Microsoft:

Today, we are bringing the power of next-generation AI to work. Introducing Microsoft 365 Copilot — your copilot for work. It combines the power of large language models (LLMs) with your data in the Microsoft Graph and the Microsoft 365 apps to turn your words into the most powerful productivity tool on the planet. Source: Introducing Microsoft 365 Copilot – your copilot for work - The Official Microsoft Blog

It’s funny how great some of Microsoft’s promotional videos are in regards to Office and Windows user interface. But why, in actual usage, does Microsoft products’ UI suck anyway? We never seem to get the UI that Microsoft is presenting in their videos. Office doesn’t look like that at all. Windows doesn’t either.

Good morning! The third video in the series “Understanding Micro.blog” is out! It is about understanding the cross-posting feature of Micro.blog. This is something people are struggling with at first when they come to MB. I hope some of you will find it useful.

For the time of my life, I downloaded Obsidian and launched it. Wrote something. Clicked here and there. Then, I closed it. I’m afraid. 🫣

Mind blown. 🤯

🎦 Smile, guys; you’re on camera! 😃 I’m getting myself ready to record th first video in the “Understanding Micro.blog” video series. This blog post on blog.numericcitizen.me will appear in the video while I’m giving a quick tour of a typical website hosted on Micro.blog.

I couldn’t agree more with 9to5Mac here: There’s something special about the 2018 iPad Pro - 9to5Mac The 2018 iPad Pro deserves a prominent spot in the Apple hardware hall-of-fame. No other product from Apple has remained so functional for so long without appearing long in the tooth. The 11-inch iPad Pro, specifically, has held up extraordinarily well for a product from nearly five years ago. I used my iPad Pro quite often and for so many different use cases. Continue reading →

After Anybox earlier this week, now is the turn of TimeStory to make its debut on my list of apps under consideration. About TimeStory, from the application’s website: TimeStory is a Mac app for illustrating events on a timeline, designed to help you easily create plans and roadmaps, capture history, tell stories, and more. I spent quite some time today on a project at work using TimeStory. I’m blown away by the simplicity and the craftsmanship that went into this app. Continue reading →

Massive migration going on right now… to Anybox. I’m in love with this little app. Currently moving out my bookmarks from Craft. Next up will be Safari. Thankfully, Anybox can import Safari-exported bookmark files.

I’m always anxious when I use an app built and maintained by a single guy, as seems to be the case for Anybox.

Glass introduces “Highlights”. Oh I like this a lot. They keep adding more and more dimensions to an already solid, simple, honest, photo-sharing service. I’m glad to be supporting them.

Seriously, what’s wrong with me? 🤔

I don’t know if it is a popular opinion or not, but Telegram is such a well-designed messaging app. It looks cool, and it has the right amount of gamification. Telegram.app feels native on all Apple platforms.

I use Telegram passively to subscribe to channels that publish news and information about the war in Ukraine essentially. Many of the publishers were on Twitter too, but I left this shitty platform. I don’t use Telegram for chatting with others.

I’m pondering about subscribing. there are things that I don’t like about Telegram (like insisting on getting access to my contacts and being owned by Pavel Durov). I don’t like the owner’s attitude toward Apple’s App store rules in general. He’s Russian with Ukrainian origins. Thankfully, is fled Moscow a long time ago to live in Dubai, a safe haven for many Russians these days. The fun fact is that Telegram is hugely popular in Ukraine and serves both sides in good and bad ways.

Are there any Telegram users here? Do you share my sentiment? Are you subscribing to the Premium tier?

I rarely post my photography work here on Micro.blog, as I prefer to focus on dedicated photo-sharing services like Glass. But tonight, while doing some cleanup on my WordPress website, I stumbled on this post, “Confinement – A Visual Essay”, published on April 13th, 2020, in the early months of COVID-19. I almost instantly remembered and felt what it was like during these dire moments of confinement.

If pictures can trigger memories of challenging moments, I think they are good enough. This is why I am sharing this montage here tonight. Look carefully at each of them, they each contain a specific message.

Mailbrew still works but sadly feels increasingly abandoned by its founders fooling around with TypeFully, a writing tool for Twitter. Now Twitter is dead. TypeFully too. And Mailbrew is dying too. How sad this story is.

🤔 @help @manton could look into this error message that I’ve been getting on my timeline for a few days now? Thanks a lot! Love ya! Sorry for the interruption. Returning to normal programming.

Benjamin Mayo commenting on laptops with touch screen:

All the time, I see people swipe up and down on their vertical laptop screens to navigate webpages and zoom into photos with a pinch gesture. The ergonomics of this are naturally poor. Stretching your arm out forwards to reach the laptop screen quickly becomes uncomfortable. And yet, people still do it frequently. The touch screen is used as an accessory to primary mouse input. They swipe around a bit, then they go back to the mouse. They read a screenful of content, then they swipe to the next page, and put their arm back down. It’s a surprisingly subconsciously natural thing to do. Source: Apple Working On Touchscreen Mac Laptops — Benjamin Mayo

I wonder if Apple could get away with only supporting minimal gestures on their touchscreen Mac. I’m thinking about things like “pinch to zoom” or “swipe” but nothing else… I could imagine using my left hand for a vertical swipe and the right hand on the trackpad to click on a button or text field. This way, I see only a need for a minimal macOS user interface rework.

I took back the iPad Air that my mom was using a few years ago. I would like to repurpose the iPad as a photo frame. It was updated to the latest iPadOS release the iPad can support, but unfortunately, slide options in Apple’s Photos are pretty limited. I wish there were a “Photo frame” mode in Photos. Synology Photos required iPadOS 13.

How would you reconfigure this iPad, so it becomes a photo frame?

Well well well, 15-25cm approaching. Winds should be under 60 KM/h. Some blowing snow is expected, more expected along the river. Very mild but snowy winter so far. I’m a weather enthusiast, as you can tell. The map is from Ventusky.

Adam Mosseri, Instagram boss, spoke about the controversy growing on its platform:

We definitely have a number of photographers who have been upset. I want to be clear: though we are leaning into video, we still value photos. Photos will always be a part of Instagram. Source: Instagram showed people too many videos last year, admits Adam Mosseri - The Verge

If you like photography, go elsewhere than Instagram. They focus on user engagement, not photography. There are so many great platforms these days that are built for photography enthusiasts.

For those who don’t know me, I love photography. I’m an amateur photographer myself. Today, I want to share a link about an inspiring photographer named Adrian. If you like the B&W style, consider subscriber to his work (he’s on YouTube too).

Here is something that I always find funny. On any photo-sharing platform, let’s say you like someone’s pictures. The guy will probably get notified and start looking at your photos, generally only the most recent ones. If you’re lucky, he or she will like a few of them and then boom, start following you. It’s like someone who’s clicking with another on the dance floor. 😂