• Long Form

    So where does The Apple Vision Pro take us next? And could it be horrible?

    Vanity Fair:

    When I take it off, every other device feels flat and boring: My 75-inch OLED TV feels like a CRT from the ’90s; my iPhone feels like a flip phone from yesteryear, and even the real world around me feels surprisingly flat. And this is the problem. In the same way that I can’t imagine driving a car without a stereo, in the same way I can’t imagine not having a phone to communicate with people or take pictures of my children, in the same way I can’t imagine trying to work without a computer, I can see a day when we all can’t imagine living without an augmented reality. When we’re enveloped more and more by technology, to the point that we crave these glasses like a drug, like we crave our iPhones today but with more desire for the dopamine hit this resolution of AT can deliver.

    I know deep down that the Apple Vision Pro is too immersive, and yet all I want to do is see the world through it. “I’m sure the technology is terrific. I still think and hope it fails,” one Silicon Valley investor said to me. “Apple feels more and more like a tech fentanyl dealer that poses as a rehab provider.” Harsh words, but he feels what we all feel, a slave to our smartphone, and he’s seen this play before and he knows what the first act is like, and the second act, and he knows how it ends.

    The above is part of the final consensus of the frankly great profile of Tim Cook / review of the Apple Vision Pro as written by Nick Bilton.

    I’m an avid technology fan and user…but this does speak to something bigger that could be coming with the immersion of devices like the Apple Vision Pro, and it’s smaller, cheaper, more immersive follow-ups.

    We’ve proven that we, humans, aren’t great with Smartphones. What happens when it’s overlaid on everything?.

    Sunday February 4, 2024
  • Short Form

    Enjoying the debut album from The Last Dinner Party this morning. Lands somewhere between chamberpop and almost, like…50’s rock? https://music.apple.com/us/album/prelude-to-ecstasy/1716063932

    Friday February 2, 2024
  • Long Form

    The Philadelphia cheesesteak as obsession and art

    The Philadelphia Inquirer:

    Anytime he visits Philadelphia, Chujo almost exclusively eats cheesesteaks for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for research. He measures each cheesesteak with a mini tape measure and digital food scale, writing extensive notes in a cheesesteak notebook he carries with him everywhere.

    Today, he has customers who venture to the shop from all across the U.S., United Kingdom, Singapore, Australia, Indonesia, and Europe. Last summer, his restaurant went viral after being shared by Philly-based social media accounts and media outlets, including The Inquirer, for his authentic cheesesteak on a long roll, served in a restaurant intricately adorned with Philadelphia sports memorabilia, murals with local slogans, and merchandise from various Philly businesses.

    Apologies if this article made you hungry, but I loved this piece interviewing Kosuke Chujo, chef and restauranteur, owner of Philly, based in Tokyo, Japan.

    Obsessed with making the perfect cheesesteak, Chujo heads to Philadelphia to research, measure, and hone his skills. It’s a really cool look into how American and Japanese culture and palates can differ, and crucially, how they can be brought together.

    Thursday February 1, 2024
  • Long Form

    Listen To This: Paramore Covers The Talking Heads

    [www.youtube.com/watch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrjHhIGl90I)

    Released at Midnight, Paramore’s cover of “Burning Down the House” is the first release from A24 Music’s tribute to the Talking Heads’ amazing concert film, Stop Making Sense.

    Stop Making Sense, the film and album alike, was a truly taste-forming listen for me. My mother was a big Talking Heads fan, and passed it down to me. So, suffice to say, I was coming in with big expectations.

    They absolutely kill it. Hayley Williams sings her ass off, the instrumentation is spot on, and it’s just a full force fist to the face of a cover.

    In short: Hell yeah.

    No word on who else is on the cover album, nor its release date, but hopefully we get more soon.

    Wednesday January 31, 2024
  • Long Form

    The Iconfactory Looks To Launch PROJECT TAPESTRY via Kickstarter

    Kickstarter:

    Online media is fragmented. Your news, info, and updates come from countless sources. Blogs, microblogs, social networks, weather alerts, webcomics, earthquake warnings, photos, RSS feeds - it’s all out there in a million different places, and you’ve gotta cycle through countless different apps and websites to keep up.

    It doesn’t have to be that way.

    What if you had one app that gave an overview of nearly everything that was happening across all the different services you follow? A single chronological timeline of your most important social media services, RSS feeds, and other sources. All of the updates together in one place, in the order they’re posted, with no algorithm deciding what you should see or when you should see it.

    That’s what we’d like to build.

    With Project Tapestry, we'll create a universal, chronological timeline for any data that’s publicly available on the Internet. A service-independent overview of your social media and information landscape. Point the app toward your services and feeds, then scroll through everything all in one place to keep up-to-date and to see where you want to dive deeper. When you find something that you want to engage with or reply to, Tapestry will let you automatically open that post in the app of your choice and reply to it there. Tapestry isn’t meant to replace your favorite Mastodon app or RSS reader, but rather to complement them and help you figure out where you want to focus your attention.

    I’ve been an avid fan — and in recent years, direct supporter — of the work of The Iconfactory since I bought my first Mac in 2007.

    Whether it was their amazing wallpapers (which have become their own app, Wallaroo), a really awesome Twitter client in Twitteriffic, or any of the other apps and programs they provided their polish to, there is a true love and care that resonates from their work.

    Project Tapestry, as it’s laid out, is kind of a dream app for me. I spend so much time in my RSS Reader (Reeder), and my Mastodon client (Ivory), and I’m sure that there are countless other sites (BlueSky for one) where having those feeds as RSS as well would be an excellent win.

    Suffice to say, I backed immediately. If you’re anything like me, you’ll want to as well. Lets get them funded, gang.

    Tuesday January 30, 2024
  • Long Form

    You Cannot Kill Mondo. Meet MUTANT.

    The Wrap:

    Last March, Funko laid off a significant amount of Mondo’s staff — including founding members — less than a year after purchasing the beloved collectibles label from Alamo Drafthouse.

    Former Mondo creative directors Spencer Hickman, Eric Garza, Mitch Putnam and Mo Shafeek have reassembled at Mutant with CEO Jenny Jacobi. They’re being joined by cofounding partners Tim League (Alamo Drafthouse founder and executive chairman) and Steven Demmler, CEO of Talon Entertainment Finance.

    According to the official release, “Mutant will work closely with studio partners including Disney, Universal Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures, Legendary Pictures, and Netflix as well as independent filmmakers, composers, and creators to expand and deepen their audiences’ relationships with the films and series they love via beautifully-rendered limited-edition posters, soundtracks, and collectibles by the world’s best artists. The company will build on this artist-forward foundation of collectibles for beloved licensed properties to also introduce original works from an international roster of visual artists and musicians alike.”

    I was hoping this crew had something similar in mind. So, so dang excited to see what they come up with.

    The website for Mutant is here, and you can sign up for their mailing list — which I could not do fast enough! — here.

    Monday January 29, 2024
  • Short Form

    “Marty, how was your weekend?” “Well, my pro-wrestling inspired art competition show did a weekend of shows with a real pro-wrestling company. And we packed the venue for two nights straight.”

    Sunday January 28, 2024
  • Long Form

    A Look at the Wild First Year of LATE NIGHT WITH CONAN O’BRIEN

    Vanity Fair:

    NBC suggested that Letterman not be mentioned in the inaugural episode on September 13, but O’Brien knew that was absurd. He, his head writer Robert Smigel, and his team found the perfect way to address this head-on. The cold opening found O’Brien walking down the street cheerily, as everyone he encountered greeted him with a similar refrain: “You better be as good as Letterman.” Then O’Brien retreated to his dressing room and—while whistling—prepared a noose to hang himself before a crew member informed him that it was time to go on. That’s how Conan O’Brien introduced himself to the world.

    The opening let audiences know what they were in for: silliness with splashes of intellectualism and edginess, plus a final coating of self-deprecation. It was a far cry from Letterman’s beautifully constructed sardonic style or Leno’s more traditional desk jockeying. It was a new show for a new generation.

    To mark the show’s 30th anniversary, Vanity Fair spoke to O’Brien and many of those in his orbit about that wild first year.

    I’ve long considered Conan a personal and professional inspiration. This fantastic oral history, as compiled by Andrew Buss, truly underlines the special chemistry of the shows first year which launched a 30 year legacy.

    Thursday January 25, 2024
  • Long Form

    A24 Made Me Cry This Morning, Now Its Your Turn

    [www.youtube.com/watch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvqyBWCN39o)

    Behold the trailer for Tuesday, a forthcoming theatrical release from indie juggernaut A24. Julia Louis Dreyfus leads and…may be locking up 2025’s best actress Oscar if this glimpse is of any indication.

    Legitimately, the trailer alone had me weeping, but at the same time, this looks like an incredible, life affirming flick.

    A bit of a warning: If you are a parent, or dealing with loss in any way…this 100% will wreck you.

    Thursday January 25, 2024
  • Short Form

    If the Chiefs win tonight, Baltimore local news will be non-stop Taylor Swift coverage.

    Sunday January 21, 2024
  • Long Form

    When a GBA Game Crashes, It Plays Its ROM Data as the Sound

    [www.youtube.com/watch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-7PSmYYHF0)

    Definitely one of the wildest things I’ve seen from the ROM dumping world.

    Turns out, the GBA crash sound is just the console playing its entire address space as sound data. If we have a clear recording, we can convert it back to actual bytes, thus dumping the RAM and ROM.

    Unreal stuff. Shine on you crazy pirate diamonds.

    Friday January 19, 2024
  • Short Form

    Why is it that movies which are exclusive to streaming services automatically feel less-than versus those which had theater releases? I can only think of 3 that had staying power in my head…Glass Onion (Netflix), Prey (Hulu) and Palm Springs (Hulu).

    Wednesday January 17, 2024
  • Short Form

    And there goes the last ounce of any credibility that The Baltimore Sun still had. Woof.

    Monday January 15, 2024
  • Short Form

    With Netflix being the lone major holdout on the Up Next listing in Apple's TV app, I'm making an effort to watch / clear my list there. Starting Blue Eye Samurai.

    Extra Large Movie Poster Image for Blue Eye Samurai (#1 of 2)

    Sunday January 14, 2024
  • Short Form

    It absolutely sucks that Twitch and Unity are making big cuts in a time where the game industry has been so volatile.

    At the same time, if you’re looking to build out a great game engine or streaming platform…a lot of good people just got on the market. May everyone land well on their feet.

    Wednesday January 10, 2024
  • Long Form

    I can’t say that I had Brian Cox recapping the TEKKEN franchise on my bingo list for today

    [www.youtube.com/watch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRIOVeirAa0)

    I’ve not played a Tekken game properly since Tekken 3, but I’d be lying if I said this video didn’t make me hyped enough to look into the new edition.

    Tekken: Succession with Fists!

    Tuesday January 9, 2024
  • Long Form

    A very cool look at the production of the ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE score

    [www.youtube.com/watch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0A0hjETQVMQ)

    Not sure what part of the YouTube algorithm lead me here today, but I very much enjoyed this sit-down with Daniel Pemberton, as he breaks down the main musical themes of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

    I always love seeing someone very capable execute their art. It’s enthralling.

    Monday January 8, 2024
  • Long Form

    The DoJ decides to go after Apple because why not

    The New York Times (that should be a gift link)

    The Justice Department is in the late stages of an investigation into Apple and could file a sweeping antitrust case taking aim at the company’s strategies to protect the dominance of the iPhone as soon as the first half of this year, said three people with knowledge of the matter.

    OK, so I wrote a random one off line on BlueSky/Mastodon about this, but I think there’s more to get into.

    Let’s start: “The dominance of the iPhone”. Per random data that I could quickly look up online — Apple has roughly 17 percent of the market. That’s behind Samsung.

    We clearly have a different understanding of the word “dominant”.

    Edit: My pal Jemal pointed out that in the United States, Apple has 53% of the market. So, yeah, technically dominant.

    The agency is focused on how Apple has used its control over its hardware and software to make it more difficult for consumers to ditch the company’s devices, as well as for rivals to compete, said the people, who spoke anonymously because the investigation was active.

    OK, what do they mean here? Let’s continue on.

    Specifically, investigators have examined how the Apple Watch works better with the iPhone than with other brands, as well as how Apple locks competitors out of its iMessage service. They have also scrutinized Apple’s payments system for the iPhone, which blocks other financial firms from offering similar services, these people said.

    OK, cool. So let’s next go after Nintendo for not making games for the Xbox and PlayStation. Or Sony for not allowing third party controllers to work better than the first party DualSense. Or McDonald’s, not letting other places sell the Big Mac or the McNugget.

    The Apple suit would likely be even more expansive than previous challenges to the company, attacking its powerful business model that draws together the iPhone with devices like the Apple Watch and services like Apple Pay to attract and keep consumers loyal to its products. Rivals have said that they have been denied access to key Apple features, like the Siri virtual assistant, prompting them to argue the practices are anticompetitive.

    Just because someone develops something a certain way, and your stuff doesn’t work with it, isn’t anticompetitive. It’s an ecosystem. Google has it. Samsung has it. Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo have it in gaming.

    They have also looked at how the Apple Watch works better alongside the iPhone than other competing smartwatches. Users of Garmin devices have complained in Apple’s support forums about being unable to use their watches to reply to certain text messages from their iPhones or tweak the notifications they receive from the iPhone that they have connected to their watch.

    This maybe has a point. But, god, what a fraction of a fraction of an argument.

    Apple’s new privacy tool, App Tracking Transparency, which allows iPhone users to explicitly choose whether an app can track them, drew scrutiny because of its curtailing of user data collection by advertisers. Advertising companies have said that the tool is anticompetitive.

    Changing how a piece of technology works is not anticompetitive. Especially when Apple does not compete in advertising. If they start running their own ad networks against Google and Meta, and those get around ATT, sure. Anticompetitive. But you can’t be anticompetitive if you aren’t competing. It’s in the goddamned word.

    Apple isn’t totally innocent here. I think their stance towards third party applications or app stores on the iPhone and iPad is silly, especially given that you can do the same thing on a Mac right now today. But this is inane.

    John Gruber did a much more eloquent version of this post strictly on the whole Beeper thing last month, and I’m sure he’ll have something on Daring Fireball about this soon, but my thoughts can be summed up pretty easily…

    We really fucking need younger people who understand technology in key positions of government.

    I can’t wait for another big public hearing where Senator Oldasfuck starts asking Tim Cook why it’s so goddamned hard for him to print his photos from his phone, why is everything he writes in all caps, and what the HELL is a PDF anyway?

    Friday January 5, 2024
  • Short Form

    Rewatching 30 Rock has proved definitively that I married Liz Lemon.

    Monday January 1, 2024
  • Short Form

    I don’t mean to be alarmist, but every time I open Threads, the “For You” section is the most baiting, lowest common denominator takes.

    It’s as if you’re incentivized for angering. I know others see worse, but that’s not a space I want to put my time and energy into.

    Monday January 1, 2024
  • Short Form

    Amateur fireworks displays: A way to tell your neighbors, “Yes, I’m an Asshole!”

    Monday January 1, 2024
  • Short Form

    2023 was a tough year. Dealt with some health issues, both mine, and for those in my family.

    But there are some positives! I started going to therapy again, getting my mind right.

    2024 is going to be about prioritizing my own health and care. It’s time.

    Sunday December 31, 2023
  • Long Form

    Why JEOPARDY ended up replacing Mayim Bialik

    The Ringer:

    The answer appeared obvious: Mayim Bialik. The actor, after all, had just been announced as Richards’s backup—the host of occasional prime-time specials on ABC and yet-to-be-announced spinoffs, while Richards would take the more prominent role as the host of the daily syndicated edition. So when Bialik, waiting in the hospital while her boyfriend was having hip replacement surgery, told her agent to reach out to Sony, the studio was only too eager to put a deal together to get Bialik to host the daily show as soon as possible.

    “From the hospital waiting room, I said to my agent, ‘Please ask how we can help,’” Bialik recalled to Glamour later. “That’s literally what I said. I don’t want to seem opportunistic, but I’m part of this family now.”

    Almost two and a half years later, her role in that family has changed. On December 15, Bialik wrote in a statement that she had been informed by Sony that she would “no longer be hosting the syndicated version of Jeopardy!” Jeopardy! confirmed to The Ringer that Bialik is under contract until the end of the season with a one-year option remaining. With several months of taping remaining this season, Bialik was informed that her option would not be picked up.

    DC’s own Claire McNear — who quite literally wrote the book on Jeopardy! — gets some exclusive intel on where things went wrong with Bialik’s run on the show. You’ll not be surprised to see it was a story of one option becoming more difficult, while the other silently levels up.

    Ken was always my favorite of the two, so I was happy to see this change. Maybe we’ll see her host some of the future spinoffs?

    Wednesday December 27, 2023
  • Short Form

    Shout out to Sony’s Game Trials options for PS Plus subscribers. I just tried two very hyped games, and learned that they were Not For Me…without spending the cash!

    Tuesday December 26, 2023
  • Short Form

    Really dug Ncuti Gatwa’s Doctor on the Doctor Who Christmas Special. My lone complaint? What the hell is with that Sonic Screwdriver?!

    Monday December 25, 2023