AWS crash causes $2,000 Smart Beds to overheat and get stuck upright:
Eight Sleep’s products rely on cloud connectivity to control temperature and track biometric data. When AWS went down, users lost access to the app that manages its water-cooled coils, leaving them stuck with whatever setting was last active.
This seems pretty fucking stupid. Wouldn’t this be a problem with power outages too? I’ll stick with my dumb classic innerspring 🤨
Slipknot is suing the anonymous owner of Slipknot.com:
The lawsuit claims slipknot.com hosts pay-for-click advertising that directs users to counterfeit Slipknot merchandise, including versions of the band’s signature masks, t-shirts and sweatshirts emblazoned with the band’s trademarks. These sponsored links hurt sales of official Slipknot merch, the band alleges.
via billboard.com
From Consequence.net:
Jim Carrey, meet George Jetson. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Carrey is currently in talks with Warner Bros. Pictures to star in a live-action version of the 1960s animated series, The Jetsons.
I fully support this 👀
Cheapskate’s Guide on The Joys and Sorrows of Maintaining a Personal Website:
An unexpected joy that I have discovered by maintaining a website is that it occasionally draws kindred spirits. I rarely meet anyone in person with whom I have strong common interests. Most are too busy surviving life to think about much else.
From Gizmodo: TrumpRx Is a Narcissistic, AI-Generated Nightmare
That portrait of Trump has gotta be AI generated too lmao those are not his trademark tiny hands
Liquid Glass Is Cracked, and Usability Suffers in iOS 26:
The interface is restless, needy, less predictable, less legible, and constantly pulling focus rather than supporting seamless access to content. Instead of smoothing the path for everyday tasks, iOS 26 makes users relearn basics while enduring a constant parade of visual stunts.
I thought it looked great at first but the longer I use it I agree: it puts the app itself on display and distracts you from the content in the most obnoxious ways. Don’t even get me started on the glitches with Safari 😵💫
New threadiverse (thredisphere?) app just dropped on ATProto: nooki.me. Feels like an awkward name, but so is calling a post a Skeet. Or a Toot for that matter. Genuinely excited to watch this unfold!
Zoomer cries after learning about web 1.0 and the internet we lost:
The video resonated with commenters who are anxiously watching the internet devolve into something dystopian. Social media users from older generations affirmed @mukbokyopo’s concerns and shared context about the early internet.
Just the fact that there are conversations like this happening makes me optimistic about the future of the indie web. We don’t have to use terrible social media sites owned by billionaires. We can blog.
From futurism.com: Amazon Caught Peddling AI Slop Version of Cory Doctorow That’s So Ironic That We Have to Go Outside and Stare at the Sky for a Bit
“Love that the slop merchants are using my book to (further) enshittify Amazon, and that Amazon’s terrible QA standards is letting ’em do it"
So an AI slop version of Cory’s new book Enshittification launched the same day for a dollar less. I wish this was just viral marketing but I think Amazon really is just that enshittified.
Because there were not many vertebrates in the area of Wisconsin where the fossil was found—and thus not much blood to suck—researchers believe the ancient leeches instead ate their prey whole or simply sucked up their innards.
This feels vaguely familiar 🤔
a frank piece about influencers, from Ava’s Blog:
The goal isn’t to be authentic or show their real life, it’s to create a brand-safe image so that brands might want to work with them.
That’s what I love about the indie web; it’s the polar opposite of this. A place where the only rule is to be authentically you.
DoorDash Unveils Dot, the Delivery Robot:
Today, we’re unveiling Dot, the first commercial autonomous robot built to travel seamlessly on bike lanes, roads, sidewalks, and driveway, and specifically designed for local delivery…Reaching speeds of up to 20 mph,
If I’m ever stuck behind one of these fucking things going 20 mph I’m running it over.
Merriam-Webster announces its new LLM:
“It never hallucinates. It does not require data centers, and uses no electricity,” the booming voice continues. “It’s a powerful tool that will change how you communicate — forever.”
New dictionary drops 11.18.2025 😏
What’s the Opposite of Fascism?
I won’t recount the story of humanism here. But of course its roots stretch deep, from ancient Eastern and Western, through to the Renaissance, and beyond. The humanism that we know today, though, is what concerns us—it is a direct reflection of the last age of fascism.
It puts the web on shuffle by randomizing the algorithms behind social media and streaming platforms, to unearth content that you (or anyone in the world) might otherwise never see.
Algorithms are always trying to show us what they think we want to see, or what might get a reaction and drive engagement. I’d rather pull a lever and get a random prize. I love the Wild Wild Web and Cloudhiker.net, but this is a different take on surfing the unknown. You get a dash with things like YouTube, TikTok etc and you click through to see random content.
It’s inevitable that if you consume content online, a growing subset of your consciousness is going to be controlled by AI. That’s kind of scary.
Open AI is working on a TikTok clone:
The app, which features a vertical video feed with swipe-to-scroll navigation, appears to closely resemble TikTok—except all of the content is AI-generated.
We’re officially living in a dumber timeline than Idiocracy. At least Ow! My Balls! had real people.
A large number of Americans are using PTO to sleep rather than take a vacation, according to a new report.
That tracks. I’m taking a week off soon and I’ve been daydreaming about sleeping in for the last three months. Who can even afford a real vacation right now anyway?
Saturday, September 27, 2025 →
Linux wasn’t the first Unix. WordPress was built out of a fork of another blogging system. RSS was the result of work Netscape did building on work I did, and then needed protection from an incompatible fork. None of these things are simple, but the result is — interop, no lockin, no billionaires owning the result.
RSS is something I use every day. No matter how advanced the algorithms and AI get, I still can’t imagine anything more perfect for syndicating the stuff I want to read, however I want to read it. It’s as important as the web itself.
Video Game History Foundation is doing a subscription service for vintage gaming magazines:
In our attempt to collect and scan full runs of every video game magazines in our research library, we accumulate a lot of duplicates. Since these are not needed for any preservation purposes, we’ve decided to deaccession them and offer them up for sale to the general public.
Thursday, September 25, 2025 →
Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones said he was conducting a “social experiment” by sporting a mustache in the style of Adolf Hitler — and claimed that it made him more attractive to women.
Thursday, September 25, 2025 →
Floor796: an interactive animated scene of a space station full of zany characters. It was started in 2018 and it’s still updated regularly. One of the coolest time wasters I’ve seen online in years!
Wednesday, September 24, 2025 →
Really good post from Riley Hill on why he went with the iPhone Air instead of the 17 Pro:
Pretty much every hands-on with the iPhone Air I’ve read or watched has remarked on how much of a “wow” moment it is to pick one up, and I 1000% agree. I picked up the display model at the Apple Store while I was waiting for mine to be brought out, and there was zero doubt in my mind that I made the right choice. This form factor is impressive.
Wednesday, September 24, 2025 →
Gearbox has made the decision to indefinitely delay the port of its latest looter shooter, Borderlands 4, for Switch 2. Having launched a little under two weeks ago on other platforms and with an originally scheduled early October date for Nintendo’s platform, it seems the developers thought the game wasn’t coming together well enough for a retail release.
As bad as things are on PC, I have zero doubts it’s unplayable on the Switch 2. Even Minecraft barely limps by on the original Switch but it’s one of the best selling games. At least Gearbox is being realistic.
Not drinking enough water could intensify stress responses. Researchers found that under-hydrated individuals had cortisol levels more than 50% higher during stressful situations. Poor hydration didn’t make participants feel thirstier, but it did trigger biological signs of strain. Keeping a water bottle handy could help manage stress and safeguard health.
Joe Rogan tries to roll back claims he’s a republican and an anti-vaxxer
MMA commentator and podcast host Joe Rogan is attempting damage control after years of promoting right-wing talking points and vaccine skepticism on his massively popular podcast.
As stupid as this is, and as close to Idiocracy as we undeniably are, this is a good thing. It was Bro Rogan culture that helped tip the last election towards fascism. Maybe there’s hope we can swing back the other way. Because for some reason, people worship this dipshit.
Zuckerberg says people without AI glasses will be at a disadvantage in the future
“I think in the future, if you don’t have glasses that have AI — or some way to interact with AI — I think you’re … probably be at a pretty significant cognitive disadvantage compared to other people,” Zuckerberg added.
I think, in The Future, there will always be that one guy in every friend group with AI glasses who tries to pretend he actually just knows everything, but everyone will obviously realize he’s wearing the dumb glasses and googling shit mid-conversation.
Saturday, September 20, 2025 →
Our Nervous Systems Weren’t Built for This Much Information
This constant state of alert is known as information overload—a condition where the sheer volume of data and stimuli overwhelms our ability to process it effectively. When the brain is bombarded with excessive information, it struggles to prioritize and filter what’s important, leading to mental fatigue and reduced cognitive function.
I’ve been feeling this a lot lately. I bet this is how Bender felt when he got addicted to jacking on.
