I set up an AI agent (Hermes) via Slack to auto-log expenses into hledger. 2026 bulk imports went great ($20 in tokens), but 2025 imports went into loops. I had to finish the reconciliation locally using Antigravity & Python. Here is the account of how this went: www.jjude.com/tech-notes/...

Cursor is iterating much faster than any other IDE. Tech might change Certain fundamentals doesnt change

Wondering what's the use case for #hermes kind of agents when Claude Cowork and like exist.

my plan with shoutrrr.com is to make around $5k/m with it, so i can hire another person to make new apps. not sure if we can make it, the market is full of social schedulers. but worst case scenario is that people will get a free and opensource scheduler, not bad.

P2P sync is the right instinct for an outliner. The hard part is two peers editing the same node offline — CRDT (RGA for outline order) vs last-write-wins. And the MCP server is the clever bit: notes become agent-tool-callable without uploading to a cloud LLM. CRDT or op-based?

E20 petrol isn't unique or first in India. We have E20 series • E20 milk • E20 paneer • E20 eggs • E20 masala powder If you didn't notice them or raised your voice, why are you bothered about E20 petrol? Nothing happens quickly and suddenly.

I used to think becoming indispensable was the safest career strategy. Over time I discovered the opposite. Sometimes the biggest obstacle to your next promotion is that no one can do your current job. My latest CTO Field Note explores why : www.ctofieldnotes.com/p/being-irr...

What is the job of a CTO? C - Chief - Looking into the future - strategy T - Technology - Move the business forward with technology O - Officer - Get things done I wrote a field note on this. If you want to get to CXO, you might find this useful: www.ctofieldnotes.com/p/seeing-th...

Argentina is considering creating a new corporate category in Argentine law: the non-human corporation, operated by AI agents. Human shareholders may participate, but they are not required. Interesting if this gets through. from: archive.is/dPBPk

A local-first outliner that syncs via peer-to-peer connections rather than the cloud. What I like is that it has a built-in MCP server to expose your notes to AI agents. outl.app/

From the makers of OpenWebUI - OpenWebUI Computer It gets access to full computer. It can do multiple things: voice memo, image comparison, skills Can be accessed from anywhere (via tunnels) Seems interesting. github.com/open-webui/...

Build a dual-track leadership culture. The one that rewards both visionary planning and flawless execution. You can not sacrifice one for the other.

Hermes Agent as a Virtual Assistant I’m starting to use Hermes to do things I’ve wanted to do, but postponed due to lack of time. To start with, I’m tracking all income and expenses in hledger format via Hermes. I’ll post more as I go. www.jjude.com/tech-notes/...

Seems like a good open-source Slack alternative. Haven't tested it though. Anyone used it? www.hmans.dev/blog/chatto...

Productivity gains are real. The ability to do what we were not able to do is real, too. Every GenAI initiative revolves around these two factors. Unfortunately, only these two. Cognitive fatigue is invisible. It is as real as those two. If you are leading people, are you accounting for this?

Came across a new outliner which could be a replacement for logseq: github.com/martinkoute...

Tech teams are excited to roll out GenAI pilots and often even more enthusiastic after the initial wins. But they miss two crucial factors: • The operational cost of GenAI models in production • The security of a probabilistic system in production Look beyond the shiny demos, PoCs, and MVPs.

If you are selling online and targeting a younger generation, AEO should be a key part of your marketing strategy. More and more people in the younger generation are purchasing products they discover via ChatGPT (and other AI tools).

You don’t have to be the best programmer to build a great tech career—you have to be more valuable. That's the idea behind my latest CTO Field Note: How to Become More Valuable Without Being the Best Programmer. Read my latest field note here: www.ctofieldnotes.com/p/how-to-be...

Installed Hermes Agent on my MacBook Air and connected it to Slack. Thinking primarily to track: - daily expenses - manage my Obsidian vault Any tips for these? What do you use Hermes (or other agents) for?

Talking about a change in meaning—being fit and healthy is the biggest status symbol today. I’m happy that more and more people (especially the younger generation) optimize for health, rather than just more money. From "The new consumer trends"

Are shopping agents our friends or manipulators? E-commerce sites like Amazon are rolling out more shopping agents, but are they helping us find what fits our needs and budgets, or nudging us into up-sells and cross-sells we don’t need? And will we even know when they’re manipulating us?

Is there an equivalent of this for India? How true is this for India?

A few weeks ago I started writing *CTO Field Notes*—lessons from 30 years in tech. Today, Death by Clawd declared it "already deceased" because Claude can write leadership essays instantly. 😅 So, should I keep writing? Does lived experience still matter in the AI era?

Your talents doesn't shape your career. Then what does? What you believe about yourself, others, and what’s possible shapes how you respond to opportunities, often hiding in the messy problems no one wants. This week’s CTO field notes dives into that. Read it and tell me if it’s useful.

Reading this book. High signal book. This is a pre-AI era book but contains insightful ideas on how sociocultural meanings change because of technology and how innovators can tap into those meanings to produce products and services. Anyone read this?

Can digital agility match the immutable constraints of the physical world? You can vibe-code an e-com store—or automate much of the routine digital work. But physical-world operations still challenge e-com operators. The skills gap in ops is expanding. The next demand will be for physical skills.

Are your learning and development strategies tuned to the AI era? Do you have a framework to embrace AI in developing your products and services? Here is a three-part action plan:

In AI era, it’s not “build vs buy” — it’s “buy vs burn.” GenAI makes cloning enterprise apps easy, so “building” isn’t a moat. Build only what truly differentiates you. For everything else, buy off-the-shelf.

The question is no longer whether multipolarity is coming, but which poles will dictate trade, energy, and security. What this war has brought out clearly: • a superpower in relative decline and adversaries seizing the moment • Iran has emerged lot more powerful • Bet on Chinese market

How do they do it? I keep "block and report" this damn FinanceBuddha and still they manage to spam me every week. Is this some kind of special love for you or do you guys also get this spam?

I came across an interesting hackathon: to identify chief of staff > An arena where top operators solve real founder problems, in real time. You get the brief on the spot. You think, structure, decide, and execute under fire. No rules, just be bold. Interesting www.reachorbit.ai/hackathons

JUST USE SVELTE 🧡 I need to make a shirt out of it

Innovation isnt just abt technology but also abt meaning Interesting concept Current read

You may not know me but the AI agents do. > "In the weights" means that a model is able to recall someone without using tools like web search. Being in the weights means you mattered in building AI, fame that lasts as long as the model does. More: www.intheweights.com/p/joseph-jude

We were promised productivity heaven. We ended up with cognitive load hell. I often get documents fully generated by AI that have beautiful words, but are essentially meaningless. We’re also expected to do a lot more... hey, you’ve got AI. What do you do?

Forget that India lags in the field of AI. Tech enthusiasts are trying out AI agents. Telegram is the primary messaging platform for that. Now it’s blocked in India. India is a strange country. Instead of punishing the culprits, it always punishes the messengers.

CTO Field Notes 2: Your job is a collection of tasks. Technology disrupts tasks. If you define your job in terms of tasks, you'll be replaced. With every tech wave, I’ve had to ask: what’s my real job? Hope you'll find this note useful: www.ctofieldnotes.com/p/the-dange...

In the world of AI, do non-fiction books have any value? Is it even worth thinking abt writing them?

The era of vibe coding ends at localhost, not because of intelligence but because problem of security and privacy remains unsolved. *** → Tech's big ideas, connected. SophAI Tech Radar: sophai.app/radars/tech

"...think of gold as being a fundamental money that you should own at least some of. Most investors don’t own any." - Ray Dalio #wealth raydalio.substack.com/p/gold-is-t...

Spacesail, a Chinese state backed space startup, is competing against Elon Musk's SpaceX. Spacesail appears to be deliberately targeting countries where Starlink has faced issues. From: restofworld.org/2026/spaces...

As I double down on Substack, I’m seeing the rivalry between #substack and X show up in their products. X doesn’t encourage links in tweets, including Substack links. Substack supports Bluesky and LinkedIn social links in the blog’s footer, but not X. All social platform are walled gardens

How to learn new technologies? Three stages: 🚗 Driver 🔧 Mechanic 🧩 Assembler This is how I learn new tech after being in tech industry for the past 30 years. Full article follows

Interesting M&A in creator economy Accenture Song acquires Whalar, a creator and social agency.

Stories behind colors. Fantastic collection: storiedcolors.com/

I don’t use AI to create text I use it to edit what I write to correct grammar to find a better word to find a better metaphor

If you are in e-com, retail the path is becoming clearer. - Your first party data + API is your strategic asset. Treat them likewise - Double down on experience-driven transformation - Treat every new channel as a new venture (This is from SophAI radar. Check it out: www.sophai.app/radars/busi...)

How are countries governing AI? • American innovation: focuses on what AI should deliver. • European regulation: focuses on how AI should be governed. • Chinese state-led development: combines a governance approach with a development agenda. Read LSE's analysis here: blogs.lse.ac.uk/businessrev...

AI creates cognitive overload I have been talking to developers, marketers, and others. Universally everyone acknowledges this point. What's your opinion? (This is from SophAI Tech radar for today. Check it out: www.sophai.app/radars/tech)