Game
The Striking Beauty of Death Stranding
I know this game isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but good lord, do I love the game’s
Blog
windows
5 Months on Windows: An Update
A little over 5 months ago I replaced my aging Mac Mini (it is not eligible for the Big Sur update this fall) with a Windows desktop. As someone who has bought Macs his entire life, this was a bit of a surprise to many. At the time, a few people even predicted I would
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Trackers Find a Way
Spy pixels are evolving like malware, so HEY's adapting - Signal v. Noise
We knew that spy-pixel pushers might go down the rabbit hole of escalation once we gave HEY users the power to defend themselves. Just like virus and malware makers are constantly trying to defeat anti-virus and other security protections.
Politics
If You Want Republicans to Win, Get Rid of Trump
House Rating Changes: 20 Races Move Towards Democrats - The Cook Political Report
President Trump's abysmal polling since the pandemic began is seriously jeopardizing down-ballot GOP fortunes. We may be approaching the point at which dozens of House Republicans will need to decide whether to cut the president loose and run on a
What Happens When Video Games Aren’t “Fun”?
Internet Good Guy Jeff Cannata got some heat for his tweet-thread review of The Last of Us Part 2 a few weeks ago:
The Last of Us Part 2 is a masterpiece of video game narrative. Nothing else even comes close. The story is brutal, challenging, bold, and almost never "fun". It
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Step One is Replacing the Captain
This is what national decline looks like - George Will for The Washington Post
The nation’s floundering government is now administered by a gangster regime. It is helpful to have this made obvious as voters contemplate renewing the regime’s lease on the executive branch. Roger Stone adopted the argot of B-grade mobster movies
Death Stranding on PC Looks and Runs Great
When I was shopping for a GPU this past winter, I found it really useful to have videos just showing games running on the hardware I was considering purchasing. So I wanted to pay it back for anyone out there who is searching for a GPU and wanted just some straight gameplay footage showing how
meta
An Update on BirchTree
Over the course of 2020, I have received more “we'd like to write a sponsored post on your site” emails than I have in the previous 9 years combined. I politely declined a few, but I've just started ignoring them, and today I wanted to publicly document my policies for this
Fear and the Return to School
Another Axios poll update:
Most U.S. parents say it would be risky to send their children back to school in the fall — including a slim majority of Republicans and a staggering nine in 10 Black Americans — in this week's installment of the Axios-Ipsos Coronavirus Index.
I don't have kids,
Links
More People Are Wearing Masks
Axios out with a new poll on how many Americans are wearing masks:
62% of those surveyed said they’re
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The Return of Fun Design
The Comeback of Fun in Visual Design
As with all big shifts in design, you’re going to get a lot of noise. People will try to co-opt this new direction and attempt to label it as something it’s not (looking at you neomorphism). People will find fault with the execution. People will
Game
Mario Kart in 4K is Glorious
So don't ask too many questions about how I got these screenshots 😉 but I was curious how Switch
Links
Apparently I Handle Apple Watch Notifications Like Hey Handles Email
One Thing About The Apple Watch
From the first time I put on my Apple Watch I don’t think my phone has been switched off silent. The Apple Watch allows me to be notified about what I want to show up, but with a subtle tap on the wrist. No buzzing, no dings and
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5 Years to Get a “Finally”
Daring Fireball: A Moment of Clarity Regarding the Raison d’Etre for the App Store
But more than anything I worry that this exemplifies where Apple has lost its way with the App Store. What exactly is the point of running a strict approval process for apps if not, first and foremost, to ensure that
Links
How Gruber Shot The Talk Show at WWDC
Daring Fireball: How We Shot The Talk Show Remote From WWDC 2020
For video, we shot 4K 30 FPS using iPhone 11 Pros. That’s right, iPhones. Apple seems to have plenty of them so Federighi and Joz each had two — one positioned head-on, and one to the side for a wider-angle view.
Hey, Control, and the Importance of a Good UI
One of the things I see a lot in comments about my videos/articles ab out Hey is something like “can’t you do this by blocking people in Gmail?” or “can’t you just control who gets in with Sanebox?”
I think that depending on what you like about Hey, then maybe you could
Links
Obvious is Better Than Slick
How we achieve "simple design" for Basecamp and HEY - Signal v. Noise
Always choosing clarity over being slick or fancy. Internally we call this “Fisher Price” design. We aim to make the UI totally obvious and self explanatory, by keeping individual screens simple, showing only one focused thing at a time, and so
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Explain the Concern
Is WebKit Sabotaging the Future of the Open Web?
Why can’t the WebKit developer energy be spent on building these great new APIs and connect them with user empowering privacy tools. A great example of what I mean is website location tracking. If a website wants access you your location (for say driving directions)