I stumbled across someone’s GitHub project the other day that got me thinking about the peculiar challenges of raising kids in 2025. A developer built an entire approval system for YouTube because they wanted their child to access educational content without getting sucked into the algorithm’s vortex of brain rot. It’s called BrainRotGuard, and it’s exactly what it sounds like – a parental gateway where every video request goes through Telegram for approval before the kid can watch it.

The digital world never ceases to amaze me with its peculiar approach to seemingly simple problems. Discord’s latest feature rollout - the ability to “ignore” users - has got me thinking about how we handle uncomfortable social situations in our increasingly online world.

Remember the good old days when ignoring someone meant literally pretending they weren’t there at the pub? Now we need software features to achieve the same effect, and somehow, they still don’t quite get it right. Discord’s new ignore feature joins their existing block feature in what feels like a masterclass in unnecessarily complicated solutions.

Reading through various online discussions about taking time off during the holiday season has sparked some thoughts about our relationship with work in this always-connected digital age. The story of a fast-food manager finally clocking out for the year particularly resonated with me.

Working in tech, I’m perpetually tethered to Slack, emails, and various project management tools. The concept of truly disconnecting feels almost foreign sometimes. Just yesterday, while enjoying my morning batch brew at Patricia Coffee on Little Bourke Street, I caught myself habitually checking work messages despite being officially on leave.