-
The Ephemeral Scrapbook — Edition 2024-42
JF Martin / Posted: Sun, 27 Oct 2024 18:18:53 GMT
The following is a summary of my contribution activities since the previous newsletter edition
👨🏻💻 9 posts 🙂
🏞️ 13 photos shared 😃
🎙️ No podcast episode published 😔
📺 No YouTube video published 😔
This newsletter edition covers weeks #41 & #42.Did you know you can catch a few highlighted stories and photos of mine by visiting this website?
👤 Personal
1️⃣ I’ve been in a writing lull recently, preferring to focus on photography more. I often go from writing to photography and vice versa. My attention span seems shorter than usual, which doesn’t help my writing in general. That’s not entirely true; I’ve been writing, but I’ve been on LinkedIn and Medium in my professional life. I’m trying to be more active on LinkedIn for a few reasons that I won’t share here, but you can read about it on my Ko-fi page. If you want to know what it is all about, subscribe to my Ko-fi page.
🗺️ Discoveries
1️⃣ I've looked at Canva, a PowerPoint replacement that runs as a SaaS but is also available on devices like the iPad and the Mac. However, Canva is much more than a PowerPoint replacement. I see Canva as a competitor to Adobe Express, which I enjoyed long ago. I cannot share why I'm looking at this right now, but I must say that it feels like a great alternative and a valuable tool for creative people like me. The question is: what does this service bring to the table that I cannot already do using Keynote, Freeform or Mindnote, etc.? I could use it to design a website prototype, that's for sure. One use case could be for website prototyping while I wait for the beta release of Realmac Software Elements. I will make more comments about Canva soon.
📖 Reading
1️⃣ Every once in a while, I stumble on a blog post from other bloggers that shows their appreciation for what I'm doing, like this one. People can show their appreciation in many ways, like supporting me on my Ko-fi page and writing blog posts like that one. 2️⃣ More than ever, I believe in the web curation movement as we enter AI-generated content at a massive scale. That's why this blog post from Manuel Moreale resonated with me. I want to quote a few things from this blog post. 3️⃣ A newly discovered author, Maggie Appleton, touches on fascinating subjects like programming, design and anthropology. Besides touching on exciting subjects, her website is gorgeous by its simplicity and organizational structure. Too bad the site didn’t receive recent updates. Still, it's now part of my RSS feed subscriptions.
“With a web flooded with AI-generated slop and the platforms themselves encouraging it, the role of curators is gonna become more and more important.”
“Anyway, now more than ever, if you find value in curated blogs, newsletters, zines, or any other type of curated material, consider supporting the people who create and maintain them, because the vast majority of the time, they don’t do it for the money, they do it because they think it’s important.” – Manuel Moreale👨🏻💻 Writing
1️⃣ I started testing Ulysses, the writing app for the Mac. Version 32 will support Apple Intelligence, particularly for the Writing Tools. If all goes well, it could replace Grammarly when support for Apple Intelligence is added to more apps. My initial testing offers mixed feelings. To invoke Apple Intelligence features, you must select the text, which is not required with Grammarly. Apple Intelligence refuses to work on a paragraph containing a hyperlink. It could be a bug in Ulysses beta, but it could be a limitation, too. Grammarly works better in that respect, but sometimes, the link will be mangled when corrections are made. Nothing is perfect. Stay tuned for more comments on that one.
“If you give a good idea to a mediocre team, they will screw it up. If you give a mediocre idea to a brilliant team, they will either fix it or throw it away and come up with something better.” — Creativity Inc., Ed Catmull and Amy Wallace
🌄 Photography
1️⃣ A good post from Matt Birchler: resolution is not everything in digital photography. I agree. 2️⃣ A newly discovered photographer: Anna Shtraus, thanks to Glass Highlights. She takes many photos in places like the Middle East. She calls herself a visual poet, and I like this. Instant subscribe! 3️⃣ Did you know you can watch my latest images from Pixelfed in slideshow mode? Try this link! 4️⃣ Found a great wallpaper collection inspired by Edward Hopper, for your iPhone, available on Gumroad.
🍎 Apple
1️⃣ Rumors about the iPhone 18 😳 are already surfacing, stating advanced densification of the A20 chip with 12 GB of RAM using a 2 nm process. It's too early for me to influence my decision for next year's plan, though. I'm still planning to get the iPhone 17 as I often skip one generation of devices. 2️⃣ According to Mike Gurman, Apple is now turning its attention to home automation products and services. Now that Matter, the protocol that makes home devices talk and work together, is the standard, Apple is looking to build devices like home robots and communication-related gizmos🤦🏻♂️. I should wait before judging, but I don’t see that as an exciting journey. 3️⃣ For Apple fans, BasicAppleGuy shared some new wallpapers out of Apple Park photographs—many great ones. 4️⃣ Apple is considered two years behind in generative AI, according to a report by Gurman. Remember the MP3 players before the iPod came out? Apple was thought to be behind, too. Will this scenario repeat itself with generative AI? The leaders like OpenAI keeps getting better all the time. But, If you can't beat them, joining them might apply here. Om Malik is getting nervous about Apple Intelligence being late to the AI game. 5️⃣ ||The subsequent major releases of macOS, iPadOS, iOS, tvOS||, et al. are around the corner. Get ready for Apple Intelligence phase #1 of... many more phases! Phase #2 of Apple Intelligence is already out for the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 users, as well as modern iPads and Macs with Apple Silicon Ship. I upgraded my iPad and iPhone to this second major release of iOS 18. I'm currently on the waiting list to test Image Playground, but according to this article, it might take a few weeks to play with this.
🚧 Special projects
1️⃣ Not exactly a special project, but I’ve been spending quite some time testing the next round of betas for Craft Docs. As shown on Craft Docs YouTube channel, three important things are coming to Craft: Collections, Styling and Task management. I have mixed feelings with the new directions for Craft. I don't see use cases for Collections. The new styling feature doesn't go far enough by lacking basic image processing. Task management is also something that I'm not really looking to do within Craft; I'm a happy Things 3 user. The next public release of Craft, probably version 3.0, is still many weeks away.
📱 Apps & Services
1️⃣ Photomator 3.4 came out this week, and surprise, you can now flag, reject and start (from 0 to 5 stars) each photo. As suggested by this guy on Micro.blog, when using the Apple Photos library, these actions are saved, and a new set of photo albums is created to easily find those photos, all placed within a folder named “Photomator.” For those like me who often use files outside of Photos, for each photo that gets flagged, rejected or starred, a new .xmp file is created, just like the sidecar file if the photo has been edited. This is an excellent addition for those like me who previously used Adobe Lightroom, where the catalogue is central to the photo-processing workflows. 2️⃣ It seems a new MindNode app is coming soon, called MindNode Next, a free upgrade for those on the MindNode Plus subscription (like me). Collaborative work seems to be the highlight of this new generation of MindNode. Strangely enough, MindNode Next is already available for the Apple Vision Pro, and other platforms are coming later this year. 3️⃣ Inoreader finally launched the redesigned reading experience, which I LOVE. 4️⃣ Notion launched several new features and products presented in this short clip. Notion Layout for building better-looking pages. Most of the new features are available now. I played with Notion Layout a bit, but I will spend more time exploring Notion Forms and the new Marketplace in the coming days. The latter is essentially modelled around an App Store.
📺 YouTube
1️⃣ Photomator 3.4 is out and comes with photo tagging and starring. See that in action in the following video. I'm already a fan. 2️⃣ The Starship flight and return to Earth, right on the launchpad, is mind-blowing. We came a long way from the first space shuttle flight in 1981. Very impressive.
🔮 Looking forward
1️⃣ I'm still waiting for this M4 Mac mini announcement, but it is coming. It's widely expected to be in the last week of October. Even more with Apple's tease shared on X.com. 2️⃣ Here's an excellent summary of what's new in the upcoming iOS 18.1 release from MacRumors. Here's an excellent overview of iOS 18.2 from MacRumors, too. 3️⃣ Apple teases new Macs! The M4 Mac mini is really coming next week! Getting ready for hard decisions.
I wish you a great week! ✌️👋🏻
📌This newsletter edition is also available as a Craft shared document here. Index of past editions can be found here. This week's edition is based on template version 1.5.1 — Tue, Oct 8 and was put together with ❤️ on a 15-inch MacBook Air, Craft Docs and many supporting subscriptions! Support my work (Paypal) or become a supporter with Ko-fi! -
The Ephemeral Scrapbook — Edition 2024-40
JF Martin / Posted: Mon, 14 Oct 2024 20:34:40 GMT
The following is a summary of my contribution activities since the previous newsletter edition
👨🏻💻 10 posts 🙂
🏞️ 3 photos shared 😔
🎙️ No podcast episode published 😔
📺 No YouTube video published 😔
This edition covers the week #39 and #40.👤 Personal
1️⃣ I’ve been busy with personal matters recently, which prevented me from working on my usual creative hobby and releasing this newsletter more regularly. But over the years, I learned that sharing when it’s meaningful and ready is more important than sharing for the sake of sharing. If it means to release this newsletter on a more irregular basis, so be it. Hobbies must be fun, not a burden. 2️⃣ With this newsletter edition, I decided to tweak the content a bit: I'll no longer include the logbook excerpt from Things 3, my preferred tasks manager. This logbook was a list of completed tasks during the week. I don't see the real value of including this anymore as I wasn't always able to keep it up to date and reflect my actual accomplished work. At one point, I even included a list of all the articles that I was reading on Omnivore. Since there is no integration between Omnivore and Things, automation is not possible and trying to build one is not worth it.
🗺️ Discoveries
1️⃣ I made some tests with Google's NotebookLM using my main website as the source. It's fast, and after a few minutes, I was already impressed. There is a media buzz about this podcasting feature, which is technically impressive, but ethically, I find this dangerous. 2️⃣ I discovered www.flaticon.com while searching for icons for a Keynote presentation template. I think I knew about that icon collection but forgot about it. I might subscribe to it if I find enough interesting icon sets to build a coherent collection.
📖 Reading
1️⃣ The end of Tabletop newsletter by Michael Steeber. So sad. Michael didn't share much about what's next for him. I hope he is okay. Maybe he was hired by Apple? Maybe there is not much to say about Apple Stores nowadays. The rate of new stores opening is relatively low, and most news is about remodelling and relocation. 2️⃣ Lou Plummer launched a challenge for bloggers and writers: the appreciation challenge. I find the idea rather interesting, so I was probably the first to share my appreciation for his work publicly.
👨🏻💻 Writing
1️⃣ ChatGPT canvas feature recently announced at their latest developers conference seems handy for writers like me. I tried it out to create an article and was blown away. Ultimately, the best of this will be experienced when embedded into apps like Craft or Ulysses. From the OpenAI website: “We trained GPT-4o to collaborate as a creative partner. The model knows when to open a canvas, make targeted edits, and fully rewrite. It also understands broader context to provide precise feedback and suggestions.” 2️⃣ It occurred to me this week that I often spend more time sharing photos when I'm writing less. I feel less inspired to write in the evening, and I'm also more tired; it takes less effort to share photos. That's the explanation that I came up with. 3️⃣ I finally wrote and shared my Apple Watch Series 10 review. I made a funny title: “A Significant Iterative Refinement.” I'm playing with words here and making fun of Apple’s iterative product releases.
Numeric Citizen Blog Posts Monthly Digest - Numeric Citizen Blog
🌄 Photography
1️⃣ I've spent more time editing photos than usual in the last couple of days, and I'm enjoying it. Next week, I’m going on a short trip to New York to see a show of Sting, and I'll bring my camera with me for sure. 2️⃣ Great video about showing the iPhone 16 Pro video capabilities, entirely shot in Chicago, an excellent place for such video. It could have been an Apple ad. Was it? 3️⃣ A great review from Tyler Stalman of the iPhone 16 from a photographer's perspective. 4️⃣ Another iPhone 16-related review, this time about the controversial Camera Control by Sebastiaan De With.
A Montreal-based photographer I discovered this week. I like to see my city as seen through the eyes of another street photographer.
Glass’s monthly category for September was “windows. “ In its category highlight, Glass offers a few great images shared by the community. I submitted two photos (image one and image two) in that category but wasn’t selected.
🍎 Apple
1️⃣ The Pixel Fold Makes the iPhone look old. Really? This form factor does not convince me, and I’m not alone because I never see someone using a folding device. I prefer discreet devices like a phone and a tablet. And a Mac. I must be getting old. 2️⃣ The Macintosh IIci with an Apple Portrait Display as shown here was a very popular configuration for anyone doing serious desktop publishing in the early nineties. I always liked portrait display orientation and I wonder why we don’t see that more often these days.
🚧 Special projects
1️⃣ My 1Password to Apple Passwords migration is going well. The fun thing about this migration is that I relived old memories of many defunct web services I used in 2014 when I started using 1Password for storing my passwords. I disabled the 1Password browser extension on all my devices to force myself into migrating passwords. It works.
📱 Apps & Services
1️⃣ Ghost is still working on implementing Fediverse. It's still too early, but Ghost users like me could see their monthly bill increase as the number of fediverse followers increases. I submitted my request to be part of the upcoming beta. Tiny sites with small memberships are preferred; this is precisely what my Ghost site is: small. Ghost's subscription tiers are based on the number of subscribers. With Fediverse, the number of followers will add up to the subscriber count, which could translate into a price increase for me. Since my audience is relatively small, it's not an issue for me. 2️⃣ Inoreader is prepping a significant web application redesign. After switching to the beta version and testing it for a few hours, I must say that this is the most successful redesign of any web service that I have ever seen. The new look offers higher information density while being cleaner and more functional. A new sidebar provides a great way to switch between major Inoreader features like RSS feeds, audio, search, etc. I provided a screenshot of my home view so you can judge yourself. 3️⃣ I finally cancelled my Linktr.ee subscription after three years of use. It was a great ride, but I prefer to focus on fewer platforms now. 4️⃣ If you are a writer using one of the popular writing apps like Ulysses or iA Writer, consider reading this review of an alternative app called Paper (very detailed).
📺 YouTube
1️⃣ Again this week, I spent quite some time watching video reviews of the RODECaster Video device and again, more than ever, I think this is something I will get. The question now is when? It's a relatively expensive device, and I'm also waiting for the next Mac mini to be announced in the next few weeks, which will probably cost a lot, too.
💎 Miscellaneous
1️⃣ Google announced two new Chromebooks and the integration of Gemini AI with a dedicated keyboard key. I would consider getting the Lenovo Chromebook Duet because of its relatively good design. But why am I considering getting this? I'm curious to test the water outside the Apple walled garden. I like vertically integrated solutions, and Google can compete with Apple.
🔮 Looking forward
1️⃣ I'm still looking forward to the October announcements from Apple, which will focus on the M4 Macs, including the redesigned Mac mini. From there, I'll decide if I upgrade my M1 Mac mini or buy the RODECaster Video device or do both.
I wish you a great week! ✌️👋🏻
💡This newsletter edition is also available as a Craft shared document here. Index of past editions can be found here. This week's edition is based on template version 1.5 — Sun, Sep 1 and was put together with ❤️ on a 15-inch MacBook Air, Craft Docs and many supporting subscriptions! Support my work (Paypal) or become a supporter with Ko-fi! -
Apple Watch Series 10: A Significant Iterative Refinement
JF Martin / Posted: Thu, 10 Oct 2024 11:04:07 GMT
Apple's September 2024 release of the Apple Watch Series 10 introduces a range of improvements that mark a substantial progression, particularly for users upgrading from earlier versions like the Series 6 or Series 8. Based on my experience with the new device, I want to highlight the key innovations and enhancements that set the Series 10 apart from its predecessors.
Performance and Design Enhancements
The Series 10 is still true to its origin; the new finish and larger display make it look rounder, but I'm not sure there is a significant difference. The larger screen is handy when interacting with apps or reading notifications, making the overall experience more user-friendly while allowing more information to be displayed seamlessly. The edges of the display curve more smoothly into the casing, giving it a refined aesthetic that enhances its appearance and usability. The thinner bezels make better use of the display area, allowing more information to be shown without feeling cluttered. This thoughtful design iteration makes it easier to read messages, type on the on-screen keyboard, navigate apps, and use widgets—all contributing to a superior user experience.
The Series 10 offers a significant boost in performance. Compared to my Series 8—a noticeable upgrade over the Series 6—the Series 10 is considerably more responsive. The user interface of watchOS is smoother, with apps launching faster than before. This speed improvement is especially evident for those upgrading from older models. Skipping a generation of devices is the best way to feel these differences when upgrading. Everything from switching watch faces to opening apps feels instantaneous, and this increase in responsiveness contributes to an enhanced overall user experience.
Notable New Features
The new double-tap (or double-pinch?) gesture has proven incredibly useful, adding a new level of convenience when navigating or interacting with the watch. This feature allows users to quickly control apps and interact with notifications without using the other hand, which is particularly helpful when on the move. The gesture feels intuitive and becomes second nature after just a short period of use, enhancing the overall hands-free experience. It is handy for answering calls, stopping timers, or controlling media playback, reducing the need to tap buttons or use the Digital Crown.
Another notable addition is the on-device translation feature, which has been very handy for quick translations. I downloaded the English and French language packs, and having translation capabilities directly on the watch has been helpful in day-to-day situations. This feature is perfect for travellers or those who frequently interact in different languages, as it provides instant translations without relying on an internet connection. The accuracy of the translations is also impressive, and the speed at which the watch processes these requests is a testament to the improved performance of the Series 10.
Another surprisingly enjoyable feature is listening to podcasts or music through the watch's speakers. While it might seem unconventional, it’s a convenient option for brief listening sessions when headphones aren’t available. Given the small form factor, the speakers are clear enough for spoken word content, and the sound quality is adequate.
Upgrade Process Challenges
Despite the many enhancements, the upgrade process remains an area needing refinement. Apple’s in-store purchasing experience is seamless, but migrating settings and watch faces from an older watch is still cumbersome. The Apple Watch backup and restore feature does not work reliably, which disrupts the upgrade process for many users. The ability to share watch faces via iMessage is clever and saves time, but it doesn’t provide a complete migration solution. A more streamlined approach that allows easy transfer of all settings would significantly improve the upgrade experience. The current process requires too much manual setup. There is also the risk of losing some configurations in the process, which makes upgrading feel less rewarding than it should be.
For those upgrading to the Series 10 while keeping an older watch, here’s a helpful tip: use iMessage to share watch faces from your old device to the new one. This lets you quickly set up your preferred watch faces without starting from scratch. Install your apps first, then send each watch face via iMessage to yourself, enabling easy installation on the new watch. This method saves time and helps ensure that your new watch feels familiar right from the start while still taking advantage of the improvements in performance and design.
For those who decide to set up their watch from scratch, it can be an opportunity to curate watch faces and settings intentionally. I found it refreshing to start anew, choosing only the watch faces I needed rather than transferring everything from my old device. This method allowed me to simplify my watch setup and only retain the features that I found most helpful. However, not every user will find this experience liberating—many would prefer a one-click solution that ensures all settings and configurations are automatically transferred without hassle.
Another area for improvement is the syncing process, particularly for music and photos. Allowing users more control over when and how content syncs would significantly improve user experience. Music and pictures only sync when the watch is charging, which is typically overnight while I wear my Series 8. Since I got my new watch, my favorite photo album still hasn’t synced, and there’s no option to force the sync. This limitation can be inconvenient, especially for users who want certain content readily available. Apple could improve this by allowing users to manually initiate syncing, ensuring that content is updated according to personal preferences rather than the device’s schedule. Simplifying the migration process when upgrading watches would enhance the overall experience, making it as seamless as the initial in-store purchase.
Health Monitoring and Battery Performance
The health-monitoring capabilities on the Series 10 have also seen notable improvements. For instance, The heart rate monitor is more accurate than my previous Series 6. During workouts, such as walking, the Series 10 consistently provided precise heart rate readings without blackout periods, addressing a critical problem of earlier models. This increase in accuracy is particularly beneficial for those who rely on the watch for fitness tracking, as it provides a more reliable assessment of their exercise metrics. Additionally, the Series 10 includes improvements to other health features like blood oxygen monitoring, which initially came with the Series 6, sleep apnea detection, and sleep tracking. Together, these features work more seamlessly, offering richer insights into overall health and well-being and encouraging healthier habits.
Battery performance has also improved, thanks, of course, to the new battery. My Series 8, with 84% battery health, and my Series 6, at 64%, clearly showed their age. The Series 10, with its new battery, delivers much longer usage time, especially when using more demanding features like long workouts or the remote camera app. With moderate use, the watch comfortably lasts more than a day, even with health tracking and other features enabled. Before going to bed, the battery level is now at more than 60%, allowing more than a day of usage on a single charge. The low-power mode also extends battery life, which is helpful during long outdoor activities or when charging is not immediately available. This extended battery performance makes it easier to rely on the watch throughout the day without worrying about finding time to charge it.
About The Second Hand Animation
One minor inconsistency I noticed was with the animation of the second hand across different watch faces. With a 1 Hertz refresh rate, the new Reflections watch face features continuous second-hand animation, while many others do not, without any apparent reason for the discrepancy. While this doesn’t affect functionality, a small detail detracts from an otherwise cohesive experience. Apple could address this inconsistency in future updates to ensure a uniform experience across all watch faces, mainly since attention to detail is one of the hallmarks of their products.
Conclusion
Overall, the Apple Watch Series 10 represents a significant upgrade for those coming from older devices, as well as for more recent ones like the Series 8. With improved performance, a larger and more ergonomic design, enhanced health features, and new interactions, such as the double-tap gesture, it’s a compelling choice for those using older models. While Apple’s attention to detail is evident in many areas, there remains room for improvement in the upgrade and syncing processes. Despite these minor drawbacks, the Series 10 watch pushes the boundaries of what a smartwatch can offer, making it an excellent choice for new users and seasoned Apple Watch owners.
-
The Ephemeral Scrapbook — Edition 2024-38
JF Martin / Posted: Mon, 30 Sep 2024 10:35:42 GMT
The following is a summary of my contribution activities since the previous newsletter edition
👨🏻💻 23 posts 😃
🏞️ 2 photos shared 😔
🎙️ No podcast episode published 😔
📺 No YouTube video published 😔
This newsletter edition covers weeks 37 and 38.👤 Personal
1️⃣ It’s been a busy two weeks. I just returned from a business trip to Las Vegas and spent quite some time working on our future home improvement project. Plus, this underground project of going freelance also took some of my spare time. This explains why I didn’t share much in the last two weeks.
🗺️ Discoveries
1️⃣ As Manuel Moreale said, discovering (non-dev) blogs is hard. 2️⃣ I found this blog, Things, by Guy Schmidt: minimalistic, but with most of the things I like. 3️⃣ I haven't thought about it, but depending on the wallpaper you use on your iPhone, you could save battery power during the day. These wallpapers, because of the clever use of the rule of thirds, are rather beautiful if you like astronomy. 4️⃣ I love visual notes (also called Sketch notes). I took notes during a recent brainstorming session at the office and was reminded about sketch notes' existence. I researched the web, found many great examples, and stumbled on “Ink Company Studio.” What they do is clever: during a corporate event, you subscribe to the company’s service to create sketch notes during meetings or presentations. It’s very cool. While skimming different sketch note styles, I realized I like it when there is a good balance between text, iconography and colours. 5️⃣ Another cool discovery is the official website of Alberto Ortega. His artwork is made of paintings of street scenes from the fifties based on handmade miniature models that he creates. It's really cool and unique.
📖 Reading
1️⃣ While browsing my Micro.blog timeline, I met Erlend from Norway. I came across his Micro.blog hosted website that I have found to be gorgeous and unique in its design and appearance. At first, I didn't believe this website was hosted on Micro.blog using one of the available visual themes, but yeah, it is. Browsing his website is a delight both visually and with the content. I decided to support him via his Ko-Fi page.
"So many ‘exciting’ camera upgrades, so much computational assistance, you’ll end up forgetting what it means to take a photo." — Riccardo Mori👨🏻💻 Writing
1️⃣ I'm enjoying writing for Medium. While doing so, I gathered a bunch of notes about my writing and reading experience on this platform. I plan to write an article about that soon. There are many things to like about Medium but a few irritating things to dislike too. It's a bit a love-and-hate relationship.
🌄 Photography
1️⃣ Another excellent photo series by JF Dupuis, this time about a dear subject of mine: clouds. Really big clouds. 2️⃣ For those with an old iPad, here’s a good suggestion: make it a photo frame with this app. I spent some time digitizing old family photos recently, and putting them on an old iPad is a good idea. 3️⃣ I decided to tweak some photo-related settings on my iPhone: Preview HDR content is now OFF and photographic styles is now set to rich contrast. My desire here is to remove some typical iPhone images flatness and this comes after watching this iPhone 16 Pro review from The Verge. 4️⃣ If you are contemplating buying the iPhone 16 Pro for its photo-related features, consider watching this video review from Peta Pixels. Well worth your time. One of my nephew bought the iPhone 16 Pro and found the Camera Control to be finicky to use requiring a long learning curve to master. I'm skipping this year's iPhone and hope that next year Apple will tweak that new button.
I’m wondering if the new iPhone 16 Camera Control is the new Touch Bar. – Numeric Citizen🍎 Apple
1️⃣ Lack of excitement. Sameness. Boring. Ennui. These are general sentiments about the last Apple Keynote announcing the new iPhone. On top of that is the perception that Apple Intelligence won't do the trick of triggering a super-cycle. As the main backdrop, developers have been angry about Apple for quite a while now. Something wrong is happening, and I wonder if Apple is noticing. 2️⃣ Not everyone is impressed by Apple. In this blog post, Riccardo Mori offers a rather harsh take on Apple and their recent announcements. Ouch. He is a longtime Apple user, but when he started with Apple, it was quite a different world, and Apple was so different. Apple, the underdog, was more likeable. 3️⃣ Manuel Moreale hates the redesigned Control Center. It seems Apple is doing everything wrong. 4️⃣ Apple Intelligence rollout will take a long time. How could this be different? Generative AI wasn't a thing until late 2022, and Apple had about two years to figure out a whole new integration and backend infrastructure to support that in a meaningful and secure way for its users. 5️⃣ While waiting for Apple Intelligence, it might be a good idea to read MacStories iOS 18 review. I want to mention two things about this review. First, I like the artwork used across pages and review details. It is a direct jab at Apple's upcoming Apple Intelligence image creation tool and AI-generated content. MacStories commissioned an iPad artist to create these artworks. Second, I like the author's take on Apple Intelligence, AI in general, and his desire to be a creative guy who dislikes AI-generated artifacts, which negates the unique value proposition of humans: creativity. 6️⃣ Meta Connect was fun, apparently.
🚧 Special projects
1️⃣ Since the official release of Apple's Passwords app, their official password management solution, I started migrating my passwords off 1Password. I came across this article from one of the developers behind Apple's Passwords, Ricky Mondello. He works for Apple. I'll use his "online method” to migrate and increase my online security posture. I’m trying to migrate a few passwords each day. Tedious.
📱 Apps & Services
1️⃣ There are two places to look for information about iOS 18 and iPadOS 18: MacStories detailed review and this guide from MacRumors. 2️⃣ The new Reeder app continues to trigger reactions. Some people really like the latest iteration. 3️⃣ iA Writer for Android will retire, thanks to Google’s Play Store rules.
“Developing on Android is a daily worsening struggle with red tape, inconsistent device performance, App Store search performance gaming3, and rampant piracy.” — iA Writer developer.📺 YouTube
1️⃣ On the “How About Tomorrow?” podcast with Adam Elmore & Dax Raad, DHH joins in and discusses so many interesting and controversial things that I cannot decide where to start. From Apple’s current hegemony over developers and users, quitting the Microsoft world, then quitting the Apple world and joining the Linux bandwagon, quitting the cloud, and building its things, this discussion is highly entertaining. DHH is a controversial guy, and this discussion contains so many opinionated views that there is a lot to unpack. I must admit that many of the opinions expressed resonate with me. DHH is correct when talking about Apple and its power over developers. Quitting the Apple ecosystem is something that I read more and more. Many are talking about this, but very few make the jump. I don't see myself doing it soon; I'm probably too old for that, but I can see the point. Hyperconcentration of power is not a good thing for anyone. DHH’s bravery in calling out things is necessary. 2️⃣ I came across the new RodeCaster video reviews, and I must say that I’m impressed. So much that I’m considering getting one when it is finally available. For 1200 US$, it’s not exactly cheap, but it could solve many of the challenges I have while doing video recordings and for Teams meetings at work.
💎 Miscellaneous
1️⃣ I’ve been on Bluesky since April 25th, 2023. My user number is 35,638. Not bad. See my badge below. It reminds me of my early days on Twitter back in 2007. I was an early adopter, too. 2️⃣ I made a video about Craft. I shared a summary of it on Reddit. Got called out for writing a bad summary using ChatGPT. I got some support in response. Not everyone is a jerk. Still, I hate Reddit.
🔮 Looking forward
1️⃣ This video about Meta's Orion augmented reality glasses made me look at the Apple Vision Pro differently. Even if Apple Visio Pro is a technological marvel, Orion Glass shows the way in some areas, like device size and style. It's interesting. But I still don't like Meta and Zuckerberg.
I wish you a great week! ✌️👋🏻
📌This newsletter edition is also available as a Craft shared document here. This week's edition is based on template version 1.5 — Sun, Sep 1 and was put together with ❤️ on a 15-inch MacBook Air, Craft Docs and many supporting subscriptions! Support my work (Paypal) or become a supporter with Ko-fi!📅 Meta
-
The Ephemeral Scrapbook — Edition 2024-36
JF Martin / Posted: Sun, 15 Sep 2024 21:29:55 GMT
The latest edition of "The Ephemeral Scrapbook" details the author’s activities, which range from sharing various posts and photos to digitizing family memories with Photomyne. Notable discoveries include Jony Ive’s new button design and Jeremy Ultey's blog on generative AI. The author expresses mixed feelings about sorting old family photos and highlights the significance of curation in combatting disinformation. The newsletter also discusses Apple's recent Glowtime event, iOS updates, and impressions of the iPhone 16. The author contemplates the future of content creation as centered on human curation, and shares insights on writing, with a particular process involving ChatGPT for translations. Future plans include visiting an Apple Store to experience new products announced in the recent keynote.
The following summarizes my contribution activities since the previous newsletter edition. The next edition is scheduled for early October.
👨🏻💻 19 posts shared 😃
🏞️ 3 photos shared 😔
🎙️ No podcast episode published 😔
📺 One YouTube video published 🙂👤 Personal
1️⃣ Last weekend, I spent quite some time sorting out boxes of old family photos. I came out of this exercise with mixed feelings. It is strange to see in a picture that 95% of the people pictured are dead. It's hard to realize that I missed a significant portion of my parent's life when they were retired. I was too busy with my own things. I'm the youngest child, and I had a big age gap with my parents I somehow always saw them as being rather old. Nonetheless, I miss them. 2️⃣ I resubscribed to Photomyne for a month to digitize some of my family photos before throwing them out. It works great. I'm using my iPhone 15 Pro Max for this. I wrote a review of Photomyne a while ago.
🗺️ Discoveries
1️⃣ Jony Ive, now at “Love From” company, designed a... button. It looks cool, but I want to hear the satisfying click when both parts snap together. 2️⃣ I discovered this "blog" by Jeremy Ultey, a professor from Stanford University. He is currently invested in helping others take advantage of generative AI to help people and companies gain comfort and confidence. 3️⃣ Here is a good way to discover new blogs.
📖 Reading
1️⃣ In the article “Curate to Create,” I found the whole idea resonating. Based on the principle that nothing created is really new these days, what's left to be done is to curate and develop connections between bits of information. Also, I see that curation is one way to combat disinformation and add value to published content. In a way, it's the entire point of this newsletter. Am I good at it? No, but I'm working at it every single day.
“The reason why the current web sucks is because way too many people are expecting things to magically get better without doing their part. The web is a collaborative product and we all have to do our part to make it better.” — Manuel Moreale👨🏻💻 Writing
1️⃣ Writing helps me think and sometimes leads to solving problems or challenges. For example, I’ve been writing a few stories about my thoughts on becoming a freelancer, and this helped me have a clearer view of what it really means. Writing, for me, is the best way to process thoughts and ideas. Without writing, I would be blind. 2️⃣ I wrote a new story on Medium this week about a personal experience at work. I followed this process: I wrote the initial story in French and then used ChatGPT to translate it into English. I read the results and felt it wasn't conveying the essence of the original text. I asked ChatGPT to improve the writing of the resulting first iteration. It came out pretty well. Then, I asked ChatGPT to elaborate on a specific story aspect I felt wasn't well explained. I was impressed with the results. What is this process telling me? It is sometimes more manageable to start writing my ideas in French. Asking ChatGPT to translate my text into English is transitory because the resulting translation often needs improvements.
🌄 Photography
1️⃣ I’m still eagerly waiting for the Glass Series to launch. No official dates have been set so far. It is exhausting to wait for that. 2️⃣ I discovered Micheal Beecham on Glass while browsing black and white photos. This guy is so good at capturing the mood, and doing it in black and white offers the best way to capture the subtleties of the scenes. 3️⃣ A series of great black & white portraits from JF Dupuis on Pixelfed.
🍎 Apple
1️⃣ Like him, I rarely use the action button on my iPhone 15 Pro Max. Apple is adding another button on the iPhone 16. Will people use it more? I guess so since it is dedicated à taking photos and videos. 2️⃣ Apple Glowtime event took place. In my opinion, we should call it an infomercial more than an event. I share most of my thoughts about it here. 3️⃣ Reactions are mixed, I would say. 4️⃣ Apple Observatory seems to be a new construction site at Apple Park in California. According to this article on Dezeen, it looks like a great place with a design that is similar to Apple's current architectural traits and elements. The place was first on the day of the Glowtime keynote, where the new iPhone 16 line was launched. It was used as a demonstration space, according to Gruber. 5️⃣ Speaking of Gruber, Manuel Moreale wrote a small post about the EU vs US iPhone debate, the iPhone divide, and the way Gruber keeps hammering the subject in the name of what, exactly? We don't know. This piece might come across as bold and confrontational. The tone challenges Gruber’s perspectives on Apple’s features and policies, especially around the EU vs. US debate over iPhone functionalities. It questions the value of Gruber’s critiques and urges him to adopt a more inclusive mindset, embracing user choice and differing opinions globally
"Apple’s brand, product ecosystem and marketing muscle are all so strong that even the bare minimum is usually enough." — Mark Gurman
“Sameness in design is not equivalent to a lack of creativity." — Om Malik
“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.” — https://mastodon.cloud/@drewmccormack/113106933929326824
🚧 Special projects
1️⃣ This Medium Publication « Numeric Citizen Journeys » is in fact gradually becoming my newest project. Since I like documenting a lot of stuff in my life, I think this could be helpful for other people in the same situation. Consider giving it a look, I'm quite happy so far with the design.
📱 Apps & Services
1️⃣ Apple's iOS 18 is finally in release candidate state while I'm using iOS 18.1 beta on my iPhone, iPadOS 18.1 beta on my iPad and macOS 15.1 beta on my MacBook Air. I'm waiting for the subsequent betas, which should be in the next few days. 2️⃣ I'm still using the new and controversial Reeder app, which is being updated to improve formatting and functionality. 3️⃣ Apple released three ads about Apple Intelligence. The main character in these ads is Isabella Ramsey, who was last seen in “The Last of Us” TV series (I can’t remember her name, sorry). I'm not sure that I like the messaging of these ads, especially where they make us look “fake” by making people think we remember things or that we read what we were expected to read, which we didn't. 4️⃣ I’ve been spending some time watching videos about Realmac Software's RapidWeaver Elements, a new static website building app, for the Mac. It is still being developed and is currently in private beta. I've been watching those videos for a secret project that might require me to build a website from scratch. Elements seems like a great Mac app. I'm afraid to learn CSS, but it should be minimal if videos are any indication. I'll report back in the future. 5️⃣ In my latest YouTube video, I discuss general concepts surrounding objects and Craft Objects. This upcoming feature in Craft is a game changer, and I felt the need to share some details before the official release later this fall. 6️⃣ Scribbles.page blogging service keeps improving quite a lot. Recent additions are live post previews which is handy when writing longer posts and private blogs for those who needs a closer exposure of their blog.
📺 YouTube
1️⃣ I recently discovered and watched the Fifth Element short film on YouTube only to find out later that this short film was entirely made by AI, from the visuals, the storyline, the music, everything! How much energy in how many datacenters does this short clip require to become reality? It's far from a perfect story, but it's a boring one. It's only the beginning.
💎 Miscellaneous
1️⃣ I would love to hear the click of Jony Ive's designed button. MG Siegler talks about it, too. 2️⃣ JPEG-XL image format is official, and the latest iPhone supports it. It seems too good to be true—faster, smaller, wider support. Something is scary, though: it's a complex file format requiring a lot of code to support, as reported on Threads. If it is true that Firefox needs 100K lines of code to support JPEG-XL, then it is safe to assume that this also becomes a great cybersecurity attack surface. Do you remember the Macromedia Player or the Adobe Flash Player? You can also find all the details about JPEG-XL on the official website. 3️⃣ This little Dji NEO drone is super cool, and while I don't need one, I wish I had one. See the following promotional video. 4️⃣ I realized that this newsletter is all about curation, human curation, to be specific. Is this the future of the web? Some people like Jeremy Utley think it is, as he shared in “Curate to Create.” The future of content creation lies in curation, as audiences face content fatigue and anxiety from endless choices.
A picture from the Severance series is available on Apple TV+. What a strange world this series portrays. I liked how they conveyed that people working with computers are doing things I don’t understand, and I’m in IT! What they do is unknown to me, at least. They move little numbers to meet a visual target using a trackball instead of a mouse. I like this retrocomputing style. It’s so weird and useless from our point of view. Maybe this is what other non-techy people think about those of us who work in IT, anyway?
🔮 Looking forward
1️⃣ I’m looking forward to visit the Apple Store next week and experience everything Apple announced during their Glowtime keynote. I’m really eyeing the Apple Watch Series 10, to replace my aging Series 8, bought in 2022. Battery life is miserable; I’m barely making it to the afternoon.
I wish you a great week! ✌️👋🏻
💡This newsletter edition is also available as a Craft shared document here. This week's edition is based on template version 1.5 — Sun, Sep 1 and was put together with ❤️ on a 15-inch MacBook Air, Craft Docs and many supporting subscriptions! Support my work (Paypal) or become a supporter with Ko-fi!📅 Meta
-
My Observations of the “It’s Glowtime” Apple Event
JF Martin / Posted: Tue, 10 Sep 2024 17:17:29 GMT
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.
-
The Ephemeral Scrapbook — Edition 2024-35
JF Martin / Posted: Sun, 08 Sep 2024 18:20:52 GMT
This week's edition of The Ephemeral Scrapbook highlights my recent activities, including sharing 18 posts and 7 photos on various platforms, though I didn't release a podcast episode. I introduced the third generation of my newsletter and added a guestbook to my blog, which received positive engagement. I discovered the art magazine Colossal and tested the new Reeder app's features. My reading list included an article by Anil Dash critiquing Oprah's upcoming AI show. The Blaugust blogging festival wrapped up, and I admired some exceptional photography. On the tech front, I followed M4 Mac mini rumours, WordPress updates, and several app reviews. I also created two YouTube videos about Craft, receiving mixed reactions. Lastly, I looked forward to next week's Apple Keynote.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.
🍎 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.
🔮 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! ✌️👋🏻
This newsletter edition is also available as a Craft shared document here. This week's edition is based on template version 1.5 — Sun, Sep 1 and was put together with ❤️ on a 15-inch MacBook Air, Craft Docs and many supporting subscriptions! Support my work (Paypal) or become a supporter with Ko-fi!📅 Meta
-
The M4 Mac mini Will Be My Best Mac Ever
JF Martin / Posted: Thu, 05 Sep 2024 11:18:20 GMT
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.
-
Creative Summary for the Week of 2024-34
JF Martin / Posted: Sun, 01 Sep 2024 14:57:41 GMT
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.
🎙️ 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.
📺 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! ✌️👋🏻
💡This newsletter edition is also available as a Craft shared document here. This week's edition is based on template version 1.4 — Thu, Aug 1 and was put together with ❤️ on a 15-inch MacBook Air, Craft Docs and many supporting subscriptions! Support my work (Paypal) or become a supporter with Ko-fi!📅 Meta
-
My (Low) Expectations for Apple's Next (Boring) iPhone Event
JF Martin / Posted: Fri, 30 Aug 2024 12:28:04 GMT
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.
-
Sharing a Bunch of Images With Friends
JF Martin / Posted: Tue, 20 Aug 2024 11:20:55 GMT
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.
-
Creative Summary for the Week of 2024-32
JF Martin / Posted: Sun, 18 Aug 2024 19:04:16 GMT
👨🏻💻 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
🌄 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🍎 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.
📺 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! ✌️👋🏻
💡This newsletter edition is also available as a Craft shared document here. This week's edition is based on template version 1.4 — Thu, Aug 1 and was put together with ❤️ on a 15-inch MacBook Air, Craft Docs and many supporting subscriptions! Support my work (Paypal) or become a supporter with Ko-fi!📅 Meta
-
My Weekly Creative Summary for the Week of 2024-30
JF Martin / Posted: Sun, 04 Aug 2024 20:32:12 GMT
👨🏻💻 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!
🌄 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.
🍎 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!
💡This newsletter edition is also available as a Craft shared document here. This week's edition is based on template version 1.4 — Thu, Aug 1 and was put together with ❤️ on a 15-inch MacBook Air, Craft Docs and many supporting subscriptions! Support my work (Paypal) or become a supporter with Ko-fi!📅 Meta
-
Rethinking News Distribution: Lessons from Meta’s Block in Canada
JF Martin / Posted: Sat, 27 Jul 2024 13:47:42 GMT
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.
-
Using the iPad With an External Display — Space Oddities
JF Martin / Posted: Thu, 25 Jul 2024 01:48:58 GMT
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 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.