Author: Aaron Crocco

Time, Travel

Welcome back to this week’s TimeMachiner. 2024 has been a year of running behind with my writing here. As I mentioned in the last issue, it’s mostly due to life being a whole lot right now. Writing, a passion I have, also requires time to do said writing. The majority of my time right now is taken up with work and planning life changes that are occurring throughout the year. And when something’s gotta give, unfortunately my writing takes a back seat. But, I’m trying to get something out when I can for you guys. Today’s issue goes into the…

Surprising Nobody, the Humane AI Pin Sucks

It was only this past January wherein I wrote the following about the Humane AI Pin: So the thing looks weird, is questionable with how it will work with all clothing, gives wrong answers, costs $700, has a $24 monthly subscription, and produced by an unproven company. You’ll have to forgive me for sitting this one out. This pin, which is a small rectangle-connected device you wear and ask it questions powered by AI, began shipping and is now in the hands of reviewers. And boy are they taking Humane to task. David Pierce at The Verge: “The AI Pin…

Cover That Sun

Read to the end for a post about deep thoughts about Sesame Street. If the eclipse of 2024 wasn’t a reason to get back to TimeMachiner, I don’t know what else would. So, here I am! 👋🏻 The eclipse has been known for many months and it’s been a hyped event. As I learned from my fiancé earlier, apparently solar eclipse’s happen all the time. But… they’re not always visible from land. What makes this one special is the long band of totality that spans such a wide swath of land. On top of it all, it touches some parts…

Remastered Moon Landing

If you’re a fan of everything NASA, then this video is very quite cool. recently the YouTuber RetroFreak84 took a chance on an eBay listing that claimed reels of tape were of the televised moon landing. There was no way to know in advance what was on the tapes nor their condition, but it was a risk RetroFreak84 decided to take. After getting the reels in the mail, he went through the process to clean and check all the tape before even attempting to play them. But when he did, something magical appears on the screen: — some moon landing…

Cupertino’s Axe Man

One of the most frustrating things to see in tech over the past few years are the massive layoffs. Meta, Google, Amazon, and many more had over-hired during COVID and decided reversing course was a good idea. Mixed into this reporting (and in my writing here too) was the fact that Apple was not one of those companies. Sadly, the current market caught up to them too as the company announced 600 people have been let go. The AP has more. The iPhone maker notified 614 workers in multiple offices on March 28 that they were losing their jobs, with…

Post of the Week

A Whole Lot of Nothing

Read to the end for a post about too many books. Hey, it’s been a few weeks! So, welcome back. TimeMachiner is a labor of love for me. But part of that is balancing my personal life, job, etc, with writing and running this place. I love doing it and it’s fantastic. No, this isn’t a goodbye or announcement of any sort. TimeMachiner isn’t going anywhere. What is happening is my time balance right now is… out of balance? Let me explain. I love finding random stuff online. That turned into TimeMachiner. But it’s something I do with the free…

Surge Fry Pricing

In a world where companies rake in a whole lot of money and lay off employees in order to appease shareholders, we now get another nonsense tactic from companies to wring every last cent from people: surge pricing at Wendy’s. Yes, you read that right. Depending on the time of day, the food you order could cost more or less. Michelle Chapman at AP News has more. During a conference call earlier this month, Wendy’s CEO Kirk Tanner said that the Dublin, Ohio-based burger chain will start testing dynamic pricing, also known as surge pricing, as early as next year. “Beginning…

Post of the Week

Finishing Cristo

Read to the end for a post about boarding positions. This past weekend I was traveling and found myself nose-deep in my Kindle. I am still reading The Count of Monte Cristo, which I’ve already dubbed “The longest book” because, well, it is. It’s 1200+ pages. It’s over 110 chapters long. And I’m 98% done with it. Back in June when I wrote about this endeavor, I estimated I would finish it last year. That didn’t happen. Between life and other things occupying my free time, I did not read as much as I would’ve liked. As such, it’s only…

Old Timey TikTok

If I asked you to think of any movie or recording from the early 1900s you would likely think the same as me: something with a lot of grain or muffled sound. Then I came upon this post from Dave Rahardja over on Mastodon. These carbon microphones are incredible because you have @Samsonite1890 performing Five Foot Two on the banjo here in 2024 and yet it sounds perfectly like a recording a century ago. Originally developed in 1878 by David Hughes in England, the device used loosely packed carbon granules and the varying pressure exerted on the granules by the…

Laid Off Guy Hides Undetected in Company Slack

The remote work era means companies are completely reliant on chat and communication apps. Slack and Microsoft Teams are the two big companies in this space. To me, Teams still feels like a terrible ‘homework copying’ by Microsoft to clone Slack but I’m not here to rant about that. What I’m here to write is how Gizmodo writer Tom McKay, laid off in 2022, was able to stay on the company’s Slack instance for months undetected. How? By pretending to be the built-in Slackbot that is part of every instance. Emma Roth at The Verge has more. When it was…

Post of the Week

Vision Sorta Pro

Read to the end for a post about inconsistent music. This past weekend I got my hands on an Apple Vision Pro. Now, I’m far from any YouTuber who gets press products nor wannabe ‘influencers’ who buy products, review them, then return them within Apple’s 14-day return window. And I certainly don’t have a spare $3,400 laying around. On Saturday I had some free time and saw on Apple’s website that I could schedule a 30-minute demo at a local Apple Store. It’s free and requires no promise to purchase or anything else. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but…

Apple’s Big Baby Moments

It’s weird to see companies having public temper tantrums. The year is not even two months old and Apple has been on a tear with taking its ball and going home. First it was Apple’s legal loss resulting in it being forced to allow outside payments from the App Store. On the surface this ruling looks like a big win for the likes of Spotify, Netflix, and any other company that doesn’t want to pay a 30% cut to Apple for all purchases. Fair enough. But Apple, always one to want total control, is going the Full-Greed route wherein it…

Raccoon Causes Power Outage

Sometimes the headlines write themselves. A power outage in downtown Toronto earlier this month was the result of a raccoon coming in contact with “equipment”. Alex Arsenych at CTV has more. A raccoon was behind the massive power outage that knocked out  electricity to some 7,000 customers in downtown Toronto for hours Thursday night. Hydro One said a raccoon “made contact with equipment” at a downtown station, which cut the lights for parts of the city. The raccoon’s condition is currently unknown. “We’re currently responding to an outage affecting customers in and around the following boundaries: St. Clair Avenue W to…

Walmart Buys Vizio

What does a cool $2.3 billion get you? A well-established TV manufacturer if you’re Walmart. Just announced this morning, Walmart is acquiring Vizio in a deal to expand its ad business. Tom Warren at The Verge has more. “The acquisition of Vizio and its SmartCast Operating System (OS) would enable Walmart to connect with and serve its customers in new ways including innovative television and in-home entertainment and media experiences,” says Walmart in a press release. “It would also create new opportunities to help advertisers connect with customers, empowering brands with differentiated and compelling opportunities to engage at scale and…

Post of the Week

Dreaming of 2001

Read to the end for a post about talking heads. I’ve been a lifelong Sega fan. From the day my parents brought home a Genesis, I was hooked. My teenage years were spent rushing Sonic through Emerald Hills zone, blasting monsters in the sewers, and virtually fighting. There’s been leaks of news lately that Microsoft may stop making the Xbox console and let me tell you, it’s giving me large Sega Dreamcast flashbacks. Why? Let’s get into it. The Dreamcast was Sega’s final console. Released on 9/9/99, it was the company’s last attempt to recover from the debacle of everything…

Outhorse Your Email

One things Americans have been accused of is never being fully disconnected while on vacation. We sorta have a reputation for continuing to check email, dialing into calls, and overall monitoring things when we’re on PTO and trying to relax. Iceland’s tourism board is looking to change that. A scenic and beautiful country, Iceland’s tourism board is looking to help you disconnect and enjoy everything it has to offer. To help facilitate this, it came up with delegating your out of office email responses to a horse. Yes, a horse. When you visit the site you get to choose one…

No, Mr. Bond. I Expect You To Print

Printers suck. You know this. I know this. It is a universal truth. Aside from paper jams and managing setups that are complicated, the modern printers are even worse than that. Long ago companies went to a ‘razor blade’ sales model to sell the printer cheap and make money on the ink. HP has taken this cat and mouse game to the next level. Its CEO declared that ink must be a subscription and it can only be HP’s ink. Scharon Harding at Ars Technica has more. HP CEO Enrique Lores addressed the company’s controversial practice of bricking printers when…

Clean Mail

Nearly a year after the USPS announced it would shift a sizable portion of its delivery fleet to electric vehicles, the first signs of this are coming to fruition. A few weeks ago in Atlanta there was a press event that showed chargers in the ground and showed off the new Ford E-Transit EV delivery van. Jennifer Mossalgue at Electrek has more. The US Postal Service showed off its first EV charging stations, and some spiffy new Ford E-Transit BEVs, at an event in Atlanta yesterday, with hundreds of new sorting and delivery centers set to open around the country…

Post of the Week

Original Post

Quick Time

Read to the end for a post about Tech Elitism. I’ve been under the weather for a couple of days, so this issue is a short one. I apologize for only having one story for you today. Next week’s edition should be back to normal. Thanks for reading. Now, onto the rest of today’s issue.

Right to Repair’s Moment to Shine

The ability to fix your own stuff is the core of Right to Repair. The movement to compel companies to provide parts and schematics that enable people to repair the stuff they buy has been in the works for many years. Small wins were gained as a few states passed RtR laws, New York being one of them. And while there were some bumps along the way, Right to Repair is having its moment. It also helps that Apple and Google have gotten aboard. Maddie Stone at The Verge has more. Signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom, the Right to…

Post of the Week

Original Post

It’s Only A Matter of Time

Read to the end for a post about critical chicken thinking. For over a year and a half I’ve been pining to see Back to the Future: The Musical ever since it debuted on Broadway here in NY back in October, ’22. But life usually has other plans. Finally though after waiting over a year, this past weekend my fiancé and I headed to Broadway. For me it was seeing new ‘Future’ for the first time since experiencing BTTF: The Ride in 2000. BTTF: The Musical is not a reboot or Part: IV or any other breaking of The Pact…

A Roller Coaster For One

For those of you that enjoy theme park rides then you’ll want to check this out. The Massachusetts Museum of Modern Art in North Adams faced a daunting challenge: how to occupy an expansive space with a creation that would captivate visitors. To solve this provlem, they turned to the talents of Los Angeles-based artist E.J. Hill. His interactive sculpture called the “Break Run Helix” exhibit built in 2022, is an imaginative exploration inspired by the whimsy of backyard roller coasters. But, this isn’t your typical theme park ride. The experience is designed for a single rider, allowing only one…

The Power of TayTay

Only a few months ago I wrote about the incredible proliferation of Taylor Swift and her music. Her business acumen has propelled her into superstardom. But last week a flood of AI-generated fake sexually explicit material of Swift was posted all over Twitter X. It’s a reminder that this happened to one of the most powerful entertainers out there. Even she can still fall victim to terrible people, predictably doing terrible things with bullshit-spewing AI tools. Jess Weatherbed at The Verge has more. One of the most prominent examples on X attracted more than 45 million views, 24,000 reposts, and…

The Touchscreen iMac

On the 40th anniversary of the Macintosh computer, I thought it would be interesting to look back on an oddity in the history of this machine: a touch screen version. In the late 90s Apple was close to going out of business and with the acquisition of NeXT brought Steve Jobs back into the fold. The iMac was the first piece of saving the company. Then a different company was buying them and installing touch technology into them for niche use. The coolest part of these machines was that the company ELO was an Apple Authorized seller and apparently had…