A weekend letter
about what I’m
learning.

“Two decades ago when I started publishing on the web I would have never guessed that linking to websites, with no URL redirection or tracking tags, would feel almost subversive now. I now find myself delighting in adding even more links to blog posts. Creating the web I want!”

“I didn't think the caffeine I was consuming was having any real impact on me -- but the impact that the removal had tells a different story.”

“Writing a blog on your own site is a way to escape all of that. Plus your words build up over time. That's unique. Nobody else values your words like you do.”

“What is the return you are getting on the attention you give algorithms? Do you have a budget?”

“Instilling curiosity in your kids is one of the best gifts you can give them.”

“I often refer to social media as spray foam for the mind. It fills all the little gaps with stuff, instead of some solitude or plain boredom.”

“Your job as a leader is to adapt to your people, not to expect your people to adapt to you.”

“It is great to use hobbies to learn and advance your skills. Don't think of everything as a future hustle.”

“In the early days of the web we all built so much by riffing off of everyone else, using "View Source…" to understand how they did whatever it was we were interested in.”

“I've recently been reading a lot more. The key has been to build it into my morning routine, and to read a real book, not an ebook.”

“I think it is pretty hard, possibly impossible, to learn new things without appearing stupid to at least some people.”

“There are so many ways for things to get to us. Too many. Solitude may be the rarest commodity of all, even rarer than privacy.”

“The first step is to just start writing. About what? Whatever is on your mind.”

“I love having my own website to write on. Writing is thinking, and it is fun to be able to think out loud.”

“Force yourself to find the reward for writing and sharing intrinsically in yourself, and not from others. Like all things, external validation will only get you so far.”

“The big win with RSS is that there is no algorithm between you and the content, and the goal isn't to occupy all your time and increase engagement.”

“I love to see new blogs started. Every time a blog is started, an angel gets their wings.”

“As a manager, your time will all get consumed if you leave it open. All of it. If you don't protect some time for what you need to get done, you will be crushed.”

“One of my core beliefs is that the best way to understand new technology is to directly engage with it, play around, and learn by doing.”

“When you blog for over a decade you create an artifact, a thing, that has real value over the long term.”

“One of the nasty things with software is that when you stop changing it you lose the confidence to change it.”

“Most (all?) of the major social platforms have largely pushed the hyperlink, what I would suggest is the most fundamental thing about the web, out. They tune their algorithms to not surface links.”

“Search, like email, is now in my category of things I believe you should pay for.”

“Not all code is equal. Some code deserves additional effort and oversight, and other stuff does not. I think folks don't consider that enough.”

“I find myself routinely thinking "wow, you are failing as a friend" because I haven't replied to an email or sent a message.”

“Running software isn't a one-time job. And however you build it most software that starts life as a cute puppy eventually becomes a big smelly dog that you have to pick up after.”

“I think attention is perhaps one of the most important things that we don't think about enough. It is the thing that I think meditation is most helpful for.”