The Rise of Cognitive Dept

Margaret-Anne Storey introduces “cognitive debt” as a concept that may be more threatening than technical debt in AI-augmented development. Unlike technical debt (which lives in code), cognitive debt is the erosion of shared understanding that resides in developers’ minds. Drawing on Peter Naur’s concept of a program as a “theory” distributed across teams, the article argues that as AI and agentic tools push for development velocity, teams risk losing their collective understanding of why systems work the way they do. Even if AI generates technically clean code, teams can become paralyzed when no one can explain design decisions or anticipate the consequences of changes. The author calls for intentional slowdowns, collaborative practices, and serious research into measuring and mitigating this growing challenge.

“As generative and agentic AI accelerate development, protecting that shared theory of what the software does and how it can change may matter more for long-term software health than any single metric of speed or output.”

When I was a teenager, programming languages like LOGO made computers and programming very accessible. In today’s world, I would argue that, to some degree, vibe coding does the same: it makes computer programming more accessible in a much more complex digital landscape.

Do we know if Apple upgraded the local Apple Intelligence model since its initial release? In case they didn’t, it’s no wonder why Apple is so far behind as others are releasing new models at a rapid pace, even those destined at being run locally.

In what appears to be a mistake, Apple is moving away from the iWork branding for its productivity apps (Pages, Numbers, and Keynote) by removing the dedicated iWork webpage and redirecting it to a new “apps” page featuring Creator Studio. The change suggests a shift in how Apple markets these apps, with a new focus on the Creator Studio subscription service, which offers premium features and additional creative tools for $12.99 per month.

Is Apple Phasing Out the iWork Brand? — MacRumors

Apple’s apparent inaction on fixing Liquid Glass is very reminiscent of the dreaded butterfly keyboard fiasco. Apple appears stubborn until it takes bold action. And we are waiting for this bold move, probably not with OS 27, just like Apple introduced a “quick fix” in the 2018 MacBook Pro, then in 2019, both tweaks, which barely fixed the issues… just like the tweaks in 26.1. Since then, crickets.

Traveling to Egypt and Jordan: Some of My Random Travel Notes

  • One of my favourite things while flying is seeing a plane go in the opposite direction at a distance, ideally close enough to feel the raw speed of the plane added to mine.

  • I loved Egypt, but the chaos of Cairo can be overwhelming and tiring. I prefer the relative calm of Jordan’s cities. I may be getting too old for some scenery.

  • WhatsApp is a dominant communication platform worldwide, except in North America. Too bad it is so awkward to navigate and is owned by Meta.

  • Taking pictures of the scene from my hublot is a good time killer and can produce fascinating images. I have so many of them.

  • Posted many pictures on my personal and custom-made photo-sharing website, and it worked beautifully. Of course, a selection of my photos was also posted on my Glass page. More to come in the next few weeks.

  • My personal custom-built RSS web app proved to be super handy when I wanted a quick overview of the news.

  • These notes were gathered and written using Raycast for iOS before being edited and published. Raycast > Tot, in my opinion.

  • I encountered several planes equipped with electronically activated polarization shields on the windows, which produce unusual lighting effects both outside and inside the cabin. Some shields do not completely block external light. Additionally, these shields are centrally controlled during flight, which can be frustrating.

  • Most airports remain and will always be customer-hostile and unfriendly. It seems to be getting worse every year, everywhere, as air travel continues to increase.

  • I brought my newly acquired Ubiquity Travel Router with me, but it was of no use; all hotel Wi-Fi, including the cruise ship, allowed many devices to connect with a single activation.

  • Taking a break from the intensity of the digital world is salutary. But I’m glad to be back online now.