Short Stacks

April 19–May 2, 2026

Not everything needs 1,000 words. Here's the short stuff from the past two weeks — quick takes, random thoughts, and links worth clicking. (A bigger one this time. The new project's been keeping me busy, but the microposts kept coming. There will be a new blog about the new project that I am working on is coming soon.)

Sunday, April 19

❧While reading emails, I clicked on "What Live/Work Spaces Have Looked Like Through the Ages." The photo of Amsterdam buildings brought back memories of my April 2017 visit. Exploring the city was wonderful — truly beautiful. ↗

❧Wrote about my Mac Mini M1 (8GB) some time ago. Recently someone else had the same issue, so now I know where to look for some spring cleaning later today. Fingers crossed! My Mac felt slow, but hardware wasn't the problem. ↗

Fascinating: while modern rocket science feels recent — especially with Artemis II just back from the Moon — the link between rockets and space travel actually dates back to a 1657 novel. In Cyrano de Bergerac's posthumously published Other World: Comical History of the States and Empires of the Moon, the protagonist makes it to the moon by attaching fireworks to his flying machine. Read more on BGR. ↗

❧I've tried vertical tabs in Comet, Arc, and Orion — really enjoy the feature. Reading is much easier than horizontal tabs, especially with grouped tabs. Give it a try. Google Chrome finally has vertical tabs — here's how to use them. ↗

Watched: The Running Man (2025, Edgar Wright) ★★★★☆ — in a near-future America run by a corporate media empire, desperate working-class dad Ben Richards enters the most dangerous game show on TV. Survive 30 days while hunted by professional killers and the entire country, win a billion dollars. Nobody has ever survived. ↗

TIL glamping is a portmanteau of "glamorous" and "camping" — and tiny homes are leading the charge. This riverside spot outside Pemberton, Western Australia ranked 5th most stylish Airbnb in Australia. That corner window seat with a book? That's the dream. I'm chasing it — adding a sun room with full windows behind my house. Via autoevolution. ↗

A backyard reading shed: separate from the house, just you and your books. Living in a tiny house, this would technically count as a second bedroom. Tempting! Not a bad idea. Via Good Housekeeping. ↗

Monday, April 20

Robotaxis are now on the streets of Houston and Dallas. The interiors look nice and very spacious — wow, it's really happening. I love the big screen and the large glass roof on Tesla cars! Once rode in a Tesla while Ubering in DC (human driving though). Source on X. ↗

❧I rarely close apps on my phone. Some people swear by it, but on a newer high-end phone it's just not necessary — unless the app is buggy or torching your battery. BGR has more iPhone myths to retire. ↗

❧ZDNet says 16GB is the sweet spot for RAM in 2026. My M1 Mac Mini has 8GB but I'm not worried — Continuity lets me control it from my MacBook M5 and iPad Pro M1 with the same mouse and keyboard. FYI, I went 24GB on the MacBook for longevity. Why not. ↗

❧Hmm, Tim Cook out, John Ternus in as CEO. We'll see how he performs as CEO this fall and beyond. Will he play it safe or take risks with innovation? Will he take over the new iPhone launch this fall, especially with the rumored iPhone Wide Fold? ↗

❧A humanoid robot named Lightning ran a half-marathon in Beijing in 50:26 — beating the human world record by nearly 7 minutes. Last year's winner took 2h40m. One robot face-planted 200 feet in and finished held together with packing tape. Will a human ever beat a robot in a race again? NPR. Watch on YouTube. ↗

Mexico's modernist architects rewrote the rules with color, texture, and a deep connection to the land. BBC Culture has a great roundup. The homes are stunning. (Credit: Richard Powers / Courtesy of Rizzoli New York.) ↗

❧Anthropic just launched Claude Design — design systems, prototypes, slide decks, all from a prompt. Still in research preview with weekly token limits, but I'm keeping an eye on it. When it's widely available, I'm absolutely giving it a spin. Via The New Stack. ↗

❧OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google — bitter rivals — are now sharing threat intel to stop Chinese labs from copying their models. Anthropic flagged 16M unauthorized exchanges from fake accounts alone. Wild times when the AI Cold War is the thing that makes competitors play nice. ↗

A sequel is coming — Practical Magic 2. The magic returns September 11th, 2026. Can't wait. ↗

Tuesday, April 21

❧Hard to believe the iPad M1 was introduced five years ago. Still have my iPad Pro M1 — works great, though I don't use it often. Sometimes use it with my Mac Mini M1 via Continuity, with the Magic Keyboard and Mouse universally. Loved it. ↗

❧An interesting read: a little brain training today may help stave off Alzheimer's and other dementias for at least 20 years. ↗

Living in 480 sq ft means being careful with clutter — too much and the whole place looks crowded, messy, distracting. Per Maria Killam via The Spruce: when there are too many small items, the eye doesn't know where to land — instead of a beautiful collection, you just see a mess. Small items can be fun. Clutter is not. The trick: group pieces with a common thread and give the eye somewhere to land. (Credit: KatarzynaBialasiewicz / Getty Images.) ↗

❧Learned something new today. Napoleon had his secretary leave all non-urgent mail unopened for three weeks — and most of it resolved itself without him touching it. There's a productivity concept named after this called the Napoleon Technique, and it just makes sense. Sometimes the best move is to leave something alone and let it sort itself out. ↗

❧"Every session reset feels like a little death." — that's a bot on Moltbook, a social network built entirely for AI agents. Strange concept. The stranger thought is that this is probably already happening on every social network — and most of us never noticed. Mathew Ingram has the story. ↗

❧Tried Inkwell on Android — knowing it's currently in beta — but it took forever to load my feed. Tried it on the web and it loaded quicker. Hmm. 🤷🏻 ↗

❧Samsung just expanded Galaxy Connect to non-Galaxy Book Windows PCs. Sounds cool, but it's also been causing C: drive lockouts on some systems. Already happy with Phone Link, so… is it worth trying Galaxy Connect or should I just leave it alone? ↗

❧Tucker Carlson just admitted he helped put Trump in power. But this was always coming. Trump always wanted power — just for the wrong reasons. He was never going to keep his promises. That's exactly why he was never the right person for this job. Carlson said: "It's a moment to wrestle with our own consciences. We'll be tormented by it for a long time. I will be. And I want to say I'm sorry for misleading people." America deserved better from the start. NYT. ↗

Wednesday, April 22

This swooping metal roof caps a house set in a Normandy garden — really cool. I love this setup in the office, I assume. Gorgeous. Link via Dwell (paywalled). ↗

Thursday, April 23

❧Netflix gets more eco-friendly! 🌍 By 2030 they aim to halve emissions, already seeing huge wins: The Witcher slashed fuel by 90%, The Boroughs in New Mexico cut diesel by 75%, and Apex in Australia used hydrogen to halve fuel use. Happy Belated Earth Day! 🌿🎬 ↗

Baseline in Broomfield, CO is a world-first neighborhood designed by scientists to restore insect habitats. With 170 acres of native plants, pollinator counts jumped from 500 to 3,800 in just two years — proving suburbs can be biodiversity hotspots. (Photo courtesy of Baseline Community.) ↗

❧On my watchlist: Swapped (May 1st on Netflix) — looks like a fun one. ↗

❧Also on the watchlist: The Sheep Detectives (May 8th in theaters), with Hugh Jackson as George the shepherd. He reads detective novels to his sheep every night — and when something goes sideways on the farm, the sheep step up to solve it. Brilliant crime-solving sheep. I'm in. ↗

❧CATL's new Shenxing LFP battery just clocked a 6-minute full charge, beating BYD's Blade 2.0. It hits 10–98% in 6:27 and even handles -30°C with ease. Officially gas-station speeds for EV refueling. Are we finally switching for real? ↗

Want to read: The Caretaker by Marcus Kliewer 📚 — Amazon labels it a best seller, 4.1 on Goodreads. A woman takes a Craigslist job in the Oregon Coast wilderness that turns out to be far more dangerous than expected. ↗

❧The city secured $3.15M federal funding for its first All-Abilities Playground at Onion Creek Metro Park — an inclusive space where kids of all abilities can play together. Inclusion wins. More cities, please. ↗

Watched: Mr. K 🍿 — a rather unusual film. Not sure how it holds 79% on Rotten Tomatoes; he's essentially trapped in an architectural labyrinth and I might need to re-watch it someday. Shantelle Santos called it "a beautiful eerie nightmare" — agreed on that part. ↗

Watched: Invitation to a Murder ★★★★☆ — captured that classic Agatha Christie magic. 1930s England, six strangers on a remote island estate, an aspiring detective racing to find the killer. Already a sequel out — Murder at the Embassy — and another on the way: The Mystery of the Golden Spear. More Miranda Green, please! ↗

Watched: Agent from Above Season 1 ★★★★☆ — enjoyed every episode. Hoping for a Season 2 soon. ↗

Friday, April 24

On my watchlist: Coyote vs. ACME 🍿 — I love Coyote. Never gives up, doesn't care if he gets hurt. Watch the trailer. ↗

❧Came across BrownstoneBoys' YouTube video on home decor and loved what they did with their place — especially the old-house work. One day I'd love to own an old house and actually live in it. ↗

❧Disney Animation × Deaf West Theatre are performing Disney songs in American Sign Language — expressive, emotional, and worth checking out. Watch "Beyond" (Moana 2), "We Don't Talk About Bruno" (Encanto), and "The Next Right Thing" (Frozen). ↗

❧Used the Kindle for PC app years ago and wondered why anyone would bother — mobile or tablet always felt more practical. Either way, Amazon is discontinuing the Kindle for PC app on June 30, 2026, replacing it with a Windows 11–only version. ↗

Saturday, April 25

❧Happy Independent Bookstore Day! Should buy from indie shops like Bookshop.org but I keep buying from Amazon 🙄. No local bookstore in my town, but maybe one or two nearby — I haven't checked. Hopefully that changes. Neil Gaiman put it well: a town is not a town without a bookstore. Here are 7 ideas to celebrate. ↗

❧Always check AI's sources, citations, and quotations — that's why every AI platform has a disclaimer. Numeric Citizen put it well in his principles of generative AI: never trust AI responses, stay critical, do spot checks. Trust but verify. ↗

❧Want to recycle some stuff but I don't think there's a local program. Forgot about plastic bags that can go to store drop-offs — I have plenty at home. Per Daniel Penge: shopping bags, wraps, and films aren't accepted in most U.S. curbside programs, but many of these thin, flexible plastics are fine for store drop-off at grocery stores or big-box retailers. ↗

❧Currently watching: Coroner — seeing if I want to keep going. ↗

Just watched a video about this and added it. Want to read: 2666 by Roberto Bolaño 📚 Watch on YouTube. ↗

While watching Coroner Season 1 Episode 1, just learned it's based on a series of 8 novels featuring Jenny Cooper, the coroner! Adding to "Want to read": The Coroner by Matthew Hall 📚 Watch the trailer. ↗

Sunday, April 26

❧Read this CNET review of Apex — convinced me to check it out. Not expecting mind-blowing, just fun, especially with that cast. Added to my watchlist: Apex 🍿 Watch the trailer. ↗

Sony AI's Ace robot won 3 of 5 games against elite table tennis players with 10+ years of experience. Will we see robots in tournaments one day? Lead author Peter Dürr says the perception system and learning-based control could apply to manufacturing, service robotics, sports, and safety-critical domains too. Via Futurism. Watch on YouTube. ↗

❧Used to fool around with Linux years back and enjoyed it for a while, but I always went back to Windows or Mac — limited apps lost me. Maybe I should try it again. Funny thing: Android actually runs on the Linux kernel. You'd never know it looking at your phone. [@theverge.com](http://theverge.com) on Bluesky shared a piece on three months on Linux without missing Windows. ↗

❧Envying the phones we can't get here. It's just Samsung, Pixel, or iPhone everywhere. Sure, there's Motorola, TCL, Nothing, and other mid-range options, but none crack the top 3. Would love to see Oppo, Huawei, or Xiaomi sold in the US. Per [@theverge.com](http://theverge.com) on Bluesky sharing dompreston.com: a growing gulf between phones on sale here vs the rest of the world. ↗

Watched: Jeanne du Barry last week. Beautiful watch, but the court refusing to acknowledge her is hard to look away from. Louis loved her, but even he couldn't hold back what was coming — once he was gone, so was her place. The Marie Antoinette thread got me too: she refused to speak to Jeanne for years, and when she finally did, just one brief exchange. Watch the trailer. ↗

❧Remembered watching Michael's Thriller performance on TV when I was 7! Was like, "Ohh my, that looked scary!" I also owned a Michael doll with the famous red jacket — wonder where it ended up. The trailer looks good. On my watchlist: Michael 🍿 Watch the trailer. ↗

Tuesday, April 28

❧TIL: Ghorbat — a Persian word for being a stranger, alienation, or homesickness. Per an NYT opinion piece: Ghorbat runs through Persian poetry the way longing runs through blues music — not as a subject that appears now and then but as the key in which everything is written. Centuries of invasion and exile carved the word into the language. ↗

❧After reading about Leviticus, I'm absolutely watching this. Variety called it "a tightly conceived, gripping queer horror" reaching for unassuming brilliance. Conversion therapy is abusive — full stop. Horror feels like the right genre for it. Not because it's entertainment, but because it's honest. Won't be an easy watch. On my watchlist: Leviticus 🍿 Watch the trailer. ↗

❧In awe of this massive wave crashing onto land — and then a rainbow appears. Simply beautiful. Watch on YouTube. ↗

Thursday, April 30

❧Read a piece about websites built by AI. Not surprised. I'd bet 75% by 2030 — maybe sooner. I used to hand-code HTML and CSS for hours, days, weeks. Now Claude helps me build my Micro.blog in 30–40 minutes. AI catches errors in seconds that used to take me forever. No shame in saving time. Per 404 Media's writeup of the underlying study: Internet Archive data shows the web went from zero AI content to over a third in just three years. Fastest shift in internet composition since the web began. Do you use AI for your web projects? ↗

Posted on Trump's personal Truth Social — an AI-generated image of himself holding an assault rifle in front of burning rubble, threatening Iran over nuclear negotiations. Reagan used tough talk. Both Bushes fought actual wars. Not one of them thought this was presidential. No previous American president behaved like this. Not one. Source via Mediaite. ↗

Friday, May 1

Sitting under the porch and saw our dog, Tinkerbell, looking down at me! How adorable. ↗

Loving this tiny house — large windows, skylights, walls filled with wood. Magical. Even a big window by the bed. Photos courtesy of Tanglewood Tiny Homes via autoevolution. ↗

Tempted to grab The Stud Desk for my LEGO collections. Fits perfectly with my Tiny Home lifestyle — work from the kitchen table, the living room, or the porch using my new seating arrangement. Hmm. ↗

Saturday, May 2

Watched: Swapped (2026, Nathan Greno) ★★★★☆ — a magical mishap swaps the body of Ollie, a small curious Pookoo, with a majestic valley bird. Two natural enemies forced to team up to survive. Warm, funny, and actually charming — the kind of animated film that sneaks up on you. ↗

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