If you listen to podcast, you want to read this. Every year, I showcase and thank my favorite podcasts for all the hours of entertainment the've given me. And today is the day. In no particular order, these are the podcast you should listen to in 2026:

Am I the only one that feels a bit overwhelmed when discussing AI and AI-assisted development? Any of you have a good example of a well-documented MCP server. I think people just tell you to install it and figure it out yourself, but tech writers should do better. Right? #technicalwriting

Yesterday I took one of my cats (Kimchi) to the vet. She was developing a small cyst on her left side and it was slowly growing. The vet was so nice. It turns out it was just seroma after a deep scratch from a fight with my other cat. He punctured it and removed. I like happy endings.

With the current AI-ification of the web I'm afraid we are past the point of no return. Two problems that we need to figure out.

Last week was my fourth anniversary at Google. From joining as a Stadia tech writer to finding my home in Chrome DevRel, it’s been a bumpy ride in the best way.

All this during our annual trip to Mexico, amid chaos and unexpected craziness (some craziness is always expected in Mexico).

After a talk with my brother in law about his delving with genealogy and trying to map his family origins, I remember my grandma saying she was related to a Mexican president and (through that line) to Moctezuma (one of the last Aztec emperors).

There is a specific kind of heart-stretch that happens when I return to Mexico. I’m reminded of how much I ache for my country, my food, and my people. But I’m also faced with how much 4 years in Germany has changed me. 🇲🇽🥨 Home is no longer a place, but a messy collision of two worlds.

This is so cool.

I opened the windows to air the apartment (German tradition/necessity during winter) and, I kid you not, could hear some Americans having a conversation from three blocks away. Coming from a really loud culture: How? Also, have I become Germanized?

Which are your favorite accounts to follow here? Let me know your suggestions for web, comics, board games, and everything "geeky."

Also, this week my wife and I visited the Nuremberg Toy Fair. It is a trade fair, but it's so cool to see new toys going into the market, the resurgence of open play, and how the board game industry works from the inside.

This week I was having problems with DaVinci Resolve 20 crashing every 4 to 5 minutes. After checking the debug logs, it turns out it was calling a hardware acceleration API that is not available on "older" versions of MacOS.

"You cannot unit test a paragraph"

I hate those "order of operations" posts where people post an equation and try to feel smart "because PEDMAS." In most cases, you can write these equations in a way that has zero ambiguity. That would be the smart thing to do, in the first place.

@lostwaysclub.itch.io Hi Ella, I was wondering if you have any interviews you've done? I've been searching online and haven't found any.

When I started working fully in English, I felt intimidated. It takes a specific kind of energy to work in a second language. I know I have an accent, but I've learned to appreciate it. It's a reminder that I am stepping out of my comfort zone. It shows effort and commitment, and I am proud of that.

Sometimes I feel like after 2019 we slipped into an alternate reality where nothing makes sense. Everything is falling apart and everything (the economy, society, technology... you name it) seems to be speedrunning enshittification.

People are usually weirded out about my home network setup. A network-level VPN + PiHole with encrypted upstream DNS + firewall to prevent hidden telemetry. It's not perfect, but it's ok-ish for most cases. Plus, I use ProtonMail and DuckDuckGo. And some browser tweaks to prevent fingerprinting.

I miss the truly social internet. The web 2.0. Those days, 20 years ago, where social platforms started booming. It was truly interesting to see these places take form in front of our eyes. It seemed like an easy way to find like-minded people, or stuff that interested you in particular.

Somehow I sometimes still feel the urge to throw digital messages in a bottle. And microblogging seems to be a nice way to do it.

I miss the social part of social networks. I used to share thoughts, ideas, feelings on Twitter. Nowadays, it seems that we live and die by the algorithm.

The masculine urge de ayudar a pushar un carro descompuesto.

100000/10 to our social team because I'm obsessed with these images. Today and tomorrow, developers are coming to Google I/O Connect in Shanghai. It's amazing to be able to share and talk to people around the world about client-side AI.

It always surprises me how people use Linkedin as if it was a personal social network. An extension of their Instagram, Bluesky, or X account. I just want to have work related, non "personal" or "touching" stories that didn't happen. I already have Instagram for that. AM I taking it too seriously?

It also gets worse before it gets worse.

I'm recording a video and I'm planning on starting it with "I'm Zapata, your favorite tech writer's favorite tech writer" to honor MF DOOM. But I'm probably as well known in the English-speaking world as actual Mexican food in Europe.

I'm on the train and there's an old German guy sitting by my side, reading a Russian propaganda site and asking me where I'm from. And he asked me if I'm "one of the good ones, then".

Finally a show about Boolean logic operators

New CSS features, AI in Chrome DevTools, and multimodal AI can help you to build a more powerful and modern web. Senior Tech Writer @alexandrascript.com recaps the top web announcements from #GoogleIO. www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSVe...

@rtfmshow.bsky.social Hi Shea, I work at Google and also run a board games YT channel. Is there any way we can connect to see if I could help you?

My #GoogleIO talk "Practical built-in Al with Gemini Nano in Chrome" is live: youtu.be/CjpZCWYrSxM?.... Learn about the following new APIs and see partner demos: 🔮 Prompt API …with image input 🖼️ …with audio input 👂 …with textual input 🔤 🖊️ Writing Assistance APIs 🗣️ Translation API ✔️ Proofreading API

Started out with nothing and still got most of it.

Me: Hey, I think I may cut my own hair, since I don't seem to find a good barber in the city under 50 bucks. Wife: Nice! So, have you decided what haircut you want to try? Me: I think I'm just going to wing it... Wife: So... is it a mullet? Me: ... Wife: You know you are almost 40, right?

This weekend was mostly about servicing our bikes. We own two Bromptons, a "really old" one from 2005 and a newer one. I really enjoy doing stuff like that and troubleshooting whatever is happening.

El tercer mundo no acaricia, manos. Pero los europeos ni en cuenta. Acá sigo de infiltrado.

Germans, most "Mexican" food here isn't Mexican. Guac has no garlic or cream. Chimichangas? We don't eat those. Burritos? No rice, just stew. Chili con carne? Not even close. Just call it Tex-Mex. It is fine, you are still unlocking the flavor DLC.

One of the compliments that has stayed with me the most is being called kind. Even in a corporate environment where kindness can be mistaken for weakness, I’ll keep choosing it. Even if it comes at a cost.

The internet used to feel like a crowded bus with weird people. Now it feels like an empty mall with a single radio playing distorted AI generated reggaetón.

Sometimes I think Germans are so quick to use the grocery divider at the supermarket because it’s the only kind of segregation they can still get away with.

Sometimes I think about posting something funny, and then I remember I already tweeted it in 2014 and nobody liked it

Just remembered I’m a meat gundam controlling itself via electricity and vibes. Then I made coffee and got on a video call like that’s normal.

Ate a grape. Thought about how weird fruit is. Wondered who first said “eat that thing hanging from the tree.” Googled grape history. Now I’m in a deep dive on Mesopotamian wine rituals. This is why nothing gets done.

I've seen two board game publishers going under lately. @greaterthangames.bsky.social (Spirit Island, Compile) with all this tariff war uncertainty. And @drfinnsgames.bsky.social (Biblios) decided not to publish more physical games after a mild flop. Sadly, they seem to be the first of many.

Germany in 2025: “We don’t trust credit cards.” Also Germany: “Please pay €4.37 for this one onion. With exact change.” Also also Germany: “But we do trust cash placed in a wooden box with no supervision.”

"Kassenbon?" "Danke gleichfalls" [Me, every other day]

[At a party] Them: Hey, what do you do? Me: Mainly rehearse what I’ll say in situations like this, then forget it on the spot.

If I could dine with anyone from history, dead or alive, I’d go with dead. More food for me.

Threads? Mastodon? Bluesky? I’m just looking for a place that feels like the back of the internet café at 11PM.