![\"TV](\"https://www.philipithomas.com/images/posts/november-2024/IMG_6405.jpg\")
My monthly newsletter about what I'm up to, which I send in place of social media.
\nMy monthly newsletter about what I'm up to, which I send in place of social media:
\nMy monthly newsletter about what I'm up to, which I send in place of social media:
\nMy monthly newsletter about what I'm up to, which I send in place of social media:
\nHere is my monthly newsletter about what I'm up to, which I send in place of social media.
\nHere is my monthly newsletter about what I'm up to, which I send in place of social media.
\nRead New Nordic Cuisine, Aesthetics, and Place: A Compendium and this passage resonated with me:
\n\n\nIn many ways, the closing decades of the 21st century were all about having more of everything, a period marked by an aesthetics of abundance. In the private home, kitchens grew bigger and glistened with chrome and cool surfaces. Since then, things have changed. The glossy sheen of the mass-produced gave way to a desire for something warmer, for objects that radiate individuality, history and a sense of place.
\n
Here is my monthly newsletter about what I'm up to, which I send in place of social media.
\nHere is my monthly newsletter about what I'm up to, which I send in place of social media.
\nHere is my monthly newsletter about what I'm up to, which I send in place of social media.
\nHere is my monthly newsletter about what I'm up to, which I send in place of social media.
\nHere is my monthly newsletter about what I'm up to, which I send in place of social media.
\nHere's my monthly newsletter about what I'm up to, which I send in place of social media.
\nHere's my monthly newsletter about what I'm up to, which I send in place of social media.
\nHere's my monthly newsletter about what I'm up to, which I send in place of social media.
\nHere's my monthly newsletter about what I'm up to, which I send in place of social media.
\nHere's my monthly newsletter about what I'm up to, which I send in place of social media.
\nHere's my monthly newsletter about what I'm up to, which I send in place of social media.
\nHere's my monthly newsletter about what I'm up to, which I send in place of social media.
\nHere's my monthly newsletter about what I'm up to, which I send in place of social media.
\nArticles : Arne Jacobson petrol station. Rewrite it in Rails. Adam Savage on post-COVID San Francisco rang true. So did Marc Andreesen on why not to do a startup. Why does this building by the subway need 193 parking spots?
\nBooks: Good Work is a sequel to one of my favorites, Pathless Path. Pattern Breakers provides a pragmatic framework for startup success. Sinan published an update to his LLM Quick Start book that I'm enjoying and recommend for any engineers who have to get up-to-speed on the latest AI tools.
\nGear: These electrolytes have been a favorite of mine - especially after exercise or a wine tasting. This notebook has become my favorite pocket notebook (with a Pen Type-C).
\nQuote : “I think [measurement of time, sense of time, rigidity, tangibility] is part of the reason you have younger folks (Gen Z in particular) gravitate towards stuff that Gen Xers had long since moved on from: cassettes, vinyl, typewriters, film cameras. One thing these objects are share in common (aside from being onerous and fiddly): the opportunity for a relationship to develop” - Craig Mod in Ridgeline.
\nPodcasts: The Founder of IKEA: Ingvar Kamprad.
\nMusic : Dua Lipa Tiny Desk 2. Currently listening to Sibelius Finlandia.
\nP.S. - Apparently I cameo'd in a Serbian TV show, Tesla's People:
\n
Here's my monthly newsletter about what I'm up to, which I send in place of social media.
\nHere's my monthly newsletter about what I'm up to, which I send in place of social media.
\nHello from a train somewhere in the French countryside. I just finished spending a few days in London, where I met a coworker from Find AI. The best part was eating Dishoom for three days in a row. (Enough to earn a secret keyring).
\nFind AI has been busy—building many new features and growing the crew. Subscribe to the newsletter to follow the latest updates.
\nWe concluded a year of wedding events with a final celebration party in Cleveland.
\nI also redid the Contraption Company website, which is now built on Ghost. Below are more details on it!
\nHere's my monthly newsletter about what I'm up to, which I send in place of social media.
\nWhat I did in late June + July
\nThings to share
\nPlans for August
\nWhere I'll be:
\nHere's my monthly newsletter (a couple of weeks late!) about what I'm up to, which I send in place of social media.
\n**What I did in May **
\nThings to share
\nPlans for June
\n**Where I'll be **
\nHere's my monthly newsletter about what I'm up to, which I send in place of social media.
\nWhat I did in April
\nThings to share
\nPlans for May
\n**Where I'll be **
\nHere's my monthly newsletter about what I'm up to, which I send in place of social media.
\nI'm a little late on the April edition, but better late than never.
\nWhat I did in March
\nThings to share
\nPlans for April
\n**Where I'll be **
\nHere's my monthly newsletter about what I'm up to, which I send in place of social media.
\nWhat I did in February
\nThings to share
\nPlans for March
\n**Where I'll be **
\nLet me know if we overlap!
","summary":"Here's my monthly newsletter about what I'm up to, which I send in place of social media. What I did in February Finished my residence at Almost Perfect in Tokyo.","date_published":"2024-03-01T00:00:00.000Z","tags":["postcard"]},{"id":"https://www.philipithomas.com/2024-02","url":"https://www.philipithomas.com/2024-02","title":"What I'm up to - February 2024","content_html":"Here's my monthly newsletter about what I'm up to, which I send in place of social media.
\ntext-wrap: pretty is my new favorite CSS property.If you're reading this, let me know if we overlap!
","summary":"Here's my monthly newsletter about what I'm up to, which I send in place of social media. What I did in January Hello from Tokyo! I'm here doing a creative residence at Almost Perfect.","date_published":"2024-02-01T00:00:00.000Z","tags":["postcard"]},{"id":"https://www.philipithomas.com/2024-01","url":"https://www.philipithomas.com/2024-01","title":"What I'm up to - January 2024","content_html":"Happy New Year! Here's my monthly newsletter about what I'm up to, which I send in place of social media.
\nIf you're reading this, let me know if we overlap!
","summary":"Happy New Year! Here's my monthly newsletter about what I'm up to, which I send in place of social media. What I did in December Published updates to Booklet, including a design refresh, dynamic opengraph images, and showing viewers on posts.","date_published":"2024-01-01T00:00:00.000Z","tags":["postcard"]},{"id":"https://www.philipithomas.com/2023-12","url":"https://www.philipithomas.com/2023-12","title":"What I'm up to - December 2023","content_html":"This is my monthly newsletter about what I'm up to, which I send in place of social media.
\nIf you're reading this, let me know if we overlap!
","summary":"This is my monthly newsletter about what I'm up to, which I send in place of social media. What I did in November Started writing some essays about online work, dependability, tools, and craft on the Contraption Company site. Subscribe there if you want to follow them.","date_published":"2023-12-01T00:00:00.000Z","tags":["postcard"]},{"id":"https://www.philipithomas.com/2023-11","url":"https://www.philipithomas.com/2023-11","title":"What I'm up to - November 2023","content_html":"This is my monthly newsletter about what I'm up to, which I send in place of social media.
\nLet me know if we overlap.
","summary":"This is my monthly newsletter about what I'm up to, which I send in place of social media. What I did in October Switched my daily driver Aeropress coffee recipe to this one by Jonathan Gagné. It produces delicious results. (His book Physics of Filter Coffee is excellent.)","date_published":"2023-11-01T00:00:00.000Z","tags":["postcard"]},{"id":"https://www.philipithomas.com/2023-10","url":"https://www.philipithomas.com/2023-10","title":"What I'm up to - October 2023","content_html":"This is my monthly newsletter about what I'm up to, which I send in place of social media.
\nI launched Booklet, a forum as an alternative to chat. It's my attempt to make communication more asynchronous for professional groups. Knowledge workers check chat every 6 minutes, fracturing their attention and preventing deep work. Booklet solves this by encouraging long-form, threaded discussions - and summarizing all activity into one single email per day.
\nI wrote about my motivation for Booklet on the Contraption Company site.
\nThe actual launch of Booklet went better than expected - with thousands of visitors in the first day, and hundreds of communities created. I've been iterating rapidly based on user feedback, including rolling out a variety of OpenAI-powered tools to improve the email summary.
\nSome of the early use case for Booklet have been:
\nIf you know anybody looking for a solution like these, please send them to Booklet. And, you can try out Booklet by joining its customer community athq.booklet.group
\nBesides that, I had a wonderful trip to Stockholm where the Vasa Museum fascinated me, I ate too many cardamom buns, and I stopped by the Nobel Prize Museum. I also attended the New York Coffee Festival, and briefly stopped by Chicago for a wedding.
\n(Let me know if we overlap)
\n![\"Cardamom](\"https://www.philipithomas.com/images/posts/october-2023/IMG_9933.JPG\")
\nCaradmom buns for fika in Stockholm
![\"The](\"https://www.philipithomas.com/images/posts/october-2023/IMG_0081.JPG\")
\nThe Vasa - a ~500 year old ship that was salvaged and now is on display in an eponymous museum in Stockholm
![\"Carved](\"https://www.philipithomas.com/images/posts/october-2023/IMG_0089.JPG\")
\nIntricate carvings on the Vasa
I'm Philip, and this is my monthly newsletter about what I'm up to, which I send in place of social media.
\n(Let me know if we overlap)
\n![\"Plated](\"https://www.philipithomas.com/images/posts/september-2023/5BB4689B-E4CD-4E0D-BDFA-68A9CF982765_1_201_a.jpeg\")
\nBugs were a (tasty) theme in Mexico
I'm Philip, and this is my monthly newsletter about what I'm up to, which I send in place of social media.
\n✨ What I was up to in July
\nBooklet is a product I've been building to help communities communicate in a more structured and readable way. This month I finally had some people besides me start to use it. It's been fun to get the product into the wild, and now I'm iterating rapidly based on their feedback ahead of a more public release.
\nI finally got to reading the Noma Guide to Fermentation after visiting there last summer, and I've been doing a lot of experiments with lacto-fermentation. (See some photos below). It's been fun to go to the farmer's market every week and to cook with what's local and seasonal.
\nI recently celebrated one full year of working full-time on Contraption Company. Building new ways to help people work online has been a fun, rewarding, and creatively fulfilling journey. I'm proud of our commitment to keeping the business intentionally small and independent, and I'm excited about what the next year holds.
\n🤔 Things to share
\n📫 What I'm up to in August
\n**📍 Where I'll be **
\n(Let me know if we overlap)
\n📸 Photos
\nA fermentation in three photos . . .
\n![\"Beginning](\"https://www.philipithomas.com/images/posts/august-2023/fermentation-beginning.jpg\")
\nBeginning - a haul from the farmer's market
![\"Middle](\"https://www.philipithomas.com/images/posts/august-2023/fermentation-middle.jpg\")
\nMiddle - setting up the fermentation, which for berries takes about a week
![\"End](\"https://www.philipithomas.com/images/posts/august-2023/fermentation-end.jpg\")
\nEnd - fermented cherry gastrique with roasted chicken and purple potatoes
--
\nThanks for reading! If we haven't chatted in a while, I'd love to hear from you. Send an email to say hi, share your thoughts, or just catch up.
","summary":"I'm Philip, and this is my monthly newsletter about what I'm up to, which I send in place of social media. ✨ What I was up to in July Booklet is a product I've been building to help communities communicate in a more structured and readable way.","date_published":"2023-08-01T00:00:00.000Z","tags":["postcard"]},{"id":"https://www.philipithomas.com/2023-07","url":"https://www.philipithomas.com/2023-07","title":"What I'm up to - July 2023","content_html":"✨ What I've been up to
\nWe finished moving back to NYC last month. I made a quick stopover to Canada for Tailwind Connect, where I met some interesting people and learned some new CSS techniques. I also visited Puerto Rico for a few days.
\nThe book Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community was a fantastic read. One thing I'm thinking about is telephones versus televisions - telephones are bidirectional while TVs are one-directional. As a society, I think we under-appreciate how shift from telephones to TVs has driven a move toward more parasocial relationships. Social media followed this trend - it started more telephone-like, promoting social relationships, but moved over time became more TV-like (epitomized by Tiktok) where people consume rather than create.
\n🤔 Things to share
\n📫 What I'm up to this month Booklet, a new Contraption Co. product, is welcoming its first users this month. Stay tuned for more details.
\n**📍 Where I'll be **
\n(Let me know if we overlap!)
\n📸 Photos
\n![\"Dinner](\"https://www.philipithomas.com/images/posts/july-2023/IMG_8300.jpeg\")
\nLast dinner in Chicago
![\"Stone](\"https://www.philipithomas.com/images/posts/july-2023/IMG_8596.jpeg\")
\nPuerto Rico
It's been a busy month at Contraption Company. I'm amid building a new product called Booklet, which I plan to launch this Summer. It's a community platform designed to be a calmer alternative to Discord and Slack. I've also been helping some startups launch new generative AI products, which has been rewarding.
\nMy 2015 article How Operations Research and Artificial Intelligence Overlap has been picking up traction as AI is in the zeitgeist.
\nI've been trying to use my Airpods less and be bored more often. It's so easy to plug in and tune out the world.
\nI got a shout-out in Emma's Indiehackers podcast.
\nWith Emma graduating, we're moving back to NYC this month, and will be living in the Lower East Side.
\n(Let me know if we overlap!)
\n![\"Beer](\"https://www.philipithomas.com/images/posts/june-2023/IMG_7301.jpeg\")
\nBlack truffle pilsner with german chocolate cake was the best thing I ate this month.
April was a blur - I was in the Bay Area, NYC, and Cleveland. I'm looking forward to spending the next three weeks without travel.
\nI am currently immersed in the development of Booklet, a new product from Contraption Co. designed for online online communities. I started building Booklet to address the shortcomings of using real-time chat apps for communities. Booklet strives to be calmer - it combines a forum and member directory, and generates a customized email newsletter for the 99% of community members who consume content rather than create it. If you're intrigued and want early access, register at booklet.community.
\nWorking and relaxing, with a short trip to Colorado. I hope warm weather returns soon!
\n(Let me know if we overlap!)
\n![\"Freshly](\"https://www.philipithomas.com/images/posts/may-2023/483FDEF0-7923-447D-AA04-97457CC1FCD4_1_105_c.jpeg\")
\nPhoto of the month: Baking canelés
Wow, it's Q2 already!
\nI spent a couple of weeks in Paris last month, where I worked remotely and found some amazing coffee.
\nFor Postcard - I rebuilt the post-writing flow, which makes the entire product feel much more polished. I also hired a product marketing intern to help with some growth initiatives. I wrote about improving my motivation in \"Hacking Dopamine for Entrepreneurial Success.\"
\nI also enjoyed a more spontaneous trip to Atlanta for work, where Valor Coffee was a highlight.
\nI'm working on an update to the Contraption Co. website, which I will publish soon. I also plan to launch a fun mini-project this month inspired by laptops in cafes.
\nI have two major Postcard features coming out this month, and I plan to spend some time getting a new project going.
\nBesides that, I have more travel planned.
\n(Let me know if we overlap!)
\n![\"Laptop](\"https://www.philipithomas.com/images/posts/april-2023/IMG_6892.jpeg\")
\nWorking remotely from Paris
✨ What I've been up to
\nPart of my work at The Contraption Company includes helping startups develop new products. For the last six months, I've unintentionally been working almost exclusively with AI-focused startups, and I've seen the rise of OpenAI first-hand.
\nWhile the broader tech market shows signs of slowing, the hype in AI has been exploding. One Contraption Co. client went from an idea to >$7m in seed funding within five weeks. (They're still in stealth - but are hiring in engineering, growth, and design. Email me for an intro.)
\nI summarized my observations and predictions about this AI hype cycle in this post: OpenAI, the path for OpenAI-powered startups, and the AI hype cycle.
\nFinally, I've been contemplating this thought: Businesses like to buy from businesses, and people like to buy from people.
\n🤔 Things to share
\n📫 What I'm up to this month
\nI'm in the process of building 1,000 websites for people on Postcard. I'm also working on a post-writing experience I hope to launch soon.
\n📍 Where I'll be
\n(Let me know if we overlap!)
![\"How](\"https://www.philipithomas.com/images/posts/march-2023/coffee-tasting.jpg\")
\nHow I do comparative tastings of coffee
✨ What I've been up to
\nHello from Cozumel, Mexico! It's 80° F here - a welcome break from the Chicago Winter.
\nSince last Summer, I've been taking a \"solo week\" trip every quarter as a creative recharge. This trip to Cozumel is one of these solo weeks, and I've been spending a lot of time in cafes exploring new Contraption Company projects. It's a ritual I plan to continue - I've already scheduled solo weeks over the next year to Copenhagen, Mexico City, And Tokyo.
\nPostcard continues to do well. I built new features and did a short interview with GoSolo.
\nRobin Sloan mentioned Postcard in his newsletter. I enjoyed Robin's book Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore while living in the San Francisco neighborhood where the story is set.
\n🤔 Things to share
\n📫 What I'm up to this month
\n📍 Where I'll be (Let me know if we overlap!)
\n![\"Laptop](\"https://www.philipithomas.com/images/posts/february-2023/5D1904B5-C476-4A67-8E54-966BAF8DA90B_1_201_a.jpeg\")
\nCurrent office
✨ Highlights of last month
\n🤔 Things and thoughts to share
\n📫 What I'm up to this month
\n📍 Where I'll be (Let me know if we overlap!)
\n![\"Turns](\"https://www.philipithomas.com/images/posts/january-2023/dog-beach.jpg\")
\nTurns out my dog likes beaches
✨ Highlights of last month
\n🤔 Things to share
\n📫 What I'm up to this month
\n📍 Where I'll be (Let me know if we overlap!)
\n✨ Highlights of last month
\n🤔 Things worth sharing
\n📫 What I'm up to this month
\n📍 Where I'll be
\n✨ Highlights of last month
\n🤔 Things worth sharing
\n📫 What I'm up to this month
\n📍 Where I'll be (via Nomadlist)
\nThis is a monthly email about what I'm up to!
\n✨ Highlights of last month
\n🤔 What I'm pondering
\n📫 What I'm up to this month
\n📍 Where I'll be (via Nomadlist)
\n(If we cross paths - let's meet up!)
","summary":"This is a monthly email about what I'm up to! ✨ Highlights of last month Had a relaxing, Walden-esque week in Mexico City, spent mostly in Parque México. I spent a lot of time reading - including Digital Minimalism, Deep Work, and Shop Class as Soulcraft.","date_published":"2022-09-01T00:00:00.000Z","tags":["postcard"]},{"id":"https://www.philipithomas.com/2022-08","url":"https://www.philipithomas.com/2022-08","title":"What I'm up to - August 2022","content_html":"This is a monthly email about what I'm up to!
\n✨ Highlights of last month
\n📫 What I'm up to this month
\n📍 Where I'll be (via Nomadlist)
\n(If we cross paths - let's meet up!)
\nP.S. - If you like this newsletter, why not make one of your own with Postcard?
","summary":"This is a monthly email about what I'm up to! ✨ Highlights of last month Spent almost the entire month traveling. It was great to be back in LA and Denver for a bit. For coffee on the road, I got some new gadgets: an Aeropress Go and an Aergrind grinder.","date_published":"2022-08-01T00:00:00.000Z","tags":["postcard"]},{"id":"https://www.philipithomas.com/2022-07","url":"https://www.philipithomas.com/2022-07","title":"What I'm up to - July 2022","content_html":"This is a monthly email about what I'm up to!
\n✨ Highlights of last month
\n📫 What I'm up to this month
\n📍 Where I'll be (via Nomadlist)
\n(If we cross paths - let's meet up!)
","summary":"This is a monthly email about what I'm up to! ✨ Highlights of last month Launched Made in Webflow, a project I've lead to redesign and rebuild a popular social site for Webflow creators Seeing some cool Postcard sites published - such as ericoneil.me and heyitsaaron.com.","date_published":"2022-07-01T00:00:00.000Z","tags":["postcard"]},{"id":"https://www.philipithomas.com/2022-06","url":"https://www.philipithomas.com/2022-06","title":"What I'm up to - June 2022","content_html":"I'm testing a monthly email about what I'm doing!
\n✨ Highlights of last month
\n📫 What I'm up to this month
\n📍 Where I'll be (via Nomadlist)
\n(If we cross paths - let's meet up!)
","summary":"I'm testing a monthly email about what I'm doing! ✨ Highlights of last month I finished the first version of Postcard, which is a personal website + mailing list tool I'm building.","date_published":"2022-06-01T00:00:00.000Z","tags":["postcard"]}]}