Longer posts The RSS feed for Longer posts.

  • 404 - Page Not Found

    I have an issue with Short.io. I want to contact their support to find a solution to something that partially works, but no contact information is available in the /Support section. The /Blog section shows a small “Contact Us” button leading to a page not found error. There is no mail address either. They ask for $ 250 / year for a “Personal” subscription plan. How can I trust them if I cannot contact them for support? Continue reading →

  • A Definitive Solution to a Simple Problem

    I finally found the right setup to definitively fix my audio record quality. The problem triggering this endless trial-and-error journey is that the Blue Yeti microphone can be too sensitive and pick up too much background noise1. On paper, the macOS Voice Isolation recording should fix this. However, ScreenFlow 10.0.9 has issues with audio recording from a USB microphone while Voice Isolation is active2. The solution? Use Audio Highjack3 to record from the USB microphone with Voice Isolation active and output to the ScreenFlow audio capture driver. Continue reading →

  • Episode 05 — Sometimes It’s Better to Say No

    The timing was right, and the target was well-defined, but the potential traction was far from guaranteed. Would this project be worth all the effort? Someone said: for every yes, there are a thousand no. After many weeks of thought and pondering, I decided against doing a unique project. Link: The Apple Rumors Hub Transcript Continue reading →

  • My (Really) Short Experience With a RODE NT-USB Microphone

    Objective: find a replacement for my lightning-based Finch Lavalier microphone1. Did my research for a USB-C microphone. RODE microphones came up quite often. They received good reviews. I ordered the NT-USB model. It was hard to see which type of USB port it came with—I got the microphone2. It comes with USB-A. Shit. It was tested on my Mac mini. Background noises are too easily picked up. Screenflow cannot use voice isolation3. Continue reading →

  • Announcing "My Reading Workflow Explained"

    I’m finally publishing the details surrounding my reading workflow. It’s been long in the making. More than a year. The reason? Because this workflow was full of moving parts. One example: is the read-later service. First, it was Pocket, then came Matter, Readwise, to finally settle on Omnivore. All the details are here on the Numeric Citizen I/O metablog. Feel free to comment or ask questions! 😊 Continue reading →

  • Peak Design Case Issue With iPhone 15 Pro Action Button

    For those looking to buy a Peak Design case for the iPhone 15 Pro Max, just like I did. I love the case but… here’s the kicker; the action button is really hard to press with this case, the cutout should have a button instead which would press the action button, just like for the other buttons integrated into the case. They plan to fix this. Check out this video to learn more. Continue reading →

  • What a Strange iCloud Drive Bug!

    I have a folder named “Noto” in my iCloud Drive folder that keeps populating empty folders inside of it, on all my devices. Noto is a note-taking app that I tried in Feb. 2020. Today, I found out that I had more than 30K empty folders sitting there. I deleted the folders from my Mac mini, and it came back. Same with the MacBook Air. It came back. I visited all my devices to see if Noto was still installed. Continue reading →

  • Already at Four Web Apps in My Dock, and You?

    So far, I have created four web apps on my Dock in Sonoma: Micro.blog1, Pixelfed2, Tinylytics, and Omnivore. I like this a lot3. For Omnivore, the web app provides a better experience than the “native” app, which is probably not really native4. What other apps could I set in my Dock now?🤔 For Micro.blog, it doesn’t make too much sense as there is a native Mac app already. ↩︎ It’s better than having a Safari tab for that. Continue reading →

  • My Interview with Manton Reece of Micro.blog

    I had the chance to spend some time with Manton Reece and ask him a few questions about Montreal’s poutine, Apple’s power and the App Store, Twitter1 and the future of Micro.blog. I hope you enjoy the interview as much as I did doing it.😊 Subscribe Signup to receive monthly digest email on the first day of the month in your inbox. Optionally, you can alsosubscribe via RSS. I refuse to name this otherwise. Continue reading →

  • iPhone 15 Pro Max - First Impressions

    It feels great in hand, similar in fact to the weight of my iPhone 13 Pro (not the Max), which is great. The back is darker than my iPhone 11 Pro, and I love it. I’m quite happy with the darker black. It’s a bit darker than I thought. It’s definitively a finger magnet. It’s very soft to the touch. Rounded contours are really making a difference. The device feels more approachable. Continue reading →

  • When Journalists Aren't Any Better Than ChatGPT

    In the “Craptacular Is More Like It” article, this is @gruber@mastodon.social at its best. I read the original article earlier this week and concluded that Apple had difficult times ahead with its modem development. This morning, in my usual reading routine, I read the article from Mr. Gruber, and I think it succeeds in demonstrating this: the original article wasn’t any better than any ChatGPT-generated content. Now I feel that I was deceived by the journalist who tried to fill me with unverified and barely possible facts tied together based on thin air. Continue reading →

  • Episode 04 — Did You Know?

    Inspired by a recent podcast episode where Martin Feld interviewed John Gruber, for this fourth podcast episode, I decided to talk about my early years as a blogger. Links: Really Specific Stories podcast: https://pca.st/pcp6rwjs Interview with John Gruber episode: https://pca.st/i0xdkxfh, his announcement on his blog: https://daringfireball.net/linked/2023/09/20/really-specific-stories-yours-truly A reply to John Gruber about his interview: https://micro.blog/numericcitizen/23822941 Search for the “BuildingiPhoneApps” keyword on the internet archive for a glimpse of my very first blog, and locate 2010 and beyond on the timeline. Continue reading →

  • I Rarely Visit the App Store

    I opened the App Store this Monday to see how Apple would promote new app releases supporting iOS 17. Then I realized that I rarely open the App Store except to go and get app updates. When was the last time I went to browse the productivity category? When did I last browse the store for popular photography apps or new utilities? I can’t even remember when I last bought an app discovered in the App Store1. Continue reading →

  • Where's The Magic in Adaptive Audio?

    Adaptive Audio and Conversation Awareness don’t click for me I’ve been using Apple’s new AirPods features for the past week, and I’m sad to say that I don’t really understand either of them I’m with Matt here. I fail to find the magic here. I’ve read Gruber’s take on the AirPods Pro 2 with USB-C, and I’m afraid I don’t feel anything magical about Adaptive Audio. When activated, I hear too much from the surroundings; I prefer noise cancellation. Continue reading →

  • Review of Reviews: Great Updates to Already Great iPhone but...

    Today, I read many iPhone 15 Pro reviews and watched many YouTube videos too. For some reason, I get the feeling of a slight deception mood across many reviewers. Those are great upgrades, but since they are compared to last year’s iPhone, the improvements are dimmed as mostly minor. A mentioned the superiority of the iPhone in the video recording field, but in the photography field, it’s less clear. Sharpening seems a tad less aggressive with more natural tones. Continue reading →

  • Some Thoughts About Apps Support of StandBy Mode and Interactive Widgets

    Many apps are getting updates today and this week. Yes! 😃 But, so far, I have found some bugs in iOS 17 to display interactive widget content once they are added. They often stay blank with a white background. Rebooting doesn’t help. I don’t know if it is an iOS 17 bug or an issue with the app. 🤔 One design issue: if an app supports the StandBy mode1, it should also support the landscape orientation, not only the portrait orientation. Continue reading →

  • Testing Apple's USB-C to Lightning Adaptor with iPad Pro

    I wanted to follow up a previous post of mine about using my Lightning-based Lavalier microphone with a USB-C device, like my 2018 iPad Pro1. I ordered the USB-C to Lightning adaptor on the day of the Apple keynote. I got it this morning. If you are wondering if it works with Ferrite and Apple’s Voice Memos on my iPad Pro? No, it doesn’t.😔 A positive conclusion would have been a good sign on the prospect of making it work with the upcoming iPhone 15 Pro Max. Continue reading →

  • An Update About My New Quest of Leaving Adobe Lightroom

    Yesterday night, I spent nearly an hour reading articles and forum posts about the implications of closing my Adobe Photography subscription1. The implications and how to recover my photos differ for Lightroom Classic and Lightroom CC. It’s not that hard, but it will be a tedious process if I want to keep some organization that the Lightroom catalog currently provides. I’ll put this project on my list of things to do in 2024. Continue reading →

  • Waiting for more interactive widgets…

    ✅ WaterMinder ✅ Longplay Timery 👀 Focused Work 👀 What else? Continue reading →

  • Apple Wonderlust Event — My Initial Impressions

    These are my impressions of Apple’s latest product announcements. The mother nature segment was funny, and I smiled quite often. It was a great way to communicate their progress toward better environmental protection and reduced carbon footprint. Video production quality was top-notch. Aren’t tech press people tired of going to Apple Park to watch a movie? Many comments during the presentation about the desire by Apple to see people go into their stores to buy and activate the new iPhones1. Continue reading →