Bits flowing through the wires of a computer network are ordinarily invisible. But a radically new tool shows those bits through motion, sound, and even touch. It communicates both light and heavy network traffic. Its output is so beautifully integrated with human information processing that one does not even need to be looking at it or near it to take advantage of its peripheral clues. It takes no space on your existing computer screen, and in fact does not use or contain a computer at all. It uses no software, only a few dollars in hardware, and can be shared by many people at the same time. It is called the "Dangling String".
Home | Calm Tech Institute - Harmonious Design Principles
The Calm Tech Institute exists to redefine how people think about human-technology interaction, and provide a new UX standard for designing technologies that improve human life.
Opinion | The A.I. Disruption Has Arrived, and It Sure Is Fun
We’re entering a new renaissance of software development. We should all be excited, despite the uncertainties that lie ahead.
ATproto: The Enshittification Killswitch That Enables Resonant Computing
Disclosure: I’m on the board of Bluesky, which was inspired by my “Protocols, Not Platforms” paper. But this post isn’t about Bluesky the app. It’s about the underlyin…
Janet Jackson had the power to crash laptop computers - The Old New Thing
Not an artistic judgement. Just a technical one.
Something Big Is Happening
A personal note for non-tech friends and family on what AI is starting to change.
What Even Is An OS Now?
Computers now work the way I thought they did when I was 8. What does computing look like when most applications have an audience of 1-2 people? I'm leaving Fly.io to build a phone for that world.
The AT Protocol's interesting design - LittleBit
Bluesky's backend was made to be more than a social network
BBS: The Documentary
Vibe Coding: The Final Form of Hyper-Individualism
A few days ago, I had to deal with the first "vibe coded" PR to my software. In this article, I reflect on this encounter, and analyze the social …
Local-First Software: Taking Back Control of Our Data | a mini-doc
Foundations: the accessibility tree - TetraLogical
There's a common misconception that when browsing the web using a screen reader, it's reading the actual screen. This is not really surprising, as the name suggests that's exactly what it's doing. And, this is what early screen readers did, so, we can't really blame anybody for thinking that!
Desktop Neo – rethinking the desktop interface for productivity.
The desktop computer hasn’t changed much in the last 30 years. It’s still built on windows, folders and mouse input. But we have changed. We now use smartphones and tablets most of the time, since they are much easier to use.The traditional desktop computer is struggling to adapt the simple interfaces of mobile devices while also keeping its focus on productivity. With people switching to mobile devices for mundane tasks, we have the opportunity to rethink the desktop computer with a focus on getting professional work done.
Ambient Co-presence
Creating a subtle, peripheral, and synchronous sense of shared space and context on the web
The future is low-tech: lessons from the early 2000s ft. Jésabel DC | Config 2026
The 49MB Web Page
A look at modern news websites. How programmatic ad-tech, huge payloads and hostile architecture destroyed the reading experience.
