It’s great to see folks stepping away from assumptions brought over from other social media systems. The river of posts may serve the attention merchants’ engagement goals when they can keep you endlessly scrolling, but it’s not the way we naturally think. So we have filters and other methods of tightening our focus down to…
As I walk along the path near our home, I smile and say hi to people who pass. Some return the greeting, or smile. A few don’t notice me. And a few give me a look of consternation, or look down or away as they speed past. It occurred to me today that it’s important…
One of the problems we face is that it’s easy to get people to agree with the premise that social media manipulates people, but difficult to get them to believe that they, personally, are being manipulated. “You’re converting people’s lives into digital models. Collecting all the data the leave out in the world, and using…
Link On this beautiful Christmas morning, I want to recommend a gift you can give to yourself, this course. My friend Anne Firth Murray teaches this course (and others) at Stanford University and now it’s available as an online course through Coursera. Although it officially starts today, I’m already well into it and can…
10 years ago today, Steve Jobs introduced the world to a new thing — the iPhone. Even if you are familiar with the event, have seen the video, or were there, it may not occur to you how weak the reception was in that room, that day. With remarkable style, Steve Jobs setup the context masterfully,…
IIW uses the Open Space Technology process for self-organizing the conference. The importance of all of this is often unclear to the newcomer, but people come around, as they come to understand that there rules generate a conference that works much like the hallways and bars in traditional conferences. The whole thing becomes a great swirling…
Internet Identity Workshop is my favorite conference. The topics covered, which span across Identity, Privacy, Community, and Security and more, continue to be relevant even after more than a decade. The “Open Spaces” format generates lively discussions across a range of topics, all created on the spot by the participants. It’s also a conference full…
For the next few months, our work at Square Peg Ranch is featured on America’s Best Racing and Fox Sports. The first short video in the series was shown today during the horse racing coverage of the United Nations Stakes at Monmouth Park, NJ. Joell and I watched at a local pizza place with some…
Marc Maron scored a real coup for his show WTF, with the President of the United States sitting down with him in his garage in Pasadena to have a very human and personal conversation with him. It’s an excellent listen.
I was up early today. When the hounds wanted out at 5am, I decided I would get some coffee, write and think. It’s the beginning of a quiet and reflective Sunday morning that Joell and I have been planning for a few days. The last week has been difficult. It started close to our hearts,…
