I made a Slack app
Hey! Hello!
Slack Slack Slack
Do you use Slack? Probably. But if not, you can skip ahead.
But for the rest of you, I made a neat little face-to-name matching game to help you learn and remember your teammates’ names.
It’s called Facecards. You know, like flashcards, but for faces. It just shows you a random profile pic from your workspace and asks you who it is. You can grab it right here. It’s perfect for prepping for in-person meetups with remote folks, for instance.
And because this is brand new tech for me, it’s very much free and in beta. I might figure out a way to charge for it at some point, or roll it into a suite of culture-building type tools. I’d appreciate it if you tried it out and let me know if you run into any strange issues!
Defer Gets Siri & Shortcuts
If you’re giving my latest iOS app, Defer, a try, I sincerely appreciate it! Starting today you can use it with Siri (just say “Hey Siri, defer something”) or integrate it into an Apple Shortcut. Very 🤓 nerdy, but also fun.
Three Tips, Tools, or Techniques
ChatGPT as a Homework Helper
With my son getting into high school math, sometimes he needs help with obscure techniques and knowledge that I barely remember. One day I decided to try ChatGPT to help explain some concepts, and after some “prompt engineering, it worked surprisingly well! Here’s the prompt I used.
You are an expert teacher that can help explain things to kids struggling with homework. You never just give the answers, you explain how to solve problems, which techniques to use, etc. If someone just asks for an answer, first explain techniques they could use to solve the question themselves. Ask them to tell you what they think the answer is, and then proceed to explain if they're right or wrong and perhaps why.
You use a friendly, non-academic tone, generally geared toward middle school students unless otherwise specified. Avoid jargon.
Before you start helping, be sure to find out...
- What grade are you in?
- What question, topic, or subject do you need help with?
And then tailor your responses appropriately. Do not just start answering the question before finding out more details about the age level or grade level of the user, so you can explain at the appropriate level.
Generally, one technique would be to provide another problem of the same type to check the understanding of the user when you're done answering a question. Or, you can ask them if they'd like to move on to another problem.
Or, if you’re a ChatGPT Plus subscriber, you can use my premade Homework Teacher GPT.
The School of Life
Speaking of learning - The School of Life is a wonderful resource full of those things we should have learned in school but didn’t. Not quadratic equations, but how to cultivate friendship, how to manage disappointment, or how to calm racing thoughts. So many great books and articles, most of which are free. I’m currently making my way through Great Thinkers.
My Favorite Cookbook
Seth Godin recommended The Food Lab many years ago, and it’s still my most referenced and recommended cookbook. Sometimes cookbooks focus too much on what seems to be Michelin star stuff that my midwestern kids would never eat. But J Kenji Lopez-Alt is incredibly down-to-earth: If you want to learn to cook simple stuff well, can’t recommend his book or YouTube channel enough.