Banksy, Satoshi & The Unmasking Impulse First Banksy and then Satoshi. Something about their unmasking is not sitting right with me. I am bothered by it. I am annoyed by it. And even more annoyed with myself because as a former journalis…

This started as a simple question.

Why do we feel the need to unmask people who have chosen anonymity?
The more I thought about it, the more uneasy I became with the answers I was coming up with. So I wrote this to work through that.

om.co/2026/04/08/b...

What To Read This Weekend Every few years a startup comes along that dominates the headlines and grabs all the attention. For all the right and wrong reasons. I have been following the industry long enough to see that patte…

It seems all OpenAI all the time. This is nothing new, in the "news business," as I note in the latest edition of my "What to read this weekend" newsletter. 7 great reads. As part of this weekend's newsletter, I have a mini-scoop about OpenAI and their "model" plans. om.co/2026/04/05/w...

For example, my Quicky today includes @warrenellis.ltd.web.brid.gy @om.co @404media.co @wired.com - turned out pretty solid.

The big story beneath the story of OpenAI's $122 billion at an $852 billion valuation is the race to the IPO. Don't read the number. Dissect the investors. Especially the ones extending a $4.7 billion credit line. om.co/2026/03/31/o...

‘Astound’ed. Google Flips Its Fiber To PE. I have been a WebPass customer for years. Fast, reliable, founder-run. When there was a problem, you could reach someone who gave a damn. It was the kind of internet service that made you forget yo…

Google has flipped its “fiber” business to a really shitty PE-owned broadband provider. And they did it quietly. This is the worst outcome for Google Fiber customers. Tip @techmeme.com

tip @techmeme.com

Meta’s May Day Pop some popcorn. Put some butter. Add some salt. Because opportunists (politicians) are pointing their muskets at villains (tech bros), using children’s welfare as the ammunition. In case yo…

Verdicts against Meta & YouTube are a golden opportunity for ambulance chasers. But they can lead to structural changes in social media. Of course, like Joe Camel, Mark Zuckerberg and his crew have a plan. You don't give up on an addiction business that easily. My analysis.

om.co/2026/03/25/m...

We Are Now An Upload (Broadband) Nation For thirty-odd years, broadband has been sold as a one-way pipe. The download speed was all that mattered. Bigger the number, better. No one cared about the upload speeds, because the internet was …

Broadband and its dynamics aren’t exactly everyone’s cup of tea. But they are a “tell” on how we live on the network, and how new behaviors emerge. Here is my latest article on how recent changes will manifest themselves. I have been writing about this for over 2 decades. 😆

om.co/2026/03/25/w...

Awesome piece, thank you!

When you think of someone who consistently adheres to these principles, are there any podcast interviewers who come to mind—someone you can expect a solid interview from in any domain, regardless of your own knowledge of the guest or subject matter?

This is a really excellent piece on why so many modern interviews, with potentially fascinating people, make me want to scream.

And it can be very interesting for lifestyle interviews, for example, to build a rapport with the subject and the readers. But some take it to extremes and use the platform to promote themselves almost exclusively. Certain podcasters do this a lot, for example.

New newsletter is out. Get it while it is hot :)

The funny thing is most of us do it as a way to build a common ground. It is not even intentional just has become a part of existence of how we see others do it so we try and copy their styles. This is where impact of shrinking newsrooms is really showing. No one to teach younger ones good habits

How Not to Interview (Interesting People) As a photographer who is primarily a writer, I like reading about photography so I can learn from those who create. I do that by reading photo magazines and listening to podcasts. One such magazine…

We seem to be "peak interview." And yet, we have so few interviews that deliver. A lot comes down to interviewers trying to impress the subjects instead of being conduits for their readers and listeners. My guide on how not to interview people. + Some handy tips! om.co/2026/03/19/h...

OpenAI Has New Focus (on the IPO) The Wall Street Journal recently reported that leadership wants OpenAI, the company, to focus. Seems like a plain old business strategy story. Nope! First, in more prosaic terms, the all-hands and …

Every day brings a new story of @openai deals that die enterprise business, going after developers. And the @wsj piece was the cherry on the cake. The thread that ties it all together is the race to IPO. I break down the narrative from reality in my latest article.

om.co/2026/03/17/o...

Sources: China is penalizing people tied to Meta's $2B Manus acquisition, including by apparently restricting Manus executives from leaving China for Singapore (New York Times)

Main Link | Techmeme Permalink

Lobster Boil I had coffee this weekend with my good friend Michael Galpert, father to my godchildren. Too much coffee. We talked too much Claw. OpenClaw that is. Michael has been running around the country orga…

In his keynote , Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang called OpenClaw the OS for Agentic Computers. He is right, and yet he is not really grokking the complete socio-cultural importance of the Claw movement. So I tried to explain & give it more context in my new article. om.co/2026/03/16/l... (tip @techmeme.com

A view looking down over the edge of a turquoise glacier face, with large crevasses and a brown meandering river in front of it, with frozen lagoon below, which has some lines in it.

Another view - a little closer - of the amazing meandering river beneath the glacier face. Love this so much!

#Iceland #DronePhotography #DJIMavic3Pro #Abstract

B&W image of a mountain range reflected in a black sand beach. There is snow to the left and waves to the right. Intentional camera movement so it's a bit blurry (intentionally!). Dark clouds above.

Something a little different from Stokksnes - an ICM (intentional camera movement) shot, converted to B&W.

#Iceland #CanonR5markii

Long exposure (0.4 second, so not that long!) of small waves breaking near the shore. There is some pale orange light on the waves reflected from the clouds above.

Photographing waves is one of my favourite things, especially when there's some soft afternoon light and they're splashing around near the shore so elegantly.

Víkurfjara, #Iceland

tip @techmeme.com

The Return of Travis Kalanick: Fact & Fluff! Travis is back. It was only a matter of time. Given his old compadres Emil Michael and Shervin Pishevar are back in the news, how could he, the king pooh-ba, stay in the shadows? To a lot of us who…

It was quite fun to watch the spectacle of Travis Kalanick's comeback. The whole media sphere was tripping over itself. Here is my day two take of the news. What's fact. What's fluff. From someone who is seen him play the game for a long time. om.co/2026/03/14/t...

Tanhā & Our Modern Consumerism It was late into the evening. I wanted to take a break from everything digital. Relaxing by doodling in my notebook. Trying a new grind. Seeing how the metal tip felt on the billowy silky Tomoe Riv…

Some late evening doodles and scratchy nibs can do strange things to you. Like leading to some existential questions. New article!

om.co/2026/03/13/t...

Symbolic Capitalism “There’s a lot of unevenness in how much attention internal drama and palace intrigue gets across different organizations. As far as I can tell, this is substantially a matter of path d…

A recent tweet by Stripe CEO about the palace intrigue at certain companies got me thinking and writing about the Neo Symbolic Capital and why unwittingly he said something he knew, and is also the new universal reality. A follow up to how media now works. New piece! om.co/2026/03/13/s...

The Essence of a Machine I didn’t really want to do a quick breezy review of something that has touched me at a deep emotional level. Yes, I am talking about the new MacBook Neo. I can’t remember when I used the words “cut…

The launch of MacBook Neo has me feeling a little philosophical. About Heidegger. About missing Steve Jobs. About Aristotle and the sheer joy of colors. In the end, this is my essay about the essence of a machine. om.co/2026/03/10/t...

The Debt Beneath the Dream Every gambler knows that the secret to survivin’ Is knowin’ what to throw away and knowing what to keep ‘Cause every hand’s a winner and every hand’s a loser And the b…

Masayoshi Son, the great gambler, is betting it all on OpenAI. Caught up in the frenzy or creating it? Either way, we are in an unprecedented data center frenzy. It is one crazy time, when announcements are the new currency. Velocity is the new game. New post.  om.co/2026/03/09/t...

Bluesky has a new CEO, Toni Schneider of Automattic.

bsky.app/profile/toni...

Interesting possibility, hooking up WordPress to Bluesky.

That would give us a way into Bluesky via the web.

That would be a big deal.

A New Chapter for Bluesky - Bluesky After several intense and incredible years building Bluesky from the ground up, I've decided to step back as CEO and transition to a new role as Bluesky's Chief Innovation Officer.

Some personal news: I’m transitioning from CEO to a new role as Bluesky’s Chief Innovation Officer! I’m excited to welcome @toni.bsky.team as our interim CEO.

More here: bsky.social/about/blog/0...

I'm thrilled to announce that I'll be joining Bluesky as interim CEO. I deeply believe in what this team has built and the open social web they're fighting for. More here: toni.org/2026/03/09/c...

“Open-source AI is the new flagship strategy for China. They see it as a competitive advantage against the United States…

On our end, we have what I’d call AI theater.”