Justin Pot
@jhpot.bsky.social
I am a freelance journalist and a person. I believe that tech is a tool, not a way of life, and that we should use it to connect with each other. I currently write for Lifehacker, WIRED, The Atlantic, PopSci, PCMag, and The Wall Street Journal.
Microsoft made a Ninite alternative (you can't replace Edge with it because Microsoft) https://lifehacker.com/tech/microsoft-sort-of-made-a-ninite-alternative
Microsoft (Sort of) Made a Ninite Alternative
Microsoft's Ninite alternative, App Pack, uses the Windows Store to install multiple apps at once.
lifehacker.com
November 17, 2025 at 11:26 PM
Microsoft made a Ninite alternative (you can't replace Edge with it because Microsoft) https://lifehacker.com/tech/microsoft-sort-of-made-a-ninite-alternative
There are companies doing legitimately interesting, non-scammy things with AI, believe it or not. https://www.wired.com/story/ai-features-in-omnifocus/
How to Use the New AI Features in OmniFocus, the Power User’s To-Do List
One of the Mac’s most popular productivity apps is incorporating generative artificial intelligence in a way that keeps it offline, private, and customizable.
www.wired.com
November 15, 2025 at 5:20 PM
There are companies doing legitimately interesting, non-scammy things with AI, believe it or not. https://www.wired.com/story/ai-features-in-omnifocus/
Plex messed up their user interface. Here's a replacement. https://lifehacker.com/tech/best-free-alternative-plex-client
Try This Free Plex Alternative Client If You Hate the New Interface
This alternative Plex client lets you browser personal media servers without lag or clutter.
lifehacker.com
November 14, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Plex messed up their user interface. Here's a replacement. https://lifehacker.com/tech/best-free-alternative-plex-client
Friends don't copy-and-paste AI output (and neither do decent co-workers). My latest for WIRED: https://www.wired.com/story/dont-copy-and-paste-answers-from-a-chatbot/
Your Friend Asked You a Question. Don't Copy and Paste an Answer From a Chatbot
Your friend came to you because they respect your knowledge and opinion, and outsourcing the answer to a machine is lazy and rude. Just answer them yourself.
www.wired.com
November 4, 2025 at 6:17 PM
Friends don't copy-and-paste AI output (and neither do decent co-workers). My latest for WIRED: https://www.wired.com/story/dont-copy-and-paste-answers-from-a-chatbot/
I don't think offering your software for free, but charging for AI, is going to work out long term for companies. "Completely free except for the bullshit you didn't want anyway" just doesn't seem like a great strategy to me.
October 31, 2025 at 3:33 PM
I don't think offering your software for free, but charging for AI, is going to work out long term for companies. "Completely free except for the bullshit you didn't want anyway" just doesn't seem like a great strategy to me.
I'm emerging from a bit of COVID brainfog crossed with depression. How does writing work again?
October 30, 2025 at 6:41 PM
I'm emerging from a bit of COVID brainfog crossed with depression. How does writing work again?
A buried feature in the iPhone settings means I can read on the go without feeling sick. https://www.popsci.com/diy/vehicle-motion-cues-iphone-carsickness/
Why you get carsick—and how an iPhone feature might help
A hidden feature adds moving dots to the sides of your screen, helping you feel less disoriented.
www.popsci.com
October 30, 2025 at 5:00 PM
A buried feature in the iPhone settings means I can read on the go without feeling sick. https://www.popsci.com/diy/vehicle-motion-cues-iphone-carsickness/
Wait did Slack really just add a permanently bold item to the sidebar for a silly Halloween feature? That can't be unbolded? And I just have to feel permanently on edge about my un-cleared notifications until November 1?
October 29, 2025 at 4:51 PM
Wait did Slack really just add a permanently bold item to the sidebar for a silly Halloween feature? That can't be unbolded? And I just have to feel permanently on edge about my un-cleared notifications until November 1?
Put this on your second monitor and leave it there. www.halloweenclock.com
Halloween Clock
A digital clock carved from pumpkin for any display. Made in October 2013
www.halloweenclock.com
October 20, 2025 at 6:28 PM
Put this on your second monitor and leave it there. www.halloweenclock.com
Cat myths, debunked: https://www.popsci.com/environment/cat-myths-debunked/
4 common cat myths, debunked
What the science says about milk, sleep, and if your cat really loves you.
www.popsci.com
October 16, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Cat myths, debunked: https://www.popsci.com/environment/cat-myths-debunked/
I was just searching for Product Hunt replacements, mostly because I miss the days when I could browse that site and find actually useful tools. All the results were written from the perspective of a marketers trying to promote products, not users, which is a good summary of the modern web.
October 15, 2025 at 6:37 PM
I was just searching for Product Hunt replacements, mostly because I miss the days when I could browse that site and find actually useful tools. All the results were written from the perspective of a marketers trying to promote products, not users, which is a good summary of the modern web.
Reposted by Justin Pot
I am desperately asking people to stop fawning over CEOs in general, even when they make things you like.
If this tech ecosystem should show you anything, it's that these companies build products. They have no interest in communities, safety, or justice in any sense.
*They do not have values.*
If this tech ecosystem should show you anything, it's that these companies build products. They have no interest in communities, safety, or justice in any sense.
*They do not have values.*
October 3, 2025 at 6:51 PM
I am desperately asking people to stop fawning over CEOs in general, even when they make things you like.
If this tech ecosystem should show you anything, it's that these companies build products. They have no interest in communities, safety, or justice in any sense.
*They do not have values.*
If this tech ecosystem should show you anything, it's that these companies build products. They have no interest in communities, safety, or justice in any sense.
*They do not have values.*
You almost certainly don't need hot water to clean your clothes. https://www.popsci.com/diy/wash-your-clothes-with-cold-water/
You should wash your clothes with cold water
Modern laundry detergents work better in cold water.
www.popsci.com
September 29, 2025 at 4:15 PM
You almost certainly don't need hot water to clean your clothes. https://www.popsci.com/diy/wash-your-clothes-with-cold-water/
Bacon is considered a breakfast food because of a specific marketing campaign in the early 1900s: https://www.popsci.com/health/the-science-behind-what-we-eat-for-breakfast/
The science behind what we eat for breakfast
Our ideas of what qualifies as breakfast food are cultural distinctions, not scientific ones.
www.popsci.com
September 26, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Bacon is considered a breakfast food because of a specific marketing campaign in the early 1900s: https://www.popsci.com/health/the-science-behind-what-we-eat-for-breakfast/
Hate Liquid Glass? There's a fix (kind of). https://www.wired.com/story/how-to-mostly-get-rid-of-liquid-glass/
How to (Mostly) Get Rid of Liquid Glass
Not everyone likes Apple’s springy, jiggly, see-through Liquid Glass interface. If you’re not a fan, tweaking these settings will make your iPhone, iPad, or Mac a lot less bubbly.
www.wired.com
September 25, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Hate Liquid Glass? There's a fix (kind of). https://www.wired.com/story/how-to-mostly-get-rid-of-liquid-glass/
Call a spade a spade. https://justinpot.com/mark-zuckerberg-is-a-digital-narcotics-dealer/
Justin Pot
In a recent newsletter I referred to Mark Zuckerberg as a digital narcotics dealer, which readers seemed to enjoy. I briefly wondered if I was overstating the matter until I read about how schools are…
justinpot.com
September 24, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Call a spade a spade. https://justinpot.com/mark-zuckerberg-is-a-digital-narcotics-dealer/
Here's how to use automation to make your phone less distracting at home: https://www.wired.com/story/set-your-iphone-to-gray-scale-when-youre-home-shortcuts/
Diminish Distractions by Setting Your iPhone to Gray Scale When You're Home
Phones are useful on the go, but distracting when you're at home. Here's how to automatically make them less interesting.
www.wired.com
September 22, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Here's how to use automation to make your phone less distracting at home: https://www.wired.com/story/set-your-iphone-to-gray-scale-when-youre-home-shortcuts/
Here's how to use automation to make your phone less distracting at home: https://www.wired.com/story/set-your-iphone-to-gray-scale-when-youre-home-shortcuts/
Diminish Distractions by Setting Your iPhone to Gray Scale When You're Home
Phones are useful on the go, but distracting when you're at home. Here's how to automatically make them less interesting.
www.wired.com
September 22, 2025 at 5:07 PM
Here's how to use automation to make your phone less distracting at home: https://www.wired.com/story/set-your-iphone-to-gray-scale-when-youre-home-shortcuts/
I for one can’t wait to see the creative ways in which Atlassian enshitifies Arc.
September 4, 2025 at 3:00 PM
I for one can’t wait to see the creative ways in which Atlassian enshitifies Arc.
I don't want to be more productive. I want to be more whimsical. I want to be more delighted. I want the things I do to mean something, not to do more things.
September 4, 2025 at 2:16 PM
I don't want to be more productive. I want to be more whimsical. I want to be more delighted. I want the things I do to mean something, not to do more things.
Kobo lost its best feature when Pocket shut down, but it's back up and running thanks to Instapaper: https://lifehacker.com/tech/how-to-read-instapaper-articles-on-your-kobo
You Can Now Read Instapaper Articles on Your Kobo
Pocket is shutting down, leaving Kobo devices without the ability to sync your online reading list to your reading device. A new integration for Instapaper brings that back.
lifehacker.com
August 29, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Kobo lost its best feature when Pocket shut down, but it's back up and running thanks to Instapaper: https://lifehacker.com/tech/how-to-read-instapaper-articles-on-your-kobo
Shocking news: Microsoft is doing user hostile stuff and branding it as a huge positive for everyone. https://lifehacker.com/tech/word-automatic-cloud-save-setting
How to Revert Word's New Automatic Cloud Save Settings
How to disable the Create new files in the cloud automatically feature in Microsoft Word.
lifehacker.com
August 29, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Shocking news: Microsoft is doing user hostile stuff and branding it as a huge positive for everyone. https://lifehacker.com/tech/word-automatic-cloud-save-setting
I still use a Kobo Touch, an ereader that came out in 2011, and this morning I got an update that replaced the now-dead Pocket integration with an Instapaper one. A decade and a half old product still getting new features shouldn’t feel extraordinary but it really really does.
August 28, 2025 at 3:01 PM
I still use a Kobo Touch, an ereader that came out in 2011, and this morning I got an update that replaced the now-dead Pocket integration with an Instapaper one. A decade and a half old product still getting new features shouldn’t feel extraordinary but it really really does.
Disable notifications on your Mac whenever the microphone is active: https://lifehacker.com/tech/on-air-mode-app-for-mac-turns-on-do-not-disturb
This Mac App Automatically Triggers 'Do Not Disturb' When You're on a Call
This free Mac application turns on Do Not Disturb whenever your microphone is active.
lifehacker.com
August 9, 2025 at 1:09 PM
Disable notifications on your Mac whenever the microphone is active: https://lifehacker.com/tech/on-air-mode-app-for-mac-turns-on-do-not-disturb
Safari users: browsing doesn't have to suck anymore. https://lifehacker.com/tech/ublock-origin-now-works-on-safari
The Best Ad Blocker Now Works on Safari Too
You can download an official version of uBlock Origin from the App Store to use on the default iPhone, iPad, and Mac browser.
lifehacker.com
August 8, 2025 at 1:15 PM
Safari users: browsing doesn't have to suck anymore. https://lifehacker.com/tech/ublock-origin-now-works-on-safari