Links, notes, & sundries — Ethan Marcotte’s website

People assume scanning is the exciting part.

It’s not out yet, but I love this: an emulator to run classic After Dark screen savers on modern macOS.

Jessamyn West gets a lot of questions from library patrons on how to disabling, hiding, or just plain avoiding “AI” in modern software.

A look at the people and production processes that shaped the revolutionary design of the Black Panther Party’s flagship newspaper.

I’ve long been a sucker for personal sites that mimic a desktop experience, and Dustin’s designed a fine one here.

A tumblr filled with pixelated backgrounds from old video games.

Love this site from Sami Smith, which lets you cut out old magazines — either from the Internet Archive, or from your own PDFs — and use them to make digital collages.

A look at American restaurant menus from the turn of the nineteenth century and, through them, the country as a whole.

A tremendous profile of Trici Venola, an early MacPaint-era digital artist.

The University of Colorado’s Media Archaeology Lab is “one of the largest collections in the world of still-functioning obsolete media.”

mandy has given us two gifts here: a powerhouse of an essay about reading as a form of resistance and rediscovery; and — and!

Naz talks about his latest redesign, which started as a response to the emerging of “AI” slop.

Okay, this is neat: Heydon Pickering’s released an HTML (!!)

Tim Van Damme updates his homepage to show non-work projects, and it’s about as lovely as you’d expect.

Don’t get distracted by the headline: Coates’ piece on American imperialism, racism, and electoral politics is taking a much, much longer view than the last few years.

Likewise, we are wont to assume that deskilling looks like someone doing more menial work after most of their work has been automated away.

Thank you, Miriam.

A catalog of named colors — think Uranium Red, Chartres Blue, and Raw Sienna — and how they got their names.

An extensive — and extensively catalogued!

I am so excited Ingrid’s put this important little book back out in the world.

The UN University’s Institute for Water, Environment and Health has released a new report on the energy use of LLMs and the data center boom.

A tremendous piece by Eric Bailey on his recent accessibility work with LLMs.

I’ve enjoyed following Keisha McKenzie’s words for a few years now, and she’s recently rehomed her writing from Substack back to her own blog.

Reader, I chuckled several times.

Naz Hamid revives absenter, his once and future photo blog.

Quoting this intensely personal, beautifully written little essay feels like I’m doing it a disservice, but: The technology, when honed, is genuinely amazing.

elle has a delightful little isometric homepage, all lovingly rendered in pixel art.

Henry absolutely nails the key point here: it doesn’t matter if so-called AI “works.”

I did an interview for KAIJUVILLE, my friend Brendan’s blog/newsletter about video games!

These facilities influence everything: our water, our air, our land, our utility bills, and the very stability of our energy grid.

Love these immaculately animated little guides by Bryan Macomber, each showing the inner workings of everyday objects like Zippo lighters and mechanical pencils.

Rand Wilson, a organizer for more than forty years, tells the story of how he first got involved in the movement.

If you’ve ever wondered whether a USB-C cable connected to your Mac can be used for data or power, this little menu bar utility looks perfect.

Deeply appreciated this clear-eyed opinion piece from Sarah Choudhary: We keep talking about vibe coding and AI adoption as if the only question is whether developers will be replaced.

In 2012, I really wanted to design book covers but didn’t have any book cover work.

I read Ron’s latest post yesterday morning, and haven’t stopped thinking about it.

A website that searches for empty or near-empty movie theater screenings near you.

I enjoyed this just as much as everyone led me to believe I might.

My friend Mike, whose nom de musique is Mute City, has a new electronic album out.

After years building a career in tech, Ky Decker asks where there’s still a place in the industry for them.

I really enjoyed this.

The world has always been run by rich men.

Well, hey: typed guilloché generator into a search engine, and I found this lovely little side project from Erik Wrenholt.

My friend Mark’s photography entries are always a delight, but this one stopped me in my tracks.

What lovely little dots, courtesy of stipple artist Ruben Bos.

I thought this essay was fairly thought-provoking: The contemporary effort to recast the Luddites as thoughtful critics of technology gives modern anxieties about AI a historical pedigree they do not deserve.

I love Citywide, Jason’s gorgeous sans serif inspired by bus roll signs, and I really love that he’s now added a chonky yet comfy lowercase to it.

Loved every part of this essay from Gita Jackson: Knowing and being able to see the firmament that upholds injustice is useful, but you also have to know what to do with that knowledge.

And yet, there is no denying AI is an extraordinary tool.

A tremendous (and lovely) look at the history and traditions of hand-painted signage in Mexico.