7 AUG 2026

Day 219

The meaning of a word is its use in the language.

Ludwig Wittgenstein · Philosophical Investigations

A small round gold coin, thin and slightly uneven at the rim, its raised design worn but still legible: a seated figure under a canopy on one face, with lettering running around the edge.

I · THE OBJECT · BRITISH MUSEUM

florin

Kingdom of England · 1344 · Gold

Authorised in January 1344, refused by merchants, and replaced by August: a gold coin of six shillings whose official price and metal content never agreed, killed by arithmetic.

Enter lesson 5 MIN

II · THE IDEA · ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Loss Landscapes: Flat Minima and Sharp Ones

training · loss landscape geometry · 2D projection, filter normalisation

Neural network loss lives in millions of dimensions. A carefully normalised 2D slice can still reveal whether training is heading into a sharp ravine or a wide valley.

Enter lesson 7 MIN

A pale, barefoot winged figure in a long white garment sits on a cloth stretcher, head bandaged over the eyes, hands folded, one wing marked with blood. Two boys in dark clothes carry the poles across low, bare ground beside water under a thin sky. The rear boy looks out towards the viewer.

III · THE WORK · ART HISTORY

The Wounded Angel

Hugo Simberg · 1903 · Oil on canvas

Two boys carry a blindfolded angel across a bare shore on a makeshift stretcher. One wing is marked with blood, and the painting offers no account of what happened.

Enter lesson 5 MIN