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About this site

About this site
Ducklings! No purpose here, just thought they were cute.

Thanks for reading Failure Mode! This newsletter is made possible by readers like you. To support my work, please subscribe for free below. You can also throw me some coffee money if you want!

Why should we pay attention to you?

I like to think it’s my credibility. I will not take a company at its word. I will measure my credulity. I will be honest to you, the reader. I will not spend long stretches of time engaging in corporate puffery – I am not Kara Swisher. I am a level-headed, rational thinker who wants to see every side of everything so I can effectively evaluate credibility and correctness. The tech and business press needs less credulity and more skepticism, necessitating folks like me with a sharper critical eye.

That said, I am human – nobody knows everything! Expect the occasional typo, factual error, or misstatement, as I’m still working on the revision part of my writing toolkit. I am still a full-time student. All told, I hope you find what I write here interesting or valuable! It certainly needs a home.

Why this? Why now?

If you haven’t read the news in a bit, congratulations! Everything is on fire. The EPA’s new mission is to lower the costs of cars and fuel, Arlington National Cemetery is removing references to black or female soldiers on its monuments and plaques, and planes are falling out of the sky like never before in the 21st century. I therefore find it necessary to catalog this insanity from the (somewhat) sober-minded perspective of someone looking to live in this world, and how that may be different from the perspectives of most journalists today.

What kind of community are you looking to build?

Hopefully one with developed critical thinking and listening skills. Both are essential! In any case, I’m eager to engage critically with other people who have ideas about the world – to a reasonable limit, obviously. If you want to “discuss” trans athletes, you can go back to Twitter. Business, technology, sociology, politics – most subjects that enter and leave the American news cycle are fair game. I just don’t want to engage with a bunch of concern trolls.

When should I expect new posts?

I’m gonna try to hit a biweekly cadence on these newsletters – sourcing claims and facts is hard and I have to do a good job of that with the subjects I’m covering! Plus, I still have classes Monday-Friday. Expect a reasonable amount of hang time between posts.