Simon Corry

@buckhouse @southpkcommons @kyliu99 @nealstephenson The seminal works of Ian M Banks and the Culture series.

Dear readers—what are your favorite stories that best explore the cultural implications of a new piece of technology? A few months ago, @southpkcommons held a Sci-Fi night with both @kyliu99 and @nealstephenson in the same room for a packed crowd of founders. It was electric. Both used story to open the door to the complexity of thought that comes examining the interplay of technology and the human condition. Both authors cared about character as a driver of story. It was a great night. Snowcrash famously predicted the Metaverse, VR Avatars, delivery services like Doordash, and crowdsourced systems like Wikipedia. Ken Liu's stories hinted at the role of language in AI, re-mixable AI video, and data-augmented dating. So readers—are your favorite examples of stories that examine technology and the human condition? Which books offer an intellectually exciting beacon of hope? Which books offer a valid (even dire) warning worth heeding? Which stories are enjoyable explorations for the aspiring inventor or innovator? I'd love to hear your favorites. Thanks @scottbelsky for this provocation.

@designertom It's gonna be worth it. You have to bring @soleio on as a guest to complete the trifecta of best design hosts.

Last month, I released my 3rd episode of a docuseries. We’re halfway through the season, and I’ve hit $0 in my bank account multiple times in the process. This filmmaking venture has been hard, but we’re still in stride. I was invited to host a closing keynote at Config. And during my time there, I received 5 different invitations to come work for incredible teams. Some folks even offered to let me define my own role. Never in my life would I have thought I’d be in that position. To that end, I feel rich. I sat with my wife in the kitchen the following week. I was working on my laptop, agonizing over whether to accept any of these opportunities. “I don’t know what I should do,” I confessed to her. I was working on a small design, I wanted to show @ridd_design an idea I had. She pushed the laptop screen down a bit and pointed at it, “You’re already doing it.” I alt+tabbed and messaged all of the kind people who had expressed interest to say no thank you. And then Ridd and I created Dive Radio. See you this Thursday at 1PM PST 🫡

The drought for exceptional design talent just got drought-ier. Cursor is still my fave tool in the new AI world.

Apple beat Whisper, which by itself is a fun headline. But kudos to them for also publishing the transcript from EVERY one of the 5,559 clips. This should be the norm tbh, show your receipts.

@ramintahbaz Never be the partner that wants it more than the other.

@simoncorry i hate it when anyone loves me too much too

One of the first rules I gave my personal agent was: “Never glaze me.” It’s adversarial most of the time, so when it does occasionally say something like “love this direction,” I genuinely know I’m onto something exciting.

@krispuckett People REALLY love shaders.

If you told me a few years ago I'd have a repo on Github with close to 200 stars. I'd say "I didn't know you could star repos" That's how far we've come. Anyway, github.com/krispuckett/Sw… if you need shaders for your iOS project.

@bradleyziffer @krispuckett Still his best work.

@krispuckett Prestige is my latest watch, I had not seen it until this year. Immediately clocked it as #1

A buddy and I were debating our definitive Christopher Nolan films list. I couldn't decide so I made a very silly quick force ranking site. nolan-ranking.vercel.app I want to see your list.

@krispuckett @soleio Inception is overrated, good popcorn flick but far from his best work.

@simoncorry @soleio I don’t agree with the inception ranking or dark knight rises. But top 4 are great.

Just stumbled across this book, instant purchase. Some people design worlds you could just lose yourself in.

@soleio @krispuckett This is the correct list.

My Christopher Nolan ranking 1. The Prestige (2006) 2. Interstellar (2014) 3. The Dark Knight (2008) 4. Batman Begins (2005) 5. Memento (2000) 6. Tenet (2020) 7. Dunkirk (2017) 8. Oppenheimer (2023) 9. The Dark Knight Rises (2012) 10. Inception (2010) 11. Following (1998) 12. Insomnia (2002) nolan-ranking.vercel.app/?r=eifdbkjlhgac

Fable is the kid that did his homework, well rounded and informed. Sol is the overachiever that just wants to win, it runs roughshod over every task.

PSA: Amphetamine by @x74353 exists if you really need to keep your agents going with the lid closed + set limits. apps.apple.com/us/app/ampheta…

@krispuckett @tednotlasso @sandbar Visited the office a couple of months back, it's really promising.

@tednotlasso @sandbar Their CEO gave me a virtual demo today and honestly it’s super compelling.

has anyone had a chance to demo the @sandbar ring? haven’t seen much on twitter but the targeted ads on insta are working for me think i would be a power user given ADHD and reluctance to always pull out phone for reminders, but want a personal review before i pull the trigger

@arjmahesh Needed to be said. If I have to sit through another black and white site with no soul I’m going to force myself into teaching.

why, in the age of limitless development superpowers, is this the prevailing product designer site? who has an OD portfolio? i want to see, hmu

@designertom We just want to be paid artists, is that such a crime 😅

The idea of investing into high quality design > PMF is romantic. Easy to cheer for and point to the handful of war stories where this proved true. But the reality is, as suggested by a talented designer I know, quality design > PMF is a false ladder and responsible for way more failed commercial ventures by fellow design founders. A better sell to my fellow designers: pursue idealism through fierce pragmatism. One step at a time.

Link to the article: anthropic.com/research/globa…

Very interesting read, well worth your time.

@krispuckett @raffichill 👀

While we're loving the World Cup, the Tour de France starts tomorrow. I grew up loving watching every stage on the Outdoor Network and NBC. So what if my coaching app encouraged this love? Also made a little site to highlight every stage. #TDF2026ᴿᴾ

@joshpuckett @ridd_design The untamed wire just dangling there, I can’t unsee this.

@ridd_design The new live real-time streaming is insane 😉

The worst part of the World Cup on here is everyone assuming you as an American don’t know ball* Ok, well where was your 1996 Manchester United FA Cup Championship commemorative bed set?? Did you ask for a Peter Schmeichel figurine for Christmas in ‘97?! *I will reluctantly admit most Americans don’t know ball, but some of us been here for a minute!