a more or less weekly digest of juicy stuff. please find previous editions here.

• the internet regression, when communicating on the internet, we set up a relationship with other people in which the people get less human and the machine gets more human. that is how the three signs of the internet regression come into play: flaming, flirting, and giving. our feelings toward the computer as computer become our feelings toward the people to whom we send e-mail or post messages. we flame to the person as though he or she were an insensitive thing, a machine that can't be hurt. we flirt with the machine as though it were a person and could interact with us, compliantly offering sex. we feel open and giving toward the computer because the computer is open and giving to us. highly recommended
• we're not even trying, computers are not just a tool for writing code, they are a tool for thinking. we have to stop thinking of code as text and start thinking of code as data
• in defense of not-invented-here syndrome, if it's a core business function - do it yourself, no matter what
• whether to delegate, managing energy is more important than managing time. energy is what gets things done, and time is only a crude surrogate for energy. instead of only looking at what you could earn per hour versus what you could hire someone else for per hour, consider the energy it would take you to do something versus the energy it would free to delegate it
• reasons to be creative, design is about behavior. it's not about how your product looks, it's about how your product behaves. this means that if it behaves like an asshole, people will start to see it like an asshole. and that's a big problem
• "a complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that worked. a complex system designed from scratch never works and cannot be patched up to make it work. you have to start over with a working simple system", gall's law
• imitate. we are imperfect mirrors, like a funhouse mirror that distorts what it reflects, even if you try to imitate something, it will turn out much different than the original. maybe better
• my golden rule for pitching your startup or product, there's a simple rule i use when pitching a product or even a company to someone. i call it "no ands." the rule is simple: you have to be able to describe your idea in a single sentence without using the word "and"
• life is a game. this is your strategy guide, you might not realise, but real life is a game of strategy. there are some fun mini-games - like dancing, driving, running, and sex - but the key to winning is simply managing your resources
• imagine finding me, photography project by chino otsuka