InTheCut
Useful before impressive.
Short notes and letters on building useful things. Pick the lists you want, skip the rest.
Daily
One short note a day: something useful, a song and a line worth keeping.
- Cadence:
- Every day
Weekly letter
The longer letter: what I built, what I learned and what I would do again.
- Cadence:
- Once a week
- Latest:
- Useful before impressive October 7, 2026
Saturday Slate
This week's pick'em slate, the games worth watching and last week's results.
- Cadence:
- Saturdays in season
Build Log
What shipped, how it was built and the tools behind it.
- Cadence:
- When something ships
The thesis
Useful before impressive.
InTheCut means two things, and I want both. In film editing, the cut is what survives: every frame you kept because it earned its place. In everyday talk, being in the cut means tucked away, where the good stuff hides. This is where I put what survived and what's hard to find.
“Have nothing in your houses that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.”
I'm Rocky. I build websites, brands and AI systems out of St. George, Utah, and I run a football pick'em with friends. Everything I'm any good at, I learned by making something useful for one real person and then making it better.
That's the whole idea. Useful before impressive. Every day there's one thing worth keeping: a song, a quote, a recipe, a tool, a pick. Every claim links to where it came from, and if I can't check it, I leave it out.
“A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that worked.”
It's for anyone building something. Creators, small-business owners, gamers, the people in your football group chat. You don't have to be technical. You have to be curious and a little tired of noise.
“For the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.”
What you won't get: hype, filler, or a sponsored hot take dressed up as advice. No countdown timers, no fear of missing out. If I point you at something, I've used it.
Four lists. Take what you want.
Archive
RSS feed| Useful before impressive | Weekly letter 001 | October 7, 2026 |
Questions
What is InTheCut?
My own publication, on my own site. Short notes and letters about building useful things, from St. George, Utah. The name works two ways: the cut is what survives the edit, and in the cut is where the good stuff hides.
How often does it come?
It depends on the list. The daily note comes every day, the weekly letter once a week, the Saturday Slate on Saturdays in season, and the Build Log when something ships.
Which lists can I pick?
Any mix of Daily, Weekly letter, Saturday Slate and Build Log. You choose when you sign up, and you can change it later from the link in any email.
Is it free?
Yes. There is nothing to buy, and your address is never sold.
How do I unsubscribe?
Every email has a one-click unsubscribe link for its own list. You can also change your lists from your account page if you have one. Details are on the privacy page.
How your address is handled
You enter your email, we send a confirmation link, and you are subscribed only after you open it. We keep your address and a record of when and how you agreed. If you unsubscribe, that is all we keep, so the choice sticks. Your address is never sold, and it goes only to the email service that delivers the mail. Details are on the privacy page.