Slides from my talk at DevRelCon NYC 2026

Until recent years, I would delay writing my “Year in Review” posts until a bit into the new year. The thinking was, I would be done with holiday travel, it would be slow at work, and I would get some space to reflect on the year past.

Editor’s note (I’m the editor): This post was essentially finished in late March, but a lot of Things came up around then. I will write about the most major Thing at some point soon. Otherwise, here is this post about a year almost none of us can remember now, barely in time for the tax deadline.

Before the pandemic, I spent a lot of time wondering if I was in standing in the wrong place, in the wrong line, imposing on people. It’s still like that, except the worst possible outcome isn’t embarassment, it’s death. If you’re reading this many years from now, it might be hard to understand how serious I am. I spent most of last year trying not to die or kill people. A lot of people did. It had its effects.

I love smarthome stuff. Lights fading in at sunset, temperature readings in each room, a routine that plays NPR for the dog when we leave? Heck yeah.

Photo by Jay Galvin/Flickr/CC

Sure was a year, 2019. Let’s get into it.

Today is my last day at Wirecutter.

I started last year’s review with this, THIS:

Here is what I am Currently Digging now.