Congratulations to Marcin Wichary. His monumental, two-volume, 1,216-page Shift Happens: A book about keyboards is being backed for almost half a million dollars. He has been working on this book for many years; therefore, he definitely deserves it. It will be a great book. If you can afford it, go back it. It’s a bit of a luxury for me. By the way, check out the conversation with Robin Rendle about the book. I have followed Robin’s writing for a while now. It was nice to hear his voice.

My thanks to Matti Tanskanen for buying me two cups of coffee. He shares:

Been enjoying your work for a long time. Thanks for providing design and typography inspiration throughout the years!

I really appreciate it. I also updated my Buy me a Coffee page.

Money, time, and resources are wasted because of one incompetent idiot. I am so sick and tired of that shit.

I gave myself a baldhawk—a mohawk to cover my bald spot. I have been shaving my head ever since I started to bald. It’s time to do something creative. Worse to to worse, I can just shave it all off and become a monk again.

I worked for a leader who valued talent over product. She chose an open-source product and invested in her employees to build out the platform we needed.

On the flip side, I worked for a leader who valued product over talent. He was willing to pay a shitload of money for a proprietary product, but he wouldn’t give an hourly employee a small raise. The differences in leadership styles were astounding.

Leadership plays an important role in our job. A great leader can make our work enjoyable, motivate us to push ourselves, and value our contributions. An incompetent leader can make your life a living hell, demoralize our spirit, and devalue our contributions.

I have been through it all and learned to navigate different terrains. Surviving is a must when you have to raise your family.

When I redesigned this blog in the past, I would share it on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. With Visualgui 2023, I didn’t share it on social media platforms. I just posted here. That was it.

I haven’t touched Twitter and LinkedIn in months and I haven’t missed them. I have returned to Facebook to post clips of my kids skiing and rollerblading. I am not sure why I am doing it. Part of me wished my mom was still here so she could see her grandsons. I will stop using Facebook in the near future.

I am getting tired of social media. I am not getting any benefits from them. I am going to just focus on this blog and that’s it. This is my little corner on the web where I can just drop whatever on my mind. I also enjoy reading personal blogs via RSS feeds. I hope to see blogging coming back this year.

Erin Jones and Mauricio Chamberlin Verify:

Yes, warming up your car before driving in cold weather could cause long-term damage to the engine. Most vehicles built after 1980 no longer need to warm up before driving, and experts say driving after 30 seconds to a minute after starting your car is a best practice.

Good to know.

Every U.S. household is eligible to order 4 free at-home COVID-⁠19 tests. I ordered mine. Get yours.

I was about to purchase an LV snowboard for $7,450, but I couldn’t find a pair of LV boots and bindings to complete the package. I had to cancel my order. Darn!

Hôm nay ngày giỗ mẹ, con mua vài món chay mời mẹ dùng. Cuối tuần chúng con về thăm mộ mẹ. Mới đó mà hai năm đã trôi qua. Trong tim chúng con vẫn luôn có mẹ.