Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Duncan McAlester @dmcalester.bsky.social · 2d

What’s the German word for that feeling you get when you’ve hit your annual deductible? Some combo of recognizing you’re getting old, annoyance that you’ve spent thousands on top of your exorbitant monthly premiums, and industry seeing what you should get for “free” in the last quarter of 2025.

Duncan McAlester @dmcalester.bsky.social · 11d

Remember when magnets and computers and displays were an awful combo? Now you have a whole industry of accessories based around sticking things to your phone with magnets.

1

Duncan McAlester @dmcalester.bsky.social · 13d

I really wish Apple Music had an Infinite Playlist option but for albums and while we’re at it a "mega next" so if you’re not feeling the next album.

1

Duncan McAlester @dmcalester.bsky.social · 18d

Definitely agree. Text selection has been noticeably improved. I also get fewer.periods.instead.of.spaces mistakes. If you ignored the Liquid Glass aspect, the rest has a real powerful ”Snow Leopard” vibe to it.

Duncan McAlester @dmcalester.bsky.social · 19d

The updated Shortcuts app in macOS and iOS is pretty intriguing. If structured output is a powerful constraint to help guide LLM outputs, Apple could have a real secret weapon.

1

Duncan McAlester @dmcalester.bsky.social · 23d

I’m reminded of Hemingway’s response when asked “how did you go broke?” He responded “two ways: gradually, then suddenly”.

We have entered the suddenly phase.

1

Duncan McAlester @dmcalester.bsky.social · Aug 17

Just booked a capsule hotel in Tokyo. It’s been in my bucket list since reading Neuromancer some 35 years ago.

1

Duncan McAlester @dmcalester.bsky.social · Aug 2

Part of the appeal of Claude Code is it brings back that immediacy and experimentation of the early web when all you needed was NotePad and a browser. The web is inarguably more useful and usable today, but it’s also so much more boring.

Duncan McAlester @dmcalester.bsky.social · Jul 31

10 years ago, very few shipped a design system with Web Components.

5 years ago, very few shipped design systems with Design Tokens.

5 years from now, very few will ship design systems with component libraries.

10 years from now, design systems will be procedurally derived and abstracted.

1

Duncan McAlester @dmcalester.bsky.social · Jul 25

A flaw humans have when it comes to comparing automation to human capability is seeing any error as indicative of failure.

It’s like the old axiom when being chased by a lion; I don’t need to be faster than the lion, just faster than you.

Automation is going to be less flawed than most of us.

Duncan McAlester @dmcalester.bsky.social · Jul 24

People always post these immaculate workstation setups and they are amazing and inspiring. Mine is very messy, but I looked down and saw this and it sums up so much. A pocket watercolor kit and sketchbook right next to a case of random Arduino and other circuit boards.

Picture of a pocket watercolor kit and circuit boards.

1 2

Duncan McAlester @dmcalester.bsky.social · Jul 17

A central conflict is wanting to be a craftsman in a market ruled by MVPs.

Duncan McAlester @dmcalester.bsky.social · Jul 12

The new Superman movie is a mirror, and a lot of people aren’t going to like what they see.

1

Duncan McAlester @dmcalester.bsky.social · Jul 5

Every day in 2026 makes one of the explanations to Fermi’s Paradox the most likely answer.

Duncan McAlester @dmcalester.bsky.social · Jun 25

Took the kiddo to the Chicago Art Institute last week and predictably got the “I’m bored”, but they’ve since seen two pop-culture depictions of American Gothic, and they were excited to recognize it after seeing it in person.

#missionaccomplished

1

Duncan McAlester @dmcalester.bsky.social · Jun 12

I don’t trust the code AI writes

`npm install a-gigabyte-of-code-i-dont-even-look-at`

2

Duncan McAlester @dmcalester.bsky.social · Jun 12

I think the catch is it’s $6,000 for a 55" OLED.

Duncan McAlester @dmcalester.bsky.social · Jun 11

I was just wondering if any designers had thoughts or long blog posts on Apple’s new design language?

Duncan McAlester @dmcalester.bsky.social · Jun 11

<marquee> is still around in all three engines.

Duncan McAlester @dmcalester.bsky.social · May 30

Waiting for Sonnet/Opus 4 to finish is the new waiting for compile to finish.

Duncan McAlester @dmcalester.bsky.social · May 26

I have just learned of the Japanese term 食い倒れ (kuidaore) which means “bringing ruin upon oneself by extravagance in food.” Apparently a designation adopted by the residents of Osaka.

I have found my people.

Duncan McAlester @dmcalester.bsky.social · May 22

AI reminds me of the answer Hemingway gave to the question, “How did you go broke?”

He replied, “Two ways: gradually, then suddenly.”

1

Duncan McAlester @dmcalester.bsky.social · May 8

I lost the password to my dishwasher. Or more accurately my dishwasher’s app is poorly implemented and doesn’t support my password manager and has a name that is not easily remembered/searched for.

Duncan McAlester @dmcalester.bsky.social · May 6

One of my favorite things about modern streaming services is the “infinite” playlist. My 9yo’s has currently made it to Shirley Bassey, Tom Jones, Engelbert Humperdinck, et. al.,

Duncan McAlester @dmcalester.bsky.social · Apr 19

The backlash is coming and I’m here for it.

1