I’m spending today at our Fast Company Most Innovative Companies Summit and Gala in NYC, where I’ll be interviewing Reddit’s Steve Huffman. If you’re here, come by and say hi!

No elected official should be buying individual stocks. But in most cases it’s to avoid even the potential for conflict of interest, not the full-on embrace of it.

Two other things about this box: 1) When did the Crunch Berries become multicolored? 2) It’s never been the same since they got rid of the Crunch Berry Beast.

I know which doddering old man in a questionable position of authority I trust to lead our nation’s semiquincentennial.

BREAKING: The judge in the $1.7B slush fund suit has dismissed the case, but she says THERE IS NO SETTLEMENT OF RECORD. As I said earlier, the media must stop reporting that this slush fund is a settlement. It's just plain THEFT. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...

I say without hyperbole that this is the most brazenly corrupt action in US Presidential history. That it does not immediately lead to impeachment is a dangerous sign of how far the rule of law has declined.

Sometimes, a scandal is so big you have to pick off one piece of it. So in the case of Trump's insane stock trading, pick this: He did 6 trades of Intel stock. That company now counts the US government as a $9 billion stakeholder, thanks to Trump's intervention. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Bending over backwards not to rehash someone else’s wording and synthesis of facts is part of being a writer. I sometimes avoid a turn of phrase because I have a nagging feeling I may have seen it somewhere. https://www.npr.org/2026/05/17/nx-s1-5824503/new-york-magazine-review-ross-barkan

To be fair to AI, Schmidt has never been capable of talking about technology without making the whole thing sound like a terrible idea we’d be better off without. www.businessinsider.com/eric-schmidt...

"The moment you begin to censor the writer- and history bears this out in the ugliest of fashions -so begins a process of decay in the body politic that ultimately leads to disaster." ~Rod Serling Speech, Library of Congress (1968)

It feels like by this point in human history, Windows should be capable of knowing that it’s running a signage application and not covering it with a system message?

I wrote about Espa, a pretty nifty new AI assistant that works with iMessage, WhatsApp, and Slack. Super-easy to set up and quite powerful as an organizational aid. https://www.fastcompany.com/91542768/espa-ai-executive-assistant-review

This United flight is delayed, and the pilot asked for a show of hands to see who thought we should return to the gate so passengers could disembark, thereby risking even more delay. Very democratic! (Hardly anyone did.)

Glenn’s book is up for an Eisner award!* (* I edited an Eisne—nominated book!)

This account seems to have become the talk of Bluesky without adding any new followers? Amazing.

This should be worth waiting for, but it won’t actually be Anchor Steam unless they dump Sapporo’s ghastly rebrand and go back to the classic label.

BRB, abandoning my job for the next seven months to drive around visiting as many Radio Shacks as possible.

I haven’t used Quip for a while, but I’m sorry to see it’s going away. Loved it in its early days. https://www.fastcompany.com/3036873/quips-cool-collaborative-word-processor-is-now-a-spreadsheet-too

There are many techniques companies use to pitch journalists that assure failure, but this one is truly state of the art.

Now I want pre-printed “treason” sticky notes, so I can use them with great abandon.

I’m in lovely Vancouver for Web Summit’s opening night. I’m moderating three panels this week—hope to see some of you at the show.

I believe I’ve only used Venmo once, and remember what I paid for. Maybe you can find it! https://www.theverge.com/tech/927503/venmo-app-redesign-privacy-posts

Even the few minutes of the ceremony that actually happened on their first attempt this year were unbearable. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/10/us/politics/white-house-trump-dinner.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

This is quite a new Micro Center and I tend to doubt they ever sold printer ribbons.

I’m at Micro Center, and am trying to decide if I really want to build my own restroom.

This doesn’t seem like anywhere near large enough a fine. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/boards-policy-regulation/gm-pay-1275-million-settle-california-driver-privacy-probe-2026-05-08/

This dog was a three term mayor of Whoville.

Truly, America has never had a leader like this man.

I wrote about Ask Jeeves, which was once one of the most interesting companies in search—but gave up right when it might have been able to fulfill its original vision. (Bonus content: a prompt to turn your favorite chatbot into Jeeves.) https://www.fastcompany.com/91538613/ask-jeeves-rip-2026

Love reading the NYTimes and wish it was still possible to actually do it.

I went to the opening of the Museum of the Human Web tonight in San Francisco, at 238 King St. near the ballpark. It’s a pop-up exhibit running through 5/16. You’d like it—you should go if you can! I took some photos, including this 1990s Gateway 2000 PC setup. More in the thread.

In the last couple of weeks, I’ve started getting emails from AI agents relating to articles companies hope I’ll write. (Maybe I’ve been getting them for years, just without the fact AI is involved being disclosed.)

Well that’s a little on the nose. Message I just received from the New York City Bar Association:

I use AOL Mail on my iPad regularly, to help my aunt with her email. Most of the time when I open it, I am presented with an enormous image of Donald Trump. (It was sometimes an enormous image of Biden during his term.)

Colorization, an atrocity, is certainly part of his legacy.

Jane Fonda’s tribute to Ted Turner, in two parts. ♥️

Who among us can honestly say we don’t travel with a stash of personalized bourbon? https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/2026/05/kash-patel-fbi-bourbon/687066/?gift=otEsSHbRYKNfFYMngVFweGQA-zyeZDo2xA_cRrian4s

I’m working on something on Ask Jeeves for my newsletter, and reviewing its history. I forgot that Jeeves eventually ended up being a dead ringer for Ask.com’s ultimate boss, Barry Diller.

Sid Krofft and Ted Turner dying with weeks of each other reminded me that the World of Sid and Marty Krofft, the short-lived indoor theme park, later became CNN Center. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_World_of_Sid_and_Marty_Krofft

Ted Turner did so much it’s impossible to keep track of it all. When I worked at TIME the Time & Life Building had one of his Ted’s Montana Grills, which specialize in buffalo burgers. I ate there, of course. RIP https://www.tedsmontanagrill.com/locations.html

Finally, a major American newspaper whose editorial board is courageous enough to stand up for the rights of big tech companies.

I’m testing a social media app I vibecoded, so here’s a thread of PC World covers for you. When did anyone last call e-mail “electronic mail?”

This sounds like a lot of fun.

SCOOP: The F.D.A. blocked the release of studies finding that Covid and shingles vaccines were safe. In the case of Covid, FDA staff had to withdraw studies heading toward publication: www.nytimes.com/2026/05/05/u...

The New York Times seems to have implemented technology to sniff out people who are sharing their passwords, and it’s a tad overaggressive. It’s just me, on several devices.

AI is still at a point where hallucination “on high-stakes prompts covering areas like medicine, law, and finance” is enough of a problem that a 52.5% reduction is news. https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/924225/openai-chatgpt-default-model-gpt-5-5-instant

It would be fun to see Apple decide, once again, to put Intel inside. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-05-05/apple-explores-using-intel-and-samsung-to-build-main-device-chips-in-the-us

Son of son of son of AIBO, who enlivened many a PC World staff meeting 20 years ago. (One of my colleagues kept one in his office.) https://www.theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/922947/roomba-creator-new-robot-familiar-machines-magic-ai-launch