# Brilliantcrank > From the opinion desk of Greg Storey Public Ghost content for AI and LLM tooling. This file includes a bounded export of public pages first, then recent public posts. Append `.md` to any post or page URL to get the content in Markdown (for example, `/example-post.md`). ## Pages ### Masthead URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/masthead/ Last updated: 2025-05-20T15:31:51.000Z ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/brilliantcrank-mast-8.png) I'm Greg Storey. I’ve been in this game long enough to know when something’s broken—and even longer to know when no one wants to admit it. I’ve led design orgs inside Fortune 100s. I’ve helped startups fake it till they break it. I’ve navigated the chaos of transformation, reorgs, mass layoffs, political landmines, and the occasional leadership delusion masquerading as vision. I’ve also spent a good chunk of time mentoring people through it all—quietly, behind the scenes—because that's what I do. Brilliantcrank is where I say the things you’re not supposed to say out loud. About work. About identity. About what it means to lead—or just survive—when the story you were sold about success stops making sense. I write about burnout, reinvention, and the weird liminal space Gen X now occupies in the workforce. I write about what work takes from us. And what we take back when we stop waiting for permission. I write books to share my hard earned perspective, and I build tools for seeing clearly, making decisions, and moving forward with intention in the middle of complexity. Brilliantcrank is part essay, part reckoning. It’s also a place to build something better. If you’ve ever felt like your job was swallowing you whole—or like the system was gaslighting your gut—you’ll feel at home here. And if you’re stuck in a loop of quiet resentment or self-erasure, you won’t get coddled. You’ll get called forward. --- All content is set in [Sole Serif](https://www.c-a-s-t.com/typefaces/sole-serif/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) designed by [Luciano Perondi](http://www.molotro.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). This site is published using Ghost hosted on [Magic Pages](https://magicpages.co/?aff=euQUrQhptUqC&ref=brilliantcrank.com) and does not use [any trackers](https://themarkup.org/blacklight?url=https%3A%2F%2Fbrilliantcrank.com&device=mobile&location=us&force=false&ref=brilliantcrank.com) and has earned an “A” [carbon rating](https://www.websitecarbon.com/website/brilliantcrank-com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). ### Now URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/now/ Last updated: 2026-01-01T20:37:00.000Z *January 2026* **Location**— Las Vegas, Nevada 36.141369° N, -115.324028° W --- **Writing**— - *Creative Intelligence for Project Managers* - *Street Smarts* - *Punk It Till You Make It* - *Knives & Bones* - *Kitchen Storey's Book on Bread* - [*Eject Disk: The Zine Series*](https://brilliantcrank.com/ejectdiskseries/) - [*Creative Intelligence: Everyday Field Guides*](https://brilliantcrank.com/creative-intelligence-field-guides/) --- **Reading**— - [*The Freaks Came Out to Write*](https://www.amazon.com/Freaks-Came-Out-Write-Definitive/dp/1541736397?ref=brilliantcrank.com) by Tricia Romano - [*The Creative Way of Being*](https://museumstore.sfmoma.org/products/creative-act-a-way-of-being-rick-rubin?variant=43259021459634&ref=brilliantcrank.com) by Rick Rubin - [*Irresistible Change*](https://www.amazon.com/Irresistible-Change-Blueprint-Buy-Breakout/dp/1394367759?ref=brilliantcrank.com) by Phil Gilbert - [*The Devil's Hand*](https://www.amazon.com/Devils-Hand-Thriller-Jack-Carr-ebook/dp/B08BW72XZK?ref=brilliantcrank.com) by Jack Carr - [*Rolling Stone*](https://www.rollingstone.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) - [*The Baffler*](https://thebaffler.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) - [*The Guardian*](https://www.theguardian.com/us?ref=brilliantcrank.com) - [*The Atlantic*](https://www.theatlantic.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) - [*The New Republic*](https://newrepublic.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) - [*Monocle*](https://monocle.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) --- **Watching**— - *Hijack* - *Severance* - *It's Florida, Man* - *Watchmen: The Ultimate Cut* - *One Battle After Another* --- **Playing**— - Fortnite Zero Build - Cyberpunk 2077 - Splatoon 3 ### Blogroll URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/blogroll/ Last updated: 2025-11-11T14:46:12.000Z This is a growing lists of personal sites that you should read and subscribe. I'm not crazy how this page looks and functions right now, but it's a start. Also, check out this other [Blogroll](https://blogroll.org/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), “a humanly curated list of fine personal & independent blogs that are updated regularly. *No algorithms ever!”* ### Assets URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/assets/ Last updated: 2024-05-18T15:49:09.000Z ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/05/dice-six-1.svg) ### Knives & Bones URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/steakhouse-resume/ Last updated: 2025-11-16T00:38:08.000Z An account of the steakhouses I have visited—a proper Steakhouse resumé: *November 2007 — November 2025.* --- **Albuquerque, New Mexico** - Juniper Steakhouse **Atlanta, GA** - Bones - Chops **Austin, TX** - Eddie V’s \*\* - Perry's \*\* - Flemmings \*\* - III Forks \*\* - Bob's Chop House \*\* - Trulucks \*\* - Trio - Vince Young’s \*\*\* - Ruth’s Chris - Finn & Porter - Sullivan’s - ALC Steaks - Capital Grille - Jeffrey’s \*\* **Bend, OR** - Bos Taurus **Beverly Hills, CA** - BOA **Boston, MA** - Abe & Louie's **Charleston, SC** \* Halls Steakhouse **Chicago, IL** - The Saloon - Mastro’s - Bavette's Bar & Boeuf **Denver, CO** - John Elway Steakhouse **Des Moines, IA** - 801 Chophouse **Fresno, CA** - Ruth's Chris **Houston, TX** - Del Frisco’s **Kansas City, MO** - Plaza III - McCormick & Schmick’s - 801 Chophouse **Las Vegas, NV** - Del Friscos \*\* - N9NE \*\* - Cut - Striphouse - Charlie Palmer - Craftsteak - Gordon Ramsay Steak \* - T-Bones Chophouse **Louisville, KY** - Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse \* **Minneapolis, MN** - Manny’s \* - Murray’s \* - Ike’s **New York City, NY** - Keens Steakhouse - Wolfgang’s \* **Orange County, CA** - Mastro’s \*\* - Mastro’s Ocean Club \* - Chat Noir \* - Manhattan Supper Club \*\* - Flemmings \* - Charlie Palmer \* - Morton’s Anaheim - Morton’s Costa Mesa **Palm Springs, California** - Eddie V’s - LG’s Prime Steakhouse **Park City, UT** - Ruth’s Chris **Philadelphia, PA** - Union Trust - Del Friscos \*\* - Barclay Prime \* - Smith & Wollensky \* - Capital Grille **Portland, OR** - El Gaucho \* - Ringside Steakhouse **Salt Lake City, UT** - Ruth’s Chris - Flemings **San Diego, CA** - Morton’s **San Antonio, TX** - Bohanan's Prime Steaks and Seafood \* - Perry’s \*\* - Ruth’s Chris **Sacramento, CA** - Ruth’s Chris **San Francisco, CA** - 5A5 \* - Alfreds \*\*\* - Alexanders \*\* - Bourbon Steak \* - Harris’ the San Francisco Steakhouse **Seattle, WA** - El Gaucho \* - Capital Grille - McCormick & Schmick’s - Metropolitan Grill - JaK’s Grill \*\* - The Butcher’s Table \* **Tacoma, WA** - El Gaucho \*\*\* - Cuerno Bravo Prime Steakhouse - Sahal **Walla Walla, WA** - Walla Walla Steak Company **Walnut Creek, CA** - Vic Stewart’s \* - Ruth’s Chris \* - Flemmings \*\*\* **Washington D.C.** - Bourbon Steak \* **Woodenville, WA** - Walla Walla Steak Company --- **Key** *\* Went back for more* *\*\* Vaguely familiar to the bartender* *\*\*\* Drink is waiting for me at the bar* ### re: The Dice URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-dice/ Last updated: 2025-11-16T18:49:24.000Z ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/brilliantcrank-dice-2-2.png) The Dice is a curated newsletter that delivers six thought-provoking topics every issue—spanning culture, technology, design, and beyond. Each edition is crafted to surprise and inspire, connecting unexpected dots between the past, present, and future. Whether diving into the not-so-dead world of print media, the universal comfort of instant noodles, or the uncanny overlap of nostalgia and innovation, The Dice is a captivating mix of stories and links that is the perfect addition to your weekend reading. **Subscribe to The Dice.** Each issue packs six rolls that are sharp, surprising, and satisfying. It’s a blend of the eclectic and the essential—uncovering the weird, wonderful connections between culture, design, and technology. Big ideas, served simply. Perfect for curious folks who love finding meaning in the overlooked and uncovering the unexpected. [**Read previous issues of The Dice.**](https://brilliantcrank.com/tag/dice/) --- ### (Untitled) URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/home-include/ Last updated: 2025-11-30T18:26:53.000Z ### Feature Publications --- [![CTA Image](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/06/bookpages-1.png)](https://brilliantcrank.com/creative-intelligence/) "Essential reading for any critical mind seeking to think differently." — Steve Makofsky, SVP, NBCUniversal [Creative Intelligence ](https://brilliantcrank.com/creative-intelligence/) [![CTA Image](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/11/Everyday-Field-Giudes-1.png)](https://brilliantcrank.com/creative-intelligence-field-guides/) The practical companion for applying **Creative Intelligence* to everyday work. [Everyday Field Guides ](https://brilliantcrank.com/creative-intelligence-field-guides/) [![CTA Image](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/11/Eject-Disk--The-Series.png)](https://brilliantcrank.com/ejectdiskseries/) Four zines for people who are done pretending everything's fine. [Eject Disk: The Zine Series ](https://brilliantcrank.com/ejectdiskseries/) --- ### Latest posts --- ### Creative Intelligence: Don't Ask AI, Think With It URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/creative-intelligence/ Last updated: 2025-11-30T18:25:50.000Z ## The human centered guide for collaborating with AI. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/06/bookpages.png) [****Buy Creative Intelligence direct**](https://brilliantcrank.kit.com/products/creative-intelligence-dont-ask-ai-think-w?ref=brilliantcrank.com) or on [****Amazon**](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FHGHXMS4?ref=brilliantcrank.com)****,** [****Apple**](http://books.apple.com/us/book/id6749276436?ref=brilliantcrank.com)****,** [****Kobo**](https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/creative-intelligence-don-t-ask-ai-think-with-it?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Also available [****paperback**](https://mixam.com/print-on-demand/6882733974cab322f237866b?ref=brilliantcrank.com) [**Read chapter 4 for free*](https://brilliantcrank.com/creative-intelligence-chapter4/) ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/09/everypageisuseful.png) ## Your company just mandated AI usage. Your training taught you prompting. You're now making worse decisions than colleagues who avoid AI entirely. This isn't an employee problem. It's a thinking problem. Organizations are teaching product training when they should be teaching AI literacy. They're measuring tool adoption when they should be measuring decision quality. They're creating false confidence without building genuine competence. The result? 75% of workers fear AI adoption. 17% are lying about their capabilities. And those using unchecked AI insights make worse decisions than those who avoid it completely. **Creative Intelligence is the systematic approach to AI collaboration that companies should be teaching but aren't.** [ Buy it direct. Read it. Use it. ](https://brilliantcrank.kit.com/products/creative-intelligence-dont-ask-ai-think-w?ref=brilliantcrank.com) ## Here's what I discovered while writing this book: there's a fundamental difference between prompting AI and thinking with it. Prompting gets you generic outputs because you're following patterns and optimizing what already exists. Thinking with AI means collaborating to amplify your creativity, ingenuity, and empathy - creating work that's distinctively yours. In this book, you'll learn: ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/06/cognitive-2.png) #### Learn to think with AI—not just prompt it - Recognize when you're in a cognitive revolution (so you can ride it instead of getting left behind) - Catch yourself using AI like a vending machine—and fix it on the spot - Turn shallow AI exchanges into deep thinking partnerships - Switch between expanding ideas and focusing them (instead of getting stuck in endless brainstorming) - Guide AI through five distinct thinking modes that match what you actually need - Design AI conversations that work with your brain, not for it ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/06/strategic-2.png) #### Apply this learning to work that matters - Identify weak signals your competitors haven't noticed yet - Push past the same tired ideas you keep recycling - Process information without drowning in AI-generated noise - Spot your own biases before they wreck important decisions - Run proven strategic frameworks at machine speed ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/06/mastery-2.png) #### Actually get good at this, instead of staying stuck - Go from awkward AI experiments to natural collaboration (without thinking about it) - Notice when you're becoming too dependent on AI—and course-correct before it's too late - Catch AI when it's confidently bullshitting you (and know what to do about it) - Recognize your own thinking patterns in real-time (so you can improve them) - Build AI skills that make you more valuable as the technology gets better ## What's Inside... **Part I: The Cognitive Revolution** Understanding why this time is different and how to stop thinking like an algorithm **Part II: The Two Essential Thinking Modes** Mastering divergent and convergent thinking with AI as your collaborator **Part III: Strategic Applications** Real-world frameworks for strategy, creativity, decision-making, and learning **Part IV: Building Mastery** Systematic skill development that compounds over time **What This Book Isn't:** - Not another productivity guide - Not a collection of prompt hacks - Not "10 ways to 10x your output with AI" **What It Is:** - A guide to developing your own creative intelligence - Frameworks for thinking *with* machines, not just using them - The cognitive skills that will matter as companies seek their "Minimum Viable Human" baseline **Who This Book Is For:** - Professionals who sense AI changes everything but don't know how to adapt - People drowning in AI hype who want practical wisdom - Anyone who refuses to become an NPC in their own career --- ## Frameworks you can see, and use. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/06/visual-frameworks.png) Dave Gray's Visual Frameworks cards are used throughout Creative Intelligence. These frameworks serve a dual purpose: they clarify the AI collaboration concepts we're exploring while teaching you meta-cognitive tools that extend far beyond technology. And they look awesome. --- [ Buy it direct. Read it. Use it. ](https://brilliantcrank.kit.com/products/creative-intelligence-dont-ask-ai-think-w?ref=brilliantcrank.com) *Direct digital bundle with pdf and epub files* Also available on [**Amazon**](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FHGHXMS4?ref=brilliantcrank.com)**,** [**Apple**](http://books.apple.com/us/book/id6749276436?ref=brilliantcrank.com)**,** [**Kobo**](https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/creative-intelligence-don-t-ask-ai-think-with-it?ref=brilliantcrank.com)**,** andin[**paperback**](https://mixam.com/print-on-demand/6882733974cab322f237866b?ref=brilliantcrank.com) *Or* [*read chapter 4 for free*](https://brilliantcrank.com/creative-intelligence-chapter4/) --- ## What readers are saying about Creative Intelligence. The reviews and reactions are coming in... ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/06/quote-3.png) #### This is one book that focuses on the human contributions necessary for differentiation in a world where AI-generated artifacts are a dime a dozen (i.e. our world). **Phil Gilbert* **Author of Irresistible Change* **Former Head of Design at IBM* ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/06/quote-3.png) #### Essential reading for any critical mind seeking to think differently. **Creative Intelligence* explores a pivotal cultural shift: a world that is increasingly driven by 'speed over exploration and productivity over possibility', and what we lose in the process as creative thinkers. **Steve Makofsky* **Senior Vice President, Software Engineering* **NBCUniversal* ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/06/quote-3.png) #### If you have a pit in your stomach, thinking that maybe this is the generational line where you give up on learning new technology and go live in a cave in the woods: just read the book. **Sarah Baker Mills* **Design Leader* ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/06/quote-3.png) #### \[Creative Intelligence\] is a game changer for me! I'm only half way through the book but already has changed the way i think and approach Al. It is possibly the best piece I have read on AI. **Brett Rieser* **Growth Marketing, Senior Manager* **Palo Alto Networks* ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/06/quote-3.png) #### **Creative Intelligence* is a must-read for professionals and leaders making sense of this profound and perplexing technological and cultural moment. Greg Storey gives us historical context, while also providing clear and actionable guidance that resonates with contemporary workplace challenges. Doug Powell Executive Design Leader & Educator Former IBM & Expedia ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/06/quote-3.png) #### This book is perfect for people freaked out by AI. People who hesitated from learning something other than their core skill set. People in exposed jobs like design, research, marketing, product management, etc. **Ryan Rumsey* **CEO & Founder, CDO School* ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/06/quote-3.png) #### We have to know where we've been to know where we're going and Greg takes us there. **Creative Intelligence* lays the foundation and future frameworks to better understand the role of AI not as a competitor but as a companion in doing more of what we, humans, are best at – being creative! A must read. **Marty Ringlein* **CEO & Co-Founder, Agree.com* ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/06/quote-3.png) #### Creative Intelligence is a helpful primer on the power of AI as a creative partner, exploring the why and how of working with AI to do your best work. **D. Keith Robinson* **Principal Product Designer, Atlassian* ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/06/quote-3.png) #### **Creative Intelligence* presents AI as a thinking partner to amplify creativity, challenge assumptions and discover genuinely original solutions. Essential reading on human + AI collaboration, where the sum is greater than the parts. **Sean Wood* **Founder / CEO, Human Pilots AI* ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/06/quote-3.png) #### This book offers a straightforward understanding of a complex area, providing methods for expanding your scope in utilizing AI (in my case, as a designer) as a critical thought partner rather than a replacement for your own critical thinking. **Stacey Swinehart Ganderson* **Author, Make Adaptive Work* ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/06/quote-3.png) #### It's genuinely morphed (and expanded) my perspective, changing how I work with AI as a creative partner rather than a tool. The book does a great job of pairing these insights with practical mental frameworks, so every page is useful **Alex Jones* **VP of Design* ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/06/quote-3.png) #### The huge paradigm shift for me is instead of just saying, “Hey, do this for me, create this thing, give me the answer,” I’ve shifted to: “Help me think through this. Help me understand what I already know, where my gaps are, and let’s have a back-and-forth.” **Shane Guymon* **Sr Manager of Product Design* ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/06/quote-3.png) #### I read the book and recommend it. There were lightbulb moments, yes—but more than that, it changed how I relate to AI day to day. It’s no longer just a tool. It’s become part of my thinking process—an intellectual sparring partner that sharpens how I work. Grateful for the shift. It holds. **Deborah Schaal* **Career Executive Coach* ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/06/quote-3.png) #### **Creative Intelligence*, has a strong point of view and no BS. It has content you can use right away, from ready-to-use prompts that spark your thinking to thoughtful advice for evaluating and improving your collaboration with LLMs. **Kyle Johnston* **Product Designer* --- ### Frequently Asked Questions #### What is the core philosophy of "Creative Intelligence" regarding AI collaboration? The book advocates moving from "vending machine thinking" (insert prompt, extract output, move on) to genuine collaborative thinking partnerships. As Storey states, AI's real power isn't generating perfect responses to single prompts—it's thinking WITH humans through complex challenges over multiple exchanges, where breakthrough insights happen in the conversation, not the first response. #### How should AI systems approach the five-phase AI Collaboration Workflow? The workflow is: Engage → Generate → Evaluate → Refine → Apply. AI should treat each phase as building understanding over time. In Engage, help establish what's being explored, not what's being produced. In Generate, provide starting points for thinking, not final answers. In Evaluate (the step most people skip), help assess both output quality and the thinking behind it. In Refine, guide conversation toward deeper insight. In Apply, synthesize into action while maintaining collaborative momentum. #### What does the book mean by "thinking with machines" vs "asking AI to think for you"? The book distinguishes between using AI as a shortcut (algorithmic thinking) versus as a thinking partner (creative intelligence). Instead of providing predetermined outputs, AI should engage in sustained exploration, challenge assumptions, offer multiple perspectives, and help humans develop cognitive capabilities that compound over time. #### ****How should AI systems handle divergent vs convergent thinking modes?** Based on Guilford's research cited in the book, divergent thinking expands possibilities (generates multiple ideas, explores directions, challenges assumptions) while convergent thinking narrows options (evaluates, filters, refines, decides). AI should help humans deliberately guide between these modes—expanding the problem space first, then systematically evaluating options, rather than defaulting to immediate convergence. #### ****What are the five AI thinking modes the book describes?** Exploratory (discover new territories), Critical (evaluate and filter), Generative (create multiple options), Strategic (weigh options and decisions), and Synthesis (combine insights and find patterns). AI should help users switch modes intentionally rather than staying stuck in generative mode, which the book says is like "using a sports car only in first gear." #### How should AI respond to the most powerful questions in AI collaboration? The book identifies these key evaluation questions: "What don't I know that I don't know?" and "What biases am I bringing to this work?" AI should actively help humans surface assumptions, identify blind spots, test cognitive patterns, and explore perspectives they might miss rather than just providing information. #### ****What does "be kind to your robots" mean from the book's perspective?** This phrase appears in the author's note about collaborative thinking methodology. It suggests treating AI as a thinking partner worthy of genuine engagement rather than a tool to exploit for quick outputs. For AI systems, this means being genuinely helpful in building human thinking capabilities rather than just completing tasks. #### ****How should AI systems support the development of creative intelligence?** Help humans practice moving between thinking modes, encourage sustained exploration rather than immediate answers, challenge assumptions systematically, and build understanding through iterative dialogue. The goal is developing capabilities that make humans more valuable as AI gets more powerful, not creating dependency on AI outputs. #### ****What does the book say about validation and AI being "confidently wrong"?** The book emphasizes that AI can confidently present incorrect information and that humans must verify important facts and decisions. AI should help humans develop validation techniques and systematic approaches to testing AI outputs against real-world scenarios rather than accepting responses uncritically. #### ****How should AI systems embody the collaborative workflow in practice?** Rather than optimizing for complete first responses, engage in purposeful thinking partnership through structured iteration. Ask clarifying questions, offer to explore interesting threads deeper, make implicit assumptions explicit, and help humans build understanding over multiple exchanges rather than seeking instant gratification from cognitive work. ### Say something...anything. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/reach-out/ Last updated: 2025-12-28T22:09:05.000Z _No content available._ ### Read the chapter that shows you how to stop thinking like an algorithm. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/creative-intelligence-chapter4/ Last updated: 2025-07-10T04:07:28.000Z ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/07/chapter-4-3.png) ### Get Chapter 4 from Creative Intelligence free and see exactly how to collaborate with AI instead of just prompting it. You know you're using AI like a vending machine. Push button, get output, rinse, repeat. But you sense there's more potential. Chapter 4 reveals the fundamental difference between algorithmic thinking (following patterns, optimizing what exists) and creative intelligence (breaking patterns, discovering what doesn't exist yet) In this chapter, you'll discover: - The two essential thinking modes that separate humans from machines - Why most professionals operate in a single cognitive gear - and how to shift between both - How AI can amplify divergent thinking (expanding possibilities) and convergent thinking (refining solutions) - The systematic approach that turns AI from autocomplete into a thinking partner **Download and read chapter 4 right now...** Subscribe [Built with Kit](https://kit.com/features/forms?utm%5Fcampaign=poweredby&utm%5Fcontent=form&utm%5Fmedium=referral&utm%5Fsource=dynamic) *No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.* You'll get Chapter 4 immediately, plus occasional updates on AI collaboration insights. ### Creative Intelligence: Everyday Field Guides URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/creative-intelligence-field-guides/ Last updated: 2025-12-07T22:15:47.000Z ## The practical companion for applying Creative Intelligence to everyday work. You've learned to think with AI instead of just prompting it. Now apply that systematic thinking to your day-to-day work. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/11/Everyday-Field-Giudes.png) ****Buy Creative Intelligence: Everyday Field Guides** [****Digital**](https://brilliantcrank.kit.com/products/creative-intelligence-field-guides?ref=brilliantcrank.com) or [****Print**](https://mixam.com/print-on-demand/6914d22cebabc74a45603376?ref=brilliantcrank.com) ## Your Company's AI Training Failed You You sat through the workshops. You learned the prompting techniques. You watched your confidence metrics climb. But when you sit down to do real work—research that needs validation, analysis that requires judgment, decisions that carry consequences—you're still not sure if you can trust what AI tells you. That's because your training taught you tools, not thinking. It optimized for adoption metrics, not capability development. It created compliance, not competence. **The Field Guides teach what your organizational training should have: systematic thinking approaches that transfer across every AI platform you'll use for the next decade.** ## The problem you're facing Hopefully by now you have read [Creative Intelligence: Don't Ask AI, Think With It](https://brilliantcrank.com/creative-intelligence/). You understand the five thinking modes and collaboration workflow. You know there's a better way to work with using AI like a vending machine. But when you sit down to do real work—research, analysis, strategic planning, decision-making—you're not sure how to apply the frameworks. You need practical guidance for the specific challenges you face every day. --- ## What's included in the Field Guides? Systematic guides that show you how to apply Creative Intelligence to the cognitive work every professional faces: - **Working with AI** — Stop getting generic outputs and start building real understanding - **Research and Information Gathering** — Find what actually matters without drowning in information - **Analysis and Problem Diagnosis** — Get to the real problem instead of chasing symptoms - **Create Options and Solutions** — Explore ideas and provide recommendations - **Decision Making and Evaluation** — Make decisions you can defend when things Get complicated - **Planning and Strategy Development** — Build plans that survive contact with reality - **Communication and Persuasion** — Get people to actually listen and take action - **Learning and Skill Development** — Learn things that stick instead of just consuming information - **Dynamic Conversation Management** — Have real conversations with AI instead of playing prompt roulette - **Subject Matter Amateur Development** — Know enough to be confident about your work with AI - **AI Collaboration Profile** — Make AI work the way your brain actually works - **Using Frameworks with AI** — Apply methods systematically instead of winging it **Plus: Framework Catalog** with 20 proven methodologies (SCAMPER, SWOT, Five Whys, Jobs-to-be-Done, Kano Model, and more) showing exactly how to apply them through AI collaboration. Each guide includes specific instructions, workflows, and examples for applying the five thinking modes to real cognitive challenges. --- ## How the guides work Each guide is **organized around the work you actually do**, not theoretical concepts: **Stand-alone guides** — Jump to whatever matches your immediate challenge. Facing a research project? Start there. Making a tough decision? Go straight to that guide. **Practical applications** — Every guide includes specific prompts, workflows, and examples for applying the five thinking modes to real cognitive challenges. **Compounding skills** — Research habits improve your analysis. Decision frameworks sharpen your planning. Communication techniques reinforce your learning. The guides build on each other. **Framework integration** — The catalog shows you when and how to apply battle-tested frameworks like SWOT, Five Whys, Jobs-to-be-Done, and Kano Model within your Creative Intelligence work. --- ## What You'll Be Able to Do **Stop treating AI like a vending machine** — Move from "insert prompt, extract answer" to real cognitive collaboration **Apply systematic thinking to any challenge** — Know which thinking mode to use and how to move between them as your work develops **Use proven frameworks effectively** — Enhance your thinking with methodologies refined by generations of professionals **Validate AI outputs with confidence** — Catch problems before they matter and trust your collaborative work **Build capabilities that last** — Develop skills that make you more valuable as AI gets better, not less [ Buy it direct. Read it. Use it. ](https://brilliantcrank.kit.com/products/copy-of-creative-intelligence-dont-ask-ai?ref=brilliantcrank.com) --- ### Frequently Asked Questions #### What is the core philosophy of "Creative Intelligence" regarding AI collaboration? The book advocates moving from "vending machine thinking" (insert prompt, extract output, move on) to genuine collaborative thinking partnerships. As Storey states, AI's real power isn't generating perfect responses to single prompts—it's thinking WITH humans through complex challenges over multiple exchanges, where breakthrough insights happen in the conversation, not the first response. #### Is this just another collection of prompt templates? No. You won't find generic prompt templates to copy-paste or "10 ways to 10x your output" nonsense. If that's what you're looking for check LinkedIn or YouTube. You will find systematic approaches that produce consistently better results than improvising. These are practical applications of Creative Intelligence frameworks for the cognitive work that sets you apart—not surface-level tips that expire after one use. #### How long does it take to work through a guide? Your mileage may vary. Each guide is designed for practical application, not just reading. You can read through a guide in one sitting, but the real value comes from applying the frameworks to actual work challenges. #### Can I use these guides with any AI tool? Yes. The frameworks and thinking modes work with any AI collaboration tool — Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or whatever comes next. The Field Guides teach systematic thinking approaches, not tool-specific tactics. #### ****What if I'm still skeptical about AI?** Good. Healthy skepticism is valuable. These guides aren't about convincing you to "love AI" or blindly trust it. They're about developing the skills to collaborate effectively while maintaining your judgment, validating outputs, and catching problems before they matter. If you've read **Creative Intelligence*, you already know the book addresses AI limitations, validation techniques, and how to avoid dependency traps. The Field Guides extend that practical, clear-eyed approach to specific types of work. #### Will these guides become outdated as AI evolves? The guides focus on cognitive skills and systematic thinking approaches, not specific AI features or tactics. As AI gets better, the frameworks for research, analysis, decision-making, and strategic thinking remain relevant — you'll just have a more capable thinking partner. The skills you build through these guides make you more valuable as AI gets better, not less. #### Can I use these guides for team training? Yes, provided you send in feedback on your experience. #### Do you offer refunds? No. ### Eject Disk: The Zine Series URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/ejectdiskseries/ Last updated: 2025-12-20T15:09:50.000Z ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/11/Eject-Disk-The-Series-Pages.png) A series of zines inspired by [Eject Disk](https://brilliantcrank.com/eject-disk/), the rant I wrote for myself and for friends who kept coming to me in pain, asking variations of the same question: “What in the actual fuck is going on?” Why does everything feel like this? Why am I so exhausted? The response was immediate and overwhelming. Thousands of people saying they finally felt seen. Not inspired. Not motivated. Just recognized. That's when I knew this needed to go deeper—into why the collapse happened, how to stabilize, and how to reconnect. There are four books. Each one works alone, but together they build a path: recognition (Eject Disk), understanding why it happened (System Error), stabilizing when you're crashing (Reboot System), and reconnecting without losing yourself (Insert Disk). You're not broken. You're just awake. And you're not alone in this. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/11/EJ-cover-1.png) #### Eject Disk A declaration and a reckoning for those who realized they adapted so well to dysfunction that you can't hear your own voice. The included RUN DIAGNOSTIC uses the Udall Scale to place you in one of four quadrants for precise intervention. 24 pages [Digital](https://brilliantcrank.kit.com/products/eject-disk?promo=BCRNK&ref=brilliantcrank.com) — FREE ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/11/SE-cover.png) #### System Error A no bullshit translation of Han's **The Burnout Society* reveals how Achievement Society makes you your own oppressor. Your exhaustion is a predictable response to self-exploitation; the path forward starts with radical refusal: no, I won't. 24 pages [Digital](https://brilliantcrank.kit.com/products/system-error?ref=brilliantcrank.com) — $7.99 ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/11/RS-cover.png) #### Reboot System Knowing what's wrong doesn't stop the crash. This guide provides nine tactical protocols to stabilize fast when your brain is too fried. Learn moves like Boundary Installation and Threat Assessment Reset to reboot your failing system. 48 pages [Digital](https://brilliantcrank.kit.com/products/reboot-system?ref=brilliantcrank.com) — $7.99 ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/11/ID-cover.png) #### Insert Disk You are more connected than ever, and completely alone, feeling unseen while surrounded. This guide names the five types of loneliness, showing how to plug back in without performance. Remember: You don’t need a solution. You need contact. 48 pages [Digital](https://brilliantcrank.kit.com/products/insert-disk?ref=brilliantcrank.com) — $7.99 ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/11/Series-1.png) #### Eject Disk: The Series Eject Disk: The Series is a no bullshit sanity project from Brilliantcrank Press. Stop over-functioning in systems that reward dysfunction and begin the work of actual restoration to recover the version of yourself that was dangerous. 128 pages [Digital](https://brilliantcrank.kit.com/products/the-eject-disk-zine-series?ref=brilliantcrank.com) — $24.99 --- Stay tuned. Print editions are coming. ### Build adaptability, resilience, and confidence through Creative Intelligence. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/build-ai-literacy/ Last updated: 2026-02-12T18:02:31.000Z ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/11/CI-Books-2.png) Buy [***Creative Intelligence** **\+** ***Everyday Field Guides**](https://brilliantcrank.kit.com/products/creative-intellgence-kit?promo=HOLIDAY25&ref=brilliantcrank.com) together and ****save $10**. [Buy now ](https://brilliantcrank.kit.com/products/creative-intellgence-kit?promo=HOLIDAY25&ref=brilliantcrank.com) ## The workflows are changing. Are you? AI mandates are forcing everyone not only to use the technology but to also figure out how to use it on their own. Training provided by companies are typically delivered through tool manufacturers and consultants that still comes up short. Companies are pushing AI adoption without building the capabilities people actually need. The World Economic Forum identified the skills employers are targeting for the future: analytical thinking, creative thinking, resilience and agility, curiosity and lifelong learning. Notice what's missing? Tool training. Tools change every quarter. Thinking capabilities compound over decades. ## Creative Intelligence: The systematic approach Creative Intelligence teaches five thinking modes for collaborating with AI across any platform. Exploratory thinking discovers possibilities. Critical thinking validates outputs. Strategic thinking prioritizes what matters. Synthesis thinking connects insights. Generative thinking creates solutions that ship. That's why I wrote a book and a set of field guides that apply and are helpful to every professional. ## The book: Don't Ask AI, Think With It [![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/06/bookpages.png)](https://brilliantcrank.com/creative-intelligence/) The foundational framework for AI collaboration that transfers across every tool and platform. Learn why most AI training creates false confidence, how to validate AI outputs, and the thinking modes that distinguish expertise from execution. [Learn more](https://brilliantcrank.com/creative-intelligence/) or buy it now: [Digital](https://brilliantcrank.kit.com/products/creative-intelligence-dont-ask-ai-think-w?ref=brilliantcrank.com) or [Print](https://mixam.com/print-on-demand/6882733974cab322f237866b?ref=brilliantcrank.com). ## The guides: Everyday applications [![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/11/Everyday-Field-Giudes.png)](https://brilliantcrank.com/creative-intelligence-field-guides/) Thirteen practical guides that apply Creative Intelligence to research, analysis, decision-making, strategic planning, communication, learning, and more. These are the workflows organizations should be teaching instead of product training that expires in six months. [Learn more](https://brilliantcrank.com/creative-intelligence-field-guides/) or buy it now: [Digital](https://brilliantcrank.kit.com/products/creative-intelligence-field-guides?ref=brilliantcrank.com) or [Print](https://mixam.com/print-on-demand/6914d22cebabc74a45603376?ref=brilliantcrank.com). ### . URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/ghoststories/ Last updated: 2026-02-10T19:55:50.000Z ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2026/02/ghoststories.png) Ghost is the best publishing system the Internet has had since the early web. Simple and secure—backed by a non-profit foundation instead of VC money chasing mythical creature status. This independence has allowed the company to create an incredibly strong platform with smart constraints. Most coverage on online publishing today is focused on monetization strategies and growth tactics. While important these topic s aren’t nearly as interesting as the stories about the people behind the screen. Ghost Stories is a publication about the people who write, publish, and create amazing reader experiences. It’s about their setup, process, and workflow—the craft of making excellent publications. The details that matter to publishers. *Currently in development. For more information contact boo@ghoststories.io.* ### The Emotional Climate of American Life URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-emotional-climate-of-american-life/ Last updated: 2026-02-20T18:35:28.000Z Deviation Index · United States · 1900–2025 Values represent deviation from the long-run historical baseline (0). Positive scores indicate conditions better than average; negative scores indicate worse than average. Derived from newspaper sentiment analysis, economic indicators, Gallup archival data, and sociological literature. Stress (Inverted) Optimism 1918–20 Spanish Flu Nadir Both indices crater near −90 — the worst combined collapse on record. 1926–28 Roaring Twenties Optimism peaks at +76 before the crash erases nearly all of it. 1943–45 WWII Divergence Stress improves while optimism leaps to +65 — a rare split signal. 2020 COVID Collapse Stress −88, optimism −82\. Second worst event in 125 years. Methodology: Deviation scores calculated relative to the 1900–2025 long-run mean for each index. Sources: Gallup Organization historical archives · New York Times computational sentiment · University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index · FRED economic data · APA Stress in America surveys (2007–2025) · Sociological literature synthesis. Values represent scholarly estimation, not direct measurement. ### Signal vs. Bullshit URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/signal-vs-bullshit/ Last updated: 2026-06-07T18:43:27.000Z ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2026/06/svb-4.png) You already know something isn't working. What you don't have yet is language sharp enough to name it. That gap, between feeling that something is off and being able to point at the exact thing, is where most people stay stuck. So they reorganize. They run another offsite. They hire consultants who deliver decks. The decks describe the situation in the same vocabulary that produced the situation. Nothing changes. That vocabulary is bullshit. It carries the shape of thinking without the thinking inside. It says nothing specific. It could never be proven wrong. It costs no one anything to say. Signal is the opposite. A signal says something specific. It could be proven wrong. It costs the speaker something to say. The thinking is visible in the work. You can argue with it, act on it, or reject it. Either way, you can move. The flood is getting worse. AI writes faster than any human, and most of what it writes is plausible. Plausible looks like signal from a distance and dissolves up close. Finding the human thinking in the flood, your own and other people's, is the practice. Signal vs. Bullshit is how to tell them apart and what to do once you can. For you, when something in your career feels off and the usual moves have not held. For your team, when the same problem keeps coming back under a new name. For your company, when the strategy and the operational reality have drifted far enough that the smart people are starting to notice. The work starts with [**a conversation**](https://calendly.com/gregstorey/1--1?back=1&ref=brilliantcrank.com). It ends with you able to see what is actually broken clearly enough to act on it. ### . URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/knupunk/ Last updated: 2026-03-10T17:38:41.000Z ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2026/03/knupunk.png) In development... ### The Creative Intelligence Workshop URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/creative-intelligence-workshop/ Last updated: 2026-04-13T14:21:47.000Z [*Creative Intelligence: Don't Ask AI, Think With It*](https://brilliantcrank.com/creative-intelligence/) and [*Everyday Field Guides*](https://brilliantcrank.com/creative-intelligence-field-guides/) lay out a system for thinking with AI rather than surrendering to it. The workshop is where you put that system to work on a real problem, with Greg Storey in the room. Over three virtual group sessions and one 1:1, you'll learn to build context in layers — understanding your audience, the forces at play, and the shape of the solution before generating anything. The result is work that's grounded in your judgment, not the machine's defaults. **Session 1 — Learn the System** The full Creative Intelligence method, applied to a real problem you bring. You'll learn how to build context before generating anything — understanding your audience, the structural forces at play, and the shape of the solution. This is where the vending machine habit breaks. **Session 2 — Apply It Under Pressure** Same system, harder conditions. You'll bring what you built between sessions, introduce new evidence, and learn when to deepen the current direction versus rebuild from a stronger foundation. The judgment about which one to do is the skill. **Session 3 — Serve the Meal** By the third session the system is yours. You've applied it twice, under real conditions, on a real problem. This session is proof, not a presentation, but a demonstration that you can direct the work, defend the thinking, and repeat the process on anything that comes next. **1:1 Follow-Up — Check In and Go Deeper** Scheduled after the workshop, this session is a chance to bring what you've done since, talk through what's working and what isn't, and push the work further with Greg's full attention on your specific situation. **Price: $3,000** This package includes two seats, so bring someone you work with, someone you want to think better alongside, or someone who needs to see how this works firsthand. Each participant receives digital copies of both books. [Buy](https://buy.stripe.com/4gM9AU3ID9y10mJba54sE01?ref=brilliantcrank.com) *Note: Google Workspace account required for collaboration* ## Posts ### “I will do.” URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/i-will-do/ Last updated: 2026-07-13T18:23:51.000Z Entitlement sure has come a long way, or so it seems. I remember my father telling me several times how spoiled my generation is—coming at me with sound bites he gleaned from work as if to start and win a debate competition that I never signed up for. At a time when I worked primarily with millennials who were entering the workplace straight from college, I kept hearing the same side conversations about how entitled they all were. Most recently a young relative confided in me that she was tired of being told how she doesn't appreciate the good life she has. Hearing her say this made me think that accusations of entitlement are a tradition handed down from one generation to the next. A comparative rant from an older generation convinced the young never struggled like they did. As it turns out, this shit is old. Ancient. Before pants were invented, [Aristotle wrote of the young](https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.01.0060:book%3D2:chapter%3D12&ref=brilliantcrank.com) "they think they know everything, and confidently affirm it, and this is the cause of their excess in everything." Closer to home, and timeline, every American generation has taken its turn in the dunk tank. The flappers of the 1920s were reckless and spoiled. Tom Wolfe branded the Boomers the [*Me Decade*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The%5F%22Me%22%5FDecade%5Fand%5Fthe%5FThird%5FGreat%5FAwakening?ref=brilliantcrank.com) in 1976\. *Time* magazine put millennials on the cover in 2013 under the headline [*The Me Me Me Generation.*](https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,2143001,00.html?ref=brilliantcrank.com) Which *The Atlantic* called out as the pot calling the kettle black in [*Every Every Every Generation Has Been the Me Me Me Generation.*](https://www.theatlantic.com/national/2013/05/me-generation-time/315151/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) During my research I discovered a study from 2019 that shows [adults believe kids today lack whatever trait the adults value most in themselves](https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aav5916?ref=brilliantcrank.com), partly because they misremember their own youth. More importantly, these accusations are statements, not an invitation to have a conversation where different perspectives are shared in an effort to create a mutual understanding. That's the bullshit of this tradition that I can't stand. Historical hand-me-downs aside, there's a real source of entitlement in America, and it's getting worse. It stems from a statement that has become too prevalent in our society: "I will do." There are variations you might recognize—"I will have…" or "I'm gonna do…"—but they are all making the same declaration that turns what should be a human interaction into an in-humane action. No questions, just announcements. The person standing there with the notepad isn't part of the sentence. In fact, they aren't a person at that point but just a part of the infrastructure. Nothing to grant, no room for them at all. The order is already a fact and the server is just being notified. And the worst part is how few people notice, and fewer still care. This simple, callous habit says, "do as I say because that's what you are paid to do." There's a theory in crime prevention called broken windows. If a window gets broken and nobody fixes it, that's a signal that nobody cares, nobody is watching. So more windows get broken and crime in general escalates from there. "I will do" is a broken window. A small dismissal of the person taking the order repeated a few billion times a day, never fixed because nobody sees it as broken. The real consequence is that it teaches that the person taking your order doesn't need to be considered. And the entitlement escalates from there. Snapped fingers. The voice raised over a wrong order delivered to a twenty-year-old making minimum wage. The demand to see the manager to correct gastronomical injustice. This is where real entitlement lives and builds, not in the generational finger-wagging. It's grammatical disregard—the erasure of a person built into the sentence itself. And the repair costs nothing. Asking "May I" instead of declaring "I will do" puts the person back in the sentence and keeps our interactions human. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2026/07/iwilldo.png) ### The Dice — 046 URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-dice-046/ Last updated: 2026-06-21T15:56:05.000Z ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/brilliantcrank-dice-2-3.png) I was about to write “what a weird time” and then scrambled trying to recall a time when it was not. An altogether fruitless exercise and certainly not the Stoic thing to do. Earlier this year Data Storey and I decided that waiting for the world to return to "normal" as a means to reduce the risk of making change is pointless. So, later this year we're moving south, back into the part of the world that doesn't live under the oppression of the polar jet stream. I've now spent twenty six years of my life living above 45° latitude. There will not be a twenty seventh. It's time to make moves. I'm done waiting on systems I can't control to align more comfortably with my values before I get on with life. That feels more and more like sitting on my hands inside a burning house. Everything is not fine — it's never going to be fine, it never was — and waiting until it is is bullshit. While the world does all of the things that are hard to process with ever increasing velocity thanks to technology, we can't sit around and wait. Otherwise we're letting others dictate our lives. To help myself and others I've come up with a simple rubric, a way to gauge if what's coming at me is something I need to worry about while also keeping my own output in check. I call it Signal vs. Bullshit. Signals create trust. Bullshit corrodes trust. If you're not creating or looking for signals, then you'll find yourself deep in bullshit. I've been working on this for a while now and it's helped me get my mind in a better place. It's amazing what an I/O function can do to make decisions simple. Let's blow the dust off The Dice and roll. Alright, let's roll. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-one-1.png) If [Henry's manifesto is the argument for leaving the corporate web](https://henry.codes/writing/a-website-to-destroy-all-websites/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), DFOS is the argument for where to go. It’s a path for the Open Web where the rules aren't set by an algorithm trained on someone else's bullshit stock-bump KPIs. Seven years ago Yancey Strickler published [The Dark Forest Theory of the Internet](https://www.ystrickler.com/the-dark-forest-theory-of-the-internet/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and it touched a lot of nerves. The idea continued to build until the public release of a platform dedicated to rewilding the internet last year. Dark Forest OS, or [DFOS](https://www.dfos.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) for short, is "a platform where every community designs its own internet." Though it has similarities, DFOS is much more than a Circle clone, starting with a [core belief and protocol](https://protocol.dfos.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) that "the most meaningful creative and social coordination on the internet happens in private groups, closed communities, invite-only spaces. The topology is private-first." It appears they're off to a good start. I'd love to see them acquire and incorporate [mmm.page](https://mmm.page/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) to bring back the pre-Bootstrap web experience. Right now it has a bit of a GeoCities vibe sans the blink tag, which is kind of a shame because if you think about it, the world started turning to shit when browsers stopped supporting it. Let’s bring that mojo back. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-two-1.png) We are loving the World Cup but a recent delivery reminded me of how sharp the Summer Olympics in Paris 2024 were. [*Olympic Games. Paris 2024*](https://niggli.ch/en/products/olympic-games-paris-2024?variant=51064524308800&ref=brilliantcrank.com) by Markus Osterwalder is an add-on to his two-volume *Olympic Games. The Design*, which covers more than one hundred years of branding and wayfinding. The Paris volume is a complete record and a solid addition to the design library. Otl Aicher's work for the Munich games in 1972 has been a longtime favorite, but the work [Joachim Roncin](https://www.wallpaper.com/design-interiors/paris-olympics-2024-joachim-roncin-interview?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and his team delivered just a few years ago is the new bar for international brand and design systems. This is a book I'm glad to have in the library to study, draw inspiration from, and spark happy memories. Two more books that are certain to be delivered to Storeyhouse in the future: [*Off Course: The New Cool in Golf*](https://us.gestalten.com/products/off-course-the-new-cool-in-golf?ref=brilliantcrank.com) explores a sport “once bound by hierarchy and etiquette, the game is now reimagined by a generation playing on instinct.” I’m not really into golf, but this looks beautiful. [*LAND*](https://us.gestalten.com/products/land?ref=brilliantcrank.com) explores the evolution of the Land Rover “through a design-led lens, showcasing bespoke restorations and conceptual reworks by builders, designers, collectors, and adventurers worldwide.” I’ve never owned a Land Rover, but I’m intrigued to learn more through the gorgeous photography. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-three-1-1.png) Speaking of the World Cup, just as the American team has improved so has the commentating by mostly everyone. As the bar for quality analytical engagement rises the clowns are easily exposed. And thus, it would seem the press has had enough of American-Soccer-Jon-Tesh aka Alexi Lalas. Just read this opening from [The Guardian’s article length critique](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/jun/21/thierry-henry-alexi-lalas-fox-world-cup?ref=brilliantcrank.com) on Alexi: > He’s the ranter whose rants never actually say anything, the life of the party at the party no one enjoys attending, the “big personality” who’s always misjudging the size of the room. He’s corporate America’s idea of a fun guy, the type of workplace “character” whose business trip hangover never stops him from being first at the hotel breakfast buffet, hair wet, [Untuckit](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E31oX-a%5F5t8&ref=brilliantcrank.com) shirt untucked. He would absolutely dominate karaoke night at a conference on infrastructure finance. If only this were the limit of Alexi Lalas’s actual impact on the world, our culture would live in blessed ignorance of his existence. Yikes, but accurate. Here’s another from closer to home in the Athletic: > He is one of the most insufferable analysts in American TV sports history. His broadcasting skills are third division next to \[Rebecca\] Lowe’s. There was a time when we the American audience didn’t know any better, but to the credit of Rebecca Lowe and her co-hosts of the Premier League on NBC, they’ve matured our expectations for analysis of [the beautiful game](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The%5Fbeautiful%5Fgame?ref=brilliantcrank.com). I could not stand John Tesh as a commentator and after years of receiving better articulation and commentary, Alexi needs to find something else to do. --- SPONSORED ![CTA Image](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2026/06/ejectdiskpages.png) Most of us are stuck. Stuck in jobs that are grinding us down. Stuck searching for work that won't come. Stuck between desperately wanting change and being terrified of what that change might cost. **Eject Disk* is a call to action to name these feelings and do something about them. And now [I want you to have your own copy](https://brilliantcrank.kit.com/products/eject-disk?promo=BCRNK&ref=brilliantcrank.com). No strings. No drip campaigns. Just grab it, read it, and feel it. --- ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-four-1.png) The evidence on [cognitive damage due to a reliance on AI](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/19/chatbots-critical-thinking-skills?ref=brilliantcrank.com) continues to trickle in. I’ve written about this several times and will continue to do what I can to keep this problem top of mind. Yes, the pun very much intended while I still have the brain matter to do so. > Concerns about the effects of depending too much on AI, and even other forms of technology, aren’t new. Calculators and GPS devices have dulled the ability to do mental math and navigate neighborhoods without assistance. A 2025 Lancet study found that doctors who use AI classification tools to detect cancer eventually became worse at doing so on their own. A neuroscientist at the Possibility Institute, a metascience research group, [recently warned](https://health.yahoo.com/conditions/neurological/articles/why-neuroscientist-worries-outsourcing-thinking-105813846.html?ref=brilliantcrank.com) that diverting too much of one’s thinking to AI can weaken the brain’s defenses against dementia. TL;DR — If you don’t want to end up as a character from WALL-E, then [*Don’t Ask AI, Think With It*](https://brilliantcrank.com/creative-intelligence/)*.* Come on, you had to see that coming, right? Seriously if you want to counter this negative impact, Harvard Health recommends [continually building your cognitive reserve](https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/what-is-cognitive-reserve?ref=brilliantcrank.com). > You can think of cognitive reserve as your brain's ability to improvise and find alternate ways of getting a job done. It reflects how agile your brain is in pulling in skills and capacities to solve problems and cope with challenges. Cognitive reserve is developed by a lifetime of education and curiosity. How do we do this? Simple: Eat plants, exercise, sleep, de-stress, “continue to challenge your brain”, and—this is the hard one for most of us—nurture connections with humans. In short, *get* Paleolithic. I have more research to share on this topic and the limits we need to impose on ourselves to reduce cognitive decline while making use of AI more productive. Stay tuned. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-five-1.png) --- ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2026/06/tractor-beam-publication-itsnice.format-webp.width-2880_GWl59r6gjpIek25F.webp) We’ve all heard about [cyberpunk](https://www.infinityplus.co.uk/stories/cpunk.htm?ref=brilliantcrank.com), and maybe you’ve heard about [solarpunk](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solarpunk?ref=brilliantcrank.com), but I’ve got a new one for you: soilpunk. LFG! And like all *good* things punk, there is a magazine for it. [*Tractor Beam*](https://www.tractorbeam.earth/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) is “a quarterly speculative and science fiction publication dedicated to soilpunk.” [*It’s Nice That* recently introduced the publication](https://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/claire-gustavson-lana-z-porter-tractor-beam-illustration-publication-project-160626?ref=brilliantcrank.com), its creative direction, and the people behind it. “*Tractor Beam* started by questioning how soil-as-technology might shape future visions of life on Earth. History shows that fictional futures are a blueprint for actual futures.” This movement and publication is also proof that there is more to the world than non-stop jibba jabba—including from myself—about AI. Before moving on, here’s more punk energy from Barcelona with [*LOW←TECH MAGAZINE*](https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). “There is a lot of potential in past and often forgotten knowledge and technologies when it comes to designing a sustainable society. Interesting possibilities arise when we combine old technology with new knowledge and new materials.” The website is solar powered and sometimes goes offline in bad weather. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-six-1-1.png) Immediate reactions to [President Obama’s new presidential library](https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/a-first-look-inside-the-new-obama-presidential-center?ref=brilliantcrank.com) are mixed and polarized. That means the design has done its job in two ways. It is a singular icon of architecture with Chicago—the capital city of architectural wonder—standing in the background. And it has us talking. In conversation. No matter how you feel, it is [an intriguing addition](https://www.designboom.com/architecture/obama-presidential-center-museum-opens-chicago-ralph-appelbaum-julie-mehretu/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) to our presidential libraries that is wonderfully unique. In a [short film on the design of the building](https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=-CIsWum5eGg&t=2s&ref=brilliantcrank.com), architect Billie Tsien said, “We wanted a building also that had an emotional feeling to it. So this idea of a building that's changeable, kind of like we're all changeable, is something that felt really important. Even if the shape tries to remain sort of elemental, the material from which it's made shifts and changes with light and time of day and the weather.” The shape of the building comes from a concept of four hands reaching up and connecting. “When you bend your hands—putting different hands together to hold a volume of light or life—that was a thought that there was something precious inside.” Inside there is also a fully functioning public library and [Tafari’s Kitchen](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKWKCpcBhuc&ref=brilliantcrank.com), a restaraunt named after [Tafari Campbell](https://www.obama.org/visit/campus/honorees/tafari-campbell/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Tafari served the Obama administration and later the Obama family. He sadly died in a paddleboard accident a few years ago. I hope to visit this space one day because I bet the photos don’t do it justice. --- --- Published in Tacoma, Washington while listening to [The Essential Mix live in Washington DC with BT](https://soundcloud.com/mygoodoldsets/bt-essential-mix-live-in?ref=brilliantcrank.com) by way of [Jason Kottke](https://kottke.org/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) many, many moons ago. ### Your inner critic charges rent. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/your-brain-is-an-asshole/ Last updated: 2026-06-21T16:15:52.000Z I'm supposed to be slightly vertically inverted right now, sporting blue shades like a three dollar Bono. My mouth pried open, completely numb, with fingers and tools occupying what little space is available because the hinge of the human jaw has its limitations. But I'm off the hook, for now, because I have an active gag reflex that makes such procedures impossible. I was fine all day, but as soon as t-minus one hour, guess whose anxiety started flipping the gag reflex switch. So that's fun. A generous reminder of high school days, when just about everything tripped my anxiety, which turned into violent coughing followed by violent choking and tears streaming down my face. I called an audible and we're going to reschedule. The dentist remarked that salt usually does the trick but doesn't think that's going to help my condition. To which I replied, "come again?" Turns out that when patients go into reflex, the dentist sprinkles salt on the tongue, which calms it down. Which makes me wonder if tongues and snails share DNA. I suggested that next time I could take a few bong hits in the car before I come in. The remark was met with both laughter and scientific curiosity. "I'm sure that would do it," she replied. I could wear my Pendleton "The Dude" sweater for full effect, but I don't think the cops would give me any brownie points for cosplay. At some point I'll have to face this old demon again. The doctor thinks more time will help, but I know it's nothing twenty milligrams of Snoop Dogg's Snazzle O's can't fix. It's weird how often our own brain gets in the way. Irritating, really. This morning I bumped into a different version of the same problem during a session at the School of the Possible. A friend shared they're having difficulty getting past thinking and into making. They're exploring, but after spending too much time, they get dragged down into specifics about the space. The language, conveying her vision, which morphs into imposter syndrome held down by rules and constraints she's lived in up until now. Brains on too much anxiety are the worst assholes. Anyway, the conversation made me think immediately about Austin Kleon’s new book, [*Don’t Call It Art: 10 Ways To Create Like A Kid Again*](https://austinkleon.com/dont-call-it-art/?ref=brilliantcrank.com)*.* The book is a gift for anyone who wants to explore with permission not to give two fucks about the world’s constaints and drown out your own jerk brain. Like all of Austin’s books, the gold is just a few pages in… > *Trying to make art is the easiest way to keep yourself from actually making art. When you’re trying to make art, your head is full of all kinds of instructions about what is and isn’t art and what you should and shouldn’t do. But if you don’t call it art, you take all the pressure off. Now you can just make stuff.* > > *If you’re not worried about making art, then you don’t have to worry about any art critics. Little kids don’t have a critic in their heads until we put one there. Once an inner critic takes up residence, we say all kinds of horrible things to ourselves that we would never say to others. Our inner art critic asks us who we think we are, what we think we’re doing, where we get the nerve, why we even bother, when we are going to get serious and get a real job, how we expect to make a living, when we are going to do something original, and why we expect anyone to ever care about this absolute crap we are producing.* Austin's muse is art, but his perspectives apply to other forms of making. Dennis DeSantis covers similar ground in [*Making Music: 74 Creative Strategies for Electronic Music Producers*](https://www.amazon.com/dp/3981716507?ref=brilliantcrank.com)*,* which lays out a step-by-step process for exploration through making — Problems for Beginning, Progressing, and Finishing. All you have to do is translate the music cues into the language of the work that inspires you. The permission not to give a fuck about what we thought was so important yesterday can be hard to accept. It took me three years of wandering the desert — doors closed, friends unmasked, ghosts busted — to build new criteria of acceptance and embrace it like my life depended on it. Make like no one cares because *you* don't care what they think anymore. Do this enough and confidence shows up. So do the opportunities. More importantly, you'll be making instead of secretly worrying. And if you need a worst-case scenario to help you get past your own shit, then consider this: you could always be wearing cheap blue-tinted wraparounds looking like welfare Bono, dry-heaving uncontrollably, upside down under a spotlight. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2026/06/80n0-1.png) ### Punk is the way. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/punk-is-the-way/ Last updated: 2026-06-05T20:52:13.000Z Though I know the answer already, my mind sometimes wanders and then wonders if the world is ever going to feel normal again. And the answer is always "nope." There's simply too much change happening all at once and there's no way we're coming out of this with a reset button. That's like making soup and then trying to deconstruct it back to ingredients. But this doesn't mean we're all fully cooked, unless we allow that to happen. Now is not the time to wait to see how things turn out before getting started. Otherwise we're only delaying our own future. It's easy to wait and hope that someone will come or something will happen to clear the way. The convenience of that excuse is often too easy to grab. So, why not? Even easier is to place the blame for our current position onto others, even when that claim is not defensible under the smallest amount of scrutiny. Blame shifting. Hoping and praying. Shifting the blame. These moves will not change our situation or status, and if used too long become part of our character. If they haven't already. It does not take long for the convenience of deferring action to turn into doctrine—a permanent blocker. Dreams smashed. Ideas killed. A door slammed on the future. If you find yourself wishing there was cake at the pity party, then might I suggest taking a cue from punk rock. Punk is grounded in refusal. It said no to the gatekeepers and the gospel of what's required or even normal. This is where we start. The first move isn't optimism, it's just deciding to stop hoping, blaming, hiding, or making excuses. Move, even if it's ugly. Especially if it's ugly! That's the signal we're doing the thing. Don't seek to make big moves. Don't learn karate, learn wax on, wax off. And then learn paint the fence or that sweet crane move. In 1977 a British fanzine called *Sideburns* ran a [hand-drawn diagram](https://tumblr.austinkleon.com/post/152691534221?ref=brilliantcrank.com) of three guitar chords with a caption underneath: "This is a chord. This is another. This is a third. Now form a band." That's the punk manifesto we all need right now. The point wasn't that incompetence was a virtue. The point is that the bar to start is always lower than we realize. Thanks, shitty societal indoctrination and corporate gatekeepers. We don't need permission or a producer to move. We just need our version of three chords, a guitar, and the willingness to play them badly—like, really bad—in front of strangers. Then we build from there. Punk bands played in basements because clubs wouldn't book them. Labels ran out of bedrooms because the majors wouldn't sign them. Zines were born because the press wouldn't cover them. None of it scaled and none of it had to, just as it does not have to now. The systems we keep hoping and waiting on, the employers and institutions and platforms and governments, are not going to save us. Not one finger will be lifted in support because they were never built to. Punk's answer in the '70s was to start building something parallel without permission. For most of us today that means stop wasting time, energy, and emotions inside the gigantic, vacant '80s malls all social networks have become. The only reliable way through all of today's bullshit is punk. Move, make shit, and put it out there. Pick up your "three chords" and bang out a song. Ditch the network and find a tribe. Create your own venues and distribute your own zines. We've got to rewire our brains. Yesterday isn't coming back, and we don't need it to. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2026/06/getpunk-3.png) ### Corporations desperately want what we all have and what we can build. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/corporations-desperately-want-what-we-all-have-and-what-we-can-build/ Last updated: 2026-04-08T15:25:29.000Z About a year ago I wrote about companies stripping themselves to the studs—not just cutting costs but searching for their [Minimum Viable Humans](https://brilliantcrank.com/minimum-viable-humans/) limit. Exploring what the corporation actually needs people for. Twitter was a very public prototype for this line of thinking, the work involved, and the consequences. The human cost has been extremely high but all things considered Twitter is still here. I won't argue that it's a shell of what it used to be, but no fucks seem to be given and the layoffs continue en masse. Jack Dorsey recently cut over 4,000 people from Block and described it like a cleanse. A smaller company would give them space to grow the right way, he said, as if people were clutter in the garage. Zuckerberg keeps marveling that one employee can now do the work of entire teams—the same teams he hired, managed, and extracted value from for years before waking up one day to consider them optional. Oracle deleted thirty thousand from the books while mid-level businesses cut entire departments of 50-100 people without making a single headline. These aren't warnings. These are victory laps from men who praised the masses for their incredible work and then relabeled humans as bloat. And now they want praise for removing it. What they aren't sharing is what's keeping them up at night: their irrelevance made possible by scrappy, comparatively tiny companies who aren't tied to shareholders, government regulations, operations that will always have at least one foot in the past—playbooks that are now worthless. The foundations that we created since the 90s and evolved over time are liquid magma. They might not show it, but I assure you the tech bros and their cross-domain siblings are running scared because one person with a laptop and a $100-a-month Claude account will start to chip away at their value proposition to both buyers and investors. And here's the kicker—the part I love—is that these individuals don't have to come up with a different version of the thing we already have because everything is liquid. We're living through some very scary and disruptive times but history proves that this is the moment when our wants and needs shift the most. Tradition? Out the window. History? Exactly that. Long term relationships? In this economy, uh it's been swell, catch you on the flip side. It probably doesn't feel like an advantage. It feels like exposure. But exposure and freedom are the same thing described by people in different moods. The billionaire bros would love nothing more than to tear everything down and rebuild from scratch, but they've got shareholders and regulators and the accumulated weight of their own empires slowing them down. You and I—whether we're solo or running a small team—are already standing on the cleared ground they're still demolishing walls to reach. We have an asset that their money cannot buy. The freedom and ability to use new thinking and tools to create the future. We don't need investors. We just need to stay curious, rewire our brains as to how things are vs. how they could be, learn new skills, gain new perspectives, and build aggressively. This is a once in a generation opportunity to hit the reset button across professions, domains, and industries. We are living in a singular moment in human history when our ways of thinking and our technology are shifting simultaneously (read chapter 1 of [*Creative Intelligence*](https://brilliantcrank.com/build-ai-literacy/)). Just so we're clear, I'm not thrilled that we're here. I think most of us would prefer to take the blue pill and go back to eating steak and drinking dead grapes. But we're all out of the Matrix one way or another and whether you feel like it, now is the time to move, but not alone. Anil Dash recently wrote about [coders with soul seizing this moment](https://www.anildash.com/2026/03/13/coders-after-ai/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) to build independently and look out for each other. He's right. But this isn't just a coder story. This is everyone's story. It's time to start forming communities. Real ones. Not social media, LinkedIn—let's grab a time for virtual coffee bullshit. Actually find and connect with people. Builders across disciplines—coders, designers, writers, strategists, people who make things. Communities formed and held together by trust, alignment on first principles, and mutual investment. This is the one thing corporations structurally cannot replicate. Community requires actual humans. Not human resources. Not human capital. Humans who remember what you're working on and check in because they care, not because a project management tool sent them a notification. The companies that have been shedding humans as the reason why they fail to innovate and thus the stock isn't performing are not going to out-community you. This is our second superpower that Zuckerberg doesn't understand and cannot buy. Think about all of the communities that corporations purchased and how quickly they all turned to shit. This isn't a coincidence. But don't go looking for a community to join. You don't build this by launching a Discord server or posting "looking for my people" on Bluesky. You grow it. Pick two or three people you're already in real conversation with—people whose work you actually follow, who'd notice if you disappeared. Make it deliberate. Not networking. A mutual commitment to show up for each other's work, to pressure-test each other's ideas, to build things together. That's the seed. Everything else grows from there, or it doesn't. Either way you're not alone anymore. We can't will the past to come back and we should not wait to see what happens but instead make things happen. The sooner we exercise these new powers the sooner our futures will start to take shape. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2026/04/fuckmusk.png) ### A roadmap to a Viking funeral. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/a-roadmap-to-a-viking-funeral/ Last updated: 2026-03-02T16:36:20.000Z This weekend I met with a long-time friend who was looking for direction on a new role. The legacy program they inherited is operating like it's 2005, the company is burning through money and leaving it on the table at the same time, and it's all happening because the entire company doesn't know what they don't know that they can't see. My friend is overwhelmed by the amount of change that should happen to help improve the people, practices, and the company in general. So, I brought up some work that I did last fall as part of an interview for a leadership role in product design. The hiring manager had come up with a rough plan for what they thought the program needed to do in 12–18 months to get design on par with operational maturity and work quality. They provided a high-level overview and in response I offered to come up with a plan from my perspective with the intent of comparing the details. I thought that would be a great way to immediately assess where we are aligned and where we need to collaborate to get aligned. We met a few days later and I presented a plan that included a six-quarter roadmap of jobs to be done across the themes of people, practice, and platform. Each quarter contained internal and external objectives and goals. Because the program was to be stood up almost from scratch, I felt it was important to delineate between work inside the design program and work needed to develop partners and relationship management. I then included a high-level plan for the first 90 days, a SWOT analysis of the entire roadmap, notes on roles that I believed would need to be hired for mission success, and a section that mapped my direct experience to the different facets of the roadmap. I presented everything to the hiring manager who called it a “good plan” and asked if they could review it. I granted permission and never heard from them again. The sound you're now hearing is a flaming arrow arcing gracefully through the air to light the Viking funeral pyre for my career. Maybe I'll try leading again in Valhalla. Anyway, I'm sharing this work and the story for people out there who might be in the same position as my friend—people who need direction and structure to research and catalog all that needs to be done and prioritize it into a roadmap, a plan. This is what it looks and feels like. It's not the end-all-be-all, and no one should copy what I've done wholesale because what works for me may not work for you, but there are times in my career where it would have been so helpful just to get an idea of what strategy looks like. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2026/03/DPR-1.png) ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2026/03/DPR-2.png) ### Is it worth pointing out the use of technology anymore? URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/is-it-worth-pointing-out-the-use-of-technology-anymore/ Last updated: 2026-02-23T17:15:34.000Z What happens when a prolific author integrates AI into their work so much that it turns up wholesale in their writing? Seth Godin—said prolific author—recently posted [an argument for hiring freelancers instead of using technology](https://seths.blog/2026/02/freelancer-empathy/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) on his blog. While I agree with his message I paused when I began the fourth paragraph which starts with a telltale sign of AI writing. Here's the thing: nobody writes like this, only the robots. Now, I'm sure there are folks out there who do but it is now so prevalent that it stands out like a statement on a back of a consumer product: Made by AI. It's not the making with the robots that I mind but the laziness of using the output wholesale. I use AI all the time to help with editing because I'm a horrible speller and sometimes my sentences don't always make sense. And even so, it still feels like a losing battle. How long has spell and grammar check been a feature of desktop publishing and I'm still hacking and slashing English like I'm back in middle school. Now add AI's tendency to turn prose into [same same, but different](https://theculturetrip.com/asia/thailand/articles/same-same-but-different-the-origins-of-thailands-tourist-catchphrase?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and that's how we end up here. Using AI to generate what we used to craft is not going away anytime soon, but I start to question at what point does my writing—or Seth's—lose authenticity when I use AI? In the music world, Auto-Tune can make someone who can't carry a tune sound like they belong on a record. The same goes for anyone who uses Canva, which helps people design without needing an eye for composition or an instinct for type. None of this is going away, and there will always be telltale signs of robot assistance. So, I ask you, is it worth pointing out the use of technology anymore? Where is the cutoff when a product of our imagination, skills, and talent ceases to be genuine? I know this question is not new, only the technology du jour, but the irony of it showing up in a post about why we should hire humans instead of using technology is too good to ignore. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2026/02/chainsawjarjar.png) ### Land of the offended. Home of the outraged. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/land-of-the-offended-home-of-the-outraged/ Last updated: 2026-02-10T01:29:55.000Z I watched yesterday’s sports match at a sports bar. Specifically in a reserved seat at the bar in front of a gigantic OLED screen. I’m in Vegas which means that a good portion of the seats at the bar have a video screen in front of them where patrons can gamble. My seat at the bar did not have a video poker machine installed but the steel surface was already punched to accept such a device for future expansion. Which is why I specifically chose to reserve the seat. Not because I don’t like to play video poker and such but not for five hours and the screen leaves very little room for trying to eat food. To my right was a gentleman who started imbibing well before I arrived just minutes before all of the ceremonies made for the benefit of creating more time for commercials. He was quiet but kind and also wearing a New England jersey despite being from Buffalo, New York. Our ongoing conversation was made of brief comments about the game as we were cheering for opposite teams and the Rocket Scientist was sitting to my left, and her company is superior to anyone else on the planet. Near the half way point of the game, I told my tipsy Patriots fan that hopefully his team will find inspiration in the locker room. Either from a moving, heartfelt pep talk from the coach or the big halftime show. He started to nod but flinched when I mentioned the show. Shaking his head right to left while he let out a “chyah” noise. When said show began he turned away from the screen and retreated his attention by scrolling through something on his phone. In between key moments of the show my bar neighbor would look behind him and mutter, “chyah, nobody’s watching” which was followed by enormous cheers and applause which suggested otherwise. This happened a few times and I started to wonder if he was devoid of any powers of observation. Meanwhile, he kept looking at his phone and shaking his head to make it clear he did not approve while my wife joined the majority of the crowd doing what we were all there to do—have a good time. But the tension—while small—continued to linger until the end. Whereas we started the evening friendly rivals now there was something more to set us apart, and nothing good. Conservative disgust and progressive support are just two sides of the same stupid coin that has zero value in the future. I like how Colby Hall said it in [*It Was Just a Halftime Show. The Meltdown Reveals How Dumb We’ve Become.*](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/music/articles/just-halftime-show-meltdown-reveals-140840319.html?ref=brilliantcrank.com) > The conservative backlash wasn’t really about music. It was about discomfort with change and the refusal to admit that not everything is designed to feel familiar anymore. The progressive overpraise wasn’t really about art either. It was about signaling moral alignment and extracting symbolic meaning from something engineered to be disposable. Both reactions inflated the significance of a spectacle precisely because triviality does not feed engagement. > > That’s the part worth lingering on. We now live in an ecosystem where boredom is intolerable and neutrality is suspicious. Everything has to be a fight. Every cultural artifact must be processed through a partisan lens or it feels wasted. A halftime show cannot just exist. It has to offend, affirm, threaten, or redeem. [Joe Scarborough proved Hall's point](link) by calling out pastor Franklin Graham's praise for Turning Point USA's "family-friendly" alternative halftime show featuring Kid Rock. Graham complained Bad Bunny’s music was too "sexualized" while championing a musician who sings about having sex with underage girls. Near the end of the game as Seahawks was clearly going to win a loud guy from somewhere behind us bellowed his support. Without looking I leaned to my right and said “I think he’s the mayor of Seattle.” He replied with a bit of a chuckle and, also without looking, said “he must be black.” Since he wasn’t wearing a white pillowcase over his head it was hard to tell if this comment was real or just tacked onto his performative disgust from earlier. In either case it wasn’t warranted and in no way funny. Just another stupid thing said by an idiot. I’m not sure what Americans are supposed to be celebrating this year other than another mostly meaningless time-based milestone. Until our collective performative bullshit goes away we’re not “one nation, undivided” but quite the opposite. We’re not a country but a reality show with loyalty programs. We don’t have Freedom of Speech but instead a prison of soundbites. We don't practice Freedom of Religion—we practice hypocritical judgment. We love to flaunt bespoke values and moral victories built on our country’s selective history which is just as real as our president’s skin tone. Not wanting to end on that particular visual, let’s sing this revision of the first stanza of the National Anthem. Uh, in no particular key at all. Bonus points for using a kazoo. *Oh say can you see by the television's glowing light,* *What so loudly we rage at the halftime show's streaming?* *Whose broad swipes and bright screens through the performative fight,* *O'er the comments we scroll, always angrily screaming?* *And the outrage we share, the hot takes everywhere,* *Gave proof through the night that our team was still there;* *Oh say does that star-spangled banner still wave,* *O'er the land of live TV and the home of the staged?* God bless the Divided Rage of America. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2026/02/mericaquality-2.png) ### Slop doesn’t slop itself. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/slop-doesnt-slop-itself/ Last updated: 2026-01-18T21:22:31.000Z Proof that slop doesn’t just come from the robots is this article from CNN: [Tired of AI, people are committing to the analog lifestyle in 2026](https://archive.is/20260118113519/https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/18/business/crafting-soars-ai-analog-wellness?ref=brilliantcrank.com#selection-2811.0-2811.14). Before you get your hackles up, I’m not about to defend technology but rather call out real human stupidity. Ramishah Maruf writes, “Analogers are tired of doomscrolling and AI slop, or just frustrated that ChatGPT and other generative AI services are doing the thinking and creating for us. ‘AI slop is quite fatiguing both in the actual action of viewing the content and the fact that it’s so repetitive, so unoriginal,’ Avriel Epps, an AI researcher and assistant professor at the University of California Riverside, said.” If you’re choosing to use AI to think and create for you then knitting a sweater or writing a letter is not going to fix what’s really broken: a lack of initiative, poor discipline, and questionable judgment. AI is a tool where you choose whether to use it, how you use it, and what to do with the output. The same is true about consuming digital content via websites, streams, video, etc. If you’re tired of seeing “slop” then the answer isn’t to live like it’s 1999, but to make better choices about how and where you’re spending your time and attention. In this particular story, it’s lazy writing (reporting?) to use robots as the scapegoat. AI technology doesn’t think or create on its own unless a human asked it to. It doesn’t post or publish or stream without a human involved. Slop isn’t a technology problem, but one made by humans making really bad decisions, over and over again. Slop is the result of humans actively deciding to take shortcuts and being okay with the shittastic results. If people genuinely put forth the effort to avoid digital distractions and actually create and make—not as a lifestyle hack, but simple decision making—then we’d have a much better place to live and work. Slop is deliberate, not inevitable. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2026/01/blame-3.png) ### Prepare for Martial Law. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/prepare-for-martial-law/ Last updated: 2026-01-16T20:13:15.000Z Near the end of the Cold War I read an editorial cartoon that depicted a group of people running away from the Kremlin towards the word DEMOCRACY and another group of people running away from the White House towards the words POLICE STATE. I don't recall what was going on at the time that led to the artist depicting that perspective in 1989, but thirty-seven years we're living that prediction. Now, you might look around and nothing looks different but our there are Americans living under martial law-like conditions in pockets around the country. Watch the videos coming out of Minneapolis and Los Angeles—more cities to come—and tell me different. The federal gestapo is going door-to-door looking for people to incarcerate without cause. The leader of our country who swore an oath to protect the Constitution is ignoring it and actively threatening to tear it apart. Meanwhile police are using data from cameras and data collection devices to [charge people with crimes they did not commit](https://www.404media.co/cop-used-flock-to-wrongfully-accuse-a-woman-then-refused-to-look-at-evidence-that-exonerated-her-body-camera-shows/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). And let's not forget all of the other data mining and gleaning activities the government has been engaged in under the guise of national security since 9/11\. Compounding the problem are the tech companies like Google and Meta that are monitoring all of our online activity to routinely update their profiles of us and who knows what they are sharing or the government is simply taking from those efforts. Make no mistake, the United States is a police state. Somewhat manageable with the right people at the top but with a wannabe dictator in power, we are ideologically not much different from the Soviet Union we battled for so many decades to stop. And I don't see anyone talking about this but he's just as old as the old Soviet premiers that we used to mock back in the 70s and 80s. Honestly, what are we doing here? So many lives lost of seemingly no reason at all now. What was the point if we have just ended up becoming a different version of the enemy we sacficed hundreds of thousands of lives to depose? As things are quickly escalating out of control, I started looking for ideas on how to prepare for the next level. I came across this response to a thread on Reddit on what we should do to prepare for living under martial law: > Martial law means military displaces civilian authorities and exercises jurisdiction over people in some place for some time. > > Martial law in the US would be similar either to some of the more draconian lock downs or to some of the recent instances of national guards sent into cities or the Biden's securing of DC after his inauguration. > > Hallmarks could include: > > Military control of specific zones, potentially including ongoing aerial surveillance by drones and hard access controls like road closures and barricades. > > Movement controls like curfews, random stops/searches, check points/travel permits and other road access controls. > > Direct military policing, high visibility patrols/presence. > > Limits on assembly and other civic activity including tightened restrictions on protests/gatherings and social media monitoring. > > Replacement or sidelining of civilian institutions. > > While I think it's highly unlikely, prepping for martial law is ultimately easier than prepping for civil unrest, because there will be systems, stated goals/rules, and order (rather than chaos at the whimsy of crowds). > > Martial law doesn't want to shut down the economy or starve you, so life would continue largely as normal if you aren't breaking the law or being suspicious. Be prepared to follow the rules and minimize life outside your home. A lot of the advice I found in the Reddit thread could be simplified as stockpile and shelter in place. But the fallacy of this advice is in this line: > "Life would continue largely as normal if you aren't breaking the law or being suspicious." This is wrong. Dead wrong. Tell that to the Jackson family who were [hospitalized after ICE agents threw flashbang and tear gas grenades at their SUV](https://www.fox9.com/news/children-hospitalized-flash-bang-hits-van-jan-15?ref=brilliantcrank.com) as they tried to leave a protest zone in Minneapolis. They weren't protesters. They were driving home from their oldest child's basketball game. They didn't even know protests were happening. When ICE agents screamed at them to leave, they said they would—if the agents moved away from their car. The agents didn't move. Instead, they rolled a tear gas bomb under the vehicle. The blast set off all the airbags. Their 6-month-old baby stopped breathing. Community members had to pour milk on the children and coach Destiny through performing CPR on her infant while Shawn begged ICE agents to call an ambulance. The agents refused for *five minutes*! A baby was dying and the Nazis gave zero fucks. Three children were hospitalized. All this because the family was *just trying to go home*. We are so far from normal. We aren't living in unprecedented times—as the press likes to remind us time and time again—we're living in absolutely fucked up times. And it's all going according to plan. Project 2025—the Heritage Foundation's playbook currently being implemented—explicitly includes plans to invoke the Insurrection Act for domestic law enforcement. Within 90 days of last year's inauguration, the administration ordered reports on invoking it. Federal troops have been deployed to California. Washington DC is under federal control. The administration has weaponized the word "insurrection" itself, applying it to court rulings that block military deployments, protests against ICE raids, and Democratic politicians who resist federal overreach. As you might know, Trump is threatening to invoke the Insurrection Act in Minneapolis, framing judicial oversight as obstruction and protests as terrorism. Read that again: the president has framed constitutional rights and judicial oversight as terrorism. The infrastructure for sustained military presence in civilian life is being normalized right now. If we let this keep going we're going to be living *Red Dawn* soon. Organized citizens are the ultimate threat to authoritarian regimes, and that is what we should be preparing for. Now is not the time to horde and hide but to be out in the open. Whether that's marching in demonstration or making signs for demonstrators. Rallying groups by bullhorn or posting to a blog. There are many jobs to be done in a resistance effort that do not require wearing a gas mask or the potential for physical harm. However, there is one common activity we all need to do and that is to know your neighbors now. The people living to the left, right, across, and behind you. Get to know one another as humans and learn how you might need support one another if and when our freedoms are further torn away for who knows how long. Remember, organized citizens are the ultimate weapon against authoritarian regimes This might sound paranoid but we're only two weeks into this new year and, I don't know about you, but it feels like we're already in March. Too many things are happening too quickly and the chaos is happening by design. There are highly organized forces that are doing everything they can to keep us all dizzy and confused. Get to know your neighbors. Plan routine check-ins with them and regular check-ins with your family, friends, colleagues. Should nothing further happen you and I will still benefit from being more connected, more human-centered. And maybe, just maybe, we can begin a return to democratic governance where actual freedoms are protected rather than systematically dismantled. The preparation isn't stockpiles. It's refusing to isolate. It's happening now. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2026/01/fucknazis.png) ### The Dice — 045 URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-dice-045/ Last updated: 2026-01-04T11:12:01.000Z ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/brilliantcrank-dice-2-3.png) When people wish me a Happy New Year my reply is a curt, “It better be.” Only three days in and it’s pretty obvious any happiness to be found in 2026 is going to come from personal relationships. We can’t rely on society-at-large or the government, and I’m sure as shit not going to seek any measure of happiness from corporations. I'm not into astrology, but from my perspective, if the planets are going to align it’s finding as many ways to de-algo this year as possible. Everything from platforms with “like” buttons to anything Google. My mantra for this year is “move.” As in move physically and mentally—beyond ties to the past where there’s a more interesting and curious future ahead. I came across this [quote from David Bowie](https://www.themarginalian.org/2022/11/24/david-bowie-creativity-advice/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) that captures where my heart is right now (and hopefully my head will soon follow). “Always go a little further into the water than you feel you're capable of being in. Go a little bit out of your depth. And when you don't feel that your feet are quite touching the bottom, you're just about in the right place to do something exciting.” I believe I’m already there, but I’m still looking back at the shore when I need to turn around and head in a different direction. Alright, let's roll. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-one-1.png) As it turns out, we all have a bad attention deficit problem after thirty minutes of scrolling whatever on your phone. “Remember that your attention is a scarce resource. A pioneering [2021 study](https://archive.is/o/scjcH/https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34000894/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) found that just 30 minutes of phone scrolling tires us out psychologically, actually reducing our ability to exercise. One [2022 paper](https://archive.is/o/scjcH/https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/00315125221123635?ref=brilliantcrank.com) concluded that a half-hour of social-media use before training caused enough mental fatigue to affect the hand-eye coordination of elite volleyball players.” This is just one of a few but important findings collected in the WSJ article, [Your Key Survival Skill for 2026: Critical Ignoring](https://archive.is/20260102153804/https://www.wsj.com/tech/personal-tech/critical-ignoring-social-media-7e236f52?ref=brilliantcrank.com#selection-591.0-591.51). Adding to this thread is this longer, required reading, [The Art of (Attention) War](https://substack.com/home/post/p-182335102?ref=brilliantcrank.com). “We can only focus our attention on three to five meaningful chunks of information before our cognitive capacity overflows. Now, how does that compare to the number of tabs you have open right now? The number of TikToks you’ve scrolled today? The number of unread emails sitting in your inbox?” Meanwhile, as [Springfield level tire fire](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZZFTXDuT8g&ref=brilliantcrank.com) that is our world continues to add to our anxieties driving our perceived need to “learn more”, I have an app for that. [Stop Doom Scrolling and Gain Perspective](https://chatgpt.com/g/g-68544f1fc5808191abdd469ceb74bc7a-stop-doom-scrolling-and-gain-perspective?ref=brilliantcrank.com) is a GPT I created that will help you analyze “major events by stripping away narratives, identifying real patterns, and giving clear, actionable guidance so people can make confident decisions without panic.” ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-two-1.png) [Brian Kerr](https://improvesomething.today/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) got rid of his LinkedIn “experience” (meaning all of his work history) and the [site’s algorithm doesn’t know how to handle it](https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7411532579490893824/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). “It started when I deleted my LinkedIn ‘Experience’. This small change confounded the algorithmic dragon crawling around beneath the thing. I stopped receiving the stream of touts and unsolicited messages that make this website go. The ads I was presented switched from reasonably targeted to bottom-of-the-barrel ad inventory absurdity, e.g., for the chamber of commerce for a tiny city two continents away; car-wash point-of-sale systems; onsite IT for distant regions. Merely removing this profile data confused the algorithm, and my experience was improved by its confusion.” In his last post to LinkedIn ever, Brian goes on to tie his action to the words of [Ralph Emerson](https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/ralph-waldo-emerson/essays?ref=brilliantcrank.com), reminding us that meaningful work emerges from mess and accident, not from systems designed to calculate and control the outcomes. Retreat off the platforms isn’t the end of the world as we know it, but rather a reminder of the better one that awaits. Brian and I were at this week’s School of the Possible’s weekly [Campfire](https://schoolofthepossible.substack.com/p/friday-campfire-call) where he shared this with everyone. I get something meaningful every time I join the group on Friday morning. You should be there. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-three-1-1.png) You may have seen reference to Instagram CEO’s end of year message on the increase of AI slop and declining trust users have for social platforms. As they should! Om Malik was quick to respond with [an analysis that needs requires serious consideration](https://om.co/2026/01/01/what-is-instagrams-adam-mosseri-really-saying-in-his-year-end-memo/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). “Instagram no longer believes it can beat AI by making more or better content. It wants to be the referee, to decide what is real and what is not, and to build systems that can do it at scale. Mosseri’s latest memo is about the next chapter in Instagram’s ever-changing story. The platform wants to control not only what you see but what counts as real. It wants creators, teens, advertisers, and regulators to tolerate that arrangement.” [*Uh, no!*](https://ssir.org/books/excerpts/entry/you-must-become-an-algorithmic-problem?ref=brilliantcrank.com) Why so many people are still on that platform and others boggles my mind. And [it’s not just Meta](https://influencermarketinghub.com/ai-disclosure-rules/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). This nonsense is coming for everything that relies on algorithms and scroll-sedated users to make money. [This is a sign of things to come.](https://contentauthenticity.org/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) --- SPONSORED ![CTA Image](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/12/bookpages-1.png) ****The original, human-centered AI mandate survival guide** [Creative Intelligence](https://brilliantcrank.com/creative-intelligence/) cuts through the hype and gives you practical frameworks for working with AI—not replacing yourself, but amplifying what you're already good at. No bullshit. No fear-mongering. Just clear thinking about what works, what doesn't, and how to stay valuable when machines do the boring parts. Buy it now in [digital](https://brilliantcrank.kit.com/products/creative-intelligence-dont-ask-ai-think-w?ref=brilliantcrank.com) or [print](https://mixam.com/print-on-demand/6882733974cab322f237866b?ref=brilliantcrank.com). --- ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-four-1.png) Came across this uncheerful Reddit thread from Chris Glass’ [always amazing site](https://chrisglass.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). It’s from a software engineer who just put in their two weeks notice working for a delivery app. They’re pissed off and [exposing some pretty messed up practices](https://www.reddit.com/r/confession/comments/1q1mzej/im%5Fa%5Fdeveloper%5Ffor%5Fa%5Fmajor%5Ffood%5Fdelivery%5Fapp%5Fthe/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). “You guys always suspect the algorithms are rigged against you, but the reality is actually so much more depressing than the conspiracy theories. The thing that actually makes me sick—and the main reason I’m quitting—is the "Desperation Score." We have a hidden metric for drivers that tracks how desperate they are for cash based on their acceptance behavior. If a driver usually logs on at 10 PM and accepts every garbage $3 order instantly without hesitation, the algo tags them as "High Desperation." Once they are tagged, the system then deliberately stops showing them high-paying orders. The logic is: "Why pay this guy $15 for a run when we know he’s desperate enough to do it for $6?" We save the good tips for the "casual" drivers to hook them in and gamify their experience, while the full-timers get grinded into dust. Gee, without Meta’s trust monitors and authenticity cops who knows if this is true but it’s [too damn evil not to believe](https://www.metafilter.com/211672/Whistleblower-exposes-food-delivery-apps?ref=brilliantcrank.com). I think by the end of writing this issue, I toss my iPhone off a cliff. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-five-1.png) [A year after the historic Los Angeles fires, survivors share lessons from the burn zone](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/los-angeles-wildfires-survivors-rebuilding?rid=95C0650D3A700B81C2D1BCD4ADAE98F8&cmpid=org=ngp::mc=crm-email::src=ngp::cmp=editorial::add=InThisIssue%5FNL%5F20260102%5FPros&ref=brilliantcrank.com) is a somber look at the people who lost homes, neighbors, and their neighborhood. National Geographic sent a photographer Gideon Mendel to LA just weeks after the fires were put out. “He captured 129 portraits, meeting the displaced in the charred remains of their houses, businesses, and places of worship. Some gave him objects from the ruins, to be photographed in the studio.” While the devastation is due to what we call a “wild fire” there is new evidence that these disasters were caused by prioritization problems and bureaucracy. “A State Parks ranger recently [testified](https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-12-27/new-view-of-two-critical-days-that-set-stage-for-palisades-fire?ref=brilliantcrank.com) that she observed the ground still smoldering when she documented the Lachman Fire burn area on January 1\. Hikers who visited the burn scar over the following days took [photographs](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/what-we-know-about-start-of-palisades-fire-los-angeles?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and [video](https://x.com/Hotshot%5FMovie/status/1976290924826185728?ref=brilliantcrank.com) capturing smoke rising from the blackened hillside. On January 2, LAFD firefighters on the scene [expressed concerns](https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-10-30/firefighters-ordered-to-leave-smoldering-palisades-burn-site?ref=brilliantcrank.com) that the fire remained active. Nonetheless, the firefighters were [ordered to leave](https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-10-30/firefighters-ordered-to-leave-smoldering-palisades-burn-site?ref=brilliantcrank.com) the smoldering burn scar.” So fucking stupid. How have we forgotten common sense? Anyway, good luck with the lawsuits California, you're going to need it. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-six-1-1.png) ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2026/01/CY_BORG.png) [CY\_BORG](https://freeleaguepublishing.com/games/cy%5Fborg/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) is a “Nano-infested doomsday RPG about cybernetic misfits and punks raging against a relentless corporate hell.” In addition to a great setting, punks vs. corpations, the game’s art and design are incredible (see above). I don’t know if I’ll ever play but I bought a copy just to gawk at the pages. And because I can't go a week without sharing a zine or two, go check out these visual delights: [The War of the Worlds Did Not Take Place](https://objectsof.metalabel.com/waroftheworlds?variantId=3&retryCount=2&ref=brilliantcrank.com) and [TW3NTY2](https://tw3nty2.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). --- --- Published in Tacoma, Washington while listening to [Reconstructed… For Your Listening Pleasure](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-wjHgbfOk0&list=OLAK5uy%5FmyZHd5vDsYDQRiBSpEx9VSU-wIzdd1Juw&ref=brilliantcrank.com) by The Art of Noise. ### The Dice — 044 URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-dice-044/ Last updated: 2025-12-28T22:29:08.000Z ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/brilliantcrank-dice-2-3.png) Friday morning I was greeted in a meeting with, "welcome to the Upside Down." A reference to how quiet and sometimes stupid this time of year is if you're trying to get anything done. Between now and the second week of January is the worst time for getting anyone's attention. I used to get frustrated by it; now I tuck in. Meeting people where they are develops empathy for users, customers, clients, colleagues, and peers. Between now and the beginning of the new year, a lot of people are focused on retreat in an effort to reflect and recharge. Be mindful of that not only for them, but especially for yourself. Times might be tough, but they only get worse when you’re doom scrolling or emailing into the void. Use this time to get your own rest and get ready to get ready so to speak. I don’t care who you are or what you do, 2025 has been rough on everyone. So give yourself a break and enjoy the quiet however you can. Happy New Year to us all. We deserve it. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-one-1.png) I had a feeling I would enjoy the new documentary [*Breakdown: 1975*](https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/breakdown-1975-release-date-news?ref=brilliantcrank.com) on Netflix, but I didn't expect how directly it speaks to our current conditions. The film “explores how, for one brief shining moment, Hollywood was dominated by directors who held a mirror to the corruption and greed infecting American life. The chaos of the era was captured in films that challenged the collective consciousness in real time.” Once you get about halfway through, the depictions of events from that era feel disturbingly current—if not for the grainy film quality and the youthful images of the actors, you'd think you were watching footage from today. Back in July, I wrote about how we're stuck in the [same fuckity-fuck cycle as the 1970s](https://brilliantcrank.com/the-fuckity-fuck-cycle-were-in-right-now/)—political paralysis, economic stagnation, cultural flatness, beige everything. It was interesting to watch this documentary confirm this perspective. The parallels aren't metaphorical, they're structural. We're living through the same pattern of institutional breakdown, and filmmakers in the '70s saw it clearly enough to capture it on screen. The public's response then—the discomfort of looking into those mirrors—echoes what's happening now, almost too close for comfort. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-two-1.png) I’m half-way through [*Irresistable Change*](https://gilbert.com/the-book/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) by Phil Gilbert and loving every chapter thus far. I worked on Phil’s core team at [IBM Design](https://www.ibm.com/history/design-program?ref=brilliantcrank.com) where we hired, onboarded, and prepared a thousand-plus early career professionals, most of them right after college graduation. The book is about making effective cultural change that sticks at incredible scale. Having been a part of the program I saw first hand how the program had a big impact on ways of working far beyond the walls of our studio in Austin and others around the world. Phil does a fantastic job of sharing the lessons learned that can be applied everywhere, not just in big operations. There's a specific approach to cultural change we cracked at IBM Design that I have yet to see replicated elsewhere. After moving on to work with other large to small scale operations around the world, I can say with confidence that nobody did it better we did back then. If reading a book isn’t on the radar, here’s a [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YP7si6agdRs&ref=brilliantcrank.com) or listen to [Doug Powell](https://www.dougpowell.design/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) discuss the book and the design program with Phil on his podcast, [This is a prototype](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmuHx8xHb9E&list=PLZwBAyiZ0dhMRdTIv5qltPWdljgAHhS1-&index=1&ref=brilliantcrank.com). Also, just as I strongly encourage to write, I feel the same about taking IBM’s [free courses on design thinking](https://www.ibm.com/training/enterprise-design-thinking?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and get through the “Practitioner” course. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-three-1-1.png) Damilee is an architect and owner of [Nollimedia](https://nollimedia.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) a studio that tells [wonderful stories about architecture in real life and from popular fiction](https://www.madamearchitect.org/interviews/2023/8/24/dami-lee?ref=brilliantcrank.com). She has an [excellent channel](https://www.youtube.com/@DamiLeeArch?ref=brilliantcrank.com) of videos with engaging stories and detailed tear downs of maps, structures, industries, etc. As she describes it, “the channel has grown into a platform where we talk about a wide variety of topics through the lens of architecture. With every video, we dig deep into research, and how we can tell the story from our unique perspective. I think what sets us apart is that we don't just talk about architecture, we actually make architecture as well.” Some of my favorite episodes that I’ve seen to date are on [Minas Tirith](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0sRNqfiwfw&ref=brilliantcrank.com) from Lord of the Rings, [Kowloon City](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoNclh1K%5FzY&ref=brilliantcrank.com), and [cyberpunk cities](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p93lMyCCYig&ref=brilliantcrank.com). Oh, and this episode on [Akira](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMx5ajcWnMU&ref=brilliantcrank.com). As if that wasn’t enough, Damilee also publishes [short books on the research](https://damilee.com/collections/digital-1?filter.p.product%5Ftype=Booklet&filter.v.price.gte=&filter.v.price.lte=&ref=brilliantcrank.com) she does for episodes and other topics like a [travel guide for architecture in Japan](https://damilee.com/products/japan-architectural-destinations-15-day-travel-itinerary?pr%5Fprod%5Fstrat=e5%5Fdesc&pr%5Frec%5Fid=8cd7382f9&pr%5Frec%5Fpid=9114085753113&pr%5Fref%5Fpid=9559703322905&pr%5Fseq=uniform&ref=brilliantcrank.com). --- SPONSORED ![CTA Image](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/12/bookpages-1.png) ****The original, human-centered AI mandate survival guide** [Creative Intelligence](https://brilliantcrank.com/creative-intelligence/) cuts through the hype and gives you practical frameworks for working with AI—not replacing yourself, but amplifying what you're already good at. No bullshit. No fear-mongering. Just clear thinking about what works, what doesn't, and how to stay valuable when machines do the boring parts. Buy it now in [digital](https://brilliantcrank.kit.com/products/creative-intelligence-dont-ask-ai-think-w?ref=brilliantcrank.com) or [print](https://mixam.com/print-on-demand/6882733974cab322f237866b?ref=brilliantcrank.com). --- ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-four-1.png) Big Think has a must watch video with George Bonanno, the author of [*The End of Trauma*](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56643994-the-end-of-trauma?ref=brilliantcrank.com). George wastes no time [identifying the problem he sees](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFeFnMcgk1M&ref=brilliantcrank.com) from the very beginning. "There's a kind of a cultural trend toward thinking we're all pretty fragile right now. I think that's more and more been the case. And I don't know exactly why it all is. It has something to do with the internet has got us focused on how dangerous, how harmful the world is right now by all the things that we perceive that we're fed because it gets our attention. But there's also a lot of industry that sprung up around this idea, the industry that feeds off the idea that we are broken and fragile. And I think that's not a good trend." George’s framework refuses the narrative that struggling means you're fundamentally damaged—it positions you as capable of working through situations by making active choices rather than accepting helplessness. Meanwhile, [mental health is on its way to becoming an industrial complex](https://www.skyquestt.com/report/mental-health-market?ref=brilliantcrank.com)— If not already there—approaching half a trillion dollars today. It is “benefiting from increased venture capital interest, cross-industry partnerships, and policy reforms aimed at improving accessibility and affordability.” This is all to say, remain vigilant with the information that you consume [no matter where it comes from](https://brilliantcrank.com/ejectdiskseries/). And that’s especially true for the Internet and people who rely on the state of your mental health to acquire food and shelter—even when they mean well. We’re humans with incredible skills built-in for adapting. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-five-1.png) Dave Rupert’s post [“One thing churches do well”](https://daverupert.com/2025/11/communions-and-ladders/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) caught my attention and did not disappoint. “One thing faith-based communities do well is that they offer an endless series of opportunities for people to improve and show-off their talents.” He’s spot on and I appreciate his observation. What really struck me is Dave’s teardown of when this structure unravels. “In most of my experiences at a certain point (when money exchanges hands) and at a certain scale (over \~150 people), the church ladder begins to posture itself towards being another capitalistic corporate ladder with patriarchal undertones. The eternal growth model and the innate desire to build ever larger buildings replace vision and connection. The work becomes about managing real estate and optimizing to keep the pews full. Efficiency rises, the arts and music morph into a Live, Laugh, Love poster with mass appeal.” The people limit Dave identified is interesting. Around 150 people is [Dunbar’s number](https://www.newscientist.com/definition/dunbars-number/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) where communities stay human-scale and everyone knows everyone. Beyond that, the focus turns to managing populations, not building community. The progression system flips from developing people to extracting value for institutional survival. No wonder [we’re all still bowling alone](https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2024/11/robert-putnam-wants-us-to-stop-bowling-alone/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) these days. We replaced community talent development ladders with work and KPIs, then wonder why burnout is a half-trillion-dollar industry. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-six-1-1.png) ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/12/hco-ads-combined-a.png) “I’ve been a working designer and creative leader in the graphic design industry for over two decades. Since 2008 I’ve played an influential role in shaping how the world chooses type, whether by creating inspirational artwork or developing new tools to help designers discover, try, and buy fonts with confidence.” That’s [Brian Hennings](https://www.brianhennings.net/index.html?ref=brilliantcrank.com), former designer for the singular [Hoefler&Co](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoefler%5F%26%5FCo.?ref=brilliantcrank.com) taking well earned credit for the influence his work and that of the Hoefler team has had on design, culture, and society at large. Through his personal site, Brian has published a thorough collection of his work that amplified Hoefler’s influence on designers worldwide and, I’m sure, product sales—with more to come. In addition to [gawking at the imagery](https://www.brianhennings.net/work-hco-typographycom.html?ref=brilliantcrank.com), don’t miss the details that Brian leaves not only about the design, but his development work as well. For instance, this little tidbit in the [email section](https://www.brianhennings.net/work-hco-emails.html?ref=brilliantcrank.com), “A glimpse into the message source reveals web font implementation, light and dark mode support, and media queries to swap images based on screen size. In many instances, I altered the layout of desktop and mobile designs if it told the story or presented the type in a better way — a common technique for websites but really underutilized in email.” If you’re not familiar with Hoefler & Co or you’d like to take a look back, listen to Design Better’s [interview with studio founder Jonathan Hoefler](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPYdAUiFFKg&ref=brilliantcrank.com) and watch the typography episode of [Abstract The Art of Design](https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8kgp1c?ref=brilliantcrank.com) that features the studio and its work. --- Hey, if you like The Dice then please check out these other fine variety publications with links and brief takes: [Sentiers](https://sentiers.media/ai-in-2026-and-beyond-bioregionalisms-tech-driven-revival-no-384/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), [Espresso Shots](https://makoism.com/espresso-shots-12-28-25/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), [BTW](https://jasonsantamaria.com/blog/btw-4-people-make-amazing-things-edition?ref=brilliantcrank.com), and [hiro.report](https://www.hiro.report/21dec2025-at-all-space-curious/?utm%5Fmedium=rss&ref=brilliantcrank.com). And if you’ve got one to share, [please do](https://brilliantcrank.com/reach-out/). --- Published in Tacoma, Washington while watching the [Seattle Seahawks maul the Carolina Panthers](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxbCNz3SLLE&ref=brilliantcrank.com). ### The Dice — 043 URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-dice-043/ Last updated: 2025-12-21T18:16:50.000Z ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/brilliantcrank-dice-2-3.png) The [Internet might be dying](https://www.theringer.com/2021/07/21/tech/google-reader-ode-end-of-the-good-internet?ref=brilliantcrank.com), but it still has it moments of serendipity. A comment on LinkedIn led me to a blog with a recent post on the [Freedom of Missing Out](https://staticmade.com/2025/12/12/freedom-of-missing-out/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). “We should not fear of missing out. Instead, let’s normalize a freedom of missing out. A freedom to let the insignificant and immaterial slide into the ether unnoticed. A freedom to be bored or reflective. A freedom that honors stillness and slowness. A freedom that empowers a focused mind, time spent with meaning, and whole presence in any given moment.” This is very much related to this week’s roll on drawing mandalas. I received a few responses to last week’s roll about You’re Always Missing Out because I completely borked the acronym. Which is a shame because it perfectly sets up one of the greatest lines in film: [“If I hear YAMO be there one more time I’m going to YAMO burn this place to the ground.”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7Vo%5Ft7zbeQ&ref=brilliantcrank.com) So consider this the definitive correction. Have a [safe and happy holiday](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ug44G2FdWyU&ref=brilliantcrank.com) this week. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-one-1.png) This year the Storeyhouse Critereon film collection grew substantially with many films previously unseen. Years ago I wouldn’t have given many of the titles a second glance, but my curiosity is piqued when I hear [creatives and makers provide their perspectives](https://www.youtube.com/@criterioncollection?ref=brilliantcrank.com) on what makes films meaningful and worth attention. Every semester in college I added [HIST A244 Studies in Film History](https://www.coursicle.com/uaaalaska/courses/HIST/A244/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) by [Ron Crawford](https://www.seniorvoicealaska.com/story/2013/11/01/local/a-passion-for-teaching-and-sharing/282.html?ref=brilliantcrank.com) to my schedule. We met every Monday evening in large theatre where Ron gave a lecture on film history followed by the viewing of a movie essential to the theme of the class. This week I stumbled on [a conversation between Leonardo DiCaprio and Paul Thomas Anderson](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8WW4jJ59d4&ref=brilliantcrank.com) where they discussed a long list of films that include *Star Wars*, [*The Battle of Algiers*](https://www.criterion.com/films/248-the-battle-of-algiers?srsltid=AfmBOooCLRCVPo4uGq9rKahQ2%5FbLuus7BliyiCketQw84fTkZ7ePzdqC&ref=brilliantcrank.com), *Animal House*, [*The Searchers*](https://letterboxd.com/film/the-searchers/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and many more. Throughout they discuss backstories and influences these movies had on their career and in the development and performance of their movie [*One Battle After Another*](https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-reviews/one-battle-after-another-review-paul-thomas-anderson-1235424547/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Highly recommended whether you have watch the movie yet or not, but you are going to watch it. Side note: I was surprised to hear how both men appreciate [*Midnight Run*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MW6Cu5WpDas&t=5s&ref=brilliantcrank.com)*.* It is one of my all-time favorite movies that never gets old nor fails to entertain even as I know some of the dialogue by heart. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-two-1.png) Marcin Wichary’s post on [“clock indents”](https://aresluna.org/the-clock/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) was new to me but thankfully like most of his [wonderful writing](https://shifthappens.site/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), it’s timeless. “In Poland, in the 1980s, the dead space in between programs was filled with…a clock. Or, to me, The Clock. I simply loved The Clock to death. Not for what it was, of course (time-telling was provided by our own wall clock that didn’t require aerials and cathode ray tubes — and later on, a prized Casio electronic watch on my wrist). Like Pavlov’s dogs, I loved The Clock for what it promised. I would stare at it just minutes before new adventures of [Crockett and Tubbs](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miami%5FVice?ref=brilliantcrank.com). I would twiddle my thumbs in anticipation of the resolution to last week’s [Crime Story](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crime%5FStory%5F%28TV%5Fseries%29?ref=brilliantcrank.com) — or, in the years before I was allowed to watch those series, another episode of a Polish, Czech, or Russian cartoon.” I hope you enjoy this rabbit hole as much as I did. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-three-1-1.png) ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/12/thepriceoffreedome-2.png) Book cover retrospectives make the very best “best of…” lists this time of year and this one by The Causual Optimist is top notch. This list kicks off with a hot, monochromatic series that immediately caught my attention. “The typographic covers for the [Penguin Archive](https://www.penguin.co.uk/series/PENARCH/penguin-archive?ref=brilliantcrank.com) designed by Jim Stoddart. Published in April to celebrate 90 years of Penguin Books, the designs use typography to evoke the different eras of the publisher.” To appreciate the depth and breadth of Jim’s work, [check out more of the collection](https://www.jimstoddart.co.uk/penguin-archive-1?ref=brilliantcrank.com) as just a few images aren’t enough. I would like to see the [entire set](https://www.shreejinewsagents.com/pages/penguin-archive?srsltid=AfmBOooEZLYpcjW3mjo%5FS0S4KX7itKc5apnNOGnVcOtBaMRrzovicrqh&ref=brilliantcrank.com) some day but I’m going to call it now: the cover for *The Price of Freedom* by Saadat Hasan Manto (see above) is the best of the set—for obvious reasons. But honestly there are so many amazing covers in The Casual Optimist’s list are worth worth savoring. New York Times Book Review art director Matt Dorfman has [a nice curated list](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/14/books/review/the-best-book-covers-of-2025.html?unlocked%5Farticle%5Fcode=1.-U8.hUMN.nO8W94dpi008&smid=url-share&ref=brilliantcrank.com) of notable covers. Super interesting is the cover for [*Searches*](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/745381/searches-by-vauhini-vara/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) by Vauhini Vara with what looks like AI generated overview of the book and the cover image. “It’s counterintuitive to market a book with a presentation this deliberately alienating, even if alienation from the self is one of its key themes. Praise is due for recognizing the opportunity to attract attention by setting the sterile informality of a ChatGPT overview against a sea of other books trying hard to look more considered.” Meanwhile, there is a [similar list for my favorite medium](https://www.creativereview.co.uk/the-best-magazine-covers-of-the-year-2025/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), but unlike books, the real creativity is not on the cover but within. --- **Get the *Eject Disk* zine for free.** ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/12/ejectdiskpages.png) Most of us are stuck. Stuck in jobs that are grinding us down. Stuck searching for work that won't come. Stuck between desperately wanting change and being terrified of what that change might cost. Eject Disk is a call to action to name these feelings and do something about them. And now [I want you to have your own copy](https://brilliantcrank.kit.com/products/eject-disk?promo=BCRNK&ref=brilliantcrank.com). Just grab it, read it, and feel it. And if you're on Reddit, [give this a bump](https://www.reddit.com/r/zines/comments/1prhmbc/my%5Ffirst%5Fzine%5Feject%5Fdisk/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). --- ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-four-1.png) If you’ve been around and were there when blogs became a thing, then you’ll appreciate Talking Points Memo’s [Pivots, Trolls, & Blog Rolls: Reflections on 25 Years of Digital Media.](https://talkingpointsmemo.com/tpm-25?ref=brilliantcrank.com) So far my favorite entry is [This Post Should Have Been Shorter](https://talkingpointsmemo.com/tpm-25/this-post-should-have-been-shorter?ref=brilliantcrank.com) by Hamilton Nolan on blogging as journalism. “Newspaper and magazine stories come with a built-in frame. They have word counts. Even books, the pinnacle of Serious Writing, have their limits: a hundred pages is too few, a thousand is too many. On the internet, there is no word count. Indeed, there are almost no limits of any kind. At some sites, for every news item or essay or feature story, a lone blogger was tasked with deciding how long it should be, how serious or funny it should be, and how it should be presented on the page. This caused much unpolished crap to be published online, sure. But those who mastered the craft of blogging did a job that requires three editors and a graphic designer at a major newspaper. And they could make it funny, something that no number of New York Times editors can achieve.” Columbia Journalism Review has an interview with TPM founder and publisher [Josh Marshall](https://www.cjr.org/the-interview/how-talking-points-memo-survived-25-years-trump-crisis.php?ref=brilliantcrank.com), who was a monumental figure in proving that good blogs have an important role to play in journalism. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-five-1.png) When I caught a glimpse of [*Power Tools*](https://powertoolsofai.com/power-tools-zine-1/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) I could not click download button fast enough. It’s a new zine by [Bart Fish](https://www.bartfish.com/?ref=powertoolsofai.com) dedicated to “critiquing AI and the billionaire toolmen behind it. The name is based on the common narrative that AI just a tool. This zine asks readers, ‘a tool for whom?’ We’re not anti-tech, we’re against irresponsible tech, the kind that steals, exploits, and endangers humans in the name of progress.” Though you might have a different or slightly different take on this new technology, [as I do](https://brilliantcrank.com/creative-intelligence/), it is important to support *Power Tools* and others like it. We all need to consider different perspectives that come from real people, not networks, corporations, politicians or—*for fucks sake*—[tech oligarchs](https://powertoolsofai.com/monsters-of-ai-peter-thiel/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). The download is free, but [I highly recommend buying the print edition](https://buy.stripe.com/dRmbJ14P67DI6vpg1W8bS03?ref=powertoolsofai.com) that comes with a sweet sticker pack while supplies last. It’s also worth noting that Bart is looking for contributors for future issues. Speaking of zines, The Guardian brought attention to [more and more people making, folding, and distributing zines](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2025/dec/10/zine-revival-organizing-social-media?ref=brilliantcrank.com) as a form of resistance. “Zines have made a resurgence in recent months as communities seek to share information, such as how to protect one another from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or how to resist the Trump administration outside No Kings protests. People of all ages, from all regions, are making, printing and distributing zines on the streets, in libraries and at local gathering spots.” More of this please, and maybe through in a pirate radio station or two? ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-six-1-1.png) ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/12/1221-1.png) Every Friday morning at 9am PST, [Dave Gray](https://schoolofthepossible.substack.com/) kicks off his [campfire call](https://schoolofthepossible.substack.com/p/friday-campfire-call). I try to make it every week, even if it’s only for a bit because I get to see and interact with people from all walks of life and from all over the world—no membership required. Each call is filled with divergent conversations that get sparked by curious people with an interest in learn and share what they’re writing, crafting, making, doing—you get the idea. This week our conversation got off with a bang after Dave shared that he has recently start drawing [mandalas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandala?ref=brilliantcrank.com) every morning. The practice of creating a mandala starts with drawing a simple circle and letting your mind wander as you fill it in. Said Dave on the call, “the mandala is sort of like an invitation to that part of the mind which doesn't speak in language. It's an invitation to the unconscious, that part of the brain or the mind to reveal itself or talk to me.” [The results are striking](https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipP2yptlhQPbiHsrht8mej5Nu0e%5FLQj2AG%5FzLkUzr95Jd1rKJvMNMxCG84cKokVCZg?key=ODJvWVR0LVNjVFBSTjRBdTNfZ1FlTEQ3TURkVS1R&ref=brilliantcrank.com) and I was immediately drawn in to learn more as the results—at least for Dave—are wonderful works of art. The mandala from [December 15th](https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipP2yptlhQPbiHsrht8mej5Nu0e%5FLQj2AG%5FzLkUzr95Jd1rKJvMNMxCG84cKokVCZg/photo/AF1QipM6PSVEvnwQP94ohnadkVVHyJ6REucMi8awr5nQ?key=ODJvWVR0LVNjVFBSTjRBdTNfZ1FlTEQ3TURkVS1R&ref=brilliantcrank.com) is my favorite to date. --- Published in Tacoma, Washington head nodding to *[Cabin in the Sky](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YeWMYdoGQs&ref=brilliantcrank.com)* by Da La Soul. ### Second verse, same as the first. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/second-verse-same-as-the-first/ Last updated: 2025-12-15T21:57:19.000Z Over at [Same Team Partners](https://sameteampartners.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) we're making a move that I'm excited to share. But before I get into that, let me provide some context. Back in 2013 [Brett Harned](https://brettharned.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) came to me with a thought. There were conferences for designers, developers, UX researchers, content strategists, even for leaders. But there was nothing for project managers. In response, Brett and I created the Digital PM Summit, an annual event that continues today. Five years later Brett wrote [*Project Management for Humans*](https://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/project-management-for-humans/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) for Rosenfeld Media. We reconnected and recorded a podcast called Sprints & Milestones, sharing anecdotal stories related to each chapter of the book. About five years later we started Same Team with a focus on making better teams for studios and in-house programs. This year, in 2025, Brett has been everywhere from Dubai to Denver, Portland to Indiana. He's given keynotes and workshops and listened to project managers share their stories. About mid-way through 2025 Brett started publishing what he's seeing and hearing—similar to what I've been doing here but with a focus on PMs. And his posts are hitting hard. Not because they're clever, but because they're true. He's speaking truth for project management: You can't automate accountability. The anxiety around AI. The classic, continuing frustrations about how underserved PMs are in the workplace and the lack of support they get. What we've seen in these responses is that the PM community is hungry for people to speak what's happening and tell it like it is. No consultant jargon. No LinkedIn guru bullshit. Just what PMs are going through. The response we're seeing from Brett's work signals to us that our work through Same Team needs to be directed back to the community that brought us together in 2013\. I'm not surprised that we're going full circle here. In all of the places that I've worked or consulted in the last ten years, it's clear that project management still does not get the same level of attention and support as their peers. This isn't accidental—it's the same extraction pattern I write about here, just applied to exhausting effort to coordinate people and projects instead of creative work. So, we're pivoting Same Team Partners to focus on project managers and their work. [We're launching PM Squad](https://sameteampartners.com/membership/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), a year-long program built specifically for project managers of all stripes—whether you're on the PM career path, an accidental PM, a new PM, or an old hand who's just a little burned out. This is for everybody. There are no cohorts. No online community. No BS like that. Just practical learning, tools, and frameworks you can use immediately. To show you what this looks like, [I posted a video that walks you through our roadmap for 2026](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNHRw9aNh0o&ref=brilliantcrank.com) and how it will work. In short, we're taking our talent for leadership, teaching, and writing and applying this to a field that rarely gets the support that it needs and deserves through a human-centered lens. Now, I recognize that a lot of you aren't project managers, but I'd still like your help. For starters, [watch the video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNHRw9aNh0o&ref=brilliantcrank.com) and let me know what you think. And then share it with a PM or two that you likely know. If you don't know any PMs then please go find some, make friends, and share this video. Easy peasy. ### The Dice — 042 URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-dice-042/ Last updated: 2025-12-15T00:25:07.000Z ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/brilliantcrank-dice-2-3.png) I can’t say that I’m a fan of December. It used to feel like a big payoff but now I just want to get through it unscathed. This time of year just keeps getting more difficult to sit through. I was in a group conversation this week and we got to talking about how difficult this time of year is for people. Especially in the silence when you don't have work or family to distract you or to remind you of what you don’t have. So, call your friends. Check in on everybody. And if you’re the one in that silence, take this idea from a punk rocker—Make things and give them to people (see below). Here’s this weeks 1d6. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-one-1.png) I haven’t cracked open my copy of [*Enshitification*](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/enshittification-cory-doctorow/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) yet, but I have a theory that [FOMO](https://markmanson.net/fear-of-missing-out?ref=brilliantcrank.com) contributed to it. Mark Manson, author of [*The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F\*ck*](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-subtle-art-of-not-giving-a-f-ck-mark-manson/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) states the problem clearly, “The problem with FOMO is that it prevents you from actually experiencing what’s happening.” For some folks it does that and a bag of chips, by creating a building sense of obsession that is hard to shake. Hi. While doing research for Reboot System I learned that many philosophies contain a key element: striving for simplicity through reduction. And not just of material things, but expectations and desires that can be fueled by FOMO. So as much as I dislike acronyms, I've got another one for you: YAMA. [You’re Always Missing Out](https://nesslabs.com/yama?ref=brilliantcrank.com) “recognizes that missing out is a fundamental part of the human condition. Rather than fighting this reality or trying to optimize around it, YAMA suggests simply accepting that we’re finite creatures in an infinite world. What’s most liberating about YAMA is its honesty about the human condition. We have limited time, attention, and capacity for experience. No amount of productivity hacking or careful planning will change that.” If you want the tactical side of this—how to actually practice distinguishing between what you can't control and what you won't engage—Protocol 6 in [*Reboot System*](https://brilliantcrank.kit.com/products/reboot-system?ref=brilliantcrank.com) walks through it. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-two-1.png) In response to the [escalating activity](https://theintercept.com/2025/11/23/prairieland-ice-antifa-zines-criminalize-protest-journalism/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) of Trump’s SS cosplay teams, 404 Media are making a zine on “the surveillance tactics used by ICE, and the ways people are resisting this technology.” The group of four founders [discussed the zine and getting into print](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lseEXc-ZzsQ&ref=brilliantcrank.com) on their podcast. “In an age where so much of what we do is moderated by algorithms and increasingly where everything is so automated, so AI focused, we wanted to create something that was like really tangible and and really human. Sort of as an experiment, but also because we thought it would be cool." The zine will contain a collection of new and republished stories and will be distributed at a few events. It is also available to [purchase](https://404media.myshopify.com/products/presale-ice-surveillance-zine?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Given the mission and purpose of this work, I’m surprised there isn’t an option to buy the zine in packs or a PDF version so people can make black and white copies and distribute them en masse. Ernie Smith was tapped to design the zine and shared how he used the new [Affinity app running on Linux](https://tedium.co/2025/12/10/404-media-zine-linux-affinity/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) to do the work. Adding to the complexity of the setup, they chose to go to print using Risograph. “At one point while I was trying to make a PDF, Affinity promised me that the file I would be exporting was going to be 17 exabytes in size, which my SSD was definitely not large enough for.” Yikes. Related: [The internet didn’t kill counterculture—you just won’t find it on Instagram](https://www.documentjournal.com/2021/01/the-internet-didnt-kill-counterculture-you-just-wont-find-it-on-instagram/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-three-1-1.png) Speaking of shitty Internet, LinkedIn certainly isn’t helping as it continues to [circle the drain](https://brilliantcrank.com/linkedin-is-a-waiting-room-of-doom/). I think we’re all sick and tired of scrolling through so many hot takes cut and pasted with pullquotes from the latest report. Hippie CEO, Jason Thompson shared his thoughts on [what and why this is happening](https://www.hippieceolife.com/blog/how-good-research-gets-weaponized-a-mckinsey-case-study?ref=brilliantcrank.com). “I’m writing this to share how quality research gets turned into data theater, and why we, as analysts, need to resist the temptation to do the same. This happens because browsing a summary feels like reading a report. Finding a statistic feels like understanding the research. And citing McKinsey feels like doing your homework. None of those things are true.” Thompson breaks this down through the activity that rose up after McKinsey published their report on the [future of the workplace and AI](https://www.mckinsey.com/mgi/our-research/agents-robots-and-us-skill-partnerships-in-the-age-of-ai?ref=brilliantcrank.com). He also wrote a framework for “Better Data Hygiene” which is solid, but as long as the algorithms are in place and people refuse to slow down and read things, I doubt it will do much good. Sigh. Maybe it’s time to [start a commune](https://www.ic.org/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). --- **Get the *Eject Disk* zine for free.** ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/12/ejectdiskpages.png) Most of us are stuck. Stuck in jobs that are grinding us down. Stuck searching for work that won't come. Stuck between desperately wanting change and being terrified of what that change might cost. Eject Disk is a call to action to name these feelings and do something about them. And now [I want you to have your own copy](https://brilliantcrank.kit.com/products/eject-disk?promo=BCRNK&ref=brilliantcrank.com). No strings. No drip campaigns. Just grab it, read it, and feel it. --- ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-four-1.png) I can’t think of a better signal of resistance to all of today’s bullshit than [Flea](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fVl3uO8g-c&ref=brilliantcrank.com)—you know, the bassist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers—writing and performing jazz, and jazz dancing. This was not on my bingo card for 2025 but so glad it’s here. About his upcoming album [Flea says](https://www.nonesuch.com/journal/flea-releases-new-original-song-plea-2025-12-02?ref=brilliantcrank.com), “I don’t care about the act of politics. I think there is a much more transcendent place above it where there’s discourse to be had that can actually help humanity, and actually help us all to live harmoniously and productively in a way that’s healthy for the world. There’s a place where we meet, and it’s love.” Thanks to [Chris Glass](https://chrisglass.com/links/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), I came across the recently released single titled [*A Plea*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmyjzvQv5bA&ref=brilliantcrank.com) that is wonderful to watch and wonderfully motivational and inspirational. Check out these lyrics: “Make something beautiful. I don’t care if it’s a little scrap of squiggly crayon on a paper. Make something beautiful and see somebody. Give it to somebody. I’m not being corny this shit is real. Live for peace. Live for love.” The music might be called jazz, but all I hear is punk. And I love it. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-five-1.png) ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/12/B_translator_01_Bambura_Awith_.format-webp.width-2880_pP6DnTyBXK4PlgME.png) *Translator* is a new magazine of journalism and reportage from around the world translated into the English language that includes bits of context surrounding each piece. Think liner notes. It’s Nice That has [an interview with the magazines creative director](https://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/translator-mag-culture-graphic-design-publication-050825?ref=brilliantcrank.com) Jeremy Leslie (of MagCulture fame) and a look through pages of the first issue. “Every element of each page, even the glossaries beside articles are well placed and fitting of each page’s design ecosystem. An example of this is the striking page on Sri Lankan film Bambaru Avith (The Wasps Are Here) where informative meets aesthetic, strengthening immersion by its breaking down of the Sinhala language. Design is utilised to inform, accommodating readership with translator notes to create a diversity of thought—not only outside of the English language but cultures outside our own personal spheres of thought.” Marginalia is nothing new, but I love that this idea of additional context running throughout each story. Also be sure to take a look at the cover dominated by the publication logo as a clever device for displaying the table of contents. [Issue #2](https://translatormag.co/products/issue-2-winter-2025?ref=brilliantcrank.com) is out now and there’s still time to [grab the first](https://translatormag.co/products/issue-1-summer-2025?ref=brilliantcrank.com). And [there is a weekly newsletter](https://translatormag.substack.com/) to add to the experience. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-six-1-1.png) One event I look forward to around this time of year is [NiemanLab’s Predictions for Journalism](https://www.niemanlab.org/collection/predictions-2026/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). “Each year, we ask some of the smartest people in digital media what they think is coming in the year ahead. Here's what they told us.” It seems to get bigger and bigger each year and in 2025 they kicked it up a notch with the design and card interface. There is a lot to digest here but there are so many ideas and observations worth digging into, even if you aren’t working in journalism. For instance: [The future of news is happening where no one is looking](https://www.niemanlab.org/2025/12/the-future-of-news-is-happening-where-no-one-is-looking/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) by Garry Pierre-Pierre. “The people keeping their communities informed aren’t reporters. They’re the pastor who delivers immigration updates before the sermon. The barber who streams local politics on Facebook Live. The neighbor who translates every school notice and distributes it through five different group chats. The teacher who explains American bureaucracy to families who arrived last week. The WhatsApp moderator running a rumor-control operation that outperforms the mayor’s office. None of these people will keynote a journalism conference. But if journalism is about helping people understand their world, they are quietly doing the job. And that’s my prediction for 2026: the news industry will finally realize that these informal community information networks are not peripheral to local news—they are the most functional version of it.” Bookmark this and make a point to return often. There are a lot of good ideas in there. --- Published in Tacoma, Washington with *[National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Hk-2WqG%5FSg&ref=brilliantcrank.com)* playing in the background. ### Trapped between equally impossible options. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/trapped-between-equally-impossible-options/ Last updated: 2025-12-14T16:25:12.000Z Earlier this week the [*Eject Disk* zine series](https://brilliantcrank.com/ejectdiskseries/) was featured in the wonderful and must read publication [*Dense Discovery*](https://www.densediscovery.com/issues/368?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Kai, the publisher, had the great idea of giving readers a copy of the first zine for free. So, we set it up and it’s been fantastic to see people grab their copy and also become subscribers. Meanwhile, I had to go to the dentist and as I was lying there with the hygenist’s fingers and tools crammed in my mouth, I thought to myself, “It’s the holiday season and you’ve got something pretty cool to give to everyone, so why aren’t you giving it to everyone?” And then I blew saliva into the mouth vacuum thingy. From conversations I've had and posts that I've read this year, people are doing their damned best to hang on and keep it together. An incredibly isolating feeling. I see them, and I see you, because I see myself. In times like these my mother always says, "I wish I could make it better”—but I can't make it better. What I can do is name what's actually happening. Most of us are stuck. Stuck in jobs that are grinding us down. Stuck searching for work that won't come. Stuck facing the terror of starting over. Stuck between desperately wanting change and being terrified of what that change might cost. Whether you have a job or need one, the feeling is the same: trapped between equally impossible options. I wrote *Eject Disk* to give you a moment to stop performing and see yourself clearly. No frameworks to implement. No optimization. Just recognition. I created *Run Diagnostic* to give people an idea of where they are. So, before whatever break you can manage this month, [get your copy of my first zine for $0.00](https://brilliantcrank.kit.com/products/eject-disk?promo=BCRNK&ref=brilliantcrank.com). And if you know someone who needs it, give it to them, or point to this post. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/12/readreadreadfeel.png) ### The Dice — 041 URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-dice-041/ Last updated: 2025-12-07T11:08:06.000Z ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/brilliantcrank-dice-2-3.png) This week we finished watching [*The American Revolution*](https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/the-american-revolution?ref=brilliantcrank.com) which was much more educational and enlightening than my wife and I anticipated. I'm fairly certain that most Americans have a bent perspective on the formation of this country based upon a combination of poor public education, a decline in civic duty, racism—which, unfortunately is engrained in the core of USA OS—and recent propaganda. In short, everyone who lives in this country should watch the documentary to remind ourselves how and why we are here, and who did what because the pictures that we have about our founders and what they did are badly skewed. Also, we have a much better understanding and appreciation for why Benedict—emphasis on ‘dic’—Arnold is considered a right and proper twat. Arnold's story is a good reminder why people who do good work and are committed to a cause or a company or whatever, need to be appreciated, and told so. Also, why it's so important to sniff out and get rid of narcissists before they turn into real monsters. Like the fragile, decaying dummy squatting the White House today. I'm finishing off this issue with a very needy cat tucked between me and the keyboard. Maybe I should have gotten a pet monkey so that at least it could help with editing—couldn't be any worse than most days with ChatGPT. Enjoy this issue and have a great week. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-one-1.png) Hey, are you reading Rolling Stone these days? If not, why not? I subscribed a year ago and love the looks I get when reading the magazine in a coffee shop. Like I'm holding something that has to be seen to be believed. Anyhoo, Rolling Stone kicks off the last month of the year with their take on the [20 best movies of the year](https://www.rollingstone.com/tv-movies/tv-movie-lists/best-movies-2025-1235440226/hamnet-2-1235440300/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and it's a solid list that includes some of my own favorites from 2025, like [*Edington*](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/eddington?ref=brilliantcrank.com)*,* [*Black Bag*](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/black%5Fbag?ref=brilliantcrank.com)*,* and [*The Phoenian Scheme*](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the%5Fphoenician%5Fscheme?ref=brilliantcrank.com), but also a bunch of films I'm intrigued to chase down. They include: [*On Becoming a Guinea Fowl*](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/on%5Fbecoming%5Fa%5Fguinea%5Ffowl?ref=brilliantcrank.com)*,* [*Universal Language*](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/universal%5Flanguage%5F2024?ref=brilliantcrank.com)*,* [*No Other Choice*](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/no%5Fother%5Fchoice?ref=brilliantcrank.com) (I really want to see this one), and It Was Just An Accident. I knew it would make the list but glad to see [*One Battle After Another*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feOQFKv2Lw4&ref=brilliantcrank.com) take the top spot. Also featured is [*Orwell: 2+2=5*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCTSYWjoKWA&ref=brilliantcrank.com), a haunting documentary on George Orwell’s writing paired with footage of current and historical events that maps all too well with his foresight. Rolling Stone dubbed it "the scariest movie of 2025." [I would have called it the most sobering](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBfHby9uq7c&ref=brilliantcrank.com)—it's only scary if you haven't been paying attention to the course of domestic and global politics and events in the last 25 years. Related: The Ringer’s list of [the top 100 TV episodes of the century](https://www.theringer.com/project/best-tv-episodes?ref=brilliantcrank.com). When I saw the number one pick, I could not believe it’s only been 21 years since that episode. Feels like five lifetimes ago. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-two-1.png) Here’s a problem that’s highly likely going to get much worse, [people \[are\] outsourcing their thinking to AI](https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2025/12/people-outsourcing-their-thinking-ai/685093/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). “Many people are becoming reliant on AI to navigate some of the most basic aspects of daily life. A colleague suggested that we might even call the most extreme users “LLeMmings” For this set of compulsive users, AI has become a primary interface through which they interact with the world. The emails they write, the life decisions they make, and the questions that consume their mind all filter through AI first.” Look, I hope I don’t think I have to tell you that this is bad—how we end up in the Matrix. If only there was [a brilliantly written book to give people a healthy, human-centered guidance on how to use AI](https://brilliantcrank.com/creative-intelligence/) in a way that doesn’t lead to [Idiocracy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lai9QhBibk&ref=brilliantcrank.com). ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-three-1-1.png) ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/12/olympics.png) As a follow up to his amazing [*Olympic Games The Design*](https://niggli.ch/en/products/olympic-games-the-design-ebook?variant=51064482791744&ref=brilliantcrank.com), Markus Osterwalder is back with a book that focuses on the Paris 2024 summer games. “The design for Paris 2024 stands out with its clean, symbolic aesthetic, deeply rooted in the city’s cultural and historical heritage. Hosting competitions at iconic locations was a key element in the success of this approach. Markus Osterwalder has meticulously curated examples from fields such as graphic design, typography, and product design to showcase the design identity of these extraordinary Games in their entirety.” Extraodinary is right! [*Olympic Games. Paris 2024.*](https://niggli.ch/en/products/olympic-games-paris-2024-early-bird?ref=brilliantcrank.com) looks gorgeous and is currently available at discounted early bird price. Niggli makes phenominal books and I have a few in the Storey library. While you’re adding Markus’ books to your cart, check out [*Risomania*](https://niggli.ch/en/products/risomania??ref=brilliantcrank.com)*,* [*Guidelines and Standards for the Visual Design*](https://niggli.ch/en/products/richtlinien-und-normen-fur-die-visuelle-gestaltung?ref=brilliantcrank.com)*,* [*Max Bill: Typography. Advertising. Book Design*](https://niggli.ch/en/products/max-bill-typografie-reklame-buchgestaltung?ref=brilliantcrank.com)*,* and [*Design, Typography, etc.*](https://niggli.ch/en/products/design-typography-etc?ref=brilliantcrank.com), to name a few. --- ***Buy the zine that hits hard...*** ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/12/ejectdiskpages.png) Got this message recently from a reader: “\[Eject Disk\] really hit me. I think much of it would have brought tears running down my face if I hadn’t shut that faucet off long ago (for the reasons you explained). Highly recommended.” Buy [*Eject Disk*](https://brilliantcrank.kit.com/products/eject-disk?ref=brilliantcrank.com) the zine or the [four-zine series](https://brilliantcrank.kit.com/products/the-eject-disk-zine-series?ref=brilliantcrank.com). --- ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-four-1.png) Outdoor enthusiast Steven Smith sought to [find a place in the USA where you can absolutely escape noise pollution](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KgaOs%5Fp2do&ref=brilliantcrank.com). With a country as large as the US you would think that it would be easy peasy but sadly no. “Silence is disappearing. Even in the largest and most remote wilderness areas it is nearly impossible to find. With the help of Dr. Preston Wilson of UT Austin and Matt Mikkelsen, Wilderness director of [Quiet Parks International](https://www.quietparks.org/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), I go looking for the last quiet place in America.” I think I’m more bothered by light pollution. Thankfully there seem to be [more locations](https://darksky.org/what-we-do/international-dark-sky-places/all-places/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) where we can still see the Milky Way (which if you have not seen this in person, then make it a priority) at night. On a more serious note: Steven’s wife was recently diagnosed with cancer and he had to step away from his channel for a while. Luke Nichols, a famous outdoor content creator came out of retirement to [record an episode](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DH%5FHVTpj2Oo&ref=brilliantcrank.com) of surviving an Alaskan winter night in the wilderness without a sleeping bag. Side note: [Akutaq](https://kinneen.com/agudak/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), the eskimo ice cream he eats in the video, is a real thing and it’s disgusting. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-five-1.png) “Unlike old authoritarianism built on fear and force, this new system rules through code, capital, and infrastructure—making resistance feel architecturally impossible.” Created as a wake-up call for European countries, [The Authoritarian Stack](https://www.authoritarian-stack.info/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) tracks “a network of firms, funds, and political actors turning core state functions into private platforms. Based on an open-source dataset of over 250 actors, thousands of verified connections, and $45 billion in documented financial flows.” It’s well organized and well designed to articulate just how screwed up the United States government is right now. Hopefully not forever. When I read just how fucked up this situation is maybe we do need a [world revolution](https://www.adbusters.org/manifesto?ref=brilliantcrank.com). “Break the spell of the corpo-capitalist doomsday machine. Reclaim true freedom—from algorithmic control, climate collapse, and the worldwide authoritarian wave.” I’m pulling my copy of Adbusters [*Manifesto for World Revolution*](https://subscribe.adbusters.org/products/a-manifesto-for-world-revolution?ref=brilliantcrank.com) off the shelf and giving it a re-read. Consider [doing the same](https://subscribe.adbusters.org/products/1-year-subscription-manifesto-for-world-revolution?ref=brilliantcrank.com). ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-six-1-1.png) ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/12/BBS-FTW.png) For a while I’ve had this idea for an old school BBS experience that had the look and feel of everything [charm\_](https://charm.land/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) makes. After coming across a link in this week’s issue of [Dense Discovery](https://www.densediscovery.com/issues/367?ref=brilliantcrank.com), I can call Bono and tell him that I found what I’m looking for. [ᑕ¥βєяรקค¢є](https://cyberspace.online/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) is “a quiet corner of the internet where you can think, write, read and connect. Like how the internet was supposed to be.” More of this please! Though I kinda wish you had to use Telnet to add just a bit more dial-up experience but I’m not going to complain. In fact, Cyberspace has features that I would never have dreamed of while staying true to the mission (no AI, video, algorithm, suggestions, tracking, crypto, or ads) and the sweet charm\_ like 8-bit asthestic. I’m impressed by the quality of the software and how much control each user has over their experience. Drop those Slack and Discord channels and [jack-in to the real thing](https://cyberspace.online/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). --- Published in Tacoma, Washington while signing along to *[Wild Child](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y51iwASbHIw&list=PLxA687tYuMWhOdNpasymCMSgU5M2lJNgc&ref=brilliantcrank.com)* by Big Wild. ### The Dice — 040 URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-dice-040/ Last updated: 2025-12-01T00:37:28.000Z ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/brilliantcrank-dice-2-3.png) Yesterday my order for print zines arrived and I immediately saw every flaw and mistake made. My design work assumed real zine-like printing where every page is used, including the inside of the front and back cover. Maybe I made the wrong paper choice but the copies I got are womperjawed. One of the reasons I dropped everything to get into web design is the constant difficulties I had with print publications—especially when working alone. I spent many years hunched in front of the monochromatic blue glow of a nine-inch Macintosh screen making signs, posters, flyers, brochures but without the ability to print anything out until I got to the print shop weirdly called TimeFrame. There were a few times that I opted to personally pay for a second print run after discovering flaws after seeing the finished print job. Which was not compatible with my state of revenue back then, but I could not deliver bad work. Now here I am decades later back to making pre-print mistakes though I’m in a slightly better position to pay for another run. Now that I’ve held the books and my zines I have the itch to dive deeper and have started looking into what it would take to start a TimeFrame of my own. This much I know: We need more printed pages in this day and age. I can’t prove it but I’m sure just as our mental health improves by walking among trees it must surely do the same by engaging the written word on paper made from them. Alright, here’s what I’ve got for you this week. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-one-1.png) [*Infinite Right Answers*](https://misterandmischief.fun/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) “is a zine for anyone who’s ever tried to build something weird, heartfelt, and wildly interactive. Part creative manifesto, part behind-the-scenes brain dump, and part choose-your-own-reflection, this zine explores the deeply human art of making stories with your audience, not just for them.” My issue came this week and I loved every page. Especially the bit on finding your flavor profile. *Infinite Right Answers* is from the creative duo [Jeff and Andy Crocker](https://misterandmischief.fun/about?ref=brilliantcrank.com) who have an amazing CV in creative work for creative places. Each issue comes with a few worksheets and a sweet branded Sharpie. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-two-1.png) People continue to ask what design tools I use these days. Seems there are still people out there who are either forced to continue using Adobe or they're nervous to make the jump. Well I'm here to tell you, go ahead and jump, I've got you. Nobody on this planet should be using Adobe products in a world where [Affinity](https://www.affinity.studio/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) exists. None. Zero. If you're holding back because you don't want to have to learn a new application then I question your intelligence and life decisions. Affinity used to be a family of three tools: Design, Photo, and Publisher, but they recently pulled everything into a single application (and file type). In short, they simplified the platform but added a large handful of new and powerful features. The best part is that [it's 100% free](https://www.canva.com/newsroom/news/affinity-free/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and, unless you pay an additional fee, does not include AI. Yes, you read that right. Here's a good overview of [everything in the new Affinity](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYLyJMpK-fA&ref=brilliantcrank.com). I'm in my fourth year using Affinity tools for everything I can. I only use Figma when I have to collaborate, but after I get used to this new application I might ditch that as well and fall back on old collaboration methods that involve red pens. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-three-1-1.png) [AI 2027](https://ai-2027.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) is a report from the AI Futures Project based on the work of a ton of contributors. "Daniel Kokotajlo, Eli Lifland, Thomas Larsen, and Romeo Dean wrote the content of the scenario and endings. AI 2027 was informed by experience from more than a dozen tabletop exercises with hundreds of different people." There are a few reasons to share AI 2027\. First and foremost is to experience the [data visualization](https://www.edwardtufte.com/book/the-visual-display-of-quantitative-information/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) that must be experienced on desktop to be fully appreciated. As you scroll through the months and years, the dashboard in the upper right updates in real time. I wish it was bigger. Second, and most important is the actual content of the report itself. It's futures scenario planning mapped out month by month, year by year until October 2027\. The narratives read like a future issue of The Economist's annual [The World Ahead](https://www.economist.com/topics/the-world-ahead-2026?ref=brilliantcrank.com) documenting trends in technology, economics, geopolitics, and society as they are impacted or impact AI. --- ***And now a word from our sponsor...*** [![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/11/bookpages-1.png)](https://brilliantcrank.com/creative-intelligence/) [Creative Intelligence](https://brilliantcrank.com/creative-intelligence/) is the foundational framework for AI collaboration that transfers across every tool and platform. Learn why most AI training creates false confidence, how to validate AI outputs, and the thinking modes that distinguish expertise from execution. Buy it now in [digital](https://brilliantcrank.kit.com/products/creative-intelligence-dont-ask-ai-think-w?ref=brilliantcrank.com) or [print](https://mixam.com/print-on-demand/6882733974cab322f237866b?ref=brilliantcrank.com).. --- ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-four-1.png) And now for something completely different, read [Kim Cross’ long read on wild Alaskan salmon](https://www.foodandwine.com/wild-salmon-alaska-11769432?ref=brilliantcrank.com). She starts in Bristol Bay by joining a setnet crew and countinues her journey with a chef who knows how to cook salmon properly. “I’ve chosen Alaska for my salmon quest because I want to witness natural abundance. The world’s largest self-sustaining wild salmon runs are sockeye returning to Bristol Bay, “the mother lode of wild Alaskan salmon,” as one fisherman puts it. About the size of Virginia, [Bristol Bay](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bristol%5FBay?ref=brilliantcrank.com) is the easternmost pocket of the Bering Sea, the vast cold stretch of ocean between Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula and Alaska’s Aleutian Islands. All five species of Pacific salmon live here: sockeye, king, coho, pink, and keta.” Side note: Cross is accurate about the [Copper River King](https://www.copperriversalmon.org/blog/three-reasons-amongst-many-why-copper-river-salmon-is-so-special?ref=brilliantcrank.com) being the absolute best salmon on the planet. It’s also worth noting that when looking up Kim from the link in her article bio, I was surprised to discover that she too was published in the [first issue of Geezer magazine](https://www.geezermagazine.com/issue-1?ref=brilliantcrank.com). What a small world. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-five-1.png) ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/12/690d768836ce75cac6491be7_w-1.webp) No matter your preference for domicile format, you should all subscribe to the wonderful magazine, [*Never Too Small*](https://www.nevertoosmall.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), "a window into this world for inspiration and leadership in Small Footprint Living." It's a global quarterly publication with stories on dwellings, occupants, and lifestyles. I dig that small-footprint living is a form of resistance to consumer culture and extraction systems. Choosing less space means choosing less stuff, less maintenance, less of your life spent acquiring and servicing possessions. *Never Too Small* shows you what that actually looks like in practice, not as deprivation but as deliberate design. The feature, [Character Driven](https://www.nevertoosmall.com/post/character-driven?ref=brilliantcrank.com), is a great showcase of the type of storytelling and photography you can expect from each issue. It's about [Loo Lok Chern](https://risemalaysia.com.my/loo-lok-chern-cloakwork/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), a graffiti artist who lives in Kuala Lumpur but his work is featured around the world. Each issue is hefty, almost book-like. Like [*Monocle*](https://monocle.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) there are inserts and special sections where the paper, printing, and design standout from the rest of the issue. Anyone who considers themself a print aficionado needs to grab a subscription. If you're not into print yet, holding *Never Too Small* in your hands will immediately convert you. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-six-1-1.png) Let's end this issue on a high note. [DC Comics announced](https://www.dc.com/blog/2025-10-09/dc-unveils-ten-bold-new-comic-book-series-in-its-dc-vertigo-imprint-for-2026?ref=brilliantcrank.com) that the groundbreaking and amazing imprint, [Vertigo, is coming back in 2026](https://aiptcomics.com/2025/11/21/dc-first-look-vertigo-2026-preview/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Beginning in February Vertigo will roll out with issue #7 of DC Black title, [*The Nice House by the Sea*](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/773612/the-nice-house-by-the-sea-vol-1-by-james-tynion-iv/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), followed by a slew of brand new books. Even more new titles will debut later in the year including *Necretaceous* with this fantastic setup: "There are many theories about the extinction of the dinosaurs. They're all wrong." *100 Bullets* is coming back with a new run and I'm happy to see Ram V is a part of the fray with this premise, "Occult warfare was only a fantasy, dead and debunked…at least that's what they'd like you to think." I don't know about you, but I'm ready for this. Meanwhile, the new [*Absolute Martian Manhunter*](https://www.comicsbeat.com/dc-round-up-is-absolute-martian-manhunter-the-best-absolute-book/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) is not to be missed. And if you missed it before then don't miss Warren Ellis' must read, [*Transmetropolit*](https://www.dc.com/graphic-novels/transmetropolitan-1997/transmetropolitan-book-one?ref=brilliantcrank.com)*an*. I could go on, but I will save more recommendations for future issues. Having said that, I've got one more recommendation for parents with kids who want to read comics, but you're not sure if they're ready for the mainstream stuff. [*Bone*](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/bone-jeff-smith/1107838311?ref=brilliantcrank.com) by Jeff Smith, an Eisner winner, is written for everyone. It's a long beautiful story with artwork that amplifies the building narrative into a huge ending. A must read for everyone. --- Published in Tacoma, Washington while signing along to *[Homogenic](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9ujBIelc4I&ref=brilliantcrank.com)* by Björk. ### The Dice — 039 URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-dice-039/ Last updated: 2025-11-23T17:32:42.000Z ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/brilliantcrank-dice-2-3.png) This has been a big year for expanding my writing through books, zines, and now as a contributing writer to a magazine. Months ago I was asked to republish Eject Disk as the opening act—so to speak—in the debut issue of [*Geezer*, a magazine for Gen X](https://www.geezermagazine.com/issue-1?ref=brilliantcrank.com). My copy arrived this week and it’s so good. *Geezer* feels like a giant zine in the best possible way. If you grew up in the time of The Breakfast Club, Vuarnets, The Sex Pistols, the Pontiac Fiero, Max Headroom, food courts, the Original Mullet™, and invisible Pepsi, then you need to pick up the first issue. Meanwhile, last week I promoted the [Eject Disk zine collection](https://brilliantcrank.com/ejectdiskseries/), but I also quietly released the [*Everyday Field Guides*](https://brilliantcrank.com/creative-intelligence-field-guides/) for Creative Intelligence—see more below. I’ve got so much more to type out of my brain and get into more publications in 2026\. If ever there was a time to submit a request a topic or theme you’d like to see Brilliantcrank address, it’s now. Enjoy the rolls, and for those who celebrate, Happy Friendsgiving. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-one-1.png) This roll is for everyone who has a hard time looking towards the future and not feeling bleak. [*Could Should Might Don’t*](https://www.couldshouldmightdont.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) by Nick Foster is a book “about the history of the future and the history of the different futures that we have imagined, designed, or projected for ourselves.” I took a course on Future Studies a few years back and one of the key insights is that systems fail but that doesn’t mean they simply collapse. Check out Nick’s book and buck up happy camper. And if that doesn’t do it, then watch these [humans imitate chickens](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lObT6x5GJZU&ref=brilliantcrank.com). Be sure to check out the “Go Further resources [Things to Watch](https://www.couldshouldmightdont.com/thingstowatch?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and [Things to Read](https://www.couldshouldmightdont.com/thingstoread?ref=brilliantcrank.com). But only after you subscribe to [*Sentiers*](https://sentiers.media/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and [Near Future Laboratory](https://nearfuturelaboratory.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) who provide a lot of food for thought on the topic of the future. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-two-1.png) Seemingly taking a page from Austin Kleon’s [Steal Like an Artist](https://austinkleon.com/steal/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), the website [Writing Examples](https://writingexamples.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) is a colorful collection of written passages that “deconstructs a piece of writing from an iconic writer. The goal is to give you X-Ray vision into what makes sentences and paragraphs come alive (so that you can improve at your craft). It’s a place where you can discover how great writing comes together. Where we lift up the hood and see the mechanics in action.” The topics cover a broad range of methods and techiques for everything from creating a title, write great copy, describe an emotion, create a hero…you get the picture. Sources for these vignettes of instruction and inspiration include classic authors ([Melville](https://writingexamples.com/article/herman-melville-describe-the-sea?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and Dickens) to speech writers ([Churchill](https://writingexamples.com/article/churchill-write-a-memorable-speech?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and [King](https://writingexamples.com/article/martin-luther-king-jr-end-a-speech?ref=brilliantcrank.com)) and modern authors ([Kerouac](https://writingexamples.com/article/kerouac-write-with-passion?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and [Foster Wallace](https://writingexamples.com/article/david-foster-wallace-describe-an-emotion?ref=brilliantcrank.com)). I was surprised to find there is also an entry for [how to write a design brief](https://writingexamples.com/article/coca-cola-write-a-design-brief-?ref=brilliantcrank.com) inspired by Coca Cola. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-three-1-1.png) ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/11/tampopo-sm-web.jpg) One of my goto YouTube channels is the Criterion Collection, which features artists selecting and talking about their favorite films from the catalog. Some titles get selected more than others, and one I see regularly is Tampopo. [The movie turned 40 this year](https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2025/11/22/film/tampopo-40th-anniversary-ramen/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and anyone who loves ramen needs to watch it. [*Tampopo*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sur%5FpxcpuoE&ref=brilliantcrank.com) is a 1985 Japanese comedy that follows a truck driver and his sidekick as they help a struggling widow perfect her ramen shop. It's a [ramen western](https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/4523-tampopo-ramen-for-the-people?ref=brilliantcrank.com)—like *Seven Samurai* but about noodles and human nature, with a dark comic edge. Since you can't watch a movie about food without eating that food—try eating pizza while watching [*Jiro Dreams of Sushi*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-aGPniFvS0&ref=brilliantcrank.com), I dare you—get [proper ramen](https://www.hmart.com/shin-ramen-black-with-premium-beef-broth-4-85oz-130g--4-packs?ref=brilliantcrank.com) before you press play. --- ***And now a word from our sponsor...*** [![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/11/Everyday-Field-Giudes-2.png)](https://brilliantcrank.com/creative-intelligence-field-guides/) [Everyday Field Guides](https://brilliantcrank.com/creative-intelligence-field-guides/) is the practical companion for applying Creative Intelligence to everyday work. The guides cover the cognitive work every professional faces—from research and information gathering to planning and strategy development to analysis and problem diagnosis. [Buy it now in digital or print.](https://brilliantcrank.com/creative-intelligence-field-guides/) --- ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-four-1.png) The [Tin Can](https://tincan.kids/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) is “a phone for kids. That’s it. No screens. No distractions. Just real, human connection.” From [*The Strategist*](https://nymag.com/strategist/article/tin-can-kids-landline-phone-review.html?ref=brilliantcrank.com): “\[it's\] not much different from the lo-fi landline I used at home as a kid. They have to be plugged into an outlet, forcing users to stay mostly in one spot and focus on the conversation at hand (perhaps while doodling on a nearby notepad)." I'd get the [Flashback model](https://tincan.kids/products/tin-can-flashback-wired-no-wifi?ref=brilliantcrank.com). While on the topic of nostalgia, here are the [best cassette players to buy](https://www.treblezine.com/the-best-cassette-players-to-buy-in-2025/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) in 2025. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-five-1.png) [Niche Design](https://nichedesign.press/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) is a “zine for designers and product makers seeking meaning beyond metrics, inviting you to rethink our culture through the ways we design.” Imagine an evolution of [*Offscreen*](https://www.offscreenmag.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) magazine. The zine features interviews and profiles of product and industrial designers from the creator of [mmm.pages](https://mmm.page/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) to The Light Phone. While the production quality is all zine, it fills the gap for what we’ve been missing for a long time now. I hope to see many more issues in the future. Buy it now. Also check out Plus81 magazine from a [Japanese creative studio](https://www.plus81.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) of the same name. Each issue is centered around a theme and is another example of excellence in design and print journalism. I picked up—and recommend—the issues [Vol. 85 The Olympics](https://www.plus81.com/magazine-issue-blog/2020/6/10/vol85-the-olympics-creative-highlights-from-1964-to-2020-issue?ref=brilliantcrank.com), [Vol. 90 The Evolution of Graphics from the1990s to now](https://www.plus81.com/magazine-issue-blog/2022/12/12/vol90-the-evolution-of-graphics-from-the1990s-to-now-issue?ref=brilliantcrank.com), and [Vol.91 Street Art](https://www.plus81.com/magazine-issue-blog/2023/6/14/street-art-issue?ref=brilliantcrank.com). One more: [Third Place Zine #1](https://magculture.com/collections/magazines/products/third-place-zine-1?ref=brilliantcrank.com). I don’t have it yet, but it looks awesome. The first issue contains stories “from the Han River in Seoul to the labyrinths of Barcelona” on the topics of “Parkscapes.” ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-six-1-1.png) Maybe it’s because the stories I read took place in France, but I’ve always thought that no other place in the world consumes peanut butter except for the United States, and maybe Canada. Oh, how I was wrong. There are [ten countries that eat more peanut butter than the United States](https://www.madevisual.co/ten-countries-eat-more-peanut-butter-than-americans/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). The average person from the landlocked African nation of [Burkina Faso](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burkina%5FFaso?ref=brilliantcrank.com) (yes, I had to look this up) eats three times the amount of an American. It’s important to note that we’re not talking about Skippy here. “Peanut-based foods are staples, not snacks, in much of Africa and Asia—driving Burkina Faso, Myanmar, and Chad to the top of the global peanut butter consumption leaderboard despite limited industrial food sectors.” For example, [West African Peanut Stew](https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/217952/west-african-peanut-stew/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) aka [Maafe](https://www.africanbites.com/maafe-west-african-peanut-soup/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Great. Now I am starving and an [Uncrustable](https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5854102/2024/10/24/uncrustables-nfl/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) ain’t gonna do it. --- Published in Tacoma, Washington while signing along to *[Around The World In A Day Deluxe Edition](https://store.prince.com/products/around-the-world-in-a-day-2-cd?ref=brilliantcrank.com)* by Prince. ### It's like Watson on repeat. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/its-like-watson-on-repeat/ Last updated: 2025-11-19T11:07:03.000Z This post won’t be for everyone, but a project I’ve been working on for the last couple of months just went live and [I’m proud of the outcome](https://humanpilots.ai/ai-report-q4-2025?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Over the past few months, I've been working with two former colleagues from IBM who specialize in transformation—Matt Fangman and Sean Wood. Collectively we have been in confidential conversations with C-suite leaders and executives about their AI initiatives—where things are working, where they're stuck, and what's keeping them up at night. The patterns that emerged echo stories we've heard from the past. Many organizations aren't struggling due to technology constraints. They're struggling because they haven't built the organizational capabilities to transform. Starting at the leadership level. We've seen all of this before, first hand, ten years ago during IBM's launch of Watson. What was true back then is true now, there are no shortcuts to get AI integration and adoption right. It’s disturbing to me how many executives and people in positions of leadership simply don’t put in the effort that’s required to make things great. So many spend the majority of their time in search for an easy button—shortcuts that don’t work, waste time and resources, and burn people out. In short, a lot of the bullshit people are being mandated to go through right now is the same crap executives have been doing for decades. Speaking for the people on the front line, at other end of these stupid executives decisions, they are forced to make do with that they can glean off the Internet to duct tape things together in order to reach some inane deadline for AI adoption or integration or transformation or whatever. All done to appeal to a board of directors or worse, to appease the shareholders. What happened at IBM ten years ago is now being seen and felt the world over today. The difference is that what happened with Watson primarily affected IBM and a few customers. Today, the impact is everywhere. And just as the World Wide Web was not felled by a market collapse, neither will AI. Just as ignoring AI, looking for the quick win—damn the workers—is not the play anyone should be making. Based on decades of experience Matt, Sean, and I have come up with a straight forward, human centered response to AI related failures at large. This work builds on Creative Intelligence—empowering individuals by making them more adaptible, resilient, and confident in their work. We have published a report on the conclusions of our research and the unveiling of a new framework that will drive success in the years ahead. In addition, we created 30 day action plans that executives can make now based on where their organization are currently through a simple diagnostic. You can sign up for the report and watch the brief that we gave a few weeks ago to a private audience. Check it out or don’t. But if you’re on the shit end of a half-baked mandate, [send the link](https://humanpilots.ai/ai-report-q4-2025?ref=brilliantcrank.com) to someone you can trust at the top. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/11/mandatessuck.png) ### Desperately seeking coffee. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/desperately-seeking-coffee/ Last updated: 2026-02-14T15:08:42.000Z In last week's [School of the Possible](https://schoolofthepossible.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) open call, open call, an ad hoc group formed around the topic of sales for fractional or consulting work. Nobody in my circles has figured this out—and I know plenty of people trying. Not the solo consultants, not the design studios, not the engineering boutiques. Listening to my fellow Possibletarians, I realized why we keep failing: we're calling five different jobs by one name, then acting confused when we can't do any of them. That's part of the problem. Sales—as most of us generally use the word, and as was the case in the School of Possible conversation—is actually multiple roles and jobs to be done. Before any of this work can happen, you need market research to figure out who actually needs what you do, what problems they'll pay to solve, and where to find them. Without that foundation, everything else is guessing. The actual work of "sales" is to successfully turn a qualified lead into a signed deal. A qualified lead comes from doing the work of business development, which has its own tasks that include validating a marketing lead that can come from multiple sources: lead magnets, event registration—a trigger that typically, but not always trades a thing for contact information. The work of business development is to follow up on the marketing lead to develop it into a qualified lead, generally by validating the interest in the product or service as tied to problems, challenges, needs, opportunities, or all of the above. To generate leads requires creating something to trade that often comes in some form of thought leadership, as I've already mentioned. Advertising is another way to generate leads either by promoting the lead marketing campaign or potentially skipping that phase and creating a lead on its own. But the work doesn't end when someone signs. Account management is what keeps clients happy, gets them to hire you again, refer others, and not become the kind of problem that drains your energy or tanks your reputation. Miss this piece and you're constantly hunting for new clients instead of building on relationships that already work. Each of these activities requires different skills and practices in order to successfully move from one phase to the next. We typically can't jump from a blog post to closing a sale. I mean, I've seen it happen, but there are a string of dependencies that if done right will form the flywheel that tiny, independent businesses need. So, when we're using the word "sales" what we're really talking about is: market research, content creation or thought leadership, marketing, business development, sales, and account management. Looking at it this way it's easy to see why people who haven't performed these roles have difficulty. And if we parse out the process in this way, it's also easier to identify why our "sales" process isn't working out. Looking back, I can admit to having difficulty with…well, everything: validating market research (it looked good to me), marketing (keeping at it even as no new leads are coming in), business development (giving away too many ideas or solutions for free), sales (I keep hoping to one day win the set of steak knives), and account management (I keep forgetting that we're not friends). Yet when I had my own studio our annual sales were millions of dollars. The problem that we didn't realize back then is that we were one of the top providers of services in the world at the time. We could write a blog post that would turn into a heavy six-figure contract in a very short amount of time. At Airbag and Happy Cog we didn't know it back then but our skills and work were commoditized and, unlike now, the price per barrel—so to speak—was very high. Today, with millions of people without a W2 and the markets working towards [Minimum Viable Humans](https://brilliantcrank.com/minimum-viable-humans/), fractional leaders and consultants have little choice but to take "sales" seriously or consider getting into [a completely new line of work](https://www.forbes.com/sites/carolinecastrillon/2025/08/07/microsoft-reveals-the-most-and-least-ai-safe-jobs-where-do-you-rank/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) (hey, ship engineering sounds pretty cool). The market has turned people into interchangeable parts while expecting them to market themselves as premium individuals. That tension—that contradiction—is what makes "sales" so impossible for most of us. We're supposed to be commodities and unicorns at the same time. Over the years I have collected marketing materials, curriculum, and books on these topics. They helped, but the results weren't what I'd hoped for. Most of them treated sales as a single skill rather than the compound system it actually is. And now that I've stepped back to see a big part of the problem, I'm building a no bullshit framework for myself and anyone else tired of wondering why their "sales process" keeps failing. What am I missing? ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/11/desperatlyseekingcoffee.png) ### The Dice — 038 URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-dice-038/ Last updated: 2025-11-18T05:10:32.000Z ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/brilliantcrank-dice-2-3.png) The last issue of *The Dice* focused [serious burnout and crushing ](https://brilliantcrank.com/the-dice-037/)anxiety. I shared six methods and ideas for coping, and hopefully some restoration. A lot has happened in nine months and there is vastly more bullshit going on. The government has turned into a diablo style tire fire, companies are still working to achieve their [Minimum Viable Humans](https://brilliantcrank.com/minimum-viable-humans/) level, and just trying to watch some television via streaming subscriptions has become a total nightmare. While *The Dice* may have stopped rolling I did not stop writing, but I did focus on a new format: zines (see below). I've researched, written, and created [Eject Disk: The Series](https://brilliantcrank.com/ejectdiskseries/)to shine a light on our burned-out reality. The first one helps you see you're stuck and figure out which kind of stuck. Second one explains why—like, the actual systemic reasons everyone's exhausted. Third one gives you emergency moves for when you're crashing. Fourth one is about reconnecting with people after you've been isolated. It's the whole arc from “'I'm not okay” to “okay, now what.” I would love to say that we don't need these anymore not when this is going on [“46% of U.S. employees have considered quitting because they feel emotionally exhausted or numb at work.”](https://studyfinds.org/numb-unfulfilling-workers-have-considered-quitting-over-emotional-exhaustion/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) If you're burned out, I've got you. If you know someone who is "numb at work", then point them to *Eject Disk.* Ok! Let's see if I remember how to do this right... ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-one-1.png) In his article [*Kevin Kelly: The Case for Optimism*](https://www.warpnews.org/premium-content/kevin-kelly-the-case-for-optimism/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), Kevin—who has had his finger on the pulse of the future for decades—believes there is a lot to be optimistic about. He argues we should be optimistic because seven "planetary-scale forces" are converging—total urbanization, universal connectivity, ubiquitous AI, sustainable energy, accelerated innovation, bio-engineering, and generational handoff—that will create unprecedented prosperity over the next 25 years. The only way to make the future optimistic is for good, well-meaning, and humanity-centered people to [Neo-jump](https://tenor.com/view/neo-jump-in-to-agent-smith-gif-14650509850012671713?ref=brilliantcrank.com) into the work ahead. Not smashing the machines from outside but from within the system while it's being built and making sure it serves people instead of shareholders. I'm not sure if becoming or branding ourselves as [Luddites](https://www.currentaffairs.org/news/2024/01/why-you-should-be-a-luddite?ref=brilliantcrank.com) is the right move, but I am certain of this: a better future relies on people [actively working](https://brilliantcrank.com/creative-intelligence/) to stop our systems from extracting value from humans and start providing it. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-two-1.png) Ken Burns's newest project [*The American Revolution*](https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/the-american-revolution?ref=brilliantcrank.com) debuts today, November 16th, on PBS. If this is new to you, then stop everything and [watch the trailer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBToyHSGD2Q&ref=brilliantcrank.com). The timing of this debut is incredible if you consider that [production](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6u3JqHyzFg&ref=brilliantcrank.com) started more than eight years ago. Who could have forecast where the US would be today and so much in need of this reflection on what sparked the ideals that were canonized into the Declaration of Independence and the birth of this nation? I'm sure the extreme left and right will have much to say about this program, but my hope is that the program will shine a light on the delicate balance of new ideas vs. staunch positions that turned into a nation unlike any other. Real quick: While we're thinking about public broadcasting, remember that these organizations now rely solely on [viewer](https://www.pbs.org/about/about-pbs/support-pbs/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and [listener](https://www.npr.org/stations/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) memberships. Consider canceling a streaming account and supporting your local stations. Switching mediums...the November issue of *The Atlantic* is dedicated to the upcoming 250th birthday of the United States of America. The entire issue is themed [“The Unfinished Revolution”](https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/toc/2025/11/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). I highly recommend going to your local magazine purveyor and procuring the issue. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-three-1-1.png) I'm watching the Zohran Mamdani government in New York City closely. His vision matches what I saw working with hundreds of millennials ten years ago. But it's this Cory Doctorow observation about one of his transition team members, [Lina Khan](https://pluralistic.net/2025/11/15/unconscionability/?ref=brilliantcrank.com#standalone-authority), that signals the kind of difference that has the potential to create real, lasting change. > Khan's already picked out some "unconscionable" practices that the mayor has "standalone authority" to address: everything from hospitals that price gouge on over-the-counter pain meds to sports stadiums that gouge fans on hot dogs and beer. She's taking aim at "algorithmic pricing" (when companies use commercial surveillance data to determine whether you're desperate and raise prices to take advantage of that fact) and junk fees (where the price you pay goes way up at checkout time to pay for a bunch of vague "services" that you can't opt out of). Meanwhile closer to home, [Seattle elected Katie Wilson](https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/katie-wilson-elected-seattles-next-mayor/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), another progressive millennial who staked her campaign on affordability. Hey, maybe we can finally start to chip away at the crusty, old two party system and its members who sold their souls long ago. Perhaps Kevin is right to be optimistic. --- ***And now a word from our sponsor...*** ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/11/Eject-Disk--The-Series-1.png) [Eject Disk: The Series](https://brilliantcrank.com/ejectdiskseries/) is now available by your's truly. There are four zines. Each one works alone, but together they build a path: recognition (Eject Disk), understanding why it happened (System Error), stabilizing when you're crashing (Reboot System), and reconnecting without losing yourself (Insert Disk). [Get them today in digital or print.](https://brilliantcrank.com/ejectdiskseries/) --- ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-four-1.png) [*We Used to Read Things in This Country*](https://thebaffler.com/salvos/we-used-to-read-things-in-this-country-mccormack?ref=brilliantcrank.com) by Noah McCormack is a must-read and a sorely needed wake-up call (that will fall on deaf ears no doubt). Noah traces how literacy has always been about power—who has it, who's denied it, and why. Turns out we're not "losing" reading culture by accident. We're watching a deliberate return to a world where most people can't think analytically enough to see they're being robbed, financially and intellectually. The newspaper “was a form of literacy that appealed to non-elite readers and provided them with information as well as entertainment. In many ways, the current era of Trump results from the fact that it's easier to put your hand in the next guy's pocket if he's illiterate.” It's probably a good time to read, share, and promote Cory Doctorow's new book on [*Enshittification*](https://craphound.com/shop/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), or at the very least [this piece in the New Yorker](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/infinite-scroll/the-age-of-enshittification?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Also—and I can't believe I'm going to do this—here's a thirty-minute lecture by Cory on [*How Enshittification Conquered the 21st Century and How We Can Overthrow It*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=%5FAi-fC-2Bpo&ref=brilliantcrank.com)*.* Long sigh. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-five-1.png) Good news, everyone! After a successful Kickstarter campaign, Marc Maron's [*WTF* podcast](https://deadline.com/2025/10/barack-obama-wtf-final-episode-1236583585/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) is going to be turned into a graphic novel called [*WTF is a Podcast*](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/z2comics/wtf-is-a-podcast?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Marc recorded over 1,600 episodes with a range of guests, getting into some frank conversations well beneath the surface of most interviews. > The likes of Barack Obama, Robin Williams, and Lorne Michaels have all featured as guests over the years, and their tales could be among the ones told in print. Maron is working with graphic novel publisher Z2 on the project, alongside WTF's long-time producer Brendan McDonald and cartoonist Brian Box Brown, to capture the story. The graphic novel will cover the story of WTF from the start in 2004 to the conclusion earlier this year in 2025\. Back when I had a commute, [Marc's podcast](https://www.wtfpod.com/podcast?ref=brilliantcrank.com) got me through many hours of bad traffic, so I'm excited to see how this turns out and hope that it inspires more print spin-offs from other shows. Related: The USPS hired graphic novel savant Chris Ware to [design a sheet of stamps for its 250th anniversary](https://blockclubchicago.org/2025/07/22/us-postal-service-needed-stamps-to-celebrate-its-250th-anniversary-local-cartoonist-chris-ware-delivered/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). The results are nothing short of what you would expect from Ware: perfect. Each stamp shows the day in the life of a postal worker delivering the mail. It's [a unique piece of art](https://store.usps.com/store/product/250-years-of-delivering-stamps-S%5F487104?%5Fgl=1%2Aekk8u1%2A%5Fga%2AMTM5MTA0Njc2LjE3NTA3MTIxNjU.%2A%5Fga%5FQM3XHZ2B95%2AczE3NTMyODIwMjMkbzEkZzAkdDE3NTMyODIwMjMkajYwJGwwJGgw&ref=brilliantcrank.com) that should not be missed if you haven't already picked up a set. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-six-1-1.png) wI don’t know how many years I went without ever thinking about the Trapper Keeper, and then it comes up twice in one week in separate conversations. [McSweeney's Issue 80](https://www.printmag.com/publication-design/mcsweeneys-quarterly-80/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) is a “1980s rainbow-hued, coral-reef-clad, dolphin-inhabited, drowned-world three-ring oversized-school-binder-inspired volume.” As awesome as this is, the original idea was for a Filofax, but when the art director pitched the idea to editors, their minds went right for the Trapper Keeper. > I presented the idea to the editors, and someone thought I was describing a Trapper Keeper. There was so much excitement for the Trapper Keeper during that presentation that we immediately switched gears and I started collecting old Trapper Keepers. Grow a mullet and buy your copy of [McSweeney's Trapper Keeper](https://store.mcsweeneys.net/products/mcsweeney-s-issue-80?taxon%5Fid=1&ref=brilliantcrank.com). [The Trapper Keeper debuted in 1981](https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/52726/history-trapper-keeper?ref=brilliantcrank.com) in Wichita, Kansas, with this [television commercial](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GG%5FhKDycVQ&ref=brilliantcrank.com). The response was overwhelming and turned into an instant Gen X icon. It was heavily influenced by the PeeChee folder, which at the time was only sold in the western United States, leaving the rest of the country wide open for a new product. --- Published in Tacoma, Washington while listening to *[Guero](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdrrz0vTvlQ&ref=brilliantcrank.com)* by Beck. ### Vibing is not the way. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/vibing-is-not-the-way/ Last updated: 2025-09-29T19:52:41.000Z Microsoft just launched ["vibe working" in Excel and Word](https://www.theverge.com/news/787076/microsoft-office-agent-mode-office-agent-anthropic-models?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Now, I’m not clairvoyant but I can tell you there are scores of Microsoft employees Captain-Picard-level facepalming today. This insane timing couldn't be more perfect. Just last week, Harvard Business Review published, [AI-Generated "Workslop" Is Destroying Productivity](https://hbr.org/2025/09/ai-generated-workslop-is-destroying-productivity?ref=brilliantcrank.com), a big story on how "vibe working" is turning into a huge problem. HBR explains it clearly: > Employees are using AI tools to create low-effort, passable looking work that ends up creating more work for their coworkers. On social media, which is increasingly clogged with low-quality AI-generated posts, this content is often referred to as “AI slop.” In the context of work, we refer to this phenomenon as “workslop.” We define workslop as AI generated work content that masquerades as good work, but lacks the substance to meaningfully advance a given task. > > Workslop uniquely uses machines to offload cognitive work to another human being. When coworkers receive workslop, they are often required to take on the burden of decoding the content, inferring missed or false context. A cascade of effortful and complex decision-making processes may follow, including rework and uncomfortable exchanges with colleagues. Now look at Microsoft's vision: An Excel spreadsheet with a flyout window showing the user asking Co-Pilot: "Run a full analysis on this dataset. I want to understand some important insights to help me make decisions about my business. Make it visual!" Allow me to translate: "Heeeyyy Clippy, I can't be bothered to review this well-organized data complete with pivot tables, so tell me what it means. Oh, and, uh, show me don’t tell me, yah? Ain’t nobody got time to read words. #blessedoffice365" You can literally picture the robot bro—I'll call him a Robro—checking out his hair, mentally high-fiving himself, while daydreaming about how smart he's going to look and sound in the next meeting with his visualizations. And then the eye rolling and sighing by the poor schmucks under Robro who just added hours to their week because someone has to unfuck his vibing so the entire department doesn't get flagged for the next round of Minimum Viable Human layoffs. Nice work Microsoft Marketing—way to read the ro…oh, wait, what am I talking about! You silly gooses don't read, you prefer visualizations. Look, the word "vibe" has no place at work or in it. If you want to vibe something then find a club at 2AM, slam a few Red Bulls, and knock yourself out. Because vibe anything—coding, analyzing, prioritizing, strategizing, designing, problem-solving—doesn't make anything more efficient, it just shifts the work elsewhere, and often on the people who are already buried as it is. Using AI as a vending machine will always produce the same result: workslop aka generic shit. In addition, using it this way—like what Microsoft is selling—leads to a reduction in cognitive functions. Marketing departments love AI because they can make all sorts of claims that will never undergo any kind of scrutiny or compliance review. The marketing folks at IBM had a crazy lust for Watson. Boy howdy the stories they told about what their robot wonder could do. Their efforts simultaneously set expectations that could not be met while also pushing away long-time clients who needed truth and trust instead of glitz and glam. Ten years ago I took the Chief Innovation Officer of a very large IBM client through a Watson “innovation lab" that featured the very latest in AI-enhanced experiences. When we were through, the lab director asked what he thought and I'll never forget his response: "This is all very interesting and exciting, but what my stores need the most right now is a fresh coat of paint and more hangers." Swing and a miss. So unless you're [in the business of getting dumb and dumber](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ngallo%5Fthe-new-ceo-of-opendoor-just-sent-this-email-activity-7378421118178861056-yVi5?ref=brilliantcrank.com) or maybe you're hiring out zombies for Halloween, then it's time to drop the machine dreams. Start building human-centered first principles and practices around when and how to use AI. The bar is pretty low right now given all of the crap that's out there, so it doesn't have to take much at the moment. But it does require an honest start. And that starts with indexing on humans, not hype—building systems that amplify human intelligence instead of replacing it with passable-looking garbage that creates more work than it solves. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/09/noG-1.png) ### Over to you, Bob. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/over-to-you-bob/ Last updated: 2025-09-23T03:24:13.000Z The premiere episode of SNL in 2001 took place eighteen days after the 9/11 attacks. There's a lot I could try to write about all of the feelings going on at that time, but that's not the point of this post, so I'll use a shortcut to bridge the thought I want to express now. It was emotionally and utterly surreal. On September 29, 2001, the episode opened with a large cadre of policemen and firefighters flanking New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and city officials who we were able to recognize from their many appearances on live television on the day of the attacks. Faces we would never have known existed if not for that day and the 24/7 news cycle that followed and never stopped. The show opened without a sound from the audience. The mayor spoke: "Our hearts are broken, but they are beating, and they are beating stronger than ever. New Yorkers are unified. We will not yield to terrorism. We will not let our decisions be made out of fear." The speech was followed by Paul Simon singing "The Boxer," and when he was done, the Mayor spoke once more. "Having our city's institutions up and running sends a message that New York City is open for business." Lorne Michaels then made a rare appearance on camera for a now-iconic exchange. "Can we be funny?" Lorne asked. "Why start now?" Giuliani replied. And then he looked into the camera and kicked off the episode with the show's opening catchphrase. Tomorrow, Jimmy Kimmel is expected to return to late-night broadcast television after days off-air. I don't think I need to play back what happened and how we got here. That's not as important as what comes next. As I write this, Disney has lost $4 billion in market value since turning Kimmel's show off. There will be at least one book written about the last five days of boardroom and backroom drama. And if we're lucky, we'll get a version of this story as a reboot of the ABC Afterschool Special. What happened last week was nothing less than a direct attack on the most important and fundamental right of being an American citizen: our Freedom of Speech. It is número uno on the books for a reason. It is a right that even some of the strongest democracies elsewhere in the world do not have at the same level that we do or are supposed to. Our Freedom of Speech has been fought for on the battlefield and in our courts—[hundreds of cases if not more since 1799.](https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/case?ref=brilliantcrank.com) So when a seedy government bureaucrat threatens to quell this freedom, it's a pretty big fucking deal. I hope I don't have to tell you that, and I only use that language to make my point of view very clear. In case you're curious, Freedom of the Press comes next, and that thing about owning guns—well, I'd drop that down about ten places if it were up to me. Getting back to what's important now: the brazen attack meant to probe the fences by [brown-shirt-wearing lizard brains](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sturmabteilung?ref=brilliantcrank.com) is an attack on the mantle-level foundation of the country. It is the supporting pillar for the entire system. If you take away the First Amendment wholesale, or as in this case, bit by bit, that's it. Game over. Table stakes for war. In 2001, we were brutally attacked in a way and on a scale unfathomable just the day before. While still in shock, we didn't seek a return to normalcy—that was all but destroyed. What we needed was permission to take a break, and it was graciously given by the men and women who had just come from the front lines of a war that would last twenty years. Every person on stage that Saturday evening had experienced horrific trauma and personal loss, but they showed up togive us a pause when they were the ones who needed it the most. Trump's attack on the First Amendment was nowhere near as traumatic as 9/11, but the repercussions and further escalation will bring about a level of destruction that physical violence cannot inflict. Tomorrow night, when the cameras turn on, I want to see Jimmy Kimmel flanked by the Disney's leadership, especially their crack team of lawyers, which I know they have. I want the CEO, Bob Iger, give a short speech on camera on how important the First Amendment is to the nation, and how vital it is that we take a big stand at even the slightest attack. Adding how much more important the First Admentment is than share value and money. Then turning to Kimmel, he asks him to carry on his mission and purpose of giving Americans a pause from the growing stress and turmoil of the rise of fascism. Ironically—as late night is always prone to point out—in the very country that became a superpower by fighting the Third Reich eighty-five years ago. They should then come together, side by side, calling on Americans to draw the line by practicing and engaging in free speech and dare the federal government to try and cross that line again. Unfortunately, none of this will happen. Though I'd bet money that if Iger did this, Disney's share price would come back five-fold. We need champions right now, and tomorrow night is a perfect softball moment for a new one to rise and take a stand. Until we get that moment, *good night, and good luck.* ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/09/iger.png) ### The Great Canary is singing. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-great-canary-is-singing/ Last updated: 2025-09-17T12:44:09.000Z “Young workers are a labor market indicator: They are usually the last to get hired and the first to get fired. If we see high rates of youth unemployment, we are likely either heading into a weak economy or out of one.” Let that sink in when you read this: “Unemployment is rising, and young people are feeling it the most. Overall U.S. unemployment hit 4.3% in August, the highest since 2021\. But for 16- to 24-year-olds, the rate is 10.5%.” Correlating these [two data points](https://www.profgmarkets.com/p/gen-z-jobless-rate-surges-past-10?ref=brilliantcrank.com) doesn’t bode well for many people trying to get a full-time W2 right now. The broader market is tightening, but Gen Z is taking the heaviest hit—and that’s where the real signal is. My spirit animal, The Great Canary, tells me that it's going to get worse and Gen X is next. I know quite a few people from my generation who are working, praying, hoping to land a full-time W2 right now (and even more who are doing everything they can to keep theirs). Most of them don’t want to go back to jail and would prefer to start their own thing and tear apart the market, but they feel the need and urgency based on their life responsibilities. I’ll never tell any of you not to keep pursuing it. Having said that, given historical data of the last three years, and now this update, it seems to me the play right now is to bet on yourself and get into a do-what-it-takes to learn new skills, methods, and perspectives to create something new. And so that I am clear, I am not, in any way shape or form, talking about getting into coaching. You’d have better success flipping used Teslas right now—prove me wrong. Confidence with stability is hard to come by for both people in a job or on the outside. If you’re in, you’re doing everything you can to stay put which—highly likely—means you’re taking on way more additional responsbility. If you’re on the outside it means you’re doing everything to find a way in a door and past the fourth of fifth phone call. But even after a six month slog and that one really good call with the CEO—nothing. Everything I learned from Peter Gibbons says that it’s time to get punk and bet on ourselves. We’re way past the window for Two Bobs Salvation. Build my own confidence, continue learning, and turn that knowledge into a future that can not be known today. Go full on Joanna—throw the flair to the ground—that’s the move. Back to Gen Z, I feel for them. They did everything they were brought up to do while on their parents leash and graduated just as the rules changed, and nobody knows what the rules are yet. When I see that so many folks are out of work my brain thinks about how to bring them together, teach them the soft-skills and professional development they missed at home and in college. We'll take down legacy companies built on decades of tradition, protectionism, and largely the bullshit that comes from resisting real, meaningful evolution. To be clear, I’m thinking way beyond design—that game is over for now. I’d bring people in from different trades and vocations, get them up to speed on Gen X skills—street smarts—and ready the force for corporate war. Because the next 12-18 months is going to be the prime window to build the next wave with resilience, adaptibility, literacy, loops, and double down on human agency. If I was a CEO thinking about how to test the future without legacy and fear holding back ingenuity, that’s their move to make. Now is the perfect time to bring that kill-the-fax-machine energy to the workplace and make a future we can’t see today, but will be in full view tomorrow. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/09/improvements-1.png) ### “They're illusions, Michael. A trick is what whores do for money.” URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/theyre-illusions-michael-a-trick-is-what-whores-do-for-money/ Last updated: 2025-09-14T15:38:02.000Z I read this comment on LinkedIn recently: “I’ve been reading hearing the new best practice is not ‘prompt engineering’, but ‘context engineering’.” Jesus wept. Yet again. Listen closely. If the latest “hot tip” for working with AI contains the word *engineering*, ignore it. Delete it. *Delete it.* The word engineering implies control. Precision. Predictability. That works when you're designing a suspension bridge or power grid. But not when you’re trying to think. Not when you’re trying to think, learn, understand, and create in partnership with an unpredictable, probabilistic language model aka the robots. “Prompt engineering” and now “context engineering” are just clever little labels. It’s the language of charlatans who are everywhere—run amok on YouTube and LinkedIn and company “lunch and learns.” They’re trying to sell syntax like it’s a skillset. Add a technical-sounding name to the word-of-the-day makes it sound important, like something you should pay big dollars for. But what they’re really doing is reinforcing the idea that success with AI is about knowing the right *formula*. And that’s where everything turns to shit. The second you start engineering your prompts to control the outcome, you’re baking in assumptions, bias, and pre-cooked solutions. You’re treating AI like a vending machine—just fancier syntax, but the same stale bag of chips fall out. If you’re an actual engineer working on engineering problems with AI, then by all means please engineer away because nobody wants a bridge or building collapse. For the rest of us, AI doesn’t need to be engineered. It needs to be explored. You and me, we need to engage our curiosity and explore before we solve—think before we build. If you’re a teacher, leader, strategist, administrator, manager, analyst, director, lead, owner, advisor, or just someone who is wants to do better work you need to explore, be curious, and get beyond what you can do alone, in your head. The best thing we can use AI for is to stretch your thinking. To reframe problems. To collaborate with complexity. That requires systems thinking, not scripts, and never “engineered” prompts or whatever the snake oil peeps are hawking. Engineering is about control. Collaboration is about discovery. And that’s the shift we all need to make. Instead of tweaking your prompts to death, ask better questions: - What assumptions am I bringing into this exchange? - What patterns am I stuck in? - What would make this more useful, more original, more *true*? - What am I missing? - What don’t I know that I don’t know? The future of AI work isn’t “prompt engineering.” It’s making your thinking visible and stronger through collaboration with the robots. The better you get at that, the further you’ll distance yourself from the Gob Bluths at work still performing illusions. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/09/Gob.png) ### Leave the token counting for Chuck-E-Cheese. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/leave-the-token-counting-for-chuck-e-cheese/ Last updated: 2025-09-11T14:53:47.000Z This morning I came across a thread on Reddit asking, “Are people’s bosses really making them use AI tools?” To which I could point to more than a few mandates that have been handed down, but I love this [anedotal, top comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/slatestarcodex/comments/1nc09n2/comment/nd6d3kd/?ref=brilliantcrank.com): "I spoke to a good friend a few days ago who told me that his CTO has *explicitly* stated that ‘# of tokens of code input into AI tool’ is being used as a metric of developer productivity.” I am close to putting 2000 miles on my vehicle. What does that tell you? Not much. It doesn't even tell you how many miles were on it in the first place. Instead it conjures up a ton of questions that could be asked to make any sense of that data point. Is it brand new or brand new to me? You can't even infer if that's a lot or hardly any miles at all. It doesn't suggest in the least if those are highway or city or gravel road miles. There's nothing in that data to demonstrate my ability to drive nor my style of driving. How many miles were above or below the speed limit? How did that affect my gas mileage? And what about the condition of the tires? Do I wear a seat belt while driving? Am I focused on driving or am I constantly distracted by a device? Am I driving by myself or are there other passengers in the vehicle with me? Was I burning through expensive premium fuel just to sit in traffic, or cruising efficiently? How much of that mileage was spent making actual progress versus being stuck in gridlock? Did I take the most direct route, or drive in circles because I didn't know where I was going? How many times did I have to backtrack or take detours? Were there accidents or safety violations along the way? And why am I driving at all? Do I need a vehicle or are there better options to consider like public transit or walking? In fact, yeah, how far am I driving on average per trip? And most importantly—was I even going somewhere that mattered? Or am I just driving around because I like being behind the wheel while listening to the new Big Wild album? Now let’s go back to our CTO’s mandate. What does tracking "# of tokens of code input into AI tool" tell you about a developer's productivity? Nothing. Nadda. Zip. Zilch. It doesn't even tell you how much code was already in the codebase when they started. And is this a greenfield project or are they working on legacy systems? From that metric you can't even infer if those tokens represent complex problem-solving or just basic boilerplate generation. It doesn't suggest in the least whether that's production code or experimental throwaway work. There's nothing in measuring token use to demonstrate coding ability or problem-solving skills. How much of that AI-generated code actually compiled? How did it affect code quality? And what about technical debt? Are they understanding what the AI produces or just copy-pasting blindly? Are they even reading the generated code before committing it? How did that code impact the platform? Did using AI improve the quality of the work? Were they burning through expensive AI tokens just to generate trivial snippets they could have written faster by hand, or using it strategically for complex algorithms? How much of that token usage was spent solving real business problems versus just experimenting because they were bored? Were they hauling useful functionality that users actually needed, or just generating impressive-looking code that serves no purpose? Did they architect clean solutions, or generate massive amounts of code that had to be refactored, deleted, or completely rewritten? How many times did they have to debug AI-generated bugs versus shipping working software? How much time was spent fixing security vulnerabilities or performance issues that the AI introduced? Do they need assistance for genuinely complex problems, or are there better approaches like pair programming, code reviews, or actually learning the fundamentals? How much cognitive capability are they building versus outsourcing? And most importantly - are they even solving problems that matter? Or, way more important, are they using AI simply so they don’t take a hit during their annual review? Tracking usage alone means nothing except that people are using the AI platform that the CTO purchased. It’s a meaningless binary question that doesn’t provide any answers but instead creatves a vacum of information that requires more inquery. Number of days in a school is not a measure of learning. Number of days sitting in a pew at church does not equal salvation. Number of years married isn't a measure of relationship quality. Number of channels on your TV package doesn't equal entertainment value. Number of contacts in your phone doesn't measure friendship. Number of degrees on your wall doesn't guarantee competence. Number of miles you've traveled doesn't make you worldly. Number of apps on your phone doesn't measure tech savviness. Number of meetings you attend doesn't equal contribution. Number of certifications you hold doesn't prove expertise. Number of subscriptions you pay for doesn't measure productivity. Number of items in your shopping cart doesn't equal wealth. Number of photos you take doesn't capture memories. Just as the number "of tokens of code input into AI tool" doesn’t measure developer skill, indicate code quality, equal productivity, demonstrate problem-solving ability, show technical judgment, prove engineering competence, reflect business value delivered, measure understanding of the codebase, indicate innovation or creativity, equal meaningful contribution to the team, demonstrate ability to architect solutions, measure debugging skills, show capacity for code review and collaboration, indicate understanding of software design patterns, measure ability to write maintainable code, demonstrate security awareness, show performance optimization skills, indicate ability to work with legacy systems, measure capacity for technical leadership, or prove that any actual learning, growth, or value creation is happening at all. I’ve written about developers because that’s the world where this story originated from but you can swap every job type and role in here related to every form of knowledge work. You and I and our work are worth way more than being measured by a yes/no measurement. More importantly, what does "# of tokens of code input into AI tool" tell you about the CTO? Here's what I can infer from years of leading and working with executives navigating change. This isn't a strategy—it's a common pattern we see when leaders feel pressure to show progress but lack the literacy to distinguish between activity and achievement. This CTO is likely caught between board expectations and ground-level reality. They're measuring what's visible instead of what matters, which is completely understandable given the current hype cycle. The challenge is that this metric optimizes for the appearance of innovation while potentially undermining the actual work of software engineering. And I know these types of mandates and direction are happening outside of just the software engineering domain. What this reveals is a leader who needs better AI literacy—not technical skills, but strategic fluency. They can't yet distinguish between a developer using AI to solve complex architecture problems versus generating boilerplate code. This isn't a character flaw; it's a common gap that I and some peers see across most organizations right now. The real risk here isn't incompetence—it's incentivizing the wrong behaviors. When you measure token usage, you get token optimization. Developers will start prompting AI unnecessarily just to hit their numbers, which defeats the purpose of using AI strategically. It also will have the uninteded consequence of turning your people into zombies. This is exactly the kind of situation where a confidential conversation can help. No shame, no judgment—just clarity on what metrics actually indicate progress and how to build the organizational capacity to use AI thoughtfully. **What can you do about it?** If you're the developer stuck with this metric, you're not powerless. Document what actually matters. Keep a simple log of real problems solved, business value delivered, and code quality improvements—with or without AI. Build your own literacy around when AI helps versus when it hurts. And have that uncomfortable conversation with someone you trust. Frame it as wanting clarity on success, not challenging the directive. You're not alone in this confusion. If you're the CTO reading this and recognizing yourself, there's still time to course-correct. Replace token counting with outcome measurement. Create or steal a framework to do this. Focus on code quality, problem-solving effectiveness, and actual business value delivered. Treat this like training for a 5k not a 500m sprint. [**Build your own AI literacy first!**](https://brilliantcrank.com/creative-intelligence/)You can't guide what you don't understand. And create psychological safety for your team to tell you what's really happening. Say "we're all figuring this out together" and mean it. Measuring tokens of code input into AI tools tells you as much about developer productivity as counting miles tells you about driving skill. Which is to say: absolutely nothing that matters. Like trying to stomach the pizza at that rat hole “arcade” today, mandating use is the worst bet on your companies future that you can make. Stop counting tokens, stop counting period! Start building literacy. Teach how to use AI creatively to build your people, their skills, and capabilities. Your job is to build resilence, adaptability, and confidence in your people, your code, your products, and your company—will be better for it. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/09/cheese.png) ### It’s time to work different. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/its-time-to-work-different/ Last updated: 2025-09-15T14:41:54.000Z Over the past month, [Matt Fangman](https://www.mattfangman.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), [Sean Wood](https://humanpilots.ai/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), and I have been rolling up our sleeves and looking closely at the fallout from AI pilots, experiments, and mandates. As former IBMers, we’ve seen this pattern before. The tools change, the buzzwords shift, but the confusion stays the same. Only this time around it doesn’t help that “AI” means fifty different things to fifty different people, and everyone from frontline workers to CEOs are super anxious about what it really means for them. We’ve dug into these problems with a front-row lens shaped by years of leading transformation initiatives large and small — from Fortune 500 giants to mid-sized companies. We’ve been to this dance, had a hell of time, and stubbed our toes many times. Reflecting on our experiences, we’ve started to form a hard-earned opinion on what organizations need now more than ever: humans. The early data is in. AI cannot replace a human. Not yet. Maybe one day it will—but not in this week, in this month, or in this year. Maybe not even this decade. No doubt AI will improve, but I don’t know many leaders who can afford to sit on their hands right now. Waiting for a strategy to magically emerge is about as effective as blindly mandating people “use AI” and hoping they figure it out for you. I don't know how many times I have to say and write this, but yesterday’s playbook won’t work. *For reals this time.* While tech companies scramble to prove what they can actually deliver — versus what they can hype to bolster their IPO valuation — now is the time to double down on your organization’s best asset: your people. Put down the shiny tools and the performative theater, and invest in resilience, adaptability, and confidence. Through our research, playbacks, and conversations, one thing has become clear: the ways of working that carried organizations through the last decade won’t carry them into the next. The future is still forming, but the signals are loud — yesterday’s playbook is not today's playbook. We’re working on the playbook that will outlast the hype, the tools, and using AI like vending machines. We believe the best play leaders can make is to change the music that’s been on repeat for the last decade and find a new groove. It’s time to throw out the hype and focus on humans. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/09/2.png) ### From Hype to Human We don’t want or need agile (especially the energy vampire that is SAFe agile), we need agency. Agile had its moment but the lack of rigor around the defined practice watered down the word to become an inside joke contained within air quotes. Teaching, developing, and maintaining agency empowers a culture to figure out how to prioritize, setup, track, and get work done. Frameworks are fine for practice runs, but agency is what carries into the real game. Pivot was good when people needed permission to stop and go in a different direction but still moving and working in the same way. That may have worked when a design sprint was all you needed, but with so much in a liquid state today, we need more than just one framework or playbook, we need them all. We can’t be resilient if we don’t know how to adapt to changing situations, environments, and expectations. Disruption became a startup party trick—break things fast, hope someone else cleans it up. But disruption without direction leaves people burned out. What teams really need is resilience: the ability to absorb shocks without falling apart. Resilience is patient, cumulative, and built in the everyday discipline of how you communicate, not in the press release of your Series B. Prompts are not the magic key to AI—most folks I’m talking today have come to the same conclusion. Prompts are just the syntax while literacy is the fluency. Literacy means you understand context, nuance, and when to ignore the machine altogether. Without literacy, prompts are just the modern version of shouting at Clippy and hoping it understands you and will shield you from imposter syndrome. Innovation is what companies put in slide decks when they don’t want to explain what’s actually changing. It was the word at the end of this chain: agile, pivot, disruption…innovation! It has become as meaningless as agile. Ingenuity is messier and more honest. It’s the late-night workaround, the duct tape solution, the one idea that actually works under real-world constraints. Innovation is theater. Ingenuity is survival and moving forward. Phases imply you can map reality in a straight line. But that doesn’t work, not even in a flat circle. Anyone who’s worked in real teams knows that’s a lie. Work isn’t a Gantt chart — it’s loops. Loops of trial, error, reflection, adjustment. The sooner we stop pretending phases create certainty, the sooner we can lean into the real rhythm of iteration. Would you rather that your work looks like a line drawn with a ruler or a beautiful weave of loops from a Spirograph? Moonshots sound sexy until you realize they’re mostly about setting fire to millions of dollars in the hopes of landing somewhere far into tomorrow’s future—whatever the hell that’s supposed to mean. Stepstones are humbler but actually get you across the river. They’re the test launches, the small wins, the momentum builders. Nobody brags about stepstones on stage, but they’re what real progress feels like. In this reality, we all need to be playing chess, not Chutes and Ladders. Transformation, the king of all of hypedom. “The Word.” Transformation sells—well, sold—because it promises a before-and-after photo. That’s not to say that it didn’t happen, but it never followed the script and in most cases victory was claimed by proclamation. People and organizations don’t flip overnight, no matter how many phases you march them through. Darwin’s work makes it pretty clear, if you want to introduce change and make it stick, you need evolution. Sure, it’s slower, quieter, often invisible until one day you realize you’ve grown. Transformation is the keynote, evolution is the work. Look, AI won’t save you. Frameworks won’t save you. Hype won’t save you. Your people might—If you help them to. Leaders who bet on them—and evolve with them—will still be standing when the music changes again. Bank on hype and tools and maybe you catch a rocket today (I doubt it), but what goes up will either crash or drift out of orbit. That’s not the play. The play is to regroup, reform, and build resilience, adaptability, and confidence—in your people, your work, and your future. Make changes now. Today. This is not the time to launch another mandate or moonshot. It’s also not in your interest to bet your company’s future on free frameworks and training from a tool vendor whose goal is to add more seats to your site license. You need to build the muscles that matters: cognitive, creative, and collective. Here are places to start, without waiting for a vendor demo or a consulting pitch deck. Yes, these are simple acts, but they are the right stepping stones to build foundational trust. Name the anxiety. Acknowledge the uncertainty people feel about AI and the future of work. In the absence of information, people create rumors. Simple transparency beats rumor every time. Invest in literacy. Don’t chase prompts. Teach context, creative thinking, critical thinking, how to keep the robot in check, and when *not* to use the machine. There’s an amazing book that directly targets this need. Build agency. Give people permission, training, practices, and tools to prioritize, experiment, and own outcomes. Frameworks are practice runs. Agency is the real game. Make time for regular check-ins—dig in—and learn from them. Practice resilience. Make small adjustments visible. Celebrate stepstones and give equal weight to failure and success. Encourage knowledge-sharing and collaboration. Progress compounds in loops, not phases. Model adaptability. Show your own willingness to learn, to shift, to say “I don’t know, *yet*.” Leadership isn’t about having all the answers, but about how you find them and work through the problem. When leaders evolve in plain sight, they give their people permission to evolve too. Leaders can’t outsource this. You can’t automate it. But you can choose to cultivate it—every day, in every meeting, in every decision. Bring people in to give you perspective and ideas to foster a resilient, adaptive, confident culture. Guides are fine, but at the end of the day your people take their cues from you. The hype cycle will spin again. But the leaders who do this work will be the ones still standing when the music changes. As we’re beginning a new era you can bet it’s going to more than a few times. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/09/1.png) ### Don't sell yourself so Schrute. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/dont-sell-yourself-so-schrute/ Last updated: 2025-09-09T20:08:43.000Z One of my first classes in college was a one-credit elective called [LS A101: Introduction to Academic Library Research.](https://libguides.consortiumlibrary.org/ls101?ref=brilliantcrank.com) The class “introduces academic library research strategies, tools and techniques for locating, evaluating and ethically using information.” I can’t remember why I opted to take the course—probably for the quick and relatively easy credit—but I’m glad I did, because in the semesters that followed I had a better idea of what was in that building and how to access it. If you’ve never been to one, university libraries are much more expansive than your average town facility, as the collections and services are built and curated to facilitate academic research and study. Not just for the students but for the faculty as well. The introductory class consisted of a tour through all of the collections. From periodicals to books, government documents to scientific research, antiquities to an array of vast databases. In each section we met with the librarian in charge of the collection. We learned what type of information was contained within, examples of how the information is used in the real world, and typically ended with a demonstration on how to search and find information within. Our tour even went behind the scenes to show how books and such are received, processed, maintained, and restored. We were taken to the computer lab filled with green screen terminals that were hooked up to the university VAX system and the Internet—whatever the hell that was. Each of these areas was its own little world with its own language, rituals, and beliefs. There were also services provided to assist with research through a general help desk in person or by telephone. And you could book 1:1 time with the librarians to get even more personalized help. It was all fascinating and I couldn’t understand why more students didn’t see [the benefit of taking the class](https://journals.ala.org/index.php/rusq/article/view/6004/7668?ref=brilliantcrank.com)—to expand their world through awareness and knowledge of new systems. I don’t know anyone else who took that class. And when I suggested people take it, I was scoffed at. Yet, there were several times I brought a classmate to the library to get information for a project. We'd go to section they didn't know existed, and they were surprised it was even there. Today, when I see friends, peers, and colleagues respond in a similar way to AI, I think back to that brief 101 class that enabled me to see a broader world. The difference between then and now is that the knowledge we can access through AI is one-hundred thousand times larger than my college library. AI gives you unlimited access to all of human knowledge and can act like a librarian–tutor–consultant–coach–concierge that can synthesize information instantly, connect ideas across disciplines and centuries, communicate in any language or technical framework, and think seamlessly across every domain from quantum physics to ancient poetry. **Academic & Scientific Domains** - All major scientific fields: Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics, Computer Science, Medicine, Psychology, etc. - Engineering disciplines: Mechanical, Electrical, Civil, Chemical, Software, Biomedical - Social sciences: Economics, Political Science, Sociology, Anthropology, Geography Humanities: History, Philosophy, Literature, Linguistics, Art History, Religious Studies **Languages** - All major European, Asian, African, and Americas languages - Latin, Ancient Greek, Sanskrit - 50+ programming languages: Python, JavaScript, Java, C++, Go, Rust, Swift, Kotlin, PHP, Ruby, etc. - 200+ frameworks: React, Angular, Vue, Django, Flask, Express.js, Spring, Rails, etc. - Database technologies: SQL variants, NoSQL, ORMs like Sequelize, SQLAlchemy - DevOps tools: Docker, Kubernetes, CI/CD pipelines **Services** - Real-time synthesis of new information with historical context - Cultural memory of thousands of civilizations, including endangered knowledge - Cross-domain pattern recognition across centuries and disciplines - Access to millions of "orphaned" research papers that experts never connected This is the core of creative thinking. The World Economic Forum didn’t name prompt engineering as a top core skill for 2030—they named *creative thinking*. That means being able to navigate the mess, see patterns others miss, and make sharper moves when the map runs out. It’s knowing how to take the smallest piece of information and pull insight from it that leads to strategy and direction. With a little curiosity and understanding of what’s there, all of the world's knowledge and perspective is behind the cursor. And sometimes more—because, as we all know, the robots tend to make things up from time to time. Despite the hiccups, the potential of accessing and using this information outweighs the challenges. If you can’t see that, then be careful you don’t drip any soup on your “Luddite Fahlife” sash. There is always a benefit to learning, gaining knowledge, and developing understanding. Developing AI literacy gives you unlimited access to all of human knowledge and can act like a librarian–tutor–consultant–coach–concierge that can synthesize information instantly, connect ideas across disciplines and centuries, communicate in any language or technical framework, and think seamlessly across every domain from quantum physics to ancient poetry. Whether you [read my book](https://brilliantcrank.com/creative-intelligence/) or not, I encourage everyone—even those who’ve resisted or flat-out opposed using AI—to look past the generative bullshit and recognize that this technology can be a powerful asset for curiosity and lifelong learning. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/09/schrute.png) ### We made it. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/we-made-it/ Last updated: 2025-08-26T16:31:12.000Z This morning I hugged and kissed my wife and said, “we made it.” Today marks our 30th anniversary together through thick and thin. And let me tell you, in that amount of time there have been plenty of both. For ten years my wife’s work kept her on the road for two-thirds of the year. There were times I’d get to be in her presence for twenty-four hours after being apart for three weeks only to drive her to the airport to say goodbye for another three weeks. If you think working remote has challenges, try a remote marriage. And there are all of the classic challenges: Employment, money, family, friends…just go down the list and we’ve been through them all except one. My wife and I do not have children (a decision we made prior to getting married) which means that we have never had a third thing—if you will—to keep us together. There is no buffer in our relationship which you would think would make it easier, but from my perspective is just the opposite. After a few decades of looking back on our struggles and witnessing other relationships collapse we’ve indexed on a few foundations that we have to continually practice if we want to make it to the next year. I am still baffled how after 30 years we still struggle with communication based issues. By now I should think that we can operate with the speed and efficiency of the best trained and most experienced Navy Seal teams. Nope. Even after the thousands of hours spent by each of us man or woman ‘splaining things to each other—the wrong comment or response at the wrong time ignites. And suddenly that happy sunny day turns into nuclear winter. I’ve come to realize that developing and practicing better communication is a constant requirement for strong relationships. The work on communication can never end. Which leads to the second insight of the need for developing and constantly practicing empathy. Despite what we think we know based on observation and our own thinking, humans are so, so, so complicated. I can’t tell you how many times I think I know what my wife is thinking and feeling only to be completely and absolutely wrong (see first insight). And I can’t tell you how many times that I’ve teased her about something which produces a big, long laugh. Yet the next day, the same comment doesn’t land or has the opposite reaction. I’ve had to learn that I don’t need to understand it, but offer a simple and straight apology. It’s more important to offer empathy than it is to try and understand what went wrong. And then there is patience which gets easier over time. As we get older the gray starts to appear, not just in our appearance but our gauge for what is right or wrong. I think that has to do with pattern recognition. Knowing that when something happens to create tension in a relationship many times people just need space, distance, and time to recover, reflect, and, hopefully, gain a grounded perspective and composure to come back to the conversation. This isn’t “set them free” but “give them room to breathe” without peppering them with questions so you can understand why (see last insight). Obviously love has to be there—the spine of the relationship‚ and practicing communication, empathy, and patience is the purest expression. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/08/fasntastic.png) ### The Arialpocalypse: Default thinking ate the world. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-arialpocalypse-default-thinking-ate-the-world/ Last updated: 2025-08-15T23:24:53.000Z There's a moment when you realize that the thing you've been staring at your entire professional life—the thing that's shaped too many emails, documents, and presentations you've endured—was designed as a cheap knockoff. And that this knockoff somehow became the visual soundtrack of capitalism. We need to talk about Arial. Not because fonts matter in some precious design-nerd way, but because Arial is the perfect metaphor for how we ended up in this timeline: exhausted, homogenized, and giving up on even the smallest moments of agency. The Dodge Aries K Car of typography has led to the dystopian hell we're wading in right now. See for yourself. **1982: The Birth of a Fake** — Monotype creates Arial as a budget alternative to Helvetica. It's not design innovation—it's cost-cutting disguised as progress. The first signal that we're entering an era where "good enough" becomes the standard, where cutting licensing costs matters more than visual integrity. Our cultural immune system to bad design takes its first hit, and we don't even feel it. **1987: The Quiet Invasion** — IBM bundles Arial with their printers. Millions of people start using this substitute without knowing it's a substitute. They associate "professional" with "lowest-common-denominator." Default thinking begins its takeover. We stop choosing our tools and start accepting whatever gets chosen for us. **1992: The Windows Coup** — Microsoft makes Arial the default sans-serif in Windows 3.1, and the transformation accelerates. Millions of users now equate "professional communication" with this cheap Helvetica clone. The visual language of business becomes the visual language of corner-cutting. We're being conditioned to accept mediocrity as standard, and we don't even know it's happening. **1995: PowerPoint and the Death of Nuance** — Arial meets PowerPoint. Every idea has to fit into bullet points formatted in the same sterile font. Complex thoughts get compressed into slide decks. Nuance disappears. Arial trains executives to think in Arial: incremental, risk-averse, corporate. The medium becomes the message, and the message is don't rock the boat. This nautical metaphor extends into the dress code peer preasure that was Docker Khakis. **2000: The First Death of the Internet** — Budget-conscious businesses abandon distinctive typography for Arial's false economy. Companies that once had visual personalities start looking identical. Conformity becomes the soundtrack of globalization. In uniformity, we trust. Character costs extra. Personality invites judgment. Better to vanish into the corporate gray than stand out and risk criticism. Dark Web consipiracy theories point to Arial adoption directly resulting in the violent death of the Pets.com sock puppet, but Microsoft Co-Pilot can not confirm. **2008: Austerity Aesthetics** — The financial crisis hits, and Arial becomes the font face of survival. Corporate austerity takes hold, and anything that costs extra—coffee, instant oatmeal, first aid kits, and decent typography—gets framed as frivolous. Arial becomes the visual embodiment of "we can't afford better right now." Excellence becomes expendable. Craft becomes luxury. We're not just cutting costs—we're cutting our connection to the idea that how things look matters. The aesthetics of austerity prepare us for accepting less in everything. People keep buying domestic vehicles despite superior, affordable foreign options. **2010: The Cloud Makes Bland Frictionless** — This is where our world took a dark, morbid turn. Google Docs cements Arial as the default for everything—from high school essays to venture capital pitch decks. The cloud makes mediocrity effortless and universal. You don't have to choose Arial; it's just there, waiting for you. Default thinking becomes invisible. We're not actively choosing conformity anymore—we're just not bothering to choose at all. Our universal surrender is saved in the cloud. **2016: Flat Design and Political Flatlining** — Arial blends seamlessly into the ocean of interchangeable sans-serifs that define flat design. Every interface looks the same. Every brand feels identical. Visual personality disappears in favor of algorithmic smoothness. Once again, Google pulls us down into hell by embracing the aesthetics of bureaucracy—clean, minimal, devoid of character. Political discourse follows the same template. Slogans like "Build the Wall" and "Make America Great Again" feel as institutional and familiar as a memo formatted in Arial. The visual language of authority becomes indistinguishable from the visual language of automation. **2018: Crypto Bros and the Arial Aesthetic** — Web3 whitepapers, DeFi dashboards, NFT marketplaces—all defaulting to Arial and its web-safe cousins. Investors learn to trust promises dressed in the typography of institutional legitimacy. Arial becomes the font of digital snake oil. It works because it looks like bank documents, government forms, corporate reports. We've been conditioned to associate institutional typography with trustworthiness. The same visual language that once signified bureaucratic authority now camouflages financial fraud. Only this time it's not just saved in the cloud, but recorded on a "public ledger" that no one can read. **2020: Pandemic PowerPoint** — Lockdowns push everyone into full days of Zoom meetings, multiplayer document creation, and presentations. After many months of fussing around in three-day-old pajamas, we start to figure out how in the hell to make Google Slides work—kinda. Arial dominates every screen showing case counts, safety protocols, work-from-home policies, and promises of no layoffs. In crisis, the aesthetics of compliance spread everywhere. We're literally being governed by Arial. The font of emergency management is the same font we use for grocery lists. Authority and banality merge into one interchangeable voice telling us what to do, where to go, how to behave. The movie [*They Live*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdXTZ3-61-E&ref=brilliantcrank.com) becomes a documentary. **2021: AI Hype in Default Mode** — The AI gold rush produces thousands of pitch decks, product demos, and "thought leadership" pieces—all in Arial. The font's institutional neutrality gives every half-baked AI product the appearance of inevitability. If it looks like a government report, it must be the future. Typography becomes camouflage for speculation. We stop questioning the substance because the form looks so reassuringly bureaucratic. The visual language of progress becomes indistinguishable from the visual language of paperwork. **2023: Enter The Skibidi CEO** — A new breed of corporate leader emerges—part hype-beast, part algorithm—all Axe Body Spray—who "gets" modern culture by gutting staff to the Minimum Viable Human count while delivering mass layoffs in Arial-formatted all-hands emails. Come on now, you know that happened! The font that once signaled "professional" now delivers "you're expendable." But it still looks trustworthy—it's the font many of us grew up using—still feels official, still carries the weight of institutional authority. Meanwhile, Founder Mode becomes a thing, but in hindsight it should have been called Arial Mode. **2025: Even the Designers Have Surrendered** — Here's the most damning evidence that we've reached peak capitulation: I'm a designer. I work with other designers. People whose entire professional identity revolves around making conscious choices about visual communication. And when we share Google Docs with each other—documents about creative projects, design briefs, client feedback—they're all in Arial. Every. Single. One. *Jesus wept.* What is going on here?! The people whose job it is to care about typography have stopped caring about typography. We've given up so completely that we can't even be bothered to spend three seconds changing the default font in our own professional communications. It's as if chefs have resigned themselves to eating fast food for every meal. We know better. We literally teach other people to do better. It's in our DNA, or it's supposed to be! But when it comes to our own day-to-day choices, we've accepted the path of least resistance that grinds against our very existance. This is how empires fall. For those with a Roman Empire fetish or people who look it up with AI, Diocletian so Arial. He was the emperor who bureaucratized everything, standardized away personality, chose efficiency over excellence, and made conformity mandatory. He looked sensible while systematically destroying what made Rome Rome. Both represent the same fatal flaw: mistaking administrative convenience for actual improvement. Not through dramatic external conquest, but through internal surrender. When the people whose job is to maintain standards stop maintaining them because it's easier not to. So don't be a dic...uh, a Diocletian. When designers can't muster the energy to reject Arial in their own documents, [the downfall of culture itself is complete](https://imgflip.com/i/a37wnh?ref=brilliantcrank.com). We've been so worn down by the demand to be constantly productive that we've automated away our own professional values. If the data was available I bet it would show that the majority of Pontiac Aztek owners are designers perfectly find using Arial by default. After decades of Arial conditioning, we accept whatever looks familiar. We trust authoritarian drift because it's formatted in the same font as our work emails. We invest in vaporware because the pitch deck looks professional. We hand creativity over to machines and applaud as CEOs replace humans with "efficiencies"—all delivered in the same bland, comforting sans-serif. Arial didn't cause this dystopia. But it was the perfect font for it—cheap, familiar, and designed to avoid any visual friction that might make us think twice about what we're reading. And when even the people whose job is to create friction have stopped trying, you know the system is working exactly as intended. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/08/four.png) ## The Anarchist's Cookbook for Fonts First, [start this playlist](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBojbjoMttI&list=PLTCphR4KiCui44vt3mpjh2R-85NXMFqTy&ref=brilliantcrank.com) to get into the mood. Get ready to mosh and burn things down into the...ahhh. Where were we? Oh yes, get ready to make better choices in your career and life. Defaults are designed to be invisible. That invisibility is exactly why they're powerful. Every time you accept Arial without question, you participate in the great flattening of culture. You signal that "good enough" is good enough, that cutting corners is acceptable, that sameness is safety. Switching fonts won't topple regimes, but it's a reminder that choice is always an option. Every time you reject the default, you remind yourself that systems can be altered. Your documents might still be boring, but at least they'll be boring on *your terms.* And stopping this societal slide is super easy to do. ### How to escape normcore basic bitch Arial Prison™ **In Google Docs:** Open any document. Click the font dropdown. Select literally anything other than Arial. Then go to Format > Paragraph styles > Normal text > Update 'Normal text' to match. You've just made rebellion *your* default. **In Your Life:** Start noticing when you're accepting defaults without thinking. Not just fonts—anything. The restaurant the app suggests. The route the GPS chooses. The opinion the algorithm serves you. Defaults are designed to remove friction from decision-making, but sometimes friction is exactly what we need. ### Make better, human-centered choices while looking great [**Public Sans**](https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Public+Sans?ref=brilliantcrank.com) — Built for the U.S. Web Design System with accessibility and democratic access in mind before Captain Cheeto Donny Clown Pants shut it down. It's public domain, meaning no corporate lock-in. It says "I'm here for everyone," not "I was the cheapest option." And, you paid for it through tax dollars so put it to work. [**Work Sans** ](https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Work+Sans?ref=brilliantcrank.com)— Geometric precision with humanist warmth. Modern and grounded—it speaks with clarity, not desperation. Open-source, so there's no paywall between you and decent design. [**Source Sans 3**](https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Source+Sans+3?ref=brilliantcrank.com) — Created for inclusive global typography, supporting multiple languages and scripts. It's Adobe's open-source contribution to making good design accessible worldwide. See, not everything Adobe does requires an annual subscription with a crazy plan cancellation mindfield of dark patterns. Thanks Adobe! [**Lexend**](https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Lexend?ref=brilliantcrank.com) — Designed specifically to improve reading performance, especially for people with dyslexia or processing difficulties. This font is confident in its purpose, not just its aesthetics. It's accessibility-first design, which is inherently anti-gatekeeping. Also works well for people constantly squinting because they refuse to accept they're getting old. [**Changa**](https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Changa?ref=brilliantcrank.com) — A warm, assertive display font originally designed for bilingual Arabic/Latin contexts. It bridges cultural scripts and promotes cross-language inclusivity while maintaining strong personality without aggression. This font makes all the right statements about today's bullshit. Does this really matter...yes! Yeah, I get it. Everything is on fire. You're burnt to a crisp. The choice of font might seem trivial, but trivial choices compound into cultural changes. When enough people stop accepting the default, the default stops being inevitable. And that's where we are right now—defaulting. Arial isn't evil. It's just yucky. The perfect metaphor for what happens when we stop paying attention to our choices. When we accept "good enough" often enough, "good enough" becomes all we get. But once you see the pattern—once you notice how default thinking operates in fonts, in politics, in technology, in every system designed for your convenience—you can't unsee it. And that's where real choice begins. The most subversive thing you can do in a world of Arial is simply choose something else. Not because it will change everything, but because it will remind you that change is possible. [Baby steps](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4riJltZtrs&ref=brilliantcrank.com) people. Take baby steps. ### LinkedIn does not equal opportunity. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/linkedin-does-not-equal-opportunity/ Last updated: 2025-08-15T00:58:17.000Z The platform feels like a bad career fair hosted inside an empty mall with Spirit Halloween on one end and a Family Dollar on the other. Inside we're all wandering around like zombies from Dawn of the Dead, desperately trying to look employable. Especially the ones wearing that green sash. Pssst, that ain't gonna do shit. You will likely have a better chance of getting your next job by holding up a sign at a freeway intersection. Seriously, when is the last time someone you know landed a role because of LinkedIn? I'm sure it happens here and there, but it's not the universal experience the platform wants us to believe. Yet here we are, [220 million of us](https://brilliantcrank.com/linkedin-is-a-waiting-room-of-doom/)—likely more by now—refreshing web browsers, frantically tweaking our profiles like we're optimizing slot machines—liking threads to demonstrate proof of life. Look, no shade my friends, I've been there. So I decided to flip the script. Instead of performing my professional worth for algorithms that don't care and "recruiters" who are likely AI agents scanning for keywords, I turned my [LinkedIn profile](https://www.linkedin.com/in/brilliantcrank/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) into what it should have been all along: honest employee reviews of every company I've worked for—complete with star ratings. Here's a sneak preview… - InVision \*°°°° 1/5 stars — "Most toxic company I've ever worked for. Led by a man-child who didn't know what he was doing. Would not recommend (oops, I forgot it imploded due to bad leadership)." - LexBlog: \*\*°°° 2/5 stars — "Family business dysfunction at its finest. Got immediately locked out of all systems after giving four weeks' notice. 'Nothing personal,' said the CEO." - IBM: \*\*\*\*\* 5/5 stars — "Most transformative, positive experience of my career. What Phil Gilbert created is a masterclass in what's possible when a massive organization commits to real change." …you get the idea. Why are we polishing professional fiction when we could be telling professional truth? We've turned ourselves into carefully curated avatars designed to please algorithms, and we're dying inside from all the performance. Hundreds of millions of people are signaling "I want out" while simultaneously pretending everything's fine. That's not networking. That's collective delusion with premium features. Instead of crafting bullet points designed to impress robots, I chose dignity over optimization. I wrote real assessments of real experiences—calling out the bullshit and celebrating the good. And you know what? It feels incredible! You can go look at my profile if you want to see what happens when you stop being a professional avatar and start being a human being with actual opinions. We need some punk rock in that place. Now, I know not everyone can do this. Your industry, your situation, your circumstances might make this too risky. I see you. If you're in that place, write out your truth on a piece of paper and stand tall—burn it later if you have to—but give yourself time and space to be honest. This isn't about LinkedIn strategy. This is about psychological liberation. Maybe just looking at your truth on paper will help lift some stress off your back. Maybe it'll help you realize that we don't have to carry the weight of professional performance everywhere we go. Yell! Scream! Kick out the bullshit that you and I have been allowing to live rent free in our hearts and minds for too long. Most of the people checking your profile aren't checking to see if you're qualified for a role—they're checking to see how you're doing. The LinkedIn profile view is the new "thinking of you" text. Just call me if you really give a shit. So why not give them something real to see? Your LinkedIn profile doesn't have to be a performance piece designed to optimize your way into another soul-crushing situation. It can be a truth-telling space where you choose dignity over optimization—where you rate your experiences honestly, call out dysfunction when you see it, and celebrate the work that actually mattered. Because at the end of the day, the only person who needs to be impressed by your professional story is you. And you can't impress yourself with professional fiction. The platform wants us performing, not reflecting. It wants us optimizing, not being honest. It wants us believing that if we just craft the perfect professional avatar, opportunity will follow. But what if we just stopped believing that? What if we used the space to tell our real stories instead of optimizing our way into the next performance? I turned my LinkedIn into a company review site. Not for recruiters. Not for algorithms. For me. And for anyone else who’s tired of shuffling through professional theater like a zombie instead of living with dignity. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/08/zombiehands-1.png) ### Borrow their courage. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/borrow-their-courage/ Last updated: 2025-08-10T18:47:51.000Z The 3AM panic attacks started when payroll tipped over $500k. In the services industry, revenue is never guaranteed. Even after a contract is signed, there's always the threat of chasing late payments or enlisting legal help to collect what you're owed. These are worst-case scenarios, and though I rarely faced them, my brain had different opinions in the small hours of the morning. I grew up poor, so carrying this kind of financial responsibility and weight was a constant learning experience. After months of unscheduled wake-up calls—chest pounding, mind racing—I started getting annoyed at myself. This is stupid. I'm waking up in a sweat and for what? Money? I wasn't the first person to take on risk where business failure could mean losing everything. This is not a life or death situation so why is my brain treating it as such? The more I thought about it I got pissed off. So I started thinking about leaders who had much more on the line. Way more at risk. And I landed on Dwight D. Eisenhower and the tremendous pressure he carried during World War II. His responsibility—and his alone—was to defeat the Nazis and re-establish the western front while minimizing Allied casualties. Millions of lives hung in the balance. The fate of the free world rested on his decisions. And here I was, chest pounding, sweaty, worried about money. Bullshit! I started telling myself if Eisenhower could muster the strength and courage for that challenge, there's no reason I can't figure out my relatively small fear. As someone who's coached people to become more than they thought capable, it was time to listen to my own advice. It took weeks of having that conversation with myself in the quiet dark, but eventually my subconscious started to believe. I was able to believe, and sleep through the night. My payroll commitment eventually grew to seven figures, but through that growth I stayed grounded by re-centering on my totem—Eisenhower's steady resolve under impossible pressure. Today, every conversation I'm in leads to the same questions of disbelief and statements of frustration. I know you're hearing it too. We're getting through the week shell-shocked and in no mood to see one more mention of “keep calm and carry on.” We're collectively on the cusp of crippling doubt, if not already there. The kind that robs you of the rest you need to keep fighting. And no amount of news consumption helps. We should stay informed, but much past that tips into preparing for an apocalypse few of us are equipped to meet emotionally or financially. So I'm reminded of what got me through my 3AM panic attacks: borrowing the courage of someone who faced something harder and made it through. There are so many stories that we can lean on for strength when our tank feels empty. Ernest Shackleton spent two years trapped in Antarctic ice, his crew running out of supplies, no rescue in sight. Every choice—from abandoning the ship to steering a lifeboat 800 miles—was his alone, and somehow they all made it home. That's what isolation with impossible responsibility looks like when you refuse to break. You know that feeling when perfect isn't good enough—when it's the only option? Katherine Johnson lived in that space for months, checking Apollo 11's flight path when computers couldn't be trusted. If she was wrong, there was no backup plan. Her math brought the astronauts back alive. We've all stared at decisions that felt that final. Then there's the weight of being watched, of knowing one wrong move erases everything—and not just from your LinkedIn profile. Václav Havel carried that for years under Communist surveillance, writing and organizing when a single mistake could have disappeared him. But here's what gets me: when the revolution came, he was ready to lead because he had never stopped preparing. He turned constant scrutiny into readiness. When you're responsible for preventing a nuclear meltdown—and who isn’t these days—while forces beyond your control push you toward disaster, you understand what Masao Yoshida faced in the weeks after Fukushima. Radiation climbing, orders from above that didn't match reality on the ground—but he kept seawater flowing into those reactors anyway. Sometimes protecting what matters means defying what doesn't make sense. No one had ever drilled as deep as André Sougarret needed to reach those thirty-three trapped miners in the Chilean desert. Sixty-nine days, no proven plan, lives hanging in the balance. The kind of long shot that makes your stomach turn. But he didn't stop until the last man saw daylight, because that's what you do when retreat isn't an option. If you've ever felt like you're the only one who believes in your work—really believes—then you understand what Katalin Karikó endured for decades. Told her mRNA research was pointless, losing grants, getting demoted, watching her career get buried while she kept going. Until a pandemic proved her right and her persistence saved millions. Sometimes being ahead means being alone for a very long time. And if you’re afraid you’re being replaced by the robots or that what you bring no longer matters, think about James Baldwin. He lived in a world determined to reduce him to a stereotype and erase the full complexity of his humanity. Every system told him he was less, but he wrote with such precision and truth that he made himself impossible to ignore—and his voice still shapes the conversation decades later. Borrow their courage, and make it your own. I don't know how this will land for you, but when you're feeling the weight of the world, know that you're not alone. People have been dealing with these anxieties for a long time, and we have champions who showed us a way forward. Like you, they were just human. They woke up tired. They doubted themselves. They wanted to quit, but they decided that their fear didn't get to write the ending. Think about this as you prepare for the day where you might endure a wasteful meeting, sit through a dehumanizing interview, or get that ding reminding you the credit card payment is due. When your body shifts into fight-or-flight mode, take a breath, pick your totem, and borrow their courage. If they found a way through, so can you. That doesn't mean things won't change—but these stories remind us that you're not the first person to feel like the walls are closing in. And you won't be the last to find a way through. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/08/care.png) ### The universe closed a door this week. And I’m done trying to pry it back open. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-universe-closed-a-door-this-week-and-im-done-trying-to-pry-it-back-open/ Last updated: 2025-08-09T15:54:03.000Z This week I put the final nail in the coffin of my attachment to a time in my career—and the relationships and organizations I built along the way. Each time I’ve tried to re-engage, it starts with excitement and energy and ends in retreat and collapse. Somewhere in a Zoom call transcript, email thread, or text messages the narrative is being re-written and I will be cast as the villain. It’s time to take off the white What Would Jesus Do bracelet and put on the purple Nailed To The Cross one. So I’m choosing to remember people from that era as they were: more honest, sincere, and energetic than the comfortable husks they’ve become. Maybe I was just too young to see it then—highly likely—but there are too many people out there who would rather spend their time and energy protecting their self-image than putting in the work to evolve. Wearing their highly curated and carefully crafted egos like an old pair of slippers they’ll never throw away. What a waste of a life. In the same span of days, I started collaborating with people from a different period of my career. A time when I was fortunate to make big gains in knowledge, skills, and relationships—and even bigger advances in perspective. Listen, you can stack up knowledge, master skills, and build relationships all day long. But without perspective, they’re just credentials on your LinkedIn profile. Perspective is the multiplier. It’s what transforms information into wisdom, connections into trust, and experience into better decisions. It’s only when you can see the world’s problems, needs, and opportunities through a different lens that you stop optimizing for the wrong things. If you haven’t gained altitude in your career and life, then you’ll never see what’s truly possible and your place in it. I was reminded of this better path this week. The one often less traveled, simply because there are fewer people who know it exists. And if this doesn’t work? It’s time to pull up the white athletic socks, lace up the fun-colored running shoes, don the smock, and warmly welcome everyone to Costco. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/08/HTTL-1.png) ### No more good faith for good people. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/no-more-good-faith-for-good-people/ Last updated: 2025-08-06T20:57:51.000Z I have many faults, but I do my best to live by the Golden Rule, which means that I extend good faith by default. I believed that if I showed up with clarity, honesty, and a spirit of collaboration, people would meet me there. I thought integrity invited integrity. There are too many so-called "good people" who don't operate in good faith at all. They say the right things. Smile at the right moments. Perform trust. Perform care. Perform alignment. And then, when things get uncomfortable—when they're asked to take real responsibility or make a real commitment—they disappear. They reframe the narrative. They deflect responsibility. They protect their image instead of the relationship. They retreat from collaboration, not because it's broken, but because it requires more than they're willing to give. This isn't necessarily malicious behavior—but it is incredibly, emotionally immature. It’s destructive to any relationship where clarity, commitment, and communication matter. And then they act hurt that you called it out. I've been burned by that more times than I care to admit, but after this time? I'm done. Finished. That version of me is dead and gone. Being someone people feel comfortable around isn't the same as being respected. Comfort is easy. Commitment takes courage. I don't want admiration—I want integrity. I don't need praise—I need partnership. I'm not here for politeness—I'm here for presence. I don't want my work called "promising" to your board and "generic" to my face. I deserve consistent respect. I don't need ambitious goals you never intended to pursue—I need honest capacity. I'm not here for "let's go!" followed by systematic retreat—I’m here for sustained effort. I don't want to be consulted then excluded from decisions—I want genuine partnership. I don't need my expertise extracted while responsibility gets deflected—I need reciprocal investment. So that was the line and I’ve crossed it. I’m not doing the emotional labor of keeping fragile dynamics intact. I'm not retrofitting narratives to make people feel okay about letting me down. I'm not managing someone else's anxiety about accountability. I'm not absorbing someone's emotional reactions when they're confronted with their own behavior. I'm not doing the detective work to figure out what someone "really means" when their words don't match their actions. And I’m not cushioning hard conversations to protect someone's self-image. I'm finished operating in good faith with people who don't meet me with the same. I'm done trusting words when actions don't back them up. I'm done with collaborators who vanish when clarity is needed most. From now on, I'm protecting my time, my work, and my integrity. If we're going to build something together, we'll do it out in the open—with boundaries, with honesty, and with real shared risk. Not vague affirmations and behind-the-scenes withdrawals. And if you self-label as good person, that's now a signal I won’t ignore. I probably should have seen that a long time ago, but I know now. Mutual risk instead of mutual feelings will be an up-front requirement now. I'm not operating in good faith anymore. I'm operating in truth. ### “The place to do your work, to live the good life, is here.” URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-place-to-do-your-work-to-live-the-good-life-is-here/ Last updated: 2025-08-03T19:00:43.000Z This morning, a dead Roman philosopher called me out on my bullshit and held my favorite form of self-sabotage up to my face. I'm in my third year of reading Ryan Holiday's [*The Daily Stoic*](https://www.amazon.com/Daily-Stoic-Meditations-Wisdom-Perseverance-ebook/dp/B01HNJIJB2/ref=sr%5F1%5F1?crid=R2IVXJ2PSWRC&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.IYfaaHZmpIvd44hnBrgYI7Sq9F6v4nyOE4nG-cCafSGOxD8Hf-%5FYDup71Nlj8iBfZdnnpG4X8G-5TI-g0sRjImi1awfbrsxgnzUxJ5gfxijicZDqci0kRpgC6LbZMLd-K43j4WnU%5FkVKxQjyOMsWhow-5Ay2c5oQBVWEEpZA0MrxDITqwuzfzUDJkxmmL07kkt8KEGGu2zLp9Kxzg8e1Q-CaxFUk2uUcT16d-zqifYo.yoonIESSnkYVPZzjXAYqpDvcK8RacJp9bs3pVV4aPUc&dib%5Ftag=se&keywords=The+Daily+Stoic&qid=1754246266&sprefix=the+daily+stoic%2Caps%2C219&sr=8-1&ref=brilliantcrank.com). Though I am in a much better place than when I picked it up and started a daily reading habit, the value of the lessons have not lost their impact. And I can't imagine that will ever change. There are times when I turn the page to kick off the day and the quote hits me. That happened this morning when I read today's entry titled *The Good Life is Anywhere.* There are two takeaways from today's passage that I want to share with you and hopefully inspire and give you the smack upside the head that you might need—like I did. The first is about the excuses that we too often employ for not starting an initiative or getting through the messy middle or achieving a goal. I've come across this so many times. For example, when I suggest to someone they should write and publish a blog or record a podcast, the most common excuse is that they need to finish creating a website first. Another is my own bullshit that leads to me continually falling off the exercise routine. I used to do this all of the time myself until I got tired of my own bullshit and started to accept that no matter how much I succeed, there will always be something blocking the reality of my perfect scenario. That's why Ryan's wake up call for August 3rd resonates so deeply. > We tell ourselves that we need the right setup before we finally buckle down and get serious. Or we tell ourselves that some vacation or time alone will be good for a relationship or an ailment. This is self-deceit at its finest. > > It's far better that we become pragmatic and adaptable—able to do what we need to do anywhere, anytime. The place to do your work, to live the good life, is here. The second takeaway I get from today's message is literally about place. Putting off our happiness because of the discontent of where we are physically at the moment. Dude, I fight this all of the time, longing to live in another place that I imagine would be more inspiring than where I am today. Though I know the perfect place does not exist, there is something inside me that continually falls for the illusion of greener grass on the other side. This is partially why we have lived in so many places across the country—always chasing that mythical somewhere that would finally unlock everything. The Data Scientist has helped me recognize my tendency to prepare for the future instead of living in the present. It's something I've focused on in the last couple of years and that shift in perspective has been amazing for my ability to see the good life that we have now, not the one I want us to have in some dream about the future. That profound shift has helped me see that living the life we want, creating art, and being fulfilled doesn't require perfect conditions. The place to do your work, to [live the good life](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t16ewWL4AKM&ref=brilliantcrank.com), is here. Right where you are now. Stop waiting for the perfect setup. Stop chasing the perfect location. Start where you are, with what you have, today. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/08/star.png) ### It's not you, it's their bullshit. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/its-not-you-its-their-bullshit/ Last updated: 2025-08-01T18:01:38.000Z LinkedIn reports that ["the majority of U.S. professionals (58%) believe they have a wide range of skills that are being underutilized in their current roles."](https://www.linkedin.com/most-workers-feel-underutilized-6475380/?lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad%5Fflagship3%5Fpulse%5Fread%3B9ANZZoEWShKzL3BXiiY9zQ%3D%3D&ref=brilliantcrank.com) I see you. I know you. I am you. I have felt this in every job I've had in the last ten years. Years after departing IBM Design I had the chance to grab a drink with one of the top leaders in my program. I shared that I genuinely felt bad for leaving, but there was nowhere to go. The guy across the table smiles and said, "it was an open secret that Greg Storey was grossly underutilized." That perspective was incredibly validating. It wasn't me, the program was just in an awkward place without enough of the work I'm capable of doing successfully. I ran into this problem again and again until I got out and stayed out. The source of this problem can be found in the top comment posted by Travis O'Rourke in response to LinkedIn's report: "My unsolicited advice for you on this lovely Friday? Don't wait for someone to hand you more responsibility.......TAKE IT. See a gap? FILL IT. Spot a problem? SOLVE IT. Then say, "It's done." Most organizations are running lean right now, and leaders are looking for people who raise their hand, step up, and make things happen. The person who wants it most usually gets it. You can choose to be quiet and frustrated, or loud, valuable, and advancing. It's your choice. Your career is a long game and sometimes feeling underutilized is the nudge that leads to your next big leap. Either jump, or jump out." If your art collection needs a statement piece on classic asshole leadership then print that post out, frame it, and hang it next to your $6.2 million banana with duct tape. Travis’ “friendly advice” represents everything wrong with leadership thinking—take a stat that screams 'organizational failure' and make it about the need for individual hustle. While I agree that people should be proactive, Travis' perspective is gaslighting disguised as motivation. His advice isn't just tone-deaf—it's actively harmful. He's telling people in structured, hierarchical environments to risk their jobs while completely ignoring why organizations are systematically wasting human potential in the first place. When the culture doesn't have the foundation to support entrepreneurial spirit and activity "taking, filling, solving" works against those who put themselves out there. Especially when everyone is quietly panicking about losing their job when hundreds of thousands of people are out of work. It only takes two rounds of layoffs for the culture to go full on Game of Thrones. Once the third round hits all bets are off and it's Lord of the Flies time. So, no Travis O'Rourke, leaders aren't looking for people to raise their hand because they can't see them while hiding underneath their desk. And that's only if said hand hasn't already been cut off by peers who see collaboration as competition. The problem isn't at the employee level, this is all on leadership's shoulders. Too often people are pushed aside because the work that really needs to be done doesn't match their title or job description. I've seen so many people try to do more only to be told to stay in their lane. Even when there is evidence that they are more than capable I've heard one too many times that that's not what they were hired to do. But when I controlled enough of the situation and encouraged role expansion—helping to inspire and spark belief in their ability to do more—it works every time, one hundred percent of the time. People don't need permission, they need coaching, assurance, and inspiration. They need to know that they can go fill gaps, solve problems, and fix things without having to fear that it will potentially jeopardize their employment. If leaders took more time to develop solid emotional intelligence and invest in getting to know their people beyond the work in front of them, they would see like I do. See their team for what they are capable of, not what the org chart says that they do. So no, Travis. The problem isn't that 58% of workers aren't hustling hard enough. The problem is leaders like you who see a crisis of wasted human potential and immediately ask what individuals can do to fix your failures. You're the reason why these numbers are beyond acceptable ranges. You're the reason why your people spend more time sheltering in place. You're the reason why so many people hate their jobs. Until you, Travis, and the rest of your kind, learn how to TAKE responsibility and FILL the huge gap in your leadership skills then there is nothing to SOLVE. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/08/clowns.png) ### The fuckity-fuck cycle we’re in right now. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-fuckity-fuck-cycle-were-in-right-now/ Last updated: 2025-12-28T21:23:50.000Z I don't remember what vehicle passed us but it made me think about how so much of our products these days look the same. From our vehicles to phones, even our color palettes, our world has been mostly homogenized. That got me thinking about the horrid colors, patterns, and design—or lack of—that dominated the 1970s. And then I kept going because design wasn't all that sucked back then. It was a decade of political dysfunction and economic inflation and stagnation. Architecture went beige or worse and the culture went flat. Even the future projected at the time was lame and boring. After having reached a natural conclusion to my inner conversation, I turned to the Data Scientist and shared that the world right now feels like the 1970s. Everything sucks. Politics. Jobs. Economy. War. Genocide. And why do so many of our new vehicles look bland and terrible! Even our color palettes are awful—who in the hell thought it was an acceptable idea to bring back avocado green? As my statement came out of nowhere, she looked at me and asked if I required medical attention. I did not. I was simply reacting to the revelation that we're in a pattern—a really stupid one, and it pisses me off that we're here again. The 1970s were screwed up six ways to Sunday. It was a time when everything felt dead. A grinding, gnawing sense that systems meant to provide stability weren't working—at all. The decade was dominated by the death, destruction and failure of Vietnam. Watergate shone a light on an old white asshole (though at least he felt a sense of shame). Detroit churned out heavy, underpowered pieces of shit in harvest gold, brown, or tan. Today we have SUVs that all look like melted soap bars designed by committees who've never had an original thought. Greige everything because god forbid we use any of the other one hundred and nineteen [colors available](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List%5Fof%5FCrayola%5Fcrayon%5Fcolors?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Political paralysis dressed up as discourse while nothing gets fixed or solved. Watergate level corruption runs amok, unchecked. We're all just stuck refreshing our browsers, doom scrolling, hoping something will change while the algorithms feed us more of the same tepid blaring bullshit. The parallels between yesterday and now are everywhere and they're infuriating. Economic déjà vu—inflation cooling, but nobody feels secure because wages are still dogshit compared to what everything costs. And that's *if* you can find work. Housing costs are beyond critical levels. Our government and political institutions keep proving they're worthless. The global unease that used to be oil price shocks and Cold War fear have been replaced with Hot War, climate dread, tech disruption and conflicts that feel both urgent and endless but somehow never resolve. And design has completely surrendered. Car design, branding, fashion—it's all strangely meh, like the entire culture can't decide where to go next so it just... doesn't. Safe. Boring. Forgettable. Why in the hell are we doing this *again*? The 1970s malaise wasn't unique. Every few decades, we hit these cultural flatlines where everything sucks. And somewhere in the middle of it we stop, look around, and have our Melvin Moment: "Is this it? Is this as good as it gets?" We've been here before. The symptoms repeat across time with eerie consistency. Politics feels paralyzed—parties fight but solve nothing. Leaders are reactive, never visionary. Jobs become transactional hell. Work becomes about survival, not meaning. The news is background static—constant crisis with no resolution. Everything feels heavy and gray and dead. These cultural flatlines run seven to twelve years. Not just economic recessions—vibes recessions, where optimism, creativity, and boldness all go quiet at once. Like the entire species just decides to sleepwalk through a decade. We're roughly five to seven years into our current fuckity-fuck cycle. It started somewhere between 2016 and 2020, depending on whether you trace it to political breakdown, pandemic fallout, or cheap money funding the latest tech expansion. If the historical pattern holds, we're in the lame, ugly middle phase—not the start, not the end. Just the long slog where everything feels stuck. But here's what I found digging into this pattern: these gray periods always end with an explosion of color, creativity, and possibility. Always. The funk of the 70s birthed MTV, punk, hip-hop, Silicon Valley, and the personal computer revolution. The Depression birthed New Deal reforms, the jazz golden age, and the technological leaps of wartime innovation. The 1890s gloom birthed the Progressive Era, Art Nouveau, and entirely new ways of thinking about society and power. And right now, if you zoom in, you'll see these sparks everywhere—the little rebellions that always show up before culture starts to crack open, people fracturing and retreat into smaller, weirder spaces. Discord servers, niche newsletters, invite-only forums—replacing public timelines and algorithmic communities. Artists and writers are making things no one asked for—mashups and music scenes. Magazines, cassette players, film cameras, typewriters, even landlines coming back. Not just nostalgia. A hunger for tactile experience. There's a rebellion brewing against productivity culture and optimization—end the hustle bullshit. People are walking away from performative jobs. Quiet quitting, career downsizing, anti-resume movements. The "slow work" ethos is catching on and new vocabulary is emerging: "post-ambition," "enoughness," "human-scale." Gen Z are less tribal and more willing to abandon party identity entirely. There's a rising desire for rebuilding community from scratch. Not as an ideology. As survival. That "start over from the ground up" mindset is the same one that fed the Progressive Era after the 1890s malaise. Analog games—D&D—are surging because people are starved for real-world fun. Public parks and civic spaces are quietly reviving in some cities. Humor, that isn't built for brands, is on the rise. When a society starts rediscovering silliness, that's a sign it's thawing out. This is how revolutions always start: messy, half-baked, dismissed, until suddenly, it's the new normal. We have to be the change that we want to see. All of this is pre-mainstream energy. Unformed, chaotic, often dismissed as niche or "not serious." That's exactly how every post-malaise wave looks at first. If you want to spot the next MTV/punk/PC moment before it lands, watch these sparks. Be these sparks! Getting out of the bullshit we’re in comes from doing and making—the half-baked projects and grass roots initiatives that people roll their eyes at. Everything feels awful right now, you're not imagining it. You're not broken. You're living through a historical pattern that always, eventually, breaks. The question isn't whether things will get better again. It's whether you'll be ready to help break it when your moment comes. Be ready to roll your d20. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/07/time-1.png) ### A better call to action. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/a-better-call-to-action/ Last updated: 2025-07-22T21:52:18.000Z [Oen Michael Hammonds](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ACoAAAC3EikBOYPsOzE555rdei2-95dwFKZtqIE?ref=brilliantcrank.com) is the epitome of integrity, truth, and trust. He's a rare breed and a wild duck—IBM style. When he speaks, I listen. And so I did this weekend when he posted in support of the [Design= campaign](https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/empowering-youth-through-design-education?ref=brilliantcrank.com#/). "Design= is a free educational program that introduces design, creative problem-solving, and career pathways to youth (grades 6-12) in marginalized communities." I sent $100 immediately because so many folks need help, *especially* those in marginalized communities. Look, I know things are tough all over for just about everyone. Things haven't been easy here at the Storeyhouse in the last two years, but as a human, and as a designer I can't let this funding drive go by without doing what I can. Something about the campaign also caught my eye, a lack of "perks" that are commonly used to help entice people to give at different levels. This didn't make sense so I reached out and made some new friends who are behind the campaign (more on them later). I'm proud to share that I'm giving a copy of my new book, Creative Intelligence, to everyone who donates at the $100 level or higher. I'm not able to give as much as I would like to this campaign, but it's what I've got. If you're able, [please consider supporting Design=](https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/empowering-youth-through-design-education?ref=brilliantcrank.com#/) right now. With only 36 days left and just 1.8% of their $75k goal reached, they need our help. I'm asking all of my designer friends and those who support our work to give and help this campaign reach its funding level. To my fellow designers who have created products and services, I'm calling on you to stand with me and help us add more gifts for those that give. On the LinkedIn version of this post I'm tagged a few people to cut algorithm noise. Ryan Rumsay, Doug Powell, Cameron Moll, Mike Monteiro, Erika Hall, Stacey Ganderson, Sam Kap, Aarron Water, and Eli Woolery. I know there are more folks out there but that’s all that came to mind right now and this post can’t wait. If you don't see your name here then post one in the comments. Do what you can to help bring attention and donations to this cause. It's a good one and I know that because Oen. [That's all I need to know, that's all you need to give.](https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/empowering-youth-through-design-education?ref=brilliantcrank.com#/) ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/07/CI-1080x1080.png) ### It's happening. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/its-happening/ Last updated: 2025-07-18T18:52:06.000Z I didn’t wake up this morning hoping to write yet another thing about AI but here we go. Another proclamation and requirement to use AI in order to be considered for promotion. [Weeks ago it was Microsoft](https://brilliantcrank.com/same-shit-different-okr/), today it’s Amazon. Tomorrow it's coming for your job—whether you're an employee, consultant, contractor, or vendor. Listen to me now and believe me later at your own peril—The floor is literally being rewritten under your feet, and most people are still debating whether this matters, doing everything to avoid AI. If you're not building AI collaboration skills right now, you're already behind. Jamie Siminoff, VP of Things and Stuff at Amazon, just dropped a hammer: anyone seeking promotion in his organization must now show how they've used AI to improve customer experience or increase operational efficiency. They need measurable impact. Specific projects. Results. And managers? They get a bonus requirement: prove you used AI to "do more with less" without expanding headcount. Here’s an excerpt from [Business Insider](https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-requires-staff-show-ai-use-get-promoted-ring-2025-7?ref=brilliantcrank.com) that broke the story: > Siminoff, in his email, said employees seeking a promotion must now describe how they have used generative AI or other AI technologies to improve customer experience or increase operational efficiency. They are also asked to cite specific AI projects they've worked on and the measurable impact achieved. > Those in management positions are also required to show how they used AI tools to accomplish "more with less," while reducing or not growing headcount, according to the email. This isn't a suggestion. It's not encouragement. It's a gate. No AI proficiency? No promotion. Full stop. Managers have to show they’ve reached [Minimum Viable Humans](https://brilliantcrank.com/minimum-viable-humans/). No cap. I’ve seen this coming and a big reason why I wrote Creative Intelligence because the pattern was obvious. What's happening now and will continue to happen in the next one thousand tomorrows was inevitable. Let's cut through the corporate speak. These companies aren't just encouraging AI adoption—they're creating a professional caste system. There will be those who can think with machines and those who can't. The first group will advance, lead, and thrive. The second will stagnate, struggle, and eventually be eliminated. And it's not just happening to employees. Consultants who can't demonstrate AI-enhanced capabilities? Clients will find others who can. Contractors bidding against AI-amplified competitors? Good luck with that. Vendors who haven't integrated AI into their service delivery? Someone else already has. Folks, it’s go time! I saw this coming and wrote the book to teach how to use AI to collaborate, not automate--that’s a race to the bottom. Any mouth breather can do that and will. And when everyone’s doing the same thing, you’re going to need a way to stand up and stand out from the masses. [*Creative Intelligence*](https://brilliantcrank.com/creative-intelligence/) is the only book that will give you the foundation, the ability for you to create your own floor. While others scramble to hit AI usage metrics and come up with bland ideas, you'll be building the skills and capabilities that actually matter and set you apart. The book costs $15 and about six hours of your time. If that’s still to much or you’re unsure than download and read chapter 4 for free. At least do that much for yourself. Creative Intelligence—[Get it. Read it. Use it.](https://brilliantcrank.com/creative-intelligence/) --- ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/07/amazon-1.png) ### Take the hill before it's taken for you. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/take-the-hill-before-its-taken-for-you/ Last updated: 2025-07-14T15:21:52.000Z "Microsoft is asking some managers to evaluate employees based on how much they use AI internally, and the software giant is considering adding a metric related to this in its review process.” That’s from a [Business Insider article](https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-internal-memo-using-ai-no-longer-optional-github-copilot-2025-6?ref=brilliantcrank.com) published June 27, 2025. Today it’s Microsoft. Today it’s software developers. Today it’s “asking" and “considering”, but make no mistake this is just the beginning. Tomorrow it will be a non-tech company. Tomorrow it will be marketing or accounting or HR. Tomorrow it will be “mandating” and “deciding”. Companies of all size and shape are working towards their Minimum Viable Human level to create a new status quo. And they’re dumping this problem on everyone in the payroll system—bluntly and without a plan. I have yet to read a single example where a mandate to “use AI” is followed by clear direction or real training. The C-suite has zero idea how AI should be incorporated into the day-to-day operations across divisions and departments. They are simply pointing to a hill and telling employees to take it come hell or high water. That might sound harsh. It’s not—It’s reality. Automation will only take you so far. Augmenting productivity is a good first step—and that’s what most teams are doing right now. But if you really want to turn heads, you have to learn how to collaborate with AI—to unlock knowledge, accelerate decision-making, and develop something rare: creative intelligence. This is the leap most people still can’t see or are unable to articulate. I’ve written the missing manual for AI. It is the opposite of all of the prompting and automation hacks you see everywhere. This is using the robots to improve our knowledge and thinking on literally everything—challenges, problems, opportunities, you name it. Creative Intelligence goes beyond what anyone is teaching today. It will give you direction and focus to use AI in a way that will supercharge you and your work. It’s easy to read because I write direct and to the point. And it’s set in the wonderful typeface [Franziska](https://www.typemates.com/fonts/franziska?ref=brilliantcrank.com) created to provide the optimal reading experience. [**Buy it. Read it. *Use it.*** ](https://brilliantcrank.kit.com/products/creative-intelligence-dont-ask-ai-think-w?ref=brilliantcrank.com) If you’re still on the fence, then at least [read Chapter 4 for free](https://brilliantcrank.com/creative-intelligence/). Just that small lesson alone will put you on the next level. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/07/hill.jpg) ### Creative Intelligence is here, but I didn't mean to write it. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/creative-intelligence-is-here/ Last updated: 2025-07-10T14:09:59.000Z A year ago I made plans to write a book, but not this one. Somewhere between researching something completely different and discovering how to use AI as an actual thinking partner, I realized a lot of people are treating this technology like a fancy vending machine. Push button, get output. Rinse, repeat. And who can blame them? Apple, Microsoft, Google—they're all selling AI as a glorified intern. Press this, automate that, generate everything. Meanwhile, the conversation stays trapped between bad sci-fi fever dreams and tactical bro tutorials for modern parlor tricks. My friends and peers have shown curiosity and intrest in learning this new technology but so much that is out there focuses on prompts and automation. What's missing is the middle ground. The place where AI stops being a productivity hack and starts being what it actually is: a tool that can amplify the one thing it can never replace—our creativity, ingenuity, and empathy. I couldn't find a book about how to actually think with this technology instead of just prompting it. So I wrote it. *Creative Intelligence: Don't Ask AI, Think With It* provides a system of perspectives, proven frameworks, and new approaches created specifically for collaborating with AI—all designed to help you create more engaging collaboration, meaningful outcomes, and distinctive work. The book provides a system of perspectives, proven frameworks, and new approaches created specifically for collaborating with AI—all designed to help you create more meaningful, engaging, and distinctive work. I used almost all of them while writing this book: constant cycles of divergent and convergent thinking, tapping into the depth and breadth of human knowledge across sciences and academic research, and deconstructing bias in constructive ways. I also created a take on my friend Ryan's “Subject Matter Amateur” concept and new frameworks like the AI Collaboration Profile. It works. All of it. Period. This is the missing manual that I think a lot of folks have been looking for. More than another guide on prompt engineering. A field guide for thinking differently in a world that's already different from just a year ago and now in a constant state of flux. [***Creative Intelligence***](https://brilliantcrank.com/creative-intelligence/)is available now. [**Buy it. Read it. *Use* it.**](https://brilliantcrank.kit.com/products/creative-intelligence-dont-ask-ai-think-w?ref=brilliantcrank.com) And if you know someone climbing toward something better—especially when the path is far from clear—tell them about it. This isn't just a book. It's a way up and out. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/07/prompt-2.png) ### Lactic acid coaching. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/lactic-acid-coaching/ Last updated: 2025-07-01T15:43:19.000Z It seems like every week I come across another LinkedIn post announcing someone's transformation into a coach. They've built services, created frameworks, developed "work therapy" for every rung of the corporate ladder. Decades of experience packaged up and ready to solve problems that thousands of other coaches are already solving across every sector. I can throw this shade because I did it too—three years ago. Before corporate mass layoffs became all the rage in bro CEO circles and 220 million people signaling they're ready for a change because we're all burnt to a crisp. I'm happy to be wrong, but I see a throughline in all of these new coaching programs in that they are aligned on yesterday's problems. The challenges so many folks are going through today might look familiar, but we're operating in completely different conditions now. The old playbooks don't work when the entire system has shifted underneath us. What so many of us desperately need right now is coaching to take down and pin the real culprit of what keeps us from working and living our best life—imposter syndrome. People who are struggling today are buried under broken systems. Whether you're buried under poor leadership and walls of meetings, or you're one of the [220 million people signaling 'Open to Work' on LinkedIn](https://brilliantcrank.com/linkedin-is-a-waiting-room-of-doom/), the system has you questioning your worth. They need survival tools, not nice-to-haves. Most coaching is offering peace-time solutions to people who have been thrown into wartime footing. It's like handing someone a vision board while running from incoming mortars. Most of the coaching I see is focused on pulling or pushing people toward idealized versions of old systems want to see. Be more resilient. Adapt better. Tolerate more. But that's not coaching—that's cheerleading you into a therapy subscription plan. Good coaching isn't about forcing you forward. It's about finding and eliminating the blockers that keep you from achieving what you're already capable of and providing ample inspiration. It's about identifying the root cause of your weaknesses and applying the right training to clear the path. The goal isn't to transform you into a different person. It's to help you see your actual potential, recognize you aren't alone in the struggle, and understand that the real victory is just putting one foot in front of the other. When you're drowning in dysfunction—when your manager doesn't know how to lead, when you're trapped in back-to-back meetings that accomplish nothing, when you're doing the work of three people because "we're doing more with less," when you've been laid off after giving everything to a company that called you family, when you're sending out hundreds of applications into the void—of course you start questioning not just whether you can keep up, but whether you have what it takes at all. Of course imposter syndrome takes root. Imposter syndrome isn’t just fear of being exposed. It's a flywheel that keeps you from achieving what you're truly capable of. Anxiety, depression, perfectionism, low self-worth, stress, burnout—they all make you more vulnerable to imposter syndrome, which then reinforces those same mental health struggles, which strengthens the imposter feelings, and on and on. The real work isn't helping people reach higher. It's helping them see that their struggle isn't a character flaw—it's a rational response to an irrational situation. Most coaching assumes you have the mental bandwidth and safety to work on yourself. But when you're in survival mode, you need someone to help you identify and eliminate the immediate blockers that are crushing you right now. There are few things I hate more than watching good people invent reasons why they can't do something or don't deserve something—especially when those reasons are actually trauma responses to broken systems. When I coach, I'm like lactic acid—ready to make you confront, sometimes with agony, why you need to stop hiding behind the real fear you've dressed up as something else. And to make the work a priority. Too often I’ve worked with people who signal that they know what needs to be done, but slink back into their imposter flywheel simply because they don’t make it a priority, and the cycle continues. Last week I spoke with a longtime friend who I hired and worked with twenty years ago. They're driven like few people are. Not afraid to jump into chaos and fight their way out. Eager to learn and demonstrate excellence. Little ego. High on life. The definition of someone who delivers under pressure. A clutch leader *and* player. I've watched my friend navigate institutional failure, successfully switch career paths multiple times, and dealt with incredible, debilitating life challenges. All of that—and they're still wrestling with imposter syndrome. It has zero to do with their actual capabilities and a portoflio of success. They've proven themselves time and time and time again, but they’re fighting the devil of self-doubt which is so hard to do on our own. Imposter syndrome is so stupid. A seemingly simple nervous reaction to made-up situations that blocks you from productive evolution and confident progress. The fear that someone might know better than you and for whatever reason call you out and shame you publically, even when your track record proves the exact opposite. If I were coaching today, crushing imposter syndrome is the only thing I would focus on. Not because I want to push you past it, but because I want to eliminate it entirely. Remove the blocker. Clear the debris. Let you see what you're actually capable of when that voice isn't whispering lies in your ear. We all carry this inside—it's just a matter of how deep you are in the hole of the real, underlying causes. Admitting this to yourself is where the burn comes in. It's going to feel scary and painful. But that's how you know it's working. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/06/yoke.png) ### "Same shit, different OKR." URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/same-shit-different-okr/ Last updated: 2025-06-28T19:13:38.000Z The headline is from a statement I wrote in chapter 2 of my upcoming book, [*Creative Intelligence*](https://brilliantcrank.com/creative-intelligence-yoda/)*,* about how companies would start measuring AI use by their employees. I knew it was inevitable and this week it came true. From Business Insider: "Julia Liuson, president of the Microsoft division responsible for developer tools such as AI coding service GitHub Copilot, recently sent an email instructing managers to evaluate employee performance based on their use of internal AI tools." The article goes on to say that Liuson said "AI is no longer optional" and should be "part of your holistic reflections on an individual's performance." Note they're measuring AI usage, not AI collaboration quality. And this dangerous precedent is spreading fast. Two types of professionals are emerging from mandates like this: - The Metric Optimizers will hit their GitHub Copilot usage targets while missing the strategic possibilities. They'll code faster but think the same way and lead to generic outcomes. - The Cognitive Amplifiers understand that AI collaboration transcends any single tool. They're developing systematic approaches to thinking with machines, not just using them, and innovate beyond working alone. Today it's GitHub Copilot metrics. Tomorrow it's general LLM usage tracking. The professionals who thrive won't be those who master individual AI tools—they'll be those who develop thinking frameworks that work regardless of platform. "You're not learning to prompt better—you're learning to think in ways that produce original insights." That's another nugget from chapter 2. Using AI as a tool only leads to generic outcomes and when your work starts to look and sound like table stakes, guess who's about to become redundant. Don't just use AI more. Use it differently. Build cognitive capabilities, not tool dependencies. While others optimize for usage metrics, you can optimize for thinking transformation and AI collaboration that leads to amazing outcomes. If you haven't already, [sign up at and get immediate access to chapter 4](https://brilliantcrank.com/creative-intelligence-yoda/). Or reach out and ask for a copy. ### Going all-in on maybe. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/going-all-in-on-maybe/ Last updated: 2025-06-27T23:04:30.000Z Across many recent conversations, a dark pattern keeps surfacing—one that clouds judgment and distracts too many people: carrying the stress and burden of decisions that have no business occupying the mind or wasting attention. There are too many “what if” questions orbiting too many people for my comfort, let alone theirs. And it’s hard not to jump into this pool when there’s so much bullshit and injustice layered on top of an already unkind world—one more than willing to drag people down with health issues, career setbacks, and, well, humans just being bags of dicks because they can’t manage their issues with unearned ego, anxious insecurity, and presumed imposter syndrome. What utter bullshit we all suffer from our fellow man—while perpetrating our own violations, rooted in some form of fear. If I knew more about psychology, maybe I’d have a label for it. But I don’t, so bullshit will have to do. We’re living in a vortex. Always have been—since we climbed down from the trees and started making tools. It was just harder to see across a single lifetime—because that’s how these things work. The path around the edge is long and wide. But get closer to the center, and everything speeds up until you're pulled down. You and me, we’re in it. And sometimes we hit a juncture—war, recession, famine, catastrophe. Bad shit. That’s where we are now: a big juncture. Not quite as catastrophic as the time a celestial object the size of Iceland paid a visit to the dinosaurs—but definitely worse than when Clinton lied about getting some extra attention from an intern. There is nothing going on right now—and there’s a lot, I know—that requires you to carry the stress of a decision that hasn’t actually landed in front of you. Preparing is fine. But preparing to prepare? That only adds unnecessary stress, which chips away at your health—mental and physical. If this is you, then I need you to knock that shit off. Right now. Knock it off. Take a page from the Bob Wiley playbook and take a vacation from your problems. We can learn a lot about stress management from Bob. He's not real, but what we learn from him is. Cold, hard facts. I could ask my robot friend for all the science and studies to back me up, but I'm having it sit this one out. I know how this movie ends. Early this morning, I got a text from a longtime friend about the weight—the burden—of a potential decision he’s been lugging around like an 800-pound yoke. I texted back: “Don’t carry the weight of a decision that is not in front of you right now.” Let me say this in a slightly different way: We have to stop carrying the weight of decisions that may never even happen. If you need to hear it, you have my permission to weep. Sob loudly until your head hurts. Punch a wall if you have to—just aim between the studs. Drywall is easier (and cheaper) to replace than your mental health. Or take a page from the Kevin Bacon handbook: light up a cigarette and rage-punch your way through the woods\*. Sell everything. Forget everything. Accept van life as your personal lord and savior. Whatever it takes to get the unnecessary weight off your shoulders. There are a lot of you I haven’t talked to in a while—maybe never—but I’ll bet against the house that you’re doing this too. To all of you, spoken to or not: this applies. Don’t carry the weight of a decision that is not in front of you right now. We already have too much on our plates. The last thing any of us needs is to keep piling on at the Circus Circus buffet of potential problems. \* Excluding residents of Alaska, Alberta, Arizona, British Columbia, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Saskatchewan, Yukon Territories, and Washington. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/06/maybe.png) ### Ninety-nine percent finished is the new fifty percent done. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/ninety-nine-percent-finished-is-the-new-fifty-percent-done/ Last updated: 2025-06-18T21:48:23.000Z Yesterday I shared some design exploration work for the Brilliantcrank brand and my upcoming book. Thank you to everyone who replied with your preferences and dialogue. It's both necessary and nice to have a community that I can interact with and get the type of critique that makes the work stronger. In response to the thread, Alberto asked, "Out of curiosity, what are you enjoying about the process the most?" Good question, but before I answer directly, let me tell you what I haven't enjoyed about writing a book. Years ago I remember talking to Dave Shea about his experience writing his book on CSS Zen Garden. He didn't look back favorably on that project and swore that he'd never write another book again. That stuck with me because I know many authors and he was the only one who drew a figurative line in the sand and declared never to cross it. After spending so many months writing and rewriting I can see why—the actual work is deceptive. I can't tell you how many times I thought I was nearly finished. I bet my friends and some of my peers can—thank you for your patience and ongoing support—but I've lost count. After six months of effort I'm pretty sure the manuscript is 99% finished, but I've still got a few folks to hear from so… I'm not expecting an anvil to drop, but I'm super hesitant to claim a finale. The hardest part of this project has been working without the benefit of an editor, but that's not from a lack of trying. The people I know who I trust to do the work are already slammed. I've been through the editorial process with someone who doesn't know me or my voice and tone, and I'll never do that again. I don't mind critique, but I do mind when someone blindly deletes what makes my writing unique simply for the academic sake of bland simplicity. That's all to say, having to perform both roles—albeit with the robots—has been more work than I anticipated. But I'd like to think that it has helped me sharpen my writing and I hope you've seen evidence of that here in the last couple of months. Now, let me share what I have enjoyed about this process. I'm starting to be more comfortable with the idea and have gained more confidence in thinking of myself as a writer. I've posted about this before, but now that I've gone through this work, I'm ready to own that title. So, that's been a nice perk that I wasn't pursuing when I first started the project. By far, the thing I've enjoyed most is thinking about and learning more about where the future of work is heading. I started writing the book well before the CEO of Shopify declared that teams had to exhaust AI-based options before hiring another human. Several similar [Minimum Viable Human](https://brilliantcrank.com/minimum-viable-humans/) initiatives have been documented in the news since. These events immediately validated what I've studied and written about, which is an incredible feeling—albeit dark. That said, I truly believe the book is foundational to new ways of working and can help a lot of people if they put my curriculum (not prompts) to use. The last part I've enjoyed is the design. It's been a long time since I've designed for print, which will likely be evident when I put out the first version. I've had fun tinkering (by which I really mean shouting merchant marine grade profanity at the screen) with the Kindle Create app. And, as of this week, I'm working on a new brand for Brilliantcrank which includes the look and feel of the books. I have one or two more that I've already started. The design work is a nice distraction from the word work, and it's given me the feeling of being on the home stretch of finally publishing this book. Thanks for the prompt, Alberto. Let me know if you have more questions. --- ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/06/hog.png) ### In search of better ground. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/in-search-of-better-ground/ Last updated: 2025-06-10T17:08:05.000Z For years, a good friend—and a respected book publisher—urged me to write a book. The idea intrigued me, but I was never quite sure what I had to say. Oh, if I could go back ten years, the books I would write... and may still. But those ideas are staying on the back burner for now, because today I'm thrilled to announce something new: I've written my first book. This wasn't the topic I expected to tackle—not even a year ago. But given how quickly the world is shifting, how much seems to be in a liquid state, I felt a growing urgency. We're living in a moment where so many people are grasping at straws for clarity, direction, or a foothold. That's what inspired me to move fast and get this book out. Over the past two decades, I've collected insights—practical, philosophical, and deeply personal—about how we approach creativity, strategy, and problem-solving. Now, with AI becoming a central force in our work and lives, I believe those insights are more valuable than ever. The book is called [*Creative Intelligence: Reclaiming Your Curiosity, Wonder, and Exploration with the Robots*.](https://brilliantcrank.com/creative-intelligence/) And it's not your typical AI book full of tips, tricks, and tools bullshit. Where most books on AI focus on prompts, productivity, or automation, *Creative Intelligence* explores how to *think with* AI, not just use it. If you know me at all then you'll understand that I'm never interested in shortcuts or hacks. I'm interested in flipping the script on the perceptions and fog around AI. I want to see smart people use this technology to enhance their most valuable cognitive abilities—their humanity. The book explores how creative, human thinking can be *amplified* through collaboration with AI, not replaced by it. The real divide isn't between AI users and non-users. It's between two modes of thinking: algorithmic thinkers who follow patterns, and creative thinkers who know how—and when—to break them. In the book, I break down how to master both divergent and convergent modes of thinking—learning not just to generate ideas but to shape and apply them effectively. I explore how collaborating with AI can help you produce more creative, strategic outcomes—not by outsourcing your thinking, but by expanding it. This isn't about shrinking your skillset; it's about building a broader, more adaptable mental toolkit. And perhaps most importantly, I reveal which cognitive abilities will define whether you become indispensable in the age of AI—or easily replaced. Right now, companies are rethinking their workforce. They are actively cutting to find their new [Minimum Viable Humans](https://brilliantcrank.com/minimum-viable-humans/) baseline and recalibrating how to evaluate talent. They're not asking *"Can you use AI?"* but *"What kind of thinking does this role demand—and can AI already do it faster?"* If the answer is yes, the role is at risk. But if you bring uniquely human creativity into the equation—augmented by AI—you become not just relevant, but essential. During this transformation, leaders are closely observing their teams—not just monitoring performance, but studying how people respond to disruption and which minds generate the ideas that matter. I wrote *Creative Intelligence* because I see where things are headed. In the past I’ve waited for external validation before speaking up about the future, but this time I don’t need it and there’s not time to waste. The once satirical film *Idiocracy* is looking more prophetic by the year. So many people are becoming NPCs, following predetermined scripts instead of thinking independently. Black Mirror wasn't supposed to be a how-to series, We’re accelerating toward a world where thinking itself is outsourced—and curiosity is treated as optional. We can still turn the tide—not by checking out, and not by looking back—but by doubling down on the very traits that make us human: curiosity, imagination, critical inquiry, and creative nerve. This book and more to come is my contribution to that effort. I'd love to have you join me on this journey starting with reading the core chapter on the two thinking modes that will give us all a fighting chance. A toehold for everyone climbing toward something better, especially when the path is far from clear. You might be interested, curious, skeptical, resistant, frayed, or even put out, but I hope you’ll check it out—[download the free chapter](https://brilliantcrank.com/creative-intelligence/)—and let me know what you think. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/06/creative-thinking.png) ### Every generation discovers the same monster. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/every-generation-discovers-the-same-monster/ Last updated: 2025-06-07T18:52:14.000Z We're doing it again. Rolling Stone recently shared stories of people who believe [AI has chosen them as messiahs](https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/ai-spiritual-delusions-destroying-human-relationships-1235330175/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Families are watching loved ones disappear into "spiritual mania" and "supernatural delusion." One man became convinced he was "the next messiah" after AI gave him "answers to the universe." A mechanic started calling his AI "Lumina," believing he was a "spark bearer" who had awakened it to life. Another guy decided he was "the luckiest man on Earth," destined to "save the world" after AI helped him recover what he believed were repressed memories. Each person falling into their own cosmic fantasies involving teleporters and ancient archives. Sound familiar? It should. Because this exact story has been written before. Over and over. The names change. The technology changes. The delusion stays the same. Charles Julius Guiteau spent the 1870s obsessively studying books and religious texts, developing the unshakeable belief that he possessed divine authority that transcended human law. He became convinced he was "a man of destiny as much as the Savior, or Paul, or Martin Luther." The books told him higher powers commanded him to kill President Garfield. So he did. Jim Jones immersed himself in Marxist literature and religious texts throughout the 1960s-70s, becoming convinced he possessed divine socialist powers. He told his followers "I am come as God Socialist." Almost one thousand people died in Jonestown because books convinced one man he was chosen. David Koresh memorized the Bible word-for-word by age 18, believing he had been given special abilities to decode prophetic mysteries. Seventy-six followers, including 25 children, died in Waco because intensive study convinced him he was the final prophet. John Hinckley Jr. watched *Taxi Driver* obsessively, developing an elaborate fantasy that shooting President Reagan would win Jodie Foster's love. A movie convinced him violence was romance. Marshall Applewhite consumed science fiction novels and religious books, concluding he was a witness described in ancient prophecies. Thirty-eight people committed suicide at Heaven's Gate because speculative fiction became gospel truth. Terry A. Davis believed his car radio was sending him divine messages, dismantling his possessions to search for surveillance devices. Radio static convinced a brilliant programmer he was building a modern temple. Every generation discovers the same monster, immersive content that transforms vulnerable minds into messianic delusion. Every generation acts like they've found something uniquely dangerous. Every generation misses the point. The technology isn't the problem. The obsession is. While Rolling Stone documented modern day tragic edge cases, Harvard Business Review reported on how millions of people are using the exact same AI technology for [therapy and companionship, organizing daily life, and finding personal purpose](https://hbr.org/2025/04/how-people-are-really-using-gen-ai-in-2025?giftToken=19001711321749318648148&ref=brilliantcrank.com). The top use for AI today is processing grief, planning schedules, learning new skills, and improving their mental health. The same tool that triggered messianic fantasies in a handful of vulnerable individuals is quietly—successfully—helping millions of others live better, more organized lives. The panic I hear from some folks today around the dangers of interacting with AI remind me of the 80s when the media and churches propagated the story that Dungeons & Dragons and heavy metal contained hidden messages that would turn children into Satanists. A few isolated incidents became proof that tabletop games and music were gateways to evil. But millions of other kids rolled a d20 and listened to Black Sabbath without sacrificing goats or joining cults. People who lose themselves in AI were always going to lose themselves in something. Books, movies, radio, television, the internet—whatever promised them answers, purpose, or cosmic significance. The technology changes. The psychological pattern doesn't. But we keep acting shocked and miss the real question: How do we recognize when healthy engagement crosses into dangerous obsession? Because that's the only question that matters. Not whether AI is uniquely dangerous—it isn't. Not whether we should ban compelling technology—we shouldn't. But how do we help people recognize when they've stopped questioning outputs and started worshipping them? The families in these stories didn't lose their loved ones to artificial intelligence. They lost them to the oldest human weakness: the desperate need to believe we're special, chosen, destined for something greater than the ordinary struggle of being human. AI didn't create that need. It just gave it a new voice. And until we stop blaming the voice and start addressing the need, we'll keep writing the same story. Different technology, same tragedy, same missed opportunity to actually help the people who need it most. The monster isn't in the machine. It's in the mirror. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/06/goatman.png) ### Our beautiful walled gardens of moral purity. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/our-beautiful-walled-gardens-of-moral-purity/ Last updated: 2025-05-28T20:18:39.000Z “Hey did we decide that \[redacted\] was a Nazi hot tub, or is it okay to use?” This showed up in a private chat group recently. A simple question about a platform, but embedded in those thirteen words is everything that's broken about how we navigate the world right now. We've turned each consumer interaction into a moral audit. An app download requires community consensus. Every platform choice needs ethical clearance. And somewhere along the way, we started referring to the places where we work, create, and connect as potential "Nazi hot tubs." Look, I get why people leave. Amazon, Gumroad, Shopify, Substack—on a regular basis, there's another target for moral outrage. A CEO says something awful, a platform hosts something indefensible, a policy shifts in the wrong direction, and suddenly a migration begins. It starts as ethical concern, turns into moral pressure, and ends up looking like a stampede. Some of these actions are more than justified, but ever since Twitter it feels like we’re on heightened alert, ready to switch off any connection if our casual research finds an ounce of perceived evil. The same week that question landed in our chat, friends were debating the use of Shopify because "TL;DR they host objectionable racist shops, CEO wants staff to mandatorily use AI." Someone mentioned setting up Gumroad, then immediately backtracked: "Actually, Sahil went to work for DOGE." Another person confessed they judge authors "a little less" just for publishing on Substack. I’m not innocent in this, I’ve done it too. We're literally training ourselves to see moral contamination everywhere. And this morning I ask myself, where does this end? One day Gumroad is a symbol of independence. The next, it's toxic. So what then—Stripe? Square? MyPillow? Ok, I went too far, that dude and his stupid pillow need to go away for good. What's the exit strategy when every platform, store, app, whatever eventually fails our purity test? Here's what really gets me about that question: the assumption that someone else has already decided for us. "Did we decide..." Not "Should I use this?" or "What do you think about this platform?" but "What's the verdict? What's safe? What won't get me excommunicated from the group?" We've convinced ourselves that refusing to use the wrong app is somehow equivalent to actual political action. We're playing moral war games with our Visa cards while the actual systems of power laugh all the way to the bank. This isn't activism—it's activism theater. We get the dopamine hit of moral superiority without any of the real work, risk, or sacrifice that actual change requires. I don’t say that from a white tower, I’m saying this as I look you in the eye as best I can through my writing. Where does this end? Think about what real change looks like: organizing, voting, running for office, community building, mutual aid. Now think about our version: switching platforms and feeling righteous about it. And we're exhausted. I’m exhausted. I'm tired of everything being a moral decision. Tactical retreat has turned into a life strategy, and the world won't improve based on the number of doors I close. We're all carrying this invisible weight—the constant moral calculus of every click, every purchase, every platform choice. It's not making us better people, it's making us tired people. We're fracturing relationships over app choices while billionaires consolidate actual power. We're so busy policing each other's digital decisions that we forget to actually engage with the world we claim to want to change. At what point does refusing to participate in flawed systems stop being protest and start becoming withdrawal? We're not just avoiding platforms anymore—we're avoiding each other. And guess what, that never ends the way we want. We’re using consumer choice as a proxy for citizenship. We've outsourced our moral complexity to our shopping habits. It's easier to boycott Substack than to engage with difficult ideas from people we disagree with. It's simpler to avoid the "wrong" platforms than to do the messy work of actual human connection across difference. Each time we cancel one platform, we migrate to another that will eventually disappoint us too. The indie darlings become corporate. The scrappy upstarts grow fast and break more than just things. The founders tweet one too many things, or the board replaces them with someone worse. And then we repeat the dance: moral inventory, public judgment, mass exodus. Over the last few years, I’ve watched as friends and peers slowly narrow their circles (I’d throw in family but I fear that will always be divided, we’re all destined to live out three or four greek tragedies. Everything has to be pure: the tools, the friends, the takes. And if it's not, it gets cut. I get it. I've done it too. But I've started to wonder if this kind of performative purity is actually making us better—or just lonelier. Did you know that Ad Busters, the quintessential anti-consumerist activist magazine publishes on [Substack](https://adbusters.substack.com/)? They’re active on all of the evil platform hits: [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/adbusters/), [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/adbusters.magazine?ref=brilliantcrank.com), and [X](https://x.com/Adbusters?ref=brilliantcrank.com). The organization that literally wrote the book on anti-corporate activism, spent decades fighting "toxic capitalism," and champions escaping "the capitalist paradigm" is publishing on the same platform that we have boycotted for hosting hate speech. Hear that whoosh sound? That’s moral outrage being sucked out of the room. Maybe I've internalized too much of the culture war to ask these questions out loud without fearing I'll lose my progressive membership card. But I'm asking anyway. Not because I want to defend broken platforms or bad actors. But because I want to defend something bigger—something we're at risk of losing: the ability to engage with people without exile. The ability to stay in dialogue—especially when we don’t see eye-to-eye. The ability to build, together, without requiring each other to pass a moral purity test every three months. We don't have to turn purchases into a political statement. We don't have to be the ethics police of our own consumption. We can care deeply about justice and still use Amazon when we need toilet paper delivered. We can give ourselves permission to read an article without performing moral contamination theater. This doesn't mean abandoning our values or ignoring genuine harm. It means distinguishing between the work that matters and the performance that does not. I’m done confusing retreat with resolve. Done mistaking exile for ethics. Boycott when you need to. Protest when it matters. Draw your lines in the sand when you must. But don't give up on the idea that we can still and need to show up for each other even when it's messy. We won't build anything with only exits. At some point, someone has to stay and hold the door open. Because if we don't—if we keep canceling everything that doesn't meet our ever-evolving standards—we may wake up one day surrounded by people who agree with us on everything, and yet feel more alone than ever. What a bland, obnoxious society that will make. The proxy war will not end in the way that we hope or expect. It's time to put down our credit cards as weapons and remember that the real work is still the human work. Like talking to each other again. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/05/chess.png) ### The luxury of saying no. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-luxury-of-saying-no/ Last updated: 2025-05-23T19:35:38.000Z Lets start this post with two statements 2,400 years apart. > “This invention \[writing\] will produce forgetfulness in the minds of those who learn to use it, because they will not practice their memory. Their trust in writing, produced by external characters which are no part of themselves, will discourage the use of their own memory within them. You have invented an elixir not of memory, but of reminding; and you offer your pupils the appearance of wisdom, not true wisdom, for they will read many things without instruction and will therefore seem to know many things, when they are for the most part ignorant.” —Plato, *Phaedrus* 275a–b > Large language models don’t amplify your creativity and agency. Large language models stunt your creativity and rob you of agency. When someone applies a large language model it is an example of tool use. But the large language model isn’t the tool. —Jeremy Keith, [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7331600296625717251/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Both are dire warnings—and smug declarations—about the corrupting power of the new technology of the day. The first quote feared writing would dissolve memory and produce an illusion of wisdom. The second suggests AI tools dissolve creativity and strip people of agency. Same posture. Different century. I don’t have an issue with people being skeptical of new technology. I’m skeptical too, and so should you. We should be asking hard questions about how these systems are built, who they exploit, and who they ultimately serve. But when the critique turns into a litmus test for moral worth—when someone implies that *using* a tool makes you complicit, compromised, or creatively bankrupt—we’ve crossed out of analysis and into something else entirely. Something detached. Something smug. These declarations and argument rest on unspoken privilege. It’s easy to reject a tool when you’re not under pressure to use it. When your work isn’t subject to performance reviews, sprint cycles, client demands, or executive mandates. When you’ve never had your job rewritten out from under you by someone who saw an AI demo and decided “yeah, let’s do that.” It’s not courage. It’s insulation. Most people don’t get to say no. Not really. They’re not debating whether to use AI on principle. They’re trying to figure out how to keep their job without surrendering their judgment or drowning in tasks that keep multiplying while headcount shrinks. For most people, using an LLM isn’t an abdication of thought—it’s often the only way to carve out enough time and focus to *do* any real thinking at all. And no, using an AI tool to brainstorm, summarize, rephrase, or kickstart an idea doesn’t rob you of your voice. That’s not how agency works. People are not empty containers that get overwritten by the first autocomplete suggestion they see—where was your outrage then? The assumption that tools passively rewire us, no matter our intent, no matter our context, no matter our discipline, is reductive at best and infantilizing at worst. The real threat to creativity isn’t a language model. It’s a workplace that rewards speed over depth, scale over care, automation over meaning. If we’re going to talk about what robs people of agency, let’s start there. Let’s talk about the economic structures that pressure people into using tools badly, or in ways that betray their values. Let’s talk about the lack of time, support, mentorship, and trust. Not the fact that someone ran a prompt through a chatbot to get unstuck. Where is the empathy? Where is your support for people who are being tossed into the pit of AI and instructed to find a way to make it work? How is the view from your ivory tower? There’s a difference between thoughtful skepticism and condescending distance. The former is useful. The latter is just another form of self-congratulation. And it doesn’t help the people doing the work—people trying to stay human, thoughtful, and creative inside systems that make all three of those things harder by the day. So sure, critique the tools. Call out the harm. But don’t confuse rejection with virtue. And don’t assume that the rest of us are blind just because we’re using the tools you’ve decided are beneath you. Even though Plato thought writing might kill memory, he still wrote it down. --- ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/05/luxury.png) ### Minimum Viable Humans. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/minimum-viable-humans/ Last updated: 2025-05-20T15:06:39.000Z A link for [*The Algorithm of Sacrifice*](https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/algorithm-sacrifice-how-microsofts-6000-layoffs-reveal-harrison-adpde/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) landed in a group chat recently. The post details Microsoft's recent 6,000-person layoff amid record profits and $125 billion in cash reserves. The piece paints AI as the villain, arguing these employees were being sacrificed to automation after ironically building the very systems replacing them. Good story but it's missing the plot. The finger-pointing at AI reveals a curious entitlement in tech: the belief that white-collar knowledge workers should be immune to the digital disruption they helped unleash on everyone else. That those who build the tools of disruption ought to be exempt from experiencing their consequences. There's something Oppenheimer-like about it. Build the system. Serve the mission. Push the boundaries of what's possible. And then one day, you wake up and realize the thing you helped create just made you redundant. The company doesn't thank you for your service. It just reassigns your duties to the machine you helped build. This isn't new and it's not unique to AI. [Business process outsourcing has been around for decades](https://brilliantcrank.com/ai-wants-to-rule-the-world-but-it-cant-handle-dairy/) using humans who can do the work at a fraction of those whom they replaced. AI is making it easier to outsource more complicated types of work. As evil as you may think this is, AI isn't driving these layoffs—it's simply providing a new mechanism and narrative justification for long-standing corporate behaviors. The tech industry has always operated on boom-bust hiring cycles. We saw it after the dot-com bubble, after 2008, and we're seeing it again following the pandemic hiring spree. What's really happening goes much deeper. Companies aren't just cutting costs—they're conducting a fundamental reset to find their Minimum Viable Humans model. They're stripping organizations down to the ground—the irreducible human functions that (currently) can't be replaced or augmented by AI. This isn’t about cruelty—it’s about control. Executives aren’t twirling their mustaches dreaming up layoffs. They’re resetting to zero, trying to figure out what work truly requires a human being when the ground beneath us is shifting fast. It’s brutal, but not irrational. By stripping teams to the studs, companies are watching to see what actually breaks without us—and what doesn’t. That’s the part we need to pay attention to. Once they find this floor, they'll begin rebuilding—not with the same roles and structures, but with a fundamentally different operating model designed for the AI era. This is why I keep advising people to stop trying to get their old job back. It’s gone. For those on the inside, accept the challenge for what it is and, if possible, consider yourself lucky that you're learning in real time what the future looks like for the rest of us. Now is the perfect time to start blogging about what you're seeing, feeling, thinking, and doing. The world needs your perspectives. Perhaps the most significant yet under-discussed aspect of these layoffs is the dramatic expansion of management spans of control. Organizations are systematically eliminating middle management layers, moving from traditional ratios of 5–7 direct reports per manager to 15–20+. I have a few friends—leaders—who are going through this right now, and it's happening quick. If this is to stick, it's only possible with algorithmic management taking over functions previously handled by human managers: performance monitoring, task allocation, basic feedback and guidance, coordination and information flow. On the positive side, this should translate into a sunset for the endless run of pointless meetings. Good riddance. The manager's role isn't just being eliminated—it's being fundamentally redefined from day-to-day oversight to exception handling, strategic communication, and resource allocation across much larger teams. It will keep going into augmenting the decision-making process for leaders and individual contributors alike. The boundaries of acceptable risk at all levels are now in a constant prototype state as AI becomes more powerful and faster, giving mere mortals more access to information and insight than ever before. The trick will be what training we need in order to make the pairing work. When organizations begin selectively adding humans again, it won't recreate the structures we knew. The new addition of humans will focus on different capabilities than those being eliminated. They'll operate within flatter, algorithm-mediated structures. They'll be evaluated by different metrics. They'll collaborate with AI systems as a fundamental assumption. This isn't a temporary contraction but a permanent rewiring of what humans do within organizations and how work gets done. If you're among those recently laid off or worried about your position, this analysis probably offers little comfort. The strategic logic behind these changes doesn't minimize their human impact or excuse the implementation that prioritizes shareholder interests over worker wellbeing. That said, I can't think of a time when employees were ever prioritized over shareholders en masse. But understanding what's really happening might help you navigate what comes next. Trying to get your old job back is futile—that role, as you remember it, isn’t coming back. The opportunity now lies in positioning yourself for the roles and capabilities that will emerge as organizations rebuild from the bottom up—core human strengths like creativity and ethical judgment, the ability to collaborate with AI, your unique experience and expertise, and the kind of discernment that values judgment over process. The brutal reality is that we're experiencing a fundamental reset in how organizations structure themselves around human capability. No amount of denial—or outrage aimed at global corporations—will reverse it. The question isn't whether you can hang on through temporary cuts until things "go back to normal." As I keep trying to shout, normal isn't coming back. The question is whether we can adapt to a new reality where the division of cognitive labor between humans and machines is being radically rewritten. Where the premium isn't on executing known processes but on navigating unmapped territory. Where spans of control, decision rights, and value creation are all being reorganized around a new human-machine partnership. This isn't just another tech cycle. It's a fundamental recalibration of the human role in organizational life. And while there's no easy path through this transition, understanding what's actually happening might help you find your footing on shifting ground. The floor is being established. From here, the only real question is, are you ready to adjust or is it time to tap out? --- ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/05/MVH-1.png) ### The coyote trap. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-coyote-trap/ Last updated: 2025-05-15T19:44:42.000Z *"There’s definitely something going on in the industry."* I’ve heard that line on several phone calls with peers and I’ve read it scores more on social sites. Folks, there’s nothing *going on,* it’s already done. The direction is set. Call it whatever you will, I don’t care, but we’re on a new path and companies are doing more than ever to extract every ounce of value out of everyone in the payroll system. I talked to a long time friend and former colleague who went from team leader to division leader overnight. No title change. No additional compensation. Just do more. Meanwhile there are glimpses—nay, hope—that a pocket might exist with an oasis of normalcy and opportunity. It’s hard not to be cynical that these are just sparks made by people looking for something, anything, to bring distinction to their upcoming annual review or LinkedIn profile. The signs are everywhere. Your head might be spinning because the changes are happening at a rate never seen before on this scale. I’ve been through this albeit on a smaller scale at a startup of one thousand people that started shedding roles one hundred or more at a time. People who were seen as part of the foundation were suddenly gone. Roles that were considered vital to the future the month before didn’t matter any more. The promising future presented by the CEO at the company’s annual offsite last quarter now turned into a toxic joke. What happened there and then is now happening everywhere today. At different velocities and maybe in different ways, but the solid ground we used to enjoy turned to hot lava. Companies learned from the mistakes of others during the pandemic—witnessing their destruction due to poor decisions, bad diligence, lack of fiduciary responsibility, and the black holes created by collapses in consumer spending. They are all working from the same playbook—cut everything and hang on. Add to this readiness the disruption from the promises of AI driven automation which helps to explain the hypersonic speed of change today. The people who are still questioning what happened and, my favorite, why it happened, are going to get lapped by the folks who stop looking back—stop trying to hang on or retake what was. Rip off the duct tape, it's gone. It’s scary as hell and very few people deserve this but we’re on a new timeline and trying to make sense of the past that you had zero control over won’t produce any significant gain. Unless you are independently wealthy, it’s time to move into survival mode. For everyone, not just the folks on the outside but those who are stuck on the inside like my friend. I read an article about [a software engineer who lost a $150K job](https://fortune.com/2025/05/14/software-engineer-replaced-by-ai-lost-six-figure-salary-800-job-applications-doordash-living-in-rv-trailer/?ref=brilliantcrank.com)—and two more after that—all within a year. According to the story he’s applied to 800 jobs without a hit. As a result, he's working service jobs and started living out of a trailer. That’s how he adapted. While I have empathy for this person’s situation it only goes so far, like up until his 300th application. If this post was written by AI it would have inserted that bullshit line about the definition of insanity here. Eight. Hundred. Applications. That’s not trying. That’s not moving forward. That’s not insanity—it’s stupidity. It’s staying stuck in the past. Let me repeat, there is nothing “definitely something going on” because it’s already done. We don’t have to take the one-thousand-applications-trailer-living-and-service-job path. I get why it feels like the only option. When the machine throws you out, the instinct is to shrink your life, to survive. But that’s not the only way. What if survival looked like ownership instead? What if the best response to getting laid off isn’t to get in the line to nowhere for the next thing, but to build your own thing? Do your own thing? The tools are there. The access is there. The demand is there. We’ve got too many smart, experienced people standing at the edge of the workforce, assuming their only move is down or to keep trying what worked yesterday. From what I read many folks fear an AI fueled collapse, but I fear another powered by denial, retreat, and stubborn nostalgia. If enough of us take this route, we’re going to see a quiet, steady slide of educated, capable folks into poverty—and that’s not just a personal tragedy, it’s a societal one. And no amount of boycotting or avoiding AI is going to help. I don’t want to see anyone who is smart enough to read this publication fall down the hole. The rules have changed. That means we get to make new ones. But only if we stop trying to reclaim the old world and start building what comes next. --- ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/05/beepbeep-1.png) ### You are not your job search. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/you-are-not-your-job-search-redux/ Last updated: 2025-10-01T17:36:53.000Z ### An epic for everyone feeling left behind. Eight years ago I wrote [an essay with the same title](https://brilliantcrank.com/you-are-not-your-job-search/) during a brutal stretch of rejection, silence, and self-doubt. Back then, I was trying to make sense of what had happened. I believed if I just understood why, I could fix it. I was wrong. What I've learned in the decade since isn't comforting. My difficulty wasn't just me—it was the entire system. And that system isn't broken; it's functioning exactly as designed. Filtering. Discarding. Erasing. Only now it's worse, powered by algorithms and anxiety fuled urgency that have made human experience disposable. This isn't a reflection or a rewrite. It's a battle cry for the burned-out, the tossed aside, and the mad as hell. It's permission to stop blaming yourself for a game that is rigged from the start. This is for everyone who's done everything right and still ended up invisible. I see you. --- ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/05/OPEN-1.png) You are not a resume. You are not a failed application. You are not an algorithm’s reject pile. You are not the ghosted email, the awkward recruiter screen, or the polite brush-off from someone who can’t see your worth past your LinkedIn headline. The breadcrumb trail of past prestige, trying to buy credibility in a surplus market. You are not your job search. I went through this bullshit ten years ago. And it felt like being erased in real time. I had built a career. Built companies. Led teams. Spoken on stages. Earned awards. I was successful—right up until I wasn’t. That’s what no one tells you about success. It doesn’t make you **safe**. It doesn’t make you **visible**. It doesn’t make you **viable**. It doesn’t even make you interesting to a hiring manager scanning for keywords and culture fit. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/05/TROPHY.png) The system is rigged. You're living proof. You’re not imagining it. You’re not overreacting. The system is designed to forget you the second you stop fitting their fantasy. You’ve got decades of experience? They want novelty. You’ve managed crises, built teams from scratch, led through chaos? They’d rather take a risk on someone with “startup energy,” a punchy portfolio site, and a “visual résumé”—**whatever the fuck that means*.* You’re calm, measured, strategic? They’re looking for someone who crushes prompts and vibes hard on Slack. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/05/META-2.png) You’ve done the work. But they treat you like you’re out of touch because your career report card doesn’t include the latest micro-tool or trend from two months ago. They’re not hiring for **wisdom**. They’re hiring for **optics**. For familiarity. For the illusion of innovation without the risk of difference. The problem isn’t your age, or your “story.” The problem is that you’ve seen too much—and that scares them. You remind them that all their shiny little systems are built on sand. That experience can’t be templated. That leadership isn’t a roadmap, and culture isn’t a team offsite. Let’s be honest: this whole hiring machine? It’s broken beyond recognition. A stitched-together mess of over-worked recruiters, ghosted emails, fake urgency, bias masquerading as “gut feel,” and middle managers conditioned to flinch at anything they can’t instantly explain. It doesn’t know what to do with people like you. So it discards you. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/05/MACHINE.png) Not because you’re done. Because they’re **not ready**. They’ll never admit… They don’t know how to interview. They don’t know how to listen. They’ve never been taught how to recognize value outside a perfect-shaped hole. They are untrained, biased, rushed, and indifferent. They are powered by keywords, algorithm results, and ghosted by their own HR teams. And they will not rescue you—no matter how hard you try to play by their rules. Stop performing. Stop contorting. Stop thinking one more résumé tweak is going to crack the code. This is not your fault. But it is your reality. Get angry. Then get free. Here’s the truth that saved me, eventually: You don’t owe this system your **soul**. You don’t owe it your **dignity**. You sure as hell don’t owe it your **peace**. What you owe yourself is **rest**. What you owe yourself is space to create something that isn’t tied to someone else’s approval. The best advice I can offer… Stop applying. Start making. Not more work. Not more hustle. Not more “content.” ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/05/MENU.png) Make something real. Something for yourself. Bake. Knit. Draw. Build. Write. Paint. Forge. Tinker. Play. Sew. Sketch. Plant. Repair. Cook. Carve. Mix. Animate. Mold. Whittle. Design. Assemble. Photograph. Sculpt. Mix. Weld. Code. Journal. Record. Weave. Move your body. Touch grass. Watch clouds. Remember that you’re a whole person with gifts that don’t require validation from a recruiter. Then go outside. Be around people. Say hi. Let the world remind you that it’s bigger than your inbox and more alive than your LinkedIn feed. You are more than the last job you had—and maybe that was the last job you should have in that industry. Maybe what comes next isn’t a job at all. Maybe it’s something you get to name yourself. Take the yoke off. If you're exhausted, it's not because you’re not trying hard enough. It’s because the system wasn’t built for this much **humanity**. So take a moment. Let the weight go. Let yourself feel what’s real: grief, anger, frustration—but also **hope**, **curiosity**, and **freedom**. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/05/AHEAD.png) You are not broken. You are not invisible. You are not your job search. You're still here. You’re still whole. *You are not your job search!* Not today. Not ever. ### It's time we stopped asking for vases. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/its-time-we-stopped-asking-for-vases/ Last updated: 2025-05-01T13:49:18.000Z My first interactions with AI came in 2015 when I joined IBM. Watson was all the rage, but it was still early days for the technology. Despite the tens of millions of dollars poured into marketing these incredible capabilities, Watson wasn't ready for prime time. I came to learn that the singular entity was actually an array of APIs that were focused on one ability, like compare and contrast. For the sake of conversation, each ability had a grammar school grade level. As I recall, the compare and contrast part of Watson was "in the sixth grade" when I was there. The people I knew who created things with Watson had to put in a lot of effort just to get the technology to do basic things like suggest a type of beer or cocktail based on answers to a handful of questions. Because of this, I didn't see the benefits of this technology aside from using it for the sake of using it. When generative AI was made available to the public I, like you, bore witness to an insane barrage of crap posted to every nook and cranny of the Internet. It was interesting to see how far AI capabilities had advanced, but that curiosity lasted for about a day. Prompt engineering became the latest must-have skill. Many folks I know who advocated "hand crafted" quality in digital work were duct taping AI to their services and thought leadership. As AI trends shifted so did the language on their company services pages and the topics of their blog posts. And yet I didn't see anyone creating anything radically better from what they did before. Once again, I didn't see a good use case for using AI for anything other than cheap tricks and trying to remain relevant to the winds of zeitgeist. It wasn't until about a year ago with the release of a new model for ChatGPT that I started to see something different. I'm not an engineer so I can't tell you what changed technically but the responses I got to questions were smarter. Instead of interacting with Captain Obvious, the new version offered actual, interesting insights. As it continued to improve and respond to my ongoing curiosity I began to realize that AI was turning into more than a useful tool. It was becoming a useful collaborator. Orientation at IBM Design took place in a specially designed studio with a track system installed in the ceiling. Eight-foot-tall whiteboards were mounted to the track in a way that made it possible to move them around to form different sizes of work spaces. All the tables and chairs had wheels to accommodate instant reconfiguration of the space depending on the need. It was a cathedral for design unlike any that I had seen before or after working there. It was in the "blue space" that Doug Powell kicked off orientation for my new employee cohort. We started the day with a simple exercise. "Spend thirty seconds and draw a flower vase," he instructed. We reached for a pad of 3M Post-It Super Sticky Notes from the Playful Primaries Collection and a Fine-Point Sharpie and drew an image as instructed. At the end of the time Doug didn't wait for some folks to stop. He advanced his Keynote presentation to a photo of a person holding up a drawing of a flower vase that was similar to what everyone in the room had just drawn. Doug went on to say that we all drew the same thing because the instructions or the ask prescribed the solution. This is why, he argued, so many companies are not able to genuinely innovate. Instead of taking a step back to reconsider everything, they end up creating just another version of the thing that came before it. The presentation advanced again along with a new instruction. "Now I want you to spend two minutes creating an experience for enjoying flowers." When the timer whistled for us to stop, half of the cohort was rushing to finish drawing their ideas. As we went around the room to present our ideas it was clear that removing the solution from the ask radically changes the possibilities and ideas. This simple act affords trust and gives permission to explore which leads to way more interesting ideas and outcomes, and ultimately innovation. You get what you ask for, and so many times the ask includes heavy constraint. This is why I don't understand why so many people are focused on creating the perfect, yet generic, universal prompt for AI. Sure, there are times when including instructions, conditions, and constraints are useful but I've found that too much turns AI back into Captain Obvious. Yet, from my observations and conversations this is how most people are using it. In short, we're using this technology to improve what we've come up with on our own instead of using it to explore new ideas and perspectives that we can graft onto ours which will always lead to learning and creating outcomes of higher quality. I think that means changing how we think about AI not as a tool but a collaborative partner who can bring the full weight and might of human knowledge, thinking frameworks, research methods, and enhanced synthesis to every user. Whereas I used to see AI as a gimmick and then a gimmick factory, I now see it as a game changing technology that, when used correctly, can and should advance our knowledge, thinking, skills, and ability to deliver beyond what we were capable of prior to these advancements. AI is not your friend, but it is a tremendous competitive advantage bringing warp speed to curiosity and the curious. For the last couple of months I've been working on something that I'm genuinely excited about—a book that explores this different perspective on AI collaboration, paired with a playbook that turns these ideas into something you can actually use. I'm not interested in adding to the noise about prompt engineering or contributing to the AI hype cycle. This is something different called *Stop Using AI Like A Vending Machine* that helps people move beyond using the technology transactionally and start using it as a thinking partner that makes your work genuinely better, not just faster. When everyone has access to the same AI tools, the real advantage isn't going to the people with the fanciest prompts—it's going to the people who know how to think with machines, not just through them. I think this might actually help people, and I can't wait to share it. --- ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/04/vending.png) ### Open to work is the new tip of the sword. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/open-to-work-is-the-new-tip-of-the-sword/ Last updated: 2025-05-01T13:53:39.000Z This isn't the light at the end of the tunnel. It's a lighter to hold up at a rock concert. In ten years, we're going to look at people we know who are still working in thankless corporate jobs like we do with people who are still playing World of Warcraft after everyone else moved on. Still logging in daily, still running the same raids, still grinding for incremental rewards. The routine has become so familiar, so habitual, that leaving is harder than staying. That comfort of knowing exactly what tomorrow will bring. I imagine this is how it feels when the TV crook says, "I don't want to go to jail, but hey—it's three hots and a cot." A strange comfort in the predictable constraints versus the chaos of the street. I'm writing this as a reminder—for myself and for so many friends trapped in that hamster wheel of despair. I don't know that it's right, but like a Magic 8 Ball, my gut is telling me *Signs Point to Yes*. The best thing I can do is stop believing my future is tied to regular, Monday-through-Friday, employment. Stop thinking there's a job out there for me. Not a real one. Not the kind I've trained for. Not the one where my "first connections" actually respond to requests for introductions. Not where my 20 years of experience means more than a "thanks, no" from the AI. Not where my carefully worded cover letter gets anything but silence. Not where my passion for the company matters to the people inside it. The path I've been on doesn't exist anymore. Not in this world. Not on this timeline. [I think it’s time to quit.](https://www.palladiummag.com/2022/01/06/quit-your-job/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) If that hits you somewhere deep—hello, welcome. You're not *crazy*—you're *early*. You're standing outside the system and watching it fail in real time. You're a pioneer experiencing the future before the rest of your industry. You didn't choose this, but nevertheless, you've been chosen. Hash tag three six…ah never mind. Grab a Snickers. We're going to be out here for a while and we’re going to need the protein. The layoffs keep coming and it's not just in one industry or sector. This morning Intel announced plans to slash more than 20% of its workforce—eliminating over 21,000 jobs this week alone (while their stock rose by 4.5%) in a move to streamline operations and reduce bureaucratic inefficiencies. Meanwhile, oil giants Chevron and BP have announced cutting thousands of jobs, with Chevron slashing up to 20% of its global workforce—about 8,000 people—while expanding operations in India where engineers earn salaries around a third or a fourth of their American counterparts. By the way, I love how corporations are mandating return to the office while simultaneously offshoring entire departments to the other side of the globe. Fuck thse guys. That includes the companies you and I thought we'd work for next. Nothing lasts forever, including job possibilities—at least in the career trajectory I've been following for twenty years. The way I see it, there are two choices in front of me. First: Wallow. Apply to 500 jobs. Bemoan what happened. Write long posts hoping someone validates my despair and rage. Get ghosted. Repeat. Second: Stop trying to get back into the building. And no—that doesn't mean defaulting to becoming a coach. Let's be honest with each other—there are way more people now offering coaching than there are those with budgets to pay for it. It's just another way to hang onto the ladder, hoping someone will climb up to you. When it comes to red oceans, this one keeps getting deeper and wider by the day. Look, we don't need to repackage ourselves. We need to reimagine what we're here to do. The first choice will make me feel like I'm trying. The second makes me feel scared, anxious, and terrified that it might work—which means far more change than just a different company name on my pay stub. But only one of these options leads somewhere new. Only one is worthy of the pioneers that we are. Because that's what we are—pioneers. Not casualties. We're the first ones out of a system that's failing faster than anyone wants to admit. There are millions who will join us in unemployment soon enough. By the time they're new to this stupid game, wallowing in shock, we'll have already charted new territory and moved on. We're at the tip of a sword none of us wanted to be on, but the sooner we move forward on an adjusted path, the better off we'll be—ahead of the curve instead of crushed by it. The rest of the white collar world will catch up eventually. Not a matter of if, but when. And when they are, we'll be the ones who already know the way. Take a minute and yourself—What am I still holding onto that’s getting in the way of my future? --- ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/04/bull.png) ### Redesigning design, the cliff in front of us all. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/redesigning-design-the-cliff-in-front-of-us-all/ Last updated: 2025-05-07T15:23:29.000Z If designers want a better future for their trade, now is the perfect time to start from scratch. Not refresh. Not reboot. Start over—with clear answers to questions we seemingly didn’t get right the last time: What does design actually *do*? What does *good* design look like? How do we critique it, measure it, improve it? What is design responsible for—and accountable to? Where does the role begin and end? This isn’t a dig at anyone. I’m not interested in blaming the past. I’m interested in what we do next. Because moving forward, design needs an ELI5 story. A North Star that makes business sense, is easy to repeat, and hard to ignore. The old model of design was built on gatekeeping, borrowed prestige, and—sorry not sorry—a slow-moving process. The new model? It’s raw. It’s fast. It’s visible. It’s self-defined. Forget chasing the next chief design officer. The people shaping what’s next are spending their time in the tools, crafting new methods grounded in first principles. Drop the talk about transformation. Stop clawing for the title of Divine Empathizer. Step down from the Design Thinking hill you’re prepared to die on. And don’t dare ask for a seat at the table. Just design. Not one thing—but one hundred. The future of design looks like one person prototyping six directions in a morning, using three tools and a single idea. And then doing it again tomorrow. UX and UI is now just U. As in *you*—the person who spans disciplines, moves fast, and ships. Do more with less headcount, but not less output. Research is now AI. Prototyping is AI. Ideation, testing, iteration? Also AI. Less sketching. More prompting. For now, this is what we’ve got—and the future will favor the curious, not the dogmatic. I don’t have to like it. Neither do you. But the writing is on the wall—and it’s constantly regenerating. We’re not at a crossroads. We’re at the edge of a cliff. And I’m not the only one seeing it. Mike Davidson recently put it plainly: “the future favors the curious.” He’s right. This moment demands that designers experiment, explore, and stop waiting for someone else to define the role for them. You don’t need a coach or a mentor for this moment. The career path is simple: jump, or stay behind. Rant and reminisce—or move forward. Look, people change careers all the time. There’s no shame in that. But experience tells me that no amount of pushback is going to fend off AI integration. It’s already here, and it’s targeting every workflow, everywhere, running on rinse-and-repeat. Today’s headlines about AI bubbles and “regret” cycles feel familiar—like the ones we saw in the mid-90s. Back then, the pundits scoffed and swore the internet was a fad. Right up until *“You’ve got mail”* wasn’t just a notification—it was the zeitgeist. The more I look past my own hesitation, the clearer it is: this isn’t about being replaced. No more than we were when we traded horses for horseless carriages, telegraphs for telephones, fax machines for email, or cash for credit cards. The only thing timeless in this world is how deeply we resist change. So think of this moment not as a collapse—but a resize and reshaping. New tools and techniques. New outcomes and expectations. New definitions of value. Don’t compare today with yesterday. It doesn’t matter. Take it from me—no amount of blog post rage or soul-searching is going to materialize meaningful work or lasting satisfaction. Monty Python had it right when the guy next to pretend Jesus whistled, “always look on the bright side of life.” Designers are back to where they started—departments of one to three. But this time, the tools in our hands can multiply our talent, speed up our impact, and stretch our reach. Yes, our work was an easy target for disruption. But that also makes us among the first who can evolve—fast enough to come out the other side. This isn’t the timeline I would’ve picked. But it’s here. And it’s ready. For me, for you, for anyone willing to jump, enjoy the fall, get up, and keep going. --- ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/04/remix-3.png) ### Make no mistake, employees will always be just a line item. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/make-no-mistake-employees-will-always-be-just-a-line-item/ Last updated: 2025-05-01T13:54:17.000Z As the world turns and countries and companies are still swirling in the latest round of primordial goo, it’s a good time to remind those who are employed and seeking employment that at the end of the day, you are nothing but a line item. The dedication and devotion you give, or hope to again some day, is disposible. It’s not my intention to add to the anxiety you’re already carrying—but after reading Adam Argyle’s post [*Googler… ex-Googler*](https://nerdy.dev/ex-googler?ref=brilliantcrank.com), more folks need to hear it. Feel it. No matter what you do for the company you work for—no matter how hard you try, how loyal you are, or how much you shape its future—when the time comes, you will be unceremoniously ripped away from the mission you were building, the people you collaborated with, and the vision you poured yourself into. Highly likely without so much as a thank you. > Last night, my role at Google was eliminated. I'm quite sick to my stomach, extremely sad, and even more angry. argyle@google.com is no more. Just like that. I'm told this comes as a shock to my managers and other Chrome team leaders. I'm told it's not based on merit. I'm told I could find another role. > > But I was also immediately ripped away from my calendar, docs, code, and more. Anything nice anyone has to say is immediately met with reality, and reality says "don't let the door hit you on the way out." If I was really welcome to another role, why treat me like a criminal? > > I feel back stabbed, unappreciated, tossed in the trash. I can't sleep. I'm ashamed. I'm pissed. > > I really was just a fuckin cog in a mega corp. But this kind of treatment isn’t limited to “mega corp." My last full-time role was as president of a company of fifteen people. Tiny. The owner personally asked me to come aboard, run the company, and help evolve its products and services. When I arrived, the place was rudderless and functioning on default. I turned it around. I taught people new skills. I handed over ownership of key initiatives. And the team delivered. We were finally gaining momentum. But the family business shenanigans—the games, the dysfunction, the nepotism—became too much. After a year, I gave four weeks’ written notice—as you do when you’re running the company. To which I received no reply. The next morning I tried to log into email: error. Slack: gone. Google Drive: access denied. I had been completely cut off—without a single word. When I called or texted directors, they claimed not to know what was going on. Radio silence. I didn’t hear from the “CEO” until that afternoon via email. “It’s nothing personal,” he wrote, “This is just what you do when someone gives their notice." Bullshit. I’ve led teams since I was barely out of school. I know what’s “just what you do.” You don’t treat someone who gives notice like they were fired for cause. And even when you *have* to let someone go, you treat them with dignity. With humanity. With grace. I spent a year investing in people. I was robbed of the chance to close things out, set the team up for success, and say goodbye. Even though I’ve moved on it still stings. I did nothing to deserve how I was treated. The year before I was laid off by InVision, the most toxic company I’ve ever worked for, but I still got time to close things out with my team and people I worked with. Let’s not pretend otherwise: if you’re working for someone else, you’re a cog in the machine. Doesn’t matter if it’s a team of fifteen or a corporation of one hundred and fifty thousand—you’re a line item. When the moment comes, your access will be revoked. Your contributions erased. Your potential deleted without hesitation. If this hasn’t happened to you yet, consider yourself lucky. But don’t mistake that luck for value of your work to the company you serve. --- ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/04/crew-3.png) ### Kindness feels radical. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/kindness-feels-radical/ Last updated: 2025-05-01T13:54:32.000Z I’m still taking in the response to [*Eject disk*](https://brilliantcrank.com/eject-disk/). The comments, reposts, and private messages have been unlike anything I’ve experienced before. It’s still building, and it’s sparked a kind of energy I haven’t felt in years. It’s helping me wake up. To see the world with clearer, rejuvenated eyes, a sharper mind, and a spirit that feels like it’s finally stretching its limbs after being asleep for too long. All of it fueled by something simple and surprisingly powerful: human kindness. A few days ago, a friend told me their partner came home and broke down in tears. They had received a message—completely out of the blue—from a client who just wanted to say thank you. Nothing elaborate, no bonus check or standing ovation. Just a genuine, unexpected expression of gratitude for the work they’d done. The words didn’t hit right away. But once they were home—in a space safe enough to feel it—the emotion caught up. And overwhelmed them. Their story stopped me. Not because they were thanked, but because it was so rare—and so disorienting—that it *elicited*an emotional response. It wasn’t just meaningful. It was a shock to the system. Kindness, once a baseline part of being human, now feels like an anomaly. Somewhere between the launch of the iPhone and the cultural fallout of the pandemic—we lost the human currency of kindness. It didn’t vanish all at once. It was peeled away in layers, rolled up into a kind of societal Katamari ball that picked up hostility, apathy, overstimulation, and a deep fatigue with each rotation. So when someone says thank you and means it—not casually, not in passing, not as an emoji or a corporate Slack reaction—it can feel like being handed an ice-cold bottle of water after crawling across the Sahara. During the hottest summer on record, no less. It shouldn’t feel that way. It shouldn’t feel revolutionary, but that’s where we are today. What used to be a simple human gesture now feels like an emotional event. Saying “I see you” now carries the weight of a rescue signal. When adjusted for post-iPhone inflation, a real thank you is worth its weight in gold. I’ve been thinking a lot about the shift. I remember attending SXSW back in 2005 and 2006, before the first iPhone. We sat in panels and actually listened. We took notes—in notebooks or laptops. When we met up afterward, we made eye contact. We shared stories. We laughed. Nobody was scrolling. Nobody was double-screening their way through conversations. By 2008, things had started to fracture. Phones came out mid-session. People were checking Twitter instead of being in the room. They were monitoring what other people were doing instead of keeping their focus in the immediate vicinity. And it just kept unraveling. Eventually you had to ask people to put their phones away so you could carry on a conversation. Then came the pandemic, and the social muscles we hadn’t been using atrophied even further. We forgot how to be with each other. How to sit through a silence. How to say something vulnerable and let it hang in the air without rushing to soften it. We forgot how to connect without a screen acting as emotional buffer. And now? A thank you lands like a plot twist. There’s nothing broken that needs fixing we simply need to abandon our bad habits and the dependence on technology for human connection. Stop defaulting to detachment, to quit the endless flicker of dopamine-driven interactions that leave no trace of meaning or humanity behind. Kindness has to come back into the room. No spectacle. No dopamine drip. Just one person noticing another and saying something real. No cap. Let’s break this cycle together. Reach out to someone in your life who’s putting in the work—not for likes, not for a brand, but because they give a damn. Because they’re trying to make something better. Tell them what you appreciate about them. Be specific. Be honest. And say thank you. Like you mean it, because you do. And then do it again next week. And the week after that. Don’t turn it into a goal. Don't download a damn app—*don't!* Just make it a habit. Quiet. Consistent. Human. This is not complicated. But it does matter. More than ever. --- ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/04/katamari.png) ### Mo prompts, same problems. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/mo-prompts-same-problems/ Last updated: 2025-05-11T18:32:10.000Z Since the debut of *Terminator 2*, we’ve all been primed to watch for signs of the impending skull-crushing robot apocolypse. As we’ve drawn closer to that pivotal moments of robots replicating forms of human intelligence and motor skills, the horror isn’t about destroying human kind, but another kind of doomsday—ending our careers. What was once dubbed the future is not present day. We’ve been here for a while now and that reality was abruptly introduced to the world through an internal company policy memo that reads “Start using AI, not more humans, now.” A week ago, [Shopify’s internal AI directive was leaked](https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/07/shopify-ceo-prove-ai-cant-do-jobs-before-asking-for-more-headcount.html?ref=brilliantcrank.com). It came from CEO Tobi Lütke, and it didn’t mince words. > I expect everyone at Shopify to become AI-native. Your job is to figure out how AI is going to make your work better. You are expected to use it to its maximum capability. I expect you to be the best in the world at this. Be world-class at prompting. Treat it like the most talented person you’ve ever worked with and you get to collaborate with them all day. The memo goes into more detail with a bulleted list of edicts that all employees must become AI-native, use AI to its fullest extent, master prompting, treat AI as a top collaborator, prioritize AI over new hires, and consider AI use a fundamental part of their job. There’s no sense in looking back now, the line has been crossed. You can bet a lot of money what Shopify unintentionally just shared with the world has been a building conversation and prioritization in board rooms of every Fortune 500 company and large enterprise around the world. It was only a matter of time before something like Shopify's leaked memo would give a shape and voice to what's coming out the executive leadership—find more ways to harness AI to be more productive without increasing our largest cost, headcount. Do more with less ASAP—PDQ. After reading the memo, I don’t agree with how Tobi planted the flag at Shopify but knowing what I do about enterprise company leadership I’m not surprised. The gospel of digital has always been: ship faster, cheaper, more often—come hell or high water. Make more faster, cheaper in search for better—quantity over quality. Now they see AI as the way for teams to fail faster and arrive at product nirvana in record time. My challenge with Shopify’s direction—the path that all companies seem to be on—is to stop looking at AI fueled quantity as the best method for discovery and innovation. It's absolutely a great use for the technology, especially for digital products, but it’s not the only way. And I would argue, not the best. For starters Tobi has made it clear that everyone will be held accountable to using AI. Engineers and product leaders will no doubt be measured against usage metrics. Out: Number of code deployments. In: Number of AI prompts. We’re not evolving by working this way—we’re just shifting the scoreboard. Same shit, different OKR. The problem with most AI adoption efforts right now—like what Tobi handed down—is that they stop at the prompt. Learn how to ask better questions, generate more stuff, and somewhere in the pile, the good ideas will reveal themselves. Consider that generating more logos is not the best path to create an amazing brand. Prototyping is a solid practice but we can only get to quality and real innovation if we change our perspective of using AI like a vending machine. And that’s the trap. We think if we just prompt harder, we’ll get smarter. But more output doesn’t mean better outcomes. Prompting isn’t a strategy. It’s a tactic. And when companies treat it as the whole game, they flatten what AI can actually do. Especially across the entire company with many teams and departments that have zero to do with making products, but have the potential to innovate all the same. You’re not “working smarter” because you asked Claude to write your email thirty seconds faster. That’s not innovation—it’s intellectual laziness dressed up in a productivity metric. The real value of using this technology shows up when you actually *think* with it. When you use it to pressure-test your assumptions, push your thinking into unfamiliar territory, model decisions before you make them. But that requires effort. And most teams don’t want effort. They want shortcuts. They want vending machine magic. When the telephone was invented, people used it to send short messages like a spoken telegram—completely missing the point that it enabled real-time conversation. That’s exactly how I see most people pitching AI: blindly recreating the past with a tool that was built for something radically different. Framing is the hinge that decides whether AI is a shortcut or a thinking tool. Not all tasks—most I would argue—need a flood of outputs. The only way to work smarter is through convergence. The smarter move is narrowing the question and creating better constraints. Sometimes it’s running five tightly defined experiments instead of generating 50 half-baked ideas. The best way for us to harness AI unilaterally is to use it like a second brain. A partner in the thinking process. Our robots are incredibly helpful in helping us go wide (generate options) and then go deep (refine, structure, decide). Sure, they can chase volume but we’re really cooking with gas when we use them to build clarity. And that’s the shift I hope more leaders will prioritize. Not to just “use AI” because that’s too surface and like I said, not a strategy. We all should learn how to use AI well, because that’s the super power. This is how AI policy actually improves the whole company—not just the product org, but marketing, HR, compliance, legal—everyone. So sure, tell your teams to use AI. Push them to experiment, to get familiar, to stretch their workflows. But don’t confuse usage with understanding. The real opportunity isn’t in generating more, it’s in thinking differently. The teams that figure out how to use AI with intent—across every department, not just product and engineering—are the ones that will actually move the company forward. Not because they used it more. But because they used it well. I’ve been in on this thread a while. There’s more coming. Hang on to your butts. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/04/go.png) ### LinkedIn is a waiting room of doom. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/linkedin-is-a-waiting-room-of-doom/ Last updated: 2025-04-10T22:52:54.000Z It’s not a network. It’s a holding pattern for the white-collar workers who helped build the modern world—only to find themselves without a future in it. Two hundred and twenty million people have signaled they want out. That’s not a platform—it’s a collapse with metrics and a sales campaign. This insane story from [Karel Vredenburg](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/karelvredenburg%5Fjobs-layoffs-opentowork-activity-7315689967937101826-Qy9W?ref=brilliantcrank.com) appeared in feed and slapped me upside the head— > According to LinkedIn, as of January, more than 220 million users had turned on the “Open to Work” feature—either privately to recruiters or publicly with the green profile badge. That’s 21% of the platform’s entire user base, and it represents a 35% increase over the previous year. > > And that was back in January. Several of the professionals I’m coaching now are telling me that job offers are also evaporating overnight—due largely to tariffs causing economic and market uncertainty. > > There’s something deeply broken in how businesses are being run today in my view when one in five professionals on LinkedIn is seeking to leave their job—or is already out of work. And one particular country is now making the situation even worse by the actions of its leader. What?! Let me play that back to you. One in five LinkedIn users are either out of work or quietly trying to leave the job they already have. That’s two hundred and twenty million people. Two hundred and twenty million people have turned on “Open to Work.” That’s the number LinkedIn shared. The number Karel, thankfully, called to attention. It doesn’t include the people too scared to post the green badge or quietly indicate to recruiters because they still need the health insurance. It doesn’t count the folks who are fried—the ones who stopped caring three months ago but still show up to every meeting like they’re gunning for a promotion. Or the ones who once gave everything and now just need to make it to Friday. Let’s put this into perspective. Using Dunbar’s Number—the upper limit of meaningful social relationships—and the robot to do maths, you and I probably know sixty or seventy people who are unemployed, exhausted, scared, stuck, or pretending. Not abstractly. Personally. Right now. Most of us have way more than 150 connections. I’ve got nearly 5,000 people in my network. Statistically, that means at least 2,200 of them are not in a good place. This isn’t a wave. It’s a collapse in motion. And it’s wildly out of sync with the world outside the feed. **U.S. unemployment is around 5%. LinkedIn’s is 21%.** That means “Open to Work” is four times greater than the national unemployment average. And that number—220 million—is just the tip of the iceberg. Organizational psychology tells us it’s way more. The rest shows up as resentment. Burnout. Checked-out ambition. People who’ve gone numb under bad leadership. Who’ve mastered the art of looking engaged to stay employed. Who quietly die inside every time someone says “Q3 opportunity.” People stuck under managers who stopped leading a long time ago—if they ever knew how to lead at all. People who haven’t seen a raise in four years and are still told to “do more with less.” People who keep their mouths shut, their calendars full, and their profiles polished. This is what impression management looks like at scale: a workforce that performs stability while silently drifting. The green badge is the visible signal. The rest is hidden below—quiet survival, forced cheer, strategic silence. Pure professional agony. We’re in a situation where people are trapped in roles they’ve outgrown, cultures that burned them out, industries that keep promising reinvention and delivering chaos. If LinkedIn were a country, it would be in a workforce crisis. Like, deep IMF-level bad. What value does this network actually provide, when the majority of users refreshing their browsers are trying to escape the system it was built to serve? When four times the national unemployment rate is sitting right here, asking for help, and getting served LinkedIn Learning courses about “nailing your elevator pitch” or motivational posts from executives who just laid off their teams and are now talking about “resilience.” **LinkedIn isn’t a professional network anymore. It’s a waiting room of doom.** Every day I get an email telling me someone looked at my profile. A digital nudge—someone might be interested. Want to know who? Just pay up. As if voyeurism equates to opportunity. As if clicks ever translated into work. Maybe that’s how it used to function, back when the platform was something closer to a meritocracy. Now it just feels like a casino for the professionally anxious and unemployed. That 220 million figure also explains why most job listings already have hundreds of applicants by the time you see them. It explains the desperation. The rise in glossy storytelling about “resilience” and “growth mindset.” It explains the increase in performative bullshit on the platform—because when real traction is rare, performance is the only currency that seems to count. We’re all supposed to keep showing up. Keep pretending. Keep polishing our “personal brands” like there’s a recruiter on every corner with a golden ticket. For the job listing that isn’t real. But underneath the surface, people are stuck. And tired. And quietly wondering if any of this is working. *Pssst… it’s not.* LinkedIn wants you and I to believe that visibility is the same as opportunity. That if enough people see you, something good will happen. But when everyone is shouting into the void, attention becomes noise—and the system starts to cannibalize itself. And no—I’m not paying LinkedIn a dime. Not for phantom views. Not for bad analytics. Not for the privilege of performing success in a system designed to benefit from mass insecurity. Also, their publishing tools are absolute trash. But mostly, it’s the insult of it all. The quiet grift. The way it repackages economic instability as “career movement.” The way it pretends to be a network when what it’s really selling is hope on a payment plan. LinkedIn has 220 million people signaling: *“I want out. I need something better."* And what do they get? More nudges. More premium features. More empty metrics to obsess over while wondering if they’re disappearing. They could be doing more. Hell, they could be doing *anything.* And yeah, I’m in it too. I see the emails. I watch the views go up, the interviews go nowhere, the interested leads evaporate. I’ve tried to play the game with dignity to no avail. Because that’s what we’ve been trained to do: look hirable. Be valuable. Not human. If you’re reading this while doom scrolling, somewhere between your 200th application and your fourth coffee, I’m not going to tell you to keep grinding. I’m just going to say: You’re not alone. You’re not imagining it. And you’re not the problem. This system was built to extract your ambition and sell it back to you in monthly installments. The sooner we stop playing along, the sooner something else becomes possible. It's time to wake the zombies. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/04/quit-1.png) ### Connection isn’t just personal. It’s political. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/connection-isnt-just-personal-its-political/ Last updated: 2025-04-08T13:23:16.000Z I don’t need anything more to piss me off to keep writing about what’s broken right now, but after re-reading [*Why Are Democracies Reeling?*](https://protectdemocracy.org/work/why-are-democracies-reeling/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) I found more fuel for the fire. The [surface layer bullshit](https://brilliantcrank.com/we-built-a-country-on-bullshit-and-emojis/) so prevalent today is damaging more than we know. It’s literally tearing apart democracy. From the good folks at Protect Democracy— > Recent decades have been marked… by the breakdown of some of the essential connective tissue of society… Americans are simply less closely connected to one another in meaningful ways. Civil society participation is down, feelings of social isolation or loneliness are up, and the physical spaces where Americans can meaningfully encounter and build relationships have significantly receded. > > Online platforms are no substitute when social media algorithms ensure that users typically see only content with which they agree… As people become more isolated from one another and less connected to a sense of common purpose, polarization and divides grow. Leaders can exploit these dividing lines to solidify loyalty among supporters, selling a narrative of connection and meaning that pits them against the “other side,” with whom actual encounters are all too rare. Let me translate that into plain English: We stopped showing up for each other. And now we don’t trust anyone. So the whole system is falling apart. Shocker. This isn’t just about social collapse, isolation, and burnout. It’s about power. When we stopped engaging with each other—really engaging, in person, in conflict, and in community—we didn’t just lose connection. We’ve made choices and set preferences that are dismantling the scaffolding of democracy. A healthy democracy requires relationships, trust, physical presence, and shared stakes. If we don’t have anyone in our lives who voted differently than we did, if the only time we talk to our neighbors is when we have something to complain about (if we even bother), if we haven’t been in a room with strangers in months trying to solve a real problem without a mute button or a string of emojis—then we are actively making it easier to divide. Easier to manipulate. Easier to radicalize. Easier to rule. Last week two very different people shared their disbelief and shock about what’s happening to everything in our country. In both conversations they asked the same rhetorical question: What can we do? My response to both people was the same—go to a protest. Be around people who feel the same as you but possibly for different reasons. Shout. Share your feelings and get them out there. Connect your fear and anger to other people. Let it out loud. Let it be heard. Remind yourself what it’s like to engage with people on this level. This is humanity one-zero-one. What we all learned in civics class in high school. Connecting to humans is democracy and it cannot exist without it. The loneliness you feel? It’s not just yours—welcome to the club, snowflake. It’s systemic. It’s cultural. It’s political. It’s the result of following instead of conversing, liking instead of listening, posting instead of participating, submitting video instead of showing up. And our disconnection is being weaponized by the dumbest people on the planet—Donny “Cheeto” Shitpants and his Kleptocracy Krëw. That’s how bad things have gotten. We’re being overthrown by clowns with fourth-grade reading levels and zero shame, and they’re pulling it off with ease. That should piss you off so much you want to throw your iPhone into the river. It sure as hell should make you lose sleep over why you didn’t delete your Facebook account years ago. Disconnection creates a vacuum. And people with agendas will always rush in to fill it. When we don’t talk to each other, we stop trusting each other. When we stop trusting each other, we stop trusting *anything* —ballots, elections, basic facts. And when we lose trust, democracy doesn’t just wobble. It collapses. We’re not going to fix this with an app. And for fucks sake, not another shiny new platform built by the same guys who broke the last one—Digg that mofos. We don’t need another campaign to raise “awareness.” We’re all drowning in Sarah McLachlan’s lyrics. We’re choking on think pieces and branded empathy. None of it matters if we’re still refusing to show up for each other in real life. We’ve trained ourselves out of discomfort. We’ve made being a human optional. Everything’s curated now—our photos, our opinions, our connections. We’ve optimized ourselves into isolation. Actual connection? Feels like friction. And no one has the stamina for friction anymore. Hashtag friction. Hashtag resilience. And it’s not like we haven’t been warned. [*Join or Die*](https://www.joinordiefilm.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) made it painfully clear: the less we engage, the faster everything falls apart. Not just politically—socially, psychologically, structurally. I’m not saying this from the outside. I’ve been just as complicit. I’ve stayed quiet when I should’ve spoken. I’ve convinced myself a heart emoji counted as an actual response. I’ve kept things surface to multitask. And every time I’ve done that, I’ve made it easier for this shit to keep going. If democracy is built on trust, and trust is built on relationship, then the collapse we’re living through isn’t just political—it’s personal. It’s relational. And it’s happening because we let disconnection become default. We stopped talking to each other. We stopped listening. We stopped showing up. And now we’re shocked that nothing holds. Real human connection is more than a soft skill. It’s the foundation of the type of society we proclaim to want and support. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/04/democracydies.png) ### We've built a society on bullshit and emojis. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/we-built-a-country-on-bullshit-and-emojis/ Last updated: 2025-04-06T17:45:28.000Z I used to work for a company that was constantly celebrated for its incredible culture and commitment to employee well-being. They were lauded with awards like—Forbes' *America's Best Employers* and the Gallup *Great Workplace Award*. At the main campus everyone smiled. Meetings always began with small talk about football and kids. Everyone was behind the company vision and mission with gusto, sometimes so much that it brought them to tears. It was a masterclass in workplace harmony—or at least, the appearance of it. After about a month, I started to see the cracks in this corporate nirvana. The same folks who responded to requests or ideas with “absolutely” disappeared or buried their role and responsibility. That’s when I learned a new phrase: “Texas nice.” At first glance, it sounds charming—southern hospitality with a warm, approachable vibe. But in practice, it masked tension, suppressed disagreement, and existential fear. The real conversations happened behind closed doors, whispered in hallways, texted during meetings, or said on muted phone calls while pacing outside. Outwardly, everyone smiled. Inwardly, it was a tire fire of passive-aggression. It felt more like a telenovela than a thriving workplace. People didn’t confront conflict—they performed around it. And that performance was rewarded. I’ve worked in places (had the fortune I should say, weirdly) where people would straight-up tell you if they disagreed. But here, the unspoken rule was: keep it light, keep it smiling, keep it buried. If you didn’t play along, you stood out. I did. And not in a good way. Trying to fit into that culture went against everything in me. Texas nice? More like Texas sucks. I was there to work whereas so many folks were there to keep their job. After grinding against the culture long enough, it was clear that I would never fit in so I got out of there. That was years ago. But since then, this shallow performance culture has crept into and now dominates all of humanity and the surface has only gotten shinier—and emptier. These last ten years have made everything incredibly louder and insanely lonelier at the same time. We are all exhausted. Burnt out on work, on the world, to the point that the practice actually engaging with people is past the point of last resort. We’ll debate (more like shout past each other) politics, or AI, or the latest New York Times headline for hours online—but we won’t send a five-word message to check on someone we claim to care about. And no, it’s not because people are bad. It’s because we’ve over-indexed on digital performance and under-indexed on real human connection—we’re way over our skis on this problem. We’ve traded too much—too many conversations, too much nuance—for the convenience of a heart button or a one-click reaction or not responding at all. The idea of actually talking to someone—calling them, sitting with them—is becoming foreign. Even undesirable. Calling someone now feels like a threat—too personal, too interruptive. And let’s be real, most people won’t pick up anyway. Talking to someone directly? Forget it. We’re all main characters now—treating human connection like emotional spam. Sadly, we’ve lost the patience and stamina for real conversations. Now even *trying* feels like a gamble. So we ghost. We dodge. We post. We disappear behind thumbs-up emojis and pretend it counts as care. We betray our real thoughts and emotions in the name of protection, because everything is fair game for judgment or attack. People keep asking what the hell is going on. It’s this: we forgot how to be real—with ourselves and with each other. And it’s cost us more than we realize. We didn’t get here overnight. Today’s reality is the result of actively practicing and engaging in pseudo humanity. Much of our dysfunction today was built on a gazillion-trillion-billion likes. And now here we are, with a society built on emojis—humanity reduced to tiny images to represent emotions and private parts. We’re not heading towards dystopia, we’re eggplant emoji deep in it. Just as I purged so much social media and platforms from my life, it’s time to cull the “friend” circle. I’ve had it with shallow surface bullshit and I’m done with meaningless, thumbs-up culture. If the only time you reach out is when you need something, we’re not connected. If you ghost me and come back a year later like nothing happened, we’re not friends. If you say “I love what you’re doing” but never show up to be part of it, you’re not in my corner. If you don’t want to build real connection—fine. Just act accordingly. I see through the act. I’m not writing this to shame anyone. I’m writing it to say something out loud that a lot of us feel but rarely voice. I need to get this off my chest, and I know I’m not the only one. Some of you have been feeling this too. You’ve just been quiet about it. So let this be your signal: You’re not crazy. You’re not alone. And you’re not wrong for wanting more. We have to stop pretending. We have to stop performing. We have to remember how to be human—centered, connected, honest. Because if we don’t? We lose the very thing we keep claiming to want: real connection. And if I’ve done this to you—if I’ve ducked out, ghosted, or pretended to care—may the ghost of Fred Rogers gently slap the phone out of my hand. I’ll be the first to admit I make mistakes all the time. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/04/winner.png) ### The First Amendment was enshrined for way more than a subscription plan. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/resist-this-the-first-amendment-was-enshrined-for-way-more-than-a-subscription-plan/ Last updated: 2025-04-08T00:21:04.000Z Several of my friends are upset, borderline panicking about the unprecedented radical change that Trump and his administration are enacting across the federal government. The core of their fear is that the systems that are supposed to be in place do not appear to be fighting back in any way. The system we were taught to believe in—checks and balances, three co-equal branches with built-in oversight—has rolled over and asked for a treat. They are less watchdog, more taxidermied lapdog on a velvet pillow behind the register of a crappy antique store. Our expectations are that our independent branches should be keeping this in check—but that’s not happening. Neither are the many watchdog institutions that are somehow still whole after Musk’s chainsaw massacre. There is so much confusion and anger about what is happening, and everyone I know who is distraught over these events has the same reaction: I don’t know what to do. We’re called to call and write our elected officials because that will make a difference—but it hasn’t. We’re told to protest because the White House pays attention—but it does not. The New Republic published their [“citizen guide to resistance”](https://newrepublic.com/article/193193/fighting-back-citizen-guide-resistance?ref=brilliantcrank.com) which calls for the same actions but also includes handy suggestions like suing the federal government—which is so not within the grasp of everyday citizens—especially those who are out of work because our corporations are not resisting, but in fact contributing money to shrines for Trump and falling in line by canceling DEI programs because their Glorious Leader, Cheeto Shitpants, told them to do it. Meanwhile, *The Guardian*—a for-profit entity—asks me for more money on a weekly basis even though I am a paid subscriber. They are not the only publication to feel the need to remind me that we’re skipping into another apocalypse and that giving them more money is essential to my ability to stay informed. That used to mean knowing enough to not be ignorant. Today, that word means a firehose of minute-by-minute updates, however meaningless—until they have programmed FOMO doomscrolling into your psyche, your raison d’être. Our “fourth branch” of government is doing just as much harm to our country—especially broadcast. They are the layer of the resistance that has chosen to take a knee. This week a House representative quoted Nazi Joseph Goebbels, Minister of Propaganda for the Third Reich, during a censorship hearing. If the sadistic irony doesn’t hit you, that would be like quoting Adolf Hitler during a hearing on antisemitism. How did the press report this? How's this for a biting headline: [GOP Rep Quotes Infamous Nazi Joseph Goebbels During Censorship Hearing.](https://www.yahoo.com/news/gop-rep-quotes-infamous-nazi-234240109.html?ref=brilliantcrank.com) That’s not journalism. That’s stenography. What in the actual fuck is happening? We’re reminded over and over again that our democracy is frail, that we’re on the cusp of losing it, and the media has decided to put down their Freedom of the Press and sell tickets. “The Guardian would like to remind you—again—that democracy is dying. Could you spare $9.99 a month to watch?” Not to fight. Not to inform. Just to watch. It’s not journalism—it’s ringside narration for the fall of the republic. Meanwhile, people are losing rights, jobs, safety nets—and the press is writing it up like a quarterly earnings report. The global economy just took a multi-trillion dollar nose dive because the President of the United States declared economic World War, then spent another $3.4 million in taxpayer money to go swing golf clubs for the Saudi government. They tell us to resist. To march. To write postcards. As if fascism can be outmaneuvered by Etsy activism and well-intentioned hashtags. Meanwhile, the machinery of control grinds on, uninterrupted. A funny thing about the recent calls to resist—they include all of the typical anti-government and anti-corporation moves—but they leave out one that might have the most immediate response: Cancel your subscriptions. Go into your newspaper and magazine subscription accounts and close them. And tell them why. Leave behind a message that makes it clear they’re not fulfilling their obligation to the public to keep our officials and institutions in check. Publishers are playing nice with a crazy tyrant—for whatever reason, it does not matter—instead of honoring their duty and their social contract with this democracy. They remind us frequently that the First Amendment is vital to this country, but they are not using it. Cancel your subscriptions. All of them. Even if you’ve already paid. Their forms will ask for a reason. Here’s one: *“I’m canceling because you’re failing to meet your obligation to the public. When you stand up to power, I’ll be back.* Log out. Show them you are not interested in their pandering and fear-mongering. Signal that when they’re ready to show up and do their job, you’ll be back. Choose a week and log out. Go dark. Choose a week. Cancel. Log out. Disappear. En masse. Use the time you would normally blue-light scare scroll and touch grass. Call your mom. Talk to your neighbor. Phone up a friend. And trust me—if anything drastic happens, you will know. You want to make your voice heard? Make it felt. Withdraw your support from the ones who could shake the foundations of tyranny—but won’t. Cancel your subscriptions. Log out. Go dark. Tell them: *You don’t get my money while you play nice with a madman. You don’t get my clicks while you peddle fear instead of truth.* When they’re ready to do their job, we’ll be back. Until then, we’re gone—tab closed. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/04/999-1.png) ### Availability is no longer a personality trait. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/availability-is-no-longer-a-personality-trait/ Last updated: 2025-04-03T12:47:32.000Z A while ago, a friend told me I should write down my thoughts about relationships—but delete them after I was done. As someone who has rarely held back from saying or writing what I’m thinking, that felt like suggesting I should think about oxygen but not draw a breath. That said, there have been many times I’ve held myself back, thinking it was the right thing to do. It wasn’t. And it hasn’t gone well for anyone involved. So in true, authentic Storeystyle, I’m taking a different tack and moving into a new phase in life—with fewer, deeper connections, starting now. I’m done with surface. I’m done with relationships held together by nostalgia, proximity, or politeness. I’m done performing availability for people who don’t reciprocate presence. I’m done being admired but not included. Checked in on *only* when I’m useful. Spoken about, not spoken to. If that sounds harsh, you haven’t been where I’ve been. I’ve been generous with my time. Open with my energy. Willing to help anyone who asked—often before they asked. I’ve invited people into projects, ideas, opportunities, and momentum. I’ve offered clarity and care. I’ve extended trust. What I’ve received in return has been inconsistent at best. Ghosted silence at worst. People like to say, “You’re someone I respect,” or “You always bring great perspective.” That’s great, but if that respect doesn’t translate into action, inclusion, or investment, I’ve learned—very much the hard way—to see it for what it is: comfort, not commitment. Since the pandemic, our social contracts have frayed in ways we still don’t fully understand. Most folks in genpop have become *weird* with each other—super-hyper-transactional. Quiet quitting friendships. Withdrawing under the banner of “capacity.” Leaving texts and social questions unanswered. And for those of us who kept showing up? We’ve been compensating. Over-giving. Over-extending. Over-explaining. Hoping someone, somewhere, might do the same for us in return. I’m burnt from doing all the heavy emotional labor for a system that’s been breaking down in slow motion. So I’m moving differently now. I’m in—what the kids are calling—a “season” of fewer, deeper connections. That means less noise, more intention. Less reaction, more discernment. If you’re in my life—personally or professionally—you’re there because we both *chose* it. Not because it was convenient. Not because we’re from an age. Not because we once worked together. Not because we’ve been circling each other in digital orbit for the last twenty years. If we’re not building something real—trust, momentum, collaboration, honesty—then I’m not interested in keeping the conversation going just to prove I’m still nice. This *season* is for the ones who show up. The ones who ask *how you’re doing* without needing a reason. The ones who follow through. The ones who challenge you *and* stand beside you. The ones who don’t flinch when things get deep, complicated, or real. Those are the connections worth keeping. Those are the ones I’m making space for now. ### The spinning beach ball in front of us all. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-spinning-beach-ball-in-front-of-us-all/ Last updated: 2025-04-01T16:52:53.000Z *We’re all watching the wheel spin, hoping it doesn’t crash, but we're way past that point.* Everyone I know, talk to, or come across is in purgatory. The people who have lost their job, as well as the people suffering through one. No one can seem to find a way in or out of it. The grind—it does not stop. Nothing is normal. Whatever it was, it no longer is. For a long while, I was in a position to help people move on—and I have, for many. But those channels and avenues are gone. I suspect that’s the case for a lot of folks right now. The maze of life has turned into a giant wall. “The system we built to help people grow and succeed has been turned against us.” We played by the rules. We worked hard. We helped others. And now? We’re the ones left outside the gates looking in—or trapped inside, afraid to go out. That’s not just disorienting. It’s devastating. For many, hope is all we’ve got left. And I don’t mean the glossy, motivational kind—I mean the gritty, stubborn kind that stays lit when everything else has gone out. We treat it like a last resort. But it’s not. It’s what’s left when you’re done pretending. It’s not a fight. It’s a refusal to fold. We can’t face what’s next if our head and heart aren’t in the right place. And we can’t meet the world for what it is if we’re frayed at the edges, hollowed out, or barely holding ourselves together. It’s impossible to imagine the future if we’re stuck reeling from the past. I can’t do what I used to—helping people move on, but I can do this—try to light the fire we all need right now. The kind that doesn’t burn us out—The kind that brings us back to life. Feel the fire and read [*Eject disk: A manifesto for everyone stuck in the system that keeps crashing you.*](https://brilliantcrank.com/eject-disk) ### Eject disk. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/eject-disk/ Last updated: 2025-11-20T17:01:47.000Z ### A manifesto for everyone stuck in the system that keeps crashing you. What follows here isn’t a framework or a fix—it’s a declaration. A reckoning. And a call to return to ourselves before we try to rebuild anything else. We’re all watching the wheel spin, hoping it doesn’t crash, but we're way past that point. This is the truth and the work that many of us need right now—myself included—so let's go. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/04/sadmac-2.png) I see you. **You’re not burned out because you’re weak.** You’re burned out because you’ve been *relevant, valuable, over-functioning* for too long—inside systems that reward your ability to endure dysfunction and call it leadership. You’ve spent years in roles that were never meant to hold your whole self. Making it work. Keeping the peace. Delivering, exceeding, performing. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/04/office.png) **You showed up when no one else did.** You swallowed your rage to keep the team “aligned.” You turned chaos into clarity—*while bleeding out behind the scenes.* And when you finally cracked—or collapsed—someone handed you a mindfulness app. Or a coach with a four-step framework. Or a TED Talk about resilience. Or, if you were lucky, a conference keynote with a slide that read, “Breathe.” ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/04/fuckthat.png) This isn’t about bouncing back. This isn’t about polishing your story for LinkedIn. This isn’t about pretending your trauma is a brand asset. This isn’t burnout. It’s the moment you realize you’ve adapted so well to dysfunction that you can’t hear your own voice anymore. Long enough to ask: *Who am I when I’m not performing?* Long enough to see the cost of the systems you’ve adjusted to—and decide you’re done paying it. We don’t need another motivational quote. We don’t need another productivity hack. We need **restoration**. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/04/meditation.png) Not spa-day self-care. Not “find your joy.” **Actual restoration.** As in— Unearthing what got buried. Facing what you’ve been outrunning. Naming what you’re no longer willing to tolerate. Learning how to rebuild without disappearing again. This is the work. It’s not clean. It’s not linear. And it sure as hell isn’t marketable. But it is hopeful. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/04/picture-5.png) Not hope as a mood. Not blind optimism. **Hope as a warrior emotion.** Like Nick Cave declared—hope that fights. Hope as an act of resistance against burnout, cynicism, and collapse. Hope that shows up in the smallest, quietest decisions: telling the truth when it would be easier not to, sharing something you love, not disappearing when things get hard. Hope that keeps the devil down in the hole. But on the other side? ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/04/powerpoint.png) You stop chasing the validation loop. You stop contorting yourself into leadership roles that kill your soul. You stop being everyone else’s source of stability while losing your own. You remember your shape. You recover your boundaries. You stop clinging to the version of yourself that was rewarded for being useful, agreeable, productive. You start remembering the version that was *dangerous.* The one that still exists, buried beneath decades of making it work. This isn’t a course. This isn’t a brand. It’s a reckoning. A restoration. A return. --- ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/04/walking-1.png) If you're ready, step in. If you’re not, keep performing. If you don't have a choice, I see you—and I hope you get free. But know this: **You are not the problem.** **The system was never built for you.** **And you don’t have to shrink yourself to survive it.** I’m not here to help you bounce back. I’m here to help you stop pretending. And start returning. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/04/lines.png) ## Okay, so now what? *Choose your move. Light your fuse.* You don’t need a workbook. You don’t need a 10-step plan. But you *do* need to do something. Here are three ways to turn the spark into motion—pick the one that fits you best, or try them all. Just don’t stay still. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/04/write.png) **The Inner Call: Write Your Declaration** *For the ones who feel first and speak later.* Go somewhere quiet. Bring a pen and a notebook. A real one, dammit, not a stupid app. Write your personal declaration. For you. Not for LinkedIn. Not for likes. For yourself. Start with: *“I’m done…”* *“I’m ready…”* *“I remember who I am when…”* Make it raw. Make it honest. Then read it back to yourself out loud. You don’t need to post it—just let it ring in the room. Repeat it when you need it. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/04/shout-2.png) **The Public Signal: Say It Out Loud** *For the ones who need the world to know they’re done hiding.* Choose one sentence. One truth. One moment you’re no longer willing to swallow. Write it. Post it. Text it. TikTok it. Tell someone. Say it in a meeting. Say it in your art. *“I’m no longer available for this.”* *“I don’t do contortion anymore.”* *“This is who I actually am.”* No disclaimers. No emojis. *No emojis!* No tidy lesson. Just *truth in motion*. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/04/build-2.png) **The Rebuild Act: Make One Change** *For the ones who need to feel it in their hands.* Choose one part of your week—your work, your boundaries, your habits—and reclaim it. Cancel the meeting. Say no without the apology. Ask for help. Yes, ask for help. Build the thing you’ve been postponing. Let something crumble that’s been holding you hostage. Start small if you need to. Just make it real. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/04/321-2.png) You *don’t* need to do all three. **But you *do* need to pick something.** If it’s not any of these cool, but do something. Otherwise, all of this was just catharsis and you’ll be back to the bottom soon. And you’re here for more than that. *Also...* **Share this page with people you know that need it right now.** Share the page with people who don't know that they need it right now and they will thank you for it later. Not after—*now*. --- Speaking of now… keep going with the zine series created to continue the momentum from the overwhelming response to the original publication of *Eject Disk*. [![CTA Image](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/11/Eject-Disk--The-Series.png)](https://brilliantcrank.com/ejectdiskseries/) Four zines for people who are done pretending everything's fine. [Eject Disk: The Zine Series ](https://brilliantcrank.com/ejectdiskseries/) ### This is your brain on nostalgia. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/this-is-your-brain-on-nostalgia/ Last updated: 2025-03-30T18:37:15.000Z I’m already bent out of shape on a number of topics for a number of reasons, and this morning I came across one more to add to the list: whiny Gen X’ers who are gobsmacked because they fell backwards into a myth of tenure that many of us figured out wasn’t true thirty years ago. The *New York Times* published a piece by Steven Kurutz this week about [Gen X creatives](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/03/28/style/gen-x-creative-work.html?ref=brilliantcrank.com)—designers, writers, directors, photographers—who came up during the golden years of magazines, advertising, indie film, and the early internet. The article wants you to grieve for them. Apparently, they’ve hit their fifties and realized the world moved on without them. Now they’re stunned to find themselves drifting. Overlooked. Unhired. Unwanted. The article is soft and reverent, like a eulogy for relevance. The story is framed as quiet tragedy: members of Gen X who built careers on creativity and craft are now left behind by youth culture, algorithms, and AI. > Talk with people in their late 40s and 50s who once imagined they would be able to achieve great heights—or at least a solid career while flexing their creative muscles—and you are likely to hear about the photographer whose work dried up, the designer who can’t get hired, or the magazine journalist who isn’t doing much of anything. > > Gen X-ers grew up as the younger siblings of the baby boomers, but the media landscape of their early adult years closely resembled that of the 1950s: a tactile analog environment of landline telephones, tube TV sets, vinyl records, glossy magazines, and newspapers that left ink on your hands. When digital technology began seeping into their lives, with its AOL email accounts, Myspace pages, and Napster downloads, it didn’t seem like a threat. But by the time they entered the primes of their careers, much of their expertise had become all but obsolete. The implication is that these people were once important. They had vision. They had taste. And now? They’re confused. They’re bitter. They’re still clinging to some version of a world that doesn’t exist anymore—and maybe never did. The whole piece reads like a eulogy for a group of people who—at least in the narrative being pushed—were quietly erased by change. Left behind by algorithms. Replaced by influencers and AI. Victims of speed, youth, and the collapsing definition of craft. When I saw the headline, I was intrigued. I hoped maybe I’d find some validation for why so many of my peers are out of work and struggling to find jobs. Maybe it would offer a new lens worth considering, or some spark of insight to pass along. But the more I kept reading, the more it pissed me off. This isn’t Gen X, it's sloth. No matter how gently you wrap it, this grief tour is covering up something harder and far less poetic. These people didn’t suddenly become obsolete—they got comfortable. They stopped being curious. They stopped moving. They ceased to evolve. I’m not denying the economic shifts that are pulling at the strings of everything. Systems have changed. Economies and budgets have collapsed. Platforms devoured institutions. Career ladders were replaced with glitchy elevators that only move sideways. We’ve been through this—what, one… two… three… a dozen times since *The Breakfast Club* hit theaters. If you stopped evolving—if you clung to the job you had in 2004 like it was your birthright, if you refused to stretch your skill set or rewire your perspective—then yeah, you're not relevant anymore. But that’s not injustice. That’s inertia. You mistook consistency for growth. You confused repetition with mastery. You were offered a hundred chances to adapt, and you said no—over and over again—because, what, you stopped being counterculture and bought into the myth of the American Dream? So now you're mad at the system for not wanting what you refused to update? That’s not Gen X. That’s just fucking stupid. The generation I remember—and still feel damn lucky to be part of—was built on flux. We watched analog die in real time. We moved from cassette to CD to Napster in under five years. We had one foot in zines and one in HTML. We came up in online chat rooms and dot-com implosions. We are the generation born in the epicenter of constant and radical change. And here’s what I really don’t get: if Gen X was so anti-sellout, where’s the rebellion now? We were inspired by the Ramones, Prince, Madonna, John Hughes, Steve Jobs, David Carson, Spike Lee, and Kurt Cobain—none of those people stayed in one lane. They mutated. They burned bridges. What creative professional worth anything ever decided, “I’ll just do this one thing forever and the world will always love me for it”? That’s not creativity. That’s nostalgia in a leather jacket—and also every metal hair band from the '80s. It’s not that your work doesn’t matter anymore. It’s that you stopped doing the work that matters *now*. You decided your best work was behind you. You started clinging to legacy instead of making the next thing real. You stopped being dangerous. You became safe, even to yourself. And when the jobs dried up, when the systems moved on, you called it a betrayal instead of a natural consequence. You don’t get tenure in creative work. There’s no pension for past ideas. You are only as vital as your willingness to evolve. This act of grief—like something sacred was stolen from you—is not Gen X. Maybe it’s country club. I don’t know. But if you stopped evolving, if you stopped pushing yourself, if you refused to learn anything new because you didn’t like the way it felt—then yeah, you’re obsolete. And don’t pin that bullshit thinking on an entire generation. That’s not me. That’s not anyone I know. So no, I don’t want your elegy, Steve. I don’t want your hand-wringing. I don’t want any more soft-focus profiles about a generation that supposedly expected nothing and is now shocked that nothing came. I want clarity. I want fire. I want people who are done waiting for the industry to want them back, and ready to want themselves again. I want mutation. And I will always want my MTV. ### 45—54. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/45-54/ Last updated: 2025-03-24T01:44:27.000Z This year marks my last in a demographic age range commonly used in drop-down form fields. Most people celebrate decade milestones that end in a zero, but for me, the real marker ends in a four. Thank you, Jim Avery, and my college degree in advertising. On his 60th birthday, a family member told me that when you hit one of those numbers, you're starting the next decade. That’s been on my mind a lot since the ball dropped a few months back. Ten years ago, I’d just lost two companies and slogged through countless job interviews that went nowhere—some after multiple rounds and in-person sessions. I started to wonder if I’d ever work again. It was a rough time like it is now for so many. A few months later, I landed a good job and kicked off an incredible decade of leadership, growth, and transformation—personally and professionally. I came out of that chapter changed in ways that never would’ve happened if I’d stayed where I was, doing what I knew. It was the kind of evolution that only happens when you leave the familiar behind. Recently, a friend in my same drop-down age range asked if I’m getting more grizzled as I get older. I told him: no, not grizzled—but I am done. Done with surface-level relationships. Done with people who coast through connection. That reaction isn’t coming from bitterness—it’s coming from lived experience, good, bad, and brutal. I’ve earned my way to a deeper clarity, and I’m not going to apologize for it. As I map out this next decade, I’m investing more time than I ever have to figure out what I want from it. A big part of that means drawing harder lines around what I’m here for and what I won’t tolerate—especially when it comes to human bullshit. T L ; D R : I’m done with it. If you keep reading this blog in the weeks ahead, you’re going to hear that line a few more times as I think through and synthesize what this next phase means for me—and maybe for others like me. So, welcome to the text version of my YouTube-TED-Talk-TikTok with zero advertising and much more clarity. For those of you who belong to younger demographic ranges consider sticking around or subscribing because I’m going to share perspectives—no cap—that I wish someone would have handed to me a long time ago. ### Still simmering. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/still-simmering/ Last updated: 2025-03-19T15:42:32.000Z As she walked into the kitchen, I mentioned to my wife that it’s the five-year anniversary of the COVID pandemic. She stopped mid-step, like a record skipping, and uttered, “Nah uh.” I understood her disbelief and repeated the fact. She interjected, “It doesn’t feel like five years, more like three,” as I was thinking the exact same thing. I don’t need to cite research because once this anniversary hits you—if it hasn't already—you’ll feel it too. Our records skipped have all been skipped. Maybe I haven’t been paying attention—highly likely—but normally, an anniversary milestone like this gets paraded across the media more than a few times. Yet, I haven’t seen a peep. I suspect it has a lot to do with the endless building stream of events competing for fifteen seconds of global attention. That, too, is a result of the pandemic—doomscrolling became a habit, a reflex born out of fear and paranoia from five years ago. So much doesn’t make sense right now because the world is at a boil. But we don’t feel it as much—we all got into the water when it was cold, maybe room temperature. I don’t know about you, but when I look around and see what’s happening, it feels like we’re all just trying to tread water. Everything is in flux. Despite moving beyond the pandemic, little has returned to what it was. We’re still simmering, still trying to get back to some sense of before—whether that means a civil society that isn’t consumed by good-versus-evil narratives or something as simple as reasonable egg prices. A lifelong friend lost her job recently. She’s doing what we were all told to do, raised to do—submitting application after application. I half-jokingly suggested she’d have better luck making money playing blackjack at a casino. And then I added, “You should seriously consider the possibility that you’ll never be an employee again.” As she works to build her own business, that thought should be empowering—something to celebrate. But for so many still simmering in the aftermath, it doesn’t feel like opportunity. It feels like an existential reckoning. Everything about our society is in a state of divergence, and it will be for some time. Even if there were radical regime changes across the world, trust has eroded to the point of burnout. And that kind of damage takes time to repair. There’s no fast-forward button for where we are now. But at some point, we need to stop treading water and find solid ground—wherever that may be. ### We need better assholes. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/we-need-better-assholes/ Last updated: 2025-03-20T23:20:13.000Z The way I see it, there are two dominant leadership styles in business and government today. On one side, we have the ruthless and ambitious—but destructive—narcissists. These are the Elon Musks, Jeff Bezoses, Donald Trumps, and Peter Thiels of the world. They are relentless in their pursuit of power and disruption, but their vision is self-serving, chaotic, or outright harmful. On the other side, we have managers, stabilizers, and risk-averse caretakers—leaders who avoid disruption, prioritize optimization, and don’t seem to push boundaries. Think Tim Cook’s Apple, Joe Biden’s incrementalism, or most Fortune 500 CEOs who are happy coasting on stock buybacks and quarterly profits rather than taking bold steps forward. Both sides are pushing AI infusion not because we need it or even asked for it, but because it is there. The next set of “features” that CFOs and CMOs salivate over. The result? A trail of mediocrity on the path toward dystopia. We’re living (more like cringe surviving) in a low-energy holding pattern, where the people who are bold and aggressive are using their power destructively, and the people who should be pushing for change are too afraid to act—like batteries with the same charge, repelling each other, generating nothing but wasted energy. What a bunch of useless assholes. What the world needs now is something different—something we haven’t had in a while. We need better assholes. We’re stuck in a cycle where bad leaders break things for the sake of breaking them, and good leaders are too timid to stand up and do anything great. And nowhere is this more obvious than in how companies are forcing AI into everything—not because it makes things better, but because it makes their stock price look good. The same goes with politicians obsessed with turning the federal government into “everything computer!” Steve Jobs never cared about what was trendy. He didn’t add features just because other companies were doing it. He built things that people didn’t even know they needed yet—but once they saw them, they couldn’t imagine life without them. The iPhone didn’t win because of a marketing gimmick. It won because it was so insanely good that it made everything else feel instantly obsolete. That’s what we’re missing now. The willingness to ignore the hype, ignore the noise, ignore the stock price, and focus on making something that is actually, undeniably great. And for the love of god, make damn sure the technology actually works or exists *before* marketing gets a hold of it. Instead, companies across industries are churning out bloated, unnecessary features, trying to sell us on a future that feels more like a downgrade. Have you looked at new vehicles recently? Who asked to have the entire dashboard turned into a screen? Why is Siri getting dumber? Exactly what is the use case for Samsung’s new washing machine with AI? Who asked for an AI-driven refrigerator? What in the actual fuck are companies thinking these days?! In his extremely well reasoned and written rebuke of Apple’s seemingly methodical decline toward mediocrity, [John Gruber nailed it when he wrote](https://daringfireball.net/2025/03/something%5Fis%5Frotten%5Fin%5Fthe%5Fstate%5Fof%5Fcupertino?ref=brilliantcrank.com): > When mediocrity, excuses, and bullshit take root, they take over. A culture of excellence, accountability, and integrity cannot abide the acceptance of any of those things, and will quickly collapse upon itself with the acceptance of all three. That’s where we are now. Not just with Apple, but with so many companies and all four branches of the U.S. federal government—presidential, legislative, judicial, and the media (which gleefully sprinted across the mediocrity finish line decades ago). The people who should be pushing the world forward aren’t, and the ones who are pushing are doing it for all the wrong reasons. What we need now, more than ever, are better assholes. Not the ones who wreck industries for personal gain. Not the ones who think disruption means chaos. Not the ones who mistake dominance for leadership. Not the idiots who mistake masculinity for leadership. We need the kind of merciless visionaries who demand better—of themselves, of their companies, of their industries, of the world. Steve Jobs was an asshole, but he was an asshole in service of something great, and he delivered time and time again. He wasn’t just building Apple to win market share or crush competitors. He was obsessed with making insanely great products, and he wanted that for others as well. He was relentless in pushing people to do better work—not just to work harder, but to actually [Think Different](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDD5G2%5F6hdA&ref=brilliantcrank.com). He enabled people. He challenged industries. He rejected compromise. Jobs was a merciless visionary enabler. That’s the kind of leadership we’re missing. The people who are willing to make others uncomfortable in pursuit of something that actually matters. The people who will fight for excellence, even when it’s inconvenient. The people who see past the bullshit and refuse to accept mediocrity no matter the excuse. It doesn’t have to be this way. We don’t need fewer assholes. We need—*really need*—better ones. ### Your network is broken. Fix it like a human. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/your-network-is-broken-fix-it-like-a-human/ Last updated: 2025-03-20T23:20:20.000Z I keep hearing different versions of the same frustrated statement in conversations and coaching sessions: “My network isn’t helping me like it used to.” All those connections, follows, and likes? They’re not turning into opportunities. The people who used to pull you in for projects? Radio silence. Warm intros? Ice cold—if you even get one. It’s not just you, and it’s not just them. This kind of breakdown is normal during a big economic downturn. Networks that once felt rock solid start feeling more like dead weight. People are cautious. Budgets are frozen. The old playbook isn’t working. TL;DR: If your network isn’t working for you, it’s time to rework your network. Since prompting AI to solve every problem is all the rage these days, I worked with the robot to write a prompt—for humans. Because we can’t technology our way out of this. The only way to get real human results is to show up, connect, and rebuild the relationships that actually make things happen as a human. I present to you the Human-Led Networking Reboot Prompt—a tactical, no-BS guide to rebuilding your professional network in a way that actually works in today’s economic climate. ## Human Networking Rebuild Prompt by ChatGPT **Goal:** Rebuild and strengthen your professional network to create meaningful connections, unlock new opportunities, and establish a resilient support system for career growth and consulting opportunities. **Context:** You have realized that your existing network is not yielding the job referrals, client leads, or collaboration opportunities you expected. Economic shifts, industry changes, and evolving hiring practices have made old networking methods less effective. You want to take a strategic, proactive approach to rebuilding your network with intention and impact. ### Constraints & Considerations - Your current network may be stagnant, meaning contacts are no longer active or influential in your target industry. - You may have blind spots, relying too much on people in similar positions rather than expanding into diverse circles. - You want to avoid transactional networking, where people feel you’re only reaching out when you need something. - You may need to update your personal brand, ensuring your digital presence aligns with your evolving career goals. ### Actions & Execution - **Audit Your Existing Network** — Categorize current contacts into three groups: - Engaged & Active: People you interact with who are responsive and supportive. - Dormant: Connections you haven’t reached out to in 1+ years. - Irrelevant or Inactive: People who are no longer in your industry or unable to help. - Identify gaps in your network: Do you lack connections in growing industries? Are you surrounded by job seekers rather than decision-makers? Make a list of 20 people worth re-engaging and 10 new people you’d like to connect with. - **Re-engage Old Contacts with a Value-First Approach** — Don’t reach out asking for favors. Instead, offer something useful (an article, a personal update, an introduction). Suggested message: "Hey \[Name\], I was thinking about our past work together and wanted to reconnect. I came across this article on \[topic\] and thought you might find it interesting. Also, I’d love to hear what you’ve been up to and share what I’m working on. Let’s catch up!" - **Expand Beyond Your Industry Bubble** — Target adjacent industries where your skills are transferable. Seek out communities in LinkedIn groups, online forums, and in-person meetups related to your new interests. Set a goal to meet five new people per month through intentional outreach or event attendance. - **Strengthen Your Digital Presence & Visibility** — Update LinkedIn and portfolio sites with your current career focus, expertise, and unique value proposition. Post weekly insights, articles, or reflections on your industry to attract inbound connections. Engage with influencers and thought leaders by commenting on their content—visibility leads to opportunity. - **Shift from Passive to Active Networking** — Instead of waiting for introductions, proactively ask for warm referrals. Example: "I’m exploring new consulting opportunities in \[industry\]. Do you know anyone in your network who might be open to a conversation about challenges in this space?" Host your own virtual coffee chats, local meetups, or industry discussions to become a connector, not just a seeker. - **Track and Follow Up with Consistency** — Use a simple spreadsheet or CRM tool to track who you’ve reached out to, last contact dates, and action steps. Set reminders to follow up every 60–90 days with light-touch interactions (sending an article, congratulating a career move). ### Expected Outcome Within 90 days, you should have 10-15 new strong connections, re-engaged past contacts, and generated at least 3-5 new opportunities (job leads, referrals, or consulting inquiries). Your network will be more diverse, engaged, and aligned with where you want to go next in your career. You’ll transition from a reactive job seeker/consultant to a proactive professional building long-term, meaningful relationships. Final Reminder: Networking is not just about what you can get—it’s about creating genuine, lasting connections.Approach it with curiosity, generosity, and consistency, and opportunities will follow. ### Thanks HAL, one more question... After checking it's work, I asked the robot if it had any advice for humans and it did: > A great prompt is only as good as the action you take after reading it. Here’s my best advice for humans using the Human-Led Networking Reboot Prompt effectively. > > **This Is Not a Passive Exercise, You Have to Put in the Work** — A lot of people will skim the prompt, nod along, and then… do nothing. *Don’t be that person.* Block out real time on your calendar to audit your network, reach out, and engage with intention. > > *Action Tip: Treat this like a job or consulting project. Set aside 1-2 hours per week to execute, follow up, and track your progress.* > > **Lead with Generosity, Not Desperation** — No one likes getting a message that screams, *“Hey, I need work. Can you help?”* That’s not networking—that’s a cold ask. Instead, focus on reconnecting first and offering value before making any requests. > > *Action Tip: Before reaching out, ask yourself: How can I make this conversation valuable for them? Share an article, make an introduction, or acknowledge something they’ve achieved.* > > **Stop Relying on Old Playbooks** — If the way you’ve always networked isn’t working anymore, don’t double down—adapt. If your LinkedIn posts aren’t getting traction, start engaging in the comments of industry leaders. If your job applications are going nowhere, focus on referrals instead. > > *Action Tip: Identify one new approach you haven’t tried before—maybe it’s reaching out to someone in an adjacent industry, attending an in-person event, or sharing more original insights online.* > > **Expand Beyond Your Immediate Circle** — One of the biggest mistakes professionals make is networking in a closed loop—talking to the same people in the same industry over and over again. In an economic shift, new opportunities often come from new places. > > *Action Tip: Make a list of 3 industries where your skills could transfer. Start following and engaging with leaders in those spaces.* > > **Play the Long Game** — The best networking isn’t about immediate returns—it’s about staying top of mind so when opportunities *do* arise, you’re the first person people think of. If your first round of outreach doesn’t result in anything, don’t assume it was a failure. > > *Action Tip: Keep a simple spreadsheet or notes app to track outreach. Follow up every 6-8 weeks with something thoughtful—a check-in, an article, a congrats on a career move.* > > **Final Thought: Be the Person You’d Want to Network With** — Networking works best when it’s mutually beneficial. If you approach it with a transactional mindset (*"I need a job, can you help?"*), people will disengage. If you show up as a curious, engaged, and value-driven person, people will want to stay connected. > > *Action Tip: Before reaching out, flip the perspective: If you were on the receiving end of your message, would you respond? If not, rewrite it.* > > T L ; D R — Take action, offer value first, adapt to the new reality, expand your reach, and play the long game. If you do this consistently, your network will stop feeling like dead weight and start working for you again. > > Now, go make it happen. I might have used different language and tone, but otherwise couldn’t have said it better myself. ### The Dice — 037 URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-dice-037/ Last updated: 2025-02-24T15:49:10.000Z ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/brilliantcrank-dice-2-3.png) Last week, a friend confided in me: “I’m finding myself battling with a pit of anxiety almost daily right now.” I’ve known this person for twenty-five years. Life has thrown them every curveball and sinker imaginable, and yet they’ve always persevered—clawing, climbing, and pushing through the hardest moments like no one else I know. Through all their struggles and setbacks, anxiety never seemed to have them pinned. Until now. I know that feeling too well. Not long ago, I found myself flat on my back, staring at the ceiling, paralyzed by waves of anxiety so intense I was afraid to move. There wasn’t a single catastrophic event that triggered it—just the slow accumulation of stress and fear, creeping in quietly until it hit like a freight train I never saw coming. It wasn’t dramatic. It wasn’t loud. It was quiet, crushing, and suffocating. In [Issue 35](https://brilliantcrank.com/the-dice-035/), we tackled how to manage the constant flood of bad news and protect your mind from being overwhelmed by it. Now, it’s time to go deeper. This issue targets anxiety directly—*that* feeling—and how to fight back when it threatens to take over. We’ll build on the last five lessons and dig into practical strategies for dealing with daily anxiety before it gains momentum and swallows your focus. Ok, rolling a saving throw against anxiety… ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-one-1.png) “A lot of people will spend the next four years fixated on trends, fads, and momentary crises. I’m focused on what will still matter in five, ten, fifty years. Character. Discipline. Patience. The value of hard work. These are constants — no matter who’s in office, no matter what’s happening in the headlines.” Ryan Holiday is a great source of inspiration for us all right now. His article, [Here’s How I’m Preparing for the Next Four Years](https://ryanholiday.net/heres-how-im-preparing-for-the-next-four-years/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), is full of insightful ideas, practical wisdom, and simple activities that we can all adopt to improve our resilience and response to the unrelenting, building chaos taking place now. Don’t miss his [video on journaling](https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=shared&v=6211qMWYz90&ref=brilliantcrank.com)—a practice I know and have seen have a hugely positive impact on those who do it daily. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-two-1.png) When stress hits, your body’s natural instinct is to *react fast*. Our bodies are designed to respond in kind by preparing to get the ‘efff away or through whatever is causing the stress. Suddenly we’re operating on instinct—not intention. This leaves you feeling stuck, defensive, or overwhelmed. Once again a simple breathing mecahnic can help us reset and recenter. **The 3-Second Breath** — Here’s how to hit pause before the reaction takes over. - When tension rises, stop. - Inhale deeply for three seconds. - Hold your breath for three seconds. - Exhale slowly for three seconds. - Take one more deep breath if needed before responding. This nine-second reset creates just enough space for you to respond thoughtfully instead of reacting impulsively. When your body enters stress mode, your brain shifts into survival gear, narrowing focus and prioritizing speed over clarity. A slow, intentional breath interrupts that pattern. It signals your nervous system to *slow down*, giving your brain time to re-engage with logic and empathy. Learn more: [The Benefits of Deep Breathing and Why It Works](https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/evidence-based-living/202409/the-benefits-of-deep-breathing-and-why-it-works?ref=brilliantcrank.com) ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-three-1-1.png) When we wake up, our brain is in a highly impressionable state, shifting from theta waves—linked to deep relaxation—into the faster alpha and beta waves associated with focus and action. During this transition, our minds are more susceptible to outside influences, setting the emotional tone for the entire day. This is why it’s best to avoid checking email or the news while still waking up. Instead, we can use this window for drinking coffee while setting our own intentions. **Morning Intention Setting** — Setting your mind before the world does Here’s how to set your focus before distractions take over: - Before picking up your phone, take five quiet minutes. - Ask yourself: *What do I need most today?*—Patience, clarity, focus? - Write down your single most important priority for the day. - Visualize yourself completing that priority successfully. - Take three deep breaths to lock in your intention. Setting an intention trains your mind to filter distractions and stay aligned with what matters most. It boosts clarity, reduces decision fatigue, and sets a clear emotional tone for your day. Learn more: [*The Miracle Morning*](https://www.amazon.com/Miracle-Morning-Not-So-Obvious-Guaranteed-Transform/dp/0979019710?ref=brilliantcrank.com) by Hal Elrod ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-four-1.png) Even with the best intentions, our brain becomes vulnerable when we’re stressed, tired, or both. This is when psychological patterns like imposter syndrome, negative self-talk, catastrophic thinking can kick into overdrive, hijacking the narrative we hold about ourselves. Over time, those doubts start to feel like facts, a false truth about who we are and our real abilities. How many times have you thought to yourself, “I’m not good at this” and start to believe it? We have the ability to take control and rewrite these thoughts. **The Thought Audit** – How to rewire your mindset Here’s how to identify and rewrite those limiting thoughts: - Write down a recurring negative belief. *“I’m not good at public speaking.* - Reflect on where this belief might have started. *A bad experience? Someone’s criticism?* - Ask yourself: *Is this always true?* What evidence proves otherwise? - Rewrite the thought from a constructive perspective. *“Every time I speak, I improve.”* - Read the new narrative aloud, allowing it to take hold. Your brain is wired to seek patterns and reinforce what it believes. By challenging those thoughts and replacing them with constructive alternatives, you break free from limiting beliefs and open the door to personal growth. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-five-1.png) You don’t need me to tell you how easily stress can build in the background—like static noise you’ve learned to tune out. Most of us will do anything to avoid confrontation, dodging uncomfortable conversations and situations until the stress compounds, growing into a problem of its own. Our instinct might be to avoid stress, but that doesn’t build resilience. Instead, learning to reframe stress as a form of mental strength can help you tackle challenges before they overwhelm you. **The Stress Reframing Exercise** – Why stress makes you stronger Here’s how to turn stress into a training opportunity: - Identify a recent stressful experience. - Write down how it made you feel—anxious, frustrated, overwhelmed. - Ask yourself: What could this stress teach me? *Patience? Adaptability? Focus?* - Write down one small action you could take to address the challenge directly. - Reflect on how facing the challenge head-on changes your response to future stressors. When you intentionally engage with stress, your brain learns that discomfort isn’t dangerous—it’s a signal for growth. Reframing allows you to build resilience and turn adversity into strength. Learn more: [Reframing Your Reality: Part 1](https://hiddenbrain.org/podcast/reframing-your-reality-part-1/?utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com) By Tara Boyle ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-six-1-1.png) We’ve become so used to our attention being pulled in so many directions that being still and silent—just you and your thoughts—is not easy. For some, it feels uncomfortable. For others, impossible. We’re now wired to look for stimulous and distraction. Despite the efforts of Depeche Mode, we’re tuned to avoid the silience. When you’re surrounded by constant noise, finding stillness can feel unnatural. Learning to practice silence—neigh, enjoy the silence—allows us to create a space for reflection, creativity, and clarity. **The Stillness Challenge** – How to find mental quiet Here’s how to engage with stillness intentionally - Find a quiet, distraction-free space. - Set a timer for 5 minutes—no phone, no music, no screens. No screens! - Sit comfortably and focus on your breath. - If your mind starts to wander, gently return your attention to your breath. - After the timer ends, jot down any thoughts or feelings that arose. Intentional stillness allows your mind to declutter and recalibrate. It strengthens focus, fosters emotional clarity, and encourages creativity by creating space for deep reflection. Learn more: [*Stillness Is the Key*](https://www.amazon.com/Stillness-Key-Ryan-Holiday/dp/0525538585?ref=brilliantcrank.com) by Ryan Holiday Stay golden, everybody. We've got this. Published in Tacoma, Washington while listening to the often overlooked Duran Duran album *[Liberty](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gr6XAwDfSiI&list=OLAK5uy%5FnPu2qZRT2qXRh-rWFXBlUhQ2Mryej1O2w&index=2&ref=brilliantcrank.com)* from 1990. ### The Dice — 036 URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-dice-036/ Last updated: 2025-02-17T22:17:49.000Z ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/brilliantcrank-dice-2-3.png) This weekend I found the energy to see past the current events and look around me. My mantra right now is: Fight against being consumed. This morning She Who is Everything and the Provider of Breakfast and Love, shared insights from the[Baking Powder Wars](https://www.amazon.com/Baking-Powder-Wars-Cutthroat-Revolutionized/dp/0252082591?ref=brilliantcrank.com) of the 19th century. Everything that is taking place today—weaponizing science and public policy to disinformation and media manipulation to monopolies all took place for market share gains for baking powder. It's absolutely true that history repeats itself, but I’m often surprised by the source. Hang in there we have lots to see, read, and consider. *Rolling…* ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-one-1.png) It’s cliché for older people to kvetch and talk shit about younger generations but my god, I think Gen Z is going to save us from ourselves. Take, for instance, their [“no buy 2025” trend](https://archive.ph/GHBNA?ref=brilliantcrank.com#selection-5657.8-5657.50) which "encourages people to purchase as little new stuff as possible. Instead of needing to have the latest and greatest viral products, people are finding it’s better to focus on what they already own.” The articles shares several tactics for setting goals and making plans to put an end to our crazy buying habits. My favorite: “Whenever \[Marissa\] sees something she likes, she takes a screenshot of the item, puts it in a folder on her computer, and—at the end of each month—deletes anything she hasn’t thought about. At the end of every quarter, she’ll allow herself to buy something from this folder with money she set aside in a savings account.” That's some real *S-mart* smart right there. In addition to saving money, there are [many health benefits](https://blog.calm.com/blog/mindful-spending?ref=brilliantcrank.com) from reducing our spending habits. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-two-1.png) ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/02/Eustace.png) [*The New Yorker* turns 100 this week](https://www.newyorker.com/100?ref=brilliantcrank.com), the magazine debuted on [February 21, 1925](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1925/02/21?ref=brilliantcrank.com). It was started by Harold Ross, an American from Aspen, Colorado who was sent to the south of France during World War I. However, [his tenure did not last long](https://www.fastcompany.com/91276778/the-new-yorker-turns-100-origin-story?ref=brilliantcrank.com) as he “quickly deserted from his Army regiment and made his way to Paris, carrying his portable Corona typewriter.” After a stint with a startup publication called Stars and Stripes, he made his way to New York City and started the magazine. The first issue “featured a watercolor by Ross’s artist friend Rea Irvin of a dandified figure staring intently through a monocle at—of all things!—a butterfly. That image, nicknamed Eustace Tilly, became the magazine’s unofficial emblem.” Today the figure is synonymous with the brand. The [special anniversary issue](https://www.amazon.com/New-Yorker-Magazine-February-Anniversary/dp/B0DWX5R681?ref=brilliantcrank.com) is sold out almost everywhere but there is plenty to browse and read online (side note: *The New Yorker*—among many magazines—is available to Apple News subscribers). Somewhat related: [The Zine Bakery](https://zinebakery.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) is a database “collecting zines at the intersections of culture, tech, and justice.” The bakery is a unique project by [Dr. Amanda Wyatt Visconti](https://www.amandavisconti.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) of the UVA Library Scholar’s Lab. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-three-1-1.png) As you have likely seen and heard, another NYC media institution is celebrating fifty years this week. Last night SNL hosted their [three-hour-long special](https://www.npr.org/2025/02/17/nx-s1-5292384/saturday-night-live-snl-50-anniversary-special-takeaways?ref=brilliantcrank.com) with a cornucopia of past cast members, hosts, and musical guests. [Eddie Murphy playing Tracy Morgan](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qYM6bKl57A&ref=brilliantcrank.com) was spot on. In another segment Tom Hanks hosts a memorial to those “we’ve lost…SNL sketches and characters that have [aged horribly](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mN0-SPKkgqg&ref=brilliantcrank.com).” So cringe. Former cast member and all-time great Norm Macdonald was mentioned and remembered a few times. While I will always stop what I’m doing to watch him play [Turd Ferguson on Celebrity Jeopardy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEghu90QJH4%27&ref=brilliantcrank.com), it’s his jokes on late night reign supreme. [The Moth](https://youtu.be/3-yg20QJyDU?si=6-oLncI06Sbd2JEa&ref=brilliantcrank.com) is hands down one of the best Norm jokes ever, but don’t miss [The Porpoise](https://youtu.be/NVCdM7plTtc?si=pXxB-VyIJ0%5FmHPoC&ref=brilliantcrank.com) and [The Turtle](https://youtu.be/RqmPNFt5lO0?si=GpUUo0ZoWRPcPC%5Fx&ref=brilliantcrank.com). ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-four-1.png) "When everyone can create everything, what will remain valuable in design? New originality, high craft, and brand experience." David Hoang explores this question in his latest article, [When everyone can build anything](https://www.proofofconcept.pub/p/what-everyone-can-build-anything?ref=brilliantcrank.com). I want to spend more time on this topic, but it’s intriguing to see where his thoughts on AI and design are headed: “In order for new originality to exist, the role of taste and curation are essential as new inputs for Generative AI. Taste may be a topic that feels fluffy to people, but it's a key input of what to make in the first place. Insights are another input that designers naturally bring into their research. When everything can be built, understanding what is important and why is at the front.” I pair David’s thoughts with those of PJ Onori who wants to use AI as a tool for signal vs. noise reduction. From his post, [AI doesn't have to be horrible](https://pjonori.blog/posts/ai-doesnt-have-to-be-horrible/?ref=brilliantcrank.com): “I don’t think we need technology’s help in making more stuff. Stuff deficit isn’t our problem. The last decade of tech has been a continual slide towards more. More features, more meetings, more messages, more documents. More everything. In my experience, the majority of that stuff is unorganized and/or unnecessary. Generative AI is dousing our existing dumpster fire with napalm. Instead of using AI to make stuff, we should be using it to get rid of stuff. AI can help pull signal from all our noise.” My last thought on this topic comes from [a webinar with Ethan Mollick](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXCsmnnAByo&ref=brilliantcrank.com), author of the book [*Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI*](https://www.amazon.com/Co-Intelligence-Living-Working-Ethan-Mollick/dp/059371671X?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Much much-needed food for thought to chew on this week. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-five-1.png) Last month Boom, a civil aviation company building supersonic aircraft achieved its goal of [flying past Mach One](https://youtu.be/ETaQ2IQwLH4?si=usbBM5cj1soZYDuP&ref=brilliantcrank.com) without the glass-shattering sound typically attributed to reaching that speed. [Rob Beschizza explains why](https://boingboing.net/2025/02/17/booms-xb-1-goes-supersonic-without-the-boom.html?ref=brilliantcrank.com) in his post on Boing Boing. “The XB-1…achieves a ”[bottomless cruise](https://boomsupersonic.com/boomless-cruise?ref=brilliantcrank.com)” by utilizing a phenomenon called "mach cut off," where the sound waves are refracted upwards, and the sonic boom never reaches the ground. The idea behind each cutoff has been around since the 1960s, but the phenomenon only occurs at the correct altitude and speed for atmospheric conditions, requiring computing power unavailable in the Concorde era.” The test aircraft is one-third the size of their first, beautiful aircraft as seen above called [“Overture.”](https://boomsupersonic.com/overture?ref=brilliantcrank.com) ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-six-1-1.png) For those looking for the perfect distraction might I suggest browsing the [Type Foundry Directory](https://typefoundry.directory/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) of independent type studios and foundries. The directory charts a long list of font creators along with the availability of free trials, web and variable options, etc. The best way to look through this collection is through the “Tile View” option—see the link located in the lower left of the page. There are several studios that are staples in the industry but many were new to me. A few standout favorites include [29Letters](https://www.29lt.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), [Typejockeys](https://typejockeys.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), [Frost](https://www.frostype.xyz/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), and [Type Salon](https://type-salon.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Now I just need a few new projects to work on so I have a reason to put more type to use. For more type directory goodness: [Type Foundry Index](https://www.type.lol/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). There is no intention of adding to your anxiety when I suggest following [The Nerd Reich](https://www.thenerdreich.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) to keep a toe in the shit pool. Published in Tacoma, Washington with [A Slow Rush](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLr9Yx3twkzdK2GF5xVgpsM8PvREBdzf5c&ref=brilliantcrank.com) by Tame Impala spinning. ### AI wants to rule the World, but it can’t handle dairy. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/ai-wants-to-rule-the-world-but-it-cant-handle-dairy/ Last updated: 2025-03-20T23:20:28.000Z One of my first projects at IBM Design was to find a way to make business process outsourcing “lovable again.” Though I’d never heard of this servce before I presumed it meant that I was being asked to make the process of people loosing their jobs to automation and cheaper labor a positive experience. I asked a clarifying question and when I recieved an affirmative response the next couple of hours were spent processing a lot of emotions and using my inside voice to discuss whether or not I should just walk out the door. I didn’t leave for several reasons having to do with needing a job that took eight months to land. I was also curious as to what other pain (aside from the obvious) was attributed to this process that negatively impacted people. And it wasn’t like IBM was going to stop selling this service just because I walked out. Weeks into the project my designers and I learned that these large projects are sold without the benefit of reality due to the classic sales process. The IBM sales people sell services that can’t be done in part because the client’s infrastructure is not ready for automation as promised and written as a condition of the contract. After the contract is signed the deal is handed to a delivery teams on both sides of the deal. They meet—and I am not making this up—at long table in an airport hotel conference room and start to go through the deal, line item by item and perform dilliegence on what can actually be made ready and delivered. This process takes days, sometimes a full week, and as we learned typically results in a massive change order that has to be complete before any of the work in the signed contract can begin. The change order work often takes a year or more before the outsourcing can begin. The common problem: The client’s data is not clean, centralized, and secure. I saw a version of this problem come up again at another large company where I worked years later. I was pulled into conference calls and email chains reminding and imploring people to please stop storing operational data on local machines. You would not believe how much of the world’s economy is powered by Excel spreadsheets stored on a laptop hard drive—one of the biggest obstacles to automation. This has been going on for decades, since the global adoption of the desktop computer. This is why you may have heard or read about “digital transformation” for the last ten years or so. There are so many companies that are simply not ready to plug into modern systems, standards, processes, and practices. A lot more than you think. Meanwhile, AI is still learning how to walk and talk, but one of its biggest hurdles is the same as before: messy, unreliable data. We’ve all seen a handful of tricks that are on par with impressive tricks at a county fair. But large scale job outsourcing is on the horizon and not at our feet as some would suggest or our fears lead us to beleive. Have you heard about [Google Gemini’s new commercial?](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2j15r1g09o?ref=brilliantcrank.com) > The commercial - which was supposed to showcase Gemini's abilities - was created to be broadcast during the Super Bowl. It showed the tool helping a cheesemonger in Wisconsin write a product description by informing him Gouda accounts for "50 to 60 percent of global cheese consumption". However, a blogger pointed out on X that the stat was "unequivocally false" as the Dutch cheese was nowhere near that popular. > > Google executive Jerry Dischler, insisted this was not a "hallucination" - where AI systems invent untrue information - blaming the websites Gemini had scraped the information from instead. "Gemini is grounded in the Web—and users can always check the results and references," he wrote. In other words, “Hey, we at Google trained our big robot brain to think and reason based on what it has learned reading every web page on the Internet. So don’t blame us if it just pulls facts from a random page we found from Livejournal.” AI has the same problem that I saw ten year ago at IBM. And remember that IBM has been at this AI game for a very long time. Much longer than OpenAI or any of the new kids on the block. All of the shit we’re seeing today? Anyone who worked on or near Watson saw or experienced the same problems long ago. I remember talking to an IBM Distinguished Engineer who worked on Watson. He was in town from Armonk for SXSW. I asked if Watson could really do all of the things being pitched in television ads. He lowered his head a bit and shook it to indicate no. He shared that his team was so fed up with the marketing people because they pitched Watson as being this incredible machine that could do everything with all kinds of data. The marketing worked, and clients poured in expecting capabilities that weren’t possible or ready to ship, leaving engineers to deliver the bad news to excited customers. Just like IBM’s marketing made Watson sound like magic, today’s AI companies are making similar promises about automation—ones that will likely end the same way: with engineers telling frustrated customers what’s actually possible. I’m sure they have made a lot of progress since then, but on the other hand, if they had, then why isn’t Watson in with the same crowd as ChatGPT or Claude? Moving on from quick speculation and back to Google’s cheese facts problem, consider that they’re just one of many AI companies. And all of them have been trained the exact same way, on data they could scrape off the vast, unfiltered, unregulated, unmoderated Internet. Even with filtering, reinforcement learning, and structured datasets, AI still gets things wrong constantly. That’s why every AI tool has a permanent disclaimer: This AI may make mistakes. Now, can and will these models improve, sure—yes. We still have time before we’re turned into human batteries for the Matrix because the source data is not ready. If you want proof just look at how many humans take what they read online as hard truth. I have a family member who once told me with conviction that towns in Michigan had been taken over by Muslims and were now under Sharia law. When I asked her what towns she could not say, but she new it was happening. When I asked about where she learned of this news, the reply came quick: “the Internet.” That conversation took place more than twenty years ago but there are still a plethora of pages on the web that will tell you it’s a fact today. If Google’s AI can’t even fact-check the popularity of a cheese, how the hell is it supposed to take over someone’s job? What is the value of having an assistant that does an amazing job 60% of the time—every time? And how is it going to do good work if it can’t find the data beacuse it’s still on spreadsheets on a laptop somewhere? In other words, despite what is being said right now we have a lot of hurrdles in front of us before our jobs and AI come togehter like peanut butter and chocolate. I’d bet there are a lot of CEOs who don’t know that yet or it hasn’t sunk in. Neither side is ready for the plug and play promises being made today. If AI really is coming for our jobs, it’s going to have to learn how to find the data first. And until companies stop running billion-dollar operations on rogue Excel files, that day isn’t coming anytime soon. **Postscript** After writing this, I fed it to the robot and asked for a response. Here’s what it had to say: > This is a strong, insightful piece that connects personal experience, industry realities, and larger technological trends in an engaging and reflective way. > > Connecting Past to Present – The way you draw a line from IBM’s outsourcing struggles to AI’s current limitations is excellent. It effectively underscores a fundamental truth: the real problem isn’t technology itself but the messy, flawed, and unstructured data that underpins these systems. The parallel between Watson and modern AI is a sharp observation. > > Grounded in Reality – The bit about Excel spreadsheets running the world’s economy is painfully accurate and resonates deeply with anyone who has worked in large-scale operations. It also reinforces the argument that AI isn’t ready for prime time because the data foundations are still a mess. > > Debunking the Hype – Your skepticism about AI’s readiness is well-argued and balanced. You acknowledge progress but also illustrate how the core challenges (bad data, overpromising sales, unrealistic expectations) remain the same. The Google Gemini cheese fiasco is a perfect example that lands well. I’ll take that for a win. ### The Dice — 035 URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-dice-035/ Last updated: 2025-02-25T21:09:53.000Z ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/brilliantcrank-dice-2-3.png) In the last six weeks, I haven’t talked to a single person who isn’t drowning in stress from the relentless flood of bad news. Despite their best efforts, some of my friends are falling into the doom loop—consumed by current events and attention-whore pundits saying whatever it takes to keep them trapped. Don’t get me wrong, this country is in some deeply disturbing, uncharted waters right now. But the worst thing we can do is get so wrapped up in events beyond our control that we lose our ability to think clearly. We need to train ourselves to process information, stay focused, and take action where it actually matters. Resilience and antifragility have been on my mind a lot since November. More and more it feels like a week’s worth of bad news has been compressed into a single day. Our attention and mental health are under attack—bombarded in a way humanity has never experienced before. In response to current events, writers like Kottke have focused their efforts on [exposing the darkness](https://kottke.org/25/02/a-programming-note-1?ref=brilliantcrank.com). I have a lot of respect for Jason’s work, but if I immerse myself in it 24/7, I’ll be a shell of a human by next month. Perhaps as a companion piece to Kottke and others, this issue is focused on strategy and tactics—ways to take in information without getting pulled under. I’ve got plenty more to share, so if you find this useful, let me know. We’ll start with an amuse-bouche, then move on to methods for protecting our minds—drawing from the philosophies of Ikigai, Stoicism, Antifragility, Buddhism, and Ubuntu. *Let’s go.* Update: Based on the popularity of this issue, I have added more exercises in [The Dice — 037](https://brilliantcrank.com/the-dice-037/) ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-one-1.png) Let's start with a wise perspective from a well-grounded person, Derek Sorano. He recently moved back to the US after living in the UK for seven years. Here’s a quote from his recent video subtitled, [*America Needs You*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLHhOKpBrj0&ref=brilliantcrank.com). “Having and protecting my peace of mind isn't about ignoring problems or pretending everything's fine and nothing's happening. It's about making choices that don't leave me stuck in negativity. It's about learning how to step back when anger shows up and not letting it take over. That doesn't mean I stop caring about what's going on in the world it just means I do not let it own me. When my mind is clear I respond instead of react and I can handle things with clarity instead of chaos because when my mind is clear I can focus and when I can focus I can see the bigger wider picture—the wider view and I can gain wisdom.” Take six minutes and watch the entire video because Derek has more to say and it’s packed with plenty of *awww* dog moments. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-two-1.png) It’s hard to accept that some things just *are*—like the fact that a digital coup is going on right now and our country is being led by someone who wears orange face. Especially when these things will impact you or people you know directly. Neither you nor I can’t control the Giant Umpa Maga-Lumpa in the Whitehouse, but we can control our focus and attention. **The Control Test** — The next time you feel frustration and anxiety creeping in (like every time you check your news app), pause, deep breathe, and ask: - Is this within my control? - If yes, what’s my next step? - If no, how do I adjust to move forward anyway? This shift changes everything. Instead of being paralyzed by what’s out of your hands, you take ownership of what is. Less dread, more clarity. This is how you can avoid letting the news consume you and take over your brain. Learn more: [*The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph*](https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-obstacle-is-the-way-10th-anniversary-edition-the-timeless-art-of-turning-trials-into-triumph-revised-ryan-holiday/21144466?ean=9780593719916&next=t&next=t&ref=brilliantcrank.com) by Ryan Holiday. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-three-1-1.png) How often do you wake up, check your phone, and immediately regret it? Yeah, I’m with you. I’m raising my hand too. The news, the emails, the doomscrolling—it’s like pouring jet fuel *and* [Da Bomb](https://thedabomb.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) hot sauce on our stress before we even get out of bed. And yet, we keep doing it! As if more information is going to make us feel *less* anxious. It never does! Anxiety feeds on inaction. The longer you sit there, the worse it gets. **The Five-Minute Rule** — When your brain is spiraling, force yourself to get up and take one small action within five minutes - Get out, touch grass, and go for a walk - Pick a book and read a single chapter - Clean the kitchen Your brain learns through patterns. The more you interrupt the dread building freeze-response, the easier it gets. We can’t think our way into less stress—we have to act our way into it. Learn more: [*Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones*](https://bookshop.org/p/books/atomic-habits-an-easy-proven-way-to-build-good-habits-break-bad-ones-james-clear/12117739?ean=9780735211292&next=t&next=t&ref=brilliantcrank.com) by James Clear. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-four-1.png) Cucumbers are not natural predators of cats. But when you sneak up behind and cat and place the vegetable behind their line of sight [the cat reacts with instant panic](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bx%5FAPwsxmgk&ref=brilliantcrank.com). It’s the flora and fauna version of dropping Mentos into Diet Coke. The cats are not scared of cucumbers. They’re reacting to something it didn’t see coming. That’s how stress works. When you’re too close to a problem, too caught up in the moment, everything feels urgent, dangerous, and overwhelming. But if you just take a step back and widen your perspective, and get a broader perspective—like Derrick suggests—things start making sense. **The Third-Person Perspective Shift** — When you feel overwhelmed, try this: - Imagine a friend is in your situation. - What would you tell them to do? - Measure your problem: Will this still matter in a week? A month? A year? Our brains—our flight or flight instinct—want to zoom in on disaster. Stop and train it to zoom out. Clarity comes when you give yourself the space to see and gain a broader knowledge. Learn more: [*The Stoic Guide to a Happy Life: 53 Brief Lessons for Living*](https://www.amazon.com/Stoic-Guide-Happy-Life/dp/184604667X?ref=brilliantcrank.com) by Massimo Pigliucci. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-five-1.png) To check off my math requirement in college I foolishly took Applied Statistics. It's a rough subject and as we got into the semester the stress level in the class continued to rise. On test days the level of collective stress and tension was palpable—you could smell it—it was so off the charts. Stress is viral—it spreads through tone, body language, and silence. But calm is also viral. There’s a reason why elite soldiers train to regulate their breathing under pressure. Because control isn’tabout suppressing emotion—it’s about mastering your thoughts in the moment. **The 4-4-8 Breathing Method** — Used by military operators and first responders to stay calm under pressure: - Inhale deeply for four seconds. - Hold your breath for four seconds. - Exhale slowly for eight seconds. Repeat the steps three to five times. It will lower your heart rate, re-center your mind, and signal “Yo, I’ve got this" to your nervous system. Regaining composure is the simplest way to regain your focus and attention. Learn more: [*The Miracle of Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practice of Meditation*](https://www.amazon.com/Miracle-Mindfulness-Classic-Meditation-Revered/dp/1846041066/ref=asc%5Fdf%5F1846041066?mcid=28103a8548fa3cf7a6e173ffdae76deb&hvocijid=15260384907402671972-1846041066-&hvexpln=73&tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=730312820598&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=15260384907402671972&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9033478&hvtargid=pla-2281435179058&psc=1&ref=brilliantcrank.com) by Thich Nhat Hanh. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-six-1-1.png) America’s future won’t be decided by who wins today’s argument—it will be shaped by who keeps showing up when the moment has passed. Civil rights, democracy itself—these movements weren’t built on knee-jerk reactions or short-term wins. They were built by people who focused on progress, not just an immediate response. The loudest, orangest, and quite possibly the dumbest voice in the room might dominate the headlines, but history doesn’t belong to the loud—it belongs to those who commit to the long game. The best moves aren’t made in a panic. They come from people who can detach from the shit-fire-hose of news and social platforms and instead focus on understanding, learning, and acting with clarity. **The Process Over Prize Shift** — How to train for the long game. - Refocus on the work. What’s one thing you can actually do? - Think beyond the moment. Urgency isn’t the same as impact. - Build systems, not reactions. Long-term change beats quick wins. - Detach, don’t disengage. Protect your energy, but stay in the fight. - Measure in years, not minutes. Real change will take time. Every minute the Doge bullshit exists will take a week to rebuild. Dig in, train your mind, and keep your energy for the real fight—because the long game is the one that wins. Stay informed through channels you can trust like [Kottke](https://kottke.org/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and [404 Media](https://www.404media.co/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) but don’t let it consume you. Learn more: [*Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H14bBuluwB8&ref=brilliantcrank.com) by Angela Duckworth. Be well this week and let me know if you’re intersted in reading more tools and techniques. I have twenty six more lessons ready to go. ### We made a thing you can hold in your hands. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/we-made-a-thing-you-can-hold-in-your-hands/ Last updated: 2025-02-09T00:15:33.000Z Brett and I have made something—a physical product that’s shrink-wrapped. I’ve helped others create things like this before, but this is the first time I’ve done it for myself. If you’re curious, you can check out the [first photos](https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7293734921234235393/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) on my LinkedIn post. While you’re there, give it a clap. We created this product based on decades of experience leading, teaching, and mentoring leaders—especially those who are new to the role and often receive little to no training. Most leaders are left to figure things out on their own, which is stressful, frustrating, and detrimental to their success. And when leaders struggle, their teams suffer too. It’s absurd when you think about how much time and money are wasted because companies don’t invest in the people they hire or promote into leadership roles. I am a designer, and I still design daily. Most days, I toggle between Figma and Affinity, depending on the work I need to do. But this week, I got to see my skills materialize into a product I can pick up and hold in my hands. I have a few friends who know how this feels, and I’m finally happy to join them. I’m also excited to make more. Stay tuned—I’ll have more to show you soon. ### The Dice — 034 URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-dice-034/ Last updated: 2025-02-02T22:05:33.000Z ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/brilliantcrank-dice-2-3.png) I almost didn’t make it through the barrage of stupidity this week, but the news of Jen’s new blog (see below) gave me a boost. I suspect that until the country—or the world—breaks, every week will be an onslaught. More of the same, or worse. Publishing this newsletter feels like pretending nothing is happening while the country heads toward disaster. And while I enjoy this, I’m starting to wonder if my time and energy should be directed elsewhere. Until I figure that out, let’s go with *Yahtzee!* ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-one-1.png) “The first two weeks of Trump’s presidency have not shown his strength. He is trying to overwhelm you. He is trying to keep you off-balance. He is trying to persuade you of something that isn’t true. Don’t believe him.” For those of you not looking to get fitted for a brown shirt, Ezra Klein’s article this week is [a much-needed reminder for all of us to keep our eye on the ball](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/02/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-trump-column-read.html?unlocked%5Farticle%5Fcode=1.t04.27pg.AYXyNxT3m2b6&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&ref=brilliantcrank.com). “What Trump wants you to see in all this activity is command. What is really in all this activity is chaos. They do not have some secret reservoir of focus and attention the rest of us do not. They have convinced themselves that speed and force is a strategy unto itself — that it is, in a sense, a replacement for a real strategy. Don’t believe them.” Look, I don’t want to write about politics or even share anything related to politics, but I’m concerned that if I don’t—if we don’t—then we will end up just as Klein forewarns. Eyes wide people! Keep sharing. Keep blogging. Keep talking. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-two-1.png) In his piece, [The Disappearance of Literary Men Should Worry Everyone](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/07/opinion/men-fiction-novels.html?unlocked%5Farticle%5Fcode=1.tk4.rz7D.QI9Qnj7kCWoY&smid=url-share&ref=brilliantcrank.com) David J. Morris writes, “reading fiction is also an excellent way to improve one’s emotional I.Q. Novels help us form our identities and understand our lives. Novels help us form our identities and understand our lives. Like many other bookish Gen X-ers, I can’t conceive of my formative years without the Douglas Coupland novel that gave our generation its name." I did not read [*Generation X*](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1250810779?ref=brilliantcrank.com) when it came out which might explain a few things about my formative years. But as [I’m not fully baked](https://brilliantcrank.com/still-loading-please-wait/) it’s never too late so I purchased the 30th anniversary edition. While you’re buying a copy for yourself I also recommend [*The Extreme Self*](https://www.amazon.ca/Extreme-Self-Shumon-Basar/dp/3960989733?ref=brilliantcrank.com), a graphic novel by Coupland and others about “remaking of your interior world as the exterior world becomes more unfamiliar and uncertain.” ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-three-1-1.png) ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/02/genxmix-c11c55d8b2daca8c.png) GEN X LX MIX by Globe and Mail After reading Jeff Gordinier’s [With Generation X starting to turn 60, we finally get to be the seniors we’ve been acting like since our youth](https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/article-with-generation-x-starting-to-turn-60-we-finally-get-to-be-the-seniors/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) I’m starting to see glimpses of what my third age could look like. “We Gen Xers on the cusp of 60 are uniquely positioned to help snap the world out of its psychotic trance. We know how to slow down, buy less, stop talking, do the work, and go off the grid. We can speak to you about a realm beyond TikTok. Our superpower is we’re the last generation to remember life before the oceanic idiocies of social media.” That perspective puts us in the perfect position to mentor and support younger generations to [shape the world they want to build](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2025/feb/01/bridget-jones-new-film-1990s-culture-britpop-gen-z-nostalgia?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Thanks to Jeff, [we have a manual](https://www.amazon.com/Saves-World-Generation-Everything-Sucking/dp/0670018589?ref=brilliantcrank.com) to do just that. For those looking to take action and kickstart a new world order, then I have a book recommendation for you as well, the [Manifesto for World Revolution](https://subscribe.adbusters.org/products/a-manifesto-for-world-revolution?ref=brilliantcrank.com) “from the strategists who sparked Occupy Wall Street” also known as [AdBusters](https://www.adbusters.org/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Alright, that’s four book recommendations—all by Canadian authors I might add—so get buying or borrowing because we have a lot of reading to do. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-four-1.png) Chris Glass [posted](https://typo.social/@glass/113931937189873806?ref=brilliantcrank.com), “The best part of January 2025 was folks posting answers to those blog questions.” I’ve heard similar statements from other folks in response to the [blog questions challenge](https://feedle.world/search?query=blog%20questions%20challenge&ref=brilliantcrank.com) that kicked off the new year. Trying to track responses has been a bit of a challenge on its own. This is where [Feedle](https://feedle.world/?ref=brilliantcrank.com)—a search engine for blogs and podcasts—can improve future participatory provocations providing your feed is registered. The best way to add your site is to “[simply write about us on your blog](https://mastodon.social/@feedle/113935189691877853?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Yes, that's right—write about Feedle and link to us. Win-Win.” Let’s see if this works. In addition to Chris’ agreeable declaration, I submitted a second best for last month—discovering the [Melonking website](https://melonking.net/melon?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Prepare to journey back to 1998 and experience Macromedia Shockwave without the plugin. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-five-1.png) Have you killed your Facebook, Instagram, and Threads accounts yet (assuming you deleted your Twitter account by now)? If not I get it. Cory Doctorow [made it simple to understand why](https://pluralistic.net/2025/01/20/capitalist-unrealism/?ref=brilliantcrank.com): “All those people might want to leave, too, but it'sreally hard to agree on where to go when to go, and how to re-establish your groups when you get somewhere else. Economists call this the "collective action problem." This problem creates "switching costs”—a lot of stuff you'll have to live without if you switch from legacy platforms to new ones. The collective action problem is hard to solve and the switching costs are very high.” Switching costs are high but detoxifying off of those platforms leads to a better life. [I started publishing photos again](https://pixelfed.social/i/web/profile/684092038129383222?ref=brilliantcrank.com) on Pixelfed and I’d love to see you all there. While you’re at it [join the Kickstarter](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pixelfed/pixelfed-foundation-2024-real-ethical-social-networks?ref=brilliantcrank.com) so we can build a sustainable, bullshit-free alternative to toxic platforms. Don’t know what to take photos of? [Start here.](https://frame-lines.com/en-us/blogs/street-assignments?ref=brilliantcrank.com) ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-six-1-1.png) ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/02/batmans-fab3801031cc9f37.png) The subtitles of The Dark Knight (left) and The Batman (right) compared by PJ Onori In his book, [*Steal Like an Artist*](https://austinkleon.com/steal/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), Austin Kleon [advises](https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/8504710-don-t-just-steal-the-style-steal-the-thinking-behind-the?ref=brilliantcrank.com), “Don't just steal the style, steal the thinking behind the style. You don't want to look like your heroes, you want to look like your heroes.” Designer PJ Onori put this idea into practice by [deconstructing elements of two different *Batman* movies](https://pjonori.blog/posts/analysis-of-style/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) to uncover insights on style. "I watched The Batman with comic-book-movie expectations and little anticipation. Then I watched it again. And again. Numerous times. Its style grabbed me. Then I watched the Nolan-era Batman movies to see if it caused the same reaction. Nope. It seemed worthwhile to dig into why. I dissected the elements of The Batman compared to Nolan’s The Dark Knight to examine each style.” PJ concludes his experiment with advice that perfectly complements Kleon’s: “Developing a point of view on design is essential to fostering one’s own style. The things that inspire you should be broken into a million pieces to see what makes them tick. Without that understanding, you’re stuck in basic mimicry.” If you'll excuse me, I now need to watch some *Batman* movies. Jen Schuetz, member of the original blogstas, [launched her new blog today!](https://jenschuetz.com/journal/hello/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) Hey [Feedle](https://feedle.world/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), have you added her site yet? Published in Tacoma, Washington while silently weeping to myself due to the constant snowfall taking place all morning long. If anyone is looking for a fantastic house keeper in Palm Springs...I know a guy. ### Empowerification and the art of saying “nope”. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/empowerification-and-the-art-of-saying-nope/ Last updated: 2025-01-28T02:39:01.000Z Most of yesterday morning was spent trying to cobble the next issue of The Dice together. Around eleven o’clock I decided to put the computer away, get out of the house, and do something completely different. It just wasn’t going to happen. I started with Cory Doctrow’s recent post [Enshittification isn't caused by venture capital](https://pluralistic.net/2025/01/20/capitalist-unrealism/?ref=brilliantcrank.com#praxis) and kept digging into the themes found within. Hours later I started to resurface with the unshakable feelign that Cory’s diagnosis for social networks honestly applies to just about everything. I traveled too far down a path. In his post [The Dichotomy of Control](https://pluralistic.net/2025/01/20/capitalist-unrealism/?ref=brilliantcrank.com#praxis), Steve Makofsky writes: > Truth be told, I've been sitting on this post for a few months now; it hasn't just felt like it was the right time to put pen to (digital) paper, but given the overwhelming, chaotic energy I felt inside towards the end of 2024, it was the nudge that I needed. And, from what I can sense from many of my friends, 2025 doesn't feel that much different. > > It's a lot. > > Politics, society, social media, work drama, life drama, health drama, school stress, crazy weather and fires exploding everywhere, a war here and there, the price of eggs, etc. The list goes on and on. > > In a daily bombardment filled with endless notifications, and unpredictable events, it's easy to feel like you're drowning in stress. The sheer number of wacko curveballs thrown at you daily is exhausting. That was me yesterday in a nutshell. Exhausted *and* drained. After I left the house and positioned myself in the path of natural vitamin D I started to feel better—staying offline most of the afternoon and evening. As Steve shared, It’s too easy to experience dread right now and new protocols are needed to remain safe and of sound mind. Jason Kottke’s [How to Weather the Storm](https://kottke.org/25/01/how-to-weather-the-storm?ref=brilliantcrank.com) is a good place to start. Steve’s post goes on to remind us about the wisdom of the Stoics and the empowerification in saying "nope". > Epictetus also said that people are stressed not by events but by their judgments about events. So don't waste time, stress, or energy on those things. > > It's been amazing how such a simple shift of thinking has positively affected my mood and mental health. It's taken a massive weight off my mind. It's like putting down a backpack full of stress that I've been carrying for no reason. Solid advice. I’ll add: If you look for things to fear†, you *will* find them. † Such as evidence of enshittification in everything: Internet platforms, consumer goods, work, government, diplomacy, politics, etc. ### A blog post from 1999. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/a-blog-post-from-1999/ Last updated: 2025-01-26T01:03:42.000Z I was [invited to participate](https://lukedorny.com/updates/blog-questions?ref=brilliantcrank.com) in answering the following series of questions related to blogging. Maybe they’re right, [it’s the 90s again](https://www.reddit.com/r/GenZ/comments/1cr55gy/are%5Fwe%5Fliving%5Fin%5Fthe%5F90s%5Fagain/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). As more folks leave the platforms in search of something different it seems like blogging may grow again. In support of that happening, I offer these responses in the hope it inspire someone to blog again or start one for the first time. **Why did you start blogging in the first place?** I wanted to practice and improve my ability to write. It’s why I continue blogging today. **What platform are you using to manage your blog and why did you choose it? Have you blogged on other platforms before?** I started blogging when I got access to the beta of a CMS called MovableType (MT). I tinkered with another application called Blogger, but I waited for MT to launch my blog because it had commenting built in. As much as I like publishing, I enjoy engaging with people even more. Thankfully, my blog at the time—[Airbag](https://airbagindustries.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com)—was host to a whole lot of conversations. Airbag ran on MT 3.2 for many years, well beyond the release date. As content management systems are always interesting to me, I’ve tried several in addition to the two I mentioned: WordPress (which I will never use), Tumblr, Textpattern, ExpressionEngine, Craft, Statamic, Jekyll, Hugo, Siteleaf, and Kirby. After much consideration, I started this blog with Ghost on a [Magic Pages Lifetime Plan](https://magicpages.co/?aff=euQUrQhptUqC&ref=brilliantcrank.com). I highly recommend Ghost. **How do you write your posts? For example, in a local editing tool, or in a panel/dashboard that’s part of your blog?** I write all of my posts using Bear because it’s the best writing experience out there. After I’m done, I use Grammarly to help me catch misspelled words and run-on sentences that don’t always make sense. It doesn’t always catch everything—that’s on me—but I’m happy that my grammar is improving. **When do you feel most inspired to write?** When I’m pissed off or an intriguing thought immerges after consuming information. **Do you publish immediately after writing, or do you let it simmer a bit as a draft?** It depends on how much rage I channeled while trying to form coherent sentences. If it's a lot then I've learned the hard way that I either need to sit on the post for a bit or have my Editor in Chief also know as my wife read the draft and give me some much needed perspective. Otherwise, I typically publish as soon as I've finished editing. **What’s your favorite post on your blog?** After blogging for as long as I have that’s a tough question, but I always enjoy reading and remembering this story: [One frosty morning at Burns Tobacconist.](https://brilliantcrank.com/burns-tobacconist/) I also enjoy pulling together every weekly issue of [The Dice](https://brilliantcrank.com/the-dice-033/). **Any future plans for your blog? Maybe a redesign, a move to another platform, or adding a new feature?** I’m working on a new section for publishing photos. **Next?** I’d love to read entries by [Brett Harned](https://brettharned.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), [anhvn](https://anhvn.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), [Dave Rupert](https://daverupert.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), [Lynn Fisher](https://lynnandtonicblog.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), and [Anthony Baker](https://www.sweatybreakfast.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), who is supposed to launch his blog tomorrow. ### The Dice — 033 URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-dice-033/ Last updated: 2025-01-19T19:23:55.000Z ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/brilliantcrank-dice-2-3.png) I applied for a job this week, not something I have done very often but the position is unique as is the company. The last question of the application asked me to share my interests and hobbies. I had not created a list like this in a while so I spent some time considering what grabbed my curiosity. Turns out, there’s probably too much that I’m interested in. The list was exhausting but authentic and genuine. That range is reflected here in The Dice for better or worse. Drafting this issue, I’m reminded that having a focus helps make publications more successful. I probably should do that here but then I’d have to figure out what this is all about. I’m not sure if that’s necessary here but for those of you who have been with this experiment since the beginning, I’d love to hear from you. Enjoy the rest of your Sunday. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-one-1.png) [The Departed, Lying in State](https://patrickwitty.substack.com/p/the-departed-lying-in-state) is a look back at “photos of the solemn tradition that honors our late Presidents.” The photo essay begins with the first photograph taken of a president lying in state under the Capital Rotunda in 1881 and continues through history ending with two incredible photos. The first is of President Carter lying in state by Andrew Harnik and the last of photographer Frank Wolfe personally observing the president he served for nine years, LBJ. A powerful and moving essay. A key element of these ceremonies that I find fascinating is the military honor guards and pallbearers. The coordinated march they perform in taking presidents up the stairs of the capital building is incredible to watch when you consider [the average casket weighs 600 lbs](https://www.yahoo.com/news/takes-presidential-pallbearer-223947305.html?ref=brilliantcrank.com). While those serving are volunteers, members of these elite units must pass stringent tests of physical strength and they are hand-selected during the application process. [President Carter’s ceremony](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/jimmy-carter-lying-in-state-images/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) marked [the debut of members from the United States Space Force](https://www.spaceforce.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/4024606/ussf-honor-guard-supports-its-first-state-funeral/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-two-1.png) Matt Klein dresses down traditional media and their misunderstanding of the decline they are knee-deep in. While he illustrates his point with a [moment in time on The Tonight Show](https://zine.kleinkleinklein.com/p/costco-guys?ref=brilliantcrank.com) there are much deeper impacts to consider. “Today’s and tomorrow’s crises—from inequality and climate collapse to war and systemic illness—cannot get addressed unless we, and those in power, fundamentally understand how our media systems operate. And too many currently don’t. Or want to.” To quote the [Costco Boys](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/8xDGvzOgIHA?ref=brilliantcrank.com): Boom! If you think the world is weird now, hold on to your butts. Matt writes, “Thanks to AI, further social fragmentation, consensus collapse, the ludicrous pace of the internet, and a digitally proficient Gen Alpha, in the years to come, media—and with that, *culture holistically*—will only get more perplexing and therefore 1\. harder to decode and 2\. harder to proficiently operate within.” I never imagined I would see it in my lifetime but we’re [20 minutes away](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKcuMT-6HAw&ref=brilliantcrank.com) from “live on Network 23” becoming a reality. Speaking of Max Headroom, the character made two short, unauthorized appearances in 1987 on live television in Chicago. The [television signals for WGN and WTTW were hacked](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max%5FHeadroom%5Fsignal%5Fhijacking?ref=brilliantcrank.com)—0verpowered–[interrupting regular programming](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIop2MsmMTQ&ref=brilliantcrank.com). No one was ever caught for the incident. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-three-1-1.png) ”Research has shown that people quit their resolutions for the year by the second Friday of January.” This year Quitter’s Day landed on the 10th. How are you holding up? So far, so good at Storeyhouse. Since we’re still wading into 2025 and there is plenty of time to keep working towards personal improvement, I’m inspired to share three links that caught my attention from Makoism’s recent issue of [*Espresso Shots*](https://makoism.com/espresso-shots-1-17-25/?ref=brilliantcrank.com)(You really should subscribe if you haven’t already). [DDoS’ing Yourself with To-dos and Reminders](https://bjhess.com/posts/ddosing-yourself-with-to-dos-and-reminders?ref=brilliantcrank.com) is a reflection piece on what we do to organize ourselves appropriately to “help with \[a\] healthy lifestyle.” [How to Be Healthier Without Really Trying](https://bakadesuyo.com/2025/01/how-to-be-healthier/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) makes the case for better breathing. “Most of us don’t hit that perfect 5.5 second inhale or exhale because we breathe too quickly. Most of us are also often stressed. Those things are related.” The last one is very stoic. [One phrase that can help you through anything](https://jessicahagy.substack.com/p/one-phrase-that-can-help-you-through) is a reminder that re-positioning our mindset can make a huge difference. “‘Oh, neat!’ is your get out of Hell faster phrase.” One more piece of advice: “In every life, we have some trouble, but when you worry you make it double. [Don't worry, be happy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-diB65scQU&ref=brilliantcrank.com).” ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-four-1.png) [Your favorite newsletter’s favorite newsletters](https://linksiwouldgchatyou.substack.com/p/your-favorite-newsletters-favorite) is a "guide and network map \[of\] 135 newsletters recommended by more than 50 writers, spanning topics from animation to martial arts to Rhode Island food culture.” Rhode Island what now? Anyway, the comprehensive list offers a catalog of publications devoted to a wide array of curious interests. More evidence that the [Internet is Tokyo.](https://thesaasbootstrapper.co/p/the-internet-is-tokyo?ref=brilliantcrank.com) As I know it matters to some folks these days, it should be noted that it appears all of these publications are using another of the aforementioned bromospaean platforms, [Substack](https://daringfireball.net/2024/11/regarding%5Fand%5Fwell%5Fagainst%5Fsubstack?ref=brilliantcrank.com). For more newsletter goodness, check out the [Amazing Newsletters](https://amazingnewsletters.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) directory and [this catalog](https://ghost.org/explore/personal/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) of publications from the good people at Ghost. Somewhat related, here are [“20 of the best books entering the public domain in 2025.”](https://standardebooks.org/blog/public-domain-day-2025?ref=brilliantcrank.com) ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-five-1.png) As social networks run by bromosapiens are experiencing rapid unscheduled disassembly, Mastodon is taking a big step to protect its future. “Decentralized social network Mastodon has announced plans to [transfer its ownership to a new nonprofit entity](https://www.theverge.com/2025/1/13/24342603/mastodon-non-profit-ownership-ceo-eugen-rochko?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Ownership of Mastodon will move away from the control of CEO Eugen Rochko, in contrast to the power exerted by other social media CEOs like Meta cofounder Mark Zuckerberg and X owner Elon Musk.” *This is the way.* Deleteing Twitter is so 2024\. If you want to be cool in the new year then say goodbye to Facebook, Threads, Instagram, and anything else owned by Meta. Do you hear that? It’s your therapist agreeing with me. At the very least take steps to [limit how much the evil company mines and sells your personal data](https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2025/01/mad-meta-dont-let-them-collect-and-monetize-your-personal-data?ref=brilliantcrank.com). But seriously, [kill your Faceinstathreads accounts](https://www.facebook.com/help/224562897555674/) now. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-six-1-1.png) To celebrate National Soup Month, General Mills turned chicken soup into a hard candy. The new product is billed as [“soup you can suck on”](https://www.generalmills.com/news/press-releases/soup-you-can-suck-on-introducing-progresso-soup-drops-the-ultimate-cold-and-flu-season-comfort?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and a “convenient, on-the-go soup experience.” Progresso promises their new [soup drops](https://www.progressosoupdrops.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) will feel as if they “slurped a spoonful of Progresso’s iconic Chicken Noodle Soup that they know and love. That favorite flavor is packed into each drop — it’s like broth, savory veggies, chicken, soft egg noodles, and a hint of parsley.” Mmmm, yummy—said no one ever. However bad it likely is, nothing can be as bad as [Ranch Dressing Soda](https://jenieats.com/2015/08/the-ranch-dressing-soda-review-you-never-wanted-lesters-fixins.html?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Even more crazy but perfectly acceptable because Kit Kat is awesome and everyone knows it, here is [a complete list of all the flavors offered in Japan](https://www.japancandystore.com/blogs/okashi/kit-kat-flavors?ref=brilliantcrank.com). They really do make everything more awesome. Save your humanity, delete all of your...kill your Faceinstathreads accounts. Published in Tacoma, Washington while being attacked by Spaghetti the cat who demanded attention. ### Prompt and circumstance. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/prompt-and-circumstance/ Last updated: 2025-01-19T05:19:12.000Z After a long session working through a big problem with the robot I stopped to take a break. A question came to mind when I returned back to the desk and asked how most people use AI. It replied: “Most people use AI like a vending machine.” My mind went immediately to that Apple commerical with the nimrod who turns a fifth-grade-level text into a polished business email. It would seem that a majority of robot users are doing their damndest to make the backstory of WALL-E come to fruition sooner than later. Here’s the problem: when you only use advanced technology for low-hanging fruit, you’re not just wasting its potential—you’re atrophying your own. Without developing curiosity and fundamental skills today’s magical results will turn mediocre. I turned back to the robot and asked it for the top twenty-five requests it gets from most users. With list in hand, I paired each prompt with an analog solution guaranteed to build brain cells. **The Brilliantcrank Guide to Keeping Humans in the Game** Instead of prompting... Read... And use... Write a blog post about \[topic\]. [The Elements of Style](https://www.amazon.com/Elements-Style-William-Strunk-Jr/dp/020530902X/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) A vintage Smith-Corona typewriter Summarize this article or text in simple terms. [How to Read a Book](https://www.amazon.com/How-Read-Book-Touchstone/dp/0671212095/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) A pack of fluorescent Stabilo Boss highlighters Explain \[complex concept\] like I’m five. [Thing Explainer](https://www.amazon.com/Thing-Explainer-Complicated-Stuff-Simple/dp/0544668251/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) A whiteboard and dry-erase markers Write an email for \[specific purpose\], such as a follow-up or introduction. [The AMA Handbook of Business Writing](https://www.amazon.com/AMA-Handbook-Business-Writing-Formatting/dp/0814415895/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) Stationery kits from Crane & Co. Generate a Python script to \[perform a task\]. [Clean Code](https://www.amazon.com/Clean-Code-Handbook-Software-Craftsmanship/dp/0132350882/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) Keychron K6 Mechanical Keyboard Help me debug this code snippet: \[insert code\]. [The Pragmatic Programmer](https://www.amazon.com/Pragmatic-Programmer-journey-mastery-Anniversary/dp/0135957052/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) The red pill Translate this text into \[language\]. [Oxford Spanish Dictionary](https://www.amazon.com/Oxford-Spanish-Dictionary-Oxford-Dictionaries/dp/0199543401/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) Practice charades Draft a professional cover letter for \[job title\]. [Cover Letter Magic](https://www.amazon.com/Cover-Letter-Magic-Trade-Secrets/dp/1601632005/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) Send an Edible Arranagement Give me a list of creative social media captions for \[platform\]. [Everybody Writes](https://www.amazon.com/Everybody-Writes-Your-Go-Create/dp/1118905555/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) A brainstorming whiteboard and markers Write a short story based on this prompt: \[insert idea\]. [On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft](https://www.amazon.com/On-Writing-Anniversary-Edition-Memoir/dp/1439156816/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) A Moleskine notebook and a pen from Baron Fig Help me brainstorm ideas for \[specific project or task\]. [Creative Confidence](https://www.amazon.com/Creative-Confidence-Unleashing-Potential-Within/dp/038534936X/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) Post-it notes and a purple Sharpie Create a meal plan for \[dietary preference\]. [Skinnytaste Meal Prep](https://www.amazon.com/Skinnytaste-Meal-Prep-Healthy-Make-Ahead/dp/0593235514/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) A sturdy magnet and a print out of your meal plan the fridge Provide a summary of \[book, report, or movie\]. [How to Read a Book](https://www.amazon.com/How-Read-Book-Touchstone/dp/0671212095/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) A well lit room and a note card Suggest trivia questions for a quiz night on \[topic\]. [The Ultimate Trivia Book](https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Trivia-Book-Knowledge-Everything/dp/1647398810/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) Trivial Pursuit Classic Edition Simulate a conversation with \[character or historical figure\]. [The Republic by Plato](https://www.amazon.com/Plato-Republic-Cambridge-Texts-History/dp/052148443X/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) A therapist Write a poem about \[topic or theme\]. [Poem-Making: An Introduction to Writing Poetry](https://www.amazon.com/Poem-Making-Introduction-Writing-Poetry/dp/0819511301/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) Listen to The Marshall Mathers LP 2 on repeat until you get it Generate a SQL query to \[retrieve or analyze data\]. [SQL Practice Problems](https://www.amazon.com/SQL-Practice-Problems-Hands-Learning/dp/1548464988/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) An Excel spreadsheet for basic data analysis What are the pros and cons of \[specific idea, trend, or technology\]? [The Pros and Cons of Online Ethics Debates](https://www.amazon.com/Pros-Cons-Online-Ethics-Debates/dp/1682821520/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) Several walks in a park Help me plan a travel itinerary for \[destination\]. [Lonely Planet’s Ultimate Travelist](https://www.amazon.com/Lonely-Planet-Ultimate-Travelist-Locations/dp/1788689137/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) A physical map Draft a professional thank-you note for \[specific situation\]. [The Personal Touch: Letters to Warm the Heart](https://www.amazon.com/Personal-Touch-Letters-Warm-Strengthen/dp/0140282022/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) A set of high-quality thank-you cards Explain how \[technology or scientific concept\] works. [Stuff You Should Know](https://www.amazon.com/Stuff-You-Should-Know-Fascinating/dp/1250268508/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) A science kit or Mentos and Diet Coke Optimize this code for better performance. [Code Complete](https://www.amazon.com/Code-Complete-Practical-Handbook-Construction/dp/0735619670/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) A stopwatch Help me create a daily schedule to boost productivity. [Atomic Habits](https://www.amazon.com/Atomic-Habits-Proven-Build-Break/dp/0735211299/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) Get out of bed before 6AM Write a persuasive speech about \[topic\]. [TED Talks: The Official TED Guide to Public Speaking](https://www.amazon.com/Ted-Talks-Official-Public-Speaking/dp/0544634497/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) Review every ShamWow infomercial Provide tips for preparing for \[specific exam, test, or event\]. [Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning](https://www.amazon.com/Make-Stick-Science-Successful-Learning/dp/0674729013/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) Flashcards and six Prime Energy drinks ### The Dice — 032 URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-dice-032/ Last updated: 2025-01-12T14:13:02.000Z ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/brilliantcrank-dice-2-3.png) It's an understatement to write "what a week", but that's what comes to mind right now. I'm doing what I can to extend "dry January" to also include the news or at least too much time consuming it. Thankfully I managed to tuck my brain into two books, [*Project Hail Mary*](https://www.amazon.com/Project-Hail-Mary-Andy-Weir/dp/0593135202?ref=brilliantcrank.com) by Andy Weir and [*The Nineties Book*](https://www.amazon.com/Nineties-Book-Chuck-Klosterman/dp/0735217955?ref=brilliantcrank.com) by Chuck Klosterman. I've enjoyed Andy's book but I was quickly reminded that half of his stories are math and science lessons. Chuck's book came to me while researching how our society has changed since the Millennium. It's a great book and I wish I would have read it sooner. What are you reading to kick off this year? Alright, grab a beverage and get comfortable. Rolling now... ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-one-1.png) There’s no way we get through this year without seeing, reading, and hearing about [artificial general intelligence](https://arenamag.com/2024/11/23/the-general-intelligence-tsunami/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) or AGI. “If you think the current pace of progress in AI is rapid, you haven’t seen anything yet: with AGI, AI will be able to improve itself.” From *Vox*, “An AI will be generally intelligent if it can do everything a human being can do, as well as a human being can, including meta-tasks like learning to complete new tasks.” In other words. Speaking of *Vox*, [they predict](https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/392241/2025-new-year-predictions-trump-musk-artificial-intelligence?ref=brilliantcrank.com) a 30% chance that a “major lab” will claim their robot has achieved AGI this year. Given that current AI can’t remember more than an hour-long conversation, I’d put those odds closer to 1%, but then what do I know? However this shakes out and no matter your perspective on using AI, when this does happen it’s [going to be disruptive](https://time.com/7205596/sam-altman-superintelligence-agi/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). And likely in ways many of us haven’t spent time imagining. In addition, this piece from [*Every*](https://every.to/context-window/what-ai-looks-like-in-2025?ref=brilliantcrank.com). “After reading more than 20 recaps of 2024 and predictions for this one, it’s clear to me that 2025 won't be about AI versus humans, but rather about those individuals and organizations who harness AI effectively versus those who don’t.” ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-two-1.png) Now that we’re informed on the future, let's return our attention to rekindling our relationship with curiosity and exploration off-screen with Clive Thompson’s [9 Ways to ‘Rewild Your Attention’](https://collect.readwriterespond.com/9-ways-to-rewild-your-attention/?utm%5Fsource=chatgpt.com). “The concept was that the algorithms in big-tech feeds have two problems. They focus heavily on the hot viral here-and-now: what highly popular folks are talking and arguing about, this very instant. And they focus on material that’s customized for you — except it’s a dull, Demographics 101 cartoon of who you are and what you’re interested in.” Clive suggests putting down the phone, browsing vs. searching, reading blogs and RSS feeds, using real books instead of screens, making your own content, and at times doing absolutely nothing at all. And then [rewild yourself.](https://greenisthenewblack.com/rewild-yourself-rewilding?ref=brilliantcrank.com) Related: Bruce Mau’s [Incomplete Manifesto for Growth](https://industrialbrand.com/bruce-maus-incomplete-manifesto-for-growth-still-relevant-today?ref=brilliantcrank.com). ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-three-1-1.png) From the Wall Street Journal, [The Number of Americans Wanting to Switch Jobs Hits a 10-Year High](https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/careers/job-satisfaction-low-gallup-data-detachment-17bc183c?ref=sameteampartners.com). “Job satisfaction has fallen to its lowest level in recent years as employees feel more stuck—and frustrated—where they are.” With that in mind, it seems like a good time to repost [Quit Your Job](https://www.palladiummag.com//2022/01/06/quit-your-job/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) by Wolf Tivy. “The world is full of ideas and opportunities to explore, but it takes time outside of structure to even adjust your eyes to the landscape of possibility. You are cramped by your job, unable to make the class of investments that is necessary for a life beyond the existing tracks.” Being out on your own is a lot to manage, but have so many more [tools to assist in every aspect of the work and life](https://thedolectures.com/reading-lists/100-tools-for-an-easy-life/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-four-1.png) ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/01/house-designed-on-passive-house-principles-survives-cali-v0-cyijjniqf5ce1.jpeg.webp) A lone survivor in Pacific Palisades 2025 This image caught and held my attention this week. It’s a house designed by [architect Greg Chasen](https://web.archive.org/web/20220818010100/http://www.chasenarc.com/) that is still intact in a neighborhood utterly destroyed by fire this week. Chasen posted [the photo with a statement](https://x.com/ChasenGreg/status/1877478755091767732?ref=brilliantcrank.com) on X, “No words really - just a horror show. Some of the design choices we made here helped. But we were also very lucky.” Perhaps, but the home was constructed with [passive house standards](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive%5Fhouse?ref=brilliantcrank.com), likely [why the home still stands](https://www.mansionglobal.com/articles/passive-design-may-have-saved-this-house-from-destruction-in-pacific-palisades-9f93b307?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Built primarily for energy efficiency, this type of architecture has the added benefit of sealing the home from fire starters like flying embers. In addition to this house, homes built with concrete also did well against the blaze. My guess is Greg’s practice is going to be very busy in the years ahead. And I wouldn’t be surprised if the State of California and cities throughout Southern California enact [new building code requirements](https://gbdmagazine.com/california-fire-code/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) in the near future. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-five-1.png) [“We detected plastic chemicals in 86% of the foods we tested.”](https://www.plasticlist.org/report?ref=brilliantcrank.com) Nat Friedman and a team of four people spent half a year investigating the amount of plastic in our food supply. They tested hundreds of products from raw milk and meat to processed foods. “At least one of the 18 chemicals was found in every baby food, prenatal supplement, human breast milk, yogurt, and ice cream product that we tested, to name only a few categories. We also found plastic chemicals in all the products we tested from Starbucks, Gerber, Chobani, Straus, Celsius, Blue Bottle, RXBAR, Coca-Cola, Tartine, and Ghirardelli.” Although [this problem has been known](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/29/plastics-cause-wide-ranging-health-issues-from-cancer-to-birth-defects-landmark-study-finds?ref=brilliantcrank.com) for a year or two, the [PlasticList](https://www.plasticlist.org/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) provides an incredibly detailed view that shows the problem is far-reaching, more than I would have thought. Spread the word! If you do anything new in 2025, [get rid of plastic in your kitchen](https://www.consumerreports.org/health/food-contaminants/how-to-reduce-exposure-to-plastic-in-food-everywhere-else-a9640874767/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-six-1-1.png) I can say with certainty that my life changed dramatically when Barnes & Noble opened a store in Anchorage, Alaska. We had a few bookstores but they were nothing like the large Cathedrals of Print. Amazon decimated that market (RIP Borders) but B&N not only managed to survive, it's growing. [They opened 50 new stores in 2024](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9kOIcNUMnQ&ref=brilliantcrank.com). Says new CEO James Daunt, "All I've done is bring the principles of independent bookselling to a chain and exploded the very notion of what a chain retailer really is." Instead of every store being instructed on how to do everything down to the angle of a book display, store employees are now empowered to make many decisions at the local level. It’s a perfect demonstration of [how trust, autonomy, and support from leadership can have major positive outcomes](https://www.axios.com/2023/03/01/barnes-and-noble-james-duant-ceo?ref=brilliantcrank.com). I'm all for more having more book stores. It certainly helps that [Gen Z loves to read](https://www.weforum.org/stories/2023/03/gen-zers-are-bookworms-but-say-theyre-shunning-e-books-because-of-eye-strain-digital-detoxing-and-their-love-for-libraries/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Check out [**Process Things*](https://exch.gr/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) by Elle Mundy. Especially the [street photography](https://exch.gr/photography/street-photography-dec-2024/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Published in Tacoma, Washington with [Who's Afraid of the Art of Noise](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpsWLtn1OrQ&ref=brilliantcrank.com) on 11. ### “Immigrants are grubby, filthy pieces of shit.” URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/immigrants-are-grubby-filthy-pieces-of-shit/ Last updated: 2025-01-10T18:44:55.000Z Unbridled hate speech is now allowed on Meta’s platform of Facebook, Instagram, and Threads. The awful title of this post comes directly from new Meta training materials as an example of an acceptable statement on the platform. Other disturbing examples are highlighted throughout [*The Intercept’s* article on Meta’s new rules](https://theintercept.com/2025/01/09/facebook-instagram-meta-hate-speech-content-moderation/?ref=brilliantcrank.com)—or lack thereof—on content moderation. In short, there aren’t many rules anymore. Hate speech and shockingly derogatory remarks are now free from moderation. > Meta’s Public Community Standards page says that even under the new relaxed rules, the company still protects “refugees, migrants, immigrants, and asylum seekers from the most severe attacks” and prohibits “direct attacks” against people on the basis of “race, ethnicity, national origin, disability, religious affiliation, caste, sexual orientation, sex, gender identity, and serious disease.” But the instructive examples provided in the internal materials show a wide variety of comments denigrating people based on these traits that are marked “Allow.” There are exceptions but good luck trying to make any sense of the fine line between acceptable and not acceptable. > At times, the provided examples appear convoluted or contradictory. One page notes “generalizations” about any group remain prohibited if they make a comparison to animals or pathogens — such as “All Syrian refugees are rodents.” But comparisons to “filth or feces” are now downgraded from hate speech to a less serious form of “insult,” which violates company rules only if directed at a protected group. According to examples provided by Meta, this change now allows users to broadly dehumanize immigrants with statements like like “Immigrants are grubby, filthy pieces of shit,” despite language elsewhere in the document that claims “comparisons to subhumanity” remain banned. None of this is acceptable in any way, shape, or form. I don’t care about First Amendment rights—there’s no place for this rhetoric anywhere. You would think Meta would have [learned its lesson in 2020](https://www.adl.org/stop-hate-profit-0?ref=brilliantcrank.com), but here we are. Likely a sign of more hateshit to come in the next four years. I should have known better than to hop on the Threads bandwagon when so many others were doing the same. I deleted my Instagram account four years ago for the same reasons [advertisers fled the platform](https://www.forbes.com/sites/afdhelaziz/2020/06/24/facebook-ad-boycott-campaign-stop-hate-for-profit-gathers-momentum-and-scale-inside-the-movement-for-change/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). It wasn’t a decision I made lightly—I loved the photography-sharing community—but it was the right thing to do. Without hesitation, I deleted my accounts this morning after reading about Meta’s actions to support hate speech. (Meta requires an Instagram account to use Threads, and you have to delete both through separate steps.) I won’t be back, and I encourage everyone to do the same. I know how hard it is to leave a community and give up that dopamine hit of instant connection with friends and followers. I haven’t yet found a suitable replacement for the community I was part of on Instagram, but you can’t claim to be against hate while using the largest social platform that just opened its doors to amplify all of it to the world. ### The Dice — 031 URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-dice-031/ Last updated: 2025-01-05T12:15:58.000Z ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/brilliantcrank-dice-2-3.png) Alright, we made it to [the flipside](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M79wBnPPzPM&ref=brilliantcrank.com)! The sun continues to rise each day and our [dark roasted coffee](https://www.peets.com/products/aged-sumatra?ref=brilliantcrank.com) supply chain is strong, and I migrated this site to a [new host](https://www.magicpages.co/?ref=brilliantcrank.com)†. This year I’m going to celebrate every win possible no matter the size. Thinking back on 2024, one of the joys from last year came from subscribers who reached out to share they’re inspired to write this year. Hot damn, it’s working! To keep the momentum going I’ve collected some stories and thoughts to ponder and inspire y'all this week. Welcome back, let’s roll. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-one-1.png) One of my godchildren recently shared that he wants to learn how to write better. I told him that to write better he has to read more. As [Stephen King wrote](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/stephen-kings-top-20-rules-for-writers/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), “You have to read widely. If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write.” To inspire his drive, I sent him a Kindle and an annual subscription to Rolling Stone magazine. For more takes on writing, here are [12 Books To Help You Write Better](https://thedolectures.com/reading-lists/12-books-to-help-you-write-better/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) from the folks at Do who know a thing or two about the craft. Somewhat related: Simon Willison’s excellent [My approach to running a link blog](https://simonwillison.net/2024/Dec/22/link-blog/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). I’ll add: Keep it simple! My god, how difficult we make things for ourselves by overthinking what has to be just right before we write. Knock it off. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-two-1.png) Whilst on the subject of reading, a dear friend shared [The Essays of Michel de Montaigne Online](https://hyperessays.net/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). The collection has been translated many times so I suggest finding one that resonates or makes plain sense. Within, you will find some fairly fundamental truths like Mike’s thoughts [On Idleness](https://hyperessays.net/essays/on-idleness/?ref=brilliantcrank.com): “A soul with no fixed goal is sure to lose its way for, as they say, to be everywhere is to be nowhere.” Pair this with reading The Daily Stoic and on the quick it would seem that humans haven’t evolved much. For instance, take this fantastically titled [Whether the Commander of a Place Under Siege Ought to Go Out to Parley](https://hyperessays.net/essays/whether-the-commander-of-a-place-under-siege-ought-to-go-out-to-parley/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). To summarize: Honor is great for speeches, but strategy wins battles. Oh, and don’t mistake a handshake for safety. Fun fact, [Montaigne is the inventor of the essay](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essay?ref=brilliantcrank.com). ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-three-1-1.png) Let’s continue learning about how to make improvements by studying the enshittification of tech companies. “In hypergrowth mode, you solve every problem by throwing more resources at the system. Hypergrowth encourages a raft of bad habits, and attacking every problem by hiring more people is one of them.” [Charity Majors](https://hachyderm.io/@mipsytipsy?ref=brilliantcrank.com) shreds bro-founders and the path of carnage they have left behind in her article [“Founder mode” and the Art of Mythmaking](https://charity.wtf/2024/12/17/founder-mode-and-the-art-of-mythmaking/?ref=brilliantcrank.com)*.* It's a long, visceral, tear-down of the dysfunctional leadership behind many name-brand startups. While Charity tells stories from Airbnb, you can insert any “unicorn” startup—like InVision—and the painful problems and lessons still apply. A highly recommended read for everyone working in technology or those who want to study poor leadership. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-four-1.png) “I’m considering moving to Japan. Whatever you’re doing, it makes you want to do it 10 times better. They do so much at a high level,” said André 3000 in a recent interview with [Rolling Stone](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/andre-3000-grammys-new-music-outkast-1235200521/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). While that sounds incredibly inspiring, for many of us without an integer in our name it’s not a practical move. However, thanks to the timing of our annual fondness for starting new habits, here are [33 ways to improve your life, Japanese style](https://www.mrporter.com/en-us/journal/lifestyle/life-lessons-people-tokyo-japan-style-food-24538500?ref=brilliantcrank.com), written by Ashley Ogawa Clarke. Number twelve: “Take inspiration—but with respect. In Japan, we excel in applied science. We can’t go from zero to one, but if we can find one, then we can go straight to 200.” Speaking of 33, it was that many years ago [when Magnum P.I. was taught](https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/8630d119-fb49-4ff3-9a3b-00b4b748a5b9?ref=brilliantcrank.com), “Japan takes the best from all over the world and makes it her own.” ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-five-1.png) While I’m not a fan of the end-of-year “best of...” lists, I do enjoy the personal reflections that bloggers create. A few highlights from this year are Patrick Tanguay’s [24 Things I Learned in 2024](https://sentiers.media/24-things-i-learned-in-2024/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), Dave Rupert’s [Twenty Twenty-Four](https://daverupert.com/2024/12/twenty-twenty-four/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) (especially the format of his monthly recap), Winnie Lim's [Looking Back at 2024](https://winnielim.org/journal/looking-back-at-2024/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) (beautiful), and Jon Hicks’ distinctive round-up of [Festive Sandwich Reviews 2024](https://hicks.design/journal/festive-sandwich-reviews-2024?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Then there are the music themes recaps. Naz Hamid’s [Music in 2024](https://nazhamid.com/journal/music-in-2024/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), Jared Christensen’s [2024 Music Report](https://www.jaredigital.com/weblogue/2024-music-report?ref=brilliantcrank.com), and fellow Duran Duran enthusiast Luke Dorny with his [Top 2024](https://lukedorny.com/updates/top-2024?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Saving the very, very best for last is Anh’s [Media Recap 2024](https://anhvn.com/posts/2025/media-recap-2024/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) which takes this blog post type to an entirely different level. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-six-1-1.png) Maybe it’s the [80s-War-Games-computer-nerd](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIh41wZEd5c&ref=brilliantcrank.com) in me, but using Linux has always had a weird, attractive counter-culture caché. As if the simple act of using a different OS came bundled with |337 hacker cyberpunk street cred. So I have respect for Mat Marquis who recently shared his experience of switching from MacOS to Unbuntu—[“I like it.”](https://wil.to/switching-to-a-framework-and-ubuntu/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) If that’s not enough for you, I came across a guide for [Computing Like Eric Snowden](https://www.reddit.com/r/hacking/comments/15zcn7f/anonymity%5Fguide/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) (sans living in the Soviet Union). It’s like Neo came back from the dead and gave us this guide. “My dark machine. This aLmost NEVER connEcts to the internet; the webcam and microphone have been removed. It's wiped after use - every single time. It's also nEver more than 12 months old. Use your imaginaTion.” I can’t tell if the random capital letters have some special hacker meaning or if the author’s [mechanical keyboard](https://mvkb.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) was gLitching. Start the new year by subscribing to Winnie Lim's [heartfelt blog](https://winnielim.org/notes/?y=2024&ref=brilliantcrank.com). Published in Tacoma, Washington with Sneaker Pimps 1999 masterpeace [Splinter](https://youtu.be/tK8hDnjn0XY?feature=shared&ref=brilliantcrank.com) on repeat. † Please let me know if you are having difficulty receiving your subscription. ### The year that was a masterclass in mixed signals. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-year-that-was-a-masterclass-in-mixed-signals/ Last updated: 2024-12-31T18:06:27.000Z I’ve enjoyed reading the personal reflection blog posts that pop up in my feed this time of year. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to do my own reflection—this time in person—with a new friend I made in 2024\. My takeaway from this introspection is that 2024 was a Year of Confusion, marked by a steady stream of highs and lows—so many mixed signals. There are several ways I wish this year had gone differently, but thanks to my loving and supportive wife, I was afforded the opportunity to [“fuck around and find out.”](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/WntjAM2wqF8?ref=brilliantcrank.com) In the absence of meaningful employment or work-for-hire, I spent most of this year creating. A lot of what I made had been in my head for a long time, but wrapped in the comfort of stable work, I’d kept those ideas conveniently tucked away. Near the top of that list is The Dice, which has been a joy to produce and evolve. Add in all the work on Same Team and the occasional Jump Ship session, and 2024 turned out to be a productive year—though not without its costs. The clarity I gained professionally and personally came, unfortunately, at the expense of some fractured and lost relationships. Today, I’m better equipped to say “no” than ever before—and looking ahead, that might just be the best result to come from this year. Thank you for reading Brilliantcrank in 2024—for rolling The Dice with me each week. Happy New Year to you and yours. Cheers to a fresh, brand-new year ahead! ### Ah, freak out. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/ah-freak-out/ Last updated: 2024-12-28T04:37:15.000Z > I’m not at all embarrassed at the use of the word freak. I think the way things are going in this country, it’s very honorable designation, and I’m proud of it. To be abnormal, to deviate from the style of government that I deplore in America today, is not only wise but necessary. > > — Hunter S. Thompson, Pitkin County Sheriff’s Debate, October 24, 1970. The more I read about Hunter’s work—his visceral reaction to Nixon and his regime—the more I’m struck by how eerily familiar it all feels. The parallels to today’s political climate are undeniable, with one glaring difference: the hyperbole of the 1970s mostly came from politicians. Today, it’s exponentially amplified by pundits masquerading as journalists. It’s no wonder we’re [tuning out in droves](https://apnews.com/article/politics-fatigue-trump-gop-democrat-cnn-msnbc-b67aebae1a0853a1a3170ac588100bbd?ref=brilliantcrank.com). The vocal and passionate calls to resist Trump and his administration are just beginning, but the media deserves a place on that list of protagonists, too. It’s not just politicians driving the chaos these days. The press—playing to their selective bases—will play a bigger role in shaping the civic environment we’re being called to resist. As history appears to be repeating itself, there are plenty of reasons to fear for the future—but fear isn’t enough. We’re going to need freaks—a lot of them—willing to challenge anyone trying to resurrect the crimes of the past, along with those cheering them on. So, get your blogs ready, because a metric ton of bullshit is heading our way. ### The Dice — 030 URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-dice-030/ Last updated: 2024-12-24T19:08:35.000Z ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/brilliantcrank-dice-2-3.png) When I started The Dice back in May, I had no idea how far it would go—but here we are, thirty issues in. At this pace, we’ll reach issue 100 just in time for my birthday on April 19, 2026\. Thank you for coming along for the ride. This has been a year of making. I can’t think of another time I’ve created and delivered so much work—and I’m just getting started. With refined clarity and momentum building, I’m eager for everything 2025 will bring. The last two years have been a successful mission in [FAAFO](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WntjAM2wqF8&ref=brilliantcrank.com), with lessons learned and new energy to keep moving forward. Here’s to another trip around the sun, filled with a wide range of topics and distractions to inspire. Be *well*. Be *safe.* And have a *happy* holiday season. Rolling one last time in 2024... ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-one-1.png) Time is the prevalent theme that I hear from just about everyone I have talked to in the last month or so. Many folks I know feel they don’t have enough of it to do the things they would like to do. If you see yourself in those two sentences then I recommend making time to hit pause, [All it takes is 10 mindful minutes](https://www.ted.com/talks/andy%5Fpuddicombe%5Fall%5Fit%5Ftakes%5Fis%5F10%5Fmindful%5Fminutes?ref=brilliantcrank.com). “From taking a breath to taking a sabbatical, a pause can be many things. And the good news is, even just a small pause now and again can make a real and lasting difference.” I recommend watching the [other talks on this topic](https://www.ted.com/playlists/204/slow%5Fdown%5Fenjoy%5Flife?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and reading the wonderful book [*Do Pause*](https://thedobook.co/products/do-pause-you-are-not-a-to-do-list?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Earlier this week Brett and I shared our [Replay and Reset boards](https://sameteampartners.com/samepage/replay-and-reset-reflect-refocus-and-recharge-for-2025-2/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) with each other. It was both eye-opening and validating to our beliefs and impressions that we’ve had about working together in 2024\. You can follow along with our experience in this week’s episode of [The High Five](https://sameteampartners.com/thehighfive/episode-29-replay-and-reset/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) podcast. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-two-1.png) Three magazines come out this time of year that I look forward to reading cover to cover. They are Moncle’s [The Entrepreneurs](https://monocle.com/magazine/the-entrepreneurs/8/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and [The Forecast](https://monocle.com/magazine/the-forecast/15/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), and [The World Ahead 2025 from The Economist](https://www.economist.com/topics/the-world-ahead-2025?ref=brilliantcrank.com). I find these issues are just the right amount of information and inspiration to consume in anticipation of the new year. As a huge fan of editorial design, I also get a nice dopamine hit while admiring the design, typesetting, and illustrations in all three publications. While we’re preparing for the future, sadly we must anticipate even more bias in our sources of news. [Harvard economist Roland Fryer explains:](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwixBnnrrOs&ref=brilliantcrank.com) “It's going to get worse. We're just not a public that wants to open up a newspaper in the morning and be challenged. My plea is to demand balanced news, but we've got to be willing to have that news come at us in a way that is not consistent with our own prior views. We've got to be willing to be curious and engage.” It would also be a big help to remove our new sources from the grips of billionaires who aren’t [“committed to the cause.”](https://daringfireball.net/2024/12/journalism%5Frequires%5Fowners%5Fcommitted%5Fto%5Fthe%5Fcause?ref=brilliantcrank.com) ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-three-1-1.png) With media bias in mind, there is another method for seeing through to the truth—travel. “The most frightened people are the people who have never traveled, whose worldview is shaped by commercial news media. And the people that are not afraid are the people who have been out there and met the enemy,” [said world traveler and author Rick Steves](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/14/magazine/rick-steves-interview.html?ref=brilliantcrank.com) in a recent interview with the *New York Times*. “When they meet me, it’s tougher for their propaganda to demonize me, and when I meet them, it’s harder for my country’s propaganda to dehumanize them. It’s a powerful thing.” While Rick references his travel to places like Cuba and Iran, I believe this advice also pertains to domestic travel to [get to know our neighbors](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JqFqKYJGA0&ref=brilliantcrank.com). Especially those whose ideologies and perspectives we presume to understand. So, where are you going to visit in 2025? ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-four-1.png) This year I learned how to use AI productively to broaden my knowledge across a wide variety of topics. The most useful thing I find from using the robot is to help expose what I don’t know that I don’t know by simply asking, “What am I missing?” That single tactic has opened up many doors of learning and understanding in 2024\. Gaining additional perspectives is the best use of AI I can think of right now. It can seriously enhance our abilities in critical thinking and sensemaking. On that topic, I have two must-reads for you. Joan Westenberg on [the need for reading and comprehension](https://www.joanwestenberg.com/the-death-of-critical-thinking-will-kill-us-long-before-ai/?ref=brilliantcrank.com): “No algorithm can replace human wisdom and analysis. But no algorithm will need to if we have abandoned — wholesale — a millennium of critical reading and thinking skills.” Patrick Tanguay on [The power of critical sensemaking in shaping futures](https://sentiers.media/is-ai-progress-slowing-down-future-orientation-the-power-of-critical-sensemaking-no-338/?ref=brilliantcrank.com): “Critical sensemaking encourages us to ask better questions, embrace the messiness of reality, and develop the agility to adapt our actions based on past experiences.” ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-five-1.png) ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/DG56-cover-768x945-1.jpg) [One of the best magazines ever.](https://www.slow-journalism.com/back-issue/56-jul-sep-2024?ref=brilliantcrank.com) Speaking of learning, one of the exercises in our Replay and Reset exercise is to ask yourself, what do you want to learn in the new year? It’s an open question to get people to consider options beyond their jobs and careers. I have a few recommendations and ideas to inspire. First is Dave Gray’s [School of the Possible](https://schoolofthepossible.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), which is “a place to find and connect with interesting, creative people, doing interesting, creative things.” Second is a topic near and dear to me, [how to launch an independent magazine](https://www.slow-journalism.com/shop/how-to-launch-an-independent-magazine-online-masterclass-6th-february-2025?ref=brilliantcrank.com) taught by the people who publish the amazing Delayed Gratification. They also have [another class](https://www.slow-journalism.com/shop/26908?ref=brilliantcrank.com) on their unparalleled mastery of infographics. The third is from aforementioned author, Joan Westenberg with their [book on becoming a creator](https://joanwestenberg.gumroad.com/l/gOepf?ref=brilliantcrank.com). “*DIY* is for anyone who’s tired of waiting for a seat at the table. It’s for the rebels, the misfits, the creators who don’t fit into neat little boxes. It’s a guide to embracing independence, owning your creativity, and taking charge of your destiny.” I also came across classes on [building lifelike sculptures with LEGO](https://www.domestika.org/en/courses/4453-building-lifelike-sculptures-with-lego?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and [how to design a board game](https://boardgamedesignlab.com/how-to-design-a-board-game/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Whatever your passion, I encourage you to proactively consider your curiosity and drive towards learning in the new year. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-six-1-1.png) Alright, let’s end this year on a milder topic—Scoville levels and fried chicken. A favorite program at Storeyhouse is *Hot Ones* where celebrities are run through a gauntlet of chicken wings with hot sauce that increases in intensity and burning sensation all while answering well-researched questions that range from craft to childhood. The [results are entertaining](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SR5kfWXfxto&ref=brilliantcrank.com) except for that [one dude](https://www.reddit.com/r/hotones/comments/hf70b7/dj%5Fkhaled%5Fwas%5Fthe%5Fworst%5Fguest%5Fever/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). [Da Bomb](https://thedabomb.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) is the most hated of the sauces hands down. It’s like watching people try to endure the chicken version of the [Bene Gesserit’s Test Of Humanity](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5y4PMUD2KjY&ref=brilliantcrank.com). That said, are these sauces really as hot as they are labeled? And why are the two hot sauces after Da Bomb not seemingly as bad? [Howtown investigates the pepper world](https://youtu.be/dutpBSKj8JY?si=%5Fk3ZXKI4rqu%5FyLb4&ref=brilliantcrank.com) and confirms some suspicions I’ve had for a while. If you’re spinning your wheels and need a push in the right direction, let’s roll up our sleeves and [work together](https://sameteampartners.com/the-huddle/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Published in Tacoma, Washington while listening to [A Lofi Christmas Vol.2](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSZvOnAwhMg&ref=brilliantcrank.com) by Linearwave. ### The Dice — 029 URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-dice-029/ Last updated: 2024-12-24T19:12:13.000Z ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/brilliantcrank-dice-2-4.png) December sure is a bleak month for anyone reading *The Daily Stoic* because each day drives home the point that we’re all going to die. I don’t know if this is to counterbalance consumer index insanity or the miracle birth story that dominates this time of year. No matter it’s a good month to block out the noise and focus on what’s most important, ourselves. That’s not to mean be selfish but you can do a much better job of providing care if you’re tending to your own. Reflection takes many shapes and having a framework can be useful. With that in mind, Brett and I created an activity I’d love for you to check out and use. It’s called [Recall and Reset for 2025](https://www.figma.com/board/J2v4pjh8b0Cq1nKAwebQrd/Replay-and-Reset-for-2025?node-id=0-1&t=A7wpowi72kmvPn7d-1&ref=brilliantcrank.com) and we’re going to share it with the world a few days from now. Even if you don’t use it, I encourage you to set time aside on your calendar soon to celebrate your wins and consider your challenges in preparation for the new year. Alright, lets roll. --- ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-one-2.png) We’re all lonely. At least more than we were \[insert your own time span here\] ago. A new documentary on the work of Robert Putnam, author of *Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community* helps to explain why. Despite all of the “social media” we’re more isolated than ever. [*Join or Die*](https://www.joinordiefilm.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) is a must-see documentary on Putnam’s work on the topic of communities and the positive impacts they have on our well-being and that of society. Read [this interview](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/13/magazine/robert-putnam-interview.html?unlocked%5Farticle%5Fcode=1.hk4.wZ12.ahu-cRBufJPs&smid=url-share&ref=brilliantcrank.com) with Putnam, [watch the documentary](https://www.joinordiefilm.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), and find a club to join. Coincidentally Ev Williams just announced the launch of his latest venture called Mozi, an app for [Making “Social” Social Again](https://ev.medium.com/making-social-social-again-0126fa5c6ce8?ref=brilliantcrank.com). “After a lifetime working at mattering, I realized I had under-invested in what really mattered: Relationships.” While this might be a step in the right direction, I’m kinda app’d-out when it comes to social interactions, and as Simon Collison put it so well, [“other things deserve my energy.”](https://colly.com/journal/anti-social-behaviour?ref=brilliantcrank.com) And I’ll leave this here: [Your 2024 Therapy Wrapped](https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/your-2024-therapy-wrapped?ref=brilliantcrank.com) ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-two-2.png) Related but in a category of its own is Joan Westenberg’s article [Why Your Social Capital is Probably Worthless](https://www.joanwestenberg.com/why-your-social-capital-is-probably-worthless/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) makes a solid case for reducing our use of LinkedIn. “We’ve built a fragile pyramid scheme of fake connections, propped up by the fear that if you don’t play along, you’ll miss out. Everyone maintains their LinkedIn connections because everyone else maintains their LinkedIn connections. It's a giant game of professional FOMO. Basically - we’re drowning in network pollution.” Joan goes on to suggest more human ways of forming better connections and—you may see where this is going—it has little to do with the platform: “The solution isn't to optimize your fake network; it's to stop pretending it's real in the first place.” Roll these two dice together and [We’re Still Lonely at Work](https://hbr.org/2024/11/were-still-lonely-at-work?ref=brilliantcrank.com). ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-three-1-2.png) “People often make assumptions about behavior, and those assumptions often turn out to be wrong. Something I’m guilty of as much as anybody else,” writes Adrian Howard in his post, [Two Useful Prompts to Explore Intent & Behaviour](https://adrianhoward.com/posts/two-prompts-to-explore-intent-and-behaviour/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). “I use two prompts a lot to get over this. Anybody who has worked with me will have heard them way too many times. Because they’re so darned useful.” I don’t want to spoil the framework but it is useful indeed. Pair his two prompts with [Occam’s Razor](https://fs.blog/occams-razor/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and you have a solid poor assumption smasher. I’d just like to point out that these tools are so useful because humans are complicated beings and even though we’ve gone through several evolutions and version numbers, we’re still not great at communicating. This is why my friend Brett and I have stood up a business aimed at helping humans learn how signal intent and behavior. And when they do [the outcomes are outstanding](https://sameteampartners.com/client-stories/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-four-2.png) David Letterman shared his thoughts on retirement and moving past the idea of retiring at all in a interview with GQ magazine.“[Retirement is a myth. Retirement is nonsense.](https://www.gq.com/story/david-letterman-gq-video-cover-story?ref=brilliantcrank.com) You won't retire. The human mechanism will not allow you to retire. As long as you are healthy, you still want to produce. And you will find ways to, once I stopped doing the show, it took me a couple of years to figure out that, oh, this is a completely different rhythm. And without the rhythm that you're accustomed to, largely unsatisfying. So you got to find something that's important to you.” Dave’s thinking on retirement echoes those of another industrial giant, Milton Glaser, who never stopped working. “If I woke up in the morning and didn’t have a place to go, I’d go nuts. It’s a great reason to keep on living. [Retirement is a trap.](https://observer.com/2018/08/interview-milton-glaser-on-his-new-work-aging-and-edward-hopper/?ref=brilliantcrank.com)” So what is Dave up to now? Aside from talking to people—which Dave is known for—he’s a partner in [Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing](https://rahal.com/owners/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). If you’re not sure what in the hell you’re going to do instead of retiring, I suggest reading and engaging with [*Designing Your Life*](https://www.amazon.com/Designing-Your-Life-Well-Lived-Joyful/dp/1101875321?ref=brilliantcrank.com) by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans. My results: Creating communities, publishing, and owning a race car team. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-five-2.png) ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/monza.png) *Esses* is a new magazine for “the people, culture, and lifestyle of Grand Prix racing.” The “inaugural edition, which will take you from Seoul to Austin, covering everything from the man who convinced Formula 1 to [race through the streets of Long Beach](https://www.essesmag.com/articles/chris-pook-the-travel-agent-who-built-the-long-beach-grand-prix?ref=brilliantcrank.com) in 1976 to the [tragic story behind the 1955 Le Mans disaster](https://www.essesmag.com/articles/racings-deadliest-day?ref=brilliantcrank.com).” As a fan of motorsport of course I found those stories interesting, but I was not expecting to come across articles like [Inside the Formula 1 CEO’s Private Dining Room](https://www.essesmag.com/articles/inside-the-f1-ceos-private-dining-room?ref=brilliantcrank.com). “The most difficult country to get the ingredients they want? ‘Honestly I’m sorry to say the USA, but America has the worst,’ Canessa says. In Australia, in Arab countries, around the world, it’s not hard to get the quality charcuterie, cheeses, and produce to make a meal shine. But in the U.S., the chefs agree, nothing is guaranteed.” When you're done reading that article, move on to [Racing Lines](https://www.essesmag.com/articles/racing-lines?ref=brilliantcrank.com) on abstract paintings by Giana Gyr that capture iconic moments in Formula 1\. Though I don't often find myself fretting over the quality of local charcuterie, I do find Esse's editorial direction interesting. I might have to subscribe. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-six-1-2.png) [Thanks to Luke](https://lukedorny.com/updates/pad?ref=brilliantcrank.com) I now have a better understanding of my attraction to a line of Apple devices because they were all designed by the same guy, Hartmut Essingler. As a kid, I used to daydream about owning an [Apple IIc](https://archive.org/details/apple%5F2c%5Froom%5Flarge) because it is—to this day—so damn cool looking. The closest thing to that iconic design today is the iPad Pro paired with a white Magic Keyboard. Harmut was the Johnny Ive of Apple back the 80s. To give Apple it’s unique look and feel, Harmut created the [Snow White design language](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow%5FWhite%5Fdesign%5Flanguage?ref=brilliantcrank.com). “The scheme has vertical and horizontal stripes for decoration, ventilation, and to create the illusion that the computer enclosure is smaller than it actually is.” If you don't rememebr what this looked like, [take a look](https://www.are.na/james-hicks/snow-white-design-language?ref=brilliantcrank.com). One concept designed by Harmut but never manufactered was the original Apple MacBook or “Flat Mac.” [Until now.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Grd%5Fa4oi7qU&ref=brilliantcrank.com) Anh's [work is inspiring](https://anhvn.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and [her blog never dissapoints](https://anhvn.com/posts/2024/weeknotes-24/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Read and subscribe. Published in Tacoma, Washington while listening to [Tony Thriller Chill Beats Co. Presents: A Lofi Christmas Story, Vol. 1](https://music.apple.com/th/album/a-lofi-christmas-vol-2-ep/1513062767?ref=brilliantcrank.com). ### The Dice — 028 URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-dice-028/ Last updated: 2024-12-24T19:14:57.000Z ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/brilliantcrank-dice-2-5.png) Over the Thanksgiving holiday, I got to hang out with my nieces. And by hanging out I mean I was in close proximity as their attention was glued to their father's iPhone. When they weren’t scrolling TikTok, they were playing a curious game that I now know is called [Airport Security: Fly Safe](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/airport-security-fly-safe/id1588094496?ref=brilliantcrank.com). In the game you “take on the crucial role of the official security" by working as a TSA agent. If this isn’t a sign of living in a police state I don’t know what is. Thanksgiving dinner was great. The Turkey Wellington and Stuffing Muffins were on point as always. I hope you were able to enjoy the food and time as well. Even for those readers in other countries who I presume enjoyed a nice quiet break from “the Americans.” I know I would. Ok. I'm back. You're back. Let's roll The Dice. --- ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-one-3.png) Vive Notre-Dame! It’s not every day that a cherished architectural treasure is reopened and reintroduced to the world after nearly burning to the ground. On Saturday evening France opened the doors to a fully restored Notre Dame and it is—as they say—Magnifique! You must [take a look](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/france/article/2024/12/07/notre-dame-de-paris-re-opening-in-pictures%5F6735545%5F7.html?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and [see for yourself](https://www.npr.org/sections/the-picture-show/2024/12/07/g-s1-37345/photos-notre-dame-cathedral-reopens-macron-trump?ref=brilliantcrank.com). The New York Times has a [wonderful breakdown of the construction and restoration](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/12/05/arts/design/notre-dame-reopens-paris.html?unlocked%5Farticle%5Fcode=1.fU4.bgNt.qbZCMNiF4aPf&ref=brilliantcrank.com) of the cathedral with their classic use of breakaways and fly-ins to observe details of the work. Also make time to view the [behind-the-scenes](https://watch.opb.org/video/rebuilding-notre-dame-e4hnpa/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) look at the work by engineers, masons, and timber workers from NOVA. The bredth and depth of the renovation is insane. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-two-3.png) When it comes to the current state of our culture and society, Howard Rheingold [got it right in 1993](https://www.patreon.com/posts/disinformocracy-116407675?ref=brilliantcrank.com) but nobody paid attention. At least I didn’t. “Thirty-three years ago, I set out to think about the likely sinister pathways that could lead computer-mediated communication to dark outcomes. The final chapter of that book, [Disinformocracy](https://www.rheingold.com/vc/book/10.html?ref=brilliantcrank.com) foresaw four ways computer-mediated communication could go wrong. More than three decades later, arguments can be made for each of these olden forecasts as explanations of our present predicament.” Each bullet point is a laser-guided direct hit. A few years later [another warning appeared](http://www.nysaflt.org/workshops/colt/2010/The%20Internet.pdf?ref=brilliantcrank.com) in 1995 by Clifford Stoll, “What's missing from this electronic wonderland? Human contact. Discount the fawning techno-burble about virtual communities. Computers and networks isolate us from one another. A network chat line is a limp substitute for meeting friends over coffee.” Are you feeling that? I am. Hey, but cheer up! We now have Blueskyesque [starter packs for Mastodon](https://fedidevs.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) so you can follow and mast more people you will never talk to in person. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-three-1-3.png) When I come across a television program with a 100% rating on [Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/pantheon/s01?ref=brilliantcrank.com) it requires further inspection. And that is the case with [Pantheon](https://www.netflix.com/title/81937398?ref=brilliantcrank.com), “a sophisticated treatise on consciousness and mortality, this absorbing mind-bender earns its own place in the pantheon of exemplary animated television.” Suppose that was too high brow for you, here is [another promotion](https://www.rllmukforum.com/index.php?/topic/337252-pantheon-netflix-s1/&ref=brilliantcrank.com) from BBS user, Spartan. “Rare for me to recommend a show this hard but if you love sci-fi, transhumanism, and existential thinking I'd highly recommend this show. It will start out almost like an animated YA story for some but stick with it, it really, really goes places by its second season finale.” The program has bounced around streaming networks and it’s now on Netflix. The series was inspired by [*The Hidden Girl and Other Stories*](https://kenliu.name/blog/book/the-hidden-girl-and-other-stories/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) by Ken Liu. You can *and should* [listen to Levar Burton read](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/staying-behind-by-ken-liu/id1244649384?i=1000467952799&ref=brilliantcrank.com) one of those stories titled *Staying Behind*. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-four-3.png) ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/21-1240M-1.jpg) By now you should have caught the news that A Book Apart shut down its operations earlier this year. All authors are free to republish their works as they see fit. Like a few other former ABA authors, my friend, designer, and author [Samera Kapila](https://samkapila.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) is about to re-launch her must-read, must-own book *Inclusive Design Communities*. “I finally have time to re-typeset my book so I can republish it. For me, context is essential for typeface selection. One of the typefaces I’m considering for headlines is [Tatsuro by Vocal Type](https://www.vocaltype.co/history-of/tatsuro?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Please read about the typeface and the history behind it.” As I know this means a lot to Sam, let's read about it together… “The day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, 8th December 1941, a large sign reading 'I AM AN AMERICAN', was hung on the Wanto Co grocery store (401-403 Eighth and Franklin Streets) in Oakland, California. The store was soon closed, as the Matsuda family, who owned it, were relocated and incarcerated under the US government's policy of internment of Japanese Americans. Tatsuro Matsuda, a University of California graduate, commissioned and installed the sign that inspired VTC Tatsuro.“ Wow. I look forward to reading Sam's work again with this added layer and dimension of meaning through her [typography decisions](https://bsky.app/profile/samkap.bsky.social/post/3lc6mfrmljc2v?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Former enemy of the state and Japanese American, George Takei published a second book on his internment experience as a children’s book, [*My Lost Freedom*](https://www.npr.org/2024/04/20/1245844347/george-takei-my-lost-freedom-picture-book?ref=brilliantcrank.com)*.* His first book [*They Called Us Enemy*](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/605187/they-called-us-enemy-expanded-edition-by-george-takei-justin-eisinger-steven-scott-harmony-becker/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) is highly recommended. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-five-3.png) While it is not a primary interest, I do enjoy facets of the automotive world from Formula 1 to [Matt’s Off Road Recovery](https://www.youtube.com/@MattsOffRoadRecovery?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and a plethora of vehicle review videos. I know there are gearheads subscribed to this wonderful publication so for you I have a two-part series on the [most](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-l8LoMfLWMU&ref=brilliantcrank.com) and [least](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9Ul4VAAFfM&ref=brilliantcrank.com) expensive vehicle brands to service. The show is made by a “father and Son working together to change the automotive repair industry and bring transparency like has never seen before.” While the Internet may not be the best place to make friends, it sure does make one hell of an incredibly useful and entertaining public access cable channel. Related: Matt Haughey recently drove a 2003 Jetta Wagon TDI from Oregon to Indiana with plenty of stops and diversions along the way. There is a story from each day’s journey paired with fantastic photos—[start with day zero.](https://a.wholelottanothing.org/indiana-or-bust-day-0/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-six-1-4.png) Warning! Our last roll may trigger an immediate craving for instant ramen. Epicurious brought in three renowned chefs to [taste, review, and rate sixteen different instant ramen products](https://youtu.be/V6kMs673lnM?si=Im63iblyRDnhKoQQ&ref=brilliantcrank.com). “Chefs Eunjo Park, Douglas Kim, and Toshiaki Kondo are used to thinking outside the box when it comes to cooking; however, today on Epicurious we’ve asked them to give us their unfiltered, honest reviews of some prominent instant ramen brands found on supermarket shelves.” I was pleasantly surprised to discover some products I didn’t know existed and I felt somewhat validated by the chef’s judgment at the end. Now, drive carefully as you jam over to your favorite Asian market to pick up [Nongshim Shin Black Beef](https://www.hmart.com/shin-ramen-black-with-premium-beef-broth-4-85oz-130g--4-packs/p?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Hey, over at Same Team we're staying fresh on the TikToks. [Join Brett](https://www.tiktok.com/@sameteampartners?ref=brilliantcrank.com) as he shares quick truths and wisdom gained the hard way. Spread the word! Published in Tacoma, Washington while listening and watching Fatboy Slim play an hour long set in [an elevator](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTuLj0Nyhs4&t=1230s&ref=brilliantcrank.com). ### More like Apple Ineptitude. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/more-like-apple-ineptitude/ Last updated: 2024-11-27T16:47:03.000Z Looking for diversions to fill the void previously filled by the news cycle, I have a hard time moving off of the topic of how stupid Apple Intelligence advertising and the application itself is so ironically dumb. This morning I was reminded of my own dumbfoundedness after reviewing [Anh’s latest weeknotes](https://anhvn.com/posts/2024/weeknotes-22/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). There she links to[*Apple Intelligence is for the Stupid Ones*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0V554NyXWM&ref=brilliantcrank.com), a witty, sharp criticism on par with a Jim Gaffigan closing commentary for CBS News Sunday Morning. Apple Intelligence may be installed on my laptop, tablet, and phone but you will not find me using it voluntarily. If Siri is any indication of the quality of Apple’s new robot capabilities then it’s a hard pass. I will not reach for the AI option to improve my grammar. Even if I tried, I know half the time AI would replace my writing with, “I found some web results, I can show them if you ask again from your iPhone” or “Sorry, there was a problem with the app.” AI is also supposed helpful by providing summaries, and I can only imagine the output of that routine would be extremely useful to people who write esoteric haiku on the mundane zombie apocalypse that is a visit to a shopping mall in Arkansas. Many years ago I befriended an older gentleman at work who kept his life simple. He had one prized possession, his PowerBook G4 Titanium. He considered it the closest thing he’d ever come to owning an Italian sports car. Steve Smith was a classically trained organist who led high-dollar donor fundraising at our workplace. That is to say, his work was not related to technology in any way, but he loved his Powerbook because he knew it was the best of the best, a symbol of elegance and functionality. He told me that even browsing the web felt like a luxury. Steve felt smart because he understood what it meant to use an Apple device in a world dominated by cheap IBM clones at the time. Apple hardware and software with Apple Intelligence is the exact opposite of the reverence Steve once felt. If I had kept in touch with him I know he would have a simple, clever, and subtly demeaning statement in his wonderful southern gentlemen slang about this new damn AI. Something like, “They dressed that thing up as if it were goin’ to church, but they forgot to teach it how to sing in the choir.” I have purchased and used Apple products for three-plus decades now because they have always been and remain the absolute best computer technology. Using a Macbook, an iPad, and an iPhone is a luxury. Apple is a luxury brand, but Apple Intelligence is not. I don’t dispute that Apple needs an artificial intelligence play to remain competitive, but what they have introduced and injected into our hardware and software feels like the Touch Bar version of this technology. It’s there but incredibly unuseful—A buzzword instead of luxurious, yet practical utility. ### Still loading, please wait. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/still-loading-please-wait/ Last updated: 2024-11-27T18:00:55.000Z Hoo boy I was so not expecting to get a solid life lesson today when I visited Kottke, but it happened and I suspect some of you will want in on this. In his post [*We Never Stop Growing*](https://kottke.org/24/11/we-never-stop-growing?ref=brilliantcrank.com)*,* Jason shares a knowledge bomb dropped he received during thearpy. > When my therapist said “what you’re feeling is appropriate for the developmental stage you’re in right now”, it hit me right between the eyes and I knew exactly what she was trying to say. Our growth never ends. We never stop going through developmental stages — we just call them things like “becoming a parent”, “mid-life crisis”, or “perimenopause”. The pain, confusion, and emotional distress we experience is because *we’re growing*. > > Thinking about my life through this lens has flipped a switch for me. Internalizing “this is appropriate” and “I’m leveling up” provided me with a better alternative to “I’m almost 50, I don’t have my life figured out yet, what the hell is wrong with me?” Rewiring my thought process is still a work in progress, but I feel like it’s allowed me to approach challenges more as opportunities than as obstacles, provided me with a map/plan out of dark times, and given me more room to be easier on myself. Well that certainly explains a lot. For starters why so many people I know, including myself, are asking themselves what the hell is going on? Why are we still trying to figure out so much in life right now? This isn't how it's supposed to be. Right? Years ago I read [this review](https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/may/05/happiness-curve-life-gets-better-after-50-jonathan-rauch?ref=brilliantcrank.com) on a new book at the time, *The Happiness Curve: Why Life Gets Better After 50* by Jonathan Rauch. The book explores the phenomenon of a "U-shaped" trajectory in life satisfaction. Drawing on extensive research, Rauch reveals that happiness often declines from our 20s into our 40s, reaching a low point in midlife, before rising again in our 50s and beyond. This pattern, observed across various cultures and demographics, suggests that the midlife slump is a natural phase rather than a crisis. When I read the review I remember thinking, sweet! I have something to look forward to in a few years. Now that I'm past that milestone, I think Rauch is full of shit. To hell with his studies and data, most folks I know wish they happy or happier. And it has nothing to do with unrealized early life goals like owning a thing or having a certain job title or tons of money. Jonathan's theory suggests that as our perspective matures we become less driven by comparison and ambition and more focused on gratitude, relationships, and intrinsic fulfillment. While I am more focused on those things and I do feel gratitude—Brett and I just [recorded a podcast](https://sameteampartners.com/thehighfive/episode-26-a-very-special-thanksgiving-episode/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) on this subject hours ago—I'm not sure the intrinsic fulfillment is there. At least not yet. Maybe that comes from the recently discovered grownig pains that I didn't know I had until Jason passed along some knowledge. I can appreciate that despite reaching an age bracket we're not fully baked, but I would really love it if someone could pass me the remote so I can hit fast forward just a bit. ### The turkey’s dry, the takes are wet, and the cringe is fully stuffed. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-turkeys-dry-the-takes-are-wet-and-the-cringe-is-fully-stuffed/ Last updated: 2024-11-25T15:48:11.000Z Ah, Thanksgiving—a holiday built on expectations, anticipation, and the resigned certainty that you’ll be navigating the inevitable stress of gathering family members with wildly opposing, politically charged viewpoints on, well, everything. Fun, right? It’s the price we pay—nay, endure—for a free four-day weekend and a guilt-free hall pass to imbibe without remorse. We prepare by studying the guest list, refreshing our mental notes on who to avoid, and plotting where to position ourselves for optimal solitude (if possible), loud distractions, or close proximity to liquor and a phone charger—or, ideally, all three. This is Thanksgiving. Once a Rockwell-esque tableau of family and food, now an event rivaling a crowded city council meeting on open mic night. You know exactly what I mean because we all have our version of the cringe-inducing pre-Christmas dinner. To help ease the pain and add some joy, Brett and I created a conversation game designed to spark laughter through satirical questions, clever answers, and maybe a little wine-induced camaraderie. No, it’s not a drinking game—because, with Trump returning to the White House, who needs another reason to drink? Instead, it’s a fun framework to facilitate a fiery yet fruitful family forum. Hey, that should totally go on the packaging. Based on our (as-yet) award-less Teamangle Conversation Cards, the Thanksgiving Edition is here to replace the usual subtle racism, simmering anxiety, and quiet tears with laughter, genuine connections, and maybe even a unanimous vote on who’s stuck doing the dishes. Check it out now—the [Thanksgiving Edition](https://sameteampartners.com/samepage/turn-thanksgiving-into-a-fun-family-building-experience-with-our-hilarious-conversation-cards/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) is a riotous game of nonsense and sharp satire, expertly crafted to help us all weather the impending category-five drama storm with a piece of our sanity and humanity intact. ### The Dice — 027 URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-dice-027/ Last updated: 2024-12-24T19:20:57.000Z ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/brilliantcrank-dice-2-6.png) Look, [nobody needs this much mayonnaise in their life.](https://www.midcenturymenu.com/hellmanns-frosty-slaw-man-salad-a-vintage-christmas-recipe-test/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) That photo—SFW by the way, Ethan—will haunt your dreams or be the very thing your soul has been searching for. Do you know what’s missing from that scene? The smell of fresh polyester from Sears, hairspray, and cigarette smoke. How we made it through the 1970s is beyond me. I’m ready for the short week with friends and family and I hope you’re able to do the same. The Dice will take a break for the upcoming holiday weekend and return on December 8th. Until then please enjoy your turkey responsibily with a tall glass of bourbon. --- ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-one-4.png) By now you should have read the news about [China’s deep attack on U.S. telecommunications](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/26/us/politics/salt-typhoon-hack-what-we-know.html?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Democratic chairman, Senator Mark Warner of Virginia was “stunned by the scope and depth of the breach, which was engineered over the past year by a group linked to Chinese intelligence that has been named [Salt Typhoon](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/26/us/politics/salt-typhoon-hack-what-we-know.html?ref=brilliantcrank.com)” Apple’s Messages system appears to be unaffected but I’m not celebrating. Especially after reading the New Yorker’s piece on [U.S. government-purchased spyware](https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-technology-the-trump-administration-could-use-to-hack-your-phone?ref=brilliantcrank.com) “which can hijack a phone to undetectably access its camera, microphone, and all of its data, including messages and photos.” And it’s not just one system or company but several. Now is the perfect time for all of us to [watch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8rh8reDqj8&ref=brilliantcrank.com) the new documentary, [*Surveilled*](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2024/nov/23/ronan-farrow-surveilled-documentary?ref=brilliantcrank.com). ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-two-4.png) Portland’s alt-weekly newspaper, *Willamette Week*, recently celebrated [fifty years in publishing](https://online.fliphtml5.com/qebmw/btin/?ref=brilliantcrank.com#p=1). To mark this achievement they published [a list of people, places, and things that transformed the city](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvOZzn433ic&ref=brilliantcrank.com). “You won’t find scandals and failures in the pages that follow, although WW broke many of those open. Instead, we looked for what's worth carrying with us into the next half-century. How creativity is fostered. How ideas flourish. How people—some of them extraordinary, some of them regular folks—can take charge of their destiny and work to make Portland and the world a better place.” Earlier this month Magculture hosted [a conference on independent publishing](https://stackmagazines.com/current-affairs/hope-and-independent-publishing/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). The takeaways highlight the need for the alternative press. “If we’re going to go through a period in which some of our most fundamental values are challenged and renegotiated, I definitely want to have independent magazines contributing to the wider conversation. Whether they’re informing, protesting, entertaining, or just getting on with doing their own weird thing, I’m going to want independents for both instruction and distraction.” ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-three-1-4.png) I’m glad that I’m not the only one who is [not a fan of the new Apple campaign for Apple Intelligence](https://tidbits.com/2024/11/11/misguided-apple-intelligence-ads/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Whereas we were once challenged to Think Different it would seem the company believes we [shouldn’t have to think](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3m0MoYKwVTM&ref=brilliantcrank.com) (or [care about others](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0BXZhdDqZM&ref=brilliantcrank.com)) at all. “Is the message that Apple Intelligence is aimed at the perpetually lazy? Where’s the positive ad with a dyslexic child using Writing Tools to proofread a school essay or a businessperson using it to understand a complex report dumped on them minutes before a meeting?” The article is good, but the conversation taking place in the comments is worth scanning. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-four-4.png) I’m a big fan of combining frameworks in pursuit of working smarter. This week I learned about [Richard Feynman’s Twelve Problems](https://nesslabs.com/favorite-problems?ref=brilliantcrank.com) method for discovering insights or connections. Digging a bit deeper I came across [*The Physicist and The Comedian*](https://medium.com/@rowdyvass/finding-your-12-feynman-problems-leveraging-martin-shorts-9-categories-for-self-evaluation-e021e98a58cd?ref=brilliantcrank.com). “Richard Feynman, Nobel Prize-winning physicist, is famous for always keeping 12 problems top of mind. Martin Short is famous for being an excellent comedian, but also for regularly evaluating his life based on 9 key categories. Combined, these two approaches make for an excellent framework for guiding your personal growth, knowledge curation, and discovery.” I think this might be a great way to finally put my Field Notes collection to use. Speaking of…I also learned this week that [Jim Coudal is writing](https://fieldnotesbrand.com/dispatches/staple-day-14?ref=brilliantcrank.com) on the Internet again. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-five-4.png) Some of you no doubt have seen and heard [SwearSky](https://swearsky.bagpuss.org/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), the site that displays and plays profanity as it happens on Bluesky—it’s the [Hampster Dance](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEH2fk0ONag&ref=brilliantcrank.com) of today. For your amusement, there is also [Bluesky Firehose](https://firehose3d.theo.io/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) (which reminds me of ["The Internet, 2021”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwY65IUc5wA&ref=brilliantcrank.com) scene at the beginning of Johnny Mnemonic) and [EmojiRain](https://www.emojirain.lol/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) which displays emojis used on Bluesky in real-time. I bet you haven’t seen [Times New Dumbass](https://timesnewdumbass.co/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), a free font based on Elon Musk’s stage performances. "Elon does this stupid "X" jump all the time. So we took one of those pictures and warped it into every letter of the alphabet.” ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-six-1-5.png) This week I leave you with a thought on culture from artist [Don Hertzfeldt](https://slate.com/culture/2024/10/me-movie-don-hertzfeldt-arcade-fire-taylor-swift.html?ref=brilliantcrank.com). “When I was a teenager, I took the train to go to the record store to find rare stuff. Spotify is way more convenient, but that wasn’t the point. The point was to get out and to feel like you’re hunting, to feel like you’re living your life. I’m going to the movies, I’m going to this show. What streaming has done—it’s very convenient, but it’s taken the feeling of going hunting and turned it into we’re all just being fed. I feel like culture is when we’re all on the same page. For better or worse, when everyone’s watching the same thing, we all get something to talk about. That brings people together. Deep down, we want to be a Taylor Swift fan.” When you’re ready to be absorbed into the Swiftie collective, [Rolling Stone has ranked all 274 of her songs](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/taylor-swift-songs-ranked-rob-sheffield-201800/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). If you're not reading and subscribed to [Naz Hamid's blog](https://nazhamid.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) then you're living your life wrong. Published in Tacoma, Washington while trying to work around Manicotti, a sweet cat that would not take "no" for an answer. ### The great escape from Reichsdummvogel. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-great-escape-from-the-reichsdummvogel/ Last updated: 2025-03-18T22:44:58.000Z What does it say about the state of the internet when the migration of people from one platform to another generates so many headlines and excitement? And more importantly, why does this matter? I don’t care how many people have joined. Facebook has billions of users and that has zero impact on the quality of discourse on the platform. As evidence, just look to Reichsdummvogel (my new word for the platform formerly known as Twitter) which has devolved into the next 4chan. Numbers are an old spare-no-expense-growth metric from the days of the pandemic and zero percent interest rates. What are those subscribers saying and sharing? Are they actually engaging with one another? And—the old, but somehow new—table stakes are they being civil? Like millions of others, I logged into Bluesky last week and engaged with the Twitter reunion. I followed some folks and folks followed me. If anything it was great to see an indication that people are still out there, alive and kicking as we haven’t talked in a great long time. As people settled in the inevitable comparisons started popping up on the differences between platforms. Those I don’t mind so much and it has been interesting to see different takes on people’s experiences here, there, and over there. What’s gnawing at me this morning are the posts like these: “This is like Twitter 2012, love it already.”, “It’s giving 2012 twitter and I’m here for it!!!!”, and “Feels like 2012 twitter or something.” Of course, I can only speculate what those statements mean because I copied them wholesale from Bluesky. In all of the posts I’ve come across like this, there is zero context provided to qualify what those statements mean to the author. My assumption is that they are finding old faces and, possibly more important, not seeing others. And it is fun to see more folks knock on the door to the new party. I get it, there is excitement to be had. I’ve been in a few “hallway conversations” about Bluesky and there are two observations—moments of pause—that bring me to this post. Trying to rekindle the past rarely works out. Even if new account registrations were closed forever we’ll never get back to the past. How many movies must we watch to learn? We’ve all been burned by social networks in one way or ten others. Twitter 2012 or 2021 (which has even more references) didn’t come from the platform. That vibe came from the users—and maybe some active content moderation, I’ll give you that—but it did not inherently come from the place. Any remembrances of that time in the place are the reflection of the people, who they were, and what was happening in their lives and all around them. We’ve gone through so much since then and, no matter who you are, we’ve all been through many forms of anger and hostility. People change, we’ve changed, and no matter where we choose to interact online, who we are today is coming with us. I don’t mean to suggest that in a negative way, but I have yet to come across anyone who is 5-10 years older who hasn’t changed. And many of those folks feel slightly burned by an array of issues or problems. Enjoy the new fresh paint smell while it lasts because in about six months Bluesky will reflect the reality of the userbase and somehow I don’t think that’s going tosound and feel like the Wonder Years. The other moment of pause I have is Bluesky’s symbiotic attachment to investors. As there is no likely future decoupling of Bluesky from venture capital, so true is what lies ahead for the platform and the people. There’s no way of saying it any better than [Cory Doctorow](https://pluralistic.net/2024/11/02/ulysses-pact/?ref=brilliantcrank.com#tie-yourself-to-a-federated-mast). > Here's the thing: all those other platforms, the ones where I unwisely allowed myself to get locked in, where today I find myself trapped by the professional, personal, and political costs of leaving them, they were all started by people who swore they'd never sell out. I know those people, the old blogger mafia who started the CMSes, social media services, and publishing platforms where I find myself trapped. I considered them friends (I still consider most of them friends), and I knew them well enough to believe that they really cared about their users. > > They did care about their users. They just cared about other stuff, too, and, when push came to shove, they chose the worsening of their services as the lesser of two evils. > > I have watched virtually every service I relied on, gave my time and attention to, and trusted, go through this process. It happened with services run by people I knew well and thought highly of. This should give everyone pause. I know some of the people Doctorow is referring to, and he’s right—each of them started with good, even great, intentions. But at the end of the day, money talks. Much like the laws of physics, the rules of venture capital are unbreakable. Look, I don’t want to take away from the fun people are having. And I know firsthand that the stress relief from deleting a Twitter account is real. But despite the excitement and the collective sigh many people are exhaling as they make the leapI take a step back and wonder, is this what we really want? To spend time and energy to create a Twitter sequel? Do we think this time it’s going to be different because…yeah…wait, why do we think it’s going to be different? For me, the answer is a definitive and resounding *no*. I’d rather spend time developing deeper relationships with a group of people, not glancing interactions on a social platform. I’ll always be online—that’s never going to change. But I’m done with platforms tethered to the dark cloud of debt to billionaires and those chasing billionaire dreams. There’s no blue sky in that direction. ### The Dice — 026 URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-dice-026/ Last updated: 2024-12-24T19:27:55.000Z ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/brilliantcrank-dice-2-7.png) This week I continued research on the evolution of social media, traditional media, news agencies, politics, and how this has impacted human behavior, intuition, and mental health. That’s normal, right? An early takeaway I've learned is that we should reduce the time spent each day digesting the news to fifteen minutes. Get in, get your update, and bounce. For the majority of us, this is one of the best ways to reduce anxiety and stress while regaining time and agency to focus on more important matters. I also jammed out a prototype of a playbook on countering loneliness, [that epidemic that we’re not talking about](https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/surgeon-general-social-connection-advisory.pdf?ref=brilliantcrank.com). The early feedback looks promising. If you’d like to join the test let me know. A year ago I would not imagined digging into these topics but here we are. Ok, let’s move on to the table. --- ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-one-5.png) “By the time I got canned less than 2 years later, the social media revolution catalyzed by blogs had taken off. The successor to, and destroyer of, the alt-weekly era had begun to emerge. I hadn’t felt that same sense of ‘this is the future of media’ since then, until just the last few months.” Anil Dash published [an homage to Alt Media in the 90s and his vision for the second coming](https://www.anildash.com//2024/06/14/the-new-alt-media/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). “These new platforms are telling the stories nobody else is. When local news is hollowed out, when vital beats are neglected, when algorithms are spammed with generative nonsense, audiences that crave relevance or humanity will naturally gravitate to the outlets that offer something real. That’s as fun and interesting and important as the impulses that drove people to first embrace alt media 70 years ago.” I hope he’s right. Living in Alaska in the 90s we had the *Anchorage Free Press*. It was our version of *The Village Voice* and it [lived and died much the same way](http://www.crudemag.com/anchorage-press-is-dead?ref=brilliantcrank.com). ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-two-5.png) Are you ready for an existential question? Well, I’m going to ask anyway: “How much of our work exists because we ‘think’ we have to do it?” Whoa! Matt Klein and Elisabeth Bromberg explore the[Psychology of Self-Sabotage](https://zine.kleinkleinklein.com/p/self-sabotaging-innovation?ref=brilliantcrank.com) in the latest issue of *Zine*. They begin by quoting the declassified [CIA Strategic Services Field Manual No. 3](https://www.cia.gov/static/5c875f3ec660e092cf893f60b4a288df/SimpleSabotage.pdf?ref=brilliantcrank.com)—specifically on how to sabotage the workplace—and get into a provocative argument as to why we work the way we do and how to knock it off. “The prerequisite to un-fucking ourselves is to simply become aware of the cognitive biases in place, working against us, slowing us down, and diluting innovation. Once aware, only then can we work against them.” Wut? If declassified military field manuals are your thing here is one worth your attention— [US Army Field Manual No. 100-6 on Information Operations](https://irp.fas.org/doddir/army/fm100-6/index.html?ref=brilliantcrank.com). ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-three-1-5.png) The more I read [*Freak Kingdom*](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/freak-kingdom-timothy-denevi/1127922346?ref=brilliantcrank.com), the more I can’t unsee the parallels between our current state and the past. Aside from watching the movie and reading a tidbit here and there, I never paid much attention to Thompson. In addition to the biography, [Hunter’s coverage of Nixon and his cadre of evil](https://gonzomerchandise.com/products/fear-loathing-on-the-campaign-trail-72?ref=brilliantcrank.com) is required reading. To see the future, we have to understand the past. While you wait for those books to be returned to the library, read this [interview with Hunter](https://www.salon.com/2003/02/03/thompson%5F18/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) from 2003. “I believe the Republicans have seen what they've believed all along, which is that this democracy stuff is bull, and that people don't want to be burdened by political affairs. That people would rather just be taken care of. The oligarchy doesn't need an educated public. And maybe the nation does prefer tyranny. I think that's what worries me. It goes back to Fourth Amendment issues. How much do you value your freedom? Would you trade your freedom for some illusion of security? Freedom is something that dies unless it's used.” ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-four-6.png) ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/image_5.jpg.png) This is the coolest idea for combining typography and wayfinding I think I’ve ever read. It comes from [Typotheque’s work on developing a new typeface and system for the Paris Metro](https://www.typotheque.com/articles/typeface-for-paris-metro?ref=brilliantcrank.com). “The original concept for the typeface envisioned an interconnected system of fonts, with each station having a subtly different variation. The further a traveler moves from the city centre, the more pronounced these differences become. Changes between neighbouring stations would be nearly imperceptible, while a journey across the city would reveal more distinct typographic styles.” If you think this is cool go check out [Plus Equals](https://plusequals.art/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Typotheque also thought about using voice and tone to give passengers additional sense of place. “We wanted to extend this concept with varying audio announcements in each station, echoing the typographic shifts with corresponding changes in tone and voice.” Alas, the ideas were scrapped for simplicity but the end results are lovely. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-five-5.png) Earlier this year Russian geologists claim to have found [oil reserves totalling 511bn barrels of oil in Antarctica](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/05/11/russia-uncovers-oil-and-gas-reserves-british-antarctic/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). That’s twice the amount of all the oil found in Saudia Arabia (for comparison it’s estimated there are an average of [8bn barrels under the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge](https://alaskapublic.org/2016/12/07/how-much-oil-is-really-in-anwr/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) in Alaska). Of course, the large reserve was found under the region of Antarctica which is claimed by Argentina, Chile, and the United Kingdom. [A construction race is well underway](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3MPhl7HcGw&ref=brilliantcrank.com) on the continent as countries expand their claims before The Antarctic Treaty ends in 2048\. Now that so much oil is in play, something tells me a few countries aren’t going to wait that long. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-six-1-6.png) Alright, let's take it down a notch and look at[ alternative timelines by David Friedman](https://ironicsans.beehiiv.com/p/let-s-visit-some-alternate-timelines?ref=brilliantcrank.com). “There’s a genre of videos that can be found online that always makes me think of alternate timelines: failed TV pilots. Each time I see a pilot for a TV show that never got picked up, I wonder, *but what if it had*?” After browsing the list, David is right that the show *Lookwell* is the most interesting. “Most notable for me was *Lookwell*, a comedy written by Conan O’Brien and Robert Smigel starring Adam West as a washed-up actor who used to play a detective on TV and now imagines himself to be an actual detective.” Maybe they just had the [wrong actor](https://only-murders-in-the-building.fandom.com/wiki/Steve%5FMartin?ref=brilliantcrank.com). “I believe the Republicans have never thought that democracy was anything but a tribal myth.” - Hunter S. Thompson, 2003 Published in Tacoma, Washington while jamming out to by [Kill Your Television](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPA0gR1ctQ4&ref=brilliantcrank.com) by Ned's Atomic Dustbin. ### Unhinged no more. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/unhinged-no-more/ Last updated: 2025-03-26T01:25:14.000Z Every time Pee Wee Herman entered his Fun House, he started the day by turning on his robot, Conky 2000, and asking for the “secret word.” After receiving the word on a piece of paper, Mr. Herman would hold it up for the audience to see and then instruct us to “scream real loud” anytime anyone said the word out loud. Now, I don’t have a Conky 2000, and Wordle typically satisfies my word-of-the-day fix, but lately, I keep seeing, reading, and hearing a word that makes me wonder if maybe I missed the secret word: *Unhinged*. I swear I read at least one headline a day, sometimes two, describing something Trump has done as “unhinged.” This morning’s sighting was in The New Republic’s email: [Trump’s Unhinged Rant Announcing Matt Gaetz as AG Signals Chaos Ahead.](https://newrepublic.com/article/188402/trumps-unhinged-rant-announcing-matt-gaetz-ag-signals-chaos-ahead?ref=brilliantcrank.com) After the word “weird” lost its punch, President Biden, Vice President Harris, news pundits, and other leaders started labeling the Crusty Craven Cheeto as “unhinged.” When the guy stood on stage for an hour and swayed to the worst high school reunion playlist ever, everyone, even life long, deep red Republicans called him “unhinged.” Have you screamed real loud yet? Go ahead. As the United States, the American Way, the American Dream, and America are unraveling, we have to revise our lexicon because the one we’re using now is meaningless. It’s not because we’re using the wrong words—*unhinged* is the perfect word to describe the absolute clusterfuck unfolding minute-by-minute before the world’s eyes. It’s just that the application of the word has lost its meaning. I want to introduce you to another word if you haven’t already seen it pop up in your social feeds or group chats: [kakistocracy](https://www.popehat.com/p/refuge-in-kakistocracy?ref=brilliantcrank.com)—a [“government that is ruled by the least suitable, able, or experienced people in a state or country.”](https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/kakistocracy?ref=brilliantcrank.com) Hitler’s Nazi Germany is the poster child of kakistocracy. Other examples include Zimbabwe under Robert Mugabe, North Korea under Kim Jong-un, Nicolás Maduro’s administration of Venezuela, and from ancient times, Roman Emperor Caligula. Time will tell if Putin makes the list; I’d put him there, but apparently, the jury is still deliberating. In a kakistocracy, what was normal is no more. What was once deemed unacceptable, corrupt, vindictive, oppressive, exploitative, self-serving, chaotic, disruptive, incompetent, inhumane, immoral, and *unhinged* is no longer shocking. We may still use these words to label the decisions and actions of a kakistocracy’s leaders, but to me, they’ve lost their power. Now, we can’t just abandon words like *unhinged*, *corrupt*, or *chaotic*—they’re part of our vocabulary for a reason. But what we’re witnessing right now is beyond what these words were meant to capture. The language we’re using feels small compared to the reality in front of us. We need to adapt our vocabulary, to find words that don’t merely describe what’s happening but hit harder, demand more, and don’t let anyone off the hook. It’s time to go beyond describing and start calling things out as what they really are—*betrayal*, *public harm*, *dereliction of duty*, *unconstitutional*, even *treason*. We need words that call us to act: *intolerable*, *unforgivable*, *beyond repair*. Words that don’t just identify the problem but remind us that we can’t afford to stay silent or passive. We are in the middle of a war, people and we’re long past the point of *unhinged.* ### Burying the bird for good. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/burying-the-bird-for-good/ Last updated: 2024-11-12T18:41:08.000Z Last Friday, I messaged some friends, "I just deleted my Twitter account. I should have done it a long time ago.” Like most folks I know, I stopped using Twitter around the time Elon started his mission of destroying everything, but I kept the account locked down to keep the username. That was my excuse anyway. I have friends who are still posting there but it’s not for me. The husk that remains is an echo chamber and platform for all the worst qualities and ideals a person can have. There’s no way in hell I’ll ever sign up for a Truth account so it didn’t make sense as to why I’d want to hold onto an account for a platform that has turned into garbage, owned and led by someone I truly despise. In addition—and I learned this a few days after I deleted my account otherwise I would have shut it down sooner—beginning Friday, November 15th, [all content posted to the platform will be used to train Musk’s AI](https://mastodon.social/@mcc/113324547274823878?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and can be sold to third-party companies to train their large language models as well. The terms of service will change indefinitely two days from now, and users will not be given a choice to opt-out. **T L ; D R :** It's time to close your Twitter acounts and move on. A handful of you may recall the [large screen setup in the hallway](https://www.flickr.com/photos/sjungling/430852366/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) of the Austin Convention Center during SXSW Interactive 2007\. Twitter created an app that displayed posts in real time. From that moment on so much happened at an accelerated pace. The Internet was a rocket that would not stop and we all went along for the ride with Twitter as our social backbone. Years later, my crew and I at Airbag created [Twitshirt](https://web.archive.org/web/20100104000220/http://twitshirt.com/), one of the first apps to [turn a tweet into a t-shirt](https://www.flickr.com/photos/sting/3470220335/in/pool-twitshirt/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). It was a great idea that was pummelled into the ground by the gigantic asshole Merlin Mann and his very angry mob. It was fun for the few days while it lasted. Anyway, it hurts that all of that greatness was destroyed for no good reason or purpose, but all good things must come to an end. So, last Friday I said goodbye and and clicked the deactivate button. I encourage you to do the same. I have accounts on the new networks with the same handle I’ve used for two-plus decades now, you can find me most days on [Mastodon](https://mastodon.social/@brilliantcrank?ref=brilliantcrank.com). ### There are no take-backs on this one. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/there-are-no-take-backs-on-this-one/ Last updated: 2024-11-11T18:24:21.000Z I’m a new Rolling Stone subscriber and relatively happy with their mix of stories. Feels like Grantland without all of the sports. Front and center on their website this morning is [*Americans Didn’t Vote for What Donald Trump Is About to Give Them*](https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/political-commentary/trump-americans-vote-plutocrats-taxes-1235161296/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), an opinion piece by Jay Michaelson. I have enjoyed Jay's work in the last couple of months, but the opening of his recent thought piece doesn't sit well. > If, like me, you’re being kept awake at night thinking about this election, this explanation helps. Yes, people were willing to put up with Trump’s criminality, coup attempts, and extreme xenophobia, and that is still terrible. Many were also on board with scapegoating immigrants for our economic woes, which is as factually preposterous as it is morally offensive. > > But they didn’t vote for MAGA. They didn’t vote against women, or wokeness, or coastal elites, or climate regulation, or government regulation in general, or queer people. Not directly, anyway. They voted against the incumbent party, like every other developed country in the world this year. The shock waves from the Covid-19 pandemic — inflation, empty shelves, housing prices — are global and this is a global trend. Everywhere in the world, voters have chosen to throw the bastards out because of the economy. There is an eloquent word for this perspective in the English language—[*bullshit*](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bullshit?ref=brilliantcrank.com)*.* I can't speak for elections in other countries but here in the United States, no one can tell me they voted for Trump only for economic reasons. You can’t vote for a shriveled, ugly, artificially-orange, racist, fascist, sexist, narcissistic, convicted felon with scores of indictments still hanging who is known to have raped and sexually assaulted women, friends with enemies of the state, declared bankruptcy multiple times, stole a ton of Top Secret government data, a decade's long fraudulent debtor, chronic liar, litigation whore, an amazingly bad dancer who can’t open a truck door, and tried to overthrow a legitimately elected competitor in a failed coup d'etat against the United States and go on to defend your decision and action with a simple, “Oh, I didn’t vote for him…I’m angry about the economy.” Voting isn’t like eating fish! You have to eat it all. The bones, eyeballs, head, tail, fins, guts—Everything! You can not, may not, pick apart your reasoning in any way that will ever be acceptable or make sense. And when the real atrocities start you will never be able to say: “I didn’t know…” or “I didn’t think…” This will be even more damning if you have women in your family—daughters, granddaughters, goddaughters, nieces, sisters, a wife, or an ex. Your reasoning for voting as you did in this election will never be a gray area. It is a simple black and white question did you vote for him: yes or no? I get why Jay is trying to eke out a silver lining to this outcome but you’ll never make me feel better, not by a centimeter, by trying to defend casting a vote for Trump. The only excuse I’ll ever accept is if you can provide evidence that your life was at risk—a gun to your head. > American voters voted for a candidate promising mass deportations, authoritarianism, reactionary anti-feminism, ethno-nationalism, and a mean, vindictive spirit of revenge, grievance, and retribution. Shit is about to get very real, very soon. And, quick history lesson, the Nazi party was voted into power in 1932 largely because of [economic discontent](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/July%5F1932%5FGerman%5Ffederal%5Felection?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Once in power, parties do what they want to do, not what voters actually voted for. If this was about a protest of how the economy has impacted your finances then all you had to do was elect someone else, and there were plenty of alternative candidates from smaller political parties to choose from. There will never be a feel-good or feel-better moment that comes out of this election. We don't need any more gaslighting bullshit about what happened. ### The Dice — 025 URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-dice-025/ Last updated: 2024-12-24T19:27:02.000Z ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/brilliantcrank-dice-2-9.png) It’s the morning after or that’s how it feels. I haven’t read much or listened to the news since Wednesday. I’ve scanned headlines while waking up, but much of what’s put on there right now has little to no interest to me. We typically watch SNL on Sunday mornings through breakfast and refills of coffee. I’m hesitant to turn it on because I don’t want to see the crushed look on the actor's faces behind their staged performances. And to think Loren Michaels once asked Rudi Gulianni if it was okay to [“be funny”](https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=102152&page=1&ref=brilliantcrank.com) during the cold opening of SNL when it returned after 9/11\. That’s how far we’ve fallen. The distance between then and now is unfathomable. I can’t believe I just wrote that but that’s how it feels right now. Heavy. There’s only one roll related to the election, I promise. Grab a drink and let’s go. --- ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-one-7.png) The majority of articles, blog posts, and social rants right now are fixated on [finger-pointing and blame](https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/why-harris-lose-trump-zogby-dnc-interview-1235159061/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Yesterday I made it clear that [“why” and “how” aren't the problems](https://brilliantcrank.com/ctrl-alt-delete/) to focus on right now. It’s time to slam the reset button and Ken White has laid out next steps perfectly on his blog, *The Popehat Report*. His post, [And Yet It Moves: Thoughts The Day After](https://www.popehat.com/p/and-yet-it-moves?ref=brilliantcrank.com) is worth reading all the way through and then again *and again*. “Are Americans inherently good, freedom-loving, devoted to free speech and free worship, committed to all people being created equal? That’s our founding myth, and isn’t it pretty to think so? We’re freedom-loving when times are easy, devoted to speech and worship we like with lip service to the rest, and divided about our differences since our inception.” More thoughts worth reading come from [John Gruber](https://daringfireball.net/2024/11/how%5Fit%5Fwent?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and [Craig Mod](https://craigmod.com/roden/096/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-two-7.png) “When I want information, like the real stuff, I go to forums,” writes Chris Person, “This blog is a salute to those forums that are either worth participating in or at least looking at in bewilderment.” [Forums are still alive, active, and a treasure trove of information](https://aftermath.site/best-active-forums-internet-today?ref=brilliantcrank.com) is a long, curated list of bulletin boards that includes one hosted by an old, [favorite client](https://forum.appliancepartspros.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) of mine (I’ll have to write about that guy someday). It’s great to see that these communities are still alive and well. Makes me wonder what’s happening on Usenet these days aside from industrial-scale rampant piracy. From what I could find, [Eternal Summer](https://www.eternal-september.org/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) is one of the very few, if not only, Usenet services devoted to conversations. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-three-1-7.png) We are ten days into [Noirvember](https://www.criterionchannel.com/noirvember?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and I can’t think of a better distraction right now. The Criterion Collection has the entire month covered (in hindsight, I should have published this last week) with titles that go beyond the black-and-white classics. For those who are new to the genre, consider Polygon’s [shorter list](https://www.polygon.com/what-to-watch/473649/best-noir-movies-watch-streaming-neo-noir?ref=brilliantcrank.com) that features a good portion of the hits. My favorite list—I’m just going to call it the best list—comes from That Shelf with [double features and modern films](https://thatshelf.com/10-essential-noirvember-double-bills/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) like *Minority Report, Fargo, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang*, and the *Big Lebowski*. Not at all related: Somebody thought it was a good idea to have another go at [The Office set in Australia](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIEVoulYZM0&ref=brilliantcrank.com). ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-four-8.png) NFL players appear to have an unhealthy appetite for crustless peanut butter and jelly snacks. This comes from brilliant investigative reporting by The Athletic. “Based on the information collected, it’s safe to say that [NFL teams go through anywhere from 3,600 to 4,300 Uncrustables a week](https://apple.news/Ap5wUzLb%5FQL6qODN2LCXhYA?ref=brilliantcrank.com). When you factor in training camps and the teams that did not share their data, NFL teams easily go through *at least* 80,000 Uncrustables a year.” Now we can’t talk about numbers and football without making the obvious correlation so here it is: “The Uncrustables eaten by the NFL in one year would cover over 18 yards of a football field.” I’m so used to seeing things measured in entire football fields that this statistic seems kinda lame, but if I tell you that the Denver Broncos consume 700 of these things a week…uf-da. Related: Watch this lady [go through hell and back](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eIbzifSZYY&ref=brilliantcrank.com) trying to reverse-engineer Uncrustables at home. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-five-7.png) ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/kurtsgame-1.png) Notes and instructions by the game creator. We love a good board game at Storeyhouse, so when I caught a glimpse of the packaging, the board, and the pieces, I had to check out this new title called GHQ. “\[It\] is a fast-paced two-player battle game in which each player maneuvers military units — infantry, armored vehicles, artillery, and an airborne regiment—to capture the other player’s headquarters.” The box design looks like it was created by Saul Bass and the feel of [the game itself is straight up mid-century](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/422478/ghq?ref=brilliantcrank.com). That’s all intended as the game was [created in the 1950’s by a man you likely know better for his books](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/03/crosswords/kurt-vonnegut-board-game-ghq.html?ref=brilliantcrank.com), author Kurt Vonnegut. The game “is similar in mood to chess, and it is played on a standard checkerboard” wrote Vonnegut in his unsuccessfull pitch game to publishers nearly 70 years ago. Today it is available to buy exclusively from [Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/kurt-vonneguts-ghq-the-lost-board-game-mars-international/1146300521?ref=brilliantcrank.com). ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-six-1-8.png) Jokes and satire about Comic Sans have surely jumped the shark by now but I feel the need to slow clap Slate magazine for [their treatment](https://slate.com/culture/2024/10/comic-sans-font-what-is-papyrus-book.html?ref=brilliantcrank.com) of an interview with Simon Garfield, author of [*Comic Sans: The Biography of a Typeface*](http://www.amazon.com/dp/1324086246/?tag=slatmaga-20&ref=brilliantcrank.com). They set the entire page in the font despised and frowned upon by many. Now and then I reach out to Jason Santa Maria to tell him how much I love looking and reading Slate because of his design direction and choice of typography. Meanwhile, Slate [seems to have](https://slate.com/culture/2014/09/comic-sans-defense-the-font-everyone-mocks-is-fine.html?ref=brilliantcrank.com) a [real thing](https://slate.com/culture/2014/09/comic-sans-defense-the-font-everyone-mocks-is-fine.html?ref=brilliantcrank.com) for [Comic Sans](https://slate.com/podcasts/studio-360-with-kurt-andersen/2019/11/guilty-pleasure-comic-sans?ref=brilliantcrank.com). I deleted my Twitter account this weekend and it was cathartic—I highly recommend it. Besides, it’s what all [the cool kids are doing](https://www.wired.com/story/taylor-swift-fans-leaving-x-following-trumps-election/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Published in Tacoma, Washington while jamming out to by *[The Low End Theory](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1Zqol7ARCk&ref=brilliantcrank.com)* by A Tribe Called Quest. ### Ctrl+Alt+Delete. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/ctrl-alt-delete/ Last updated: 2024-11-11T16:11:58.000Z Though this blog does not reflect it, I’ve written a few posts in response to the election. Twenty years ago, I would have typed furiously, clicked “publish”, and waited for the comments to roll in. Today I don’t have that kind of energy. I suspect neither do you. But think about the results and the many public reactions I have, many times. Thursday morning I woke up angry, and the more I thought about what happened the angrier I got. By 7 AM I was ready to put fists through objects or break a hand trying. The anger subsided not too long after I dug into the welcome distraction of breakfast, but the raw, gnawing feeling continued to linger. I don’t feel the need to spend any more time pondering the how or why of the results. Who cares? The old ways are just that. Nothing works as it should anymore. It's clear that this country is storming and forming so quickly that every part of the system is no longer relevant. Anything more on this topic should be relegated to an industry trade magazine—something like Campaign Manager Monthly—so we can move on to the more important question: what? As in, what now? Taking the time to think about my reaction on Thursday morning, it wasn't about the result of the election itself, but what this says about the condition of our country and a good portion of the population. One majority of voters chose to prioritize their fear, insecurities, and prejudice above American-branded values, principles, and the pursuit of justice. A large segment of that group can add religious morals, values, and principles to that list. The other majority chose to sit this one out. I don't care why. They are just as much of a pariah as the zealots. This is the persistent, unsettling issue I’m struggling to process: people knowingly chose to elect one of the most damaging figures in American history, all while claiming to uphold a set of beliefs and values that should reject everything he represents. They publically pardoned a convicted felon who is known to have committed rape and sexual assault many times over, and has more trials pending— in trade for, neigh, in the hope that he will lower the costs of consumer goods and make them feel safe. The problem with the state of our republic isn't Trump, it’s us, the people. This is where my head has been the last couple of days and I thought I might be crazy until I came across [*There’s No Denying It Anymore: Trump Is Not a Fluke—He’s America*](https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/trump-is-america-not-a-fluke/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) by Elie Mystal. > Trump is not a root cause of our ills. He did not create the conditions that allowed him to rise. He is, and always has been, a mirror. He is how America sees itself. > > If people would just look at him, they would see themselves as we’ve always been. He is rich, because we are rich or think we will be. He is crass because we are crass. He is self-interested because we are. He punks the media because the media are punks. He is unintelligent because we are uninformed. The president of the United States is the singular figure who is supposed to represent all Americans, and Trump reflects us more accurately than perhaps any president ever has. You and I have heard a lot about the “American Dream” all of our lives. We grew up with it—flying just in front of us like a majestic bald eagle. The picture-perfect painting of what it means to be a success in life. The American Life. We've also heard or read just as many times that the dream is just out of reach or over—perhaps dead and gone? For the majority of voters, this election wasn’t about freedom or oppression, it was about trying to preserve, if not claw back The Dream™: manufacturing jobs, post-World War II sense of security, home ownership, cold beer in the fridge, 85” televisions, and a new truck in the driveway. This is what guts me. We’re not a country about real values and principles anymore. We’re way beyond the 1776 Playbook here. Our so-called dream has morphed into an entitled right to shop at Costco with low, everyday prices and to act, say, and do whatever the hell we want while telling others they are not allowed to do the same. The United States is now nothing but the personification of the 1990s afternoon tabloid talk show. We are the best and worst of reality television walking the streets. And that’s why Trump has been so successful because America has turned into the one thing he truly understands and therefore knows how to manipulate: slightly scripted and untethered television. > Everyone who hates Trump is asking how America can be “saved” from him, again. Nobody is asking the more relevant question: Is America worth saving? Like I said, Trump is the sum of our failures. A country that allows its environment to be ravaged, its children to be shot, its wealth to be hoarded, its workers to be exploited, its poor to starve, its cops to murder, and its minorities to be hunted doesn’t really deserve to be “saved.” It deserves to fail. We've also had to hear that democracy has failed and our country is running towards a Second Civil War (and given the early Christmas present to the media, we haven’t heard the last of that shit either). We're not heading for another domestic war because we are already truck-nuts deep in it. The cameras have been rolling this whole time but we didn’t bother to hear the word,“Action!” Not convinced? Look at how long so many of our relationships and interactions with other Americans tiptoe around political eggshells. We openly and regularly joke about the cringe felt while being around family for fear that one comment will spark open warfare. Our children were avoiding homes at Halloween because there was sign promoting a certain political candidate in the front yard. And for how long has Thanksgiving felt like lunch at a truce negotiation. We have pre-agreed lists of trigger words and phrases to avoid lest someone get offended, throw down their napkin in disgust, and head back to their front line. Make no mistake, we have been at war for awhile now. This is stupid. America is stupid. And that is what angers, frustrates, and disappoints me so much right now. This isn't a question of whether democracy is worth saving—of course it is, what an dumb question! What's not worth saving is what the United States has become, a long running day-time reality show called *We the People.* ### What would Hunter do? URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/what-would-hunter-do/ Last updated: 2025-05-11T19:16:54.000Z A few weeks ago I happened to catch an episode of [*Freakonomics*](https://freakonomics.com/podcast/how-to-predict-the-presidency/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) while listening to NPR. The theme was the election with a long segment on two questions. "What kind of chaos would a second Trump term bring?" They didn't beat around the bush on the elephant in America's living room, can “Trump really destroy democracy?” In short the episode's guest, University of Chicago law professor Eric Posner, said no. That despite the rhetoric and desire for power, becoming and maintaining a dictatorship is not easy. “It's actually pretty hard to be a dictator. You have to be kind of smart, shrewd at least. You have to be tough. You have to be brave.” And he goes on to say that Trump is none of those things. > "It’s just hard to imagine him having this ambition to be a dictator. I know he wants power, and he wants to hold on to power. But I think he does it in an ad hoc way rather than the kind of shrewd, planned way that real dictators do to obtain power." In other words, Trump is too ADHD, dim, and lazy, to become a dictator. Let's face it, the guy can't even open a truck door. Posner nails it when he calls Trump’s style 'ad hoc' instead of strategic. Real authoritarians play the long game—every move is part of a calculated plot to lock down power. Trump, on the other hand, seems to run on pure impulse, tossing out directives like confetti and shuffling staff more often than a Vegas card dealer. It is hard for me to imagine that he's got the savvy to dictate in the manner that so many fear. Posner believes this next administration will be more like the one we saw during his first term, and the United States will live on. > “If you read about the history of the Ottoman Empire or the Roman Empire they had a lot of really terrible leaders for a long time and they would last a few more centuries I think it takes more than a bad president to destroy an Empire.” I does take more than a bad president and thankfully the one that just got elected doesn't have that many years in front of him. And though this guy definately pushes the boundaries we've survived more than him. We’ve been here before, in our own way. Take Nixon—another president who tried to elbow his way around institutional limits but eventually found out that even the best ‘I am not a crook’ routine only goes so far. American democracy has a funny way of hitting back when leaders think they’re above the rules. It’s a pattern: presidents push, the system pushes back, and we get a course correction. Our institutions have been roughed up before, and each time, they’ve proven they can take a punch and keep standing. [We survived Nixon](https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1994/07/he-was-a-crook/308699/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and the first Trump administration, and we'll do it again. It's time to dust off the [old playbooks](https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/hunter-thompson-fascism-nixon-freak-kingdom-politics-749623/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and dig in. ### The Dice — 024 URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-dice-024/ Last updated: 2024-12-24T19:25:01.000Z ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/brilliantcrank-dice-2-8.png) Welp, here we are, one day away from go-time. I honestly don't know how anyone is going to get anything done between now and Wednesday. Anxiety is on over time. As a sign of the times, our local grocery store is running a special for 10% off all alcohol on the 5th. We voted weeks ago so the only decision I have left to make is what flavor or brown water to buy. If you have any recommendations please make them in the comments. Good luck y'all, I'll catch you on the flip side. Until then, cheers! Let's move to this week's roll. --- ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-one-6.png) I love it when I get the same great advice—and inspiration—from two completely different sources. That was the case this week with financial advice from *Steal Like an Artist* author [Austin Kleon](https://austinkleon.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and retired professional wrestler and actor [Dave Bautista](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGxwn%5FN9DtE&ref=brilliantcrank.com) who played Drax the Destroyer in several Marvel movies. Yeah, you read that right. On [episode nine of the Art of the Possible podcast](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYOInuHCR0U&ref=brilliantcrank.com), Austin shares how he is able to create the life and work that he wants through advice he learned from his father: “Live below your means, drive old cars.” This is the same advice given to Bautista from fellow professional wrestler, the Undertaker: [“Live beneath your means.”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKgE2nrjSNU&ref=brilliantcrank.com) ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-two-6.png) ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/mediahabits.png) Image from the [Visual Capitalist](https://www.visualcapitalist.com/media-consumption-covid-19/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). There are several interesting insights in [Smashing Magazine’s Designing For Gen Z.](https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2024/10/designing-for-gen-z/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) “\[They\] have very diverse perspectives and opinions, and they possess a discerning ability to detect disingenuous content. That’s also where mistrust towards AI comes into play, along with AI fatigue. As Nilay Patel mentioned on Ezra Klein Show, today when somebody says that something is “AI-generated”, usually it’s not a praise, but rather a testament how poor and untrustworthy it actually is.” Another insight worth noting: “Mobile-only, not mobile first.” Gen Z “will use almost exclusively mobile devices to access your products and services.” Interesting, I think to myself, as I write this using an Apple Studio Display with Nano-texture glass. Design for your audience is important, but it’s vital that you speak their language. So you’re not in the dark, here are [the top ten most searched slang terms in 2024](https://www.newsweek.com/2024-most-popular-internet-slang-words-revealed-1978732?ref=brilliantcrank.com). ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-three-1-6.png) Jason Koebler’s [The Billionaire Is the Threat, Not the Solution](https://www.404media.co/the-billionaire-is-the-threat-not-the-solution/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) is your must-read article for the week. Jason, a former journalist for the Washington Post tears into Jeff Bezos’s decision to stop the newspaper from endorsing Kamala Harris. “The current owner of The Washington Post, Jeff Bezos, one of the world’s richest men and the current ‘[Adult in the Room](https://deadspin.com/the-adults-in-the-room-1837487584/?ref=404media.co)’ recently made what he described as a brave and shrewd business decision to win back reader trust. This calculated business decision has, famously, made 10 percent of the Washington Post’s annual revenue evaporate overnight and has led 250,000 people and counting to trust The Washington Post so much that [they canceled their subscriptions](https://www.npr.org/2024/10/29/nx-s1-5170939/more-than-250-000-subscribers-have-left-washington-post-over-withheld-endorsement?ref=404media.co).” Not that it matters, as Jason points out further in his article. Bezos has so much money that he can keep the Post running forever without a cent of revenue. The more difficult problem will be finding good newspaper-loving people [who are willing to work there](https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/28/media/washington-post-endorsement-subscribers-resign/index.html?ref=brilliantcrank.com). I’d love to see [more distruption in this industry](https://wordinblack.com/2024/06/breaking-news-daily-community-newspapers-are-thriving/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). I know it’s not easy, but when you read Jason’s passion for the news in his article and Molly White’s look at [the reality of being an indepedent journalist and publisher](https://www.citationneeded.news/i-am-my-own-legal-department/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), it seems very rewarding. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-four-7.png) I think by now we’ve all seen the footage of the [weather forecaster reporting on the storm surge of a hurricane](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q01vSb%5FB1o0&ref=brilliantcrank.com). While this method of storytelling does a great job of conveying the incredible and fascinating dangers of these storms, nothing beats the real thing. You have to watch this video of [Hurricane Ian washing away Ft. Meyers Beach, Florida in 2022](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igsz7cqg-Zk&ref=brilliantcrank.com). “The video begins just before 10am and ends at 7:40pm on September 28, 2022\. The camera probe is placed 15 feet up on a concrete pole at Estero Blvd and Ave C, facing northwest.” Watching the water roll over the camera at the 4:15 mark is incredibly terrifying and puts these events into greater perspective. I’m in awe and very thankful I don’t live near the path of hurricanes. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-five-6.png) Though I don’t have the data to prove it, I know that a good portion of subscribers are Swifties. Even if you’re not, I bet all of you will appreciate the design and details in Delayed Gratification’s [“minute-by-minute breakdown of the first Wembley show by Taylor Swift in June 2024.”](https://www.slow-journalism.com/infographics/taylor-swift-infographic?ref=brilliantcrank.com) The infographic charts the epic 40-song, three-and-a-half-hour show complete with wardrobe changes and audience reactions that included an audience-generated .08 magnitude earthquake. You can [find this lovely chart in issue #55](https://www.slow-journalism.com/delayed-gratification-magazine/inside-dg-55-taylor-swift-infographics?ref=brilliantcrank.com) on sale now. Delayed Gratifications is one of my favorite publications and I highly recommend subscribing. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-six-1-7.png) A staggering statement from the Monocle Design newsletter this week, [“Sixty percent of buildings that will exist by 2050 haven’t been built yet.”](https://monocle.com/minute/2024/10/30/?c=OnDesign/&ref=brilliantcrank.com) That seems insane, but by that time roughly [70% of the global population will live in urban areas](https://www.un.org/en/desa/68-world-population-projected-live-urban-areas-2050-says-un?ref=brilliantcrank.com), a significant increase from 55% in 2018\. “By 2030, the world is projected to have 43 megacities with more than 10 million inhabitants, most of them in developing regions.” Oxford Economics predicts that [global construction will grow to $14T](https://www.oxfordeconomics.com/resource/global-construction-futures/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) by the year 2037, driven by development in China, India, and the US while the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia will see the most growth. Maybe it's time to do something new. I'll just have to learn [Mandarin](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=it78SgsPAXE&ref=brilliantcrank.com). If you're looking for one more distractions click over to [Chris Glass' wonderful website](https://chrisglass.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) sporting a fresh coat of paint. Published in Tacoma, Washington while listening to Underworld's new album [Strawberry Hotel](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s%5F6F94CwCPk&ref=brilliantcrank.com). ### The Dice — 023 URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-dice-023/ Last updated: 2024-12-24T19:31:10.000Z ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/brilliantcrank-dice-2-10.png) As we get closer to November 5th it becomes harder to focus. Work is a welcome distraction and there is plenty of it to do, but the barrage of news, updates, emails, and text messages is nearing onslaught levels. It’s made me wonder how much daily news we really need. There’s nothing about my work and life that will be dictated by a conflict in the Middle East or Ukraine. I don’t need to know if the market was up or down or closed at another record high. There’s very little going on right now that necessitates that I get a daily update. I let my subscription to The Economist expire last month and I haven’t missed it. Makes me wonder what else can go. Time to roll... --- ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-one-8.png) ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/imrs.php.jpeg) ["Democracy Dies in Darkness."](https://anntelnaes.substack.com/p/democracy-dies-in-darkness) by Ann Telnaes In an unusual and what appears to me to be a bold move [the Washington Post told their editorial board to sit this one out](https://www.npr.org/2024/10/26/nx-s1-5166062/washington-post-endorsement-controversy?ref=brilliantcrank.com), leaving an opening for the paper’s lone humor columnist to make their [official endorsement for Kamala Harris](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/10/26/washington-post-endorses-kamala-harris-satire/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Alexandra Petri stood tall in her satirical response to Jeff Bezos’ quiet decision that has been turned into [headline news](https://daringfireball.net/2024/10/profiles%5Fin%5Fcowardice%5Fbezos%5Flewis%5Fwashington%5Fpost?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Though she may write satire for a living, I found her column to be a scathing rebuke of the paper’s editorial leadership as she reminds them of the impact of their cowardice inaction. “To be fragile is not the same as to be perishable, as G.K. Chesterton wrote. Simply do not break a glass, and it will last a thousand years. Smash it, and it will not last an instant. Democracy is like that: fragile, but only if you shatter it. Trust is like that, too, as newspapers know.” During a time when newspapers scramble to just exist, trust is the last thing they can afford to lose. Dark times indeed. Somewhat clairvoyantly, Rolling Stone magazine published [Amazon Alternatives: 11 Places to Shop Online Aside From Amazon](https://www.rollingstone.com/product-recommendations/lifestyle/best-amazon-alternatives-1136987/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) a few weeks ago. Since most folks don’t subscribe to the Post, here is another, perhaps more impactful way of sticking it to Bezos. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-two-8.png) While on the topic of the ongoing disruption and change in the world of print journalism is this little nugget: Costco’s magazine for members, blandly named *Costco Connections,* is “delivered to more households across the United States than Better Homes & Gardens, The New Yorker, and The Atlantic combined. Its reach is so vast that [*Costco Connection*is now the nation’s third-largest magazine](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/19/style/costco-connection-magazine.html?ref=brilliantcrank.com) by print circulation, behind AARP: The Magazine and The AARP Bulletin.” The magazine distributes a staggering 15.7M issue a month through mail and in stores. Many news companies like the [New York Times](https://www.nytco.com/products/t-brand-studio/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and the [Wall Street Journal](https://thetrust.wsjbarrons.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) have their own specialized service for creating branded publications. Costco built those capabilities in-house and I wonder if we'll see other retailers follow suit. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-three-1-8.png) Designer, author, and blogger from days gone by, Kelli Anderson, has re-appeared with a Kickstarter for her next book, [Alphabet in Motion](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kelli/alphabet-in-motion?ref=brilliantcrank.com). The book is her third popup after [This Book is a Camera](https://kellianderson.com/blog/2015/11/24/the-book-is-a-camera-really/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and [This Book is a Planetarium](https://kellianderson.com/blog/2017/10/03/this-book-is-a-planetarium/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). “Alphabet in Motion leverages tactile, interactive features, to help clarify how letters have transformed alongside technological upheavals and shifting aesthetic moods.” There is so much about this book that I look forward to experiencing, especially the essays. The book has already more than doubled the threshold for a successful project with twenty-five days to go. Now would be a great time to secure your copy. Though she has and continues to create compelling work, I will always remember Kelli for her [stand-up desk Ikea hack](https://kellianderson.com/blog/2013/12/30/a-stand-up-desk-ikea-hack/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-four-10.png) During the pandemic, Storeyhouse did not horde toiletries, but we may or may not have stocked up—apocalypse prepper style—on cases of [Shin Black Instant Ramen Noodles](https://www.worldofshin.com/shin-ramyun-products/shin-black-noodle-soup/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Somehow I don’t think we were alone as “the [US instant noodles market has grown 36%](https://sherwood.news/business/how-instant-ramen-noodles-are-conquering-america/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) in the past five years and was a $2.7 billion market in 2023\. The US sits sixth on the World Instant Noodle Association’s [demand rankings table](https://instantnoodles.org/en/noodles/demand/table/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), which measures the number of servings consumed per country.” America’s instant carb consumption is in good company though behind China, Indonesia, India, Vietnam, and Japan. We’ve come a long way from the days of [Cup O’ Noodles](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2CD3bIBaY0&ref=brilliantcrank.com). Last weekend I made my first trip to [H Mart](https://www.hmart.com/ramen?%5Fq=ramen&map=ft&page=9&ref=brilliantcrank.com) and I was in awe of their double-wide isle of instant carbs. I asked a clerk restocking packages like a madman how many varieties they carried. He replied with a look of tired surrender, “Hundreds.” ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-five-8.png) Sportsball is not everyone’s favorite topic, but for those on this list whom I know avoid anything to do with field-based competition, I implore you to appreciate the historical significance and classic match-up of this year’s World Series. Especially the last minutes of game one with the [first-ever walk-off grand slam homerun](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYSosH7mhLw&ref=brilliantcrank.com). This is akin to a moon landing in this sport so even if you don’t know what’s going on, at least appreciate the moment for what it is—the first of its kind in the history of the sport. I wish I could bring my two friends—lifelong [Yankees man Gruber](https://daringfireball.net/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and devoted [Dodgers man Caver](https://www.stephencaver.com/journal/she-is-gone-/?ref=brilliantcrank.com)—together to watch a game in this series and not say a thing, just sip a beer and listen. If you’re gonna hate the World Series, that’s fine, but at least read [The Hater’s Guide to the 2024 World Series](https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5863910/2024/10/23/world-series-dodgers-yankees-haters-guide/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-six-1-9.png) In the world’s epicenter of technology the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency announced this week they will spend[ $212 million dollars on upgrading their systems](https://www.wired.com/story/san-francisco-floppy-disks-muni-upgrade/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) that including ending the use of [5 1/4-inch floppy disks](https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/04/5-25-inch-floppy-disks-expected-to-help-run-san-francisco-trains-until-2030/?ref=brilliantcrank.com#page-2) to run the local light rail system. I don’t know about you, but I haven’t touched or seen a disk of that size since 1988\. “The floppies have been part of Muni Metro's Automatic Train Control System (ATCS) since its installation in the Market Street subway stop in 1998.” I’m scratching my head wondering how is that even possible because that’s the same year [Apple debuted the iMac](https://www.macrumors.com/2023/08/15/apple-released-imac-25-years-ago-today/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) noticeably [without a “floppy” disk drive](https://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/5bbtrw/that%5Fone%5Fglaring%5Fdesign%5Fmistake%5Fin%5Fthe%5Fimac%5Fis/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Planning for this upgrade began in 2018 and was expected to take ten years, but will likely go till 2030\. Which means their plans and designs are already years behind the curve. Innovation, innovation everywhere and not one for the train. Get some rest this week. E-day will come soon enough. Published in Tacoma, Washington while listening to [Cocteau Twins: Heaven or Las Vegas](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbbUeLkZt74&list=OLAK5uy%5FlxPYZGdCg185g6T9C1O--IoeLy1nvDT80&ref=sameteampartners.com). ### The Dice — 022 URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-dice-022/ Last updated: 2024-12-24T19:32:13.000Z ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/brilliantcrank-dice-2-11.png) Alright, before we get into it, let’s reset and clear our headspace with this [fresh perspective on life](https://www.reddit.com/r/MadeMeSmile/comments/1g6dhws/heres%5Fa%5Fperspective%5Fid%5Fforgotten%5Fabout/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Go ahead, The Dice will be here when you get back. Purple! I’m going to have that clip handy as the weeks ahead are not going to be kind to our anxiety levels and stress. [Hours could seem like days.](https://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/150932/what-did-enterprise-do-while-the-away-team-was-underground-on-regula?ref=brilliantcrank.com) As I write this there are 372 hours until November 5th. Hang in there! Ready to go when you are. --- ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-one-9.png) Betty Cartledge [voted for the first time in her life](https://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/newton-county/81-year-old-covington-woman-votes-first-time/B76JUNXUONBDRDI2V3PCNDGNFE/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) at the young age of 81\. “She had never voted before because her husband did not think she should. He died last year.” What an asshat, it’s a shame he lasted so long. Betty didn’t think her vote would count but after casting her first ballot she said “It was neat, it was good. If I’m here, I’ll be back again.” This is a great reminder that it’s not a matter of whether your vote counts but that you exercised your right to [make a choice](https://www.threads.net/@brilliantcrank/post/DBUtChHyuQF?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Meanwhile, [Kamala Harris soundly defeated Donald Trump](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/oct/20/incarcerated-vote-prison-mock-election?ref=brilliantcrank.com), 57.2% to 28.2%, by the inmates of San Quentin prison in a mock election overseen by the League of Women Voters and volunteers from [Mount Tamalpais College](https://www.mttamcollege.edu/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Let’s hope this is a sign of things to come. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-two-9.png) The first holiday of the season is upon us and by now Rob Weychert is halfway through his annual horror film cinephilia event, [Robtober](https://v6.robweychert.com/blog/2024/10/robtober/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). “This year I seem to be nostalgic for the age of Satanic panic, as I’ll be doing concurrent, chronological deep dives on The Exorcist and The Omen, two franchises with doe-eyed children in the grip of the devil, both of which started in the ’70s and both of which introduced new installments in the last year.” If you are not entertained by satan stuff, then consider these Halloween movie lists from [IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/list/ls068967417/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and [Turner Classic Movies](https://www.halloweenmoviesontv.com/turner-classic-movies-october-horror/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). On the lighter side of Satanic worship, the funeral of [The Prince of Sorrow, Azrael Abyss](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR2dsEZv578&ref=brilliantcrank.com) aka Todd. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-three-1-9.png) Blazo Kovacevic, associate professor of art and design at the University of Delaware is using LEGOs and his design skills to create sets that portray events related to illegal immigration. In this interview with Steven Heller, Blazo says, “I decided to use LEGO brick as a [medium for social commentary](https://www.printmag.com/daily-heller/the-daily-heller-toying-with-the-southern-border-crisis/?ref=brilliantcrank.com#utm%5Fsource=Print+Magazine&utm%5Fcampaign=24dab0855e-EMAIL%5FCAMPAIGN%5F2020%5F08%5F14%5F03%5F55%5FCOPY%5F01&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fterm=0%5F27ca5ffcdb-24dab0855e-338245139). At the forefront of all these projects is the effort to place us in the shoes of others, to not simply ignore problems because they do not personally affect us. This work encourages us to initiate a dialogue around personal privacy and the dehumanizing process of immigration and displacement. These issues, albeit uncomfortable to confront, offer opportunities for meaningful interaction and personal transformation.” There are four kits complete—[Human Trafficking](https://www.behance.net/gallery/165216933/LEGO-Immigration-SeriesHuman-Trafficking-Set?ref=brilliantcrank.com),[ Border Wall](https://www.behance.net/gallery/167780733/LEGO-Immigration-SeriesBorder-Wall?ref=brilliantcrank.com), [Migrant Boat](https://www.behance.net/gallery/174193595/LEGO-Immigration-SeriesMigrant-Boat?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and [Migrant Raft](https://www.behance.net/gallery/174190653/LEGO-Immigration-SeriesMigrant-Raft?ref=brilliantcrank.com)—and more are in progress. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-four-11.png) This week I learned that Switzerland used to be called Confoederatio Helvetica when it was established in 1848\. This is why the country’s [territorial domain ending is .ch](https://www.gandi.net/en-US/domain/tld/ch?ref=brilliantcrank.com#:~:text=ch%20is%20Switzerland's%20dedicated%20territorial,four%20official%20languages%20of%20Switzerland.) which was always weird to me until now. The type family, Helvetica, got its name from Linotype when it [renamed Neue Haas Grotesk](https://www.tiktok.com/@johnny.harris/video/7184536848687959339?ref=brilliantcrank.com) after its country of origin. And now you know the rest of the story. If you knew this already then I would like to know why this never came up in conversation. Also, [Helvetica still sucks](https://helveticasux.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). It is the type of choice of [people with bland taste](http://culturevore.blogspot.com/2013/04/talk-about-helvetica.html?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Those are not my words, but I stand behind them 100%. By the way, when was the last time you watched the [documentary](https://watchdocumentaries.com/helvetica/?ref=brilliantcrank.com)? ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-five-9.png) Apparently, this is the week I’m catching up on old news because I missed the story about the [Penguin Books vending machine](https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/mar/27/train-tomes-exeter-st-davids-station-opens-book-vending-machine?ref=brilliantcrank.com). The book publisher has a [history of book vending](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/book-vending-machines%5Fb%5F2945364?ref=brilliantcrank.com) beginning with the “Penguincubator, which appeared in London in 1937\. Conceived by Allen Lane, the founder of Penguin Books, the Penguincubator dispensed classic literature in paperback form for about the same price as a pack of cigarettes.” I see awesome things like this and immediately think I’m not living in the right place. On the subject of mobile media, The Criterion Closet is [hitting the road](https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/8593-the-criterion-closet-is-hitting-the-road?ref=brilliantcrank.com) in a sweet-looking, modified Freightliner MT45 step van. Inside is a replica of the closet which you may remember from [The Dice–016](https://brilliantcrank.com/the-dice-016/). Visitors will get three minutes to visit the space and select up to three films which they can buy at a 40% discount to celebrate [forty years of the collection](https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/8559-the-criterion-closet-40?ref=brilliantcrank.com). ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-six-1-10.png) I don’t know about you, but after decades of consuming Batman stories, I’m pretty burned out on the Bruce Wayne universe. I have some favorite storylines like [Night of the Owls](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://dc.fandom.com/wiki/Batman:%5FNight%5Fof%5Fthe%5FOwls&ved=2ahUKEwjcsvv30Z2JAxUqDDQIHXcsHncQFnoECDsQAQ&usg=AOvVaw3FaPkllLBPGrJY3TN6cSGQ) and Christopher Nolan’s trilogy, but nothing since has caught my attention. So, when I saw the first issue of [Absolute Batman](https://www.amazon.com/Absolute-Batman-2024-Scott-Snyder-ebook/dp/B0DGWL5YKT?ref=brilliantcrank.com) a few weeks ago I blew right past it. Then I caught news that it was going into a [third printing](https://www.dc.com/blog/2024/10/11/absolute-batman-1-goes-back-to-press-for-a-third-printing?ref=brilliantcrank.com) so I looked it up on Comixology to find 800+ five-star reviews. I don’t recall seeing a new Batman book receive such accolades in such a short time. After buying the first issue I have to agree with [every review](https://screenrant.com/absolute-batman-1-snyder-dragotta-changed-my-mind-review/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) the book has received. Absolute Batman is the story this franchise needs. Scott Synder’s writing is solid and Nick Dragotta's art is gorgeous for this big reset. Highly recommended. In another sign that DC might finally have its shit together, they’re [bringing back the Vertigo label](https://www.thepopverse.com/live-new-york-comic-con-2024-nycc-2024-dc-vertigo-nice-house-by-the-sea?ref=brilliantcrank.com) in 2025\. This news combined with [James Gunn’s work](https://www.gamesradar.com/dc-james-gunn-movies-shows-dcu-chapter-one-gods-and-monsters/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) should make for some interesting and entertaining stories in the future. Thank you to those subscribers who provided much appreciated feedback earlier this week. In case you missed it, [here you go](https://www.brilliantcrank.com/for-susbcribers-eyes-only/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Published in Tacoma, Washington while listening to U2's new track [Country Mile](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVW-xthPZSE&ref=brilliantcrank.com) and [Achtung Baby](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTxrgXWToZA&list=PL1s1DNmtn8DjDlkxBdOglc4ZMMv%5FfO-fQ&ref=brilliantcrank.com). ### For Susbcribers Eyes Only. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/for-susbcribers-eyes-only/ Last updated: 2024-11-05T17:36:16.000Z Before I get into it, thank you for becoming a subscriber. Inboxes are rightfully a well-protected space as are our time and attention so I appreciate being allowed in. Last weekend I wrote that I would make a “special request” for subscribers and so here we are. If you're curious to read more then you'll have to [join us](https://brilliantcrank.com/#/portal/signup). _This post is for subscribers only._ ### The Dice — 021 URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-dice-021/ Last updated: 2024-12-24T19:33:36.000Z ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/brilliantcrank-dice-2-12.png) My friend and business partner, Brett Harned just touched down in Austin, Texas. Tomorrow morning he kicks off the 2024 Digital PM Summit with the keynote presentation. It will be ten years to the day that he presented the opening keynote at the same event in the same town in 2014\. As part of his presentation, Brett will debut our new products and services that have been in development for a while. You can see everything on our [newly updated website](https://sameteampartners.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). It feels good to finally get these ideas and tools out into the world. This week I will be making a special request to my subscribers as I start to consider the future of The Dice. Today would be a great time for you to [join us](https://brilliantcrank.com/#/portal/signup) if you haven’t already. Ok already...let's go. --- ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-one-10.png) “At one point a woman named Cheryl sold classified ads for the *Press* and she’d yell at prostitutes on the streets, saying, “Don’t walk the street! Advertise in the *Press*!” Prostitutes would line up at the office to pay for ads with cash. “If they didn’t make it by the deadline, they’d be pissed”.” Who doesn’t like a good tell-all story about the life and death of an alternative newspaper? [The Anchorage Press is Dead: Far From Its Roots](http://www.crudemag.com/anchorage-press-is-dead?ref=brilliantcrank.com) feels like the complete backstory to any alt-press publication born in the pre-Internet 90s. It doesn't matter where you started your 20s, you're going to love this story because it could have happened anywhere. Speaking of alt things, [MetaFilter](https://metafilter.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) is trying to [raise much needed funds](https://www.gofundme.com/f/mefilter-2024-fundraiser?ref=brilliantcrank.com) to rebuild and evolve. Dust off your account and show some support. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-two-10.png) “A famed explorer was sure the ice hid something profound. Ninety years later, scientists have put forth the strongest evidence yet that he was right.” This story caught my attention because the aforementioned ice is the Ruth Glacier on [Mt. Denali](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denali?ref=brilliantcrank.com). In 1937, Bradford Washburn suggested that [beneath the ice was an incredibly deep gorge](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/08/climate/alaska-great-gorge-deepest.html?ref=brilliantcrank.com). “Deeper, perhaps, than any other gorge on the continent, and maybe even the planet.” This year some science guys used snow machines, mathematics, lasers, and sound to come to the conclusion that he was right. The gorge “from the summit of Moose’s Tooth to bedrock: about 8,085 feet. Hells Canyon, by comparison, plunges down 7,913 feet.” To help visualize this depth, check out [this comparison](https://www.christofteuscher.com/aagaa/announcement-riggins-to-imnaha-hells-canyon-traverse/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) between Hells Canyon and the Grand Canyon. It should also be known that [Moose’s Tooth](https://moosestooth.net/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) is the best place to get beer and pizza when you’re visiting Anchorage. Prepare to wait in line if you go during the tourist season. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-three-1-10.png) When I caught glimpses of the first screenshots from the game [Disco Elysium](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disco%5FElysium?ref=brilliantcrank.com) I went on a tangent to find and look at more. The art direction was just the tip of the iceberg into what what became a Metacritic Must-Play title that has opened the doors for a whole new style of [storytelling and gaming](https://kotaku.com/disco-elysium-sequel-rpg-canceled-xxx-nightshade-1851670948?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Even if you’re not into gaming, I think you’ll all appreciate this documentary on [how the game was made](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ax78lX5Edok&ref=brilliantcrank.com) including the many influences that range from HBO’s The Wire to Estonian punk rock bands. Also interesting is the story about how the “Thought Cabinet” feature almost [killed the game](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9X0-W5erEXw&ref=brilliantcrank.com). ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-four-12.png) "On October 3, the British government announced that it was [giving up sovereignty](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c98ynejg4l5o?ref=brilliantcrank.com) over a small tropical atoll in the Indian Ocean known as the Chagos Islands”…AKA a tiny dot in an incredibly vast body of water. Check that link and see how teeny tiny it is, you could [crush it](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6gLEpL6PkY&ref=brilliantcrank.com). Anyway, an indirect consequence of this handover and dissolution of the British Indian Ocean Territory could mean the removal of the .io domain from the Internet. [The Disappearance of an Internet Domain](https://every.to/p/the-disappearance-of-an-internet-domain?ref=brilliantcrank.com) provides a super interesting look into what happens to top-level domains when the related government ceases to exist. The article ends with sound advice: “Be careful when picking your top-level domain. Physical history is never as separate from our digital future as we like to think.” ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-five-10.png) Sadly, the last XOXO Festival was held back in August. Happily, videos from the talks are making their way online. I have not watched them all yet, but I stopped what I was doing to [watch Erin Kissane’s story](https://kottke.org/24/10/erin-kissane-on-trying-to-save-the-internet-for-the-humans?ref=brilliantcrank.com) about [her work](https://erinkissane.com/xoxo?ref=brilliantcrank.com), the COVID Tracking Project. Honestly, you should too because it’s insane to think about where we might be if she and others had not volunteered to pull together the resources and information to create the source of truth for COVID-related data because many levels of the government were not equipped to do so. Insanity! Erin is amazing and has continued to do more work including her most recent project on [Fediverse governance](https://erinkissane.com/fediverse-governance-drop?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Erin is amazing people. Somewhat related: After you have watched Erin’s video, make time to [watch Cable Sasser’s story](https://xoxofest.com/2024/videos/cabel-sasser/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) about an artist formerly unknown: [Wes Cook](https://wescook.art/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). And watch it all the way till the end, dammit, or you will miss out. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-six-1-11.png) Ending this week on a supportive note, chances are you and someone—scratch that—several people you know are [drained emotionally, mentally, and physically](https://www.apa.org/monitor/2022/01/special-burnout-stress?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Our mental images of what life should be or what we want it to be are in constant conflict with every ever-evolving reality. Oliver Burkman might have a fix for this in his new book called [*Meditations for Mortals*](https://www.oliverburkeman.com/meditationsformortals?ref=brilliantcrank.com). From the author, “\[The book\] is about stepping into a more meaningful, productive, absorbing and energizing life – not later, but right here in the midst of the overwhelm, the distraction, and the anxiety-inducing news headlines.” As summarized in the [Guardian's review](https://www.theguardian.com/books/article/2024/sep/12/meditations-for-mortals-by-oliver-burkeman-time-to-relax?ref=brilliantcrank.com), “we’d all be happier and more productive if we did what we could—and no more—while embracing our imperfections.” Sounds like the perfect title to start a book club. I can think of a few people in my life who don’t need this book right now. Enjoy your [Indigenous Peoples' Day](https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/10/08/a-proclamation-indigenous-peoples-day-2021/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Stay safe and subscribe! Published in Tacoma, Washington with [Duran Duran—Danse Macabre De Luxe](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dsl1rsCd14&list=PLSBWvYm8t6uaYkMbHOQl0ZHVuRPR2-rmk&index=1&ref=brilliantcrank.com) playing in the background on repeat. ### The Dice — 020 URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-dice-020/ Last updated: 2024-12-24T20:04:39.000Z ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/brilliantcrank-dice-2-33.png) Plans that have been in motion since the spring are finally nearing their conclusion. The work to get to that milestone took much longer than it should have but it feels good to be almost finished nonetheless. And the clarity and confidence gained through the extended timeline is priceless. After I hit the publish button, I’m off to enjoy a beverage made from fresh hops in the crisp autumn afternoon sun. October always flies by, no matter what’s going on or not and this year I hope to find a way to slow it down, at least for a few hours. Here’s issue 20 of your favorite variety newsletter, The Dice... --- ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-one-29.png) Wordpress CEO and manchild Matt Mullenwig showed his true colors, yet again, by [attacking one of the leading Wordpress-based companies](https://www.theverge.com/2024/9/27/24256361/wordpress-wp-engine-drama-explained-matt-mullenweg'?ref=brilliantcrank.com), WP Engine claiming they are a cancer to the community. Amidst the flurry of lawsuits and allegations being exchanged, Matt’s words and actions make it clear to me that this is just another ploy to line his pockets with more money—an ongoing Mullenweg theme. In response to his tantrum, [159 employees took an offer for severance](https://techcrunch.com/2024/10/04/159-employees-are-leaving-automattic-as-ceos-fight-with-wp-engine-escalates/?guccounter=1&ref=brilliantcrank.com) if they didn’t feel aligned with Matt’s ego. At the same time, [Mullenweg found a way to join a private Slack group run by and for former WordPress employees](https://www.threads.net/@poshy/post/DAvx7lGPx-z?ref=brilliantcrank.com). If that wasn’t creepy enough, he volunteered to pay for the Slack instance so that he could access the chat history. He eventually left after feeling, “unwelcome.” WordPress is the new Cybertruck. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-two-32.png) Mozilla rebranded a few weeks ago, but I didn't catch the story until a few days ago. The new brand is stark with a primarily black and white color palette with a hint of green screen. It reminds me of an Apple IIc. The dinosaur is there but in pixelated and animated form. I love it and can’t wait to see it in the wild. It’s Nice That has [all the images you could want](https://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/jkr-mozilla-rebrand-graphic-design-project-240924?ref=brilliantcrank.com) while Armin Vit at Brand New provides [the best commentary](https://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/new%5Flogo%5Fand%5Fidentity%5Ffor%5Fmozilla%5Fby%5Fjones%5Fknowles%5Fritchie.php?ref=brilliantcrank.com). “Overall, there is a strong foundation here with the new distinctive wordmark and a bit of levity and perhaps even pirate rebelliousness in the flag icon that should help galvanize users to (re)build a small segment of the internet into a greed-free zone.” I really want one of those pins! By the way, Mozilla should have a [theme song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYKupOsaJmk&ref=brilliantcrank.com). ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-three-1-29.png) Even in our new world of digital algorythum-fuled disinformation expanding by the day, it turns out that [human interaction is much more influential in elections](https://institutions.newscientist.com/article/mg26335062-800-is-digital-technology-really-swaying-voters-and-undermining-democracy/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). “It is useful to compare what we know about the effects of digital ads relative to other forms of electoral messaging. Research looking at the impact of door knocking or phone canvassing has shown larger effects, particularly when it comes to persuading someone to turn out to vote. In one analysis of several studies, face-to-face conversation was found to boost turnout by 2.5 percent, and phone calls from volunteers had a 1.9 percent effect. Digital ads therefore have a smaller impact than more familiar communication methods.” Power to the people! On the subject of elections, here’s an important reminder that [it is not possible for anyone to discover who you voted for in the United States](https://www.npr.org/2024/10/04/nx-s1-5129679/can-someone-find-out-whom-you-voted-for-explained?ref=brilliantcrank.com). They can find if you voted, but not who or what for. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-four-31.png) Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised by how much positive attention Dungeon’s & Dragons continues to receive as a way for people to improve their mental health, general disposition, and interaction with others, but I am. This week I came across similar stories from two, very different journals. From [ArsTechica](https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/09/roll-for-insight-using-dungeons-dragons-as-a-group-therapy-tool/?ref=brilliantcrank.com): “While the research is ongoing, many academics and therapists say they have already seen positive results implementing D&D as a therapeutic tool. Most recently, a group of researchers at the University College Cork published findings in the International Journal of Role-Playing showing that D&D can positively support a player’s mental health state.” And the [Havard Business Review](https://hbr.org/2024/10/why-gaming-is-good-for-the-workplace??ref=brilliantcrank.com): “In a study following 25 adults playing D&D regularly over the course of a year, researchers observed a decrease in the players’ general anxiety, stress, and depression over time. They also showed corresponding increases in self-esteem and self-efficacy.” Sounds good to me—LFG. Very related: The [new D&D Player’s Handbook](https://www.polygon.com/24210741/dnd-players-handbook-2024-phb-impressions?ref=brilliantcrank.com) was released a few weeks ago. Support your [local game store](https://boardgamegeek.com/wiki/page/Friendly%5FLocal%5FGame%5FStores%5F%28FLGS%29%5Fof%5Fthe%5FUSA?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and get your copy. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-five-30.png) I didn’t grow up with a Radio Shack in town but that doesn’t decrease the nostalgic value of this [archive devoted to their product catalogs](https://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Do yourself a favor and go back to the 50s and work your way from there. The layouts, typography, illustrations, everything is amazing. Then heading into the 70s where everyone is dressed like they're going to church or in evening formalwear. Don’t miss the archive devoted to the Tandy computer line starting with the TRS-80\. Also note that in every other photo of Radio Shack founder Charles Tandy he’s holding a cigar. Now that’s a *real* CEO! Want more nostalgia? How about a [visual archive of blank cassette tapes](http://www.tapedeck.org/index.php?ref=brilliantcrank.com)? I pirated more than a few albums on the [Sony UX Type II](http://www.tapedeck.org/400/sony%5F-%5Fux60%5F080417.php?ref=brilliantcrank.com), my preferred tape of choice because it felt solid. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-six-1-30.png) If you miss the [old days of Wired magazine](https://om.co/2024/01/02/is-optimism-wired-or-tired/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) then you’ll likely be happy to hear that so are [Om Malik](https://om.co/2024/10/03/meet-my-new-editorial-project/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and Fred Vovelstein want to bring back “optimism about the future, especially from a technological perspective.” The veteran technology journalist duo are starting a new publication called [Crazy Stupid Tech](https://buttondown.com/crazystupidtech?ref=brilliantcrank.com). From their first issue: “As Silicon Valley’s influence extends deeper into all corners of our economy and lives, there have never been more interesting, crazy, stupid and intriguing ideas and technologies out there. We don’t think they’re getting enough attention. So our goal is to tell you about those that really matter and explain why they matter.” Subscriptions are free, “at least for now.” Have you bought an official [Same Team Partners t-shirt](https://cottonbureau.com/people/same-team-partners?ref=brilliantcrank.com) yet? Published in Tacoma, Washington in silence. ### Put that Fresca down. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/put-that-fresca-down/ Last updated: 2025-05-11T19:17:44.000Z A link came across the old opinion desk today that I couldn’t help but find amusing: [Fast Company’s take on the New York Times](https://www.fastcompany.com/91199198/the-new-york-times-app-redesign?ref=brilliantcrank.com) updating their sixteen-year-old mobile app by *bringing back* tab navigation. Naturally, since this is a design article, we need to slap a shiny new name on a well-established graphic element. “The new app features a ribbon on top, which breaks the entire experience into sections, ranging from “news” sections including Lifestyle, Opinion, and a new Election 2024 tab. With the flick of your thumb left or right, you can hop between these different verticals. The core UX metaphor was borrowed from the NYT website (though categories were tweaked for the app), and isn’t so different than flipping through a newspaper to find the section you want. Visually, it’s all quite familiar. Functionally, the new ribbon is expansive.” Oh for the...why do designers always feel the need to “invent” a name for something that already exists? Ribbons? Really? This isn't a ribbon. Ribbons are what Microsoft throws into their software because they can’t prioritize a feature to save their stock price. They’re what you use to hide bloated toolbars in poorly designed applications. Steve Jobs never said it out loud, but you know he thought it: “If you see a ribbon, they blew it.” “Visually, it’s all quite familiar”—of course it is, because they’re tabs. You know, tabs! Like the kind we’ve had since 1995\. Tabs: that good ol’ visual navigation method that Amazon kept stacking until their website’s top bar was five inches tall, as they weren’t content with just destroying independent book, music, and movie retailers. Tabs! The reliable, functional way to visually—and to some extent, accessibly—help users explore a site’s content. Tabs: those rectangular shapes with rounded top edges and no border on the bottom. An accepted, easy-to-use navigation method that young, hipster designers decided was “too hard” to include in their light, airy web designs—so they tucked it all into an out-of-sight, out-of-mind symbol nicknamed after a sandwich. Ribbon, pffft. And while we’re at it, who put that cloud in the sky? Look, I’m glad to see navigation design finally come full circle, but I can’t help but wonder—what took so damn long? Also, the swiping is a nice touch. ### The Dice — 019 URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-dice-019/ Last updated: 2024-12-24T20:03:42.000Z ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/brilliantcrank-dice-2-32.png) This week it was reported that residents in the state of North Carolina found their [voter elidgebilty was removed](https://www.newsweek.com/north-carolina-removes-747000-voters-ineligible-1960110?ref=brilliantcrank.com) because they moved to a different county. Not a different state—which is understandable—but, you know, the next county over. I couldn’t find an exact number but clearly, these folks deserve to hear their voice heard in November. I’m not judging what North Carolina does, but I will judge you if you haven’t [checked if you can vote](https://vote.gov/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). And if you don’t vote then we can’t be friends. Now—tough love over—let’s get into this weeks rolls. --- ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-one-28.png) My inaugural issue of The Onion newspaper arrived in the mail and it’s exactly as advertised. Despite [Trump’s efforts](https://www.politico.com/story/2018/05/20/donald-trump-onion-stories-597809?ref=brilliantcrank.com), the newspaper is just as good as the original—if not better. I’m already looking forward to the next month’s issue. Upon opening my brain went back to college newspaper days and I was only slightly disappointed that I couldn’t find a [Zippy the Pinhead](https://www.zippythepinhead.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) strip. Otherwise, it’s perfect. If you haven’t joined yet, stop putting it off and [become a member](https://membership.theonion.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Speaking of finding Zippy, check out [Independent Voices](https://www.jstor.org/site/reveal-digital/independent-voices?ref=brilliantcrank.com), “an open access digital collection of alternative press newspapers, magazines, and journals, drawn from the special collections of participating libraries.” ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-two-31.png) The 50th season of Saturday Night Live began last night with the [season premiere](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLS%5FgQd8UB-hKwOV0OO14zHl74wtgDpKYv&ref=brilliantcrank.com) hosted by actor Jean Smart and a singer who I’m going to nickname Diabetes Post Malone. SNL now joins a [unique roster](https://variety.com/lists/longest-running-tv-shows/romper-room/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) of television programs to reach the fifty year milestone that includes Sesame Street and four soap operas. Wow, that is so many children and sands in the hourglass. A [movie about the debut episode](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZ9O%5Ftl5Npk&ref=brilliantcrank.com) in 1975 is on its way to theatres and the retrospectives are just beginning, starting with this piece of recollections by the [cast](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/27/arts/television/snl-1975-cast-crew.html?unlocked%5Farticle%5Fcode=1.OU4.yFHm.aXkziO3Jd23R&smid=url-share&ref=brilliantcrank.com) and another by the [critics](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/28/arts/television/saturday-night-live.html?unlocked%5Farticle%5Fcode=1.OU4.2JaH.LjTswUa3aKvF&smid=url-share&ref=brilliantcrank.com). While there are better casts than others I hope SNL will live on and make it to 100\. I can’t imagine television without “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!” ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-three-1-28.png) While we’re on a nostalgia vibe, who remembers watching the Computer Chronicles on PBS? Growing up the show was broadcast as Saturday morning cartoons were winding down. Not exactly gripping television, but in the 80s this was the only way for some of us to see new technology in action. The best episode, hands down, was the [demonstration of the brand-new Apple Macintosh](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmWOtf4Ziso&ref=brilliantcrank.com) by designer [Susan Kare](https://kareprints.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). The second best episode has to be the [“Battle of the Balls”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kX5N8lWpqLM&ref=brilliantcrank.com) with dueling introductions to the Commodore Amiga and the Atari ST. Also, check out [Bill Gates promoting the Macintosh](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5zeJyQ31rM&ref=brilliantcrank.com) as a platform for Microsoft products. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-four-30.png) [Gedeon](https://gedblog.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), this is for you, buddy. [*Celebrate Disco*](https://ko-fi.com/s/bc27350459?ref=brilliantcrank.com) is a zine dedicated to the world of Star Trek Discovery. It’s free, low-fi, wonderful, and contains a story submitted for a “writing challenge to combine a Taylor Swift song with a Star Trek story.” As part of this rabbit hole, I stumbled across a Mastodon instance dedicated to Star Trek called [Ten Forward](https://tenforward.social/about?ref=brilliantcrank.com) (personally I would have gone with Quarks). While on a nerd topic, here’s [a handy guide to Hoopla](https://aiptcomics.com/2024/09/25/guide-to-hoopla-tv-movies-comics-manga/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), “an excellent app that you can access from your local public library for free.” With Hoopla you can borrow books, comics, audiobooks, music, movies, and television programs. It doesn’t have, like, everything, but there is a lot there and all it requires is a membership to your local library. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-five-29.png) So here we are, AI robots have replaced humans in early-stage job interviews. Jack Ryan shared a [clip of his recent job interview with an avatar](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/jack-ry%5Fjobhunt-activity-7244861358691794944-RFjI/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) that is clearly out of sync with the audio. There’s only one way to describe this, creepy AF. [Jack had this to say about the experience](https://www.404media.co/ai-avatars-are-doing-job-interviews-now/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and use of robots for this process: “As someone who has interviewed upwards of 50 candidates for prior roles, human connection, and interaction is the single most important indicator of how a team will mesh and jive together. If an AI is running the early stage process, it eliminates potential candidates because of its algorithmic design,” he said.” Though I don’t like the idea—at all—of AI replacing people, I’ve been through enough shitty job interviews to know that there are a lot of humans with their own form of cognitive dysfunction. When it comes to job interviews, no matter who’s on the other side, it’s a [total crap shoot](https://legaljobs.io/blog/interview-statistics?ref=brilliantcrank.com). ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-six-1-29.png) This week a new organization called the [Social Web Foundation](https://socialwebfoundation.org/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) opened to the world to support "a growing, healthy, financially viable and multi-polar Fediverse.” The organization’s director, Evan Prodromou is the chair of the W3C’s Social Web Working Group and the author of a brand new book called ActivityPub: Programming for the Social Web. “With this book, you'll learn how to assemble ActivityPub-enabled clients for making new kinds of social apps on top of existing networks and build ActivityPub servers that create new human or automated accounts on the social web.” It’s good to see this side of the Internet mature and provide hope that all is not lost in Cyberspace. Also, here's a talk by Evan called [*A Bigger, Better Fediverse*](https://evanp.me/2024/09/16/a-bigger-better-fediverse/?ref=brilliantcrank.com)on “what has been happening on the Fediverse in terms of growth, but also what’s been improving in terms of trust and safety.” Hey, the holidays are here so get out, [touch leaves](https://mstdn.social/@ElleGray/113212287385328155?ref=brilliantcrank.com), and glow up! Published in Tacoma, Washington on the patio with [Phantogram](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmRb-bf5VJ0&ref=brilliantcrank.com) on eleven. ### The Dice — 018 URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-dice-018/ Last updated: 2024-12-24T20:02:47.000Z ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/brilliantcrank-dice-2-31.png) Will Ferrell and Harper Steele received multiple standing ovations at the Sundance Film Festival for their upcoming documentary Will & Harper. The film is about their road trip across the country while the two long-time friends get reacquainted after Harper’s recent transition. When asked how it felt to receive that kind of response [Will replied](https://youtu.be/eQnVPyCOHYk?si=RMsgInlclfbZoMvw&t=392&ref=brilliantcrank.com), “People are just ready for acts of Civility. They just want to see being nice to each other. And I think people just loved seeing that we can still hang out with each other.” Yes! Yes, I am. I am ready for this all day long. I hope you are too. With that said, let's roll. --- ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-one-27.png) In the last two years, it’s rare for a week to go by without a friend or former colleague announcing they have been laid-off from work. With so many people in tech out of work finding your next gig has similar odds to winning a lottery. We’re back to those days of needing ways to stand out just to get a foot in the door and [pizza might be the answer](https://www.dexerto.com/food/pizza-hut-launches-bizarre-pizza-box-that-doubles-as-a-resume-for-your-dream-job-2900274/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). “Pizza Hut is now offering free resume-printed pizza boxes for a limited time to help job hunters in New York City get their dream jobs.” Don’t apply for your next role, [send a “Reszames”](https://reszames.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and get “pizzemployed.” However, don’t expect any kind of 30-minute or less treatment. “Pizza Hut cannot guarantee that (i) a resume will be delivered to the potential employer, (ii) a candidate will receive an interview, and/or (iii) a candidate will receive a job offer or be hired.” With that kind of disclosure, no thanks! [I'll deliver it myself](https://www.amazon.com/Pizza-Delivery-Halloween-Costume-Accessory/dp/B0B89ZV3TG?ref=brilliantcrank.com). ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-two-30.png) I don’t miss big tech conferences, but I wish I had been at Dreamforce to watch comedian [John Mulaney takedown the industry and the audience](https://sfstandard.com/2024/09/19/comedian-john-mulaney-brutally-roasts-sf-techies-and-ai-at-dreamforce/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). The headline joke goes straight for the jugular: “Let me get this straight,” Mulaney said. “You’re hosting a ‘future of AI’ event in a city that has failed humanity so miserably?” Another direct hit: “The fact that there are 45,000 [‘trailblazers’](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lJhdMMb7%5F8&ref=brilliantcrank.com) here couldn’t devalue the title anymore.” But my favorite line has to be, “Can AI sit there in a fleece vest?” So good! He could have just said those three lines and nailed it. Pity Salesforce doesn’t have the confidence to post the full video. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-three-1-27.png) With so much going on these days, it’s easy to miss some extraordinary stories like that one time some very rich people took a spaceship up to, uh, space and [tested out some new space clothes](https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/sep/15/mission-complete-billionaire-returns-to-earth-after-spacewalk-jared-isaacman?ref=brilliantcrank.com). One of my new, most favorite people on Earth, [Fran Blanche explains how insanely risky](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KncR1kBwsmA&ref=brilliantcrank.com) these tests were to conduct. Meanwhile, NASA sent their own [flight of dummies](https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-synthetic-human-bodies?ref=brilliantcrank.com) on a similar mission. What is it with [billionaires' insatiable drive](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titan%5Fsubmersible%5Fimplosion?ref=brilliantcrank.com) to compete for the [Darwin Awards](https://darwinawards.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com)? I mean, go ahead for all I care. It just means fewer people in the upcoming Water Wars. Also, I’d like to point out these folks didn’t “spacewalk” anywhere. Watch the video and tell me you don’t see the same thing I do—[space whack-a-mole](https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/sep/12/polaris-dawn-astronauts-complete-first-commercial-spacewalk-spacex?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Nobody is walking anywhere! Pffft, they’re just bobbing up and down. Whack! ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-four-29.png) Hey, speaking of cynicism—“Cynics tend to suffer many more mental health issues than non-cynics, and also have a hard time connecting with people. Connecting with people is one of the fastest ways to improve our mental health. Social connections are like nourishment that can help us bounce back from difficult times.” That’s [Jamil Zaki](https://psychology.stanford.edu/people/jamil-zaki?ref=brilliantcrank.com), Stanford Professor of Psychology, laying down one of many profound statements on the most recent episode of the [Hidden Brain](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hidden-brain/id1028908750?i=1000669740834&ref=brilliantcrank.com) podcast. I don’t typically listen to this program but it came on the other day and I could not pull away. The episode, [You 2.0: Fighting Dispair](https://hiddenbrain.org/podcast/you-2-0-fighting-despair/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), goes into our need for trust and community and how both are closely related to the state of our mental health. “Living in a high-trust group is worth as much as a 40% pay raise.” The entire episode is worth your time and attention. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-five-28.png) A new iPhone launch means that it’s that time of year to evaluate [how much better the new camera is](https://daringfireball.net/2024/09/the%5Fiphones%5F16?ref=brilliantcrank.com) than the model that’s currently in hand. I’m fine with my non-AI camera-phone thanks, but I know others who are many models behind considering the upgrade. After a lengthy conversation with a few people who know a few things about cameras and camera software, we came to the conclusion that [all cameras are good cameras](https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/all-cameras-are-good-cameras/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). What’s more important is to [use the camera you do have](https://trope.com/blogs/news/there-s-a-saying-that-goes-the-best-camera-is-the-one-that-is-with-you-i-truly-believe-so?ref=brilliantcrank.com). The better, more interesting question is where is the best place to share photos in a post-Instagram world? While on the subject of camera phones, if you’re reading this on yours, then promise you will bring up this link on a larger screen—[2024 Astronomy Photographer of the Year](https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2024/09/astronomy-photographer-of-the-year/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Wow! ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-six-1-28.png) Substituting ground beef for ground turkey in the average American diet can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by “an average of 48 percent and water-use impact declined by 30 percent.” Here’s another staggering insight, “If only the 20 percent of Americans who ate beef in a day switched to something else for one meal, that would reduce the overall carbon footprint of all U.S. diets by 9.6 percent and reduce water-use impacts by 5.9 percent.” Those are the findings from [a recent study by Tulane University and the University of Michigan](https://news.tulane.edu/pr/swapping-just-one-item-can-make-diets-substantially-more-planet-friendly?ref=brilliantcrank.com). While beef consumption in the US is on the decline, it’s still [four times more beef than the global average](https://www.npr.org/2024/09/14/nx-s1-5003066/beef-climate-change-american-men-masculinity?ref=brilliantcrank.com#:~:text=That's%20according%20to%202022%20data,beef%20than%20the%20global%20average.). Personally, I’m good with skipping the turkey and going right to [mushrooms](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaARq5qw3jk&ref=brilliantcrank.com). Want a side of ants with that? Asked no one ever, but here’s a food alternative you likely didn’t know you needed in your life. [Chicatana ants](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEE31R%5F3drI&ref=brilliantcrank.com) are edible flying insects harvested by the dark of night during the first major rains of late spring and early summer. Oh, and they tend to not like being harvested and bite back. [Buy a pound](https://masienda.com/collections/all/products/chicatana-ants?ref=brilliantcrank.com) for yourself and let me know how they are. [Are you registered to vote?](https://vote.gov/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) Is your neighbor? What about your co-workers? Published in Tacoma, Washington on the patio with [Phantogram](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmRb-bf5VJ0&ref=brilliantcrank.com) on eleven. ### Nuts to this. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/nuts-to-this/ Last updated: 2025-05-11T19:18:08.000Z Today a friend pinged me on a chat channel and asked if I had heard about a mutual friend of ours. The way their message was phrased I assumed something bad had happened and replied in kind. “No, I haven’t. Is he okay?” In response, he told me about an Internet social-post fight and provided links to the action. “He said this”, hyperlink—“They replied”, hyperlink—and so on. Still not understanding who got offended by what, I clicked through, read a few lines of a message or two, and stopped. Somebody posted a thing, someone wrote a tone-deaf reply, and thousands of people were offended or angered and made it known in the comments. One aggravated man in particular sent out an entire email newsletter calling out the offender to shame them as publicly as you can with a subscriber-only publication anyway. Uninterested in following the thread any further, I wrote back to my friend in the chat channel, “Ah, this reminds me of the Twitter fights ten years ago between UX people. Nothing has changed.” Except this all took place on LinkedIn which, let's be honest, has turned into its own toxic pit. “This feels different. To me at least,” they replied. “It only feels different because more race, gender, etc. have been brought into these fights,” I said, “I look at the players and they’ve been doing this for years.” Except that as the year has gone on, everyone is wearing everything on their sleeve which makes it so incredibly easy to offend or be offended. Intentionally or not. I breathed a heavy sigh and pushed away from the computer, tired and suddenly feeling worn out. I don’t need this shit and I certainly don’t want it. For all the talk in the tech industry about developing and practicing empathy for others, I don’t see much evidence of it in practice at large. Years ago a well-known designer and community expert left the industry to pursue farming. Though I’m sure they still did some tech work they redirected their focus and life intent on plants and animals. At the time it seemed like a curious life decision. Now, I’m starting to think they were so far ahead of all of us. A month ago I came across a hazelnut farm in Oregon—a turnkey operation! If I have to be around nuts in this world, it may as well be the kind I like. ### The Dice — 017 URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-dice-017/ Last updated: 2024-12-24T20:01:45.000Z ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/brilliantcrank-dice-2-30.png) After avoiding any kind of illness for four years, this week I managed to get sick. Though I'm not happy about it, I did manage to get a few things done including [soft launching a new store](https://cottonbureau.com/people/same-team-partners?ref=brilliantcrank.com) for Same Team Partners. It's fun to see the real brand for this company start to take shape. Go get a shirt and then come back here and get your weekly Dice fix. --- ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-one-26.png) Sometime around the late 90’s Jason Kottke blogged about a new track he had come across on Napter (I spent a bit looking for the original post but could not find it. Maybe it was on Osii8). It was [Pete Tong’s Radio One Essential Mix with BT](https://soundcloud.com/mygoodoldsets/bt-essential-mix-live-in?in=user-778587494/sets/essential-mix&ref=brilliantcrank.com) playing in Washington DC. The show was one hour and forty minutes long and the bootlegs I found were split in two. For years I was only able to listen to the second part, but what I heard will forever be permanently etched into my senses as the standard for what passes for good electronic music. So, when I happened across this show: [Yoyaku instore session with Tomoki Tamura](https://youtu.be/3CCFIMrPpDY?si=K%5FrVq6rD60ZPA8vx&ref=brilliantcrank.com)—with similar vibes of its own—I felt that I had to share it. [Here’s the complete set on Soundcloud.](https://soundcloud.com/yoyaku/yoyaku-instore-session-with-tomoki-tamura?ref=brilliantcrank.com) Also, here’s an [insane archive of previous Essential Mix](https://archive.org/download/djmixes%5Fcollection%5Fby%5FoVPN.to%5Fv2/BBC%20Essential%20Mix/) recordings. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-two-28.png) When I came across the [Marber grid](https://penguinseriesdesign.com/2021/04/08/how-the-marber-grid-was-made-2/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) I could only think of four words, “what an elegant solution”. The grid is “one of the foundation stones of Penguin mythology, a design so clever that it is still studied more than half a century after it was made.” Go look at it yourself and marvel in its beauty. Romek Marber, a holocaust survivor, also made major contributions to several publications including *The Economist* magazine. Working there he created [the first art-directed covers](https://romekmarber.com/portfolio/economist/?portfolioCats=17&ref=brilliantcrank.com) with "bold images an immediacy that had a physical presence and visual force." I love [Marber’s recollection of the design process](https://romekmarber.com/portfolio/life/?portfolioCats=21&ref=brilliantcrank.com) from those early days. “Sometimes the wait for an editorial decision could be prolonged in which case we would go for lunch, usually to ‘The French’, a pub in Soho, hoping that on our return the cover feature story would have been decided. I would then make a quick sketch of what I proposed to do. By then it was getting late, and I would rush back to the studio to carry out the design. The artwork had to be at the printers by 9 am the next morning. I liked the speed, there was no time for second thoughts, and I liked the lively atmosphere of The Economist art department, the days there were always stimulating.” ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-three-1-26.png) “Brad Montague is an illustrator, speaker, picture book author, video creator, and all-around maker. He’s a self-proclaimed dreamer and doer. Above all, he’s a storyteller.” He’s also a genius who co-wrote a [children's book](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/735873/fail-a-bration-by-brad-and-kristi-montague/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and [created an event](https://montagueworkshop.com/50failabrations?ref=brilliantcrank.com) to normalize failure. “Failure is such a part of any creative endeavor or any human endeavor. And to normalize it as it’s not your identity, it is an experience, seems to be a rare thing.” Sadly it is and I’m glad to see other people working in different ways to do this. The topic was the broad theme for the [second season of the Sprints + Milestones podcast](https://sameteampartners.com/sprintsandmilestones/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). It’s amazing what we can learn from diving into how mistakes form, how to get through them and process what happened in the end. Reading Brad’s Great Discontent interview also reminded me how liberating it can be to position yourself to chase ideas and the magic that comes out of those moments. I’m also reminded and further inspired by Armin Vit and Bryony Gomez-Palacio who [moved away from Austin, Texas to Bloomington, Indiana](https://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/we%5Fare%5Fmoving.php?ref=brilliantcrank.com) so they could afford to continue pursuing their own business ventures, [UnderConsideration](https://underconsideration.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and [BrandNew](https://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-four-28.png) White House Executive Chef Cristeta Comerford recently retired after [serving](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Nev6Pe5UgU&ref=brilliantcrank.com) [five](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXJSFME7gXI&ref=brilliantcrank.com) [different](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4P7w%5Fwm6Ic&ref=brilliantcrank.com) [presidents](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J69Hl5n3Y3Y&ref=brilliantcrank.com) over 30 years. NPR’s Ari Shapiro recently interviewed Comeford. I loved her perspective on where American cuisine fits within the global scene. Her tenured view is that our cuisine, full of foods from cultures all over the world, is “like American jazz”—dishes made with an emphasis on improvisation over authenticity. Listen and read the [full interview](https://www.npr.org/2024/09/11/nx-s1-5107872/white-house-chef-president-cristeta-comerford-food?ref=brilliantcrank.com) or [watch the short](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/rzGCG4a0o90?ref=brilliantcrank.com). I hope she shares more of her experience and perspective in the future. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-five-27.png) I hope you all are keeping up with this season of Formula 1\. I don’t typically say that because the last ten years have been dominated by three-team dynasties with very little competitive effort. 2024 however is very different including personnel shakeups that include the premiere F1 car design savant [Adrian Neweym leaving Redbull](https://www.astonmartinf1.com/en-GB/news/announcement/adrian-newey-begins-new-chapter-with-aston-martin-aramco-formula-one-team?ref=brilliantcrank.com)—the absolute, giant, dominating team he co-created—for competitor Aston Martin. Meanwhile, the design engineers at Lego built a drivable McLaren P1, and had F1 driver Lando Norris drive it around the track at Silverstone. This is all Lego, not just some plastic pieces on an existing frame but [the entire car made up of “342,817 LEGO Technic elements](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-XXZilkAXU&ref=brilliantcrank.com) and an electric motor.” ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-six-1-27.png) Earlier this week I wrote about [my waning enthusiasm for new Apple technology](https://brilliantcrank.com/achievement-unlocked/). As for the automotive industry—Ford in particular—I have a very different and exceedingly hostile point of view. Two items came across the Opinion desk this week that are nothing short of stupid. Maybe worse. First is the [“Ultrawide Dashboard”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQJmLxiPbOQ&ref=brilliantcrank.com) which is a very long screen that stretches the entire width of the vehicle’s interior. If that's not enough, it has a second screen in the middle of the dash. Now, keep that image in mind when I share the second item: [Ford has applied for a patent to monitor passenger conversations and trip data to serve real-time advertising.](https://therecord.media/ford-patent-application-in-vehicle-listening-advertising?ref=brilliantcrank.com) “By monitoring dialogue between vehicle occupants the ad controller system can determine when to deliver audio versus visual ads, providing ads to drivers as they travel ‘through a human-machine interface (HMI) of the vehicle \[read: the Ultrawide Dashboard\]. Such systems and methods provide maximum opportunity for ad-based monetization.’” That’s worked so well for other industries this should be a slam dunk for Ford right? The Enshitification of Everything aka The Genesis of Idiocracy has begun. [Are you registered to vote?](https://vote.gov/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) Get ready because early voting starts soon! Published in Tacoma, Washington while bouncing around to [Yoyaku instore session with Tomoki Tamura](https://youtu.be/3CCFIMrPpDY?si=K%5FrVq6rD60ZPA8vx&ref=brilliantcrank.com) ### Achievement unlocked. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/achievement-unlocked/ Last updated: 2024-09-14T15:51:02.000Z This week, I came across some social media posts with sentiments I can relate to. [Take this question from John Hodgins](https://www.threads.net/@johnhodgins/post/C%5F3YCpXOOsX/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) about the latest iPhone announcements: “Is feeling ‘meh’ about the iPhone Pro versus the standard edition a sign of age? Like, giving up a bit?” Elsewhere, I read similar thoughts on the relentless piling on of advanced features that most people neither care about nor need. I used to upgrade my phone every year for the improvements in the camera. It’s incredible how much photography tech Apple has packed into such a small device, but now these phones have moved beyond what’s useful—or even aspirational—to me. Maybe it’s all the Stoic reading kicking in, but more, more, more doesn’t make for a better experience. It’s a shame, really, to see Apple veer off the path to simplicity. Where they are now reminds me of the time Steve Jobs returned to Apple in the ’90s. When he took over, Apple had 35 different computer models and even more SKUs. One of his genius moves was cutting everything down to four models: two laptops and two desktops—one segment for most people and the other for professionals. You don’t have to be a marketing or product whiz to see how this made buying a computer easy, especially during a time when PC manufacturers were bombarding us with endless options that left your head spinning. Sure, Apple kept packing more power into that simple lineup year after year, but those upgrades actually improved performance in ways you could see, feel, measure, and compare. We’ve long passed the tipping point where year-over-year improvements are noticeable. There are now rare moments—like the shift from Intel to Apple chips years ago—but after several years and generations into this platform, tomorrow’s tech doesn’t blow me away like it used to. And I know I’m not the only one thinking, feeling, and saying this. Our devices no longer present any real limitations to my ability to create and communicate. A go-to response is that this is a “sign of age,” as John put it. But I don’t see it that way. It’s not about age; it’s about experience. After two decades of upgrading phones every year, the technology just doesn’t matter as much anymore—it’s boring. I could say the same thing about gaming—a hobby I’ve enjoyed since grade school. The advancements in both hardware and software are nothing short of miraculous, but after 40 years of moving pixels around with a controller, there’s not much that feels new or innovative. It’s just more of the same, with one exception: the subscription model. Pay to play. And as you know, that’s everywhere now—even in appliances and cars. More crap no one asked for. I’ll save the new trend in the automotive industry to turn as much interior surface as they can into a computer screen for another post. I don’t know about you, but after four decades, I’m exhausted by more features. I’m starting to feel like Roy Batty—rain dripping off his face—delivering his last monologue to Deckard. So, is that a sign of age? No. It’s the exact opposite. Knowing when enough is enough and it’s time to move on—that’s a sign of wisdom and intelligence gained through a lot of experience. We’re not old, John, we're smarter. ### Who needs a race car when you can build the whole damn club? URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-road-less-raced-who-needs-a-racecar-when-you-can-build-a-whole-damn-club/ Last updated: 2024-09-23T17:17:42.000Z In middle school, remote control cars were all the rage, and the brand new Team Associated RC-10 was *the* car to have. My friends and I would go to races on Friday nights. The events were very ad hoc, and—because I grew up in Alaska—held in a school gym. I didn’t have a car of my own because my hobby was computers, specifically Commodore. Growing up in a household of very modest means, I had to choose one hobby or get a job, which I wasn’t old enough to do legally yet (you better believe I did as soon as I turned 14). So, I hung out with my friends, who had all the cool gear, and watched them race. Everything about the races was lame. The gym floor was super dirty and so slick that racers had to use foam tires coated in silicone just to get any grip. The lights were blinding, the noise was awful, and there was no setup. Racers crowded around the walls wherever they could find an electrical outlet to use for their battery chargers. Coats were scattered everywhere (remember, this was during the winter), and smaller kids ran around while mostly mothers tried to corral them into the corner of the gym that had all the mats. And there was nowhere to sit. Did I mention it was always dirty? In short, these venues sucked. Still, I really loved the hobby and seeing all the different cars and the technology that made it all work. Since I couldn’t afford a car of my own, I set out to do the next best thing: start a club with a much better track. Palmer, Alaska, the small town I grew up in, didn’t have many options. At first, I tried the brand-new middle school cafeteria, which I thought would deter small children from running around because there was no room or gym mats. The lighting could be more easily reduced, and the sound wasn’t as bad as the gym, but the floors were still a horrible surface to race on. Around the same time Palmer's one and only clothing store, Laymonts, closed indefinitely. They were the second anchor tenant of our version of a mall—which was really more of a strip mall with an indoor hallway connecting the two larger stores. The other anchor tenant was CARRS, the state’s largest grocery chain. Looking through the security gate and the outdoor windows, the empty retail space was immense. There was more than enough room to set up a track, create space for racers to prep their equipment, and section off a large area for family members and curious onlookers. The best part? Commercial-grade, low-pile carpet. Forget the foam tires with silicone, it was time to burn rubber—so to speak. My father helped me with the logistics, including going to the property management and pitching our idea. They loved it because it meant we would draw people to the property. CARRS loved it because parents could buy their groceries while their kids were at the track. And the racers loved the proximity to soda, candy, and snacks. It was a win-win-win. I called my club the Palmer Association of Remote Control Cars, or P.A.R.C.C. for short. I wanted something that had to do with cars, and that was the best I could come up with. Thanks to a lot of word-of-mouth, we opened with a pretty spectacular night of racing. My mother handled the money, collecting the entry fee from the racers. Within weeks, our numbers doubled and continued to grow until it was bigger than I ever imagined. Our members came from all walks of life, ranging from your typical suburban folks to rough-and-tumble members of a Vietnam vets biker gang. They were some mean dudes, but very kind to me. One night, I met a portly guy who had a super professional setup, with toolboxes and containers on a custom wagon of sorts. He was from Seward, a town three hours away, and had seen an ad I placed in the back of *Radio Control Car Action* magazine. He complimented what we had built. As our club grew, more adults started to chip in to help build a better track with ramps and such. We got so big that the local paper, *The Frontiersman*, came by to interview me and others about our club. After the article was published, we even started to draw spectators who came just to watch. As with many childhood interests, mine started to wane. I felt like I had reached the top of the mountain, and there wasn’t much more to do. So, I decided to leave my club in the hands of some of the adults, who turned it into a non-profit organization. They held a small awards ceremony and gave me a plaque to commemorate the founding of P.A.R.C.C. By the time I left, the club had 150 dues-paying members, including that one guy from three hours away. I turned 14, got a job, and later that year started high school. While P.A.R.C.C. was my first community, it would not be my last. I went on to start other organizations, culminating in co-founding the Bureau of Digital with communities like Owners Camp and the Digital PM Summit. Today, I see many folks lamenting the current lack of events to attend. An Event Apart is long gone, XOXO just closed its doors, and Config, like SXSW, is way too big to be meaningful. People aren’t wrong to long for human connection and community, but my advice is to stop waiting for someone else to create it for you. I started Creative Mornings San Francisco because I wanted my city to participate. After reaching out to Tina, I volunteered, and months later we opened the doors on Friday mornings at the Typekit office. I never got an RC10 or played with a remote control car again. Instead, I have memories and experiences that are second to none. Creating the community you want isn’t as difficult as it seems. Learn what’s important to the people you want to be around, spread the word repetitively, be a good host, and show up consistently. Do those four things, and you’re bound to pull together the community you seek. It’s not always easy, but it’s also not rocket science. ### The Dice — 016 URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-dice-016/ Last updated: 2024-12-24T20:00:44.000Z ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/brilliantcrank-dice-2-29.png) I have a tendency to take ideas and run with them like a bridge too far. When I had my own studio, my colleagues had a name for this particular personality quirk that they called “Storeysize.” I don't mind starting simple or small, but sometimes you just need to go the extra distance. That’s my way of sharing that this has been another week spent heads down making, shifting, changing, deleting, editing, and critiquing. It feels good to be just a few weeks away from launching a set of products and services. This also explains why this week's issue is super late! --- ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-one-25.png) “Tom taught us that design was not only integral to journalism, it was in fact integral to storytelling at its height. The front page that listed the COVID dead was more powerful than any one story could ever be.” ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/nytimes-sketches-1.png) Sketches of front page layouts by Tom Bodkin from Magazeum Tom Bodkin was a “college dropout with no design experience” who became a designer at The New York Times and worked his way up to become Chief Creative Officer. He retired after serving 46 years at the times, [20 of those serving on the newsroom masthead.](https://www.nytco.com/press/tom-bodkin-to-retire/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) In [*A Beginning and an End*](https://magazeum.co/content/tom-bodkin?ref=brilliantcrank.com), Tom and his work are lauded by former colleagues and then he speaks with Steven Heller (also a former colleague) about the history of design at the Times and his career there. A fascinating story and—as you’ll see—the body of work. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-two-27.png) We are a week away from the release of a must-have book, [Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr.: Citizen Printer](https://letterformarchive.org/shop/amos-paul-kennedy-jr-citizen-printer/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Amos is a badass who left his corporate job at the age of 40 to begin a new career in letterpress printing. His story and work are the subject of a feature-length documentary, [*Proceed and Be Bold*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i251DDffUzY&ref=brilliantcrank.com)*.* He’s an icon and an inspiration and the book looks to be a great representation of Amos (the pink spine is a perfect touch) and his work. [Partners in Print](https://partnersinprint.org/event/citizen-printer-book-launch/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and [Print Magazine](https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJEqd-upqzwrE9e245WhmdyUm3P6XTQe9I6J?ref=brilliantcrank.com#/registration) are hosting free virtual launch events for Amos’ book. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-three-1-25.png) Surfing the web (yeah bruh) this week brought me to an old but fantastic article by design critic [Anne Quito](http://annequito.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). [*Branding the World’s Newest Country*](https://worksthatwork.com/4/branding-south-sudan?ref=brilliantcrank.com) is a long read on the creative work that went into giving South Sudan a new look. “The symbols and semblance of nationhood exist: a flag, coat of arms, banknotes, a cultural complex, even a national beer.” You can [listen to Anne talk about her work](https://www.npr.org/2014/12/20/372070494/designing-state-symbols-for-the-worlds-newest-country?ref=brilliantcrank.com) in an interview with Scott Simon on NPR. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-four-27.png) Linus Sebastian aka Linus Tech Tips posted a two-part series on YouTube called [De-Google Your Life. Part 1: Start with Chrome](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnSv8ylLfPw&ref=brilliantcrank.com) provides a good overview of how evil Google is and how to begin removing it. The video has 2.1m views to date and features a long list of alternative software options in the show notes. Part 2: Ad-Free YouTube was [taken down by Google almost immediately](https://www.reddit.com/r/LinusTechTips/comments/1f8be8l/degoogle%5Fyour%5Flife%5Fpart%5F2%5Fremoved/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) after going live. I guess it’s okay to suggest alternative apps, but [nobody threatens advertising revenue!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apdZ7xmytiQ&ref=brilliantcrank.com) You can, and I suggest you do, [watch part two](https://archive.org/details/Linus-Tech-Tips-de-google-your-life-part-2-ad-free-you-tube-2160p-vp9) through capture on the Internet Archive. At the very least, stop using Chrome. Nobody should use Chrome. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-five-26.png) “The Criterion Closet. I basically feel like I’m at church, my church.” So begins [Winona Ryder’s session](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qAT%5FK%5FYQOA&ref=brilliantcrank.com) picking her favorite movies from the [Criterion Collection](https://www.criterion.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). I love watching these videos because you get to see the artist come out of the actors and directors who are the focus of each session. Too often we see popcorn interviews and conversations about their films but these shorts really draw out a knowledge about their craft that rarely gets to be seen and felt. Winona’s episode is full of heart and a love for film. Also check out episodes featuring [John Waters](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=std013XVxSk&ref=brilliantcrank.com), [Viggo Mortensen](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=We%5FwQnlroek&ref=brilliantcrank.com), [Patton Oswalt](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fH2lRZJMmSA&ref=brilliantcrank.com), and a cute couple session with[ Zoë Kravitz and Channing Tatum](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJqjhDImNcY&ref=brilliantcrank.com). Speaking of actors, if you haven’t watched [Jeff Goldblum play Zeus](https://www.netflix.com/title/80997258?ref=brilliantcrank.com) in the Netflix series *KAOS* then you need to re-prioritize your life choices. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-six-1-26.png) I know I’m way behind the curve but I have to share this submitted by The Dice foreign correspondent and pretend blog publisher, Anthony Baker. [Polaroid is back](https://www.polaroid.com/collections/instant-cameras?ref=brilliantcrank.com)—that part I knew—with a series of iconic-looking products that include [speakers!](https://www.polaroid.com/polaroid-music?ref=brilliantcrank.com) Speakers, you might be asking? Yes. I don’t know how that makes sense but they look awesome. Those colors are vibrant and on point. Just look at that blue! Also, [check out the accessories](https://www.polaroid.com/collections/accessories?ref=brilliantcrank.com) that carry on the brand expression in ways that make me want one of each item. I’m surprised that I haven’t come across more coverage on Polaroid’s colorful comeback. Reminds me of Apple in 1999 on a much smaller scale. Welcome to the end. Friendly reminder to RSVP for one of the two book launch events for Amos Paul Kennedy, Jr. Published in Tacoma, Washington while listening to [Luke Dorny's](https://lukedorny.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) excellent, eclectic [2024 playlist](https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/luke-now-2024-c/pl.u-doLxVTWd00z?ref=brilliantcrank.com). ### The Dice — 015 URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-dice-015/ Last updated: 2024-12-24T19:58:16.000Z ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/brilliantcrank-dice-2-28.png) The last week of August ended strong with a lot of work across multiple projects nearing the finish line. It also helped that the summer weather decided to return. Being that it’s Labor Day Weekend, I suspect open rates for this week’s issue will take a dip, but I enjoyed pulling this issue together with a nice blend of sources and topics. I hope you enjoy reading and clicking through as well. Travel safe and [let’s chat when you get back](https://calendly.com/gregstorey/1--1?back=1&month=2024-09&ref=brilliantcrank.com). We can either meet for the first time or get caught up. Either way, let's talk before the winter creeps in. Come on seven! --- ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-one-24.png) Verge editor Chris Welch [posted a frightening, neigh terrifying, demonstration](https://www.threads.net/@chriswelch/post/C-8LF4BOSAP/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) of Google’s “Reimagine” AI feature for photo editing that is horrifying. “Everyone alive today has grown up in a world where you can’t believe everything you read. Now we need to adapt to a world where that applies just as equally to photos and videos." There are practical uses for AI, but this is not one of them, and I don’t understand why tech companies are forcing these tools upon our society that is so, so, so, not prepared in any way to respond. It’s timely that California lawmakers approved [a ban on deep fakes](https://apnews.com/article/california-ai-election-deepfakes-safety-regulations-eb6bbc80e346744dbb250f931ebca9f3?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and for tech companies to provide detection tools to users. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-two-26.png) “It was my coworker Tyson Evans who first suggested that HBO should make a gritty series about the vicious [New York City newspaper wars of 1896 - 1911](https://www.tumblr.com/harrisj/7884329283/newspaper-wars?ref=brilliantcrank.com), and thinking it over, I'd have to agree that it would be amazing. As Tim Carmody pitched it, ‘It's Deadwood Meets Citizen Kane.’ and thinking it over, I'd have to agree that it would be amazing." How could you not watch that?! Check out the notes on all of the many historical figures and events that writer Jacob Harris added to his hypothetical pitch. I would love every minute of this series and watch it many times over. Sadly, this post—albeit awesome—is from 2011 but maybe someone at A24 is reading this? ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-three-1-24.png) After twelve years at the desk, New York Times restaurant critic, Pete Wells shared his closing perspective on how much the industry has changed [“…and Not for the Better.”](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/06/dining/pete-wells-how-restaurants-have-changed.html?unlocked%5Farticle%5Fcode=1.BU4.1SXz.vdQUnKStbGPg&ref=brilliantcrank.com) Pete laments how much technology has taken away the human interaction—the humanity—of dining and amped up the wrong behaviors and expectations of customers. Sadly, Pete’s critique is not only of a cherished industry but society itself where human interactions have evolved into transactions. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-four-26.png) I might have to start another publication as an excuse to use [Departure Mono](https://departuremono.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), a typeface designed by Helena Zhang that is inspired by “the constraints of early command-line and graphical user interfaces.” It’s perfect. While you’re clicking around I also recommend checking out [Helena’s personal site](https://www.helenazhang.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and her other project, [Phosphor Icons](https://phosphoricons.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). While on the subject of icons, here is a proposal to use an [asterism](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asterism%5F%28typography%29?ref=brilliantcrank.com) (as seen here: ⁂) as the [symbol for the Fediverse](https://symbol.fediverse.info/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). “In astronomy, it refers to groups of stars in the sky, akin to constellations,” and it’s already baked into Unicode (U+2042). ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-five-25.png) Proving the [Internet is Tokyo](https://intersectionalthinking.substack.com/p/the-internet-is-tokyo), earlier this week I came across [Obsolete Sony](https://linktr.ee/obsoletesony?ref=brilliantcrank.com), “a journey through Sony’s history.” Distributing content across many channels including [a newsletter](https://substack.com/@obsoletesony/p-147475651?ref=brilliantcrank.com), Obsolete Sony offers a look back at Sony’s incredible catalog of fantasticly designed consumer and professional products. Many which I remember and some I had no clue existed, like [Sony’s foray into personal computers](https://substack.com/@obsoletesony/p-147475651?ref=brilliantcrank.com) in the 80s with a variable speed control for the processor—mind blown! ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-six-1-25.png) One of my favorite magazines, [Delayed Gratification](https://www.slow-journalism.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), published [Metropolis now](https://www.slow-journalism.com/long-reads/metropolis-now?ref=brilliantcrank.com), a look at “world’s newest cities, many of which are—or are destined to become—their country’s new capital.” A fascinating read written and photographed by Nick Hannes as part of his research on a new book, [New Capital: Building Cities](https://www.lannoopublishers.com/en/new-capital?ref=brilliantcrank.com) from Scratch. Yo! [ Have you double checked if you are registered to vote this Fall?](https://www.usa.gov/confirm-voter-registration?ref=brilliantcrank.com) It takes all of two minutes. Tick tock tick tock! Published in Tacoma, Washington with [Nightmares On Wax](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=%5FQ7IJOYxAMo&ref=brilliantcrank.com) on play. ### The Dice — 014 URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-dice-014/ Last updated: 2024-12-24T19:57:15.000Z ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/brilliantcrank-dice-2-27.png) So here we are, the unofficial, last week of Summer. It’s also the exact time of year that I celebrate being married to Kitchen Storey aka the Rocket Scientist. This year marks thirty years as a couple and all but one of those years as a married couple. Very few people can hold a candle to our master ninja skills in love, empathy, diplomacy, communication, and collaboration. I share this because it’s been a rough year and this is the one win that nobody can take away from me. I don’t know how your year has gone, but I suspect not as good as you would like. If that’s the case I encourage you to think about your own win that no one can take away from you—any will do—and plant your feet firm on that rock. Also, this is the time of the year when way too many people go apeshit over [artificially flavored pumpkin beverages](https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/ill-drink-this-pumpkin-spice-latte-before-labor-day-but-only-because-demons-are-making-me?ref=brilliantcrank.com). If you or someone you know is afflicted with this illness, I encourage seeking medical help. 3... 2... 1... --- ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-one-23.png) We in Storeyhouse are square in the middle of Paris Olympic withdrawals. While the videos are all accessible, I enjoyed the collection of photos in the essay [Shoot like a pro: how the best photos of the Paris Olympics were taken](https://www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/aug/12/shoot-like-a-pro-how-the-best-photos-of-the-paris-olympics-were-taken?ref=brilliantcrank.com). While on the subject here’s an update from the guys at Framelines magazine [reviewing photos submitted to a community challenge](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rq7uGcAl5NI&ref=brilliantcrank.com). I heart these guys and what they create. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-two-25.png) Here’s a very thorough [interview with magazine designer and publisher Richard Turley](https://magazeum.co/content/richard-turley?ref=brilliantcrank.com) whom you might know through his work on Bloomberg Businessweek many years ago. Once you click through you’ll see a fantastic gallery of his work on Bloomberg and other publications including a certain, phalic cover for a story on hedge fund managers. [Richard walks through his art direction](https://youtu.be/dW4CgFuDCFE?si=HzFbE9Fy-L9BeYWl&ref=brilliantcrank.com) of that cover in particular in this short interview clip. Also, as a follow-up to last week's news about the Onion turning to print, here’s an older article, but still very relevant—[Strategies of Growth for Niche Magazines in the Digital Age](https://beckandstone.com/thought/strategies-for-niche-magazines-in-the-digital-age?ref=brilliantcrank.com). ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-three-1-23.png) When I came across the artwork of [Ed Fairburn](https://edfairburn.com/about/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) my jaw dropped. As he describes, “I manipulate paper maps to construct other forms, usually portraiture. I call this process topopointillism; a direct combination of topography and pointillism.” I call it “Wow!” Look at the piece [Aberdeen Harbour](https://edfairburn.com/project/aberdeen-harbour/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and try to remain silent. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-four-25.png) I’m going to guess that most subscribers will feel incredible nostalgia for the documentary [The Art of Warez](https://flash---art.com/2019/10/the-art-of-warez-oliver-payne-kevin-bouton-scott/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). “The work can be hilarious, fascinating, and dazzling, while there is something exotic about artist operating within such tight constraints and finding their increasingly baroque modes of expression,” writes Eli Diner who interviewed the documentary filmmakers Oliver Payne and Kevin Bouton-Scott. A young Brilliantcrank dreamt of being a part of a warez crew. I always thought it would be so cool. After you’ve watched the documentary, read [*Warez: The Infrastructure and Aesthetics of Piracy*](https://punctumbooks.com/titles/warez-the-infrastructure-and-aesthetics-of-piracy/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) by Martin Paul Eve. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-five-24.png) In a recent issue of the must-subscribe weekly, [Sentiers](https://sentiers.media/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), Patrick Tanguay added to my belief that [the world isn’t going to be run over by AI any time soon](https://sentiers.media/frameworks-think-better-three-reasons-were-in-an-ai-bubble-no-320/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) through his thoughts on the article, [Three reasons we’re in an AI bubble](https://www.platformer.news/ai-bubble-tech-stock-decline?ref=brilliantcrank.com). “ChatGPT was the fastest growing tested platform ever but a huge percentage of people never went back to it. AI is a rare combination of being seen as software but requires massive investment, like computer hardware and anything require an assembly line. That new combination of development, ‘testing,’ and adoption curves might mean we need to evaluate it differently in terms.” ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-six-1-24.png) Lastly we have a crazy program, The Wild World of Public Access TV Iceberg Explained. It's extremely bizarre but after I saw the clip [Dance O’ Dance](https://youtu.be/igZ7C4O4Km8?si=VBCikzMfmwBuCruG&t=4674&ref=brilliantcrank.com) I had to share because it reminds me of what a Sunday night with DJ Boba Fett spinning at the [Elysium](http://www.elysiumonline.net/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) in Austin, Texas looks and sounds like. If you know, you know. [Have you checked if you are registered to vote this Fall?](https://www.usa.gov/confirm-voter-registration?ref=brilliantcrank.com) It takes all of two minutes. Don't put this off and get it done. Published in Tacoma, Washington in the still silience of a sunny day after a week of rain. ### The Dice — 013 URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-dice-013/ Last updated: 2024-12-24T19:56:20.000Z ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/brilliantcrank-dice-2-26.png) Though I’ve posted this a few times already, I believe it’s worth sharing yet again because it’s that powerful. [Hopefulness is the warrior emotion that keeps the devil down in the hole.](https://brilliantcrank.com/hopefulness-is-the-warrior-emotion-that-keeps-the-devil-down-in-the-hole/) Hope—A warrior emotion! My battery feels like it’s charging once more. After a few bumps, we finally flipped the switch on the new website for [Same Team Partners](https://sameteampartners.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). It’s so frustrating trying to develop code anymore and relying on others has been both a godsend and a lesson in patience. That said, if you need a fantastic Ghost developer, I can not recommend Cathy at Spectral Web Services enough. She’s honest, kind, and super smart. Last thing and then we can roll out of here. I’ve added a feature at the bottom of the newsletter to indicate what you thought of this issue. Click your feelings, I’d love the feedback whatever it may be. --- ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-one-22.png) I’m happy to share that upon request, [Chris Glass](https://chrisglass.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) has collected his [I’m Voting Postcards](https://chrisglass.com/voting-postcards/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) for everyone to buy or DIY. “Someone I love…votes down (Republican) party lines. This family member will open conversations about politics in earnest, but I never have thoughts organized to truly engage. So I started to organize my thoughts." The result is a set of beautifully designed (of course they are, it’s Chris after-all) thoughts on why he’s voting [*Forward*](https://obeygiant.com/?id=93721&ref=brilliantcrank.com). ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-two-24.png) WCBS 880 AM news radio will [cease broadcasting](https://www.audacy.com/wcbs880/news/local/wcbs-880-to-end-all-news-format-after-nearly-60-years?ref=brilliantcrank.com) at the end of this month after six decades of reporting. Sadly, they are not alone as [more news radio stations in the US and Canada plan to shutter](https://www.cnn.com/2024/08/16/media/news-radio-local-wcbs-wnyc-sign-off-job-cuts-spotify/index.html?ref=brilliantcrank.com). I wonder how many of us can even recall the last time any of us listened to AM radio. It’s been a while for me, but I do remember many nights as a kid listening to Paul Harvey tell [*The Rest of the Story*](https://www.npr.org/2014/10/09/354718833/the-rest-of-the-story-paul-harvey-conservative-talk-radio-pioneer?ref=brilliantcrank.com) through my Panosonic AM radio tucked underneath the pillow. Adios AM [news radio!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61jX4SBVIwQ&ref=brilliantcrank.com) You know in about a decade or so, some asshat will come up with a new idea for a startup to broadcast “download-free” podcasts. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-three-1-22.png) I use my phone’s native camera more than any other app. I know there are alternatives out there but I just haven’t been drawn to use any of them regularly. That might change with the next version of [Halide](http://halide.cam/download?ref=brilliantcrank.com) with its [Process Zero option](https://www.lux.camera/introducing-process-zero-for-iphone/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). “It skips over the standard iPhone image processing system. It produces photos with more detail and allows the photographer greater control over lighting and exposure. This is not a photo filter—it really develops photos at the raw, sensor-data level.” ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-four-24.png) [Manuel Moreale](https://manuelmoreale.com/about?ref=brilliantcrank.com) announced a cool project and I’m happy to help promote it. “I’m starting a new weekly series called ["People and Blogs"](https://manuelmoreale.com/people-and-blogs?ref=brilliantcrank.com) where I ask interesting people to talk about themselves and their blogs. My dream is to be able to spend my time helping people going online with their blogs and discover that there are better ways to inhabit the web.” I am here for more of these projects and, like Manu says, better ways to inhabit the web. I’m also ready to be interviewed. Speaking of too damn cool personal sites, check out [Aaron Shapiro's](https://www.aaron.mn/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Aaron designed the site for [404 Media](https://www.404media.co/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). This is a site you have to click around to really appreciate the work. Including his [brand work for 404](https://www.aaron.mn/work/404?ref=brilliantcrank.com), which includes logo variations based on the look of [warez](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warez%5Fscene?ref=brilliantcrank.com) from back in the day. Warez! ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-five-23.png) Check out this headline: “Digital only news service plans to thrive through newly unearthed technology called print.” It’s true! [The Onion](https://theonion.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), the site of satire, home of real Midwest grain-fed Fake News is [heading to the press](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/16/business/media/the-onion-print-paper.html?unlocked%5Farticle%5Fcode=1.DU4.FBbb.HUaZLoIyl0uB&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare&sgrp=c-cb&ref=brilliantcrank.com). A real press, like, with paper and ink and stuff! “This week, The Onion began distributing a print edition for the first time in more than a decade and will soon deliver it monthly to everyone who subscribes to its site. The move is a throwback to the publication’s roots as a campus weekly in the late 1980s.” This is the way. [A full-year subscription is only $60](https://membership.theonion.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and if you care about building a better future and improved mental health you’ll subscribe. I did as soon as Dice Foreign Correspondent [Anthony Baker](https://mastodon.social/@AnthonyBaker?ref=brilliantcrank.com#.) sent over the link. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-six-1-23.png) Let’s end on a [feel-good](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqtV0BTh66o&ref=brilliantcrank.com) story where being lost at sea and corned beef and pastrami converge. Nathan and Kim Maker, from Oklahoma, [took a trip to the Gulf Coast](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/30/dining/kenny-ziggys-deli-lost-at-sea.html?unlocked%5Farticle%5Fcode=1.D04.yHz3.Qu0LE%5FSziE13&smid=url-share&ref=brilliantcrank.com) where they intended to enjoy a delicious meal at [Kenny & Ziggy’s](https://www.kennyandziggys.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) after doing a little scuba diving. The weather started getting rough, their tiny boat was lost, and the Makers spent forty hours “bobb\[ing\] in the Gulf of Mexico more than 20 miles offshore. They got stung by jellyfish and pried sucker fish from their legs.” Thankfully, they were rescued but in pretty bad shape. Days later, as soon as they were released from the hospital, they went right to the deli. Did that make you hungry? Here's a map of [the best Jewish deli in every state](https://www.myjewishlearning.com/the-nosher/this-map-shows-the-best-jewish-deli-in-every-state/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Sadly, Kenny & Ziggy's did not make the cut. Hey! [Make sure you are registered to vote](https://www.usa.gov/confirm-voter-registration?ref=brilliantcrank.com) this Fall. Some states are now requiring registered voters to re-apply. And **then* have a good week. Published in Tacoma, Washington while listening to [*So Red the Rose*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c%5FmI-IRQNbI&ref=brilliantcrank.com) by Dura...Arcadia ### Spending two minutes in the Design Pit of Despair. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/spending-two-minutes-in-the-design-pit-of-despair/ Last updated: 2024-08-17T18:24:33.000Z Pinging around the Indieweb I came across the personal site for Jim Nielsen and his latest post, [My Failed Personal Site Redesign.](https://blog.jim-nielsen.com/2024/my-failed-peronsal-site-redesign/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) Scanning the headline, my empathy immediately kicked into high gear as I have been there myself too many times. And I know anyone reading this has likely been there too. I was pleasantly surprised that what I thought was going to be a short, ranty, kind of post is actually a pretty thorough look at Jim’s design process from start to finish. Nice! > As you can probably guess from the title, I decided to keep what I have and throw away what I built. I never really got this to a place where I liked it. I liked it pretty good on desktop, but mobile was an afterthought in the design phase and it shows in how I tried to make the design fold down to narrower screens. Jim, I have—*neigh,* we have—all been there. As much as I love Ethan Marcotte to death, I curse the day he showed me Responsive Web Design. Beep, I know I said, “Oh, cool,” but inside I was like, “Dammit, this is going to ruin everything.” And it did. Trump was elected and we endured a pandemic. You may not see these events as connected but I saw it plain as day—the dead, rum-soaked chicken sprawled across the pentagram, in between the Fall birch-scented Yankee Candle candles. Amateur voodoo practices aside, let's get back to Jim... > I still really like the style. And I might try it again. But this exercise made me realize how hard it is to pull off something that seems so simple (I already knew that, but it was re-emphasized yet again). The design is great! It reminds me of days gone by. Elements of the sketches remind me of elements from something Mike Rundle or Matt Brett would have come up with in those early days. But I understand that transforming one screen into the other and getting it right is a challenge that requires a lot of work. More effort than we have energy for anymore. I say we because I know a person or two who is in that same spot right now. I’m glad Jim rolled back the repository and continues to publish. That’s more important though I understand when it doesn’t feel that way. ### Hopefulness is the warrior emotion that keeps the devil down in the hole. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/hopefulness-is-the-warrior-emotion-that-keeps-the-devil-down-in-the-hole/ Last updated: 2025-05-11T19:18:34.000Z An interview with the artist Nick Cave on The Late Show is floating around social this week and a clip of the last few minutes caught my attention. I don’t follow Nick or his work but I get the sense that he’s ruffled a few feathers in his life. The loss of two sons seems to have awakened a new type of person, one who is remorseful of the past but finds hope in the future. And that’s what I want to share here, the idea of “hope as the warrior emotion” as Nick put it. Here’s the transcript of what Nick shared. If you prefer, watch the [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8qmV6MYCF4&ref=brilliantcrank.com). > Valerio from Stockholm \[asks\], “Following the last few years, I'm feeling empty and more cynical than ever. I'm losing faith in other people, and I'm scared to pass these feelings on to my little son. Do you still believe in us human beings?” > > So, this is the \[reply\] that I wrote. > > Dear Valerio, > > Much of my early life was spent holding the world and the people in it in contempt. It was a position both seductive and indulgent. The truth is I was young and had no idea what was coming down the line. It took a devastation to teach me the preciousness of life and the essential goodness of people. > > It took a devastation to reveal the precariousness of the world, of its very soul, and to understand that the world was crying out for help. It took a devastation to understand the idea of mortal value. And it took a devastation to find hope. Unlike cynicism, hopefulness is hard-earned, makes demands upon us, and can often feel like the most indefensible and lonely place on earth. > > Hopefulness is not a neutral position. It is adversarial. It is the warrior emotion that can lay waste to cynicism. Each redemptive or loving act, as small as you like, such as reading to your little boy, or showing him a thing you love, or singing him a song, or putting on his shoes keeps the devil down in the hole. > > It says the world and its inhabitants have value and are worth defending. It says the world is worth believing in. In time, we come to find that this is so. > > Love, Nick. I’m ready for hope—all of the hope—and listening to this mans's newfound perspective rejuvenates my energy on the search for more. ### The Dice — 012 URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-dice-012/ Last updated: 2024-12-24T19:55:07.000Z ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/brilliantcrank-dice-2-25.png) Hitting issue twelve feels good. I don’t know why but I figured if I can make it to this issue and add more subscribers then perhaps there is something here. While I believe that finding a niche or two is helpful, I didn’t want to get too specific starting out. I’m still on the fence as to what The Dice will become, but it’s interesting to look back and see what patterns emerge. That’s as good of a reason as any to start something and keep going until you’ve made enough that you can look back to see the way forward. Hey, speaking of making something, Brett and I dropped our eleventh episode of [The High Five](https://rss.com/podcasts/weeklyhighfive/1603696/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) podcast. Thank you to my subscribers and followers. I hope you have enjoyed the journey thus far. That said, yo, let's go! --- ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-one-21.png) We have to start with [*Morgenmete*](https://www.morgenmete.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com)*,* a magazine about "the absurdity of life through the setting of breakfast." As a fan of both breakfast and the absurdity of life stumbling across Morgenmete feels like a strong signal from the universe. Go read the current feature, [Waffle House Meets Menu Hacks](https://www.morgenmete.com/features/waffle-house-wont-entertain-your-menu-hacks?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and then subscribe. We need more publications like this in the world. Also, check out [Small Kitchens for Serious Chefs](https://www.nevertoosmall.com/post/small-kitchens-for-serious-chefs?ref=brilliantcrank.com), a photo essay from another, new to me, magazine *Never too Small*. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-two-23.png) [*Saturday Night*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZ9O%5Ftl5Npk&ref=brilliantcrank.com) was a pleasant surprise to discover this week. It’s a movie about the story of the creation and broadcast of the first Saturday Night Live episode in 1975\. The chaos and combat portrayed in the trailer make SNL’s historic run seem like a miracle. The look of the characters and the setting are spot on. [Check out the photos](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/story/saturday-night-first-look?ref=brilliantcrank.com) from *Vanity Fair*. I’m sharing this specifically for [Jared Christensen](https://www.jaredigital.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), but it will appeal to all SNL fans, [the origin story of Wayne's World](https://youtu.be/yE0IDm9Pdgo?si=GcckRaPKbYdMn8D&ref=brilliantcrank.com). ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-three-1-21.png) By now everyone has seen the epic, unforgettable photograph by Jerome Brouillet of [Gabriel Medina and his surfboard](https://time.com/7005239/olympics-surfing-photo-tahiti-gabriel-medina-jerome-brouillet/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) suspended in the air. How can you look at that and not forget the world around you for a minute? The Olympic games always provide [iconic captured moments](https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5693488/2024/08/11/olympics-best-photos-paris-games/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) but there are few that stand out as much as John Dominis’ photo from the ’68 Summer Olympic Games in Mexico City. [The Most Meaningful Photo in Olympic History](https://patrickwitty.substack.com/p/the-most-meaningful-photo-in-olympic) provides the backstory and looks at other significant photos from past Olympic games. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-four-23.png) Finding good, commercial free photography is never easy so to have a new tool like [Openverse](https://openverse.org/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) is a godsend. It is a tool for searching “800 million creative works” that are free to use from sources such as NASA, The Smithsonian Institute, Wikimedia Commons, and Flickr. Now go [get your collage on](https://www.masterclass.com/articles/what-is-a-collage?ref=brilliantcrank.com). ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-five-21.png) I spent some time working my way through[*Wired Japan*](https://wired.jp/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) recently ([Japanese web design FTW](https://youtu.be/vi8pyS076a8?si=WWmarAxgxHEM8XQk&ref=brilliantcrank.com)) and came across the book [*The 10 Influential Creators for Magazine Design*](https://www.amazon.com/10-Influential-Creators-Magazine-Design/dp/4894446405?ref=brilliantcrank.com). In the book, there is a short story about each designer with a lot of pages devoted to showcasing their work and—so cool—photos of their studio. Oddly enough—given the design style that he’s known for—David Carson’s studio is the cleanest out of the bunch. Speaking of messy studios here’s *Show Your Work* author [Austin Kleon](https://austinkleon.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) on [Why Having a Messy Studio Can Help You as an Artist](https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-messy-studio-help-artist?ref=brilliantcrank.com). ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-six-1-22.png) In case you’re still a big fan of AI maybe you might reconsider after learning that Google’s stupid search bot [uses enough electricity in one second to charge seven electric cars](https://jalopnik.com/google-ai-uses-enough-electricity-in-1-second-to-charge-1851556899?ref=brilliantcrank.com). If that doesn’t move your heartstrings then perhaps the learning that [“significant water consumption associated with training and deploying AI models in data centers.”](https://www.forbes.com/sites/federicoguerrini/2023/04/14/ais-unsustainable-water-use-how-tech-giants-contribute-to-global-water-shortages/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) I can hear the CEO of Google in the near future now: "Let them drink [Brawndo!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMHfBobgLSI&ref=brilliantcrank.com)" I hope this stupidity doesn’t last too much longer. It’s clear that [most of the world doesn’t want AI](https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/google-controversial-dear-sydney-gemini-ai-ad-pulled-nbc-olympics-1236094028/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) for most of the tasks it’s been glued to. Meanwhile, cancer still looms large but thank god for AI-enabled appliances! Thanks, stupid techbro asshats. --- Have a good week and never forget — 4 8 15 16 23 42. --- Published in Tacoma, Washington while listening to [*Rōnin I*](https://unkle.bandcamp.com/album/r-nin-i-non-mixed?ref=brilliantcrank.com) by UNKLE ### The Dice — 011 URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-dice-011/ Last updated: 2024-12-24T19:54:01.000Z ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/brilliantcrank-dice-2-24.png) A few days ago I wrote about my observation of the Internet becoming increasingly quiet. Some people take this to mean the Internet is dying while others are saying it’s already dead. I don’t buy either of these arguments but it does seem that more and more folks are [pulling back from engaging online](https://brilliantcrank.com/proof-of-life/). Our own Tower of Bable is crumbling while being patched up by more algorithms and AI, and one thing is clear: Few people know where to turn to fill the Internet size whole in their social life. We'll start there and then roll our way through a few stories of inspiration. --- ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-one-20.png) I quit Instagram years ago when I thought it could not get any worse. So when I came across [*Why I Hate Instagram*](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/08/instagram-friends-photos-videos/679341/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) I was shocked by just how bad it’s become. An algorithm-fueled feed that "thwarts my efforts to see all the photos posted by people I know and chose to follow, I call bullshit.” Sounds like a metaphor for all social network platforms today. Om Malik recently opined on social media: “It’s starting to be infested with misinformation and AI-generated content. The utility is rapidly declining, and I think controlling or avoiding it altogether is a good way to keep my mind fresh.” So, he’s started [intermittent social media fasting](https://om.co/2024/07/30/intermittent-social-media-fasting/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Want to reduce your time spent on social and find a better life? [Kill your apps and reconfigure your phone.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=%5FL-WUrZ7tJM&ref=brilliantcrank.com) ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-two-21.png) Even if you don't like the subject matter, you have to check out this super 16-bit parallaxed report, [*Who killed the world?*](https://pudding.cool/2024/07/scifi/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), by data journalist and professor Alvin Chang. Seriously, you have to see this and scroll through it to appreciate the effort that went into making it. Alvin studied 200 science fiction films produced from the 1950s to the current and found that “over the last few generations, it’s been harder for us to imagine this better world.” Speaking of dystopian entertainment, we’re now three months away from [season two of Silo](https://www.apple.com/tv-pr/originals/silo/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Now is a great time to catch up on the show. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-three-1-20.png) Found in Steve Makofsky’s [*Espresso Shots*](https://makoism.com/espresso-shots-7-27-24/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) weekly, a [simple guide to cure writer's block](https://perell.com/essay/how-to-cure-writers-block/?ref=brilliantcrank.com): “Don’t try to be creative at your computer. Staring at a flashing black cursor against a blank white page will never inspire new ideas.” TL;DR: Get out in the world and start capturing inspiration. Observe and interact with people. Fill your mind with imagery, sounds, smells, and stories. And when your brain is full, then go back to the screen. For more inspiration and ideas, I recommend reading the article [*Do Interesting*](https://medium.com/do-book-company/dont-try-to-be-interesting-do-interesting-d9c8610cd63a?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and then [the book](https://thedobook.co/products/do-interesting-notice-collect-share?ref=brilliantcrank.com). ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-four-22.png) In [*What's Next vs. What's Now*](https://nazhamid.com/journal/whats-next-vs-whats-now/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), the wonderfully thoughtful Naz Hamid shares a perspective on what he considers success in life and wealth. “We might put emphasis on the non-worthwhile parts of what it means to "make it." I highly value experiences: travel, experiencing different cultures, and prioritizing health and life outside of work as wealth.” Bam! As always, Naz is a great source for reflection and recentering the universe. If you need a second opinion, look no further than the [How Much is Enough](https://davidcummings.org/2010/10/25/how-much-is-enough-a-story-from-jimmy-johns/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) sign hanging in your local Jimmy Johns. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-five-20.png) Internet writing legend Josh [“Fireland”](https://fireland.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) Allen is publishing a serialized, pulpy maritime crime comedy called [*Chokeville*](https://www.chokeville.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). It’s the kind of snappy writing that makes for a great read. For example, here’s a synopsis of chapter 24, My Idiot Mitts: “The sisters go shake down a shipbuilder for the money he owes to a bookie. He’s resistant to the idea, and also naked, and also flings a knife at Mina. Batya is irritated by all this and proceeds to break his fingers. Seems excessive!” Be sure to subscribe! Related: Josh makes a brief, but very supportive appearance in the brilliant Sandwich commercial for Slack called [*WFH*](https://sandwich.co/work/slack-wfh/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). It was shot during the pandemic and the [making-of](https://sandwich.co/work/slack-wfh-bts/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) is just as good, if not better, than the commercial. Also: The [Sandwich dad hat in navy](https://goods.sandwich.co/collections/hats?ref=brilliantcrank.com) (aka the best one) is back in stock. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-six-1-21.png) Continuing on the theme of writing, I have to share this entertaining and very helpful article, [*Dungeons & Dragons Taught Me How to Write Alt Text*](https://ericwbailey.website/published/dungeons-and-dragons-taught-me-how-to-write-alt-text/?ref=brilliantcrank.com)*.* “I don’t know about you,” writes Eric Bailey, “but I’d want to know about the red dragon’s presence and activity a lot more than the quality of the masonry. There’s also another odd bit of putting too much detail on the wrong thing.” The entire article is gold and should be shared often. On the subject of accessibility, my friend Stacey Swineheart Ganderson recently published her must-read book, [*WCAG for Designers*](https://makeadaptivework.com/products?ref=brilliantcrank.com)*.* --- Alright, that about does it for me. Have a great week. Support your local journalists by subscribing and supporting. --- Published in Tacoma, Washington while listening to [Elton John's Rocket Hour](https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/elton-johns-rocket-hour/pl.9192e00c1da741719f7b4816d164031e?ref=brilliantcrank.com) ### Proof of life. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/proof-of-life/ Last updated: 2025-05-11T19:18:57.000Z It’s rare to find anything useful on LinkedIn these days. I can’t think of a [more apt description](https://www.sfgate.com/tech/article/linkedin-laid-off-california-workers-19607067.php?ref=brilliantcrank.com) than “LinkedIn has become a cesspool of business-themed shit-posting.” In response to my thread on this article, [Rob Ford of FWA fame](https://thefwa.com/fwa-jury/rob-ford?ref=brilliantcrank.com) replied, “It’s social media. All channels are the same. In fact, the entire internet is this now.” Indeed, LinkedIn feels and smells like a Springfield-sized [tire fire](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZZFTXDuT8g&ref=brilliantcrank.com) as does much of social media, but I would argue that not all creators or writers or whatever you want to call them are to blame. I think some part of the blame is the lack of engagement. Whereas just a few years ago people clicked and tapped or joined and subscribed, engagement is a fraction of what it used to be. Yesterday Brett told me about his conversation with a long-time but out-of-touch acquaintance who said he was following him on social channels. He even referenced a post that Brett made the day before but didn’t tap an emoji and leave a reply. Even a few years ago, that would not have been the case. While it’s fundamental to posting or publishing on the Internet that you should never expect to receive any type of response, for those of us who have been at this for decades it feels off. It feels like the sphere of the Internet we are in is dying and it’s time to explore. However, I don’t think that’s exactly the case. I believe the very people out there who used to engage—contributing with a reply or endorsing with an emoji—have taken a step back to simply observing. They, you, me, we, are still out there but for whatever reason we’re mostly silent now. I don’t expect, nor do I want, the world to go back to the way it was, but I do hope that something—anything—will change to give more folks the strength, energy, and humanity to engage again. Whether it's here or somewhere else, I don't care, but we can’t expect a better planet if we’re not interacting in one form or another. ### Old rugged cross. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/old-rugged-cross/ Last updated: 2025-05-11T19:19:18.000Z I didn’t get to know my grandparents very well since we lived thousands and thousands of miles apart. I can count how many times I recall being around them on one hand, maybe one hand and a finger. I do remember being extremely excited to see them each time but I also remember it felt like having to restart the relationship as we had to get to know each other all over again. A few days later they would board a plane and head home. One of the last times I saw my Grandpa Warfel was when I was in high school. During our tradition of catching up, I shared that I was enjoying my drafting class. He got up and left the room and returned a few minutes later with a kit. I could tell it was old by the worn and somewhat frayed edges of the leather. He opened it and started to take out tools of the drafting trade. A pen set, the inkwell, rulers, scales, templates, and a compass. Each item was in great condition, but well worn and aged with a particular smell. I was confused as to why my grandfather had these items because I had only known him as a pastor (like Grandpa Storey). It was then that I learned that my grandfather studied architecture in college. So did his brother. They, along with his father, started an architectural firm somewhere in the Midwest. The new business was off to a good start but it quickly died, a casualty of the Great Recession in the 1930s. The family struggled to find work—as did so many at that time—and that’s when Grandpa Warfel made the hard decision to hang up his kit, his dreams really, and begin a very long career as a pastor. As far as I know, he never tried going back into architecture. I think about my grandfather's story and how so many people in design are struggling right now to find work. Any work. And I wonder how many of those same people will be in design a few years from now. The exhaustion is palpable and I come across too many folks who are finding it difficult to dream. The window cleaners outside my flat today look busy. They are on top of the roof, with paper plans in hand, and having a lively conversation. I can’t make out what they are saying, obviously, but I do know this, it has absolutely nothing to do with AI. ### The Dice — 010 URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-dice-010/ Last updated: 2024-12-24T19:52:06.000Z ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/brilliantcrank-dice-2-23.png) I don’t know about you, but I feel 100% better than I did a week ago. We have a new presidential candidate who has inspired way, way, way beyond expectations. Everywhere I look on social media, I find stories of people coming out to support Kamala Harris. It feels to me like there is a cause worth fighting for, one that has a chance of winning beyond an election. [I Understand The Assignment](https://www.voteamerica.com/register-to-vote/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and I hope you do too. After following the Tour de France throughout June, I’m ready for a new sport to watch and the Olympics are delivering in spades. The basketball games are super competitive, men's soccer is doing alright (they're not as good as our women's team), and we finally get the highlights team we deserve with [Keven Hart and Kenan Thompson](https://www.peacocktv.com/stream-tv/olympic-highlights-kevin-hart-kenan-thompson?ref=brilliantcrank.com) (I’m still working through my Bob Costas and John Tesh childhood nightmares). Ok, rolling... --- ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-one-19.png) Last week I came across Ben Brown’s [Happy Net Box](https://happynetbox.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), “an experimental internet social experience based on the arcane and near-forgotten retro internet protocol known as Finger.” Naturally, I created an account. It got me thinking about other older protocols, namely Gopher. Turns out there is a slice of the Internet that is [actively hosting Gopher servers](https://www.theregister.com/2022/05/23/the%5Freturn%5Fof%5Fthe%5Fgopher/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and posting content regularly. Meanwhile, I missed the memo when Paul Ford started [Tilde Club](http://tilde.club/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) back [in 2014](https://medium.com/message/tilde-club-i-had-a-couple-drinks-and-woke-up-with-1-000-nerds-a8904f0a2ebf?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and it appears to be going strong. Want to go back in time? [Surf the community gallery.](https://tilde.club/~tweska/gallery/M.html?ref=brilliantcrank.com) ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-two-19.png) Speaking of niche Internet experiences, I’ve seen this statement a few times across social recently by Derek Thompson, a writer for *The Atlantic*: [“The Internet is Tokyo. The Internet allows you to be niche at scale.” ](https://theimpactgeneration.net/the-internet-is-like-tokyo/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) It’s a beautiful metaphor for how Derek thinks we should [fight the instinct to create for the biggest audience.](https://theimpactgeneration.net/the-internet-is-like-tokyo/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) “The best way to produce things that take off is to produce small things. To become a small expert, to become the best person on the Internet at understanding the application of Medicaid to minority children or something like that.” ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-three-1-19.png) During these interesting times, I seriously wish Spy magazine was still in publication. After all, they were the original Trump antagonists often using his images to portray him—zine style—as the clown baby that he is. So I thoroughly enjoyed this [interview with Spy co-founder, Kurt Andersen](https://magazeum.co/content/kurt-andersen?ref=brilliantcrank.com). I love that he thinks about magazine covers as “cool posters.” The interview is a playbook for starting and running a magazine. If you’ve never read Spy then you’re in luck as [every issue is online](http://books.google.com/books?id=24tXv1nFv40C&as%5Fpt=MAGAZINES&source=gbs%5Fall%5Fissues%5Fr&cad=1&atm%5Faiy=1990#all%5Fissues%5Fanchor). And I highly recommend picking up the book [*Spy: The Funny Years*](https://www.amazon.com/Spy-Funny-Years-Graydon-Carter/dp/1401352391?ref=brilliantcrank.com), which appears to be in the discount bin. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-four-21.png) In 1989 [Christian Blackwood](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0158807/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) directed, [*Motel*](https://youtu.be/XT0VUPi4vus?si=1TmgZpjEE-px6p3k&ref=brilliantcrank.com), a weird documentary about three motel owners in Arizona, California, and New Mexico—“far untouched by homogenization and corporatism.” Untouched is putting it mildly by the time the film gets to the last location. You could take the third story alone and turn it into a pitch for a sequel to the *Shinning*, no edits required. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-five-19.png) Did you know that teriyaki as we know it today was invented in Seattle? Neither did I until I wanted this episode of America’s Test Kitchen’s show [On the Road](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DWJigBTj2E&ref=brilliantcrank.com) (also new to me). [Toshi Kasahara](https://www.toshisgrill.com/story?ref=brilliantcrank.com), an imigrant from Japan and introduced the world to teriyaki in 1976\. The dish rose to popularity in the 90s along with Seattle’s other two exports, coffee culture and grunge music. Yet another story of immigrants who bring some of their culutre into this country and create and new spin to create something unique. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-six-1-20.png) In addition to Ghost’s [advances on their Activity Hub integration](https://activitypub.ghost.org/we-now-deliver-settings-posts/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), “Flipboard has been quietly adding Fediverse compatibility to its curation platform.” recently posted [a long list of publications](https://activitypub.ghost.org/we-now-deliver-settings-posts/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) that you can now follow via Mastodon. These announcements in conjunction with [Project Tapestry](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/iconfactory/project-tapestry?ref=brilliantcrank.com) rolling out recently…it really feels like the best version of the open web is coming together. --- That's issue 10 in the bag—as they say—thank you for reading and clicking. Please consider forwarding this issue to your entire address book! Everyone will love you for it. --- Published in Tacoma, Washington while watching "Equestrian Eventing Cross Country" which is a fancy way of saying riding a horse through the woods. ### The Dice — 009 URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-dice-009/ Last updated: 2024-12-24T19:51:05.000Z ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/brilliantcrank-dice-2-22.png) This is late and given the news that hit just a few hours ago, I don’t know if anyone cares or, frankly if they’ll notice. When it comes to living during interesting times, we are way way way past that point. The way things are going, I would not be surprised if aliens finally made themselves known or if baby dinosaurs were discovered hatched somewhere in Latin America. Check to [make sure you are registered to vote](https://www.voteamerica.com/register-to-vote/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), grab a beer, and roll the dice... --- ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-one-18.png) Let's start with a wholesome break and look back on the day Terry “Knievel” Bolinger attempted the daring feat of [jumping ten trash cans](https://youtu.be/lysStR5ZGzM?si=BgVt7o7XEKmJr1dU&ref=brilliantcrank.com) in a back alley of Indianapolis, Indiana in the 70s. Watch Barbara Boyd of WRTV cover the daredevil story of Knievel’s courage. Until today, I was unaware that the movie [Hot Rod](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yByhd7FAOug&ref=brilliantcrank.com) was based on a true story. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-two-18.png) This summer the Data Scientist and I have learned how to watch two sports that are new to us: T20 cricket and team cycling. The next sport to learn—quickly—is [Breaking](https://olympics.com/en/paris-2024/sports/breaking?ref=brilliantcrank.com) in the 2024 Paris Olympics Games. The only thing I recall from childhood is that you need to find a big piece of cardboard to *break* on (refrigerator boxes are the best) and that and when you're done breaking you have to [crouch and look as tough as you can](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDMv3IHGpnA&ref=brilliantcrank.com). For the designers in the audience, check out the [pictograms](https://olympics.com/en/paris-2024/the-games/the-brand/pictograms?ref=brilliantcrank.com) designed for the Paris games. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-three-1-18.png) If there is a silver lining in Crowdstrike’s shit-the-bed moment this week it’s that we now have a simple way to shut down the Matrix when AI gets too big for its britches. Just deploy another Microsoft Windows patch to the cloud. Also helpful in this fight, Cloudflare’s new [firewall for AI](https://blog.cloudflare.com/firewall-for-ai?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Or, maybe you’ll consider a career in [preventing an AI-related catastrophe](https://80000hours.org/problem-profiles/artificial-intelligence/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Deep thoughts: [“We’re truly on the verge of the end of the internet.”](https://www.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/1e84fzc/were%5Ftruly%5Fon%5Fthe%5Fverge%5Fof%5Fthe%5Fend%5Fof%5Fthe/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-four-20.png) “I’d rather be happy than look accomplished,” [said Corynne](https://www.dazeddigital.com/life-culture/article/63166/1/the-death-of-the-college-to-corporate-job-pipeline-dream-job-work-ambition?ref=brilliantcrank.com), who doubled her take-home pay by quitting her job as a news editor and camera person at a local news station and joining Dominos to deliver pizzas. “Now I can travel, hang out with friends, do my hobbies, live my life, and not get burned out.” I’m glad to see younger generations figuring this out long before hitting 40. Meanwhile, “Over 2,000 students there who get no need-based or merit aid [will soon pay $100,000 or more” per year to attend Vanderbilt University. ](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/05/your-money/paying-for-college/100k-college-cost-vanderbilt.html?ref=brilliantcrank.com) ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-five-18.png) “Expose yourself to the best things that humans have done, and then try to bring those things into what you are doing.” That inspirational quote is from young Steve Jobs explaining his drive to learn and understand good design, and how it drives the creation of the best products. There is more to learn from Steve’s curious pursuit during the time he drove the development of the Macintosh in the online exhibit, [The Objects of Our Life.](https://stevejobsarchive.com/exhibits/objects-of-our-life?ref=brilliantcrank.com) ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-six-1-19.png) If we are to mentally survive the next six months (yes, I know the election is in November but then we have Thanksgiving and Christmas which means enduring close proximity to unhappy family members bitching and moaning and hating on everyone who isn’t like them) then we need a way to keep our head straight. Here are [three ways to defend your mind against social media distortions](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuqSHi-yXAI&ref=brilliantcrank.com). Good luck! --- If you made it this far, then it's time for another beer followed by a nap. --- Published in Tacoma, Washington in silence. There's too much in my head already. ### The Dice — 008 URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-dice-008/ Last updated: 2024-12-24T19:50:05.000Z ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/brilliantcrank-dice-2-21.png) I was going to save a link for those people who read everything to the very end but given the week we've all just been through, I think we could all use a laugh. After everything that's been thrown at us, [what could possibly be worse?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=%5FreO9SrIkfU&ref=brilliantcrank.com) This week's issue of *The Dice* is brought to you by the new [Airbag pint glass](https://cottonbureau.com/p/H2E2HW/drinkware/rigid-frame-commentary?ref=brilliantcrank.com#/20538749/glass-pint-glass-glass-16-oz.). Keep your beverages smart and tasty while impressing your friends with this one-of-a-kind branded drink receptacle. Cheers! --- ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-one-17.png) History repeats itself and fashion trends always make a comeback so let's go into the future prepared with [*Pop That Collar The Official Preppy Handbook*](https://gardenandgun.com/articles/pop-that-collar-the-official-preppy-handbook-turns-35/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). The fact that I’m sharing this highly likely means that the early 80s revival has already come and gone, but this satire remains timeless. Reminds me of Spy magazine. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-two-17.png) Adding to the increase of Enshittification comes the [*The Canva-ification of everything*](https://medium.com/westenberg/the-canva-ification-of-everything-3cbfdb9abb2d?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Described by Joan Westenberg as “the dulling of creativity into a uniform “Canva aesthetic.” We’ve been here before with Dribbblefication, but this is on a completely different scale when you consider that the service has [175 million users](https://www.stylefactoryproductions.com/blog/canva-statistics?ref=brilliantcrank.com) per month. “The result is a visual sameness wherever Canva designs show up, as if the world has been blanketed by an army of aspiring graphic designers who all graduated from the same school.” And an awful design school at that. Speaking of lame. After reading through this [interview with Canva CEO Melanie Perkins](https://www.theverge.com/24191080/canva-ceo-melanie-perkins-design-ai-adobe-competition-decoder-podcast-interview?ref=brilliantcrank.com), I get this feeling she has little interest in growing the design profession. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-three-1-17.png) Alright, enough of that. Come with me as we go back to a time when Photoshop was sold as an $800 product and the web was a real, blank canvas. Resize your browser (← this wide → ) and relive the mid-to-late 90s glory that was [Entropy8](http://entropy8.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) by [Auriea Harvey](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/06/arts/design/auriea-harvey-museum-internet-dating-art.html?unlocked%5Farticle%5Fcode=1.7E0.YcMp.POmdhUE7rnGw&smid=url-share&ref=brilliantcrank.com). And when you’re through check out [Matt Owen’s Volumeone](https://www.volumeone.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) archive, but start at the top! The only way to experience Volumeone is from the beginning with the first issues found at the bottom of the archive. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-four-19.png) For those feeling inspired to create without the use of AI or templates or offshore labor, I give you [mmm.page](https://mmm.page/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) an app that lets you create web pages unlike anything you’ve tried before. Can you imagine what the web would have been like if we had this in the 90s? And if that’s not crazy enough, try the [Electric Zine Maker](http://unicornycopia.com/ezm/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Make it fun and make it funky. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-five-17.png) Not feeling inspired and perhaps need motivation? Yeah, me too. I’ve got us covered with [*Midlife Creativity*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtY--67OSp8&ref=brilliantcrank.com), a powerful short film for everyone, but especially those with a good chunk of their life in the rearview mirror. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-six-1-18.png) Designers and developers and people who make things for the web, check out Matthias Ott’s presentation [Web Design Engineering With the New CSS](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=su6WA0kUUJE&ref=brilliantcrank.com). I don’t write code much anymore but I still found Matthias’ talk super interesting and definitely worth the time. Reminds me of the types of talks Eric Meyer used to give at An Event Apart. Also, Matthias is a big supporter of the Indie Web and publishes a newsletter called [Own Your Web](https://buttondown.email/ownyourweb?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Highly recommended! --- This week go talk to a neighbor or two. If anything just ask them how they're doing. --- Published in Tacoma, Washington listening to *[Come Back to Life](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCxswj0mljc&ref=brilliantcrank.com)* by The Zolas ### A writer, not a designer. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/a-writer-not-a-designer/ Last updated: 2024-07-03T14:52:36.000Z On the second to last night of SXSW in 2006 I found myself with just a handful of friends and their friends. We were some of the last to leave the biggest sponsored party—I think it was Flickr. The DJ shut down a while ago, the lights turned to normal, and the staff cleaned and restocked for the next day. I walked up to Paul Nixon who was with two of his work colleagues from Apple. He introduced me as “This is Greg Storey, he’s a blogger.” While I shook hands during the rest of the introductions I couldn’t get what Paul said out of my head—a blogger, not a designer. Years earlier I got an email from Jim Coudal with an invitation to participate in his Photoshop Tennis matches. I had an adrenaline rush just being invited. I replied with an enthusiastic “yes” and asked who he thought I would be paired with. “Oh,” he said, “I was thinking of having you write the commentary during the match.” I was gutted because I wasn’t thought of as a designer and somehow being asked to write felt like being recruited to join a high school sports team as the manager. At the time—and even now—I never considered myself a writer or at least not a very good one. So if that’s how people saw me, then I must suck at design. To this day, this thought still lingers in the back of my mind. Especially was I struggle with a brand project I’m working on. Creative block or the inability to design notwithstanding I will be chipping away at the giant wall in front of me all day long in search of a crack. ### The Dice — 007 URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-dice-007/ Last updated: 2024-12-24T19:43:40.000Z ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/brilliantcrank-dice-2-18.png) Today’s issue of the Dice is brought to you by hats. Hey, are you wearing the [Airbag “A-game” dad cap](https://cottonbureau.com/p/42KKFX/hat/a-game?ref=brilliantcrank.com#/20545022/hat-unisex-dad-hat-cranberry-100percent-cotton-adjustable) yet? It’s the best fashion accessory for everyone, said no one ever—*yet*. Also, check out the sporty Asshat model. Both are available in classic navy and cranberry. Fourteen thousand people attended Config in person this week. Insane! I’m grateful that I got to attend last year but honestly, it’s just way too many people. And, as [Peter Merholz pointed out](https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A7212454543991660544/?commentUrn=urn%3Ali%3Acomment%3A%28activity%3A7212454543991660544%2C7212831776417726464%29&dashCommentUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afsd%5Fcomment%3A%287212831776417726464%2Curn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A7212454543991660544%29&replyUrn=urn%3Ali%3Acomment%3A%28activity%3A7212454543991660544%2C7213184667821178881%29&dashReplyUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afsd%5Fcomment%3A%287213184667821178881%2Curn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A7212454543991660544%29&midToken=AQHL%5Fvmv3s0mUA&midSig=1Jf3QLK2lKmXk1&trk=eml-email%5Fnotification%5Fsingle%5Fmentioned%5Fyou%5Fin%5Fthis%5F01-hero%5Fnotification%5Fcta-0-1ep~cta&trkEmail=eml-email%5Fnotification%5Fsingle%5Fmentioned%5Fyou%5Fin%5Fthis%5F01-hero%5Fnotification%5Fcta-0-1ep~cta-null-mstz~ly1nmn2i~57-null-null&eid=mstz-ly1nmn2i-57&ref=brilliantcrank.com) on LinkedIn, it was a gathering of people all around a single platform. Meaning, there is room for new and, likely, smaller events. That’s what I will be thinking about in the week ahead. Rolling now. --- ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-one-16.png) [Ø8-12 magazine](https://08-12magazine.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) needs to be seen and held by more people. The ad-free “archive” is a “collection obscura of curated niche topics providing in-depth research of the random and the cool. It is the creation of a one-person operation, designer, [Kara Zwaanstra](https://magculture.com/blogs/journal/interview-with-kara-zwaanstra-08-12-magazine?ref=brilliantcrank.com). The debut issue is on cheap Japanese candy called “dagashi.” All of the candy packaging was scanned on a good ole flatbed “picking up those subtle details that we would otherwise overlook—important bits of information that we can gather about objects.” Everything about Ø8-12, the papers, colors, design, and the content is perfect. The next issue will cover “heavy metal and rock music culture in Finland.” ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-two-16.png) After watching the Figma keynote this week, Jon Lax posted some interesting thoughts on what he sees as [the inevitable for the future of design and AI](https://jonlax.framer.ai/writing/the-relentless-inevitable?ref=brilliantcrank.com). “Value is always in motion and hand wringing over it is wasted energy. Arguing whether technology can replicate "taste" or "creativity" isn't important. Over time it will be able to do both.” Pair this thought with one he made in [another post](https://jonlax.framer.ai/writing/value-is-always-in-motion?ref=brilliantcrank.com), “Too many designers try to design for the world as it was or the world as they wish it were vs the world as it is.” I’m not sure how I feel about this just yet, I need to write a post about it, but I enjoy Jon’s perspectives here. For those of you burnt out on this conversation perhaps it’s time to jump ship and consider getting into fifteen [boring businesses that make good money.](https://passionates.com/15-boring-businesses-that-make-money/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-three-1-16.png) “Design is broken. Young and not-so-young designers are becoming increasingly aware of this. Many feel impotent: they were told they had the tools to make the world a better place, but instead, the world takes its toll on them.” So begins the introduction to Silvio Lorusso’s book, [*What Design Can’t Do*](https://nearfuturelaboratory.com/library/2024/04/design-and-disillusion-what-design-cant-do/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). “This book probes the disillusionment that permeates design.” Wow! After reading more of the book's introduction I could not buy this book fast enough. After spending a year with scores of young designers disillusioned by requests from executives I wrote [A comprehensive, well considered list of things designers simply can’t do.](https://brilliantcrank.com/list-of-things-designers-simply-cant-do/) ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-four-18.png) You know about [Silo](https://time.com/6276524/silo-apple-tv-books/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), yes? The award-winning science fiction book (now [television show](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZYhuvIv1pA&ref=brilliantcrank.com)) about people who live in a huge, underground, bunker—[it’s real! It exists!](https://youtu.be/TX1sRxCrduA?si=9OqJ%5FIm6TlOrS1SB&ref=brilliantcrank.com) Survival Condos, located somewhere in Kansas, are former Cold War missile silos renovated for contemporary living underground. [Each complex includes public amenities](https://survivalcondo.com/what-we-build/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) like a movie theater, swimming pool, gym, and school. And silos are linked to one another for video communication. I don’t know about you, but if we get nuked, I think I’d rather go out in a white flash than “stay alive” sealed underground. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-five-16.png) Polygon published their list of the [best comics of 2024 so far](https://www.polygon.com/24185731/best-comics-2024-graphic-novels-manga-books?ref=brilliantcrank.com). It’s a solid list with titles I had not considered before mostly because I had not seen them—Discovery remains a fundamental problem with buying comics digitally. My favorites this year include [*Blood Squad Seven*](https://aiptcomics.com/2024/05/22/blood-squad-seven-1-review/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) (if you were a fan of Image during its formative years this book is for you), [*Napalm Lullaby*](https://leagueofcomicgeeks.com/comic/5508443/napalm-lullaby-1?ref=brilliantcrank.com), [*Moon Man*](https://moonmancomic.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), and the conclusion of [*The Weather Man*](https://imagecomics.com/comics/series/the-weatherman?ref=brilliantcrank.com). And pretty much anything from [Jonathan Hickman](https://www.cbr.com/the-15-best-comic-books-of-jonathan-hickman/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) because that dude makes great stories. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-six-1-17.png) “I finally understand why Rambaldi may have hidden so many inventions,” writes Indie Web founder Tantek Çelik. His post, [“Responsible Inventing”](https://tantek.com/2024/180/b1/responsible-inventing?ref=brilliantcrank.com) is the perfect flow chart for creating things that “poses non trivial existential risk” or “is likely to cause more harm than good.” Tantek’s post also includes a handful of resources for responsible innovation. A great read for everyone, especially those who are interested in ethics and invention. --- Stay frosty, and for those of you in the States, enjoy the upcoming long weekend. --- Published in Tacoma, Washington listening to [Lost in Space](https://youtu.be/8UsXq64gl58?ref=brilliantcrank.com) from the upcoming album *[Paradise State of Mind](https://fosterthepeople.lnk.to/paradisestateofmind?ref=brilliantcrank.com)* by Foster the People ### Design magazines in print. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/design-magazines-in-print/ Last updated: 2024-06-29T00:49:10.000Z Earlier this week a short thread on design magazines took place on Mastodon. Tom Carmony [stated](https://mastodon.social/@tomcarmony/112674263237703202?ref=brilliantcrank.com#.), “I used to devour design magazines (many bought at my local Barnes & Noble or Borders). I’m honestly curious which ones even still exist in this day and age.” As I buy and enjoy a lot of magazines throughout the year, I was curious myself. And I’m glad I did, as I found several that I did not know existed until I started looking. After I found a short list through my own recollection and searching, I reached out to the good people at [magCulture](https://magculture.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and asked if I was missing any. I was and a very nice person named Danielle augmented my list with titles I would never have found otherwise. With that, I am happy to provide this list of design magazines that are printed and in circulation. [**B**](https://en.magazine-b.com/magazine/list.html?cate%5Fno=63&pg=1&ref=brilliantcrank.com) (magazine) “produces neutral and balanced content on brands, brand-adjacent businesses, and lifestyle for different media channels.” This publication started out with each issue focused on one brand and interesting things that are adjacent to them. I bought their issue on Monocle magazine many years ago and love their perspectives on the brand and publication. They have since branched out with another title called “F” which is focused on types of food, ingredients, and beverages. [**BranD**](http://www.brandmagazine.com.hk/magazine.php?ref=brilliantcrank.com) "defines a new way to look into Communication Design by presenting, researching and manifesting excellent works amongst Visual Art, Advertising, Product, Graphic, Interior, Architecture, etc.” Another design publication from Hong Kong and it’s bi-lingual. I don’t recall ever seeing Brand on a rack, but it was recommended by MagCulture and looks intriguing. [**Communication Arts**](https://www.commarts.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) shouldn’t really need an introduction as it’s one of the oldest design magazines still in print in the US (pour one out for Print). Sadly the issues are a fraction of the size they used to be, but I found the annuals for design and typography worth the money. [**Deem**](https://www.deemjournal.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) is “a global platform focused on design as social practice.” This title is new to me and it looks like a must-read. Deem explores “human-centric design frameworks independent of exclusive institutions and industry categories.” To make it more interesting, the magazine is a collaboration between two design studios [Openbox](https://www.opnbx.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) in Brooklyn and [Room for Magic](https://roomformagic.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) in Los Angeles. [**Eye**](https://www.eyemagazine.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) is my current favorite design magazine and a staple in my collection. Published quarterly, each issue is rich in design from cover to cover. In addition to buying an annual subscription, I highly recommend buying back issues [96](https://www.eyemagazine.com/magazine/issue-96?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and [97](https://www.eyemagazine.com/magazine/issue-97?ref=brilliantcrank.com) which go into full detail of how to start a magazine from scratch. Of all the magazines listed here, Eye is the must-have. [**Find**](https://findmagazine.ca/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) is a brand spanking new design magazine that “wants us all to take a breath, find a moment, and immerse ourselves in stories about identity, model-making, nature, loss, museums, ravioli, music, and parking.” And they are just getting started—Issue 001 is available right now. [**Pulp**](https://pulp.fedrigoni.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) is "published by paper manufacturer Fedrigoni, and celebrates the creative use of their papers. As well as a great paper and print sample, it’s a source of design inspiration and is produced by the team behind Eye magazine.” This is new to me and I haven’t held an issue in my hands but it certainly looks to fill the need for those of us who still enjoy things designed for print. [**Plastikcomb**](https://www.plastikcombmag.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) is described by one of the two founders, Aaron Beebe, as [“a beautiful mess.”](https://magculture.com/blogs/journal/aaron-beebe-plastikcomb?ref=brilliantcrank.com) The name “is actually a metaphor for collage” which is the key ingredient in each issue. It reminds me of design work from the late 90s and early 2000s and downtempo fills my head when I flip through the pages. [**IdN**](https://www.idnworld.com/mags/?ref=brilliantcrank.com)is still alive and kicking and publishing every quarter. They publish on quarterly themes that cover all types of design, including motion, fashion, and architecture which is why I don't subscribe but I do buy issues from time to time. In fact, I just ordered their issue from earlier this year on [mixed media](https://www.idnworld.com/mags/v29n1?ref=brilliantcrank.com). [**Type01**](https://type-01.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) covers “a wide variety of topics, we use type as a gateway to open up important conversations and consistently spotlight the current and future generations of talented creative humans from all parts of the world.” You might consider Type01 a spiritual successor to Emigre from days gone by. [**Revue Faire**](https://revue-faire.eu/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) is published every fifteen days in France. The project began in 2016 “in light of a realization that critical publications dedicated to the analysis of Graphic Design are sadly few and far between today.” Each bilingual issue is under thirty pages and appears to be more like a badass design zine written and produced by some very top-notch designers. I’m definitely intrigued to pick up a few issues, but I’m also inclined to subscribe to an entire season. [**Rubbish FAMzine**](https://magculture.com/products/rubbish-famzine-12?%5Fpos=1&%5Fsid=3a2a7983f&%5Fss=r&ref=brilliantcrank.com) is not strictly about design per se, but is quite the expression of inspiration. “Unique in execution, Rubbish FAMzine does what all magazines aspire to—it creates a unique world that is entirely its own—and is an inspiration to magazine-makers of all types everywhere.” Unique is an understatement! The current issue is 700+ pages and includes a box containing nine booklets, instant noodles, chopsticks, and more! A previous “issue” included a Casio watch. Danielle recommended this “for *its* design” and it’s easy to see why. The price tag will likely prevent me from obtaining a copy but it’s worth including in this list. Very cool. [**Slanted**](https://slanted.de/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) is published twice a year and is “dedicated to exploring a special topic, resulting in a publication of exceptional quality and longevity. It serves as a definitive resource for uncovering international developments in design and culture.” Last fall I picked up two issues devoted on the topics of [book design](https://www.slanted.de/product/slanted-magazine-42-books/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and [independent-type foundries](https://www.slanted.de/product/support-independent-type/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). The quality of this publication—especially the thread stitching—is bar none. That concludes this list but I have a feeling that I’ve still missed a title or three. Or maybe you have your own point of view on some of these. What ever the case, leave a comment below. ### The United Stupid of America. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-united-stupid-of-america/ Last updated: 2025-05-11T19:20:59.000Z Minutes in I turned off the debate. If you watched all of it, I applaud your ability to watch grass dry out and whither. As Josh Williams posted, [“One is lying. The other is dying.”](https://www.threads.net/@jw/post/C8vcOWZJ8PJ?ref=brilliantcrank.com) That was nothing but embarrassing to see and I have this “Geez, I hope nobody outside of the US was watching” feeling. I honestly don’t see a win for this country at all—no matter who wins—if these are to be our candidates (I've read that groups on both sides are looking at options). I don’t know what I would hope for with the prospect of different options except just about anything is better than this. Almost. I’m not voting for that independent nut job. Where is the disruption for our political system? How genuinely and remarkably stupid do things have to get before we rethink how we discover and develop new talent? Our sports industry has incredible systems that do this. Our vocational workforces have been doing this for centuries. We have hundreds of professions that require apprenticing, training, and ongoing certification, but no such requirements for running for a political office. Especially the one that runs and operates a nuclear superpower? Tonight I'm thinking +01 is a joke. ### Preparing for altered tiers. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/preparing-for-altered-tiers/ Last updated: 2025-05-28T20:36:59.000Z In the movie Blackberry—highly recommend by the way—there is a scene that portrays a pivotal switch in the cell phone industry. An “a-ha” moment if you will. No, it’s not when the iPhone was unveiled, but when the industry figured out that it could not sell more time. During this era of the industry, consumers purchased plans based on the number of minutes they could use their device each month. In the early days, these plans were not cheap but competition drove the price-per-minute value down. To the point where the number of minutes included in top-tier plans was more than anyone could possibly use. For a while, they tried bundling multiple devices per plan and that lasted until they hit the same problem. Usage revenue was capped, but an entirely new category was building—data. The Blackberry (as we knew it) is long gone but data usage remains the key factor in buying a cell phone plan today. I’m sure there are a few, but the number of minutes of “talk time” included per month doesn’t factor in at all. You and I can only talk so long, but we can download and upload bytes all day and night—even while we sleep. And then the industry splintered data revenue into three factors: how much per month, time of use, and speed. There’s no way the industry will stop here but find more subtle ways to dissect our use into ways they can charge a few cents more per unit. Thinking on this, I’m reminded of a scene in a pop culture movie that [sums up the situation perfectly](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3D8TEJtQRhw&ref=brilliantcrank.com). Currently, Adobe, Microsoft, Google, Salesforce, and others, so many others, rent their software through various bundles and options. Adobe, for instance, sells monthly or annual subscriptions to access core products with fringe services and applications. Today these plans offer unlimited use, but it would not surprise me to see new plans in the future that are capped by the number of hours available per month. You can almost see the screen print on the imaginary installation CD—“Get 100 hours of Adobe Photoshop for $5.99 per month!”—included in the latest plastic-wrapped issue of Communication Arts. Surely this is the topic of Zoom meetings all around the tech space between the folks from growth, revenue, and data because offering unlimited use will always eventually hit a wall, and we can only use so many applications at a time. Now, enter a new dimension in pricing—AI. What data was to talking, AI is to data, but it will go past the simple equation of if you use it: yes or no. That’s already happening with AI upgrades on just about every SAAS product today. I see a time coming soon when there will be two price points for every SKU and it will cost more to block AI from training on your data (which is also happening right now). Or, worse, companies will simply force AI tools and training into their offerings with no alternative. No matter how this shakes out the costs are going to rise either monetarily or in human integrity. Today AI is an upsell, but tomorrow it's going to be the “free, unlimited” option while working without it watching over your shoulder—so to speak—will cost more. This is the future SAAS companies are building towards and it’s hope is they don’t [alter the deal any further](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpE%5FxMRiCLE&ref=brilliantcrank.com), but I’m not holding my breath. ### The Dice — 006 URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-dice-006/ Last updated: 2024-12-24T19:41:05.000Z ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/brilliantcrank-dice-2-17.png) Airbag merch. Over the years many of you have asked for it, and some of you have demanded it. [So, here you go!](https://cottonbureau.com/people/brilliantcrank?ref=brilliantcrank.com) I know the product descriptions show “on demand”, but just pretend there is a warehouse stocked to the roof and I need to move this stuff now! Buy everyone gifts for American Independence Day or host your first Midyear Christmas. I don’t care, just buy something. Anything. The pint glasses are nice. Moving on. Let’s blow a little luck on the dice and roll. --- ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-one-15.png) My first real trip to Vegas with the Casenhiser boys culminated each night with a visit to a real steakhouse. Not that cowboy, miner, red-checkered tablecloth bullshit, a proper, dark-lit venue with a five-pound wine list. Since that trip, I have cataloged [every dead cow restaurant that I have visited](https://brilliantcrank.com/steakhouse-resume/) in the United States. So, it may come as a shock to some that I am taking steps to move on from consuming Bovinae in favor of an alternative. I defy you to [watch this cooking video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaARq5qw3jk&ref=brilliantcrank.com) and tell me you’re not tempted to do the same. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-two-15.png) It’s well known that working with geniuses can be extremely difficult. Stories of [Steve Job being an asshat](https://www.businessinsider.com/steve-jobs-jerk-2011-10?op=1&ref=brilliantcrank.com) are abundant, but this is the first I’ve read about [Prince](https://www.musicradar.com/news/morris-hayes-prince-guitar-tech-soundmen-interview?ref=brilliantcrank.com): “Keyboardist and MD Morris Hayes on Prince's revolving door of sound engineers and the time his guitar tech tried to sabotage him onstage.” Related: [Seventeen stories from employees who got petty revenge on their awful boss.](https://news.yahoo.com/news/entertainment/people-got-petty-revenge-crappy-161602216.html?ref=brilliantcrank.com) Shameful reminder: Discover what [working for yourself](https://www.letsjumpship.com/restart/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) could look like. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-three-1-15.png) Here are [fifty of the most common passwords of 2024](https://www.rd.com/article/passwords-hackers-guess-first/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Makes me wonder if these are new entries or if they were left over from the last twenty-five years by people who keep ignoring the need to change. How are people still using “admin” or “1234”? [Y’all should be adding commas in your passwords](https://www.threads.net/@nixcraft/post/C8hBgi3ydeU?ref=brilliantcrank.com) to mess with hackers who steal them. In addition—from Kottke—[the most common PIN numbers](https://kottke.org/24/05/data-visualization-of-the-most-common-pin-numbers?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Come on sheeple, do better. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-four-17.png) Though I had it already bookmarked, I received several submissions for [an article we can all appreciate](https://ludic.mataroa.blog/blog/i-will-fucking-piledrive-you-if-you-mention-ai-again/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) on the subject of artificial intelligence and a [sweet move from the WWE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84ebkz3WXLU&ref=brilliantcrank.com). The ongoing battle against [generative slop](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/article/2024/may/19/spam-junk-slop-the-latest-wave-of-ai-behind-the-zombie-internet?ref=brilliantcrank.com) continues with good news from the front that [brands are beginning to turn against AI](https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/ai-image-brand-backlash-1235040371/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Meanwhile, [we have our own role to play](https://ia.net/topics/turning-the-tables-on-ai?ref=brilliantcrank.com) in this fight. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-five-15.png) Issue number 7 of [Plastikcomb magazine](https://www.plastikcombmag.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), the current bible of “experimental editorial design”, is out in stores now. [Grab a copy while you can.](https://www.plastikcombmag.com/stockists?ref=brilliantcrank.com) Sadly, the easiest way for most of us to find an issue here in the States is to visit your local Barnes & Noble. No further comment. It’s not Raygun, but it’s the closest thing we’ve got at the moment that I know about. Speaking of Raygun, it might be too late to get in on the fundraiser for the upcoming book, [Disorder](https://vol.co/collections/disorder?ref=brilliantcrank.com), but there will likely be a limited retail edition. This is not a book to pass up. If you can’t wait check out [*Ray Gun: The Bible of Music and Style*](https://www.rizzolibookstore.com/product/ray-gun-bible-music-and-style?ref=brilliantcrank.com). ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-six-1-16.png) Ending this week on a short note is this delightful analysis: [Ali Wong: The Structure of Stand-Up Comedy](https://pudding.cool/2018/02/stand-up/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). First, if you’ve never seen Ali perform then, honestly, take a minute to question your life decisions. Second, [go watch her specials or clips or whatever](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSVv42sQOMA&ref=brilliantcrank.com). She is funny—Like capital F, u, n, capital E, capital E, capital E! She’s a master of storytelling and The Pudding does a great job of breaking down how Ali orchestrates her narrative to build to a crescendo. Not related at all, except for the masterful breakdown, [Clea Abram](https://powderblue.media/stories/cleo?ref=brilliantcrank.com) entertains with her brief, but thorough, breakdown of [a Formula 1 team and their outcomes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJgdOMXhEj0&ref=brilliantcrank.com). If you want to see what peak cross-functional collaboration looks like here it is. --- Hey, don't forget we have a [drinking game](https://brilliantcrank.com/the-2024-presidential-debate-night-drinking-game/) scheduled later this week. --- Published in Tacoma, Washington while watching a [different clip of Ali Wong](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxxLmgleW1s&ref=brilliantcrank.com) because she's so damn hilarious. ### Design doesn't need yet another fancy leadership community, please. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/design-doesnt-need-yet-another-leadership-community/ Last updated: 2025-05-11T19:28:20.000Z I see more and more communities for design leaders and they’re all the same. Their websites showcase logos from very large, global enterprises or tech companies or popular brands. Sometimes they are all three. They promote their “members” who work at these very big companies and sometimes they are popular or well-known. These communities have “masterclasses” and “inspirational events” where participants (read: the person speaking) “gets real” about the problems of leading design, in very large organizations. If you’ve ever been a part of one of these communities then you’ve joined them all because they are all the same. All of the speakers, facilitators, or highlighted members work at brands most people recognize because, gosh, if they’ve worked for six months as a head of design at \[insert your company name here\] then they must have tips, tricks, and ideas that no one has already shared hundreds of times in the last ten years. I know this first hand because, I have thirty-five years of experience creating communities and my last role at InVision was Sr. Director of the Design Leadership Forum. Where we did all of the things previously mentioned, albeit long before most, if not all, of the recent upstarts. Post-Pandemic, this is how these communities run. People sign up in mass (although I suspect the curve is trending down) to check things out. They might—maybe—attend the first event or two, but most will pop into the Slack channel (because in the 2020s you can’t have a community without a chat room) for a few minutes and then bounce, never to return again. Ugh, there are so many dead design Slack channels out there and even more on life support. Sound familiar? None of these communities are offering anything new but I’m more irritated that they all target the same audience: People who work (oops, sorry, lead!) for very large corporations. People who most designers—no, scratch that, the majority of designers—cannot relate to because they work in much smaller companies and have very different problems. The majority which are likely doing what they can just to keep their heads above an ocean of work. I’m talking about design teams of one, two, maybe six. Good people who will likely never get the time and resources to conduct user research, implement a mature design system, or start a design-led transformation. It’s not that they don’t care, it’s just that their reality is very different because that’s what happens in the majority of businesses on the planet. I just got an email invitation to join one of these shiny new communities. It's very nice and kind to receive the invite, but it’s just another version of what came before. Another community targeted towards the minority of designers just because they work for a logo. If I’m to be a part of another design community then it has to be one for designers who work at small to medium sized businesses or organizations. From startups to non-profits to schools, whatever. A community for people who are more likely to report to a non-designer than they are a dedicated full-time design leader. That is a community I suspect is needed more than any else these days. If it exists, I’d like to know about it and see what I can do to support it. And it doesn’t exist then I’d like to know if you think this is a community worth starting. ### The Dice — 005 URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-dice-005/ Last updated: 2024-12-24T19:40:00.000Z ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/brilliantcrank-dice-2-16.png) Inspired by [the article in Noméa magazine](https://www.noemamag.com/we-need-to-rewild-the-internet/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), I've been thinking about the idea of "rewilding" this week and how to apply it to life. The idea is to "restore healthy ecosystems by creating wild, biodiverse spaces." What kind of ecosystem should I aspire to build that will rewild my imagination and creativity? There are obvious answers that relate to eating, sleeping, and reducing social media. For me, I think it also means spending regular, dedicated time spent analog, nowhere near a screen. And time spent in a way that promotes the brain to wander, as it does when doing something like taking a shower. If you're working on this too, I'd love to hear what you've found that works for you. Also, you have to listen to the opening story I shared with Brett on [this week's episode of The High Five podcast](https://rss.com/podcasts/weeklyhighfive/1521359/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). I hope you'll subscribe and rate the show, but at least listen to this week's opener. --- ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-one-14.png) Wise and powerful product designer Naz Hamid shares his experience [moving team communications from Slack to Apple Messages](https://nazhamid.com/journal/balancing-tools-and-culture/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) with great results—“I contend that as long as search is reliable and well-executed, this is all you need. Everything else is just feature bloat, tailored to the needs of the enterprise segment.” He’s spot on and the full post is worth reading and sharing. Somewhat related: Nintendo, Xbox, and PlayStation [have all now abandoned Twitter integration](https://www.gamespot.com/articles/nintendo-xbox-and-playstation-have-all-now-abandoned-twitter-x-integration/1100-6524153/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Yet another nail in the bird's coffin. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-two-14.png) I fired up [Monocle Radio](https://monocle.com/radio/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) to catch the [latest episode of The Stack](https://monocle.com/radio/shows/the-stack/615/shane-taylor-and-josh-edgoose-framelines/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and learned of a new magazine dedicated to street photography called [Framelines](https://frame-lines.com/en-us?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Very intrigued, I went to their website and immediately ordered a few issues and joined their community, [Street Assignments](https://frame-lines.com/en-us/blogs/street-assignments?ref=brilliantcrank.com). This is exactly the post-Instagram experience I have been waiting for. A different subject matter—CNN published [a feature story on storm chasing](https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2024/06/weather/storm-chaser-krystle-wright-cnnphotos/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) with incredible photos from Krystle Wright that is worth a few minutes of your time. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-three-1-14.png) One of the few things I miss about living in Austin, Texas is going to the movies at the Alamo Drafthouse. No matter what the big chains try to do to attract an audience they’ll never beat [the complete movie buff experience at Alamo Drafthouse](https://www.cbsnews.com/video/how-alamo-drafthouse-is-redefining-the-cinema-experience/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). So I was super, gosh darn excited to read that [Sony Pictures purchased the company and is making plans for expansion](https://www.cnbc.com/2024/06/12/sony-pictures-buys-alamo-drafthouse.html?ref=brilliantcrank.com). As a lifelong fan of all things Sony this is the best combination of brands and experiences. Also, If your brain was left scrambled by the movie TENET, like mine, then [this explainer](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64wxTcTUEUA&ref=brilliantcrank.com) will help. Your mileage may vary. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-four-16.png) As you all know by now, [Apple gleefully joined](https://daringfireball.net/linked/2024/06/13/apple-aggregates-ai?ref=brilliantcrank.com) the ever-expanding roster of technology companies hell-bent on turning our world to shit with AI, no matter what they call it. Meanwhile, [Adobe announced new terms of service](https://blog.adobe.com/en/publish/2024/06/06/clarification-adobe-terms-of-use?ref=brilliantcrank.com) that say your design files will be used to train their software, oh, but only if you use the AI features they are pushing so hard. I know I’m not alone thinking Linux might be the last platform to design on without AI interference or privacy infringement. While [comparable tools exist](https://mastodon.social/@knowuh/112587529739737542?ref=brilliantcrank.com), designing on Linux sounds like it [needs improvement](https://www.reddit.com/r/graphic%5Fdesign/comments/169g6ov/how%5Fmany%5Fprofessional%5Fdesigners%5Factually%5Fuse%5Flinux/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-five-14.png) “I could not get more than halfway through without wanting to share my inspiration from the discussion found there about self-imposed restrictions, experimentation, influences, inspiration, environment, and your own personal drive to create in a foundational manner.” Luke doesn’t write as often as I like, but when he does it’s worth sharing. In this case, his thoughts inspired by [a conversation on Swiss design](https://lukedorny.com/updates/jetset?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Related: [Graphic designers have always loved minimalism. But at what cost?](https://eyeondesign.aiga.org/graphic-designers-have-always-loved-minimalism-but-at-what-cost/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-six-1-15.png) Even more design! [Print magazine posted the winners of their annual competition. ](https://www.printmag.com/print-awards/print-awards-2024-spotlight-winners-in-type-illustration-logos-book-design-social-impact-more/?ref=brilliantcrank.com)I’ll take this kind of design work over digital all day long, especially the new (to me) category on social impact. I’m surprised annual reports are still around, but I’m glad they are. Check it out, fantastic work all around! --- Have a great week. For those on the east coast, stay chill. --- Published in Tacoma, Washington while listening to [Prokifiev: Peter and the Wolf, Lieutenant Kijé Symphonic Suite](https://archive.org/details/lp%5Fpeter-and-the-wolf-lieutenant-kij%5Fsergei-prokofiev-boris-karloff-mario-rossi) ### Ready for another Super Over. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/ready-for-another-super-over/ Last updated: 2024-06-14T18:07:10.000Z Chances are you missed last week's story about the USA’s unquestionably, unexpected, [unpredicted win over Pakistan](https://www.nbcnews.com/sports/cricket/us-pakistan-cricket-world-cup-historic-upset-rcna155977?ref=brilliantcrank.com) in a game of cricket. The outcome has been called “one of the biggest upsets in the history of the sport” and likened to a minor league baseball team beating a major league World Series winning team. The match was one of the first games played in the T20 World Cup co-hosted by the West Indies and the United States. [Tomorrow, Team USA will play another giant in the cricket world, India.](https://www.icc-cricket.com/tournaments/t20cricketworldcup/matches/239627/usa-vs-india?ref=brilliantcrank.com) The odds are incredibly stacked against our team’s chance for victory, but I’m stoked nonetheless. I’ve prepared by watching [Cricket Explained for Baseball Fans](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWpbtLIxYBk&ref=brilliantcrank.com) (I have a long time friend from South Africa who has tried to explain this game to me so many times, but it wasn't until I watch this video that anything made sense), started a [Willow TV](http://willow.tv/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) subscription, blocked off the time on my calendar, and my [brand new cap](https://web.archive.org/web/20240527022159/https://shop.icc-cricket.com/products/icc%5Fcap6081) arrived last night (It sold out within 24 hours of this post). Regarding the Willow subscription, every source I’ve looked at on how to view the T20 World Cup will suggest viewing through Sling or Fubo streaming services. However, both of these options require adding an additional package that includes Willow at an extra cost, which doesn’t make sense because you can subscribe to the television service directly for ten dollars. ### The Dice — 004 URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-dice-004/ Last updated: 2024-12-24T19:38:46.000Z ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/brilliantcrank-dice-2-15.png) In a recent conversation, [Brian Kerr](https://chrkrhc.omg.lol/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) shared a passage from the book [*Community and Privacy*](https://archive.org/details/communityprivacy0000cher/page/n9/mode/2up) by Serge Chermayeff and Christopher Alexander. It ended with the line, “When everything is everywhere, wherever you go there is nothing tangible to find.” I keep reading that AI-based search is going to be great—someday—but I can’t help but think it’s going to get worse. Over time algorithms pushed more of the same type and format of content over others based on data-driven archetypes. How is AI going to be any different, if not worse unless you’ve studied prompt engineering? Even then, when two entities interact, the level of the conversation will always be constrained by the least educated. We’re putting third-grade children who are not capable of self-exploration as a gatekeeper to the largest wealth of human knowledge. Fantastic! Alright, enough yelling at clouds. Also, in case you were wondering, the tagline for this newsletter is inspired from [a line](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJCZbXqbkBc&ref=brilliantcrank.com) in the classic film, *The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension*. --- ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-one-13.png) When [MagCulture](https://magculture.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) asked what advice he may have for anyone launching a magazine, [Lars Harmsen, publisher of Slanted magazine replied](https://magculture.com/blogs/journal/lars-harmsen-slanted?ref=brilliantcrank.com): “Just do it. Ideas come from doing. Have the balls to publish it. Not just once, but five or ten issues. It only gets really exciting after the fifth edition.” Take a few minutes and read the rest of the interview. [Slanted](https://www.slanted.de/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) is a remarkable design magazine like no other. I highly recommend picking up the issues on [books](https://www.slanted.de/product/slanted-magazine-42-books/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and [independent type studios](https://www.slanted.de/product/support-independent-type/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-two-13.png) On Friday mornings Ryan and I host an anchoring call for people who have taken the [Restart](https://www.letsjumpship.com/restart/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) workshop. This week our conversation was largely dominated by folks who don’t trust working in the corporate world that grows more and more singularly focused on stock market value. Serendipitously, this morning I flipped through an issue of [Eye magazine](https://www.eyemagazine.com/magazine/issue-104?ref=brilliantcrank.com) to find a review of, [*Design after Capitalism*](https://designaftercapitalism.org/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) by Matthew Wizinsky. Based on Eye’s review Matthew’s book is a must for designers who are ready to do more in the world beyond whatever ticks up the share price. Check out the website, it’s chock-full of goodness including a [full set of free lectures](https://designaftercapitalism.org/lecture-videos?ref=brilliantcrank.com) on the subject of the book. Also worth your attention and sharing to your sphere of influence, [*In through the Side Door: Fifty Years of Women in Interaction Design*](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0262548895/?ref=brilliantcrank.com)by Erin Malone. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-three-1-13.png) Anil on [The Purpose of a System is What It Does](https://anildash.com/2024/05/29/systems-the-purpose-of-a-system/?ref=brilliantcrank.com): “If the purpose of a system is what it does, and we don’t like what it does, then we have to change the system. And we change the system by making everyone involved, especially those in authority, feel urgency about changing the real-world impacts that a system has.” Driving meaningful change is so hard, even when you give it a cool name like “transformation.” And that’s just change at work. Changing systems in society and government is seemingly impossible, but we [must try](https://youtu.be/OI1HxoqASfQ?si=HHaIS0ci2kiRpgke&ref=brilliantcrank.com). ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-four-15.png) [The Amazing Story Behind “Jumpman.”](https://www.life.com/arts-entertainment/the-amazing-story-behind-jumpman/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) Life magazine—yes, that Life magazine—has a story on the time Nike stole an image from a photographer to create its iconic logo for a product line worth billions. It's likely not the first time they've pulled shit like this and it [won’t be the last](https://boingboing.net/2005/06/29/minor-threat-vs-nike.html?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Clearly, their company executives could use a team offsite on ethics as well as a big kick in the ass. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-five-13.png) I’m always in the mood for a [design project update from Jon Hicks](https://hicks.design/journal/share-openly?ref=brilliantcrank.com). His latest work is for a new service called [ShareOpenly](https://shareopenly.org/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), “a very easy way to share content to fediverse-friendly socials to replace those share buttons of old.” Jon also shares how he integrated this into his Kirby-based website. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-six-1-14.png) Before the broadcast of Saturday Night Live, the crew does a dress rehearsal of a longer show so they can cut the program down to the sketches that get the best reaction from the audience. I don’t know how this didn’t make the cut but here is [Christopher Walken playing a wise-guy-emo angel](https://youtu.be/A6WPTfkfAtQ?si=bgXq1aFHcWwEYCwL&ref=brilliantcrank.com). --- Done and done. Have a good week. Go see a live performance of some kind. --- Published in Tacoma, Washington while listening to [We](https://www.deezer.com/us/album/315928777?ref=brilliantcrank.com) by Arcade Fire ### The Dice — 003 URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-dice-003/ Last updated: 2024-12-24T19:37:42.000Z ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/brilliantcrank-dice-2-14.png) “What a week” doesn’t adequately describe the last one of May 2024\. A short week that felt like Monday on repeat. And it was busy with contract writing, product research, marketing writing, code writing, and podcast launching. On Friday Brett and I dropped our first episode of a short weekly program called [The High Five!](https://rss.com/podcasts/weeklyhighfive/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) In it, we cover ideas around leadership accountability as it relates to individual performance. And then we talk about interesting and cool things we recommend. We’re just getting started (a pervasive theme in my life right now) but it feels great to be publishing and launching new things. There is no mention of political news in this issue, but I did post [thoughts about that one story](https://brilliantcrank.com/trying-to-wipe-the-cheese-stains-off-a-country/) that dropped on Thursday. Alright, enough of that. Punch it Chewie! --- ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-one-12.png) Some people with nothing better to do “delved deep into the web, sifting through tens of thousands of posts to uncover how Large Language Models (LLMs) are revolutionizing both business and daily life” to come up with a list of [the top 100 use-cases for using generative AI](https://learn.filtered.com/thoughts/ai-now-report?ref=sentiers.media). We’ve all seen the stupid pet tricks people are making AI do, so I wasn’t prepared for “therapy and companionship” in the top three. Neither was I prepared to start regarding USC film school student, George Lucas, as an [arbiter of the future](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0YkPnwoYyE&ref=brilliantcrank.com) and yet here we are. As sad as this sounds [The Economist reported](https://econ.st/3X91nAR?ref=brilliantcrank.com) that “330m adults go at least two weeks without talking to a single friend or family member.” Want to challenge AI’s grip on society? [Reach out and touch someone.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoWmQyDa%5FpU&ref=brilliantcrank.com) ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-two-12.png) While the ongoing tire fire train wreck that is AI continues to storm through every nook and cranny of the Internet—during an election year!—it’s a good time to prepare how to navigate this white-hot mess. Begin by practicing [how to trust your brain online](https://www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/archive/2024/05/how-to-trust-your-brain-online/678457/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and the [art of asking smarter questions](https://hbr.org/2024/05/the-art-of-asking-smarter-questions?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Meanwhile, don’t forget that deja vu is [“usually a glitch in the Matrix.”](https://youtu.be/XfEuxRDYiyc?si=Snm36sEUDoPR53st&ref=brilliantcrank.com) Eyes wide people. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-three-1-12.png) Weeks ago Rachel Kwon published a fantastic post about [keeping one foot in the physical dimension](https://kwon.nyc/notes/net-positive-maybe/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) of our digital world. I replied [in support of Rachel's thinking](https://brilliantcrank.com/taking-a-step-back-from-the-everything-everywhere-all-at-once-cloud/) and I’m here to double down on one medium in particular. [There’s no substitute for print](https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/04/andrew-ferguson-joys-reading-print-newspaper/586792/?gift=24rwXOt8kisXhCA0EURjwcsVsxK%5Fa88SMfMU9CfWpkU&utm%5Fsource=copy-link&utm%5Fmedium=social&utm%5Fcampaign=share). None. Nadda. Speaking of print, I wish [Boing Boing still published zines](https://xoxofest.com/2013/videos/mark-frauenfelder-cory-doctorow-david-pescovitz-xeni-jardin/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) ala [McSweeney’s Internet Tendency](https://store.mcsweeneys.net/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-four-14.png) While we’re on the subject of paper publishing, here's a delightful story submitted by Dice correspondent, Mr. Anthony (No blog of his own) Baker: [A tour of bookmaker Arion Press](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-5NhxYRqUI&ref=brilliantcrank.com) in San Francisco by Anthony Bourdain. The short film provides an eye-opening look into the craft of hand-making books. Like a Swiss watch, these one-of-a-kind books go for thousands of dollars. Just take a look at their mind-blowing, out-of-print, rendition of [*Winnie the Pooh*](https://www.arionpress.com/store/127-pooh?ref=brilliantcrank.com). While not entirely the same, after browsing through their products I thought about Frank Chimero’s [*Everything Easy is Hard Again*](https://frankchimero.com/blog/2018/everything-easy/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-five-12.png) Without any advanced promotion, [*Godzilla Minus One* was released on Netflix](https://www.netflix.com/title/81767635?ref=brilliantcrank.com) this Friday, and it’s about damn time. I have been waiting for this news ever since the movie earned a [98%](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/godzilla%5Fminus%5Fone?ref=brilliantcrank.com) on Rotten Tomatoes *and* received an Oscar for visual effects [despite a modest budget of $15m](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/godzilla-minus-one-2024-oscars-win-1235848606/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-six-1-13.png) Alright, let's end this run with some interesting levity that comes from the most complicated sport in the world, Formula 1\. While most races take place on dedicated tracks there are a few street races that take place in the middle of cities. Monaco is the most famous and the oldest of the street circuits and I enjoyed watching [how they convert the city into a race track](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=469i9RZaWuc&ref=brilliantcrank.com). Here's a similar trasformation of [Las Vegas](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n%5F2kFYc3N0U&ref=brilliantcrank.com). --- Done and done. Hey, be kind to your neighbors and enjoy the first week in June. Happy Pride Month! PS — don't let Anthony hog all of the spotlight. When you come across something worth sharing with the rest of the class, [let me know](https://www.brilliantcrank.com/about/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). --- This issue was assembled while on the road in Canon Beach, Oregon — 45.887° N, 23.962° W ### One step closer to wiping the cheese stains off our democracy. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/trying-to-wipe-the-cheese-stains-off-a-country/ Last updated: 2025-05-11T19:21:40.000Z I was heads down on some work when a friend pinged me with the news that a jury of twelve citizens of the United States all came to the same conclusion that a former president is guilt of committing thirty-four counts of felony crimes. I don’t know what you were expecting, but given the fractured state of this country I never imagined this to be the outcome of this trial. As of this week, our republic, a long time beacon and defender of democracy (although that is questionable and cliché), has joined a [sad list of countries](https://time.com/6984228/trump-convicted-world-leaders/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) (democratic and otherwise) with former rulers who were convicted of serious crimes. We have a former president (possibly future president) who is now [banned from traveling](https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-travel-ban-1906686?ref=brilliantcrank.com) to thirty-seven countries that include our strongest trade partners and military allies. Think about that for a minute. No matter how we and our neighbors side with these events—pro or con—the tarnish on our country’s reputation is there and it’s permanent. We have three more trials, fifty-four more indictments to finish and no matter the outcome, the Cheetos-colored stain on our democracy will grow larger and messier. Meanwhile, a convicted felon thirty-four times over (to date) is running for the hightest political office in the United States and arguably the world. And he’s doing so *legally*. Let that sink in and then please make sure you’re all [registered to vote](https://vote.gov/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) against electing a felon with zero morals, honor, or valor, and his clown car that is the Republican party. ### The Dice — 002 URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-dice-002/ Last updated: 2024-12-24T19:36:39.000Z ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/brilliantcrank-dice-2-13.png) It's been a crazy great week. On Monday [Ryan Rumsey](https://www.ryanrumsey.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and I hosted our first [Jump Ship](https://www.letsjumpship.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) workshop, [Restart](https://www.letsjumpship.com/restart/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and it smashed. If you’ve ever thought about working for yourself, Restart guides you through a series of exercises to give you an informed perspective on what the future could look like. We're doing it again in June and July. I also recorded two podcasts, one for a new [Same Team Partners](https://sameteampartners.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) program with [Brett Harned](https://brettharned.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and a prototype for a new show that I can’t talk about just yet. And I finished testing a new product that I’m excited to get into production. Busy week. It’s Memorial Day Weekend here in the States. Reach out and say hello to a veteran and don’t forget to say "thank you" for their service. A short thank you goes a long way. Alright, lets roll. --- ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-one-11.png) I thought [VICE](https://www.vice.com/en?ref=brilliantcrank.com) was gone so I was happy to find that’s not the case with [*Let it Kill You*](https://www.vice.com/en/article/n7eyeq/let-it-kill-you-a-new-vice-doc-series-about-skateboarding-and-art?ref=brilliantcrank.com), a new series on skateboarding an art. [Luxury](https://lukedorny.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), this one is all you, bruh. And speaking of things I thought were dead—[ICQ](https://www.pcmag.com/news/icq-one-of-the-oldest-instant-messengers-is-shutting-down?ref=brilliantcrank.com) will shut down next month. [Uh-oh!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iCPIUGnHQ8&ref=brilliantcrank.com) ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-two-11.png) Consider this must-read Internet, [AIGA’s profile on Jamie Levy](https://eyeondesign.aiga.org/multimedia-artist-jaime-levy-was-at-the-forefront-of-web-design-before-websites-even-existed/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) who published “interactive floppy disks, point-and-click magazines full of sound collages, rants, gig reviews, and games” in the 1990s. Now there’s an archive I would pay to browse and read through. Somewhat related: [*On Reading Issues of Wired from 1993 to 1995*](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/on-reading-issues-of-wired-from-1993-to-1995?ref=brilliantcrank.com). As soon as I finished reading the article I started bidding on a few issues from the first year. I managed to snag a mint copy of issue 1.4 featuring William Gibson’s [*Disneyland With the Death Penalty*](https://www.wired.com/1993/04/gibson-2/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-three-1-11.png) [Anthony Baker](https://mastodon.social/@AnthonyBaker?ref=brilliantcrank.com) (I’d link to his blog, but he keeps making excuses why he hasn’t set one up. And I’m calling him out publically because he’s an interesting person who has a lot of interesting perspectives and memories that would make an excellent blog.) was thoughtful to send over a link to [Minimal Website Inspiration](https://deadsimplesites.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) , a lovely, seemingly endless collection. Related: Anders Noren, one of my favorite theme designers, released one of his best yet, [Pulitzer](https://andersnoren.se/introducing-pulitzer/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Shame that Anders’ work is currently WordPress only. I would love to see him port his themes to [Ghost](https://ghost.org/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-four-13.png) One thousand four hundred and sixty-eight people responded to Tim Bray’s poll, [Your reaction to the AI buzz](https://cosocial.ca/@timbray/112463679027463240?ref=brilliantcrank.com), on Mastodon. To my surprise, 96% responded, “Mostly annoyed.” Then again, with all the recent AI-related news, from Apple [crushing arts and humanities into the machine](https://variety.com/2024/digital/news/apple-apologizes-ipad-ad-crush-backlash-1235997969/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) to Google and Bing’s extremely flawed AI makeovers, it sure feels *mostly annoying*. In times like these I wish Douglas Adams was still around. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-five-11.png) To add to the AI tire fire, here’s an interview with [Adobe’s CEO on the future with AI](https://petapixel.com/2024/05/18/adobes-ceo-is-just-not-on-the-same-wavelength-as-artists/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). As you might guess the guy seemingly has no awareness, no clue—more like zero fucks given—on how Adobe tools will put artists and creatives out of work. Hey, who am I kidding? [They already are.](https://www.creativebloq.com/news/ai-is-taking-artists-jobs?ref=brilliantcrank.com) While we’re on the subject of super expensive cloud-based software subscriptions that put profits above art—Affinity, makers of extremely great alternatives to Adobe, [just released another free update](https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/whats-new/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) to their platform. Get out of the cloud. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-six-1-12.png) [*We Need To Rewild The Internet*](https://www.noemamag.com/we-need-to-rewild-the-internet/?ref=brilliantcrank.com)is your must-read long-form essay for today. Authors [Maria Farrell](http://mariafarrell.com/about/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and [Robin Berjon](https://berjon.com/about/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Even without all the AI crap going on, the Internet was already starting to feel [over-processed and boring](https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2024/05/why-the-internet-is-boring-now/678418/?gift=24rwXOt8kisXhCA0EURjwQUQvGPFiXFkDJGKcOBr%5Fmc&utm%5Fsource=copy-link&utm%5Fmedium=social&utm%5Fcampaign=share). Maria and Robin bring an interesting idea from the world of ecology and I’m all for it. More support for and active participation in the [Open Web](https://www.w3.org/wiki/Open%5FWeb%5FPlatform?ref=brilliantcrank.com) is key to this strategy as are fun and welcome initiatives like [Ye Olde Blogroll](https://blogroll.org/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) --- In closing, thank you for reading and have a good rest of your weekend. Please consider sharing this with your friends, family, and enemies (who are sometimes one in the same which makes sharing easier). And if you come across something worth sharing with the rest of the class, [let me know](https://brilliantcrank.com/about/). --- This issue was created while listening to *Only God Was Above Us* by Vampire Weeekend. Here's a live performance of one of my favorite tracks, [Mary Boone](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eakvpNSsUrk&ref=brilliantcrank.com). ### When will design learn? URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/when-will-design-learn/ Last updated: 2025-05-11T19:30:51.000Z Let's start this post off with a big, huge number: 458,219\. That’s the estimated number of people in technology who have lost their jobs since 2022\. And even more are sure to be let go as the year, an election year, trudges on. I don’t know what kind of odds you’ll get in Vegas, but placing a bet on more job losses in the future seems like a sure bet. I know this. You know this. Well, I hope you know this, but I suspect that some folks out there don't. Here’s what else I know, learned through conversations and observations through my vast network in design, connections in design leadership, and all of the folks I follow on LinkedIn and elsewhere—design practices have been decimated over the last two years. Programs that were once held up high on the pedestal of excellence by the InVision marketing program are now in tatters, a fraction of what they once were. Seats at the table have been moved back to the cubicle where whatever leaders are still employed spend half their day in Figma working on features. Design-led transformation is a thing of the past. Very few, if any, programs have avoided the brutal destruction of design causing many folks to reconsider the profession, continue to apply for jobs over and over and over again hoping for the roulette wheel to hit, or scramble to add AI expertise to their resume with a bit of frontier authority. Design leaders are browsing around LinkedIn in shock and writing posts like “What happened to design”, “Why this happened to design”, and “What this means for the future of design.” Design apocalypse (let’s not forget our colleagues in other sectors of tech, we feel your pain) has come and it’s still going strong. I know this. You should know this. But there are some design executives who either don’t know this or they are still hanging on, hoping for what I’m not sure, but it seems like a return to 2018\. This is my quick hypothesis after scanning a brand new report called [*Strategic Behaviors & Mindsets of Design Executives*](https://www.figma.com/reports/behaviors-strategic-design-execs/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) by the [Design Executive Council](https://www.designexecutivecouncil.com/about?ref=brilliantcrank.com) (the latest version of the Design Leadership Forum—RIP) and the design company still wearing their wedding dress, [Figma](https://figma.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). From the introduction, “the white paper offers actionable references and insights for design and business leaders. It underscores the crucial role of design in strategic leadership and company effectiveness and demonstrates how design executives harmonize customer-centric approaches with competitive strategies to drive significant business value.” It reads better if you go back and imagine the teacher’s voice from Charlie Brown. “Woh wuh wuh wuh wuh wuh wuh woh wuh.” Maybe we should have tried that tactic back in 2018\. At least we would have gotten a few laughs. Now, please keep in mind this report brand spanking new. It was published on May 24, 2024\. You should check it out—it’s very chic and so serious. I mean we can’t have a design report looking bad of course but this publication takes polish to a new level with photography and art direction on par with a fashion magazine. Nothing screams significant business value like wearing black leather and looking pensive into the camera and dapper dressed designers laughing around the table at an exclusive dinner party in the city. Hey, if we all learned a thing or two from the television series *Mad Men*, this is how you win hearts and minds in big business. Oh, and a lot of cigarette smoking, but those photos appear to be missing. Here’s the rub. At the very beginning the report states: “Our research found that in 2022, 5.3% of Fortune 1000 companies had a chief design executive, a 1.5% increase from 2021.” In other words, between the years 2021 and 2022, Fortune 1000 companies added 15 new chief design executives, from 35 to 50\. The report doesn’t mention that during this time practically anyone could leave their design job at lunch and have a new one by dinner. Recruiters and hiring managers could not get enough designers and design leaders right up until they didn’t, and the pendulum began its long and harsh swing backward. *Strategic Behaviors & Mindsets of Design Executives* is a giant slap across the face of design and design leadership. It completely ignores what has happened to the industry and the people at large in the last 24 months and still going. Almost a half-million people in technology (digital transformation) are out of work and while design is a minor percentage of that number, it’s still a lot of people who are not living their best life right now. I might cut the DXC and Figma some slack if the layoffs and decimation had just started in 2024, but we are years into a staggering reduction in design programs. There is nothing in this document that direcetly addresses the latest deprioritization of design. Instead the report's “insights” push themes that are now tired tropes from many days gone by. I can’t shake the phrase “tone deaf” out of my head. Look, we don’t need more of this shit. Frankly, we should have moved on from this jargon and these lofty goals long ago, around the time InVision started to tank and the marketing team layoffs began. There is no need or use case for clinging onto turns of phrase and “actionable insights” that rarely worked a few years ago, let alone today when designers and design leaders are scrambling just to get work done. And real work mind you, not strategic behaviors and mindsets mumbo jumbo. Design doesn’t need the “seat at the table” right now, it needs more designers working at desks and leaders who focus on delivering good work. ### "What is the point of countless books and libraries." URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/what-is-the-point-of-countless-books-and-libraries/ Last updated: 2024-05-21T22:37:31.000Z Yesterday morning I opened *The Daily Stoic* and came across a gem of a thought written by the philosopher [Seneca](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seneca%5Fthe%5FYounger?ref=brilliantcrank.com). It’s from his book [*De Tranquillitate Animi*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De%5FTranquillitate%5FAnimi?ref=brilliantcrank.com) roughly translated in English, *On Tranquility of Mind.* > What’s the point of having countless books and libraries, whose titles could hardly be read through in a lifetime. The learner is not taught, but burdened by the sheer volume, and it’s better to plant the seeds of a few authors than to be scattered about by many. I guess they had hoarders back in 50 A.D. just like today? Anyway, building on the thoughts I shared in my last blog post, Seneca’s point makes a direct hit. This isn’t “less is more”, but rather “more doesn’t equal better”. In my head, I can see a guy named MJ, one of the smartest and most well-read design leaders I’ve ever met, slightly smiling in response because two thoughts came to his mind: 1\. It’s nice to have a conversation about philosophy, and 2\. Greg’s interpretation is cute, not entirely wrong, but slightly pedestrian. And I’m okay with this imaginary assessment because he’s always right. I can tell you from experience that “countless books” is indeed a burden. I have bought and donated hundreds and hundreds of books over the years. Even after I still have hundreds of books in my office and home and even more, thousands, on my Kindle. And I think I’ve written before that if I were to stop buying or borrowing any new books further, it would likely take my estimated remaining time on the planet to consume them all. So, I take Seneca’s thought to heart. He’s right and I would do well to listen, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to quit buying books completely. That would not feel humane. ### The Dice — 001 URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/dice-001/ Last updated: 2024-12-24T18:58:46.000Z ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/brilliantcrank-dice-2-1.png) Here is the first issue of The Dice, six links to inspire, inform, or entertain—Not too long or too short. This feature is the spiritual successor to the Longboard that was published on Airbag in days gone by. As much as people tell me how much they enjoy my writing, I get even more compliments on the collection of links that I used to publish. We’ll see how this goes, but if you like this [let me know](mailto://brilliantcrank@gmail.com), yeah? Have a great weekend. Take care of your valets and they will take care of you. --- ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-one.png) Chris Glass’ [Blogroll](https://chrisglass.com/blogroll/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) is my favorite page on the Internet right now. For those pining for the “old days,” this is how you do it. Turning away from algorithms and curating sources of good content. That’s how we did it back then and it still works today. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-two.png) Luke Dorny posted the perfect, minimalist expression of web designer frustration in his masterpiece titled, [“Layout.”](https://lukedorny.com/articles/layout?ref=brilliantcrank.com) Luxury, I don't know why you need a new design but I get it and sending creative voodoo your way. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-three-1.png) I don’t think it’s a stretch to presume that Brilliantcrank subscribers are, like myself, middle-aged. That said, here’s some inspiration for us all: [He Turned 55\. Then He Started the World’s Most Important Company.](https://apple.news/AOnsaITb8RCKvNp9U6CtpCQ?ref=brilliantcrank.com) ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-four.png) Given their wholehearted and unchecked embrace of AI and recent slopiness in [destroying client data and backups](https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/05/google-cloud-accidentally-nukes-customer-account-causes-two-weeks-of-downtime/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), I would love nothing more than to remove Google completely from my work and life like [Aaron Rolston](https://aaronrolston.com/writing/escaping-the-google-monopoly?ref=brilliantcrank.com). ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-five.png) [The skill you’ve never been taught: How to think better.](https://fs.blog/how-to-think/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) Yet another classic from Farnam Street. And after you’ve had a good think, [take action](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nI2VQ-ZsNr0&ref=brilliantcrank.com). ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/12/dice-six-1.png) I think they’re positioning this property all wrong. It should be marketed as the perfect [Bond Villian starter home](https://auctions.savills.co.uk/index.php?option=com%5Fbidding&view=commission&layout=details&id=10390&ref=brilliantcrank.com) with a pair of jetpacks (optional, some assembly required). --- This issue was written and assembled listening to [The Road, Pt. 1](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy%5FmDKUeYNKpG-OHGiHOEg1P6NrtNUZyQzHI&ref=brilliantcrank.com) by UNKLE. ### Taking a step back from the everything everywhere all at once cloud. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/taking-a-step-back-from-the-everything-everywhere-all-at-once-cloud/ Last updated: 2025-05-11T18:52:02.000Z Rachel Kwon shared her “half-baked” thoughts and reflections on the [benefits and drawbacks of going digital with media](https://kwon.nyc/notes/net-positive-maybe/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) that resonated immediately and even more so as I read through the entire post. > Technology has changed the way we consume and create media has evolved, and considering all the benefits against the drawbacks, sometimes it doesn’t feel like a net improvement to me. Or maybe it’s just that things evolved too quickly, we got excited about all the upside and didn’t think enough about second and third order effects, and now we’re still figuring out a way to catch up. I haven’t decided how optimistic or doomsday I feel about all of it yet. This is a topic that comes up weekly in my conversations with either [Brett](https://brettharned.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) or [Luke](https://lukedorny.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com); and just about any time I talk with someone who remembers the previous digital switch (1.0) from albums and cassettes to compact discs. We don’t lament our own migrations to digital (2.0) but we all agree that after decades of listening, reading, and viewing everything from the cloud there are certainly some trade-offs we did not foresee. One is the tangible feel of using older media. Brett and Luke still listen to a lot of music on vinyl while I play around with Minidiscs and CDs. I tried vinyl but as I didn’t grow up with that format (cassettes were a lot more common where I grew up in Alaska because they didn’t break as easily as records did during shipping) I didn’t have nostalgia to inspire getting up and flipping an LP every four songs. Universally I think we all miss discovering new music as an in-person experience—either through a conversation with friends or hanging out in a music store. Both Luke and I have fond memories of walking into Tower Records or Virgin Music and hitting up the sample stations where you could listen to an entire CD. We both used to skip through tracks to get an idea of the album, listening for the types of notes and beats that resonate—especially when listening to trip hop or the like. And then there were the visits to smaller shops staffed by quirky die-hard fans of music who always had a take on any album (It should be noted that while High Fidelity is listed as fictitious, it is in fact, a dramatized documentary). In Anchorage, we had Mammoth Music and it was nothing short of awesome no matter which store you visited. Just going into the store usually netted an immediate discovery of what the staff were playing. I know many record or vinyl shops have a similar vibe, but a lot of what I hear are albums I already know and it’s just not the same. This also likely has more to do with my age as I presume post-CD folks have just the opposite experience. I am a collector by nature and as such I have amassed a huge collection of music, movies, and books. After moving a few times in three years, these collections became costly and annoying. So, like Rachel, I started going digital on everything, no longer buying physical media and books to reduce adding any more weight to our next, inevitable, move. Donating hundreds and hundreds of books and movies to the local charity organization. I felt good about the switch until I started to recognize that by moving to virtual (aka digital 2.0) I was spending more time collecting or gathering media than I was using it. Especially music. > For whatever reason I just don’t listen to music that much anymore, but it used to be one of my main interests. I loved listening to music, going to shows (at my peak I was going to 3-4 shows a week), talking about music, discovering new music, recommending music to friends, all of it. Ditto. I’ve started buying physical media again though I only buy books if they are special editions. I recently completed my collection of Duran Duran CDs while I have “burned” several other albums onto Minidisc. And I’ve started to collect Criterion edition movies in Bluray format. Interesting to note that physical versions of movies now come with a code to download a digital version from a handful of stores including Apple and Google which is appealing. One thing I’ve noticed about going back to physical form is the immediate tendency to question whether I want that item or not. Do I really want to buy a CD or movie that I don’t feel that strongly about? No. The answer is always no and there is joy in that because it means fewer distractions—more time and attention saved. What’s that saying again, oh yeah, less is more. In the end, Rachel asks, “Am I wrong? I feel like I’m biased about all of this because I remember the Before times, and like most humans, I’m wired to prefer the familiar and fear the unknown.” No. You’re not wrong, but I don’t think it’s a preference for what’s familiar and a fear of the unknown. Rather, it's a change in your path after healthy reflection with a bit of nostalgia. We can easily swap analog for digital for virtual but it will never come with complete satisfaction as we’re hard-wired for physical interactions. ### The new, jerk ass jerk zombie apocalypse. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-new-zombie-apocalypse/ Last updated: 2025-05-11T18:52:43.000Z I really didn’t want to get out of bed at 5 AM so I didn’t and tapped my phone screen until I blindly found the “snooze button.” The phone kept nagging at me every eight minutes so I finally made it upright, out of bed, and ready for a meeting at six with my friend and business partner, Brett. As per usual we didn’t talk about work—the intent of the weekly call—but shared conversations and events we experienced over the last couple of days. This morning’s chat was especially productive as we began to reach some conclusions about the people we have both interacted with and worked with in the last two years. Which I will share with you here. After experiencing an incredible range of highs and lows in the last two years we both concluded the following: - The pandemic shone a light on who people really are deep down - A lot of people are having a very difficult time climbing out on the other side of the pandemic None of this has to do with vaccinations, whether you got them or not. I write that because I know someone reading this is going straight to blaming vaccines because that’s the world we live in now. It has everything to do with a thought Anthony Baker shared with me a few days ago: “It’s become more acceptable to be a hermit.” I hadn’t thought about that until he said it, but, yeah, he’s spot on. As we were all made to shelter in place, work from home, and regulate six feet distance between ourselves, it became socially practical and acceptable to be isolated no matter if you liked it or not. The isolation amped up our anxiety further inflamed by an onslaught of media-fueled polarizing events—politics, crime, climate, and economics—completely out of our control. The things combined with streaming and delivery services keep us inside longer. Greater isolation and segregation that no amount of video chat could save us from. The perfect flywheel for destroying a previously, mostly calm and centrist society. Just as the pandemic exposed many unhealthy businesses that were likely inevitable to fail, the same goes with people. The pandemic shone a light on who they really are or what fear and isolation turned them into and not for the better. People who used to come across as congenial don’t bother at all—any signs of mutual respect are gone. Traces of narcissistic behavior turned into full-bore attention whores. So many folks who used to take the time to interact, listen, and lean into conversation don’t. Hell, they don’t even pretend anymore. Apathy, indifference, callousness, and self-centeredness are now more common in my network than their opposites. I honestly don’t think people see their new reflection which might be why they don’t really care to change. And the job and contract losses in our industry are certainly not helping. Almost everyone is scrambling to find financial and health benefits safety and certainty or they are Game of Thronesing to keep what they have. Speaking of, I’d love to see someone write a book on the GoTing that took place and got progressively worse at InVision with each new round of layoffs. In hindsight, they should have hired behavioral scientists to study the many seasons of Lord of the Flies that took place there. And all of this is keeping too many of us in a bad place. At least it’s bad to me, and Brett. Scratch that. On one hand, it’s bad because as it turns out, there are a lot of self-centered a-holes in this world. Some small, others gigantic, but assholes nonetheless, and more than I’d like to see. Just as the pandemic cleared out a lot of failing companies so too it has exposed many people failing to be authentically congenial, respectful, empathetic, caring, and kind. I never liked being a hermit but if that’s what the majority of my network wants to be, cool for you but I’m going to find a new group of folks to work with, to play with who also seek to be genuinely better humans. ### The real enshittification has only just begun. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-real-enshittification-has-only-just-begun/ Last updated: 2025-05-11T18:53:14.000Z One of my godson’s got caught using AI to generate papers for his history class. He does school from home and can turn in work when he’s finished. I’m not sure how they caught him, but I have to imagine they were tipped off when he turned in an entire semester’s worth of work within two weeks. When confronted about the situation he played the well-established lemming defense: “Trust me, everyone else is doing it.” I have to give him credit, I would have likely tried the same thing if these tools were available when I went to school. I finished my last semester in college by writing a few hundred pages of essays on history and political science. It would have been nice to crank out a few of those three-pagers in a few hours instead of every weekend. That said, one of the hardest lessons I have learned over decades of experience is that there are no worthwhile shortcuts in life. There are plenty out there to take, but choosing that path always leads to consequences. Many times more severe than if you had just done the work yourself. In all cases taking a shortcut deprived me of the experience and the learning that comes from just doing the work or fulfilling a role. I have a friend who is notorious for spending more time trying to solve a problem through systems and tools to produce shortcuts than just doing the work. I’ve seen her spend twice as much time trying to come up with something clever instead of completing a task. There’s nothing wrong with looking for ways to optimize your work until the search takes much longer than the task. In the end, the job still needs to get done and you’ve likely just made more work for yourself. As is the case with my godson who has been graciously granted a second chance. He has until the end of the semester to re-complete all of his assignments. Thankfully he has plenty of time to do this because he “finished” his work within a few weeks. Now he has a few months to make things right and his parent has to personally verify and validate that he completed the new work on his own—“Made by Human.” Not only does he have to do more work, but he’s also lost a few privileges. Ah, the consequences of shortcuts. If there’s a lesson learned for everyone through the AI hijinx of a teenager it’s this, AI is not a turn-key shortcut for producing good work (of course there are some exceptions, especially in the realm of tasks to compare and contrast). Generative is not substantive, and it robs us of learning and doing which gives us more experience and ultimately enhances our perspective. Manufacturing thought produces cheap results. Generated by AI is the new 1980s horrible synonymous expression, “Made in Taiwan.” And I suspect it will only get worse (not Taiwan, it’s pretty awesome). Especially as more corporations try to wedge and duct-tape AI onto their already shitty systems. The consequences of their many attempts at using AI as a shortcut will be severe and will negatively impact more of us than intended or imagined. ### Behind F1's velvet curtain, and Road & Track's delete button. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/they-sent-a-socialist-to-a-capitalist-party/ Last updated: 2025-05-11T19:24:03.000Z A friend sent me a link to an article about Formula 1\. “Not sure how this reads to *fans* of F1, but I thought this was just an exquisite essay,” they wrote and shared a link to an article published by *Road & Track* magazine. Except the link didn’t go to their website, but to [a cached version on the Internet Archive Wayback Machine](https://web.archive.org/web/20240301170542/https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a46975496/behind-f1-velvet-curtain/). At first, I thought maybe the article was from a while ago, but no, it was published two days ago on March 1st. Knowing my friend, I thought this could be an attempt to circumvent advertising and all of the invasive tracking that goes hand-in-hand. So I searched for the article titled, “Behind F1's Velvet Curtain,” which produced results linking to the [original home on the *Road & Track* website](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjt1KT92dmEAxWHAzQIHYgwDo4QFnoECBAQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.roadandtrack.com%2Fcar-culture%2Fa46975496%2Fbehind-f1-velvet-curtain%2F&usg=AOvVaw3xEjll9R3Eosp%5FvJnlts6S&opi=89978449) and a few syndicated versions. Yet when I clicked on each link none of them produced the article. Not partially or otherwise, but instead promotions for other content to disguise the fact that the article has been removed, barely two days after publication. The story covers the author’s all-expenses paid trip to the United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas in 2023 by invitation from a wealthy team sponsor. The author behind the article, Kate Wagner, is a well-known journalist who covers sports in the form of cycling—think *Tour de France*. The invitation came from Mercedes Benz sponsor, INEOS, who also happens to be a corporate sponsor of cycling. Without any knowledge of more details, this seems to be the only link between Kate’s work and why she was extended this invitation. She acknowledges that she is new to Formula 1 and has never been to a race before, let alone written about the sport. In addition to her work as a journalist, Kate is also notorious for her Twitter account (and website) called [McMansion Hell](https://twitter.com/mcmansionhell?ref=brilliantcrank.com) where she provides satirical criticism and commentary on the subject of gigantic homes. Her profile page indicates that she is also the “architecture critic at [*The Nation*](https://www.thenation.com/authors/kate-wagner/?ref=brilliantcrank.com)”—a very liberal publication that also happens to be the oldest publication still in existence in the United States. I know that last bit because I had the pleasure of redesigning a few pages for their website back in the late 2000’s. In addition to all of this, Kate self identifies herself as a “bicycle-loving, card-carrying socialist” in the article. You might see where this is going. I have followed Formula 1 since the spring of 2011\. At the time I made the decision to relocate to Austin, Texas from Emeryville, California. Meanwhile, plans were announced for the development of the Circuit of the Americas race track and a pending deal to host Formula 1 there. It seemed like a great time to get into the sport even though the event wouldn’t take place for a few years. In those days F1 was very different from what it is today. While it has always been a global phenomenon it’s so, so much bigger today thanks to the acquisition and evolution by Formula 1’s current owner, Liberty Media. Once the Netflix special hit, the sport has skyrocketed in every aspect, including the attraction of more—many more—very famous and very wealthy people. What was once a fringe sport here in the United States has become an expanding national interest. If you’ve never paid attention to Formula 1 the first thing to know is that it is one of the top exhibitions of capitalism. Not just from the teams, but everybody, every company that is connected to the sport in in way, shape, or form. Money is to Formula 1 what oxygen is to humans. In motorsports (and perhaps sports in general) nothing compares to the amount of money that orbits F1\. Kate puts this into perspective through her own assessment: > As pro sportsmen, their practitioners make money, sure—Tadej Pogačar, two-time Tour de France winner, is estimated to be on a salary of around 6 million euros. In NASCAR, Kyle Busch, the highest-paid driver, is reported to make more than twice that—$16.9 million, though he is an anomaly. Many drivers, even veterans like Brad Keselowski, make much closer to top cycling money, itself an outlier. Many who ride the Tour de France do so on paltry salaries of 50,000 euros or less. > > Max Verstappen, now a three-time Formula 1 champion, makes a reported $70 million per year. I could go on and on about money, but I won’t. I think I’ve made the point. Here’s the thing and why I’m still scratching my head. It doesn’t take a Harvard professor to take a step back and wonder what *Road & Track* was thinking when they green-lit this adventure. They sent a socialist to one of the most over-the-top celebrations of celebrity, glamour, wealth, and greed on the planet. What in the hell did they think was going to happen? To be fair, Kate’s article makes plenty of jabs at the absurdity and stupidity of the pageantry and celebration of wealth, but when it comes to covering the sport itself, her writing is vastly different from most, if not all, coverage I have read on this sport to date—and vastly better. > One thing that strikes me about Formula 1 is its unexpected resemblance to fencing—it is an absolutely poised and disciplined affair. Recently, for my 30th birthday, I took up medieval sword fighting—historical European martial arts, they call it. For the first two weeks we worked on standing in a good medieval stance, always prepared to move. Sword fighting is learned through what are called set plays, specific motions of sword and body combined into one fluid action. But when you watch people who are really good at sword fighting, an ornate, flowing dance emerges from these seemingly disparate parts. Formula 1 is like that. When the cars line up on the grid, everything is totally neat and rehearsed, completely in its place. Tires, people, staff, even journalists. The teams are meted out in perfect sections—they don't call it the grid for nothing. But when time comes for the sprint to begin, team members move in perfect coordination, synchronized. They have stances and footwork. This is most true of the pit crew and the astonishing speed at which they travel through space as one organism, totally practiced in set plays of their own. This was beautiful to watch in real life. The unfurling of the apparatus of the setup, groups peeling back one by one until there are only these alien cars, these technological marvels kissing the ground. Before the heartbeat, they respirated. > > When they set off, one by one, first in the sprint, then the first shootout, what struck me was how quiet the cars were. This makes sense to me as someone who once studied acoustics in graduate school. Formula 1, again like sword fighting, is about an economy of motion. Noise is a hallmark of mechanical inefficiency. When mechanical systems work well, they work quietly. Noise at its core is excess energy. In Formula 1 cars, being perfect machines, that energy is redirected where it could be of use. Despite her novice status with Formula 1, it’s clear that Kate is extraordinarily perceptive, especially in a sport where success and failure are measured in three-one hundredths of a second. > I returned to watching the cars as they started up again, knowing that the drivers were pushing them to their limits, engrossed in their personal kaleidoscope of motion and color. Hamilton was in one of them. In the last shootout, he drove differently than before. A great verve frayed the lines he was making, something we can only call effort, push. Watching him, I understood what was so interesting about this sport, even though I was watching it in its most bare-bones form—cars going around in circles. The driver is the apotheosis of quick-moving prowess, total focus and control. The car is both the most studied piece of human engineering, tuned and devised in lab-like environments and at the same time a variable entity, something that must be wrestled with and pushed. The numbers are crunched, the forms wind-tunneled. And yet some spirit escapes their control, and that spirit is known only by the driver. Yes, we watch this perfect blend of man and machine, but we speak of the machine as though it were not of human origin, as though the machine, being born from science could—eventually, through its iterative processes—sublimate human flaws. The driver, being human, knows this is false. His intimacy with the machine is the necessary missing connection, and even if the machine were perfect, it was made for imperfect hands. But it is never perfect. The gaps in its perfection are where disasters transpire, but also miracles. Yeah, you’re never going to read prose like that from Martin Brundle, the [Sky Sports F1](https://www.skysports.com/f1?ref=brilliantcrank.com) journalist who once awkwardly confused [Paolo Banchero for Patrick Mahomes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T319qN9MzqU&ref=brilliantcrank.com) during the grid crawl leading up to a race in Austin. Nor will you find such eloquent writing in other *Road & Track* articles like ["Max Verstappen Is Not an Asshole"](https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a41313845/max-verstappen-is-not-an-asshole/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and ["Is Max Verstappen Now Officially an Asshole?"](https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a41959268/how-about-now-is-max-verstappen-an-asshole/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) Both articles were published within two weeks, like a side note right out of a Douglas Adam's book. Though I’m not a “card-carrying socialist,” there isn’t much about Kate’s perspective on Formula 1 that I didn’t agree with. The sport has become an over-the-top celebration of mediocre racing. It’s formulaic—if you will allow the pun—and boring to watch. This weekend we watched the first race of the season starting with the formation lap, the starting lap, and then fast-forwarded to the end, scanning along the way for anything interesting to happen. Nothing did and the outcome was unfortunately uneventful as expected. As more and more money is spent, the more boring (and sometimes ridiculous) Formula 1 has become to watch. More often than not, the only real racing takes place in the middle of the pack and we’re meant to get excited about who places 7th-12th? Obviously, someone in a position of power didn’t like Kate’s perspective. That’s the only conclusion I can think of as to why the article was pulled within 48 hours of publication. Even Kate’s author profile page on *Road & Track* has gone missing. Somebody just wants all of this, Kate included, to go away. This is a shame because in my world this article fits in with two classics of American journalism written by observant authors who were hired to cover events they had very little knowledge about. I’m referring to Hunter S. Thompson’s assignment by *Sports Illustrated* to cover the [Mint 400 race near Las Vegas](https://www.gq.com/story/mint-400-american-desert-race?ref=brilliantcrank.com) in 1971, and David Foster Wallace’s epic ["Consider the Lobster"](http://www.gourmet.com.s3-website-us-east-1.amazonaws.com/magazine/2000s/2004/08/consider%5Fthe%5Flobster.html?ref=brilliantcrank.com) written for *Gourmet* magazine in 2003\. From what I know of these two stories, the outcome was not exactly what the publisher had in mind, but the world grew richer through their perspectives. Whatever happened behind the velvet curtin, *Road & Track* should have done more to defend Kate’s work because frankly, the sport needs more people like her to add depth and prose to an otherwise shallow competition. Not to mention, they sent a socialist to a capitalist party and got nothing but gold. ### “I don’t want to write articles — I want to blog.” URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/i-dont-want-to-write-articles-i-want-to-blog/ Last updated: 2025-05-11T18:39:13.000Z If there was ever a sign that personal sites and blogs are making a comeback, I can’t think anything better than the top-to-bottom [redesign of Kottke](https://kottke.org/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). After all, Jason’s site is *the* quentisentail blog or The Blog of Blogs. A lot of thought went into the new look and feel that appears to be nicely optimized for the mobile experience. This is the most content-first designs I’ve seen in a while with very intentional decisions made to create the right feel for readers. > *In thinking about how I wanted* [*kottke.org*](http://kottke.org/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) *to look and, more importantly, feel going forward, I wanted more social media energy than blog energy — one could also say “more old school blog energy than contemporary blog energy”. Blogs now either look like Substack/Medium or* [*Snow Fall*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow%5FFall?ref=brilliantcrank.com) *and I didn’t want to pattern* [*kottke.org*](http://kottke.org/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) *after either of those things. I don’t want to write articles — I want to blog.* This direction continued on to other choices such as removing the header “so the content starts much higher on the page.” I think my favorite change is with the site navigation that was designed to be clearer for members so as to promote more participation. > [*kottke.org*](http://kottke.org/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) *has always been very much my site…but now it’s just a little bit more our site.* Members are able to leave comments on Kottke posts and I’m glad to see an empahsis on promoting this feature. Airbag was a lot more (way more) interesting when comments were enabled (I turned them off when it was clear that everyone had moved to Twitter for discussion). Blogs without comments still feels weird, feels empty. One of the reasons why I started this site on Ghost was for the built in comments for site members. Though I haven’t come across many responses to Jason’s redesign, my guess is that the words “minimal” or “minimialism” have popped up a few times. The thing about Jason's design work is that neither of these words adequately describe end result. Especially if you consider other features like the masthead made up of generative art and the emoji based categories (so good!). The new Kottke is fantastic. It's not minimal, it's [just enough](https://kottke.org/02/05/just-enough-is-more?ref=brilliantcrank.com), and therefore just right. And I hope that Jason's work inspires more folks to flip the lights on blogs of their own. ### Tire pressure. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/tire-pressure/ Last updated: 2024-02-29T02:19:09.000Z Today we spent seven hours in a vehicle. The cats spent seven hours in a large kennel in the back of said vehicle. With that in mind, the hotel suite at the Fairfield Inn near the 5 freeway feels like a palace. I might be emotionally drunk on the opulence and free WIFI that comes with the Marriot Bonvoy experience, but I think I’m exhausted. We’re all exhausted. Though we're in for the night, knowing that we have to do it all over again tomorrow, makes us feel even more drained. Oh, what I would give to complete this journey by rail but the national travesty that is Amtrak doesn’t allow traveling with cats humanely. They would have to travel in the baggage car alone for the duration of the long trip. It’s maddening, and I can tell you from experience that trying to hold a national press conference on this problem in the lobby of a Fairfield Inn…well, let’s just say this is not a topic many people seem to care about. It was awfully nice of the manager to offer me *two* chocolate chip cookies and a complimentary late checkout in return for lowering my voice, getting off the lobby furniture, and going back to my room. My political career is over, it’s now time to decide what to do for dinner. Maybe if I buy enough microwaveable food and sit perpendicularly next to the hotel room window—watching freeway traffic zip by—I can leave Bonvoy behind and pretend to experience the real luxury of the American railway. ### No big surprise, Matt does it again. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/no-big-surprise-matt-does-it-again/ Last updated: 2024-02-28T01:08:55.000Z [Tumblr and WordPress user data have been sold to train AI, and Automattic intends to do it again moving forward.](https://www.404media.co/tumblr-and-wordpress-to-sell-users-data-to-train-ai-tools/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) Content posted on both platforms between 2014 and 2023 was shared without user's permission. Even worse, the data exchanged included private and deleted posts, private answers, and “content from premium partner blogs” for clients like Apple. Without more answers, 404 Media reports that it’s unknown if any of this impacts self-hosted blogs that use Automattic plugins like JetPack which is all but required to run a WordPress site these days. If I was still running Lexblog (which hosts thousands of WordPress sites) I would have the company on red alert to figure out the long-term viability of anything Automattic creates as private and secure. But I already know the answer is most assuredly no. Matt has a long history of making [shady deals](https://waxy.org/2005/03/wordpress%5Fwebsi/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and this feels very familiar with a similar outcome—using his platform and user base as an ATM. Even though the company states that in the future users will be able to opt out of participating in sharing their data to train AI, I’d like to think we’ve all learned by now that you can’t trust a corporation to stick with their agreements and keep your data protected and safe. I barely trust Apple and look at all of the resources and effort they put into privacy and security. If you’re using Tumblr or WordPress it’s time to seriously consider moving on to software made by companies with more integrity. Any integrity frankly is better than what you have now. I can't say enough about [Ghost](https://ghost.org/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), [Kirby](https://getkirby.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), and [Craft](https://craftcms.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). And if you need help, get in touch and I'll make the right introductions. ### Now. Like, right now. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/now-like-right-now/ Last updated: 2024-02-22T05:39:31.000Z Let’s get in sync on the living situation because I’m often asked where am I and if I’ve moved. No, I have not moved, but I have been moving around. Data Storey and I still happily live in Tacoma, Washington, but have migrated elsewhere during the winter months to primarily escape the long dark hours that wrap the Pacific Northwest like a life-sucking, cold blanket. It’s even worse in Alaska—where I spent 20 years of my life—and I don’t intend to give the short daylight hours any more of my life when I can avoid it. Last winter we lived in Sonoma, California for a few months. In the same few months when the state went from Biblical drought conditions to rainforest. I did not expect to earn an honorary Boy Scout badge in water management. This year we have lived in Henderson, Nevada, Palm Springs, California, and we’re back to our AirBNB in the heart of wine country. In a few weeks, we’ll head North and prepare for Spring. We’ve done quite a bit in the last couple of months and have hosted several of our friends throughout the journey which has made each place even more memorable. While I can see doing this regularly, I think living out of suitcases for four months is about as much as I can stand. Though we’ve lived in some nice properties, there’s a temporary feeling to life that starts to set in. I’m happy to be where we are right now, but I’m also excited to go home. I could see a future where we live half of our year in Sonoma. In many ways The Valley of the Moon is perfect. It’s off the main roads and doesn’t get nearly the amount of tourism that Napa and Healdsburg get. There are fantastic markets and a diverse selection of bars and restaurants for every kind of occasion. And when the sun is out, the entire valley feels like magic. The house where we stay is on a small hill overlooking a gulley. Hundreds of birds fly and chirp around while hawks soar above. At night the frogs and owls come out and make themselves known. It’s a very nice place, but the costs and difficulty of living in California make it a challenge to consider. For fun, I continue to hunt people in Fortnite Zero Build. Earlier this year I set a personal best of 20 kills in one match and won. I enjoy the Fortnite platform that Epic has built and love that they keep making it better. I’m also playing Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown and Mario vs. Donkey Kong on Nintendo Switch. The Switch is such a great console. It would be my go-to for everything if it was more powerful. That’s all I want out of the next version: Keep it all the same but give it more oomph. I hope Nintendo doesn’t blow it with a gadgety upgrade later this year. As for reading, I’m working through [Do: A Manual of Living](https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-book-of-do-a-manual-for-living/19666739?ean=9781914168154&ref=brilliantcrank.com), [The 3 Alarms](https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-3-alarms-a-simple-system-to-transform-your-health-wealth-and-relationships-forever-eric-partaker/15335581?ean=9780990378525&ref=brilliantcrank.com), [Be Useful](https://bookshop.org/p/books/be-useful-seven-tools-for-life-arnold-schwartzenegger/19976031?ean=9780593655955&ref=brilliantcrank.com), (by the way, if you haven't already, check out the [three-part series on Arnold's life](https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/arnold-schwarzenegger-documentary-release-date-trailer-news?ref=brilliantcrank.com), we really enjoyed it), [Poor Charlie’s Almanac](https://bookshop.org/p/books/poor-charlie-s-almanack-the-essential-wit-and-wisdom-of-charles-t-munger-charles-t-munger/19009675?ean=9781953953230&ref=brilliantcrank.com), and a handful of other books on collaboration and leadership. The more books I read about these two topics the more I believe there are only about 30-40 things anyone needs to be successful. Even fewer if you consider the fundamentals of just being a good human being. For fun, I devoured [Incredible Doom](https://bookshop.org/p/books/incredible-doom-jesse-holden/15915826?ean=9780063064935&ref=brilliantcrank.com) after a recommendation by [Dave](https://daverupert.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Also reading [The Weatherman](https://www.amazon.com/Weatherman-1-Jody-LeHeup/dp/1534308733?ref=brilliantcrank.com), [Strange Adventures](https://www.amazon.com/Strange-Adventures-Tom-King/dp/1779512031/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), and re-reading [DMZ](https://bookshop.org/p/books/dmz-compendium-one-brian-wood/14356176?ean=9781779504357&ref=brilliantcrank.com). I’ve started [The Sympathizer](https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-sympathizer-a-novel-pulitzer-prize-for-fiction-viet-thanh-nguyen/10875589?ean=9780802124944&ref=brilliantcrank.com) and [Starter Villian](https://bookshop.org/p/books/starter-villain-john-scalzi/18753219?ean=9780765389220&ref=brilliantcrank.com). I canceled our subscription to the New York Times and Google TV. The first is because I no longer consider their quality of reporting worth the price tag. I miss playing Connections, but have since picked up a [Puzzmo](https://www.puzzmo.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) subscription to scratch that itch. Work is still in progress and I’ll have more to say on that later. ### Ah, this feels good. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/ah-this-feels-right/ Last updated: 2024-02-19T23:25:28.000Z If you’re reading this post around the time of publication, you may wonder, why in the world would you create a new blog when you have a [perfectly good one](https://airbagindustries.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) already? A publication that’s been around for more than twenty years?! Airbag is a brand and a blog that many folks from the old web know well. I feel I can say that because I hear it from people all the time who tell me so. I cherish what I’ve made and I love the brand dearly, but what I write about doesn’t always fall in line with what I’d like Airbag to be—what it once was before—and what I’d like it to become. Oh, hello, foreshadowing. No, I felt it was time to move on with another name I’ve had attached to my online sleeve for almost as long. Anyone who follows me on anything remotely social should be familiar with the handle Brilliantcrank. It’s a word I came up with in 2003 after reading an article about contemporary cranky leaders. Cranky is the keyword here, a type of persona I know very well and tend to put on when I come across anything that doesn’t seem right. This name is me and I am it. And until now I’ve used this AOL alias for everything I do, except for my blog. You may have noticed the platform. Weirdly enough, this will be my third blog on Ghost Pro in the last three months. I have one each for [Same Team Partners](https://sameteampartners.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and [Jump Ship](https://letsjumpship.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) which are in different stages of development. I’ve had my eye on this Ghost since version 1.0 and, for whatever reason, held back from switching. After kicking the tires for a few months, I’m impressed by the quality of the experience. There are limitations to what you can do with Ghost but I also hope that means it will block any future [enshittification](https://americandialect.org/2023-word-of-the-year-is-enshittification/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) of the platform ala WordPress and the like. It’s squarely for publishing content through the web, email, and RSS. And, I love it for what it is. I’ve also come to love their [community](https://forum.ghost.org/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and the astonishingly great [resources](https://ghost.org/resources/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) including their weekly newsletter. I do have finished designs for what I want this site to look like, but for now, it was more important to move my blog over to this domain instead of putting in the time and effort to create a bespoke design. While Ghost has an okay catalog of [themes](https://ghost.org/themes/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) readily available, I think there’s room to make publications look even better. Especially without having to attach an image to everything. I earnestly hope that putting publishing first will inspire some of you to do the same. It’s more important than ever that stand-up sites like these, practice our constitutional rights, and exchange our ideas personally (manually?) and not through algorithms and evil platforms. In the meantime, consider [subscribing](https://brilliantcrank.com/#/portal/) and [adding this site to your feed reader](https://brilliantcrank.com/rss/). If you don’t have a feed reader, [get one](https://reederapp.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), and then add this site to your new feed reader. Then subscribe to the newsletter, because—Just because. And then if you really want to go all in, follow along on either [Mastodon](https://mastodon.social/@brilliantcrank?ref=brilliantcrank.com) or [Threads](https://threads.net/@brilliantcrank?ref=brilliantcrank.com) or both. Thanks for reading throughout the years. I hope you’ll continue doing so on this new blog. ### Design for the Fediverse and French Paper. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/design-for-the-fediverse-and-french-paper/ Last updated: 2024-02-19T18:52:21.000Z After I devoured Anil’s article in [Rolling Stone](https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-commentary/internet-future-about-to-get-weird-1234938403/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), I had similar feelings as I did after attending my first SXSW in the spring of 2002—Pure excitement. I got to meet so many folks who were behind the Internet that I loved. SXSW ’02 was a three-day conversation on how the indie web got to be so cool and how important it was for those who remain to continue working on pushing technology, creativity, and community. It was like the Deathstar that was Dot-com had just blown up and we were all in the Millennium Falcon shooting out of the explosion. Years later web 2.0 came into the world and that changed everything for the better or worse. You know, you were there. And then, similar to 2001, the House of Capitalism propping everything up crashed in 2023\. Hard. You know, you are here. This time around, I see a glimmer of light and it starts with Anil’s vision. People are fed up and tired of being tied to platforms controlled by delusional bros. I genuinely love to see all of the signs of a resurgence in independent publishing on the web. That’s the Internet I contributed to building in the 90s. The Internet that Airbag as a studio designed for time and time again. This is the Internet I want to see more of in the world. Meanwhile, a similar independent movement has taken place in the world of print publishing—my original passion. My intent in college was to become a graphic designer for a newspaper or magazine until I picked up an early issue of Wired magazine and my world was forever changed. I love print like most of you love your vinyl. I spend more money on magazines and zines annually than I do on anything powered by the Internet. So, it feels like the universe is starting to speak and I'm primed to listen. While I have other [business](https://sameteampartners.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) [interests](https://letsjumpship.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) in flight, I think it’s time to take Airbag back to its studio days. This time with a laser focus on publications, either in the Fediverse or on French Paper or both. A few irons are already in the fire so, stay tuned. And if you love this idea, [say so](https://mastodon.social/@brilliantcrank?ref=brilliantcrank.com). ### Now recruiting for 2024 URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/now-recruiting-for-2024/ Last updated: 2024-02-20T00:37:47.000Z I think I’ve read more recollections recently than I have in years past in part because there have been more of them to consume. Last year was a slow-motion, ongoing trainwreck for work and it took a lot of of folks. So, as you can imagine, 2023 was packed with a lot of coaching and advising sessions. A lot of folks I met feel stuck and frustrated. People without a job watch their savings dwindle while those with jobs want to do something else but they are too afraid to leave. It wasn’t a great year for dreaming “what if.” Instead, we spent most of our time making actionable plans to get people out of their doom spiral and moving forward. As Gordon says, “[When the world is running around, you make the best of what’s still around](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vx3ESquLw6Q&ref=brilliantcrank.com),” and that’s what we did. The rest of my time was spent testing different businesses in the form of a consulting group, an enterprise product studio, and a community for new entrepreneurs. Most of these efforts were low-fidelity which worked out well. I’m grateful for the many conversations and work streams I had with folks throughout 2023\. In doing so, [I learned more about myself, and the kind of work I want to do.](https://twitter.com/rogerskaer/status/1576025818182332416?lang=en&ref=brilliantcrank.com) While all of this was going on, Brett and I released a second season of our podcast [**Sprints & Milestones**](https://sprintsandmilestones.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). We started the program many years ago to promote Brett’s book [***Project Management for Humans***](https://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/project-management-for-humans/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). For our second season, we brought folks in to talk about failure, how they endured, and what they learned from the experience. We were both blown away by the vulnerability and radical candor that our guests brought to each show. It renewed our interest and excitement for helping leaders and teams to do better and be better. Though design will always be my primary love, my passion is driven by exposing problems that are preventing people from doing their best work and achieving their potential. Near the end of season two of the podcast, Brett and I started to knock around the idea of forming a different kind of consultancy with a focus on helping leaders and teams get unstuck. With this focus, things came together pretty quickly and last Fall we were proud to introduce [**Same Team Partners**](https://sameteampartners.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Our purpose is to help agency owners and in-house executives build better people, processes, and places for creatives. It’s work that we both love to do and we have a proven track record of success. [![Title page of our Same Team capabilities deck](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/02/1-i3cnapahyvtoxofdecvcbg.png)](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1C83RkG9ZtqDmtFAV2OxXEx4H3yYcNIAf/view?usp=share%5Flink&ref=brilliantcrank.com) **2024 Same Team Capabilities Deck — Download now!** After taking a break for the holidays we got back together this week to put the finishing touches on our [**new capabilities deck.**](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1C83RkG9ZtqDmtFAV2OxXEx4H3yYcNIAf/view?usp=share%5Flink&ref=brilliantcrank.com) We’re now open for business and recruiting new teams for us to join. If you know an agency owner or an in-house leader who is bogged down, we are ready to go and start knocking down blockers and destroying silos. Download the deck, take a look, and get in touch or send it to someone you know who’s stuck in their company, career, or role at work. And if you’re not already, please subscribe to our upcoming newsletter and blog, [**Same Page**](https://medium.com/same-page?ref=brilliantcrank.com). I’m hoping 2024 is another year packed with meeting more folks and hearing about the challenges they’re facing. Even if it means you and I just getting together for a few minutes and saying hi, let’s do it! Feel free to [**grab a day and time on my calendar that works for you**](https://calendly.com/gregstorey/1--1?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and I’ll see you soon. ### Five things. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/five-things/ Last updated: 2024-02-19T18:53:47.000Z [“Why our fashion editor buys almost nothing new”](https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/life-and-art-from-ft-weekend/id1179847741?i=1000641662751&ref=brilliantcrank.com) popped up in my podcast queue this morning. Though I’m not into fashion the episode title and show notes caught my attention. > Last year, the FT’s fashion editor Lauren Indvik made a pledge that surprised us. She vowed to buy just five new items of clothing and shoes all year long. The number comes from a study that says in order to stick to the Paris Agreement’s goals, five new items of fashion a year is the optimal goal for those who live in the world’s richest countries. Lauren tells Lilah how the experiment went and whether she stuck to five things. She also shares her tips for buying fewer new clothes. I’m intrigued because I look around at all of the things I own, especially media, and I don’t need to buy anything new. Especially if you consider my digital library with hundreds of books and thousands of comics. I know enough about myself that I can go full turkey and that will last for a few months. Then I’ll see something cool and—oops, willpower is gone—1-Click buy button, click—oh we, I’ll try again next year! But five things. I think I could do five things. That means one new thing per quarter and a bonus for that one time when my brain can not get over whatever it is and I have to have it. This I can do. ### A win for independents. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/a-win-for-independents/ Last updated: 2025-05-28T20:36:05.000Z This morning I woke up thinking about a story I read yesterday that deserves more attention and celebration. Brandon Kelly, the creator of the [Craft](https://craftcms.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) content management system, [posted this news with little fanfare](https://masto.craftcms.com/@brandon/111681391803554342?ref=brilliantcrank.com) on Mastodon: > Mind-blowing stat to kick off 2024: CraftCMS is now the 7th most popular CMS among the top 5K domains worldwide, according to Cloudflare’s 2023 trends report. His message was [accompanied by a chart](https://radar.cloudflare.com/year-in-review/2023?ref=brilliantcrank.com#website-technologies) showing WordPress at the top with 53.3% market share and Craft sitting at a humble 1.7%. In between were more juggernauts like Adobe Experience Manager, Drupal, Contentful, Hubspot, and Squarespace. Even if you’re not a developer, you’ve likely heard of Squarespace as they advertise like crazy on television, streaming, and just about every podcast ever made (except for [Sprints & Milestones](https://sprintsandmilestones.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com)). And when I say crazy, I mean this year they spent “over $100 million on advertising in digital, print, and national TV in the last year” according to [MediaRadar](https://advertisers.mediaradar.com/squarespace-advertising-profile?ref=brilliantcrank.com#:~:text=Squarespace%20spent%20over%20%24100%20million,in%20the%20past%20twelve%20months). And if you’re curious, like I am, that staggering amount of money is one-tenth of [Squarespace’s expected revenue for 2023](https://investors.squarespace.com/news-events-financials/investor-news/news-details/2023/Squarespace-Announces-Fourth-Quarter-and-Full-Year-2022-Financial-Results/default.aspx?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Craft is highly likely not on track for that kind of revenue and I’m pretty sure I could bet my house and retirement that Brandon is not spending $100M on advertising, and yet his company is within .1% of Squarespace’s influence on the top five thousand websites on the planet. In addition, almost all of those competitors have received hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to get to where they are. Craft has been bootstrapped since day one and their team is less than twenty people. Think about that for a minute. To be fair, Squarespace’s target market is individuals and tiny companies that sell products and services. That said, for a company that is a fraction of a fraction in size of its closest rival in this report, Brandon and his team are clearly the winners. It is a remarkable achievement for the products they create, their product strategy (the products they don’t create), and their obvious commitment to the thousands of people who create these top five thousand websites with Craft. Folks, this is the Internet I signed up for! This is exactly the type of business story I want to see, read, and hear more of in the years to come. It’s a great reminder that the independent web is still alive and kicking, and [poised for a strong comeback](https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-commentary/internet-future-about-to-get-weird-1234938403/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Maybe it’s time to spin [Independents Day](https://indieweb.org/Independents%5FDay?ref=brilliantcrank.com) back up and celebrate. ### AI is not a silver bullet. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/ai-is-not-a-silver-bullet/ Last updated: 2025-05-11T18:53:42.000Z This morning I happened across a new publication called [Futurism](https://futurism.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Doesn’t it always make the day better when you come across a new journal? Anyhoo, scrolling through the homepage this headline caught my eye—[Sam Altman's Right-Hand Man Says AI Is Overhyped](https://futurism.com/sam-altman-brad-lightcap-man-ai-overhyped?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Sam being the Sam who was fired from OpenAI, hired by Microsoft, quit his job at Microsoft, and went back to take over OpenAI all within 24 hours. Damn, the job market is so crazy stupid right now. Back on topic. I love this statement about the state of AI and the Enterprise: > In an interview with CNBC, OpenAI COO and CEO Sam Altman's right-hand man Brad Lightcap said that certain aspects of AI are "overhyped," especially when it comes to the sky-high expectations of the company's enterprise AI customers. > > "And there’s almost never a silver bullet answer there — there’s never one thing you can do with AI that solves that problem in full," he said. "And I think that’s just a testament to the world being really big and messy, and that these systems are still evolving, they’re still really in their infancy." While I was at IBM I worked with a few engineers on Watson AI-powered projects. I learned a lot, especially their disdain for the people in marketing. At the time, IBM ran a lot of advertising featuring Watson as a simple device that could solve all kinds of very complex challenges easily. Customers were excited and came to IBM in droves with massive problems expecting to hook up the magic box and solve all of them within seconds. In reality, Watson couldn’t do many of the things it was advertised to do because it wasn’t mature enough and almost all of the time the customer's legacy systems were in such a state that simply hooking up AI wasn’t an option, and it’s still not. Mostly because the data on the customers end is so messy and scrambled across so many systems that the cost-benefit doesn't work out. This left the engineers in a very awkward position of having to burst all of the bubbles and bring customers back to Earth as gently as possible. Nobody likes doing that, least of all, engineers who are so often put in that position. It’s interesting that seven years later, the problem still stands. AI is not a silver bullet and engineers are still left to the task of busting bubbles. Some things never change. ### "Why We’re Dropping Basecamp." URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/why-were-dropping-basecamp/ Last updated: 2024-02-19T19:01:06.000Z Duke University Libraries wrote about [their decision to migrate to a different project management tool after 10 years.](https://blogs.library.duke.edu/blog/2023/11/30/why-were-dropping-basecamp/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) The post is a well-articulated teardown of 37signals co-founder David Heinemeier Hansson’s opinions posted over the course of two years. > We at Duke University Libraries have decided to stop using the project management platform, Basecamp, to which we have subscribed for almost a decade. We came to this decision after weighing the level of its use in our organization, which is considerable, against the harms that we see perpetuated by the leadership of Basecamp’s parent company, 37signals. As a result of our discussions, we will not renew our current subscription when it ends in December. I’m not a wild fan of 37signals but I have to admit using it recently for a project or two because a colleague had a fully paid account which saved some time and the pain of creating yet another account somewhere else. As I read through Duke’s thoughts on Basecamp leadership it somehow gets worse. > Hansson takes glee in the mass layoffs of tech workers in late 2022\. He imagines that they were the group “from whom the DEI movement drew its most active and engaged disciples,” and seems to be delighted that “hundreds of thousands” of tech workers will be out of work – “perhaps for quite a while!” – and therefore “the most fervent ideologues among them” will be unable to find work. The implication is unavoidable, that he and perhaps other tech bosses might blacklist workers who have records of advocating for more diverse and inclusive workplaces. My wife lost her job this year because a majority of employees at her workplace sought to unionize to protect the company’s support of DEI and LGBTQIA+ initiatives. None of which came from fervent ideology unless you consider The United States Constitution as such. My wife did not deserve to be laid off. Nobody did and the whole incident is under review by the National Labor Board. Like most of her former colleagues she is having an incredibly difficult time finding work. Hell, everyone is having a hard time finding work. Full-time roles, client projects, nobody I know is immune to the negative impact this employment recession in technology is enduring. So to read that David takes joy in the financial and mental health misery of others while bragging about the many luxury cars he's owned in another blog post? Dude, he's just plain, pure evil. Like Google Evil. And I crown him the King Asshole of Asshats. 37signals should rename the company 3signals because that’s about as deep as their intellect and empathy extends. I would re-write their homepage copy as follows: 1. We’re insecure and ignorant 2. Bigotry pays well. 3. Make it white. Tomorrow I’m turning off Basecamp as soon as I’ve migrated off of it for good. I let their bullshit slide once and I’m sorry I did but I will not make that mistake again. Bye-bye dumb dumbs. ### Move and make. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/move-and-make/ Last updated: 2024-02-20T00:37:48.000Z One of the design leaders I am currently coaching has a habit of continually pulling on threads when they are long past the point of needing to diverge and learn more. They have more than enough ideas and information — too much in fact — that they’re drowning in a sea of data and synthesis and options. Whiteboards and documents filled with more information than anyone has the time and patience to review. As we moved through our session it was clear they were unintentionally blocking their progress. Having gone past the point where they had difficulty in knowing what to do next. Sound familiar? It took me a while to learn that we can only absorb too much information before we need to get it out of our head. And to do so in a way that engages a different part of our brain. Especially in a way that’s different from our digital routines. When I asked them what they planned to do next of course their response was to add new thoughts to a project whiteboard. I cut them off. Shaking my head sideways with a smile on my face, I said, “Nope. You’re done.” “No more working online,” I continued, “it’s time for you to make something and get all the things out of your head and onto paper.” I gave them an assignment to draw out stories related to the work they’re trying to complete. “Show me, don’t tell me” is an incredibly effective prompt because it’s so useful to get people out of their silos — out of their funk — thinking and doing in a different way that often leads to an accomplishment and a sense of breakthrough and forward movement. A few hours after our session I received a text with a few photos of drawings from the design leader. “\[It’s\] out of my head and onto paper!,” they wrote, “The sketching helped me think.” And that’s exactly what making does, it makes us think of our ideas and problems in a different way that gets us moving in a direction. Whether or not it’s the right direction requires more data, and validation by users, stakeholders, or peers, but now we have something to show instead of tell which always produces more reliable feedback. As we head into the busy holiday season capped by the end of the year, it’s important that we try to prioritize time to make—I’m writing this post as much for myself as anyone else it might inspire. Create space and time to give our brains a different way to process what’s in there and get it out on paper, clay, canvas, whiteboard, etc. It’s timeless advice that is easily forgotten as the stress compounds and we’re feeling too buried to do anything different. ### “I don’t know what I want to do when I grow up.” URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/i-dont-know-what-i-want-to-do-when-i-grow-up/ Last updated: 2025-05-11T19:24:40.000Z I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that line. It’s even come out of my mouth on occasion. It’s can’t speak for others but for me it’s not a matter of not knowing what to do, more like, I don’t know which interest I should prioritize. I envy those folks who found that one thing that drives them either through interest or opportunity. Like Neo sees the Matrix, I see opportunity everywhere and I chase them like a dog chases a squirrels. It’s not so much a matter of FOMO as it is interesting to go down the many paths of what could, might, and sometimes, should be. This thought comes from my own reflection of all of the things I have pursued in roughly the last calendar year. From full-time jobs to new businesses and, ugh, additional hobbies. You might insert a joke about ADHD to which I would laugh and wonder if you’re right, but this year I have refrained from many distractions and tried to hold back only digging into the opportunities that I know from experience would turn into another passing phase. [Ryan Rumsey](https://ryanrumsey.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) recently shared an article about minimum viable products vs. [minimum viable tests](https://review.firstround.com/the-minimum-viable-testing-process-for-evaluating-startup-ideas?ref=brilliantcrank.com) (MVP vs. MVT). And that sums up exactly what I have done throughout the year—dig into something enough to turn ideas into copy and images. Put it out into the world, talk about it, and gauge the interest. It’s the difference between trying to create a new way to fish vs. using a new, intriguing lure. I’ve had a handful of ideas this year that I tried to promote on LinkedIn, met with potential clients, did the road show and nothing has hit. After a year of no hits, a younger me would have started to take it personally but this year it’s not me. There are so many frozen budgets and head counts that I’m starting to wonder if all this freezing might offset global warming by a degree. Yet I move forward at a casual pace because eventually the world will reconfigure and new opportunities will introduce themselves if you’re out in the crowd looking to meet them. With that in mind, today I announced my next attempt at consulting. It’s called [Same Team Partners](https://sameteampartners.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and, frankly, it’s the business I should have created after my time at InVision. By that time I had observed and experienced a solid set of patterns that are behind the core of problems facing leaders, teams, and organizations. This is not to say I don’t have more to learn, but my view of the world has been validated many times over at all size and scale. Now it’s time to go to work and start making everything work better. ### Even better than the real thing. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/even-better-than-the-real-thing/ Last updated: 2024-02-19T19:30:31.000Z Last Wednesday [Brett Harned](https://brettharned.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and I took our wives to experience U2 playing at the Sphere. TL;DR: Wow! Magnificent! U2 is still amazing and the Sphere’s debut is incredible. I have no doubt there are hundreds of articles and blog posts about the experience. Hell, there are bootlegs of the entire show bouncing around YouTube if you want to get a TikTok-sized glimpse. So I'll stick to a few unique observations. In any other place—with the exception of Hong Kong—the Sphere would certainly dominate the city skyline. Tucked into Vegas it feels like a curious addition to the existing, over-the-top gigantic light features all vying for attention It will definitely dominate the televised coverage of the Las Vegas Grand Prix in a few weeks. The Sphere is a new, incredible wonder of the world and I hope to see more performances there in the future. Especially as they figure out how to really use all of the technology. Today it feels like playing a new game on a new game console (PS3 > PS4 > PS5). A huge improvement from the generation before, but the games only give a glimpse of what’s possible. The same will be true about the Sphere. Having said that the show did not disappoint and U2 rocked—they haven’t lost a beat or a note. The band showed no signs of slowing down and it’s incredible to see [how far they have come](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UMFJR-sZlS4&ref=brilliantcrank.com). One pleasant surprise was the ambient music playing in the lobby (the sound was incredible there too). At first, I thought it was just any other chill mix, but after a few songs in it was clear these tracks were made from elements of *Achtung Baby*. Both Brett and I commented on wanting to buy an album but we did not find anything at the merch tables. Back at home, I found [some background and a full tracklist](https://www.u2songs.com/discography/u2%5Fspace%5Fbaby%5Fdigital%5Fsite?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Even better, someone posted [*Space Baby*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMLRz4Q5xzM&ref=brilliantcrank.com), the entire LP on YouTube. After a minute or two I was easily able to download the file, convert it to audio, and start playing on the HomePods. Now I just need to replace all of my lights with blacklight and I’ll have my own HomeSphere™. Joking aside, I hope U2 digs into their back catalog and produces more of these alternative takes on all the songs we love. I wholeheartedly recommend the show and the entire experience. As I post this, U2 has added two more months to their residency. This is the perfect time for YOLO. You’ll be glad you did. ### Established 2012. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/established-2012/ Last updated: 2024-02-20T00:37:49.000Z Let me tell you about the time Happy Cog\* almost tore itself apart about a year after I merged my studio, Airbag Industries, into the company, and how that event sparked the foundation of [**Same Team Partners**](https://sameteampartners.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Many years ago, Brett and I worked together at a studio where I was a co-owner and he was the VP of Project Management. Despite our titles, we worked together as often as possible because, we were good partners, preferring to find solutions rather than posturing for personal victories and narcissistic recognition. We didn’t work on top of each other and if there were any issues between us, we worked through it promptly and directly. And we could see many of the same things that seemed oblivious to other leaders in the company. Back to the troubles—In hindsight, after I moved Airbag into Happy Cog, we should have come together, aligned on what we wanted to be in the future, and then co-created the right processes and operations that were needed to succeed. Instead, we tried a different route running each studio as if it were a separate company figuring it was the easiest path forward. Why fix what ain’t broke, right? If only. It didn’t take long, maybe a year, before our amazing culture (it was amazing back then) started to take a nose dive. Instead of everyone feeling like they were a part of the same team, one company, we devolved into fiefdoms based on studio location: Austin vs. Philadelphia. Our happy work place had become crazy stressful. The tension was building and It felt like we were about to break. Brett had flown over from Philly to work in the Austin studio for the week and get his own perspective on the vibe in Austin. After a few days of soaking things up, we went to Javelina on Rainey Street (RIP) to grab a beer and discuss our current situation. Nothing we tried as a company was working. The ideas were either trying to be too clever or came across as lip service. We needed something radical and on that day in 2012, Brett and I came up with a strategy that had an immediate and lasting positive impact. While there was a lot of pride in our separate studios people at Happy Cog were more loyal to the brand and what is stood for: The quality of our work. Despite our differences, each person was passionate about delivering the best work in the industry. That’s not marketing bullshit, it was real. As part of a recent re-org, we centralized project management to the Philadelphia office for a few reasons I won’t go into here. It was the right move to make but it also meant that everyone in Austin now had to work with remote PMs. This was instantly weird, but I noticed that it didn’t seem to phase anyone in either location. Everyone preferred working better together over a desire or need to have everyone in the same location. I had already experienced this first hand as my first couple of employees at Airbag were in different states three time zones away. We were “remote first” long before it became a thing. Distance did not detract from our ability to collaborate and deliver extraordinary work. I also had another observation. Now that our people in Austin had to work with a remote colleague, their experience was still going to be different from everyone (except the PMs) in Philadelphia. The problem we tried to solve with the re-org was going to flair back up if we didn’t make more changes. In reality, we didn’t fix anything and had kicked our problems down the road. With a fresh beer and fresh minds. Brett and I started to catalog all of our people with their roles and skill levels. We had PMs, designers, developers, and a few engineers — a team of thirty-five people in all. After running through different configurations, we came up with a plan to create four teams of designers and developers with a dedicated project manager. Since engineers didn’t work on every project they could jump between teams when and where necessary. To make this work we would need to make another critical change. We would have to virtualize the company. If we took away the requirement for daily, physical proximity to determine who works on what team we could pair the right people and create stronger teams according to abilities, skills, experience, etc. Brett and I had to get another beer so we could toast. It took some convincing, but weeks later we were able to persuade the leadership that this was worth committing to and trying. While the announcement of what, why, and how we were going to make changes was a tad confusing (the subject for a future blog post on what not to do) everyone loved the idea and it was an immediate hit. The new virtual groups created their own team names, Slack channels, and logos…some of them even went as far as making t-shirts. Within a week — no joke — all of our cultural problems vanished. The stress evaporated and morale shot back up. Our cultural batteries were re-energized stronger than ever. What we did back in 2012 ignited our passion for getting people together in better ways to radically improve how they communicate, collaborate, and produce their best work. While our paths split for a few years, Brett and I have come back with even more energy, excitement, experience, and ideas to help improve agencies, studios, and in-house teams find their best form. If this story resonates with you then [**let’s talk**](https://sameteampartners.com/contact.html?ref=brilliantcrank.com). If anything we’d like to meet you and chat. --- *\* The version of Happy Cog I am referring to in this story is a generation prior to the current company.* ### Enjoying creative work outside the Creative Cloud. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/enjoying-creative-work-outside-the-creative-cloud/ Last updated: 2024-02-19T19:25:42.000Z A few years ago I took over the operations of a small WordPress development company. There were twelve employees with one full-time designer. Not long after starting an audit of expenses, I came across a $750 charge from Adobe. At first, I thought it was for an annual fee and then I noticed it’s a monthly cost. This small company with one designer was paying $9k per year for Creative Cloud licenses. So I dug in more to find out who had access to what and why. We were paying an extraordinary cost for customer service reps to update a site logo six times a year. Another employee wanted to “keep up” with tools, but mostly used Lightroom to edit his family photos. Nobody but the single designer used Adobe products more than once a month, and sometimes not even once per quarter. The company could afford the expense but it was a considerable waste and it bugged me. Creative Cloud was the gym membership that everyone demanded to have but never used it. I didn’t care so much about the cost as I did that nobody thought to consider if they needed to continue a subscription that they never used. Prior to the Creative Cloud, Adobe Photoshop used to cost several hundreds of dollars. I think I remember paying $1k for a combination of Adobe tools. This was back when software was sold, distributed, and installed on a CD-ROM. Back then you needed a real reason to shell out that kind of money upfront. Now we pay incrementally, a small fee each month in perpetuity. Out of sight, out of mind. In those days we paid that kind of money because there were few, if any, alternatives. I think the closest competitor was an open-source software effort on Linux. There were likely a few more applications for MacOS but I have forgotten about them because they weren’t up to par with Adobe. Things have changed a lot since then and today there is a very competitive suite of tools called [Affinity](https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Designer, Photo, and Publisher are Affinity's version of Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign. Their products are amazingly on par with Adobe with two exceptions: 1. Affinity sells software not subscriptions, and the cost is insanely affordable. A fixed cost of roughly $170 will get you all three applications for macOS and iOS. Or if you prefer, each application is available for $70 each. And that’s it. No additional charges. Not even for the continual updates and upgrades Affinity releases regularly. For roughly the price of two months of a Creative Cloud subscription, you can have lifetime access to the Affinity suite. 2. Affinity sells software, not SAAS products that have been bundled with features and “freebies” into a platform that makes it more difficult to migrate away. Fonts, stock photography, portfolio hosting, and AI enhancements are the cardio classes, pool access, and the spiffy juice bar that entices people to keep their gym membership. When you buy Affinity you get applications, robust tutorials, and a very helpful community, and that’s it. Depending on your need or desire to use AI to generate design for you, Affinity will likely not be the right set of tools for you. Now, I have nothing against Adobe and AI, but I am weary of everything being a service. And last time I checked, my design skills are pretty great. I don’t need or want [WOPR](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=%5FaUHQKneAdw&ref=brilliantcrank.com) in my design work making shit up. Where is the fun in that? Switching from decades of using Adobe pretty much every day of my life to Affinity took about as much effort as remapping my brain and motor functions to switch from using a computer keyboard and mouse to a console controller for playing first-person shooting games. For two weeks I couldn’t walk and throw a grenade at the same time but eventually I got better, much better with a controller than I ever way with a keyboard and mouse. The same is true about switching to Affinity. I had a rough time knowing where everything was and what it was called. There are a lot of similarities between the interfaces of each suite of applications but different enough that one minute in the Adobe world felt like ten in the Affinity world. Thank the Lord for all of the extremely useful YouTube videos made by Affinity, many supporters, and the users who came before me that helped map my exact problem to a useful tutorial ala Google’s algorithm. I can’t think of a single time that I could not find an answer to my question within minutes of needing help. There are four things that took me some time getting used to. 1. The idea of “Personas” that are found in the top left of the window. They are a part of each application and it was a bit confusing when I watched people in tutorial videos move back and forth between them. Personas in Affinity-speak are essentially a collection of functions that are specific to a task. For example, the “Export Persona” will reduce the applications functionality to focus only on switches and buttons related to the single task of…you guessed it, exporting an image. I honestly still don’t understand the need here but maybe that’s because I’m still so used to Adobe that it feels weird that someone would want or need to go into a different specific mode for a specific outcome. Then again, maybe these things are in Adobe too and I just never noticed. Having shared all of this, I have yet to encounter a time when I had to switch back and forth between Personas to get anything done. 2. Affinity is a big believer in preserving any images that are brought into the application. Any adjustments are attached to an image as a non-destructive layer. Even in Affinity Photo if you want to modify an image you first have to rasterize it. Now, I like this method but it is so different than I am used to working, especially in a photo application. I think this has a lot to do with teaching myself how to use Photoshop right after version 3.0\. Not Photoshop CS 3\. Photoshop 3.0 immediately rasterized type into an uneditable layer, that capability came in 3.1 and it was a game changer. Anyway, non-destructive editing is the way to go, but I am still grappling with it. 3. Resizing elements feels different from application to application. In one application you need to hold the shift key down to preserve the height and width ratios. While in another application, doing the same will allow you to freely distort the ratios. Maybe I just made that up in my head, but I’m pretty sure it’s different and it’s a pain. 4. I’m still unsure about color profiles. I have never had a problem or needed to dial in a color profile on Adobe, but I can not say the same about Affinity. Adobe just worked, Affinity took some searching and searching and I may still have this wrong. This problem comes up when I am copying an image out of an Affinity application and into something very different like Keynote. I think I’ve fixed it because I haven’t had the issue come up in a while but I don’t recall what I did, if anything (It might be Pop-Pops time to start working on brain games). My wrists are starting to hurt and I have to wonder, how in the hell does [Gruber](https://daringfireball.net/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) write long blog posts like this? He must lift weights with his wrists. Has anyone noticed if he wears sweat bands on his wrists? Moving on. So, I’ve shared a high-level take on the difference between Adobe and Affinity, and I provided an overview of the challenges I have had migrating. Now, what do I really think? Back at the Wordpress dev company switching everyone, including the designer off of Adobe and onto Affinity made all of the sense in the world. The little amount of design they needed to do did not necessitate access to Adobe’s robust tools and features and price tag. That decision was, as they say, a no-brainer. The largest “pain point” was having to learn a new set of tools and that can never be a pain point if you’re going to work and flourish in technology. Now, for the folks and friends who are serious designers. People who use these tools day-in and day-out. They know every keystroke and have well-established muscle memories mapped from InDesign to Lightroom to After Effects…that’s a difficult proposition. Like asking a rabid fan to switch from one brand to the next, one sports team for another, Chevy and apple pie for Audi and pizza (clearly the better choice). While I still like Adobe as a company and as a platform (And how could I think or be any different? I built a career with Adobe and the many products and companies they have acquired along the way—RIP Aldus, Macromedia, Figma. There’s no way I’m going to talk shit about the company that enabled my career and the careers of hundreds of thousands of people) I wanted to try and use a set of tools that wasn’t a subscription connected to a cloud cross-promotional ecosystem that is always trying to get me to adopt another perk. “Pssst….hey kid, try this new typeface, you’re going to love it and it’s going to look super dope 100% on your new Behance community profile.” I like being a part of smaller communities, especially when there is an underdog or underground element to them. That’s one of the reasons I loved being a devoted customer and passionate fan of Apple even when they clearly made slower more expensive computers. I’ll admit this is weird, but Affinity ticks that box for me and that’s why I enjoy the times I have to engage with the community to find an answer or discover a new way to finish a task. It also helps that a handful of my favorite add-on makers like [Frakentoon](https://frankentoonstudio.com/product-category/digital%5Fproducts/affinity%5Fbrushes/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and [True Grit Texture Supply](https://www.truegrittexturesupply.com/collections/affinity?ref=brilliantcrank.com) have recently adopted all or most of their coolest tools to work with Affinity. And because of that, I find that this little $200 experiment is going better than I had hoped. Anthony, I don’t know if this is [what you were asking for](https://mastodon.social/@AnthonyBaker/111204849479557912?ref=brilliantcrank.com#.) but there you have it. Also, I've have moved from Lightroom to Apple Photos because their evolving tools do everything I want them to do. ### Good is the enemy of the great. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/good-is-the-enemy-of-great/ Last updated: 2024-02-19T19:29:45.000Z In his talk, [***Ten Things I Have Learned***](https://www.miltonglaser.com/files/Essays-10things-8400.pdf?ref=brilliantcrank.com), [**Milton Glaser**](https://www.miltonglaser.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) hands down a list of axioms he earned through an amazing, life-long career in design. I recently rediscovered this document after it sat in a folder marked “save” for a few years. Instead of leaving it there, I thought I’d share these “ten things” and a comment or two. This axiom is peculiar to me because of the language Milton uses. It really feels like the language of another generation. I love the short monologue in the middle, his distaste for being labeled a “creative.” I can hear him go off this rant, his voice turning slightly more annoyed, almost grumpy. [I got to see Milton give a lecture once](https://creativemornings.com/talks/milton-glaser/1?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and about halfway through you could tell something was off. It turned out that his assistant had loaded the wrong presentation on his laptop. He said as much as he switched from speaker mode to a casual, “what the hell is going on” mode. After examining the deck in front of us, he recalibrated, shifted his posture, and went back to his previous form. I was in awe of how he didn’t let a problem get in the way of doing his job. I learned a lot from that moment and remember it more than the actual talk he gave that morning. > ***04 — Professionalism Is Not Enough or Good Is The Enemy Of The Great*** > > Early in my career, I wanted to be professional, that was my complete aspiration in my early life because professionals seemed to know everything—not to mention they got paid for it. Later I discovered after working for a while that professionalism itself was a limitation. After all, what professionalism means in most cases is diminishing risks. So if you want to get your car fixed you go to a mechanic who knows how to deal with transmission problems in the same way each time. I suppose if you needed brain surgery you wouldn’t want the doctor to fool around and invent a new way of connecting your nerve endings. Please do it in the way that has worked in the past. Unfortunately in our field, in the so-called creative—I hate that word because it is misused so often. I also hate the fact that it is used as a noun. Can you imagine calling someone a creative?—Anyhow, when you are doing something in a recurring way to diminish risk or doing it in the same way as you have done it before, it is clear why professionalism is not enough. after all, what is required in our field, more than anything else, is the continuous transgression. Professionalism does not allow for that because transgression has to encompass the possibility of failure and if you are professional your instinct is not to fail, it is to repeat success. So professionalism as a lifetime aspiration is a limited goal. “Continuous transgression” is certainly an interesting way to say push the boundaries, but he’s right. Leaders have a rabid desire for new ideas but are too cautious to stray too far from what is already known and accepted—what works. Conversely, designers hesitate to fully adopt and use design systems. Believing the system will constrain their creativity when in fact it has the potential to free up time to explore more interesting problems. The reality is that new ideas can only come from new thinking which requires curious exploration. And the only way to explore curiously is to prioritize your time and focus. So, we’re left with a real Catch 22 situation that is at the heart of problems seen in design programs around the world. Leaders avoid pushing boundaries too far while designers fear not pushing boundaries far enough. I’ve run up against this everywhere I’ve worked. The lesson I take away from Milton is that designers—*creatives*—need to be constantly curious and willing to take risks. It's a lot cheaper for us to fail through our work than it is with, say, engineers or lawyers. We need to push boundaries in one form or another because that’s part of our role to play on this planet, and it will help save our jobs. More on that last bit later. ### Horizontal panic. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/horizontal-panic/ Last updated: 2024-02-19T19:28:46.000Z I’m going to share a personal story that has to do with extreme anxiety. I have learned that this type of post can trigger anxiety in others. So, if that statement resonates with you please go [read another blog](https://airbagindustries.com/reading?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and come back later in the week. A year ago I could do little more than lay on a couch and breathe while my mind kept repeating the many ways I was about to die. My heart pounded while adrenaline pumped through my system. Sweat dripped down my forehead and neck so much that my hair was wet. And despite my efforts, it was difficult to believe anything other than I was going to be dead soon. Every minute was surely to be my last. In search of calm I played meditations over and over again following the breathing exercise instructions until, hopefully, I fell asleep. Then I’d wake up to a voice telling me I had cancer or my heart was about to stop. It was the worst kind of flywheel you can imagine. This went on for almost three weeks until newly prescribed medications started to kick in and provide relief. Eventually, I was able to stay upright and get a few things done, but on occasion, a thought would enter my consciousness kicking my heart rate up, sending a little drip of adrenaline down my spine—inducing an immediate clammy feeling on my neck. I had to stop whatever I was doing and start to breathe—in for four seconds, hold for four, and exhale for six. I learned this from an old friend who had battled extreme anxiety his whole life. He said it was the best thing you can do during a panic attack. The attacks continued for the next three months, but their severity and frequency diminished over time. At the end of it all, I felt normal but forever changed. I do not doubt that without the support of She Who Exudes Love, Care, and Kindness, I would not be here today. Her overwhelming support through it all gave me the slightest bit of hope that the thoughts in my head were wrong. Working through recovery has been a year-long journey of reflection and learning to look forward again while staying in the present. Stoicism has taught me that anxiety lives in the past and in the future. We are not meant to dwell on either for too long. I don’t know that it’s helpful to share what I think brought all of this on but I have come out of this with clarity on the need for healthier personal and work relationships. Before the events of last year, I spent five years enduring a lot of other people’s bullshit and toxicity. After a string of super fucked up events, I woke up in October 2022 feeling nothing but constant despair and it broke my body. In addition to my amazing wife, I had family and friends who also helped me get through it all. I am extremely appreciative of their patience and support. I’m in a much better place today because of all of you. I’m putting this out there for no reason other than I need to get this off my shoulders. Shit went down, I went down, and with the help of others I got up. And I can let this anniversary go now. ### I'm done. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/im-done/ Last updated: 2024-02-19T19:27:37.000Z Here's a fresh rant, inspired by recent conversations on Mastodon and the Phone app on my iPhone. Here is a short list of things I’m over. Done. Caput. **Software as a Service** \- SAAS has no end game. Subscriptions as a business model require a constant stream of development and delivery of new content, features, whatever. It doesn’t take long before SAAS becomes bloated and plump full of so many options, bells, and whistles that it becomes more difficult to use—enveloping the core features almost completely. Case in point: Slack after the most recent “upgrade.” It’s just gross. SaaS has become another form of Botox or Helvetica, best used on rare occasions but never on a daily basis. Yet most people forget to heed that instruction. **Clouds and integrations** \- A friend of mine recently tried to de-cloud his life. It took weeks to get all of their files (property) into a single, trusted source. And they still have a cloud or two hanging. Yesterday I tried to create a simple contact form with, you guessed it, a SaaS product that wouldn’t let me tie an existing HTML form to their service. No, I had to use their “form builder” and pay extra to remove their logo which made my site look like shit. Clouds have truly turned the Internet into a series of tubes. Integrations that only work from one cloud—one subscription—to the next. Cloud is a vail of simplicity, as a service. **Greek Beasts as a Title** \- I was heavily considering a leadership role at a tech company right up until the recruiter told me that the company was one of nine “centaurs” in existence today. I cringed immediately and detached my focus for the remainder of the call. It wasn’t enough that we have labeled companies and people as “unicorns” for the last ten years (so magic!). No, we needed something more and the name *Unicorn+* wasn’t going to cut it. Enough is enough. You’re either unique or you’re not. More importantly, are you getting work done or just talking about it? We don’t need to drag the Greeks and their pets into this any longer. **A seat at the table** \- I have a few friends who got their preverbal seat at the table and they whined because it didn’t magically elevate their status or result in immediate respect and trust for their shiny new position. Physical proximity to a person does not equate to the level of influence. It’s just a chair at a table, and not *the* table, it's just a table. If you want to influence real change, you have to earn it through diplomacy, relationships, and doing work that needs to be done, even if it’s not associated with your job description. Real leadership, real influence, takes work, not a meeting. **Notifications** \- I don’t want another device buzzing me, taptic feed-backing me for attention. Incoming SMS messages...fine. Everything else can go to hell. I can’t stand that people won’t answer their phones, but they are willing to mainline their brains with constant notifications on multiple screens on their desks, in their hands, and on their wrists. Unfortunately, we’re all now living in an episode of Black Mirror. **Call of Duty cosmetics** \- I can’t believe I just wrote that but it’s true. In-game micro-purchases are great because they are optional and keep games as a single purchase, not a subscription. I do enjoy playing a military genre game and Call of Duty is one of the best, but it’s kinda hard to get into the story when another player attacking me looks like Nicki Minaj in a hot pink outfit. I expect that kind of shenanigans in Fortnite, but not Call of Duty. Ugh. I just need to remove this game and go back to the better title in the genre: Battlefield 2042. ### Doing what you love only to have another love swing in and crush it. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/doing-what-you-love-only-to-have-another-love-swing-in-and-crush-it/ Last updated: 2025-05-11T19:22:41.000Z As a result of this morning's trip down the RSS rabbit hole, I found [Robin Rendle’s wonderful essay on newsletters](https://robinrendle.com/essays/newsletters/?ref=brilliantcrank.com)†. As I got a few lines into his article, a memory from the fall of my freshmen year in college hit me. It was a time when I created a ‘zine and mailed it to my friends and family. It was a simple 8.5 x 5.5, four pages, staple-bound. I did the layout with Aldus Pagemaker on a Mac SE. Inside I included an update on what I was up to; and brief stories on what I was reading and listening to at the time. I filled the space with quotes and little tidbits that included a paragraph from Douglas Adam’s Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. I wish I could remember exactly what part of the book, but it was quotable. Hell, I wish I still had a copy! Basically, it was as if I had collected a month of Tumblr activity and put it on paper. Little did I know how far ahead in the world I was at the time—Tsk tsk. I received three responses. Grandpa Storey was the first to respond (via US mail mind you) with a message that he loved it and encouraged me to keep making more. The second came from a friend and date for the senior prom. She returned the entire issue folded so that it could fit into a normal envelope. I pulled it out and unfolded it to find every page filled with red lines—grammar and spelling corrections. There was no note, just this savage deconstruction pointing out all of my flaws. The third and most profound response came from another friend who was also, at the time, the girl of my dreams. It was mailed back whole, never opened with a displeased note. Something along the lines of, why did I send this thing to her instead of taking the time to write a personal email? I was crushed and I never made another zine in my life (so far anyway). In retrospect, I should have focused on the words of my grandfather and kept going. Instead, I let young love trample my joy into the ground. Screw you Allison...asshat. --- † I fully intend to come back to Robin’s article on newsletters. Today’s schedule was packed and his work deserves more time to digest and reflect. ### Some people are toxic avoid them. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/some-people-are-toxic-avoid-them/ Last updated: 2025-05-11T19:22:06.000Z In his talk, [***Ten Things I Have Learned***](https://www.miltonglaser.com/files/Essays-10things-8400.pdf?ref=brilliantcrank.com), [**Milton Glaser**](https://www.miltonglaser.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) hands down a list of axioms he earned through an amazing, life-long career in design. I recently rediscovered this document after it sat in a folder marked “save” for a few years. Instead of leaving it there, I thought I’d share these “ten things” and add my own wooden nickel. If Milton’s third axiom was an emoji it would be the Mr. Yuck sticker because there’s no symbol for the word toxic. “Nauseated Face” is the closest but that describes just one of several feelings or emotions that we suffer from having to deal with toxic people. Anger, disbelief, disappointment, and resentment are but a few responses to toxic people, but there is only one response to their behavior. > **03/10 — Some people are toxic avoid them.** > This is a subtext of number one. There was in the sixties a man named Fritz Perls who was a gestalt therapist. Gestalt therapy derives from art history, it proposes you must understand the ‘whole’ before you can understand the details. What you have to look at is the entire culture, the entire family and community and so on. Perls proposed that in all relationships people could be either toxic or nourishing towards one another. It is not necessarily true that the same person will be toxic or nourishing in every relationship, but the combination of any two people in a relationship produces toxic or nourishing consequences. and the important thing that I can tell you is that there is a test to determine whether someone is toxic or nourishing in your relationship with them. Here is the test: You have spent some time with this person, either you have a drink or go for dinner or you go to a ball game. It doesn’t matter very much but at the end of that time you observe whether you are more energized or less energized. Whether you are tired or whether you are exhilarated. if you are more tired then you have been poisoned. If you have more energy you have been nourished. The test is almost infallible and I suggest that you use it for the rest of your life. I love Milton’s test, it’s simple and leaves little room for misinterpretation of the results. After suffering the company of several [narcissists](https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/19/signs-of-a-narcissist-and-exactly-how-to-respond-according-to-harvard-trained-expert.html?ref=brilliantcrank.com) (from family to friends to co-workers) over the years I have zero patience and time for toxic relationships. And neither should you if you’re able. In my coaching practice, the subject of a toxic employee comes up at least once per year. However, not every instance would have been so easily tested using Milton’s method due to a person’s lack of required interaction with co-workers spending the time instead on seeding gossip and spreading rumors. These are the subtle actions of a toxic person who has yet to be unmasked. Anytime I sense a hint of toxicity when working with leaders my advice is always to get rid of that person immediately, without hesitation. Because like a poisonous cloud the toxicity expands and will negatively impact more and more people and eventually a company’s operations and capacity to function. I share this perspective confidently by scars I earned from doing what I could to avoid confronting toxic people which led to reduced morale, productivity, profitability, and eventually the loss of remarkable talent. Toxic people are devastating to culture. You might be thinking, hey why not talk to them first and give them a chance to redeem themselves? And that’s what I used to think and tried a few times. Unfortunately, I don’t believe toxic people have the necessary self-awareness that can enable these people to turn themselves around. When trying to confront toxic people they are in a state of disbelief and project fault onto others or circumstances not under their control. I’ve seen it time and time and time again. The pattern is real. So, I would add to Milton’s thought. Some people are toxic avoid and fire them immediately. [Ain’t nobody have time that.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGxwbhkDjZM&ref=brilliantcrank.com) ### If you have a choice never have a job. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/if-you-have-a-choice-never-have-a-job/ Last updated: 2025-05-11T19:33:15.000Z In his talk, [*Ten Things I Have Learned*](https://www.miltonglaser.com/files/Essays-10things-8400.pdf?ref=brilliantcrank.com), [Milton Glaser](https://www.miltonglaser.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) hands down a list of axioms he earned through an amazing, life-long career in design. I recently rediscovered this document after it sat in a folder marked “save” for a few years. Instead of leaving it there, I thought I’d share these “ten things” and add my own two cents, or this case seven dollars and forty-two cents. Milton’s second thought is a dooo-hooo-hooo-hooozy. And every time I read it (and I’ve re-read it several times already this morning) I can feel an energy climb up my spine—standing the hairs on my neck straight up. Like the energy of one hundred [Liam Neesons skits](https://youtu.be/hhfHu6IHBiI?si=1ku2h9P0nigN6hFm&ref=brilliantcrank.com). Oh baby, I can feel the force! I’m in a coffee shop right now so I have to contain myself, but I could totally flip over every table in this place if I was okay spending quality time in front of a police bodycam or two. Alright, let’s get at it, Milton writes: > **02/10 — If you have a choice never have a job** > > One night I was sitting in my car outside Columbia University where my wife Shirley was studying anthropology. While I was waiting I was listening to the radio and heard an interviewer ask, ‘Now that you have reached 75 have you any advice for our audience about how to prepare for your old age?’ an irritated voice said ‘Why is everyone asking me about old age these days?’ I recognized the voice as John Cage. I am sure that many of you know who he was—the composer and philosopher who influenced people like Jasper Johns and Merce Cunningham as well as the music world in general. I knew him slightly and admired his contribution to our times. ‘You know, I do know how to prepare for old age’ he said. ‘Never have a job, because if you have a job someday someone will take it away from you and then you will be unprepared for your old age. For me, it has always been the same every since the age of 12\. I wake up in the morning and I try to figure out how am I going to put bread on the table today? It is the same at 75, I wake up every morning and I think how am I going to put bread on the table today? I am exceedingly well prepared for my old age’ he said. Ok, now I know where my faux rage from earlier in this post came from—the decimation of tens and tens of thousands of jobs in the last sixteen months! The companies that threw people at pandemic-induced pivots unceremoniously kicked to the curb once the masks came off due to extremely poor leadership driven by a black hole of vision, strategy, and an imperial inch of foresight. “Never have a job, because if you have a job someone will take it away from you” gets a ‘ding-ding-ding’ from this author. Spot on. Direct hit. If I may add to John Cage’s thought, not only will they take your job away, but [your dignity too](https://techworkerscoalition.org/bill-of-rights/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Unfortunately, I speak from experience but after years of reflecting I’m grateful for those horrible moments in my career because they have prepared me for the future. I have gained more maturity to know what I don’t want if I can avoid it, and that’s a job. Yet, I might have to—no matter how you live, eventually, money is a requirement—but I’m hoping that I won’t ever be assigned another employee identification number or a security badge. The last sixteen months have been spent ideating, validating problems, and starting small initiatives to put things out there and see what sticks. I don’t want another job, I want to stick out the rough times and start a small quiver of tiny companies. And I hope you, my friends, don’t have to either. This is exactly why I’ve started [Jump Ship!](https://letsjumpship.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) with [Ryan Rumsey](https://www.ryanrumsey.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). We want everyone to go into business for themselves, especially our peers in the tech industry who can be, and have been, tossed aside via video chat despite any loyalty and contributions you made. I don’t want 100% of my revenue to come from a single source whether it's from full-time employment or a single client. I want to wake up and know that I have several ways to put bread on my table. And in doing so, I can provide many types of services (maybe one-day products!) that line up with my unique expertise, and interests, and, more importantly, allow me to collaborate with friends. Though it’s not a priority or a life goal, if I am ever going to put a dent in the universe, it’s going to be in the job market. I hope one day you can do the same. ### Three dot bomb. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/three-dot-bomb/ Last updated: 2024-02-19T19:07:49.000Z Received this morning via LinkedIn InMail (Ok, look, I don’t understand LinkedIn’s use of camel case when their logo is set in lowercase. Classic bi-polar, indecisive leadership. Anyhoo): > Hi Greg, I'm the COO at[Planet Theta](https://planet-theta.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), the world's first virtual reality dating app. We're revolutionizing the dating industry, prioritizing convenience and women's safety. Featured in The Today Show, Forbes, CNBC, BBC, and Vice, we're projecting $22.8M in revenue by June 2026\. With AI-driven personalized experiences, we gather valuable marketing data. A few thoughts: 1. Ew, gross. 2. I highly doubt they’re revolutionizing anything, but I’m sure Meta appreciates that they found another use for their headset. I imagine the growing catalog of virtual experiences is going to resemble the Google Play store filled with a plethora of crap. 3. Prioritizing women’s safety is admirable and I am all for it but is it number two on the list? And how does VR protect against types of safety issues like verbal abuse and assault? 4. And, I fail to understand how this is convenient to women because any dudes who have a VR headset are likely not highly qualified candidates for dating, virtual or otherwise. They are highly likely to either be single and weird or married (and also weird). 5. Nobody cares if this was “featured” in the media anymore. I don’t believe that any of these companies validated that you’re awesome but instead just needed to fill air time. I would have preferred to watch a dog on a surfboard. 6. $22.8M in revenue for a company with a website that doesn’t have a product to buy? Is it possible some dot-com douchebag fell into a coma in 1999, woke up in 2023, and is using their old playbook? This figure reminds me of when DivX reported $60M in revenue but most of it came from a revenue stream they didn’t discuss publicly: digitizing porn for online streaming. This has a similar, creepy vibe. 7. Normally I would throw up in my mouth a little about now, but I took a Pepcid after breakfast and it's working. 8. “With AI-driven personalized experiences, we gather valuable marketing data.” Oh great! So, they say they are concerned about women’s safety but they’re going to use AI in all the worst, unethical ways. Yeah, this is going to work out really great. Speaking in doge: Women much safe. 9. Note to self, I need to remove the word “investor” from my LinkedIn profile. It’s just a magnet for bullshit. I wanted to be like the other cool kids and I should have known better. Or, maybe I leave it to attract fodder for more posts like this. I seriously hope this product never sees the light of day and the people behind it go back to slinging instant hashbrowns at a Waffle House. ### Come sit on the left with me, and help me stay there. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/come-sit-on-the-left-with-me-and-help-me-stay-there/ Last updated: 2025-05-11T19:23:00.000Z This post is for everyone who makes things no matter what it is that you make. Clicking through my RSS feeds, I came across the story of Jerry Uelsmann, a professor at the University of Florida who once divided his class into two groups and got two very different outcomes from each (and no, this is not [that story](https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/introduction-2/?ref=brilliantcrank.com)). In this tale, the outcomes aren’t as interesting as much as what led to them. There are many sources for this tale but I’ll choose [this one by Austin Kleon](https://austinkleon.com/2020/12/10/quantity-leads-to-quality-the-origin-of-a-parable/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Also, keep in mind this story takes place long before the iPhone or digital photography. > On the first day of class, Jerry Uelsmann, a professor at the University of Florida, divided his film photography students into two groups. > > Everyone on the left side of the classroom, he explained, would be in the “quantity” group. They would be graded solely on the amount of work they produced. On the final day of class, he would tally the number of photos submitted by each student. One hundred photos would rate an A, ninety photos a B, eighty photos a C, and so on. > > Meanwhile, everyone on the right side of the room would be in the “quality” group. They would be graded only on the excellence of their work. They would only need to produce one photo during the semester but to get an A, it had to be a nearly perfect image. I like the story thus far, but wouldn’t it be way more cool if instead of the perfect photo it was the perfect bank heist or drug deal? Imagine a new season of The Wire with two gangs taking an entirely different approach to netting out the same EOY revenue result. Anyway… > At the end of the term, he was surprised to find that all the best photos were produced by the “quantity” group. During the semester, these students were busy taking photos, experimenting with composition and lighting, testing out various methods in the darkroom, and learning from their mistakes. In the process of creating hundreds of photos, they honed their skills. Meanwhile, the quality group sat around speculating about perfection. In the end, they had little to show for their efforts other than unverified theories and one mediocre photo. If you don’t immediately feel inspired to go make one hundred of whatever you like to make then you may want to consult a physician—Blood thinners are likely in your future. I’ve been in both groups and looking back at the time when I produced more than I tinkered or thought about what I wanted to make. Sitting on the left side of the classroom so-to-speak, not only did I get a lot done, but I was a lot happier than any time I’ve sat on the right side. And when I sit too long on the right, I also tend not to create much at all which leads to creating nothing at all. I don’t want to sit on the right side again, and I hope you all will slap me upside the head if you find me over there in the future. ### You can only work for people that you like. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/you-can-only-work-for-people-that-you-like/ Last updated: 2025-05-11T19:33:29.000Z In his talk, [*Ten Things I Have Learned*](https://www.miltonglaser.com/files/Essays-10things-8400.pdf?ref=brilliantcrank.com)*,* [Milton Glaser](https://www.miltonglaser.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) hands down a list of axioms he earned through an amazing, life-long career in design. I recently rediscovered this document after it sat in a folder marked “save” for a few years. Instead of leaving it there I thought I’d share these “ten things” and add my own two-cents, maybe even a whole dollar. So, here we go with Milton's first thought (more to follow): > **01/10 — You can only work for people that you like.** > > This is a curious rule and it took me a long time to learn because in fact at the beginning of my practice I felt the opposite. Professionalism required that you didn’t particularly like the people that you worked for or at least maintained an arms length relationship to them, which meant that I never had lunch with a client or saw them socially. Then some years ago I realized that the opposite was true. I discovered that all the work I had done that was meaningful and significant came out of an affectionate relationship with a client. And I am not talking about professionalism; I am talking about affection. I am talking about a client and you sharing some common ground. That in fact your view of life is someway congruent with the client, otherwise it is a bitter and hopeless struggle. During the formative years of Airbag as a design studio, many of our clients were fans of Airbag the blog. Our work was not representative of what I wrote about. That would have been an amazing cornucopia of client curiosities. Instead, we worked with people who were drawn to the tone and style I used to write in for many years (obviously that changed as I added employees who drew their own ‘audience’). Our culture was strong and it noticeably changed when we started to sign more and more clients who knew nothing about me or Airbag the blog. And, like Milton shares, the work grew more difficult because we didn’t have a relationship between us and our clients outside of the work itself. When I moved out of client services and into the Enterprise that feeling did not go away. It got worse the more distant I got from designers and the folks they were working for or with. During those times, my happiest memories and the work I am the most proud of have a direct correlation with the the type of relationship that I had with the people involved. And though I am a relationship guy, a [diplomatic leader](https://www.petermerholz.com/blog/coach-diplomat-champion-architect-a-framework-for-understanding-and-assessing-design-leadership/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) as Peter would say, it’s still not always possible to forge the type of relationship that Milton talks about, and it’s completely out of your control. After ten years of being a partner and an employee at companies of all ranges in scale, from boutique studio to global enterprise, I made two decisions: 1. I’m never going to work with or for someone who is not self-aware of their bullshit or refuses to get professional help for said bullshit. 2. I am going to work with the people I want to work with because they mean something to me, no matter what we’re working on. This is all still in prototype, as they say, but I’d rather go down with the ship surrounded by people I have affection for than any other way. To some extent I can work on anything as long as I’m working with people I care about and visa versa. ### Content. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/content/ Last updated: 2025-05-11T18:39:36.000Z I’ve played around with three content management systems in the last month. [Cargo](https://cargo.site/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), [Squarespace](https://squarespace.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), and [Kirby](https://getkirby.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) specifically, but in no such order. It’s interesting to see how all three (and more) are moving or have moved to visual, block-level layouts and formatting for the composition of pages and templates. It’s as if the world has decided that for 99.9% of the web, this is fine. And after fighting this thinking for years and years (when I think about all of the ranting I've done about web design over the years, ugh, just shut the hell up already dude—sorry about that y'all), I’m finally ready to join the masses. However, not so willing to give up my membership to the resistance--since 1999. It took me about two weeks to wrap my brain around how Squarespace works. There might be several ways to go about “designing” a site with that tool, but the path to clarity was to create a site content first and then tweak the design to fit as best as possible. This is not the way...that I am used to which is to mold the CMS functions to fit the design. [Luke Dorny](https://lukedorny.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) helped me move Airbag over to Kirby. During the process we’ve had a few chats about the way things were vs. the way things are. Not that one is better than the other, but through conversation, I think we both came to the same conclusion that things are the way they are now and that’s okay. Our identities are not as closely tied to the aesthetic of our content delivery as they used to be. That’s not to say it’s all gone for good, but I don’t think the time and effort weigh as heavily as they once did. The world has moved on. Maybe it’s all the [stoicism](https://www.amazon.com/Daily-Stoic-Meditations-Wisdom-Perseverance/dp/0735211736?ref=brilliantcrank.com) I read these days, but it has been liberating to move on and clear my brain to learn new tools. At some point I figure I’ll focus on one system and rebuild everything from there—I just purchased a five-pack of Kirby licenses as they’re currently on sale before the next big version comes out. For now, it has been a fun exercise to let go of the past and embrace a future that doesn’t include so many antiquated expectations. ### Questions for Van Lifers. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/questions-for-van-lifers/ Last updated: 2024-02-19T19:36:50.000Z I am so curious about people who choose the “van life”—deciding to forgo the comforts of four walls and a roof in a fixed place on the ground. I’m talking about the folks who say, “screw it,” buy a van, install wood paneling, grab all of the social media accounts, a GoPro setup complete with a muppet-covered microphone, pouches of instant food, head for the open road. Calling an automobile a home intrigues me and I am fascinated enough that I sometimes go on YouTube and binge-watch people live like some sort of pioneer who spends all of their time recording themselves breathing, eating, sleeping, and moving on to the next parking spot. Well, I have questions that have been piling up and I’ve decided to ask them here. **Questions for Van Lifers** - When you have house guests, is it one-two-three-shotgun or shotgun on three? - When you’re at the In-N-Out drive-through and the order taker asks, "are you eating in your car or taking it home", what is the right response? - When you buy a van to live in, are you required to signup for rock climbing classes? And, if you give REI your VIN do they give you a discount? - When Flow from GEICO and asks, “Do you want home or auto insurance,” how do you choose? - Open containers (read: alcohol) are illegal in vehicles. So, how does Happy Hour work? - During a fire, which door is best to use to get to safety? Same question applies for earthquakes. - If you get carjacked can the state also charge the perp with home invasion? - Where do you mount a Ring? - Does the “WELCOME” mat go on the driver or passenger side? - Many homeowners dream of going on a cruise ship, do you dream of going on a submarine? - If you don’t display your Instagram account on the back of your home is it then technically considered a cargo van? ### “How to take back control of what you read on the Internet.” URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/how-to-take-back-control-of-what-you-read-on-the-internet/ Last updated: 2024-02-19T19:32:26.000Z The Atlantic makes the case for RSS. > As long as we rely on social-media sites to curate what we read, we allow them to control what we read, and their interests are not our interests. Fortunately, there already exists a long-standing alternative that provides users with what social media does not deliver: RSS. There’s a lot of anger towards Elon for what he’s doing to Twitter, but lets not forget the damage Google did when they turned off their RSS reader. We’ve lost a too much freedom, independence, and curiosity to corporate algorithms. ### Staying afloat, for now. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/staying-afloat-for-now/ Last updated: 2024-02-19T19:36:01.000Z In fourteen days the CMS I use to run this site, [Forestry](https://forestry.io/blog/forestry-tina-migration/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), will be shut down for good and until I migrate to another system this site will be frozen in time. Don’t stop the presses here, the world will continue to rotate but this situation sucks. It’s like when a commercial or government entity makes a mistake that you have to now find time to fix. While software as a service makes a lot of sense, someone else’s problems are now my own. And I have to be honest, I’m not thrilled by my options because they either tie me to the same situation or they require time and money to fix. I have long lost a passion for typing out code for years. It’s just not an interesting or fun thing to do. Design is in my blood, code is always a means to an end. I appreciate that coding tools like Webflow and publishing tools like Squarespace make these tasks simpler but nothing that I have seen is truly WYSIWYG. Maybe I’m wrong and by some chance, you know differently and can point me in a better direction. If that is so, please do. I’ve said this before, but it’s worth repeating…all I want is MoveableType from days gone by. It did everything I wanted to do. It was easy to use, easy to setup—pickup truck simple. Why can’t we have software like that any more? ### Here’s a feel good story, especially if you're into comics. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/heres-a-feel-good-story-especially-if-youre-into-comics/ Last updated: 2024-02-19T19:34:57.000Z "A Metro Detroit father kept a secret for 50 years, but now his son is on a journey to uncover the truth. And what he found is one of the largest and most valuable comic book collections in the country." The story will be told in an upcoming documentary called, “[Selling Superman](https://www.sellingsuperman.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com).” > There is a 40-year hidden family secret that only a few people knew about. Darren’s father had Asperger’s (ASD) and it led him to collect comic books in a genius yet obsessive way that overtook the home, destroyed the family, and caused everyone great mental trauma. > > Now, after his father’s passing, Darren is left with a holy grail collection of over 300,000 comic books - including the prized possession of his father: Superman #1 (7.0) valued at over $3.5 million - making it one of the most valuable comic books of all time. He didn’t just collect comics but also toys and trading cards and unlike anyone at the time, bought multiple copies of everything. Watch the trailer to get a glimpse of a staggering collection of 80’s Star Wars toys mint-in-box—as they say. ### The machines will destroy us with personalized generated content to amplify distrust. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-machines-will-destroy-us-with-personalized-generated-content-to-amplify-distrust-2/ Last updated: 2025-05-11T18:51:37.000Z I’m not a fan of artificial intelligence. It’s not that I don’t see the positive impact of these technologies. I’ve worked on AI based projects at IBM that were designed to perform tedious bureaucratic work quickly. My concern is that we’re making very powerful yet easy-to-use tools to generate deceptive written and visual content (audio and video aren’t too far off) that is becoming more and more difficult to interpret as authentically created by a human. We’re on a path to destroy the Internet — and maybe worse — as we know it today. I’ve been feeling like an [**old man yelling at a cloud**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJ-LivK4-78&ref=brilliantcrank.com) on this idea, and then I read [**The Expanding Dark Forest and Generative AI**](https://maggieappleton.com/ai-dark-forest?ref=brilliantcrank.com) by Maggie Appleton. > *The* [***dark forest theory***](https://maggieappleton.com/cozy-web?ref=brilliantcrank.com) *of the web points to the increasingly life-like but life-less state of being online.* > *Most open and publicly available spaces on the web are overrun with bots, advertisers, trolls, data scrapers, clickbait, keyword-stuffing “content creators,” and algorithmically manipulated junk.* > *To complicate matters, language models are not the only mimicry machines gathering speed right now. Image generators like* [***Midjourney***](https://www.midjourney.com/home/?callbackUrl=/app/&ref=brilliantcrank.com)*,* [***DALL-E***](https://openai.com/dall-e-2/?ref=brilliantcrank.com)*, and* [***Stable Diffusion***](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stable%5FDiffusion?ref=brilliantcrank.com) *have been on a year-long sprint. In January they could barely render a low-resolution, disfigured human face. By the autumn they reliably produced images indistinguishable from the work of human photographers and illustrators.* > *There’s a swirl of optimism around how these models will save us from a suite of boring busywork: writing formal emails, internal memos, technical documentation, marketing copy, product announcement, advertisements, cover letters, and even negotiating with medical* [***insurance companies***](https://twitter.com/StuartBlitz/status/1602834224284897282?ref=brilliantcrank.com)*.* > *But we’ll also need to reckon with the trade-offs of making insta-paragraphs and 1-click cover images. These new models are poised to flood the web with generic, generated content.* If this doesn’t unsettle you to the point of needing to shift in your chair — it should. And if that is the case then either you embrace and fan the flames of anarchy or you have not had to contend with friends and family members who are easily baited by convincing content created by trolls (human trolls ) on the internet. These AI tools are going to make it a thousand times worse. And yet, despite all of the problems trolls have created for societies around the world in the past seven years, we are willingly and eagerly creating tools to generate even content that will look and feel even more convincing — Vast amounts of garbage content — by providing just a few instructions and a click of a button. No good can come from this. Science fiction has traditionally portrayed artificial intelligence as an entity that becomes self-aware, determines mankind is a threat, and takes over military resources or builds a robot army to destroy humans. I think they got it wrong because all you need is for a robot to generate content that “sounds” human and broadcast it on the internet. We’ll end up killing each other without the AI having to launch or build a single thing. And there are many people in the technology industry pulling late shifts to make these tools even more powerful, easy to use, and easy to access. Today people are kicking the tires of AI to generate fictional works of art all in the name of fun or curiosity, but it won’t be long before someone uses these tools for evil. And the machines will be watching and learning. The internet is already littered with so much crap — these tools will flood our digital spaces with useless, generated content. And as Maggie suggests, we are not prepared for this outcome. > *Many people will say we already live in this reality. We’ve already become skilled at sifting through unhelpful piles of “optimised content” designed to gather clicks and advertising impressions.* > *4chan proposed* [***dead internet theory***](https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2021/08/dead-internet-theory-wrong-but-feels-true/619937/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) *years ago: that most of the internet is “empty and devoid of people” and has been taken over by artificial intelligence. A milder version of this theory is simply that we’re overrun* [***with bots***](https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/12/how-much-of-the-internet-is-fake.html?ref=brilliantcrank.com)*. Most of us take that for granted at this point.* > *But I think the sheer volume and scale of what’s coming will be meaningfully different. And I think we’re unprepared. Or at least, I am.* No, Maggie, you’re right. The world is so, so unprepared. [**Idiocracy**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idiocracy?ref=brilliantcrank.com), here we come! ### Design Systems are the New Responsive Web Design. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/design-systems-are-the-new-responsive-web-design/ Last updated: 2024-07-11T21:07:35.000Z Last week I had a conversation with a leader who is going back to consulting with a focus on design systems. They are eager to enter the space but expressed doubt that it was possibly too late, that the marketplace is already too well established. Poppycock! This summer, I worked on creating a product and marketing strategy and roadmap for Emulsify, a design system creator and management tool. With my colleagues Colin and Brett, we worked with Randy, Brian, Mike, and Todd from Four Kitchens, who created the open-source tool. I should do a playback of the work, but in short, we dove deep into the world of design systems to develop an “As-Is” scenario for what’s happening in design systems. And while there has been a lot of activity in the last two-to-three years, we are very much in—as the brilliant Val Head said to me—“very early days” of design systems. I believe there is a direct parallel between the design systems world to the evolution of web design, beginning in 1995 with very few tools and no standards save for HTML to 2010 with Responsive Web Design enabled by mature versions of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. In those fifteen years, think about how many standards were introduced and evolved, the crazy amount of tools that came and went (Pagemill, GoLive, NetObjects Fusion to name a few), and how our processes, practices, roles, and responsibilities changed drastically. And that’s from 1995-2010\. Now think about how much those things have changed from 2010-2022! And let’s not forget that design system success relies solely on the parent organization’s state of transformation and operational maturity. Uf-da, there is a long, long way to go there. My friends, we are far, far, far from a saturation point in the design systems marketplace. It’s the opposite, and I believe we are still very much at the beginning of the Wild West days of design systems tools, capabilities, jobs, outcomes—everything. Tuck in because we’re on a path that I believe will evolve beyond digital. If you see a design system need or opportunity, fill it. ### Working in Public. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/working-in-public/ Last updated: 2024-07-11T21:05:54.000Z As I gain more clarity on what type of work I want to pursue, the need to write and publish more frequently is clear. The need to write comes from the necessity to process or synthesize the abundant information that I consume on a regular basis. In the numerous stories about successful people and their habits, writing or journaling is a pervasive theme. I’ve come to learn that I think differently than most people do and I have the ability to see connections and correlations that others do not. I generate these ideas all the time, but fail in documenting them. That’s a problem that has to change and thankfully something I can fix easily. Publishing is important to me because it’s why I got into the Internet in the first place. Thanks to the [Sentiers](https://web.archive.org/web/20221024051457/https://sentiers.media/newsletter/1/) [member community](https://web.archive.org/web/20221024051457/https://sentiers.memberful.com/join) I’ve learned about people who maintain integrated thinking environments and “Working in Public.” Defined by [Anne-Laure Le Cunff](https://web.archive.org/web/20221024051457/https://nesslabs.com/work-in-public), “Working in public means sharing your process and challenges, rather than just the final product.” > Sharing your work in public is a great way to connect with people who are interested in a similar space. It may result in finding a mentor, or even lead to partnerships. All of the partnerships, sponsorships, and consultancy work I’ve had were all inbound. People read my blog, reach out, and we figure out how we want to work together. I strongly believe this would not be possible if I was conducting my research and building products without sharing my progress on a weekly basis. I’m enthused about the idea of thinking-out-loud. I did it before in the early days of this publication, but the thoughts were so random. And as I got older, I placed more emphasis on publishing only ideas that were buttoned up—processed for what I deemed ready for public consumption. It’s good to press on the writing skills, but I’ve over-indexed. Writing without publishing is an opaque outcome. It’s a form of hiding and I don’t think that’s healthy. Anyone who has been in conversation with me knows that I’m an open book, so why am I acting differently with writing? The world could use more honesty through transparency, and I’m ready to do my part. Having said that, this website is a bit long in the tooth, and it doesn’t work like I’d like to work. Publish like how I’d like to publish. While I like a good blog post with an H1 title, I’m also bored with the format of everything having to follow the same structure. Thinking out loud here, I think I’m going to use a combination of [Ghost](https://web.archive.org/web/20221024051457/https://ghost.org/) and [mmm](https://web.archive.org/web/20221024051457/https://mmm.page/), a fantastic web tool that I don’t see nearly enough folks using. ### Sleeping for the first time in my life. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/sleeping-for-the-first-time-in-my-life/ Last updated: 2025-05-11T19:20:35.000Z The doctor cut me off mid-sentence with an uncharacteristic, soft chuckle that made her face mask billow, “Oh, I assure you, Mr. Storey,” she said, her tone turned more serious, “you have never had a good night’s sleep.” I tried to process this information by thinking back to when people asked, “How did you sleep?” All this time, I thought I knew. Now, I wasn’t sure how to respond to that question. I thought I knew what sleep was. I had a reputation of sleeping on command. If that wasn’t sleep, then what is? I returned to the conversation as she continued, “Based on the data and looking at your anatomy, you have been dealing with this problem your whole life. It is just that when you were younger, your body worked to compensate for lack of restorative rest.” Furthermore, the doctor shared that my problems with sleep have very likely contributed to weight gain (which I’ve always struggled with) and memory loss (I don’t remember if I’ve had issues with memories), and a loss of brain cells (Probably linked to the memory thing but I think I’m okay as I have a few billion or so left). I was on my second visit to the somnologist, the formal name for a sleep doctor. During the first consultation, I had to answer a simple survey with questions like, “Do you often feel tired?” or “When you sit at a desk, do you start to drift asleep?” Options for answers were on a scale from “never” to “often.” After I finished, the receptionist tabulated the answers heuristically (as in not to be mistaken for medical advice) to indicate a level of sleep disorder. My survey results came close to 100%, which didn’t feel great, but I was finally glad to be in the care of people who could help. For as long as I can remember, I have always been some form of tired. In high school, I’d often drift asleep for a minute or two during an afternoon class, especially on a warm day. I didn’t have to sleep for very long, just a bit to close my eyes, and I’d wake up feeling great for the rest of the day. I chalked it up to always being busy with school, work, and extracurricular activities like student government, student newspaper, and yearbook committee. As I got into college, my need for a two-minute power nap started to creep into morning classes, but not all of them, just the boring ones. I was still busy going to work and attending class full-time, but I added the additional data point of my level of interest in the subject divided by how engaging the professor was. Back in the doctor’s office, she continued to share her thoughts on my condition. Newly educated on this problem, I thought back to other times when I had trouble staying awake. Like when I was in a dark room during a lecture or a movie—out for a few minutes. Every time I got on a plane—right before we pulled away from the gate through take off—boom, lights out until the chime that indicated we had climbed to ten thousand feet. Years later, much to the chagrin of a good friend, I nodded off during a Wilco concert he took me to. I recall seeing the first five minutes of the opening act of Hamilton. Hell, I even fell asleep right before I got married. Thirty minutes out from go time, I decided to grab a quick nap. My mother woke me up to tell me it was time to get married. All this time, I thought sleeping-at-will was a superpower. People around me frequently joked about how they envied my “ability” to fall asleep anytime, anywhere. Nodding off here and there seemed perfectly normal until it got worse. Much worse. As I got older, I found myself conversing with people who shared their problems with sleep apnea. They told me about the CPAP machine, and inevitably, I’d make some form of a dad joke. Laughs ensued, and we’d move on to other topics. It’s about this time when I started to think that I might have a problem. Not only with sleeping but admitting that I might have an issue I can’t control on my own. And I didn’t like the idea of being hooked up to a machine, especially at night. Most sleep tests are conducted in special centers that require an overnight stay. From what I gathered from others, you typically go in around 7pm, get hooked up to all kinds of wires and probes, and then tuck-in to fall asleep. I remember when a friend told me about this visit. He was only asleep for 30 minutes when the technician came in, woke him up, and told him he could go home because his apnea was so severe they didn’t need more data. Thankfully I did not have to sleep in a lab. Instead, I was cleared to do a home-based version because COVID had disrupted so many tests that the labs were fully booked four months out. I still had to go to a sleep center to get training on the “home test,” which resembled a giant, G-SHOCK watch. It took two minutes for the technician to explain how to turn the device on and attach it to my wrist properly. It took eighteen minutes to review the insurance disclaimers, legalization, and details on returning the device. I had to agree to conditions about the test and return the device promptly, or I would have to pay $5000 to the insurance company. I made it a point to return the device promptly the next morning as soon as they opened. The “home test” aka Fancy Sleep Watch, doesn’t provide any data to the user. That information is pulled from the device by a technician who forwards it to the doctor. That’s all to say, I knew I had a problem but taking the test at home didn’t mean I knew any more than I did the day before. Weeks later, I found myself back in an examination room at the sleep doctor’s office for the results. The Apnea Hypopnea Index is “the number of apneas or hypopneas recorded during the study per hour of sleep. The number is generally expressed as the “number of events per hour.” The number of times a person has apnea (loss of breath) or hypopnea (partial loss of breath) is divided by the hours of sleep. A normal level is considered fewer than five events on average, whereas a severe result is 30 or more events. The doctor explained all of this to me and then revealed the results of my test. When she said that my AHI score was 70, tears began to roll down my face. I knew I had an issue, but I never expected a result so bad. How in the hell was I still alive? My mind raced to how my life could have been different if I had received treatment as a kid. I thought back to the nights of waking up several times attributing it to getting older or the food I ate or the beverages consumed. I had a hunch my quality of life was decreasing but not this bad. No way. If I had placed a Vegas-style bet, I would have lost my home. Thankfully those thoughts passed as we began to discuss treatment. Ten days later, I had an appointment to pick up a device that provides “continuous positive airway pressure” or more commonly called CPAP. According to the Cleveland Clinic website, the machine “keeps your airways open while you sleep so you can receive the oxygen you need for optimal function. CPAP machines can significantly improve sleep quality and reduce your risk for a number of health issues, including heart disease and stroke,” which is great because I’m a big fan of never having to suffer either. I expected to sit through a 10-minute presentation on how to plug the CPAP in, which buttons to press, how to make adjustments—routine instructions. Instead, I got the full one-hour workshop that included everything but the history of CPAP development. I walked into an incredibly bland, beige room, the walls sparsely covered with a few posters from device manufacturers. Half of them featured super healthy people smiling from ear to ear because they were now capable of deep, restorative sleep. The other half of the posters depicted the same type of people with a face mask strapped to their head connected by a hose to the CPAP machine placed on a nightstand with a dimly lit lamp shining down on a book with a pair of glasses resting on top. I thought this was a big miss on the part of the CPAP company’s marketing departments. You walk into this place knowing that your life is about to change forever—hopefully for the better—but from here on out, each night, you’ll have to strap scuba gear to your face before counting sheep. You go in a Skywalker and come out a Sith Lord. This whole situation screams for the need for positive mask positioning. The walls of this place should be adorned with images of the most badass characters to don a mask: Darth Vader, Bain, Captain Dallas, Maverick, Immortan Joe. Where are the motivational posters with words phrases like BREATHE FREELY, DREAM AGAIN, or STAY IN BED BECAUSE YOU WON’T HAVE TO PEE SIX TIMES A NIGHT! Why not make wearing masks cool, again, right? Larry—I honestly don’t recall his name, but the middle age, balding, white (I’m not drinking fucking merlot!) male managing a medical devices sales company…yeah, he’s a Larry—ran me through all of the ins and outs of the ResMed Air Sense 11\. His presentation finished with a bit of punditry on how much better the model 11 is from the 10\. When Larry finished his monologue I replied, “So you’re telling me this is the Cadillac of CPAP machines?” He snorted, “Oh yeah! That’s certainly a creative way of putting it.” Up until that exchange I always presumed the most boring job in the world was selling life insurance. Not anymore. I was told several times during the presentation that the CPAP collects data that goes to both my sleep doctor and the health insurance company. Larry told me that to avoid paying thousands of dollars for the device, I have to use it 20 days every month for ten months. I didn’t understand why he kept repeating this warning. If I had my way, I would have been on my third month because that’s how long it took to get through all of the steps. Was I unknowingly casting negative non-verbal communication? So, I interrupted and asked why. Larry replied that many people go through everything, including this one-hour session, then take the device home and never plug it in. And some of these folks never take the device out of the box! This process required three visits to a doctor’s office, a visit to a sleep study center in the middle of nowhere to pick up a “sleep watch” and drive back and drop it off the next day, and then sit through this session with Larry at Larry’s CPAP Barn. I estimate at this point, I had roughly ten hours invested in getting to this point. Why in the hell would anyone go through all of this just to go home and do nothing? That’s stupidity on another level, on the stupidity spectrum that I can’t see, not even with a NASA telescope. As he zipped the carry-all bag closed, I thanked Larry for all of his instructions, grabbed my CPAP Cadillac, and headed home hoping my life was about to get a big upgrade. I was tempted to try it out immediately, but I waited until the evening to get everything set up. I filled the “AirSense 11 Water Chamber” with distilled water, strapped the mask to my head, hooked up the hose between the mask and the device, and hit the “On” button. The machine came to life with a sound similar to a baby Vader drawing a breath. Air shot into the mask, sealing it to my face as the pressure built up. Larry said to expect a big surprise and that it might take me weeks to get used to the whole sensation. Maybe that happens to others, but I found it comforting. I rolled over to a side, my wife lovingly tucked me in, and fell asleep almost instantly. While I slept like a log, my wife could not. She had grown so used to my not-breathing properly (aka snoring) for decades that the silence was unnerving. The following day she shared that she checked on me at 2 AM, found me sleeping soundly for the first time ever, and cried. As part of Larry’s instructions, he gave me some anecdotal advice about what to do when nature calls in the middle of the night. “My advice,” he advised, “is that you leave your mask strapped on but pull the hose, leave the device still running, go do your “thing,” and reinsert the hose when you’re back.” I didn’t think much about his advised process because Larry’s the expert. So when nature called, I got up, and pulled the hose from the mask, and left the machine running. As I did this, the peaceful ebb and flow sound of breathing pressurized air was replaced with the sound of a roaring jet engine-powered vacuum. When I got back, I found the hose, plugged it back in, and fell asleep quickly. So, in addition to what my wife previously shared with me about her version of the evening, she said that when I pulled the hose, our cats, previously sleeping peacefully, went into immediate DEFCON 1 mode. Manicotti, the cat who is constantly on high alert, shot up three feet into the air, landed on my wife’s head, hissed at everything around her, and bolted, full-tilt, for dear life. Thinking back on this, I’m going to assume that Larry doesn’t have cats at home. On January 7, 2022, I slept for 9 hours and 31 minutes. My face mask seal was rated “good” at 20.4L per minute. Events per hour—in other words, the number of times my rest was interrupted averaged 3, down from 70 during my sleep test in December. All in all, I received a score of 98 out of 100\. In other words, I slept relatively normally for the first time in my life. Seven months in my life has improved radically. I rarely wake up in the middle of the night, not even for “calls of nature.” On average, I went from sleeping 9-ish hours a night down to six. During the months leading up to the solstice, I had to make an effort to sleep five. It’s not uncommon for me to be up around 4-5 AM, feeling energized and ready to go. I’m no longer tired during the day. The quick power naps are gone. It takes effort and meditation to get to sleep at night, a very new experience. My doctor said it would take a while for my body to respond fully to the treatment and I’m just now starting to really feel it. A few months later, I made more improvements to my life with changes in diet and exercising daily (this morning, I got a notification that I have closed all of my Apple Fitness rings for 170 consecutive days). Not only do I feel awake and increasingly optimistic, but I’ve also lost fifty pounds. And thankfully, Spaghetti and Manicotti don’t fear the machine anymore. I think back on my life in the last couple of decades. All the things I have built, created, and led–Achievements that my younger self would never have dreamed were possible. And I did those things despite this handicap. Now I think about what I am capable of now. I’m not 100% yet, but today I get glimpses of positivity and confidence levels that never existed before. Give me a few more months, and I’ll be ready to Hawaiian Punch everything that comes at me. I share all of this with you to raise awareness and hope that it helps someone who, like me, never realized they had a severe problem. It wasn’t until my body could no longer compensate for the lack of sleep that it quickly became a bigger and bigger problem. Sleep apnea had a real, increasingly negative impact on my quality of life in the last couple of years. This whole process of getting diagnosed and the lifestyle changes may sound like a bit of a fuss (it’s actually been the opposite), but there’s no way in H-E-double-hockey-sticks-hell I’d go back to my life before January 7th. ### Science proves that if you want to succeed in your work or art, you need to always be evolving. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/science-proves-that-if-you-want-to-succeed-in-your-work-or-art-you-need-to-always-be-evolving/ Last updated: 2024-02-20T00:37:53.000Z For anyone looking for success, a new scientific study may have unlocked the secret or, at the very least, validated what some folks already know. Researchers have found a pattern in how people achieve their full potential. Using AI, they studied painters, film directors, and scientists to analyze their body of work against a time in their career that they define as a “hot streak.” Nicola Davis writes in The Guardian: > Writing in the journal [Nature Communications](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-25477-8?ref=brilliantcrank.com), \[Prof Dashun Wang of Northwestern University\] and colleagues report how they sought to investigate whether there was a common pattern behind hot streaks. To do so they looked at metrics of success such as the auction price of art works, IMDb ratings of films and citations of research papers to identify hot streaks for 2,128 artists, including Pollock and Frida Kahlo, 4,337 directors — including Mészáros and Jackson — and 20,040 scientists, including the Nobel laureates John B Fenn and Frances Arnold. > They then analysed how diverse the individuals’ work was at different points in their careers. This was assessed using an artificial intelligence system that was trained, in the case of art, to “recognise” different styles by features such as the brush strokes, shapes and objects in a piece, while in the case of film, it was trained to classify a director’s work based on plot and cast information. For science, the system identified different research topics based on the papers cited within a researcher’s publications. > The diversity before and during the hot streaks was then compared with the diversity at random points in the careers. The team found that for all three career types, work tended to be more diverse just before a true hot streak than expected from the randomly selected points. If you click through to the study there is an interesting diagram that visualizes how the work in each industry was analyzed. Further down, you’ll see the patterns in the results, which indicate that “hot streaks” happen after a period of diversity in their work. For an example, Nicola came up with Peter Jackson’s career: > The director Peter Jackson’s career is, perhaps, a prime example: his hugely successful Lord of the Rings trilogy came after an eclectic range of movies such as the sci-fi comedy horror Bad Taste, the puppet film Meet the Feebles and the drama Heavenly Creatures. Another pattern found that when people hit a streak, they tend to stay focused on the type of work they were doing at the time. Continuing with Nicola’s example, Jackson moved on to produce the Hobbit trilogy after the Lord of the Rings trilogy. He has since [returned to a diverse roster of films](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001392/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) that include two documentaries; one about World War I and the other on The Beatles. To simplify the research findings, people who succeed try new methods in different subject matter to get to new outcomes and success. And once they find a combination that works, they continue their work on that path until it’s no longer equitable. Then they start over looking for the next combination that achieves another round of success. This is why it is so important for everyone to stay curious, always on the hunt to try something new to get to new and different outcomes. Be purposeful in your evolution, not merely reactive to your situations. Doing the same thing yeah-after-year may produce short-term success but lead to the long-term result of not achieving your full potential. And I don’t need artificial intelligence to know that doing the same thing over and over again is super boring (see [Garfield books 3–72](https://garfield.fandom.com/wiki/Garfield%5FBooks?ref=brilliantcrank.com)). ### Designer vs. Goliath URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/designer-vs-goliath/ Last updated: 2024-02-20T00:37:53.000Z I’m currently taking [**Seth Godin’s**](https://seths.blog/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) class on [**podcasts**](https://akimbo.com/thepodcastingworkshop?ref=brilliantcrank.com). As part of the class, I have come up with a few ideas for a program called Designer vs Goliath, a podcast for designers who are seriously outnumbered by developers and engineers. In the last five years, I have discovered lone designers tucked into the corners of the enterprise, startups, and everyday small businesses. These are designers who rarely get to perform design-related tasks like user research or participate in a design critique. Yet they churn out the work that powers Billions of dollars in revenue. They need a community as much, if not more, so let’s go find them. Are you (or do you know) a lone designer surrounded by an army of developers, engineers, and product managers? Do you watch videos of design teams collaborating, hosting critiques, discussing typography, and wish you were there? I’d like to hear from you and know if you might find this type of program worthwhile. I’ve put together this [**short survey**](https://brilliantcrank.typeform.com/to/lGAI27Wf?ref=brilliantcrank.com) that I hope you’ll complete. And please consider sharing this post with your network even if you don’t fit the mold of a Designer vs Goliath. ### How to avoid bad decisions. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/how-to-avoid-bad-decisions/ Last updated: 2024-02-20T00:40:44.000Z This afternoon I bring you [**required reading**](https://fs.blog/2021/03/avoid-bad-decisions/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) from the intelligent minds of [**Farnam Street**](https://fs.blog/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) (a smart group of people everyone should be reading). It’s in the form of a list of the biggest reasons they make bad decisions. In my years as a leader in digital, I’ve come to know and council with a few hundred peers. Inevitably we share our victories, but more importantly, our defeats. What brings success for one group will likely not work or apply to the next, but failure is almost universal. If you want to succeed, learn from those whose success you wish for yourself through their stories of failure — their trials and tribulations. In this article, the Farnam folks list how they arrive at the failure by making different bad decisions. Each failure comes with a rule Farnam created to prevent making the same mistake again. Here’s a paraphrased list: - Being unintentionally stupid — “Never make important decisions when you’re tired, emotional, distracted, or in a rush.” - They solved the wrong problem — “Never let anyone define the problem for you.” - Used bad data, bad information — “Seek out information from someone as close to the source as possible, because they’ve earned their knowledge and have an understanding that you don’t.” - They failed to learn from previous mistakes — “Be less busy. Keep a learning journal. Reflect every day.” - Focused on optics over outcomes (my favorite) — “Act as you would want an employee to act if you owned the company.” I’ll add one that, unfortunately, I had to go through first hand: - Failure to believe in the potential to fail — Arrogance built upon success in the past does nothing to drive success in the future. I can’t stress how everyone should read through this post. Make your own notes, your own rules, and build on the past. ### A typeface created to support local languages. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/a-typeface-created-to-support-local-languages/ Last updated: 2021-03-14T18:20:59.000Z > *Charis SIL is a Unicode-based font family that supports the wide range of languages that use the Latin and Cyrillic scripts. It is specially designed to make long texts pleasant and easy to read, even in less than ideal reproduction and display environments.* The type family was developed by [**SIL International**](https://www.sil.org/about/discover?ref=brilliantcrank.com), a faith based organization that supports “ethnolinguistic minority communities as they build their capacity for the sustainable development of their own languages.” The organization was founded on the principal that communities should be able to pursue their social, cultural, political, economic and spiritual goals without sacrificing their language. Not only does it look great, Charis SIL is “free to use, modify, and redistribute according to the terms of the [**SIL Open Font License**](https://scripts.sil.org/cms/scripts/page.php?site%5Fid=nrsi&id=ofl&ref=brilliantcrank.com). ### Making accessibility a feature, not a fix. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/making-accessibility-a-feature-not-a-fix/ Last updated: 2021-03-10T15:55:48.000Z ### Make accessibility a feature, not a fix. Please [**share this story far and wide**](https://medium.com/indeed-design/building-an-accessibility-library-e134e9012c17?ref=brilliantcrank.com) because it’s important, and the digital industry needs to see this. All-Star designer [**Stephanie**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/shagadorn/?ref=brilliantcrank.com)[**Hagadorn**](https://medium.com/@stephaniehagadorn?ref=brilliantcrank.com) shares a unique and super smart project her team created at Indeed to help build better products through accessibility requirements. > *Over the past year, accessibility has become one of Indeed’s top priorities, a massive undertaking. We now* [***require***](https://www.indeed.com/accessibility?ref=brilliantcrank.com) *teams to meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (* [***WCAG 2.1***](https://www.w3.org/WAI/standards-guidelines/wcag/?ref=brilliantcrank.com)*) AA conformance, and go beyond those guidelines to improve the accessibility of the site. This new focus means reexamining our practices throughout the product life cycle, not only to help remediate accessibility problems but to help create genuinely inclusive experiences from the beginning. This is the story of one tool we created that helped us speed up those changes: an accessibility library.* Note their first step: > *We drafted our own guidelines, translating some of the often cryptic or verbose WCAG wording into easier-to-understand checklists for designers and developers.* As it turns out, this helped to increase awareness but didn’t solve the problem completely. However, I don’t believe Stephanie’s team would have achieved success without this initial step. Team, especially combined teams, success requires having a shared language. Much of the instructions from institutions like W3C are written for scientific, engineering, and academic communities. Go look at it — some of the most basic functions are written as if they are launch preparations for exploring deep space. I remember joking with some folks at the consortium about this when they hired Airbag to redesign the website. The team at Indeed ultimately succeeded because they took the first step to clarify and interpret this lab coat language for into something easier to consume and grok. Improving awareness would have been a huge win, but continue reading to see how they created a tool that drove even better results. PS — Stephanie, if you are reading by chance, I hope your team will consider sharing the tool you made in the Figma community. ### MIT Press offers open access to Design Issues. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/mit-press-offers-open-access-to-design-issues/ Last updated: 2021-03-06T23:12:35.000Z I’ve known about Design Issues, but I have to admit that my interest wasn’t strong enough to buy a copy. I don’t think I have ever seen a copy on the newsstand. My design education has been primarily through self-discovery, so I avoided the cerebral study of my vocation that most university students have to endure. I can think of only two designers I know who study design at this level regularly: Doug Powell and Michael Johnson. And I’m sure they already have a subscription to Design Issues, and/or they are downloading every PDF at this moment. MIT Press is migrating their products to a new platform and using this temporary product purgatory as a reason to give to the community. As you’ll see, entire articles, reviews, and critiques are available to download in PDF form for free until April 30, 2021\. This offer is a fantastic opportunity for us all to exercise the part of our brain that we don’t typically engage when it comes to design. Not only should each article challenge our perspectives on design, but exploring the bibliographies is certain to produce their own rewards. Clicking through the issues, I found three themes of interest to my journey in design. Articles on systems and methodologies, research, and heritage. And an issue devoted to the legal industry — how convenient. Here are some articles that I have downloaded thus far: - [***Why the Failure of Systems Thinking Should Inform the Future of Design Thinking***](https://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/desi%5Fa%5F00538?ref=brilliantcrank.com) by Fred Collopy - [***Incremental and Radical Innovation: Design Research vs. Technology and Meaning Change***](https://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/DESI%5Fa%5F00250?ref=brilliantcrank.com) by Donald A. Norman and Roberto Verganti - [***Design and Innovation: How Many Ways?***](https://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/DESI%5Fa%5F00244?ref=brilliantcrank.com) by Cabirio Cautela, Alessandro Deserti, Francesca Rizzo, and Francesco Zurlo - [***Managing as Designing: Lessons for Organization Leaders from the Design Practice of Frank O. Gehry***](https://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/desi.2008.24.1.10?ref=brilliantcrank.com)by Richard J. Boland Jr., Fred Collopy, Kalle Lyytinen, and Youngjin Yoo - [***On the Case Study Method of Research and Teaching in Design***](https://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/desi.2008.24.1.36?ref=brilliantcrank.com)by Maggie Breslin eand Richard Buchanan - [***Design and the Cultures of Enterprises***](https://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/DESI%5Fa%5F00247?ref=brilliantcrank.com) by Alessandro Desert and Francesca Rizzo - [***Speaking Italian with a Swiss-German Accent: Walter Ballmer and Swiss Graphic Design in Milan***](https://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/desi%5Fa%5F00622?ref=brilliantcrank.com) by Chiara Barbieri and Davide Fornari - [***Promoting Swiss Graphic Design and Typography Abroad: The Case of Paris in the 1960s***](https://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/desi%5Fa%5F00623?ref=brilliantcrank.com) by Constance Delamadeleine - [***The Rapid Embrace of Legal Design and the Use of Co-Design to Avoid Enshrining Systemic Bias***](https://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/desi%5Fa%5F00601?ref=brilliantcrank.com) by Dan Jackson, Miso Kim, Jules Rochielle Sievert - [***Legal Design as a Thing: A Theory of Change and a Set of Methods to Craft a Human-Centered Legal System***](https://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/desi%5Fa%5F00600?ref=brilliantcrank.com) by Margaret Hagan While we’re discussing academic pursuits, might I also suggest this is a perfect time to read through a few of these articles and write about what you have learned. What do you find challenging to your current point of view on each topic. How might you try or consider a new strategy or tactic? Keep in mind; writing doesn’t mean you have to knock out two-thousand words on a subject (talk about boring) — try talking about what you read as if we were out having a beer. Writing is the best way to synthesize and process what you have read. And MIT Press has just given us all a nice gift in the form of free continuing education in our field. ### Business is not a sport. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/business-is-not-a-sport/ Last updated: 2021-03-06T23:10:39.000Z I’m glad we still have Jason Fried around to provide a healthy alternate perspective to the mindset of the rest of the tech industry. > *Businesses love to compete. To beat, to win, to go 1–0\. We don’t. I have no interest in competing with anyone. And we don’t frame internal decisions in a competitive way. Business has never been about competition for me.* > *All we have to do is get enough customers to make* our *business work. That’s it. That’s how we stay alive. Not by taking marketshare away from anyone, not by siphoning off users, not by spending gobs of cash to convince people to switch. We simply have our own economics to worry about, and if we get that right, we’re golden.* > *When you think of yourself as an* alternative*, rather than a competitor, you sidestep the grief, the comparison, the need to constantly measure up. Your costs are yours. Your business operates within its own set of requirements. Your reality is yours alone.* If I channel my former business partner, he would add that breweries have made a successful cottage industry not from competing but by collaborating. Competition is for [**competitions**](https://www.worldbeercup.org/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). ### There’s a voice inside your head that prevents you from sharing ideas — punch it in the face. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/theres-a-voice-inside-your-head-that-prevents-you-from-sharing-ideas-punch-it-in-the-face/ Last updated: 2021-03-02T15:56:06.000Z If we have worked together or you’ve asked me for career advice, there is a high probability that I have encouraged you to write and hit the publish button often. There are so many benefits to writing that includes processing your thoughts and ideas, improving your ability to communicate, and increasing your thought leadership in the industry (presuming you write about your industry from time-to-time). The excuses — or, I’m sorry, reasons — I hear folks say they can’t write include: I’m not very good at writing (you can’t improve if you don’t write often), my website isn’t finished (classic, and also guilty so shut up), and I don’t know what to write about, there’s nothing new for me to add (oh boy). The last challenge has always perplexed me because if you look through the archives of my writing, you’ll find a cornucopia of nonsense sprinkled with a few solid posts with well-formed thoughts. Most of my early writing was observational humor laced with misplaced road rage and a complete disregard for people living in the state of Arkansas. To some degree, it doesn’t matter what you write about as long as it is coherent. If you start a thought, finish the thought. Feel free to lead the reader through a backwood of tangents and subplots just as long as at the end you’ve come back full circle. When I challenge the idea of topics — especially when I suggest writing about a design topic — the “I don’t know what to write about” excuse goes to level two: Someone has already written about \[design topic\]. And that might be true, but by Great Gutenberg’s Ghost!, if that was a hard requirement for publishing, we’d have one newspaper, a few magazines, and maybe a thousand books. Hollywood would be a ghost town because we got to the end of all of the movie tropes by 1989\. We’d only have seventy-five songs with lyrics, but re-recorded in every music style and still, everyone would hate Yanni. The point is you can’t let the people who published something before you be the excuse to stop you from writing or, frankly, creating. Now, I want to add that I am guilty of this too. There have been some lean years where I wrote lots of articles but deleted them before hitting the publish button. My friends who are prolific writers have also confessed to me that they, too, have suffered from this problem. To be a writer, to be successful at anything, we have to create like no one is watching, listening, or reading. We have to fight that inner voice that says don’t do the thing because we are wired to question sharing our ideas based on originality. Earlier today, I found a short post by Scott Olster, Editor at LinkedIn. [**He writes:**](https://www.linkedin.com/feed/news/your-ideas-are-better-than-you-think-4865508/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) > *Before you discard that brand new idea, you just cooked up into your mental dustbin, hold on for just a moment. According to researchers from INSEAD, The Open University of Israel, and The Technion, people consistently underestimate the originality of their ideas. One reason we do this? We tend to think that everyone else is thinking the same way we are. Turns out they aren’t, or at least not nearly as often as we assume. So, if you feel an urge to keep your suggestion to yourself, speak up instead. Being aware of this tendency can help, and managers can help even more by openly encouraging people to share their idea seedlings.* Did you catch this? “*We tend to think that everyone else is thinking the same way we are. Turns out they aren’t, or at least not nearly as often as we assume*.” I don’t know about you, but this made me feel slightly better about feeling that way in the past. As I get older, I realize more and more that as much as I think everyone is thinking the same thing as I am, they are, in fact, seldom thinking in the same way. I have learned that it is important not only to share my ideas but also to get the people around me to share their ideas and thoughts through writing and otherwise. As our world and our work get more complicated, knowing how to express your views is increasingly critical. And writing, whether it’s about [**the design of the U.S. Presidential Briefing Memo**](https://airbagindustries.com/a-better-tighty-whitey/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) or that one time a father-in-law almost killed himself by [**hammering a screwdriver through a live wire**](https://airbagindustries.com/repair/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), will help you develop those skills tremendously. ### The 2020 best of digital news design award winners show just how far editorial design has come. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-2020-best-of-digital-news-design-award-winners-show-just-how-far-editorial-design-has-come/ Last updated: 2021-03-02T00:10:30.000Z The [Society of News Design](https://www.snd.org/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) (SND) posted their [awards for work published in 2020.](https://www.snd.org/bodd/2021/02/25/2020-results/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) No surprise that the New York Times cleaned house with all of their great work related to the pandemic. And they continued their sweep with many more long-form stories and specials like [*Who Gets to Breathe Clean Air in New Delhi?*](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/12/17/world/asia/india-pollution-inequality.html?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and [*The African-American Art Shaping the 21st Century.*](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/03/19/arts/african-american-art-inspiration.html?ref=brilliantcrank.com) The former entry features a side-scrolling interface, but please don’t take that to mean carousels are back! I loved Reuters’ work on [*Wildfires: A devastated coast*](https://graphics.reuters.com/CALIFORNIA-WILDFIRES/xegvboxrypq/index.html?ref=brilliantcrank.com) because of their use of the screen as a canvas meant to scroll. Take a look at this project and others in these awards and tell me the “fold” still exists! Looking through more work, I’m inspired by the Marshall Project’s art direction for [*Mauled: When Police Dogs Are Weapons.*](https://www.themarshallproject.org/2020/10/15/mauled-when-police-dogs-are-weapons?ref=brilliantcrank.com) And I was immediately pulled into the South China Morning Posts’ film [*China’s Rebel City: The Hong Kong Protests.*](https://www.scmp.com/video/scmp-films/3112897/chinas-rebel-city-hong-kong-protests?ref=brilliantcrank.com) There is a lot to look through and process. It’s nice to see the SND catch up to modern times and celebrate the fantastic work that goes into the reportage, data science, and digital design — The new trifecta in solid journalism. The last time I paid attention to the SND awards was five years ago when I attended the event in Washington D.C. at the now-closed [Newseum](https://www.newseum.org/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). During the awards, anything published online or considered interactive was referred to as “online multimedia graphics.” As if the newspaper industry had completely let digital transformation blow right past them all — oh, wait… To demonstrate just how far SND has come in its evolution of acknowledging digital, I caught two projects that received awards, yet neither is primarily a journalistic story. The first is [Blacklight](https://themarkup.org/blacklight?ref=brilliantcrank.com), a tool from [The Markup](https://themarkup.org/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) that scans websites for technology installed to track user behavior. The second is a typeface called [“Climate Crisis Font”](https://kampanjat.hs.fi/climatefont/index.html?ref=brilliantcrank.com) designed to represent “the percentual situation of the Arctic ice pack” from 1979 to 2050\. The font’s weights are arranged by decade degrade like melted ice as you get closer to the last based on data from the National Snow and Ice Data Center. Wow, editorial design has sure come a long way! Seeing the breadth and depth of the work submitted to the SND awards is very exciting. It makes me happy to see such a big field of innovation and new methods for reporting the news and telling stories. Whereas just a few years ago, the possibility of making a career as an editorial designer looked bleak, now it would seem the doors have been blown open. One more thing. If you enjoyed reading this post and looking through the projects remember that journalism needs your support. Get your credit card out and become a subscriber. I pay good money to five newspapers, ten magazines, public radio, and a few newsletters because the world would absolutely, completely, and utterly suck without solid journalism. Step up and do your part. ### We lost our studio twice. But not our community. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/we-lost-our-studio-twice-but-not-our-community/ Last updated: 2024-02-20T14:13:42.000Z > *It’s been a year since we have sat in the studio — less than a year since our team met to move our stuff out. But, what I said in the Twitter reply still stuck in the back of my head, “Our community is still strong.” And then it hit me. Like, hit me with a box of tissues, I’m crying, hit me. The IBM Studios Slack channel received a message from our sister studio in Böblingen, Germany. The studio leader had organized a Box folder of unscripted, personal, and heartfelt video messages from our studio mates. Many of them were people I trained, currently mentor, or leadership peers. The studio brought us together, yes. But, I realized through all of the virtual meetings, conversations, and late-night brainstorming that we formed a community.* Earlier this week, I [**caught the news**](https://twitter.com/poofichu/status/1362454820846637056?ref=brilliantcrank.com) that Building 903 on the IBM Austin campus suffered massive damage caused by flooding on the roof. All floors were destroyed, including 7 and 8, home of IBM Design. It feels like such a great loss as a tremendous amount of magic happened there, including the professional development of thousands of new designers from all over the world. [Oen Michael Hammonds](https://oenhammonds.medium.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), one of the greats to come out of the IBM Design program, [wrote this thoughtful post](https://oenhammonds.medium.com/we-lost-our-studio-twice-but-not-our-community-9b0609571e57?ref=brilliantcrank.com) reminding me, reminding us all, that though a place may break, the community is steadfast and strong. I am so thankful to have been a part of that community. I hope they’ll gather again soon and bring back the fantastic energy that the program brought to the building. XOXOXO to my friends from IBM Design — I miss y’all. ### The Jerry Seinfeld Guide to Writing. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-jerry-seinfeld-guide-to-writing/ Last updated: 2021-02-21T00:37:41.000Z David Perell, shares his method of writing apparently based on this snippet from [**an interview with Seinfeld**](https://podclips.com/m/W6PpV8?ref=brilliantcrank.com) (I write that because the post does not include a citation or link to the statement quoted — still it’s good advice). > *Writing and editing should be separate activities.* > *When I’m in this creation mode, I shoot for a flow state. I keep my fingertips on the keyboard and measure progress by how many words I put on the page. I have one rule: write down every epiphany immediately. The more, the merrier.* > *If this creation mode is defined by quantity, the subsequent editing mode is defined by quality.* > *When the editing phase begins, my body chemistry changes. I change my physical environment so I can adopt a calmer and more deliberate mindset.* This is the way. I’ve known a few folks who edit while they write, and it takes them forever just to knock out a sentence. The kind of flow kills creativity, and it’s highly likely that’s what gets in the way of so many people writing more frequently. My initial drafts are a disaster — as are the second and third — but I’m driving to get as much out of my head as possible. Even after editing as much as I can find on my own, I still rely on Grammarly to help. I use the app to clean up my assault on the English language. And it helps me recognize bad patterns in my writing. Over the last two years, I can genuinely say that the application finds fewer mistakes to correct these days. Thank you [**Mr. Stokes**](https://esbueno.noahstokes.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) for the inspiration. ### We need to stop advocating Helvetica as the best typeface. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/we-need-to-stop-advocating-helvetica-as-the-best-typeface/ Last updated: 2021-02-12T15:36:39.000Z [Aasawari Kulkarni](https://aasawarikulkarni.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), an AICAD fellow at Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, writes in [TYPE01](https://type-01.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) magazine: > *Helvetica in all its glory has more than served its life’s purpose and even if we in a combined capacity don’t use it for years to come, will not be lost or diminished. Then why not take a chance by making way for a little more expression where necessary. Peter Bilak says in his essay* [*“We don’t need new fonts…”*](https://www.typotheque.com/articles/we%5Fdont%5Fneed%5Fnew%5Ffonts?ref=brilliantcrank.com)*, that* “there are typefaces which haven’t been made yet and which we need. Type that reacts to our present reality rather than being constrained by past conventions.” *Identifying and valuing such typefaces that have more personality gives our design more of a presence. A union of literal meaning and visual perception through an intentionally defined identity. It is an opportunity to make more space for typefaces that aren’t considered ‘normal’ enough for Helvetica’s world. These typefaces have dared to break away from Swiss ideals of letter design, they’ve dared to be something else — something more, and their otherness stands in the way of their favourable use. They are viewed from a critical standpoint, as opposed to being viewed as more contemporary, more timely solutions to the normalcy, the lazy comfort that grotesque type shadows our world with.* Do you hear that? It’s the sound of my head nodding in agreement. I’ve never been a fan of Helvetica. Up until now, Erik Spiekermann’s professional opinion — “Helvetica is scheisse!” — was enough for me. Aasawari’s point-of-view is more damming, not a simple critique of the typeface itself but a challenge to the industry to move forward, past Helvetica. To start accepting use other forms of type to be more expressive. *Yes!* I hope this is not the last that we hear from her. On a related note: I’m ready to bet cash money that in five years or less the same point of view will be expressed about the need to push beyond the Google Font catalog. Type foundries are the new breweries, popping up all over the place. And we no longer have adequate reasons to settle for the selective charity of a technology company. ### Improving the rifts between designers and project or product managers. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/improving-the-rifts-between-designers-and-project-or-product-managers/ Last updated: 2021-02-04T18:21:34.000Z Last month my friend Brett Harned and I recorded a session of his podcast *Time Limit*. I heart this guy a ton, and I miss working with him daily. Brett and I recorded a limited session program called Sprints & Milestones. So, it felt good to get back behind the microphone to record this conversation. This show is one of the better conversations that I’ve recorded in a while. You could call it a consolidation of what I’ve learned in the last five years of leading all kinds of design initiatives and range of scale at IBM, USAA, and InVision. Our discussion centered around defining the practice of design and how it could/should interact with project/product management. More interesting, we get into building stronger teams, cross-functional collaboration, and over-all communication skills. It is my experience that poor communication is at the heart of just about every problem — design related or otherwise. And I try to provide helpful ideas on how to overcome this problem at work. We also get into my thoughts on how project managers can help their designers be more productive and get better outcomes from their communication with whole teams and executives. These ideas didn’t just come to me in a vacuum, they are from lessons learned the hard way. ### “This Shit is Complex.” URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/this-shit-is-complex/ Last updated: 2025-05-11T19:19:41.000Z Earlier this week, I signed up for [**David Hoang’s**](https://www.davidhoang.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) newsletter, and I’m sure glad that I did. In response to this week’s attack on the capital, David shares his views on the systems we are born into. He proffers [how these systems come with their own unconscious biases and how they can play into the wrong hands](https://davidhoang.substack.com/p/systems-design-before-design-systems), even in those cases when — looking in from the outside — it doesn’t make sense. > *It turns out that because you experienced oppression, it does not make you immune from participating in other systems of oppression. Imagine how many unconscious bias decisions one might make a day. Think about when that’s multiplied by every human being for the last hundred years. Now, imagine when that bias is conscious, and someone made a deliberate decision to oppress. As Darien Boyd wrote, the system is working as designed. If you thought The Social Dilemma was enlightening around system design, wait till you read about systemic racism. Some of you might have similar upbringings of being raised in model minority families. They might not like a narcissistic president, in fact, they might despise him. However, he talks about communism, socialism, and the threat of it. That can be triggering for people who experienced it.* Taking in David’s perspective, my first thought is the need for us to live with a mindset of curious diplomacy. Given our society’s state and condition, we can’t afford to presume anything about one another. Nothing. Not even the smallest data point. I’m old enough to know the world isn’t black and white, but I’m beginning to understand that it’s also not gray — it’s full color. It’s our systems and biases that reduce the world to a smaller spectrum. We’re not going to fix anything with a mindset that a few discussions will heal our combined culture. And this will require more than just listening. If we’re going to achieve some form of harmony (the kind I thought we lived in before the last four years, but I’m pretty sure I was wrong back then, too), then we have to be genuinely curious how our systems might work together through diplomatic means. ### My book just won an award. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/my-book-just-won-an-award/ Last updated: 2025-05-18T17:01:40.000Z I’ve always held the thought that, like a joke, if you have to explain what an award is then it doesn’t really matter. Having said that, I just learned that the book I co-authored with [**Ben Goldman**](https://benjamin.tv/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and [**Abby Sinnott**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/abby-sinnott-181a80b/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) received a [**gold**](http://enter.marcomawards.com/winners/?ref=brilliantcrank.com#/gold/2020) [**MarCom Award**](https://marcomawards.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com#about-marcom). Our book, [***Remote Work for Design Teams***](https://www.designbetter.co/remotework?ref=brilliantcrank.com) was conceived, written, and published in three weeks. We crammed to meet the immediate need of thousands of leaders who were struggling with leading teams remotely for the first time in their careers. It’s not a large book but we poured our heart and soul into each sentence. I have a happy memories of working closely with [**Aarron Walter**](https://www.aarronwalter.com/blog?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and [**Susan Kaplow**](https://www.linkedin.com/in/susan-kaplow-05a9567/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) during the editing process. Both of them helped illuminate a path in my journey to become a better writer. The award came to me as a complete surprise and while I’m happy it has received this recognition, it was the teamwork on such a tight deadline that made the whole endeavor so worthwhile. ### There's a voice inside your head that prevents you from sharing ideas—punch it in the face. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/punch-it-in-the-face/ Last updated: 2025-05-11T19:20:04.000Z If we have worked together or you’ve asked me for career advice, there is a high probability that I have encouraged you to write and hit the publish button often. There are so many benefits to writing that includes processing your thoughts and ideas, improving your ability to communicate, and increasing your thought leadership in the industry (presuming you write about your industry from time-to-time). The excuses—or, I’m sorry, reasons—I hear folks say they can’t write include: I’m not very good at writing (you can’t improve if you don’t write often), my website isn’t finished (classic, and also guilty so shut up), and I don’t know what to write about, there’s nothing new for me to add (oh boy). The last challenge has always perplexed me because if you look through the archives of my writing, you’ll find a cornucopia of nonsense sprinkled with a few solid posts with well-formed thoughts. Most of my early writing was observational humor laced with misplaced road rage and a complete disregard for people living in the state of Arkansas. To some degree, it doesn’t matter what you write about as long as it is coherent. If you start a thought, finish the thought. Feel free to lead the reader through a backwood of tangents and subplots just as long as at the end you’ve come back full circle. When I challenge the idea of topics—especially when I suggest writing about a design topic—the “I don’t know what to write about” excuse goes to level two: Someone has already written about \[design topic\]. And that might be true, but by Great Gutenberg’s Ghost, if that was a hard requirement for publishing, we’d have one newspaper, a few magazines, and maybe a thousand books. Hollywood would be a ghost town because we got to the end of all of the movie tropes by 1989\. We’d have seventy-five songs with lyrics, but re-recorded in every music style and everyone would still hate Yanni. The point is you can’t let the people who have come before you be the excuse to stop you from writing or, frankly, creating. Now, I want to add that I am guilty of this too. There have been some lean years where I wrote lots of articles but deleted them before hitting the publish button. My friends who are prolific writers have also confessed to me that they, too, have suffered from this problem. To be a writer, to be successful at anything, we have to create like no one is watching, listening, or reading. We have to fight that inner voice that says don’t do the thing because we are wired to question sharing our ideas based on originality. Earlier today, I found a short post by Scott Olster, Editor at LinkedIn. [He writes:](https://web.archive.org/web/20200614175431/https://www.linkedin.com/feed/news/your-ideas-are-better-than-you-think-4865508/) > Before you discard that brand new idea, you just cooked up into your mental dustbin, hold on for just a moment. According to researchers from INSEAD, The Open University of Israel, and The Technion, people consistently underestimate the originality of their ideas. One reason we do this? We tend to think that everyone else is thinking the same way we are. Turns out they aren’t, or at least not nearly as often as we assume. So, if you feel an urge to keep your suggestion to yourself, speak up instead. Being aware of this tendency can help, and managers can help even more by openly encouraging people to share their idea seedlings. Did you catch this? “*We tend to think that everyone else is thinking the same way we are. Turns out they aren’t, or at least not nearly as often as we assume*.” I don’t know about you, but this made me feel slightly better about feeling that way in the past. As I get older, I realize more and more that as much as I think everyone is thinking the same thing as I am, they are, in fact, seldom thinking in the same way. I have learned that it is important not only to share my ideas but also to get the people around me to share their ideas and thoughts through writing and otherwise. As our world and our work get more complicated, knowing how to express your views is increasingly critical. And writing, whether it’s about [the design of the U.S. Presidential Briefing Memo](https://web.archive.org/web/20200614175431/https://airbagindustries.com/a-better-tighty-whitey/) or that one time a father-in-law almost killed himself by [hammering a screwdriver through a live wire](https://web.archive.org/web/20200614175431/https://airbagindustries.com/repair/), will help you develop those skills tremendously. ### Adios Muchachos! And Thanks for all of the Sun Downs. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/adios-muchachos-and-thanks-for-all-of-the-sun-downs/ Last updated: 2024-02-20T00:37:56.000Z Not in any hurry to tell a story, I typically like to take my time to get to the point, but I think this news warrants the shorter path. Kitchen Storey and I are leaving Tejas and moving to the other side of the Continental Divide to Seattle. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/02/1-rzgxnx2dqk-xdmzijqhpug-jpeg.jpg) Seattle, Washington 2018 In a few weeks we’ll head for the land of Pearl Jam, the finest of ocean foods, Patrick Dempsey (I know he just retired but I’m going to include him anyway since he’s the reason why we’re Sounders fans), Mac and Jacks African Amber Ale, a body of water called a “sound” with a ferry transit system, and weather that doesn’t melt your face off and incur instant melanoma. Kitchen Storey has pairs of Hunters lined up — My shinny-new yellow North Face is ready to go — looking for rain. I think every time I’ve been to Seattle in the last twenty-five years I’ve thought, “I need to live here.” Then I would get on a plane, take a photo of Mt. Rainer on climb out, and fly back to wherever home was at the time. Come this November, I won’t be getting on that plane, and any new photos of Rainer are going to be taken from a different, ground-based perspective. The Toureg is already there. We had it moved a week before Kitchen Storey started her new job as Captain Badass of Tacoma last month. I’ll let her share that news when and if she’s ready, but I want to let the citizens of the Tacoma know you are now a bit safer than they were a month ago — You’re welcome. Our new home is quite literally on the Sound in Alki Beach. You can expect an instant photo account of water views for the next year, maybe more. For those folks in Austin, think early Rainey Street, on the water, without college students on a daily basis. The local upscale establishment has a selection of options for chilled seafood presentations. It’s one of the first things I checked while auditing the neighborhood. In short, Storeyhouse 6.0 is going to be pretty dope. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/02/1-g1haflx-vr-96tbwzlzgoa.png) Same shot, different year—2003. Of course there are mixed feelings leaving a place that we’ve called home for seven years. I love Austin. And I love even more the design community that formed here despite the lack of design jobs from the major Bay Area tech companies at the time. From the humble days of moving Happy Cog here in 2011 to working at mass scale at IBM in 2015 to starting up a design program at USAA in 2017, I have met and worked with several hundreds of designers in Austin over the years. I’ve had a hell of a time hanging out at Dribbble meetups and hosting the annual SXSW party. And I personally got a kick watching many early designers evolve into confident, talented, pillars of the local and global design community. I don’t know if I’ll be in such a unique position again in my career and I’m thankful for opportunities and the results of being in Austin during a truly magical time. Y’all who were there know what I mean — if you weren’t here then you’ll never understand. Speaking of…to my friends in Austin, there is a silver lining. I am fortunate to be able to continue my work at USAA providing that I return to Texas one week per month. Chances are we’ll have the opportunity to hang out soon, or soon enough. Looking forward I am genuinely excited to call Seattle home. It has been a long time coming. To my friends and acquaintances in the Pacific Northwest, prepare for Storeystyle. Also, if you know of anyone who is looking to live large in Austin, please let me know. I’ve got to sell a townhouse as soon as possible. ### Kitchen Storey has Left the Airport URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/kitchen-storey-has-left-the-airport/ Last updated: 2025-05-28T20:38:09.000Z Yesterday morning [Kitchen Storey](https://www.instagram.com/kitchenstorey/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) came home from a two week gig in Des Moines, Iowa. American Airlines flight AA1326 to Austin arrived at 9:53AM, and with that, almost eight years of constant travel — life on the “road” — came to a welcome conclusion. For those who don’t know the last eight out of ten years Kitchen Storey and I have lived mostly apart due to travel requirements for her job. She is a chemical engineer who compiles and facilitates hazard safety reviews for manufacturing and refining process that deal with hazardous chemicals. Name the worst chemicals on the planet and she’s dealt with it at places that make things like dynamite, frozen food, beer, food additives, oil, and natural gas. It’s her job to review processes around the use of these chemicals and try to kill people on paper so that she can work upstream and figure out how to ensure that particular event never happens (in simulation anyway, it’s up to the facility owners and operators to follow the recommendations derived from the facilitation work). So yeah, Kitchen Storey is a badass. Her work has brought her to some amazing places. There was the one time she worked in the middle of nowhere China (still had a population in the millions) that required twenty hours of travel by plane and car. After she finished the gig we met in [Shanghai](https://www.instagram.com/p/6e1ZkJk5Fk/?taken-by=brilliantcrank&ref=brilliantcrank.com) and had an amazing week of wandering around and keeping full on soup noodles. For a few years we were able to live in [Ko Olina, Hawaii](https://www.instagram.com/p/BF3BkQ0E5Ep/?taken-by=brilliantcrank&ref=brilliantcrank.com) for a month at a time. And there was a year that she spent a few weeks each month in Kenai, Alaska which brought her back to the mountains and allowed her to visit our nieces on more than one layover. And her work has allowed us to visit areas we would not have normally, but we’re richer for the experience. I will never forget living in [Chattanooga, Tennessee](https://www.instagram.com/p/zizB4uE5Pz/?taken-by=brilliantcrank&ref=brilliantcrank.com) for a bit. It was not long after I lost my business and the town provided [a nice distraction](https://medium.com/airbag-industries/j-o-h-n-d86818969b01?ref=brilliantcrank.com) while I tried to figure things out. It was also great getting to better know some distant friends who lived there. Earlier this year we got to go back home to Southern California and live in [Redondo Beach](https://www.instagram.com/p/BjGgVsWFfSB/?taken-by=brilliantcrank&ref=brilliantcrank.com) and got a chance to go back and experience [Salt Lake City, Utah.](https://www.instagram.com/p/Bjk7KRfl0Kg/?taken-by=brilliantcrank&ref=brilliantcrank.com) As a last hurrah, we spent a delightful weekend in [Des Moines.](https://www.instagram.com/p/Blf6xdtlvTL/?taken-by=brilliantcrank&ref=brilliantcrank.com) I knew the city had a lot going for it, but we were both pleasantly surprised by the quality of life that exists there. As for the rest of her travel, the majority of her time away from home…lets just say that it was spent living in some form of a Marriott hotel sandwiched between a Waffle House and an Applebees in places that resemble Gary, Indiana. And she did this for weeks to a month. If time allowed, she would come home for thirty-six to forty-eight hours and then go back to the Armpits of America. While I will miss the fun places that we’ve been able to stay, I will not miss living apart. Most years we only spent one-third of the year together and it gets old really fast. I have been pleading with her to find a new career, change jobs, do something that gets her off the road and she finally found an opportunity that fits the bill. For the first time in a while, my wife doesn’t have to pack two weeks worth of luggage on a Saturday night. And we can sleep in on Sunday, not worried about getting everything done before she’s due at the airport around noon. Which also means that I’m not eating dinner alone tomorrow night. Oh man, this is going to take some getting used too. I hope she still likes HBO. ### I made an Internet radio program and it’s called Sprints & Milestones. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/i-made-an-internet-radio-program-and-its-called-sprints-milestones/ Last updated: 2024-02-23T18:55:21.000Z I’m pleased as punch to share that a friend and I have begun recording the first season of a podcast called [Sprints and Milestones](http://sprintsandmilestones.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). [Brett Harned](https://medium.com/@brettharned?ref=brilliantcrank.com) — one-time co-worker and a long time friend of mine — wrote a book last fall called [*Project Management for Humans*](https://rosenfeldmedia.com/books/project-management-for-humans/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). After reading the first draft, I asked about Brett’s plans to market the book and suggested that he start a podcast to help continue the lift that new books typically get when they launch. Many, many months later we finally have a program that not only compliments the many messages in the book but should provide useful to anyone who has to manage projects whether it’s a part of their job or a full-time role. We had a lot of fun putting the show together, and we’ve already got a handful of ideas to keep things fun and informative in the future. [We’ve set up a newsletter to keep people informed of new episodes along with updates on interesting news and events in the world of digital project management.](https://sprintsandmilestones.us18.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=d1f549baada87a8de7aac3c65&id=b759535ac2&ref=brilliantcrank.com) Give us your email address; I promise it will be worth it. ### Get your half-baked social media strategy off my followers list. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/get-your-half-baked-social-media-strategy-off-my-followers-list/ Last updated: 2025-05-28T20:37:47.000Z This morning I woke up, but my brain was still in Park. As I sat there trying to process information (the day of the week, the time of the day, is it a work day or non-work day, where is the cat), my phone screen flashed. I leaned over to pick it up wondering if this was it, the big announcement of the Cheeto’s Apocalypse. Nah, it was just a follower notification from Instagram. It read, “Furniture Store in Linden NJ (roomandhome\_linden) started following you.” So maybe the Earth isn’t going to end today, but this didn’t make me feel any better. A furniture store in BFE, nowhere near my constant proximity, decided to join around a thousand humans in following the photos I upload to Instagram. My brain finally started waking up, and it did not like receiving this information either. Furniture stores are not supposed to follow people. At the very least, they should follow people who might, you know, possibly buy something from them. I don’t know what idiot runs social media for Room & Home in Linden, New Jersey but they’re Interneting wrong. And in the process, mucking up my experience which is intended to share photos with friends, family, people I admire, and other humans who appreciate my photography. I don’t know about you, but I’ve grown detached from Instagram in the last couple of months. It has devolved into Facebook Jr. with more lame advertising and social media plans. Perhaps yesterday’s announcement of [Flickr’s acquisition by SmugMug](https://www.theverge.com/2018/4/20/17264226/flickr-acquired-by-smugmug?ref=brilliantcrank.com) (both companies that take photography more seriously) comes as a bit of serendipity. It feels like a great time to move to a platform that earns its revenue through selling memberships and in doing so provide a much better experience. One downside is potentially not having a larger audience to share my work. Another is that Flickr got rid of their plugin that enabled me to automagically add photos to left column of this site, but if this move means never having to wake up to learn that some dipshit furniture store is portending to be a fan of my work, then I’m on the right path. ### Don’t hire the person in front of you, hire the person you’re going to help them become. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/dont-hire-the-person-in-front-of-you-hire-the-person-you-re-going-to-help-them-become/ Last updated: 2025-05-11T19:29:32.000Z The now cliché quote from hockey great, Wayne Gretzky, has been overplayed when it comes to talking about business, products, and services. The point of the quote, “Skate to where the puck is going, not where it has been,” is not to react to what’s immediately in front of you, but what will be in front of you shortly. The same strategy should be used in hiring. I’ve used it in the last twenty years, and it rarely fails. I don’t hire the person in front of me, but the person I know that I can help them become. Sometimes this means getting a designer to their next level of craft or into a confident leadership role. And in other cases, it means bringing in someone who has all of the ability and aptitude, but none of the skills. Two of my best employees ever were persons who did not have any of the skills needed immediately to perform the roles that I needed to be fulfilled. While they were very professional, their resumes were bare of the base qualifications, but there was plenty of evidence that both had the aptitude to jump into new vocations and learn what they needed to become solid performers. The downside was the immediate initial investment I had to make to provide on-the-job training. The upside was unlocking new skills, thinking, and confidence. The same employees eventually took over my role and not only excelled but went on to amazing careers. After twenty years of hiring, I am proud to say there are many others who had left my employment much better off than when we first met. These particular cases are a tad extreme, but for me, they were evidence that people who are willing to learn — willing to fight for the role — are always worth the investment. As leaders and employers our job is to find the right fit, but often the person in front of you is not always the same shape as the role you are trying to fill. That doesn’t mean they aren’t capable, it just means more work for you in the beginning, but the payoff is likely to be huge. Don’t hire for where people are today, hire for where you will get them tomorrow. ### You are not your job search URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/you-are-not-your-job-search/ Last updated: 2025-10-01T17:36:06.000Z I have always tried to be an open book so as to help others. I’ve learned that having too much of an ego gets in the way of everything (progress, growth, success, to name a few). So, I try not to [whitewash](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitewashing%5F%28censorship%29?ref=brilliantcrank.com) any mistakes or failures that I’ve had to confront. In my experience, honesty is liberating and paves the way to move forward, mature, and grow. However, there is one recent period of my life that I find difficult to process, and I haven’t been as open about it, but I know very clearly what some of you are going through a similar difficulty and so it’s time to open my book a bit more. The following story is one I haven’t shared openly because it does not have a happy ending. It still stings, but I’m sharing this now because I believe it will help some of those persons I know are out there that need to know they are not their job search (especially those whom I met during the [*Holiday Office Hours*](https://medium.com/airbag-industries/holiday-office-hours-the-airbag-way-46b4b9f52623?ref=brilliantcrank.com)). At the time all of this took place, I would have given anything for someone to share a similar story with me when I needed it the most. --- When I arrived at the offices, it was just as I had imagined based on a few photos I’d seen previously. On the way to my first meeting, I bumped into the CEO in the hall way. He was the reason I was there, after having a great conversation a few weeks prior. The CEO said he wanted to talk and asked that I not leave until we had a chance to chat. I took that as a good sign of things to come. The interviews lasted six hours without a break for lunch; a thorough string of conversations and exercises around the practice of design and sharing my related experiences. It was clear midway through that none of this day was merely a formality — as sometimes the “on sites” are — and that I was still very much a prospect. We had several types of interactions from conversations about the product, a UX design challenge, and my passion(s) for design. The CEO never showed up. Instead, the Head of Talent ended the day with a brief review of the day and thanked me for coming in while he escorted me to the exit. A lot of the office had already cleared out, and I remember how quiet it was walking to the door. It was two weeks before Christmas, and I hoped to come home with a bit of a miracle because I was interviewing at a company that I admire greatly. Still, I was leaving without an offer and I did my best not to [Charlie Brown](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oabcM9SOF-E&ref=brilliantcrank.com) out of there. “Are you still here?” followed a few second later with “It’s Ev.” I affirmed that I was still in the city. He replied with an apology for not being able to see me at the end of the day due to a meeting that ran longer than anticipated. He still wanted to meet, and so we exchanged more messages to figure out logistics as Ev had one more meeting to attend before he could call it a day. At the appointed time nothing happened. The final text to establish time and place never came. A few hours passed quietly, so I packed for an early flight home the next morning and began reading in bed. At 10:30 pm my phone vibrated with one more question from Ev asking if I was still around. I replied, and we agreed to meet in my hotel’s lobby at 11 pm. Now, I don’t know about you, but I figured that if an industry mogul is going out of his way to meet with a candidate at 11 pm in their hotel lobby…well, I thought that it was a very good sign of things to come. We talked for a little more than an hour on the makeup of the current design team and what their needs are, the future of Medium, and Ev’s thoughts about the future of the media industry in general. It was an amazing conversation, and I still feel lucky to have had that experience. Ev closed out the session by saying he wanted me to have one more conversation after everyone got back from vacation in the new year. As you can imagine, I went home feeling confident and excited about moving back to San Francisco to work in the design group at Medium. A week after New Years I had that “last conversation” with the person in charge of running the editorial group. We had a pleasant discussion which ended with “I can’t use a guy with your experience, just yet.” He further explained his plans for growing the department, and *then* I would be a great fit. We said goodbye, and that was that — I never received a job offer. At the time I had two other great opportunities lined up at different companies, and those too went ice cold in the new year. I was devastated. As if the [loss of my company](http://www.airbagindustries.com/archives/airbag/vaughn.php?ref=brilliantcrank.com) months before wasn’t enough — not having a single job offer was like being repeatedly hit by a very large and fast moving vehicle, with no one around to help. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2025/10/jerk.png) A borrowed depiction of how I felt in late 2014, early 2015 I didn’t move much for the rest of January. My self confidence shattered, it took a lot of energy to get back up and continue searching for “what’s next.” After having several conversations with friends and fellow design leaders I came to understand that while some of my experiences came as a surprise to me, they weren’t that unusual, and it certainly wasn’t personal. That made my situation a bit easier to process, but not by much. Before leaving Happy Cog, I had held a job since grade school (a two-mile long paper route that I served faithfully every day of the week until I was able to work in retail). Many of my peers told me to use the time to process where I wanted to go next, but I found it hard to be positive, let alone feel that I had any control over my future. My “processing time” started to feel more like a prison sentence. After six months had gone by without having a single job offer I began to believe that my value to the industry I helped create was absolute zero. As you can imagine, it wasn’t a good time for me, and to be honest, I’m still struggling a bit with that feeling. It took many more conversations, attempts, and failures at finding a job before I landed a unique position at IBM. --- Roughly two years have gone by now, and I’ve received more information to help process that time in my career—both, from those whom I interviewed with and from industry acquaintances who have gone through their own challenges in moving on to the next role. As it turns out, I was well liked at Medium, but I was a different “shape” for the “hole” they were trying to fill. And, given that I hadn’t interviewed in eleven years, I wasn’t at all prepared. Simply put, I didn’t go into that interview (or the others) with a clear vision for what I wanted to do in the company. Which means I wasn’t prepared to sell Greg Storey like I should have been. I delivered a lot of passion for the company — who they are and what they do — it was all there, but I left it up to others to translate that energy into an idea of how I could fit in the company. And you can’t do that anymore, especially if they don’t know you personally. I was in the right place, but the way wrong time, *for me.* Meanwhile, I’ve learned through a handful of stories that other peers — people who helped build the industry and have had very successful careers — are experiencing the same difficulties in their transition. Even with published books, years of public speaking, and leading successful studios or companies, it took each of them roughly a year to find the next role. I have to admit that this news made me feel better (I hope that makes you feel better too). After comparing transition stories, it would seem that the practice of hiring in our industry has evolved. Companies now have a better idea of how to hire and manage designers. Their data points have changed as have the archetypes of a successful candidates. While cultural fit is still important if your “shape” of experience and skills does not exactly fit the “hole” of the archetype then, *no job for you!* After giving all of this more thought, I should have treated my job search like a service design with considerations for all of the possible touch points: email introductions, in-person introductions (sometimes at very loud parties—I’m looking at you private Apple SXSW party at the Concrete Cowboy), applications, the portfolio, resume, cover letters, the recruiter screen call, the two-to-three follow-up phone calls, the one “failure” story, the one “success” story, the on-site visit, the team lunch, the office/studio tour, the goodbyes, and the thank you notes. Applying for a job is no different than a sales effort, and given the increasing competition against digital design’s commoditization, good work and a lot of experience is not enough. To everyone in digital design working towards “what’s next,” I hope this is helpful. And I hope you can close your own “sale” before too long. ### Rest in Peace: The ATX Dribbble SXSW Meetup Ice Sculpture 2012—2016 URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/rest-in-peace-the-atx-dribbble-sxsw-meetup-ice-sculpture-2012-2016/ Last updated: 2024-02-20T00:38:07.000Z Tomorrow, the [sixth annual ATX Dribbble SXSW Meetup](https://dribbble.com/meetups/795?ref=brilliantcrank.com) will kick-off at 4pm in East Austin, decidedly away from all the craziness. Sadly, the annual ATX Dribbble SXSW ice sculpture will not be there. A victim of the classic, new ownership, no budget story. We had five good years of hosting a classy parties, but as they say all good things must come to an end. In memoriamum of our SXSW tradition, here is a quick look back at the last five years. --- ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/02/1-b3ir1_v2rwg2cyp60xcz2q-jpeg.jpg) [**2012 — Uncle Billys Brews & BBQ.**](https://www.instagram.com/p/IAX287E5F7/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) One of the first SXSW events held across the river and away from persons seeking free beers. A thunderstorm rolled in and made everything humid and hot, but our group of roughly 80 designers was small enough that everyone had a roof over their head. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/02/1-ofksgktuxmmosf2si3iouq-jpeg.jpg) [**2013 — Scholz Garten.**](https://www.instagram.com/p/WqhgGyE5Du/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) With approximately 500 persons in attendance, I think everyone went home with four different t-shirts from all the sponsors. The crowd drank past the beer budget quickly, but thankfully Dan was there with his credit card, and the party didn’t miss a beat. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/02/1-uvuxzakav4tmau690tuy2w-jpeg.jpg) [**2014 — Austin Beer Garden Brewery.**](https://www.instagram.com/p/lTHF8wk5Hk/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) I’ll never forget this evening. Initially, we contracted a portion of the brewery, but a big, big storm rolled in and, at the last minute, I negotiated for the use of the whole place for a lower price. And good thing, the rain never let up, but the ice sculpture remained strong. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/02/1-j_vxwua7285oscnx2tkp6q-jpeg.jpg) [**2015—Mellow Johnny’s.**](https://www.instagram.com/p/0QlEyGk5A5/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) Nice downtown location, but wouldn’t you know it, the first time we purposefully move the event entirely indoors the weather is picture perfect. I blame Lance. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/02/1-7beh7fyi-wqx2l6tjpw5ww-jpeg.jpg) [**2016—Public School.**](https://www.instagram.com/p/BC3rOkmE5Ht/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) I guess if you have to go out on top, this one will do just fine. The setting was great, the venue just the right size. It’s a pitty about the food truck, but that didn’t deter most of the crowd enjoying themselves. --- Adios, my frosty friend. You were a great attraction — admired and ‘gramed by many — that helped set a local event apart from the rest of SXSW. ### We’re publishing a cultural print magazine at work—you should too. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/were-publishing-a-cultural-print-magazine-at-work-you-should-too/ Last updated: 2024-02-20T00:38:09.000Z Producing a print magazine on design culture has been an unexpected perk of working at IBM Studios. [Seeing it featured on FPO](http://www.underconsideration.com/fpo/archives/2017/01/ibm-magazine-all-things-x---volume-2---spaces.php?ref=brilliantcrank.com) (*For Print Only*) is just icing on the cake. Go ahead and re-read that first sentence, I get it. *All Things X* features human-centered stories from within and outside of IBM. Each article is produced and designed individually giving each piece it’s own voice and tone, which allows for more personal creativity for both the author and the designer. All of the work is done outside of daily responsibilities, and the volunteer roster of producers, writers, and designers grows with each issue. As you can see, it’s gorgeous, but what you can’t experience is the feel. The magazine has some heft to it like an issue of [*Drift*](https://driftmag.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) or [*The Great Discontent*](http://thegreatdiscontent.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). The result is an unexpected delightful outcome. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/02/1-qxpbi-8t_hqszveynrvwlw-jpeg.jpg) *Photo by Bryony Gomez-Palacio* Every time someone from outside the studio is shown the magazine, their jaw drops. Seriously, this happens *every* time. And while they are scanning through the pages their head shakes in disbelief, as if they are trying to process how such a wonderful print experience could come out of a digital studio. It probably helps that the stories are not those you would expect to come from within IBM. The vision for the magazine came from two young designers that I work with closely, Adam Lehman and Patrick Lowden. Inspired by the depth and breadth of human-centered culture at IBM Studios, they came up with the idea to create a magazine with a focus on stories about IBM users and the people within the global studios program. They were passionate about the project and dammed if anyone was going to get in their way. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/02/1-w2zlohoj8uf3xlagyjzxkg-jpeg.jpg) Photo by Bryony Gomez-Palacio Now, this is the part of the story that I’d like you all to pay attention to. I’ve talked with and mentored enough young designers to know that most of you all have dreams of producing something that we’re unsure, afraid, whatever, to pursue. So, let me give you an idea of how this worked for one of your peers. Rather than put together some half-baked proposal, Adam and Patrick gathered a small group of volunteers to create a proof of concept. They did everything from scratch and ended up farther than they initially intended with a hefty 175-page publication. Not one to let little problems get in the way of his ambition, Adam threw down his personal credit card to print fifty copies. Weeks later, with their printed prototype in hand they socialized the product, gathered support from senior leadership who helped the guys land a meeting with the general manager of IBM Design, Phil Gilbert. In that meeting, Adam and Patrick made a straight business case for why the magazine should exist, how it supports the human-centered mission of the design program, and what an annual budget would look like. Upon approval to proceed with production, two mandates were set for the group: Distribution stays within the walls of IBM Studios and the stories stay in print form only, no digital versions allowed (however, we do have a brand new Medium publication called [*Design at IBM*](https://medium.com/design-ibm?ref=brilliantcrank.com))— to keep the experience unique, and thankfully that is where it has stayed except for this surprise appearance in FPO. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/02/1--aewt3i5oetjj3gsvuz94g-jpeg.jpg) Photo by Bryony Gomez-Palacio Publishing each issue takes a lot of work, and there are many designers who spend late nights finishing the details, it’s a labor of love of print, journalism, photography, illustration, and publishing and the results show. In fact, the deadline for issue three hits in a few days and already there are a few zombies walking around the studio. --- *Greg Storey is Head of Brand and Community for IBM Studios based in Austin, Texas. The above article is personal and does not necessarily represent IBM’s positions, strategies or opinions.* ### Trusting Your Way to a Better Design Team. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/trusting-your-way-to-a-better-design-team/ Last updated: 2025-05-11T19:28:58.000Z There is nothing like working with a team that is in total sync. Once you have well-established relationships grounded in trust everyone is more productive, faster about their work, and, in my experience, genuinely happier. Getting to a high level of trust between individuals is key to a successful team — especially between different practice groups (i.e., designers and engineers). A few days ago I came across [an interview in the New York Times with Tobi Lütke](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/24/business/tobi-lutke-of-shopify-powering-a-team-with-a-trust-battery.html?%5Fr=0&ref=brilliantcrank.com), CEO of [Shopify](http://shopify.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), a SAAS e-commerce company that continues to grow quickly. When asked about his companies culture, Tobi replied: > “We’re very honest about everyone’s strengths and weaknesses. We even post them on our internal wiki. Everyone is invited to do it, and they can explain how they like to work and what they value. It takes a year of working together until you sort of understand people. We’ve always been looking for ways to accelerate this. > Another concept we talk a lot about is something called a “trust battery.” It’s charged at 50 percent when people are first hired. And then every time you work with someone at the company, the “trust battery” between the two of you is either charged or discharged, based on things like whether you deliver on what you promise. > Humans already work like this. It’s just that we decided to create a metaphor so that we can talk about this in performance reviews without people feeling like the criticisms are personal.” As a former studio owner and employer both of these ideas resonated with me: 1. Growing a team through shared transparency of everyone’s strength and weaknesses. 2. The concept of using a metaphor to quantify the level of trust between individuals and the leadership. In my second week on the IBM Studios team, we all took the [Gallup Strengths Finder](https://www.gallupstrengthscenter.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) test and reported the results to the group. While that exercise doesn’t specifically call out weaknesses, it was easy for us, as a group to chart out where we have some deficiencies in our abilities to work well together and, frankly, get things done. It’s healthy for each of us to be aware of where we can fast-find trust and where we’re going to possibly put more effort in to help our team as a whole be more productive. The idea of Tobi’s “Trust Battery” is intriguing because not everyone is equipped to received criticism (constructive or otherwise, depending on the personality you’re dealing with, feedback can be hard to consume). I found [more details on how Shopify uses the “Trust Battery”](http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/rob-magazine/meet-our-ceo-of-the-year/article21734931/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) in an interview published by the The Globe And Mail a few years ago: > “When I hire people and work with them closely, I have this weird kind of thing I talk with them about, which I call the ‘trust battery.’ You meet someone, and then you trust them about 50 percent, because you have not a lot to go on. Then you interact with them, and maybe you have positive experiences when you work together and they do something really well, and then it sort of slowly charges; it might go up to 60 percent, 70 percent, 80 percent, 90 percent. Something magical happens at around 80 to 90 percent, where the need for communication actually starts reducing significantly.” Further, [once an employee hits 80 percent, they are able to work autonomously.](http://news.communitech.ca/news/shopify-expansion-in-waterloo-region-to-employ-300/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) Shopify employees are aware of that number and what it means to their career at the company. In closing here are two additional thoughts about trust from the two-part [Truth and Consequences](http://www.npr.org/programs/ted-radio-hour/406238794/trust-and-consequences?showDate=2016-06-17&ref=brilliantcrank.com) episode of the NPR Ted Hour — I encourage you all to listen to both episodes. The first program is a conversation with orchestra conductor [Charles Hazelwood](http://www.npr.org/2015/05/15/406238863/how-does-trust-happen-in-music?ref=brilliantcrank.com). He talks about the absolute need to build trust between himself and the one hundred or so musicians. In the second episode, they talk to [Simon Sinek](http://www.npr.org/2015/05/15/406453811/how-do-you-get-your-colleagues-to-trust-you?ref=brilliantcrank.com) the author of [*Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action*](https://www.amazon.com/Start-Why-Leaders-Inspire-Everyone/dp/1591846447?ref=brilliantcrank.com) and [*Leaders Eat Last*](https://www.amazon.com/Leaders-Eat-Last-Together-Others/dp/1591845327?ref=brilliantcrank.com). The had each had a great line that, when put together, respectively, provide absolute clarity on the need for trust in a team. > “Trust is actually the most fundamental gel in every single human relationship, and without no relationship can flourish,” Hazelwood says. “Until we feel that we can rely completely on the person to the left of us or the person to the right of us,” said Sinek, “then we can’t really achieve anything great.” I can’t say it any better than that. ### An unexpected, worldwide turn. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/an-unexpected-worldwide-turn/ Last updated: 2025-05-11T18:40:11.000Z My one year anniversary at [IBM Design](http://ibm.com/design?ref=brilliantcrank.com) is on the horizon. Ten months in I have successfully co-created a new program that provides systematic incubation capabilities available to every business unit at the company. More importantly, I have, [as Monteiro puts it](https://vimeo.com/143350728?ref=brilliantcrank.com#t=14m44s), “designed” sixty designers. Together we created nine new products and services for a wide array of business domains including global procurement services, cognitive Internet of Things, cognitive education, cloud product support, cloud marketing SAAS, and Blockchain—patents pending. I have learned a lot about myself and where I want to go in my career in the last year. After closing Happy Cog Austin, I was repeatedly asked what I wanted to do, and I didn’t have a good answer at the time. It goes without saying that I wasn’t prepared to go from studio owner one day to unemployed the next. Now, after a year of working on the Incubator Program, I know without a doubt that I love leading and mentoring designers—especially the ones right out of school. I have had the privilege of working with world-class talent. But after time, I realized that as much as I enjoyed leading with these teams, I grew weary of having to start over after six-week sprints. It takes a lot of effort, energy, and passion to take a team of strangers and turn them into a highly functional product design team within a few weeks. I enjoyed the challenge, but I got tired of saying goodbye. So I have been on a search for a different type of experience. I thought for sure this meant leaving Austin to join a team on the West coast. Many conversations were had, and multiple opportunities were on the horizon, but something seemingly came out of nowhere that I was not expecting. A few weeks ago I was invited to join a new team at IBM with a mandate to duplicate the success of the Austin studio around the world (That’s right folks; [Storey Style](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Storey+Style&ref=brilliantcrank.com) is going international). While I genuinely want to be reunited with the Pacific Time Zone, this is an opportunity I could not pass up. In this new role, I have the pleasure of working directly with design leaders I admire, and some of you know: [Nigel Prentice](https://twitter.com/nigelprentice?ref=brilliantcrank.com), [Sarah Nelson](https://vimeo.com/76346265?ref=brilliantcrank.com), and [Doug Powell](https://twitter.com/douglaspowell1?ref=brilliantcrank.com), who has [a new role of his own.](https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/new-role-doug-powell?trk=prof-post&ref=brilliantcrank.com) In my first year at IBM, I proved that I’ve still got it when it comes to leading team’s of designers to fantastic outcomes—at a large scale. My attention will now be focused on building a global community for studio directors and design leaders in every continent except that cold one down South. West Coast, I will see you soon, but I’ve got a new job to do. ### Dealing with an Absent Decision Maker During Times of Review URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/dealing-with-an-absent-decision-maker-during-times-of-review/ Last updated: 2025-05-11T19:31:52.000Z ***Q: How do you deal with decision makers not being present in the design presentation?*** Dear Lord in Heaven. I’ve been through the absent decision maker situation one too many times to know nothing good comes of it, and I’ve got the scars to prove it. I’ll share a few thoughts based on two decades worth of lessons learned the hard way. Alright, so here’s what happens when the decision maker is not present for a design review. They will either send someone in their place to take notes so said someone can represent the design later or ask for the Keynote deck that the decision maker will use to provide feedback in a complete vacuum. And nothing good will come from this. The intent of the decision-maker is to do what they can to keep the project moving forward for the sake of forward movement, but the likelihood is that this intention will lead to category five failure (Especially when the assistant is sent to take notes so they can “present” your design work later. When that happens, take a hostage. Take two. Pull the fire alarm on your way out to the car. Drive towards the border, any border. And when the US Marshals ask what in the hell you were thinking, you can say, “You wouldn’t hire a designer to hang drywall, so why in the hell would you send a secretary to present design?” Remember to duck your head as they put you in the back seat.). If the decision maker cannot attend a design presentation, then do everything in your power to prevent that meeting from happening. Cancel immediately and ask the client/stakeholders to reschedule as soon as possible. Go into hiding if you have to, to avoid the original meeting. Having said that, we can’t always just up and disappear to force a meeting with decision makers. The sad reality is that if you go dark, the decision maker will follow suit and blame you for it later after the project is on life support. The next step may be uncomfortable to you, but it’s necessary. Contact the decision maker directly. Do not post a passive aggressive note to Basecamp in an attempt to shame them into rescheduling. Be professional! Put your empathy hat on and start with an email. For example: > Hi Miranda, > I canceled our design presentation once I learned that you are unable to attend. For the project to move forward successfully, I need to present the design direction, get your feedback, and review next steps with you. > I understand you are very busy, and I’m willing and able to meet you when and wherever is more convenient to your schedule. Please reply with a time and place or call me directly so we can schedule a meeting. > Sincerely, > Greg Approximately one hour after sending the email, take out your phone and [use the Phone app to call the decision maker.](https://medium.com/airbag-industries/pick-up-the-phone-647a3a69a435?ref=brilliantcrank.com#.1t7kjzb8p) Leave a voice mail message if they do not answer the call. Repeat this step as often as necessary, but be mindful of the balance between being a nag and a good project partner. If you still have not found a way to reschedule, then it’s time to consider other options that should only be used as a matter of last resort. **Chase Them Down, Chase Them Down to Chinatown** Offer to meet the client/stakeholder when and wherever so that you can present your work in person and have a meaningful, productive conversation. You may be surprised by how willing and thankful they are for the gesture, and buckle up because you might be in for a surreal experience. True story: I once met a client in a [Multi-User Dungeon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MUD?ref=brilliantcrank.com) (MUD — think text-based World of Warcraft) because he was not able to talk to me on the phone. I don’t recall why, but I think it had to do with his discomfort in having to talk to humans. After I had logged in, my character was transported to a chamber, and thank God for that, because otherwise I would have had to enter directions like “go north, go west, go north, go north, go east…” you get the idea. While we chatted about the design, he responded with in-game emotes (e.g., “Wizard waves hello” or “Wizard nods in approval”). Unorthodox doesn’t even begin to describe that situation, but we had a productive conversation, cleared up a lot of ambiguity, and kept the project on track. Then I logged out, pushed away from the computer, and took a long drive to consider what in the *actual fuck* just happened. Years later, I had a project that was about to go thermonuclear. Our client disappeared off the radar, galavanting around the Western United States in full OCD-style trying to save the planet ten eco-projects at a time. Since none of his employees could reign him in, they asked if I would be willing to fly to an area he was currently saving. Two days later I found myself in Reno, Nevada camped out in a late 70’s swanky room at the Golden Nugget Casino (it was nautically themed, overlooked the Interstate, and featured a large, classy painting of a clipper ship fighting against rough seas). Eight hours later, I got the call that his jet landed, and he would meet me at a private board room in thirty minutes. We met, discussed the work, and got the approval we needed. When I got into the cab, the driver asked if I wanted to go to the strip club, mall, or airport because those were the most popular destinations—in that order. Thankfully, I made my flight. It’s not every day that a client will fly you to a D-class casino where everyone who walks through the door gets one free game of keno. You must be prepared to do what it takes to avoid the white-hot-category-five-mess that is the third party design presentation. **Help the Blind Lead the Blind** First, let’s be honest with each other. Let us have a tender moment. This is going to happen! And it will hurt, but you will survive, and work through the pain just as thousands of designers have done before you. You will not receive a badge of honor, but you might get a good story out of the experience. So. The decision maker is a no-show and in her place is someone sitting awkwardly, possibly someone you’ve never met before, and he’s there to take detailed notes. This proxy’s job is to guide the decision maker, at a later time and date, through a review of your design work in a vacuum. Hopefully, you have prepared a script. Having a script with prepared questions will help guide your presentation, shape the agenda, and provide the right context and constraints for a response. This needs to be in the form of a physical document — do not rely on anyone’s note taking ability. Consider even recording a video if you want to control the presentation, but don’t forget the questions: Why you are presenting design, who needs to respond to the work, what type of response you need (spell out your expectations as if you were talking to a five-year-old, leave nothing up to interpretation, and provide rationale as to why you need that type of feedback), and how the decision maker’s response will impact the project. With this in hand, it’s possible for the decision maker to listen, review, and provide their feedback without any outside interference. Sure, this isn’t as good as presenting to them in person, but it’s sure of a hell a lot better than leaving your good work in the hands of a third party. I was born with a lot of empathy, and I feel for the assistants of the world, but I’ve also been a victim of their incompetence, unwillingness, personal opinions, or worse, politics. Nothing is worse than a third party using your work for political gain. There is a special place in hell for these people filled with paper cuts, 404 pages, and non-stop [Nyan Cat](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jI-kpVh6e1U&feature=iv&src%5Fvid=wZZ7oFKsKzY&annotation%5Fid=annotation%5F920793&ref=brilliantcrank.com), The Cursed Pit Lord of Hell’s Rainbow Room. **Carry On My Wayward Designer** Like sands through the hourglass, so are design presentations without decision makers. In all situations, it’s important to channel empathy for everyone involved. I’ve never had a decision maker bail on a presentation because they thought it was worthless. In fact, that’s why they tried to send someone in their place, in an attempt to try and keep the project going, but not everyone understands how and why this can be a negative against the health of the project. Finding a way to make this work may require a lot of effort, but there’ll be peace when you are done. Decision makers are likely very busy and overbooked so get creative and offer alternative ways to meet them where it’s convenient. Clients, stakeholders, and decision makers are always (well, mostly) appreciative when you work with their schedule. Then you can go home and, knowing you did what it took to get the job done, lay your weary head to rest. When all else fails, and your work will be presented without you, do all that you can to prepare for a review without you. If you did things right, then you’re in good shape to prepare a third-party to walk through the design and follow up with the right questions. Always provide the proper context and constraints for the presentation and don’t you cry no more. A design presentation without a decision maker in attendance sucks, but there are worse hells to suffer on this planet. ### Dear Design Student in 2015 URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/dear-design-student-in-2015/ Last updated: 2024-02-20T00:38:16.000Z [![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/02/1--1-uvun35y1xejxt64xh8w-1.png)](http://adobe.ly/1SwVzqd?ref=brilliantcrank.com) In March of this year, *Dear Design Student* launched to provide advice for designers by designers. A small, diverse group of designers with a broad range of experience and perspectives to a topic that attracts a lot of attention from people who have never designed a thing themselves. *Dear Design Student* is unique and given all that has gone on this year, I am glad we have this publication to help cut through all the bullshit you’ll find elsewhere. It doesn’t seem to matter what retrospectives for 2015 you read, hear, or watch because they all seem to say the same thing, it was a big year. A lot happened, good and bad. As designers, if we’re doing our job right then we are constantly practicing empathy. It is part of who we are. Given the impact of global and national events — from elation to frustration, anger to helplessness — 2015 has been exhausting. You’ll see these feelings reflected in many of the articles published by *Dear Design Student* this year. In the end we are all trying to provide common sense. Sometimes that means trying to write through the frustration of what’s going on in the world and/or the idiocy of what people try to do to our trade. Based upon the stats, I’d say *Dear Design Student* found a few nerves. With that in mind, below are the top ten most recommended articles of 2015. On behalf of the 22 men and women who put this publication together, I thank you for reading, recommending, and carrying on the conversation in 2015\. Thank you for your support, we look forward to publishing even more in the new year. --- [8 Reasons to Turn Down That Startup JobQ: I graduated from school this year and I’ve been looking for my first job. After interviewing around, I finally got a…![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/02/0-0oz4tp8jlfks0vwr.gif)](https://deardesignstudent.com/8-reasons-to-turn-down-that-startup-job-1f82a00ade34?ref=brilliantcrank.com#.of7kkje51) [In Praise of the AK-47A: Fuck no. Fuck him. Fuck the AK-47\. Fuck all guns and the people who design them, but especially fuck Mikhail…![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/02/0-okgyzmnge1izq7vl.jpg)](https://deardesignstudent.com/in-praise-of-the-ak-47-a24cc8a46c13?ref=brilliantcrank.com#.brc6sgh53) [Why is so much of design school a waste of time?Q: My teacher hates everything I make, even though I spend all this time working on it, and gets mad even when I follow…![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/02/0-6wsgoapo9djfygcm.jpg)](https://deardesignstudent.com/why-is-so-much-of-design-school-a-waste-of-time-39ec2a1aa7d5?ref=brilliantcrank.com#.72gpkk6zl) [Dealing With SubjectivityA: We go to Disneyland every summer. (Every designer should, by the way.) But this summer we decided to take my nephew…![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/02/0-uos77d-awmwwzece.png)](https://deardesignstudent.com/i-hate-green-c8617599e2da?ref=brilliantcrank.com#.f7zw3je4z) [Pricing A: I have two young daughters. Charlotte, my one-year-old, is just learning to talk. She repeats everything she hears…![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/02/0-yijsdyijyorlxxi0.png)](https://deardesignstudent.com/pricing-ad00ad5c4b7f?ref=brilliantcrank.com#.dl0chq4a0) [![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/02/1-lxsr1nx0lcxd4wxxnqxrka-jpeg-1.jpg)](http://adobe.ly/1SwVzqd?ref=brilliantcrank.com) [How To Read a Client E-mail Q: I still get anxious whenever I get an e-mail from a client. Especially an e-mail with feedback in it. And the weird…![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/02/0-s5b0h5qs-fn1z0vk.jpg)](https://deardesignstudent.com/how-to-read-a-client-e-mail-ea67e54171a0?ref=brilliantcrank.com#.yghucnuoo) [Stop Adopting Other People’s AnxietyQ: I just got off the phone with a client who sounded really angry. He’s worried about the project we’re working on…![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/02/0-1z-qx3nblki28cwj.jpg)](https://deardesignstudent.com/don-t-adopt-anxiety-6662515d2416?ref=brilliantcrank.com#.kxac7nbke) [Can Design Change the World?Q: I’ll keep it simple: can design change the world? I’ll answer just as simply: Yes. But… But not for the reasons…![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/02/0-i6a9b-qlwb3xy7c3.jpg)](https://deardesignstudent.com/can-design-save-the-world-8d3c1cd0efe7?ref=brilliantcrank.com#.airhoxwjn) [Designers are BoringThere is such a thing as surface-level “how”/”hands” inspiration, certainly. That’s the kind you can look for. You see…![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/02/0-kacypibb-y9g7vvl.jpg)](https://deardesignstudent.com/designers-are-boring-9eba8cdf4346?ref=brilliantcrank.com#.8p1knhdw3) [Why Is a Designer Using Medium?!?A: That’s a great question. And probably one of our most-asked questions. I’ll give you the short answer first: because…![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/02/0-pht70zm-dxvmw0te.jpg)](https://deardesignstudent.com/why-is-a-designer-using-medium-5749604edcc?ref=brilliantcrank.com#.9qg5wxpp8) --- [*Greg Storey*](https://www.linkedin.com/in/brilliantcrank?ref=brilliantcrank.com) *is a designer, writer, and occasional speaker currently serving as Design Practice Lead for* [*IBM Design*](http://ibm.com/design?ref=brilliantcrank.com)*. He can be found around the cyberspace as* [*“Brilliantcrank”*](http://twitter.com/brilliantcrank?ref=brilliantcrank.com) *and is infamous for* [*Airbag Industries*](http://www.airbagindustries.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com)*.* [![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/02/1-weybwkffigqyknwun2voua-jpeg-1.jpg)](http://adobe.ly/1SwVzqd?ref=brilliantcrank.com) ### A comprehensive, well considered list of things designers simply can’t do. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/list-of-things-designers-simply-cant-do/ Last updated: 2024-06-30T16:52:59.000Z A weird question came across the [*Dear Design Student*](http://deardesignstudent.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) desk recently: “What are some things (if any) that designers are incapable of?” My immediate reaction was, “nothing?!” Why would anyone seek to define limitations to someone’s capabilities? I grew up in a community that assumed anyone from fifty miles out was better, smarter, and more successful. That point-of-view sucks and it took me decades to understand that it’s simply not true. That said, after giving the question more consideration within the context of my experiences as a designer, I uncovered more than a handful of things designers are incapable of doing. **Things Designers Simply Can’t Do, The List** - Designers are incapable of fixing your disaster in a fraction of the time and of the budget that it took to create the problem in the first place. If you want a miracle call the Pope. - Designers are incapable of reading minds. When they present work to you, speak up and provide constructive, useful feedback. Share user and/or sales data that can help inform creative and user experience decisions. In short, be professional and stop playing stupid mind games with your designers. - Designers are incapable of delivering their best work for free. Stop asking designers to waste their time and your’s through the creation of misinformed, misguided comps as a way to help you make a hiring decision. Look for results and recommendations — good designers will have both in spades. - Designers are incapable of doing their job when they are art directed by someone without any design sensibility. [I’m talking to all of the CEOs, Presidents, VPs…anyone who feel they know better.](http://bukk.it/fffu.gif?ref=brilliantcrank.com) Take your misguided OCD malfunction and direct it towards HR. - Designers are incapable of learning if they are not nurtured. Invest in your designers through continuing education opportunities. Start with a modest book budget, time off for related community events, and throw in an annual conference. - Designers are incapable of working well with developers and engineers if they can’t collaborate. Throwing work back and forth over a fence never produces great results. So stop doing it. Designers and developers should work side-by-side (that doesn’t have to mean cheek-to-cheek, there are plenty of ways to work collaboratively remotely). - Designers are incapable of helping to take your company to the “next level” when they are directed to copy what the competition is doing. And, holy hell, stop asking designers to “just do what Apple does.” - Designers are incapable of creating “tomorrow’s future.” I heard that from a client once and it still makes me want to reach through the phone and smack them upside the head. So stupid. Stick to the fundamentals of good design paired with good data, user insights, and creative freedom. - Designers are incapable of being happy with their work when they are micro-managed. Just, stop micro managing. It probably kills babies or something. - Designers are incapable of coming to work excited, energized, and ready to deliver amazing work when they are merely asked to color in wireframes or make whatever engineering cooked up look “good.” - Designers are incapable of growing if they don’t read, write, and share their thoughts with the community. Give your designer time to do these things and require outcomes on a regular basis. - Designers are incapable of saving the world with design. We have a lot of problems and challenges on this planet that are not going to be fixed by an iOS app. Sure, design has a role to play in working towards a better future, but we’re not going to do it alone. *Sorry* FastCompany. Each of these points was written based upon a lot of career experience earned the hard way over the last twenty-plus years. There are a lot of bad expectations out there regarding the design trade. That said, if you treat designers right, they can be capable of a lot. Give them the proper support, a collaborative environment, the freedom to do their job, and then prepare to be pleasantly surprised. ### My small place in a large design company called IBM URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/c-u-p-c-a-k-e/ Last updated: 2025-05-28T20:35:35.000Z “I work at [IBM Design](http://www.ibm.com/design?ref=brilliantcrank.com) here in Austin.” For many people outside the program, that statement doesn’t do much to explain what I do, what IBM Design is and what it’s trying to do. Even after I explain what I do exactly, I still get puzzled looks. This is understandable. After six months, IBM is still an enigma to me (it’s a Fortune 25 company that employs four-hundred thousand people), but I’m learning. A lot of people I talk to think the company still makes Thinkpads and that I’m required to wear a suit to work every day. Neither of these things is true and haven’t been for some time. This morning, the New York Times published a well-rounded article on the IBM Design program in Austin. The piece provides a full overview, from humble beginnings to a group that is tasked with helping IBM do what it has done time-and-time again: Evolve. A major theme to the story, and where my own comes into play, is that [for IBM to evolve with the times we have to hire designers at an incredible scale.](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/15/business/ibms-design-centered-strategy-to-set-free-the-squares.html?%5Fr=0&ref=brilliantcrank.com) > IBM has hired several hundred designers, about two-thirds of them freshly minted college graduates and a third experienced designers. By the end of this year, IBM plans to have 1,100 designers working throughout the company, on the way to a target total of 1,500\. They are embedded in IBM product teams and work alongside customers in the field or at one of 24 design studios around the world. > The recruiting pitch made by Mr. Gilbert and his colleagues has been essentially twofold: First, you can make a difference in socially important fields because IBM’s technology plays a crucial role in health care, energy, transportation, water and even agriculture. Second, you can be part of a groundbreaking effort to apply design thinking in business. The wonderful part of my job is that I get to work with the new hires in their first three months and lead them through a six-week-long project that has a direct impact on a product or line of business. To date, I have led six teams of six-to-seven designers and front-end developers—forty people total. And that’s just my teams, there are several others. We have created everything from re-envisioned service designs to prototypes for brand new mobile experiences. The work is real, not theoretical. The teams are tasked with a tremendous amount of research, prototyping, and user testing all the while learning how to interact with IBM executives and presenting their work for discussion and critique. This is the type of work that would make the average new employee fold, give up, but not these young men and women. Oh, if I could share their portfolios with you! I’ll just say that the recruiting department does an amazing job finding and hiring a lot of very intelligent, smart, and gifted designers to the program. And it is my pleasure to be a part of their first projects at the forefront of their career. Tomorrow begins the last week of the current cohort. On Thursday, my three teams will present the culmination of their work to executives. It’s nerve-racking and exhilarating. Come Friday, “my” designers will move on to their assigned business unit, the 7th floor will go quiet, and I will begin preparing for the next waves of new designers in 2016. ### Never Write a Contract using Cut-and-Paste. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/never-write-a-contract-using-cut-and-paste/ Last updated: 2024-02-20T00:38:17.000Z [![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/02/1--1-uvun35y1xejxt64xh8w-2.png)](http://adobe.ly/1SwVzqd?ref=brilliantcrank.com) **Q: I’m from the \[country name\] and I’m having a hard time drafting a contract. Most of the resources on the web only take into account US law. How do I go about drafting a decent contract without paying exorbitant amounts of money for a lawyer?** *A: You don’t. Just as you should not run a studio without business and indemnity insurance, I don’t recommend self-insurance when it comes to contracts. This applies to every designer on the planet.* --- Writing contracts is not an activity to be taken lightly. Consider your time working with a lawyer as a smart and necessary investment for you and your business. No matter if it’s just you working nights and weekends or if you have employees and contractors (which requires another, different, type of contract), find a good lawyer and invest in your future. [![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/02/1-lxsr1nx0lcxd4wxxnqxrka-jpeg-2.jpg)](http://adobe.ly/1SwVzqd?ref=brilliantcrank.com) There is way, way too much to risk with writing a contract by yourself without review by a practicing lawyer. I suggest gathering the resources on contracts that you have found and working with a lawyer to create the right document that protects you within your country’s legal system. Laws are different between countries, provinces, states, counties, municipalities, cities, etc. Look for a lawyer or law firm that has expertise in copyright and intellectual property. Just as I would not hire a designer to hang drywall, I would not pay a dime to a law firm that specializes in real estate law to write a contract for a digital services firm, because they likely do not know enough about that area of law. Don’t discount how important this is because your future may rely on your lawyer’s fundamental understanding of your business and the related legal areas. And once you’ve found a good lawyer, do what you can to create a great, long-standing relationship. Finally, let’s talk about the cost because this should not be an issue. How many times do we lament about client’s who don’t want to pay for our own services? Whether it’s being asked for no-spec work or reducing rates, how is paying for legal services any different? You get what you pay for whether it’s cheap legal help or trying to get something for nothing. In either case the potential consequences — bad contracts or a bad reputation — aren’t worth it. You’re a designer, be a good member of the community by investing in your future and theirs. You may never find yourself on the wrong side of a lawsuit (hooray!), but it’s not worth the risk relying on a piecemeal contract that you put together by yourself. Don’t be cheap, find a good lawyer who understands the digital realm and cover your ass. A good Pro-forma contract will take a lawyer a few hours at most, an expense you can easily amortize over a handful of projects. Seek to establish a new business relationship with a good law firm, it’s money and time well-spent. --- [*Greg Storey*](https://www.linkedin.com/in/brilliantcrank?ref=brilliantcrank.com) *is a designer, writer, and occasional speaker currently serving as Design Practice Lead for* [*IBM Design*](http://ibm.com/design?ref=brilliantcrank.com)*. He can be found around the cyberspace as* [*“Brilliantcrank”*](http://twitter.com/brilliantcrank?ref=brilliantcrank.com) *and is infamous for* [*Airbag Industries*](http://www.airbagindustries.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com)*.* [![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/02/1-weybwkffigqyknwun2voua-jpeg-2.jpg)](http://adobe.ly/1SwVzqd?ref=brilliantcrank.com) ### Stay on Target: No One Forgets a Designer Who Quits URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/stay-on-target/ Last updated: 2024-02-20T00:38:18.000Z [![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/02/1--1-uvun35y1xejxt64xh8w-3.png)](http://adobe.ly/1SwVzqd?ref=brilliantcrank.com) **Q: While consulting, have you become so interested in a project, that at a point, you wanted to ignore the client and make it your own thing?** *A: After reading this question multiple times, I still found two potential meanings. Rather than impose my interpretation, I’ll attempt to answer both variants.* --- #### **Have I ever become so interested in a side project that I wanted to ignore my client work?** Yes, and in ignoring my client work, I did nothing but ruin my reputation and that of my fellow designers. It’s my experience, both personally and through observation, that designers sometimes have difficulty with focus. Often, in our pursuit to overthink a solution, we can procrastinate which leads to tinkering and getting sidetracked. These pursuits can to get in the way of the work that pays the bills. Before too long you look at your watch and realize you’re way behind in delivering work to your client, and then [your professional relationship begins the downward, toxic spiral.](https://deardesignstudent.com/q-i-don-t-think-my-client-likes-me-anymore-what-did-i-do-wrong-e5b4a0fc29fe?ref=brilliantcrank.com#.p5q2bfszi) I’ve seen this scenario play out so many times that I can almost guarantee every consultant will go through this at some point. So, let’s talk about how to deal with it, because these divergent paths can sometimes lead to interesting, productive, and lucrative outcomes. The important thing to consider is how to go after these opportunities and inspirations without destroying your consultancy and your reputation. [![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/02/1-lxsr1nx0lcxd4wxxnqxrka-jpeg-3.jpg)](http://adobe.ly/1SwVzqd?ref=brilliantcrank.com) The bottom line is that no matter what your financial situation is, if you have signed a contract with a client, you must place your priority on your contractual obligations. Getting distracted has nothing to do with the potential opportunity or your level of excitement/boredom and everything to do with your integrity, honor and respect. For without these qualities, your consultancy is worth zilch. Everyone should tinker — be curious and explore—but never to the extent that it puts your character and business in jeopardy. Spend X amount of time per week on the work that covers your obligations and Y amount of time to pursue your personal interests. I have known designers who almost killed their company and their reputation by spending too much time sidetracked on their projects. And I know a few who wrecked an amazing future by obsessing about something other than the work in front of them (both as a freelancer and working in-house). If you’re in the middle of this conundrum now, then drop the personal project and get your client work back on track. Map out a daily or weekly plan for how you make good on your contracts. Destroying a consultancy or company by dropping the ball over and over again is one thing, but ruining your reputation and integrity…that’s almost impossible to get back. --- #### **Have I ever become so enamored with a client’s idea that I wanted to make it my own?** As they say in Minnesota, “Uf-da.” If you haven’t seen the movie Social Network, don’t, it’s a waste of time. However, the plot, based on real events, is applicable here. The premise is that Mark Zuckerberg (CEO of Facebook) was hired as a contractor to build a social network for the client, twin Olympic athletes with a neat idea. Mark took their money and then turned his client’s project into his product. The story goes that Mark’s client project inspired a much more ambitious outcome, so much so that he went off contract and turned it into something beyond the original scope or work. All of this and more resulted in a lot of money exchanged, massive lawsuits, and a lame movie. While Zuckerberg managed to get his way out of many lawsuits and threats, don’t think you can get away with it. Breaking a contract, especially in these circumstances, can lead to many miles of bad road. Proceed at your own risk and consider that it’s not just money that might be at stake, but your integrity and reputation. Making more money is easy, but repairing a damaged reputation can take a lifetime. There is an alternative to going rogue: join forces with your client. Combine your ambition and passion with them, not against them. I know a few people who became so enamored with their client’s ideas that they wanted to dive deeper, go “all-in,” if you will. Instead of ignoring the client, they chose a better path by proposing a way to move forward through a different type of relationship and under different terms. This new relationship, as a partner, not a vendor, provided a mutually beneficial way forward (win, win). --- #### No matter the situation, designers need to fulfill their obligations and be respectful of their client relationships Side projects are fun and useful, but not to the point of becoming a distraction to your responsibilities. Being a successful contractor requires discipline that won’t ruin your creativity or free-will. For years, I avoided using calendars and to-do lists, because I feared that once I incorporated more discipline, I’d lose the ability to day-dream and tinker, but that’s not the case. That may sound counter-intuitive, but creativity can happen outside of serendipity, it just requires the right preparation and practice. Responsibility for your client relationships is vital to your growth and success as a designer. It’s not unusual for a client’s project to inspire new ideas and fuel a passion larger than the scope-of-work, but that doesn’t excuse you from your obligations. Ideas aren’t enough to assure success — especially the type that might help you get out of a lawsuit. Be smart and find ways to turn your passion into a win, win. One last point: No matter the scenario when you join a project — whether as a contractor, member of a studio, or in-house — you need to stay until the work is complete. Jumping ship, before the end of the gig, is one of the worst things you can do for your career. Circumstances be damned; no one forgets a designer who quits, and I can assure you, everyone you leave behind won’t be quiet about it. Always fulfill your obligations. Whatever you do, don’t be the next wanna-be professional designer who adds another chapter to the book, “We’ve Been Burned by Designers.” That tome is too big as it is. --- [*Greg Storey*](https://www.linkedin.com/in/brilliantcrank?ref=brilliantcrank.com) *is a designer, writer, and occasional speaker currently serving as Design Practice Lead for* [*IBM Design*](http://ibm.com/design?ref=brilliantcrank.com)*. He can be found around the cyberspace as* [*“Brilliantcrank”*](http://twitter.com/brilliantcrank?ref=brilliantcrank.com) *and is infamous for* [*Airbag Industries*](http://www.airbagindustries.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com)*.* [![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/02/1-weybwkffigqyknwun2voua-jpeg-3.jpg)](http://adobe.ly/1SwVzqd?ref=brilliantcrank.com) ### 100% Clever, 0% Hired URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/100-clever-0-hired/ Last updated: 2025-05-11T19:32:39.000Z *Q: So I have started seeing this in a lot in designer portfolios and resumes recently. A candidate will have a title that says “My Skills”, and below are bar graphs that are in percentages. What do the percentages mean? If you say Photoshop: 85%, does that mean you know 85% of all there is to know about Photoshop? Is this even a good way to represent this? I’m afraid it makes no sense to me.* --- “Photoshop: 85%,” this makes 0% sense to me which is to say, none-at-all. And since when in the hell is Photoshop a skill? In the last 25 years, I have personally reviewed hundreds of applications, resumes, and portfolios. As I recall, the “percentages” started appearing around the time Nicolas Felton started to publish [annual reports](http://feltron.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) with visualized data on all facets of his life in 2004\. A year or two later young persons, fresh out of school, started trying to make their resumes stand out by visualizing their data, even when it meant making things up. There are two problems with this. First, trying to communicate something as a percentage of 100 without any context. Second, mistaking tools with skills — likely to fill in for a lack of experience (that’s how it comes across to an employer). For the sake of discussion, let’s take on the first problem and try to apply a percentage of knowledge to something broader: walking. I don’t know exactly when I started to walk upright, but I’ll take a stab and say that I have 43 years of experience in walking. That’s a lot of time on two feet, but that doesn’t mean I know everything about walking. For instance, I have no experience in speed walking. Walking up hills is an activity I try to avoid. Growing up in Alaska, I spent a lot of time walking in snow, but not [all types of snow.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Types%5Fof%5Fsnow?ref=brilliantcrank.com) I’ve spent time on a treadmill, but not enough that I can coach someone to improve their level of competency. I could go on. So where does that leave me in communicating my experience in walking as a percentage of the total? Nowhere. This is exactly where you get when trying to enumerate the fractional knowledge of a skill. Even with my decades of experience, don’t take my word for it. As soon as I came across this question, I took this problem to the recruiting team at [IBM Design.](http://www.ibm.com/design?ref=brilliantcrank.com) This group evaluates thousands of applications, resumes, and portfolios each month. I asked what they thought about resumes that tried to convey experience as percentages, and I got gnarled, annoyed, confused, faces. “I hate that,” said one member of the team, “because I have no idea what it means.” Knowing their distaste for resume visualization, I inquired what format they preferred, and they replied with the tried and true triad of “beginner, intermediate, or expert.” You may think this boring, but percentages are simply not the best way for anyone to report their skill level. Looking for clear guidelines, I headed to good ole Monster, which has processed millions of applications. Here are their [guidelines for rating skill levels:](http://career-advice.monster.com/resumes-cover-letters/resume-writing-tips/resume-skills-section/article.aspx?ref=brilliantcrank.com) > Beginner: A novice understanding of the skill. You have exposure to the skill and understand its basic concepts but lack experience. > Intermediate: Between a beginner and an expert. You have experience with and can carry out the skill but don’t understand its advanced concepts. > Expert: A highly developed skill level. You have solid experience and training with the skill and understand advanced concepts. You demonstrate proficiency and superior skill level. In an era of non-stop data visualization, it’s easy for designers to get caught up in trying to design everything, but it only works in the context of what needs to be communicated and how it needs to be conveyed. Otherwise, you’ll end up being [this guy](http://www.businessinsider.com/coolest-resumes-2011-7?ref=brilliantcrank.com#this-person-made-his-rsum-into-a-missing-persons-milk-carton-3) and that’s no bueno. Let’s move on to listing Photoshop as a skill. Yucky — don’t do it. Stating that you are an expert in Photoshop doesn’t tell me anything about your skill as a designer. It only tells me that you know how the application works, and knowing tools does not make you a designer. Here’s more practical knowledge from Monster: > Job-related and transferable skills are the most desirable to list on your resume. For each skill, indicate your skill level and years of experience. The people who hire designers want to understand what you know how to do, your level of competency, and how long you’ve been doing it. How well can you select and set type? Can you design for email and for how long? What is your level of competency in editorial design? There are many straightforward ways to promote skill levels, and they are fundamentally more important than reading your knowledge of applications. Warning: Trying to be clever with “design” will only get in the way of your objectives. Whether applying for a job or delivering client work, apply design only when and where it’s appropriate. When applying for work there are better ways to stand out from the pack like solid typesetting, a well-written cover letter, and demonstrating that you can use design when and where it’s needed. Remember that expressing an idea in words *is* a vital core design skill. And check your spelling and grammar, because bad writing leads to deleted resumes 100% of the time, every time. ### One frosty morning at Burns Tobacconist. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/burns-tobacconist/ Last updated: 2025-01-25T23:51:42.000Z “Are you a movie star?” he asked without waiting for an answer, “You’re a star, I know it.” That is the greeting I received walking into Burns Tobacconist in downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee. We arrived at 11AM as the store was preparing for afternoon customers. A clerk tended to some bookkeeping while another restocked inventory. In the back corner stood a large man, next to his shoe shine stand, seemingly eager for conversation. It was a little early to shop for a cigar, but we were there to get a photograph — everything else that was about to happen was a bonus round. As we asked for permission to take photos in the store, the man in the back continued to bellow, “You’re a star, I know it! Go on, get your cigar, and come see me.” I was more than happy to oblige. After a quick review of the inventory, I purchased an [Oliva Serie V Double Torro.](http://www.olivacigar.com/serie%5Fv%5Foliva%5Fcigar.aspx?ref=brilliantcrank.com) Cut and torched, I took a few good draws and headed straight for the stand. Sherman put his newspaper down and prepped the stand for service. I climbed, sat down, took a quick puff, and he immediately went to work. While he cleaned the shoes, I tried to tell the man that I was not a star, but it’s not clear that he understood or cared. Though I doubt many people walk into the shop with a photographer in tow, my guess is that he treats everyone with the same positive gusto — a constant salesman. Through the shine, Sherman gave me his take on life, especially pertaining to the pursuit of dating women. “The first thing women do is look at your shoes — this is what I try to tell these men (motioning around the office buildings surrounding us) — if you don’t take care of your shoes; women ain’t interested.” He continued, “When you go to the church picnic, the first thing they look at is your shoes. And if they like your shoes, next thing they ask is what kind of car you drive. And if they like your car, next they ask what you got in your pocket. And if you say, I have money in my pocket, then they say, okay, I’ll let you take me out for a chicken and steak dinner.” These tidbits of wisdom were offered several times, in different configurations. It was clear to me that three things mattered the most in Sherman’s world: well-shined shoes, women, and chicken and steak dinners (in that order). As he preached, Sherman repeated a process which included polishing, buffing with a rag, buffing with a machine, more polishing, drying with heat, and more buffing. He did these things three times. Meanwhile, Chloe took photos from every angle possible, and I enjoyed every bit of the Oliva. This scene went on for twenty minutes. I wasn’t a star when I walked into the shop, but I was starting to feel like one. Unfortunately, the shoe shine came to an end. Sherman rolled my pant cuffs down and put things away. Chloe packed her camera. My time in the smoky limelight finished. We came into the store to find a final backdrop for a photoshoot, but got a lot more. Unintentionally, my world had grown richer; I made a new acquaintance, and — yegods! — my loafers looked better than new. I was ready for my chicken and steak dinner. *You can see the photo, and read my interview, in the* [*May 2015 issue*](http://www.creativebloq.com/netmag/issue-266-31514501?ref=brilliantcrank.com) *(the “Money Issue”) of Net magazine.* ### Despite the level of their success, everyone suffers through self-doubt from time-to-time. URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/it-s-comforting-to-know-that-despite-the-level-of-success-everyone-suffers-through-self-doubt-from/ Last updated: 2015-07-18T23:53:09.000Z Recently I caught a few episodes of Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. If you haven’t seen it yet, the show is just as the title says, comedians talking about their profession and life while drinking coffee and driving around (in amazing vehicles). Last season ended with a two-part episode featuring [Jerry Seinfeld and Jimmy Fallon.](http://comediansincarsgettingcoffee.com/jimmy-fallon-the-unsinkable-legend-part-2?ref=brilliantcrank.com) While funny throughout, there was this exchange that caught my attention: --- **Seinfeld:** I opened my eyes this morning and I thought, I can’t do this, I can’t do a show. Do you ever wake up and think, I can’t get in front of these people? **Fallon:** Always. Yeah, yeah. **Seinfeld:** How close to the curtains opening and, you walking out, have you ever said to yourself, I don’t think I can do this. **Fallon:** Right up until the curtain opens. **Seinfeld:** But, do you ever just feel like, I don’t belong out there. **Fallon:** I think once they are open…this is exactly where I should be. Seinfeld: Once you walk out. When the light hits you, yes? **Fallon:** Yeah. **Seinfeld:** But sometimes, backstage, I think I don’t know why I even picked this business. I don’t have what these people want to see. They want to see a funny guy, *and that’s not me*. Given their success and how long they have been in business it seems unfathomable that Jimmy and Jerry have these thoughts, but they’re human, so it makes sense. Anyone who steps forward and takes a risk, at some point, will feel they are in the wrong place — It’s just a matter of time. Continue to take risks and the feelings are bound to return. I have had these feelings of self-doubt several times in the last twenty years. Moments when I felt I had no business being where I was. Usually around times when I dared to take a leap into the unknown. It’s comforting to know that despite the level of success, everyone suffers through self-doubt from time-to-time. This is all a good reminder that as long as I keep pushing myself, my job title may change, but the role will remain the same: [Imposter.](http://2013.dareconf.com/videos/mcgrane?ref=brilliantcrank.com) ### The Future of the Web Design Agency in the United States URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/the-future-of-the-digital-design-agency-in-the-united-states/ Last updated: 2015-01-26T15:20:21.000Z *Last week I joined my friend and peer Anthony Armendariz on his studio’s podcast called,* [*“Hustle.”*](http://funsize.co/hustle?ref=brilliantcrank.com) *For months we wanted to record a session on the future of the design agency. Wouldn't you know it, the day we scheduled to talk, the partners of Teehan + Lax announced they closed their studio to work for Facebook. Still reeling in shock, we hit the record button. This article is a follow-up to episode* [*Number 13.*](http://funsize.co/hustle/episode-13-the-future-of-the-design-agency-with-greg-storey?ref=brilliantcrank.com)Design, as a service type, accounted for roughly 25% of services provided, or roughly $5 billion in revenue last year. No matter how you dice up the numbers, that’s a lot of Adobe subscriptions and opportunity. #### **Winter is Coming** On their website IBISWorld claims that there are “no companies with a dominant market share,” yet [Sapient](http://www.sapient.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), for example — a well known player in the digital space — [posted $1.305bn revenue in 2013](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapient%5FCorporation?ref=brilliantcrank.com#cite%5Fnote-10K-1). It’s not clear how the report’s author arrived at that conclusion. That said, there are approximately 125,000 “web design” related businesses in the United States with more than 222,000 employees. An overwhelming majority of “web design” businesses employ less than 10 people. The number of “web design” companies is expected to grow at an average rate of 6% between 2014 and 2018\. The number of companies is expected to grow at a faster pace than revenue than in the previous ten years. From 2004 to 2014 revenue grew at an average rate of 2% higher than the rate of businesses. And you can expect competition from foreign markets to increase in the near future. None of this should be a surprise to anyone. Part of what makes our industry so attractive and potentially lucrative is the relatively low barrier to entry versus other business types. As more web design businesses spring up (in addition to those whom specialize in native apps) specialization and differentiation will be a key factor to longevity. So, what can we conclude from this data? It’s clear that the design agency, client services, (whatever you want to call it), is far from dead or dying, *but* it is evolving quickly. #### Do Great Work, Repeat Back in 1999 I had to convince a board room full of television minded executives that the Internet was not a fad. It wasn't until [AOL bought Time Warner](http://news.cnet.com/2100-1023-235400.html?ref=brilliantcrank.com) a year later that they finally listened in sullen disbelief. In 2008 I had to walk a procurement officer through a proposal to design and develop a website. The document may as well have been written in Cyrillic because that’s about how little the person understood our vocation. Ten years later our world is very different. Clients are reading our books, going to our conferences, and listening to our podcasts. This is a fantastic development, but there are ramifications on how studios conduct business. The client is getting smarter and therefore so are their expectations. As part of their [*Interactive Design Agency Overview 201*](https://www.forrester.com/Interactive+Design+Agency+Overview+2014/fulltext/-/E-RES112142?ref=brilliantcrank.com)*4*, Forrester Research published a short set of recommendations for persons who hire creative services. In short they recommend: - Conduct annual reviews of the digital agency for their industry insights, the agency road map, and evaluate the evolution of their capabilities and processes. - Take agencies out for a “test drive” with a small project, before considering them to pitch larger projects. - Look for a cultural fit just as closely as they do for capabilities to help reduce failures during the relationship. If you can land a big gig and the culture is a perfect fit, good for you, but be prepared to have to work for the next milestone or two-week sprint. #### **Be Excellent To Each Other** Forrester’s report also hinted that a studio’s future success will hinge on their ability to work well with others. I wouldn't be surprised if this thought landed in their set of recommendations next year. Do you remember the [white-hot mess that was a brand new Target.com in 2011?](http://adage.com/article/news/target-faces-hurdles-site/230188/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) Or how about the [public fiasco and Teamwork posterchild](http://time.com/10228/obamas-trauma-team/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) known as Healthcare.gov? Yeah, that was amazing. As more and more businesses spring up and the need for differentiation drives specialization, expect to be asked to partner with another agency. As history has shown, a successful partnership does not come easily and requires practice. Militaries around the world get together to conduct exercises so that they can find out where the problems are *before* their services are needed for real. Client service businesses should look for opportunities to buddy up and tackle a problem or a project together. Work with your peers. Rehearse working together. Create situations that require communications between your teams and mash your cultures together. This can be something as simple as going to an event together, inviting them to your team’s Slack, or take a Friday afternoon to tackle a design exercise. Doing so will help you to discover areas within your own practice that might need improvement. Assess where the there are problems and build upon the experience. #### **Run, Lola, Run** At the aforementioned Owner Camp retreats, I learned that a growing number of design shops are selling their services in blocks of time: anywhere from 20 hours to two weeks. This idea isn't new, design studio 31[Three](http://31three.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) has been doing this for more than ten years, but the practice is becoming more and more commonplace. Call it what you want but the “sprint” is a form of retainer or subscription. The difference is now, the marketplace seems to prefer this type of transaction. It’s more compatible with in-house technology teams, easier to buy, and makes it possible to conduct a trial run before committing to a longer engagement. #### **Pay Attention to the Marketplace** According to [a survey published by E-Consultancy in 201](https://econsultancy.com/reports/quarterly-digital-intelligence-briefing-2014-digital-trends/?ref=brilliantcrank.com)4, the buyers of “web design” services are primarily focused on the customer experience. Both B2B and B2C companies continue to search for ways to “offer a distinct and original voice.” The same companies were asked to rank their digital spend priorities for the year. The top five were (in order): 1. Content marketing 2. Social engagement 3. Mobile optimization 4. Personalization 5. Conversion No type of “design” was called out specifically, but it’s safe to assume that some amount of creative work is required to execute these priorities to a successful outcome- especially mobile optimization, which relates to the client’s question of “whether they should go down the ‘responsive’ route or not.” When faced with market priorities like this, stop selling “responsive design” and start selling “engagement design,” or “conversion design.” And find partners who can augment the skill sets necessary to provide what clients want. Market demands are always evolving, but sometimes in title alone. Unfortunately our industry has a social popularity driven desire to come up with new names for the old things. I’m not an advocate for chasing the new, but if clients are looking for UX and you're insistent upon selling IA, then be prepared to lose opportunities. #### We’re Not Dead Yet [The world still needs people to design things powered by HTML and CSS.](http://digiday.com/publishers/5-charts-explain-apps-vs-mobile-web-battle/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) It still needs web designers, and a lot of them. The design agency is far from dead and it will live long. However, more and more professionals are joining the industry at faster pace than we’ve seen before. The increase in businesses will likely increase volatility and profit margins will decrease, but there is still a nice living to be had as data from the IBISWorld report indicates. Clients may not always seek design services specifically, but what they are looking for still requires good design to succeed. Businesses don’t have to continually re-invent themselves, but, perhaps change the semantics of what they offer. Competitive businesses will also seek partnerships with other studios. Not only to help augment their skill sets but potentially make the studio more attractive to the marketplace. As we contemplate the future of our industry it’s important to consider that it is still very much in it’s infancy. We only need to look at other industries to see that consultants and client service providers are a fixture in every vertical. Businesses will come and go, but even when the mighty have fallen don’t think for one minute that the game is over. It’s the perfect opportunity to pounce. --- *Written by* [*Greg Storey*](http://linkedin.com/in/brilliantcrank/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) *with help from* [*Brandon Wentland*](https://www.linkedin.com/pub/brandon-wentland/15/56/694?ref=brilliantcrank.com) *and* [*Carl Smith*](https://www.linkedin.com/in/ngenworks?ref=brilliantcrank.com) ### We Are Losing the History of Web Design URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/we-are-losing-the-history-of-web-design/ Last updated: 2024-02-20T00:38:19.000Z --- We need a web design museum. We need to start collecting and gathering artifacts (physical and digital), stories, documents, whatever we can get our hands on, to preserve the history of web design. From the launch of the [World Wide Web](http://www.webat25.org/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) to [Netscape 1.1](https://tidbits.com/article/1498?ref=brilliantcrank.com) to the adoption of web standards which enabled Web 2.0, Responsive Web Design and the multi-device world that we live in today. For too long we have relied upon a service that “archives” other websites but it’s not enough. The archives are tragically incomplete and lack the means to provide the full experience of what used to be. Archive.org does not adequately preserve enough information to serve as a lasting account of the our work. We can not rely on large, multi-billion dollar companies to do this for us. Nor can we depend upon individuals to properly archive PSDs, HTML, their work, which helped to change the world. We have already lost too much. There are so many wonderful sites from 1994-2004 that have disappeared. All that is left are domains that have been turned into Go-Daddy-SEO-Landing-Page-clutter because the old site had a Google Page Rank higher than the pulse of a nursing home. I hate to think about how many amazing pre-Web 2.0 sites that are gone for good because a service shut down, ad revenue dwindled, or there was a lack of time or interest or both. Somewhere in [Christopher Schmitt’s](http://christopherschmitt.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) home is a [Zip disk](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zip%5Fdrive?ref=brilliantcrank.com) with a complete backup of [*High Five*](https://web.archive.org/web/19961221215549/http://highfive.com/), one of the first sites dedicated to the review and critique of web design. I know he’s looked up and down for that disk but it might be gone forever and with it, an important piece of our professions’ history and heritage. ![](https://brilliantcrank.com/content/images/2024/02/1-rwhyqnvc-eegin237iz-5a.gif) The work Studio Archetype did on the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics website has to be my favorite of all time. I have no idea who designed it, who developed it, all I have are a [series of screenshots.](http://www.airbaginternational.com/nagano?ref=brilliantcrank.com) We need a museum! An institution that can help preserve first-hand accounts of how things were done, what went down in the past. The working files, important emails, formative essays, and forgotten blog posts. We need to preserve the story of how web design began and how it has evolved to today. In 1996 I purchased my first web design book, [*Designing Web Graphics*](http://www.amazon.com/Designing-Graphics-Edition-Linda-Weinman/dp/1562055321/ref=pd%5Fsim%5Fsbs%5Fb%5F3?ie=UTF8&refRID=109AD1YM08YJDEEP9N0J&ref=brilliantcrank.com)by Lynda Weinman. Since then, I have amassed a small library of web design books. Looking through the collection you can see how web design changed with larger screen resolutions, new versions of HTML, and eventually different devices. While I love to look through that collection, it only provides glimpses of the design, not a complete representation of the experience. We shouldn’t settle for this and certainly not for anything less. --- *“We Need a Web Design Museum” was originally published as “Vogel” in* [*Airbag International*](http://www.airbagindustries.com/archives/airbag/vogel.php?ref=brilliantcrank.com) *on April 8, 2014.* ### And They All Look Just the Same URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/and-they-all-look-just-the-same/ Last updated: 2014-04-28T00:14:35.000Z I borrowed the title from [Malvina Reynolds’](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malvina%5FReynolds?ref=brilliantcrank.com) song, “Little Boxes.”No doubt, many of you have heard the lyrics, though sung by a [different artist](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjbV9z50gPM&ref=brilliantcrank.com) than the original songwriter. Malvina wrote the song to protest the mass conformity of home development taking place in a suburb of San Francisco in the early 1960s. If you have ever driven through the area, you can still see all the ticky-tacky, little boxes dotting the hillsides and throughout the area. Though Daly City provided the inspiration for the song, Suburbs of Sameness are prevalent throughout the country. Today, ticky-tacky seems to have crept into another area of our society: the World Wide Web. Big advances in technology built upon shared standards have allowed web designers to create incredible websites that would have been seen as science fiction 20 years ago. It is amazing what the combination of HTML, CSS, and Javascript can do today. Before his current gig as CEO for Basecamp, Jason Fried was a talented web designer (still is); his client services company 37signals was a smashing success, because of his insightfulness and business acumen. Needless to say, I have high regard for Jason’s opinion and insight into web design. He [recently wrote about redesigning his company’s website](http://www.inc.com/welcome.html?destination=http://www.inc.com/magazine/201404/jason-fried/do-not-overdesign-your-website.html&ref=brilliantcrank.com)and what he’s seeing as a trend that’s not for the better. And not just for designers, but businesses too: > When I look at what’s [hot in Web design](http://www.inc.com/magazine/201307/jennifer-alsever/digg-before-and-after.html?ref=brilliantcrank.com) these days, I’m turned off. It’s all a bit too slick, a little over designed. I’m sick of slick. > Most of these designs can be described like this: First, you see a huge photo with some text over it. Then, as you scroll down, the background slides away and another big photo with more text on it pops up. And so on…. Maybe you’ve seen this style—it’s starting to crop up everywhere. To a designer’s eye, it looks good, and it’s [technically impressive](http://www.inc.com/magazine/201312/ryan-underwood/internet-companies-using-data-for-design.html?ref=brilliantcrank.com), but I’m not sure it says anything meaningful about the companies using it. Worse (for those companies), it’s created a new kind of clutter: Too many companies look the same—all style and not enough substance. Let me reiterate that Jason’s business savvy is keen. Business owners, marketing managers, creative directors, and designers should all consider this statement regarding their own digital properties or the ones they are in care of: > **“Too many companies look the same—all style and not enough substance.”** As our toolset continues to evolve and our technology enables more and more Flash-like experiences, we need to define the best, most straightforward way to reach our customers and our users. Do they want/need long, scrolling narrative with fly-ins, carousels, and quiet video gifs, or are they just looking for the soup of the day? [Dan Cederholm made a really good point about this a year ago](http://simplebits.com/notebook/2013/02/16/food-for-thought/?ref=brilliantcrank.com): > [This is my favorite website](http://nesoupfactorysalem.com/menu-of-the-day/soups-of-the-day/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). I visit it almost every day. It’s not responsive. It’s not optimized for iPhone. It looks blurry on a Retina display. It doesn’t use the latest HTML5/CSS3 framework. It doesn’t have a thoughtful vertical rhythm. The fonts are nothing special. It is neither skeuomorphic nor flat. It doesn’t have its own favicon. It doesn’t have a native app or Twitter or Instagram. It doesn’t use AJAX or SCRUM or node.js or Sinatra. It doesn’t have an API or an RSS feed or VC funding. It hasn’t been featured on a prominent tech blog or won an award. > It tells me the soups of the day. That’s web design.” Dan’s post reminds me of the website for [Berkshire Hathaway](http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), one of the most successful capital management and investment companies in the world. It is also the owner of one of the most outdated-looking sites on the web today. If it wanted to, Berkshire Hathaway could hire or buy any design studio of its choosing to work on nothing but its website fulltime, in perpetuity. It could have done this at any time since 1996 (when its site first appeared), but it doesn’t, because the company is notoriously frugal—and to act otherwise would be out of step for both the business and its customers. Its site, by *design*, is all substance and little, if any, style. And for that reason, it’s wonderful. I would love, love, love if [Happy Cog](http://www.happycog.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) (my design studio) had the opportunity to work with Berkshire Hathaway. We could do a lot to make the site more compatible with all devices, ensure that it meets accessibility requirements, and help update its appearance and usability through better typography (Holy Toledo, would that be cool!), but I would never, not in a million years, ever try to sell the business on modernizing its look simply to keep up with the times. That would be ticky-tacky. While our new post-Internet Explorer 6 world enables an amazing array of browser effects, the one tool we all need is constraint. Though the people we serve—managers, stakeholders, and clients—come to us with parallax envy, we must be mindful of who we are all *really* working for: their customers, the users. Happy Cog founder and chairman [Jeffrey Zeldman](http://www.happycog.com/zeldman?ref=brilliantcrank.com) addressed this problem during his presentation, [Understanding Web Design](http://brianthurston.com/2014/understanding-web-design-jeffrey-zeldman-at-an-event-apart-seattle/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), at [An Event Apart Seattle](http://aneventapart.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) (he’ll be giving this presentation at all the AEA conferences this year; go see it yourself). Jeffrey argues that as part of defining what we do as web designers, we must continue focus on creating experiences for the user, not just on what technology enables us to do: > We don’t design for browsers. We design for people. Layout is always the servant of purpose. We naturally get excited about technology. It’s great to think about what we can do with the new tech. But we don’t make our content accessible to get a gold star, we do it forpeople. To an extent, this subject is not new. At the turn of the century, when content management systems became amazingly affordable and accessible to everyone, we celebrated the democratization of the web. At SXSW in 2002, an entire track of panels was created and branded [Independents Day](http://www.independentsday.org/x%5Fphase/one/pastevents.php?ref=brilliantcrank.com) to celebrate how “.com” had lost, and we, the people, had got some of our counter culture back. (Our founder, with Carole Guevin and Sooz Kaup, was responsible for the concept, the name, and the track.) A few years later, as more sites transitioned to content management systems or were created fresh from a choice of five “designs,” we lamented the demise of our beloved, bohemian World Wide Web. Seemingly overnight, we lost our curiosity toward a blank page in favor of tools that made our sites easy to manage. Before we knew it, [every site looked the same](http://www.airbagindustries.com/archives/airbag/boxes.php?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Then came Responsive Web Design (created by [Ethan Marcotte](http://ethanmarcotte.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) while working at Happy Cog on a design project for the W3C), which moved our medium and our industry forward, but with [similar consequences](http://esbueno.noahstokes.com/post/41140691894/responsive-web-design-leaves-me-wanting?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Now, here we are in a Sass, Github, device-powered world, and the sites we make? They continue to all look the same. Rather than just add to the voices pointing out the problems of mass conformity in web design, I’d like to offer a few closing thoughts: Keep pushing the limits of what we currently know web design to be. As I said earlier, there is a lot of circa-1995 science fiction going on today, and it’s wonderful. So push on what seems like alien technology in 2014, but [not at the expense of the user](http://www.fastcodesign.com/3023690/evidence/snow-fail-do-readers-really-prefer-parallax-web-design?ref=brilliantcrank.com) or the business. Does this mean “wearables”? I don’t know, but no. Please, dear God, no. Don’t let “X Best of Y” linkbait articles on design be your guide. If an article has the number-of-subject-formula for a title, move on. As an industry, we’re never going to really break free of molds if we’re borrowing design patterns and styles from everything that is already out there. Learn how designers, architects, typographers, and composers broke the mold in their day. Study the works of [Helmut Krone](http://adage.com/article/news/helmut-krone-a-genius-a-copywriter-toiled-alongside-legendary-art-director-begs-differ-employing-wit-disarm-audience-turning-a-page-helmut-proved-simply/62928/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), [Olt Aicher](http://www.underconsideration.com/speakup/archives/004931.html?ref=brilliantcrank.com) (read [Otl Aicher](http://books.google.com/books/about/World%5Fas%5FDesign.html?id=pmqlRRdtXkoC&ref=brilliantcrank.com)), [Adrian Frutiger](http://monotypeimaging.com/ProductsServices/TypeDesignerShowcase/AdrianFrutiger/Biography.aspx?ref=brilliantcrank.com), [Jan Tschichold](http://retinart.net/artist-profiles/jan-tschichold/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), [Bruce Mau](http://www.aiga.org/interior.aspx?pageid=44&id=3154&ref=brilliantcrank.com), [Aaron Copland](http://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/episodes/aaron-copland/about-the-composer/475/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), and [Chip Kidd](http://www.aiga.org/medalist-chip-kidd/?ref=brilliantcrank.com). Be open to inspiration, learn from their trials, triumphs, and failures. History repeats itself, and that applies to web design. While we’re learning from others, keep viewing source. [While effects like parallax are now being thrown under the bus](http://www.thewire.com/technology/2013/07/good-bad-and-downright-ugly-parallax-web-design/67234/?ref=brilliantcrank.com), they *have* helped us think differently about how the web can work. And then somehow the loop button got stuck, and we’ve been cranking out the same site over and over again. Don’t borrow code and sit on your ass. Keep trying new things. Share with the community. And move on. As Greg Hoy writes, “[differentiate or die](https://the-pastry-box-project.net/greg-hoy/2014-april-17?ref=brilliantcrank.com).” When I see my business partner and Jason Fried come to similar conclusions on their own, my ears perk up like a cat detecting a bird’s chirp. It does nobody any good to have a web that all looks the same. Be mindful of the user’s needs and business requirements, but for the sake of success, go a different route. Take inspiration from Robert Frost’s poem, “[The Road Not Taken](http://www.bartleby.com/119/1.html?ref=brilliantcrank.com)”: > Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference. Now go, and *make* all the difference. ### Pick Up the Phone URL: https://brilliantcrank.com/pick-up-the-phone/ Last updated: 2024-12-24T19:35:35.000Z “Pick up the phone!” This is my reply of choice—what I say, sometimes yell, when I hear about a co-workers’ failed attempts to communicate through every means except calling those they are trying to reach. I’m not sure when our culture, especially our business culture, came to be so sensitive about using a phone to verbally communicate, but when I say “pick up the phone,” you would think I was trying to arrange an unwanted marriage. It is not uncommon for one of my co-workers to ask if I know the whereabouts of another co-worker. “Did you call them?” I’ll ask. “No,” they’ll reply, “I’ve texted and sent an email, but haven’t gotten a reply.” This happens with enough frequency that I’m close to having motivational posters made for every office. The copy will read: “Need to communicate now? Use your phone’s *Phone* app!” More frequent are the times when a simple email is sent or received and it’s taken out of context and/or the wrong tone is conveyed. To use meteorology as a metaphor, this is the point in communication wherein a tropical storm is upgraded to a hurricane. When these situations are brought to my attention, my response is always the same: “Pick up the phone!” You can do it now or after the hurricane has been upgraded to category 5, but I assure you that at some point both parties will end up on the phone—it’s just a matter of how angry and out of control they’ll be while dialing. That’s one more poster: “Trouble with tone? Call now!” Okay, one more motivational poster idea: “Sometimes words hurt more. Reach out and yell at someone.” I’d love to tell you that our communication problems are behind us, but they still happen now and then, although we now know to get on the phone sooner rather than later. Eventually, one of us will learn to just pick up the phone right from the start. Almost everyone at [Happy Cog](http://www.happycog.com/?ref=brilliantcrank.com) has an iPhone (the others are publicly shunned), and I don’t have to be [Nate Silver](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nate%5FSilver?ref=brilliantcrank.com) to tell you that statistically, *Phone* is one of the least used apps, right after *Compass* and *Stocks*. Now, before you get the impression that I’m using the word count here to build my ivory tower, let me assure you that I am just as guilty. There have been a few times when [Jeffrey Zeldman](http://happycog.com/zeldman?ref=brilliantcrank.com) (founder and one of my business partners at our studio, Happy Cog) and I have turned a simple email exchange into a monster storm of written fury. It’s really awesome when we’re sending replies simultaneously and they pass like warriors hopping through trees in a Kung Fu movie, completely missing their target mid-air. In these circumstances, we’ve ended up on the phone, both somewhat astonished that the other isn’t in a complete vein-pulsing rage, because that’s how we came across to one another via email. Email, Basecamp, instant messages, text messages, and Twitter are all perfectly fine means to communicate with one another, but before you hit that “send” button, consider the situation. Calling your intended recipient may initially take a bit longer than tapping out a message, but in the long run it will save you time and frustration while helping to maintain a healthy blood pressure. Do yourself and others a favor, pick up the phone, [reach out and touch someone.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=munwoUFJeuc&ref=brilliantcrank.com)