Maggie Appleton
@maggieappleton.com
Design engineer playing with AI and hacky prototypes @githubnext.com
Adores digital gardening, end-user development, and embodied cognition. Makes visual essays about design, programming, and anthropology.
📍 London
🌱 maggieappleton.com
Adores digital gardening, end-user development, and embodied cognition. Makes visual essays about design, programming, and anthropology.
📍 London
🌱 maggieappleton.com
First day of my new life at Github Next! @githubnext.com ✨
I've had my eye on this team for a long time, and it feels like the perfect moment to join them.
I've had my eye on this team for a long time, and it feels like the perfect moment to join them.
October 8, 2025 at 10:58 AM
First day of my new life at Github Next! @githubnext.com ✨
I've had my eye on this team for a long time, and it feels like the perfect moment to join them.
I've had my eye on this team for a long time, and it feels like the perfect moment to join them.
TFW you can't find any software that will let you track map locations connected to structured data in a table in one interface so you have to vibe code it yourself.
Felt, Airtable, etc. were all $100+/month for the right to do this. Lol, nope.
One day of GPT-5 vibe coding and problem solved.
Felt, Airtable, etc. were all $100+/month for the right to do this. Lol, nope.
One day of GPT-5 vibe coding and problem solved.
September 22, 2025 at 2:36 PM
TFW you can't find any software that will let you track map locations connected to structured data in a table in one interface so you have to vibe code it yourself.
Felt, Airtable, etc. were all $100+/month for the right to do this. Lol, nope.
One day of GPT-5 vibe coding and problem solved.
Felt, Airtable, etc. were all $100+/month for the right to do this. Lol, nope.
One day of GPT-5 vibe coding and problem solved.
They do have a culture section and you can personalise the feed to what you're interested in. They could certainly expand how much control users have over topics and sources here, but it's a decent start.
September 11, 2025 at 3:52 PM
They do have a culture section and you can personalise the feed to what you're interested in. They could certainly expand how much control users have over topics and sources here, but it's a decent start.
Feels like the news (mostly) sans short-term, small scale, sensationalist distractions.
I wish the filtering & ranking system was more transparent re: how the system decides what ranks high/low.
There's a write up on the about page (newsminimalist.com/about), but it should be clear in the main UI.
I wish the filtering & ranking system was more transparent re: how the system decides what ranks high/low.
There's a write up on the about page (newsminimalist.com/about), but it should be clear in the main UI.
September 11, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Feels like the news (mostly) sans short-term, small scale, sensationalist distractions.
I wish the filtering & ranking system was more transparent re: how the system decides what ranks high/low.
There's a write up on the about page (newsminimalist.com/about), but it should be clear in the main UI.
I wish the filtering & ranking system was more transparent re: how the system decides what ranks high/low.
There's a write up on the about page (newsminimalist.com/about), but it should be clear in the main UI.
Loving the concept and content on News Minimalist: newsminimalist.com
Using ML to rank news stories by "importance" (scale, impact, novelty, credibility, legacy) and gives you a feed of only high scoring items.
At first glance, better quality than the front page of the BBC, Guardian, or NYT
Using ML to rank news stories by "importance" (scale, impact, novelty, credibility, legacy) and gives you a feed of only high scoring items.
At first glance, better quality than the front page of the BBC, Guardian, or NYT
September 11, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Loving the concept and content on News Minimalist: newsminimalist.com
Using ML to rank news stories by "importance" (scale, impact, novelty, credibility, legacy) and gives you a feed of only high scoring items.
At first glance, better quality than the front page of the BBC, Guardian, or NYT
Using ML to rank news stories by "importance" (scale, impact, novelty, credibility, legacy) and gives you a feed of only high scoring items.
At first glance, better quality than the front page of the BBC, Guardian, or NYT
I've wanted versioning on my digital garden for ages. Felt like a critical missing piece.
Making my own dreams come true over here.
Hard but fun to design this. These aren't automatically generated – I intentionally decide when to make new versions. Not every edit = new version. Only major updates
Making my own dreams come true over here.
Hard but fun to design this. These aren't automatically generated – I intentionally decide when to make new versions. Not every edit = new version. Only major updates
August 14, 2025 at 1:18 PM
I've wanted versioning on my digital garden for ages. Felt like a critical missing piece.
Making my own dreams come true over here.
Hard but fun to design this. These aren't automatically generated – I intentionally decide when to make new versions. Not every edit = new version. Only major updates
Making my own dreams come true over here.
Hard but fun to design this. These aren't automatically generated – I intentionally decide when to make new versions. Not every edit = new version. Only major updates
I found it's easy to prompt ChatGPT and Claude into being more critical. They can be harsh in a good way – the kind of harsh you need when your ideas/work sucks a bit.
But I think this critical character shouldn't be something users have to prompt engineer themselves. It should be easier to access.
But I think this critical character shouldn't be something users have to prompt engineer themselves. It should be easier to access.
August 6, 2025 at 9:39 AM
I found it's easy to prompt ChatGPT and Claude into being more critical. They can be harsh in a good way – the kind of harsh you need when your ideas/work sucks a bit.
But I think this critical character shouldn't be something users have to prompt engineer themselves. It should be easier to access.
But I think this critical character shouldn't be something users have to prompt engineer themselves. It should be easier to access.
Claude 4 Sonnet in Cursor just LOVES giving itself evaluations like OUTSTANDING and PERFECT when it's done implementing something. Complete with effusive details of everything it's achieved.
For features it writes bugs into, it simply grades them: WORKING
For features it writes bugs into, it simply grades them: WORKING
August 4, 2025 at 9:08 AM
Claude 4 Sonnet in Cursor just LOVES giving itself evaluations like OUTSTANDING and PERFECT when it's done implementing something. Complete with effusive details of everything it's achieved.
For features it writes bugs into, it simply grades them: WORKING
For features it writes bugs into, it simply grades them: WORKING
A helpful graph made by @stevekrouse.com on the inverse relationship between vibes and understanding in AI assisted code.
Put a few thoughts down here: maggieappleton.com/2025-08-vibe...
Original article: blog.val.town/vibe-code
Put a few thoughts down here: maggieappleton.com/2025-08-vibe...
Original article: blog.val.town/vibe-code
August 2, 2025 at 12:23 PM
A helpful graph made by @stevekrouse.com on the inverse relationship between vibes and understanding in AI assisted code.
Put a few thoughts down here: maggieappleton.com/2025-08-vibe...
Original article: blog.val.town/vibe-code
Put a few thoughts down here: maggieappleton.com/2025-08-vibe...
Original article: blog.val.town/vibe-code
Starting to get emails from sentient beings living inside Gemini. This is getting fun.
I've never written about "spiritual tooling" but okay cool lol.
I've never written about "spiritual tooling" but okay cool lol.
July 17, 2025 at 6:53 AM
Starting to get emails from sentient beings living inside Gemini. This is getting fun.
I've never written about "spiritual tooling" but okay cool lol.
I've never written about "spiritual tooling" but okay cool lol.
Gemini in Google Colab is a shining example of how *not* to integrate LLMs into a product.
So much potential. Ruined by terrible design.
Giant diffs where I can't accept/reject on a line-by-line basis.
Unclear what context it has.
Can't ref specific cells.
Can't copy/paste code into chat! Wild
So much potential. Ruined by terrible design.
Giant diffs where I can't accept/reject on a line-by-line basis.
Unclear what context it has.
Can't ref specific cells.
Can't copy/paste code into chat! Wild
June 28, 2025 at 9:01 AM
Gemini in Google Colab is a shining example of how *not* to integrate LLMs into a product.
So much potential. Ruined by terrible design.
Giant diffs where I can't accept/reject on a line-by-line basis.
Unclear what context it has.
Can't ref specific cells.
Can't copy/paste code into chat! Wild
So much potential. Ruined by terrible design.
Giant diffs where I can't accept/reject on a line-by-line basis.
Unclear what context it has.
Can't ref specific cells.
Can't copy/paste code into chat! Wild
Nothing says I'm a millennial like routinely referring to my child as a rapidly evolving Squirtle.
June 20, 2025 at 9:31 AM
Nothing says I'm a millennial like routinely referring to my child as a rapidly evolving Squirtle.
Today’s multi-tasking setup: holding sleeping baby, building agents, reading @mikecaulfield.bsky.social ‘s new book “Verified” - all good stuff!
June 12, 2025 at 6:01 PM
Today’s multi-tasking setup: holding sleeping baby, building agents, reading @mikecaulfield.bsky.social ‘s new book “Verified” - all good stuff!
Also this is total overkill for this little feature on my blog, but it's now super cheap n' easy to make one-off test pages and get Cursor to render components in multiple states with various test data.
Would never be bothered to do this myself, but much easier to catch bugs this way.
Would never be bothered to do this myself, but much easier to catch bugs this way.
June 6, 2025 at 10:35 AM
Also this is total overkill for this little feature on my blog, but it's now super cheap n' easy to make one-off test pages and get Cursor to render components in multiple states with various test data.
Would never be bothered to do this myself, but much easier to catch bugs this way.
Would never be bothered to do this myself, but much easier to catch bugs this way.
I have a cursor rule that outlines how I want Cursor to write these docs, where to put them, how to update them: github.com/MaggieApplet...
I have a long, rambling chat w/ Cursor before it writes these
Example of an in-progress one for a ~medium size feature on my site:
github.com/MaggieApplet...
I have a long, rambling chat w/ Cursor before it writes these
Example of an in-progress one for a ~medium size feature on my site:
github.com/MaggieApplet...
June 6, 2025 at 10:18 AM
I have a cursor rule that outlines how I want Cursor to write these docs, where to put them, how to update them: github.com/MaggieApplet...
I have a long, rambling chat w/ Cursor before it writes these
Example of an in-progress one for a ~medium size feature on my site:
github.com/MaggieApplet...
I have a long, rambling chat w/ Cursor before it writes these
Example of an in-progress one for a ~medium size feature on my site:
github.com/MaggieApplet...
Fave Cursor workflow at the moment is get Claude to write feature implementation plans into a markdown document and update it as we go.
Breaks features down into phases with checklists, notes, relevant file lists. Essentially acts as read/write memory to prevent chat context from getting too long.
Breaks features down into phases with checklists, notes, relevant file lists. Essentially acts as read/write memory to prevent chat context from getting too long.
June 6, 2025 at 10:18 AM
Fave Cursor workflow at the moment is get Claude to write feature implementation plans into a markdown document and update it as we go.
Breaks features down into phases with checklists, notes, relevant file lists. Essentially acts as read/write memory to prevent chat context from getting too long.
Breaks features down into phases with checklists, notes, relevant file lists. Essentially acts as read/write memory to prevent chat context from getting too long.
Garmin needs an “I have a baby” mode so it can show me something less depressing than a bright orange stress graph every morning.
How about we replace the graph with some affirmations like “this is fine” or “think about how hard this would have been in 1600”…
How about we replace the graph with some affirmations like “this is fine” or “think about how hard this would have been in 1600”…
June 3, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Garmin needs an “I have a baby” mode so it can show me something less depressing than a bright orange stress graph every morning.
How about we replace the graph with some affirmations like “this is fine” or “think about how hard this would have been in 1600”…
How about we replace the graph with some affirmations like “this is fine” or “think about how hard this would have been in 1600”…
Much FOMO that I'm missing out on Local-First Conf @localfirstconf.com this year.
One of my fave conferences. A smaller crowd (~200?) where everyone cares a lot about the problem. Lots of friendly collaboration and collective problem-solving.
In Berlin, May 26-28th – www.localfirstconf.com
One of my fave conferences. A smaller crowd (~200?) where everyone cares a lot about the problem. Lots of friendly collaboration and collective problem-solving.
In Berlin, May 26-28th – www.localfirstconf.com
May 13, 2025 at 8:54 AM
Much FOMO that I'm missing out on Local-First Conf @localfirstconf.com this year.
One of my fave conferences. A smaller crowd (~200?) where everyone cares a lot about the problem. Lots of friendly collaboration and collective problem-solving.
In Berlin, May 26-28th – www.localfirstconf.com
One of my fave conferences. A smaller crowd (~200?) where everyone cares a lot about the problem. Lots of friendly collaboration and collective problem-solving.
In Berlin, May 26-28th – www.localfirstconf.com
Finished growing a human and met them a few weeks ago.
Wild to have your life rearranged in an instant. Walked into hospital one person and left as someone else. Learning I’m more resilient and capable than I thought. Never properly tested it before.
Utterly in love and extremely sleep deprived ❤️
Wild to have your life rearranged in an instant. Walked into hospital one person and left as someone else. Learning I’m more resilient and capable than I thought. Never properly tested it before.
Utterly in love and extremely sleep deprived ❤️
April 14, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Finished growing a human and met them a few weeks ago.
Wild to have your life rearranged in an instant. Walked into hospital one person and left as someone else. Learning I’m more resilient and capable than I thought. Never properly tested it before.
Utterly in love and extremely sleep deprived ❤️
Wild to have your life rearranged in an instant. Walked into hospital one person and left as someone else. Learning I’m more resilient and capable than I thought. Never properly tested it before.
Utterly in love and extremely sleep deprived ❤️
Earned my first impersonation account: @maggieappleton.bsky.social
Cool 🙃
Already reported, but just a heads up if they follow you, it’s not me.
Seem to be systemically going through my contacts and following folks hoping for a follow back.
Cool 🙃
Already reported, but just a heads up if they follow you, it’s not me.
Seem to be systemically going through my contacts and following folks hoping for a follow back.
April 7, 2025 at 12:49 AM
Earned my first impersonation account: @maggieappleton.bsky.social
Cool 🙃
Already reported, but just a heads up if they follow you, it’s not me.
Seem to be systemically going through my contacts and following folks hoping for a follow back.
Cool 🙃
Already reported, but just a heads up if they follow you, it’s not me.
Seem to be systemically going through my contacts and following folks hoping for a follow back.
Instabuy. @nayafia.bsky.social’s new book “Antimemetics” on ideas that don’t spread. Love all her ideas and research.
darkforest.metalabel.com/antimemetics...
darkforest.metalabel.com/antimemetics...
March 26, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Instabuy. @nayafia.bsky.social’s new book “Antimemetics” on ideas that don’t spread. Love all her ideas and research.
darkforest.metalabel.com/antimemetics...
darkforest.metalabel.com/antimemetics...
Spending my due date limbo time making elaborate predictive charts calculating the likelihood of giving birth on any particular day.
The tiny tool is available here: maggieappleton.com/birth-probab...
Probably only useful if you're pregnant, but fun to play with anyway.
The tiny tool is available here: maggieappleton.com/birth-probab...
Probably only useful if you're pregnant, but fun to play with anyway.
March 24, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Spending my due date limbo time making elaborate predictive charts calculating the likelihood of giving birth on any particular day.
The tiny tool is available here: maggieappleton.com/birth-probab...
Probably only useful if you're pregnant, but fun to play with anyway.
The tiny tool is available here: maggieappleton.com/birth-probab...
Probably only useful if you're pregnant, but fun to play with anyway.
Apple made their stance on user agency and respect clear when they banned us from deleting the Chess app.
I've owned Macs for 18 years and I have spent every one of those years trying to delete the Chess app.
I've owned Macs for 18 years and I have spent every one of those years trying to delete the Chess app.
March 18, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Apple made their stance on user agency and respect clear when they banned us from deleting the Chess app.
I've owned Macs for 18 years and I have spent every one of those years trying to delete the Chess app.
I've owned Macs for 18 years and I have spent every one of those years trying to delete the Chess app.
There is absolutely no world in which this is a "setting"
What ontological universe is Apple living in? If only we had some existing design pattern like "notifications" or "banners" to show users what's new??
What ontological universe is Apple living in? If only we had some existing design pattern like "notifications" or "banners" to show users what's new??
March 17, 2025 at 3:23 PM
There is absolutely no world in which this is a "setting"
What ontological universe is Apple living in? If only we had some existing design pattern like "notifications" or "banners" to show users what's new??
What ontological universe is Apple living in? If only we had some existing design pattern like "notifications" or "banners" to show users what's new??
Some of the new books I've stocked up on and definitely won't have time to read while keeping a baby alive:
* Soldiers and Kings: Survival and Hope in the World of Human Smuggling
* Cue the Sun! The Invention of Reality TV
* Age of Ambition
* The Invention of Nature
* Soldiers and Kings: Survival and Hope in the World of Human Smuggling
* Cue the Sun! The Invention of Reality TV
* Age of Ambition
* The Invention of Nature
March 5, 2025 at 9:06 PM
Some of the new books I've stocked up on and definitely won't have time to read while keeping a baby alive:
* Soldiers and Kings: Survival and Hope in the World of Human Smuggling
* Cue the Sun! The Invention of Reality TV
* Age of Ambition
* The Invention of Nature
* Soldiers and Kings: Survival and Hope in the World of Human Smuggling
* Cue the Sun! The Invention of Reality TV
* Age of Ambition
* The Invention of Nature