Mahmoud Hashemi @mahmoud@qoto.org

I figured out a way to make #AI good at doing math. (It's spreadsheets.)

Demo here: https://www.loom.com/share/3608e377ec4c440980bbd9c292c74311

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It's been one week since https://finfam.app
beta launch. Traffic's way up, SEO is popping. So far, so good!
Truth be told, I only have one regret: Product Hunt.

Wrote it up here: https://sedimental.org/product_hunt_is_dead.html

(It's also on the front page of HN rn: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45362569 feel free to join the convo)

It _is_ fun when you win though. As for LLMs, I can only imagine it's a great way to boost those token sales numbers.

Wikipedia says it "promotes equality in a hierarchical culture". But really, if you're like me and you're only trained 2 replies deep, you're going to get taarof mogged every time.

You'll be walking out of people's houses with their food and furnishings bc you can't say no.

If you're not familiar with the Persian practice of Taarof, it's basically courtly etiquette: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taarof

It's this huge catalog of formality trees that are constantly evolving. I've always assumed it's an artifact of Iran's millennia of monarchy.

This is so funny to me. For all the "absolute mode" haters, here's the exact opposite. 🤣

https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.01035

As promised, what I've been doing in 2025 part 2. Announcing FinFam: https://sedimental.org/announcing_finfam.html

If you're like me and you've gotten pretty lax with the RSS checking these days, you can get my updates in your inbox: https://buttondown.com/sedimental

Coming out of the cave https://sedimental.org/what_i_ve_been_up_to_in_2025.html

So if nominative determinism has any sway, feeling somewhat #blessed. Not a bad thing to reside in Byzantium while the other half of the empire falls...

Fun #California history for y'all. I'd assumed the Golden Gate was named after the Gold Rush, but the name predates the rush by a year. Instead, it's named after the Golden Horn:

> The name first appeared in his Geographical Memoir, submitted to the U.S. Senate on June 5, 1848, when he wrote, “to this Gate I gave the name of “Chrysopylae” or “Golden Gate” for the same reasons that the harbor of Byzantium was called Chrysoceras, or Golden Horn.”

This talk was completely unexpected and totally next level. Any other #python #packaging talks getting on Peter Wang's level? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qA7NVwmx3gw

Even when I skip the CFP, I still land on screen. Thanks for the shoutout, Peter Wang! #pybay #python