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  • December 15, 2024 10:39pm
    Numeric Citizen Numeric Citizen

    Apple & Tech

    Newsletter

    Tonight, I watched the iPhone 4 leak documentary. I don’t want to spoil anything but there was an unexpected and unknown twist to this story. It’s a great documentary. It made me think twice about this era which I kind of miss, actually.

  • December 15, 2024 8:18pm
    Numeric Citizen Numeric Citizen

    Apps & Services

    Newsletter

    I don’t know why I’m paying for Ivory, I’m not often on Mastodon, much more often here and on Bluesky.

  • December 15, 2024 3:43pm
    Numeric Citizen Numeric Citizen

    Misc

    Apps & Services

    Newsletter

    I’m still exploring ways to monetize my experience with Craft. After creating The Craft Bible, now it’s Craft Support Call. I don’t expect much from this, but I’m curious to see how it goes if I ever get one request.

  • December 15, 2024 2:58pm
    Numeric Citizen Numeric Citizen

    Apple & Tech

    Newsletter

    So I finally got the iPad Magic Keyboard for my M4 iPad Pro. At first, I didn’t want to spend that amount of money on a freakin keyboard… but I’m a weak man and I did. While I love the added function keys row, the overall improvement, I’m not sure this keyboard is that magical.

  • December 15, 2024 11:42am
    Numeric Citizen Numeric Citizen

    Photography

    Apps & Services

    Newsletter

    When writing, I start in Craft and then export to Ulysses for final review and online posting. It works great, but I’m not always satisfied with Ulysses, which sometimes feels overwhelming. Enter iA Writer, an app that I remember using in its early days and that I liked for its simplicity. This blog post from Greg Morris reminds me of the perpetual questioning of my decision to settle on Ulysses.

    This morning, I decided to download a trial of iA Writer. The first thing I checked was which publishing platforms it supports. To my surprise, it supports all the ones I depend on: Ghost, Micro.blog, and, to a lesser extent, Medium.

    This blog post was written on my 15-inch M2 MacBook Air using iA Writer trial edition. Sadly, iA Writer couldn’t post as draft, so I had to manually copy and paste the content into a blank post on Micro.blog.

    My Ulysses subscription ends on March 25th, 2025, but this publishing bug is a deal-breaker for now. Back to Ulysses.

  • December 15, 2024 10:05am
    Numeric Citizen Numeric Citizen

    Photography

    Apps & Services

    Newsletter

    A quick behind-the-scenes post: the same overall content, with two different apps. This is the “script” for this video. On the left, Mindnote Next, on the right, Zavala. This is sort of a cue card for use during video recording, the Mindnote version was much easier to read. Zavala’s version is more for documenting purposes. Even the outline view in Mindnote feels better.

  • December 14, 2024 7:05pm
    Numeric Citizen Numeric Citizen

    Apple & Tech

    Newsletter

    My brother-in-law got a M4 Mac mini recently. The last time he used a Mac was with the Macintosh LC III, more than thirty years ago. One thing he still struggles with, then and now: the menu bar that changes when switching apps. The other thing: he doesn’t get the Stage Manager. He turned that off.

  • December 14, 2024 2:19pm
    Numeric Citizen Numeric Citizen

    Apple & Tech

    Newsletter

    I often share photos about Apple, apparently1.

    A smartphone screen displays a variety of app icons on a dark blue-themed home screen, including widgets for fitness tracking and calendar information.A music player interface displays Next to Me by RÜFÜS DU SOL, with a list of songs queued for autoplay.A music player interface on a smartphone screen displays Next to Me by RÜFÜS DU SOL and suggests a playlist for continuous listening.A computer screen displays a grid of application icons within a file management window, showcasing multiple installed apps.A grid of 12 application icons with names like Text Workflow, Textcraft, TextEdit, and others.Stickers resembling futuristic processing chip designs labeled M1, M2, and M4 Pro, alongside a colorful coffee cup, are placed on a textured gray surface.A close-up of a smartphone screen displays a music library with a navigation bar and a paused track titled Not Playing.A smartphone with a colorful gradient background screen shows app icons and widgets, including a calendar and notifications.Colorful, gradient letters spell out WWDC25 against a light background.A laptop with a colorful display sits on a dark table, surrounded by office furniture and an empty box.Two screenshots of iPhone home screens display different app icons and layouts, showcasing updates between iOS versions.A television screen displays a selection of streaming and application icons, including Apple TV, Netflix, and YouTube, in a home setting with a brick wall background.A Mac mini is being held up, with the text Mac mini above it, featuring a pirate flag graphic on the letter i.A close-up of a blue Apple device showcasing its camera lenses and logo.A group of people is gathered outside an Apple store, likely for a product release event.A person is adjusting an Apple computer in a cluttered office filled with books and papers.A vibrant, neon swirl in blue, pink, and orange forms the outline of an apple with a leaf against a dark background.A top-down view of the internals of two disassembled identical compact computer units is shown, revealing their cooling systems and circuitry.A boxed Apple iMac with an image of the computer, keyboard, and mouse is placed inside a vehicle.A person is intently looking at an iPad which they are holding up with both hands.A sleek, modern storefront with a large glass structure stands in a bustling urban setting, surrounded by classical architecture and people sitting on steps.A cup of tea, a plate with a piece of cake and a fork, a laptop, and a pair of wireless earphones sit on a table.A desk setup features dual monitors, a laptop, keyboard, microphone, and lighting, creating a workspace for content creation or broadcasting.A minimalist, stylized face-like logo with a dark background and subtle, glowing edges.A transparent view of a vintage Macintosh computer, displaying its internal components and connected mouse.A coiled cord attached to a rectangular box is positioned next to a small, textured rectangular object with an engraved symbol.A smartphone displaying the time 11:49 lies on a textured surface next to a phone case with a circular design.Four smartphones with metallic finishes, each featuring triple camera setups, are displayed in a row against a dark background.A sleek iMac with a round base and a floating display is showcased on a blue background with the text The new iMac.An Apple iMac G3 with a teal-colored translucent casing is displayed alongside a keyboard and mouse.A store with a closed roller shutter features the Apple logo, while next to it is a colorful supermarket with products on display.A laptop displaying a colorful desktop screen with various widgets and apps is placed on a wooden surface.A person is seated indoors, wearing virtual reality goggles and smiling.A stylized, multicolored Apple logo is set against a black background.Several smartphones are displayed on a wooden table, each secured on a white stand.Three Apple devices—a large desktop monitor flanked by two laptops—are displayed against a red background, each showing different screen content.A sleek, cylindrical black container is placed on a wooden surface with its shadow cast on a light-colored wall.

    1. Testing the new photo collections on Micro.blog. I like it. ↩︎

  • December 13, 2024 5:21pm
    Numeric Citizen Numeric Citizen

    Apple & Tech

    Mastodon avatar for @morrick@appdot.net
    Riccardo Mori @morrick@appdot.net

    Apple Intelligence died on October 5, 2011. https://mastodon.online/@9to5Mac/113647127504397409

    7:51 PM • December 13, 2024 (UTC)

    🤦🏻‍♂️

  • My Apple Intelligence Writing Tools Mixed Experience

    December 13, 2024 8:51am
    Numeric Citizen Numeric Citizen

    Photography

    Longer posts

    Apps & Services

    Newsletter

    My experience with Apple Intelligence’s Writing Tools is mixed. One significant issue is the absence of a feature to compare the original text with the revised version. In contrast, Grammarly excels in this regard, as its suggestions are contextual. Additionally, the constant need to select text to “feed” the Writing Tools becomes tedious. Another challenge arises when using Writing Tools with markdown content or links. These get mangled in the revised version. Finally, speed is also an issue. Even for simple text to process, it can take quite some time to get a response.

    For now, Grammarly remains my preferred writing assistant, and I have no intention of switching to Apple Intelligence’s Writing Tools anytime soon.

  • December 12, 2024 7:02pm
    Numeric Citizen Numeric Citizen

    Apps & Services

    Newsletter

    Will we ever see some generative AI or AI-based features added to HEY Mail? 🧐

  • December 12, 2024 11:13am
    Numeric Citizen Numeric Citizen

    Photography

    Apps & Services

    Newsletter

    Adobe Lightroom for Mac is the best Mac app of the year? In light of Apple buying Pixelmator, I find this a bit surprising.

  • December 11, 2024 11:11pm
    Numeric Citizen Numeric Citizen

    Misc

    I’m surprised that, so far, nobody tried to shoot down one of these drones flying over New Jersey! I mean, come on, USA!

  • December 11, 2024 8:22pm
    Numeric Citizen Numeric Citizen

    Apple & Tech

    Newsletter

    Image Playground is so underwhelming and pretty much useless for me. It’s barely a tech demo. All this for what?

  • December 11, 2024 8:34am
    Numeric Citizen Numeric Citizen

    Apps & Services

    Newsletter

    I got an email from Ghost to participate in the ActivityPub beta for my blog. I’m not sure how my blog will be named in the fediverse, but I can imagine being able to get comments from people here on Micro.blog and having those comments appear at the bottom of my blog posts. Will see soon enough.

  • Photo Sharing, The Web and Museums

    December 10, 2024 10:07pm
    Numeric Citizen Numeric Citizen

    Photography

    Blogging

    Food for thought

    Longer posts

    Newsletter

    Here is a thought about recent tweaks to RSS importer on Micro.blog. For example, now it’s possible to import photos in the RSS feed published by Glass. With this, when I publish a photo on Glass, it gets posted on my blog too. The same photo on two platforms. As much as I like the POSSE principle for writing, it doesn’t fit well with my desire to share photos on special places, like a photo-dedicated service. Glass is such a special place, just like Pixelfed. What would be the point of having a single photo spread out on other platforms? I see places like Glass like museums. Pieces of art hanged on the wall of a museum are unique to this place. It makes the place unique. I’m still thinking about all this.

  • December 9, 2024 8:25am
    Numeric Citizen Numeric Citizen

    Misc

    Newsletter

    Those drone sightings stories in New Jersey are… troubling? How come authorities can’t figure out what they are? They are big drones yet too small objects for serious analysis? Where are they coming from? Who is operating them? What are the purposes of those low altitude sighting? 🤔

  • December 9, 2024 8:13am
    Numeric Citizen Numeric Citizen

    Apps & Services

    Newsletter

    For all Craft users out there looking or already using Craft Collections, I made a video about that this past weekend. It’s a longer-than-usual one, but the subject is dense.

  • December 8, 2024 6:51pm
    Numeric Citizen Numeric Citizen

    Apple & Tech

    Newsletter

    According to Tim Cook, the old Steve Jobs office at One Infinite Loop is still intact and reserved for Tim Cook so he can enter it and “connect with him”? I would die myself to have a chance to see this place.

  • December 7, 2024 6:47pm
    Numeric Citizen Numeric Citizen

    Personal

    Newsletter

    I declare my year-long goal of resisting to join Threads to be accomplished.

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