If neither Raycast nor Alfred are your cup of tea, try Monarch: “a fast and easy-to-use magic panel [for Mac] that lets you do everything: open and quit apps, directly link to your favorite websites and tools, calculate with natural language, search your clipboard history, take notes, and much more with only a single hotkey.”

Notesnook is a note-taking app that prioritises end-to-end encryption to keep your notes secure and private. Open source apps are available for all platforms to help you organise, sync and collaborate on notes across devices. Friends of DD enjoy a 10% discount. Become a Friend to access specials like this.

France-based Twake is a privacy-focused, open source digital suite that complies with EU data regulations and aims to offer an alternative to the many US-based workplace apps. Their current offering includes a chat app, cloud storage and email.

A simple timer with a fun, unique UI: Stretch It is a “minimalist gesture timer from your Mac menu bar”. Just pull it down to your desired time; let go; timer starts.

The Unaccountability Machine →

Why big systems make terrible decisions

Dan Davies, a former regulatory economist at the Bank of England, argues large systems – whether in government, tech or finance – make poor, impersonal decisions because they are driven by abstract metrics and detached processes rather than accountability or human judgment. This contributes to societal distrust and confusion, fueling widespread frustration and a sense that the world has lost its collective rationality. “In our increasingly unhuman world – lives dominated by algorithms, artificial intelligence, and large organizations – so-called ‘accountability sinks’ produce more than just aggravation. They make life and economy unknowable – a black box for no reason.”

Invisible Rulers →

How lies become reality in the digital age

Prof. Renee DiResta is a leading researcher of online manipulation. Her newest book delves into how influential actors – including state entities, corporations, and social movements – use the internet to shape narratives, spread lies, and craft convincing realities that impact both public opinion and individual behaviour. “Anyone who wishes to destroy legitimate political and social power has a new weapon. It is the anarchist’s dream, a force so shockingly effective that its destructive power seems limitless. Scientific proof is powerless in front of it; democratic validity is bulldozed by it; leaders are humiliated by it.”

Hard agreeing with Catherine Shannon’s sober assessment: many of us have developed a sense of detachment and apathy as a response to overwhelming distractions and a loss of meaning in modern life. She discusses how ironic detachment has shifted into pervasive numbness, leading people to disengage from genuine emotions and values. The antidote? Embracing reality and cultivating meaningful goals that anchor us to a more intentional and fulfilled life. “To put it succinctly: when you take an ironic, negative, or numb attitude to everything, you are by definition not on the line for solutions, and when you stop looking for solutions, you lose all agency and will in your life.”

We expect politicians to be heroes who can right all the world’s wrongs. In reality, they usually make morally questionable decisions to protect their interests. Instead of seeking ideal leaders, Hamilton Nolan suggests we should view most politicians we support as ‘cowards’ who need pressure to make the right choices. Harsh, but realistic. “For the most part, it is wrong to think of elections as contests between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ candidates. With few exceptions, it is more accurate to divide most politicians into two broad categories: Enemies, and Cowards. The enemies are those politicians who are legitimately opposed to your policy goals. The cowards are those politicians who may agree with your policy goals, but will sell you out if they must in order to protect their own interests.”

In this beautiful piece, Briana Herman-Brand shows us the importance of repair in relationships, especially after conflict and harm. Only by embracing our shared humanity can we learn to navigate pain and work towards collective liberation. “This seems to be a principle of dominant society, often internalized and acted out by our communities and families: You will live wounded, unrepaired, and you better not expect anything more. Yet this grim promise is juxtaposed with an evolutionary drive toward relational healing. I believe each of us comes from a lineage – no matter how buried – that knew how to heal, how to repair with each other. Throughout history, we have survived by bringing our harms to the circle of community and quite literally humming and drumming through them together.”