The answers to these two questions weave together quite nicely!

You may have noticed that things have been fairly quiet around Iterate for the past two months. While I intentionally needed to take a well-deserved break from the twice-weekly posting, the hiatus also coincided with some fun new projects that I’ve taken on.

One worth mentioning today is my work as the Project Manager for the upcoming Bay Delta Bioregional Unconference, happening May 9th in Oakland, CA.

Get Tickets to the Unconference!

You probably have plenty of questions, right? What exactly is an unconference? How did I get involved with such a thing? What exactly is the Bay Delta and why should people be concerned about regenerating it? I’ll see if I can answer these questions while providing a bit of humor, entertainment, and education along the way. Ok, let’s go.

While that may sound like chaos, the concept actually traces its roots back to Open Space Technology, a widely respected organizational framework created in the 1980s. There is a distinct structure and order to the madness. A well-trained unconference leader shepherds the crew through the process in a way that feels organic while ensuring all opinions are heard and acknowledged.

To be totally honest, this unconference that I am helping to produce will actually be the first one I attend! So I’m excited to learn more and see the magic in person on May 9th.

How did I get involved with this?

When I left my job at an influencer marketing agency late last year, I decided that I only wanted to take on new projects that really aligned with my values. Specifically, that meant taking on work that skewed toward climate change solutions and community action.

Could anything fit better than a role where I get to help create an event for people who care deeply about the current state of the San Francisco Bay Delta?

But what exactly is a bioregion? Unlike a state or county, a bioregion is a geographical area defined by its natural characteristics—things like watersheds, terrain, and ecosystems—rather than human-drawn political borders.

The San Francisco Bay Delta is the largest estuary on the West Coast. It is the hub of California’s water system, supplying water to millions of people and providing a critical habitat for hundreds of species of wildlife. In such a largely populated area, it’s important for people to know what needs to be done to ensure that our local waterways will be thriving well beyond our lifespans. We’re talking about mitigating sea-level rise, fighting pollution, and ensuring climate resilience for both human and non-human communities.

Needless to say, I was happy to throw my live-event producing skills, marketing know-how, and project management background into the fold to make this event a success.

What else do you need to know?

If you’re in the Bay Area, now is the time to get your tickets to the event.

Get Tickets to the Unconference Here

It’s happening May 9th at Oakstop in Downtown Oakland. It’s a beautiful venue that’s easily accessible by public transportation. I’ll be there for the duration of the event from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM on Saturday the 9th.

This is the fourth iteration of this gathering. The plan is to continue running the event each fall and spring to build it bigger. The beauty of the participant-driven format is that you’re guaranteed a new experience each time it takes place. The mix of attendees and diverse ideas will surely spark some interesting conversations with other environmentally conscious individuals.

I’m thrilled to be involved and would love to stay on board in some capacity to help plan future events.

How you can help

If you know of anyone in your extended network who may be interested in attending, I encourage you to reach out and share this with them. I’m happy to share some promotional materials and answer any questions that you (or they) may have.

And if you’re not in the Bay Area? I encourage you to look for similar events in your unique bioregion. If no events exist, organize one yourself!

Look, it’s no secret that it’s been a rough year for the environment. More specifically, it’s been a tough year for environmental agencies and any organizations that are reliant on federal funding. The onus to keep these things running now falls on local jurisdictions. The more we can rally people behind these causes and raise adequate funds, the better.

I’m proud to be working on this project, and I will have more to share as we get closer to the event. Look for a wrap-up story coming in late May or early June!

Hey! Could you use some help establishing healthy habits? Do you have a big project or new business that you want to get off the ground but could use some advice? Maybe you could benefit from hiring me as your coach. If you’re interested, read more about my coaching services here, or go ahead and book some time on my calendar to discuss further.

If you’ve been enjoying this content and want to show your support, I encourage you to become a paid subscriber!

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While I never like to complain about “California Cold” weather, it is jarring when we approach freezing temperatures overnight and in the early morning hours. But unlike during previous cold spells, this time our house is ready. Oh yes, we have not one, not two, but three heat pumps at our disposal to fight the cold without burning any fossil fuels.

Why 3 heat pumps? Wouldn’t one be sufficient? I don’t live in a massive mansion of a house. So let’s break down these three magical devices and the roles that they each serve.

Heat Pump #1 - Mr. Cool DIY - For my Office Shed

This was the first heat pump installed at our home. And selfishly, it only serves me when I’m working in my outdoor shed office. If you haven’t followed the saga of my shed office, it was a long, satisfying process to build a comfortable place to get work done year-round. And in that first year, I thought it would be sufficient to just use a small, portable heat and air conditioning combo machine. I thought the space was small enough that it wasn’t really worth the cost or effort to install a proper ductless mini-split system.

I was very wrong.

The portable system was prone to all sorts of problems. It was overly cautious and caused tripped breakers when my electrical system could clearly handle the load. When it did work, it did a decent job, but it just wasn’t practical. In an office space that is only about 12 ft x 8 ft in size, it seems silly to take up valuable floor space with a heating unit.

My office space also has amazing windows for natural light. Unfortunately, those windows are up high to catch the sunlight. That meant that I needed to have an unsightly tube going up the wall to allow the AC unit to expel air. And along with air, it also had to have a drainage tube or I needed to empty the water reservoir periodically as it became full. On cold, rainy winter days, large amounts of moisture were being pulled from the air and that reservoir needed very frequent changing.

So I quickly sold off the old unit to someone who could make better use of it. I should have opted for the ductless mini-split on day 1. Oh well, you live and you learn.

The Mr. Cool DIY model has become pretty popular as one (if not the only) DIY option out there. It costs a small fraction of the expense of getting a professional ductless mini-split option installed. It was certainly overkill for the small office space that I have, but it was easy to install and a great deal considering how well it works. It looks good on the wall and the outdoor unit is small, quiet, and inconspicuously tucked behind my shed in the shade of a lemon tree.

Heat Pump #2 - SanCO2 Air to Water Heat Pump

This is really the workhorse pump of my trio. It is the backbone of the Harvest Thermal system. It generates both heat and domestic hot water for our home. It is one of the most efficient heat pumps on the market and relies on CO2 as a natural refrigerant. Simply put, this machine is magical.

I’ve touched on the Harvest system before, but as a reminder, it heats up hot water using the SanCO2 heat pump. That water is stored in a tank as a thermal battery. The water can then be used to provide hot water for showers and laundry in the home, or it can be passed through a hydronic heat exchanger (a water coil) and distributed through a ducted system to heat the home. It’s tremendously efficient and better than the previous natural gas hot water heater and furnace in every way.

With the temperate climate of the Bay Area, this pump can keep our water hot and our indoor temperature comfortable for at least 300 days each year.

Heat Pump #3 - Carrier Supplemental Heating and Cooling

But for those roughly 65 other days...

Yes, our 3rd heat pump is the most powerful but also least used if the system is operating correctly. The Carrier system is able to pump serious amounts of hot or cold air into the house as needed to combat extended winter freezes or severe summer heatwaves. But most of the year it sits idly by waiting to be called into action.

During the cold snap this week, we’ve been happy to have it. And there will certainly be a few warm evenings thish summer and fall where we’ll appreciate the ability to cool down the house quickly. While our climate is still perfect for the QuietCool Whole House Fan, there are some days when more traditional air conditioning is the only option. And now we’ll at least have that fallback option even if it isn’t needed daily in the warmer months.

Future heat pumps?

Should I be satisfied with only 3? Are there any other potential heat pumps that could find their way into our lives? Well, technically most modern EVs contain heat pumps as well, so our iX and i3 would technically be considered mobile heat pumps themselves if we’re splitting hairs here.

And maybe another interesting use case would be a heat pump hot tub. While not nearly as popular as their power-hungry siblings, a heat pump hot tub offers the efficiency to allow a nice warm soak on a 100-amp service while all your other electric appliances are running. The technology is getting better and cheaper despite being a bit more complicated to install than a traditional tub with an electric coil heating element that commands far more electricity.

So there you have it. A rundown of my current and potentially future heat pump applications. While they may not seem like the sexiest piece of climate-saving technology, they really are a marvel of efficiency. If you live in a home with maybe just one or (gasp!) zero heat pumps, now could be the perfect time to add one. Even with the end of many federal incentives at the end of last year, state and local agencies are still providing plenty of financial motivation to get heat pumps up and running this year. If you’re interested in learning more, Rewiring America is a great resource to find out about local incentives in your region.

Long live the heat pump!

Hey! Could you use some help establishing healthy habits? Do you have a big project or new business that you want to get off the ground but could use some advice? Maybe you could benefit from hiring me as your coach. If you’re interested, read more about my coaching services here, or go ahead and book some time on my calendar to discuss further.

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Just when you thought that I was never going to write about the notorious Nimbus EV again! It’s 2026, and I have somewhat of a Nimbus update.

For those who aren’t aware, my pieces on the ill-fated Nimbus are some of my most-read posts. I think it’s mostly due to curious early adopters like me who are scouring the Internet for any nugget of information they can find on the tilting American Autocycle that never was.

No, Nimbus hasn’t come back to life. NimbusEV.com is still a dead site. And when you perform a Google search for “Nimbus EV”, I’m proud to say that my writing has now surpassed the official (but dead) Nimbus website in the search ranking! So that is likely how many of you are stumbling upon these words and my work. I’m sad that the Nimbus story ended the way it did. But I am glad that you found me!

So why am I re-kicking the proverbial tires on the Nimbus today? It’s because I finally found a semi-comparable replacement. No, it doesn’t have three wheels. And it’s not made by a hot new disruptive company. Nope, it comes from a company that got its start way back in 1916.

I’ve never considered myself a “car guy”. I’m certainly more of a “tech guy” or “gadget guy” if I had to slap on a label. But somehow, I now have a driveway that is home to two BMW electric vehicles. The iX and the i3. These shouldn’t be confused with the forthcoming vehicle appropriately called the iX3. Naming cars is such a silly game. The iX has been great as the larger, long-distance SUV family hauler in the last year that we’ve had it. But I’ve still had an itch for a more minuscule ride for city driving and short trips when the weather isn’t bike-friendly.

Yes, after a long courting period I finally admitted that the BMW i3 was the closest Nimbus relative I was going to be able to obtain in the foreseeable future. And I get it. The i3 is much more of a car than the strange self-balancing motorcycle pod that was the Nimbus. It’s a concession of sorts. I had to admit to myself that the future isn’t here quite yet. The i3 will have to stand-in as the placeholder until we get to the glorious future where we can buy actual small electric vehicles that can still travel at high speeds and carry cargo. Right now, the cars just aren’t compact enough in the US. And the electric motorcycles and e-bikes just don’t have the utility and long range comfort of an enclosed automobile. And believe me, I’m still rooting for the enclosed e-bike solution too.

So what is it about the i3 that makes it so unique? I don’t have to preach to the choir of i3 enthusiasts on the Internet. Spend five minutes on reddit or the BMW forums and you’ll see that this car obviously has a cult following. It’s a vehicle that still feels like it was created in the not-too-distant future but it also hasn’t been made in five years. It’s like the folks at BMW who designed it were able to glimpse into a magic window where they could view the future. But then the window was slammed shut, and maybe the house containing the window was also demolished. The point is, there just aren’t other vehicles for sale right now in California that have the same utility and comfort in such a small footprint. You can clearly see the design inspiration when comparing the interiors of the Nimbus and i3. Natural wood tones, an airy greenhouse vibe, and doors that open at unconventional angles.

The only comparable electric hatchbacks of similar size could be the Fiat 500e or the electric Mini Cooper. They’re both totally suitable small electric vehicles but seem to lack the futuristic feeling of the i3. The Fiat doesn’t maximize its usable space as well. The Mini does look great but it feels too similar to its gas-powered sibling. The i3 doesn’t really have any peers.

And that’s not to say the i3 is perfect, no vehicle ever is. While the latest model years still feel relatively modern as long as you’re getting the larger dashboard screen and BMW app connectivity, the car is still showing its age a bit. The 120ah battery is rated to give 153 miles on a full charge. Of course that could vary a bit in either direction given the conditions and your driving style. But if you’re looking for an EV with huge range, you’ll definitely find better options than the i3.

Sure, it can be specced out with driving assistance and convenient technology packages. But if you’re used to autonomous driving on any modern EV, the i3’s version of this will feel like it’s from the stone age.

Throw those things aside and just look at the rough comparison to the Nimbus. To be fair, the Nimbus was never more than a trade show prop that made a few test drive appearances. So take all of its claims with a grain of salt. It never fully ramped up manufacturing and we can never really be sure what was fact and what was fiction. Having said all that, the higher spec Nimbus that I put down a deposit for was able to achieve highway speeds (75 mph) and offer roughly 128 miles of range. That is fairly close to the i3.

The biggest difference in my mind was the ability to lane split through traffic with the Nimbus. As nimble as the i3 is, it can’t legally skirt through a California rush hour traffic jam. That’s the same thing that can be said for all cars that aren’t motorcycles, so it’s not really a knock on the i3. It’s just that an enclosed vehicle that is immune to traffic is really the ultimate California dream.

So I’ll keep my eyes open for a true Nimbus successor. The folks at Organic Transit seem to be making good progress on bringing the ELF back to life. I think that’s an awesome design that would be great for many people. But it’s not a vehicle that can reach highway speeds. It competes with an electric cargo bike in my mind more than a small car. And I think that Wink Motors is super interesting with their microcars. Sadly, none of them can legally drive faster than a Class 3 e-bike. Maybe there is a world where tariffs and import laws change and it’s viable to import similar microcars to the US from Europe or Asia. If that form factor can safely allow for travel at 65 mph or faster, it could work in the US. Finally, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if someone purchases what’s left of Nimbus and tries to give it another go. It would give me more to write about as this saga has been a joy for me to follow over the past few years.

Until then, I’ll likely still ride my bike most places. But when I need an actual enclosed automobile, the BMW i3 is still the best option right now.

Hey! Could you use some help establishing healthy habits? Do you have a big project or new business that you want to get off the ground but could use some advice? Maybe you could benefit from hiring me as your coach. If you’re interested, read more about my coaching services here, or go ahead and book some time on my calendar to discuss further.

If you’ve been enjoying this content and want to show your support, I encourage you to become a paid subscriber!

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Why hello there! It’s good to have you all reading here in 2026. This has been my longest break from writing on this publication. And I’ve missed it!

It’s been a strange couple of months to end 2025. Let’s recap a little bit.

Back in October, I left my job at the marketing agency I had been working at for seven years. It certainly wasn’t unexpected, the proverbial writing had been on the wall for a while. There was new management that brought different viewpoints on how the job should be done. And of course, there was plenty of new AI software that could do aspects of my job far quicker and more thoroughly than I could ever imagine.

Seven years is a long time to work somewhere. In that span of time, a company will inevitably start to recycle ideas that didn’t work the first time around. You start to feel like the institutional knowledge and experience you possess becomes more of a liability than an asset. I had simply just outgrown the position and there was nowhere to go but out. It’s never easy leaving a role you’d been in for that long, but I had come to terms with it long before it actually happened.

So that left the end of 2025 feeling even more transitional or transient than the holiday months typically feel. The new found freedom gave me more time to spend with my kids and really dive into my community. I found myself volunteering for everything I could at my daughter’s elementary school. It gave me time to wrap up training for a half marathon in which I bettered my time from a year ago despite being older and more gray this time around.

Perhaps it was just coincidence that I also managed to take first place in two fantasy football leagues this year. Not a bad way to pocket some extra cash during the holiday season but also a very fun way to stay in touch with old friends while making some great new ones as well.

In the last few months, I also completed my certification as an electrification coach through Rewiring America. With so much awful news everyday about the state of our environment and what little our government is doing about it, I found solace in the things I could control. I could make sure that my home had no appliances that were powered by fossil fuels. No gas dryer. No gas stove. No gas water heater. No gas furnace. No cars with internal combustion engines.

It was way more complicated and expensive than it should have been, but I was able to fully electrify my home and remove the gas meter in December. And I installed a 16kwh battery system to store energy collected from the rooftop solar array. And all the information that I learned along the way just needs to be shared with other homeowners (and renters for that matter) so they can do the same. Hence the electrification coach certification. After several weeks of in-depth classes learning about heat pumps, EV charging, and solar panels, I wrap-up the certification with a capstone project that lets me share what I learned and help others. So this weekend I’ll be hosting an event at my home to show off the work to interested community members so they can attempt to replicate it. By no means do I have all the answers to climate change, but I think I know more than the average citizen and I’m happy to help others in any way possible.

Since moving on from my previous job, I’ve given more focus to the work I do at Caveday. If you’re anything like the millions of people who’ve set intentions to get more done this year, you should book a session at Caveday to see what it’s all about. I will likely be ramping up the number of caves that I personally lead each week, and you’ll certainly see me attending plenty of other caves where I can block out distractions and make those meaningful community connections that help keep motivation high. Nearly all of the writing I do in this space is completed in the friendly confines of “the cave”.

And after a bit of a hiatus while my son was born, I am getting back into coaching. Yes, did you know that I’ve been helping clients improve their relationship with technology and build positive productivity habits since 2014? My how time flies. In addition to Caveday being an amazing New Year’s resolution tool, maybe you just need some one-on-one time with someone to help clarify your intentions and hold you accountable. And if you’ve enjoyed reading my writing, you’d likely enjoy having me as your coach. Feel free to check out the coaching page of my website or just send me a direct message on Substack if you want to chat about it. I’m open to taking on a small group of new clients in addition to revisiting some of my past clients in the coming weeks. It would be great to get some Iterate readers on board.

It wouldn’t be a proper new year update without some tech and gadget news! What new gear have I been enjoying lately? After a few years of toying with the idea, I finally swapped out my MacBook Pro for a Mac Mini and I’ve been loving it. From roughly 2008-2021 I had an iMac on my desk. Yes, I had plenty of other laptops along the way, and there was a stretch when my outdated iMac felt more like home decor than a productive machine. But the point is that I really do love a solid Mac desktop computing experience. The current line of iMacs just don’t do it for me. The Mac Mini is arguably the best deal in computing right now. I scored the base Mac Mini M4 through a Microcenter deal for only $399. It works great with my existing Samsung Smart Monitor and the Apple keyboard and trackpad that I had been using with my laptop setup.

When away from my desk, I still loving using my Pixelbook. I know it’s probably on its last legs but it hasn’t made me miss my Mac laptop at all. Its battery life is still better than the far newer Macbook Pro I just traded-in. I like typing on the keyboard better than a MacBook keyboard. It has a touchscreen and can flip into a tablet while weighing barely more than an iPad. It’s a magnificent little device and can even let me remotely access the Mac Mini for any Apple-specific things I need to do.

In conclusion, Mac Mini + Pixelbook = still an amazing computing combo in 2026.

That’s all for now. Thanks for reading my rambling new year update and apologies for the lack of new writing over the past few weeks. I’ve been busy. But I’m very excited for all of the possibilities of 2026. I may still take a break from the steady twice weekly updates, but there will be new and hopefully very interesting writing coming your way soon.

Hey! Could you use some help establishing healthy habits? Do you have a big project or new business that you want to get off the ground but could use some advice? Maybe you could benefit from hiring me as your coach. If you’re interested, read more about my coaching services here, or go ahead and book some time on my calendar to discuss further.

If you’ve been enjoying this content and want to show your support, I encourage you to become a paid subscriber!

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We’re all getting old. Our memories aren’t what they used to be. We’re going to need tools to help us remember all of the constant thoughts that flood our monkey minds.

I honestly thought there would be a ubiquitous piece of consumer tech that helped us remember everything by now. Where is the tiny camera on a necklace that lets us replay any moment of our day?

Sure, some people are wearing smart glasses, but are they solving the memory problem or just creating another angle to take photos and use AI?

So consider me extremely excited for a new product on the way from Pebble. Yes, this is the Pebble who made the most amazing smartwatch before smartwatches were really a thing. It’s the same Pebble the died but lived on through dedicated open source users. And it’s the Pebble that was reincarnated by its original creator under a new hardware company called Core. In addition to releasing a modern version of quite possibly the best smartwatch ever made, they now have a new product.

It’s called the Pebble Pebble Index 01 and it’s available for pre-order now before shipping in the Spring of 2026.

The idea of this product is so simple that it almost seems like it comes from both the past and the future at the same time. What if you took a smart ring but removed all of the sensors and replaced them with a push-button microphone to only capture audio notes?

It’s deceptively simple, but a lesson in restraint and compromise. This thing won’t tell you how great you slept last night. It won’t keep track of your steps or resting heart rate. It will just sit back and wait for you to have a compelling thought that you don’t want to lose.

Using just one hand, you can press its button and speak into it as needed. The form factor is so smart. I can see myself easily recording a voice note while out on a run or riding my bike. The fact that you don’t need two hands or an annoying wake word to make the ring listen to you is fantastic.

That little gesture of thumb and index finger coming together just feels natural. I’m surprised we haven’t been using it for other actions with our smartwatches or existing rings. I just feel like I would naturally establish a habit of doing that whenever a thought popped into my head.

So these audio recordings get saved throughout the day and then you can dive into them later using the Pebble app. The other great thing about this company is that everything they do is open sourced. There will be endless ways to interact with your saved recordings. You should be able to easily save them to other apps or take advantage of LLMs that let you parse through what’s important and what isn’t. This technology is only as useful as the method being used to retrieve these nuggets of wisdom that spout from your brain throughout the day.

Maybe the obvious question you’re asking is can’t my phone or smartwatch already do this? Of course the answer is yes. But the magic lies in the simplicity here. You could always pickup your phone and record a message to yourself to remember something. But you’re also likely to see notifications on the screen and get distracted from what you were originally doing. Recording audio on my Pixel Watch has been hit or miss. Relying on wake words isn’t as reliable as pressing a physical button. And the one-handed method of recording on the Index just seems like the most natural way to capture this audio.

Using a ring without a screen to remember things just seems like the most civilized approach. You won’t get distracted. You’ll be able to stay extremely present without losing that valuable insight that comes when you least expect it. That feels like magic to me.

So what are the downsides here? I’ve only managed to find one but it may be a big one. This first iteration of the Index is not rechargeable. There is a non-user replaceable battery embedded in the device. Because there is no screen, they’re claiming that the battery life is “years” but once the battery does eventually die, you’re out of luck. They are saying that you can send the ring back to them for recycling once the battery gives out. And presumably, you could order another ring if you wanted one. Maybe if they offered a recycling/50% off your second ring when you send it back, that could work. I absolutely hate the idea of disposable gadgets, but I do understand the trade-offs between battery life and ring size.

The Index would have had to be slightly larger to accommodate a removable battery or charge port. There is an argument that it would have been worth it to add that feature, but I understand the decision. The bigger question is whether the battery will actually last “years”. If you’re recording a lot of daily audio on this thing and it needs replacing after a few months, it certainly doesn’t seem worth it.

A company that is build on community support and open-source possibilities, should allow its products to live for as long as possible without ending up in the landfill. I commend any company that offers recycling programs when their products hit the end of their usable life span, but the reality is that a small percentage of people actually take advantage of these programs. Most users will throw an item in the garbage when it no longer serves them.

Based on the initial comments on the product announcement YouTube video, I’m not the only one who questions the decision to not include a rechargeable battery.

That decision can still probably be overlooked with everything else the Index has going for it. There is no monthly subscription to use the service. It can be pre-ordered now for only $75, which seems like a very reasonable price. It’s rare to see any piece of technology launch for a price that only includes two digits.

There shouldn’t be any privacy concerns here as all of the processing will be happening locally on the Pebble app. I’m sure there could be some hiccups along the way, but this seems like a very straightforward way to keep track of all of your thoughts that come and go throughout the day.

I’ll obviously have to reserve all judgment until I get a chance to use the product myself. I’m very curious to see how these ideas are organized and resurfaced when you need them. I could see it being a problem if it’s just recording all of these things but then not making it intuitive to retrieve them and act on them. I think it will need to rely on some connections to other apps to really shine. Thankfully, a dedicated community of hackers and tinkerers will help the Index get there.

Anyone else excited enough to get their pre-orders in now? Could be a great holiday gift for the forgetful person in your life. They’ll just need to wait until March to unwrap it.

Hey! Could you use some help establishing healthy habits? Do you have a big project or new business that you want to get off the ground but could use some advice? Maybe you could benefit from hiring me as your coach. If you’re interested, read more about my coaching services here, or go ahead and book some time on my calendar to discuss further.

If you’ve been enjoying this content and want to show your support, I encourage you to become a paid subscriber!

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A few months back, a new feature was added to my Google Home App. Google thought it would be useful to offer an AI-generated summary of everything captured by my Google/Nest security cameras over the course of a day.

Hmm, in theory, this seems like a decent idea. I’d like to know what’s going on around my home and I certainly don’t have time to scrub through hours of camera footage. Why not just have Google send me a quick rundown of what happened each evening?

You can probably already sense that I’m going to shift into negativity mode and start bashing the summaries I’ve been receiving. But before I do... well, let’s look at the positive aspects first.

There are days where I’m not actively looking at my camera notifications. Maybe I’m really focused on some deep work and turned off the alert that lets me know a package was left at the front door. Or—and this is a real example—maybe your AI camera assistant notifies you that it saw a family of raccoons hanging out in front of your garage very early in the morning. That’s kinda neat.

The one time where I found it to be truly useful was when our cat decided to sneak out the front door one evening. A quick summary mentioning that a cat was seen walking by the front door is actually pretty useful. It allowed me to quickly jump to that moment, check the timestamp, and deduce that she got out at 5:00 PM. Knowing exactly when she left made it much easier to figure out how far she may have wandered. Don’t worry, we were able to find the cat just down the street.

And that really highlights where AI shines: enhancing your ability to contextualize things captured on your cameras. When I know a package was delivered, it’s much easier to just type “package” into the search bar than to scroll through hours of video searching for a delivery truck.

And that’s about the extent of the usefulness I’ve found. In reality, the AI summaries read like a rambling, confusing recollection of the day’s events from a toddler.

If there were legitimate security issues baked into the summary, I wouldn’t realize it. “A man walked through the backyard” could be me checking something in the garden in the afternoon, or it could mean a prowler sneaking around in the middle of the night.

Gemini also still has trouble identifying specific faces of friends and family members. It has mistakenly told me that a friend was arriving at my front door unannounced when in reality it was just a delivery person who bore no resemblance. And while there are obviously some similar traits, it’s wild how often Gemini confuses my daughter for my wife when identifying people coming and going throughout the day.

This is the type of technology that will surely improve over time. The more people use the home brief feature, the more they can give constructive feedback to help things improve. The bigger question is: how long will that take and how much will people be willing to pay for it?

Yes, I do have a Gemini Premium subscription and I’ve been a longtime subscriber to the Nest Aware monitoring system. I still think the services are worth paying for. But how much is too much? Would a feature like this make me more likely to continue paying for it? I’m not sure. I think it has a long way to go.

I also think that maybe my use case isn’t conducive to AI monitoring like this. Do I really need to know every time my dog walks in the backyard? Maybe it makes more sense for people with higher security concerns, or a business that wants a better sense of customers entering and exiting all day.

Hey! Could you use some help establishing healthy habits? Do you have a big project or new business that you want to get off the ground but could use some advice? Maybe you could benefit from hiring me as your coach. If you’re interested, read more about my coaching services here, or go ahead and book some time on my calendar to discuss further.

If you’ve been enjoying this content and want to show your support, I encourage you to become a paid subscriber!

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Happy Thanksgiving week to those Americans who are celebrating the occasion! For my Canadian readers, apologies for being late.

This week we should all pause for a moment in our hectic lives to appreciate all that we do have…and maybe let AI help us shop for all the holiday gifts that our loved ones want but do not yet have.

Lots of good content to share this week from around the Internet.

Thank you as always for reading and if you’re feeling extra generous why not become a paid subscriber or share my work with someone else who may enjoy it?

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🖥️ Tech

AI as a holiday shopping tool

I wanted to share a great article from the New York Times about the proliferation of AI shopping assistants this holiday season.

It’s true, we are no longer alone when purchasing holiday gifts. We do have the power of a host of virtual assistants to make sure we’re finding that perfect gift at the perfect price point.

While ChatGPT, Gemini, and all the usual AI suspects can be used for this purpose, the NY Times article also mentions an increase in chatbot assistants built by specific brands. And that makes a lot of sense. When many of the products we buy are available at a variety of retailers, we may be more likely to purchase them from the store who offers up the most helpful assistant to make sure we’re getting exactly what we need without wasting a whole lot of time searching for it.

You can see an example of Target’s branded shopping assistant above. It looks pretty slick to me but I’m not sure I’d put all my trust in a mouse whose earmuffs aren’t actually covering their ears.

Do you fall into that 42 percent? Have any of you taken Target’s virtual mouse shopper for a spin yet?

🎓 Productivity/Work/Software/Gear

Inbox Purge

This is probably worth saving for its own post where I rant about the state of my inbox.

Let’s just say that I used to be a very dedicated inbox zero person. The cleanliness of my inbox was arguably more important than the cleanliness of any of my physical spaces.

But at some point, I just had to give up. Maybe it’s the business of being a parent and caring less about these things as I get older. Or maybe it’s just an insane influx of emails from all walks of life.

Either way, I found myself recently in need of an Inbox Purge. And of course there is a piece of software with that name to help you out!

Inbox Purge gives your inbox some super powers to quickly find, delete, and/or unsubscribe from messages in bulk. There are a variety of price tiers but I found it helpful to pay for a week-long license to do a quick cleanup.

Did it solve my problems? It certainly helped but I still have some work to do. With all of the powerful computing that happens instantaneously in our lives, it’s still mind boggling that it can take a while for emails to delete. I noticed several hangups where I wasn’t sure if anything was happening or not. It still requires some effort to sort through what’s needed and what’s not needed in your inbox. No piece of software can really answer that question for you, but they can help you take action once you know what stays and what goes.

Any other Inbox Purge users out there? Any other software that you’ve found to work well at taming the inbox?

♻️ Health/Environment/EVs

Plia Smart Batteries

If all goes according to plan, I should have my solar panels and Sig Energy battery backup system installed just before the end of the year.

So, I likely won’t need any additional backup batteries in my house right now. But, I’m still tempted to get one of these super cool batteries from a company called Plia.

Based right here in the Bay Area, Plia offers smart battery backup systems that offer lots of flexibility for homes that don’t have large scale whole-home backup systems.

For example, you could get one of these gorgeous batteries to store above your refrigerator. If there is a power outage, the fridge can remain powered on for hours and you can monitor all the details using Plia’s app.

Maybe you only need one or two batteries to power up the essentials during an emergency. Or maybe you add on some additional battery packs to get you through longer blackouts. The point here is that the Plia offerings are very customizable and quite a bit less expensive than having a large battery or two in your garage or basement to power your whole house. And it doesn’t hurt that they are so easy on the eyes.

I think it’s an amazing idea and a beautiful product that I’d be happy to use in addition to my newly-installed system. Plia is taking pre-orders now and will be shipping their batteries early next year in a variety of colors with a plethora of accessories to help you find the perfect system for your needs.

🛍 Grab Bag

Yule Book Flood

Are you familiar with the concept of a Yule Book Flood?

It stems from an Icelandic custom of books being published just before the holiday season in an effort to sell copies to eager bookworms looking to read in the coziness of winter. These books are often gifted on Christmas Eve where families read together by the fire while indulging in holiday sweets and warm drinks.

A lovely image isn’t it?

I only discovered the idea last year when one of my favorite local stores celebrated by offering an eclectic variety of beautiful books paired with chocolate and festive drinks.

Yes, I did purchase that beautiful copy of “The Wind in the Willows” you see in the photo above last year for my daughter. It was a hit and I plan on continuing the tradition this year. A California Yule Book Flood may not feel the same without an impending 3 months of frigid darkness, but the sentiment can really be appreciated in any climate.

May this be your public service announcement to purchase more books as gifts this year. And bonus points if you can find creative food or drink pairings to bundle with the books!

💬 Quote of the Week

🎧Content Review

The Micromobility Podcast is Back!

Loyal readers might remember that I first recommended the Micromobility Podcast way back in Iterate Weekly #100 in February of 2023.

At the time, I thought it was the best place to learn all about the emerging industry of e-bikes, electric scooters, mobility sharing trends and anything else in the world of light, electric vehicles.

Well, the podcast changed hosts and formats several times and then went on a roughly year-long hiatus. But I was pleasantly surprised to see it back in my podcast feed recently with some really informative episodes.

Any of the interviews with Micromobility Industries founder Horace Dediu are particularly valuable in my opinion. I could honestly listen to him talk about mobility trends all day long. And an early heads up that there will be another Micromobility America conference happening in San Francisco later this year. I plan to be in attendance and may also be one of the featured speakers. More to come on that, but enjoy the Micromobility podcast in the meantime!

Thanks for reading, I’ll see you next week!

Hey! Could you use some help establishing healthy habits? Do you have a big project or new business that you want to get off the ground but could use some advice? Maybe you could benefit from hiring me as your coach. If you’re interested, read more about my coaching services here, or go ahead and book some time on my calendar to discuss further.

Have you been enjoying my work? Do you want to help support my ability to keep this publication going? Please consider becoming a paid subscriber!

Pledge Your Support

I ride my bike for nearly every transportation need within a roughly 3-mile radius.

It isn’t all that difficult to pull off. We’re fortunate to live in a place that is relatively densely populated with above average (by American standards) bike infrastructure. My children’s school, several grocery stores, and most other amenities are within a mile’s trek.

Bike paths help make the longer journeys quite comfortable within that three mile range. And we also live in a climate that makes outdoor recreation rather pleasant year-round. For about nine months out of the year, we have zero risk of rain. While that may be a problem for dwindling reservoirs, it’s great for getting around town on a bike without worrying about getting wet.

But we do get some winter weather.

Now, winter weather in the Bay Area is certainly not that bad. We’re talking about chances of rain with temperatures typically in the upper 50s or low 60s. But rain is rain and it can quickly change your plans when you were expecting to ride your bike somewhere.

So what’s the alternative on a rainy day? I’m still searching for that perfect enclosed bike cabin. Sure, there are some decent public transportation options but driving around in a car becomes the de facto option when the weather is inclement. And recently, we decided to sell our second car that was sitting idle 95 percent of the time.

Having just one car in a family of four is totally doable. With parents who work from home and kids who can be taken to activities on foot or electric cargo bike, it’s usually fine.

Except for when those rainy winter days come along and the primary car is in-use. There are sometimes instances where two cars would be convenient if not essential.

Basically, I’m making the case here for owning 1.5 cars.

Well, you can’t really own half a car but having a second automobile at your disposal for only the rainy months seems like an amazing option for families in California!

How would this work in practice? The easy solution is a seasonal car lease. If I could lease a second car from November to March at a reasonable price, I would absolutely do it. Of course, I understand the complications that come along with an agreement like that. Insurance and registration come to mind. It would essentially be a long term car rental rather than a short term car lease I suppose.

Then when spring time rolls around and the threat of showers has passed for the next six months, that extra car won’t be taking up space in the garage or driveway. You can get back into the habit of effortlessly biking to all of your destinations!

And perhaps you can opt-in to renew that seasonal car loan for next year at a discounted rate?

This probably seems like a pie-in-the-sky nonsense idea from an entitled so-and-so who is lucky enough not to need to drive long distances or deal with miserable weather. Fair enough, I can’t argue with that.

I just wanted to articulate an idea that has been in the back of my head for a while. Having just one family car can sometimes be tricky. Having two cars almost always feels frivolous. What I’m looking for here is really just 1.5 cars. Anyone else on board with this idea?

Maybe my answer lies in the elusive rain-protected bike that doesn’t seem to be getting any closer to reality. E-bike manufacturers have really been pushing expensive e-bikes as a car replacement. And they certainly can be in a lot of situations. But even the most expensive cargo bike solution with all of the rain protection accessories is only marginally useable in all climate conditions.

Two cars has long been the standard solution for American households, but I think it’s more complex than that. Can we push for 1.5 (preferably electric) cars and 1.5 micromobility vehicles to round out our transportation plan? An electric scooter here, a bakfiets there? We may need more garage space, but it would make our daily commutes more sustainable, more fun, and just more interesting no matter what type of weather we’re dealing with.

Hey! Could you use some help establishing healthy habits? Do you have a big project or new business that you want to get off the ground but could use some advice? Maybe you could benefit from hiring me as your coach. If you’re interested, read more about my coaching services here, or go ahead and book some time on my calendar to discuss further.

If you’ve been enjoying this content and want to show your support, I encourage you to become a paid subscriber!

Pledge Your Support

Let’s jump into this week’s stories shall we?

Thank you as always for reading!

🖥️ Tech

Google launches Gemini 3

Another day, another new AI model to celebrate!

Maybe there is a hint of sarcasm in that comment, but I have genuinely been loving the work that Google has put into Gemini lately. It has become my most-used AI model and it’s only getting better today with the release of Gemini 3.

You can check out the full explainer video below.

You’ll hear plenty of AI marketing jargon here but there seem to be a few noticeable improvements. Gemini 3 is really all about multi-modal responses that should be smarter and faster.

I love the possibility of building more advanced learning and training plans that work across the full suite of Google products. I’ve had mixed results when trying to do this recently in Perplexity and I have a feeling that Gemini will be more seamless when it comes to connecting with Google Calendar and Google Drive.

So today, it might just be an overhyped product announcement. But over the coming weeks, I think we’ll see some more tangible examples of how Gemini 3 is improving over its predecessors. Maybe I’ll have to see if it’s gotten any better at branding my fantasy football team!

🎓 Productivity/Work/Software/Gear

4 Ways of Rethinking Work

I wanted to share a recent blog post from the folks at Caveday that really resonated with me.

It’s called “4 ways of rethinking work” and it really had me thinking about how I categorize my hobbies, career, and just plain old “work”.

This quote really sums it up best:

I couldn’t agree more. As I’ve been rethinking my career arc over the past few months, I’ve been taking stock of what drives me as a vocation and what brings me joy as maybe nothing more than a hobby.

If you want to dive even deeper, I recommend checking out Elizabeth Gilbert’s video that examines the differences between hobbies, jobs, careers, and vocations.

♻️ Health/Environment/EVs

Autonomous airport transportation is here

Take a look at that fine vehicle in the picture above.

It’s a glimpse into the future of driverless transportation to help get you and your baggage around the airport quickly and safely.

Aurrigo is the company behind the technology and it is currently being piloted at Teesside Airport in the UK with hopes of spreading to other airports soon.

There are two versions of the craft being tested right now. The version seen above will carry human passengers around the airport terminal without any human driver.

Another variation launching in the next few months will help to transport luggage around the tarmac by autonomous means.

While some people may still have hangups about fully autonomous vehicles crowding all of our public roadways, it’s hard to argue that the airport seems like the perfect place to deploy this technology. Luggage carriers are often performing the same route over and over throughout the day with minimal variables that could get in the way.

And while a train to connect terminals makes the most sense at large airports, something like the Aurrigo shuttle is perfect for getting passengers around smaller regional terminals. Here is a way to do it quickly, safely, and without any fossil fuels. Sounds like a win-win-win.

🛍 Grab Bag

Swrve lives on!

After announcing that they would be shutting down a few months ago, Los Angeles-based clothing company Swrve has found a new life.

Yes, new owners will be taking over the brand and maintaining its unique blend of durable, stylish clothing that’s tailored for cyclists and outdoor enthusiasts.

Items from Swrve make up a large portion of my wardrobe. Their Cordura nylon infused jeans are nearly indestructible while being some of the most comfortable pants I own. And over the past few months I’ve picked up several of their overshirts that are a perfect layering piece for California winters.

If you’re in the market for clothes that will stand up to miles of bike rides while still looking great, go check out some of their drastically discounted items. Right now, they are looking to sell out their current inventory before restocking under the new ownership.

Excited to see what elements remain and where the new ownership takes them!

💬 Quote of the Week

📧 Content Review

Writer’s Productivity Substack

This week, I wanted to give a shoutout to a fellow Substack publication that is doing some amazing work.

If you consider yourself to be any type of writer, you should be reading “Writer’s Productivity”.

Writer’s productivity

Welcome to Writer’s Productivity

I’m so glad you’ve found your way here…

Read more

8 months ago · 3 likes · 2 comments · Writer’s productivity

Despite only starting up a few months ago, I’ve been very impressed with the consistent output of motivational and tactical tips that Nathan has been churning out. Whether you’re looking to start your own Substack or just make better use of your productive time each week, you’ll definitely learn something new by following his work.

Thanks for reading, I’ll see you next week!

Hey! Could you use some help establishing healthy habits? Do you have a big project or new business that you want to get off the ground but could use some advice? Maybe you could benefit from hiring me as your coach. If you’re interested, read more about my coaching services here, or go ahead and book some time on my calendar to discuss further.

Have you been enjoying my work? Do you want to help support my ability to keep this publication going? Please consider becoming a paid subscriber!

Pledge Your Support

This week I had the pleasure of taking in a conversation with Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

I had hoped to attend the discussion in-person but as is the nature of being a dad with two young kids, a virtual session via Zoom was far more convenient.

On a side note, paying 20-ish dollars to watch a ticketed live event via Zoom feels like a good deal to me. Sure, it’s great to give free access to things like this whenever possible, but a nominal fee for those of us who can’t get out on a Monday night but will happily watch a full-screen Zoom session with our feet up is much appreciated!

The Zoom platform gave the event early pandemic vibes. The production quality was stellar but there was certainly a voyeuristic feeling as the event was clearly tailored to the theater packed with Dubs fans and tech nerds. Oddly, the organizers decided to make the chatroom available for the duration of the event. Plenty of the attendees kept their cameras on, and a few had to be reminded to mute their audio. It was a chaotic but mostly positive, fun environment.

What about the discussion itself? Honestly, it felt like a somewhat peculiar pairing of guests and moderator. Manny Yekutiel of “Manny’s” SF fame was admittedly not a sports fan. He seemed to know very little about Kerr’s resume and even gave Steve some blank stares when he mentioned names like Rafael Nadal and Bjorn Borg. Kerr handled it as gracefully as he could but there were moments where you had to assume he was asking himself “who is this guy interviewing me and why am I here?”

I imagine that Altman was the draw for much of the audience. The enigmatic AI CEO has become perhaps the most prominent villain in the “tech is ruining SF” narrative. He seemed somewhat distant and hardly made eye contact with Yekutiel, who he claimed to be “a long time friend”.

It’s worth noting that the event kicked off with some fireworks as a man rushed the stage just as the guests settled into their seats. I could hear the word “subpoena” come through the Zoom broadcast but assumed it was a rogue demonstrator. While researching a bit more about the incident, it does appear that Altman may have technically been served a proper subpoena by California law whether any of the audience realized it or not. TBD on that for another day, but it’s worth mentioning here as it may end up being the most noteworthy story of the night.

Altman has a character to play and he does it well. He talked about the potential negative impacts of AI on society. He didn’t sugarcoat anything. I was taken aback once or twice when he described specific instances where AI could or would be used for harm. Sure, I guess it’s possible that someone uses ChatGPT to concoct the next super-virus, how worried should we be about that?

I did appreciate the discussion the men shared about the future of work. While AI has been at the front and center of the argument for technology stealing work from humans, Altman had a more long-term approach. He argued that most of our jobs would be unrecognizable to humans from 500 years ago. And there is a great chance that we wouldn’t be able to wrap our heads around the workforce 500 years from now. We can’t predict the jobs of the future, change is inevitable whether you deem it positive or negative.

Most of the memorable insights unsurprisingly came from the mouth of the Warriors coach. I loved his anecdote about joy being one of the core values of his team. One way they act on that value is by inviting the players’ children and families into the locker room area (sounds like they have a separate family room near the locker room but don’t quote me on the layout of the bowels of the Chase Center). Win or lose, the players find joy after the game seeing children running around being children. It’s a beautiful image, I sincerely believed Kerr when he said those post-game interactions were the highlight of his week. I’d also highly recommend checking out the video below where Kerr goes deeper into his philosophy of culture and vibe with former Warriors GM Bob Myers.

While I do know that quantifiable performance data is key to running a team in the modern NBA, I appreciated the description of the sophisticated technology used by the Warriors to track every movement of every player during practice sessions. Kerr also had a pretty insightful question for Altman about how soon he thinks NBA coaches will be relying on real-time AI usage during gameplay. At what point of the 3rd quarter would ChatGPT suggest Kerr give Steph Curry a rest? Sure, there are currently some analytics to help a coach’s intuition, but there will likely be a day when NBA games feel more like a simulation when coaches and players rely on AI to inform small changes throughout the game.

Overall, I’m really glad I tuned into the event even if it wasn’t without its flaws. I do wish there was a bit more chemistry between the men on stage, they still had their breakthrough moments. I’d also say that they short-changed the promise in the event description about discussing the future of San Francisco. The last awkwardly-phrased question offered up a softball where both guests talked about never imagining living anywhere else. That may be true, but it didn’t really tackle the current problems in SF or the long-term vision for how these two immensely powerful men could shape our fair city.

Kudos to Manny for attempting this difficult dance with two titans of their respective industries. Both men had much more important things they could have been doing on a Monday night. So while it could have run a little bit more smoothly, it’d have to be considered a net positive event.

Hey! Could you use some help establishing healthy habits? Do you have a big project or new business that you want to get off the ground but could use some advice? Maybe you could benefit from hiring me as your coach. If you’re interested, read more about my coaching services here, or go ahead and book some time on my calendar to discuss further.

If you’ve been enjoying this content and want to show your support, I encourage you to become a paid subscriber!

Pledge Your Support

Let’s jump into this week’s stories shall we?

Thank you as always for reading!

🖥️ Tech

Samsung’s new Galaxy XR headset

I’ve been bullish on VR/AR headsets for years. So how about XR?

Samsung recently announced its long-awaited new headset and here are my initial thoughts.

I’m excited to see what the new Android XR platform has in store. This is essentially creating a new open playing field for developers to mess around in. It’s bringing me back to the early days of Android and all of the amazing creativity (and also garbage) that came in that initial wave of apps. The barrier to entry here is obviously a bit higher, but I’m hoping that there will be some strange and unexpected hit apps on the way.

It’s certainly still an expensive device at nearly $1,800 but it seems like a bargain when compared to Apple’s Vision Pro at $3,500. Will that make it a compelling purchase this holiday season? I’m not so sure. I’m sure the Black Friday Deals are incoming for this thing. If someone sells a discounted version for $999, I’m sure it would sell. But that initial price is pretty steep when they don’t even include handheld controllers. Yes, those will cost you an extra couple hundred bucks.

The good news is that this device should be able to run any Android app even if it wasn’t one designed for an immersive experience. I’m sure there could be some initial compatibility hiccups, but that’s still pretty good. Will it be good for actual productivity? It certainly has the power to do it, and early reports are that it is comfortable enough to do it. Will people sit around in offices wearing this instead of looking at a large monitor? Probably not.

We need more competition in this space. I’m glad Samsung has thrown their hat into the ring. The device looks pretty slick to me. I don’t think I’ll be buying one anytime soon, but it’s certainly on my radar.

🎓 Productivity/Work/Software/Gear

Daylight Computers in the Wild

If you’re not already familiar with the amazing Daylight Computer, it is a machine designed to limit distractions while being used outdoors under natural light. As someone who is working on a laptop outdoors on a daily basis, I’m really excited to see where this product goes.

Specifically, I’m pretty impressed by the push to get these computers into the hands of kids as a less stimulating alternative to an iPad. The folks over at Daylight have been doing some really solid marketing work. I wanted to highlight their series showing “Daylight Computers in the Wild”.

In this latest entry in the series, it highlights Charlie Deist who is a homeschooling Dad in Northern California. The idea of children learning outside all day in nature while still getting a crash course in modern technology is truly impressive.

Kudos to Charlie and Daylight for highlighting this use case. I’m excited to see more examples of these powerful machines out in the wild. And I will say that a Daylight Computer is not a bad holiday gift for your kids this year. I may need to pick one up for my daughter.

♻️ Health/Environment/EVs

Oura Health Panels

It seems like Oura has been in the news a lot lately. You’ve likely been seeing the marketing blitz around their new colorful ceramic rings. I’ve been seeing the ads on TV in addition to plenty of marketing materials in my inbox.

But now there is another nice perk for Oura members. They’ll be able to get new bloodwork done at a fraction of the cost. They’re calling it Oura Health Panels.

Oura claims it’s $250+ worth of medical tests that will only cost $99 for members of the service. And it will be HSA and FSA eligible. Sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me.

What will be covered in this? Oura says that over 50 biomarkers can be tested when using their health panels. It all seems pretty impressive, but I can’t speak from experience just yet.

Yes, I am one of those Oura fans who has been wearing a ring since nearly the beginning of their journey. It seems worthwhile to take advantage of this offer. You can schedule an appointment right in the Oura App with a local Quest Diagnostics location near you.

Unfortunately, this will not be available for residents in Arizona, Hawaii, New Jersey, New York, or Rhode Island due to state-level legal and regulatory restrictions. But you should be good to check it out if you’re anywhere else in the US.

I’ll be sure to provide an update once I’m able to test out the health panels for myself!

🛍 Grab Bag

YouTube TV loses NBA League Pass

It’s the beginning of the NBA season!

Let’s all just forget about the huge gambling scandal going on right now and focus on another problem that the NBA has.

You can no longer access your NBA League Pass subscription though YouTubeTV.

This may not sound like a big deal to you, but it’s having a pretty big impact on the way I enjoy NBA basketball.

Picture this. You’re a busy dad who just got the kids to bed and now you want to watch a little roundball while cleaning up the huge mess in the kitchen. Last season, my go-to routine looked like this:

-Say “Hey Google, what are the scores of the NBA games?” to the Nest Hub Max in my kitchen near the sink where I wash dishes

-The Nest Hub Max then responses with the current games in progress and their scores.

-I can then choose the game with the closest score or most compelling matchup and say “Hey Google, play the (INSERT TEAM NAME HERE) game”

-Then the device would respond “Playing (INSERT TEAM NAME HERE) game on YouTubeTV

Within thirty seconds or so, I had deduced which game would be most exciting to watch in this moment and then I had it playing right in front of me. Typically, I also had the in-arena feed of the game so I could skip the commercials and enjoy all the Kiss Cam action I could handle. And I didn’t need to lift a finger so I could continue scrubbing the dishes without fumbling with my phone or trying to cast any media from the NBA app or YouTubeTV app.

Whether you’re an NBA fan or not. It was an amazing feature that worked incredibly well. And it seems like those days are over.

This season, Amazon has the exclusive deal on NBA League Pass. You need to signup in the Prime Video App and either watch games there or connect it to the NBA app. Both of these viewing experiences are inferior to YouTubeTV. They lack the voice controls I just mentioned and also limit your ability to build multi-view experiences to watch things other than basketball in your split-screen experience.

I love NBA basketball so I still subscribed. But I’m not happy about it. Let’s hope YouTubeTV can get back in the game next year. And please reach out if you’ve found any workaround to this issue!

💬 Quote of the Week

📧 Content Review

The FF Newsletter

We’re in the thick of fantasy football season. And by this point, you should probably know if your team is a contender (like my team “The St. Brown Nosers!) or a pretender (like my team “InLightofBreecentEvents”, formerly known as “Hock of Seagulls”...)

If your season is hanging in the balance and you need some guidance, may I suggest the amazing content coming from the folks over on Substack?

The FF Newsletter

A quick/easy summary of the best fantasy football headlines from each week, delivered to your inbox.

Twice a week they are churning out some can’t miss advice on who you need to pick up, who you need to drop, and all sorts of other fun info to make this fake sport even more enjoyable.

Go check them out and salvage your season, it’s not too late!

Thanks for reading, I’ll see you next week!

Hey! Could you use some help establishing healthy habits? Do you have a big project or new business that you want to get off the ground but could use some advice? Maybe you could benefit from hiring me as your coach. If you’re interested, read more about my coaching services here, or go ahead and book some time on my calendar to discuss further.

Have you been enjoying my work? Do you want to help support my ability to keep this publication going? Please consider becoming a paid subscriber!

Pledge Your Support

Chromebooks tend to get a bad wrap.

They’re thought of as cheap stand-ins for the “real” computers running Windows or Mac OS. They’re given to school kids or grandparents who can’t be bothered to learn how real computers work.

I’m not going to dispute all of those things. They are typically more affordable and easier to operate than the alternatives. But I thought it was worth taking a moment to wax poetically about how amazing my Pixelbook has been now after eight years of service. Yes, the original model first launched all the way back in October of 2017. Ah, what a simpler time it was back then.

For those who can’t remember that far back, the Pixelbook was introduced as the most high-end Chromebook computer ever built. It came with a hefty $999 starting price tag to reflect this as well. It may not sound like much in today’s tech dollars, but that price was borderline absurd based on the previous models of Chromebooks. Thankfully, the Pixelbook was more refined than the average Chromebook in every way.

The 12.5” touchscreen display was beautiful. The backlit keyboard felt amazing and had just the right amount of travel with each keystroke. I find it to be as good if not better than any keyboard that Apple has included in one of their computers.

The original Pixelbook just looked sexy. It had the right ratio of metal to glass to match the design language of the first generations of Pixel phones. It weighed less than a Macbook Pro and had excellent battery life.

The touchscreen could rotate all the way back to create a thick tablet that worked well with the Pixel Pen stylus. You could also flip it to stand in a “tent” mode to watch videos.

All aspects of this computer were really well thought-out. Maybe it had some trouble finding its audience, but it offered a very compelling package in my humble opinion.

And yet, Google abandoned it like many of its other products.

Maybe it was unrealistic to expect a newly-designed Pixelbook each Fall to accompany the new version of the Pixel phone. But at least give it a refresh every two or three years right? Google opted to focus on phones and largely ignore computers and tablets moving forward.

Yes, there was the strange Pixelbook Go offering but it never really lived up to the original in my mind. Even with upgraded specs, the styling just didn’t look as refined as the original.

However, the good news here is that Pixel products are typically defined by their software more than their hardware. And Google has not disappointed in that regard. The current software running on my Pixelbook is largely unrecognizable to the software that it shipped with. I don’t think I’ve ever owned a piece of technology that has gotten more software updates than my Pixelbook.

This machine has consistently gotten more useful over the years. The software has gotten way more robust while still maintaining its playful, approachable design. I love how functional and minimal it can be at the same time. I don’t think Google gets enough credit for the software designed for a screen this size. It’s not Android, it’s technically still Chrome OS. It can run Linux if you are so inclined. It offers a fully-baked version of the Google Play Store to download and run virtually any app that could run on an Android phone. I’ll admit that this functionality was pretty wonky in the early days but it has learned to resize and adjust app windows pretty seamlessly to ensure a positive experience.

To put it bluntly, there are very few things that the Pixelbook can’t handle in 2025. No, it won’t be a beast of a gaming machine. You probably won’t want to be using it for intense video editing or processor-heavy AI applications. But it’s gotten to be “good enough” at 99% of the tasks that I’ve thrown at it.

I’ve had other computers as my “daily driver” for most of the time I’ve owned my Pixelbook. I’ve gone through several Macbooks in this time but I always find myself smiling when I pick up the Pixelbook. The screen resolution and brightness may not compare to the modern Macbook but it makes up for that in usability and touchscreen features that make it feel like it’s replacing both a Macbook and an iPad.

Since the keyboard is such a joy to use, I’m happy to pick up the Pixelbook for lengthy writing sessions. Even after all these years, its battery life is still plenty serviceable in day-to-day practice. And I haven’t found a better device to use for scrolling through high-resolution magazines on a lazy weekend morning.

So today, I just wanted to heap praise on a piece of technology that I feel has been gravely underappreciated. With no clear successor in the Pixelbook lineup, these machines still have a place in today’s tech landscape. It’s a wonder what Google has been able to do with the evolving software over the years.

I know there will eventually be an end to the software updates. And this hardware will likely falter at some point soon. But until then, I’m going to enjoy every minute of using the original Pixelbook. I see it having a place in my retro tech hall of Fame once it’s finally retired from daily use.

Any other Pixelbook fans out there celebrating its eighth birthday this month?

Hey! Could you use some help establishing healthy habits? Do you have a big project or new business that you want to get off the ground but could use some advice? Maybe you could benefit from hiring me as your coach. If you’re interested, read more about my coaching services here, or go ahead and book some time on my calendar to discuss further.

If you’ve been enjoying this content and want to show your support, I encourage you to become a paid subscriber!

Pledge Your Support

Let’s jump into this week’s stories shall we?

Thank you as always for reading!

🖥️ Tech

Pixel Watch 4 is most repairable smartwatch

I’ve been wearing my new Pixel Watch 4 for the past couple of days. The quick review is that it is pretty darn similar to my Pixel Watch 3. It’s a trend that has permeated all of Google’s products this season. They are very incremental updates from the previous versions.

But here is one major improvement for this year’s Google smartwatch. The Pixel Watch 4 can now be called “the most repairable” smartwatch on the market!

Maybe that’s an odd title. And hopefully your watch works seamlessly for a long time and you won’t need to worry about repairability. But this is actually a huge deal in terms of sustainability and hopefully future smartwatches follow suit.

If your screen inevitably gets cracked, you shouldn’t throw the watch into the garbage and buy another one (even if you can afford it). No one is confusing a Pixel Watch 4 with a timeless Rolex or something that will be passed down to your grandchildren. But there is absolutely no reason why it can’t be repairable enough to at least last as long as your phone. Five years should totally be doable if you can swap out the screen or replace the battery.

I do miss the days of easily swappable batteries on smartphones. I’m not saying that we’ll get there with smartwatches anytime soon, but I do get excited about the possibility of easily upgrading the battery or RAM on my watch without needing to always by the latest and greatest version each year.

🎓 Productivity/Work/Software/Gear

The simple satisfaction of a paper shredder

Ok, this may sound strange but I’ve really been enjoying using a paper shredder lately.

I’m sure you all probably have one of these things tucked away somewhere in your office or in a closet. I totally forgot that we even had one, but it has come in handy as I’ve been cleaning up my garden shed office space lately.

The sound it makes can be intoxicating. The smell of freshly shredded paper is lovely. And it just feels really good to clean out drawers that have been filled with old receipts or documents that seemed important at the time but likely live somewhere else in a digital cloud.

Am I telling you all to drop everything and go buy a paper shredder? No, it’s probably not necessary. You can just as easily tear up these papers manually or just pitch them into the recycling bin in full sheet form. But personally, the allure of the shredder really motivated me to tidy up this week. And it might just do the same for you too.

♻️ Health/Environment/EVs

Rewiring America Electric Coach Certification

I’ve written a bit about all of the home projects I’ve been looking to get done this year before Inflation Reduction Act incentives dry up on December 31st.

While these may seem like pretty straightforward projects to tackle, I’ve had to do a whole lot of research. So much so, that I’ve considered myself to be somewhat of an expert lately on things like heat pumps, solar panels, backup batteries, induction cooking, etc.

So why not get some official certification to prove that proficiency in all things efficiency?

That’s why I’m currently enrolled to become a certified Electric Coach through the Rewiring America coaching cohort program!

It actually took me a couple of rounds of applications to get accepted into this highly in-demand program but it was well worth the wait. I thought I already knew a lot about decarbonizing my home, but it turns out I was really just scratching the surface.

I’ll likely have more to share as I come to the end of the four-week intensive program, but it has been an amazing experience thus far to connect with other like-minded folks from around the U.S. The goal once the program is done is to be able to work 1-on-1 with homeowners who are (understandably!) overwhelmed with all of the options out there when trying to make environmentally friendly upgrades to their home.

If that sounds like you, stay tuned and I’ll likely have some availability to coach you through the process starting next month!

🛍 Grab Bag

An evening of climate talk in a log cabin

A few weeks back, I recommended that you check out the amazing What if we get it right? Substack publication & podcast.

It’s been my go-to source for climate knowledge, truth, and general entertainment in what has been a very rough year for the earth.

Well recently I was fortunate enough to go see speak in person as part of the PointBlue Speaker Series in San Francisco.

It was a lovely evening of climate talk in a historic log cabin nestled in the Presidio. There was amazing energy at the sold out event and I think it’s safe to say that we all left feeling more energized and ready to tackle the immense climate work that lies before us.

Let this act as a friendly reminder to seek out and attend events like these in your community. Find like-minded individuals who can help you rally behind causes you believe in.

And I can’t wait for the release of the updated paperback version of “What if We Get it Right?” coming this spring!

💬 Quote of the Week

📕 Content Review

Such Great Heights

Here’s a book recommendation for all of the indie rock fans out there.

’s “Such Great Heights: The Complete Cultural History of the Indie Rock Explosion” has felt like it was written precisely for my musical tastes.

DeVille and I may be about the same age and experienced a similar journey through the world of indie rock. And I’ve enjoyed every page flip down memory lane.

As the title implies, each chapter breaks down a distinct era in the evolution of the indie rock genre. The included playlist at the start of each chapter is much appreciated and helps set the mood for a deeper discussion on the artists who shaped a generation of music fans.

When I heard DeVille’s interview on the “60 Songs That Explain the 90s: The 2000s” podcast with I instantly added the book to my reading list. It has absolutely not disappointed and I’m sad to be finishing it.

If any of those bands listed on the cover resonate with you, then you must give this book a read. And be sure to follow Chris DeVille’s Substack publication too while you’re at it!

Such Great Heights

Indie nostalgia from Chris DeVille. Debut book Such Great Heights: The Complete Cultural History of the Indie Rock Explosion coming Aug. 26, 2025 via St. Martin's Press: http://bit.ly/4bmi9S4

By Chris DeVille

Thanks for reading, I’ll see you next week!

Hey! Could you use some help establishing healthy habits? Do you have a big project or new business that you want to get off the ground but could use some advice? Maybe you could benefit from hiring me as your coach. If you’re interested, read more about my coaching services here, or go ahead and book some time on my calendar to discuss further.

Have you been enjoying my work? Do you want to help support my ability to keep this publication going? Please consider becoming a paid subscriber!

Pledge Your Support

Let’s jump into this week’s stories shall we?

Thank you as always for reading!

🖥️ Tech

The Pixel Watch 4 finally releases this week

It feels like so long ago that I purchased the Pixel Watch 4. But finally, it should be shipping out to me in the next few days.

I remember the days when smartwatches launched as proper companion devices on the same day as their flagship phone counterparts. Unfortunately, Google can’t seem to get their production calendars aligned. I’ve been using my Pixel 10 Pro now for a while, and it’s not without its issues. Yet my wrist is still adorned with last year’s tech!

Google’s latest smartwatch is still mostly a mystery. It was shown off during the launch event and there were some “hands-on” videos. I was convinced to make the pre-order purchase at the same time that I purchased my new phone. The trade-in deal for my Pixel Watch 3 wasn’t as good as last year’s deal, but it was enough to make me pull the trigger.

What do I need out of this new watch? It’s really just two simple things that Google needs to solve.

Battery life and better Gemini integration.

I’m so sick of an hour-long GPS-powered run sucking down almost all of the battery life on my Pixel Watch 3. I don’t want to worry about the watch dying overnight and leaving me without an important vibrating wrist alarm. And I want to feel like I’m in the future and the past simultaneously with real-time Dick Tracy-like Gemini conversations! Is that too much to ask?

I think not. Let’s see if Google was able to pull it off or if we’ll be disappointed for another year. I’m sure I’ll have more to say here next week after I’ve had a chance to put it through its paces.

🎓 Productivity/Work/Software/Gear

My Top 5 CreativeLive classes to buy before they go away!

You may have heard the news last week that my former employer CreativeLive is finally shuttering its extensive course catalog once and for all. You only have until the end of the year to purchase new courses or download the ones you already own. Act now or these amazing educational resources will be gone forever!

So in honor of this sad wind down, I’m going to give a few of my personal course recommendations that you should purchase while you have the chance. Maybe I’m biased as I personally produced and/or hosted each of these myself. But they are still as valuable today as they were the day they were created.

#1 - Designing Your Life with Bill Burnett & Dave Evans

#2 - How to Break the Habit of Self Doubt with Mel Robbins

#3 - Essential Storytelling Techniques with The Producers of Snap Judgment

#4 - Heroic Public Speaking with Michael & Amy Port

#5 - The Power of Body Language with Vanessa Van Edwards

Go check these out before they disappear forever! And keep your eyes peeled for your’s truly popping up as host & moderator in many of these!

♻️ Health/Environment/EVs

Ford’s Electric Bronco could be a huge hit

The Ford Bronco has come a long way from the days of the OJ Simpson car chase.

If you’re anything like me, you probably see these things driving around all over the place in a variety of colors. They’ve undoubtedly become one of Ford’s most successful vehicles and now they’re looking to electrify them.

Yes, Ford has announced that they will be selling an electric version of their iconic Bronco. But sadly, this version will only be available in China for the time being.

While it looks a lot like the standard Bronco on the outside, there are some really nice additions to appeal to a more outdoorsy driver. The pop-up camper option for the roof looks really slick. Ford also plans to offer some tailgate cooking options that let you fold down a table on the rear door for food prep.

This formula should absolutely appeal to those Americans interested in Rivian’s offerings in the rugged electric outdoor fun mobile category. It’s certainly an audience that is growing and one that I’d consider myself part of.

There is a huge segment of outdoorsy, environmentally-conscious folks who have been driving Jeeps, Subarus, and other “outdoorsy” vehicles for years. And while Jeep and Subaru have announced some recent EV options, they’re still pretty far behind in terms of EV development.

I have no doubt that the Electric Bronco (it needs a cool nickname of some sort right? the “boltin’ bronco” maybe) would be a hit in the U.S if it ever made it here. We’ll see if that day will ever come.

🛍 Grab Bag

Oura Ring gets colorful

Are you in the market for a new smart ring? Are you tired of wearing a ring that only comes in silver, gold, or black?

Well you are in luck! Oura is launching the new Oura Ring 4 Ceramic and it comes in four lovely colors!

OK, I’ll ditch the home shopping network voice.

Listen, I’ve worn an Oura Ring on my finger since 2020. I think they make some fantastic products. Now they have a new version which appears to be identical to the “regular” Our Ring 4 that currently resides on my right index finger except for one thing. It comes with a ceramic coating that is more fun and colorful.

Ideally, that coating also adds some tangible durability to the ring as well. That seems like a decent selling point. I made the choice to get the brushed silver version of my ring because, sure I thought it looked cool, but I also read some reviews that said it was the most scratch resistant of the color options. Or at least scratches aren’t as noticeable on my ring perhaps?

The ceramic coating here comes in lovely colors such as: Cloud, Tide, Petal, and Midnight (AKA - white, light blue, pink, and dark blue).

Maybe these wouldn’t be the colors I’d choose if I was designing this product line but the variety is appreciated.

I’ve had plenty of people notice my Oura Ring over the years and ask me about it. It’s not a bad conversation starter, but I’m not sure I want to draw even more attention to myself by wearing one that comes in a bright color like this.

Ceramic coatings on tech are generally a good thing but maybe some of these color options could have just been offered as a rubber band to cover your existing ring? I’ll be curious to see how these sell. I have a feeling the colorful models will be the first products to be discounted this holiday season.

💬 Quote of the Week

🎧 Content Review

Version History

Oh why yes! That does appear to be an AI-generated version of a Cybiko in the center of the image above. The much-loved piece of my technological upbringing never ran on AA batteries or had a telescopic antenna, but that keyboard is unmistakable!

When I saw that The Verge was launching a new podcast/video show called “Version History”, I was blown away by their show art image. You could say, “you had me at Cybiko”…

I was very interested in the premise of the show and quite frankly upset that I hadn’t come up with it myself! Nostalgic podcasts obviously do really well. Any content that takes an oral history approach when going down memory lane is right up my alley. Hopefully, this show will not disappoint.

The first episode dives into the world of hoverboards, so no immediate Cybiko content just yet, but you know it’s coming soon enough.

Check it out on YouTube for the video version or wherever else you get your podcasts if you only want to listen.

Thanks for reading, I’ll see you next week!

Hey! Could you use some help establishing healthy habits? Do you have a big project or new business that you want to get off the ground but could use some advice? Maybe you could benefit from hiring me as your coach. If you’re interested, read more about my coaching services here, or go ahead and book some time on my calendar to discuss further.

Have you been enjoying my work? Do you want to help support my ability to keep this publication going? Please consider becoming a paid subscriber!

Pledge Your Support

Let’s jump into this week’s stories shall we?

Thank you as always for reading!

🖥️ Tech

I have the Pixel 10 Pro. It feels like the Pixel 9 Pro

So I’ve been using the Pixel 10 Pro for just over a month now.

But to tell you the truth, you could have told me that I’ve still been using my Pixel 9 Pro this whole time and I would have believed you.

Would I say that I’m disappointed with the new phone? No, it isn’t disappointment, it’s just more like ambivalence. And I think this may be the first time I’ve had that feeling with a new phone.

Sure, the specs and form factor are very similar to the previous model, but it’s more than that. This phone just lacks a certain pizazz in my opinion. Maybe they needed to offer up one of those loud colors in the 10 Pro model. It would certainly feel different if it came in the bright orange color of the new iPhone model or even the punchy blue that only comes in the standard Pixel 10.

The Moonstone color is nice but it is just way too similar to the hazel gray of my Pixel 9 Pro. It would have almost been better if it was the same exact gray color. It just tries to be ever so slightly different but it really isn’t.

Has Google reached a milestone by creating a phone that just works with no glaring weaknesses? Yeah, I guess so. But they somehow also managed to make a phone that longtime fans may find to be boring.

🎓 Productivity/Work/Software/Gear

Last chance to download your CreativeLive courses!

For years, I worked at EdTech startup CreativeLive. Thousands of hours of amazing educational content were created within the walls of our studios in San Francisco and Seattle as well as on-location all over the world.

Well, if you purchased any of those courses to stream on the company’s site, the time has come to download them for offline viewing. Because the company who was acquired by Fiverr several years ago, is finally shuttering its website.

Yes, the CreativeLive site has been maintained since the acquisition even with few new courses being added over the past few years. But at the end of this year, the site will be no more. So if you want access to your content, you must download it to a local hard drive with their handy downloaded tool.

It’s been years since I’ve worked there but it’s still a sad day. You can still see my handsome mug in plenty of the courses that I produced and/or hosted. It was fun to go down memory lane from time to time to see some of the old content. It was nice that it actually lived somewhere online. It certainly doesn’t have the same cache when it’s just a bunch of videos saved locally.

Oh well, life goes on. If you want to retrieve any old courses from your class catalog, download them before December 31, 2025.

♻️ Health/Environment/EVs

The end of the EV Tax Credit

This is just one final goodbye to the EV tax credit. As of this writing, it has now expired.

Saving $7,500 on anything feels pretty darn good doesn’t it? Only $4,000 for a used EV, but still nice.

Oh and don’t forget that wonderful loophole to get the credit via lease! That helped push over the edge to get our BMW iX late last year.

If we’re looking for silver linings here, I’m hoping that a lot of used EV prices were inflated due to the tax credit. We may see prices actually come down in some corners of the used EV market now.

Let’s hope that EV momentum doesn’t stall in the country due to the abrupt ending of the credits.

🛍 Grab Bag

Harvest Thermal System is a go

In other electric infrastructure news, things are moving forward on the install of the Harvest Thermal system in our home.

We’re on the schedule to get this completed over the next few weeks and I’m excited to report back on how the installation goes.

For those who aren’t familiar, Harvest acts as a two-in-one solution to replace your HVAC system and hot water heater in one fell swoop. It relies on heat pump technology to keep your home comfortable, and also turns your water heater into a thermal battery.

Yes, all very exciting stuff! I hope to have some photos and installation details shortly.

💬 Quote of the Week

🎥 Content Review

Jurassic World Rebirth

If you’re bummed out about summer coming to and end, why not check out a fun summer action flick like…Jurassic World Rebirth?

I’ll tell you why. Because this movie is objectively horrible.

But hear me out! I still enjoyed getting through it in two sittings watching on the big screen of my backyard projector. It has some fun moments. There is plenty of nostalgia for 1993.

Yes, the storyline is atrocious. And the mutant dinosaurs somehow don’t even look cool. But Scarlett Johansson and Mahershala Ali were somewhat believable?

There are worst ways to spend 2 hours and 13 minutes.

Thanks for reading, I’ll see you next week!

Hey! Could you use some help establishing healthy habits? Do you have a big project or new business that you want to get off the ground but could use some advice? Maybe you could benefit from hiring me as your coach. If you’re interested, read more about my coaching services here, or go ahead and book some time on my calendar to discuss further.

Have you been enjoying my work? Do you want to help support my ability to keep this publication going? Please consider becoming a paid subscriber!

Pledge Your Support

Autumn is upon us! And that mean's football season. Or for the sake of this post, it really means fantasy football season.

I like to write up a little something every year about fantasy football. My first fantasy football team was all the back in 1998 if my memory serves me. I'm not old enough to have mailed in paper scorecards but I remember the days when scoring updates weren't instantaneous. Sometimes I wouldn't get around to checking the status of a matchup until Tuesday afternoon! And I had to login to a desktop computer to do so! There were obviously no fantasy football apps available at the time.

But thankfully there are now plenty of fantasy football apps. And within those apps, you are able to show some creativity and engage in perhaps the most fun part of being a fantasy football team manager. You can name your team and create a logo!

This may sound silly but a good fantasy football team name is vital to your success in the league. Win or lose, getting a chuckle out of your leaguemates is worth its weight in gold. But why should you stop at a clever name? Why not a clever logo to accompany the name? Hell, why not a full-on branding treatment with uniforms, helmets, mascots?

OK, I'm not entirely serious about the uniforms and helmets but a team logo for your fantasy team is as obtainable as it has ever been. With the help of AI of course!

Enough of the preamble. I should have just cut straight to the chase here. AI has changed a lot of things in our world recently, but maybe fantasy football logos are the most fun use of the technology yet.

First, we had the generic football helmet logos that were randomly assigned by Yahoo! or ESPN. Then some of us more creative players decided to start mocking up our own crude logos with basic image editors. There is something oddly satisfying about a poorly Photoshopped image with barely legible text. It shows just the proper amount of effort to be spent on a fake team that plays a fake sport.

Things really changed with the advancement of Generative AI. Now images can be magically created right before your eyes! Just give a few simple prompts, maybe include the name of one of the players on your team, and voila! You should have a semi-professional looking image in no time.

Of course, this is still new technology. You may come across some hiccups in those initial image creations. I've witnessed a few hallucinations and misspellings of team names. And if you're looking to really capture the exact likeness of a specific NFL player, that can sometimes still be a challenge. But a close facsimile is very achievable.

And you may be asking yourself, couldn't I also use this technology to come up with a name for my team? The answer is obviously yes, but I offer up a caveat. We may rely on AI to create the team logos for us. And yes, there is plenty of AI involved when we're projecting scores and making draft decisions. But I personally find the creativity of naming my team to be the most enjoyable part of the game. Once we outsource that, we may be sacrificing a bit of the soul of fantasy sports. Is this just my opinion? Am I holding fantasy football names to be too sacred?

Maybe I'm just terrified of ChatGPT and Gemini spewing out dozens of team names far more clever than anything I could come up with. I don't want to play fantasy football in that world.

So what have been the fruits of my labor so far this season? I've had some ups and downs when it comes to my logo creation. For all of you nerds out there, I've had the most success running the Nano Banana Image Model in Gemini. It just seems to be the most accurate and able to capture what I'm going for with minimal re-prompting.

I thought "The LaPorta Potties" came out pretty well. The guidance was around creating an animapamorphic version of a portable toilet that resembled Lions Tight End Sam Laporta. I'd say mission mostly accomplished. It doesn’t look exactly like LaPorta’s face but this dude totally looks like a tight end. The inclusion of the mini toilets around the edges of the circular logo was a nice touch.

There is just something about Tight Ends I guess when it comes to naming my teams. Despite his dismal start to the year, TJ Hockenson lended his name and likeness to my team "Hock of Seagulls". I don't like this one as much as the LaPorta Potties but I was excited to see what Hocksenson would look like with a proper "Flock of Seagulls" hairdo. Seagulls naturally feel like a minor league baseball team name, and the lack of success from this particular team thus far probably warrants that minor league treatment.

I'll give an honorable mention to this little number created around the idea of Houston Texans running back Woody Marks as a woodchuck or beaver crossed with a tree? I'm really not very proud of it aside from the muscular tree trunk arms on a woodchuck. Credit for this one goes to Perplexity and you can see how it differs from the output of Gemini’s Nano Banana.

So that has been my experience for now. I'm sure I'll come up with some more team names that need logos soon. Every time a team gets on a losing streak, I feel the need for a rebrand. The fantasy football season is long and the only way to get through it is with a sense of humor. At least this year, we have the help of AI image generation to make the game just a little bit more fun.

Hey! Could you use some help establishing healthy habits? Do you have a big project or new business that you want to get off the ground but could use some advice? Maybe you could benefit from hiring me as your coach. If you’re interested, read more about my coaching services here, or go ahead and book some time on my calendar to discuss further.

If you’ve been enjoying this content and want to show your support, I encourage you to become a paid subscriber!

Pledge Your Support

OK, today's update may seem boring on the surface. Is this guy seriously going to write about a fan? How boring is that? Where is the high-tech slant? How can old technology like this be worth celebrating?

Well, let me tell you folks! I am sold on the benefits of installing a whole house fan (or sometimes incorrectly referred to as an attic fan).

What exactly am I talking about here?

This is a device that typically does get installed in your attic. And it gets positioned in a location of your attic where it can push hot air out of a vent (typically a gabled vent or soffit vent of some sort if we're being technical).

And while pushing hot air out of your attic, the fan also sucks in cool air from opened doors and windows of your house. When the temperature of the outside air is cooler than the air inside your house, it is high time to turn on your whole-house fan!

It turns out that Northern California is the ideal place for a device like this. Really anywhere with relatively low humidity where the temperature drops noticably when the sun goes down will be perfect for this.

In the Bay Area, we don't get very many excruciatingly hot days. But we do get days where the mid-day temperature gets uncomfortable before things dip down once the sun disappears. So to battle the stuffiness of summer evenings, I went ahead and installed a QuietCool whole house fan this summer. And I have been pleasantly surprised with the results.

A fan like this isn't meant to replace air conditioning in very hot climates. If the air outside is still hot and/or humid, it won't feel good to suck it into your home. But if you live somewhere that gets stuffy during the day, and need help pulling in the cool air in the evening, this is the best way to do it.

Installation really isn't too difficult. In our scenario, we already had a hatch in our hallway to access our attic. We just needed to do some minor patching to match the fan grate size to the existing opening. And then we just cut another attic access point in a bedroom closet. Fairly painless as a DIY project, but it won't break the bank to hire someone for the job either.

But there is a bit of high-tech magic in this tried and true home-cooling solution! I was able to install a smart controller in my attic that allows for the fan to be controlled by QuietCool's smart app. This lets you program scenarios for the fan to run automatically! Want the fan to turn on when the temperature in the attic hits over 80 degrees? No problem. Want to just let it run on an 8 hour timer every night when you sleep? Yep, that can be arranged. Or you can just manually turn it on or off and set the speed of the fan using the app. It's pretty easy to do from anywhere in the house rather than needing to walk over to a switch on the wall.

No, it's not the sexiest piece of smart home technology in my house but it may be the most practical. I've been amazed at how quickly the fan can clear out the hot air and lower the temperature in the upstairs bedrooms of our home. It becomes a fun game to check my Nest temperature sensors to see how quickly I can get that temperature to drop a few degrees. And it's way easier to get the perfect sleeping temperature at night even after the hottest days.

Of course, maybe the best part is just how little energy gets used by a fan like this. Even if it runs all night long, you're using a tiny fraction of the energy used by a traditional window-mounted air conditioner. It's good for the earth and great for your electric bill. Plus you have the added benefit of improving your air quality and quickly expelling any odors that may be lingering in your home.

No, this isn't a sponsored post from QuietCool, but I have really become a believer in the product. Yes, there are other companies that make fans like these, but QuietCool has become the big name in town. And the product definitely lives up to its name. On the low setting, the fan is hardly audible while running all night. The high setting is more noticeable but the low setting is more than enough when running overnight.

It's probably not at the top of your "fun new tech" shopping list right now, but I think a smart whole house fan may be the most sensible purchase I've made in a long time.

Hey! Could you use some help establishing healthy habits? Do you have a big project or new business that you want to get off the ground but could use some advice? Maybe you could benefit from hiring me as your coach. If you’re interested, read more about my coaching services here, or go ahead and book some time on my calendar to discuss further.

If you’ve been enjoying this content and want to show your support, I encourage you to become a paid subscriber!

Pledge Your Support

There are days where it just feels like I've really nailed it when it comes to my transportation choices.

The weather is perfect. The bike lanes and multi-use trails are uncrowded and accommodating. The birds are chirping as my happy kids are riding along. It sounds like something out of a movie but it does happen to me on a fairly regular basis.

Take today for example. On a morning devoid of the typical coastal marine layer of fog, it was a great idea to accompany my daughter on a scooter ride to school. The distance is only about half a mile but anyone with a 5-year old knows that the distance can feel insurmountable when the conditions aren't ideal.

But my daughter has gotten really confident on her scooter. And I love any excuse I can get to cruise around on mine as well. She still relies on the physical kicking for propulsion while I enjoy the convenience of a push-button electric accelerator.

It's not all too different from our usual bike ride to school with her in the cargo hold of my Tern HSD, but the morning scooter ride is a great way to start the day for both of us.

After successfully arriving proudly on campus, she likes to make sure that all of her classmates are keenly aware that she arrived to school in-style, self-propelled as opposed to the bulk of them who only climbed out of the back of Mom and Dad's SUV.

After securing her scooter in the well-equipped storage area, I then set off on my own scooter to tackle the day. It's very convenient that my daughter's elementary school runs along an extremely useful multi-use trail that connects to a commercial area with a grocery store. So dad took off on his scooter to get some groceries.

The scooter got thrown into the shopping cart rather than risking any (albeit minor) threat of scooter theft. Maybe there were a few glances at the mobility device in my cart, but it made for a very easy shopping experience with a quick exit.

My grocery haul wasn't huge. It was just enough to fit in the small reusable bag that had been in my pocket. Toss the handle over my shoulder and I felt totally comfortable scooting home with all the essentials.

It was an extremely fun and efficient use of the morning school drop-off time. There was father-daughter bonding. There was fresh air and exercise (more for her than for me). And there was a very practical errand that was run quickly and efficiently.

Or at least I thought that was case. Like any distracted parent entering a grocery store, I forgot a few things that would be needed for the weekend. No worries! The convenience of fast online grocery ordering and curbside pickup or delivery have become essential for almost any modern family.

In barely two hours, my order was ready to pick up. It was a fairly large order, but nothing that I didn't think could fit within the cargo confines of the Tern HSD bike. Marking "on my way" on the grocery app, I took off down the bike path to retrieve the groceries.

About ten minutes later, I was there in the appropriate pick-up location awaiting the friendly sales associates delivery. A woman with a shopping car stared at me with a puzzled look. She saw that there was someone waiting in the curbside pickup spot. But that person wasn't driving an automobile.

I waved to her with a smile on my face as she slowly pushed the cart in my direction.

"How are you going to fit everything?" she asked staring at the bike. She claimed that she had never seen someone show up at curbside pickup on a bike. I joked that I do it on a nearly weekly basis at this very store! She said he's typically a supervisor who wouldn't be the one to greet curbside delivery recipients. Ah, mystery solved. Surely, her subordinates must have raved at least once about the lunatic who fit a dozen grocery bags on his cargo bike? No? Oh, ok then.

The groceries all made it home in one piece. I enjoyed a return trip down a peaceful trail with hardly any interaction with a car.

And when it was time to pick up my daughter from school, I opted to take the bike. The cavernous cargo area was able to fit a folded up scooter, backpack, and her with no fuss.

On the bike ride home we stopped to pick some fresh wild blackberries. They were delicious.

It was a helluva day for micromobility dads everywhere.

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Let’s jump into this week’s stories shall we?

Thank you as always for reading!

🖥️ Tech

Waymo gets better music streaming

Whether you want to ride in one or not, it seems like robotaxis are here to stay.

Here in the Bay Area, Waymo is still THE name in autonomous transportation. San Francisco is littered with Jaguar I-Pace EVs outfitted with all the bells and whistles to make them navigate the streets safely under their own power.

And this system has mostly been going well for Waymo passengers. Sure, there have been a few hiccups, but the service has reached a level of maturity in San Francisco. So much so that Waymo recently made a small but welcome change to the in-car experience.

Waymo riders can now easily listen to music on Spotify!

It may sound silly, but a small thing like this can really make or break the experience for a rider. When you are alone in a taxi without a driver, you want to listen to whatever you want. I still have nightmares of taxi and early Uber rides where the driver was blaring some awful pop music or even worse…rush hour shock jock talk radio!

So Waymo riders rejoice! Gone are the days of limited music options or complicated pairing steps. When you enter your ride, your Spotify account should seamlessly sync and you’ll be ready to enjoy a tranquil or exhilarating ride with the proper music (or podcast) to accompany you.

🎓 Productivity/Work/Software/Gear

Full Focus Planner

It has been a while since I’ve written about a daily planner.

And maybe that’s because I haven’t had a whole lot to report on this front. I used to regularly give my take on all of the popular planners available on the market. I think I’ve pretty much used them all at this point.

But like any product, these things get updated. There are slight variations to page layout or changes to the productivity system that corresponds with your planner, etc.

So I’m going back into my archives to dust off an old “Full Focus Planner” that I found in my office. I used it for a bit a few years ago and didn’t love it. Despite that, it has plenty of blank pages that could use filling and I’m willing to give it another shot.

I believe my critique of the planner when I initially used it was that it felt “too corporate” and “not fun”. Those are kinda vague knocks on something that I didn’t use long enough to give a fair shake.

Note that I’m not giving a full endorsement to the whole Michael Hyatt productivity empire here. I have plenty of issues with some of the content he’s put out. (i.e. please don’t assume that the Sunday morning slots in my planner will be filled up for church!)

However, I feel like we all should change up our productivity systems every few months. As we head into a new month and new season, it seems like a good time to refine some of my daily practices. Let’s see if the Full Focus Planner can help.

♻️ Health/Environment/EVs

Denver tries to solve the last-mile transit issue

Even when cities have amazing public transit systems, there is still the hurdle of getting people to and from the actual transit stops.

It’s the “first and last mile” predicament that nearly every jurisdiction has to deal with. Ideally, you want transit stops located close enough to each other so riders don’t have a long way to travel. Conversely, if you offer too many stops, the service becomes bogged down and inefficient.

So any smart transit authority looks to solve this problem. Transit officials in Denver, Colorado are looking to incentivize riders to take free scooter and ebike rides in order to reach their transit stops.

Bike and scooters are the most logical solution to this problem. Plenty of cities offer bike shares or scooter shares around transit hubs. But making them free is a whole different story.

Riders in Denver will be able to take a scooter or ebike up to one mile around two transit stations for no cost at all. It’s a pilot program to see if something like this can significantly increase ridership and eliminate that cost and convenience hurdle of getting to a train station that may be just a bit too far to walk.

As someone who regularly rides an ebike or scooter to the train station, this is a fantastic idea. Sure, there is a pretty significant upfront cost to make these rides free, but in the grand scheme of transit budgets, it’s fairly minimal.

Kudos to Lime and Bird for working with the city and ponying up the funds to make this service free. Let’s hope this works out and other cities follow this same blueprint.

🛍 Grab Bag

Pay your BART fare with a credit card

Let’s keep the transit talk going!

Public transit riders in the Bay Area should be thrilled to hear that you can now ride BART trains by tapping any credit card.

Gone are the days of waiting in line to purchase a paper BART ticket or worrying about how much money is left on that old ticket at the bottom of your bag. Now you won’t miss a train while trying to load funds onto a Clipper Card either. You can just run straight to the turnstiles and tap that credit card on the sensor like you would paying for anything else.

It may sound like a minor thing, but this can be a major hurdle for the casual transit user. People will be far more likely to take a spontaneous ride on BART if they don’t have to worry about finding a Clipper Card or loading the app on their phone, or heaven-for-bid need to print a paper ticket.

This type of thing is commonplace for major transit cities globally, but it’s a big deal for American cities. I know it took a while to get all of the Bay Area transit systems to use the Clipper Card standard, and that’s been great. But if we can get all the trains, buses, and ferries running via credit card, we’ll be one step closer to a transit utopia!

💬 Quote of the Week

📕 Content Review

Inclusive Transportation

Ok, there is clearly a transit slant this week. Not at all planned, but that’s just where my head has been lately I guess.

Last week I finished reading “Inclusive Transportation” by Veronica Davis and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Sure, this may be a book written for folks working at transit agencies, but I found a lot of value in it as an interested community member.

It’s no secret that transit can be greatly improved in nearly all American cities. But there are too many assumptions that transit agencies make without properly gathering feedback from the entire community. That means people of all ages and abilities when it comes to walking, cycling, and general familiarity with transit systems.

It’s sad to recount the ways that many American cities were divided and reconfigured to make room for freeways and general automobile infrastructure. We can’t erase all of that overnight, but we can build new transit systems in a way that takes all viewpoints into consideration rather than just the ideas of able-bodied folks who ride transit at the same time each day commuting to a 9-5 job.

More people need to read (and write!) books like this if we’re going to improve transit systems in America.

Thanks for reading, I’ll see you next week!

Hey! Could you use some help establishing healthy habits? Do you have a big project or new business that you want to get off the ground but could use some advice? Maybe you could benefit from hiring me as your coach. If you’re interested, read more about my coaching services here, or go ahead and book some time on my calendar to discuss further.

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I wanted to get this out sooner but I needed a few days to really let the Made By Google ‘25 event sink in.

In case you missed it, this was Google's annual product announcement event that mostly focused on new Pixel Phones and accessories.

But things were a little bit different this year.

Rather than let actual Googlers run the whole presentation, they opted to bring in a professional. Jimmy Fallon was this year's host. And the end product felt like a strange mashup of The Tonight Show, a sitcom from the 90s (live audience laughter included), and some segments you'd find on the channel of a successful YouTube influencer.

There were a bevy of celebrity appearances from the likes of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Stephen Curry (his interview segment to work for Google may have been the highlight of the show for me), and plenty of other people I'd never heard of but are apparently famous for one reason or another.

Star power makes sense. Android phones still have that vague stench of uncoolness when compared to iPhones. It's partially because of the lingering green bubble situation along with a general lack of examples in media of folks toting a Pixel vs an iPhone. If Google wants young people to think Pixel phones are cool, maybe this was the playbook to achieve it?

The whole experience felt really surreal from the perspective of a longtime Android enthusiast who has sat through dozens of announcement presentations like this. An article from Victoria Song at The Verge probably captured it best by saying that it felt like an episode of Wandavision. I couldn't put my finger on it until I read that article, but it is spot on!

How did it feel like Wandavision? It felt contrived. It felt like something that I was imagining. Was I living inside of Jimmy Fallon's daydream or was he living inside of mine? I didn't find it all that entertaining, but it was sorta hard to look away. Whether true or not, it did feel like there was more of a "live" feeling to it. Was Jimmy keeping to the script or did he feel like a big enough star to “go rogue” whenever he felt like it?

It's hard to say for sure, but it felt like there were times when Fallon let on that he was in on the joke. Did Jimmy actually know what a Tensor processor was before this week? Even if he did, was there a need to spout exalted superlatives like “come on!” or "now we're talkin'!" every time someone mentioned an IP rating? I can only imagine the boatload of cash handed out to Jimmy and the other celebrities for this gig.

However, I've never been in the large camp of Fallon haters. He had plenty of great moments on SNL even when he couldn't keep a straight face. And how can I bash a fellow son of the Hudson Valley? I want to give him some credit here. I think he took an impossible situation and had some fun with it. It's probably worth rewatching solely to see if I can spot any other tongue-in-cheek one-liners from Jimmy that poke fun at the absurdity of some of the product features or tech specs.

And what about Rick Osterloh and the rest of the Google gang? I think it was fine to omit Google CEO Sundar Pichai from this year's announcement. He has bigger fish to fry and the Pixel line has kinda morphed into its own thing that feels less "Googley" each year.

So without Pichai, Android Grand Poobah, (I've lost track of his actual title) Rick Osterloh has become the face of the brand and the poor stand-in for a Steve Jobs-esque figure to get people excited about Pixel products.

Let's face it. Rick isn't the most comfortable guy in front of the camera. I think he'd be the first to admit that. Putting him on the stage with someone like Jimmy Fallon was only going to make this more evident. The interactions between Fallon and the Google execs were easily the hardest parts of the event for me to watch. Or maybe it was the extended cuts with the Jonas Brothers, I don't know?

With all the talk over the last few months about the future of late night television, I was also wondering if this was an audition of sorts for Jimmy Fallon.

Stephen Colbert's run on late night is coming to an end. It feels like the writing is on the wall for Fallon and Kimmel as well. If so, what is Fallon's next act?

Are late night talk show personalities destined to be relegated to product announcements and making technology feel like it's made for the average person? While technically this was a celebration of ten years of the Pixel line of phones, this just didn't feel like a one-off experiment for Google. This kinda feels like a blueprint for what these events will be in the future.

I suppose I appreciated the live feeling and scripted spontaneity of the event. It felt more lively than some of the recent Apple announcements that were pre-recorded. Call me old fashioned but I think that tech product announcements should still be live events that super fans look forward to and casual fans are acutely aware of. I don't want it to all be press releases or perfectly orchestrated pre-canned segments where product demos can never go awry.

Perhaps the strangest thing about the Google extravaganza this year is that they opened up their pre-order pages for the devices before the event even took place! I ordered a new Pixel 10 Pro in the Moonstone color before I even saw Fallon take the stage! It felt wrong. It's been a rite of passage in the past to sit through the whole product announcement to see the features and pricing before making the purchase. It seems like the days are gone when the product pages would go live the second after the CEO walks off stage and the mad rush to secure shipping dates would ensue.

So I'll have more to say once my new Pixel arrives. Hopefully it will be a great device and we'll all be happy. But I have to say, the way the devices were announced left a very strange taste in my mouth.

Hey! Could you use some help establishing healthy habits? Do you have a big project or new business that you want to get off the ground but could use some advice? Maybe you could benefit from hiring me as your coach. If you’re interested, read more about my coaching services here, or go ahead and book some time on my calendar to discuss further.

If you’ve been enjoying this content and want to show your support, I encourage you to become a paid subscriber!

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