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Text • John Gruber

Elon Musk’s X Is a Freak Show

natesilver.net/p/social-media-has-become-a-freak-show

Nate Silver, back in April, under the headline “Social Media Is Turning Into a Freak Show”, where by “social media” he mostly discusses Twitter/X: But what does that remaining traffic consist of? I recently came across a bubble chart depicting the Twitter accounts that h...

Colossal Valid
Text • Grace Ebert

Tavares Strachan’s First Monograph Surveys an Encyclopedic Practice

Tavares Strachan’s First Monograph Surveys an Encyclopedic PracticeTavares Strachan is one of the leading conceptual artists working today, and his first monograph is out this month from Phaidon.

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 Tavares Strachan’s First Monograph Surveys an Encyclopedic Practice appeared first on Colossal.

Daring Fireball Valid
Text • John Gruber

Checking in on Perplexity

daringfireball.net/linked/2025/08/05/regarding-those-rumors-of-apple-pursuing-an-acquisition-of-perplexity

Yours truly, last August:

I can’t see why Apple would want to get involved with a company like this though. Gurman’s report makes it sound like his sources are inside Apple, but man, this “Apple + Perplexity” thing feels more like something Perplexity would be seeding than one that Apple executives would be leaking.

Perplexity is still occasionally in the news (often not in good ways), but it seems to me they’ve slipped into the “afterthought” tier of AI startups — which is exactly why they started leaning into clownish stunts last year. Everyone who previously suggested Apple should — or even might — buy them has gone silent.

Link: daringfireball.net/linked/2025/08/05/regarding-those-rumors…

Colossal Valid
Text • Grace Ebert

In Los Angeles, 70 Artists Transform a Vacant Hospital

In Los Angeles, 70 Artists Transform a Vacant HospitalDubbed the 'Hospital of Emotions,' the pop-up exhibition converts 80 rooms into surreal installations.

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 In Los Angeles, 70 Artists Transform a Vacant Hospital appeared first on Colossal.

kottke.org Valid
Text • Jason Kottke

Summer Fridays, Open Thread

I’m observing summer Fridays here at KDO again this year, which means I (mostly) won’t be posting here on Fridays. If past years are any guide, this doesn’t actually have too much of an effect on how much I work or post…more of a redistribution of time & effort. But it...

kottke.org Valid
Text • Jason Kottke

Illustrated break-downs of how common objects work ....

Illustrated break-downs of how common objects work. Currently featuring a mechanical pencil, PEZ dispenser, retractable pen, and Zippo lighter.

Radiolab Updates instantly via WebSub
Audio • WNYC Studios

Oliver Sipple

One morning, Oliver Sipple went out for a walk. A couple hours later, to his own surprise, he saved the life of the President of the United States. In a story we reported back in 2017, we explain how in the days that followed, Sipple’s split-second act of heroism turned into...

xkcd.com Valid
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Planetary Science

The research was overseen by the Institutional Review Board, which is what I named my surfboard.

Daniel Pietzsch Verified Updates instantly via WebSub Supports Webmention Valid
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🎬 No Country for Old Men

letterboxd.com/danielpietzsch/film/no-country-for-old-men/

This review may contain spoilers. Tap or click to view.This is The Big Lebowski, but in serious and suspenseful. It has a narrator, who’s also appearing in the movie, and who doesn’t know if he (still) belongs there. You have people demanding money from a guy who stumbled in...

Longreads Valid
Text • Seyward Darby

The Inside Story of the Athens Music Scene

"How did the college football town spawn the B-52s, R.E.M., and Widespread Panic, to name just a few? The maestros and misfits who led Athens’s rise to one of the world's most influential and improbable music towns tell all."

Simon Willison's Weblog Supports Webmention
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Quoting Andreas Kling

We will no longer accept public pull requests. [...]

A substantial patch used to imply substantial effort, and that effort was a reasonable proxy for good faith. That assumption no longer holds. [...]

Whether code was typed by hand is beside the point. What matters is who is responsible for it once it enters the browser. Ladybird is becoming a browser for real users. The people introducing changes to it must be the people who decide those changes belong in the project, and who will answer for the consequences.

— Andreas Kling, Changing How We Develop Ladybird

Tags: ladybird, ai-ethics, open-source, generative-ai, ai, andreas-kling, llms

Longreads Valid
Text • Longreads

The Top 5 Longreads of the Week

Recommending notable stories by Wyatt Williams, John Leland, Jonathan Weiner, Suzy Hansen, and Max Ufberg.

sorry, this post is only available to Longreads members. To become a member, visit longreads.com/join.

The Atlas Obscura Podcast Updates instantly via WebSub
Audio • SiriusXM Podcasts & Atlas Obscura

The Rainmaker (Classic)

Professional rainmaker Charles Hatfield was either a scientist or a con man who had a particular influence on San Diego, CA.  

Curious about cloud seeding? Learn more from our earlier podcast on the Lynmouth Flood: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/podcast-lynmouth-flood-memorial-hall

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/lower-otay-reservoir


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The Rewatchables
Audio

A Rewatchables Summer Mailbag!

Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Craig Horlbeck open up the listener mailbag and debate new category ideas, unanswerable questions, and more.

Producers: Craig Horlbeck, Chia Hao Tat, Eduardo Ocampo, and Matt Pevic

The Ringer is committed to responsible trading. Please visit https://www.fanduel.com/predicts to learn more about the resources and helpline.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Daring Fireball Valid
Text • John Gruber

Some People Rooted for The Empire in ‘Star Wars’, Too

hotair.com/ed-morrissey/2026/06/03/cbs-fires-scott-pelley-after-trying-very-hard-to-get-fired-n3815553

Ed Morrissey, writing for Hot Air, thinks Scott Pelley got what he deserved and Bari Weiss is doing a good job running CBS News: And Pelley forgot the Golden Rule: He who has the gold makes the rules. Instead, Pelley convinced himself of his own virtue and torched his ow...

Simon Willison's Weblog Supports Webmention
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AI enthusiasts are in a race against time, AI skeptics are in a race against entropy

AI enthusiasts are in a race against time, AI skeptics are in a race against entropy Charity Majors neatly captures the dynamic between AI enthusiasts and AI skeptics, both of whom are trying to build great software, often in the same teams: The enthusiasts are not wrong. W...

Daring Fireball Valid
Text • John Gruber

The Talk Show Live From WWDC 2026: Tuesday in San Jose

ti.to/daringfireball/the-talk-show-live-from-wwdc-2026

Location: The California Theatre, San Jose
Showtime: Tuesday, 9 June 2026, 7pm PT (Doors open 6pm)
Special Guest(s): For sure
Price: $45

The annual live audience episode of The Talk Show during the week of WWDC. If you can make it, you should come. You’ll even enjoy the prelude, mingling with fellow DF readers and listeners.

Link: ti.to/daringfireball/the-talk-show-live-from-wwdc-2026

Rick Beato Updates instantly via WebSub
Video

The money chord in “Africa” by Toto #guitar #piano #shorts

Accidental Tech Podcast
Audio

694: Potential and Homework

Pre-show: 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈 Happy Pride! 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ John and dynamic DNS Former & future sponsor Tailscale (but seriously, I’m obsessed —CL) Tailscale Funnel DynDns.org no-ip.org Follow-up: Ferrari Luce John’s remembered video clip of sandwiching the body (ext...

kottke.org Valid
Text • Jason Kottke

“Descartes Against Humanity” and Other Games Designed by...

“Descartes Against Humanity” and Other Games Designed by Famous Philosophers.