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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.
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The Danger of POSSE
A recently published article on The Verge discusses POSSE and the Fediverse: “Publish (on your) Own Site, Syndicate Elsewhere.” This content strategy emphasizes the importance of owning the content you create by publishing it on your own platform, like a personal blog or website, and then syndicating or sharing that content on other platforms, such as social media or content aggregators.
The main idea behind POSSE is to ensure that creators maintain control over their content. By publishing first on their own platform, creators can establish a primary source for their work that remains under their control. They can then share or syndicate this content to other platforms to reach a wider audience, drive traffic back to their own site, and engage with communities on those platforms.
This strategy is particularly relevant in the digital age, where content creators often face the dilemma of reaching large audiences on popular platforms (like social media networks) while also wanting to maintain ownership and control over their work. POSSE offers a balanced approach, allowing creators to leverage larger platforms’ reach without sacrificing their own site’s autonomy.
I’m practicing POSSE myself; all my online setup is built around it. I depend on two publishing poles: Micro.blog and Ghost1. Some find this setup time-consuming and don’t want to be held responsible for replying or engaging on each branch (Mastodon, Bluesky, etc.). My take on this is yes, it might be time-consuming, but I like to engage on each platform because each brings a different type of community. I find it a bit frustrating to reply to someone who systematically shares content from his blog with Mastodon without any reply or acknowledgment. I understand that some posters are very popular and can’t reply to everyone. You can see if someone is replying from time to time. It’s a good idea to check before judging. The danger here is to act like bots if there is no engagement at all.
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Micro.blog is responsible for the cross-posting magic. ↩︎
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Apple’s Siri, AI and Next’s Year’s OS Releases
I don’t know if Apple is working on LLM stuff; they probably do, they probably do work on improving Siri, too, if such a thing is possible in the current incarnation of its fundamentals. But, judging by the rapidity of other companies introducing AI features mainly based on LLM models, I don’t expect it would be so hard for Apple to do the same with Siri. But only if Apple accepts to work with CharGPT-back end for a short-term solution. This could be a transitory path in my mind. Because Apple being Apple, they probably would want to put their twist on this: better privacy protection, for example. They like to control the whole stack. That’s perhaps why they are, apparently, investing massively in their one training infrastructure, which would be they accept the fact that on-device training is too limited, even with powerful Apple silicon. It could prove to be a long journey. I don’t expect too much for next year’s OSes. It will be interesting to see where Apple is headed with this AI thing next year.
Meanwhile, when I’m asking Siri queries today, I cannot help but feel the tech is antiquated compared to what we can do with Whisper and the like today.
Image: Dall-E.
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What Happened to the Shortcuts Editor?
I’ve been working with Apple Shortcuts editor recently1, on my iPhone and on my iPad, and boy, what a shocking experience! This editor is nearly unworkable, thanks to scrolling sluggishness, object ordering bugs, object variables becoming empty, constant freezes, keyboard masking input fields, changes not being saved and plain and simple editor crashes. 😤 What is happening with this, Apple?2 I can’t believe Viticci is able to endure this for all his work around shortcuts.
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These Are My Entry Points to AI Usage
I’m working on something related to using AI in my creative work. I came up with this. AI is used through these front-end clients within my creative workflows:
- ChatGPT website - Raycast AI Chat - MidJourney - Whisper - Micro.blog podcast episode transcription - Audio Hijack Transcription block - Kagi Summarize Results, Summary Document, Ask Questions - Craft Assistant - GrammarlyAnd I expect this list to grow in the coming months.
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NSUserDefaults defaults = [NSUserDefaults NumericCitizenDefaults];
Following the episode (#097) of Hemispheric Views, it’s my turn, I guess, with a little twist for the post title. 😜
- ✉️ Mail Client: HEY mail
- 📨 Mail Server: HEY mail + iCloud Custom Email Domain
- 📝 Notes: Craft + Apple Notes
- ✅ To-Do: Things 3
- 📷 iPhone Photo Shooting: Camera.app + Halide.app (for travel)
- 📚 Photo Management: Photos.app + Adobe Cloud
- 🗓️ Calendar: Calendar.app (Personal Life) + Fantastical.app (Work Life)
- 🗄️ Cloud file storage: iCloud
- 📰 RSS: Reeder connected to Inoreader
- 📇 Contacts: Contacts
- 🕸️ Browser: Safari (more and more using Kagi for searching)
- 💬 Chat: iMessage (WhatsApp when abroad)
- 🔖 Bookmarks: AnyBox
- 👓 Read It Later: Omnivore
- 📜 Word Processing: Ulysses
- 📊 Spreadsheets: Numbers
- 🛝 Presentations: Keynote
- 🛒 Shopping Lists: Reminders
- 🧑🍳 Meal Planning: None
- 💰 Budgeting & Personal Finance: Numbers
- 🗞️ News: La Presse (Apple News for English news)
- 🎶 Music: Apple Music
- 🎧 Podcasts: PocketCast
- 🔐 Password Management: iCloud Keychain (also 1Password, I should merge with default)
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Another Case of Abandonware
I recently wrote about software is never really finished1. Here’s an example: Keysmith. I bought this utility in February 2021. I forgot to re-install it on my M2 MacBook Air. I just did. But under macOS Sonoma, it has some glitches which make it useless. The app hasn’t been updated for quite a while, same with the app website. Now what?2
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In Search of Augmented Capabilities Using AI
I want to augment my creative capabilities1. I’m considering the best way to pay for Augmented Intelligence (AI) services2. I’m currently subscribing to MidJourney for imagery. ChatGPT with GPT-4 is not cheap at 20 $US a month, but I get Dall.E 3. Raycast enables GPT-4 for 8 $US on top of my 8 $US, totalling 16 $US monthly, but I don’t get Dall.E 3. I prefer MidJourney over Dall.E 3 as it seems to allow more diversity in requests. And there is the ChatGPT client to consider. Raycast is one of them. MacGPT is another one. Even Grammarly and Craft are ChatGPT clients3. I need to continue my analysis. Ideas? Suggestions?
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Shot on iPhone. Edited on Mac.
This short behind-the-scenes look at Apple’s “Scary Fast” event is the highlight of a marketing masterpiece.
First, Apple, a highly-respected company for producing top-quality new product announcements, released new iPhones capable of high-quality filming in September. Next, in October, the company made another top-notch production and announced the first M3-based Macs. Not to be missed, and that is the key here, they slip the following at the very last moment of the presentation:
This event was shot on iPhone and edited on Mac.
What better way to make a point? Brilliant. Well done, Apple.
I love my iPhone 15 Pro Max. I feel that the creative world is at my fingertips. I feel empowered.
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Looking for a Useful and Secure Search Engine
I’m fed up of Google’s search capabilities and business model. Search results quality has gone downhill in recent years. I don’t like the visual design of Google’s online products in general, especially Google Search results formatting. What search engine are you using? Are you willing to pay for using one, if yes, which one? 🤔
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Hello, Again, Mac?
Surprised by this late-October Apple event (“Scary Fast”). Could this be about Mac gaming? Is this for the Apple Silicon M3? The timing is weird, in my opinion. What about the iMac with M2 and a new iMac Pro with M3? The latter wouldn’t make too much sense as Pros prefer more flexibility than an all-in-one Mac. But using the Mac happy face really points to a Mac-only event. And boy, do I like this animation that I’m including here for my own pleasure1.
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I always found that Apple is not using the Mac happy face enough in their marketing. They could have tied this face to Siri too. ↩︎
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Glass Opens Up a Little Bit More
Glass feels right at home in Capture One. Long adored as one of the best platforms for editing and managing a photography workflow, we’re thrilled to include publishing to Glass in Capture One. The final step in the creative process is sharing the work you’ve made — making that as easy and frictionless as possible is what we’re both all about. Source: Capture One x Glass — Glass
I like where Glass is going. The choice of Capture One as the first to take advantage of Glass’s APIs is telling and sending a message. How long before Publish to Glass support is added to Adobe Lightroom? Months? Years? Ever? How long before we get Fediverse support?
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Some Must-Needed Changes to My (Too Many) About Pages
Today, I’m removing my digital garden content. The most valuable parts were moved to my About Page, and the rest has been dropped. Both of these pages are created and maintained in Craft. I like the idea of Digital Gardens, but it’s not practical for me to maintain on top of this blog and my other websites. Again, it’s time to focus.
Next up, should I get rid of my Linktr.ee page?1,2 🤔 And, why does my Micro.blog about page is empty? 🤨
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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?1🤔
The problem: not all links are leading to the destination page under the go.numericcitizen.me domain name. Why? This used to work for all links, but it’s no longer true. Why? Exhibit one: this link works. This one won’t.
Instead of 404 - Page Not Found, this should be 404 - Support Not Available 😔
Update: I got my answer after chatting with tech support through their chatbox on their website, which wasn’t initially showing because of content blocking in Safari. 🤦🏻♂️ All is fine now.
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Their Twitter account is a ghost town; the last tweet was posted in 2021. ↩︎
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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. When recording, I start the Audio Hijack session, then switch to ScreenFlow and hit record. Voilà. I do use Adobe Podcast Audio Enhancer too. The results are quite good! You can hear it in my latest podcast episode. A screenshot of my Audio Hijack workflow is included so you can look at it4.
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People in the house don’t always pay attention when I’m recording my stuff. We could hear them quite easily. ↩︎
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The sound is highly distorted. It’s a known issue, apparently. ↩︎
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Audio Hijack is a superb piece of software if you ask me. ↩︎
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More tiles are included so I can make sure there are no lingering background noises after Voice Isolation makes its magic. ↩︎
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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
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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. It was tested on my iPhone 15 Pro Max with a USB-A to USB-C adaptor and Ferrite. Voice isolation isn’t possible, either. Not good. I tried to use the RODE companion app for Mac so I could adjust the microphone operating parameters. I downloaded and installed it but didn’t recognize the microphone when plugged in. Not good. It’s an expansive microphone, barely better than my Blue Yeti. Not good. After testing Screenflow, my iPhone connected via USB-C to my Mac, and with voice isolation activated once again4, I decided to return the product. It’s way better, close to what I had with my Finch microphone. Problem solved.
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No longer works with my iPhone 15 Pro Max USB-C port. ↩︎
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I couldn’t confirm it from the spec sheet on Amazon nor could I on the RODE website. ↩︎
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I opened a support case with Telestream. It’s a known issue, still being investigated. ↩︎
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This configuration works, but not with a USB-C microphone only. It seems the iPhone with voice isolation one is the only configuration that works with Screenflow. Really strange. ↩︎
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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! 😊
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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.
Update: The way the company is handling this issue is a prime example of how customer satisfaction should be handled. Bravo.
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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. Nope. I reinstalled it on the iPad to see if it would populate something. Nope. I went on Files.app on the iPad to delete the root folder. Still re-appearing. On all my devices, I reinstalled Noto, to disable iCloud sync. I visited the iCloud storage section within Settings on the iPhone. The Noto folder isn’t there. But, on the iPad, it was there. I deleted the item from iCloud storage management. Yet, the folder keeps coming back. What a strange bug. Help.
Update: the issue went away after rebooting my M2 MacBook Air to fix an issue with Screenflow screen recording permission request. I went back to the iCloud Drive folder and sure enough, the Noto folder didn’t come back. I guess the issue is resolved.
