Brian Thomas Clark

Wanting positive experience is a negative experience; accepting negative experience is a positive experience. It’s what the philosopher Alan Watts used to refer to as “the backwards law”—the idea that the more you pursue feeling better all the time, the less satisfied you become, as pursuing something only reinforces the fact that you lack it in... See more

During the Romantic era, keepsakes were albums of fine engravings, often given as gifts, that sealed an emotion or celebrated a special occasion. This word, which combines to keep (to keep, preserve) and sake (a mark of friendship or consideration), takes on a particular resonance in our digital culture. At its core, it holds tensions related to... See more

Collins suspected, as I do, that the books he can’t remember must have had an effect on his brain anyway, that the experience of reading and engaging with the texts must have changed him in some deeper way, leaving “a kind of mental radiation — that continues to affect me even if I can’t detect it.”

I'm not alone in this experience. I recall discussing with Chris Black of How Long Gone how influential these magazine-driven Borders explorations were for him. It was akin to traveling without the expense of a Virgin Atlantic ticket, building a repository of references by turning pages and tapping into cultural hubs. It involved dedicating time... See more

Having a digital product strategy means your organization has defined the value you want to deliver to your customers through software and digital tools. It’s a plan that tells staff and customers where you are applying your focus. It also includes a strategic plan, or product roadmap, for how to get there.

Having a product strategy isn’t the same... See more

Meaningful friendships develop when things are intense, and involve peril, beauty, jeopardy, drama and self-development

My experience of creating music and writing songs is finding enormous strength through vulnerability. You’re being open to whatever happens, including failure and shame. There’s certainly a vulnerability to that, and an incredible freedom... To be truly vulnerable is to exist adjacent to collapse or obliteration. In that place we can feel... See more

Practically speaking, desktop experiences represent a past when the online world was driven from workstations, less devices , and intended to be curated, not consumed. So, as you might piece together your day again after 20 minutes needlessly refreshing a feed, let's remember what it felt like when we were surfing the internet, as opposed to it... See more