Deepening a relationship. Visiting a sick friend. Serving at a soup kitchen. Andreessen’s “techno-optimist” mindset is confounded by acts of love. They don’t make money, they don’t supercharge a market, and perhaps most heretically, they’re typically low-tech or even involve no technology at all. What is a techno-optimist supposed to do with this “love” idea, this thing that keeps people out of markets and off the internet? It literally doesn’t compute.
the Dolphins hired McDaniel, and in came a philosophy that’s unusual in this business — albeit less and less in the rest of society. Miami’s rise comes amid a cultural reexamination of leadership, people management and parenting, a growing belief that successful, confident people should be neither brutalized nor micromanaged. That it’s possible to be good at your job and be happy.
From Mike McDaniel Needs a Reboot (gift link). Even if you’re not into football, it’s really interesting to see how a non-traditional coach is succeeding in the NFL.
There were devices that simply did what they were for, without demanding attention. For their makers, they had some real problems. They had moving parts, which meant that they required more factory tooling and had more warranty returns. They were terrible for displaying advertisements. Without always-on internet connections, they were really bad for buying other things with.
From Glow by Tom MacWright.
Some of my favorite non-glowing devices that are still in use:
Sidewalk Garden - Zach Klein
Kinder To Do Lists. I like this idea of using a different phrasing for your to do lists. Example: “When checking off an item that begins with “You promised to email Maria…” I feel as though I’m being a person who follows up on her promises. When checking off “Email Maria,” I feel as though I’ve just won another round of whack-a-mole.”
Discover the IndieWeb, one blog post at a time. “This site lets you randomly explore the IndieWeb. Simply click the button and you will be redirected to a random post from a personal blog.”
Every day is science fiction. Some quotes and links about the power of sci-fi with nuggets like " … a vision of History, extending magically into the future."
Astronomers have discovered that a third of the planets around the most common stars in the galaxy could be in a goldilocks orbit close enough, and gentle enough, to hold onto liquid water – and possibly harbor life.
Source: One-third of galaxy’s most common planets could be in habitable zone - News - University of Florida
Relational Infrastructure " … refers to the social connections, interactions, and collective intelligence that underpin a community, network or group’s ability to collaborate, solve problems, and drive change."
They talk about you, gurgling sugar through their roots …
Source: Root Words
Effectively, the time costs of doing things over a weekend have diminished considerably for those who don’t have to commute.
For my flavor of UX and Design, I’ve found my most important work is communication. My role is to discover, gather, and analyze the many varied contributions and specifications from all of these contributors and generate output in a language that everyone understands. I also need my outputs to forward the conversation, and expand the audience, at each step.
A touchscreen, then, operates as a digital platform where features can be locked or unlocked by the company at will, depending on customers’ rent payments. Physical buttons, on the other hand, can’t be turned into rent. They only serve the customer, so they’re less attractive.
Source: Creative Good: Why car companies (still) ignore customers
Stack Rock Fort: Victorian island reclaimed by nature. The property has been bought by a community interest company, which plans to preserve it as a “living ruin”.
The quiet power of introverts. A nice animated short via the always great Converge Newsletter.
The “ghost hotel” nomenclature refers to an entire apartment building which is functionally a hotel because most or all units are short-term rentals instead of tenant-occupied.
Rad Reader by Alexander Cobleigh. “It’s like a pokedex for personal websites, and designed to surface the latest posts for you to view rather than juggle an ever-increasing inbox.”
It’s really hot, let’s look at some classic cold photos. “Snow” by Photographers Arturo + Bamboo
Tools versus Systems. “Yes, the two are different.”
Japan Jazz Kissa Tour — 2023. Binaural recording from various jazz kissa in Japan. Headphones recommended.
Melike Turgut created this diagram to try to “pin-point the stages of my creative process.”
If your concept of “progress” doesn’t put people at the center of it, is it even progress?
Source: I’m a Ludite (and so can you!)
Webring. A list of hand-crafted wikis and portfolios.
What I learned from taking a train across the US. “Here’s how US train travel went from excellent to mediocre.” A Vox video.
Multi-layered calendars. “Notes are just emails to your future self. Emails are just tasks. And tasks are just calendar events.”