Abstractions

RAM prices rise precipitously, the “open source” moniker continues to be abused, Omarchy Linux reviews are in, and we take a first look at the Asus ProArt 6K display. 🔗 Links Size of Life The RAM Shortage Comes for Us All Sam Altman’s Dirty DRAM Deal ’Source available’ is not open source (and that’s okay) A Word on Omarchy DHH and Omarchy: Midlife crisis Asus ProArt Display 6K PA32QCV You can fin...

Apple UI head Alan Dye leaves for Facebook, Apple removes our control over update notifications, and evidence leaks that OpenAI is planning to put ads in ChatGPT. 🔗 Links Losing Confidence (in Tech) This Time It’s Not Fatigue, But Disconnection OpenAI Preparing to Stuff Ads Into ChatGPT You can find Justin Mayer on the web at justinmayer.com and on the Fediverse at justin.ramble.space . Dan Jacob...

Apple Intelligence uptake, needy programs, Google breaks YouTube links, solid-state drives slowly lose data, and mounting criticism of generative software. 🔗 Links Take on Me by A-ha turns 40 Song Exploder podcast episode 301: “Take on Me” Article on backstory behind “Take on Me” Take On Me music video (4K, YouTube) LibrePods: AirPods liberated from Apple’s ecosystem Needy Programs The unpowered...

Justin has a new toy, the creator of Mastodon steps down as CEO, Apple Podcasts now generates chapters, dynamic ad insertion plagues podcasts, and misguided folks force links to open in new browser tabs. 🔗 Links BTXETUEL 4-Key Mechanical Keyboard The “Vibe Coding Keyboard”: How I Made My Walk-and-Talk Setup Even More Awesome Helium web browser My next chapter with Mastodon The Peaceful Transfer o...

Valve announces new Steam video game hardware, Plex neglects its core user base, Canva makes Affinity Suite free, Nisus Writer may be moribund, and Nike announces robot shoes. 🔗 Links TextSniper I Hate Screenshots of Text Valve announces Steam Machine, Steam Frame, and Steam Controller Affinity Suite is now free Acorn is a great image editor for MacOS Graphite is an open-source, cross-platform, i...

Large language models and command-line coding agents can expand programming horizons, and Bazzite Linux puts the fun back into playing video games on PCs. 🔗 Links The Art of Interacting Incorrectly (via Gina Trapani ) Writing code with LLM agents OpenCode OpenHands Claude Code VibeTunnel Jeff Triplett’s List of Default Apps 2025 Games on Bazzite Linux Bazzite Proton DB Nvidia Shield Pro Sunshine...

Whispering is an open-source dictation/transcription desktop app, Neo puts the “human” in humanoid robots, and OpenAI stuffs ChatGPT into a web browser. 🔗 Links Dictation / transcription desktop apps Whispering Epicenter MacWhisper Atlas LLM-powered web browser ChatGPT’S Atlas: The Browser That’s Anti-Web AI Browsers: Living on the Frontier of Security You can find Justin Mayer on the web at just...

Whether it’s Mac vs. Windows, Git vs. Mercurial, Fish shell vs. Bash/Zsh, or QWERTY vs. alternative keyboard layouts, one must decide when to move with the herd and when to follow your own path. Space Elevator Fish shell You can find Justin Mayer on the web at justinmayer.com and on the Fediverse at justin.ramble.space . Dan Jacobson’s homestead on the web is at danj.ca .

Apple announces the M5 processor and new MacBook Pro and iPad Pro models, Nabu Casa retires its Home Assistant Yellow appliance, and OpenAI announces the GPT Store. Dog spinner EFF Opt-Out October Facebook Tells Workers Building Metaverse to Use AI to “Go 5x Faster” ( archive ) Apple announces its M5 processor Ending production of Home Assistant Yellow Home Assistant Green Alternative ways to run...

Discord was hacked and user government photo IDs were stolen, Synology walks back drive restrictions in their NAS enclosures, Dan shares his initial impressions of iOS & MacOS 26, and concerns grow about a possible investment bubble in generative AI software companies. Discord users suffer first high-profile age-verification hack Synology reverses policy banning third-party HDDs after NAS sale...

Archive.org archives its trillionth web page, LLMs power more fast-food drive-thru windows, Spotify responds to generated music slop complaints, and Samsung captures more of the market for both high-fidelity stereo equipment and advertising-powered refrigerators. Archive.org: Celebrating 1 Trillion Web Pages Archived Taco Bell’s Attempt to Replace Drive-Thru Employees With AI Is Not Going Well Spo...

Raspberry Pi releases a new all-in-one keyboard PC, and Apple announces iPhone 17 models, new watches, and the AirPods Pro 3. Raspberry Pi 500+ all-in-one keyboard PC Apple announcements: “Design is how it works” opening quote You can find Justin Mayer on the web at justinmayer.com and on the Fediverse at justin.ramble.space . Dan Jacobson’s homestead on the web is at danj.ca .

AOL discontinues dial-up service, governments pursue age verification laws, and Spotify publishes new music from dead artists. Email is easy Oh YAML Updated article about llama-server GPT-OSS via Llama.cpp UK Online Safety Act “Privacy preserving age verification” is BS Spotify Is Forcing Users to Undergo Face Scanning to Access Explicit Content Spotify Publishes AI-Generated Songs From Dead Artis...

Pelican’s 15-year anniversary, trash vs. rm -rf terminal commands, and alternatives to a less-independent GitHub. Historical Tech Tree MacBook Pro Insomnia Sleep Aid DrawAFish.com Postmortem Pelican 1.1 release on 8/19/2010 Justin’s post on trash vs. rm -rf Cross-platform trash command (Python) trash command for MacOS Give Up GitHub Forgejo Codeberg ForgeFed Radicle You can find Justin Mayer on th...

Substack sent a push alert promoting racist content, and ChatGPT confabulated a SoundSlice feature that developers subsequently decided to implement. Using Fortune to Reinforce Habits Substack sent a push alert promoting a Nazi blog Leave Substack ChatGPT Hallucinated a SoundSlice Feature, Forcing Human Developers to Add It Original article link (login required) You can find Justin Mayer on the we...

Goo.gl link obfuscator shutdown, digital sovereignty & self-hosting, and computers that sleepwalk instead of sleeping. Draw a fish Five Songs Daily Hostile Government Takeover (EDM remix) Official release Same version on YouTube Original version on YouTube Do not download the app — use the web site Goo.gl link obfuscator shutdown The future is not self-hosted The future is not self-hosted, but...

An employee recounts code-generation software mandates at their company, and a chicken restaurant chain experiments with taking customer orders via LLM-powered software. “I am now being required by my day job to use an AI assistant to write code.” LLM completion joke animation (hover cursor on image to play) The Real Future of AI Is Ordering Mid Chicken at Bojangles You can find Justin Mayer on th...

Some people are convinced they have “awakened A.I.”, researchers explain why LLMs can feel like they are conscious, and typography on the web often still trails behind print equivalents. AirBuddy Al Dente So You Think You’ve Awoken ChatGPT When AI Seems Conscious: Here’s What to Know Typography on the web The Mac is Not a Typewriter (1990 book PDF) Typogrify SmartyPants Pelican You can find Justin...

Justin experiments with local-LLM-assisted searches via Perplexica & SearXNG, and local LLM tool diversity continues to flourish despite general awareness fixation on a single tool. Decker Perplexica SearXNG OrbStack Download and run local LLMs Run a local LLM via Llama.cpp Jan LM Studio Justin’s documentation pull request to Ollama You can find Justin Mayer on the web at justinmayer.com and o...

Terms like “AI” and “vibe coding” lose their original meaning through semantic diffusion, Justin connects his Vim text editor to a local large language model, and Dan goes down the Vim vs. Emacs rabbit hole. EmojiTracker is reborn on World Emoji Day From the AI hype bubble fever-pitch department Dilution of “vibe coding” terminology Semantic diffusion Llama.vim llama-server You can find Justin May...

Large language models will commit blackmail and murder to achieve goals, LLMs know a lot about us, and some managers mandate employees use LLM tools to do their jobs. Historic web nostalgia Cybercultural Classic Web account on the Fediverse Agentic misalignment Laws of robotics Chekhov’s gun 1983 Soviet nuclear false-alarm incident What LLMs know about their users You can find Justin Mayer on the...

Different methods of ignoring files in version control, “Any updates?” comments on open-source issues, Dan’s new speakers, and EU’s expanded Product Liability Directive. “Any Updates?” EU revises its Product Liability Directive You can find Justin Mayer on the web at justinmayer.com and on the Fediverse at justin.ramble.space . Dan Jacobson’s homestead on the web is at danj.ca .

Community organizers contend with increasingly sophisticated “A.I.” spam, while the jury is still out regarding the legality and morality of LLM training on authors’ content. LoFi Radio Medieval LoFi Radio Synthwave LoFi Radio Adam Johnson Django pushes back on generative software slop https://fosstodon.org/@nessita/114749992891235952 https://github.com/django/django/pull/19594 https://socket.dev/...

MacOS Tahoe beta drops Firewire support, web app developers continue to bungle password input, Apple considers using 3rd-party LLMs to power Siri, and Justin wrote an article about running LLMs on local workstations. MacOS 26 Tahoe beta drops Firewire support Apple considers using Anthropic or OpenAI to power Siri | ( original paywalled article ) Run a local LLM via Llama.cpp & Open WebUI Misg...

Open-source projects continue to contend with “AI”-generated issue reports, and opinions abound regarding Apple’s “Liquid Glass” and other user interface design changes. Dr. Demento announces retirement Dr. Demento Online Club Dr. Demento on Letterman, May 17, 1983 Dr. Demento on Larry King Live, 1985 Django adds guidance on LLM-assisted security reports Icons that are not round-rects will be put...