Obama once said to the bankers who just crashed the economy, much like Trump/Musk are trying to do now -- that his administration is the "only thing between you and the pitchforks.” These are the same people. They’re back from 2009 and this time they want everything. They don't care what's left, they're like machines. All they know how to do is to consume things. Squeeze one penny of value from every dollar. This clip from Goodfellas explains.
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The data behind a WordLand blog post I wrote a few days ago. I'm publishing these so people get an idea of the structures we're working with. It's basically a WordPress post with added metadata. They have these kinds of structures in RSS, Atom, ActivityPub and AT Proto. Event...
Techdirt has a well-deserved rep for exposing the false claims tech companies make. I’d love to see a Techdirt analysis of Bluesky’s claim that they’re billionaire-proof and they don’t lock users in. For background check out this TechCrunch piece from SXSW.
Of course I'm getting ready to ditch my Tesla Model Y, and thinking about what my options are. I saw someone comment on the Rivian truck, and I've seen them around but didn't imagine they'd have the same muscle car profile as the Tesla, but apparently they do. That's the thing I'd miss the most about the Model Y. Its power and handling. It's a big car, but it drives in many ways like the Miata I drove in the 90s.
Hyperspace 1.1
New (well, newish) Mac app from John Siracusa:
Hyperspace searches for files with identical contents within
one or more folders. If it finds any, it can then reclaim the disk
space taken by all but one of the identical files — without
removing any of the files!
You can ...
John Palfrey on the moment
This is like that moment, five years ago, when we realized that Covid was going to kill a lot of us but it hadn't happened yet. A lot of people weren't yet aware. My friend John Palfrey, who is a legal scholar, has been writing about this moment on LinkedIn and Facebook. Thi...
Saturday Night Live’s Cue Cards
Not new, but new to me, is this delightful 7-minute short with a behind-the-scenes look at SNL’s cue card team, led by longtime main cue card guy Wally Feresten. Sometimes you just can’t beat analog.
Chris Ware on Richard Scarry and the Art of Children’s Literature
As a kid I loved Richard Scarry’s books. As an adult I loved (and love) Chris Ware’s graphic novels. As a parent I loved reading Scarry’s books, again, with my son. So of course this essay from Ware, commemorating the 50th anniversary edition of Scarry’s Cars and Trucks and Things That Go, hit hard for me. Bet it will for you too.
Get back on the air
The Dems highest priority should be to get the Kamala Harris campaign back on social media, 24 by 7, with the truth and snark, irreverance, disrespectful of the Repubs, as a matter of principle. They were great. Perfect. We need a voice for the Democrats on the social networks.
Would someone please send this to AOC, Jasmine Crockett, Bernie Sanders, Mark Cuban, James Carville, anyone else you can think of.
The Dems only problem is there is no voice, no pulse, no heartbeat. Even without this, they almost won the last election.
Everything you like about government came from the Democrats.
We miss you. Get back on the air! No time to lose.This post is for idiots like you who click on links to The Bulwark.
Om Malik on Apple Intelligence: ‘FUD, Dud, or Both’
Om Malik:
I have my own explanation, something my readers are familiar with,
and it is the most obvious one. Just as Google is trapped in the
10-blue-link prison, which prevents it from doing something
radical, Apple has its own golden handcuffs. It’s a company
weighed d...
Tesla’s Share Price Has Been Suspect Since Like Forever
Tesla’s share price has been having a hard time of it lately. The stock has lost about half its value since its all-time high back in December, and, since Musk took office alongside Donald Trump in January, dropped for 7 consecutive weeks, rebounding only ever-so-slightly la...
Michael Tsai’s Roundup of Links and Commentary on My ‘Something Is Rotten’ Piece Last Week
I’ve been commenting and expanding upon some of the commentary my piece prompted, and I have a few more coming, but it’s good to have Tsai collect a comprehensive overview.
Ray Maker on the Heart Rate Sensor of the Beats PowerBeats 2 Pro
dcrainmaker.com/2025/02/apple-beats-powerbeats-2-pro-sports-fitness-heart-rate-in-depth-review.html
Ray Maker, writing at DC Rainmaker:
This would not only be the first time Apple has created a
non-watch heart rate sensor, but even more notably, the first time
the company has enabled heart rate broadcasting over existing
Bluetooth heart rate standards.
The question th...
Chance Miller Reviews the Beats Powerbeats Pro 2
I’m a month late linking to it, but Chance Miller wrote a terrific review for 9to5Mac:
The last several releases from Beats, such as the Studio Buds
Plus and Solo 4 headphones, have been powered by a
custom Beats chip rather than an Apple-designed chip like what’s
used i...
Michael Gartenberg on the Lessons Apple Learned (and Hopefully Has Not Forgotten) From MobileMe
Sebastiaan de With, on X, linking to my “Something Is Rotten” piece last week:
Ex-MobileMe team here. This was a brutal time.
It was so bad that when he presented iCloud onstage, Steve said “I
know what you’re thinking: why should I trust them? They’re the
ones who gave...
‘Going National: The Drexel Microcomputing Project’
From Drexel’s YouTube channel:
But far less recognized is that Drexel made the very bold decision
of committing all students to purchase a previously unreleased and
untested computer from Apple. This was, of course, the Macintosh
(introduced in January 1984), which was u...
‘40 Years Ago, Drexel Made Computer — and Apple — History’
drexel.edu/news/archive/2024/March/drexel-apple-40th-anniversary-macintosh-1984
Alissa Falcone, in a good piece looking back at (my alma mater) Drexel University’s groundbreaking deal with Apple 40 years ago to provide deeply discounted Macintoshes to all students, and integrate them throughout the campus and curriculums:
Drexel was prepared to buy ...