collections

The idea of “evergreen” content naturally contrasts with its opposite. I am going to call that non-evergreen content “deciduous” because I wasn’t bullied enough as a child.

Once you see that an answer is not serving its question properly anymore, it should be tossed away. It's just their natural life cycle.

They usually kick and scream, raising one hell of a ruckus when we ask them to leave. Especially when they have been with us for a long time.

You see, too many actions have been based on those answers. Too much work and energy invested on them. They feel so important, so full of themselves. They will answer to no one. Not even to their initial question!

Something interesting about the design of Twitter is that it doesn’t have much of a way of rewarding curation, only authorship.

...I’m inclined to think that the mechanisms of distribution of information are very important, and I think figuring out ways to reward good curation is probably an important thing.

...I don’t really know what the solution is here, but I do think that finding and curating good links and bits of information is useful, and something that should be rewarded more than it currently is.

Collect the Web,
Express Yourself.

Collect what truly matters to you from the web. It's who you are. Like-minded people will find and learn from you.

Glasp is a social highlighting app that allows you to highlight and tag what you think is important while reading articles or watching videos on the web.

Cataloguing the underrated creativity of menus from around the world.

Assemblages are passional, they are compositions of desire. There is no desire but assembling, assembled desire.

Throughout his career, Wilson often answered fan mail and outside requests for his time with this form postcard:

Edmund Wilson regrets that it is impossible for him to: Read manuscripts, write books and articles to order, write forewords or introductions, make statements for publicity purposes, do any kind of editorial work, judge literary contests, give interviews, conduct educational courses, deliver lectures, give talks or make speeches, broadcast or appear on television, take part in writers' congresses, answer questionnaires, contribute to or take part in symposiums or 'panels' of any kind, contribute manuscripts for sales, donate copies of his books to libraries, autograph books for strangers, allow his name to be used on letterheads, supply personal information about himself, supply photographs of himself, supply opinions on literary or other subjects.

• Think like a gardener, not an architect: design beginnings, not endings
• Unfinished = fertile
• Artists are to cities what worms are to soil.
• A city’s waste should be on public display.
• Make places that are easy for people to change and adapt (wood and plaster, as opposed to steel and concrete.)
• Places which accommodate the very young and the very old are loved by everybody else too.
• Low rent = high life
• Make places for people to look at each other, to show off to each other.
• Shared public space is the crucible of community.
• A really smart city is the one that harnesses the intelligence and creativity of its inhabitants.

3. The best way to improve software UX is regular direct observation, by everybody on the team, of the work done.
4. Have some personality.
5. Minimalism is garbage.
6. Metaphors are fantastic.
7. Naming things is fantastic.
8. Try to write HTML that would make sense and be usable without the CSS.
9. The buyer is quite often wrong. That fact never changes their mind.
10. Working on a functioning app’s codebase does more to increase its quality than adding features.
11. A good manager will debate you, and that’s awesome.
12. The term ‘project’ is a poor metaphor for the horticultural activity that is software development.

Laurel’s birthday: March 15. [These are] a few of her favorite things.

I like words, and I note down ones that catch my eye as we cross paths.

Sometimes I read over the list, random access style, just to remind myself of forgotten thoughts. Each word is a bookmark into a little cascade of concepts in my brain.

So because I’d like to keep these words somewhere I can find them in the future, I’m putting them here.

Storm Doris
Mimecom
Cloudbleed
Athleisure
Cromwell
H7N9
Trappist-1
... (+448)

It’s frustrating to have done something really important and later realize that you didn’t get rewarded for it just because the people making the decision didn’t understand or remember what you did.

The tactic is pretty simple! Instead of trying to remember everything you did with your brain, maintain a “brag document” that lists everything so you can refer to it when you get to performance review season!

Things I‘ve read, people I‘ve tried to learn from, and things I‘ve done to become a better designer. This is an idiosyncratic list reflecting what has helped me along the way, rather than an exhaustive list of design classics.

Though the list leans toward theory — principles are more durable than technique — I offer a few ideas further down about how to practice design. It also leans toward information design, because the task of presenting rich, dense information in an accessible way is ultimately the task of any digital product.

A curated list of sites with an extra bit of fun.

• What sort of person will the use of this technology make of me?
• What will the use of this technology encourage me to notice?
• Does the use of this technology bring me joy?
• What limits does the use of this technology impose upon me?
• Upon what systems, technical or human, does my use of this technology depend? Are these systems just?

I've been fortunate enough to meet some of my heroes, but I still have a long way to go.
This is a list of people I'd like to high five IRL.