Ernie Smith

@[email protected]
6K Followers
632 Following
18.5K Posts

Editor of Tedium, an offbeat newsletter that’s been rocking since 2015. I complain on the internet a lot, and I accidentally made a search engine.

Support what I do here: https://ko-fi.com/tedium

Interests: #writing #news #history #technology #retrotech #weird #geoworks #freelance

Tediumhttps://tedium.co/
&udm=14https://udm14.com
Portfoliohttps://erniesmith.net/
Verified Journalisthttps://www.verifiedjournalist.org/people/@[email protected]
Ernie SmithApr 1
Guess I should spill the beans about tonight’s piece. Coming in just a little bit.
Show threadErnie SmithMar 14

In the piece I mention one of the most interesting shows still using this model, In Depth with Graham Bensinger. It’s a great example of an independently produced, creator-owned TV show whose primary medium is first-run syndication.

A rare creature in 2026.

https://tedium.co/2026/03/13/television-first-run-syndication-decline/

Ernie SmithMar 14

Had to.

https://www.theverge.com/tech/894555/adobe-75-million-doj-settlement-subscriptions

Ernie SmithFeb 26
Let’s see how good the image compression is on Mastodon.
Ernie SmithFeb 15

Added a bind in Niri that

1) screenshots an image
2) OCRs it
3) copies the text of the OCR’ed image into the clipboard.

I also created a separate command to OCR whatever image is in the clipboard to generate alt-text. I call this the “Yak Shaving Special.”

https://midrange.tedium.co/issues/shaving-the-yak

Show threadErnie SmithFeb 12
Used it to build a social object. Not bad. The dots were actually made with Typst.
Ernie SmithFeb 11
Messing around with Typst, something of a Latex-meets-Markdown layout language. This might be just what I need to finish that Tedium wall calendar I’ve been threatening for the past five to seven years.
Show threadErnie SmithJan 27
Ultimately, though, the reason we switched from two-piece bottles to single-piece is simple: Plastics technology had matured, and the old way cost more.
Show threadErnie SmithJan 27
Sewell first took a stab on larger bottles around 1979. Others quickly followed.
Show threadErnie SmithJan 27
This challenge, as far as I can tell, was easier to solve on smaller bottles, which have patents for design dating as far back as the early ’70s.