What I’m Doing Now

Writing long-form explanatory pieces about how systems work. Current pieces in progress: a history of FICO and the consumer credit scoring system, an investigation into why small cars disappeared from American roads, and a deep dive into the QR code (how it was designed, why it took 25 years to go mainstream, and what it says about technology adoption).

Also researching global maritime chokepoints. Started down the rabbit hole after wondering, like everyone else, why closing the Strait of Hormuz (a random waterway in the Middle East) triggered a chain of far-reaching events, including a US stock market selloff. So far I’ve gotten enough information to write an article and build a visualization/simulation to help people understand why the Strait of Hormuz and a small handful of waterways are so critical to global trade.

On the projects side, building and improving Rhetorical! (a word game that tests linguistic improvisation under pressure). Working on gameplay logic, shipping updates, and learning what it means to design something people actually want to play.

Reading George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire (yes, the books). Also finishing Neal Stephenson’s Snow Crash. Watching Suits on Netflix on the side, which has nothing to do with any of the above.