Google Home Mini for Free?

Interesting offer, received via email today. Google is offering a “free” Google Home Mini to users of the Spotify music service. All you have to do is connect your Spotify account to your Google account. And then Google will send you a free listening device equipped with voice recognition and artificial intelligence.

A free listening device for the home.

Make Big Plans

Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir [the] blood and probably themselves will not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will never die, but long after we are gone be a living thing, asserting itself with ever-growing insistency.  
 
~Daniel Burnham

Zero to One

What important truth do very few people agree with you on?  
 
~Peter Thiel’s contrarian question

Peter Thiel is a Silicon Valley billionaire, co-founder of multiple successful startups (including PayPal), and a venture capitalist. In those roles, Thiel asks the above contrarian question while interviewing job candidates.

The question is simple, but difficult to answer because it requires the respondent to express an unpopular opinion. As observed in the book Zero to One, courage is less common than genius.

Sidecar: iPad as a Second Display

Apple’s latest laptop operating system, macOS Catalina, includes a feature that took me by surprise: Sidecar. Let’s say that you’re working in a coffee shop and you need additional screen real estate. Sidecar will let your iPad function as a second display.

Open Source in North Carolina

Over 5,000 tech enthusiasts attended the All Things Open conference in Raleigh, NC this week. The topics were rich: AI, IoT, devops, UXD, developer tools, burn-out, technical leadership… what an eclectic collection to choose from!