talsraviv

Hey! Tal here. Maxim and I created Familiar to capture our screen (and clipboard) every few seconds and save it as markdown. That way our local agent can use that as context (through a cron, skill, or slash command).

Our early testers are showing us how to use it:

- Update Claude's skills/memory based on their workday (in a scheduled task/heartbeat)

- Typing "help me with what I'm working on right now" without having to prompt/describe

- Enriching meeting transcripts with what was actually on screen (and vice versa)

- Forking it into their coaching app so coaches can see what learners did between sessions

- Someone new to tech used Familiar during a trial week at a YC startup, so that AI could coach him every few hours (and got the job)

We've consistently seen AI use Familiar context like a "router" layer. Recently, my agent "saw" that I spent a long time on a document, so it fetched the full doc directly. We've also seen the agent traverse the markdown, then decide to fetch the original image (so cool).

Familiar uses Apple's native OCR, deletes screenshot images after 48 hours, and redacts passwords/credit card numbers/SSNs/API tokens/etc. We'd love contributions on what else to block: https://github.com/familiar-software/familiar/tree/main/src/... or in general ways to improve privacy.

We stand on the shoulders of giants: screenpipe, rewind, dayflow, etc. Since then: 1) Local agents got good at handling massive amounts of messy text files 2) Local agents have their own memory and skills systems

Familiar is our "bitter lesson" version: just hand over context and get out of the way. The right way to do that piece is open source/free/offline.

Yeah, that's a good point - the filter has definitely changed for me over time as well. The don't-care bucket is filling up, and I like it.

The site lost a lot of credibility at several moments for me, this being a big one.

This coheres with my dating experiences as well. The medium may have changed, but we're all still people, with mostly the same spectrum of motivations we've always had.

My issue with dating apps is that they're too efficient. Our attractiveness fluctuates dramatically based on context. If we're doing something we love, doing something interesting, or exhibiting a particular behavior or trait, we can be far more attractive than any five curated photos will show. And vice versa.

Dating apps remove all contextual variety and flatten us out. And in that case, "efficiency" is actually inefficient.

This premise has always been the first thought in my mind when hearing of a conspiracy. Cool to see it modeled in historical context.

> The "flow" that imaginative people love so much has a darker cousin that prevents you from pausing to savor life...

I'm glad he pointed out this seemingly small detail. This took me a very long time to understand.

EDIT: It reminds me of another great post by Paul Buccheit. It's so important to have the 'heroes' of startup culture explicitly spell out these values:

> I worry that perhaps I'm communicating the wrong priorities. Investing money, creating new products, and all the other things we do are wonderful games and can be a lot of fun, but it's important to remember that it's all just a game. What's most important is that we are good too each other, and ourselves. If we "win", but have failed to do that, then we have lost. Winning is nothing.

http://paulbuchheit.blogspot.fr/2012/03/eight-years-today.ht...

I understand why you might arrive at that conclusion, but think about another level: What did Jessica Livingston lose or miss out on by not promoting herself to the public?

I would argue that she missed out on nothing that matters.

> In fact, the real moral of the story is that the tech press is almost entirely bullshit, and that is mostly to be avoided.

Any interaction I've had with the tech press from the "written about" side of things (or reading about close friends) has given me less and less faith in what I read about those I don't know.

I was close to deleting my Facebook account when I discovered the News Feed Eradicator[1]. This way I can still use messages, groups, events, etc. without having to experience the dreaded news feed. It really improved my quality of life.

Another major step I took was to stop posting. That way I had no expectations of feedback and logged in far less in general.

[1] https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/news-feed-eradicat...

This is one of my favorite boards to go out on, whether I'm in Hawaii or Florida - it's really good quality.

I never gave it much thought, so it's very cool to learn the business story behind it.

Definitely possible. And you guessed it - American.

Is health insurance the only thing to worry about? Any other reasons to save up a lot of money, or something to insure for?

For example, if a medical issue arises, insurance covers treatment, but if it's now difficult to sustain myself, am I now dependent on unemployment/social services (or savings)?

I lead a minimalist/nomadic lifestyle now, and always wondering if at some point the music has to stop and I have to integrate into the system as I get older (any kids, family aside).

That part I'm sold on. I'm wondering about, as another comment mentioned, what happens if you discover one day you're not self sufficient, even temporarily (significant illness, chronic illness, major injury - or something I'm not considering). If I don't want to be a burden on anyone on the grid, but don't want to depend on social services, how do I factor that in?

The comments here are really thought provoking. I feel like I'm missing something - is there some kind of unmentioned catch, like don't get sick, or you have to have really good workers/health/disability insurance - to make this work safely long term?

I love the contrarian thinking but want to make sure I'm accounting for legitimate cases my young mind might not conceive of. Or am I overthinking it?

This is so absolutely true. After a long day of using my left brain the only thing I feel like doing is playing some guitar. I've only learned a few chords and bought a cheap one off Amazon, but it is simply wonderful.

I would add to your metaphors and say, it feels like walking downhill after a long day of walking up hill - totally different muscles - all in my brain.

Generalizing, dogmatic attitudes, some of which are religious - and some of which are expressed in your comment - are harmful.

It's just as silly - and intellectually easy - to blindly condemn culture and religion as it is to blindly follow them.

There's a wonderfully epic two-part South Park episode that makes this point:

http://southpark.cc.com/full-episodes/s10e12-go-god-go http://southpark.cc.com/full-episodes/s10e13-go-god-go-xii

I'm in a similar situation and I've decided that while I won't live there, it's worth visiting my friends and contacts once in a while to catch up and learn about what they're doing.

I've been told by many friends in the Bay Area that day-to-day, it doesn't feel to them like there's enormous networking because everyone is in their own routines. They advised me that a huge percentage of networking can be accomplished by telling people you're "visiting for two weeks".

However, living there long-term and having your personal network double as your professional network is a different order of magnitude benefits. My perception is, from the outside and from visiting, the reason specific companies get bought or partnered with is often because they were more closely socially connected and geographically nearby (more likely to hear about one another, have friends in common, etc.)

I believe it's not something that happens overnight, but over time as an investment in the community and being there long-term.

I've recently made a conscious decision to put other priorities in life (where I really want to live, and my life outside tech) on equal or greater footing. For those for whom that's no conflict, I'm sure it's fantastic to live there.