---
title: 'On seasonal change, open source, and carbon offsets'
date: 2020-12-08
excerpt: 'Cognitive science and the framing effect, Open Source software and Working in Public, language learning, creating online courses, and reforestation.'
tags: [psychology, design, entrepreneurship]
canonical: https://mikebifulco.com/newsletter/on-seasonal-change-open-source-carbon-offsets
---
# On seasonal change, open source, and carbon offsets

Hey there,

I hope you're well.

Autumn has flown by at a crawl this year. I'm doing my best to focus on the little glimmers of light shining through for me right now, and I hope you can do the same.

Speaking of which, here it is - a big change for me! I recently started a new job at Google as a Developer Advocate for Google Assistant. You know the one - “hey google, what's the weather?” - I'm thrilled to be given the opportunity to work on such a wildly cool product. The interview process was intimidating, long, and challenging, but I did it! To say I'm standing on the shoulders of giants is an understatement. (I'll also be adding a disclaimer to my newsletters from here in: the things I discuss here are my own thoughts and opinions, and not those of my employer.)

## The brain is a strange place

Cognitive Psychology is the study of attention, perception, creativity, and other mental functions. Great software design takes advantage of cognitive biases to anticipate your behavior. For example, the [framing effect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Framing_effect_\(psychology\)) is when people are able to draw two distinct conclusions from the same set of data, depending on how it's presented. Forex: I have 200 unread emails in my inbox. Should I panic? Nah, they're marked "To Do" -- I'll get to it later.

## Working in Public (OSS!)

If you're interested in Open Source Software, you should check out the book Working in Public: The Making and Maintenance of Open Source Software, by Nadia Eghbal (link). I just finished reading through it with a book club I was invited to, and I enjoyed the read. I plan on [publishing my book notes to my website soon](https://mikebifulco.com/posts/working-in-public), as well.

## Kicking around in the old domepiece

These are a few of the things I've found on the web lately. I thought you might benefit from them as well:

- 🇪🇸 I've been brushing up on my Spanish. It's a relaxing couple-minute ritual in my day. I enjoy it so much that I've been sprinkling in some Japanese here and there, too! I've been using Duolingo's free plan - my referral link is [here](https://invite.duolingo.com/BDHTZTB5CWWKSRQUQARVC6SFNU) if you want to give it a shot.
- 👨‍🏫 How much do online courses make? Have you ever taken a course online, or thought about making one yourself as a side hustle? [This is a tool](https://revenue.sixfigureinstructor.com/) that lets you peruse the aggregate statistics of various course topics across Udemy. Did you know that on average, courses on Next.js make $40/day? Pretty wild!
- 🌳 Planting trees can make a difference. In the past, I've mentioned my love for [Ecologi](https://ecologi.com/irreverentmike?r=5d386c6667bad5001010ffae) (that's a referral link), which was previously called offset.earth. I'm excited to share that my good friend Phil Sturgeon has embarked on a carbon offsetting project of his own - he's on a mission to plant a forest of trees on farmland near his home in the UK this winter. Check out his work at [protect.earth](https://www.protect.earth/) , and donate if you're able!

Thanks for reading Tiny Improvements. If you've got any feedback, my inbox is always open: [hello@mikebifulco.com](mailto:hello@mikebifulco.com). If you've found this useful, I would love it if you shared it with a friend!

Be excellent to each other - talk soon.

- Mike

*Disclaimer: Tiny Improvements are my own thoughts an opinions, and not necessarily those of my employer.*

## More from mikebifulco.com

- [The Science of Spotting Hidden Product Ideas](https://mikebifulco.com/newsletter/mirror-effect-cognition-behavioral-science)
- [The Psychology Hack Hiding in Great Products](https://mikebifulco.com/newsletter/nudge-theory-for-guiding-user-behavior)
- [Don't just listen. Interpret feedback wisely.](https://mikebifulco.com/newsletter/interpret-feedback-wisely)

---

Written by Mike Bifulco. Originally published at https://mikebifulco.com/newsletter/on-seasonal-change-open-source-carbon-offsets