Signal Path
What's a probe? — and the rest of the Signal Path
Everything on this site is part of a single creative system I call the Signal Path. The idea is simple: a curiosity shows up (a signal), I go investigate it (a probe), I share what I find — either quickly (pulse) or as a wide-ranging piece (broadcast). Along the way I distill reusable ideas into components, compose those into schematics, bundle recurring practices into modules, and stay on a regular cadence. Each entry on the board carries one of these eight labels — it tells you what kind of thing it is.
One clarification worth making: the type tag names what the made-thing is. A writeup of an active probe is tagged probe — the probe is the thing, and publishing is always sharing. Pulse and broadcast are the two genuine sharing forms — siblings, both pushing work outward — and they split on intent: a pulse is ephemeral (quick, fragile, soon buried); a broadcast is built to travel (durable, evergreen, made to be passed on). It comes down to what each is built to do.
A curiosity, question, or spark worth tracking — the thing I'm wondering about before I know what to do with it. The start of every thread.
A hands-on exploration of a signal — an experiment, a build, an investigation. The probe is the thing I make to find out.
A quick signal share — a short finding, a half-formed hunch, a fast observation worth putting into the world. It's ephemeral on purpose: a quick post that might get liked, might get passed on.
Pulse’s bolder sibling — also pushing work outward, but built to last and to travel: longer, more considered, made to invite sharing and reply. Unlike a pulse, it's built to carry further.
A reusable operational system — a workflow, a practice bundle, a recurring approach I've built up and documented. The things I keep coming back to.
A recurring review rhythm — the regular check-ins that keep the work honest over time (and where things like quantified-self readouts land). A rhythm I keep.
A distilled, reusable insight — always written as a statement. The durable takeaway after the investigation, extracted for future use.
A speculative outline that composes Components into a higher-order assembly — the blueprint for a future Module or direction. Built from the parts, aimed at what’s next.