What I'm up to - May 2025 - Philip I. Thomas

Here's my monthly newsletter about what I'm up to, which I send in place of social media.

What I did in last month

"I created a chatbot with my dog" was a presentation I gave at a meetup. (Here's the chatbot and source code)
My dog Queso got a foxtail seed in his paw and needed surgery, so he's recovering
Had a quick trip to Texas for a wedding
Been busy with work
Continuing to cycle a few days a week

Articles: College Towns: Urbanism from a Past Era with Ryan Allen, AI Horseless Carriages, The Dark World Of USAF Special Ops Air Refuelers And Their Modified KC-135RT Tankers
Books: Craig Mod's Things Become Other Things is out - I've been following its journey for years, and read the original fine art edition. Samin Nosrat (of Salt Fat Acid Heat) announced a forthcoming book, Good Things. (Many "Things" books!).
Podcasts: Samin Nosrat's show Home Cooking is back after a long hiatus, ahead of her podcast launch. The show helped me get through the pandemic.
Videos: Tim Wendelboe's short documentary about Finca Tamaná. The Oner was such an impressive episode of The Studio - all done in one take. "I Fixed Stripe" has good advice on building billing integrations.
Tools: I finally began using the iA notebook, and then it won a design award.