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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<feed xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom">
<title>Daring Fireball</title>
<subtitle>By John Gruber</subtitle>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/"/>
<link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="https://daringfireball.net/feeds/main"/>
<id>https://daringfireball.net/feeds/main</id>
<updated>2026-08-03T17:19:35Z</updated>
<rights>Copyright © 2026, John Gruber</rights>
<entry>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/2026/08/followup_big_three_carrier_requirement"/>
<link rel="shorturl" href="http://df4.us/xfb"/>
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026://1.43319</id>
<published>2026-08-03T17:19:34Z</published>
<updated>2026-08-03T17:19:35Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<summary type="text">For many years now, part of the co-marketing agreements between Apple and the Big Three is Apple agreeing to require a postpaid account with a Big Three carrier for all “special” iPhone financing deals, including the old iPhone Upgrade Program and the new Apple Upgrade leasing.</summary>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Following up from last week, <a href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/30/apple-upgrade-vs-iphone-upgrade-program">when I asked</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>When you lease an iPhone through Apple Upgrade, you need a
cellular account on one of the big three U.S. carriers: AT&T,
T-Mobile, or Verizon. That kind of stinks, and I’m not quite sure
I understand why. You’re leasing the iPhone through Apple and
Klarna, not the carrier, so I don’t know why Apple cares. If you
know why, <a href="https://daringfireball.net/contact/">shoot me a message</a> and explain it. Is it just a
simplistic credit-risk evaluation, where prepaid plan-holders and
MVNO users in general are viewed suspiciously?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I got a slew of messages about this. Credit-risk assessment is seemingly part of it. There’s a lot of fraud in iPhone purchases specifically and cell phone service generally. The big three carriers do a significant amount of risk assessment before letting you open a new postpaid account; that you have an active account with one of them is a signal that you’re not trying to lease an iPhone using phony credentials in order to sell it.</p>
<p>But the bigger reason is the complex nature of the contracts between Apple and each of the big three carriers. A reader who worked on the carrier team at Apple for a long time (but left a few years ago) wrote:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In response to your question on why Apple would only offer iPhone
on the “Big 3” for the new Upgrade Program: Every year, the
Carrier Teams at Apple negotiate a deal/program (hundreds of
millions of dollars) with each of those Big 3. In return for those
dollars, Apple will make concessions exactly like this (or
similar.) This is also why, for example, their logos appear more
prominently or are the only ones called out on signage,
commercials, etc… Although they really aren’t threatened by MVNO’s
(the ones they don’t own) or regional carriers, it’s more like
Apple is selling it as part of a package deal that’s exclusively
offered to its biggest and best “tier 1” partners. It also acts as
a carrot to perpetually try to motivate smaller partners into
behavior Apple wants.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This might change — some of the bigger MVNOs are trying to work their way into “tier 1” (or maybe create a new “tier 1.5”). But for many years now, part of the co-marketing agreements between Apple and the Big Three is Apple agreeing to require a postpaid account with a Big Three carrier for all “special” iPhone financing deals, including the old iPhone Upgrade Program and the new Apple Upgrade leasing.</p>
<p>One interesting exception is that Boost Mobile is included alongside the Big Three for Apple Card Monthly Installments (ACMI), a program that offers 0% APR on certain products if you pay for them using an Apple Card. <a href="https://support.apple.com/en-us/104950">From the ACMI small print</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In order to buy an iPhone with ACMI, you must select one of the
following carriers (prepaid carrier plans are not supported):
AT&T, Boost Mobile, T-Mobile, or Verizon. An iPhone purchased with
ACMI is always unlocked, so you can switch carriers at any time,
subject to your carrier’s terms.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>So perhaps some of the bigger MVNO carriers might work their way into Apple Upgrade — but if they do, it sounds like they’ll need to pay Apple for the privilege.</p>
<p>With regard to fraud, a former Apple Store retail employee wrote:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I left in 2019, but I’d estimate on some days a double digit
percentage of in-person phone sales were fraudulent.</p>
<p>This behavior absolutely exploded when you started to be able to
do carrier financing in the store. They had stolen the identity
of a legit account holder, come into the store with the info
needed to access the account. They always wanted the highest end
phone, and would pay the sales tax due at time of sale in cash.
Never wanted any accessories. Never wanted to open the box or set
up the phone.</p>
<p>As bad as it was with the activation requirement, it would be way
worse without it. I believe it’s gotten a lot better, and the
carriers have more advanced systems in place to detect and deter
this behavior now. But ultimately, the carriers ate the cost for
millions of dollars in devices they never got paid for.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I suspect that reader is correct that Apple, in collaboration with the carriers, has cracked down on this.</p>
]]></content>
<title>★ Why Apple Requires a Cellular Account Through a Big Three Carrier to Lease an iPhone</title>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>Ulysses S. Grant on the Future Dividing Line</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/grant-next-civil-war/"/>
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xfa"/>
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/08/03/grant"/>
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43318</id>
<published>2026-08-03T17:14:42Z</published>
<updated>2026-08-03T17:15:09Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Ulysses S. Grant, in 1875:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Where the citizen is sovereign and the official the servant, where
no power is exercised except by the will of the people, it is
important that the sovereign — the people — should possess
intelligence.</p>
<p>The free school is the promoter of that intelligence which is to
preserve us as a free nation. If we are to have another contest in
the near future of our national existence, I predict that the
dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon’s, but between
patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition,
ambition, and ignorance on the other.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Not sure if the 2020s count as “the near future”, but holy hell is that a spot-on synopsis of our current moment.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘Ulysses S. Grant on the Future Dividing Line’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/08/03/grant"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>Truth Social Launches Paid Early Access to Trump Posts</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.npr.org/2026/08/01/nx-s1-5912219/trump-truth-social-access-insider-trading"/>
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xf9"/>
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/08/03/truth-social-paid-access"/>
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43317</id>
<published>2026-08-03T16:00:29Z</published>
<updated>2026-08-03T16:03:36Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Bobby Allyn, reporting for NPR:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Trump Media & Technology Group is <a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/b2icontent.irpass.cc/2660/rl168199.pdf">now shopping</a> to traders
and investors a premium version of Truth Social delivering early
access to the feeds of high-profile users, including the
president. Starting Saturday, for a fee of up to $100,000 a month,
trading firms can access “Truth API” to get a glimpse of the
president’s often <a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/05/08/nx-s1-5749358/trump-truth-social-online-posts-iran-white-house-ballroom">market-moving announcements</a> about
economic policy and global affairs before the rest of the world.</p>
<p>Trump’s media company says customers have already started signing
up. Such an offering would give institutional investors a leg up
in areas of finance like high-frequency trading, where an
advantage of a few milliseconds can mean the difference of
millions of dollars. But will the service be widely adopted across
Wall Street?</p>
<p>“It’s insane,” said one Wall Street executive, who requested
anonymity for fear of retaliation from the Trump administration.
“I can say for myself and 200 of my friends in finance, we’re not
getting anywhere near this. In another administration, this would
be considered criminal.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It <em>is</em> criminal. It’s prima facie insider-trading-as-a-service, or at least it’s <em>intended</em> to be. And in the next administration, there’s no reason to think it won’t be prosecuted as such. It really is astonishing how far the Trump 2.0 administration is willing to take the notion that it’s not corruption if it’s done in the open. There’s an old adage that it’s not the crime but the cover-up that does you in. They’ve taken this to heart and just eschewed the cover-ups.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘Truth Social Launches Paid Early Access to Trump Posts’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/08/03/truth-social-paid-access"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>Agent Fone</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://fail.xyz/phone/"/>
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xf7"/>
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/08/02/agent-fone"/>
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43315</id>
<published>2026-08-02T21:02:00Z</published>
<updated>2026-08-02T21:02:34Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>My thanks to Agent Fone for sponsoring last week at DF. Agent Fone is a crazily ambitious new smartphone that doesn’t merely ship with a built-in AI assistant. Instead, the entire concept is that it enables you to create custom software, right on the phone itself. Ideas for new apps that you’ve had in your notes for years. Weird little app ideas that only you would want. Describe your idea, answer a few questions, and Agent Fone builds an app, or widget, and it’s on your home screen. They’re looking for 50 people and small teams to sell the first 50 hardware units to. If you’re interested, <a href="https://fail.xyz/phone/">check out their website</a> for all the information you need, and broader description of the platform.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘Agent Fone’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/08/02/agent-fone"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>Boris Cherny on Trying to Get Claude Code to Rewrite the Claude App</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.ycrootaccess.com/p/boris-cherny-building-claude-code"/>
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xf8"/>
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/08/02/cherny-claude-swift"/>
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43316</id>
<published>2026-08-02T21:01:12Z</published>
<updated>2026-08-02T21:02:08Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Boris Cherny, head of Claude Code at Anthropic, was interviewed by Diana Hu on stage at Y Combinator’s Startup School 2026 last week. Starting <a href="https://youtu.be/qyPCVqFUyDo?t=1230">around 20:30 in the video</a>, he briefly discussed directing Claude to perform difficult tasks:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>Cherny:</strong> I think the skill nowadays is less about prompt
engineering and more about figuring out how do you give Claude a
hard task that seems a little bit too hard. Then how do you make
it possible for Claude to verify its work along the way? The
verification is probably the single most important thing that
people do not get right, largely.</p>
<p>One example of this is people were — we have this desktop app
for Claude and it’s built using Electron. We’ve made it quite
fast. Now it’s a pretty awesome experience. Six months ago it was
sluggish and it wasn’t very reliable. Now it’s pretty awesome.
It’s the thing that most of the team uses. As an experiment, I
wanted to see what it would feel like if it was native. So what I
did is I started a Claude Tag session. Claude Tag is a new
product we have. It’s just Claude running in Slack. My first
question was, “Hey Tag, do you have access to a Mac OS runner on
GitHub?” It said no. Then I hooked up a runner. So it was able to
start a Mac virtual machine using GitHub. My second question was,
I created this empty code base that was a Claude desktop app
rewritten in Swift.</p>
<p>I asked, “Can you access this code base?” It said no. Then I
gave it access and it was like, “Okay, great. Now I have
access.” Then I said, “Okay, now what I want you to do is I want
you to rewrite the Electron app in Swift. I want you to run the
Electron app in the Mac virtual machine, screenshot it, and then
look pixel by pixel. Compare it to the Swift version. Don’t stop
until you’re done.”</p>
<p><strong>Hu:</strong> And that was your prompt basically?</p>
<p><strong>Cherny:</strong> That was my prompt.</p>
<p><strong>Hu:</strong> And how long did this take to run?</p>
<p><strong>Cherny:</strong> It’s still running.</p>
<p><strong>Hu:</strong> When did you start it?</p>
<p><strong>Cherny:</strong> It’s been a little over two weeks. So it’s like 14
days, 15 days.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I suppose this is interesting, but I don’t think it’s interesting in the way some people sending me links to this interview think it is. I don’t think this is a serious effort to create a truly native Mac client for Claude. And if it is, Cherny is going about it all wrong.</p>
<p>It’s not like the problem with the current Claude Mac client is merely the technical detail that it’s written with a bloated non-native framework. The actual problem is that it’s a poorly designed app written with a bloated non-native framework. The design itself is non-native. And aside from ignoring most Mac UI idioms, it’s just <a href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/17/openais-product-shake-up">a bad design in the abstract</a>. It’s bad on the web, bad on Windows, and thus of course it’s also bad on the Mac. So pointing Claude Code at the current Electron app and directing it to recreate it in Swift — pixel-by-pixel — could at best solve only the technical problems with the current app, not the design problems. I’d be more likely to use Claude if it were well designed but still written using Electron, than if it were ported to AppKit and/or SwiftUI but with exactly the current design. The current Claude app is like a shitty recipe made with shitty ingredients; what Cherny asked Claude Code to do is to follow the shitty recipe using better ingredients. It’s still going to taste like shit.</p>
<p>And it’s probably no wonder the task failed. AppKit and SwiftUI are made to create Mac-style apps. Trying to use them to recreate the utterly un-Mac-like Claude UI is like trying to brush your hair the wrong way. It’s not the way things are meant to go.</p>
<p>I also can’t let pass Cherny’s aside, re: the current Claude Mac app, that “Six months ago it was sluggish and it wasn’t very reliable. Now it’s pretty awesome.” I just launched the Claude app on my Mac, and it took 30 seconds before it was ready to use. The last 15 seconds of which, it showed the spinning beach ball cursor. When it finally finished it showed me <a href="https://daringfireball.net/misc/2026/08/claude-dickover.png">a dickover</a>. Maybe it was worse six months ago but this is not “pretty awesome”.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘Boris Cherny on Trying to Get Claude Code to Rewrite the Claude App’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/08/02/cherny-claude-swift"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>The Apple Upgrade Situation</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://randsinrepose.com/archives/the-apple-upgrade-situation/"/>
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xf5"/>
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/08/01/the-apple-upgrade-situation"/>
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43313</id>
<published>2026-08-01T16:30:40Z</published>
<updated>2026-08-02T18:03:44Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Michael Lopp, at Rands in Repose:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I have felt since it was announced that the <a href="https://www.apple.com/shop/iphone/iphone-upgrade-program">Apple iPhone Upgrade
Program</a> has not just been a deal, but a steal. The
specifics:</p>
<ul>
<li>You apply for a loan for a full-price iPhone at 0%.</li>
<li>If approved, your payments are split over 24 months.</li>
<li>Pay for 24 months, and the phone is yours.</li>
</ul>
<p>That was just the deal; the steal was that it was low effort every
single year to get a new phone. I’d re-up for a new phone, and
Apple would forgive the remaining payments of the loan because I’d
signed up for another 24 months. Oh, and bonus, AppleCare was
included, which was a total steal because I hate iPhone cases
(iPhones are designed to be felt) and, uh, also I have been known
to drop my phone. [...]</p>
<p>At first glance, the new plan looks cheaper. The original plan:
one year of iPhone 17 Pro (256GB, $1,099 sticker) was ~$57/month.
12 payments, trade-in, restart: <em>~$684 for the year</em>. The new
one, same phone: $45.99/month on the 12-month lease: <em>$552 for
the year</em>.</p>
<p>But wait! The first and most important change to the new plan is
that AppleCare is <em>no longer included</em>. Adding it back to this
phone at $13.99/month: <em>$720 for the year</em>.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>That’s probably the single best argument for “the catch” in the new plan. The old iPhone Upgrade Program included AppleCare coverage, and the new Apple Upgrade leases do not.</p>
<p>Personally, I haven’t purchased AppleCare for any device, for me or my family, since I got it for my college Macintosh LC in 1991. Apple products come with good warranties. I’ve saved thousands of dollars in the intervening decades by never paying for AppleCare and instead paying for very occasional repairs out of pocket. (I’ve twice cracked my iPhone screen and paid to have it replaced.) But I know that some people wouldn’t even consider buying an iPhone (in particular, as a potentially dropped device) without AppleCare. <strong>Update:</strong> Lopp’s AppleCare math is for monthly AppleCare; if you pay annually ($139, for a $1,099 iPhone) then the annual cost for the monthly Apple Upgrade payments plus AppleCare is $691 — which is <em>very</em> close to the $684 annual cost for the old iPhone Upgrade Program.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘The Apple Upgrade Situation’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/08/01/the-apple-upgrade-situation"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>Apple Q3 2026 Results</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://sixcolors.com/post/2026/07/apple-announces-record-q3-results/"/>
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xf4"/>
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/08/01/apple-q3-2026-results"/>
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43312</id>
<published>2026-08-01T16:15:15Z</published>
<updated>2026-08-01T16:15:16Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Jason Snell:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>On Thursday, Apple announced <a href="https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2026/07/apple-reports-third-quarter-results/">record third-quarter earnings</a>,
with total revenue of $109.4B, up 16 percent from the year-ago
quarter. iPhone revenue was up 22%, Mac revenue was up 10.4%,
Services revenue was up 12%, and Wearables revenue was up 6%. iPad
revenue was down 6%.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Six Colors also has their usual <a href="https://sixcolors.com/post/2026/07/one-last-time-this-is-tim-transcript-of-apples-q3-2026-financial-call/">transcript of the analyst call</a>, Tim Cook’s 90th and final one. </p>
<p>Over at MacRumors, <a href="https://www.macrumors.com/2026/07/31/tim-cook-apple-15-years/">Juli Clover wrote a retrospective on Tim Cook’s 15-year run as CEO</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>When Cook took over as CEO, Apple’s revenue for all of 2011 was
$108 billion. Apple reported $109.4 billion for Q3 2026, earning
its 2011 revenue in a single quarter. We don’t have the numbers
for fiscal 2026 yet, but in fiscal 2025, revenue was $416
billion. [...]</p>
<p>A day after Cook took over in August 2011, Apple’s stock price was
$13.35 (split-adjusted). Today, it opened at $304.81, a roughly
23× increase.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Apple did alright under Cook.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘Apple Q3 2026 Results’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/08/01/apple-q3-2026-results"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>The Talk Show: ‘What’s in Louie’s Wallet’</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/thetalkshow/2026/07/31/ep-453"/>
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xf3"/>
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/31/the-talk-show-453"/>
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43311</id>
<published>2026-07-31T22:50:04Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-31T22:50:04Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Louie Mantia returns to the show to talk about the state of UI and icon design on Apple’s platforms, and some speculation on Apple’s trade secret lawsuit against OpenAI.</p>
<p><audio
src = "https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/daringfireball/thetalkshow-453-louie-mantia.mp3"
controls
preload = "none"
/></p>
<p><strong>Sponsored by:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://notion.com/talkshow">Notion</a>: The collaborative AI workspace where teams and
agents work side by side, with a Developer Platform teams can build on.</li>
<li><a href="https://evenrealities.com/">Even Realities</a>: Even G2, the everyday display smart glasses. Use promo code <strong>talkshow</strong> to save 10% off the R1 Ring and/or Even Clip.</li>
<li><a href="https://squarespace.com/talkshow">Squarespace</a>: Save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code <strong>TALKSHOW</strong>.</li>
</ul>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘The Talk Show: ‘What’s in Louie’s Wallet’’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/31/the-talk-show-453"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry>
<entry>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/2026/07/temu_is_a_comically_bad_app"/>
<link rel="shorturl" href="http://df4.us/xf2"/>
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026://1.43310</id>
<published>2026-07-31T18:27:50Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-31T18:27:50Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<summary type="text">Shop like a billionaire.</summary>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p><a href="https://social.panic.com/@cabel/116987028774035194">Cabel Sasser on Mastodon</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>the temu app will be studied for generations.</p>
<p>i opened the app, and recorded this unedited, nearly two minute,
launch sequence. it somehow just gets funnier and more absurd</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I agree with this sentiment, right down to the fact that Temu doesn’t deserve capital letters.</p>
<p>I placed an order from Temu back in August 2023. At the time Temu was the #1 app in the App Store. I surmised it was some sort of crap store, but wanted to see for myself. It is in fact not merely a crap store but a spectacular crap store — like if a souvenir shop on a Jersey shore boardwalk were the size of a football stadium. Thousands of items, many of them rip-offs, at absurdly low prices. I bought (<a href="https://daringfireball.net/misc/2026/07/temu-order-7-items-aug-2023.png">screenshot</a>):</p>
<ul>
<li>Two Apple Watch straps. One of them knocking off Apple’s Braided Solo Loop for $1.88; another knocking off the Apple Watch Ultra Alpine Loop for $2.34.</li>
<li>A pair of knock-off AirPods: $8.98.</li>
<li>Another pair of wireless earbuds branded “Lenovo” but definitely not made by Lenovo: $10.25.</li>
<li>A knock-off Apple Watch Ultra (“<em>Smart Watch Answer/Make Call 2.19" HD Full Touch Screen Watch With BT Call, Fitness Tracker With Heart Monitor</em>”), which included both orange and black (misspelled “balck”) rip-offs of Apple’s Ocean Band, for $16.49.</li>
<li>A “Magnetic Suction Anti-Lost Lanyard” for, I think, AirPods: $1.79.</li>
<li>An iPhone case: $3.46.</li>
</ul>
<p>Grand total for all seven items: $48.81. I ordered it all on 20 August 2023, and it arrived at my P.O. box on 2 September. The contents of the box looked less like it had been “packed” than “picked out of the trash and hurriedly stuffed into a box”.</p>
<p>The iPhone case was so flimsy it didn’t properly snap onto the phone. The Apple Watch straps were ... OK? They were about as good as you could hope given that they cost around $2 each. The knock-off Apple Watch Ultra actually did sort of work, insofar as it had a color screen that turned on and showed watch-like screens (that looked nothing at all like WatchOS). The watch case was made of plastic, and watch straps did not snap into place in the slide-in channel where they connect — they just permanently slid around. I couldn’t get either of the bluetooth earbuds to work but I didn’t spend more than a few minutes trying with each, because I realized I had no intention of putting them into my ears. The lanyard I don’t remember.</p>
<p>Temu today no longer tops the U.S. App Store’s Top Free Apps list, but it remains in the top 25. (It was at #19 this morning, and #22 this afternoon.) Temu’s slogan remains unchanged: “Shop like a billionaire.” Who am I to argue with that? We know <a href="https://www.wsj.com/business/elon-musk-illegal-drugs-e826a9e1?st=rAN3Cp">one of them</a> is on a lot of drugs — maybe all of them are, and Temu is what it’s like.</p>
<p>After I placed that initial order, I started getting emails from Temu. Seven of the emails pertained to my order: an order confirmation, a shipping notice, a shipping update, another shipping update, a “we noticed your order didn’t arrive on time so here’s a $5 coupon” update, a delivery confirmation, and then a prompt to leave “an honest review detailing our product quality and your overall experience”. The emails kept coming. I decided to leave them turned on until I wrote about my Temu experience on Daring Fireball. As I type this sentence, I’ve received a grand total of 916 emails. That’s just under one per day for the 1,076 days since I placed my one and only order from them. <a href="https://daringfireball.net/misc/2026/07/Temu-Email-Subjects-(916).text">Here’s a text file with the dates and Subject lines for all 916 emails</a>. In the early months after placing my order, they sent me multiple emails per day, every single day. I particularly enjoy how, in the Subject lines, they occasionally abbreviate my name as “John Gru...” (for privacy?), despite the fact that (a) the emails are all sent to me, and (b) in many of the other messages, they spell out my full name in the Subject.</p>
<p>Don’t do what I did and actually try Temu. <a href="https://social.panic.com/@cabel/116987028774035194">Just watch Sasser’s video</a>. It tells you everything you need to know.</p>
]]></content>
<title>★ Temu Is a Comically Bad App</title>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>Mark Zuckerberg: ‘The AI Future Is for Everyone’</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.wsj.com/opinion/the-ai-future-is-for-everyone-a0c24e20?st=T6AAwM"/>
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xf1"/>
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/30/zuck-ai-for-everyone"/>
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43309</id>
<published>2026-07-30T21:09:51Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-30T21:09:52Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Mark Zuckerberg, in an op-ed Tuesday for The Wall Street Journal (gift link; and irony isn’t lost that “everyone” needs a paid WSJ subscription to read this):</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We are fortunate to live at an incredible moment in history. In
the next few years, people will be able to use superintelligence
beyond human capacity to create and discover extraordinary new
things, build new businesses, express our ideas, learn new
concepts, and improve our lives, health, relationships and
careers.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Perhaps we’ll be able to use it to build a metaverse too. Or to keep our attention on a major initiative for more than two or three years.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘Mark Zuckerberg: ‘The AI Future Is for Everyone’’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/30/zuck-ai-for-everyone"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>Apple Releases iOS and MacOS 26.6, MacOS 15.7.8, and More</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/07/ios-and-macos-26-6-arrive-today-paving-the-way-for-ios-and-macos-27/"/>
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xf0"/>
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/30/ios-macos-26-6"/>
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43308</id>
<published>2026-07-30T20:41:43Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-30T20:41:44Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Samuel Axon, Ars Technica:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Apple has released iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS 26.6.
Apart from potential security hotfixes, these are likely the last
updates before the arrival of iOS 27, macOS 27, and so on.</p>
<p>All of today’s releases include minor bug fixes, and there are
numerous security updates: <a href="https://support.apple.com/en-gb/128067">more than 150 for macOS 26.6</a>.
Apple also rolled out macOS 14.8.8 and macOS 15.7.8 for older
devices, also focused on security fixes.</p>
<p>In terms of new features, you won’t find many in these releases,
as they mainly pave the way for the next major OS update, likely
to hit sometime in September. Most notably, the release notes for
iOS and iPadOS 26.6 say the update “optimizes the Spotlight index
to prepare for iOS 27.” This update will kick off some indexing
work that will then be leveraged in an ostensibly much more robust
Spotlight search feature when iOS 27 launches next month.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I don’t mean to pick nits, but there’s nothing “ostensible” about it. You can use the new Spotlight index via Siri AI in the OS 27 beta releases and it’s <em>really</em> good. The initial background indexing took almost a full week for me on iOS, I suspect because I have so much email archived, but anyone who upgrades to these 26.6 releases now shouldn’t have to wait at all after upgrading to 27.0 in September. Or even if you wait for the 27.1 releases — you won’t need to wait for Siri AI to have your full semantic index at hand.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘Apple Releases iOS and MacOS 26.6, MacOS 15.7.8, and More’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/30/ios-macos-26-6"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>Rogue Amoeba: Unobtrusive Update Notifications</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://weblog.rogueamoeba.com/2026/04/28/unobtrusive-update-notifications/"/>
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xez"/>
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/30/rogue-amoeba-unobtrusive-update-notifications"/>
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43307</id>
<published>2026-07-30T20:33:59Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-30T20:34:00Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Paul Kafasis, on the Rogue Amoeba blog back in April:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Though Sparkle serves us very well, it has one notable downside.
Update announcements are most likely to appear at the least
convenient time: right after you’ve launched the app. You want to
start recording with Audio Hijack, for instance, but the app is
telling you about a new version.</p>
<p>We’ve long wished to avoid these disruptions. With that in mind,
we’re making changes to how update notifications appear throughout
our apps. In the future, when the software’s timed automated check
detects a newer version, it will no longer pop an obtrusive window
like the one seen above.</p>
<p>Instead, a small “Update Available” indicator will be shown in the
app’s interface.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Such a little thing, but like I wrote <a href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/27/always-choose-the-good-soap">earlier this week</a>, getting all the little things right is how you get to insanely great. Every Mac app using Sparkle ought to copy this. It’s so much nicer.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘Rogue Amoeba: Unobtrusive Update Notifications’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/30/rogue-amoeba-unobtrusive-update-notifications"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>Looking for the Catch in Apple Upgrade</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/07/apple-lease-upgrade-program/688106/"/>
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xey"/>
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/30/looking-for-the-catch-in-apple-upgrade"/>
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43306</id>
<published>2026-07-30T16:59:39Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-30T20:24:21Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Damon Beres, writing for The Atlantic under the hed/subhed: “The New iPhone Underclass: Apple’s rental program is a trap”:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The Klarna plan — “Apple Upgrade,” which replaces the iPhone
Upgrade Program — is truly, legally, a lease. This is confusing!
And it’s confusing in part because this is not how Klarna, a
well-known buy-now, pay-later service, typically operates: When
you use Klarna for clothing from Shein or lip kits at Sephora or
an Xbox at GameStop, you’re paying back a loan, exactly as you
were in the original iPhone Upgrade Program. Same if you use
Klarna to buy a <a href="https://www.samsung.com/us/klarna-payment-plan/">Samsung Galaxy</a> phone. But with Apple Upgrade,
you are renting: The Mac or Apple Watch is not yours until the
final payment is made.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I don’t think this is confusing at all. Apple Upgrade is the primary brand for this program, not Klarna. Klarna is really only mentioned in the small print. You get into Apple Upgrade <a href="https://www.apple.com/shop/apple-upgrade">through Apple</a>. Off the top of your head, do you remember Apple’s bank partner for the now-discontinued iPhone Upgrade Program? (<a href="https://www.apple.com/legal/sales-support/iphoneupgrade_us/">It was Citizens Bank</a>.) The Samsung program Beres links to above is named “Klarna Pay in 4”. “Apple Upgrade is a leasing program partnered with Klarna” is easily understood.</p>
<p>Here’s what Beres thinks is a “trap”:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Consider a student or a young professional, or perhaps an
underemployed older one, who needs a new laptop. They decide on a
MacBook. Apple Upgrade will appear to be the best deal: In its
<a href="https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2026/07/apple-upgrade-launches-in-the-united-states/">announcement</a>, Apple offers the example of a 14-inch MacBook
Pro that retails for $1,999 but that can be had for a monthly
lease. Perhaps this person goes for the two-year term, which has
them paying $54 a month. Best Buy, which currently has the same
computer on sale for $1,849, offers an 18-month loan repayment
with $103 installments. Apple’s deal appears to be cheaper: The
24-month lease adds up to $1,296; Best Buy’s 18-month loan lands
at the store’s full retail price of $1,849.</p>
<p>Why does Best Buy’s laptop seem more expensive? It’s because the
plan is actually designed for you to fully pay off the device. At
the end of the 24-month MacBook Pro lease, meanwhile, the consumer
will still owe $703, meaning that the actual total price of the
Apple arrangement is $1,999 — higher than Best Buy’s offer.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This has nothing to do with the differences between Apple Upgrade’s leasing terms and Best Buy’s 18-month loan. It’s the difference between Apple’s retail price of $1,999 and Best Buy’s $1,849. Guess what? $1,849 is less than $1,999.</p>
<p>I generally like paying for everything I buy up front. The only thing I have a loan for right now is our home. So when Apple Upgrade was announced, I approached it with skepticism, presuming that participants would wind up paying more over time than they would buying devices outright up front. But no. There is no interest penalty. If anything, if you presume inflation is still going to run a bit high for the next few years, buying devices through Apple Upgrade might be a slightly better deal than paying up front.</p>
<p>Is it a “trap” that at the end of your 24-month lease you still owe $703 if you want to buy it? I would say that’s not a trap at all, given that you’d have only paid $1,296 to date on a $1,999 device. I’m not trying to be obtuse. I get it. If you pay the full $1,999 up front, or take a loan to pay the full amount over 24 months, then, after two years, you own the device outright and you might not be tempted to buy a new device for a few more years. If instead you lease it and still owe $703 after 24 months, you might be inclined to think that it’d be no fun at all to pay $703 to finish purchasing a now-two-year-old MacBook, even if the price is totally fair and carries no interest penalty. It’s just not fun. What might seem fun, at that point, is to just hand the leased MacBook back to Apple and start a <em>new</em> lease on a brand-new MacBook. That’s surely the appeal of this whole thing from Apple’s perspective — that leasing entices people to keep starting new leases every two years rather than just sit back and enjoy a fully-paid-for device for a few additional years. I think it’s a stretch to call that a “trap”, though.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘Looking for the Catch in Apple Upgrade’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/30/looking-for-the-catch-in-apple-upgrade"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>The Differences Between the New ‘Apple Upgrade’ and the Old ‘iPhone Upgrade Program’</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://9to5mac.com/2026/07/30/apple-upgrade-vs-iphone-upgrade-program-here-are-the-key-differences/"/>
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xex"/>
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/30/apple-upgrade-vs-iphone-upgrade-program"/>
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43305</id>
<published>2026-07-30T15:56:10Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-30T17:48:57Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Ryan Christoffel, writing for 9to5Mac:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Apple Upgrade launched this week, and the iPhone Upgrade Program
is being discontinued as a result. But despite some similarities,
the two offerings are not the same. Here are the key differences.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I wrote yesterday that there seemingly is no catch with the new Apple Upgrade program, but there’s at least one, which Christoffel’s piece doesn’t note. When you lease an iPhone through Apple Upgrade, you need a cellular account on one of the big three U.S. carriers: AT&T, T-Mobile, or Verizon. That kind of stinks, and I’m not quite sure I understand why. You’re leasing the iPhone through Apple and Klarna, not the carrier, so I don’t know why Apple cares. If you know why, <a href="https://daringfireball.net/contact/">shoot me a message</a> and explain it. Is it just a simplistic credit-risk evaluation, where prepaid plan-holders and MVNO users in general are viewed suspiciously? </p>
<p>I’ve been hearing <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-wireless-carrier/">a lot of good things</a> about the higher-quality MVNOs, especially <a href="https://www.usmobile.com/">US Mobile</a>. (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/@snazzy">Quinn Nelson</a> mentioned <a href="https://daringfireball.net/thetalkshow/2026/07/23/ep-452">last week on The Talk Show</a> that he’s on US Mobile.) But if you’re not on one of the big three you can’t lease an iPhone through Apple Upgrade.</p>
<p>(I think the old iPhone Upgrade Program required you to have a plan on one of the big three carriers too, so that might be why Christoffel didn’t mention it — it’s the same, not a difference.)</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘The Differences Between the New ‘Apple Upgrade’ and the Old ‘iPhone Upgrade Program’’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/30/apple-upgrade-vs-iphone-upgrade-program"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>Apple Says iOS 27 ‘Restricted Mode’ Isn’t for Users Who Miss Payments in New Apple Upgrade Program</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://9to5mac.com/2026/07/28/apple-says-ios-27-restricted-mode-isnt-for-new-upgrade-program-leases/"/>
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xew"/>
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/29/ios-27-restricted-mode"/>
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43304</id>
<published>2026-07-29T20:56:33Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-29T20:56:33Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Last week <a href="https://9to5mac.com/2026/07/21/ios-27-code-suggests-apple-could-restrict-leased-devices-after-missed-payments/">9to5Mac reported</a> on code in the latest iOS 27 developer beta seemingly meant to restrict leased devices after the user had missed one or more payments. When engaged, Restricted Mode limits the device to the following apps:</p>
<ul>
<li>Accessibility Reader</li>
<li>App Store</li>
<li>Health</li>
<li>Magnifier</li>
<li>Phone</li>
<li>Clock</li>
<li>Settings</li>
<li>Wallet</li>
<li>Passwords</li>
</ul>
<p>And some limited access to apps like Messages or health-related apps that might have critical messages.</p>
<p>Many people reasonably speculated that this feature was related to Apple Upgrade, Apple’s new device leasing partnership with Klarna, which Mark Gurman spoiled a few weeks ago. But an Apple spokesman <a href="https://www.theverge.com/tech/972063/apple-upgrade-program-no-restricted-mode">confirmed to Emma Roth at The Verge today</a> that “There will be no restricted mode and/or there will be no limitations put on device functionality due to missed payments or default with the Apple Upgrade program.”</p>
<p>Writing again today, <a href="https://9to5mac.com/2026/07/28/apple-says-ios-27-restricted-mode-isnt-for-new-upgrade-program-leases/">here’s 9to5Mac’s Marcus Mendes</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Apple, however, did not tell The Verge what Restricted Mode <em>is</em>
intended for. One possibility is that it was developed for
financing programs offered by carriers, retailers, or other
partners outside Apple Upgrade, potentially including markets
where device restrictions are already used to enforce installment
agreements.</p>
<p>In India, lenders have worked in the past with smartphone
manufacturers to remotely block financed devices after borrowers
missed payments. As <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/technology/smartphone-emi-defaults-rise-as-lenders-stop-remote-cell-blocking/articleshow/125622029.cms?utm_source=chatgpt.com&from=mdr">The Economic Times</a> reported last year,
the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) told non-bank lenders to stop the
practice in late 2024, amid concerns about lenders sharing
customers’ default information with device manufacturers.</p>
<p>The regulator may now permit a more limited version of the
practice. As <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-cenbank-proposes-allowing-lenders-curb-usage-phones-bought-loans-case-2026-05-20/?utm_source=chatgpt.com">Reuters</a> reported in May, the RBI proposed
allowing lenders to restrict certain functions on financed phones
once a loan is at least 90 days overdue, provided the borrower
agreed to the measure in the contract and received advance notice.</p>
</blockquote>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘Apple Says iOS 27 ‘Restricted Mode’ Isn’t for Users Who Miss Payments in New Apple Upgrade Program’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/29/ios-27-restricted-mode"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>Apple Upgrade — New Program With Klarna for Leasing iPhones, Macs, iPads, and More for Near-Zero Interest</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2026/07/apple-upgrade-launches-in-the-united-states/"/>
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xev"/>
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/29/apple-upgrade"/>
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43303</id>
<published>2026-07-29T16:51:15Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-29T16:51:15Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Apple Newsroom:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Apple today announced <a href="https://www.apple.com/shop/apple-upgrade">Apple Upgrade</a>, a new product leasing
program provided by Klarna for iPhone, Apple Watch, Mac, and iPad
available on the Apple Store online, in the Apple Store app, and
at Apple Store locations in the United States. Apple Upgrade makes
it even easier for customers to get the Apple products they love
with a leasing plan that is right for them. [...]</p>
<p>Apple Upgrade offers 12- and 24-month leasing options for iPhone
and Apple Watch, and 24- and 36-month leasing options for Mac and
iPad. Leasing prices start as low as $17.99 per month for iPhone,
$11.99 for Apple Watch, $24.99 for Mac, and $11.99 for iPad. When
customers first enroll in Apple Upgrade, they can further lower
their monthly lease payments by trading in their currently owned
device through <a href="https://www.apple.com/shop/trade-in/">Apple Trade In</a>. Customers can also earn 3 percent
Daily Cash back when making their lease payments with Apple Card.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://mjtsai.com/blog/2026/07/28/apple-upgrade/">Michael Tsai</a>, quoting Juli Clover at MacRumors:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.macrumors.com/2026/07/28/apple-upgrade-program-klarna/">Juli Clover</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The payoff amount is the difference between what was paid during
the leasing period and the retail price of the device, minus any
remaining trade-in credits. Klarna is not charging a fee for the
leasing program, so an iPhone that’s $1,099 can be leased and
then purchased for $1,099 with no extra cost beyond taxes.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I guess this means that, for a bit of hassle, you can essentially
buy the device for the list price at 0% interest.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>If you’d rather lease or buy over time, this seems like as good a deal as you could hope for, without any catches.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘Apple Upgrade — New Program With Klarna for Leasing iPhones, Macs, iPads, and More for Near-Zero Interest’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/29/apple-upgrade"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>Pastebot 3</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://tapbots.com/pastebot/"/>
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xeu"/>
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/29/pastebot-3"/>
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43302</id>
<published>2026-07-29T16:07:03Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-30T20:21:52Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>New from Tapbots: version 3 of their excellent clipboard manager for Mac. There are <em>so</em> many clipboard managers for the Mac. I run two other apps — <a href="https://www.keyboardmaestro.com/">Keyboard Maestro</a> and <a href="https://www.obdev.at/launchbar">LaunchBar</a> — that offer good clipboard managers as ancillary features. But for years now I’ve chosen to use Pastebot. Chief among my favorite features:</p>
<ul>
<li>Remembers up to 1,500 clippings (up from a mere 1,000 in v2).</li>
<li>Syncs via iCloud. If I copy something on one Mac, it’s in my Pastebot history on my other Macs.</li>
<li>That sweet Tapbots UI.</li>
</ul>
<p>Pastebot 3 requires MacOS 26 Tahoe or later. That means I’m only using it on secondary Macs for now — my primary workstation will continue running MacOS 15 Sequoia until I upgrade directly to 27 Golden Gate later this year. But iCloud sync continues to work between Pastebot 2 and 3.</p>
<p>New features include more powerful filters (e.g. you can use a filter to copy a URL and then paste that URL in Markdown’s link syntax), a CLI tool (as yet undocumented), and Shortcuts support.</p>
<p>$39 for a license via direct purchase, with a $13 discount for users of previous versions. It’s still pending approval in the Mac App Store, where it will cost $25/year or $3/month.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘Pastebot 3’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/29/pastebot-3"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>Count Those Underscores</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/07/police-missed-one-underscore-and-sent-the-wrong-man-to-prison/"/>
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xet"/>
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/29/count-those-underscores"/>
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43301</id>
<published>2026-07-29T15:28:02Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-30T20:00:34Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Nate Anderson, reporting for Ars Technica under the headline “A Missing Underscore Sent Innocent Man to Prison for 18 Months”:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Police were looking for a man using the Kik messaging service
under the name “fus__ro_dah” (two underscores after “fus”), but
they accidentally requested records for the username
“fus_ro_dah” (one underscore after “fus”). This one-character
difference led them not to the perpetrator but to a Canadian man
named Brandon Klayme. [...]</p>
<p>Despite finding no evidence of the crime on his digital devices,
Canadian police arrested Klayme in 2020 on child sex abuse
charges. He was convicted after a trial in 2023 and sentenced in
2024 to 18 months in prison. He served the full term.</p>
<p>Even after release, Klayme continued to fight his conviction. In
the process of preparing his appeal, the username mistake that led
to all these years of disruption was finally discovered. On
Thursday, the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal overturned Klayme’s
conviction, writing: “Mr. Klayme is factually innocent of the
offences. He should never have been charged, let alone convicted.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://onefoottsunami.com/2026/07/29/a-missing-underscore/">Via Paul Kafasis</a>, who asks:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>While I understand how the mistake led to this poor guy becoming a
suspect, I really can’t fathom how he was convicted. What the hell
happened during that trial?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Contra Ars’s headline, it wasn’t the missing underscore that sent Klayme to prison for 18 months.</p>
<p><strong>Update:</strong> Guy Chapman observes that this is basically the central plot of <a href="https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/68-brazil?language=en-US">Terry Gilliam’s <em>Brazil</em></a>.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘Count Those Underscores’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/29/count-those-underscores"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>‘eBay’s Bizarre Cyberstalking Saga Ends With a $56 Million Settlement’</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.theverge.com/tech/972209/ebay-cyberstalking-harassment-settlement"/>
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xes"/>
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/29/ebay-stalking-settlement"/>
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43300</id>
<published>2026-07-29T14:43:24Z</published>
<updated>2026-08-02T17:48:18Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Emma Roth, The Verge:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>eBay and three former executives <a href="https://www.scallimurphy.com/ebay-cyberstalking-lawsuit-settlement/">will pay $55.7 million</a> as
part of a settlement with a Massachusetts couple targeted with a
bizarre harassment and cyberstalking campaign in 2019, as
<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/28/ebay-blogger-harassment-stalking-steiner.html">reported earlier by CNBC</a>. The settlement will resolve a
lengthy legal saga that revealed how <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2020/9/26/21457487/go-read-this-ebay-stalking-harassment-new-york-times">eBay’s former executives
sent live insects</a>, a bloody pig mask, a funeral wreath, and
other strange items to David and Ina Steiner over their
newsletter’s coverage of eBay.</p>
<p>The Steiners, who operate the EcommerceBytes newsletter, sued eBay
and its former executives — including ex-CEO Devin Wenig — in
2021. The lawsuit <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mad.236568/gov.uscourts.mad.236568.1.0_1.pdf">accused the company</a> and its executives of
launching a coordinated effort to “intimidate, threaten to kill,
torture, terrorize, stalk and silence” the Steiners in an attempt
to “stifle” their eBay-related reporting.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I don’t think I’ve ever linked to this saga before, but I’m not sure why. One of those stories that slipped through the cracks. It’s an astonishing tale. Could be the basis for a Coen brothers movie.</p>
<p>From David Streitfeld’s 2020 <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/26/technology/ebay-cockroaches-stalking-scandal.html?unlocked_article_code=1.1VA.jF7I.EmTOxL0tiGj6">overview of the saga for The New York Times</a> (gift link):</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Prosecutors say that on Aug. 7, Ms. Popp — the “Mom” to Mr.
Baugh’s “Dad” — began sending Twitter messages to Ms. Steiner
via a fake account, @Tui_Elei. The profile picture was a skull,
and he seemed to be an eBay user from Samoa who believed that
EcommerceBytes had harmed his sales. Ms. Steiner ignored the
messages, even as the tone got angrier and more abusive.
@Tui_Elei wrote: “I guess im goin to have to get ur attention
another way bitch…”</p>
<p>A parade of disturbing deliveries began at 4 p.m. on Aug. 10, when
a package containing a bloody pig mask arrived at the Steiners’
home. Fourteen minutes later, @Tui_Elei wrote: “DO I HAVE UR
ATTENTION NOW????”</p>
<p>The Steiners received a book titled “Grief Diaries: Surviving the
Loss of a Spouse” and a funeral wreath. They got fly larvae and
live spiders and a box of cockroaches. Copies of the September
issue of “Hustler: Barely Legal” touting “eye-popping
18-year-olds” arrived at the homes of neighbors with David
Steiner’s name on them. The Twitter bombardment continued, as
@Tui_Elei began to hint at violence: “wen u hurt our bizness u
hurt our familys… Ppl will do ANYTHING 2 protect family!!!!”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It’s certainly not how anyone would plan a business strategy, but this settlement seemingly makes the Steiners some of the most successful independent writers in history. <a href="https://www.ecommercebytes.com/C/blog/blog.pl?/pl/2026/7/1785201549.html">Here’s Ina Steiner’s piece on the settlement</a> at eCommerceBytes.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘‘eBay’s Bizarre Cyberstalking Saga Ends With a $56 Million Settlement’’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/29/ebay-stalking-settlement"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>Steve Jobs in 2011: ‘We Build Products That We Want for Ourselves, Too, and We Just Don’t Want Ads’</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-snubs-the-iad-2011-6"/>
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xer"/>
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/28/jobs-we-dont-want-ads"/>
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43299</id>
<published>2026-07-28T16:22:51Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-28T16:23:34Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Dan Frommer, writing for Business Insider in 2011 about that year’s WWDC (Jobs’s last):</p>
<blockquote>
<p>While discussing Apple’s free, new iCloud email service, he took
an apparent jab at Gmail, Yahoo Mail, and the others, which stuff
ads in their free email services.</p>
<p>“No ads,” he boasted. “We build products that we want for
ourselves, too, and we just don’t want ads.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Jobs’s “we” is interesting to ponder here. Apple’s senior leadership today is comprised mostly of the same people in senior leadership positions in 2011. Tim Cook, Phil Schiller, Eddy Cue, Craig Federighi, Greg Joswiak, and even John Ternus (then a director of hardware engineering for the iPad team, I believe) were all presumably included in Jobs’s “we”. The only big player missing today from Jobs’s 2011 “we” is Scott Forstall.</p>
<p>The people haven’t changed, but Apple has. Strong leaders inevitably shape the personality — the spirit — of organizations over time. Apple in 2011 was peak Steve Jobs Apple. Apple in 2026 is peak Tim Cook Apple. But <a href="https://daringfireball.net/2026/07/ternus_apple_slippery_slope">it was Cook who popularized</a> the “you’re not the customer, you’re the product” argument against “free with ads” online services. But that was <a href="https://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/09/18/read-apple-ceo-tim-cooks-letter-on-privacy/?st=fRtsBk">in 2014</a>.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘Steve Jobs in 2011: ‘We Build Products That We Want for Ourselves, Too, and We Just Don’t Want Ads’’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/28/jobs-we-dont-want-ads"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry>
<entry>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://fail.xyz/phone/"/>
<link rel="shorturl" href="http://df4.us/xeq"/>
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/feeds/sponsors/2026/07/introducing_agent_fone"/>
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/feeds/sponsors//11.43298</id>
<author>
<name>Daring Fireball Department of Commerce</name>
</author>
<published>2026-07-28T01:31:54Z</published>
<updated>2026-08-02T18:43:26Z</updated>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/feeds/sponsors/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Every phone now ships with an assistant. You ask, it answers. Lame. We built a phone that writes software instead. The app idea you’ve had in your notes for years. The side hustle you will never get around to building. The weird thing only you would want. Describe it, answer a few questions, and it’s on your home screen — yours, working, sendable to a friend. No app store between you and your ideas. The first fifty units go to teams who’ll <a href="https://fail.xyz/phone/">push on it and tell us what breaks</a>.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘Introducing Agent Fone’" href="https://daringfireball.net/feeds/sponsors/2026/07/introducing_agent_fone"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
<title>[Sponsor] Introducing Agent Fone</title>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>‘Always Choose the Good Soap’</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://sixcolors.com/post/2026/07/always-choose-the-good-soap/"/>
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xep"/>
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/27/always-choose-the-good-soap"/>
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43297</id>
<published>2026-07-28T01:13:55Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-28T22:40:24Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Jason Snell:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Apple’s most valuable asset is its brand. Not its real estate,
not its intellectual property, not even any particular product.
Even the mighty iPhone has no value if, over time, the traits
that differentiate it from competitor products are erased.
Apple’s brand has always stood for higher quality products — you
pay more, but you get more. Apple has never wanted to be the
low-price leader. It didn’t put <a href="https://daringfireball.net/2026/07/ads_in_software_are_like_stickers_on_laptops">stickers on the first Intel
Macs</a> to get some marketing dollars from Intel. It doesn’t
load up new Macs with loads of lousy bundled third-party software
like so many PCs do.</p>
<p>Those are choices Apple has made that cost the company revenue,
but they’ve got a bigger purpose. They reinforce the brand.</p>
<p>Opting <em>not</em> to add more revenue to the bottom line is a difficult
choice for anyone working at a profit-driven corporation.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Great minds write about the same topic on the same day.</p>
<p>What Snell’s column makes clear is that the incremental revenue Apple is gaining from putting shitty ads in its software comes at a price. They’re withdrawals from Apple’s brand equity. The brand equity that Apple is losing by foisting these ads is more valuable than the marginal dollars they’re earning from them. There’s juice, yes, but it’s a perfect case of the juice not being worth the squeeze.</p>
<p>It shouldn’t be easy for users to simply imagine obvious ways for Apple’s software to improve. But it’s trivial for any user to imagine an obvious way for the App Store to be better: take out the ads from search results. If there were a preference setting to remove ads from App Store search results, everyone would turn that on. Apple is doing a thing that obviously makes the experience worse. It’s a little thing. The experience is only a little worse. But getting all the little things right is how you get to insanely great, and insanely great is Apple’s North Star.</p>
<p>Apple’s competition is lousy with ads. Downright lousy. Apple seems to be choosing the route of “<em>Don’t like ads? Choose Apple, we shove</em> fewer <em>of them in your face.</em>” That’s <a href="https://daringfireball.net/2026/07/ternus_apple_slippery_slope">way less bracingly clear</a> a marketing message than “<em>Don’t like ads? Choose Apple, we don’t shove</em> any <em>ads in your face.</em>” If your competitors’ stores all smell pervasively of dogshit, don’t aim to have the store that smells the least like shit. Aim to have a store that smells pristine. “<em>Our stores only carry a vague whiff of dogshit</em>” is not insanely great.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘‘Always Choose the Good Soap’’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/27/always-choose-the-good-soap"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry>
<entry>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/2026/07/ads_in_software_are_like_stickers_on_laptops"/>
<link rel="shorturl" href="http://df4.us/xen"/>
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026://1.43295</id>
<published>2026-07-27T16:32:51Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-27T16:32:51Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<summary type="text">Putting themselves in customers’ shoes today, how many ads do Apple’s executives want stuck in the results when they search for an app in the App Store?</summary>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Regarding my <a href="https://daringfireball.net/2026/07/ads_on_apple_news_suck">recent</a> <a href="https://daringfireball.net/2026/07/ternus_apple_slippery_slope">pieces</a> regarding Apple’s shitty ads in the App Store and Apple News (and, perhaps soon, Apple Maps), a friend sent me this pithy take:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The ads Apple is happy to inflict on us in its apps are the
equivalent of the stickers it would never allow on its physical
products.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><em>Bullseye.</em></p>
<p>That’s what those stickers on PCs are: they’re ads. Intel pays for the “Intel Inside” stickers that booger up PC laptop palm rests. Longtime readers will recall that <a href="https://www.apple.com/newsroom/archive/2007/08/">back in August 2007</a>, Apple held a Town Hall event to introduce new iMacs and some iLife and iWork software updates. In a post-event Q&A (imagine that), <a href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2007/08/09/keefe">Bob Keefe of Cox Newspapers asked</a> “Can you say why you all are not participating in the Intel Inside program, putting the stickers on your new or previous Macs?” This question was so absurd <em>from the perspective of those who covered Apple closely</em> that it prompted outright laughter. <a href="https://www.macworld.com/article/186895/stickergate.html">Jason Snell wrote a great column</a> arguing that it was actually a good question.</p>
<p>Here’s the whole exchange (<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080820104510/http://www.macuser.com/steve-jobs/world_exclusive_bob_keefe_is_n_1.php">via Dan Moren</a>, then at MacUser). Give it a listen, it’s only 100 seconds or so:</p>
<p><audio
src = "https://daringfireball.net/misc/2007/08/stickerquestion.mp3"
controls
preload = "none"
></p>
<p>Keefe asks, Steve Jobs answers, Phil Schiller answers, and then Jobs closes it. Jobs broke the ice in his initial answer, with “What can I say? We like our own stickers better.” I was in the room, and that line killed. Jobs at his best. But you can tell that Jobs wasn’t really sure how to answer at first. He didn’t want to throw any shade at Intel, Apple’s partner, but he knew there was a key point to make here about Apple.</p>
<p>The whole thing is funny because at a fundamental level we all just know in our bones that Apple never even considered putting “Intel Inside” stickers on Macs. But <em>why</em>? For eons, mankind knew that when you drop something, it will fall to the ground. But <em>why</em>? Gravity is worth asking about. Worth figuring out. I think that’s the point of Snell’s 2007 column arguing that people (like me) were wrong to mock Keefe for asking.</p>
<p>It’s when Jobs comes back to the question, after Schiller, that we get the real answer:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>You know, we put ourselves in the customers’ shoes and we say,
what do <em>we</em> want stuck on our product when we take it out of the
box? And the answer is, nothing.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><em>That’s</em> the answer. Apple still treats its hardware with that level of respect. With reverence. iPhones don’t even say “iPhone” on the hardware. No model or serial numbers. No small print. Just an Apple logo on the back.</p>
<p>Putting themselves in customers’ shoes today, how many ads do Apple’s executives want stuck in the results when they search for an app in the App Store? We know the honest answer. But the answer <a href="https://daringfireball.net/misc/2026/07/app-store-ads-search-for-signal.png">evidenced by the actual App Store</a> is “Two really big ones, including one in the first spot.”</p>
]]></content>
<title>★ Ads in Software Are Like Stickers on Laptops</title>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>WorkOS MCP</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://workos.com/blog/management-mcp-server?utm_source=daringfireball&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=q32026"/>
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xeo"/>
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/27/workos-mcp"/>
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43296</id>
<published>2026-07-27T16:30:00Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-27T16:39:00Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>My thanks to WorkOS for sponsoring last week at DF to promote their MCP server. Debugging SSO, managing users, adjusting auth policies, configuring branding: every configuration task has lived behind a UI that only a human can drive.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://workos.com/docs/mcp?utm_source=daringfireball&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=q32026">WorkOS MCP</a> server gives agents the same access as your dashboard login. Hundreds of operations, discoverable at runtime. Connect in one command via OAuth, with scoped tokens instead of a master API key. Pass a screenshot of your marketing site and ask your agent to match the login page. If a human had to do it before, an agent can do it now. <a href="https://workos.com/blog/management-mcp-server?utm_source=daringfireball&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=q32026">Connect your agent today</a>.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘WorkOS MCP’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/27/workos-mcp"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>‘AI Mania Is Eviscerating Global Decision-Making’</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://ludic.mataroa.blog/blog/ai-mania-is-eviscerating-global-decision-making/"/>
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xem"/>
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/25/ai-mania-nikhil-suresh"/>
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43294</id>
<published>2026-07-25T18:15:12Z</published>
<updated>2026-08-02T17:47:47Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Fascinating essay by Nikhil Suresh:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>On a trip overseas, I had the privilege of a meeting with one of
the Fortune 500 executives mentioned at the beginning of the post,
who will remain anonymous so that they are not executed by firing
squad by their board. As we were chatting, it became clear that
they were very switched-on and technically competent, and they
<em>also</em> happened to be at a company that had committed to the usual
battery of exorbitant claims about their recent innovations — we’ve 100×’d our productivity, AI is the future of everything, I
am but a vessel for OpenAI to make love to my wife. You know,
normal things. But since I had them there without any microphones
around, I asked <em>why</em> this was being repeated without opposition.
Was it just sales fluff?</p>
<p>The answer was a lot more interesting. It was <em>partially</em>
ridiculous sales material being delivered to an easily excitable
audience, but this was not the dominant factor constraining
honesty. Executives at their <em>customers</em> were saying absurd things
about achieving 100× productivity, and this meant that if any
executive at the <em>vendor</em> said that these gains were not
plausible, it would undermine the credibility of the customer’s
executive, be perceived as an attack (or heresy), and possibly
result in an enterprise contract cancellation. And getting
enterprise contracts cancelled because you wanted to opine on
something that doesn’t really matter to your organisation’s
mission is a great way to get fired.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The whole essay is very much worth reading, and might make you feel saner for harboring your own doubts regarding just how much has been changed in the world by generative AI.
The gist of his argument is that the entire corporate world — not merely the computer/tech industry — is caught up in an AI mania that brooks no dissent. It’s a religious fervor and heretics are excommunicated. But the dissenters, who feel they must remain silent, are largely correct.</p>
<p>One way I’ve been thinking about AI mania is this: Computers have profoundly changed the world. There can be no dispute about that. Computers continue to improve in capability as networking effects grow and especially as Moore’s Law makes them faster and more capable at a pace unlike any other previous technical revolution. But most people are incapable of understanding how computers really work, and thus personally aren’t able to <em>do</em> much with them. Computers, for most people, are communication tools, not creative tools. Generative AI changes that. People with no computer aptitude are able to create things or discover things via ChatGPT and Claude that were simply beyond their ken heretofore. Per Clarke’s third law, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”. Generative AI feels a bit magical to all of us, even those of us with mid-to-high levels of understanding how computers work and how to make them work. But it feels like the first time ever that computers have been tools for their own creation for a lot of rather dimwitted but confident corporate manager/executive types. This moment feels like the Big Bang to them. The religiosity of this is such that there is no way to convince them that AI, as it stands today, is impressive and useful and innovative, yes, but <em>several orders of magnitude less so</em> than they’re imagining that it is. No way to convince them, that is, until the bubble bursts.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘‘AI Mania Is Eviscerating Global Decision-Making’’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/25/ai-mania-nikhil-suresh"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>EU Fines Google $1 Billion for DMA Competition Violations, Including Making Search Results More Useful</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu/commission-fines-google-eur890-million-breaches-digital-markets-act-2026-07-23_en"/>
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xel"/>
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/25/eu-fines-google-1b"/>
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43293</id>
<published>2026-07-25T17:44:13Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-26T17:05:50Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>The European Commission on Thursday:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The Commission found that Google gives preferential treatment to
its own services, including shopping, hotels, transport and sports
results, over those of third parties in Google Search, thereby
breaching its obligations under the DMA.</p>
<p>Google displays its own services more prominently in search
results, including at the top of the search results page or by
using enhanced visuals and filters, while similar third-party
services do not have the same prominence.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>So if you search for the score of a sporting event, it’s illegal in the EU for Google to show you the score, <a href="https://daringfireball.net/misc/2026/07/google-sports.png">like this search I just tried</a>. What the EC is saying is that because Google Search is so popular, it’s no longer allowed to improve. It is impossible to imagine how this benefits EU citizens.</p>
<p>What generates more for the EU, fines against US tech companies, or tax income from EU tech companies? <a href="https://x.com/levelsio/status/2080314960656159018">Here’s a viral post on Twitter/X</a> that claims it’s now fines against US tech companies. The amounts certainly seem to be in the same ballpark.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘EU Fines Google $1 Billion for DMA Competition Violations, Including Making Search Results More Useful’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/25/eu-fines-google-1b"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>Court Grants SerpApi’s Motion to Dismiss Google Lawsuit</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://serpapi.com/blog/google-v-serpapi-the-court-granted-our-motion-to-dismiss/"/>
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xek"/>
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/25/serpapi-google-dismissed"/>
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43292</id>
<published>2026-07-25T17:27:19Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-25T20:37:29Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Julien Khaleghy, CEO of SerpApi:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
granted our motion to dismiss Google’s lawsuit, marking a win not
just for SerpApi, but for all who depend on an open internet.
We’re pleased that the court rejected Google’s attempts to expand
the DMCA to assert control over access to public pages. The
internet’s founding principle — open access to usable information — is essential to driving innovation and ensuring everyone
benefits from the promise of data. SerpApi will continue
supporting developers, AI companies, researchers, and businesses
that rely on access to public search information.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Yours truly, back in March, <a href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/03/02/serpapi-motion-to-dismiss">when SerpApi filed the motion to dismiss</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I’ve come around on SerpApi in the last few months. <a href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2025/10/23/reddit-files-lawsuit-against-serpapi">My initial
take</a> was that it surely must be illegal for a company to
scrape Google’s search results and offer access to that data as an
API. But I’ve come around to the argument that what SerpApi is
doing to obtain Google search results is, well, exactly how Google
scrapes the rest of the entire web to build its search index. It’s
all just scraping publicly accessible web pages.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2025/12/24/google-built-its-empire-scraping-the-web-now-its-suing-to-stop-others-from-scraping-google/">This December piece by Mike Masnick at Techdirt</a> is what
began to change my mind.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Even Google seems to understand <a href="https://x.com/effthealgorithm/status/2079923114029257084?s=20">the logical bind they’re in here, regarding scraping</a>.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘Court Grants SerpApi’s Motion to Dismiss Google Lawsuit’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/25/serpapi-google-dismissed"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>Apple Maps to Power Navigation Experience for Ford’s New EVs</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2026/07/apple-maps-to-power-navigation-experience-for-ford-uev-platform/"/>
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xej"/>
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/25/apple-maps-ford"/>
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43291</id>
<published>2026-07-25T16:21:00Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-25T16:21:00Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Apple Newsroom:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Apple and Ford today announced that Apple Maps will be integrated
directly into Ford’s upcoming Universal Electric Vehicle (UEV)
Platform through Apple’s new MapKit for Automotive SDK. Coming to
Ford’s UEV Platform in 2027, this integration will deliver a
beautiful and easy-to-use navigation experience powered by Apple
Maps directly to the vehicle’s displays. Road-level Maps
information will also enable Ford’s Latitude AI team to build a
seamless hands-free driving experience.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><strong>See also:</strong> <a href="https://www.techmeme.com/260723/p23#a260723p23">Techmeme’s roundup of commentary</a>.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘Apple Maps to Power Navigation Experience for Ford’s New EVs’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/25/apple-maps-ford"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>Measles Cases Hit New Record in U.S., as Stupid-Americans Reject Vaccines</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/24/well/measles-record-united-states-numbers.html?unlocked_article_code=1.0VA.4jBf.vqAYN4Bwu807"/>
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xei"/>
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/25/measles"/>
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43290</id>
<published>2026-07-25T16:06:52Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-25T17:21:59Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Teddy Rosenbluth, reporting for The New York Times:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
announced that there have been 2,318 confirmed cases of measles so
far this year. The case count toppled the record <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/09/well/us-measles-record-outbreaks.html">set last
year</a>, when measles infected more than 2,200 Americans and
killed <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/26/us/texas-measles-outbreak-death.html">two</a> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/06/health/measles-death-texas.html">unvaccinated children</a>. More measles
cases have been reported in the United States in the last two
years than in all the years from 2000 through 2024 combined.</p>
<p>Reversing course on measles would require a nationwide push to
improve vaccination rates, a prospect that experts said seemed
unlikely under the leadership of Health Secretary Robert F.
Kennedy Jr. He has <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/13/health/kennedy-vaccines-confidence-access.html">halted funding for vaccine hesitancy
research</a>, downplayed the risks of measles and spearheaded
a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/11/health/kennedy-vaccine-safety.html">hunt for evidence that vaccines are unsafe</a>.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Nilay Patel, endorsing Kamala Harris for president in 2024: “<a href="https://www.theverge.com/24282022/kamala-harris-endorsement-presidential-election-2024">A Vote for Donald Trump Is a Vote for School Shootings and Measles</a>”. (He missed “<a href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/trump-is-losing-patience-over-an-iran-war-with-no-clear-end-in-sight-c411d3cd?st=Q29CZk">quagmire war with Iran</a>”.)</p>
<p>“tarltontarlton” on Reddit last year: “<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/thebulwark/comments/1ljbvtw/hottest_take_stupidamericans_are_the_new/">Stupid-Americans are the New Irish-Americans, Trump is Their JFK</a>”. I <a href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2025/06/27/trump-stupid-americans">continue to think about this post frequently</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://media.aphelis.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/ASIMOV_1980_Cult_of_Ignorance.pdf">Isaac Asimov, in a column for Newsweek in 1980</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has
always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a
constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural
life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that “my
ignorance is just as good as your knowledge”.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I <a href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2011/11/28/asimov">continue</a> to think about this <a href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2020/11/30/asimov-cult-of-ignorance">frequently</a> as well.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘Measles Cases Hit New Record in U.S., as Stupid-Americans Reject Vaccines’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/25/measles"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>bIRC — A New Native IRC Client for Mac</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://birc.app/"/>
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xeh"/>
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/25/birc"/>
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43289</id>
<published>2026-07-25T15:39:51Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-25T18:57:31Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>For a long time the best native Mac IRC client was <a href="https://www.codeux.com/textual/">Textual</a>, but although Textual still works, <a href="https://help.codeux.com/textual/">it’s been sunset</a> by the author. Not to fear, however. Fredrik Blank <a href="https://www.fredrikblank.com/blog/birc-irc-client-for-mac-macos/">just launched</a> bIRC:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Creating an IRC client in 2026 is not something that will pay the
bills : ) It would be just for the joy of programming. But the
amount of work involved always made me throw the thought aside.</p>
<p>But one night when I had nothing better to do, I started
implementing the good old spec in Swift (RFC 2812). And then I got
motivated to continue, adding IRCv3 extensions and UI. Been
working on it on and off on it since the end of 2025. Now I feel
pretty satisfied with the result. Say hi to bIRC — an IRCv3
client for Mac.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I was never a big IRC user, personally, and haven’t used IRC in years. But I installed bIRC just because it looks so good, and took it for a brief test drive. It’s nice. And it is <em>very</em> Mac-assed in a modern way. It’s got <a href="https://birc.app/documentation/">a detailed documentation page</a> too. There are (alas) many great apps that lack good documentation, but there are very few apps with good documentation that aren’t great apps. bIRC is free to download and use from the App Store, and there’s a suite of additional fun/pro features you can unlock for a one-time $13 purchase. I bought the pro upgrade despite seldom using IRC just to celebrate a killer new Mac app.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘bIRC — A New Native IRC Client for Mac’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/25/birc"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry>
<entry>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/2026/07/regarding_ad_blockers_and_daring_fireball"/>
<link rel="shorturl" href="http://df4.us/xeg"/>
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026://1.43288</id>
<published>2026-07-24T20:57:20Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-31T18:46:59Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<summary type="text">Ultimately, when you install a content blocker extension, you take responsibility for any overzealousness in what they block.</summary>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Following up on the previous item today, re: <a href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/24/coiner-of-enshittification-endorses-dickover">content blockers and ad-blocking</a>, I ran into a weird situation a few weeks ago with my column “<a href="https://daringfireball.net/2026/07/ternus_apple_slippery_slope">John Ternus Should Reverse Apple’s Slide Down the Advertising Slippery Slope</a>”. That article contains this sentence, in Markdown:</p>
<pre><code>And -- at this writing, still "coming soon" -- Apple is
launching [ads on Apple Maps][🗺️].
[🗺️]: https://ads.apple.com/maps
</code></pre>
<p>The problem is that anyone reading that article in NetNewsWire saw it rendered like this, with the words “ads on Apple Maps”<sup id="fnr1-2026-07-24"><a href="#fn1-2026-07-24">1</a></sup> omitted:</p>
<p><a href="https://daringfireball.net/misc/2026/07/nnw-ad-blocking.png" class="noborder">
<img
src = "https://daringfireball.net/misc/2026/07/nnw-ad-blocking.png"
alt = "Screenshot of article text from NetNewsWire."
width = 550
/></a></p>
<p>It looks like I forgot to finish writing that sentence. NetNewsWire simply omits the hyperlinked words. After a few readers reported this, I immediately suspected the problem was the “ads.apple.com” domain. I’ve never linked to that domain before, and many ad blockers just block any domain that starts with a domain prefix like <code>ads.*</code>.</p>
<p>And that’s exactly what the problem is. I had no idea that NetNewsWire filtered any content whatsoever (and I sort of think it shouldn’t), but DF reader Antonio Germano searched through NetNewsWire’s open-source code and found it in <a href="https://github.com/Ranchero-Software/NetNewsWire/blob/main/Shared/Article%20Rendering/core.css">the <code>core.css</code> file</a>, line 49:</p>
<pre><code>38 /*Block ads and junk*/
39
40 iframe[src*="feedads" ],
41 iframe[src*="doubleclick"],
42 iframe[src*="plusone.google"] {
43 display: none !important;
44 }
45
46 a[href*=".ads."],
47 a[href*="feedads" ],
48 a[href*="doubleclick"],
49 a[href*="//ads."],
</code></pre>
<p>The culprit identified, I dutifully pinged my friend <a href="https://inessential.com/">Brent Simmons</a> to report the problem. But then I had to decide what to do about it. I have no idea which feed readers are being used to read Daring Fireball’s <a href="https://daringfireball.net/feeds/">feeds</a>, but NetNewsWire is surely one of the most popular, and probably <em>the</em> most popular. It’s the feed reader I use personally. I can’t change the contents of NetNewsWire’s <code>core.css</code> file, so I can’t keep NetNewsWire from stripping out words that link to Apple’s <code>ads.apple.com</code> domain. What I could do is not link to <code>ads.apple.com</code>, like, say by changing my link from <code>ads.apple.com/maps</code> to a shorten-and-redirect URL like <code>bit.ly/4wmXFSE</code> that <a href="https://bit.ly/4wmXFSE">points back</a> to Apple’s original URL.</p>
<p>But I didn’t do that. I don’t like playing whack-a-mole to work around bugs in other software. I have enough trouble fixing my own mistakes. I also don’t like the idea of showing everyone a “Click it and find out where it actually goes” mystery URL from Bitly rather than the direct URL. It’s a general principle thing, and also a much better policy for links that are meant to last for decades.</p>
<p>What I really don’t like about NetNewsWire’s ad-blocking here is that it just <em>omits</em> the linked text. It doesn’t remove the link but leave the words; it removes the words that are hyperlinked to the blocked domain. I’ve run into this with other content blocking extensions. For example, the Banish extension for Safari, <a href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2022/08/02/banish">which I recommended back in 2022</a>. At some point a year or two ago, Banish started blocking links to Apple’s App Store domain, and it did so by removing the words that link to the App Store. That’s crazy. I linked to the App Store in my own post recommending Banish, which means if you have Banish installed and read that post, you won’t see the headline of the post (nor be able to follow the link). I think there are other content blockers that do the same thing with text that links to the App Store.<sup id="fnr2-2026-07-24"><a href="#fn2-2026-07-24">2</a></sup></p>
<p>So what do I do about that? Do I stop linking to the App Store? That’s dumb. Do I create custom URL redirects for every single link I make to the App Store? That’s work I don’t need or want to do, and adds a layer of abstraction that confuses everyone who isn’t using a content blocker with such a stupid rule. So I just ignore it. But that means an untold number of readers, who are using such content blockers, are just missing words in my articles whenever I link to the App Store. Well, so be it. Ideally, content blockers “just work” — blocking only things you want blocked, never things you don’t want blocked. Nothing is perfect however. What’s pernicious about blockers that remove the actual words that link to certain domains is that that’s not expected behavior. From the reader’s perspective, it really just looks like an editing error on the part of the website, not a content blocker with an overzealous pattern-matching rule.</p>
<p>Ultimately, though, when you install a content blocker extension, you take responsibility for any overzealousness in what it blocks.</p>
<hr />
<p>Let me use this opportunity to make a small personal request. The display ads on Daring Fireball are unobtrusive and limited to one per page. They are also entirely private, and always have been. There not only are no cookies or JavaScript that attempt to track you, but the ads themselves are served from the <code>daringfireball.net</code> domain. I turn down advertisers who request to serve images (or “tracking pixels”, which are just invisible images) from <em>their</em> domains. (Such requests are infrequent, thankfully.) I don’t display the ads in between paragraphs mid-article, a common practice that to me is disrespectful both to the writer <em>and</em> reader. In short, I try to keep the ads on Daring Fireball not merely unobjectionable, but something that actually adds to the site. I actually like the ads in certain high-quality print magazines, like The New Yorker. My goal for the ads on DF is for them to be like that.</p>
<p>In short, I hope they’re the sort of ads readers don’t want to block. I’m pleased to say that most of the ad-blocking content blocking extensions I’ve personally tried do not block ads on Daring Fireball by default. In other cases, they do, but it’s easy to adjust the per-domain settings to allow them. In <a href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/24/coiner-of-enshittification-endorses-dickover">the previous post</a>, I recommended <a href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ublock-origin-lite/id6745342698">uBlock Origin Lite</a> (free, a bit complex) and <a href="https://www.magiclasso.co/">Magic Lasso</a> (paid, much simpler). Magic Lasso does not block ads on DF by default. I don’t remember what uBlock Origin does by default, but it’s trivial to change it to allow them.</p>
<p>If you use an ad blocker and it currently blocks the ads on DF, I humbly ask you to consider taking a moment to tweak the settings to permit them. (If you are using a blocker that strips the ads from DF by default, you can do me an additional favor and <a href="https://daringfireball.net/contact/">shoot me a short email</a> telling me which one. I’m curious.) If you are the developer of an ad blocker, I ask you to consider allowlisting Daring Fireball <em>by default</em>.</p>
<p>If you are a reader and you really do want to block DF’s ads, please, go right ahead. I find that an odd mindset, but it’s your web browser and your call. No hard feelings. (Please further note that I have no JavaScript code that attempts to detect whether you’re blocking DF’s ads in order to nag you.)</p>
<div class="footnotes">
<hr />
<ol>
<li id="fn1-2026-07-24">
<p>I omitted the Markdown creating a link on the words “still ‘coming soon’” for clarity, to emphasize only the problematic link in my original prose. (Also, it’s fun to use emoji as named link definitions, like in this example.) <a href="#fnr1-2026-07-24" class="footnoteBackLink" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text.">↩︎︎</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn2-2026-07-24">
<p>I of course reported this to the developer of Banish, twice, but he never responded. I, err, banished Banish from my own devices, and upon finishing this article, I’m going to update my 2022 recommendation of Banish to un-recommend it. <a href="#fnr2-2026-07-24" class="footnoteBackLink" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text.">↩︎</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
]]></content>
<title>★ Regarding Ad Blockers and Daring Fireball</title>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>Coiner of ‘Enshittification’ Endorses ‘Dickover’</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://pluralistic.net/2026/07/21/dickovers/"/>
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xef"/>
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/24/coiner-of-enshittification-endorses-dickover"/>
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43287</id>
<published>2026-07-24T18:51:29Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-24T20:06:36Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p><a href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/24/dickover-of-the-week-tomtoc">Speaking of dickovers</a>, here’s Cory Doctorow, writing this week at Pluralistic:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Seizing the means of computation isn’t theft, it’s <em>bargaining</em>.
Commercial surveillance companies will tell you that by spying on
you, they are simply engaged in a marketplace exchange in which
you swap your privacy for access to online services. But they are
running a very curious sort of market: it’s a “market” where as
soon as you stop to browse someone’s wares, the stallholder gets
to reach into your pocket and clean out your wallet. In “markets,”
prices are announced and bargained over, not set unilaterally and
extracted from anyone unwise enough to cross the threshold.</p>
<p>Adblocking, dickover blocking and other customizations are a way
for you to bargain back, to answer the opening bid of “How about
you give me all of your data forever and let me do anything I want
with it?” with “How about ‘nah?’”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Doctorow’s specific advice is to switch to Firefox for your browser and Linux as your desktop OS. You’re probably not going to do either of those things. But the <em>spirit</em> of his advice is that you should avail yourself of <a href="https://github.com/gala8y/kill-sticky--forked">bookmarklets</a> and browser extensions that fight back against shitty ads and dickovers. There are some great options for Safari. <a href="https://underpassapp.com/StopTheMadness/">StopTheMadness Pro</a> is great for creating custom rules to permanently block specific page elements. <a href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ublock-origin-lite/id6745342698">uBlock Origin Lite</a> is a free-of-charge content blocker that is incredibly effective, and very configurable (but complicated). <a href="https://www.magiclasso.co/">Magic Lasso</a> is a paid content blocker — $30/year — which includes synced blocking on iOS, MacOS, and even Apple TV. Magic Lasso offers a much more approachable configuration interface, and includes a “just turn it on” easy-to-use private VPN feature that allows for blocking ads in <em>all</em> apps, including Apple News.</p>
<p>Bargaining back is exactly what using content blockers is. There’s no reason to feel guilty about it.</p>
<p>(Magic Lasso has previously been a DF sponsor, but not since <a href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2021/05/09/magic-lasso">May 2021</a>. I’m recommending Magic Lasso here only as a happy paying user.)</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘Coiner of ‘Enshittification’ Endorses ‘Dickover’’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/24/coiner-of-enshittification-endorses-dickover"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>Dickover of the Week: Tomtoc</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/2026/05/what_is_a_dickover"/>
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xed"/>
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/24/dickover-of-the-week-tomtoc"/>
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43285</id>
<published>2026-07-24T16:43:43Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-24T16:43:44Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Here’s a real gem that a reader sent me. <a href="https://www.tomtoc.com/">Tomtoc</a> is a maker of laptop bags and sleeves. Visit their homepage and, of course, you’ll get a dickover asking you to join their mailing list “for exclusive updates and get a chance to win a free tech pouch every month.” But here’s the gem. If you do subscribe, and you decide later to unsubscribe, you get this:</p>
<p><a href="https://daringfireball.net/misc/2026/07/tomtoc-dickover.png" class="noborder">
<img
src = "https://daringfireball.net/misc/2026/07/tomtoc-dickover.png"
alt = "Screenshot from an iPhone of Tomtoc’s “you’ve been unsubscribed from our mailing list” webpage presenting a dickover asking you to subscribe to their mailing list."
/></a></p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘Dickover of the Week: Tomtoc’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/24/dickover-of-the-week-tomtoc"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>Sixers Sign LeBron James</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.inquirer.com/sixers/live/lebron-james-signs-philadelphia-76ers-contract-salary-roster-updates-reaction-20260724.html"/>
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xee"/>
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/24/sixers-james"/>
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43286</id>
<published>2026-07-24T16:40:00Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-24T17:35:58Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>The betting odds for the Sixers to win the NBA championship went from 20-1 to 10-1. <a href="https://x.com/KingJames/status/2080677086386430018">Here’s James on Twitter/X</a>, explaining his decision:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>This is my last decision. I’m not going for money. I’m not going
for family. What am I really playing for at this point?</p>
<p>I still want to sacrifice. I still want to work. I still want to
grind. I still want to compete, to win and to have a chance at the
feeling of winning another championship.</p>
<p>I believe I can help make the Philadelphia 76ers a championship
team and I am so excited to energize a new fan base and start this
incredible journey one last time.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>James signed for the league minimum for a veteran: <a href="https://share.inquirer.com/UkxRhd">two years at just $4 million per year</a>. He’s going to love playing here.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘Sixers Sign LeBron James’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/24/sixers-james"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>The Talk Show: ‘A Scam Held Together With Patriotism and Golden Paint’</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/thetalkshow/2026/07/23/ep-452"/>
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xec"/>
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/24/the-talk-show-452"/>
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43284</id>
<published>2026-07-24T15:44:11Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-24T16:54:14Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Quinn Nelson returns to the show to discuss OpenAI’s ChatGPT/Codex “native” app migration fiasco, Siri AI in Apple’s OS 27 betas, MacOS 27 Golden Gate, and the hottest new cell phone of the year, the Trump T1.</p>
<p><audio
src = "https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/daringfireball/thetalkshow-452-quinn-nelson.mp3"
controls
preload = "none"
/></p>
<p><strong>Sponsored by:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://notion.com/talkshow">Notion</a>: Try the powerful, all-in-one Notion AI today.</li>
<li><a href="https://factormeals.com/talkshow50off">Factor</a>: Healthy eating, made easy. Get 50% off your first box, plus free daily greens, with code <strong>talkshow50off</strong>.</li>
<li><a href="https://squarespace.com/talkshow">Squarespace</a>: Save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code <strong>TALKSHOW</strong>.</li>
</ul>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘The Talk Show: ‘A Scam Held Together With Patriotism and Golden Paint’’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/24/the-talk-show-452"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>Bond Movie Filming Locations Map</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://department-m.agency/"/>
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xeb"/>
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/23/bond-movie-filming-locations-map"/>
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43283</id>
<published>2026-07-23T19:35:45Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-23T20:35:49Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>“From a Bond fan to Bond fans worldwide.” Nice work.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘Bond Movie Filming Locations Map’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/23/bond-movie-filming-locations-map"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry>
<entry>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/2026/07/ads_on_apple_news_suck"/>
<link rel="shorturl" href="http://df4.us/xea"/>
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026://1.43282</id>
<published>2026-07-23T19:08:57Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-24T18:10:05Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<summary type="text">The obvious truth is that Apple’s ads just plain suck. They are not good at advertising-based services. And it shouldn’t be surprising that they’re not good at advertising-based services, because the incentives for advertising-based services are in direct opposition to the incentives for everything Apple actually is good at.</summary>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p><a href="https://kirkville.com/i-now-assume-that-all-ads-on-apple-news-are-scams/">Kirk McElhearn, back in February</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I use Apple News to keep up on topics that I don’t find in sources
I pay for (The Guardian and The New York Times). But there’s no
way I’m going to pay the exorbitant price Apple wants for Apple
News+ — £13 — because, while you get more publications, you
still get ads.</p>
<p>And those ads have gotten worse recently. Many if not most of them
look like and probably are scams. Here are a few examples from
Apple News today.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>One of the ads he examined was, supposedly, from a small company going out of business because the proprietor — supposedly a straight-out-of-Central-Casting kind old woman — was retiring after 26 years. McElhearn looked up the domain name and it had only just been created last year, and was registered from a company in China.</p>
<p>Two years ago this very week, I wrote about <a href="https://daringfireball.net/2024/07/apple_taboola_sitting_in_a_tree">Apple striking a deal with Taboola to sell ads for Apple News</a>. In that post, I quoted <a href="https://www.threads.net/@eric_seufert/post/C9gjkA_OXYw">Eric Seufert (of Mobile Dev Memo) posting on Threads</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Regarding Taboola’s partnership with Apple: I’ve seen people claim
that this is somehow hypocritical from a privacy perspective,
assuming that Taboola’s somewhat obnoxious, clickbait-style ads
must invasively target user profiles and browsing histories.</p>
<p>They don’t. They are targeted entirely contextually. That’s
the point.</p>
<p>Want brash, garish advertising plastered all over the web? Reject
ads personalization. Want relevant, informed advertising? Embrace
ads personalization.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Now quoting from myself in that same article:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>If you told me that the ads in Apple News have been sold by
Taboola for the last few years, I’d have said, “Oh, that makes
sense.” Because the ads in Apple News — at least the ones I see — already look like chumbox Taboola ads. Even worse, they’re
incredibly repetitious. [...]</p>
<p>So while I don’t think it’s good news that Apple is partnering
with Taboola, I don’t expect it to make any discernible difference
in the ad quality or frequency. Maybe it will improve the variety?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Privacy is not the issue with Apple’s Taboola partnership, or Apple advertising in general. The issues are quality and user experience. I was correct that the partnership has made no discernible difference in ad quality or frequency. And it hasn’t made any improvement to variety either. <a href="https://mastodon.social/@gruber/116901983997962549">Here’s a collection of ads I continue to see in Apple News</a> — often with the same ad appearing 3–4 times in the same article, as I scroll. (I posted the same image in my recent article “<a href="https://daringfireball.net/2026/07/ternus_apple_slippery_slope">John Ternus Should Reverse Apple’s Slide Down the Advertising Slippery Slope</a>”, if you’re thinking it looks familiar.)</p>
<p>The ads I see in Apple News are not relevant or informed. And, to be clear, I have “Personalized Ads” turned <em>on</em> in Settings → Privacy & Security → Apple Advertising (which makes me wonder if turning that <em>off</em> might actually make the ads even worse). The ads shown in the App Store <a href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/05/04/ios-app-store-slippery-slope">never seem contextually relevant to me</a>. So I have no faith that the ads that Apple is supposedly on the cusp of serving in Apple Maps are going to be good.</p>
<p>Back in March I wrote:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I’m not going to prejudge the actual experience, and you shouldn’t
either. I also <a href="https://mister.computer/@kyle/114014624058008824">do not begrudge Apple for wanting to monetize
Maps</a>. But if the addition of ads does make the Apple
Maps experience worse, why won’t Apple let us buy our way out of
seeing them? <a href="https://help.netflix.com/en/node/24926">Netflix</a> doesn’t force us to watch their
ads. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/premium">YouTube Premium</a> is arguably the best
bang-for-the-buck in the entire world of content subscriptions.
Why should <a href="https://www.apple.com/apple-one/">Apple One</a> subscribers still see these ads in
Apple Maps?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This to me is proof that Apple leadership is suffering from cognitive dissonance over their slide into advertising. They’re conflating cause and effect. The Apple brand stands for high-quality superior user experiences because the devices and software Apple makes traditionally deliver high-quality superior user experiences. The work Apple ships is what makes the brand what it is. But now they’re stricken with the mindset that it’s the Apple brand that makes something a high-quality superior experience. If it comes from Apple it must be great — that sort of thinking. The ads in Apple News and the App Store can’t be detrimental to the user experiences and at times even embarrassingly crude or downright scammy because Apple doesn’t ship things that are detrimental to the user experience or embarrassingly crude — and certainly never with even a whiff of scamminess.</p>
<p>My theory is that’s why Apple isn’t allowing users to buy our way out of the ads. When streaming services like Netflix let you pay more money for ad-free tiers, it’s an explicit acknowledgement that the experience with ads is worse. Apple doesn’t offer ad-free tiers for the App Store or (soon) Apple Maps<sup id="fnr1-2026-07-23"><a href="#fn1-2026-07-23">1</a></sup> because, I think, they can’t bring themselves to admit that by adding ads to these services <em>they have made them worse</em>. If you refuse to admit that the ads make these services worse, you also can’t admit that there’s a reason to offer an ad-free experience. So the thinking is something like “<em>Apple always focuses on the user experience, and never deliberately makes the user experience worse. Therefore, if an Apple service shows ads, those ads are high quality and don’t detract from the quality of the product or the experience of using it. Therefore, there’s no reason to offer users a paid ad-free tier, because there’s no reason to want to avoid Apple’s ads.</em>”</p>
<p>It’s a textbook case of Upton Sinclair’s famous adage: “It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.” The obvious truth is that Apple’s ads just plain suck. They are not good at advertising-based services. And it shouldn’t be surprising that they’re not good at advertising-based services, because the incentives for advertising-based services are in direct opposition to the incentives for everything Apple actually is good at. To wit: offering superior products worth paying a premium price for.</p>
<p>One can argue that an ad-free Apple Maps experience ought to be included with the price of the devices Apple sells (which, of course, has been true until now). It’s even easier to argue that the App Store ought to be ad-free for everyone, based on its exclusive role in software distribution and the 15–30 percent commission Apple takes on every transaction. But if Apple simply made the App Store and Apple Maps ad-free for users paying for iCloud+ or Apple One, I’d stop complaining. That would make it clear: the full Apple experience requires not just an Apple device, but an Apple subscription. But the way things stand now, that ad-free experience isn’t even available.</p>
<div class="footnotes">
<hr />
<ol>
<li id="fn1-2026-07-23">
<p>Apple News is different because the inclusion of ads is controlled by the publishers, not by Apple. If you read <a href="https://apple.news/TMDi_OFIRSe2BQoupq1S1Gw">Daring Fireball on Apple News</a>, for example, you don’t see their crummy chumbox ads, because I don’t participate in that system. Most of the cringe-inducing ads I see in Apple News are seemingly sold through Apple Ads, though, so I’m not arguing that Apple isn’t ultimately responsible for the Apple News reading experience. I’m saying they can’t just flip a switch and offer a paid-subscription no-ads Apple News experience without the agreement of every single participating publisher. The App Store and Apple Maps, however, are services under Apple’s complete control. Every ad shown in those apps is Apple’s choice to show. <a href="#fnr1-2026-07-23" class="footnoteBackLink" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text.">↩︎</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
]]></content>
<title>★ The Ads on Apple News Continue to Suck, but at Least There Are a Lot of Them</title>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>John Dvorak on Computer Chronicles in 1987 to Discuss the Then-New IBM PS/2</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uY2WF_sPecI"/>
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xe9"/>
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/23/dvorak-computer-chronicles"/>
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43281</id>
<published>2026-07-23T17:45:41Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-23T17:58:37Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Dvorak is best known for <a href="https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_C._Dvorak">all</a> <a href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2011/12/23/dvorak">the</a> <a href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2025/11/05/dvorak-itime">takes</a> he was <a href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2011/08/11/dvorak">jacktastically wrong</a> about, but what gave his schtick staying power is that he was technically savvy. His take here on the PS/2 was actually spot-on: that it was <a href="https://www.ibm.com/history/ps-2">technically impressive in many ways</a>, especially the way it was assembled without any cables, but that it was doomed in the market against ugly mess-of-cables commodity PCs.</p>
<p>“Computer Chronicles” was the real show from the 1980s that Adam Lisagor so <a href="https://daringfireball.net/thetalkshow/2015/11/07/ep-135">lovingly</a> and spectacularly spoofed with “<a href="https://computer.show/">Computer Show</a>” a decade ago.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘John Dvorak on Computer Chronicles in 1987 to Discuss the Then-New IBM PS/2’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/23/dvorak-computer-chronicles"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>John Dvorak Drops Dead at 80</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://appleinsider.com/articles/26/07/23/famed-technology-journalist-john-c-dvorak-dies-aged-80"/>
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xe8"/>
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/23/dvorak-dies-at-80"/>
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43280</id>
<published>2026-07-23T17:10:47Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-23T17:10:47Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>William Gallagher, AppleInsider:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Legendary technology columnist, pundit, author and podcast host
John C. Dvorak has died, age 80. He is survived by his wife
Mimi Dvorak.</p>
<p>Today Dvorak is best known for co-hosting the “No Agenda” podcast
with Adam Curry, where he would critique mainstream news media.
His death was <a href="https://x.com/NA_Announce/status/2079952538040672302">first announced by the podcast on X</a>, although note
that Dvorak’s age is mistakenly given as 74.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://mailchi.mp/nashownotes/rip-jcd-no-agenda-newsletter?e=85c9e2d6b2">From the No Agenda News newsletter yesterday</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>For a man who spent decades famously predicting the catastrophic
demise of almost every major technological innovation, it is with
the heaviest of hearts we must announce that John’s own hardware
finally gave out on Monday morning, July 20th, 2026, at the age of
80. He went peacefully, albeit suddenly, with Mimi at his side,
critiquing the acting and story line of <em>NCIS</em>.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>His death truly seems quite sudden — <a href="https://www.noagendashow.net/listen/1887">the most recent episode</a> of No Agenda dropped on Sunday, the day before he died.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘John Dvorak Drops Dead at 80’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/23/dvorak-dies-at-80"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>Flighty New Connection Assistant Feature</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://9to5mac.com/2026/07/07/flighty-update-adds-powerful-new-connection-assistant-feature/"/>
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xe7"/>
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/23/flighty-connection-update"/>
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43279</id>
<published>2026-07-23T15:41:25Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-23T15:41:26Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Chance Miller, 9to5Mac:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Flighty’s new Connection Assistant feature includes step-by-step
information for your specific connection. This includes things
like terminal changes, security checkpoints, passport control, and
more. Connection Assistant also gives you estimates of how long
each step of making a connection usually takes.</p>
<p>“The new Connection Assistant combines Flighty’s best-in-class
flight tracking data with airport-specific procedures and
statistical modeling of millions of prior flights, and then turns
it all into guidance for your exact trip,” the Flighty team
explained in a <a href="https://docs.craft.do/editor/d/a89c6d38-642e-8105-e733-9c434670c92d/7548402b-cf3f-4f0f-97a5-b064e2eae53c?s=ZH1ghei9FDddBnK4k6Q3R5xLCTukRr2wWjERBd6VJYc7">press release</a> today.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I don’t know what the equivalent term to “Mac-assed” should be for iPhone apps, but whatever it is, Flighty epitomizes it. Incredibly useful for what it does, exemplary for how it looks and feels and is visually organized. It is as iOS-assed as an app can be.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘Flighty New Connection Assistant Feature’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/23/flighty-connection-update"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry>
<entry>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/2026/07/ec_google_guidance_android_ai_and_search_sharing"/>
<link rel="shorturl" href="http://df4.us/xe6"/>
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026://1.43278</id>
<published>2026-07-21T22:49:03Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-25T20:40:09Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<summary type="text">What the EC is dictating to Google is just breathtaking in scope.</summary>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p><a href="https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_26_1634">The European Commission, last week</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Today, the European Commission has issued two sets of binding
specification measures to Google under the Digital Markets Act.</p>
<p>The aim of the first specification measures is to ensure that
competitors’ Artificial Intelligence (AI) services can compete
with Google’s own AI services, such as Gemini, by having equal
access to features on Google’s Android devices.</p>
<p>The aim of the second specification measures is to rebalance the
playing field by giving third-party search engines access to
search data that only Google Search can collect at scale.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>They provide separate “Q&A” overviews of the guidance <a href="https://digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu/developer-portal/interoperability/alphabet-specification-proceedings-interoperability-ai-services_en">for Android AI interoperability</a> and <a href="https://digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu/developer-portal/data-access/alphabet-specification-proceedings-sharing-google-search-data_en">web search sharing</a>, and the full guidance documents are PDFs (<a href="https://ec.europa.eu/competition/digital_markets_act/cases/202629/DMA_100220_2683.pdf">Case DMA.100220</a> for Android AI, <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/competition/digital_markets_act/cases/202629/DMA_100209_2712.pdf">Case DMA.100209</a> for web search). I suggest reading the two Q&A overviews, unless you’re having trouble falling asleep at night, in which case you’ll love the full PDF decisions.</p>
<p>Both decisions are interesting. With search, Google is required to share with competitors — search engines and AI chatbots alike — a massive amount of user data from Google Search user interactions. What terms people search for, what they click on in results, what languages and devices they use. It’s all ostensibly anonymized but that’s tricky when it comes to search terms. A lot of the terms people type into web search fields are to some degree personally identifying. The EC seems to be saying it’s Google’s problem to filter out things like passwords and usernames and omit them from the shared datasets. Google can charge money for this access, but only under “fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND)” prices, based on a Commission-defined methodology.</p>
<p>More interesting to me, however, is the guidance pertaining to on-device AI on Android devices. What the EC is dictating to Google is just breathtaking in scope. The EC is demanding that Google create APIs that allow third-party AI assistants to do everything Google Gemini does now, including:</p>
<ul>
<li>Control hardware buttons (to invoke the assistant).</li>
<li>Capture anything on screen, from any app.</li>
<li>Seemingly unfettered access to microphones and cameras and other sensors on the device.</li>
<li>Unfettered background operation. Third-party AI assistants must be permitted to execute in the background whenever they want, for as long as they want.</li>
<li>Execute their own audio models on the digital signal processor, so they can listen at all times for their own custom “Hey Dingus” wake phrases/hot words.</li>
<li>Google must allow concurrent access to always-on hot word detection. So if you have Claude and ChatGPT and Grok and Meta AI installed, all of them — in addition to Gemini — must be permitted to have always-on audio detection concurrently. Google is permitted to do some vetting here, but this seems like madness.</li>
<li>Third-party models get access to Google’s on-device local models.</li>
</ul>
<p>Also, in my reading, the EC is demanding that Google make available to third-party AI assistants all information in Google’s own apps (Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs, Google Maps, etc.) that Gemini has access to. There is no opt-out for Google regarding data from their own apps. Nor, I think, does this guidance allow third-party apps from other developers to only support specific system-level AI models. Like, let’s say you’re Slack, and you use the APIs to make the content from within Slack available to Gemini on the device. These guidelines don’t permit Google to allow Slack to say that they trust Gemini but only Gemini. If a third-party app like Slack supports making its data available to <em>any</em> system-level AI provider, it must make its data available to <em>every</em> system-level AI provider.</p>
<p>There’s a lot more. Basically, though, the EC is demanding that third-party AI assistants be enabled to become part of the system software, not just apps. I’m sure some people think this is a great idea. It’s the user’s device, they should be allowed to make ChatGPT or Claude or Meta AI part of their OS if they want. It’s up to them. Put users in control.</p>
<p>This is how PCs have traditionally worked, but many normal people’s PCs are a mess of third-party software running in the background. That includes the Mac. If you ask a normal person “What third-party software runs in the background on your Mac or PC?” they would have no idea. It’s all just magic to them. If Google supports this guidance, it could turn Android phones in the EU into PCs. Honestly, some of the stuff the EC is requiring is lower-level than what MacOS and Windows allow third-party software to do.</p>
<p>What the EC’s “guidance” describes in this document is an entirely different operating system than the Android that Google has designed. The European Commission obviously thinks it is their place to design operating systems. Maybe you do too. <a href="https://blog.google/company-news/inside-google/around-the-globe/google-europe/the-dma-should-not-undercut-security-privacy-for-europeans/">Google obviously disagrees</a>, and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/apple-criticises-eu-measures-help-ai-rivals-access-google-services-2026-05-13/">so does Apple</a>. And so should most people who have any idea how these devices work. This is a recipe for disaster, if Google were to enact it and third-party AI assistants took advantage of it.</p>
<p>That second “if” is a big one. One possible scenario that I consider quite likely is that Google could spend years of engineering time and human resources building out APIs to enable all of this, in the safest and most private ways possible, and no major AI assistant adopts it. That’s the way it’s turned out with a whole slew of DMA compliance for Apple and Google. Apple built an entire complex set of APIs to enable <a href="https://developer.apple.com/documentation/browserenginekit">third-party web browser rendering engines</a>, exclusively for compliance with the DMA, and there exist no third-party web browser rendering engines for iOS. Not one. Because while the EU is a big market, it’s not big enough to justify building a custom web browser just for the EU alone.</p>
<p>Ways I can see this playing out, in order of likelihood (most likely first):</p>
<p>(A) Google enacts all of this and no major AI assistants support it because it’s only for Android, only in the EU. And it’s not like ChatGPT and Claude are seeing a lack of usage as things stand now. In this scenario Google just wastes massive time and engineering talent building APIs that never get used, and Android users in the EU get hassled with additional annoying choice and permission screens just to use the Gemini features that are built into Android.</p>
<p>(B) Google enacts all of this and major AI assistants <em>do</em> support it. Unintended results include massive privacy violations where third-party assistants exfiltrate on-device data to the cloud, Meta uses on-device third-party data for the targeting of ads, and users who take advantage of these third-party assistants see significant battery life drain as third-party assistants run without limits in the background and run expensive inference locally to save on their own server costs.</p>
<p>(C) Google enacts all of this, major AI assistants <em>do</em> support it, and there are no privacy scandals, nor any issues with battery life, because each of the companies that makes these assistants develops them with respect for user privacy and for device resources like CPU and memory consumption. </p>
<p>(D) Google pulls system-integrated Gemini from Android in the EU, or severely restricts its capabilities. Rather than elevate third-party assistants from apps to system software, demote Gemini to the privileges of a mere app and leave Android users in the EU without a system-integrated AI assistant.</p>
<p>Under all scenarios, future feature updates to system-level AI in Android will appear late or never in the EU. No future new features can debut in the EU at the same time as the rest of the world because for DMA compliance, Google will need to add support for third-party assistants to do the same things. And they’re not going to hold new features for the rest of the world waiting for that.</p>
<p>I’m not even sure (D) is permitted under this Commission guidance, given that Google started shipping Gemini on Android last year. The entire guidance document is written under the presumption that Google will comply by building the APIs that the guidance demands, not by achieving parity by removing Gemini system integration features. It would be awkward and unpopular for Google to ship updates to Android that <em>remove</em> core AI features, but that might be more palatable than the alternative.<sup id="fnr1-2026-07-21"><a href="#fn1-2026-07-21">1</a></sup> Note that with iOS, to my recollection, Apple hasn’t pulled any existing features from the EU. They’ve only withheld or delayed <em>new</em> features. Google’s on-device Gemini horse is already out of the barn.</p>
<p>Lastly, although this guidance document pertains to Android, not iOS, I see no reason to think the European Commission wouldn’t demand all or most of the same things from Apple. They haven’t given Apple any guidance yet, because it’s European Commission policy to give guidance only after a DMA-designator gatekeeper ships something that is then ruled non-compliant. But it’s hard to imagine Apple accepting most of these terms. Unfettered background processing and access to the microphone, cameras, and sensors? Third-party audio models running on the hardware DSP listening for wake words? Granting third-party assistants unsupervised access to all user data from apps published using <a href="https://developer.apple.com/documentation/appintents">App Intents</a>?</p>
<p>Apple unfortunately hasn’t shared any technical details describing its proposal for a “Trusted System Agent” that it shared with the EC last year. But whatever Apple’s vision for the Trusted System Agent is, I don’t see how the EC would deem it compliant with the DMA if they want from Apple anything close to what they are now demanding from Google. There are no checks and balances or oversight that Google is permitted to apply to third-party assistants in this guidance. If Gemini can do something, third-party agents must be able to as well. Because Gemini gets to run in the background as much as Google sees fit, third-party assistants must be permitted to run in the background as much as <em>they</em> see fit. And if those third-party assistant developers — OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI, and Meta — have different opinions than Google on how much CPU usage is appropriate in the background, how much RAM and storage is appropriate to consume, or how respectfully to treat users’ on-device data, well that’s just tough noogies. If the user OK’s it, then it’s OK.</p>
<p>A month ago, after WWDC, when this guidance pertaining to Android AI was rumored to be forthcoming, <a href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/06/15/ec-google-gemini-ai-dma">I wrote</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Google is learning the lesson Apple learned the hard way with all
the existing features of iOS that were deemed noncompliant with
the DMA when it went into effect. The “ship it first and ask
forgiveness / hope it’s deemed compliant” strategy is not a good
one in the EU.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I genuinely wonder what the European Commission thinks the purpose of Android is. Google created Android for the benefit of its own services. Google was worried about Microsoft, not Apple, at the time, but they wanted to ensure their own services were available on a major mobile platform. I’m really not seeing how it’s more attractive to Google to comply with this guidance than to just pull system-level Gemini in the EU. Either they waste a small fortune building APIs no one will use, or, they spend that small fortune buildings APIs for the benefit of their biggest competitors. I get it that that’s the intended price to pay for being a designated DMA gatekeeper. But what’s the motivation for Google to do this rather than just walk away from system-integrated AI on Android in the EU? It certainly doesn’t look like the competing platform, iOS, is going to offer it in the EU anytime soon either.</p>
<div class="footnotes">
<hr />
<ol>
<li id="fn1-2026-07-21">
<p>If you are handed a mandate that everyone must be able to run at the same speed, and you can’t figure out how to make slow people faster, you can comply by <a href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2024/03/23/harrison-bergeron">forcing the fast to wear weighted boots</a>. This is where utopian egalitarian initiatives often lead. <a href="#fnr1-2026-07-21" class="footnoteBackLink" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text.">↩︎</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
]]></content>
<title>★ European Commission: ‘Guidance to Google for AI Interoperability on Android & Sharing of Google Search’</title>
</entry>
<entry>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://workos.com/blog/management-mcp-server?utm_source=daringfireball&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=q32026"/>
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<author>
<name>Daring Fireball Department of Commerce</name>
</author>
<published>2026-07-20T23:13:48Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-27T16:43:47Z</updated>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/feeds/sponsors/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Debugging SSO, managing users, adjusting auth policies, configuring branding: every configuration task has lived behind a UI that only a human can drive.</p>
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<title>[Sponsor] WorkOS MCP: Manage Your Auth Platform From Any AI Agent</title>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>‘Who’s Afraid of Chinese Models?’</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://stratechery.com/2026/whos-afraid-of-chinese-models/"/>
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xe4"/>
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/20/thompson-chinese-models-distillation"/>
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43276</id>
<published>2026-07-20T16:27:36Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-21T14:33:41Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Ben Thompson, on the hype regarding Kimi K3, at Stratechery:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>This is a point that bears repeating: because U.S. open weight
model makers must follow the frontier labs’ terms of service, they
(1) are worse than Chinese alternatives and (2) end up distilling
the distillation, just with a detour through Chinese labs.
Wouldn’t it be better if western open weight model makers could go
to the source?</p>
<p>To that end, here’s an even more interesting question around
distillation: why exactly is it bad? After all, what are large
language models but the distillation of all of the knowledge on
the open Internet, scraped by the frontier labs and distilled into
the models that are themselves being distilled? Who is exactly
being wronged here?</p>
<p>In fact, this paradox is the solution. I believe that open weight
models are good for innovation (and, per the above, I think that
labs on the frontier will be fine), but it’s a problem to be
dependent on China. The U.S. should pass a law that (1) makes
explicit that collecting data for training models is fair use, and
(2) bars terms of service that forbid distillation, for U.S.
companies at a minimum. Stopping distillation — which is
literally just querying the API — is nearly impossible; the U.S.
should go the other way and lean into a new copyright policy that
both indemnifies the labs and also guarantees that what they
learned fuels further innovation for everyone else.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>To be clear — and Thompson emphasizes this point too — the leading Chinese models like K3 aren’t good <em>only</em> because of distillation. They’re not entirely rip-offs. But distillation is clearly an essential part of the formula they’re using to keep releasing models that are 6–9 months behind the U.S. frontier state of the art. So the Chinese treat all models as “open”, regardless of the terms of service. But anyone in the U.S. or other western countries that respect copyright — or contracted terms of service — who wants to distill a good model has to wait for the Chinese to release their models, like K3.</p>
<p>And that second paragraph I quote above distills (sorry) exactly why I want to bring out the world’s smallest violin to play a sad song for OpenAI and Anthropic regarding their objections to their frontier models being distilled against their terms of service.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘‘Who’s Afraid of Chinese Models?’’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/20/thompson-chinese-models-distillation"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>Paper</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://paper.design/?utm_source=df"/>
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xe3"/>
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<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43275</id>
<published>2026-07-19T22:31:11Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-19T22:31:11Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>My thanks to Paper for sponsoring last week at DF. Paper is a new professional design tool where every layer is real HTML and CSS. Your design is already code, which means fewer handoffs, translations, and layers of abstraction between what you design and what you actually ship.</p>
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<p><a href="https://paper.design?utm_source=df">Try Paper at paper.design</a> (great domain name), and check out <a href="https://paper.design/docs/support?utm_source=df">the documentation and FAQ for more info</a>.</p>
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]]></content>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>9to5Mac Uncovers Dozens of Disguised Gambling Apps on the App Store in Brazil</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://9to5mac.com/2026/07/17/investigation-reveals-dozens-of-disguised-gambling-apps-on-the-app-store-in-brazil/"/>
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xe2"/>
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/19/9to5mac-brazil-gambling-apps"/>
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43274</id>
<published>2026-07-19T17:18:57Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-21T16:09:43Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>9to5Mac:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Brazilian users browsing the App Store rankings in categories
such as Navigation, Travel, and Weather have noticed a growing
number of poorly made games appearing among the top results, many
of them featuring AI-generated illustrations of animals as their
app icons.</p>
<p>As it turns out, these are so-called jacket apps, which are just a
front for hidden betting and gambling apps. A 9to5Mac
investigation has uncovered more than 60 apps that behave exactly
as depicted in their App Store screenshots when accessed from
virtually anywhere in the world, except Brazil.</p>
<p>When opened from a Brazilian IP address, the same apps instead
reveal online betting platforms, as shown in the example below,
which is currently the top app in the Weather category.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Obviously the main problem is that these apps disguise themselves Trojan Horse-style, and slip through App Store review undetected. I don’t think it’s reasonable to think App Store review could catch every attempt at this sort of thing though — if the horses are disguised well-enough, some of them are going to slip through. That’s actually fine.</p>
<p>But the first example 9to5Mac cites isn’t well disguised at all. What sense does it make that “PotatoPlot Puzzle” — a game featuring a rabbit potato farmer — is a <em>weather</em> app? How is that not a red flag right there?</p>
<p>Also, this app rose to become not just popular, but the number one weather app in Brazil, a nation with over 200 million citizens. In my <a href="https://daringfireball.net/search/bunco+squad">yearslong argument that Apple should commission an internal bunco squad</a> dedicated to hunting down scammers in the App Store, I always mention that the point of such a squad shouldn’t be to make the App Store 100 percent scammer-free — which I believe is an impossible goal that would set the team up for failure. The point should be only to make the App Store free of <em>successful</em> scams. Focus on the most popular apps and the most lucrative apps. There’s simply no feasible excuse for PotatoPlot Puzzle to have become the most popular “weather app” in Brazil.</p>
<p><strong>Update:</strong> <a href="https://9to5mac.com/2026/07/17/investigation-reveals-dozens-of-disguised-gambling-apps-on-the-app-store-in-brazil/#:~:text=Update%20July%2020">Apple issued a statement to 9to5Mac</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The company thanked 9to5Mac for its investigation and added that,
prior to our reporting, it had already investigated and taken
action against 25 similar apps, while also terminating the
developer accounts associated with them.</p>
</blockquote>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘9to5Mac Uncovers Dozens of Disguised Gambling Apps on the App Store in Brazil’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/19/9to5mac-brazil-gambling-apps"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>Apple Sends Letters to Dozens of Former Employees Now at OpenAI</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.ft.com/content/1b8c9d52-88a9-426b-ba47-f1811f859166?syn-25a6b1a6=1"/>
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xe0"/>
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/18/apple-letters-to-openai-employees"/>
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43272</id>
<published>2026-07-18T22:47:59Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-18T22:48:00Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Michael Acton, reporting for the Financial Times from San Francisco:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>About 40 former employees now working at OpenAI have been sent
letters directing them to preserve documents and communications
and demanding meetings with Apple’s lawyers, according to multiple
people familiar with the matter. Apple and OpenAI declined to
comment.</p>
<p>The decision to hit employees with personal legal letters
highlights Apple’s aggressive tactics after it last week launched
a blockbuster lawsuit accusing OpenAI and two employees of
stealing secret hardware plans.</p>
</blockquote>
<div>
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]]></content>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>Apple Books and Amazon Are Lousy With AI-Generated Books Ripping Off Legitimate Authors</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://thenewthings.com/p/apple-big-ai-book-slop-problem"/>
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xdz"/>
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/17/joanna-stern-ai-ripoff-books"/>
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43271</id>
<published>2026-07-18T00:33:15Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-19T22:27:19Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p><a href="https://thenewthings.com/p/apple-big-ai-book-slop-problem">Joanna Stern at New Things, last month</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Last month, just days after my book went on sale, AI knockoffs of
the ebook version flooded Apple Books. There was <em>Joanna Stern On
I Am Not A Robot</em> by Sophie Mercer. <em>I AM NOT A ROBOT</em> by Finn
Tech. <em>I AM NOT A ROBOT</em> by Joana Stern — with one “n.” (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/shorts/IFLMpFzdtgc?feature=share&utm_campaign=apple-s-big-ai-book-slop-problem&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=thenewthings.com">Watch
our latest video</a> showing all these titles and more.)</p>
<p>In total, I found ten AI-generated ebooks clearly riding on mine,
with AI-generated covers mimicking the style of my real one — the
same blue, yellow and red color palette. Most were priced at
$9.99, but some have gone as high as $20.99. [...]</p>
<p>After I contacted Apple about my own book’s clones back in May,
the knockoffs quickly disappeared. [...] But now, a month after
that first Apple cleanup, the problem is back. At the start of
this week, there were at least three other <em>I AM NOT A ROBOT</em>
counterfeits on Apple Books. (They seem to have since been
removed.)</p>
<p>And I’m not alone. Lena Dunham’s <em>Famesick</em> has multiple
lookalikes on the platform. Haley Sacks’s <em>Future Rich Person</em> has
copycats that even use AI generated images of women on the cover
that resemble the real author.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/16/technology/ai-slop-books-biography-amazon.html?unlocked_article_code=1.ylA.d9nK.UpBzYfszrwa_">Kashmir Hill at The New York Times today</a> (gift link):</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Recently, I received a strange text from a new acquaintance. “You
have your own biography???” it read. “How did you neglect to tell
me this?”</p>
<p>This was news to me. I went to Amazon to investigate. There it
was. A biography of Kashmir Hill — title: “The Biography of
Kashmir Hill” — had been released nearly a year earlier, in
August 2025. My life story had a mottled brown cover and a
publisher I’d never heard of before. It had no reviews until I
wrote one, asking, as the subject of this work, if I could please
speak to the author. The hardcover cost $26.99, which seemed a
bit steep, but my editor splurged on a copy and I was forced to
read it.</p>
<p>My biography is 90 pages long and should be shorter. It combines
facts about me that are widely available on the internet, such as
where I grew up, with generic insights that could be true of
anyone, like a horoscope spread over dozens of pages. “You cannot
understand Kashmir Hill without understanding her
contradictions,” my biographer wrote, along with an
excruciatingly long description of my elaborate coffee-making
ritual. (Fact check: My husband does it.)</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It’s not just an e-book problem. Printing services are so cheap nowadays that some of these mooks (like one “author” Hill spoke to) are commissioning print editions for <em>hundreds</em> of these slopfests.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘Apple Books and Amazon Are Lousy With AI-Generated Books Ripping Off Legitimate Authors’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/17/joanna-stern-ai-ripoff-books"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>Google Runs Out of Appeals, Must Pay Record $4.7 Billion EU Antitrust Fine</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/02/alphabet-google-android-eu-antitrust-fine-4-1-billion-euro-appeal.html"/>
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xdy"/>
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/17/google-eu-fine"/>
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43270</id>
<published>2026-07-17T23:47:16Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-18T22:54:09Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Arjun Kharpal, reporting for CNBC, back on July 2:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Europe’s top court on Thursday upheld Google’s fine of around 4.1
billion euros ($4.67 billion) over alleged anti-competitive
practices.</p>
<p>In 2018, the European Commission slapped Google with the
record-breaking penalty on the grounds that it abused Android’s
mobile dominance to give unfair advantage to its own apps via
pre-installation deals with smartphone makers.</p>
<p>Google has been appealing the ruling through the EU court system.
But the European Court of Justice (ECJ), Europe’s top court,
dismissed Google’s appeal. Google has no further right to appeal.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Google last year <a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1652044/000165204426000018/goog-20251231.htm">booked $132 billion in profit</a>; this fine is about 3 percent of that. But in 2018, when the fine was initially assessed, Google booked <a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1652044/000165204419000004/goog10-kq42018.htm">“just” $31 billion in profit</a> — this fine, if they’d paid it then, would have been about 15 percent of their annual profit. (And they booked only $13B, $19B, $16B, and $14B in profit going back from 2017 to 2014.)</p>
<p>There’s never a reason <em>not</em> to string the appeal process out, but it’s especially true when your profits are growing at an exceptional rate. By growing their profits around 5×, they’ve reduced the relative sting of this fine by 5×.</p>
<p>And that’s ignoring the effects of inflation — which over the last eight year have been significant.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘Google Runs Out of Appeals, Must Pay Record $4.7 Billion EU Antitrust Fine’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/17/google-eu-fine"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry>
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<title>Daring Fireball</title>
<subtitle>By John Gruber</subtitle>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/" />
<link rel="self" type="application/atom+xml" href="https://daringfireball.net/feeds/main" />
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<updated>2026-08-03T17:19:35Z</updated><rights>Copyright © 2026, John Gruber</rights><entry>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/2026/08/followup_big_three_carrier_requirement" />
<link rel="shorturl" href="http://df4.us/xfb" />
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026://1.43319</id>
<published>2026-08-03T17:19:34Z</published>
<updated>2026-08-03T17:19:35Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<summary type="text">For many years now, part of the co-marketing agreements between Apple and the Big Three is Apple agreeing to require a postpaid account with a Big Three carrier for all “special” iPhone financing deals, including the old iPhone Upgrade Program and the new Apple Upgrade leasing.</summary>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Following up from last week, <a href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/30/apple-upgrade-vs-iphone-upgrade-program">when I asked</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>When you lease an iPhone through Apple Upgrade, you need a
cellular account on one of the big three U.S. carriers: AT&T,
T-Mobile, or Verizon. That kind of stinks, and I’m not quite sure
I understand why. You’re leasing the iPhone through Apple and
Klarna, not the carrier, so I don’t know why Apple cares. If you
know why, <a href="https://daringfireball.net/contact/">shoot me a message</a> and explain it. Is it just a
simplistic credit-risk evaluation, where prepaid plan-holders and
MVNO users in general are viewed suspiciously?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I got a slew of messages about this. Credit-risk assessment is seemingly part of it. There’s a lot of fraud in iPhone purchases specifically and cell phone service generally. The big three carriers do a significant amount of risk assessment before letting you open a new postpaid account; that you have an active account with one of them is a signal that you’re not trying to lease an iPhone using phony credentials in order to sell it.</p>
<p>But the bigger reason is the complex nature of the contracts between Apple and each of the big three carriers. A reader who worked on the carrier team at Apple for a long time (but left a few years ago) wrote:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In response to your question on why Apple would only offer iPhone
on the “Big 3” for the new Upgrade Program: Every year, the
Carrier Teams at Apple negotiate a deal/program (hundreds of
millions of dollars) with each of those Big 3. In return for those
dollars, Apple will make concessions exactly like this (or
similar.) This is also why, for example, their logos appear more
prominently or are the only ones called out on signage,
commercials, etc… Although they really aren’t threatened by MVNO’s
(the ones they don’t own) or regional carriers, it’s more like
Apple is selling it as part of a package deal that’s exclusively
offered to its biggest and best “tier 1” partners. It also acts as
a carrot to perpetually try to motivate smaller partners into
behavior Apple wants.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This might change — some of the bigger MVNOs are trying to work their way into “tier 1” (or maybe create a new “tier 1.5”). But for many years now, part of the co-marketing agreements between Apple and the Big Three is Apple agreeing to require a postpaid account with a Big Three carrier for all “special” iPhone financing deals, including the old iPhone Upgrade Program and the new Apple Upgrade leasing.</p>
<p>One interesting exception is that Boost Mobile is included alongside the Big Three for Apple Card Monthly Installments (ACMI), a program that offers 0% APR on certain products if you pay for them using an Apple Card. <a href="https://support.apple.com/en-us/104950">From the ACMI small print</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>In order to buy an iPhone with ACMI, you must select one of the
following carriers (prepaid carrier plans are not supported):
AT&T, Boost Mobile, T-Mobile, or Verizon. An iPhone purchased with
ACMI is always unlocked, so you can switch carriers at any time,
subject to your carrier’s terms.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>So perhaps some of the bigger MVNO carriers might work their way into Apple Upgrade — but if they do, it sounds like they’ll need to pay Apple for the privilege.</p>
<p>With regard to fraud, a former Apple Store retail employee wrote:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I left in 2019, but I’d estimate on some days a double digit
percentage of in-person phone sales were fraudulent.</p>
<p>This behavior absolutely exploded when you started to be able to
do carrier financing in the store. They had stolen the identity
of a legit account holder, come into the store with the info
needed to access the account. They always wanted the highest end
phone, and would pay the sales tax due at time of sale in cash.
Never wanted any accessories. Never wanted to open the box or set
up the phone.</p>
<p>As bad as it was with the activation requirement, it would be way
worse without it. I believe it’s gotten a lot better, and the
carriers have more advanced systems in place to detect and deter
this behavior now. But ultimately, the carriers ate the cost for
millions of dollars in devices they never got paid for.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I suspect that reader is correct that Apple, in collaboration with the carriers, has cracked down on this.</p>
]]></content>
<title>★ Why Apple Requires a Cellular Account Through a Big Three Carrier to Lease an iPhone</title></entry><entry>
<title>Ulysses S. Grant on the Future Dividing Line</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/grant-next-civil-war/" />
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xfa" />
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/08/03/grant" />
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43318</id>
<published>2026-08-03T17:14:42Z</published>
<updated>2026-08-03T17:15:09Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Ulysses S. Grant, in 1875:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Where the citizen is sovereign and the official the servant, where
no power is exercised except by the will of the people, it is
important that the sovereign — the people — should possess
intelligence.</p>
<p>The free school is the promoter of that intelligence which is to
preserve us as a free nation. If we are to have another contest in
the near future of our national existence, I predict that the
dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon’s, but between
patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition,
ambition, and ignorance on the other.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Not sure if the 2020s count as “the near future”, but holy hell is that a spot-on synopsis of our current moment.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘Ulysses S. Grant on the Future Dividing Line’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/08/03/grant"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry><entry>
<title>Truth Social Launches Paid Early Access to Trump Posts</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.npr.org/2026/08/01/nx-s1-5912219/trump-truth-social-access-insider-trading" />
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xf9" />
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/08/03/truth-social-paid-access" />
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43317</id>
<published>2026-08-03T16:00:29Z</published>
<updated>2026-08-03T16:03:36Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Bobby Allyn, reporting for NPR:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Trump Media & Technology Group is <a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/b2icontent.irpass.cc/2660/rl168199.pdf">now shopping</a> to traders
and investors a premium version of Truth Social delivering early
access to the feeds of high-profile users, including the
president. Starting Saturday, for a fee of up to $100,000 a month,
trading firms can access “Truth API” to get a glimpse of the
president’s often <a href="https://www.npr.org/2026/05/08/nx-s1-5749358/trump-truth-social-online-posts-iran-white-house-ballroom">market-moving announcements</a> about
economic policy and global affairs before the rest of the world.</p>
<p>Trump’s media company says customers have already started signing
up. Such an offering would give institutional investors a leg up
in areas of finance like high-frequency trading, where an
advantage of a few milliseconds can mean the difference of
millions of dollars. But will the service be widely adopted across
Wall Street?</p>
<p>“It’s insane,” said one Wall Street executive, who requested
anonymity for fear of retaliation from the Trump administration.
“I can say for myself and 200 of my friends in finance, we’re not
getting anywhere near this. In another administration, this would
be considered criminal.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It <em>is</em> criminal. It’s prima facie insider-trading-as-a-service, or at least it’s <em>intended</em> to be. And in the next administration, there’s no reason to think it won’t be prosecuted as such. It really is astonishing how far the Trump 2.0 administration is willing to take the notion that it’s not corruption if it’s done in the open. There’s an old adage that it’s not the crime but the cover-up that does you in. They’ve taken this to heart and just eschewed the cover-ups.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘Truth Social Launches Paid Early Access to Trump Posts’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/08/03/truth-social-paid-access"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry><entry>
<title>Agent Fone</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://fail.xyz/phone/" />
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xf7" />
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/08/02/agent-fone" />
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43315</id>
<published>2026-08-02T21:02:00Z</published>
<updated>2026-08-02T21:02:34Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>My thanks to Agent Fone for sponsoring last week at DF. Agent Fone is a crazily ambitious new smartphone that doesn’t merely ship with a built-in AI assistant. Instead, the entire concept is that it enables you to create custom software, right on the phone itself. Ideas for new apps that you’ve had in your notes for years. Weird little app ideas that only you would want. Describe your idea, answer a few questions, and Agent Fone builds an app, or widget, and it’s on your home screen. They’re looking for 50 people and small teams to sell the first 50 hardware units to. If you’re interested, <a href="https://fail.xyz/phone/">check out their website</a> for all the information you need, and broader description of the platform.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘Agent Fone’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/08/02/agent-fone"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry><entry>
<title>Boris Cherny on Trying to Get Claude Code to Rewrite the Claude App</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.ycrootaccess.com/p/boris-cherny-building-claude-code" />
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xf8" />
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/08/02/cherny-claude-swift" />
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43316</id>
<published>2026-08-02T21:01:12Z</published>
<updated>2026-08-02T21:02:08Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Boris Cherny, head of Claude Code at Anthropic, was interviewed by Diana Hu on stage at Y Combinator’s Startup School 2026 last week. Starting <a href="https://youtu.be/qyPCVqFUyDo?t=1230">around 20:30 in the video</a>, he briefly discussed directing Claude to perform difficult tasks:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>Cherny:</strong> I think the skill nowadays is less about prompt
engineering and more about figuring out how do you give Claude a
hard task that seems a little bit too hard. Then how do you make
it possible for Claude to verify its work along the way? The
verification is probably the single most important thing that
people do not get right, largely.</p>
<p>One example of this is people were — we have this desktop app
for Claude and it’s built using Electron. We’ve made it quite
fast. Now it’s a pretty awesome experience. Six months ago it was
sluggish and it wasn’t very reliable. Now it’s pretty awesome.
It’s the thing that most of the team uses. As an experiment, I
wanted to see what it would feel like if it was native. So what I
did is I started a Claude Tag session. Claude Tag is a new
product we have. It’s just Claude running in Slack. My first
question was, “Hey Tag, do you have access to a Mac OS runner on
GitHub?” It said no. Then I hooked up a runner. So it was able to
start a Mac virtual machine using GitHub. My second question was,
I created this empty code base that was a Claude desktop app
rewritten in Swift.</p>
<p>I asked, “Can you access this code base?” It said no. Then I
gave it access and it was like, “Okay, great. Now I have
access.” Then I said, “Okay, now what I want you to do is I want
you to rewrite the Electron app in Swift. I want you to run the
Electron app in the Mac virtual machine, screenshot it, and then
look pixel by pixel. Compare it to the Swift version. Don’t stop
until you’re done.”</p>
<p><strong>Hu:</strong> And that was your prompt basically?</p>
<p><strong>Cherny:</strong> That was my prompt.</p>
<p><strong>Hu:</strong> And how long did this take to run?</p>
<p><strong>Cherny:</strong> It’s still running.</p>
<p><strong>Hu:</strong> When did you start it?</p>
<p><strong>Cherny:</strong> It’s been a little over two weeks. So it’s like 14
days, 15 days.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I suppose this is interesting, but I don’t think it’s interesting in the way some people sending me links to this interview think it is. I don’t think this is a serious effort to create a truly native Mac client for Claude. And if it is, Cherny is going about it all wrong.</p>
<p>It’s not like the problem with the current Claude Mac client is merely the technical detail that it’s written with a bloated non-native framework. The actual problem is that it’s a poorly designed app written with a bloated non-native framework. The design itself is non-native. And aside from ignoring most Mac UI idioms, it’s just <a href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/17/openais-product-shake-up">a bad design in the abstract</a>. It’s bad on the web, bad on Windows, and thus of course it’s also bad on the Mac. So pointing Claude Code at the current Electron app and directing it to recreate it in Swift — pixel-by-pixel — could at best solve only the technical problems with the current app, not the design problems. I’d be more likely to use Claude if it were well designed but still written using Electron, than if it were ported to AppKit and/or SwiftUI but with exactly the current design. The current Claude app is like a shitty recipe made with shitty ingredients; what Cherny asked Claude Code to do is to follow the shitty recipe using better ingredients. It’s still going to taste like shit.</p>
<p>And it’s probably no wonder the task failed. AppKit and SwiftUI are made to create Mac-style apps. Trying to use them to recreate the utterly un-Mac-like Claude UI is like trying to brush your hair the wrong way. It’s not the way things are meant to go.</p>
<p>I also can’t let pass Cherny’s aside, re: the current Claude Mac app, that “Six months ago it was sluggish and it wasn’t very reliable. Now it’s pretty awesome.” I just launched the Claude app on my Mac, and it took 30 seconds before it was ready to use. The last 15 seconds of which, it showed the spinning beach ball cursor. When it finally finished it showed me <a href="https://daringfireball.net/misc/2026/08/claude-dickover.png">a dickover</a>. Maybe it was worse six months ago but this is not “pretty awesome”.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘Boris Cherny on Trying to Get Claude Code to Rewrite the Claude App’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/08/02/cherny-claude-swift"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry><entry>
<title>The Apple Upgrade Situation</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://randsinrepose.com/archives/the-apple-upgrade-situation/" />
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xf5" />
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/08/01/the-apple-upgrade-situation" />
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43313</id>
<published>2026-08-01T16:30:40Z</published>
<updated>2026-08-02T18:03:44Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Michael Lopp, at Rands in Repose:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I have felt since it was announced that the <a href="https://www.apple.com/shop/iphone/iphone-upgrade-program">Apple iPhone Upgrade
Program</a> has not just been a deal, but a steal. The
specifics:</p>
<ul>
<li>You apply for a loan for a full-price iPhone at 0%.</li>
<li>If approved, your payments are split over 24 months.</li>
<li>Pay for 24 months, and the phone is yours.</li>
</ul>
<p>That was just the deal; the steal was that it was low effort every
single year to get a new phone. I’d re-up for a new phone, and
Apple would forgive the remaining payments of the loan because I’d
signed up for another 24 months. Oh, and bonus, AppleCare was
included, which was a total steal because I hate iPhone cases
(iPhones are designed to be felt) and, uh, also I have been known
to drop my phone. [...]</p>
<p>At first glance, the new plan looks cheaper. The original plan:
one year of iPhone 17 Pro (256GB, $1,099 sticker) was ~$57/month.
12 payments, trade-in, restart: <em>~$684 for the year</em>. The new
one, same phone: $45.99/month on the 12-month lease: <em>$552 for
the year</em>.</p>
<p>But wait! The first and most important change to the new plan is
that AppleCare is <em>no longer included</em>. Adding it back to this
phone at $13.99/month: <em>$720 for the year</em>.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>That’s probably the single best argument for “the catch” in the new plan. The old iPhone Upgrade Program included AppleCare coverage, and the new Apple Upgrade leases do not.</p>
<p>Personally, I haven’t purchased AppleCare for any device, for me or my family, since I got it for my college Macintosh LC in 1991. Apple products come with good warranties. I’ve saved thousands of dollars in the intervening decades by never paying for AppleCare and instead paying for very occasional repairs out of pocket. (I’ve twice cracked my iPhone screen and paid to have it replaced.) But I know that some people wouldn’t even consider buying an iPhone (in particular, as a potentially dropped device) without AppleCare. <strong>Update:</strong> Lopp’s AppleCare math is for monthly AppleCare; if you pay annually ($139, for a $1,099 iPhone) then the annual cost for the monthly Apple Upgrade payments plus AppleCare is $691 — which is <em>very</em> close to the $684 annual cost for the old iPhone Upgrade Program.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘The Apple Upgrade Situation’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/08/01/the-apple-upgrade-situation"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry><entry>
<title>Apple Q3 2026 Results</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://sixcolors.com/post/2026/07/apple-announces-record-q3-results/" />
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xf4" />
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/08/01/apple-q3-2026-results" />
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43312</id>
<published>2026-08-01T16:15:15Z</published>
<updated>2026-08-01T16:15:16Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Jason Snell:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>On Thursday, Apple announced <a href="https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2026/07/apple-reports-third-quarter-results/">record third-quarter earnings</a>,
with total revenue of $109.4B, up 16 percent from the year-ago
quarter. iPhone revenue was up 22%, Mac revenue was up 10.4%,
Services revenue was up 12%, and Wearables revenue was up 6%. iPad
revenue was down 6%.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Six Colors also has their usual <a href="https://sixcolors.com/post/2026/07/one-last-time-this-is-tim-transcript-of-apples-q3-2026-financial-call/">transcript of the analyst call</a>, Tim Cook’s 90th and final one. </p>
<p>Over at MacRumors, <a href="https://www.macrumors.com/2026/07/31/tim-cook-apple-15-years/">Juli Clover wrote a retrospective on Tim Cook’s 15-year run as CEO</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>When Cook took over as CEO, Apple’s revenue for all of 2011 was
$108 billion. Apple reported $109.4 billion for Q3 2026, earning
its 2011 revenue in a single quarter. We don’t have the numbers
for fiscal 2026 yet, but in fiscal 2025, revenue was $416
billion. [...]</p>
<p>A day after Cook took over in August 2011, Apple’s stock price was
$13.35 (split-adjusted). Today, it opened at $304.81, a roughly
23× increase.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Apple did alright under Cook.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘Apple Q3 2026 Results’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/08/01/apple-q3-2026-results"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry><entry>
<title>The Talk Show: ‘What’s in Louie’s Wallet’</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/thetalkshow/2026/07/31/ep-453" />
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xf3" />
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/31/the-talk-show-453" />
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43311</id>
<published>2026-07-31T22:50:04Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-31T22:50:04Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Louie Mantia returns to the show to talk about the state of UI and icon design on Apple’s platforms, and some speculation on Apple’s trade secret lawsuit against OpenAI.</p>
<p><audio
src = "https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/daringfireball/thetalkshow-453-louie-mantia.mp3"
controls
preload = "none"
/></p>
<p><strong>Sponsored by:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://notion.com/talkshow">Notion</a>: The collaborative AI workspace where teams and
agents work side by side, with a Developer Platform teams can build on.</li>
<li><a href="https://evenrealities.com/">Even Realities</a>: Even G2, the everyday display smart glasses. Use promo code <strong>talkshow</strong> to save 10% off the R1 Ring and/or Even Clip.</li>
<li><a href="https://squarespace.com/talkshow">Squarespace</a>: Save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code <strong>TALKSHOW</strong>.</li>
</ul>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘The Talk Show: ‘What’s in Louie’s Wallet’’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/31/the-talk-show-453"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry><entry>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/2026/07/temu_is_a_comically_bad_app" />
<link rel="shorturl" href="http://df4.us/xf2" />
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026://1.43310</id>
<published>2026-07-31T18:27:50Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-31T18:27:50Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<summary type="text">Shop like a billionaire.</summary>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p><a href="https://social.panic.com/@cabel/116987028774035194">Cabel Sasser on Mastodon</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>the temu app will be studied for generations.</p>
<p>i opened the app, and recorded this unedited, nearly two minute,
launch sequence. it somehow just gets funnier and more absurd</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I agree with this sentiment, right down to the fact that Temu doesn’t deserve capital letters.</p>
<p>I placed an order from Temu back in August 2023. At the time Temu was the #1 app in the App Store. I surmised it was some sort of crap store, but wanted to see for myself. It is in fact not merely a crap store but a spectacular crap store — like if a souvenir shop on a Jersey shore boardwalk were the size of a football stadium. Thousands of items, many of them rip-offs, at absurdly low prices. I bought (<a href="https://daringfireball.net/misc/2026/07/temu-order-7-items-aug-2023.png">screenshot</a>):</p>
<ul>
<li>Two Apple Watch straps. One of them knocking off Apple’s Braided Solo Loop for $1.88; another knocking off the Apple Watch Ultra Alpine Loop for $2.34.</li>
<li>A pair of knock-off AirPods: $8.98.</li>
<li>Another pair of wireless earbuds branded “Lenovo” but definitely not made by Lenovo: $10.25.</li>
<li>A knock-off Apple Watch Ultra (“<em>Smart Watch Answer/Make Call 2.19" HD Full Touch Screen Watch With BT Call, Fitness Tracker With Heart Monitor</em>”), which included both orange and black (misspelled “balck”) rip-offs of Apple’s Ocean Band, for $16.49.</li>
<li>A “Magnetic Suction Anti-Lost Lanyard” for, I think, AirPods: $1.79.</li>
<li>An iPhone case: $3.46.</li>
</ul>
<p>Grand total for all seven items: $48.81. I ordered it all on 20 August 2023, and it arrived at my P.O. box on 2 September. The contents of the box looked less like it had been “packed” than “picked out of the trash and hurriedly stuffed into a box”.</p>
<p>The iPhone case was so flimsy it didn’t properly snap onto the phone. The Apple Watch straps were ... OK? They were about as good as you could hope given that they cost around $2 each. The knock-off Apple Watch Ultra actually did sort of work, insofar as it had a color screen that turned on and showed watch-like screens (that looked nothing at all like WatchOS). The watch case was made of plastic, and watch straps did not snap into place in the slide-in channel where they connect — they just permanently slid around. I couldn’t get either of the bluetooth earbuds to work but I didn’t spend more than a few minutes trying with each, because I realized I had no intention of putting them into my ears. The lanyard I don’t remember.</p>
<p>Temu today no longer tops the U.S. App Store’s Top Free Apps list, but it remains in the top 25. (It was at #19 this morning, and #22 this afternoon.) Temu’s slogan remains unchanged: “Shop like a billionaire.” Who am I to argue with that? We know <a href="https://www.wsj.com/business/elon-musk-illegal-drugs-e826a9e1?st=rAN3Cp">one of them</a> is on a lot of drugs — maybe all of them are, and Temu is what it’s like.</p>
<p>After I placed that initial order, I started getting emails from Temu. Seven of the emails pertained to my order: an order confirmation, a shipping notice, a shipping update, another shipping update, a “we noticed your order didn’t arrive on time so here’s a $5 coupon” update, a delivery confirmation, and then a prompt to leave “an honest review detailing our product quality and your overall experience”. The emails kept coming. I decided to leave them turned on until I wrote about my Temu experience on Daring Fireball. As I type this sentence, I’ve received a grand total of 916 emails. That’s just under one per day for the 1,076 days since I placed my one and only order from them. <a href="https://daringfireball.net/misc/2026/07/Temu-Email-Subjects-(916).text">Here’s a text file with the dates and Subject lines for all 916 emails</a>. In the early months after placing my order, they sent me multiple emails per day, every single day. I particularly enjoy how, in the Subject lines, they occasionally abbreviate my name as “John Gru...” (for privacy?), despite the fact that (a) the emails are all sent to me, and (b) in many of the other messages, they spell out my full name in the Subject.</p>
<p>Don’t do what I did and actually try Temu. <a href="https://social.panic.com/@cabel/116987028774035194">Just watch Sasser’s video</a>. It tells you everything you need to know.</p>
]]></content>
<title>★ Temu Is a Comically Bad App</title></entry><entry>
<title>Mark Zuckerberg: ‘The AI Future Is for Everyone’</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.wsj.com/opinion/the-ai-future-is-for-everyone-a0c24e20?st=T6AAwM" />
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xf1" />
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/30/zuck-ai-for-everyone" />
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43309</id>
<published>2026-07-30T21:09:51Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-30T21:09:52Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Mark Zuckerberg, in an op-ed Tuesday for The Wall Street Journal (gift link; and irony isn’t lost that “everyone” needs a paid WSJ subscription to read this):</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We are fortunate to live at an incredible moment in history. In
the next few years, people will be able to use superintelligence
beyond human capacity to create and discover extraordinary new
things, build new businesses, express our ideas, learn new
concepts, and improve our lives, health, relationships and
careers.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Perhaps we’ll be able to use it to build a metaverse too. Or to keep our attention on a major initiative for more than two or three years.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘Mark Zuckerberg: ‘The AI Future Is for Everyone’’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/30/zuck-ai-for-everyone"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry><entry>
<title>Apple Releases iOS and MacOS 26.6, MacOS 15.7.8, and More</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/07/ios-and-macos-26-6-arrive-today-paving-the-way-for-ios-and-macos-27/" />
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xf0" />
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/30/ios-macos-26-6" />
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43308</id>
<published>2026-07-30T20:41:43Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-30T20:41:44Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Samuel Axon, Ars Technica:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Apple has released iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS 26.6.
Apart from potential security hotfixes, these are likely the last
updates before the arrival of iOS 27, macOS 27, and so on.</p>
<p>All of today’s releases include minor bug fixes, and there are
numerous security updates: <a href="https://support.apple.com/en-gb/128067">more than 150 for macOS 26.6</a>.
Apple also rolled out macOS 14.8.8 and macOS 15.7.8 for older
devices, also focused on security fixes.</p>
<p>In terms of new features, you won’t find many in these releases,
as they mainly pave the way for the next major OS update, likely
to hit sometime in September. Most notably, the release notes for
iOS and iPadOS 26.6 say the update “optimizes the Spotlight index
to prepare for iOS 27.” This update will kick off some indexing
work that will then be leveraged in an ostensibly much more robust
Spotlight search feature when iOS 27 launches next month.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I don’t mean to pick nits, but there’s nothing “ostensible” about it. You can use the new Spotlight index via Siri AI in the OS 27 beta releases and it’s <em>really</em> good. The initial background indexing took almost a full week for me on iOS, I suspect because I have so much email archived, but anyone who upgrades to these 26.6 releases now shouldn’t have to wait at all after upgrading to 27.0 in September. Or even if you wait for the 27.1 releases — you won’t need to wait for Siri AI to have your full semantic index at hand.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘Apple Releases iOS and MacOS 26.6, MacOS 15.7.8, and More’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/30/ios-macos-26-6"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry><entry>
<title>Rogue Amoeba: Unobtrusive Update Notifications</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://weblog.rogueamoeba.com/2026/04/28/unobtrusive-update-notifications/" />
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xez" />
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/30/rogue-amoeba-unobtrusive-update-notifications" />
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43307</id>
<published>2026-07-30T20:33:59Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-30T20:34:00Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Paul Kafasis, on the Rogue Amoeba blog back in April:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Though Sparkle serves us very well, it has one notable downside.
Update announcements are most likely to appear at the least
convenient time: right after you’ve launched the app. You want to
start recording with Audio Hijack, for instance, but the app is
telling you about a new version.</p>
<p>We’ve long wished to avoid these disruptions. With that in mind,
we’re making changes to how update notifications appear throughout
our apps. In the future, when the software’s timed automated check
detects a newer version, it will no longer pop an obtrusive window
like the one seen above.</p>
<p>Instead, a small “Update Available” indicator will be shown in the
app’s interface.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Such a little thing, but like I wrote <a href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/27/always-choose-the-good-soap">earlier this week</a>, getting all the little things right is how you get to insanely great. Every Mac app using Sparkle ought to copy this. It’s so much nicer.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘Rogue Amoeba: Unobtrusive Update Notifications’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/30/rogue-amoeba-unobtrusive-update-notifications"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry><entry>
<title>Looking for the Catch in Apple Upgrade</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/07/apple-lease-upgrade-program/688106/" />
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xey" />
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/30/looking-for-the-catch-in-apple-upgrade" />
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43306</id>
<published>2026-07-30T16:59:39Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-30T20:24:21Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Damon Beres, writing for The Atlantic under the hed/subhed: “The New iPhone Underclass: Apple’s rental program is a trap”:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The Klarna plan — “Apple Upgrade,” which replaces the iPhone
Upgrade Program — is truly, legally, a lease. This is confusing!
And it’s confusing in part because this is not how Klarna, a
well-known buy-now, pay-later service, typically operates: When
you use Klarna for clothing from Shein or lip kits at Sephora or
an Xbox at GameStop, you’re paying back a loan, exactly as you
were in the original iPhone Upgrade Program. Same if you use
Klarna to buy a <a href="https://www.samsung.com/us/klarna-payment-plan/">Samsung Galaxy</a> phone. But with Apple Upgrade,
you are renting: The Mac or Apple Watch is not yours until the
final payment is made.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I don’t think this is confusing at all. Apple Upgrade is the primary brand for this program, not Klarna. Klarna is really only mentioned in the small print. You get into Apple Upgrade <a href="https://www.apple.com/shop/apple-upgrade">through Apple</a>. Off the top of your head, do you remember Apple’s bank partner for the now-discontinued iPhone Upgrade Program? (<a href="https://www.apple.com/legal/sales-support/iphoneupgrade_us/">It was Citizens Bank</a>.) The Samsung program Beres links to above is named “Klarna Pay in 4”. “Apple Upgrade is a leasing program partnered with Klarna” is easily understood.</p>
<p>Here’s what Beres thinks is a “trap”:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Consider a student or a young professional, or perhaps an
underemployed older one, who needs a new laptop. They decide on a
MacBook. Apple Upgrade will appear to be the best deal: In its
<a href="https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2026/07/apple-upgrade-launches-in-the-united-states/">announcement</a>, Apple offers the example of a 14-inch MacBook
Pro that retails for $1,999 but that can be had for a monthly
lease. Perhaps this person goes for the two-year term, which has
them paying $54 a month. Best Buy, which currently has the same
computer on sale for $1,849, offers an 18-month loan repayment
with $103 installments. Apple’s deal appears to be cheaper: The
24-month lease adds up to $1,296; Best Buy’s 18-month loan lands
at the store’s full retail price of $1,849.</p>
<p>Why does Best Buy’s laptop seem more expensive? It’s because the
plan is actually designed for you to fully pay off the device. At
the end of the 24-month MacBook Pro lease, meanwhile, the consumer
will still owe $703, meaning that the actual total price of the
Apple arrangement is $1,999 — higher than Best Buy’s offer.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This has nothing to do with the differences between Apple Upgrade’s leasing terms and Best Buy’s 18-month loan. It’s the difference between Apple’s retail price of $1,999 and Best Buy’s $1,849. Guess what? $1,849 is less than $1,999.</p>
<p>I generally like paying for everything I buy up front. The only thing I have a loan for right now is our home. So when Apple Upgrade was announced, I approached it with skepticism, presuming that participants would wind up paying more over time than they would buying devices outright up front. But no. There is no interest penalty. If anything, if you presume inflation is still going to run a bit high for the next few years, buying devices through Apple Upgrade might be a slightly better deal than paying up front.</p>
<p>Is it a “trap” that at the end of your 24-month lease you still owe $703 if you want to buy it? I would say that’s not a trap at all, given that you’d have only paid $1,296 to date on a $1,999 device. I’m not trying to be obtuse. I get it. If you pay the full $1,999 up front, or take a loan to pay the full amount over 24 months, then, after two years, you own the device outright and you might not be tempted to buy a new device for a few more years. If instead you lease it and still owe $703 after 24 months, you might be inclined to think that it’d be no fun at all to pay $703 to finish purchasing a now-two-year-old MacBook, even if the price is totally fair and carries no interest penalty. It’s just not fun. What might seem fun, at that point, is to just hand the leased MacBook back to Apple and start a <em>new</em> lease on a brand-new MacBook. That’s surely the appeal of this whole thing from Apple’s perspective — that leasing entices people to keep starting new leases every two years rather than just sit back and enjoy a fully-paid-for device for a few additional years. I think it’s a stretch to call that a “trap”, though.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘Looking for the Catch in Apple Upgrade’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/30/looking-for-the-catch-in-apple-upgrade"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry><entry>
<title>The Differences Between the New ‘Apple Upgrade’ and the Old ‘iPhone Upgrade Program’</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://9to5mac.com/2026/07/30/apple-upgrade-vs-iphone-upgrade-program-here-are-the-key-differences/" />
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xex" />
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/30/apple-upgrade-vs-iphone-upgrade-program" />
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43305</id>
<published>2026-07-30T15:56:10Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-30T17:48:57Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Ryan Christoffel, writing for 9to5Mac:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Apple Upgrade launched this week, and the iPhone Upgrade Program
is being discontinued as a result. But despite some similarities,
the two offerings are not the same. Here are the key differences.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I wrote yesterday that there seemingly is no catch with the new Apple Upgrade program, but there’s at least one, which Christoffel’s piece doesn’t note. When you lease an iPhone through Apple Upgrade, you need a cellular account on one of the big three U.S. carriers: AT&T, T-Mobile, or Verizon. That kind of stinks, and I’m not quite sure I understand why. You’re leasing the iPhone through Apple and Klarna, not the carrier, so I don’t know why Apple cares. If you know why, <a href="https://daringfireball.net/contact/">shoot me a message</a> and explain it. Is it just a simplistic credit-risk evaluation, where prepaid plan-holders and MVNO users in general are viewed suspiciously? </p>
<p>I’ve been hearing <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-wireless-carrier/">a lot of good things</a> about the higher-quality MVNOs, especially <a href="https://www.usmobile.com/">US Mobile</a>. (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/@snazzy">Quinn Nelson</a> mentioned <a href="https://daringfireball.net/thetalkshow/2026/07/23/ep-452">last week on The Talk Show</a> that he’s on US Mobile.) But if you’re not on one of the big three you can’t lease an iPhone through Apple Upgrade.</p>
<p>(I think the old iPhone Upgrade Program required you to have a plan on one of the big three carriers too, so that might be why Christoffel didn’t mention it — it’s the same, not a difference.)</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘The Differences Between the New ‘Apple Upgrade’ and the Old ‘iPhone Upgrade Program’’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/30/apple-upgrade-vs-iphone-upgrade-program"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry><entry>
<title>Apple Says iOS 27 ‘Restricted Mode’ Isn’t for Users Who Miss Payments in New Apple Upgrade Program</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://9to5mac.com/2026/07/28/apple-says-ios-27-restricted-mode-isnt-for-new-upgrade-program-leases/" />
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xew" />
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/29/ios-27-restricted-mode" />
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43304</id>
<published>2026-07-29T20:56:33Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-29T20:56:33Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Last week <a href="https://9to5mac.com/2026/07/21/ios-27-code-suggests-apple-could-restrict-leased-devices-after-missed-payments/">9to5Mac reported</a> on code in the latest iOS 27 developer beta seemingly meant to restrict leased devices after the user had missed one or more payments. When engaged, Restricted Mode limits the device to the following apps:</p>
<ul>
<li>Accessibility Reader</li>
<li>App Store</li>
<li>Health</li>
<li>Magnifier</li>
<li>Phone</li>
<li>Clock</li>
<li>Settings</li>
<li>Wallet</li>
<li>Passwords</li>
</ul>
<p>And some limited access to apps like Messages or health-related apps that might have critical messages.</p>
<p>Many people reasonably speculated that this feature was related to Apple Upgrade, Apple’s new device leasing partnership with Klarna, which Mark Gurman spoiled a few weeks ago. But an Apple spokesman <a href="https://www.theverge.com/tech/972063/apple-upgrade-program-no-restricted-mode">confirmed to Emma Roth at The Verge today</a> that “There will be no restricted mode and/or there will be no limitations put on device functionality due to missed payments or default with the Apple Upgrade program.”</p>
<p>Writing again today, <a href="https://9to5mac.com/2026/07/28/apple-says-ios-27-restricted-mode-isnt-for-new-upgrade-program-leases/">here’s 9to5Mac’s Marcus Mendes</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Apple, however, did not tell The Verge what Restricted Mode <em>is</em>
intended for. One possibility is that it was developed for
financing programs offered by carriers, retailers, or other
partners outside Apple Upgrade, potentially including markets
where device restrictions are already used to enforce installment
agreements.</p>
<p>In India, lenders have worked in the past with smartphone
manufacturers to remotely block financed devices after borrowers
missed payments. As <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/technology/smartphone-emi-defaults-rise-as-lenders-stop-remote-cell-blocking/articleshow/125622029.cms?utm_source=chatgpt.com&from=mdr">The Economic Times</a> reported last year,
the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) told non-bank lenders to stop the
practice in late 2024, amid concerns about lenders sharing
customers’ default information with device manufacturers.</p>
<p>The regulator may now permit a more limited version of the
practice. As <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-cenbank-proposes-allowing-lenders-curb-usage-phones-bought-loans-case-2026-05-20/?utm_source=chatgpt.com">Reuters</a> reported in May, the RBI proposed
allowing lenders to restrict certain functions on financed phones
once a loan is at least 90 days overdue, provided the borrower
agreed to the measure in the contract and received advance notice.</p>
</blockquote>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘Apple Says iOS 27 ‘Restricted Mode’ Isn’t for Users Who Miss Payments in New Apple Upgrade Program’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/29/ios-27-restricted-mode"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry><entry>
<title>Apple Upgrade — New Program With Klarna for Leasing iPhones, Macs, iPads, and More for Near-Zero Interest</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2026/07/apple-upgrade-launches-in-the-united-states/" />
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xev" />
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/29/apple-upgrade" />
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43303</id>
<published>2026-07-29T16:51:15Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-29T16:51:15Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Apple Newsroom:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Apple today announced <a href="https://www.apple.com/shop/apple-upgrade">Apple Upgrade</a>, a new product leasing
program provided by Klarna for iPhone, Apple Watch, Mac, and iPad
available on the Apple Store online, in the Apple Store app, and
at Apple Store locations in the United States. Apple Upgrade makes
it even easier for customers to get the Apple products they love
with a leasing plan that is right for them. [...]</p>
<p>Apple Upgrade offers 12- and 24-month leasing options for iPhone
and Apple Watch, and 24- and 36-month leasing options for Mac and
iPad. Leasing prices start as low as $17.99 per month for iPhone,
$11.99 for Apple Watch, $24.99 for Mac, and $11.99 for iPad. When
customers first enroll in Apple Upgrade, they can further lower
their monthly lease payments by trading in their currently owned
device through <a href="https://www.apple.com/shop/trade-in/">Apple Trade In</a>. Customers can also earn 3 percent
Daily Cash back when making their lease payments with Apple Card.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://mjtsai.com/blog/2026/07/28/apple-upgrade/">Michael Tsai</a>, quoting Juli Clover at MacRumors:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.macrumors.com/2026/07/28/apple-upgrade-program-klarna/">Juli Clover</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The payoff amount is the difference between what was paid during
the leasing period and the retail price of the device, minus any
remaining trade-in credits. Klarna is not charging a fee for the
leasing program, so an iPhone that’s $1,099 can be leased and
then purchased for $1,099 with no extra cost beyond taxes.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I guess this means that, for a bit of hassle, you can essentially
buy the device for the list price at 0% interest.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>If you’d rather lease or buy over time, this seems like as good a deal as you could hope for, without any catches.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘Apple Upgrade — New Program With Klarna for Leasing iPhones, Macs, iPads, and More for Near-Zero Interest’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/29/apple-upgrade"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry><entry>
<title>Pastebot 3</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://tapbots.com/pastebot/" />
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xeu" />
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/29/pastebot-3" />
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43302</id>
<published>2026-07-29T16:07:03Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-30T20:21:52Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>New from Tapbots: version 3 of their excellent clipboard manager for Mac. There are <em>so</em> many clipboard managers for the Mac. I run two other apps — <a href="https://www.keyboardmaestro.com/">Keyboard Maestro</a> and <a href="https://www.obdev.at/launchbar">LaunchBar</a> — that offer good clipboard managers as ancillary features. But for years now I’ve chosen to use Pastebot. Chief among my favorite features:</p>
<ul>
<li>Remembers up to 1,500 clippings (up from a mere 1,000 in v2).</li>
<li>Syncs via iCloud. If I copy something on one Mac, it’s in my Pastebot history on my other Macs.</li>
<li>That sweet Tapbots UI.</li>
</ul>
<p>Pastebot 3 requires MacOS 26 Tahoe or later. That means I’m only using it on secondary Macs for now — my primary workstation will continue running MacOS 15 Sequoia until I upgrade directly to 27 Golden Gate later this year. But iCloud sync continues to work between Pastebot 2 and 3.</p>
<p>New features include more powerful filters (e.g. you can use a filter to copy a URL and then paste that URL in Markdown’s link syntax), a CLI tool (as yet undocumented), and Shortcuts support.</p>
<p>$39 for a license via direct purchase, with a $13 discount for users of previous versions. It’s still pending approval in the Mac App Store, where it will cost $25/year or $3/month.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘Pastebot 3’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/29/pastebot-3"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry><entry>
<title>Count Those Underscores</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/07/police-missed-one-underscore-and-sent-the-wrong-man-to-prison/" />
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xet" />
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/29/count-those-underscores" />
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43301</id>
<published>2026-07-29T15:28:02Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-30T20:00:34Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Nate Anderson, reporting for Ars Technica under the headline “A Missing Underscore Sent Innocent Man to Prison for 18 Months”:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Police were looking for a man using the Kik messaging service
under the name “fus__ro_dah” (two underscores after “fus”), but
they accidentally requested records for the username
“fus_ro_dah” (one underscore after “fus”). This one-character
difference led them not to the perpetrator but to a Canadian man
named Brandon Klayme. [...]</p>
<p>Despite finding no evidence of the crime on his digital devices,
Canadian police arrested Klayme in 2020 on child sex abuse
charges. He was convicted after a trial in 2023 and sentenced in
2024 to 18 months in prison. He served the full term.</p>
<p>Even after release, Klayme continued to fight his conviction. In
the process of preparing his appeal, the username mistake that led
to all these years of disruption was finally discovered. On
Thursday, the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal overturned Klayme’s
conviction, writing: “Mr. Klayme is factually innocent of the
offences. He should never have been charged, let alone convicted.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://onefoottsunami.com/2026/07/29/a-missing-underscore/">Via Paul Kafasis</a>, who asks:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>While I understand how the mistake led to this poor guy becoming a
suspect, I really can’t fathom how he was convicted. What the hell
happened during that trial?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Contra Ars’s headline, it wasn’t the missing underscore that sent Klayme to prison for 18 months.</p>
<p><strong>Update:</strong> Guy Chapman observes that this is basically the central plot of <a href="https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/68-brazil?language=en-US">Terry Gilliam’s <em>Brazil</em></a>.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘Count Those Underscores’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/29/count-those-underscores"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry><entry>
<title>‘eBay’s Bizarre Cyberstalking Saga Ends With a $56 Million Settlement’</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.theverge.com/tech/972209/ebay-cyberstalking-harassment-settlement" />
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xes" />
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/29/ebay-stalking-settlement" />
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43300</id>
<published>2026-07-29T14:43:24Z</published>
<updated>2026-08-02T17:48:18Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Emma Roth, The Verge:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>eBay and three former executives <a href="https://www.scallimurphy.com/ebay-cyberstalking-lawsuit-settlement/">will pay $55.7 million</a> as
part of a settlement with a Massachusetts couple targeted with a
bizarre harassment and cyberstalking campaign in 2019, as
<a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/28/ebay-blogger-harassment-stalking-steiner.html">reported earlier by CNBC</a>. The settlement will resolve a
lengthy legal saga that revealed how <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2020/9/26/21457487/go-read-this-ebay-stalking-harassment-new-york-times">eBay’s former executives
sent live insects</a>, a bloody pig mask, a funeral wreath, and
other strange items to David and Ina Steiner over their
newsletter’s coverage of eBay.</p>
<p>The Steiners, who operate the EcommerceBytes newsletter, sued eBay
and its former executives — including ex-CEO Devin Wenig — in
2021. The lawsuit <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mad.236568/gov.uscourts.mad.236568.1.0_1.pdf">accused the company</a> and its executives of
launching a coordinated effort to “intimidate, threaten to kill,
torture, terrorize, stalk and silence” the Steiners in an attempt
to “stifle” their eBay-related reporting.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I don’t think I’ve ever linked to this saga before, but I’m not sure why. One of those stories that slipped through the cracks. It’s an astonishing tale. Could be the basis for a Coen brothers movie.</p>
<p>From David Streitfeld’s 2020 <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/26/technology/ebay-cockroaches-stalking-scandal.html?unlocked_article_code=1.1VA.jF7I.EmTOxL0tiGj6">overview of the saga for The New York Times</a> (gift link):</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Prosecutors say that on Aug. 7, Ms. Popp — the “Mom” to Mr.
Baugh’s “Dad” — began sending Twitter messages to Ms. Steiner
via a fake account, @Tui_Elei. The profile picture was a skull,
and he seemed to be an eBay user from Samoa who believed that
EcommerceBytes had harmed his sales. Ms. Steiner ignored the
messages, even as the tone got angrier and more abusive.
@Tui_Elei wrote: “I guess im goin to have to get ur attention
another way bitch…”</p>
<p>A parade of disturbing deliveries began at 4 p.m. on Aug. 10, when
a package containing a bloody pig mask arrived at the Steiners’
home. Fourteen minutes later, @Tui_Elei wrote: “DO I HAVE UR
ATTENTION NOW????”</p>
<p>The Steiners received a book titled “Grief Diaries: Surviving the
Loss of a Spouse” and a funeral wreath. They got fly larvae and
live spiders and a box of cockroaches. Copies of the September
issue of “Hustler: Barely Legal” touting “eye-popping
18-year-olds” arrived at the homes of neighbors with David
Steiner’s name on them. The Twitter bombardment continued, as
@Tui_Elei began to hint at violence: “wen u hurt our bizness u
hurt our familys… Ppl will do ANYTHING 2 protect family!!!!”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It’s certainly not how anyone would plan a business strategy, but this settlement seemingly makes the Steiners some of the most successful independent writers in history. <a href="https://www.ecommercebytes.com/C/blog/blog.pl?/pl/2026/7/1785201549.html">Here’s Ina Steiner’s piece on the settlement</a> at eCommerceBytes.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘‘eBay’s Bizarre Cyberstalking Saga Ends With a $56 Million Settlement’’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/29/ebay-stalking-settlement"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry><entry>
<title>Steve Jobs in 2011: ‘We Build Products That We Want for Ourselves, Too, and We Just Don’t Want Ads’</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-snubs-the-iad-2011-6" />
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xer" />
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/28/jobs-we-dont-want-ads" />
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43299</id>
<published>2026-07-28T16:22:51Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-28T16:23:34Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Dan Frommer, writing for Business Insider in 2011 about that year’s WWDC (Jobs’s last):</p>
<blockquote>
<p>While discussing Apple’s free, new iCloud email service, he took
an apparent jab at Gmail, Yahoo Mail, and the others, which stuff
ads in their free email services.</p>
<p>“No ads,” he boasted. “We build products that we want for
ourselves, too, and we just don’t want ads.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Jobs’s “we” is interesting to ponder here. Apple’s senior leadership today is comprised mostly of the same people in senior leadership positions in 2011. Tim Cook, Phil Schiller, Eddy Cue, Craig Federighi, Greg Joswiak, and even John Ternus (then a director of hardware engineering for the iPad team, I believe) were all presumably included in Jobs’s “we”. The only big player missing today from Jobs’s 2011 “we” is Scott Forstall.</p>
<p>The people haven’t changed, but Apple has. Strong leaders inevitably shape the personality — the spirit — of organizations over time. Apple in 2011 was peak Steve Jobs Apple. Apple in 2026 is peak Tim Cook Apple. But <a href="https://daringfireball.net/2026/07/ternus_apple_slippery_slope">it was Cook who popularized</a> the “you’re not the customer, you’re the product” argument against “free with ads” online services. But that was <a href="https://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/09/18/read-apple-ceo-tim-cooks-letter-on-privacy/?st=fRtsBk">in 2014</a>.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘Steve Jobs in 2011: ‘We Build Products That We Want for Ourselves, Too, and We Just Don’t Want Ads’’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/28/jobs-we-dont-want-ads"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry><entry>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://fail.xyz/phone/" />
<link rel="shorturl" href="http://df4.us/xeq" />
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/feeds/sponsors/2026/07/introducing_agent_fone" />
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/feeds/sponsors//11.43298</id>
<author><name>Daring Fireball Department of Commerce</name></author>
<published>2026-07-28T01:31:54Z</published>
<updated>2026-08-02T18:43:26Z</updated>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/feeds/sponsors/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Every phone now ships with an assistant. You ask, it answers. Lame. We built a phone that writes software instead. The app idea you’ve had in your notes for years. The side hustle you will never get around to building. The weird thing only you would want. Describe it, answer a few questions, and it’s on your home screen — yours, working, sendable to a friend. No app store between you and your ideas. The first fifty units go to teams who’ll <a href="https://fail.xyz/phone/">push on it and tell us what breaks</a>.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘Introducing Agent Fone’" href="https://daringfireball.net/feeds/sponsors/2026/07/introducing_agent_fone"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
<title>[Sponsor] Introducing Agent Fone</title></entry><entry>
<title>‘Always Choose the Good Soap’</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://sixcolors.com/post/2026/07/always-choose-the-good-soap/" />
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xep" />
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/27/always-choose-the-good-soap" />
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43297</id>
<published>2026-07-28T01:13:55Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-28T22:40:24Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Jason Snell:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Apple’s most valuable asset is its brand. Not its real estate,
not its intellectual property, not even any particular product.
Even the mighty iPhone has no value if, over time, the traits
that differentiate it from competitor products are erased.
Apple’s brand has always stood for higher quality products — you
pay more, but you get more. Apple has never wanted to be the
low-price leader. It didn’t put <a href="https://daringfireball.net/2026/07/ads_in_software_are_like_stickers_on_laptops">stickers on the first Intel
Macs</a> to get some marketing dollars from Intel. It doesn’t
load up new Macs with loads of lousy bundled third-party software
like so many PCs do.</p>
<p>Those are choices Apple has made that cost the company revenue,
but they’ve got a bigger purpose. They reinforce the brand.</p>
<p>Opting <em>not</em> to add more revenue to the bottom line is a difficult
choice for anyone working at a profit-driven corporation.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Great minds write about the same topic on the same day.</p>
<p>What Snell’s column makes clear is that the incremental revenue Apple is gaining from putting shitty ads in its software comes at a price. They’re withdrawals from Apple’s brand equity. The brand equity that Apple is losing by foisting these ads is more valuable than the marginal dollars they’re earning from them. There’s juice, yes, but it’s a perfect case of the juice not being worth the squeeze.</p>
<p>It shouldn’t be easy for users to simply imagine obvious ways for Apple’s software to improve. But it’s trivial for any user to imagine an obvious way for the App Store to be better: take out the ads from search results. If there were a preference setting to remove ads from App Store search results, everyone would turn that on. Apple is doing a thing that obviously makes the experience worse. It’s a little thing. The experience is only a little worse. But getting all the little things right is how you get to insanely great, and insanely great is Apple’s North Star.</p>
<p>Apple’s competition is lousy with ads. Downright lousy. Apple seems to be choosing the route of “<em>Don’t like ads? Choose Apple, we shove</em> fewer <em>of them in your face.</em>” That’s <a href="https://daringfireball.net/2026/07/ternus_apple_slippery_slope">way less bracingly clear</a> a marketing message than “<em>Don’t like ads? Choose Apple, we don’t shove</em> any <em>ads in your face.</em>” If your competitors’ stores all smell pervasively of dogshit, don’t aim to have the store that smells the least like shit. Aim to have a store that smells pristine. “<em>Our stores only carry a vague whiff of dogshit</em>” is not insanely great.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘‘Always Choose the Good Soap’’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/27/always-choose-the-good-soap"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry><entry>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/2026/07/ads_in_software_are_like_stickers_on_laptops" />
<link rel="shorturl" href="http://df4.us/xen" />
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026://1.43295</id>
<published>2026-07-27T16:32:51Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-27T16:32:51Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<summary type="text">Putting themselves in customers’ shoes today, how many ads do Apple’s executives want stuck in the results when they search for an app in the App Store?</summary>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Regarding my <a href="https://daringfireball.net/2026/07/ads_on_apple_news_suck">recent</a> <a href="https://daringfireball.net/2026/07/ternus_apple_slippery_slope">pieces</a> regarding Apple’s shitty ads in the App Store and Apple News (and, perhaps soon, Apple Maps), a friend sent me this pithy take:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The ads Apple is happy to inflict on us in its apps are the
equivalent of the stickers it would never allow on its physical
products.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><em>Bullseye.</em></p>
<p>That’s what those stickers on PCs are: they’re ads. Intel pays for the “Intel Inside” stickers that booger up PC laptop palm rests. Longtime readers will recall that <a href="https://www.apple.com/newsroom/archive/2007/08/">back in August 2007</a>, Apple held a Town Hall event to introduce new iMacs and some iLife and iWork software updates. In a post-event Q&A (imagine that), <a href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2007/08/09/keefe">Bob Keefe of Cox Newspapers asked</a> “Can you say why you all are not participating in the Intel Inside program, putting the stickers on your new or previous Macs?” This question was so absurd <em>from the perspective of those who covered Apple closely</em> that it prompted outright laughter. <a href="https://www.macworld.com/article/186895/stickergate.html">Jason Snell wrote a great column</a> arguing that it was actually a good question.</p>
<p>Here’s the whole exchange (<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080820104510/http://www.macuser.com/steve-jobs/world_exclusive_bob_keefe_is_n_1.php">via Dan Moren</a>, then at MacUser). Give it a listen, it’s only 100 seconds or so:</p>
<p><audio
src = "https://daringfireball.net/misc/2007/08/stickerquestion.mp3"
controls
preload = "none"
></p>
<p>Keefe asks, Steve Jobs answers, Phil Schiller answers, and then Jobs closes it. Jobs broke the ice in his initial answer, with “What can I say? We like our own stickers better.” I was in the room, and that line killed. Jobs at his best. But you can tell that Jobs wasn’t really sure how to answer at first. He didn’t want to throw any shade at Intel, Apple’s partner, but he knew there was a key point to make here about Apple.</p>
<p>The whole thing is funny because at a fundamental level we all just know in our bones that Apple never even considered putting “Intel Inside” stickers on Macs. But <em>why</em>? For eons, mankind knew that when you drop something, it will fall to the ground. But <em>why</em>? Gravity is worth asking about. Worth figuring out. I think that’s the point of Snell’s 2007 column arguing that people (like me) were wrong to mock Keefe for asking.</p>
<p>It’s when Jobs comes back to the question, after Schiller, that we get the real answer:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>You know, we put ourselves in the customers’ shoes and we say,
what do <em>we</em> want stuck on our product when we take it out of the
box? And the answer is, nothing.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><em>That’s</em> the answer. Apple still treats its hardware with that level of respect. With reverence. iPhones don’t even say “iPhone” on the hardware. No model or serial numbers. No small print. Just an Apple logo on the back.</p>
<p>Putting themselves in customers’ shoes today, how many ads do Apple’s executives want stuck in the results when they search for an app in the App Store? We know the honest answer. But the answer <a href="https://daringfireball.net/misc/2026/07/app-store-ads-search-for-signal.png">evidenced by the actual App Store</a> is “Two really big ones, including one in the first spot.”</p>
]]></content>
<title>★ Ads in Software Are Like Stickers on Laptops</title></entry><entry>
<title>WorkOS MCP</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://workos.com/blog/management-mcp-server?utm_source=daringfireball&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=q32026" />
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xeo" />
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/27/workos-mcp" />
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43296</id>
<published>2026-07-27T16:30:00Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-27T16:39:00Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>My thanks to WorkOS for sponsoring last week at DF to promote their MCP server. Debugging SSO, managing users, adjusting auth policies, configuring branding: every configuration task has lived behind a UI that only a human can drive.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://workos.com/docs/mcp?utm_source=daringfireball&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=q32026">WorkOS MCP</a> server gives agents the same access as your dashboard login. Hundreds of operations, discoverable at runtime. Connect in one command via OAuth, with scoped tokens instead of a master API key. Pass a screenshot of your marketing site and ask your agent to match the login page. If a human had to do it before, an agent can do it now. <a href="https://workos.com/blog/management-mcp-server?utm_source=daringfireball&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=q32026">Connect your agent today</a>.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘WorkOS MCP’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/27/workos-mcp"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry><entry>
<title>‘AI Mania Is Eviscerating Global Decision-Making’</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://ludic.mataroa.blog/blog/ai-mania-is-eviscerating-global-decision-making/" />
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xem" />
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/25/ai-mania-nikhil-suresh" />
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43294</id>
<published>2026-07-25T18:15:12Z</published>
<updated>2026-08-02T17:47:47Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Fascinating essay by Nikhil Suresh:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>On a trip overseas, I had the privilege of a meeting with one of
the Fortune 500 executives mentioned at the beginning of the post,
who will remain anonymous so that they are not executed by firing
squad by their board. As we were chatting, it became clear that
they were very switched-on and technically competent, and they
<em>also</em> happened to be at a company that had committed to the usual
battery of exorbitant claims about their recent innovations — we’ve 100×’d our productivity, AI is the future of everything, I
am but a vessel for OpenAI to make love to my wife. You know,
normal things. But since I had them there without any microphones
around, I asked <em>why</em> this was being repeated without opposition.
Was it just sales fluff?</p>
<p>The answer was a lot more interesting. It was <em>partially</em>
ridiculous sales material being delivered to an easily excitable
audience, but this was not the dominant factor constraining
honesty. Executives at their <em>customers</em> were saying absurd things
about achieving 100× productivity, and this meant that if any
executive at the <em>vendor</em> said that these gains were not
plausible, it would undermine the credibility of the customer’s
executive, be perceived as an attack (or heresy), and possibly
result in an enterprise contract cancellation. And getting
enterprise contracts cancelled because you wanted to opine on
something that doesn’t really matter to your organisation’s
mission is a great way to get fired.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The whole essay is very much worth reading, and might make you feel saner for harboring your own doubts regarding just how much has been changed in the world by generative AI.
The gist of his argument is that the entire corporate world — not merely the computer/tech industry — is caught up in an AI mania that brooks no dissent. It’s a religious fervor and heretics are excommunicated. But the dissenters, who feel they must remain silent, are largely correct.</p>
<p>One way I’ve been thinking about AI mania is this: Computers have profoundly changed the world. There can be no dispute about that. Computers continue to improve in capability as networking effects grow and especially as Moore’s Law makes them faster and more capable at a pace unlike any other previous technical revolution. But most people are incapable of understanding how computers really work, and thus personally aren’t able to <em>do</em> much with them. Computers, for most people, are communication tools, not creative tools. Generative AI changes that. People with no computer aptitude are able to create things or discover things via ChatGPT and Claude that were simply beyond their ken heretofore. Per Clarke’s third law, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”. Generative AI feels a bit magical to all of us, even those of us with mid-to-high levels of understanding how computers work and how to make them work. But it feels like the first time ever that computers have been tools for their own creation for a lot of rather dimwitted but confident corporate manager/executive types. This moment feels like the Big Bang to them. The religiosity of this is such that there is no way to convince them that AI, as it stands today, is impressive and useful and innovative, yes, but <em>several orders of magnitude less so</em> than they’re imagining that it is. No way to convince them, that is, until the bubble bursts.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘‘AI Mania Is Eviscerating Global Decision-Making’’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/25/ai-mania-nikhil-suresh"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry><entry>
<title>EU Fines Google $1 Billion for DMA Competition Violations, Including Making Search Results More Useful</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu/commission-fines-google-eur890-million-breaches-digital-markets-act-2026-07-23_en" />
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xel" />
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/25/eu-fines-google-1b" />
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43293</id>
<published>2026-07-25T17:44:13Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-26T17:05:50Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>The European Commission on Thursday:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The Commission found that Google gives preferential treatment to
its own services, including shopping, hotels, transport and sports
results, over those of third parties in Google Search, thereby
breaching its obligations under the DMA.</p>
<p>Google displays its own services more prominently in search
results, including at the top of the search results page or by
using enhanced visuals and filters, while similar third-party
services do not have the same prominence.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>So if you search for the score of a sporting event, it’s illegal in the EU for Google to show you the score, <a href="https://daringfireball.net/misc/2026/07/google-sports.png">like this search I just tried</a>. What the EC is saying is that because Google Search is so popular, it’s no longer allowed to improve. It is impossible to imagine how this benefits EU citizens.</p>
<p>What generates more for the EU, fines against US tech companies, or tax income from EU tech companies? <a href="https://x.com/levelsio/status/2080314960656159018">Here’s a viral post on Twitter/X</a> that claims it’s now fines against US tech companies. The amounts certainly seem to be in the same ballpark.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘EU Fines Google $1 Billion for DMA Competition Violations, Including Making Search Results More Useful’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/25/eu-fines-google-1b"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry><entry>
<title>Court Grants SerpApi’s Motion to Dismiss Google Lawsuit</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://serpapi.com/blog/google-v-serpapi-the-court-granted-our-motion-to-dismiss/" />
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xek" />
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/25/serpapi-google-dismissed" />
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43292</id>
<published>2026-07-25T17:27:19Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-25T20:37:29Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Julien Khaleghy, CEO of SerpApi:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California
granted our motion to dismiss Google’s lawsuit, marking a win not
just for SerpApi, but for all who depend on an open internet.
We’re pleased that the court rejected Google’s attempts to expand
the DMCA to assert control over access to public pages. The
internet’s founding principle — open access to usable information — is essential to driving innovation and ensuring everyone
benefits from the promise of data. SerpApi will continue
supporting developers, AI companies, researchers, and businesses
that rely on access to public search information.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Yours truly, back in March, <a href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/03/02/serpapi-motion-to-dismiss">when SerpApi filed the motion to dismiss</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I’ve come around on SerpApi in the last few months. <a href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2025/10/23/reddit-files-lawsuit-against-serpapi">My initial
take</a> was that it surely must be illegal for a company to
scrape Google’s search results and offer access to that data as an
API. But I’ve come around to the argument that what SerpApi is
doing to obtain Google search results is, well, exactly how Google
scrapes the rest of the entire web to build its search index. It’s
all just scraping publicly accessible web pages.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.techdirt.com/2025/12/24/google-built-its-empire-scraping-the-web-now-its-suing-to-stop-others-from-scraping-google/">This December piece by Mike Masnick at Techdirt</a> is what
began to change my mind.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Even Google seems to understand <a href="https://x.com/effthealgorithm/status/2079923114029257084?s=20">the logical bind they’re in here, regarding scraping</a>.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘Court Grants SerpApi’s Motion to Dismiss Google Lawsuit’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/25/serpapi-google-dismissed"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry><entry>
<title>Apple Maps to Power Navigation Experience for Ford’s New EVs</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2026/07/apple-maps-to-power-navigation-experience-for-ford-uev-platform/" />
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xej" />
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/25/apple-maps-ford" />
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43291</id>
<published>2026-07-25T16:21:00Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-25T16:21:00Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Apple Newsroom:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Apple and Ford today announced that Apple Maps will be integrated
directly into Ford’s upcoming Universal Electric Vehicle (UEV)
Platform through Apple’s new MapKit for Automotive SDK. Coming to
Ford’s UEV Platform in 2027, this integration will deliver a
beautiful and easy-to-use navigation experience powered by Apple
Maps directly to the vehicle’s displays. Road-level Maps
information will also enable Ford’s Latitude AI team to build a
seamless hands-free driving experience.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><strong>See also:</strong> <a href="https://www.techmeme.com/260723/p23#a260723p23">Techmeme’s roundup of commentary</a>.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘Apple Maps to Power Navigation Experience for Ford’s New EVs’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/25/apple-maps-ford"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry><entry>
<title>Measles Cases Hit New Record in U.S., as Stupid-Americans Reject Vaccines</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/24/well/measles-record-united-states-numbers.html?unlocked_article_code=1.0VA.4jBf.vqAYN4Bwu807" />
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xei" />
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/25/measles" />
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43290</id>
<published>2026-07-25T16:06:52Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-25T17:21:59Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Teddy Rosenbluth, reporting for The New York Times:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
announced that there have been 2,318 confirmed cases of measles so
far this year. The case count toppled the record <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/09/well/us-measles-record-outbreaks.html">set last
year</a>, when measles infected more than 2,200 Americans and
killed <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/26/us/texas-measles-outbreak-death.html">two</a> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/06/health/measles-death-texas.html">unvaccinated children</a>. More measles
cases have been reported in the United States in the last two
years than in all the years from 2000 through 2024 combined.</p>
<p>Reversing course on measles would require a nationwide push to
improve vaccination rates, a prospect that experts said seemed
unlikely under the leadership of Health Secretary Robert F.
Kennedy Jr. He has <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/13/health/kennedy-vaccines-confidence-access.html">halted funding for vaccine hesitancy
research</a>, downplayed the risks of measles and spearheaded
a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/11/health/kennedy-vaccine-safety.html">hunt for evidence that vaccines are unsafe</a>.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Nilay Patel, endorsing Kamala Harris for president in 2024: “<a href="https://www.theverge.com/24282022/kamala-harris-endorsement-presidential-election-2024">A Vote for Donald Trump Is a Vote for School Shootings and Measles</a>”. (He missed “<a href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/trump-is-losing-patience-over-an-iran-war-with-no-clear-end-in-sight-c411d3cd?st=Q29CZk">quagmire war with Iran</a>”.)</p>
<p>“tarltontarlton” on Reddit last year: “<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/thebulwark/comments/1ljbvtw/hottest_take_stupidamericans_are_the_new/">Stupid-Americans are the New Irish-Americans, Trump is Their JFK</a>”. I <a href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2025/06/27/trump-stupid-americans">continue to think about this post frequently</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://media.aphelis.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/ASIMOV_1980_Cult_of_Ignorance.pdf">Isaac Asimov, in a column for Newsweek in 1980</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has
always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a
constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural
life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that “my
ignorance is just as good as your knowledge”.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I <a href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2011/11/28/asimov">continue</a> to think about this <a href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2020/11/30/asimov-cult-of-ignorance">frequently</a> as well.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘Measles Cases Hit New Record in U.S., as Stupid-Americans Reject Vaccines’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/25/measles"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry><entry>
<title>bIRC — A New Native IRC Client for Mac</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://birc.app/" />
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xeh" />
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/25/birc" />
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43289</id>
<published>2026-07-25T15:39:51Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-25T18:57:31Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>For a long time the best native Mac IRC client was <a href="https://www.codeux.com/textual/">Textual</a>, but although Textual still works, <a href="https://help.codeux.com/textual/">it’s been sunset</a> by the author. Not to fear, however. Fredrik Blank <a href="https://www.fredrikblank.com/blog/birc-irc-client-for-mac-macos/">just launched</a> bIRC:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Creating an IRC client in 2026 is not something that will pay the
bills : ) It would be just for the joy of programming. But the
amount of work involved always made me throw the thought aside.</p>
<p>But one night when I had nothing better to do, I started
implementing the good old spec in Swift (RFC 2812). And then I got
motivated to continue, adding IRCv3 extensions and UI. Been
working on it on and off on it since the end of 2025. Now I feel
pretty satisfied with the result. Say hi to bIRC — an IRCv3
client for Mac.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I was never a big IRC user, personally, and haven’t used IRC in years. But I installed bIRC just because it looks so good, and took it for a brief test drive. It’s nice. And it is <em>very</em> Mac-assed in a modern way. It’s got <a href="https://birc.app/documentation/">a detailed documentation page</a> too. There are (alas) many great apps that lack good documentation, but there are very few apps with good documentation that aren’t great apps. bIRC is free to download and use from the App Store, and there’s a suite of additional fun/pro features you can unlock for a one-time $13 purchase. I bought the pro upgrade despite seldom using IRC just to celebrate a killer new Mac app.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘bIRC — A New Native IRC Client for Mac’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/25/birc"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry><entry>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/2026/07/regarding_ad_blockers_and_daring_fireball" />
<link rel="shorturl" href="http://df4.us/xeg" />
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026://1.43288</id>
<published>2026-07-24T20:57:20Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-31T18:46:59Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<summary type="text">Ultimately, when you install a content blocker extension, you take responsibility for any overzealousness in what they block.</summary>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Following up on the previous item today, re: <a href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/24/coiner-of-enshittification-endorses-dickover">content blockers and ad-blocking</a>, I ran into a weird situation a few weeks ago with my column “<a href="https://daringfireball.net/2026/07/ternus_apple_slippery_slope">John Ternus Should Reverse Apple’s Slide Down the Advertising Slippery Slope</a>”. That article contains this sentence, in Markdown:</p>
<pre><code>And -- at this writing, still "coming soon" -- Apple is
launching [ads on Apple Maps][🗺️].
[🗺️]: https://ads.apple.com/maps
</code></pre>
<p>The problem is that anyone reading that article in NetNewsWire saw it rendered like this, with the words “ads on Apple Maps”<sup id="fnr1-2026-07-24"><a href="#fn1-2026-07-24">1</a></sup> omitted:</p>
<p><a href="https://daringfireball.net/misc/2026/07/nnw-ad-blocking.png" class="noborder">
<img
src = "https://daringfireball.net/misc/2026/07/nnw-ad-blocking.png"
alt = "Screenshot of article text from NetNewsWire."
width = 550
/></a></p>
<p>It looks like I forgot to finish writing that sentence. NetNewsWire simply omits the hyperlinked words. After a few readers reported this, I immediately suspected the problem was the “ads.apple.com” domain. I’ve never linked to that domain before, and many ad blockers just block any domain that starts with a domain prefix like <code>ads.*</code>.</p>
<p>And that’s exactly what the problem is. I had no idea that NetNewsWire filtered any content whatsoever (and I sort of think it shouldn’t), but DF reader Antonio Germano searched through NetNewsWire’s open-source code and found it in <a href="https://github.com/Ranchero-Software/NetNewsWire/blob/main/Shared/Article%20Rendering/core.css">the <code>core.css</code> file</a>, line 49:</p>
<pre><code>38 /*Block ads and junk*/
39
40 iframe[src*="feedads" ],
41 iframe[src*="doubleclick"],
42 iframe[src*="plusone.google"] {
43 display: none !important;
44 }
45
46 a[href*=".ads."],
47 a[href*="feedads" ],
48 a[href*="doubleclick"],
49 a[href*="//ads."],
</code></pre>
<p>The culprit identified, I dutifully pinged my friend <a href="https://inessential.com/">Brent Simmons</a> to report the problem. But then I had to decide what to do about it. I have no idea which feed readers are being used to read Daring Fireball’s <a href="https://daringfireball.net/feeds/">feeds</a>, but NetNewsWire is surely one of the most popular, and probably <em>the</em> most popular. It’s the feed reader I use personally. I can’t change the contents of NetNewsWire’s <code>core.css</code> file, so I can’t keep NetNewsWire from stripping out words that link to Apple’s <code>ads.apple.com</code> domain. What I could do is not link to <code>ads.apple.com</code>, like, say by changing my link from <code>ads.apple.com/maps</code> to a shorten-and-redirect URL like <code>bit.ly/4wmXFSE</code> that <a href="https://bit.ly/4wmXFSE">points back</a> to Apple’s original URL.</p>
<p>But I didn’t do that. I don’t like playing whack-a-mole to work around bugs in other software. I have enough trouble fixing my own mistakes. I also don’t like the idea of showing everyone a “Click it and find out where it actually goes” mystery URL from Bitly rather than the direct URL. It’s a general principle thing, and also a much better policy for links that are meant to last for decades.</p>
<p>What I really don’t like about NetNewsWire’s ad-blocking here is that it just <em>omits</em> the linked text. It doesn’t remove the link but leave the words; it removes the words that are hyperlinked to the blocked domain. I’ve run into this with other content blocking extensions. For example, the Banish extension for Safari, <a href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2022/08/02/banish">which I recommended back in 2022</a>. At some point a year or two ago, Banish started blocking links to Apple’s App Store domain, and it did so by removing the words that link to the App Store. That’s crazy. I linked to the App Store in my own post recommending Banish, which means if you have Banish installed and read that post, you won’t see the headline of the post (nor be able to follow the link). I think there are other content blockers that do the same thing with text that links to the App Store.<sup id="fnr2-2026-07-24"><a href="#fn2-2026-07-24">2</a></sup></p>
<p>So what do I do about that? Do I stop linking to the App Store? That’s dumb. Do I create custom URL redirects for every single link I make to the App Store? That’s work I don’t need or want to do, and adds a layer of abstraction that confuses everyone who isn’t using a content blocker with such a stupid rule. So I just ignore it. But that means an untold number of readers, who are using such content blockers, are just missing words in my articles whenever I link to the App Store. Well, so be it. Ideally, content blockers “just work” — blocking only things you want blocked, never things you don’t want blocked. Nothing is perfect however. What’s pernicious about blockers that remove the actual words that link to certain domains is that that’s not expected behavior. From the reader’s perspective, it really just looks like an editing error on the part of the website, not a content blocker with an overzealous pattern-matching rule.</p>
<p>Ultimately, though, when you install a content blocker extension, you take responsibility for any overzealousness in what it blocks.</p>
<hr />
<p>Let me use this opportunity to make a small personal request. The display ads on Daring Fireball are unobtrusive and limited to one per page. They are also entirely private, and always have been. There not only are no cookies or JavaScript that attempt to track you, but the ads themselves are served from the <code>daringfireball.net</code> domain. I turn down advertisers who request to serve images (or “tracking pixels”, which are just invisible images) from <em>their</em> domains. (Such requests are infrequent, thankfully.) I don’t display the ads in between paragraphs mid-article, a common practice that to me is disrespectful both to the writer <em>and</em> reader. In short, I try to keep the ads on Daring Fireball not merely unobjectionable, but something that actually adds to the site. I actually like the ads in certain high-quality print magazines, like The New Yorker. My goal for the ads on DF is for them to be like that.</p>
<p>In short, I hope they’re the sort of ads readers don’t want to block. I’m pleased to say that most of the ad-blocking content blocking extensions I’ve personally tried do not block ads on Daring Fireball by default. In other cases, they do, but it’s easy to adjust the per-domain settings to allow them. In <a href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/24/coiner-of-enshittification-endorses-dickover">the previous post</a>, I recommended <a href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ublock-origin-lite/id6745342698">uBlock Origin Lite</a> (free, a bit complex) and <a href="https://www.magiclasso.co/">Magic Lasso</a> (paid, much simpler). Magic Lasso does not block ads on DF by default. I don’t remember what uBlock Origin does by default, but it’s trivial to change it to allow them.</p>
<p>If you use an ad blocker and it currently blocks the ads on DF, I humbly ask you to consider taking a moment to tweak the settings to permit them. (If you are using a blocker that strips the ads from DF by default, you can do me an additional favor and <a href="https://daringfireball.net/contact/">shoot me a short email</a> telling me which one. I’m curious.) If you are the developer of an ad blocker, I ask you to consider allowlisting Daring Fireball <em>by default</em>.</p>
<p>If you are a reader and you really do want to block DF’s ads, please, go right ahead. I find that an odd mindset, but it’s your web browser and your call. No hard feelings. (Please further note that I have no JavaScript code that attempts to detect whether you’re blocking DF’s ads in order to nag you.)</p>
<div class="footnotes">
<hr />
<ol>
<li id="fn1-2026-07-24">
<p>I omitted the Markdown creating a link on the words “still ‘coming soon’” for clarity, to emphasize only the problematic link in my original prose. (Also, it’s fun to use emoji as named link definitions, like in this example.) <a href="#fnr1-2026-07-24" class="footnoteBackLink" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text.">↩︎︎</a></p>
</li>
<li id="fn2-2026-07-24">
<p>I of course reported this to the developer of Banish, twice, but he never responded. I, err, banished Banish from my own devices, and upon finishing this article, I’m going to update my 2022 recommendation of Banish to un-recommend it. <a href="#fnr2-2026-07-24" class="footnoteBackLink" title="Jump back to footnote 2 in the text.">↩︎</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
]]></content>
<title>★ Regarding Ad Blockers and Daring Fireball</title></entry><entry>
<title>Coiner of ‘Enshittification’ Endorses ‘Dickover’</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://pluralistic.net/2026/07/21/dickovers/" />
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xef" />
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/24/coiner-of-enshittification-endorses-dickover" />
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43287</id>
<published>2026-07-24T18:51:29Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-24T20:06:36Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p><a href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/24/dickover-of-the-week-tomtoc">Speaking of dickovers</a>, here’s Cory Doctorow, writing this week at Pluralistic:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Seizing the means of computation isn’t theft, it’s <em>bargaining</em>.
Commercial surveillance companies will tell you that by spying on
you, they are simply engaged in a marketplace exchange in which
you swap your privacy for access to online services. But they are
running a very curious sort of market: it’s a “market” where as
soon as you stop to browse someone’s wares, the stallholder gets
to reach into your pocket and clean out your wallet. In “markets,”
prices are announced and bargained over, not set unilaterally and
extracted from anyone unwise enough to cross the threshold.</p>
<p>Adblocking, dickover blocking and other customizations are a way
for you to bargain back, to answer the opening bid of “How about
you give me all of your data forever and let me do anything I want
with it?” with “How about ‘nah?’”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Doctorow’s specific advice is to switch to Firefox for your browser and Linux as your desktop OS. You’re probably not going to do either of those things. But the <em>spirit</em> of his advice is that you should avail yourself of <a href="https://github.com/gala8y/kill-sticky--forked">bookmarklets</a> and browser extensions that fight back against shitty ads and dickovers. There are some great options for Safari. <a href="https://underpassapp.com/StopTheMadness/">StopTheMadness Pro</a> is great for creating custom rules to permanently block specific page elements. <a href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ublock-origin-lite/id6745342698">uBlock Origin Lite</a> is a free-of-charge content blocker that is incredibly effective, and very configurable (but complicated). <a href="https://www.magiclasso.co/">Magic Lasso</a> is a paid content blocker — $30/year — which includes synced blocking on iOS, MacOS, and even Apple TV. Magic Lasso offers a much more approachable configuration interface, and includes a “just turn it on” easy-to-use private VPN feature that allows for blocking ads in <em>all</em> apps, including Apple News.</p>
<p>Bargaining back is exactly what using content blockers is. There’s no reason to feel guilty about it.</p>
<p>(Magic Lasso has previously been a DF sponsor, but not since <a href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2021/05/09/magic-lasso">May 2021</a>. I’m recommending Magic Lasso here only as a happy paying user.)</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘Coiner of ‘Enshittification’ Endorses ‘Dickover’’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/24/coiner-of-enshittification-endorses-dickover"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry><entry>
<title>Dickover of the Week: Tomtoc</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/2026/05/what_is_a_dickover" />
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xed" />
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/24/dickover-of-the-week-tomtoc" />
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43285</id>
<published>2026-07-24T16:43:43Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-24T16:43:44Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Here’s a real gem that a reader sent me. <a href="https://www.tomtoc.com/">Tomtoc</a> is a maker of laptop bags and sleeves. Visit their homepage and, of course, you’ll get a dickover asking you to join their mailing list “for exclusive updates and get a chance to win a free tech pouch every month.” But here’s the gem. If you do subscribe, and you decide later to unsubscribe, you get this:</p>
<p><a href="https://daringfireball.net/misc/2026/07/tomtoc-dickover.png" class="noborder">
<img
src = "https://daringfireball.net/misc/2026/07/tomtoc-dickover.png"
alt = "Screenshot from an iPhone of Tomtoc’s “you’ve been unsubscribed from our mailing list” webpage presenting a dickover asking you to subscribe to their mailing list."
/></a></p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘Dickover of the Week: Tomtoc’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/24/dickover-of-the-week-tomtoc"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry><entry>
<title>Sixers Sign LeBron James</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.inquirer.com/sixers/live/lebron-james-signs-philadelphia-76ers-contract-salary-roster-updates-reaction-20260724.html" />
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xee" />
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/24/sixers-james" />
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43286</id>
<published>2026-07-24T16:40:00Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-24T17:35:58Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>The betting odds for the Sixers to win the NBA championship went from 20-1 to 10-1. <a href="https://x.com/KingJames/status/2080677086386430018">Here’s James on Twitter/X</a>, explaining his decision:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>This is my last decision. I’m not going for money. I’m not going
for family. What am I really playing for at this point?</p>
<p>I still want to sacrifice. I still want to work. I still want to
grind. I still want to compete, to win and to have a chance at the
feeling of winning another championship.</p>
<p>I believe I can help make the Philadelphia 76ers a championship
team and I am so excited to energize a new fan base and start this
incredible journey one last time.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>James signed for the league minimum for a veteran: <a href="https://share.inquirer.com/UkxRhd">two years at just $4 million per year</a>. He’s going to love playing here.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘Sixers Sign LeBron James’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/24/sixers-james"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry><entry>
<title>The Talk Show: ‘A Scam Held Together With Patriotism and Golden Paint’</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/thetalkshow/2026/07/23/ep-452" />
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xec" />
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/24/the-talk-show-452" />
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43284</id>
<published>2026-07-24T15:44:11Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-24T16:54:14Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Quinn Nelson returns to the show to discuss OpenAI’s ChatGPT/Codex “native” app migration fiasco, Siri AI in Apple’s OS 27 betas, MacOS 27 Golden Gate, and the hottest new cell phone of the year, the Trump T1.</p>
<p><audio
src = "https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/daringfireball/thetalkshow-452-quinn-nelson.mp3"
controls
preload = "none"
/></p>
<p><strong>Sponsored by:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://notion.com/talkshow">Notion</a>: Try the powerful, all-in-one Notion AI today.</li>
<li><a href="https://factormeals.com/talkshow50off">Factor</a>: Healthy eating, made easy. Get 50% off your first box, plus free daily greens, with code <strong>talkshow50off</strong>.</li>
<li><a href="https://squarespace.com/talkshow">Squarespace</a>: Save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code <strong>TALKSHOW</strong>.</li>
</ul>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘The Talk Show: ‘A Scam Held Together With Patriotism and Golden Paint’’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/24/the-talk-show-452"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry><entry>
<title>Bond Movie Filming Locations Map</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://department-m.agency/" />
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xeb" />
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/23/bond-movie-filming-locations-map" />
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43283</id>
<published>2026-07-23T19:35:45Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-23T20:35:49Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>“From a Bond fan to Bond fans worldwide.” Nice work.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘Bond Movie Filming Locations Map’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/23/bond-movie-filming-locations-map"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry><entry>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/2026/07/ads_on_apple_news_suck" />
<link rel="shorturl" href="http://df4.us/xea" />
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026://1.43282</id>
<published>2026-07-23T19:08:57Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-24T18:10:05Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<summary type="text">The obvious truth is that Apple’s ads just plain suck. They are not good at advertising-based services. And it shouldn’t be surprising that they’re not good at advertising-based services, because the incentives for advertising-based services are in direct opposition to the incentives for everything Apple actually is good at.</summary>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p><a href="https://kirkville.com/i-now-assume-that-all-ads-on-apple-news-are-scams/">Kirk McElhearn, back in February</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I use Apple News to keep up on topics that I don’t find in sources
I pay for (The Guardian and The New York Times). But there’s no
way I’m going to pay the exorbitant price Apple wants for Apple
News+ — £13 — because, while you get more publications, you
still get ads.</p>
<p>And those ads have gotten worse recently. Many if not most of them
look like and probably are scams. Here are a few examples from
Apple News today.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>One of the ads he examined was, supposedly, from a small company going out of business because the proprietor — supposedly a straight-out-of-Central-Casting kind old woman — was retiring after 26 years. McElhearn looked up the domain name and it had only just been created last year, and was registered from a company in China.</p>
<p>Two years ago this very week, I wrote about <a href="https://daringfireball.net/2024/07/apple_taboola_sitting_in_a_tree">Apple striking a deal with Taboola to sell ads for Apple News</a>. In that post, I quoted <a href="https://www.threads.net/@eric_seufert/post/C9gjkA_OXYw">Eric Seufert (of Mobile Dev Memo) posting on Threads</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Regarding Taboola’s partnership with Apple: I’ve seen people claim
that this is somehow hypocritical from a privacy perspective,
assuming that Taboola’s somewhat obnoxious, clickbait-style ads
must invasively target user profiles and browsing histories.</p>
<p>They don’t. They are targeted entirely contextually. That’s
the point.</p>
<p>Want brash, garish advertising plastered all over the web? Reject
ads personalization. Want relevant, informed advertising? Embrace
ads personalization.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Now quoting from myself in that same article:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>If you told me that the ads in Apple News have been sold by
Taboola for the last few years, I’d have said, “Oh, that makes
sense.” Because the ads in Apple News — at least the ones I see — already look like chumbox Taboola ads. Even worse, they’re
incredibly repetitious. [...]</p>
<p>So while I don’t think it’s good news that Apple is partnering
with Taboola, I don’t expect it to make any discernible difference
in the ad quality or frequency. Maybe it will improve the variety?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Privacy is not the issue with Apple’s Taboola partnership, or Apple advertising in general. The issues are quality and user experience. I was correct that the partnership has made no discernible difference in ad quality or frequency. And it hasn’t made any improvement to variety either. <a href="https://mastodon.social/@gruber/116901983997962549">Here’s a collection of ads I continue to see in Apple News</a> — often with the same ad appearing 3–4 times in the same article, as I scroll. (I posted the same image in my recent article “<a href="https://daringfireball.net/2026/07/ternus_apple_slippery_slope">John Ternus Should Reverse Apple’s Slide Down the Advertising Slippery Slope</a>”, if you’re thinking it looks familiar.)</p>
<p>The ads I see in Apple News are not relevant or informed. And, to be clear, I have “Personalized Ads” turned <em>on</em> in Settings → Privacy & Security → Apple Advertising (which makes me wonder if turning that <em>off</em> might actually make the ads even worse). The ads shown in the App Store <a href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/05/04/ios-app-store-slippery-slope">never seem contextually relevant to me</a>. So I have no faith that the ads that Apple is supposedly on the cusp of serving in Apple Maps are going to be good.</p>
<p>Back in March I wrote:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I’m not going to prejudge the actual experience, and you shouldn’t
either. I also <a href="https://mister.computer/@kyle/114014624058008824">do not begrudge Apple for wanting to monetize
Maps</a>. But if the addition of ads does make the Apple
Maps experience worse, why won’t Apple let us buy our way out of
seeing them? <a href="https://help.netflix.com/en/node/24926">Netflix</a> doesn’t force us to watch their
ads. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/premium">YouTube Premium</a> is arguably the best
bang-for-the-buck in the entire world of content subscriptions.
Why should <a href="https://www.apple.com/apple-one/">Apple One</a> subscribers still see these ads in
Apple Maps?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This to me is proof that Apple leadership is suffering from cognitive dissonance over their slide into advertising. They’re conflating cause and effect. The Apple brand stands for high-quality superior user experiences because the devices and software Apple makes traditionally deliver high-quality superior user experiences. The work Apple ships is what makes the brand what it is. But now they’re stricken with the mindset that it’s the Apple brand that makes something a high-quality superior experience. If it comes from Apple it must be great — that sort of thinking. The ads in Apple News and the App Store can’t be detrimental to the user experiences and at times even embarrassingly crude or downright scammy because Apple doesn’t ship things that are detrimental to the user experience or embarrassingly crude — and certainly never with even a whiff of scamminess.</p>
<p>My theory is that’s why Apple isn’t allowing users to buy our way out of the ads. When streaming services like Netflix let you pay more money for ad-free tiers, it’s an explicit acknowledgement that the experience with ads is worse. Apple doesn’t offer ad-free tiers for the App Store or (soon) Apple Maps<sup id="fnr1-2026-07-23"><a href="#fn1-2026-07-23">1</a></sup> because, I think, they can’t bring themselves to admit that by adding ads to these services <em>they have made them worse</em>. If you refuse to admit that the ads make these services worse, you also can’t admit that there’s a reason to offer an ad-free experience. So the thinking is something like “<em>Apple always focuses on the user experience, and never deliberately makes the user experience worse. Therefore, if an Apple service shows ads, those ads are high quality and don’t detract from the quality of the product or the experience of using it. Therefore, there’s no reason to offer users a paid ad-free tier, because there’s no reason to want to avoid Apple’s ads.</em>”</p>
<p>It’s a textbook case of Upton Sinclair’s famous adage: “It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.” The obvious truth is that Apple’s ads just plain suck. They are not good at advertising-based services. And it shouldn’t be surprising that they’re not good at advertising-based services, because the incentives for advertising-based services are in direct opposition to the incentives for everything Apple actually is good at. To wit: offering superior products worth paying a premium price for.</p>
<p>One can argue that an ad-free Apple Maps experience ought to be included with the price of the devices Apple sells (which, of course, has been true until now). It’s even easier to argue that the App Store ought to be ad-free for everyone, based on its exclusive role in software distribution and the 15–30 percent commission Apple takes on every transaction. But if Apple simply made the App Store and Apple Maps ad-free for users paying for iCloud+ or Apple One, I’d stop complaining. That would make it clear: the full Apple experience requires not just an Apple device, but an Apple subscription. But the way things stand now, that ad-free experience isn’t even available.</p>
<div class="footnotes">
<hr />
<ol>
<li id="fn1-2026-07-23">
<p>Apple News is different because the inclusion of ads is controlled by the publishers, not by Apple. If you read <a href="https://apple.news/TMDi_OFIRSe2BQoupq1S1Gw">Daring Fireball on Apple News</a>, for example, you don’t see their crummy chumbox ads, because I don’t participate in that system. Most of the cringe-inducing ads I see in Apple News are seemingly sold through Apple Ads, though, so I’m not arguing that Apple isn’t ultimately responsible for the Apple News reading experience. I’m saying they can’t just flip a switch and offer a paid-subscription no-ads Apple News experience without the agreement of every single participating publisher. The App Store and Apple Maps, however, are services under Apple’s complete control. Every ad shown in those apps is Apple’s choice to show. <a href="#fnr1-2026-07-23" class="footnoteBackLink" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text.">↩︎</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
]]></content>
<title>★ The Ads on Apple News Continue to Suck, but at Least There Are a Lot of Them</title></entry><entry>
<title>John Dvorak on Computer Chronicles in 1987 to Discuss the Then-New IBM PS/2</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uY2WF_sPecI" />
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xe9" />
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/23/dvorak-computer-chronicles" />
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43281</id>
<published>2026-07-23T17:45:41Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-23T17:58:37Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Dvorak is best known for <a href="https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_C._Dvorak">all</a> <a href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2011/12/23/dvorak">the</a> <a href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2025/11/05/dvorak-itime">takes</a> he was <a href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2011/08/11/dvorak">jacktastically wrong</a> about, but what gave his schtick staying power is that he was technically savvy. His take here on the PS/2 was actually spot-on: that it was <a href="https://www.ibm.com/history/ps-2">technically impressive in many ways</a>, especially the way it was assembled without any cables, but that it was doomed in the market against ugly mess-of-cables commodity PCs.</p>
<p>“Computer Chronicles” was the real show from the 1980s that Adam Lisagor so <a href="https://daringfireball.net/thetalkshow/2015/11/07/ep-135">lovingly</a> and spectacularly spoofed with “<a href="https://computer.show/">Computer Show</a>” a decade ago.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘John Dvorak on Computer Chronicles in 1987 to Discuss the Then-New IBM PS/2’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/23/dvorak-computer-chronicles"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry><entry>
<title>John Dvorak Drops Dead at 80</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://appleinsider.com/articles/26/07/23/famed-technology-journalist-john-c-dvorak-dies-aged-80" />
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xe8" />
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/23/dvorak-dies-at-80" />
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43280</id>
<published>2026-07-23T17:10:47Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-23T17:10:47Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>William Gallagher, AppleInsider:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Legendary technology columnist, pundit, author and podcast host
John C. Dvorak has died, age 80. He is survived by his wife
Mimi Dvorak.</p>
<p>Today Dvorak is best known for co-hosting the “No Agenda” podcast
with Adam Curry, where he would critique mainstream news media.
His death was <a href="https://x.com/NA_Announce/status/2079952538040672302">first announced by the podcast on X</a>, although note
that Dvorak’s age is mistakenly given as 74.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://mailchi.mp/nashownotes/rip-jcd-no-agenda-newsletter?e=85c9e2d6b2">From the No Agenda News newsletter yesterday</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>For a man who spent decades famously predicting the catastrophic
demise of almost every major technological innovation, it is with
the heaviest of hearts we must announce that John’s own hardware
finally gave out on Monday morning, July 20th, 2026, at the age of
80. He went peacefully, albeit suddenly, with Mimi at his side,
critiquing the acting and story line of <em>NCIS</em>.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>His death truly seems quite sudden — <a href="https://www.noagendashow.net/listen/1887">the most recent episode</a> of No Agenda dropped on Sunday, the day before he died.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘John Dvorak Drops Dead at 80’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/23/dvorak-dies-at-80"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry><entry>
<title>Flighty New Connection Assistant Feature</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://9to5mac.com/2026/07/07/flighty-update-adds-powerful-new-connection-assistant-feature/" />
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xe7" />
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/23/flighty-connection-update" />
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43279</id>
<published>2026-07-23T15:41:25Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-23T15:41:26Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Chance Miller, 9to5Mac:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Flighty’s new Connection Assistant feature includes step-by-step
information for your specific connection. This includes things
like terminal changes, security checkpoints, passport control, and
more. Connection Assistant also gives you estimates of how long
each step of making a connection usually takes.</p>
<p>“The new Connection Assistant combines Flighty’s best-in-class
flight tracking data with airport-specific procedures and
statistical modeling of millions of prior flights, and then turns
it all into guidance for your exact trip,” the Flighty team
explained in a <a href="https://docs.craft.do/editor/d/a89c6d38-642e-8105-e733-9c434670c92d/7548402b-cf3f-4f0f-97a5-b064e2eae53c?s=ZH1ghei9FDddBnK4k6Q3R5xLCTukRr2wWjERBd6VJYc7">press release</a> today.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I don’t know what the equivalent term to “Mac-assed” should be for iPhone apps, but whatever it is, Flighty epitomizes it. Incredibly useful for what it does, exemplary for how it looks and feels and is visually organized. It is as iOS-assed as an app can be.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘Flighty New Connection Assistant Feature’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/23/flighty-connection-update"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry><entry>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/2026/07/ec_google_guidance_android_ai_and_search_sharing" />
<link rel="shorturl" href="http://df4.us/xe6" />
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026://1.43278</id>
<published>2026-07-21T22:49:03Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-25T20:40:09Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<summary type="text">What the EC is dictating to Google is just breathtaking in scope.</summary>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p><a href="https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_26_1634">The European Commission, last week</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Today, the European Commission has issued two sets of binding
specification measures to Google under the Digital Markets Act.</p>
<p>The aim of the first specification measures is to ensure that
competitors’ Artificial Intelligence (AI) services can compete
with Google’s own AI services, such as Gemini, by having equal
access to features on Google’s Android devices.</p>
<p>The aim of the second specification measures is to rebalance the
playing field by giving third-party search engines access to
search data that only Google Search can collect at scale.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>They provide separate “Q&A” overviews of the guidance <a href="https://digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu/developer-portal/interoperability/alphabet-specification-proceedings-interoperability-ai-services_en">for Android AI interoperability</a> and <a href="https://digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu/developer-portal/data-access/alphabet-specification-proceedings-sharing-google-search-data_en">web search sharing</a>, and the full guidance documents are PDFs (<a href="https://ec.europa.eu/competition/digital_markets_act/cases/202629/DMA_100220_2683.pdf">Case DMA.100220</a> for Android AI, <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/competition/digital_markets_act/cases/202629/DMA_100209_2712.pdf">Case DMA.100209</a> for web search). I suggest reading the two Q&A overviews, unless you’re having trouble falling asleep at night, in which case you’ll love the full PDF decisions.</p>
<p>Both decisions are interesting. With search, Google is required to share with competitors — search engines and AI chatbots alike — a massive amount of user data from Google Search user interactions. What terms people search for, what they click on in results, what languages and devices they use. It’s all ostensibly anonymized but that’s tricky when it comes to search terms. A lot of the terms people type into web search fields are to some degree personally identifying. The EC seems to be saying it’s Google’s problem to filter out things like passwords and usernames and omit them from the shared datasets. Google can charge money for this access, but only under “fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND)” prices, based on a Commission-defined methodology.</p>
<p>More interesting to me, however, is the guidance pertaining to on-device AI on Android devices. What the EC is dictating to Google is just breathtaking in scope. The EC is demanding that Google create APIs that allow third-party AI assistants to do everything Google Gemini does now, including:</p>
<ul>
<li>Control hardware buttons (to invoke the assistant).</li>
<li>Capture anything on screen, from any app.</li>
<li>Seemingly unfettered access to microphones and cameras and other sensors on the device.</li>
<li>Unfettered background operation. Third-party AI assistants must be permitted to execute in the background whenever they want, for as long as they want.</li>
<li>Execute their own audio models on the digital signal processor, so they can listen at all times for their own custom “Hey Dingus” wake phrases/hot words.</li>
<li>Google must allow concurrent access to always-on hot word detection. So if you have Claude and ChatGPT and Grok and Meta AI installed, all of them — in addition to Gemini — must be permitted to have always-on audio detection concurrently. Google is permitted to do some vetting here, but this seems like madness.</li>
<li>Third-party models get access to Google’s on-device local models.</li>
</ul>
<p>Also, in my reading, the EC is demanding that Google make available to third-party AI assistants all information in Google’s own apps (Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs, Google Maps, etc.) that Gemini has access to. There is no opt-out for Google regarding data from their own apps. Nor, I think, does this guidance allow third-party apps from other developers to only support specific system-level AI models. Like, let’s say you’re Slack, and you use the APIs to make the content from within Slack available to Gemini on the device. These guidelines don’t permit Google to allow Slack to say that they trust Gemini but only Gemini. If a third-party app like Slack supports making its data available to <em>any</em> system-level AI provider, it must make its data available to <em>every</em> system-level AI provider.</p>
<p>There’s a lot more. Basically, though, the EC is demanding that third-party AI assistants be enabled to become part of the system software, not just apps. I’m sure some people think this is a great idea. It’s the user’s device, they should be allowed to make ChatGPT or Claude or Meta AI part of their OS if they want. It’s up to them. Put users in control.</p>
<p>This is how PCs have traditionally worked, but many normal people’s PCs are a mess of third-party software running in the background. That includes the Mac. If you ask a normal person “What third-party software runs in the background on your Mac or PC?” they would have no idea. It’s all just magic to them. If Google supports this guidance, it could turn Android phones in the EU into PCs. Honestly, some of the stuff the EC is requiring is lower-level than what MacOS and Windows allow third-party software to do.</p>
<p>What the EC’s “guidance” describes in this document is an entirely different operating system than the Android that Google has designed. The European Commission obviously thinks it is their place to design operating systems. Maybe you do too. <a href="https://blog.google/company-news/inside-google/around-the-globe/google-europe/the-dma-should-not-undercut-security-privacy-for-europeans/">Google obviously disagrees</a>, and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/apple-criticises-eu-measures-help-ai-rivals-access-google-services-2026-05-13/">so does Apple</a>. And so should most people who have any idea how these devices work. This is a recipe for disaster, if Google were to enact it and third-party AI assistants took advantage of it.</p>
<p>That second “if” is a big one. One possible scenario that I consider quite likely is that Google could spend years of engineering time and human resources building out APIs to enable all of this, in the safest and most private ways possible, and no major AI assistant adopts it. That’s the way it’s turned out with a whole slew of DMA compliance for Apple and Google. Apple built an entire complex set of APIs to enable <a href="https://developer.apple.com/documentation/browserenginekit">third-party web browser rendering engines</a>, exclusively for compliance with the DMA, and there exist no third-party web browser rendering engines for iOS. Not one. Because while the EU is a big market, it’s not big enough to justify building a custom web browser just for the EU alone.</p>
<p>Ways I can see this playing out, in order of likelihood (most likely first):</p>
<p>(A) Google enacts all of this and no major AI assistants support it because it’s only for Android, only in the EU. And it’s not like ChatGPT and Claude are seeing a lack of usage as things stand now. In this scenario Google just wastes massive time and engineering talent building APIs that never get used, and Android users in the EU get hassled with additional annoying choice and permission screens just to use the Gemini features that are built into Android.</p>
<p>(B) Google enacts all of this and major AI assistants <em>do</em> support it. Unintended results include massive privacy violations where third-party assistants exfiltrate on-device data to the cloud, Meta uses on-device third-party data for the targeting of ads, and users who take advantage of these third-party assistants see significant battery life drain as third-party assistants run without limits in the background and run expensive inference locally to save on their own server costs.</p>
<p>(C) Google enacts all of this, major AI assistants <em>do</em> support it, and there are no privacy scandals, nor any issues with battery life, because each of the companies that makes these assistants develops them with respect for user privacy and for device resources like CPU and memory consumption. </p>
<p>(D) Google pulls system-integrated Gemini from Android in the EU, or severely restricts its capabilities. Rather than elevate third-party assistants from apps to system software, demote Gemini to the privileges of a mere app and leave Android users in the EU without a system-integrated AI assistant.</p>
<p>Under all scenarios, future feature updates to system-level AI in Android will appear late or never in the EU. No future new features can debut in the EU at the same time as the rest of the world because for DMA compliance, Google will need to add support for third-party assistants to do the same things. And they’re not going to hold new features for the rest of the world waiting for that.</p>
<p>I’m not even sure (D) is permitted under this Commission guidance, given that Google started shipping Gemini on Android last year. The entire guidance document is written under the presumption that Google will comply by building the APIs that the guidance demands, not by achieving parity by removing Gemini system integration features. It would be awkward and unpopular for Google to ship updates to Android that <em>remove</em> core AI features, but that might be more palatable than the alternative.<sup id="fnr1-2026-07-21"><a href="#fn1-2026-07-21">1</a></sup> Note that with iOS, to my recollection, Apple hasn’t pulled any existing features from the EU. They’ve only withheld or delayed <em>new</em> features. Google’s on-device Gemini horse is already out of the barn.</p>
<p>Lastly, although this guidance document pertains to Android, not iOS, I see no reason to think the European Commission wouldn’t demand all or most of the same things from Apple. They haven’t given Apple any guidance yet, because it’s European Commission policy to give guidance only after a DMA-designator gatekeeper ships something that is then ruled non-compliant. But it’s hard to imagine Apple accepting most of these terms. Unfettered background processing and access to the microphone, cameras, and sensors? Third-party audio models running on the hardware DSP listening for wake words? Granting third-party assistants unsupervised access to all user data from apps published using <a href="https://developer.apple.com/documentation/appintents">App Intents</a>?</p>
<p>Apple unfortunately hasn’t shared any technical details describing its proposal for a “Trusted System Agent” that it shared with the EC last year. But whatever Apple’s vision for the Trusted System Agent is, I don’t see how the EC would deem it compliant with the DMA if they want from Apple anything close to what they are now demanding from Google. There are no checks and balances or oversight that Google is permitted to apply to third-party assistants in this guidance. If Gemini can do something, third-party agents must be able to as well. Because Gemini gets to run in the background as much as Google sees fit, third-party assistants must be permitted to run in the background as much as <em>they</em> see fit. And if those third-party assistant developers — OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI, and Meta — have different opinions than Google on how much CPU usage is appropriate in the background, how much RAM and storage is appropriate to consume, or how respectfully to treat users’ on-device data, well that’s just tough noogies. If the user OK’s it, then it’s OK.</p>
<p>A month ago, after WWDC, when this guidance pertaining to Android AI was rumored to be forthcoming, <a href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/06/15/ec-google-gemini-ai-dma">I wrote</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Google is learning the lesson Apple learned the hard way with all
the existing features of iOS that were deemed noncompliant with
the DMA when it went into effect. The “ship it first and ask
forgiveness / hope it’s deemed compliant” strategy is not a good
one in the EU.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I genuinely wonder what the European Commission thinks the purpose of Android is. Google created Android for the benefit of its own services. Google was worried about Microsoft, not Apple, at the time, but they wanted to ensure their own services were available on a major mobile platform. I’m really not seeing how it’s more attractive to Google to comply with this guidance than to just pull system-level Gemini in the EU. Either they waste a small fortune building APIs no one will use, or, they spend that small fortune buildings APIs for the benefit of their biggest competitors. I get it that that’s the intended price to pay for being a designated DMA gatekeeper. But what’s the motivation for Google to do this rather than just walk away from system-integrated AI on Android in the EU? It certainly doesn’t look like the competing platform, iOS, is going to offer it in the EU anytime soon either.</p>
<div class="footnotes">
<hr />
<ol>
<li id="fn1-2026-07-21">
<p>If you are handed a mandate that everyone must be able to run at the same speed, and you can’t figure out how to make slow people faster, you can comply by <a href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2024/03/23/harrison-bergeron">forcing the fast to wear weighted boots</a>. This is where utopian egalitarian initiatives often lead. <a href="#fnr1-2026-07-21" class="footnoteBackLink" title="Jump back to footnote 1 in the text.">↩︎</a></p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
]]></content>
<title>★ European Commission: ‘Guidance to Google for AI Interoperability on Android & Sharing of Google Search’</title></entry><entry>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://workos.com/blog/management-mcp-server?utm_source=daringfireball&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=q32026" />
<link rel="shorturl" href="http://df4.us/xe5" />
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<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/feeds/sponsors//11.43277</id>
<author><name>Daring Fireball Department of Commerce</name></author>
<published>2026-07-20T23:13:48Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-27T16:43:47Z</updated>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/feeds/sponsors/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Debugging SSO, managing users, adjusting auth policies, configuring branding: every configuration task has lived behind a UI that only a human can drive.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://workos.com/docs/mcp?utm_source=daringfireball&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=q32026">WorkOS MCP</a> server gives agents the same access as your dashboard login. Hundreds of operations, discoverable at runtime. Connect in one command via OAuth, with scoped tokens instead of a master API key. Pass a screenshot of your marketing site and ask your agent to match the login page. If a human had to do it before, an agent can do it now.</p>
<p><a href="https://workos.com/blog/management-mcp-server?utm_source=daringfireball&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=q32026">Connect your agent →</a></p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘WorkOS MCP: Manage Your Auth Platform From Any AI Agent’" href="https://daringfireball.net/feeds/sponsors/2026/07/workos_mcp_manage_your_auth_pl"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
<title>[Sponsor] WorkOS MCP: Manage Your Auth Platform From Any AI Agent</title></entry><entry>
<title>‘Who’s Afraid of Chinese Models?’</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://stratechery.com/2026/whos-afraid-of-chinese-models/" />
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xe4" />
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/20/thompson-chinese-models-distillation" />
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43276</id>
<published>2026-07-20T16:27:36Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-21T14:33:41Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Ben Thompson, on the hype regarding Kimi K3, at Stratechery:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>This is a point that bears repeating: because U.S. open weight
model makers must follow the frontier labs’ terms of service, they
(1) are worse than Chinese alternatives and (2) end up distilling
the distillation, just with a detour through Chinese labs.
Wouldn’t it be better if western open weight model makers could go
to the source?</p>
<p>To that end, here’s an even more interesting question around
distillation: why exactly is it bad? After all, what are large
language models but the distillation of all of the knowledge on
the open Internet, scraped by the frontier labs and distilled into
the models that are themselves being distilled? Who is exactly
being wronged here?</p>
<p>In fact, this paradox is the solution. I believe that open weight
models are good for innovation (and, per the above, I think that
labs on the frontier will be fine), but it’s a problem to be
dependent on China. The U.S. should pass a law that (1) makes
explicit that collecting data for training models is fair use, and
(2) bars terms of service that forbid distillation, for U.S.
companies at a minimum. Stopping distillation — which is
literally just querying the API — is nearly impossible; the U.S.
should go the other way and lean into a new copyright policy that
both indemnifies the labs and also guarantees that what they
learned fuels further innovation for everyone else.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>To be clear — and Thompson emphasizes this point too — the leading Chinese models like K3 aren’t good <em>only</em> because of distillation. They’re not entirely rip-offs. But distillation is clearly an essential part of the formula they’re using to keep releasing models that are 6–9 months behind the U.S. frontier state of the art. So the Chinese treat all models as “open”, regardless of the terms of service. But anyone in the U.S. or other western countries that respect copyright — or contracted terms of service — who wants to distill a good model has to wait for the Chinese to release their models, like K3.</p>
<p>And that second paragraph I quote above distills (sorry) exactly why I want to bring out the world’s smallest violin to play a sad song for OpenAI and Anthropic regarding their objections to their frontier models being distilled against their terms of service.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘‘Who’s Afraid of Chinese Models?’’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/20/thompson-chinese-models-distillation"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry><entry>
<title>Paper</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://paper.design/?utm_source=df" />
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xe3" />
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/19/paper" />
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43275</id>
<published>2026-07-19T22:31:11Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-19T22:31:11Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>My thanks to Paper for sponsoring last week at DF. Paper is a new professional design tool where every layer is real HTML and CSS. Your design is already code, which means fewer handoffs, translations, and layers of abstraction between what you design and what you actually ship.</p>
<p>Paper works both ways: code to design, and design to code. Connect any AI agent through MCP and the agent can read and edit your designs. Or use Paper Snapshot to capture your live site as editable layers and make new iterations. Agents handle the tedious work so you can focus on your craft and the decisions that matter.</p>
<p><a href="https://paper.design?utm_source=df">Try Paper at paper.design</a> (great domain name), and check out <a href="https://paper.design/docs/support?utm_source=df">the documentation and FAQ for more info</a>.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘Paper’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/19/paper"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry><entry>
<title>9to5Mac Uncovers Dozens of Disguised Gambling Apps on the App Store in Brazil</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://9to5mac.com/2026/07/17/investigation-reveals-dozens-of-disguised-gambling-apps-on-the-app-store-in-brazil/" />
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xe2" />
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/19/9to5mac-brazil-gambling-apps" />
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43274</id>
<published>2026-07-19T17:18:57Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-21T16:09:43Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>9to5Mac:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Brazilian users browsing the App Store rankings in categories
such as Navigation, Travel, and Weather have noticed a growing
number of poorly made games appearing among the top results, many
of them featuring AI-generated illustrations of animals as their
app icons.</p>
<p>As it turns out, these are so-called jacket apps, which are just a
front for hidden betting and gambling apps. A 9to5Mac
investigation has uncovered more than 60 apps that behave exactly
as depicted in their App Store screenshots when accessed from
virtually anywhere in the world, except Brazil.</p>
<p>When opened from a Brazilian IP address, the same apps instead
reveal online betting platforms, as shown in the example below,
which is currently the top app in the Weather category.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Obviously the main problem is that these apps disguise themselves Trojan Horse-style, and slip through App Store review undetected. I don’t think it’s reasonable to think App Store review could catch every attempt at this sort of thing though — if the horses are disguised well-enough, some of them are going to slip through. That’s actually fine.</p>
<p>But the first example 9to5Mac cites isn’t well disguised at all. What sense does it make that “PotatoPlot Puzzle” — a game featuring a rabbit potato farmer — is a <em>weather</em> app? How is that not a red flag right there?</p>
<p>Also, this app rose to become not just popular, but the number one weather app in Brazil, a nation with over 200 million citizens. In my <a href="https://daringfireball.net/search/bunco+squad">yearslong argument that Apple should commission an internal bunco squad</a> dedicated to hunting down scammers in the App Store, I always mention that the point of such a squad shouldn’t be to make the App Store 100 percent scammer-free — which I believe is an impossible goal that would set the team up for failure. The point should be only to make the App Store free of <em>successful</em> scams. Focus on the most popular apps and the most lucrative apps. There’s simply no feasible excuse for PotatoPlot Puzzle to have become the most popular “weather app” in Brazil.</p>
<p><strong>Update:</strong> <a href="https://9to5mac.com/2026/07/17/investigation-reveals-dozens-of-disguised-gambling-apps-on-the-app-store-in-brazil/#:~:text=Update%20July%2020">Apple issued a statement to 9to5Mac</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The company thanked 9to5Mac for its investigation and added that,
prior to our reporting, it had already investigated and taken
action against 25 similar apps, while also terminating the
developer accounts associated with them.</p>
</blockquote>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘9to5Mac Uncovers Dozens of Disguised Gambling Apps on the App Store in Brazil’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/19/9to5mac-brazil-gambling-apps"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry><entry>
<title>Apple Sends Letters to Dozens of Former Employees Now at OpenAI</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.ft.com/content/1b8c9d52-88a9-426b-ba47-f1811f859166?syn-25a6b1a6=1" />
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xe0" />
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/18/apple-letters-to-openai-employees" />
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43272</id>
<published>2026-07-18T22:47:59Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-18T22:48:00Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Michael Acton, reporting for the Financial Times from San Francisco:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>About 40 former employees now working at OpenAI have been sent
letters directing them to preserve documents and communications
and demanding meetings with Apple’s lawyers, according to multiple
people familiar with the matter. Apple and OpenAI declined to
comment.</p>
<p>The decision to hit employees with personal legal letters
highlights Apple’s aggressive tactics after it last week launched
a blockbuster lawsuit accusing OpenAI and two employees of
stealing secret hardware plans.</p>
</blockquote>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘Apple Sends Letters to Dozens of Former Employees Now at OpenAI’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/18/apple-letters-to-openai-employees"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry><entry>
<title>Apple Books and Amazon Are Lousy With AI-Generated Books Ripping Off Legitimate Authors</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://thenewthings.com/p/apple-big-ai-book-slop-problem" />
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xdz" />
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/17/joanna-stern-ai-ripoff-books" />
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43271</id>
<published>2026-07-18T00:33:15Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-19T22:27:19Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p><a href="https://thenewthings.com/p/apple-big-ai-book-slop-problem">Joanna Stern at New Things, last month</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Last month, just days after my book went on sale, AI knockoffs of
the ebook version flooded Apple Books. There was <em>Joanna Stern On
I Am Not A Robot</em> by Sophie Mercer. <em>I AM NOT A ROBOT</em> by Finn
Tech. <em>I AM NOT A ROBOT</em> by Joana Stern — with one “n.” (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/shorts/IFLMpFzdtgc?feature=share&utm_campaign=apple-s-big-ai-book-slop-problem&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=thenewthings.com">Watch
our latest video</a> showing all these titles and more.)</p>
<p>In total, I found ten AI-generated ebooks clearly riding on mine,
with AI-generated covers mimicking the style of my real one — the
same blue, yellow and red color palette. Most were priced at
$9.99, but some have gone as high as $20.99. [...]</p>
<p>After I contacted Apple about my own book’s clones back in May,
the knockoffs quickly disappeared. [...] But now, a month after
that first Apple cleanup, the problem is back. At the start of
this week, there were at least three other <em>I AM NOT A ROBOT</em>
counterfeits on Apple Books. (They seem to have since been
removed.)</p>
<p>And I’m not alone. Lena Dunham’s <em>Famesick</em> has multiple
lookalikes on the platform. Haley Sacks’s <em>Future Rich Person</em> has
copycats that even use AI generated images of women on the cover
that resemble the real author.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/16/technology/ai-slop-books-biography-amazon.html?unlocked_article_code=1.ylA.d9nK.UpBzYfszrwa_">Kashmir Hill at The New York Times today</a> (gift link):</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Recently, I received a strange text from a new acquaintance. “You
have your own biography???” it read. “How did you neglect to tell
me this?”</p>
<p>This was news to me. I went to Amazon to investigate. There it
was. A biography of Kashmir Hill — title: “The Biography of
Kashmir Hill” — had been released nearly a year earlier, in
August 2025. My life story had a mottled brown cover and a
publisher I’d never heard of before. It had no reviews until I
wrote one, asking, as the subject of this work, if I could please
speak to the author. The hardcover cost $26.99, which seemed a
bit steep, but my editor splurged on a copy and I was forced to
read it.</p>
<p>My biography is 90 pages long and should be shorter. It combines
facts about me that are widely available on the internet, such as
where I grew up, with generic insights that could be true of
anyone, like a horoscope spread over dozens of pages. “You cannot
understand Kashmir Hill without understanding her
contradictions,” my biographer wrote, along with an
excruciatingly long description of my elaborate coffee-making
ritual. (Fact check: My husband does it.)</p>
</blockquote>
<p>It’s not just an e-book problem. Printing services are so cheap nowadays that some of these mooks (like one “author” Hill spoke to) are commissioning print editions for <em>hundreds</em> of these slopfests.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘Apple Books and Amazon Are Lousy With AI-Generated Books Ripping Off Legitimate Authors’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/17/joanna-stern-ai-ripoff-books"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
</entry><entry>
<title>Google Runs Out of Appeals, Must Pay Record $4.7 Billion EU Antitrust Fine</title>
<link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/02/alphabet-google-android-eu-antitrust-fine-4-1-billion-euro-appeal.html" />
<link rel="shorturl" type="text/html" href="http://df4.us/xdy" />
<link rel="related" type="text/html" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/17/google-eu-fine" />
<id>tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43270</id>
<published>2026-07-17T23:47:16Z</published>
<updated>2026-07-18T22:54:09Z</updated>
<author>
<name>John Gruber</name>
<uri>http://daringfireball.net/</uri>
</author>
<content type="html" xml:base="https://daringfireball.net/linked/" xml:lang="en"><![CDATA[
<p>Arjun Kharpal, reporting for CNBC, back on July 2:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Europe’s top court on Thursday upheld Google’s fine of around 4.1
billion euros ($4.67 billion) over alleged anti-competitive
practices.</p>
<p>In 2018, the European Commission slapped Google with the
record-breaking penalty on the grounds that it abused Android’s
mobile dominance to give unfair advantage to its own apps via
pre-installation deals with smartphone makers.</p>
<p>Google has been appealing the ruling through the EU court system.
But the European Court of Justice (ECJ), Europe’s top court,
dismissed Google’s appeal. Google has no further right to appeal.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Google last year <a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1652044/000165204426000018/goog-20251231.htm">booked $132 billion in profit</a>; this fine is about 3 percent of that. But in 2018, when the fine was initially assessed, Google booked <a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1652044/000165204419000004/goog10-kq42018.htm">“just” $31 billion in profit</a> — this fine, if they’d paid it then, would have been about 15 percent of their annual profit. (And they booked only $13B, $19B, $16B, and $14B in profit going back from 2017 to 2014.)</p>
<p>There’s never a reason <em>not</em> to string the appeal process out, but it’s especially true when your profits are growing at an exceptional rate. By growing their profits around 5×, they’ve reduced the relative sting of this fine by 5×.</p>
<p>And that’s ignoring the effects of inflation — which over the last eight year have been significant.</p>
<div>
<a title="Permanent link to ‘Google Runs Out of Appeals, Must Pay Record $4.7 Billion EU Antitrust Fine’" href="https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/17/google-eu-fine"> ★ </a>
</div>
]]></content>
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"url": "https://daringfireball.net/",
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{
"id": "tag:daringfireball.net,2026://1.43319",
"title": "★ Why Apple Requires a Cellular Account Through a Big Three Carrier to Lease an iPhone",
"description": "For many years now, part of the co-marketing agreements between Apple and the Big Three is Apple agreeing to require a postpaid account with a Big Three carrier for all “special” iPhone financing deals, including the old iPhone Upgrade Program and the new Apple Upgrade leasing.",
"url": "https://daringfireball.net/2026/08/followup_big_three_carrier_requirement",
"published": "2026-08-03T17:19:34.000Z",
"updated": "2026-08-03T17:19:35.000Z",
"content": "<p>Following up from last week, <a href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/30/apple-upgrade-vs-iphone-upgrade-program\">when I asked</a>:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>When you lease an iPhone through Apple Upgrade, you need a\ncellular account on one of the big three U.S. carriers: AT&T,\nT-Mobile, or Verizon. That kind of stinks, and I’m not quite sure\nI understand why. You’re leasing the iPhone through Apple and\nKlarna, not the carrier, so I don’t know why Apple cares. If you\nknow why, <a href=\"https://daringfireball.net/contact/\">shoot me a message</a> and explain it. Is it just a\nsimplistic credit-risk evaluation, where prepaid plan-holders and\nMVNO users in general are viewed suspiciously?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I got a slew of messages about this. Credit-risk assessment is seemingly part of it. There’s a lot of fraud in iPhone purchases specifically and cell phone service generally. The big three carriers do a significant amount of risk assessment before letting you open a new postpaid account; that you have an active account with one of them is a signal that you’re not trying to lease an iPhone using phony credentials in order to sell it.</p>\n\n<p>But the bigger reason is the complex nature of the contracts between Apple and each of the big three carriers. A reader who worked on the carrier team at Apple for a long time (but left a few years ago) wrote:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>In response to your question on why Apple would only offer iPhone\non the “Big 3” for the new Upgrade Program: Every year, the\nCarrier Teams at Apple negotiate a deal/program (hundreds of\nmillions of dollars) with each of those Big 3. In return for those\ndollars, Apple will make concessions exactly like this (or\nsimilar.) This is also why, for example, their logos appear more\nprominently or are the only ones called out on signage,\ncommercials, etc… Although they really aren’t threatened by MVNO’s\n(the ones they don’t own) or regional carriers, it’s more like\nApple is selling it as part of a package deal that’s exclusively\noffered to its biggest and best “tier 1” partners. It also acts as\na carrot to perpetually try to motivate smaller partners into\nbehavior Apple wants.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>This might change — some of the bigger MVNOs are trying to work their way into “tier 1” (or maybe create a new “tier 1.5”). But for many years now, part of the co-marketing agreements between Apple and the Big Three is Apple agreeing to require a postpaid account with a Big Three carrier for all “special” iPhone financing deals, including the old iPhone Upgrade Program and the new Apple Upgrade leasing.</p>\n\n<p>One interesting exception is that Boost Mobile is included alongside the Big Three for Apple Card Monthly Installments (ACMI), a program that offers 0% APR on certain products if you pay for them using an Apple Card. <a href=\"https://support.apple.com/en-us/104950\">From the ACMI small print</a>:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>In order to buy an iPhone with ACMI, you must select one of the\nfollowing carriers (prepaid carrier plans are not supported):\nAT&T, Boost Mobile, T-Mobile, or Verizon. An iPhone purchased with\nACMI is always unlocked, so you can switch carriers at any time,\nsubject to your carrier’s terms.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>So perhaps some of the bigger MVNO carriers might work their way into Apple Upgrade — but if they do, it sounds like they’ll need to pay Apple for the privilege.</p>\n\n<p>With regard to fraud, a former Apple Store retail employee wrote:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>I left in 2019, but I’d estimate on some days a double digit\npercentage of in-person phone sales were fraudulent.</p>\n\n<p>This behavior absolutely exploded when you started to be able to\ndo carrier financing in the store. They had stolen the identity\nof a legit account holder, come into the store with the info\nneeded to access the account. They always wanted the highest end\nphone, and would pay the sales tax due at time of sale in cash.\nNever wanted any accessories. Never wanted to open the box or set\nup the phone.</p>\n\n<p>As bad as it was with the activation requirement, it would be way\nworse without it. I believe it’s gotten a lot better, and the\ncarriers have more advanced systems in place to detect and deter\nthis behavior now. But ultimately, the carriers ate the cost for\nmillions of dollars in devices they never got paid for.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I suspect that reader is correct that Apple, in collaboration with the carriers, has cracked down on this.</p>",
"image": null,
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"authors": [
{
"name": "John Gruber",
"email": null,
"url": "http://daringfireball.net/"
}
],
"categories": []
},
{
"id": "tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43318",
"title": "Ulysses S. Grant on the Future Dividing Line",
"description": null,
"url": "https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/grant-next-civil-war/",
"published": "2026-08-03T17:14:42.000Z",
"updated": "2026-08-03T17:15:09.000Z",
"content": "<p>Ulysses S. Grant, in 1875:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Where the citizen is sovereign and the official the servant, where\nno power is exercised except by the will of the people, it is\nimportant that the sovereign — the people — should possess\nintelligence.</p>\n\n<p>The free school is the promoter of that intelligence which is to\npreserve us as a free nation. If we are to have another contest in\nthe near future of our national existence, I predict that the\ndividing line will not be Mason and Dixon’s, but between\npatriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition,\nambition, and ignorance on the other.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Not sure if the 2020s count as “the near future”, but holy hell is that a spot-on synopsis of our current moment.</p>\n\n<div>\n<a title=\"Permanent link to ‘Ulysses S. Grant on the Future Dividing Line’\" href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/08/03/grant\"> ★ </a>\n</div>",
"image": null,
"media": [],
"authors": [
{
"name": "John Gruber",
"email": null,
"url": "http://daringfireball.net/"
}
],
"categories": []
},
{
"id": "tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43317",
"title": "Truth Social Launches Paid Early Access to Trump Posts",
"description": null,
"url": "https://www.npr.org/2026/08/01/nx-s1-5912219/trump-truth-social-access-insider-trading",
"published": "2026-08-03T16:00:29.000Z",
"updated": "2026-08-03T16:03:36.000Z",
"content": "<p>Bobby Allyn, reporting for NPR:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Trump Media & Technology Group is <a href=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/b2icontent.irpass.cc/2660/rl168199.pdf\">now shopping</a> to traders\nand investors a premium version of Truth Social delivering early\naccess to the feeds of high-profile users, including the\npresident. Starting Saturday, for a fee of up to $100,000 a month,\ntrading firms can access “Truth API” to get a glimpse of the\npresident’s often <a href=\"https://www.npr.org/2026/05/08/nx-s1-5749358/trump-truth-social-online-posts-iran-white-house-ballroom\">market-moving announcements</a> about\neconomic policy and global affairs before the rest of the world.</p>\n\n<p>Trump’s media company says customers have already started signing\nup. Such an offering would give institutional investors a leg up\nin areas of finance like high-frequency trading, where an\nadvantage of a few milliseconds can mean the difference of\nmillions of dollars. But will the service be widely adopted across\nWall Street?</p>\n\n<p>“It’s insane,” said one Wall Street executive, who requested\nanonymity for fear of retaliation from the Trump administration.\n“I can say for myself and 200 of my friends in finance, we’re not\ngetting anywhere near this. In another administration, this would\nbe considered criminal.”</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>It <em>is</em> criminal. It’s prima facie insider-trading-as-a-service, or at least it’s <em>intended</em> to be. And in the next administration, there’s no reason to think it won’t be prosecuted as such. It really is astonishing how far the Trump 2.0 administration is willing to take the notion that it’s not corruption if it’s done in the open. There’s an old adage that it’s not the crime but the cover-up that does you in. They’ve taken this to heart and just eschewed the cover-ups.</p>\n\n<div>\n<a title=\"Permanent link to ‘Truth Social Launches Paid Early Access to Trump Posts’\" href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/08/03/truth-social-paid-access\"> ★ </a>\n</div>",
"image": null,
"media": [],
"authors": [
{
"name": "John Gruber",
"email": null,
"url": "http://daringfireball.net/"
}
],
"categories": []
},
{
"id": "tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43315",
"title": "Agent Fone",
"description": null,
"url": "https://fail.xyz/phone/",
"published": "2026-08-02T21:02:00.000Z",
"updated": "2026-08-02T21:02:34.000Z",
"content": "<p>My thanks to Agent Fone for sponsoring last week at DF. Agent Fone is a crazily ambitious new smartphone that doesn’t merely ship with a built-in AI assistant. Instead, the entire concept is that it enables you to create custom software, right on the phone itself. Ideas for new apps that you’ve had in your notes for years. Weird little app ideas that only you would want. Describe your idea, answer a few questions, and Agent Fone builds an app, or widget, and it’s on your home screen. They’re looking for 50 people and small teams to sell the first 50 hardware units to. If you’re interested, <a href=\"https://fail.xyz/phone/\">check out their website</a> for all the information you need, and broader description of the platform.</p>\n\n<div>\n<a title=\"Permanent link to ‘Agent Fone’\" href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/08/02/agent-fone\"> ★ </a>\n</div>",
"image": null,
"media": [],
"authors": [
{
"name": "John Gruber",
"email": null,
"url": "http://daringfireball.net/"
}
],
"categories": []
},
{
"id": "tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43316",
"title": "Boris Cherny on Trying to Get Claude Code to Rewrite the Claude App",
"description": null,
"url": "https://www.ycrootaccess.com/p/boris-cherny-building-claude-code",
"published": "2026-08-02T21:01:12.000Z",
"updated": "2026-08-02T21:02:08.000Z",
"content": "<p>Boris Cherny, head of Claude Code at Anthropic, was interviewed by Diana Hu on stage at Y Combinator’s Startup School 2026 last week. Starting <a href=\"https://youtu.be/qyPCVqFUyDo?t=1230\">around 20:30 in the video</a>, he briefly discussed directing Claude to perform difficult tasks:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p><strong>Cherny:</strong> I think the skill nowadays is less about prompt\nengineering and more about figuring out how do you give Claude a\nhard task that seems a little bit too hard. Then how do you make\nit possible for Claude to verify its work along the way? The\nverification is probably the single most important thing that\npeople do not get right, largely.</p>\n\n<p>One example of this is people were — we have this desktop app\nfor Claude and it’s built using Electron. We’ve made it quite\nfast. Now it’s a pretty awesome experience. Six months ago it was\nsluggish and it wasn’t very reliable. Now it’s pretty awesome.\nIt’s the thing that most of the team uses. As an experiment, I\nwanted to see what it would feel like if it was native. So what I\ndid is I started a Claude Tag session. Claude Tag is a new\nproduct we have. It’s just Claude running in Slack. My first\nquestion was, “Hey Tag, do you have access to a Mac OS runner on\nGitHub?” It said no. Then I hooked up a runner. So it was able to\nstart a Mac virtual machine using GitHub. My second question was,\nI created this empty code base that was a Claude desktop app\nrewritten in Swift.</p>\n\n<p>I asked, “Can you access this code base?” It said no. Then I\ngave it access and it was like, “Okay, great. Now I have\naccess.” Then I said, “Okay, now what I want you to do is I want\nyou to rewrite the Electron app in Swift. I want you to run the\nElectron app in the Mac virtual machine, screenshot it, and then\nlook pixel by pixel. Compare it to the Swift version. Don’t stop\nuntil you’re done.”</p>\n\n<p><strong>Hu:</strong> And that was your prompt basically?</p>\n\n<p><strong>Cherny:</strong> That was my prompt.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Hu:</strong> And how long did this take to run?</p>\n\n<p><strong>Cherny:</strong> It’s still running.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Hu:</strong> When did you start it?</p>\n\n<p><strong>Cherny:</strong> It’s been a little over two weeks. So it’s like 14\ndays, 15 days.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I suppose this is interesting, but I don’t think it’s interesting in the way some people sending me links to this interview think it is. I don’t think this is a serious effort to create a truly native Mac client for Claude. And if it is, Cherny is going about it all wrong.</p>\n\n<p>It’s not like the problem with the current Claude Mac client is merely the technical detail that it’s written with a bloated non-native framework. The actual problem is that it’s a poorly designed app written with a bloated non-native framework. The design itself is non-native. And aside from ignoring most Mac UI idioms, it’s just <a href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/17/openais-product-shake-up\">a bad design in the abstract</a>. It’s bad on the web, bad on Windows, and thus of course it’s also bad on the Mac. So pointing Claude Code at the current Electron app and directing it to recreate it in Swift — pixel-by-pixel — could at best solve only the technical problems with the current app, not the design problems. I’d be more likely to use Claude if it were well designed but still written using Electron, than if it were ported to AppKit and/or SwiftUI but with exactly the current design. The current Claude app is like a shitty recipe made with shitty ingredients; what Cherny asked Claude Code to do is to follow the shitty recipe using better ingredients. It’s still going to taste like shit.</p>\n\n<p>And it’s probably no wonder the task failed. AppKit and SwiftUI are made to create Mac-style apps. Trying to use them to recreate the utterly un-Mac-like Claude UI is like trying to brush your hair the wrong way. It’s not the way things are meant to go.</p>\n\n<p>I also can’t let pass Cherny’s aside, re: the current Claude Mac app, that “Six months ago it was sluggish and it wasn’t very reliable. Now it’s pretty awesome.” I just launched the Claude app on my Mac, and it took 30 seconds before it was ready to use. The last 15 seconds of which, it showed the spinning beach ball cursor. When it finally finished it showed me <a href=\"https://daringfireball.net/misc/2026/08/claude-dickover.png\">a dickover</a>. Maybe it was worse six months ago but this is not “pretty awesome”.</p>\n\n<div>\n<a title=\"Permanent link to ‘Boris Cherny on Trying to Get Claude Code to Rewrite the Claude App’\" href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/08/02/cherny-claude-swift\"> ★ </a>\n</div>",
"image": null,
"media": [],
"authors": [
{
"name": "John Gruber",
"email": null,
"url": "http://daringfireball.net/"
}
],
"categories": []
},
{
"id": "tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43313",
"title": "The Apple Upgrade Situation",
"description": null,
"url": "https://randsinrepose.com/archives/the-apple-upgrade-situation/",
"published": "2026-08-01T16:30:40.000Z",
"updated": "2026-08-02T18:03:44.000Z",
"content": "<p>Michael Lopp, at Rands in Repose:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>I have felt since it was announced that the <a href=\"https://www.apple.com/shop/iphone/iphone-upgrade-program\">Apple iPhone Upgrade\nProgram</a> has not just been a deal, but a steal. The\nspecifics:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>You apply for a loan for a full-price iPhone at 0%.</li>\n<li>If approved, your payments are split over 24 months.</li>\n<li>Pay for 24 months, and the phone is yours.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>That was just the deal; the steal was that it was low effort every\nsingle year to get a new phone. I’d re-up for a new phone, and\nApple would forgive the remaining payments of the loan because I’d\nsigned up for another 24 months. Oh, and bonus, AppleCare was\nincluded, which was a total steal because I hate iPhone cases\n(iPhones are designed to be felt) and, uh, also I have been known\nto drop my phone. [...]</p>\n\n<p>At first glance, the new plan looks cheaper. The original plan:\none year of iPhone 17 Pro (256GB, $1,099 sticker) was ~$57/month.\n12 payments, trade-in, restart: <em>~$684 for the year</em>. The new\none, same phone: $45.99/month on the 12-month lease: <em>$552 for\nthe year</em>.</p>\n\n<p>But wait! The first and most important change to the new plan is\nthat AppleCare is <em>no longer included</em>. Adding it back to this\nphone at $13.99/month: <em>$720 for the year</em>.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>That’s probably the single best argument for “the catch” in the new plan. The old iPhone Upgrade Program included AppleCare coverage, and the new Apple Upgrade leases do not.</p>\n\n<p>Personally, I haven’t purchased AppleCare for any device, for me or my family, since I got it for my college Macintosh LC in 1991. Apple products come with good warranties. I’ve saved thousands of dollars in the intervening decades by never paying for AppleCare and instead paying for very occasional repairs out of pocket. (I’ve twice cracked my iPhone screen and paid to have it replaced.) But I know that some people wouldn’t even consider buying an iPhone (in particular, as a potentially dropped device) without AppleCare. <strong>Update:</strong> Lopp’s AppleCare math is for monthly AppleCare; if you pay annually ($139, for a $1,099 iPhone) then the annual cost for the monthly Apple Upgrade payments plus AppleCare is $691 — which is <em>very</em> close to the $684 annual cost for the old iPhone Upgrade Program.</p>\n\n<div>\n<a title=\"Permanent link to ‘The Apple Upgrade Situation’\" href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/08/01/the-apple-upgrade-situation\"> ★ </a>\n</div>",
"image": null,
"media": [],
"authors": [
{
"name": "John Gruber",
"email": null,
"url": "http://daringfireball.net/"
}
],
"categories": []
},
{
"id": "tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43312",
"title": "Apple Q3 2026 Results",
"description": null,
"url": "https://sixcolors.com/post/2026/07/apple-announces-record-q3-results/",
"published": "2026-08-01T16:15:15.000Z",
"updated": "2026-08-01T16:15:16.000Z",
"content": "<p>Jason Snell:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>On Thursday, Apple announced <a href=\"https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2026/07/apple-reports-third-quarter-results/\">record third-quarter earnings</a>,\nwith total revenue of $109.4B, up 16 percent from the year-ago\nquarter. iPhone revenue was up 22%, Mac revenue was up 10.4%,\nServices revenue was up 12%, and Wearables revenue was up 6%. iPad\nrevenue was down 6%.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Six Colors also has their usual <a href=\"https://sixcolors.com/post/2026/07/one-last-time-this-is-tim-transcript-of-apples-q3-2026-financial-call/\">transcript of the analyst call</a>, Tim Cook’s 90th and final one. </p>\n\n<p>Over at MacRumors, <a href=\"https://www.macrumors.com/2026/07/31/tim-cook-apple-15-years/\">Juli Clover wrote a retrospective on Tim Cook’s 15-year run as CEO</a>:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>When Cook took over as CEO, Apple’s revenue for all of 2011 was\n$108 billion. Apple reported $109.4 billion for Q3 2026, earning\nits 2011 revenue in a single quarter. We don’t have the numbers\nfor fiscal 2026 yet, but in fiscal 2025, revenue was $416\nbillion. [...]</p>\n\n<p>A day after Cook took over in August 2011, Apple’s stock price was\n$13.35 (split-adjusted). Today, it opened at $304.81, a roughly\n23× increase.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Apple did alright under Cook.</p>\n\n<div>\n<a title=\"Permanent link to ‘Apple Q3 2026 Results’\" href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/08/01/apple-q3-2026-results\"> ★ </a>\n</div>",
"image": null,
"media": [],
"authors": [
{
"name": "John Gruber",
"email": null,
"url": "http://daringfireball.net/"
}
],
"categories": []
},
{
"id": "tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43311",
"title": "The Talk Show: ‘What’s in Louie’s Wallet’",
"description": null,
"url": "https://daringfireball.net/thetalkshow/2026/07/31/ep-453",
"published": "2026-07-31T22:50:04.000Z",
"updated": "2026-07-31T22:50:04.000Z",
"content": "<p>Louie Mantia returns to the show to talk about the state of UI and icon design on Apple’s platforms, and some speculation on Apple’s trade secret lawsuit against OpenAI.</p>\n\n<p><audio\n src = \"https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/daringfireball/thetalkshow-453-louie-mantia.mp3\"\n controls\n preload = \"none\"\n/></p>\n\n<p><strong>Sponsored by:</strong></p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https://notion.com/talkshow\">Notion</a>: The collaborative AI workspace where teams and\nagents work side by side, with a Developer Platform teams can build on.</li>\n<li><a href=\"https://evenrealities.com/\">Even Realities</a>: Even G2, the everyday display smart glasses. Use promo code <strong>talkshow</strong> to save 10% off the R1 Ring and/or Even Clip.</li>\n<li><a href=\"https://squarespace.com/talkshow\">Squarespace</a>: Save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code <strong>TALKSHOW</strong>.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<div>\n<a title=\"Permanent link to ‘The Talk Show: ‘What’s in Louie’s Wallet’’\" href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/31/the-talk-show-453\"> ★ </a>\n</div>",
"image": null,
"media": [],
"authors": [
{
"name": "John Gruber",
"email": null,
"url": "http://daringfireball.net/"
}
],
"categories": []
},
{
"id": "tag:daringfireball.net,2026://1.43310",
"title": "★ Temu Is a Comically Bad App",
"description": "Shop like a billionaire.",
"url": "https://daringfireball.net/2026/07/temu_is_a_comically_bad_app",
"published": "2026-07-31T18:27:50.000Z",
"updated": "2026-07-31T18:27:50.000Z",
"content": "<p><a href=\"https://social.panic.com/@cabel/116987028774035194\">Cabel Sasser on Mastodon</a>:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>the temu app will be studied for generations.</p>\n\n<p>i opened the app, and recorded this unedited, nearly two minute,\nlaunch sequence. it somehow just gets funnier and more absurd</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I agree with this sentiment, right down to the fact that Temu doesn’t deserve capital letters.</p>\n\n<p>I placed an order from Temu back in August 2023. At the time Temu was the #1 app in the App Store. I surmised it was some sort of crap store, but wanted to see for myself. It is in fact not merely a crap store but a spectacular crap store — like if a souvenir shop on a Jersey shore boardwalk were the size of a football stadium. Thousands of items, many of them rip-offs, at absurdly low prices. I bought (<a href=\"https://daringfireball.net/misc/2026/07/temu-order-7-items-aug-2023.png\">screenshot</a>):</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Two Apple Watch straps. One of them knocking off Apple’s Braided Solo Loop for $1.88; another knocking off the Apple Watch Ultra Alpine Loop for $2.34.</li>\n<li>A pair of knock-off AirPods: $8.98.</li>\n<li>Another pair of wireless earbuds branded “Lenovo” but definitely not made by Lenovo: $10.25.</li>\n<li>A knock-off Apple Watch Ultra (“<em>Smart Watch Answer/Make Call 2.19\" HD Full Touch Screen Watch With BT Call, Fitness Tracker With Heart Monitor</em>”), which included both orange and black (misspelled “balck”) rip-offs of Apple’s Ocean Band, for $16.49.</li>\n<li>A “Magnetic Suction Anti-Lost Lanyard” for, I think, AirPods: $1.79.</li>\n<li>An iPhone case: $3.46.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Grand total for all seven items: $48.81. I ordered it all on 20 August 2023, and it arrived at my P.O. box on 2 September. The contents of the box looked less like it had been “packed” than “picked out of the trash and hurriedly stuffed into a box”.</p>\n\n<p>The iPhone case was so flimsy it didn’t properly snap onto the phone. The Apple Watch straps were ... OK? They were about as good as you could hope given that they cost around $2 each. The knock-off Apple Watch Ultra actually did sort of work, insofar as it had a color screen that turned on and showed watch-like screens (that looked nothing at all like WatchOS). The watch case was made of plastic, and watch straps did not snap into place in the slide-in channel where they connect — they just permanently slid around. I couldn’t get either of the bluetooth earbuds to work but I didn’t spend more than a few minutes trying with each, because I realized I had no intention of putting them into my ears. The lanyard I don’t remember.</p>\n\n<p>Temu today no longer tops the U.S. App Store’s Top Free Apps list, but it remains in the top 25. (It was at #19 this morning, and #22 this afternoon.) Temu’s slogan remains unchanged: “Shop like a billionaire.” Who am I to argue with that? We know <a href=\"https://www.wsj.com/business/elon-musk-illegal-drugs-e826a9e1?st=rAN3Cp\">one of them</a> is on a lot of drugs — maybe all of them are, and Temu is what it’s like.</p>\n\n<p>After I placed that initial order, I started getting emails from Temu. Seven of the emails pertained to my order: an order confirmation, a shipping notice, a shipping update, another shipping update, a “we noticed your order didn’t arrive on time so here’s a $5 coupon” update, a delivery confirmation, and then a prompt to leave “an honest review detailing our product quality and your overall experience”. The emails kept coming. I decided to leave them turned on until I wrote about my Temu experience on Daring Fireball. As I type this sentence, I’ve received a grand total of 916 emails. That’s just under one per day for the 1,076 days since I placed my one and only order from them. <a href=\"https://daringfireball.net/misc/2026/07/Temu-Email-Subjects-(916).text\">Here’s a text file with the dates and Subject lines for all 916 emails</a>. In the early months after placing my order, they sent me multiple emails per day, every single day. I particularly enjoy how, in the Subject lines, they occasionally abbreviate my name as “John Gru...” (for privacy?), despite the fact that (a) the emails are all sent to me, and (b) in many of the other messages, they spell out my full name in the Subject.</p>\n\n<p>Don’t do what I did and actually try Temu. <a href=\"https://social.panic.com/@cabel/116987028774035194\">Just watch Sasser’s video</a>. It tells you everything you need to know.</p>",
"image": null,
"media": [],
"authors": [
{
"name": "John Gruber",
"email": null,
"url": "http://daringfireball.net/"
}
],
"categories": []
},
{
"id": "tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43309",
"title": "Mark Zuckerberg: ‘The AI Future Is for Everyone’",
"description": null,
"url": "https://www.wsj.com/opinion/the-ai-future-is-for-everyone-a0c24e20?st=T6AAwM",
"published": "2026-07-30T21:09:51.000Z",
"updated": "2026-07-30T21:09:52.000Z",
"content": "<p>Mark Zuckerberg, in an op-ed Tuesday for The Wall Street Journal (gift link; and irony isn’t lost that “everyone” needs a paid WSJ subscription to read this):</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>We are fortunate to live at an incredible moment in history. In\nthe next few years, people will be able to use superintelligence\nbeyond human capacity to create and discover extraordinary new\nthings, build new businesses, express our ideas, learn new\nconcepts, and improve our lives, health, relationships and\ncareers.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Perhaps we’ll be able to use it to build a metaverse too. Or to keep our attention on a major initiative for more than two or three years.</p>\n\n<div>\n<a title=\"Permanent link to ‘Mark Zuckerberg: ‘The AI Future Is for Everyone’’\" href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/30/zuck-ai-for-everyone\"> ★ </a>\n</div>",
"image": null,
"media": [],
"authors": [
{
"name": "John Gruber",
"email": null,
"url": "http://daringfireball.net/"
}
],
"categories": []
},
{
"id": "tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43308",
"title": "Apple Releases iOS and MacOS 26.6, MacOS 15.7.8, and More",
"description": null,
"url": "https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/07/ios-and-macos-26-6-arrive-today-paving-the-way-for-ios-and-macos-27/",
"published": "2026-07-30T20:41:43.000Z",
"updated": "2026-07-30T20:41:44.000Z",
"content": "<p>Samuel Axon, Ars Technica:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Apple has released iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS 26.6.\nApart from potential security hotfixes, these are likely the last\nupdates before the arrival of iOS 27, macOS 27, and so on.</p>\n\n<p>All of today’s releases include minor bug fixes, and there are\nnumerous security updates: <a href=\"https://support.apple.com/en-gb/128067\">more than 150 for macOS 26.6</a>.\nApple also rolled out macOS 14.8.8 and macOS 15.7.8 for older\ndevices, also focused on security fixes.</p>\n\n<p>In terms of new features, you won’t find many in these releases,\nas they mainly pave the way for the next major OS update, likely\nto hit sometime in September. Most notably, the release notes for\niOS and iPadOS 26.6 say the update “optimizes the Spotlight index\nto prepare for iOS 27.” This update will kick off some indexing\nwork that will then be leveraged in an ostensibly much more robust\nSpotlight search feature when iOS 27 launches next month.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I don’t mean to pick nits, but there’s nothing “ostensible” about it. You can use the new Spotlight index via Siri AI in the OS 27 beta releases and it’s <em>really</em> good. The initial background indexing took almost a full week for me on iOS, I suspect because I have so much email archived, but anyone who upgrades to these 26.6 releases now shouldn’t have to wait at all after upgrading to 27.0 in September. Or even if you wait for the 27.1 releases — you won’t need to wait for Siri AI to have your full semantic index at hand.</p>\n\n<div>\n<a title=\"Permanent link to ‘Apple Releases iOS and MacOS 26.6, MacOS 15.7.8, and More’\" href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/30/ios-macos-26-6\"> ★ </a>\n</div>",
"image": null,
"media": [],
"authors": [
{
"name": "John Gruber",
"email": null,
"url": "http://daringfireball.net/"
}
],
"categories": []
},
{
"id": "tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43307",
"title": "Rogue Amoeba: Unobtrusive Update Notifications",
"description": null,
"url": "https://weblog.rogueamoeba.com/2026/04/28/unobtrusive-update-notifications/",
"published": "2026-07-30T20:33:59.000Z",
"updated": "2026-07-30T20:34:00.000Z",
"content": "<p>Paul Kafasis, on the Rogue Amoeba blog back in April:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Though Sparkle serves us very well, it has one notable downside.\nUpdate announcements are most likely to appear at the least\nconvenient time: right after you’ve launched the app. You want to\nstart recording with Audio Hijack, for instance, but the app is\ntelling you about a new version.</p>\n\n<p>We’ve long wished to avoid these disruptions. With that in mind,\nwe’re making changes to how update notifications appear throughout\nour apps. In the future, when the software’s timed automated check\ndetects a newer version, it will no longer pop an obtrusive window\nlike the one seen above.</p>\n\n<p>Instead, a small “Update Available” indicator will be shown in the\napp’s interface.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Such a little thing, but like I wrote <a href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/27/always-choose-the-good-soap\">earlier this week</a>, getting all the little things right is how you get to insanely great. Every Mac app using Sparkle ought to copy this. It’s so much nicer.</p>\n\n<div>\n<a title=\"Permanent link to ‘Rogue Amoeba: Unobtrusive Update Notifications’\" href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/30/rogue-amoeba-unobtrusive-update-notifications\"> ★ </a>\n</div>",
"image": null,
"media": [],
"authors": [
{
"name": "John Gruber",
"email": null,
"url": "http://daringfireball.net/"
}
],
"categories": []
},
{
"id": "tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43306",
"title": "Looking for the Catch in Apple Upgrade",
"description": null,
"url": "https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/2026/07/apple-lease-upgrade-program/688106/",
"published": "2026-07-30T16:59:39.000Z",
"updated": "2026-07-30T20:24:21.000Z",
"content": "<p>Damon Beres, writing for The Atlantic under the hed/subhed: “The New iPhone Underclass: Apple’s rental program is a trap”:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>The Klarna plan — “Apple Upgrade,” which replaces the iPhone\nUpgrade Program — is truly, legally, a lease. This is confusing!\nAnd it’s confusing in part because this is not how Klarna, a\nwell-known buy-now, pay-later service, typically operates: When\nyou use Klarna for clothing from Shein or lip kits at Sephora or\nan Xbox at GameStop, you’re paying back a loan, exactly as you\nwere in the original iPhone Upgrade Program. Same if you use\nKlarna to buy a <a href=\"https://www.samsung.com/us/klarna-payment-plan/\">Samsung Galaxy</a> phone. But with Apple Upgrade,\nyou are renting: The Mac or Apple Watch is not yours until the\nfinal payment is made.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I don’t think this is confusing at all. Apple Upgrade is the primary brand for this program, not Klarna. Klarna is really only mentioned in the small print. You get into Apple Upgrade <a href=\"https://www.apple.com/shop/apple-upgrade\">through Apple</a>. Off the top of your head, do you remember Apple’s bank partner for the now-discontinued iPhone Upgrade Program? (<a href=\"https://www.apple.com/legal/sales-support/iphoneupgrade_us/\">It was Citizens Bank</a>.) The Samsung program Beres links to above is named “Klarna Pay in 4”. “Apple Upgrade is a leasing program partnered with Klarna” is easily understood.</p>\n\n<p>Here’s what Beres thinks is a “trap”:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Consider a student or a young professional, or perhaps an\nunderemployed older one, who needs a new laptop. They decide on a\nMacBook. Apple Upgrade will appear to be the best deal: In its\n<a href=\"https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2026/07/apple-upgrade-launches-in-the-united-states/\">announcement</a>, Apple offers the example of a 14-inch MacBook\nPro that retails for $1,999 but that can be had for a monthly\nlease. Perhaps this person goes for the two-year term, which has\nthem paying $54 a month. Best Buy, which currently has the same\ncomputer on sale for $1,849, offers an 18-month loan repayment\nwith $103 installments. Apple’s deal appears to be cheaper: The\n24-month lease adds up to $1,296; Best Buy’s 18-month loan lands\nat the store’s full retail price of $1,849.</p>\n\n<p>Why does Best Buy’s laptop seem more expensive? It’s because the\nplan is actually designed for you to fully pay off the device. At\nthe end of the 24-month MacBook Pro lease, meanwhile, the consumer\nwill still owe $703, meaning that the actual total price of the\nApple arrangement is $1,999 — higher than Best Buy’s offer.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>This has nothing to do with the differences between Apple Upgrade’s leasing terms and Best Buy’s 18-month loan. It’s the difference between Apple’s retail price of $1,999 and Best Buy’s $1,849. Guess what? $1,849 is less than $1,999.</p>\n\n<p>I generally like paying for everything I buy up front. The only thing I have a loan for right now is our home. So when Apple Upgrade was announced, I approached it with skepticism, presuming that participants would wind up paying more over time than they would buying devices outright up front. But no. There is no interest penalty. If anything, if you presume inflation is still going to run a bit high for the next few years, buying devices through Apple Upgrade might be a slightly better deal than paying up front.</p>\n\n<p>Is it a “trap” that at the end of your 24-month lease you still owe $703 if you want to buy it? I would say that’s not a trap at all, given that you’d have only paid $1,296 to date on a $1,999 device. I’m not trying to be obtuse. I get it. If you pay the full $1,999 up front, or take a loan to pay the full amount over 24 months, then, after two years, you own the device outright and you might not be tempted to buy a new device for a few more years. If instead you lease it and still owe $703 after 24 months, you might be inclined to think that it’d be no fun at all to pay $703 to finish purchasing a now-two-year-old MacBook, even if the price is totally fair and carries no interest penalty. It’s just not fun. What might seem fun, at that point, is to just hand the leased MacBook back to Apple and start a <em>new</em> lease on a brand-new MacBook. That’s surely the appeal of this whole thing from Apple’s perspective — that leasing entices people to keep starting new leases every two years rather than just sit back and enjoy a fully-paid-for device for a few additional years. I think it’s a stretch to call that a “trap”, though.</p>\n\n<div>\n<a title=\"Permanent link to ‘Looking for the Catch in Apple Upgrade’\" href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/30/looking-for-the-catch-in-apple-upgrade\"> ★ </a>\n</div>",
"image": null,
"media": [],
"authors": [
{
"name": "John Gruber",
"email": null,
"url": "http://daringfireball.net/"
}
],
"categories": []
},
{
"id": "tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43305",
"title": "The Differences Between the New ‘Apple Upgrade’ and the Old ‘iPhone Upgrade Program’",
"description": null,
"url": "https://9to5mac.com/2026/07/30/apple-upgrade-vs-iphone-upgrade-program-here-are-the-key-differences/",
"published": "2026-07-30T15:56:10.000Z",
"updated": "2026-07-30T17:48:57.000Z",
"content": "<p>Ryan Christoffel, writing for 9to5Mac:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Apple Upgrade launched this week, and the iPhone Upgrade Program\nis being discontinued as a result. But despite some similarities,\nthe two offerings are not the same. Here are the key differences.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I wrote yesterday that there seemingly is no catch with the new Apple Upgrade program, but there’s at least one, which Christoffel’s piece doesn’t note. When you lease an iPhone through Apple Upgrade, you need a cellular account on one of the big three U.S. carriers: AT&T, T-Mobile, or Verizon. That kind of stinks, and I’m not quite sure I understand why. You’re leasing the iPhone through Apple and Klarna, not the carrier, so I don’t know why Apple cares. If you know why, <a href=\"https://daringfireball.net/contact/\">shoot me a message</a> and explain it. Is it just a simplistic credit-risk evaluation, where prepaid plan-holders and MVNO users in general are viewed suspiciously? </p>\n\n<p>I’ve been hearing <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-wireless-carrier/\">a lot of good things</a> about the higher-quality MVNOs, especially <a href=\"https://www.usmobile.com/\">US Mobile</a>. (<a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/@snazzy\">Quinn Nelson</a> mentioned <a href=\"https://daringfireball.net/thetalkshow/2026/07/23/ep-452\">last week on The Talk Show</a> that he’s on US Mobile.) But if you’re not on one of the big three you can’t lease an iPhone through Apple Upgrade.</p>\n\n<p>(I think the old iPhone Upgrade Program required you to have a plan on one of the big three carriers too, so that might be why Christoffel didn’t mention it — it’s the same, not a difference.)</p>\n\n<div>\n<a title=\"Permanent link to ‘The Differences Between the New ‘Apple Upgrade’ and the Old ‘iPhone Upgrade Program’’\" href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/30/apple-upgrade-vs-iphone-upgrade-program\"> ★ </a>\n</div>",
"image": null,
"media": [],
"authors": [
{
"name": "John Gruber",
"email": null,
"url": "http://daringfireball.net/"
}
],
"categories": []
},
{
"id": "tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43304",
"title": "Apple Says iOS 27 ‘Restricted Mode’ Isn’t for Users Who Miss Payments in New Apple Upgrade Program",
"description": null,
"url": "https://9to5mac.com/2026/07/28/apple-says-ios-27-restricted-mode-isnt-for-new-upgrade-program-leases/",
"published": "2026-07-29T20:56:33.000Z",
"updated": "2026-07-29T20:56:33.000Z",
"content": "<p>Last week <a href=\"https://9to5mac.com/2026/07/21/ios-27-code-suggests-apple-could-restrict-leased-devices-after-missed-payments/\">9to5Mac reported</a> on code in the latest iOS 27 developer beta seemingly meant to restrict leased devices after the user had missed one or more payments. When engaged, Restricted Mode limits the device to the following apps:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Accessibility Reader</li>\n<li>App Store</li>\n<li>Health</li>\n<li>Magnifier</li>\n<li>Phone</li>\n<li>Clock</li>\n<li>Settings</li>\n<li>Wallet</li>\n<li>Passwords</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>And some limited access to apps like Messages or health-related apps that might have critical messages.</p>\n\n<p>Many people reasonably speculated that this feature was related to Apple Upgrade, Apple’s new device leasing partnership with Klarna, which Mark Gurman spoiled a few weeks ago. But an Apple spokesman <a href=\"https://www.theverge.com/tech/972063/apple-upgrade-program-no-restricted-mode\">confirmed to Emma Roth at The Verge today</a> that “There will be no restricted mode and/or there will be no limitations put on device functionality due to missed payments or default with the Apple Upgrade program.”</p>\n\n<p>Writing again today, <a href=\"https://9to5mac.com/2026/07/28/apple-says-ios-27-restricted-mode-isnt-for-new-upgrade-program-leases/\">here’s 9to5Mac’s Marcus Mendes</a>:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Apple, however, did not tell The Verge what Restricted Mode <em>is</em>\nintended for. One possibility is that it was developed for\nfinancing programs offered by carriers, retailers, or other\npartners outside Apple Upgrade, potentially including markets\nwhere device restrictions are already used to enforce installment\nagreements.</p>\n\n<p>In India, lenders have worked in the past with smartphone\nmanufacturers to remotely block financed devices after borrowers\nmissed payments. As <a href=\"https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/technology/smartphone-emi-defaults-rise-as-lenders-stop-remote-cell-blocking/articleshow/125622029.cms?utm_source=chatgpt.com&from=mdr\">The Economic Times</a> reported last year,\nthe Reserve Bank of India (RBI) told non-bank lenders to stop the\npractice in late 2024, amid concerns about lenders sharing\ncustomers’ default information with device manufacturers.</p>\n\n<p>The regulator may now permit a more limited version of the\npractice. As <a href=\"https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-cenbank-proposes-allowing-lenders-curb-usage-phones-bought-loans-case-2026-05-20/?utm_source=chatgpt.com\">Reuters</a> reported in May, the RBI proposed\nallowing lenders to restrict certain functions on financed phones\nonce a loan is at least 90 days overdue, provided the borrower\nagreed to the measure in the contract and received advance notice.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<div>\n<a title=\"Permanent link to ‘Apple Says iOS 27 ‘Restricted Mode’ Isn’t for Users Who Miss Payments in New Apple Upgrade Program’\" href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/29/ios-27-restricted-mode\"> ★ </a>\n</div>",
"image": null,
"media": [],
"authors": [
{
"name": "John Gruber",
"email": null,
"url": "http://daringfireball.net/"
}
],
"categories": []
},
{
"id": "tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43303",
"title": "Apple Upgrade — New Program With Klarna for Leasing iPhones, Macs, iPads, and More for Near-Zero Interest",
"description": null,
"url": "https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2026/07/apple-upgrade-launches-in-the-united-states/",
"published": "2026-07-29T16:51:15.000Z",
"updated": "2026-07-29T16:51:15.000Z",
"content": "<p>Apple Newsroom:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Apple today announced <a href=\"https://www.apple.com/shop/apple-upgrade\">Apple Upgrade</a>, a new product leasing\nprogram provided by Klarna for iPhone, Apple Watch, Mac, and iPad\navailable on the Apple Store online, in the Apple Store app, and\nat Apple Store locations in the United States. Apple Upgrade makes\nit even easier for customers to get the Apple products they love\nwith a leasing plan that is right for them. [...]</p>\n\n<p>Apple Upgrade offers 12- and 24-month leasing options for iPhone\nand Apple Watch, and 24- and 36-month leasing options for Mac and\niPad. Leasing prices start as low as $17.99 per month for iPhone,\n$11.99 for Apple Watch, $24.99 for Mac, and $11.99 for iPad. When\ncustomers first enroll in Apple Upgrade, they can further lower\ntheir monthly lease payments by trading in their currently owned\ndevice through <a href=\"https://www.apple.com/shop/trade-in/\">Apple Trade In</a>. Customers can also earn 3 percent\nDaily Cash back when making their lease payments with Apple Card.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://mjtsai.com/blog/2026/07/28/apple-upgrade/\">Michael Tsai</a>, quoting Juli Clover at MacRumors:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p><a href=\"https://www.macrumors.com/2026/07/28/apple-upgrade-program-klarna/\">Juli Clover</a>:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>The payoff amount is the difference between what was paid during\nthe leasing period and the retail price of the device, minus any\nremaining trade-in credits. Klarna is not charging a fee for the\nleasing program, so an iPhone that’s $1,099 can be leased and\nthen purchased for $1,099 with no extra cost beyond taxes.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I guess this means that, for a bit of hassle, you can essentially\nbuy the device for the list price at 0% interest.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>If you’d rather lease or buy over time, this seems like as good a deal as you could hope for, without any catches.</p>\n\n<div>\n<a title=\"Permanent link to ‘Apple Upgrade — New Program With Klarna for Leasing iPhones, Macs, iPads, and More for Near-Zero Interest’\" href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/29/apple-upgrade\"> ★ </a>\n</div>",
"image": null,
"media": [],
"authors": [
{
"name": "John Gruber",
"email": null,
"url": "http://daringfireball.net/"
}
],
"categories": []
},
{
"id": "tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43302",
"title": "Pastebot 3",
"description": null,
"url": "https://tapbots.com/pastebot/",
"published": "2026-07-29T16:07:03.000Z",
"updated": "2026-07-30T20:21:52.000Z",
"content": "<p>New from Tapbots: version 3 of their excellent clipboard manager for Mac. There are <em>so</em> many clipboard managers for the Mac. I run two other apps — <a href=\"https://www.keyboardmaestro.com/\">Keyboard Maestro</a> and <a href=\"https://www.obdev.at/launchbar\">LaunchBar</a> — that offer good clipboard managers as ancillary features. But for years now I’ve chosen to use Pastebot. Chief among my favorite features:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Remembers up to 1,500 clippings (up from a mere 1,000 in v2).</li>\n<li>Syncs via iCloud. If I copy something on one Mac, it’s in my Pastebot history on my other Macs.</li>\n<li>That sweet Tapbots UI.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Pastebot 3 requires MacOS 26 Tahoe or later. That means I’m only using it on secondary Macs for now — my primary workstation will continue running MacOS 15 Sequoia until I upgrade directly to 27 Golden Gate later this year. But iCloud sync continues to work between Pastebot 2 and 3.</p>\n\n<p>New features include more powerful filters (e.g. you can use a filter to copy a URL and then paste that URL in Markdown’s link syntax), a CLI tool (as yet undocumented), and Shortcuts support.</p>\n\n<p>$39 for a license via direct purchase, with a $13 discount for users of previous versions. It’s still pending approval in the Mac App Store, where it will cost $25/year or $3/month.</p>\n\n<div>\n<a title=\"Permanent link to ‘Pastebot 3’\" href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/29/pastebot-3\"> ★ </a>\n</div>",
"image": null,
"media": [],
"authors": [
{
"name": "John Gruber",
"email": null,
"url": "http://daringfireball.net/"
}
],
"categories": []
},
{
"id": "tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43301",
"title": "Count Those Underscores",
"description": null,
"url": "https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/07/police-missed-one-underscore-and-sent-the-wrong-man-to-prison/",
"published": "2026-07-29T15:28:02.000Z",
"updated": "2026-07-30T20:00:34.000Z",
"content": "<p>Nate Anderson, reporting for Ars Technica under the headline “A Missing Underscore Sent Innocent Man to Prison for 18 Months”:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Police were looking for a man using the Kik messaging service\nunder the name “fus__ro_dah” (two underscores after “fus”), but\nthey accidentally requested records for the username\n“fus_ro_dah” (one underscore after “fus”). This one-character\ndifference led them not to the perpetrator but to a Canadian man\nnamed Brandon Klayme. [...]</p>\n\n<p>Despite finding no evidence of the crime on his digital devices,\nCanadian police arrested Klayme in 2020 on child sex abuse\ncharges. He was convicted after a trial in 2023 and sentenced in\n2024 to 18 months in prison. He served the full term.</p>\n\n<p>Even after release, Klayme continued to fight his conviction. In\nthe process of preparing his appeal, the username mistake that led\nto all these years of disruption was finally discovered. On\nThursday, the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal overturned Klayme’s\nconviction, writing: “Mr. Klayme is factually innocent of the\noffences. He should never have been charged, let alone convicted.”</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://onefoottsunami.com/2026/07/29/a-missing-underscore/\">Via Paul Kafasis</a>, who asks:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>While I understand how the mistake led to this poor guy becoming a\nsuspect, I really can’t fathom how he was convicted. What the hell\nhappened during that trial?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Contra Ars’s headline, it wasn’t the missing underscore that sent Klayme to prison for 18 months.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Update:</strong> Guy Chapman observes that this is basically the central plot of <a href=\"https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/68-brazil?language=en-US\">Terry Gilliam’s <em>Brazil</em></a>.</p>\n\n<div>\n<a title=\"Permanent link to ‘Count Those Underscores’\" href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/29/count-those-underscores\"> ★ </a>\n</div>",
"image": null,
"media": [],
"authors": [
{
"name": "John Gruber",
"email": null,
"url": "http://daringfireball.net/"
}
],
"categories": []
},
{
"id": "tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43300",
"title": "‘eBay’s Bizarre Cyberstalking Saga Ends With a $56 Million Settlement’",
"description": null,
"url": "https://www.theverge.com/tech/972209/ebay-cyberstalking-harassment-settlement",
"published": "2026-07-29T14:43:24.000Z",
"updated": "2026-08-02T17:48:18.000Z",
"content": "<p>Emma Roth, The Verge:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>eBay and three former executives <a href=\"https://www.scallimurphy.com/ebay-cyberstalking-lawsuit-settlement/\">will pay $55.7 million</a> as\npart of a settlement with a Massachusetts couple targeted with a\nbizarre harassment and cyberstalking campaign in 2019, as\n<a href=\"https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/28/ebay-blogger-harassment-stalking-steiner.html\">reported earlier by CNBC</a>. The settlement will resolve a\nlengthy legal saga that revealed how <a href=\"https://www.theverge.com/2020/9/26/21457487/go-read-this-ebay-stalking-harassment-new-york-times\">eBay’s former executives\nsent live insects</a>, a bloody pig mask, a funeral wreath, and\nother strange items to David and Ina Steiner over their\nnewsletter’s coverage of eBay.</p>\n\n<p>The Steiners, who operate the EcommerceBytes newsletter, sued eBay\nand its former executives — including ex-CEO Devin Wenig — in\n2021. The lawsuit <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mad.236568/gov.uscourts.mad.236568.1.0_1.pdf\">accused the company</a> and its executives of\nlaunching a coordinated effort to “intimidate, threaten to kill,\ntorture, terrorize, stalk and silence” the Steiners in an attempt\nto “stifle” their eBay-related reporting.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I don’t think I’ve ever linked to this saga before, but I’m not sure why. One of those stories that slipped through the cracks. It’s an astonishing tale. Could be the basis for a Coen brothers movie.</p>\n\n<p>From David Streitfeld’s 2020 <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/26/technology/ebay-cockroaches-stalking-scandal.html?unlocked_article_code=1.1VA.jF7I.EmTOxL0tiGj6\">overview of the saga for The New York Times</a> (gift link):</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Prosecutors say that on Aug. 7, Ms. Popp — the “Mom” to Mr.\nBaugh’s “Dad” — began sending Twitter messages to Ms. Steiner\nvia a fake account, @Tui_Elei. The profile picture was a skull,\nand he seemed to be an eBay user from Samoa who believed that\nEcommerceBytes had harmed his sales. Ms. Steiner ignored the\nmessages, even as the tone got angrier and more abusive.\n@Tui_Elei wrote: “I guess im goin to have to get ur attention\nanother way bitch…”</p>\n\n<p>A parade of disturbing deliveries began at 4 p.m. on Aug. 10, when\na package containing a bloody pig mask arrived at the Steiners’\nhome. Fourteen minutes later, @Tui_Elei wrote: “DO I HAVE UR\nATTENTION NOW????”</p>\n\n<p>The Steiners received a book titled “Grief Diaries: Surviving the\nLoss of a Spouse” and a funeral wreath. They got fly larvae and\nlive spiders and a box of cockroaches. Copies of the September\nissue of “Hustler: Barely Legal” touting “eye-popping\n18-year-olds” arrived at the homes of neighbors with David\nSteiner’s name on them. The Twitter bombardment continued, as\n@Tui_Elei began to hint at violence: “wen u hurt our bizness u\nhurt our familys… Ppl will do ANYTHING 2 protect family!!!!”</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>It’s certainly not how anyone would plan a business strategy, but this settlement seemingly makes the Steiners some of the most successful independent writers in history. <a href=\"https://www.ecommercebytes.com/C/blog/blog.pl?/pl/2026/7/1785201549.html\">Here’s Ina Steiner’s piece on the settlement</a> at eCommerceBytes.</p>\n\n<div>\n<a title=\"Permanent link to ‘‘eBay’s Bizarre Cyberstalking Saga Ends With a $56 Million Settlement’’\" href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/29/ebay-stalking-settlement\"> ★ </a>\n</div>",
"image": null,
"media": [],
"authors": [
{
"name": "John Gruber",
"email": null,
"url": "http://daringfireball.net/"
}
],
"categories": []
},
{
"id": "tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43299",
"title": "Steve Jobs in 2011: ‘We Build Products That We Want for Ourselves, Too, and We Just Don’t Want Ads’",
"description": null,
"url": "https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-snubs-the-iad-2011-6",
"published": "2026-07-28T16:22:51.000Z",
"updated": "2026-07-28T16:23:34.000Z",
"content": "<p>Dan Frommer, writing for Business Insider in 2011 about that year’s WWDC (Jobs’s last):</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>While discussing Apple’s free, new iCloud email service, he took\nan apparent jab at Gmail, Yahoo Mail, and the others, which stuff\nads in their free email services.</p>\n\n<p>“No ads,” he boasted. “We build products that we want for\nourselves, too, and we just don’t want ads.”</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Jobs’s “we” is interesting to ponder here. Apple’s senior leadership today is comprised mostly of the same people in senior leadership positions in 2011. Tim Cook, Phil Schiller, Eddy Cue, Craig Federighi, Greg Joswiak, and even John Ternus (then a director of hardware engineering for the iPad team, I believe) were all presumably included in Jobs’s “we”. The only big player missing today from Jobs’s 2011 “we” is Scott Forstall.</p>\n\n<p>The people haven’t changed, but Apple has. Strong leaders inevitably shape the personality — the spirit — of organizations over time. Apple in 2011 was peak Steve Jobs Apple. Apple in 2026 is peak Tim Cook Apple. But <a href=\"https://daringfireball.net/2026/07/ternus_apple_slippery_slope\">it was Cook who popularized</a> the “you’re not the customer, you’re the product” argument against “free with ads” online services. But that was <a href=\"https://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/09/18/read-apple-ceo-tim-cooks-letter-on-privacy/?st=fRtsBk\">in 2014</a>.</p>\n\n<div>\n<a title=\"Permanent link to ‘Steve Jobs in 2011: ‘We Build Products That We Want for Ourselves, Too, and We Just Don’t Want Ads’’\" href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/28/jobs-we-dont-want-ads\"> ★ </a>\n</div>",
"image": null,
"media": [],
"authors": [
{
"name": "John Gruber",
"email": null,
"url": "http://daringfireball.net/"
}
],
"categories": []
},
{
"id": "tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/feeds/sponsors//11.43298",
"title": "[Sponsor] Introducing Agent Fone",
"description": null,
"url": "https://fail.xyz/phone/",
"published": "2026-07-28T01:31:54.000Z",
"updated": "2026-08-02T18:43:26.000Z",
"content": "<p>Every phone now ships with an assistant. You ask, it answers. Lame. We built a phone that writes software instead. The app idea you’ve had in your notes for years. The side hustle you will never get around to building. The weird thing only you would want. Describe it, answer a few questions, and it’s on your home screen — yours, working, sendable to a friend. No app store between you and your ideas. The first fifty units go to teams who’ll <a href=\"https://fail.xyz/phone/\">push on it and tell us what breaks</a>.</p>\n\n<div>\n<a title=\"Permanent link to ‘Introducing Agent Fone’\" href=\"https://daringfireball.net/feeds/sponsors/2026/07/introducing_agent_fone\"> ★ </a>\n</div>",
"image": null,
"media": [],
"authors": [
{
"name": "Daring Fireball Department of Commerce",
"email": null,
"url": null
}
],
"categories": []
},
{
"id": "tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43297",
"title": "‘Always Choose the Good Soap’",
"description": null,
"url": "https://sixcolors.com/post/2026/07/always-choose-the-good-soap/",
"published": "2026-07-28T01:13:55.000Z",
"updated": "2026-07-28T22:40:24.000Z",
"content": "<p>Jason Snell:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Apple’s most valuable asset is its brand. Not its real estate,\nnot its intellectual property, not even any particular product.\nEven the mighty iPhone has no value if, over time, the traits\nthat differentiate it from competitor products are erased.\nApple’s brand has always stood for higher quality products — you\npay more, but you get more. Apple has never wanted to be the\nlow-price leader. It didn’t put <a href=\"https://daringfireball.net/2026/07/ads_in_software_are_like_stickers_on_laptops\">stickers on the first Intel\nMacs</a> to get some marketing dollars from Intel. It doesn’t\nload up new Macs with loads of lousy bundled third-party software\nlike so many PCs do.</p>\n\n<p>Those are choices Apple has made that cost the company revenue,\nbut they’ve got a bigger purpose. They reinforce the brand.</p>\n\n<p>Opting <em>not</em> to add more revenue to the bottom line is a difficult\nchoice for anyone working at a profit-driven corporation.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Great minds write about the same topic on the same day.</p>\n\n<p>What Snell’s column makes clear is that the incremental revenue Apple is gaining from putting shitty ads in its software comes at a price. They’re withdrawals from Apple’s brand equity. The brand equity that Apple is losing by foisting these ads is more valuable than the marginal dollars they’re earning from them. There’s juice, yes, but it’s a perfect case of the juice not being worth the squeeze.</p>\n\n<p>It shouldn’t be easy for users to simply imagine obvious ways for Apple’s software to improve. But it’s trivial for any user to imagine an obvious way for the App Store to be better: take out the ads from search results. If there were a preference setting to remove ads from App Store search results, everyone would turn that on. Apple is doing a thing that obviously makes the experience worse. It’s a little thing. The experience is only a little worse. But getting all the little things right is how you get to insanely great, and insanely great is Apple’s North Star.</p>\n\n<p>Apple’s competition is lousy with ads. Downright lousy. Apple seems to be choosing the route of “<em>Don’t like ads? Choose Apple, we shove</em> fewer <em>of them in your face.</em>” That’s <a href=\"https://daringfireball.net/2026/07/ternus_apple_slippery_slope\">way less bracingly clear</a> a marketing message than “<em>Don’t like ads? Choose Apple, we don’t shove</em> any <em>ads in your face.</em>” If your competitors’ stores all smell pervasively of dogshit, don’t aim to have the store that smells the least like shit. Aim to have a store that smells pristine. “<em>Our stores only carry a vague whiff of dogshit</em>” is not insanely great.</p>\n\n<div>\n<a title=\"Permanent link to ‘‘Always Choose the Good Soap’’\" href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/27/always-choose-the-good-soap\"> ★ </a>\n</div>",
"image": null,
"media": [],
"authors": [
{
"name": "John Gruber",
"email": null,
"url": "http://daringfireball.net/"
}
],
"categories": []
},
{
"id": "tag:daringfireball.net,2026://1.43295",
"title": "★ Ads in Software Are Like Stickers on Laptops",
"description": "Putting themselves in customers’ shoes today, how many ads do Apple’s executives want stuck in the results when they search for an app in the App Store?",
"url": "https://daringfireball.net/2026/07/ads_in_software_are_like_stickers_on_laptops",
"published": "2026-07-27T16:32:51.000Z",
"updated": "2026-07-27T16:32:51.000Z",
"content": "<p>Regarding my <a href=\"https://daringfireball.net/2026/07/ads_on_apple_news_suck\">recent</a> <a href=\"https://daringfireball.net/2026/07/ternus_apple_slippery_slope\">pieces</a> regarding Apple’s shitty ads in the App Store and Apple News (and, perhaps soon, Apple Maps), a friend sent me this pithy take:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>The ads Apple is happy to inflict on us in its apps are the\nequivalent of the stickers it would never allow on its physical\nproducts.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><em>Bullseye.</em></p>\n\n<p>That’s what those stickers on PCs are: they’re ads. Intel pays for the “Intel Inside” stickers that booger up PC laptop palm rests. Longtime readers will recall that <a href=\"https://www.apple.com/newsroom/archive/2007/08/\">back in August 2007</a>, Apple held a Town Hall event to introduce new iMacs and some iLife and iWork software updates. In a post-event Q&A (imagine that), <a href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2007/08/09/keefe\">Bob Keefe of Cox Newspapers asked</a> “Can you say why you all are not participating in the Intel Inside program, putting the stickers on your new or previous Macs?” This question was so absurd <em>from the perspective of those who covered Apple closely</em> that it prompted outright laughter. <a href=\"https://www.macworld.com/article/186895/stickergate.html\">Jason Snell wrote a great column</a> arguing that it was actually a good question.</p>\n\n<p>Here’s the whole exchange (<a href=\"https://web.archive.org/web/20080820104510/http://www.macuser.com/steve-jobs/world_exclusive_bob_keefe_is_n_1.php\">via Dan Moren</a>, then at MacUser). Give it a listen, it’s only 100 seconds or so:</p>\n\n<p><audio\n src = \"https://daringfireball.net/misc/2007/08/stickerquestion.mp3\"\n controls\n preload = \"none\"\n></p>\n\n<p>Keefe asks, Steve Jobs answers, Phil Schiller answers, and then Jobs closes it. Jobs broke the ice in his initial answer, with “What can I say? We like our own stickers better.” I was in the room, and that line killed. Jobs at his best. But you can tell that Jobs wasn’t really sure how to answer at first. He didn’t want to throw any shade at Intel, Apple’s partner, but he knew there was a key point to make here about Apple.</p>\n\n<p>The whole thing is funny because at a fundamental level we all just know in our bones that Apple never even considered putting “Intel Inside” stickers on Macs. But <em>why</em>? For eons, mankind knew that when you drop something, it will fall to the ground. But <em>why</em>? Gravity is worth asking about. Worth figuring out. I think that’s the point of Snell’s 2007 column arguing that people (like me) were wrong to mock Keefe for asking.</p>\n\n<p>It’s when Jobs comes back to the question, after Schiller, that we get the real answer:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>You know, we put ourselves in the customers’ shoes and we say,\nwhat do <em>we</em> want stuck on our product when we take it out of the\nbox? And the answer is, nothing.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><em>That’s</em> the answer. Apple still treats its hardware with that level of respect. With reverence. iPhones don’t even say “iPhone” on the hardware. No model or serial numbers. No small print. Just an Apple logo on the back.</p>\n\n<p>Putting themselves in customers’ shoes today, how many ads do Apple’s executives want stuck in the results when they search for an app in the App Store? We know the honest answer. But the answer <a href=\"https://daringfireball.net/misc/2026/07/app-store-ads-search-for-signal.png\">evidenced by the actual App Store</a> is “Two really big ones, including one in the first spot.”</p>",
"image": null,
"media": [],
"authors": [
{
"name": "John Gruber",
"email": null,
"url": "http://daringfireball.net/"
}
],
"categories": []
},
{
"id": "tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43296",
"title": "WorkOS MCP",
"description": null,
"url": "https://workos.com/blog/management-mcp-server?utm_source=daringfireball&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=q32026",
"published": "2026-07-27T16:30:00.000Z",
"updated": "2026-07-27T16:39:00.000Z",
"content": "<p>My thanks to WorkOS for sponsoring last week at DF to promote their MCP server. Debugging SSO, managing users, adjusting auth policies, configuring branding: every configuration task has lived behind a UI that only a human can drive.</p>\n\n<p>The <a href=\"https://workos.com/docs/mcp?utm_source=daringfireball&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=q32026\">WorkOS MCP</a> server gives agents the same access as your dashboard login. Hundreds of operations, discoverable at runtime. Connect in one command via OAuth, with scoped tokens instead of a master API key. Pass a screenshot of your marketing site and ask your agent to match the login page. If a human had to do it before, an agent can do it now. <a href=\"https://workos.com/blog/management-mcp-server?utm_source=daringfireball&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=q32026\">Connect your agent today</a>.</p>\n\n<div>\n<a title=\"Permanent link to ‘WorkOS MCP’\" href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/27/workos-mcp\"> ★ </a>\n</div>",
"image": null,
"media": [],
"authors": [
{
"name": "John Gruber",
"email": null,
"url": "http://daringfireball.net/"
}
],
"categories": []
},
{
"id": "tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43294",
"title": "‘AI Mania Is Eviscerating Global Decision-Making’",
"description": null,
"url": "https://ludic.mataroa.blog/blog/ai-mania-is-eviscerating-global-decision-making/",
"published": "2026-07-25T18:15:12.000Z",
"updated": "2026-08-02T17:47:47.000Z",
"content": "<p>Fascinating essay by Nikhil Suresh:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>On a trip overseas, I had the privilege of a meeting with one of\nthe Fortune 500 executives mentioned at the beginning of the post,\nwho will remain anonymous so that they are not executed by firing\nsquad by their board. As we were chatting, it became clear that\nthey were very switched-on and technically competent, and they\n<em>also</em> happened to be at a company that had committed to the usual\nbattery of exorbitant claims about their recent innovations — we’ve 100×’d our productivity, AI is the future of everything, I\nam but a vessel for OpenAI to make love to my wife. You know,\nnormal things. But since I had them there without any microphones\naround, I asked <em>why</em> this was being repeated without opposition.\nWas it just sales fluff?</p>\n\n<p>The answer was a lot more interesting. It was <em>partially</em>\nridiculous sales material being delivered to an easily excitable\naudience, but this was not the dominant factor constraining\nhonesty. Executives at their <em>customers</em> were saying absurd things\nabout achieving 100× productivity, and this meant that if any\nexecutive at the <em>vendor</em> said that these gains were not\nplausible, it would undermine the credibility of the customer’s\nexecutive, be perceived as an attack (or heresy), and possibly\nresult in an enterprise contract cancellation. And getting\nenterprise contracts cancelled because you wanted to opine on\nsomething that doesn’t really matter to your organisation’s\nmission is a great way to get fired.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>The whole essay is very much worth reading, and might make you feel saner for harboring your own doubts regarding just how much has been changed in the world by generative AI.\nThe gist of his argument is that the entire corporate world — not merely the computer/tech industry — is caught up in an AI mania that brooks no dissent. It’s a religious fervor and heretics are excommunicated. But the dissenters, who feel they must remain silent, are largely correct.</p>\n\n<p>One way I’ve been thinking about AI mania is this: Computers have profoundly changed the world. There can be no dispute about that. Computers continue to improve in capability as networking effects grow and especially as Moore’s Law makes them faster and more capable at a pace unlike any other previous technical revolution. But most people are incapable of understanding how computers really work, and thus personally aren’t able to <em>do</em> much with them. Computers, for most people, are communication tools, not creative tools. Generative AI changes that. People with no computer aptitude are able to create things or discover things via ChatGPT and Claude that were simply beyond their ken heretofore. Per Clarke’s third law, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”. Generative AI feels a bit magical to all of us, even those of us with mid-to-high levels of understanding how computers work and how to make them work. But it feels like the first time ever that computers have been tools for their own creation for a lot of rather dimwitted but confident corporate manager/executive types. This moment feels like the Big Bang to them. The religiosity of this is such that there is no way to convince them that AI, as it stands today, is impressive and useful and innovative, yes, but <em>several orders of magnitude less so</em> than they’re imagining that it is. No way to convince them, that is, until the bubble bursts.</p>\n\n<div>\n<a title=\"Permanent link to ‘‘AI Mania Is Eviscerating Global Decision-Making’’\" href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/25/ai-mania-nikhil-suresh\"> ★ </a>\n</div>",
"image": null,
"media": [],
"authors": [
{
"name": "John Gruber",
"email": null,
"url": "http://daringfireball.net/"
}
],
"categories": []
},
{
"id": "tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43293",
"title": "EU Fines Google $1 Billion for DMA Competition Violations, Including Making Search Results More Useful",
"description": null,
"url": "https://digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu/commission-fines-google-eur890-million-breaches-digital-markets-act-2026-07-23_en",
"published": "2026-07-25T17:44:13.000Z",
"updated": "2026-07-26T17:05:50.000Z",
"content": "<p>The European Commission on Thursday:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>The Commission found that Google gives preferential treatment to\nits own services, including shopping, hotels, transport and sports\nresults, over those of third parties in Google Search, thereby\nbreaching its obligations under the DMA.</p>\n\n<p>Google displays its own services more prominently in search\nresults, including at the top of the search results page or by\nusing enhanced visuals and filters, while similar third-party\nservices do not have the same prominence.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>So if you search for the score of a sporting event, it’s illegal in the EU for Google to show you the score, <a href=\"https://daringfireball.net/misc/2026/07/google-sports.png\">like this search I just tried</a>. What the EC is saying is that because Google Search is so popular, it’s no longer allowed to improve. It is impossible to imagine how this benefits EU citizens.</p>\n\n<p>What generates more for the EU, fines against US tech companies, or tax income from EU tech companies? <a href=\"https://x.com/levelsio/status/2080314960656159018\">Here’s a viral post on Twitter/X</a> that claims it’s now fines against US tech companies. The amounts certainly seem to be in the same ballpark.</p>\n\n<div>\n<a title=\"Permanent link to ‘EU Fines Google $1 Billion for DMA Competition Violations, Including Making Search Results More Useful’\" href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/25/eu-fines-google-1b\"> ★ </a>\n</div>",
"image": null,
"media": [],
"authors": [
{
"name": "John Gruber",
"email": null,
"url": "http://daringfireball.net/"
}
],
"categories": []
},
{
"id": "tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43292",
"title": "Court Grants SerpApi’s Motion to Dismiss Google Lawsuit",
"description": null,
"url": "https://serpapi.com/blog/google-v-serpapi-the-court-granted-our-motion-to-dismiss/",
"published": "2026-07-25T17:27:19.000Z",
"updated": "2026-07-25T20:37:29.000Z",
"content": "<p>Julien Khaleghy, CEO of SerpApi:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California\ngranted our motion to dismiss Google’s lawsuit, marking a win not\njust for SerpApi, but for all who depend on an open internet.\nWe’re pleased that the court rejected Google’s attempts to expand\nthe DMCA to assert control over access to public pages. The\ninternet’s founding principle — open access to usable information — is essential to driving innovation and ensuring everyone\nbenefits from the promise of data. SerpApi will continue\nsupporting developers, AI companies, researchers, and businesses\nthat rely on access to public search information.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Yours truly, back in March, <a href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/03/02/serpapi-motion-to-dismiss\">when SerpApi filed the motion to dismiss</a>:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>I’ve come around on SerpApi in the last few months. <a href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2025/10/23/reddit-files-lawsuit-against-serpapi\">My initial\ntake</a> was that it surely must be illegal for a company to\nscrape Google’s search results and offer access to that data as an\nAPI. But I’ve come around to the argument that what SerpApi is\ndoing to obtain Google search results is, well, exactly how Google\nscrapes the rest of the entire web to build its search index. It’s\nall just scraping publicly accessible web pages.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://www.techdirt.com/2025/12/24/google-built-its-empire-scraping-the-web-now-its-suing-to-stop-others-from-scraping-google/\">This December piece by Mike Masnick at Techdirt</a> is what\nbegan to change my mind.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Even Google seems to understand <a href=\"https://x.com/effthealgorithm/status/2079923114029257084?s=20\">the logical bind they’re in here, regarding scraping</a>.</p>\n\n<div>\n<a title=\"Permanent link to ‘Court Grants SerpApi’s Motion to Dismiss Google Lawsuit’\" href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/25/serpapi-google-dismissed\"> ★ </a>\n</div>",
"image": null,
"media": [],
"authors": [
{
"name": "John Gruber",
"email": null,
"url": "http://daringfireball.net/"
}
],
"categories": []
},
{
"id": "tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43291",
"title": "Apple Maps to Power Navigation Experience for Ford’s New EVs",
"description": null,
"url": "https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2026/07/apple-maps-to-power-navigation-experience-for-ford-uev-platform/",
"published": "2026-07-25T16:21:00.000Z",
"updated": "2026-07-25T16:21:00.000Z",
"content": "<p>Apple Newsroom:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Apple and Ford today announced that Apple Maps will be integrated\ndirectly into Ford’s upcoming Universal Electric Vehicle (UEV)\nPlatform through Apple’s new MapKit for Automotive SDK. Coming to\nFord’s UEV Platform in 2027, this integration will deliver a\nbeautiful and easy-to-use navigation experience powered by Apple\nMaps directly to the vehicle’s displays. Road-level Maps\ninformation will also enable Ford’s Latitude AI team to build a\nseamless hands-free driving experience.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><strong>See also:</strong> <a href=\"https://www.techmeme.com/260723/p23#a260723p23\">Techmeme’s roundup of commentary</a>.</p>\n\n<div>\n<a title=\"Permanent link to ‘Apple Maps to Power Navigation Experience for Ford’s New EVs’\" href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/25/apple-maps-ford\"> ★ </a>\n</div>",
"image": null,
"media": [],
"authors": [
{
"name": "John Gruber",
"email": null,
"url": "http://daringfireball.net/"
}
],
"categories": []
},
{
"id": "tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43290",
"title": "Measles Cases Hit New Record in U.S., as Stupid-Americans Reject Vaccines",
"description": null,
"url": "https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/24/well/measles-record-united-states-numbers.html?unlocked_article_code=1.0VA.4jBf.vqAYN4Bwu807",
"published": "2026-07-25T16:06:52.000Z",
"updated": "2026-07-25T17:21:59.000Z",
"content": "<p>Teddy Rosenbluth, reporting for The New York Times:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>On Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention\nannounced that there have been 2,318 confirmed cases of measles so\nfar this year. The case count toppled the record <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/09/well/us-measles-record-outbreaks.html\">set last\nyear</a>, when measles infected more than 2,200 Americans and\nkilled <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/26/us/texas-measles-outbreak-death.html\">two</a> <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/06/health/measles-death-texas.html\">unvaccinated children</a>. More measles\ncases have been reported in the United States in the last two\nyears than in all the years from 2000 through 2024 combined.</p>\n\n<p>Reversing course on measles would require a nationwide push to\nimprove vaccination rates, a prospect that experts said seemed\nunlikely under the leadership of Health Secretary Robert F.\nKennedy Jr. He has <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/13/health/kennedy-vaccines-confidence-access.html\">halted funding for vaccine hesitancy\nresearch</a>, downplayed the risks of measles and spearheaded\na <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/11/health/kennedy-vaccine-safety.html\">hunt for evidence that vaccines are unsafe</a>.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Nilay Patel, endorsing Kamala Harris for president in 2024: “<a href=\"https://www.theverge.com/24282022/kamala-harris-endorsement-presidential-election-2024\">A Vote for Donald Trump Is a Vote for School Shootings and Measles</a>”. (He missed “<a href=\"https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/trump-is-losing-patience-over-an-iran-war-with-no-clear-end-in-sight-c411d3cd?st=Q29CZk\">quagmire war with Iran</a>”.)</p>\n\n<p>“tarltontarlton” on Reddit last year: “<a href=\"https://www.reddit.com/r/thebulwark/comments/1ljbvtw/hottest_take_stupidamericans_are_the_new/\">Stupid-Americans are the New Irish-Americans, Trump is Their JFK</a>”. I <a href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2025/06/27/trump-stupid-americans\">continue to think about this post frequently</a>.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://media.aphelis.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/ASIMOV_1980_Cult_of_Ignorance.pdf\">Isaac Asimov, in a column for Newsweek in 1980</a>:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has\nalways been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a\nconstant thread winding its way through our political and cultural\nlife, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that “my\nignorance is just as good as your knowledge”.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I <a href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2011/11/28/asimov\">continue</a> to think about this <a href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2020/11/30/asimov-cult-of-ignorance\">frequently</a> as well.</p>\n\n<div>\n<a title=\"Permanent link to ‘Measles Cases Hit New Record in U.S., as Stupid-Americans Reject Vaccines’\" href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/25/measles\"> ★ </a>\n</div>",
"image": null,
"media": [],
"authors": [
{
"name": "John Gruber",
"email": null,
"url": "http://daringfireball.net/"
}
],
"categories": []
},
{
"id": "tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43289",
"title": "bIRC — A New Native IRC Client for Mac",
"description": null,
"url": "https://birc.app/",
"published": "2026-07-25T15:39:51.000Z",
"updated": "2026-07-25T18:57:31.000Z",
"content": "<p>For a long time the best native Mac IRC client was <a href=\"https://www.codeux.com/textual/\">Textual</a>, but although Textual still works, <a href=\"https://help.codeux.com/textual/\">it’s been sunset</a> by the author. Not to fear, however. Fredrik Blank <a href=\"https://www.fredrikblank.com/blog/birc-irc-client-for-mac-macos/\">just launched</a> bIRC:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Creating an IRC client in 2026 is not something that will pay the\nbills : ) It would be just for the joy of programming. But the\namount of work involved always made me throw the thought aside.</p>\n\n<p>But one night when I had nothing better to do, I started\nimplementing the good old spec in Swift (RFC 2812). And then I got\nmotivated to continue, adding IRCv3 extensions and UI. Been\nworking on it on and off on it since the end of 2025. Now I feel\npretty satisfied with the result. Say hi to bIRC — an IRCv3\nclient for Mac.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I was never a big IRC user, personally, and haven’t used IRC in years. But I installed bIRC just because it looks so good, and took it for a brief test drive. It’s nice. And it is <em>very</em> Mac-assed in a modern way. It’s got <a href=\"https://birc.app/documentation/\">a detailed documentation page</a> too. There are (alas) many great apps that lack good documentation, but there are very few apps with good documentation that aren’t great apps. bIRC is free to download and use from the App Store, and there’s a suite of additional fun/pro features you can unlock for a one-time $13 purchase. I bought the pro upgrade despite seldom using IRC just to celebrate a killer new Mac app.</p>\n\n<div>\n<a title=\"Permanent link to ‘bIRC — A New Native IRC Client for Mac’\" href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/25/birc\"> ★ </a>\n</div>",
"image": null,
"media": [],
"authors": [
{
"name": "John Gruber",
"email": null,
"url": "http://daringfireball.net/"
}
],
"categories": []
},
{
"id": "tag:daringfireball.net,2026://1.43288",
"title": "★ Regarding Ad Blockers and Daring Fireball",
"description": "Ultimately, when you install a content blocker extension, you take responsibility for any overzealousness in what they block.",
"url": "https://daringfireball.net/2026/07/regarding_ad_blockers_and_daring_fireball",
"published": "2026-07-24T20:57:20.000Z",
"updated": "2026-07-31T18:46:59.000Z",
"content": "<p>Following up on the previous item today, re: <a href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/24/coiner-of-enshittification-endorses-dickover\">content blockers and ad-blocking</a>, I ran into a weird situation a few weeks ago with my column “<a href=\"https://daringfireball.net/2026/07/ternus_apple_slippery_slope\">John Ternus Should Reverse Apple’s Slide Down the Advertising Slippery Slope</a>”. That article contains this sentence, in Markdown:</p>\n\n<pre><code>And -- at this writing, still \"coming soon\" -- Apple is\nlaunching [ads on Apple Maps][🗺️].\n\n[🗺️]: https://ads.apple.com/maps\n</code></pre>\n\n<p>The problem is that anyone reading that article in NetNewsWire saw it rendered like this, with the words “ads on Apple Maps”<sup id=\"fnr1-2026-07-24\"><a href=\"#fn1-2026-07-24\">1</a></sup> omitted:</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://daringfireball.net/misc/2026/07/nnw-ad-blocking.png\" class=\"noborder\">\n<img\n src = \"https://daringfireball.net/misc/2026/07/nnw-ad-blocking.png\"\n alt = \"Screenshot of article text from NetNewsWire.\"\n width = 550\n/></a></p>\n\n<p>It looks like I forgot to finish writing that sentence. NetNewsWire simply omits the hyperlinked words. After a few readers reported this, I immediately suspected the problem was the “ads.apple.com” domain. I’ve never linked to that domain before, and many ad blockers just block any domain that starts with a domain prefix like <code>ads.*</code>.</p>\n\n<p>And that’s exactly what the problem is. I had no idea that NetNewsWire filtered any content whatsoever (and I sort of think it shouldn’t), but DF reader Antonio Germano searched through NetNewsWire’s open-source code and found it in <a href=\"https://github.com/Ranchero-Software/NetNewsWire/blob/main/Shared/Article%20Rendering/core.css\">the <code>core.css</code> file</a>, line 49:</p>\n\n<pre><code>38 /*Block ads and junk*/\n39 \n40 iframe[src*=\"feedads\" ],\n41 iframe[src*=\"doubleclick\"],\n42 iframe[src*=\"plusone.google\"] {\n43 display: none !important;\n44 }\n45 \n46 a[href*=\".ads.\"],\n47 a[href*=\"feedads\" ],\n48 a[href*=\"doubleclick\"],\n49 a[href*=\"//ads.\"],\n</code></pre>\n\n<p>The culprit identified, I dutifully pinged my friend <a href=\"https://inessential.com/\">Brent Simmons</a> to report the problem. But then I had to decide what to do about it. I have no idea which feed readers are being used to read Daring Fireball’s <a href=\"https://daringfireball.net/feeds/\">feeds</a>, but NetNewsWire is surely one of the most popular, and probably <em>the</em> most popular. It’s the feed reader I use personally. I can’t change the contents of NetNewsWire’s <code>core.css</code> file, so I can’t keep NetNewsWire from stripping out words that link to Apple’s <code>ads.apple.com</code> domain. What I could do is not link to <code>ads.apple.com</code>, like, say by changing my link from <code>ads.apple.com/maps</code> to a shorten-and-redirect URL like <code>bit.ly/4wmXFSE</code> that <a href=\"https://bit.ly/4wmXFSE\">points back</a> to Apple’s original URL.</p>\n\n<p>But I didn’t do that. I don’t like playing whack-a-mole to work around bugs in other software. I have enough trouble fixing my own mistakes. I also don’t like the idea of showing everyone a “Click it and find out where it actually goes” mystery URL from Bitly rather than the direct URL. It’s a general principle thing, and also a much better policy for links that are meant to last for decades.</p>\n\n<p>What I really don’t like about NetNewsWire’s ad-blocking here is that it just <em>omits</em> the linked text. It doesn’t remove the link but leave the words; it removes the words that are hyperlinked to the blocked domain. I’ve run into this with other content blocking extensions. For example, the Banish extension for Safari, <a href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2022/08/02/banish\">which I recommended back in 2022</a>. At some point a year or two ago, Banish started blocking links to Apple’s App Store domain, and it did so by removing the words that link to the App Store. That’s crazy. I linked to the App Store in my own post recommending Banish, which means if you have Banish installed and read that post, you won’t see the headline of the post (nor be able to follow the link). I think there are other content blockers that do the same thing with text that links to the App Store.<sup id=\"fnr2-2026-07-24\"><a href=\"#fn2-2026-07-24\">2</a></sup></p>\n\n<p>So what do I do about that? Do I stop linking to the App Store? That’s dumb. Do I create custom URL redirects for every single link I make to the App Store? That’s work I don’t need or want to do, and adds a layer of abstraction that confuses everyone who isn’t using a content blocker with such a stupid rule. So I just ignore it. But that means an untold number of readers, who are using such content blockers, are just missing words in my articles whenever I link to the App Store. Well, so be it. Ideally, content blockers “just work” — blocking only things you want blocked, never things you don’t want blocked. Nothing is perfect however. What’s pernicious about blockers that remove the actual words that link to certain domains is that that’s not expected behavior. From the reader’s perspective, it really just looks like an editing error on the part of the website, not a content blocker with an overzealous pattern-matching rule.</p>\n\n<p>Ultimately, though, when you install a content blocker extension, you take responsibility for any overzealousness in what it blocks.</p>\n\n<hr />\n\n<p>Let me use this opportunity to make a small personal request. The display ads on Daring Fireball are unobtrusive and limited to one per page. They are also entirely private, and always have been. There not only are no cookies or JavaScript that attempt to track you, but the ads themselves are served from the <code>daringfireball.net</code> domain. I turn down advertisers who request to serve images (or “tracking pixels”, which are just invisible images) from <em>their</em> domains. (Such requests are infrequent, thankfully.) I don’t display the ads in between paragraphs mid-article, a common practice that to me is disrespectful both to the writer <em>and</em> reader. In short, I try to keep the ads on Daring Fireball not merely unobjectionable, but something that actually adds to the site. I actually like the ads in certain high-quality print magazines, like The New Yorker. My goal for the ads on DF is for them to be like that.</p>\n\n<p>In short, I hope they’re the sort of ads readers don’t want to block. I’m pleased to say that most of the ad-blocking content blocking extensions I’ve personally tried do not block ads on Daring Fireball by default. In other cases, they do, but it’s easy to adjust the per-domain settings to allow them. In <a href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/24/coiner-of-enshittification-endorses-dickover\">the previous post</a>, I recommended <a href=\"https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ublock-origin-lite/id6745342698\">uBlock Origin Lite</a> (free, a bit complex) and <a href=\"https://www.magiclasso.co/\">Magic Lasso</a> (paid, much simpler). Magic Lasso does not block ads on DF by default. I don’t remember what uBlock Origin does by default, but it’s trivial to change it to allow them.</p>\n\n<p>If you use an ad blocker and it currently blocks the ads on DF, I humbly ask you to consider taking a moment to tweak the settings to permit them. (If you are using a blocker that strips the ads from DF by default, you can do me an additional favor and <a href=\"https://daringfireball.net/contact/\">shoot me a short email</a> telling me which one. I’m curious.) If you are the developer of an ad blocker, I ask you to consider allowlisting Daring Fireball <em>by default</em>.</p>\n\n<p>If you are a reader and you really do want to block DF’s ads, please, go right ahead. I find that an odd mindset, but it’s your web browser and your call. No hard feelings. (Please further note that I have no JavaScript code that attempts to detect whether you’re blocking DF’s ads in order to nag you.)</p>\n\n<div class=\"footnotes\">\n<hr />\n<ol>\n\n<li id=\"fn1-2026-07-24\">\n<p>I omitted the Markdown creating a link on the words “still ‘coming soon’” for clarity, to emphasize only the problematic link in my original prose. (Also, it’s fun to use emoji as named link definitions, like in this example.) <a href=\"#fnr1-2026-07-24\" class=\"footnoteBackLink\" title=\"Jump back to footnote 1 in the text.\">↩︎︎</a></p>\n</li>\n\n<li id=\"fn2-2026-07-24\">\n<p>I of course reported this to the developer of Banish, twice, but he never responded. I, err, banished Banish from my own devices, and upon finishing this article, I’m going to update my 2022 recommendation of Banish to un-recommend it. <a href=\"#fnr2-2026-07-24\" class=\"footnoteBackLink\" title=\"Jump back to footnote 2 in the text.\">↩︎</a></p>\n</li>\n\n</ol>\n</div>",
"image": null,
"media": [],
"authors": [
{
"name": "John Gruber",
"email": null,
"url": "http://daringfireball.net/"
}
],
"categories": []
},
{
"id": "tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43287",
"title": "Coiner of ‘Enshittification’ Endorses ‘Dickover’",
"description": null,
"url": "https://pluralistic.net/2026/07/21/dickovers/",
"published": "2026-07-24T18:51:29.000Z",
"updated": "2026-07-24T20:06:36.000Z",
"content": "<p><a href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/24/dickover-of-the-week-tomtoc\">Speaking of dickovers</a>, here’s Cory Doctorow, writing this week at Pluralistic:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Seizing the means of computation isn’t theft, it’s <em>bargaining</em>.\nCommercial surveillance companies will tell you that by spying on\nyou, they are simply engaged in a marketplace exchange in which\nyou swap your privacy for access to online services. But they are\nrunning a very curious sort of market: it’s a “market” where as\nsoon as you stop to browse someone’s wares, the stallholder gets\nto reach into your pocket and clean out your wallet. In “markets,”\nprices are announced and bargained over, not set unilaterally and\nextracted from anyone unwise enough to cross the threshold.</p>\n\n<p>Adblocking, dickover blocking and other customizations are a way\nfor you to bargain back, to answer the opening bid of “How about\nyou give me all of your data forever and let me do anything I want\nwith it?” with “How about ‘nah?’”</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Doctorow’s specific advice is to switch to Firefox for your browser and Linux as your desktop OS. You’re probably not going to do either of those things. But the <em>spirit</em> of his advice is that you should avail yourself of <a href=\"https://github.com/gala8y/kill-sticky--forked\">bookmarklets</a> and browser extensions that fight back against shitty ads and dickovers. There are some great options for Safari. <a href=\"https://underpassapp.com/StopTheMadness/\">StopTheMadness Pro</a> is great for creating custom rules to permanently block specific page elements. <a href=\"https://apps.apple.com/us/app/ublock-origin-lite/id6745342698\">uBlock Origin Lite</a> is a free-of-charge content blocker that is incredibly effective, and very configurable (but complicated). <a href=\"https://www.magiclasso.co/\">Magic Lasso</a> is a paid content blocker — $30/year — which includes synced blocking on iOS, MacOS, and even Apple TV. Magic Lasso offers a much more approachable configuration interface, and includes a “just turn it on” easy-to-use private VPN feature that allows for blocking ads in <em>all</em> apps, including Apple News.</p>\n\n<p>Bargaining back is exactly what using content blockers is. There’s no reason to feel guilty about it.</p>\n\n<p>(Magic Lasso has previously been a DF sponsor, but not since <a href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2021/05/09/magic-lasso\">May 2021</a>. I’m recommending Magic Lasso here only as a happy paying user.)</p>\n\n<div>\n<a title=\"Permanent link to ‘Coiner of ‘Enshittification’ Endorses ‘Dickover’’\" href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/24/coiner-of-enshittification-endorses-dickover\"> ★ </a>\n</div>",
"image": null,
"media": [],
"authors": [
{
"name": "John Gruber",
"email": null,
"url": "http://daringfireball.net/"
}
],
"categories": []
},
{
"id": "tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43285",
"title": "Dickover of the Week: Tomtoc",
"description": null,
"url": "https://daringfireball.net/2026/05/what_is_a_dickover",
"published": "2026-07-24T16:43:43.000Z",
"updated": "2026-07-24T16:43:44.000Z",
"content": "<p>Here’s a real gem that a reader sent me. <a href=\"https://www.tomtoc.com/\">Tomtoc</a> is a maker of laptop bags and sleeves. Visit their homepage and, of course, you’ll get a dickover asking you to join their mailing list “for exclusive updates and get a chance to win a free tech pouch every month.” But here’s the gem. If you do subscribe, and you decide later to unsubscribe, you get this:</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://daringfireball.net/misc/2026/07/tomtoc-dickover.png\" class=\"noborder\">\n <img\n src = \"https://daringfireball.net/misc/2026/07/tomtoc-dickover.png\"\n alt = \"Screenshot from an iPhone of Tomtoc’s “you’ve been unsubscribed from our mailing list” webpage presenting a dickover asking you to subscribe to their mailing list.\"\n /></a></p>\n\n<div>\n<a title=\"Permanent link to ‘Dickover of the Week: Tomtoc’\" href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/24/dickover-of-the-week-tomtoc\"> ★ </a>\n</div>",
"image": null,
"media": [],
"authors": [
{
"name": "John Gruber",
"email": null,
"url": "http://daringfireball.net/"
}
],
"categories": []
},
{
"id": "tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43286",
"title": "Sixers Sign LeBron James",
"description": null,
"url": "https://www.inquirer.com/sixers/live/lebron-james-signs-philadelphia-76ers-contract-salary-roster-updates-reaction-20260724.html",
"published": "2026-07-24T16:40:00.000Z",
"updated": "2026-07-24T17:35:58.000Z",
"content": "<p>The betting odds for the Sixers to win the NBA championship went from 20-1 to 10-1. <a href=\"https://x.com/KingJames/status/2080677086386430018\">Here’s James on Twitter/X</a>, explaining his decision:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>This is my last decision. I’m not going for money. I’m not going\nfor family. What am I really playing for at this point?</p>\n\n<p>I still want to sacrifice. I still want to work. I still want to\ngrind. I still want to compete, to win and to have a chance at the\nfeeling of winning another championship.</p>\n\n<p>I believe I can help make the Philadelphia 76ers a championship\nteam and I am so excited to energize a new fan base and start this\nincredible journey one last time.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>James signed for the league minimum for a veteran: <a href=\"https://share.inquirer.com/UkxRhd\">two years at just $4 million per year</a>. He’s going to love playing here.</p>\n\n<div>\n<a title=\"Permanent link to ‘Sixers Sign LeBron James’\" href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/24/sixers-james\"> ★ </a>\n</div>",
"image": null,
"media": [],
"authors": [
{
"name": "John Gruber",
"email": null,
"url": "http://daringfireball.net/"
}
],
"categories": []
},
{
"id": "tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43284",
"title": "The Talk Show: ‘A Scam Held Together With Patriotism and Golden Paint’",
"description": null,
"url": "https://daringfireball.net/thetalkshow/2026/07/23/ep-452",
"published": "2026-07-24T15:44:11.000Z",
"updated": "2026-07-24T16:54:14.000Z",
"content": "<p>Quinn Nelson returns to the show to discuss OpenAI’s ChatGPT/Codex “native” app migration fiasco, Siri AI in Apple’s OS 27 betas, MacOS 27 Golden Gate, and the hottest new cell phone of the year, the Trump T1.</p>\n\n<p><audio\n src = \"https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/daringfireball/thetalkshow-452-quinn-nelson.mp3\"\n controls\n preload = \"none\"\n/></p>\n\n<p><strong>Sponsored by:</strong></p>\n\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https://notion.com/talkshow\">Notion</a>: Try the powerful, all-in-one Notion AI today.</li>\n<li><a href=\"https://factormeals.com/talkshow50off\">Factor</a>: Healthy eating, made easy. Get 50% off your first box, plus free daily greens, with code <strong>talkshow50off</strong>.</li>\n<li><a href=\"https://squarespace.com/talkshow\">Squarespace</a>: Save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain using code <strong>TALKSHOW</strong>.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<div>\n<a title=\"Permanent link to ‘The Talk Show: ‘A Scam Held Together With Patriotism and Golden Paint’’\" href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/24/the-talk-show-452\"> ★ </a>\n</div>",
"image": null,
"media": [],
"authors": [
{
"name": "John Gruber",
"email": null,
"url": "http://daringfireball.net/"
}
],
"categories": []
},
{
"id": "tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43283",
"title": "Bond Movie Filming Locations Map",
"description": null,
"url": "https://department-m.agency/",
"published": "2026-07-23T19:35:45.000Z",
"updated": "2026-07-23T20:35:49.000Z",
"content": "<p>“From a Bond fan to Bond fans worldwide.” Nice work.</p>\n\n<div>\n<a title=\"Permanent link to ‘Bond Movie Filming Locations Map’\" href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/23/bond-movie-filming-locations-map\"> ★ </a>\n</div>",
"image": null,
"media": [],
"authors": [
{
"name": "John Gruber",
"email": null,
"url": "http://daringfireball.net/"
}
],
"categories": []
},
{
"id": "tag:daringfireball.net,2026://1.43282",
"title": "★ The Ads on Apple News Continue to Suck, but at Least There Are a Lot of Them",
"description": "The obvious truth is that Apple’s ads just plain suck. They are not good at advertising-based services. And it shouldn’t be surprising that they’re not good at advertising-based services, because the incentives for advertising-based services are in direct opposition to the incentives for everything Apple actually is good at.",
"url": "https://daringfireball.net/2026/07/ads_on_apple_news_suck",
"published": "2026-07-23T19:08:57.000Z",
"updated": "2026-07-24T18:10:05.000Z",
"content": "<p><a href=\"https://kirkville.com/i-now-assume-that-all-ads-on-apple-news-are-scams/\">Kirk McElhearn, back in February</a>:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>I use Apple News to keep up on topics that I don’t find in sources\nI pay for (The Guardian and The New York Times). But there’s no\nway I’m going to pay the exorbitant price Apple wants for Apple\nNews+ — £13 — because, while you get more publications, you\nstill get ads.</p>\n\n<p>And those ads have gotten worse recently. Many if not most of them\nlook like and probably are scams. Here are a few examples from\nApple News today.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>One of the ads he examined was, supposedly, from a small company going out of business because the proprietor — supposedly a straight-out-of-Central-Casting kind old woman — was retiring after 26 years. McElhearn looked up the domain name and it had only just been created last year, and was registered from a company in China.</p>\n\n<p>Two years ago this very week, I wrote about <a href=\"https://daringfireball.net/2024/07/apple_taboola_sitting_in_a_tree\">Apple striking a deal with Taboola to sell ads for Apple News</a>. In that post, I quoted <a href=\"https://www.threads.net/@eric_seufert/post/C9gjkA_OXYw\">Eric Seufert (of Mobile Dev Memo) posting on Threads</a>:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Regarding Taboola’s partnership with Apple: I’ve seen people claim\nthat this is somehow hypocritical from a privacy perspective,\nassuming that Taboola’s somewhat obnoxious, clickbait-style ads\nmust invasively target user profiles and browsing histories.</p>\n\n<p>They don’t. They are targeted entirely contextually. That’s\nthe point.</p>\n\n<p>Want brash, garish advertising plastered all over the web? Reject\nads personalization. Want relevant, informed advertising? Embrace\nads personalization.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Now quoting from myself in that same article:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>If you told me that the ads in Apple News have been sold by\nTaboola for the last few years, I’d have said, “Oh, that makes\nsense.” Because the ads in Apple News — at least the ones I see — already look like chumbox Taboola ads. Even worse, they’re\nincredibly repetitious. [...]</p>\n\n<p>So while I don’t think it’s good news that Apple is partnering\nwith Taboola, I don’t expect it to make any discernible difference\nin the ad quality or frequency. Maybe it will improve the variety?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Privacy is not the issue with Apple’s Taboola partnership, or Apple advertising in general. The issues are quality and user experience. I was correct that the partnership has made no discernible difference in ad quality or frequency. And it hasn’t made any improvement to variety either. <a href=\"https://mastodon.social/@gruber/116901983997962549\">Here’s a collection of ads I continue to see in Apple News</a> — often with the same ad appearing 3–4 times in the same article, as I scroll. (I posted the same image in my recent article “<a href=\"https://daringfireball.net/2026/07/ternus_apple_slippery_slope\">John Ternus Should Reverse Apple’s Slide Down the Advertising Slippery Slope</a>”, if you’re thinking it looks familiar.)</p>\n\n<p>The ads I see in Apple News are not relevant or informed. And, to be clear, I have “Personalized Ads” turned <em>on</em> in Settings → Privacy & Security → Apple Advertising (which makes me wonder if turning that <em>off</em> might actually make the ads even worse). The ads shown in the App Store <a href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/05/04/ios-app-store-slippery-slope\">never seem contextually relevant to me</a>. So I have no faith that the ads that Apple is supposedly on the cusp of serving in Apple Maps are going to be good.</p>\n\n<p>Back in March I wrote:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>I’m not going to prejudge the actual experience, and you shouldn’t\neither. I also <a href=\"https://mister.computer/@kyle/114014624058008824\">do not begrudge Apple for wanting to monetize\nMaps</a>. But if the addition of ads does make the Apple\nMaps experience worse, why won’t Apple let us buy our way out of\nseeing them? <a href=\"https://help.netflix.com/en/node/24926\">Netflix</a> doesn’t force us to watch their\nads. <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/premium\">YouTube Premium</a> is arguably the best\nbang-for-the-buck in the entire world of content subscriptions.\nWhy should <a href=\"https://www.apple.com/apple-one/\">Apple One</a> subscribers still see these ads in\nApple Maps?</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>This to me is proof that Apple leadership is suffering from cognitive dissonance over their slide into advertising. They’re conflating cause and effect. The Apple brand stands for high-quality superior user experiences because the devices and software Apple makes traditionally deliver high-quality superior user experiences. The work Apple ships is what makes the brand what it is. But now they’re stricken with the mindset that it’s the Apple brand that makes something a high-quality superior experience. If it comes from Apple it must be great — that sort of thinking. The ads in Apple News and the App Store can’t be detrimental to the user experiences and at times even embarrassingly crude or downright scammy because Apple doesn’t ship things that are detrimental to the user experience or embarrassingly crude — and certainly never with even a whiff of scamminess.</p>\n\n<p>My theory is that’s why Apple isn’t allowing users to buy our way out of the ads. When streaming services like Netflix let you pay more money for ad-free tiers, it’s an explicit acknowledgement that the experience with ads is worse. Apple doesn’t offer ad-free tiers for the App Store or (soon) Apple Maps<sup id=\"fnr1-2026-07-23\"><a href=\"#fn1-2026-07-23\">1</a></sup> because, I think, they can’t bring themselves to admit that by adding ads to these services <em>they have made them worse</em>. If you refuse to admit that the ads make these services worse, you also can’t admit that there’s a reason to offer an ad-free experience. So the thinking is something like “<em>Apple always focuses on the user experience, and never deliberately makes the user experience worse. Therefore, if an Apple service shows ads, those ads are high quality and don’t detract from the quality of the product or the experience of using it. Therefore, there’s no reason to offer users a paid ad-free tier, because there’s no reason to want to avoid Apple’s ads.</em>”</p>\n\n<p>It’s a textbook case of Upton Sinclair’s famous adage: “It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.” The obvious truth is that Apple’s ads just plain suck. They are not good at advertising-based services. And it shouldn’t be surprising that they’re not good at advertising-based services, because the incentives for advertising-based services are in direct opposition to the incentives for everything Apple actually is good at. To wit: offering superior products worth paying a premium price for.</p>\n\n<p>One can argue that an ad-free Apple Maps experience ought to be included with the price of the devices Apple sells (which, of course, has been true until now). It’s even easier to argue that the App Store ought to be ad-free for everyone, based on its exclusive role in software distribution and the 15–30 percent commission Apple takes on every transaction. But if Apple simply made the App Store and Apple Maps ad-free for users paying for iCloud+ or Apple One, I’d stop complaining. That would make it clear: the full Apple experience requires not just an Apple device, but an Apple subscription. But the way things stand now, that ad-free experience isn’t even available.</p>\n\n<div class=\"footnotes\">\n<hr />\n<ol>\n<li id=\"fn1-2026-07-23\">\n<p>Apple News is different because the inclusion of ads is controlled by the publishers, not by Apple. If you read <a href=\"https://apple.news/TMDi_OFIRSe2BQoupq1S1Gw\">Daring Fireball on Apple News</a>, for example, you don’t see their crummy chumbox ads, because I don’t participate in that system. Most of the cringe-inducing ads I see in Apple News are seemingly sold through Apple Ads, though, so I’m not arguing that Apple isn’t ultimately responsible for the Apple News reading experience. I’m saying they can’t just flip a switch and offer a paid-subscription no-ads Apple News experience without the agreement of every single participating publisher. The App Store and Apple Maps, however, are services under Apple’s complete control. Every ad shown in those apps is Apple’s choice to show. <a href=\"#fnr1-2026-07-23\" class=\"footnoteBackLink\" title=\"Jump back to footnote 1 in the text.\">↩︎</a></p>\n</li>\n</ol>\n</div>",
"image": null,
"media": [],
"authors": [
{
"name": "John Gruber",
"email": null,
"url": "http://daringfireball.net/"
}
],
"categories": []
},
{
"id": "tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43281",
"title": "John Dvorak on Computer Chronicles in 1987 to Discuss the Then-New IBM PS/2",
"description": null,
"url": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uY2WF_sPecI",
"published": "2026-07-23T17:45:41.000Z",
"updated": "2026-07-23T17:58:37.000Z",
"content": "<p>Dvorak is best known for <a href=\"https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_C._Dvorak\">all</a> <a href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2011/12/23/dvorak\">the</a> <a href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2025/11/05/dvorak-itime\">takes</a> he was <a href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2011/08/11/dvorak\">jacktastically wrong</a> about, but what gave his schtick staying power is that he was technically savvy. His take here on the PS/2 was actually spot-on: that it was <a href=\"https://www.ibm.com/history/ps-2\">technically impressive in many ways</a>, especially the way it was assembled without any cables, but that it was doomed in the market against ugly mess-of-cables commodity PCs.</p>\n\n<p>“Computer Chronicles” was the real show from the 1980s that Adam Lisagor so <a href=\"https://daringfireball.net/thetalkshow/2015/11/07/ep-135\">lovingly</a> and spectacularly spoofed with “<a href=\"https://computer.show/\">Computer Show</a>” a decade ago.</p>\n\n<div>\n<a title=\"Permanent link to ‘John Dvorak on Computer Chronicles in 1987 to Discuss the Then-New IBM PS/2’\" href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/23/dvorak-computer-chronicles\"> ★ </a>\n</div>",
"image": null,
"media": [],
"authors": [
{
"name": "John Gruber",
"email": null,
"url": "http://daringfireball.net/"
}
],
"categories": []
},
{
"id": "tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43280",
"title": "John Dvorak Drops Dead at 80",
"description": null,
"url": "https://appleinsider.com/articles/26/07/23/famed-technology-journalist-john-c-dvorak-dies-aged-80",
"published": "2026-07-23T17:10:47.000Z",
"updated": "2026-07-23T17:10:47.000Z",
"content": "<p>William Gallagher, AppleInsider:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Legendary technology columnist, pundit, author and podcast host\nJohn C. Dvorak has died, age 80. He is survived by his wife\nMimi Dvorak.</p>\n\n<p>Today Dvorak is best known for co-hosting the “No Agenda” podcast\nwith Adam Curry, where he would critique mainstream news media.\nHis death was <a href=\"https://x.com/NA_Announce/status/2079952538040672302\">first announced by the podcast on X</a>, although note\nthat Dvorak’s age is mistakenly given as 74.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://mailchi.mp/nashownotes/rip-jcd-no-agenda-newsletter?e=85c9e2d6b2\">From the No Agenda News newsletter yesterday</a>:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>For a man who spent decades famously predicting the catastrophic\ndemise of almost every major technological innovation, it is with\nthe heaviest of hearts we must announce that John’s own hardware\nfinally gave out on Monday morning, July 20th, 2026, at the age of\n80. He went peacefully, albeit suddenly, with Mimi at his side,\ncritiquing the acting and story line of <em>NCIS</em>.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>His death truly seems quite sudden — <a href=\"https://www.noagendashow.net/listen/1887\">the most recent episode</a> of No Agenda dropped on Sunday, the day before he died.</p>\n\n<div>\n<a title=\"Permanent link to ‘John Dvorak Drops Dead at 80’\" href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/23/dvorak-dies-at-80\"> ★ </a>\n</div>",
"image": null,
"media": [],
"authors": [
{
"name": "John Gruber",
"email": null,
"url": "http://daringfireball.net/"
}
],
"categories": []
},
{
"id": "tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43279",
"title": "Flighty New Connection Assistant Feature",
"description": null,
"url": "https://9to5mac.com/2026/07/07/flighty-update-adds-powerful-new-connection-assistant-feature/",
"published": "2026-07-23T15:41:25.000Z",
"updated": "2026-07-23T15:41:26.000Z",
"content": "<p>Chance Miller, 9to5Mac:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Flighty’s new Connection Assistant feature includes step-by-step\ninformation for your specific connection. This includes things\nlike terminal changes, security checkpoints, passport control, and\nmore. Connection Assistant also gives you estimates of how long\neach step of making a connection usually takes.</p>\n\n<p>“The new Connection Assistant combines Flighty’s best-in-class\nflight tracking data with airport-specific procedures and\nstatistical modeling of millions of prior flights, and then turns\nit all into guidance for your exact trip,” the Flighty team\nexplained in a <a href=\"https://docs.craft.do/editor/d/a89c6d38-642e-8105-e733-9c434670c92d/7548402b-cf3f-4f0f-97a5-b064e2eae53c?s=ZH1ghei9FDddBnK4k6Q3R5xLCTukRr2wWjERBd6VJYc7\">press release</a> today.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I don’t know what the equivalent term to “Mac-assed” should be for iPhone apps, but whatever it is, Flighty epitomizes it. Incredibly useful for what it does, exemplary for how it looks and feels and is visually organized. It is as iOS-assed as an app can be.</p>\n\n<div>\n<a title=\"Permanent link to ‘Flighty New Connection Assistant Feature’\" href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/23/flighty-connection-update\"> ★ </a>\n</div>",
"image": null,
"media": [],
"authors": [
{
"name": "John Gruber",
"email": null,
"url": "http://daringfireball.net/"
}
],
"categories": []
},
{
"id": "tag:daringfireball.net,2026://1.43278",
"title": "★ European Commission: ‘Guidance to Google for AI Interoperability on Android & Sharing of Google Search’",
"description": "What the EC is dictating to Google is just breathtaking in scope.",
"url": "https://daringfireball.net/2026/07/ec_google_guidance_android_ai_and_search_sharing",
"published": "2026-07-21T22:49:03.000Z",
"updated": "2026-07-25T20:40:09.000Z",
"content": "<p><a href=\"https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_26_1634\">The European Commission, last week</a>:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Today, the European Commission has issued two sets of binding\nspecification measures to Google under the Digital Markets Act.</p>\n\n<p>The aim of the first specification measures is to ensure that\ncompetitors’ Artificial Intelligence (AI) services can compete\nwith Google’s own AI services, such as Gemini, by having equal\naccess to features on Google’s Android devices.</p>\n\n<p>The aim of the second specification measures is to rebalance the\nplaying field by giving third-party search engines access to\nsearch data that only Google Search can collect at scale.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>They provide separate “Q&A” overviews of the guidance <a href=\"https://digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu/developer-portal/interoperability/alphabet-specification-proceedings-interoperability-ai-services_en\">for Android AI interoperability</a> and <a href=\"https://digital-markets-act.ec.europa.eu/developer-portal/data-access/alphabet-specification-proceedings-sharing-google-search-data_en\">web search sharing</a>, and the full guidance documents are PDFs (<a href=\"https://ec.europa.eu/competition/digital_markets_act/cases/202629/DMA_100220_2683.pdf\">Case DMA.100220</a> for Android AI, <a href=\"https://ec.europa.eu/competition/digital_markets_act/cases/202629/DMA_100209_2712.pdf\">Case DMA.100209</a> for web search). I suggest reading the two Q&A overviews, unless you’re having trouble falling asleep at night, in which case you’ll love the full PDF decisions.</p>\n\n<p>Both decisions are interesting. With search, Google is required to share with competitors — search engines and AI chatbots alike — a massive amount of user data from Google Search user interactions. What terms people search for, what they click on in results, what languages and devices they use. It’s all ostensibly anonymized but that’s tricky when it comes to search terms. A lot of the terms people type into web search fields are to some degree personally identifying. The EC seems to be saying it’s Google’s problem to filter out things like passwords and usernames and omit them from the shared datasets. Google can charge money for this access, but only under “fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory (FRAND)” prices, based on a Commission-defined methodology.</p>\n\n<p>More interesting to me, however, is the guidance pertaining to on-device AI on Android devices. What the EC is dictating to Google is just breathtaking in scope. The EC is demanding that Google create APIs that allow third-party AI assistants to do everything Google Gemini does now, including:</p>\n\n<ul>\n<li>Control hardware buttons (to invoke the assistant).</li>\n<li>Capture anything on screen, from any app.</li>\n<li>Seemingly unfettered access to microphones and cameras and other sensors on the device.</li>\n<li>Unfettered background operation. Third-party AI assistants must be permitted to execute in the background whenever they want, for as long as they want.</li>\n<li>Execute their own audio models on the digital signal processor, so they can listen at all times for their own custom “Hey Dingus” wake phrases/hot words.</li>\n<li>Google must allow concurrent access to always-on hot word detection. So if you have Claude and ChatGPT and Grok and Meta AI installed, all of them — in addition to Gemini — must be permitted to have always-on audio detection concurrently. Google is permitted to do some vetting here, but this seems like madness.</li>\n<li>Third-party models get access to Google’s on-device local models.</li>\n</ul>\n\n<p>Also, in my reading, the EC is demanding that Google make available to third-party AI assistants all information in Google’s own apps (Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs, Google Maps, etc.) that Gemini has access to. There is no opt-out for Google regarding data from their own apps. Nor, I think, does this guidance allow third-party apps from other developers to only support specific system-level AI models. Like, let’s say you’re Slack, and you use the APIs to make the content from within Slack available to Gemini on the device. These guidelines don’t permit Google to allow Slack to say that they trust Gemini but only Gemini. If a third-party app like Slack supports making its data available to <em>any</em> system-level AI provider, it must make its data available to <em>every</em> system-level AI provider.</p>\n\n<p>There’s a lot more. Basically, though, the EC is demanding that third-party AI assistants be enabled to become part of the system software, not just apps. I’m sure some people think this is a great idea. It’s the user’s device, they should be allowed to make ChatGPT or Claude or Meta AI part of their OS if they want. It’s up to them. Put users in control.</p>\n\n<p>This is how PCs have traditionally worked, but many normal people’s PCs are a mess of third-party software running in the background. That includes the Mac. If you ask a normal person “What third-party software runs in the background on your Mac or PC?” they would have no idea. It’s all just magic to them. If Google supports this guidance, it could turn Android phones in the EU into PCs. Honestly, some of the stuff the EC is requiring is lower-level than what MacOS and Windows allow third-party software to do.</p>\n\n<p>What the EC’s “guidance” describes in this document is an entirely different operating system than the Android that Google has designed. The European Commission obviously thinks it is their place to design operating systems. Maybe you do too. <a href=\"https://blog.google/company-news/inside-google/around-the-globe/google-europe/the-dma-should-not-undercut-security-privacy-for-europeans/\">Google obviously disagrees</a>, and <a href=\"https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/apple-criticises-eu-measures-help-ai-rivals-access-google-services-2026-05-13/\">so does Apple</a>. And so should most people who have any idea how these devices work. This is a recipe for disaster, if Google were to enact it and third-party AI assistants took advantage of it.</p>\n\n<p>That second “if” is a big one. One possible scenario that I consider quite likely is that Google could spend years of engineering time and human resources building out APIs to enable all of this, in the safest and most private ways possible, and no major AI assistant adopts it. That’s the way it’s turned out with a whole slew of DMA compliance for Apple and Google. Apple built an entire complex set of APIs to enable <a href=\"https://developer.apple.com/documentation/browserenginekit\">third-party web browser rendering engines</a>, exclusively for compliance with the DMA, and there exist no third-party web browser rendering engines for iOS. Not one. Because while the EU is a big market, it’s not big enough to justify building a custom web browser just for the EU alone.</p>\n\n<p>Ways I can see this playing out, in order of likelihood (most likely first):</p>\n\n<p>(A) Google enacts all of this and no major AI assistants support it because it’s only for Android, only in the EU. And it’s not like ChatGPT and Claude are seeing a lack of usage as things stand now. In this scenario Google just wastes massive time and engineering talent building APIs that never get used, and Android users in the EU get hassled with additional annoying choice and permission screens just to use the Gemini features that are built into Android.</p>\n\n<p>(B) Google enacts all of this and major AI assistants <em>do</em> support it. Unintended results include massive privacy violations where third-party assistants exfiltrate on-device data to the cloud, Meta uses on-device third-party data for the targeting of ads, and users who take advantage of these third-party assistants see significant battery life drain as third-party assistants run without limits in the background and run expensive inference locally to save on their own server costs.</p>\n\n<p>(C) Google enacts all of this, major AI assistants <em>do</em> support it, and there are no privacy scandals, nor any issues with battery life, because each of the companies that makes these assistants develops them with respect for user privacy and for device resources like CPU and memory consumption. </p>\n\n<p>(D) Google pulls system-integrated Gemini from Android in the EU, or severely restricts its capabilities. Rather than elevate third-party assistants from apps to system software, demote Gemini to the privileges of a mere app and leave Android users in the EU without a system-integrated AI assistant.</p>\n\n<p>Under all scenarios, future feature updates to system-level AI in Android will appear late or never in the EU. No future new features can debut in the EU at the same time as the rest of the world because for DMA compliance, Google will need to add support for third-party assistants to do the same things. And they’re not going to hold new features for the rest of the world waiting for that.</p>\n\n<p>I’m not even sure (D) is permitted under this Commission guidance, given that Google started shipping Gemini on Android last year. The entire guidance document is written under the presumption that Google will comply by building the APIs that the guidance demands, not by achieving parity by removing Gemini system integration features. It would be awkward and unpopular for Google to ship updates to Android that <em>remove</em> core AI features, but that might be more palatable than the alternative.<sup id=\"fnr1-2026-07-21\"><a href=\"#fn1-2026-07-21\">1</a></sup> Note that with iOS, to my recollection, Apple hasn’t pulled any existing features from the EU. They’ve only withheld or delayed <em>new</em> features. Google’s on-device Gemini horse is already out of the barn.</p>\n\n<p>Lastly, although this guidance document pertains to Android, not iOS, I see no reason to think the European Commission wouldn’t demand all or most of the same things from Apple. They haven’t given Apple any guidance yet, because it’s European Commission policy to give guidance only after a DMA-designator gatekeeper ships something that is then ruled non-compliant. But it’s hard to imagine Apple accepting most of these terms. Unfettered background processing and access to the microphone, cameras, and sensors? Third-party audio models running on the hardware DSP listening for wake words? Granting third-party assistants unsupervised access to all user data from apps published using <a href=\"https://developer.apple.com/documentation/appintents\">App Intents</a>?</p>\n\n<p>Apple unfortunately hasn’t shared any technical details describing its proposal for a “Trusted System Agent” that it shared with the EC last year. But whatever Apple’s vision for the Trusted System Agent is, I don’t see how the EC would deem it compliant with the DMA if they want from Apple anything close to what they are now demanding from Google. There are no checks and balances or oversight that Google is permitted to apply to third-party assistants in this guidance. If Gemini can do something, third-party agents must be able to as well. Because Gemini gets to run in the background as much as Google sees fit, third-party assistants must be permitted to run in the background as much as <em>they</em> see fit. And if those third-party assistant developers — OpenAI, Anthropic, xAI, and Meta — have different opinions than Google on how much CPU usage is appropriate in the background, how much RAM and storage is appropriate to consume, or how respectfully to treat users’ on-device data, well that’s just tough noogies. If the user OK’s it, then it’s OK.</p>\n\n<p>A month ago, after WWDC, when this guidance pertaining to Android AI was rumored to be forthcoming, <a href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/06/15/ec-google-gemini-ai-dma\">I wrote</a>:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Google is learning the lesson Apple learned the hard way with all\nthe existing features of iOS that were deemed noncompliant with\nthe DMA when it went into effect. The “ship it first and ask\nforgiveness / hope it’s deemed compliant” strategy is not a good\none in the EU.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>I genuinely wonder what the European Commission thinks the purpose of Android is. Google created Android for the benefit of its own services. Google was worried about Microsoft, not Apple, at the time, but they wanted to ensure their own services were available on a major mobile platform. I’m really not seeing how it’s more attractive to Google to comply with this guidance than to just pull system-level Gemini in the EU. Either they waste a small fortune building APIs no one will use, or, they spend that small fortune buildings APIs for the benefit of their biggest competitors. I get it that that’s the intended price to pay for being a designated DMA gatekeeper. But what’s the motivation for Google to do this rather than just walk away from system-integrated AI on Android in the EU? It certainly doesn’t look like the competing platform, iOS, is going to offer it in the EU anytime soon either.</p>\n\n<div class=\"footnotes\">\n<hr />\n<ol>\n<li id=\"fn1-2026-07-21\">\n<p>If you are handed a mandate that everyone must be able to run at the same speed, and you can’t figure out how to make slow people faster, you can comply by <a href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2024/03/23/harrison-bergeron\">forcing the fast to wear weighted boots</a>. This is where utopian egalitarian initiatives often lead. <a href=\"#fnr1-2026-07-21\" class=\"footnoteBackLink\" title=\"Jump back to footnote 1 in the text.\">↩︎</a></p>\n</li>\n</ol>\n</div>",
"image": null,
"media": [],
"authors": [
{
"name": "John Gruber",
"email": null,
"url": "http://daringfireball.net/"
}
],
"categories": []
},
{
"id": "tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/feeds/sponsors//11.43277",
"title": "[Sponsor] WorkOS MCP: Manage Your Auth Platform From Any AI Agent",
"description": null,
"url": "https://workos.com/blog/management-mcp-server?utm_source=daringfireball&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=q32026",
"published": "2026-07-20T23:13:48.000Z",
"updated": "2026-07-27T16:43:47.000Z",
"content": "<p>Debugging SSO, managing users, adjusting auth policies, configuring branding: every configuration task has lived behind a UI that only a human can drive.</p>\n\n<p>The <a href=\"https://workos.com/docs/mcp?utm_source=daringfireball&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=q32026\">WorkOS MCP</a> server gives agents the same access as your dashboard login. Hundreds of operations, discoverable at runtime. Connect in one command via OAuth, with scoped tokens instead of a master API key. Pass a screenshot of your marketing site and ask your agent to match the login page. If a human had to do it before, an agent can do it now.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://workos.com/blog/management-mcp-server?utm_source=daringfireball&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=q32026\">Connect your agent →</a></p>\n\n<div>\n<a title=\"Permanent link to ‘WorkOS MCP: Manage Your Auth Platform From Any AI Agent’\" href=\"https://daringfireball.net/feeds/sponsors/2026/07/workos_mcp_manage_your_auth_pl\"> ★ </a>\n</div>",
"image": null,
"media": [],
"authors": [
{
"name": "Daring Fireball Department of Commerce",
"email": null,
"url": null
}
],
"categories": []
},
{
"id": "tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43276",
"title": "‘Who’s Afraid of Chinese Models?’",
"description": null,
"url": "https://stratechery.com/2026/whos-afraid-of-chinese-models/",
"published": "2026-07-20T16:27:36.000Z",
"updated": "2026-07-21T14:33:41.000Z",
"content": "<p>Ben Thompson, on the hype regarding Kimi K3, at Stratechery:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>This is a point that bears repeating: because U.S. open weight\nmodel makers must follow the frontier labs’ terms of service, they\n(1) are worse than Chinese alternatives and (2) end up distilling\nthe distillation, just with a detour through Chinese labs.\nWouldn’t it be better if western open weight model makers could go\nto the source?</p>\n\n<p>To that end, here’s an even more interesting question around\ndistillation: why exactly is it bad? After all, what are large\nlanguage models but the distillation of all of the knowledge on\nthe open Internet, scraped by the frontier labs and distilled into\nthe models that are themselves being distilled? Who is exactly\nbeing wronged here?</p>\n\n<p>In fact, this paradox is the solution. I believe that open weight\nmodels are good for innovation (and, per the above, I think that\nlabs on the frontier will be fine), but it’s a problem to be\ndependent on China. The U.S. should pass a law that (1) makes\nexplicit that collecting data for training models is fair use, and\n(2) bars terms of service that forbid distillation, for U.S.\ncompanies at a minimum. Stopping distillation — which is\nliterally just querying the API — is nearly impossible; the U.S.\nshould go the other way and lean into a new copyright policy that\nboth indemnifies the labs and also guarantees that what they\nlearned fuels further innovation for everyone else.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>To be clear — and Thompson emphasizes this point too — the leading Chinese models like K3 aren’t good <em>only</em> because of distillation. They’re not entirely rip-offs. But distillation is clearly an essential part of the formula they’re using to keep releasing models that are 6–9 months behind the U.S. frontier state of the art. So the Chinese treat all models as “open”, regardless of the terms of service. But anyone in the U.S. or other western countries that respect copyright — or contracted terms of service — who wants to distill a good model has to wait for the Chinese to release their models, like K3.</p>\n\n<p>And that second paragraph I quote above distills (sorry) exactly why I want to bring out the world’s smallest violin to play a sad song for OpenAI and Anthropic regarding their objections to their frontier models being distilled against their terms of service.</p>\n\n<div>\n<a title=\"Permanent link to ‘‘Who’s Afraid of Chinese Models?’’\" href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/20/thompson-chinese-models-distillation\"> ★ </a>\n</div>",
"image": null,
"media": [],
"authors": [
{
"name": "John Gruber",
"email": null,
"url": "http://daringfireball.net/"
}
],
"categories": []
},
{
"id": "tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43275",
"title": "Paper",
"description": null,
"url": "https://paper.design/?utm_source=df",
"published": "2026-07-19T22:31:11.000Z",
"updated": "2026-07-19T22:31:11.000Z",
"content": "<p>My thanks to Paper for sponsoring last week at DF. Paper is a new professional design tool where every layer is real HTML and CSS. Your design is already code, which means fewer handoffs, translations, and layers of abstraction between what you design and what you actually ship.</p>\n\n<p>Paper works both ways: code to design, and design to code. Connect any AI agent through MCP and the agent can read and edit your designs. Or use Paper Snapshot to capture your live site as editable layers and make new iterations. Agents handle the tedious work so you can focus on your craft and the decisions that matter.</p>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://paper.design?utm_source=df\">Try Paper at paper.design</a> (great domain name), and check out <a href=\"https://paper.design/docs/support?utm_source=df\">the documentation and FAQ for more info</a>.</p>\n\n<div>\n<a title=\"Permanent link to ‘Paper’\" href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/19/paper\"> ★ </a>\n</div>",
"image": null,
"media": [],
"authors": [
{
"name": "John Gruber",
"email": null,
"url": "http://daringfireball.net/"
}
],
"categories": []
},
{
"id": "tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43274",
"title": "9to5Mac Uncovers Dozens of Disguised Gambling Apps on the App Store in Brazil",
"description": null,
"url": "https://9to5mac.com/2026/07/17/investigation-reveals-dozens-of-disguised-gambling-apps-on-the-app-store-in-brazil/",
"published": "2026-07-19T17:18:57.000Z",
"updated": "2026-07-21T16:09:43.000Z",
"content": "<p>9to5Mac:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Brazilian users browsing the App Store rankings in categories\nsuch as Navigation, Travel, and Weather have noticed a growing\nnumber of poorly made games appearing among the top results, many\nof them featuring AI-generated illustrations of animals as their\napp icons.</p>\n\n<p>As it turns out, these are so-called jacket apps, which are just a\nfront for hidden betting and gambling apps. A 9to5Mac\ninvestigation has uncovered more than 60 apps that behave exactly\nas depicted in their App Store screenshots when accessed from\nvirtually anywhere in the world, except Brazil.</p>\n\n<p>When opened from a Brazilian IP address, the same apps instead\nreveal online betting platforms, as shown in the example below,\nwhich is currently the top app in the Weather category.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Obviously the main problem is that these apps disguise themselves Trojan Horse-style, and slip through App Store review undetected. I don’t think it’s reasonable to think App Store review could catch every attempt at this sort of thing though — if the horses are disguised well-enough, some of them are going to slip through. That’s actually fine.</p>\n\n<p>But the first example 9to5Mac cites isn’t well disguised at all. What sense does it make that “PotatoPlot Puzzle” — a game featuring a rabbit potato farmer — is a <em>weather</em> app? How is that not a red flag right there?</p>\n\n<p>Also, this app rose to become not just popular, but the number one weather app in Brazil, a nation with over 200 million citizens. In my <a href=\"https://daringfireball.net/search/bunco+squad\">yearslong argument that Apple should commission an internal bunco squad</a> dedicated to hunting down scammers in the App Store, I always mention that the point of such a squad shouldn’t be to make the App Store 100 percent scammer-free — which I believe is an impossible goal that would set the team up for failure. The point should be only to make the App Store free of <em>successful</em> scams. Focus on the most popular apps and the most lucrative apps. There’s simply no feasible excuse for PotatoPlot Puzzle to have become the most popular “weather app” in Brazil.</p>\n\n<p><strong>Update:</strong> <a href=\"https://9to5mac.com/2026/07/17/investigation-reveals-dozens-of-disguised-gambling-apps-on-the-app-store-in-brazil/#:~:text=Update%20July%2020\">Apple issued a statement to 9to5Mac</a>:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>The company thanked 9to5Mac for its investigation and added that,\nprior to our reporting, it had already investigated and taken\naction against 25 similar apps, while also terminating the\ndeveloper accounts associated with them.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<div>\n<a title=\"Permanent link to ‘9to5Mac Uncovers Dozens of Disguised Gambling Apps on the App Store in Brazil’\" href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/19/9to5mac-brazil-gambling-apps\"> ★ </a>\n</div>",
"image": null,
"media": [],
"authors": [
{
"name": "John Gruber",
"email": null,
"url": "http://daringfireball.net/"
}
],
"categories": []
},
{
"id": "tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43272",
"title": "Apple Sends Letters to Dozens of Former Employees Now at OpenAI",
"description": null,
"url": "https://www.ft.com/content/1b8c9d52-88a9-426b-ba47-f1811f859166?syn-25a6b1a6=1",
"published": "2026-07-18T22:47:59.000Z",
"updated": "2026-07-18T22:48:00.000Z",
"content": "<p>Michael Acton, reporting for the Financial Times from San Francisco:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>About 40 former employees now working at OpenAI have been sent\nletters directing them to preserve documents and communications\nand demanding meetings with Apple’s lawyers, according to multiple\npeople familiar with the matter. Apple and OpenAI declined to\ncomment.</p>\n\n<p>The decision to hit employees with personal legal letters\nhighlights Apple’s aggressive tactics after it last week launched\na blockbuster lawsuit accusing OpenAI and two employees of\nstealing secret hardware plans.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<div>\n<a title=\"Permanent link to ‘Apple Sends Letters to Dozens of Former Employees Now at OpenAI’\" href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/18/apple-letters-to-openai-employees\"> ★ </a>\n</div>",
"image": null,
"media": [],
"authors": [
{
"name": "John Gruber",
"email": null,
"url": "http://daringfireball.net/"
}
],
"categories": []
},
{
"id": "tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43271",
"title": "Apple Books and Amazon Are Lousy With AI-Generated Books Ripping Off Legitimate Authors",
"description": null,
"url": "https://thenewthings.com/p/apple-big-ai-book-slop-problem",
"published": "2026-07-18T00:33:15.000Z",
"updated": "2026-07-19T22:27:19.000Z",
"content": "<p><a href=\"https://thenewthings.com/p/apple-big-ai-book-slop-problem\">Joanna Stern at New Things, last month</a>:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Last month, just days after my book went on sale, AI knockoffs of\nthe ebook version flooded Apple Books. There was <em>Joanna Stern On\nI Am Not A Robot</em> by Sophie Mercer. <em>I AM NOT A ROBOT</em> by Finn\nTech. <em>I AM NOT A ROBOT</em> by Joana Stern — with one “n.” (<a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/shorts/IFLMpFzdtgc?feature=share&utm_campaign=apple-s-big-ai-book-slop-problem&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=thenewthings.com\">Watch\nour latest video</a> showing all these titles and more.)</p>\n\n<p>In total, I found ten AI-generated ebooks clearly riding on mine,\nwith AI-generated covers mimicking the style of my real one — the\nsame blue, yellow and red color palette. Most were priced at\n$9.99, but some have gone as high as $20.99. [...]</p>\n\n<p>After I contacted Apple about my own book’s clones back in May,\nthe knockoffs quickly disappeared. [...] But now, a month after\nthat first Apple cleanup, the problem is back. At the start of\nthis week, there were at least three other <em>I AM NOT A ROBOT</em>\ncounterfeits on Apple Books. (They seem to have since been\nremoved.)</p>\n\n<p>And I’m not alone. Lena Dunham’s <em>Famesick</em> has multiple\nlookalikes on the platform. Haley Sacks’s <em>Future Rich Person</em> has\ncopycats that even use AI generated images of women on the cover\nthat resemble the real author.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p><a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/16/technology/ai-slop-books-biography-amazon.html?unlocked_article_code=1.ylA.d9nK.UpBzYfszrwa_\">Kashmir Hill at The New York Times today</a> (gift link):</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Recently, I received a strange text from a new acquaintance. “You\nhave your own biography???” it read. “How did you neglect to tell\nme this?”</p>\n\n<p>This was news to me. I went to Amazon to investigate. There it\nwas. A biography of Kashmir Hill — title: “The Biography of\nKashmir Hill” — had been released nearly a year earlier, in\nAugust 2025. My life story had a mottled brown cover and a\npublisher I’d never heard of before. It had no reviews until I\nwrote one, asking, as the subject of this work, if I could please\nspeak to the author. The hardcover cost $26.99, which seemed a\nbit steep, but my editor splurged on a copy and I was forced to\nread it.</p>\n\n<p>My biography is 90 pages long and should be shorter. It combines\nfacts about me that are widely available on the internet, such as\nwhere I grew up, with generic insights that could be true of\nanyone, like a horoscope spread over dozens of pages. “You cannot\nunderstand Kashmir Hill without understanding her\ncontradictions,” my biographer wrote, along with an\nexcruciatingly long description of my elaborate coffee-making\nritual. (Fact check: My husband does it.)</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>It’s not just an e-book problem. Printing services are so cheap nowadays that some of these mooks (like one “author” Hill spoke to) are commissioning print editions for <em>hundreds</em> of these slopfests.</p>\n\n<div>\n<a title=\"Permanent link to ‘Apple Books and Amazon Are Lousy With AI-Generated Books Ripping Off Legitimate Authors’\" href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/17/joanna-stern-ai-ripoff-books\"> ★ </a>\n</div>",
"image": null,
"media": [],
"authors": [
{
"name": "John Gruber",
"email": null,
"url": "http://daringfireball.net/"
}
],
"categories": []
},
{
"id": "tag:daringfireball.net,2026:/linked//6.43270",
"title": "Google Runs Out of Appeals, Must Pay Record $4.7 Billion EU Antitrust Fine",
"description": null,
"url": "https://www.cnbc.com/2026/07/02/alphabet-google-android-eu-antitrust-fine-4-1-billion-euro-appeal.html",
"published": "2026-07-17T23:47:16.000Z",
"updated": "2026-07-18T22:54:09.000Z",
"content": "<p>Arjun Kharpal, reporting for CNBC, back on July 2:</p>\n\n<blockquote>\n <p>Europe’s top court on Thursday upheld Google’s fine of around 4.1\nbillion euros ($4.67 billion) over alleged anti-competitive\npractices.</p>\n\n<p>In 2018, the European Commission slapped Google with the\nrecord-breaking penalty on the grounds that it abused Android’s\nmobile dominance to give unfair advantage to its own apps via\npre-installation deals with smartphone makers.</p>\n\n<p>Google has been appealing the ruling through the EU court system.\nBut the European Court of Justice (ECJ), Europe’s top court,\ndismissed Google’s appeal. Google has no further right to appeal.</p>\n</blockquote>\n\n<p>Google last year <a href=\"https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1652044/000165204426000018/goog-20251231.htm\">booked $132 billion in profit</a>; this fine is about 3 percent of that. But in 2018, when the fine was initially assessed, Google booked <a href=\"https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1652044/000165204419000004/goog10-kq42018.htm\">“just” $31 billion in profit</a> — this fine, if they’d paid it then, would have been about 15 percent of their annual profit. (And they booked only $13B, $19B, $16B, and $14B in profit going back from 2017 to 2014.)</p>\n\n<p>There’s never a reason <em>not</em> to string the appeal process out, but it’s especially true when your profits are growing at an exceptional rate. By growing their profits around 5×, they’ve reduced the relative sting of this fine by 5×.</p>\n\n<p>And that’s ignoring the effects of inflation — which over the last eight year have been significant.</p>\n\n<div>\n<a title=\"Permanent link to ‘Google Runs Out of Appeals, Must Pay Record $4.7 Billion EU Antitrust Fine’\" href=\"https://daringfireball.net/linked/2026/07/17/google-eu-fine\"> ★ </a>\n</div>",
"image": null,
"media": [],
"authors": [
{
"name": "John Gruber",
"email": null,
"url": "http://daringfireball.net/"
}
],
"categories": []
}
]
}