SimDystopia

Music, computer history, documentation, dystopian stories, and more in this issue. Just a few of my favourite things.

xx Chinch

If you like what you read here and want to keep supporting my work, I have a couple of ways you can support me this issue.

The AI writing tool with unparalleled story smarts

Sudowrite is an AI-powered writing assistant that helps you brainstorm, outline, and write your stories.

Not looking for software?

Then head to chrischinchilla.com/support for other ways to support me. You can also just share this newsletter with someone else.

Does whispering to agents in docs help? Fabrizio Ferri Benedetti

passo.uno

I demand "Docs Whisperer" as my next job title. A post from the always insightful Fabrizio Ferri Benedetti on the increasing trend of agent babysitting that many of us find ourselves in.

'Just a hobby won't be big': Linus Torvalds introduced Linux 35 years ago - and almost called it Freax | ZDNET

zdnet.com

Happy Birthday Linux! Possibly the most successful hobby ever?

How to Introduce a Dystopia: World-Building Tips

blog.quoteunquoteapps.com

Much of my writing revolves around loose or "lite" dystopias, and I have always been something of a fan of end-of-the-world stories. This article has some great tips on how to narratively reveale details of your dystopia without bombarding the reader with information.

A Technical Deep Dive Into the New Raycast - Raycast Blog

raycast.com

I've been a fan of Raycast, the product, for a long time, but I'm less certain about how the company intends to make money. As they recently added Windows support, the company needed to change the way they architected the app to make development easier. And while I am not a big fan of this approach or the resulting 2.0 (yet), this blog post at least was an interesting deep dive into the decisions they had to make.

MIDI update promised smarter e-drum compatibility

digitaldrummermag.com

I doubt many people care about this, but hey, this is my newsletter. I have a fairly creaky electric drum kit, but even premium ones are limited in how well they can capture the subtleties of a real drum kit. Maybe this update to the equally ageing MIDI protocol will help, but it will be a while.

The Safety Reckoning Inside OpenAI

wired.com

How does one of the fastest-growing companies in the world attempt to balance safety and maintain momentum? Time to see.

» maxis The Digital Antiquarian

filfre.net

It's been a while since I've had something from the Digital Antiquarian in the newsletter, and now, like buses or police officers, I have three at once. Well, technically, it's a series, but go with it. This was a fascinating story charting the ups, downs, and colossal ups of Maxis, creators of SimCity, The Sims, and an awful lot of games you probably forgot about.

If you like what you're reading, support my work

The ultimate macOS productivity app

Want to improve your productivity on macOS with a Shortcut to everything.

Try Raycast