Cool
One cool tune, one cool thing, one cool quote. Every week.
Music selections are also in this convenient Spotify Playlist.
2024
Week 1
Gigabit Internet. Fiber to my home delivering 950 Mbps down and 500 Mbps up makes it feel like the entire internet is on my local network. The effect is subtle, but makes your perception of the world smaller and closer.
“You might not think that programmers are artists, but programming is an extremely creative profession. It’s logic-based creativity.” ― John Romero
I Believe in You by Kylie Minogue
Week 2
20 year wedding anniversary. Snorkelling with my wife and kids alongside huge turtles in Rarotonga.
“The literal translation of hacker in Spanish is Pirata Informático which literally means Information Pirate.” ― A far more accurate description than the maligned English term.
One Night/All Night by Justice, Tame Impala
Week 3
The Marvels The hate is weird, this is the most fun thing Marvel has done in years. Yes the villain is one note, but the 3 Marvels are a delight and the whole thing is a huge infectiously fun ride. And Kamila Khan continues to be weaponised enthusiasm on screen.
“You can stand tall without standing alone” ― The Marvels
In My Head by Moonrunner83, King Protea
Week 4
Nothing Phone OS 2.0 Walks the fine line of minimalism, futuristic, and yet retro. The first thing to ever seriously tempt me out of the Apple ecosystem.
“If we want users to like our software, we should design it to behave like a likable person.” ― Alan Cooper
Borderline - Vanic Remix by Tove Styrke, Vanic
Week 5
The Room series of games by Fireproof Games studio. The closest thing we have to a modern Riven.
“Big game studios are incapable of making cozy games and it's their own stupid fault. 100 million dollar games are incapable of being understated and chill. 500 people being worked to death in crunch time are in no position to make a stress relieving game.” ― Extra Punctuation
Pure Imagination by Superhuman, Quigley
Week 6
Lady Mechanika A compelling mystery set in a blend of science fiction, gothic horror, and steampunk. The world building and story match the quality of the visuals, with the exception of volume 2 which felt like a Tomb Raider-esque miss-step.
“Speech not reach.” ― The CEO of Bluesky social network on how they handle content - you can publish anything, but if it's not great in some way it will be downranked making it harder to discover. They won't disallow content, but they also won't promote it.
Houdini by Dua Lipa
Week 7
Halo Season 2. Even more depth and character development than the first season, this show is surprsingly fun and predictably action packed, but also has enough depth to keep you engaged. Ignore the bro-gamer hate, they're flat out wrong.
“We separate the art from the artist now.” ― My daughter astutely nailing how to handle artists turning hateful...
The Sound of Silence - CYRIL Remix by Disturbed, CYRIL
Week 8
Hideo Kojima: Connecting Worlds Despite it being somewhat of a puff piece that only covers his time as an independent only, I got a lot out of it. It's beautifully shot and put together, and I got a huge number of thought provoking ideas about the creation of games and art, and insight into Death Stranding from it.
“Art isn't meant to please you, it’s meant to inspire you, provoke you, entertain you.” ― Hideo Kojima on games and art in general.
Blue Monday by Flunk
Week 9
BetterDisplay MacOS text rendering on non-retina displays has steadily got worse as they removed sub-pixel rendering in the last few versions. BetterDisplay makes text rendering on non-retina screens significantly better by snapping text closer to pixel boundaries. It can also be configured to make your screen brightness keys apply to all screens simultaneously. Completely worth the small price for the pro version.
“It was like we had all the problems of shooting a movie while simultaneously inventing a completely new kind of movie camera and writing the story for a bunch of actors who weren’t even going to follow the script.” ― A game producer in the book You by Austin Grossman describing the complexity and frustration of creating games
24 by Jam
Week 10
The ChatGPT prompt tip "Bro" as your response to a weak answer. Sometimes ChatGPT doesn't want to answer something and gives you a deliberately weak response, this trick immediately makes it try way harder to answer. Even better than the existing prompt trick of telling it you'll pay for a good answer. LLMs are amusingly weird.
“Stale, pale, and male” ― A pithy yet cuttingly accurate explanation of why movie studios resist change, because they're run by the...
Heat Waves by Glass Animals
Week 11
Nova code editor by Panic. The second time this is my coolest thing. Every release has more polish and more thoughtful quality of life features. The git source diff view is so good I can't go back to Visual Studio or any other editor, and the management of remote servers is top-notch. Panic: never stop never stopping.
“The biggest differentiator between a studio that creates a really high-quality game and a studio that doesn’t isn’t the quality of the team, it’s their dev tools. If you can take fifty shots on goal, and you’re a pretty shitty hockey player, and I can only take three shots on goal and I’m Wayne fucking Gretzky, you’re probably going to do better. That’s what tools are. It’s how fast can you iterate, how stable are they, how robust are they, how easy is it as a nontechnical artist to move a thing. It’s the least sexy part of development, yet it’s the single most important factor there ever is, good tools equals better game, always.” ― Senior developer working at Bungie on Destiny.
End of Beginning by Djo
Week 12
Burn Book after hearing Kara Swisher discussing her new book on the Hard Fork podcast I immediately bought and read it. Did not disappoint - she's so genuine and sure of what she thinks, and I immediately love and respect her attitude.
“I’ve always thought there are a number of things that you have achieved at the end of a project. There’s the object, the actual product itself, and then there’s all that you learned. What you learned is as tangible as the product itself, but much more valuable because that’s your future.” ― Jony Ive
Bad Ones (feat. Tegan and Sara) by Matthew Dear, Tegan and Sara
Week 13
Apple Vision Pro Living in New Zealand means it took a visit to LA to be able to try the Apple Vision Pro. It's exactly what others have already said - it's the best VR experience I've ever had. The spatial integration of UI into the real world is seamless and rock solid. I spent a lot of time experimenting and trying things and it's intuitive interactions are magical. This is the strongest contender for the future I've seen. To be solved; it's heavy, hot, and wildly expensive.
“The future is here, it's just not evenly distributed” ― William Gibson
Wait a Minute! by WILLOW
Week 14
Hacking Disneyland's App to fix a freeze Delightfully entertaining walk through the process of reverse engineering the Disneyland park app to fix a freeze. Shows the flexibility of the Objective C runtime and how powerful the swizzling process is. A+ work.
“Hot Mess Express” ― Hard Fork podcast term to describe yet another AI company starting to implode.
I Can Change by Brandon Flowers
Week 15
Adobe React Aria Components are a very well thought out set of web components. Using them enables you to build rapidly, only having to think about styling, as all the keyboard + touch + mouse interactions are taken care of. Huge accessibility win.
“By ignoring my fear, I learned that the fear was groundless. Over the years, I have met people who took what seemed the safer path and were the lesser for it.” ― Ed Catmul / Creativity, Inc
Hush by The Marias
Week 16
Playdate Devkit for Panic's funky little handheld game device, looks as fun and entertaining and well thought out as the device itself.
“I'd really like to look at my phone there” ― Fineas describing a beautiful beach location in a way that resonates and hurts at the same time.
Cool Out by Matthew E. White, Natalie Prass
Week 17
Anthracite tv series is completely engaging. You may not like them, but none of the characters do stupid things or things that make no sense. The plot twists and crazy things happening surprised me every time. Their research on the net blurbs are hilarious and on point. The editing is tight - here's a discovery
“UI is the saddle, the stirrups, & the reins.
UX is the feeling you get being able to ride the horse.” ― Dain Miller, Web Developer
UX is the feeling you get being able to ride the horse.” ― Dain Miller, Web Developer
i like the way you kiss me by Artemas
Week 18
Netflix Store at the Egyptian on Hollywood Boulevard is a delightful collection of merch and vignette and props from their shows.
“You can't have laugh without ugh” ― cap at the Netflix Store describing comedy in LA.
Dare by Gorillaz, Shaun Ryder, Roses Gabor
Week 19
Big Thunder Mountain + Rise of the Resistance. The two favourite experiences of two adults going to Disneyland as a break from work and doing 14 rides and coming back at 4:30pm exhausted by so ridiculously happy.
“Don’t sleep to rest, sleep to dream, because dreams are to be fulfilled.” ― Walt Disney
Never Ending Circles by CHVRCHES
Week 20
Chrome rendering strategies across platforms are different on different platforms - macOS and Windows are largely the same but Linux is wildly different leading to unforeseen performance issues. Particularly important when you write web apps for embedded platforms...
I remember by deadmau5, Kaskade
Week 21
Aphantasia - the inability to form mental images of objects that are not present. I've been on this earth 49 years before realising this was a thing, and that I have it. I think in concepts and ideas, not images or sounds, and this is apparently fairly unique.
“Paths are made by walking” ― Kara Swisher on using the things you're talking about
I Was Made For Lovin' You by YUNGBLUD
Week 22
Stutz documentary by Jonah Hill on his psychiatrist Phil Stutz and his approach to self-care and mental health. I was profoundly moved by this.
“True confidence is living in uncertainty and moving forward” ― Stutz
Generate by Eric Prydz
Week 23
TDD - Test Driven Development. Whilst it's been around for years and I've used it for API development, this week I used it to build several UI components for the first time and was astonished at how it clarified my thinking and got to a cleaner end result faster.
Solar Power by Lorde
Week 24
VisionOS UI Components The depth of thought and customisation contained in their deceptively simple and clean designs. Chefs kiss.
Fire - Official UEFA EURO 2024 Song by MEDUZA, One Republic, Leony
Week 25
Dodson Performance Service Centre went above and beyond in repairing an engine issue and servicing my VW Golf. I've had a long history of not-great experiences with car repairs, this is my first time ever recommending a car service centre for both their people and their work.
A Tear in Space (Airlock) by Glass Animals
Week 26
Better Now by Post Malone
Week 27
Claude AI I experimented with Claude for the first time, giving it the task of helping me analyse and gain insight into a favourite author and why their newer works were connecting with me less. It was an astonishing experience. The results were far more insightful and human than ChatGPT, and the conversation gave me new understanding and appreciation for the authors works. I had not expected LLMs to become this capable this quickly.
Give Me Everything - Stripped Down by Archer Marsh
Week 28
Coco Finally watched this Pixar movie. It's often stunningly beautiful, and a respectful gateway into the joy of Mexican culture. It showcases a much more personal and beautiful way to think about death and the beyond. I am smitten with it.
“For every laugh there should be a tear” ― Walt Disney
Fame Won't Love You by Sia, Paris Hilton
Week 29
Tomorrowland Ruined My Life And Dreams Jenny Nicholson absolutely nails the gap between the promise and the execution of the Disney Tomorrowland movie.
Purple Hat by Sofi Tukker
Week 30
The Board contemporary art museum in Los Angeles. Spent an afternoon wandering through and being sporadically moved by some of the pieces. Great way to decompress in the middle of a very difficult work trip to LA.
Babydoll / The Perfect Girl (Medley) - Sped Up by northwest
Week 31
Seat 1A getting a loyalty upgrade to Business Class on my 13 hour flight from LA back home to New Zealand, nice way to cap off a dire two week work trip.
Signals by Cinnamon Chasers
Week 32
Free Animal by Foreign Air
Week 33
Mystic Manor Disney created a completely new take on the haunted mansion for the Hong Kong market, focussed around a magical fantasy story of the society of explorers and adventurers, with a score by Danny Elfman. Perfect.
“Cognitive load is one of the strongest limits you have” ― Charity Majors
Big Dawgs by Hanumankind, Kalmi
Week 34
Gold by Kiiara
Week 35
Lighter by Galantis, David Guetta, 5 Seconds of Summer
Week 36
Mall Madness by luxury elite
Week 37
Caravan SandWitch cozy and chill exploration and narrative science fiction game. Delightful.
Pensée Dérobée - From Caravan SandWitch by Antynomy
Week 38
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty remains a timeless and rewatchable movie. Patton Oswalt as Todd from eHarmony is always the highpoint of the movie for me.
The Veldt by deadmau5, Chris James
Week 39
Modern Web Browsers used in the right way can give experiences indistinguishable from native apps.
Late Night by ODESZA
Week 40
No One Dies From Love by Tove Lo
Week 41
Save Your Tears by The Weeknd, Ariana Grande
Week 42
What's Next? The Future with Bill Gates docuseries on netflix covering the near future and it's impact.
My Universe by Coldplay, BTS
Week 43
Waterworld live stunt show at Universal Studios. Literally a blast with wild stunts and explosions and a lot of water. Super fun.
“Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence.” ― This is known as Hanlon's razor, a theory that was developed by Robert J. Hanlon. The idea is that people often don't have bad intentions, but instead act without considering the consequences.
Can't Do It On My Own by Kygo
Week 44
Disney California Adventure Park which is good, not great. Some parts are pure Disney theming and magic, and other parts are generic meh. Guardians of the Galaxy nee Tower of Terror was great, Cars Land was superb, Incredicoaster was a rush. My favorite ride was Grizzly River Run - it's outdoors, beautifully themed, wild and chaotic, and perfectly paced. I rode it in the morning, afternoon, and at night and every time I came away with a huge grin.
Edge of Seventeen by Wuki
Week 45
Personal Tour of LA I created for myself during the weekend of a work trip. I drove my rental electric Mustang to Imagineering to get some snaps of myself outside the entrance, same thing for Disney Studios and Bad Robot. Spent the rest of the day at The Getty strolling the grounds and being inspired by the things humanity creates.
Electro Love by Amir Dabash
Week 46
The Imagineering Story book that takes everything great about the documentary series and expands on it with more detail.
edamame by bbno$, Rich Brian
Week 47
Heads Will Roll by Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Week 48
LittleJS a tiny yet powerful, and rather elegant, web browser game engine.
“If you can photograph the human face, you can photograph anything, it’s just a matter of scale.” ― Roger Deacon, legendary cinematographer.
Stoned In Love by Chicane, Tom Jones
Week 49
Lost In Space the Netflix series actually manages to wrap up all the seasons and stick the landing.
“Don't follow your passion, follow your talent.” ― Scott Galloway. The sexier the business the lower the return on investment. Movies, fashion, modelling, sports, music - unless you're in the top 0.1% you're not going to succeed. Follow the joy of mastery and comradery in your own industry.
Let Love Be Your Energy by Robbie Williams
Week 50
TrailBase simple, fast, and extensible server platform for apps.
Dernière Danse by Indila
Week 51
Cooler Master 34" wide screen monitor creates a huge expanse of pixels to work on code and see the results simultaneously.
“When people can participate in the actual art making, then there’s no mystery. There’s the joy of doing.” ― Antonio Martorell
Safety Net by Bea and her Business
Week 52
Murderbot book series. Having just re-read all 7 novels back to back, I can confirm the snark and commentary on the human condition is worth your time.
“Don’t just lean into your passions, the things that bring the greatest joy to your heart. Lean into the things that bring you curiosity and interest.” ― superb career advice
Headache by Asal
2023