Research as a portfolio
Research as a portfolioOver the past year, I've been soliciting advice for how to pursue "transformative research." The cornucopia of counsel I've received is worthy of its own essay, but today I...
View ArticleProgramming and literacy
I'm setting aside my devices for a full week to enjoy a digital fast / analog feast in the Utah mountains with my extended family. I wrote the following thoughts a few weeks ago as I reflected on the...
View ArticleWhy tools for thought need an interchange
Today I’m going to be facilitating the third Tools for Thought Interchange event. While each of the speakers will have something interesting to show off and talk about, that’s not why I’m most...
View ArticleChasing Alan Kay
In the past week, something finally clicked for me: mediums > tools.About a year ago, I was the recipient of a 2+ hour lecture from Alan Kay on everything from the history of computing to the...
View ArticleEmbodied computing
It's Monday and I'm back at my desk, in my home office, after a bunch of travel. I was on the road for three of the last four weeks, in Texas, then Utah, and finally Kure Beach, NC. That means my...
View ArticleWeekly research summaries and glimpses of the future
Today marks the 8th week in a row I’ve written an update. If you haven’t read the past updates, they are available online here.In my first weekly update, I reflected on these weekly update as a means...
View ArticleBlockchains are a big deal
Blockchains are a big dealIf you’re where I was several months ago, you may have this general sense of “something is happening over there with the blockchain stuff.” You may have even purchased some...
View ArticleKickin' tires with Croquet
I know I promised part two of Blockchains are a big deal where I describe why they are a big deal. That’s still coming! Instead, today I’m giving a quick update on my contracting work.Kickin’ tires...
View ArticleMy time, Looted
Oh my! I've missed sending out my weekly update the last two weeks. And I've genuinely missed it! Writing this update each week has become an important rhythm for making sense of my thoughts,...
View ArticleWhy Blockchains Matter
A few weeks ago I wrote about what blockchains are, describing four technological analogies for the blockchain: the blockchain can be thought of as a database, a network, a computer, and a bank. And...
View ArticleMy Research Portfolio, Updated
My Research Portfolio, Updatedif you are a creative person who is drawn to working on many things at once, there is nothing wrong with you there is only a massive system that doesn’t align with you,...
View ArticleGlimpses of the future
I have a bunch of half-finished articles I’m working on right now, none of which are ready for publication. Instead, enjoy a few inspirational links I’ve come across in the last two weeks!Glimpses of...
View ArticleReal-Time Apps and Thinking about Thinking
It’s been almost a month since I’ve written an update. Things have been busy! If I don’t write these on Monday morning, they mostly don’t get written.Here are a few things I’ve been up to.Building...
View ArticleIndependent Research: A 6 Month Retrospective
Happy New Year!In June of 2021, I stepped away from full-time employment to focus on research. Over the last six months, I've been scouting the territory, trying to understand what "doing research"...
View ArticleLearning, Thinking, Building
These days, my mind feels locked in a three-way tug-of-war. Aside from adjusting to life with a newborn (we've got 4 now!), my priorities and thoughts are wrapped around three seemingly-separate...
View ArticleCool Stuff On The Internet
A lot of my time the last few months has been focused on getting our homeschool up and running and adjusting to life with a new baby. This translates to a lot of time with one hand scrolling a phone...
View ArticleHow Buildings Learn
How Buildings LearnI've been reading a bunch of books on architecture lately, both out of general interest and necessity as we work on a major remodel of our home, and this weekend I finally dug into...
View ArticleA Few Research Updates
Today's update will be a quick one. I'm at the beach with my family, and I'm writing before anyone wakes up. But I wanted to update you on a few fun things from this week.A New Research NotebookI'm...
View ArticleFission and the Future of Computing
In the last update, I announced that I was joining the team at Fission as a research engineer. If you visited the Fission home page at the time, you might have had trouble connecting the dots between...
View ArticleAutomations, Time spent in the environment, "And then what?"
Yesterday I was musing on automations for note-taking tools and I was struck by the idea that automations in our tools can go too far. It seems there is some amount of desirable friction in working...
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