I'll be in Vienna for a few days (29 and 30) Sept! If anyone is around there, please let me know! I'd love to meet up.

I don't do SXSW much anymore, but we're working on a panel about Calm Tech in the Age of AI. If you have a SXSW, we'd really love a vote! participate.sxsw.com/flow/sxsw/sx...

🎨 What happens when we have more Chromebooks, but fewer paintbrushes in schools? A recent survey by Education Week found that 77 percent of educators reported young students having greater difficulties handling pencils, pens, and scissors. caseorganic.medium.com/when-swiping...

What if we can't do anything anymore because the moment we try to do anything we're constantly fixing the things that are breaking?

The Invisible Light That’s Harming Our Health — And How We Can Light Things Better caseorganic.medium.com/the-invisibl...

I'm excited to announce the pilot launch of Calm Tech Pre-Certified™. For the first time, companies can work with Calm Tech Institute at the early design stage of future products to help ensure they're built with Calm Tech-approved design standards! www.calmtech.institute/post/introdu...

"A bigger concern is that this light can change how drivers and pedestrians perceive their surroundings. That’s because different types of photoreceptors in the eyes are responsible for vision under different light conditions." www.scientificamerican.com/article/stre...

Giving a talk here at U Mass Amherst.

This group wants our gadgets to chill TF out! thehustle.co/news/this-gr...

My new horizon. It’s above a wetlands. Much easier to take calls here than on a video.

I wonder if there's a soundtrack that reduces the mind's propensity to click on emotionally-disregulating short form video content. endel.io might be in.

How to deal with the emotional slot machine: www.youtube.com/watch?v=d43t...

A couple of wetlands are walking distance from my place

What's the best tea kettle you've ever used?

We've filled our sleeping spaces with tiny blue suns, and then we wonder why we can't sleep.

Two designers argued about which app was more beautiful. A child picked up a stick and drew in the dirt, completely absorbed. The wise observer said: "The child has designed the perfect interface—one that disappears into pure action."

Eventually this will happen. It's popping a bit at the edges rn. www.newyorker.com/culture/infi...

Calm Tech Institute moved to sunny Colorado! We're getting settled in here and staring at the blue sky.

Don't put two VERY different actions this close together.

Kitchen ventilation: youtu.be/ymK9k5PMA6g?...

Incandescent light and salt!

“How you design the beep is important.” Behind the movement for calmer gadgets. Warm lights, tactile buttons, intuitive usage. By Scharon Harding for @arstechnica.com arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025...

Detroit to SLC

Thanks to @florianziegler.com for taking this photo at @beyondtellerrand.com !

Even kids toy ordering systems have more physical buttons than modern systems. #bringbackthebuttons

Oslo

Oslo

Oslo

On a plane from Düsseldorf to Oslo. A couple in front of me is playing super loud videos as if they’re the only ones on the plane. Usually I wouldn’t care / I use earplugs underneath noise cancelling headphones, but I have neither today (left behind items are a casualty of constant travel).

Was so wonderful to meet Gustavo Ferrari and @marcthiele.com at @beyondtellerrand.com. If you haven’t been, consider attending the next edition in Berlin in November!

You hang out in a place long enough that you begin to walk by a familiar landscape. Düsseldorf has been really lovely in spring. I say this in earnest. I have really enjoyed this view, as it reminds me of empty fields I used to hang out in as a kid.

Amazing setup for @beyondtellerrand.com

The Metropolis and Mental Life

How To Argue Against AI-First Research www.smashingmagazine.com/2025/03/how-... by @vitalyf.bsky.social

Is it just me, or is AI getting worse? It's like both Claude and OpenAI are reducing query sizes behind the scenes to see what's tolerable enough for the end user because they're nearing the scary point where they need to make money. I was doing some work with it today both forgot half the query.

Sociodemographic Correlates of Contemporary Screen Time Use among 9- and 10-Year-Old Children www.jpeds.com/article/S002...

AI research assistants, intrinsic values, and the science we want - AI & SOCIETY link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Time saved by AI offset by new work created, study suggests Survey of 2023–2024 data finds that AI created more tasks for 8.4 percent of workers. arstechnica.com/ai/2025/05/t...

I have a thousand followers or so but I don’t use bluesky like a 2020s social network. I’m not posting shitposts or incendiary content or trying to really advocate for much more than good user interfaces. In between this, I’m posting every day life stuff. And it’s boring to the world!

Ace color combo

Best train station name