Martin Cagan: Team Objectives - Empowerment. The essential point of team objectives is to empower a team by a) giving them a problem to solve rather than a feature to build; and b) ensuring they have the necessary strategic context to understand the why, and to make good decisions. (more)

(mostly here as a category to link entries to) (more)

I’ve always been frustrated by the lack of useful/meaningful real cases in Product Management (case-study). I hope this (slightly blinded) case helps demonstrate a variety of principles of options, trade-offs, surprising outcomes, etc. (more)

attempts to change the political election process as a check on bad Big Government (more)

creation of voting districts based on borders that typically reinforce existing power structures (e.g. by splitting clusters of protesters). (more)

A filibuster is a tactic used in the U.S. Senate to delay or block a vote on a measure by preventing debate on it from ending.[1] The Senate's rules place few restrictions on debate; in general, if no other senator is speaking, a senator who seeks recognition is entitled to speak for as long as they wish.[2] Only when debate concludes can the measure be put to a vote. Rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate allows the Senate to vote to end a filibuster by invoking cloture on the pending question. In most cases, however, this requires a majority of three-fifths of senators duly chosen and sworn. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filibuster_in_the_United_States_Senate (more)

Shelby County v. Holder, 570 U.S. 529 (2013), was a landmark decision[1] of the Supreme Court of the United States regarding the constitutionality of two provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965: Section 5, which requires certain states and local governments to obtain federal preclearance before implementing any changes to their voting laws or practices; and Section 4(b), which contains the coverage formula that determines which jurisdictions are subject to preclearance based on their histories of discrimination in voting.[2][3] On June 25, 2013, the Court ruled by a 5 to 4 vote that Section 4(b) was unconstitutional because the coverage formula was based on data over 40 years old, making it no longer responsive to current needs and therefore an impermissible burden on the constitutional principles of federalism and equal sovereignty of the states.[2][3] The Court did not strike down Section 5, but without Section 4(b), no jurisdiction will be subject to Section 5 preclearance unless Congress enacts a new coverage formula.[4] Some allege the ruling has made it easier for state officials to make it harder for ethnic minority voters to vote.[5] The Supreme Court struck down Section 4(b) as unconstitutional in a June 25, 2013 ruling.[2][29] The majority opinion was delivered by Chief Justice John Roberts, joined by Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel Alito. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shelby_County_v._Holder (more)

Lyndon Baines Johnson (/ˈlɪndən ˈbeɪnz/; August 27, 1908 – January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice president from 1961 to 1963 under President John F. Kennedy, and was sworn in shortly after Kennedy's assassination. A Democrat from Texas, Johnson also served as a U.S. representative, U.S. senator and the Senate's majority leader. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyndon_B._Johnson

I find TV a terribly inefficient way of communicating Non-Fiction info. (more)

Martin Cagan: Product Sense Demystified. I have always disliked the term, and I especially dislike the implications. (more)

Amy Hoy is thinking about designs for a Tools for Thought code-named "phyla": ways & why’s we gather notes and references, and what we do with them. conceptual approaches and “modes.”...GATHER mode is very different from the other mode of bookmarking/saving — DUMP... controversial opinion: maps / webs are a thinking tool only good for when you first make it, not an organizational or reference tool. webs (associative) suck for organizing and retrieval... i hate outlining. when i write, structure is very important, but it’s ALSO emergent. i use index cards. i slide them around (whiteboard) until the flow feels right. a story is a multi-dimensional space. software wants you to pin the butterfly to the mat IMMEDIATELY. Ah, she already has an MVP working (for herself). (more)

Live Chat app by Stewart Butterfield (more)

Wow, just discovered Neal Stephenson's Mongoliad EBook plans. the app interface. A series of clickable options run down the left side of the iPad screen, including access to chapters, movies, images, maps, and a "pedia" or glossary...Though interactive fiction (novels) have had snippets of movies and images in them since the mid-1990s, PULP is what makes The Mongoliad stand out as a possible way forward for post-print publishing. PULP makes this book into something that's truly the product of our collective imaginations. When you're reading a chapter of the book, you always have the option to pull up a an interactive discussion window and leave a note or enter a discussion about the book. You can write your own additional storyline. Or add to the pedia to explain more about the historical setting. You can also rate every aspect of the book, rating any page on a scale of one to five stars. The Mongoliad isn't just a story; it's a platform for collaborative worldbuilding. The question is, how do you prevent such an endeavor from degenerating into chaos? "We have the concept of canonicity – if we like it we'll tag it as canon," Bornstein says. (more)

The Merchant Marine Act of 1920 is a United States federal statute that provides for the promotion and maintenance of the American merchant marine.[1] Among other purposes, the law regulates maritime commerce in U.S. waters and between U.S. ports. Section 27 of the Merchant Marine Act is known as the Jones Act and deals with cabotage (coastwise trade). It requires that all goods transported by water between U.S. ports be carried on ships that have been constructed in the United States and that fly the U.S. flag, are owned by U.S. citizens, and are crewed by U.S. citizens and U.S. permanent residents. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merchant_Marine_Act_of_1920 (more)

Zvi Mowshowitz: Covid-19 10/13/22: Just the Facts. (more)

Zvi Mowshowitz: Covid-19 9/29/22: The Jones Act Waver. (more)

Zvi Mowshowitz: Covid-19 9/22/22 : The Joe Biden Sings. When Bob Wachter says it is a judgment call whether the pandemic is over, you know the pandemic is over. (more)

Zvi Mowshowitz: Covid-19 8/18/22: CDC Admits Mistakes (more)

Zvi Mowshowitz: Covid-19 8/11/22: The End Is Never The End. The biggest development this week in things-relevant-to-my-interests was that PredictIt’s no action letter was revoked, effectively forcing it to shut down its prediction markets in February 2023 unless something changes by then. The most credible story is that this is new prediction market website Kalshi performing a hit job to take out the competition, but I have not had the time to look into it yet. Whether or not that was the reason, the shut-down is quite bad, speaks quite badly of everyone who let this happen, and is something worth fighting against if there is a practical way to do that. PredictIt was far from perfect, but it was a dim light in a dark world. (more)

Zvi Mowshowitz: Covid-19 6/16/22: Do Not Hand it to Them. (more)