Happy Holidays! ☃️ 🎊

Being the end of the year there is a giant End of Year post hiding in this email like a bomb. So I will keep this little preamble fairly short.

December had me preparing a lot for PfP✨London, an event I am doing in the UK in February. In the middle of the month I had the first of 3 surgeries for a dental implant, which had a lot of associated stress in the run-up but saw me recovered completely within 48 hours. (“Once you've got a task to do, it's better to do it than live with the fear of it.”)

After that it was all about the school play, Xmas parties and visits, a giant sleepover, and spending the holidays here in our own house for the first time ever.

So, all is good on this side. How about yours? Hopefully you have been having a lovely end of year, and I wish you all the best in 2026! 🍾🥂

🏇 Chad

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🖋 From the Blog

Best of 2025
The annual wrap-up post.

Surburban Development Cycle — a case from Japan
An age-old old age building technique?

Judging AI on its ability to expand capacity
Up late reading Evgeny Morozov try to break socialist paradigms.

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🧭 Elsewhere

TMAR (Too Much Alan Rickman) Link →

📸 Pre-Xmas in Vancouver, including many gingerbread houses Photos →

Canada changed its citizenship laws. If you have Canadian ancestry you could be eligible. Come join me! 🇨🇦 Link →

Related to the above, Canada is poaching international intellectual talent Link →

Journalism from prison… an incredible podcast interview Link →

Our year end wrap-up for DWeb Vancouver Link →

“Caring Apps > Killer Apps” Link →

Resonant Computing Manifesto was released (I commented on some early draft) Link →

What coding with an LLM feels like sometimes. Video →

Possibly the greatest metaphor for AI in memetic format 😂 Link →

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📖 What I’m Reading

Deadhouse Gates by Steven Erikson
(61% Complete)

The second in the 10 book series that I picked up again earlier this year. This sequel was written a decade after the first and is supposed to be a lot smoother and easier to understand than the first one. But I am still getting a lot of value out of the chapter recaps and study guides I found for reading the first one.

Connect with me on GoodReads → or on Bookwyrm →