Category Archives: Fragments

Baseline category for blog posts

Seattle, rising

Eleven stories above a former parking lot, construction workers are hanging windows on Arizona, the capstone of Amazon.com’s 11-building headquarters in South Lake Union. Since Amazon’s move to the neighborhood was announced in December 2007, the company has taken leases … Continue reading

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Where every social networking service is wrong, and how to do it right

You join a new social web site. You invite all your friends. You rejoice that all your friends are here. You multicast some information. You lament that some of your friends don’t share enough while others share way too much. … Continue reading

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In Search of Online Video Standards

Over 4 years ago I cut cable out of my monthly bills: I downgraded from the $80 basic digital cable package to a $13 option that includes little more than local and public-access channels. Since then I’ve saved a couple … Continue reading

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What I’ve Been Doing For the Last Year, Non-Work-Centric Version

In 2006 I had the good fortune to pick an apartment that’s a 20-minute walk from every building I’ve worked at in Seattle — including one that wasn’t built when I moved in. As the housing market here deflated, so … Continue reading

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What I’ve Been Doing For the Last Year

Just over a year ago I changed jobs at Amazon: after nearly four years in Email Platform (as it was known when I left), I transferred to the Kindle Content Store team on April 5, 2010. I was the sixth … Continue reading

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How to Use the Internet to Save 15% on Your Rent

Since 2008, I’ve dropped over $150 from my rent payment through a simple feed from Craigslist. Here’s how I did it. Continue reading

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Kiva: A Microcredit Post-Mortem

In 2006 I dipped my toes into the world of microfinance with two investments: one in Kiva, a non-profit that specializes in the developing world, and Prosper, which lends to U.S. borrowers. My last Kiva loan was just repaid so … Continue reading

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What I learned from the XXI Olympic Winter Games

I spent an amazing week in Vancouver at the Olympic Winter Games. Andrea and I rented a studio apartment, the Dohm Home in Kitsilano, and attended six events: three hockey preliminaries, two curling matches, and the ladies’ 1000m speed skating … Continue reading

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I’m a PC, and I’m Not a Criminal

Upgrading to Windows 7 would be a lot easier if Microsoft stopped its years-long practice of treating all of its Windows users as potential criminals. Continue reading

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As someone who caucused for Barack Obama, you might like to vote for …

In the state of Washington, when you caucus for a candidate, you’re also volunteering to get automated calls ad nauseam. Continue reading

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