Notes on 👋 Hi!

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.

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.

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 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.

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:

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. 🫡

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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. 😫😡😭😍

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! 🤞🏼