In the case of reading this astrology, the perspective of writer Kamala Harris's running mate in the mid-catalog by sign and vibe - Harris is a Libra and Walz is an Aries, two signs are . Take it with 5 grains of salt. But since this is " Vibes election ", it is appropriate.
Issue #137: Writing for fun and the police sketch of the Boogeyman
By Harris Sockel
On Monday, the judge ruled that Google has an illegal monopoly in the search (Google will appeal). A witness revealed that in 2022, Google paid Apple $20 billion to be the default search engine for Safari. In his decision, Mehta dedicated 7 pages to the importance of defaults and wrote as follows.
Reason #2983 why I love reading court decisions in full: sometimes they influence abstract principles of psychology and consumer behavior.
The "default effect" is a well-established cognitive bias. Essentially, humans are lazy. We let the environment do the work for us. For example: in 2017, 60% of all Google searches flowed through defaults. Most people did not actively navigate to Google.com and simply started typing.
Microsoft designer Chris Oslund goes back to the mid-archive. Obsessed with defaults, Chris Oslund unpacks two influential examples and normalized the bias against Apple's decision to scrap CD/DVD drives and the public channels of Slack where apps are downloaded from the internet. Blasting messages to large groups on Slack is simple, but it becomes more difficult if you want to communicate personally. As a result, more of us have started making work decisions publicly.
From another perspective, UX designer and strategist Michalina Bidzinska analyzes the default options of Animal Crossing, which generated $2 billion in its first year (the fifth highest video game revenue to date). Underestimating the power of well-placed defaults increases billions in revenue and subtly changes our behavior.
💤 One story: About career breaks
Engineer Wei Ann Heng finally took a break from her job for 5 years to stop viewing life through a business lens. Heng woke up one day and realized she had been living her sprint planning life too hard. She was hardly living. She broke long-term goals into smaller ones and set up rag states (red, amber, green). Planning is generally a good thing, but it can also be a crutch. Especially when you start fixing more about the method of working than actually working.
I also loved Heng's fun and dark description of what it really means to be a software developer.
A big part of our job is providing elaborate blueprints for future plans based on point-blank estimates and almost zero information. It's like being asked to sketch the Boogeyman based on a crying child's description of a nightmare.
As a non-developer who has wondered how much work it takes to execute ambiguous and ambitious projects (“What should I do if I rebuild Medium's editing tools next year?”), I relate.
Your daily practical wisdom: About writing for yourself
Science fiction and fantasy writer Brittany Amara opposes the pressure to write something useful, timely, or thought-provoking. Instead, Amara advocates for creation from joy, discomfort, and whimsy. If you write something truly fun, it will evoke the same feelings in others rather than thinking you will “do well”.
Quiz: Zoomed In
Below is a highly zoomed-in version of an image related to one of the stories linked above. If you know what it is, email tips@medium.com. The first correct guess will win a free Medium membership.
Yesterday winner: Answer to “part of Aristotle's ear” Nicolas Baudet. It is a Roman copy of the Greek bronze bust of the philosopher made in 330 BC. Thank you for reading, Nicolas!
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Scott Lamb & Carly Rose Gillis edited and produced this.
Questions, feedback, or story suggestions? Email: tips@medium.com