Update: Slack pushed a big update to Threads! Many of the things originally discussed in this post were addressed, which is awesome! More on that below… Slack outlined the problem and opportunity best in an introduction to threads blog post a little over a year ago: When you’re working with your team in Slack, discussions…Continue readingStart a thread: reducing chatter and distraction in Slack
For my entire life I’ve struggled with reading. In high school doctors and counselors would chalk my painfully slow reading to a hearing deficiency, without so much as a prescriptive solution. Later in life it seems like my struggle might be more easily described by some of the symptoms experienced by those diagnosed with ADD.…Continue readingReading more, better reading: How I finally fixed my news & reading habits
Here’s a scenario you might be familiar with: You wake up groggy from an all-too-early alarm, hustle to get showered and out the door on time, only to wait forever eventually realizing who you’re meeting with isn’t showing up. It never occurred to you to check your inbox which had some permutation of: “Hey, I’m…Continue readingGame Time Notifications: Solving for last-minute event changes
Apple’s new Portrait mode on the iPhone 7 Plus is seriously impressive, but it’s by no means perfecct. But the best part is that when taking a photo with the Depth Effect it saves both the original and blurred photo. I had a hunch that with a bit of tweaking in Pixelmator we might be…Continue readingBetter iPhone 7 Plus portraits with Pixelmator
I was rummaging around in some old files today when I came across the original pitch decks for Circa. One in particular was a trip down memory lane: the deck that we put together showing how the app worked for our investors. The deck was dated July 2012, and it would precede our launch by…Continue readingBlast from the past: Looking back to early 2012 at Circa News 1.0 pre-launch
The bots are coming. And they will be everywhere, like Facebook Messenger where they’ll be deployed to 900mm+ users. Some will deliver you tacos. Some will go on racist tirades. But here’s the thing: not all bots are created equal. While “bot” is a great over-arching term for a collection of happenings all boiling down…Continue reading“Bot” is a hilariously over-simplified buzzword. Let’s fix that.
Between my digital addiction and penchant for procrastination I’ve struggled for a very long time to feel like I spend my downtime meaningfully and productively. Over the last few weeks and months though I’ve started to do just a couple simple things that have turned out to be pretty dramatic improvements to my otherwise horrendous…Continue readingFive little life hacks that made me just a little happier and more productive at home
It’s no secret that Facebook has been making a big push into capturing our attention around news. A decade ago news organizations “owned” creation, distribution, monetization, and attention. One could argue that Facebook has been making a play for just about every aspect of the news business, perhaps save for creation (for now). Two days…Continue readingFacebook’s making an even bigger play for our attention around news. Did you notice?
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Twitter needs an algorithm
Last week’s #RIPTwitter ruckus, sparked by the news that they may be interesting an algorithmic timeline soon, really got under my skin. Time and time again I went to the app to construct a tweet that would perfectly illustrate my thoughts on the matter, and each time canceled it before sending it out. More was…Continue readingTwitter needs an algorithm
Hint: It’s not about thinness Last week a big rumor started swirling around the Internet about this year’s upcoming iPhone release. It seemed to send chills down spines and sent Apple doomsayers into a fervor. The headlines said it all: New iPhone 7 Leak Exposes Apple’s Achilles Heel iPhone Users Are Already Petitioning Against This Rumored…Continue readingShredding the straw man: my theory on removing the headphone jack from the iPhone