Good morning from Charlottesville, Virginia! ☕️
This week seems to have had equal parts slow and fast days. Strange how we perceive time, isn’t it? As I’ve aged time seems to have sped up with exceptions thrown in here and there.
Since I’ve started doing React Native work I’ve tended toward fixing bugs and working on non UI code because I kind of prefer it. This week I started on my first real UI code and I’m actually enjoying it. I’m moving slow but enjoying it. It feels very much like doing SwiftUI but the syntax is more HTML like. And the one really nifty thing about it is hot loading it right inside the app as you code.
Anywho, here are some links. Enjoy.
Kiki Intarasuwan, Kerry Breen • CBS News
UPS plane crashes near Louisville airport, at least 3 killed, Kentucky governor says
What a tragedy. I feel terrible for the souls lost on the ground, in the plane, and for family and friends. 🪦
Yesterday, Apple launched a new web interface for the App Store, complete with dedicated pages for each of its platforms, app categories, and search.
This is an interesting turn of events for Apple. Why are they creating a web based App Store? While I think it’s a good idea it feels against their DNA.
Apparently it’s a React based app. If they wanted they could bring that to iOS and Mac by using React Native. I definitely don’t see that happening, but it’s totally possible.
Cecilia Mould • The Cavalier Daily
The University Police Department said there was no evidence of an active shooter on Grounds at 4:43 p.m. Monday after the University previously shared a “RUN, HIDE, FIGHT” alert with community members at 3:05 p.m. The alert had stated that there was an active attacker with a gun in the area of Shannon Library, but an extensive search by police later confirmed no attack had taken place.
Many of my WillowTree co-workers are University of Virginia graduates. That alert went out on our company Slack right away. It’s gut wrenching to hear about a potential shooting in progress. A true American disease we do nothing to exterminate. 😔
Thankfully it was a false alarm.
See, the truck nobody else wanted had been my office. I’d built a portable desk inside it. My truck desk, I called it. A couple of planks screwed together, our union sticker slapped on, the whole deal sealed with shellac. I’d built the desk so it slid into the bottom of the steering wheel and sat across the armrests. I used to hang back at the job and sneak in some creative work while the rest of the crew went to break.
I love stories like this. Mr. Smith is a very creative man. He works with his hands all day and writes his novels as he has the time, making great use of the environment around him. Need a desk? No problem. Just make one that fits in your truck so you can lean your iPhone against the steering wheel and use a Bluetooth keyboard to record your thoughts or write for your book.
Bravo! 👏🏼
The first is that as a product class, “AI” isa failed technology. I don’t think it’s controversial to suggest that LLMs haven’t measured up to any of the loftypromises made by their vendors. But in more concrete terms, consumers dislike “AI” when it shows up in products, and it makes them actively mistrust the brands that employ it. In other words, we’re some three years into the hype cycle, and LLMs haven’t met any markers of success we’d apply to, well, literally any other technology.
I have no idea how all of this is going to play out. I’d imagine we will see a great consolidation of companies at some point. Many smaller players will fail and a few leaders will emerge at great expense to the world. I also expect to see abandoned data centers become the new abandoned mall.
I can also empathize with folks hatred of everything getting AI’ified. I don’t want or need AI in my browser or at the OS level. Let those tools stay lean and let me decide how I’d prefer to use LLMs.
If you haven’t heard, in an episode of “The Kardashians”, she is recorded talking about how she thinks the Apollo Moon landings were faked — you can watch video of it here. Ms. Kardashian pulls out the hoary old canards about there being no stars in the sky in the photos and the flag waving (yawn), and also claims there’s no gravity on the Moon, which… Well. I’ve seen people say this before, and I think they’re confusing the lack of atmosphere with gravity. It’s a weirdly common misconception. — the Moon does have gravity, about 1/6th as strong as Earth’s. That’s how the astronauts were able to land there and walk around at all.
And the world is flat, right? It’s not great when famous people with a big following spread a conspiracy theory.
We have a lot of that in our country today. It’s really quite sad.
“Guillermo invited me for breakfast and he said: ‘Listen, we’re doing Frankenstein. If you’re not doing it, then I’m not doing it, so it depends on you right now. Eat your eggs and tell me at the end of it if we’re doing the movie.’”
I’ve been looking forward to del Toro’s interpretation of Frankenstein and his Monster.
It hit Netflix yesterday and we’re definitely watching it tonight or tomorrow night. 👍🏼
Thomas Ricouard • TelemetryDeck
I found TelemetryDeck via Mastodon (of course). If you’re an indie developer and not yet on Mastodon, I highlyrecommend it. The developer community there is a vibrant mix of open-source enthusiasts, indie devs, and curious minds who value privacy, transparency, and genuine conversation. It feels more like an old-school forum than a social network: focused, thoughtful, and refreshingly free of algorithms or engagement bait.
This is a piece about TelemetryDeck but Thomas gives Mastodon a seal of approval. And why not! It’s a great platform if you don’t like Nazi’s. The one issue it has is discoverability. There is not algorithm, which I like, pushing you to follow people. I’ve managed to find a lot of really lovely folks through reposts. I’ve been here a fairly long time so the original group of folks I met were in the LGBTQ+ community and I still follow them to this day. It is a super diverse place.
Timothy Snyder (☢️ WARNING: Substack post)
Six months ago I wrote this post about “the next terrorist attack.” I republish it now (lightly updated) because my fear of this scenario has recently grown much greater. All of the factors described below still apply, and indeed more strongly than before. More good people have departed from the crucial agencies. Many of those who remain are disoriented and angry at what they rightly see to be the total disregard of real threats to national security or indeed the total indifference to US interests that is the hallmark of this White House. More unqualified people are at the top.
I try not to link to Substack pieces but Dr. Snyder is an authority on tyranny and we should listen to him.
Amelia Hansford • The Pink News
Robert De Niro’s trans daughter, Airyn De Niro, has said the actor’s support for her has been “non-stop” in a heartwarming new interview.
The 29-year-old said her 82-year-old father, known for his performances in Taxi Driver and Goodfellas, has been incredibly affirming since she came out earlier this year.
Robert DeNiro seems like a really good fella, or perhaps, a great fella. He’s been a very vocal critic of the Orange Sphincter in the White House and it stands to reason he’d be supportive of many different groups of folks.
Explore a new visual gallery to find how teams of all sizes are taking advantage of the new design and Liquid Glass to create natural, responsive experiences across Apple platforms.
It’s nice to see Apple do these little features. They also kind of need to do them because Liquid Glass has been very controversial among the developer crowd. Apple really needs to sell it so devs do the work to support it.
On the new MacOS 26 (Tahoe), Apple has mandated that all application icons fit into their prescribed squircle. No longer can icons have distinct shapes, nor even any fun frame-breaking accessories. Should an icon be so foolish as to try to have a bit of personality, it will find itself stuffed into a dingy gray icon jail.
Many developers dislike the new design language but there seems to be a lot of disdain toward the new icon requirements. I don’t blame them. I’m not a huge fan of them myself. I only converted one of my icons because I wanted to give better choices to folks not using iOS 26. I would do the same for macOS 26 if I could.
It would be nice of Apple to allow a pre-rendered property on the new icon format so designers and developers can offer different variations of icons with a personality.
Someone needs to put grandpa to bed. Sleepy Don needs his shuteye.
