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Hi, I’m Jamie Thingelstad, and this is the Weekly Thing. Isn’t that witty? I send this weekly, and it is full of various things. What would I call it if my last name didn’t start with thing? I have no idea!

The retail industry put Cyberweek 2021 in the books this week which is always a big week for everyone. It is great to see everything scale up, processes humming along, and years of expertise come together to deliver great results. 👏

Let’s get right onto the links shall we! 👍

I’m Jamie Thingelstad, and this is the Weekly Thing. One of the delights of sending this email is hearing from you! Hit reply and say Hi…

For everyone in the United States I hope you and your families had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day! I had almost forgotten how we spent last year without vaccines and celebrating Thanksgiving by ourselves for the first time. It was nice to be with family again.

Seeing news of a new COVID-19 variant, Omicron, has me wondering what turns the pandemic is about to make. I’m dubious of our ability to stop the spread of a variant. At best we may slow it down.

Hi, I’m Jamie Thingelstad, and this is the Weekly Thing! At some point, you decided to join me on this exploratory journey of technology, culture, leadership, privacy, and many other topics.

I’m behind deadline this morning and finished putting together this Weekly Thing pre-dawn as the late-fall sun was slowly rising. I don’t mind it though. A blank document, some wood-wick candles, and a delicious cup of hot coffee is a great way to start any day.

I’m Jamie Thingelstad, and you (in theory) signed up for this weekly letter from me sharing things that I have found notable and engaging for the week.

Last weekend we hosted the Things 4 Good Fall Fundraiser and it was a great success! We had more than 100 people stop in to buy hand-crafted Wicky Thing Candles, a custom Jiggy Thing Puzzle, Four Bees Honey, and fresh baked cookies. It was great fun hosting everyone, and the kids particularly enjoyed walking guests through the various options and checking them out. Plus we had awesome custom shirts! 🤩

I’m Jamie Thingelstad, and this is the Weekly Thing. Check out previous issues at the archive.

Let’s talk briefly about Meta, err Facebook. I had flagged a handful of articles about the name change and Zuckerberg’s demo videos and I couldn’t even get past the initial paragraphs. Why? Call my cynical, but I think this is just a massive head fake to get away from all of the negative news about the real impacts Facebook has on people and society, and how they have evaded accountability for years. I’m sure that Zuckerberg is into the metaverse, he did buy Oculus however long ago. But it feels like this whole strategy was a “break glass in case of emergency” situation. 🔨 I’m not reading or sharing those articles because I think it’s just falling prey to their head fake. I suspect that we’ll see a CEO of Facebook hired. I don’t think that will happen soon, but the structure is now in place.

Now onto other links that are way more interesting. 👍

I’m Jamie Thingelstad, and this is my Weekly Thing. Did you know that you can also get this via your favorite feed reader using the RSS feed? Hooray for the web standards!

Good morning and I hope your coffee is still warm. ☕️ I finished up this weeks Thing just this morning so it’s a little delayed landing in your inbox. Some quick things…

• We had a fabulous trip to Chicago, Louisville, and Indianapolis. 🛣 We particularly enjoyed Louisville and will be making a return trip next year.
• The Fall 2021 issue of Reading Things will be out very soon. 📚 If you are into books you should check out our family newsletter.

I’m Jamie Thingelstad. You’re getting this email because you signed up for the Weekly Thing. I appreciate you being here, but if you don’t want these emails any longer, simply unsubscribe.

Welcome to the 200th issue of the Weekly Thing! 🎉

I’m Jamie Thingelstad, and this is the Weekly Thing. If this was forwarded to you, you can subscribe to get your own copy every Saturday!

Fall is in full swing and I’m feeling like I’ve got a lot of balls in the air, but it’s all good and a lot of fun things on the way. 🤹‍♂️ Here we are at issue 199 with a milestone issue coming next week! I have been noodling a fun thing to do next week to commemorate the 200th issue. Stay tuned on that, and in the meantime if you have some friends that you think would enjoy the Weekly Thing, send them a note to sign up so they can be part of issue 200 too!

Hi, I’m Jamie Thingelstad, and this is the Weekly Thing. Isn’t that witty? I send this weekly, and it is full of various things. What would I call it if my last name didn’t start with thing? I have no idea!

So last week I made the leap to the iPhone 13 Pro. I upgraded from the iPhone XS, which was the first time I waited 3 years to upgrade my iPhone. I’ve been a consistent every-other-year upgrader until now. Initial impressions? The battery on the iPhone 13 Pro is simply amazing. I’m used to getting a new phone and having the battery run out a little faster because I’m playing with it more. The 13 Pro hasn’t gotten below 20% even once on me yet. In fact, most nights when I’m plugging it in I’m still in the 30s! The camera is a huge step up from where I was. I love the new 77mm focal length on the 3x. it is a much bigger difference than some may think. I’m super happy to finally have the wide-angle options. Macro is cool, but I haven’t played with it that much. The screen is great, I can’t tell the refresh rate is faster. It’s a touch bulkier than the iPhone XS, and a bit heavier, however it is still very manageable to carry around. If you’re considering upgrading, I’d go for it. 👍

A bunch of people pinged me this week regarding Facebook and the whistleblower piece on 60 Minutes. I’m very glad to see more information getting into the public discussion on Facebook. Hopefully this will get more people to decide to drop it completely. I’m hopeful that we see a time when Facebook (and it’s like) are seen more like smoking — an unhealthy habit that one should try to rid yourself and your friends of. 🚭

I’m Jamie Thingelstad, and this is the Weekly Thing. One of the delights of sending this email is hearing from you! Hit reply and say Hi…

Another week with some technical difficulties getting in the way of my publishing schedule. Shortcuts is definitely buggy in iOS 15 and the interoperability with some apps has issues. 😬 I’m going to have to find some workarounds for a little bit. Maybe simplifying to reduce some of these dependencies.

Sometimes you get an opportunity to really appreciate how lucky you are in life, and this week I got one of those moments when I was selected as one of TwinCitiesCIO‘s 2021 CIO of the Year recipients. So many kind words from friends and colleagues. 🙏

Hi, I’m Jamie Thingelstad, and this is the Weekly Thing! At some point, you decided to join me on this exploratory journey of technology, culture, leadership, privacy, and many other topics.

Okay, it was a little perilous to get this issue of the Weekly Thing to all of you. You see, I use Shortcuts extensively to generate the newsletter. It has evolved a lot since the I first shared the setup and now relies on about 20 shortcuts that work together. With the upgrade to iOS 15 this week some of my hooks to other apps stopped working. PANIC! 🙀

One of the nice things about Shortcuts though is you can bang around in them pretty easy. After some workarounds, and then a final swap out of Toolbox Pro for Data Jar I was able to get the thing to generate. It was touch and go, and I’ve got some cleanup to do to fix things, but here it is! Winning! 🏆

I’m Jamie Thingelstad, and you (in theory) signed up for this weekly letter from me sharing things that I have found notable and engaging for the week.

A lot of people mention that they read the Weekly Thing with their coffee on Saturday morning. ☕️ Well, sorry if that got messed up since this one is coming a little late. If only I could bend space and time like a Guild Navigator in Dune. Alas no. If you prefer coffee, maybe hold off and read it tomorrow morning. 🤷‍♂️

Let’s get right to the links and updates! Much going on this week… 👍

I’m Jamie Thingelstad, and this is the Weekly Thing. Check out previous issues at the archive.

We just arrived at a secluded cabin a couple miles north of Split Rock Lighthouse. We drove up a very steep dirt drive to get to this A-frame tucked away in the woods. We arrived at night so we have no idea what the area looks like. I’m eager to wake up in the morning and actually take in where we are. I believe we will have a view out to Lake Superior.

This weekend we commemorate 20 years since the attacks of 9/11. I can still recall that day so clearly. We all can. But my recent memories go to 2018 when Mazie and I visited the 9/11 Memorial & Museum. She was 13, and really didn’t know a lot about the events of that day. We walked the memorial and museum. I shared with her many stories of that day and the days after. It was a somber visit, but also brought stories of resilience and courage. I remember how hard my colleagues at the Wall Street Journal worked to publish the paper on that day. I remember how MarketWatch was able to get news online throughout the terrible events of that day. I’m going to highlight those stories as we remember 9/11 on this 20th year. 🙏

I’m Jamie Thingelstad, and this is the Weekly Thing. Did you know that you can also get this via your favorite feed reader using the RSS feed? Hooray for the web standards!

👋 Hello there! I hope you all have had a great summer filled with whatever you would desire it to be. We filled ours with a lot of family time, a fun road trip to Vermont, and new and old summer traditions. It all went by too fast, as it always does. School is resuming, the mornings are cooler, and here I am back in your inbox. Excuse me while I get the fingers moving again.

A couple of weeks ago I was noticing that I was feeling like writing more, and wondered if I should pick up some of the bigger blog articles that I have ideas for. I chuckled when I realized that most likely I was just on break from the Weekly Thing, and my regular outlet for writing and sharing wasn’t around. It’s good to be back!

I’m Jamie Thingelstad. You’re getting this email because you signed up for the Weekly Thing. I appreciate you being here, but if you don’t want these emails any longer, simply unsubscribe.

Hello to all the new subscribers that have signed up recently. Welcome aboard! 👋

June is winding to an end, and with that the Weekly Thing is going on summer break. But have no worries, I’ll be back on September 4th with issue 193! Until then, I hope you have a fabulous summer and make the most of all of it! 🤩

I’m Jamie Thingelstad, and this is the Weekly Thing. Enjoy this issue knowing that your privacy is preserved and nobody is watching you. There are no tracking pixels or masked links here, and never will be!

Happy Juneteenth and the first year it is being observed as a national holiday! 👏

This was a big week for our family with our daughter’s sixteenth birthday! She planned her day with a to do list of 22 items. The first one was “✅ 7:00 wake up”. It was an action packed day ending with the last item on the list “✅ Go to bed”. The family checked everything off the list through the day. It seems that she is definitely a list-making person. 🤩 I got her GTD for Teens years ago, maybe her and I should revisit it. 🤔

Hi, I’m Jamie Thingelstad, and this is the Weekly Thing. Isn’t that witty? I send this weekly, and it is full of various things. What would I call it if my last name didn’t start with thing? I have no idea!

Perhaps the “truest” indicator of where we are as the pandemic recedes in Minnesota is our calendar. If so, this last week is the first time we’ve had plans every evening of the week. It seemed like “wow, so much stuff!”

The school year wrapped up this week, which was part of those plans. I kept thinking back to being a kid and how incredibly awesome it was when summer arrived and you had this huge swath of time with friends, outside, and uninterrupted fun. Our kids were very excited to count the days down. Tammy and I also passed the milestone of being done with elementary schools. Time keeps on slipping slipping, slipping… into the future… as the song goes…

I’m Jamie Thingelstad, and this is the Weekly Thing. One of the delights of sending this email is hearing from you! Hit reply and say Hi…

Growing up my Mother didn’t have all that many rules, or at least not that many that I remember. She didn’t let me play with any kind of toy gun. I only remember that because my cousins played cops and robbers all the time and that doesn’t work so well without a cap gun. She also was clear that swearing resulted in soap in the mouth. Once I realized that the bar soap could be used to make bubbles. That was short-lived fun and the bar soap was replaced with dish soap. Specifically Dawn detergent. I kept my mouth clean after that. 😇

One rule that I remember well, and I still follow without even knowing it, is that there was no TV before school. The morning was about getting ready and prepared for school, not for watching cartoons or anything else. This rule has stuck with me so much that even now as a middle-aged man I still can’t stand a TV being on in the morning.

Hi, I’m Jamie Thingelstad, and this is the Weekly Thing! At some point, you decided to join me on this exploratory journey of technology, culture, leadership, privacy, and many other topics.

Here we are at Memorial Day and the unofficial start of summer! We have a cold weekend in front of us but will still be getting the most out of the long weekend. The cold will make it a bit easier to duck inside to watch the Champions League final. We’ll be rooting for Chelsea! ⚽️

I made a minor tweak this week to the titles of the links sections, and a minor formatting change to the Briefly section that I like a lot better. 👍

I’m Jamie Thingelstad, and you (in theory) signed up for this weekly letter from me sharing things that I have found notable and engaging for the week.

Hello there! 👋

I enjoy reading CJ Chilvers and his recent piece on newsletter advice resonated so strongly with me and how I think about what you are reading right now.

I’m Jamie Thingelstad, and this is the Weekly Thing. Check out previous issues at the archive.

Hello there! 👋

There are two fun milestones this week!

I’m Jamie Thingelstad, and this is the Weekly Thing. Did you know that you can also get this via your favorite feed reader using the RSS feed? Hooray for the web standards!

Hello everyone! 👋 A big welcome to a bunch of new subscribers over the last couple of weeks. Welcome to the Thing!

This week both Tammy and I celebrated the final milestone of our Covid-19 vaccinations. 💉💉🎉 We lapped the two week mark on our second shot. Having summer in front of us and vaccinated friends is giving us a lot of hope ahead. It “feels” a lot easier to get out and about. 🤞

I’m Jamie Thingelstad. You’re getting this email because you signed up for the Weekly Thing. I appreciate you being here, but if you don’t want these emails any longer, simply unsubscribe.

I’m Jamie Thingelstad, and this is the Weekly Thing. You can read this, click on articles, all while knowing that your privacy is preserved and nobody is watching you. There are no tracking pixels or masked links here, and never will be!

Hi, I’m Jamie Thingelstad, and this is the Weekly Thing. Isn’t that witty? I send this , and it is full of various . What would I call it if my last name didn’t start with thing? I have no idea!

I’m Jamie Thingelstad, and this is the Weekly Thing. One of the delights of sending this email is hearing from you! Hit reply and say Hi…

I’m Jamie Thingelstad. You’re getting this email because you signed up for the Weekly Thing. I appreciate you being here, but if you don’t want these emails any longer, simply unsubscribe.

I’m Jamie Thingelstad, and this is the Weekly Thing. Check out previous issues at .

I’m Jamie Thingelstad, and this is the Weekly Thing. You can read this, click on articles, all while knowing that your privacy is preserved and nobody is watching you. There are no tracking pixels or masked links here, and never will be!

Hi, I’m Jamie Thingelstad, and this is the Weekly Thing. Isn’t that witty? I send this , and it is full of various . What would I call it if my last name didn’t start with thing? I have no idea!

I’m Jamie Thingelstad, and this is the Weekly Thing. One of the delights of sending this email is hearing from you! Hit reply and say Hi… 👋

Hi, I’m Jamie Thingelstad, and this is the Weekly Thing! At some point, you decided to join me on this exploratory journey of technology, culture, leadership, privacy, and many other topics.

I’m Jamie Thingelstad, and you signed up for this weekly letter from me sharing things that I have found notable and engaging for the week.

I’m Jamie Thingelstad, and this is the Weekly Thing. Check out previous issues at .

I’m Jamie Thingelstad, and this is my Weekly Thing. Did you know that you can also get this via your favorite feed reader using the ? Hooray for the !

I’m Jamie Thingelstad. You’re getting this email because you signed up for the Weekly Thing. I appreciate you being here, but if you don’t want these emails any longer, simply unsubscribe.

I’m Jamie Thingelstad, and this is the Weekly Thing. You signed up on my website. If you’d like to , just click that link. One-click, all done, goodbye.

I’m Jamie Thingelstad, and this is the Weekly Thing. You can read this and click on links while knowing that your privacy is preserved. There are no tracking pixels or masked links, and never will be!

Hi, I’m Jamie Thingelstad, and this is the Weekly Thing. Isn’t that witty? I send this , and it is full of various . What would I call it if my last name didn’t start with thing? I have no idea!

I’m Jamie Thingelstad, and this is the Weekly Thing. One of the delights of sending this email is hearing from you! Hit reply and say Hi…

Hi, I’m Jamie Thingelstad, and this is the Weekly Thing! At some point, you decided to join me on this exploratory journey of technology, culture, leadership, privacy, and many other topics.

I’m Jamie Thingelstad, and you (in theory) signed up for this weekly letter from me sharing things that I have found notable and engaging for the week.

I’m Jamie Thingelstad, and this is the Weekly Thing. Check out previous issues at .

I’m Jamie Thingelstad, and this is my Weekly Thing. Did you know that you can also get this via your favorite feed reader using the ? Hooray for the !

I’m Jamie Thingelstad. You’re getting this email because you signed up for the Weekly Thing. I appreciate you being here, but if you don’t want these emails any longer, simply unsubscribe.

I’m Jamie Thingelstad, and this is the Weekly Thing. You signed up on my website. If you’d like to , just click that link. One-click, all done, goodbye. 👋

I’m Jamie Thingelstad, and this is the Weekly Thing. You can read this, click on articles, all while knowing that your privacy is preserved and nobody is watching you. There are no tracking pixels or masked links here, and never will be!

Hi, I’m Jamie Thingelstad, and this is the Weekly Thing. Isn’t that witty? I send this , and it is full of various . What would I call it if my last name didn’t start with thing? I have no idea!

I’m Jamie Thingelstad, and this is the Weekly Thing. One of the delights of sending this email is hearing from you! Hit reply and say Hi…

Hi, I’m Jamie Thingelstad, and this is the Weekly Thing! At some point, you decided to join me on this exploratory journey of technology, culture, leadership, privacy, and many other topics.