Hello! I don’t want to become one of those people who opens every newsletter with “Happy Friday,” but after making the round-trip cross-country trek to Apple HQ, I am ready to marry Friday.
I’m also going to admit something: I need a brief break from thinking about AI and big tech news. Not a permanent break. More of a long weekend. So today’s Thing of the Week is about cord organization. Yes, I’m going to tell you how I straightened out the mess of cables in my closet. This is where I am now.
Then, how to take control of your Instagram algorithm—kind of. And an old Apple Newton that reminds us Apple can be wrong, wildly early and still somehow right at the same time.
Here’s the assumption I’m making today: If you subscribe to this newsletter, you’re interested enough in technology to feel sentimental about old cords and connectors. You—or at least someone you love—are nerdy enough to look at an old DVI cable and think, “Well, you just never know.”
As I often tell my wife: If someone needs a Micro USB cable—or 10 of them—I want to be the one they call. The same goes for some ancient dongle that once connected my laptop to a projector in 2009. You laugh now, but when the day comes and you urgently need a MiniDisplayPort-to-VGA adapter, I will be at the ready.
So when I left the Wall Street Journal and started New Things, I had to reorganize my entire home office/attic to make room for the new studio, cameras and gear. That also meant a bunch of cords and old tech came home from my WSJ office and joined the already thriving Museum of Ancient Cords (MoAC) in my closet. Its permanent collection was robust but needed some curating.
I thought hard about this job. Did I ask Claude and ChatGPT for a little help? Maybe. But mostly, I studied photos of other people’s cord-storage systems. I’m not promising this is the correct way to organize your cord closet, cord box or cord satchel. I simply offer my way—which, by the way, is a cheap and easy way:
Cable wraps. I started by laying out all my cords and sorting them into piles by type: Micro USB, Mini USB, HDMI, Ethernet, DVI, USB-C, Lightning, 30-pin iPhone/iPad cables. The list goes on. Yes, I cut back and threw some away in each category. Hi, Marie Kondo, if you’re reading this. 👋🏻 I dropped them off at a local spot that takes e-waste. Then I wrapped each cable into a circle and secured it with a cable tie. I used mostly black ones, plus a few colored ones I already had from Best Buy. Here’s a pack you can get on Amazon.
Bags. Each cord family went into a Ziploc bag labeled with a Sharpie: Ethernet, Micro USB, Mini USB, HDMI, you get the point. This is not glamorous, but neither is spending 20 minutes looking for the one cable you swear you wrapped and put in that box.
Boxes. Then I threw the cords in one big box and labeled it…ALL THE CORDS. Clever. This big box joined lots of other big boxes full of tech in my new tech closet. (Told you it was a big redesign.) I also bought a smaller slide-out box labeled COMMONLY USED for the USB-C and Lightning cables I reach for the most, plus the dongles I still use but don’t want living permanently in my desk.
The pride I now feel looking at my work? I assume it’s what Monet felt looking at his water lilies. I’d love to see your cord systems OR your cable chaos. Maybe we’ll feature some of the best next week. We’re building a community here at New Things, one that’s safe for people who still have at least five FireWire cables.
Customize your Instagram algorithm
This week, Instagram head Adam Mosseri announced “Talking to Your Algorithm,” where users can tell Instagram what they want to see in their feeds—cooking videos, interior design inspiration or whatever hyper-specific rabbit hole they’re deep into at the moment.
This isn’t a radical move, to be fair. Instagram has long let users tell the algorithm they want to see less of certain kinds of posts. What’s different now is that Instagram is making it much clearer what it thinks you’re interested in and giving you a more direct way to steer it.
Meta’s summary of my algorithm was pretty dead on: “Lately you've been into machine learning breakthroughs, investigative reporting and high-performance vehicles.” Not sure where the vehicles came from, but sure. Actually, wait, I did watch one Mark Rober video with a Rivian R2.
This all points to the bigger trend across Instagram and social media: It’s no longer just about who you follow. It’s about what you watch, linger on and engage with. So yes, this new feature gives you a little more control. But let’s be clear: these companies still want to preserve algorithmic control over your feed while giving you the impression that you’re in the driver’s seat.
Here’s how to review and tailor those recommendations so you’re more in control:
Go to your profile and click on the three lines in the top right corner
Scroll down to the What you see section and select Content preferences
Tap Your algorithm
You’ll see a summary of what the platform says you’re currently into (thanks, in large part, to what it feeds you). Then below you can review, delete, edit and add topics.
See the fruits of your labor in your main feed and reels. (You can still tap the Instagram logo and switch to the Following feed.)
No promises that this will completely alter your feed, but here’s to trying!
Name: Donald Hawk
What's your old thing? Apple Newton Message 120
What year is your old thing from? 1994
Why do you love your old thing? I had the original Newton and later upgraded to this model. A friend at work and I were the only ones who had them, and we used to take notes in meetings with them. I remember the weird character squiggles that you needed to make with the stylus. I just popped in four AA batteries, and it still works! I had to try it.
This newsletter was written and curated by Joanna Stern and Adele Lowitz. Have a great weekend. I’ll be spending mine with the new Siri, trying to convince her we can be more than just friends.
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