How Markdown took over the world
Nearly every bit of the high-tech world, from the most cutting-edge AI systems at the biggest companies, to the casual scraps of code cobbled together by college students, is annotated and described by the same, simple plain text format. Whet...
One of the key points I repeated when talking about the state of the tech industry yesterday was the salient fact that half a million tech workers have been laid off since ChatGPT was released in late 2022. Now, to be clear, those workers haven’t been laid off because their ...
The number one question I get from my friends, acquaintances, and mentees in the technology industry these days is, by far, variations on the basic theme of, “what the hell are we supposed to do now?”
There have been mass layoffs that leave more tech workers than ever lookin...
As I was drafting my last piece on Friday, “They have to be able to talk about us without us”, my thoughts of course went to one of the most famous slogans of the disability rights movement, “Nothing about us without us.” I wasn’t unaware that there were similarities in the ...
It’s absolutely vital to be able to communicate effectively and efficiently to large groups of people. I’ve been lucky enough to get to refine and test my skills in communicating at scale for a few decades now, and the power of talking to communities is the one area where I’...
In case you haven’t been following the world of software development closely, it’s good to know that vibe coding — using LLM tools to assist with writing code — can help enable many people to create apps or software that they wouldn’t otherwise be able to make. This has...
Today, Rodrigo Ghedrin wrote the very well-intentioned, but incorrectly-titled, “I think nobody wants AI in Firefox, Mozilla”. As he correctly summarizes, sentiment on the Mozilla thread about a potential new AI pane in the Firefox browser is overwhelmingly negative. T...
Today marked a completely new moment for New York City, and for America. There will be countless attempts at analysis and reflection and what-does-it-all-mean in the days to come, along with an unimaginable number of hateful attacks. But what's worth reflecting on right now ...
I've been following tech news for decades, and one of the worst trends in the broader cultural conversation about technology — one that's markedly accelerated over the last decade — is the shift from talking about people who create tech to focusing on those who merely financ...
OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, released their own browser called Atlas, and it actually is something new: the first browser that actively fights against the web. Let's talk about what that means, and what dangers there are from an anti-web browser made by an AI company ...
Even though AI has been the most-talked-about topic in tech for a few years now, we're in an unusual situation where the most common opinion about AI within the tech industry is barely ever mentioned.
Most people who actually have technical roles within the tech industry, li...
So many of the best, most thoughtful, most caring and talented people I’ve collaborated with in my career have had a focus on inclusion and equity as either the primary role or the supporting and enabling context of their work. But thanks to a well-funded, decades-long conce...
Much of the conversation about video and content over the last few weeks has been about the silencing of Jimmy Kimmels's show and the fact that we're seeing a shockingly rapid move towards the type of censorious media control typical of most authoritarian regimes.
But there'...
Much of the conversation about video and content over the last few weeks has been about the silencing of Jimmy Kimmels's show and the fact that we're seeing a shockingly rapid move towards the type of censorious media control typical of most authoritarian regimes.
But there'...
Anyone who knows me know that I love the esoteric, confusing and complicated aspects of pop music's greatest artists. When a Garth Brooks goes on a detour to become Chris Gaines? I'm there.
So, for decades, I've been a bit obsessed with Mariah Carey's long-lost side project ...
You didn’t used to have to be an expert on intellectual property law just to be a music fan. You would just put on your headphones, hit play, and enjoy whatever your favorite artist had made for you to listen to. Maybe you would listen to a record, or if you were old enough,...
Hearing the news yesterday that Robert Redford had passed away reminded me of one of the most moving, and bittersweet, memories that Prince shared with us toward the end of his life. It began as an uncharacteristically direct moment of vulnerability, and eventually turned in...
Twenty four is after the fall
It was clear fairly immediately that the political goal of the attacks on September 11th was to undermine the American empire. Sitting here less than a quarter-century later under authoritarian rule, with the rule of law in America in tatters, t...
There’s a tech industry habit of second-guessing “what would Steve Jobs have done" ever since he passed away, and most of the things people attribute to him seem like guesses about a guy who was very hard to predict and often inconsistent. But recently, we have one of those ...
Today I’m 50 years old! That feels absurd, because it’s a big number, the kind of round number that people usually obscure by saying “I’m celebrating a big birthday” or something vague like that. But, since you only get so many of these to celebrate, I’m using this chance to...
One key point about entrepreneurship (which I covered in my lengthy piece yesterday) is worth amplifying because society is often being lied to about what actually constitutes building a business.
Put simply: a person who moves money around is not the same as someone who act...
When you think of someone hustling to build a better life in New York City, do you think of a small business owner getting up in the wee hours of the morning to open up their food cart so they can support their family, and their community? Or do you think entrepreneurship is...
One key point about entrepreneurship (which I covered in my lengthy piece yesterday) is worth amplifying because society is often being lied to about what actually constitutes building a business.
Put simply: a person who moves money around is not the same as someone who act...
When you think of someone hustling to build a better life in New York City, do you think of a small business owner getting up in the wee hours of the morning to open up their food cart so they can support their family, and their community? Or do you think entrepreneurship is...
Alright, friends, in honor of attending the (alleged) last-ever Wu-Tang show at Madison Square Garden, I thought it appropriate to tell the story of the time I got to see the greatest, most hype, most chaotic energy hip hop show that I've ever seen, or that I ever _will...
Alright, friends, in honor of attending the (alleged) last-ever Wu-Tang show at Madison Square Garden, I thought it appropriate to tell the story of the time I got to see the greatest, most hype, most chaotic energy hip hop show that I've ever seen, or that I ever will ...
After nine years, most recently at Fastly and before that at Glitch (and Fog Creek), I am very soon (finally!) going to be taking some time off from working to catch my breath and clear my mind and focus on the new Mario Kart. And, you know, spend time my family and friends ...
After nine years, most recently at Fastly and before that at Glitch (and Fog Creek), I am very soon (finally!) going to be taking some time off from working to catch my breath and clear my mind and focus on the new Mario Kart. And, you know, spend time my family and friends ...
After nine years, most recently at Fastly and before that at Glitch (and Fog Creek), I am very soon (finally!) going to be taking some time off from working to catch my breath and clear my mind and focus on the new Mario Kart. And, you know, spend time my family and friends ...
I don't think I've ever felt more tension in the room during a live performance than when I was standing five feet in front of Sly Stone, in a room that felt like a powder keg ready to blow. And I don't think I've ever seen a room feel greater relief than watching him tear i...
