FeedCity

With OpenAI adding 4.1, I’m having to think a little too much about which models I should be using. I generally use o4-mini for coding, 4o for simple, fast questions. What now? I expect GPT-5 will help consolidate some of these choices.

RSS-based podcasts are built-in and not going anywhere. Here's why. As long as there are lots of good podcasts available for listening to via RSS on phones, every competitive 'caster is going to want to be there, because their competitors are. And as long as I can get a good...

Thanks @numericcitizen for making another video about what’s new in Micro.blog! This one covers integration with Bluesky and Mastodon, and more.

Josh Miller has an update on the Dia browser, in a series of posts on Twitter / X. For a company with “browser” in its name, wouldn’t mind seeing a blog post of this instead of on X. 🤪 Some very interesting screenshots in the thread, though. I’m excited to try it.

Great post from Joan Westenberg about what has changed with Apple:

A company once defined by joyful provocation—by thinking different—is now defined by its defensiveness. Its leadership acts not like inventors but like stewards of a status quo. They protect margins like relics.

Here is the state of venture capital in early 2025:

• Venture capital is moribund except AI.
• AI is moribund except OpenAI.
• OpenAI is a weird scam that wants to burn money so fast it summons AI God.
• Nobody can cash out.

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When I’m not talking, just walking (which is most of the time), I try to cultivate the most bored state of mind imaginable. A total void of stimulation beyond the immediate environment. My rules: No news, no social media, no podcasts, no music. No “teleporting,” you could say. The phone, the great teleportation device, the great murderer of boredom. And yet, boredom: the great engine of creativity. I now believe with all my heart that it’s only in the crushing silences of boredom—without all that black-mirror dopamine — that you can access your deepest creative wells. And for so many people these days, they’ve never so much as attempted to dip in a ladle, let alone dive down into those uncomfortable waters made accessible through boredom.

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I want to design a Google Form, and thought to ask ChatGPT for instructions from a spec I wrote. Then I thought to ask Gemini, which is Google's chatbot, wondering if they would just do the work for me instead of providing instructions. I would have laughed out loud if they did, but alas, just instructions.

If you get the nightly email, a questionnaire. Is the text a good size? Easy to read? Suggestions?

Justin Jackson on the threat to podcasts from YouTube, and why we should keep investing in RSS:

The benefit of investing in RSS is that any innovations will be shared across the entire ecosystem. When YouTube innovates, the benefits stay inside YouTube. When the podcast community innovates on RSS, everyone benefits: creators, listeners, and businesses alike.

A few years ago we were worried about Spotify locking down podcasts. YouTube feels a little different because video supplements rather than replaces audio podcasts. But Justin is right that we should be vigilant.

Before my talk at EFF Austin last night, I exported a PDF of my slides and asked ChatGPT (o4) to tell me about them. Here’s the chat transcript. It’s fascinating to me because this is without giving the speaker notes to ChatGPT, so it inferred everything from the slide conte...

The editor in me is itching to insert the very necessary word “proposed” into the phrase “the HTML permission element” throughout this article:

https://developer.chrome.com/blog/enhancements-to-permission-element

This is an interesting proposal for a declarative way of triggering permission dialogs, although it seems to overlap with the work being done on invokers (command and commandfor).

What really disgusts me is to see Google referring to this element as though it’s a done deal. It’s not. It’s a proposal …a proposal that Apple rejects and Mozilla rejects.

Words matter. Call your proposal a proposal, Google.

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Scott Hanson has been working on the Baseline theme and it's ready for people to try out. An important caveat. This theme was designed to be the beginning theme for WordLand-authored WordPress sites. The goal is to get the minimal features for a nice blog-oriented site run...

The beauty ain’t in the necklace. It’s in the neck.

Maybe that’s my problem with AI-generated prose: it’s all necklace, no neck.

— Adam Mastroianni

the rhythm of writing.

Good morning. Good morning sir! How can I help you? Hello, hi. I was interested in buying one of your cars, the Model A. I really like it and it seems perfect for me. That’s an excellent choice! Model A is a great car, the price starts at 20 thousand, but before I can tell y...

Seeing someone wear an Eras Tour t-shirt (if you know you know). Writing with the glow of the sunset radiating through the window. The detail of the hand-painted illustration on the wall in a coffee shop. Saying something that makes someone laugh. A colleague leaving a sticker on my desk. Dream big., it read. Basking in the sun at lunchtime on a warm spring day. Sharing ideas with friends. Writing stories. Imagining.

After a long day, one of my favourite things to do is to get a sandwich from a supermarket. Today I was tempted by a meal deal: a sandwich, some fruit, and a bottle of water. The sandwich to fill me up, the fruit for something sweet (I love fruit!), and a bottle of water to n...