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Dear Mobile Apps Developers
Dear iOS developers, dear @Substack, when building screenshots for the App Store, show us your software, not the device on which it is running. Thank you. With love. The Direction. Continue reading ā
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Pausing My Apple Studio Display Buying Decision
Well, after a promising start, following reviews of the Apple Studio display, it seems that Iāll put my buying decision on hold. As I wrote, one of the reasons why Iām considering this display is the integrated camera and speakers for a better video conference experience. It appears image quality is not good at all, judging by the examples posted online. Itās close to being a deal breaker. Apparently, the Apple Studio display is running a version of iOS 15. Continue reading ā
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āThe Mac Studio contains radical innards in a plain exteriorā
Benjamin Mayo in Apple Introduces MacĀ Studio: āā¦the introduction of a brand new model of Mac is precisely the best time to do something entirely new.ā And āThe Mac Studio is a boring box with rounded corners, and has no party tricks to speak of. The trashcan was a truly wild, out-there, design.ā I share the same sentiment. A new form-factor is a rare thing from Apple. An elongated Mac mini doesnāt do justice the Mac Studio interior, even less to its name. Continue reading ā
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Two Years Agoā¦
On March 13th, in 2020, the world flipped, my world flipped. So many things are different now. This short blog post is about reflecting on the last two years and how they became the foundation for what is to come in my life. Time flies and making judicious decisions is more important than ever. Working from home is important. Iāll never return full time at the office. Even if I move to another job, working from home is now a requirement. Continue reading ā
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Peek Performance, Low Interest
Itās now official. Apple will host another virtual event next week, on March 8th. Itās the first Apple event of 2022, but itās far from being the first real event of 2022. Current events happening in Ukraine are troubling and make me pause on a lot of things. Apple-related stuff is one of these. Iām not in the mood for that. My thoughts and energy are diverted, seized. I donāt care if itās a new iPhone SE, a beefed up Mac mini or whatever else. Continue reading ā
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Apple is Finally Showing Courage
I asked for this since the beginning of the Ukrainian war (on Twitter: first here, then here, then here), and today Apple delivered. Appleās products are no longer being sold through its online store. While the App Store is still working apparently, Iām ok with their decision. On top of that, Apple will donate money, twice the amount that employees will give to help Ukrainians. Itās a good move, the only move, without using real arms, to make an impact. Continue reading ā
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Going Downwards
I don’t know about you but I find current events in Ukraine very disturbing and distracting. As much as Iām happy to see Russia being more and more isolated every hour, I can see its leader being more and more pissed off and willing to commit the worst. The world seems to go in a spiralling direction toward even more violence and hard to resolve situations. Continue reading ā
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A Message for Ukrainians
The news of the Russian criminal invasion of its sovereign neighbour, Ukraine, is appalling. Putin and his regime is committing an aggression that shall be punished, at the right time, at the right place with the right means. I cannot believe that weāre seeing such an invasion in Europe, in 2022. Whatās next? Whoās next? Weāre all going to suffer at various degrees from this utterly criminal invasion. I pay no respect to Putin, his government, his propaganda machine and every single Russian who support this aggression. Continue reading ā
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On Time Machine Backups Over Network
If you own a desktop Mac, you probably use an external drive for Time Machine. If you use a portable Mac, most likely not, and according to the Tidbits article, youāre not alone. The portability of the Mac is hindered by having an external drive hooked permanently. I, personally, have a different strategy: I use a Synology NAS DS720+ with Time Machine enabled to do my backups over the wireless network. Continue reading ā
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Still Mystified by ProRAW
Even after reading this excellent article by the guy behind Halide, Iām still mystified by Appleās ProRAW format. The question that keeps popping up in my mind is: if computational photography processing is involved in creating the ProRAW file (in DNG format), how can we still call this a variant of a RAW image? Photo credit: Jason Strull on Unsplash Continue reading ā
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Dune Movie - Woah!
Today, I finally saw the Dune movie, by the Canadian director, Denis Villeneuve. As a Canadian myself Iām so proud of him! Itās not a movie review, far from it. Let me just say that when I think about this movie, the word āequilibriumā comes to my mind. The movie is well balanced: storyline, intrigue, visual effects (visual effects serving the story), music, Duneās world imaginary world. But the best for me were those āornithoptersā. Continue reading ā
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Old Computer-Related Memories
From 1993 to 1994, I owned a PowerBook Duo 210 sporting a trackball, a low-profile keyboard and a grayscale screen. I didnāt like the trackball as the pointing device. The keyboard wasnāt that great either. But, it was small, highly portable. Coupled with the Duo Dock and an external monitor, it was a cool and novel setup. Itās been a long time ago. This article was written using a M1 MacBook Air, in a coffee shop. Continue reading ā
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On Carrot Weather ā Is It That Cool?
Why is Carrot Weather so popular? Iām a weather enthusiast and I like trying new weather-related applications. I use many all year long, but Carrot Weather is not part of my application arsenal. They recently introduced updated weather maps, but to get a sense of them, I would need to subscribe for a year subscription. Most of the interesting features are available in the premium tier. I like the maps feature, but I wonder how better they will get compared to the ones that Iām already using in MyRadar. Continue reading ā
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My Oldest Post
Going back in time on previously published content can be the source of a few smiles. My oldest post on my main blog is about Micro.blog. Here is an excerpt: This morning I found out the existence of a blogging platform called Micro.blog. Something very special. Very lean. Very light. Without ads. Leaner than WordPress. Yet capable. Close to Twitter but with less clutter. Itās funny. Itās not about introducing my blog or something like āhelloā world. Continue reading ā
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Challenge of the day: exporting posts from WordPress to Ghost
Well, well, well, it seems that data portability among CMS is an issue. Who knew! I’m trying to find an easy way to move a few posts from my WordPress blog into my Ghost website. Exporting data from WordPress seems like an all-or-nothing situation. There are a few plugins available for this. The problem is that the content isn’t easily imported into Ghost. The latter does have a plugin, but it doesn’t support selecting posts. Continue reading ā
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Health of Developer Relations with Apple in Free Fall
According to this yearās Six Colors Report Card, relationships between Apple and its developers’ community is in terrible shape. The trend isnāt looking good either. Marco Arment said, āAppleās tightening grip on App Store fees, attempts to reach into other parts of businesses that they donāt deserve, and extremely entitled and galling statements on the matter continue to be distasteful and extremely damaging to their reputation. It seems like a huge strategic blunder to inflame developer relations, generate bad PR, invite more regulatory scrutiny, and risk governments imposing much worse changes for such a small percentage of their revenue. Continue reading ā
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From Appleās AirPort Exterme to Ubiquitiās Amplify HD
As reported in my previous blog post, I had a chance to perform a ātech refreshā of my sisterās WiFi installation at her house. As a satisfied user of Ubiquiti product, the Dream Machine, I suggested to go with a lower end model, the Amplify HD. She has a big two levels home, with numerous rooms that poses a challenge for good wireless connectivity. It was a delightful experience, from the unpacking to final configuration. Continue reading ā
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Replacing (Another) Aging AirPort Extreme Withā¦
In mid-2020, I wrote about my experience of replacing an aging Apple AirPort Extreme with an Ubiquitiās Dream Machine. Today, Iām kind of repeating the experience, but this time with the Amplify HD router, also from Ubiquiti, for my sister. Donāt expect a complete review, but expect a post with a few observations. My sister is having weak WiFi issues in her house and I suggested her to get the kit to form a mesh network. Continue reading ā
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Universal Control ā Finally!
Iām a big fan of Appleās Sidecar. I frequently use it for work. When Apple announced Universal Control at the 2021 WWDC keynote, I was blown away by the technical challenge it might have represented for Appleās engineers. It really makes for great demos. Then, I started to wonder if this feature would enable new workflows, and I failed to find meaningful ones. With Sidecar, the iPad acts like a passive device most of the time, and Iām happy with this configuration. Continue reading ā
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On HomePod mini with a screen - STOP!
Consider this recent article from 9to5Mac: Concept: How Apple could turn HomePod mini into a delightful and adorable smart display - 9to5Mac. Please, stop thinking that a screen on the HomePod mini makes sense because it just doesn’t. Why? Well, by looking at where we put these devices in our house, most of the time, you wouldn’t be able to see the screen from a distance. What Apple really wishes is that you buy an iPad mini with a Smart Folio cover for that purpose. Continue reading ā
