Taylor Schaack
@taylorlearns.com
I'm learning to build software. Spent 15 years in non-technical roles, then AI gave me the guts to pursue development in 2024. Learning something new everyday.
Seems like there's good use for a kind of 'soft-allow' permission with coding agents. When pair-programming, I enable `git commit` permissions but I have instructions not to use it unless I say so. Worked well so far.
November 14, 2025 at 7:34 PM
Seems like there's good use for a kind of 'soft-allow' permission with coding agents. When pair-programming, I enable `git commit` permissions but I have instructions not to use it unless I say so. Worked well so far.
Would love to see more open benchmarks like this for image editing, and other uses of LLM tools as well:
genai-showdown.specr.net/image-editing
via @simonwillison.net
genai-showdown.specr.net/image-editing
via @simonwillison.net
GenAI Image Showdown
A comparison of various SOTA generative image models on specific prompts and challenges with a strong emphasis placed on adherence.
genai-showdown.specr.net
October 30, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Would love to see more open benchmarks like this for image editing, and other uses of LLM tools as well:
genai-showdown.specr.net/image-editing
via @simonwillison.net
genai-showdown.specr.net/image-editing
via @simonwillison.net
been looking for interesting data sets to practice data analysis and using llm's for analysis, so i used google takeout to grab my google search and acitivity data. large enough to be a challenge and super interesting. highly recommend.
October 30, 2025 at 2:38 PM
been looking for interesting data sets to practice data analysis and using llm's for analysis, so i used google takeout to grab my google search and acitivity data. large enough to be a challenge and super interesting. highly recommend.
Frustrated by the lack of testing tools in no-code platforms. I spend a solid 30-40% of my total time on a no-code build doing manual testing that could easily be automated on a project built with code. Who's doing testing automation for no-code platforms?
October 27, 2025 at 3:20 PM
Frustrated by the lack of testing tools in no-code platforms. I spend a solid 30-40% of my total time on a no-code build doing manual testing that could easily be automated on a project built with code. Who's doing testing automation for no-code platforms?
When using a chatbot interface, why in the world is it the standard practice to have the window auto scroll as the response is generated? who thinks people read from the end of a response to the beginning? unless you're using a slow local model, no one reads as fast as tokens generate.
October 24, 2025 at 1:38 PM
When using a chatbot interface, why in the world is it the standard practice to have the window auto scroll as the response is generated? who thinks people read from the end of a response to the beginning? unless you're using a slow local model, no one reads as fast as tokens generate.
Big 'first' today. Started scoping a no-code build for a client and thought to myself, "This would actually be easier to build with code." Progress!
October 23, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Big 'first' today. Started scoping a no-code build for a client and thought to myself, "This would actually be easier to build with code." Progress!
Reading Andrej Karpathy's animals vs ghosts blog post (v interesting in its own right), and love that he included a link at the end of it to a ChatGPT conversation that's pre-loaded with his blog post as well as all of the context from the post (he references a podcast and an essay). So helpful.
October 21, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Reading Andrej Karpathy's animals vs ghosts blog post (v interesting in its own right), and love that he included a link at the end of it to a ChatGPT conversation that's pre-loaded with his blog post as well as all of the context from the post (he references a podcast and an essay). So helpful.
we gotta figure out how to teach these llm's that it's okay not to know, you know?
October 15, 2025 at 4:58 PM
we gotta figure out how to teach these llm's that it's okay not to know, you know?
If I had a nickel for every time a coding agent opened up a shell into a dev container and then just sat there...
October 15, 2025 at 3:46 PM
If I had a nickel for every time a coding agent opened up a shell into a dev container and then just sat there...
So much of learning to build software for me has been understanding what I can safely ignore in a process. Guides, libraries, platforms, etc are just so rich with optional stuff, and I've always wanted to understand it all, but then never get anything done. Focus is so crucial.
October 3, 2025 at 3:54 PM
So much of learning to build software for me has been understanding what I can safely ignore in a process. Guides, libraries, platforms, etc are just so rich with optional stuff, and I've always wanted to understand it all, but then never get anything done. Focus is so crucial.
Realizing just how much 'context engineering' applies to my own brain
October 3, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Realizing just how much 'context engineering' applies to my own brain
This is the kind of thing that vibe coding is making possible: flotilla-orpin.vercel.app
October 2, 2025 at 8:07 PM
This is the kind of thing that vibe coding is making possible: flotilla-orpin.vercel.app
Looking for an open-source implementation of Duolingo Video Call, or at least a good system prompt to achieve a similar kind of flow.
September 29, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Looking for an open-source implementation of Duolingo Video Call, or at least a good system prompt to achieve a similar kind of flow.
Great writeup on the value of an open social protocol. Lately wishing I didn't have to pick between the people I want to follow and the platform they're on, so here's to hoping the open social timeline accelerates!
i wrote about atproto and why it matters
Open Social — overreacted
The protocol is the API.
overreacted.io
September 29, 2025 at 4:44 PM
Great writeup on the value of an open social protocol. Lately wishing I didn't have to pick between the people I want to follow and the platform they're on, so here's to hoping the open social timeline accelerates!
It's time we all got a bit more creative when writing demo projects for tutorials. Looking at the demo for using docker with django, and they named the sample project 'django-docker'. If you're a newcomer, `docker build -t docker-django .` is confusing as hell. Call it 'my-web-app' at the least..
September 29, 2025 at 4:38 PM
It's time we all got a bit more creative when writing demo projects for tutorials. Looking at the demo for using docker with django, and they named the sample project 'django-docker'. If you're a newcomer, `docker build -t docker-django .` is confusing as hell. Call it 'my-web-app' at the least..
If you're looking to vibe code a clone of some popular app, it's much easier to just find an open source version of it (there are plenty for just about everything out there), fork that version, and then just make your tweaks. Save yourself some tokens and trouble!
May 12, 2025 at 8:51 PM
If you're looking to vibe code a clone of some popular app, it's much easier to just find an open source version of it (there are plenty for just about everything out there), fork that version, and then just make your tweaks. Save yourself some tokens and trouble!
I know I'm dreaming here, but trying to imagine the world in which writers, scientists, developers, artists, etc are excited about contributing their works to an AI model. A world where access to that model is free for everyone and no one profits from it, it's just the people's model.
May 8, 2025 at 2:26 AM
I know I'm dreaming here, but trying to imagine the world in which writers, scientists, developers, artists, etc are excited about contributing their works to an AI model. A world where access to that model is free for everyone and no one profits from it, it's just the people's model.
Window management in Mac OS is just wild to me. Although just discovered Settings > Desktop & Dock > Mission Control (Group windows by application) and I'm amazed that isn't default.
May 1, 2025 at 8:42 PM
Window management in Mac OS is just wild to me. Although just discovered Settings > Desktop & Dock > Mission Control (Group windows by application) and I'm amazed that isn't default.
Seems inevitable that we will have fine tuned models for each language/framework combination. Kinda surprised I haven't run into one yet.
April 18, 2025 at 6:56 PM
Seems inevitable that we will have fine tuned models for each language/framework combination. Kinda surprised I haven't run into one yet.
Setting up and using ssh keys has always given me way more trouble than it should
March 26, 2025 at 3:06 AM
Setting up and using ssh keys has always given me way more trouble than it should
From a cost standpoint, seems like the tradeoff on web app v. mobile is that with web apps, server costs are significant but you get to keep nearly everything you make, while with mobile apps, server costs are insignificant but Google/Apple take a big cut. That about it?
March 24, 2025 at 3:56 PM
From a cost standpoint, seems like the tradeoff on web app v. mobile is that with web apps, server costs are significant but you get to keep nearly everything you make, while with mobile apps, server costs are insignificant but Google/Apple take a big cut. That about it?
Made a remarkable amount of progress on my first LLM-powered feature today. Slowed way down and planned more. Steady is fast and all that.
March 21, 2025 at 11:26 PM
Made a remarkable amount of progress on my first LLM-powered feature today. Slowed way down and planned more. Steady is fast and all that.
I've been an Excel guy for years, and so when I first encountered the idea of a NoSQL database I was v confused. Then I heard "we're optimizing for reads, not writes," and immediately understood.
March 20, 2025 at 7:02 PM
I've been an Excel guy for years, and so when I first encountered the idea of a NoSQL database I was v confused. Then I heard "we're optimizing for reads, not writes," and immediately understood.
Plowed through some tough Firebase authentication API stuff this morning and felt great about it. Then spent the past hour wrestling with the setup of a Google Group...
March 20, 2025 at 3:52 PM
Plowed through some tough Firebase authentication API stuff this morning and felt great about it. Then spent the past hour wrestling with the setup of a Google Group...