Foreword
It’s the afternoon of February 1st, 2016 and I’m just now freshly showered. That point being notable because that’s just how life is these days as a semi-retired technology worker. After running a mindless errand I telephoned in a pitiful 30-minute effort on the elliptical late this morning and in that (admittedly short) time worked up the resolve to finally get to work on my New Year’s resolution: exploring whether or not there’s an audience for the things I want to write about.
Calling it my New Year’s resolution is a bit misleading, since it implies it’s new to 2016. In reality I’ve considered trying my hand at online publishing going back to at least 2011, but haven’t made much progress beyond registering domain names and fiddling with the content management system du jour in each era. You name it, and between 2011 and 2016 I’ve installed and configured it and then lost my interest in it without even bothering to write, “The End.”
What’s different this year? Well, for starters, I think Medium provides a best of all worlds editing interface that lends itself to simply getting started writing. This is a departure from wrenching on self-hosted solutions like Moveable Type or WordPress and it definitely removes a fairly significant barrier to entry. When you’re a fickle resolution maker you don’t need obstacles bigger than your frightened ego.
As far as any other key difference between this year and the other years that I’ve started out with pen in hand, if I had to name one, it would be the political climate. Technology and politics are inextricably linked these days and they happen to be two of my primary interests. Matters of privacy, national security, democracy and individual liberty are important to everyone whether or not they’re consciously aware of them. In the US, a remote federal government now wields incredible influence over our day-to-day lives and our representative decision-makers are weighing in on important technology measures they often don’t understand, better yet perceive the consequences of. It’s arguable that we’d be better off with the 1st United States Congress tackling many of these issues if for no other reason than that they would know what they didn’t know.
So, what will I write about? Everything, really. I have a fairly long list of potential posts spanning my opinions on human resource management, ethics, product design, aviation, finance, politics, food and travel, to name just a handful of categories. If I were to hazard a guess I’d say that technology will be at the center of much of what I write, and will remain just off-center of much of the rest. As a certificated private pilot I’ll have a thing or two to say about aviation—starting, but hopefully not ending with, the rise of the drones. Expect a dose of fine dining and international travel here and there to round things out.
If you’ve made it this far, thanks for hanging in there. For me, this is a humbling first step in exploring a new vocation and seeking an audience with which to share my opinions and lessons from experience. My sincere hope is that you’ll find what I have to say here useful, entertaining or provocative, and if I’m really on top of my game, perhaps all three.
