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By John Gruber

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‘Sora’s Slop Hits Different’

spyglass.org/soras-slop-hits-different/

MG Siegler, writing at Spyglass: I think that’s the real revelation here. It’s less about consumption and more about creation. I previously wrote about how I was an early investor in Vine in part because it felt like it could be analogous to Instagram. Thanks in large pa...

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Katie Notopoulos on the Difference Between Sora and Meta Vibes

threads.com/@katienotopoulos/post/DPRAi3ZDUfJ

Katie Notopoulos, on Threads:

Me looking at Vibes feed: this is screensaver. So boring. Why would anyone want it?

Me looking at videos I made of my own face in Sora 2: heheh I love this it’s funny it’s ME.

My feelings exactly.

I even like staring at screensavers sometimes. But the screensavers I like watching are Apple’s aerial (and occasionally, underwater) screensavers on Apple TV. They’re slow, peaceful, and real. Vibes is chaotic, fast, and phony.

 ★ 

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Nobel Prize in Physics Is Awarded for Work in Quantum Mechanics

nytimes.com/2025/10/07/science/nobel-prize-physics.html

The New York Times: John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret and John M. Martinis were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics on Tuesday in Sweden for showing that two properties of quantum mechanics, the physical laws that rule the subatomic realm, could be observed in a system large...

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What’s New or Changed in iOS 26.1 Beta 2

9to5mac.com/2025/10/06/everything-new-in-ios-26-1-beta-2/

Ryan Christoffel, 9to5Mac:

Alarms and timers are now harder to dismiss thanks to a new ‘Slide to stop’ gesture. Both alarms and timers were updated in iOS 26 to utilize a new design with much larger on-screen buttons than before. Now in iOS 26.1 beta 2, Apple has replaced the ‘Stop’ button with a new sliding gesture that requires a little more intentionality. This should make accidental alarm dismissals more rare.

That’s one of several changes that caught my eye. Seems like a great idea. Another notable change: Slide Over returns to iPadOS.

See also: Juli Clover’s rundown of changes in iOS 26.1 beta 2 for MacRumors.

 ★ 

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Text • Daring Fireball Department of Commerce

[Sponsor] Drata

http://drata.com/daring/?utm_source=Daring_Fireball&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=18991230_fy26_comm_DG_COMM_&utm_content=demo_request

Automate compliance. Streamline security. Manage risk. Drata delivers the world’s most advanced Trust Management platform.

 ★ 

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Wiley Hodges’s Open Letter to Tim Cook Regarding ICEBlock

substack.com/inbox/post/175351960

Wiley Hodges, a 22-year veteran of Apple product marketing, who retired in 2022, in an open letter he sent to Tim Cook: I don’t know where this leaves me as an Apple customer, but I do know that it upsets me as an Apple shareholder. I am asking you and your team to more ...

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AltStore State of the Union

rileytestut.com/blog/2025/10/07/evolving-altstore-pal/

Riley Testut, co-founder of AltStore: By far our number one request, we’re planning to launch AltStore PAL in more countries later this year in response to various regulatory changes around the world. Specifically, we plan to launch in Japan, Brazil, and Australia before...

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OpenAI Looks to Take 10 Percent Stake in AMD Through AI Chip Deal

cnbc.com/2025/10/06/openai-amd-chip-deal-ai.html

MacKenzie Sigalos, CNBC: OpenAI and Advanced Micro Devices have reached a deal that could see Sam Altman’s company take a 10% stake in the chipmaker. AMD stock skyrocketed more than 30% on Monday following the news. OpenAI will deploy 6 gigawatts of AMD’s Instinct graph...

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S&P Global

marketplace.spglobal.com/en/solutions/metadata-marketplace-(d4ef915d-a8f4-4bf5-b8da-5cbce63db415)?utm_source=display&utm_medium=daringfireball&utm_campaign=11921-AD-2509-GL-CT-DR-All-DCD-EDODaringFireball

My thanks to S&P Global for sponsoring this last week at DF. S&P Global believes that the future of information delivery is AI — and AI thrives on clean, trustworthy metadata. That’s why they’re embracing open web standards to make data more accessible and machine-readable. Explore their open data at dunl.org, their open data portal, and discover rich metadata at S&P’s Metadata Marketplace.

 ★ 

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Cheap Batteries Are Dangerous

theverge.com/news/784966/lumafield-x-ray-ct-scan-lithium-ion-battery-risks-manufacturing-defect

Andrew Liszewski, The Verge: Lumafield has released the results of a new study of lithium-ion batteries that “reveals an enormous gap in quality between brand-name batteries and low-cost cells” that are readily available through online stores including Amazon and Temu. T...

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★ Complying With ‘Demand’ From Trump Administration, Apple Removes ICEBlock From App Store

It’s rather chilling to consider what Apple would have done if the Trump administration had “demanded” a list of device IDs and user identities for everyone who had installed ICEBlock. Or what Apple *will* do if such a demand pops into one of their dimwitted but cruel minds.

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‘Fuck You, Make Me’

youtube.com/watch?v=ohPToBog_-g

John Oliver on Last Week Tonight, uh, last week, regarding Disney’s initial (but brief) caving to Trump’s demands that they suspend or even fire Jimmy Kimmel for his having the temerity to mock the mad king for being a sociopathic ghoul sliding into the depths of dementia: ...

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MLB Average Game Time Under Three Hours for Third Straight Year

mlb.com/news/mlb-average-game-time-under-three-hours-third-straight-year

Jason Foster, reporting for MLB.com: Nine-inning games during the 2025 season have, on average, clocked in at 2 hours, 38 minutes through Thursday, marking the third straight season in which the average game time was 2:40 or shorter. Regular Season nine-inning @MLB g...

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Folder Quick Look

apps.apple.com/app/id6753110395

New Mac app from Martin Lexow, the developer behind App Ahead (which offers a slew of good and intriguing Mac apps):

Preview folder and archive contents (ZIP, RAR, and more) instantly in macOS Quick Look. Just select a folder and press the Space bar.

It’s just that simple. Install it from the Mac App Store — free of charge — and you can Quick Look inside archives and folders. Looks, feels, and works like a feature that ought to be built into the Finder itself. Cool.

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U.K. Makes New Attempt to Access Apple Cloud Data — This Time, iCloud Backups of U.K. Citizens

arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/10/uk-once-again-demands-backdoor-to-apples-encrypted-cloud-storage/

Anna Gross and Tim Bradshaw, reporting for the Financial Times (updated link to a syndicated version at Ars Technica, outside the FT’s parsimonious paywall): The UK government has ordered Apple to allow access to encrypted cloud backups of British users, after a previous...

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Adobe Premiere Ships for iPhone and iPad

news.adobe.com/news/2025/09/adobe-premiere-now-delivers-fast-pro-quality-video-editing-mobile

Adobe: Today, Adobe announced that the company is bringing its industry leading Adobe Premiere video editor to mobile in a powerful new iPhone app that empowers creators to make pro-quality video on the go. The Adobe Premiere mobile app makes it fast, free and intuitive ...

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OpenAI Launches Sora, a Social Feed App for AI-Generated Short Videos

theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/788786/openais-new-ai-sora-ios-social-video-app-will-let-you-deepfake-your-friends

Hayden Field, The Verge: OpenAI has a new version of the Sora AI video generator that it launched at the end of last year, and it’s arriving today alongside a new social video app, also called Sora, for iPhones. The currently invite-only app resembles TikTok with a feed ...

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America’s Pants: A Special Investigation Into the Dallas Cowboys’ Pants

uni-watch.com/2025/09/24/americas-pants-a-special-investigation-into-the-dallas-cowboys-pants/

This exemplary deep dive from Don Patterson at Uni Watch is a nice capper to the Cowboys’ 40-40 victory over the Green Bay Packers Sunday night.

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The Talk Show: ‘Iconic Pig Lipstick’

daringfireball.net/thetalkshow/2025/09/30/ep-431

John Moltz returns to the show to talk about the iPhone 17 lineup: the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max, iPhone 17, and the no-number iPhone Air. Not one word about baseball, but some Star Wars talk may or may not have snuck in.

Sponsored by:

  • Squarespace: Save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code talkshow.
  • Sentry: A real-time error monitoring and tracing platform. Get 3 months and 150,000 errors free.
  • Factor: Get 50% off your first box, plus free breakfast for one year.
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Apple Started Using iPhone 17 Pros as Cameras for Friday Night Baseball Broadcasts

sixcolors.com/post/2025/09/apple-adds-iphones-to-friday-night-baseball-coverage/

Jason Snell: According to Apple, four iPhone 17 Pros will be positioned at Fenway Park — in the Green Monster, the home dugout, and roaming the stands. In contrast to the secrecy of last week, the Tigers-Red Sox game will feature a bug in the corner of the screen that sh...

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The 25th Anniversary of The Onion Classic: ‘William Safire Orders Two Whoppers Junior’

theonion.com/william-safire-orders-two-whoppers-junior-1819565735/

This one will never get old.

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Let’s Check in With HP Employee Imran Chaudhri

theverge.com/tech/785363/lets-check-in-with-hp-employee-imran-chaudhri

Allison Johnson, The Verge:

Remember the Humane AI pin? And that serious-as-a-heart-attack TED talk about the future of computing? Well, Qualcomm featured Chaudhri in its Snapdragon Summit keynote today, where he’s talking less about lasers you wear on your shirt and more about the amazing battery life on the OmniBook 5 series. How it started, how it’s going, etc. etc.

Johnson’s link above goes directly to Chaudhri’s bit in Qualcomm’s keynote. Looks like a hostage video.

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Text • Daring Fireball Department of Commerce

[Sponsor] S&P Global

marketplace.spglobal.com/en/solutions/metadata-marketplace-(d4ef915d-a8f4-4bf5-b8da-5cbce63db415)?utm_source=display&utm_medium=daringfireball&utm_campaign=11921-AD-2509-GL-CT-DR-All-DCD-EDODaringFireball

The future of information delivery is AI — and AI thrives on clean, trustworthy metadata. That’s why S&P Global is embracing open web standards to make data more accessible and machine-readable. Explore our open data at dunl.org and discover rich metadata at marketplace.spglobal.com.

 ★ 

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Drata

drata.com/daring

My thanks to Drata for sponsoring this last week at DF. Their message is short and sweet: Automate compliance. Streamline security. Manage risk. Drata delivers the world’s most advanced Trust Management platform.

 ★ 

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James Barnard on the Alignment Mistakes in HBO’s Logo

tiktok.com/@barnardco/video/7553888206022774018

A few weeks ago designer James Barnard made this TikTok video about what seemed to be a few mistakes in HBO’s logo. He got a bunch of crap from commenters arguing that they weren’t mistakes at all. Then he heard from the designer of the original version of the logo, from the 1970s.

 ★ 

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★ Apple on the Digital Markets Act

How in the world would that increase competition? iOS’s unique and exclusive features — which, yes, in many cases, are exclusive to the Apple device ecosystem — *are competition*.

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Trump Clears Way for Cronies to Buy TikTok for $14 Billion

nytimes.com/2025/09/25/technology/trump-tiktok-ban-deal.html

The New York Times: President Trump signed an executive order on Thursday that would help clear the way for a coalition of investors to run an American version of TikTok, one that is separate from its Chinese owner, ByteDance, so that it can keep operating in the United ...

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Bloomberg: ‘Intel Is Seeking an Investment From Apple as Part of Its Comeback Bid’

bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-09-24/intel-is-seeking-an-investment-from-apple-as-part-of-its-comeback-bid?embedded-checkout=true

Ryan Gould and Liana Baker, reporting for Bloomberg: Intel Corp. has approached Apple Inc. about securing an investment in the ailing chipmaker, according to people familiar with the matter, part of efforts to bolster a business that’s now partially owned by the US gover...

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Jimmy Kimmel Returns, Ratings Soar

nytimes.com/2025/09/24/business/media/jimmy-kimmel-ratings.html?unlocked_article_code=1.ok8.KyCA.T_7UIDw3iCg6&smid=url-share

John Koblin, reporting for The New York Times (gift link): Jimmy Kimmel’s broadcast return scored big in the ratings. Tuesday’s episode of “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” averaged 6.2 million viewers, according to preliminary figures from Nielsen. That is nearly four times bigger ...

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Joe Betz, Owner of House of Prime Rib, Dies at 86

sfstandard.com/2025/09/24/san-francisco-joe-betz-owner-house-prime-rib-dies/

George Kelly, The Standard:

Joe Betz, the owner of San Francisco’s House of Prime Rib, who transformed the Van Ness Avenue restaurant into an institution beloved by locals and visitors, has died. He was 86. […]

Joe Betz purchased House of Prime Rib in 1985 from Lou Balaski, who founded it in 1949, and over four decades preserved its old-world charm while building it into one of the city’s most enduring dining destinations.

My favorite restaurant in San Francisco, and one of my favorite restaurants anywhere in the world. Incredibly consistent excellent food, impeccable service, and a one-of-a-kind atmosphere.

 ★