I like to think that the internet is still a fun and wacky place. To confirm this every now and then, I’ll email people I admire. When email first started it was a novelty, then fun (think AOL IM), then it was enshitified by spammers.

Segue about spam emails. Growing up with pacific islander culture, spam is revered (see Spam Jam) so I didn’t understand the relation between delicious fried luncheon meat with unwanted emails. As I grew older and interacted with more people outside of my community, I understood why spam (and canned meats in general) is frowned upon.

Also related to cold emails, recently I’ve seen it in job applications as a way to make sure that applicants are reading the job description. So if a applicant reads a posting and writes and email, than they at least 1) read the entire posting and 2) put in some effort to get the email together.

Back to the story, many online writers I read don’t advertise their direct email, which is understandable. A lot of them link their pre-made socials which have some level of security and scrutiny, compared to a direct email which could be going right to their desktop email client. Over the past few years I’ve cold emailed a few, and each interaction has always been enjoyable.

Daniel Stenberg I read your most recent article. I’m sorry that folks are trying to attack you like that. I enjoy the work you’ve done, keep it up!

Dominic Szablewski I enjoyed your talk on Software Engineering Daily about remastering a favorite game from my childhood. Very informative!

Graham Stephan I knew you were part of the O-group, but I didn’t expect to see you on Selling Sunsets. I’m really enjoying the show, hope to see you on there more!

Gwern interview I enjoyed your interview with Dwarkesh Patel, very enlightening! I hope you continue with the anonymized interviews.

Julia Undeutsch I enjoyed your podcast with freeCodeCamp, very enlightening!

Shyam Sankar As someone in tech and the Reserves, I enjoyed your commentary about defense reformation on the School of War podcast. Hope to see you on the show more!

Tim Cook Really enjoyed setting up new AirPods for my mom. I always forget how seamless the Apple experience is!

Rebecca Heineman I just finished the Killing Time Remaster, what a trip!