I’m using Siri AI (iOS 27 beta) to find ceiling fans and I can’t think of any product that has seen a leap like this year-over-year. It’s unrecognizable from iOS 26. (It’s no Codex, but it’s good.) The trick: people will need to forget their past (bad) experiences with Siri and give it a try.
This “it’s too powerful” story from OpenAI and Anthropic is just marketing BS bluster to stoke fear. (To clarify: these are powerful models and will find many security issues. But who are we kidding? You think they’re going to throw in the towel?)
Almost 20 years ago I watched Once countless of times. It was optimistic and explored making your own way making art (catnip for theater nerds). RIP Glen Hansard.
John Siracusa in ATP 701 : I see lots of discussion about “everyone will be making their own custom apps with vibe coding” or whatever. Software development is software development, even if you’re literally not writing the code. I’ve made an app and I think it works on all these test files and then you get a real file and you try and it doesn’t work, that happens with apps that humans…
Happened to see a ”today in history” Wikipedia article about the Pyréolophore an early internal-combustion engine. One of its inventors created photography and the other was named Claude … which I’m assuming is the namesake of Anthropic’s AI?
The Odyssey is such a triumph and just overwhelming (especially in IMAX) and I just keep thinking about it. This movie could not have been made without first making Batman , Dunkirk , and Oppenheimer with all the years of expertise Nolan and his team have accrued. (Very counter to AI-hypers who hope there’s a shortcut to creating durable and lasting art.)
It’s a work in progress but for the past month I’ve been working on an app to combine my favorite parts of Callsheet and Sofa . I often hop between the two: one for looking up cast and crew and the other to track shows and bookmark stuff to check out.
I’m excited to hear the Designed in California podcast later this year. One day left on their kickstarter , check it out at designed.fm
The price hikes for Apple computers are unfortunate. The question now is: will they ever come back down even when the great AI RAM hoarding is over?
On February 28, 1979, my paternal grandfather, Alex, sent a letter to the management of Northwestern Steel and Wire on its 100th anniversary: I wish to extend my congratulations to your company on the occasion of its 100th Anniversary Date of its founding. My recollections of the company are many and over a period of time, beginning with my first job in the office when I was in eighth grade,…
I’m starting the process of buying albums so that I support the artists that create them. This new Modest Mouse album is one set of MP3s I’m more than happy to give my hard-earned art cash to.
I started collecting iPods a while ago but just started the process of upgrading an iPod Classic to SD storage plus a fresh battery. Before disassembling I hit Shuffle and the music was excellent and I immediately thought wow, this person has great taste . Turns out it was my wife’s old iPod.
Bought a 2TB NVMe for $150 (selling for $450 , damn you AI companies for Smaug-style hoarding all electronics) from our local used video game shop . Thanks to the OWC 1M2 enclosure I’ve big-time expanded my Mac mini for $225 all-in. Not bad.
What year is it? Just got an iPod, Apple SuperDrive , and a My Morning Jacket CD ( The Waterfall ) to start rebuilding my music library after 10 years of streaming. (I don’t have plans to cancel Apple Music, due to iCloud photo storage bundle, but I want to better support artists and own my music.)
Had a great time seeing Mandalorian and Grogu in IMAX. It was the first movie my wife has seen in theaters since our kid was born (it was a partial birthday present to see it together). My expectations were not very high, but it definitely exceeded and had that feel-good Star Wars feeling.
Imagine a world where everyone obsessed over Actual Intelligence as Seth Godin describes . We sure would prioritize things differently. I suspect we wouldn’t obsess over deskilling the population, taking jobs, and pillaging the environment like the other AI does.
On episode 690 of ATP Marco talked about how he breezily added his Saunter Map app to the App Store the night before the big walk . Manton shares his polar opposite experience with Inkwell rejections which highlights how frustrating App Store Review can be: But philosophically, I have a big problem with Apple using their control over iOS app distribution to reach beyond the law. The trademark has…
I’ve been reading more about Flock after 404’s reporting . In Champaign-Urbana stopflock.org is a movement to get it kicked off campus and in Champaign. Interesting stat : Urbana—which refused to deploy Flock surveillance cameras—saw a larger drop in gun violence than Champaign after their purchase of Flock surveillance cameras. This surveillance tech has got to go. Get the flock out!
January The Roses (2025, movie) Kumail Nanjiani: Night Thoughts (2025, standup special) Bugonia (2025, movie). Stars Stone , Plemons , and directed by Lanthimos ) All Creatures Great & Small (2025, season 6) The Roses was a fun and silly movie directed by Jay Roach who did Meet the Parents and Austin Powers (an incredibly formative movie series for me). I’m glad movies like this are still getting…
The Tim Cook era ends. While rumored heavily this is big news . Big ships like Apple can’t turn around overnight but I am optimistic about having a product person back at the helm. Also: compare the humanness of the image of Tim Cook and John Ternus with the vapid Sam and Jony announcement .
The Town interview with Jon Favreau explores how AI and new technologies can be leveraged by creative people — not replace them. Very inspiring to hear how Favreau thinks about his work and the importance of movies being a shared, cultural experience to enjoy together.
In December I got a gaming PC prebuilt by a hobbyist in town and I’ve been running by SteamOS on it and loving it. Over the weekend I put it in a new case, the Qube 540 for a poor-man’s Mac Pro (RIP). I wish they offered it in silver, but it’s a huge upgrade from the case my PC came in.
Bought this $20 8-pack of rechargeable AA batteries with USB-C after reading The Verge’s recommendation . I use outdated rechargeable AAs for my Yale smart locks and they’re constantly dying. I’m over here just wishing for a brighter future and hoping this $20 will finally bring me happiness.
It’s sickening and awfully convenient for Amazon to be delivering packages today 🐣 Happy Easter y’all.
“Seams Sew Reasonable” is a real business name for a seamstress at a retirement community.