A UI preference became a mood, then a brand, then a personality test we did not ask for. How dark mode left the settings panel and quietly entered the self.
Technology
Tools, defaults, and the habits they quietly install.
Dashboards promised control; they delivered the same grid, again. On the visual language that ate the web—cards, charts, and a sidebar standing in for thought.
A short inventory of software that survived, and the one that finally did not. Three tools I still open every week, and one I closed without a replacement.