Tom MacWright
Tom MacWright
Tom MacWright
Hi, I’m Tom. Right now I’m building Val Town, a tool for joyful programming, and working on Placemark, a tool for creating maps.
Latest Posts
Well, nearly another year in the books. How did it go? It’s genuinely surprising to me how consistent my reading stays year-over-year. I don’t set reading goals or have a predictable pace, and every year has at least a month in which I’m...
This'll be the last Recently in 2025. It's been a decent year for me, a pretty rough year for the rest of the world. I hope, for everyone, that 2026 sees the reversal of some of the current trends. Watching This video from Daniel Yang,...
This’ll be the last Recently in 2025. It’s been a decent year for me, a pretty rough year for the rest of the world. I hope, for everyone, that 2026 sees the reversal of some of the current trends. Watching This video from Daniel Yang,...
It’s the end of 2025, which means that I’m closing in on three years at Val Town. I haven’t written much about the company or what it’s really been like. The real story of companies is usually told well after years after the dust has...
It's the end of 2025, which means that I'm closing in on three years at Val Town. I haven't written much about the company or what it's really been like. The real story of companies is usually told well after years after the dust has...
Hello! Only a day late this time. October was another busy month but it didn't yield much content. I ran a second half-marathon, this time with much less training, but only finished a few minutes slower than I did earlier this year. Next...
Hello! Only a day late this time. October was another busy month but it didn’t yield much content. I ran a second half-marathon, this time with much less training, but only finished a few minutes slower than I did earlier this year. Next...
Some meta-commentary on reading: I’ve been trying to read through my enormous queue of articles saved on Instapaper. In general I love reading stuff from the internet but refuse to do it with a computer or a phone: I don’t want all my...
Some meta-commentary on reading: I've been trying to read through my enormous queue of articles saved on Instapaper. In general I love reading stuff from the internet but refuse to do it with a computer or a phone: I don't want all my...
Back in May, I wrote about a custom porteur bag that I sewed for use on my bike. That bag served me well on two trips - a solo ride up to Brewster and back, and my semi-yearly ride on the Empire State Trail, from Poughkeepsie to Brooklyn...
Back in May, I wrote about a custom porteur bag that I sewed for use on my bike. That bag served me well on two trips - a solo ride up to Brewster and back, and my semi-yearly ride on the Empire State Trail, from Poughkeepsie to Brooklyn...
I've been thinking the new Meta Ray-Ban augmented reality glasses. Not because they failed onstage, which they absolutely did. Or that shortly after they received rave reviews from Victoria Song at The Verge and MKBHD, two of the most...
I’ve been thinking the new Meta Ray-Ban augmented reality glasses. Not because they failed onstage, which they absolutely did. Or that shortly after they received rave reviews from Victoria Song at The Verge and MKBHD, two of the most...
I missed last month's Recently because I was traveling. I'll be pretty busy this weekend too, so I'll publish this now: a solid double-length post to make up for it. Listening It's been a really good time for music: both discovering new...
I missed last month’s Recently because I was traveling. I’ll be pretty busy this weekend too, so I’ll publish this now: a solid double-length post to make up for it. Listening It’s been a really good time for music: both discovering new...