Category Archives: Art

Art, installations, and creative expression.

Assorted Links

Art, Automattic, WordPress

Sometimes you have to just start with beauty.

Listen to Jon Batiste’s Beethoven Blues, then relish this interview, where he plays and talks about it. I can’t wait for Black Mozart, which is already starting to trickle on Spotify.

Forget all that Ferrari stuff, what Jony Ive did with his LoveFrom Sailing Lantern is divine. I’ve now seen it in person, and it’s the light at the end of the tunnel.

That led me to discover how awesome Balmuda is, and stumble upon the Japanese word Monozukuri, which, according to Google, “(ものづくり) is a foundational Japanese philosophy that translates literally to the art and science of making things” It goes far beyond standard manufacturing or production, representing a deep, holistic mindset that embraces craftsmanship, a relentless pursuit of perfection, pride in one’s labor, and a deep respect for materials.” Look at how Toyota embodies it.

Om has a beautiful and prescient post on The Myth, the Mythos and the Man. It predicted some of this Fable kerfuffle.

Connection

How amazing is tethering on Android? I have a Pixel 10 Pro with a USB-C Ethernet hub plugged into the WAN port of a Unifi Dream Router 5G Max because the Qualcomm chip Unifi uses is two generations behind what’s in the phone. (Hat tip: Jesse.) How amazing are the 10,653 Starlink satellites floating above us, providing broadband from space, from a company I heard might have had an IPO last week.

I reconfigure ports, channels, and flows, as nurses do for arteries and cannulas.

Numbers Don’t Lie, Check The Scoreboard

Not just the Knicks. After a 3-year hiatus of Review Signal benchmarks, the headline was that Pressable dominated every category, and with perfect uptime. However, the real story is about WP.cloud, which is behind the top scores for not just Pressable and WordPress.com but also the Bluehost Cloud plans, beating Oracle Cloud and GCP-based solutions.

WP.cloud is our AWS; Pressable is our demo site. We want every host to offer the fastest and most secure WordPress possible. I’m happy to focus on infrastructure and let others figure out marketing and such foofram.

If you speak Danish and would like a random Radical Speed Month art project detour, check out Joen Asmussens’ Nima.

Automattic has been shipping, shipping, shipping. Start a WP.com site from the terminal with Stripe Projects. Akismet PHP SDK. Fun experiments from Radical Speed Month like Studio Code, Stattic, Workspace Mac App, Cortext, Pressship, Wapuu Studio, Studio Write, Desktop Mode, FlavorPress, Concilium, WooCommerce insights in Claude, and the kaizen of hundreds of behind-the-scenes bug fixes and improvements across our product suite.

Much of this came from those not historically in a product or engineering role, which we’re learning to navigate. I loved how customer-centric many things were. We also made a lot of rookie mistakes, but that’s part of how you learn, and I believe the acceleration of learning will be the biggest legacy of the Radical Speed Month experiment. That, and the fun games on our intranet. 🙂

AI Hangover

I have drunk from the sweet nectar of Waymo, and now find myself calling an Uber so I can talk to 72-year-old Antoly from Azerbaijan, whom I slip a hundred-dollar bill as I step out. I weep when I see talented colleagues speak and write with words not quite their own. I masochistically Pangram everything even though it sometimes mistakes my own hand-crafted prose for slop, or is that actually my soul being sanded down by consuming too many statistically probable next tokens?

The uncanny valley of software, writing, products, and presentations so polished on the surface but built on thin foundations of understanding gives me an almost physical, nauseous reaction. I write this even as I listen to Claude FM music for thinking and building, probably Mythos-injected with subliminal messages to remind me of the hours of audio transcribed in minutes; the programs that would have taken a team months, conjured from my hand in hours; the way I feel like Neo in the Matrix, rapidly downloading new domains of knowledge.

What’s the name for the paradox, like Jevon’s, that AI abundance and polish makes you crave messy, imperfect humanity even more?

It’s good to debate and ruminate, but only in small doses. Like salt in a dish, a little goes a long way. Avoid the existential angst of charting new territory by getting your hands dirty and trying things. You learn the most from failures when you can laugh at yourself. Build one to throw away.

Write Different

Writing is not the most important thing; thinking is. But writing is probably the best way to improve your thinking.

I saw this quote attributed to me and didn’t remember it, so I thought it might be an AI hallucination, but it’s actually something I said! In this early-years podcast with David Perell buried on some corner of his site. Now David’s production quality is stellar, and he gets amazing guests like Maria Popova to discuss their craft. I’ve enjoyed his rise and look forward to following him in the decades to come.

I could edit and link much more, but sometimes you have to just press the Publish button and let go.

Easter Thoughts

Art, Open Source, Politics

You call yourself a Christian engineer, but you haven’t given your life to Open Source? Huh.

What license would Jesus choose? I don’t know if it’s GPL or MIT, but sure as heck it isn’t proprietary.

Letting proprietary code dictate your life is like following a Bible you’re not allowed to read. Beware those who would seek to mediate your relationship to the divine.

Happy Easter, y’all. 🙏🐰🌈

Update: BTW, the above would probably be a lot better if I spoke it, because people would hear a very humorous tone, but that’s not clear from the text! So some have said I come off pretty jerky, and some said blasphemous. Fair! I’m also not saying it’s literally funny, it just would be a little clearer I was trying.

Also, I mean examples as possible metaphors or parallels and not literally, but never say that up front. Also as thought experiment, not literally as judgey. “No” or “it is totally fine” are valid answers to the first question, lots of more possibilities — the “Huh” is meant more out of curiosity than judgment, a conversation starter, not an ender.

Finally the ender “Happy Easter, y’all)” in my Houston culture and context / the South would be pretty clear as actually happy, friendly and playful. But said in a different tone or without that context, the opposite! I have friends in NYC for whom that would read deep sarcasm, a big FU and rude bye. I didn’t think of that!

Anyway, I’ve learned a lot from the feedback, will probably still learn more, and want to deeply appreciate the people who care enough to give it to me and spend time explaining and answering my questions. Thanks, y’all! (Not sarcastic 🙂 🙂 🙂 <— Real smiles and gratitude, not smug.)

I’m not thanking all the Twitter / X trolls, though, and I’m not going to engage any more because the real or perceived trolling makes it almost impossible to change, nor do I harbor any illusions of changing some minds. I’ve devoted hundreds of hours to it in the past, but it didn’t help, and that took a lot of time away from my favorite people and loved ones.

(Also, I think something has changed; in open source and WordPress, we’d fight like crazy, but ended up coming together or having a meal afterward before diving back in. Social media I think has made that rarer and harder.)

(and the new Spring colors are on the site.)

Bay Lights are Back!

Art, Personal

Tonight, a project very near and dear to my heart, the Bay Lights in San Francisco, are officially re-lighting after a three-year hiatus. It’s been an incredible journey getting here. I literally mortgaged my apartment in 2013 to help fund them the first time around, and it’s such an honor to see them relit now with better technology and new programming from the amazing artist Leo Villareal.

Whether you’re looking down at the lights from a penthouse or top office, or up at them from the water along the Embarcadero, this is truly an art project that illuminates the soul of everyone in San Francisco, radically accessible and open.

I’ve heard they’re still raising around 500k to close out the project. You can dedicate a light here for someone special. I’m going to do one to honor my father, who passed in 2016. If you’d like to be part of San Francisco’s boom loop and have a pleasant twinkle of enlightenment every time you see the bridge, I encourage you to donate as well!

If you live somewhere with a view of the bridge, think of it as buying a piece of art you’ll enjoy every night, and also having that warm feeling of being part of making San Francisco more beautiful for everyone.

I’m on the board of Illuminate, which only has two full-time employees, and I’ve never seen another non-profit generate so much public joy and benefit with so few people. They’re also behind the Golden Mile and the live music at the Golden Gate Bandshell.

Please consider making a one-time donation of a light, which is anywhere from $100 to $2,500, or become a recurring member of the Illuminate Tribe, or if you are really part of making San Francisco better consider being an Illuminary at 50k/yr.

Also, thank you to all the WordPress community members who have done so much to support this project and help them fundraise and improve their website. It’s such a great example of the WordPress open source spirit and ethos.

San Francisco is so back! Let’s go!

Illuminate has crossed the funding threshold it needed to actually kick off the project of bringing the Bay Lights back to San Francisco, as Heather Knight writes for the New York Times. The upgraded lights will be visible not just from San Francisco but also in Oakland, Treasure Island, Berkeley… all across the Bay. It’s felt like the lights have been the lumen-physical embodiment of San Francisco’s struggles: sparkling and inspiring at the start, then facing troubles, a trough of darkness, and now hope for something better sparked and on the horizon.

I’d love to get as many citizens and addresses in San Francisco as donors, however small, to round out the last bit of the funding, so that as many people as possible can feel the ownership and pride of making the city better. Back in January when I promoted this last it was on a terrible platform, it’s now been re-done by the GiveWP team to be totally native WordPress and a slick donation experience, easy to do on mobile and with Apple Pay. (Major kudos to Devin Walker there!) Please share the link to your friends, especially ones that see the bridge from their home, for $10 it’s the cheapest pro-social dopamine boost you can have every time you look at the bridge.

Rebirth and Yellow Arrows

Art, Essays, Ideas

My friend Kamal Ravikant has a new book out, Rebirth, which I highly recommend. I had the good fortune to read it a few months ago and the story of the Camino de Santiago touched and inspired me.

Because of the impact of the book, I ended up adopting a few New Year’s intentions long before January 1st — things to ruminate on and keep in mind as the year wound down. The outlook of the world seemed uncertain, and I’m learning to navigate the world without my father.

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Yellow Arrows

The Camino de Santiago is a pilgrimage path in Spain that people have walked since the 9th century AD. The 500 mile path winds through mountains, fields, and sometimes cities, and many pilgrims take a month or more on it. In some ways it is similar to the Kumano Kodo walk I did with Dan and Craig last year.

There are places where the path isn’t exactly clear, either because the trail isn’t strong, there’s been growth, or you might be in a crowded urban area like a city. Over the years pilgrims and people who live on the trail have marked it with yellow arrows pointing the way. If someone gets lost or confused, it’s an opportunity for an additional sign to bring them back on track.

When you know the path, is it clear where someone else walking it should go next? It’s an interesting concept that applies across life. In your relationships, does your friend, loved one, or partner know what to expect, and where you’re headed together? Even in WordPress I feel like there are too many places where we bring someone to a fork in the road and there is no clear indication which way they should take.

Give some thought to the yellow arrows in your life, and I’ll write more about the other two things I’ve been thinking about tomorrow. Also don’t forget to pick up a copy of Kamal’s book. I loved it and I think it will be one I’m recommending to many friends.

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(Image from Camino Travel Center.)

I later incorporated this into my thirty-third birthday post.

Koya Bound Kickstarter

Art

In March I took a eight day hike in Japan with Dan Rubin and Craig Mod, which was definitely one of the more beautiful journeys I’ve taken, and I couldn’t imagine finer gentlemen to have embarked on it with. We trekked, ate, bathed, had long conversations about life, about our fathers. When I returned to Houston I was able to show my Dad some of the photos and they brought a smile to his face, a rare occurrence those days before he passed.

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Dan and Craig are both Leica heads and shot largely on a Leica Q and M Monochrom on the trip. (Bonus points if you can identify Dan’s non-Leica film camera in the above photo.) After I left they camped out in an old house and put together their best work from the trip into what looks like a gorgeous book, which there is now a Kickstarter for.

There are some very cool perks on Kickstarter if you go back the book now, including a few special editions and some photo prints. I’d highly recommend checking it out!

Bookend Gifts

Art, Tech

The news came out this weekend on Mercury News and the Chronicle, so it’s worth addressing here: The Bay Lights, a public art project that uses San Francisco’s Bay Bridge as its canvas, is a project I’ve supported since I first heard of it and the idea captured my imagination. I was happy to make the first monetary donation when the project got started, and as of last week I was able to make a closing bookend donation for the remaining amount they needed, a bit above $1.5M. It was an honor to chip in along with the thousands of other supporters who have already donated to make the project a reality.

The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls. — Pablo Picasso

My hope is that over the next few years, and perhaps beyond that, the lights brighten people’s experience of San Francisco whether they see them every night or they’re one of the 16 million that visit the city every year. Hopefully that effect, however small, spreads to their other interactions long after the lights are off and the sun comes up. There are countless good causes around the world, some which I support regularly are listed on my about page, and I hope to have the opportunity to support many more in the future, but this close-to-home gift to a city that has given me so much seemed like the right thing right now.

If you haven’t seen them yet, here are the lights in action, more on the tech fixes happening to the lights on TBL, and photos I took climbing the bridge a few months ago:

City Equations

Art

The first data set they analyzed was on the economic productivity of American cities, and it quickly became clear that their working hypothesis — like elephants, cities become more efficient as they get bigger — was profoundly incomplete. According to the data, whenever a city doubles in size, every measure of economic activity, from construction spending to the amount of bank deposits, increases by approximately 15 percent per capita.

A Physicist Turns the City Into an Equation on NYTimes.com. A fascinating article about some constants between cities, and a bit at the end about how laws are different for corporations.

Spike Jonze and Kanye

Art

I’ve seen two interesting online short films recently, and I’d recommend both (if you’re above 18). The first is “I’m Here” by Spike Jonze, a love story, which you can see on its official Absolut-sponsored site or on Youtube through these Ebert links. The second is Kanye’s new bizarre but gorgeous short film Runaway, viewable on YouTube, which features the beautiful Selita Ebanks. Both are about 30 minutes long, and will have you thinking and talking to your friends.