Linux & Fingerprint Readers: A Tough Combination I bought a USB fingerprint reader for my Linux laptop from Temu because it was the only one I could find that I knew would work.

I bought a USB fingerprint reader for my Linux laptop from Temu because it was the only one I could find that I knew would work. feed.tedium.co/link/15204/17319282/linu...

Linux & Fingerprint Readers: A Tough Combination I bought a USB fingerprint reader for my Linux laptop from Temu because it was the only one I could find that I knew would work.

Like logging into stuff using your fingerprints? In Linux, it’s harder than it should be.

tedium.co/2026/04/14/l...

Form 1040 (Revised October 1916) INCOME TAX. THE PENALTY FOR FAILURE TO HAVE THIS RETURN IN THE HANDS OF THE COLLECTOR OF INTERNAL REVENUE ON OR BEFORE MARCH 1 IS $20 TO $1,000.

So, here’s a fun thing I just discovered. The IRS website has 1040 forms going all the way back to 1916.

Solitaire’s Many Flavors: I Suck At Them. But That’s OK. A meditation on the game of Solitaire and its endless variations, which go well beyond what you can find in Windows 3.1.

A meditation on the game of Solitaire and its endless variations, which go well beyond what you can find in Windows 3.1. feed.tedium.co/link/15204/17316812/soli...

A game of solitaire.

Solitaire is a game that has no demands of us other than to play. And maybe play some more. And a little more after that.

Tedium’s very own David Buck: tedium.co/2026/04/09/s...

The Puppeteer Behind The Fake GIMP Movie Trailer What inspired the semi-viral fake GIMP trailer that recently fluttered around FOSS circles? The creator and puppeteer behind Pork Johnson explains.

This post has everything I like:

- Puppets
- Open-source software
- Passion projects
- Creativity

Hopefully you’ll dig it, too.

tedium.co/2026/04/07/p...

The Puppeteer Behind The Fake GIMP Movie Trailer What inspired the semi-viral fake GIMP trailer that recently fluttered around FOSS circles? The creator and puppeteer behind Pork Johnson explains.

What inspired the semi-viral fake GIMP trailer that recently fluttered around FOSS circles? The creator and puppeteer behind Pork Johnson explains. feed.tedium.co/link/15204/17315642/pork...

The Puppeteer Behind The Fake GIMP Movie Trailer What inspired the semi-viral fake GIMP trailer that recently fluttered around FOSS circles? The creator and puppeteer behind Pork Johnson explains.

More puppetry in Tedium, please

tedium.co/2026/04/07/p...

The Puppeteer Behind The Fake GIMP Movie Trailer What inspired the semi-viral fake GIMP trailer that recently fluttered around FOSS circles? The creator and puppeteer behind Pork Johnson explains.

What makes one decide to make a parody movie trailer for, of all things, the GNU Image Manipulation Program? I asked the puppeteer behind Pork Johnson, the star of the semi-viral GIMP clip.

tedium.co/2026/04/07/p...

new @tedium.co

Ronald G. Wayne Is More Than Two Weeks At Apple Amid Apple’s 50th anniversary, we got a chance to talk to its forgotten third founder: Ronald G. Wayne. Apple is honestly a footnote in his long career.

Looking for a good weekend read? I was pretty proud of this one:

tedium.co/2026/03/31/r...

EmDash: A Clever WordPress Revamp, Hold The PHP Cloudflare’s new attempt to win over the hearts of developers could help keep a few ancient WordPress sites from falling off the internet. That‘s a good thing.

Some thoughts on @cloudflare.social’s attempt to build a successor to WordPress: Hey, if this keeps some old sites from going offline, all for it.

tedium.co/2026/04/02/e...

new @tedium.co

EmDash: A Clever WordPress Revamp, Hold The PHP Cloudflare’s new attempt to win over the hearts of developers could help keep a few ancient WordPress sites from falling off the internet. That‘s a good thing.

Cloudflare’s new attempt to win over the hearts of developers could help keep a few ancient WordPress sites from falling off the internet. That‘s a good thing. feed.tedium.co/link/15204/17312777/emda...

Glad you liked!

Ronald G. Wayne Is More Than Two Weeks At Apple Amid Apple’s 50th anniversary, we got a chance to talk to its forgotten third founder: Ronald G. Wayne. Apple is honestly a footnote in his long career.

As Apple hits its 50th anniversary this week, we got a chance to talk to its forgotten third founder: Ronald G. Wayne. Apple is honestly a footnote in his long life. feed.tedium.co/link/15204/17311236/rona...

Ronald G. Wayne Is More Than Two Weeks At Apple Amid Apple’s 50th anniversary, we got a chance to talk to its forgotten third founder: Ronald G. Wayne. Apple is honestly a footnote in his long career.

We talked to an Apple founder about all the non-Apple stuff he did. tedium.co/2026/03/31/r...

Ronald G. Wayne Is More Than Two Weeks At Apple Amid Apple’s 50th anniversary, we got a chance to talk to its forgotten third founder: Ronald G. Wayne. Apple is honestly a footnote in his long career.

What if you lived an incredibly long life, full of interesting, creative work, and all anyone ever wanted to talk about was two weeks of it?

Ronald G. Wayne, the third cofounder of Apple, gets a lot of attention for that, but he’s done so much more.

tedium.co/2026/03/31/r...

new @tedium.co

We’re going back to Tuesdays/Thursdays starting this week. The doing-it-when-we-felt-like-it thing wasn’t working, ultimately.

Sorry, should clarify—it’s 19% off from the $569.99 list price. Sorry if that was confusing. Thank you for calling that out, will tweak the language.

Self-Hosting Tools: Still Worth Trying In 2026? Once upon a time, self-hosting used to be a cost-effective thing. Is it still a good option for fending off SaaS as the prices keep creeping up?

In an age when cheap RAM is not a guaranteed thing, should we still be buying mini-PCs to run self-hosted stacks?

I dove into a ton of tools and tested on a mini PC whose ram is fortunately soldered (no take-backs). My thoughts here:

tedium.co/2026/03/28/s...

new @tedium.co

Self-Hosting Tools: Still Worth Trying In 2026? Once upon a time, self-hosting used to be a cost-effective thing. Is it still a good option for fending off SaaS as the prices keep creeping up?

Once upon a time, self-hosting used to be a cost-effective thing. Is it still a good option for fending off SaaS as the prices keep creeping up? feed.tedium.co/link/15204/17308221/self...

Self-Hosting Tools: Still Worth Trying In 2026? Once upon a time, self-hosting used to be a cost-effective thing. Is it still a good option for fending off SaaS as the prices keep creeping up?

Should you be self-hosting? Is it still relatively cheap in the era of scarce RAM? Is it painless? A few thoughts:

tedium.co/2026/03/28/s...

Mac Pro Discontinued: The Timing Is Symbolic By ditching the Mac Pro so close to its 50th anniversary, Apple is making a statement of intent for its next 50 years.

By ditching the Mac Pro so close to its 50th anniversary, Apple is making a statement of intent for its next 50 years. feed.tedium.co/link/15204/17307620/appl...

Mac Pro Discontinued: The Timing Is Symbolic By ditching the Mac Pro so close to its 50th anniversary, Apple is making a statement of intent for its next 50 years.

Apple is nothing if not a company that sends messages with its product decisions.

tedium.co/2026/03/27/a...

Pancakes, Hot Takes, And Social Media’s Flatness When every discussion feels flat, how do you fluff it up? The answer, to me, is to eat fewer pancakes.

When every discussion feels flat, how do you fluff it up? The answer, to me, is to eat fewer pancakes. feed.tedium.co/link/15204/17304313/soci...

Pancakes, Hot Takes, And Social Media’s Flatness When every discussion feels flat, how do you fluff it up? The answer, to me, is to eat fewer pancakes.

We miss blogs.

tedium.co/2026/03/23/s...

Is First-Run Syndication On Its Broadcast Deathbed? One of television’s most important business models, first-run syndication to local TV stations looking to fill airtime, might be losing strea … er, steam.

One of the business models that has always fascinated me, first-run television syndication, suffered a body blow this week—NBCUniversal is quitting it entirely.

Is that an NBCUniversal problem, or is the model itself on the way out?

tedium.co/2026/03/13/t...

new @tedium.co

Is First-Run Syndication On Its Broadcast Deathbed? One of television’s most important business models, first-run syndication to local TV stations looking to fill airtime, might be losing strea … er, steam.

One of television’s most important business models—syndicating first-run content to TV stations looking to fill airtime—might be losing strea … er, steam. feed.tedium.co/link/15204/17299183/tele...

In case you missed it, I built a simple paywall stack that I think any creator could use.

if you’d like to try it, sign up for the $3 tier at ko-fi.com/tedium

The Art Of The Minimal Paywall What’s the least you can do to build an effective paywall for creators that’s mostly open-source? If we can figure that out, that might help lots of creators.

How I made a very light paywall using the most minimal of parts.

tedium.co/2026/03/08/m...

new @tedium.co

Pay attention Substackers.