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The Mac Mini Needs a Redesign
Rumors suggest a “finally” moment, with Apple on the verge of completing the redesign of the newest generation of the Mac mini, this time featuring an M4 chip. This could result in the smallest Mac ever. The current Mac mini design dates back to 2010, when Apple was still using more power-hungry and larger Intel chips. The only change over the years has been the back portion to accommodate a variety of port offerings. Continue reading ā
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On ARM Laptops, Windows And... The Usual Stuff Needed With Windows...
I always enjoy MKBHD’s videos, and this one about the Microsoft Surface ARM laptop is no exception. His views are well-balanced and feel honest. Now, about this specific lap, supposedly being fast with long battery life, great built quality and… a touch screen, certainly feels like a leap beyond Apple’s offerings, but… it’s running Windows. And that, is the problem. I wouldn’t buy one of these for the simple reason that running Windows required running a bunch of security-related software to keep it secure. Continue reading ā
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Memories
Today is my mother’s 91st birthday. She passed away 18 months ago, but the memories of her remain vivid. This morning, my iPhone suggested a video memory highlighting cherished moments with her, which nearly brought me to tears. Time may have flown by, but my affection for her endures, even though I wasn’t that close to her, not has much as I would have liked. One of my last photos of her. Continue reading ā
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Apple Is Telling Half the Story
There is something incomplete in how Apple is portraying Safari as a way to stay private when surfing the web. The ad is certainly visually striking, with surveillance cameras flying over people as they browse the web on their non-iPhone devices. It’s a compelling analogy. It reminds me of another Apple ad where a person is in a similar situation, being watched and followed by a group of people who want to know their online whereabouts. Continue reading ā
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Trying to Find Comforting Thoughts
Manuel Moreale reflecting on one hundred people who took the time to sign his guestbook (I did): Itās the number of people who have taken a few minutes out of their busy lives to write something on my guestbook. One hundred doesnāt seem a lot in the grand scheme of things, especially on the web. If you have one hundred followers you might as well have zero. One hundred views on a YouTube video? Continue reading ā
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But Techies Will Be Happy
Google Chrome, Along With Other Popular Chromium Browsers, Grants System Monitoring Privileges to *.google.com Domains But speaking of the DMA, Chromium is, far and away, the most popular browser engine that the DMA compels Apple to allow on iOS. There are legitimate reasons to wish that Apple allowed third-party browser engines on iOS. But there are also legitimate reasons why Apple doesnāt allow them. Chrome really is bad. Better to let the market decide than let clueless regulators decide. Continue reading ā
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Yep, Fucking Guns
Great take by Gruber on this week sad but highly predictable events. The US is a sick country. Sidenote: on my last few trips, all Americans that I met told me after presenting themselves as Americans: āI know, weāre one of those stupid Americansā¦ā. I reserve this thought mostly to Trump supporters which I never met personally, thanks god. Continue reading ā
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Travel update #13: Bye Bye Split, Letās Do Another Cruise to Dubrovnik!
Today was our last day in Split, Croatia. We strolled through the streets of Split once again and had breakfast at the “Bepa” restaurant, which is accessible from one of the public squares. Once again, we ate very well. However, the prices for food are even higher than we expected. We’re coming to the conclusion that traveling in Croatia is almost as expensive as traveling in countries like Italy! Today also marks the beginning of a short cruise that will allow us to visit the islands of KorÄula and Mljet before arriving in Dubrovnik, our last stop before returning to Canada. Continue reading ā
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Travel update #12: Visiting Hvar, Bisevo, Vis Islands, Croatia
Once again, with a bit of delay, Iām sharing a new update on my trip to Croatia. Yesterday, the day was primarily spent on the waters in front of the city of Split. We took a small speedboat cruise to visit three beautiful large islands. The tour lasted more than ten hours. We also passed through the popular Blue Lagoon and visited a cave located on the island of Bisevo, where the turquoise water offers a surreal setting. Continue reading ā
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Travel update #11: From Sibenik to Split, Croatia
Yesterday, I didn’t have time to write the daily update because it was a transition day by car to our next destination: Split in Croatia. Of course, we took advantage of our route to stop in Trogir to visit and have lunch there. It was our last stop by car as we had to leave it at the airport in the suburbs of Trogir. From now on, we will take a boat. Continue reading ā
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Travel update #10: Sibenik Take #2, Croatia
Once again, what a beautiful day we had in Sibenik. The main objective today was to visit the three forts of the city, which offer a splendid view of the town and the islands off the coast. The weather was magnificent even though storm cells were threatening the region. Fortunately, we were spared from rain and lightning! We visited the three forts, which were overall interesting but are mainly worth visiting for the views they offer. Continue reading ā
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On My Writing Style As a Traveler
As you probably know, Iāve been writing and sharing my travel notes since the beginning of my trip to Croatia. Iām proud of maintaining the regularity to post each day, but not as proud of my writing itself. I canāt quite describe the quality of my writing, but when I read it back, it feels rather superficial. Why do I feel this way? Well, my writing tends to list the places I visited and whether I liked them. Continue reading ā
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Travel update #9: Krka National Park & Sibenik, Croatia
Itās been a day with ups and downs. We left the apartment at around 10:30 AM in direction of the Krka National Park, 45-minute drive to see some other waterfalls and translucide lakes. The first part of the visit was really nice because it was like a repeat of the other visit to the national park that we visited earlier in the week with great waterfalls and gorgeous lakes with transparent blue water. Continue reading ā
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Travel update #8: Kornati Islands, Croatia
Hereās todayās travel update. What a wonderful day we had, thanks to this day-cruise around the Kornati Islands, starting from Vodiceās port at 9 AM. We had lunch at around 11:30 AM, right before a 3-hour stop at one of the island (canāt remember the name!) where we could spend some time swimming at the beach or in a very salty small interior lake. I decided to go for the trail around the lake instead, a 2. Continue reading ā
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Travel update #7: Vodiceās Beaches, Croatia
We didnāt do much today: taking our time early in the morning when preparing and having breakfast and then spending time on the beach and relaxing. I did some writing too, from my iPhone while sitting on my sunbathing chair. Itās far from being ideal for writing longer posts but it is what it is. I had some thoughts to share about AI, generative AI more specifically (like this thought, this one and that one). Continue reading ā
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Pressure Might Be Mounting on Apple with Apple Intelligence in Unexpected Ways
Warning: Unsettled thoughts: I think many tech pundits are overestimating Apple Intelligence capabilities and influence potential. If Apple fails to deliver, even slightly, it might trigger a crash like the dot com crash. Some tech pundits are fast at expecting Apple to be the gateway to generative AI legitimacy. In this logic, if Apple fails, AI will fail too. I might be over simplifying things here. Continue reading ā
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Could Generative AI Content Usage Be THE Biggest Problem?
Iām wondering if the way someone elects to use generated content from generative AI models is way more potentially problematic and subject to debate than anything related to models training using content from the open web. Also: generative AI content used to train generative AI models is also source of concerns to me. I call that process āknowledge desinfectionā or āknowledge toxificationā or even better āknowledge asphyxiationā. Or should I replace āknowledgeā with āintelligenceā? Continue reading ā
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Maybe We Should Stop Crying Fool: Weāve Been Trained Ourselves!
Thinking out loud about generative models training. In a way, weāve all been trained ourselves in our life by the books we read, the movies we saw, the music we listened. Some people have been trained on very specific knowledge bodies, in very specific fields. People use this accumulated ātrainingā also forming ācultureā to create new things and produce new content. Some people might be trained on a specific music style or dancing style. Continue reading ā
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Travel update #6: Zadar + Vodice, Croatia
Today we left for Zadar and Vodice where we will stay for five days in a small apartment. We arrived at noon in Zadar and had a nice picnic in a small park, under the shade of big trees. It was a quiet place and we wondered about how few tourists seem to be present since we arrived in Croatia. It might not be peak season just yet. We spent nearly three hours in Zadar, a great coastal city of Croatia, to walk in the cityās small streets behind the fortified perimeter. Continue reading ā
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Travel update #5: Rastoke, Croatia
Earlier this morning, the weather was better than yesterday, so we decided to revisit Plitvicka Jezera National Park. The improved lighting allowed us to better appreciate the lakeās renowned blue and green hues, and there were fewer tourists. However, we didnāt stay as long as our previous visit because we wanted to explore a small village called Rastoke. This village, known for its charming houses and numerous waterfalls, was highly recommended by our host. Continue reading ā
