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Today's topics:

Fastmail adds EU data region - Fastmail now offers an EU data region with primary email and file storage in Amsterdam, giving users more control over data residency. The update matters for privacy, compliance, and trust, even though some backups, logs, and metadata may still cross regions.

DNS flag for domains on sale - A proposed DNS TXT standard would let domain owners mark a domain as for sale without taking the website offline. It could improve domain discovery, broker workflows, and machine-readable availability checks across the web.

Rooted Android phone as server - One self-hosting experiment replaces a VPS with a rooted Android phone running services from home. Using Android plus Linux-style tooling, it shows how modern phones can support small but resilient personal infrastructure.

Shopify rewrites reservations in MySQL - Shopify moved checkout inventory reservations from Redis into MySQL so reservations and stock updates live in one ACID-backed system. The engineering story highlights concurrency, flash-sale reliability, lock handling, and database connection limits at scale.

Smarter A* and visual QR - A* pathfinding can be sped up with differential heuristics, while dithered QR codes blend scannability with recognizable images. Both pieces show how smart constraints can improve performance and design without replacing the underlying system.

Gruber retracts App Store criticism - John Gruber retracted a post criticizing App Store review after learning the underlying claim was wrong. The episode is a notable reminder about source verification, public correction, and the risks of fast-moving platform commentary.

Retro OS and eclipse planning - A graphical operating system for the IBM PC/XT brings a GUI and multitasking to classic 8088 hardware, while eclipse planners study viewing conditions for the August 12, 2026 total solar eclipse. Together they offer one retro computing surprise and one timely skywatching update.

-Fastmail Adds EU Data Region Choice
-_for-sale DNS Records Let Domains Advertise Availability in DNS
-How a Rooted Phone Replaced a VPS
-Using Landmarks to Improve A* Heuristics
-How Dithered QR Codes Hide Images Inside Scannable Codes
-Shopify Replaced Redis with MySQL for Inventory Reservations
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