The Dock on Mac, From OS 10 to macOS 27 🔗
I wrote the chapter on app icon history for The iOS App Icon Book. The other day I found an old note stashed away where I had started researching the [...]
Jim Nielsen’s Blog
Posts
The Fascinating World of Domains 🔗
Pete Millspaugh has a lovely article over on WIRED that peers into the world of domains. (If you’re as interested in the esoteric details of domains a [...]
“Getting off the Modernization Treadmill” 🔗
My notes from this talk by Alexander Petros at Big Sky DevCon 2026. Alex starts by noting how “modernize” used to mean something along the lines of “u [...]
Apple’s App Icon HOA 🔗
Louie Mantia has a great post about how app icons are converging towards the squircle on iOS and macOS. His post reads like a history. If you’re wonde [...]
“I’m Embarrassed on Behalf of the Tech Industry” 🔗
That’s something Ben Thompson said a recent episode of Dithering. He was referring to how he felt while trying to help his mom get control of her digi [...]
Dear Software Makers 🔗
Marques Brownlee just released a video essay titled “Dear YouTube”. I loved it. He talks about how YouTube is going to start shipping this new featur [...]
VLM Enhanced Metadata For My Icon Galleries 🔗
Confession: I got nerd-sniped by Sam Henri Gold’s request for my icon galleries: I'd like to humbly request artwork-level searching in macosicongaller [...]
Humane Interfaces 🔗
So there I am reading Unsung when I come across this quote from Jef Raskin: An interface is humane if it is responsive to human needs and considerate [...]
Using an LLM to Automate the Process of Archiving New macOS App Icons 🔗
Whenever a new version of macOS drops, I find myself archiving the new app icons for my macOS icon gallery. In the past, the work to do this was a bit [...]
Make Money to Make More Websites 🔗
I was listening to the episode “Make Your Own Thing” from the Off Protocol podcast where Jim Ray interviews John Gruber. They cover a variety of topi [...]