New format: five links for your inbox 👀
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Hey folks,
This weekend, I pushed the slightest reorganisation of my site and it gave me an idea for this newsletter.
I suspect the Absorbing section is the most interesting to readers, so the new format will focus on these. Shorter, snappier and easier to scan.
Let’s see how this little experiment goes…
Dave
Absorbing
Five links of interest.
1. John Gruber on the evolution of Daring Fireball
This insightful talk covers the evolution of John Gruber’s Daring Fireball and how this side project became a full-time gig. The retrospective is interesting, starting with the intentionality of making it work, but also the various turning points in the road to make it a success.
It’s always fascinating to hear how creators make their work pay and sustain itself long-term. What’s particularly interesting in this case is a model – for a solo creator – that is advertising based without resorting to the tracking and privacy abuses that underpin much of the ad-tech industry.
Worth a watch if only for the quip about hair pieces and freelance graphic design work.
2. Dan Olson on the Ezra Klein Show
Dan Olson, who brought us the spectacular The Line Goes Up deep-dive into web3, recently appeared on The Ezra Klein Show. The whole thing is worth a listen, but this dissection of the ‘diamond hands’ phenomenon – not limited to the crypto world – is absolutely spot on.
3. TextSniper
This super little app lets you capture text from anything on the screen.
4. LunaDisplay
By default, 5k retina iMacs can’t be used as standalone displays, but this neat USB lets you do exactly that. Apparently this doesn’t produce a 5k result, but it might still be useful for anyone who wants to give their old iMac a new lease of life as an auxiliary display.
5. DuckDuckGo launches privacy-focused browser for Mac
And a Windows version is under development. The new browser is based on Webkit – the rendering engine that powers Safari – so this is a win-win. Great for privacy and great for the browser ecosystem (another area where Google has dominance).
Projects + other things
- Scruples: we’re booking new projects from June.
- My Unoffice Hours are available every two weeks on Wednesdays. Next availability: May 18th.
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And if you come across a link/app you think might be of interest to other people on this list, hit reply and let me know.
Until next time,
Dave