Listen to music, look at photography, bicycling, or read ramblings below.

• October 30, 2026softwareiosgames

  Card Night

  Back in 2008 I posted a screenshot of a game I loved: Mondo Solitaire on the original iPhone. Dozens of solitaire games on a wooden table, each variant listed with its rules and your win/loss record right there. I played a lot of Streets and Alleys.

  Mondo Solitaire is long gone, so we built our own. It’s called Card Night, and it’s for iPhone and iPad. You can get it on the App Store.

  The lobby is a nod to Mondo: a wooden table, an info panel up top, and one row per variant with the variant in brackets, like “Klondike [Vegas]” or “Streets and Alleys [Up and Down]”. Even the castle-style games fan their rows out to the right the way Mondo did.

  There are 18 solitaires (Klondike, Spider, FreeCell, Streets and Alleys, Yukon, Canfield, Pyramid, TriPeaks, Golf and more), plus Hearts, Spades, Euchre, Oh Hell, Crazy Eights, Yaniv, Gin Rummy, War and Cribbage. The table games can be played against the computer or with friends over Game Center, and the computer fills any empty seats.

  A few other things I like:

  • A Daily Deal, the same deal for everyone each day, with a streak.
  • Winnable deals only, a small solver checks each new deal so you never get stuck with an impossible one.
  • Undo to last good spot when you run out of moves.

  It’s free, with a small banner in the lobby and an occasional ad between games, never during play.

• October 29, 2026musicmusic-compositionyamaha-rm1xyamaha-an200deep-strata

  Remember December

  A short one today. I never finished this song back in 2001.

  Recorded under my Deep Strata moniker.

  ▶ Play deep_strata_-_remember_december.mp3now playing ↓
• October 28, 2026musicsoftwarevinyldiscogs

  Third-Party Discogs Apps

  Discogs is the database everyone uses, but plenty of collectors would rather browse it through something else. So far I’ve found 64 unofficial apps, web tools, browser extensions and self-hosted projects built on the Discogs API, sorted below by what they do. None of them are affiliated with Discogs.

  The official app, for reference, is Discogs for iOS / Android.

  Collection clients

  Full replacements for the official app: browse, search, and edit your collection and wantlist.

  • Discographic for Discogs — Long-running, very complete client. Folders, custom fields, full offline cache, spreadsheet export, quick marketplace listing, plus Apple Music/Spotify playback and Last.fm scrobbling. (iOS · Free + IAP)
  • Wax & Spindle — Artwork-first client that stores your collection on the device for fast, offline browsing. Wantlist shows lowest current asks. No ads, subscriptions or tracking. (iOS, Android · Free)
  • SnapVinyl for Discogs — Clean client with barcode and OCR text recognition for adding records, automatic translation of release notes, and a random pick button. (iOS · Free)
  • My Vinyl+ — Renders each record as a virtual disc matching its real vinyl color. Collection value trends, Record Store Day browser, home-screen widgets, and listing to the marketplace. Has its own subreddit, r/MyVinyl. (iOS, Mac · Free + subscription)
  • NeedleDrop — Collection viewer tuned for iPad, with landscape layouts and high-res cover art. (iOS · Free + IAP)
  • Digs for Discogs — Sync once, browse offline forever. Folder browsing and a random album picker. (iOS · Free)
  • On Rotation — Minimal, fast collection browser. No ads or subscriptions. (iOS · Free)
  • FreshCogs — Lightweight client for viewing your Discogs collection. (iOS · Free)
  • Vinyl Crate — Collection stats beyond value: rarity scores from community data, breakdowns by artist/year/genre. Data stays on device; Discogs sync is optional. (iOS, Mac · Free)
  • Vinyl Record App — Collection and wantlist with a social feed of what friends are adding. Two-way Discogs sync and a random record widget. (iOS · Free + $3.99/mo)
  • Spinstack — Native Apple client with two-way Discogs sync that runs on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV. (iOS, Mac)
  • Plastic — Collection app for vinyl, CDs and tapes that stays synced with Discogs and gives you a public page showing off your records. (iOS, Android · Free)
  • Gatefold FM — Puts vinyl, CDs, tapes and digital files on one shelf, with an AI “clerk”, a second-screen now-playing display, stylus-hour tracking and an offline record-store mode. One-way Discogs import that never writes back. (iOS, Android · Free up to 10 records + subscription)
  • Piper — Imports your Discogs collection and lets you lay out shelving units that mirror where each record physically sits. (Web, iOS, Mac · Free + IAP)
  • Needl Vinyl — Catalog with value tracking and synced lyrics; imports your Discogs collection and wantlist. Runs on iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and Watch. (iOS · Free + subscription)
  • Groovv — Cross-platform collection app that pairs with Discogs: barcode scanning, condition tracking, and visual browsing. One of the few current options on Android. (iOS, Android)
  • Disko for Discogs — Windows client for searching Discogs and managing wantlist, collection and lists, with Spotify lookup. (Windows)
  • Spinner for Discogs — Linux desktop client (snap). Browse collection and wantlist, spin a wheel for a random album, and control Spotify or YouTube Music. (Linux · Free · MIT)

  Value & market tracking

  Treat the collection like a portfolio.

  • WaxTracker — Reads your collection like a stock portfolio: daily market prices, P&L against what you paid, weekly movers, sales history, and a buy score for wantlist items. (Web)

  • Wax — Catalog with condition grading and listen logging; the Pro tier adds live value estimates from marketplace data plus CSV/PDF export. (iOS · Free + Pro)

  • Deadwax (pressing guide) — Focuses on which pressing you own and whether it’s a keeper, with badges for notable pressings. Not to be confused with the DeadWax spin tracker below. (iOS)

  • Vizcogs — Turns your collection into interactive charts, value tracking over time, and cover browsers. Free tier covers your full collection with a handful of syncs a month. (Web · Free + $4/mo)

  Listening, spins & random pickers

  For deciding what to put on next, and logging what you played.

  • DeadWax (spin tracker) — Imports your collection and logs each play to build a listening history. (iOS · Free + IAP)
  • SpinRoom for Discogs — Browse by album, artist or song; a random picker that can favor records you haven’t played lately; Genius bios and lyrics while it spins. (Mobile)
  • Too Many Records! — Does one thing: picks a random record from your collection, with format filters. (iOS · Free)
  • DiscoJanice — Random album picker with Siri Shortcuts. Collects no data. (iOS, Mac · Free)
  • Spun It — Log every spin and see what friends are playing, with two-way Discogs sync. Has a “wrapped”-style yearly recap. (Web, iOS, Android · Free + premium)
  • What next? — Type in a Discogs username and it picks a random record. No login needed. (Web · Free)
  • Open Scrobbler — Web-based Last.fm scrobbler with a Discogs integration, so a record you’re spinning can count toward your listening stats. (Web · Free · Open source)
  • Discrobble — Scrobbles records from your Discogs collection to Last.fm so physical plays show up there too. (iOS)
  • Analog — Listens to your turntable, recognizes which record and side is playing from your Discogs collection, tracks the session, and suggests what to play next. (iOS, Apple Watch)
  • Record Selektah — Local Python app that picks your next record semi-randomly, weighting favorites and rotating decades and genres, with listening stats on the side. (Self-hosted · Free)

  Digging & scanning

  Built for the record store: scan a barcode, check the price, avoid duplicates.

  • Vinyl – Scan and see the info — Simple digging companion: scan, see the pressing, compare prices. Built without trackers or ads. (iOS · Free + IAP)
  • Scan My Records — Barcode-first adding to collection and wantlist, pitched at both collectors and record shops. (iOS · Free)
  • Runout — Built to make adding records fast, plus browsing and searching your collection while flipping through crates. Connects through the Discogs API. (Web)
  • Record Scanner — Identify a record from a cover photo, barcode or catalog number and see its value from Discogs sales data; can create Discogs listings. (iOS, Android)
  • VinylAI — Photo- and barcode-based identification that narrows down the likely pressing, with values drawn from Discogs market data. No account needed. (iOS, Android · Free)
  • VinylBox — Collection tracking plus selling: list to the marketplace with price suggestions and manage listings. Price-tracking widget. (iOS · Free + IAP)

  Wantlist alerts & buying

  For catching a grail the moment it’s listed, or bundling purchases from one seller.

  • discdogs — Watches the marketplace and pings you by email or Telegram, usually within seconds, when a wantlist item is listed. Filter by price, condition, seller rating and shipping region. (Web)
  • Discogs TopTool — Firefox extension whose Smart Buy finds sellers carrying several of your wants at once. Also compares your collection/wantlist with other users and sorts listings by rarity or want/have ratio. (Extension · Free)
  • discogs_alert — Run-it-yourself wantlist alerts (Python or Docker) with notifications via ntfy, Pushbullet, Telegram or Gmail. (Self-hosted · Open source)

  DJ tools

  • kallax — For vinyl DJs: tags your collection with BPM and builds sets sorted by tempo, genre or mood. (iOS · Free + IAP)

  Web tools & browser extensions

  • Discogs Enhancer — The power-user browser extension: dark mode, price comparisons and currency conversion, multi-column collection sorting, charts and stats. Chrome and Firefox. (Extension · Free + Pro)
  • Waxlog — Crate-digging collection explorer: browse your records as 3D crates, stack filters and groupings, and share curated lists. Free tier syncs manually once a week. (Web · Free + $5/mo)
  • FilterMyDiscogs — Search and filter your collection, play tracks in-app, and build playlists, crates and cover-art mosaics. (Web · Free)
  • discogs-collection — Single-file, client-side page: enter a username to search, filter and sort a collection or wantlist, with a random picker. No server. (Web · Free · Open source)
  • Vinyl Library — Renders your collection as a 3D record shelf you can share via snapshot links. Hosted demo, or run your own. (Web, Self-hosted · Open source)
  • Discogs Digger — Chrome extension with a free dark theme; Pro adds deal analysis, seller trust scores, marketplace filters and a YouTube-powered jukebox. (Extension · Free + Pro)
  • Discogs collection visualizer — Quick experiment that tiles a user’s whole collection as thumbnails. (Web · Free)

  Self-hosted & open source

  Run it yourself. Handy if you want to own your data or hack on it.

  • Home Assistant Discogs integration — Sensors for collection and wantlist counts, plus a random record suggestion you can surface on a dashboard. (Self-hosted · Free)
  • discogs-mcp — MCP server so AI assistants can query your collection. Deploys to the Cloudflare Workers free tier. (Self-hosted · Open source)
  • Discogs Copilot — Another MCP server, with a companion Chrome extension and a hosted instance. (Self-hosted, Extension · Open source)
  • vinyly — SvelteKit app that plays your Discogs collection through Spotify (Premium needed). (Self-hosted · Open source)
  • DVinyl — Dockerized collection manager for records and CDs, plus books, movies and games. (Self-hosted · MIT)
  • discogs-record-collection — Grant access and get a simple overview of everything you own. (Self-hosted · Open source)
  • TheCollection — Svelte web app for browsing a collection via the Discogs API. (Self-hosted · Open source)
  • oh-my-collection — GitHub Action that backs up your collection automatically. (Self-hosted · Open source)

  Seller & shop tools

  Inventory sync and storefront plugins for people selling on the Discogs marketplace.

  • PowerCogs — Syncs collection and wantlist, with better gallery, sharing and printable lists than Discogs, plus seller tools such as hosting listing photos and inserting them into descriptions. (Web)
  • Disconnect (ConstaCloud) — Syncs listings, orders, pricing and inventory between Discogs and Shopify, WooCommerce or Wix. (Web · Paid)
  • Blocks for Discogs Sellers — WordPress blocks that embed your seller badge, profile stats, inventory grid, or single listings on your own site. (Web · Free)

  Where it all started

  Third-party apps that became (or preceded) the official ones.

  • MilkCrate — Popular indie iOS client whose success shaped the official iOS app in 2016. (iOS · Defunct)
  • Discographer — Andreas Dahl’s Android client. Discogs partnered with him and it became the official Android app. (Android · Defunct)
  • Wantlister — Stoat Labs’ wantlist filtering tool. Discogs acquired it in June 2024 and folded it into the site. (Web · Acquired)
  • Discollector — MilkCrate’s Android sibling, one of the first serious Discogs apps on the platform. (Android · Defunct)

  ---

  Descriptions are my own summaries of each app’s stated features, not reviews. Prices and features change, so check the listing before installing. Know one that’s missing? Let me know.

• July 12, 2026musicmusic-compositionyamaha-rm1xdeep-strata

  Masala

  I chose Masala today because it’s a track that I remember very little about, but it’s a special song.

  Backstory

  

  This was my setup at the time. The Yamaha SU-200 was a pain in the ass to work with, but it provided me with some sampling capabilities alongside my RM1x. The reason this song is so special to me is because I think it was kind of a gloomy, rainy day outside (perfect for making music), and this track just came together like magic. I remember being so surprised. And it is a 9 minute track that doesn’t feel that repetitive or boring. It’s one of the few tracks I made where it felt effortless and it turned out great.

  Recorded under my Deep Strata moniker.

  ▶ Play deep_strata_-_masala.mp3now playing ↓
• July 11, 2026musicmusic-compositionyamaha-rm1xaura

  Dark Veil

  Today, I chose Dark Veil for a couple reasons:

  1. We just rewatched Avatar: The Last Airbender and are starting again on The Legend of Korra
  2. Watching those has inspired me to get a Crunchyroll subscription and rewatch Dragonball Z

  Backstory

  In high school, every day after classes, I would race home to watch Toonami and catch up on the latest episode of Dragonball Z. I was hooked. So hooked that I was inspired to look for samples on the late 90s/early 2000s internet where Real Media (buffering) was pervasive and it was hard to find sounds. I must’ve stumbled on a fan site and found some cool sounding samples from the Japenese version of DBZ. So after recording this song with my rm1x to a pirated version of Soundforge (I miss thee), I spliced in the samples.

  One part I particularly like is the moment Gohan fires off a Kamehameha and the rhythmic pulses of it lined up perfectly with the BPM. It also has a good amount of variation in the track itself. There are a few tracks where I got lazy and just repeated stuff over and over. Listening now, some 20 years later, I feel the laziness and it gets boring.

  This track feels like a story where it’s almost like listening to an episode.

  Recorded under my Aura moniker.

  ▶ Play aura_-_dark_veil.mp3now playing ↓
• July 10, 2026musicmusic-compositionyamaha-rs7000

  mov.mp3

  This is the first post in a series where I’m going to start re-posting old tracks that I made and recorded. Some are 20+ years old. I want to write down what I remember about when making them and also share them.

  I chose mov.mp3 because I was listening to some Company Flow (Funcrusher Plus) and was just kind of reflecting on El-P’s production style. At the time of making this (I’m going to say it was probably early 2000s), I was pretty heavily into CoFlow, Deep Puddle, etc.

  Backstory

  I had sold my Yamaha RM1x (that I saved up for and made tons of music on) and purchased a powerhouse of a machine – the Yamaha RS7000. Holy shit. This was the holy grail. Sure, MPCs are great, but this thing met me where I was: RM1x-like sequencing with samples. I always wanted samples on the RM1x, but alas.

  So, I’m super stoked that I finally have an integrated sequencer/sampler and I hook up my little TV in my bedroom and just channel surf around for stuff. There was a movie on (hence the name haha) that I can’t remember the name. I think it had to do with cops in the 70s or something. Anyways, I grabbed this clip of a guy wining and dining a woman and he says, after a cheers between 2 wine glasses, “you know you’re beautiful” – but I kinda cut it out. So you’ll hear that in the song – “you know your beau…”

  There are lots of samples on this track. The “chorus” or whatever has another clip from that movie. I think it was like a chase scene.

  Anyways, it’s crazy to remember all this stuff about these little songs.

  ▶ Play mov.mp3now playing ↓
• June 30, 2026softwaremusic

  livingroom.fm, and ode to the old days of Soulseek

  You may or may not remember Soulseek. It was a file sharing application that was originally built for Windows. What I loved about the original Soulseek was how you found music. It wasn’t fed to you via an algorithm. You found stuff by peering into real people’s collections. You could usually find related stuff just based on a person’s tastes. I found so much good music that way and I miss that kind of exploration.

  While I still love the original Soulseek, I wanted to use Claude to make my own version that runs solely in a browser that met these needs and just see what was possible. Imagine if Slack/Discord allowed real-time audio streaming.

  Check it out here: https://livingroom-fm.fly.dev/ and come browse human-curated music!

  

• August 7, 2020field-recordingzoom-h6

  2020 World Listening Day

  I finally got a chance to participate in World Listening Day on July 18, 2020. The year prior, a co-worker told me about it and organized a walk around Portland. I very much wanted to go, but had prior obligations. This year, I was able to make it! So, I invite you to go on a walk with me around downtown Portland during a pandemic.

  ▶ Play 2020-wld-wesrog.wav copy.m4anow playing ↓

  This was recorded with a Zoom H6 with stereo X/Y mic with a dead cat, although it was particularly windy that day.

• July 21, 2020management

  When you notice a teammate doing well, tell their manager

  Inspired by a post I saw linked on pinboard, I wanted to share my story about why it’s important in larger organizations where you’re working with several interdependent teams that you recognize good work.

  The team I’m working on at New Relic collaborates with several other teams. And it’s important that we work well together to deliver the best possible experience for our customers. If we don’t, it’s the customer that ultimately suffers. Part of working well together means giving feedback, both positive and not.

  Here’s an example I wrote up for a person I collaborated with to deliver an awesome experience for our customers:

  Hi Elaine. I know talent review is coming up soon and I wanted to pass along some positive feedback while working with Ben over the past few months.

  On the Open Instrumentation Experience team, we needed Ben’s help to ensure a big part of our team’s launch deliverables. Throughout the process, I appreciated his communication and how, even though it wasn’t a part of his team’s deliverables, he treated it as if it were. Without his help, we likely wouldn’t have been able to ship in time and delight our customers with a first-class experience for open instrumented applications. Ben’s awesome!

  If you would like more info here, let me know. Just wanted to pass along that little tidbit.

  Not only did I tell Ben’s manager that he did a good job, I explained the what, the how, and what the impact was. It’s these little things that go a long way in improving the culture. It also one of those things that makes me feel good too.

  I hope this inspires you to notice the good work and promote it to the people that may not have that perspective.

• June 1, 2020bicycling

  Good Bikes

  After a good run, we let some bikes go to other homes.

  I’m an admirer of good photography. And when I see beautiful pictures of bicycles, I often wonder if I could do the same. While these photos aren’t nearly the quality of pros out there, I am pretty happy with how they turned out and I think they helped when selling. If the picture looks good, you are more likely to get interested people.

  Fairdale Archer Weekender

  

  First up was Colleen’s second bike, a 2017 Fairdale Weekender. This was her first real commuter bike and it held up really well over 3 years and several hundred miles. A woman who was slightly taller than Colleen picked it up and it fit her perfectly. I think it was actually a little too large for Colleen.

  Bianchi Pista Fixed Gear

  

  This Bianchi Pista was my first real bike. Before this bike, I was graciously gifted a Raleigh touring frame that was about 8cm too large for me. When I found this frame and fork on craigslist, it had all the decals removed and it was the perfect size for me. At the time, fixed gear bikes were all the rage especially for me in Florida where most of the landscape is flat. It totally made sense then. Nowadays, I’m riding more mixed terrain and this bike didn’t see as much action. So, it was time to part. The downside, and a hard lesson for me to learn was that I ended up leaving this bike outside during a winter in our apartment on Overton where we didn’t have room to store it inside. So there were a few rust spots. The kind gentleman that picked it up didn’t seem to mind. And I actually ended up giving him a deal since he mentioned he was a restaurant worker that was out of work during the Covid-19 pandemic.

  Farewell, good bikes!

  These bicycles have been with us for a few years and they served us really well. We are happy that they are going to people who will breathe new life into them and give them more miles out on the roads.

• January 4, 2020movies

  Baraka

  I watched Baraka again, but this time at Hollywood Theatre in Portland and in 70mm. I’m still blown away and even taken away by the scenes, the production quality, and the music. Nearly 30 years later, the film still holds up and probably will stand the test of time.

  Baraka’s juxtapositions of old and new, poor and rich, fast and slow, big and small, regardless of when it was shot still has the same impact, or maybe more now that more time has passed. It’s impressive the director was able to achieve this.

  There are no words (in the film). Ron Fricke leaves it up you as the viewer to make your own judgements about the world as its filmed. I appreciate films like this so much because it elicits feelings that the world is huge and complex (and doomed) but also so simple and happy at the same time. I found myself deeply moved and even contemplating things like vegetarianism, non-materialism, and religion.

  As Roger Ebert says in his review of the film:

  If man sends another Voyager to the distant stars and it can carry only one film on board, that film might be “Baraka.”

• September 15, 2019photography

  California Coast

  I stumbled on this photo taken back in 2010 when Colleen and I drove from Florida to Oregon to start anew. The picture brings back wonderful memories as it was the first time in the trip that we reached the west coast. I remember the wind was quite strong that day.

  Shot with a Nikon D40 and 50mm f/1.4

  

• September 13, 2019webdev

  Back to the Front-end

  Web development is a long-lost friend of mine. I wanted to reflect on my journey, where I am today, and where I plan to go.

  I started learning basic HTML and CSS way back in the late 90s when Netscape and IE were basically your only options. I had a lot of fun learning and eventually applying the skills I learned to help other people and businesses build their online presences.

  As my career evolved however, I grew into more of a back-end developer thanks to Rails and its opinionated goodness. And then Python at Discogs. And then I made my way into management. This path took me further away from where I started originally which was ok at the time, but it took me while to realize how much I missed transposing designs into interactive web pages.

  I’ve been less and less interested in reading about technical leadership and management and more interested in the modern day landscape of web design. Resources like HTML & CSS Is Hard and the Responsive Web Design Bootcamp have given me a boost in becoming familiar with modern web design. I’m amazed at how much has changed and how much easier some things are these days. But, I’m also overwhelmed by all the new technology and front-end related tools that are required; it’s not nearly as simple as creating a few HTML pages anymore.

  To help with bringing myself back up to speed, I have been volunteering a few hours a week on helping a CEO bring her vision to life. What’s great about this opportunity is that there was a blank slate for the front-end, so I worked with my wife, who is a UX Designer by trade, to collaborate with the CEO and design the initial prototypes. Since I was working so closely with a UX Designer, I was able to iterate quickly and show the CEO proof-of-concepts in a short amount of time. It was this project that validated how much I missed web development especially when paried with a talented designer.

  With this project, I have been able to learn a lot about React, webpack, and some of the newer-to-me parts of CSS like flexbox. I have had a blast doing so and I can’t wait to eventually land somewhere building intuitive and fresh interfaces.

  You can see the work I’ve done by visiting Vino Voyage

• August 11, 2019bicycling

  Portland Bridge Pedal 2019

  Over the weekend, Colleen and I completed the Fremont Express route for Portland’s 2019 Bridge Pedal. It was a blast! Just around 40 miles or so total, out and back. I took my Lilac Polyvalent and Colleen took her All-City Space Horse. I would do it again, but it was crowded in some parts, so I would rather opt for a more leisurely, country ride on some backroads with my camping gear with me.

  

  Route

  Here’s the route we took. This includes the ride to the starting point and back. It also includes a brunch stop off at Sweedeedee.

• June 22, 2019field-recording

  Birds in Gifford Pinchot

  Camping in Gifford Pinchot, I awoke near dawn to the sound of a bird that I’m unfamiliar with and one I hadn’t heard before.

  ▶ Play gifford-pinchot.m4anow playing ↓

  Hastily recorded with an iPhone XS.

• April 24, 2019bicycling

  Polyvalent Build

  I’m building my own bike from parts! Not the actual frame, as some people thought. Also, I didn’t build the wheels this time. Jim at Gladys Bikes built them which I am super happy how they turned out. Thanks Jim!

  I made several trips to Universal Cycles to pick up parts. I tried to do it all by bike. I learned a lot throughout this process, like how to install a headset using a headset press (thanks Kenton Cycles!). What was funny about this was at the time I did not have a car accessible to me. So I biked my frame up to the bike shop.

  I was told that I should use some frame saver to prevent rust. The guy at Kenton Cycles was nice enough to let me borrow a can since a little bit goes a long way. I didn’t take too many photos of the build process, but here’s how it turned out!

  Taking home a bunch of parts for the build on the Surly Straggler/Grocery Getter.At Kenton Cycles getting help installing the headset.Frame savin' my new Polyvalent frame.Final build of the lilac Polyvalent at a rose garden in Portland.

  ‹›
• October 19, 2017bicyclingphotography

  Who is Ezra Caldwell?

  If you aren’t familiar with Ezra Caldwell, he is most recently known (posthumously) for the bikes he fabricated.I remember seeing pictures on the late fffound of super clean, minimal, and beautifully built bicycles with wooden fenders and subsequently stumbled on Fast Boy Cycles. It was then that I became even more obsessed wih bikes and building my dream bike.

  I started reading more about who Ezra is and learned that he also took amazing photographs and also had a stint in dancing. He unfortunately passed away from cancer in 2014. I still have some of the wooden fenders he made; they feel really special to me. His works (both bicycles and photography), his story, and his philosophy of life remain an inspiration to me today.

  One of my favorite quotes from him is:

  We remember pieces of history by the wars and the art.

  You can find that quote in this interview from the Photographic Journal.

  —Ezra Caldwell

• June 12, 2016healthlife

  Diet, my autoimmune disease, and the quest to feel better

  It all started with my rheumatoid arthritis diagnosis back in 2012. Maybe like most people diagnosed with an autoimmune disease, I didn’t believe it would ever happen to me. I also thought about its effects and how severe they can be. Would it slowly deform me? Would it mean that I would have trouble doing simple things like walking, picking things up, and opening jars? These questions raced through my head after my doctor notified me.

  I called my mom the day after I found out. She was upset, weeping because she felt some kind of responsibility. Like me, she has had RA since her thirties and also like me felt that taking potent drugs like methotrexate was not appealing – especially when that’s the only option your doctor gives you. In my case, that’s what I got: a prescription for some drugs to ward off the inflammation with a dash of hope to move into remission. I wasn’t willing to take the risk and told my doctor I was going to try altering my diet first to see what effect it had before moving on to drugs. She left me with a snide comment of “good luck with your diet.” and I took that as a challenge.

  In my opinion, drugs are not the only solution to fix illnesses. I’m not sure why I feel this way. Maybe it’s the hacker mentality I have; the feeling that there’s always an alternative route to take to get what you want. Maybe it’s the problem-solving nature of us all. Whatever it is, I set out to fix this thing by myself without needing to take toxic drugs that have a whole slew of side effects which in turn would probably need other drugs to combat – a vicious cycle.

  Taking on this challenge meant that I was pretty much on my own which is totally ok. I taught myself how to write software and make a living doing it, so how hard could it be to teach myself how to fix my autoimmune disease?

• November 30, 2015management

  If you walk into a meeting and it isn’t clear who the owner

  If you walk into a meeting and it isn’t clear who the owner is, feel free to leave and go do something more valuable for the company.

  — Towards better meetings - Inside Intercom

  “More valuable” is questionable here. Sure, if you have other priorities, go and work on them and don’t let me (or the meeting owner) waste anymore of your time. If there’s anything important that involves you, I’ll likely send you an email about it later.

  I’ve been getting into radical candor lately and I think this is a good example of when being candid helps both parties.

• November 20, 2015management

  Good teams engage directly with end-users and customers ever

  Good teams engage directly with end-users and customers every week, to better understand their customers, and to see the customer’s response to their latest ideas. Bad teams think they are the customer.

  — Good Product Team Bad Product Team

  Yes! I agree so hard! This is something I wish we did more at Discogs.