My name is Fírinn, and these are a few of my favorite things:
- Absolutely every aspect and detail of the natural world
- Software as a deep art form that actually does stuff
- The joy of learning and sharing knowledge
- The magic of AI and Machine Learning
- Always considering better possibilities
- Expanding my mind and perceptions
- Great exploratory conversation
- Great art of all kinds
- Multilingualism
- Animals
- Words
I love designing and building software.
I had always considered myself an artist, so it wasn't until I realized that software is an art form that my interest in software design blossomed, and then turned into a career.
Below are some of the tools I use to turn ideas into reality:
JavaScript TypeScript Node.js Python Java React AWS SQL NoSQL Django LangChain Algorithms Git/GitHub shell scripting
When I am writing code, I feel like a velociraptor.
It's a good feeling.
For the past two years I have been intensively studying Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Large Language Models.
I absolutely love everything about it.
The fact that a system consisting only of math and data can learn, make decisions and hold a coherent conversation is absolutely fascinating to me.
We are currently in the midst of a vast bubble of hype about AI, though some advances are truly remarkable.
Yet the continuing deficiencies and defects of AI are a serious cause for concern, as is the potential for AI to be applied by cybercriminals.
The field is developing with astonishing speed. Here are some of the resources I use to keep up:
User Interface and User Experience are crucially important, and often done badly.
Many people don't understand that User Interface is only a subset of User Experience.
It is often the case that the User Interface is good, but the overall User Experience is bad. This may be because of poor information architecture, badly designed flow, a use of language that is offputting or inappropriate, or an emotional experience that is not positive or coherent.
What matters most is not pixel-perfect design, but the overall experience of the user.
The Six Levels of UX Maturity framework from the Nielsen Norman Group to be useful in guiding the process of User Experience Design.
I have certifications in UI Design and UX Design, and was a UI/UX Designer for four years.
We are in a Golden Age of data visualization. This is in part due to the easy availability of vast amounts of data, but also due to the availability of high quality tools, often free and open source, for displaying data in myriad ways.
Yet no data visualization, no matter how beautiful or compelling, is valid if the data itself is not valid.
This is where Data Science comes in, and by far the most important aspect of Data Science is the decision as to what kind of data to gather, and why. The quality of the data itself pales in comparison to the fundamental decisions as to what data should be gathered in the first place.
Data Visualizations of great beauty and clarity only come after valid, relevant data has been carefully gathered, cleaned, and analyzed.
Here are some of the tools I use for Data Visualization:
- D3.js | Amazing JavaScript library for DV but challenging to use
- Chart.js | Basic library that is easy to use
- Google Charts | Does the job
- ECharts | Open source
- Leaflet | Interactive maps
I try to respond to all important calls and messages within 24 hours.
(415) 579-2586