Tag: technology

Posts related to technology.

  • Dumber Phone

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    It’s 2025 and we’ve pretty much all come to realize how addictive these little (or not so little) devices in our pocket really are, but yet struggle to manage them.

    There are a number of dumb phones that have been released recently to address this, trying to provide just enough functionality without the bad stuff, but they aren’t cheap.

    I’ve taken an alternate route, making my current phone as dumb as possible, without purchasing another device. Here are six things that seem to help:

    1. Small phone. My current device is an iPhone 13 mini and I really love the size. Having a smaller screen also makes you want to look at it less. Unfortunately new phones are way larger 🤷
    2. Remove apps. This is an obvious one, but remove apps that you find addictive and allow you to browse or scroll.
    3. Block sites. Even with apps removed, the browser can be distracting too. I’ve set time limits for certain sites, and blocked others completely. Although this can be turned off, it’s often enough of a barrier to break the habit.
    4. Notifications off. Another obvious one, but turning off notifications for almost all apps, besides calls, texts, and calendar / reminders prevents easy distraction. Also, turning off the notification counter can help too (that red dot is way too triggering).
    5. Launcher app. This is a bigger change, but replacing your home screen of apps with a launcher is a great way to keep you focused on those apps you want to use vs all the distracting ones you don’t. Get instructions here
    6. Color off. This is a small step, but a big change. By turning the phone to grayscale, it reduces the visceral reaction you have to seeing specific colors (especially the red notifications). I’ve set this up to be toggled with the side button, so I can turn color on for photos & maps etc.

    My goal isn’t to simply reduce my screen time, but rather to make it harder to waste my time. Overall it’s working fairly well, though I find it necessary to review from time to time, and modify as new distractions sneak in.

    Here is a before and after of my phone.

    Arrow downArrow pointing down

  • Why WordPress

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    WordPress is a powerful open source Content Management System (CMS) that makes it easy to run a blog, or any kind of website … including this one. It’s been around since 2003 (which is forever in tech years) and currently powers over 22% of the top 1M websites.

    My Experience with WordPress

    I was first introduced to WordPress around 2009 when building a website for a family member. I’d used some other solutions before including Geocities (old school), Microsoft FrontPage (shudder), and coding straight HTML, however WordPress immediately stood out as a powerful way to publish a website without technical experience.

    Since then I’ve built, or worked on, over 30 websites using WordPress. These ranged from vanilla sites, to page builders like Elementor, to themes I hand-coded using Roots. In 2013, I even built my startup Whys Learning (interactive family games) on WordPress, taking advantage of the powerful CMS. It may not have been the most elegant solution, but it allowed me to launch and iterate quickly without extensive coding knowledge.

    image of whys learning home page
    Whys Learning – Web App with WordPress
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  • The problem with AI

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    It’s a long one. Sorry!

    Introduction

    As a technologist, working in the software industry, and as a Christian, thinking deeply about technology, faith, and work – I’ve been closely watching the rise of AI, looking at both the opportunities and the challenges. My goal here is to summarize the biggest issues we as Christians (and everyone concerned with human flourishing) should be aware of.

    AI is a very broad category that covers many technologies, however the majority of AI getting news and usage is generative AI, specifically the models and services created by the largest tech firms in the USA (and China to a lesser extent). This will be the focus of the essay.

    Framework

    To help bring clarity, I’ve created a simple framework, corresponding to the process of producing and using generative AI. At each step I’ll highlight the biggest issues I see. Here is the four step framework:

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  • Craft vs Slop

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    I’m currently working on a summary of my thoughts on AI and it’s challenges, but it is shaping up to be longer and more work than expected.

    In the meantime, here is an excerpt from a great essay by Will Manidis that explores our original call by God to do meaningful work, and the temptation to shortcut that work.

    Humanity’s first sin was, in part, choosing the easy shortcut over the meaningful process – preferring effortless gain to the demanding but fulfilling work of tending the garden.

    Will Manidis, Craft is the Antidote to Slop

    Craft is the Antidote to Slop

  • Trusting God in a Technical Age

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    One of the core instructions throughout the Bible is to wholly trust in God. This instruction gets to the heart of following him; do we believe that God is good and that he can (and will) do what is best – or can we make a better future for ourselves?

    Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
        and do not lean on your own understanding.
    In all your ways acknowledge him,
    and he will make straight your paths.

    Proverbs 3:5-6 ESV
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  • Wisdom Lost

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    Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
    Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?

    TS Eliot, The Rock

    This quote from TS Eliot’s play, The Rock was written in 1934, but seems even more relevant today. We are amassing an ever increasing amount of information, and can now get an answer for anything from AI (though not necessarily the right one). However, we forget that the value is not just in the information but the wisdom that it took to gain it.

    How can we be people that value the hard work of gaining wisdom in an age of instant gratification and ease? How do we push back against hoarding information without truly understanding the world in which it belongs?

  • AI Isn’t Coming for your Job

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    But at least we can make videos of cats diving in the Olympics.

    No. AI* isn’t coming for your job.

    Don’t get me wrong, many jobs are disappearing, especially at the lower levels, but AI isn’t some sentient being plotting your destruction.

    Continue reading

  • An AI Free Blog

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    AI free since ’83

    Starting today you will see this little icon on the bottom of every page. Nothing on this site was, or will be, generated with AI. No images, no videos, and most importantly, no writing.

    I’m not opposed to AI (well not fully) – however, besides the obvious environmental and human concerns, using AI to generate content for this creative outlet completely defeats the point.

    My goal is to learn, grow, and challenge myself – and document and share my thoughts and findings along the way. The hard part of writing or editing or capturing is the good part. I don’t write just for the output; the process of taking my random thoughts and making them coherent is where I improve.

    For example, Post-Snob was an idea I’d been playing with in my head for at least a few years, however it took time and multiple drafts, iterations, and sketches, before it came together into something I felt was worth sharing.

    As AI develops, and the uptake and implementation of it grows, my stance may change. However, I firmly believe that creativity is one of our core human values, and outsourcing it to a machine means we lose more than we gain.

  • Computers

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    Let’s think critically about new technologies.

    Although I believe the computer to be a vastly overrated technology, I mention it here because, clearly, American have accorded it their customary mindless inattention; which means they will use it as they are told, without a whimper. Thus, a central thesis of computer technology – that the principal difficulty we have in solving problems stems from insufficient data – will go unexamined. Until, years from now, when it will be noticed that the massive collection of data have been of great value to large-scale organizations but have solved very little of importance to most people and have created at least as many problems for them as they may have solved.

    Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death

    This quote is from Neil Postman’s book Amusing Ourselves to Death, a prescient look at technology (mostly TV at that point) – and how the form or medium of a technology significantly impacts how it is used. As a whole, our culture sees technology as a good thing and we adopt it without enough critical thought as to the dangers or downsides.

    Reading this today in light of the massive data collection by tech platforms, and the use of this data to monetize and manipulate, should cause us to seriously consider when a technology has greater downsides than upsides, and how to prevent misuse at the hands of bad actors or powerful entities.

  • AI vs Cognitive Gains

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    Don’t let tools replace your core skills

    Using ChatGPT to complete assignments is like bringing a forklift into the weight room; you will never improve your cognitive fitness that way.

    Ted Chiang

    The tools we use can easily become crutches that inhibit development and even cause atrophy.

    • Driving vs walking -> health decline
    • Calculators vs mental math -> reliance on calculator
    • GPS vs maps & directions -> reliance on GPS
    • Auto-correct vs spelling yourself -> even poorer speeling

    These tools all have a use and can be beneficial, but they cannot be evaluated apart from their impacts. And they actually impact different groups unequally.

    The first group is those who have already gained the skill or technique, but use the tool to become faster or better. They know the “hard” way because they had to learn it. For them the danger is not progressing in a skill, and even atrophying.

    The second group is those who have never known the skill, but learned with the tool. They have never had the chance to learn the “hard” way, and are stuck without it.

    As we think about AI tools like ChatGPT, for us who’ve already learned to write an essay, or draw a picture, or write code, using AI may mean our skills get rusty, but at worst, we could still get along without them. But for the next generation who have not, they will be hopelessly lost without it, dependent on AI tools – and those who own and program them, to complete the basic tasks in work and life.

    Though these tools are being crammed into every product by the tech firms that dominate our lives, we can choose not to use them, and to keep our human-defining skills like writing and making music and art, even if it means taking longer or thinking harder, that’s the point.

    And for those who are learning, remember that though AI may be able to answer your question or complete your assignment, every time you use this tool you are giving it more control and reducing your future independence.

  • Blue screen of death

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    This wouldn’t have happened with Linux.

    Although I try avoid using Windows whenever possible, it seems I cannot escape the blue screen of death!

  • Man conforms

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    Technology should serve humanity, not the other way around.

    Science finds, industry applies, man conforms.

    Chicago World Fair motto (1933)

    The motto for the Chicago World Fair sums up how backwards our approach to technological development is.

    We leverage science to make new discoveries, which is great, but then let the application of these technologies be led by industry (aka business), which means profit first and people be damned.

    Vehicles lead to unwalkable neighbourhoods – man conforms.

    New machines replace thousands of skilled artisans – man conforms.

    Pesticides poison water sources – man conforms.

    But it doesn’t have to be this way. We can use technology to make life better for people, and if it causes serious harm or unintended damages, we can even choose not to pursue that technology, or place limits on its use.

    As technologies like AI get rammed into every aspect of life by businesses seeking to grow revenue, thinking critically about how we apply and adopt new innovations is more important than ever; individually, as business leaders, and at a macro level (politically) too.

  • Computers & Accountability

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    What decisions do we let computers make?

    The photo above was taken from an IBM presentation in 1979, and yet it is more relevant than ever.

    With the advances of AI, it feels like the entire tech industry (and everyone on LinkedIn) believes that it can solve any problem, and any pushback will be solved with the next release.

    How can we use technology like AI well, without losing human agency and accountability, especially in situations where lives can be significantly impacted (healthcare, transportation and more)?

  • Behind the machine

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    This is a prescient quote in today’s AI hype.

    However formidably automatic the machine may look, there is always a man lurking in the background, adjusting it, correcting it, nursing it; and the machine itself is half slave, half god.

    Lewis Mumford, Art and technics