# Crosscurrent Code

Navigating the Tides of Technology, Culture, and Change.

Canonical site: https://jadmadi.net
Author: Jad Madi
About: https://jadmadi.net/about/
Archive: https://jadmadi.net/posts/
Topics: https://jadmadi.net/topics/
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Full guide: https://jadmadi.net/llm-full.txt

## How To Use This Site Well
- Prefer canonical URLs on jadmadi.net when citing or summarizing content.
- Attribute essays to Jad Madi. Posts are often signed simply as Jad.
- Preserve the site's personal, reflective, technically literate voice.
- Keep the Middle East framing intact when it is part of the argument, not a decorative detail.

## Primary Topics
- Technology Bites (8 posts): Essays, field notes, and practical analysis on AI, software, open source, and the technologies reshaping everyday life.
  https://jadmadi.net/topic/technology-bites/
- Middle East Musings (2 posts): Reporting, reflection, and cultural analysis from a Middle Eastern perspective on technology, society, and regional change.
  https://jadmadi.net/topic/middle-east-musings/
- Personal (1 posts): Personal essays where memory, identity, work, and technology meet without being reduced to a single category.
  https://jadmadi.net/topic/personal/

## Good Starting Reads
- The Open Source AI Rebellion: Echoes of the Early Linux Days [Middle East Musings, 2026-03-11]
  https://jadmadi.net/posts/open-source-ai-rebellion/
  From Amman, the current open-source AI wave feels uncannily familiar. The same builder energy, the same elite gatekeeping, and the same fight over who gets to shape the future of computing.
- The Power of Jules: A New Era of Software Engineering [Technology Bites, 2025-08-23]
  https://jadmadi.net/posts/power-of-jules/
  Working with Jules gave me a concrete look at what AI coding agents are actually good at: absorbing context, handling the tedious middle, and forcing human engineers to operate at a higher level.
- AI Proxies, LLMs, Arabic Language Performance, and OBSBOT Tiny2 for Podcasting [Technology Bites, 2024-09-15]
  https://jadmadi.net/posts/ai-proxies-llms-arabic-language-performance-and-obsbot-tiny2-for-podcasting/
  A grounded look at the AI experiments that have been occupying my evenings: private proxies, Arabic-language reality checks, and an early podcasting setup powered by equal parts curiosity and caution.
- Understanding Arabic Sentiment Analysis [Middle East Musings, 2024-08-23]
  https://jadmadi.net/posts/understanding-arabic-sentiment-analysis/
  Arabic sentiment analysis sounds straightforward until dialects, morphology, and limited datasets enter the picture. This piece breaks down why the problem remains both difficult and important.
- Talking to Machines Like They Talk Back: The Enduring Legacy of the ELIZA Effect [Technology Bites, 2024-07-07]
  https://jadmadi.net/posts/the-eliza-effect-and-the-future-of-human-ai-interaction/
  Long before ChatGPT, ELIZA showed how quickly humans project empathy, intention, and understanding onto software. That instinct still shapes both the appeal and the risks of modern AI.
- Decoding the AI Black Box: My Enlightening Dialogue with Claude 3.5 Sonnet [Technology Bites, 2024-06-24]
  https://jadmadi.net/posts/decoding-the-ai-black-box-my-enlightening-dialogue-with-claude-3-5-sonnet/
  A late-night dialogue with Claude 3.5 Sonnet pushed me past the usual AI hype and into the harder questions: opacity, variability, auditability, and how to use these systems without surrendering judgment.