About

Hi, I'm Jiff. A technical writer. I have extensive experience shipping products that people love and also diving into the metaphorical weeds to learn more about how things work.

Here you can find my musing on various topics. I've included my previous about sections as a reference to how I've evolved over time.

Most recent portion of the page follows…

Rather than digest an uncomfortably long monologue about me, consider nibbling on these well-portioned principles I live by:

Day 1 thinking: I believe that we should constantly be evaluating the world as though we were children. Discoveries are made through fresh eyes and too often experience leads us through a converging corridor of limiting ideas. Be an intern every day and be fair to all ideas.
Listen and repeat: I’ve noticed that people who are completely aware that you’re speaking will not hear you. They’ll ask you to repeat what you said and then they will listen. I liken this to the loss of focus during meditation. Before meditating you pre-emptively forgive yourself for any loss of focus and commit to restarting your focus once you become aware of such loss. I think this principle should be applied during every day scenarios. When you end up asking someone to repeat what they said despite hearing them perfectly view it as a loss of awareness, forgive yourself, and retune your senses to listen again.
Make change the status quo: I think the easiest way to learn new things is to constantly learn new things. That is – don’t study a language and continue doing the same routine for 99% of everything else. Rather, study a new language, go to new places, and meet new people – constantly.

Oldest portion of the page follows…

I’m Antony, a technical product manager.

I have a passion for user experience. I’ve worked at Microsoft, Agoda, Apple, and most recently on my own startup, Binaural Waves, crafting products that people love and use everyday. I have technical experience in programming, system administration, and data crunching, in addition to driving features to their conclusion through product management. I’ve traveled and worked across the globe and I take my worldwide experiences with me everywhere.

I’m also passionate about new input modalities. I think the keyboard and mouse, while likely here to stay for another decade or so, will eventually be replaced by new modalities that allow a broader range of expression. This transition will begin with programming. I believe development should become a more interactive experience not contrained by the 26 letters of the alphabet. We should be manipulating 3D objects instead — which will give us an entire new dimension to think about.

Furthermore, we should dive deeper into abnormal brain responses, like seizures and synthesia, to see if there’s additional input via light or sound that we’re not harnassing. Programming shouldn’t be a visual only affair and we should be able to use sound to augment what’s being displayed on the screen.

We should explore why seizures can be caused by flashing lights and see if there’s an opportunity to turn this trigger into a way to communicate with the brain. Furthermore, binaural beats are often lauded as a way to excite the various frequencies upon our brain operates. Attuning our interface development to be more cognizant of the flexibility of human hearing and sight is something missing in today’s interfaces.

Back in 2008, I only had two devices. Now, I have a variety of always connected devices to maintain. My primary device is my Macbook Pro, upon which I run various containers and virtual machines to stay abreast of the latest Linux distributions and packages. My secondary device is an old Dell M6800 which serves as an excellent Debian server. I also have a phone. All are gated behind a pfsense router.

In the next decade or so, we’ll see huge advancements in network coverage, upload speed, lossless compression, and power storage. These in tandem will give way to new applications such as in YouTube where videos is downloaded directly from creator’s devices instead of being stored on a centralised server.

In my spare time, I enjoy running, as I did when young, as a way to stay healthy and upbeat. Music is also one of my favourite pastimes and you’ll find me listening to Ulrich Schnauss, Boards of Canda Radiohead, and Girls’ Generation, among others.

Finally, I consider myself an avid reader and enjoy works from the likes of Stephen King, Ken Catran, Ayn Rand, and many others.