About time. And product. And being more deliberate.
In Europe, the growing conditions for beer ingredients – barley, oats, wheat, hops – are comparatively pretty narrow relative to grapes and other cereal grains. While beer traditions, and very intriguing ones, do exist outside of England, Netherlands, Germany, and Belgium. I’m focusing on these 4 countries for right now as they’ve been the most influential …
Continue reading “INSIDE VOICE #7: 400 years of beer innovating around tax law”
After MPR read the headline, the 9 year old immediately asks: “Hey Google, what’s third degree murder?” #MyHeartKeepsBreakingAgainAndAgain == == On Sept 11, 2001, a dozen years into the militarization of local police departments, I was working for a startup an old skyscraper on the north end of the Chicago Loop. The CEO survived the …
For their mental health, we’ve been strongly and persistently encouraging the teenagers to make in-person plans with their friends. Provided they stay outside and don’t climb on each other – we’re cool. Ensuring in-person social interaction is far tougher for the elementary school kids, as coordination still happens through parents. Turns out, asking about comfort …
Continue reading “INSIDE VOICE #5: …initiating connection…initiating connection…”
According to Kevin Stroud over at The History of English Podcast, the reason we speak English is in part due to the Black Death. The plague was an indiscriminate killer, peasants, scholars, royalty alike. At this point in our story in the mid-1300s (which is one of my most beloved Stroud-isms), French and Latin were the the …
Continue reading “INSIDE VOICE #4: “No, just very, very improbable.””
With work shifting to video conferencing, rather than in-person meetings, we’ve lost the signaling of accessories – fountain pens, fancy bags, stickered laptops. So, inspired by the back of my iPad (that no one sees any more) and NASCAR paint-jobs, I created my own fake background for Zoom. Unfortunately, without a physical green screen, the …
Continue reading “INSIDE VOICE #3: “liter’s a kilogram, metric doesn’t rhyme””
== “Hey Google, how do you make gin?” “I’ve found a recipe for ‘how do you make gin?’. Would you like the ingredients or instructions first?” “Ingredients.” “OK, now playing dance hits of 2010s on Spotify.” For all their promises of convenience, Google Assistants are at best undelightful and at worst mildly frustrating. And, Google …
Thanks to MusicMayhem [1] our Fridays are now marked by 90 minutes of music trivia against our neighbors. Last week the two teenagers of the house competed on their own – three teams in one house. This week we came back as a singular force to achieve 2nd place overall. While all have our strengths, …
I’m grateful for all those – medical professionals, emergency workers, school administrators, governors, etc – working continuously to contain the COVID-I9 global pandemic we’re currently in. With so many activities, events, and businesses shuttered indefinitely, in the back of my mind, I’ve been wondering, “What does the world look like after containment?” Which takes me …
If you wanted to ensure it lasted for 150 years – you’d choose paper. As amazing as our current electronic technologies are – despite their strengths – terribly, terribly ephemeral. The code the worked yesterday isn’t support today. The processors of – five years ago, ten years ago – are brought to their knees by …