Daniel Jalkut @danielpunkass.punkitup.com · 13hWhy do we call them photographs and not “portrait slop”? 000
Daniel Jalkut @danielpunkass.punkitup.com · 14hJust posted MarsEdit 5.4.6 with faster syntax coloring for long posts, lower CPU usage in the rich text editor, and a fix for posts getting stuck in “Publishing.” redsweater.com/blog/4298… 011
Daniel Jalkut @danielpunkass.punkitup.com · 20hIt is kind of funny they named the product, an AI-enabled CMS, after the one punctuation mark that AI can’t resist. emdashcms.com/blog/emda… 020
Daniel Jalkut @danielpunkass.punkitup.com · 27/09/2026Just want to remind everybody that I predicted Apple would use “Apple Intelligence” as a clever spin on “AI”. I know predicting what multinational corporations will do isn’t the coolest thing but I still feel pretty good about this one. bitsplitting.org/2023/05/2… 041
Daniel Jalkut @danielpunkass.punkitup.com · 26/09/2026Listening to “The Decemberists” for the first time in a long while. They lost me at some point but this album, “Her Majesty”, still rocks the house down. www.youtube.com/watch 010
Daniel Jalkut @danielpunkass.punkitup.com · 26/09/2026One of my many hot takes is that people have generally fled to either “AI can’t do anything” or “AI can do everything” and haven’t stopped to consider the middle ground. There is an art to getting AI to do what you want. It will rarely do it by default. 150
Daniel Jalkut @danielpunkass.punkitup.com · 26/09/2026I maintain most people who are stridently against AI have not even tried to appreciate what it can do. I think that being blanket against AI is similar to being blanket against home computers in the late 1970’s. Yes, there are implications, but the problems are inevitably outweighed by the benefits. 120
Daniel Jalkut @danielpunkass.punkitup.com · 26/09/2026As an indie developer who has never completely hired a second developer, working with an AI agent is great training. I get about the same pushback and negotiation that I’d expect from an employee. 131
Daniel Jalkut @danielpunkass.punkitup.com · 25/09/2026I am aware that as amazing as AI is, it can never substitute for a human translator. But AI gives a running start. I’m also including a menu item that only appears in non-English languages, so that native speakers can easily report problems. 011
Daniel Jalkut @danielpunkass.punkitup.com · 25/09/2026For FastScripts 4.0 I’m leveraging AI not only to help me harden security, but also to localize to other languages. 020
Daniel Jalkut @danielpunkass.punkitup.com · 25/09/2026I used Claude Opus to design this amazing (as far as I can tell) system for FastScripts, to control whether outside entities can run scripts on the user’s behalf. Security, yay! I would have had the idea before, but never all the ideas for execution. I think this is going to be good. 030
Daniel Jalkut @danielpunkass.punkitup.com · 25/09/2026Honestly I think AI naysayers are not even trying to embrace it, Maybe with good reason, but to discredit the whole technology is an own-goal. We are in a situation where the technology is coming, and we have to decide by our selves, as a country, and as a world how we’ll deal with it. 040
Daniel Jalkut @danielpunkass.punkitup.com · 25/09/2026The ability to easily localize apps to almost any language is one example of a benefit to developers and their users from AI. I’m working on it now, and I’m impressed by its careful consideration of locale differences. With Apple’s own built-in Xcode guidance, it seems pretty frickin’ good! 100
Daniel Jalkut @danielpunkass.punkitup.com · 25/09/2026AI is powerful enough that if there are significant externalized costs, for example using resources or polluting the environment, we need as a society to decide who gets to use it. Because it’s definitely something that should be used. 000
Daniel Jalkut @danielpunkass.punkitup.com · 25/09/2026I also loooooove that Prusa hosts fully interactive 3d models of their machines' parts. 010
Daniel Jalkut @danielpunkass.punkitup.com · 25/09/2026I’ve had a 3D printer for a few years, but my interest and productivity with it have only shot up recently. Count me among the many psyched Prusa customers who is excited to be able to print his own replacement parts for the printer itself. 020
Daniel Jalkut @danielpunkass.punkitup.com · 25/09/2026I’d like a “Screentime”-like app that just tells me how many times per day I select the Slack app icon when I meant to choose Photos. 030
Daniel Jalkut @danielpunkass.punkitup.com · 22/09/2026Zohran Mamdani, mayor of New York City, deserves some kind of Nobel Peace Prize for American unity by continuing to stay in Donald Trump’s good graces. 030
Daniel Jalkut @danielpunkass.punkitup.com · 21/09/2026“UGH! I can’t break into the sub-20s Rubik’s Cube solving average!” is not a lament I ever expected to express. But here we are. 000
Daniel Jalkut @danielpunkass.punkitup.com · 19/09/2026RE: Donald Trump's announcement of a "military rights deal" with Greenland and Denmark. The first rule of Trump is never believe Trump. 011
Daniel Jalkut @danielpunkass.punkitup.com · 19/09/2026I’m using AI like crazy to build apps that no other human or AI could create. 030
Daniel Jalkut @danielpunkass.punkitup.com · 19/09/2026When an AI says “Honest answer:” it means “I fucked up.” 030
Daniel Jalkut @danielpunkass.punkitup.com · 19/09/2026App developers can’t be replaced by AI. Apps are expressions of human priorities. Like movies, essays, and paintings. And smiles, and hugs, and kisses. The ability of an AI to effectively replace ONE app says nothing about its ability to replace ALL apps. Humanity rules. 050
Daniel Jalkut @danielpunkass.punkitup.com · 19/09/2026My downspout challenge prompted me to buy a telescoping pole, and after its maiden journey, I’m happy with it. It comes with a bunch of attachments, and now I’m excited to 3D print my own attachments. link.amazon/B0d7MNcST (affiliate link) 000
Daniel Jalkut @danielpunkass.punkitup.com · 19/09/2026When I’m 96, I hope I’m in good enough shape to retire. 021
Daniel Jalkut @danielpunkass.punkitup.com · 18/09/2026I was so preoccupied with whether I could, I didn’t stop to think whether I should. The hose has a 3D-printed high pressure nozzle. I am now recommending everybody own both a 3D printer AND a telescoping pole. 020
Daniel Jalkut @danielpunkass.punkitup.com · 18/09/2026Every Terminal app, but especially Apple’s Terminal.app, needs a built-in feature to detect when a resumable agentic AI tool is running, suspend them on quit, and resume them on relaunch. Restarting is becoming a babysitting chore. 130
Daniel Jalkut @danielpunkass.punkitup.com · 18/09/2026I wonder what Warren Buffett’s plans for retirement are like. 010
Daniel Jalkut @danielpunkass.punkitup.com · 17/09/2026Starting with Xcode 27.2, Apple is moving to a new JSON-based project format. Developers have been complaining for at LEAST 25 YEARS about the Xcode project file’s difficulty to manage under source control. AI comes along and complains and Apple fixes it right away! 090
Daniel Jalkut @danielpunkass.punkitup.com · 16/09/2026I had wondered about how trans people would play, and I’m glad to know that my local co-ed softball league has a good policy about this. 140
Daniel Jalkut @danielpunkass.punkitup.com · 16/09/2026Remember when following tech news was a way to avoid confronting the most pressing issues in the world? 072
Daniel Jalkut @danielpunkass.punkitup.com · 14/09/2026Today I released Black Ink 2.4 for iOS, featuring a new inline calendar browser for puzzle downloads. redsweater.com/blog/4293… 001
Daniel Jalkut @danielpunkass.punkitup.com · 13/09/2026I remember, when I was younger, hearing people say “I still feel like I’m 20,” and thinking it was pretty unbelievable. But now I’m 51 and … I still feel like I’m 20. I know a few more things, but I am very tied to the personality, ethics, and ambitions of that 20-year-old. 090
Daniel Jalkut @danielpunkass.punkitup.com · 13/09/2026I dunno, maybe I’m crazy, but if you start a company like Automattic, with your own name in it, the board better have a pretty good reason for kicking you out. I’m excited to hear you’re back in the captain’s seat, Matt, both at Automattic and soon (?) on your boat. 000
Daniel Jalkut @danielpunkass.punkitup.com · 13/09/2026I imagine the feelings I have about AI with respect to knowledge work are akin to the feelings trades people had when power tools arrived. Yes, it will put you out of business IF you don’t adapt. 020
Daniel Jalkut @danielpunkass.punkitup.com · 13/09/2026With the advent of mass-market AI, virtually every person alive has the opportunity to multiply their impact on the world by several times. I’m trying my best, and I hope you are too. 030
Daniel Jalkut @danielpunkass.punkitup.com · 13/09/2026If you dismiss absolutely every other positive feature of AI, its ability to empower people suffering from ADHD and similar conditions probably redeems everything negative about it. 020
Daniel Jalkut @danielpunkass.punkitup.com · 13/09/2026I know there are problems with the metaphor, but fire is a good way to think about AI. It’s a fundamental, culture-transforming technology that empowers people to destroy or create. Without fire, so many horrible things would never have happened, as would so many great things. 001
Daniel Jalkut @danielpunkass.punkitup.com · 13/09/2026Over the years I’ve tried to learn what I can about finance and economics. A word that gets thrown around is “arbitrage”, where you essentially buy something that one market thinks is cheap and sell it in another market that thinks it’s expensive. The AI tech today is offering a lot of arbitrage. 010
Daniel Jalkut @danielpunkass.punkitup.com · 13/09/2026If you haven’t found a way to be optimistic about AI, I don’t think you’re trying. 140
Daniel Jalkut @danielpunkass.punkitup.com · 13/09/2026If Democrats win the midterms, I will give every American $6000 from the same funds that Donald Trump is planning to use for his $5000 payment. 030
Daniel Jalkut @danielpunkass.punkitup.com · 13/09/2026If Republicans win in November, you MIGHT get a weird $5K payoff from Donald Trump. If Democrats win, you MIGHT avoid the US devolving into an increasingly fascist state. 050
Daniel Jalkut @danielpunkass.punkitup.com · 13/09/2026Another weird side-effect of AI: I believe that anybody who is getting really good at managing AI agents is also getting pretty good at managing people. At least if they bring humanity to the table as a baseline. 120
Daniel Jalkut @danielpunkass.punkitup.com · 13/09/2026I continue to be in awe of how fast I can tear through issues when AI helps. If everybody in the world whose productive output benefits society used AI, I’m confident it would repay whatever costs there are. 100
Daniel Jalkut @danielpunkass.punkitup.com · 12/09/2026Congrats to my friend @johnbrayton who just released a major update to Unread, his RSS reader for iOS and Mac! www.goldenhillsoftware.com/2026/09/u… 091
Daniel Jalkut @danielpunkass.punkitup.com · 11/09/2026A reward for those Core Intuition fans who never removed the feed from their podcast app! Episode 27.1, including our reaction to the Apple announcements and some of the AI implications. coreint.org/2026/09/e… 051
Daniel Jalkut @danielpunkass.punkitup.com · 08/09/2026We rewatched “9 to 5” starring Dolly Parton, Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, and Dabney Coleman. Really ahead of its time and a great way to remember and celebrate Dolly. Amazingly, the director and co-screenwriter, Colin Higgins, was the writer and co-producer of Harold and Maude! 020
Daniel Jalkut @danielpunkass.punkitup.com · 05/09/2026I threw some veggie taco meat on this pizza. It was good. 040
Daniel Jalkut @danielpunkass.punkitup.com · 04/09/2026IMSO (In My Strident Opinion) you can choose to use AI to be more fake, or to be more real. 131
Daniel Jalkut @danielpunkass.punkitup.com · 04/09/2026A really great, IMO irrefutably great, aspect of AI is that it can unstick your pursuit of progress in almost any field. I’m learning so much about everything because, if I get stuck, I can ask Claude or Codex or Gemini. To use a college metaphor, they are ubiquitous, always on-call TAs. 030
