Tootfinder

The entire machinery of online discourse around building and creating has been so thoroughly captured by entrepreneurial "logic"
that we've lost the language to describe what it feels like to simply make a thing that helps someone,
give it away, and move on with your life.
I've been feeling this for a while now, and I suspect a lot of folks who have the itch to build feel it too, even if they haven't articulated it.

The Noble Path
It is a truth universally acknowledged that an indie hacker in possession of a widget must be in want of a business model... Every tool is a startup now. Every script is a SaaS product. Every neat little hack you cobbled together on a Sunday afternoon to solve your own

"Former state legislator Anthony Sabatini alleges “viewpoint discrimination.” Sabatini, an attorney, says he “will be filing a First Amendment retaliation lawsuit under Section 1983 Monday morning against UF seeking an injunction.”"
UF College Republicans Disbanded Over Hitler Salute - Joe.My.God.
https://www.joemygod.com/2026/03/uf-college-republicans-disbanded-over-hitler-salute/

'Back in the 70's a researcher named Philip Brickman studied lottery winners and found that people who won big were no happier than anyone else within a few months. He called it the "hedonic treadmill." You get the thing, the feeling fades, you chase the next thing.
The Strive is the hedonic treadmill all over again, but it comes with a mandatory pair of white sneakers and a Claude Max subscription.'

Why I quit "The Strive"
This newsletter is free to read, and it’ll stay that way. But if you want more - extra posts each month, no sponsored CTAs, access to the community, and a direct line to ask me things - paid subscriptions are $2.50/month. A lot of people have told

A citizen of Rome in 117 AD,
under Emperor Trajan,
would've found it difficult to imagine the empire not existing.
The roads, the aqueducts, the legal system, the trade networks stretching from Britain to Mesopotamia:
all of it seemed to be a near-fact of nature, like gravity
Edward Gibbon gave us six volumes explaining how that feeling turned out to be wrong,
and even he couldn't fully untangle all the causes.
But the overarching theme mig…

The empire always falls
A citizen of Rome in 117 AD, under Emperor Trajan, would've found it difficult to imagine the empire not existing. The roads, the aqueducts, the legal system, the trade networks stretching from Britain to Mesopotamia: all of it seemed to be a near-fact of nature, like gravity // the Mediterranean itself.

Alright, time for the custom cart/Kefka revenge tour! I'm feeling like crap, but I figured playing a bit o' vidya games would help out. Time for some Final Fantasy 6 in the only way I know how to play it: on an old CRT TV with more than a bit of profanity.
https://youtube.com/live/DYgQrEHGvag?f

Bessent Scoffs At Mere Mention Of Tariff Refunds: "I've Got A Feeling That The American People Won't See It" - Joe.My.God.
https://www.joemygod.com/2026/02/bessent-scoffs-at-mere-mention-of-tariff-refunds-ive-got-a-feeling-that-the-american-people-wont-see-it/

This year, the Mastodon team returned to FOSDEM for the third time.
FOSDEM is an annual gathering of open source developers, held in Brussels.
We’re excited to report that the Fediverse is feeling vibrant!
FOSDEM has become a central element of EU Open Source Week
- a series of events, meetups and workshops that have formed around the conference itself.
The range of events makes this trip to Brussels valuable for our team,
with opportunities to meet other …

FOSDEM 2026 Recap
All about our presence at FOSDEM 2026.

Still not feeling great, but figured today would be a great day to finally test out the entirety of the custom FF6 cart I built so long ago. Broke out the Sony PVM-2530, got everything hooked up, and now it's time to beat all of the things down.
The SNES is modded with Voultar's SNESRGB mod, and the video/audio goes out via a SCART connector into the SCART switch (`gscart`), then into the CMPTR adapter, _then_ into the Sony PVM.
I do have two SCART switches, and if you…

Wooo, the new computer chair should be delivered day-after-tomorrow and I'm pretty stoked. The old chair is kinda falling apart, but for a cheap chair it did a great job...however, the "new" Aeron should be a significant upgrade. Also, the rollerblade wheels will be moving from the old Office Depot chair to the new one...

AI companies are raising at valuations that require them to grow at rates that are only achievable by chasing the broadest possible market with the most generic possible product.
A company that raises at a $500M valuation needs to show a path to billions in revenue,
which means it can't afford to be a niche tool that does one thing brilliantly for a specific audience.
It has to be a platform, horizontal, aimed at enterprise, built for no one in particular.
Ever…

Everyone in AI is building the wrong thing for the same reason
Every AI founder I talk to is on an accelerating treadmill, burdened by a nagging suspicion that the entire industry is moving too fast in a direction that doesn't quite make sense, with no idea about how to get off. There is an overwhelming feeling that if everyone stopped and