Software brain is changing the world, but most people still aren’t buying.
Falling birth rates and smartphones: a technology as malevolent as AI? Recent Financial Times research points to a link between smartphone usage and falling birth rates
Charles Arthur's site for links, observations and writing
In future table tennis players might find an AI-powered robot across the table, as one just defeated some top-ranked amateurs. CC-licensed photo by Gaël Marziou on Flickr. You can sign up to receiv…
A sassy weblog written by Nick Heer with topics including technology and policy, Apple, Silicon Valley, and privacy.
The personal site of R. W. Blickhan
I gave blood on Wednesday. I usually go to Stratford, but they’re currently refurbishing the donor centre, and the temporary replacement (a van in a car park) has far fewer slots. And, of course, it’s a van in a car park, which is not such a pleasant experience. But on Tuesday, as I was looking for slots for Friday, I noticed that there was a session in Peckham the very next day, only a minute’s walk away from where I rent a desk. I booked in for mid-afternoon and spent a relaxing hour reading (A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, loved it) while I waited, donated, and ate crisps afterwards. Maybe it doesn’t sound like a relaxing afternoon break to most people, but it was for me.
"Pragmatism and ethics don’t goose valuations." On contracts of adhesion, arbiters of reality, software brain, trustworthy resources, and clear visions.
Talking fast and swearing more since 2004.
Apple Newsroom: Apple today announced AirPods Max 2, bringing even better Active Noise Cancellation (ANC), elevated sound quality, and intelligent features to the iconic over-ear design.
Bloggin is back, baby.
Noteworthy internet finds.
The joy of doing things slowly.
Talking fast and swearing more since 2004.
A blog about making culture. Since 1999.
Welcome to Miscellanea- a biweekly newsletter at the intersection of content strategy, tech, and culture and how they influence each other.
In future table tennis players might find an AI-powered robot across the table, as one just defeated some top-ranked amateurs. CC-licensed photo by Gaël Marziou on Flickr. You can sign up to receiv…
Manton about AI usage in Micro.blog: Earlier this year I …
A busy fortnight, lots on in and out of work. Looking forward to the coming week – my first holidays of the year and a much needed break. Good catchup with colleagues midweek at Ardnamurchan …
THE PEOPLE DO NOT YEARN FOR AUTOMATION captures a lot of valid perspectives, but it sidelines what actually made personal computing compelling: the ability to shape tools to your own needs.
When I manually migrated all 150 WordPress posts to my photography blog, I did so knowing I could automate the process using software export and import tools...
A collection of things I read in April that stuck with me, covering AI agents, tooling and other interesting blog posts.
Books I read, games I played, things I watched in April 2026. Do we have similar tastes, or will you be questioning how we ever got connected? Let's find out!
For someone who can program, I have so few personal uses. Maybe that’s beacuse the people do not yearn for automation. But today I came up with a fun one. It tu…
A response to Nilay Patel's 'software brain' essay — why the chatbot I shipped last week has no LLM, and what I think people actually yearn for when they say they are tired of AI.
Nilay Patel, in an amazing essay at The Verge: It feels like someone just needs to say this clearly, so I’m just going to do it. AI doesn’t have a marketing problem.
Auditory variety
BEWARE SOFTWARE BRAIN | The Verge I’ve reviewed a lot of tech products over the past decade and a half, and all I can tell you is that it is a failure when you …
The joy of doing things slowly.
The Verge BEWARE SOFTWARE BRAIN You can’t advertise people out of reacting to their own experiences. This is a fundamental disconnect between how tech people with software brains see...
New Massive Supply Chain Hack(s), Bleh AI Feelings, Shadow AI Backdoors, My Defense of Markdown vs. HTML, Thoughts on AI Creativity, and more...
301 posts tagged ‘ai-ethics’. Ethical concerns related to building and using AI systems.
1,751 posts tagged ‘llms’. Large Language Models (LLMs) are the class of technology behind generative text AI systems like OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google's Gemini and Anthropic's Claude.
1,785 posts tagged ‘generative-ai’. Machine learning systems that can generate new content: text, images, audio, video and more.
512 Pixels is a blog about things that light up and make noise, written by Stephen Hackett.
Python, open source, and the internet
A sassy weblog written by Nick Heer with topics including technology and policy, Apple, Silicon Valley, and privacy.
Read this page on ethanmarcotte.com
Something (slightly) less boring than nothing.
JTR. This is. (also jtr@fosstodon.org) Emacs, org-mode, TiddlyWiki, Linux, DnD, gaming... also coffee, exercise, lifestyle, …
Kelsey Piper, the Argument: At some point, pretending that how people use AI is a complete mystery is just lying to your audience. And at some point, [Ed] Zitron’s “layers of skepticism” attitude — where he is skeptical that AI is a thing at all, that it has any uses, that those uses provide any […]
A blog about making culture. Since 1999.
You might think it counterintuitive that a movement obsessed with software would be spearheading a severe decline in the design quality of software, but in Patel’s definition, there’s no concept of software as art, as a practice, as a craft. Software brain is purely an obsession with software as a medium in and of itself. A means with no consideration for the end.
fragments 29 Apr 2026
Commentary on Apple, technology, design, politics, and more.
The one where I take another detour into dystopia
Nilay Patel put out an excellent Decoder episode today. In it, he dove into the idea of “software brain”, which is something he’s been workshopping during the past several Vergecast episodes. It’s his attempt to explain why so many Silicon Valley folks are head over heels about AI, at the same time that most normal people hate it. The idea really resonates with me.
This April, I offer you a feeble defense of GitHub's poor uptime, a new release of a weirdo JavaScript library, and a flurry of links.
I write these notes to reflect, remember (because I don't), compare scars with fellow digital pros, and for public accountability. Read more here. “Artificial Intelligence is the marketing name, what they're really unleashing is the opposite: natural stupidity” - Guillermo Del Toro during his In Conversation event at BFI Southbank. I quite like that. We’re | Slow like brisket, viddy well, natural stupidity.
I'm not dumb enough to believe the genie can be put back in the bottle, but I'm also smart enough to know that we have no idea what we're doing.
Back in the UK on Monday so these might still be orange blossom scented as I’m still in Greece. It’s been almost 20 years since I saw Martin Butler’s The Girlfriend Experience and…