Rebecca Lily is a long-time collaborator and recently helped me develop two bespoke presets make it easier for me to edit and share photos from my two digital cameras, the Leica SL and my iPhone XS. She liked my work enough to include some of it on her blog. Given my high-esteem for her work and talent, this is indeed an honor.

Baseball season is here. March is already done and dusted. Let’s just say it is time for some serious spring cleaning. And for me, that means clearing out all those links that had piled up in my Pocket account. I have been reading more than usual for the past few weeks, mostly due to my health has slowed me down, and I was forced to take it easy and recover properly.

As an aside, with the clock turning on March, I have been in San Francisco for sixteen years at a stretch, eighteen in total, and yet I don’t feel like it is home. I have formed many great friendships. I have become part of two partnerships. I love the weather. The food scene is fantastic. The medical system in the city is the sole reason I am alive.

And yet, somehow it doesn’t feel like home. I guess when you are born somewhere, grew up elsewhere and are living in another place; you are never sure about the location of your axis, around which your life revolves. Ten years ago, I had the same feelings about San Francisco. This is what I wrote then:

Our physical interaction with a place defines how we feel about that place. New York’s streets and corners have a story attached to them, and I guess that gives a sense of belonging, and in the process act as markers on the timeline called life. I don’t feel that same way about San Francisco, even though I have lived here for ten years. I guess it will always be a place where I live, just not home.

I don’t quite know what will be my next destination.

I am writing this four years to the day after I fell in love.

In the aftermath of the GigaOM shutdown, I left town to spend a weekend with friends in New York and to take a break from all the negativity that was enveloping. I needed to revisit the place where it all started. I was in search of closure, though finding it – I ultimately learned – would take much longer. After I arrived, I began my healing process, as many people do, with some retail therapy. I stopped by my favorite camera store and chit-chatted with the staff. Don who would later become a dear friend, showed it to me, though I am forever in his debt.

The Leica SL. It was love at first sight.

A few weeks ago, I had a chance to converse with one my heroes, (philosopher, author, and journalist) Kevin Kelly and his partner in Cool Tools, Mark Frauenfelder, part of the Boing Boing crew. They asked me about four tools I love and why. I will recount my picks, but you have to listen to the podcast for my reasons.

• TWSBI Diamond 580 Fountain Pen
• Muji Organic Cotton Mix-Pile Sneaker-In Socks
• Dsptch Heavy Braided Camera Strap
• Corpus Natural Deodorant Sticks. I am biased towards Cedar Flora.

In case you were wondering, Omakase is a selection of products, services, applications, and art, that I have enjoyed. These are not reviews. Instead, they are my recommendations. I don’t mind endorsing these products because they are of high quality, and in general have been a positive addition to my life.

San Francisco is a small town. Stand still long enough and you are likely to bump into a billionaire or two, standing in line for a coffee. Or simply sitting in the lobby of a hotel like Brian Chesky, co-founder and CEO of Airbnb. I ran into him the other day. He interrupted his call, gave me a big hug and explained that for the past twenty days he was staying in hotels using the new addition to its hospitality empire. He is learning all about the app and the service which is rumored to have cost them over $450 million.

I wouldn’t expect anything less — Airbnb founders eat their own dog food and want to always be improving the experience. As I rode the elevator, I wondered to myself — how many CEOs of big hotel chains secretly check out the Airbnb experience, and how many delegate it to minions. My guess is that most of the chiefs have never stayed a night in an Airbnb and put themselves in the shoes of the traveler who opts for the experience.

I am a hotel kinda guy — Airbnb is a last choice for me, so it is great to find good deals on Hotel Tonight. I am glad they bought it. I am even happier to see that despite all the success, multi-billion dollar valuation, the founder is still as obsessed with the experience as he was nearly a decade ago.

From time to time, I try and go offline and take a break from the internet. Instead of going offline, I am going to be off social media for a few days. My Instagram usage has already dropped down drastically — one or two visits a week –but I want to go one step further and see if I can reduce this to once a month. I am also looking to reduce the time spent on Twitter as well. I plan to spend more time writing — the book is already taking time away from everything else, but I want to use the blog for frequent updates. I am focusing on improving my physical and psychological health, and social vacations are necessary to make progress.

A recent poll of top 100 most visible US companies placed Facebook at 94, just above Dish, Well Fargo, Trump Organization, Sears, Philip Morris, and the US Government. The company declines 43 places in the past year. Facebook’s position just above a crummy bank, a failing retailer and a tobacco company says everything about the company and its values. No one trusts the company, because it has lied once too often.

It is a remarkable indictment of a company with a market capitalization of nearly half a trillion dollars. The sheer profits of its advertising engine — regardless of the consequences of its engagement and growth at any cost — are the reason Wall Street doesn’t care about anything else.

I have been on the record as saying that it is a net negative for our society. It is a vortex of negativity for the Silicon Valley ecosystem — a company that has stolen from the ecosystem at every turn. Its actions are why regulators will foist ill-thought-out regulation on all technology and in the process dampen the spark of innovation. The reaction to Facebook and its impact on society, in general, will lead to even good technology being demonized because it has shown what happens when technology has no consequence.

Their PR games, their lies, and deceit are without any social, moral or human consequences. The poll results and its tattered reputation is a resounding slap in its face. What is more disheartening is that except for a handful of voices, Silicon Valley’s elders, many who posit humanistic missions are silent about a company that deserves to be deemed a pariah in our ecosystem. Time is now to ask ourselves — what are the unintended consequences of our industry and our technology. Otherwise, we will have presidential hopefuls turn innovation into a vote securing pinata.

Photo courtesy of Unsplash

Earlier this morning, while drinking my morning tea and sifting through my morning reads (on Feedbin, if you want to know), I came across a brilliant piece of journalism from Jennings Brown, a writer for Gizmodo. He unmasked a fabulist and fake doctor who passed himself off as a scientist and an expert psychiatrist on sexual issues. It is a smart piece of old fashioned reporting, which included double checking the claims, picking up the phone, having a conversation or four, and yes, using Google and other databases. It is what a reporter is supposed to do. Kudos to Brown and the editors at Gizmodo.

Here are some of the stories that are hand-picked and worth your precious reading time.

• Can Ridesharing ever be profitable? And is Lyft IPO worth it? Hubert Horan, a transportation industry veteran has a non-Silicon Valley view of ride-sharing, and that is why his breakdown of the Lyft IPO is worth a look, especially all the comparisons with Uber and its data. This is a good read, but you might need more than 5 minutes to read it.
• How AI will rewire us? A smart essay in The Atlantic argues that robots will redefine our humanness. It will be no different than how machines have always changed us as people through ages, though this time, the devices will be more advanced.
• Arlington, Virginia spent $4.1 million on a dark fiber network with hoped to transform the community. No one’s using it.
• Why women end up on the cutting floor? An insider look at how 60 Minutes cut women’s voices from a segment on girls and women. It is an informative piece because it reflects on the systematic problems in our society and the media is as big a culprit as any big company chief executive.
• The Yankees still think they’re a Death Star. So why are they not acting like one? Why didn’t they spend a billion dollars on three free agents this year? Why aren’t they spending the money they are making.

The Daily Noted is a collection of my thoughts, links worth following and other ephemera that is worthy of attention. Updated frequently, daily! Photo courtesy of Aga Putra/Unsplash

A designer who wants to achieve good design must not regard himself as an artist who, according to taste and aesthetics, is merely dressing-up products with a last-minute garment.

The designer must be the ‘gestaltingenieur’ or creative engineer. They synthesise the completed product from the various elements that make up its design. Their work is largely rational, meaning that aesthetic decisions are justified by an understanding of the product’s purpose.

Dieter Rams 

Photo via Rams/Gary Hustwit.