Reading Time: 2 min I’d heard about the Beeper app a while ago, but didn’t actually check it out until recently. I should have looked earlier, as it’s fantastic. Very simply, it’s an app that puts almost all of your messaging apps in one place, in one stream of content. This includes WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Twitter, LinkedIn, Signal, Instagram, […]
Technology
A Brave new browser
Reading Time: < 1 min As I’m slowly shedding the Google services in my life, I recently made a fairly big move and switched from Google Chrome to the Brave browser. If you’re wanting something more privacy-focused, Brave is likely the best way to go because it’s very similar to Chrome. There are other great browsers, including Arc and Firefox […]
There’s still a world outside these walls
Reading Time: 3 min For those of you over 40, you can likely still remember the “good old days” on the internet, back when people set up their own places to visit, rather than relying on a handful of huge companies trying to lock your attention inside of their walls (which is very likely how you found this post). […]
The internet isn’t getting worse either
Reading Time: 2 min Over the past few years I’ve shared thoughts on how the world is much better than people think. Murder rates are down, reports of missing children are down, school shootings are down, the economy is doing great, etc. Things are far from perfect, and we always need to be working to make things even better, […]
Really owning your email
Reading Time: 3 min In all of my talk over the years about owning your website with WordPress and owning your notes with Obsidian, I’m well-aware that I had a big hole in that philosophy when it came to my email. It was all in Gmail, where I have zero actual ownership of my account. The problem is that […]
Stay focused or stay available?
Reading Time: 2 min I’ve noticed that when I meet someone for coffee or lunch, they behave in one of two ways: I also see some of this from the other side: It’s a matter of deciding what’s important. I certainly hate to not respond to people while I’m in the middle of a meeting, but it’s almost always […]
Gmail turns 20
Reading Time: 2 min I mentioned a few days ago that I’m not super happy with Google lately, but a few days before that I shared how I just can’t shake Gmail. The math says I shouldn’t use it, but that’s much easier said than done. It was exactly 20 years ago today, April 1, 2004, that Google introduced […]
The four ways Google is failing
Reading Time: 2 min The list of ways where Google is falling short continues to grow, and none of them have to do with AI. Well, maybe some do, but none that I’m talking about today. As I recently shared, Google’s approach over the last few years is very clearly aimed at shareholders instead of users, and it’s going […]
The challenge of owning your data
Reading Time: 2 min For many years, I’ve been a big proponent of people keeping control of their digital assets. There are three main buckets for this: All of that stuff is great, and I fully believe in it, but it’s much easier said than done. I thought about this the other day when I went to leave a […]
Swipe right on Android to see why Google is heading the wrong way
Reading Time: 3 min Google is no longer the darling that it once was. While it’s still clearly a huge, powerful and (generally) helpful company, it’s trending the wrong way. Business Insider compares Google to lumbering giants like IBM, and last year I shared how Google’s treatment of RSS ended up being horrible for the health of the internet […]