https://michaltakac.com/Recent content on Michal Takac - Software EngineerHugo -- gohugo.ioen-usThu, 31 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000https://michaltakac.com/blog/blogpost-grasshopper-progress/Thu, 31 Jul 2025 00:00:00 +0000https://michaltakac.com/blog/blogpost-grasshopper-progress/It happened to me multiple times, that when I shop online, I tend to go deep into research about the product I want to buy and that takes me then deep into the rabit hole. One example: last time I was shopping for running shoes online (simple task, right?), after 3 hours of: - 15 browser tabs open - 10 YouTube reviews watched at 2x speed - 7 “TOP 10 BEST RUNNING SHOES 2024!https://michaltakac.com/blog/2024-in-review/Tue, 31 Dec 2024 00:00:00 +0000https://michaltakac.com/blog/2024-in-review/As I reflect on 2024, it’s been a year of huge contrasts – filled with both incredible joy and significant challenges. The brightest star of our year was undoubtedly our daughter Anna, who turned 1 year old on December 2nd. Watching her grow from a tiny infant into a curious, active and smiling toddler has been nothing short of magical, bringing light to even the darkest days. The year tested me physically as I battled with ulcerative colitis.https://michaltakac.com/blog/leap-over-discomfort/Tue, 12 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000https://michaltakac.com/blog/leap-over-discomfort/Recently, this post from @DamianKalmar popped in front of me (he has given multipe talks at our biohacking meetups at Paralelná Polis Košice): When you get a feeling, that you don't want to study, exercise, or do something productive, which you know you should do, but don't want to experience the discomfort if doing it, remember, that it's only the first few minutes/seconds, which are usually uncomfortable. The rest is usually pretty enjoyable.https://michaltakac.com/blog/first-week-being-a-dad/Sun, 10 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000https://michaltakac.com/blog/first-week-being-a-dad/I will never forget the rush of adrenaline after I saw the face of my wife when she informed me that her amniotic fluid had broken. That night, an obstetrician who was also the head of the clinic and who was supposed to deliver our daughter was at a party with colleagues (he came to do the delivery later the next day). We rushed to the hospital and waited half a day until the time came when my wife got stronger, regular contractions.https://michaltakac.com/blog/strange-loops-and-ai/Thu, 23 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000https://michaltakac.com/blog/strange-loops-and-ai/In 1979, a cult book Gödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstadter explored consciousness via a mathematical idea found in art and music. Now, in the AI revolution, that concept could solve a vital question. Despite its name, it is not a book about the composer Bach, the artist Escher or even the mathematician Kurt Gödel. It is about consciousness and Hofstadter’s belief that this elusive concept is related to the idea of what he calls “a strange loop”.https://michaltakac.com/blog/developers-see-developers-do/Mon, 10 Feb 2020 00:00:00 +0000https://michaltakac.com/blog/developers-see-developers-do/Programmers are like chess players trying to play with a blindfold on — so much of their mental energy is spent just trying to picture where the pieces are that there’s hardly any left over to think about the game itself. To “make” a program, you type words. When you want to change the behaviour of the program, be it a game, or a website, or a simulation of physics, what you actually change is a text.