Brody Ford, reporting for Bloomberg: HP Inc. will acquire assets from Humane Inc., the maker of a wearable Ai Pin introduced in late 2023, for $116 million. The deal will include the majority of Humane’s employees in addition to its software platform and intellectual pr...

I cracked wise in a footnote yesterday about MapQuest still being around, but it turns out they’re not only still around, and they’re not only still labelling the Gulf of Mexico by its world-recognized not-stupid name, but they’ve actually built an entire website that perfectly jibes with my closing argument — to wit, that this whole thing is objectively hilarious and that mockery is our best tool to subvert a kakistocracy. Bravo.

Link: gulfof.mapquest.com/

You saw the news last week, I’m sure, that both of the major mapping-app providers, Google and Apple, have updated their maps to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America”. Microsoft’s Bing Maps, which I would describe as a minor provider, has made the change too.1...

Extraordinary illustrated essay by Marcin Wichary, documenting a typeface — and its long, fascinating, splintered history — that exemplifies the difference between beautiful and pretty. The beauty in Gorton isn’t just in its plainness and hardworking mechanical roots — it’s in the history of the 20th century itself. Gorton became such a part of the world that the bygone world of the previous century imbues how this font makes me feel.

Do yourself a favor and read this one in a comfortable chair, with a tasty slow-sipping beverage, on a screen bigger than a phone. Everything about this piece is exemplary and astounding — the writing, the photography, the depths of research. But most of all, Wichary’s clear passion and appreciation. It’s a love letter.

Link: aresluna.org/the-hardest-working-font-in-manhattan/

My thanks to Clerk for sponsoring last week at DF. Integrate authentication and user management services with applications made for the Apple ecosystem with Clerk’s iOS SDK. Built with Swift, Clerk’s SDK adheres to modern standards, delivering the idiomatic and consistent developer experience you expect from Clerk.

Clerk’s iOS SDK makes use of the latest in Swift networking, allowing your code to be as readable and expressive as possible. Authenticate with your favorite social providers in just a few lines of code. Let the iOS SDK take care of managing your users’ authentication state so you can get back to building your app.

If you’re a developer looking for a modern, full-fledged user management and authentication SDK, check out Clerk.

Link: go.clerk.com/2n40MWr

Alan Siegel at The Ringer:

Ahead of ‘SNL50,’ we asked Amy Poehler, Seth Meyers, Bill Hader, and more to tell us which of their sketches they hold closest to their hearts. [...]

There’s no magic formula, but the most transcendent sketches — the ones we reference and quote, even years later — often share two traits. Just ask Seth Meyers, the show’s head writer and “Weekend Update” anchor for a decade. “A lot of great SNL sketches are both obvious and unexpected,” he says. “You have to combine the two to make it rise above what, you know, could be a very good sketch.”

Fun read with some great video clips. Really looking forward to the SNL50 special tonight.

Link: theringer.com/2025/02/13/tv/best-snl-sketches-cast-member…

Mark Gurman, reporting for Bloomberg:

Apple Inc.’s long-promised overhaul for the Siri digital assistant is facing engineering problems and software bugs, threatening to postpone or limit its release, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Shocker.

Link: bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-02-14/apple-s-long…

New research published from Apple machine learning researchers Yuhan Hu, Peide Huang, Mouli Sivapurapu, Jian Zhang: Nonverbal behaviors such as posture, gestures, and gaze are essential for conveying internal states, both consciously and unconsciously, in human interacti...

Sad news, posted to his Mastodon account:

Martin passed away yesterday, peacefully in his sleep. He was a true fighter until the bitter end but he is now pain free and at peace.

He’d been remarkably open about his battle against cancer, including the fact that he knew the end was near.

I linked to his software and writing several times over the years. He was a Mac developer’s Mac developer, with an eye for details, and his own work was infused with fine craftsmanship. His “Xcode 4: The Super Mega Awesome Review” back in 2011 was a genuine work of art and service to the community (linked with brief commentary), and he rightfully skewered Apple’s Catalyst Mac port of the Developer app in 2020 (linked with significant commentary).

Rest in peace, and my best and warmest thoughts to his friends and family.

Link: mastodon.social/@pilky/114008572002612525

Joe Rosensteel: Netflix deeply regrets accidentally making Netflix a better product for its customers. It temporarily pushed out a change that let people see Netflix shows in the Apple TV app, a change people have been asking for since the debut of the Apple TV app in 20...

Guy Chazan, Amanda Chu, and Joshua Franklin, reporting for the Financial Times (left-wing anti-capitalist fake-news ideologues): In private conversations, some Wall Street executives go much further. One senior investment banker says the disorder and unpredictability of ...

Many Tricks:

Key Codes displays information about the characters you type, as you type them into the log window. For each key, you’ll see its Unicode value, key code, and any modifiers.

Unless you’re a developer or script/macro tinkerer, you probably don’t need Key Codes. But when you do need it, it’s a godsend. There’s nothing else like it (anymore). Just a perfect little utility that the clever folks at Many Tricks have made available free of charge for a long time. (Available in the Mac App Store, too.)

Link: manytricks.com/keycodes/help/

I’m a sucker for anything Cookie Monster, but this one really slaps.

Link: newyorker.com/cartoons/daily-cartoon/thursday-february-13th…

Jay Peters and Alex Heath, reporting for The Verge: Nearly a month after it was banned in the US, TikTok has returned to the App Store for iPhones and other Apple devices as well as the Google Play store for Android phones and tablets. The return follows US Attorney Gen...

Jack Ewing, reporting for The New York Times: The department’s procurement forecast for 2025, which details purchases the agency expects to make, includes $400 million for armored Tesla vehicles. The document does not specify which Tesla model, but the electric Cybertruc...

Tim Cook, on X: Get ready to meet the newest member of the family. Wednesday, February 19. #AppleLaunch Most people are guessing, I think correctly, that this is about the iPhone SE 4. We’re also right on schedule for the M4 generation of MacBook Airs, but I don’t thi...

Sean Heber, of The Iconfactory: It appears that Apple’s new account migration stuff does NOT work for TestFlight access. That by itself is fine - whatever. The problem here is that it appears when someone does an account migration, it kind of half-migrates TestFlight som...

Joe Rossignol, MacRumors: Apple this month started advertising on X for the first time in more than a year. The company had stopped advertising on the social media platform in November 2023 following controversial remarks made by its owner Elon Musk. For example, the @A...

Apple Newsroom: The Apple TV app is now available to download from Google Play on Android mobile devices — including phones, tablets, and foldables — offering Android users access to hit, award-winning Apple Original series and films on Apple TV+, along with MLS Season P...

Benj Edwards, writing at Ars Technica: The original idea for WikiTok originated from developer Tyler Angert on Monday evening when he tweeted, “insane project idea: all of wikipedia on a single, scrollable page.” Bloomberg Beta VC James Cham replied, “Even better, an inf...

WikiTok is the creation of Isaac Gemal. The premise is that it’s a TikTok-style interface for random articles from Wikipedia. One thing at a time on screen, swipe up to scroll down to the next item whenever you’re ready, and you can keep going forever if you want. But instea...

Allison Johnson, writing at The Verge: Samsung’s Galaxy S-series is in its software era. Maybe the whole smartphone industry is, too, save for a few phones with hinges (Samsung’s included). But overall, we have exited the hardware-driven innovation cycle and are firmly i...

Qianer Liu and Jing Yang, reporting for The Information (paywalled, alas — MacRumors summary): Apple has recently started working with Chinese internet and e-commerce giant Alibaba Group to roll out artificial intelligence features in China, according to one person with ...

From the Apple Newsroom archive, dateline “Macworld Expo, San Francisco — January 5, 2000”: Apple today took the wraps off its highly anticipated Internet strategy, introducing a new category of Internet services called iTools; a completely redesigned Apple.com web site ...

Juli Clover, reporting for MacRumors:

Pixelmator last year announced that it was being acquired by Apple, and today the company confirmed that the acquisition has been completed after Apple received regulatory approval. The Pixelmator for iOS, Pixelmator Pro, and Photomator apps were today updated with a new splash screen announcing the deal.

Previously: “Pixelmator Acquired by Apple; Future of Their Apps Uncertain”. Apple being Apple, they still haven’t dropped a clue what they’re going to do with Pixelmator (the namesake app) or Photomator.

Link: macrumors.com/2025/02/11/apple-completes-pixelmator…

New Apple support document dropped today: You can choose to migrate apps, music, and other content you’ve purchased from Apple on a secondary Apple Account to a primary Apple Account. The secondary Apple Account might be an account that’s used only for purchases. You’ll ...

Angela Watercutter, with a great behind-the-scenes look at the Apple-Music-sponsored halftime show by Kendrick Lamar: While “making it work” means one thing when you’re putting on a Madonna concert or the Democratic National Convention, it means something different when ...

A scorebug is industry jargon for the sub-genre of chyron (itself jargon) that shows ever-present information about a televised sporting event while you’re watching. These graphics display the teams, the score, the time remaining, and other metadata pertaining to the current...

Well, the Philadelphia Eagles, of course, won the actual Super Bowl, winning in a romp so one-sided that they would have embarrassed the Chiefs less if they had pantsed Patrick Mahomes at the 50-yard line. But the second contest is for best commercial. And my vote goes to Ni...

Integrate authentication and user management services with applications made for the Apple ecosystem with Clerk’s iOS SDK. Built with Swift, the SDK adheres to modern standards, delivering the idiomatic and consistent developer experience you expect from Clerk. Our iOS SDK makes use of the latest in Swift networking, allowing your code to be as readable and expressive as possible. Authenticate with your favorite social providers in just a few lines of code. Let the iOS SDK take care of managing your users’ authentication state so you can get back to building your app.

Link: go.clerk.com/2n40MWr