Tech IPOs in 2017, so far
Tomasz Tunguz: The IPO market in 2017 seems to be very healthy and is on pace to be twice as active as last year. Only two VC-backed tech IPOs from this year are currently trading down. Not bad.
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
Attending the 2017 Pennsylvania sUAS Expo
Acronyms are all the rage these days and so it can be tough to keep them all straight. Don't be ashamed if you have no idea what UAS stands for. I didn't either. UAS stands for Unmanned Aerial System. Like an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) an UAS involves more than simply a vehicle and usually also includes camera,…
Iron Horse movie bistro in downtown Scranton
On Sunday we went to the Iron Horse movie bistro in downtown Scranton. I was going to write a review but Joe Evans of NEPA Scene has already hit most points that I would cover. All of the follow quotes are from his review. Be sure to head to their site to read it. The first thing that…
Windows Central on Build
Speaking of Build, Zac Bowden at Windows Central has a list of things to expect on Wednesday. Including this Windows Phone long shot: I have in fact been hearing that internally Microsoft continues to develop CShell for Windows 10 Mobile in Redstone 3 builds. Whether that means we'll see it at Build, or at all, is another question….
Tim Bray on blogging in 2017
Tim Bray: On a blog, I can write about blogging and whimsically toss in self-indulgent pictures of May’s budding azaleas. OK, Tim. I see your azaleas and raise you these springtails. Tim's post via Jason Kottke and Jeremy Keith. See also.
My old blog is back
You may have noticed a slight uptick in my publishing. That's because I am, once again, coming back to my blog as the central place that I publish. Except this time I care far less about any of the content getting to any social networks. It is simply too exhausting to get working correctly. And once you have…
My Build wishlist
Microsoft's Build conference starts on Wednesday. I've been watching this conference closely for the last three years.* Each year Microsoft has shown that they are a completely different company since Satya Nadella has become CEO. They actually make the things they show. Over these same years they've improved upon Windows so-much-so that I have a hard time defending my…
Bashing Windows
Ben Brooks likes the look of the new Surface Book Laptop. But he says this about Windows: Still runs Windows though. I don't know if Ben has used the very latest Windows 10 builds but if he hasn't he should give it a try. I've already said not to bet against Microsoft but I would also say, at…
Amazon Prime on Apple TV
Peter Kafka at Recode: The tech giants, who are increasingly competing for customers’ time, eyeballs and money, are close to an agreement to bring an Amazon video app to Apple’s Apple TV set-top box, according to people familiar with the two companies. Recently we've begun renting movies on Amazon Prime instead of iTunes via Apple TV because our…
What I saw this week #40: April 28, 2017
This has been a week full of client meetings so I did less reading on the web than usual. But, here are a few things that come to me as I sit here writing this post on a warm, gorgeous Friday evening. Amazon's Quarterly report – Amazon is killing it on so many fronts. It makes me feel…
Pete Ventura on Scranton
Pete Ventura, friend and owner of Coney Island Lunch on Lackawanna Avenue in Scranton: All of the years I’ve been here, and I’m 62 years old, I can’t stand it when people put Scranton or this area down. I won’t get mad at them, but I’ll tell them about all of the good things. I’ll say, “We might…
Mastodon in April
April hasn't ended but Eugene Rochko wanted to share what has happened thus far with Mastodon during the month. It is an interesting post. Always neat to see explosions like this from the inside. Like this bit: So, April, huh. Twitter changed the reply system, which everybody told them they shouldn’t do, and then removed the iconic egg…
How to support Mastodon
Don't know what Mastodon is? Read my Observations on Mastodon post first. I'm all in over on Mastodon for #woollyweek. I thought I'd take a moment to jot down all the ways you can support Mastodon even if you're not running your own instance, aren't a programmer, or have a ton of time. Support a major Mastodon contributor….
What I saw this week #39: April 21, 2017
I missed last week. I have no excuse. Waxy.org – I already mentioned this but Andy Baio didn't just return to blogging – he blew in with Hurricane force winds. Kottke.org – Speaking of .org blogs, Jason Kottke's online property is being managed this week by Tim Carmody and he's pulling an interesting yarn regarding the best of the…
I’m in for #woollyweek
Speaking of Mastodon, a few tooters have massed together to start #woollyweek. Sebastian Morr: In our experience, a hard cut works best for trying out new platforms like this. The idea is simple; you log out of Twitter and stay away from it for an entire week starting this coming Monday April 24. Anything you would have shared…
How Microsoft is doing
Fred Wilson: Even more impressive in many ways, is what Satya Nadella has done at Microsoft. He slayed the Windows Everywhere albatross that was holding Microsoft back for most of the post Gates era and has made Microsoft relevant again in the world of tech. Windows is enjoying a resurgence, the Office app suite is finally and successfully moving…
Callicoon Brewing Company – April 2017
Callicoon Brewing Company – April 2017
Observations on Mastodon
I've been fiddling with Mastodon (to the tune of over 500 toots as of this writing). I've also been reading up on the history of the service a lot over the last few weeks. Here are some general observations that I've made along with a few helpful links. Mastodon isn't a single service. It is an open source app…
Avoid being great at Twitter
Seth Godin: You can be good at Twitter in about five minutes a day. Spending ten minutes doesn't make you twice as good… in fact, there's probably little measurable improvement. To be great at Twitter might take five hours of daily effort. At over 48,000 tweets I do not need any more Twitter practice. Lately I've been spending…
What I saw this week #38: April 7, 2017
Don't forget, you can see all posts in this series by skimming through the what-i-saw tag. Now, onto this week's links. Video: Puffer fish artist – Absolutely incredible stuff from such a small little fish. Andy Baio is back – Not only is he blogging again but Upcoming has re-launched. Stripe Atlas – The program is being expanded to…
Observations on the computer-mediated reality landscape
The future won't look this stupid. I promise. For the past several months I've been doing research on computer-mediated reality (CMR) – that is, when what's real is somehow changed, interrupted, distorted, or otherwise effected by a wearable computer. This "ability" isn't new and it is a nuanced superset of many different types including mixed reality (MR) (which I'm…
Jeff Mitchell hikes South Branch Trail
Jeff Mitchell, who has inspired me to hike in several locations due to his blog and books, somewhat recently hiked the South Branch trail of Lackawanna State Park. He writes: What a place to hike on a hot summer day, I thought. It was noticeably cooler in this deep, shaded glen along the creek. We reached a powerline…
What I saw this week #37: March 31, 2017
Chrome still won't show me more than two days of browsing history. Unfortunately this week I relied on this bug being fixed. So, for next week I'll keep better track of URLs with Simplenote. Animation: Comet 41P – Just sliding in front of M108 like nothing. Video playlist: Making Minimalism – Matt D'Avella is sharing how Minimalism was…
Upcoming.org is back
Andy Baio: In September 2003, I opened Upcoming.org to the public. And now, 4,941 days later, four years after Yahoo shut it down and deleted everything, Upcoming.org is back — thanks to you. I've been waiting for this since last June. I have the feeling this version will be around a very, very long time. Go grab your…