Espresso Shots 10-26-25

It's that time again for my weekly update, which includes a short collection of noteworthy finds, posts that inspire, as well as a few reflections from the past week or two. I'll aim to land these in your inbox by the weekend, in time to pair with your morning coffee (or your preferred cup of inspiration).

The Latest Drippings ☕️

• How to Think Clearly in a World of Noise. I really liked this post, which comes from Orwell's writing, that 'vague writing comes from vague thinking.' More importantly, that 'clarity and honesty matter more than blindly following rules' - an important concept to remember not only in the world of crafting AI prompts, but critical thinking in general.
• Make Rules, Break Rules. I've been a long-time fan of the application of artificial constraints, so I appreciated this post on how 'self-imposed rules add purposeful friction. They help me pause and pay attention. What do I want to do? Or not want to do? How do I want to steer my little leaky ship of behavior today?' With the necessary corollary - break dumb rules when you can.
• Take More Swings. Can't disagree here: 'It’s a good thing to take more swings. Not everything is a hit, and that’s OK. But every time I take a swing, I’ve got a chance to do something great.'
• When Never Enough is No Longer Enough. Knowing when you have 'enough' is an underused yet powerful lens through which to view things. I've heard this story before, and it bears repeating. 'Two famous authors were chatting at a glamorous party on New York’s Shelter Island – Kurt Vonnegut and Joseph Heller (of Catch-22 fame). Vonnegut tells Heller that the party's host, a billionaire hedge fund manager, once made more money in a single day than Heller made from all the Catch-22 royalties across the novel’s entire lifespan. 'Yes,' said Heller, 'but I have something he will never have... Enough.''
• The Internet Was Doomed From the Start. I like the premise of this piece: 'Maybe it’s time to rethink the entire internet.' While the post talks about some early thinking from Bill Gates, I find myself going back to this early vision from one of the best pioneers - David Bowie. In this prophetic interview, Bowie states, where once rock was a conveyor of information and rebellion, 'it's a currency that is not devoid of meaning anymore but it's certainly only a conveyor of information now it's not a conveyor of rebellion and the internet has taken on that.... I find that a terribly exciting area so from my standpoint being a an artist i like to see what the new construction is.'
• Why Doesn't Anything Work Anymore?. 'I know about the theory of enshittification. Beyond all of that, though, it’s truly astounding how bad it feels like everything technology-related has gotten.' As someone who has spent a ton of time getting all my home-tech working, I see things randomly break from one day to the next for no reason, all the time. I often ask myself, 'am I the only one who is even using this feature?' (Looking at you Family Sharing). He sums it up pretty well: 'I’ve worked in the tech industry for close to two decades at this point. I’ve seen how difficult it is to build quality products, but I’ve also seen that it can be done. It just feels like no one gives a shit anymore, beyond a handful of independent devs and small shops. It’s wild. I’m not proposing any real solution other than encouraging people to care more, but I know anyone who reads this blog likely isn’t in a position of power to enforce care in their companies. The ones who could create change only care about the usual destructive forces: shareholder value, growth at all costs, and their own net worth. So I’m just here to rant because I need to exorcise some anger.' Secondary link here to: Everything is Broken.
• The AWS Outage Bricked People's $2,700 Smartbeds. Speaking of breaking, last week's Amazon outage wrecked people's smart beds.
• Here's What Happened When ProPublica Reporters Tried to Find Out Where a Popular Prescription Drug Was Made. Well, this is a scary and fascinating read, especially for someone on Atorvastatin for cholesterol treatment. 'ProPublica wanted to know something simple: Where a widely used generic drug was made and whether that factory had any quality problems. Instead, we found ourselves navigating a labyrinth of company names and complex databases that few regular consumers even knew existed. And even after all that detective work, we hit a dead end.'
• 'I Realized I'd Been ChatGPT-Ed Into Bed': How 'Chatfishing' Made Finding Love on Dating Apps Even Weirder. Well, this is horrible - apparently the newest trend in dating apps is chatfishing, being 'seduced by ChatGPT-polished banter and AI-generated charm.' What's always shocking to me is we have such a range of crazy-impossible-wonderful technologies, and more often than not, they're used for harm rather than good.
• How I Handle Rude People. For me, this largely falls under the Dichotomy of Control: 'But I dunno; I don't think he was just saying fuck all to everything, but rather, each individual is responsible on how they react. It's primarily up to us to change. So maybe it really comes down to this: the things we have direct control over are our actions, how we think about things, and our values. Everything else is outside of that is uncontrollable.'
• George R.R. Martin Had a Dark Vision for the Comic That Inspired Superman 2. I always enjoy these behind-the-scenes peeks at the creative process; apparently, the Game of Thrones author had some wild ideas on turning the DCU into a Westeros-style multi-decade story. 'We wanted to tell a story that would span decades. Characters would die, would change, would marry, would have children... Wars would be fought, but eventually, from the chaos and brutality of the early days, a society would be born. Some of the villains would find only death on the new world, but for others it would be a second chance, and they would find redemption. The whole tale, once told, would span decades. None of the villains would ever return to Earth.' It's a shame they didn't experiment more with this - but kinda seeing them take some of those concepts forward, especially after the Peacemaker Season 2 finale.
• How Artists Are Keeping The Lost Art of Neon Signs Alive. A fascinating post on the rise of cheap LED signs that has threatened the traditional neon sign industry and the resurgence of the aesthetic of quality, real neon. I need to add his shop, Quality Neon Signs, to the list of places to visit on some upcoming trip to Los Angeles.
• The Movies That Defined Gen X. Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and The Breakfast Club (which oddly enough, we recently rewatched) are among the list of classics mentioned here.
• Would of, Could of, Might of, Must Of. More than you ever cared to know about the use of modal-'of' constructions through literature and 'its role in reflecting authentic speech and as an example of language evolution.'

Amor Fati ✌🏻