Conversations about technology, culture, and the future.

Building Things

Coding, side projects, product development, tools, and hacking

Something to aspire toDec 13, 2011
Today I spent some time with Brad Burnham from Union Square Ventures. Among other things, we were talking about what’s going on at Code for America and Civic Commons, as well as the latest in the fight to save the Internet. Separately, during the day today, the USV team was interviewing candidates ...
Open, interoperable citiesDec 2, 2011
The first CityCamp, in January 2010 was a memorable event for a bunch of reasons. It simultaneously marked the birth of several civic technology initiatives — the CityCamp unconference series itself, which has grown like gangbusters since then, Code for America, which has since just finished its fi...
Simple, and fun to use.Nov 22, 2011
Whenever you start a project (and I’m thinking about building websites and web applications), you are balancing two somewhat opposed goals: 1) get something working right away and 2) satisfy all your hopes and dreams. The first, I think, is a good instinct. The second is the real challenge — it’s y...
Digital Power ToolsNov 5, 2011
This past week, I spent some time cutting a hole in the wall in between our kitchen and our family room. It’s a project we’ve been talking about for a long time, and we considered lots of different ways of doing it before we actually got down to it. We were concerned about the cost,… Continue readin...
Web 2.0 Expo: The Opportunity for Civic StartupsOct 19, 2011
Last week at the Web 2.0 Expo, I gave a talk on The Opportunity for Civic Startups. I was filling in for Code for America‘s Jen Pahlka, and the presentation itself is an hybrid of a version I did at the t=0 Entrepreneurship Festival at MIT a few weeks ago, a version Jen did at… Continue reading
Wanted: The Self-Hiding Alarm ClockSep 1, 2011
This morning while cleaning up my office, I came across an old sketchbook from one of my design classes in college, circa ~1999. In it was a gem of a product idea (if I do say so myself). Without further adieu, here it is: The Self-Hiding Alarm Clock: So, who’s with me to set up… Continue reading
The Wheels on the Bus…Feb 1, 2011
As of 11am this morning, buses in Brooklyn are telling the internet where they are. And I’m proud to say that our work is behind it. For the past several months, we’ve been working with the MTA on this one-line pilot, to demonstrate that it’s possible to achieve a workable bus tracking solution usi...