Avatar for Numeric Citizen Blog
Numeric Citizen Blog
📔Scrapbooks 🌇Photos 📺Videos 👨🏻‍💻Replies 🗓️Monthly Digests 📁Archive 📬Subscribe ✴️Blogroll 👤About 📡Blips 🌟SupportMe ↗️Hub → Bluesky → Pixelfed → Mastodon 🔍 📌 🐦 Contact Me Guestbook Stats Feeds

Apple & Tech

Apps & Services

Blogging

Food for thought

Longer posts

Misc

Narrated

Newsletter

Personal

Photography

Podcast

Privacy

Qwitter

Travels

UkraineWar

Work

  • August 19, 2024 12:36pm
    Apps & Services Newsletter
    Numeric Citizen Numeric Citizen

    I’m currently testing a new blog post editor on Micro.blog. On the surface, everything looks familiar. The preview button behaviour is the one that surprised me the most as it replaces the blog post content with the preview, unlike before where the preview was underneath. Not having “auto-save” functionality is still a bit troubling to me, in 2024, though.

  • August 15, 2024 2:09pm
    Apple & Tech Newsletter
    Numeric Citizen Numeric Citizen

    I think Apple should bring back the iPod to the iPhone in the form of a virtual device within the Music app. Imagine if each year, Apple would release a new design of its virtual iPod1. This would add some coolness factor for those who have known and used the iPod.


    1. The first model could be a re-release of the iPod Classic, complete with a virtual click wheel! ↩︎

  • Hard Times Are Sometimes Needed

    August 14, 2024 12:36pm
    Food for thought Longer posts Newsletter Work
    Numeric Citizen Numeric Citizen

    When things go wrong at work, when numbers don’t add up to meet high sales expectations, only then people starts to question things. It’s only in these harder days that we can really start to find new ways, reimagine how we do business. Those hard times are sometimes necessary for a company to evolve.

    Looking at you Apple1.


    1. I’m also referring to the company I work for presently. ↩︎

  • August 14, 2024 9:33am
    Apple & Tech Newsletter
    Numeric Citizen Numeric Citizen

    Forbidden Fruit

    Independent developers work for the entire sale, but Apple doesn’t even work for their cut. In many ways, just being on the App Store is incredibly frustrating. We’re paying for pain while Apple gets paid for just relaxing.

    People are frustrated with Apple’s behavior regarding the App Store, leading them to make exaggerated claims. While one may disagree with Apple’s policies, stating that the company is simply relaxing is an overreaction.

  • August 14, 2024 6:33am
    Apple & Tech Newsletter
    Numeric Citizen Numeric Citizen

    Forbidden Fruit

    Apple used to fight for their lives, but now they barely have to work to make insane amounts of money.

    Oversimplifying statement.

  • August 13, 2024 9:45pm
    Apple & Tech Newsletter
    Numeric Citizen Numeric Citizen

    Forbidden Fruit

    At some point Apple should ask who is in better need of that money. I know they won’t, but I’d like to think we live in a world where they could. They don’t need more money. They don’t even need the money they have

    Capitalism 101: Ask the shareholders.

  • August 13, 2024 8:11pm
    Apple & Tech Food for thought Newsletter
    Numeric Citizen Numeric Citizen

    Forbidden Fruit

    Apple was a better company when they were an underdog.

    Me too, but are we being a bit nostalic here?

  • If Apple Were Consistently Listening

    August 13, 2024 12:11pm
    Apple & Tech Longer posts Newsletter
    Numeric Citizen Numeric Citizen

    Recently some people complained about Apple’s latest ad in the « The Underdogs » series to be offensive, and Apple « promptly » said sorry and removed the ad.

    If only Apple showed a similar attitude towards developers who are more than fed up with their App Store practices and voiced their complaints so many times in so many ways… many people are noticing and find this shit show exhausting and damaging.

  • August 13, 2024 9:54am
    Apple & Tech Food for thought Newsletter
    Numeric Citizen Numeric Citizen

    @mcelhearn @davemark Related:

    "We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings. Resistance and change often begin in art, and very often in our art, the art of words.” - Ursula K. LeGuin

    dennyhenke@social.coop https://social.coop/users/dennyhenke/statuses/112955011591344016

    I still believe in this. We can (and should) make Apple change course.

  • August 9, 2024 4:59pm
    UkraineWar Newsletter
    Numeric Citizen Numeric Citizen

    The United States announces a new tranche of military aid to Ukraine, at the same time as the latter carries out a significant incursion into Russian territory, an unprecedented gesture that could give a new dynamic to this protracted conflict. The signal from the United States is clear: we continue to believe that Ukraine is only defending itself.

  • August 9, 2024 7:02am
    UkraineWar Newsletter
    Numeric Citizen Numeric Citizen

    The Ukrainian forces have been advancing deep into Russia, in the Kursk oblast, for the past few days, destroying the Russian army on the roads while advancing, without much resistance. They have now progressed approximately 30 kilometers past the Ukrainian border.

    This is a major development in this insane war.

    Surprisingly, it is not widely covered in the news here in Canada. The Ukrainian army is establishing currency exchange facilities in the near future. I don’t see how Russia is going to “fix” this without a bloodshed, again. Putin must be a little bit upset, I guess. Or maybe not.

  • The Mac Mini Needs a Redesign

    August 8, 2024 1:08pm
    Apple & Tech Photography Longer posts Newsletter
    Reading Time: 2 minutes
    Numeric Citizen Numeric Citizen

    Rumors suggest a “finally” moment, with Apple on the verge of completing the redesign of the newest generation of the Mac mini, this time featuring an M4 chip. This could result in the smallest Mac ever.

    The current Mac mini design dates back to 2010, when Apple was still using more power-hungry and larger Intel chips. The only change over the years has been the back portion to accommodate a variety of port offerings. When Apple transitioned to Apple Silicon chips, right after the Apple Silicon Dev Kit was made available, I expected a redesign and saw the Dev Kit as a transitional step, simply because the chip is smaller, more power-efficient, and requires much less cooling. To me, this was the right time to do so. However, they did not.

    If you look inside an M1 Mac mini, thanks to this teardown guide from iFixit you can see that there is some empty space. Coupled with what Apple can do with the M4 iPad Pro, and the environmental pressure to be more efficient in resource consumption (power, materials, etc.), it is clear that the Mac mini must be rethought from the ground up. Will Apple go with an external PSU for this? I don’t expect this to be the case.

    One more thing: I’ve been a satisfied user of the M1 Mac mini since 2020, but I’m increasingly considering an upgrade, either to the Mac Studio or a more powerful Mac mini. I’ll be sure to pay close attention to my options.

  • August 8, 2024 8:46am
    Misc Food for thought Newsletter
    Numeric Citizen Numeric Citizen

    Thought of the day: Watch out democrats, Trump and Vance aren’t just weirdos. They are disfigured fascists.

  • August 6, 2024 6:34pm
    Apps & Services Newsletter
    Numeric Citizen Numeric Citizen

    When I read the Threads app data privacy fact sheet on the App Store yesterday night and read a few « reviews », I quickly came back to earth and decided (again) to not join Threads. Time to focus on what I already have.

  • August 6, 2024 9:14am
    Apple & Tech Newsletter
    Numeric Citizen Numeric Citizen

    What the “can’t do real work on an iPad” narrative is really about

    people like me do want a Mac for getting all of our stuff done, but Apple doesn’t make exactly the Mac we want, so we lust after the iPad and lament how it doesn’t get the job done for us. If the Mac we wanted existed, we’d buy that and not have nearly as much to say about iPadOS.

    I think Matt is nailing it. Apple doesn’t want to make an iPad run macOS, fine, but are they as much vocal against making a Mac touch-friendly? I don’t think so. Mike Gurman wrote this past week-end that one Mac will see a major redesign in the next 12 months. Could this be to introduce touch support?

  • August 6, 2024 7:43am
    Apple & Tech Newsletter
    Numeric Citizen Numeric Citizen

    Cookie banners show everything that’s wrong with the EU

    It makes it hard to cheer for even much-needed antitrust action, like the Digital Markets Act. Because if the EU can screw up something as basic as cookie banners this bad, and prove so incapable and uninterested in re-calibrating its approach, what hope is there for the thornier issues?

    A shit show in the making.

  • August 6, 2024 7:39am
    Apple & Tech Newsletter
    Numeric Citizen Numeric Citizen

    Next Apple Watch SE Could Be Made From Plastic

    Apple used to sell a plastic ‌iPhone‌ 5c, for example, and it came in vibrant blue, yellow, pink, and green colors. Plastic would also better differentiate the ‌Apple Watch SE‌ from the standard Apple Watch models as the current ‌Apple Watch SE‌ is basically a modified version of the aluminum Apple Watch without the latest features.

    I wonder if Apple could use 3D printing for the SE plastic case. There are rumors that Apple might use 3D printing in building devices. That could be it.

  • August 5, 2024 10:01pm
    Misc Apps & Services Newsletter
    Numeric Citizen Numeric Citizen

    At the very least, I could reserve my username on Instagram and Threads, just in case. While maintaining strong principles is important, being open-minded and reasonable can also be valuable. May the night be beneficial. 😒

  • August 5, 2024 11:11am
    Apps & Services Newsletter
    Numeric Citizen Numeric Citizen

    Something really BIG is coming to Craft: Objects. Thoughts?

  • August 4, 2024 8:01am
    Blogging Newsletter
    Numeric Citizen Numeric Citizen

    The latest edition of my weekly creative summary is out! This is a jam pack one. Email version coming out soon to subscribers! Pass editions available here.

← Newer Posts Older Posts →

What's Next?

Follow me on Mastodon 🔵 Numeric Citizen Space website 🔵 Numeric Citizen I/O meta website

Explore this blog by visiting this random post, by searching, browsing the page views or by peeking at blog stats

Oh, one more thing, here's a special shoutout to something that really like 👇🏻

This blog is powered by Micro.blog and the Cards Theme

Copyright © 2025 JF Martin