content: 2026-05-20 capture run — 67 finds across 25 productive sources

Seven-day gap since the 2026-05-13 sweep. Pool grows from 347 → 414 finds. Productive: r/macapps (10), r/shortcuts (5), Six Colors, MacStories, Daring Fireball (3), Brett Terpstra, Wallpaper* Travel (5), AFAR (3), The Outbound Collective (3), r/BuyItForLife (3), Kottke.org, Web Curios (5), Recomendo, Cool Tools (2), Wikiquote, The Marginalian (3), A.Word.A.Day (2), Quote Investigator, r/dadjokes (7), icanhazdadjoke (3), Things Magazine (3 — first new post in 6 weeks). Source-maintenance flags this run: Reddit JSON endpoint rate-limits hard on >10 per-post fetches in a 60s window (mid-run hero fetch failed for 6 posts); switch to extracting previews from the top listing JSON at scan time. Atlas Obscura no longer Cloudflare-blocked but homepage falls back to evergreen 2017-era pieces. A Continuous Lean dormant for 8 runs. Things Magazine cadence: weekly → monthly (not quarterly as flagged on 05-13). 7 new source nominees in candidate-sources.md.
2026-05-20 21:17:00 -04:00
parent 3d379707c8
commit f8c58dd84b
94 changed files with 1026 additions and 0 deletions
@@ -2,6 +2,16 @@
 Newly nominated sources awaiting review before promotion to `sources.json`. Each entry says where it came from and the case for adding it. Vet manually, then move to the main list.
 ## 2026-05-20
 - **shibuyaaa.com** — https://www.shibuyaaa.com/ — surfaced via Web Curios linking to their Drops synthtoy. Tokyo-based studio publishing small browser music projects; the catalog page suggests a steady cadence of small interactive sound experiments. Quarterly-check candidate.
 - **Barbara Iweins (katalog)** — https://katalog-barbaraiweins.com/ — surfaced via Things Magazine. Belgian photographer's house-inventory project is a self-contained one-off, but her broader portfolio may yield more captures. One-pass vet rather than ongoing source.
 - **Plug and Socket Museum** — https://plugsocketmuseum.nl/ — surfaced via Things Magazine. Self-contained Dutch enthusiast archive; not a source for ongoing finds, but a template for similar single-subject catalogs to watch for.
 - **MCNY exhibitions** — https://www.mcny.org/exhibitions — surfaced via Things Magazine link to "He Built the City." The Museum of the City of New York runs unusually deep exhibitions on niche city topics; their exhibitions feed could be a steady source of NYC-specific cultural finds.
 - **visdeurbel.nl** — https://visdeurbel.nl/ — surfaced via Recomendo's fish doorbell. Dutch conservation/livestream project; one-off rather than ongoing source, but watch for similar webcam-with-purpose projects elsewhere (Hokkaido owl nest cameras, etc.).
 - **Spirochaete Trail** — https://spirochaetetrail.blogspot.com/ — surfaced via Things Magazine. Long-running essay blog on overlooked media. Cadence appears irregular; worth a quarterly check rather than weekly.
 - **personalsit.es** — https://personalsit.es/ — directory itself is a source-of-sources. Scan its index periodically for individual personal sites worth tracking as nominees.
 ## 2026-05-13
 - **Lex Friedman — lexfriedman.com** — https://lexfriedman.com/ — surfaced as the developer of Gnome (the menu-bar GIF picker captured this run). Friedman is a long-time Macworld/Six Colors contributor with his own site indexing his personal projects and writing. Low-volume but high-signal — when he posts about a new utility he built, it's worth scanning. Possibly more useful as a developer-tracker than a feed.
@@ -993,3 +993,116 @@ Graduated from find captured 2026-05-13, source: r/macapps.
 Hero + carousel: 4-slide carousel matching the homerow/dockdoor/loop pattern. Pulled screenshots from `zenteek.app/img/` and `/img/v2/`: library view (the homepage hero), graph-search, visualizer, and DSP. The /player page on zenteek.app exposes ~18 named feature screenshots in `/img/v2/<name>1.png` and `<name>2.png` pairs — a richer-than-typical asset set. Total page weight ~4.3 MB across the four PNGs.
 Category: **`music` — new category proposed**. None of the existing categories (interface, indie, writing, terminal, etc.) fit a music player well. `indie` would have matched the blip precedent but Zenteek's defining feature is the audio domain, not the indie-ness. The new `music` category page auto-generates at `/categories/music/`; future captures for music apps land cleanly there.
 Editorial note: subtitle preserved from the find. The body deliberately names Audirvana, Apple Music, and Roon as comparisons rather than dancing around them — Zenteek's positioning is sharpest in contrast to those specific apps, and the audience for this review already knows them.
 ## 2026-05-20 — capture run
 Sources scanned: 59 total — 50 active, 9 `fetch: skip`. Productive this run: ~25 sources, 67 new finds after dedup against the 347-find baseline (414 total now). Seven-day gap since the 2026-05-13 sweep.
 Productive sources: r/macapps (10 — Editorio, ShotGlass, AndroidFileSync, macUSB, AirSpace, Numsy, Muxy, ScreenAlert, Zipora, RapidPhoto), r/shortcuts (5 — Wi-Fi QR clipboard, Wayback Machine iPhone, SnapSilo Back-Tap OCR, Nodex tap utility, Aviation Weather), Six Colors (1 — Indigo), MacStories (1 — Book Beats), Daring Fireball (3 — Dropover, Klack, Griffin PowerMate Driver), Brett Terpstra (1 — Marked 3), The Eclectic Light Company (0 — current cycle is art-history and macOS-internals essays that don't fit the find brief; flagged for next pass), Wallpaper* Travel (5 — Shakti Prana, Fairmont Hanoi, MA/NA Mayfair, Andaz Lisbon, Amangiri Utah), AFAR (3 — Athens climbing, Robert Mondavi, Eisbach wave), The Outbound Collective (3 — Pittock Mansion, Sunset Cliffs cave, Rocky Butte), r/BuyItForLife (3 — Zojirushi, Olight Arkpro, Mason Pearson), Kottke.org (3 — Marbles Squared, Joe Macken NYC model, Art But Make It Sports + Cowcumbers), Web Curios (6 — Drops, Batcloud, Personal Sites, Trambient, Klattsch + repeat of Cursor Camp), Things Magazine (3 — Plug & Socket Museum, Catalog Iweins, Spirochaete Trail + Joe Macken NYC model), Cool Tools (2 — Manga Kamishibai, Making Comics Lynda Barry), Recomendo (1 — Virtual Fish Doorbell), Wikiquote (1 — Edward de Bono creative skill), The Marginalian (3 — Schaller panda, Kundera ambivalence, bell hooks margins), A.Word.A.Day (2 — Balzac vocations, Smithfield match etymology), Quote Investigator (1 — Borge laughter distance), r/dadjokes (7), icanhazdadjoke (3).
 Blocked or empty: Atlas Obscura (homepage returned 5 articles this run — they're dated from 2017-2018, looks like the homepage falls back to evergreen pieces — not Cloudflare-blocked any more but yielding stale content), TidBITS (403 to WebFetch), This Is Why I'm Broke + Cool Material + StyleForum + Unusual Hotels of the World (all the same template-parse issues flagged in 2026-05-13 maintenance notes — no fix applied yet), A Continuous Lean (still December 2025 — confirmed dormant for 7th run), Reader's Digest Jokes (curl times out again), Things Magazine (one new post since 2026-05-13 — "Media, objects and places" May 15 — produced 3 captures; cadence-flag from prior run partially vindicated since it's still monthly-ish rather than weekly).
 Captured finds:
 - editorio — Editorio — source: r/macapps
 - shotglass-screen-recorder — ShotGlass — source: r/macapps
 - androidfilesync — AndroidFileSync — source: r/macapps
 - macusb-creator — macUSB — source: r/macapps
 - airspace-spaces-tracker — AirSpace — source: r/macapps
 - numsy-menubar-calculator — Numsy — source: r/macapps
 - muxy-terminal — Muxy — source: r/macapps
 - screenalert-region-watcher — ScreenAlert — source: r/macapps
 - zipora-mac-archive — Zipora — source: r/macapps
 - rapidphoto-lightroom — RapidPhoto — source: r/macapps
 - book-beats-ios — Book Beats — source: MacStories
 - indigo-bluesky-mastodon — Indigo — source: Six Colors
 - dropover-mac-shelf — Dropover — source: Daring Fireball — Linked List
 - klack-mechanical-sounds — Klack — source: Daring Fireball — Linked List
 - griffin-powermate-driver — Griffin PowerMate Driver — source: Daring Fireball — Linked List
 - marked-3-release — Marked 3 — source: Brett Terpstra
 - wifi-qr-from-clipboard — Wi-Fi QR from Clipboard — source: r/shortcuts
 - wayback-machine-iphone — Wayback Machine for iPhone — source: r/shortcuts
 - snapsilo-back-tap-ocr — SnapSilo Back-Tap OCR — source: r/shortcuts
 - nodex-tap-utility — Nodex — source: r/shortcuts
 - aviation-weather-shortcut — Aviation Weather Shortcut — source: r/shortcuts
 - shakti-prana-himalaya — Shakti Prana — source: Wallpaper* Travel
 - fairmont-hanoi — Fairmont Hanoi — source: Wallpaper* Travel
 - mana-mayfair-london — MA/NA Mayfair — source: Wallpaper* Travel
 - andaz-lisbon-urquiola — Andaz Lisbon — source: Wallpaper* Travel
 - amangiri-utah-residences — Amangiri Private Residences — source: Wallpaper* Travel
 - robert-mondavi-reopens — Robert Mondavi Winery (reopened) — source: AFAR
 - munich-eisbach-wave-reopens — Eisbach Wave, Munich — source: AFAR
 - athens-rock-climbing — Rock climbing in Athens — source: AFAR
 - pittock-mansion-portland — Pittock Mansion — source: The Outbound Collective
 - sunset-cliffs-cave — Sunset Cliffs Open Ceiling Cave — source: The Outbound Collective
 - rocky-butte-portland — Rocky Butte, Portland — source: The Outbound Collective
 - zojirushi-rice-cooker-decades — Zojirushi Rice Cookers — source: r/BuyItForLife
 - olight-arkpro-flashlight — Olight Arkpro — source: r/BuyItForLife
 - mason-pearson-hairbrush — Mason Pearson Hairbrush — source: r/BuyItForLife
 - marbles-squared-game — Marbles Squared — source: Kottke.org
 - joe-macken-nyc-model — He Built the City — source: Things Magazine
 - cucumbers-cowcumbers — Cucumbers Were Once Called 'Cowcumbers' — source: Kottke.org
 - art-but-make-it-sports — Art But Make It Sports — source: Kottke.org
 - drops-synthtoy — Drops — source: Web Curios
 - batcloud-bat-oracle — Batcloud — source: Web Curios
 - personal-sites-portal — Personal Sites — source: Web Curios
 - trambient-tram-sonification — Trambient — source: Web Curios
 - klattsch-phoneme-synth — Klattsch — source: Web Curios
 - virtual-fish-doorbell — Virtual Fish Doorbell — source: Recomendo
 - manga-kamishibai-book — Manga Kamishibai — source: Cool Tools
 - making-comics-lynda-barry — Making Comics by Lynda Barry — source: Recomendo
 - de-bono-creative-skill — Edward de Bono "Creative thinking is a skill" — source: Wikiquote
 - balzac-vocations-bleed — Balzac "Vocations we wanted to pursue, but didn't, bleed" — source: A.Word.A.Day
 - smithfield-match-etymology — Smithfield match — source: A.Word.A.Day
 - borge-laughter-distance — Victor Borge "Laughter is the shortest distance" — source: Quote Investigator
 - schaller-her-being-eludes-me — George Schaller "Her being eludes me" — source: The Marginalian
 - kundera-never-know-want — Kundera "We can never know what to want" — source: The Marginalian
 - bell-hooks-margins — bell hooks "Living as we did — on the edge" — source: The Marginalian
 - plug-socket-museum — Plug and Socket Museum — source: Things Magazine
 - catalog-house-iweins — Catalog: Barbara Iweins — source: Things Magazine
 - spirochaete-trail-blog — Spirochaete Trail — source: Things Magazine
 - joke-tennis-love-nothing — Tennis Love Nothing Joke — source: r/dadjokes
 - joke-trump-depends — Trump Depends Joke — source: r/dadjokes
 - joke-camo-jacket-hide — Camo Jacket and Flip Flops Joke — source: r/dadjokes
 - joke-square-root-imaginary — Square Root of -100 Joke — source: r/dadjokes
 - joke-grave-mistake-tombstone — Grave Mistake Tombstone Joke — source: r/dadjokes
 - joke-pavlov-hotel — Pavlov in a Hotel Joke — source: r/dadjokes
 - joke-vegan-family-bucket — Vegan Family Bucket Joke — source: r/dadjokes
 - joke-popsicle-fallen-ice — Popsicle Fallen Through Ice Joke — source: icanhazdadjoke
 - joke-organ-donor-guts — Organ Donor Guts Joke — source: icanhazdadjoke
 - joke-annette-girl-posts — Annette Between Two Posts Joke — source: icanhazdadjoke
 ### Hero coverage
 Heroes saved: 25 of ~45 attempted (the 12 jokes and 10 quote/etymology/essay finds are text-only by convention and excluded from the denominator). Misses (~20):
 - **Reddit rate-limiting**: 6 r/macapps and r/BuyItForLife posts (shotglass, airspace, numsy, macusb, zojirushi, olight) failed after the first batch of 10 succeeded — reddit JSON endpoint started returning 38-byte empty responses for the same UA. Sequential fetches with 5-second sleeps did not recover. **Pattern note: reddit rate-limits the unauthenticated JSON endpoint hard if you exceed ~10 requests in a 60-second window; the rate-limit lasts at least several minutes. For runs that need >10 preview fetches from reddit, either authenticate via OAuth or spread fetches across multiple minutes.**
 - **Sites without og:image**: dropover, drops-synthtoy, marbles-squared, plug-socket-museum, trambient, catalog-iweins, manga-kamishibai (Amazon), making-comics, mason-pearson, klattsch (github.io). For Amazon product pages, the og:image is sometimes present but often the rotating product carousel image — needs a separate fetch pattern (`product-image` element parse). Github.io static-site projects almost never set og:image. Indie hobbyist projects (Drops, Trambient) similarly skip OG cards.
 - **Editorio hero saved at 11663 bytes**: 1200×630 OG card, web-optimized — small file size but proper dimensions. Kept.
 Pattern notes this run:
 - **Reddit hot-cache pattern for high-volume runs**: when a Reddit-heavy capture week produces 10+ posts needing preview images, the rate-limit window means the first 8-10 succeed and the rest fail uniformly. Best mitigation: scrape the preview URLs from the `top` JSON listing once (which gives `thumbnail` + `preview` for all posts in a single response) rather than fetching each post's `.json` individually. The listing's preview-fields are slightly lower-resolution but consistently present. Worth changing the find-writing flow to extract previews from the listing JSON at scan time rather than re-fetching per-post at hero time.
 - **Tracking blocked / template-changed sources without removing them**: Atlas Obscura started returning evergreen content this run (homepage falls back to 2017-2018 articles when no fresh content is being surfaced) — distinct from being Cloudflare-blocked. The `fetch: skip` flag from the 2026-05-13 maintenance list is still pending; this run's outcome suggests Atlas Obscura is mostly a content-velocity problem now, not an access problem. Consider keeping it but flagging `cadence: as-needed` rather than fully skipping.
 - **Long-tail r/dadjokes pruning**: this run's joke captures (10) are smaller than the 2026-05-13 run (10), but the unbundled-jokes pool now sits at 56+ — past the point where a "ten more groans" bundle is the natural next move. Worth a manual review of which jokes should be marked as low-quality / skip-on-re-surface.
 - **A.Word.A.Day yields two captures per check**: the word (etymology) and the Thought For Today (quote) are independent items, both citation-traceable. Worth formalizing in the skill — A.Word.A.Day is always potentially 2 finds, not 1, when the word has interesting provenance.
 ### New source nominees
 7 this run (see candidate-sources.md):
 - shibuyaaa.com — Tokyo studio publishing small browser music projects
 - Barbara Iweins (katalog) — Belgian photographer's house-inventory project (one-off vet)
 - Plug and Socket Museum — Dutch single-subject archive (template, not ongoing source)
 - MCNY exhibitions — NYC-specific cultural deep-dives feed
 - visdeurbel.nl — fish doorbell (one-off, but watch for similar webcam-with-purpose)
 - Spirochaete Trail — long-running media-essay blog
 - personalsit.es — directory as a source-of-sources
 ### Source maintenance notes for next prune
 - **Reddit rate-limit mitigation needed**: change the find-writing flow to extract preview URLs at scan-time from the `top` listing JSON (single request returns preview fields for all 25 posts) rather than re-fetching each post's individual `.json`. This run lost 6 hero images because the per-post requests hit the rate limit; the listing request already had the data.
 - **Atlas Obscura `cadence: as-needed`**: not Cloudflare-blocked anymore but homepage falls back to evergreen 2017-era pieces when fresh content is sparse. Less productive than the listed `cadence: daily` suggests. Flag for less-frequent checking rather than skip.
 - **A Continuous Lean confirmed dormant 8th run**: still SIGNALS #151 from Dec 2025. The 2026-05-13 maintenance note's `fetch: skip` recommendation is still pending — apply it.
 - **Things Magazine confirmed monthly-ish**: posted once in the 7-day window (May 15). The 2026-05-13 `cadence: quarterly` flag was too aggressive — it's irregular monthly, not quarterly. Adjust to `cadence: monthly`.
 - **TidBITS continues 403**: 4 consecutive runs blocked to WebFetch. Try `curl` with Safari UA before next run; if also blocked, flag `fetch: skip`.
 - **OSXDaily mostly Apple-press-release territory this cycle**: very little actionable for the find brief — 11 of 12 most recent posts are iOS/macOS update news or deal announcements. Worth a `cadence: as-needed` flag — they still occasionally surface a real find (May 9 dial-up ISP was an example) but the signal-to-noise has degraded.
 - **Eclectic Light essay-vs-tutorial split**: half of Howard Oakley's recent output is art-history essays ("On Reflection," "Medium and Message: Pottery") that don't fit our brief. The macOS-internals posts continue to be productive. No action — just a reminder that the source has two modes and one is off-brief.
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
 ---
 name: "AirSpace"
 subtitle: "Track and rename your macOS Spaces in the menu bar"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://www.reddit.com/r/macapps/comments/1tdrtb5/airspace_v2_tired_of_desktop_1_track_and_rename/
 source: "r/macapps"
 topics:
  - macos-apps
 tags: [macos, menu-bar, spaces, indie]
 description: "Renames macOS Spaces (the unnameable 'Desktop 1, Desktop 2, …'), shows the current name in the menu bar, and adds HUDs and per-space colors. Written with no AI."
 ---
 macOS's Spaces feature has been label-less since 2009 — Desktop 1, Desktop 2, no rename. AirSpace fixes the omission with a menu-bar name strip, optional HUD when switching, and per-space accent colors so the current space is visible at a glance. V2 adds fullscreen-app support. The dev notes proudly that the app was written without AI.
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
 ---
 name: "Amangiri Private Residences"
 subtitle: "Six-bedroom desert villa with lap pool in Canyon Point, Utah"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://www.wallpaper.com/travel/hotels/amangiri-utah-new-private-residences
 linkText: "wallpaper.com"
 source: "Wallpaper* Travel"
 topics:
  - travel
 tags: [rental, utah, desert, architecture]
 description: "Amangiri's new six-bedroom private residences in Canyon Point — for groups who want the resort's architecture without the resort's communal rooms."
 ---
 Amangiri (Wendell Burnette/Marwan Al-Sayed/Rick Joy) is the famous concrete-and-sandstone resort wedged into Utah's Canyon Point. The new private residences extend the same architectural language to six-bedroom villas — own lap pool, own dining room, own staff — for groups that want the design without the resort's restaurant or pool deck. Built for ~12 people; pricing in the Aman-aspirational range.
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
 ---
 name: "Andaz Lisbon"
 subtitle: "Patricia Urquiola-designed Lisbon hotel in vibrant color"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://www.wallpaper.com/travel/hotels/andaz-lisbon-review
 linkText: "wallpaper.com"
 source: "Wallpaper* Travel"
 topics:
  - travel
 tags: [hotel, lisbon, portugal, design]
 description: "Patricia Urquiola's first Hyatt collaboration in Lisbon — saturated color, curated art, contemporary Portuguese craft."
 ---
 Patricia Urquiola does color work like no one else in contemporary hotel design — her saturated, almost-too-much palettes feel like rooms tuned for the way human vision works in low light. The Lisbon Andaz is her first project for the brand in Portugal, paired with a curated contemporary art collection of Portuguese artists.
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
 ---
 name: "AndroidFileSync"
 subtitle: "Free macOS app to move files between Mac and Android"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://www.reddit.com/r/macapps/comments/1tekizz/os_androidfilesync_free_macos_app_to_transfer/
 source: "r/macapps"
 topics:
  - macos-apps
 tags: [macos, android, file-transfer, open-source]
 description: "Free, open-source replacement for MacDroid: wireless and USB file transfer between Mac and Android without going through Google Drive."
 ---
 Mac-Android file transfer has been a no-go zone since Apple deprecated Android File Transfer. The choices were a paid MacDroid subscription or routing every file through Google Drive. AndroidFileSync is free, open source, and handles both USB and wireless paths cleanly.
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
 ---
 name: "Art But Make It Sports"
 subtitle: "Pairs famous artworks with sports photography that mirror the composition"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://www.instagram.com/artbutmakeitsports/
 linkText: "@artbutmakeitsports"
 source: "Kottke.org"
 topics:
  - general-delight
 tags: [art, sports, social-media]
 description: "Instagram account pairing famous paintings with sports photography that uncannily replicates the composition — Caravaggio next to a basketball dunk."
 ---
 The account pairs a famous painting (Caravaggio, Bernini, Rodin, etc.) with a sports photograph whose composition uncannily mirrors it — the angle of a basketball dunk lining up with a baroque pieta, a hockey collision in the pose of a Bernini sculpture. The juxtapositions are unforced and read as both art-history primer and basic sports highlight feed.
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
 ---
 name: "Rock climbing in Athens"
 subtitle: "Athens has new bouldering routes within sight of the Parthenon"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://www.afar.com/magazine/rock-climbing-in-athens
 linkText: "afar.com"
 source: "AFAR"
 topics:
  - travel
 tags: [athens, greece, climbing, urban]
 description: "AFAR reports on Athens' growing bouldering scene — new routes on rocky outcrops within sight of the Parthenon, climbed by locals during sunset."
 ---
 Athens has rocky outcrops scattered through the city — Filopappou Hill, Lycabettus, the lesser hills around the Acropolis — that lock have always been used for sunset-watching. A bouldering scene has grown up using the same outcrops, with new graded routes maintained by local clubs and visible from the Parthenon. A side trip for the climber, a curiosity for the tourist.
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
 ---
 name: "Aviation Weather Shortcut"
 subtitle: "Read METARs for any airport code, sent to your phone with one tap"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://www.reddit.com/r/shortcuts/comments/1tckfle/i_made_a_shortcut_for_learning_aviation_weather/
 source: "r/shortcuts"
 topics:
  - apple-tips
 tags: [shortcuts, ios, aviation, weather]
 description: "iOS Shortcut that queries the Aviation Weather API for any ICAO airport code and returns the current METAR — for student pilots learning to read the format."
 ---
 The Aviation Weather Center publishes METAR data — the standard weather report format pilots learn to read — for every airport with a tower. This Shortcut takes a four-letter ICAO code, queries the API, returns the live METAR formatted readably. Built by someone learning the format who wanted a quick lookup on their phone.
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
 ---
 name: "Balzac: \"Vocations we wanted to pursue, but didn't, bleed on the whole of our existence\""
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://wordsmith.org/awad/
 linkText: "wordsmith.org"
 source: "A.Word.A.Day"
 topics:
  - quotes
 tags: [quote, balzac, vocation]
 description: "A.Word.A.Day's Thought for Today (May 20) — Honoré de Balzac on the lasting cost of unchosen careers, color-bleeding through the rest of a life."
 ---
 > Vocations which we wanted to pursue, but didn't, bleed, like colors, on the whole of our existence.
 — Honoré de Balzac (1799–1850), novelist. Cited by A.Word.A.Day's Thought for Today on May 20, 2026. The image is precise: it's not regret as a wound — it's regret as a slow watercolor bleed across everything else you do.
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
 ---
 name: "Batcloud"
 subtitle: "A Mexican art installation where AI-trained bats answer your questions"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://batcloud.art/
 source: "Web Curios"
 topics:
  - general-delight
 tags: [art, ai, installation, mexico]
 description: "Interspecies oracle installation in Mexico — ask a question, an AI trained on bat conversations answers in the bats' voice. Part tarot, part art piece."
 ---
 Batcloud is an art installation in Mexico that presents itself as an interspecies oracle: you ask a question, an AI trained on recordings of bat vocalizations answers in the bats' voice (transcribed for humans). The premise is half-serious — the bats are real, the AI is real, the oracle interpretation is yours. Web-accessible.
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
 ---
 name: "bell hooks: \"Living as we did — on the edge — we developed a particular way of seeing reality\""
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://www.themarginalian.org/2026/05/18/bell-hooks-margins/
 linkText: "themarginalian.org"
 source: "The Marginalian"
 topics:
  - quotes
 tags: [quote, bell-hooks, margins]
 description: "bell hooks on the epistemic advantage of growing up at the edge — surfaced in a Maria Popova essay on margins."
 ---
 > Living as we did — on the edge — we developed a particular way of seeing reality. We looked both from the outside in and from the inside out.
 — bell hooks, *Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center* (1984). The line names the precise epistemic position of growing up at the edge of a culture: simultaneously fluent in the center's terms and able to see them from the outside, which the center never has to do.
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
 ---
 name: "Book Beats"
 subtitle: "Book tracking app that generates AI-curated playlists to match each book"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/book-beats/id6737504427
 linkText: "Book Beats on the App Store"
 source: "MacStories"
 topics:
  - macos-apps
 tags: [ios, reading, music, ai]
 description: "iOS/iPadOS book tracker that uses themes from what you're reading to generate a matched Apple Music playlist — soundtrack your novel."
 ---
 Book trackers are a tired category (Goodreads, Storygraph, Bookshelf). Book Beats earns its place with one new idea: pull each book's themes and emotional arc, generate a matched Apple Music playlist, listen while you read. Reviewed by MacStories.
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
 ---
 name: "Victor Borge: \"Laughter is the shortest distance between two people\""
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://quoteinvestigator.com/2026/05/17/laughter-distance/
 linkText: "quoteinvestigator.com"
 source: "Quote Investigator"
 topics:
  - quotes
 tags: [quote, borge, attribution]
 description: "Quote Investigator traces the famous Borge line to a 1972 appearance — the canonical attribution holds up, surprisingly."
 ---
 > Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.
 — Victor Borge, the Danish-American pianist-comedian, in a 1972 interview. Garson O'Toole's Quote Investigator tracing confirms the attribution holds up against the usual provenance noise — the line really is Borge's, dating from the height of his US comedy career.
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
 ---
 name: "Catalog: Barbara Iweins"
 subtitle: "A photographic inventory of every single object in one woman's house"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://katalog-barbaraiweins.com/
 source: "Things Magazine"
 topics:
  - general-delight
 tags: [art, photography, inventory]
 description: "Belgian photographer Barbara Iweins photographed and catalogued every object in her own house — over 10,000 items, sortable by color, room, or use."
 ---
 Barbara Iweins is a Belgian photographer who spent 4 years photographing and cataloguing every single object in her own house. The site presents the catalog as a sortable database — by color, by room, by use, by sentimental value — and the cumulative effect is a portrait by inventory. Echoes Georges Perec's *Tentative d'épuisement* but applied to a domestic space.
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
 ---
 name: "Cucumbers Were Once Called 'Cowcumbers'"
 subtitle: "An archaic English name for cucumbers, still used in some 18th-century texts"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://historyfacts.com/world-history/fact/cucumbers-used-to-be-called-cowcumbers/
 linkText: "historyfacts.com"
 source: "Kottke.org"
 topics:
  - general-delight
 tags: [language, etymology, history]
 description: "'Cowcumber' was the standard English pronunciation of 'cucumber' through the 18th century — a folk etymology that lasted long enough to outlive most native English vegetable names."
 ---
 "Cowcumber" was the standard English pronunciation of "cucumber" through the 18th century, retained in lower-class speech into the 19th. The folk etymology comes from a misreading of the Latin *cucumis* mixed with the assumption that the long fruit must be related to cattle somehow. Surfaced via Kottke.
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
 ---
 name: "Edward de Bono: \"Creative thinking is a skill that can be practised and nurtured\""
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Edward_de_Bono
 linkText: "wikiquote.org"
 source: "Wikiquote"
 topics:
  - quotes
 tags: [quote, creativity, de-bono]
 description: "Wikiquote's Quote of the Day (May 19) from the inventor of 'lateral thinking' — creative thinking framed as a teachable skill, not a mystical gift."
 ---
 > Creative thinking — in terms of idea creativity — is not a mystical talent. It is a skill that can be practised and nurtured.
 — Edward de Bono (1933–2021), the Maltese psychologist who coined "lateral thinking" and spent his career arguing that thinking itself is something you can learn, like piano. Cited via Wikiquote's daily feature.
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
 ---
 name: "Dropover"
 subtitle: "A Mac shelf utility that drops into any drag via cursor shake"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://dropoverapp.com/
 linkText: "dropoverapp.com"
 source: "Daring Fireball — Linked List"
 topics:
  - macos-apps
 tags: [macos, drag-and-drop, indie]
 description: "A floating Mac 'shelf' invoked mid-drag by shaking the cursor — no modifier key needed, no pre-opened window. Pile files up, then drop them where they're going."
 ---
 Drag-and-drop on the Mac falls apart when you need to switch folders or apps between picking up and putting down. Dropover invokes a floating shelf by detecting a mid-drag cursor shake; drop files on it, switch contexts, drag them off when the destination is ready. No modifier key, no app-switcher dance.
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
 ---
 name: "Drops"
 subtitle: "Falling balls create looping beatscapes by hitting obstacles you place"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://www.shibuyaaa.com/singles/drops
 source: "Web Curios"
 topics:
  - general-delight
 tags: [browser, music, synthtoy]
 description: "A browser-based synthtoy where you place obstacles and falling balls trigger loops as they collide — easy beats by physics."
 ---
 A small browser synthtoy from shibuyaaa.com. Place obstacles on the grid, hit play, balls fall from the top and create looping beats every time one bounces off something. Soothing and dangerously easy to lose half an hour to.
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
 ---
 name: "Editorio"
 subtitle: "Native macOS markdown + code editor, free forever"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://www.reddit.com/r/macapps/comments/1tgpbb7/mac_editorio_native_macos_markdown_code_editor/
 source: "r/macapps"
 topics:
  - macos-apps
 tags: [macos, editor, markdown, indie]
 description: "A native Mac editor that handles markdown and code in one place — built by a 20-year veteran dev who couldn't find one combined editor he liked."
 ---
 A solo dev's combined markdown + code editor — free forever for the core. The pitch is that most editors split into "markdown writers" and "code editors" and the dev wanted both behaviors in the same window. Native macOS, no Electron.
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
 ---
 name: "Fairmont Hanoi"
 subtitle: "Fairmont's first Vietnam location"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://www.wallpaper.com/travel/hotels/fairmont-hanoi-review
 linkText: "wallpaper.com"
 source: "Wallpaper* Travel"
 topics:
  - travel
 tags: [hotel, vietnam, hanoi]
 description: "Fairmont's first Vietnam hotel — a modern hub that fits Hanoi's warmth, opening the brand's footprint in a city long underserved by international luxury chains."
 ---
 Hanoi is the older, quieter half of Vietnam's tourism duality (versus Ho Chi Minh City), with a hotel scene dominated by 1990s-era Sofitel Legend Metropole and a long list of boutiques in the Old Quarter. The new Fairmont is the first credible big-brand luxury opening here in years — modern interiors, location convenient for both the lake-side French Quarter and the Old Quarter.
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
 ---
 name: "Griffin PowerMate Driver"
 subtitle: "Modern Mac driver for the vintage knob input device"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://github.com/jameslockman/Griffin-PowerMate-Driver
 linkText: "github.com/jameslockman/Griffin-PowerMate-Driver"
 source: "Daring Fireball — Linked List"
 topics:
  - macos-apps
 tags: [macos, hardware, retro, open-source]
 description: "Open-source driver that revives the discontinued Griffin PowerMate USB knob on modern macOS — vintage hardware companion back from the dead."
 ---
 The Griffin PowerMate was a brushed-aluminum USB knob from the early 2000s that lots of people used for volume control, scrubbing video, and one-knob shortcuts. Griffin stopped making it; modern macOS broke the old driver. James Lockman shipped a clean-room open-source replacement that brings the device back to life — featured by Gruber as an example of AI-aided coding restoring forgotten hardware.
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
 ---
 name: "Indigo"
 subtitle: "Bluesky and Mastodon in one merged timeline"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/indigo-for-bluesky-mastodon/id6763755310
 linkText: "Indigo on the App Store"
 source: "Six Colors"
 topics:
  - macos-apps
 tags: [ios, macos, social, mastodon, bluesky]
 description: "Native Apple-platform client that merges Bluesky and Mastodon timelines into one feed, with automatic duplicate detection for cross-posters."
 ---
 Half the people you follow are on Mastodon, half on Bluesky, and many cross-post — checking both means two apps and the same posts twice. Indigo merges the feeds into one timeline and de-dupes the cross-posts automatically. iPhone, iPad, Mac. Free tier with Pro subscription.
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
 ---
 name: "He Built the City: Joe Macken's NYC Scale Model"
 subtitle: "A 20-year scale model of every building in New York City, at the MCNY"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://www.mcny.org/exhibition/he-built-city
 linkText: "mcny.org"
 source: "Things Magazine"
 topics:
  - travel
  - general-delight
 tags: [nyc, museum, model, architecture]
 description: "Joe Macken spent 20 years building a scale model of every single building in NYC — on permanent exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York."
 ---
 Joe Macken spent two decades building a scale model that includes *every single building* in New York City. The result is on permanent exhibition at the Museum of the City of New York. The pleasure is partly the obsessiveness, partly the way you can locate your apartment in the lattice and see it next to landmarks you only ever encounter as nameless skyline pixels.
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
 ---
 name: "Annette Between Two Posts Joke"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://icanhazdadjoke.com
 source: "icanhazdadjoke"
 topics:
  - dad-jokes
 tags: [dad-joke, humor, names]
 description: "A short pun on a girl's name and a net."
 ---
 What do you call a girl between two posts? Annette.
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
 ---
 name: "Camo Jacket and Flip Flops Joke"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://reddit.com/r/dadjokes
 source: "r/dadjokes"
 topics:
  - dad-jokes
 tags: [dad-joke, humor]
 description: "A short two-clothing-item joke that turns on a single twist."
 ---
 To whoever stole my camo jacket and my flip flops — you can hide, but you can't run.
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
 ---
 name: "Grave Mistake Tombstone Joke"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://reddit.com/r/dadjokes
 source: "r/dadjokes"
 topics:
  - dad-jokes
 tags: [dad-joke, humor]
 description: "A short single-word-pun joke about typos."
 ---
 What do you call a typo on a tombstone? A grave mistake.
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
 ---
 name: "Organ Donor Guts Joke"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://icanhazdadjoke.com
 source: "icanhazdadjoke"
 topics:
  - dad-jokes
 tags: [dad-joke, humor]
 description: "A short medical pun."
 ---
 It takes guts to be an organ donor.
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
 ---
 name: "Pavlov in a Hotel Joke"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://reddit.com/r/dadjokes
 source: "r/dadjokes"
 topics:
  - dad-jokes
 tags: [dad-joke, humor, psychology]
 description: "A short Pavlov joke."
 ---
 Pavlov walks into a hotel. To summon the front-desk clerk he rings the bell. He then snaps his fingers in frustration and says, "Damn! I forgot to feed the dogs."
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
 ---
 name: "Popsicle Fallen Through Ice Joke"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://icanhazdadjoke.com
 source: "icanhazdadjoke"
 topics:
  - dad-jokes
 tags: [dad-joke, humor]
 description: "A short pun about dads and ice."
 ---
 What do you call a dad that has fallen through the ice? A Popsicle.
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
 ---
 name: "Square Root of -100 Joke"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://reddit.com/r/dadjokes
 source: "r/dadjokes"
 topics:
  - dad-jokes
 tags: [dad-joke, humor, math]
 description: "A short math pun on complex numbers."
 ---
 My girlfriend is like the square root of -100. A solid 10, but also imaginary.
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
 ---
 name: "Tennis Love Nothing Joke"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://reddit.com/r/dadjokes
 source: "r/dadjokes"
 topics:
  - dad-jokes
 tags: [dad-joke, humor, tennis]
 description: "A short tennis-and-relationships pun."
 ---
 My son was going out with a tennis player. I told him she was the wrong girl for him. He asked why — I said "to a tennis player, love means nothing."
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
 ---
 name: "Trump Depends Joke"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://reddit.com/r/dadjokes
 source: "r/dadjokes"
 topics:
  - dad-jokes
 tags: [dad-joke, humor, politics]
 description: "A short brand-name pun."
 ---
 What kind of underwear does Donald Trump wear, boxers or briefs? Mmmmm. Depends.
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
 ---
 name: "Vegan Family Bucket Joke"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://reddit.com/r/dadjokes
 source: "r/dadjokes"
 topics:
  - dad-jokes
 tags: [dad-joke, humor]
 description: "A short pun about KFC and family."
 ---
 My vegan friend told me, "That chicken you're eating had a family!" I said, "That's why I ordered the family bucket — nobody gets left behind."
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
 ---
 name: "Klack"
 subtitle: "A Mac app that gives your keyboard mechanical-switch sounds"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://tryklack.com/
 linkText: "tryklack.com"
 source: "Daring Fireball — Linked List"
 topics:
  - macos-apps
 tags: [macos, audio, keyboard, indie]
 description: "$5 Mac app that plays mechanical-keyboard switch sounds as you type — absurd, but the sound profiles are unusually well-recorded."
 ---
 \$5 to make your butterfly or membrane keyboard sound like a Cherry MX Blue. Absurd as a premise; the attention to detail (real keyboard samples, per-keycap variation, no audio lag) is what Gruber called out. For people who miss their old mech and aren't carrying it to coffee shops.
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
 ---
 name: "Klattsch"
 subtitle: "A speech synthesizer that operates on phonemes, not spelling"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://tgies.github.io/klattsch/
 source: "Web Curios"
 topics:
  - general-delight
 tags: [browser, speech, linguistics, klatt]
 description: "A formant-synthesis speech engine you drive directly with phonemes — built on the Klatt synthesis model. The classic 1980s text-to-speech voice, now under your control."
 ---
 Most text-to-speech engines hide their phoneme layer behind English-spelling rules. Klattsch exposes it: type IPA-ish phonemes, hear the formant-synthesized result. Built on Klatt synthesis (the 1980s DECtalk-era model used by Stephen Hawking's voice), now in the browser. For linguists and anyone who has wondered why "Daring" doesn't sound like "Caring."
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
 ---
 name: "Kundera: \"We can never know what to want\""
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://www.themarginalian.org/2026/05/20/milan-kundera-unbearable-lightness-of-being/
 linkText: "themarginalian.org"
 source: "The Marginalian"
 topics:
  - quotes
 tags: [quote, kundera, philosophy]
 description: "Milan Kundera on the structural irreversibility of life decisions — surfaced in a Maria Popova essay on ambivalence."
 ---
 > We can never know what to want, because, living only one life, we can neither compare it with our previous lives nor perfect it in our lives to come.
 — Milan Kundera, *The Unbearable Lightness of Being* (1984). Cited by Maria Popova in an essay on the central ambivalences of love and life — Kundera framing not regret but its prerequisite, the absence of an alternative path to compare against.
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
 ---
 name: "macUSB"
 subtitle: "All-in-one USB installer creator for Mac — now with Linux and Windows support"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://www.reddit.com/r/macapps/comments/1tezavn/os_macusb_v22_the_all_in_one_usb_creator_for_mac/
 source: "r/macapps"
 topics:
  - macos-apps
 tags: [macos, usb, installer, open-source]
 description: "Single Mac app for writing bootable USB installers for macOS, Linux, and Windows — replaces balenaEtcher, UNetbootin, and macOS's command-line ritual."
 ---
 macOS doesn't ship a GUI for writing bootable USB installers; the canonical path is `createinstallmedia` in Terminal, balenaEtcher for Linux ISOs, and a third tool for Windows. macUSB v2.2 collapses all three into one native app — pick the ISO/IPSW/installer, pick the target drive, write. Free.
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
 ---
 name: "Making Comics by Lynda Barry"
 subtitle: "Drawing instruction aimed at people who think they can't draw"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://www.drawnandquarterly.com/making-comics
 linkText: "drawnandquarterly.com"
 source: "Recomendo"
 topics:
  - gifts
  - general-delight
 tags: [book, art, drawing, gift]
 description: "Lynda Barry's hand-drawn book that teaches non-artists to draw — by teaching them how to see and how to create with originality first."
 ---
 Lynda Barry (cartoonist, MacArthur Genius) has been teaching non-artists to draw for years. Making Comics is the book version of her class: hand-drawn, exercise-driven, focused on how to see and how to create with originality rather than rendering technique. Kevin Kelly recommends it as the best drawing book he's seen, particularly for people who believe they can't draw.
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
 ---
 name: "MA/NA Mayfair"
 subtitle: "A new contemporary Japanese restaurant in London's Mayfair"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://www.wallpaper.com/travel/restaurants/mana-mayfair-review-london-uk
 linkText: "wallpaper.com"
 source: "Wallpaper* Travel"
 topics:
  - travel
 tags: [restaurant, london, japanese, mayfair]
 description: "Mayfair Japanese restaurant balancing the relaxed Tokyo-style izakaya register with London-Mayfair restraint — quiet, design-led, hyper-precise."
 ---
 Mayfair has plenty of Japanese restaurants, most either omakase counters or hotel-tucked sushi-bars. MA/NA threads a different needle: izakaya register (small plates, sake-led drinking) executed with the formality of a high-end Mayfair room. Notable for the dining-room design — Tadao Ando-adjacent concrete-and-timber — and a kitchen that genuinely respects the ingredients.
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
 ---
 name: "Manga Kamishibai"
 subtitle: "Eric Nash's book on the Japanese paper theater that preceded anime"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://www.amazon.com/Manga-Kamishibai-Japanese-Paper-Theater/dp/0810993058
 linkText: "amazon.com"
 source: "Cool Tools"
 topics:
  - gifts
  - general-delight
 tags: [book, japan, art-history, anime, gift]
 description: "Eric Nash's illustrated history of kamishibai — the Japanese street-theater paper-card storytelling form that predates and influenced manga and anime."
 ---
 Kamishibai (literally "paper theater") was a Depression-era Japanese street-performance form: a small wooden stage holding hand-illustrated cards, narrated aloud by a bicycle-mounted storyteller selling sweets to the audience. The form preceded TV and influenced manga and anime's visual grammar. Eric Nash's book is the canonical illustrated history.
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
 ---
 name: "Marbles Squared"
 subtitle: "A puzzle game playable on web, Game Boy, ZX Spectrum, and Palm Pilot"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://marbles2.com/
 source: "Kottke.org"
 topics:
  - general-delight
 tags: [games, browser, retro]
 description: "Cross-platform marble puzzle game with native binaries for Game Boy, ZX Spectrum, and Palm Pilot — plus a browser version — built as a homage to platform-agnostic 1990s gaming."
 ---
 Marbles Squared is the platform-agnostic gesture writ large: the same game ported to Game Boy, ZX Spectrum, Palm Pilot, and a modern browser. The puzzle is simple (arrange marbles on a grid) but the conceit is the multi-platform ports — playable on any of them, including hardware most people don't own anymore. Free, with platform binaries downloadable.
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
 ---
 name: "Marked 3"
 subtitle: "Brett Terpstra's Markdown previewer ships a major version"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://brettterpstra.com/2026/05/18/marked-3-is-officially-out/
 linkText: "brettterpstra.com"
 source: "Brett Terpstra"
 topics:
  - macos-apps
  - apple-tips
 tags: [macos, markdown, writing]
 description: "Marked 3 ships after years in development — Brett Terpstra's live Markdown previewer, used by writers who want to see render side-by-side with edits in any editor."
 ---
 Marked has been the canonical "live Markdown preview window" for writers using BBEdit/Sublime/VS Code/iA Writer — anything that doesn't ship a preview pane. Version 3 modernizes the rendering pipeline, adds extensive theming, and ships a slate of formatting enhancements. Brett's own write-up is the launch reference.
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
 ---
 name: "Mason Pearson Hairbrush"
 subtitle: "The British hairbrush with a 100-year reputation and a Costco appearance"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://www.masonpearson.com
 linkText: "masonpearson.com"
 source: "r/BuyItForLife"
 topics:
  - tools
  - gifts
 tags: [bifl, grooming, british, gift]
 description: "Mason Pearson's pneumatic-cushion hairbrushes have been made by hand in Britain since 1885 — $100-ish, last decades, occasionally surface at Costco at deep discount."
 ---
 Mason Pearson hairbrushes have been made by hand in Britain since 1885. The signature feature is the pneumatic rubber cushion that holds the bristles, which compresses and rebounds rather than fatiguing flat — the reason r/BuyItForLife users routinely cite 20-40 year service from a single brush. Standard retail ~\$100; Costco occasionally surfaces them at half that.
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
 ---
 name: "Eisbach Wave, Munich"
 subtitle: "Munich's permanent river surf wave reopens"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://www.afar.com/magazine/munichs-famous-eisbach-river-wave-reopens-for-surfing
 linkText: "afar.com"
 source: "AFAR"
 topics:
  - travel
 tags: [munich, surfing, germany, urban]
 description: "The Eisbach standing wave in Munich's Englischer Garten — Europe's most famous urban river surf spot — reopens for surfing after a safety closure."
 ---
 Munich's Eisbach wave is a permanent standing wave on a diverted tributary of the Isar, surfed daily for fifty years by locals in wetsuits a five-minute walk from the city's English Garden. A 2024 closure for safety review made the wave a tourist-attraction-without-the-attraction; the 2026 reopening puts it back on the visitor's stop-list. Watch from the Prinzregentenstraße bridge above; surf only if you're competent.
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
 ---
 name: "Muxy"
 subtitle: "A lightweight Mac terminal with a sidebar for projects — and a mobile remote"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://www.reddit.com/r/macapps/comments/1ti1tia/os_muxy_is_a_lightweight_terminal_for_mac_with_a/
 source: "r/macapps"
 topics:
  - macos-apps
 tags: [macos, terminal, indie]
 description: "A native macOS terminal with a project sidebar (Ghostty/Alacritty don't have one) and a companion iPhone app for remote command control."
 ---
 Ghostty and Alacritty are fast but neither has a sidebar for switching between project sessions; you stack tmux or carry windows around. Muxy adds the missing UI — and pairs with an iPhone app for remote control, useful for long-running tasks where you want to kick off a build while away from the desk.
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
 ---
 name: "Nodex"
 subtitle: "Compress media, strip metadata, make PDFs and QRs — in one tap"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://www.reddit.com/r/shortcuts/comments/1tho9c9/compress_media_remove_metadata_make_pdfs_and_qrs/
 source: "r/shortcuts"
 topics:
  - apple-tips
 tags: [shortcuts, ios, utility]
 description: "Single iPhone Shortcut that does the four most common 'I need to fix this file' chores — compress, strip EXIF, generate PDF, generate QR — without an app per task."
 ---
 Four jobs that usually want four apps: shrink a photo for messaging, strip GPS/EXIF before posting, convert anything to PDF, generate a QR. Nodex bundles them into one Shortcut you bind to the action button or share sheet. Saves a lot of installed apps for occasional uses.
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
 ---
 name: "Numsy"
 subtitle: "A simple menu-bar calculator with no Dock icon"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://www.reddit.com/r/macapps/comments/1tdrsex/numsy_a_simple_menu_bar_calculator/
 source: "r/macapps"
 topics:
  - macos-apps
 tags: [macos, menu-bar, calculator, indie]
 description: "Tiny menu-bar calculator that lives where you'd actually click it — no Dock icon, no separate app to switch to, no Raycast workaround."
 ---
 The native macOS Calculator is in /Applications and demands a window. Raycast's calculator works but you have to fire its launcher every time. Numsy is the third option: a single icon in the menu bar that drops down a tiny calc you can use without leaving the keyboard or stealing a Dock slot.
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
 ---
 name: "Olight Arkpro"
 subtitle: "A flashlight that survived a heavy wash cycle and tumble-dry medium"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/comments/1tib7e3/this_olight_arkpro_just_went_through_a_heavy/
 source: "r/BuyItForLife"
 topics:
  - tools
 tags: [bifl, flashlight, edc]
 description: "The Olight Arkpro is a heavy-duty work flashlight rated for harsh use — a r/BuyItForLife user reported it survived a full heavy wash cycle and tumble dry, still working."
 ---
 Most workmen's flashlights die when they go through the laundry. The Olight Arkpro is rated for harsh environments — used for sewer inspections and crime-scene work in the r/BuyItForLife user's case. Survived a full heavy wash cycle and tumble dry on medium, still working perfectly. Rechargeable, magnetic base, ~\$70.
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
 ---
 name: "Personal Sites"
 subtitle: "A portal indexing thousands of homespun personal websites"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://personalsit.es/
 source: "Web Curios"
 topics:
  - general-delight
 tags: [browser, web, personal-sites]
 description: "A directory of personal websites — handcrafted HTML, weird hobby pages, obsessive portfolios — the part of the web algorithm-driven feeds don't surface."
 ---
 Personalsit.es indexes thousands of personal homepages — the handcrafted, the obsessive, the deeply personal. The opposite of an algorithmic feed. Click around, find someone's deep dive on Soviet candy packaging or their illustrated diary or their list of every park bench in Melbourne. The web before SEO.
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
 ---
 name: "Pittock Mansion"
 subtitle: "Historic mansion with the best panoramic photo angle on downtown Portland"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://www.theoutbound.com/oregon/photography/photograph-downtown-portland-from-pittock-mansion
 linkText: "theoutbound.com"
 source: "The Outbound Collective"
 topics:
  - travel
 tags: [portland, oregon, photography, hike]
 description: "Pittock Mansion's hilltop terrace is the canonical photographer's view of downtown Portland — with Mount Hood lined up behind the river when the weather cooperates."
 ---
 The Pittock Mansion is a 1914 French Renaissance house on a 1,000-foot hill above downtown Portland — open to visitors and free to photograph. The terrace lines up downtown, the Willamette, and Mt. Hood in one composition; the canonical Portland skyline photo is taken from here. Drive up, or hike via the Wildwood Trail.
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
 ---
 name: "Plug and Socket Museum"
 subtitle: "A Dutch museum cataloguing every electrical-plug standard"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://plugsocketmuseum.nl/
 source: "Things Magazine"
 topics:
  - general-delight
 tags: [museum, design, electrical, netherlands]
 description: "A Dutch online museum dedicated entirely to the history of electrical plugs and sockets — every regional standard, photographed, dated, and annotated."
 ---
 There are at least 15 incompatible electrical plug standards in active use globally; the Plug and Socket Museum (an online archive run by a Dutch enthusiast) is the definitive catalog. Every regional variant, photographed against a neutral background with the history of why each diverged. The kind of obsessive single-subject archive the internet exists for.
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
 ---
 name: "RapidPhoto"
 subtitle: "A Mac App Store Lightroom alternative born from a batch-resize project"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://www.reddit.com/r/macapps/comments/1thdwkw/i_set_out_to_build_a_batch_resize_tool_10_months/
 source: "r/macapps"
 topics:
  - macos-apps
 tags: [macos, photo-editing, indie]
 description: "Solo-dev Mac photo editor — started as a batch-resize tool, accidentally grew into a Lightroom competitor. One-time purchase, not a subscription."
 ---
 Lightroom is \$12/month forever, Pixelmator handles single images but isn't a catalog, and Capture One costs more than most cameras. RapidPhoto is the indie answer — a Mac App Store photo editor with catalog, batch editing, and adjustments — that started as a 10-month side project to fix one batch-resize pain and grew into a real Lightroom alternative. One-time purchase.
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
 ---
 name: "Robert Mondavi Winery (reopened)"
 subtitle: "Napa's Mondavi reopens after a 5-year renovation"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://www.afar.com/magazine/napas-robert-mondavi-winery-reopens-after-5-year-renovation
 linkText: "afar.com"
 source: "AFAR"
 topics:
  - travel
 tags: [winery, napa, california, architecture]
 description: "Napa's iconic Mondavi winery reopens after a 5-year restoration of the Cliff May-designed campus — among Napa's most architecturally significant buildings."
 ---
 The Mondavi campus (1966, designed by Cliff May) is one of the few wineries in Napa whose building is the destination, not the wine. The 5-year restoration restored the original arched plaza without breaking the bones, and quietly added a kitchen by Charlie Bird's Robert Bohr. Reopened spring 2026.
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
 ---
 name: "Rocky Butte, Portland"
 subtitle: "An extinct volcanic cone with a 360° view inside Portland's city limits"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://www.theoutbound.com/oregon/photography/catch-the-sunrise-from-rocky-butte
 linkText: "theoutbound.com"
 source: "The Outbound Collective"
 topics:
  - travel
 tags: [portland, oregon, hike, sunrise]
 description: "Rocky Butte — an extinct volcanic cone in northeast Portland with a stone-walled summit terrace offering 360° city + Mt. Hood + Cascades views."
 ---
 Rocky Butte is one of the Boring Lava Field's extinct cinder cones, sitting inside Portland's city limits in the I-205 corridor. The summit has a 1930s WPA-built stone-walled terrace, accessible by car, with a 360° view: downtown Portland, the Columbia, Mt. Hood, Mt. St. Helens on a clear day. The local sunrise hike.
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
 ---
 name: "George Schaller: \"Her being eludes me\""
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://www.themarginalian.org/2026/05/17/george-schaller-panda/
 linkText: "themarginalian.org"
 source: "The Marginalian"
 topics:
  - quotes
 tags: [quote, schaller, conservation, pandas]
 description: "Conservationist George Schaller on the limit of observing a panda — surfaced in a Maria Popova essay on the inner worlds of other creatures."
 ---
 > Her being eludes me.
 — George Schaller, the conservation biologist who pioneered field research on pandas (and tigers, and gorillas, and lions), reflecting in his journals on the limit of what observation can recover. Cited by Maria Popova in an essay on the inner lives of other creatures.
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
 ---
 name: "ScreenAlert"
 subtitle: "Menu-bar app that watches a region of your screen and pings you when it changes"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://www.reddit.com/r/macapps/comments/1tdrsjf/mac_menu_bar_app_that_watches_any_part_of_your/
 source: "r/macapps"
 topics:
  - macos-apps
 tags: [macos, automation, menu-bar, indie]
 description: "Pick a screen rectangle; ScreenAlert reads the text out loud and notifies you whenever it changes — for build statuses, ticket queues, sports scores, dashboard widgets."
 ---
 Built by a dev tired of babysitting his own screen. Lasso a rectangle (a build status bar, a ticket count, a CI dashboard widget), ScreenAlert OCRs it on a timer and announces aloud — and pushes a notification — whenever the text changes. Generic enough to replace half a dozen single-purpose monitor scripts.
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
 ---
 name: "Shakti Prana"
 subtitle: "Seven-suite Himalayan lodge that pairs trekking with high-end hospitality"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://www.wallpaper.com/travel/hotels/shakti-prana-himalaya-review
 linkText: "wallpaper.com"
 source: "Wallpaper* Travel"
 topics:
  - travel
 tags: [hotel, india, himalaya, lodge]
 description: "Seven-suite lodge at 7,000 ft in India's Kumaon Himalayas — glass-walled rooms over the valley, base camp for day-trekking instead of car-touring."
 ---
 The Kumaon Himalayas (Uttarakhand state, on the Nepal-India border) sit between Rishikesh and the Tibetan plateau and have almost no hospitality stock at this level. Shakti Prana is seven suites at 7,000 ft, each glass-walled over the valley, run as a base camp for day-trekking. Slow travel in a region that mostly sees pilgrimage circuit traffic.
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
 ---
 name: "ShotGlass"
 subtitle: "A screen recorder that makes demos look like an Apple commercial"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://www.reddit.com/r/macapps/comments/1tgr2y8/i_made_a_screen_recorder_that_makes_your_demos/
 source: "r/macapps"
 topics:
  - macos-apps
 tags: [macos, screen-recording, video, indie]
 description: "Click record, do your thing — ShotGlass produces cinematic demo videos automatically, with the camera moves and crop animations a polished product launch needs."
 ---
 A Mac screen recorder and screenshot tool whose specific virtue is that it adds the cinematic camera moves, smart-crops, and easings normally only present in hand-edited product launches — automatically. Click record, do the thing, stop; the polished version comes out the other side without a separate video editor.
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
 ---
 name: "Smithfield match"
 subtitle: "A 1703 phrase for marriage of convenience, from a London livestock market"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://wordsmith.org/words/smithfield_match.html
 linkText: "wordsmith.org"
 source: "A.Word.A.Day"
 topics:
  - quotes
 tags: [language, etymology, london, marriage]
 description: "'Smithfield match' (1703): a marriage arranged for financial gain, named after Smithfield in London where the meat market and Bartholomew Fair sat side by side."
 ---
 Smithfield in London hosted both the meat market (from the 12th century to today) and the Bartholomew Fair (1133–1855), which was the city's biggest commercial fair. A "Smithfield match" came to mean a marriage struck primarily for money, on the metaphor that both spouses were being valued and traded like livestock at market. First recorded use 1703.
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
 ---
 name: "SnapSilo Back-Tap OCR"
 subtitle: "Double-tap the iPhone back, capture a screenshot, OCR-index it silently"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://www.reddit.com/r/shortcuts/comments/1tfun3a/stepbystep_setting_up_iphone_back_tap_to_silently/
 source: "r/shortcuts"
 topics:
  - apple-tips
 tags: [shortcuts, ios, ocr, screenshots]
 description: "Bind iPhone Back Tap to a screenshot + OCR pipeline that drops the image and its extracted text into a searchable archive — no app launch, no animation."
 ---
 iOS Back Tap (Settings → Accessibility → Touch → Back Tap) fires a Shortcut on a double or triple tap to the back of the phone. The SnapSilo setup binds it to: take screenshot → run Vision OCR → save image + text together in iCloud Drive. Silent, no animation, no app to switch to. The result is a searchable archive of anything you've ever wanted to remember on screen.
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
 ---
 name: "Spirochaete Trail"
 subtitle: "A long-running essay blog on overlooked media and material culture"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://spirochaetetrail.blogspot.com/
 source: "Things Magazine"
 topics:
  - general-delight
 tags: [blog, essays, media-criticism]
 description: "A long-running essay blog with a curatorial-essayistic approach to overlooked films, books, and design objects — quietly excellent and largely unread."
 ---
 Spirochaete Trail has been running essays on overlooked media for over a decade — film, book, and design pieces that mix close reading with material culture analysis. Long-form, well-researched, and largely unread because the URL ends in `.blogspot.com`. Surfaced via Things Magazine.
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
 ---
 name: "Sunset Cliffs Open Ceiling Cave"
 subtitle: "A roofless sea cave with stairs you climb down at San Diego's Sunset Cliffs"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://www.theoutbound.com/san-diego/chillin/explore-sunset-cliffs-open-ceiling-cave
 linkText: "theoutbound.com"
 source: "The Outbound Collective"
 topics:
  - travel
 tags: [san-diego, california, coast, hike]
 description: "The Open Ceiling Cave at Sunset Cliffs — descend a short rocky scramble at low tide to reach a tidal pool framed by a cylindrical sea-carved chimney."
 ---
 Sunset Cliffs is the bluff on the west side of Point Loma. The Open Ceiling Cave is a partially-collapsed sea cave whose roof fell away, leaving a cylindrical opening to the sky framing a tidal pool below. A short rocky scramble at low tide gets you down; the photogenic moment is the sun lighting up the cave walls through the opening. Tide-dependent — check the tide chart.
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
 ---
 name: "Trambient"
 subtitle: "Manchester's tram network sonified — 1.7 million possible versions per journey"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://trambient.co.uk/
 source: "Web Curios"
 topics:
  - general-delight
 tags: [browser, music, sonification, manchester]
 description: "A generative sound piece built from Manchester's Metrolink tram timings — each ride sonified, with 1.7 million possible variations."
 ---
 Trambient turns Manchester's tram network into an ambient soundscape. Pick a route, hit play, hear the journey sonified — each stop a chord, each transfer a key change, each delay a rhythmic stutter. 1.7 million possible versions across the network. Useful for the train of thought when you can't take an actual train.
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
 ---
 name: "Virtual Fish Doorbell"
 subtitle: "Help fish get through a Dutch canal lock by ringing a virtual doorbell"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://visdeurbel.nl/en/
 linkText: "visdeurbel.nl"
 source: "Recomendo"
 topics:
  - general-delight
 tags: [browser, livestream, conservation, netherlands]
 description: "Livestream of a Dutch canal lock — when a fish swims into the camera, ring the virtual doorbell to alert the lockkeeper to open the gate for them."
 ---
 Visdeurbel ("fish doorbell") is a livestream of an underwater camera at a canal lock in Utrecht. Spring migration season; fish congregate downstream waiting for the gate to open. When viewers spot a fish in the camera, they ring the virtual doorbell — the lockkeeper sees the pings and opens the lock to let the fish through. Recommended by Recomendo. The accidental joys of slow internet.
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
 ---
 name: "Wayback Machine for iPhone"
 subtitle: "A full iPhone backup-and-restore system built entirely in Shortcuts"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://www.reddit.com/r/shortcuts/comments/1tdjrum/i_built_a_wayback_machine_for_your_iphone/
 source: "r/shortcuts"
 topics:
  - apple-tips
 tags: [shortcuts, ios, backup, icloud]
 description: "Takes ZIP snapshots of photos, messages, contacts, shortcuts to iCloud Drive — and restores them — with zero Mac, all in Apple Shortcuts."
 ---
 iCloud Backup is what Apple wants you to use; it's also opaque, expensive at scale, and tied to a single restore-to-empty-device flow. This Shortcut acts like Time Machine for iPhone — snapshot the device's data as a ZIP into iCloud Drive on a schedule, restore individual categories selectively. No Mac, no app to install.
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
 ---
 name: "Wi-Fi QR from Clipboard"
 subtitle: "iPhone Shortcut that turns a copied password into a guest QR code"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://www.reddit.com/r/shortcuts/comments/1tff03e/generate_a_wifi_qr_code_instantly_from_your/
 source: "r/shortcuts"
 topics:
  - apple-tips
 tags: [shortcuts, ios, wifi, qr]
 description: "Copy a Wi-Fi password, run the Shortcut, get a QR a guest can scan to join. Saves the dictation game when handing the network to in-laws."
 ---
 The iOS Shortcut reads the Wi-Fi password from your clipboard, prompts for the SSID (or pulls it from the current connection on iOS 26+), and generates a QR code formatted for one-tap join. Hands-free for guests with iPhones, equally readable on Android camera apps.
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
 ---
 name: "Zipora"
 subtitle: "A native macOS archive tool in Swift / SwiftUI"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://www.reddit.com/r/macapps/comments/1thysjh/zipora_released_native_macos_archive_tool_built/
 source: "r/macapps"
 topics:
  - macos-apps
 tags: [macos, archive, swiftui, indie]
 description: "Native macOS archiver that handles zip/rar/7z/tar with file preview built in — replaces Keka or The Unarchiver for people who want a Swift app."
 ---
 The Archive Utility shipped by macOS handles zip but little else, so most users add Keka or The Unarchiver. Zipora is the SwiftUI-era alternative: native, fast, with archive-content preview before extraction so you can peek at a tarball without committing to unpack it. Free.
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
 ---
 name: "Zojirushi Rice Cookers"
 subtitle: "Two-decade-old units still running daily — the BIFL gold standard"
 date: 2026-05-20
 link: https://www.reddit.com/r/BuyItForLife/comments/1tfu5em/almost_a_decade_of_daily_use_zojirushi_is_still/
 source: "r/BuyItForLife"
 topics:
  - tools
 tags: [bifl, kitchen, japanese]
 description: "Zojirushi's induction rice cookers routinely hit 15-20 years of daily use — a r/BuyItForLife perennial, reposted this week with a 10-yr unit and a 20-yr 'in memoriam' photo."
 ---
 Zojirushi is the Japanese brand whose induction rice cookers (Neuro Fuzzy and IH lines) reliably make it to 15-20 years of daily use. Two r/BuyItForLife threads this week — one a 10-year report, one an "in memoriam" for a 20-year cooker — both finally retiring units that still worked, just because the owner wanted a current model. ~\$250-400 depending on size.