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  • The Next One Is My Best

    I just completed recording my next YouTube video (my YouTube channel), which will come out early next week. It’s probably the one I’m the most proud of at many levels. The release will match the release of a new version of an app that I like a lot 🤫. Technically, the sound is good. I’me using Bezels to demo the app on the iPad and the iPhone, a first for me. The video structure seems logical and should help the viewers in learning new things. Can’t wait to share that one. I hope it will get the attention I’m hoping for. 🤞🏻

  • I'm Sorry but Apple Vision Pro Is Another VR Headset, or Is It?

    Of all people who reviewed or are now active users of the Apple Vision Pro, some are mentioning, rightfully, that this is not about AR1 but 95% about VR2. Apple doesn’t want to admit it, but this is a VR headset. Why is that? Is is because it is “easier”3 to recreate something from the ground up (the virtual world enabled by visionOS) than taking the reality and adding meaningful and useful stuff to it? I see much more limited use case for augmented reality than for virtual reality. It might change in the future, now that people are now exposed to it through other people using the headset sharing their experience.


    1. Augmented Reality. ↩︎

    2. Virtual Reality. ↩︎

    3. It’s not an easy feat to do what visionOS is doing. ↩︎

  • Imagining Micro.blog’s Next Big Offering — I Think I Cracked It!

    I’m wondering about this upcoming Micro.blog “big new feature” quite often. What new feature could require its own section on the left sidebar? What could mandate the release of companion apps on iOS and Android? Let’s try to think about it for a minute.

    So, MB already covers text (as blog posts), more generic content (as pages), photos, books, newsletters, and podcasts. What’s missing here? Videos? Movies? Something else? Could Podcast be more explicitly exposed where the Transcript section becomes Podcast? Is MB building its own podcasting player app? Or a podcast recorder? Can AI play a role in this new feature?

    But what else is missing from Micro.blog? Instant messaging? I own a Wavelength group of Micro.blog users. The group is currently hosting 50 users. Here’s the invite link. Near real-time interactions are something I wish Micro.blog had for supporting discussions about specific events1. Frankly, instant messaging is probably the closest thing I can think of that would require a dedicated section and a dedicated set of apps on mobile devices.

    Your thoughts? Please join in! 🙏🏻


    1. Like Apple Events, sports events, etc. ↩︎

  • Technologies At Play in a "Compact" Device

    I have this thought right now as I’m watching the first reviews of the Apple Vision Pro: it is utterly fascinating to see all the basic technological elements (both hardware and software1) that are at play here and put together in this headset. Besides a product still looking for its use cases, I find this product to be the most ambitious one to be launched by Apple to date. Bravo for trying. And I’m pretty sure it’s only the beginning. You bet Apple is going to iterate on this for quite some time. I feel excited for this thing.


    1. Handoff, Continuity, Digital Crown, 3D modelling, etc. ↩︎

  • A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating a One-Page Site on Micro.blog

    1. Choose your subdomain name1. 2) Create a CNAME pointing to it2. 3) Switch to your full custom domain. 4) Write content3. 5) Install a few plugins4. 6) Create pages in the navigation structure to organize content5. 7) Create page footer6. Voilà. 🔥

    1. abc.micro.blog (must be unique to Micro.blog). ↩︎

    2. Done on your Domain name provider, not on Micro.blog. Must point to abc.micro.blog. ↩︎

    3. Markdown supported. Insert images using Uploads and “Copy HTML” option, then paste into page. ↩︎

    4. Visual theme plugin (optional, if you don’t like the default theme), Analytics (Plausible, Tinylytics, etc.). ↩︎

    5. Optional but is a great addition. ↩︎

    6. Optional. Use footer editor to insert your content. ↩︎

  • Apple, Generative AI and the iPhone Revenues

    Numerous applications and services now incorporate AI features. For instance, consider Notion Q&A or Raycast AI. Companies view this as an opportunity to boost revenue by offering these additional features for a fee. However, I recently pondered the possibility that if Apple integrates generative AI into Siri, as rumored for iOS 18, they may not charge for it. This could give Apple a significant advantage, as the revenue from iPhone sales could cover the associated costs. This could become an enormous advantage for Apple.

  • Avoiding Vendors Lock-in

    The notion of “avoiding vendors lock-in” in information technology is interesting. I would argue that it’s impossible to completely be without some sort of vendor lock-in1. At some point, there is always a required commitment level. You commit to open-source software. You commit to a cloud vendor. You commit to a platform. I often give the example of a company building an application internally with a team of developers. In that scenario, the company is committing to something: the application, the data tied to it and its operational model. Applications are hard to replace in many environments. When you decide to invest in software development, you commit to the end product for many years, if not decades, until the organization decides it’s time to transform the application into something else2. There is this concept of “security by design” and of “portable by design,” which should apply to any technical or application architecture. The rest is marketing nonsense.


    1. I do understand data portability concepts and loose coupling principles, though. ↩︎

    2. When it’s time to adopt new architecture paradigms like the cloud is imposing. ↩︎

  • Micro.Blog — How Can I Help?

    A serene yet dynamic sky filled with a blend of fluffy cumulus and towering cumulonimbus clouds, illuminated by a soft, diffused sunlight.

    Following the publication of “What If” by Maique, an avid blogger on Micro.blog, his post prompted me to write my own. But before, here’s a summary of his post (thanks ChatGPT):

    Micro.blog has been hosting maique.eu for years, but there have been some technical issues. Despite some annoyances, the community and features make it worth the cost. However, there are also cons such as lack of proper notifications and support. Moving away would be a hassle.

    I do share most of his views on the current state of Micro.blog because I did experience some issues with the service myself. I won’t repeat it here. That being said, I love Micro.blog, and I certainly want it to thrive. I’m a believer. I’m a supporter of the ideas behind the service. I subscribe to the premium tier. I love it so much that I created a series of videos about Micro.blog so that others can take full advantage of its features set. But I want to do more. In fact, I can do more. How can I help? Where do I enlist?

    As an IT guy for more than 30 years, I know how hard it can be to run such a service. I don’t know the technologies behind it, but Micro.blog seems to need constant nurturing. Sadly, I cannot help here. I’m not a full-stack developer in any way.

    But there this help.micro.blog support site. I did tech support in the past. I do pay a visit from time to time to gather the mood and the subjects that people care enough to submit posts. Maybe I could help there? I don’t know. Could I do a first screening of the posts and direct level-2 requests to Manton for further investigation? He would be freed somewhat from glancing at all the incoming requests and focus on the hardest ones. I don’t know. Oh, and this feature requests topic contains more than a hundred of them. I could create a real Micro.blog feature requests board, like this one I built from scratch for Craft?

    Then, there is this Discover section: I do pay a visit from time to time. I’m not sure how it is being maintained or how often. Can I help there? I don’t know.

    What else? I could do podcasting, too! Maybe I could help Jean to revive the highly respected Micro Monday podcast! I have my own podcast; I’m not too bad because I have eight listeners, according to Podcasts Connect!

    As you can probably see, I have many ideas. I’m creative. I do have some time to spare for my passions. Micro.blog is one of them. But, as much as I want to help, it means nothing if the doors are closed. I’m not saying that I received a “no thank you” from Manton or Jean. I didn’t ask, actually. Now, I’m officially asking: how can I help?

  • GuruShots Is Still a Thing, Apparently

    I just visited the photography challenge site GuruShots, where I used to play quite a lot a few years ago. I even wrote a few articles about this game ("GuruShots Tips, Tricks and Cheat Sheet","Tips & Tricks 2021 Edition, Part 1", “Tips & Tricks 2021 Edition, Part 2” and “How to Become a Guru at GuruShots”). I had a friend who was playing with me. He still does. Apparently, he is so advanced that there is only one explanation: he has a serious addiction. Personally, I stopped playing because it was too time-consuming. I wish I could update my articles because the game evolved quite a bit with new features. But, no, I don’t have that time at my disposal.

  • Is Buying a Car Easier Than Buying an Apple Vision Pro?

    If Mark Gurman is correct, the rumored sale process for the Apple Vision Pro is rather complex and lengthy. Watching a 20-minute video to learn about a product indicates many things: Apple is nervous, and the product has a novel approach requiring potential customers’ education or training so that they fully “get the experience” before deciding to put the money on the table. Also, I guess someone willing to pay the high price merits some special attention, too.

    I’ll have to update my calculations on how many demos can be run in the first 10 days.

  • How Many Apple Vision Pro Scheduled Demos Can Apple Provide in the First 10 Days?

    As reported by MacRumors, Apple will have 80K Apple Vision Pro available on day one. Now, how many scheduled demos can Apple provide to customers in the first ten days of the availability of the Apple Vision Pro? Let’s try to find out. 243 Apple Store will have the headset. Let’s say there are 6 six guys in the store dedicated to supervising scheduled demonstrations. Could be more, could be less and might vary from store to store. Let’s say each demo takes 15 minutes, which allows for 4 demos per hour per supervisor. Let’s set at 8 hours per day of demonstration availability per store. Could be more. Could be less. This translates to 192 Apple Vision Pro demo slots available per store. If we think about the first 10 days of availability, Apple could potentially deliver more than 466K demos.

  • Is Apple TV Really Improving With tvOS 17?

    I’ve extensively used Apple TV (the physical device), Apple TV+ and the Apple TV app during the holidays to play music, videos, movies and series. One thing is clear: tvOS 17 is a regression in terms of usability, for me anyway. I especially don’t like the new left sidebar in the TV app. Navigating back to the home screen is cumbersome, requiring too many “<” back clicks. I often wonder if I’m in the Apple TV app or the Apple TV+ service. Up Next queue is intertwined with the rest of the content, it feels less obvious, to me. Content promotion (while starting a new episode, ending a series, etc.) is annoying. Apple feels like Amazon. Apple isn’t quite there after so many years of iterative updates.

  • Hey Calendar First Impressions

    HEY Calendar is being rolled out to a limited set of users. It will be free, and a separate app will be released for the Calendar in the near future. It’s not as controversial a take as the email counterpart. Day view and week view only, by design1. I’m not sure if this is a deal-breaker for many.

    Time tracking seems limited and cannot replace Toggl / Timery in my workflow. Data can be exported as a CSV file. I wonder if it can be really useful in its current form. The jury is still out on that one.

    Interesting habit tracking support: simple enough to be useful. Limited icon selection, though. No iOS app just yet, only web and desktop. No Microsoft Office 365 support yet. iCloud calendars can be integrated, but they must be made public to get an iCal URL that HEY Calender subscribes to. Same for Google calendars. Some tasks are managed as things to do eventually in the week, appear at the bottom, and move to the next week if not completed.

    My initial impressions of HEY Calendar are neutral. That’s it for now.


    1. This could be controversial. ↩︎

  • Is GenAI a Product or a Feature?

    Just like Steve Jobs once said that Dropbox is not a product but a feature, I wonder if the way we consume GenAI today makes it look like a product, but it’s actually a feature. Don’t get me wrong, GenAI is utterly important and a game changer, but I feel that in the future, there will be something bigger that will encompass GenAI that will actually be THE product.

  • About blog.numericcitizen.me visitors for 2023

    Visitors to blog.numericcitizen.me increased significantly compared to the previous year. Leaving Twitter at the end of 2022 probably explains why. Embracing the POSSE model and my adoption of Mastodon and Bluesky also explains why more people visited my blog. It’s been a great year on Micro.blog, and I’m really looking forward to 2024!

  • About numericcitizen.me visitors for 2023

    My main blog stats show a slight increase in visitors, especially in the last three months of 20231. The switch from WordPress.com to Ghost.org positively influenced the trend. The next post will be about the “blog.numericcitizen.me” site where the story is quite different.


    1. It’s related to the launch of my weekly creative summary. ↩︎

  • Episode 06 — Wrapping Up 2023

    It’s time to wrap up 2023! In this last podcast episode for the year😌, I reflect on twelve months of creative work. It was a busy year😅👨🏻‍💻, and I’m grateful for all of it.🙏🏻

    Links to some of the things I’m referring to:

  • Strike One

    After publishing more than 70 YouTube videos on my channel, today I got my first content violation warning for sharing a review about Play 2.0, a video manager for YouTube that facilitates downloading YouTube content for free. Oopsy.🫥 I did the highly recommended training by Google.

    If you are a serious YouTube video consumer, consider using Play 2.0. That is all.🤫1


    1. I wonder if I could make my video available elsewhere…🤔 ↩︎

  • HEY, what about Improving Newsletters Reading Experience?

    As a paying subscriber to HEY mail, I find it strange that the newsletter consumption feature has never been updated since its initial release1. A product is rarely perfect on its first try. For example: newsletters are presented in a semi-expanded form, but I wish I could display them as “newsletter titles only”. Also, there is no integration whatsoever with third-party read-later service to easily send a newsletter to Omnivore, for example2. Once expanded, it’s not obvious our to return to the list of newsletters sitting in the bin to read the next one.


    1. The Feed is the feature I’m referring to here. ↩︎

    2. I know that we can forward the newsletter to a custom email @ omnivore, but It’s not exactly what I would refer to as “an integration with a third-party service”. ↩︎

  • My First Genuine Ah Ah Moment With Generative AI

    Here is a quick recount of my “Ah ah moment” this morning, involving generative AI in a simple workflow. I’m still in awe about it.

    If I stumble on a long and chatty YouTube video that might be interesting, I’ll use this workflow to quickly get the gist out of it. First, I use Downie (a Mac utility) to download it on my M2 MacBook Air. Then, I use the Whisper Transcription Mac app to transcribe the spoken discussion into text that I export in a PDF1. Next, I open ChatGPT, upload the PDF file and let ChatGPT ingest the content. Finally, I prompt ChatGPT with things like: what is the subject of this discussion? Are there any apps mentioned in the discussion? Who is talking? Is this a controversial subject? Generate a title for this discussion. Generate a summary in less than 300 words. Etc. It’s very effective. You can use the GPT I created for this2. Oh, and I guess you can use the same workflow for a podcast episode!

    This workflow was also documented in “My Micro-Workflows Explained” mini website.


    1. Because I like the formatting used instead of plain text. ↩︎

    2. ChatGPT paid subscription required. ↩︎