2015

A personal retrospective on 2015: moving from London to NYC, new relationships, travel, job changes, and a programming retreat. All documented in photos.

Holiday happiness found in podcasts (Longform!), addictive games (Mini Metro!), a great movie (Ant-Man!) and surprisingly good anime.

A few things bringing joy: piracy art, music discoveries (Nujabes, DJ Sprinkles), Conan O'Brien clips, and tech insights. Plus, holiday plans!

A few things bringing joy this week: a sad album, a funny movie review, obscure comics, Ruby tips, Conan, open source, and making things.

Remembering Douglas Tompkins, founder of The North Face, and his inspiring legacy as a conservationist and businessman.

This week's happy list: Podcasts that inspire, insightful interviews, a linguistic deep dive into Blink-182, new rap tracks, and a moving play with Mom.

A few podcasts, a thought-provoking article, and some fun internet finds made this week a good one. Plus a book and a new TV show.

Struggling to find the right words for Thanksgiving grace? Here are a few short, meaningful options to share at your table.

Migrated my blog's asset pipeline to Webpack. Initial impressions are positive, but the documentation needs work. Here's my experience.

A few things cut through the week's sickness: Jessica Jones, interesting art projects, and some truly funny takes on modern life.

A few things making me smile: a hilarious fantasy podcast, odd NYC transit stories, giant robot battles, and a new favorite band.

Discover BadBadNotGood's jazzy, experimental sound in raw warehouse sessions. Explore their unique blend of math rock, jazz, and progressive rock.

Is the internet's future at risk? Examining proposed regulations that could fundamentally change how we share and access information online.

Music, mixes, and books! A few things that brought a smile to my face this week, including a Drake remix and an intriguing (if polarizing) read.

A fan's take on Reply All's evolution, highlighting its blend of thoughtfulness, humor, and unexpected investigative adventures.

A forgotten happy post! Discover what I was enjoying back in October 2015 – anime, specifically the hilarious and visually stunning Kill la Kill.

A few things making me smile this week: a hilarious article, a thought-provoking podcast, a captivating sci-fi novel, and becoming a golden god in Destiny.

A few things that brought me joy this week: a great anime rewatch, getting hooked on a video game, and running a fun D\&D campaign.

A brief appreciation of Cowboy Bebop and its enduring beauty, fueled by a single, evocative song. Time for a rewatch.

Kanye West questions the validity of award shows, judging artistic achievement, and the desire for acceptance. A look at his 2015 VMAs speech.

An email from Destiny highlighting the game's matchmaking limitations stings. Why offer external solutions when the core problem persists?

An interesting thought experiment on how naming something a "project" shapes our approach and interaction with it.

Sunday at RC: Failed blog port, a mock DevOps interview revealing SSL gaps, coffee with @rwong48, and couch-enabled coding.

A Recurse Center visit: coffee-walk check-ins, devops discussions with Recursers, a self-growing web system project, and a LittleBits store visit.

Exploring Convox: a Heroku-like PaaS. Great implementation and ease of use, but the cost of running it on AWS seems too high for personal projects.

Explore the complex relationship between hackers and the US government through stories from a Defcon insider. Learn about their surprising goals and motivations.

Kanye West's Time 100 interviews explored. Watch Ye discuss his legacy, competition, and being the Robin Hood of fashion.

A critical look at The Economist's take on Bay Area tech money, highlighting a valuable infographic and a plea to retire a certain buzzword.

Reflecting on the Recurse Center experience: goals, projects, transparency, and the unexpected journey of 100 days in NYC.

Explore how Battles and other artists craft unique music using creative looping techniques and unconventional sampling methods.

A new podcast app and some listening recommendations, from design interviews to X-Men explainers. Plus, a few gripes with Pocket Casts' UX.

Discover Oddisee, the artist who's been on repeat since his NPR Tiny Desk Concert. Explore his Soundcloud and Bandcamp for soulful beats and introspective lyrics.

Inspiration strikes! A Deus Ex-inspired lighting fixture dream collides with a real-world Twilio project. Now, to build a simpler, data-driven version.

Reviewing weather apps and the Dark Sky dataset, known for its accuracy and use by many applications. Useful for avoiding thunderstorms!

Exploring the motivations behind Wikipedia's contributors. What drives people to dedicate their time to building a free encyclopedia?

Reflections on the final day of a coding retreat: summer playlists, Brooklyn pizza, 90s nostalgia, and a Recurser Social Directory debut.

Pagination implemented, archives fixed, and Java bytecode debugged. Plus, progress on the Recurser Social Directory and farewell reflections.

A low-key day shipping things and mob programming a web app. Movie night capped it off with the insane brilliance of Paprika. Design tomorrow.

Why I'm obsessed with time: From NTP servers and leap seconds to the insane Time Zone Database and affordable GPS clocks. Infrastructure is awesome!

RC Week 44: Building an archive page, a new job at LittleBits, and sketching at Art Night! See the before & after of my streak project.

Haircut, shave, code updates, and a map of past homes. A rainy day leads to evening fun with Recursers in Brooklyn.

Struggling to reverse an array in Ruby without using built-in functions? Learn a simple, effective solution and common pitfalls to avoid.

Day 94 of 101! Marriage equality celebration, a random RC chat, blog tweaks, Littlebits culture & Shake Shack. How did time fly by?

Mock interviews, job advice, and a surreal visit to the New York Stock Exchange. Reflections on skillsets and feeling like a new grad.

Reflections on interviews, learning, and new projects. A busy day filled with conversations, coding discoveries, and future possibilities.

Reflections on advice received from mentors, family, and an intriguing interview process. Thinking about people, purpose, and paths forward.

Exploring museum architecture through the Guggenheim Helsinki debate, iconic designs, and the crucial role of public discourse in shaping cultural spaces.

Refactoring code, squashing bugs, and helping others. Plus, pondering big life decisions after a walk and a thought-provoking talk.

Trying a daily "brain dump" writing exercise. Exploring thoughts, ideas, and observations without constraints. Can this daily streak continue?

Recurse Center progress, Mermaid Parade fun, Russian dumplings, and a potluck party! Days 87-89 in NYC.

A busy day: late start, coding commitments, a great interview at LittleBits, and an inspiring visit to the Judd House. Then, beers, wine, and Indian food.

Lost in a book, blog redesign with tachyons, and catching up with a friend from London. Plus, a mystery with the Internet Archive.

Drum machine woes, a park escape, DDoS edits, a job application, and Warriors hoops. Just another day in the life.

Recurse Center days 79-83: Design Katas, Keybase talks, Sleep No More, 9/11 Memorial, drum machines, and a *very* long night at RC.

Burnout reflections, Python dictionary discussions, and ramen with friends. A quiet day nearing the end of a NYC adventure.

Day 77 at Recurse Center: Giftionary updates, hardware project dreams, Clinton campaign ponderings, and a nearly-ready CodeWords article!

NYC arrival, RC web service reverse engineering with Sophie (Verge vs. Ars), Allison Parrish talk, and thoughts on anonymous proxies & performance art.

Brother's graduation, SF meetups, and Warriors screaming! Join Nat's busy weekend: Los Gatos, gift picks, friends, and a red-eye back to NYC.

SF coffee scene news: Blue Bottle Coffee just raised $70M and acquired Tartine Bakery. What does this mean for the future of the city's cafe culture?

Meetings with mentors, coding a GIF search app, and late-night explorations. A whirlwind couple of days at Recurse Center.

Coffee in DUMBO, then diving into Hacker News' "Who is Hiring" for June 2015. A curated list of interesting companies and roles.

Restructuring code, reviewing pull requests, and a data storage cryptography talk. Then drinks. A productive day.

Science fair, website building with tachyons, and mecha anime. Plus, a longing for rain on a hot summer day.

Reflections on life advice from various sources, triggered by graduation season and a new connection. Plus: resume redesign and anime.

Day 66: Earth Room impressions, Meet progress, and a cloudy Manhattanhenge attempt. What happened at Recurse Center today?

Reflections on Google I/O, website woes, and a new project idea for connecting people at RC. Plus, thoughts on ambitious, unfunded projects.

Jay-Z actually ranked his own albums. A fascinating look inside the mind of a legend reflecting on his discography.

Exploring productivity tools, especially for writers. First steps with Pomodoro technique. Plus, backing up the Internet Archive and vampire comedies.

Reflections from Day 63 at Recurse Center (RC 25): Advice from past & present batches on making the most of your time there!

Back to the grind after a break. Anime, a movie, and plotting the next phase with burgers and beers.

Blog fixes, RSS progress, & anime! Day 61 at Recurse Center: tackling tech debt, exploring Noragami, and a fun BBQ with friends.

NYC adventures with Johnny Scout! High Line, Central Park, beer... but a missed Brooklyn hangout? Day 60 at Recurse Center.

Jobs, life, VR, and finally, tag aliases on my blog. Then Google broke deployment. A productive, frustrating day.

Article progress and post-Philly train thoughts. Structuring ideas and reflecting on a smooth ride home, despite the exhaustion.

A somber day in Media, PA for family. Saying goodbye. Rest in peace, Uncle Bob.

Two Sigma call, Thai food & Snow Crash to break a funk, then an Amtrak to Philly for a funeral. A day of contrasts.

A missed meeting, a somber purchase, and a fresh cut. Then, a movie night with friends turns unsettling.

A weekend of conferences, film festivals, unexpected conversations, and reconnecting with friends in New York City.

Explore Squarepusher's mind-bending "Stor Eiglass" in a new virtual reality music video. Dive into the visuals and learn more about the innovative project.

A glimpse into a day of coding, writing, and community at Recurse Center. Brunch, article writing, Go tests, presentations, and Barcade.

Halfway there. Reflecting on progress, grappling with Tachyons CSS, rethinking class usage, and dreaming of Ghibli-esque coding.

Recovering from family time, then back to RC during Never Graduate Week. Prototyping a newspaper-style RSS reader and diving deep into CSS frameworks.

Family visit! A whirlwind tour of NYC: Highline, Whitney, Central Park & more. Plus: coding a drum machine & dream journaling inspiration.

Saying goodbye to the first half of RC and looking forward to the next phase. Project presentations, farewell parties, and a well-deserved break.

Job Fair prep, a Chinatown arcade trip, and insightful company chats, including a surprising find: rap-based education from Flocabulary.

Code Words submission, debugging woes, a PGP keysigning party sparked deep thoughts on trust, a long walk, and a movie.

ShhParty progress! 🎉 Perfect functionality achieved. Plus: French fries, beer, sunshine, and future thoughts. A simple, good Recurse Center day.

A day of fixing broken websites, researching interesting companies, exploring Bjork at MoMA, and burgers with friends.

Day 39: Beating Broken Age, coffee with Lindsay, and diving into Hacker News' "Who's Hiring" to explore post-RC career options.

A chill morning transitions into building a mobile-first drum machine and a quick scraper for a trending Twitter conversation.

Worked on ShhParty, a silent dance party app, with Pam. Ended the day seeing Avengers: Age of Ultron - fantastic!

Whiteboarding a privacy-focused app, wrestling with WebRTC connections, and drafting article proposals. Plus, meet Serious Cat.

Fraction's Hawkeye redefined the character. See why the comic resonated, from Fallon appearances to iconic panels, and why it's still relevant.

Reflecting on progress at the Recurse Center: are my "build stuff" objectives concrete enough? Plus, drum machines, broken links, and color thoughts.

Finished a multiplayer asteroids clone at the Recurse Center and presented it to alumni. Now searching for the next project.

A look back at the White House Correspondents' Dinner, highlighting the forced fun, Obama's best jokes, and the real-life Key & Peele moment.

A day of transitions: moving apartments and exploring the hidden arboreal wonders of Central Park's Ramble.

Reflecting on a music hackathon: interesting talks, NASA data sonification attempts, and new tools explored. A weekend of learning and inspiration.

NYC coding reflections! Mutex debugging in Go, a Polyline algorithm deep dive, websocket woes, and a USDS interview. Plus, slow program puzzles!

Rubber duck debugging, Flickr frustrations, video chats, and finally fixing a frustrating build script loop. Plus, a new workspace!

A day of bug fixes and JS refactoring. Plus thoughts on future career paths, Burning Man, and soundscapes hackathon research.

A Craigslist find sparks a deep dive into surprisingly funny jokes & memories of Silicon Valley's startup castoffs.

NYC apartment found, coding projects advanced (collision detection!), website rebuilt, and pondering Recurse Center's impact on well-being.

Discover stunning wallpapers inspired by Google Earth and Kanye, plus a curated collection to refresh your screens. Find your perfect backdrop!

Wandering among monumental sculptures at Storm King Art Center in upstate New York. A day of art and open spaces.

A busy day spent fixing code, catching up with friends, and improving my blog. Plus, helping with asteroid generation and an evening of Avalon!

Why SDK versioning matters: Prevent broken code from breaking your users. Learn from Google's gcloud SDK and the importance of rollbacks.

New Star Wars trailer dropped! Dive into screengrabs, official photos, and a mind-blown reaction to The Force Awakens. Get ready to theorize.

Progress syncing flying/shooting despite confusion about the Valve paper. Plus, birthday fun and the ongoing struggle to explain Recurse Center.

Exploring client-server game design: latency compensation, snapshot updates, and star generation improvements. Progress at Recurse Center.

Two days in one: feeling unproductive, then diving into a multiplayer asteroids game! Plus, a talk on the future of programming.

Coastal walks, art advice from Neil Adams & Will Eisner, and Frank Miller's writing wisdom. Day 19 reflects on creativity and storytelling.

NYC day 18: A quiet day of park walks, apartment hunting, and coffee in Brooklyn. Almost three weeks in the city!

A day of recharging with sketching, coding tweaks, and park explorations. Plus, finally solved a long-standing rsync mystery! Ending the day with socializing.

RC Day 16: Pairing on anagrams, building stats pages, and inspiration from Recurse Center presentations! Voxel.js, NW.js & more.

Reflections on readings (computing history, game programming), cyberpunk dreams sparked by Deus Ex, and the draw of Recurse Center's Game Night.

From blank canvas to animated acorn pattern: a day of coding, learning the Canvas API, and implementing Conway's Game of Life. See the code!

Recurse Center check-in: gaming group introductions, Javascript game development research (libraries, books), and starting Conway's Game of Life.

A Sunday break from coding at the Recurse Center: good food, good company, and a long, intense game of Werewolf.

A day at a games conference sparks reflection on social interaction limits, needing space, and a long walk home through changing NYC landscapes.

Quiet Fridays at RC, Go struggles with maps, and an afternoon spent with friends at the Met. Plus, Italian food!

A tough commute sparks reflections on self-love, inspired by Debbie Millman and Kendrick Lamar. Plus: WalkBot v1, project presentations, and a blog redesign!

A day of coding sprints: Iron Blogger, a meet-RC app UX, Fog review, broken bots, blog redesign woes, and a peek at future projects.

Fixed a blog bug, dove into the Paxos algorithm (and math symbols!), helped with Nginx/Apache, and discussed distributed systems. Evening: Prim's and video games.

First impressions of Recurse Center: meeting tons of people, absorbing new information, and realizing how much there is to learn. A whirlwind of a Day 0.

A quiet day of reading and wandering before Hacker School begins. Thoughts on PAAS limitations and project ideas. Interesting links included.

Guggenheim visits: Kawara's quantified self, Chan's animal projectors, and Farmanfarmaian's mirrors. Plus, a NetHack robot inspiration.

Walking, conversations, and whiskey. Plus, thought-provoking reads on exercise, positive thinking, dreams, and Obama on The Wire.

NYC day two: prepping for Recurse Center, obsessed with "Exile," watching fires, and compiling a massive reading list.

Art inspired by a classic game, a creative writing exercise, and a cool online drum machine. Discover something new!

Technology, parenting, and blind trust: A programmer's perspective on the unsettling implications of relying too heavily on imperfect systems.

Two articles highlight alarming trends in numeracy and understanding of societal issues. Let's talk about math, logic, and critical thinking.

A quick look at the increasingly competitive landscape of AI calendar assistants and scheduling tools.

First impressions of NYC: navigating the subway, exploring museums and Bushwick street art, and sketching out goals for the 101-day adventure.

London experiences: recommendations for food I enjoyed, and reflections on leaving Google and the city behind.

Reflecting on my time at Google, why I left after nearly four years, and my search for a better fit through travel and a new focus on personal projects.

A year's worth of London eats! From amazing Indian to killer coffee, here are some favorite spots, no reservations required.

Mario level design insights! A Polygon article disappoints, but a video reveals the Kishōtenketsu structure: introduction, build, twist, conclusion.

Apple's new Macbook challenges Google's Pixel. Port limitations and Chrome OS make a switch difficult despite its strengths. Updated with potential solutions.

Newsweek's Aibo coverage sparks a desire to build your own robot companion. A nostalgic look at robotic pets and future possibilities.

Realistic, procedurally generated waves are here. What's next? Entire planets created from code?

A profile of Josette Melchor, the force behind San Francisco's Gray Area, a non-profit validating creative coding and urban prototyping.

A brief reflection on the ephemeral nature of web products, and lingering bitterness over Google Reader's demise. What will be next to go?

Discussing Kanye's recent rants and Fern Mallis's criticism of his fashion releases.

Exploring the potential of procedural generation, particularly in creating virtual cities. Just scratching the surface of a fascinating area.

A standout Earl Sweatshirt track finally resonates, despite past reservations. Listen now and reconsider the hype.

Exploring how Kanye's "Runaway" influenced artists like Childish Gambino and Drake to create immersive art experiences alongside their music.

A look at Kanye West's YEEZY SEASON 1 and the carefully constructed image he presents, compared to his public persona. Plus, a favorite album.

Deadmau5 created a killer track, "glish," specifically for The Verge. Listen to the awesome result here.

A text list of overlooked 2014 films highlighted in a video. Includes sci-fi, animation, action, and indie gems. Finally, a referenceable list!

Jonathan Blow on prioritizing quality over speed in game development: a timeless perspective on creating lasting experiences.

Two newsletters are really hitting the spot. The only downside? Wanting to savor them properly, with coffee, on a laptop screen.

Frustrated with hotel wifi! Why can't each room's network have its own unique password for better security? So close to ideal, yet so far.

Discover a beautiful intersection of music, color, and art at Predominant.ly. Explore how design can elevate experiences beyond mere utility.

Pokemon reimagined as logos! A light-hearted design find spotted on Dribbble, offering a welcome break from internet negativity.

A reflection on the internet's potential for good, contrasted with the disheartening reality of online harassment and growing global negativity.

Even with clear standards, coding errors happen. A wry observation on misinterpreting RFC specifications in programming.

Testing auto-tweets and sharing a weekend music obsession: Björk's raw and emotional Vulnicura. Dive into the review.

Exploring The Pirate Cinema, a fascinating art piece built from shared files. A snapshot of culture, technology, and collective action.

Unique architecture roundup: a wooden alpine lodge, playful Texas office, and a tiny prefab with breathtaking views.

Unpacking the technical failures behind London's Christmas rail chaos. A deep dive into the engineering and logistics that went wrong.

Exploring the concept of outsourced social interaction and its potential to help introverts navigate the world.

Explore the breathtaking detail of the Andromeda galaxy in this deep dive into a stunning Hubble image. Space is awesome.

A cool project visualizes the invisible. Explore a unique visualization of something we rarely think of as having a form.

Explore a unique sorting algorithm powered by collective decision-making. Delve into the mechanics and potential of crowd-based sorting.

A powerful quote on finding your passion: what drives you, what felt right as a child, and how to hold onto it to make a difference.

Ever find yourself thinking of the perfect comeback *after* the conversation's over? Discover the meaning behind "staircase wit."

Dave Matthews on Sesame Street? Yes, really. Watch him sing about feelings with the help of some furry friends. Lyrics included.

Thoughts sparked by a podcast on democratizing space, and a wistful look back at CubeSat opportunities. Links included.

Q*bert nostalgia meets mind-blowing tech. A glimpse at the future of DJing, where vinyl meets Bluetooth controllers. Is this real life?

A look back at 2014: moving to London, taking tons of photos, and visiting new countries. Plus, a month-by-month recap of the year's adventures.

Aphex Twin answers questions from Skrillex, Hot Chip, Caribou, and more. Dive into the mind of a musical icon.