If you're in the US, have a 401k, and were adversely affected by the pandemic, there are financial options available to you. (I'm working very hard right now to build tools to support these options.)
Jeff Schulte, our CEO at ForUsAll, breaks them down in a blog post. I hope it's ...
March 30, 2020
I've often remarked that the extravagent benefits often enjoyed by workers at Silicon Valley companies are roughly equivalent to what everyone receives in a social democracy. Full healthcare benefits? Check. Commuter benefits for people who need them? Check. Childcare? Check. Etc. People need those benefits, but they've mostly been the ...
March 27, 2020
Yesterday, while going for a walk, I saw someone dressed in bin liners torn to form a kind of full-body plastic balaclava. Underneath, she was wearing a mask and sunglasses. She wore gloves so that she had virtually no exposed skin. As we passed by each other on the street, ...
March 20, 2020
How are you holding up? Do you need something? Let me know.
The Bay Area is like a zombie movie. Particularly at around 8am, when the smells and sounds of commuter traffic should dominate, the quiet feels supernatural. Was I whisked away in the dead of night? Is this the Upside-Down?
For ...
March 18, 2020
I'm raising money for Doctors Without Borders, which is on the front lines of the fight against Covid-19 in vulnerable communities. I'll match the first $1,000 in donations, so your money is worth twice as much. The money is directly received by the organization (which gets four out of four ...
March 17, 2020
I'm writing this from Santa Rosa, where my parents live. I've just sequestered myself in my bedroom / home office here, ready to start the workday. But this is an unprecedented period, and I wanted to record what life is actually like under this particular quarantine. We should be blogging ...
March 16, 2020
It's getting real. If you're not convinced that COVID-19 is a big deal, this FAQ is a useful resource. You should care; as the close relative of someone with a suppressed immune system, anyone who isn't taking the outbreak seriously is a risk to me - and particularly, to my ...
March 10, 2020
Here's the media I consumed and found interesting in February.
Books
Race After Technology: Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim Code, by Ruha Benjamin. Recommended to me by my friend Roxann Stafford, who used quotes from it in our session on designing for equity. It makes clear how automation can deepen discrimination, ...
March 1, 2020