You are a threat. It’s a strong word. I don’t mean that you intend pain, injury, or damage. But I’m an introvert and you – as a new unknown human – are a threat to me. I don’t know what you want and you most definitely want something and until I figure that out, you’re… more
Saturday morning is for discovery. Multiple browser windows point me in multiple directions and I wander until I discover a thing to consider. The key to Saturday morning is not direction, the key is association. I am free associating myself across the internet looking for… something. Turntable.fm used to be key to this experience. This… more
Mtrek is a real-time multiplayer space combat game loosely set in the Star Trek Universe. Sounds pretty sweet, right? Check out a screenshot. OoooOooh yeaaaaaaaah. Designed and written by Tim Wisseman and Chuck L. Peterson in the late 80s at University of California, Santa Cruz, Mtrek is completely text-based. To understand where an enemy ship… more
There’s a seductive dark side to The Builder’s High. The high afforded us by our brain when we are productive is delicious. For me, it’s comparable to the endorphin rush after a good workout. A foul mood vanishes, the weight of stress is lightened, and what was complex and difficult to fathom appears knowable. Of… more
The last winter in the United States was goofy. While a majority of the USA was completely frozen, California spent a good portion of the holiday with terrifyingly warm temperatures. We’re talking shorts and flip-flops on Christmas. Now, if you were frozen, you are wondering why I say it’s terrifying. It’s because I am my… more
One of the key tenets I talk about regarding understanding the engineering mindset is that software engineers think in terms of flow charts. This isn’t exactly correct – engineers think in code, but most of the planet does not, but, chances are, they understand the concept of a flowchart. You’re in a state. When certain… more
I knew I was going to love Spike Jonze “Her”, but I didn’t know that my first opportunity to watch it was going to be on a long transatlantic flight where I’d be able to watch it… multiple times. Like three times. In a row. There’s a longer article to be written about “Her”, but… more
A few weeks ago I spoke at the excellent re:build conference in Indianapolis, Indiana. While it was my first time in Indiana, the setup was familiar. 200+ attendees, great venue, single track, and conference coordinators who know how to put on a great conference. (And one surprisingly gotham-y gorgeous building.) I was the last speaker… more
I’m at peak travel right now. I’ve been elsewhere for three of the past four weeks and that means I’m optimized for travel. I’ve already documented how I optimize moving my crap hither and fro in A Bag of Holding, but it’s during this peak travel that I’ve noticed a handful of helpful behaviors that… more
When I am in a foul mood, I have a surefire way to improve my outlook – I build something. A foul mood is a stubborn beast and it does not give ground easily. It is an effort to simply get past the foulness in order to start building, but once the building has begun,… more