Published work, shop talk, and stray thoughts.
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AI browsers need the open web. So why are they trying to kill it? (FastCo)
OpenAI, Perplexity, and anyone else pursuing a future of AI agents have one big problem: Their vision requires destroying the ecosystem of websites they purport to help.
For those of us who earn a living publishing content on the open internet, Amazon’s lawsuit against AI startup Perplexity can seem darkly amusing.
– https://www.fastcompany.com/91442335/ai-browsers-open-web-amazon-perplexity?partner=rss&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=rss+fastcompany&utm_content=rss
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This free image toolbox is the perfect Google Photos power-up (FastCo)
Go beyond the standard image adjustment options with Excalidraw, a fantastic web-based markup machine.
While I’m happy to extol the powers of the written word, sometimes you need a little something extra to get your point across.
– https://www.fastcompany.com/91437703/online-free-image-software-whiteboard-excalidraw?partner=rss&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=rss+fastcompany&utm_content=rss
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Tech giants promised “ambient computing.” We got digital billboards instead. (FastCo)
The screens we’ve installed everywhere have started to turn against us.
For decades now, tech companies have been promising us a future straight out of Star Trek.
– https://www.fastcompany.com/91432377/samsung-amazon-microsoft-ambient-screen?partner=rss&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=rss+fastcompany&utm_content=rss
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The AI browsers are here. Should you care? (FastCo)
ChatGPT Atlas, Perplexity Comet, and others include some major security, privacy, and usability trade-offs.
Earlier this week, I had AI handle all of my grocery shopping.
– https://www.fastcompany.com/91432707/openai-browser-perplexity-comet?partner=rss&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=rss+fastcompany&utm_content=rss
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This money-saving emporium is like Facebook Marketplace for gift cards (FastCo)
CardCash’s marketplace lets you buy an array of gift cards at a discount.
You don’t have to be an avid reader of restaurant industry trade publications—though I can attest that they are oddly fascinating—to realize that everything’s getting more expensive.
– https://www.fastcompany.com/91420638/discounted-gift-cards-cardcash?partner=rss&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=rss+fastcompany&utm_content=rss
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Google’s Pixel Watch 4 is the least-annoying smartwatch I’ve ever used (FastCo)
Little things make the company’s latest wearable less intrusive.
The best thing I can say about Google’s Pixel Watch 4 is that I don’t think about it all that much.
– https://www.fastcompany.com/91424829/google-pixel-watch-4-smartwatch?partner=rss&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=rss+fastcompany&utm_content=rss
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Obituary: Farewell to robots.txt (1994-2025)
Henning Fries:
The protocol taught us that technology can be based on human values like ethics and morality. It showed that voluntary compliance works when all parties benefit. Its greatest achievement was perhaps preserving the internet for three decades from what it has become today – a soulless extraction machine.
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The 6 next big things in consumer technology for 2025 (FastCo)
A desktop 3D texture printer, a better way to chose skincare solutions, an AI-infused pet cam, and more.
The next frontier of consumer tech isn’t just about adding more screens to your life or boosting your devices’ processing power. Instead, it’s empowering users to accomplish more, from powerful new maker tools to more efficient skincare solutions. On the home front, assistive robots are suddenly in reach, and AI cameras are learning to provide better pet care instead of just surveilling humans. Of course, there’s cool screen-related stuff too, including wildly thin foldable phones and increasingly immersive AR glasses.
– https://www.fastcompany.com/91411192/consumer-next-big-things-in-tech-2025?partner=rss&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=rss+fastcompany&utm_content=rss
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Adios, Acrobat: This privacy-focused PDF editor does it all for free (FastCo)
PDF Barber might be all the PDF editor you need. Best of all? You don’t even have to download a thing.
Repeat after me: You do not need expensive software just to make basic edits to PDF files.
– https://www.fastcompany.com/91407754/free-acrobat-alternative?partner=rss&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=rss+fastcompany&utm_content=rss
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Disney has big plans for Hulu (FastCo)
The entertainment giant has no timeline for killing the streamer’s app, even if it really wants you to watch via Disney+ instead.
Last week, Disney briefed the press on how it’s bringing the entire Hulu catalog into its Disney+ app, with a dedicated tab for accessing Hulu’s more adult-oriented fare. But despite all the headlines you might’ve seen about the Hulu app shutting down, Disney says it’s not happening anytime soon, if at all.
– https://www.fastcompany.com/91420640/disney-plus-hulu-streamer?partner=rss&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=rss+fastcompany&utm_content=rss