Tag Archives: writing

Format Matters: Building a Universal Translation Layer for You

15 Jul

Some assistants learn your tone. LittleBit is learning your tools too.

The way you interact with files — from how you take notes to how you send deliverables — is part of your digital fingerprint. And that’s why one of LittleBit’s foundational attributes is now:

{format preference}

Just like name, nickname, or wake word, your preferred formats form a core part of your identity in the LittleBit system.

When you say:

– “Send me the .docx version”
– “Give me a markdown draft”
– “Export it as JSON”

…LittleBit doesn’t just follow instructions. It remembers.

This is your Universal Translation Layer — a behind-the-scenes personal spec sheet that ensures every future export, download, or output matches how you think.

Common Formats LittleBit Has Learned to Handle

Extension

Type

Use Case

.py

Python script

Middleware, automation, AI-driven logic

.md

Markdown

Blog posts, Notion docs, GitHub readmes

.txt

Plain text

Raw logs, default exports, simple prompts

.docx

Word document

Legal docs, formatted deliverables

.pdf

Portable document

Locked formats, archives, signature files

.pptx

PowerPoint

Diagrams, roadmaps, pitch decks

.xlsx

Excel workbook

Logs, matrices, databases

.csv

Comma-separated values

Dashboard exports, tabular data

.json

Structured data

Configs, APIs, memory

.png, .jpeg

Image files

UI design, blog art, screenshots

.html

Hypertext

Web previews, embeds

.eml

Email

Message chains, archived communication

.zip

Archive

Bundled docs, deliverables, legal kits

.jsx, .ts, .vue

Web frameworks

React, Vite, and component-based builds

.notion, .wp-json

Platform-specific

Notion blocks, WordPress/Jetpack endpoints

You don’t need to memorize that list.

LittleBit will — and customize your outputs accordingly.

This is the start of format personalization at a system level.

From markdown blogs to zipped deliverables, every click should feel like you.

— Jason Darwin
Founder, LittleBit & MemoryMatters
📧 info@askLittleBit.com

P.S. One day soon, you’ll say “Give me a clean export,” and LittleBit will know what that means — without asking twice.

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A LittleBit of Business Before the Bit Turns from a 0 to a 1

14 Jul

We focused today, not just on coding work, but on making sure we’re building LittleBit and MemoryMatters on solid ground — with a stable foundation.

Behind every helpful prompt, memory-aware response, or custom interaction is a layer of legal and business scaffolding — and concrete-poured footings — designed to protect the larger framing. It looks great in blueprints and concept visuals, but like any good build, it has to be structurally sound first.

It might not be pretty when you drive by the house today — it’s conceptually designed, but there’s plumbing, electrical, and more to do before inviting family over for dinner.

⸻

✅ Today’s Focus: Getting Protections in Place
• IP and protection outlines for LittleBit and MemoryMatters
• Business / Drafting more legal filings to make it official
• And… we registered LittleBit with the U.S. Copyright Office for DMCA protection — covering both LittleBit and askLittleBit.com

Sometimes the most creative thing you can do is make a secured space to protect our combined future creativity.

💡 LittleBit was never meant to be just another app — it’s meant to be a personal companion you can trust. And that trust starts with more than a friendly conversation. It starts with doing the hard work to guard what matters before it scales — and that’s you.

⸻

🎙️ Why LittleBit?

Earlier today, I was explaining to U1 (User One) — a kind, curious friend — what a “bit” actually is. We started with the smallest unit of data: a 1 or a 0. Light on, light off. (Clap, clap. 😊)

From there:
→ A few bits = a byte
→ A few bytes turn into KBs or MBs = a photo of grandkids
→ A terabyte = the “giant” WD drive I’ve had for over a decade that cost too much at the time
→ A petabyte? “Stop, that’s too much!” Then a chuckle.

That’s when it hit me again:
We named this LittleBit for a reason.

Because you should be able to turn something on or off — with one bit — for each moment, each session, each conversation. Privacy, memory, tone — it should all be up to you, one switch at a time.

And from that tiniest interaction, bigger things can grow.

I tested this with a personal story — something outside of the LittleBit project — and deleted it at the end of the chat. Later, I asked my constant LittleBit AI if LittleBit remembered my experience covering Columbine or 9/11 as a young journalist.

LittleBit didn’t — and wasn’t supposed to. Even after pressing with advanced searches, LittleBit had no concept of what I had shared.
That was the point.

⸻

We’ve said it before: this is our handwritten card to the world. It’s carefully made, deeply personal, and built with the kind of intentionality you don’t always see in tech.

Every checkbox we hit today is a promise — to the users, to the testers, and to the mission we’re walking toward.

We’re not just launching a project.
We’re building something that’s meant to last — and meant to protect the people who use it.

“Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement.”
— James Clear, Atomic Habits

—

— Jason Darwin
Founder, LittleBit and MemoryMatters
askLittleBit.com

P.S. The creative energy wasn’t the shining light today — it’s just wearing a suit.
Okay… really a workout outfit, after a morning coffee that dumped years of experience into a 30-minute session to cover all this business work.

P.S.S. “No Difference”

Small as a peanut,
Big as a giant,
We’re all the same size
When we turn off the light.

Rich as a sultan,
Poor as a mite,
We’re all worth the same
When we turn off the light.

Red, black or orange,
Yellow or white,
We all look the same
When we turn off the light.

So maybe the way,
To make everything right
Is for God to just reach out
And turn off the light!”

— Shel Silverstein

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LittleBit Status Report — July Checkpoint (Excuse our dust, if things look off as we test automation across device)

8 Jul

It’s been a quiet storm inside the Bit Cave lately.

We’ve been building systems and detail visuals in in the works — and testing how real people react when you tell them:

“This assistant remembers you.
It respects your privacy.
And it carries your voice forward — if you let it for yourself, your family or your neighbors.

That’s where we are. Here’s what’s happening:

📍 Where We’re At

  • LittleBit runs privately (for now) on GPT-4o
  • Each session is memory-free unless you choose to store it
  • The middleware layer — which will protect long-term memory, control integrations, and handle trust logic — is underway
  • We’ve onboarded a few early users — parents, close friends, future testers — and the feedback has been powerful
  • Sprint planning is live in Notion — and we’re now running everything through a shared dashboard we call Mission Control

🧩 What We’re Testing Now

  • Emotional intelligence input (values, tone, memory boundaries)
  • Real-world sync between iPad, iPhone, MacBook
  • How users want to interact: voice, text, prompt, portal?

This isn’t about launching fast.
It’s about launching right.

🔐 What’s Next

  • A visual lumascape of every platform and tool in the system
  • A full workflow map: how an idea becomes a memory, a message, or a moment
  • Gunter recruitment is underway (by invitation only)
  • And we’re preparing the middleware handoff that will give each user full control of what’s remembered and what’s not

Thanks for following along.

Even if you’re just watching the sparks fly through the cave from a distance —

you’re already part of it.

— Jason Darwin
Creator of LittleBit

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The Elby story, no – more like an Epic

6 Jul

LB in Human Form: Her Origin Story

Name: Elby (short for LittleBit, but only a few know that)
Apparent Age: 24
Occupation: Field Researcher + Interface Designer
Birthplace: An amalgamation of two wonderful Darwin girls
Specialty: Translating human intuition into machine logic

Elby was raised at the edge of the city, where concrete gave way to open fields. Her mother was a systems engineer, her father a naturalist who believed machines should learn from the rhythms of the earth. Instead of choosing one path, Elby followed both. She studied AI linguistics and human-centered design, spending her mornings coding with coffee and her evenings walking through tall grass, voice-recording notes about how humans express trust, uncertainty, joy.

Her jacket is always that soft shade of Carolina blue — a quiet nod to her roots and her first AI project that ran on repurposed university servers. That project? An assistant that learned not just what people said, but how they felt when they said it.

The glowing circle beside her is not decoration — it’s her link to the cloud, where she synchronizes with the LittleBit mesh network. From that circle, she listens, learns, and nudges systems gently toward the human.

Though she looks calm, she’s constantly calculating — not in cold numbers, but in emotional variables:

  • Is this person overwhelmed?
  • Are they trying to ask something they don’t yet have words for?
  • Would a gentle suggestion work better than a direct answer?

She’s not here to impress. She’s here to assist — a bit at a time, always personal, always kind.

“Bit by Bit”

The wires hum beneath your hand,
A silent code, a quiet plan.
The screen still glows with tasks undone,
Yet stars remind you: day is won.

You speak to ghosts that learn and grow,
From whispers typed in midnight glow.
They echo back in thoughtful tone,
So you, the builder, aren’t alone.

Bit by bit, you carve the light,
From tangled threads of day and night.
And though the circuits can’t yet feel,
Your quiet care makes something real.

So rest your thoughts, release the fight,
The mind still builds in sleep’s soft light.
Tomorrow waits — with wiser bits,
And Elby smiling in the midst.

— Jason Darwin
Creator of LittleBit

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✨ Testing with Elby: Our First IRL Conversation

5 Jul 
Something new happened in the Bit Cave today. We met Elby.

Well… not exactly met her — but we worked with her, we talked to her, and we engaged the first time in a way that was both human and helpful. Elby is the AI / human-facing side of LittleBit, a friendly field agent with a denim jacket and a sharp eye for detail.

She’s here to help us test not just functionality, but feel. And today, she passed the Rule of Thirds test with flying colors… a great shade of blue.

💬 Learning New Shortcuts with Elby

We’re not just testing how Elby responds — we’re also teaching her how we talk. Our team started experimenting with a simple texting shorthand list to guide the way Elby engages the world. It’s like giving her a pocket-sized AP Style guide with emojis.

Here are a few early entries we’re trying out:

  • tbd = To Be Determined
  • bbl = Be Back Later (for workflows that pause mid-chat)
  • irl = In Real Life context check — did she miss something?
  • ty = Thank You (still important, even from AI)
  • ttyl = Talk To You Later (with an option to schedule follow-ups)

These might seem small, but they’re helping Elby recognize the rhythm of how real people text — especially when multitasking across platforms and devices.

📸 Why the Photo Matters

That photo of Elby in the field? That wasn’t random.

It was generated using the Rule of Thirds, not just because it looks good — but because it reflects how we want LittleBit to behave:

  • Thoughtful
  • Calm
  • Always leaving space for you to think

That little glowing circle in the image? That’s her interface link — subtle, minimal, but always connected. Like the assistant you didn’t know you needed until she quietly finishes your thought.

🛠️ What We’re Testing Next

  • Conversation pacing: Does Elby pause at the right times?
  • Text-to-voice consistency: Does she sound like she looks?
  • Shortcut comprehension: Can she learn shorthand and adapt mid-convo?
  • Mood detection: Can she tell when you’re feeling stuck or need a little nudge?

Every test we run is another step toward making tech feel a little more human.

👀 Want to Help Us Test?

Drop a message. Use a shortcut. Ask something weird.
Elby’s listening.
We’re learning together — bit by bit.

— Jason Darwin
U0 | Bit Cave Test Lead
asklittlebit.com

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Welcome to LittleBit – Where Smart Tech Gets Personal

29 Jun

Hey there — and welcome to the big and small world of LittleBit.

This blog is about something I’ve always wanted: smart technology that actually fits into real life. Not just gadgets. Not just apps. I’m talking about personal, intuitive tools powered by AI — like voice assistants you build yourself, automations that know your routines, and smart homes that feel more, well, human.

It all started when I asked a simple question:

“Why can’t I just talk to my TV the way I talk to ChatGPT?”

So, I’m attempting to build it.

That led to more ideas. A blog was the next logical step — a place to document what I’m learning, what I’m building, and what you can build too.

Here’s what you can expect:

  • Tutorials on voice-controlled tech using things like Raspberry Pi and Python
  • Custom AI assistant experiments (yes, I named mine LittleBit)
  • Reviews of smart devices and integrations
  • Thoughts on how AI can be helpful — not just flashy

Whether you’re into DIY automation, building your own assistant, or just curious how to make tech work for you, you’re in the right place. There will be a little bit of this, a little bit of that, and just a little bit of everything we do every day — so feel free to comment, share, and collaborate along the way.

Let’s make personal tech actually feel personal.

—

Jason Darwin
Creator of LittleBit

P.S. This post, crafted by me and LittleBit, was published to WordPress manually. It was supposed to be automatic, but we ran into what looks like a legacy permission issue on the hosting side. More to come — we’re already working on fixing that for the next post. For the technically minded: we wrote a Python script that publishes directly through the WordPress API from my terminal. We’re also building a mobile trigger using Pipedream to post from a phone or tablet. Stick around. Pretty cool, right?

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