Technology

The Observation I didn’t build structured data systems because I predicted WebMCP or the agentic web. I built them because “touch it once, make it findable by any system” is just good practice. “Computers do the mundane, humans critically think” is just a sound division of labor. These are principles, not predictions. But those principles, arrived at independently, produced exactly the infrastructure the agentic web needs. A straight line runs from a thought card I wrote in August 2025 to a platform that’s accidentally ready for a protocol Google announced six months later. ...

Last August, I had a conversation with a colleague that stuck with me. We were talking about whether auctions actually find true market value. My argument was simple: how can it be true market value when maybe 5-10% of potential buyers ever see our marketing? We’re calling it market value based on whoever happened to show up. I wrote about it at the time. My answer was to build communities, find your own lake, pursue smarter marketing instead of more marketing. I believed it. I still do. But six months later, I think I was thinking too small. ...

Every time you drive past a license plate reader, walk by a Ring camera, or carry your phone into a room, you’re producing exhaust. Not the kind you choose to share. Not a social media post or an email or a photo you uploaded. This is the byproduct of simply existing in 2026. A friend called it “digital exhaust,” and the metaphor is almost too good. Car exhaust isn’t a decision. It’s a consequence of going somewhere. You don’t think about the fumes trailing behind you. You’re focused on the road ahead. ...