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Sven Dahlstrand

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What if, each time you emptied the trash bin, your computer quietly took a screenshot of what was there? Something you could return to later—a small, accidental record of what you were working on or thinking about.

Here’s mine from today:

A macOS Finder window showing my trash, previewing a handful of files and one folder listed below. The Moon sits quietly in the background as my wallpaper.

typewriterart.pdf, xkcd-script.ttf, crosspoint-reader-on-m5papers3.jpg, Short stories - E.M. Forster.epub, nyckel.asc, Grace Rocky Save Stars - E…Sample.jpg, elk-master/

A peek inside my brain. What’s going on in there, you think?

I know one thing: next time I empty the trash, a file named Screenshot 2026-04-21 at 12.40.04.png will go out with it.

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Drakar, äliens och broderi i ett och samma nyhetsbrev. Inte så dumt! 📚

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Here’s Jeffrey Zeldman on the courage to stop:

Brevity was always a discipline. Now it’s a statement. When everything around you is excessive by default, choosing fewer words takes courage. It says: I thought about this. I edited. I respected your time more than I needed to show my work.

Made me think of Blaise Pascal’s classic:

The present letter is a very long one, simply because I had no leisure to make it shorter.

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Liftoff! 🚀

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It kind of feels like there are less and less April Fools' jokes, probably because the whole world is turning into a April Fools' joke.

Ron Gilbert April Fools' 2026

Maybe we should all take a digital sabbatical day instead?

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Important message from Xanthe:

🫵️ YOU should go watch Project Hail Mary in Imax right now. I don’t care what you’re doing. Get on the bus and buy a ticket.

I agree! You should read the book too.

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If you’re thinking about applying for a Swedish island, first of all, I’m jealous (as a Swede, I’m not eligible), and second, I highly recommend going for island #1: Tjuvholmen. It’s a charming little island, not far from the cabin where I spent my summers as a kid. I’ll come visit if you win!

Also, I love this bit from the FAQ:

Is the initiative open to everyone?
The competition is open to all international travellers (except billionaires) aged 18 and above.

Billionaires not welcome. 😋

The silhouette of Tjuvholmen Island. I think it looks like a dragon! Beneath the silhouette, there’s a drone shot of Läckö Castle.

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Here’s Don Knuth:

Shock! Shock! I learned yesterday that an open problem I’d been working on for several weeks had just been solved by Claude Opus 4.6 […] ! It seems that I’ll have to revise my opinions about “generative AI” one of these days. What a joy it is to learn not only that my conjecture has a nice solution but also to celebrate this dramatic advance in automatic deduction and creative problem solving.

What a joy, indeed. To be 88, like Don, and still have your mind changed. Still curious. Still surprised. Still learning.

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Viktig samhällsinformation: snåla inte med isen i drinken. 🧊

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I’ve seen the movie more than once, but this is my first time reading Carl Sagan’s Contact. 📚

For a million years humans had grown up with a personal daily knowledge of the vault of heaven. In the last few thousand years they began building and emigrating to the cities. In the last few decades, a major fraction of the human population has abandoned a rustic way of life. As technology developed and the cities were polluted, the nights became starless.

It makes me think of the cabin. How you can just step outside at night, tip your head back, and there they are.

My 1997 pocket edition of the book is sitting on the kitchen table. The cover features a scene from the movie: Jodie Foster and Matthew McConaughey at the Very Large Array.

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I still write my own code, because I enjoy it.

I have never been a normal programmer, and maybe you aren't, either. So, let's just do things the way we want — the way we like.

😌

Robin Sloan Public service announcement