The TEKnologist

Reflections, and Thoughts from a Creative Technologist Living in Japan

I was a web developer for about ten years—back in the day. I loved building things, but I never really loved the coding part. I liked creating.

Now, thanks to AI, the game’s changed. With “vibe coding”—a term coined by AI researcher and OpenAI founding member Andrej Karpathy—I can build apps just by talking to AI. You still need to be aware of app dev essentials like security and performance, but the ability to go from idea to prototype just by describing what you want? Feels like magic.

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I don’t struggle with complexity itself. I struggle with irrelevant or poorly explained complexity.

TheTEKnologist.com

On Complexity

As always, your mileage may vary, So use what’s helpful. Discard the rest. ✌️

#philosophy #thinkingoutloud


Written by a creative technologist, photographer, and an evolving human living in Japan—enhanced (and tangled) by technology.

Some of the most important things in life are the ones you choose freely, not the ones you do out of pressure or obligation.

TheTEKnologist.com

As always, your mileage may vary, so use what’s helpful. Discard the rest. ✌️

#philosophy #thinkingoutloud


Written by a creative technologist, photographer, and an evolving human living in Japan—enhanced (and tangled) by technology.

Today's Tangled Visual

An abstract peek inside the evolving, tangled mind of a creative technologist.

TheTeknologist Illustration

TheTeknologist Illustration

I’ve always loved to doodle and sketch—and I still do. But now, with AI, I can flesh out the ideas in my head faster than ever.

ChatGPT o3 Prompt (I could have done this in the 4o model too)

Create a horizontal creative but minimalistic illustration with a white background based on this idea with no words, only my domain name theteknologist.com – focus on the abstract idea

Written by a creative technologist, photographer, and an evolving human living in Japan—enhanced (and tangled) by technology.

#ai #aigeneratedillustration #chatgpt #prompts


Written by a creative technologist, photographer, and an evolving human living in Japan—enhanced (and tangled) by technology.

Most of our life is spent chasing the person we think we’re supposed to become, until one day, we wake up and realize who we are.

Did the billion little choices it’s estimated we make in a life guide us there?

Or was it always meant to be?

As always, your mileage may vary, so use what’s useful. Discard the rest.

#quotes #philosophy


Written by a creative technologist, photographer, and an evolving human living in Japan—enhanced (and tangled) by technology.

“I have faith in humanity. I just don’t trust people. :)” — Me (but I’m sure I’m not the first)

As always, you may view it differently, so take what works, discard the rest.

#quotes #philosophy


Written by a creative technologist, photographer, and an evolving human living in Japan—enhanced (and tangled) by technology.

Plan for order and you’ll be destroyed by chaos. Prepare for chaos and you’ll thrive in any condition. — Sahil Bloom, *The Curiosity Chronicle*, Jan 7, 2025

From: 34 Life Lessons from 34 Years – Sahil Bloom

As always, your mileage may vary, so use what’s helpful. Discard the rest.

#quotes #philosophy


Written by a creative technologist, photographer, and an evolving human living in Japan—enhanced (and tangled) by technology.

Hold on to the fire that fuels your passion—​even when the demons of doubt tug to pull you back.

As always, your mileage may vary, so use what’s helpful. Discard the rest.

#aigeneratedillustration #philosophy


Written by a creative technologist, photographer, and an evolving human living in Japan—enhanced (and tangled) by technology.

“Creativity is intelligence having fun.” — Albert Einstein

I’ve always had images and illustrations in my head, it’s just how I see the world. But drawing share-worthy illustrations takes time, and I often want a visual to go with a thought, either for my personal journal or even for my blog.

We’re now at a point where I can do a quick sketch on paper, take a photo, upload it to ChatGPT, and it will draw it for me. Maybe I’m overly excited, but I LOVE THIS.

Yesterday I was talking to my designer friend Henry about how this feature can elevate visual communication, especially for presentations and content creation. To show him, I grabbed a pen, sketched out a rough idea, and uploaded it directly from my phone while we were talking.

A drew a very rough stick figure with a bow, aiming an arrow at a target. Basic but clear. I then took a photo of the drawing with my phone, uploaded to ChatGPT and entered the prompt below;

Initial rough sketch.

Prompt #1: “Create a minimalist illustration of this drawing showing a person shooting an arrow from a bow at a target.”

Which gave me a pretty clean version of my rough sketch. I think ChatGPT did an awesome job of creating a clean, simple, black-and-white line illustration.

Simple shapes. Clean composition. The sketch was transformed into something presentable for a concept slide or UX wireframe.

I then added one more simple prompt to get a more polished graphic visual.

Prompt #2: “Ok, now make this a creative design graphic.”

Result: It elevated the idea with style—flat design, warm colors, bold shapes. The archer became a stylized figure. The target popped. The whole piece looked like it belonged in a polished brand presentation or digital publication.

This wasn’t about making perfect art, and the sky is the limit for what you can do with this workflow. It was about expressing an idea fast—and clearly.

This kind of flow helps: • Designers ideate and iterate faster, think thumbnails to draft outlines. • Executives or sales teams who need visuals for their presentations. • Writers and marketers create quick visuals to pair with messaging. • Developers or PMs translate whiteboard sketches into diagrams. • Educators and speakers visualize their teaching points on the fly.

Even something like: “Turn this sketch into a Mermaid diagram.” …or “Convert this to a UI wireframe with callouts.” is totally doable with the right follow-up prompt.

While an artist could do much more here, you don’t need to be an artist to think visually. You just need the right tools to bridge your imagination and output.

Rough Sketch it. Snap it. Prompt it. Polish it. Use it.

As always, your mileage may vary, so use what’s helpful. Discard the rest.✌️

#ai #aigeneratedillustration #chatgpt #prompts


Written by a creative technologist, photographer, and an evolving human living in Japan—enhanced (and tangled) by technology.

Leica recently released a limited edition (only 250 available worldwide) Leica M Edition 70 film camera that includes a 50mm Summicron APO f/2 lens, a Leicavit fast winder, and a matching silver film canister with film. Leica M Edition 70 Now Shipping

Screenshot above is from Leicarumors.com – source link above to the article.

I will most likely never own such a masterpiece, but I’m grateful limited special edition cameras like this exist—no matter their cost. It reminds me someone is still dedicated to the craft of photography and the gear we love, and it reminds the rest of us to never stop dreaming of owning such things.


As always, your mileage may vary, so use what’s helpful. Discard the rest.✌️

#photography #leica #film


Written by a creative technologist, photographer, and an evolving human living in Japan—enhanced (and tangled) by technology.

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