Operator // Builder // Writer // Systems

Juan Mackie.

I build practical AI and automation systems for real-world businesses, starting with fire protection.

Field service, fire protection, and the unglamorous work that keeps businesses moving. I build tools, test ideas, and document what survives contact with real work.

"AI will do to the human mind, what the bicycle did for human movement."

What this work is about

Three operating areas.

Area01

Field-service & fire-protection operations

Where the work starts: hours, callouts, scheduling, routing, paperwork, and the compliance layer that cannot be skipped.

VIEW AREA ↗
Area02

Practical AI & automation

Text agents, local models, and browser assistants that do the mechanical parts and leave judgment with people.

VIEW AREA ↗
Area03

Product & systems experiments

The lab layer: public repos, widgets, and generative work that either earns a place in production or gets retired honestly.

VIEW AREA ↗

Things by me

Featured work, with the evidence attached.

Project index22

Live products, maintained tools, and experiments, each labelled with status.

Archive // 16 more signalsOpen archive Close archive
Experiments & artMaintainedMarching Waves

Math art and generative motion studies.

Experiments & artMaintainedVectra

A vector graphics tool for creating editable SVG exports.

Knowledge & workflowMaintainedWhatsApp Desktop Webapp

Lightweight native desktop wrapper for WhatsApp Web.

Experiments & artMaintainedEcovacs Goat G1 Beacon Optimizer

Placement optimizer for device coverage.

Knowledge & workflowMaintainedutilviewer

Lightweight .util file viewer, live on GitHub Pages.

AI & automationMaintainedccswap

Claude Code profile manager.

Writing & audioActiveWritings

Notes on AI, business, investing, and operating principles.

Writing & audioActiveOne at a Time

A podcast built around one idea at a time.

Knowledge & workflowActiveGoodreads

Books I am tracking, saving, and re-reading.

Knowledge & workflowActiveReading list

Current titles and the books on my desk.

Experiments & artMaintainedNothing Style LastFM Widget

A widget inspired by the Nothing UI language.

AI & automationPausedOllama TurboQuant Minimal

Small-footprint local AI experimentation. Repository no longer public.

AI & automationExperimentalNanoGPT Dynamic Provider Extension

A pi extension that dynamically registers NanoGPT models.

AI & automationExperimentalCroft AI Dynamic Provider Extension

A pi extension that dynamically registers Croft AI models.

RetiredDeprecatedStorybloom.xyz

A live project that is now deprecated.

RetiredRetiredSuretyDoc

A production project now retired.

Quick path03

Start with the work that is still alive.

The full archive is grouped by discipline, with case files for the work that has a write-up.

22Public projectsin the archive
23Essayson this site
01Live productsPrompt Paul
11Podcast platformsOne at a Time
252Books trackedon the desk
00Fabricated metricsby design

Writings

Recent essays, chosen for relevance.

Curated06

Notes on AI, business, money, tools, and the systems around them.

  1. 01
    Agent Memory Stack — SQLite + Mnemosyne

    How a two-loop agent memory stack uses SQLite and Mnemosyne for durable, searchable, self-improving memory.

  2. 02
    Downgrading BYD Seal from V1.1 (2310) to V1 (2307)

    This downgrade allows the sideloading off APK's (Android Apps) which is a MASSIVE upgrade and absolute game changer

  3. 03
    Corporate Fitness vs. Efficiency: Navigating the Evolutionary Landscape of Business Success

    The Pursuit of Efficiency In the fast-paced world of business, efficiency has long been heralded as the ultimate goal.

  4. 04
    The Lollapalooza of Success: Navigating Life's Twists with Charlie Munger's Psychology

    Dive into Charlie Munger's profound insights on psychological tendencies and their impact on success. Explore how embracing these principles can help navigate life's challenges triumphantly.

  5. 05
    Cashflow squeeze < Charge card

    Using an AMEX charge card to take the cashflow cycle from 30 days to 85+ days and getting win-win outcomes for our suppliers.

  6. 06
    Logseq — A Tool for Connected Notes

    One thing that has alluded me for a very very long time is a way to capture notes and thoughts in a way that could retain the context and connections....meet [[LoqSeq]]. (pronounced log sek)

Listening

What is playing, and where I keep going.

Last.fm

What I am listening to

FULL HISTORY
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    Reading

    Books on the desk.

    Reading list252
    • The Difference Between God and Larry Ellison: God Doesn't Think He's Larry Ellison
    • The Unaccountability Machine by Dan Davies
    • Unreasonable Hospitality by Will Guidara
    • Abundance by Ezra Klein
    • Transport for Humans by Pete Dyson and Rory Sutherland
    • Alchemy by Rory Sutherland
    • Kill Decision by Daniel Suarez
    • Elements of Choice by Eric J. Johnson
    • City of Joy
    • Inheritocracy by Eliza Filby
    • Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity
    • Under the Hood by Stan Slap
    • A Little Book on the Human Shadow by Robert Bly
    • Becoming Trader Joe by Joe Coulombe
    • Asian Godfathers
    • Built from Scratch by Bernie Marcus
    • Let My People Go Surfing by Yvon Chouinard
    • The Death of the Banker by Ron Chernow
    • Case Studies For Corporate Finance by J.R. Harold Bierman
    • Doing What Matters by James M. Kilts
    • The Responsible Company by Yvon Chouinard
    • Behind the Banyan by Aaron Low
    • The Heart of Innovation by Matt Chanoff
    • Purple on the Inside: How J.B. Hunt Transport Set Itself Apart
    • The Nature of Our Cities
    • For Blood and Money
    • Bury My Heart at Conference Room B by Stan Slap
    • Hyperefficient: Optimize Your Brain to Transform the Way You Work
    • Never Enough: From Barista to Billionaire
    • A Million Miles in a Thousand Years
    • Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism
    • Manufacturing Consent by Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman
    • Day Trading QuickStart Guide
    • High and Mighty: The Dangerous Rise of the SUV
    • Trading in the Zone by Mark Douglas
    • Merchants of Doubt
    • Run Your Business, Don't Let It Run You
    • Outside Directors in Family Owned Businesses
    • Freedom's Forge
    • The Deming Management Method
    • Lights Out: Pride, Delusion, and the Fall of General Electric
    • Plain Talk: Lessons from a Business Maverick
    • Electronic Value Exchange: Origins of the VISA Electronic Payment System
    • The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook
    • Measures of Success by Kevin Claydon
    • Engines That Move Markets
    • You Have A Choice: Beyond Hard Work to Meaningful Work
    • Deming's Journey to Profound Knowledge
    Remaining 204 titlesShow more Show less
    • Filterworld by Kyle Chayka
    • Hello, My Name Is Awesome
    • Platform Revolution
    • Lean Analytics
    • Hooked by Nir Eyal
    • The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel
    • The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande
    • Tools of Titans by Tim Ferriss
    • Zurich Axioms
    • More Than You Know
    • The Rise of Superman
    • The Breakout Principle
    • From the Rat Race to Financial Freedom
    • Logo Design Love
    • How Big Things Get Done by Bent Flyvbjerg
    • Catalyst
    • The CEO Next Door
    • The 5 Elements of Effective Thinking
    • How to Make a Few Billion Dollars
    • The McKinsey Engagement
    • The McKinsey Edge
    • Red Notice by Ben Mezrich
    • The Key Man
    • The World for Sale
    • MBS by Ben Hubbard
    • Sales Pitch
    • Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun
    • Maverick by Ricardo Semler
    • When the Wolves Bite
    • The Cult of We
    • The High-Velocity Edge
    • The Warren Buffett CEO
    • The Fund by Robin Wigglesworth
    • The Dealmaker
    • Founder vs Investor
    • Forget the Funnel
    • Capital Returns
    • Twenty Things You Need to Know
    • Black Edge by Sheelah Kolhatkar
    • Looking for Spinoza by Antonio Damasio
    • The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
    • Demand-Side Sales 101
    • The Kingdom of Prep
    • Imagination House by E. Lee Walker
    • Propaganda by Edward Bernays
    • The Pretender by Melanie Benjamin
    • Winning by Jack Welch
    • Positioning by Al Ries and Jack Trout
    • The Nurture Assumption by Judith Rich Harris
    • Born of This Land by Chung Ju-Yung
    • We're Pregnant! by Adrian Kulp
    • The Price of Time by Edward Chancellor
    • Antimemetics by Nadia Asparouhova
    • Who Knew by Barry Diller
    • Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
    • The Rhythm of Strategy by Marleen Dieleman
    • Robert Kuok: A Memoir
    • The Cult of Information by Theodore Roszak
    • The Shock of the Old by David Edgerton
    • How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Mohsin Hamid
    • Practical Wisdom by Barry Schwartz
    • Buffett's Early Investments by Brett Gardner
    • The Creation of Wealth by R.M. Lala
    • Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata by Frank Harris
    • The Polyester Prince by Hamish McDonald
    • Absolute Power by Sucheta Dalal and Debashis Basu
    • The Life and Times of G.D. Birla by Medha M. Kudaisya
    • A.D. Shroff: Titan of Finance and Free Enterprise by Sucheta Dalal
    • The Platform Delusion by Jonathan A. Knee
    • J.B. Hunt: The Long Haul to Success by Marvin Schwartz
    • Up the Organisation by Robert C. Townsend
    • The Wisdom of the Enneagram
    • When the Machine Stopped by Max Holland
    • Gas Wars by Paranjoy Guha Thakurta
    • Ghost in the Wires by Kevin D. Mitnick
    • The Strategy of Conflict by Thomas C. Schelling
    • Samsung Rising by Geoffrey Cain
    • System Collapse by Martha Wells
    • Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells
    • Network Effect by Martha Wells
    • Exit Strategy by Martha Wells
    • Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells
    • Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory by Martha Wells
    • Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
    • All Systems Red by Martha Wells
    • The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
    • Excession by Iain M. Banks
    • Hotel by Arthur Hailey
    • Blind Man's Bluff
    • Crossing the Chasm by Geoffrey A. Moore
    • Who Is Michael Ovitz?
    • New Dress for Success by John T. Molloy
    • Who Says Elephants Can't Dance
    • Kochland by Christopher Leonard
    • Ogilvy on Advertising
    • What Would Machiavelli Do
    • Guerrilla Marketing by Jay Conrad Levinson
    • Marketing Metrics
    • The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli
    • The Complete Guide to Taxation in Australia by Max Newnham
    • Australian Taxation Study Manual by K. Tai
    • Tax Planning for Family and Small Business by Linda Delaney
    • Be Your Own VC
    • The Millionaires' Factory
    • More Money Than God by Sebastian Mallaby
    • Learning to Build
    • Logic of Failure
    • Made in Japan by Akio Morita
    • Critical Path by R. Buckminster Fuller
    • Invested
    • How Will You Measure Your Life? by Clayton Christensen
    • Productize
    • The Fish That Ate the Whale
    • The Symphony of Profound Knowledge
    • Business Bullseye by Allan Mason
    • The Power of Positive Thinking
    • Awaken the Giant Within by Tony Robbins
    • The Hypomanic Edge
    • The Puppet Masters
    • The Sovereign Individual
    • The Paradox of Success
    • The HP Way
    • Profit First by Mike Michalowicz
    • Treasure Islands by Nicholas Shaxson
    • How Brands Grow
    • Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
    • Simple Numbers, Straight Talk, Big Profits!
    • Lives in Trust
    • The Hidden Wealth of Nations
    • Family Wealth
    • Buy Then Build
    • The Deming Dimension
    • Understanding Variation by David Chamberlain
    • Enlightenment Now by Steven Pinker
    • Creating a Data-Driven Organization
    • Creativity by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
    • Necessary but Not Sufficient
    • Better, Simpler Strategy
    • The Haystack Syndrome
    • The Millionaire Fastlane
    • The Power Law by Sebastian Mallaby
    • How to Become a Rainmaker
    • Running with Purpose by Jim Weber
    • I Could Do Anything If I Only Knew What It Was
    • Essentialism by Greg McKeown
    • Crossing the Chasm, 3rd Edition by Geoffrey A. Moore
    • Small Giants by Bo Burlingham
    • Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely
    • The Expectation Effect
    • The Great A&P and the Struggle for Small Business in America
    • The Ultimate Sales Machine
    • The Power of Full Engagement
    • The Surrender Experiment
    • Million Dollar Consulting
    • The Score Takes Care of Itself
    • The Paradox of Choice
    • American Bonds
    • The Status Game
    • The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
    • The Misfit Economy
    • Geopolitical Alpha
    • A First-Rate Madness
    • Vested
    • Amp It Up
    • Zero to IPO
    • Vested Outsourcing
    • In Business As in Life, You Don't Get What You Deserve, You Get What You Negotiate
    • The Emperors of Chocolate
    • HBR Guide to Thinking Strategically
    • Discovery-Driven Growth
    • The Effortless Experience
    • The Man Who Broke Capitalism
    • Corporate Explorer
    • Sell Like Crazy
    • Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe
    • What Got You Here Won't Get You There
    • The Art of Pricing
    • The Rise and Fall of the Conglomerate Kings
    • The Innovator's Dilemma by Clayton Christensen
    • Pleased, But Not Satisfied
    • Priceless by William Poundstone
    • Building a Second Brain
    • Three Blind Mice by Ken Auletta
    • Lessons from Private Equity by Orit Gadiesh
    • Entrepreneurship
    • The 1% Windfall
    • The Art of Intrusion
    • The Art of Deception by Kevin Mitnick
    • Topgrading by Bradford D. Smart
    • After Steve by Tripp Mickle
    • Richer, Wiser, Happier by William Green
    • The 3G Way
    • A Triumph of Genius
    • Skunk Works by Ben Rich
    • Ultralearning by Scott Young
    • How to Win in a Winner-Take-All World
    • Hidden Champions of the Twenty-First Century
    • The Lean Turnaround
    • Amazon Unbound by Brad Stone
    • Dream Big
    • Zero-Base Budgeting by Peter Pyhrr
    • The Moral Animal
    • The Discipline of Market Leaders
    • Family Trusts: A Plain English Guide for Australian Families

    Podcast

    One thought at a time.

    Audio05

    A place for technology, business, investing, and whatever is worth sitting with.

    The podcast where I explore one thought-provoking idea at a time. It is a place for technology, business, investing, and whatever else is worth sitting with for a while.

    Prompt Paul

    AI-powered text assistant.

    Chrome extension07

    Short feedback loops for selected text, without ceremony.

    Prompt Paul is a Chrome extension that helps process selected text quickly with AI. It is built for practical use, not ritual.

    Case file08

    The full write-up: problem, intervention, constraints, and honest limitations.

    Read the case file

    Referral links

    Referral links and codes.

    About

    Builder, writer, and observer of systems.

    Signal10

    Useful tools, clear thinking, and ideas that survive contact with reality.

    I care about AI, business, investing, and the mechanics behind how useful things get made. Most of the work here sits somewhere between software, field operations, and personal operating systems.

    FULL PROFILE ↗
    Principles11

    Principle

    Contact

    Reach out by email.

    No form. Send a direct message.

    Use email for collaborations, questions, project notes, or anything that should not get lost in a feed. Welcome: Operational problems that need a builder; Fire-protection and field-service workflow questions; Product feedback on anything in the archive; Introductions to people solving real operations problems. Not a fit: anything that needs a certified compliance decision from an AI.

    juan.mackie@gmail.com

    FAQ

    Straight answers.

    Frequently asked06
    Who is Juan Mackie?

    Juan Mackie is a builder, writer, and observer of systems based in Australia. He works across fire protection, operations, AI, and business design, turning messy workflows into safer, clearer systems.

    What does Juan work on?

    Practical AI and automation for real-world businesses, starting with fire protection. The work sits between field-service operations, software, and the recurring-service models that make both durable.

    What is Prompt Paul?

    Prompt Paul is a Chrome extension built by Juan Mackie that allows users to process selected text quickly with AI. It is built for practical use, with short feedback loops for text processing.

    What is the One at a Time podcast?

    One at a Time is a podcast hosted by Juan Mackie that explores one thought-provoking idea per episode. Topics include technology, business, investing, and whatever else is worth sitting with for a while. Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, and other platforms.

    What projects has Juan Mackie built?

    Projects include Prompt Paul (Chrome extension), UpTick Hours, Route-O-Matic (routing experiments), Logseq Housekeeper, ccswap, utilviewer, and generative-art experiments. Every project carries an honest status label, from Live to Retired.

    How can I contact Juan Mackie?

    By email at juan.mackie@gmail.com. No form and no queue; mail gets read. Operational problems, partnerships, product feedback, and introductions are welcome.