It's that time again for my weekly update, which includes a short collection of noteworthy finds, posts that inspire, as well as a few reflections from the past week or two. I'll aim to land these in your inbox by the weekend, in time to pair with your morning coffee (or your preferred cup of inspiration).

The Latest Drippings ☕️

  • SPACESHIPS. Opening this week with a wild classic video rethink: Inverted Asteroids. 'You are not the ship' - You place gravity wells and fling rocks towards that pesky ship trying to blow you up. Not quite what I meant by Inversion, but still a, err.. blast. :)
  • YULBBS. I guess I am feeling a bit nostalgic this week, so let's talk about BBSs. For the unfamiliar, Bulletin Board Systems (BBSs) were the thing back in the mid-'80s to mid-'90s, before the web, before algorithms, before social media. You would connect (often via a modem), log in using your terminal program of choice, and read news and bulletins, exchange messages, and sometimes even play games. I have fond memories of Channel 1 in Boston and some of the local FidoNets when it was a much simpler time to be online. Anyways, I came across YULBBS this week, which is described as 'a retro-computing project, inspired by my adolescent introduction to social computing.' Running on a Raspberry Pi, it has live ADS-B flight data that you can get to either via SSH or just point your browser at https://yulbbs.via.sc. You had me at hello.
  • Apple's Book That Decoded Woz's Genius. Another nostalgia piece, sorry. 'The Red Book was cool, but for my money ($20, Apple part number A2L0001A), the Apple II Reference Manual is an unsung masterpiece. Chris’s manual was a revelation. It’s a comprehensive, understandable, beautifully produced guide to Woz’s virtuoso creation. Wire-bound and over 200 pages, it’s chock full of explanatory text, diagrams, schematics, photos, source code listings, and Apple fun. ' I may go ahead and see if I can grab a copy of one on eBay, but you can read it online here if interested.
  • MouthPad. 'The world’s first hands-free touchpad' is basically a tongue-controlled trackpad. 'A custom-fit mouthpiece that turns subtle tongue and head movements into precise control of your phone, tablet, and computer.' What a wonderful use of technology - giving people back independence they lost or have never had. There are some wonderful stories that are showcasing some of the assistive technology this can provide. Anything that 'opens doors to opportunities I never thought possible' is worth a read, IMHO.
  • A Focused Phone Experience with Archaic Intelligence. 'A modern smartphone is a stress-inducing machine that wants to grab my attention all the time. The obvious first move against it is to have a few apps on my phone to begin with—remove everything that only seems like it might be important. Most services have perfectly functional websites. Installing apps for nearly every use case instead would mean I’m giving them increasing opportunities to indulge me. The second aspect of this is to have almost no app pinned on my home screen. Not even the ones I may use frequently.' A few weeks ago, I mentioned the idea of a scroll-chair, a place you've designated for scrolling. Here's another set of good ideas on how to change up your smartphone so it's less attention grabbing. 'That’s how I like my focused phone experience. I call this re-stacking of incentives Archaic Intelligence: Every element in there specifically invokes actions I desire long-term.' It's a nice lens on how to be more intentional with technology.
  • What 12 Years of Failure Taught Steve Jobs About Success. I stumbled upon a video which reconstructed Steve Jobs's 12-year "lost decade" at NeXT; kind of an interesting watch/listen if you have the time. What I thought was most interesting is the lessons learned: failure isn't the opposite of success; it can be the foundation for it, but only if you actually learn from it. And, it's important for leaders to bring out the best in talented people, and not to be the smartest person dictating every decision.
  • Most People Don't Want to Succeed. 'Most people don't want to succeed, they just want to say that they tried their best and there was nothing they could do.' Harsh truth here, but as this post recognizes, many people will choose the relief of failure, rather than the demanding reality of pursuing success. I've said it before; I've made shirts shouting it: Own Your Shit.
  • Old Age Is What We Think It Is — And That's the Problem. 'The problem with writing about old age is that I end up reinforcing all the everyday old age stereotypes by thinking about old age all the time. Because old age is just a concept, it’s not a real thing. It’s words and phrases strung together to produce something less than the sum of its parts.' A good post to remind myself that while age is just a number, it can be a fluid concept. Perhaps I've been spending too much time thinking about the lessons of the last 55 years and not enough on the next 55.
  • Exit the Cave. I really enjoyed this post, and while I know little about the wrestling world, the idea of 'the Cave' is one anyone can relate to. 'Culture has created a cozy Cave. Smart devices reward private fitness. Recommendation algorithms propagate our preexisting philosophy through personalized programming. AI tells us what we want to hear and bolsters our assumptions instead of challenging them. We grow so comfortable curating our Cave that we forget the vast, interesting, beautiful, and brutal world beyond its walls.' A good reminder to just get out there and experience some public vulnerability to grow.
  • Sometimes It's Better Not to Say Anything. It took me years to realize the dynamics of how social media dialog works, and one of the earliest lessons learned is that when everyone has a megaphone, no one is even listening. But I really like how Manuel articulates it: 'I think is worth highlighting is that a core ingredient for healthy dialogue is the ability to listen. But listening is not part of the social internet landscape. You cannot perceive the listening; you can only perceive the saying. And that is why social media dialogue is fundamentally unhelpful. It’s a lot of saying and not much listening.' Active listening, while not easy, is one of the best things you can do for your own mental health.
  • The Algorithm Knows Who You Have Been, Not Who You Might Become. Along the similar thread of curiosity, one of the best things you can do is to find different things to read than what your close circles or what the algorithm is telling you. Annually a purge seems to do the trick: go in and unsubscribe to a bunch of sites, especially noise generators or ones that my friends keep sending me links to. Delete a bunch of apps or remove subscriptions, just to keep things fresh and new. Go hit Kagi's Small Web and purposely be curious and seek out a few new things to read that algorithms wouldn't have surfaced for you. 'When people only consume the same essays and cultural references, they become more likely to reach for the same language and make similar associations.'
  • The Lab, the Factory and the Dentist. I really enjoyed the quick mental exercise that Seth Godin proposes: Where do you work? The lab, the factory or the dentist? For a large part of the last 55 years, I've been in the factory things get a little faster, a little better every day. But I think the next 55 will be spent in the lab.
  • Stop Looking for Your One True Purpose. I used to think that an exploration of Life 3.0 was going to need a singular purpose to focus on. Perhaps subconsciously, I've been worried that I hadn't found mine yet. But after reading this article and going back through what I've been writing over the last several years, I've recognized that there really isn't one true calling to find. What's actually been driving me are acts of trying to leave things better than how I found them. It's not a plan with a destination, just continuous learning and staying curious enough that there's always a next thing worth doing.

Amor Fati ✌🏻