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PODCAST

Abstractions

Justin Mayer & Dan Jacobson

Abstractions is a podcast about technology, software, hardware, and the Internet, and the way the ever-increasing layers of these technologies permeate every aspect of our everyday lives.

technology tech news

All Episodes

36:12

Artist Preference Doxxing

Abstractions ·

2026/03/12

Apple announces the affordable MacBook Neo, and rising hardware component prices threaten local computing, self-hosting, and data sovereignty.🔗 Links Muspy: Be notified when artists release new music MacBook Neo M5 MacBook Air iPhone 17e M4 iPad Air Mac Mini and Apple servers to be made in Houston 512 GB Mac Studio vanishes Control: No RAM/GPUs/drives = no local computing Hetzner prices increase 30–40% You can find Justin Mayer on the web at justinmayer.com and on the Fediverse at

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55:43

Anti-Schadenfreude Linter

Abstractions ·

2026/03/05

Bots hit Justin’s open-source repositories, and Apple announces new high-end M5 MacBook Pros and Studio Display monitors.🔗 Links XKCD digital infrastructure comic, now interactive Stolen Gemini API key racks up $82,000 in 48 hours Apple introduces MacBook Pro with all‑new M5 Pro and M5 Max, delivering breakthrough pro performance and next-level on-device AI Apple unveils new Studio Display and all-new Studio Display XDR You can find Justin Mayer on the web at justinmayer.com and on the

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44:46

Wave of Automated Everything

Abstractions ·

2026/02/26

OpenAI outgrows its original mission, generative LLM software overwhelms open source maintainers, and several projects attempt to distinguish human from bot contributors.🔗 Links My journey to the microwave alternate timeline Mastodon is for the people “My Friends Are Not for Sale” T-shirts OpenAI’s mission statement evolution AI Agent Lands PRs in Major OSS Projects Respectful Open Source Vouch Good Egg You can find Justin Mayer on the web at justinmayer.com and on the Fediverse at

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38:56

Banana Signal Loss

Abstractions ·

2026/02/19

Hard drives are sold out for the year, Apple announces video podcasts, OpenClaw creator joins OpenAI, and generative software bots make open source maintainers’ jobs even harder.🔗 Links Justin makes it into Virtualenv docs Homebrew Python Is Not for You WD & Seagate confirm hard drives are already sold out for the entire year Apple video podcasts Audiophiles can’t tell the difference between audio signals sent through copper wire, a banana, or wet mud Tiny Tool Town OpenClaw creator joins

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48:01

Rage-Quit Maneuver

Abstractions ·

2026/02/12

Discord will require face scan or ID for full access, Qobuz adopts human-first policy on software-generated music, and research indicates LLMs intensify work instead of reducing it.🔗 Links Sandboxels Discord limits access if age is unverified Discord will require a face scan or ID for full access next month Discord admits data breach of users’ government IDs they collected How to Delete your Discord Account DiscordChatExporter: Save Discord chat logs to a file Discord Alternatives,

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48:41

Self-Serving Barnacle

Abstractions ·

2026/02/05

Clawdbot’s new name changes (again) to OpenClaw, related projects Moltbook and Moltworker arise, Apple acquires Q.ai while losing the faith of long-time fans, and the Jekyll static site generator may be abandoned.🔗 Links OpenClaw Moltbook Moltworker Apple Acquires Q.ai The Fallen Apple by Matt Gemmell Pelican static site generator You can find Justin Mayer on the web at justinmayer.com and on the Fediverse at justin.ramble.space. Dan Jacobson’s homestead on the web is at danj.ca.

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48:35

YOLO-Driven Development

Abstractions ·

2026/01/29

Apple announces 2nd-generation AirTags, Jujutsu aims to best Git at version control, Claude Code continues to impress, and Moltbot can connect LLMs to your entire digital life.🔗 Links Apple announces 2nd-generation AirTags iOS 18.7.4 Jujutsu version control system Jujutsu terminal user interfaces jjui [lazyjj]https://github.com/Cretezy/lazyjj) Claude Code configuration for Django projects Moltbot (formerly Clawdbot) You can find Justin Mayer on the web at justinmayer.com and on the Fediverse

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60:09

Replete with Cringe

Abstractions ·

2026/01/22

Apple releases Creator Studio replete with cringe-worthy icons, Gemini will power Apple Intelligence, OpenAI will put ads into ChatGPT, and Tailwind CSS revenues and headcount are decimated by LLMs.🔗 Links Antidepressant or Tolkien character? Apple Creator Studio press release Apple Creator Studio icon history Apple’s icons meet Benjamin Button Ads in ChatGPT LLMs hurt Tailwind’s business You can find Justin Mayer on the web at justinmayer.com and on the Fediverse at justin.ramble.space. Dan

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43:46

All My Segues Are Broken

Abstractions ·

2026/01/08

Anna’s Archive backs up all of Spotify, users are vexed by icons in MacOS 26 Tahoe menu items, email-based authentication is on the rise, and Microsoft wants you to stop saying “slop”.🔗 Links 2025 but depicted in gingerbread Enclose.horse game Robot kicks human (video) DuckDuckGo without “AI” answers Anna’s Archive backs up all of Spotify Hide the notification badge on the iOS Settings app Last Year on My Mac: Look back in disbelief It’s hard to justify Tahoe icons You can find Justin Mayer on

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33:52

You Are to Blame and Thank You

Abstractions ·

2025/12/24

Mozilla has a new CEO, Olmo 3 open-source LLM is released, Justin switches to Kagi for web searches, and Dan installs Unraid for network-attached storage.🔗 Links Scooter: Interactive find-and-replace in the terminal SlopStop: Community-driven AI slop detection in Kagi Search Mozilla’s new CEO is doubling down on an AI future for Firefox Olmo 3 open-source LLM Unraid You can find Justin Mayer on the web at justinmayer.com and on the Fediverse at justin.ramble.space. Dan Jacobson’s homestead on

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47:43

Aerodynamic Turkey

Abstractions ·

2025/12/18

RAM prices rise precipitously, the “open source” moniker continues to be abused, Omarchy Linux reviews are in, and we take a first look at the Asus ProArt 6K display.🔗 Links Size of Life The RAM Shortage Comes for Us All Sam Altman’s Dirty DRAM Deal ’Source available’ is not open source (and that’s okay) A Word on Omarchy DHH and Omarchy: Midlife crisis Asus ProArt Display 6K PA32QCV You can find Justin Mayer on the web at justinmayer.com and on the Fediverse at justin.ramble.space. Dan

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44:35

Ramparts of Dissatisfaction

Abstractions ·

2025/12/11

Apple UI head Alan Dye leaves for Facebook, Apple removes our control over update notifications, and evidence leaks that OpenAI is planning to put ads in ChatGPT.🔗 Links Losing Confidence (in Tech) This Time It’s Not Fatigue, But Disconnection OpenAI Preparing to Stuff Ads Into ChatGPT You can find Justin Mayer on the web at justinmayer.com and on the Fediverse at justin.ramble.space. Dan Jacobson’s homestead on the web is at danj.ca.

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49:01

Will It Into Existence

Abstractions ·

2025/12/04

Apple Intelligence uptake, needy programs, Google breaks YouTube links, solid-state drives slowly lose data, and mounting criticism of generative software.🔗 Links Take on Me by A-ha turns 40 Song Exploder podcast episode 301: “Take on Me” Article on backstory behind “Take on Me” Take On Me music video (4K, YouTube) LibrePods: AirPods liberated from Apple’s ecosystem Needy Programs The unpowered SSDs in your drawer are slowly losing your data Microsoft Exec Asks: Why Aren’t More People

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37:16

Time-Traveling Ads

Abstractions ·

2025/11/26

Justin has a new toy, the creator of Mastodon steps down as CEO, Apple Podcasts now generates chapters, dynamic ad insertion plagues podcasts, and misguided folks force links to open in new browser tabs.🔗 Links BTXETUEL 4-Key Mechanical Keyboard The “Vibe Coding Keyboard”: How I Made My Walk-and-Talk Setup Even More Awesome Helium web browser My next chapter with Mastodon The Peaceful Transfer of Power in Open Source Projects Chapters on Apple Podcasts Transcripts on Apple Podcasts Timed Links

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55:17

Charmingly Antiquated

Abstractions ·

2025/11/20

Valve announces new Steam video game hardware, Plex neglects its core user base, Canva makes Affinity Suite free, Nisus Writer may be moribund, and Nike announces robot shoes.🔗 Links TextSniper I Hate Screenshots of Text Valve announces Steam Machine, Steam Frame, and Steam Controller Affinity Suite is now free Acorn is a great image editor for MacOS Graphite is an open-source, cross-platform, image editor (alpha) Nike unveils Amplify: world’s first powered footwear for running and

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45:50

An Era in Middle Earth

Abstractions ·

2025/11/13

Large language models and command-line coding agents can expand programming horizons, and Bazzite Linux puts the fun back into playing video games on PCs.🔗 Links The Art of Interacting Incorrectly (via Gina Trapani) Writing code with LLM agents OpenCode OpenHands Claude Code VibeTunnel Jeff Triplett’s List of Default Apps 2025 Games on Bazzite Linux Bazzite Proton DB Nvidia Shield Pro Sunshine Moonlight Fueran HDMI headless adapter / dummy plug WJESOG DisplayPort to USB-C cable (works with

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39:52

Into the Disintegration Chambers

Abstractions ·

2025/11/06

Whispering is an open-source dictation/transcription desktop app, Neo puts the “human” in humanoid robots, and OpenAI stuffs ChatGPT into a web browser.🔗 Links Dictation / transcription desktop apps Whispering Epicenter MacWhisper Atlas LLM-powered web browser ChatGPT’S Atlas: The Browser That’s Anti-Web AI Browsers: Living on the Frontier of Security You can find Justin Mayer on the web at justinmayer.com and on the Fediverse at justin.ramble.space. Dan Jacobson’s homestead on the web is

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32:03

Following Our Own Path

Abstractions ·

2025/10/30

Whether it’s Mac vs. Windows, Git vs. Mercurial, Fish shell vs. Bash/Zsh, or QWERTY vs. alternative keyboard layouts, one must decide when to move with the herd and when to follow your own path.Space Elevator Fish shell You can find Justin Mayer on the web at justinmayer.com and on the Fediverse at justin.ramble.space. Dan Jacobson’s homestead on the web is at danj.ca.

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36:40

Generative Software Serfdom

Abstractions ·

2025/10/23

Apple announces the M5 processor and new MacBook Pro and iPad Pro models, Nabu Casa retires its Home Assistant Yellow appliance, and OpenAI announces the GPT Store.Dog spinner EFF Opt-Out October Facebook Tells Workers Building Metaverse to Use AI to “Go 5x Faster” (archive) Apple announces its M5 processor Ending production of Home Assistant Yellow Home Assistant Green Alternative ways to run Home Assistant Geekom line of mini PCs OpenAI announces GPT store You can find Justin Mayer on the

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48:13

Pleasantly Whimsical

Abstractions ·

2025/10/16

Discord was hacked and user government photo IDs were stolen, Synology walks back drive restrictions in their NAS enclosures, Dan shares his initial impressions of iOS & MacOS 26, and concerns grow about a possible investment bubble in generative AI software companies.Discord users suffer first high-profile age-verification hack Synology reverses policy banning third-party HDDs after NAS sales plummet Synology drive compatibility policy Benjamin Button Reviews MacOS AI bubble is 17 times

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49 results

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