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Ten Years Of Tedium

@tedium.co

1.2K followers 35 following 420 posts

A newsletter dedicated to all things offbeat. Long twice-weekly, now just listening to our gut. (Please don’t shove politics into our replies, thanks.) Subscribe: https://tedium.co/

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Ten Years Of Tedium @tedium.co · Nov 7

Hello, we are Tedium, the Dull Side of the Internet. We are a rare example of a newsletter that existed before the days of Substack.

We will outlive Substack, but only if you support us on Ko-Fi:

ko-fi.com/tedium

Subscribe here: tedium.co

Buy Tedium: The Dull Side of the Intenet a Coffee. ko-fi.com/tedium

Become a supporter of Tedium: The Dull Side of the Intenet today! ❤️ Ko-fi lets you support the creators you love.

ko-fi.com

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Ten Years Of Tedium @tedium.co · 1d

A Dr. Demento superfan looks back on the novelty radio icon as he finally hangs up his microphone after a 55-year run. Oh, he pulled in a bunch of other superfans, too. https://feed.tedium.co/link/15204/17181096/dr-demento-retirement-tribute

Dr. Demento Is Retiring. He Leaves Behind An Army Of Musical Oddballs

A Dr. Demento superfan looks back on the novelty radio icon as he finally hangs up his microphone. Oh, he pulled in a bunch of other superfans.

feed.tedium.co

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Reposted by Ten Years Of Tedium

Ernie Smith @ernie.tedium.co · 1d

As you might have heard, Dr. Demento is retiring this weekend. Fortunately, I know an incredibly massive Dr. Demento fan.

tedium.co/2025/10/07/d...

new @tedium.co

Dr. Demento Is Retiring. He Leaves Behind An Army Of Musical Oddballs

A Dr. Demento superfan looks back on the novelty radio icon as he finally hangs up his microphone. Oh, he pulled in a bunch of other superfans.

tedium.co

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Ten Years Of Tedium @tedium.co · 1d

Find something you love as much as our David Buck loves Dr. Demento, who’s retiring this weekend:

tedium.co/2025/10/07/d...

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Ernie Smith @ernie.tedium.co · 6d

I present to you the first portable music player, the Belmont Boulevard. It looks like a freaking flask, it uses vacuum tubes, and there is no way to listen to it using traditional speakers (because the tubes aren’t powerful enough for anything other than earbuds).

More in the piece:

An ad for the Belmont Boulevard, bought to you by the Raytheon subsidiary Belmont. Released in 1945, it is the first pocketable portable radio, and it looks nothing like an iPod.

Headline Text: “The First of Belmont’s ‘Better Things to Come.’”

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Ten Years Of Tedium @tedium.co · 6d

For years, subminiature vacuum tubes were looking like the future of electronics—until a key figure in their rise heard about something better. https://feed.tedium.co/link/15204/17177109/subminiature-tubes-transistors-raytheon-history

Subminiature Vacuum Tube History: Letting The Better Tech Win

For years, subminiature vacuum tubes were looking like the future of electronics—until a key figure in their rise heard about something better.

feed.tedium.co

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Ten Years Of Tedium @tedium.co · 6d

The other series of tubes.

tedium.co/2025/10/02/s...

Subminiature Vacuum Tube History: Letting The Better Tech Win

For years, subminiature vacuum tubes were looking like the future of electronics—until a key figure in their rise heard about something better.

tedium.co

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Ernie Smith @ernie.tedium.co · 12d

Honestly, with the craziness of the news lately, I’ve found respite from the noise in gaming. Not just old games, either. Modern games—which I once used to shun—somehow sucked me in.

Here’s why I think that is.

tedium.co/2025/09/26/m...

new @tedium.co

I’m A Gamer Again. How The Hell Did That Happen?

Thoughts on getting into modern-day gaming later in life after taking a very long break. (Warning: This is a very elder millennial post, leaning on geriatric.)

tedium.co

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Ten Years Of Tedium @tedium.co · 12d

Thoughts on getting back into modern-day gaming later in life after taking a very long break. (Warning: This is a very elder millennial post, leaning on geriatric.) https://feed.tedium.co/link/15204/17172532/modern-gaming-later-in-life

I’m A Gamer Again. How The Hell Did That Happen?

Thoughts on getting into modern-day gaming later in life after taking a very long break. (Warning: This is a very elder millennial post, leaning on geriatric.)

feed.tedium.co

Ten Years Of Tedium @tedium.co · 12d

Sometimes, you have to dust off your old expectations and realize there’s more to games than the Super NES.

tedium.co/2025/09/26/m...

I’m A Gamer Again. How The Hell Did That Happen?

Thoughts on getting into modern-day gaming later in life after taking a very long break. (Warning: This is a very elder millennial post, leaning on geriatric.)

tedium.co

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Ten Years Of Tedium @tedium.co · 14d

if you’ll let me: I’d like to get serious for a moment.

Ernie Smith @ernie.tedium.co · 14d

Hey, can you all do me a big favor? My childhood friend Chris recently found out he has terminal cancer. He has two daughters.

One of them, Alivia, wants to go see Alex Warren with her dad in Columbus, Ohio.

If you know someone in his orbit, send it to him. If you don’t, please share this post. ❤️

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Ten Years Of Tedium @tedium.co · 15d

A recent Secret Service raid uncovers an insane network of SIM cards—along with perhaps the most unusual piece of hardware I’ve ever seen. Here’s the deal with the SIM bank. https://feed.tedium.co/link/15204/17169312/secret-service-raid-sim-bank-telecom-hardware

NYC Telecom Raid: What’s Up With Those Weird SIM Banks?

A recent Secret Service raid uncovers an insane network of SIM cards—along with the oddest piece of hardware I’ve ever seen. Here’s the deal with the SIM bank.

feed.tedium.co

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Ten Years Of Tedium @tedium.co · 15d

Here it is everyone, the weirdest piece of niche computing hardware we’ve ever seen.

tedium.co/2025/09/23/s...

NYC Telecom Raid: What’s Up With Those Weird SIM Banks?

A recent Secret Service raid uncovers an insane network of SIM cards—along with the oddest piece of hardware I’ve ever seen. Here’s the deal with the SIM bank.

tedium.co

Reposted by Ten Years Of Tedium

Ernie Smith @ernie.tedium.co · 17d

Today’s @tedium.co brings back one of its best-known contributors, Chris Dalla Riva, to highlight an excerpt from his upcoming book, Uncharted Territory. (Great book, BTW.)

In it, he talks about how drum machines managed to take over pop music in short order.

tedium.co/2025/09/21/d...

Drum Machine History: Even Better Than The Real Thing?

How the drum machine, despite being a machine, proved just to have just enough heart to dominate the pop charts.

tedium.co

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Ten Years Of Tedium @tedium.co · 17d

How the drum machine, despite being a machine, proved just to have just enough heart to dominate the pop charts. https://feed.tedium.co/link/15204/17167610/drum-machines-pop-music-history

Drum Machine History: Even Better Than The Real Thing?

How the drum machine, despite being a machine, proved just to have just enough heart to dominate the pop charts.

feed.tedium.co

Ten Years Of Tedium @tedium.co · 17d

Love ’em or hate ’em, drum machines played a fundamental role in changing pop music for good.

tedium.co/2025/09/21/d...

Drum Machine History: Even Better Than The Real Thing?

How the drum machine, despite being a machine, proved just to have just enough heart to dominate the pop charts.

tedium.co

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Ten Years Of Tedium @tedium.co · 19d

A new part of the Tedium empire: An account entirely dedicated to fascinating patent drawings.

Rad Patent Drawings @radpatentdrawings.bsky.social · 19d

Finally, our moment to shine. 🤟

Ernie Smith @ernie.tedium.co · 20d

All hail the best patent drawing ever

Ten Years Of Tedium @tedium.co · 20d

You know who’s a lot less likely to shut down a popular show because of a pending merger? An independent media outlet. tedium.co/2025/09/17/j...

In Times Of Chaos, Embrace Independent Media

As large companies capitulate their content presences at the drop of a hat, a quick note on why a more-flexible independent media still matters.

tedium.co

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Ten Years Of Tedium @tedium.co · 21d

At a time when large companies are capitulating their content presence at the drop of a hat, a quick note on why a more-flexible independent media still matters. https://feed.tedium.co/link/15204/17162351/jimmy-kimmel-independent-media-thoughts

In Times Of Chaos, Embrace Independent Media

As large companies capitulate their content presences at the drop of a hat, a quick note on why a more-flexible independent media still matters.

feed.tedium.co

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Reposted by Ten Years Of Tedium

Ernie Smith @ernie.tedium.co · 21d

Support an independent media outlet near you.

tedium.co/2025/09/17/j...

Fresh @tedium.co quick hit

In Times Of Chaos, Embrace Independent Media

As large companies capitulate their content presences at the drop of a hat, a quick note on why a more-flexible independent media still matters.

tedium.co

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Reposted by Ten Years Of Tedium

Ernie Smith @ernie.tedium.co · 22d

Some thoughts on Penske Media’s big lawsuit targeting Google’s AI summaries: It’s an excellent reminder of how Google tends to undermine its own service for its own ends.

tedium.co/2025/09/16/g...

new @tedium.co

Publishers Hate Google’s AI Summaries, Too. One Just Sued.

A major publishing conglomerate takes aim at Google’s AI snippets—and hints at the many ways that Google undermines its own information-friendly mission.

tedium.co

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Ten Years Of Tedium @tedium.co · 22d

Does Google understand why people don’t like AI summaries?

tedium.co/2025/09/16/g...

Publishers Hate Google’s AI Summaries, Too. One Just Sued.

A major publishing conglomerate takes aim at Google’s AI snippets—and hints at the many ways that Google undermines its own information-friendly mission.

tedium.co

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Ten Years Of Tedium @tedium.co · 22d

A new lawsuit by a major publishing conglomerate takes aim at Google’s AI snippets—and hints at the many ways that Google undermines its own mission by forcing unwanted features on its users. https://feed.tedium.co/link/15204/17161583/google-ai-summaries-penske-media-lawsuit

Publishers Hate Google’s AI Summaries, Too. One Just Sued.

A major publishing conglomerate takes aim at Google’s AI snippets—and hints at the many ways that Google undermines its own information-friendly mission.

feed.tedium.co

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Ten Years Of Tedium @tedium.co · 27d

On trying to thread the needle of an honest statement during trying times full of chaos. As a creative person, how do you navigate it? (As always, Jesse Welles makes it look easy.) https://feed.tedium.co/link/15204/17142310/honest-statements-complex-culture

On Trying Times & Saying Exactly What You Mean

On trying to thread the needle of an honest statement during trying times full of chaos. (As always, Jesse Welles makes it look easy.)

feed.tedium.co

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Ernie Smith @ernie.tedium.co · 28d

About a month or two ago, I got an intriguing email with the subject line “The Laundry Room Search Engine.”

A guy built his own quite-good search engine—and yes, it's currently sitting in his laundry room. Here's how he did it:

www.fastcompany.com/91396271/sea...

me @fastcompany.com

Thanks to AI, this guy is running a Google rival from his laundry room

Large language models aren’t just making mainstream search engines worse; they’re making the next generation of search engines easier to develop.

www.fastcompany.com

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Ernie Smith @ernie.tedium.co · Sep 2

“It put a mirror against Apple’s own offerings, which attempted to hit every possible market segment. And the reflection didn’t look particularly great.”

tedium.co/2025/09/02/a...

Mac Clones History: A Tale Of Poor Margins & Bad Timing

The ’90s-era Mac clone program, Apple’s attempt to revive its fortunes during its lowest era, had the opposite effect. But hey, it could have worked in 1985.

tedium.co

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