Hey there!

Guess what? I'm super excited to announce that I'm launching a brand-new newsletter! Woohoo! 🎉 And let me tell you, there are a bunch of reasons why this is going to be awesome!

First and foremost, this newsletter is going to be a fantastic way for me to showcase and gather all the most fascinating things I've come across recently. I'm constantly discovering cool stuff, and this will help me bring it all together in one place.

But that's not all! You know what's really inspired me? All those incredible people who share their knowledge and experiences through their own newsletters. They've taught me so much, and now I want to pay it forward by helping others through my very own newsletter. How awesome is that?

Now, I won't lie—it's going to be a bit of a challenge to keep this newsletter going strong. But you know what? I'm up for it! I see it as an incredible opportunity to develop new skills and grow as a writer and communicator. It's going to be an adventure, and I can't wait to see where it takes me!

To start off, I'll be keeping things small and sweet. One email per month, packed with the most mind-blowing things I've discovered in the past month. We're talking about everything from security and AI to programming and more. Oh, and by the way, I've named this exciting newsletter "Peaks" because it reminds me to deliver only the most relevant and high-quality information. Cool, right?

But hey, I'm not doing this alone. I want you to be part of this journey too! Your suggestions, ideas, and advice mean the world to me. Let's set the direction of this project together and make it something truly special. So, what do you say? Let's get started on this amazing adventure together!

🛡️ Security & Privacy:

I have been using Proton privacy tools for approximately two years now, and I must say that they continue to improve over time. Proton is a privacy-focused company that offers a diverse range of online tools specifically designed to safeguard your personal information and enhance the security of your online activities. Their suite of privacy tools includes Proton Mail, a highly secure email service, Proton VPN, a virtual private network service, Proton Drive, a secure cloud storage, and Proton Calendar, a private calendar application. These tools are built with advanced end-to-end encryption, ensuring that only you and your intended recipients can access your data.

Recently, Proton has introduced some exciting new features. Firstly, you can now forward emails from your Gmail account to your Proton inbox, with the added benefit of removing trackers from the original email and protecting your privacy through zero-access encryption. You can find more information about this feature here.

Additionally, Proton enables secure sharing of sensitive information with non-Proton Mail users through their Password-protected Emails feature. This allows you to maintain the highest level of privacy when communicating with individuals who do not use Proton Mail. You can learn more about this capability here.

Moreover, Proton has recently introduced a Family Plan, which offers a comprehensive solution for securing and managing the online activities of your entire family. You can explore the details of this plan here.

Lastly, there is the exciting Proton Pass Beta, which I am particularly enthusiastic about. To find out more about this new feature, you can visit this link.

Overall, Proton continues to enhance its privacy tools and introduce innovative features to ensure that your online privacy remains intact.

🤖 AI:

There have been extensive discussions surrounding ChatGPT-like models and their potential impact on jobs and society. I recently came across two excellent resources on this topic by Cal Newport—a podcast and an article. Cal's analysis of ChatGPT is meticulous, balanced, and well-documented, making these resources highly recommended. Here's a summary of the subject:

• ChatGPT operates in five phases:

1. Work Guessing: The model predicts the best word to follow your input and generates text one word at a time, continually refining its predictions.
2. Relevant Word Matching: The model considers the most relevant words in the input text to determine the optimal next word.
3. Voting: The model looks at its sources for words following the relevant words and conducts a voting process, with the word receiving the most votes being chosen.
4. Feature Detection: Important features are extracted from the text, and guidelines are generated to adapt the voting strategy accordingly. Multiple strategies can be combined, creating diverse outputs like Tolkein-style poetry about a duck and a dishwashing machine.
5. Self Training: The model continually trains itself using human-written text from the web over the past 12 years, improving its rules by iterating through small text passages.

With billions of rule-defining numbers, ChatGPT can generate astonishing answers. However, there are important points to consider:

• The ability of ChatGPT and similar models to respond in various styles and discuss diverse subjects does not pose a threat to the economy.
• These models lack human-like intelligence and cannot verify the accuracy of their answers.
• Regarding concerns about correctness, refer to this Stack Overflow discussion: link.

Overall, while ChatGPT's capabilities are impressive, it's essential to understand the limitations and potential consequences associated with its use.

🚲 Misc

• This video astounded me: almost no one wears bike helmets in Netherlands, yet their well-designed infrastructure and courteous culture ensure cyclist safety.
• Recently, I discovered Zipline. They deliver life-saving medical supplies via autonomous drones to remote areas, revolutionising healthcare access and saving lives globally. Great presentation here.

📩 Please feel free to share this newsletter with colleagues and friends who will find it valuable.

Thanks for reading!

Have a great day!
Bogdan