Engineers: Premiums or Prima Donnas?

I love building things. Teams, products, solutions, meals: if there is a way to see it as construction, that is almost certainly the perspective I’ll take. And given that love, I spend a tremendous amount of time working directly with engineers, both to build my…

Notes from a talk to high schoolers

I got invited to talk to a group of 90 high schoolers at Columbia yesterday, and as usual, I didn’t prepare slides but just took a walk and thought about the things I’ve learned (and repeatedly not learned) along the way.

When laughter ruins a joke (and the internet)

I went to see Woody Allen’s new film last week and I have to say that you should never, ever see a Woody Allen film in New York City, unless you are a born-and-bred New Yorker. It will ruin the experience.

How to make people stop hating Facebook

There has been a lot of griping about Facebook lately. IPO trouble, privacy concerns, the “what is this doing to society and do I really want to contribute?” crowd. They’re getting slaughtered in the press, on Wall Street, and in the court of public opinion…

In-group identity and Diablo III

I finally got around to buying Diablo III (which really does have some serious connection issues) and the first hour made me feel all warm and geeky, mostly because of references that reinforce in-group identity.

Black, urban, and wired

Young black men are hacking the internet. Not the code itself, but the actual process.

Repeatedly, while taking the subway in NYC, I have overheard groups of young men talking about the truly interesting ways that they are paying attention to technology and…

The strange joy of getting not quite what you wanted

Recently, a friend was in town with his new girlfriend and she was particularly interested in locally-sourced, organic, vegan food. Since I care about none of those three things, I didn’t readily know of any options and so hopped on Yelp…

The Boss as a creator of meaning

I caught up on the first three episodes of The Newsroom over the weekend and it has been fertile ground for reflection (which, besides strict entertainment, is the thing I love most about good stories). But one theme has preoccupied me more than most: Newsroom’s…