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So on brand
Jordan Pearson: How Tech Firms Made a Crypto-Boosting Book an NYT Best Seller by Gaming the System
Cafiero linked two examples of firms that publicly said they placed orders for Dixon’s book to give to employees. One was Syndicate, a company in the crypto industry that a16z has invested in. “We bought copies
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Podcasts are surprisingly tough
Anil Dash: “Wherever You Get Your Podcasts” Is a Radical Statement
But here's the thing: being able to say, "wherever you get your podcasts" is a radical statement. Because what it represents is the triumph of exactly the kind of technology that's supposed to be impossible: open, empowering tech
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RSS and acid, name a more iconic duo
Keenan: RSS Readers Make Me Want to Jump Into a Vat of Acid!
Opening an RSS reader is about the quickest way I know how to trigger a panic attack in myself next to Googling "colon cancer symptoms reddit." Even when I do my best to only subscribe to sources I truly care
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We turned dunking into a sport
George RR Martin on his blog: Dark Days
It used to be fun talking about our favorite books and films, and having spirited debates with fans who saw things different… but somehow in this age of social media, it is no longer enough to say “I did not like book X or film Y, and
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Seeing what you want to see in the stock price
This article is making the rounds on Mastodon, where generative AI hate runs strong, and I get it, it’s everything you want to hear in a headline if you think ChatGPT is the most evil thing ever created on computers. It kicks off with the headline, “AI companies lose $190 billion in market cap
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Castro isn’t dead, apparently
Bluck Apps writing on the Castro blog, which went over 3 years without a new post, if you wanted an idea for how much communication from the company has broken down: A Fresh Start for Castro
We are excited to announce Castro has been purchased by Bluck Apps. Castro is a great app with a
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It’s usually a good sign when you agree with Siracusa
John Siracusa: Spatial Computing
The fact that I’m able to write the phrase “grab it and drag it to a new location” and most people will understand what I mean is a testament to the decades-long success of this kind of interface. In the context of personal computers like the Mac, we all
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What is a compu…review?
I just read two “reviews” of the upcoming Apple Vision Pro, one from John Gruber and another from Nilay Patel. I put “reviews” in quotes because I think these two write ups are very different in how they approached their respective pieces. Nilay’s review is more of a traditional review, and he very clearly
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Project Tapestry from The Iconfactory
Project Tapestry is a new Kickstarter from The Iconfactory. Here’s how they describe it:
What if you had one
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One of us is wildly out of touch
Ian Bogost: We’ve Forgotten How to Use Computers
Remember (if you can) the classic drag-and-drop: You’d mouse over to a file or a folder, click to slide the icon to the trash, then release to drop it in. In the age of finger-scrolls and trackpads, that computing gesture feels bizarre.
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Oscar nominations matter, but they’re not everything
Rebecca Sun argues the Barbie Oscar snubs aren’t as bad as some people think in BarbieGate: Why All Oscars Snubs Are Not Created Equal
a good question to ask is why a man playing a blond avatar of perfection felt like a braver feat than a woman doing the same? Perhaps the true irony
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Until his dying day
Bastian Allgeier: My Grandpa Was a Nazi
I wondered for many years, how all of this could have happened. How people like my grandpa turned into monsters and people around him watched or turned into monsters with him. The last years made this very clear.
Sometimes you see a blog post and think to yourself
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Here’s to another 40 🎂
Dan Moren: After 40 Years, the Mac Is Immortal
Forty years. In the world of technology, where many devices seem
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I’d like to return your product, it reminds me too much of a xenomorph
Andy Nicolaides: If VR Is the Future, I’m Screwed
Using a Quest 3, for me, is liking shipping in a Face Hugger from Alien and treating it to a candlelit meal before inviting it home to latch onto your face for some intrusive chest impregnatation.
This was too vivid not to link to 😂
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In which I get loud about Avatar out of nowhere
Robin Rendle: Be Loud About the Things You Love
A writing tip for myself in the future, if I may
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Apple will let US merchants link to payments on the web, but Apple will still take their cut
You should read Chance Miller’s whole article on 9to5Mac, but I wanted to share my immediate thoughts after seeing this.
Apple is updating its App Store guidelines to allow developers to link to alternative payment methods, provided that the app also offer purchases through Apple’s own In-App Purchase system.
First off, this
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News app Artifact is shutting down next month
Kevin Systrom: Shutting Down Artifact
We have built something that a core group of users love, but we have concluded that the market opportunity isn’t big enough to warrant continued investment in this way.
It’s a shame this app didn’t make it. I liked it in theory, and I know a few
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Probably my last Substack post for a while (Platformer joins the Ghost club)
Casey Newton: Why Platformer Is Leaving Substack
After much consideration, we have decided to move Platformer off of Substack. Over the next few days, the publication will migrate to a new website powered by the nonprofit, open-source publishing platform Ghost. If you already subscribe to Platformer and wish to continue receiving it, you don’
