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This free app is a compass that points to the center of the galaxy [1]
['Mark Frauenfelder']
Date: 2024-02-15
Matt Webb used ChatGPT to help him write an iPhone app. It's a compass that points to the center of the Milky Way. After installing it, I discovered that at this moment, the center of the galaxy is directly behind me, situated 26,000 light years away.
He says on his blog:
Now, none of us have just one skill. Like most people, I have a mix. But now I'm a reasonable engineer, an amateur designer, an ok systems thinker, ok at having ideas, and now a midwit everything when it comes to all the actual skilled tasks. And the combination means I can bring ideas to life that simply wouldn't be possible if I had to persuade a designer or engineer buddy to help me out. Being able to bring ideas to life means I can scaffold up to other ideas… and others… Like this galactic compass. Back in 2020, Robin Sloan said that an app can be a home-cooked meal. It's such a memorable perspective, and what we should aspire to from our software. Now I've cooked a meal that anyone with an iPhone can download. Probably only a couple dozen people will want it, but I want it in my pocket, and I want to share it with my friends, and here we are. And I can't even cook! But I know where the centre of the galaxy is, even so.
I interviewed Matt back in 2004, but I can't locate the audio file, which I released as a torrent file. Does anyone have it?
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[1] Url:
https://boingboing.net/2024/02/15/iphone-app-that-finds-the-milky-ways-heart.html
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