The Dann Chronicles Podcast

May 2024

Hey all,

Over the past decade or so, I've seen the same trend happening across two seemingly unrelated groups: productivity gurus and tattoo artists.

After college, I worked counter at a piercing and tattoo studio for about four years. During that time, I learned a little bit about how tattoos age—the difference between how a fresh tattoo looks vs how that same tattoo will look in 5-10 years.

Today, I see way more tattoos that look good fresh, but know will age horribly. This is largely due to the rise in platforms like Reddit and Instagram, which reward the immediate "after" picture and caring much less about how the tattoo will look later.

Similarly, I see so productivity "gurus" today showing off complex note-taking systems that look super impressive, but will be IMPOSSIBLE to maintain in the long term. I can guarantee that in even one year's time, practically none of their impressive system will still be in use.

Social media rewards those shiny, new things while ignoring practicality.

I've mentioned that I've been making YouTube videos documenting my own note-taking process, and that's the philosophy when building my systems. I think it's what sets me apart from a bunch of other creators.

If you're working on something similar yourself, don't create systems based on how you aspire to work, build systems based on who you are today and then slowly add on brick by brick. It's the only way to have long-term success.

Have a great month, y'all.

-Dann

🥦 Criss-cross you don't stop

It's not often that a new vegetable bursts onto the scene, but that's exactly what's happening with Baby Cauliflower. Sort of a cross between cauliflower and broccoli, these lengthy florets are absolutely freaking delicious.

I've been grabbing mine at my local Trader Joes. To cook, just heat some olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the baby cauliflower, salt, pepper, onion and garlic powder (or your seasonings of choice) and maybe a little garlic. Then, cook the same as you would broccoli.

For me, one bag makes a perfect two servings. I'll eat half immediately, and the second half I'll have the next day as cold leftovers. I may even like the next-day cold version even better than hot.

As with any of my newsletter food recommendations, I encourage you to act fast if you want to try them. I'm most definitely a “harbinger of failure,” which means I don't expect this product to be available very long...

👋 Farewell certainty

I was struck by this Pew Research Study showing that "38% of webpages that existed in 2013 are no longer accessible a decade later." But my thoughts about this study might surprise you.

What if it's a good thing that large chunks of the internet are disappearing forever?

In the story of human history, the idea of "permanence" is almost non-existent. Something was "permanent" only if it was etched in stone. Ideas were fleeting, libraries could burn, and tapes could disappear.

If you missed an episode of a TV series, you either had to catch the one-time-only re-run, or just accept that missing it was your fate. If you were out with friends and couldn't remember an actors age, you had to be okay with that until maybe you caught a celebrity rag in the checkout line of the grocery store someday.

There was a level of impermanence (and associated uncertainty) that was simply inherent to the human experience.

Then the Internet came along and offered a different narrative. Maybe all information was archivable forever, and accessible whenever you wanted. It changed humans' very relationship with information and ideas and facts.

There was no longer room for "I'm not sure," and there were voices stating as fact every single opinion that anyone could have. Suddenly no one was okay with anything being fuzzy—humans became militantly I'm-right-you're-wrong once the idea of "permanence of all things" came around.

So I say farewell to the very concept of permanence. It's only been a part of the human experience for a few decades and it's done more harm than good. Maybe it's that sense of uncertainty that actually holds society (with all its varying viewpoints) together.

Good riddance.

👓 Search and rescue

It's been easy to miss (like a frog in boiling water) but Google Search has been declining in quality over the years. Today, top results are either ads or search engine optimized trash. Most people add the keyword "reddit" to any search to yield useful results.

Like any meaningful decline, the story behind the downfall is very interesting. The man who killed Google Search (according to that article) is Prabhakar Raghavan, the specific Google employee who decided to push for growth over quality.

The author of this article also claims that this is part of a larger trend, where power at tech companies is shifting from the builders to the managers, from the innovators to the consultants. The result? The enshittification of the Internet.

As for me? I stopped using Google Search over a year ago in favor of a paid alternative called Kagi (I was actually just interviewed for Monocle Radio in the UK about my experience with Kagi, hear me at 6:05). In fact, I've been working on leaving as many Google services as possible over the past several years. Because it doesn't have to be like this.

I see this story about Google Search as a cautionary tale. Even the slightest misalignment in goals can have catastrophic effects.

🇨🇦 Canada Goose-bumps

If you want me to stop sharing Bobby Fingers' videos, he's going to have to stop making them so damn good. In his most recent video, the Irish multi-hyphenate artist and sculptor has tackled the infamous Fabio vs Goose rollercoaster disaster.

If I could plug into the matrix and download a new set of skills instantly into my brain, I'd choose Bobby Fingers' skills wholesale. He's one of the few artists that I watch with both joy and envy.

Anyway, this time he even partnered with Adam Savage (of Mythbusters fame) for a bit of the video. It's fun to see him connecting with other well-known celebrities.

🎶 To see or not to see...

Lastly, I wanted to share an exciting upcoming New York City event: the city is getting the first-ever revival of the 1965 musical Skyscraper in November. It's a "fun, fast-paced musical comedy by Peter Stone, Sammy Cahn, and James Van Heusen."

That musical duo was basically the Frank Sinatra house band during the Capital Records era. Hits include "Come Fly With Me" and "Love and Marriage" (you know, from the sitcom Married...with Children).

One of the reasons I'm so excited for this is because it's being co-produced, directed, and choreographed by my wife, Avital Asuleen.

Her and her team are currently knee-deep in a fundraising campaign to help cap off the final dollars in their budget.

In case you're outside the NYC theater scene, producing Off-Broadway theater got significantly more expensive after the pandemic. All the cheaper rehearsal spaces disappeared and costs for venues, casts, and crews shot up. The fundraiser, therefore, is geared towards offsetting the cost difference between pre- and post-pandemic producing. Because so much has come back since COVID, but theater is still reeling.

If you're in the New York City area, we'd love to see you there. If you're not, maybe you'd want to support the fundraiser at a tier that buys a ticket for a deserving artist. Either way, you're helping independent theater get back on its feet after some huge setbacks.

End note

If you've enjoyed this, I'd love it if you shared it with a friend. You can send them here to sign up.

I'll be sending out these emails once per month, and I'm happy you're along for the ride. I'm trying to make it one of the best things that arrives in your inbox each month, so thoughts and feedback are always appreciated. You can just reply to this email.

Also, if you find anything interesting, send it my way.

Thanks for reading. Until next time,Dann

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dannberg.substack.com

April 2024

Hey all,

When I was in high school, I remember learning about the power of compound interest, mostly in the context of retirement. If you start stashing your money away early, even if it's a little bit, that will turn into a huge advantage come retirement time, all thanks to compound interest.

What I didn't realize until much later is how that concept of "compound interest" applies everywhere in life, not just with money. Small steps, taken consistently, can have massive impact without you even realizing it.

That's what happened with my Obsidian note-taking system, which I've been recently documenting over on YouTube. I'm only realizing how complex some of my systems are now that I'm documenting them. But over the past four years of note-taking, it's just been a small daily-ish habit that's snowballed thanks to compound interest.

These days, I try to apply these principles everywhere. To reading, to friendships, to learning, to hobbies. Every impressive feat you witness someone else accomplish all started as a small habit.

Baby steps are just baby steps...until there's enough of them. They add up to giant leaps.

-Dann

🪦 Putting a pin in it

I wanted to post a short follow up about the Humane AI Pin, which I first ragged on back in November before the product was officially released. The official reviews are out, and they're not so hot.

But it's not the negative reviews that are interesting here (as mentioned, I called it back in November). Instead, these reviews have sparked a much larger conversation around the power of reviewers themselves.

The story starts a couple months ago with the popular tech reviewer MKBHD (18.7M subscribers) and his review of the Fisker Ocean: "This is the Worst Car I've Ever Reviewed." Within the next week, Fisker stock sinks to a new all-time low, the company announces layoffs, and there are rumors of filing for bankruptcy. It causes quite the stir in the tech world.

Fast forward to this month, and Humane's wildly ambitious, insanely hyped, near-infinitely venture funded AI pin launches. MKBHD gets a review unit, gives the product a try, and publishes his review: "The Worst Product I've Ever Reviewed... For Now."

Once again, the Internet is aflutter. Probably the loudest criticism of MKBHD is this tweet:

I find it distasteful, almost unethical, to say this when you have 18 million subscribers. Hard to explain why, but with great reach comes great responsibility. Potentially killing someone else’s nascent project reeks of carelessness. First, do no harm.

I can't stress this enough, this is a bad take. Tech reviewers don't have any obligation to tech companies, only to their audience.

But I'm not nearly as eloquent as MKBHD himself, who chimed in when criticism of his review was reaching a fever pitch. He poses (and answers?) the question: do bad reviews kill companies?

I'll leave you alone to answer that question for yourself. You now have the background and links to primary sources, if you care. Regardless, it's been an entertaining bit of Internet drama this past month.

🪁 Childhood unleashed

I've been thinking a lot about Generation X recently. Specifically, what being a kid used to look like before today's technology fundamentally changed the very nature of human connection.

Maybe it's because I'm reaching the age (late 30s) where my childhood now feels like history rather than recent past. Plus, as a Millennial, I'm part of the last group of people to experience a pre-Internet childhood.

I've been re-reading Calvin and Hobbes, an old favorite of mine, and it's just wild to compare a young kids life then (wandering the woods, playing with neighborhood friends, loads of unsupervised free time) to what we have now (constant GPS tracking, technology access/monitoring, constant protection).

I found the differences to be particularly stark while watching the new movie Snack Shack (which criminally flew almost completely under the radar). It's a coming-of-age story about two 14-year-old friends in Nebraska in 1991. It wasn't mychildhood (by a long shot) but I definitely recognized it as a decent portrayal of a time long past.

To be clear, I'm not judging one time period as superior to another. Just meditating on the differences.

Like anything else, time too has compounding interest. It's strange to be middle aged.

🛩 Come fly with me

Every time I fly (not often, but often enough) I'm reminded how much I love the iOS app Flighty. It's one of those rare examples of an application that exceeds expectations.

For one, the Live Activities widget is so well-designed that I only ever need to open my e-ticket when I'm checking in (and Apple agrees, giving it an Apple Design Award in 2023). Additionally, I'll get notifications about my flight in Flighty before hearing from the airlines themselves. It feels like a trusted source, which proves super useful.

But in-flight location tracking is probably my most-used feature (because that's the kind of flyer I am). One of the coolest things about the in-flight tracking is that it even works on flights that have free messaging but not free Wi-Fi. And the ETA (even for taxiing before/after takeoff) are amazingly accurate.

🍎 Apple of my eye

The farmers markets here in Brooklyn, New York happen year-round, but the offerings (obviously) vary widely depending on the month. I was reminded of these slim pickings on a recent trip to the Borough Hall market, which was mostly empty, minus giant bounty of apples.

Browsing the bins, I was reminded of my favorite new apple: the EverCrisp. It's a cross between a Honeycrisp and a Fuji—sweet, juicy, and the absolute crispiest apple you can get. It's the platonic ideal of a delicious apple, in terms of my own personal tastes.

I don't see them very often. They're not available at any of the grocery stores near us, and I don't make it to our farmers market as often as I'd like. So every time I do see one, I buy it.

All that said, I was visiting my parents recently (Washington state) and lo and behold, their local natural foods grocery store had a big pile of EverCrisps. They were a bit smaller than here in the northeast, but just as delicious.

A special shout out of my farmer friend Lauren for introducing me to the joys of EverCrisp. And if you, dear reader, happen to stumble upon them yourself, I encourage you to give one a try.

💸 Wave Bye-Bye to the Fiat

Did you know that Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, The Outsiders) has an upcoming new film? It's called Megalopolis and it's currently in post-production with a release date scheduled for this year, and it sounds absolutely insane.

Here are just a few reasons why I'm hyped (and think you should be, too):

* Coppola spent $120 million of his own money on the film (meaning no outside influence) and has said he doesn't care if he makes any of it back

* At a screening for friends, some of the quotes were: "batshit crazy," "no commercial prospects," "bizarre mix of Ayn Rand, Metropolis, and Caligula," "most baffling thing they've ever seen"

* Some of the bigger names in the film are Aubrey Plaza, Shia LaBeouf, Adam Driver, Dustin Hoffman, Laurence Fishburne, Jon Voight, and Jason Schwartzman.

If you're still not convinced, this TikTok does an even better job of giving proper context to this film.

Now, just to set expectations, just because I'm "hyped" doesn't mean I necessarily think I'll like the film. By all accounts, it sounds terrible. But that said, it's so rare we see a artist's singular vision, at this scale with this level of talent. It will certainly be an experience.

End note

If you've enjoyed this, I'd love it if you shared it with a friend. You can send them here to sign up.

I'll be sending out these emails once per month, and I'm happy you're along for the ride. I'm trying to make it one of the best things that arrives in your inbox each month, so thoughts and feedback are always appreciated. You can just reply to this email.

Also, if you find anything interesting, send it my way.

Thanks for reading. Until next time,Dann

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dannberg.substack.com

March 2024

Hey all,

A very warm welcome to all the new readers! I'm happy you're here, and I'm looking forward to going on this journey with you.

For all of my regular readers who have no idea what I'm talking about: a short backstory. I had a brief period, back in 2014(!) where I was creating videos and uploading them to YouTube. It was time consuming and I made almost no money, but it was a lot of fun and super rewarding.

For the past several years, I've been feeling the itch to start creating videos again. But haven't really had the energy to jump back into it in the hours outside my full-time job.

But now, I'm taking a short break before finding my next full-time role. I'm doing some part-time work for the FinOps Foundation, working on a FinOps Book, and (you guessed it) making YouTube videos.

In general, I'm just feeling like there's now "so much room for activities!"

Now, if only COBRA didn't cost so damn much...

-Dann

🃏 Play your cards right

Every once in a while, a new video game comes along that tickles the exact right part of my brain. Judging by the amount of time I've already poured into this game, Balatro is that perfect match for me.

For those of you with a video game background, Balatro is a roguelike deckbuilder that's basically a mix between Binding of Isaac (my favorite video game of all time) and Texas Holdem poker. Each game lasts between 20 - 40 minutes, and features randomly generated rounds with stacking bonuses. Which means by the end of a game, if you've played your cards right, you're earning tens of thousands of points per hand (or more!) and absolutely dominating each challenge.

What makes it all the more impressive, Balatro was created by a solo lone developer. In the same way that ConcernedApe created the smash hit Stardew Vally all by himself, LocalThunk is the single mind behind Balatro.

It's not just me that's obsessed with this new game—Balatro has sold 250,000 copies in its first three days.

It's currently available on PC and console, but I can't wait for it to come to iOS so I can play it on my iPad.

📺 House of cringe

Nathan Fielder perfected the art of cringe, launching an entirely new genre of entertainment that's nearly identical to horror, but instead of fear you just feel wildly uncomfortable. It really started catching on in Nathan For You, and it was mastered in The Curse.

But before there was Fielder, there was a young trailblazing YouTuber named Dax Flame. If you were old enough to be online back then, you may remember him. He went viral back in 2007 mostly for two videos: a vlog expressing excitement over dressing like Superman for school, and a followup vlog the next day, absolutely crushed by humiliation.

I mention Dax Flame because he's still making content, and it's some of my favorite ever. If you remember him fondly (or even have no recollection of him), I'll help you catch up: three years ago, iDubbbz (as part of his redemption tour), filmed an hour-long documentary on Dax Flame that brought the OG YouTuber back into the spotlight.

Since then, Dax had a decent presence on both YouTube and TikTok. On YouTube, he also hosts a show called The Hot Seat with Dax Flame, but I truly think his short form content is the best. Whether he’s finding humor in the little things, giving away money to his fans, or promising never to talk about Project X again, it’s all pure gold.

He has such a pure heart. I wish him all the success in the world.

📸 Mimic night and day

If I could give you one tip for taking better photos or videos on your mobile phone, it would be wipe the lens before you shoot. Boom, your videos will instantly look 5x - 10x better.

Curious how to take your iPhone video shoots even further? This 18-minute video Why "Shot On iPhone" Commercials Look So Good! can help get you moving in the right direction. It features Claudio Miranda (cinematographer of Life of Pi and Top Gun: Maverick) and is somehow better than any of those Masterclasses I've taken.

In a blog post I published this month (and subsequent video version, which went a little viral) I made the claim that "mimicry is a shortcut to success." This type of video is exactly what I mean.

I don't need to be able to shoot cinematic iPhone videos like Claudio Miranda. But I can pick and choose his mobile filmmaking methods in order to gain the benefit of his years of training and experience without putting in that work myself.

For me, that means always wiping the lens (as I mentioned before), making sure my scene is well lit, and maintaining rule-of-thirds framing. And if I really want cinematic-looking video, switching to Blackmagic instead of the default Camera app.

Gotta love shortcuts to success.

📈 Those sweet sweet gains

Recent data is pointing to the US currently being in a productivity boom (though it'll be years before we can truly confirm). The last productivity boom was thirty years ago, in the mid-90's, and largely attributed to the widespread adoption of computers.

The data shows that it's not working from home or improved digital communication that's behind it (although those things certainly make us feel more productive) but perhaps unsurprisingly, it's most likely AI (NYT gift article):

While many economists said it was probably too early to see the benefits of A.I. showing through in full force, some proponents think it could prove transformative by automating mental tasks including proposal writing and emails.

These are all theories—as I said, it'll be years before the data is conclusive. But this 100% feels right to me. I think these sweet, sweet productivity gains are going to be AI's biggest impact on this era (and I'm hoping human extinction isn't AI's next big impact...)

On a related note: you know the Boomer stereotype about being bad with computers and unable to figure out new technology? I think Artificial Intelligence is going to be the equivalent for Millennials and Gen Z. Meaning, when we're older, those of us who can't seem to figure out AI are going to be like today's boomers who struggle with technology. My friendly advice is to start figuring out where AI fits into your life now, if you're not already on that journey.

✋ Reach out and touch AI

Throughout an average work day, I'm typically starting between five to ten AI queries. And that's not me asking it to output copy or full drafts, it's instead become the place where I go to think. I love throwing half-formed ideas at it and seeing what it volleys back. It's the perfect tool for honing in on an answer (any answer).

I paid for one month of ChatGPT Plus when it first launched, but $20/mo was way too rich for my blood. Especially when my same level of usage over API would cost mere dollars over the same time period. This lead me to hunt for an AI front end that would allow me to enter my API key so that I'm only charged for usage.

The tool I found is the unsung hero of my AI stack. Probably one of my most-used applications, which has somehow never gotten a mention in my newsletter. That changes today.

TypingMind doesn't just support ChatGPT either—you can enter your Anthropic or Google Gemini (if you have access) API keys and access any model you want from the same interface. I can switch to a Vision model and upload an image, or enable the web search plugin for live internet results or the Dalle Plugin to ask it to draw me something.

TypingMind is so good that I'm just sort of satisfied with how AI fits into my life. I feel no need to try every new product or tool that catches today's buzz.

It also has the best pricing strategy: a one-time fee. I feel like that's a model that's quickly going extinct, so I like to support products like that while I still can.

End note

If you've enjoyed this, I'd love it if you shared it with a friend. You can send them here to sign up.

I'll be sending out these emails once per month, and I'm happy you're along for the ride. I'm trying to make it one of the best things that arrives in your inbox each month, so thoughts and feedback are always appreciated. You can just reply to this email.

Also, if you find anything interesting, send it my way.

Thanks for reading. Until next time,Dann

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dannberg.substack.com

February 2024

Hey all,

This winter finally saw the end of New York City's 700-day snow drought. The sad thing is that it didn't take much: 1.4 inches lightly blanketed Central Park on January 16. We got zero snow last winter, so the last major snowfall was February 13, 2022.

We also got a few additional snows since then. Including this past weekend.

You know what? I'll take it. It's a far cry from when I first moved to New York nearly two decades ago. There could be whole weeks or months in the winter where snow piles sat unmelting on curbs, the source of endless complaints from commuting New Yorkers. Now, any snowfall quickly melts away.

But at least we got snow. I'll just take the W and shut up now.

-Dann

🧙‍♀️ Have the curse reversed

I was almost ready to give up on The Curse, the Showtime series staring Nathan Fielder, Emma Stone, and Benie Safdie. I'm so glad I made it through to the end.

It's an uncomfortable show to watch, more in line with a Safdie Brothers film (like Uncut Gems or Good Time) rather than a fun parody comedy like Nathan For You.

You'll likely be very uncomfortable through a vast majority of scenes in The Curse. It's unpleasant. But after several episodes, you learn to live with the unpleasantness. Maybe you actually start to find pleasure in it, in the same way you enjoy the sense of terror you feel during a scary movie.

When you make it to the end, and finish that final episode, you'll realize that The Curse is actually art. There's a reason why people are saying it's the best thing on television since Twin Peaks.

You may also realize that there's a ton of interviews with the creators from after different episode screenings at Lincoln Center, and even a Q&A with Benie Safdie and Nathan Fielder moderated by Christopher Nolan. And that content only increases your enjoyment of the series.

Honestly, if you haven't watched The Curse yet, what are you even doing?

✅ Clear-eyed and refreshed

There's been a lot of hype this month about the return of a much beloved To Do app for the iPhone. Clear 2 is an updated and refreshed version of the original Clear app, which was revolutionary when it first launched due to its use of swipes and gestures for controls.

I've been testing the beta version of the app for about a year, so I'm super excited to tell you that you can finally download it for yourself. It's also monetized in a very user-friendly way, with the full app (and all functionality) being free, but themes and other customizations costing small fees.

Honestly, it's also been validating to me to see such love and praise for this app sequel, when I've loved the app from the very beginning. I even interviewed the creator of Clear, Dan Counsell, on my old Novice No Longer podcast back in 2014(!). Now there's a throwback for you.

Unfortunately(?) the app is iPhone only. But if you're using Android, I'm sure you're used to that by now.

🩹 From investigation to feature

Sorry, to all you Android-heads, but here's another section for iPhone users. There's a new feature in iOS 17.3 that you should enable immediately: Stolen Device Protection. Here are some easy instructions for turning it on.

I'm mentioning it here because it's important, but also because the story of how this feature came to exist is super interesting.

Back in February 2023, the Wall Street Journal's Joanna Stern and Nicole Nguyen released a damning investigative piece about the tactics thieves used to steal iPhones. It was dead simple: by watching a victim enter their passcode (easier than you might think), thieves could then change their Apple passcode, disable Find My iPhone, and then access a user’s sensitive accounts using the iCloud password keychain. It was a grift that exploited the weakest point in cyber security: the user.

Shortly after the story was published, Apple announced that a new feature was launching in the next iOS beta called Stolen Device Protection. It didn't say that this feature was introduced because of the expose, but it 100% addressed the issue detailed in the piece.

Stolen Device Protection, when enabled:

* Requires Face ID or Touch ID authentication for certain actions, such as accessing passwords or credit card info…a passcode alone won’t do it.

* Impliments a one-hour wait time, plus more biomarker checks, to change your password when you're away from a familiar place

This feature is out now as of iOS 17.3, and there's literally no reason why you shouldn't enable it immediately if you're an iPhone user.

Oh, and one more thing. Once Apple released this new security feature, the Wall Street Journal published a followup to it's original story that dives into the more sensitive details about the actual tactics that thieves used to social engineer victims into revealing their passcodes and handing over their phones. As I mentioned, it's easier than you might think.

📝 Additional Creative Output

Did you know that in addition to this newsletter, I also create and publish content other places, such as my personal website? In fact, I recently published way too many words about the Apple Vision Pro. The tl;dr? VR is becoming something different than what we originally imagined (ie something akin to The Matrix) and this new implementation is much more compelling.

I also want to take a moment to plug my long-dormant YouTube channel, which now has fresh life given my abundance of newfound free time. I've turned a few of my popular Obsidian blog posts into video tutorials and it's been really rewarding, so I'm going to continue making videos. You should subscribe to me there, too.

🏋️ Me, Myself, and AI

Artificial intelligence has become an integral part of my daily life. I use it all the time. It's not perfect (or even close to perfect) but for certain tasks it's practically a super power. I feel like a lot of people have misconceptions about how AI can fit into someone's workflow, so I wanted to share some details a real world application that I just completed with AI.

Kagi, the Google Search alternative that I love, has this cool product called Universal Summarizer. You feed it a URL (article, blog post, research paper, YouTube video, podcast episode) and get an AI-assisted summary in mere seconds.

I use it all the time. It's especially useful for lengthy video/audio content, where I'd usually just skip consuming it altogether. For articles, it's a good way to decide if I actually want to read the full piece. It's a great tool.

Typically, using Universal Summarizer looks something like this:

* Copy the URL of the page you want summarized

* Open a new tab, and navigate to Universal Summarizer

* Page the URL into the proper field and click summarize

It's not complicated, but is a lot of steps if you're doing it all the time, which I was. I felt like it was an action much better suited for a browser extension. But I've never written a browser extension before.

Enter ChatGPT.

I described the functionality I wanted, and within thirty minutes I had a working browser extension. Each error I got, or modification I wanted to make was quickly answered by AI.

Before ChatGPT, I could have figured out how to make a browser extension on my own. But I probably wouldn't have. Now, I have a useful tool that simplifies a regular workflow of mine, as well as a cool project to show off on Github.

AI is amazing for things like this. Is there anything in your life that you should be automating?

End note

If you've enjoyed this, I'd love it if you shared it with a friend. You can send them here to sign up.

I'll be sending out these emails once per month, and I'm happy you're along for the ride. I'm trying to make it one of the best things that arrives in your inbox each month, so thoughts and feedback are always appreciated. You can just reply to this email.

Also, if you find anything interesting, send it my way.

Thanks for reading. Until next time,Dann

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dannberg.substack.com

January 2024

Hey all,

I've been thinking a lot about motivation versus discipline, and how they're two very distinct drivers that are often not in sync. Motivation drives the things you want to do, whereas discipline determines the things you spend your time doing.

I've been motivated to write a FinOps book for years, but haven't had the discipline to actually spend real time working on it. That means there's been a mismatch between my physical actions in the real word and the goings-on in the world that only exists inside my head.

Often, there are valid reasons why we lack the discipline to work on these ambitious tasks we feel motivated to do. For many, this is usually full-time jobs that leave us with little outside energy or families that take up all our time.

But on rare occasion, you come face-to-face with that disconnect between motivation and discipline, and must confront it head-on. For example, when you’ve been laid off from your full time job, secured some decent-paying part-time work, and made a deliberate decision that it's finally time to buckle down and write that book you've been thinking about for years.

In case you hadn't been following along, the above paragraph is currently me.

Career-wise, I'm officially on my own. And I'm consciously not taking another full-time job for a bit while I work on making sure my actions (discipline) match my words (motivation to write a book).

Channeling Ze Frank, this is an invocation for beginnings, because my past failures at follow-through are no indication of my future performance.

Phew. Okay. Let's do this.

-Dann

👶 The kids are alright

You may have noticed this feel-good story (NYT gift article) in the headlines this month: a 13-year old boy is the first person to beat Tetris. If you saw it and didn't click through to the story, that's understandable—it's certainly one of those stories that one might assume is completely told through the headline alone.

But this accomplishment has way more depth and the story is super interesting. In the same way that the documentary Free Solo made audiences really appreciate climbing El Capitan, this 16-minute video does the same thing for this new Tetris accomplishment.

It's a fun watch, which does a fantastic job of explaining the stakes, context, and accomplishment of this feat that will go down in video game history.

⚔️ A tale of two news cycles

Earlier this month was CES, the Consumer Electronics Show that takes place in Las Vegas every year. The show itself has much less of an impact on my life than it did years ago (when I was a technology reporter and actually attended the conference for work). But it's still fun to watch from the sidelines and pay attention to the intricate dance of marketing drama in the tech world.

One bit of inside baseball I always like to catch is what Apple is doing during the conference. CES is huge, with approximately 135,000 attendees and 4,000 vendors. Many of these vendors take this opportunity to launch new products or features at the well-attended and highly-reported event, making it a prime time for announcements.

But there's always one vendor conspicuously absent: Apple.

It's a power move. Apple doesn't need this big event to capture headlines; it commands news cycles all on its own. And one of the ways that Apple likes to poke at CES is by doing its best to dominate headlines with Apple stories despite the massive, news-filled event.

That's why on January 8th, one day before CES 2024 began, Apple officially announced the pre-order and launch date for its new AR/VR headset the Apple Vision Pro. The news, of course, dominated both the news cycle as well as the social media chatter. All I can say is: bravo.

🎢 Highs and lows

I'm going to spend one more newsletter section talking about Apple, but only because there were two polar-opposite Apple stories in the news this month and I think the juxtaposition is possibly even more interesting than each story individually.

The first story, as I mentioned is the Apple Vision Pro. I think this ten-minute promotional video from Apple, which shows a guided tour of the product through the experience of someone trying it for the first time, provides an excellent feature summary for anyone not following along.

As far as my personal opinion...I find the device to be super interesting. Not as a product necessarily, but as an attempt. Apple is trying something new—its take on the still-nascent industry of AR/VR. It's not a product for everyone, or even for most people. But as someone who likes Apple, and is interested in moonshot attempts, I'm watching very closely.

As for the second story, in the same month that it announced its highly-anticipated Vision Pro, Apple also halted the sale of its latest Apple Watches due to losing a patent dispute.

The two watches, the Apple Watch Series 9 and the Apple Watch Ultra 2 include improved blood oxygen sensors that infringe on the patent(s) held by medical device company Masimo. Last month, Apple lost its bid to stop the sales ban, and so the watches officially became unavailable this month.

They’re back on the market as of Thursday (nearly a month after sales halted) with the blood oxygen sensors present but disabled.

The moral of each of these stories: move fast and break things, I guess?

🤖 My friend AI

Going back to the topic of CES, there was one product announcement that managed to break through and gain some media attention: a handheld AI-powered assistant called the Rabbit r1. The 25-minute keynote (an Apple-like launch strategy) does a great job of explaining the features and use cases.

If you're wondering why this gadget in particular caught people's attention, just look at it. It's beautiful. That's because it was designed by Teenage Engineering(!), the Swedish consumer electronics company famous for its award-winning designs and discerning product partnerships, like with Panic for the Playdate handheld gaming device.

I'd probably buy one if I hadn't just lost my job. It's only $199 (not cheap, but way more competitively priced than expected) and there's no monthly fee.

But, like the Apple segment above, the story itself is much less interesting than the juxtaposition of this story against another. In this case, the Rabbit r1 next to the Humane AI Pin, which I discussed in November's newsletter.

Both are AI assistants, but one just feels right (the Rabbit r1) and one just feels wrong (the Humane AI Pin).

At this point, I think the real difference between these two products is transparency and trust. As someone who uses AI on a near-daily basis, I know how often it's wrong. The r1 gives users a view into what's happening, whereas the AI Pin relies on blind trust.

It's possible that in the future we'll realize that the AI Pin was ahead of its time. But that doesn't help the product today. Between the two, I'll take the r1 every time.

🏡 Love thy neighbor

Lastly, my wife Avi asked if she could write a section for the newsletter this month, so I happily gave up some space for her thoughts. Her inspiration: a story in The Atlantic that particularly resonated. I'll let her take it from here:

For the last few years, I've been really fascinated by contemporary sociology—thinking about interesting questions like why we live the way that we live, why we behave as we do, and why our lives look a certain way. I'm always trying to understand more about modern human behavior and, more importantly, I seek out ways to have deep, meaningful relationships with the people in my life. I think that America's late 20th century embrace of individualism has enabled people to pursue their dreams in a way never before possible in history, but that it's also produced some unintended consequences (paywall bypass) in the ways we live.

I've never been a particularly religious person, and I've never liked the argument that "societies need religious institutions in order to function." But I do think that our country is drifting away from the institutions and structures that create collective moral formation, religious or not. This article presents moral formation as something that's not solely created by religious spaces, but that used to be more prevalent in many spheres of life. I especially liked how it recognizes the failings of pre-1950 moral structures and proposes ways to implement a new moral framework for our modern society.

End note

If you've enjoyed this, I'd love it if you shared it with a friend. You can send them here to sign up.

I'll be sending out these emails once per month, and I'm happy you're along for the ride. I'm trying to make it one of the best things that arrives in your inbox each month, so thoughts and feedback are always appreciated. You can just reply to this email.

Also, if you find anything interesting, send it my way.

Thanks for reading. Until next time,Dann

Thanks for reading The Dann Chronicles! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dannberg.substack.com

December 2023

Hey all,

It's December, and I'm in a giving mood. If you fill out this form before Friday, December 22nd, I'll send you something fun for free. No catch or anything. Stamps are (relatively) cheap, so everyone who wants a holiday surprise is getting a little something.

Happy holidays!

-Dann

⚛️ Schrödinger's boolean

There's a heated debate about the future dangers of Artificial Intelligence. One group of people see it as an existential threat to humanity. In one doomsday scenario, technology just keeps getting better and better, exponentiating once AI learns how to improve itself. In an instant, machines are powerful enough to wipe out humanity, and one tiny miscommunication means we all die.

Another AI scenario is much less exciting. In this future, AI is much more like a smartphone—the technology rapidly improved, year-after-year, until it just sort of...hit the peak it's own design. Now, each new smartphone is just a minor improvement on the last. Maybe, artificial intelligence is just racing to the peak of what AI is able to do.

But as AI has been capturing headlines, there's another group of engineers making progress on a different technology that may be even more impactful. And that's quantum computing.

If you want to quickly get caught up, this 13-minute 60 Minutes segment on Quantum Computing does a decent job at explaining the technology and potential ramifications.

If AI is revolutionizing what a computer can do, quantum computing is doing the same for how fast it can do it. And not just a few multiples, but estimated 100 trillion times faster than current supercomputers.

I'm thinking about quantum computing sort of like Y2K. Prone to hype, but also carrying real dangers. It's a threshold into the unknown that will probably look quaint in hindsight, but is sort of intimidating to stare at head-on.

The thing that I find fascinating about quantum computing is the same thing I find fascinating about AI: the size of the threat. Both are existential threats to humanity. Artificial Intelligence because we may create a beast we can't control, and quantum computing because it could instantly make the very foundations of our technological society obsolete.

So while AI has all the exciting, tangible updates, quantum computing is the silent giant closing in a breakneck speed. Methinks society in ten years will look very different than society today.

📺 Manufactured Reality

Here's a sentence that may surprise you:

There's a new reality TV show that I'm excited about.

Let me explain. I'm no Martin Riese, but reality TV is a lot like bottled water—it's easy to write it off as all the same, but you're missing subtlety, nuance, and quite a bit of (dare I say?) art.

For example, if you haven't seen a season of Survivor since the original season one aired, you've missed a significant evolution of the game. Most people are surprised to hear Survivor is no longer really about surviving in a remote location: it's much more about strategy and social game. And it changes and evolves in material ways each year.

Going back to my original excitement, Netflix made Squid Game into a reality TV show, aptly named Squid Game: The Challenge. The first season felt fun and exciting, in the same way as season one of Survivor.

If you can look past the strange dystopia of the concept of the show (ie by watching this show, we are literally the audience that the original series was skewering), you get a complex and strategic game that's ripe for evolution and growth.

Plus, watching season one is to watch true reality-show masters at work. The challenge was: how do we get the younger generation addicted to reality show contests?

Just watch the first season of Squid Game: The Challenge, and then watch some of the complimentary behind-the-scenes TikTok content deftly posted by popular contestants, and you'll have your answer.

There's the argument for the hype. But let me end this section by tempering expectations. The show isn't going to change anyone's life (except maybe the new millionaire winner). Nor do I even consider it must-watch TV.

I do, however, think it is valid TV. And undeniably entertaining. The context, and how it fits within the wider world of reality TV, is just icing on the cake.

💭 A new lens

Boomers get a lot of hate on the Internet. And in most cases, I say: rightly so. I mean, "not all Boomers," of course, but I think many of the problems society is currently dealing with are a direct result of decisions made by Boomers.

But with that said, I do think it's interesting to think about the Boomer generation through the lens of trauma. This three-minute video explains the the larger context in which the generation was raised, contextualizing it in a way that younger generations might understand and possibly appreciate.

It's no excuse, but is a lens that I find illuminating.

🛶 Face first ahead

I recognize that this newsletter might now be considered just a distribution for Bobby Fingers' videos (I discussed his previous video back in April), but his new creation is too good to not share.

This time, Bobby Fingers made a full-sized row boat in the shape of a hyper-realistic Jeff Bezos head. The humor is dry, the skill level high, and the entire 28-minute video an absolute journey.

My favorite type of creators are ones with incredible mind-blowing talent who use their skills to make the most bizarre things imaginable. Bobby Fingers certainly fits that description.

Plus, who doesn't enjoy a good skewering of a billionaire? Bezos certainly has a knack for inspiring quality art.

🎩 Song and flash man

You've probably heard of Bill Wurtz. His most popular video, history of the entire world, i guess, was published six years ago and has over 163M views. That video (like most of his videos) is a rocket blasting off from earth. His style is singular and unmistakable. He has his own genre.

Because of that, I loved this 26-minute interview with Wurtz. His style is unique, and his approach to creative work completely his own. Listening to him talk gave me a new appreciation for his work, and I love when interviews do that.

End note

If you've enjoyed this, I'd love it if you shared it with a friend. You can send them here to sign up.

I'll be sending out these emails once per month, and I'm happy you're along for the ride. I'm trying to make it one of the best things that arrives in your inbox each month, so thoughts and feedback are always appreciated. You can just reply to this email.

Also, if you find anything interesting, send it my way.

Thanks for reading. Until next time,Dann

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dannberg.substack.com

November 2023

Hey all,

I watched my first ever Hallmark Christmas movie this Thanksgiving. I'm not sure how I managed to completely avoid them until this point in my life, but recently discovering Pluto TV and feeling nostalgic for pre-streaming television had me open to new experiences.

In an ending scene, two will-they-won't-they characters take a Christmas Day stroll through New York City, It's snowing, and everything is dusted with a fresh clean layer of white.

It's the kind of holiday weather we just don't get anymore. At some point between when I moved here in 2004 and now, the chance of Christmas snow dropped to zero. It's a not-so-subtle reminder of climate change. Remember, NYC is officially subtropical now.

Anyway, I guess I'd give the movie about a "B.""

-Dann

🎁 Peak Consumerism

I don't usually promote my individual blog posts in my newsletter (did you know that I'm also semi-regularly posting content to my website?) but I had a lot of fun with this one and wanted to share.

I made my own 2023 Indie Holiday Gift Guide. I called it "indie" because it's just me — usually these type of gift guides are a collaborative process published by big magazines or newspapers. But why should they have all the fun?

I've always had a soft spot for holiday gift guides, as strange as that might sound. It's the closest I'll get to fun mail-order catalogues of my youth. I used to love pouring through Oriental Trading and Things You Never Knew Existed every time a new issue arrived in the mail, despite the fact that they were 90% the same issue-to-issue.

Online shopping took away much of the joy and novelty of mail order catalogues, but the spirit lives on in holiday gift guides. I always love seeing which products I recognize and which are new to me. You can get a sense of each publication by the products each chooses to include in their respective guides.

If you were to put together your own holiday gift guide, what items would you include?

📌 In defense of screens

Remember Quibi? It was a new video platform, designed specifically for smartphones, that promised to change the entire industry. It raised $1.75 billion before it even launched and lasted only six months before shutting down back in 2020.

I'm asking because I feeling some deja vu.

There's a tech company that's been operating in stealth, yet getting a ton of pre-revenue buzz. It was founded by a bunch of ex-Apple employees, with a plan to kill the smartphone as we know it, allowing us to give up screens without giving up functionality. It raised over $200M to fund this mission.

The company is Humane and this month it launched its first product, the AI Pin.

If I was skeptical of the company before the product launch, I'm straight up doubtful now. If you have ten minutes (or less at 2x speed), you should watch the product launch video yourself. It's truly bizarre.

Sean O'Kane covers all the little infuriating details on his blog (side note: Sean and I actually went to college together, and he joined The Verge shortly after I left). But one flub stood out against the rest.

When the AI Pin is asked about the best place to view the April 8, 2024 total solar eclipse, it confidently answers Australia. That is 100% wrong—North America will have the best views.

It's since been fixed (the AI voiceover now answers Nazas, Durango, Mexico in every version of the video). But how does an error that big make it into a launch this big? Sort of amazing.

🍪 Limited time only

I've discovered a new favorite treat at Trader Joe's, the unassuming Chocolate Dipped Danish Cookies. It's one of those treats where the cashier will gush about how much they love it, too, and how they were surprised it was so tasty since they look sort of dry and boring (actual conversation).

If you live near a Trader Joes and want to try them (which you do), you should act fast. I don’t have any insider information that these will be discontinued soon, but remember that I'm a retail harbinger of failure (as I discussed before), so the mere fact that I love them means they’re not long for this world.

💌 Do Not Email

I always consider November to be Do Not Email month, mostly because it's the best time to unsubscribe from all those emails you don't actually want to be getting.

The 1-2-3 punch of Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Giving Tuesday means nearly every company that has your email is going to be sending you an email.

What most people don't realize is that those little unsubscribe links at the bottom of marketing emails actually work. So I encourage you to take 10 minutes each day to actually unsubscribe from emails that you don't want to be receiving (even if it's this newsletter...I don't want you on my list if this email doesn't bring you joy).

While you're on a roll digitally, maybe you want to get fewer flyers and catalogs in your physical mail as well. There's actually a solution for that, supported by the FTC.

As explained on the FTC's website, you can register with the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) and asked to be excluded from physical marketing mail. Registration costs $4 (because of course it does) but it lasts for 10 years. I signed up in December of 2022, and there's since been a noticeable drop in physical junk mail.

Happy Do Not Email month!

✂️ The darkest timeline

If I were to believe in the multiverse, I might think there was a very distinct timeline split this past weekend—in one timeline, humanity thrives and in another it completely dies out.

Late in the afternoon on Friday, it was announced that Sam Altman (co-founder and CEO of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT) was fired by its board of directors. The given reason was that the board concluded that Altman "was not consistently candid in his communications with the board."

My initial thought was that he was somehow lying about Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)—that point in the (not-so-distant?) future where AI crosses the threshold of human intelligence and the real existential threat to humanity starts.

The following weekend+ was a wild ride, and here are the main points of the journey:

* Sam Altman fired, the board publicly announces the news with a blog post

* Public uproar, Altman then rumored to be in talks to return as CEO

* Hours later, the board announces a new CEO (not Altman)

* Overnight (before market open on Monday!) Microsoft announces it is hiring Altman

* Board members flip and take Altman's side

* The board refuses to elaborate on Altman's wrongdoings (even to the new CEO) and 700 of 770 employees threaten to quit unless Altman is reinstated

* Rumors that Altman is in talks to return at CEO (again)

* Altman is back with a (largely) new board

Following along, it honestly felt like the first season of Game of Thrones (back when it was good). Not just because of the power struggles, but because of the potential danger to humanity posed by AI, and the fighting over who gets to control it.

The public largely took Altman's side. No surprise, since he's such a likable public figure. He's the darling child of AI, just like Sam Bankman-Fried was the darling child of crypto.

From what I can tell (and again, these are rumors) the board may have wanted to slow down the pace of innovation, and Altman was full-speed again. There may have been a disagreement about risk tolerance and safety.

Or maybe a board member was catty about being in the dark about a recent OpenAI product launch, and staged a "coup."

But I don't know what to think. I just don't have enough information. But it does make me feel better, now that Altman was reinstated, to know that nearly all OpenAI employees wanted his return. I have to assume they have access to information that I don't have, and are making an informed decision.

But really, that's all we have to go off of. If this was actually a timeline split, I sure hope we're not on the dark path.

Further reading:

* The interested normie's guide to OpenAI drama

* WSJ's Behind the Scenes of Sam Altman’s Showdown at OpenAI (bypass paywall)

* Reuter's OpenAI researchers warned board of AI breakthrough ahead of CEO ouster, sources say

End note

If you've enjoyed this, I'd love it if you shared it with a friend. You can send them here to sign up.

I'll be sending out these emails once per month, and I'm happy you're along for the ride. I'm trying to make it one of the best things that arrives in your inbox each month, so thoughts and feedback are always appreciated. You can just reply to this email.

Also, if you find anything interesting, send it my way.

Thanks for reading. Until next time,Dann

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dannberg.substack.com

October 2023

Hey all,

Like many others, I'm sad, horrified, depressed, angry, outraged, upset (and all the other emotions) about the situation in the middle east. I've been both binging news, and then purposely trying to take mental heath breaks from the headlines.

I really liked this Pete Davidson cold open for SNL. And I think it's important to know that I don't have to post about my outrage. Neither do you. (NTY gift article).

The amount of anti-semitism (both witting and unwitting) has been terrifying to witness (also NYT gift article). In my mind, there’s space to both condemn terror and want peace for innocent people on both sides.

I'm largely going to avoid the topic of the conflict in this newsletter. There are other, better, news sources if you want those updates. Instead, we're going to keep things rolling here like every month past.

With all that said, let's get to the stories.

-Dann

🪦 Meme Cult

I don't think the movie Dumb Money (about WallStreetBets and the GameStop short squeeze) is worth your time. I only saw it because I have an Alamo Drafthouse Season Pass (unlimited movies) and I was curious how the creative team would approach dramatizing this highly-online story. The movie was throughly fine.

What was missing from the story, however, was the insanity that emerged after Keith Gill's testimony before congress in February of 2021. Those who stuck around in the movement in the following months were effectively sucked into a doomsday cult.

For that story, we turn to Dan Olsen of the YouTube Channel Folding Ideas, and his two and a half hour(!) documentary This is Financial Advice. Think: if The Big Short were created by a talented indie YouTube content creator.

From around 01:15:05 in the video (emphasis mine):

The thing that truly separates a meme stock from every other garbage ticker is that the act of buying, in and of itself, becomes the meme. A combination of absurdist performance and inherently gamified exercise. In 2023 though, that wave has crested and broken. The joke is over but the investors are still around. And, as we'll see, the gleeful contrarianism is gone, replaced with stone-faced dedication to a perceived cause.

This "perceived cause" went completely off the rails, leaving Occupy Wall Street territory and entering doomsday-cult, QAnon land. These retail traders' behavior becoming so predictable that they've been scammed by the very people they were fighting against, all while believing they're on the verge of ushering what is effectively the rapture.

It's a sad story, but wildly interesting for anyone who remembers the GME craze.

♟️ Keeping Score

The indie game designer Zach Gage (whom I've written about before) is back with his most ambitious project yet. It's called Puzzmo, and it's not just a game, it's an entire website, styled like a newspaper, full of different daily games.

If this sounds familiar, it's because it's a direct competitor to the New York Times' gaming hub. Puzzmo is backed by NYT competitor Hearst, which was insanely smart to partner with someone like Gage to launch this new platform.

In addition to a riff on the classic crossword puzzle, it'll contain games like Spelltower, Really Bad Chess and Typeshift (all created by Zach Gage) as well as his new game Flipart.

Perhaps the most fun part is that access to Puzzmo is currently limited. Each day, "keys" are awarded to the first 500 people to solve a daily puzzle. If you're among those lucky few, you'll then receive a physical key, arriving via snail mail, to get in. Mine should arrive in the next day or two. I'm excited.

⏯️ StumbleAgain

When the Internet was still new (back in 2001), a new website called StumbleUpon was launched. It was a time before widespread use of social media (Myspace started in 2003) or link aggregators (Digg started in 2004).

Back then, the Internet felt magical, with a seemingly endless sea of fun, niche, individual-created content just waiting to be discovered. And StumbleUpon was one of those portals into that bottomless world: a button that, when pushed, would bring the user to a semi-random website or video that matched the user's interest.

But the Internet grew and evolved. The multitude of small, passionate, independent websites were eaten up by massive, ad-driven corporate entities. Today, time online is mostly spent hopping from one massive company's website to another.

But this is all just background information to tell you about a free new website that recreates the joy of early-Internet exploring via StumbleUpon.

It's created by premium search engine Kagi (whom I love), and cycles between recent posts from a curated list of small, independent content creators (like yours truly).

You may not spend quite as much time browsing Kagi Small Web as you did with StumbleUpon, but it's a great way to re-capture some of that magic of the early Internet.

🌎 Line Go Up

World population is officially over eight billion. If you're curious where you fit in, you should check out Population.io by World Data Lab.

Plug in your birthday, birth country, and sex at birth, and get all your personal stats, presented in beautiful visualizations. As for me? I'm older than 59% of the world's population and older than 48% of all people in United States.

It's also interesting to compare how my expected lifespan is different as a United States citizen compared to the world average.

But the biggest take away is that the world has a lot of people.

🔈 Talking to Joe

I can't seem to get enough of Joe Pera. If you know him, you probably know him as the slow-talking comedian with a (former) 15-minute wholesome, feel-good show Joe Pera Talks With You on Adult Swim (and streaming on HBO Max) or his evening comedy podcast Drifting Off With Joe Pera, specifically designed to help lull you to sleep.

He's been on my mind because he has a new free standup comedy special on YouTube, which I highly recommend to those who are already familiar with his work, and moderately recommend to everyone else.

While it's wonderful to have more Joe Pera in my life, it also comes with a tinge of sadness. His series Joe Pera Talks With You was a victim of the pandemic, cancelled before the creative team was able to complete the final season of the full planned story.

In many ways, this comedy special feels like the ghost of Joe Pera's unfinished business. It's wonderful to see him and his team continuing to work together, but it only re-affirms that he has more to say.

Hopefully someone will pick Joe Pera Talks With You up for its final season. It's a wonderful show that deserves the ending that the creative team intended.

End note

If you've enjoyed this, I'd love it if you shared it with a friend. You can send them here to sign up.

I'll be sending out these emails once per month, and I'm happy you're along for the ride. I'm trying to make it one of the best things that arrives in your inbox each month, so thoughts and feedback are always appreciated. You can just reply to this email.

Also, if you find anything interesting, send it my way.

Thanks for reading. Until next time,Dann

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dannberg.substack.com

September 2023

Hey all,

Next month is officially the three-year anniversary of this newsletter. That's three years of interesting links, cool products, entertaining movies, and funny videos.

To celebrate, I'm launching a special limited edition Dann Chronicles t-shirt. If you like the design, act quickly, because it will only be available until October 14th. Then, it will be gone forever.

If that's not enough to entice you, your purchase will go to a good cause. 100% of the proceeds will go to the Entertainment Community Fund.

As you know (since you read my newsletter), I love watching movies and TV shows. As such, I've been following the writers (and now actors) strike closely. This three-year anniversary of The Dann Chronicles monthly newsletter seemed like a great opportunity to engage my readers and try to help.

The Entertainment Community Fund (formerly Actor's Fund) helps support programs that foster stability and resiliency, and provide a safety net for performing arts and entertainment workers.

With this t-shirt, you can simultaneously help both writers and actors negotiate better terms in this age of streaming media and show your support for The Dann Chronicles newsletter.

-Dann

✂ Cut and dry

The Wirecutter was a trailblazer in the world of online reviews. It first launched to a world filled with junk user reviews (of dubious authenticity) and SEO-spam websites. The Wirecutter's approach was different: bring in an expert, perform hours upon hours of meticulous testing, and write the most detailed article separating the wheat from the chaff. If Wirecutter said something was the best, it was the best.

So, then, what happened?

I know I've noticed it. A subtle decline in the (quality? trustworthiness?) of the reviews. It's not something that I can really specifically put a finger on. More a sense. A deterioration starting roughly when the publication was purchased by the New York Times...

Fortunately, Charlie Warzel of The Atlantic (gift article) digs into this change with all the rigor and detail of an original Wirecutter article.

The findings? The world has simply changed. Writers are comped differently, most product categories are now filled with just-fine clones, and the rise of "trust influencers" (ie people on TikTok/Instagram).

As Stephen King would say in The Dark Tower series: the world has moved on.

🚗 Wake and Brake

I like to consider myself fairly privacy-focused, going so far as using Proton Mail (instead of Gmail) for email and Kagi (instead of Google Search) for web searches.

But I never thought I'd need to worry about cars, in relation to privacy. But it turns out car companies might be the most egregious privacy violators of any industry ever.

Nissan is one of the worst offenders, but at least they're honest(?) about it. From their official privacy policy, written in plain English, here are some of the things Nissan collects and/or reserves the right to sell (emphasis mine [sorry that, like, the entire quote is emphasized]):

Sensitive personal information, including driver’s license number, national or state identification number, citizenship status, immigration status, race, national origin, religious or philosophical beliefs, sexual orientation, sexual activity, precise geolocation, health diagnosis data, and genetic information.

They save both data collected and inferred. I have no idea how they're collecting or inferring this data, but they've got it.

Have you read your car's privacy policy?

PS: I can't believe there are still people out there who aren't using protection. Please please please freeze your credit.

👂 Welcome back, Podder

One of my favorite podcasters, P.J. Vogt, is back with a new podcast called Search Engine. His latest episode, exploring why Netlfix (and other streaming services) hide show viewership analytics numbers, is both interesting and engaging.

I'd expect nothing less. P.J. Vogt cut his teeth on NPR co-hosting (along with Alex Goldman) a show about the Internet called TLDR. Then, the two very publicly left NPR to join Alex Blumberg's then-new Gimlet Media, helming a similarly-themed show called Reply All (which includes possibly my favorite podcast episode of all time).

P.J. Vogt left Reply All in 2021 (there was a bit of drama) and remained largely quiet (minus his continued Twitter/X presence, and a self-produced limited-series podcast).

It's wonderful to see him back, doing what he does best: highly polished podcasts covering a range of super interesting content. It's like an old friend returning, and I'm all for it.

📞 Phone-y News

The new iPhone 15 and 15 Pro recently made all the headlines, but it's last week's release of iOS 17 that's the more interesting bit of news.

As usual, I turn to the funny and entertaining Joanna Stern (WSJ) for the most entertaining and accessible (video) summary of new features.

The features I'm most excited for?

* Standby Mode

* Contact Posters

* Improved f@^#ing autocorrect

* Personal voice (just because it's fun)

* Custom stickers

* Check in

As long as you've got an iPhone XR (2018) or newer, you get the full update for free. Isn't that better than buying a new phone?

📺 Lighten Up

Television has gotten so serious. It feels like every time someone recommends a new show, it's some involved, dramatic, melodrama with five+ seasons (and still going) and dense, hour-long episodes. Often, these recommendations go in one ear and out the other, because it feels too overwhelming to try and catch up.

Sometimes you just want a fun comedy with manageable 30-minute episodes. And that's why I have no problem recommending two fantastic shows that ended (as in, series finale ended) this year.

How To With John Wilson (three seasons, six episodes each) is a delightful 30-minute HBO show, produced by Nathan "For You" Fielder. I might be a bit biased, since it's about New York City, but I can't get enough of his dry comedy paired with the improbable candid footage he (and his team) collects. The series finale was strange, delightful, and a great way to cap the series. 9.5/10

Barry (four seasons, eight episodes each) is also a delightful 30-minute HBO show, also a comedy, albeit much darker than How To. The series finale, which aired in May of this year, reminded me of the ending of Breaking Bad. I was left thinking, "wow, these writers really know how to land a plane." 9.7/10

Did you watch either of these shows? I would love to hear your thoughts.

End note

If you've enjoyed this, I'd love it if you shared it with a friend. You can send them here to sign up.

And don’t forget to snag one of the Dann Chronicles t-shirts while they’re available. They’ll only be available for a limited time (through Oct 14) and all the money raised goes to a good cause.

Thanks for reading. Until next time,Dann

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dannberg.substack.com

August 2023

Hey all,

Sometimes this intro section is the hardest part of my email to write.

I guess I just don't have much to say this month. So let's just get into the stories.

-Dann

✋ Talk to the hand

I had a busy few weeks of movies, but there's one film I just feel the need to talk about.

No, it's not Barbie or Oppenheimer (Barbie won for me). I also saw and enjoyed Theater Camp, maybe more than my previous Barbenheimer weekend. And Jules seemed to come out of nowhere, taking top place as my favorite comedy of the year.

Instead, I really really want to talk about the movie Talk to Me.

I didn't know anything about the movie before entering the theater. Only that I tend to like A24 horror films and the trailer looked fantastic. Other than that, I went in totally blind.

It was a solid movie. But most of my love/appreciation for Talk to Me came after the film was over.

Talk to Me is the debut film from high-energy Australian twins Danny and Michael Philippou. These two got their start on YouTube through their channel RackaRacka. While I had never heard of them before, they had a pretty large following (millions) before making their first film.

I feel like "YouTube Filmmakers" has a negative connotation. But in this case, it's all pros and no negatives. The pacing, editing, tone, and script feels hip and modern, and those are the only traces of the more "amateur" YouTube roots of the directors.

Instead, their YouTube background meant a ton of supplementary content following these two extremely likable directors as they experience hitting a home run with their first film.

After watching the movie, I recommend:

* We Made a HORROR FILM (Talk To Me) follows the two through their surreal experience bringing their movie to the Sundance film festival and selling to A24.

* We released our film WORLDWIDE (Talk to Me) walks through the intense promotional circuit for the film.

* 'Talk to Me' Scene Breakdown with Danny and Michael Philippou is a Fandango video with the two directors giving the inside scoop behind a scene, and is a great peek into how they work

They're just so gosh darn likable. I can't wait to see what they do next.

🐈 Automation Station

We recently adopted a new cat (welcome to our home, Peter!). I've had cats nearly my entire life, but was really enjoying the few-month stretch where I didn't need to clean a litter box. During that time, I decided that if we were to adopt another cat, I'd invest in a Litter Robot.

It's amazing. Even better than I expected. Not having the task of cleaning a litter box constantly hanging over my head is just such a relief.

For anyone that knows me, my desire for a Litter Robot comes as no surprise. It's part of a larger theme of automation that's been running through my life over the past several years.

I first read David Allen's Getting Things Done in 2007, and his concept of "mind like water" had a huge impact on me. The more you can automate, the less your brain needs to hold on to these recurring tasks.

Slowly but surely, I've been trying to automate tasks that I either do regularly or want to do regularly. At this point in my life, I have a fairly healthy list of automations:

* Lights turn on and off in different rooms in the morning and evening

* Amazon Subscribe and Save for a few selected frequently-used items

* Automatic retirement savings out of every paycheck

* All digital files automatically backed up to the cloud

* A script I wrote sends me historical Pinboard Bookmarks I've made

* Recurring Apple Reminders remind me to complete tasks like daily journaling and weekly Inbox Zero/Download Folder Zero

* Calendar events (with alerts) remind me about upcoming dates-of-note, such as movie/book releases, birthdays, events

Personal automation is extremely powerful, and something I wholly recommend to everyone reading. You can start easy — toss a recurring event onto your calendar, or set up a recurring reminder on your phone. But even more advanced tasks are easy thanks to ChatGPT. Just search "How can I automate XXX" and you're off to the races.

Are you automating something interesting? I'd love to hear. Reply and let me know.

🏢 Home from Work

Life is definitely starting to feel much more back-to-(new)-normal post-pandemic, but New York City is still undergoing seismic shifts just below the surface. In many ways, I'm still sort of waiting for the other shoe to drop, as work-from-home culture starts seriously impacting New York City's in-office-based economy.

There are two stories in particular that caught my eye:

* Outdoor dining in becoming permanent in NYC with the caveat that structures in the street must be taken down in the winter

* Parts of Midtown are being rezoned from office to residential (NYT gift article) after some serious feet-dragging over the apparent difficulty

I, for one, think both moves are in the right direction. Prolific outdoor dining just seems like a no-brainer, and clearing the streets for street cleaning in the winter (even though NYC doesn't really get snow anymore) seams like a fair ask.

I imagine the re-zoning will take much longer for us to really notice. But the change seems to match the market, so let's get some apartments up in those empty offices.

🚘 Y'all are (road) trippin'

Old habits die hard. I was watching MKBHD's video Worst Hot Takes in Tech and remembered that there are still iPhone users who use Google Maps because they think that Apple Maps is garbage.

This is a friendly Public Service Announcement: Apple Maps is now better than Google Maps*.

When Apple Maps first launched, this was definitively not the case. Apple Maps was terrible compared to Google Maps. Of course, Google had a seven year head start at that point.

But quietly, over the course of several years, Apple Maps caught up and then surpassed Google Maps. Try and side-by-side comparison of directions, traffic, street view...everything. See for yourself.

If you're still using Google Maps because of an opinion you formed over a decade ago when the Apple Maps was first released...it might be time to re-evaluate the options.

PS Please please please stop constantly closing all your iOS apps, too.

* for most features, and in most locations.

🤖 Game of Love

I have no doubt in my mind that humans in the future will have in-depth, meaningful relationships with machines. Hell, it's happening already.

Despite this, I rolled my eyes during the first 30-seconds of this Krazam skit, but ended up liking the video so much I knew I had to share it. You should push past any biases about the premise and watch the 4 minute and 43 second video AI Boyfriend.

End note

If you've enjoyed this, I'd love it if you shared it with a friend. You can send them here to sign up.

I'll be sending out these emails once per month, and I'm happy you're along for the ride. I'm trying to make it one of the best things that arrives in your inbox each month, so thoughts and feedback are always appreciated. You can just reply to this email.

Also, if you find anything interesting, send it my way.

Thanks for reading. Until next time,Dann

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dannberg.substack.com