I released the latest episode to my YouTube channel this evening. While the main purpose of the episode is to highlight my hike to Hope Camp in Saguaro National Park here in Tucson, I also talk about my feelings around the content moderation changes/elimination at Meta, which will affect Facebook, Instagram, and Threads.
I left Threads about a month ago when the place went crazy with bots and MAGA folks. While I’m not abandoning Facebook and Instagram, they have been removed from my phone and I have decided to no longer promote my YouTube channel releases on Meta owned platforms. If you’re curious as to my reasoning, see the first 90 seconds or so of my latest episode.
I’ll probably write more about it this week. I’m in a mood.
I’ve mentioned before that as of late, Apple has been disappointing me a little more than usual. Not only is the new iPhone 16 Pro kind of ‘meh’, but their latest version of MacOS seems to be a bit more buggy than other recent releases. Yes, the camera on my iPhone 16 Pro is amazing but otherwise the phone feels like the previous two iPhones I’ve owned. And iOS 18 doesn’t really blow my skirt up.
Tim Cook’s recent donation to the Trump Inauguration Fund rubbed me the wrong way as well. I know he did it in Apple’s best interest, and plenty of other tech moguls have done the same, but if there was ever a tech company to have a rebellious streak, it’s Apple.
I am keeping a close eye on Apple’s progression through the 2020s. When the time comes for me to buy a new laptop, which let’s face it, is going to be a couple of years since my M2 MacBook Air is still pretty new and snappy, I’ll be considering all options. I’ve always been a fan of Linux, but I don’t know that Linux can do what I want it to do in the creative space. It’s something I’m exploring right now.
But I’m not going to get rid of my current setup just to make a point. Not only would it be expensive, it would also contribute to this endless cycle of buying the shiny things to keep the American Dream alive.
I am writing this blog entry on my M1 iPad Pro, which I purchased a number of years ago. It’s still quite snappy and does everything I want it to do. I’ve even edited video on it.
I don’t know that I’ll ever get another iPad Pro, but this one continues to purr along, even with a chunk missing on the corner of the screen.
I’m a bit of a rebel, but as I get older I’m trying to be a thrifty rebel.
One of my Christmas gifts this past holiday was a “PiAware SkyAware”. For those unfamiliar, for the past several years, most aircraft have what is known as “ADS-B”, the acronym for Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast. It’s a groovy way for airplanes to digitally talk to each other and talk to ground stations. Popular websites like FlightRadar, FlightAware, and ADS-B Exchange feature moving maps of air traffic all over the world and I’ve found it quite nifty.
As a nerd that likes to do my own thing, the PiAware SkyAware is a homemade solution for monitoring ADS-B signals from the comfort of my own home. The kit comes just about ready to go, you just have to assemble a couple of parts and find a spot with a clear view of the sky to place the antenna. This was a nifty little Christmas present and I had it installed by the weekend between Christmas and New Year’s Day.
This past weekend I bought a little touchscreen monitor to accompany my newest Raspberry Pi 5, and now I have a moving map sitting on my office desk showing me the air traffic in the area.
Yes, I could just monitor one of the commercial sites for the same thing, but what fun is that? Knowing I’m pulling real live data from the airspace within 200 miles of our home is pretty awesome in my book.
One of the reasons I don’t use my MacBook Air full time is because of the built in distractions Apple has introduced to their ecosystem. The latest version of iOS now has iPhone Mirroring built into the experience. With this new feature, you basically have a window with your iPhone appearing on your Mac desktop. Granted, you have to opt in instead of opting out of the feature, but it’s something they touted quite a bit at WWDC earlier this year, so I gave it a whirl.
I have no reason to have my iPhone mirrored to my Mac desktop. Like most folks these days, my smartphone is almost always in reach. This feature seems to be a bit more “let’s do something to warrant an update” instead of bringing something more useful to the Apple experience.
I liken the “iPhone Mirroring” feature to the Camera Control button on the iPhone 16 models: redundant at best.
Now, I know my Apple experience is not the same as everyone else’s Apple experience, so I guess I need to add some disclaimer that this is just my personal point of view. I have officially disclaimed. I feel like there’s a ton of other features and bugs the Apple developers could be addressing, like the sad state of HomeKit, or the fact that the Mail app isn’t super reliable if you venture outside of the iCloud space into your own mail host running IMAP. For those unaware, IMAP is a mail protocol that’s been around a few decades. Apple Mail struggles with IMAP from time to time.
I know Apple has “Focus Modes” built into their ecosystem, and I should be using Focus Mode to not be distracted by things like iPhone Mirroring. It all just feels like layer on top of layer of redundancy to me.
Now, I’d much rather deal with all this redundancy over Microsoft’s onslaught of ads in Windows 11 or constant scraping of data and weird takes on integrating AI into the platform. No company is ever going to take a screenshot of my desktop every five seconds in the name of AI. That’s just not going to happen.
Small wonder I’m using my Linux laptops more and more.
We have entered what I hope is the “quiet time” of the year at work. From now until the end of the year I hope to get all the little things I have not completed on my projects list to a final status that will make me want to sip a little more champagne as we welcome in 2025.
I let the team go a couple of hours early today so they could get a headstart on their Thanksgiving. In IT land we’re often required to work extra hours above and beyond and while the rest of the company is enjoying their time off. This is how we keep the bits and bytes flowing in the proper direction and with confidence.
A little extra time before Thanksgiving is a good way to give a little thanks.
So I’m writing this blog entry on my ThinkPad T460s. I purchased this ThinkPad as a used laptop a number of years ago and have used it on and off over the years. It’s always important to use old computers for as a long as practical, because it keeps them out of the landfills. Linux makes it relatively easy to do this; support may have been dropped for Microsoft Windows years ago but the Linux distro Fedora 41 (Cinnamon Spin), Cinnamon is a desktop environment, helps this computer run like new again.
I love it.
The ThinkPad series has some of the best keyboards I’ve ever used on a laptop. They are my absolute favorite, and that’s one of the reasons I’ve rebuilt this ThinkPad as a “distraction free” writing environment. I can type away without getting notifications from a ton of unrelated apps. Focus mode in MacOS comes close to achieving this, but it’s not 100% there.
Buying an old laptop on the cheap and turning it into a digital typewriter is the way to go.
Companies have been leaving Twitter in droves this week. Here’s a listing of some of the companies that left the platform since the U.S. Election last week.
3M
Balenciaga
Berlin Film Festival
Best Buy
Devon County Council
Eli Lilly
The Guardian
Magers & Quinn Booksellers
North Wales Police
NPR
Playbill
Royal National orthopaedic hospital
UnitedHealth Group
Victoria’s Department of Families, Fairness and Housing
Austrian Airlines announced today that they have also left the platform, and they did it in style.
I thoroughly enjoy Phil Edwards’ YouTube channel. His videos feature interesting looks at a myriad of topics. His presentational style inspires me to learn more.
Here he takes a look at The Blue Ridge Tunnel. When completed in 1858, it was the longest tunnel in the United States at 4,237 feet.
Just a guy with a husband. We’ve been together 28 years and he still makes me see fireworks on a daily basis. Hiker. Storm Chaser. Private Pilot. Tech Guy. Hackerish.
