Best new feature in macOS 27 (Golden Gate): A handy icon in the menu bar to show you how much milk is left in your baby bottle.
Golden Gate Bottle
Former Latters
I’m an adult and have been for several decades. Every time someone say “it’s the former”, or “it’s the latter”, or “more the former than the latter”, I have to stop, and think: “Which one is first, former or latter?”
It’s not your problem, it’s mine.
Caring for each other, including the weakest in society, is a sign of strength
Jean Chrétien, former Prime Minister of Canada at age 92 (the quote is around the 11min mark, but the relevant section begins around 8min30s):
“Welcoming people from all over the world, [and] caring for each other, including the weakest in society, is a sign of strength.”
Modern Day Typographer
The Modern Day Typographer is impressive.
Retroactive Sentiment
If you enjoy some piece of media (a story, a song, an image), and then find out it was created with AI, is it reasonable to have your enjoyment impacted in retrospect? It sure is.
John Gruber wrote on his blog (that has a pretentious title, which I can identify with):
My advice is not to care whether anything was written by an AI or a human. The only thing worth evaluating is what we human readers are naturally good at determining: whether it is good or bad. If it’s good, read it. If it’s not, don’t. […] If you read something and enjoy it, and subsequently find out it was generated by an LLM, don’t feel bad. You read something good that you enjoyed.
If I read something, enjoyed it, and subsequently found it out was generated by an LLM, I absolutely would feel bad. To suggest I should not change my sentiment implies that text and reading are solely for the purpose of conveying some objective information.
I have at least one other purpose in reading: to gain a shared understanding with another person. I want to have a version of a thought that was shaped by another human, and know we both had our own version of this shared thought. It is this connection, not just the text, that matters to me. Also see: Text is a shadow of thought.
Imagine a person had ethical or religious reason to not eat meat – or even just a preference. Imagine that person enjoyed a meal and was then told: “Ha! That was meat and you couldn’t even tell!” Would you say all that matters was whether they enjoyed it or not?
Smashing Pumpkins Tribute for 2026
There’s a tribute album of Smashing Pumpkins covers that has some gems. Smashing Pumpkins were a formative band for me, and Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness will always be among my favourite albums.
A few tracks from this cover album I particularly enjoy:
- Today by YONAKA
- Cherub Rock by Carpenter Brut
- Bullet with Butterfly Wings by Palaye Royale
- Tonight, Tonight by Starbenders
Beach Offsides
I have invented a new rule for swimming at the beach:
When swimming at the beach, you can never be the furthest from the shore.
Frequently asked questions (probably):
- Q: What if I’m swimming with a friend?
A: Worry about yourself! - Q: What if there’s no one else swimming?
A: Then you’d be the furthest from the shore. OFFSIDE! - Q: What if the furthest-out person swims in past me?
A: OFFSIDE!
Duck Race
I must have made some good choices in my life, because I have a duck reserved for the harbour run rubber duck race more than a week ahead of Naufrage Harbour Day.
You want ghosts?
You want ghosts? Because that’s how you get ghosts.
The Goalkeeper’s Parent
The most difficult position in soccer must be the goalkeeper’s parent.