Joe Rosensteel 🏳️‍🌈

VFX artist, and nerd in LA. Personal blog: joe-steel.com Podcasts: defocused.co VFX reel: artofjoe.com he/him

"Movie" Podcast: http://defocused.co
“Tech” Blog: http://joe-steel.com
Pixelfed: https://pixelfed.social/joesteel
Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/joesteel/

Public Key

npub1nyw4lxwxpzpqrlrp07cjvv7xl5ftldjqmygn5gd3ktxny5nf4jzs2wjar0

NIP-05 Address

joesteel_at_duck.haus@momostr.pink

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsfj82ln8rq3qspl3shlvfxx0r06y4lkeqdjyf6yxcm9nfj2f56epgprpmhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0d4hhxarj9ecxjmntqyv8wumn8ghj7un9d3shjtnndehhyapwwdhkx6tpdsfecsk4

Publishing to

relay.momostr.pink

relay.snort.social

nostr.mom

Author Public Key

npub1nyw4lxwxpzpqrlrp07cjvv7xl5ftldjqmygn5gd3ktxny5nf4jzs2wjar0

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Last Notes

2026-09-28 18:25:41 UTC

Ducks in a row.
https://cdn.masto.host/duckhaus/media_attachments/files/117/350/068/073/288/725/original/0cf907ab5673c3e3.jpeg

2026-09-26 20:46:25 UTC

Interesting video on a cheap synth that’s modeled on the Yamaha DX7
https://youtu.be/fyUoCwaRXLM

2026-09-14 15:44:47 UTC

https://cdn.masto.host/duckhaus/media_attachments/files/117/270/162/910/357/493/original/0e76721cca4b8a09.jpeg
https://cdn.masto.host/duckhaus/media_attachments/files/117/270/163/191/887/720/original/692681ddccc96b78.jpeg

2026-05-21 14:36:55 UTC

What happened to make people think that they can just watch videos with the sound coming out of their phone speakers in public places?

2025-12-08 06:27:28 UTC

Good bye, Tokyo.
https://cdn.masto.host/duckhaus/media_attachments/files/115/682/492/153/757/850/original/001fa918aa81e2fa.jpeg
https://cdn.masto.host/duckhaus/media_attachments/files/115/682/492/940/268/969/original/99dddda5d06d8105.jpeg
https://cdn.masto.host/duckhaus/media_attachments/files/115/682/495/204/347/467/original/33d47d0593134b9a.jpeg
https://cdn.masto.host/duckhaus/media_attachments/files/115/682/496/214/404/467/original/d553c014f5908e4b.jpeg

2025-09-28 18:36:46 UTC

I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned them before, but there are two sisters that make Armenian baked goods and do pop-up sales. Unfortunately, they rely on their Instagram for getting the word out about when they do pop-ups so there’s one going on right now until they sell out at Halfday Coffee in Jefferson Park in LA. https://www.instagram.com/p/DPDRxF1jjNe/
Jason and I split a few from thebhz. Harissa and za’atar bun, spicy cheese borek, and pistachio bun.
https://cdn.masto.host/duckhaus/media_attachments/files/115/283/368/445/426/645/original/b59e547c54541d65.jpeg

2025-09-12 17:29:15 UTC

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Sounds about right. 2.45 million is still a lot of review units.

2025-09-12 17:12:51 UTC

Does anyone buy these? Now that James Bond doesn’t have to use them do they only build enough to send out review units to YouTubers and influencers?
https://mastodon.social/@verge/115191015095394223

2025-08-19 23:48:02 UTC

I want you to pop into a time machine and explain this to someone in 2005.
https://mastodon.social/@verge/115057400292147670

2025-08-05 17:25:07 UTC

… Howdy?
https://mastodon.social/@verge/114976869861439480

2025-07-10 22:49:24 UTC

As a former Wemo smart plug owner: Good riddance. https://mastodon.online/@9to5Mac/114830460089258403

2025-06-11 16:00:35 UTC

Dia? More like DOA, amirite?
https://www.diabrowser.com/

2025-05-12 19:16:59 UTC

“It’s Altman’s spin on ‘they make you sick to sell you the cure.’ Create a machine that turns the internet into unreadable shit, spend years trying figuring out how to make it too addicting to quit, and then when we’re hooked, argue we need to kill anonymity online to fix it. And not only does Altman own the internet enshittifier company, look at that, he also owns the anonymity killing company too.” https://www.garbageday.email/p/sam-altman-wants-your-eyeballs

2025-05-09 23:14:12 UTC

lol
https://mastodon.online/@9to5Mac/114480395917267835

2025-04-09 01:04:26 UTC

Does someone want to tell me where the toggle to turn off *promotional* notifications in Music is? Because I can’t find it.
I absolutely know how to turn off all notifications for the app, but that is not the point that I’m making here.
https://cdn.masto.host/duckhaus/media_attachments/files/114/305/312/695/005/786/original/9853dce06ee55b73.jpeg
https://cdn.masto.host/duckhaus/media_attachments/files/114/305/313/092/656/437/original/4e65838cf42afc26.png

2025-03-30 14:35:58 UTC

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So strange. I don’t want to be a part of it

2025-03-30 14:13:02 UTC

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Of course she kept this FaceTime call going while she placed her coffee order at the front of the line…

2025-03-30 14:08:41 UTC

Have you ever been waiting in line behind someone that’s using FaceTime to have a video conversation that’s really only a speakerphone conversation? The person in front of me has the front facing camera pointed into her ear, and the person on the other end has their camera pointed at the ceiling light fixture. It’s not that I am trying to snoop, this person doesn’t seem to want to have a private conversation. I don’t get it. Just call them? Is this a failure of FaceTime audio’s branding?

2025-03-05 16:55:33 UTC

“Also ‘interesting’ is the pair’s belief that most moderation can be done by AI …” https://mastodon.online/@9to5Mac/114109952520478003

2025-02-26 22:45:12 UTC

Do you usually alternate between sips of espresso and the sparkling water or do you have all of the espresso and then all of the sparkling water? (I am not above using an out-focus doggo to encourage engagement)
https://cdn.masto.host/duckhaus/media_attachments/files/114/072/610/879/516/171/original/5d30dc0fa996c83c.jpeg

2025-02-18 00:42:21 UTC

https://cdn.masto.host/duckhaus/media_attachments/files/114/022/110/747/943/678/original/f2487131ac70afb0.png

2025-02-09 16:26:52 UTC

New York bagels are … fine.

2025-01-25 18:03:07 UTC

“Tim Cook Is Failing Us”
“So yes, I do hold Tim to a higher standard than these other robber barons, but that’s because Tim claims he holds himself to those high standards. I am measuring him against the ruler that he has provided and he comes up short.”
https://joe-steel.com/2025-01-25-Tim-Cook-Is-Failing-Us.html

2025-01-24 18:31:04 UTC

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Oh wow would you look at, so funny or whatever. What great content.

2025-01-24 18:30:13 UTC

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Here’s that YouTube video Variety embedded if you just want to skip it all.
https://youtu.be/wA75GsU4Neg
https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/severance-apple-tim-cook-video-innie-1236284566/

2025-01-24 18:22:22 UTC

I don’t know if I can pivot from Tim Cook attending Trump’s inauguration to him being in a cutesy Severance promo in the same week. A video posted to X by Ben Stiller, and quoted on X by Tim Cook. After all this they still use X even though it is wholly unnecessary. No one can shame bloggers/journalists into not embedding the posts from X on sites.
It’s also on YouTube, but Variety is the only site that embedded that, and not the posts from X. Get your shit together when fawning over promos.

2025-01-14 23:24:10 UTC

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Blogged a little about my first impressions of Pixelfed. Obviously, I don't want to judge them too harshly on the day the iOS app launched, but I'm working through my thought process in public from the perspective of an Instagram replacement.
https://joe-steel.com/2025-01-14-The-Quest-to-Replace-Instagram-Part-I.html

2025-01-14 19:25:27 UTC

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I was testing image bounds (NERD) and uploaded a pano. It never showed up. I selected some other images and it ate those too. So not sure things are going smoothly over there on mobile app launch day. The app didn’t report any error so … not ideal.

2025-01-14 18:14:22 UTC

Ok… I downloaded the Pixelfed mobile app and created an account. I don’t love that it’s all owned by Daniel Supernault, since it could go very Matt Mullenweg. Onboarding experience could be better. The big Pixelfed.social server seems a little overloaded. Honestly, the thing that disappointments me the most is the image compression. I wonder if self-hosting has better control over that, but I don’t want to self-host (seriously, look at the instructions for that).
https://pixelfed.social/joesteel

2025-01-10 05:20:01 UTC

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I wonder if the lack of compassion is how he wound up with wealth, or if the wealth dulled some compassion he might have once had?

2025-01-10 04:54:06 UTC

“Alex Schultz, the company’s chief marketing officer and highest-ranking gay executive, suggested in an internal post that people seeing their queer friends and family members abused on Facebook and Instagram could lead to increased support for LGBTQ rights.”
Fuck off, Alex.
https://www.platformer.news/meta-new-trans-guidelines-hate-speech/

2024-10-09 18:31:41 UTC

I see Zoom has reached Dropbox and Slack levels of “we don't understand why people use our product but need to keep making bold moves”
https://mastodon.social/@verge/113278766614361911

2024-10-07 22:40:37 UTC

Not really related to Craig's question (sorry Craig but I'll boost you anyway) I’ve also been wondering how many people mix and match dark/light options. I have a strong preference for one, so I'm certainly glad there are these options.
https://mastodon.social/@chockenberry/113268468949294561

2024-10-07 14:58:06 UTC

Our waxy candy corn factory is making too much waxy candy corn.
https://www.threads.net/@mosseri/post/DA01Sd8vtm6

2024-09-19 01:00:16 UTC

“Lionsgate vice chair Michael Burns described it as a path toward creating ‘capital-efficient content creation opportunities’ for the studio…”
🤡
https://mastodon.social/@verge/113160172369081907

2024-09-09 19:16:06 UTC

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I remain skeptical that Apple withholding Apple Intelligence is as much about punishing the EU as it is Apple just not really having language support ready for it to be effective, or even worth the back and forth with regulators over. It seems like it is just really convenient to blame it on the regulatory environment while you’re actually working on it.

2024-09-09 18:01:52 UTC

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Extremely interested to find out how well the tiny camera control surface works with various iPhone cases instead of just making this a physical button.

2024-09-09 17:53:14 UTC

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The kids learning to crochet with Aunt Fiona over the years

2024-09-09 17:47:48 UTC

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I would compare these chip segments to a business to business video but they don’t sell these to other companies.

2024-09-09 17:42:47 UTC

OK. I turned on the infomercial. The CG hands are still extremely bad.

2024-08-21 22:45:10 UTC

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I am highly skeptical of launching anything that is only “family friendly”. It has be served up alongside something else. It’s like a grocery store chain that only sells rutabagas. Maybe their strategy isn’t to make a full blown service but a FAST channel that can survive as “family friendly” because it’s alongside stuff normal people want to watch? I don’t know but they clearly have too much money if this is a priority for them.

2024-08-21 21:30:51 UTC

Chicken Sandwich for the Soulless Entertainment
They can have that one for free! I’m a kind and generous homosexual. Maybe they can buy up those Redbox and Crackle assets.
Ironic that the two examples of branded streaming entertainment in the story are gay. Something tells me they’re not going to hire Bob the Drag Queen.
https://deadline.com/2024/08/chick-fil-a-hatches-streaming-service-1236044196/

2024-08-15 19:07:41 UTC

I think if I had a time machine I would go back to when I was kid and tell myself, “Pretend you don’t know anything about computers. If they ever think you know something they’ll ask you why their android phone has static, or if their windows laptop has been hacked.”

2024-08-06 17:36:43 UTC

Well… at least they aren’t using the 68LC040…
https://cdn.masto.host/duckhaus/media_attachments/files/112/916/286/642/069/515/original/be68dc888731c288.jpeg