Slightly More Fun Than Doomscrolling #12
Kia ora!
Well well well, it’s July already in Aotearoa and the days are getting longer and longer each spin of the earth.
This newsletter is #012 in the series. It has been written in Aotearoa New Zealand and sent to your inboxes on July 21, 2026.
So, where are we this time around?
This edition I’m pondering about what we've lost the stomach for: the quiet minutes.
Twenty five years ago BitTorrent taught the internet to wait, one blue bar at a time. Now AI bots move faster than we can read, we've forgotten how to sit with a clock (let alone a book), and half of us would rather post a hot take than write or share something personal.
So here's five things that made me slow down this week. Maybe they'll do the same for you.
They make you smile, share with a friend or simply delete. The choice is yours - not the algorithm’s… :-)
Now, on with the ACTUAL content…
↓↓↓↓↓
Here’s the FIVE things that recently caught my eye.
#01
Pascal would have thrown away his iPhone
📱 by JA Westenberg
A powerful piece that tackles that modern world problem - one we just can’t shake… How do you survive three to five minutes of unstructured nothingness?!
Here it goes… “You’re standing in a grocery store line. You’re waiting for a flight. You’re stuck in the passenger seat on a long drive. You reach into your pocket and find it empty. Somehow, your smartphone is gone. For a few seconds, your brain short-circuits.
What do you do with your hands?
Where do you look?
How do you survive three to five minutes of unstructured nothingness?”
Read on dear reader, read on.
#02
BitTorrent’s disastrous, legendary, and controversial story
📝 by Janko Roettgers, The Verge
Wow, 25 years goes fast. It’s crazy to think that 25 years ago, we were all staring at blue bars slowly downloading mp3s from across the internet loading into the likes of LimeWire, eDonkey, Napster… when suddenly a new technology emerged that changed the internet forever.
In 2004 it was suggested that one-third of all internet traffic was being consumed by BitTorrent activity. Madness.
But then again, it sounds like AI bots are now over 50% of the internet activity in 2026, so here we are, full circle.
Take a read of The Verge’s account of this amazing technologic breakthrough including the highs and lows of the protocol.
#03
The Chamber of Clocks
📝 by Shaun Pedicini
There’s something about time that fascinates me. Whether it’s the daylight, the representation of mathmatical divisible numerals… I’m not sure. I love building representations of time and space, including my own Skywatch or TimeZoneOneOne.
The chamber of Clocks is a beautiful reporesentaion of clocks in different formats. I think the Tip Clock might be my favourite.
#04
I hate the way we talk online
📱 by Jason Toney
Let’s discuss topics without feeling the need to win a non-existent argument.
Hot takes? No.
Unsourced Breaking News from non-journalists? Nah, B.
Engage with nuance. Show the grace you would extend offline to those you meet on these virtual streets.
Have something real to say? Write a blog.
Want to better understand the world we live in? Read a book.
#05
The end of reading is here.
📝 by Rose Horowitch, The Atlantic
From the article:
“During high school, I got it in my head that I should read the classics.
My teachers kept recommending their favorite books. I wanted to share in their knowledge and understand their references. I slogged through Jane Eyre and fell for Anna Karenina. Although I was alone while reading, I didn’t feel that way. These books contained the wisdom of generations.”
Bonus Links.
Here’s the fun section at the bottom of my email (i promise) … I love it when others share links to random sites… so here’s three more for you. Enjoy the world wide web. 🎉
So, that’s all for now.
See you next time for more things that recently caught my eye.
MD
P.S. Feel free to reach out if you had any topic that you wanted me to cover here, or anything you read recently that made you think differently about the world.
P.P.S If you want to share it with a friend, you can send them here to subscribe.