Adirondack Explorer, ‘Saranac Lake scraps plan for Flock surveillance cameras after public backlash’:

White introduced a string of amendments to the original resolution. The first directed the village manager to immediately terminate the contract with Flock, while the second prohibited future agreements with the company.

The third amendment directs village staff to provide a report detailing the procurement process used, the timeline of decisions, and the individuals who authorized the agreement. All three amendments were passed.

Proud, again, of my fellow hometown residents.

It’s not lost on me that if you plug a MacBook Neo into a new Studio Display, your monitor will have more CPU oomf and RAM than the computer plugged into it. 🙃

But @siracusa@mastodon.social also notes that the A18 Pro powered more pixels when in the iPhone 16 Pro Max than it does in the Neo. 😳 🎙️

Like me, Gruber hopes an ultra-thin MacBook returns. It’d even help Apple’s MacBook lineup to mirror their iPhone one:

If I had my druthers, Apple would make a new svelte ultralight MacBook. Not instead of the Neo, but in addition to the Neo. Apple’s inconsistent use of the name “Air” makes this complicated, but the MacBook Neo is obviously akin to the iPhone 17e; the MacBook Air is akin to the iPhone 17 (the default model for most people); the MacBook Pros are akin to the iPhone 17 Pros. I wish Apple would make a MacBook that’s akin to the iPhone Air — crazy thin and surprisingly performant.

John Gruber, in his iPhone 17e review, regards the iPhone 16/Plus models as overshadowed by the strong iPhone 17 lineup — even for budget buyers:

I suspect Apple is on the cusp of completely moving away from the strategy of selling two- and three-year-old iPhones at lower prices, and updating their entire lineup with annual speed bumps.

It would be hard for the finance and operations teams, guided by Tim Cook hand, to give up that bonus margin from selling years-old products. But the extra manufacturing capacity, bulk component pricing, and simplified sales flow should soften the blow.

My favorite review so far of the MacBook Neo has been from Tyler Stalman. He really shows off how impressively powerful that little laptop is by simultaneously opening every single app and then testing his video editing workflow in Final Cut Pro. And it’s totally workable, even with only 8GB of RAM!

I’ve finally perfected my Songlinker shortcut to easily share song.link and album.link URLs! They’re nicer URLs with links out to all the music services and YouTube — a more considerate way to share music links.

It took diving into the API rather than trying to parse and match text from the webpage. 😅

Joseph arrived ready to learn and soaked up everything I taught. He was able to dial in great technique from the start and will be ready for even bigger ice flows next time! Always a great day out when you’re with a stoked guest. 🤘

A person in a red helmet climbs an ice formation with an ax in hand. Above is a review praising a mountain guide’s skills and safety. Review text: Had an incredible time Jarrod with Onward Mountains Guides was organized and extremely safe. He knew exactly what he was doing and was very easy to get to know and trust. We was dynamic throughout the day doing the routes I wanted and felt comfortable with while also pushing me and teaching me great technique. Had a blast Thanks for the great time.

Re: MacBook Neo; @gruber@mastodon.social noted it’s the first A-series product with two USB ports, and that it was a technical challenge:

But on the other hand, the Neo is the first product with an A-series chip that Apple has ever made that supports two USB ports.1 It was, I am reliably informed by Apple product marketing folks, a significant engineering achievement to get a second USB port at all on the MacBook Neo while basing it on the A18 Pro SoC.

However, I think the 1st-gen Studio Display actually holds that title. It had an A13 chip, and featured a Thunderbolt 3 and three USB-C ports.

Sean Hollister, theverge.com: ‘Grammarly will keep using authors’ identities without permission unless they opt out’

Last week, my colleagues discovered that Superhuman’s Grammarly had turned me into an AI editor, using my real name, without ever asking my permission. They did the same to my boss Nilay Patel, my colleagues David Pierce and Tom Warren, and — as Wired initially reported last Wednesday — many authors far more famous than us. Grammarly’s new “Expert Review” feature uses our names to give its AI suggestions credibility that they don’t deserve.

That’s super gross, Grammarly. 🤮

The Color Czar approves! From Jason Snell’s MacBook Neo review on, appropriately, Six Colors:

Yes, there’s a standard silver that will allow the Neo to blend in with almost every other MacBook out there. Indigo is a somewhat lighter cousin to the Midnight MacBook Air, a dark blue that will satisfy those who prefer their devices to be on the darker side. The more interesting choices are blush, which adds a pink pop to the traditional silvery MacBook look, and citrus, a bright yellow gold that’s undoubtedly the most aggressive laptop color Apple has made since the days of the tangerine iBook.

First morning deck reading session of the year ☀️ 🐶 📖 😊

Golden retriever sitting on a wooden deck looking upward with a small black dog resting nearby sunlight streaming through surrounding trees creating a tranquil forest setting.

Meta just bought Moltbook, because of-fucking-course it did. Zac Hall for 9to5Mac:

For those keeping score at home, that puts Moltbook with Meta, OpenClaw (formerly Clawdbot) with OpenAI, and Apple’s M4 Mac mini at the center of it all.

Meta arguably already operates the biggest social network for AI, of course, for anyone who has spent any amount of time on Facebook in the last couple years. 

As my colleague Ben Lovejoy said in reaction to the news, “the phrase ‘what could possibly go wrong’ was invented for this exact scenario.” 

No word on if or when Apple plans to revive Ping for the AI era.

Josh Wardle is out with a new game, Parseword!

The game teaches you that in the clue “Taxi reduced fee,” for example, “reduced” is an indicator word, instructing you to shorten another word. Remove the “i” from “taxi” and you find the solution, which is confirmed by the definition: “fee.” Having learned the principle, a thoughtful player should be able to solve the next example: “Funk reduced joy.”

The New Yorker’s profile covers Wordle’s success, the aftermath of its virality, and how cryptic crosswords became Wardle’s new obsession.

XKCD, ‘The Home Remedy World Championships’:

A comic depicting the “Home Remedy World Championships.” A stick figure judge announces the final round challenge: each contestant must deal with a skunk that has a hangover and chewing gum stuck to its fur. They have 30 minutes to complete the task. Three contestants are standing at separate counters, preparing to start.

Looks more like a nightmare in hell. 😂

My town gives the middle finger to ICE

Proud of my town, Saranac Lake, today as our local government has passed a resolution limiting how our police can cooperate with ICE. Here’s David Escobar, writing for the Adirondack Explorer:

The measure bars village police from enforcing federal civil immigration laws and prohibits U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from using local officers to conduct investigations or arrests. […]

[O]fficers will not engage with ICE in enforcing civil immigration violations, such as overstaying a visa or entering the country without proper documentation. […]

The resolution also bars local police resources being spent on behalf of federal immigration enforcement, limits information sharing between SLPD and federal immigration enforcement agencies and requires village police to develop a training policy to ensure officer compliance with the resolution.

Our residents put on progressive demonstrations on a nearly daily basis. The main town square I pass every time I drive to or from my house is regularly the site of pro-Ukraine, pro-choice, No Kings, and LGBTQ+ Pride events.

However, this resolution was not a given. We have a Republican mayor and a large portion of our snowbird residents lean conservative. In fact, a similar measure to restrict our cooperation with ICE was introduced last year, but then watered down so much that it became basically useless.

I’m glad to see that we had representatives unwilling to accept that outcome, and continued to pursue a resolution with more teeth, in defiance of the Trump administration.

Watched: Superman 🍿

I can’t say that it lived up to the hype of being the best comic book movie in recent memory, but it was a fun, exciting watch. I’m no Superman aficionado though, so take that with a grain of salt. Great casting! 👍

Ryan Christoffel, 9to5mac.com:

[I]n iOS 26.4, there’s another new setting that lets you disable a different aspect of Liquid Glass. 

It’s called ‘Reduce Bright Effects,’ and it controls the bright flashing response that shows up when interacting with certain UI elements.

Nice! I’ve found those bright highlights very distracting since September. I’ll be giving this new option a whirl.

THANK YOU to whoever finally fixed the bug that prevented the ‘Copy’ menu from appearing with a long-press on the address of in-app browser views. It’s been broken for over a year and I’d nearly given up hope. 🤩

(This might get me to finally update to iPadOS 26.)

Put the ZIP code first:

A US ZIP code is 5 characters. From those 5 characters you can determine the city, the state, and the country. That’s 3 fields. Autofilled. From one input.

But you don’t do that, do you? No. You make me type my street address, then my city, then scroll through a dropdown of 50 states to find Illinois wedged between Idaho and Indiana, then type my ZIP, then — the pièce de résistance — scroll through 200+ countries to find United States[.] […]

It’s 2026. What the fuck are we doing.

Now I’m livid too. Sorry for evermore ruining web forms for you. 😝

(Via White Noise)

Say hello to (Ara)Bella! 🐾 She’s a Golden Mountain Dog, and is just the sweetest, cuddliest, softest, sharkiest little pup. 😍

A man in a green puffer jacket holds a black puppy outdoors in a snowy landscape. The man is wearing a gray cap and smiling at the camera. The puppy looks content in his arms. Behind them, there is a white car and trees with bare branches under a clear blue sky.

A small black puppy eagerly bites a dog treat being held by a person. The puppy has a shiny coat and is standing on a light-colored floor inside a fenced area. One of its eyes is visible, focusing on the treat. In the background, part of a room is visible with natural light coming in.

A black puppy with a white patch on its chest is lying on a light-colored rug, facing left. The puppy is wearing a green collar. In the background, there is a white potted plant with yellow flowers, set against a tiled wall.

A fluffy black puppy lies on a blanket of white snow. It has a green and black leash attached to its collar. The puppy looks toward the camera with a gentle expression.

A small black puppy is sitting on a textured rug that has shades of gray and beige. The puppy is holding a stick in its paws and has a blue leash with a geometric pattern attached to its collar. The scene is set on a wooden deck with visible gaps between the planks.

Huge week in the high peaks! Monday we went out to Allen with Lou and Mark on a truly frigid morning that turned into a pleasant day. Tuesday was a successful ascent up Basin with Julie for her 44th winter high peak. Thursday we enjoyed a one-in-a-thousand day in the McIntyre Range with blue skies and nearly zero wind with M and Jay. Friday we rounded out this fantastic week with another adventure up Basin with Todd, a redemption hike after we got shut down a few weeks ago, and successfully completed his winter 46ers! 🥳

Over 60 miles of hiking in the high peaks, with wonderful people accomplishing big goals — love it!

Oh, and got a new puppy in the middle. 🥰

Three people in winter gear snowshoe through a snowy forest smiling near a sign that reads Allen Mountain surrounded by snow-covered trees and clear blue sky. A person stands on a snowy mountain holding a sign with Basin 4857 ft and #44/46W ADR 46R. The background features snow-covered peaks and trees. A man in a green jacket holding a black dog stands near a white car on a snowy path surrounded by trees. Two hikers stand on a snowy mountain path looking at distant mountains under a partly cloudy sky surrounded by snow-laden pine trees with backpacks and walking poles. A person in a winter coat holds a sign reading Basin 4850 ft #46/46W while standing in a snowy landscape with frosty trees and overcast sky.

Hartley Charlton, macrumors.com: ‘Apple Planning ‘MacBook Ultra’ With Touchscreen and Higher Price’

Instead of succeeding the newly announced M5 Pro and M5 Max MacBook Pros, the “MacBook Ultra” will be a new, top-tier Apple laptop. Gurman added that the device is likely to sit above the current M5 MacBook Pros, rather than replace them, suggesting that they will remain on sale.

I’d been skeptical that Apple would replace the M5 MacBook Pros with M6 versions later this same year. But if it’s a new, even more premium entry in the lineup, I think that timeline makes more sense.

We like to think that we “prepare the way” so that you can focus on enjoying the hike! Had a blast with Mark and Lou up on Allen this week!

A person in an orange jacket hikes through a snowy forest approaching a snow-covered bridge. Overlay text reads Mark Herskind 1 review 0 photos 5 stars 3 hours ago We hiked Allen on a frigid Monday stepped off at -18 degrees. Jarrod was great. Have already hired him for our next hike the Dix range. While we have some good experience on our side hiking with Jarrod and his knowledge and experience gives us extra insurance and confidence in tackling challenging hikes.

Greg Morris: ‘The Only Digital Detox That Worked’

I’ve written about this exact trap before. The irony of the dumb phone crowd carrying a phone, an MP3 player, a camera, a kindle, and a notebook when a smartphone does all of that. I called it ridiculous. And it is, if you’re doing it to be minimal. But that’s not what Becca was doing. She wasn’t trying to own less. She was trying to think more. There’s a difference.

Watched: Eternity 🍿

I really liked this movie. It’s rare to find a story that poses a really good question with relatable stakes, catches your heartstrings, and finds a way for everyone to come out of it looking like a good guy. It was very sweet. 👍👍