I always come across interesting things, from various sources. Publishing them here occasionally as bookmarks for myself, at least.At my own pace, and with my own interests, I’ve been dabbling with AI tooling and workflows. The second- and third-order societal impacts are still TBD, but I’ve learned enough to agree that “Choosing not to adopt API “right now” is a decision to fall behind.” True today for those in software fields and software companies, and true elsewhere in near future. Many friends and professional contacts got to this sentiment long ago. As always, the hardest parts are the people and organizational changes required to adapt, not the technology itself.
I’ve been using Claude Code since mid-December 2025. Apparently I’m jumping on the bandwagon along with everyone else. Claude Is Taking the AI World by Storm, and Even Non-Nerds Are Blown Away in WSJ on January 17 2026 and This A.I. Tool Is Going Viral. Five Ways People Are Using It in NYT on January 23 2026.
Another macOS Tahoe complaint that got justifiable play. The struggle of resizing windows on macOS Tahoe via Benedict Evans’ newsletter.
Not sure I agree with the suggested outcome of this fun rant (Apple should make TVs now), but Make TVs Great Again calls out the problem: “And so it’s wild that despite this key focal point in everyones’ lives, the market for those actual televisions well, sucks. I’m reminded of this every single time I turn on my television set.” I don’t read Spyglass regularly, and didn’t realize until I looked at this is from M.G. Siegler whose byline I recognized from the early TechCrunch days.
So much in San Francisco as a city is under review, and changing. Remote work + online retail = what to do with a former urban mall? Here’s an imagination: Goodbye Nordstrom, Hello Legoland San Francisco — definitely a well-connected location. This won’t happen, but rethinking downtown will continue.
Infrastructure as new open space in London: London’s newest open space from London Centric. “Bazalgette Embankment quietly opened — giving Londoners access to three acres of land that has been reclaimed from the River Thames” — can’t wait to walk this completed, as it was all under construction during our two years in London. Related London infrastructure tour that you should schedule: visit Crossness Engines a Victorian-era sewage pumping station.
Fix the inputs, not the outputs is true for people, but the advice translates well when you have AI tools on the “team”: “If the team doesn’t know what “good” looks like from the start, they have to make decisions that they’re not informed enough to make.” Found Michael’s blog post via Rands Leadership Slack.
I’m not in the place where I want to build everything myself, for myself, like my friend Philip. But interesting to see what’s becoming possible: more every day that goes by.
Sorry to miss this Jacques-Louis David exhibit at the Louvre. Instead, appreciate the clever interactive presentation done by the New York Times in Face-to-Face With Jacques-Louis David, History’s Most Dangerous Painter.
I stand with Minnesota. Neil Young’s Ohio is an appropriate soundtrack to multiple federal murders in January 2026. The twist at the end of Dave Matthews’ recent performance of the song fits the times. Oh, and beyond donations for Minnesota, Wikipedia deserves some appreciation.
“I never want anything to be a surprise to the team when I could have been candid about it far in advance. It’s a fine balance between hiding the daily volatility—mostly of the founders’ moods and their confidence in the company making it—and exposing the long-term trends.” from What “The Best” Looks Like. CTO writing about engineers, but read with an open mind for all roles.
Video from Peter Zeihan on January 14 2026, 11+ minutes. “The End of U.S. Military Deployments?” TL;DR: no. If we withdraw troops from Germany, South Korea, and Japan, we’re going to pay for it later, with more money and more lives.
James Fallows annotating Mark Carney’s WEF (Davos) 2026 speech A Speech for the History Books, with a nod to the quiet rollout of the Marshall Plan in a similarly brief oration in 1947. Unfortunately, the reality Carney is describing is the United States stepping away from a more generous past.
I’m not an engineer, and I haven’t watched How AWS S3 is built yet. It’s over an hour. But S3 is formidable digital infrastructure, and the foundations matter. (Via Corey Quinn.)
A Pregnant Woman at Risk of Heart Failure Couldn’t Get Urgent Treatment. She Died Waiting for an Abortion. ProPublica, January 14 2026. “In states where abortions have been criminalized, many hospitals have shied away from sharing information about their policies on abortion.” There’s so much in this single story. Unfortunately, it’s only tale among many that could be told.
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That’s more than enough for now.