In progress

As of February 1st, 2018, I am working on the following items:

Learning

  • Swift programming language for iOS and macOS
    • Taking a paid video course on Udemy
    • Learning with Mimo, Swiftbites and Swift Playgrounds apps on iPad
    • Learning the Apple Xcode Integrated Development Environment
  • Relational databases and data modelling
  • Artificial intelligence
  • Trello for product management
  • Slack for team communications
  • Unix operating system (Ubuntu)
  • Presentation skills (design and delivery)
  • Markdown language using iA Writer (Done)
  • WordPress (expanded)
    • Using X Theme for new website design
    • Running prototype server locally and production server on a virtual private server using tools such as SSH and FTP
  • Argumentation, The Study of Effective Reasoning, 2nd edition (audio course)
  • The Secret Life of Words: English Words and their Origins (video course)
  • The Other 1492: Ferdinand, Isabella, and the Making of an Empire(audio course)
  • Other courses from The Teaching Company / The Great Courses (purchased)
    • Game Theory, Philosophy, Literature, Religion, History

Reading

  • The Odyssey by Homer with translation by Emily Wilson
  • The Human City: Urbanism for the Rest of Us by Joel Kotkin
  • WTF?: What’s The Future and Why It’s Up to Us by Tim O’Reilly
  • A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James
  • Turing’s Cathedral by George Dyson
  • A Mind at Play (biography of Claude Shannon) by Jimmy Soni and Rob Goodman
  • The Ascent of Money by Niall Ferguson
  • The Information: A History, A Theory, A Flood by James Gleick
  • Invisible Armies by Max Boot
  • The Gene: An Intimate History by Siddhartha Mukherjee
  • It Can’t Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis
  • Rework by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hanson
  • Why Smart People Hurt by Eric Maisel
  • Kissinger: 1923-1968: The Idealist, by Niall Ferguson
  • World Order by Henry Kissinger
  • The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs
  • Dark Age Ahead by Jane Jacobs
  • Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
  • Buyer Personas by Adelle Revera
  • Product Manager’s Survival Guide by Steven Haines
  • The Lean Startup by Eric Ries
  • Monetizing Innovation by Madhavan Ramunajam and Georg Tacke
  • Lean Analytics: Use Data to Build a Better Startup Faster by Alistair Croll and Benjamin Moskovitz
  • From Fragile to Agile by Steve Johnson
  • Agile Project Management for Beginners: Mastering the Basics by Bryan Mathis
  • Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products by Nir Eyal
  • Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth and Happiness (revised and expanded edition) by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein
  • The Hacked World Order by Adam Segal
  • The Swift Programming Language
  • 1Q84 by Haruki Marukami
  • The Labyrinth of Solitude by Octavio Paz
  • Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
  • The Gifted Adult: A Revolutionary Guide for Liberating Everyday Genius by Mary-Elaine Jacobsen
  • The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds by Michael Lewis
  • The Plot Against America by Philip Roth
  • Data and Goliath: The Hidden Battles to Collect Your Data and Control Your World by Bruce Schneier
  • Pinpoint: How GPS Is Changing Technology, Culture, and Our Minds by Greg Milner
  • The New York Times Digital (subscriber), La Presse+, The Economist (subscriber), Medium, and whatever Flipboard throws my way
  • And half a dozen other books in Kindle format and at least 30 in print (see recent picture below)

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Doing

  • Consulting in marketing and product management for a number of companies
  • Writing a brief on artificial intelligence
  • Writing an article on the difference between products and solutions
  • Mentoring two three young adults on marketing and other career efforts
  • Training for the 2018 London Marathon
  • Publishing articles on my professional blog, on Medium, and LinkedIn
  • Playing Forza 7, Forza Horizon 3 on Xbox One; on-hold with The Division and Overwatch; looking forward to Crackdown 3 in and when it ever comes out
  • Building multiple LEGO Technic kits
  • New York Times crossword puzzle
    • Good at Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday-level difficulty without looking things up on the Internet or asking for hints. Working on getting to Thursday-level expertise
  • Watching TV series: Westworld on HBO, The Americans on FX, The Man in the High Castle on Amazon, Stranger Things on Netflix, Archer on Netflix
  • Active on social media

On-hold-ish

  • Model railroading
  • Return to grad school
    • PhD in political science or international relations
    • MA in communication studies
    • MSc in urban studies
  • Return to college
    • Interests include anthropology, psychology, sociology, history, urbanism, architecture, literature, law (LLB), physics
  • Translating my professional website into French; updating existing French content and adapting it to new layout