The dream job

The dream job

I had a dream last night. I was presenting to a group of people at Forrester, the company where I worked for 20 years — and then left to go freelance for the last ten years. The presentation went really well. I couldn’t tell you now what I was presenting on — dreams are like…

Why a “1 in a million” New York Times Connections solution is counterintuitively likely

Why a “1 in a million” New York Times Connections solution is counterintuitively likely

After I solved the New York Times Connections puzzle today, the “Connections Bot” told me that my solution was unique among the last million players. The same thing happened yesterday. How can I repeatedly be getting one-in-a-million solutions? The answer reveals a little about our mistaken intuition about probability. The 10 trillion ways to attempt…

The cockroach

The cockroach

It’s 1981. I’m 22, in graduate school, and haven’t yet had an actual job. I’m seriously dating this girl, let’s call her E. E is important to me for more than romantic reasons. Her stepfather B is a very well-known and respected science-fiction writer. This is a big deal to me, because I hope to…

Forrester’s legacy; burgeoning audiobooks; Boundless greed: Newsletter 4 June 2025
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Forrester’s legacy; burgeoning audiobooks; Boundless greed: Newsletter 4 June 2025

Newsletter 97: Two decades of persistent value from my long analyst gig. Plus, in defense of a dash, hallucinatory “formatting issues,” three people to follow and three books to read. How 20 years at Forrester changed my life I spent 20 years at one company: Forrester. It’s been 10 years since I left. When I…

Humans with skills; AI’s manifest destiny; robotic Melania: Newsletter 28 May 2025
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Humans with skills; AI’s manifest destiny; robotic Melania: Newsletter 28 May 2025

Newsletter 96. Value at the intersection of humanity and excellence. Plus, ludicrous justifications for AI copyright theft, billionaire boosting big beautiful bill, three people to follow and three books to read. The value of humans with skills Career success comes from two qualities. Skills. And humanity. Everyone knows that having skills — like writing ability…