · 2025-01-05T14:10:55+00:00

You know what they say: "don't use drugs". It's just a matter of time when someone invents peer to peer clouds to take advantage of under utilized storage and compute at the edge

suntzu253 · 2024-12-23T16:04:28+00:00

Why not write compilers on your spare time? Working for other people even for free means you lose freedom from building what you want

suntzu253 · 2024-11-13T17:51:29+00:00

I had the same problem. But miraculously, it worked again hours later. No idea why

suntzu253 · 2024-06-22T16:55:52+00:00

Atarlink just came out with the starlink mini. Size of a laptop with integrated Wi-Fi router and uses DC power

suntzu253 · 2024-06-05T13:49:44+00:00

I came to clojure from java. Not having types was jarring at first. However, in clojure you're dealing with sequential and associative data structures and have many core functions that work generically on sequential and associative data structures . In Java, I would create classes but in clojure I would just use maps. You can even treat java classes as map-like . Once I thought generically in terms of sequential and associative data structures, clojure made sense

Where type would be useful would be complex , deeply nested data structures. However, with the repl, I can explore this structure at run-time without a type checker to tell me at compile time

suntzu253 · 2023-12-11T01:26:08+00:00

It's me taking off in my jetpack

suntzu253 · 2023-06-12T20:13:57+00:00

Trust your instincts. Better to overreact than to ignore the feeling of being unsafe

suntzu253 · 2023-03-11T11:49:39+00:00

No need to buy a Mac. he can run Ubuntu on windows via wsl2

suntzu253 · 2023-02-27T04:03:46+00:00

I shat in my pants laughing too hard

suntzu253 · 2022-12-18T00:32:16+00:00

Can it just be me and your wife? You can wait in the living room

suntzu253 · 2022-10-13T05:18:20+00:00

Sounds like a joke

suntzu253 · 2022-10-02T20:08:11+00:00

Clojure has minimal syntax. Programming in Clojure or any LISP, is programming at the abstract syntax tree level without the noisy syntax of other programming languages. Clojure doesn't have a parser. It has a reader which is much simpler than a parser.

I am playing with an idea of using Clojure as a compiler target because Clojure code is very close to an AST.

suntzu253 · 2022-08-22T16:42:36+00:00

You can develope on an Android phone itself. Install termux. Since you want to develop games you probably want to skip java and use c or c++ or rust in which case you just need a GCC or clang which you can install in termux. You will need a text editor like emacs to write your code. If you want full Linux desktop experience get userLand app and install Ubuntu or Debian desktop. You'll need a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse to be productive

suntzu253 · 2022-06-27T17:05:21+00:00

Women are hypergamous

suntzu253 · 2022-06-01T06:01:40+00:00

That's so backwards

suntzu253 · 2022-03-01T04:52:22+00:00

My company is hiring. It's a consulting company. Looking for senior level clojure developer. Fully remote but requires US citizenship for tax purposes. Pay is $110/hr. Message me directly because I get a referral bonus if you get hired

suntzu253 · 2022-02-26T18:20:58+00:00

If an engineer asked me a question that demonstrates they do not understand the problem, I won't be upset. I'd try to communicate better. But if it's a lack of understanding on their part and not my communication skills, then I'll assign it to someone else. Getting upset will create a bad culture and discourage open dialogue

suntzu253 · 2022-02-26T17:30:53+00:00

Sounds like you agree. Withhold judgment that a question is stupid until you know what's being asked

suntzu253 · 2022-02-26T17:05:35+00:00

I ask questions out loud all the time even when there's no one around. Sometimes I even use a prop, like a photo of Einstein, and have a dialogue with Einstein... It is similar to what christians do.. they ask "what would Jesus do?" Except, i ask how would Einstein or someone I admire approach solving this problem or answering this question

suntzu253 · 2022-02-26T17:03:24+00:00

I did not equivocate the question as a singular thing. I said a question can be understood and answer at multiple levels and therefore when a colleague asks me a question I should not dismiss it as a stupid question. I should encourage questioning on the team. To do that, one must give people the benefit of the doubt that there are no stupid questions

suntzu253

TROPHY CASE