“Visual Muzak” – Why all Netflix blockbusters feel the same
Netflix is using vast amounts of behavioral data to spend obscene amounts of money to make the blandest possible content. By design.
Finer Things in Tech
obsessed with productivity and polish
Latest posts
A thread of unique ideas for putting Reminders to good use
Other people’s productivity creativity knows no bounds.
Apple Music was driving us crazy over a misspelled Phish song
I think Apple Music handles song metadata in a nuanced way that was confusing the heckin out of us.
Link opening utilities for Mac browsers make the user do too much work
These utilities make it easy to open links to specific companies in a browser of your choice. But they could definitely remove the tedium from getting set up.
We need some better terms for GenAI output – “slop” is too benign – Rock Paper Shotgun
Nick Reuben: I think we can do better. Slop evokes a tepid
Why I recommend against Bluesky – Niccolo Venerandi
Niccolo Venerandi breaks down some of the technical reasons behind why Bluesky
That’s a lot of spinning plates, Apple
I’m always down for a major redesign or two, but I’m also starting to get dizzy.
My experience switching a T-Mobile data plan between two iPads
Spoiler: It was remarkably easy, including switching back
Bitch, I’m a subreddit
Sometimes, a Reddit community can sprout from the most innocuous idea or, in this case, a funny bus ride.
Video essay: The alien franchise backed itself into a corner
Should I write about more culture and media stuff I’m interested in here or on my personal blog? Let me know.
Rediscovering iPad features: Magazines in Apple News
Picking up (digital) magazines again feels like I’m hopping on the retro vinyl bandwagon, just with less plastic. And less spinning. And more reading.
Speedrunning appreciation for indie apps
One big shoutout to a bunch of apps I use on at least some kind of regular basis.
“Flock” must be one of Apple’s most disingenuous ads in a long time
I think Apple's sales pitch of privacy is solid and important overall. But Safari is not the leg to stand on, thanks to Apple's financial deal with Google. And no, I don't care about the nuance of this particular situation.
Ivory for Mastodon 2.0 is out. Go get it
A great app for great social media gets a couple big hitting new features and a bunch of QoL improvements.
Pages: Share a file from Finder, get collaboration options
On the latest version of macOS and Pages, I dragged a file
My favorite part about Apple is that it continues to support truly awful humans and businesses
Like. I think it’s great that they post entire episodes of Apple
iOS 16: Apple Maps now supports routes with multiple stops
Our long, national, single-stop directions nightmare is over.
Goodbye, Twitter
Nothing lasts forever, I can’t support that company anymore, and it’s time for a change and to re-focus.
Our HomePods haven’t been able to play music for months, but I finally fixed it
A combination of a self-inflicted wound may have combined with an obscure bug to render our HomePods as paperweights. Fortunately, I fixed it.
“After self-hosting my email for twenty-three years I have thrown in the towel. The oligopoly has won”
Our system of email has been deliberately coopted by Big Tech players,