<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" version="2.0" xmlns:itunes="http://www.itunes.com/dtds/podcast-1.0.dtd" xmlns:googleplay="http://www.google.com/schemas/play-podcasts/1.0"><channel><title><![CDATA[Practical Computations: From Star Clusters to Applied AI]]></title><description><![CDATA[Thoughts from a nerd who traded astronomical simulations for applied AI, moving from modeling star clusters on supercomputers to building machine learning systems that tackle real-world challenges in life sciences.]]></description><link>https://www.freealf.com</link><image><url>https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!73UF!,w_256,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc9f73421-3370-4812-9a0d-7edeef6f2de0_1280x1280.png</url><title>Practical Computations: From Star Clusters to Applied AI</title><link>https://www.freealf.com</link></image><generator>Substack</generator><lastBuildDate>Fri, 08 May 2026 11:19:41 GMT</lastBuildDate><atom:link href="https://www.freealf.com/feed" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml"/><copyright><![CDATA[Alfred Whitehead]]></copyright><language><![CDATA[en]]></language><webMaster><![CDATA[freealf@substack.com]]></webMaster><itunes:owner><itunes:email><![CDATA[freealf@substack.com]]></itunes:email><itunes:name><![CDATA[Alf Whitehead]]></itunes:name></itunes:owner><itunes:author><![CDATA[Alf Whitehead]]></itunes:author><googleplay:owner><![CDATA[freealf@substack.com]]></googleplay:owner><googleplay:email><![CDATA[freealf@substack.com]]></googleplay:email><googleplay:author><![CDATA[Alf Whitehead]]></googleplay:author><itunes:block><![CDATA[Yes]]></itunes:block><item><title><![CDATA[Welcome to Practical Computations]]></title><description><![CDATA[Thanks for checking out this blog!]]></description><link>https://www.freealf.com/p/coming-soon</link><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.freealf.com/p/coming-soon</guid><dc:creator><![CDATA[Alf Whitehead]]></dc:creator><pubDate>Mon, 11 Nov 2024 22:50:11 GMT</pubDate><enclosure url="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc9f73421-3370-4812-9a0d-7edeef6f2de0_1280x1280.png" length="0" type="image/jpeg"/><content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Thanks for checking out this blog!</p><p>I&#8217;m Alf.  I&#8217;m in my 40s and still don&#8217;t know what I want to be when I grow up.  When it comes to education, I&#8217;m trained up as a physicist and astronomer.  I spent my time in graduate school simulating star clusters on high performance computing systems.  Doing CUDA before it was cool.</p><p>Most of my career has been in the application of technology to solve problems in the life sciences part of the world.  That&#8217;s pharma, big and small, biotech, medical devices, consumer health, and digital health.  I&#8217;m the nerd who puts things together and gets them to work.</p><p>My plan here is to write, quite irregularly, about practical problems and how to solve them.  I hope you enjoy!</p>]]></content:encoded></item></channel></rss>