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The Beginning of Infinity
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6 min read
Have you ever read something that squashes and stretches your mind, forcing it to work and grow in ways you weren’t expecting? Not every book is capable of this, but when you find it you want more. It’s a bit like a mental workout and when you’re used to cruising through most books, it’s a
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Everything is a remix (redux)
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3 min read
Everything is a remix is a phrase that has always annoyed me. As someone in pursuit of originality (to a debilitating degree), I felt like this couldn’t be true. If everything was a remix, then how did the first of anything come to be? When I was researching the brain for my article about BCIs,
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Creating a telepathic world with BCIs
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18 min read
If you could read my mind loveWhat a tale my thoughts would tell Imagine being able to know what someone was thinking without them having to say anything. Better yet, what if you could respond to them without having to use any words, just thoughts? Telepathy is a common trope in fantasy and science fiction
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Unlocking the next generation of innovators
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5 min read
Albert Wenger described attention as time plus intentionality. Three months ago I started the next stage of my career, ensuring students are spending their time with intention, on important problems, from a young age. “Teenagers these days are just built differently” I told my friend after an interview I had for a new role. We
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How to build a better dating platform
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7 min read
I used to be uncomfortable when people asked me, “how did you meet your girlfriend?” Online dating was still a burgeoning industry when I had met someone online. And on a site you might least expect: Tumblr. The internet flattened the world, shrinking geographic distance and connecting you with anyone around the world. You can
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I needed therapy after Write of Passage
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9 min read
“What words come to mind when you think of me?” I asked my partner while lying in bed. “Smart.” I put my hands over my eyes as I started crying. That was the last thing I wanted to be known for. I had spent my whole life wanting to be seen as smart. And now
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Do you have opportunity insurance?
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4 min read
One afternoon near the end of December, we had given Tracer, our young dog, a new bully stick for him to chew on. In his usual spot, he was strewn out on the couch with the stick between his two front paws. He had been chewing for a few minutes when we heard a crack.
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Building Digital Experiences with Humans in Mind
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6 min read
Originally written and posted on the Versett blog. “Something must be wrong with the experience.” One of our clients was concerned about a peculiar behaviour pattern we noticed in their ecommerce experience: some customers would visit the page and open chat with a question within seconds. It was as if they didn’t even bother trying
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The changing face of media
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5 min read
Growing up, I always wanted to be full Asian. As a mixed-race child, I more closely identified with my Chinese side of the family. Living in a primarily white town, I didn’t have many Asian role models or friends. Representation is something where if you don’t ever get exposed to it, it’s hard to feel
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Venkatesh Rao: Guru of the Yakverse
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7 min read
Venkatesh Rao is a prolific internet blogger, writer, independent consultant, and shitposter. His philosophy embodies a classic idea from Isaiah Berlin: the fox knows many things, the hedgehog knows one big thing. He is a quintessential fox. Ironically, that might be his one big thing. A few years into my career, I came across his
Works in progress
