This Week in the IndieWeb

August 1-8, 2025 Recent EventsFrom events.indieweb.org/archive: Homebrew Website Club - Pacific Wednesday, August 6 at 6:00pm Homebrew Website Club Europe/London Wednesday, August 6 at 7:00pm Philly Homebrew Website Club Sunday, August 3 at 6:00pm PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylva…

“James Lovell, the commander of Apollo 13 who helped turn a failed...

“James Lovell, the commander of Apollo 13 who helped turn a failed moon mission into a triumph of on-the-fly can-do engineering, has died. He was 97.” 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →

Disclaimer

The Danish post office will stop delivering mail (but not parcels) at...

The Danish post office will stop delivering mail (but not parcels) at the end of 2025. “Letter volumes have decreased by over 90 percent since 2000”. But over 100 million letters were delivered in 2024…that’s still a tremendous number. 💬 Join the discus…

Tamron to Boost Annual Lens Output as Demand Shifts Globally

Tamron has been quite successful in the third-party lens manufacturing domain. Lenses such as 35-150mm f2-2.8 Di III VXD, 70-180mm f2.8 G2, and 50-400mm f4.5-6.3 have showcased powerful performance at an affordable rate. However, this year has been slow for many reasons. As th…

Exclusive: Viltrox Hints at Making Their Own Cameras

Why would you pay more for a lens if there's a cheaper and similar quality product with nearly all the same features as the higher-priced option? This is a question that photographers have asked themselves about Leica vs Japanese-made cameras. But these days, it's a question tha…

Is Laowa Launching a New Telephoto Lens For Fujifilm GFX?

Venus Optic's Laowa has been quite a hit amongst landscape and macro photographers. The company has introduced options such as the 20mm f4 Zero-D Shift lens, the 90mm f2.8 2x Ultra Macro, and the Laowa 15mm f4 Wide Angle Macro have been great performers and come at a cost-effect…

nikitonsky is being grumpy

nikitonsky: Yo dawg! I heard you like tables in your tables, so we added tables to your tables! Thanks Gamlor for the picture #GoogleSheets

7Artisans Launches New Prime Lens That is Perect for Night Photography

Recently, we spoke about 7Artisans launching two full-frame lenses for enthusiasts: the 14mm f2.8 and 75mm f1.4. Designed to cater to the needs of photographers who want crisp images at an effective price, 7Artisans is now adding a third lens to its portfolio, which will excite…

Future Canon Telephoto Lenses May Be Smaller, Sharper, Smarter

With the mirrorless range, Canon now has 50 different lenses in its portfolio. While their EF lenses have paved the way for the optics we use today, there is still plenty that Canon has yet to explore. For starters, it needs to make its telephoto lenses more compact and lightwei…

The Best Leica Monochrom Cameras to Pick and The One To Leave Behind

Leica has some exciting cameras in its portfolio. The Leica M series is perfect for professionals, while the Q series is designed as a perfect compact camera. The third segment is a mix of both, but it offers a distinct sensor: the Leica Monochrom. The black and white sensor cam…

“New FBI data shows that both violent crime and property crime are...

“New FBI data shows that both violent crime and property crime are at their lowest level since the 1960s” but the media disproportionately covers crime, so most Americans aren’t aware of the decrease.

Why wildlife crossings and crucial for animals and humans: they embiggen habitats...

Why wildlife crossings and crucial for animals and humans: they embiggen habitats and greatly reduce vehicle-animal collisions. 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →

From the Phonograph podcast, a look at the early days of 99%...

From the Phonograph podcast, a look at the early days of 99% Invisible (as that podcast’s 15th anniversary approaches). 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →

Tractor beams exist in the real world. They use ultrasound to hover...

Tractor beams exist in the real world. They use ultrasound to hover and manipulate tiny objects. “It can be thought of as an acoustic hologram. It’s a shape that exists in space but is made of sound.” 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →

Vintage Bike Tricks, Circa 1965

Lilly Yokoi was an acrobat who specialized in performing on a bicycle. During her career, she toured around the world and appeared on the Ed Sullivan show three times. In this performance from 1965, Yokoi does some seriously before-their-time tricks on her Golden Bicycle, includ…

Why Does Nikon Refuse to Make a Rangefinder Style Camera?

If you ask camera lovers what they'd want the most from Nikon, it's pretty universally accepted that they want a Nikon SP digital of some sort. It's something that Nikon has never done -- a rangefinder-style camera body that gives us pretty much everything we want and need. Idea…

Substack’s extremist ecosystem is flourishing. “The Nazi push alert was only possible...

Substack’s extremist ecosystem is flourishing. “The Nazi push alert was only possible because of Substack’s continued commitment to not only hosting but actively promoting authoritarian, Nazi-sympathizing, and other bigoted forms of extremism.”

Emily Wilson’s current project is translating The Odyssey (again). “I am doing...

Emily Wilson’s current project is translating The Odyssey (again). “I am doing a fully revised re-retranslation, to align my Odyssey translation more closely with my Iliad.” 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →

The Bluesky Dictionary is tracking every single word used on the social...

The Bluesky Dictionary is tracking every single word used on the social media service. As of this writing, almost 40% of the dictionary has been covered, including recent additions like “boneshakers”, “microscale”, and “striations”. 💬 Join the discu…

There’s a Bend It Like Beckham sequel in the works, says director...

There’s a Bend It Like Beckham sequel in the works, says director Gurinder Chadha. “I didn’t want to do anything because I didn’t have a story. And then I came up with a great story, really super-cool story. So now I’m inspired.” 💬 Join the discussi…

Street Photographers: You’ll Love Our Presets

Lots of presets often require tons of tweaking. But not ours! Our presets are designed to make editing a minimal task so you can get back to shooting! We're in love with Retro Digital. Luckily, that's when we founded the website closer to two decades ago. So we dove into our ima…

My Recent Media Diet, the Resistance Edition

Well, it’s been awhile since I’ve done one of these but I’m gonna skip the apologies and get right into it. Here’s a list of what I’ve been reading, watching, listening to, and experiencing over the past several months. Let us know what movies, books, art, TV, music, e…

Progressive web apps

There was a time when you needed to make a native app in order to take advantage of specific technologies. That time has passed. Now you can do all of these things on the web: push notifications, offline storage, camera access, and more. Take a look at the home screen on you…

Potatoes are tomatoes! Ok not exactly, but scientists have worked out that...

Potatoes are tomatoes! Ok not exactly, but scientists have worked out that modern potatoes evolved, in part, from an ancient tomato plant. “Dipping fries into ketchup just got a little more mind-bending.” 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →

Jamelle Bouie on the Death of the Fourth American Republic

This is a great piece from Jamelle Bouie on the likely death of the Voting Rights Act and, zooming out, the end of an era in American society that began with the Act’s signing. Americans pride ourselves, by contrast, on our undivided history under one Constitution — a singl…

Watchdog Group Downgrades U.S. From Democracy To Whatever Political System Lobsters Have....

Watchdog Group Downgrades U.S. From Democracy To Whatever Political System Lobsters Have. “There’s just too much scuttling in American politics to call it anything other than a flawed lobster republic.”

Compact Cameras Climb, DSLRs Dive: The CIPA June Report Tells All

As we step into August, we have only a few more months before the year ends. However, crossing the six-month mark before the new year often calls for a time of reflection. And we don't just mean a personal one; rather, we mean how the camera industry is performing amidst the var…