Happy Friday, everyone!
This week I made a collection of wallpapers that captured my enthusiasm for the, dare I say, positive outlook on the future, and I hope you like them! Theyāre available via Gumroad, and you can get them here. Theyāre $5 for the pack, but Birch Bark readers can get $1 off with the coupon code ābirchbarkā as a thank you for being a subscriber.
Links
I love this article about how weāre wrapping up a year of deciding to be mad at each other online all the time.
Andy Nicolaides on the importance of embracing silence now and again.
This whole Parler mess continues, and the snarky part of me keeps thinking about all the conservatives who told me I was wrong to suggest Apple had too much power in in the App Store last year when they blocked Hey, Xbox Game Pass, and Stadia. Now that a conservative social network is being blocked, itās a big deal. Frankly, if this means that more pressure will be put on Apple to allow different distribution methods, then Iāll take it as a win.
I love this short article about why the new USPS looks like it does.
Vivaldi is my favorite browser not enough people seem to use, and it got a major performance update this week, doing all tasks much faster, and running at double the speed on M1 Macs now that itās been optimized for Apple Silicon.
There are going to be some incredible books written about the massive misinformation campaigns and direct communications with the Trump campaign run by the Russian government in 2016, and if you were thinking āit certainly wouldnāt happen again in 2020ā well Iāve got some news for you.
And finally, if you were wondering how serious the chip shortage was right now, Samsung is floating the idea that they may not even make a Galaxy Note phone this fall š±
Videos
Chris Lawley on this crazy new iPad dock that basically turns your iPad into a mini-iMac.
A little more self-promotion this week, but I think this video sheds some light on the ācan the iPad replace your laptopā question that comes up every time a new iPad is released.
Chris Wilmshurst on some really slick sound panels. And here I am with blankets on the wall!
Art
Music
A little different from usual, my music pick this week is actually an Apple Music playlist called Living in the Library that Iāve really been enjoying all week. If youāre working from home and need some new background music, this playlist is for you.