Is anyone still here? - Full-Time Curious #013
Back with my monthly newsletter, Full-Time Curious, with updates on life, work, and my quest to leave Big Tech!
This newsletter is back for good!
I hope you are well and having a great day. If you are reading this, it means there is a new issue of Full-Time Curious, my monthly newsletter.
I took a break from my newsletter at the end of last year as I fully moved to Rennes, started my new job, moved in a coworking space and found a new rhythm … and I missed this newsletter.
I have continued to consume a lot of interesting content and to leave walled gardens and this newsletter is another element of my quest to create and curate on the web, outside of Big tech.
That’s why this newsletter is starting again. In addition to starting again, this newsletter is also moving from Substack to Buttondown as my newsletter platform. You can find the various reasons why here. Now let’s start with a quick update for the last 2 months.
✨ Highlights of the last couple of months
I have traveled to the south of France with my family, and to Greece with my girlfriend
I am enjoying daily work life at my coworking space Happy Hours in the city center of Rennes
I have spent time with friends and family in Brittany
I have continued to discover Rennes, and found my favorite places while discovering others
I have started learning about film photography after finding a film camera in my family. I already used 2 film rolls and have since found another film camera (a Reflex) that I am going to try next. (We have a cool film lab in Rennes to develop our photos).
I left as much GAFAM and others US big tech companies as possible (It’s still a WIP). I am sharing my default apps on this page and the products and tools on this one if you are interested on this topic.
📚 What I liked consuming the last 2 months
Let’s dive now into what I consumed the last 2 months and especially liked
Articles
An engineer restores pay phones for free public use - NPR
Patrick Schlott -NPR
In a rural Vermont county, spotty cellphone coverage is the norm. But a local tinkerer is using old technology to help his community stay connected free of charge.
How Costco Hacked the American Shopping Psyche - The New York Times
I visited a Costco twice in my life (in Canada) and both times left tired, probably from seeing so much stuff in so much quantity. For me it represents American shopping. It's an interesting business story none the less
The Sci-Fi Writer Who Invented Conspiracy Theory - The Atlantic
It all goes back to one man in the 1950s: a military-intelligence expert in psychological warfare.
Seek people over buildings - Kevin Kelly
“At least 98% of most guidebooks, even the best ones, will guide you to buildings. [...] I’m looking for people. People engaged in whatever they do locally. The problem with people is that they don’t stand still like buildings do. They are not dependably in the same place year after year. They are not always doing interesting things if they are there. You can’t put them in a guidebook.” - Kevin Kelly
How Happy Couples Argue - The Atlantic
They don’t try to control each other. They try to control themselves. "Some conversations are practical: Let’s solve a problem together. Others are emotional: Let’s talk about and understand our feelings."
Meet the Reddit community reviving ancient Lenovo ThinkPads
How Field Notes went from side project to cult notebook
I have not yet used a Field Notes but I like the story behind the company from the 2 founders.
How to break free of Spotify's algorithm | MIT Technology Review
By delivering what people seem to want, has Spotify killed the joy of music discovery?
I am a big consumer of DJ sets on Youtube and SoundCloud, and discovered a cool radio in Vienna (created in Croatia), Radio Rudina which I highly recommend. There are known for their cool DJ sets, but their online radio is diverse in terms of music genres.
Always Inadequate | The New Yorker
The force of low self-esteem can feel so enormous, so unexplainable, it seems almost mythic, Vivian Gornick writes.
One topic, for a limited time: the pop-up email newsletter
I really like the idea of pop-up email newsletters, which Craig Mod is a master of. Having constraints, time constraint in this case, can be a helpful tool in the creative process
Facing a ‘Reading Crisis,’ Denmark Wants to Make Books Cheaper
Denmark is planning to remove the 25 percent value-added tax on books to fight the "reading crisis" happening. Great idea! Original article here.
Enlightenmentware - Roman Kashitsyn
“After presenting my cases, I find it tempting to look for a common theme. What makes a good enlightenmentware? For me, these are the key points: All these tools address a deep problem, and a kind of problem that I face every day, such as making programs on my computer cooperate, managing concurrent work streams, or generalizing a piece of code. They are round: they pack the most volume in the smallest surface area. unix surface area is tiny, but it unlocks much power. Emacs and Git are all over the place, but their core is small, sweet, and easy to appreciate. - They invite and encourage you to explore their internals. It’s not only about being free and open-source; mastering them is also well worth the investment.”
Zen in the art of computer setup – Z1NZ0L1N
I am inspired to create a complete script to setup my computer. I already use Homebrew but will take a look at MAS command-line interface which I have not yet used for the couple of apps not available via Homebrew.
On Engineered Wonder - Cal Newport
But what if I really want a faster horse? - exotext
Slow social media - Herman
However, the underlying concept of social media is something I resonate with: Stay connected with the people you care about.
Comment j'ai divisé par 10 le temps de génération de mon site Hugo | Korben
I don't use Hugo but Astro for my static site, but it's always interesting to read the optimizations implemented by other developers on their setup.
Leaving US Big Tech and fighting enshittification
Here is a list of articles I read that can inform you on rethinking the platforms and apps you use
In a recent report, Edemilson Paranà questions European digital sovereignty and alternatives to GAFAM's dominant models.
Communs numériques et souveraineté : sauver les logiciels libres - La Vie des idées
Your TV set has become a digital billboard. And it’s only getting worse. - Ars Technica
More enshittification coming ... Next time I am looking for a TV, I will definitely look for how enshittified each model is
"It's easy to understand why some programmers love their AI assistants and others loathe them: the former group get to decide how and when they use AI tools, while the latter has AI forced upon them by bosses who hope to fire their colleagues and increase their workload. [...] Formally, the first group are "centaurs" (people assisted by machines) and the latter are "reverse-centaurs" (people conscripted into assisting machines)" - Cory Doctorow
Former WhatsApp security boss in lawsuit likens Meta’s culture to a “cult”
AI agents are coming for your privacy, warns Meredith Whittaker link
A 10y old phone can barely load google, and this is about 100x slower
Pluralistic: Which jobs can be replaced with AI? (06 Aug 2025)
"I don't think AI can do your job (but I do think an AI salesman can convince your boss to fire you and replace you with an AI that can't do your job). However, there is a class of workers whose jobs can be performed perfectly by AI: workers with bullshit jobs" - Cory Doctorow
How to Make Websites That Will Require Lots of Your Time and Energy - Jim Nielsen’s Blog
Writing about the big beautiful mess that is making things for the world wide web. A handy tutorial from Jim Nielsen!
Books
 | What I Talk About When I Talk About Running - Haruki Murasaki |
 | Atomka - Frank Thilliez |
 | Gataca - Frank Thilliez |
Podcasts
One of my favorite recent podcasts! An interview podcast in which Patrick Baud (Axolot) invites his guests to talk about what interests them most, creating the most interesting conversation possible. No small talk, only deep talk.
Understood by CBC - Who broke the Internet with Cory Doctorow
A series of podcast episodes on how the web became enshittified. I highly recommend it if you read some of the resources I shared above.
Videos
21 days alone across Iceland - the movie - Toma Masa
A must-watch from this list. I traveled across Iceland from my couch thanks to him. A trip outside the tourist path in a beautiful country.
I used an iPod for 30 days in 2025… Goodbye Spotify? - Kyle Nutt
Is it time to stop streaming and get back to physical media. It seems to be a trend recently and I am definitely interesting in trying!
A video on how American sunscreen is worse than European and South Korean sunscreen
Beautiful Struggle : le trail comme voyage intérieur - Les Others
One Virus Against 1,000,000 Players - EGO
L'infiltration la plus audacieuse de la décennie - Micode
You Need to Be Bored. Here's Why. - Harvard Business Review
J’ai aidé cette entreprise à tromper ses clients - Basti UI
The story of the Mulliez family, a family that few people know about, but which owns stores you visit every day: Decathlon, Auchan, Boulanger, Leroy Merlin...
L'empire des mots-croisés qui a quadrillé le monde - Les Echos
Les couleurs vous manipulent - Sofyan
How To Be Creative Again (REALISTIC) Ep.1 - Megan Tran
Interview with Cloud Architect in 2025
Two Books and a Long Walk — Craig Mod — Config 2020
Comment résister aux GAFAM (et arrêter de détruire la planète)- Blast
Music
KI/KI b2b Marlon Hoffstadt - 5 Hours On The Beach
Fenrick - Paradise City Festival | Radio Rudina
EMILIJA b2b Odymel at Paradise City 2025 | Full Closing Set
Websites
Find the perfect train trip to do in Europe
A fun website to find the perfect location between 2 locations when you want to meet someone
You should use an adblocker like uBlock Origin and this resource explains you why.
Tools
An open-source cros-platform alternativz to AirDrop to send files to other devices without WiFi.
Spam calls is the reason why I don’t take a call 99% of the time if I don’t know the numbers. Saracroche is an open-source app to block spam calls, from a French developer.(Interview about the project on Framasoft blog.)
👀 What I’m up to next month
I am running a 10km race with a couple of friends next week. It’s kind of last minute so I would like to plan more races in the future.
I am djing again for the first time in 11 months at the end of the month, playing for the runners of the Marathon Vert in Rennes. So excited to start again and focus more free time on Djing
I am going to Paris to see my colleagues for 3 days
And that’s it for this September 2025 issue of Full-Time Curious.
Thanks for reading and see you in a month!
Alexandre
Full-Time Curious