1 day agoMember-onlyA Botanist, a Lawyer, and a Blogger Walk Into a ChatGPT.What happens next shouldn’t surprise you at all. — Another day, another “AI can never replace humans” article. Another day, another “AI is just a flash in the pan.” — Chris Brogan, LinkedIn Don’t worry, Chris, this is not one of those articles. …Chatgpt7 min readChatgpt7 min read
3 days agoMember-onlyThe Least Helpful Advice I’ve Been Given About ADHDPlease stop telling me my brain is special — There are two kinds of people when it comes to ADHD. On the one side, there are people like Dr. Russell Barkley, whose research has led him to call ADHD “the diabetes of the psychology”: It’s a chronic disorder that must be managed every day to prevent the secondary harms…Adhd4 min readAdhd4 min read
Jan 20Member-onlyHow I (re)Discovered the Best Tool I Have for Coping with ADHDTurns out it’s been with me my whole life. — I am an idea machine. I laugh when I get the spam emails promising yet another course in “how to be more creative.” How is that a problem? …Adhd5 min readAdhd5 min read
Jan 18Member-onlyFive Reasons I Do Not Want to Write About ADHDThere are only two things you need to know about me to frame what I’m about to tell you: First, I’m fifty-three years old. Second, according to my therapists, I almost certainly have been living with untreated ADHD for as long as I can remember. I write a lot about…Adhd5 min readAdhd5 min read
Nov 22, 2022Member-onlyThis is the Insanely Effective Way Duolingo Manipulated My Emotions into Signing Up for their Pro Level.All that research into user experience? Money well spent. — We read a lot about how effective app companies are at manipulating our monkey brains with techniques designed to pray upon our desire for pattern, recognition, narrative, and other little dopamine triggers. However, I don’t think I’ve ever seen it so elegantly and clearly done as when I lost my…Sales4 min readSales4 min read
Nov 19, 2022Member-onlyI Had the Worst Thing Possible Happen to My Obsidian VaultAnd it turned out to be an easy fix. — Let’s get one thing out of the way first: I use a password management program. I’ve used many, from the posh 1Password to the pragmatic team-based LastPass to the nerdy KeePass before finally settling on the amazingly convenient Apple Keychain. This is only sort of that kind of problem. …Productivity4 min readProductivity4 min read
Nov 17, 2022Member-only5 Ways to Entertain Your Granddaughter When You’re a Tired Grandpa.My middle daughter and her spouse took a vacation to New Zealand recently, giving me and my partner the opportunity to watch our darling one-year old granddaughter for a couple of weeks. We were pretty confident in our abilities to handle a one-year-old; my partner had been a professional nanny…Grandparents5 min readGrandparents5 min read
Nov 16, 2022Member-onlyThree Simple Steps to Start a Zen Meditation PracticeGot a minute? Then you got a practice. — “Surely you can sit still for a minute.” That’s how I was going to start my meditation meetup last week. It was set up by a local networking group, and I was all set to go — but it got “indefinitely rescheduled” (so much nicer than “cancelled”) at the last…Meditation6 min readMeditation6 min read
Aug 10, 2022Member-onlyI Wrote a Thousand-Word Article That Turned Out to Be Completely Wrong.Here’s why it wasn’t a waste of time. — Based on the data, articles about technical subjects do well online. …Life Lessons5 min readLife Lessons5 min read
Aug 5, 2022Member-onlyThis is My 1000th Article on Medium. Here’s what I’ve earned, what I’ve learned, and what I’m doing next.Turns out the secret to good writing was not what I thought it was. — As milestones go, it’s a nice one. The number “1000” has a nice ring to it, and when you apply it to something like “articles I’ve written” it has a certain gravitas. …Writing6 min readWriting6 min read