Andrew Glassner

@glassner

I write, draw, and make music. Also computer and math stuff. Seeker of wisdom, creativity, kindness, and roasted garlic. andrewglassner.substack.com 🏳️‍🌈 🇨🇦

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Andrew Glassner@glassner· 1d

New series! The Aesop’s fables you know was not originally for kids. These stories was written by Aesop when he was runnin’ a crime syndicate to teach new blood comin’ into the gang how things really work. The link's got the real Ant and the Grasshopper. andrewglassner.substack.com/p/true-aesop...

Andrew Glassner@glassner· 7d

Every day we're surrounded by beeps, from toasters and microwaves to cars and elevators. And they're all the same beep! Here's why: andrewglassner.substack.com/p/beep

A row of identical robins singing an identical note

Andrew Glassner@glassner· 14d

There's a beautiful idea called partial measurement. It comes from a cool new field called quantum computing. This post shares the idea with you, but there no math and no physics - all you'll need is imagination. andrewglassner.substack.com/p/partial-me...

A row of identical blue shirts hanging in a closet.

Andrew Glassner@glassner· 21d

New! The transcribed case files of Jack Hammer, America's Best-Dressed Gumshoe. Today's story: The Man Who Reached Too Far andrewglassner.substack.com/p/the-case-f...

A 1940's private eye sleeping on the floor of a wooden elevator. He is fully dressed in his suit, shoes, tie, and hat.

Andrew Glassner@glassner· Jul 15

There are beautiful mosaics laid into the sidewalks of Vancouver, BC. Here's a new roundup of those I've found. andrewglassner.substack.com/p/mosaics-of...

Two colorful sidewalk mosaics from Vancouver, BC.

Andrew Glassner@glassner· Jul 8

In "Five Habits That Will Transform Your Wretched Shell Of A Body Into An Atomic Dynamo!" I will show you, for free, the health secrets that will change your life! andrewglassner.substack.com/p/five-habit...

A young woman who is happy, ecstatic, thrilled, exuberant, deli rious, head thrown back, shouting with overwhelming happiness, fists pumping in waves of joy

Andrew Glassner@glassner· Jul 1

New Substack post! Have you ever had trouble opening a container with wet hands? It's a problem that's easy to solve - and lots of designers have done it! Let's look at some solutions. andrewglassner.substack.com/p/one-good-t...

Three containers with smooth plastic lids that need to be turned.

Andrew Glassner@glassner· Jun 25

What's up with AI "hallucinations"? Are they a just a temporary annoyance that we're gradually cleaning up? Nope! "Chatbots Hallucinate Everything, Always" on Substack. andrewglassner.substack.com/p/ai-halluci...

A photograph of a market stand featuring many varieties of apples.

Andrew Glassner@glassner· Jun 17

Another new Substack post? Yes indeed! "For Your Security" asks the questions that really matter to protect your identity. andrewglassner.substack.com/p/for-your-s...

A color photograph of multiple stairways at strange angles heading down to an observation point over a body of water

Andrew Glassner@glassner· Jun 10

New Substack post! "Writing A Novel, Part 1: Discovery" describes my process for writing the first phase of my new novel. andrewglassner.substack.com/p/writing-a-...

A color photograph of a woman in a kayak in open water, with high rugged mountains in the distance.

Andrew Glassner@glassner· Jun 3

New Substack post! "Mosaics of Vancouver, BC." Some of the beautiful, hand-made mosaics embedded in the city's sidewalks. andrewglassner.substack.com/p/mosaics-of...

Left: A mosaic of the Lion's Gate Bridge, with a boat passing underneath. Right: A mosaic of a huge red-and-gold dragon being carried aloft by many people in a parade.

Andrew Glassner@glassner· May 27

New Substack Post! "Who Am Us, Anyway?" When you're playing a video game, are you the character, or are you you? andrewglassner.substack.com/p/who-am-us-...

A color synthetic photo of a scarecrow in an elevator that has mirrors in front of him and behind him. He is taking a selfie. We see the endless chain of images of the scarecrow's front and back creating reflections.

Andrew Glassner@glassner· May 13

New Substack post! "Home Slopping Network" - bring AI into your home! andrewglassner.substack.com/p/home-slopp...

A composite color photograph of a sheep with a wolf's head, standing in a field.

Andrew Glassner@glassner· May 6

New Substack post! Car talk. andrewglassner.substack.com/p/car-talk

A color photo of a bridge over a river. It's winter, and snow is falling. Photo by Spencer Shellborn, https://www.pexels.com/photo/bridge-above-river-in-winter-landscape-15325640/

Andrew Glassner@glassner· Apr 29

New substack post! "Do Chatbots Have Emotions?" andrewglassner.substack.com/p/do-chatbot...

A photo of two pieces of burnt toast on a white plate with blue stripes. The text above reads "Do Chatbots Have Emotions?" The text below reads "Open Season" and "andrewglassner.substack.com".

Andrew Glassner@glassner· Apr 22

New Substack Post! The Babblemumble Cube. andrewglassner.substack.com/p/the-babble...

A photo of an old-fashioned typesetter's box showing the wood-and-metal slugs for different letters.

Andrew Glassner@glassner· Apr 15

New substack post! The crazy naming system in Borderlands games. andrewglassner.substack.com/p/baroque-no...

A color photo from inside a ridiculously ornate building. Gold filigree and marble excess is everywhere.

Andrew Glassner@glassner· Apr 8

New Substack post! Book Club, Volume 1. andrewglassner.substack.com/p/book-club-...

Three book covers, all written by Ursula K. Le Guin: The Lathe of Heaven, The Dispossessed, and The Left Hand of Darkness.

Andrew Glassner@glassner· Apr 4

"Place pizza on a baking sheet," the box said. "Nah," I said, "It'll be fine."

A photo of a pizza disaster, showing the inside of an oven. A frozen pizza was placed directly on the top wire shelf and it melted down to the bottom of the oven. Most of the outer crust remains on the shelf, with streamers of cheese hanging down from it. On the bottom of the oven is a molten glob of cheese and other pizza stuff.

Andrew Glassner@glassner· Mar 12

Since the dawn of time, people have thought about interesting ideas and wondered, "What does Andrew think about this?" We can finally answer that question! Check out Open Season, my new Substack, at andrewglassner.substack.com Tech, games, ideas, art, humor, and no politics.

A cartoon image of a tree in a forest. A wooden board is nailed to the tree at a slight angle. On the board are the words "Open Season". Below that is the URL andrewglassner.substack.com. The image is a collage of modified public domain art from the web. The typeface is Mirisch, regular weight.

Andrew Glassner@glassner· Mar 3

Just finished The Heart in Winter by Kevin Barry. Beautiful. It feels the way I imagine it would feel to be in a dim Irish bar, rain falling outside, a fire in the corner, and someone next to you, with a glass of drink and a gorgeous gift of language, turned and told you a story.

The cover of the novel The Heart in Winter by Kevin Barry. It shows small silhouettes of man and woman on a horse on a brown field. Behind them the field rises in to a mountain, and the sun is visible to the side, all together forming an abstracted heart.

Andrew Glassner@glassner· Dec 27

New project! My test/debug image became my first image, and I'm super happy. Onward! (Fine print: Houdini w/ custom nodes running my own code. No reaction-diffusion sim, no textures, no transparency.)

A 3D image rendered in Houdini. A yellow ball sits inside a larger, red ball. The yellow ball has a texture like thick paste. The red ball seems to be made of many small and large worms on its surface.

Andrew Glassner@glassner· Dec 27

Here’s a Vancouver house I passed today near Davie and Bute streets.

A house near Davie and Bute streets in Vancouver BC.

Andrew Glassner@glassner· Dec 3

I just finished Moonbound by Robin Sloan. A delight from start to finish, a combination of epic fable, science fiction, and fantasy. Every word honed, every sentence weight-bearing, nothing wasted. Characters that mattered. Sparse and lovely.

The cover of Moonbound by Robin Sloan. It shows a low-contrast view of a cloudy sky, with a tear revealing the inky blackness of space, and a faraway planet.

Andrew Glassner@glassner· Nov 28

I came home with a new friend yesterday. Looks gorgeous, and sounds beautiful.

A Yamaha FG800 guitar on a stand near an apartment wall. The top of the guitar has a distinctive vertical grain.

Andrew Glassner@glassner· Nov 25

AI seems everywhere today. Curious how it works? My friendly book explains it all clearly, with no math and tons of pictures. Get 25% off until Dec 25 with code DLVA25 from nostarch.com/deep-learnin...

Cover of Deep Learning: A Visual Approach by Andrew Glassner, showing a cartoon robot. The robot has pulled back the top of his head to reveal a "brain" full of light bulbs. With his other hand, he is inserting an additional, even larger lightbulb.

Andrew Glassner@glassner· Nov 4

An over-the-door coat hook I bought yesterday. Right: the back of the packaging presumably showing how to use it. What the what?

A pair of photos. On the left is a white coat hook hung over a door. On the right is the illustration from the back of the hook's packaging, showing a strangely curved and bent hook over a broken door with jagged lighting bolts in its frame, where the top doesn't line up with the side, and a strange circle (out of perspective) might be doorknob.

Andrew Glassner@glassner· Nov 1

Either very old dogs, or the editor needs more sleep.

Photo of a magazine article reading "Palaeontologists have discovered around two dozen fossil specimens of dogs ranging in age from 35,500 to 13,000 years old across..."

Andrew Glassner@glassner· Sep 14

I discovered the wonderful Book Warehouse on Broadway in Vancouver BC yesterday, and came home with 4 diverse recommendations from David! New books! What a great day!

Four book covers: Three Bags Full by Leonie Swann, The Heart in Winter by Kevin Barry, Moonbound by Robin Sloan, and The Algebraist by Iain M. Banks

Andrew Glassner@glassner· Aug 16

This book was written by me, not AI. From the introduction to my new book "Quantum Computing: From Concepts to Code" from No Starch Press nostarch.com/quantum-comp...