Creation

Scientists have genetically engineered tobacco plants to...

Scientists have genetically engineered tobacco plants to produce five psychedelic compounds, including psilocybin, DMT, and psychedelic compounds secreted by the Sonoran Desert toad.

On Stewart Brand’s Maintenance: Of Everything

I was thankful to read Marcin Wichary’s review of Stewart Brand’s Maintenance: Of Everything. I first heard about the book months and months ago; it sounded potentially interesting but I was afraid it was going to suffer from a now-familiar myopia of the “tech” old guard…

A letter to John Ternus

As Apple celebrates its fiftieth birthday, we celebrate the spirit of its formation, when people who loved computers started making great computers to inspire more people to love computers. That spirit is difficult to find in the tech business today. Immense scale, soulless op…

Not sure what level of prank/gag/stunt this is (note...

Not sure what level of prank/gag/stunt this is (note today’s date), but this is supposedly a fully functional compass that only points to the Olive Garden in Times Square.

The Pioneering Coffee House Serving Since 1645 ....

The Pioneering Coffee House Serving Since 1645. “In Oxford, ‘runners’ would go from coffee house to coffee house, picking up all the best news and delivering it back to customers, said Garner. You’re talking human wi-fi.”

Wednesfool

You're welcome I don't hate April Fools Day. I'm just too busy to participate. So this is a fooling-free blog post. Much to munch on Getting great hang time with Jon Udell (who also manifests here) lately. Here are two of his recent publishings ya'll might dig:• Introducing…

After two years off, Tom Scott is back with a new...

After two years off, Tom Scott is back with a new YouTube series: “I took a road trip through every county in England, and filmed something interesting in each of them.”

“All of Humanity’s Problems Stem From Marc Andreessen’s Inability to Sit Quietly in a Room Alone”

Tech investor and billionaire Marc Andreessen has many bad opinions (as evidenced by his investment portfolio). On a recent podcast, he shared a real boner: that he isn’t introspective, that people 400 years ago weren’t at all introspective, and that introspection was a cons…

Nikon Agrees to Acquire Viltrox After Lawsuit

For a while now, Nikon has been in a lawsuit with Viltrox over not paying a licensing fee to make lenses for the Nikon Z camera system. That move has majorly annoyed many photographers. And in private circles, Nikon reps have been telling folks that they will be doing a "scorche…

The End of an Era: Kodak Alaris is Shutting Down

Since being founded almost 20 years ago, Kodak Alaris is now being shut down and integrated into Eastman Kodak. Eastman was the one manufacturing the film while Alaris, for many years, was the one distributing and selling it. But as of recent years, Eastman had started selling t…

Nothing Works in Trump’s America — Except Racism ....

Nothing Works in Trump’s America — Except Racism. “Trump is objectively bad at running the government, but he’s objectively good at running a Klan rally, and his supporters value the latter so much that they forgive the former.”

The 2026 issue of the HTML Review , “an annual...

The 2026 issue of the HTML Review, “an annual journal of literature made to exist on the web”.

Mark Simonson reminisces about when he discovered type...

Mark Simonson reminisces about when he discovered type design. “The idea of coming up with an original alphabet design fired my imagination. And learning that it was possible to design type professionally was a revelation.”

Stay Tuned, We’ve Got Some Great News Coming

In 2025, I started to do things that otherwise would seem crazy for a publisher of a niche photography online magazine to do. For starters, this year, the Phoblographer may actually make a printed magazine again. But in addition to that, we didn't sell any ads to the big camera…

“By focusing its narrative on the tech industry...

“By focusing its narrative on the tech industry itself, Halt and Catch Fire’s staying power has only increased. The story it tells still has something to say about our present-day reality.”

For the latest episode of Design Matters, Debbie Millman...

For the latest episode of Design Matters, Debbie Millman interviews Timothy Snyder about “how we misunderstand freedom, why truth and empathy are under threat, and what this political moment asks of us”. Millman is an *excellent* interviewer.

From Mainstream to Allstream

David Weinberger once said, “In the future, everyone will be famous for fifteen people.” It’s the future now, and he was right, or close enough. Because today we live in a world where the power to publish and distribute no longer belongs just to institutions, but to everyb…

This Mysterious Sony Lens Has Bird Photographers Curious

Sony has created some wonderful telephoto lenses for sports and wildlife photographers. While there are some good options to work with (like the newly launched 400-800mm), it is not enough for those who want lightweight build. It appears that Sony is keen on changing this soon,…

Endgame for the Open Web , brought on by LLM bots,...

Endgame for the Open Web, brought on by LLM bots, content summarizing while driving no traffic, increasing paywalls for information of all kinds, locking down APIs (due to AI abuse), attacks on Wikipedia, disruption of open source communities, etc.

NASA’s LRO found a new crater on the Moon...

NASA’s LRO found a new crater on the Moon…it’s 225 meters across and 43 meters deep. “According to predictions based on other lunar landmarks, a crater that big should form only once in 139 years.”

Toesday

It's not too late Come join us for this at 4 pm Eastern today. Also on the privacy front One thinks of Thomson Reuters as a source of good information on issues (Thomson) and news (Reuters). That's the brand. Alas, it's also a source of information about you and me to ICE, Palan…

Data: The Most Beautiful Cameras are Made by Fujifilm

Fujifilm has introduced a wide range of cameras over the years. From the initial models such as X Pro 1 to the newly introduced X-T30 III, the company has been catering to different genres of photography. While its cameras are loved for their unique image quality, they are also…

The US Is the Last Big Petrostate

In a conversation with economist Paul Krugman, climate journalist David Roberts asserts that the United States and China are going in different directions in energy, one forwards and one back. One of the grand international stories right now — though it’s very hard when yo…

Help! My Favorite Athlete Is an Idiot (Alt headline:...

Help! My Favorite Athlete Is an Idiot (Alt headline: When Sports Heroes Have Terrible Opinions). “Just root for the jersey and not necessarily the nitwit wearing it?”

The Full Frame Fisheye Lens That First-Party Makers Won’t Build at This Price

Chinese lens makers have been catering to full frame cameras for a while now. TTArtisan is one company that has been launching some exceptional lenses for full frames, and today, they have a lineup that consists of over 30 lenses. While first-party offerings are great, they also…

The Truth About Thieves and Camera Bags

I'm writing this article in early February 2026, and it's coming a day after I spoke on the phone with the Phoblographer's Gear Editor, Feroz Khan. We were talking about how photographers can be afraid on thieves coming for them because they think you've got a camera bag around…