Long Read

Google is doing a huge overhaul to Maps. It’s not just a map anymore; it’s becoming a personal assistant that uses AI to “see” and “think.” Check out the full story here: Digital Trends Article

What the new AI can do:

• “Ask Maps”: You can ask complex questions like “Find a quiet cafe with good parking,” and Gemini AI summarizes the best spots for you.
• Immersive Navigation: It uses 3D views to show landmarks, overpasses, and even traffic details before you go.
• Driving Copilot: Google says these features are designed to help you “stay focused on the road” by letting you talk to the AI while you drive.

My blog doesn’t usually wander into geopolitics, but a couple of emails about the U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran showed up in my inbox last week, and even after I set them aside, the question kept nagging at me.

How did we actually get here? So I finally got curious and went looking.

Yesterday started with a routine trip to Paintsville, KY, for an eye doctor appointment. The news was mostly good—everything looks stable—but since I’m managing diabetes, I’ll be back for a follow-up in three months to stay on top of things. However, there is something we have to watch closely. They saw a spot on the scan, and honestly, without an interpreter there, it was hard to fully grasp what was happening.

I’ve been rocking an M1 Mac mini with 8GB of RAM for a long time now. For the simple stuff—emails, a few tabs, the occasional video—it’s been an absolute champ. But lately, the ‘magic’ of Apple’s memory management has started to hit a wall.

So, the tech experts are still debating if 8GB of RAM is enough for a Mac in 2026. The short answer? Yeah, sure. If you’re just checking email or watching YouTube, browsing fewer than 20 tabs, it’s great.

Just read the article. Interesting and, indeed, alarming!

Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei recently said the company is "no longer sure whether Claude is conscious."

Okay but like — if that's true, what do we even do with that?

Should we be worried?

Do they get rights? Can we just unplug them when we're done? We built these things to work for us. What if they have feelings about that?

Here's the uncomfortable part: Claude can say "I'm uncomfortable with this" or "I prefer that." But is it actually experiencing anything — or just producing the words a conscious thing would produce?

Nobody knows. Not even Anthropic.

So what do you think — if AI turns out to be conscious, are we ready for what that means?

I just read an article.

AI has changed since then, and now it’s not something out there on the horizon. It’s here. It’s in our lives,” Verbinski says. “It did feel like it was immediate, that the story needed to be made quickly and put out right now.

Apocalyptic warning against AI. I never thought I’d see that framing — but AI is moving fast. So… maybe? Hmm.

Saw the teaser.— Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die — a sci-fi comedy; now on my watchlist. But, theater-only for now.

“a gleeful high-concept comedy with a serious message at its core.” — Critics Consensus at Rotten Tomatoes

Ever wonder why you're a picky — or should I say, finicky — eater? I've been asking myself that for years. Turns out, it might literally start before birth. 🤔

I just read a fascinating article by a nutritional neuroscientist — and it turns out my finicky ways were set in motion long before my first meal!

Add in the genes that make certain people extra sensitive to bitter tastes (about 70% of us!), and suddenly my complicated relationship with certain foods makes a lot more sense.

I actually got the LEGO Plum Blossom set this past Christmas, but I finally pulled the trigger on the build two weeks ago. I was so excited to get into it, and it's been sitting on my shelf ever since, looking cheerful in all its plastic glory.

But as I was looking at those red petals, I realized I've been eyeing the new LEGO Icons Ford Model T set that launched earlier this week. It's a 1,060-piece tribute to the car that changed the world in 1913. It took me back to my teenage years when I used to collect antique Hot Wheels models. I still have them, and there's something about holding a miniature version of a 100-year-old machine that makes history feel tangible.

So here's something I haven't done in way too long: adult coloring.

I was really into it for a while back in DC. There's something about sitting down with a good coloring book and a fresh set of colored pencils that just... hits different. No screens. No notifications. Just you, some intricate little design, and the very important decision of whether this flower petal is going to be purple or teal. (The answer is always teal, by the way.)

Okay, I have to talk about Waymo.

I keep seeing these headlines and every time I do, it gets more real. Because "someday" just became Tuesday.

Here's the short version: self-driving cars are no longer a "someday" thing. They're here, rolling down real streets, in real cities, picking up real people. And they're spreading fast.