The code and data behind xeiaso.net
blog: usesthis interview
Signed-off-by: Xe Iaso <me@xeiaso.net>
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---
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title: "Xe Iaso on usesthis.com"
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date: 2024-01-31
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redirect_to: https://usesthis.com/interviews/xe.iaso/
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---
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### Who are you, and what do you do?
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I'm Xe Iaso, I'm a technical educator,
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[Twitch](https://www.google.com/url?q=http://web.archive.org/web/20230525093711/https://www.twitch.tv/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1706728038727221&usg=AOvVaw02w1vnAnFZxaav66cJrFgN) streamer,
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vtuber, and philosopher that focuses on ways to help make technology
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easier to understand and do cursed things in the process. I live in
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Ottawa with my husband and I do developer relations professionally. I
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am an avid writer for [my
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blog](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://xeiaso.net/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1706728038727588&usg=AOvVaw0EBTFTGVM8dc3Qz-UAGqr_),
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where I have over 400 articles. I regularly experiment with new
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technologies and find ways to mash them up with old technologies for
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my own amusement.
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### What hardware do you use?
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For hardware, I use a [MacBook
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Pro](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.apple.com/macbook-pro/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1706728038728069&usg=AOvVaw03SFleeK6JX65OqUFICyoH) (M2
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Max), an [iPad
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Pro](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPad_Pro&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1706728038728257&usg=AOvVaw1zNssXvll38srSUA3_eT_h) with
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a keyboard, a gaming desktop with a [Ryzen 5950X
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processor](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amd.com/en/products/cpu/amd-ryzen-9-5950x&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1706728038728429&usg=AOvVaw1tPXpBRptPsTvelQRy6SY7) and
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a
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[4080](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/graphics-cards/40-series/rtx-4080-family/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1706728038728603&usg=AOvVaw1my9tmjXZgBTpGhs5sNLmz),
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two [ZSA Moonlander
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keyboards](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.zsa.io/moonlander/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1706728038728778&usg=AOvVaw11ydcWamxSsqxX6EOTl-r6) and
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some pretty professional audio equipment. I am an avid VR enthusiast
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and play a lot of video games.
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### And what software?
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I somewhat jokingly call my microphones my 0% keyboards, because I use
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a piece of software called
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[Talon](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://talonvoice.com/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1706728038729203&usg=AOvVaw0xdvNHnATTCrayE1kgN-Kn) in
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order to do enhanced dictation with them. One of the best ways to
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understand Talon, is that it lets you control a computer with your
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voice. This includes things like programming. When you combine this
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with other tools like
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[Cursorless](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.cursorless.org/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1706728038729393&usg=AOvVaw1DFJxWMW4ID4Nn2tpqq1dK) in
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[VS
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Code](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://code.visualstudio.com/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1706728038729598&usg=AOvVaw3O8F0p3fnGKRByr4NGh_gN).
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This means that you're able to do everything that you can with your
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hands faster with your voice.
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I used to be a fairly big
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[Emacs](https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1706728038729909&usg=AOvVaw1av9j0P_gs6kMjbDFNcX0A) user,
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but VS Code is my main weapon of choice right now. In terms of
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editors, it is okay really. It doesn't have a lot of stuff that sets
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it apart from other things. Except for Cursorless, which lets you do
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AST-level editing with your voice. This is insane fuckshit magic from
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the future. Normally when you use your keyboard and deal with text,
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you are dealing with individual characters or even words at a time.
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Cursorless lets you operate on the language syntax in the nodes that
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the compiler for that language uses internally. There is such a huge
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gap between normal text editing and using Cursorless that it is
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difficult to explain unless you actually use it.
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I run all big three operating systems across my devices. My laptops
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are MacBooks. I play games on Windows. I have a home theater PC
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running
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[NixOS](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://nixos.org/&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1706728038730190&usg=AOvVaw0ZOQpeVxAcpJArTwoEYoAO),
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but also all of my servers in my basement run NixOS too. It ruins you.
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Really bad.
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### What would be your dream setup?
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My dream setup would be some kind of AR experience where I have
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goggles that show me a screen and I use voice for the input as much as
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possible. I have done some experimentation using my [Steam
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Deck](https://www.google.com/url?q=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_Deck&sa=D&source=editors&ust=1706728038730548&usg=AOvVaw3dq-C5sR0NZ5o-AkeMhUqh) for
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this, but I think I would need something a bit more beefy in order to
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run all of the language models on device. If only Nvidia believed in
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giving people reasonable amounts of VRAM.
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It would be nice if I could use eye tracking in order to act as a
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mouse, but I would be fine with just voice input for everything.
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Needless to say though, I am very happy with the setup that I have
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right now. I think that it could be a lot better with just some minor
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adjustments that I've been working on making; but a lot of it is going
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to be building finesse in my tools rather than adopting new tools or
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building new tools entirely.
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Computer science is a weird profession.