While I never like to complain about “California Cold” weather, it is jarring when we approach freezing temperatures overnight and in the early morning hours. But unlike during previous cold spells, this time our house is ready. Oh yes, we have not one, not two, but three heat pumps at our disposal to fight the cold without burning any fossil fuels.

Why 3 heat pumps? Wouldn’t one be sufficient? I don’t live in a massive mansion of a house. So let’s break down these three magical devices and the roles that they each serve.

Heat Pump #1 - Mr. Cool DIY - For my Office Shed

This was the first heat pump installed at our home. And selfishly, it only serves me when I’m working in my outdoor shed office. If you haven’t followed the saga of my shed office, it was a long, satisfying process to build a comfortable place to get work done year-round. And in that first year, I thought it would be sufficient to just use a small, portable heat and air conditioning combo machine. I thought the space was small enough that it wasn’t really worth the cost or effort to install a proper ductless mini-split system.

I was very wrong.

The portable system was prone to all sorts of problems. It was overly cautious and caused tripped breakers when my electrical system could clearly handle the load. When it did work, it did a decent job, but it just wasn’t practical. In an office space that is only about 12 ft x 8 ft in size, it seems silly to take up valuable floor space with a heating unit.

My office space also has amazing windows for natural light. Unfortunately, those windows are up high to catch the sunlight. That meant that I needed to have an unsightly tube going up the wall to allow the AC unit to expel air. And along with air, it also had to have a drainage tube or I needed to empty the water reservoir periodically as it became full. On cold, rainy winter days, large amounts of moisture were being pulled from the air and that reservoir needed very frequent changing.

So I quickly sold off the old unit to someone who could make better use of it. I should have opted for the ductless mini-split on day 1. Oh well, you live and you learn.

The Mr. Cool DIY model has become pretty popular as one (if not the only) DIY option out there. It costs a small fraction of the expense of getting a professional ductless mini-split option installed. It was certainly overkill for the small office space that I have, but it was easy to install and a great deal considering how well it works. It looks good on the wall and the outdoor unit is small, quiet, and inconspicuously tucked behind my shed in the shade of a lemon tree.

Heat Pump #2 - SanCO2 Air to Water Heat Pump

This is really the workhorse pump of my trio. It is the backbone of the Harvest Thermal system. It generates both heat and domestic hot water for our home. It is one of the most efficient heat pumps on the market and relies on CO2 as a natural refrigerant. Simply put, this machine is magical.

I’ve touched on the Harvest system before, but as a reminder, it heats up hot water using the SanCO2 heat pump. That water is stored in a tank as a thermal battery. The water can then be used to provide hot water for showers and laundry in the home, or it can be passed through a hydronic heat exchanger (a water coil) and distributed through a ducted system to heat the home. It’s tremendously efficient and better than the previous natural gas hot water heater and furnace in every way.

With the temperate climate of the Bay Area, this pump can keep our water hot and our indoor temperature comfortable for at least 300 days each year.

Heat Pump #3 - Carrier Supplemental Heating and Cooling

But for those roughly 65 other days...

Yes, our 3rd heat pump is the most powerful but also least used if the system is operating correctly. The Carrier system is able to pump serious amounts of hot or cold air into the house as needed to combat extended winter freezes or severe summer heatwaves. But most of the year it sits idly by waiting to be called into action.

During the cold snap this week, we’ve been happy to have it. And there will certainly be a few warm evenings thish summer and fall where we’ll appreciate the ability to cool down the house quickly. While our climate is still perfect for the QuietCool Whole House Fan, there are some days when more traditional air conditioning is the only option. And now we’ll at least have that fallback option even if it isn’t needed daily in the warmer months.

Future heat pumps?

Should I be satisfied with only 3? Are there any other potential heat pumps that could find their way into our lives? Well, technically most modern EVs contain heat pumps as well, so our iX and i3 would technically be considered mobile heat pumps themselves if we’re splitting hairs here.

And maybe another interesting use case would be a heat pump hot tub. While not nearly as popular as their power-hungry siblings, a heat pump hot tub offers the efficiency to allow a nice warm soak on a 100-amp service while all your other electric appliances are running. The technology is getting better and cheaper despite being a bit more complicated to install than a traditional tub with an electric coil heating element that commands far more electricity.

So there you have it. A rundown of my current and potentially future heat pump applications. While they may not seem like the sexiest piece of climate-saving technology, they really are a marvel of efficiency. If you live in a home with maybe just one or (gasp!) zero heat pumps, now could be the perfect time to add one. Even with the end of many federal incentives at the end of last year, state and local agencies are still providing plenty of financial motivation to get heat pumps up and running this year. If you’re interested in learning more, Rewiring America is a great resource to find out about local incentives in your region.

Long live the heat pump!

Hey! Could you use some help establishing healthy habits? Do you have a big project or new business that you want to get off the ground but could use some advice? Maybe you could benefit from hiring me as your coach. If you’re interested, read more about my coaching services here, or go ahead and book some time on my calendar to discuss further.

If you’ve been enjoying this content and want to show your support, I encourage you to become a paid subscriber!

Pledge Your Support

Just when you thought that I was never going to write about the notorious Nimbus EV again! It’s 2026, and I have somewhat of a Nimbus update.

For those who aren’t aware, my pieces on the ill-fated Nimbus are some of my most-read posts. I think it’s mostly due to curious early adopters like me who are scouring the Internet for any nugget of information they can find on the tilting American Autocycle that never was.

No, Nimbus hasn’t come back to life. NimbusEV.com is still a dead site. And when you perform a Google search for “Nimbus EV”, I’m proud to say that my writing has now surpassed the official (but dead) Nimbus website in the search ranking! So that is likely how many of you are stumbling upon these words and my work. I’m sad that the Nimbus story ended the way it did. But I am glad that you found me!

So why am I re-kicking the proverbial tires on the Nimbus today? It’s because I finally found a semi-comparable replacement. No, it doesn’t have three wheels. And it’s not made by a hot new disruptive company. Nope, it comes from a company that got its start way back in 1916.

I’ve never considered myself a “car guy”. I’m certainly more of a “tech guy” or “gadget guy” if I had to slap on a label. But somehow, I now have a driveway that is home to two BMW electric vehicles. The iX and the i3. These shouldn’t be confused with the forthcoming vehicle appropriately called the iX3. Naming cars is such a silly game. The iX has been great as the larger, long-distance SUV family hauler in the last year that we’ve had it. But I’ve still had an itch for a more minuscule ride for city driving and short trips when the weather isn’t bike-friendly.

Yes, after a long courting period I finally admitted that the BMW i3 was the closest Nimbus relative I was going to be able to obtain in the foreseeable future. And I get it. The i3 is much more of a car than the strange self-balancing motorcycle pod that was the Nimbus. It’s a concession of sorts. I had to admit to myself that the future isn’t here quite yet. The i3 will have to stand-in as the placeholder until we get to the glorious future where we can buy actual small electric vehicles that can still travel at high speeds and carry cargo. Right now, the cars just aren’t compact enough in the US. And the electric motorcycles and e-bikes just don’t have the utility and long range comfort of an enclosed automobile. And believe me, I’m still rooting for the enclosed e-bike solution too.

So what is it about the i3 that makes it so unique? I don’t have to preach to the choir of i3 enthusiasts on the Internet. Spend five minutes on reddit or the BMW forums and you’ll see that this car obviously has a cult following. It’s a vehicle that still feels like it was created in the not-too-distant future but it also hasn’t been made in five years. It’s like the folks at BMW who designed it were able to glimpse into a magic window where they could view the future. But then the window was slammed shut, and maybe the house containing the window was also demolished. The point is, there just aren’t other vehicles for sale right now in California that have the same utility and comfort in such a small footprint. You can clearly see the design inspiration when comparing the interiors of the Nimbus and i3. Natural wood tones, an airy greenhouse vibe, and doors that open at unconventional angles.

The only comparable electric hatchbacks of similar size could be the Fiat 500e or the electric Mini Cooper. They’re both totally suitable small electric vehicles but seem to lack the futuristic feeling of the i3. The Fiat doesn’t maximize its usable space as well. The Mini does look great but it feels too similar to its gas-powered sibling. The i3 doesn’t really have any peers.

And that’s not to say the i3 is perfect, no vehicle ever is. While the latest model years still feel relatively modern as long as you’re getting the larger dashboard screen and BMW app connectivity, the car is still showing its age a bit. The 120ah battery is rated to give 153 miles on a full charge. Of course that could vary a bit in either direction given the conditions and your driving style. But if you’re looking for an EV with huge range, you’ll definitely find better options than the i3.

Sure, it can be specced out with driving assistance and convenient technology packages. But if you’re used to autonomous driving on any modern EV, the i3’s version of this will feel like it’s from the stone age.

Throw those things aside and just look at the rough comparison to the Nimbus. To be fair, the Nimbus was never more than a trade show prop that made a few test drive appearances. So take all of its claims with a grain of salt. It never fully ramped up manufacturing and we can never really be sure what was fact and what was fiction. Having said all that, the higher spec Nimbus that I put down a deposit for was able to achieve highway speeds (75 mph) and offer roughly 128 miles of range. That is fairly close to the i3.

The biggest difference in my mind was the ability to lane split through traffic with the Nimbus. As nimble as the i3 is, it can’t legally skirt through a California rush hour traffic jam. That’s the same thing that can be said for all cars that aren’t motorcycles, so it’s not really a knock on the i3. It’s just that an enclosed vehicle that is immune to traffic is really the ultimate California dream.

So I’ll keep my eyes open for a true Nimbus successor. The folks at Organic Transit seem to be making good progress on bringing the ELF back to life. I think that’s an awesome design that would be great for many people. But it’s not a vehicle that can reach highway speeds. It competes with an electric cargo bike in my mind more than a small car. And I think that Wink Motors is super interesting with their microcars. Sadly, none of them can legally drive faster than a Class 3 e-bike. Maybe there is a world where tariffs and import laws change and it’s viable to import similar microcars to the US from Europe or Asia. If that form factor can safely allow for travel at 65 mph or faster, it could work in the US. Finally, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if someone purchases what’s left of Nimbus and tries to give it another go. It would give me more to write about as this saga has been a joy for me to follow over the past few years.

Until then, I’ll likely still ride my bike most places. But when I need an actual enclosed automobile, the BMW i3 is still the best option right now.

Hey! Could you use some help establishing healthy habits? Do you have a big project or new business that you want to get off the ground but could use some advice? Maybe you could benefit from hiring me as your coach. If you’re interested, read more about my coaching services here, or go ahead and book some time on my calendar to discuss further.

If you’ve been enjoying this content and want to show your support, I encourage you to become a paid subscriber!

Pledge Your Support

Why hello there! It’s good to have you all reading here in 2026. This has been my longest break from writing on this publication. And I’ve missed it!

It’s been a strange couple of months to end 2025. Let’s recap a little bit.

Back in October, I left my job at the marketing agency I had been working at for seven years. It certainly wasn’t unexpected, the proverbial writing had been on the wall for a while. There was new management that brought different viewpoints on how the job should be done. And of course, there was plenty of new AI software that could do aspects of my job far quicker and more thoroughly than I could ever imagine.

Seven years is a long time to work somewhere. In that span of time, a company will inevitably start to recycle ideas that didn’t work the first time around. You start to feel like the institutional knowledge and experience you possess becomes more of a liability than an asset. I had simply just outgrown the position and there was nowhere to go but out. It’s never easy leaving a role you’d been in for that long, but I had come to terms with it long before it actually happened.

So that left the end of 2025 feeling even more transitional or transient than the holiday months typically feel. The new found freedom gave me more time to spend with my kids and really dive into my community. I found myself volunteering for everything I could at my daughter’s elementary school. It gave me time to wrap up training for a half marathon in which I bettered my time from a year ago despite being older and more gray this time around.

Perhaps it was just coincidence that I also managed to take first place in two fantasy football leagues this year. Not a bad way to pocket some extra cash during the holiday season but also a very fun way to stay in touch with old friends while making some great new ones as well.

In the last few months, I also completed my certification as an electrification coach through Rewiring America. With so much awful news everyday about the state of our environment and what little our government is doing about it, I found solace in the things I could control. I could make sure that my home had no appliances that were powered by fossil fuels. No gas dryer. No gas stove. No gas water heater. No gas furnace. No cars with internal combustion engines.

It was way more complicated and expensive than it should have been, but I was able to fully electrify my home and remove the gas meter in December. And I installed a 16kwh battery system to store energy collected from the rooftop solar array. And all the information that I learned along the way just needs to be shared with other homeowners (and renters for that matter) so they can do the same. Hence the electrification coach certification. After several weeks of in-depth classes learning about heat pumps, EV charging, and solar panels, I wrap-up the certification with a capstone project that lets me share what I learned and help others. So this weekend I’ll be hosting an event at my home to show off the work to interested community members so they can attempt to replicate it. By no means do I have all the answers to climate change, but I think I know more than the average citizen and I’m happy to help others in any way possible.

Since moving on from my previous job, I’ve given more focus to the work I do at Caveday. If you’re anything like the millions of people who’ve set intentions to get more done this year, you should book a session at Caveday to see what it’s all about. I will likely be ramping up the number of caves that I personally lead each week, and you’ll certainly see me attending plenty of other caves where I can block out distractions and make those meaningful community connections that help keep motivation high. Nearly all of the writing I do in this space is completed in the friendly confines of “the cave”.

And after a bit of a hiatus while my son was born, I am getting back into coaching. Yes, did you know that I’ve been helping clients improve their relationship with technology and build positive productivity habits since 2014? My how time flies. In addition to Caveday being an amazing New Year’s resolution tool, maybe you just need some one-on-one time with someone to help clarify your intentions and hold you accountable. And if you’ve enjoyed reading my writing, you’d likely enjoy having me as your coach. Feel free to check out the coaching page of my website or just send me a direct message on Substack if you want to chat about it. I’m open to taking on a small group of new clients in addition to revisiting some of my past clients in the coming weeks. It would be great to get some Iterate readers on board.

It wouldn’t be a proper new year update without some tech and gadget news! What new gear have I been enjoying lately? After a few years of toying with the idea, I finally swapped out my MacBook Pro for a Mac Mini and I’ve been loving it. From roughly 2008-2021 I had an iMac on my desk. Yes, I had plenty of other laptops along the way, and there was a stretch when my outdated iMac felt more like home decor than a productive machine. But the point is that I really do love a solid Mac desktop computing experience. The current line of iMacs just don’t do it for me. The Mac Mini is arguably the best deal in computing right now. I scored the base Mac Mini M4 through a Microcenter deal for only $399. It works great with my existing Samsung Smart Monitor and the Apple keyboard and trackpad that I had been using with my laptop setup.

When away from my desk, I still loving using my Pixelbook. I know it’s probably on its last legs but it hasn’t made me miss my Mac laptop at all. Its battery life is still better than the far newer Macbook Pro I just traded-in. I like typing on the keyboard better than a MacBook keyboard. It has a touchscreen and can flip into a tablet while weighing barely more than an iPad. It’s a magnificent little device and can even let me remotely access the Mac Mini for any Apple-specific things I need to do.

In conclusion, Mac Mini + Pixelbook = still an amazing computing combo in 2026.

That’s all for now. Thanks for reading my rambling new year update and apologies for the lack of new writing over the past few weeks. I’ve been busy. But I’m very excited for all of the possibilities of 2026. I may still take a break from the steady twice weekly updates, but there will be new and hopefully very interesting writing coming your way soon.

Hey! Could you use some help establishing healthy habits? Do you have a big project or new business that you want to get off the ground but could use some advice? Maybe you could benefit from hiring me as your coach. If you’re interested, read more about my coaching services here, or go ahead and book some time on my calendar to discuss further.

If you’ve been enjoying this content and want to show your support, I encourage you to become a paid subscriber!

Pledge Your Support

We’re all getting old. Our memories aren’t what they used to be. We’re going to need tools to help us remember all of the constant thoughts that flood our monkey minds.

I honestly thought there would be a ubiquitous piece of consumer tech that helped us remember everything by now. Where is the tiny camera on a necklace that lets us replay any moment of our day?

Sure, some people are wearing smart glasses, but are they solving the memory problem or just creating another angle to take photos and use AI?

So consider me extremely excited for a new product on the way from Pebble. Yes, this is the Pebble who made the most amazing smartwatch before smartwatches were really a thing. It’s the same Pebble the died but lived on through dedicated open source users. And it’s the Pebble that was reincarnated by its original creator under a new hardware company called Core. In addition to releasing a modern version of quite possibly the best smartwatch ever made, they now have a new product.

It’s called the Pebble Pebble Index 01 and it’s available for pre-order now before shipping in the Spring of 2026.

The idea of this product is so simple that it almost seems like it comes from both the past and the future at the same time. What if you took a smart ring but removed all of the sensors and replaced them with a push-button microphone to only capture audio notes?

It’s deceptively simple, but a lesson in restraint and compromise. This thing won’t tell you how great you slept last night. It won’t keep track of your steps or resting heart rate. It will just sit back and wait for you to have a compelling thought that you don’t want to lose.

Using just one hand, you can press its button and speak into it as needed. The form factor is so smart. I can see myself easily recording a voice note while out on a run or riding my bike. The fact that you don’t need two hands or an annoying wake word to make the ring listen to you is fantastic.

That little gesture of thumb and index finger coming together just feels natural. I’m surprised we haven’t been using it for other actions with our smartwatches or existing rings. I just feel like I would naturally establish a habit of doing that whenever a thought popped into my head.

So these audio recordings get saved throughout the day and then you can dive into them later using the Pebble app. The other great thing about this company is that everything they do is open sourced. There will be endless ways to interact with your saved recordings. You should be able to easily save them to other apps or take advantage of LLMs that let you parse through what’s important and what isn’t. This technology is only as useful as the method being used to retrieve these nuggets of wisdom that spout from your brain throughout the day.

Maybe the obvious question you’re asking is can’t my phone or smartwatch already do this? Of course the answer is yes. But the magic lies in the simplicity here. You could always pickup your phone and record a message to yourself to remember something. But you’re also likely to see notifications on the screen and get distracted from what you were originally doing. Recording audio on my Pixel Watch has been hit or miss. Relying on wake words isn’t as reliable as pressing a physical button. And the one-handed method of recording on the Index just seems like the most natural way to capture this audio.

Using a ring without a screen to remember things just seems like the most civilized approach. You won’t get distracted. You’ll be able to stay extremely present without losing that valuable insight that comes when you least expect it. That feels like magic to me.

So what are the downsides here? I’ve only managed to find one but it may be a big one. This first iteration of the Index is not rechargeable. There is a non-user replaceable battery embedded in the device. Because there is no screen, they’re claiming that the battery life is “years” but once the battery does eventually die, you’re out of luck. They are saying that you can send the ring back to them for recycling once the battery gives out. And presumably, you could order another ring if you wanted one. Maybe if they offered a recycling/50% off your second ring when you send it back, that could work. I absolutely hate the idea of disposable gadgets, but I do understand the trade-offs between battery life and ring size.

The Index would have had to be slightly larger to accommodate a removable battery or charge port. There is an argument that it would have been worth it to add that feature, but I understand the decision. The bigger question is whether the battery will actually last “years”. If you’re recording a lot of daily audio on this thing and it needs replacing after a few months, it certainly doesn’t seem worth it.

A company that is build on community support and open-source possibilities, should allow its products to live for as long as possible without ending up in the landfill. I commend any company that offers recycling programs when their products hit the end of their usable life span, but the reality is that a small percentage of people actually take advantage of these programs. Most users will throw an item in the garbage when it no longer serves them.

Based on the initial comments on the product announcement YouTube video, I’m not the only one who questions the decision to not include a rechargeable battery.

That decision can still probably be overlooked with everything else the Index has going for it. There is no monthly subscription to use the service. It can be pre-ordered now for only $75, which seems like a very reasonable price. It’s rare to see any piece of technology launch for a price that only includes two digits.

There shouldn’t be any privacy concerns here as all of the processing will be happening locally on the Pebble app. I’m sure there could be some hiccups along the way, but this seems like a very straightforward way to keep track of all of your thoughts that come and go throughout the day.

I’ll obviously have to reserve all judgment until I get a chance to use the product myself. I’m very curious to see how these ideas are organized and resurfaced when you need them. I could see it being a problem if it’s just recording all of these things but then not making it intuitive to retrieve them and act on them. I think it will need to rely on some connections to other apps to really shine. Thankfully, a dedicated community of hackers and tinkerers will help the Index get there.

Anyone else excited enough to get their pre-orders in now? Could be a great holiday gift for the forgetful person in your life. They’ll just need to wait until March to unwrap it.

Hey! Could you use some help establishing healthy habits? Do you have a big project or new business that you want to get off the ground but could use some advice? Maybe you could benefit from hiring me as your coach. If you’re interested, read more about my coaching services here, or go ahead and book some time on my calendar to discuss further.

If you’ve been enjoying this content and want to show your support, I encourage you to become a paid subscriber!

Pledge Your Support

A few months back, a new feature was added to my Google Home App. Google thought it would be useful to offer an AI-generated summary of everything captured by my Google/Nest security cameras over the course of a day.

Hmm, in theory, this seems like a decent idea. I’d like to know what’s going on around my home and I certainly don’t have time to scrub through hours of camera footage. Why not just have Google send me a quick rundown of what happened each evening?

You can probably already sense that I’m going to shift into negativity mode and start bashing the summaries I’ve been receiving. But before I do... well, let’s look at the positive aspects first.

There are days where I’m not actively looking at my camera notifications. Maybe I’m really focused on some deep work and turned off the alert that lets me know a package was left at the front door. Or—and this is a real example—maybe your AI camera assistant notifies you that it saw a family of raccoons hanging out in front of your garage very early in the morning. That’s kinda neat.

The one time where I found it to be truly useful was when our cat decided to sneak out the front door one evening. A quick summary mentioning that a cat was seen walking by the front door is actually pretty useful. It allowed me to quickly jump to that moment, check the timestamp, and deduce that she got out at 5:00 PM. Knowing exactly when she left made it much easier to figure out how far she may have wandered. Don’t worry, we were able to find the cat just down the street.

And that really highlights where AI shines: enhancing your ability to contextualize things captured on your cameras. When I know a package was delivered, it’s much easier to just type “package” into the search bar than to scroll through hours of video searching for a delivery truck.

And that’s about the extent of the usefulness I’ve found. In reality, the AI summaries read like a rambling, confusing recollection of the day’s events from a toddler.

If there were legitimate security issues baked into the summary, I wouldn’t realize it. “A man walked through the backyard” could be me checking something in the garden in the afternoon, or it could mean a prowler sneaking around in the middle of the night.

Gemini also still has trouble identifying specific faces of friends and family members. It has mistakenly told me that a friend was arriving at my front door unannounced when in reality it was just a delivery person who bore no resemblance. And while there are obviously some similar traits, it’s wild how often Gemini confuses my daughter for my wife when identifying people coming and going throughout the day.

This is the type of technology that will surely improve over time. The more people use the home brief feature, the more they can give constructive feedback to help things improve. The bigger question is: how long will that take and how much will people be willing to pay for it?

Yes, I do have a Gemini Premium subscription and I’ve been a longtime subscriber to the Nest Aware monitoring system. I still think the services are worth paying for. But how much is too much? Would a feature like this make me more likely to continue paying for it? I’m not sure. I think it has a long way to go.

I also think that maybe my use case isn’t conducive to AI monitoring like this. Do I really need to know every time my dog walks in the backyard? Maybe it makes more sense for people with higher security concerns, or a business that wants a better sense of customers entering and exiting all day.

Hey! Could you use some help establishing healthy habits? Do you have a big project or new business that you want to get off the ground but could use some advice? Maybe you could benefit from hiring me as your coach. If you’re interested, read more about my coaching services here, or go ahead and book some time on my calendar to discuss further.

If you’ve been enjoying this content and want to show your support, I encourage you to become a paid subscriber!

Pledge Your Support

I ride my bike for nearly every transportation need within a roughly 3-mile radius.

It isn’t all that difficult to pull off. We’re fortunate to live in a place that is relatively densely populated with above average (by American standards) bike infrastructure. My children’s school, several grocery stores, and most other amenities are within a mile’s trek.

Bike paths help make the longer journeys quite comfortable within that three mile range. And we also live in a climate that makes outdoor recreation rather pleasant year-round. For about nine months out of the year, we have zero risk of rain. While that may be a problem for dwindling reservoirs, it’s great for getting around town on a bike without worrying about getting wet.

But we do get some winter weather.

Now, winter weather in the Bay Area is certainly not that bad. We’re talking about chances of rain with temperatures typically in the upper 50s or low 60s. But rain is rain and it can quickly change your plans when you were expecting to ride your bike somewhere.

So what’s the alternative on a rainy day? I’m still searching for that perfect enclosed bike cabin. Sure, there are some decent public transportation options but driving around in a car becomes the de facto option when the weather is inclement. And recently, we decided to sell our second car that was sitting idle 95 percent of the time.

Having just one car in a family of four is totally doable. With parents who work from home and kids who can be taken to activities on foot or electric cargo bike, it’s usually fine.

Except for when those rainy winter days come along and the primary car is in-use. There are sometimes instances where two cars would be convenient if not essential.

Basically, I’m making the case here for owning 1.5 cars.

Well, you can’t really own half a car but having a second automobile at your disposal for only the rainy months seems like an amazing option for families in California!

How would this work in practice? The easy solution is a seasonal car lease. If I could lease a second car from November to March at a reasonable price, I would absolutely do it. Of course, I understand the complications that come along with an agreement like that. Insurance and registration come to mind. It would essentially be a long term car rental rather than a short term car lease I suppose.

Then when spring time rolls around and the threat of showers has passed for the next six months, that extra car won’t be taking up space in the garage or driveway. You can get back into the habit of effortlessly biking to all of your destinations!

And perhaps you can opt-in to renew that seasonal car loan for next year at a discounted rate?

This probably seems like a pie-in-the-sky nonsense idea from an entitled so-and-so who is lucky enough not to need to drive long distances or deal with miserable weather. Fair enough, I can’t argue with that.

I just wanted to articulate an idea that has been in the back of my head for a while. Having just one family car can sometimes be tricky. Having two cars almost always feels frivolous. What I’m looking for here is really just 1.5 cars. Anyone else on board with this idea?

Maybe my answer lies in the elusive rain-protected bike that doesn’t seem to be getting any closer to reality. E-bike manufacturers have really been pushing expensive e-bikes as a car replacement. And they certainly can be in a lot of situations. But even the most expensive cargo bike solution with all of the rain protection accessories is only marginally useable in all climate conditions.

Two cars has long been the standard solution for American households, but I think it’s more complex than that. Can we push for 1.5 (preferably electric) cars and 1.5 micromobility vehicles to round out our transportation plan? An electric scooter here, a bakfiets there? We may need more garage space, but it would make our daily commutes more sustainable, more fun, and just more interesting no matter what type of weather we’re dealing with.

Hey! Could you use some help establishing healthy habits? Do you have a big project or new business that you want to get off the ground but could use some advice? Maybe you could benefit from hiring me as your coach. If you’re interested, read more about my coaching services here, or go ahead and book some time on my calendar to discuss further.

If you’ve been enjoying this content and want to show your support, I encourage you to become a paid subscriber!

Pledge Your Support

This week I had the pleasure of taking in a conversation with Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

I had hoped to attend the discussion in-person but as is the nature of being a dad with two young kids, a virtual session via Zoom was far more convenient.

On a side note, paying 20-ish dollars to watch a ticketed live event via Zoom feels like a good deal to me. Sure, it’s great to give free access to things like this whenever possible, but a nominal fee for those of us who can’t get out on a Monday night but will happily watch a full-screen Zoom session with our feet up is much appreciated!

The Zoom platform gave the event early pandemic vibes. The production quality was stellar but there was certainly a voyeuristic feeling as the event was clearly tailored to the theater packed with Dubs fans and tech nerds. Oddly, the organizers decided to make the chatroom available for the duration of the event. Plenty of the attendees kept their cameras on, and a few had to be reminded to mute their audio. It was a chaotic but mostly positive, fun environment.

What about the discussion itself? Honestly, it felt like a somewhat peculiar pairing of guests and moderator. Manny Yekutiel of “Manny’s” SF fame was admittedly not a sports fan. He seemed to know very little about Kerr’s resume and even gave Steve some blank stares when he mentioned names like Rafael Nadal and Bjorn Borg. Kerr handled it as gracefully as he could but there were moments where you had to assume he was asking himself “who is this guy interviewing me and why am I here?”

I imagine that Altman was the draw for much of the audience. The enigmatic AI CEO has become perhaps the most prominent villain in the “tech is ruining SF” narrative. He seemed somewhat distant and hardly made eye contact with Yekutiel, who he claimed to be “a long time friend”.

It’s worth noting that the event kicked off with some fireworks as a man rushed the stage just as the guests settled into their seats. I could hear the word “subpoena” come through the Zoom broadcast but assumed it was a rogue demonstrator. While researching a bit more about the incident, it does appear that Altman may have technically been served a proper subpoena by California law whether any of the audience realized it or not. TBD on that for another day, but it’s worth mentioning here as it may end up being the most noteworthy story of the night.

Altman has a character to play and he does it well. He talked about the potential negative impacts of AI on society. He didn’t sugarcoat anything. I was taken aback once or twice when he described specific instances where AI could or would be used for harm. Sure, I guess it’s possible that someone uses ChatGPT to concoct the next super-virus, how worried should we be about that?

I did appreciate the discussion the men shared about the future of work. While AI has been at the front and center of the argument for technology stealing work from humans, Altman had a more long-term approach. He argued that most of our jobs would be unrecognizable to humans from 500 years ago. And there is a great chance that we wouldn’t be able to wrap our heads around the workforce 500 years from now. We can’t predict the jobs of the future, change is inevitable whether you deem it positive or negative.

Most of the memorable insights unsurprisingly came from the mouth of the Warriors coach. I loved his anecdote about joy being one of the core values of his team. One way they act on that value is by inviting the players’ children and families into the locker room area (sounds like they have a separate family room near the locker room but don’t quote me on the layout of the bowels of the Chase Center). Win or lose, the players find joy after the game seeing children running around being children. It’s a beautiful image, I sincerely believed Kerr when he said those post-game interactions were the highlight of his week. I’d also highly recommend checking out the video below where Kerr goes deeper into his philosophy of culture and vibe with former Warriors GM Bob Myers.

While I do know that quantifiable performance data is key to running a team in the modern NBA, I appreciated the description of the sophisticated technology used by the Warriors to track every movement of every player during practice sessions. Kerr also had a pretty insightful question for Altman about how soon he thinks NBA coaches will be relying on real-time AI usage during gameplay. At what point of the 3rd quarter would ChatGPT suggest Kerr give Steph Curry a rest? Sure, there are currently some analytics to help a coach’s intuition, but there will likely be a day when NBA games feel more like a simulation when coaches and players rely on AI to inform small changes throughout the game.

Overall, I’m really glad I tuned into the event even if it wasn’t without its flaws. I do wish there was a bit more chemistry between the men on stage, they still had their breakthrough moments. I’d also say that they short-changed the promise in the event description about discussing the future of San Francisco. The last awkwardly-phrased question offered up a softball where both guests talked about never imagining living anywhere else. That may be true, but it didn’t really tackle the current problems in SF or the long-term vision for how these two immensely powerful men could shape our fair city.

Kudos to Manny for attempting this difficult dance with two titans of their respective industries. Both men had much more important things they could have been doing on a Monday night. So while it could have run a little bit more smoothly, it’d have to be considered a net positive event.

Hey! Could you use some help establishing healthy habits? Do you have a big project or new business that you want to get off the ground but could use some advice? Maybe you could benefit from hiring me as your coach. If you’re interested, read more about my coaching services here, or go ahead and book some time on my calendar to discuss further.

If you’ve been enjoying this content and want to show your support, I encourage you to become a paid subscriber!

Pledge Your Support

Chromebooks tend to get a bad wrap.

They’re thought of as cheap stand-ins for the “real” computers running Windows or Mac OS. They’re given to school kids or grandparents who can’t be bothered to learn how real computers work.

I’m not going to dispute all of those things. They are typically more affordable and easier to operate than the alternatives. But I thought it was worth taking a moment to wax poetically about how amazing my Pixelbook has been now after eight years of service. Yes, the original model first launched all the way back in October of 2017. Ah, what a simpler time it was back then.

For those who can’t remember that far back, the Pixelbook was introduced as the most high-end Chromebook computer ever built. It came with a hefty $999 starting price tag to reflect this as well. It may not sound like much in today’s tech dollars, but that price was borderline absurd based on the previous models of Chromebooks. Thankfully, the Pixelbook was more refined than the average Chromebook in every way.

The 12.5” touchscreen display was beautiful. The backlit keyboard felt amazing and had just the right amount of travel with each keystroke. I find it to be as good if not better than any keyboard that Apple has included in one of their computers.

The original Pixelbook just looked sexy. It had the right ratio of metal to glass to match the design language of the first generations of Pixel phones. It weighed less than a Macbook Pro and had excellent battery life.

The touchscreen could rotate all the way back to create a thick tablet that worked well with the Pixel Pen stylus. You could also flip it to stand in a “tent” mode to watch videos.

All aspects of this computer were really well thought-out. Maybe it had some trouble finding its audience, but it offered a very compelling package in my humble opinion.

And yet, Google abandoned it like many of its other products.

Maybe it was unrealistic to expect a newly-designed Pixelbook each Fall to accompany the new version of the Pixel phone. But at least give it a refresh every two or three years right? Google opted to focus on phones and largely ignore computers and tablets moving forward.

Yes, there was the strange Pixelbook Go offering but it never really lived up to the original in my mind. Even with upgraded specs, the styling just didn’t look as refined as the original.

However, the good news here is that Pixel products are typically defined by their software more than their hardware. And Google has not disappointed in that regard. The current software running on my Pixelbook is largely unrecognizable to the software that it shipped with. I don’t think I’ve ever owned a piece of technology that has gotten more software updates than my Pixelbook.

This machine has consistently gotten more useful over the years. The software has gotten way more robust while still maintaining its playful, approachable design. I love how functional and minimal it can be at the same time. I don’t think Google gets enough credit for the software designed for a screen this size. It’s not Android, it’s technically still Chrome OS. It can run Linux if you are so inclined. It offers a fully-baked version of the Google Play Store to download and run virtually any app that could run on an Android phone. I’ll admit that this functionality was pretty wonky in the early days but it has learned to resize and adjust app windows pretty seamlessly to ensure a positive experience.

To put it bluntly, there are very few things that the Pixelbook can’t handle in 2025. No, it won’t be a beast of a gaming machine. You probably won’t want to be using it for intense video editing or processor-heavy AI applications. But it’s gotten to be “good enough” at 99% of the tasks that I’ve thrown at it.

I’ve had other computers as my “daily driver” for most of the time I’ve owned my Pixelbook. I’ve gone through several Macbooks in this time but I always find myself smiling when I pick up the Pixelbook. The screen resolution and brightness may not compare to the modern Macbook but it makes up for that in usability and touchscreen features that make it feel like it’s replacing both a Macbook and an iPad.

Since the keyboard is such a joy to use, I’m happy to pick up the Pixelbook for lengthy writing sessions. Even after all these years, its battery life is still plenty serviceable in day-to-day practice. And I haven’t found a better device to use for scrolling through high-resolution magazines on a lazy weekend morning.

So today, I just wanted to heap praise on a piece of technology that I feel has been gravely underappreciated. With no clear successor in the Pixelbook lineup, these machines still have a place in today’s tech landscape. It’s a wonder what Google has been able to do with the evolving software over the years.

I know there will eventually be an end to the software updates. And this hardware will likely falter at some point soon. But until then, I’m going to enjoy every minute of using the original Pixelbook. I see it having a place in my retro tech hall of Fame once it’s finally retired from daily use.

Any other Pixelbook fans out there celebrating its eighth birthday this month?

Hey! Could you use some help establishing healthy habits? Do you have a big project or new business that you want to get off the ground but could use some advice? Maybe you could benefit from hiring me as your coach. If you’re interested, read more about my coaching services here, or go ahead and book some time on my calendar to discuss further.

If you’ve been enjoying this content and want to show your support, I encourage you to become a paid subscriber!

Pledge Your Support

Autumn is upon us! And that mean's football season. Or for the sake of this post, it really means fantasy football season.

I like to write up a little something every year about fantasy football. My first fantasy football team was all the back in 1998 if my memory serves me. I'm not old enough to have mailed in paper scorecards but I remember the days when scoring updates weren't instantaneous. Sometimes I wouldn't get around to checking the status of a matchup until Tuesday afternoon! And I had to login to a desktop computer to do so! There were obviously no fantasy football apps available at the time.

But thankfully there are now plenty of fantasy football apps. And within those apps, you are able to show some creativity and engage in perhaps the most fun part of being a fantasy football team manager. You can name your team and create a logo!

This may sound silly but a good fantasy football team name is vital to your success in the league. Win or lose, getting a chuckle out of your leaguemates is worth its weight in gold. But why should you stop at a clever name? Why not a clever logo to accompany the name? Hell, why not a full-on branding treatment with uniforms, helmets, mascots?

OK, I'm not entirely serious about the uniforms and helmets but a team logo for your fantasy team is as obtainable as it has ever been. With the help of AI of course!

Enough of the preamble. I should have just cut straight to the chase here. AI has changed a lot of things in our world recently, but maybe fantasy football logos are the most fun use of the technology yet.

First, we had the generic football helmet logos that were randomly assigned by Yahoo! or ESPN. Then some of us more creative players decided to start mocking up our own crude logos with basic image editors. There is something oddly satisfying about a poorly Photoshopped image with barely legible text. It shows just the proper amount of effort to be spent on a fake team that plays a fake sport.

Things really changed with the advancement of Generative AI. Now images can be magically created right before your eyes! Just give a few simple prompts, maybe include the name of one of the players on your team, and voila! You should have a semi-professional looking image in no time.

Of course, this is still new technology. You may come across some hiccups in those initial image creations. I've witnessed a few hallucinations and misspellings of team names. And if you're looking to really capture the exact likeness of a specific NFL player, that can sometimes still be a challenge. But a close facsimile is very achievable.

And you may be asking yourself, couldn't I also use this technology to come up with a name for my team? The answer is obviously yes, but I offer up a caveat. We may rely on AI to create the team logos for us. And yes, there is plenty of AI involved when we're projecting scores and making draft decisions. But I personally find the creativity of naming my team to be the most enjoyable part of the game. Once we outsource that, we may be sacrificing a bit of the soul of fantasy sports. Is this just my opinion? Am I holding fantasy football names to be too sacred?

Maybe I'm just terrified of ChatGPT and Gemini spewing out dozens of team names far more clever than anything I could come up with. I don't want to play fantasy football in that world.

So what have been the fruits of my labor so far this season? I've had some ups and downs when it comes to my logo creation. For all of you nerds out there, I've had the most success running the Nano Banana Image Model in Gemini. It just seems to be the most accurate and able to capture what I'm going for with minimal re-prompting.

I thought "The LaPorta Potties" came out pretty well. The guidance was around creating an animapamorphic version of a portable toilet that resembled Lions Tight End Sam Laporta. I'd say mission mostly accomplished. It doesn’t look exactly like LaPorta’s face but this dude totally looks like a tight end. The inclusion of the mini toilets around the edges of the circular logo was a nice touch.

There is just something about Tight Ends I guess when it comes to naming my teams. Despite his dismal start to the year, TJ Hockenson lended his name and likeness to my team "Hock of Seagulls". I don't like this one as much as the LaPorta Potties but I was excited to see what Hocksenson would look like with a proper "Flock of Seagulls" hairdo. Seagulls naturally feel like a minor league baseball team name, and the lack of success from this particular team thus far probably warrants that minor league treatment.

I'll give an honorable mention to this little number created around the idea of Houston Texans running back Woody Marks as a woodchuck or beaver crossed with a tree? I'm really not very proud of it aside from the muscular tree trunk arms on a woodchuck. Credit for this one goes to Perplexity and you can see how it differs from the output of Gemini’s Nano Banana.

So that has been my experience for now. I'm sure I'll come up with some more team names that need logos soon. Every time a team gets on a losing streak, I feel the need for a rebrand. The fantasy football season is long and the only way to get through it is with a sense of humor. At least this year, we have the help of AI image generation to make the game just a little bit more fun.

Hey! Could you use some help establishing healthy habits? Do you have a big project or new business that you want to get off the ground but could use some advice? Maybe you could benefit from hiring me as your coach. If you’re interested, read more about my coaching services here, or go ahead and book some time on my calendar to discuss further.

If you’ve been enjoying this content and want to show your support, I encourage you to become a paid subscriber!

Pledge Your Support

OK, today's update may seem boring on the surface. Is this guy seriously going to write about a fan? How boring is that? Where is the high-tech slant? How can old technology like this be worth celebrating?

Well, let me tell you folks! I am sold on the benefits of installing a whole house fan (or sometimes incorrectly referred to as an attic fan).

What exactly am I talking about here?

This is a device that typically does get installed in your attic. And it gets positioned in a location of your attic where it can push hot air out of a vent (typically a gabled vent or soffit vent of some sort if we're being technical).

And while pushing hot air out of your attic, the fan also sucks in cool air from opened doors and windows of your house. When the temperature of the outside air is cooler than the air inside your house, it is high time to turn on your whole-house fan!

It turns out that Northern California is the ideal place for a device like this. Really anywhere with relatively low humidity where the temperature drops noticably when the sun goes down will be perfect for this.

In the Bay Area, we don't get very many excruciatingly hot days. But we do get days where the mid-day temperature gets uncomfortable before things dip down once the sun disappears. So to battle the stuffiness of summer evenings, I went ahead and installed a QuietCool whole house fan this summer. And I have been pleasantly surprised with the results.

A fan like this isn't meant to replace air conditioning in very hot climates. If the air outside is still hot and/or humid, it won't feel good to suck it into your home. But if you live somewhere that gets stuffy during the day, and need help pulling in the cool air in the evening, this is the best way to do it.

Installation really isn't too difficult. In our scenario, we already had a hatch in our hallway to access our attic. We just needed to do some minor patching to match the fan grate size to the existing opening. And then we just cut another attic access point in a bedroom closet. Fairly painless as a DIY project, but it won't break the bank to hire someone for the job either.

But there is a bit of high-tech magic in this tried and true home-cooling solution! I was able to install a smart controller in my attic that allows for the fan to be controlled by QuietCool's smart app. This lets you program scenarios for the fan to run automatically! Want the fan to turn on when the temperature in the attic hits over 80 degrees? No problem. Want to just let it run on an 8 hour timer every night when you sleep? Yep, that can be arranged. Or you can just manually turn it on or off and set the speed of the fan using the app. It's pretty easy to do from anywhere in the house rather than needing to walk over to a switch on the wall.

No, it's not the sexiest piece of smart home technology in my house but it may be the most practical. I've been amazed at how quickly the fan can clear out the hot air and lower the temperature in the upstairs bedrooms of our home. It becomes a fun game to check my Nest temperature sensors to see how quickly I can get that temperature to drop a few degrees. And it's way easier to get the perfect sleeping temperature at night even after the hottest days.

Of course, maybe the best part is just how little energy gets used by a fan like this. Even if it runs all night long, you're using a tiny fraction of the energy used by a traditional window-mounted air conditioner. It's good for the earth and great for your electric bill. Plus you have the added benefit of improving your air quality and quickly expelling any odors that may be lingering in your home.

No, this isn't a sponsored post from QuietCool, but I have really become a believer in the product. Yes, there are other companies that make fans like these, but QuietCool has become the big name in town. And the product definitely lives up to its name. On the low setting, the fan is hardly audible while running all night. The high setting is more noticeable but the low setting is more than enough when running overnight.

It's probably not at the top of your "fun new tech" shopping list right now, but I think a smart whole house fan may be the most sensible purchase I've made in a long time.

Hey! Could you use some help establishing healthy habits? Do you have a big project or new business that you want to get off the ground but could use some advice? Maybe you could benefit from hiring me as your coach. If you’re interested, read more about my coaching services here, or go ahead and book some time on my calendar to discuss further.

If you’ve been enjoying this content and want to show your support, I encourage you to become a paid subscriber!

Pledge Your Support

There are days where it just feels like I've really nailed it when it comes to my transportation choices.

The weather is perfect. The bike lanes and multi-use trails are uncrowded and accommodating. The birds are chirping as my happy kids are riding along. It sounds like something out of a movie but it does happen to me on a fairly regular basis.

Take today for example. On a morning devoid of the typical coastal marine layer of fog, it was a great idea to accompany my daughter on a scooter ride to school. The distance is only about half a mile but anyone with a 5-year old knows that the distance can feel insurmountable when the conditions aren't ideal.

But my daughter has gotten really confident on her scooter. And I love any excuse I can get to cruise around on mine as well. She still relies on the physical kicking for propulsion while I enjoy the convenience of a push-button electric accelerator.

It's not all too different from our usual bike ride to school with her in the cargo hold of my Tern HSD, but the morning scooter ride is a great way to start the day for both of us.

After successfully arriving proudly on campus, she likes to make sure that all of her classmates are keenly aware that she arrived to school in-style, self-propelled as opposed to the bulk of them who only climbed out of the back of Mom and Dad's SUV.

After securing her scooter in the well-equipped storage area, I then set off on my own scooter to tackle the day. It's very convenient that my daughter's elementary school runs along an extremely useful multi-use trail that connects to a commercial area with a grocery store. So dad took off on his scooter to get some groceries.

The scooter got thrown into the shopping cart rather than risking any (albeit minor) threat of scooter theft. Maybe there were a few glances at the mobility device in my cart, but it made for a very easy shopping experience with a quick exit.

My grocery haul wasn't huge. It was just enough to fit in the small reusable bag that had been in my pocket. Toss the handle over my shoulder and I felt totally comfortable scooting home with all the essentials.

It was an extremely fun and efficient use of the morning school drop-off time. There was father-daughter bonding. There was fresh air and exercise (more for her than for me). And there was a very practical errand that was run quickly and efficiently.

Or at least I thought that was case. Like any distracted parent entering a grocery store, I forgot a few things that would be needed for the weekend. No worries! The convenience of fast online grocery ordering and curbside pickup or delivery have become essential for almost any modern family.

In barely two hours, my order was ready to pick up. It was a fairly large order, but nothing that I didn't think could fit within the cargo confines of the Tern HSD bike. Marking "on my way" on the grocery app, I took off down the bike path to retrieve the groceries.

About ten minutes later, I was there in the appropriate pick-up location awaiting the friendly sales associates delivery. A woman with a shopping car stared at me with a puzzled look. She saw that there was someone waiting in the curbside pickup spot. But that person wasn't driving an automobile.

I waved to her with a smile on my face as she slowly pushed the cart in my direction.

"How are you going to fit everything?" she asked staring at the bike. She claimed that she had never seen someone show up at curbside pickup on a bike. I joked that I do it on a nearly weekly basis at this very store! She said he's typically a supervisor who wouldn't be the one to greet curbside delivery recipients. Ah, mystery solved. Surely, her subordinates must have raved at least once about the lunatic who fit a dozen grocery bags on his cargo bike? No? Oh, ok then.

The groceries all made it home in one piece. I enjoyed a return trip down a peaceful trail with hardly any interaction with a car.

And when it was time to pick up my daughter from school, I opted to take the bike. The cavernous cargo area was able to fit a folded up scooter, backpack, and her with no fuss.

On the bike ride home we stopped to pick some fresh wild blackberries. They were delicious.

It was a helluva day for micromobility dads everywhere.

Hey! Could you use some help establishing healthy habits? Do you have a big project or new business that you want to get off the ground but could use some advice? Maybe you could benefit from hiring me as your coach. If you’re interested, read more about my coaching services here, or go ahead and book some time on my calendar to discuss further.

If you’ve been enjoying this content and want to show your support, I encourage you to become a paid subscriber!

Pledge Your Support

I wanted to get this out sooner but I needed a few days to really let the Made By Google ‘25 event sink in.

In case you missed it, this was Google's annual product announcement event that mostly focused on new Pixel Phones and accessories.

But things were a little bit different this year.

Rather than let actual Googlers run the whole presentation, they opted to bring in a professional. Jimmy Fallon was this year's host. And the end product felt like a strange mashup of The Tonight Show, a sitcom from the 90s (live audience laughter included), and some segments you'd find on the channel of a successful YouTube influencer.

There were a bevy of celebrity appearances from the likes of Giannis Antetokounmpo, Stephen Curry (his interview segment to work for Google may have been the highlight of the show for me), and plenty of other people I'd never heard of but are apparently famous for one reason or another.

Star power makes sense. Android phones still have that vague stench of uncoolness when compared to iPhones. It's partially because of the lingering green bubble situation along with a general lack of examples in media of folks toting a Pixel vs an iPhone. If Google wants young people to think Pixel phones are cool, maybe this was the playbook to achieve it?

The whole experience felt really surreal from the perspective of a longtime Android enthusiast who has sat through dozens of announcement presentations like this. An article from Victoria Song at The Verge probably captured it best by saying that it felt like an episode of Wandavision. I couldn't put my finger on it until I read that article, but it is spot on!

How did it feel like Wandavision? It felt contrived. It felt like something that I was imagining. Was I living inside of Jimmy Fallon's daydream or was he living inside of mine? I didn't find it all that entertaining, but it was sorta hard to look away. Whether true or not, it did feel like there was more of a "live" feeling to it. Was Jimmy keeping to the script or did he feel like a big enough star to “go rogue” whenever he felt like it?

It's hard to say for sure, but it felt like there were times when Fallon let on that he was in on the joke. Did Jimmy actually know what a Tensor processor was before this week? Even if he did, was there a need to spout exalted superlatives like “come on!” or "now we're talkin'!" every time someone mentioned an IP rating? I can only imagine the boatload of cash handed out to Jimmy and the other celebrities for this gig.

However, I've never been in the large camp of Fallon haters. He had plenty of great moments on SNL even when he couldn't keep a straight face. And how can I bash a fellow son of the Hudson Valley? I want to give him some credit here. I think he took an impossible situation and had some fun with it. It's probably worth rewatching solely to see if I can spot any other tongue-in-cheek one-liners from Jimmy that poke fun at the absurdity of some of the product features or tech specs.

And what about Rick Osterloh and the rest of the Google gang? I think it was fine to omit Google CEO Sundar Pichai from this year's announcement. He has bigger fish to fry and the Pixel line has kinda morphed into its own thing that feels less "Googley" each year.

So without Pichai, Android Grand Poobah, (I've lost track of his actual title) Rick Osterloh has become the face of the brand and the poor stand-in for a Steve Jobs-esque figure to get people excited about Pixel products.

Let's face it. Rick isn't the most comfortable guy in front of the camera. I think he'd be the first to admit that. Putting him on the stage with someone like Jimmy Fallon was only going to make this more evident. The interactions between Fallon and the Google execs were easily the hardest parts of the event for me to watch. Or maybe it was the extended cuts with the Jonas Brothers, I don't know?

With all the talk over the last few months about the future of late night television, I was also wondering if this was an audition of sorts for Jimmy Fallon.

Stephen Colbert's run on late night is coming to an end. It feels like the writing is on the wall for Fallon and Kimmel as well. If so, what is Fallon's next act?

Are late night talk show personalities destined to be relegated to product announcements and making technology feel like it's made for the average person? While technically this was a celebration of ten years of the Pixel line of phones, this just didn't feel like a one-off experiment for Google. This kinda feels like a blueprint for what these events will be in the future.

I suppose I appreciated the live feeling and scripted spontaneity of the event. It felt more lively than some of the recent Apple announcements that were pre-recorded. Call me old fashioned but I think that tech product announcements should still be live events that super fans look forward to and casual fans are acutely aware of. I don't want it to all be press releases or perfectly orchestrated pre-canned segments where product demos can never go awry.

Perhaps the strangest thing about the Google extravaganza this year is that they opened up their pre-order pages for the devices before the event even took place! I ordered a new Pixel 10 Pro in the Moonstone color before I even saw Fallon take the stage! It felt wrong. It's been a rite of passage in the past to sit through the whole product announcement to see the features and pricing before making the purchase. It seems like the days are gone when the product pages would go live the second after the CEO walks off stage and the mad rush to secure shipping dates would ensue.

So I'll have more to say once my new Pixel arrives. Hopefully it will be a great device and we'll all be happy. But I have to say, the way the devices were announced left a very strange taste in my mouth.

Hey! Could you use some help establishing healthy habits? Do you have a big project or new business that you want to get off the ground but could use some advice? Maybe you could benefit from hiring me as your coach. If you’re interested, read more about my coaching services here, or go ahead and book some time on my calendar to discuss further.

If you’ve been enjoying this content and want to show your support, I encourage you to become a paid subscriber!

Pledge Your Support

This could just be my perspective from within my bubble, but it seems like it's gotten so much more difficult to replace something as simple as your hot water heater.

Sure, you could just go to any hardware store and ask them to replace your faulty unit. But now there are so many other things to consider. Do you want the same exact model you had? Do you need a gas-powered version? Do you want one that runs on electricity? Should you get a heat pump hot water heater? There are enough options to make your head spin.

The same can be said for HVAC solutions and almost all of the other infrastructure components of your home. If you're someone who cares about your environmental impact, you may not know where to start.

Behold, there are services to help you make informed decisions when making important upgrades to the expensive appliances that power your day-to-day lives.

Specifically, there are companies who aim to help you navigate this confusing time where many new technologies are allowing these traditional systems to be run more efficiently, more economically, and with a lesser impact on the environment.

Personally, I have used two of these services. QuitCarbon and Rewiring America. I thought it would be beneficial for others out there to give some insight on my experiences to see if they may be a good fit for you as well.

QuitCarbon sets out to help people do exactly as the name implies. They want to help you move off of carbon-based fuel systems in your home. That generally means shifting gas-powered appliances to electrified versions but there are plenty of other solutions that they recommend around efficiency (think things like better insulation or windows that don't leak as much air).

A few years ago, I went through QuitCarbon's on-boarding process and provided all of the vital information about my home and the current appliances that were running in it. With that information, QuitCarbon was able to generate a loose plan that I could follow to hopefully...eventually...entirely remove my home from carbon-based fuel.

While that can sound intimidating, they do a really great job of making the process fun and engaging. No, you don't have to spend thousands of dollars right away on purchasing costly home renovations. You can assess which changes will have the greatest impact on your carbon footprint and energy costs and prioritize those. You could also look for smaller, less expensive upgrades first to help you build some momentum while saving up for larger improvements. QuitCarbon will even connect you to local contractors in your area who have already completed plenty of similar projects. They do the vetting for you so you don't have to scour Yelp or ask around for who knows the best electrician to install you new EV charger!

Perhaps the best part is that QuitCarbon has actual humans that will schedule calls with you whenever necessary to walk you through the often confusing world of electrification, rebates, and incentives. The actual cost of these upgrades may be a lot less than you initially thought. And your QuitCarbon contact can help you sort through the bureaucracy to save some serious cash.

And speaking of cash, the QuitCarbon service doesn't require any to use. Yes, it's a free service and no, they aren't paying me to promote their service. But maybe they should be because I'm a big supporter and have told plenty of people about its benefits.

I don't mean to shortchange the other service I mentioned here, Rewiring America. They offer a similar service that I have also used over the past two years. They also help you organize a step-by-step approach to get your home electrified wherever possible.

Personally, I've learned so much from one of Rewiring America's co-founders . If you aren't reading his publication, you are doing yourself a disservice. I particularly love his perspective as an Australian who can give very honest and unbiased praise or criticism of the electrification process in America.

The most pressing point you should take from this post is that you are not alone in this. There are solutions out there to help you rethink how your home appliances are powered. The upgrades could be easier and less costly than you were imagining. The first step is to just educate yourself on the options that are available, and then decide if and when they make sense for your budget and personal circumstances.

QuitCarbon and Rewiring America should be on your radar if you're someone who is looking to reduce their carbon footprint.

Hey! Could you use some help establishing healthy habits? Do you have a big project or new business that you want to get off the ground but could use some advice? Maybe you could benefit from hiring me as your coach. If you’re interested, read more about my coaching services here, or go ahead and book some time on my calendar to discuss further.

If you’ve been enjoying this content and want to show your support, I encourage you to become a paid subscriber!

Pledge Your Support

As I mentioned in my last post, I've spent a lot of time this summer working through some home improvement projects.

And most, if not all of these projects are in an effort to "green up" our home in various ways.

I never set out for this publication to have a focus on environmentalism or green technology, but it feels like it's naturally headed in that direction. At least today.

You don't need me to be the one to tell you about all of the perils of climate change. There are plenty of amazing writers on Substack who are already doing that.

WHAT IF WE GET IT RIGHT?

Forward-looking musings on climate & culture from a scientist and policy nerd.

By Ayana Elizabeth Johnson

is probably my favorite. And I recommended Ayana's book a few months ago in one of my weekly updates. But it's one of those books that you really can't move on from. It sticks with you. I've found myself re-reading passages lately to see if there is anything that I may have missed the first time around.

One of the prevailing messages of the book is to take control of your own situation and make meaningful green changes in your daily life. Electrifying your home and decarbonizing is a great place to focus. And yet, getting your home off of fossil fuels is way more difficult than it should be. And I live in the Bay Area! You can imagine how hard it is in other parts of the country. But personally, I think that the journey to fully electrify your home is one that is worth undertaking…and quickly.

No, it doesn't have to happen overnight, but it should happen as soon as you're comfortably able to within your mental capacity and financial means.

And I'll state that there are plenty of other Substacks out there who can dive into the political side of things with more knowledge and tact than I can. But my transition to fully electrify my home was undoubtedly expedited by the current administration's budget policy and the disintegration of worthwhile incentives that were designed to ease this process over years rather than months.

Basically, if you're looking to make any of these updates to your home, you need to act now or accept paying exponentially more in the new year. Most of the incentives to do things like install solar panels on your roof or replace your gas water heater with an electric version are going away on December 31st. These projects need to be completed by then to qualify. Incentives for electric vehicles will vaporize even sooner on September 30th.

So surely, I can't be the only homeowner who has quickly scrambled to reconfigure my spending plan for the rest of the year to see if I can fit these projects in before the proverbial heat pump turns into a pumpkin on New Year's Eve.

With that spirit in mind, I thought it would be helpful for me to share what steps I've been taking to make these upgrades happen before they become far more expensive and out of reach for even more consumers.

I'm well aware that even with rebates, tax credits, and substantial incentives of all kinds, these things just aren't a priority for most people. Even if you have some extra cash lying around, are you convinced that spending it to replace a gas furnace that still has a few years of life left is worth your effort? I can absolutely understand if that answer is no.

Maybe I'm just easily influenced by the impending doom of some of the environmental rollbacks that have taken place in our government over the past few months. Maybe all of the heat pump and solar companies are reeling me in with all of their "sign up now or regret it forever!" marketing tactics. It could all be overblown, but I don't think so.

If adoption of these technologies was just getting off the ground with major incentives to increase affordability, what are their chances of success when the costs go up 30, 40, 50% or more? And is someone like me foolish to invest all of this time, energy, and cash when surely a portion of these companies may go out of business without the benefits of incentives driving demand for their products? It's a fair question to ask. I'm not sure I have an answer. Or maybe the answer is yes, but we need to do it anyway because it just feels like the right thing to do?

So what have I done so far on my electrification crusade? I replaced a really nice gas-powered range with an even nicer induction range with some impressive smart technology. I replaced a gas powered car with an EV while still using my electric bike and scooter for all of my local transportation. I installed a home EV charger that proved to be a bit much for my electrical panel to handle, leading to a mysterious late night power outage. Which then motivated me to replace my existing panel with a Leviton Load Center and install a Sub Panel with smart circuit breakers in an effort to better monitor and manage the overall load of my soon-to-be fully electrified home.

If you can't tell, this is a story that has a lot of twists, turns, and learning experiences. The truth is that I've actually really enjoyed every bit of it. And that's why I think the topic is very ripe for deeper exploration and future dedicated posts.

So for now, I'll just get off my soap box and promise that there will be more content here that involves green technology and my personal efforts to reduce and eliminate as much reliance on fossil fuels as possible. And if that’s not for you, don’t worry there will still be plenty of tech news, product reviews, and hopefully humorous trips down memory lane.

And if you’re excited to hear more about my journey, now is the perfect time to support my work by upgrading to a paid subscription.

Become a Paid Subscriber

Thanks for reading!

Hey! Could you use some help establishing healthy habits? Do you have a big project or new business that you want to get off the ground but could use some advice? Maybe you could benefit from hiring me as your coach. If you’re interested, read more about my coaching services here, or go ahead and book some time on my calendar to discuss further.

Iterate is free today. But if you enjoyed this post, you should let me know that this writing is valuable by pledging a future subscription. You won't be charged unless I enable payments at some point in the future. Think of it like an IOU in a tip jar.

Pledge Your Support

I haven't really been sure what to make of the last few phones released by the Nothing brand.

They've certainly been on my radar, but I've never truly considered owning one. Partially, that's been because their availability in the US has been wonky at best. You haven't been able to just walk into an American store to buy one.

There also is a certain amount of risk or at least uneasiness about purchasing a phone not made by Apple, Samsung, or Google in the year 2025. That is a sad statement. I've always been a big fan of competition and innovation in the smartphone world, and there just hasn't been enough of that in the past few years.

So now Nothing comes forward with its latest offering. It's the Nothing Phone 3! And it is designed to check off nearly all of the boxes of a flagship device with a price tag that undercuts the big guys. This phone will be available for purchase in the United States which is great! Unfortunately, it looks like it won't include all of the cellular radios to make it fully compatible on my current carrier, Verizon. Boo!

Perhaps that let's me be a bit more objective about the device since it doesn't look like I'll be owning one anytime soon. I will say that I've purchased phones that "kinda" work on Verizon in the past. It's just not worth it no matter how cool they may be. You can't really sacrifice the ability to place and receive calls at all times for the siren song of a cool looking device.

And the Nothing Phone 3 is most certainly a cool looking device in my humble opinion. Nothing has been a fan of using translucent/transparent backing on their products to give off a retro tech vibe. This speaks directly to my design aesthetic. When I look at the Nothing Phone 3, I see shades of the original Motorola Droid. I get a glimpse of the Cybiko (especially the rare translucent color option that was impossible to find.) It just looks both retro and futuristic at the same time and I love that.

Yes, this phone has most of the specs you'd want in a top-end Android phone. There is a Snapdragon 8 processor to power a 6.7 inch screen. It should certainly be able to handle anything you throw at it. But there is something that it offers that no other phone has.

Do the words "glyph interface" mean anything to you?

Well they certainly should! Because this phone has a quirky second screen on the back right corner that you can customize to do all sorts of crazy tricks. Think of it like a souped up version of the old notification light that was a mainstay of early Android phones.

You used to be able to program these lights to blink in different colors or patterns depending on the app or notification type. It was both aesthetically pleasing and extremely practical. If you're in a place where you can't open your phone, you could at least see the color of the notification light. Maybe if it was an emergency color, you could check it out. But it was another output method that could convey information without diving deep into the sea of notifications and apps on your phone.

But this glyph display goes beyond that. It's basically a tiny canvas to showcase your personality. Sure, it's great to use it for notifications, but I think I'd prefer to just have interesting animations flashing throughout the day to entertain me and amaze my friends. I think we've gotten away from features on smart phones that could just be classified as "neat" or a "fun party trick". It may sound silly, but I feel like I always relished these features on smart phones of the past. I'm having trouble coming up with any fun tricks that my last few Pixel phones could do.

Yes, I know there are plenty of software things or AI magic, but those aren't the same. While there are some features that are exclusive to Pixel phones, a majority of software tricks end up coming to nearly all phones eventually. I'm looking for tricks that are hardware specific. An example that comes to mind for me was that cool pop-up selfie camera on my old One Plus phone. I explicitly remember showing that feature off to moderate amusement from friends and family.

Will the glyph display take the world by storm? Will all the other phone manufacturers follow suit? No, I'd say there is a very slim chance. I could see a world where a variation of a tiny screen on the back of an iPhone gets released in 3-4 years. But it seems more likely that this will just be a niche device that doesn't sell well and the feature goes away in the next iteration Noting Phone. And that is totally fine!

I just love that I get to write about a real piece of innovation in a new smart phone that isn't all about AI! I'm sure there is some AI buried in the glyph display options somewhere, but you get what I'm saying. We need more companies like Nothing to release quirky phones with questionable features that may or may not drive sales. We need more Nothing Phones, which were the spiritual successor to the Essential Phones. We need more quirky LG G5 mods that were doomed upon arrival.

Sure, many of these quirky phones of the past were considered failures. But weren't they so much fun to talk about? And if nothing else, don't we need something to talk about in the mobile tech world beyond AI taking over our phones?

Let's hope the Nothing Phone 3 is able to find its hardcore supporters and build a long-lasting niche fanbase.

Hey! Could you use some help establishing healthy habits? Do you have a big project or new business that you want to get off the ground but could use some advice? Maybe you could benefit from hiring me as your coach. If you’re interested, read more about my coaching services here, or go ahead and book some time on my calendar to discuss further.

Iterate is free today. But if you enjoyed this post, you should let me know that this writing is valuable by pledging a future subscription. You won't be charged unless I enable payments at some point in the future. Think of it like an IOU in a tip jar.

Pledge Your Support

I've been riding electric bikes almost daily for about six years now. And there is something that always bothered me about these otherwise amazing forms of transportation.

It's the class system.

Yes, all electric bikes in the United States are required to fall within a somewhat arbitrary class system. The assumed goal of this system is to ensure that bikes operate as intended and within the safe limits of roadways and bike paths.

But how has this played out in practice? Hmm, I'd say it has been less than ideal from my perspective.

What exactly is the problem? Well, I'd venture to say that an overwhelming majority of e-bike riders in the United States have no idea which classification their bike falls into. I'll break it down here for clarity.

Class 1

This is a bike that can only be powered by a pedal-assist motor. There is no way to accelerate the vehicle without using your feet to pedal. The motor will in effect make the pedaling easier for you to avoid fatigue and maintain a consistent speed. That speed part is very important. A Class 1 e-bike will cut out its pedal assistance at 20 mph. Some bikes may cut out slightly sooner but somewhere between 18-20 mph is the standard. Of course, you could potentially exceed that 20 mph speed if you are going downhill or continue to pedal hard enough to propel the bike through the motor's limitation.

TLDR - Class 1 means 20mph top speed with no throttle. Gotta use your feet!

Class 2

This is arguably the most common and most confusing classification in the United States. A Class 2 bike also has a top speed of 20 mph. But unlike the Class 1 model, a Class 2 bike can have a throttle. That means that you can keep your feet still on the pedals and just twist or press a throttle button in order to make the bike go. You can also pedal and get some assistance if you'd prefer. Some Class 2 e-bikes have different modes for pedal assist or throttle. Others just use the throttle boost whenever its necessary like from a full stop or to pass a slower rider. The different settings of most Class 2 bikes are what make it so darn confusing. Many Class 2 bikes allow you to change the throttle settings or top speed restrictions. Which may turn your Class 2 bike into a...pseudo Class 3 bike.

TLDR - Class 2 means 20mph top speed, but you can use a throttle or choose not to! It could be like a little motorcycle or it could be identical to a Class 1 bike!

Class 3

A Class 3 bike by definition can not have a throttle. It should be fully propelled by a pedal-assisted motor much like a Class 1 bike. The big difference is that the Class 3 designation will allow the bike to reach a top speed of 28 mph. Depending on the model of your bike, it might still take a good deal of effort to reach that 28 mph speed. And without a throttle, you can't just shoot from 0-28 in no time at all. It is typically a pace that takes time to reach and effort to maintain.

TLDR - This is the big boy. You can hit a top speed of 28 mph on a Class 3 bike. You aren't allowed to have a throttle...and yet you might have one if you turned your Class 2 bike into a Class 3 bike via software. Make sense?

And there you have it. Those are the three e-bike classifications in the US. You probably have the same question I do. Why?

What is so special about 20 mph and 28 mph? Sure, there is some safety data out there about crashes at those speeds but it still feels pretty arbitrary. What about those bikes that allow you to set the top speed much higher than 28 mph? Are they still considered Class 3? Are they mopeds? Are they motorcycles? Are they scooters? Does anyone really care that much? Do they only care if their car/child/dog/non-electric bike comes in contact with your vehicle?

e-bike vs. cars

I know it isn't the same to directly compare cars and e-bikes but it does help for this argument in my mind.

I've considered purchasing a cute little LSV as a second car for our family. Technically a "neighborhood vehicle" or "low speed vehicle" is considered an automobile that can only reach a top speed of 25 mph and are not permitted on roadways with speed limits exceeding 35 mph.

Those limitations are pretty restrictive. And while I love the efficiency and lower cost of a vehicle like that compared to a traditional car, it just doesn't make a whole lot of sense for most people. Even if you only drive around a city with low speed limits 99 percent of the time, wouldn't you love it if your LSV could get on the freeway for even five minutes to get to the next town over more efficiently? Or in the case of San Francisco, wouldn’t you want to be able to get on any of the bridges to explore outside of the city?

I feel a similar way about these e-bike classifications. For what it's worth, I've owned bikes that fall into all three classifications. I see a reasonable argument for all of them. But it's a shame that I technically am not allowed to ride my Class 3 bike on certain trails or bike paths in California. It has no throttle. I very rarely exceed 20 mph unless I'm on a busy road where cars are whizzing by me at much faster speeds.

Now, the big question is about enforcement. Will anyone enforce these restrictions as long as you aren't causing any trouble and pedaling at a safe speed? No, probably not. There are bigger fish to fry out there. But it feels like more restrictions are coming for Class 3 e-bikes and its too bad. It's like buying a car that can go 150 mph. Are you ever going to go that fast? Most certainly not. But should you be penalized for that capability? No.

As someone who often covers a lot of ground with children and cargo in tow, it makes a lot of sense to go a few miles per hour faster if it's going to get my kid to school on time or get the groceries home before the frozen food melts. No, I'm not going to ride that fast on most of my days, but why shouldn't I have the ability to if I'm on a bike lane on a street with cars going nearly double my speed?

If the alternative is driving a car, it's in everyone's best interest to relax these classifications rather than frighten people. There are certainly times where I feel the Class 3 sticker on my e-bike feels like an unnecessary red flag.

Hey! Could you use some help establishing healthy habits? Do you have a big project or new business that you want to get off the ground but could use some advice? Maybe you could benefit from hiring me as your coach. If you’re interested, read more about my coaching services here, or go ahead and book some time on my calendar to discuss further.

Iterate is free today. But if you enjoyed this post, you should let me know that this writing is valuable by pledging a future subscription. You won't be charged unless I enable payments at some point in the future. Think of it like an IOU in a tip jar.

Pledge Your Support

I'll preface this all by saying that I have been captivated by the Harvest Thermal system for the past year or so.

As someone who is looking to make as many green improvements to his home as possible, the Harvest system is very appealing.

So what is it?

The Harvest Thermal system replaces your current hot water heater and HVAC system in one fell swoop. It is an ultra-efficient way to heat your home and the water used by your home. It has some of the same principles of your average heat pump HVAC system with a few other special tricks up its sleeve.

It basically turns your hot water tank into a thermal battery. You're able to heat the water when electricity is the cleanest and cheapest and then use the energy stored in the tank to heat your home during the hours when your electricity rates are higher or come from dirtier, carbon-based sources.

It's certainly not a product that you buy on an impulse. I've personally been mulling over the pros and cons of the system for several months. Is it worth installing in my home or is it just a lot of green hype for a product from a relatively young company without the proven track record you look for when making infrastructure upgrades in your home?

You could argue that a system that replaces both your hot water heater and HVAC system isn't a necessity. For decades, we've treated these two boring stalwarts of the garage or basement as separate entities. When the hot water heater breaks down, you replace it with another one. If you HVAC system needs tweaking, you make the changes or you replace the whole system. But the two technologies have never really been intertwined until now.

Is it wise to tackle both problems together or is it more likely to result in future complications? In our situation, we're looking to remove all gas connections in the home as soon as possible. After ditching the gas oven in favor of an induction range, the hot water and HVAC setups in the garage are the last remaining gas-powered items in our home. While we certainly could replace them both separately, it seems like a worthwhile chance to kill two birds with one stone.

I'm an absolute sucker for good branding, especially when it accompanies a product as mundane as a hot water heater. The folks at Harvest have a sensational website with clever illustrations that just make you want to be part of their sustainable home solution. Do you typically replace infrastructure items in your home based on the illustrations on a website? Nope, you don't. But Harvest is doing a lot of things differently here. That's their appeal.

The first Harvest Thermal system was installed in Berkeley, California just a handful of years ago. The founder of the company decided to use her home as the guinea pig. It makes sense that green innovation like this would start in the Bay Area but is this proven technology?

Harvest is still primarily installing their systems in Northern California but have expanded throughout the state and north to the Pacific Northwest. There are plans to install Harvest systems in other states in the not too distant future.

With a cost that ranges roughly from $25K-$80K depending on your home setup, this upgrade is by no means cheap. It's a big decision to install something with this much upfront cost from a company that has been around for less than a decade. The technology itself is clever and unique in the US but not something that hasn't been done before in other countries.

Of course, there are some incentives to help lower the cost a bit and while those are much appreciated, they also add another level of complexity. For example, most agree that any incentives to install green energy infrastructure will disintegrate under the Trump administration in the near future. While some of these incentives are still up in the air, it seems likely that projects completed within the calendar year will be still eligible for the federal tax credits and several state rebates.

As I previously wrote about with the Federal EV rebates, the intentions of the Trump administration do put a little extra pressure to make these changes perhaps a bit earlier than we planned on. Would I be as motivated to install a new Harvest Thermal system if I knew the price wouldn't exponentially go up next year? Probably not. Will it still be a fantastic product that is worth every penny? Quite possibly. But it does leave me with some tough decisions to make over the next six months.

Anyone else feeling torn about the potential impending increased price of sustainable home upgrades?

Hey! Could you use some help establishing healthy habits? Do you have a big project or new business that you want to get off the ground but could use some advice? Maybe you could benefit from hiring me as your coach. If you’re interested, read more about my coaching services here, or go ahead and book some time on my calendar to discuss further.

Iterate is free today. But if you enjoyed this post, you should let me know that this writing is valuable by pledging a future subscription. You won't be charged unless I enable payments at some point in the future. Think of it like an IOU in a tip jar.

Pledge Your Support

When is it the right time to change the voice of your digital assistant?

Is there ever really a good time to ditch someone who has potentially become an indispensable part of your daily routine?

I can't say I have the definitive answer to this. But I do have some thoughts that have bubbled up recently.

For years, I was happy using Google Assistant on my phones and smart speakers around my house. The assistant was just called "Google". It didn't really have a specific personality, gender, or vibe. It was just a friendly personification of the search service I'd been using for years. Consider it another way to get that same information that used to just be shown to me on screen. Now it had earned a voice.

I never really thought about liking or disliking the voice. It just felt comfortable and appropriate. I did look down on other voices from Siri or Alexa. Or at least I thought it felt strange when those voices became overly feminine or masculine. It was bizarre when my wife's phone would talk to her in an Australian accent or something. It just felt more natural for this helper to be as accent-agnostic as possible. Google Assistant didn't live in Australia, they just lived in our technology right? Why give it more thought than that?

That assistant voice helped me for years and I didn't give it much thought. But of course AI has to change everything. When Google started its push to replace Assistant with the new Gemini AI, there were new voices. You couldn't use Gemini with the default assistant voice. You had to make a choice. What did you want your new assistant to sound like?

I'm sure I'm not the only one who finds this process excruciating. It may sound silly but it almost feels like you have a room of actual human beings auditioning for you. You listen back to overanalyze the way they say whatever default phrase is used for the process. It's usually something like "Hi, I'm your assistant!". Are they too eager? Does the voice remind you too much of someone from your past? Do you want them to sound like your best bud or more like a subordinate who aims to please? There are some deep considerations at play here.

For Gemini, I ended up choosing a male voice that just kinda sounded like a casual middle-of-the-road choice that didn't really bring up any personal feelings. He didn't seem overly eager to serve. His voice wasn't too high or low pitched. He sounded intelligent but not like he was trying too hard. Apparently Google found it appropriate to name it “Pegasus” and describes it as an “engaged, deeper voice”. Sure, I guess that’s accurate enough. Pegasus has felt very natural in all of my Gemini Live interactions and I've been mostly pleased with the experience.

But when my Nest Hub Max display got an update and asked me to change its assistant voice, I was faced with a whole new dilemma. For some unspeakable reason, the voice I chose for Gemini wasn't available to use on the smart display. Maybe it's Google just trying to differentiate the voice on your smart display from the voice on your phone? Maybe Pegasus just doesn’t want to work that much. Who knows? But I had to pick a new voice.

So I went with a female to change things up from my male Gemini assistant. Apologies for not remembering the exact name that Google gave to this voice. It's kinda strange to give the voice an actual name but then still refer to it solely as "Gemini" or "Google".

I think the female voice is the one that is closest to Scarlett Johansson. With all of the attention she got from the movie "Her", I feel like I tried to chose a different voice but I just couldn't. Johansson may not be happy about being the default standard for assistant voices, but it's hard to argue that it's a pretty pleasant voice to be greeted by.

But the voice is by no means perfect. The way it says "Hi!" in the morning is just a little bit too chipper and high-pitched for my liking. Sometimes I miss the neutral vibes I got from the old Google Assistant voice. It really is kinda like replacing a member of your family.

My wife and I have joked about what our kids voices will be like when they grow up. I'm sure many parents have had the same discussions. Babies and toddlers have cute high-pitched squeals that eventually morph into a steady "kid voice" for lack of a better term. Then they hit puberty before somewhat settling into their voice for the rest of their lives. Or will it be the voice they use for the rest of our their lives? Will we one day be changing our own voices as quickly as we change the speaking tones of our digital assistants?

Hey! Could you use some help establishing healthy habits? Do you have a big project or new business that you want to get off the ground but could use some advice? Maybe you could benefit from hiring me as your coach. If you’re interested, read more about my coaching services here, or go ahead and book some time on my calendar to discuss further.

Iterate is free today. But if you enjoyed this post, you should let me know that this writing is valuable by pledging a future subscription. You won't be charged unless I enable payments at some point in the future. Think of it like an IOU in a tip jar.

Pledge Your Support

There is rarely a day that goes by where I don't ride my bike somewhere.

Usually, it's making the short trek back and forth to my daughter's elementary school on our trusty Tern HSD cargo bike. Other times it's running quick errands or taking a leisurely ride on my Gazelle Ultimate C80+.

They're both great e-bikes for different reasons. But there is one thing that they do both have in common. It's the attention to detail and quality by the manufacturer. And you notice that most clearly when you look at the accessories available for the bikes.

Let's start with the Tern. If you are looking to buy a practical bike to help you haul cargo and possibly also children and pets, I feel like Tern is the brand I'd recommend 10 out of 10 times.

Every little detail just seems so well thought out. And the brand doesn't sell any accessories that aren't extremely well built and tested. The rack on my HSD is designed to easily allow for a Yepp child seat to snap in and out of the indentations. Compare this to my old (less expensive) bike that required the purchase of a separate adapter to install on a rack to ensure compatibility. It's just a small nice thing that saves you time and energy when attempting to safely transport a child.

I've raved before about the Clubhouse Fort system that converts the rack of your Tern bike into a fully enclosed cabin for children/pets/gear. It's one of the most useful yet simple accessories I've ever used for any product. It comes with a high price tag but it's been worth 10x its cost.

The latest Tern accessory that has blown my mind is something called the Soft Crate Mini. It's designed to quickly attach to the clubhouse bars on your rear rack. When you aren't using that space to transport a child, you can convert it into a useful crate for hauling virtually anything. Tern markets it as the perfect way to bring your dog along for a ride and I can confirm that it works extremely well for that. You can even make the pooch's ride more plush with the DogHouse Mini accessory that gives your dog an enclosed space to relax while on two wheels.

I was able to snag the Soft Crate and DogHouse on a steep discount from a retailer that sadly went out of business recently (gotta blame the tariffs). For roughly $30, I added so much more functionality to our HSD. The Soft Crate can be added and removed so quickly and folds flat to take up virtually no space when not in use. I can easily go from chauffering my daughter to my dog in no time at all. And when the soft crate is installed with the Storm Box accessory below it, it essentially crates a hidden "sub trunk". You can store 2-4 grocery bags in the pannier space straddling the rear wheel and then still have your canine friend lying comfortably on the upper deck. It's an awesome way to pick up some groceries and then take your dog for a bike ride all in one stop.

OK, maybe I'm the only crazy person who is doing all of this riding around town with kids/pets/cargo. But it's accessories like these that really prove the value of buying these pricey bikes. They become true car replacement vehicles when you see the utility gained by the line of accessories that Tern sells.

My Gazelle bike doesn't offer as many branded first party accessories as Tern but it does rely on the MIK system. While not limited solely to Gazelle bikes, the MIK (Mounting Is Key) rack allows for MIK-approved accessories to easily snap right on and off. This gives you a wide range of baskets/bags/etc. that you know will work for your bike. It makes a bike with a MIK rack far more valuable than one without. You're essentially buying into an ecosystem that can grow along with you as your needs change.

So the point of all this isn't just to gush about the gear that makes my daily cycling more enjoyable. It's to highlight just how important accessories can be when buying a bike. They really shouldn't be an afterthought. Sure, you can always cut corners and buy a less expensive bike, but will that decision come back to haunt you later when you can't find the perfect accessory months or years down the line?

Hey! Could you use some help establishing healthy habits? Do you have a big project or new business that you want to get off the ground but could use some advice? Maybe you could benefit from hiring me as your coach. If you’re interested, read more about my coaching services here, or go ahead and book some time on my calendar to discuss further.

Iterate is free today. But if you enjoyed this post, you should let me know that this writing is valuable by pledging a future subscription. You won't be charged unless I enable payments at some point in the future. Think of it like an IOU in a tip jar.

Pledge Your Support

Recently, I was traveling to visit some family. The condo we had rented for the week was fairly well-appointed. All of the modern luxuries were there. Fast wifi. Hi-tech appliances. And of course there were smart TVs. Yes, there were multiple TVs in the unit and they were all Samung TVs. Why does that matter?

Well, it’s very likely that every condo unit in the 5-story complex included a few Samsung TVs. It’s essentially a standard issue in the rental agreement.

Again, why does this matter? What happens when dozens or even hundreds of travelers are attempting to watch content on their smart TVs? They watch movies, YouTube videos, and live sporting events. And they attempt to send these streams from their mobile devices to their smart TVs. Their Samsung smart TVs. That all have the same name…

You probably see where I’m going with this.

I found myself looking to send the live basketball game I was watching on the YouTube TV app to the Samsung smart TV. And I was presented with a list of dozens of potential devices. Most of them were named “Samsung Smart TV”. I made two attempts to cast the stream to no avail. I was likely sending content to a television that was not in range for me to view.

I just gave up. I managed to login to the YouTube TV app directly on the TV to watch what I wanted to watch. Story over right?

Not so fast.

It was a jam-packed week of sports with the NBA playoffs and NFL Draft both streaming live. I was watching the draft through the YouTube TV app on the TV when what do I see?

A black screen interrupts things and tells me that someone’s iPhone is attempting to connect to my TV via AirPlay. After the first time it happened, I just laughed it off. I could relate. Someone must have just tried to connect to that first Samsung Smart TV without giving it much thought.

But these interruptions continued throughout the night. Every few minutes, this same person would try to connect to our TV. The suspense of live NFL draft picks was ruined when the feed turned black and offered up a pairing code that was of no use to me. Can you think of anything more frustrating? It was funny for a bit but it did put a damper on our viewing experience.

Could I have just made the TV “undiscoverable” somehow? Sure, I bet that was possible. But it was a TV that I wasn’t familiar with and like many rental units, the batteries in the remote weren’t fully charged. The system was a bit laggy to navigate and the remote had to pointed in the exact right position. Turning off the ability for someone to connect to the TV just wasn’t an easy proposition.

Eventually, the person just gave up trying to stream on our TV, but they were very persistent!

This just feels like a real-world problem that likely happens all the time when people are staying in rental units with plenty of smart TVs within a tight space.

Can anyone else relate?

Hey! Could you use some help establishing healthy habits? Do you have a big project or new business that you want to get off the ground but could use some advice? Maybe you could benefit from hiring me as your coach. If you’re interested, read more about my coaching services here, or go ahead and book some time on my calendar to discuss further.

Iterate is free today. But if you enjoyed this post, you should let me know that this writing is valuable by pledging a future subscription. You won't be charged unless I enable payments at some point in the future. Think of it like an IOU in a tip jar.

Pledge Your Support