Daring Fireball
• John Gruber
Shawn Smucker: ‘Please Use AI’
I find most poetry obtuse, dancing around a point rather than making one sharply. Not this one.
Daring Fireball
• John Gruber
Matthew Green on Anthropic’s New Cryptanalysis Results
blog.cryptographyengineering.com/2026/07/29/some-notes-about-anthropics-new-results/
Daring Fireball
• John Gruber
Uh, I’m Pretty Sure People Would Know
Astronomers have measured the size of the largest galaxy...
Astronomers have measured the size of the largest galaxy: it’s 1.7 million light years across (17x the diameter of the Milky Way) and contains ~3.4 trillion solar masses in stars.
Antiques Roadshow
Daring Fireball
• John Gruber
Sam Altman, Definitely Not a Weirdo
“ In this video , I’ll take you from farm to...
“In this video, I’ll take you from farm to factory to show you how chocolate is made, and at the end, we’ll use all the chocolate you’ll see in this video to attempt the Guinness World Record for the world’s largest chocolate bar.”
Daring Fireball
• John Gruber
David Pogue: ‘Alexa+ Is a Buggy Embarrassment’
David Pogue, at Pogue’s Posts:
Amazon’s “50+ things to try” list mentions that Alexa can “find a home maintenance professional.” So I tried it.
ME: I need a septic-system repair.
ALEXA: That service isn’t currently supported. I can help with plumbing services instead.
ME: Okay, fine. Plumbing services.
ALEXA: What’s your plumbing issue?
ME: I have untreated sewage pouring out of my kitchen faucet.
ALEXA: Is this urgent?
Uh … what do YOU think, dumbass? But OK:
ME: Yes.
ALEXA: When do you need it by?
Displays four responses: ASAP, Within a week, Further out, and I haven’t decided yet.
ME: ASAP.
ALEXA: I’m Alexa, not Shaq.
This could only have been funnier if Alexa had responded “The Aristocrats!”
(Which great film, is, in fact, available to stream on Amazon Prime.)
Link: pogueman.substack.com/p/alexa-is-a-buggy-embarrassment
One-shotting a Raccoon Heist game using Claude Fable 5
llm-anthropic 0.26
Daring Fireball
• John Gruber
Apple News Ad of the Week
I look forward to this level of class and brand prestige coming to Apple Maps.
One-shotting a Raccoon Heist game using Claude Fable 5
The Computer That Helped Win World War II . “…it...
The Computer That Helped Win World War II. “…it is not possible to give an adequate idea of the fascination of a Colossus at work: its sheer bulk and apparent complexity; the fantastic speed of thin paper tape round the glittering pulleys…”
Song Exploder
• Hrishikesh Hirway
Mitski - Your Best American Girl
In 2016, Mitski did an episode of Song Exploder about her song “Your Best American Girl.” She had just released her second album, Puberty 2. Later, Pitchfork named “Your Best American Girl” one of the top 10 best songs of the past decade, and Billboard named it as one of the songs that defined the decade. And in honor of the 10th anniversary of the album, there’s a new deluxe version that’s out digitally, and a limited edition vinyl is coming in October. I thought this would be a good time to revisit Mitski’s episode, where she and her collaborator Patrick Hyland break down how “Your Best American Girl” was made.
To learn more, visit songexploder.net/mitski
Colossal
• Kate Mothes
Monumental Painted Wood Carvings by Jiang Miao Center Mindfulness
Whitestone Gallery in Seoul presents the artist's solo exhibition, 'Spiral of Energy.'
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 Monumental Painted Wood Carvings by Jiang Miao Center Mindfulness appeared first on Colossal.
How to Store Ebooks in Instagram Reels and Other Covert Data Storage Tricks
Lidar and other discoveries continue to show that the...
Lidar and other discoveries continue to show that the Amazon rainforest was home to a “sprawling ancient civilization much bigger than researchers expected” (possibly up to 3 million people around 100-300 CE).
Longreads
• Brendan Fitzgerald
Six Teenagers, a Brutal Murder and the Story They Couldn’t Take Back
"In 2002, a group of friends from North Carolina told a story that ruined all their lives. What if it wasn’t true?"
Work Chronicles
• Work Chronicles
