Blog

Longer-form posts and essays.

Writing helps me think more clearly. This archive is longer posts; quick updates now live in notes.

Topics: AI, blogging, photography, programming, projects, Signboard

Noah Read’s tech predictions

Prompted somewhat by my technology prediction time capsule, Noah Read takes a stab at what he thinks we'll see (or, won't see) in 2018. He has some interesting takes. Most of which I agree with. I do not think I agree with this take, though: AR will be a passing craze, while at the same time making certain…

Best of 2017 as told by me

To create this list I sat down and wrote from the top of my head the things I could remember being awesome in 2017. The list isn't exhaustive. It is just what made an impression on me as being "the best" in each category. Best Blog: fuzzy notepad Evee consistently writes well-researched, readable, diatribes on topics that could…

SPARK Talks at the NEPA Tech meet up in December 2017

SPARK Talks are, by definition, Short, Provocative, Action-oriented, Realistic, and Knowledgeable talks that are loosely timed, on a specific topic (more or less), and allow many presentations to be given at an event. I had never heard of them prior to this month's NEPA Tech meet up organized by John George. SPARK Talks remind me of Lightning Talks or Ignite. I have been…

Dynamicland

Dynamicland: We are inventing a new computational medium where people work together with real objects in the real world, not alone with virtual objects on a screen. From Bret Victor and others. Swoon.

Choosing without deciding

Seth Godin: We can save a lot of time and effort by making our meaningless choices effortless. Pick the first one, or the one in alphabetical order or flip a coin. Merely have a rule and make the choice. This point made by a recent post by the inimitable Seth Godin strikes the same chord as my SPARK…

Universal Apple apps

Mark Gurman, for Bloomberg: Starting as early as next year, software developers will be able to design a single application that works with a touchscreen or mouse and trackpad depending on whether it’s running on the iPhone and iPad operating system or on Mac hardware, according to people familiar with the matter. Remember the many times I've written that…

Repost: Cabel Sasser re: Apple update caching

👉 Cabel Sasser on Twitter: macOS 10.13 Tip: have lots of iOS / Mac devices in your house? And a Mac that's usually on? Turn on "Content Caching" in Sharing prefs, and updates will be downloaded to all your devices from your Mac, saving time and bandwidth. LINK

Andrew Canion’s podcast addiction

Andrew Canion: I listen to a lot of podcasts. I’ve been listening to podcasts for more than 10 years, way before they were mainstream. I used to load podcasts onto my work-supplied IBM ThinkPad and drive to work with it open on the passenger seat, playing podcasts. This was before I owned an iPod, let alone an iPhone….

Micro.blog is now public

Manton Reece: Micro.blog is now available to anyone. There’s a limit of 100 new sign-ups each day, so that we can better respond to feedback as the community grows. I've been using Micro.blog on the web, Mac, and iOS for a few months and the community there has been great. In fact, the vast majority of my web…

No, you cannot simply pay me for a link

Hi. You emailed me. Likely more than once. So I've sent you this URL to let you know that no, you cannot pay me for placing a link in an existing article that you somehow found on my site. It would be totally different if you wanted me to review a product, collaborate on some content, or sponsor…

Squarespace raises at $1.7B valuation

Gerrit De Vynck for Bloomberg, on whether or not Squarespace should go public: Analysts and bankers have been expecting the company to go public since at least 2016. Casalena declined to comment on IPO plans but said he’s building a company capable of doing so. “We want to do this on our own time table,” he said. “We’re…

An original iPhone shot – November 2009

An original iPhone shot – November 2009 The short story behind this photo that I've recently stumbled across is that Eliza and I were on a cruise in late-2009. I took my iPhone and she was still lugging around her DSLR. We both snapped a photo at the same time. But, I had never thought to mash them…

Threads now officially supported on Twitter

Sasank Reddy, on the Twitter blog: Now, hundreds of thousands of threads are Tweeted every day! But this method of Tweeting, while effective and popular, can be tricky for some to create and it’s often tough to read or discover all the Tweets in a thread. That’s why we’re thrilled to share that we’re making it simpler to…

Follow Hashtags on Instagram

Instagram: Today we’re introducing the ability to follow hashtags, giving you new ways to discover photos, videos and people on Instagram. Now it’s even easier to stay connected with the interests, hobbies, passions and communities you care about. This is an excellent feature. I won't even go into all the ways Twitter should have been first to things…

What comes after Instagram?

Victoria Wright on Twitter: Photo friends// are you regularly sharing your work somewhere other than on @instagram? I’m so over them deciding what I see and don’t see The thread is interesting. Most photogs point to VSCO. I think Instagram still has a long runway ahead of it. And I still think it is very, very good. However,…