On Contactless Payments Being Niche in the U.S.
I got a number of responses to my piece on Apple adding a "tap to pay" feature to the iPhone, suggesting that this was a niche thing that Apple shouldn't be doing, and even that it's too niche to even ship. All the context I'll add is
podcast
Markets, Growth, and the Arts (The New Bazaare)
Listen to the episode here
Guest Tyler Cowen on the U.S. right’s opinion of popular culture today:
They would say that it is now at some new and totally unprecedented point, and that it was unstable, and that things are about to teeter over. Now it's interesting, I think in the
newsletter
⭐ It's Been a Hard Wordle Day (Newsletter #100)
Welcome to the 100th main issue of the newsletter! I don't really know how to celebrate, so let's just…uh…get onto the fun stuff!
The Links
* Great list of Obsidian themes here.
* Tim Nahumck on Apple Watch move streaks, rest days, and more.
* Breaking news about "lo-fi- hip
Links
Tap to Pay Comes to the iPhone
Apple (AAPL) to Let IPhones Accept Credit Cards Without Extra Hardware - Bloomberg
It’s unclear whether the payment acceptance option will be branded as part of Apple Pay, though the team working on the feature has been working within Apple’s payments division since being brought over from Mobeewave, the people said. It’s also
Links
Why I Use Analytics on this Site
Michael Rockwell responding to a post about person site analytics:
It also doesn’t show a complete picture. Some number of people read this site entirely by RSS and are never counted in the stats. And then, of course, there’s all of the folks using ad blockers that prevent the stats script from even
covid-19
No, I Will Not
If you ever wonder why people like me are so fed up when talking to people about Covid.
It's March 2020, will you stay home for a bit to try and slow the spread of this mysterious new disease? "No, I will not."
Now you can go basically anywhere you want,
Links
Sway Interview Highlights with Dr. Ashish Jha and Emily Oster
This is an experiment with a new series where I pull out some good quotes from podcast episodes I think
Links
What Will Apple’s HomePod with a Screen Look Like?
Parker Ortolani has this cool concept on 9to5Mac:
Rumors have been floated about Apple making a HomePod with a display but word on the street is that the product being tested looks a lot like an iPad mounted to a speaker. Instead of making a Frankenstein product very similar to Google and Amazon’s products,
Links
When is a Product Delayed?
John Gruber on a Bloomberg article stating Apple "pushed back" their VR headset to 2023:
It’s a semantic argument, but “pushed back” feels fair for an unannounced product. Shipping is hard, COVID makes everything harder. “Delayed” and “setback” don’t feel fair, though. When it actually does get announced, do we get
Links
Social Media Safe Spaces
Elaine Godfrey writing for The Atlantic:
In Arizona this weekend, 51-year-old Tammy Shutts put it this way to me: “100 percent, 1,000 percent, 1 million percent Biden didn’t win” her state, she said, gesturing to the hordes of people around her. “I’ve been in Arizona for almost 21 years. There
review
Google Pixel 6 First Impressions
I've found my way into a Google Pixel 6 (non-pro) and after using it for a week-
Nine Nine! (Newsletter #99)
Happy Friday, everyone!
The Links
* Must…play: WaPo has a mini-golf game created using gerrymandered districts around the US.
* Absurdle is the best Wordle remix yet. You have to work this one into a corner 😏
* This week is all about games, apparently, as looptap is a good, mindless time killer.
* "The new normal&
Links
That's Not a Monopoly
Mike Fahey writing for Kotaku:
While the merging of Microsoft and Activision feels like far too much power being consolidated under one roof, once you understand what a monopoly is, it’s pretty clear this isn’t it.
I'm not an antitrust lawyer by any means, but this seems like the right take
My Worst Take Ever
I was looking through a few posts and found this doozy from 2015:
With this week’s news that Apple is working on a keyboard with literally no moving parts, it hit me like a ton of bricks: of course physical keyboards are on the way out.
And:
Don’t worry if you love a
Links
The Unbelievable Power of Keyboard Maestro
David Sparks:
I’ve had a lot of questions about the relationship between Keyboard Maestro and Shortcuts for Mac. Specifically, is Shortcuts for Mac going to replace Keyboard Maestro? In a word, no.
Yeah, Shortcuts is great, but Keyboard Maestro is just on another level. David does a great job explaining the difference, and I&
Links
WordleBot Gets More Accessible
Federico Viticci updated his WordleBot shortcut based on user feedback:
Although well-intentioned, my original approach was misguided: even with
covid-19
The Unifying Case for Getting Covid Under Control? Probably not, but It Should Be.
The National Law Enforcement Memorial Fund put out their 2021 End-Of-Year Preliminary Law Enforcement Officers Fatalities Report (PDF) and it leads with:
[A]s of December 31, 2021, 458 federal, state, tribal and local law enforcement officers died in the line-of-duty in 2021. This is an increase of 55% from the
Links
When the Assholes Show Up
Doodled Dragons takes at least $30,000 after tweeting "our charity will instead now be... my bank account"
They announced on Twitter that they would be donating $30,000, "our first donation", to the World Wildlife Fund. Two hours later, they tweeted, "actually. fuck that. our charity will instead now
