👋 Hi!

I'm Being Evicted

Thu, 28 May 2026 00:00:00 -0600

I’ve made josephmclaughl.in my home on the internet for over ten years, hosting many iterations of my blog and personal website there.

This year, I received an email letting me know that, in order to comply with new regulations imposed by India, I’d need to provide documentation proving my (or my website’s) relationship to India if I wanted to keep the domain.

The Leap

Fri, 12 Dec 2025 13:47:00 -0700

I’ve been thinking lately that it might be one of the most exciting times to be a curious person.

I’ve been in the tech space for 20+ years now, and there was always this pattern: you’d have an idea, get excited, and then hit a wall. You’d need to learn to code, or buy software, or spend months picking up skills you didn’t have. So the ambitious ideas just… sat there. Back burner. Daydream territory. It felt like that was just how it worked.

Invest in Your Health

Wed, 26 Nov 2025 13:54:00 -0800

Hot/lukewarm take: if you’re making good money, you should be reinvesting a reasonable amount into your health and wellness.

When LeBron spends $1M+ a year on his body we all say “wouldn’t that be nice”, but we won’t spend a proportional amount on our bodies/minds.

Albums 2.0 is Here!

Wed, 19 Nov 2025 07:54:00 -0800

Albums 2.0 is available on the App Store! I’m biased, but it’s the best way to enjoy your album collection on iOS! 💿 If you listen to albums on Apple Music (including iTunes purchases), please check it out.

It’s free to download, and if you love it, unlock the Deluxe Edition for life for just $10.

I also put the finishing touches on the new Albums marketing site. I’m overdue for an actual “company” website, but any extra time I have to work on side projects goes into the project itself 😂

Ray-Ban vs Vision Pro: Different Paradigms

Wed, 22 Oct 2025 07:57:00 -0800

People pit Meta Ray-Ban vs Vision Pro as if there can only be one winner when they’re different paradigms. It’s more iPhone vs Mac than iPhone vs Android.

Meaning: even if both product lines “converge” at roughly the same spot, many people will still want both.

Craft Matters More

Mon, 06 Oct 2025 14:31:00 -0800

As the tedious parts of building software get cheaper, iteration gets easier. But that means that craft matters more.

Anyone can get to “working” faster now. The interesting part is still making something feel good.

Sweating the Details

Tue, 23 Sep 2025 09:00:00 -0700

one time someone gave me a compliment that “[my iOS app’s] sheet physics were perfect” (if you know, you know)

i was flattered, but the truth was actually cooler than mimicking the physics perfectly.

iOS 26 and Interruptible Animations

Mon, 08 Sep 2025 09:35:00 -0800

My biggest takeaway from living on iOS 26 since β1 is that interruptible animations are more important than ever. Most people are talking about the looks, but the morphing views and menus are a bigger deal.

Even if you don’t adopt liquid glass, make your animations fluid.

For the Culture

Tue, 05 Aug 2025 09:51:00 -0600

what a great reminder from Andy Allen of !Boring:

All of your work will be lost to time.

All that remains is impact.
Do it for the culture.

i’m fired up!

My Next Chapter

Fri, 16 May 2025 09:00:00 -0700

Three years ago, I joined a scrappy Series A startup named Commonstock. The journey was full of twists and turns I never could have anticipated: we navigated the sudden run on SVB (our bank at the time), the dramatic end of the ZIRP era, and waves of tech layoffs reshaping the industry.

Despite these headwinds, we found a path forward when Yahoo Finance acquired Commonstock nearly two years ago. Transitioning overnight¹ from a tight-knit team of fewer than 20 people to becoming part of one of the internet’s oldest and most iconic companies was an experience I’ll never forget.

At Yahoo Finance, I’m incredibly proud of the work we accomplished — especially launching social features² that encourage investors of all backgrounds to connect, learn, and grow together. Seeing a vibrant community begin to flourish on such an established platform reinforced my belief in the power of community-driven products.

But startup life has been calling me back. The opportunity to build from the ground up, rapidly iterate, and directly impact users (and the business) at scale is hard to resist.

So, today was my last day at Yahoo Finance. I’ll be taking a couple weeks off to reset, and then I’m excited to be joining the team at Whatnot! 🥳🎉

The First Rule of Blogging...

Sun, 11 May 2025 08:38:00 -0800

The first rule of blogging is very similar to the first rule of Fight Club — if you ever write about:

Recommitting to regular posting, or
How much easier your new blogging setup makes posting,

…you’re guaranteed to abandon your blog for months. At least, that’s always been my experience 🙃

Blogging From Anywhere

Wed, 15 May 2024 00:00:00 -0600

The simpler it is to write and publish content to your website, the more likely it is that you will. I don’t make the rules, that’s just human nature.

Most of the time I write on my MacBook, but there’s no technical reason preventing me from publishing from my iPad or iPhone, it just requires some setup the first time.

Today I picked up the new 13” iPad Pro and the matching Magic Keyboard, so I figured it was a great time to publish a little article from the new mobile setup with my first impressions of the new hardware and the apps I use to write on the go.

Make a website

Mon, 25 Mar 2024 12:10:00 -0600

Louie Mantia has been on a roll lately in his prolific advocacy for making things on the Internet. He wrote a post a couple months ago titled Make a Damn Website and he followed it up today with the very practical How to Make a Damn Website.

We overcomplicate what a website needs to be, and it gets in the way of actually making it. So take his (and now my) advice, and make a damn website.

Blogging is a bit like gardening

Mon, 25 Mar 2024 09:20:00 -0600

Sometimes I have thoughts along the lines of: “why am I blogging this if no one is reading it?” and on good mental days I’ll respond back¹ with something to the effect of: “my writing is primarily for me, and if someone else sees it and appreciates it, that’s an added bonus of writing it down publicly.”

Today as I was contemplating a few different posts that are rolling around in my head, I had one of these thoughts pop into the foreground, stopping me in my tracks. As I was working through it, justifying the blogging process to myself once again, I decided that blogging is a bit like gardening².

Tomorrow's Ideas, Today's Tech

Sun, 04 Feb 2024 12:14:00 -0700

This is MKBHD’s third video about the Vision Pro, and I agree with pretty much every point he makes. I think he does a good job of pointing out how most of the decisions that went into this device come with real tradeoffs, but in practice it’s still a really cool start for Apple’s foray into AR/VR/“spatial” and the tech on it’s own is still impressive.

Negative reviews of the Vision Pro are boring

Wed, 31 Jan 2024 11:16:00 -0700

Can I vent for a second? The Apple Vision Pro reviews are out, and this is the part of the review cycle I forgot I hated so much…

Is this the first augmented reality goggle or platform? No, far from it. Is it a fundamentally different approach to AR compared to other headsets? Only partially (due to the eye tracking + finger controls).

But almost every single review is reviewing this headset by pointing out all of the shortcomings:

Work can wait.

Sun, 28 Jan 2024 20:17:00 -0700

This post from “Matrix Agent” came across my Mastodon feed, and I couldn’t agree more:

there is NO reason any of us should have to “thrive in a fast paced environment” or “work well under pressure.” most of our daily work is not an emergency and our culture of fake urgency and immediacy just to make more profit for people in the c-suite is burning people out.

stop sending people into fight or flight and expecting them to bend over backward because you dont know how plan or manage resources properly

Can we talk about the App Store?

Fri, 26 Jan 2024 15:00:00 -0700

There has been a lot of press around changes to the App Store lately.

First there was a US court decision that forced Apple into allowing apps to include an “alternate payment link”, and just yesterday they announced a sweeping set of changes coming to the EU App Store due to the Digital Markets Act (DMA) that is scheduled to come into effect in March.

Both of these legally mandated changes are being implemented in such a way as to do the absolute bare minimum required and make everyone who decides to use the new options pay for it.

Don't feed the trolls

Mon, 22 Jan 2024 13:26:00 -0700

There are people who’s “brand” is deliberately missing the point. Doesn’t matter what the issue, they’ll find a way to get it wrong. Rather than assume they’re unintelligent, it’s helpful to ask yourself why they might want to get something wrong in such a public venue… 🤔 (hint: social media interactions with “dumb” posts is always 10x higher than scientists or authors making well-reasoned points)

The truth since the beginning of the internet: don’t feed the trolls. 🫡

Safari is the killer visionOS app at launch

Mon, 22 Jan 2024 12:47:00 -0700

David Pierce, writing for The Verge:

At first, the open web is Apple’s best chance to make its headset a winner. Because at least so far, it seems developers are not exactly jumping to build new apps for Apple’s new platform.

There are many strong points made in this article, but as much as I’m bummed that Netflix, YouTube, and others are opting out of having their apps available at launch, I don’t think this is a harbinger of general support for the platform.

Apple Vision Pro Launch Day Details

Sun, 21 Jan 2024 07:28:00 -0700

Mark Gurman shared some cool details about Vision Pro launch day procedures:

In-store pickup customers who order online can either take the device and leave, go through the in-store demo or do a 1:1 set up with an employee to verify size/fit. If needed, customers can swap sizes of individual parts.

If a customer sets up their device at home and there’s a sizing issue, they can come back to the store for a swap.

Tweets are now Notes

Fri, 19 Jan 2024 16:23:00 -0700

When I created this site, I decided I wanted to have some of my favorite tweets live alongside my blog posts. After all, Twitter started out as a microblogging platform, so my tweets were mini blog posts anyway. Then things changed, Twitter stopped being Twitter, and posting there didn’t feel the same. Then at some point they weren’t even technically tweets (Xeets?).

I still post tweet-like content on some platforms (mainly Mastodon), but I wanted a place to share something longer than a tweet/toot/thread, but shorter than a blog post.

Life should be lived, not endured

Fri, 19 Jan 2024 16:00:00 -0700

We live life day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute, breath by breath. There’s no way to change that. Sometimes though, we wish away time, looking forward to the next thing: the weekend, the party, the trip. When we do that, we shift from living into enduring. The time still passes the same way, but it’s no longer valuable time to us. It is simply time that we need to get through in order to arrive at the moment we actually care about.

15" MacBook Air

Wed, 10 Jan 2024 00:00:00 -0700

Update: This post is out of date, as I decided to return the Air and keep my 16" M1 Pro MacBook Pro instead. When it came time to mail my trade-in, I couldn’t part with it, it’s still such an awesome machine. Maybe sometime in the future I’ll revisit the Air. I’m leaving the post up because it’s still accurate information, but I no longer have the machine.

I side-graded my 2021 16" MacBook Pro to the 15" MacBook Air. I’ve been doing a bit more travel lately, and I’m getting tired of lugging the bigger 16" beast around with me. The smaller machine is a tradeoff in a few areas compared to the Pro, but it shaves 1.4lbs (0.59kg) of weight off, is significantly thinner, and slightly smaller.

The 15" Air stacked on top of the 16" Pro to illustrate relative size.

I haven’t had the opportunity to take a trip with it yet, but in some trial runs throwing it in my backpack, the difference is already feeling nice.

My Home Office (2023)

Sat, 04 Nov 2023 00:00:00 -0600

It’s been about a year and a half since I wrote my last home office post and while much of it has stayed the same, I’ve updated and moved things around quite a bit and felt it was time to write about my current setup and share some new pictures.

A photograph of the desk and surrounding art in my home office (October 2023).

I’ve been working remotely since mid-2016 – now in my eighth year. The majority of that time I was working for Bleacher Report/Turner Sports, then remotely for Apple¹ before joining a startup named Commonstock. After a little over a year at Commonstock, we were acquired by Yahoo² where I now work as a principal software engineer on the Yahoo Finance iOS app.

Dutch (part two)

Tue, 21 Mar 2023 00:00:00 -0600

as we approach the first birthday of our dog Dutch, i wanted to look back on our time with him as a puppy with fondness and appreciation for what he’s taught us and the many fun things we’ve done with him.

A photo of Dutch and I at Del Mar dog beach in southern California.

in june of last year we decided to bring a puppy home. we had been talking about getting a dog at some point, then one day i ran into an old friend at the gym who had some puppies available from their litter of goldendoodles. we really weren’t planning on getting a puppy right then, but we saw this cute little ball of fluff with his unique silver and black coat and we fell in love. after a lot of discussion over a couple days we decided to take the plunge into puppy fueled depression and sleep deprivation.

Albums

Thu, 16 Mar 2023 00:00:00 -0600

i haven’t written about my new app Albums on this site, which is a little bit intentional and a little bit of an oversight. let me explain.

i don’t know who reads this blog. intentionally. i have no analytics, no email subscription list, nothing. if i had to guess, the number of people that read any given article is more than five and less than one hundred. i’m not sure if that’s me being dismissive of my own reach or trying to be somewhat realistic about the deluge of content we wade through every day.¹

so back to not writing about my new app here. it’s a bit of an oversight because this is my “official” website. it’s the one that bears my name and the one that has some reasonably important announcements on it. it should probably contain at least some reference to my first indie iOS app in over a decade. as for it being intentional, i don’t consider the app to be “finished” yet. it’s still missing functionality that i desperately wanted to put into the first release, but somehow convinced my perfectionistic ADHD brain to push below the line. i stubbornly didn’t want to announce the app in a long-form post until it was “ready”.

but that’s kinda silly since as we’ve established: i’m not sure if any significant number of people read this blog and even if they do, is an app ever truly finished? i may be waiting a long time.

so without further delay: i shipped version 1.0 (and 1.1) of my first indie app in over 12 years. it’s called Albums, and it’s one of the things i’m most proud of building.

Some screenshots from my new app ‘Albums’ displaying a portion of my music library.

Louie Mantia has the right idea about the web

Sat, 21 Jan 2023 00:00:00 -0700

I haven’t generally agreed with Louie Mantia.

I’ve never met him in person, and I honestly don’t even know if we’ve interacted on the internet. He always seemed just a little bit too opinionated. A little too closed off to hearing from people who disagreed with him. But you know what, I’m coming around to the idea that maybe he’s the one who has it figured out.

My 2023 Theme

Mon, 02 Jan 2023 00:00:00 -0700

I’ve been through this “new year” thing a few times. Not as many as some, but more than others. The last few years I’ve gravitated toward “themes” instead of listing a bunch of unrelated goals/wishes. That way when I list out any specific goals, it becomes more about listing actionable steps to support a singular goal instead of a bunch of things I need to keep in my head throughout the year.

Notes on 'Notes on Roadtrips'

Sun, 16 Oct 2022 00:00:00 -0600

What an outstanding piece of writing. I felt like I was riding alongside @joshm in the back seat of the Chevy Tahoe as I was reading it.

So many of the points and asides resonate with me. It’s as if Josh plucked the thoughts and feelings right out of my head and wrote about them for the world to read. I won’t begin quoting them because I will never be able to stop. The entire thing is wonderful and well worth the time.

Apple Watch Ultra First Impressions

Mon, 26 Sep 2022 00:00:00 -0600

Apple Watch Ultra (2022) on a would-be wrist model.

I got the Apple Watch Ultra and if I could sum up my first impressions in one word, it’d be: awesome.

The larger and brighter screen, the titanium case, the nice knobby crown, the new alpine band, the increased battery life, the dual-band GPS… I could go on and on. I was already in love with the potential of the Apple Watch platform as battery tech gets better, and this Watch furthers that love. I am enjoying every day with this iteration, and I’m extremely excited for what future iterations bring!

iOS 16 keyboard haptics

Mon, 15 Aug 2022 11:27:00 -0600

Everyone’s talking about the battery percentage indicator on the iOS 16 beta, but that’s only because you haven’t turned on the keyboard haptics. (Under Sounds & Haptics, not Keyboard)

Yes Android users, I’m aware you’ve had that for years, no need to @ me.

Tesla manufacturing quality

Thu, 11 Aug 2022 10:05:00 -0600

Can we all admit that without YouTubers pointing out the “defects” in Tesla’s manufacturing, most of the issues would go unnoticed. None of us ever checked panel gaps or paint depth on our Fords, Hondas, or Toyotas.

Disclaimer: I own shares of $TSLA & $F commonstock.com/jmc

Is it really about pajamas?

Mon, 08 Aug 2022 00:00:00 -0600

Malcom Gladwell recently slammed advocates of working from home on the Diary of a CEO podcast. Among his quotable lines were this one about pajamas:

“I know it’s a hassle to come into the office, but if you’re just sitting in your pajamas in your bedroom, is that the work life you want to live?”

And this great one about belonging to something:

“If we don’t feel like we’re part of something important, what’s the point? If it’s just a paycheck, then it’s like what have you reduced your life to?”

These questions are not only intellectually dishonest, but intentionally reductive.

Rating movies on a seven-point scale

Sat, 30 Jul 2022 00:00:00 -0600

Years ago, my friend Dave introduced me to a different way to rate movies: a seven-point scale using whole numbers only (no half stars). He goes into detail breaking down exactly why he advocates for it on his blog.

I recently updated my personal site to use the seven-point scale for my movie ratings, and part of the challenge was mapping Letterboxd ratings to a representative number on the seven point scale. So I briefly wanted to note down how I reasoned about the mapping and what I settled on.

The Pirate Life

Fri, 24 Jun 2022 00:00:00 -0600

I’ve been drawing a lot of inspiration from Steve Jobs recently. One quote that’s been bouncing around my head quite a bit is this one from 1983:

“It’s better to be a pirate than to join the navy.”

I’m sure there were many meanings tucked away inside that simple phrase, but the story I’ve seen attributed to Andy Hertzfeld (who was at Apple in 1983) centers around resisting the bureaucratic nonsense that was increasing in the Mac group at Apple as they were growing. Don’t give up your scrappy, win-at-all-costs, counter-culture identity just to conform to “the system”.

Meet Dutch

Thu, 09 Jun 2022 00:00:00 -0600

Dutch is a 9-week old Goldendoodle, a frequent member of the “good dog” club, and lover of fetch. He’s named after our favorite coffee chain, Dutch Bros. Coffee¹ and as a nod to Dutch Formula 1 driver (and defending world champion), Max Verstappen.

He’s the newest member of the family, and we love him so much!

Who’s a good boy?

Financial disclosure, I own a [small] number of shares in Dutch Bros ($BROS) ↩︎

Real Artists Ship

Thu, 02 Jun 2022 00:00:00 -0600

There’s an aphorism that’s attributed to Steve Jobs that I’ve often used to spur on my own artistic endeavors:

“Real artists ship.”

Those three simple words convey a whole host of underlying meaning, and personally I find it incredibly helpful to refocus my own efforts toward the end goal: shipping my art for the world to see.

I’ve had several pet projects I’ve been working on, in some cases for multiple years, that I keep tinkering away on with no end in sight. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that – it’s good to have side projects that sharpen your craft or serve as test beds for learning – but at least one of the projects has been eating away at me, calling out for me to ship it.

Airbnb announces their ‘2022 Summer Release’

Wed, 11 May 2022 00:00:00 -0600

A couple weeks ago Airbnb announced a new remote work program for their employees, and with that CEO Brian Chesky briefly touched upon their plan to have two major releases each year:

The backbone of how we operate will continue to be our single company calendar with our multi-year roadmap. It’s centered around two major product releases each year—a May release and a November release. Even though not everyone directly works on these product releases, we’re organizing our entire calendar around them to maintain company-wide alignment.

Growth through making space

Tue, 10 May 2022 10:32:00 -0600

Sometimes growth is achieved through the process of making your dreams reality. Other times, growth is achieved by letting go of dreams that are no longer serving you.

It’s ok to change along the way and adjust what you’re looking for.

Remote work

Wed, 04 May 2022 10:28:00 -0600

Remote work. Async-first work. Four-day work weeks. Pay based on value, not location.

It’s awesome to see great experiments and culture shifts happening across the tech industry. These perks seem to center around employee trust and longevity rather than churn and burn.

Mac Studio – Day One

Mon, 25 Apr 2022 00:00:00 -0600

The Mac Studio I ordered the day after launch finally arrived, and it’s been so worth it. It’s been an incredibly fast and responsive desktop, and I love that there’s now an Apple desktop that makes sense if the iMac doesn’t suit your needs (like if you own a Pro Display XDR). I decided to set it up from scratch as a new machine and document all of the things I did on day one to get it configured for my daily workflows, and wanted to write it all down.

The 2022 Mac Studio in all it’s glory on my desk

We live so much of our lives being afraid

Fri, 01 Apr 2022 11:11:00 -0600

We live so much of our lives being afraid. Afraid to try. Afraid to speak. Afraid to be different.

But if we give into that fear, we’ll be left with something worse: regret.

So do that thing, write that email, and be yourself. Even if you fail, you’ll be grateful you tried. ❤️

Steve Jobs on living each day

Sat, 26 Mar 2022 15:30:00 -0600

“I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.”

– Steve Jobs

My Home Office

Thu, 10 Feb 2022 00:00:00 -0700

It’s been almost three years since I last wrote about my remote work setup, and a lot has changed in everyone’s lives since then. It was time for me to post some new photos of my home office, and write about some of the things that help me do my best work. But first, let’s talk a little bit about remote work almost two years into the pandemic.

Wide-angle picture of my office in February, 2022

joemc.xyz

Sun, 16 Jan 2022 00:00:00 -0700

I wanted to have fun on the internet again. Around a decade ago (wow, time flies!), I remember lots of little landing pages built just for fun. There were no monetization strategies or traffic expectations. These were websites built simply to showcase fun content, play with fun technologies, or a combination of the two.

Introducing joemc.xyz

Mon, 27 Dec 2021 12:13:00 -0700

Remember when we made cool webpages that showed what we were up to all over the Internet? I whipped one up over the holidays: joemc.xyz

It includes what I’m listening to, tweeting, reading, and writing. What else should I add?

Feeling lucky and grateful

Thu, 16 Dec 2021 12:42:00 -0700

Sometimes it hits me that I get to sit at my desk, write software, listen to music, and get paid for it. Today is one of those days. Feeling incredibly lucky and grateful.

Hammerspoon

Mon, 06 Dec 2021 00:00:00 -0700

A while ago, I got into mechanical keyboards. I was intrigued by a picture posted to Twitter by @garrettmurray. All three of the keyboards he showed were interesting, but the bottom one – the little guy – was the one that caught my eye the most. I had to have it.

Farewell and Hello

Wed, 27 Oct 2021 00:00:00 -0600

🎙️ clears throat

Is this thing on?

After over five years at Bleacher Report working on sports media technology, it’s time for another adventure. But first, please indulge me in looking back. I’ve worked with so many incredible people at B/R. They’ve helped me grow as an engineer, as a leader, and as a person.

Write Once, Run Anywhere

Mon, 26 Jul 2021 00:00:00 -0600

Recently someone asked me: “what’s a hill in software that you’re willing to die on?”

After thinking for a minute, my answer was that “write once, run anywhere” solutions are almost never worth the compromises. When I first started writing iPhone OS apps (in summer of 2008), I was working with someone who was advocating for a javascript and HTML solution to writing mobile apps, that would allow us to get “near native” appearance and performance without the overhead of learning Objective-C, and the potential payoff of deploying the app to other mobile platforms if it was desired down the line.

Let’s break that down.

This knife is big…

Fri, 04 Jun 2021 13:17:00 -0600

I think this new knife will do just the trick for chopping through the Amazon.

…boxes. (Note to self: read the size more carefully next time)

Git blame walk of shame

Fri, 14 May 2021 18:05:00 -0600

Me: “Why? Who wrote this?”
/me toggles git blame in Xcode, hoping it wasn’t me 🤞🏼
…
/me closes git blame in shame 🙈

(In my defense, I wrote it three years ago… so while I don’t like it now, it’s still doing the trick 🤷‍♂️)

Red Bull and Clif Bars

Thu, 01 Apr 2021 01:24:00 -0600

I think most people would be surprised to find out how much I subsist off of Clif bars and Red Bull during the summer months.

Lunch walk

Wed, 13 Jan 2021 23:47:00 -0700

Quick pic from my lunch walk today. I love the contrasting colors between the snowy mountains and the [surprisingly] clear ground below.

M1 MacBook Air

Wed, 23 Dec 2020 09:00:00 -0700

I preordered an M1 MacBook Air as soon as they were available on Apple’s site. Those who know me weren’t surprised I bought one of the new machines – I buy most new Apple products – however, several of my friends asked me why I got the Air instead of the 13" MacBook Pro or even the Mac Mini. At the time, the main reason was to give the retina MacBook Air form factor a try. I was hopeful that the fanless performance of the M1 chip would be comparable to the other machines, but even if it wasn’t I didn’t intend to do much on it that required sustained high performance.

Wow have I been blown away.

Eight years in Utah

Thu, 17 Dec 2020 15:21:00 -0700

I moved to Utah eight (!!) years ago and although I fought it at first, always looking for the next place to move, it now feels like home.

Here’s to more fun experiences and great memories in the years to come!

Thanksgiving gratitude at B/R

Fri, 27 Nov 2020 15:09:00 -0700

My team at Bleacher Report and a broader group of colleagues at Turner Sports worked tirelessly for the last several months to expand our live video coverage in the B/R app.

Incredibly fun to watch #TheMatch today in the app and chat with fans of golf. bleacherreport.com/post/headlines…

M1 MacBook Air Battery 🪄

Tue, 17 Nov 2020 21:01:00 -0700

The battery life on the new M1 MacBook Air is magical.

Enjoying the beautiful weather

Sat, 07 Nov 2020 10:22:00 -0700

I sat up here for almost an hour yesterday enjoying the beauty around me and taking a break from the anxieties and fears of the world.

Today I think some of us are breathing a collective sigh of relief, and others may be angry, sad, or discouraged. Wherever you fall in this range of emotions, let us all remember to treat each other with kindness, civility, and grace. In victory or in defeat, we are all Americans. 🇺🇸

Bought a new bike

Tue, 29 Sep 2020 20:42:00 -0600

Y’all didn’t stop me, so I bought a new bike. Took this puppy out for a quick spin this evening. Love it!

Building and moderating communities

Wed, 02 Sep 2020 18:26:00 -0600

Building a community: difficult.
Moderating a community: super difficult.
Seeing negativity (hate/racism/sexism/etc) in your community: super depressing.
Seeing positivity (props/understanding/discussions) in your community: super fulfilling.

Such a range of emotions. 😫😡😭😍

Write

Mon, 11 May 2020 00:00:00 -0600

When I can’t sleep, I write. When I need to think, I write. When I need to cope, I write.

Writing helps me in many aspects of my life. It slows down my thoughts to allow me to process information in a coherent way instead of thinking ten steps ahead and losing sight of the present.

2020 NFL Draft at B/R

Thu, 23 Apr 2020 11:34:00 -0600

Today is the first day of the 2020 NFL Draft, which marks my fourth draft at @BleacherReport. The NFL Draft is one of our biggest events each year despite not having broadcast rights, and this year will be one of our biggest yet. 💯

I’m incredibly proud of the iterative work we’ve put in over the past year to get us to where we are today. We’ll be broadcasting a live show in our app covering the draft (remotely!) with highlights, informed commentary, and team insights. 🗣

New yucca plant for my office

Wed, 19 Feb 2020 09:59:00 -0700

I recently added a yucca plant to my office, and I love how it completes the space. Now to keep it alive! 🤞🏼

Twenty-twenty

Wed, 01 Jan 2020 00:00:00 -0700

2019 was a year of tremendous personal growth for me. As I look back on 2019 and back further over the last decade, I’m amazed by the things I have accomplished, the people I’ve had the good fortune of meeting, and the experiences I’ve had.

Perfect

Sat, 15 Jun 2019 00:00:00 -0600

“Le meglio è l’inimico del bene.”¹

– Italian proverb quoted by Voltaire

The pursuit of perfection can be crippling. I’ve been working on a post about mechanical keyboards off and on for over a year, and the other day I realized the reason I haven’t finished it is I want it to be perfect. I’ve built it up so much in my mind that anything less than my vision for it is inadequate.

Working Remotely

Wed, 22 May 2019 00:00:00 -0600

Disclaimer: This article contains my own thoughts and feelings on the topic of working remotely. Everyone’s situation varies, so please take what you feel works, and leave what you feel doesn’t. As always, the opinions expressed in this article don’t necessarily represent the opinions of my employer, and shouldn’t be construed as such.

“We like to give people the freedom to work where they want, safe in the knowledge that they have the drive and expertise to perform excellently, whether they [are] at their desk or in their kitchen. Yours truly has never worked out of an office, and never will.”

— Richard Branson, Founder and Chairman of Virgin

Remote work is a hot topic right now, with many companies looking beyond co-located teams in order to expand the available talent pool, and offering their employees a potentially better work/life balance. I’ve had the opportunity to work for Bleacher Report remotely for the last three years¹, and wanted to offer a glimpse into my experiences over that time.

Goodbye Twitter

Wed, 13 Jun 2018 00:00:00 -0600

I’m going to take a Twitter break, ~~maybe permanently~~. I would normally Irish exit, but I wanted to write down some of my thoughts since Twitter has been a large part of my life over the last ten years.

Yak Shaving

Sat, 30 Dec 2017 00:00:00 -0700

It’s only fitting that the first post on this new site should be about yak shaving.

For those of you unfamiliar with the concept (as defined by Wiktionary):

Any apparently useless activity which, by allowing you to overcome intermediate difficulties, allows you to solve a larger problem.