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Birchtree

Birchtree
My favorite (and least favorite) movies of 2024 I’ve watched 48 new release movies in 2024, and with just a few weeks left in the year, I wanted to...
a month ago
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a month ago
I’ve watched 48 new release movies in 2024, and with just a few weeks left in the year, I wanted to make what is my current top 10 (plus honorable mentions & worst movies). As we get to the end of the year and you might have some
Birchtree
My lil' Ghostty terminal config I wrote about Ghosty last week, and since then I've played around with it enough to know it's my new...
4 weeks ago
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4 weeks ago
I wrote about Ghosty last week, and since then I've played around with it enough to know it's my new terminal emulator of choice. For me the killer feature is how fast it is, putting the most popular apps to shame (Apple Terminal and iTerm, specifically)
Birchtree
All the games I played in 2024, reviewed I love movies, but I really love games as well, so I figured I may as well follow up my 2024 movies...
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a month ago
I love movies, but I really love games as well, so I figured I may as well follow up my 2024 movies of the year post with something similar for games. I’m not going to rank these, but I’ll give a few words on each one
Birchtree
My default apps of 2024 Last year I was the 27th of four hundred and freaking eight people to write about their default...
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Last year I was the 27th of four hundred and freaking eight people to write about their default apps, and I though it would be fun to turn this into a tradition and revisit the list to see if anything has changed since last year. ✨ next to each change
Birchtree
I’m Not a Panda Person Niléane has a new webcam, Chris is downing in keyboards, and everyone installs some web-ass web...
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a month ago
Niléane has a new webcam, Chris is downing in keyboards, and everyone installs some web-ass web apps. Watch it on YouTube or listen in your favorite podcast app!
Birchtree
The future simply has more computers (members post) Glasses and headsets and computers, oh my! Why the future continues to be all about adding computers...
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Glasses and headsets and computers, oh my! Why the future continues to be all about adding computers to our lives, not replacing anything.
Birchtree
Apple’s 2024 report card: iPhone 📱 This is the first in a series of posts reviewing Apple’s 2024 across their major product lines. I...
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a month ago
This is the first in a series of posts reviewing Apple’s 2024 across their major product lines. I did this last year and you can read last year’s iPhone report card here. iPhone 16 Pro I really, really liked the 15 Pro lineup, and I would
Birchtree
Was 2024 a good year? Oh, and all the metrics and earnings info you could ever want. 2024 was a weird year for the Birchler household. Without getting into the details, two things put a...
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2024 was a weird year for the Birchler household. Without getting into the details, two things put a damper on the year right from the jump: a health issue and a radical increase in monthly spending. I won't go into the details here, but over the course of
Birchtree
2 weeks to go and I don't think I'll have to eat that AirPod Last month I made the courageous promise that I would eat an AirPod if a 9to5Mac writer's prediction...
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Last month I made the courageous promise that I would eat an AirPod if a 9to5Mac writer's prediction that "[b]efore the end of the year, I have no doubt Apple’s AI features—especially what’s coming in 18.2—will become
Birchtree
OpenAI is early Googling late-stage Google Chuck W. Nelson: Google's Search Results Are Infested, and Open AI Is Using Google's Playbook From...
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Chuck W. Nelson: Google's Search Results Are Infested, and Open AI Is Using Google's Playbook From the 2000s In order for Google to keep its crown, it needs to remember what it was in the 2000s and a bit of luck. Seeing Google grow from the
Birchtree
Apple’s 2024 report card: the Mac 💻 This is the third in a series of posts reviewing Apple’s 2024 across their major product lines. I...
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This is the third in a series of posts reviewing Apple’s 2024 across their major product lines. I did this last year and you can read last year’s Mac report card here. MacBook Pro The MacBook Pro continues to get a relentless stream of updates, as
Birchtree
Apple’s 2024 report card: Vision Pro 👓 This is the fifth and final post in a series of posts reviewing Apple’s 2024 across their major...
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This is the fifth and final post in a series of posts reviewing Apple’s 2024 across their major product lines. I did this last year and you can read last year’s Vision Pro report card here. Year one of Vision Pro This is a bit of
Birchtree
Apple’s 2024 report card: iPad This is the second in a series of posts reviewing Apple’s 2024 across their major product lines. I...
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a month ago
This is the second in a series of posts reviewing Apple’s 2024 across their major product lines. I did this last year and you can read last year’s iPad report card here. iPad Pro I'm so happy I get to say it was a
Birchtree
More YouTube goodies? More YouTube goodies. Here we go again! This is a fascinating look at trying to find the biggest tube TV On the other...
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Here we go again! This is a fascinating look at trying to find the biggest tube TV On the other end of things, here's a QVC presenter destroying a TV live on camera. Cybertruck reveal vibes here too If you've tried Balatro and haven't
Birchtree
X Premium Plus now costs well more than running my own damn Mastodon server Jess Weatherbed: X Raises Premium Plus Subscription Pricing by Almost 40 Percent - The Verge X has...
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Jess Weatherbed: X Raises Premium Plus Subscription Pricing by Almost 40 Percent - The Verge X has substantially raised the price of its top-tier user subscription in multiple regions to help bolster the platform’s creator payouts. The increase for Premium Plus came into effect...
Birchtree
Ghostty is the hot new terminal and it’s out now Ghostty is a hip new terminal from Mitchell Hashimoto, who he described in October’s Ghostty 1.0 Is...
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Ghostty is a hip new terminal from Mitchell Hashimoto, who he described in October’s Ghostty 1.0 Is Coming: With Ghostty, I set out to build a terminal emulator that was fast, feature-rich, and had a platform-native GUI while still being cross-platform. I believe Ghostty 1.0...
Birchtree
Somehow, more YouTube gems Yup, we’re doing this again because you all seem to like them an honestly I kinda like making them...
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Yup, we’re doing this again because you all seem to like them an honestly I kinda like making them 😊 I love Answer in Progress, especially Sabrina’s videos, and she gets about as obsessed with anything she’s ever looked at in this episode (and
Birchtree
Grading my 2024 Apple predictions First off, merry Christmas! I closed out last year with a series of posts reviewing Apple’s main...
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First off, merry Christmas! I closed out last year with a series of posts reviewing Apple’s main product lines, iPhones, iPads, Macs, Watches, and the soon-to-be-released Vision Pro. I’ll be doing that again over the last few days of the year, but in the interest of
Birchtree
Bending the knee, $1 million at a time M.G. Siegler on his blog, Spyglass: $1M Knee Pads Of course, the point here, in the real world,...
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M.G. Siegler on his blog, Spyglass: $1M Knee Pads Of course, the point here, in the real world, isn't actually the money – though I would just note that as President, Trump will have access to thousands of warheads... – but what the money signals. That is,
Birchtree
AI, self-driving, and evolving your opinions on new tech over time Casey Newton on Platformer: The Phony Comforts of AI Skepticism The most persuasive way you can...
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Casey Newton on Platformer: The Phony Comforts of AI Skepticism The most persuasive way you can demonstrate the reality of AI, though, is to describe how it is already being used today. Not in speculative sci-fi scenarios, but in everyday offices and laboratories and schoolrooms....
Birchtree
A lot changed for LLMs in 2024 I thought this was a fascinating post by Simon Willison: Things We Learned About LLMs in 2024 This...
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I thought this was a fascinating post by Simon Willison: Things We Learned About LLMs in 2024 This increase in efficiency and reduction in price is my single favourite trend from 2024. I want the utility of LLMs at a fraction of the energy cost and it looks like that&
Birchtree
Comfort Zone: OLED Dreams and Studio Display Realities Niléane is out, so Chris and I are left to fend on ourselves! Chris steals like an artist and I...
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Niléane is out, so Chris and I are left to fend on ourselves! Chris steals like an artist and I defend a new purchase…oh, and we have some fun with desks that sadly ends in Vision Pro slander. Why does this keep happening?! Watch on YouTube
Birchtree
That app could probably be a website P. Martin Ortiz writing for Rogue Engine: Your App Should Have Been a Website Some companies push...
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P. Martin Ortiz writing for Rogue Engine: Your App Should Have Been a Website Some companies push for app installations because they gain access to more permissions than they would in the browser. Apps allow them to collect more data and track user activity, often under the...
Birchtree
Squashing links on social media Anil Dash: “Link in Bio” Is a Slow Knife For a closed system, those kinds of open connections are...
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Anil Dash: “Link in Bio” Is a Slow Knife For a closed system, those kinds of open connections are deeply dangerous. If anyone on Instagram can just link to any old store on the web, how can Instagram — meaning Facebook, Instagram’s increasingly-overbearing owner — tightly
Birchtree
The day Birchtree grew up Today's a symbolically big day for Birchtree! After doing this site and its many offshoot projects...
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Today's a symbolically big day for Birchtree! After doing this site and its many offshoot projects since 2010, I finally put a ring on it and registered Birchtree Productions LLC. 🎉 For you, this means basically nothing at all. Footers might be updated and I might invest in
Birchtree
📕 I mildly recommend: Life as No One Knows It (members post) A new book explaining assembly theory, a new way of thinking about the question of "what is life?"
3 weeks ago
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The best app for gaming on the Vision Pro will soon be Safari Andrew Fear writing for the official NVIDIA blog: PC Gaming in the Cloud Goes Everywhere With New...
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Andrew Fear writing for the official NVIDIA blog: PC Gaming in the Cloud Goes Everywhere With New Devices and AAA Games on GeForce NOW Get immersed in a new dimension of big-screen gaming as GeForce NOW brings AAA titles to life on Apple Vision Pro spatial computers, Meta Quest 3
Birchtree
How Flight Simulator helped my flying anxiety (members post) It turns out video games really can impact how you view the world.
a month ago
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Gemini 2.0: speed and deep research impress From The Keyword Google blog: Introducing Gemini 2.0: Our New AI Model for the Agentic Era Today...
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From The Keyword Google blog: Introducing Gemini 2.0: Our New AI Model for the Agentic Era Today we’re excited to launch our next era of models built for this new agentic era: introducing Gemini 2.0, our most capable model yet. With new advances in multimodality —
Birchtree
The “Bluesky feels like early Twitter!” vibe Bluesky has the juice right now, and while it’s slowed down a bit this week, they were adding over 1...
2 months ago
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2 months ago
Bluesky has the juice right now, and while it’s slowed down a bit this week, they were adding over 1 million users a day for a bit last week. One sentiment I’m hearing a lot recently is that Bluely “feels like early Twitter,” which
Birchtree
First look at my next big thing (members post) I've been working on something new, but it's not ready for prime time.
2 weeks ago
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I don’t care about bad or missing features that I don’t use Sometimes I’ll talk about something I like online and people will express shock that I can use a...
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Sometimes I’ll talk about something I like online and people will express shock that I can use a product that has such a clear downside. I’ve gotten people ask how I can use Things since it doesn’t have shared task lists. More recently I
Birchtree
It's time for some more YouTube videos just in time for the weekend This behind-the-scenes of one of my favorite 2024 movies was so much fun Shout out to Truth social,...
3 weeks ago
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This behind-the-scenes of one of my favorite 2024 movies was so much fun Shout out to Truth social, which got called out as having the best UX in this video...which is based on Mastodon The internet's dad, Hank Green, is starting a new podcast I'm
Birchtree
Everything is a reaction, nothing is forever, and everything comes back (members post) Why nothing stays popular forever.
2 months ago
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Sign up for X to see that amber alert. Yikes Kate Knibbs writing for Wired: Californians Say X Blocked Them From Viewing Amber Alert About...
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Kate Knibbs writing for Wired: Californians Say X Blocked Them From Viewing Amber Alert About Missing 14-Year-Old Earlier this week, the California Highway Patrol sent an Amber Alert push notification to phones in the Los Angeles area about a 14-year-old girl that authorities...
Birchtree
Meta, moderation, and whose freedoms come first A lot has been said about Meta’s recently-announced moderation changes, so I won’t add too much to...
2 weeks ago
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A lot has been said about Meta’s recently-announced moderation changes, so I won’t add too much to your reading backlog today, but I did want to comment on it after letting it simmer in my head for a bit. Let me just start by repeating the
Birchtree
I’m Knee-Deep in Turkey Another week, another fantastically fun episode of Comfort Zone! This week Niléane talked about her...
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Another week, another fantastically fun episode of Comfort Zone! This week Niléane talked about her new Flight Simulator obsession, we go on a tangent about PC gaming, Chris (who says he’s an iPad guy) brings another Mac to talk about, and I had the gang look
Birchtree
That time Apple made Auido Hijack way worse, but eventually made it better for everyone Paul Kafasis: The Developers Who Came in From the Cold I’m delighted to say that we have completed...
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Paul Kafasis: The Developers Who Came in From the Cold I’m delighted to say that we have completed our transition to ARK, and it now powers all of our audio capture apps on MacOS 14 and higher. Our glorious hassle-free future has finally arrived, and you can get
Birchtree
I strongly recommend Portal: Revolution (members post) In this new series, I’ll be reviewing the media I experience (I don’t like saying I “consume” media)...
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In this new series, I’ll be reviewing the media I experience (I don’t like saying I “consume” media) in more detail than I normally do. Don’t worry, the movie reviews are staying free and on social media ✌️
Birchtree
The Vision Pro makes Touch ID more appealing Ryan Christoffel writing on 9to5Mac: Why Vision Pro Is Apple’s Best Reason Yet to Bring Touch ID...
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Ryan Christoffel writing on 9to5Mac: Why Vision Pro Is Apple’s Best Reason Yet to Bring Touch ID Back to iPhone Because Face ID on iPhone does no good when Vision Pro is strapped to your face—an unfortunate detail I’m reminded of every time I
Birchtree
📕 I recommend: Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI Hey everyone, this post is for everyone, but it’s a part of a new series I’m doing on More Birchtree...
2 weeks ago
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Hey everyone, this post is for everyone, but it’s a part of a new series I’m doing on More Birchtree where I review the books and games I read and play in 2025. My movie reviews have been a relative hit on social media for the
Birchtree
Samsung will release their phone first and still gets accused of copying Apple Chance Miller on 9to5Mac: Samsung Is Already Working on Its iPhone 17 Air Copycat Apple is expected...
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Chance Miller on 9to5Mac: Samsung Is Already Working on Its iPhone 17 Air Copycat Apple is expected to release an all-new “iPhone 17 Air” model this year, prioritizing form over function. A new supply chain report today reiterates what to expect from the iPhone 17 Air size and
Birchtree
Apple’s 2024 report card: Apple Watch This is the fourth in a series of posts reviewing Apple’s 2024 across their major product lines. I...
a month ago
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This is the fourth in a series of posts reviewing Apple’s 2024 across their major product lines. I did this last year and you can read last year’s Apple Watch report card here. Series 10 It’s always fun when we get a new Apple
Birchtree
A quick, incomplete thought about Squid Game 2 This one thing about Squid Game really sticks in my craw…
4 weeks ago
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This remote has me questioning everything I recently lost my Apple TV remote (the latest model) and despite apparently being somewhere in the...
3 weeks ago
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I recently lost my Apple TV remote (the latest model) and despite apparently being somewhere in the couch according to Find My, my wife and I can not find it. We were using our phones as remotes for a couple days, which was annoying, but got the job done. But
Birchtree
Matt is a Mean Guy (hey!) Matt felt like bringing an intentionally controversial topic, Niléane refuses to admit she's created...
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Matt felt like bringing an intentionally controversial topic, Niléane refuses to admit she's created a sticky note-based task manager, and everyone gives the iPad some much needed love. Or watch it on YouTube. Weekly Topics Raycast CleanShot X Final Cut Pro Google...
Birchtree
Starship is a late contender for favorite new things in 2024 I don't have a huge love for Star Fox 64. I mean I played it with friends and I still have the...
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I don't have a huge love for Star Fox 64. I mean I played it with friends and I still have the cartridge all these years later, but it's not as big a part of my childhood as Ocarina of Time was. That said, the Ocarina
Birchtree
I'm just gonna be your YouTube algorithm now It turns out I like sharing the cool YouTube videos I see when there aren't any schedules or rules...
4 weeks ago
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4 weeks ago
It turns out I like sharing the cool YouTube videos I see when there aren't any schedules or rules about how often I share them, so here's another collection I enjoyed recently. An oldie but a goodie, I really loved what Scotty was doing back in
Birchtree
When do the Trump flags come down? (members post) The flags are still flying, celebrating the man, not the country. Why is this something that happens...
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The flags are still flying, celebrating the man, not the country. Why is this something that happens now, and why is it something only happening on one end of the political spectrum?
Birchtree
Yet more YouTube videos I've enjoyed recently I guess this is a series now… Do you have a chair where "half dirty" clothes go? If so, this chair...
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I guess this is a series now… Do you have a chair where "half dirty" clothes go? If so, this chair will be very compelling. I'm not a big fan of most Apple TV+ shows, but Severance was lovely and I can't wait
Birchtree
Comfort Zone predicts tech in 2025 In this very special episode, the gang makes their "Pro" and "Pro Max" predictions for tech in 2025...
2 weeks ago
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In this very special episode, the gang makes their "Pro" and "Pro Max" predictions for tech in 2025 and oh my, does it get wild! Who's best clued into the tech coming this year? Who is just wish-casting their way to third place? This
Birchtree
TikTok is gone for at least a couple days, so here's some YouTube videos to stave off the boredom I don't use TikTok so I have no idea, but presumably some people are like "what do I even watch on...
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I don't use TikTok so I have no idea, but presumably some people are like "what do I even watch on my phone now?" LegalEagle with a good explainer over what's happening. For the record, I think this sucks and isn't how
Birchtree
📕 I strongly recommend: Nexus (members post)
a week ago
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2025: The year of fitness (members post) 2025 is upon us and my goals for the new year are very clear: I need to get my fitness in order....
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2025 is upon us and my goals for the new year are very clear: I need to get my fitness in order. Here's the plan…
Birchtree
🕹️ I strongly recommend: Resident Evil 2 (members post) Oh buddy, what a game!
a week ago
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Web tech rocks John Siracusa is making a new Mac app and he’s been talking about the development process on ATP for...
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John Siracusa is making a new Mac app and he’s been talking about the development process on ATP for the last few weeks. I got a kick out of his frustrations with using a payment system that delivered a confusing user experience he had no control over, and
Birchtree
Ghost 6 is coming in 2025 and will include ActivityPub for everyone The Ghost Blog: The Story So Far This year we're going to ship ActivityPub to everyone, in a...
2 weeks ago
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The Ghost Blog: The Story So Far This year we're going to ship ActivityPub to everyone, in a flagship Ghost 6.0 release. I have nothing else to add other than I’m happy with my choice of blogging back end.
Birchtree
I think OpenAI’s next app is a web browser Casey Newton: Hands on With Operator — A Promising but Frustrating New Frontier for Artificial...
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Casey Newton: Hands on With Operator — A Promising but Frustrating New Frontier for Artificial Intelligence The experience revealed to me one of Operator’s key deficiencies: it can use a web browser, but it cannot use your web browser. This matters a lot, because your browser is...
Birchtree
🫡 A certain individual who owns a certain social media site spoke at a certain President's...
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A certain individual who owns a certain social media site spoke at a certain President's inauguration earlier this week and at one point gave a very distinctive salute. Now look, I'm not calling this billionaire a Nazi, and I'm not telling you whether I
Birchtree
The LLM bubble might be about to burst (but not for the reason you think) Ben Turner: Chinese Researchers Just Built an Open-Source Rival to ChatGPT in 2 Months. Silicon...
6 days ago
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Ben Turner: Chinese Researchers Just Built an Open-Source Rival to ChatGPT in 2 Months. Silicon Valley Is Freaked Out. Now, R1 has also surpassed ChatGPT's latest o1 model in many of the same tests. This impressive performance at a fraction of the cost of other models, its...
Birchtree
Quick Reviews for iOS is coming soon I teased this last week for More Birchtree subscribers, and today I'm excited to announce my new...
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I teased this last week for More Birchtree subscribers, and today I'm excited to announce my new app, Quick Reviews! Wait, Quick Reviews which I've been making on the web for years? No, Quick Reviews for iOS. I talked about what tools helped me make this
Birchtree
Show “nobody wanted” was the second-most-watched show on Disney+ Katie Campione writing for Deadline with a very long headline: Broadcast Was “Surprisingly...
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Katie Campione writing for Deadline with a very long headline: Broadcast Was “Surprisingly Resilient” in 2024 Amid Production Declines, but Streaming Still Leads the Pack; ‘Fool Me Once’ Led TV Last Year, Luminate Says big IP franchises were still the best performing series on...
Birchtree
Incomplete thought: using data to tell a story (members post) A year ago I tried to understand how much power ChatGPT was using and if I should be outraged by it....
4 days ago
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This is why people see attacks on DEI as thinly veiled racism The tragedy in Washington D.C. this week was horrible, and a shocking incident. There should and...
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The tragedy in Washington D.C. this week was horrible, and a shocking incident. There should and will be an investigation into what went wrong here, but every politician and official who spoke at the White House today explicitly blamed DEI programs for this crash. The message may...