Harry McCracken
@harrymccracken.com
Fast Company global technology editor. Boy journalist. Bon vivant. Lefthander. Westcoastian. 🇺🇦 Sign up for my free Plugged In newsletter: https://www.fastcompany.com/section/plugged-in
Pinned
Harry McCracken
@harrymccracken.com
· Jul 16
Here’s a feed of stuff from Fast Company and people who write for it, which I created using Flipboard’s Surf app.
bsky.app/profile/did:...
bsky.app/profile/did:...
Reposted by Harry McCracken
Apparently the lesson Brendan Carr learned from the Kimmel debacle is that he didn't actually have any consequences for abusing his power to violate the 1st Amendment, so he's just going to keep at it.
November 16, 2025 at 3:34 AM
Apparently the lesson Brendan Carr learned from the Kimmel debacle is that he didn't actually have any consequences for abusing his power to violate the 1st Amendment, so he's just going to keep at it.
It’s Petula Clark’s birthday! She signed my iPod, as did Burt Bacharach. (And then I ran out of room, which was OK.)
November 16, 2025 at 6:19 AM
It’s Petula Clark’s birthday! She signed my iPod, as did Burt Bacharach. (And then I ran out of room, which was OK.)
Excessive use of em dashes would be about #25 on my list of telltale signs something was written by AI. And it’s far from the most annoying one.
(My personal #1 annoying telltale sign is endless use of “It wasn’t just x, it was also y”-type constructions.) techcrunch.com/2025/11/14/o...
(My personal #1 annoying telltale sign is endless use of “It wasn’t just x, it was also y”-type constructions.) techcrunch.com/2025/11/14/o...
OpenAI says it's fixed ChatGPT's em dash problem | TechCrunch
OpenAI says users can now personalize ChatGPT to stop using the em dash in its output.
techcrunch.com
November 15, 2025 at 2:57 AM
Excessive use of em dashes would be about #25 on my list of telltale signs something was written by AI. And it’s far from the most annoying one.
(My personal #1 annoying telltale sign is endless use of “It wasn’t just x, it was also y”-type constructions.) techcrunch.com/2025/11/14/o...
(My personal #1 annoying telltale sign is endless use of “It wasn’t just x, it was also y”-type constructions.) techcrunch.com/2025/11/14/o...
I thought that abandoning Twitter as a social networking platform would be tough until I actually did it. www.fastcompany.com/91439423/one...
One year later, I’m gladder than ever I left Twitter - Fast Company
I have seen the future of social networking, and it’s way better without Elon Musk at the controls.
www.fastcompany.com
November 14, 2025 at 1:25 PM
I thought that abandoning Twitter as a social networking platform would be tough until I actually did it. www.fastcompany.com/91439423/one...
TAP Air Portugal has a rule against using power banks in flight. Is it more dangerous to use one than merely have it with you?
November 14, 2025 at 1:15 PM
TAP Air Portugal has a rule against using power banks in flight. Is it more dangerous to use one than merely have it with you?
Reposted by Harry McCracken
Today at @websummit.bsky.social in Lisbon, @rabble.nz sat down with Cory Doctorow to discuss why Big Tech’s power harms society & why “move fast and break things” isn’t always progress.
Tomorrow, he joins @jb55.bsky.social and @harrymccracken.com to discuss building a freer, decentralized internet.
Tomorrow, he joins @jb55.bsky.social and @harrymccracken.com to discuss building a freer, decentralized internet.
November 12, 2025 at 8:29 PM
Today at @websummit.bsky.social in Lisbon, @rabble.nz sat down with Cory Doctorow to discuss why Big Tech’s power harms society & why “move fast and break things” isn’t always progress.
Tomorrow, he joins @jb55.bsky.social and @harrymccracken.com to discuss building a freer, decentralized internet.
Tomorrow, he joins @jb55.bsky.social and @harrymccracken.com to discuss building a freer, decentralized internet.
Reposted by Harry McCracken
We gotta have a clear term for people so cynical they become gullible.
November 12, 2025 at 4:55 PM
We gotta have a clear term for people so cynical they become gullible.
Trivia: The very first trip I took in a Google self-driving car, in 2013, was on a highway. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
November 12, 2025 at 6:10 PM
Trivia: The very first trip I took in a Google self-driving car, in 2013, was on a highway. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
Web Summit has self-serve beer dispensing stations. I didn’t partake and am not sure if they somehow card you. Then again, everyone here seems to be adults and I’m not sure what the drinking age is in Portugal.
November 12, 2025 at 3:41 PM
Web Summit has self-serve beer dispensing stations. I didn’t partake and am not sure if they somehow card you. Then again, everyone here seems to be adults and I’m not sure what the drinking age is in Portugal.
Reposted by Harry McCracken
What a thrill to be part of @talkingpointsmemo.com's series about the past 25 years of digital media! I wrote about why private equity goons destroyed Deadspin and why it matters.
There Are No Weird Blogs Anymore Cause It’s More Fruitful to Drive Them Out of Business
I learned many surprising lessons from my 20 months as editor-in-chief of...
talkingpointsmemo.com
November 11, 2025 at 3:24 PM
What a thrill to be part of @talkingpointsmemo.com's series about the past 25 years of digital media! I wrote about why private equity goons destroyed Deadspin and why it matters.
“Dahmer and Yoyo”
Bad idea but GREAT buddy movie premise.
in a long life filled with saying stupid shit this is may be the stupidest shit he's ever said
November 11, 2025 at 9:38 PM
“Dahmer and Yoyo”
Bad idea but GREAT buddy movie premise.
in a long life filled with saying stupid shit this is may be the stupidest shit he's ever said
November 11, 2025 at 9:36 PM
Bad idea but GREAT buddy movie premise.
To mark the iPad Pro’s 10th anniversary, here’s my review of the original 2015 version. www.fastcompany.com/3053068/ipad...
iPad Pro Review: Bigger, Better, And Built To Create - Fast Company
PC-like power and slick keyboard and stylus accessories tailor Apple's big tablet for productivity and art--but it remains very much an iPad.
www.fastcompany.com
November 11, 2025 at 2:30 PM
To mark the iPad Pro’s 10th anniversary, here’s my review of the original 2015 version. www.fastcompany.com/3053068/ipad...
I’m still holding out hope that Apple has a vision for the iPad Pro that’s bigger than it being a touchscreen laptop that grows more and more Maclike over time. www.theverge.com/tech/817939/...
The iPad Pro at 10: a decade of unrealized potential | The Verge
Apple seems to finally know what its largest and most impressive tablet really is. Time to build it.
www.theverge.com
November 11, 2025 at 2:28 PM
I’m still holding out hope that Apple has a vision for the iPad Pro that’s bigger than it being a touchscreen laptop that grows more and more Maclike over time. www.theverge.com/tech/817939/...
This humanoid robot from China’s Unitree is attracting a crowd in the Web Summit speakers’ lounge. It’s whipping about VERY quickly, in a way that’s a little unsettling.
November 11, 2025 at 12:42 PM
This humanoid robot from China’s Unitree is attracting a crowd in the Web Summit speakers’ lounge. It’s whipping about VERY quickly, in a way that’s a little unsettling.
Reposted by Harry McCracken
Filling out a banking form that asks for my occupation, and in what I am choosing to consider as a sign of the times, "journalist" is not a selectable option, but "cryptocurrency" is
November 10, 2025 at 9:53 PM
Filling out a banking form that asks for my occupation, and in what I am choosing to consider as a sign of the times, "journalist" is not a selectable option, but "cryptocurrency" is
Reposted by Harry McCracken
How Elon Musk’s Changes to X Made Our Discourse Far Stupider by Dave Weigel talkingpointsmemo.com/tpm-25/how-e... talkingpointsmemo.com/tpm-25/how-e...
How Elon Musk’s Changes to X Made Our Discourse Far Stupider
We don’t know the minute when X started throttling links to news,...
talkingpointsmemo.com
November 10, 2025 at 8:01 PM
How Elon Musk’s Changes to X Made Our Discourse Far Stupider by Dave Weigel talkingpointsmemo.com/tpm-25/how-e... talkingpointsmemo.com/tpm-25/how-e...
I’m among the throngs attending Web Summit’s opening night.
November 10, 2025 at 6:17 PM
I’m among the throngs attending Web Summit’s opening night.
I’m in Lisbon at Web Summit’s Future of Media Summit. NPR’s Katherine Maher is kicking it off.
November 10, 2025 at 10:14 AM
I’m in Lisbon at Web Summit’s Future of Media Summit. NPR’s Katherine Maher is kicking it off.
Reposted by Harry McCracken
I attended the Disney Accelerator demo day on the studio lot this week, and wrote about exactly why Disney has an accelerator at all. www.fastcompany.com/91436702/dis...
Disney’s startup accelerator is about more than accelerating startups - Fast Company
By investing in cool tech companies, the 102-year-old media giant wants to foster relationships that matter for everyone involved.
www.fastcompany.com
November 7, 2025 at 5:14 PM
I attended the Disney Accelerator demo day on the studio lot this week, and wrote about exactly why Disney has an accelerator at all. www.fastcompany.com/91436702/dis...
Reposted by Harry McCracken
this looks like a trick daffy duck would put up to get bugs bunny into "the oval office"
November 5, 2025 at 11:04 PM
this looks like a trick daffy duck would put up to get bugs bunny into "the oval office"
Are we supposed to be impressed when our airline app says it uses generative AI to provide flight status? Or concerned?
(So needy.)
(So needy.)
November 6, 2025 at 1:23 AM
Are we supposed to be impressed when our airline app says it uses generative AI to provide flight status? Or concerned?
(So needy.)
(So needy.)
Reposted by Harry McCracken
An absolutely exhaustive and utterly fascinating history of the iconic Bullwinkle (& Rocky) statue on Sunset Blvd, by @harrymccracken.com…
The Moose and the Showgirl
The life and times of the Bullwinkle statue, 1961-2021
harrymccracken.com
November 3, 2025 at 7:24 AM
An absolutely exhaustive and utterly fascinating history of the iconic Bullwinkle (& Rocky) statue on Sunset Blvd, by @harrymccracken.com…
Why aren’t we all making a bigger fuss about Lee Grant’s 100th birthday today? people.com/lee-grant-tu...
As Lee Grant Turns 100, She Opens Up About Being Blacklisted for 12 Years (Exclusive)
In the Nov. 9 episode of the Life Stories' YouTube docuseries 'The Thread', Oscar-winning actress Lee Grant, 100, discusses being blacklisted from Hollywood for more than a decade at the start of her career.
people.com
November 1, 2025 at 2:46 AM
Why aren’t we all making a bigger fuss about Lee Grant’s 100th birthday today? people.com/lee-grant-tu...