Anthropic has new rules for its Opus 5.5 model to “steer...

Anthropic has new rules for its Opus 5.5 model to “steer it away from recreating someone else’s specific [video] game”. (From a few days ago but I just saw it…)

And in other news, the NY Times is trying to buy...

And in other news, the NY Times is trying to buy Letterboxd for a reported price of $330 million.

Salon, one of the last OG general interest web...

Salon, one of the last OG general interest web publications, is shutting down. “When Salon launched in November 1995, the web was a very different place.” And: “We have reached the difficult decision that our publishing model is no longer sustainable.”

Rosa Parks on To Tell the Truth

In 1980, civil rights hero Rosa Parks appeared on To Tell the Truth, a long-running game show. Parks appeared alongside two other women claiming to be Parks and a celebrity panel tried to guess the identity of the true Parks. See also the appearance of a Lincoln assassination…

Video captured by Amy Yolland of three humpback whales...

Video captured by Amy Yolland of three humpback whales breaching one after another. Incredible. Also available on YouTube.

Subvocal’s glasses turn your silent speech into text at...

Subvocal’s glasses turn your silent speech into text at 200 wpm — it measures mouth movements with radar? Like many things these days, this is very technically interesting but also creepy and dystopian.

Foursquare was recently acquired and co-founder Dennis...

Foursquare was recently acquired and co-founder Dennis Crowley wrote about it. “Dozens of current and former Foursquare employees have reached out to me to express their frustration with the leadership that led the company to this outcome.”

Why We Raised Membership to $45 a Year (and What It’s Funded So Far)

A few months ago, we raised the price of a Phoblographer membership from $25 a year to $45, and we also retired the old $3.99-a-month option entirely. We don't love raising prices on readers who've supported us for years, so we wanted to actually explain why we did it and what's…

Grocery Shopping With a Bow & Arrow

For a 1992 conceptual art piece called The Hunt, Christian Jankowski survived for a week on goods he shot at the local supermarket with a bow and arrow. To rebel against modern society, to return to nature: in pursuit of these primeval instincts, for one week, Jankowski liv…

Paul Ford: “The web browser is very, very, very powerful...

Paul Ford: “The web browser is very, very, very powerful software for building applications, and the cost of accessing that power is going down seemingly every day.”

Women who die postpartum often do so because they lose...

Women who die postpartum often do so because they lose too much blood. An 80-cent plastic bag is helping solve the problem. “The drape is not an A.I. thing — it’s the absolute opposite: It’s a simple, simple, intervention that can solve our problems.”

A growing list of brands to avoid because they are...

A growing list of brands to avoid because they are “actively engaged in the enshittification playbook” (many post-acquisition by private equity), including Dr. Martens, Pyrex, Hoka, rag & bone, Ray-Ban, Black+Decker, Hunter Boot, Craftsmen, and more.

Stunning Image of Our Satellite-Choked Night Skies

To create this composite image, photographer Brendan Larsen captured almost 600 photographs over a two-hour period and then manually stitched them together. This is the most time-consuming photo edit I’ve EVER done! I left my camera photographing the night sky over Mt Tar…

Sirui 40mm f2.2 Review: The Perfect Lens for Walking

The Sirui 40mm f2.2 is a pretty great lens overall that I kept using and wondering why Zeiss or Sony couldn't make something like this earlier while keeping it super affordable. This lens invalidates all the things that the Japanese manufacturers told us for years about not bein…

Sirui 20mm f2.4 Review: A Landscape Photographer’s Dream Lens

There's something really wonderful about a lens that's lightweight and yet gives you incredible image quality like the Sirui 20mm f2.4. What's more, they made it have pretty decent autofocus and weather resistance that Japanese lens manufacturers haven't wanted to put into lense…

I Thought I’d Left Authoritarianism Behind. “To anyone...

I Thought I’d Left Authoritarianism Behind. “To anyone who has lived under dictatorship, the pattern is instantly recognizable. Dictators start by instilling fear. They exploit uncertainty to manufacture loyalty.”

Our Nikon Z5II C Review Has Been Updated. It’s Kind of Mid

Nikon, instead of giving photographers the point and shoot camera that we've all wanted, instead gave us the Z5IIC. I originally tried it and liked it after some brief usage. But after longer usage, I couldn't really fall for it like I have fallen for my Nikon Zf. So I've update…

House Majority

The Fujifilm X-E2s is a Decade Old. And the Sensor is the Secret to Happiness

Fujifilm has a plethora of cute, small interchangeable lens cameras. The X-E series is no different. If you are someone who is looking to buy a new camera, then there are some options that you will adore. The Fujifilm X-E2s is one such camera that gained recognition for its desi…