Skip to Content

Latest Posts

Too Long; Still Read

Too Long; Still Read

Since its launch in 2008, I've been an avid user of the read-it-later app Instapaper[1]. In 18 years' time, the app has saved some 47k articles, which comes out to around 7.2 articles…

What I Got Wrong about Grief in Video Games

What I Got Wrong about Grief in Video Games

Video games evoke a broad range of emotions. Satisfaction, when you get past a particularly difficult section. Frustration, getting sniped from across the map for the nth time this round. Excitement, from unlocking a new character and envisioning the new…

Under the Courier Helmets

Under the Courier Helmets

This year, our family summer vacation took us to Guangzhou (GZ), my spouse's hometown and the manufacturing capital of the world. Compared to Shenzhen or Hong Kong, it's an older city; most of its growth in…

The Last Two Pixels

The Last Two Pixels

I run dozens of bespoke little Mac apps: scratch notepads, screen resolution tuners, and even a mini-dashboard making use of that little bucktoothed notch atop MacBook screens. A simple but critical utility is an alternate app switcher—the default…

The Wobbly Tower of Financial Abstraction

The Wobbly Tower of Financial Abstraction

As the kids get older, they are increasingly inquisitive about money. The curiosity reveals itself in their questions, which are usually naïve but occasionally insightful. Like: how do credit cards work? Or, why people choose to live where they do,…

The Myth of the Titleless Company

The Myth of the Titleless Company

Engineering Director. Senior Engineer—wait, they're only two years out of school? Three-time CEO… of companies with no employees, hm. Vice President. Are we talking about a big tech company, a tiny startup, or a financial institution?…