Hello, folks, and welcome to the solipsistic email, what’s up with Glenn? (Hey, how YA doin’? Winks.)

Some news of the last few weeks and months!

And just an aside—this is the free version of the list, but you can get premium posts by upgrading! Earlier this month, I posted my look at all the times people have hurled type into water (several); coming in a few days, a look at the Planograph, a late 19th C and early 20th C machine that I just uncovered physical evidence actually existed. The upgrade unlocks all archived posts, too. That’s all in the premium flavor!

Cancel Unnecessary Billionaires’ Services

My pal Greg Pak, the comic writer, photographer, activist, and more, asked if I’d join a panel of people much more interesting than myself for the May Day Eve Cancel Party! I’m never going to say no to Greg, but I said “yes” awfully fast.

What is this thing? Imagine that billionaires owned nearly every facet of what you buy and see, taste, and most of the other senses. What if you don’t need those services? What if you want to get off the Amazon Prime horse, for instance, and ride a set of ponies? You don’t have to cancel everything connected with the Richie Riches (Richies Rich? Richie Richs’s?), but we’ll help with intentional uncoupling.

Do we have the event for you! Join us April 30 from 7:30 to 9 pm Eastern Time, and we’ll talk about what we’ve shorn ourselves of, and how to navigate the “no, I don’t want that” dark patterns of websites that want to keep you paying forever.

Look at this list of people who are very cool plus me:

Moderated by comics writer Greg Pak; featuring advocate, editor, and podcaster Jay Edidin; tech journalist Glenn Fleishman; and comics writers Danny Lore and Ethan Sacks!

You can RSVP or show up! It’ll be a fun time, even if you’ve precanceled things!

Take Control of Apple Wallet and Focus

I could make the joke that the best way to take control of your wallet is to attend the above event but—turns chair around, turns ballcap around, sits down, looks you solidly in the eye—let’s get serious. I wrote two new books this year.

Take Control of Apple Wallet digs deeply into the recesses of your digital payment card, transit pass, and membership life with the Wallet app. It might seem like a thin topic to explain, but just like your wallet, purse, or portfolio bulges with cards and receipts, there’s so much to learn and troubleshoot in Wallet.

Just a few weeks ago, we released Take Control of Focus, another single-minded book that covers the Focus feature on your iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch. Focus helps you keep your attention where you want it, but there are a surprising number of options to set and avoid. I investigated, so you don’t have to.

The Miscellaneous Parts of This Issue

Several other micro-topics:

• Things you regret losing: I grew frustrated with trying to keep up with stuff that supported Apple’s location-crowdsourcing Find My Network. So I built a single-purpose site, FindYourTag, that collects every item from Apple and third parties, from about $6 to $3,500, that has a Find My network option—from trackers to wallets to scooters and bikes. (I receive a small affiliate fee if you make a purchase by clicking through on certain items.)

• I’m a TWiT: My latest appearance on This Week in Tech featured a lot of AI coding talk—”Destroy All Phonorecords.”

• I’m not SHOUTING: Grammar Girl Mignon Fogarty had me on her podcast a few weeks ago to talk about SHOUTY CAPS. You can listen to the audio in your favorite podcast app or via a browser, or watch on YouTube.

• Flong Time, Not Too Late: I am actively revising the component articles that make up Flong Time, No See, and it’s going gangbusters. I keep finding incredible caches of new information that will make the revisions really pop with new primary documents and discoveries. If you haven’t pre-ordered or missed news of the book, you can still use the Kickstarter site via Late Pledges!

• Touch the orb: My author client Ben Zotto’s book Go Computer Now! has shipped! Quite exciting—it tells the previously unknown story of personal-computer pioneer Sphere, an incredible also-ran. It’s a great set of personal stories and technological innovation, alongside a sadly inevitable downfall.

• Smart messages: If you’re in the market for an Apple Mail or other email app replacement for the Mac, I wrote a review of MailMaven, which I recently switched to. It’s not everybody’s cup of tea, but it’s a strongly brewed pot that’s tasty for those whom it fits.

That sure sounds like a lot, but I’m poised to launch another Kickstarter with my editor and publisher hat on in conjunction with a cartoonist in under two weeks that I hope will confuse, amaze, bewilder, and entrance you. It’s hard to explain, but I will explain when the time comes.

My best to you in these times of turmoil and tribulation. My best strategy is I keep making things and hoping to spread some good cheer while I do.

Your comrade,

Glenn