Numeric Citizen Blog Posts Monthly Digest
Numeric Citizen Blog
WSJ: Goldman Sachs wants to bail on Apple Card partnership after $1B loss, in talks with Amex
Goldman Sachs is in talks with American Express about transferring its Apple partnership
Could this be the needed change for Apple Card to come to Canada? It's a long shot but who knows... As a reminder, American Express was the very first partner to bring Apple Pay to Canada. They had a six-month exclusivity deal with Apple at that time.
2023-07-01 ∞I’m feeling upbeat about returning to a more normal blogging schedule. It’s part of my life and I miss it when I’m off-grid for a long time. Of course, I kept my travel journal up-to-date, so writing was still a thing.
2023-07-01 ∞Thought of the day: I rarely use my photos as a source of wallpapers on my devices. I'm wondering why.🤔
2023-07-02 ∞The only time my M1 Mac mini with 16 GB of RAM struggles is when using Adobe Lightroom Classic. Even after all those promised and supposedly delivered "optimizations", the classic version of Lr is still sluggish. Adobe Lightroom, being a brand new codebase, is actually way much faster in my experience.
2023-07-02 ∞Does Apple know that, with the Apple Vision Pro, they have a unique opportunity to reinvent weather apps? Imagine experiencing a thunderstorm forecast in this immersive environment. Can’t wait but I’m not holding my breath.
2023-07-03 ∞Call it whatever you like, design it whatever you want, release today, tomorrow, in a year, if there is one simple link with Meta, I’m out. Enough of this platform / Zucherburg. 🤮
2023-07-04 ∞Hunting vs ChatGPT
Hunters are not allowed to use drones to locate their prey. It is seen as an anti-competitive measure or an unfair practice. While “real” hunters who chase their future prey for fun aren’t allowed drone usage, what about those who hunt to eat meat because it is their way of living? Is it still forbidden?
Now, let’s do a parallel with LLM-derived tools like ChatGPT. Is it ok for fun but not ok for actual work? When are the lines crossed? Is the content the only determining factor?
2023-07-04 ∞Bad News for Weather in Canada
Yesterday, weather report summary for June in Canada was released and it is ugly. Much higher temperatures in the wrong places and at much earlier time this year. Many records broken by wide margin (since 1871). Lot’s of discrepancies in rain distribution with lack of rain in the north of Quebec which then allowed much widespread forests fire than usual.
One month is not a trend but when you look far back, there are many worrying trends.
2023-07-05 ∞Planning a visit to the Apple Store after work today. Reason? To experience the 15-inch MacBook Air. 🕵🏻
2023-07-05 ∞Threads is just another trick by cyberspace to divert my attention to being focused, creative, happy, hopeful, and more importantly to use me as another data point by scrapping my privacy. I say NO.
2023-07-06 ∞I wish I had a blog about my professional life. I rarely share anything work-related here. Yet, there are soooo many juicy stories to talk about in professional life in general. I won’t do it because a few people at work know about “numericcitizen”… it could be prejudicial.
2023-07-06 ∞Wondering something this morning: if Threads was to offer "free" APIs, would developers embrace them or think again and remember about Twitter and Reddit snafu? I bet they would embrace them.
2023-07-07 ∞Thought of the day: blog readers might not like negativity-tinted post or being told the truth they don’t want to read. I published my observations and opinion regarding our hyper-dependency on being connected all the time, so much that we don’t really connect in-person anymore. A few subscribers unsubscribed. 😒 Or maybe they just agree with my take and are looking for ways to regain more time in-person by unsubscribing from my blog? 😂
I guess there is always a positive side of an event. 🙏🏻
2023-07-07 ∞We Must Do Something About Meta’s Monopoly
In my mind, every new platforms should start from 0 user base. Meta, just to name that one, have a monopoly of social graph. This is anti-competitive. Should Bluesky sue Meta? Should the open source community sue Meta? Yes. And yes.
Remember Microsoft and Internet Explorer back in the days? Remember Apple and the App Store?
We are not ready to accept this but here we are. Meta is a monopoly in my book. Time for regulation. I casted my vote: no Threads for me.
2023-07-07 ∞I’m Still Liking HEY Email But…
I’ve been using the HEY email service since its introduction. This week I had to search extensively in my email history to find transaction receipts and contracts. HEY email client has a unique take visually on emails and the inbox, and you either like it or hate it. I still like it, but I feel let down by the software for operations like searching, content rendering and attachment processing. This is where I wish HEY had a more standard take on email display and attachment preview. There is a lack of information density in this app which annoys me.
If there was another similar service but with a native client, I think I would switch.
2023-07-08 ∞Writing an email to a long-time friend. What a joyful experience. I like the slowness of the process. It's like blogging. ⌨️
2023-07-08 ∞🤔 Pondering installing iPadOS 17 beta 3 on my 2018 iPad Pro. This is not my primary driver. There will be another beta before I leave for Canary's Island in late July, in case Beta 3 is a disaster. I should be good to go with a more stable release and experience overall. Decisions decisions decisions.
2023-07-08 ∞Using Day One for Travel Journaling
When I decided to use Day One for my travel journal, I had the following requirements:
- Data portability is paramount (markdown, text, or textbundle);
- It must work offline;
- Integration into my existing workflow to share travel moments on Micro.blog;
- Easy data entry with as much metadata automatically filled out for me as possible;
- Look at my current toolset before using something entirely new.
I tried Craft last year, and it wasn't up to the task. Apple Notes was a candidate, but it was dropped since notes’ metadata is nonexistent. Day One met all requirements. I’ve been using Day One for more than five years. It worked wonderfully for my last trip. Sometimes, the solution is right in front of our eyes.
2023-07-08 ∞I'm curious about Pixelfed. I'm also cautious about joining another service (I already have too many). I see two issues. One: the lack of an iPhone app (still in beta, no TestFlight slot available). Two: I'm curious as to why Micro.blog doesn't support cross-posting to Pixelfed. @manton ? Also, who's on Pixelfed here?
2023-07-09 ∞A New Start: Pixelfed
It didn't take long. I'm now on Pixelfed (profile page). The reason it was a quick decision: I found a very specific use case for it. Since returning from my trip to Morocco, I have been looking for a way to share my best pictures with my family and friends. I prefer not to use Instagram / Facebook / Glass for different reasons. So here I am. Enjoy.
2023-07-09 ∞Fediverse is so fascinating and so much interesting. I searched for my handle (@numericcitizen) on the Pixelfed main page and found my account here (marked as "Remote"), on my Mastodon instance and on Pixelfed, too (obviously)! So cool.
2023-07-09 ∞Apple is now on Threads? Really? It didn't take long. There is something profoundly ironic to see a company like Apple promoting privacy now subscribing to Thread. Apple is not on Mastodon, though. Why? Because it's not a platform, Threads is. Apple is a platform company.
2023-07-09 ∞I spent quite some time on Pixelfed today. I shared a few photos but also started writing an article about my experience with the service. So far, I do like the experience. Much more than I originally thought. Is it because of its polished design? Or is it because of its openness and its citizenship of the Fediverse landscape? I still don't know. I do sense a few red flags here and there, though. More on that later. But for now, I enjoy the beginning of the ride.
2023-07-09 ∞
These are my first downloads and purchases from the App Store in July 2008. Since the iPhone 3GS came to Canada the year after, those downloads were done on the iPod touch. For many people, the iTunes Remote was the first download. I have a hard time explaining the remaining ones. I mean, I never was a reader of the New York Times after having completed my university degree back in 1993 and yet, this is the second download.
2023-07-11 ∞My experience with Pixelfed goes so well that I'm in the process of migrating my old photos from Instagram. And what comes after this migration? The IG account closure. While everyone goes wild about Threads and going in drove to Threads, I'm turning my back to this privacy nightmare and fully embracing Fediverse.
2023-07-11 ∞The next time someone tells me that Mastodon is complicated, I'll respond: try Discord. You ain't see nothing yet.
2023-07-11 ∞That is going away soon. #Instagram
After reading this article from Filipe Esposito from 9to5Mac, about the iPhone 14 Pro Max, I'm happy to have skipped last year's iPhone release. He complains about the shortened battery life compared to the previous generation and the lack of meaningful camera improvements. Those two things could significantly change in the upcoming iPhone 15 Pro Max (Ultra?). I can't wait.
2023-07-12 ∞Don't be surprised by my relentless posting of photos... I'm playing with my new toy: Pixelfed. Who's on Pixelfed, here, btw?
2023-07-12 ∞A year from now, my photo-sharing digital landscape will look like this: Pixelfed + Glass + Unsplash + Exposure. Gone will be Instagram, Smugmug.
2023-07-13 ∞Tornado warning. We mostly never get those in our region. WTF?
Wow, we are just in the last moments of a "three-wave" storm with heavy rain, winds and lighting. I guess we got between 50mm - 100mm of rain in three hours. Power failures all around are reported. One might say: well, it's summer; it is expected. Yeah, but when you look at the trend this summer, we got way too much rain, too fast compared to the average rainfall.
2023-07-13 ∞YouTube put this video suggestion in my feed this morning. I was curious and watched it. Then, I realized that without knowing it, I'm actually using the PARA approach in Craft. Now I'm wondering if I should rearrange and rename a few things in there to better align with the PARA naming convention. 🤔 {{< youtube "T6Mfl1OywM8" >}}
2023-07-15 ∞My First (And Unexpected) FaceTime Moment on My Apple TV!
I just had my first experience with FaceTime with one of my sons on my Apple TV. My son called me on FaceTime. I picked up the call. A few seconds later into the conversation, my iPhone suggested putting the call on my Apple TV. I really didn't expect that. The iPhone instructed me what to do with my iPhone so it could catch me on camera. It was such an "Apple" moment! Flawless. Barely no lags. 🤯
My iPhone runs iOS 17 beta 3, and the Apple TV tvOS 17.0 beta 3.
2023-07-15 ∞A 60-minute Video Tour of Pixelfed
I'm finally ready to share my 60-minute video tour of Pixelfed. If you're contemplating the idea of creating your account on Pixelfed, I encourage you to do so, but after watching this video. You'll learn about Pixelfed's capabilities. It's not a comparison analysis with services like Flickr or Smugmug, though. {{< youtube "NXn7MYFxbGU" >}}
2023-07-16 ∞
This screenshot is from Patreon about my profile page there. You can share a page on social networks when creating a page there. It’s a common thing to do, right? I’m wondering when Facebook and Twitter will stop to be the only two options for sharing stuff on the web. Pinterest is nice but what about the open web like Mastodon? Or Bluesky…?
2023-07-16 ∞My week-end so far
Exploring Pixelfed✅. Producing a 60-minute video about Pixelfed✅. Writing an article about Pixelfed✅. Learning about Tinylytics✅. Learning about templates in Micro.blog and custom themes✅. Adding Tinylytics to my blog✅. Subscribing to Tinylytics. ✅
Next up: going to see the latest Mission Impossible.
2023-07-16 ∞It's funny how much effort I put into writing a small description for each image shared on Pixelfed. I did not do this while on Flickr, 500px and Smugmug. I'm even writing an ALT description. It's great for reading in an RSS reader. Your thoughts?
The Apple Vision (Bible | Knowledge Base | Hub)?
I'm thinking of building a central web portal gathering information and everything related to the Apple Vision (Pro). Think of this as something similar to a digital garden but targeted to a specific product line. I do maintain one about Apple rumors (the Apple Rumors Hub). I have a few possible names in mind:
The Apple Vision Bible / The Apple Vision Knowledge Base / The Apple Vision Hub /
The concept of an "information hub" seems popular. Which one sounds better? What other name suffix could I use?
Note: since it is clear that Apple will release a lower-end version of the headset, I won't include the "Pro" moniker, hence Apple Vision xxx.
2023-07-16 ∞For those interested in what others are using in their workflow, I spent some time this early morning updating My Complete Content Creator Toolset. Added Plausible + Tinylytics, among other things.
2023-07-17 ∞Apparently, Russian officials are now banning iPhone because they believe there is an espionage ops using American tech. 🕺🏼
2023-07-17 ∞George Monastiriakos: The only way to save Russia is to dismantle it:
“To be clear: The Russian Federation is the third iteration of the Russian Empire. Spanning 11 time zones and comprising hundreds of ethnically, linguistically, religiously, and culturally distinct societies ruled by, from, and for the benefit of a small circle of kleptocrats primarily based in Saint Petersburg and Moscow, the Russian state has been unviable for centuries. Like empires of old, the only way to save Russia from itself is to dismantle it,“ writes George Monastiriakos, a fellow at the Geneva Centre for Security, in his recent op-ed.
Photo: Getty Images
2023-07-17 ∞Feeling Helpless About Climate
Due to Canada's forest fires and easterly winds, bad air quality is returning to my town for the next few days. With all the bad climate-related news coming up from everywhere on Earth, trying to understand what is happening is essential, so we can better adapt our lifestyle. I like to read many things on a subject that I find interesting, but climate change topic is utterly depressing. The planet is clearly slowly burning. All indicators are going in the wrong direction. How can we not feel helpless? It's hard to stay informed and keep faith in humanity. Prove me wrong.
Github Offers a Fascinating Look at Software Development
I learned to use GitHub for the repo of my Blot website last year (read more about my experience with Blot here). I didn't want to use Dropbox. I'm no longer using Blot, but I'm still visiting Github occasionally to keep track of project development like Plausible, but more recently for Pixelfed and a few plugins for Micro.blog. Peeking at change logs, commit comments, files changed, etc. offers an intimate look at software development. It's also a great way to learn something.
2023-07-18 ∞When I decided to subscribe to Exposure, it was because I wanted to write short stories using my photos. I did share six of them so far (see my profile page here). Now that I'm on Pixelfed, I find myself writing more with each shared image than I did on Exposure. 🤷🏻♂️
2023-07-18 ∞On Data Portability in the Modern Digital World
I recently read about the news that Evernote is currently downsizing its operations worldwide, especially in the US. It's not the first troubling episode for Evernote. I remember when they "redesigned" their app, which created a massive pushback from the community.
I used Evernote in its early days and was appreciative of its capabilities. For some reason, I left for another solution. But for those who built massive data collections inside Evernote, now might be the time to think about going elsewhere. But there is a big gotcha: after searching for a way to export all the data, I discovered that it's not that easy. And people are angry. This brings me to the data portability of modern software and services. Evernote's ENEX export format was not a standard the last time I checked. A handful of apps can import ENEX files; Notion is one of them. HTML is also supported but is far from ideal. Options are limited and are seriously hindering the data portability of services like Evernote. Besides content, metadata is also critical (tags, dates, location, backlinks, etc.).
Is Notion suffering from the same potential issues? PDF, CSV, and HTML are the supported formats. 🤔
2023-07-18 ∞Notion Can Be Impressive
I've been working hard with Notion at work for a unique project. It's a 14-database setup containing 18 database relationships, many calculations as well as a place for knowledge management. I think I'm pushing the boundaries of what Notion is all about. It's still manageable, and Notion still is speedy. I'm really impressed by what this tool can help achieve. 🤩🤯
2023-07-18 ∞I'm a big fan of Inoreader. Make no mistake. But one quick comment. Consider the following screenshot where you can see the article-sharing option. You can see options like Blogger, Evernote, and Twitter. The first two options are dead horses. I mean, Blogger, really? Evernote is the next in line to die. The third is soon to be a dead horse, too. No other options are provided. I'm surprised that we don't get to send an article by Fax, too.
I'm excited and upbeat about the upcoming weeks/months. I'll have a bunch of images to process (from my trips to Morocco & Canary Islands). Plus the migration out of Smugmug to Pixelfed will keep me busy. Finally, the upgrade to the iPhone 15 Pro Max(Ultra?) will be an occasion for a few photowalk sessions. All contribute to a more photography-intensive fall. 🏞️🏙️📷
I wrote that for myself. I always like comments! 😊
2023-07-19 ∞A new ad by Apple. I never share this but this one made me smile many times. Very entertaining too. Interesting how Apple highlights many features of its products in s single ad. {{< yt "asKvPLmjxXY" >}}
2023-07-19 ∞Poof Vanmoof!
July 17, 2023: “VanMoof was declared bankrupt in the Netherlands on Monday by the Amsterdam District Court, following the company's pandemic-time boom”
Sept 1, 2021: ↓
<img src="https://cdn.micro.blog/photos/1000x/https%3A%2F%2Ffiles.mastodon.social%2Fmedia_attachments%2Ffiles%2F110%2F742%2F830%2F251%2F718%2F453%2Foriginal%2F5c217629449c967e.jpg" alt="“VanMoof raises $128m to make its high-tech e-bikes the new standard in cities worldwide”
“This is the largest ever Series C investment for a European e-bike brand and brings VanMoof's total raised to $182 million (£132 million) in less than two years, making it the most funded e-bike company in the world.”" loading="lazy">
Read: mastodon.social
Too bad for them. It was THE electric bike I was looking for since I heard about them. Sadly, they never expanded in North America. They don't do business with partners. I always regarded Vanmoof as the Apple of the ebike.
2023-07-19 ∞On Clipboard Management & Subscription Model
I'm testing Paste, a clipboard manager software utility for Mac, iOS (link). I kind of like it. It has better management features than Unclutter, which also offers some clipboard management. I'm on a 14-day trial period, but 19 $CAN, a year for a utility without a one-time purchase option, is bugging me. Will see where it goes.
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I'm Subscribing, Now What?
Now that I'm a subscriber of Tapbots' Ivory client for Mastodon, what's up with the updates? Is it because it's summertime? Why do I feel that the development of new features and improvements has considerably slowed in recent weeks and months? After all, the roadmap is clear here.
Tweetbot followed the same trend. Not all developers or companies follow the same product releases, but regarding Tapbots, the trend is slowing and is a pattern. Now, look at Mastodon's official client; there is an update nearly every two weeks or at least monthly. Ok, there are more than 40 contributors to the open source project of r the iOS app while Tapbots is a three-person company.
I'm ok with subscriptions, but just like the subscription itself, the commitment from the developer has to keep up. The subscription model is everywhere and is here to stay. The software and services landscape has changed forever. Expectations from customers like me are changing too. It's too easy to grab my money regularly without showing up in the App Store "Updates" tab.
I'm watching you, Tapbots. Don't deceive me again.
Yeah, Tweetbot was a great app, just like Ivory is, but it lacked some love in the last few years before its demise.
Ranting off. Sorry.
2023-07-20 ∞On Articles Size & Twitter
Tweets on Twitter use to be 140 characters max. Later it was increased to 280 characters. Now, apparently, you can post a note with a maximum of 2500 characters.
Now, looking at MacRumors or similar sites, it seems we get shorter and shorter articles, almost the size of a note on Twitter. Isn’t it strange?
People are busy and their attention span has shrunk considerably. Twitter once was very popular and others tried to adjust to its modus operandi. The web is adjusting in unexpected ways.
2023-07-20 ∞One of the reasons I'm leaving Smugmug is the fact that most of their improvements in the last year are geared toward selling your images. I'm not into this business. I tried selling some of my images on Stock a few years back and made a few dollars. I do have some images for sale on Adobe Stock. The revenue I get for selling an image is RIDICULOUS! I've sold 12 images, generating more than... 17$ in revenue. Who's buying images these days? There is so much free content available (looking at you, Unsplash! 👀). Why bother?
A new camera app for the iPhone. Photon. 📸 By the makers of Camera+. I'm currently subscribing to Halide since my last trip in late June. I will skip that one, but Photon feels simpler to use yet more powerful. And I like the name.
2023-07-21 ∞Right from Glass's highlights website:
We're wrapping up the final touches on our AI-powered Search beta that we'll be releasing soon to Early Access. Early Access is an included perk for a new level of Glass membership that we're announcing soon. Once we've tested it thoroughly over the coming months, it'll be released to everyone. Source: New Member Search in Beta — Glass
In other words, Glass will add another subscription level where you'll get pre-release features for testing. Subscriptions are not enough. Now we must pay to be beta testers. Great. 🤦🏻♂️
2023-07-21 ∞I was six years old. In my early days with computers, I was exposed to some of that stuff: fast line printers, disk packs, and punch card readers. {{< youtube "HMYiktO0D64" >}}
2023-07-21 ∞The Beginning of My Journey to Midjourney
"A man sitting in front of a retro computer doing some important work". 👀
This is my first ever prompt sent to Midjourney. I think this image is an excellent representation of my current state. A guy experimenting with Midjourney in front of my computer. I'm blown away. What a great time to be alive! Discord, as a client of this back-end service, is fascinating. 🤯
I subscribed for one month to the basic plan. I'm not sure how I'll use the service. One example could be to create illustrations for my blog posts on Numeric Citizen Space. Another use case would be for illustration purposes for my work. I'll see and continue experimenting. I'll report back here my discoveries and impressions.
This 👇🏻
The most prolific thinkers aren’t thinking with external brains. If you’re a photographer, take more pictures. If you’re a writer, produce more text. The tools will work themselves out. Source: RIP: The External 🧠
I don't really like the idea of a "second brain". My brain, the only one that I got, already requires all my energy. Why bother creating another "brain"?
2023-07-22 ∞(...) the best way to improve your photography is to focus on your ideas, not your technique or gear Source: About — CJ Chilvers
I couldn't agree more. To everyone who came up to me and asked what camera they should buy to start their photography journey, my answer always has been this one: Don't focus on the camera model and let's start discussing possible photo subjects.
2023-07-22 ∞Speak up. When something doesn't work. When someone is being hurt. When you don't agree. Speak up. Someone has to. It's a burden to see more, it's a duty and a privilege. So take care and speak up. You would be surprised how many people think the same and are equally afraid to speak up. Someone has to be the first.
It's not always easy to speak up, even more, if you're the first. Good for you if other voices join yours. But if not, that's ok too, even though some people might not like what you are saying.
2023-07-22 ∞I'm forcing myself to a Midjourney session daily to learn more about this fascinating service. I could spend all day on this thing. What a stimulating environment for a new kind of creative work. A few years from now, we could get an instant response to any requests. There is so much untapped UI addition that could be added to improve the UX, though. One such example would be to have in a palette all styles that can be asked in a prompt, just like filter examples in the Camera app.
2023-07-23 ∞With the future demise of Vanmoof, I decided to look elsewhere for my ebike. I found it. And bought it. My first new bike in more than thirty years. It's probably my last one, too. Today, a perfect bike day in Montreal, I ran for more than 28 km for my first test drive. 🚲🚴🏻♂️😎😅😊
2023-07-23 ∞Paying $44 billion to literally break a popular website, strip it of any recognizable brand, and drive all the users away. Remarkable.
What else to add? And do all that in less than a year? 👏🏻 👏🏻 👏🏻 👏🏻 👏🏻
2023-07-23 ∞My analysis of Craft's latest announcements for the summer. They think they are announcing a roadmap. They don't. No words about eXtensions. No words for better automation support via Shortcuts. You must look at what isn't announced to get a real view of what they did.
2023-07-25 ∞Introducing Patron! https://glass.photo/highlights/introducing-patron
Reader: mastodon.world
I decided to support Glass as a patron because I think these alternatives are important. They help create some sort of equilibrium. It's the same reason I'm investing my time migrating 95% of my photos into Pixelfed. I believe in the open web and in honest alternatives like Glass. More than ever we need them.
2023-07-25 ∞Pixelfed is way more interactive and busier than Glass. My feeling is that the federative nature of Pixelfed helps be discovered. This is something Glass developers should consider if they want to expand their reach, IMHO.
2023-07-26 ∞I'm super excited about this upcoming trip to the Canary Islands. First time over there, for nine days. The weather is expected to be "perfect". Once again, I'll use Day One to document my trip, as needed. I'll take a bunch of photos too! I've been West Africa a month ago, in Morocco. The islands are close! But I couldn't combine those two trips, unfortunately.
2023-07-26 ∞Seems a good time to fly! 😀
If you take more than two flights per year, Flighty becomes a must-have, IMO. What a great app. So many things could be said about it. Not cheap, though. Quality and craftsmanship have a price.
Woah. Bad weather northern US causes inbound flight postponed. We won’t make it to the next flight. Rebooked everything. Going to London instead of Newark. Then to Tenerife. All good now. 😅
2023-07-27 ∞Oh nice, we missed our connection flight to Tenerife🫤. We will have to spend the night in London. At the hotel. 😕
2023-07-28 ∞Killing some time while waiting for diner time by processing and posting my photos on Pixelfed. Too bad they don’t seem to show up in my timeline here on Micrp.blog. Doing all this from my aging 2018 iPad Pro. That’s my traveling device, leaving the MacBook Air behind. Speaking of which, I ordered my 15-inch MBA yesterday and it should be ready just in time when I’m back home! 😎
2023-07-28 ∞My next MacBook Air will have 16 GB of RAM (up from 8 GB), 1 TB of storage (of from 512 GB), all this in a 15 inch configuration. I decided to give my previous 2020 M1 MacBook Air to Apple for a 580 CAN$ credit, plus the 200$ credit for the “back to school” promotion. And… 1500 CAN$ of Apple Store credit, thanks to my job bonuses! This could be the cheapest upgrade ever!
2023-07-28 ∞Thoughts on Micro.blog Tags
I’ve been playing with Micro.blog’s new bookmark tags. At first, I thought the feature was underwhelming. I don't think there is a way to add more than one tag to a bookmark. This might be a good thing after all. Still undecided on this. Then, I discovered how you can select a tag to display associated bookmarks. Hoping for the iOS app to receive an update soon. I updated a few dozen bookmarks to add a tag. I'll see if it makes a difference. My bookmarks are not that many and many are deleted after a while.
Update #1: someone pointed me that we can have more than one tag, simply by adding commas. Update #2: I can see Micro.blog bookmarks as a complement to Anybox, but focused on content originating from people I follow on Micro.blog / Mastodon. I don’t see that replacing Anybox anytime soon.
2023-07-30 ∞In a few days, on August first to be exact, the next edition of my blog posts summary newsletter will be sent out to all my subscribers (millions of them…. not really, just a few people). Maybe it’s the right time for you to subscribe too, especially if you are a new follower of mine, so you get a better view of what I’m up to! Link below.👇 You're welcome. 🙏🏻
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I started testing Safari’s Profiles feature that comes with iOS 17. And judging from my initial experience, just like Focus modes, it takes a lot of management and understanding to make it work to my liking. I'll make it work, but not today.
2023-07-30 ∞On The Refinement Game in Tech
I won’t bother linking to the original piece, linking to Math Birchler’s link post instead will be enough. Is the iPhone refined enough? It depends on how you define « refinement ». To me, the iPhone isn’t refined enough in a way that new tech can help make the iPhone even better. If this year’s rumors are true, this is exactly what will happen (faster processor, more power efficient, etc.). Craftmanship also is a big part of the refinement story (softer edges, etc.). I can't wait for iPhone 15 Pro, coming from the 13 Pro, I'll certainly enjoy all the refinements, big and small.
Oh and apparently, unlike Apple, other companies don’t bother keeping the refinement game going. Well, this is exactly why I love Apple, they care to refine and try to improve things, year after year.
2023-07-31 ∞