Essays
How to Silence Your Inner Critic: Listen to Mine Instead
Allow me to be your own toughest critic
Is it Time to Brighten the Future?
It seems safe to say... things could be better.
Activities for Kids Stuck At Home: Week 4
Looking for things to keep the kids busy during a global pandemic? Keep looking.
Can Everyone Really Be Famous for 15 Minutes?
Let's do the math on Andy Warhol's prediction.
Stop Calling it Artificial Intelligence
Why the term itself is limiting how we think about thinking machines
Tales to Confound and Annoy
Top complaints from the disgruntled editor of a failing sixties sci-fi magazine.
The Waterslide of Weirdness
Are some gadgets too freaky for the marketplace?
Organizing Principles
A visualization of your election choice.
The Light Inside the Screen
What time of day is the "clickiest?"
This Robe is Nice
Luxury is mine. All mine.
Why They Built the Pyramids
Maybe they just liked piling heavy rocks.
For the Sake of Humanity, I Must Resist the Urge to Create Love Boat Deepfakes
A late-night descent into AI-induced vertigo
Disturbing Thoughts While Watching Dr. Pimple Popper
Are we all just living in a giant zit?
A Letter to My Younger Self to Make Him Jealous
Who needs youth when you have wi-fi?
Spotlight on the Recluses
Let's hear it for these privacy pioneers.
The Infinite Scroll
Is the web messing with our sense of time and story?
Topics for a Bloody Mary Brunch
The 10 best questions to discuss at brunch while slowly stirring a Bloody Mary with a half-chewed piece of celery.
Installation Exhilaration
Ah, the sweet bliss of upgrading an operating system.
Some of My Favorite Artists Don't Have Thumbs
Some examples of artwork by non-humans.
How to Make Something
A handy step-by-step guide to making anything.
How to Make Yourself More Fascinating
Some tips to make you less boring.
Welcome to My Speck
The image above is a visual representation of the Internet. It is as vast and wonderful as it is frustrating and filthy. If you zoom in close enough, you will eventually find yourself looking out from the screen saying "Hey! That's me!"
Proposal for an Assault Weapon Screening Form
Maybe we need to start asking the real questions
A Video Game Walkthrough of my Morning
A cheat guide for waking up in quarantine.
Rejected Craft Beer Labels
Descriptive beer-label copy crafted by writers who have obviously sampled too much of the product.
Let's Redesign Democracy!
Applying design thinking to the problem of government.
Your World Will Never be the Same
Excerpts from either a memoir by a first-time parent or a post-apocalyptic novel.
To-Do List for When I'm Immortal
Once people can live forever, your calendar really opens up.
No, Google. As a Matter of Fact I Don't Want to Use My Real Name.
A brief tirade in defense of anonymity.
The Cool Sun
A closer look at the sun wearing sunglasses.
Do dogs use quantum teleportation?
Do you have a dog who barks or sits by the door when a family member is about to return home? Besides being adorable, this curious behavior may lend some insight into the very nature of the universe.
What the Future Holds
How close are we to the world of tomorrow?