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Feeling Undecided — Thinking Out Loud
Believe it or not, I’m still undecided about what to use for my summer travel journal. My options are 1) A new dedicated blog with Micro.blog, 2) Scribbles, 3) Pixelfed, 4) None of the above. I’m also undecided about how much effort I want to put into this. Micro.blog’s image handling concerns me1. Scribbles is in a similar position2. This leaves me with Pixelfed. Yet, this question is fundamental to my decision: it is more about images or words. It’s the former. I might end up with Pixelfed. Or with a bit of everything3. Decision. Decision. Decision.
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Logging My Intentional Actions
I log quite a lot of things I do online using Things 3 Logbook feature to use this in my weekly creative summaries. I log what I do intentionally, of course, otherwise this would be way too noisy. One example is watching this video about Siegfried Hansen, a respected street photographer1. Reading an article in Omnivore is another intentional action that I want to log.
The process is simple: I have many pending tasks in Things 3, in a project called “To Read, Watch, Listen & Process.” I do select a task, do it, then mark it as completed. It then goes into Things 3 Logbook. It’s cool.23
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DOS vs Apple - Am I Getting Too Old?
I’m unsure if I’m getting too old, but topics like DOJ vs Apple and everything preceding it are too complex for me to dive into. It may be a vital part of Apple’s current history, but I struggle to grasp it. I appreciate the efforts of non-professional tech pundits and Apple enthusiasts who delve deep into this and share their perspectives tirelessly. I’m not reading all the comments and takes on this, again because there as way too many. I do understand too that the course of the iPhone experience might see an inflection point in the coming years, if what is currently happening in the EU is any indication. I think it’s sad because the bases for this aren’t forming a consensus; something probably unachievable.
This all explain my indecision about who’s right, who’s wrong. I don’t trust governments’ capabilities in understanding our tech world, that’s for sure, which means I’m not optimistic about the future of this particular case. Apple is big. So is Google. Facebook. And the like. They are the fruit of the “American way”. I guess that at some point, we prefer mediocrity in the name of “open markets” and to give an “equal” chance to all who wold like to compete.
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On Writing Inline Links
Each time I write a sentence with an inline link to something else, I’m hesitating. Here are two examples.
V1: When I read this article I simply couldn’t believe it.
V2: When I read Gurman: No iPad Announcement Planned for March 26, I simply couldn’t believe it.
Which version makes better sense? Which version will trigger a click to visit the link? Linking from within sentences (inline) gives great explanations on how to do the latter1. Right now, I’m 99% of the time using the version 1 but I consider changing my writing style to go with version 2 as often as possible.
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It’s a great use of inline link right there! And I think it works great. ↩︎
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On Stage Manager - Again
So, I don’t miss Stage Manager on macOS and my M2 15-inch MacBook Air, apparently. I realized today that I disabled Stage Manager a while ago and forgot to reenable it. Speaking of Stage Manager, it is permanently turned off on my 2018 iPad Pro because it isn’t usable, but this is something that I’m looking forward to reenabling on the new iPad Pro and plugging my iPad into my LG UltraFine 4K display, and see, maybe, a new iPad experience since a long time1. I can’t wait to try that.
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That was a long one, I know. Some thoughts are better shared in one long stretch! ↩︎
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Not Everything Should Be "Timeless"
Today, I came across a blog via someone’s else blogroll, and to my surprise, while browsing the blog’s content, I couldn’t find a single post with a publication date. So, let me be clear: I’m not feeling at ease when visiting a blog that don’t display publication date for each post. I can of understand the idea of “timeless” content, but I feel at lost with the author’s decision. I need time references in my digital life so I can better understand the content and the context. Call me old school if you want. I’m ok with this.
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On Presenting
Just completed a one hour customer presentation this morning. It was the culmination of a six-week project that shoud lead to bigger opportunities. I love doing presentations and I’m really comfortable doing so in front of people, especially when it is directly related to my field of expertise.
Each time I prepare such presentations, I always think about Steve Jobs keynotes. Always. He was a model for me. And still is. There is a little bit of his way into my presentation delivery: setting the stage, telling a story, and a « one more thing » whenever possible.
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On Craft for iPhone
Craft on iPhone is so much different than on the iPad. It feels like a totally different app. If I were an iPhone-only user I wouldn’t buy a Craft subscription because the iPhone version is so bad. Thankfully the iPad version is much more workable and the Mac version is probably the best Catalyst-based app out there. It wasn’t always like that btw. Was much better before version 2.7. I don’t know when that situation will change.
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Never Tamper Someone's Desire for Creative Tools
My wife gave me a surprisingly mildly negative reaction this morning when I shared with her my intention of getting a Nikon Zf mirrorless camera before going to Croatia this summer. Not because it’s not the best camera for this situation, no, because I already own an iPhone 15 Pro Max and a Nikon D750. 😩 But, I could get rid of my D750 or keep it but bring the Zf with me instead. I find it a bit sad that someone can put a break on someone else’s desire for creative tools. I’ll talk to her tonight after work.
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The Fascinating Game of Moving Between Hosting Platforms
I find those stories always fascinating when I read about a blogger moving from one platform to another. It is as if every hosting solution cannot have it all. There is always too much friction, or something is simply lacking, which prompts us, content creators, to drop one service and search for something else. One service can have a great visual design1yet lacking from the analytics side. One platform can be well-designed but very hard to keep up and running2. Another solution that can be dead simple to publish lacks visual design flexibility3. Can we have it all? I sense a business opportunity here.
I’m permanently questioning my current options. Right now, I’m fine with my hosting solutions, but one never knows when something no longer fits my needs.
Note: this article is a modified version of the original text published elsewhere on 2021-03-05 under my other metablog website using Craft.
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AI Training: Ethics or Coverage?
Some authors on the internet are against using their content without permission to train the models behind generative AI. As a blogger, this question often comes to my mind. On one hand, I believe that training without permission poses an ethical issue. I am unsure if we have genuinely addressed this question as a society. On the other hand, I question the danger of many authors wanting to silence their voices by blocking the training process to access their online content. Now more than ever, I feel that all voices are essential in ensuring that model training reflects our diversity as much as possible. I don’t want bots and haters to win the race. We, as authors, need to offer resistance. I’m not sure how this challenge will be solved, if ever.
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One Big Regret of My Digital Life
One of the things I regret the most is not having had the idea of creating a blog in the 90s (and keeping it until today). Surprisingly, I learned about HTML, web servers like Apache and Netscape when it became popular1. I didn’t click with the idea of owning a small portion of the Internet to share what I was becoming at that time. What a missed opportunity.
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It’s not exactly true. I used to have and maintain a website about a subject that I still find fascinating: meteorology, circa 1994. ↩︎
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On Single-Purpose Device Attractiveness
This week during a work meeting with my office colleagues, one of them was using a “remarkable” tablet to take notes. I was sitting right next to him and could see the tablet in action. I must say I was impressed. It’s certain that a “remarkable” tablet offers very limited functionality compared to an iPad, but it raises the following question: Should Apple consider going back to creating single-purpose devices? For example, the iPhone killed the iPod, but I think if Apple re-entered the market with a new line of iPods, it would be very popular. And I think the same would be true for a note-taking tablet.
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On Apple Car Project Cancellation - It Did Make Any Sense Anyway
This whole Apple Car didn’t make any sense to me. It’s not Apple. A car is not a personal device. A personal device is a phone. A computer. Or a bike. One positive byproduct of this car journey is probably the birth of CarPlay 2.0, which was probably worked within the Apple Car project. But then, what else? AI? Maybe. I’m reading that the AI portion of the project will be folded into the other AI team(s) within Apple. It’s good because Apple needs all it can get in AI to stay relevant in that field and imagine the future beyond Siri.
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A Metablog That You Can Follow via RSS
💡 Today, I want to share the newest addition to my digital publishing space: my metablog, hosted on Micro.blog. This isn’t entirely new; another version is already in place, but it is hosted as a series of Craft-shared documents. What I’m sharing today is hosted on Micro.blog using the recently introduced increase in the number of blogs you can have with a single premium account1. From this migration, my metablog will gain RSS feed support, enable POSSE, and be closer to my online community here on Micro.blog, but also on Mastodon and Bluesky.
One last thing: this is a work-in-progress, a build-in-public thing. I’m slowly transposing most of my content to this new home, one post at a time. You’ll know it because of cross-posting and the RSS feed provided that you subscribe. 👈🏻 Some posts date back to 2020, but you might be surprised by discovering a few gems.
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I’m using two, and I’ll probably stop there. I promise. ↩︎
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Finalizing This Week's Creative Summary — Plus: An Idea
It’s Sunday, and you know the drill: it’s time to share my latest edition of the weekly creative summary. It’s mostly complete, so this week’s edition partially follows the “build in public” movement. I wonder if I should start sharing the document at the beginning of the process so that you can see the whole creation process as I’m working on the current edition. What do you think?
I’ve been doing these summaries since last September and enjoy putting them together. It’s issue number 22. Enjoy. The email version is coming out later today.
Built with care and love on 100% recycled electrons.
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Two Years Already
We let Putin’s regime invade Ukraine in 2014, and we did nothing. In 2022, Ukraine and the world, to a certain degree, paid the price of our inaction by letting Putin’s criminals do it again, but on a much larger scale. Today marks a sad anniversary and reminds us how costly our hesitation in providing what Ukraine really needs to make a dent in this conflict. I feel sorry for the Ukrainians, and I feel frustrated by our slow and timid reactions. I know that we, the West, did spend quite a lot to help, but we need to do much more than that to kick out those criminals and to make the Russian regime think again the next time they envision invading a free country.
Finally, the prospect of the Trump return as a president makes the future look even darker. The United States influence in the political and diplomatic space around the world looks to be diminishing like the snow under the sun. Trump won’t reverse this trend. Who’s taking over?
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From an Idea to Blips
As I wrote earlier today, I’ve been wondering about a possible use case for Scribbles1. It took me about 5 minutes to get my idea, and it is called Blips, Numeric Citizen Blips, to be more precise2. Blips will enable me to share… short blips of my digital life. I should be fun, noisy at times. But not too much. Enjoy. Or not. 🙃
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About This Permanent State of Being Undecided With Apps
I have been a happy user of Apple Safari for the last decade. If possible, I prefer using Apple’s browser, thanks to its privacy protection and features. If something doesn’t work in Safari, I will try Firefox. I’ll do everything possible to skip Google Chrome. I use Microsoft Edge because of its integration with Microsoft 365 at work. But Safari is never too far, just in case. It’s now my fall-back plan. Why this change? Because of the Arc Browser, which is now my main browser.
I’m the type of user who always tries to find a use case for an app that I really like, even if it is superseded with a better one. I love Craft. I always use it in my creative hobbies, but I found a great use case for Notion at work. I like Apple Reminder for family-related tasks but use Things 3 for my creative hobbies. I like Apple Calendar for my personal life but prefer Fantastical for the office. I keep both. I like HEY mail but must use Outlook at the office.
This constant duality in my choices about which app to use sometimes looks like psychological trouble. 😬🤷🏻♂️
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A Powerful Ecosystem of Tech
When I look at the Apple Vision Pro, I see a device with many software and hardware technologies that Apple took years to create, develop and refine. They did it in plain sight with the iPhone, the iPad and the Mac. Each of these devices played a significant role as a test bed for what would come next, a portion of what we can find in the Vision Pro. I can see many examples: windows management introduced on the iPad via the Stage Manager paved the way for window management on the Vision Pro, Three-dimensional and object placement in an augmented reality view in the Apple Store app when placing a virtual Mac on a physical desk, LiDAR Scanner with FaceID paved the way to Personas, continuity on all Apple OSes, and so much more set the playground for a robust ecosystem that takes all its meaning in the Vision Pro. And there are probably hundreds of more technologies that I cannot see. I guess the Apple Vision Pro was in development for a decade at Apple, and with each new feature Apple put into their devices, the headset benefitted from it.
