Daniel and Manton talk about the MarsEdit 5.1 release and some things that affected it, such as the range of Mastodon instances and forks with different behaviors. They talk about the increasing sentiment towards locking down access to data on the web, in Mastodon specifically and more generally the public’s reaction to AI bots. How will AI empower data collectors to “imitate” styles of other expressions, and how does using copyrighted visual art to train AI differ from using copyrighted binary code to train code? Daniel answers why MarsEdit 5.1 isn’t called 6.0, plus some closing thoughts about the waning viability of one-time purchases for desktop software.
All about the last week of OpenAI news: Sam Altman’s firing, board upheaval, Microsoft’s influence on the future of the company, and Sam Altman returning as CEO. Daniel and Manton then talk about the merits of OpenAI fulfilling their original nonprofit goals vs. pursuing commercial goals, and where all the activity around AI leaves Apple.
Daniel talks to Manton about his road trip, how he got Covid, and had to rush home. They react to the leak of an internal Tumblr memo, and Matt Mullenweg’s subsequent public statements about it, evaluate Tumblr’s current status and prognosis for the future, and why the heck Tumblr posts don’t have dates.
Manton and Daniel react to Apple’s M3 Mac announcement. They have different feelings about the quality of the presentation, but agree on the substance of what was presented. They talk about resisting the urge to upgrade when Macs are increasingly holding their utility for many years. Manton observes that Apple actually talked about “AI” by name, and they both talk about Apple’s relative obliviousness when it comes to AI. Finally, they hint at Manton’s forthcoming road trip, combining work and pleasure.
Daniel and Manton talk about The Verge article on POSSE, which mentions Micro.blog and includes quotes from Manton. They discuss the value of speaking to press to get your message out, and the increasing appeal of cross-posting to multiple social networks. Then they wrap up with testing SupportAgent.ai and the trend of personal automation tools — using computer assistance to create products that are more humane than they might have been otherwise.
Manton and Daniel talk more about the on-by-default Video Reactions feature, now that it’s been deployed to the masses. They acknowledge the risks of injecting emotional language and imagery into arbitrary digital contexts, and think about how Apple might have introduced the feature differently. Finally, they consider Twitter/X’s new $1/year subscription approach, which might not be the craziest idea they’ve ever heard.
Daniel and Manton talk about WordPress.com introducing ActivityPub integration, how it effects Micro.blog, and the ability of Automattic to leverage work of plugin developers on WordPress.com, but not for Tumblr. Then they wrap up with an AI discussion of Humane’s Ai Pin and how it might be related to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s investment in the company.
Daniel and Manton discuss Apple’s latest round of in-person and online “Apple Experts” events, the Apple Vision Pro sessions and whether the NDAs allude to anything exciting, and Daniel’s shoulder injury and worrying about getting older and being stuck in our ways as the technological world changes.
Daniel and Manton Follow-up on whether they ordered any new phones or watches. They talk about resisting the temptation to buy things because they are “shiny and new”. Entropy and the incentive companies do or don’t have to make financial arrangements “simple”. Finally they talk about the risks and rewards of upgrading to macOS Sonoma and Xcode 15.
Manton and Daniel respond to Apple’s latest special event. They celebrate Tim Cook’s relatively good acting, and perhaps being … funny for the first time? The march of USB-C progress, and how iPhone 15 brings us one step closer to the elimination of Lightning ports. Finally they reflect on the forthcoming release of macOS 14 “Sonoma” and the funny way a new feature injected itself into Daniel’s life.
