Published work, shop talk, and stray thoughts.
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I let AI control my entire PC. Here’s what happened. (FastCo)
Vercept’s Vy AI aims to automate tedious or repetitive computer work, with trade-offs.
Now that AI can control your web browser, the next frontier might be to take over your entire computer.
– https://www.fastcompany.com/91447623/ai-control-pc-vercept-vy-browser?partner=rss&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=rss+fastcompany&utm_content=rss
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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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