I was recently at the doctor and saw the user interface they use. It made me throw up in my mouth a little. Redacted screenshot below. Apologies for cropping the left hand side of the screen. It’s just more of the same. This is a perfect example of an application with no information architecture. It’s…
This has come up recently in many forms. It’s interesting to me how trust is the key ingredient in almost all human interactions. Musical Bands I have two family members in bands and the issue of trust comes up often. I’m not a musician but I understand how you need to trust your drummer or…
The zen feel of the dog laying its head on my lap. I never want to get up. The visual creativity of the Jujutsu Kaisen bunny fight scene. The screensaver in my office showing pictures from the my past. The memories fill me up. Paradise season 2 episode 4, “A Holy Charge”; so sad and…
Writing in March 2026 I’ve never experienced such a period as the current, when the possible futures are so diverse. Where things are changing so rapidly and it’s anyone’s guess what will happen. It’s honestly unnerving. I find it soothing to break down the plausible options rather than be overwhelmed by infinite possibilities. US Dictatorship…
I grew up outside of NYC in the suburbs and lived in Manhattan for many years. After 9/11, the city became unpleasant and we decided to move to my wife’s hometown, Berkeley, California. I had visited California once before (Santa Monica), but I had little experience with the state. I quickly fell in love with…
We are all humans. There are commonalities that binds us all, baked into our DNA. One of those common threads is the desire for increased social status. We use status to denote in-group and out-group. We use it as a weapon when we verbally decrease a person or group’s status. We use it as a…
I have been witness to many technical “BIG changes” in the last 40 years. Notice the frequency of milestones is accelerating. Introducing Open Claw ChatGPT shows how a natural language dialog can be part of personal computing. Unfortunately, it hallucinates constantly and has a terrible memory. It also doesn’t know that much about me. Recently,…
I really dont like the shrug emojis.🤷🤷♂️🤷♀️ They all look upset. Look at the eyes and mouth. Also, why do we need three color shirts? Whats the point of that. Compare this emoji to ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ – The emoticon looks more whimsical like “Whatcha gonna do?” It’s smiling or at least positive-neutral. The details of design…
There is a fascinating cultural phenomenon called Information Asymmetry. It means that one person or faction has access to information that others do not. This is the foundation of intelligence (spy) services through history. You have advantage over enemies when you have more data. In the work environment, your goal is (usually) not to defeat…
First, lets take a look at last years predictions: Decent win/loss record but I don’t think I pushed the envelope much. I said nothing about AI. 2026 Predictions Again, some wishful thinking here. I can’t be a “chicken little“. Just like 2025, this year feels super weird. Total civilization collapse or just another year; who…
Buying gifts always seems difficult. I know I am not easy to get something for. I’ve been thinking about it and thought of some uncommon but good gift ideas. A cheap Ukulele You can get an acceptable one for under $50. It’s much easier to play than you might expect. You don’t need to finger…
We recently went to see Josh Johnson, one of the hosts of The Daily Show, perform his standup act. Unfortunately, I was deeply disappointed with the experience. It was a perfect storm of problems, some of which were not his fault. The Environment The show was at the Fox Oakland theater, seating over 2,800 people.…
I was thinking about the applications that companies put on your work laptop. Most serve a business function like Zoom for video conferencing or a VPN. However, I had an unpleasant thought about how AI could be used for employee surveillance. There have been services that monitor how your mouse is moving during the day.…
To me this is obvious, but somehow everyone gets this wrong. Everyone is way too verbose. Slides presentation Use speaker notes. Don’t put every word on the slide. Don’t make long bullets. Don’t over explain. If you are worried about a leave behind, make a separate document for that. For your presentation, less than 10…