Learning Log, October 2026

Life~Work

I stayed busy looking for my next full-time role. I’ve been picky about what I consider, so I’ve had a good hit rate for interviews. It’s been fun (and a little stressful) to talk with so many recruiters, hiring managers, and teams. My aim in every conversation is to interview them as much as they’re interviewing me. As I write this, I have two strong opportunities in progress, and I am still open to hearing about product design roles that fit my profile. I’m focused on companies with a positive mission, with teams building marketplaces and rethinking their workflows and tooling. If that’s you (or you know anyone), reach out.

Projects

I focused on one side project: MEMEX, aka my swipe file, aka my collection of visual inspiration. I migrated it to Astro, the same framework that powers this journal. When it launched in 2018, MEMEX was built with PHP, using a simple command to render a folder full of images on a page. I loved the simplicity, but PHP limited my hosting options and organizing and syncing new visuals was always a drag. Claude helped with the migration and created scripts that automate organizing and uploading. And running on Astro means I can host almost anywhere, so I moved it from DigitalOcean to Cloudflare, and it now lives at memex.kyleio.com.

Digital gardening

Bookshelf

• The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro – a dreamy, fantasy novel set in a time of knights and dragons, with themes of memory and loss emerging through a fog that’s enveloped the land.
• Helen of Nowhere by Makenna Goodman – a short, surreal read touching on the past and present, regret and happiness.
• Box 88 by Charles Cumming – a change of pace: a modern spy thriller. It’s the first in a series I found through the Why Is This Interesting? newsletter, and I’m looking forward to reading more of the series.

Links

• Benchma(r)king – James Bridle — Great read for two reasons. First, I learned the origin of ‘benchmarking’ — not what I expected! Second, seeing the results of his attempts to build a chair designed by AI, or “designed by someone who has read a lot about chairs but never actually sat in one”
• Preview a Link – Handy tool from Generic Applications for checking link previews across a wide range of applications and platforms.

MEMEX

A few favorite visuals I’ve added to MEMEX, my swipe file.