John Gruber

I write Daring Fireball, host The Talk Show, and created Markdown.

Web: https://daringfireball.net/
Threads: https://threads.net/@gruber
Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/gruber.foo
Twitter: https://twitter.com/gruber

Public Key

npub1e0x2y7fdyzqsygsc4q0cua77k7zx3yg7dcjpyfac4adtzuxwwx5sxfxqda

NIP-05 Address

[email protected]

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsvhn9z0ykjpqgzygv2s8uwwl0t0prgjy0xufqjy7u27k43wr88r2gpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0dsyjajfz

Publishing to

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

Author Public Key

npub1e0x2y7fdyzqsygsc4q0cua77k7zx3yg7dcjpyfac4adtzuxwwx5sxfxqda

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Last Notes

2026-03-21 14:35:23 GMT

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Another Tahoe gem. Are these buttons ("Update", "Open", "Update All") enabled or disabled? Are they even legible?
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/267/661/377/093/692/original/f81606e5b020c6b9.png

2026-03-20 14:01:46 GMT

Perfect MacOS 26 Tahoe screenshot from the Journal app. Apple shipped this.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/261/866/032/882/989/original/16d744f6d34ee4a0.png

2026-02-25 12:46:20 GMT

@npub1478…y4ag Re: this paragraph in your TextEdit/Notes post:
https://unsung.aresluna.org/i-trust-in-textedit/
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/116/131/337/104/989/936/original/3664f20bc91c3dd4.jpeg

2026-01-16 18:05:09 GMT

I suspect the folks at FarmArt didn’t think about how their logo would look with the van doors open.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/906/098/555/681/383/original/1452eb95d38e3d6f.jpg

2026-01-08 21:29:08 GMT

Callenson had the courage and conviction to stay with the scene and keep filming. Not to run away, but instead to follow the scene. To continue documenting what was unfolding.
I’d like to think I’d have done the same. I’m not sure at all that I would have.
https://daringfireball.net/2026/01/lets_call_a_murder_a_murder

2025-12-16 21:36:14 GMT

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Oddly enough, the other day I picked David Foster Wallace's “Everything and More: A Compact History of Infinity” off my shelf and thought I should re-read it. As I've largely forgotten it.

2025-11-26 21:54:13 GMT

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My take on that probably differs from yours. There's still clearly real value in Twitter. I think it's a weird mix overall but there are a lot of interesting people who post on X exclusively. I spend very little time there but I can see the appeal when I do. It is an extraordinarily mixed bag.

2025-11-05 04:49:51 GMT

Newsom 2028.

2025-10-27 20:40:17 GMT

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I’m not saying you don’t have a point. I think Apple could and should instead not only keep Apple Maps ad-free, but promote its ad-free nature to would be switchers.

2025-08-16 01:53:06 GMT

My favorite post in a while:
https://daringfireball.net/linked/2025/08/15/woz-on-slashdot

2025-06-12 18:11:35 GMT

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With just three months until we throw these phones in the trash and get 17-gen models.

2025-05-01 03:04:39 GMT

Not what you want to hear from a judge: “Philip Schiller had advocated that Apple comply with the Injunction, but Tim Cook ignored Schiller and instead allowed Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri and his finance team to convince him otherwise. Cook chose poorly.”
https://daringfireball.net/2025/04/gonzales_rogers_apple_app_store_ruling

2025-04-23 18:10:00 GMT

“Ted Lasso” is not that good a show. It’s like Starbursts. I’ll eat a few if you if offer them but I’d never suggest it’s “good candy”.

2025-04-07 18:26:48 GMT

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But it’s easy to see how the engineering cost of staying there might exceed the EU’s relatively small market share.
https://daringfireball.net/2024/03/more_on_the_eus_market_might

2025-04-06 20:16:38 GMT

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Re: EC. I've heard from a few European readers over the years (recent years especially, for obvious reasons) that that was the common abbreviation for the old European Community. But while I am very very glad to have a large readership in Europe (I swear!), I most definitely and decidedly write using American English and American idioms. And here, EC = European Commission. And just plain “the Commission" would be unfamiliar. But as I write about them more, perhaps that will feel natural.

2025-04-04 17:16:29 GMT

I know it might seem crazy to pay for web search. I find Kagi so useful, it’s among the best subscription values I pay for each month. It’s just plain better than Google’s or anyone else’s results. The fact that it’s ad-free is a bonus, not for me the primary reason I gladly pay. I pay because it’s better. It’s like the HBO of web search.
https://mastodonapp.uk/@nickpage/114278782456583508

2025-04-01 16:19:14 GMT

Trump nominee for joint chiefs calls Trump a liar
https://politicalwire.com/2025/04/01/trump-nominee-for-joint-chiefs-denies-wearing-maga-hat/

2025-03-29 23:13:50 GMT

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Ditto.

2025-03-28 22:40:04 GMT

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I don’t think it’s controlled. What do you want to do with AI today that you feel you can’t?

2025-03-27 13:02:39 GMT

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That’s why I’ve held my tongue on this for so many years — should I consider this a gift?

2025-03-08 16:47:16 GMT

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“Product knowledge” is one of the Apple Intelligence Siri features that, in its statement yesterday, Apple touted as a success. But what I asked here is a very simple question, about an Apple Intelligence feature in one of Apple's most-used apps, and it turns out Siri doesn't even know the names of its own settings panels.

2025-03-08 16:44:41 GMT

MacOS 15.3.1. Asked Siri “How do you turn off suggestions in Messages?”
Siri responds with instructions that:
(a) Tell me to go to a System Settings panel that doesn't exist. There is no “Siri & Spotlight”. There is “Apple Intelligence & Siri" and a separate one for “Spotlight”.
(b) Are for Mail, not Messages, even though I asked about Messages, and Siri's own response starts with “To turn off Siri suggestions in Messages”
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/114/127/816/213/229/683/original/7d495d4a12ea2307.png
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/114/127/816/474/003/532/original/ecb7330ebeb644f8.png

2025-02-21 13:56:05 GMT

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For xAI?

2025-02-14 16:31:00 GMT

I have a favor to ask if you're outside the United States. What does Apple Maps show you for the Gulf of Mexico? Let me know where you are and, if applicable, what your OS settings are for region and language. Screenshots appreciated.

2025-02-14 13:43:20 GMT

Parade prep, @npub1t28…mdex, parade prep.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/114/002/532/534/236/151/original/984c2be7564f911a.jpeg

2025-02-10 00:32:53 GMT

New Fox chyron is excellent.
Team names: huge.
Score: huge.
Logos: none. Colors say enough.
Needless chrome: none.
Timeouts remaining: prominent but not distracting.
Down and yards to go indicator: conveys which team has the ball.
Typography: classic, legible, bold, timeless.
Outstanding design.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/976/775/346/888/305/original/6fa70f5b14c50215.jpeg

2025-02-05 01:00:16 GMT

Too many people didn’t appreciate just how wonderful, how glorious, it was that the daily news cycle during Biden’s presidency was boring as fuck.

2025-01-29 23:47:12 GMT

The whole tech world needs more projects that aren't trying to become billion- (let alone trillion-) dollar ideas, but are happily shooting for success as million-dollar ideas (or less!).
https://daringfireball.net/2025/01/repebble

2025-01-03 17:46:26 GMT

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It does for me, running it from a Shortcuts Home Screen widget.

2025-01-03 03:35:20 GMT

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My shortcut for this:
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/762/324/711/291/397/original/4e6295c446400478.png

2024-12-21 18:11:03 GMT

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Here’s Siri's utterly botched result for “What was the Vikings-Bears score last week?”, and ChatGPT's response to the exact same query.
Siri is technically correct that the Vikings and Bears did not play between Dec 8 and last Saturday, Dec. 15, but they did play last week on Sunday. ChatGPT completely nailed it, with the correct score in the first paragraph and more details below, including sources at ESPN and Reuters.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/692/157/886/926/399/original/f99f288a55e622fa.png
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/692/158/188/974/865/original/0107ac73e2095af6.png

2024-12-21 17:57:08 GMT

I asked “What was the moneyline for Thursday's game between the Chargers and Broncos?”
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/692/103/445/284/224/original/0a25c57feb3f1bef.png

2024-12-11 18:59:50 GMT

Turned off “fediverse” sharing on my Threads account. This may or may not turn into a useful feature for Threads users who don’t also have a Mastodon account, but I do (obviously, if you’re reading this), and I think for someone who has both a Threads account and Mastodon account, and sees the utility in participating in both as discrete platforms, Threads’s fediverse bridging is only an avenue for confusion.

2024-11-27 18:02:03 GMT

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Riley that's not true at all. I wouldn't call it a "right" but everyone, from individuals to the decision makers at large multinational corporations, has free will. If you're found to violate the law, you suffer the consequences. But it's a choice.

2024-11-27 05:07:26 GMT

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Comparing the rejection of an app from notarization to murder seems a bit strong. If the EC disagrees they’ll overrule and fine Apple as they deem appropriate. Or perhaps they’ll remove Apple’s notarization step from the process entirely. Let’s see. But it’s certainly Apple’s right to object and stand up for what they believe.

2024-11-26 19:54:00 GMT

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Why would Apple not reject vMac for all of these cited reasons? Force the EC to rule, in writing, that the DMA means Apple is not allowed to protect its trademarked named, trademarked logos, and the MacOS license agreement.

2024-11-18 05:44:00 GMT

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https://docs.bsky.app/docs/starter-templates/clients

2024-11-17 20:29:22 GMT

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Best I can figure, the election triggered a wave of high-follow celebrities and pop culture figures to quit and X and move to Bluesky, and now their followers are following. Some are moving to Threads instead or in addition, but as I've observed all along, Bluesky is by far the most Twitter-like of all today's Twitter-like services.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/nov/15/stephen-king-quits-x-atmosphere-too-toxic

2024-11-16 00:33:44 GMT

Fuck off, NYT, this is not even vaguely close to notification-level “breaking news”. Strike one.
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/113/489/820/009/869/866/original/6b6f927e6df90cdd.jpeg

2024-11-13 05:25:17 GMT

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These problems have plagued me since Ivory for Mac debuted. The thing where you only get smart quotes when typing slow is particularly weird.

2024-11-07 17:23:15 GMT

Singsong congratulations from the leaders of America's biggest companies.
https://daringfireball.net/2024/11/i_wonder

2024-11-06 00:23:17 GMT

Of all the ways this might turn out, the most shocking would be a clear Harris win that gets called tonight, with Trump conceding graciously and encouraging his supporters to share in his congratulations and wish Harris well for the sake of the nation as a whole. The perversity of Trump’s narcissistic depravity is such that no one — not his supporters, not the objective media, and certainly not his detractors — has any expectation that he’s even capable of conceding a loss, no matter how clear.

2024-10-30 05:01:02 GMT

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Jack Ruby

2024-10-03 19:27:54 GMT

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I guess that shouldn’t be surprising but wow. Per-capita that’s even more striking — looks like iPhones have about 30 percent market share in Russia (down though, after Ukraine invasion):
https://gs.statcounter.com/vendor-market-share/mobile/russian-federation

2024-09-25 23:19:00 GMT

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So you could type this to get three consecutive literal open parentheses:
«(((»
or
«\\»
to get 2 literal backslashes. Both of those are zillions more legible than `\(\(\(` or the infamous matchsticks of `\\\\`.

2024-09-25 23:15:29 GMT

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I thought of that too, but didn't want to send you down that rabbit hole. But it's intriguing.
The problem I'm thinking about is that sometime you want to escape a literal character: «(» would mean a literal open paren, but «n» would mean a newline. There aren't many non-literal escapes, though. So, another spitball (could be a truly horrible idea?): what if you keep backslash for non-literal escapes like \n and \r, but use «…» to mean “quote these characters literally”?

2024-09-25 22:57:17 GMT

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The left guillemet is not hard to type on Mac (or iOS) keyboards: Option-\. It's thus even mnemonically tied to backslash.
But semantically I see « and I want to see a corresponding » (Shift-Option-\). So my spitball idea would be using left and right guillemets to "quote" the escaped special character:
«(»[^«n»«r»)]*«)»

2024-09-23 17:31:39 GMT

“Halide, a camera app that you downloaded and are at this very moment attempting to use, requires access to the camera in order to capture photographs.”
https://mastodon.social/@sandofsky/113181384256449181

2024-09-20 02:27:00 GMT

Goddamn that Kennedy charm. Even the old, batshit crazy one with a voice no one can bear.
https://www.threads.net/@oliverdarcy/post/DAHyfOFPgjR

2024-09-07 15:11:41 GMT

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The clipboard managers (well, manager, singular — yours!) that I’ve tried are still completely crippled in terms of being automatic. It’s the APIs and life cycle on iOS that prevent real Mac-style clipboard managers, not the App Store.
What are the torrent clients I should look at?
(Also: torrent clients are not exactly a mainstream use case.)

2024-09-07 14:28:00 GMT

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What is the success so far other than giving access in the EU to a game that was fined $245M for swindling children out of in-app purchases?
https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2023/03/ftc-finalizes-order-requiring-fortnite-maker-epic-games-pay-245-million-tricking-users-making

2024-09-07 00:00:11 GMT

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The DMA resulting in Apple reconsidering its policy on game emulators is a happy side effect, but the fact is we have Delta in the App Store now. And I think if you asked Vestager for 100 goals of the DMA, “game emulators in the App Store" wouldn't have made the list.

2024-09-06 19:46:46 GMT

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Putting aside the argument that those things are better under Apple's App Store control than they were before or would be without (at least banking, grocery shopping, and communication -- I can't speak to dating in recent decades), the DMA, thus far, has reduced absolutely none of Apple's control other than being able to play Fortnite on iOS devices in the EU again.

2024-08-25 19:00:41 GMT

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I wouldn’t call it a joke, and the “dick quotes” I used were probably uncalled for, but I think it’s hard to find an analogy for the EU’s position anywhere else in the world. Typical governments have things like prime ministers or presidents, and armed forces. The EU does control a currency, of course. But my understanding is that for EU citizens, they’re far more engaged with their national governments than with the EU.

2024-08-25 18:36:42 GMT

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No it’s really just one “government” which isn’t really a government, the EU.

2024-08-25 16:57:31 GMT

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How does iOS currently hinder users of third party camera apps?

2024-08-25 16:11:28 GMT

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I of course understand that direct democracy could never work, and thus we have representative democracy where, quite often, laws pass by duly elected/appointed officials which would not have majority support amongst the actual electorate.
But if you polled 1,000 random EU iPhone owners “Would you like to delete the Camera and/or Photos apps from your iPhone?” how many yeses do you expect to get? 1? 2?

2024-08-24 04:01:35 GMT

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There’s a public interest in deleting the Camera and Photos apps?

2024-08-24 00:25:48 GMT

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I’m starting to think maybe RFK Jr. isn’t hooked up right.

2024-08-24 00:24:11 GMT

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I’d say running something like Keyboard Maestro is more like a real computer. Or, hear me out, if when a hardware keyboard is connected, you could Command-Tab between apps.

2024-08-23 20:36:42 GMT

Anyone know if Peter Luger will let you check a dead bear while you eat?

2024-08-23 15:17:15 GMT

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I’m curious to hear which ways you feel your iOS devices can be used “like real computers”, or is that only in reference to setting more default apps?

2024-08-15 18:17:05 GMT

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Yeah, Docs and Sheets just being … free … is consumer-friendly but it’s hard to see how anyone else could possibly do it free of charge without a monopoly in some other area.
Personally I don’t think either are great products except for multi-user collaboration, which, admittedly, is the whole reason many people depend on these apps. Google solved a devilshly tricky problem and just gives it away.

2024-08-15 17:53:44 GMT

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My read on Apple’s stance is that they didn’t anticipate IAP originally. Once they realized it was a thing, they applied their existing logic for commissions to it. I’m not defending it, just explaining how I see their perspective on it.

2024-08-15 17:20:03 GMT

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I think it’s true that Microsoft would have run Windows as a loss leader but they didn’t have to. It made (and I think still makes?) money hand over fist from PC OEMs.

2024-08-15 16:42:52 GMT

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Schmidt’s weakness is that he seemingly can’t help but be honest. What he’s advocating is gross, but I have to give him credit for just saying it bluntly.

2024-08-10 15:27:29 GMT

Gee, I wonder if this is a scam or not. If only there was a telltale glaring mistake…
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/938/427/743/661/679/original/9a6bde92214ea75a.jpeg

2024-08-10 01:13:17 GMT

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But the App Store launched with these fees in place. There was no bait and switch. I feel like you're speaking of them as though Apple put them in place only after the iPhone became a dominant platform.

2024-08-05 00:54:47 GMT

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I think the Studio Display is worth its exorbitant price for the nanotexture matte option alone. I’ve never seen anything else like it.

2024-07-31 17:53:42 GMT

One of the most American sentiments is this: Live and let live.
Stay out of others’ personal lives.
That’s what’s fueling this “MAGA Republicans are weirdos” vibe. It’s not just fucking weird but *wrong* that they are so concerned with how others, including every woman, chooses to live their own lives.
It rubs most Americans wrong. It’s not a liberal/conservative thing. It’s an American thing.
I think it’s a human thing too — and America should exemplify that aspect of humanity.

2024-07-31 14:10:45 GMT

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All I did was link to Anil’s (very good!) post on the idea. Full credit to Dave for both RSS itself, parlaying RSS’s original momentum into the creation of podcasting, and for Dave’s continuing evangelism of podcasting as the exemplar of the open internet.
I blog and I podcast, completely independently. My entire career stands on Dave’s shoulders.

2024-06-22 21:03:30 GMT

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The DMA only went into effect in March. It's only going to slow down the rollout of future features and products.

2024-06-22 19:37:30 GMT

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You should read the entire DMA. It’s not about app stores specifically. It about forbidding vertical integration. SharePlay is exclusive to Apple, a proprietary protocol between Apple devices. The EC could easily rule that's illegal under the DMA. iPhone Mirroring only works with Apple's own desktop computers, Macs. That's almost certainly illegal under the DMA.

2024-06-21 18:30:32 GMT

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That's Apple’s entire point. They don't know. It's uncertain by design. EC proponents keep telling me it's a feature, not a bug, that unlike a rule-of-law nation like the US, it's the spirit, not letter, of the law that matters in the EU. So how is Apple supposed to glean the spirit of the DMA while under repeated threats of massive fines and even — laughably, admittedly — being “broken up”?

2024-06-15 19:37:32 GMT

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Thanks. No joke, I spent an enormous amount of prep time thinking about how best to broach the DMA, to solicit actual answers.

2024-06-15 18:47:11 GMT

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I keep all of that in mind while preparing my notes for the interview each year, and I try my best to keep it in mind on stage. But even on points where I’m personally aligned with their thinking, I strive to get them on the record, and to explain their own thinking, so that viewers can make up their own minds.

2024-06-15 16:10:26 GMT

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To me you’re conflating “I didn’t like their answers” with “I didn’t like the interview”.

2024-06-15 15:18:10 GMT

The worst aspect of Mastodon by far. So bad and it might hard for the platform to ever design its way out of this mess without breakage.
https://federate.social/@mattblaze/112616918668012429

2024-06-14 02:04:44 GMT

The Talk Show Live From WWDC 2024 is finished; just waiting now on export, upload, and YouTube’s seemingly indeterminate “processing”. So no ETA, but probably late tonight Pacific Time.

2024-05-21 04:26:43 GMT

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Some web searching led me to Apple's "Trade In" page.
1. Go here: https://www.apple.com/shop/trade-in
2. Click "Recycling".
3. Click "Get started” (I actually got started two steps ago)
4. Choose "Apple Card” for "Device type”
5. Fill out form with mailing address.
6. Wait for it to arrive.
All this rigamarole to get a return envelope that Amex has been sending with new cards automatically for 15 years. And the new Apple Card doesn't tell people to do any of this. I had to look it up on my own.

2024-05-21 04:21:20 GMT

My Apple Card is expiring this summer, and the replacement physical card arrived in the mail today. Activating was super-duper easy—just bring it in close proximity to your iPhone and tap a button or two on screen. Done.
But what do I do with the old card? It's titanium so it's not easily destroyed.
I've had metal Amex cards since 2010 or so. When Amex sends a replacement card, they include a return envelope custom made for mailing them your expired card for recycling.
[See thread for update]

2023-05-05 05:54:03 GMT

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Bluesky: “If you liked Twitter, you’ll love Bluesky.”
Mastodon: “If you hated Twitter, you’ll like Mastodon.”
Hundreds of millions of people liked what Twitter once was, and what it aspired to be. Bluesky might be that.

2023-05-05 05:18:06 GMT

Bluesky is going to skyrocket to mainstream popularity and actually replace Twitter, and Mastodon cannot, because Bluesky is being designed to be simple, fun, and — most importantly — easy to understand.