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October, 2021

Introducing Untitled

This year, in conjunction with National Novel Writing Month, I’m kicking off my own writing project, Untitled. Untitled is a serial novel that will be written to coincide with NaNoWriMo’s goals, but is likely to carry on beyond that limit. It’s also designed in such a way that it’s not the ...
October 31, 2021

Fairness Friday: Rogue Retreat

I’m posting Fairness Fridays: a new community social justice organization each week. I donate to each featured organization. If you feel so inclined, please join me. This week I’m donating to Rogue Retreat. Based in Medford, OR, Rogue Retreat offers support and housing for the homeless in its local area, including ...
October 22, 2021

What is the metaverse?

Facebook is reportedly betting the future of the company on the metaverse, changing the name of its umbrella company in the process. Meanwhile, supposedly NFTs are the revenue model for the metaverse, making $2.6bn in sales in the first six months of 2021 alone. This is all well and good, but ...
October 20, 2021

Driving the M1

I got mine well before the new batch of redesigned MacBook Pros, but my 13” M1 machine is by far the best computer I’ve ever owned. It’s responsive, the keyboard is great, and the battery life is long enough that I sometimes forget the thing has a battery at all. As ...
October 20, 2021

Thoughts and actions for the week of October 18, 2021

Thoughts I remember on my very first startup, my co-founder (the CEO) worried that we weren’t cool enough. We were building a white label community platform that was beginning to be used inside large organizations to share information: what would become a multi-billion dollar business. And we were doing it in ...
October 18, 2021

How I think about giving

I was asked to go into a little more detail around how I think about my Fairness Fridays posts.They were originally inspired by Fred Wilson’s Funding Fridays, which highlights a new crowdfunding campaign. I actually really like those: it’s a fun way to discover new projects that are getting off ...
October 16, 2021

Fairness Friday: the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women

I’m posting Fairness Fridays: a new community social justice organization each week. I donate to each featured organization. If you feel so inclined, please join me. This week I’m donating to the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women. Based in Albuquerque, CSVANW advocates for social change in the communities it ...
October 15, 2021

The twin sadnesses

As Ben Werdmuller awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into … Stress has been a major part of my life this year, for obvious reasons. I’m no longer at the point in the year where I can claim to be ruled by grief with ...
October 14, 2021

Thoughts and actions for the week of October 11, 2021

Thoughts I recognize today as Indigenous Peoples’ Day rather than Columbus Day: it’s a marker of the importance of the people who were here before Europeans arrived, and their resilience in the face of genocide and generations of oppression. For the first time, the President recognized it too: a major progressive ...
October 11, 2021

ForUsAll is hiring

Just a quick note: we're hiring Ruby on Rails engineers, Product Managers, a Head of Marketing ... all working for a mission-driven startup working to help more people reach financial safety in retirement. Check out all our vacancies here. ...
October 8, 2021

Fairness Friday: The Transgender Law Center

I’m posting Fairness Fridays: a new community social justice organization each week. I donate to each featured organization. If you feel so inclined, please join me. This week I’m donating to the Transgender Law Center. Based in Oakland, the Transgender Law Center provides support and advocacy for trans and gender non-conforming ...
October 8, 2021

Some flash fiction

I've been experimenting with publishing flash fiction on Medium. Some recent pieces: Mining on the crop-fields: The rig embedded in my spine made a tell-tale beep: another coin earned. Three more and I could knock off for eight hours or so; another and I’d be saving towards some time off. I turned ...
October 6, 2021

Thoughts and actions for the week of October 4, 2021

Thoughts As I write this, Facebook is down. I’m not certain how much this will cost their business in lost ad revenue, although I’m sure someone will do the calculation. I’m sure there will be some kind of a post mortem. But it’s worth asking the question and taking it seriously: ...
October 4, 2021

Reading, watching, playing, using: September, 2021

This is my monthly roundup of the books, articles, and streaming media I found interesting. Here's my list for September, 2021. Apps + Websites Ambient Chaos. Finally, an ambient noise generator for the rest of us. I recommend zombie invasion + barnyard animals + church bells + lo-fi beats. You feel like shit. ...
October 1, 2021

Fairness Friday: La Casa de las Madres

I’m posting Fairness Fridays: a new community social justice organization each week. I donate to each featured organization. If you feel so inclined, please join me. This week I'm donating to La Casa de las Madres. Based in San Francisco, La Casa de las Madres provides a shelter and support for ...
October 1, 2021