Trying to Find Comforting Thoughts

Manuel Moreale reflecting on one hundred people who took the time to sign his guestbook (I did):

It’s the number of people who have taken a few minutes out of their busy lives to write something on my guestbook. One hundred doesn’t seem a lot in the grand scheme of things, especially on the web. If you have one hundred followers you might as well have zero. One hundred views on a YouTube video? That’s nothing. You need at least one hundred thousand to be part of the conversation. And yet, I find one hundred signatures in a guestbook to be a lot. Can you imagine having one hundred people in front of you, all saying something to you, one after the other? It would feel overwhelming.

I often think about this. Just like Manuel, I have a blog, a YouTube channel, a podcast (sort of). Globally, my follower counts are very low (even lower than Manuel’s) when looked through the Internet scale lens, but if those people were in front of me, in the same room, that would be quite something else. I find this thought to be comforting.

So, iPadOS 18 beta3: nothing obvious, really. Feels snappy. Less buggy than expected. Some rough edges, of course. Autocorrect seems way better. Finally. Tempted by iOS 18 now. 🤦🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️

But Techies Will Be Happy

Google Chrome, Along With Other Popular Chromium Browsers, Grants System Monitoring Privileges to *.google.com Domains

But speaking of the DMA, Chromium is, far and away, the most popular browser engine that the DMA compels Apple to allow on iOS. There are legitimate reasons to wish that Apple allowed third-party browser engines on iOS. But there are also legitimate reasons why Apple doesn’t allow them. Chrome really is bad. Better to let the market decide than let clueless regulators decide.

I’m on the side of Gruber here. Governments are usually not very good at tech. We should always be on the doubters side when they want to regulate. Opening up the iPhone will make it weaker than today, not better. I would even argue that the vast majority of users will lose more than they gain. But some techies will be happy.

People are so quick to say “I don’t want him to win but I also don’t want him to die” as if there’s some prize for not wishing death on someone who does more than wish us dead. If someone in power actively attempts to do unthinkable damage to the world and people around you, just a reminder: you get absolutely nothing in exchange for kindness toward them.

Some food for thoughts.

I support LGBTQ+ cause. I read MacStories story about Threads murky management of controversial posts. My personal take is simplicistic: stop using Meta platforms. I do understand that for some people to be heard, they want to be on Meta’s platforms, though.

My current view: in-flight infotainment screen where we can see the flight timeline. Easily spot when meals are served. First time that I’m seeing this. I find this really cool and probably helps answer many questions from people. Side note: I’d love to see Apple build a FlightPlay user experience (CarPlay equivalent).

Finally booked my Apple Vision Pro demo session for this coming week. I’m not buying this thing but I can’t wait to try it out. Side note: during my vacation in Croatia, we went to see a museum in Split where we were handed Meta Quest headset. The experience was interesting but the visual quality left to be desired.