Ball argues for regulating the labs as institutions, not the individual models they release. Independent verifiers would audit each lab against its own safety framework:

An attentive reader will note that my proposal de-emphasizes regulating publicly released models and focuses instead on regulating the frontier lab as an entity.

He calls concentrated access the deeper danger:

You should not expect the most powerful people in the world using the most powerful technology ever conceived in a way that is inscrutable to the public to turn out well, and you should see that dynamic as fundamentally inconsistent with a democratic republic.

And he warns the limits could be self-defeating, creating the AI overbuild that skeptics predict:

No one is building $100 billion dollar data centers to serve frontier models to whatever 100 companies the US government will allow access.

After a trip like this, I usually have some stories. Where did we overestimate ourselves or underestimate the objective? For whatever reason, this one was different. We showed up, we did the thing, it was fun and straightforward from top to bottom for an awesome two days on the mountain.

This was my fifth summit in the #Cascades, after Mt Shasta, Mt Hood, Mt St Helens, and Mt Lassen.

Built around salvaged parts: a yoga mat for the foam padding, plastic cutting board sheet for back structure, and fleece from an old hunting vest to line the interior orange pocket (not pictured).

Internally braced end pocket side to maintain shaped structure while carried as a backpack.

Soft and pliable climbing-grade tubular webbing, rather than flat straps, for comfort while carrying by hand or over shoulder.

Primary materials: Challenge Ultra 100, 200, and 400. Light, water resistant, and durable. Ample daisy chains for clipping the bag to anything, or anything to the bag.

Loosely inspired by the defunct SDR Traveller’s D3 Traveller.

V2

Lined in blue gridstop. Added in this version: an externally accessible end pocket and a hidden AirTag pouch with velcro closure.

V1

Lined in grey. Not pictured - hidden internal zip pocket for secure passport stash.

One night after sunset, there were faint shapes in the night sky. We didn’t learn until later we’d caught the fringe of the largest solar storm in decades.

Every car in the parking lot was wrapped in chicken wire - the canonical defense against porcupines chewing brake lines and tires.

This bag has joined me everywhere since making it - skiing in Banff, splitboarding Mt Baker, Yosemite backcountry, Bugaboos spires, and tours all seasons around Lake Tahoe.

• Harness is fully replaceable and repairable: removable shoulder straps, hipbelt, and detachable hip pouches.
• Contoured framesheet with aluminum stay.
• Avalanche tools pocket.
• External helmet and soft gear carry with adjustable/clippable bungee.
• Gear loops, tool clips, and daisy chains.
• Fully seam taped for durability and to block water intrusion.
• Long webbing with asymmetric clips for lashing variable external loads, supporting diagonal or A-frame ski carry.
• Hydration bladder sleeve and hose port.
• Comfortable to 50lbs, tested up to 65lbs.

One of my favorite things when making kit for myself is salvaging and repurposing unusual components:

• The rolltop batten has a narrow 1/8" strip of plastic cutting board from the Dollar Store to flexibly preserve shape while open.
• The hipbelt mount has additional structure from a shaped cut of corrugated plastic from an election season lawn sign. Both elements are fully hidden within double walled construction.

Since the initial design, I’ve extended the rolltop collar to 55L capacity.

I made this bag to replace my Katabatic Gear Artemis 55, which had been my do-everything bag for years - Denali, New Zealand, Morocco, British Columbia, and all of my early Cascades summits (Shasta, Hood, St Helens).

My fourth Cascades summit, after Mt Shasta, Mt St Helens, and Mt Lassen.

Years later, remembering the horizon-spanning edge of light racing over smoky ridges to throw Mt Hood and Mt Jefferson into glowing orange spires still gives me chills.

The lookout itself was lost in a fire four years later. I climbed Mt Hood nine months after the eclipse.

My third summit in the #Cascades, after Mt Shasta and Mt Lassen.

While planning with park rangers, I was surprised to learn that no other people would be permitted to visit a one hundred square mile area while we explored it - and none were expected in the neighboring zones throughout our trip. Denali National Park is vast and isolating.

We were lucky to get a brief glimpse of the Denali summit through the clouds, 15,000ft above our route through the soggy tundra.

These pictures were taken around the clock. At this latitude, just days past the summer solstice, the sun only dips behind mountains briefly in the dead of night.

A few highlights and observations:

• Mobile is not a category. Matias Duarte (Google): Mobile was a real distinction only when the device was constrained, and those constraints are dissolving as handheld touch devices become more capable. Design for one person moving from desk to pocket to car across a day, not a portfolio of separate products.

• Metric discipline. Stewart Butterfield (Slack, Flickr): Orient teams around simple, objective, shared targets with strict definition. _“A DAU logged in, and read at least one message. It’s all or nothing. The whole team is using it or they’re not.”

• Give it away early. Sarah Alpern (Wealthfront): During onboarding, users get an itemized portfolio they could take and invest independently after just a few questions, even before account login/signup. Shows value while offering direct path to it.

• Scope research to the decision in front of you. Bradford Cross (Prismatic): Lengthy persona studies that are run out of sync with active build efforts will be ignored. Useful research is targeted. Aim research at the immediate problem.

• Flat design is peaking. Duarte both championed flat UI and warned against too much of it. Stripping depth cues also strips differentiating objects.

• UX titles absolve responsibility. Peter Merholz (Groupon) and Mia Blume (Pinterest) keep “UX” out of role titles. If you say one person is the UX person, everyone else stops owning the experience.