Democracy is neat. Its selling point is that it creates the conditions for political change without violence, and in a methodical and measured manner. Which all sounds great — but the US isn’t a democracy, at least not at the federal level. Undemocratic institutions like the Senate, the Electoral College…

Think again. — Software isn’t secure. This hurts everyone, but it places the most vulnerable at excessive risk. Journalists, activists, queer people, sex workers, union organizers… Everyone deserves safe tools, but the danger isn’t distributed evenly. From time people decide to build secure software to help protect the most vulnerable in society. Sometimes…

There are two aspects to product management: the product, and the management. An effective PM combines the mindset and skills needed to excel at each. To make a great product, the chief demand is empathy, followed closely by curiosity. Empathy — and its cousin compassion — let you understand the…

My gender is the twelve chimes of a venerable and lovingly-maintained clock on a seasoned solicitor’s shelf, resonating through brass and wood, a reminder on an August afternoon to rest for a moment. My gender is the subtle oscillation of a phone face-down on a table, showing a message from…

What advice do you have for aspiring occult practitioners? For me the most important part of founding a secret society is a genuine curiosity. Some people yearn for power or want to perform impressive summoning rites. Don’t get me wrong — ambition is a powerful drive and summoning is a…

Staying healthy and safe during wildfire season — Summary for the hurried: Use an AQI app on your phone to notify you when the air gets gross. When the AQI goes above 150, avoid going outside. Consider sealing windows and filtering the air in your home. When you have to go outside, wear a mask rated N95 or…

Tea: ☕️ ☕ ☕ ☕ Food: 🍰 🍰 🍰 🍰 Ambience: 🌸 🌸 🌸 🌸 Overall rating: 💖 💖 💖 💖 Tags: modern, formal, english We struggled at first to find the tea room in the St. Regis hotel. There is a large, prominent bar space, but no clear dining…

You’re right: it’s done by robots — This post is based on the impeccable research of cartographer Justin O’Beirne. Justin’s excellent article on this topic dives deep into the cartographic background. This post talks more about the tech. Google invented a new kind of cartography to represent something that everyone has an intuitive sense of, but which…

Twitter literally makes it impossible to deliberately see bisexuals — Within the last few days, Twitter has decided to double down on being the literal worst by picking a few words and phrases for which you can no longer search for images. The new ban vanishes: bisexual, bisexuality, sexuality, queer, transexual, sex, & butt. Related unaffected terms include: lesbian, gay…