I’m incredibly proud of my sister, brother-in-law, nephew, and niece as they work to get better access for people of all needs and abilities. One small step that you can take? Use person-first language. (Here’s a good starter guide, and a great illustrative graphic) 🙂
My post gushing about my love for the iPad’s T-Mobile data plan has sprung up to the top of my hit list lately, according to @tinylytics. I wondered if I was getting linked to by some listicle. Maybe, but this could also be it (in my admittedly non-scientific test of a search term in private mode).
I got a really nice email from a reader who found my post about making sure your PlayStation is actually using that ethernet cord you plugged into it. So I figure it’s probably a good time to remind you to make sure your PlayStation is actually using that ethernet cord you plugged into it.
Help! Between @snazzyq@mas.to’s video and @viticci@mastodon.social’s gushing, I’m growing ever more interested in Nreal glasses. 😎
🆕📝 I Made a Bookmarklet That Runs a Shortcut on a URL
Ever been frustrated by trying to run a shortcut on a URL in Safari? Here’s an old-school bookmarklet to the rescue! Plus some companion shortcuts and my awe of ChatGPT’s helpfulness.
I just released version 1.0 of my ‘Save for Later’ shortcut — one that I use all the time to direct the traffic of links into different apps:
This shortcut processes URLs shared to it from the share sheet or clipboard and saves them to separate apps depending on their content.
It can process a bunch of different URLs at once and send them off to a media-saver like Play or MusicBox, a task manager like Things, or a catch-all/read-later app like GoodLinks.
Get it here from the HeyDingus Shortcuts Library.
And let me know if you adapt it!
😆 Turns out I not only already had this idea, but I implemented it and promptly forgot about it too.
🆕📝 The Secrets App Makes a Good iCloud Passwords Companion and Is Free Today Thanks to Indie App Santa
I wanted to be thorough in this post, but that means you might have less than an hour to go get this massive discount for what seems to be an ideal app for those who are iCloud Passwords-curious.
A simple project never is.
I just updated my ‘Get URL to Run Shortcut’ shortcut to version 1.2:
- Added option to create a bookmarklet that runs the selected shortcut with the current webpage URL as its input
- Fixed the Rich Text option on macOS
- Added it to the HeyDingus Shortcuts Library
Get it here from the HeyDingus Shortcuts Library.
This was a stunning way of telling me that I wasn’t using Raycast’s power features nearly as much as I thought. I’m satisfied with my decision to cancel my Pro subscription. But its lightning speed and AI contextual awareness are probably the best we’ll see until Apple builds in its own AI thing.
Welp, the Nazis have made it to Threads. Just spent the last five minutes reporting an awful number of awful people posting swastikas as replies to what I thought was going to be a fun Thread.
This is why we can’t have nice things. Hope Meta can get it under control.
🆕📝 ‘The Too-Slick Apple Event’
Sometimes, all it takes is pointing out one small observation to completely change my mind. “Strong opinions, loosely held” I think is what they call it.
You know those obnoxious sites that pop up dialogs when they think you’re about to leave, asking you to subscribe to their email newsletter? Well that won’t do for Scripting News readers […]. So here I am at the bottom of the page quietly encouraging you to sign up for the nightly email. It’s got everything from the previous day on Scripting, plus the contents of the linkblog and who knows what else we’ll get in there.
Love this from Dave Winer’s newsletter plug. Reminds me of Micro.blog’s ethos, but here we have weekly and monthly roundup options. @manton, what do you think about daily?
🔗
The real web, the small web, the indie web is amazing. Don’t give Facebook and the rest of these clowns your content. Don’t give them the time or your attention. Get a blog, a website, a Mastodon account, something you control, and share links to cool things you find. Make a list of your favourite blogs or websites or photos of cats. Write about a pizza you had that was delicious. Share a recipe. Go down a rabbit hole for hours on end adding weird stuff to your site. Just do it somewhere you control because the real web is fantastic.
Hear, hear!
🔗
If Beeper were granting its users free access to Centurion Lounges, I’m not sure how anyone could defend it, because everyone can see how a premium airport lounge costs a lot of money to run: leasing the space, hiring staff, and all the free food and beverages. But that’s exactly what Beeper is doing with iMessage: granting free access to a premium perk intended solely for Apple’s device owners while they’re using those Apple devices.
It’s not a perfect analogy, but Gruber makes a cogent and compelling case for Apple’s defense against Beeper.
Raycast’s one-keystroke access to ChatGPT is worth the price of admission to the Pro subscription all on its own. I know there are many similar solutions, but it being just ready in my quick launcher is so nice.
I meant to post this back in July. By November, I’d already canceled my subscription. 😬
🔗
I also get to decide which rooms I want to be in, and which rooms I want to invite other people into. I don’t have any interest in hanging out in a room with Nazis, and I certainly don’t have any interest in inviting my friends to hang out there with me. If I find that the owner of the living room allows people who make me or my friends feel unsafe — or, as is true in this case, pays them to hang out there, and makes money from their presence — I can use the law of two feet to leave.
Well worth reading in full and bookmarking.
Mastodon has most of the internet people I know, Bluesky has a subset of people I’m interested in, Threads has the highest quality algorithm for discovery and is reaching the least technical audience. Micro.blog is where I have a (small) sense of community. It could be worse.
—
Same. Especially that bit about Micro.blog.
🔗 So You Just Found Out Amazon Is Greedy // Joe Rosensteel
Whine and kick and scream, of course, but you’re trying to make a logistics center feel ashamed. Good luck.
Thanks to how they account for things we’ll never be able to make it unprofitable for them - because it was always unprofitable. There’s nowhere to go but up, to ads, and profit.
Thanks to @maique I remembered Indie App Santa is a thing that exists this time of year!
🎅🏼 Christmas is in the past now, but #indieAppSanta keeps going. Today’s app is a nice one…
If you need countdown (or up) widgets, that also work on your Apple Watch, and come in a few cool designs, you might like this. Lifetime unlock free today.
Finished reading: The Narrow Road Between Desires by Patrick Rothfuss 📚
Pat’s writing envelopes my mind like a warm embrace. The prose is so unique. I really enjoyed this small story about Bast, and the ‘Author’s Note’ bit at the end nearly as much.
“Value” is like a joke. If you have to explain it in detail, it might not be good.