Go to the Lab Notes
The future of the operating system
In my current work, I am exploring new and newly refined ideas for how personal computing can expand what people are able to think and do.
At the core of this research, I am creating a demo operating system of the future. I regularly publish Lab Notes that document my progress, experiments, and concepts.
Lab Notes
While building a demo OS of the future, I publish Lab Notes to intentionally “work with the lab door open,” inviting others’ thoughts and dialog along the way.
The Potential Merits of an Itemized Operating System
Article · 34 min. read · Publ. June 6, 2021
Projects
These projects experiment with the concepts from my research on the future of the OS in real-world use cases.
Cross-reference Navigation
Plugin for Obsidian
Symphonies Planner
Digital planner
Reimagining email
My career began with reimagining email and finding ways to build that vision on top of today’s existing email protocols.
Following a record-breaking Kickstarter campaign in 2012, this work resulted in award-winning products that topped the charts and were frequently featured by Apple in the App Store.
Products
These products have come from of my research and experimentation in email.
Mail Pilot
Reimagined email client
Throttle
Email throttling service
Articles
Writing outside of my specific research areas.
How I approach my core work
11 min. read · Publ. October 5, 2020
On creation: Quantity is the journey to quality · The dots connect later · The merit of ideas and ideation
On software: The importance of personal computing · The need for art · Build and rebuild · Pioneering users · Gather a community
Interviews & more
Some selected podcast interviews and others’ articles.
October 29, 2021
The Stack Overflow Podcast
December 16, 2020
Computer Science at Virginia Tech 50th anniversary profile
March 19, 2020
Nylon: AIM is Back to Get You Through Quarantine
February 25, 2015
Slate: “Email overload: Building my own email app to reach Inbox Zero.”
Songs I’m Made Of
A show I host in which songwriters tell their story in episodes woven together with both their own songs and the ones that inspire their work.
The show explores the love of music and how creators make it. It’s about the musicianship of songwriters: why people are drawn to it as a medium, and how people do it — their process, their perspective, their inspirations, and their own favorite works.
Songs I'm Made Of website