The Columns

There’s a profound misunderstanding in the modern world about what a professional actually is, and it’s enabling a new kind of crime. The investment of a career—the decades of hard-won…

I was twelve years old, wearing a pair of torn Converse All Stars (because that’s what Dee Dee Ramone would’ve wanted), and every Saturday I’d hop on bus 105 to…

I see Hyatt’s been making headlines for all the “right” reasons lately. Standing firm against the digital marauders, refusing to pay the ransom after their latest data skirmish. It sounds…

I finally figured out why the Stranger Things finale felt so underwhelming. In a recent behind-the-scenes documentary, the Duffer Brothers were shown working with three ChatGPT tabs open. Next to…

I’ve been wrestling with the idea of simplicity, and the conclusion I’ve come to is that creating it is a lot more complicated than it looks. Behold this elegant vision…

The other day, I saw some industry analysis suggesting that loyalty is about recognition. I had to suppress a laugh, mostly out of weary familiarity. The thing is, loyalty always…

Every year I start a journal.And every year I quit after three days. Brian Eno used to do the same, I think. Or maybe it was someone else. I can’t…

The other day I spent time with a few of the truly serious humans in the world of networking and security last week. I always find discussions with these industry…

I’m often asked whether AI-assisted reviews are the latest semantic apocalypse for travel. I see it more modestly: they mark the end of a long-standing taboo — the one that…

I was looking back at my 2025 travel stats—75,000 miles and a fair few gray hairs—and realized that our weekly chats have covered almost as much ground as my favorite…