Wintering well requires not taking one’s self too seriously. — Despite our resolve, we all get a little fatter during a good northern winter. Cookies and candy are not things I eat much of normally. But put me on a snowy downtown block lined with treat shops on a January day and it’s time for business. Anyone who sticks to…

Modern life can magnify our problems, that’s deceptive and unhealthy. Truth told: we are so, so small. And so are our problems. — I’m a big fan of the late astronomer Carl Sagan. He was wise in ways most of us can only wish. If you don’t know the photo and story around the Pale Blue Dot, here’s a short true that you might just find comforting amid all the fuss and flutter…

It was about time someone got the fraud exposure train rolling. Is Binance next? — It can be hard to be an optimistic fan of cryptocurrency-powered blockchains these days. I am. In the long term. The pain isn’t over. Optimism is likely to get harder still in the coming months. …

The ChatGPT experiment tells us one thing for certain. Emphasis will shift from writing to speech in school curricula. — What kind of communication skills will have prime value in an AI powered world? From early observations, this new large language model (LLM) AI tech is likely to reduce and eventually eliminate the role of writing in most school curricula. Not overnight, not entirely. But the ability to write business communication will give way to the need to improve other skills more than writing.

It may not emit carbon, but it leaves a 10,000 year mess for someone — Nothing vast enters the life of mortals without a curse — Sophocles The realities of meeting climate change goals without massive sacrifice will likely lead to nuclear power’s return (see a more detailed argument here). Following are thoughts on the challenges of building new nuclear generation at scale. Bad examples from the USA

Other climate solutions require discipline humans don’t possess — Thanks to cheap, plentiful fossil fuels, casual consumption defines us. Facing the specter of climate change from burning all that carbon, we look for ways to address it that won’t change our lifestyle. But we love our comforts. Instead of getting smaller and more efficient, popular new electric vehicles are…

You have no recourse. And no one cares. — Since our government has hopelessly given up on regulating tech companies, the only thing we can do when big tech abuses us is tell others. At least we can do that. For now. So here we go. I’ve used Mac computers for years but I’ve never been an iPhone fan…

We need to stop letting ourselves off the hook. — Having spent my entire working life in energy tech businesses, I’ve developed a sense for the metrics around energy, its consumption, costs, trade-offs of various sources, etc. So it’s been hard — so hard — to read and watch much of the reporting and commentary around climate issues recently. Nearly…

He’s probably listening to ‘experts.’ — Author’s note, December 19, 2022: I wrote the article below in February 2021, I also decided about then to just let go, let the whole crypto thing run its course for awhile and I largely tuned out. Why? Fascinating as it was, I knew crypto in general needed both a…