John Gruber on the rise in the use of *asterisks* for emphasis in the plaintext age: "Neither appeared in print until the mid-'60s, when *sigh* began appearing. But *cough* doesn't appear until 1987. Both though, exploded in usage starting in 1997, and have risen steadily ever since. So I think I'm correct that this use of asterisks has been largely driven by Internet punctuation idioms."
Emphasize *this*
Literary history of the text message conversations in Apple ads
Max Read offers a history of fake Apple texts, 2011-2023—the chats to be found in the company's ads and marketing materials. Anodyne yet featureful, this "rigidly orthographically correct banter" mirrors… READ THE REST
The No CSS Club celebrates websites with no stylesheets, let alone javascript. There should be a No HTML Club for websites that are pure text
I was alerted to the No CSS Club, which celebrates (and satirizes) the nostalgic, minimalist and brutalist tendencies of websites which avoid the bloat of modern frameworks (and of everything… READ THE REST
Crappy AI-generated websites flourishing in search results
Trouble's brewing, what with all the unreadable AI dreck turning up in search results. Soulless and repetitious generated text is forcing out everything from the old machine-written junk (like those… READ THE REST
Your productivity can increase tenfold with this AI-powered app!
TL;DR: With the Ultiself app, you can create your most optimal routine and build better habits—all built by you!—for only $19.99 (reg. $47). Be honest with us. Are you still dragging your… READ THE REST
Windows 11 Pro is the gaming upgrade you never knew you needed
TL;DR: Microsoft's most up-to-date and gamer-friendly OS, Windows 11 Pro, is now on sale for only $19.97 (reg. $199) through September 29! Nothing's better than shutting down your work laptop to… READ THE REST
This VPN router is the key to getting the 'Spider-Man' movies back on Netflix!
TL;DR: This VPN router can unblock content on your streaming services, and it's available for $159 when you use coupon code CONNECT through September 29! Is it us, or is Netflix seriously… READ THE REST
