actsofvolition.com

rss2

A

Acts of Volition

actsofvolition.com · American English

rss2audiovideowordpresscontentslashwfwatomdcsy

Open the feed

https://actsofvolition.com/feed/

Last post

Oct 30, 2026

Posts in 24 h · 7 days · 30 days

0 · 2 · 3

Our last check

Answering

Served from

United States

Text score

1,257

Format

rss2

Features in the feed

content, slash, wfw, atom, dc, sy

Community

wordpress

Posts

What our queue read from this feed. Open one to read it here, or go to the site that published it.

1. Moats?
   Oct 30, 2026 · original
   I love a good metaphor, but I’m not sure moats were as effective as everyone writing about AI in 2026 seems to think they were.
2. C Sweet
   Oct 26, 2026 · original
   For more of my career than I care to admit, I thought the phrase “c-level executive” referred to executives who performed poorly (not like those A-level and B-level folks!). I now know that the C stands for “Chief” as in, “Chief Executive Officer” or “Chief Technology Office”. You can imagine how this led to some confusing conversations.
3. I’m a tax prude
   Oct 19, 2026 · original
   Sometimes a contractor or service-provider will ask if I’d rather pay in cash. The implication is that a cash transaction can be done without tax – and either or both of us can “save” some money. What’s not said, in these exchanges is: Hey, want to cheat on our taxes together? No thanks. I’ll pay the tax. I enjoy the schools, the roads, public broadcasting corporation. I don’t have some sort of extra-strong moral muscle. It makes me sad that people see the collective pie as something they can skim from, no matter how little the amount. It makes me double-sad that they assume others want to as well, because they’re probably right – others do want to as well. It makes triple-sad that some think you’d be a fool not to.
4. Golden Gate Bottle
   Sep 16, 2026 · original
   Best new feature in macOS 27 (Golden Gate): A handy icon in the menu bar to show you how much milk is left in your baby bottle.
5. Former Latters
   Sep 14, 2026 · original
   I’m an adult and have been for several decades. Every time someone say “it’s the former”, or “it’s the latter”, or “more the former than the latter”, I have to stop, and think: “Which one is first, former or latter?” It’s not your problem, it’s mine.
6. Caring for each other, including the weakest in society, is a sign of strength
   Sep 11, 2026 · original
   Jean Chrétien, former Prime Minister of Canada at age 92 (the quote is around the 11min mark, but the relevant section begins around 8min30s): “Welcoming people from all over the world, [and] caring for each other, including the weakest in society, is a sign of strength.”
7. Modern Day Typographer
   Sep 9, 2026 · original
   The Modern Day Typographer is impressive.
8. Retroactive Sentiment
   Aug 22, 2026 · original
   If you enjoy some piece of media (a story, a song, an image), and then find out it was created with AI, is it reasonable to have your enjoyment impacted in retrospect? It sure is. John Gruber wrote on his blog (that has a pretentious title, which I can identify with): My advice is not to care whether anything was written by an AI or a human. The only thing worth evaluating is what we human readers are naturally good at determining: whether it is good or bad. If it’s good, read it. If it’s not, don’t. […] If you read something and enjoy it, and subsequently find out it was generated by an LLM, don’t feel bad. You read something good that you enjoyed. If I read something, enjoyed it, and subsequently found it out was generated by an LLM, I absolutely would feel bad. To suggest I should not change my sentiment implies that text and reading are solely for the purpose of conveying some object
9. Smashing Pumpkins Tribute for 2026
   Aug 17, 2026 · original
   There’s a tribute album of Smashing Pumpkins covers that has some gems. Smashing Pumpkins were a formative band for me, and Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness will always be among my favourite albums. A few tracks from this cover album I particularly enjoy: Today by YONAKA Cherub Rock by Carpenter Brut Bullet with Butterfly Wings by Palaye Royale Tonight, Tonight by Starbenders
10. Beach Offsides
    Aug 5, 2026 · original
    I have invented a new rule for swimming at the beach: When swimming at the beach, you can never be the furthest from the shore. Frequently asked questions (probably): Q: What if I’m swimming with a friend? A: Worry about yourself! Q: What if there’s no one else swimming? A: Then you’d be the furthest from the shore. OFFSIDE! Q: What if the furthest-out person swims in past me? A: OFFSIDE!
11. Duck Race
    Jul 29, 2026 · original
    I must have made some good choices in my life, because I have a duck reserved for the harbour run rubber duck race more than a week ahead of Naufrage Harbour Day .
12. You want ghosts?
    Jul 8, 2026 · original
    CBC: Underwater images reveal 1st look at Quest, the final ship of Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton You want ghosts? Because that’s how you get ghosts.
13. The Goalkeeper’s Parent
    Jun 27, 2026 · original
    The most difficult position in soccer must be the goalkeeper’s parent.
14. Uber for Dogs
    Jun 11, 2026 · original
    My friend and colleague at silverorange , Jacky, is a great designer and a great writer. For years, we’ve used “Uber for Dogs” as a shorthand for a hypothetical example of a solution coming before the problem. I love Jacky’s writing style, and found this article to be a lovely serving of human thought without AI blurring the edges. Read Jacky’s article: Uber for Dogs: How to Stop & Think for Design .
15. AI floss
    May 11, 2026 · original
    Saying “I always review what the AI gives me and I don’t let it write for me” is the new “yes, dentist, I do floss every day.”
16. Connections Band Names
    Apr 25, 2026 · original
    When playing the New York Times Connections game, it occurred to me that it would be a good band name generator. This day in particular had some great band names: Octopus Breeze Thunder Messenger Moon Saddle Bull Waltz Bunk Gold Hobo Mosey Bilge Crossbody Stroll Baloney I’d go see Hobo Mosey opening for Octopus Breeze.
17. Countdown Standard
    Apr 14, 2026 · original
    I endorse this Countdown Standard proposed by XKCD :
18. Sound design of old
    Mar 27, 2026 · original
    I was talking about sound design for user-interfaces with some colleagues today and remembered this gem. Back in 2004, I asked Brad Sucks to help with some sound design for the open-source instant messaging app, Gaim . The sounds he came up with hold up well even 22 years later. I remember an interesting debate around whether the send or receive sound should have an “upward” tone (like asking a question), or “downward” tone. It depends whether you consider it a notification if your receipt, or the other persons sending (also see moving meetings “ahead” or “back” ). Hat tip to Brad for keeping his post about the sounds alive to this day. Cool URIs don’t change! (and yes, I’ve reached the “blogging about my own old blog posts” stage)
19. The Web is a Guitar Amp Now (Literally)
    Mar 11, 2026 · original
    I’ve been working with the web platform for years – and I was pretty blown-away to be able play my guitar through a website, and have it processed like a vintage amp. I wrote about it over at the silverorange blog.
20. The perfect book for the 10-year-old soccer / football fan
    Mar 6, 2026 · original
    My son is 10 years old and loves soccer. He received a novel for Christmas called The Academy by T.Z. Layton . When we started reading it together, I felt like someone had plugged directly into my son’s brain and formulated the perfect book for him. The dialog among the characters sounds like my son talking soccer with his friends. When you find a great book, it’s even better to find out that it’s the start of a whole series. We devoured book one, and quickly turned a few bookstore gift cards from Christmas into the next few entries in the series. We’ve now enjoyed books 1 through 4, with book 5 coming this week and book 6 later in May. The book is such a hit in our house that is has changed our approach to reading and writing. If I could bet on the further success of this book series – or any adaptations for TV or film, I would. The writing level and subject matter are perfect for a kid

Found by rss-feed-index, which checks each feed once a month at most.

Same record as JSON: https://api.agentalog.com/api/feeds/fd_actsofvolition_com_1a5c5db5b699e685. More from this site: actsofvolition.com in the Feeds tab.