Kurasawa’s Seven Samurai holds up 72 years later. Obviously. And the Criterion 4K release is stunning. If there’s ever a film to get folks into filmmaking — the composition, sound and set design, plot, pacing, acting,… thi... https://defiantsloth.com/2026/06/16/kurasawas-seven-samurai-holds-up.html

The path of art takes artists on journeys of knowledge. Good one on the humble but highly complex octopus from Strook. New to me was the Mimic Octopus: "[…]discovered as recently as 1998, is capable of mimicking various predators. It chooses which species to mimic based on its attacker."

Double-feature on Panic’s Nova app, first with Unsung’s notes and the linked-to piece by Nathan Manceaux-Panot. The gist is discovering and respecting thoughtful design choices that guide you into more desirable behaviors. It’s an incredibly fun, powerful app often overlooked for trendier editors.

The history of the chopsticks sleeve is kind of riveting. Even more surprising is that non-Japanese restaurants never took to advertising on equivalent fork-knife-spoon utensil packaging (as almost immediately after wider depl... https://defiantsloth.com/2026/06/09/the-history-of-the-chopsticks.html

As much as I enjoy my job, the @PioneerPress could really use another local reporter or two. Tell Alden Global Capital we’re thin enough… contract negotiations commence Tuesday. Fair wages and staffing matter! Local news matters! That’s @MaryEDivine agreeing with me! #HedgeFund #localnews

In continuing to promote the “small web” of writers out there, I bumped into a site called Bubbles.town. It acknowledges the difficulty in discovering voices outside of larger properties, even with great infrastructure like the... https://defiantsloth.com/2026/06/05/in-continuing-to-promote-the.html

Websites Lost in Stasis ✱: https://defiantsloth.com/2026/06/05/websites-lost-in-stasis.html Like several folks on the Internet, I’ve been taking the new Vivaldi 8.0 browser for a spin, and imported my Safari bookmarks to get a few favorites cooking on there. And as one does, I also took a moment...

Charming piece on Costco living by Jordan Michelman at Taste. Nodded along to a lot of what he enjoys, but also his non-negotiable: "I will never buy Costco coffee[…] my allegiance to a coterie of indie micro roasters[…] an... https://defiantsloth.com/2026/06/03/charming-piece-on-costco-living.html

Rats play poker in Kansas City.

Found on the Internet: Owls in Towels "Wildlife rehabilitators often wrap owls in fabric so they can be weighed, treated, and fed. If not, the owls get in a flap" Have a nice evening.

Analog formats are back to save us from the inundation of digital malaise. Racket points to an “insane” demand for CRT television sets in the Twin Cities area. "Retro video gamers are the driving force, lured to the dated tech b... https://defiantsloth.com/2026/05/28/analog-formats-are-back-to.html

Bicycle Thieves × Paths of Glory: https://defiantsloth.com/2026/05/23/bicycle-thieves-paths-of-glory.html Settled into an evening of back-to-back postwar bangers: De Sica’s Bicycle Thieves (1948) and Kubrick’s Paths of Glory (1957).

We just randomly watched Point Break for the first time, and it has lingered in my mind. Is it a particularly good film? Does it matter? It’s an absolutely iconic thriller with some of the most ludicrously entertaining writing and acting in all of the 90s era. What a way to start the summer.

Kai from Dense Discovery with a pang of sad annoyance at the state of Internet communications of late: "I know it’s a bit naïve to appeal to common decency when the same technology is busy guiding weapons systems, but please ... https://defiantsloth.com/2026/05/19/kai-from-dense-discovery-with.html

A collection of thirty 1950s Milwaukee bus tickets harkens back to terrific typographic design. (via Robb Knight)

✱ Kagi's Small Web is Wonderful: https://defiantsloth.com/2026/05/15/kagis-small-web-is-wonderful.html Kagi’s Small Web has taken me on one of the more delightful Internet journeys I’ve had in seemingly decades. They are absolutely on to something here.

Woodgrain, b&w. Been fascinated with our 1970s parquet flooring since moving in last year — beautiful patterning. Can’t imagine what something like this would cost to install nowadays. It’ll eventually need some resurfacing and care. Simulated film filter with the AgBr app.

This whole essay is elite sports writing (by Andrew Sharp), and he captures every bit of why we’re lucky to have the Timberwolves to watch. "What I love most about the Wolves is the reward they give to people who have been paying... https://defiantsloth.com/2026/05/08/this-whole-essay-is-elite.html

I can’t get enough of Midnight Radio www.jamesreeves.co/radio/ from @jamesreeves.co His twice-monthly mixtape drops might just be musical prisms of my brain. His anti-BS music app, Spite, is also worth trying in tandem (plus all the owned music you’ve ever had). It’s becoming my go-to player.

NASA drops more than 12,000 new photographs from the Artemis II mission.

Absolutely cinematic Wolves win last night. One of those games from which you bask in the afterglow. Closed out the series (down three starters to injury) and against seemingly all odds. Huge McDaniels, Gobert, and TJ game, you love to see it come together in the post-season.

The Onion (aka Global Tetrahedon) taking over Infowars is the most lit thing to happen in a while. "This will be a dank, sunless place, one where panic and capital feed on each other like twins in the womb of a hulking, unk... https://defiantsloth.com/2026/04/20/the-onion-aka-global-tetrahedon.html

Neat to see a huge aftermarket fueling sales of La Marzocco, one of the best espresso brands in the world. Via the NYT: "A secondhand market has emerged that’s as intense as the one for vintage cars. Sales are brisk and competitive, spr... https://defiantsloth.com/2026/04/20/neat-to-see-a-huge.html

Andrew Sharp’s incredibly convincing take-down of one of the NBA league’s most pressing problems: the Oklahoma City Thunder. "…the problem with the Thunder is not that they are too good, but that nothing about ... https://defiantsloth.com/2026/04/17/andrew-sharps-incredibly-convincing-takedown.html

Internet linking semantics, still relevant after all these decades.

What does IMAX mean? You’ll leave Todd Vazari’s post none the wiser, but somehow, more informed. "…it’s super clear what “IMAX” means."

Two master illustrators meet for an interview — Luis Mendo chats with Satoshi Hashimoto. I’ve loved Hashimoto’s work ever since perusing the pages of Monocle over 15 years ago, and just recently starting recognizing more of Mendo’s work. This was a delight to read.

A reasonable take. "AI could have sped up the development here and there. But Jobs bet Apple’s entire future on the iPhone. And it worked because he trusted the humans he’d surrounded himself with to take one of the biggest busi... https://defiantsloth.com/2026/04/03/a-reasonable-take-ai-could.html

Finally got around to seeing Wim Wenders’ Paris, Texas. What a film. Magnificent cinematography and color grading. Performances were monumental. Americana for the ages (even through the eyes of a German director). The Criterion 4k remaster is where it’s at.

Something mystical and timely about the subject of this read — a series of now-removed pixelated videos on YouTube, with the premier one backed by a tune from Donkey Kong Country 2 (SNES), that operated as the “internet checkpoint” for many people during its ephemeral couple of years of existence.

It took me no time at all once I downloaded and opened Quiche to set it as the default browser and line up a customized toolbar (just one of its excellent features). This thing is near perfect (maybe perfect?) — huge kudos to the developer.

This restored 1970s Italian villa is pitch perfect — literally, that sloping roof, and it seemingly retains all the charm from the original, from the “red clinker tile floors to the exposed brickwork.” Just wonderful to see.

The irony of PC Gamer recommending the use of RSS readers inside of an article weighing 37MB+ is lost on no one reading it, I’m sure.

I don’t have a particular horse in the race against social media bans / “think of the children”, but agree that something needs to be done through education, at the very least. This is such a complex issue — Craig Grannell has a pr... https://defiantsloth.com/2026/03/29/i-dont-have-a-particular.html

After watching Kurosawa’s High & Low (Criterion 4k release) and Linklater’s Blue Moon, this list of films set primarily in a single location seems apt. (Even if though only the first half of High & Low is a chamber drama, I’d add it.) Nice reminders of Assault on Precinct 13 and The Party.

A local guy invents a water bottle that cajoles the mouth and throat muscles to exercise in a way that assists snoring prevention during sleep. Some fascinating research (unexpected, as these things usually go) led to the ideation of this. Curious to see what they tackles next.

Two thrillingly wise takes on how many of us have complicated our lives intentionally and unintentionally through the nature of modern products and our intention to optimize aspects of the day to get more out of… things. Math... https://defiantsloth.com/2026/03/17/two-thrillingly-wise-takes-on.html

Really enjoy seeing the younger generations still connecting with cinema, so much so they’re calculating profitability to reassure themselves that if their favorite films are getting box office returns, the studios will hopefully continue to make their ilk.

I’m usually not one for indulging in nostalgia, but the pull towards it has been greater these past few years. Noah Kalina has a good reason why: "It’s probably because most people who grew up in that era are having a midlife crisis... https://defiantsloth.com/2026/03/09/im-usually-not-one-for.html

This is how you continue to win the PR battle of late-stage capitalism, in context of Costco aiming to return any potentially recovered tariff charges to its members: "[CEO] Vachris said Costco aims to shield shoppers where possib... https://defiantsloth.com/2026/03/06/this-is-how-you-continue.html

The rebellious changes to small businesses' models during the ICE occupation in Minneapolis have seen impressive engagement, continuing to show the resilience of their owners and the neighboring communities. MN Reformer high... https://defiantsloth.com/2026/03/03/the-rebellious-changes-to-small.html

AppAddict has a well-sourced, updated list of OCR apps for Mac. Personally, I can vouch for CleanShot — it gets multiple-(and I mean multiple)-times-a-day usage from me. TextSniper was also good (my initial pick years ago), but redundant if you have CleanShot.

Information Architects’ take down of the fetishization of Microsoft Office and US software tyranny, and how Europe could break free by using “a contemporary, dynamic, simple model”. But the real nugget in here is why it’... https://defiantsloth.com/2026/02/27/information-architects-take-down-of.html

Trying the new Acme Weather app by the original Dark Sky devs. A clean, succinct interface kindly echoes the old app. Community submissions is neat, but not prominently used yet. The innovations seem to be multiple forecasts averaging and this cheeky experimental notifications pane. I’m in.

Watched Blue Moon last night 🍿 — Chamber drama camp, Linklater-style, with long-time collaborator Ethan Hawke. Not perfect, but an extraordinarily intimate way to conduct a biofilm on someone, distilling the relationships and decades-long career of lyricist Lorenz Hart into a 1h 40m runtime.

When traveling, is it “selfish to withhold a location, or responsibility?" Appreciate this find from Kottke. Decades ago, sharing travel photos was usually a response to the question “how was your trip.” It’s sad to see the blisters that social media and FOMO-sharing has inflicted on places.

Thoughtless acts of idiocy in the name of disgruntlement and social media attention. It happens too often, and as Bethany points out, is egregiously dangerous when such acts involve children (perhaps even more so in a school context).

For those who remember, the Sleep Indicator Light was the perfect Second Steve Jobs-era attention to detail at Apple. Alas, that design whimsy has dimmed within the company. Marcin Wichary laments about it on his fantastic new UI/UX-focused blog.

What is this moment? Benn Stancil writes a frenzied piece, kind of nailing it with that bomb of a first paragraph. And this: "They say the internet is dead, full of robots talking to one another. On the contrary—it is furiously, p... https://defiantsloth.com/2026/02/21/what-is-this-moment-benn.html

Re-Thinking the RSS Experience: https://defiantsloth.com/2026/02/20/rethinking-the-rss-experience.html We never stop talking about RSS.