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Good vibrations
I’ve had the Beach Boys Good Vibrations stuck in my head for about a month. As the son of Boomers, I cannot help but hear the refrain when folks ask me what I’ve been up to. “Vibing” is my answer, and there’s a smile on my face. I had been poking around, fiddling with, and…
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Plowy McPlowface
Lately I’ve been thinking about Plowy McPlowface. This past winter Arlington County’s Department of Environmental Services (DES) released the results of a contest to give names to all of it’s plows, and Plowy McPlowface is my favorite. They also incorporated these names into their snow activity map. Why does this matter? Two words – user…
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Uneven Innovation
Recently I’ve been thinking about “Uneven Innovation: The work of Smart Cities” by Dr. Jennifer Clark. As Chair of the Arlington County Tech Commission, I worked with Arlington County Libraries to host Dr. Clark for an Author Talk about her book, and it was illuminating. When the marketers pitch smart cities, they craft gleaming images…
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An AI Chat-bot for Public Policy
Lately I’ve been thinking about artificial intelligence. Ever since OpenAI announced ChatGPT, the news and hype around AI is overwhelming. I thought I’d wait for things to settle down a bit, but it just keeps going. With stock prices soaring and people trying to jam AI into everything from pillows to toothbrushes it can feel…
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Child labor protections for content creators
Lately I’ve been thinking about all of the kids I see in the videos my kids watch. Recently my kids have entered the world of seemingly endless online videos of kids doing silly things, and playing silly games. While you may not have been exposed to it personally, it probably won’t shock you to learn…
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Lessons from micro-services for small non-profits
As I read about the success Houston, TX has had in addressing homelessness, their approach instantly reminded me of a container orchestration engine, and so I’ve been thinking about what other patterns from micro-service architectures might be applicable to improve the performance of multiple small non-profits working on overlapping and related issues. First, lets demystify…
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Features for the COVIDWISE Backlog
Recently I’ve been thinking about the failure of contact tracing apps to put a meaningful dent in transmission of COVID-19. At the beginning of the pandemic when Apple and Google announced their contact tracing protocol, I was instantly concerned that ensuring privacy would be key to user adoption. Boy was I wrong. Our friends at…
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What I’m thinking about…
Occasionally I’ll come across something and have some thoughts to share. I’d love to hear what you think about them. I really enjoy discussing complex problems with thoughtful people. If there’s something specific you’d like my thoughts on, shoot me a note.
Impulse Consulting 