Topic: Technology & Innovation

Blog archives

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• Using AI to Extract Structured Data From Markdown

  A video on how I'm using an LLM to extract metadata from unstructured Markdown files.

• Improving My Website Using AI

  The first video in a series on how I'm using AI to make changes to my ~1,300-page online home.

• Open-Ended Sessions: Workflow Archaeology

  A conversation about how considered use of AI can help small and medium-sized businesses thrive.

• Book Notes: “Superagency”

  A compelling argument for a “glass half-full” approach to developing and deploying AI.

• The LLMapper Agent Skill

  A new Skill that gives Claude the ability to draw and manipulate concept maps.

• LLMs as Robot Arms

  How to deliver value by rearchitecting knowledge pipelines around AI constraints.

• Transcribe Handwriting Using a Local LLM

  How to turn handwritten notes into Markdown — on your computer.

• Tapping Into AI’s Conservatism

  AI favors established frameworks. Knowing that will change how you develop your information systems.

• Two Kinds of Writing

  Writing can be a means for thinking. AI can help — but make sure you’re driving.

• AI “Real Talk”: How Useful are AI Agents Right Now?

  An informal livestreamed conversation about a key AI concept.

• Automate the Boring

  Delegating tedious tasks to AI is the most strategic, feasible, and humane use of the technology today.

• Introducing unfinishe 

  Announcing a new strategic consultancy focused on helping small businesses make the most of AI.

• Local GraphRAG: A Progress Report

  Good and bad news on my ongoing experiments with locally-hosted GraphRAG.

• AI is Probabilistic – That's Why It Needs Constraints

  Computers used to exclusively follow rules; now they generate possibilities. Combining both approaches maximizes their potential.

• The New Leverage: AI and the Power of Small Teams

  Doing more with less isn’t just possible — it’s the future of work.

• Book Notes: “A Thousand Brains”

  An intriguing new theory of intelligence offers insights on how we might design more effective thinking systems.

• Book Notes: “Co-Intelligence”

  If you're only going to read one book about AI, this is the one.

• Horsey Horseless and the Challenge of AI-native Products

  What a weird 19th century product can teach us about designing for disruptive technologies.

• One Year of “Duly Noted”

  Updates and reflections on my book about note-taking, a year after its publication.

• We’re in a Golden Age for Personal Automation

  Large language models are a boon for people who use automation frameworks.

• Exploring the AI Solution Space

  Unlocking AI’s potential requires broadening our understanding of what’s possible.

• Three Things I Know

  When living in times of radical technological change, look to things that have stood the test of time.

• The Informed Life with Emily Campbell

  A conversation on why we need a pattern language for interactions with AI-powered systems.

• Why I'm Excited About Generative AI

  Generative models aren't sentient entities but advanced symbol manipulation tools with vast potential.

• Seminar: Using LLMs to Augment Your Thinking

  A video presentation explaining how to use generative AI to improve your thinking.

• Reconsidering the Role of AI: Valuing Process Over Output

  How to best use AI in both UX and personal knowledge management.

• The Informed Life with Michael Anton Dila

  Overview of a conversation about a new initiative that aims to redefine AI governance through inclusivity.

• LLMapper: An AI Concept Mapping Tool

  Overview of my most recent experiment with AI: a tool for drawing concept maps from Wikipedia pages.

• Apple Vision Pro Hands-on (Heads-on?)

  Overview of my initial firsthand experience with Apple’s new spatial computing headset.

• The Informed Life Year in Review: 2023

  A compilation of themes that emerged in my podcast in 2023, partly curated by AI.

• The Informed Life with Steve Portigal, part 2

  The second part of my conversation with Steve Portigal about writing, focused on our processes as authors.

• Reality Augmentation Field

  Apple’s new augmented reality platform will change how you interact with information.

• AI as Writing Partner

  LLMs can speed up the writing process. Here’s one way they can help.

• The Informed Life with David Rose

  Summary of my interview with an ambient computing pioneer about augmented reality.

• Three Roles for Robots

  Examining different ways in which AI can augment your thinking.

• Seeing Further

  Thinking of connected digital systems as cognitive prosthetics.

• The Hair Metal Disclaimer

  New tools are changing how we create. How will you respond?

• TAOI: Metaphor Search

  An exciting new way to query web search engines.

• The Informed Life with Alice Albrecht

  An overview of my conversation with the founder and CEO of re:collect, a new AI-driven tool for thought.

• Book Notes: “The Dream Machine”

  My overview of a biography of J.C.R. Licklider, a key figure in early computing history.

• A Shortcut to Create a Markdown Link from Safari in macOS

  A quick way to get the name and URL of the frontmost web page on your Mac as a Markdown-format link.

• Automate Mindfully

  A short reflection on the difference between efficiency and automation.

• Room to Think

  An intriguing commercial offering designed to help you reclaim your attention.

• Book Notes: “Tools for Thought”

  An overview of Howard Rheingold's book about the history of computers as tools for mind augmentation.

• Wikimedia's New Leader on Preventing Misinformation

  Wikimedia's new leader on how her background might inform her approach to managing discourse.

• Book Notes: “The Alignment Problem”

  An overview of Brian Christian's book about machine learning and values.

• Book Notes: “Loonshots”

  Notes on a book about balancing innovation and exploiting those innovations.

• Book Notes: “How Innovation Works”

  Notes on Matt Ridley's books about innovations and the conditions that enable it.

• Worth Your Attention

  Links for the week.

• Appreciating Device Upgrades

  My devices improve through free software updates and minor hardware tweaks.

• The Siri

  How our HomePod started driving me crazy.

• Software and Dematerialization

  Software is changing cars, and that’s good for people and the planet.

• Effects of the Pandemic on Podcast Listening

  How podcast listening changed during the pandemic.

• A New Normal

  How the pandemic is accelerating our embrace of remote collaboration.

• Worth Your Attention

  Links for the week.

• Banning Targeted Advertising?

  How a single change to our online business models could shift digital spaces.

• Efficiency and Redundancy

  How COVID-19 is making us rethink the tradeoffs between efficiency and redundancy.

• The Politics of Innovation

  How the work of designers and innovators always shapes society, whether they realize it or not.

• Outlook Spaces

  How my old favorite feature in Entourage inspired Outlook’s new “Spaces” feature.

• Apple’s Services Pivot and Persuasion

  Apple’s services push is changing my relationship with the company.

• Worth Your Attention

  Links for the week.

• The Pull of the Present

  What happens when our shortsighted ""solutions"" come back to haunt us?

• Worth Your Attention

  Links for the week.

• Worth Your Attention

  Links for the week.

• Preserving Open Source Software for the Long Term

  The long-term preservation of open-source software in case of a digital dark age.

• The Informed Life With Carol Smith

  An with researcher Carol Smith on the benefits, limitations, and potential dangers of AI technologies.

• Alternatives to 32-bit Apps on macOS Catalina

  How I kept my old scanner going after a disruptive OS upgrade.

• Causes of (and Remedies for) Bias in AI

  On the potential of AI to identify and amplify human biases.

• Worth Your Attention

  Links for the week.

• Quantum Supremacy

  Google’s quantum leap could upend what computers can do.

• On Google Reader

  My old RSS workflow was great — and I still miss my feed reader.

• The Synthesizers In Charge

  On the challenge of integrating AI into our culture, with a historical perspective.

• Table Stakes

  How I saw the power of the smartphone in action with my daughter.

• Progress Studies

  How studying progress can help us make things better and minimize downsides.

• Artificial Intransigence

  Video streaming recommendation algorithms sometimes fall short.

• The Treachery of Deepfakes

  It's becoming harder to distinguish between reality and its representations in information environments.

• Proudshamed

  On the power and pitfalls of tech, and why we should embrace the messy process.

• A Change of Mindset

  How pursuing engagement on YouTube leads to rampant misinformation and societal impacts.

• The iPad As a Travel Computer

  Navigating the iPad's possibilities and constraints as a tool for productive travel.

• How to Subscribe to a Podcast by URL

  How to listen to my new podcast before it hits directories.

• A Bold Example of Semantic Pollution

  AT&T muddles tech terms by renaming 4G as “5G E,” confusing clarity and meaning.

• Where Innovation Comes From

  Why innovation thrives in environments that foster connections.

• Kranzberg’s Laws of Technology

  Insights about technology's complex impact on society.

• The Next Twenty Years

  On the shift in focus from connecting people to enhancing their online activities — and the changes this will bring.

• The Possible and the Practical

  Why your flying car fantasies remain grounded.

• Something Real To Do

  How an iconic physicist and amateur enthusiasm pushed tech boundaries at a startup.

• Does USB-C Turn iPad Pros Into "Real" Computers?

  A tech change brings the iPad closer to becoming a true computer alternative.

• Mobile Computing at a Different Level

  Unlock your iPhone's potential with iOS 12 Shortcuts, enhancing productivity effortlessly.

• Innovation and the Test of Time

  Balancing innovation's allure with the timeless utility of technology.

• Maintaining Focus

  What we can learn from cameras amidst life's evolving priorities.

• The Tricorder on Your Wrist

  How the Apple Watch has evolved into a essential personal health device.

• Twitter and Third-party Apps

  Recent changes to Twitter's API are making me question my engagement with the platform.

• Book Notes: “Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now”

  Jaron Lanier’s critique challenges social media’s impact on our autonomy and empathy.

• Designing for “Smart” Agents Among Us

  The emergence of AI challenges us to rethink the impact of human-agent interactions.

• What If This Were Easy?

  How questioning traditions and assumptions can transform difficult tasks into easy ones.

• When Algorithms Know

  An algorithm saved my travel plans by rebooking my missed flight without hassle.

• What Are You Working On?

  How asking designers “what are you working on?” reveals their values and engagement.

• Book Notes: "Dawn of the New Everything"

  Lanier's memoir intermingles VR's history with a philosophical take on tech's role in enhancing our humanity.

• Towards a More Resilient Internet

  How we might secure internet neutrality when profit motives challenge its resilience.

• Book Notes: "WTF?"

  Tim O'Reilly argues that our choices in deploying technology will shape our ethical future.

• A Tale of Two Computers

  Two beloved computers: the SE/30 and iPad Pro evolve from toys to game-changers.

• Squirrel!

  Why the allure of shiny new tech shouldn’t blind you to the joys of familiar tools.

• A Unicycle for the Mind

  What's the role of the Apple Watch in your life?

• The New iPods: A Further Blurring of Physical and Online Spaces

  How Apple's iTunes and Starbucks deal hints at location-specific digital services.

• The iPhone

  A new product promises a shift in mobile technology, UX, and how we interact.