johnmaconline chain logo johnmaconline / The250
Daily one-pagers about AI, leadership, technology, and being human.

johnmaconline

I'm writing to think, learn, and remember in public. I'll be here everyday.

October 16, 2026 2 minute read

Photographer’s Light

HumanThe250

One of the first things a photographer learns about is lighting.

Lighting makes all the difference because the same object can look totally different depending on the lighting. Morning, noon, or evening. Diffused or direct. A lamp from behind or from above.

Also true for the feelings the photo invokes.

Photography isn’t really about photographing objects. It’s about photographing the light that objects reflect. Here’s some of what they learn:

  • Direction changes meaning. Front light flattens. Side light reveals texture. Backlight separates. Light from below feels unnatural because we rarely see it in nature, but it can be specifically interesting.
  • Size controls softness. A large light source relative to the subject gives soft-edged shadows. A small source gives hard ones.
  • Distance changes both brightness and character. Move a light closer, and it gets dramatically brighter,
  • Contrast matters more than brightness. Care less about how much light rather than the ratio between light and shadows.
  • Color has emotional weight. Warm light can feel intimate. Cool light can feel sterile, distant, or nocturnal. Natural light feels different than artificial.
  • Reflected light matters constantly. Walls, ceilings, pavement, snow, grass, even clothing can become secondary light sources.

Light determines how you see it. How you feel about it.

It’s helpful to purposely look at things in a different light. Even things you’re sure of.

October 15, 2026 1 minute read

Unfinished Business

HumanThe250

I start many of these articles/blurbs/anecdotes and let them hang for a bit.

I can’t quite finish it in one go. Usually because my thoughts aren’t complete yet. What am I trying to say (to myself)? What do I think or feel? Is this even worth continuing?

Then I come back to one and finish it. Sometimes change it completely from where it started. Finshing it might mean just deleting it.

Unfinished business often needs to percolate. Not everything needs an immediate reaction, reply, or resolution.

Sometimes I think we need a little more unfinished business in our culture.

October 14, 2026 1 minute read

On Camera Tickets

HumanTechnologyThe250

I’ve received two traffic tickets in the mail over the last couple of months.

Both from other states. Both remote camera speeding violations. One was a warning, and the other wasn’t.

Not long ago, I was shooting the crap with a friend about self-driving cars. I, of course, am a self-driving car apologist. He, of course, is not. He had many reasons, but his fundamental argument was, “I like to go my own speed.”

Fair enough. So do I.

But self-driving or not, it looks like we’re moving toward a world in which if your speed doesn’t match the posted speed, you’re getting fined.

So will it make a difference?

Maybe we’re moving more toward self-driving, whether you’re in control or not.

October 13, 2026 1 minute read

Value of Laziness

HumanThe250

“I hate doing this. Over and over. There’s gotta be a better way.”

Listen to that. Pursue that.

Paradoxically, laziness can be a great motivator for producing value.

October 12, 2026 1 minute read

No More Flow State

AIHumanTechnology

Do you know the flow state?

Flow is one of the most magical parts of coding. Like other creative endeavors, when coding goes well, you drop into that flow state. Time vanishes. The ideas keep coming. The solutions present themselves. The code flows out of your fingertips.

But we don’t write the code anymore. The agents do.

I haven’t felt that flow state since. Now, I get way more of that frantic state managing all of the tasks that the agents do for me.

I don’t like that part.

Do agents get into the flow state?

October 11, 2026 1 minute read

The Time Tax

AIHumanTechnology

Convenience usually comes at a premium price.

Living within walking distance of the train station, restaurants, stores, or trails usually costs more than living somewhere you need to drive. Eggs at WaWa cost more than they do at the grocery store. The nonstop flight costs more than the one with a connection. Emergency plumbing services cost more than if he comes next Wednesday at 10 am.

We pay to remove friction.

At the expense of time.

Trade time for money. We’ve been doing it since the dawn of civilization.

Will AI invert that?

I’m not sure, but I’ve got my eye on it.

October 10, 2026 1 minute read

Wondering

AIHumanLeadership

I wonder…

  • if I had been born in a different era, could I have been an astronaut?
  • how life would have turned out if I had pursued music, taken the Apple job, or moved to California.
  • what work will look like 20 years from now.
  • why one of my cats loves to catch critters, and the other doesn’t.
  • why some winters I have a plethora of golden finches at my feeder, and others I have none.
  • what our grandkids will be into.
  • if I will be healthy in 10 years.
  • why the lower angle of the sun and its light in the fall changes how a day feels.
  • why a 55-degree day in July feels terrible but in February feels amazing.
  • if I will finish writing a book.
  • if I should stay at my current company.
  • why some days I wake up feeling optimistic, and others I wake up feeling dread.
  • how I can be more present.
  • how I can be someone that people want around.
  • how does AI work?

Wondering what if, what was, what is, what could have been, how, and why. All of the feelings.

Wonder beats the pants off of going through the motions.

October 9, 2026 1 minute read

Niceties

HumanLeadershipThe250

We all probably know when we’re being fed “niceties.”

Still, it can be nice to hear.

Never miss an opportunity to make someone feel good about themselves.

October 8, 2026 1 minute read

Think Different

AIHumanLeadership

Apple started this advertising campaign in 1997 and it continued through 2002, but it still lives on some product boxes and in the literature.

Does it matter? Does it mean anything? Is it just words?

Yes, it’s advertising. So it’s just a slogan to sell products. A great idea.

However, I think it’s a better slogan for today. Not for selling Apple’s or anybody else’s products, but for how you should show up in the working world.

AI breaks a new dawn.

Show up and think different.

October 7, 2026 1 minute read

Consistency and Variability

AIHumanLeadership

Much of our world is built for consistency.

Assembly lines. Machines. At scale. Chain restaurants and hotels. Insurance policies. Public transportation. Highways. AI coders and support chatbots. Heck, our public education system.

All built for consistency. Whatever you put in, wherever you are, get the same stuff out. Somebody designed it (probably with data), and the process enforces it.

Why is that?

It’s a little bit for the customers.

Consistency helps one avoid the unknown. I know what I’m getting. There’s value there. In fact, maybe more value than whether the person actually likes it. “Phew. It’s just as I expected it.” Deterministic is a powerful sedative.

But it rewards the designers of the system.

Consistency of output breeds consistency of outcomes, financial statements, and KPI’s. It allows efficiencies in process and labor. It unlocks bigger margins with smaller investment.

Where does that leave you?

Not us. Because the consistency is designed for us.

You.

You are variable. Yes, even you introverted engineers.

It’s up to you to be on the lookout for variable delight.

Pin It on Pinterest