Memos by Brian Swichkow

• Relevancy Score

  Relevancy score was an ad metric, called relevance score by Facebook, that rated an ad from 1 to 10 based on the positive and negative feedback Facebook expected it to receive from its target...

• self-compassion

  self-compassion, as Kristin Neff's website defines it, means "being kind and understanding toward ourselves when we suffer, fail, or feel inadequate, rather than ignoring our pain or flagellating...

• vanity metrics

  vanity metrics are, in Eric Ries's account, metrics such as website "hits" that he sets against actionable metrics, writing that his favorite example has "no built-in measure of causality." In a...

• Registered Agent

  A Registered Agent is, as the Delaware Division of Corporations describes it, the agent every entity under Delaware law must appoint to accept service of process; the Secretary of State of California...

• C-Corporation

  A C-Corporation, or C corp, is described by the U.S. Small Business Administration as "a legal entity that’s separate from its owners," and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recognizes it as a...

• Data-Poisoning

  Data poisoning is a poisoning attack in which an adversary controls part of the training data, as defined in the NIST glossary, which cites the NIST report AI 100-2 E2025. That report, "Adversarial...

• Insta360 ONE X2

  Insta360 ONE X2 is a camera from Insta360 that records 360 video and photos as well as a 150° flat mode called Ultra Wide Stabilization. According to Insta360's online manual, it shoots 360 video at...

• derivative work

  A derivative work is, as the U.S. Copyright Office defines it in Circular 14, "a work based on or derived from one or more already existing works." The U.S. Copyright Office lists translations,...

• Flux

  f.lux is software that, in the words of its website, "makes the color of your computer's display adapt to the time of day, warm at night and like sunlight during the day." The f.lux site offers it...

• YouWare

  YouWare is an ai-powered platform for creating, customizing and publishing web applications from plain-language descriptions, the approach known as vibe coding. Its documentation presents it as...

• Jidoka

  Jidoka is one of the two pillars of the Toyota Production System, a principle Toyota says can be loosely translated as "automation with a human touch," based on stopping immediately when...

• Internal Revenue Service (IRS)

  The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is, in its own words, "a bureau of the Department of the Treasury," organized to carry out the responsibilities of the secretary of the Treasury under section 7801...

• California Science Center

  California Science Center is a California state department in Exposition Park, a state-owned 152-acre tract in south Los Angeles, whose mission, according to its 2025-26 state budget entry, is to...

• OAuth

  OAuth 2.0 is an authorization framework, published by the IETF as RFC 6749, that "enables a third-party application to obtain limited access to an HTTP service," either on behalf of a resource owner...

• California Franchise Tax Board

  California Franchise Tax Board (FTB) is the California state department that, according to its 2025-26 state budget entry, collects personal income tax and corporation tax revenue, operates various...

• Goodpods

  Goodpods is a free podcast player app for iPhone. According to its App Store listing, it is published by the developer Good Search, sold by Goodpods LLC, filed in the News category and carries a 2019...

• Viacom

  Viacom (formerly Nasdaq: VIA, VIAB) was a media and entertainment company that merged with CBS Corporation in December 2019. Its annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30,...

• FCC

  Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is a United States federal agency that, according to USAGov, regulates interstate and international communications through cable, radio, television, satellite...

• Fansly

  Fansly is an online platform where fans follow, subscribe to, and tip content creators, as described in the Fansly Help Center, which the company publishes as advice and answers from the Fansly Team....

• Groupon

  Groupon (NASDAQ: GRPN) is a global two-sided marketplace that connects consumers to merchants, according to its annual report on Form 10-K for fiscal 2025. The filing states that Groupon commenced...