Everything’s better in micro-form. Microbreweries. Microwaves. Uhm, microbiology? And here’s another one: Microbravery. Microbravery — which (I believe) originated from writer Caroline Paul — is a simple concept. It says that courage, like most things, can be developed in tiny doses. It’s a bravery workout. This makes sense. Most people couldn’t stand up to, say, …
Explain Flags Like I’m Three
Since becoming a parent, I’ve discovered the extent of my own ignorance. Even the classic question — “Why is the sky blue?” — has tripped me up. Who would have expected a real kid — my real kid — to ask such a thing? Everyone, of course. The good news is that, by going back to Beginner …
Lincoln in the Bardo
Some moving moments in George Saunders’ Lincoln in the Bardo. Here is Abraham Lincoln reflecting (via a body-sharing ghost) on his grief at the death of his 11-year-old son, Willie: “He came out of nothingness, took form, was loved, was always bound to return to nothingness. Only I did not think it would be so …
The Beauty of Urban Decay
There’s something beautiful about abandoned buildings. Urban decay — I worry that I’m so drawn to it. Does that make me a sick puppy? Maybe not. This fondness (it turns out) is a known phenomenon, with books, forums and even entire careers dedicated to the subject. Bygone structures are as popular as ice cream, if …
Breaking the Zombie Scrolling Syndrome
Recently, I have noticed myself doing too much zombie scrolling. You know what I mean — that mindless tapping on the mobile that we all do, as we browse the Pointless Web. (It’s that huge portion of the internet that is entirely unfulfilling. A bit like the Dark Web but, well, pointless.) The Zombie Scrolling Syndrome …
Lessons Learned from Writing (Mediocre) Fiction
Hi. Sorry for the delayed respons– — Jeez, what is this, an email to a nagging colleague? Nope. Let’s try that again. Group hug! Bring it in, people. It’s been a while. That’s better. I’m stalling, of course, trying to distract from one glaring fact: I haven’t been around for a while. So, where have I …
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100 Million Lines Of Code? 100 Million Problems.
The modern world has a scaling problem. We live in an era of huge numbers, where words like “million” and “billion” get tossed about freely — 10 million bits per second is considered slow, and 10 billion bits of disk space is considered small. And yet here’s another “million” that’s been floating around since 2014: modern …
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My Latest Failure
Not long ago, I did something unusual: I succumbed to fashion. This, however, was a particular type of fashion — nothing to do with buying a certain pair of jeans, or the latest phone. No, I did something far more trendy: I failed. Failure is all the rage these days. The phrase Fail Fast, Fail …
Computers, Like Us
In many ways, the original computers were much like computers of today. They would spend their days sat in offices, occasionally overheating, as they performed a series of complex tasks. But there was one crucial difference: the first computers could catch colds, and feel pangs of hunger. Occasionally, they might even come into work with …
The Joys Of Limited Curiosity
Late in 2008, NASA launched a competition for students across the U.S. The prize: to name their latest Mars rover. This rover — far larger than its predecessors, at around the size of a small SUV — was to determine whether Mars’ atmosphere had once been capable of supporting life. It had a mission, now …