Stealing your AI chats
Idan Dardikman writing on the Koi blog, 8 Million Users' AI Conversations Sold for Profit by "Privacy" Extensions, documents how "Urban VPN Proxy" is potentially harvesting your chats with 10 major LLMs. The extension is used across millions of users on Chrome and has 10k reviews on the iOS App
Politics
"Trump derangement syndrome"
The widely adored Rob Reiner and his wife were murdered (seemingly by their son) over the weekend, and this is
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Bye, bye, Face ID
There are some new potential leaks about the upcoming folding iPhone, and this bit stood out to me:
The leaker claims Apple has chosen not to include 3D Face ID hardware or a 3D ultrasonic under-display fingerprint sensor, as both systems would add internal volume and complicate efforts to slim down the device.
This
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Why hasn't the desktop UI evolved in years?
I really enjoyed this talk by Scott Jenson, who did UX at Apple and Google, and now works with Mastodon. Here's a few choice quotes I jotted down while watching:
There are already 36 window management systems, we don't need a 37th.
And this about iPadOS 26:
The fact that they
My crazy 2026 prediction (it involves Linux)
I'm not saying 2026 will be "the year of Linux on the desktop," but it will be the year that people like me pull the trigger on a Linux installation on their gaming PC.
I just think there's been a years-long bubbling up of frustration among gamers about
My pet peeve with traditional publishing
Founded in 2011, The Verge is an exceptionally modern publisher in the grand scheme of things, but its writing style is pretty traditional. More specifically, its policy towards putting links in in articles is old school and irks me to no end.
Take this article from today about the release of GPT 5.2:
In
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+ What is easy is boring
Once something becomes easy for anyone to do, it stops being interesting.
More on Spotify metrics
Based on the best data I can find, last year Spotify had 602 million active users as of early 2025, with about 42% of those users being paid subscribers (less than half!). Additionally, 2/3 of the people on premium are on it with some sort of incentive that gets them access for free or
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It's just technology
Richard Stallman in Reasons not to use ChatGPT
I call it a "bullshit generator" because it generates output "with indifference to the truth".
We are three years into the ChatGPT era, and I feel as confident as I have at any point in those last three years that, while Large Language
More on the messy economics of streaming music
Earlier today I wrote about why I think the pay-per-stream metric is a bad singular reference point, and doubly so when it's used as a cudgel in the fanboy wars to show why your brand is better than someone else's brand. Jason Dettbarn, who is closer to the music
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My favorite terminal emulator, Ghostty, is now a non-profit
Mitchell Hashimoto, the creator of Ghostty, wrote about this last week:
I believe infrastructure of this kind should be stewarded by a mission-driven, non-commercial entity that prioritizes public benefit over private profit. That structure increases trust, encourages adoption, and creates the conditions for Ghostty to grow into a widely used and impactful piece
Pay per stream is a messy metric
Here's a question: let's say Music Service A pays me $0.01 per song streamed on their platform and Music Service B pays me $0.03 per song streamed. Which of these services is better for my income as an artist?
Wait, wait, there's more data you need to
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Generative AI use continues to rise
I recently discovered the Generative AI Adoption Tracker and it's a really interesting look at the data on how often Americans specifically are using AI tools such as ChatGPT both at work and in their personal lives.
Above is a snapshot of results from August 2024 through August 2025. The notable trend on
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+ I don't need a Workout Buddy, I need a Workout Trainer
My simple 3-step plan to make Workout Buddy more useful.
Long-term effects of the Covid vaccines
A new study is out looking 28 million people who did and did not get Covid vaccines. Here's the big takeaway:
Vaccinated individuals had a 74% lower risk of death from severe COVID-19 […] and a 25% lower risk of all-cause mortality […], with a similar association observed when excluding severe COVID-19
The digital driver's license isn't what I hoped for
I know some people have problems with digital IDs, but I personally think they're very convenient in theory and choose to use them eyes open to why others choose not to. My car can use my phone as a key, everywhere I shop accepts contactless payments, and the only reason I needed to
2025 was the year of making a (small) dent in my universe
Below is a version of the above video, so read or watch, whatever you prefer.
I am not really one for inspirational quotes. I don't particularly like them. I don't particularly find them inspiring, but I really do like this one from Steve Jobs:
“Life can be much broader once you
