I’ve been reading more about Flock after 404’s reporting. In Champaign-Urbana stopflock.org is a movement to get it kicked off campus and in Champaign. Interesting stat:

Urbana—which refused to deploy Flock surveillance cameras—saw a larger drop in gun violence than Champaign after their purchase of Flock surveillance cameras.

This surveillance tech has got to go. Get the flock out!

What I watched in January, February, March, and April in 2026

January

The Roses was a fun and silly movie directed by Jay Roach who did Meet the Parents and Austin Powers (an incredibly formative movie series for me). I’m glad movies like this are still getting made but I wouldn’t say it was great by any stretch of the imagination.

Kumail’s new special was very funny and I recommend checking it out. I mostly know him from Silicon Valley and a few other bits and bobs so it was nice seeing him doing solo standup.

Bugonia is a work of art and has a fun bizarre twist.

All Creatures Great and Small continues to be our post-holidays wholesome cup of cheer we all desperately need in January. Quaint, low-stakes, and farm antics about. I especially like Samuel West and seeing him in Slow Horses is a treat.

February

The Night Manager season 1 from 2016 is an all-timer. After radio silence after 10 years, I’m not sure season 2 lived up to those heights but it was damn good.

Sherlock is another all-timer, starring Cumberbatch and Freeman. This was a rewatch for us, having watched it originally season by season as it aired over the course of 2010 to 2017. It’s especially interesting watching it now as it predates their meteoric rise to fame. This is post-The Office (UK) but pre-The Hobbit for Freeman and pre-Doctor Strange for Cumberbatch. It’s fair to say this show played a big role in them landing those parts. I think the fourth season overstayed its welcome and was virtually unrecognizable from the humble beginnings of the first season with MI5-level stakes and just… idk it kinda lost the plot.

We’re still very much enjoying Malcolm in the Middle, trying to burn through 7 seasons (first time watch) before watching the 2026 reunion special.

March

As big fans of The Office I sat on The Paper at first. I knew eventually I’d check it out but wasn’t in any rush. This show eventually won me over but it took a little warming up. Similar to The Office or Parks and Rec, I expect them to find their voice and hit a stride in season 2.

I never played the game but enjoyed Goggins in White Lotus and Purnell in Yellowjackets. The first episode is especially cinematic and worth watching on its own. I wouldn’t say it gripped me (I took my sweet time watching it) but it’s very well done.

April

I made it to the last showing of Project Hail Mary in my local IMAX (before it got booted out for Michael). It was incredible. As a fan of the book I had been looking forward to this for months and loved the music, visuals, the message, and of course the sublime performances by Rocky and Ryan. Must watch!

Some nights we’d alternate between the high-stress The Pitt then swing into silly city with the Scrubs reboot. It was fun seeing just how different (worlds apart!) two hospital-set shows could be.

I watched and loved season one of The Pitt, last year and this season brought the goods. Intense! Just an incredible show, I can’t recommend it highly enough.

I was a fan of the original Scrubs, it was one of those shows I bought episodes on iTunes back in the day and discovered a lot of great music I still love to this day (The Shins, Colin Hay, R.E.M. etc.). I think they did a good job bringing the show back and I’m looking forward to future seasons.

If you’re interested you can read what I watched in 2025 and 2024 (q1, q2, q3, q4).

The Tim Cook era ends.

While rumored heavily this is big news. Big ships like Apple can’t turn around overnight but I am optimistic about having a product person back at the helm.

Also: compare the humanness of the image of Tim Cook and John Ternus with the vapid Sam and Jony announcement.

The Town interview with Jon Favreau explores how AI and new technologies can be leveraged by creative people — not replace them. Very inspiring to hear how Favreau thinks about his work and the importance of movies being a shared, cultural experience to enjoy together.

In December I got a gaming PC prebuilt by a hobbyist in town and I’ve been running by SteamOS on it and loving it.

Over the weekend I put it in a new case, the Qube 540 for a poor-man’s Mac Pro (RIP). I wish they offered it in silver, but it’s a huge upgrade from the case my PC came in.

Bought this $20 8-pack of rechargeable AA batteries with USB-C after reading The Verge’s recommendation.

I use outdated rechargeable AAs for my Yale smart locks and they’re constantly dying. I’m over here just wishing for a brighter future and hoping this $20 will finally bring me happiness.

It’s sickening and awfully convenient for Amazon to be delivering packages today 🐣 Happy Easter y’all.

“Seams Sew Reasonable” is a real business name for a seamstress at a retirement community.

I made an app that pulls together local events across the Champaign-Urbana area. Turn of Events is entirely free, and always will be! If you’re in the area check it out.

Glad to see new open source solutions for building websites with EmDash. Something that gets loss in the static site generator world (or writing sites by hand) is ease of use for non-technical people that’s only afforded with a CMS. (I am interested to see spicy Matt’s thoughts.)

It’s a small thing (and probably intended for iPad), but I feel like this iOS 26.5 feature is destined for a foldable iPhone:

When you connect … a Magic Keyboard to an iPhone over USB-C, the iPhone will automatically establish a Bluetooth connection.

Illinois made it to the Final Four! Fun game to watch, especially since my family is split between Iowa and Illinois.

I have literally heard people at work (hint: not designers!) say things like “we won’t need those pesky engineers anymore” which is so ridiculous and just plain rude. From Jim Nielsen:

AI whispers in our ears: “everyone else’s job is easy except yours”.

I made an app for my dad but after multiple, multi-day (4-5 days) rounds with App Store review* I decided to just add him to the TestFlight. I wish Apple didn’t insist on being a gatekeeper.

*minor metadata issue (that I cannot reproduce) where the reviewer can’t install the watchOS app.

You don’t have to choose anymore, Hello Neo

My first Mac was an iBook G4. I saved up all summer long doing my summer job to buy that thing. I waffled between the Mac mini at $500 and the iBook which sat around $1,000. I had an HP display, keyboard, and mouse so I seriously considered living the BYODKM dream and going with the mini to save some dough.

While hemming and hawing my dad said something like, yeah but this one you can take with you, which solidified my choice to get the 12” iBook. Paying roughly double stung but was absolutely the right call. I loved that thing’s pre-MagSafe plug, plastic shell, and the included silver iPod mini. I ended up using that HP setup with my iBook so I got a taste for the laptop-desktop lifestyle the Mac mini would have offered.

Now, 20 years later, you can get a $600 Mac mini or a $600 MacBook Neo. It brings its own DKM! While the M4 in the mini outperforms the Neo, there’s only one you can take with you.

I hope this new lower priced laptop helps a whole new generation fall in love with the Mac. My fascination with computers took hold with that iBook and never let go.

I am hoping to release a new app this week. If you’re in the Champaign-Urbana area, this app is for you! If you’re interested let me know and I’ll send you a TestFlight invite.

We’ve been watching Malcolm in the Middle and the cold opening to s3e6 is all too real. My wife just stared at me: that’s what you have.

One week ago, at exactly 7:28 AM, my kid was having a pop tart with her cousin. Today, at exactly 7:28 AM, kiddo said, “cousin pop tart.” I’m mystified. I don’t know if I should be proud or worried.

There is a lot to criticize of Apple these days but I think the MacBook Neo intro video is among the best work the design team has ever done.

Seeing Daft Punk release new work after breaking up gives me hope for humanity.