No Polestars For You!
Remember the Soup Nazi from the ’90s sitcom Seinfeld? His trademark was a bellicose no soup for you! if he decided he didn’t like you. Well, that’s what Uncle – the federal…
Expected vs Actual CTR: finding the pages that earn fewer clicks than their position deserves
Anyone who spends their days inside Search Console knows that little nagging feeling: a page sits steadily in third position, yet the clicks are few, a CTR that looks like it belongs at the bottom of…
W Social: a Broken Ghost Town?
W Social has been experiencing major technical problems for over a week: it is effectively a ghost town, filled with thousands of new accounts that cannot use the platform.
Sony Just Pulled 551 Movies from PlayStation Libraries. Again. And Here’s What Nobody Is Talking About.
Sony is deleting 551 purchased StudioCanal movies from PlayStation libraries on September 1, 2026 with zero refunds. Here's the full technical and legal breakdown This post first appeared at - The…
From the school or culture eats technology for breakfast
Yes: The environments capable of creating meaningful change are almost always the ones that shorten the distance between assumption and evidence – ensuring that learning happens before institutions…
Windows 11 on DDR1 and AGP: Core 2 Quad Q6600 starts modern operating system and even Crysis
Microsoft officially requires UEFI, Secure Boot, TPM 2.0, and a supported processor for Windows 11. A hardware enthusiast apparently looked at this list and decided to treat almost every individual…
Loongson 3C3000 Introduced: 16 LoongArch Cores and 40 Watts for Affordable Servers
With 16 cores, ECC memory, and 40 watts of typical power consumption, the Loongson 3C3000 initially sounds like a highly efficient server processor. The small addition “at 1.5 GHz” is, however,…
obsolescence and media rambles
hate it when my phone tells me there's a software update and if you don't update the hackermans are going to get you! i know that's not what it says and i'm simplifying security risks. but it's every…
The state of marketing automation tools in 2026
Everyone has an opinion about the marketing automation landscape, and who’s winning the market. But most of these… The post The state of marketing automation tools in 2026 appeared first…
Too many ways to install shit in world’s #1 desktop OS
I thought Linux package management was broken, but then a small annoyance I experienced in Windows 11 IoT Enterprise LTSC made me reconsider. To put this in context, it happened […]
Saturday, June 27th, 2026
# Watch update I'm now 16 days in and the watch still has 46% battery left! It was described as lasting 7-10 days but I could get three weeks out of this. Also, once it runs out of battery for the…
Gadgetbridge 0.92.0: Many new devices, many bugfixes and a new online feature
Gadgetbridge 0.92.0: Many new devices, many bugfixes and a new online feature¶ We're excited to announce the release of Gadgetbridge 0.92.0! This release comes with quite a few new supported…
Twitter / X changed the rules and I’d like to cancel my subscription now
When I signed up, I did so without installing an app to my cell phone. I signed up with the website, email, and SMS texting only. I had two-factor authentication enabled, and all that worked well. I…
Assessing news product thinking skills
Much of the daily work of news product management is translating critical thinking into business answers. That means challenging unsupported assumptions while drawing both inferences and conclusions…
I Brought Galileo’s Telescope to a Navy SEAL’s Gun Range
I Brought Galileo’s Telescope to a Navy SEAL’s Gun Range Two optics, four centuries apart. Shawn sighting Galileo’s 1609 spyglass; I’m on a suppressed precision SigSauer Rattler .300 Blackout…
June 28, 2026 - New tools for the Mac
Egbert Schroeer has built two tools — both native to the Mac: Delivered by PolitePaul service
Keybr — Adaptive Touch Typing Trainer
These days online typing tutors are a dime a dozen. I remember fondly my lessons with "Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing," which came on a CD. Worked great improving my accuracy 30 years after my in-person…
A Silicon Valley Genocide
World's First Trillionaire is Killing the World's Poorest Children
“Icons that are iconic”
Apple might have undone the macOS Tahoe menu icons decision , but this wasn’t the only contentious iconography issue in their ecosystem. On his blog, Jim Nielsen writes how Apple filed away so much…
Weeknote: 28 June 2026 – Meta glasses, Retroid Pocket Nova, AI, N64, Brexit and DRM
Meta has new $299 smart glasses. I don’t want them. But, as I wrote for Stuff, I’d happily try some AirPods Pro for my eyes. Retroid released another retro doodad. It’s more or less…
Week in Review
This week we've had a series of terrific articles that celebrate Free and Open Source software, we discuss Valve's Steam Machine, and we discuss ways of opting out of the retail regime…
Latest Tech Update
Recently I’ve been resisting buying another computer because I have so many used ones lying about, and I am not a heavy user or content creator by any means. I’ve always wanted a…
Days of Future Passed
There are a couple of posts in today's On This Day in the marmot that I liked. (Those are links to the original posts in the archives, because On This Day changes every day. The latter (later?) one…
OSes with no CLI and thoughts on the staleness of modern computing
[Nicked from a later comment to the previous one.] Other OSes I've used with no CLI -- Psion EPOC 16 (x86, Series 3); EPOC 32 (Arm, Series 5); Symbian; PalmOS; NewtonOS; and on the desktop,…
Q&A: Should I buy an extended warranty for my new computer?
Want to get my easy to follow Tech Tips in your email? Sign up for my daily Rick’s Tech Tips Newsletter! Note: The links in this post are affiliate links. Question from Angela: Rick, I have a…
The Myth That Night Vision Cameras Capture Paranormal Activity The Eye Can't See
It's often said that a night vision camera lets you see ghosts and paranormal activity that's not visible to the naked human eye, but how true is this claim?
ICQPodcast Episode 486 – Windows 10 to Linux
In this episode, we join Martin Butler M1MRB, Chris Howard (M0TCH), Martin Rothwell (M0SGL), Frank Howell (K4FMH), Bill Barnes (WC3B) and Leslie Butterfields (G0CIB) to discuss the latest Amateur /…
ICQPodcast Episode 486 – Windows 10 to Linux
In this episode, we join Martin Butler M1MRB, Chris Howard (M0TCH), Martin Rothwell (M0SGL), Frank Howell (K4FMH), Bill Barnes (WC3B) and Leslie Butterfields (G0CIB) to discuss the latest Amateur /…
Rick’s Daily Pick: Elegoo Uno Electronic Project Super Starter Kit w/ Tutorial
Note: The links in this post are affiliate links. My “Pick” for today is this awesome Elegoo Uno Electronics Project Super Starter Kit w/ Tutorial. Do you have a child who loves to learn and…
Consider Being Useful-er
I was watching a video by guitarist Rhett Shull. Pretty decent YouTuber if you’re into guitar. I am sometimes, I guess. Anyway, he seems like a pretty reasonable guy. He was encouraging guitar…
Greyshark AUV - Biologically Inspired High-Performance Underwater Drone
 The Greyshark Series 2 AUVs (autonomous underwater vehicles) developed by Fassmer Defence in Germany have distinctive biologically inspired hull forms to…
inText - Guide
inText is about one thing: keeping your notes organized so you can always get back to the one you want, quickly, from whatever direction you happen to be coming from. You tidy up a little as you go,…
1 Year of Omarchy as My Learning OS, Not Just My Linux Setup
After one year of using Omarchy, the thing I value most is not the Linux setup itself. It is the learning environment I built around it.
Attention Platforms Cannot Invent New Interfaces
Modern ad-driven technology companies like Meta, Google, YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram cannot invent genuinely novel user interfaces or interaction models. Their incentives are too misaligned with…
Hands Are Not Cursors
Hands are made to interact with the world. They lift a glass and feel its weight shift. They hold a hammer, adjust their grip, and sense resistance, pressure, texture, temperature, shape, and force.…
Best Pixel for GrapheneOS 2026: Which Phone to Buy (Pixel 7a vs 9a vs 10a vs 10)
Which Pixel should you buy for GrapheneOS in 2026? Full comparison of Pixel 7a, 8a, 9a, 10a, and Pixel 10 for security support, value, and GrapheneOS compatibility. Updated June 2026 with Pixel 10a…
Optimize for loneliness
Much ink has been spilled on the negative externalities of optimizing for attention. Or whether they were externalities at all, given the politics of our tech oligarchs. The zone has definitely been…
Roku Waved the White Flag
It’s been years since I last wrote about Roku. The lack of discussion reflected the company having lost relevancy in video streaming despite reporting continued growth in customers and watch time.…
“Free The Icons”
Paul Kafasis:Past icons weren’t just more expressive. They were also more usable. Having distinct shapes provided a useful way to tell icons apart. Tahoe eliminates that cue by forcing everything…
Creator Weekly: YouTube Shorts Player, Instagram for TV, Facebook Creator Studio
Dear readers, especially friends in Europe, I hope you are staying cool. There is no summer vacation for creator updates! This week there are updates for YouTube Shorts and Instagram viewers, YouTube…
Using a MacBook Neo for web development
I've been in the market for a portable computer for a while, ever since moving my main PC to the attic where it's too out of the way to use for quick tasks. I originally tried reviving my old ~2012…
We can't fix society with tech
We can't fix society with tech Just capturing this thought from an online friend. You are not going to fix anything, until we find some other core principles to build on. Like cooperation and…
Filtered for that which motivates form
1. It’s hot in London so I’ve been seeing a lot of handheld portable fans, usually with a strap so you can hang it round your neck. My faves are the ones with thermoelectric coolers in the middle of…
iPhone birth control
Yesterday, I shared Noah Smith’s observation that fifteen years ago, the internet was an escape from the real world — and now the real world is an escape from the internet. Smith recently…
Steam Machine alternatives: mini PCs that game for less
Valve's Steam Machine is $1,049. Here are the mini PC alternatives that play the same games for less, and when the Steam Machine still wins.
From Plex to Jellyfin Part 7: Watching Habits—Tautulli to Streamystats
Streamystats is the stats tool for Jellyfin. Watch history, library analytics, AI recommendations, custom watchlists, and a Year in Review that shows you exactly what you watched.
XDG Desktop Portal Location API for KDE applications
In my last post on Android platform integration I had suggested increasing the focus on Linux on mobile phones, due to Google’s ongoing attempts to close down Android for us. I have to follow that…
BBC Radio 4 long-wave closes down
Above: an old radio dial, photographed by me in Turin, Italy, in 2011, with “Droitwich” highlighted. BBC Radio 4 Long Wave 198 closed down early in the morning on 27th June, from…
Google Pixel 6
Status: Given to my partner (he then exchanged it for a Pixel 9a) I acquired the Google Pixel 6 in somewhat of a rush. I was using the OnePlus 5t as a daily driver and I was enjoying it quite much,…
Weeknotes #86 (June 27, 2026)
Things I found, read, did, and produced this past week. Things I consumed The RAM shortages really hit hard this week across consumer electronics. That included: The Steam Machine that was fully…