Augustin Chan https://augustinchan.dev Building systems that reason. Writing about AI, Web3, and software engineering. en-us Tue, 10 Mar 2026 01:30:04 GMT Next.js aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) Copyright 2026 Augustin Chan https://augustinchan.dev/img/Xrn0Id68_400x400.jpg Augustin Chan https://augustinchan.dev <![CDATA[The Era of Large Frameworks Is Over]]> https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2026-03-03-why-i-stayed-on-elizaos https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2026-03-03-why-i-stayed-on-elizaos Tue, 03 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) <![CDATA[Teaching Taste to an Agent: 4,096 Classical Chinese Verses, 7 Composition Rules, and the Skill That Paints Them]]> https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2026-02-14-teaching-taste-to-agents-yilin-image-pipeline https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2026-02-14-teaching-taste-to-agents-yilin-image-pipeline Sat, 14 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) <![CDATA[The Junzi Hypothesis: What If Alignment Is a Seed, Not a Cage?]]> https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2026-01-25-junzi-alignment-initial-weights-hypothesis https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2026-01-25-junzi-alignment-initial-weights-hypothesis Sun, 25 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) <![CDATA[Whisper Cantonese Transcription: Force zh, Not yue]]> https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2026-01-13-whisper-cantonese-transcription-zh-not-yue https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2026-01-13-whisper-cantonese-transcription-zh-not-yue Tue, 13 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMT aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) <![CDATA[Vibe-Coded Evals with LLM-as-a-Judge]]> https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2025-12-13-vibe-coded-evals-llm-as-judge https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2025-12-13-vibe-coded-evals-llm-as-judge Sat, 13 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) <![CDATA[Why I Open-Sourced a Deterministic I-Ching Engine (Or: The Smallest Verifiable Compute You Can Build)]]> https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2025-12-01-seeded-iching-engine https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2025-12-01-seeded-iching-engine Mon, 01 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) <![CDATA[Testing Twelve AI Image Models with Marcel Proust's Madeleine (Or: How We Chose Hunyuan for Hexagram 24)]]> https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2025-11-18-proust-multimodel-comparison https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2025-11-18-proust-multimodel-comparison Tue, 18 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) <![CDATA[On Going Legit on Twitter/X (Or: How I Learned to Stop Scraping and Love the Rate Limit)]]> https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2025-11-10-twitter-api-hell https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2025-11-10-twitter-api-hell Mon, 10 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) <![CDATA[LLMs Love Markdown. CMSs Love Databases. I Built a WordPress Bridge Nobody Should Need.]]> https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2025-11-07-wordpress-rest-api-siteground-security-ssh-wpcli https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2025-11-07-wordpress-rest-api-siteground-security-ssh-wpcli Fri, 07 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) <![CDATA[The Daily Hexagram: A Journey from Complexity to Simplicity]]> https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2025-10-28-binary-calendar-hexagram-simplicity https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2025-10-28-binary-calendar-hexagram-simplicity Tue, 28 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMT aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) <![CDATA[Memory Systems and the Graph That Wasn't: On Not Using Neo4j]]> https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2025-10-28-memory-systems-and-the-graph-that-wasnt https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2025-10-28-memory-systems-and-the-graph-that-wasnt Tue, 28 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMT aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) <![CDATA[Memory Systems Deep Dive: Technical Appendix]]> https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2025-10-28-memory-systems-appendix https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2025-10-28-memory-systems-appendix Tue, 28 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMT aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) <![CDATA[Tech Noir, Joy Division, and the Crushing Anxiety of Optimizing for Search Engines That Might Not Exist in Three Years]]> https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2025-10-24-tech-noir-seo-anxiety-2025 https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2025-10-24-tech-noir-seo-anxiety-2025 Fri, 24 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMT aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) <![CDATA[When LLM Reasoning Becomes the Pattern - Meta-Classification Failure Modes]]> https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2025-09-27-llm-reasoning-pattern-classification-failure-modes https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2025-09-27-llm-reasoning-pattern-classification-failure-modes Sat, 27 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMT aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) <![CDATA[Evolutionary ADRs: Writing Architecture Decision Records from First Principles]]> https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2025-09-21-evolutionary-adrs-first-principles https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2025-09-21-evolutionary-adrs-first-principles Sun, 21 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMT aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) <![CDATA[Trusting Your Instincts: When AI Suggests Complex Solutions]]> https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2025-09-14-trusting-instincts-ai-architecture https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2025-09-14-trusting-instincts-ai-architecture Sun, 14 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMT aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) <![CDATA[From Mimicry to Authenticity: Systematic Voice Evolution in DSPy]]> https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2025-09-02-dspy-voice-evolution-authenticity https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2025-09-02-dspy-voice-evolution-authenticity Tue, 02 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMT aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) <![CDATA[Locale Migration Strategy: When Adding Beats Replacing]]> https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2025-08-19-locale-migration-strategy-decision https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2025-08-19-locale-migration-strategy-decision Tue, 19 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMT aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) <![CDATA[Claude Code: From 30% to 50% Better Than Cursor Agent Mode]]> https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2025-08-11-claude-code-productivity-gains https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2025-08-11-claude-code-productivity-gains Mon, 11 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMT aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) <![CDATA[Mem0's Aggressive `infer=True` Behavior: When LLM Filtering Goes Too Far]]> https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2025-08-03-mem0-aggressive-infer-behavior https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2025-08-03-mem0-aggressive-infer-behavior Sun, 03 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMT aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) <![CDATA[Getting Browser Tools MCP Server Working with Claude Code: A Simple 2-Step Solution]]> https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2025-08-02-configuring-browser-tools-mcp-claude-code https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2025-08-02-configuring-browser-tools-mcp-claude-code Sat, 02 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMT aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) <![CDATA[DSPy + OpenRouter: Why the Standard Integration Falls Short (And How to Fix It)]]> https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2025-07-08-dspy-openrouter-integration https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2025-07-08-dspy-openrouter-integration Tue, 08 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMT aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) <![CDATA[Integrating RevenueCat Web Billing in React/Next.js: A Practical Guide]]> https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2025-06-11-revenuecat-web-billing-integration https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2025-06-11-revenuecat-web-billing-integration Wed, 11 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMT aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) <![CDATA[Cache Me If You Can: Getting Service Worker Update Toasts to Play Nice with New Jekyll Layouts]]> https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2025-05-19-pwa-cache-toast-jekyll-adventures https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2025-05-19-pwa-cache-toast-jekyll-adventures Mon, 19 May 2025 00:00:00 GMT aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) <![CDATA[Exploring 'Futures Thinking': A Design Dive for 8-Bit Oracle]]> https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2025-05-18-8-bit-oracle-futures-thinking https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2025-05-18-8-bit-oracle-futures-thinking Sun, 18 May 2025 00:00:00 GMT aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) <![CDATA[Android Passkeys: Frontend Adventures with CredentialManager and Jetpack Compose]]> https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2025-05-16-android-passkeys-frontend-adventures https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2025-05-16-android-passkeys-frontend-adventures Fri, 16 May 2025 00:00:00 GMT aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) <![CDATA[FIDO2 Passkeys for Android: Backend Challenges in Python]]> https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2025-05-14-challenges-with-passkey-android https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2025-05-14-challenges-with-passkey-android Wed, 14 May 2025 00:00:00 GMT aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) <![CDATA[Deploying a CosmWasm Smart Contract on the Stargaze Testnet]]> https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2025-03-27-getting-up-to-speed-with-cosmos-and-stargaze https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2025-03-27-getting-up-to-speed-with-cosmos-and-stargaze Thu, 27 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMT aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) <![CDATA[Revolutionizing Verifiable Compute on Solana: Key Bonsol Enhancements]]> https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2025-03-08-bonsol-verifiable-compute-enhancements https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2025-03-08-bonsol-verifiable-compute-enhancements Sat, 08 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMT aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) <![CDATA[DKG OriginTrail Integration - Consensus HK 2025 Hackathon Win]]> https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2025-02-20-dkg-origintrail-hackathon https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2025-02-20-dkg-origintrail-hackathon Thu, 20 Feb 2025 00:00:00 GMT aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) <![CDATA[Brainstorming a New Theory of Self-Directed Learning for AI, with AI]]> https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2025-01-17-brainstorming-a-novel-theory-with-ai https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2025-01-17-brainstorming-a-novel-theory-with-ai Fri, 17 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) <![CDATA[Key Contributions to ai16z Eliza AI Project (Nov 2024)]]> https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2024-11-15-eliza-ai16z-contribution https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2024-11-15-eliza-ai16z-contribution Fri, 15 Nov 2024 00:00:00 GMT aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) <![CDATA[Zustand: A Weapon for Efficient User State Management in React]]> https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2024-09-01-zustand-state-management https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2024-09-01-zustand-state-management Sun, 01 Sep 2024 00:00:00 GMT aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) <![CDATA[Optimizing React Authentication: Minimizing Re-renders and Improving Performance]]> https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2024-08-30-minimizing-re-renders https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2024-08-30-minimizing-re-renders Fri, 30 Aug 2024 00:00:00 GMT aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) <![CDATA[Conditional Rendering in Next.js: Hiding Footer on Specific Pages]]> https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2024-06-21-conditional-rendering https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2024-06-21-conditional-rendering Fri, 21 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMT aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) <![CDATA[Integrating with Shadcn: Tips and Insights for Seamless UI Component Integration]]> https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2024-06-08-integrating-shadcn https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2024-06-08-integrating-shadcn Sat, 08 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMT aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) <![CDATA[Securing SSH: A Detailed Look at Fail2Ban Configuration and Rule Management]]> https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2024-06-03-securing-ssh https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2024-06-03-securing-ssh Mon, 03 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMT aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) <![CDATA[Navigating UI Framework Transitions: From Bootstrap to Shadcn]]> https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2024-05-31-ui-frameworks https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2024-05-31-ui-frameworks Fri, 31 May 2024 00:00:00 GMT aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) <![CDATA[Navigating Client vs Server-Side Authentication in Web Development]]> https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2024-05-07-client-vs-server-side-auth https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2024-05-07-client-vs-server-side-auth Tue, 07 May 2024 00:00:00 GMT aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) <![CDATA[Implementing Auth and Database for 8-Bit Oracle]]> https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2024-05-05-getting-down-to-business https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2024-05-05-getting-down-to-business Sun, 05 May 2024 00:00:00 GMT aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) <![CDATA[Claude vs GPT4 for Coding]]> https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2024-04-19-claude-vs-gpt4-coding-assistants https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2024-04-19-claude-vs-gpt4-coding-assistants Fri, 19 Apr 2024 00:00:00 GMT aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) <![CDATA[How to Create an Interactive Typing Effect in React with Skip Animation Feature]]> https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2024-04-17-smooth-typing-effect-in-react https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2024-04-17-smooth-typing-effect-in-react Wed, 17 Apr 2024 00:00:00 GMT aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) <![CDATA[Exploring Divination Techniques: Chainlink VRF vs. Traditional Randomness Methods]]> https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2024-04-15-using-chainlink-vrf-for-divination https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2024-04-15-using-chainlink-vrf-for-divination Mon, 15 Apr 2024 00:00:00 GMT aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) <![CDATA[Solving Webpack Issues: Eliminating Double Script Loading and FOUC]]> https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2024-03-23-webpack-strangeness https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2024-03-23-webpack-strangeness Sat, 23 Mar 2024 00:00:00 GMT aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) <![CDATA[React's useEffect Firing Twice in Dev? The HMR Culprit and a Simple Check]]> https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2024-03-09-react-state-updates-and-js-timing-functions https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2024-03-09-react-state-updates-and-js-timing-functions Sat, 09 Mar 2024 00:00:00 GMT aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) <![CDATA[Fortune-Telling NFTs: Weaving I-Ching Wisdom with Blockchain Technology]]> https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2024-03-04-fortune-telling-nfts https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2024-03-04-fortune-telling-nfts Mon, 04 Mar 2024 00:00:00 GMT aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) <![CDATA[Brainstorming an AI-Powered Photo Critic Service]]> https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2024-02-29-brainstorming-ai-driven-photo-critic https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2024-02-29-brainstorming-ai-driven-photo-critic Thu, 29 Feb 2024 00:00:00 GMT aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) <![CDATA[Cracking AWS Network Issues: EC2 Docker to RDS Postgres Connectivity]]> https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2024-02-28-diagnosing-aws-ec2-to-rds-network-issues https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2024-02-28-diagnosing-aws-ec2-to-rds-network-issues Wed, 28 Feb 2024 00:00:00 GMT aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) <![CDATA[Rapid Spring Boot: Notes on JWT Authentication and JPA Data Persistence]]> https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2024-02-28-spring-auth-and-persistence https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2024-02-28-spring-auth-and-persistence Wed, 28 Feb 2024 00:00:00 GMT aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) <![CDATA[AI for Family Stories: Transcribing, Mapping, and Visualizing Our Histories]]> https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2024-02-13-brainstorming-transcription https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2024-02-13-brainstorming-transcription Tue, 13 Feb 2024 00:00:00 GMT aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) <![CDATA[Building a Smarter AI Agent with Haystack 1.x: My Journey with RAG and Custom Pipelines]]> https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2024-02-01-optimizing-rag-on-haystack https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2024-02-01-optimizing-rag-on-haystack Thu, 01 Feb 2024 00:00:00 GMT aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) <![CDATA[Exploring Haystack: Building Advanced NLP Applications with LLMs and Vector Search]]> https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2024-01-21-playing-with-haystack https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2024-01-21-playing-with-haystack Sun, 21 Jan 2024 00:00:00 GMT aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) <![CDATA[Speed Up GPT-J-6B: From Minutes to Seconds with GGML Conversion]]> https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2023-11-26-huggingface-gpt-j-6b-is-slow https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2023-11-26-huggingface-gpt-j-6b-is-slow Sun, 26 Nov 2023 00:00:00 GMT aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) <![CDATA[The Challenge of Finding Uncensored AI Models]]> https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2023-11-26-its-hard-to-find-an-uncensored-model https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2023-11-26-its-hard-to-find-an-uncensored-model Sun, 26 Nov 2023 00:00:00 GMT aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan) <![CDATA[AI Model Formats Explained: Demystifying Llama.cpp, GGUF, GGML, and Transformers]]> https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2023-11-26-spectacular-reddit-post-on-huggingface https://augustinchan.dev/posts/2023-11-26-spectacular-reddit-post-on-huggingface Sun, 26 Nov 2023 00:00:00 GMT aug@digitalrain.studio (Augustin Chan)