AI RSS

I recently tried out upgrading from the Claude “Pro” plan (£20/mo) to the “Max” one (£90/mo).#

But I haven’t really noticed any benefits. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great. But so is the Pro plan – it was rare for me to hit usage limits. So with Max I haven’t once got close to hitting its usage limits. So it’s a bit of a waste of money I think, and I’m going to downgrade.#

I've been a paying user of the RSS feed reader service NewsBlur for 11 years11 I used the free plan at first. First signing up on January 25, 2013. and it's done its job well.#

And whilst it has some nifty features I'm sure,22 I noticed quite a few new ones when I checked last week. Mainly AI-based stuff. I've always just used it for syncing the read/unread status of my feed subscriptions so NetNewsWire is in sync on my Mac and iPhone.#

Each year when it was due for renewal I'd look at its competitors and they were always similarly priced. And then I'd look at the self-hosted options, which there were always quite a few. But they were either not supported by NetNewsWire or looked like a faff to install and maintain. So I just let NewsBlur renew.#

But this year AI is a powerful tool. So when I noticed NetNewsWire supports the self-hosted FreshRSS I just asked Claude Code to install it on my Linode VPS. Forty minutes later it was up and running.33 I went overkill and used Claude Fable 5.1 on the task. Forty minutes is a long time. But it did a bunch of tests and it went away and even freed up storage on my Linode VPS.#

I'm happier self-hosting an RSS syncing service than most other things because it's so easy to backup. I just need to export the OPML file and I can easily move to another platform if FreshRSS doesn't work out.#

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I feel a bit bad for leaving NewsBlur. It's just run by a guy and his dog. And for years he would try and convince you to sign up to the premium plan by saying that it would "feed his dog" Shiloh. It was cute. Sadly it looks like Shiloh has died.44 And it looks like he has a new dog now, called Lyric. But I like to think he got his money's worth out of me.55 It started at $24/yr in 2015. Now it looks like it's $36/yr. And who knows, maybe I'll be back when my Linode server blows up (I hope not – it's the same server that powers this blog).#

There needs to be a name for the disappointment of someone showing you something at work that's clearly AI generated.#

Especially when it has been done last minute and not even humanised a bit.#

They're trying to run you through it. But they know about as much of the contents as you do.#

And it's always so long. And lacking basic, but important context/knowledge that a human would know.#

AI is in its Uber era. The leaked finances of Anthropic and OpenAI show both spending more than they earn, with venture capital covering the gap. You get a great deal today. The playbook is is the same as companies like Uber: lose money until rivals fold and you can't work without the service, then raise prices.#

On a Claude Pro or Max plan, Anthropic probably spends £4–5 on compute for every £1 you pay.#

AI slop had made it to magazine covers.#

I saw this Sherlock Holmes magazine in WHSmiths at Victoria Station.#

I’m sure it saved them £200-500 in paying a designer and the moneyfolk rubbed their hands together with glee.#

But I didn’t buy it because of its awful AI cover (I love Sherlock Holmes and would enjoy this magazine, I’m sure. And the contents looked decent enough). How many others have skipped it because of the AI art? You wonder if that money they saved was cancelled out by lost sales.#

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@ns123abc on Xwitter:#

The [Anthropic] prospectus warns that nearly 25% of revenue came from just TWO customers, and that many top enterprise clients aren't locked into long-term contracts and could cut spending or walk away anytime.#

How are two companies contributing 25% of their revenue. That’s insane.#

I have to admit, I’ve soured slightly on A.I.recently. I use it everyday, but my love for it has lessened of late. Partly as I’m worried about the future. Maybe there’s a limit to how good it can get and it’s not that far away. Or maybe we’re currently in the “internet in 2001 stage” and it’s going to go from strength to strength.#

Anyway, I got Claude Code to build an entire blogging service for me from scratch in one prompt. It was miraculous. I typed something, it thought for 58 minutes, and then I had my own custom blogging platform, designed how I like it.#

And I’ve been refining it since and it’s just as easy. Amazing.#

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