Nothing beats experience
Matt tells an excellent story about fixing his furnace that relates very much to learning anything. While Matt was able to fix some of the issues with his furnace, some were beyond his time spent on YouTube researching. After the HVAC came for the final problem, he fixed it by hitting it with a wrench.
Automattic WordPress.com and AI
I first saw the news from 404media that Automattic was going to start selling user content to AI companies looking for data. As with most media companies, 404 failed to make the distinction between Automattic/WordPress.com and WordPress.org the open source software.
One Big Text File Sure Sounds like OrgMode
Reading through Ellane's look at One Big Text File it seems to me that most of her issues could be solved with OrgMode. You can resurface notes on a set schedule with the Agenda feature. Events are simply headings with dates, and tasks get TODO added to the front of a heading.
Apple is Speed Running Turning into a Trash Company
I'm sure someone reading this is going to say Apple has been trash for a while. I get it, you don't like Apple, but I did up until last year. Today I read that Apple is putting another nail in their own coffin as they handicap progressive web apps (PWA) in the EU.
Birchtree with a balanced view of AI stock tanking
Like Matt says, yesterday I got a bit of a smile on my face as I dreamed of the AI hype machine dying so quickly after it started as I watched stocks tumble. No I didn't read the articles that were linked to, I just looked at "stock goes down" and thought "AI = failing".
Apple as a Petulant Child
9to5 Mac reports that while Apple will be opening up iOS to alternate appstores and default browsers, the iPad is not going to get these features. See there is evidently some nuance in the ruling saying that iOS is a gatekeeper but that's not what the iPad runs, it runs iPadOS.
Molly White – Citation Needed Leaves Substack
Molly White's email newsletter left Substack because Nazi's aren't cool. I particularly liked this quote from an embedded Tweet.
Platformer Responds about Nazi’s and Substack
From yesterday's edition of Platformer:
Thanks to everyone who wrote to us over the break regarding Substack’s response to criticism that it is hosting and monetizing dozens of extremist publications, including some that are openly advocating for genocide against Jewish people.
Twitter Wasn’t Worth the Effort for Traffic
I saw no measurable difference when I left Twitter in the traffic to my site and neither has NPR. I think that Twitter, and possibly all social media, has got an unearned inflated importance in how much benefit it actually brings in terms of traffic to a site.
Apple will save your life…unless you’re building it’s products
As usual Paris Marx has a great look at Apple, specifically some of the claims in their latest ad to get people to purchase their products.
The claim that products are "net zero" is questionable:
What is a Political Statement
The more I think about people calling certain events/statements "political" the more I think that it's only political when the statement/thing is something you don't agree with. The very fact that you called something "political" is a political/moral statement.
Goodby Grammarly
So Grammarly is training AI based on my writing, and you're writing too if you use Grammarly. While I bet there is a way to optout of this, I'm pretty tired of companies taking my writing without compensation and then allowing me to pay them to use the AI trained on writing I've done.
The Dilemma of Content Creators
From Sebastien Dubois:
The one part I'm disappointed about is the MRR of this newsletter. As I write edition after edition, week after week, I notice how little progress I manage to make. You are now 800+ subscribers, and I've only managed to convince 6 of you (❤️) that my work is worth supporting (i.e., 0.75%). This means that the perceived value of my work is too lo https://curtismchale.ca/2023/08/02/the-dilemma-of-content-creators/ #LinksOfInterest
One book per month – Field Notes Bullet Journal
Love this short report on how Greg is using his Bullet Journal via Field Notes books. I do have TickTick as my regular task manager...in theory. In reality I write down what I need to do in a notebook at my desk and then do it.