Greg Leuch
Greg Leuch is a user interface designer, developer, and hacker. Former Senior Designer at Buzzfeed. Former Director of R&D at Rocketboom & Know Your Meme. FAT Lab virtual fellow, JESS3, and more. New York City, New York. Passionate about design, web, technology, and art.
It is time to explore again. Even though I am just shy of reaching my 14 month date at BuzzFeed, I am leaving my position as Senior Designer.
In light of all the great achievements BuzzFeed has gained recently, from its growing traffic (~6MM to ~25MM in 14 mo), recent high-profile hires for editorial verticals (~25 people to ~80), and a nice round of funding ($15.5M), I have been struggling to maintain my focus as someone who enjoys making and trying new things.
This was not an easy decision, as it is quite difficult to walk away when the combined efforts of those around me have helped achieved a large level of success for something quirky and powerful. However, something was amiss for me, and I realized I am not satistifed. As a friend quipped, my reasons for leaving are true to myself and my needs, as I am not sacrificing for the hype (in a respectable sense of the word).
Regardless of my reasons, working at BuzzFeed was a great time, and I was fortunate to work with a great design and development team. I am truly excited for the new features, products, and editorial that will be coming out over the next few months across many platforms and partners. (PS: they’re hiring!)
To answer your immediate question, I will be spending the next few weeks working on a few fun projects as I prepare for a temporary move to China at the end of March. While I am in China, I plan on spending more time focusing on projects that are interesting to me, with every intention of releasing a few of them soon. I will also be spending time learning more, whether it be iPhone development, Mandarin, or whatever else strikes my curiosity. And with more free time, I will be hosting oHours on Tuesdays and Thursdays for anyone that wants help or advise on design, tech, or art.
(Photo credit: Jiashan Wu)
I’m putting “all-round viral heavyweight” on my resume, next to “web boffin”.
Things people say. A “Shit People Say…” search engine, with 650+ documented videos! http://hasanyonesaidthisshit.com/
Ah, Chinese. Saw this and Facebook and had to post it. This is even worse in Chongqing, where “shi” is indistinguishable from “si.” (h/t John Fang)
Senator Janet Howell, Baddass Bitch of the Day
To protest a bill that would require women to undergo an ultrasound before having an abortion, Virginia State Sen. Janet Howell (D-Fairfax) on Monday attached an amendment that would require men to have a rectal exam and a cardiac stress test before obtaining a prescription for erectile dysfunction medication.
“We need some gender equity here,” she told HuffPost. “The Virginia senate is about to pass a bill that will require a woman to have totally unnecessary medical procedure at their cost and inconvenience. If we’re going to do that to women, why not do that to men?”
Magnificent.
Escape. NYC. (Taken with instagram)
Thank you Weather.com, your nearby weather tweets section, and @baycityjack for making my morning routine uncomfortably awkward today.
The Brilliant "Don't Be Evil" Bookmarklet
Kudos to Facebook (with some help from Twitter and MySpace) for having the balls to do this. It’s a bookmarklet that replaces Google’s new “People and Pages” area, the hardcoded social search area, and the search completion drop-down, with organic results.
In other words, it makes the new Google behave more like the old Google.
There has been a lot of back and forth in recent weeks over Google’s new Search+ functionality — about how “fair” it is, and whether or not it should lead to antitrust inquiries. But the bottom line is this:
Search+ makes Google worse. It replaces relevancy with Google’s own agenda to pump up Google+.
I say kudos to Facebook because while this isn’t an official app they created, they let their key product manager, Blake Ross, work on it and deploy it knowing full well that everyone would immediately tie it to Facebook. That in turn will put some heat back on Facebook, which itself is far from fully open with regard to data — and is gearing up to IPO.
But again, the key issue here is that what Google is doing with Search+ is making Google worse. This bookmarklet illustrates that in a very effective way.
John Battelle and Danny Sullivan have more on this, as do others. And be sure to watch the Focus On The User walk-through video, narrated by Ross himself.
1:40 for the good stuff. ROFL on LMFAO “party rock” lions.
This was just too damn good not to post here (h/t Hana Alberts). LMFAO shuffling lion dancers! Happy Chinese New Year!
Super internet day! :D
Many of you have asked, so here’s what’s going on with me.
WHAT HAPPENED BEFORE
- 8/1979: Born. Grew up in CT, built a killer eraser collection, fell in love with computers.
- Left college to start a company. Fell hard. Fled to India for 3 months.
- Started 2nd company. Learned to be an adult. Fell in love with NYC.
- Moved to SF, discovered burritos & some of my fave people on Earth.
- 9/2011: Got diagnosed with Leukemia!
- Cried. Went through 3 cycles of chemo. Hurt. Thought hard about what I want out of life. Grew up a second time.
TODAY
… After over 100 drives organized by friends, family, and strangers, celebrity call-outs, a bazillion reblogs (7000+!), tweets, and Facebook posts, press, fundraising and international drives organized by tireless friends, and a couple painful false starts, I’ve got a 10/10 matched donor!
You all literally helped save my life. (And the lives of many others.)
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
Tomorrow, I’ll be admitted to Dana Farber in Boston for 4-5 weeks.
First I’ll get a second Hickman line to allow direct access to my heart (for meds and for nutrients if I’m not able to eat). Over the next week, the docs blast my body with a stiff chemo cocktail to try and eradicate all traces of cancer cells. In the process, the immune system I was born with, and my body’s ability to make blood, are destroyed.
Next Friday, I get my donor’s stem cells by IV. I start on immunosuppressants to prevent my body from rejecting them (I’ll be on them for 12-18 months). For these weeks I’ve no immune system, so I’m severely vulnerable to viruses and bacteria. My hospital room and hallway become my world.
Meanwhile, the stem cells make their way to my bone marrow and, with some luck, start producing platelets, red blood cells, and white blood cells. At this point, my blood type changes to the blood type of my donor. And my blood will now have my donor’s DNA, not my own.
This is science fiction stuff. I can hardly believe it’s even possible, and there’s lots of chances for things to go wrong. It’s frightening.
AFTER THE TRANSPLANT
Recovery to a new state of “normal” takes about a year, but there’s a few storm clouds hovering:
- My immune system is new, like a baby’s. I’m prone to getting sick.
- Just as with any organ transplant, there’s a chance of rejection. Except in this case, it’s my blood that’s the foreign body, and it touches every organ. They call it graft-vs-host-disease and it can cause health issues and organ complications for the rest of my life.
- Successful transplant or not, Leukemia can relapse. Stubborn mofo.
Overall, 75% of AML transplant patients survive year one, 50% make it through year five. My odds are a little better since I’m young.
THE GREAT NEWS
I’ve got a long road ahead. But I’ve got a donor & amazing family & friends. A few months ago I didn’t have many options. Today I have a plan.
I am alive. I start tomorrow. Wish me luck!
Thank you.
