Apple just released the iPhone 7. Guess what, just like everyone was predicting, they removed the headphone jack. And because of removing that jack, they’ve taken quite a beating from the popular press. I could pick on any of them, but I was just reading Newsweek, so we’ll start there. The article suggest that Apple… Continue reading Apple, the iPhone 7, and being the biggest company in the world

Hello internet, A brief note from your friend Mike. I work for Automattic with WordPress.com support, and so I see a lot of auto-responders. Because of this, I start to see patterns in auto-responders, and what separates a ‘good’ auto-responder from a ‘bad’ auto-responder. A public service announcement: If you’re leaving a job, and they’re going… Continue reading Changing Emails and Auto-Responders

I was catching up on some 99 Percent Invisible, when I ran into an episode titled ‘Soul City.’ The episode tells the story of Soul City, North Carolina, a city that was founded as a new, largely-black city in the 1970’s. Soul City no longer survives today, largely because they were unable to attract enough… Continue reading Remote Work and New Cities

I love Slack. It’s waaay better than email. But a few weeks ago, they committed a cardinal sin – changing their interface without really making it noticeably better. More specifically, they changed the top bar in a channel. New layout: I join or leave channels fairly often, and you used to be able to click on… Continue reading On Interface Changes

I was at a team meetup in Phoenix in January when we learned about the different types of communicators. I’m a thinker. I like to think. I don’t like to respond to a question right away if I can avoid it. But there’s really a lot more nuance about it all. I like systems, and… Continue reading Thinking and Creativity Time

Ok, not actually an ode. I acquired a Fitbit Charge a couple of months ago, and it has changed how I think about my personal fitness and habits. Seriously. And it doesn’t do it in a nagging ‘why haven’t you walked today’ or ‘if you don’t go to sleep until 3am you’ll feel awful tomorrow’.… Continue reading Ode to my Fitbit

The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger by Marc Levinson TL;DR: Enjoyable, but a bit dry for most people probably. This book was fascinating history, but definitely focuses on the history and economics of the shipping container industry. It’s not a book focused on the fun things… Continue reading Book Thoughts – The Box by Marc Levinson