Forest Service Staffing
I do a lot of hiking, backpacking, and recreation in Georgia’s Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest. It’s beautiful and amazing. But it’s…
3 Reasons Why Podcasts Are Underrated
Podcasts are trendy but they are still underrated in so many ways.
4 Things I Didn’t Know About Backyard Birds Until I Got A Feeder
Red-bellied woodpeckers are the backyard big guy. Cardinals are the consistent friends I take for granted. But Bluebirds are the…
Georgia’s 12 Seasons
I’m definitely enjoying the daffodils, peach blossoms, and camellias during Fool’s Spring
How Do I Find New Music Now That I’m Old & Irrelevant?
One of my takeaways from Tom Vanderbilt’s You May Also Like was that for various reasons, everyone’s taste in music…
How To Take Better Photos for Your Website (or anything Really)
Photography is like gardening. Knowing a few basic things can get you 80% of the way there…but most people who…
3 Reasons Why Wandering Around Is Underrated
Spontaneity is memorable. And there’s not much spontaneity anymore. We have to engineer it. And walking around aimlessly is a…
5 Unexpected Things I Learned About YouTube While Running an Ad Campaign
There is a lot of information on YouTube about what it is like to be a YouTuber – the expected…
SEO in 2024
A satire of where Google is pushing website owners with their “E-EAT” guidance.
How To Prevent Shin Splints for Regular Runners
Last year, I registered for the Atlanta Marathon. But after running 16+ miles for 3 straight weekends, I decided to…
4 Best Ways Anyone Can Help Preserve & Protect Wilderness & Public Lands
I got to talk with the US Forest Service’s Wilderness & Trails Technician for the Conasauga District in the Chattahoochee…
‘Enshittification’ is coming for absolutely everything
It’s rare for a single word or theory to explain what is going on, especially about something as complex as…
Formula for Consistently Prompting ChatGPT (or Any LLM AI)
I’ve been using ChatGPT a lot in the last year. I feel like humanity was given an internal combustion engine…
How To Make a Decision
I loved this Blinkist summary from How To Decide by Annie Duke.
3 Reasons Why Commuting by Bike Is Underrated
Getting around on a bike is underrated and totally the future of smart transportation.
How to Buy Happiness
Eric Barker is one of my absolute favorite authors. I loved reading Barking Up The Wrong Tree and Plays Well…
Habit Change
I was reading the Blinkist summary of BJ Fogg’s book Tiny Habits. He’s the world’s expert on human behavior and…
LLM AIs Have Turned Into a Classic Moral Panic
A “moral panic” refers to a widespread fear, often irrational, that emerges within a society over a perceived threat to…
8+ Ways Parents Can Use ChatGPT with Their Kids
Most of the focus on ChatGPT has been how it will affect the world of work. But in the past…
Sales Is Just Providing Options
I’ve had a lot of different jobs over the years, and it’s taken much too long to learn that sales…
“Wherever you get your podcasts” is a radical statement
Via…https://www.anildash.com/2024/02/06/wherever-you-get-podcasts
3 Reasons Why Public Art Installations Are Underrated
For a long-time, I never really understood public art or its importance. But it’s seriously underrated and we should have…
Using Army Fitness Standards As An Objective Maintenance Fitness Goal
Fitness has a goal problem. Goals are great for achievement, but are terrible for living. If I want to run…
3 Reasons Why Public Domain Images and Artwork Are Underrated
Most public domain fanfare goes to books entering the public domain. But all copyright works enter the public domain after…
Why I’m Not Buying Dawn Platinum Powerwash
TL;DR There is conflicting information from Canada & the EU about the risks of the main new active ingredient in…
3 Reasons Why Wikipedia Is Underrated
Everyone knows about Wikipedia. But 20 years after it started, it’s still underrated for just how big of a deal…
The [Disney] Magic of The Public Domain
I love the attention that the concept of the public domain is receiving this year after the first version of…
![If You Want To Be Able To Do [X] at 80, You Need To Be Able to Do [Y] Now.](https://www.nateshivar.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Decline-in-Fitness.jpg)
If You Want To Be Able To Do [X] at 80, You Need To Be Able to Do [Y] Now.
I discovered this chart from the book Outlive via Andrew Chen’s blog, where he writes that –
3 Reasons Why National Parks Are Underrated
I don’t think National Parks are underrated as a whole. In the US, they are held pretty sacred and deeply…
Rome Emperors Baseball
I love the trend of unique names for Minor League Baseball teams. And I’m really loving the re-naming of the…
Paris Built 68 New Transit Stations + 120 miles of Rail in 7 Years…for Half The Price Of American Transit
But change is coming – and on a huge scale. The venerable Paris Métro is about to get its most…
10 Things I Miss About The Philippines
I grew up in The Philippines, on the northern end of the island of Luzon. I lived there for 8…
7 Reasons To Switch Your Search Engine in 2024
It’s always a good time to change up habits. And the number one habit we all have is to search…
Berta Elder’s Interview on 92 Years of Change
In 1977, the Oconee Enterprise interviewed Berta Elder (my great-grandmother, aka, “Granny”). She was born in 1901 and died in…
How To Get Mentioned on Major Websites & Media in 5 Easy Steps
Every industry has outcomes that seem like tricks or secrets to outsiders. But for industry insiders, those outcomes are just…
Small Urbanism in Atlanta
Right in the middle of the City of Atlanta, near the wannabe walkable, urban Peachtree Street, there is a Trader…
3 Reasons Why Spreadsheets Are Underrated
I’m pretty sure most of my career success is because I know more about spreadsheets than my coworkers or clients….
11 Ways to Discover Great Books
It took me a while to realize that reading every book ever published was an impossible feat. With countless books…
3 Reasons Why Broadcast Television Is Underrated
Tired of your streaming service raising prices? Well, broadcast television is still around. And honestly, it’s a bit better than…
3 Better Ways To Watch YouTube
YouTube has become a horrible experience. But it’s still a miracle of the modern world. There is so much knowledge…
Country Music Is Good Again
What happened? Country music is good again – seriously. It’s like it moves in 20 year cycles or something.
How To Explore My Website
This is my digital home & personal website. I work in marketing, live in Atlanta, have done quite a few…
Visiting India after 8 Years: 8 Observations
In June, I got to visit India for a week. It’s been 8 years almost to the week since I…
Long Live Baseball
I did deep dive on just how bad long baseball games had gotten by the 2021 season. As much as…
Asking an LLM AI To Create Human Identities & Religions
So right now, many people are generally going nuts about a type of artificial intelligence that uses LLMs. I’ve been…
5 Laws Of Bicycling Survival
Ren (“Aaron”) Willis wrote the 5 Laws of Bicycling Survival. It’s amazing and worth reading the original article. I like…
Working at Switchyards Neighborhood Work Club
Ever since leaving my former employer and re-starting my own business, I’ve been on the hunt for an ideal work…
A Radical Pessimist’s Predictions After 10 Years
10 years ago, I bookmarked “A radical pessimist’s guide to the next 10 years” by Douglas Coupland. I’m not sure…
How To Get a Solo Stove Lite Going Quickly with Less Soot & Smoke
The formula is cotton balls + petroleum jelly + oak sticks.
7+ Reasons To Restart Blogging Again
Almost exactly 10 years ago, I attended my first WordCamp in Atlanta. I learned a lot about building websites and…
Why Bike Tires Are Always Going Flat
If you have repeated flat tires on your bike, you need high quality rim tape.
Why the Past 10 Years of American Life Have Been Uniquely Stupid
There has been a lot of digital ink spilled over why discourse and *waves arm at world* has been so…weird….
The Future is Vast
Our World In Data published an incredible post visualizing the current moment in a long-term outlook. In a month where…
Atlanta’s Newly Renovated Central Library
Atlanta’s newly renovated Central Library is incredible & worth regular visits.
The Average Duration of a World Series Game per Year
If you are a baseball fan, you know that the pace of play has been a problem for a while….
How To See Your Allocation of Stocks with an Index Fund
Index Funds / ETFs are one of the best innovations in the history of finance. They are far and away…
Bike Lanes on Glenwood
Slowly but systematically, Atlanta is becoming a better place to bike for transportation.
The Case for Optimism
Kevin Kelly is one of my favorite authors, writers, and Twitter accounts. He recently wrote an excellent long-form post on…
How Much The World Has Developed Since 1990
This fascinating map (source) was making the Internet rounds last week showing how much countries around the world have developed…
Finding & Eating Paw Paw Fruit
I’ve always been a fan of exotic fruits. I’m the one likely to track down and buy an imported jackfruit…
Blackberry Cobbler
This is a photo of my first blackberry cobbler that I made with blackberries grown in my own backyard. A…
Southside BeltLine in 2021
I took this photo in February 2021 along the Southside BeltLine near DH Stanton Park in Peoplestown. In about a…
How To Save Money on Produce (with one data-backed tip)
There are dozens of tips for how to save money buying fruits and vegetables on the Internet. Very few are…
The 2020 US Election
In the past two years, I’m proud to have participated in a political march, participated in Get Out The Vote…
Finding That Perfect Novel with NoveList Plus
NoveList Plus is an incredible tool that I found on my library’s website. It allows you to search & compare…
Vote Forward
I signed up with Vote Forward this election cycle.
Bardcore Music
Bardcore is the medievalization of contemporary pop songs. It’s one of my favorite Internet trends of the past few years.
Preventing Dementia
The Economist ran a Special Report last week on Dementia. They called it the “silent tsunami” facing every nation on…
Biking with Takeout
Inspired by other cyclist’s transportation experiments, I’ve starting trying to carry a wider range of stuff on my bike.
Westside BeltLine
This is a completed section of the Westside BeltLine on its way to meet up with the Southside BeltLine near…
East BeltLine Extension
This is a section of the BeltLine in Atlanta weaving its way through Reynoldstown on its way to the Southside…
How To Share YouTube Videos Privately (in the new YouTube Studio)
YouTube is an amazing tool for sharing videos. Unlike Google Photos and Email, it has no limits on length or…
Build Cities for Bikes, Buses, and Feet—Not Cars
Driving is an enforced preference. The modern American city is designed to favor cars and make other ways of getting…
How To View All of Vanguard’s Mutual Funds
Vanguard is a well-known brokerage and financial services company. They invented the Index Fund, a fund that buys & sells…
My Favorite Communist Party Sponsored YouTube Channel
I’ve written about the sheer weirdness and 1984-esque nature of exploring China’s Internet before. And even though I do occasionally…
Pros & Cons of Moving To Atlanta
My family and I moved to Atlanta in February 2013 from Athens, GA. We have lived here ever since. Like…
Personal History of Oakridge, TN – The Secret City
One of my favorite YouTube channels, Half As Interesting, did an explainer about the founding of Oakridge, Tennessee. It was…
Understanding Persuasion in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
Francois Chollet recently wrote an essay on “What worries me about AI”. He argues that the big worry about AI…
Understanding Signaling, Social Media & Internet Content
I love the Internet. I remember the first time that I saw a webpage load. It has changed my life…
How I Saved An Hour Per Day by Customizing My Phone
There’s an old adage that says “what gets measured gets managed” – ie, you can’t manage a problem until you…
How John Grisham Writes So Many Books
John Grisham has written an entire book every year for the past 10 to 15 years. I’ve always assumed that…
Your Addiction To Social Media Is No Accident
All this might seem a little underhanded, but it’s nothing compared to some of the design features currently showing up…
On Leaving Nebo Agency & Going Full-Time with a Growing Business
Today is my last day working for Nebo Agency. I’ve been with Nebo for over 2 years. It’s by far…
46+ Little Changes That Made A Big Difference in My Life
Big choices & events in life almost always set the stage for the vast majority of love, happiness, wealth and overall…
All The Stuff I’ve Ever Tried
The best career advice book I’ve ever read is How To Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big by…
What Happens When An American Posts About Tiananmen Square On Weibo (China’s Twitter)
June 4th, 2014 was the 25th anniversary of the Tienanmen Square protests/massacre in China, immortalized by the Tank Man photo. It…
Reader Question: How To Choose What To Write About For Your Personal Blog
I received a reader question that basically relates to how to choose what to write about for your blog/book/etc. Here’s…
Stereotypes of Top 50 US Cities
I always find it really fascinating to find out how people from different places can perceive the same things so…
Collection of City Time Lapse Films
I’m a huge fan of time lapse films in general, and of cities in particular. I’ve never been able to…
5 Lessons From Simplifying Online Life
A few weeks ago, I started drastically paring back all the tools, feeds, news sites, and networks that I use….
2 Really Cool Old Maps
I’ve wasted enjoyed thousands of hours staring at maps – especially old maps. Here are two of the best maps I’ve…
How I Set Up A Standing Desk + Home Office For $50
Even though I think the health benefits of standing are a bit overstated – anything done in moderation is probably going to…
Apparently You Have To Be Really Skilled Now
Here’s a career and business idea that seems to be bubbling up in America right now… Your credentials don’t matter….
Why Free Software Should Be Very Suspicious
Shopping for invoicing software. Now that I have your full and rabid attention, here’s why you should not trust free…
5 Reasons Why People Who Love Social Media Should Deactivate Facebook
Yes, because of network effects, Facebook keeps getting more valuable every time it adds another person to its 800 million…