Doing some digital archaeology this morning with my newly built personal digital assistant1 that can dig into my past publications. This is so fun and empowering.

  1. Maybe I should give it a name? Numeric Citizen Assistant? Or what about my Digital Gofer? Or Numeric Citizen Gofer? ↩︎

Bye Bye Flipboard

Today I deleted my Flipboard account, one of the first iPad apps I used daily. I was using it to cross-post content to a Flipboard magazine, hoping it would attract more readers, but it didn’t gain much popularity. As a user, I also didn’t rely on this service for content consumption, preferring an RSS sync service with my preferred client. I like the concept of flipping cards; it was novel back then, but not anymore.

From a problem to a solution

In today’s world, it is surprisingly easy to go from a problem to a viable solution in just a few hours. The problem: I can’t query my published content hosted on Ghost beyond using the basic search capabilities1. Now, with the Ghost API endpoint, a Postgres-hosted SaaS, an n8n sync workflow, a Claude Skill, and Claude Desktop, I can.

Now, I wonder if I could reproduce this design for querying Micro.blog content. Let me ask Claude AI. Stay tuned.

  1. Searching the article content base for research purposes is super useful. I can’t remember when I talked about a specific subject. ↩︎

I’ve been posting a few things on Moments recently. It’s another experiment, and I’ve liked it so far. It’s very niche, but it’s fun. I like Snapseed, my main app for creating these images. Below is an embed using an iFrame; I’m not sure how it will render, if at all.

Really looking forward to Sept 9th next iPhone launch

I enjoy the weekend before the fall iPhone launch because of the unpredictability of last-minute leaks. It’s especially thrilling when it’s the year you’re planning to upgrade to a new iPhone. Upgrading from the 15 Pro Max to the 18 Pro Max will certainly feel like quite a significant upgrade. Also, I’m really looking forward to John Ternus’s first keynote. Will there be a one more thing? Would it be too easy, too early, during his first keynote to present a one more thing?

The one problem: I won’t be able to watch the live feed, and I might have a family thing at night that day… 🫤

The Best Gift

Today might be one of the few times I visit Facebook1😔. I’ll do so to acknowledge those who write, “Hi JF, happy birthday, and have a great day.” 🙂 and thank them. Over the years, fewer people bother to run their automated yearly greetings; they know I’m not active on Facebook. However, many, even if they have my phone number, don’t switch to iMessage to send their wishes.😔 True friends acknowledge my stance with Meta and choose to skip Facebook, sending their best wishes the right way. 🫠 Not posting on Facebook to say “hi” is a birthday gift itself. 🎁

  1. I still have a Facebook account but don’t use it; I use it to respond to people who don’t know anything other than Messenger. ↩︎