Stuart Breckenridge

Filtered Feeds

Mon, 20 Apr 2026 11:10:22 GMT

I've separated the content available across the RSS, Atom, and JSON feeds on the site. You can find them all on the About page, and I've listed them below:

Feed	RSS	Atom	JSON
All Posts	/rss.xml	/atom.xml	/feed.json
Featured Articles	/featured/rss.xml	/featured/atom.xml	/featured/feed.json
Linked List	/links/rss.xml	/links/atom.xml	/links/feed.json

The new feeds are a bit bare right now as I've moved this blog from platform to platform so many times, and lost content along the way. I must stop doing that.

Implementing Webmention

Sun, 19 Apr 2026 05:46:42 GMT

A few weeks ago I moved this site back to Astro and ever since I've been curious about the state of Webmention and whether I should implement it. For the curious:

Webmention is a simple way to notify any URL when you mention it on your site. From the receiver's perspective, it's a way to request notifications when other sites mention it.

To get this up and running quickly, I'm using Webmention.io for receiving website mentions and brid.gy for monitoring social media interactions and sending them to Webmention.io. In <head>, I've added:

<link rel="webmention" href="https://webmention.io/stuartbreckenridge.net/webmention">
<link rel="pingback" href="https://webmention.io/stuartbreckenridge.net/xmlrpc">

At the bottom of each post, there's an Astro component that fetches and renders Webmentions from Webmention.io on each page load.

In terms of posting Webmentions, I've updated the small server app, Broadcaster, that monitors the Atom feed for the site and posts to Mastodon and Bluesky. Now, Broadcaster scans post content, identifies links, checks if the linked site publishes a Webmention <link>, and sends a Webmention if it does.

This all seems to work but I don't like relying on Webmention.io. Similar to the approach taken by Wojtek Powiertowski, I will look to incorporate Webmention listening into Broadcaster (and, at the same time, I'll probably have to change its name).

'App Store Reviews Are Busted'

Fri, 17 Apr 2026 13:37:45 GMT

Let's start with the original article by Terry Godier:

For example, if you have a 4.1 star rating in the App Store, any 4 star review is going to decrease that average. In other words, leaving a 4 star review is essentially leaving a negative review.

John Gruber:

Problem #1 [...] If you’re going to collect and average ratings from users, the system that works best is binary: thumbs-up or thumbs-down. Netflix switched from stars to thumbs in 2017, and YouTube switched all the way back in 2009.

I'd add one more to this list, and certainly one that's more analogous to the App Store: Steam. Steam's thumbs-based model is far superior. Not only can you rate and review the game (or app), but other users can also rate your review. Potential buyers can then find and filter by the most helpful reviews. It's a better model for all involved. See UPDATE #1 below.

Problem #2 is that even if the App Store switched from stars to thumbs, the system would still be gamified by developers, rewarding, as Godier aptly puts it, not the best apps but instead the apps that are best at “review prompt execution”. Apple should remove the APIs that allow apps to prompt for reviews, and forbid the practice of prompting for them.

Apple should remove those APIs, but they won't, and until they do, we're playing within that ruleset. Full disclosure, I've built what Terry and John are describing, Singapore Buses does include a review prompt. It's insidiously well designed. On the third launch, the app asks for a rating.

UPDATE #1: I just discovered that the App Store also has a thumbs-up/thumbs-down rating system for reviews of an app. Long-press a review and a context menu appears with Helpful vs. Not Helpful responses. Its outrageous that this system is hidden behind a long-press.

'Apple's MacBook Neo Sold Out Through April Amid Surging Demand'

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 22:39:18 GMT

Juli Clover, Macrumors:

Apple's MacBook Neo has been a huge hit, and it's still in high demand over a month after it launched. The ‌MacBook Neo‌ is just $599, and with PC makers raising prices because of global RAM shortages, the Neo's low price tag and Apple allure are even more appealing.

MacBook Neo‌ orders placed today on the online Apple Store won't reach customers until May, which means that it's sold out for the month of April, as 9to5Mac points out. All colors and both the 256GB and 512GB SSD configurations will be delivered between May 1 and May 8 at the earliest.

That the MacBook Neo is a success doesn't surprise me. I used one briefly in the nearby Apple Store and it's a really nice laptop. For $599 you're getting something cheaper and more capable than my iPad Pro paired with a Magic Keyboard. In fact, if the iPad Pro doesn't start running macOS in the future, I'm not sure I'd buy another one: iPadOS hobbles the iPad Pro to the point where it can't justify its price tag.

M5 Networking Issues

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 13:08:26 GMT

I've been having a strange issue with my new M5 MacBook Pro and GitHub: at random intervals, my MacBook cannot connect to GitHub. Well, that's not strictly true: Safari can't connect to GitHub, Git Tower can't push or pull, but Chrome has no issues.

Using dns-sd -G v4 github.com to see what's happening over time:

Timestamp	A/R	Flags	Hostname	Address	TTL	Note
19:46:30.769	Add	2	github.com.	20.205.243.166	15
19:55:16.874	Rmv	0	github.com.	20.205.243.166	0
19:55:16.885	Add	2	github.com.	20.205.243.166	63
20:01:42.237	Add	2	github.com.	0.0.0.0	77	No Such Record
20:01:48.800	Rmv	0	github.com.	20.205.243.166	0
20:10:18.607	Add	2	github.com.	20.205.243.166	60
20:21:43.313	Add	2	github.com.	0.0.0.0	77	No Such Record
20:21:49.456	Rmv	0	github.com.	20.205.243.166	0
20:21:49.508	Rmv	0	github.com.	20.205.243.166	0
20:22:57.954	Add	2	github.com.	20.205.243.166	24
20:23:50.255	Rmv	0	github.com.	20.205.243.166	0
20:23:50.267	Add	2	github.com.	20.205.243.166	60
20:29:05.686	Add	2	github.com.	0.0.0.0	77	No Such Record
20:29:13.694	Rmv	0	github.com.	20.205.243.166	0
20:29:13.705	Add	2	github.com.	20.205.243.166	68
20:37:31.780	Rmv	1	github.com.	20.205.243.166	0
20:37:31.780	Add	2	github.com.	0.0.0.0	60	No Such Record

During those No Such Record periods, GitHub just refused to work in Safari or Git Tower.

I switched from Cloudflare's 1.1.1.1 service to Quad9, and ever since I've had no issues.

Timestamp	A/R	Flags	Hostname	Address	TTL
20:37:45.321	Add	2	github.com.	20.205.243.166	65
21:13:26.595	Rmv	0	github.com.	20.205.243.166	0
21:13:26.603	Add	2	github.com.	20.205.243.166	15

This wasn't a problem on my M3-series MacBook. I can only assume it's a problem with the M5 and its new networking stack.

'You Can Absolutely Have an RSS Dependent Website in 2026'

Sun, 12 Apr 2026 12:53:28 GMT

Mat Duggan

At one point I did have a Subscribe button up, and enough people clicked it that the cost of actually sending those emails started to resemble a real bill. Sending thousands of emails when you have no ads, no sponsors, and no monetization strategy beyond "I guess people will just... read it?" doesn't make a lot of financial sense.

…

But the bigger reason — the one I actually care about — is that I didn't want a database full of email addresses sitting under my control if I could possibly avoid it.

…

The people who use RSS really use RSS. They're not trend-chasers. They're the type who still have a working bookmark toolbar. They are, in the best possible sense, your people.

I had the same strategy of no ads, no sponsors, and no monetisation when I was using Ghost (Pro) and, yes, that resembled a real bill of US$348 a year (because I had to have a custom theme). That fee also covered membership management, database security, and email distribution, so it wasn't just hosting and a CMS.

When I switched to Astro, I dropped my free membership, membership-only pages, and newsletter, effectively going RSS only. And Atom. And JSON feed. It can be done.

RSS just isn't as easy to explain as email is to people that are new to the format.

Stellar Photography

Sat, 11 Apr 2026 13:56:38 GMT

There's a fantastic, and growing, selection of exposures from the Artemis II mission over on Flickr. All of them are jaw dropping.

Introducing Gobbler

Sat, 11 Apr 2026 08:08:21 GMT

One of my side projects, Gobbler, made it out of the oven just over a week ago. It's a web-based RSS reader that offers a Google Reader-compatible API and even more functionality via a REST API to third-party clients.

Gobbler builds on the traditional RSS reader functionality (Feeds, Feed-level management, and Starred articles) with:

Lists, for organising articles
Annotations, for highlighting text within articles
Markdown export, for saving and viewing articles in other applications
Newsletter support
Custom typography ¹

Gobbler has a 14-day free trial and then it's just $5/month. If you use NetNewsWire, Current, or Reeder (Classic), Gobbler already works! If not, you can use Gobbler in your browser or as an installable Web app on your device.

I spent a long time selecting which font to use for the sans serif. In the end it was a tie between Die Grotesk and Geograph, both from Klim, and Geograph won. ↩

A Decisive Victory

Wed, 08 Apr 2026 13:38:14 GMT

Sky News:

Donald Trump says the US has received a "workable" 10-point plan from Iran after the two countries agreed to a two-week ceasefire, labelling it a "complete victory" for his nation.

What's in that "workable" plan? Again, from Sky News:

Withdrawal of U.S. forces in the region
Iranian control of the Strait of Hormuz
Compensation for damages to Iran
Removal of sanctions
Release of frozen Iranian assets
Iranian commitment to not build a nuclear weapon
Acceptance of Iran's right to enrich
Iran's agreement to peace treaties with regional countries
Ceasing hostilities against all resistance groups in the region
Provisions backed by UN resolution

So, in summary, all U.S. military objectives have been met, says Pete Hegseth, and, as a workable plan: U.S. forces will withdraw, Iran will gain more control over the Strait of Hormuz, Iran will be compensated, sanctions against Iran will be removed, frozen assets will be released, and Iran will continue to enrich.

You have to wonder what the military objectives were.

SHIMANO CONNECT Lab to be Discontinued

Sun, 05 Apr 2026 07:14:24 GMT

I received an email from SHIMANO at the end of March announcing the termination of their cycling training platform, CONNECT Lab:

We regret to inform you that the SHIMANO CONNECT Lab will end on March 31, 2027.

Prior to the end of the service, certain functions will no longer be available according to the schedule below.

• End of Availability for Certain Features
As of May 26, 2026, the activity transfer function from E-TUBE RIDE to SHIMANO CONNECT Lab will no longer be available.

• Scheduled End of Service March 31, 2027

As an owner of a SHIMANO power meter, this is disappointing. While many of the analytical services offered by SHIMANO CONNECT Lab are available via Garmin Connect, Strava, and Intervals, none of those services support Force Vector analysis, which is one of the primary functions of the product. I even went so far as to download GoldenCheetah but this appears to be a hot mess that doesn't want to run on macOS 26¹.

Strangely, I can't find any public mention of this termination on the SHIMANO website. SHIMANO, shamefully, seems to be leaving their customers in the lurch.

It's not notarised and required special permissions to run via Settings -> Privacy. Once those permissions were granted, it still didn't launch because it couldn't "find the R libraries". ↩