{ "version": "https://jsonfeed.org/version/1", "title": "Manton Reece", "icon": "https://avatars.micro.blog/avatars/2025/22/3.jpg", "home_page_url": "https://www.manton.org/", "feed_url": "https://www.manton.org/feed.json", "items": [ { "id": "http://manton.micro.blog/2026/10/07/watching-x.html", "title": "Watching X", "content_html": "

Casey Newton plans to return to X in the coming days. He wrote in Platformer this week:

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The community of people working in and around artificial intelligence product and policy simply refuses to move away from X, no matter how bad it gets.

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And:

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I am among those who believe that the next year will be decisive in shaping the future of AI policy, regulation, and safety. And increasingly, attempting to influence the AI policy conversation without participating on X (or Substack) has made me feel like I am fighting with both hands tied behind my back.

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Three months ago, I blogged about reevaluating support for X in Micro.blog. I got mixed feedback about it, but ultimately decided that the negative feedback was enough for me to shelve the rollout. It was not worth the controversy.

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Since that blog post, Federico Viticci and John Voorhees returned to X. Other people started posting to X who had never even posted to Twitter before, like Jensen Huang and Jeffrey Katzenberg. While I still believe X is doomed in the long run — closed, rudderless, and toxic to many — the AI community has held on to a remnant of the old Twitter, and in fact that community is growing, apparently immune to the decay of a platform that has no soul.

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I should’ve followed my gut back in July. If I had brought back X cross-posting, I could now reach out to Federico or Casey and pitch them on posting simultaneously to their microblogs and X. Instead, I’ll watch from the sidelines as the most pivotal discussions about AI remain heavily centered around X instead of the open web.

\n", "date_published": "2026-10-07T08:50:44-05:00", "url": "https://www.manton.org/2026/10/07/watching-x.html", "tags": ["Essays","Artificial Intelligence"] }, { "id": "http://manton.micro.blog/2026/10/06/surely-the-problems-with-christa.html", "content_html": "

Surely the problems with Christa Pike’s failed execution rise to the level of cruel and unusual punishment set in the constitution. Can’t believe in 2026 we are still even debating this.

\n", "date_published": "2026-10-06T23:20:25-05:00", "url": "https://www.manton.org/2026/10/06/surely-the-problems-with-christa.html" }, { "id": "http://manton.micro.blog/2026/10/06/if-you-squint-there-are.html", "content_html": "

If you squint, there are parallels this week between PhotoCraft, an AI re-implementation of Photoshop, and OpenAI dropping a GitHub repo with hundreds of solutions to open math problems. There are some professions that will need to be continuously rethought.

\n", "date_published": "2026-10-06T22:05:57-05:00", "url": "https://www.manton.org/2026/10/06/if-you-squint-there-are.html", "tags": ["Artificial Intelligence"] }, { "id": "http://manton.micro.blog/2026/10/06/fascinating-online-magazine-from-microsoft.html", "content_html": "

Fascinating online magazine from Microsoft. Looks like some thoughtful essays in this:

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The Humanist Review of AI is a quarterly publication funded by Microsoft AI. We bring together thinkers from different fields to explore the impact of AI on society

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\n", "date_published": "2026-10-06T12:45:00-05:00", "url": "https://www.manton.org/2026/10/06/fascinating-online-magazine-from-microsoft.html", "tags": ["Artificial Intelligence"] }, { "id": "http://manton.micro.blog/2026/10/06/great-start-to-fediforum-really.html", "content_html": "

Great start to FediForum. Really enjoyed Anil Dash’s talk, and now Daniel Holmgren is just wrapping up on AT Proto Spaces. Lots more for me to dig into with Spaces.

\n", "date_published": "2026-10-06T12:32:37-05:00", "url": "https://www.manton.org/2026/10/06/great-start-to-fediforum-really.html" }, { "id": "http://manton.micro.blog/2026/10/06/toni-schneider-revealed-that-bluesky.html", "content_html": "

Toni Schneider revealed that Bluesky is trying to make a .bsky top-level domain. Interesting strategy. Hopefully they can monetize this while keeping it open for anyone to use, like Automattic did with .blog.

\n", "date_published": "2026-10-06T10:31:45-05:00", "url": "https://www.manton.org/2026/10/06/toni-schneider-revealed-that-bluesky.html" }, { "id": "http://manton.micro.blog/2026/10/06/i-know-im-late-to.html", "content_html": "

I know I’m late to the party, but I’m getting into listening to Golden from KPop Demon Hunters. Catchy. “We’re going up, up, up, it’s our moment…” 🎶

\n", "date_published": "2026-10-06T09:52:53-05:00", "url": "https://www.manton.org/2026/10/06/i-know-im-late-to.html" }, { "id": "http://manton.micro.blog/2026/10/06/rewrote-the-css-editor-in.html", "content_html": "

Rewrote the CSS editor in Micro.blog. Much better now, with nicer colors. Here’s a screenshot.

\n\"Screenshot\n", "date_published": "2026-10-06T09:30:00-05:00", "url": "https://www.manton.org/2026/10/06/rewrote-the-css-editor-in.html", "tags": ["Photos"] }, { "id": "http://manton.micro.blog/2026/10/06/i-feel-like-im-drowning.html", "content_html": "

I feel like I’m drowning in managing multiple app releases, so I’m trying something new: letting AI (my OpenAI dot for now) update a single releases.md document that has high-level notes about what has shipped recently and what’s being worked on. Making it public because it might be interesting.

\n", "date_published": "2026-10-06T09:15:00-05:00", "url": "https://www.manton.org/2026/10/06/i-feel-like-im-drowning.html", "tags": ["Artificial Intelligence"] }, { "id": "http://manton.micro.blog/2026/10/06/ja-westenberg-if-you-spend.html", "content_html": "

JA Westenberg:

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If you spend 45 minutes a day angry at strangers online, you’ll give them about 270 hours this year. That’s nearly seven full 40-hour work weeks, handed to people you’ll never meet, about events you can’t change.

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Sobering. 🙁

\n", "date_published": "2026-10-06T09:00:00-05:00", "url": "https://www.manton.org/2026/10/06/ja-westenberg-if-you-spend.html" }, { "id": "http://manton.micro.blog/2026/10/06/perhaps-as-the-value-of.html", "content_html": "

Perhaps as the value of individual apps decreases, with many more apps being released, the value of complex systems will go up. It’s still relatively hard to build and run a platform that combines many different services and databases.

\n", "date_published": "2026-10-06T08:41:44-05:00", "url": "https://www.manton.org/2026/10/06/perhaps-as-the-value-of.html" }, { "id": "http://manton.micro.blog/2026/10/05/app-development-is-clearly-accelerating.html", "content_html": "

App development is clearly accelerating. There are so many new apps being developed and shipped that before wouldn’t have existed or would’ve stayed hobby projects.

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It’s cool! There are fewer barriers. But it’s also noisy and will require new ways of thinking about competition and getting noticed.

\n", "date_published": "2026-10-05T16:41:33-05:00", "url": "https://www.manton.org/2026/10/05/app-development-is-clearly-accelerating.html" }, { "id": "http://manton.micro.blog/2026/10/05/heres-a-quick-video-demo.html", "content_html": "

Here’s a quick video demo of the new version of Micro.blog for Mac that we released a couple days ago. It shows the book calendar and note dictation. Enjoy!

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\n", "date_published": "2026-10-05T15:02:10-05:00", "url": "https://www.manton.org/2026/10/05/heres-a-quick-video-demo.html", "tags": ["Videos"] }, { "id": "http://manton.micro.blog/2026/10/05/openai-will-add-text-watermarking.html", "content_html": "

OpenAI will add text watermarking too, but only in the EU, compared to Anthropic’s global rollout:

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Over the coming weeks, we will introduce text watermarking to eligible ChatGPT and Codex users across all plans in the EU only. We are not making text watermarking a global default at launch. This regional approach gives us room to learn from real-world use and feedback.

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I think this whole thing is largely misguided. Hope it is not expanded.

\n", "date_published": "2026-10-05T11:55:03-05:00", "url": "https://www.manton.org/2026/10/05/openai-will-add-text-watermarking.html" }, { "id": "http://manton.micro.blog/2026/10/05/reactions-in-microblog.html", "title": "Reactions in Micro.blog", "content_html": "

Micro.blog has always been philosophically opposed to like counts and retweets. We think the dopamine hit of public likes tends to encourage performative behavior on the social web, leads to popularity contests and needless reloading of notifications that is mentally exhausting, and incentivizes platforms to build timeline algorithms around metrics.

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None of that is changing in Micro.blog. But there is a long-standing hole created by this view of the social web: your followers on the fediverse and atmosphere don’t know their likes are going into the void, and you can’t discover new people to follow based purely on likes and reposts.

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Over the next few months, I’m rolling out a new feature to fix this. Behind the scenes, Micro.blog is starting to note when one of the following happens:

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Instead of displaying them in a chronological list, there will be a new page that shows you a selection of other people who have liked or reposted your posts. This gives you a view to check occasionally to see who appreciates your blog. It’s centered around people, not posts. People you might want to follow back within Micro.blog or elsewhere on the social web.

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As I’ve been thinking about this, I also reviewed Glass’s appreciations. They shipped this a few years ago. I think their implementation does solve some traditional problems of public likes, but it doesn’t feel right for Micro.blog.

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I’ll share more when all of this is officially launched. I hope that it strikes the right balance of giving a little more information for discovery while preserving the quieter, slow nature of blogs and the IndieWeb.

\n", "date_published": "2026-10-05T11:07:22-05:00", "url": "https://www.manton.org/2026/10/05/reactions-in-microblog.html", "tags": ["Essays"] }, { "id": "http://manton.micro.blog/2026/10/05/codex-has-an-interesting-markdown.html", "content_html": "

Codex has an interesting Markdown editor. It shows styling and links inline, but when you move the cursor into the style run, it then expands to show the markup. Here’s a quick recording I made of how it looks.

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\n", "date_published": "2026-10-05T09:51:06-05:00", "url": "https://www.manton.org/2026/10/05/codex-has-an-interesting-markdown.html", "tags": ["Videos"] }, { "id": "http://manton.micro.blog/2026/10/05/fediforum-starts-tomorrow-and-runs.html", "content_html": "

FediForum starts tomorrow and runs for two days. Keynote from Anil Dash, talk on AT Proto from Daniel Holmgren, and other unconference-style sessions.

\n", "date_published": "2026-10-05T09:43:40-05:00", "url": "https://www.manton.org/2026/10/05/fediforum-starts-tomorrow-and-runs.html" }, { "id": "http://manton.micro.blog/2026/10/04/google-app-reviews-are-so.html", "content_html": "

Google app reviews are so fast now, and Apple so consistently a full day, that my new routine is I submit to Apple at night before going to bed. Then the next day, if Apple approves it, I submit to Google. Feels like the best use of time, including while I’m asleep.

\n", "date_published": "2026-10-04T21:51:23-05:00", "url": "https://www.manton.org/2026/10/04/google-app-reviews-are-so.html" }, { "id": "http://manton.micro.blog/2026/10/04/today-we-finally-put-up.html", "content_html": "

Today we finally put up my animation drawings of Scrooge from Mickey’s Christmas Carol! Here’s a short video showing them in sequence on the wall. I was also comparing these to the final frames and uploaded that scene to a separate page on my blog.

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\n", "date_published": "2026-10-04T18:39:12-05:00", "url": "https://www.manton.org/2026/10/04/today-we-finally-put-up.html", "tags": ["Videos"] }, { "id": "http://manton.micro.blog/2026/10/04/openai-still-has-ui-cleanup.html", "content_html": "

OpenAI still has UI cleanup to do, but one thing they got right is not having a model picker for Dots. It just uses their best model and you don’t need to think about token usage or level of thinking. Eventually more AI will be like that, with maybe only programming as an exception.

\n", "date_published": "2026-10-04T13:30:00-05:00", "url": "https://www.manton.org/2026/10/04/openai-still-has-ui-cleanup.html", "tags": ["Artificial Intelligence"] }, { "id": "http://manton.micro.blog/2026/10/04/interesting-tidbit-of-news-in.html", "content_html": "

Interesting tidbit of news in Mark Gurman’s Sunday post, about upcoming MacBook Pros:

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The new MacBook Pros are lighter — significantly lighter. Apple has reengineered the machine’s interior, miniaturizing parts and rearranging components to make the computer much easier to carry.

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\n", "date_published": "2026-10-04T12:49:03-05:00", "url": "https://www.manton.org/2026/10/04/interesting-tidbit-of-news-in.html" }, { "id": "http://manton.micro.blog/2026/10/04/added-the-bookshelves-calendar-preview.html", "content_html": "

Added the bookshelves calendar preview to the new Mac app. I like how this turned out. Easy to publish as a page on your blog. The web has some more options too.

\n\"Screenshot\n", "date_published": "2026-10-04T12:00:00-05:00", "url": "https://www.manton.org/2026/10/04/added-the-bookshelves-calendar-preview.html", "tags": ["Photos"] }, { "id": "http://manton.micro.blog/2026/10/03/watched-digger-well-that-was.html", "content_html": "\n

Watched: Digger. Well, that was insane and unexpected. Just got home from the theater and kind of stunned. Really good. 🍿

\n", "date_published": "2026-10-03T21:38:17-05:00", "url": "https://www.manton.org/2026/10/03/watched-digger-well-that-was.html" }, { "id": "http://manton.micro.blog/2026/10/03/experimenting-with-a-new-transcription.html", "content_html": "

Experimenting with a new transcription feature in the notes API. I originally wanted this for making a dictation gadget that creates Micro.blog notes, but it’ll show up in other apps too. It uses the same OpenAI model as our podcast transcriptions.

\n", "date_published": "2026-10-03T16:10:09-05:00", "url": "https://www.manton.org/2026/10/03/experimenting-with-a-new-transcription.html" }, { "id": "http://manton.micro.blog/2026/10/03/sometimes-youtube-will-show-me.html", "content_html": "

Sometimes YouTube will show me Lara de Wit’s performance of The Land Before Time and it’ll take me to a completely different world for a few minutes. Beautiful. 🎶

\n", "date_published": "2026-10-03T15:00:00-05:00", "url": "https://www.manton.org/2026/10/03/sometimes-youtube-will-show-me.html" } ] }