All Publications by Numeric Citizen

Hey, ABC News, you should be embarrassed by how you allowed that man to yell about anything he wanted. One person said he got 9 extra minutes by butting in, and they wouldn’t cut his mic.

Nine minutes seems a lot, but yeah, I’m not that impressed by the moderators.

Fuckin unfair management of the debate, especially in the last halftime. Big fail in my book. 🤬

I’m a little upset at the moderators. They don’t do their job fully or am I missing something? Why can’t they say directly “you don’t answer the question, please proceed or else“?

I’m torn between the Apple Watch Series 10 in silver and Jet Black. The silver finish enhances the screen’s visibility, while the Jet Black option blends the screen seamlessly into the casing. Waiting for Sept 20 before making my final call, after visiting the Apple Store and hoping for in-store stock.

I’m going to watch the whole debate tonight. Even as a Canadian, I think it’s important to get direct reading values instead of going through social / news networks to help me forge my opinion. If I were an American, I would vote for Harris, without a doubt, but I want to see more of her tonight, to get a better idea of what she really stands for. Hoping for civility and clarity.

Generally speaking, the “Glowtime” event has too many tech sheet talks, lacks emotional conversation, and feels too long. When a device is mature, new iterations are so subtle that mentioning those subtleties is the only way to entice users to upgrade. Or is it? I’m getting tired of the Apple headquarters. I can’t believe Apple invites the press to watch a video on a big screen. What a waste of resources and money. Here are some things that I find worthwhile talking about, at least for me.

About the Apple Watch

First, I’m a bit surprised that Apple didn’t mention the tenth anniversary of the Apple Watch. I would have preferred an emotional retrospective segment over the specs-packed ones. And we didn’t get the redesign the iPhone underwent with the iPhone X in 2017. Speaking of design, the new watch is barely thinner by 1 mm. As per the Apple Watch mini website, the following visual comparison lets people get the gist of it. However, the jet-black finish accentuates the slimmer design over the one in black matte. I would have preferred that they used the silver finish on both sides to be a fair comparison.

Another strange thing is that the Apple Watch mini website offers another visual comparison, which is the screen size. Why is the Series 8 and 9 absent from the comparison? Maybe the difference would have been too incremental. Is Apple targeting mostly Series 6 and prior owners? Anyhow, I would have liked to see the Series 8 in this comparison.

More apparent is the Series 10 design change: the watch roundness, thanks to a more pronounced corner radius. I kind of like it. As always with Apple products, seeing it in person will help you make a final decision. Also, Series 10 sports double the storage of Series 8.

One more thing, absent from the keynote is Jony Ive showing a new Apple Watch band with the newly designed “button”. Is such a thing possible? I wish.

Other notes

AirPods Max was given a new charging port and colors. There are no audio improvements, no size reduction, and the same stupid carrying case. Jarrod Blundy for HeyDingus website sums it all up. The AirPods Max are now the new original HomePod, IMO. Getting new features with software upgrades is great, though. This is the case for the AirPods Pro 2. That's cool, and the messaging around it was to the point.

Oh, the iPhone 16. I find it less exciting, but I wonder if it is because the features gap is less pronounced this year. The Main camera got a new name: 48 MP Fusion camera. Confused. This new camera button and mini user interface look great.

Some of the photography-related changes are intriguing: the new photographic style in post-edit is really cool. The user interface for editing a photo with a specific style using a multicoloured pad is dope. I can’t wait to try it in the Apple Store on my next visit.

As expected, Apple mentioned Apple Intelligence a bunch of times. You can find the logo everywhere on the iPhone mini website. I can’t wait to see real-world Apple Intelligence benchmarks for the iPhone 16 Pro compared to the iPhone 15 Pro; how much difference does 8 GB of RAM and the A18 / A18 Pro CPU make? It would cost me over a thousand Canadian dollars to upgrade from my now-discontinued iPhone 15 Pro Max. I’ll pass and wait for the iPhone 17 next year.

1. I won't upgrade to the iPhone 16 this year, having an iPhone 15 Pro Max, I can't justify spending another thousand dollars for this. Some cool new features will have to wait until next year with iPhone 17. 
2. Apple Intelligence hyper slow rollout is kind of depressing. I'll have to keep using beta software on my device for a few months and force myself to use Siri in English just to get a taste of it.
3. I'm tired of recorded Apple keynote. That formula is due for an upgrade (un intended here). Many too long segments. 
4. Looking forward to the new Mac mini. And the new Apple Watch Series 10 which I'll buy, coming from the Series 8 (and a Series 6 that I still use for sleep tracking and when my Series 8 battery dies), it should be a great upgrade. I'll probably go with the jet black.
5. Have a great postpartum too.

I’m feeling a bit odd about having an iPhone that’s no longer available (15 Pro Max). It was a great phone, but it only lasted about a year. Yeah, I know, still a great phone.

Apple might have something else to improve in the next AirPods Max beyond USB-C connectivity and noise cancellation. Just sayin.

1. This weekend I released the latest edition of my newsletter, now called "Ephemeral Scrapbook". It's the third generation of this newsletter, first started in August 2021. The name better reflect the content nature. I chose Ephemeral as each edition is a scrapbook in itself, more or less super seeding the previous one, they are not cumulative. Scrapbook really conveys the content nature of being a collection of different things that caught my attention.
2. This blog is now ephemeral too where post blips are archived after 90 days. After they, they are not visible on the website but can still be reached if you happen to have a bookmark to the post.
3. Gearing up for the Apple keynote today. Some last-minute rumors about a new AirPods Max and no Ultra 3. I'm getting ready to be unimpressed.
4. Have a great day! 👋🏻

It just occurred to me that Apple (and other “gatekeepers”) are getting a bit of their own medicine with the DMA. Developers in the App Store have always had to live with unclear and changing rules, as well as the risk that Apple will effectively shut down your business with an absolute rejection. Suddenly the bully is being bullied, with changing rules and unclear guidelines — and they don't like it.

Well said.

Fall is coming. #blackandwhite #blackandwhitephotography

Montreal. #blackandwhite #blackandwhitephotography #architecture

M4 Mac mini: Deep black, please.

Eight years, really? Time flies.

Scribble.page now offers ephemeral posts. I don't know what to think of this. In principle, this could fit really well with the notion of this "blips" blog, but on the other hand, I don't want things to go away. Also, I'm cross-posting to Micro.blog. Any archived blips would invalidate links on my Micro.blog timeline. 

My boss’ 2015 MacBook Pro keyboard. I think he should move on to a new Mac.

Tomorrow is Apple keynote. I want to be surprised. I want something different. I want to see Apple push harder, differently. I want this “one more thing”. I want to see Apple think outside the box. I want them to show the way, the right way. I want them to not be afraid, and do it differently. I want them to stop looking at their past successes. Think like the underdog. Think Differently, again.

JF Martin (@numericcitizen@pixelfed.social)

Zagreb.

Pixelfed

Here is a summary of my contributions since the last newsletter edition.
👨🏻‍💻 18 posts 😃
🏞️ 7 photos shared 🙂
🎙️ No podcast episode published 😔
📺 2 YouTube videos published 😃

👤 Personal

1️⃣ My consideration for freelance work is still moving along. I continue to write about this subject and find it full of interesting angles to consider and write about. I like stimulating subjects. 2️⃣ I'm happy to introduce the third generation of my newsletter, The Ephemeral Scrapbook. 3️⃣ I added a guestbook to my blog. Reading guestbooks at the museum on the way out is always fun, so I added one to my blog. Many readers already signed it! I'm so grateful for these simple gestures.

🗺️ Discoveries

1️⃣ I discovered Colossal. According to their website description, “Colossal is an online art magazine that celebrates contemporary art and visual culture across a wide range of creative disciplines.” Colossal showcases artists of all origins and genres. Highlighted artists are often found on other platforms like Etsy or Behance. It’s intriguing. This poster of exoplanets found on Colossal is superbly done. I want one! I could spend hours on this website. 2️⃣ I was on the private beta for the new Reeder app, the successor of Reeder Classic, the venerable RSS reader. The new app offers another take on content consumption, with a single feed merging all feed sources, including RSS, YouTube, Mastodon, Blusky and audio feeds. For testing purposes, I'm subscribing to most of my publication feeds (I like to subscribe to my own feeds). One thing that stands out in the new Reeder app is that you can assign a tag to a post, and Reeder generates a public feed for that tag. I'm testing this feature by selectively assigning a tag called “Highlight” to some of my posts that I want to be highlighted for potential readers. You can get the public feed here (this link might break in the future). Reeder is a direct competitor to Typestry, another app developed by the Iconfactory guys, the same one who did the Mastodon client named Ivory. Tapestry isn't complete yet, but my preference goes to Reeder, for now.

📖 Reading

1️⃣ The audio reading experience on Medium using a web browser is excellent. The only thing is that reading using audio requires more attention than reading the text on the computer screen. This is true of any spoken podcast, in my case. 2️⃣ Anil Dash: How Oprah will screw up the AI story. Mr. Dash is not confident in the upcoming Oprah show about AI. He sounds a little too quick with his assertions. Reminder: I don't think Oprah targets the scientific community in AI or the thinkers.

👨🏻‍💻 Writing

1️⃣ The Blaugust 2024 blogging festival has concluded in early September. Participants had to post at least once a day for August. That's a significant feat for those who can achieve this! I applaud everyone who could do it! As much time as I spend on my creative hobby, that's insufficient to warrant participation in such a challenge. I write pretty much daily, but I don't share each day. Special mention goes to Lou Plummer for posting close to 8 times a day spread on four blogs for the month. 👀 3️⃣ I like this blog post from Eric Gregorich, where he writes: writing is thinking. This explains why I wrote so much. I need to think and writing helps me achieve this goal.

🌄 Photography

1️⃣ That image caught my attention because I like big structures against natural settings. AOWS photographer keeps impressing me with the quality of his images. 2️⃣ Another great image, this one found on Reddit, in r/itookapicture. The scene, the point of view, the composition, the tones and the colours all contribute to this magnificent photo. 3️⃣ Dragos Bradu is my newly discovered photographer on Glass who shares excellent photos using a style and a selection of subjects that are reminiscent of mine. I see myself in his images.

Dragos Bradu on Glass Photography Community

Dragos Bradu.

🍎 Apple

1️⃣ M4 Mac mini rumours are getting more and more interesting. The latest points to a configuration with 5 USB-C ports, of which two are in the front, which woulc be very convenient. Gone are the USB-A ports! The power supply should stay integrated even if the mini decreases in size. This mighty box should arrive in November after a rollout in October, with other M4-based Macs. I shared a more detailed take here.

📱 Apps & Services

1️⃣ WordPress will spend human resources to migrate Tumblr’s backend to WordPress’. I don't know if it will move the needle. Who's still using Tumblr these days? 2️⃣ Matt Birchler shared a video about apps that he really enjoys using. I discovered that Whisper is coming to an iPhone near you (it's the iPhone version of Mac Whisper, a transcription app I use to create subtitles files for my YouTube videos). I also discovered “Track My Domains,” but sadly, a display bug makes it impossible to use with iOS 18 beta 8. The purpose of this app is to keep track of domain name renewals. 3️⃣ If you are a Synology NAS user, you might wait before upgrading to version 7.2.2 of their operating system. The following video explains it all. In short, if you depend on the Synology Video Station app or use video surveillance with your NAS, stop now and watch that video. The cause of this drama: Synology will stop paying for H.265 codec licensing costs. 4️⃣ Reeder is out with a small but pivotal update with a name change: Reeder Classic. This name change is mandatory because a brand-new app could replace Reeder Classic as a whole or in part. There is a little more info here. MacStories has a detailed article on the upcoming Reeder app. 5️⃣ iA Presenter 1.3 was released and includes support for inserting images from Unsplash. I don’t use iA Presenter as much as I would like, preferring Craft Presentation mode when I need to do some presentations while doing YouTube videos. I still keep an eye on iA Presenter, though. I'm using it for an upcoming video presentation. It's a weird app, but I like it a lot.

📺 YouTube

1️⃣ I produced two videos about Craft; the first one was about Craft Objects and Craft Style. So far, reactions are mostly positive. The second one is about configuring Craft from scratch, primarily destined for new Craft users. That one is not faring very well. 2️⃣ iJustine video with Becca Farsace, who used to be working for The Verge but is leaving to do her own things is interesting from a content creator perspective. iJustine indeed represents what it means to be a creative and prolific YouTuber. She's not exactly my type of YouTuber, but I admire her long streak of doing this and the energy she's putting in each of her videos.

💎 Miscellaneous

1️⃣ Matt Birchler is out with an interesting article: “Reviewing my iPhone 15 Pro review”. I find it interesting to revisit a review written a year ago. For my part, the only thing that I would say is that I rarely use the action button. It is currently set to run a multi-purpose action, but I seldom invoke it even with this. For the rest, I love the fit and finish of my iPhone 15 Pro Max. I was uncertain about the device size; this was my first Max iPhone, but I quickly became used to it. For me, the iPhone 15 Pro Max is my best iPhone ever. I don't expect to upgrade in 2024, but I will wait until next year with the iPhone 17. 2️⃣ I like the reMarkable Paper tablets for their general design and focus. I have a colleague at the office who always carries one with him, just like I do with my iPad Pro. I took a close look at the device and the screen and was seduced by the look and feel of the writing experience. The iPad is great, too, but the paper feeling is best on the reMarkable Paper tablet. The Verge reviewed the latest edition, the reMarkable Paper Pro. iJustine made a sponsered video too. 3️⃣ The making of two new icons from Information Architect, the maker of iA Writer and iA Presenter. I love those behind-the-scenes looks exposing the thinking that went into redesigning those apps icon.

reMarkable Paper Pro

reMarkable - “Replace your notes and printed documents with a digital notebook that feels like paper.”

reMarkable

🔮 Looking forward

1️⃣ Next week is the September 2024 Keynote. New iPhone and Apple Watch are wildly expected, coupled with new operating system releases, most of which are marking the beginning of the slow Apple Intelligence rollout. I'm looking to get a new watch this year, skipping Series 9 last year. According to my informal survey, some people are excited for this next Apple keynote.

I wish you a great week! ✌️👋🏻

Newsletter Past Editions

📅 Meta

Job title of the day¹ “SaaS Content Writer”. 👀🤦🏻‍♂️

The first edition of my third-generation newsletter “The Ephemeral Scrapbook”, edition 2024-35, is out! Email version coming out later today! Consider becoming a supporter on my Ko-fi page. 🙏🏻

I returned to Medium with enthusiasm but was disappointed by the clickbaity titles that we can find. For example, I read an article titled “iPhone 16 Pro Max Unveils New Features That Left Me Stunned!” only to discover that the author was excited about a potential new photo mode with the telephoto lens (macrophotography) without citing sources for the rumors. The author speculated on the revolutionary nature of the device without testing it. It raises questions about the possible involvement of generative AI in crafting this story. Oh, and the other article: “Why I Stopped Upgrading to the New iPhone Every Year (And You Should Too)”… I can’t wait to let someone tell me what to do. 👀🤷🏻

Compare this to my latest post about the M4 Mac mini: “The M4 Mac mini Will Be My Best Mac Ever”. I speak for myself only in the title.

The king of the world. Experimental. Somewhere in Croatia.

I did a test login to my Twitter / X account. It still works, but didn’t post anything. Scrolled my timeline for a few minutes. 👀🫣 What. The. Actual. Fuck. Is. This. Place. Now? Super random and controversial content appearing. This place has become the Internet dumpster.

Today, I’m again giving a serious try to iA Presenter. I want to love this app. It is so different from any other presentation app. I’m working on a YouTube video explaining concepts around Craft Objects.

My newest Craft video, this time for beginners: what should you do when you are just starting using Craft? I chose to organize these actions into five categories.

Who’s excited for next week Apple keynote? If yes, what are you looking for?

Framing the view.

I have one thought regarding apps like Reeder (the new one) and Tapestry. I fail to see any comments regarding the inherent limit of those apps. How do they fare when you are adding a few dozens of sources, some with high volume of posts? Merging those feeds into a single timeline make the latter rather overwhelming to consume.

Today, I had no choice but to request the use of a Cloud PC by Microsoft for using a crappy app: Visio. I like this idea of renting a PC instance in the cloud, though.

I bought my first Mac mini in November 2020, right at the beginning of the Apple Silicon transition. I first hooked it to a 4K LG UltraFine monitor, but I later switched to an Apple Studio display when it came out. Together, they form a tremendous but aging computing duo. The time has come for an upgrade. I’ve contemplated getting a Mac Studio with the M2 processor in the last few months. Since recent rumours point to an M4 Mac mini instead, I think this is a better (and cheaper) solution.

The next Mac mini would be the third generation of mini form factor; the second generation dates back to 2010. The design would be a smaller Mac mini, close to an Apple TV in shape, size and design, but still using an aluminum casing. Gone is the USB-A port, but five USB-C ports would be offered, two of which would be located on the front. Even with a smaller form factor, the new mini would still include an integrated power supply, keeping the essence of the mini form factor. An HDMI and headphone jack will still be included. Some unknowns include the SD card slot like on the Mac Studio (slim chances, IMO) and the starting memory size configuration (probably 16 GB). The most exciting part would be the inclusion of a powerful M4 processor. I plan to get the best performance boost and future-proof configuration with the M4 Pro edition, but pricing might force me to go with the non-pro version.

My Mac mini adventure marked the end of the all-in-one Macs for me, and I couldn’t be happier. Having the flexibility of combining the proper display, keyboard, and mouse is convenient. It took me a while to finally get it (having an iMac from 2007 to 2021), and I wouldn't go back. It's time for me to write the next Mac mini chapter. And the time seems to have come if rumours are any indication. Rumours are pointing to an exciting, mighty Mac. This package could represent the best compact Mac ever created, one that perfectly fits my needs and the little space I have for it on my home office desk.

With the M4 Mac mini on the horizon, the anticipation is palpable. This little powerhouse is rumoured to deliver an unparalleled blend of power, efficiency, and versatility in a compact, elegant design. It's not just about the hardware specs, though; it's about how this potential dynamo will fit into and elevate my everyday computing life.

How writing can help you solve problems - Eric Gregorich

Writing is thinking.

So true.

“On your birthday, only do what you like the most and fuck the rest.” — Numeric Citizen

1. I've been on Pixelfed for a year now, posting 745 photos and cumulating 615 followers, more than Smugmug, 500px, Flickr and Glass combined. It's a different world with a different vide. I like it. 
2. I've been doing YouTube videos for two years now. I guess you can tag me as a YouTuber. Thanks to my 1215 followers!
3. Today is my birthday. It's been a great journey so far. I don't have followers per se, but I have great friends both in the real world and in the digital space. I'm grateful for that. If you are one of my silent reader, consider signing my guestbook!
4. Have a great day! 👋🏻

This photo reminds me of old drawings of roman buildings. #blackandwhite #blackandwhitephotography #architecture

Currently testing Reeder from the maker of Reeder now called Reeder Classic. I prefer the general Reeder's design and look and feel over Tapestry's, by far. There is one thing that I like a lot: being able to tag timeline entries with tags and generate a public RSS feed based on a specific tag. That's cool. Here is one: Numeric Citizen Highlights. 

This morning, I added a guestbook to my blog. Please, if you’ve been reading my blog for a while or if you just came by, take a moment to sign it! 🙏🏻

The updated navigation structure on numericcitizen.me. This blog is hosted on Ghost.org.

Craft developers aren’t shy of sharing teasers and opening a private beta for Craft Objects and Style. While we all wait for any official release, I made this video today.

For those who didn’t know, I maintain a description of all the apps and services that I use on “My Complete Content Creator Toolset And Some More” page.

I find myself preferring to listen to podcasts via Apple Podcasts web interface instead of the native app on Mac. It feels lighter.

Windows and balconies.

JF Martin on Glass

The following is my sharing activities summary since the previous newsletter edition.
👨🏻‍💻 20 posts 😃
🏞️ 12 photos shared 😃
🎙️ One podcast episode published 😃
📺 No YouTube video published 😔
This edition covers a two-week period: from 2024-08-18 to 2024-08-31.

👤 Personal

1️⃣ Today, I posted something on Facebook; and honestly, it felt weird. I can’t remember exactly when I last wrote on Facebook. I also had this symptom of missing out on things from my old colleagues and friends just by glancing at my timeline for a few minutes. It felt heavy. My post was about telling my “Facebook friends” about the two sites where I share my photos online: Glass and Pixelfed. I don’t know if people will take time off their busy lives to visit or even bookmark the sites. I shouldn’t care about that. Those who pay attention might even notice a link to my digital hub, where I share all my other sites. Because I’m curious, I’ll return back to Facebook in a few days to see if I got some comments. I’ll report back here in any case. This text also was shared as a narrated post here.

🗺️ Discoveries

1️⃣ It's not exactly a discovery, but my time spent on Medium in the last two weeks is more like a rediscovery. Many things have changed on Medium since October 2022, when I shared my previous article, essentially about how they achieve their goals for writers. 2️⃣ The prolific writer MG Siegler has a newsletter tagged as “from afar" on his Ghost-powered website. Here is one edition example. This newsletter is interesting and familiar, as it is similar to mine. We both share many links and quotes and organize the content in sections. 3️⃣ I discovered this super helpful blog post listing many different resources for bloggers like me. It is so good that it is now on my personal creator dashboard page as shown below.

📖 Reading

1️⃣ I came across this State of Medium article while reading the excellent MG Siegler’s above mentioned piece. I’m delighted with Medium announcements and find their platform principles to resonate with me to the point of making a comeback. 2️⃣ The future of the Internet and trust, according to Craig Hockenberry, is a provocative yet lucid take on what is coming next for the Internet.

“Rich kids being able to do art for a living may be a reflection on their privilege but it seems to me like a reflection on the fact that a human that doesn't have to worry about money will often choose art. everyone is an artist until rent is due. i wish we all had that right.” — Amanda for @TheCoolIssue

👨🏻‍💻 Writing

“Writing is part of lifelong learning that keeps us awake, clear and connected.” — iA blog

1️⃣ My first real article for my Medium comeback is “Considering Becoming a Freelancer.” I made this article part of my publication, which is also available on Medium, “Numeric Citizen Journeys.” If you want to know more about this project, please continue reading. 2️⃣ I closely follow MG Siegler’s Spyglass website, where he writes about tech, Apple, AI, media, etc. In “More or Less,” Siegler announces changes to his writing habits and content sharing. I realize that things are constantly moving and morphing into something else. For example, in this edition, I lament that I should have named this newsletter around the concept of scrapbooks because, overall, it's pretty much what it is. Why not consider renaming this newsletter, then? What is actually preventing me from doing it? Here is a title that I'm currently thinking about: “The Ephemeral Scrapbook Newsletter — Edition 2024-34”. Scrapbooking is about capturing artifacts to build memories and document experiences. This is not what this newsletter is about. I consider its content much more ephemeral, hence the name “Ephemeral Scrapbook.” What do you think?

“Writing helps me clarify and even form my own thoughts on various topics” — MG Siegler

🌄 Photography

1️⃣ The 2024 iPhone photography awards winners were announced. As usual, there were many gorgeous images. The grand prize goes to Erin Brooks from the United States, who used her iPhone 15 Pro Max to shoot the winning photo. A few comments are in order here. Beyond the top winners, many awards go to people from China; I found this notable. Two winning photos were shot using an old iPhone X, and others were taken using an iPhone 6s and the iPhone XS. Those images have a unique visual texture to them. The landscape category is my favourite. 2️⃣ Two people visited the same place at two months intervals and took a photo. This is so cool. 3️⃣ Something scary is happening in photography on Google's Pixel 9 series phones with this Reimagine AI-powered feature. This article from The Verge should be enough to convince you that starting now, you should never trust an image shared online.

In an attempt to inject some normalcy in my feed, here is a photo from a long time ago - re-edited with new tools, new knowledge, and a better underst…

Om Malik on Glass

re-edited with new tools, new knowledge, and a better underst… — Om Malik on Glass Photography Community

🎙️ Podcasting

1️⃣ I ordered a Rode Wireless Me microphone for my audio recordings and wanted to test it out on a narrated post on Micro.blog, which was syndicated on my podcasts channel. I talk about posting on Facebook feeling weird. According to this short video review, it should provide some noticeable improvements to my recordings.

🍎 Apple

1️⃣ It might take a while before Apple adds Genmoji and image generation to Apple Intelligence, and this 9to5Mac article explains why. Apple takes a cautious approach when introducing new products and features (but they aren't mindful enough when releasing ads because when they do, they often mess things up). 2️⃣ The Next Apple event has been announced. It will be on September 9th, 2024. I have low expectations for it as I explained here. Get a preview from the following YouTube video showing iPhone 16 mockups. I don’t expect too many surprises from that event, which could be the most boring iPhone release ever. 3️⃣ I asked what's in this picture of Steve Jobs in his home office, and got many answers.

🚧 Special projects

1️⃣ After discussing my professional life with my wife this week, I thought becoming a freelancer might be a great way to spend the next ten years. It would be something that would put me out of my usual comfort zone, but I want to take the time to think about it and what it would entail. In the next few weeks or months, I will start a project and use Craft to support my work on this. I'll consider as many aspects as possible: financials, logistics, upsides, downsides, etc. I need a way to write about this, take notes, and do some calculations, too, and Craft seems perfect for this. 2️⃣ Writing about this new project is mandatory. As mentioned above, I chose to share any future articles on Medium under a new Medium publication I created for the occasion. You can reach the publication by following this URL: https://medium.com/numeric-citizen-journeys.

“Hobbies primarily benefit the creator, while side projects are aimed at serving others.” — Manuel Moreale

📱 Apps & Services

1️⃣ If you are like me, I take many screenshots on my iPhone and iPad for many purposes. Until this week, I relied on the famous Apple Frames shortcut. The shortcut broke with the iOS 18 beta, and I cannot rely on it anymore. It's no longer an issue with Shareshot, an iPhone and iPad app. Shareshot is a native app, which makes the shortcut useless. Shareshot is fast and offers many more customization options. You can select the padding size and background and add a lighting effect. I wish there were a way to save a template format to retrieve export settings quickly. For me, it's an instant buy, an oopsy subscription. Sadly, there are no lifetime licenses or a Mac version (yet). I updated my subscriptions page accordingly. 2️⃣ Glass, the photo-sharing service, increased its subscription price recently, now at 50 CAN, There is a Patreon subscription tier at 180 CAN$, but it asks too much. I keep it. 3️⃣ Procreate developer says NO to integrating AI in their products. Good call, and the messaging timing is spot on. In my previous newsletter, I wrote that I was getting fed up with AI everywhere. I'm not a user of Procreate myself, but I applaud the move. 4️⃣ I discovered Series, an app that combines photos into layouts like diptychs, carousels, etc. It's useful to show two photos side-by-side for comparison purposes, which I like to do occasionally. The app is available for the iPhone and iPad. 5️⃣ I decided to dump Pocket Cast and use the Apple Podcasts app to save money. I don't listen to podcasts often enough to warrant a dedicated third-party app.

Shareshot — Frame Screenshots and Add Backgrounds

A beautiful and fun app for wrapping screenshots with perfect-fitting frames over pretty backgrounds. Comes with powerful Shortcuts Actions for creating Pro workflows.

Shareshot — Frame Screenshots and Add Backgrounds

📺 YouTube

1️⃣ Another great video from Tiego Forte and his wife. It gets so personal. I chose this video because it shows how important striking a balance in life is important. Yes that might be at the close of being the number one, but the equilibrium is more important to me and value those who aim toward that goal. 2️⃣

“The only review that has any value for me is when the person reviewing something bought it with their own money.” — Jane Doe

💎 Miscellaneous

“Everyone alive today has grown up in a world where you can’t believe everything you read. Now we need to adapt to a world where that applies just as equally to photos and videos. Trusting the sources of what we believe is becoming more important than ever.” — John Gruber

1️⃣ I wish I had called this newsletter "The Digital Scrapbook” from the beginning because some editions really look like scrapbooks. No worries, starting with the next edition, the name will become “The Ephemeral Scrabook Newsletter.” 2️⃣ This deepfake on TikTok of Elon Musk is uncanny and troubling. We cannot trust anything we see and hear now; I wonder how bad this is for societies. 3️⃣ Don't miss my Micro.blog posts monthly digest that came out on September 1st!

Creativity is made, not generated. — The developer of Procreate

🔮 Looking forward

1️⃣ I upgraded my iPhone 15 Pro Max to iOS 18.1 beta 3 to test Apple Intelligence on my primary device. I'm looking forward to experimenting with Photos Clean Up and intelligent notifications. 2️⃣ Now that my Medium Publication is live, I look forward to sharing more of my experiences.

I wish you a great week! ✌️👋🏻

Creative Summary Newsletter Editions Index

📅 Meta

• It is the long Labor Day weekend here, which coincides with my birthday a few days later. I don't have any elaborate plans for the weekend, except to do only the things I enjoy. 
• One of the things that I want to do is to record a new YouTube video using my just-acquired RODE wireless me mic and my Inst360 Flow Pro gimbal for my iPhone.
• I'll probably upgrade my M2 MacBook Air to macOS Sequoia 15.1 so that I can test Apple Intelligence on the Mac.
• I had a discussion yesterday with my son and his girlfriend, both of whom are studying communication and marketing. I was curious to know if they or their friends had considered having a personal blog as a platform to share with the world. Both said no, it's not something they or their friends have considered. For both of themm blogs are a thing of the past. So what's in, you might ask? Videos on Instagram, TikTok. 😒
• Have a great day. 👋🏻

Visiting one of Dubrovnik cemeteries. #blackandwhite #blackandwhitephotography #cemetery #dark #darkness #ancient-cemetery #cemeteries #somber

As the season turns, so does Apple's product release cycle. September is traditionally the month when Apple unveils a series of updates, with the iPhone typically taking center stage. But will the spotlight remain on the iPhone this year? Let’s delve into my expectations and see if they align with the usual fanfare.

The iPhone — the king of all

The iPhone is seventeen years old; it is getting old and mature. Low-hanging fruits are a rarity these days in the smartphone space. Beyond being thinner, faster, with longer battery life, and a slightly bigger screen, what else should I expect? A foldable iPhone is not one of my expectations, not this year, not in ten years. I hope Apple won’t waste too much of their resources trying.

MacRumors’ summary of what to expect is informative but cannot be more exciting than the actual rumours. Each year, Apple shuffles things around by adding features previously only available on Pro-line to non-Pro devices. The action button is coming for non-pro devices this year. The telephoto lens on the 15 Pro Max will reach the non-Max iPhone. It's so predictable. Rare exception: the capture button is coming to all models this year. Are you excited? Could a new camera lens assembly design come this year? Lens alignment will go vertical for the non-Pro devices, just like the iPhone X. The "bump” design fundamentally stays the same. Boring.

A faster iPhone, a bigger screen (in a slightly bigger device), faster charging, improvements to the camera, and faster at everything. What else? It is hard to get excited, even for an iPhone photographer like me.

While waiting for the iPhone 16, this article from MacRumors offers a helpful comparison between the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16. While glancing at the article, I must say that a glossy titanium frame (instead of the brushed one of the iPhone 15 Pro line) would be a regression; I love the 15 Pro brushed finish! We will see soon enough.

My boredom might be partly due to not upgrading my iPhone 15 Pro Max this year. I have other plans. Continue reading.

The Apple Watch — the eternal iPhone companion

It’s been ten years since the launch of the Apple Watch. The iPhone’s companion, the Apple Watch, is again set to receive an update. Are we going to see an Apple Series X sporting an entirely new design, like the iPhone X was? How would we call the Series X? Series “Ten”? Series “X”? Remember when people were confused with the iPhone X naming? Anyway…

Last year, when the Ultra 2 came out, I contemplated switching to the Ultra, but I never liked its design. I don’t expect this to change this year. Enters the Apple Watch Series 10, with a rumored bigger screen while sporting a thinner design. How much thinner remains to be seen, but I’m really looking to upgrade to the Series 10. This is where my (relatively mild) excitement resides this year.

But beyond a bigger screen, what else? I would take better battery life over anything else. My Apple Watch Series 8 barely reaches 5 PM under watchOS 18 beta 8 without a recharge. I don’t expect things to improve much with the official release. There won’t be a new sensor, either. What else? I would love to see different metal finishes and tints.

I almost forgot: with each new watch model comes one or more new watch faces. Until Apple enables selling third-party watch faces on its App Store, the only way to get excited is to wait for Apple each year. The watchOS 11 release doesn't bring new watch faces, but a few were redesigned or tweaked, such as the Photos watch face, which now depends on machine learning. But, again, what else?

The (usual) software story

Apple always times its biggest OS releases with the new iPhone launch in September. This year, iOS 18 is bringing small and significant improvements across the board. The only thing is that Apple Intelligence obliterates everything because of the current hype surrounding AI in general. Apple is no different here, but their approach to AI integration is different. But what comes next will probably make us forget about the iPhone 16 fit and finish.

Apple Intelligence Inside™

Expect a lot of references to Apple intelligence during the keynote, just like Apple did with 5G a few years ago. Apple Intelligence is Apple's next sales driver. The problem is that the Apple Intelligence rollout is slow and will come after the iPhone 16 becomes available. The former is expected to start rolling out later this year. Moreover, the best of Apple Intelligence will come after iOS 18.1 and maybe iOS 18.2. This brings us into early 2025, at the earliest. In other words, for Apple, the most challenging part is yet to be overcome.

It will be bizarre to announce the new iPhone marked as “ready for Apple Intelligence” while the actual rolling out of Apple Intelligence is much later. Even worse, for those like me living outside of the US, in Canada, for example, and wishing to use their iPhone in French, we shouldn’t expect Apple Intelligence to be available sometime next year. This alone is enough for me to patiently wait for the iPhone 17, which should be even more powerful and capable of performing on-device Apple Intelligence tasks. Again, it’s bizarre timing. I’m not the only one who thinks it’s odd (search the referenced article with the keyword “aiPhone”.)

What about the Mac?

I don’t expect the new rumoured M4 Mac mini to launch in September; it would create too much noise for the same event. Apple likes to focus on a few things. Yet, I can’t wait to put my hands on a M4 Mac mini (I’m still using the M1 Mac mini, bought in late 2020).

All in all, my expectations are relatively low this year. Apple is still sailing with a tailwind, but the winds are slowly turning; until now, they haven’t had to try too hard to keep selling a boatload of iPhones. And this is where the problem lies if you ask me. Apple is no longer the underdog; they don’t feel enough pressure to think outside the box like the Nothing company with its Nothing Phone. While Nothing won't dent Apple's sales, pressure will come from regulations and a decline in developers’ sentiment for creating great apps. Exhibit A: the Apple Vision Pro is the biggest flop since the Apple ///. But that is another story.

Zagreb.

This week I realized that I'm doing digital ephemeral scrapbooking with this newsletter. 

The wooden bridge.

Imperfect framing. #blackandwhite #blackandwhitephotography

1. It's been a while since my previous /now post. I'm still alive, but a bit overwhelmed with (too) many creative and less creative projects. More on that soon. 👀
2. I've spent some time today to test my new R0DE Wireless Me mics. I had to update my recording parameters accordingly. I won't need Audio Hijack anymore it seems. Preliminary results show that audio quality of audio recordings will improve noticeably. 🎤 🛜
3. I've spent considerable time on Medium and still appreciate the platform after all these years. While not perfect, no service is without flaws. Again, more on that sooner than later. 👀👀
4. The velocity of some writers like MG Siegler is absolutely amazing. This guy writes so often, with high quality content, it's mind-blowing. He writes on Spyglass, which is hosted on Ghost, I think. 👨🏻‍💻🏃🏻‍♂️
5. Have a great week! 👋🏻

Somewhere in Kotar, Montenegro. #blackandwhite #blackandwhitephotography

A friend recently asked me, "When and where are you going to show me your photos from this summer’s trip to Croatia?" I told him "soon," even though I didn't have an exact plan. I knew Pixelfed wouldn't be the best solution—most people don't want to follow a daily feed and look at photos one at a time. When friends ask to see your photos, they usually want to see them all at once. So, I had to think of a different approach.

Knowing my friend uses a Nixplay digital frame, I considered using its built-in feature that allows users to send pictures via email directly to a specific Nixplay frame. This would require creating a dedicated album on my friend's Nixplay account and sharing the corresponding email address. However, he dismissed this idea because the digital frame is too far from him to fully appreciate each photo. So, I needed another solution.

I then thought about using iCloud public albums, but I was reluctant to import my finished photos into iCloud. Additionally, since I utilize Apple Advanced Data Protection, sharing photos via icloud.com wasn't an option.

Finally, the simplest solution was to create an iCloud-shared album, select my best images, and invite my friend via iMessage. As I worked on this, I decided to expand the invite list to include more friends and family, all of whom are Apple ecosystem users. This way, no one was left out. The "Activity" tab in Apple Photos shows everyone’s comments, transforming the album into a micro and private social network. It's a pretty cool way to share and interact over my summer memories.

The best solution is often right in front of us.

👨🏻‍💻 27 posts 😃
🏞️ 6 photos shared 🙂
🎙️ No podcast episode published 😔
📺 No YouTube video published 😔
Again, this edition covers two weeks!

👤 Personal

1️⃣ I’m starting to get a bit tired of the « AI-everything » overuse and abuse. I’m a big user of ChatGPT and other tools like that but at the same time, I think generative AI is being oversold. We might be in a AI bubble. Does Apple's prudent approach with Apple Intelligence reflects that?
The web, and e-commerce, and the iPhone had to go through a painful process of growing and learning to become useful. — Benedict Evans

🗺️ Discoveries

1️⃣ Storm Tracker by CNN shows impressive animations and maps of Debby. Technology is always improving, which shows in the visual products they can put online to inform us about storm tracking. 2️⃣ Thomas Heatherwick believes architecture has a “nutritional value” to society and that the public deserves better buildings. Boring buildings can lead to psychological deprivation and a fight-or-flight response. Interesting article. 3️⃣ To process the previous article, I have used some Apple Intelligence features on my iPad Pro running iPadOS 18.1 beta 1. Staying in the same application to access generative AI features is convenient. 4️⃣ To better illustrate my point, OpenAI’s ChatGPT app for Mac now allows users to multitask with other apps by opening a mini ChatGPT window alongside the current app using Option + Space. This update improves efficiency by reducing window switching, especially on smaller displays. 5️⃣ Jeroen Sangers’ blog: “Brain tags” is full of nice thoughts and quotes, often about work and productivity. I knew this guy from Micro.blog because I’m following him there but I didn’t know about his blog until this week when he shared a post about reworking his digital garden organization process.

📖 Reading

1️⃣ I'm way behind with my readings in the past two weeks. See the next section. 🙄

LLM by itself is not a product - it’s a technology that can enable a tool or a feature, and it needs to be unbundled or rebundled into new framings, UX and tools to be become useful. That takes even more time. — Benedict Evans

👨🏻‍💻 Writing

1️⃣ I didn’t write much this week because I was too busy getting organized. I’m testing a new version of Craft that will support some kind of database feature, prompting me to rethink how I manage my content. 2️⃣ I’ve posted something on Medium, yes, Medium, to test the water again. I wrote a small post about my desire to return to the platform to share some of my writing. My last post On Medium dates back to October 2022. It was about

Hello, Again, Medium.

Pondering the reasons why I might come back to Medium.

MediumNumeric Citizen

🌄 Photography

1️⃣ I thought my photo had a unique feel to it. I submitted my photo to Unsplash, something I do for exceptional images of mine. Then I received an email telling me my photo was a copyright infringement. I replied, telling them I could send them the original RAW image I took while on a boat in Croatia. I never got a reply, but after checking back a few days later, my photo was published. Unsplash is so good that it even showed me all similar images. This is where I understood that my photo wasn't unique at all. Far from it, judging by the "related images” with about a dozen very similar images. The Unsplash algorithm probably made a mistake by flagging my image incorrectly. Far from being done with Unsplash, I uploaded another photo, which I think is unique. 2️⃣ I've been more active at posting photos on Glass and Unsplash. They compete against Pixelfed for my attention and desire to share my work with the world. 3️⃣ On Glass, we can look for photos of a specific camera brand. Some examples come from a Nikon Z f. You can view a view of mine if you pay attention and look closely. 😊 4️⃣ Remours about a new button on the iPhone 16 Pro might be intriguing for photographers. 5️⃣ I didn’t know there was an iPhone photography school on the web. 6️⃣ I got an email from Flickr announcing albums improvements. I’m pleasantly surprised that Flickr is alive and well and that the platform is improving. 7️⃣ The makers of Halide, a third-party manual camera app, released version 2.15, which adds a cool new feature: Process zero mode. In this mode, Halide takes photos and bypasses all software processing to gather the real RAW data from the 12 MP sensor. Images come out different but offer a new set of post-processing capabilities. I might re-enable my yearly subscription to try it out. Meanwhile, you can read the detailed article explaining the Process zero mode. 8️⃣ Three years anniversary of Glass! Time flies, and I’ve been happy to be part of this journey with other photographers who believe in great photography-sharing communities like Glass.

“there will be a new camera control on the right side of the phone (at least on the new Pros). It will operate like a button on a DSLR camera, allowing you to press in slightly to trigger autofocus. A harder press will take the picture. You can also swipe along the button to zoom in and out while shooting photos and videos.” — Mark Gurman on the upcoming iPhone 16 Pro

Houman Katoozi on Glass Photography Community

Houman Katoozi. Photographer specialising in black & white fine art street photography. Prints available through my website. My YouTube channel dedicated to all photo…

Process Zero: The Anti-Intelligent Camera

Introducing a process that uses zero AI and zero computational photography to produce beautiful, film-like natural photos. Meet Halide 2.15, with Process Zero.

LuxBen Sandofsky

🍎 Apple

1️⃣ Each time I’m watching a small clip of Steve Jobs like this one, it’s a reminder of how much I think the world is missing him. I miss him too. 2️⃣ This brings me to question Apple’s aspirations regarding AI integration in their operating systems and I wonder how different things would be if Steve was still around in Cupertino. 3️⃣ Apple is having a bad moments again. First. Apple being greedy to no end is a source of frustration and people calling them out, and for good reasons. The Apple vs Patreon Saga (more reactions here). Second, Apple is making macOS less and less Mac and more and more macOS Vista. I frequently use Mac utilities, and upon rebooting my Mac, I’m faced with an astonishing number of authorizations to acknowledge. This issue is also present on iOS, affecting permissions for things like widgets. Has Apple strayed from its path?

🚧 Special projects

1️⃣ This week, following the beta release of Craft with support for object creation, I finally completed the reorganization of my content. It was a tedious task, but the results were worth it. This little project also allowed me to understand the functionality better, positioning me well to produce videos on the subject. 2️⃣ Is my first post on Medium in two years marking something bigger for me there? I don't know. I updated my Medium profile page, just in case.

📱 Apps & Services

1️⃣ I'm a big fan of Inoreader but less of their RSS reader app. So, I usually depend on Reeder to consume my RSS feeds, but I recently restarted using Unread because it is now available for the Mac, too. 2️⃣ I briefly contemplated the idea of opening a Threads account (which implies opening an Instagram account). But then I checked the App Privacy fact sheet in the App Store. It was a great reminder as to why I must refrain from doing so. Pass. The idea was to expand the cross-posting capabilities of Micro.blog. 3️⃣ Interesting questions and thoughts from Manton Reece about Apple Intelligence and the potential for developers. Apple being prudent with AI forces developers who would like to quickly take advantage of Apple models to stay with third-party solutions. 4️⃣ Christina Warren is expressing her thoughts on Apple's decision about Patreon. It's well worth the read. She's mad. 5️⃣ If you are an Apple Music subscriber with many hand-crafted playlists, why not try Denim, a playlist cover artwork creator? 6️⃣ Apple might be late in the game of AI with Apple Intelligence, compared with Google's latest phones, but I'm rooting for creativity-related functionality here, not tech demos or geeky useless features.

Craft update: First look at Objects

Playlist artwork app ‘Denim’ gets major update with new editor

Denim is a cool iPhone app that helps users create unique art for their playlists. In recent weeks, the app…

9to5MacFilipe Espósito

📺 YouTube

1️⃣ if video recording (for YouTube or elsewhere) is your thing, this video from Zolotech demonstrates the Insta360 Flow Pro. It’s pretty cool and nifty for stabilizing your videos and tracking your subjects without missing a beat, thanks in part to, you guessed it, AI. 🤓 2️⃣ I decided to try an Insta360 Flow Pro for my YouTube video recording. By tweaking the position of my iPhone while recording my interaction with my Mac, the overlay should be more natural, as if I were looking at the window content.

The video discusses the importance of maintaining a positive attitude and avoiding excessive complaining, particularly in the context of photography and creative work. The speaker reflects on a personal experience with a friend and fellow photographer, Radic, who maintained a positive and grateful attitude despite challenges. This led the speaker to realize that his own negative attitude and constant complaining were holding him back. The video emphasizes that while having an ego is natural, an unchecked ego can lead to negative thinking and hinder personal growth. The speaker argues that photographers often complain about their equipment, social media, and the industry, but this negativity can rewire the brain to focus on the negative, ultimately stifling creativity and motivation. Instead, the speaker advocates for gratitude, continuous learning, and making a lot of images as the key to improvement.

💎 Miscellaneous

1️⃣ Influencing people's decision to choose one app over the other… it seems Jarrod Blundy chose to try the Arc Browser again, thanks to an article I published a while ago. 2️⃣ The problem with EU legislation is well underscored in this DHH blog post, you might find it insightful too. 3️⃣ Art history shows a cyclical pattern of adding elaborate decorations to clean styles and then returning to simplicity. This trend is evident in various fields, including architecture, painting, photography, literature, theatre, and fashion, and is also observed in software design. Due to its shorter timeline than other art forms, software design may experience this cycle more rapidly. Great article.

🔮 Looking ahead

1️⃣ Google’s search monopoly ends is in sight. Well, it could take years, apparently. Apple had better take notice and revisit some deals with Google. This judgment is a major blow to Google and will certainly send shockwaves in the tech space. Coupled with SearchGPT around the corner, you can see that Google’s business might be in trouble in the future. 2️⃣ Speaking of SearchGPT, I got an email telling me that all 10K slots are filled and that I'll have to wait for the official release to use it.

I wish you a great week! ✌️👋🏻

Creative Summary Newsletter Editions Index

📅 Meta

My weekly creative summary newsletter edition 2024-32 is out now (link)! Available later by email for newsletter subscribers. Do I have to remind you that this is a free gift? I hope you enjoy!

I don't want a touch-enabled Mac with touch-tweaked macOS because I want to keep my Mac screen clean of fingerprints and smudges. On the iPad, it's ok, but not on the Mac. 

Are we nearing the end of using the timeline metaphor to consume content? I believe so. I'm growing weary of endless scrolling. I want to be more intentional about my content consumption. I'm not sure that I want Tapestry anymore.

I find that reading cybersecurity news and sites like hacker news is quickly becoming depressing. After five minutes, I want to leave. 

1. I'm always trying new things. But sometimes, I give another try to something old, like here. I don't know where it is leading, but it's fun. Oh, and I love their text editor. Pushing the publish button is so satisfying. 😁
2. I'm mostly done with my Craft content reorganization. It's been a lot of work, but I learn quite a few things about Craft Objects along the way. I can't wait to share videos about them soon, if only the Craft Team removed the embargo. 👀
3. One side effect of converting documents to Craft Objects is that I eliminated many unnecessary folders used to organize my content, and I also performed some cleanup, which is generally beneficial. I've realized the significant efforts I've invested in my writing hobby since the COVID-19 pandemic, and it's been a rewarding experience.
4. I'm reading a lot of Apple bashing these days. Some of it is justified, but some of it isn't. Hating Apple always be a thing, to the point of being borderline fashionable. It's exhausting a bit. 😒
5. Today I'm going to the office downtown, by bike. I love those days. Have a great day yourself! 👋🏻

Well, apparently, Apple is having their Vista moment. I hope they can cope with it. Poor guys. 

1. I couldn't finish and publish this week's edition of my creative summary newsletter, and I feel bad about it. I was too busy this past week updating content in Craft, thanks to Craft Objects. Oops. I should be good to go with next week edition, though.
2. I found out that my website on Ghost was using an old privacy policy page, which I deleted because it was used for WordPress and since 2020, many things changed. Oops. I'll create a new one soon, using this tool. I'm not even sure I need one, though.
3. I'm not the best person to keep regular publishing habits, so why am I putting myself in situations where I need to maintain one weekly newsletter and a /now post? I should know better. Oops.
4. Oh, and I was busy experimenting my Insta360 Flow Pro with my iPhone running iOS 18 beta. It appears that the NFC pairing isn't working. I bought this device especially for tracking my head while recording YouTube videos. Hoping for a fix soon. Oops.
5. Have a great day! 👋🏻

👨🏻‍💻 31 posts 😃
🏞️ 12 photos shared 😃
🎙️ No podcast episode published 😔
📺 1 YouTube video published 😃
This week’s edition covers a two-week range of activities

👤 Personal

1️⃣ It's been three weeks since I returned from vacation, and I now feel up to speed with my creative hobby. I've written several blog posts and processed most of my Nikon Z f photos. I've started sharing many of them on Pixelfed and Glass, but it will take time to go through all of my best ones. 2️⃣ Recently, I was chilling with my partner in our pool. We were both silent and were enjoying the present moment. After a while, I broke the silence by saying I had nothing to say. Yep, that is so me. My partner said the same. This silence felt heavy to me without knowing why, as if I always had something to say. Why this constant pressure to fill our spaces with words and images? The following quote is spot on:

“Most of us aren’t self-aware enough to realize that the more we speak, the less we say.” — Om Malik

🗺️ Discoveries

1️⃣ I always find it sad to see content like this website disappear from the internet. There should be an official place for hosting this content, at no cost. Such a place could be founded by users, companies, and government agencies so that we can keep some memory of genuinely helpful and widely respected websites like AppleVis (no link is shared here because the link will become broken soon).

📖 Reading

1️⃣ I've read a few interesting tidbits in the past two weeks. I stumbled upon this blog while browsing my Micro.blog timeline. Someone shared a link to a post from this blog, and I decided to check it out. To my delight, I found it quite interesting. The blog covers various topics, including blogging, technology, and the open web. Another blog discovery: this one talks about tech but touches on other subjects, too. 2️⃣ I finally got Omnivore Digest to work, and it's really great. 3️⃣ Here are two quotes that I think are worth sharing with you:

In ‘Surely Microsoft Isn’t Blaming EU for Its Problems?’, Om Malik writes:

“…regulators are so woefully out of touch with actual technology that they not only fail to understand how it all works, but they can’t even contemplate unintended consequences of their regulations.”

Jeff Perry on Google’s exclusive access deal to Reddit content for indexing:

“This could set a precedent for other sites like Hacker News and Pinterest to start searching for the highest bidder to make their content exclusive on another search engine. Eventually other sites might do the same in hopes to thwart the serial scraping of their content for AI models to learn from and make a few bucks in the process. It is just another byproduct of the Enshittification of the web.” — Jeff Perry

A challenge for so many of us these days:

“One of my favorite hobbies used to be reading books. Now, it feels impossible to read one page without having to backtrack and read that page again (and sometimes...again) because I have no idea what I just read. My mind is unable to keep focus.” — Veronique blog

👨🏻‍💻 Writing

1️⃣ Do real-life people know I'm writing stuff online, on a personal blog? That's the interesting question this blog post tried to answer and elaborate on. Very few of my friends and colleagues know what I'm doing online. I’m rather shy about it, and I'm not sure why. I prefer to write about whatever subjects I want without feeling judged by someone who knows me. 2️⃣ I tried to summarize and share my observations about using the iPad Pro with an external display. It's a new possibility since I upgraded to an M4 iPad Pro a few weeks ago, and I thought it was more interesting than writing another iPad Pro review. 3️⃣ I read an article about the aftermath of Meta blocking news sharing in Canada. After a year, we have a better idea of the consequences, which aren't what people thought they would be. That being said, I'm utterly frustrated by Meta's behaviour regarding fake news. They still allow them to spread like wildfire. 4️⃣ Asking ChatGPT what a specific blog post I will publish means is useful. This idea came from Manton, and I tried it. It really helps my writing. It is different than asking, "Improve my writing.” 5️⃣ Writing can be easy for some, but it might be challenging for others, like for him. Motivation might be lacking, too. As a blogger, I believe both are true: hard work and motivation are sometimes scarce. I often tell myself to write in order just to help me organize my ideas, perfect them, and learn something from them, not for others. 6️⃣ Don’t miss my monthly post digest published on August 1st!

Rambling on blogging motivations and energy | Bacardi55’s Web Cave

Bacardi55's Web Caveselfhosting

🌄 Photography

1️⃣ I'm done processing my travel photos from my travel to Croatia. It always takes me quite a while to process the last few remaining shots. Those aren't necessarily the best ones, but they still provide helpful visual data points. 2️⃣ I discovered this amateur photographer on Glass last week. Sara has quite a few visual gems. 3️⃣ Glass is about to introduce a new and highly requested feature: support for photo series! Here is an example from one of Glass’ founders. According to their preview, the series has a description, a photo count, and a Mansory-style grid. I can't wait to try them out with a few of my photos. I'm holding off sharing some of my photos until they go live.

Campbell 66, a series by Daniel Agee — Glass

My great-great grandfather started Campbell 66 in the early 1920s. He sold it in mid-’80s. He died before I was born, so I never met him. I only knew him by the…

Sharing Photographs, and Photography, with Others and Growing as a Photographer

Great Lakes Waterfront Trail, Toronto, 2024 Like many other photographers I regularly share my images through a social media platform. I also sometimes post them on this website. And that’s fine an…

Excited PixelsChristopher Parsons

The Making of Kino: You Can (Not) Build a Pro Video Camera App in Four Months

A true story of indie app development: why we made the plunge to build our pro video camera app Kino in a few months, its whirlwind development, and many surprise twists.

LuxBen Sandofsky

🍎 Apple

1️⃣ Apple Maps is (finally) available in beta on the web. From my experience, it’s a relatively solid first version, and I’m glad to have one more option to get away from Google. 2️⃣ I'm choosing not to upgrade my iPhone this year. Still, I'll likely consider it next year, especially given the intriguing rumours surrounding the upcoming models. The iPhone 17 Slim (or whatever name it adopts) appears unusual and fascinating. Could this signify a new direction in the evolution of the iPhone? 3️⃣ Apple is tweaking their Apple Intelligence release schedule: nothing will come publicly before iOS 18.1. It may sound bad, but I prefer Apple to take the time to make it good. Apple doesn't have the leisure to fuck it up because Siri is living on borrowed time. 4️⃣ Speaking of which, Apple Intelligence officially enters beta for developers, and according to this video, initial feature sets seem to work relatively smoothly. I decided to install iPadOS 18.1 on my iPad Pro to give it a shot myself. The onboarding experience is relatively polished. In less than fifteen minutes, I officially entered the Apple Intelligence beta. My experience with Apple's app is rather positive, while my experience with third-party apps is a mixed bag. Some text proofing works with Craft in specific conditions, and I get better results in Ulysses. Yet, developers will have to work on providing a better experience in their respective applications. It will take time for all this stuff to mature, get to Canada, and support the French Canadian language. 5️⃣ Apple made a lot of money in their last quarter. Services are the star of the quarter with a big jump. All the charts are available in this SixColors post.

“In a few years, people will not remember exactly when the various Apple Intelligence components were released. However, they will remember whether or not they worked.” From MacSparky

🚧 Special projects

1️⃣ I started and completed reworking how my weekly newsletter editions are created and stored within Craft. I used Craft Daily notes initially, but I recently changed my mind because of a few issues. The problem was that I needed to transpose all the content of past editions into a newly created Craft document while preserving all the shared links. It was easy to do but rather tedious. This doesn't bring much value in the end, but as a perfectionist, it makes a difference in my mind. The index page now looks gorgeous.

📱 Apps & Services

1️⃣ OpenAI announced searchGPT. SearchGPT will compete against Google and Bing, the owners of which are Microsoft, a significant investor in ChatGPT. For now, ladies and gentlemen, the good news is that there won't be ads… and results will probably be as good if not better because of this! 2️⃣ I made a video with my thoughts and observations on a teaser about « Project Powerful,» the codename for a future Craft release. 3️⃣ Vernissage for Pixelfed becomes Impressia for Pixelfed. 4️⃣ Unread is now available on the Mac, and I tested it again to see if I like it better than Reeder. I’m not sure. 5️⃣ iStats Menu 7 just launched, and it's a significant upgrade! Everything has been redone, and it just looks gorgeous. I’ve used iStats Menu on my main computer since version 3 but not on my MacBook Air, where I used Stats instead, a free utility. I wonder if I should upgrade to a multi-license version to use it everywhere. 6️⃣ That’s a weird question on Reddit (Reddit is so full of weirdos anyway) regarding the future of Culture Code’s and Things 3, their well-regarded task management app. As a big fan of Culture Code’s Things 3, I don’t see why this question pops up now. The application is frequently updated, and most users seem happy with it. Sure, Things 4 is still being discussed by many, but without official words from the developer, I don’t see that as an issue. 7️⃣I’ve been testing Tapestry recently since it came out in beta, and I must say that I’m a bit disappointed. I suspect an issue with this type of application: content velocity can flood any timeline, rendering the experience similar to scrolling any timeline without much-added value. It’s still early in the application development, but … we will see. My sentiment doesn’t fall in line with Manton’s.

📺 YouTube

1️⃣ This animation depicts a concerning view of global CO2 emissions over a few days. The pulsating nature of the emissions results from the day-night cycle. We can clearly see industrial zones all over the eastern portion of the US with some denser spots with a lot of emissions.

The video discusses the desire among many users to run macOS on an iPad, highlighting the limitations of iPadOS compared to macOS despite the iPad's powerful hardware. Leading up to WWDC, there were hopes for significant updates to iPadOS, but instead, only minor features like a calculator app were introduced. The author experimented with running macOS on an iPad using screen mirroring via Sidecar, which allowed for some use of macOS apps with the Apple Pencil, but noted the experience was less than ideal due to the lack of touch optimization.
The discussion also includes insights from developer Riley Testut, who explains the technical challenges of porting macOS apps to iPadOS and the potential of Apple's Catalyst framework for making iPad apps available on Mac. Nilay Patel of The Verge provides a business perspective, suggesting that Apple's reluctance to merge macOS and iPadOS is driven by financial incentives, particularly the revenue from the App Store, which would be disrupted if macOS were available on iPads.
Ultimately, the video concludes that while the hardware is capable, Apple's decision to keep iPadOS and macOS separate is likely a strategic choice to maintain control over app distribution and revenue. The iPad may continue to receive updates that make it more like a laptop, but it won't replace macOS anytime soon.

💎 Miscellaneous

1️⃣ Food for thoughts, here.

"AI is not human, and behind its programmatic simulation of human speech and artificial emotional intelligence, it’s just a machine with all the humanity of a toaster." — Mike Elgan

🔮 Looking ahead

1️⃣ I'm on the waitlist to experiment with SearchGPT. There are 10K slots. I'm not sure I'll make it. 2️⃣ Craft is coming with something really cool and powerful that will transform my use of Craft in many ways. I have so many things to think about. This will require some massive time investment but it will be worth it! Stay tuned.

OpenAI has launched SearchGPT, an AI-powered search engine designed to compete with Google and Bing. Unlike traditional search engines, SearchGPT provides conversational summaries of search results, including citations and links to original sources. This prototype is currently available to a select group of users and publishers, including the Wall Street Journal and the Atlantic, ensuring proper content attribution and fostering positive relationships with content creators.
SearchGPT integrates OpenAI's AI models with real-time web searches, offering not only text but also visual answers, such as AI-generated videos and images. This feature aims to enhance the search experience, especially for visual learners. OpenAI plans to eventually integrate these search capabilities into ChatGPT, potentially making it a more powerful tool for users.

I wish you a great week!

Creative Summary Newsletter Editions Index

📅 Meta

Before sharing my thoughts on this news, please know that I haven’t used Facebook actively for several years now, only a few times a year for very specific use cases. I keep my Facebook account so that I can use Messenger occasionally.

According to an article (in French) published by the digital newspaper "La Presse," the anticipated disaster in Canada following Meta's blockage of news sharing on its platforms did not occur. Not only did readers adapt, but they also discovered that Facebook was a means of distribution with questionable practices (duh!). The media adapted as well, and their readership increased rather than decreased:

“Since August 1, 2023, Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, has been blocking media content in Canada to avoid complying with the Online News Act. This law, in effect since last December, requires digital platforms to negotiate royalties with media outlets to use their content."

And:

“Some Quebec media outlets that feared the news block would harm them have instead observed increased traffic."

Will the trend continue? It remains to be seen, but many media outlets that have developed a strategy of never being dependent on a third party for news dissemination are doing very well and have not been affected by Meta’s news blockade. That’s good for them, and I think it is the best way to go until something profound happens with social networks: being and acting as responsible corporate citizens.

“One year after Meta blocked news on Facebook and Instagram in Canada, many Quebec internet users have changed their habits to stay informed. Far from the predicted catastrophe, the change has allowed many to reconnect with news media and, paradoxically, to question their use of social networks.”

Now, some experts wonder whether the withdrawal of news sharing might promote misinformation on Facebook. According to the report, some experts believe it does, and this could even challenge democracy. For my part, I think the business model and Meta’s practices, acting as Facebook’s toxic multiplier effect, should not be used as a conduit for sharing news. Facebook’s stance on fake news is, in fact, far scarier and challenging. I believe these platforms need to be more responsible, and without significant change, they should be regulated—the sooner, the better.

“Éric-Pierre Champagne cites the example of fake news where the faces of celebrities and the brand images of various media, including La Presse, are used to scam those who click. According to him, Meta claims, however, that this aligns with its advertising practices.”

Do you see the problem here? Meta refuses to acknowledge that sharing fake news is unacceptable and to take action to prevent it. In my opinion, this is the crux of the issue. Large companies must show constant revenue growth, leading them to make decisions or turn a blind eye to fundamental issues that completely discredit them. Until these changes, we cannot rely on them to share true or fake news. I hope people will realize this one day.

As a side note, the open web is more than ever an answer to closed platforms. We need to educate people about this.

I bought my 2018 iPad in… 2018 and sold it on eBay nearly six years later for about 500 CAN$. Coupled with the recent sale of my 2013 Mac Pro for 600 CA$ as well as three Apple Store cards worth a total of 700 CAN$, with all that money on hand, my new 2024 iPad Pro expanse didn’t cost me a lot of new money. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. But if I upgraded to the 2024 iPad Pro, it’s because of one thing: I wanted an OLED screen inside a more refined and future-proof device.

This article is not a review. Given the extensive coverage of the updated iPads since their release, many reviews are already available online. Nearly everything about the new iPad Pro has been discussed, except for one specific aspect that I find particularly intriguing. Today, I want to focus on this often overlooked feature of the modern iPad experience: using an iPad with an external monitor. The evolution of the iPad since its original release has been remarkable, and the ability to connect an iPad to an external display is particularly beneficial for power users like myself. This is the capability that I have been eager to test ever since the M1 iPad Pro came out in May 2021. Many observations come from my extensive testing on the iPad Pro with an external display.

These observations are shared in no particular order.

• By being similar to the Mac while being distinctive, as a Mac user and iPad user, my brain can become confused when using the iPad with an external display. It’s really a strange feeling, especially with cross-platform apps like Craft.
• Using an app like Craft on a small iPad screen versus an external display significantly alters my perception and expectations. I am less tolerant of poor design choices when utilizing the larger screen.
• Moving an application window between displays triggers a visual reset that is unpleasant and disruptive to the workflow. It’s much smoother on the Mac.
• Unlike my experience with a Mac, using iPadOS windows on an external display often feels restrictive and cumbersome. This limitation was already noticeable when using Stage Manager on the iPad, but it becomes even more pronounced with an external display.
• Resizing windows on iPadOS isn’t smooth compared to the Mac. There is a lack of fluidity.
• During my testing, I experienced a complete loss of image on the external display (the 5K LG UltraFine display). The iPad acted as if the cable was being disconnected and reconnected every few seconds. Rebooting the iPad fixes the issue but is utterly disruptive. I tried using the Apple Studio Display instead and never encountered the issue. I might retry this with iPadOS 18 beta.
• If you've never used a Mac and you pair an iPad with an external display, your expectations and reactions to iPadOS behaviors might differ significantly. Is this combination the future for the next generation? It's quite possible.
• When you unplug the iPad from the monitor and plug it back in, the desktop isn’t restored on the external display. To my knowledge, this is not the case with the Mac. It’s another limitation of the iPad experience.
• Clicking on the date and time located in the top-left corner of the screen activates the notifications center, which may cause the windows on the external display to disappear unexpectedly. This behavior is unusual and not intuitive. Similarly, clicking on the battery indicator in the top-right corner of the screen will open the Control Center, but it appears on the iPad screen instead.
• I experienced a crash or two of the iPad while unplugging the external display. It wasn’t a full reboot, probably just a Springboard reboot. It might be better with iPadOS 18 beta, I guess.
• The CMD-Q shortcut for closing apps isn’t available on the iPad. Instead, you can close an app by selecting the close option from the three-dot menu located at the top of each window. This functions similarly to closing an app but highlights another inconsistency in the user interface.
• Here’s something amusing: Craft Docs is a Catalyst app that runs both on iPad and Mac using the same package from the App Store. I can easily maximize the Craft window to full screen on an external display. However, Final Cut Pro for iPad, which is an iPad-only app, behaves differently. When I try to maximize its window on the external display, it resizes itself to match the size of the iPad screen instead of the external display, which is rather odd.

The One Where Quinn Nelson Tries to Create a Window with iPadOS’ Stage Manager

I’ve published my fair share of criticism regarding the iPadOS version of Stage Manager over the years. I wrote about it again last week, but most of its underlying issues date back to the original release in late 2022, which I documented here. But let’s say you don’t want to read my articles and would

MacStoriesLinked By Federico Viticci

The video discusses the evolution of the iPad's multitasking system, focusing on the latest feature called Stage Manager introduced in iPadOS 17. Stage Manager allows users to manage apps in a window mode, enabling more flexible multitasking. It can be enabled through Control Center and allows resizing and moving app windows. The system supports up to four windows per stage and offers various keyboard shortcuts for navigation and management.

Stage Manager also improves iPhone app compatibility on the iPad and allows users to organize apps by tasks. The update in iPadOS 17 brings enhancements like better window stacking, more flexible app placement, and improved resizing. Additionally, external monitor support is enhanced, allowing up to eight windows across dual displays.

Using an app available on both the iPad and Mac (referred to as a Catalyst app in Apple’s terminology) can sometimes be confusing, especially when the versions are very similar. The popular Craft Docs app exemplifies this. While Craft offers a consistent experience across platforms, the subtle differences in micro-interactions between the touch-based iPad and the indirect manipulation of Mac environments can be somewhat frustrating for users transitioning between devices.

How is the possibility of using an external display with my iPad might change my creative habits? I’m not convinced that I'll ever get the new Magic Keyboard for the iPad. If I need to work on my iPad with an external display—a scenario I don’t foresee happening often—I can use an Apple Studio Display along with an external keyboard and mouse. It's a convenient possibility, but nothing more. For complex tasks, I'll stick with my MacBook Air.

Could I see myself transitioning to an iPad-only setup? Yes, if I were unaware of the Mac's capabilities. While access to both computing platforms offers flexibility, using the iPad with an external monitor is convenient but somewhat limited and unconventional.

Thanks to Apple’s hesitations, the iPad conundrum continues.

I guess there are many sways to create contrasts...

JF Martin on Glass

👨🏻‍💻 13 post(s) 🙂
🏞️ 4 photo(s) shared 😔
🎙️ No podcast episode published 😔
📺 No YouTube video published 😔

👤 Personal

1️⃣ After a refreshing three-week hiatus, courtesy of a wonderful vacation in Croatia, I'm thrilled to dive back into my writing activities and bring you this newsletter. The trip was fantastic and provided a much-needed escape from my digital routine. I hope you enjoy this lighter-than-usual edition.

🗺️ Discoveries

1️⃣ I'm exploring iPadOS 18 on my M4 iPad Pro and iOS 18 on my iPhone 15 Pro Max. I like it so far, but spotting the differences is hard unless you know where to look. On the iPad, Stage Manager is still... Stage Manager and I kept it turned off because it's not as useful on the iPad without an external monitor as on the Mac. The fun stuff will only ship early next year, though. 2️⃣ Google is no longer indexing website content by default, according to this blog post. I don't know since when but I find this to be highly problematic. We all know that Google's search results quality isn’t what it used to be, but this decision seems to accelerate Google's relevancy. Yet, how does someone get on the map? 3️⃣ Matt Birchler talks about social network behaviour when it comes to posts containing links to external websites:

“It's been generally accepted over the years that platforms like Twitter and Meta (Facebook, Threads, Instagram) are more likely to surface posts that don't include any links to external sites.” — Matt Birchler

I had no idea social networks operated in such a manner, and now that I do, I'm glad I'm not on any of those platforms. I've always believed that algorithm-based timelines are toxic and should be regulated. However, as a creator, how do you promote your work on the open web? More than ever, I feel the need for an open web.

📖 Reading

1️⃣ I brought a book with me on my trip to Croatia, but I never even opened it. This is typical of me—always finding something more engaging than reading. There's definitely something off about that.

Personal computers, enterprise software, and entertainment are perfect examples of the U.S. coming up with newer use cases for those technologies, leading to their future mutations. China’s manufacturing and logistics focus has helped it take the lead in many markets that need manufacturing scale. Robotics, with AI, is simply the leading edge of that expertise. — Om Malik on the rise of applied robotics in manufacturing in China

👨🏻‍💻 Writing

1️⃣ Don't miss my blog posts monthly summary generated and sent to subscribers on July 1st. 2️⃣ My Digital Legacy Management Guide was completed just before my vacations. It was a great little project, and I have managed to sell one copy of it via Gumroad so far. If this is something that might interest you, have a peek here. 3️⃣ Why am I predominantly citing the same sources or authors? What does this reveal about my reading habits? 4️⃣ On Friday, I shared a hot take about the worldwide computer outage. I first wrote it in French then used Craft AI assistant to translate it in English. Again, I should use this workflow more often as it helps me write and publish faster, especially when current events are unfolding at a fast pace.

Introducing Writebook

You know, it’s really easy to publish short form content on a variety of social platforms. And individual blog posts on a number of other platforms. These are solved problems. But it’s surprisingly challenging to publish books on the web in nice, cohesive, tight, easy-to-navigate HTML format. A collection of 20 essays can be a book. Or…

The makers of HEY Mail at 37Signals are launching Writebook, a self-publishing service for online books. I like this quite a lot, and it gave me some ideas, but having to install this thing myself, even if it is simple, as they say, is a bit of a dealbreaker for me. But I applaud the initiative.

🌄 Photography

1️⃣ Now that I know which camera settings are required, NEF files can normally be browsed in Mac Finder. My photo processing workflow using Photomator is a bit simpler, but there are still some hurdles: Photomator on my M4 iPad Pro is far from stable. I’m feeding the company support team to figure out what is happening. Problems range from the inability to save the current editing session to strange behaviour when browsing, opening and closing files. Restarting Photomator helps, but after a few minutes, the problems start again. For now, I have decided to limit my usage of Photomator on my iPad. 2️⃣ I took close to 900 photos using my Nikon and many hundreds more with my iPhone during my trip to Croatia. There was a clear decreasing trend toward the end of the trip of taking fewer and fewer pictures. One possible reason was the unbearable temperatures aggravated by high humidity. 3️⃣ Is film photography more ageless than digital photography? Someone thinks so. 4️⃣ Photomator support for new RAW image formats keeps expanding, and it is good news because until now, I have had to set up my Nikon Zf to create less optimized RAW files (bigger).

“Nikon users can enjoy previewing and editing photos taken using High Efficiency (HE) and High Efficiency Star (HE*) compression algorithms. These algorithms are designed to maintain high image quality while significantly reducing file sizes, making RAW photos faster to open and easier to store.”

Greg Morris

Re-editing old thrown out photos and found a good one.

Greg Morris

🍎 Apple

1️⃣ If you want to buy a new Mac, consider looking at this tool made by Apple to help you decide which Mac model is best for you. I tried it by describing what I was doing with my Mac and was offered a 13-inch MacBook Air. The most limiting factor was probably my budget, with a maximum of 1500$. 2️⃣ A guy entered the Apple Campus right on time for the WWDC24 conference and filmed himself during his little journey on Apple Park. I love those videos because they cover something that no other videos do when covering WWDC. Oh, and I can’t get enough of Apple Park videos! 3️⃣ Ads are coming to Apple News? Probably, and it is too bad. 4️⃣ visionOS and Peak Apple by Manton Reece: He is right. We will see small innovations and great tweaks to already good products, but that’s what it is about for Apple. Is Apple intelligence the next Apple? Too early to tell. 5️⃣ This is how it looks when someone is tired of Apple, the big tech corporation it has become. There is some value in Morri’s take. 6️⃣ I’m looking forward to the redesign of the Photos app of iOS 18. As reported by MacStories, Apple executives explain some of the reasons behind the redesign. 7️⃣ Nothing, the company that tries hard to create unique smartphone designs, is at it again and has developed the CMF Phone 1. Besides the utterly dull moniker, the design of this smartphone is unique and very nice. Not only is the hardware different, but the operating system UI is different, too, which creates a unique combo. I wish Apple tried harder to divert their design away from the iPhone.

📱 Apps & Services

1️⃣ Ghost is progressing toward adding ActivityPub support to its platform. I can't wait for this to go live, but we are probably many weeks, if not months, before the official release. Why is it so cool? Well, people on Fediverse might become followers of my website without going through the usual Ghost sign-up process to receive updates and even reply with a comment to an article. 2️⃣ Wavelength, the messaging service that John Gruber was proud to support, is no longer operating. I had the opportunity to try it, and I really liked it. They quickly added AI to their platform so that you could include an AI bot in a conversation to ask questions. I tried to create a group of active users from Micro.blog, we were fifty at its peak, but the group wasn't active. 3️⃣ This is not directly related to creativity, but this past Friday, a major computer bug was affecting many computers worldwide. It was a dark Friday. I shared some thoughts about it.

📺 YouTube

1️⃣ Here is a very touching video from Tiego Forte about his next moves in his personal life. This guy impresses me a lot with the things his has done and shared online. For a creative person like me, I find him inspiring.

Back in the eighties and nineties, I was an avid fan of Michael Jackson’s music and videos. His exceptional talent in both music and dance captivated me. This one-minute video features two street dancers performing to the tune of "P.Y.T." It brings back wonderful memories and showcases some truly remarkable dancing.

💎 Miscellaneous

1️⃣ If you want to celebrate the small and personal web, made possible by individual creators, you might be interested in this. Tinyawards is all about finding and spreading the word about little website gems that put a more human flavour to the web. 2️⃣ Free access is not the same as free to use according to Viticci of MacStories referring to AI bot scrapping website during AI models training. Agree? Yes. Yet, personally, I don’t care too much about AI bots using my content for training purposes. 3️⃣ The tiny house that I'd like to own and live in. 4️⃣ I’m dubious about Microsoft’s AI boss and his views on using the open web for models training. I’m not ok with this view of the open web. I’m ok with my content for model training but I’m not ok with this view. I don’t know why and it seems contradictory. Don’t miss Manuel Moreale’s reactions to Microsoft AI boss.

🔮 Looking ahead

1️⃣ I definitely need to restart creating YouTube videos. My next project is a three-part course on Craft, and I might start working on it this weekend.

I wish you a great week!

📅 Meta

My Weekly Creative Summaries Index

After several months of waiting with fading interest, I finally tried out an Apple Vision Pro at an Apple store in downtown Montreal. As mentioned on my blog this week, I was eager but not that much excited about the prospect of trying Apple's headset. Upon my arrival at the store, while waiting for my turn, I observed the demonstration area, which prompted me to make a few observations.

General observations

The store's demonstration area occupies a substantial portion of the first floor, spanning approximately one-third of the space. This seems excessive for a product that struggles with low sales. The store was relatively quiet during my visit, with only a handful of customers showing interest in the headset.

An Apple employee overseeing a demo uses an iPad mini to view what the person experiencing the Apple Vision Pro is actually seeing, which I found fascinating. This made me wonder if Apple could expand on this concept and develop an iPad app that allows people to share content, such as a movie. Imagine a couple sitting on the couch, with one person wearing a headset to browse the web. If they want to share something with their partner, they could momentarily share the screen using an iPad.

It's worth noting that demonstrating the Apple Vision Pro requires significantly more education and preparation than other Apple products. This raises questions about whether Apple might be missing some design fundamentals, such as discoverability and affordability. Additionally, the demo setup seems designed to obscure any waiting time for the Apple Vision Pro to boot up or connect to the iPad mini.

During my visit, I didn’t see a single person purchase the headset. I’m curious about the percentage of people who, after receiving a demo, decide to buy the headset. It’s probably pretty low.

About the device and the experience

Now that I have experienced the Vision Pro device on my head, I have a few hot takes.

The front screen is really low-res and could be the first thing to be dropped from the next iteration of the headset. This is a gimmick. The headset isn’t as heavy as I was expecting. It’s probably because I was conditioned by the numerous reviews that noted the weight of the device to be excessive. It’s relatively easy to put and secure on my head. Once in place, I could see light leakage inside. I asked if my headset was correctly in place, and the employee told me it should be fine. It wasn’t.

The user interface is sleek and thoughtfully designed overall. Gesturing is intuitive, though I sometimes forget to take that brief moment to look at the intended target before performing the select gesture; it's something you really need to be mindful of. The immersive mode is spectacular but makes you feel even more isolated from the world around you. Watching a movie feels convincingly like being in a theatre, although the device's weight constantly reminds you that you're not actually there. The 8K videos and spatial videos are stunning, with impressive quality. Unfortunately, the store was too noisy to fully appreciate the headset’s sound quality. Oh, and typing on the virtual keyboard is hard and takes time to get used to. I tried to type the numericcitizen.me address in Safari to visit my blog. It was tedious, but I eventually got through. Locating the digital crown while wearing the header can be a challenge at first. The field of view is significantly narrower than I anticipated. Given the price, I expected a broader perspective. On certain occasions, when I became acutely aware of this limitation, it felt as if I were looking through a tunnel.

The Apple Vision Pro is the first Apple product that doesn’t resonate with me. I struggle to see its use case or purpose. This starkly contrasts previous Apple products like the iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, iPod, or the original Mac, which all felt immediately intuitive to me. A headset, though? Really? While it is a remarkable showcase of Apple’s design and technological prowess, some tech pundits argue that Apple should have been more transparent by presenting it as a development kit. They might have a point.

As I walked out of the store, I couldn’t help but think of a quote from Steve Jobs: “You've got to start with the customer experience and work back toward the technology – not the other way around.” Here’s hoping that future iterations of the Vision Pro heed this wisdom more closely.

One more thing: the price in Canadian dollars with Apple Care for the base configuration is 6400$, all taxes included. That’s not exactly cheap. Another thing: I think that some powerful groups at Apple were pushing for the idea that virtual reality and augmented reality were the future of computing. It was before generative AI, back in November 2022. The rest is history.

The entire planet woke up this morning to a widespread IT problem primarily affecting Windows workstations equipped with the cybersecurity software "CrowdStrike." Read all the news here. The issue manifests as computers crashing with a "blue screen of death." The fix is relatively simple but not within everyone's reach and is currently a manual process at the time of this writing.

The prevalence of this software means that several critical sectors of the economy are affected. This is by far the most significant IT outage in recent years and is more severe than the anticipated issues during the Y2K transition. One might have thought it was a massive cyber attack, but it is not; it appears to be a problem introduced following an update to the CrowdStrike software.

Having worked in IT for over thirty years, I am stunned by the scale of the outage and believe that CrowdStrike will have to answer to their clients. The impact on industries such as banks and air transport is massive. I think we will be hearing about this for a long time.

I hope you weren’t personally impacted by this. I’m not.

Bye bye Hookmark, apparently my current subscription ended. I cannot justify subscribing to this app just to be able to browse hookmark files created when my subscription was active. I’ll need to update some of my Craft templates to remove all my hookmark file references. Tedious.

JF Martin (@numericcitizen@pixelfed.social)

Three tiers.

Pixelfed

👨🏻‍💻 24 post(s) 😃
🏞️ 4 photos shared 🙂
🎙️ 1 audiocast episode published 🙂
📺 1 YouTube video published 😃

👤 Personal

1️⃣ This coming weekend, I’ll be on vacation for three weeks; I don’t plan to produce new editions until I get back in mid-July. Taking a break from my writing hobby is often salutary, as I focus on photography. I usually come back with my head full of thoughts and ideas. 2️⃣ Someone called me out on Reddit because I supposedly use the /CraftDocs subreddit to promote my content on my YouTube channel. It's the first occurence of such a thing. I won't share the link to the original post here because I think this behaviour doesn't need more attention. Suffice it to say that as someone who shares a lot of content online, it's a matter of time before someone disagrees with what I do. I had a short chat with the guy and boy, it was flying low. It's hard not to take it personnally. But there are better ways than others to do it. I asked the moderators to remove that post because I think it is triggering harassment behaviours. Even if they don't remove the original post, I'll leave it at that, but I asked on Micro.blog how I should handle such a matter. I got many thoughtful and positive responses. I feel supported. 🙂

🗺️ Discoveries

1️⃣ Remember Gravatar? I did this week. I wanted to update my profile with recent information, but my account is no longer accessible under the name /numericcitizen. Too bad. I discovered another Gravatar account was linked to my active GitHub account and somehow used a very avatar image. I don't know how I'm going to recover from this.

Rui Rocha on Glass Photography Community

Rui Rocha. I’m an amateur portuguese photographer. I prefer shooting street / travel / urban photography-

📖 Reading

1️⃣ Lot's of reading about Apple's announcements this week, obviously. You can get a glimbse of this on the logbook as generated by Things as I check items off the list, down below.

“To me the explanation flows directly from Strategy 101: Apple Intelligence is the application of generative AI to use cases and content that Apple is uniquely positioned to provide and access” — Ben Thompson

“Apple is positioning itself as an AI Aggregator: the company owns users and, by extension, generative AI demand by virtue of owning its platforms, and it is deepening its moat through Apple Intelligence, which only Apple can do; that demand is then being brought to bear on suppliers who probably have to eat the costs of getting privileged access to Apple’s userbase.” — Ben Thompson

👨🏻‍💻 Writing

1️⃣ I shared my hot take and thoughts about Apple's WWDC keynote on the same day as the keynote, which was a first for me. It's hard for me to be that fast and feel great about my writing. I think this one is more than good enough. 2️⃣ Apple Intelligence triggered many reactions, positive, negative, neutral or wait-and-see types of reactions. As exposed in this blog post, I'm very positive, and I don't yet understand some of the pushback Apple is getting at some portions of the Apple Intelligence platform.

“Enthusiasts present AI as a magic wand that can solve humanity’s biggest problems. In the meantime, it uses an exponential amount of energy to make everything the same. With every thought we outsource, we miss out on a chance to grow. Love it or hate it, AI is here to stay. However we use it, we need to think more, not less.” — Informations Architect blog

🌄 Photography

1️⃣ I finally got Nikon Zf RAW files opening correctly in Photomator. The perfect setting to use is RAW (only) with lossless compression. Files are a two-times bigger bug, but hey, it is what it is. I must say that the Pixelmator team has been really responsive and collaborative in helping me. This means that I'll be able to edit my brand-new M4 iPad Pro while on vacation! 2️⃣ Do you take a picture, or do you make a picture? I usually take a picture, but I understand the "make a picture" too, but they convey different but subtle things. Interesting thought in this thread on Micro.blog. 3️⃣ There was an update to Halide this week and I started to wonder if I would use this app instead of Apple's Camera for my trip to Croatia. I could unlock all the features for a mere 2 CAN$!

aows (@aows@mastodon.world)

Attached: 1 image Winter storm at the golf course, V. Indiana, January 2023 #aowsimages

Mastodon

🎙️ Podcasting

1️⃣ I wrote and published another narrated post about my upcoming trip to Croatia. On the first try, I selected the wrong blog, then on the second try, this time on the right blog, the title had a typing error (“Ponedring" instead of “Pondering”). I corrected the error but I'm not sure the podcast feed will eventually reflect that. Oh well. It's time for vacation, I guess.

🍎 Apple

1️⃣ I shared many thoughts and observations about Apple's keynote and what they announced here. Apple will be monetizing their Apple Intelligence journey. Here's how. 2️⃣ I'm a bit frustrated, just a little bit, that I'll have to wait maybe a year before being able to experience Apple Intelligence in full on my device. Nonetheless, it will be exciting to follow how Apple Intelligence will be rolled out in the coming months. 3️⃣ Apple no longer holds live keynotes, but this year, something feels different. I watched many YouTube videos, including one-on-one interviews between a YouTuber and one of Apple’s executives. 4️⃣ Great photos on Apple Campus in Cupertino by the maker of Halide, the photography app for iPhone. 5️⃣ I the new tabbar design on iPadOS 18 the new Safari tabs redesign debacle? Will Apple listen to this comment and feedback and tweak the design before the final release? I hope so because from what I'm reading from this blog post, it seems a terrible idea and regression.

Did Apple Just End AI’s First Era?

AI’s performance arms race yields to the product arms race…

SpyglassM.G. Siegler

I’m not sure if I like this idea of tinted icons on the iOS 18 Home Screen, but I certainly do in dark mode.

🚧 Special projects

1️⃣ I bought a second Nixplay digital photo frame to make the background behind me more dynamic while recording my YouTube videos. 2️⃣ Moving out of 1Password is a new special project I plan to complete by the end of 2024. 3️⃣ I don't have any tattoos yet, but I know what the first one will be, and you can find it on this wallpaper reproduced by Basic Apple Guy: the mouse arrow pointer. The second might be the hourglass. Each of these shall find its place on the back of the upper portion of my arms. The Mac iconography is a symbol of where it all started for me.

macOS Sequoia 1984 Macintosh Wallpapers — Basic Apple Guy

Screen-grab of the new Macintosh Dynamic Wallpaper in macOS Sequoia.

Basic Apple GuyBasicAppleGuy

📱 Apps & Services

1️⃣ What do Grammarly, Soulver, and 1Password have in common? They are going away from my subscriptions with Apple's next major operating system releases this fall and beyond, especially when Apple Intelligence ships. They have been Sherlocked! I'll save some money along the way! 2️⃣ I updated my content creator toolset website to remove Toggl and Timery and rework some older content. 3️⃣ Whisper Transcription 8.6.1 now supports ChatGPT prompts against the transcription. This is super useful for summarizing video transcription. I can't wait to try it on my next YouTube video production! The following screenshot demonstrate this feature in action with summarization of my latest YouTube video. For those reading this edition on the Craft website (instead of the email or my main blog), you can read the generated key points for the video.

“In the late ’90s, Apple launched a search app named Sherlock for macOS 8 that you could use to search the web and files on local systems. Now, a company called Karelia Software already had a $29 search app called Watson, with features like plug-ins for better internet search. In 2002, Apple released Sherlock 3 with features similar to Watson, making Karelia’s app redundant. Since then, people in tech circles have used the term “sherlocking” whenever they want to refer to a new feature from Apple that does the same thing as an existing third-party app.” — from TechCrunch

📺 YouTube

1️⃣ For Craft users: I made another video about Craft: using it for presentations. This videos explains the features and limitations of Craft presentation mode.

💎 Miscellaneous

1️⃣ I asked ChatGPT what he knows about me as a creator. Here is the answer below. Apparently, Numeric Citizen is a creative platform! 😂

🔮 Looking ahead

1️⃣ I'll be starting a three-week vacation this weekend and don't plan to release a new edition before leaving. If all goes well, the next edition should come out on July 21st. I hope to see you there when I come back!

I wish you a great week!

📅 Meta

My Weekly Creative Summaries Index

I spent some time this morning to update my content creator toolset mini website. It was long overdue.

These are my hot takes about Apple Intelligence and the intelligent move to embrace AI for the rest of us. AI, or Apple Intelligence. Are you getting it? Let’s dive in.

• Thanks to Apple, AI, generative AI, to be more specific, is about to get more personal.
• Apparently, All my devices can run everything they announced. That’s cool. I’m glad I just bought an M4 iPad Pro.
• At some point in the Apple Intelligence segment of the keynote, I thought they would drop the name “Siri”. They didn’t.
• I finally decided to move away from 1Password and save money along the way. However, it will take some time to move all those passwords.
• I wish Apple Intelligence was here right now, but as a French-Canadian native speaker, I’ll need to wait a little bit (maybe months).
• Bye bye ChatGPT app. I barely knew you as soon as Apple Intelligence ships.
• Apple had to focus on privacy first; environmental questions will eventually get addressed, too, but not in a keynote. I trust Apple with this. Are Apple Silicon ships less power-hungry than Nvidia chips? What is the performance per watt comparison with Nvidia chips?
• Speaking of energy consumption, is Apple’s decision to go hybrid and run things on-device most of the time and in the cloud when needed better than an always-cloud runtime architecture? Time will tell, but instinctively, I guess yes.
• I love the new Siri UI with this multicolour glow around the screen edge!

• I think I’m done with Grammarly when Apple Intelligence comes out.
• Private Cloud Compute is based on Apple Silicon and runs a custom version of iOS. I want to see the server’s external design! It’s still impressive how Apple has come a long way with its silicon. I wonder what chip they will use for that cloud.
• There is so much to digest from user interaction demos involving Apple Intelligence, like in Freeform and Notes.
• Thanks to machine learning, Text recognition coupled with custom font on the fly, called Smart Script, is really cool. I’m curious to see how my handwriting will translate.
• Double-tapping the slide-to-unlock handle of the iPhone screen to invoke the type-to-Siri from the lock screen is quite nice, too.
• The message around being personal with AI is new and marks Apple’s unique approach to generative AI. I like this a lot.
• A big “finally” for watchOS 11 to introduce the day break feature in activities.
• Thanks to Apple Intelligence again, Siri will finally get multilingual phone call transcription!
• Apple Intelligence will come in a future beta release this summer, not right now. Too bad.
• The Control Center customization experience seems great; I like what I see.
• Image Playground looks like a specialized picker that will be available system-wide. That’s nice, and I can’t wait to play with it.
• I should have kept my M1 MacBook Air so that I could have played with macOS Sequoia.
• I’m not sure I’ll take advantage of the free icon placement on the home screen or the icon tinting. It looks awful.
• Everything about Apple Intelligence is free. For now. How long before Apple offers Intelligence+ as a subscription?
• Users can ask questions about how to use a specific feature on their device, which happens locally on the device. That’s super handy and might actually kill the Tips app.
• Genmoji is so cool. Who said we cannot have playful experiences on our smartphones?
• I’ll take anything that makes Siri more intelligent, with or without Apple intelligence.
• Apparently, there are no changes to iPadOS’s Stage Manager. Ouch—iPadOS being iPadOS. But the new tab bars user interface element is a welcomed addition. The Journal app isn’t getting the iPad treatment yet, which is a shame if you ask me. I don’t know if it is written in Swift with SwiftUI, but the idea “write once, run everywhere” seems not to apply here.
• Many features will take time to roll out, probably until early 2025.
• iPhone Mirroring is not only cool and clever but will prove useful! How often have I left my iPhone downstairs while working in my home office? Quite often. That’s the pure Apple ecosystem.
• I expect a new round of iPhone and iPad upgrades from users willing to participate in this developing Apple Intelligence experience.
• The iPhone home screen customization option now includes large icons that suppress the application’s name, just like the icon sitting in the dock.
• From a security perspective, I wonder how the corporate IT world will react to Apple Intelligence, Private Cloud Compute and privacy protection.
• Safari borrows a few tricks from the Arc Browser, such as picture-in-picture automatically popping up when you switch tabs. Will I switch back to Safari? Probably not. Please note that I still mostly use Safari on the Mac for the job.
• While I have an iPhone 15 Pro Max, I expect this year’s iPhone 16 Pro models will be better at handling Apple Intelligence workloads.

Today, I feel that Apple’s ecosystem is at a turning point that will prove monumental a few years from now. AI is about to blend the boundaries of apps and the web and enables metaphors and a computing paradigm. As Apple said, it’s only the beginning.

For long-time readers and followers, they know that I own a few websites or publishing places, but a reminder is always welcomed. With so many places to publish to, you might wonder why not use only one big website. Well, I’m glad you asked. You’ll find most of the answers in the following diagram.

As you can see, each place fills a different role. Think of them as publishing channels. I prefer to have many focused places with content directed to a specific crowd over having a single channel full of seemingly unrelated posts. But there is more to it: I love using different tools and services. Each has its strengths and weaknesses and a specific set of features. That’s what drives me the most to use different publishing platforms.

This article is about how I’m using Craft and Things 3, which is behind any short or long article I share online. Here is what happens when I get a new post idea.

1. In Things 3, Create an entry and set priority and desired or expected date of publication if known.
2. In Craft, I create a new document, set the title and then copy the document’s deeplink to the clipboard.
3. Still within Craft, I move the newly created document to the appropriate folder.
4. Still within Craft, I update my private creator dashboard document optionally.
5. Back to Things 3, and I paste the deeplink into the note field. It’s handy to jump from Things 3 to Craft with a single tap.

At this point, I can start my research, writing and editing of my article or blog post in Craft. Now, here is what happens after publishing my article:

1. Mark the to-do item as done in Things 3.
2. I update my private creator dashboard document by converting my deeplink to a new permalink that I put in the Recently Published section.
3. I monitor the appropriate RSS feed for quality control. See this article about subscribing to my own RSS feeds.

There you have it. Craft plays a central role in my blogger workflow¹. This blog post exposes what happens at the beginning and at the end of a new post idea. I hope you enjoyed it and maybe learned something.

❗Short announcement: I made some changes to my megafeed hosted on FeedPress by adding Blips RSS feed and this metablog RSS feed. If you want to get everything I share via a single RSS feed, this is what you need to subscribe to in your favourite browser. All updates to my digital presence are posted on this changelog page. Now, returning to normal programming. 📺

I recently got a few comments and questions from some followers on Micro.blog about my use of Scribbles versus Micro.blog blog hosting services. One guy couldn’t figure out why I was using Scribbles to write very short posts using a one-word title while I was using Micro.blog for longer posts, most of them without a title. I replied with a short answer, but I think I should elaborate for those who have been following me for some time or for those who just got here.

I use three distinct sites for posting written content. My main website (https://numericcitizen.me ), which came first, is currently hosted on Ghost. Next is my Micro.blog site (https://blog.numericcitizen.me), and, more recently, I added another small website hosted on Scribbles https://blips.numericcitizen.me. Let me explain each site’s purposes.

My main website is for posting longer articles like tech reviews (like “Five tools for efficient bloggers”) or for sharing long takes on a specific subject (like: “Five Steps for leaving Twitter”). My publication velocity is about one article per week. This is where my weekly creative summary newsletter gets published, thanks to Ghost’s built-in newsletter capabilities.

My second website is my daily blog, called “my blog,” and is where I post comments and thoughts about Apple, tech, photography, apps and services, and many other things. My blogging site is part of Micro.blog, there is a small community around it, thanks to Micro.blog fediverse support. Somehow, Micro.blog replaced Twitter for me, more than my presence on Mastodon did. I usually post around 10-20 weekly posts on Micro.blog. I like this place a lot for so many reasons.

I recently started using Scribbles, a small blog hosting service I like and want to support. I’m using this service to post short thoughts using a single-word title. These posts are then cross-posted to my Micro.blog timeline with a link going back to my Scribbles site. You can see an example of such a post appearing on my Micro.blog timeline in the following screenshot. Each post sports two emojis to help me spot them in my timeline. One thing I try to do is not to be too clickbait with my single-word title. The chosen word must be evocative or related to the post content.

The post on Scribbles gets cross-posted on my Micro.blog timeline by using one of the coolest features of Micro.blog: cross-posting of content coming from RSS feeds. This is shown in the following screenshot.

Micro.blog picks up posts from the Scribbles website RSS feed and will post content on my timeline, as well as cross-post it to Mastodon and Bluesky. This is POSSE in action. I’m a believer.

When I first thought about writing this article, I wasn’t sure where it would end up being shared. However, as the article grew in length and covered my blogging habits, it became obvious that it would go on my meta website, which is another one of my websites. There you have it.

Have you ever searched the web for an article where you couldn’t see when it was published? It happens to me quite often. I don’t understand why such important information isn’t communicated to the readers.

In a fast-moving numeric world, the publishing date helps the reader gauge the content’s relevancy. I set the publication date on all my websites because it adds context to the content. When I created Numeric Citizen I/O, I used a post slug format that includes the publication date. The path to the webpage is shown in search results, which makes searching the web a more useful experience. Below are examples of URLs to my websites.

https://numericcitizen.micro.blog/2021/03/07/about-those-webp.html

https://numericcitizen.me/2021/02/27/porting-office-work-a-bad-idea/

Update 2022-11-15: Sadly, since moving to a Craft-based hosting solution, the URL can no longer include the publication date. If you are a business plan subscriber, the workaround is to set the document as a separate website individually.

Update 2024-03-15: I realized that when I moved from WordPress to Ghost, I lost this notion of date in the URL. All previous content is still accessible using the old URL format, but newly published content no longer contains the publication date in the article’s URL. We cannot have it all, I guess.

This article was first published on 2021-03-17.

I decided to disable cross-posting from my Glass feed to Bluesky and Pixelfed. This should fix the photo duplicates on your Micro.blog timeline each time I post a new image on Glass. Sorry for the inconvenience. The problem was simple: Let’s say I share an image on Glass, Micro.blog picks it up and cross post to Bluesky and Pixelfed. Micro.blog then detects a new photo from my Pixelfed feed and cross posts that to my Micro.blog timeline for the second time. Hence the duplicate.

If you want a peak at my current reading notes management workflow, you might find this video interesting (Craft, Bear 2, Omnivore, Readwise).

🔗 Mobivention announces its own iOS App Marketplace

As detailed by the company in a press release, mobivention’s App Marketplace will let developers distribute B2B and B2C apps to their customers outside the iOS App Store. “The mobivention App marketplace is primarily aimed at business customers who are looking for an alternative solution for distributing their apps,” mobivention explains.

Tired: there is an app for that. Wired: There is a marketplace for that. 🤓

Let’s say I stumble on an article I wish to read and process. I’ll follow the following steps, covering the collection and archival stages.

1. Save the article in Omnivore¹,².
2. Set tags in Omnivore.
3. Read the article, highlight text as needed and write comments if required.
4. Summarize the article using Raycast AI. I have a Keyboard Maestro macro for that.
5. Copy and paste the summary into the Omnivore notebook accompanying the article.
6. Archive the article in Omnivore.
7. Export the Readwise highlights (done automatically from Omnivore syncing).
8. Import the created markdown files into Bear.
9. Adjust tags if required.

I realize this workflow is essentially for the Mac. Nothing like this can be done on the iPad without a major tweak or two.

You can find this article on the “My Micro-Workflows Explained” website.

Each week, I use this template in Things 3 to help me out with my planning. Each Sunday, I duplicate the whole project and rename it accordingly. I love Things 3[^1]. [^1] I tried to do this in Apple Reminders but I prefer Things 3 experience.

Today I added a new global changelog¹ page to my metablog. The changelog will cover all the changes applied to my digital publishing space.

I encountered my first few hurdles in transposing my content from a Craft document to a Micro.blog. Craft enables rich document content and supports block types like JSON output or command line examples. Posts containing these need special Markdown attention. Thanks to some help¹, I figured that out, so the output looks ok. Next up are documents with images like screenshots. When exporting from Craft to Ulysses, images are inserted in Ulysses as references to Craft’s backend storage. When posting on Micro.blog, the images are not uploaded on Micro.blog’s backend. I need to manually download each image and insert them in Ulysses so they get uploaded to Micro.blog and be self-contained there. If I ever drop Craft, I want the images in my post to stay valid and display correctly.

Circumventing Ghost’s limited posts management capabilities.

I recently decided to spend some time editing past articles published on my Numeric Citizen Space website. I first thought that by going to my Ghost admin page, I could quickly browse past published articles by month. I couldn’t be more wrong. In fact, Ghost offers limited post management capabilities, thanks to its limited content browsing capabilities. I cannot go back, say, list articles published early in 2023. I can sort by ascending or descending order, but from there, I have to scroll through a long, dynamically created list of posts. It’s not very effective for a website with 600-plus posts. I had to find a different option to locate a post for an update. This is where Ghost’s content APIs come into play.

The following API request doesn’t do the job (API key voluntarily removed!):

curl -H "Accept-Version: v5.0" "https://numeric-citizen-introspection.ghost.io/ghost/api/content/posts/?key={APIkeygoeshere}&fields=title,url,published_at,updated_at&filter=published_at:>2024-01-01%2Bpublished_at:<2024-02-01" | json_pp

Let me explain what is this API request.

First, I’m going to the request using the macOS command line, hence the curl command. Next, the whole query follows in quotes. I query the content/posts API endpoint. Next, I pass my API key, followed by a field selection (&fields), and next with the filter using the published date between two dates. Finally, I pipe the results in the pretty JSON print macro (is this a macro?) so the output looks like this:

jfm@CraftingMAChine ~ % curl -H "Accept-Version: v5.0" "https://numeric-citizen-introspection.ghost.io/ghost/api/content/posts/?key={API-key-goes-here}&fields=title,id,url,published_at,updated_at&filter=published_at:>2024-01-01%2Bpublished_at:<2024-02-01" | json_pp
{
   "meta" : {
      "pagination" : {
         "limit" : 15,
         "next" : null,
         "page" : 1,
         "pages" : 1,
         "prev" : null,
         "total" : 9
      }
   },
   "posts" : [
      {
         "id" : "65b6a09840566000015b0d37",
         "published_at" : "2024-01-28T13:50:19.000-05:00",
         "title" : "My Weekly Creative Summary for the Week of 2024/03",
         "updated_at" : "2024-01-28T13:50:19.000-05:00",
         "url" : "https://numericcitizen.me/my-weekly-creative-summary-for-the-week-of-2024-03/"
      },
      {
         "id" : "65b6540640566000015b0cf7",
         "published_at" : "2024-01-28T08:23:26.000-05:00",
         "title" : "Special Message to Paying Subscribers",
         "updated_at" : "2024-01-28T08:23:26.000-05:00",
         "url" : "https://numericcitizen.me/special-message-to-paying-subscribers/"
      },
      {
         "id" : "65b16e25bc7fde0001314ccb",
         "published_at" : "2024-01-24T15:09:24.000-05:00",
         "title" : "The Mac Turns 40",
         "updated_at" : "2024-01-24T15:09:24.000-05:00",
         "url" : "https://numericcitizen.me/the-mac-turns-40/"
      },
      {
         "id" : "65ad35418532ae000169ddd2",
         "published_at" : "2024-01-21T10:22:33.000-05:00",
         "title" : "My Weekly Creative Summary for the Week 2024/02",
         "updated_at" : "2024-01-21T10:22:33.000-05:00",
         "url" : "https://numericcitizen.me/my-weekly-creative-summary-for-the-week-2024-02/"
      },
   ]
}

Next, I copy the post ID of one article and paste it my browser for edition using this special URL:

https://numeric-citizen-introspection.ghost.io/ghost/#/editor/post/652e6eedb8a2650001ad9c5b

This URL brings me directly into the Ghost editor, provided that i was already authenticated with my account. That’s pretty much it. It could be much simpler. For this, I miss WordPress.

You can find the Ghost API document right here.

This blog is a Micro.blog hosted version of the Craft-hosted version. I’m currently in the slow process of copying my content over here.

As much as I love Craft, its current version is unsuitable as a read-later solution. I do keep a list of bookmarks within Craft, but the article’s content is not fetched and saved into Craft, something Notion is able to do. This list is kept for other purposes, like helping me build my newsletter and other long-form articles. I need a better reading solution.

Reading is something that requires the least distraction possible. Safari reader mode is great. I use it quite frequently to remove the noise from a webpage, but it lacks the highlighting feature of Instapaper or Pocket. Using a shortcut to save a text highlight is possible but distracting. This is where an app like Instapaper or Pocket comes into play. But which one is the best? For me, it is Pocket¹, here is a quick comparison of both solutions.

• Pocket design is richer, while Instapaper’s is minimalistic, which could be seen as an advantage. Yet, Pocket is still frictionless for reading.
• Pocket updates are more frequent.
• Pocket is more expansive than Instapaper.
• IFTTT support is more extensive with Instapaper than it is with Pocket.
• Instapaper allows quick notes to be created next to the highlighted text. This could prove useful. Think of it as meta-highlighting.
• Instapaper seems stuck in the past when it was created by Marco Arment.
• Instapaper allows you to organize bookmarks into folders, something I wish Pocket would support. I’m a bit compulsive about organizing my content.
• Pocket supports iOS widgets, not Instapaper.
• Share sheet allows tagging with Pocket, which makes me more efficient.
• Page rendering seems better in Pocket.
• On the Mac, Instapaper Safari extension doesn’t work. It keeps asking me to authenticate with the application, which I did. See next observation.
• Both Pocket and Instapaper don’t support Sign in with Apple within the macOS application; only on the website. Because of this, the Instapaper is useless on the Mac, while Pocket supports creating a password for the account, which fixes this issue.
• Pocket offers a public profile page where article recommendations can be shared.
• I have more confidence in Pocket’s future and sustainability than in Instapaper’s.

The following screenshots are page rendering examples of the same article from both services.

If Craft is ever updated to extract an article from a website, allows tagging and highlighting, I’ll probably reconsider my use of Pocket. For now, I’m a very happy user of Pocket, a service which helps me read more and better.

My Pocket profile. My Matter profile.

In recent days, I’ve been working on a proof-of-concept to replicate Numeric Citizen I/O website currently hosted on Blot.im into Craft. I’m happy to report that the main portion of my work is completed. You can have a look at the end results here (Craft link). Now, the only missing part is the support of custom domains and notifications. The former will help mask the Craft URL behind a more user-friendly URL. The latter will let me know when someone is dropping a comment on the website. For the time being, I’ll update both versions in parallel. Enjoy.

Moving content from one platform to another isn’t easy. And it shouldn’t be that way.

The problem: I want to migrate a few dozens of posts from my Numeric Citizen Blog to my other website, Numeric Citizen Introspection, hosted on Ghost. Easy, right? Think again. The Ghost migrator plugin doesn’t support posts selection; it’s an all or nothing tool. How can I migrate a subset of my posts in that context? By assigning a specific category to each post, I can use the WordPress export tool to export these posts. Next, those posts can then be imported into an empty WordPress instance. From there, I could use the Ghost Migrator plugin. The issue is that I don’t have an empty WordPress instance sitting idle. Using WordPress.com, I cannot install the plugin in a free instance (it’s part of a Business plan, which I subscribe to for my main blog). The solution, was to use my Synology NAS to install an empty WordPress instance locally and proceed from there. Let’s see what the workflow looks like.

1. Turn off post update in the WP to Buffer Pro plugin to prevent flooding your Buffer queue
2. On the source WordPress instance, update posts category that you want to export
3. Install the “Export media with selected content” plugin (which is needed to export images as well as text content)
4. Export content to an XML file with the plugin
5. Install WordPress on Synology NAS with all required dependancies
6. Configure a WordPress website that will be used to host exported content in transit to Ghost
7. Install “Export media with selected content” in Synology WordPress instance (not really required)
8. Install the Ghost Migrator plugin
9. Delete the default post and unneeded page from the WordPress instance, as well as any images from the media library.
10. For each post to export, add the export category of your choice (in my case it was “PhotoLegend”.)
11. Export posts using these options from the WordPress Tools menu

12. Switch to the WordPress instance running on the Synology NAS
13. Select Import from the Tools menu
14. Select the XML file created from the Export step earlier
15. Set the author for the imported posts

16. Set the Download and import file attachments to bring in images
17. Click Submit and wait for the process to complete (it takes some time, depending on the number of posts and images to import)
18. Verify if all posts are listed in the Posts section (check creation date, author, etc.)
19. Check for Media Library to verify if images are imported
20. Open a few posts to see if content is correctly formatted
21. Edit posts with back links or other elements that need to be updated before importing content into Ghost
22. Edit tags according to the destination website requirements
23. Edit post slug and post title according to destination website requirements
24. Export using Ghost Migrator plugin, select the JSON format since ZipArchive module isn’t installed with this version of WordPress and PHP

25. Import JSON file created in the previous step
26. Check for imported posts issues. This is where I hit the wall. Missing photos, content imported as HTML blocs, etc. Not great at all.

27. Turn back on the WP to Buffer Pro Post Update option

This workflow doesn’t meet the goal of migrating WordPress content to Ghost. I ended up deleting the posts on the source WordPress instance and kept a copy of them on my Synology instead. I don’t know what I’ll do eventually with these “archived” posts.

Observations

Some observations are in order. This whole story brought many observations that I think you should consider if you’re attempting something similar.

• The Ghost Migrator plugin is very limited, which make it hard to build an optimal migration workflow.
• Images migration is close to impossible or very unreliable, forcing to use a manual export and import process.
• Image optimization plugins on WordPress could make the migration harder than necessary.
• Website optimization plugins on WordPress could add tags that are probably hindering the migration process.
• Ghost import feature is still a work in progress can there is no way to select which post to import after reading the JSON file.
• Testing the migration with a single post would most likely help identify issues faster, instead of importing all the content on the first try.
• It doesn’t help to convert the WordPress post to use the block editor before exporting the content.
• Migration efforts are time-consuming, making sure the content still has value to your reader is a good idea. I ended up deleting my 23 posts after spending hours of migration efforts. The positive side of this story is that I learned quite a lot.
• Even if I couldn’t use the ZIP file for the Ghost Migrator plugin, I don’t think it would have made a difference in the migration quality. I tried to add ZIP Archive to the PHP installation, but the WordPress installation within my Synology NAS is hard to customize. After spending a few hours trying, I dropped the ball.
• Data portability is really an issue these days. Even with export or import plugins exist, there are other problems that are inherent to each platform or CMS.

One thing that I gained from this experience is that by using WordPress on my Synology NAS, I can export content from my online WordPress to my Synology NAS for archiving purposes. That’s cool. Other than that, the problem of data mobility across content platform is real.

My previous blogger workflow update was in March 2021. Quite many things have happened since then. It’s time for another update. Buckle up because this is a big one, and enjoy the ride!

What’s in

For 2021, I was expecting a year without many changes to my blogger workflow, and yet, I was in for quite a few surprises.

• Probably some of the most important additions this year are Toggl, Timery, and Focused Work to track my time while creating content (consider bookmarking and reading “Why and How I’m Tracking Time With Toggl” if you want to know all the details.) Tracking my time does take some time, but I like the results.
• Hello Ghost (again)! I started experimenting with Ghost during the 14-day trial period, during which all features were available for testing. I started building automation with the Zapier integration. After the trial period ended, the integration with Zapier stopped working for some reason. I quickly found out that many features like custom themes, custom integrations, and commenting support are only available with certain subscription tiers. Commenting on each blog post isn’t available by default unless I’m on the Creator tier and customize one of the provided themes. To use Commento, I needed an API key, as well as a custom theme and a custom integration. And moreover, a custom version of Casper with some script invocation was added to enable Commento integration. Forking such a built-in theme requires staying in sync with the official theme, as Ghost updates them from time to time to benefit from all Ghost’s additions. Finally, I visited Google Search Console to add my Ghost website for better SEO management and optimizations. I became a subscriber at the entry-level tier for $9 per month, but I quickly realized that the $25 was the one I needed (consider bookmarking and reading “Moving From Substack to Ghost–My Experience” for more details.)
• iPadOS 15 introduced support for Safari extensions. Working on the iPad now feels less and less a compromise, as Grammarly support and many other extensions are now available. For people depending on the iPad, it is a much-welcomed addition. Unexpectedly, in 2021, my workflow shifted towards the MacBook Air (read “Coming Out of a Rabbit Hole and Buying Two MacBook Air”).
• Pocket made a comeback in addition to Readwise (consider bookmarking and read “Instapaper vs Pocket — Which Read Later Service Is Better for Me”). Pocket is well-known and doesn’t need much introduction. According to Readwise website: “Readwise makes it easy to revisit and learn from your ebook & article highlights.” Resurfacing previously highlighted text snippets is fun and helps build a lasting memory of past readings. I added Readwise as a source to my weekly newsletter built using Mailbrew.
• Using the Readwise sharing feature to repost quotes on Twitter is handy. I don’t use it too often, though.

• WordPress plugin: I’m using the paid version of “WB to Buffer” for reposting previously published posts to Buffer. With another WordPress plugin named “Feedzy” it imports RSS feeds from Substack and Microblog and creates “Also on my …” type of blog posts automatically. It didn’t generate much traction and added too much noise to my original content feed. This was disabled after a few months when I moved out of Substack.
• I unexpectedly started using Matter when Matter officially became public. Matter seems to have gained some traction over Pocket as the best read-later service. Compared to Pocket, it creates great link posts that can be saved or shared online, just like Readwise and Pocket.
• I became a subscriber of Typefully (typefully.com), a web application for writing threads on Twitter. Some features of Typefully are similar to Buffer’s, like being able to schedule tweets. I use it to write threads to complement some of my articles. The latest example of things to watch in 2022. Finally, Typefully brings great engagement analytics.

What’s out

• My experience with HEY World didn’t last long. I’ve been moving out of HEY World to go to Substack for my Friday Notes* and Photo Legend* Series (consider bookmarking and reading “Migrating My Content From Hey World to Substack”). I can say the same thing about my Substack experience. These services, while attractive, didn’t stick in my workflow.
• HEY is no longer on the workflow diagram. HEY doesn’t really contribute to my blogger workflow. Most of my readings don’t happen there anyway, even if HEY provides newsletters dedicated feed, one of the tent pole features of the mail client.
• As mentioned earlier, Substack is out. The popularity of a platform doesn’t guarantee the popularity of your content.
• I closed my Telegram account. Read more here to learn why. I’m contemplating Signals instead.
• WordPress Plugin: Coblock was disabled to remove overhead in webpage processing. It didn’t make a difference, though.

In progress

• I do spend more time maintaining my digital garden in Craft all year long. You can find a lot of stuff in there.
• I’m still trying to figure out how to use Apple’s Quick Notes feature in iPadOS 15 and macOS Monterey. I may end up having no use for this after all, which is too bad because, on paper, the idea is cool.
• I’m always thinking about using Apple’s Reminders in my workflow. Reminders have improved quite a lot over the years, but occasionally, I think Craft could take over if table support was better (sorting, tagging, etc.). The more things I’ll do with Craft, the more synergy it creates. I’ll watch Craft’s evolution in 2022, and maybe make a move.

Things to improve

• Adding text clipping in Craft would be so helpful. There are shortcuts that work with Craft that do just that, but I don’t find the experience very satisfying.
• Speaking of Apple’s Shortcuts, I do find more use cases for them to speed up a few key tasks, like setting up my work session after logging into my account on macOS.
• Templates in Craft to kickstart the creation of a new article would be very handy. It is expected in 2022, in an upcoming update in 2022 or via an extension.
• As much as I would like to see the addition of tags in Craft, implementing this feature could be tricky. Where should we be able to tag things? In a page’s properties, inline in the page’s content?
• I have to work on my reading workflow and decide what I’m going to do with Pocket, Readwise and Matter. Pocket will probably go as it is entirely covered with Matter.

Miscellaneous

• My usage of ** Craft ** has significantly increased this year. It is becoming my second brain (Fun fact: find out the name of my MacBook Air). Lately, I decided to use the Craft calendaring feature to prepare a weekly plan containing my content creation objectives. As the week progresses, I keep it up-to-date and check items off the list. It’s a satisfying experience, trust me.
• I’m still using Notion to keep my old data and connect Matter to Notion to save my reading highlights automatically. As soon as a Craft extension allows me to pump my data out of Notion, I might be done with Notion once and for all. Notion is not shown on my workflow diagram but will be in an upcoming post covering my reading workflow.
• Twitter Revue: I had a Revue account before Twitter bought them. Now that it is integrated into their platform, I experimented with it (read a sample issue here). I love Twitter Revue, but I have yet to find a unique and useful use case for it. I currently have five subscribers.
• Furthermore, I should consider closing my Flipboard account. I never go there; it’s not what it used to be, and I don’t get any traffic from this platform.
• Google News, where I cross-post my main blog content, could also go down the drain. I don’t get any traction there.
• Finally, Tumblr is another place where I cross-post content. Tumblr has become a ghost town in recent years, and it doesn’t help at all. Even if cross-posting is done automatically using WordPress’ built-in feature, I should consider stopping using this platform.
• In my previous workflow update, I considered moving my Photo Legend Series to Hey, which I did for a short while. Now, it is hosted on Ghost, along with my Friday Notes Series and monthly newsletter. I like consolidating stuff sporadically.
• Since getting a MacBook Air, my iPad Pro usage significantly dropped. The Mac is the power user tool. I cannot be as productive on an iPad.
• I worked a lot on my WordPress blog to improve its score on Google’s PageSpeed Insights, as documented here. Did it make a difference? According to my blog visitor statistics, the answer is no. Here is a strange thing: if I run PageSpeed tests twice in a row, the final score is quite different. Usually, the second try gives much better results. How much trust should I put in these results? Another observation: my score for this blog, a static website, is the worst. Is Blot hosted on a low-end performance tier in the cloud?
• I’ve been using Commento with Blot to add comments support on this blog. I never got a single comment! It’s a high price to pay for a service that nobody takes advantage of. Maybe it will be a better fit with my newsletter website on Ghost? Time will tell.
• IFTTT still plays an important role in my publishing workflow as it works with Buffer to help me control the cross-posting flow. Each day, I spend some time managing the Buffer queue to spread out posts to be published. I also use IFTTT to cross-post anything I post on Reddit to my Twitter channel on Buffer. Buffer has a new calendar view that helps you see a timeline overview of all future publishing. Buffer isn’t cheap, but I like what it does for me. Cross-posting content does help create traffic and improves engagement.

Well, that was a long one. I want to walk you through my reading workflow for an upcoming article. I read a lot of stuff online, and many applications and services are involved here. Reading is the source of my inspiration for most of my work as a content creator. I think there are some interesting things to write about. Stay tuned, and see you in 2022.

Digital nomads. The flavour of the day. Looking for a better digital experience? Every reason is good to move from one place to another in the digital world. It’s about having some fun.

I recently came across this blog post from Greg Morris where he writes: “I look at blog designs like Birchtree.me* and think to myself “I want a blog like that” and then go out and try to build one.”*. I often tell myself the exact same thing. But then, not long after, I came across another blog post , but this time by Andy Nicolaides writing on his blog, The Dent:

“I’ve just gone through yet another blog migration, moving from Micro.Blog to Ghost (again). I was happily posting to Ghost a year or so ago, saw a nice looking blog on Micro.blog and jumped ship. I then sat there, not posting for half a year, before I saw Greg Morris’ updated site over on Ghost and my blog envy kicked off again. Let’s not even mention how incredible Matt Birchler’s Birchtree looks right now!”

Ghost has always been a source of curiosity for me, coming back to it from time to time to look and see how it is evolving. Following those two blog posts, I got back to one of my articles about a past experience with Ghost for photo sharing. At the time, it didn’t go well. Furthermore, I started using Substack to host my newsletter for unknown or clearly defined reasons. So, this time, I returned to Ghost to look at it as an alternative to Substack. Why? After all, I was quite happy with Substack. And yet… If I look at Substack and Ghost, there are many things that made me dubious of my choices.

• I don’t get any subscribers from Substack Discovery because Substack is very popular these days.
• I prefer the way Ghost handles the publishing process and the distinction between having a CMS and a newsletters publishing platform within the same platform.
• Ghost’s API supports text editors like Ulysses, which would help speed up the process of creating newsletter issues. By working directly with Ulysses, each new issue would be much easier to put together, as Ulysses supports templates, while Substack doesn’t. Since the basic structure of my newsletter stays the same each month, using a template makes perfect sense.
• Substack offers some visual customization options, but they are quite limited. On the other hand, Ghost offers themes that help make a more personal-looking website.
• Ghost supports Unsplash, which is a must for me.
• Ghost provides better support for photos than in Substack with photo galleries. This could prove to be useful for my photo legend series, among other use cases.
• Integration of plausible analytics is easy, but it is not possible with Substack. Another must-have for me.
• Stripe integration, which I already use for Medium payments, if I ever choose to add a paid tier to my newsletter.
• Commenting is possible by tweaking the theme and adding some integration code. Yet, I wish there was a better and easier way to add this to a website. In the future, I could try to set up Commento for comments using this procedure. Ghost theme customization is available only on mid-tier and up-paid plans. This feature could replace the thread feature available on Substack.
• Good integration with Buffer via Zapier. IFTTT integration is possible only via RSS feeds. As a paying member of IFTTT, I chose the latter.
• Better RSS feeds support posts, tags, and pages just by adding /RSS to any URL. On top of that, it is possible to customize the webpage referring to a tag by adding a header image and a description, just like here for the Photo Legend Series.
• Selecting a fully featured theme is challenging, as Ghost doesn’t provide an easy way to filter themes by supported features.
• I’ll leave my Substack account active for the Substack Reader feature.
• Easy migration path from Substack to Ghost using this procedure.
• Should I import my content? After a short test run using the 14-day evaluation period, it was clear that I had to.

How Ghost could be improved for me?

One of the Ghost editor’s most powerful and useful features is the ability to create and reuse content snippets. If you’ve ever used an email client with saved replies, this will be immediately intuitive.

• Integration features and custom themes for the entry-level paid plan (access to the API admin token).
• A customizable dashboard.
• A native client on Mac or iPad.

Steps to move from Substack to Ghost

1. I exported my data from Substack, which took less than 10 minutes to complete. Substack makes this super easy.

2. Import my subscribers list into Ghost’s members list.

3. Download Xcode from the Mac App Store and launch it for default configuration (required for the next step).

4. Install Homebrew to be able to install NPM modules later (importing content into Ghost requires Node.js and NPM modules): https://treehouse.github.io/installation-guides/mac/homebrew

5. Install Node.js and NPM: https://treehouse.github.io/installation-guides/mac/node-mac.html

6. Follow this procedure to import articles into Ghost CMS. This is done via the command line.

   `migrate substack numericcitizen-export-2021-11-14-m9k19kr99s/posts.csv –readPosts numericcitizen-export-2021-11-14-m9k19kr99s/posts –url https://numericcitizen.substack.com –useMetaImage –useMetaAuthor –drafts false

   `A lot of my decision to switch depended on the success of this step. If content was successfully imported without too much required tweaks, I would consider this a success and go with the next steps.

7. Import the created zip file (the migrate command generated a 230 MB zip file ready to import). This file was then imported using this procedure.

8. Configure site pages and tags Once the import is complete and without error.

9. Review imported content and set tags according to each post’s content. That step was tedious but was mandatory to recreate the same content structure currently on my Substack website.

10. Configure and write a contact page so that users can click from the bottom portion of my Ghost website to contact me.

11. Connect my Ghost account to my Stripe account just in case, even though my newsletter is free—you never know!

12. Configure Ulysses publishing options to publish content from within the application to Ghost. After all, this was one of the main reasons I switched from Substack to Ghost, right?

13. Do a test run with a fake article and check RSS feed content generation.

14. Configure the support and reply-to email addresses.

15. Set up Plausible analytics and add it to my Ghost website using the customization feature in the header section.

16. Update all my IFTTT automations for cross-posting to Twitter via Buffer when a newsletter issue comes out.

17. For mid-tier paid plans only: Add Twitter Revue new sign-up to Ghost via Zapier (this requires the Admin API token, which is not available in the entry-level paid tier).

18. For mid-tier paid plans only: Add Ghost cross-posting to Buffer via Zapier (this requires the Admin API token unavailable in the entry-level paid tier.)

It took me about a day of work to accomplish all this, from the trigger to the final announcement post on Substack. I’m super happy with the end results.

Yesterday, I put an end to my HEY World experiment. After making the call, I wanted to keep my content and migrate it to Substack. So, I tried the Substack RSS feed import feature, but it wasn’t working. As shown in the following screenshot, the error wasn’t explicit enough to pinpoint the cause of the problem.

I had 23 posts to import, which was not a big deal, but I preferred not to move my content manually. Trying different variations of the URL didn’t help. Substack wouldn’t detect any feeds from HEY World. Here is my solution.

HEY World uses ATOM RSS feed format. I thought Substack couldn’t parse those. The idea was to transform the ATOM RSS feed into something else. After googling for a solution, I remembered about RSSMix (this service is no longer available and FeedPress is way better). This free web service enables merging many feeds into one. I use it to merge all my personal RSS feeds into a single one to build a publishing timeline. It’s pretty cool¹. For my HEY World content migration, I took the ATOM RSS feed with another one and merged the content². The end result is another feed, but this time in XML format. I went to Substack again, and sure enough, the resulting feed could be imported. After the import was completed, all I had to do was delete posts from the second feed content which wasn’t part of HEY World³. Simple as that.

Update #1: 2022-05-22 : Since the publication of this article, I moved (again) my newsletter to Ghost. Update #2: 2024-06-15 : Replace RSSmix with FeedPress as the former is no longer available