Garrick van Buren

Ongoing List of Underused German Words

Wed, 18 Oct 2017 00:39:59 +0000

Verschlimmbesserung: An improvement that makes something worse. Doch: An expression for indicating an outcome occurred that was counter to the supplied evidence. Loosely translates to, “although I thought otherwise.” Even more delightfully – it can be and is used sarcastically.

My All Time Favorite Phones

Wed, 06 Sep 2017 14:54:42 +0000

Motorola X Style Pure Edition Nokia E72 Handspring Treo 600

Missing Connections

Tue, 25 Jul 2017 19:40:28 +0000

sipping rosé beneath my rudderless patio umbrella the recently divorced mother of two is so fucking livid by carpools, elevators, and skinny jeans packed with stage actors longing to buy her rosé.

What Can You Achieve in 30, 60, & 90 Minutes?

Thu, 01 Jun 2017 20:40:25 +0000

When I ask my clients where they found the biggest benefit in my How to Use a Calendar program, they often reply: “Scheduling for 30, 60, or 90 minutes.” It’s tempting to block off a massive chunk of time for a big project. Whether that massive chunk of time is a an afternoon, a day, …

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You’re Not Going to Need It

Wed, 12 Apr 2017 21:55:36 +0000

Neal Conan: “You had solar panels (on your sailboat) for electricity.” Matt Rutherford: “I did, but they broke.” Neal: “They broke?” Matt: “One by one.” Neal: “I think you had a Kindle for reading books.” Matt: “I did. It broke in a storm.” I like Matt’s story for all that it tells as about our …

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Red Flags? What Red Flags?

Wed, 12 Apr 2017 21:35:46 +0000

This was going to be a crappy project. The red flags were there from the very beginning. The first: when my my buyer said, as I was about to sign the contract, “Today is my last day.” I should have set the pen down right there, replied with a ‘Thank you for letting me know’ …

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Correction Canary

Thu, 02 Mar 2017 20:49:53 +0000

About fifteen years ago now, I was reorganizing how search results are displayed in a popular travel site (one you’ve probably used). The goal of the project was to to increase readability and scannability. To do this, I needed to move a few bits of information around. In my rush to prepare the prototype for …

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Switching Costs

Thu, 12 Jan 2017 21:22:55 +0000

In CBS’s world adventure race program ‘The Amazing Race’ there’s a game element called the ‘Detour’. The ‘Detour’ is a team activity requiring completion before continuing on the race itself. Each ‘Detour’ includes two activities – each team needs to select one from an opaque two- or three-word description of each. The goal is to …

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Both – or the Underly Deceit of Focus

Thu, 12 Jan 2017 21:20:14 +0000

As I write this, I’m slowly, steadily, recovering from a running injury. Pain so bad in my right knee that it’s painful to walk and stand. A visit to the sports chiropractor diagnosed the problem as a lack of flexibility in my left hip. The right-side of my body continually compensated for this lack of flexibility, …

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To a Stronger Second Half

Thu, 05 Jan 2017 21:23:39 +0000

It’s the first week of a January 2017. I’d like to raise a glass of my homebrew to the new year. When I crack open the bottle and pour it gently, perfectly into a glass half the size of the bottle, it’ll be brilliantly clear. So clear you can see the other side of the …

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