Longer posts

Podcast

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

December 10, 2023 9:26am

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

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

HEY, what about Improving Newsletters Reading Experience?

December 5, 2023 12:18pm

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.

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

December 2, 2023 10:04am

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.

Because I like the formatting used instead of plain text. ↩︎
ChatGPT paid subscription required. ↩︎

The Danger of POSSE

November 18, 2023 8:23am

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Blogging

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.

Micro.blog is responsible for the cross-posting magic. ↩︎

Apple’s Siri, AI and Next’s Year’s OS Releases

November 15, 2023 7:20pm

Apple & Tech

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.

What Happened to the Shortcuts Editor?

November 11, 2023 9:43am

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.

I’m working on something new, involving Plausible APIs, Charty for iPhone, and Apple Shortcuts. Stay tuned for that one. ↩︎
I don’t expect a response from Apple, of course. ↩︎

These Are My Entry Points to AI Usage

November 8, 2023 7:40am

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
- Grammarly

And I expect this list to grow in the coming months.

NSUserDefaults defaults = [NSUserDefaults NumericCitizenDefaults];

November 6, 2023 7:36am

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)

Another Case of Abandonware

November 5, 2023 8:43am

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

The title should have been “Software Should Never Be Finished”. ↩︎
Alternatives are Keyboard Maestro & Alfred. ↩︎

In Search of Augmented Capabilities Using AI

November 3, 2023 7:15am

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?

Go faster, go further, explore better creative ways. ↩︎
Yes, I’m okay with taking advantage of modern tools like AI, just like I was okay with using a spell checker in Microsoft Word 1.0. ↩︎
But you cannot configure Grammarly to use the GPT-4 model. ↩︎

Shot on iPhone. Edited on Mac.

October 31, 2023 9:32pm

Apple & Tech

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.

Looking for a Useful and Secure Search Engine

October 30, 2023 6:38am

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? 🤔

Hello, Again, Mac?

October 27, 2023 7:00am

Apple & Tech

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.

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. ↩︎

Glass Opens Up a Little Bit More

October 27, 2023 6:51am

Photography

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?

Some Must-Needed Changes to My (Too Many) About Pages

October 21, 2023 11:19am

Personal

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? 🤨

I know what you think. I have probably way too many websites. And I would respond: yeah, you are right. ↩︎
Linktr.ee offers great design tools and useful analytics. I’m not ready to drop those. ↩︎

404 - Page Not Found

October 16, 2023 7:37am