Best new AI learning, agent and design resources: day 36

Whether you're brand new to AI or already running a few coding agents, 28 September had something for you. The additions cover learning AI from scratch, getting coding agents to work together, and making visuals that look more distinctive. Pick the group that fits what you want to do today. Features and pricing can change, so check each project's own page before you commit to a workflow.

Learning AI, wherever you're starting from

If you want the concepts before any code, Elements of AI is a friendly, free introduction. Ready for the next step? Google Machine Learning Crash Course covers machine-learning fundamentals in a practical way, with exercises so you can test what you've learned. https://www.elementsofai.com/ https://developers.google.com/machine-learning/crash-course

Some people learn best by building. For them, fast.ai teaches deep learning through code, and CS50 AI with Python introduces search, knowledge, uncertainty and learning through programming assignments. Both reward actually doing the work over passively reading. https://www.fast.ai/ https://cs50.harvard.edu/ai/

Hugging Face Learn offers focused paths on modern AI and agents. Kaggle Learn keeps things short, with hands-on data-science lessons. And when you want a more structured path, DeepLearning.AI is worth browsing for courses and specializations. https://huggingface.co/learn https://www.kaggle.com/learn https://www.deeplearning.ai/

Helping agents work together, and checking they help

Agents Can Communicate lets separate coding sessions trade questions, reviews and handoffs, all locally. Aweb takes another route, giving agents durable mail and stable identities. Which one? It depends on whether you need lightweight collaboration between sessions or persistent communication. https://github.com/automatis-tools/agents-can-communicate https://github.com/awebai/aweb

Does that agent skill or MCP tool actually help? Caliper measures it. It's a good nudge to test any agent setup against tasks you care about, not judge it by a demo. Agent Dispatcher finds relevant code context for Claude Code and Codex, and Agent Memory keeps long-term agent context in plain Markdown. https://github.com/edonadei/caliper https://github.com/nahid-sparktales/agent-dispatcher https://github.com/tigerless-labs/agent-memory

Building something more involved? ActiveGraph is an event-sourced graph runtime for durable agents, and DeskRPG puts AI workers in a self-hosted 3D office, complete with tasks and meetings. Both are developer-oriented projects, not simple personal productivity apps. https://github.com/yoheinakajima/activegraph https://github.com/dandacompany/deskrpg

Adding texture and motion to your designs

Dither Garden and Dither Me This turn images into dithered graphics right in the browser. Pointilliser creates point-based images, and Halftone Maker focuses on halftone and stippling effects, with SVG export. Here's a fun test: put the same source image through each of them and see which treatment suits your project. https://www.dithergarden.com/ https://doodad.dev/dither-me-this/ https://pointilliser.elwyn.co/ https://halftonemaker.com/

On the interface side, 8bitcn/ui offers retro 8-bit components, Amicro collects React micro-transitions, and Shadcn UI Kit gives you dashboard blocks and templates. Skillry Opus 5.5 Videos is inspiration of a different kind. It pairs AI-generated videos with live remakes and prompts you can copy. https://www.8bitcn.com/ https://amicro.vercel.app/ https://shadcnuikit.com/ https://skillry.dev/ai-videos/opus-5-5

Some handy specialist picks

ElevenLabs CLI gives developers terminal access to voice tooling and agent management. SkySend handles encrypted file and note sharing. And How To Secure A Linux Server walks you through practical hardening steps, with automation playbooks included. Review each change before you apply it to a live server. https://github.com/elevenlabs/cli https://skysend.app/ https://github.com/imthenachoman/How-To-Secure-A-Linux-Server

Here's the simple version: start with one course, one agent workflow or one design experiment, not everything at once. The rest of yesterday's additions, including Myriad, San, arifOS, OpenVidu and more, are waiting in the full directory. https://bestproductivityresources.com/directory