Senseless Violence

On Tuesday I noticed a lot of RIP posts in my Facebook newsfeed. It turns out that someone who I went to high school with, just a year younger than me, was killed. His name was Kevin, and although we didn't know each other, I knew of him. Kevin was…

5 Thoughts On Labor Day

Today is Labor Day in the United States and as a result I have the day off from work (ironically, I coded all day - except on my boat instead of in the office!). Labor Day has been a federal holiday since 1894, and is supposed to celebrate the American…

To Soylent Or Not To Soylent

I've been fascinated with Soylent ever since I first heard about it. I've been thinking about trying it for a few months, but have yet to pull the trigger. Here are my preliminary thoughts on the benefits and drawbacks of undertaking a Soylent-based diet. The Benefits 1. No Thinking It's…

Companies Should Mandate Exercise

America's got a growing problem. Approximately 69% of US adults are either obese or overweight[1]. This is a huge and growing problem that causes a lot of physical and emotional suffering as well as deadweight loss to the economy. There are lots of smart people studying the causes of…

The United States Needs More Immigrants

I love immigrants. These brave people leave their old lives behind and risk everything to come to the United States, with the hope of a better life. Sometimes they find it, sometimes they don't but their children do. They are, and have been, the very thing that is best about…

A Brief History of Coding Bootcamps

Coding bootcamps have EXPLODED over the last few years. Here is a quick look at how they cropped up, and where things are going from here. The problem Tech companies have an extremely hard time finding software engineers. When I was running my own software startup, we found it almost…