Teslak En https://teslak.me/en/ Teslak's Blog Wed, 11 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://validator.w3.org/feed/docs/rss2.html https://github.com/jpmonette/feed en Teslak En https://teslak.me/avatar.avif https://teslak.me/en/ CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 2026 © Teslak <![CDATA[Yale Little Histories]]> https://yalebooks.co.uk/little-histories/ urn:teslak:find:yale-little-histories Wed, 11 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT Illustrated books tracing how different subjects developed, each told across 40 short chapters

yalebooks.co.uk

]]> hi@teslak.me (Teslak) find <![CDATA[Oxford Very Short Introductions]]> https://academic.oup.com/very-short-introductions urn:teslak:find:oxford-very-short-introductions Wed, 11 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT Focused primers on the central concepts, theories, and debates within individual fields of study

academic.oup.com

]]> hi@teslak.me (Teslak) find <![CDATA[Penguin Great Ideas]]> https://www.penguin.co.uk/series/PEN02/penguin-great-ideas urn:teslak:find:penguin-great-ideas Wed, 11 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT Selected writings by influential philosophers, essayists, and political thinkers

penguin.co.uk

]]> hi@teslak.me (Teslak) find <![CDATA[No single language of the internet]]> https://teslak.me/en/no-single-language https://teslak.me/en/no-single-language Sun, 01 Nov 2026 17:00:00 GMT Care a lot about accessibility as a web design principle. On this blog, thought through keyboard navigation and screen reader support for blind users

Shared a similar thought on duplicating content when starting my Telegram blog

Going multilingual extends the same principle

Translating into every language is hard. Picked widely spoken ones, plus languages where friends can help catch nuances:

  • Russian as my native language
  • English as the international language
  • Spanish and Portuguese, learning both bit by bit
  • French, from school days
  • and German!
  • it’s just interesting to see the differences

I know absolutely nothing about Asian languages. After studying the nuances of CJK, I decided not to risk translating without an editor. Next-gen AI models will probably make it possible to translate into them too — after all, I want the whole world

Browser translators are a bit weak, and without a translation, a text has a hard time crossing the boundaries of its language bubble

If a post isn’t translated yet, the site falls back to an available language

Original characters (Teslaks) wearing traditional costumes from different countries

Translation methodology

I put a lot of time into the original and aim for comparable quality in translation

A long prompt translates the text in chunks and explains the differences between phrasing options. I read closely and choose, then pass it to another AI — and so on in a loop, minimizing inaccuracies

Facts and names are localized [in not-yet-published articles]

Most drafts start in Russian before getting translated, though I’m writing a new piece on design straight in English

I edit the English version myself; the others get a lighter touch since my grasp of them is weaker

Completeness

Reading on the site offers a better experience than in a feed reader.

]]> hi@teslak.me (Teslak) <![CDATA[Robophobia]]> https://teslak.me/en/robophobia https://teslak.me/en/robophobia Sun, 01 Nov 2026 16:00:00 GMT Bots on the internet look predictable: Firstname Lastname without an avatar, a female name with an erotic avatar, asjfds5431, or John | Marketing Specialist

My profile looks nothing like them. In comments and chats, I write in lowercase and shorten words in non-standard ways; AIs just don’t type like that

Even so, I’ve been suspected of being an inorganic lifeform dozens of times (is it the robot avatar?), and sometimes even banned

Most surprising of all was Vastrik.Club: to join, I wrote about myself thoroughly and informally, and… got rejected. Rewrote it with more detail and fresh links — rejected again!

Meaning some “tech-savvy” folks couldn’t tell a human from a bot. Yet the Club is full of nameless accounts, as the moderator pointed out. Cringed hard and wasn’t about to rewrite it a third time

After that, getting accused of using em-dashes barely even registers

Reading on the site offers a better experience than in a feed reader.

]]> hi@teslak.me (Teslak) <![CDATA[Who is Teslak and why “Teslak”]]> https://teslak.me/en/who-is-teslak https://teslak.me/en/who-is-teslak Sun, 01 Nov 2026 15:00:00 GMT Into depth, 🔍 research, working with data, and best practices
I feel a strong kinship with Gwern here

Most of my career has been in interface design. Still, calling myself just a designer feels too narrow — my interests have always run wider

Early on, dabbled in programming: C++ and web dev. Moved from code to the intersection of visuals, technology, and product logic

Did illustration and graphic design for a while, though I’ve always felt stronger on the technical side. I click well with developers, understand how modern systems work, and know the technical constraints of shipping a product

Worked on a Fintech CRM, at a strong design studio, and at AI startups. Shipped projects for major corporations and agencies

Know what good process looks like and care about the details

Since the AI boom, I’ve been following all the models and vibe-coding, with a clear sense of their practical limits

More details in the toggle below

Teslak and AI

⚙️ In early 2024, joined an RPA startup building a semi-local assistant that controls a computer, like Claude computer use. Since 2025, been building AI agents for various companies

Not an ML engineer, though I’ve done basic model training (OCR CNN, fine-tuned Qwen). Mostly adapt others’ work for practical use

First real dive into AI began with an article about Artbreeder and its impressive (for the time) image generations

Midjourney’s 2022 release blew me away — spent days generating nonstop, though it was miles away from today’s models

Used GPT even before ChatGPT launched (peak of that era + the post right before it), including Russian adaptations, and wrote about the release of GPT-3.5 on the very day it came out

Built agents using LangGraph, LlamaIndex, and n8n, automating some browser tasks with Harpa. When OpenClaw dropped, moved most of my pipeline over, dissecting its architecture and how it evolved. Now on Hermes. Keeping an eye on devtools and the evolution of harnesses

Experimenting with local LLMs, I’m skeptical of anything that isn’t at least 27B

Actively follow all LLMs: using them, reading papers, checking out RAG and deep research implementations, and experimenting hands-on. Have a high-level grasp of transformers, attention, training stages, hardware, and inference

🐧 Running Fedora on desktop, NixOS on the server

🗃️ Big on structuring data. Loved Obsidian since the early betas; before that, used Zotero, Roam Research, and Notion, which I still love and use for team workflows

Feel like I keep up with a changing world. COVID, for instance, pushed me to dive into biology, vaccines, and clinical trials

Have a soft spot for bioinformatics

I’ve read ~50 fiction books — not into fiction anymore. Switched to non-fiction: work, philosophy, art, and pop science. Sometimes tech, biology, and economics too, though I prefer articles for those

Did some photography, though more into the technical side and art theory

Into writing and editing. I write everything myself!

Left Russia a few years ago. ✈️ Traveled to far-flung countries and keep actively exploring the world

Don’t drink, smoke, or do drugs

Blogging

In 2020, started a Telegram channel for occasional posts, and a second one shortly after for daily reposts and unedited thoughts

I have plenty of gripes with X, Telegram, and most platforms + want to be closer to the global English-speaking community — all of that, along with a drive for independence, led me to this site

✏️ Used to write on practical topics: broad takes on how the world works and niche tech and financial analysis. For now, adapting and rewriting those older ideas for this blog

Nickname

In 2018, decided to come up with a decent handle

My last name is Iskra, which means “spark” in Russian

According to the Russian Wikipedia, lightning is an electric spark discharge in the atmosphere (in the English wiki, the spark connection is mentioned elsewhere)

Lightning and electricity naturally point to Nikola Tesla

Not that I’m a fan of Nikola himself: he was peculiar, prone to wild claims, and slightly mad. Even less of a fan of Tesla Inc., though the cars are nice

Now Teslak is my handle everywhere

The “k” at the end doesn’t mean much. Maybe KDE Plasma had an influence back then, since lightning is plasma, too

Avatars

Used various avatars, especially knights, and never real photos for privacy. After adopting the Teslak handle, switched to a lightning bolt

A grid of Teslak avatars with knights, a lightning bolt, an elf, and a robot
Avatar evolution

Wanted something more personal and distinct, so I designed a character, hired an illustrator, and edited the result. Grew tired of it, hired another artist, did even more edits myself, and that elf ended up sticking around longer

With the release of Midjourney v4, created a robot with a nod to Master Chief and Soundwave; with v5 in 2023, made another one and stuck with it

Reading on the site offers a better experience than in a feed reader.

]]> hi@teslak.me (Teslak) <![CDATA[Colophon]]> https://teslak.me/en/colophon https://teslak.me/en/colophon Sun, 01 Nov 2026 14:00:00 GMT Built on Vue + SSG

Forked antfu and pushed hundreds of changes: new components, i18n, tooltips inspired by LessWrong, a11y, JSON-LD, microformats2, ✨ visuals, a revamped TOC, mobile version, and bug fixes

⚰️ If teslak.me ever goes dark, check teslak.plasmatiq.workers.dev or GitHub

Platforms and site builders like Substack don’t offer enough freedom; I want to do lots of little things my own way (and did, right on this site)

Later, I plan to add navigation inspired by non-linear digital gardens, an ✉️ email newsletter, micro-animations, hotkeys, webmentions, and migrate to Astro

BTW, hit the Up arrow to change the article background

Reading on the site offers a better experience than in a feed reader.

]]> hi@teslak.me (Teslak) <![CDATA[The Nobel Prize]]> https://teslak.me/en/finds/nobel-prize urn:teslak:find:nobel-prize Sun, 01 Nov 2026 00:00:00 GMT How Alfred Nobel’s will gave rise to a global institution shaped by strict rules, changing interpretations, and controversial decisions

Reading on the site offers a better experience than in a feed reader.

]]> hi@teslak.me (Teslak) find synthetic