FeedCity: Featured

Daring Fireball
02 Jul 19:30 • John Gruber

‘A Perfect Reflection of Trump’s Washington’

politicalwire.com/2026/06/19/a-perfect-reflection-of-trumps-washington/

Taegan Goddard, two weeks ago at Political Wire: The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool has become an almost too-perfect metaphor for Donald Trump’s presidency. He promised a quick, cheap fix. Instead, taxpayers got a no-bid project that ballooned to more than $14 millio...

Simon Willison's Weblog
02 Jul 19:09

Using DSPy to evaluate and improve Datasette Agent's SQL system prompts

Research: Using DSPy to evaluate and improve Datasette Agent's SQL system prompts One of this morning's AIE keynotes covered dspy, which reminded me I've been meaning to see if it could help me improve the system prompt used by Datasette Agent - so I fired off an asy...

kottke.org
02 Jul 19:06 • Jason Kottke

Something for the digital crate-diggers: The 40 Best...

Something for the digital crate-diggers: The 40 Best Albums From the Last 40 Years That You Probably Didn’t Hear (But Should’ve). I’d only heard of one or two these…

Daring Fireball
02 Jul 18:42 • John Gruber

Claude Fable and Kayfabe

anthropic.com/news/redeploying-fable-5

Anthropic: On Friday, June 12, the US government applied export controls to our newest models, Claude Fable 5 and Claude Mythos 5. This required us to restrict access to foreign nationals, whether inside or outside the United States. Because the order took effect immedia...

kottke.org
02 Jul 18:27 • Jason Kottke

“ Dictionary of the Illegible proposes...

“Dictionary of the Illegible proposes illegibility as a strategy for navigating a world increasingly governed by visibility, efficiency, and total surveillance.”

Rick Beato
02 Jul 18:13

It’s a great day to be alive! #surgery #anniversary #shorts

kottke.org
02 Jul 17:48 • Jason Kottke

“ The average paid newsletter costs $10 per month...

“The average paid newsletter costs $10 per month or $100 per year, according to analysis of thousands of publications hosted on Beehiiv.” KDO memberships start at $3/mo. and I haven’t raised prices since 2016. You folks are getting an incredible deal!

Simon Willison's Weblog
02 Jul 17:24

Understand to participate

I saw Geoffrey Litt speak at AIE yesterday, and one framing he used particularly resonated with me: Understand to participate Geoffrey was talking about the challenge of collaborating with coding agents as they construct increasingly large and sophisticated changes, and the ...

Daring Fireball
02 Jul 17:15 • John Gruber

‘Why Is Meta Destroying Its Engineering Organization?’

newsletter.pragmaticengineer.com/p/why-is-meta-destroying-its-engineering

Gergely Orosz, writing at The Pragmatic Engineer (which, sadly, is a Substack blog): The biggest problem: people stop caring about real work and focus on performative work. Let’s check the four ingredients that Meta’s leadership has decided to introduce to their workplac...

kottke.org
02 Jul 17:06 • Jason Kottke

Hank Green interviews Ze Frank , who kind of invented...

Hank Green interviews Ze Frank, who kind of invented the modern YouTube format (aka vlogging). “At the episode’s end, Ze lays down some of the best advice Hank’s ever heard.”

Longreads
02 Jul 17:03 • Carolyn Wells

The Brits Panning for Gold

"In remote rivers, prospectors still hunt for treasure .They even hold tournaments."

Daring Fireball
02 Jul 16:39 • John Gruber

MG Siegler Got Banned From WhatsApp for No Reason

spyglass.org/whatsapp-ban/

MG Siegler, writing at Spyglass: Yes, that’s right, for a third time in as many years, I’ve been banned by Meta. What for? Do you really have to ask? Nobody knows. My suspicion is that it’s directly tied to the claiming of usernames on WhatsApp, which Meta opened up yest...

Global News Podcast
02 Jul 16:30

Russia launches massive attack on Kyiv

Russian missiles and drones hit Kyiv for 11 hours through the night, killing more than 20 people. Ukraine has accused Moscow of targeting civilian areas, and appealed to its Western allies to send more air defence systems. The Kremlin says it will continue to increase pressur...

kottke.org
02 Jul 16:15 • Jason Kottke

Parker Molloy on why the panic about trans women in...

Parker Molloy on why the panic about trans women in sports is not actually about fairness or protecting women & girls (in the similar way Gamergate was not about “ethics in games journalism”).

Daring Fireball
02 Jul 16:09 • John Gruber

Hackers Stole Instagram Accounts Simply by Asking Meta AI to Give Them Access

404media.co/hackers-simply-asked-meta-ai-to-give-them-access-to-high-profile-instagram-accounts-it-worked/

Jason Koebler, a month ago at 404 Media: Over the last several days, Telegram groups for security researchers and hacking groups have been sharing videos and screenshots of the steps taken to steal an account, which appeared to be shockingly easy. One video shows a hacke...

kottke.org
02 Jul 16:03 • Jason Kottke

Will America Ever Give White-Man Rights to Everyone...

Will America Ever Give White-Man Rights to Everyone Else? “These documents…were written by rich white men for the benefit of rich white men, and this country has never for a day recovered from their failure.”

kottke.org
02 Jul 16:03 • Jason Kottke

The US Constitution Is for Simple Folk Still Burdened by...

The US Constitution Is for Simple Folk Still Burdened by the Belief That Words Have Meaning. “The true Constitution is not a document. It’s more of a gut feeling. It is a shimmering legal gas that settles wherever conservatives need it most…”

Poorly Drawn Lines
02 Jul 16:00 • Reza

Didn’t Realize

Colossal
02 Jul 16:00 • Cranbrook Academy of Art

Cranbrook Academy of Art Reopens Applications for Fall 2026

The art institution is accepting applications from June 22 through August 15 for artists and designers considering graduate study.

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article Cranbrook Academy of Art Reopens Applications for Fall 2026 appeared first on Colossal.

kottke.org
02 Jul 15:03 • Jason Kottke

Rebecca Solnit: What Is the United States of America...

Rebecca Solnit: What Is the United States of America Now? “The United States of America is a truck that has driven into a ditch. The United States of America is a program that has been hacked.” But also: “It is the country that gave the world jazz…”