Numeric Citizen Blog

On Getting a new Windows laptop

Thu, 09 Jul 2026 07:28:03 -0400

Yesterday I got a new Windows laptop at the office. It’s called an Autopilot laptop, and I’m not sure what it really means other than that it’s deployed and managed using enterprise management software. The migration from my older laptop went surprisingly well, but nothing like using Apple’s Migration Assistant, and I suspect this is because most of my data and settings are stored in OneDrive. It’s an HP laptop. While it doesn’t come close to Apple’s MacBook in terms of build quality and general design, I can see improvements in Windows laptops over the years. Even so, Windows still feels bloated due to a plethora of security-related and must-have software, because it still isn’t secure.

Apple Ring confirmed?

Wed, 08 Jul 2026 07:15:42 -0400

A very telling image of Eddy Cue. First, Eddy Cue is not a fan of the iPad and prefers to use paper for his agenda. Second, and not least, Apple is clearly working on an Oura Ring competitor. The first Apple ring to be offered in light gray. 🤫

Claude Cowork unleashed

Wed, 08 Jul 2026 07:00:12 -0400

Anthropic is unleashing Claude Cowork, which means artifacts can now be run in the cloud rather than on the machine where they were created. This means that if an artifact depends only on cloud resources and services, it can be executed in the cloud and accessed from anywhere, on any device. Until today, I was looking for a way to migrate my artifacts from my MacBook Air to my desktop Mac, but there were no easy solutions. So far, I have four artifacts that I use daily, and I plan to build more.

On MacSurfer's Headlines Evolution

Sun, 05 Jul 2026 18:09:21 -0400

I often revisit MacSurfer’s Headlines website because I’ve been a fan since it launched. Here are some thoughts from my latest visit: the wave logo has been revamped, and I like it — it looks glossy and modern. Now, readers can hide articles behind a paywall, a feature I don’t recall seeing on similar sites. In this screenshot, 19 out of 40 articles are paywalled, which is very useful. Also, readers can subscribe to a newsletter; I’m not sure if this was always available. Lastly, Amazon ads appear on the left sidebar and inline, which has always been part of MacSurfer and has returned after the recent site reboot. Unfortunately, that’s a bit disappointing. I hope MacSurfer continues to thrive by relying solely on human curation. Do we need another OpenAI Pulse or Kagi News, both of which are AI-based?

Anthropic: you can do better

Sun, 05 Jul 2026 07:34:46 -0400

From the DF Archive: ‘Electron and the Decline of Native Apps’:

The ironic frustration with Anthropic’s Claude app being an Electron turd is that Claude and especially Claude Code are so capable of helping to create good native Mac apps. It’s one thing for a big company or organization with cross-platform aspirations but no institutional Mac expertise, like Notion or Slack or Discord, to choose Electron to create their Mac client. It’s another when it’s a company like Anthropic, whose only product’s single most impressive ability is generating programming code, including high-quality AppKit and SwiftUI code for the Mac. To return to my hammering-screws-into-the-walls metaphor from yesterday, it’s as though the building into which Anthropic decided to hammer all the screws is a renowned screwdriver factory.

Bingo.

Bye Bye ChatGPT Atlas

Sun, 05 Jul 2026 07:08:04 -0400

Back home. Rebooted my Mac because of an issue with macOS 27 Golden Gate. Got this warning. Oh well, I didn’t use Atlas anyway. I’m not even sure if Atlas is on OpenAI roadmap for the long run.

Fri, 03 Jul 2026 17:10:59 -0400

Dear Americans, good luck with the next 250 years. You’ll need all you can get.

Too hot

Fri, 03 Jul 2026 13:00:28 -0400

Vacations coming to an end this weekend, expect normal programming resuming by Sunday. It was a great two-week vacation in France but the overwhelming heat wherever we stayed was a challenge that we didn’t expect and was hard at some points to cope with, especially in Paris.

Why Inkwell is so useful while on vacation

Mon, 29 Jun 2026 05:05:25 -0400

I use Inkwell quite often and I like it. While on vacation, I tend to spend less time reading my RSS feeds so my unread count goes up quite a bit. How do I catch up efficiently? I stop for a small reading session, I switch to Inkwell and use the Today tab but also the Recent tab which is super useful to see what I have missed. In extreme case of disconnection, the Fading tab comes to the rescue. If you’re an RSS feeds junkie, you should consider trying Inkwell.

Stop scrolling TikTok and start building YOUR app

Sat, 27 Jun 2026 09:50:12 -0400

AI coding is creating a new generation of makers:

it’s been heartening seeing people reverse engineer things and build weird little things that they never would have done before. I guess they’d be scrolling TikTok instead.

Anything to stay away from TikTok is a win for humankind.

Bye bye Paris

Sat, 27 Jun 2026 09:42:06 +0200

My last day in Paris. This week flew by. Despite the climate-related challenges, visiting such a wonderful city has been an unforgettable experience. Now, we’re heading south, on a three-hour TGV ride, for a relaxing week on the seaside. Don’t expect too many check-ins. I’m taking a break. I hoped you enjoyed this photo-centric journaling as much as I enjoyed posting.

The 128 GB trick

Fri, 26 Jun 2026 18:01:48 +0200

Is the Apple TV the new Trash Can Mac Pro? And why on earth do we need a 128 GB configuration? Was it an Apple trick so that people not knowing what they were buying would go the 128 GB route, making Apple smile with 💵💵💵? It’s a shame that Apple keep this around and even increase the price!

RIP Mr Om Malik

Fri, 26 Jun 2026 09:43:40 +0200

I learned of Om Malik’s passing last night when I got back to the apartment through a short message from Manton Reece. What sad news. I had noticed recently that the frequency of his posts had changed and become irregular. He had some health issues and shared a few words about it in the past.

I had been following Om Malik for a few years and appreciated his perspectives on Apple and technology in general. He knew how to read the nuances and contrasts of Apple much better than other bloggers I won’t name here. He was a great tech journalist. Finally, I was a big fan of his photographic style. I had the pleasure of following him on Glass and regularly showed him my appreciation for his unique style, full of nuance. He will be missed by us all.

Om Malik was one year older than me.

I read his last post dozen of times. This feels surreal.

A slight twist

Fri, 26 Jun 2026 03:18:33 -0400

Is the worst of this Paris heatwave behind us? Maybe, as we’re only heading for 37°C today instead of 38°C or 39°C 😒🥵. After three mostly sleepless nights, we decided to leave our apartment a day early to stay in a hotel with AC before leaving Paris for good. Other than that, our plans for the day are still up in the (hot) air.

Too hot for photography?

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 03:46:10 -0400

You might think that, by looking at the trail here, I’m taking a lot of photos in visiting Paris, but that’s not the case. One reason is it’s my second time in Paris, but the second reason is the heat. Sadly, It’s not fun to stop on the street for a few minutes, under the sun, for shooting a few photos. And lastly, my iPhone is overheating quickly while taking pictures! Running a beta version of iOS 27 probably doesn’t help either. 🤦🏻‍♂️ I’m probably snapping a third of what I would shoot normally.

28C at 9 o’clock!

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 03:23:26 -0400

Starting day #6 in Paris. After a nearly sleepless night with high temperatures in our apartment, no breeze at all, we are facing another record breaking heatwave day. Heading to Notre Dame this morning while outside temperatures are still ok for waiting inline in a queue. Beyond that, we still don’t know. Max temperature is expected to be 38C at 5PM. 🥵🫤😒

Those open space offices suck

Wed, 24 Jun 2026 12:40:01 -0400

Open-plan offices have many drawbacks, and I was reminded of another one today. Instead of a generic, rotating desk, I much prefer having a dedicated, private office. I want a space of my own, and I enjoy seeing how others personalize their workspaces. You can learn so much about people’s interests and personalities just by seeing how they occupy the space where they spend a third of their lives.

Peak heatwave

Wed, 24 Jun 2026 03:37:28 -0400

Good morning from heated Paris! Today might be the worst of all as we enter peak heatwave. Expected temperatures are around 38C. 😳🥵😩 Photowalk is not a possibility today, this heat removes any glimpses of inspiration. Looking for more museums to visit.

Tue, 23 Jun 2026 08:08:19 -0400

Beta 2 on iPhone seems a regression. I do remember that we get a few steps back before jumping back to acceptable stability: visual bugs, weird animations in iMessage, etc.

Still hot in Paris

Tue, 23 Jun 2026 03:46:40 -0400

Well, at the beginning our third day in Paris and options for visiting air conditioned museums are limited because of high demand. Apparently, we should plan in advance which we rarely do in vacation. 🫤 Probably going to visit around Le Louvre then see La Seine river nearby where I expect somewhat colder air. Temperatures are expected to be around 35C this afternoon. 🥵

Paris is hot!

Sun, 21 Jun 2026 03:30:14 -0400

First full day in Paris completed. Now starting second day. In case you didn’t know: there is a heat wave affecting most of France. It’s hot 🥵 here in Paris with a temperature of around 26C early morning. Now planning museum visits where temperatures are colder inside.

More of Siri AI

Fri, 19 Jun 2026 07:31:13 -0400

Since the Siri AI beta is out, I have started using it more and more for simple prompts like the following. It’s not fancy, but it works. Unlike ChatGPT or Claude, Siri AI doesn’t seem to have a memory beyond the data on my device. I’m not quite sure yet, but that’s my current understanding.

Not Addicted Yet

Fri, 19 Jun 2026 07:21:02 -0400

This morning, I realized that my Discord notifications were delayed; the last one was over 24 hours old. After a brief investigation, I found that I couldn’t connect to my n8n instance; it seemed to require a restart. I didn’t have time to investigate further, so I rebooted everything. Everything is back to normal.

What’s funny is that I only realized this morning that my Discord instance wasn’t receiving any notifications, which shows I’m not yet addicted to these notifications; no n8n workflows are essential yet, and I can do without them. It’s just a mild annoyance.

High Temperatures Expected

Thu, 18 Jun 2026 20:52:33 -0400

The weather in Montreal, Canada, has not been very good this Spring (lots of rain, too few sunny days, colder than usual). If weather forecasts for the next ten days materialize, improvements aren’t expected soon. Paris, France, is quite another story. They have had plenty of sun, and temperatures are abnormally high and expected to remain so in the near future, as they are still going through a heat wave. The expected high in Paris this coming Saturday is 36C! As a reminder: AC in Paris, or Europe in general, is not common. 😅🥵

Anxieties of a Creator

Thu, 18 Jun 2026 12:21:40 -0400

Now that I have everything I need for a public travel journaling experience, I’m starting to think about the anxiety this might trigger while travelling. I want to take and share great images of places that are significant in my travelling experience. But, blogging shouldn’t be a burden, journaling neither, especially while travelling. But as a creator, creating and sharing goes hand in hand. I hope I’ll keep my anxiety at bay!