A number of years ago, a bunch of my friends were reading Naomi Klein’s book No Logo and getting really riled up by it. The book is certainly written to make you angry, describing how brands and logos have become more and more prominent in our society as the marketing industry has become more sophisticated at [...]
...full articleIt’s been two and a half years since I started working for Google. Now, as I walk out the door, I’m going to try to capture some of my thoughts about the experience and share them here.
In the summer of 2007, as I was finishing up my MBA, I was faced with a choice of [...]
I recently picked up a book called Secrets of Mental Math written by one of my college math professors. It has very practical advice on how to learn to multiply large numbers in your head. He gives practical advice on necessary skills like addition, subtraction, and related mathematical trivia. To practice multiplying numbers in your [...]
...full articleAs the year wraps up, I’d like to share some of the major events that have happened in my life recently. Many of my readers will be well aware of these events, but I recognize that personal news travels through a variety of channels, and all of those channels are unreliable. (I’ll save the diatribe on why Facebook is a horrible way to keep up with friends for another day.) For readers who are looking for insightful analysis of technology, my apologies. Note the “ego” tag. This is a personal update but does contain a little insight into real-estate finance….
...full articleI caved. I took a job with Google as a Product Manager. I start today. I’m down in Mountain View all week to have kool-aid forcibly injected intravenously. Make note of this day and see if you can sense a shift in tone of my posts as time continues. We’ll see when I start thinking and posting about Google in first person. This change is important to you my dear readers for a couple of other reasons. Most significantly is around intellectual property. Google’s IP policy for its employees can be effectively summarized as “All your base are belong to…
...full articleOkay, not quite a full ton. The Lilypod only needs 1,500 lbs of dissolved epsom salt to make the water dense enough that you can float on it. In 250 gallons of water that gives the solution a density of about 1.7, which makes it quite easy to float on. Heat it to about 99 degrees Fahrenheit, put in ear plugs, turn out all the lights, and concentrate on your breathing. It’s a great recipe for some deep relaxation. I’m looking forward to borrowing some time on it, hoping it will be a good way to help focus my mind….
...full articlePlease excuse a bit of rambling, but I’ve got a seedling of an idea I’d like to publicly explore. The classic definition of economics concerns the allocation of finite resources to unlimited desires. Resources here are physical goods and services that people buy or trade. There’s only so much stuff in the world that people might want. If you add up what everybody wants, it’s more than the amount of stuff available to go around — classically it’s infinite. Economic systems manage this discrepancy. I increasingly find myself facing a related problem: trying to allocate my finite time to seemingly…
...full articleAfter 6.5 years of having dreadlocks, I decided I was done. So while I was at Burningman this year, I had my friends help me cut them off. I wandered around on Saturday with a pair of scissors, and would ask friends one at a time if they would help me by cutting off one of my dreads. Some of them went into a bag for future nefarious purposes, and some of them got put into my new dread hat, and others got burned ceremoniously. In all, 33 people helped cut my hair. “It takes a village” Mason said. I…
...full articleXKCD is a rad web-comic. Today’s makes passing yo-mama jokes while discussing the concept of the “28-hour day.” It’s an interesting idea. Six 28-hour days make up a week. 6 x 28 = 7 x 24 = 168 hours. {math corrected} If you sleep 8 hours out of 28, then you’re getting 48 hours of sleep a week, which is equivalent to just under 7 hours of sleep a night on a regular schedule. (6 hours 51 minutes). Personally, I’m optimal at about 7 hours 25 minutes a night on a long-term basis, but I can go 6 hours a…
...full articleA number of folks have been courting me for positions as a software development engineer recently. Many of them sound really fun. I love writing code, and even though it hasn’t been my professional focus for years, I think I’m still alright at it. But I’ve had to come to a sober realization that I simply cannot take a job where writing code is my primary function. I’m just not physically capable of it. I just about cried during a job interview once when explaining this. People come in my office and say “that’s a cool keyboard.” My response is…
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