npilk // Notes Hi, I'm Nathan Pilkenton. I'm currently based in Nashville, TN, and I create business strategies at IA Collaborative. These are my notes. https://notes.npilk.com/feed.xml 2025-10-08T20:45:00Z © 2025 Nathan Pilkenton Experiments with AI adblock tag:notes.npilk.com,2025:/linked//1.18 2025-10-08T20:45:00Z 2025-10-08T20:45:00Z Nathan Pilkenton https://www.npilk.com What happens when AI models that can interpret text, audio, and video just like humans do can review content and filter out any undesirable messages? Ten thousand agents tag:notes.npilk.com,2025:/linked//1.17 2025-08-01T17:25:00Z 2025-08-01T17:25:00Z Nathan Pilkenton https://www.npilk.com I believe the future of AI won't be one godlike superintelligent model, but thousands of nearly-free micro-agents constantly meeting hyper-specific needs. ChatGPT is my static site generator tag:notes.npilk.com,2025:/linked//1.16 2025-06-16T21:05:00Z 2025-06-16T21:05:00Z Nathan Pilkenton https://www.npilk.com Instead of using a static site generator, I just copy and paste a new post and an example of an old post into ChatGPT. It's super easy and extremely flexible, with no setup required. We don't notice slow improvement tag:notes.npilk.com,2025:/linked//1.15 2025-04-24T22:45:00Z 2025-04-24T22:45:00Z Nathan Pilkenton https://www.npilk.com Technologies take off before they're perfected, and we anchor to those early versions. But over time, they are quietly optimized until one day, they just work - and we hardly notice. A color for every day tag:notes.npilk.com,2024:/linked//1.14 2024-12-15T21:15:00Z 2024-12-15T21:15:00Z Nathan Pilkenton https://www.npilk.com To make daily updates feel different from one day to the next, I generated a unique color combination for every day of the year. If you have to optimize, it isn't good enough tag:notes.npilk.com,2024:/linked//1.13 2024-08-03T19:00:00Z 2024-08-03T19:00:00Z Nathan Pilkenton https://www.npilk.com Success is determined by your initial conditions, not whatever improvements you can make on the margin. Personal data is everywhere in public tag:notes.npilk.com,2024:/linked//1.12 2024-02-14T00:10:00Z 2024-02-14T00:10:00Z Nathan Pilkenton https://www.npilk.com I accidentally 'doxxed' a stranger on a plane today. Monthly resolutions tag:notes.npilk.com,2023:/linked//1.11 2023-12-31T15:45:00Z 2024-08-03T18:55:00Z Nathan Pilkenton https://www.npilk.com A few years ago, instead of a New Year's resolution, I experimented with setting twelve: one for each month of the year. I liked it much more than setting traditional resolutions, and I'm planning to try it again this year. Writing for Others tag:notes.npilk.com,2023:/linked//1.10 2023-07-17T13:25:00Z 2023-07-17T13:25:00Z Nathan Pilkenton https://www.npilk.com I've written a short guide to more effective business writing, with a focus on how keeping the reader in mind can help you better communicate your ideas. Read on for the introduction, which gives a brief overview of my perspective and the book's content. You can also download the entire (short) book for free as an epub or PDF. The personal big screen tag:notes.npilk.com,2023:/linked//1.9 2023-05-31T01:10:00Z 2023-05-31T01:10:00Z Nathan Pilkenton https://www.npilk.com I believe the near future of AR is simply a 'personal big screen' for viewing content streamed from other devices, and that this future is much closer than many think. Customizing web search with LLMs tag:notes.npilk.com,2023:/linked//1.8 2023-05-21T15:20:00Z 2023-05-21T15:20:00Z Nathan Pilkenton https://www.npilk.com Updating my custom search system to route some queries to GPT-3.5-turbo using the OpenAI API, while still routing others to different search engines. Unearthing lessons from 2008: My first Mac apps tag:notes.npilk.com,2023:/linked//1.7 2023-04-02T15:10:00Z 2023-04-02T15:10:00Z Nathan Pilkenton https://www.npilk.com I reminisce about the first software I ever shipped - a pair of Mac apps created when I was in high school. Despite their simplicity and flaws, these apps gained surprising popularity, leading me to reflect on the lessons I can learn from their success and apply to my current projects. How to get better at everything tag:notes.npilk.com,2023:/linked//1.6 2023-01-07T22:45:00Z 2023-01-07T22:45:00Z Nathan Pilkenton https://www.npilk.com I believe that learning to read and write faster can improve the quality of your work beyond what most people would expect. Radically user-centered design tag:notes.npilk.com,2022:/linked//1.5 2022-12-05T23:00:00Z 2022-12-05T23:00:00Z Nathan Pilkenton https://www.npilk.com Most product teams have a mandate to put the user first. Based on the state of the web, that seems more like empty lip service than a serious design principle. But I believe truly user-centric digital product design is possible. Building on email tag:notes.npilk.com,2022:/linked//1.4 2022-07-04T23:00:00Z 2022-07-04T23:00:00Z Nathan Pilkenton https://www.npilk.com I believe services that extend email have great benefits for users compared to web- or app-first solutions. Taking the internet off the hook tag:notes.npilk.com,2022:/linked//1.3 2022-04-04T23:00:00Z 2022-04-04T23:00:00Z Nathan Pilkenton https://www.npilk.com Using a Raspberry Pi and a cheap door sensor to restrict my internet access when I take an old landline phone off the hook. Customizing web search tag:notes.npilk.com,2022:/linked//1.2 2022-01-03T23:00:00Z 2022-01-03T23:00:00Z Nathan Pilkenton https://www.npilk.com I use a simple Cloudflare Worker script to automatically redirect my search queries based on keywords I've chosen. Seamless web analytics without Javascript tag:notes.npilk.com,2021:/linked//1.1 2021-08-02T23:00:00Z 2021-08-02T23:00:00Z Nathan Pilkenton https://www.npilk.com Using GoAccess and shell scripts for easy, Javascript-free, and privacy-respecting site analytics.