FeedCity

Very excited to share that the Clay.earth team that joined Automattic last year is re-launching under a new, very cool name and brand: Mesh. Imagine something that joins you (me) to everyone you’re connected to. It’s going to be a very important layer of the distributed identity and social work we’re doing. It’s an amazing … Continue reading Introducing Me.sh →

Friday session

Agentic engineering and burnout.

I love watching the sun set, from golden hour to the moment when the last pink hues fade from the sky. Every moment is magical. As I write, there are bands of purple radiating behind the ripples of thin clouds on the horizon. I periodically look out the window when the sky i...

When I loaded my website this morning – an hour or two after having woken up with great joy to rays of golden light radiating through the edges of the curtains – I noticed the cherry blossom emoji (🌸). It must be the first day of spring! I love moments like this when my websi...

Nick Heer in a fediverse post:

Do I trust this computer?, my iPhone asks me for what has to be the thousandth time using the same computer logged into the same Apple ID. Enter your passcode, it demands once again, reflecting the hardware, software, and services working together in a way only Apple can deliver.

Another one is charging my Apple Watch via the Mac and needing to confirm if I trust this accessory. Too secure! Only Apple could do this.

This is my new favorite article from The Onion. Southwest Airlines Begins Assigning Chores:

For instance, everyone in row 18 might now be in charge of trash on this flight, while those in the fire exit rows will push the beverage cart. Chore assignments will be clearly printed on all boarding passes for ticketed travelers 2 years old and above. Those flying standby may refer to the chore wheels posted at fore and aft of the plane. Of course, you will have the option to pay extra if you want a more comfortable job.

Quick note on Bluesky's disclosures. Yesterday they disclosed $100 million investment in April last year. It's good that they cleared it up, but bad that they were hiding it for so long. Everything about what they do is based on trust. New management probably is the reason this happened now. They should also clean up the promises they've made about Bluesky as a platform. I've done the homework, having developed a few apps using their API, some are still running. If I were their new CEO, I would announce that in addition to supporting AT Proto, they will also hook up Bluesky to the web. The web is already decentralized. Lots of developers know how to build web stuff. We can all breathe the same air.

Knight Foundation: "How did a private foundation with roots in local journalism and civic life find itself on a cap table with venture capital firms like Bain Capital Crypto and Bloomberg Beta to invest in a tech startup?" Imho because they misled you.

It’s 2026 and AppKit is the best way to build Mac apps. Even a part-time luddite like me is surprised by this. SwiftUI is great for new programmers who don’t want to embrace AI-assisted coding, but old school developers should not feel any guilt sticking with AppKit. It’s still the gold standard.

Amazon is working on a new phone:

According to people familiar with the new phone, “integrating artificial intelligence capabilities into the device” has been a central focus, which could mean “Transformer” may rely on mini apps like those available in ChatGPT, rather than a fully-fledged app store.

This might work. Alexa and mini apps could be the core UI, while still allowing Android apps and the web where needed.

OpenAI is planning to unify its apps into a single app. I don’t love this. Codex is excellent on its own, and Atlas already feels cluttered. From the WSJ:

OpenAI is planning to unify its ChatGPT app, coding platform Codex and browser into a desktop “superapp,” a step to simplify the user experience and continue with efforts to focus on engineering and business customers.

Chief of Applications Fidji Simo will oversee the change and focus on helping the company’s sales team market the new product.

This week on the People and Blogs series we have an interview with Melanie Richards, whose blog can be found at melanie-richards.com/blog. Tired of RSS? Read this in your browser or sign up for the newsletter. People and Blogs is supported by the "One a Month...

Having fun with https://pixelframe.design/dune-font-logo-generator/

The front page of my site has had a few different looks over the years. artlung.com/splashes/ – doing some modernizing of those pages and putting duct tape on the old code. For, you know, fun. The aforementioned Splash Pages page.

My NCAA bracket could’ve started off better, but caught the last couple minutes of Spurs/Suns, so good. Officially back in the playoffs. 🏀

Just realized today that we hadn’t released the Epilogue update for Android that improves book search. It has been done for a while. Finally out now! Lots of apps and versions to juggle right now.

Tonight I got to meet one of design heroes, Margaret Calvert. Her work speaks for itself, which makes her modesty even more impressive. When I told her I use her typeface every day, she simply responded “oh dear, poor you”. Legend.

Thursday session

Bluesky raised $100 million last April, just announcing it now. No doubt part of Toni Schneider's cleanup, new CEO, need to get this out in public now. It was a mistake to keep it hidden.