Numeric Citizen Blog Posts Monthly Digest
Numeric Citizen Blog
First Narrated Blog Post Experiment
Hi everyone. I might be late to the party, but I finally sat down for a few minutes to test Micro.blog's new feature: narrated blog posts. It is strange because this is my first use and I cannot write a full review because as I'm writing this, my audio recording is still not done, and I don't know how is the audio attachment and processing will actually work. It might be similar to when I post a new podcast episode. In any case, I think this is a clever addition to an already useful and enjoyable blogging service. Thanks to @Manton for this. Now, should I say, "have a great day and see you for another blog post?" Probably not.
[Update #1]: It seems the play button doesn't show up. Probably a bug with the Cards theme. Investigation started. [Update #2]: I found out that narrated blog posts come out as podcast episodes on Podcasts. I'm not sure this is what I want.
Audio 2024-06-02 ∞HEY World is probably "mostly" dead. Each week, I hit the dice to visit a random HEY World site and 9 out of 10 sites were last updated in 2021, around the time HEY World was launched.
2024-06-02 ∞When I launched my weekly creative summary newsletter, I wanted its structure and format to remain consistent for a long time. However, after 17 editions, I've decided to refine the newsletter's structure. I'm never fully satisfied with my tools, workflows, and past decisions about how to do things.
2024-06-02 ∞Apple may be overhauling Spotlight in macOS 15, and potentially on other operating systems as well. This suggests the company is focusing on enhancing the user experience when interacting with AI-generated responses to user requests. I'm really curious as to how it will come out.
2024-06-02 ∞I've been relying on Raycast AI more and more in recent days to help me summarize the articles I read through my RSS feeds in Inoreader. I've also found it useful for improving the quality of my own writing. I'm quite tempted to upgrade my Raycast AI subscription so that I can fully leverage its capabilities, despite the fact that I'm already subscribing to ChatGPT. However, the cost of the upgrade is something I need to weigh carefully before making a decision.
Side note: why do I keep thinking that Apple will introduce Siri+ this summer?
2024-06-03 ∞The new narrated posts feature of Micro.blog has an unexpected twist. Since my blog also hosts a podcast, any narrated blog posts will end up on Apple's Podcast directory. I'm unsure if this is what I want, but I appreciate the possibility for those who prefer to consume my content as an audio file.
2024-06-03 ∞For the first time since joining Mastodon, I wanted to get an idea of what was happening with ChatGPT1. I conducted a search using the #chaptgpt tag to see the live updates. This was something I used to do frequently when I was on Twitter while big events were happening.
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ChatGPT suffered major downtime in recent hours if not days. ↩
The M4 iPad Pro Regression Nobody is Talking About
The new M4 iPad Pro, with its repositioned FaceID camera, feels like a step backward compared to the 2018 iPad Pro. I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong, but I frequently receive prompts to enter my PIN due to failed FaceID attempts. Swiping up to unlock the device momentarily covers the camera and sensors, disrupting the process. While Apple may have enhanced the FaceTime experience, the unlocking experience has become more frustrating. In my opinion, this is a significant regression.
2024-06-05 ∞Here's Why I Hate Template In Office Work
Using templates in office work can sometimes be counterproductive, leading to less original thinking, reduced engagement, and fewer creative problem-solving opportunities. Templates can make it easy to fall into a routine of just filling in blanks, resulting in more generic outputs and a checkbox mentality. This reliance on templates can also make it challenging to adapt and innovate when a task doesn't fit the template. To keep creativity and innovation alive, it's helpful to use templates as a starting point while encouraging team members to think critically and adapt as needed.
Some of my colleagues are highly dependant on them, I'm not. I'm staying away from them. It's a creative thinking killer.
2024-06-06 ∞In case you didn't know me, I'm on this week's People & Blog edition. It was fun to answer Manuel Moreale's questions.
2024-06-07 ∞Apple's AI Push at WWDC 2024
"Apple will put a major emphasis on AI at its upcoming WWDC, as the company aims to catch up to competitors in this rapidly evolving space. While Apple's approach has been more measured, the pressure is on to provide a clear growth narrative, which its AI initiatives may struggle to directly deliver. Unlike Microsoft and NVIDIA, Apple does not have an obvious path to monetize AI, instead focusing on using the technology to enhance its existing products and services." — ChatGPT summarizing this article from M.G. Siegler.
I'm more than ok that Apple doesn't try to monetize their AI journey.
2024-06-07 ∞It's Sunday, and it's time for the new edition of My Creative Summary newsletter! I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I love putting it together!
2024-06-09 ∞Apple Intelligence & Current Apple Silicon
If Apple Intelligence1 requires a new generation of hardware to be fully appreciated, I would be surprised and be a little sad. My expectation would be that last year's generation of hardware should be, at the minimum, enough. Otherwise, it might send a wrong message that even current Apple Silicon isn't enough to power generative AI-based experience. How could this be, after all, Apple always brag about its silicon superiority. Tim Cook said that their silicon was their current competitive edge... but was he referring to future chips only? I hope not.
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Provided it's the real name. ↩
Dear Apple, please, fix this. Thanks you.
Mind blown. That's all for now. More thoughts to come soon. 🤯 #wwdc #apple #appleevent #wwdc24
2024-06-10 ∞I'll save money with Apple Intelligence in the next 12 months as indicated in my subscriptions page. #apple #appleevent #wwdc24 #wwdc
2024-06-10 ∞Two of my preferred visual things in iOS 181 is the colorful visual effect of Siri and the default wallpaper, which is also very nice. Siri animation is so relaxing and less intrusive than the big colorful ball. These are small changes but welcomed changes nonetheless.
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I'm not using iOS 18 yet. Should be later in the summer, late in August, I guess. ↩
Referring to this post from MacStories' Viticci, I might be living or coming from a different planet, but I do not want to block any of my sites from AI bot crawlers, none of them, even if it is from Google, OpenAI, Apple or even Meta. I want to embrace this new era while being critical to what is happening. More to come soon.
2024-06-13 ∞Two Highly Different Approaches
Microsoft is recalling "Recall" after all, and this makes them look rather bad. This happens on the same week of Apple revealing Apple Intelligence which received a more positive set of reactions.
We are witnessing two different approaches to the challenge of intelligently integrating generative AI prowess to the base operating system. These two events couldn't be more evocative of how different Apple and Microsoft strategy and culture are. Guess which approach I prefer? I'm excited for Apple Intelligence, but I appreciate the time it will take to make it right.
2024-06-14 ∞Refreshing take also a good reminder:
2024-06-14 ∞@stroughtonsmith After seeing WWDC, I’m actually buying a iPad Air M2 next to my mini 6. But I have never seen and expected iPad as anything more than what Jobs used in his introduction. Never replacing my Mac, never replacing my iPhone.
Apple Private Cloud Compute Curiosities
Apple announced a significant development at this year's WWDC: the creation of its own cloud infrastructure named "Private Cloud Compute" for securely handling certain Apple Intelligence requests. As an IT professional working in data center technologies, I have a few questions that remain unanswered even after watching John Gruber's The Talk Show Live:
1) What CPU is used in each server? I wonder if Apple is utilizing high-end versions of its Apple Silicon chips. It's worth noting that there was no update to the Mac Studio this year. Is Apple diverting M3 Max or M3 Ultra production to build its Private Cloud Compute data centers (which currently feature 32 Neural Engine cores in the M2 Ultra)?
2) What type of case design is Apple using for the servers? Are they modified versions of the Mac mini, or are they using a rack-mount variant of the Mac Studio?
3) Is Apple deploying data centers only in the United States or across multiple continents? I suspect the latter, for the sake of redundancy and capacity.
I expect that sometime in the future, perhaps at WWDC 2025, Apple may reveal details about the first year of Apple Intelligence in a short video. We'll have to wait and see.
2024-06-15 ∞It Sunday time and so my weekly creative summary is out! This is the Craft hosted version. The email version is coming out later today. Enjoy. By the way, the Craft version, this week, contains a sub-page that won't make it in the newsletter edition, thanks to Craft.
2024-06-16 ∞📝 Just like my old iPods, the iPod name is just collecting dust, despite being the best name they ever came up with.
https://lmnt.me/blog/ipod.html
I agree. The iPod name more accurately describes the current iPhone. However, it's unlikely that Apple will revert to this name, despite its strong brand recognition.
2024-06-17 ∞Claim of the moment: Perplexity AI ignores robot.txt files and crawls websites even when the site owner says no. https://rknight.me/blog/perplexity-ai-is-lying-about-its-user-agent/
Woah, that is not cool, at all. Even if I don't care too much for AI bots to crawl and ingest my content, I would expect them to respect those author and site owners who decides otherwise. It's not the best way to build trust.
2024-06-17 ∞When Will IT Support Guys Learn?
The CEO of the company I work for (450 employees) called me today over Microsoft Teams because he was seeking for help and explanations for a problem with repeated authentification requests when using Microsoft 365 services on his devices (an iPhone, an iPad). He wasn't sure why he was getting that many requests. After calling the IT department for support, he was baffled by the responses he got for his problem: reboot your phone, uninstall Apple Mail and re-install, that type of shitty responses. After a few tries, he finally got the "real" reasons: iPhone aren't supported officially and weakening the security posture of the whole company, he should get an Android. What a shitload of bullshit, which is often typical from IT guys who don't understand or know Apple devices. I'm so tired of this, after all those decades.
Back to my call with my CEO, after trying to understand the situation and find a sound explanation, I told him that the type of answers he got was unacceptable. We are an IT company for god's sake! He was shy of admitting the same and surprised by this nonsense. He is the CEO, a smart guy. We should do better.
The iPhone is not weakening the security posture of the company, some IT support guys are1.
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I don't want to generalize but this type of support from unknowledgeable IT guys is still way too much prevalent these days. ↩
On iPadOS, you can hit CMD-Q on your keyboard to « quit » an app… in fact, only the icon is removed from the app switcher view while pressing CMD-TAB. If you re-launch the app from the home screen, the app is stilll in memory. Who said iPadOS is a strange beast?
2024-06-19 ∞For my M4 iPad Pro, I decided to skip the Magic Keyboard for iPad purchase. Instead, I’ll be using a Magic Keyboard and a mouse. I think it’s a great compromise and a very light one, by the way.
Yet, iPadOS and many apps aren’t really keyboard aware. As an example, using Micro.blog native app, if I select a few words and hit CMD-B, the command is ignored and I have to reach the screen to select the bold option. This adds friction to my writing experience. Cc @manton
2024-06-19 ∞We are starting to see some cracks in the AI bubble castle… AI stock market will probably go through the same scenario as the tech bubble in the early 2000. You probably read it first here.
2024-06-21 ∞Of all the PowerPoint presentations that I need to attend for my job1, it is baffling how many times the presenter don't bother putting the presentation mode ON. Can Microsoft do something do about it? 🙄
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And often suffer watching the content... ↩
For all of its purported goals to 'foster a better digital market', having foreign tech companies delay features into the EU market will have huge effects not just for consumers but for developers. I can't see that becoming an economic advantage to an already-lagging EU tech economy.
Well said.
2024-06-21 ∞★ The EU Is Reaping What It Sows With the DMA: Uncertainty
https://daringfireball.net/2024/06/eureapingwhatitsows
For once, I'm on Gruber's side here. But who am I? A clueless north American who doesn't get the EU's laws and law's spirit? Maybe.
2024-06-21 ∞Comparing generative AI model capacities to a school study level is plain stupid (OpenAI pretends GPT-5 to be PhD level). AI is not about intelligence just like having a PhD. The latter is a mere indicator or proxy, at best.
2024-06-22 ∞I wish I had an embedded "recent photos" feed on this blog, something along the line of Greg Morris' blog, but I'm clueless to add such a thing to a Micro.blog hosted website. 😞
2024-06-22 ∞What's wrong with this? 🤔🙄
I finally completed the Digital Legacy Management Guide (available here on Gumroad). It comes as a Craft document that can be duplicated as a template, as well as PDF and Markdown files downloads. The goal here is to help people plan for their digital legacy handling.
2024-06-23 ∞Last minutes adjustments before traveling: revisited the "on vacation" focus mode on my iPhone to make sure to receive notifications from certains apps1, updated the home screen and lock screen wallpapers to be more in line with traveling mode. I also bought and installed my eSIM from Airalo2. Decided not to renew Halide subscription but will I'll try to use it anyway over Apple's camera app3.
My /nope page is up.
2024-06-23 ∞I decided to use Day One for my travel journaling instead of Apple's Journal. Reason being very simple: Day One is available on all my devices. Most of my text probably won't be shared, but if I decide to publish someone, I'll use the Day One export feature.
Update: sadly, images aren't exported while exporting in Markdown format. Not surprising, but it's a nearly a dealbreaker.
2024-06-23 ∞A new iOS 18 beta should drop tomorrow, where SharePlay improvements and iPhone Mirroring will be included for the first time. Except that they won't be available for people in EU. Apple made the announcement last Friday. Poor EU users. 🙃 Here in Canada, we don't have Apple Card nor Apple Cash. But that's for quite different reasons. When iOS 18 ships, we won't get Apple Intelligence either, unless we set our phone to English US, which I won't do, except for testing the thing for a few moments. EU isn't alone in their "misery", I guess.
2024-06-23 ∞Is it me, or Automattic is missing a big opportunity by not enabling users to publish their journal entries to a custom blog or website directly from Day One? I think they do.
2024-06-23 ∞Travel update #1: Zagreb, Croatia
First full day in Croatia. It is the morning here in Zagreb. Yesterday, we arrived and spent the first few hours wandering in the city center where all the night life is happening. It was the time to spot the places that we were to revisit later (today). We were tired following our two flights by night.
There was a soccer match at 9PM and people were quite excited and were looking forward to it. It ended end up in a tie 1-1 Croatia against Italia. I don’t care too much about soccer but Croatian do quite a lot!
I didn’t take my camera with me as I felt my iPhone would be enough. It was a good call anyway because it was rather late in the evening. We had dinner at a restaurant and had goulash and beer. It was a typical plate for Croatian apparently. We came back to the B&B exhausted by our air travelling. I do feel the jet lag this morning but I expect thing to improve in the next two to three days.
This blog post was a writing exercise to practice my daily journaling while traveling abroad.
2024-06-25 ∞Travel update #2: Zagreb, Croatia
I’m currently writing this from our room as there are some heavy showers outside. We had a chance to walk a lot since morning in Zagreb and had a great lunch at the restaurant called “Heritage” which is close to our B&B. It’s a very small place where only maybe ten people can have lunch at the same timee (counting those 3 tables outside!). They make absolutely great sandwiches with Croatian ingredients (ham, truffle spread, local cheese, etc.). We also all a great walnuts salad and a drink. Eating is our great pleasure when visiting a place like Zagreb. This place has five stars and is not that expansive.
Back to our room, I’m writing this post after I imported my first batch of images (62 in all) and started to tag which one I would process. All this is done on my iPad, Files and Photomator. Works great so far. The only thing is that I forgot to change the time zone so my pictures got the wrong time stamp. Not that big of a deal. If the internet speed was better, I would have included an image to this post, but that’s not the case. Too bad.
2024-06-25 ∞Travel update #3: Zagreb, Croatia
We went for another walking session in Zagreb after the rain finally went on pause in the second half of the afternoon. We visited another portion of the city before ending up near the restaurant where we planned to have dinner, a Sri Lanka restaurant called “Curry Bowl” which again was rated five stars. It was absolutely delicious. But just before going for the dinner we stopped at a little bar because the rain started again. It was “apéro time”. All in all we enjoyed Zagreb: a nice, relativelyely quiet European city where we always felt in safe.
Tomorrow heading off to Plitvice Lakes National Park for two days. It will be quite a different environment.
2024-06-25 ∞Travel update #4: Plitvicka Jezera Nation Park, Croatia
We left Zagreb today to go visit the Plitvicka Jezera national park. it was a two hour drive from Zagreb. After a nice and smooth ride we arrived at around 11:15 AM in the park ready to tackle the 4-6 hour circuit. Boy this place is wonderful! It took us about four hours. We had a rain shower or two but each time we were lucky to be at the right place either on the boat or in the forest so we didn’t get wet! Lucky me because I wasn’t ready for rain with my unprotected photo equipment. Speaking of photography, I don’t know how many shots I did but I’m pretty sure there are a few quite impressive with such natural surroundings. I can’t wait to process those images.
Tonight, we’re going to have dinner at a house near our B&B in Grabovac, a very small village be close to the national park. They served grilled fish and meat. It supposed to be really good. We’ll see, but I trust the Croatians so far!
2024-06-26 ∞Travel update #5: Rastoke, Croatia
Earlier this morning, the weather was better than yesterday, so we decided to revisit Plitvicka Jezera National Park. The improved lighting allowed us to better appreciate the lake’s renowned blue and green hues, and there were fewer tourists. However, we didn’t stay as long as our previous visit because we wanted to explore a small village called Rastoke. This village, known for its charming houses and numerous waterfalls, was highly recommended by our host. We enjoyed a picnic there before exploring, and we were not disappointed; the place was delightful.
On our way back, we stopped to see the river’s source near the road. To our surprise, we found several old, barely standing buildings, which made for great photography. However, a thunderstorm was forming nearby, forcing us to cut our visit short. After checking the local radar, we realized we had just enough time to escape and return to our car.
And we were back at our B&B at four fifty. It’s another great day in Croatia. Now loading up a new batch of photos into my iPad.
2024-06-27 ∞Travel update #6: Zadar + Vodice, Croatia
Today we left for Zadar and Vodice where we will stay for five days in a small apartment. We arrived at noon in Zadar and had a nice picnic in a small park, under the shade of big trees. It was a quiet place and we wondered about how few tourists seem to be present since we arrived in Croatia. It might not be peak season just yet. We spent nearly three hours in Zadar, a great coastal city of Croatia, to walk in the city’s small streets behind the fortified perimeter. It felt a bit hot even for a coastal city, yet the weather was splendid. We saw (and heard) the sea organ and we were pleased by the sound of it.
We left Zadar for Vodice at 3PM, a one-hour drive on a coastal road. As we drove away from Zadar we saw the surroundings slowly change in appearance. Vodice is a small village where we can find great places to have dinner and visit the marina surrounded by typical summer houses and beach clubs. Tomorrow I should have more to say about this small village.
Thanks for reading my short travel updates!
2024-06-28 ∞Maybe We Should Stop Crying Fool: We’ve Been Trained Ourselves!
Thinking out loud about generative models training.
In a way, we’ve all been trained ourselves in our life by the books we read, the movies we saw, the music we listened. Some people have been trained on very specific knowledge bodies, in very specific fields. People use this accumulated “training” also forming “culture” to create new things and produce new content. Some people might be trained on a specific music style or dancing style. We’ve been trained by teachers. As “trained” creators, do we ask a permission when writing something new or writing music using our training data? Now because it happens at a large scale by large (and “nasty”?) corporations to create products, we cry foul?! Where is the line to be drawn here? I don’t know.
2024-06-29 ∞Could Generative AI Content Usage Be THE Biggest Problem?
I’m wondering if the way someone elects to use generated content from generative AI models is way more potentially problematic and subject to debate than anything related to models training using content from the open web.
Also: generative AI content used to train generative AI models is also source of concerns to me. I call that process “knowledge desinfection” or “knowledge toxification” or even better “knowledge asphyxiation”. Or should I replace “knowledge” with “intelligence”?
One more thing: the more I think about generative AI training, the less I think it should be considered plagiarism. More on that one soon.
2024-06-29 ∞Pressure Might Be Mounting on Apple with Apple Intelligence in Unexpected Ways
Warning: Unsettled thoughts: I think many tech pundits are overestimating Apple Intelligence capabilities and influence potential. If Apple fails to deliver, even slightly, it might trigger a crash like the dot com crash. Some tech pundits are fast at expecting Apple to be the gateway to generative AI legitimacy. In this logic, if Apple fails, AI will fail too. I might be over simplifying things here.
2024-06-29 ∞Travel update #7: Vodice’s Beaches, Croatia
We didn’t do much today: taking our time early in the morning when preparing and having breakfast and then spending time on the beach and relaxing. I did some writing too, from my iPhone while sitting on my sunbathing chair. It’s far from being ideal for writing longer posts but it is what it is. I had some thoughts to share about AI, generative AI more specifically (like this thought, this one and that one).
We came back to the apartment after having a drink at a beach club nearby. Then, again, we were quietly spending time online before getting ready to prepare the meal for dinner. Our plans for the rest of the day is to return in the village’s center to feel the village’s night life. It’s only a ten-minute walk from where we stay. It’s very convenient.
Thanks for reading.
2024-06-29 ∞M. G. Siegler musing about possible next iteration of the Apple Vision:
The most compelling idea would be allowing/forcing the 'Vision' to tether to an iPhone or Mac to run the computing of the device. Frankly, I think they should do this. I know they view it as a stand-alone computing device, one that could potentially do it all one day, but that day is far, far away. You already have to use the ridiculous (and ridiculously inconvenient) external battery to power the device. They should either put a Mac SoC in that brick or use their software screen-casting smarts to offload much of the work to an iPhone, iPad, or Mac.
Now that people know they have to live with an external battery pack in order to use the Vision Pro, putting a small Mac-in-that-box to offload some of the weight off the Vision Pro could be a game changer too. Apple is clever at iterating on things to make them better. The Apple Vision is not done yet, just be patient.
In other notes: the Vision Pro is coming to Canada this July and I can’t wait to book myself a 30-minute demonstration appointment.
2024-06-30 ∞Travel update #8: Kornati Islands, Croatia
Here’s today’s travel update. What a wonderful day we had, thanks to this day-cruise around the Kornati Islands, starting from Vodice’s port at 9 AM. We had lunch at around 11:30 AM, right before a 3-hour stop at one of the island (can’t remember the name!) where we could spend some time swimming at the beach or in a very salty small interior lake. I decided to go for the trail around the lake instead, a 2.2KM quick trekking. While the temperature at the village was expected to reach 33C during the day, weather on the sea was cooler and very nice, with very little wind, except in the trail where the temperature probably reached more than 30C with partially shaded trail sections, thanks to tall pine trees. A bit scary discovery: while walking the trail in the forest, I encountered many big spider nets at about fifteen feet high each with a gigantic spider standing right in the middle, waiting for the next prey. It was a bit scary and disgusting, not my favourite thing to see. Overall, it was a great day.
I took my telephoto lens with me this time around and it was a judicious decision. I started editing my travel photos and I must say that without Adobe Lightroom’s built in catalog, it’s a bit cumbersome. I often get this error in Photomator as seen below. It’s a bit frustrating. I think it’s more of an iPadOS instabilities than a problem with Photomator.
