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Where are you all? š¤ š (#blogger #bloggerlife)
Fridays are always slow, it seems. Are people simply taking time off social networks, blogs, etc.? Maybe. In any case, I want to send a “have a nice week-end” to my dear readers and followers. šš» I do have a lot on my plate for this week-end: writing, writing, writing. And some time off too.
Photo credit: Jonas Jacobsson / Unsplash.
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What came before the diagram (#blogging #tips)
I use Appleās Notes app to jot some ideas, all the time. When the concept is clear in my head, I go ahead and select my tool for the next phase. In this case, it was Appleās Keynote which proves to provide a quite capable environment for diagramming. The subject: how I process information that eventually will enable me to write blog posts. More details here.
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Dear Adobe... (#adobe #lightroom #creativecloud)
Wanted to give a try to Lightroom CC on my new and still pure Mac mini (no Rosetta installed). Guess what? The creative cloud installer needs Rosetta as it is not yet native. I know, it’s no big deal, it will be fine. If that wasn’t enough, Adobe installers put a lot of things on your system that I don’t like. Then, I remembered about “Suspicious Package” utility which inspect an installer and show what it is actually doing. But, again, this software has yet to come in a universal binary. It will be hard to resist longer.
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I'll take the blue ones, no, the white ones, no, the black ones (#apple #airpodsmax)
The AirPods Max is exactly the kind of product that needs a visit to the Apple Store before making a final buying decision. Photos don’t always do justice to Apple’s colour choices and textures. The weight of the AirPods Max are also an important factor to consider if you plan to wear them for long period of time. In other words, I’ll wait to buy one of these, if at all. Demand will ease, production will catch up and eventually we’ll be able to return to Apple Stores, like we used to, a not so long time ago.
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Remembering Desk Accessories (#apple #macosbigsur #iosapps)
I’m currently trying a few iOS or iPadOS apps on my M1 Mac mini. I came across the Castro Podcast player for with I pay a subscription. Castro doesn’t support the iPad, yet, which is a bummer. On Big Sur, the application looks like what we used to have on very old versions of MacOS: Desk Accessories. Depending of your age, you’ll know what I’m talking about. I kind of like the use of small apps like this.
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A Substack reader, really? (#substack #mailbrew #hey #newsletters)
From Chris Best, Substack CEO: āSomething that we think about a lot is readers tell us, āHey, Iām subscribed to six different Substacks now, and I want to read them all, and it sucks that theyāre in my email inbox along with all my other stuff,ā" š³š¤¦š»āāļø
A reader app from Substack would certainly be a good idea. Iām already on the private beta. I wonder if Mr. Best knows about Mailbrew? Or Hey? While waiting for such a reader app, Mailbrew is certainly capable of doing just that: consolidating newsletters in one place. Read my review of Mailbrew on my blog. https://linktr.ee/numericcitizen
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Weāll certainly take speed gains we can possibly get (#adobe #lightroom #photography #m1chip)
Adobe Lightroom 4.1 is now available with native M1 support. We didnāt see a lot of comments about the speed increase beside Appleās during their āOne More Thingā special event. Adobeās software on the Mac is not always the best in class in regards to pure performance. So, this release for the M1 chip will hopefully bring a meaningful increase in performance. I didnāt test it yet on my M1 Mac mini as Iām still slowly installing my stuff, one app at a time. Iāll certainly report on that subject later in the month. Stay tuned.
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Someone had to do it! š (#apple #airpodsmax)
There is a maximum of 25 combinaisons available. Someone on MacRumors forums posted an image of them all. To get a different color, you’ll have to lay more money on the table. Anyway, I expect Apple will sell a boat load of these in the coming months. Are you planning of buying the new AirPods Max?
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Oh I love their retro look! š (#apple #airpodsmax #design)
Many were expecting an update to the aging and expansive Apple TV 4K. Instead, we got a brand new retro-looking and expensive AirPods Max. I can see people already calling out how absurd it is, and the lack of charger or any cables, bla bla bla. Put that aside and enjoy their lovely retro look. Oh, and since their ear cushion can be replaced, I guess they don’t have to match the colour of the over-ear “cups”, right?… Lots of possibilities here. Shipping dates are already slipping in 2021… expect to see them everywhere next summer, when covid is behind us (most of it) and people can return to a simili normal life.
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How Synology NAS can improve my blogger workflow (#synology #nas #storage #blogger #tools)
As an IT guy, looking at what Synology has in store for 2021 makes me pretty excited. I wrote about that yesterday but I took a deeper look at what is coming in DSM 7.0, their NAS operating system. I didnāt pay too much attention to their photo management software that comes with a Synology NAS, but that might change. In my blogger workflow, there is something I can optimize is the use of a photo management to store all my screen shots, stock photos, visual assets, etc. Synology Photos could be the tool I was looking for for a long time. I donāt want to use Appleās Photos application as I donāt really like to see screenshots intermixed with family pictures. If Synology Photos is as solid as it looks, if their mobile application is much improved to their current version, Iāll certainly give it a serious try. On top of that, this photo feature also enable remote access to the photo library. Very interesting.
Iāve been shopping around for a home NAS for a long time and only made the plunge this year. After much thinking and reading, I settled on Synology because I saw a mature company offering mature products with a solid reputation. Again, DSM 7.0 brings a lot of new features and improvements which makes me feel happy about my choice of going with them. Canāt wait to try whatās new.
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1.0 vs 14.0 - So different, yet similar (#apple #iOS #iPhone)
Jordan Singer on Twitter posted this picture showing the iPhone with iPhoneOS 1.0 side by side with an iPhone 12 running iOS 14.0. The original iPhone home screen design was durable and endured the test of time. Some people will find it depressing to see so little changes but I do think it is a sign of an initial good design. iOS 14 brought the most significant upgrade, even more profound than the iOS 7 disaster.
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Massive update coming to Synology NAS users š (#synology #dsm #update #nas)
Iāve been using a Synology DS720+ NAS for a few months now and boy do I like it! On my blogger to do list is a review of this device. The breath of features never stop to impress me. Iām a big fan. I use it for archiving, space reclamation on my Mac and much more. Itās fast and reliable as I had a chance to test the repair feature after losing a hard drive (yes, already!). It worked flawlessly.
This week, Synology will make DSM 7.0 available for beta testers, the braves. Looking at the announcement web page, it looks like a massive update. Refreshed screens, more cloud integration, admin rights delegation and added feature like Active Insight will certainly be exciting additions. One question: I think Synology is about to add a subscription for this, which Iām not sure Iāll pay for, depending of its usefulness in its final form. Weāll see.
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Here is a stressful user experience (#apple #iphone #ux #ui #design)
See that UI of the iPhone when you receive a call while being on another with someone else? Pretty confusing, right? You stress out to understand what to do while hoping youāll have enough time to not miss the call. it is a stressful user experience. Why is Apple not giving any attention to this very specific UI is beyond me. They made notable change in iOS 14 with the notification-like interface for incoming calls, which was more than welcomed.
The way I came over this challenge is to concentrate on the icon labels instead of the icon itself. It does help a lot in my case.
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Of course they do! Duh (#apple #applesilicon #m1chip #macpro #imacpro)
An article today by the infamous Bloomberg news site reports that Apple is working on much more powerful Apple Silicon chips for higher end machines like the Mac Pro and the iMac. We all know 2020 was in fact the entry point for next year’s act two of this transition. From what we can read in the article, Apple could make high-end PC obsolete from a RAW power perspective with as many as 32 cores. Does anybody wonder if Intel has good sleep these days?
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Apple's Sidecar to the rescue (#apple #macos #sidecar)
I’m currently using an iMac with a 23.7ā LG UltraFine 4K external monitor (read my review here). With the M1 Mac mini coming today, this setup will have to change. The LG screen will transit to the Mac mini and I’ll lose the pleasure of the second screen working environment. Using the macOS virtual desktop feature is nice but not always the best solution when working on many different things at once. This is where Apple’s Sidecar comes into play. Prior to this, I rarely used Sidecar, but not anymore. I’ll use it with the Mac mini or the iMac, depending of the current work session. As a bonus, I get to use a āsoft" Touch Bar at the bottom of the display, which is cool because I love the Touch Bar.
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The modern business card? (#blogger #writer)
Over the last two years, I expanded my online presence. Maybe a bit too much; itās hard to keep up. I came across something interesting recently: Linktr.ee. According to their website, the purpose of the service is to āConnect audiences to all of your content with just one linkā. Itās exactly a case of āyou donāt know you need it until you see it!ā. Building the mini-website is quick and easy. There are enough layout options to make your page look like your own. I opted for the paying tier which enables more design choices and better analytics. Hope you like it and pay a visit to learn the breath of my online presence. I think of it as some form of a modern business card.
I started to replace my links to the following one which makes things simpler in places like my Twitter profile page. Check it out: https://linktr.ee/numericcitizen
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The Unifi Dream Machine gets a major update! (@ubnt #udm #update)
My home router got an update this week, version 1.8.3. I’ve been running the Unifi Dream Machine since spring without any issues. This update was long in the works and highly expected. Among the changes, a redesigned and simplified controller dashboard with real-time statistics which are really helpful. The device management UI also received a redesign. Some of the previously available information has been removed or moved around. CPU, Memory consumption and internal temperature are higher than before (around +10%-30%), though. Overall, its’a solid update. Oh, and it is running an 4 cores ARM processor.
Remember, this router replaced an aging Apple AirPort Extreme. If you are still looking for a great home router, please, do yourself a favor and buy this one. This post is not sponsored.
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Getting ready for the M1 Mac mini (#apple #applesilicon #m1macmini #m1chip)
How do you get ready for an M1 Mac mini when you’re a power user of a 2017 21.5" Intel-based iMac? First, I know the M1 Mac mini speed will make the iMac seem slow in comparison. That, I’m ready. I’ll keep my iMac for a while as my gateway to my legacy software and apps for my work. Second, upon the first boot of the Mac mini, I’ll set it up as a brand new machine. No Time Machine restore. I can’t remember the last time I started fresh on a new Mac. I’ll depend on Apple’s iCloud to bring back all my stuff on my 1 TB SSD drive. Then, I’ll meticulously pick which app will make the cut for installation on this shiny and speedy machine. I’m building a list of universal apps I want to install on it, but I’ll also need the help of the excellent website, “Is Apple Silicon Ready?”. Only “Universal” apps will be allowed on it. Even if Rosetta 2 is a technical marvel, I don’t want it to contaminate my Mac. I want the pure M1 Mac experience. Oh, one last thing, if an applicationās icon is not good enough, I can search for a better one of places like https://macosicons.com/ and https://www.macosicongallery.com/ or Michael Flarupās excellent icons pack.
According to Deliveries, my M1 Mac mini will arrive this Monday.
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Using Twitter Fleet, why not! (#twitter #creativity)
As you know, Twitter came out with Ā«Ā FleetsĀ Ā», its clone of Snapshatās Stories. People donāt really like it. Or do they? My timeline is constantly filled with my followers posting fleets. I guess some do like them. I decided to give it a serious try. I think they add another dimension to Twitter that I happen to find interesting for highlighting purposes. Itās simple to use, just enough design flexibility. There are is one drawback: they only show up on the iPhone (not the iPad or the web), which I find strange and somewhat arbitrary.
Following are screenshots of my experiment. Letās see where it goes from here.
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Let's meet! Here is a free idea for calendaring app makers (talking to you guys! @macguitar @flexibits)
Let’s play a game. One of your customer calls you and ask for a meeting (virtual or in person). Before answering this request, you have to look at your calendar to see your free/busy time. It’s a time consuming and error prone process. What if your favorite calendaring app could generate a map of your weekly schedule with all sensible information masked out, like in the following example (made with Fantastical). This could be sent as a PDF file to the customer, would save a lot of time. It’s surprising that, to my knowledge, no calendaring app offer this option. I would pay to get this.
