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ATV accident
div.captioned { text-align: center; } div.margined { margin-bottom: 10px; width: 190px; } Artist’s rendition. Not my actual wreck. I was in an unexpected accident over the holiday break. Like last...
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Privacy for postal mail
If you’re reading this, you already know I go a bit overboard on privacy. I recently changed my mailing address, and it took some research, but I’m pretty happy with the result. Most of it was...
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Do you have permission to use your computer?
It seems like a ridiculous question. We use our computers all the time, and we don’t ask anyone for permission. Our work devices are a bit different, but let’s forget them and stick with our own...
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Leaving Google
After almost ten great years at Google, I’m moving on. My last day is Friday. I’ll definitely miss it, but it’s time for a new adventure! Working at Google has been a hell of a ride. Other than...
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Othering
Discrimination has been in the news recently. The Fisher v. UT Supreme Court case over affirmative action, DongleGate over sexual harassment in the tech community, and the evergreen fear of Chinese...
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The No Network Effect
It’s tax season! At least, for those of us in the US. If you’re reading this, you probably have to pay taxes. You don’t have a choice; it’s required by law. Beyond taxes though, how you manage your...
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People don’t matter
We like people. No, scratch that; we love people. They’re the most important thing in the world, at least in our eyes. We think they can do anything they put their mind to. We idolize Gandhi and Steve...
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Cruise
We’ve been on a cruise for the past two weeks, sailing a lazy loop around the UK before a wedding near London. I’d been on a couple cruises before, but this was the first time either of us had done...
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Fighting information overload, and beyond
Of all the cultural problems we blame on technology, information overload may be the poster child. Phones buzz, emails ding, IMs bounce, unread counts glare red, and posts stream at us from all...
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Are generational shifts slowing down?
I read Jaron Lanier’s You Are Not a Gadget recently, and I liked it a lot. Some of his arguments are more compelling than others, and I’m not entirely on board with all of the conclusions, but I’m...
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New old wedding ring
I’d never worn a ring before I got married, so when I started wearing my wedding ring, I wasn’t used to it. It didn’t feel right. I constantly spun it on my finger, pulled it over my knuckle, and...
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We’re not evolving
Evolution has never been more popular than it is now, and rightly so. Darwin’s legacy is one of the most potent ideas ever. Not only is it a crushingly powerful explanation of life, but its core...
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I’m slow
Speed is all the rage these days. Move fast and break things, iterate fast, fail fast and learn from your mistakes fast and pivot fast so you can do it all over again. We scorn bloated governments and...
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The denormalizing sweet spot
In webapp circles, denormalizing vs normalizing is an age old debate. Normalization is the classical approach you learned in Databases 101, or from that Oracle graybeard back in the day....
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The unquantified self
One of my favorite runs is the Mayfield Slough loop, which winds through the heart of the wetlands above Shoreline Amphitheatre. It’s often deserted at sunset, devoid of anything man-made, and the...
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Nearsighted painting
If you’re nearsighted, this scene will look familiar. You may not think about it much, but I’d bet it’s a fairly intimate part of your life. It’s how you see the world without your contacts or glasses...
View ArticleUnderstanding relativity
I think I finally understood relativity, just now, thanks to the first half hour of Prof. Nima Arkani-Hamed’s Future of Fundamental Physics lecture series. Space-time too. Quantum mechanics is up...
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Software in 2014
Tim Bray‘s Software in 2014 is a great survey of the state of software engineering, particularly on the server (good) and the client (bad). I’ve spent my fair share of time in both places, and my...
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The paperless office arrived, and no one noticed
We used to hear a lot about the paperless office. Remember that? Back then we printed reports, filled out forms by hand, sent memos and shopped from catalogs and cursed junk mail. We used paper for...
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B corps
Over the last few years, a third of the US states have signed laws creating a new type of company: the benefit corporation, or B corp. I love them. They rock. I want one when I grow up. Traditional...
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