Discussing War Matters

🇺🇦🍽 I had this dinner yesterday night with some friends. The war in Ukraine subject came up. In fact, I brought it up, on purpose. As you might expect, I was adamant about our lack of support for the Ukrainian people. My point is that we must do much more even if we have to pay a price. I was emotional about it. Sure, it made my friends feel uneasy. I cannot envision a discussion about Ukraine without being passionate and emotional. 😒🖤

Weekly Posts Digest from Numeric Citizen Microblog

Two Years Ago…

On March 13th, in 2020, the world flipped, my world flipped. So many things are different now. This short blog post is about reflecting on the last two years and how they became the foundation for what is to come in my life.

Time flies and making judicious decisions is more important than ever. Working from home is important. I’ll never return full time at the office. Even if I move to another job, working from home is now a requirement. Visiting customers for the sake of shaking hands no longer make sense to me. There has to be more than this. The price is too high to pay: wasted time.

Traveling is more important than ever too; that’s the only way for me to do more photography. Something that I didn’t do much in the last two years. This visual work posted in April of 2020 was the trigger to write this blog post. I’m sad about this because photography is my most important source of inspiration and my biggest creativity playground after writing. Still on the travel subject, I can envision traveling abroad for more than two weeks now and splitting my time between leisure and remote work. Leaving for a month or more is now possible.

Speaking of writing, I’ll probably continue to write but probably not as much as in the last two years. A more balanced life is taking place and will take away some of my writing time. It’s ok. It’s also part of making better choices.

The last two years of COVID-19, the more and more frequent climate disturbances and the recent events in Europe are telling me this: the world is more than ever in a constant state of emergency. I better learn how to cope with this otherwise I’m not finished at being in constant consternation mood while reading the news.

Thanks for reading this. I know your time is precious too and you made the decision to read this short piece.

2022-03-13

I wrote this some time ago (thanks to Surprise Me!). It was when I started using HEY World to publish posts. It didn’t last long. And I’m quite happy with this decision. Happy to be here. Happy to be there instead.
2022-03-14

”The Mac Studio contains radical innards in a plain exterior”

Benjamin Mayo in Apple Introduces Mac Studio:

“…the introduction of a brand new model of Mac is precisely the best time to do something entirely new.”

And

“The Mac Studio is a boring box with rounded corners, and has no party tricks to speak of. The trashcan was a truly wild, out-there, design.”

I share the same sentiment. A new form-factor is a rare thing from Apple. An elongated Mac mini doesn’t do justice the Mac Studio interior, even less to its name. Another missed opportunity. I guess “real pros” doesn’t give a damn about all of this.

2022-03-15

Pausing My Apple Studio Display Buying Decision

Well, after a promising start, following reviews of the Apple Studio display, it seems that I’ll put my buying decision on hold. As I wrote, one of the reasons why I’m considering this display is the integrated camera and speakers for a better video conference experience. It appears image quality is not good at all, judging by the examples posted online. It’s close to being a deal breaker.

Apparently, the Apple Studio display is running a version of iOS 15.4. Yep, sounds overkill, and yet, it’s the case, according to Gruber. Apple is promising a software update to fix the problem and bring image quality on par with the iPad Pro equipped with the same camera and essentially using th same software to enable Center Stage.

Here’s something: when we look at preview integrated cameras in MacBook Pro or the iMac and find the image quality to be bad, we try to excuse Apple of fitting a camera in a too-thin enclosure. But we know it’s not enough to explain the issue of image quality. Software is the problem. Look no further than the iPhone for an example.

As soon as:

  1. I can go to an Apple Store to see the Apple Studio display for myself;
  2. Normal people are publishing their reviews and comment on their experience with the display;
  3. Apple fixes the camera image quality with an update to the display operating system;

Then, I’ll make a final decision. Now, I can’t wait to see in action the software upgrade process on this thing.

2022-03-18

Russia Isn't That Super Power

🤔 I’m not a military expert, far from it, but as we go further into this insane and highly criminal war, facts show there is something wrong with the Russian army. Highly exposed and long columns of standing still vehicles, attacking way too many fronts at once, and losing so many soldiers in such a short time frame are good examples that show how amateurish the Russian army is. Russia isn’t a superpower, both military and economically. Rumours are to the effect that missile inventories are at an all-time low. And I’m not even talking about troops’ morale. As much as 75% of the operational army of Russia is supposedly dedicated to the invasion of Ukraine. Only 25% of their active resources are left scattered across Russia. 🇷🇺🔫

Russia apparently is failing at their primary military objectives: occupy territory in a sustainable way and seize Ukraine’s leadership.

Now the question is: why are you so scared of Russia?

Pausing My Apple Studio Display Buying Decision

Well, after a promising start, following reviews of the Apple Studio display, it seems that I’ll put my buying decision on hold. As I wrote, one of the reasons why I’m considering this display is the integrated camera and speakers for a better video conference experience. It appears image quality is not good at all, judging by the examples posted online. It’s close to being a deal breaker.

Apparently, the Apple Studio display is running a version of iOS 15.4. Yep, sounds overkill, and yet, it’s the case, according to Gruber. Apple is promising a software update to fix the problem and bring image quality on par with the iPad Pro equipped with the same camera and essentially using th same software to enable Center Stage.

Here’s something: when we look at preview integrated cameras in MacBook Pro or the iMac and find the image quality to be bad, we try to excuse Apple of fitting a camera in a too-thin enclosure. But we know it’s not enough to explain the issue of image quality. Software is the problem. Look no further than the iPhone for an example.

As soon as:

  1. I can go to an Apple Store to see the Apple Studio display for myself;
  2. Normal people are publishing their reviews and comment on their experience with the display;
  3. Apple fixes the camera image quality with an update to the display operating system;

Then, I’ll make a final decision. Now, I can’t wait to see in action the software upgrade process on this thing.

Negociating

🇺🇦 While current negotiations between Russian criminals and Ukraine leaders are taking place, I sincerely hope that if ever a deal is signed between the two, the West will be the next to convince and deal with and the one who sets the conditions to undo even in small steps, the pressure on Russia. They have to pay the price for decades to come. I’m so angry at them. Does it show? 😡

”The Mac Studio contains radical innards in a plain exterior”

Benjamin Mayo in Apple Introduces Mac Studio:

“…the introduction of a brand new model of Mac is precisely the best time to do something entirely new.”

And

“The Mac Studio is a boring box with rounded corners, and has no party tricks to speak of. The trashcan was a truly wild, out-there, design.”

I share the same sentiment. A new form-factor is a rare thing from Apple. An elongated Mac mini doesn’t do justice the Mac Studio interior, even less to its name. Another missed opportunity. I guess “real pros” doesn’t give a damn about all of this.

Two Years Ago…

On March 13th, in 2020, the world flipped, my world flipped. So many things are different now. This short blog post is about reflecting on the last two years and how they became the foundation for what is to come in my life.

Time flies and making judicious decisions is more important than ever. Working from home is important. I’ll never return full time at the office. Even if I move to another job, working from home is now a requirement. Visiting customers for the sake of shaking hands no longer make sense to me. There has to be more than this. The price is too high to pay: wasted time.

Traveling is more important than ever too; that’s the only way for me to do more photography. Something that I didn’t do much in the last two years. This visual work posted in April of 2020 was the trigger to write this blog post. I’m sad about this because photography is my most important source of inspiration and my biggest creativity playground after writing. Still on the travel subject, I can envision traveling abroad for more than two weeks now and splitting my time between leisure and remote work. Leaving for a month or more is now possible.

Speaking of writing, I’ll probably continue to write but probably not as much as in the last two years. A more balanced life is taking place and will take away some of my writing time. It’s ok. It’s also part of making better choices.

The last two years of COVID-19, the more and more frequent climate disturbances and the recent events in Europe are telling me this: the world is more than ever in a constant state of emergency. I better learn how to cope with this otherwise I’m not finished at being in constant consternation mood while reading the news.

Thanks for reading this. I know your time is precious too and you made the decision to read this short piece.

Back to Telegram

📧 I decided to return to Telegram to get the news about the war in Ukraine. It’s fast. Simple. I subscribe to a few groups. We see things in there that are unavailable on other news feeds. I prefer Telegram to Twitter for that type of stuff. Some content is shocking, for sure. But it is. Call me a masochist. 😞