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An app that shouldn’t exist and other stuff I wrote this week
Writing is a big part of how I’m coping with the world right now. It’s working for me. I’d love to hear how you’re all taking care of your brain during these extremely stupid times so drop a line in the comments. Here’s a few things I wrote that were published in the past week. …
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Canada: it’s time to boycott American social media
The dumbest trade war in world history is underway and Canadians are responding to the idiocy by changing their spending habits. American liquors have been pulled from store shelves and Canadians are trying to replace American products with Canadian equivalents at the grocery store. This is a great example of patriotic unity during a time…
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Make a 2025 MySpace page and other stuff I wrote this week
Hi! Here are some things published in my name this week (they were published in my name because I wrote them).
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Don’t get your news from social media
This is the second article in a series about how to function as a human person online in this clusterfuck of an era. You can read part one, about rejecting anxiety bait, here. A curated social media account can expose you to new ideas, help you keep in touch with friends, and maybe even help you…
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YouTube’s horrifying AI and other things I wrote this week
Hi! For the past few years I’ve been writing mostly about macOS and the iPhone, mostly because those are the devices I use day-to-day. I’ve been working on branching out, though. A few months ago I wrote about a free tool for running Windows inside macOS and it’s been great. I also managed to set up my…
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Reject anxiety bait
The past month has been the longest year of my life. I’m sure I’m not alone on this. It is impossible to ignore the onslaught of bad news, which I’m not going to highlight here. What I am going to do is recommend that you take care of yourself. If the world is going to…
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The best language learning apps and other stuff I wrote lately
A week ago Wirecutter published my recommendations for the best language learning apps. It took ages to test all the applications and then to write the article. I have a lot of respect for the writers and editors there now and it’s an honour to have a byline on the site. I’ve been thinking lately about…
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Microsoft made a fake Google homepage because they don’t respect you
You’re a person—I hope this is obvious to you. It’s not obvious to tech companies. No, tech companies see you as a number.I used to work inside a tech company that was obsessed with metrics—design decisions were evaluated based on whether they made the right numbers go up. This philosophy, taken to its extreme, can…
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the future of mindless scrolling
What is social media for? I would argue, perhaps naively, that social media is a tool we can use to connect with each other. The companies that run social media networks, meanwhile, mostly see social networks as a tool for capturing as much attention as possible. I can think of no better illustration of this…
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The internet doesn’t have to feel like this
Living online can feel…numbing. Bo Burnham perhaps captured that best with That Funny Feeling, a song made up of various unrelated phrases that simulate the feeling of scrolling. deadpool’s self-awareness/loving parents/harmless fun/the backlash to the backlash to the thing that’s just begun On and on it goes, and on and on you scroll, until your thumbs (and soul)…