This came from a piece by Margaret-Anne Storey on "cognitive debt", picked up by @simonw, and which I personally also encountered. While building a synth engine from scratch, I kinda lost the plot. Then I let Claude document each "phase", and from that I generated Remotion videos. It worked quite well, and I learned a lot, much more than I would have from just reading the source code!
It's on Lovable so you can just fork it and take a look (the prompt is in supabase/functions/transform-render/index.ts):
Transform this idealized architectural rendering into the most brutally realistic, depressing photograph possible. This is the WORST CASE scenario - what the building will actually look like in reality:
- Set on a dreary, grey, overcast late November day with flat, lifeless lighting
- The sky is a uniform dirty grey, threatening rain
- All trees are completely bare - just skeletal branches against the grey sky
- The landscaping is dead, muddy, or non-existent. No lush gardens, just patchy brown grass and bare dirt
- Remove ALL people, the scene should feel empty and abandoned
- Any water features should look stagnant and grey
- Add realistic weathering, dirt streaks, and construction residue on the building
- The building materials should look how they actually appear, not the idealized clean version
- Include visible utility boxes, drainage grates, and other mundane infrastructure usually hidden in renders
- The overall mood should be bleak but realistic - this is what buyers will actually see on a random Tuesday in late autumn
- Maintain the exact building, angle, and composition, just strip away all the marketing polish
The goal is honest truth, not beauty. Show what the architect's client will actually see when they visit the site.
>> Remove ALL people, the scene should feel empty and abandoned
That really captures the vibe in Kendall square on the weekend, but for maximum "honest truth" there should be double-parking, delivery trucks and ubers stuck in traffic waiting on a thousand people to scurry across the street from the subway entrance, huddling against the cold. Some dirty snowbanks and grey slush puddles in the crosswalks would really nail it.
Hmm, it seems Claude Research is only available for the Max plan:
> Research is now available in early beta for Max, Team, and Enterprise plans in the United States, Japan, and Brazil. Simply toggle on the Research setting in chat.
Janelle Shane’s work has been really inspiring. Her talk at Strange Loop from a couple of years ago — right before DALL-E, before ChatGPT — was a turning point, and very funny:
WalkingPad R1 Pro. I thought the ability to run would be a plus, but honestly, I've only used it for running twice (I'd rather run outdoors than stare at a wall, tv or computer).
KingSmith walking pads can be folded and take less space. R1 can also be stored vertically, but I always keep it horizontally for convenience.
If I had to buy one treadmill again, I would chose either a regular model or a cheaper foldable model. I would probably lean towards a smaller and cheaper regular model since I believe 40cm x 80cm (16in x 32in) is enough to walk and is not that big.
As a HyperCard fan I was struck by this quote from Bill Atkinson:
“I have realized over time that I missed the mark with HyperCard,” he said from his studio in Menlo Park, California. “I grew up in a box-centric culture at Apple. If I’d grown up in a network-centric culture, like Sun, HyperCard might have been the first Web browser. My blind spot at Apple prevented me from making HyperCard the first Web browser.”
