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# The Birchtree Newsletter, January 2023
- URL: https://birchtree.me/blog/the-birchtree-newsletter-january-2023/
- Published: 2022-12-31T17:00:19.000Z
- Updated: 2022-12-31T17:00:19.000Z
- Author: Matt Birchler
- Tags: newsletter, #Import 2023-06-01 22:41, #Import 2025-03-29 19:29

Happy new year! I'm sending this one out a bit early just for fun. Enjoy your new year's and here's to an excellent 2023 🎉

## My Stuff

[The Web is Eating My Mac AliveJason Snell: My social media is in an Mac app, or it’s nowhere Likewise, my use of private social apps like Slack and Discord is magnified by their availability on my Mac as discrete apps rather than bookmarks in Safari. I can launch them or quit them or hide![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/25/31/25312b2a-2d5b-4d01-ba92-e6755efc202c/content/images/size/w256h256/format/jpeg/2022/10/favicon.jpg)BirchtreeMatt Birchler![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/25/31/25312b2a-2d5b-4d01-ba92-e6755efc202c/content/images/2022/10/Frame-3.jpg)](https://birchtree.me/blog/the-web-is-eating-my-mac-alive/)

[Social Media Companies are Economically Motivated to Make Us Hate StrangersSarah Frier: Why Your Friends Are Disappearing From Your Social Feeds When I accidentally tap on any one of the alerts, I enter apps desperate to guide me to content from people I don’t know — posts that I might be momentarily mesmerized by and never remember, touting gardening hacks![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/25/31/25312b2a-2d5b-4d01-ba92-e6755efc202c/content/images/size/w256h256/format/jpeg/2022/10/favicon.jpg)BirchtreeMatt Birchler![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/25/31/25312b2a-2d5b-4d01-ba92-e6755efc202c/content/images/2022/10/Frame-3.jpg)](https://birchtree.me/blog/social-media-companies-are-economically-motivated-to-make-us-hate-strangers/)

## Good Stuff

- [Adobe's new voice improvement app](https://podcast.adobe.com/enhance?ref=birchtree.me#access%5Ftoken=eyJhbGciOiJSUzI1NiIsIng1dSI6Imltc19uYTEta2V5LWF0LTEuY2VyIiwia2lkIjoiaW1zX25hMS1rZXktYXQtMSIsIml0dCI6ImF0In0.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.ibg8rQkYPO1EL%5FllvAuYW2mZr3vSOjinP4mFowhkRVvVSLY-hJFCUlmKYVXkv1Sp5P6OKmhz19j6KI5NKGB0HDcG3E8jLMlK0q5OKd0u7tfLfK94aDfusaT9-ieMLs32mlTH-STO3b2bX9PHIMGDCEes3ca%5FaJSM%5FJAXepulvdik1L1LMV9%5FamA7lSe%5FNSRE1rFEIw1xD90awOA%5F2G5NlxH5z2tFHQourWuVNQZF67j8%5F19RWGDZ3nqMZupqq1cUc7dKoUkwX1i-YaATfFDXV88%5FOS3vPtj8rTOa414wZwIzThbW6B14SOao64ZchPd9I91MUEc7FrNe2Up765Be8A&token%5Ftype=bearer&expires%5Fin=86399998) is awesome. [Here's a sample](https://mastodon.social/@birchtree/109546526487140887?ref=birchtree.me) I made showing how it works.
- Interesting list of tools Hacker News users say have [saved them over 100 hours](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34069106&ref=birchtree.me)
- Here's some of [the good stuff entering the public domain](https://web.law.duke.edu/cspd/publicdomainday/2023/?ref=birchtree.me)…checks calendar…today!
- Every 10 years Sight & Sound asks a bunch of filmmakers and critics what their favorite movies are. They just did [their 2022 list](https://100films.co.uk/2022/12/02/sight-and-sound-100-greatest-films-2022/?ref=birchtree.me) and it's…well I think it's a bit tryhard, but there's undoubtedly some great stuff on here.
- Spotify has really pushed the whole "wrapped" format, with everyone doing one these days. I love stats, so I love these, and this year I'll point my fellow video game fans to ones from [Nintendo](https://nintendo-switch-2022.nintendo.com/en-us/?ref=birchtree.me), [PlayStation](https://wrapup.playstation.com/?ref=birchtree.me), and [Steam](https://store.steampowered.com/replay/?ref=birchtree.me).
- [Phanpy](https://phanpy.social/?ref=birchtree.me) is a cool custom web front end of Mastodon.
- A [rad dynamic wallpaper](https://designfeed.space/dynamic-wallpaper-by-tommy-parker/?ref=birchtree.me) for your Mac.
- I'm intrigued by [Blinkist](https://www.blinkist.com/en?ref=birchtree.me), a service that creates 10-15 minute audio versions of books. I'm not a fan of this for fiction, but considering how many productivity books are really just a single idea with tons of fluff, I don't hate this as a concept. I'm planning on starting a trial this month and seeing how it is.
- This page lets you [enter a name and see if more people or dogs have that name](https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/interactive/2022/people-names-for-dogs/?ref=birchtree.me). Enjoy nervously testing your own name 😝

## Good Videos

The best top 10 games list out there

I love hearing artists explain their process

Murderville is a fun Netflix show, and Kumail's 10 seconds here are perfect

See you next month!