mastodon 4.8.0-nightly.2026-10-06I explore the interfaces with which we think & the future of personal computing. I also make books.
Today, I'm excited to announce our next title!
Augment is a forthcoming book featuring a collection of essays on the future of personal computing — specifically, on the kind we’d like to see more of in the future, and the ideas that might help us get there.
We’re opening a call for submissions today: https://buddybindery.com/pages/augment
We hope you’ll share it with those you think might write great essays for Augment, and even consider writing one yourself.
Something I haven't gotten to say in a while... new lab note today!
It's on a kind of user interface that pops up only occasionally: the extemporaneous UI that allows users to 'wave their wand' & get the interface they need through direct interaction.
More software and systems should adopt flavors of extemporaneous UIs!
Happy new ISBN day!
Always a happy day when a project reaches this point.
RE: @alexobenauer@mastodon.social
We have also made a "proposals" form available if you'd like to get some feedback on your idea before a full submission. Some wonderful submissions have already filtered in that way!
And we have a "nominations" form if you'd like to submit a prompt for someone you'd like to see write in the book - a great prompt can be a wonderful gift, and we've found that custom-tailored prompts for specific people have helped bring some lovely thinking forward.
RE: @alexobenauer@mastodon.social
We have extended the submission deadline to Monday, August 31!
We wanted to make sure folks have enough time to explore their wildest ideas.
Take some time this summer to write a chapter submission for Augment!
Scotland has arrived in Boston.
We had to say goodbye to my grandpa this week. (He had a big influence on me. Least importantly, but most tangibly, if it weren't for him I might not be in software.)
My sister wrote a beautiful article about him, it's a lovely exploration of a person: https://britobenauer.substack.com/p/my-grandpas-charm
This Friday, I'm excited to share details on an upcoming title we're working on at Buddy Bindery & Press, plus how you can help us make it great.
Stay tuned for more.
RE: @alexobenauer@mastodon.social
If you read Bootstrapping Computing, what questions did you walk away from it with? Did you look anything up while reading it?
Anything in it you could do without, or that served only to confuse?
RE: @alexobenauer@mastodon.social
Submissions are open until August 31!
Answering some frequently asked questions:
- Submissions should be complete, but do not have to be final drafts.
- Submissions do not have to be about one particular topic. We're looking for expertise from many domains beyond CS. Even from within the field, we're hoping for discussion across many topics.
- Submissions can be bespoke typesets / layouts; they do not have to be plain text.
- Contributors need no qualifications. Come as you are.
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Beware the plan! It doesn't know what you know.