🇨🇳 DeepSeek Explainer, 🔦 Refining Shadows, 🧢 Swag Raffle
Volume 18
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➡️ This month, we’re focused on refining the structure of a Shadow in advance of our alpha-product launch. Our SiSo community members have weekly opportunities to join our experienced developers as they work on real world projects, with recordings posted to the community bulletin board.
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➡️ At SiSo, we stay on top of changing tech for our clients and community - and the DeepSeek launch was a big one. Still piecing together that puzzle? We’ve got a 3-minute explainer video so you can watch and move on with your day.


Curated media from the past few weeks:
If you’ve never had the pleasure of studying with the great Beej, then following one of his tech guides is a close second-best. New Git guide dropped this week and it’s comprehensive, practical, and should probably be saved in your favorite tabs for eternity.
🗯️Quotable Bit: “And I promise there’s definitely a chance that after you get through some of this guide, you might actually start to appreciate Git and like using it. I’ve been using it for years (I’m using it for the source code for this guide right now) and I can certainly vouch for it becoming easier over time, and then, even, second nature.”
How DeepSeek Upended Everything
DeepSeek just blew the tech world wide open. The Chinese AI model has upended everything from market assumptions to how we view AI efficiency. By focusing on performance with minimal resources, DeepSeek has shown that bigger isn't always better. It's forcing companies to rethink AI development—could smaller, open-source models be the future?
🗯️Quotable Bit: “‘We don’t have access to the data the model was trained on, or the code,’ he says. “‘Therefore, while we can fine-tune the model, we can’t really assess the full rationale of its performance. That being said, the team behind it is just really good and that also shows in the papers they release.’”
OpenAI’s o3-Mini Is a Leaner AI Model That Keeps Pace With DeepSeek
Well, well, well—OpenAI just dropped the o3-mini, and it's already making waves. This new, smaller AI model packs a punch, with impeccable reasoning and problem-solving. If you’re curious about how OpenAI’s keeping up with the AI race, this article’s got all the details.
🗯️Quotable Bit: “OpenAI’s newest model may not outshine R1 in terms of price, but it shows that the company will make efficiency part of its focus going forward. OpenAI also says that the model is especially strong in math, science, and coding.”