• WordPress Twenty Twenty Five

    WordPress has been my blogging software since 2006. I installed version 2,0 and have been a fan ever since. I have been blogging since March 1996. (Wow, 28 years flies by so fast!) I used to blog nearly every day and now its just a few times a month. I…

  • Nauseously optimistic

    I heard this phrase on the news from a Kamala Harris advisor. I kind of love how it captures the feeling I often have, not just about the current political situation. Over the years, I have worked on many big projects. At least a half dozen times over the years,…

  • Unseen features

    Many PMs love to play the feature checklist game. It’s a strategy to win against the competition by having the highest number of features. Many salespeople convince themselves that they lost a deal solely because of a missing feature. In my opinion, this can sometimes work, but often omits more…

  • Mindfulness

    Imagine living a thousand years ago. Your life would have been much simpler. Probably one town, maybe a couple of kings in power. Predictions of the future were more about love and health. Most people did not change their class or social position. Your life would have been mostly about…

  • Thoughts on AI 2024

    Apologies for the extra long post. I see a strong similarity between AI 2024 and the Web of 1995-1997. It’s hard to conceive now, with the internet being so ubiquitous and full-featured, but in 1996 you could barely do anything with the HTML. Netscape 1.0 had no CSS, no JavaScript,…

  • BeMore Festival 2024

    Im scheduled to be a speaker at the upcoming BeMore Festival. The festival is put on my ADPList. It’s a free service for designers to get mentorship. I have been an active mentor on that platform since Feb 2022. My talk is specifically for designers in the beginning of their…

  • Ningami’s Big Adventure

    Exactly 10 years ago, we got a red foot tortoise as a pet. Ningami was a friendly creature who liked to have his shell rubbed and would do a little dance when he was happy. He roamed around my floor and patio eating lettuce and hiding in cardboard boxes. He…

  • The speech Biden could have given

    Joe Biden gave a speech the other night at the DNC convention in Chicago. I can not exaggerate how much I think this speech was a lost opportunity for him to cement his legacy as one of the best presidents ever. I imagined a better speech for him. This is…

  • Software Designers

    I made a presentation recently of the evolution of software. From desktop applications (from way back like VisiCalc and XTreeGold) to modern web applications. The thing I find interesting was the split in designers who make applications look like “websites” (with a sitemap) and those that make the application look…

  • The job of product design

    I recently heard someone say that using a design system took all of the creativity away from the designer. I found this point of view troubling and ultimately think it leads to unhappy designers and poor software. Many designers get into design as a career because as children they liked…

  • Biden and Democrats 2024

    I have been a political observer since 1980. I remember watching Reagan beat Carter and Anderson on TV. My political leanings have always been towards empathy, logic, helping the most people, and progress. Between Republican and Democrat, democrats have more closely aligned with this point of view. This is not…

  • Bravia 9 2024 with Quad sound system

    I don’t smoke or drink or go on fancy vacations. I do have one expensive vice though. Once every 8 years or so I will purchase the latest greatest television experience. I bought a 250 lbs 55” HDTV monster in 1998 before HD content was even available. In 2013, I…

  • Predictions and Consequences

    Whenever I see people disagree about anything, I look for the differing predictions baked into their points of view. I blogged previously about why people disagree. Last Thursday, Biden and Trump had a debate. Objectively, it was a bad night for Trump and a horrific night for Biden. Trump lied…

  • Every generation is the same

    We have all these names of people born at different times. We make generalizations about every generation from their preferences, their work ethic, their morality, fashion, and more. Personally, I think every generation is exactly the same as the previous one. For definition sake here is a wikipedia chart. Recently…