Chris Thomas
@hotgarbage.ca
🇨🇦 🇺🇸 SoundGuys Editor-at-large, frmr Executive Editor. Previously USAToday, Reviewed, StorageReview. Dad, #rstats data jockey, crow summoner. #righttorepair, #homebrewing advocate. Colossal jerk about publishing standards and practices.
I wish I had made my own #rstats package sooner. It's absurd how effective a guardrail it is against user... code creativity... borking things up
November 26, 2025 at 8:22 PM
I wish I had made my own #rstats package sooner. It's absurd how effective a guardrail it is against user... code creativity... borking things up
Reposted by Chris Thomas
The Pixel Buds 2a teardown gave us whiplash.
It's a tale of two products. One half looks like the team ran out of time and reached for the glue. The other is like someone said “what if we made it actually repairable” and then did exactly that. Read our analysis at the link below.
bit.ly/3Xl3gcq
It's a tale of two products. One half looks like the team ran out of time and reached for the glue. The other is like someone said “what if we made it actually repairable” and then did exactly that. Read our analysis at the link below.
bit.ly/3Xl3gcq
November 25, 2025 at 3:04 PM
The Pixel Buds 2a teardown gave us whiplash.
It's a tale of two products. One half looks like the team ran out of time and reached for the glue. The other is like someone said “what if we made it actually repairable” and then did exactly that. Read our analysis at the link below.
bit.ly/3Xl3gcq
It's a tale of two products. One half looks like the team ran out of time and reached for the glue. The other is like someone said “what if we made it actually repairable” and then did exactly that. Read our analysis at the link below.
bit.ly/3Xl3gcq
Such a nakedly awful headline and title slug. Avoiding unnecessary purchases isn't "hoarding" or "costing the economy."
It's fiscal literacy.
www.cnbc.com/2025/11/23/h...
It's fiscal literacy.
www.cnbc.com/2025/11/23/h...
Americans are holding onto devices longer than ever and it's costing economy
Americans are holding onto devices longer than ever before, and while it may be consumer smart, it comes at a cost to work productivity and the U.S. economy.
www.cnbc.com
November 23, 2025 at 9:46 PM
Such a nakedly awful headline and title slug. Avoiding unnecessary purchases isn't "hoarding" or "costing the economy."
It's fiscal literacy.
www.cnbc.com/2025/11/23/h...
It's fiscal literacy.
www.cnbc.com/2025/11/23/h...
Today the gang defeats AR HRTF apps that use eyes and nostrils to anchor head approximations
November 21, 2025 at 8:04 PM
Today the gang defeats AR HRTF apps that use eyes and nostrils to anchor head approximations
In honour of the upcoming Jets v Patriots game, an unreasonably detailed look back at the Thanksgiving game known for its buttfumble
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butt_Fu...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butt_Fu...
Butt Fumble - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
November 12, 2025 at 3:01 AM
In honour of the upcoming Jets v Patriots game, an unreasonably detailed look back at the Thanksgiving game known for its buttfumble
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butt_Fu...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butt_Fu...
There's all sorts of things you can automate well, but art curation has natural pitfalls. If you want to break free of a musical rut, it requires work!
Go out! Make friends! Play games! Go to concerts! Swap tunes with coworkers! Take an interest in others' music libraries!
Go out! Make friends! Play games! Go to concerts! Swap tunes with coworkers! Take an interest in others' music libraries!
The algorithm failed music
The algorithm failed music
True music discovery has suffered.
buff.ly
November 10, 2025 at 9:30 PM
There's all sorts of things you can automate well, but art curation has natural pitfalls. If you want to break free of a musical rut, it requires work!
Go out! Make friends! Play games! Go to concerts! Swap tunes with coworkers! Take an interest in others' music libraries!
Go out! Make friends! Play games! Go to concerts! Swap tunes with coworkers! Take an interest in others' music libraries!
This is especially true in subjects where the level of noise far exceeds that of truth. There are ways to mitigate this, of course, but never solve it.
Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.
October 27, 2025 at 6:26 PM
This is especially true in subjects where the level of noise far exceeds that of truth. There are ways to mitigate this, of course, but never solve it.
Some excellent reading material got delivered yesterday
October 23, 2025 at 7:28 PM
Some excellent reading material got delivered yesterday
Jesus Christ.
Facebook’s new button lets its AI look at photos you haven’t uploaded yet
Facebook’s new button lets its AI look at photos you haven’t uploaded yet
Like we always say, read the terms and conditions, folks.
buff.ly
October 18, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Jesus Christ.
My 2yo grabbed my phone and started poking at stuff; Apologies if anyone got notifications from that little guy
October 18, 2025 at 4:38 PM
My 2yo grabbed my phone and started poking at stuff; Apologies if anyone got notifications from that little guy
Reposted by Chris Thomas
Confirmed: Apple's polishing cloth is compatible with the new M5 MacBook Pro
October 15, 2025 at 2:44 PM
Confirmed: Apple's polishing cloth is compatible with the new M5 MacBook Pro
Oh absolutely not
www.404media.co/what-happene...
www.404media.co/what-happene...
What Happened When AI Came for Craft Beer
A prominent beer competition introduced an AI-judging tool without warning. The judges and some members of the wider brewing industry were pissed.
www.404media.co
October 13, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Oh absolutely not
www.404media.co/what-happene...
www.404media.co/what-happene...
Regardless of your thoughts about AI, it's worth pointing out that the bubble bursting will suck for loads of people. But then again, it shouldn't surprise anyone that we keep repeating the same mistakes
The dotcom bubble offers a potentially instructive parallel to our current era.
Bank of England warns AI stock bubble rivals 2000 dotcom peak
Central bank says market concentration hasn’t been this extreme in 50 years.
arstechnica.com
October 9, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Regardless of your thoughts about AI, it's worth pointing out that the bubble bursting will suck for loads of people. But then again, it shouldn't surprise anyone that we keep repeating the same mistakes
Hate to say I told you so
October 9, 2025 at 2:12 AM
Hate to say I told you so
Reposted by Chris Thomas
The judge tasked with deciding Google’s fate would rather not
The judge tasked with deciding Google’s fate would rather not
“My favorite phrase is ‘Let’s settle this case.’”
buff.ly
October 6, 2025 at 9:50 PM
The judge tasked with deciding Google’s fate would rather not
Just a PSA for the 5 or 6 people who read this:
I've been resolving a lot of tech debt with the test setup at SG- and it's mostly done. I had to work my ass off to validate new datasets before publishing results in new reviews/support articles. I'm finally done!
We'll be back to normal very soon
I've been resolving a lot of tech debt with the test setup at SG- and it's mostly done. I had to work my ass off to validate new datasets before publishing results in new reviews/support articles. I'm finally done!
We'll be back to normal very soon
October 3, 2025 at 8:19 PM
Just a PSA for the 5 or 6 people who read this:
I've been resolving a lot of tech debt with the test setup at SG- and it's mostly done. I had to work my ass off to validate new datasets before publishing results in new reviews/support articles. I'm finally done!
We'll be back to normal very soon
I've been resolving a lot of tech debt with the test setup at SG- and it's mostly done. I had to work my ass off to validate new datasets before publishing results in new reviews/support articles. I'm finally done!
We'll be back to normal very soon
What fresh hell is this?
I'm sorry, but if you submit a spreadsheet to me with a 57% accuracy rate, I'm making you do it by hand.
I'm sorry, but if you submit a spreadsheet to me with a 57% accuracy rate, I'm making you do it by hand.
Microsoft launches ‘vibe working’ in Excel and Word
Microsoft launches ‘vibe working’ in Excel and Word
Vibe working is all about Office’s new Agent Mode.
buff.ly
October 2, 2025 at 3:42 AM
What fresh hell is this?
I'm sorry, but if you submit a spreadsheet to me with a 57% accuracy rate, I'm making you do it by hand.
I'm sorry, but if you submit a spreadsheet to me with a 57% accuracy rate, I'm making you do it by hand.
Reposted by Chris Thomas
This article written by Pierre Lelièvre at @rtings.com.web.brid.gy describes the motivation behind the research we are doing on Perception and Measurement of Nonlinear Distortion in Headphones. In future articles will cover the methodology used and results. www.rtings.com/headphones/l...?
September 30, 2025 at 7:42 PM
This article written by Pierre Lelièvre at @rtings.com.web.brid.gy describes the motivation behind the research we are doing on Perception and Measurement of Nonlinear Distortion in Headphones. In future articles will cover the methodology used and results. www.rtings.com/headphones/l...?
Reposted by Chris Thomas
The new ggplot2 4.0.0 is here! 🎉
This major update includes a foundational rewrite of S7 and user benefits such as smarter labeling and a revamped theming system.
Check the details: www.tidyverse.org/blog/2025/09...
BONUS: Join the release party on Oct 3, 3pm ET. bit.ly/join-gg-extenders
#RStats
This major update includes a foundational rewrite of S7 and user benefits such as smarter labeling and a revamped theming system.
Check the details: www.tidyverse.org/blog/2025/09...
BONUS: Join the release party on Oct 3, 3pm ET. bit.ly/join-gg-extenders
#RStats
September 30, 2025 at 3:30 PM
The new ggplot2 4.0.0 is here! 🎉
This major update includes a foundational rewrite of S7 and user benefits such as smarter labeling and a revamped theming system.
Check the details: www.tidyverse.org/blog/2025/09...
BONUS: Join the release party on Oct 3, 3pm ET. bit.ly/join-gg-extenders
#RStats
This major update includes a foundational rewrite of S7 and user benefits such as smarter labeling and a revamped theming system.
Check the details: www.tidyverse.org/blog/2025/09...
BONUS: Join the release party on Oct 3, 3pm ET. bit.ly/join-gg-extenders
#RStats
Reposted by Chris Thomas
BIG NEWS! We've updated the website of the Open Visualization Academy, where you can see all its contributors: openvisualizationacademy.org
This is the announcement in our newsletter: openvisualizationacademy.beehiiv.com/p/we-re-back...
#dataViz #infographics #dataJournalism #dataVis 📊
1/x
This is the announcement in our newsletter: openvisualizationacademy.beehiiv.com/p/we-re-back...
#dataViz #infographics #dataJournalism #dataVis 📊
1/x
September 25, 2025 at 6:05 PM
BIG NEWS! We've updated the website of the Open Visualization Academy, where you can see all its contributors: openvisualizationacademy.org
This is the announcement in our newsletter: openvisualizationacademy.beehiiv.com/p/we-re-back...
#dataViz #infographics #dataJournalism #dataVis 📊
1/x
This is the announcement in our newsletter: openvisualizationacademy.beehiiv.com/p/we-re-back...
#dataViz #infographics #dataJournalism #dataVis 📊
1/x
It's not just you: if your Nothing Headphone (1) sounds different after the 1.0.1.74 firmware update, you're not imagining things!
www.soundguys.com/psa-nothings...
www.soundguys.com/psa-nothings...
PSA: Nothing's latest firmware update make the Headphone 1 sound worse to some users
Heard about a firmware update making your Headphone 1 worse? Our unit was affected, and here's what you can expect.
www.soundguys.com
September 23, 2025 at 11:24 PM
It's not just you: if your Nothing Headphone (1) sounds different after the 1.0.1.74 firmware update, you're not imagining things!
www.soundguys.com/psa-nothings...
www.soundguys.com/psa-nothings...
(that's today!)
youtu.be/Gs069dndIYk
youtu.be/Gs069dndIYk
Earth, Wind & Fire - September (Official HD Video)
YouTube video by EarthWindandFireVEVO
youtu.be
September 21, 2025 at 8:46 PM
(that's today!)
youtu.be/Gs069dndIYk
youtu.be/Gs069dndIYk
Reposted by Chris Thomas
The US government is taking a second stab at breaking up Google
The US government is taking a second stab at breaking up Google
The DOJ wants Google to sell part of its ad tech business.
buff.ly
September 20, 2025 at 1:30 PM
The US government is taking a second stab at breaking up Google