I Understand Most of the Words I'm Saying: An Introduction to How LLMs Work
An introduction to a six-part series on how large language models work, from a network engineer who understands most of it and a little of the math.
We help executive teams turn technology into a strategic advantage–driving growth, efficiency, and long-term scalability.
Latest posts
All posts →[ Ai and llms ] Introduction 3 min read
Prompting ClaudeMost of What You Know About Prompting Is From 2023
Prompting advice ages faster than the models it was written for, and a lot of what's still online, including my own notes, now backfires. An introduction to a six-part series where the infographics do the heavy lifting.
[ Ai and llms ] Part 1 of 6 2 min read
Prompting ClaudeStop Yelling at the Robot
I used to write prompts the way I wrote change-window emails to the NOC: in capital letters, with the word CRITICAL in them. Eight prompt habits that helped on 2023-era models and backfire on the current ones, on one chart. Part one of six.
Two Strong Oxen or 1,024 Chickens: The Hardware and Network Behind LLM Training
A frontier training run is a networking problem dressed up in a math costume. The industry chose the chickens over the oxen, so how do you get 16,000 of them pulling in the same direction? Part three of six.
[ Ai and llms ] Part 2 of 6 9 min read
How LLMs Actually WorkFail Better, Fifteen Trillion Times: How an LLM Is Trained
Training turns roughly 405 billion random numbers into something useful through one boring move: guess the next token, get graded, nudge every number a hair, and repeat. Part two of six.
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From the archive
Browse the archive →[ Industry events ] 4 min read
Cisco Live — A Spouse’s Viewpoint
Teren and I just returned from Cisco Live in Orlando. As always, we had an amazing time seeing some of the friends we have made over the past few years and meeting some new friends too. I noticed that this year there …
[ Leadership and career ] 4 min read
Corporate Jargon and Argle Bargle
“I think we invent jargon because it saves times talking to one-another.” — John Maynard Smith Every industry has unique jargon, and most people fall, at one time or another, into using terminology specific to their …
[ Everything else ] 4 min read
Just Write is Just Right
I took my daughter and stepson to see one of my favorite authors a couple of days ago. Neil Gaiman also happens to be one of their favorite authors, having penned a favorite story, Coraline, they both share a love for. …
[ Leadership and career ] 5 min read
Sales Advice to VARs
There’s an old business adage that says, “All things being equal, people want to do business with their friends. And all things being NOT so equal, people STILL want to do business with their friends”. It is estimated …