Fuzzy Search
👋🏻
Last week, I went down an archiving and AI fueled rabbit hole. I have wanted a way to use a LLM to search my public writing. As shocking as it may be, Max Frequency is not big enough to track on the likes of chatGPT or Google Gemini.
The reason is because I need help finding stuff. I remember that I gave Phil Spencer grief about the hypocrisy of claiming kids wants their games on any screen, but Microsoft can't monetize Game Pass on iOS. I don't remember when or in which article (there are a lot, but this is the one in question). I know how to phrase my query in natural language, but it becomes useless in more strict searches. This is called "Fuzzy Search" in computer lingo.
NotebookLM, which I've written about before in this newsletter, would be perfect, but is capped at 300 sources per notebook. I have written over 1,000 articles on the site.1 A friend gave me the genius idea to just make notebooks for each year. While it'd be nice to search everything at once, I just have to narrow down the year. NotebookLM helped me find which letter I wrote about NotebookLM in, which is deliciously ironic.
I've loaded the last 12 years of writing, all of Millennial Gaming Speak and The Max Frequency Podcast, and this very newsletter into the AI apparatus. It's a game changer for me and how search works in my brain. I give it a big ol' thumbs up. 👍🏻
I have had a few more Japanese Jazz Think Sessions. More ideas have been born. I am excited about quite a few of them, like one about invisible UI and UX or physical media or one about the cross-generational bottleneck.
But that's all they are right now—ideas sitting in my task manager for me to sift through. I'm thinking up stuff, but not making more video essays.2 I'm reminded of this quote from Atomic Habits by James Clear.
"It is easy to get bogged down trying to find the optimal plan for change…We are so focused on figuring out the best approach that we never get around to taking action."
While I don't think this is a case of me trying to find the perfect idea or optimize my processes, I am out of rhythm. I need to get back in the groove and make, make, make.
"With the ideas flowing, output is demanded. I can feel myself verging on the overwhelmed side of creativity with too many things I want to do. Deliberation is required. You have to ship. You can't hoard all the ideas. Make make make. And making requires output."
Me. I wrote that.
I have a couple of three hour flights next week. That's some serious precious time to write.
Until next time...
This letter is one block from the newsletter Memory Card by Max Roberts. Thoughts? Send me an email at max@maxfrequency.net.
Max is the writer and producer behind Max Frequency. cultivate and curate curiosity—both for himself and for others—by delighting in the details and growing greatness from small beginnings.
He's written a rich history and dive on the making of Naughty Dog's The Last of Us Part II, celebrated the 15th anniversary of Super Smash Bros. Brawl with the voice behind its hype, and examined how Zelda "stole" Fortnite's best mechanic.
Memory Card is a real-ish time, raw, drip feed newsletter of his creative process for telling these stories. It’s how The Thing™ gets made.
It's all powered by Max Frequency and patrons.
Wanna see The Thing™? Check it out on YouTube. Read it on The Blog.