Hate to say it, but the pre-recorded Apple events just don’t have the magic of the Jobs era. Whereas we once hung on every word that came from Steve’s mouth, the super-polished sizzle reels Apple tries to pass off as an “event” have become boring and predictable. I stopped watching after 15 minutes.
Thoughts
I feel so empowered when I decline a bunch of meetings because I’ll be on PTO later in the week. It’s my favorite way to start a Monday. 💪🏻
Trying something new for dinner… Broke out the smoker for the first time this year to infuse a little smoke to some chicken breasts before I finish them up on the grill. Pairing it up with grilled corn on the cob.
I picked up an Apple Magic Keyboard with Touch ID today (not the extended model). I’ve been using an Apple extended Bluetooth keyboard forever, so the hand placement feels a little different. I do like the new smaller size under my hands, and thoroughly like the touch sensor being “right here.”
I’ve been weighing the options of sticking with Micro.blog, running my own WordPress server, or going the 100% free route of a Hugo site published on GitHub pages. Cost and effort wise, Micro.blog is the front runner, plus (I’ve said it before) there’s the community. Con is I’m not 100% in control.
Something I do like about Reeder… When opening a toot from the feed, it gives the full Mastodon thread in context.
I’m going to throw some knee-jerk observations about Reeder out as I evaluate it… A big thing I’m seeing: If you follow someone/something in multiple places (Micro.blog, Mastodon, RSS), you’re going to see the same post multiple times. That makes for a lot of duplicated noise in your home feed.
I’m giving Raycast Pro a spin to see if it’s worth what they’re charging. ~$100/year seems a tad steep for the pro features, so we’ll see in a couple of weeks if my mind has been changed. I do like the custom window management feature however…
Okay… So I may roll back what I said about Reeder the other day. The new release looks intriguing. I’m going to subscribe for a month or two just to see what it can do. I’m still not 100% sure I want to consume all my content in one place though. 🤔
I got lost in thought and managed to put too much water in my oatmeal this morning, ending up with the consistency of clam chowder wallpaper paste. I’m a chunky oatmeal guy…
Wednesday, September 4, 2024 →
I’m considering changing my Apple Music subscription from single-user annual to family monthly to allow my wife and son to play their music on various devices (HomePod) and not interrupt what I’m already playing elsewhere. Anyone else using the Apple Music family plan? Is it worth it to you?
I managed to wander my way back to Reeder for RSS a little while back, but noticed this morning the app has been renamed to “Reeder Classic” on the Mac App Store. This means a new release is imminent with a new purchase likely needed. I think I’m going to move back to NetNewsWire (again), probably for good this time.
I added a books page to my Micro.blog site today. It’s still a little bare, but I hope to up my reading game going forward. I used to be a voracious reader, but lost the mojo for it over the last decade.
A Tuesday (Monday) morning work rant: If I’ve ignored your unsolicited business email the first three times you’ve sent it, don’t send it a fourth and then fifth time demanding a response from me to take a meeting. You won’t get it, and now you’ve been relegated to the domain block list. Bye.
I’ve started using Omnivore as my read it later app. I’m not sure how I’ve missed this one, but it’s pretty impressive, and open source no less.
I took time this weekend to refresh my Micro.blog theme for about the hundredth time after discovering a nice webfont. As usual, one tweak led to the next and suddenly hours have passed by. I’m happy where it’s at for now, so it’s time to step away.
Scrolling through the macOS desktops from years gone by over at 512 Pixels, I still think 10.4 Tiger is the best looking of all of them…and is the one I’m using today.
Why do I save every work email except the one-line “thank you” emails? So when someone says X and then comes back with Y later, I can joyously screenshot their original thread and attach that sucker to my reply. 💣💥
For me, one of the hardest parts of being a people manager is having the honest conversations about results and performance. I want to be 100% fair, but at the same time, my expectations are not unreasonable. This was not the way I wanted to start my Monday…
I hate to have to say this, but I think I’m starting to like Raycast better than I do LaunchBar…
To this day, I still do not understand why headphone jacks on Macs (PC too?) are located on the right side, but every wired headset I’ve ever owned has the input wired on the left, forcing the cable to cross over (or under) my hands as I type.
I moved all the content I wanted to keep from my WordPress site over here to Micro.blog this morning. Next, I’ll decommission the VPS and then point the .org domain at this one (.dev). This is all part of the (mostly) all in on Micro.blog decision from a while back.
I set aside some time this morning to record audio to my ant mound post from a couple of days ago. It required a few takes to get mostly right, but I think what I ended up with came out okay. I’ll have to do some other posts this weekend.
My boss just turned me on to Lake Street Dive. Just what I needed today.
For any who have followed along, after months of poking, prodding and scans, I’m pleased to report I’ve been given a 100% clean bill of heart health – so long as I maintain the new healthy choices and swallow a dozen pills each day. It’s time to stop fretting and move on. Last post on this topic.
I officially hit my goal weight today, having dropped 25 lbs in three and a half months. It’s time to set a new goal. Let’s start with another five…
Well… The camping trip is kind of a bust, so we’re going to pack up and head home after just one night. We forgot some key items, and wound up next to some very noisy neighbors who ended up drunk and played loud music until 3am. Thankfully, we’re only 30 miles from home.
The tsunami warning siren test at noon on the first Friday of the month in my town still catches me off guard, even after living here more than 25 years. 🌊🏄
I took a vacation day today to get ready to go camping in the RV with my wife. What have I been doing this morning instead of getting ready? Creating an entirely new Micro.blog theme for my site, of course…
I can always tell when some part of Micro.blog is having trouble because images on one of my pages start returning a 404 error, and then I’ll get an email from Tinylytics that my site is down. Same pattern tonight, just like the last two.
The Fediverse part of all-in on Micro.blog was short lived. I remember why that was now from the last time I tried:
- I have another blog I want to share content from.
- The recent outage of Micro.blog was a big reason keeping me from going all in to begin with.
Here I am again, ellipses and all…
Trying an experiment… After pondering it for a long time, and after a great chat with someone I respect, I have moved wholly to the Micro.blog platform, including Fediverse. If you follow me from a Mastodon instance, follow me over here now. Let’s see how this turns out.
In cleaning up my YouTube “Watch Later” list this morning, it’s funny to see how my interests have changed over time, and how diverse they are. Some of the stuff I’d saved from a few years ago (never watched of course) is of no interest to me now.
Because I think @canion, @Burk, and @martinfeld are such swell guys, I elected to subscribe to One Prime Plus over the weekend.
If you listen to Hemispheric Views, (and who doesn’t?), you should subscribe too.
I swear… I’m not a HV fanboy or anything.
Sometimes you post a really dumb question and then a simple search actually yields the results when you use just the right combination of keywords…
Holy Carp, Batman! My Apple Watch just alerted me my resting heart rate was 39 bpm a few minutes ago. That’s the lowest waking rate yet. I’ll be so happy to get through the monitoring phase (two more days to go) so we can start taking some action. Since “the episode” and new meds a few months ago, my heart rate has been averaging 45 bpm daily.
I created a new Twitter/X account a few days ago because a few people I want to follow in the Salesforce ecosystem have chosen to remain there. What do you think I was greeted with upon my return? Several bots trying to get me to click links to “see their content.” Some things just never change…
If you’re in a virtual meeting with a prospective vendor and say to them “I’m excited to be here” as part of your introduction, I have to ask – are you really? I know I’m not. 🤣
True to form, I have pivoted from Bear.app to Obsidian for note taking — at work. Let’s see if it sticks.
Jury summons has been postponed until mid-October. Hopefully the “really big project” at the day job will be done by then. 🤞