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Forcing master to main was a good faith exploit

I never actually cared whether we call it master or main. So when the racialized claims started over how calling the default branch in Git repositories "master" was PrObLEmAtIC, I thought, fine, what skin is it off anyone's or my back to change? If this is really important, can make a real difference, great. Let's do it. How naivé. Thi...

out-of-body, out-of-world

I experienced a total solar eclipse on Monday (⌐■_■) A time of cosmic & geological overwhelm This rock was our viewing spot. 10 minutes before totality I knew things would ~get weird~, I knew the light would be nightmarish, I knew people often faint, scream, and cry during, but I was not prepared for: • How suddenly the world went from...

Portico Darwin: What Wealth Inequality Looks Like

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS Editor's Note: I wrote this before Iran attacked Israel over the weekend. Given that, perhaps you will enjoy this diversion. 1 Minute Read Happy Monday, and after yet another Travel Guide and the interminable London Calling, how about something other than my usual textual verbosity? How about some pictures? Like a who...

Nice Day for a Run

Even though April’s been way too warm so far, it might average out toward the end and thus not be an immediate cause for alarm—at least, that’s what I keep telling myself to enjoy the sun. On the other hand, not enjoying the sun wouldn’t make anything better or worse. Also, there are enough conflicts going on, some of them escalating, ...

Apple Fitness+

Laziness (and the curiosity that arises from it) led me to subscribe to Apple Fitness+ for the month. Low friction is what leads to a great exercise habit. The hurdle was seeing if my apartment gym has Wifi (it does), otherwise I would have been tethering it to my iPhone. I didn't want to use the iPhone because of the small screen (tho...

Surface area vs. Depth in product design

Some of the most rewarding features to add to products are ones that don’t increase surface area, but increase depth. This is how you continue to make a product a whole lot better without it feeling like it got a whole lot bigger. Basecamp’s new References feature is a great example of this. Video + write-up: https://updates.37signals....

Portico Darwin: London Calling, The Final Chapter

TODAY'S RAMBLINGS 6 Minute Read Happy Friday, and this is the eleventh - and yes, last - installment of London Calling. Preface and Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 We They Did It That's false modesty because I was as critical to the success of this ginormous program a...

Imperfections create connections

The engine is in wrong place in a Porsche 911. It's hanging out the back, swinging the car like a pendulum. And that's key to why it's the most iconic sports car ever made. This fundamental imperfection is part of how it creates the connection. This is true of mechanical watches too. They're hilariously complicated pieces of engineerin...

Portico Darwin: Bodega Bay Travel Guide

OVERVIEW Sure, I write about this region - the California coast from where we live in SF, north to Mendocino - often. F'ing sue me because if comparison is the death of joy, I am dead. Because I say this part of America, in our beloved California, is as good as it gets. Anywhere. And I'll be damned if I prefer Sonoma, downtown Sonoma, ...

Enough problems to go around

The worst kind of company is usually not the one where there's too much real work to do, but the kind where there's not enough. It's in this realm the real monsters appear. Without enough real problems to go around, humans are prone to invent fictitious and dreadful ones. This is the root of David Graeber's Bullshit Jobs analysis. That...