As I got closer to what you might call success, I found myself paralyzed by a strange fear. Not fear of failure. I’d already survived plenty of that. It was the fear of being seen. Specifically, the fear of being perceived as a braggart. Someone showing off. Continue reading Why I’m Finally Ready to Talk About Authority (And What Retiring Has to Do With It)
I wrote a social media post recently about Universal Accessibility — the idea that building with AI is now available to anyone — and I tagged all my nieces and nephews. This was peak doting uncle energy. I fully expected to be muted, scrolled past, and lovingly ignored the way you ignore your uncle’s LinkedIn posts about blockchain in 2021 Continue reading Test users needed
Second, perfect shouldn’t be the enemy of accessible. You might benefit from a coach when you’re starting out — someone who can help you think through your descriptions more carefully, or who knows enough to spot when the AI has made a questionable architectural choice. Certainly, get back up before you deploy anything with personal data or try to sell something. But you don’t need a class to jump in. You definitely don’t need a four-year degree. You don’t even need a two-week intensive. You need curiosity and a willingness to describe what you want clearly. You’re not going to break anything. Continue reading The Door Is Wide Open: AI App Development Is Accessible to Everyone Right Now
Domain-informed design opens that door. It says: your experience matters. Your understanding of real human problems matters. Your ability to sit across from a business owner and truly get what their days are like, what frustrates them, what they wish worked better? That’s not a “soft” skill. That’s the skill. That’s what makes technology feel human instead of cold. Continue reading The Future Belongs to People Who Know Things (Not People Who Code Things)
That the richness of America has always come from the layering of cultures, not the flattening of them. That you don’t have to understand every word of a song to feel its heart. That celebrating someone else’s heritage doesn’t take anything away from your own. Continue reading The People Who Feed Us
That’s the thing about the bridge. On the edges, at least, you have company. You have your tribe, your certainties, your enemies clearly marked. On the bridge you have the view, which shows you too much, and the quiet, which never lifts. Continue reading The Bridge
As Dickens wrote of Fezziwig, we all have “the power to make our service light or burdensome; a pleasure or a toil.” That power extends beyond the office. It shapes families, communities, and the future we’re building together.
If you’ve been reading this blog quietly for a while, thank you. If you’re standing at your own threshold, wondering what comes next, I hope you’ll stay tuned.
The archipelago is forming. And there’s room for you on these islands. Continue reading Big Updates: The Book Has Evolved. So Has the Mission.
ow we treat workers as AI reshapes the economy. How we handle communities disrupted by automation. How we balance efficiency against human dignity when machines can do it faster and cheaper.
If we justify humane treatment of displaced workers by arguing it “maintains social stability” or “protects consumer spending,” we’re building on straw again. The moment someone decides the instability is manageable, the justification disappears. Continue reading Straw Houses
We call it common sense. But what we’re really doing is designing around fear of the worst among us. And in doing so, we create the very outcomes we were trying to prevent. Continue reading 2026-The Year We Stop Being Played
George’s system is messier, slower, built on handshakes and trust and knowing people’s names. It’s inefficient as hell. But it gives people something Potter never offers: a stake. A piece of the thing they’re helping to build. Continue reading It’s still A Wonderful Life: Why Ownership Matters
Better Places 