
Hi there,

I hope you're well.

This week we remember the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., just days before the inauguration of America's 46th President, Joe Biden. As the inauguration draws nearer, I hope you're able to take some time to sit with the importance of this week in the context of history, of the past four years, the past year, and within the context of your own life.

I'll leave you with a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. that a friend shared:

"In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."

This is the time to step up and do your part. I'm proud of you for the hard work you put in, and I understand if you feel tattered and exhausted from the past year. Do what you can to stand up for the things you believe in, and use your voice and your actions to amplify the people that are making this world a better place.

✊ We're all in this together.

<Image
  publicId="newsletters/four-years-already/cover"
  alt="photo of an early morning fog over a hiking trail on the side of a hill"
  caption="Eyes on the horizon this week. Photo from unsplash."
/>

## This stuff has been living in my brain rent free...

- ⏲️ **Temporal illusions** are like optical illusions... but for time. (Note: Very 2019 metaphor incoming) Ever wonder why a delay at the airport on your way to vacation (I know, I know) feels so damn long? [Check out this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHL9GP_B30E) from YouTube channel Vsauce for a stretchy explanation of our trippy perception of time.
- 💃 About a week ago, the **Great Gatsby lost copyright protection in the US** (the life of the author plus 70 years). That means it is now in the public domain, and we may start seeing some interesting works based on Gatsby.. What an appropriate time for it, too! Check out this really cool [Graphic Novel version of The Great Gatsby](https://www.woodmanmaynard.com/the-great-gatsby-graphic-novel), by K. Woodman-Maynard.
- 🤙 If you're an American, [5Calls.org](https://5calls.org/) is a super easy way for you make 5 quick calls to people who represent you in congress. Tell them you're a constituent, what city you live in, and a brief message about what you support. For example: "Hey, this is Mike, a citizen from Charlotte, and I'm calling to voice support for removing president Trump from office." That's all it takes!
- 🎵 Ever wonder what goes into **designing a font for musicians** to use? Did you know that sheet music used to be freaking hand engraved?! Honestly, neither did I! That didn't stop me from going deep on this fantastic [video from Tantacrul](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGo4PJd1lng) about his work on the matter. Get in there and learn a bit - it's fascinating, even if you're not a musician.
- 🏞️ In green-ness news, the city of Paris has approved plans to **turn the iconic Champs-Élysées into a giant city park**. I have fond memories of meandering the Champs with two dear friends during a work trip in 2016. Freeing that area of car traffic will be absolutely transcendent. Check out this [article from The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/10/paris-approves-plan-to-turn-champs-elysees-into-extraordinary-garden-anne-hidalgo) discussing the project.

If you enjoy my musings, I'd love it if you'd share _Tiny Improvements_ with a friend. Feel free to forward this to them, or shuttle them directly over to [newsletter signup on my website](https://mikebifulco.com/newsletter). Thanks in advance - it means the world.

Do yourself a favor and take an extra moment to be kind to yourself this week. While you're at it, be excellent to each other.

<hr />

Talk soon!

Mike


Has it been four years already?


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.)

<Image
  publicId="newsletters/on-seasonal-change-open-source-carbon-offsets/cover"
  alt="Photo of my black cat Jet, curled up in a fall wreath on top of a table"
  caption="This is a picture I took recently of my cat Jet, who has fallen in love with a wreath we pulled out for winter decoration."
/>

## 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._


#psychology: 2 posts tagged

Has it been four years already?

On seasonal change, open source, and carbon offsets

.css-1fb0br2{color:#A0AEC0;}#psychology: 2 posts tagged

Has it been four years already?

On seasonal change, open source, and carbon offsets

#psychology: 2 posts tagged