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cmacole's comments

cmacole | 5 years ago | on: Show HN: Working on a decentralized funding platform for independent ML research

Good questions. I think the key difference will be in the topic/market focus. The creator/artist market (e.g., Patreon) is different enough from the researcher market that I don't think people browsing Patreon (on average) would be interested in backing graph neural network research, for example. From there, it will be about tailoring the platform to researchers' (and their backers') needs which could include a bunch of things like facilitating connections between other researchers and "advisors", (hopefully) being able to provide cloud/GPU discounts, having different standard rewards (e.g., a backer's name listed on a paper), etc.

If there is enough interest, I'd definitely want to expand to other areas, but AI/ML seemed like a good place to start since it's where I'm most familiar and there's not much overhead in terms of needing lab space, etc.

cmacole | 5 years ago | on: Show HN: Working on a decentralized funding platform for independent ML research

Over the years, AI/ML research has become more and more centralized (at least in my opinion) with companies like OpenAI, DeepMind, etc. This has its pros and cons, but I think it would be great for the field to have more independent researchers with the flexibility to explore new ideas without being tied to any one institution. Independent research used to be much more common (with pretty great results: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_scientist), and I think with the internet and remote work, there’s no reason it can’t make a comeback. To that end, I’ve been working on a platform to connect independent ML researchers to independent backers who can provide ongoing funding on a monthly basis (similar to a Substack or Patreon model). This is definitely a platform I’ll be interested in using myself, but I’m curious to see if others would be as well and to hear any feedback.

cmacole | 5 years ago | on: Show HN: Strato AI – Substack, but for funding independent AI research

Over the years, top AI/ML research has become more and more centralized thanks to companies like OpenAI, DeepMind, etc. This has its pros and cons, but I think it would be great for the field to have more independent researchers with the flexibility to explore new ideas without being tied to any one institution. Independent research used to be much more common (with pretty great results), and I think especially with the internet and remote work, there’s no reason it can’t make a comeback. To that end, I’ve been working on a platform to connect independent AI researchers to independent backers who can provide ongoing funding on a monthly basis (similar to a Substack or Patreon model). This is definitely a platform I’ll be interested in using myself, but I’m curious to see if others would be as well or to hear any feedback.

cmacole | 5 years ago | on: Show HN: Generate piano songs and sheet music with Music Transformer

I was having some fun playing around with Google's Music Transformer so I built this site to make it more accessible and to generate sheet music so people could play along or use it to spark creativity. The songs can be hit or miss, but some turn out surprisingly well with noticeable long-term structure. I'm curious to see how others use it and am open to any feedback on what features to add next.

cmacole | 10 years ago | on: Life is Short

This was a really powerful essay. Don't know if using "8" is a good way to measure if there are not a lot of something. 8 light-years is pretty far and 8 tons is pretty heavy. But overall, great insights.

My favorite: "One heuristic for distinguishing stuff that matters is to ask yourself whether you'll care about it in the future. Fake stuff that matters usually has a sharp peak of seeming to matter. That's how it tricks you. The area under the curve is small, but its shape jabs into your consciousness like a pin."

cmacole | 10 years ago

To test it out try a custom time of .1

cmacole | 10 years ago | on: Show HN: Problem Hunt – Discover a startup idea that actually solves a problem

That's true multiple people could be working on the same problem, but I'd counter with two points. One, MySpace came first and solved a similar problem to Facebook, yet two totally different outcomes - execution is key. And two, I think the cool thing about sending problems not "business ideas" is that one problem statement could yield a thousand different solutions.

cmacole | 10 years ago | on: Show HN: Problem Hunt – Discover a startup idea that actually solves a problem

Interesting idea. My only bone to pick with solutions is that I think it actually puts a limit on creativity. When you have a completely open ended problem I think it sparks a different mechanism in your brain than when you see a solution presented for you. Another thought I had was to maybe do less problems per week, but really break down what's going on in each problem and viewing the problem from multiple perspectives. Curious what your thoughts are on that?
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