David Purdy

I'm happy to announce that as a counterpoint to "build in public" I've decided to build in secret. I will stock up on supplies, retreat to a cave, and only emerge when the product is built and winter is over... Oh. Hibernate - what I want to do is hibernate.

I've been meaning to find this quote I think about in relation our information ecosystem: ""Where does a wise man hide a leaf? In the forest. But what does he do if there is no forest? ... He grows a forest to hide it in ... A fearful sin" - G. K. Chesterton

I wish there were better real world answers to open source sustainability. As much as I believe in the benefits and don’t like being a gatekeeper, I’ve often chosen not to open source things I’ve built that I use in my business… but I don’t always feel great about that decision

I often build small, niche APIs (usually 1-2 “glue” flows). So with all the advice about premature optimization in mind, I built a toolkit to cover stuff I do over and over. Still deciding whether it’s an internal tool or something to share. Obligatory: https://t.co/ocZRDhTC0a

You mean it’s not enough to just build something useful? I have to tell people it exists too??

What’s the great AI work being done in narrowly constrained domains? I get that “code anything!!” is a huge market, but I’m really interested in using LLMs for more accessible interfaces on things like build processes that are testable and also represent a barrier to entry

It’s been too long since I used a screen reader for an afternoon. Best practices are a convenient shorthand, but there’s nothing like actually trying to get things done in a modality you’re not used to

One of my first memories of web development was delight that I could just save a few lines out of a text editor and have a working page. I fully appreciate modern web build pipelines, but I wonder what we lose when we abstract away some of that “tactile” directness

As a parent I’ve learned that attention == good, and “negative” attention, while sometimes necessary, isn’t the consequence I think it is. I wonder if there are any parallels there with journalism and communication….

I think there’s scope for some AI in analytics, but let’s not forgot that the most important step is *what questions you ask.* And that fundamentally can’t be automated, not because our tech isn’t smart enough but because it ends up not being about information, but what we value

If you want to get ahead, sometimes you have to grind and just *make* time for progress. Work late, get up early. Does it feel good? No. Is it compatible with maintaining your health? No. But do you get things done in that time? Also no. I guess I’m saying take care of yourself

When I hear praise for uncompromising high standards, not only do I make a judgement about life circumstances that enable that outlook, but I also wonder about lack of imagination of how things could be even better. Everything is a compromise (done is better than perfect, etc.)

I worry clients will wonder why I'm posting to social when I owe an email or a platform feature, so let me assure you: posts made from 100% recycled, otherwise unproductive time: most recently, lying behind the couch wondering if my son has forgotten we're playing hide and seek

Since it looks like I’m posting AI critical takes, wondering if I should add “did not pivot newsroom strategy to video in 2017” to my bio