Category: Uncategorized
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Google Analytics
After a year of neglect, I’m hoping to give this site more attention and posts once more. In the process, there’s some fixing up I need to do on the site, and I remembered that I set up Google Analytics on this site years ago – probably decades in fact. And yet, I’ve almost never…
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The blog as a commonplace book
It’s been over a year since I wrote here. To be honest, I kinda forgot about it. Though I thought of this site again recently when I was reading Cory Doctorow’s reflections on 20 years of blogging (via kottke.org). I think this idea of a blog as public “commonplace book” is really interesting. Commonplace books…
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Report building vs analysis
It took me awhile in my career to realize there’s a big difference between report building and analysis. I figured if you build it, people will use it, understand it, and come to their own conclusions. I thought that the main value I brought to the table as an analyst was the know-how to assemble…
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How many people are in the room?
Have you ever noticed that once a meeting grows past a certain number of invitees, people stop trying to cater to calendar availability? The meeting evolves from “How can we make sure we have you in the room to make this decision” to “Here’s when we are meeting, figure out how to be there”. Typically…
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Packaging the message
I got a mysterious letter in the mail recently: A large, heavy-duty envelope. An official sounding document number. Signature requested? On a red sticker? Better take a look. “Dear Mr. Shearer, we have an exclusive offer for you from AAA Life Insurance….” Opening this letter made me realize something. The direct mail envelope is a…
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A library book is a deadline
It’s easy to see the library as a hassle. Who wants to wait around for weeks for a book to become available, then be bound by a two week period to read it? I know I used to hate this process. If I wasn’t ready to read that book, then I was forced to confront…
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How to catch a ride from the airport
I flew home from a trip on MLK Day and arrived to an airport in chaos. I usually take a Uber or Lyft home rather than park at the airport, but when I went to call a ride, the prices and wait times were astronomical, with a line of drivers stretched for miles around the…
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Patience & planning
One of my main hobbies this past year or two has been woodworking. Nothing too elaborate yet—mostly picture frames and boxes—but certainly something I now practice regularly. As I was building a few frames recently, I decided to try a new, more challenging joint for bringing the frame pieces together: a mitered half-lap (see below):…
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Blow it up
I’m in a music rut. Every time I look through my Spotify library and recommendations, things just feel stale. The recommendation algorithm seems to be in a positive feedback loop, and now I’m just seeing more of the same. Some days, it’s enough to convince yourself that there’s no new music out there you might…
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Quiet weeks
On a busy week, or month, or year, it’s natural to crave some quiet, uninterrupted time to get things done. I always tell myself “if only I had a week alone to work on this, I’d make so much more progress”, as if an opportunity like that could only exist in a fantasy. Yet I’m…