Author: Joshua

Looking for work

TL;DR – I’m looking for a new product design opportunity. šŸ˜€ 2022 has been a dream year for me in learning and growing in my career. For the past few years I’ve had the opportunity to work with a number of amazing teams on products within enterprise and the small business space. It’s given me […]

SwiftUI Curious

For the past year Iā€™ve been listening to some awesome podcasts and hearing updates from developers as they describe their transition, or in Marco Armentā€™s case, dipping their into SwiftUI. I started my career as a web designer and frontend developer. Learning CSS and HTML was a challenge for me at the time, but I […]

Lovely MacBooks and changing contexts

Choosing my device Iā€™ve been saving up for a new MacBook since February. Based on the rumors I suspected weā€™d see a new design for the MacBook Air in the Spring or Summer. So I saved, sold some stuff on Facebook Marketplace, and planned my purchase. Then Apple announced the Air, and it was everything […]

Writing to think

For years I failed at becoming a regular journaler. My longest stint was a couple months with Day One, years ago. It was fun, and I liked reviewing the pretty graphs over time. But it didnā€™t stick, it didnā€™t have any real value for me. Since December Iā€™ve been journaling almost nonstop. Before that I […]

Back to writing

Yesterday I got a bug in me and sat down to write. I began the day like most other, with a journaling session. That normally takes me about 7-8 minutes to write a 1,000 words. Most of these sessions are just a brain dump of the dayā€™s activities, where I like to process how things […]

Finding a great author

Over the past few years I’ve enjoyed jumping around between enjoyable works of fiction. I like finding a great book, then spending time reading other books from the same author. For a few years it was Stephen King. So far I’ve read about ten of his books. He’s such a talented author, and I hope […]

WWDC 2022 hot takes

I really enjoy watching Apple events. It’s been a joy of mine to tune in and catch up on what’s new. I don’t have all the Apple hardware, but I have integrated quite a few different devices into my daily life over the years. A change in software across their various platforms can have a […]

Book sampling

Recently Iā€™ve hit a weird spell where Iā€™ve struggled to write fiction. There are a few factors for this, and Iā€™m working through them in my mind. I might share more on that later. During this time Iā€™ve continued to journal daily, and continued to pour myself into books. Since my early twenties, Iā€™ve noticed a […]

Private and public thoughts

Iā€™ve taken to private journaling in the last six months. Itā€™s a rewarding experience. This is the most consistency Iā€™ve applied to capturing my thoughts and documenting them on paper. I love it. Iā€™ve learned some things about myself, and used this practice to process. When I reach the end of the day, I spend […]

iPad drawing late 2021

The iPad is a lot of things, but for me the number one purpose is using the Apple Pencil. Over the years Iā€™ve tried the larger iPads, mainly the 12.9ā€ Pro, and put them to the test as full computing devices. But, and again Iā€™ll state that its specific to my needs, it fails at […]

Not knowing

Itā€™s okay if you donā€™t know everything. For many years Iā€™ve understood this in my head, but itā€™s only recently that Iā€™ve started to internalize it at a deeper level. Not knowing doesnā€™t mean that youā€™re intentionally ignorant, nor does it offer an excuse to play dumb all the time. Instead it means that youā€™re […]

No spoilers

I donā€™t like having a book or movie spoiled. If thereā€™s an outside chance that Iā€™m going to watch or read something I donā€™t want to know ahead of time any major plots or twists. In fact, telling me that a great show has an unexpected twist – even without revealing details – is itself […]

Magic Grips for my Magic Mouse

Several years ago I stumbled across Magic Grips, a fascinating silicon accessory to the Apple Magic Mouse. For those who prefer more ergonomic mice, or are used to a trackpad on a computer, the Magic Mouse probably looks like a weird contraption that is more form than function. After many years of use I can […]

M1 Max battery update

The reviews and analysis have started coming in for battery life on the New MacBook Pros with the M1 Max and M1 Pro chips. I feel partially vindicated in that I wasnā€™t going crazy, but questions still remain. The 14ā€ Max model is the worst of the entire M1 line in terms of battery life. […]

Divergence and convergence

A few years ago, Leo Postovoit, shared a concept with me. While we were chatting I remember being surprised and not having a mental model for applying the ideas to my work. Itā€™s not that Iā€™d never done it, but I hadnā€™t consciously thought of it the way he described. The concept was divergence and […]

My writing goal for the year

From September, 2019 – December 2020 I managed to write four novels. The process was long and messy, and one of the most enjoyable projects Iā€™ve ever undertaken. Those four books may never see the light of day, as they were a process of learning and understanding, and it would be hard to publish them […]

Growing a voice

Writing has been a thing Iā€™ve done for most of my adult life in one form or another. Iā€™ve tried out a few blogs over the years and attempted ways of putting out regular content. The problem with a lot of my writing was the inability to make anything stick. I donā€™t mean the amount […]

MacBook Pro M1 Max battery life

I’m now going on a week of using the new MacBook Pro, and in almost every regard I’m happy with it. There are some issues on software, but I don’t know if that’s because of Monterrey or the trackback and keyboard. For instance, one app I use for time tracking, Harvest, keeps jumping up into […]

MacBook Pro M1 Max initial thoughts

When Apple announced the new MacBook Pros I knew immediately that I was interested. Throughout the year I saved up a budget for the device, and each subsequent announcement during the event increase my certainty of purchasing the new laptop. My laptop arrived today, and I couldn’t be more excited. The configuration I chose was […]

Food inflation

All around us we see patterns of products and software designed to influence our habits and purchasing decisions. As mentioned before, I’ve got a pet peeve with syrup containers. A while back I read a great book on the topic of habits and getting connected with the products we use, explaining the cycle we run […]