I previously wrote about trying to get back on track starting in 2022, and one of the tools that I used seems to have become quite popular over the last few years: Dry January. While there are people every year that decide to forgo alcohol in the month after the holidays, I imagine that the …
As with most of the world, I hoped and sought to turn things around as we moved into 2022. The last few years have been...well unlike any that most of us living have ever experienced. I know that many have been much more profoundly impacted by the pandemic in emotional, psychological, and personal ways than …
I can't remember when I first heard about Theranos and its founder, Elizabeth Holmes, but there rarely goes by a month when I haven't thought about them since. I'm not alone: the tale has gripped many and been spun into a book, a documentary, and at least two podcasts. Although, having spent the better part …
Continue reading Bad Blood, Elizabeth Holmes, and Why Biology Is Harder Than Silicon Valley Thinks
I have set a goal on Goodreads to read 25 books in a year four times now: 2014, 2018, 2020, and 2021. In 2014 and 2018, I only "read" two books and one book, respectively, though it was long enough ago that I suspect I just stopped using the website. However, I can't imagine I …
Five years ago, I finally registered a domain name that had been in my head a long time, one for Chortles and Harrumphs. I'd always enjoyed the feel of the two words: academic, yet whimsical. It is perhaps not a surprise that 'chortle' was coined by Lewis Carrol in Through the Looking Glass; it bubbles …
Metrics seem to be everywhere these days. From the well-known details tracking of Amazon's internal systems to Fitbits and Apple Watches, it seems like the quantified self movement has come to the forefront everywhere. So after hearing a recommendation from Kevin Rose a few years ago, I gave Tally a try. For several years, it …
Continue reading How to lose an audience: or when I learned that I should not have updated that app
A while ago I made a pipe lamp out of plumbing tubing and some plaster and spray paint. Then I created a lampshade out of straw, coffee, and fungal mycelium. But the weight of the lampshade moved the center of mass too far from the base, and so it always fell over. The solution was …
Sometimes I'll pick up a book, can't put it down, and finish it in a few days. Other times I'll keep trying to read it before bed, but my mind will inevitably wander, such that I'm less and less likely to pick it up each night. Months may go by before I finally buckle down …
I joined Ness Labs and few months ago with the hopes of meeting like-minded people. About a month ago, I saw a workshop for "The Art, Science, and Practice of Reaching Out." While I missed the event, I watched the recorded video, in which the host spoke with Molly Beck about her book, Reach Out, …
For the last year and a half since I read The Noma Guide to Fermentation, I have become increasingly interested in the fungal kingdom. I recently wrote a review of a good overview guide, but today I wanted to get a little more hands-on. Specifically, how fungi are being investigated for their ability to create …
Chortles and Harrumphs 