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Here is my weekly creative summary newsletter for 2023/38, in Craft format. Website and newsletter coming up soon. 😅👨🏻💻
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My Interview with Manton Reece of Micro.blog
I had the chance to spend some time with Manton Reece and ask him a few questions about Montreal’s poutine, Apple’s power and the App Store, Twitter1 and the future of Micro.blog. I hope you enjoy the interview as much as I did doing it.😊
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I refuse to name this otherwise. ↩︎
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The first few iPhone 15 Pro Max images are making their way onto Glass. Mine included. 👈🏻
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Now it’s confirmed: my Finch Lavalier microphone1 doesn’t work with Apple’s USB-C to Lightning adaptor with the iPhone 15 Pro USB-C post. I repeat: it doesn’t work. It’s the first official and confirmed victim of the transition to USB-C. I’ll have to figure out a new solution for my podcast and YouTube video recording2. 😡
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iPhone 15 Pro Max - First Impressions
It feels great in hand, similar in fact to the weight of my iPhone 13 Pro (not the Max), which is great. The back is darker than my iPhone 11 Pro, and I love it. I’m quite happy with the darker black. It’s a bit darker than I thought. It’s definitively a finger magnet. It’s very soft to the touch. Rounded contours are really making a difference. The device feels more approachable. The screen is so nice. The setup process is superbly executed. An update to iOS was required before transferring the content from my iPhone 13 Pro. Yet, there were many apps which required reentering my credentials. Data transfer was estimated at one hour1. The data transfer took about 45 minutes. The Always On display is… always on. 😳 I don’t know if I’ll keep that option… on.
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At that point, the WiFi logo disappeared and I started wondering if the data was going through 5G instead. That was curious. It’s not possible because my new phone didn’t have the SIM call installed yet. Or maybe it was going through Bluetooth or through a point-to-point WiFi connection? ↩︎
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Here is a weird one: I’m using iCloud+ Custom Domain with an email address (hello@numericcitizen.me). Mail on iOS 17 doesn’t allow me to set the “From:” as the email address for this custom domain. It’s only possible on iCloud.com. Am I missing something?
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When Journalists Aren't Any Better Than ChatGPT
In the “Craptacular Is More Like It” article, this is @gruber@mastodon.social at its best. I read the original article earlier this week and concluded that Apple had difficult times ahead with its modem development. This morning, in my usual reading routine, I read the article from Mr. Gruber, and I think it succeeds in demonstrating this: the original article wasn’t any better than any ChatGPT-generated content.
Now I feel that I was deceived by the journalist who tried to fill me with unverified and barely possible facts tied together based on thin air. And you would think journalists can do better than AI-generated work? Not always. Thanks to Mr. Gruber for that one.
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A better title for episode 4 could have been “The Day I Met John Gruber”. Oh well. I’ll ask ChatGPT the next time.
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It took way too long to record, process and publish my latest podcast episode. I must tweak my workflow ASAP. It was supposed to be a “quick and easy thing”, but it isn’t. It is unsustainable. 😑 Why is everything so hard for me.. grrr. 😒
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Episode 04 — Did You Know?
Inspired by a recent podcast episode where Martin Feld interviewed John Gruber, for this fourth podcast episode, I decided to talk about my early years as a blogger.
Links:
- Really Specific Stories podcast: https://pca.st/pcp6rwjs
- Interview with John Gruber episode: https://pca.st/i0xdkxfh, his announcement on his blog: https://daringfireball.net/linked/2023/09/20/really-specific-stories-yours-truly
- A reply to John Gruber about his interview: https://micro.blog/numericcitizen/23822941
- Search for the “BuildingiPhoneApps” keyword on the internet archive for a glimpse of my very first blog, and locate 2010 and beyond on the timeline.
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My expectations for the iPhone 15 Pro Max fit and finish and how it feels in my hands are very high. I’m looking for something similar to the iPhone 4s, iPhone 5 and iPhone 7 feelings… those never were matched by subsequent iPhones.
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My iPhone 15 Pro Max is still in “Preparing to ship” state. Delivery is scheduled for tomorrow. I’m guessing the device is waiting in a warehouse somewhere near Toronto or in Canada. 🙏🏻🤓
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I Rarely Visit the App Store
I opened the App Store this Monday to see how Apple would promote new app releases supporting iOS 17. Then I realized that I rarely open the App Store except to go and get app updates. When was the last time I went to browse the productivity category? When did I last browse the store for popular photography apps or new utilities? I can’t even remember when I last bought an app discovered in the App Store1. I wonder if this is only me or reflects a more general trend.🤔
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I usually make my discoveries by external reference. ↩︎
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Where's The Magic in Adaptive Audio?
Adaptive Audio and Conversation Awareness don’t click for me
I’ve been using Apple’s new AirPods features for the past week, and I’m sad to say that I don’t really understand either of them
I’m with Matt here. I fail to find the magic here. I’ve read Gruber’s take on the AirPods Pro 2 with USB-C, and I’m afraid I don’t feel anything magical about Adaptive Audio. When activated, I hear too much from the surroundings; I prefer noise cancellation. Can we get adaptive noise cancellation instead? 🤔
I feel that Apple’s engineers couldn’t figure out which new audio profiles to include and couldn’t decide, and they suggested including both. Then, the marketing guys came in and named these profiles Adaptive Audio and Conversation Awareness. Boom. I’m half-joking here.
I’ll keep trying in the next few days to find the magic.
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How I Automatically Include a Blog Description in My RSS Feed
I’ve been asked a couple of times how I get this short site description to be included in every entry of my RSS feed.
I’m one of those curious who asked the question. Wondering if this could be addressed via a new plugin by @Mtt or by @manton Micro.blog base service.
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Review of Reviews: Great Updates to Already Great iPhone but...
Today, I read many iPhone 15 Pro reviews and watched many YouTube videos too. For some reason, I get the feeling of a slight deception mood across many reviewers. Those are great upgrades, but since they are compared to last year’s iPhone, the improvements are dimmed as mostly minor. A mentioned the superiority of the iPhone in the video recording field, but in the photography field, it’s less clear. Sharpening seems a tad less aggressive with more natural tones. The 24MP resolution by default is a welcomed addition, and yet… it’s not a home run. Device physical tweaks are unanimously welcomed, though. Maybe tomorrow, my interpretation will be different. 🤷🏻♂️
