Mike Rockwell

Writer of Initial Charge (npub1yxv…d3u4) and Happiness Engineer for Pocket Casts and Tumblr at Automattic.

Homepage: https://mdrockwell.net
Weblog: https://initialcharge.net
Pixelfed: https://libertynode.cam/mike
Location: Elmira, NY 🇺🇸

Public Key

npub12wwc7wajj8g7ghwp54jejr0nxxhwfpfdvyr47ayqkckpg2awz54qlrmaw7

NIP-05 Address

mike_at_libertynode.net@momostr.pink

Profile Code

nprofile1qqs988v08wefr50ythq62evephenrthys5kkzp6lwjqtvtq59whp22spz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0ds55p9av

Publishing to

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

Author Public Key

npub12wwc7wajj8g7ghwp54jejr0nxxhwfpfdvyr47ayqkckpg2awz54qlrmaw7

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Last Notes

2026-04-24 13:49:13 UTC

Yesterday, I shared my thoughts on Framework’s Next Gen event.
https://initialcharge.net/2026/04/framework-next-gen/
https://libertynode.net/system/media_attachments/files/116/459/998/645/665/755/original/97ad4cd65ef836c5.png

2026-03-26 23:09:28 UTC

I remember seeing people like Shawn Blanc and Glenn Wolsey with a Mac Pro around the time I graduated from high school. It was the coolest computer in the world to me at that point.
But Apple seemingly stopped caring about it shortly after the trash can released in 2013.
They released the 2019 model, but it was so unbelievably half-hearted and the massive price tag made its fate seem inevitable.
https://www.macrumors.com/2026/03/26/apple-discontinues-mac-pro/

2026-03-24 15:56:21 UTC

What’s the best way to clone a Linux boot drive? Is it Clonezilla?
I want to move my existing Ubuntu install to an external drive and then start fresh with a new distro using the internal drive.
On a MacBook, I’d just use SuperDuper! will Clonezilla accomplish the same thing or is there a better tool for the job?

2026-03-16 00:42:48 UTC

Why doesn’t anyone make a streaming box with an LCD panel on the front to display the time?
Maybe give me the option in the device’s settings to turn it off or configure it to display something different?
Why did this stop after VCRs?

2026-01-20 01:37:44 UTC

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I should have phrased it as “least bad”.

2026-01-19 22:05:34 UTC

What’s the best TV OS?

2025-11-16 01:36:47 UTC

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Now we’re all sitting on the floor watching Home Alone.

2025-11-15 23:14:12 UTC

Setup an old CRT TV in our playroom with a DVD player.
We have Frosty the Snowman playing on it now.
It probably won’t be permanent, but will be an interesting change of pace for a few days.

2025-11-07 16:49:55 UTC

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thank you!

2025-11-07 15:44:56 UTC

If you follow any weblogs or other RSS feeds from sites that cover Linux, retro gaming, the web, mobile apps, or Apple, please send me links.
I’m looking for some new sources in my RSS reader. And don’t hesitate to self promote if you’re publishing something cool.

2025-11-06 15:30:26 UTC

Nothing works today. Everything’s broken.

2025-10-04 16:46:48 UTC

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why would anyone join an instance if they have no idea what servers they can interact with?

2025-09-17 19:02:43 UTC

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I would guess almost no one.
Apple’s UI design just keeps getting worse.

2025-09-17 18:50:34 UTC

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ill probably do what I did with iOS 18 and wait ~1 year to upgrade.
Assuming I don’t find myself on another platform by then.

2025-09-03 15:35:01 UTC

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the theory never made sense to me.
My immediate thought was always “wouldn’t warmer temperatures also increase water evaporation?”
No one ever even acknowledges water evaporation when promoting climate change.

2025-08-30 03:57:41 UTC

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anything notable about them beyond the color? Are they from a cool brand, made with an interesting material, etc?

2025-07-08 14:39:22 UTC

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no intention of arguing or anything, but I’m curious as to why you’d like to avoid Brave? Is it the crypto features or something else?

2025-05-09 18:10:02 UTC

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we need BonziBuddy next.

2025-04-12 18:24:27 UTC

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what expansion card setup did you go with?

2025-04-08 16:03:32 UTC

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would it be any different if sales tax was also eliminated?

2025-04-08 15:51:34 UTC

If income tax was suddenly reduced to 0% and you were asked how much you were willing to voluntarily contribute to your local, state, and federal government, how much would you give?

2025-04-03 11:37:34 UTC

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I have a Framework 13 with the 7640U.
I’ve published a couple of articles with my thoughts on it:
https://initialcharge.net/2024/12/framework-13-assembly/
https://initialcharge.net/2024/12/framework-hardware/
And I have my Final Thoughts piece publishing in a couple of hours.
Tl;dr: it’s a great machine. It has some tradeoffs that are different than Apple laptops, but I like the tradeoffs of the Framework more than the current crop of Apple laptops.

2025-04-01 13:26:07 UTC

Maybe the real April Fools are the friends we meet along the way.

2025-03-31 16:53:21 UTC

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is anyone surprised by this?
20 year old men have spent half their lives being told by one party that they’re toxic and that there isn’t a “place for them at the table” anymore.
What are they supposed to do?

2025-03-08 14:52:11 UTC

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they might as well just say “we’re so old and out of touch that we had to hire a bunch of young people to write scripts that we don’t understand.”

2025-03-06 02:10:14 UTC

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there’s an article about it in The Verge that I haven’t had a chance to read yet:
https://www.theverge.com/social/624073/digg-relaunch-2025

2025-02-18 13:40:16 UTC

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they made the mistake that every other news outlet seems to make. They hired a bunch of activists that don’t actually care about their publication’s main focus.

2025-01-27 00:01:26 UTC

Which is it?

2024-11-21 23:35:29 UTC

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this whole Gaetz thing is very odd to me. It doesn’t seem like there was any backlash that they couldn’t have predicted beforehand. There’s clearly more to the story and tend to think that “the mainstream media was going to publish a hit piece so he withdrew” isn’t it.

2024-11-20 23:21:01 UTC

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https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wJw4FfyoCzw&pp=ygUScG93ZXIgbGluZSBjb25jZXJ0

2024-11-17 00:42:15 UTC

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https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ARb84TqiH2g

2024-11-15 17:17:14 UTC

I just received an email asking me to write a review for a product I purchased last year.
Sheesh.

2024-10-29 23:55:29 UTC

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the A-Team van because I need a van.

2024-10-14 00:22:48 UTC

How do you get 26k followers with just 430 posts?

2024-09-25 19:41:41 UTC

What if you could choose to have the volume up and down buttons on the iPhone adjust zoom when you were in the camera app?

2024-09-24 00:22:35 UTC

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do you know of anyone that seems to “get it right”, so to speak?
Or, to put it another way, if someone asked you who you recommend listening to for news/commentary, do you have one to give them?

2024-09-21 18:10:49 UTC

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it’s the “brat diet”, which doctors will often recommend if you’re having stomach trouble.

2024-09-21 16:39:17 UTC

When I hear someone say that someone is “brat”, I just think bananas, rice, applesauce, toast.

2024-09-21 03:10:57 UTC

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we don’t support highlighting as you listen currently, just the ability to view and search the transcript. But hopefully that will come in the future. :)

2024-09-11 03:24:26 UTC

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the public.

2024-09-11 03:19:15 UTC

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if you believe elections are rigged, it’s *more* important for you to vote.
If you want to fix things you have to show that there was fraud *and* that it altered the outcome. That shouldn’t be the bar, but people who want to cheat have managed to convince the public that this is the bar that must be met.
You can catch election fraud all you want, but unless you also have the votes, no one will care.

2024-09-07 15:41:20 UTC

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he seems mad that people in the EU can use alternative app stores and get a prompt asking them which browser they want to use. I guess he doesn’t want people to have the choice.
He even asked the question as to whether people *should* use a browser other than Safari.
Completely ignoring the entire world of iPhone users that use Windows or Linux, which Safari doesn’t sync with.
He also is, seemingly, oblivious to the apps that are available outside of the App Store.

2024-09-07 15:36:48 UTC

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John.

2024-09-07 15:35:39 UTC

Gruber’s lost it.

2024-09-04 14:22:06 UTC

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don’t forget your VGA adapter for the projector. lol

2024-08-26 12:16:26 UTC

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we do not. Were you looking to reach out to the team? If so, I could forward something along for you.

2024-07-31 20:11:05 UTC

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it’s interesting how ky understanding of the timeline of events lines up with yours.
I left Twitter in 2021 because all the tech/Apple focused people I followed suddenly became experts in politics and it was the only thing they posted about. It was maddening.
As for 2012, that’s my soft line in the sand when it comes to the media I allow my kids to watch. If it was created before 2012, it’s generally okay, afterward it requires more vetting.

2024-07-31 17:30:18 UTC

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I had to stop following Ars because of stuff like this. It was just too darn annoying for me.

2024-06-09 13:44:44 UTC

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he’s insufferable.

2024-06-07 12:51:31 UTC

Memes are the new email forwards.

2024-05-07 19:42:42 UTC

Imagine if you had to buy a new mouse every time you bought a new Mac.
https://eworld.social/@ismh/112400334432195786