http://zachwill.com Zach Williams is currently Director of Data Science for the Portland Trail Blazers. en-us Thu, 25 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT http://zachwill.com/come-in/ http://zachwill.com/come-in/ Thu, 25 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT > On 23 December 1975, Rob Parsons and his wife Dianne were preparing for Christmas at their Cardiff home when they heard a knock at the door. > > **On their doorstep stood a man with a bin bag cont... http://zachwill.com/hobbit-software/ http://zachwill.com/hobbit-software/ Wed, 06 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMT > Thinking about creating a movement to promote **hobbit software**: > > Pretty chill, keeps to itself, tends to its databases, hangs out with other hobbit software at the pub, broadly unbothered by... http://zachwill.com/earths-sounds/ http://zachwill.com/earths-sounds/ Thu, 28 Mar 2024 00:00:00 GMT > Many of these ocean-dwelling ancients evolved sophisticated sensors for light, sound, and chemicals. But, as far as we know, they did not communicate by sound. **It would take about another 200 mil... http://zachwill.com/cheap-turpentine/ http://zachwill.com/cheap-turpentine/ Thu, 22 Feb 2024 00:00:00 GMT > When art critics get together they talk about form, and structure, and meaning. When artists get together they talk about where you can buy cheap turpentine. — Pablo Picasso... http://zachwill.com/doesnt-need-to-be-out-here/ http://zachwill.com/doesnt-need-to-be-out-here/ Tue, 05 Dec 2023 00:00:00 GMT > “If Kobe saw that you were afraid, it’s over for you — whether you’re the teammate, or family member, or whatever,” said Brian Shaw, who joined Jackson’s coaching staff in 2005. > > Many tim... http://zachwill.com/subreddit/ http://zachwill.com/subreddit/ Fri, 01 Dec 2023 00:00:00 GMT > A good test of whether people are passionate about something: > > Is there a subreddit for it? — Chris Dixon... http://zachwill.com/handshake/ http://zachwill.com/handshake/ Wed, 18 Oct 2023 00:00:00 GMT > When everyone present has said something out loud, there is a greater chance that they will join in the discussion later. **Beginning with a handshake and an introduction also immediately levels ou... http://zachwill.com/how-lucky/ http://zachwill.com/how-lucky/ Tue, 10 Oct 2023 00:00:00 GMT > In the words of Winnie the Pooh: > > **“How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.”** > > That silly old bear sure did know a thing or two about living your best life, bu... http://zachwill.com/ideal-note-app/ http://zachwill.com/ideal-note-app/ Thu, 27 Apr 2023 00:00:00 GMT > Every once in a while I think about how my ideal note-taking app is essentially just a really nice/flexible GUI for a SQLite database — but I don’t think anything like this exists, and I think that... http://zachwill.com/analogies/ http://zachwill.com/analogies/ Fri, 14 Apr 2023 00:00:00 GMT > **My basic rule is: analogies are great for a sympathetic audience and bad for > an antagonistic one.** > > - If you're trying to illuminate something to someone who wants to understand your point... http://zachwill.com/drafting-for-need/ http://zachwill.com/drafting-for-need/ Sat, 01 Apr 2023 00:00:00 GMT One of the better NBA Draft stories: > GM Billy Knight points out that Zaza Pachulia and Shelden Williams are the only Hawks who are wide in the thighs. "They are the only two guys we have who aren'... http://zachwill.com/area-code/ http://zachwill.com/area-code/ Tue, 07 Feb 2023 00:00:00 GMT > In the age of cell phones, the area code has become the ancestral clan name or heraldry. It is a marker of old stories, loyalties, a statement that says "there was a land I came from but am there n... http://zachwill.com/gmail-history/ http://zachwill.com/gmail-history/ Mon, 06 Feb 2023 00:00:00 GMT > The first useful thing Buchheit built was a search engine for his own email. (And it did indeed take only a day to accomplish.) > > His previous project had been Google Groups, which indexed Usene... http://zachwill.com/iterations-matter-more/ http://zachwill.com/iterations-matter-more/ Tue, 15 Nov 2022 00:00:00 GMT > The amount of iterations you have on a project matter more than the amount of > time you spend on it. — [Mark Saroufim](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Ldn_nCPNNQ) ... http://zachwill.com/complex-systems/ http://zachwill.com/complex-systems/ Sat, 15 Oct 2022 00:00:00 GMT > A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that worked. **The inverse is also true — a complex system designed from scratch never works and cannot be patch... http://zachwill.com/mythical-big-data/ http://zachwill.com/mythical-big-data/ Thu, 29 Sep 2022 00:00:00 GMT > Are we still obsessing over mythical big data? Because the real problem in most orgs is 50,000 very small data sets — some barely maintained — loosely tied together between Slack, Dropb... http://zachwill.com/top-apps/ http://zachwill.com/top-apps/ Tue, 27 Sep 2022 00:00:00 GMT > 80% of time on mobile devices is spent in apps. > > 85% of mobile app time is spent in the user's Top 5 apps. — [Ben Bajarin](https://martech.org/nearly-85-percent-smartphone-app-time-conce... http://zachwill.com/rivers/ http://zachwill.com/rivers/ Tue, 23 Aug 2022 00:00:00 GMT > Drinking Rivers is like if you’ve never driven a car before and someone puts you behind the wheel of a rocket ship and says, “Okay, off you go!” More info: [Grenada’s Rivers Antoine Rum Distillery... http://zachwill.com/solution-mode/ http://zachwill.com/solution-mode/ Thu, 18 Aug 2022 00:00:00 GMT > Not to jump into solution mode, but did you consider adding a fourth _Sign up_ button here? — [Jonas Maaløe](https://twitter.com/jmaaloe/status/1531598102850940929) on the state of Twitter U... http://zachwill.com/oldest-known-building/ http://zachwill.com/oldest-known-building/ Fri, 27 May 2022 00:00:00 GMT > **The oldest known building is a place called [Göbekli Tepe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Göbekli_Tepe) in Turkey. It’s a > funny place because it didn’t have a proper roof or walls, and there’s n...