Project Hail Mary came out right after I left on my trip, so I just finally got to see it today. It was great. English with Spanish subtitles. 🍿

Why didn’t anyone tell me you need to get tickets to Sagrada Familia weeks in advance? Just kidding, literally everyone I’ve talked to in the last month has told me that. I don’t listen and just do what I want. 🤪

I updated the Mac version of Inkwell again this morning. Here’s a very quick demo video on YouTube describing the recent changes.

Om Malik blogs about OpenAI’s latest funding round, presumably the last one before an IPO:

OpenAI is quietly pivoting, shutting down Sora, its much-hyped video app, and concentrating resources on a “superapp” for developers and business users, with coding assistants at the center. Why? Because enterprise is exactly where Anthropic is eating their lunch.

I don’t completely agree with this. Yes, Anthropic has the momentum and is making a ton of money. But is it a pivot? OpenAI is still going to release a hardware device within the next year, which is clearly a consumer product.

Nick Heer blogging on the 50th anniversary of Apple:

But the main reason I am fascinated by Apple is that it has built such a distinct identity for itself. It has not always stuck to it but, if anything, I think that helps reinforce the existence of an Apple-y identity.

Funny how we adapt. I looked at the Barcelona metro map yesterday and thought this is a crazy, jumbled mess of random lines. A couple hours after arriving, it seems totally normal.

Moonlight on the water.

For the next minor update to Inkwell for Mac, I’m trying to address confusion around the highlight button. Two changes: adding a “new post” button, so it’s more obvious the “highlight” button is a different thing, and giving it a subtle yellow. It’ll ship tomorrow.

Airbnb news via TechCrunch:

Airbnb announced Tuesday it is expanding its services feature with a new category for car pick-ups across 125 cities around the world.

Dunno if this is better for visitors, but from a business standpoint it does make sense for Airbnb to capture other related markets.

Alicante from the castle, with city and cruise ship.

This is a clever plugin from OpenAI to run Codex inside Claude Code. It’s convenient for people who use both tools, but it’ll also help sell Codex when it finds some improvement in whatever implementation Claude proposed. Models reviewing other models’ work.

Went on a guided tour of Cartagena today which I thought was wonderful. But then I overheard someone griping about it. There is always someone who is just a bit too grumpy to appreciate that actually everything is amazing. So much history here. Beautiful city.

This is a fun ranking system for Apple products. I voted on a bunch. But in the results, how can the original Macintosh not be permanently in the top few spots?

Carpet patterns.

Over the weekend I released another update to Inkwell for Mac. It improves a few things with Reading Recap, fixing bugs too.

I thought it was fine that they left Tom Bombadil out of The Lord of the Rings movies, but great to hear that Stephen Colbert’s script will give more attention to those early chapters of Fellowship. Could be fun.

Trying to practice my Spanish, I repeat phrases like “con leche de almendra” in my head as I walk to the coffee shop… But then they speak in English anyway. One of these days I will learn the language for real. Need to ramp up my Duolingo time.

Catching up on this news from Mark Gurman about the upcoming Siri redesign, with a dedicated app and more conversational interface:

The app’s main interface will display prior conversations in either a list or a grid of rounded rectangles with text previews. Users can pin favorite chats, save older conversations, search across interactions and start new chats via a prominent plus button.

This all sounds pretty reasonable.

Hello from Spain! Just arrived and found a nice little coffee shop in Cádiz. How did I get here…? I recorded a new episode of Timetable to share the first part of my trip. 🇪🇸

Compared the transcript from Apple Podcasts with the transcript we generate in Micro.blog using GPT. They’re both good, but ours is nearly flawless, while Apple Podcasts has a few minor mistakes.

It’s great that apps have transcripts. I still want to control this and have my own (editable) copy.

This looks like a great update to the Post Stats plug-in. Thanks @amit!

If your blog is on Micro.blog and you’ve been blogging for a while, try the new setting on the Design page to upgrade to Hugo 0.158. For my blog — almost 10k posts — the new version makes a huge difference in speed. We’re now using Hugo’s new renderSegments feature to optimize publishing.

It has been six years since the start of Covid, and I still catch myself trying to hold my breath in crowded spaces like an elevator. It doesn’t make any sense! I hope my brain hasn’t been permanently rewired for fear. 😷

I’m not sure what it means that the Microsoft Authenticator app is in the top 20 in the App Store, but I don’t think it’s good.

Wemby was close to getting a 5x5 last night. 19 points, 15 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, 7 blocks. Whenever he has a few steals there’s a chance. Can’t believe the playoffs are next month! 🏀

Years ago I made a rule to never use Git submodules, after too many headaches with Subversion externals before switching to Git. More trouble than they’re worth. I broke that rule once and it still trips me up.

Terry Godier has a new blog in addition to his main site of longer essays. It looks great. Hosted by Micro.blog. 🎉

This is cool: Bridgy Fed now supports long-form blog posts in AT Protocol via the standard.site lexicon. I guess I need to hurry up with my own implementation of this.

I like this framing about the Rabbit R1:

Humane’s AI Pin followed that trajectory almost exactly, discontinued in early 2025 after HP acquired the company. The R1 did not follow it, though the reasons why have less to do with any brilliant pivot than with stubbornness, incremental software updates, and a fair amount of luck.

Do not underestimate stubbornness and incremental updates. That’s practically my whole strategy.

It’s a small thing but when I’m a regular at a coffee shop and they know my order when I walk in, it gives me so much joy. Great way to start the day. This sometimes even happens when traveling after a few days at the same place. ☕️