Linked List: March 18, 2025

Tuesday, 18 March 2025

Hyperspace 1.1 

New (well, newish) Mac app from John Siracusa:

Hyperspace searches for files with identical contents within one or more folders. If it finds any, it can then reclaim the disk space taken by all but one of the identical files — without removing any of the files!

You can learn more about how this is done, if you’re interested, but the short version is that Hyperspace uses a standard feature of the macOS file system: space-saving clones. The Finder does the same thing when you duplicate a file.

I love everything about this app. I love the name — it “works” in like at least three ways. I love that it’s right up Siracusa’s alley. I love that Siracusa has talked about it, at wonderful length, on ATP and expounded upon it on his blog. I love that the premise sounds a little crazy but the explanation makes all the sense in the world. I love that this small, laser-focused utility is fully and splendidly documented. I love the way it looks. It’s got a great icon. I mean of course it would, but still, let’s celebrate how fun this is.

Saturday Night Live’s Cue Cards 

Not new, but new to me, is this delightful 7-minute short with a behind-the-scenes look at SNL’s cue card team, led by longtime main cue card guy Wally Feresten. Sometimes you just can’t beat analog.

Chris Ware on Richard Scarry and the Art of Children’s Literature 

As a kid I loved Richard Scarry’s books. As an adult I loved (and love) Chris Ware’s graphic novels. As a parent I loved reading Scarry’s books, again, with my son. So of course this essay from Ware, commemorating the 50th anniversary edition of Scarry’s Cars and Trucks and Things That Go, hit hard for me. Bet it will for you too.