A weekly list of interesting things I found on the internet, posted on Sundays Wednesday this week. Sometimes themed, often not.
1️⃣ Parker Ortolani shared two music apps that you can still get today that showcase previous iOS designs in case you liked the old Music apps better. [🔗 @parkerortolani // threads.net]
2️⃣ Niléane is doing the thankless work of showing how Threads is failing marginalized communities. It sucks and Threads should do better. [🔗 Niléane // macstories.net]
3️⃣ Manton Reece shared a measured opinion on where he draws the line on mixing politics with business. It largely mirrors the way I feel about such things. (Sticker Mule crossed the line.) [🔗 Manton Reece // manton.org]
4️⃣ We’ve gone from an iPod nano with a strap to make it a watch to an Apple Watch sans strap to make it an iPod. Isn’t nature beautiful? [🔗 Allison Johnson // theverge.com]
5️⃣ I’d rather get DRM-free EPUBs for purchased books, but these new price drop alerts for Apple Books are pretty nice. [🔗 Ryan Christoffel // 9to5mac.com]
6️⃣ This Beeline cycling app looks super cool. Can’t wait to give it a try! [🔗 Ben Lovejoy // 9to5mac.com]
7️⃣ “Cate’s Brother” by Maisie Peters came out a couple of years ago, but I only just discovered it. It’s a real banger and my song of the summer. [🔗 Maisie Peters // song.link]
Thanks for reading 7 Things. If you enjoyed these links or have something neat to share, please let me know. And remember that you can get more links to internet nuggets that I’m finding every day by following me @jarrod on the social web.
HeyDingus is a blog by Jarrod Blundy about technology, the great outdoors, and other musings. If you like what you see — the blog posts, shortcuts, wallpapers, scripts, or anything — please consider leaving a tip, checking out my store, or just sharing my work. Your support is much appreciated!
I’m always happy to hear from you on social, or by good ol' email.
I’ve not been keeping up very well on noting here when there are new penpal entries, so I’m fixing that now! I’ve had the pleasure of writing back and forth with Justin Wong and Steve Ledlow over the past few months.
Justin and I wrapped up our extended month talking about summer plans and new things happening in our lives:
I landed a written job interview for technical writing. That’s been stressing me a bit, just because there’s a bit of pressure and there’s so many questions. I always overthink and overedit my writing. I’m overthinking this email!
Read our entire conversation →
And Steve, of Tangible Life, and I started talking about how life changes when school’s out when you have kids, vacation memories, and love languages:
My wife and I align on many things, but one of my favorite things has to be our feeling on almost every form of “holiday” other than birthdays. They’re not really a big deal to us. We don’t exchange gifts. We don’t make Valentine’s, or Mother’s Day/Father’s Day or anniversaries a big deal. Our anniversary just passed at the end of June and I was in St. Louis for one day for work. We didn’t even remember that it was that day until someone reached out because it was a “memory” in their social media. We just celebrate life every day, and attempt to celebrate one another the same. It’s refreshing in a way that I can’t describe. No obligation. No expectations. It only works because we both feel this way, otherwise it would be a complete fail.
Read our entire conversation →
I’ll probably be taking the rest of the summer off from PenPals once Steve and I wrap up our conversation, but if you’re interested in chatting with me later this year, please do let me know!
HeyDingus is a blog by Jarrod Blundy about technology, the great outdoors, and other musings. If you like what you see — the blog posts, shortcuts, wallpapers, scripts, or anything — please consider leaving a tip, checking out my store, or just sharing my work. Your support is much appreciated!
I’m always happy to hear from you on social, or by good ol' email.
Jeff Perry, writing for Clicked:
The attempted assassination of Donald Trump this weekend triggered a predictable firestorm online. As someone who’s spent over half my life in the broadcasting industry, I know firsthand how overwhelming these news cycles can be. From being a bystander online wanting to know what is happening, to being a news reporter trying to get the correct information as fast as possible, it is incredibly stressful during these times. But this time, something felt different for me. Scrolling through my feeds, I realized this wasn’t just another news event — it was a chance to rethink how we consume breaking news.
Jeff goes on to describe how he set an alarm for later in the day to catch up on what happened, rather than wade through everything spilling onto social media.
It made me realize that I treated this event differently too, but without conscious thought. I found out something was going on a couple of hours late (from Apple TV of all places), and almost opened Threads to “check the news”. Then I realized that I had no interest in heading down the algorithm mine shaft to seek out nuggets of truth and relevance there.
Instead, I opened Apple News, which had a helpful “latest” section on the shooting. I quickly caught up from reputable sources, and then closed the app. Later, when I checked again, I was pleased to see that the same section was still at the forefront and while there were a few new updates, the old ones were right where I left them. I felt no need to scroll and scroll.
I think I, too, will be sticking to this slower, more deliberate approach in the future. And it’d be helpful to have a similar experience available in other news and social apps.
HeyDingus is a blog by Jarrod Blundy about technology, the great outdoors, and other musings. If you like what you see — the blog posts, shortcuts, wallpapers, scripts, or anything — please consider leaving a tip, checking out my store, or just sharing my work. Your support is much appreciated!
I’m always happy to hear from you on social, or by good ol' email.