Finished reading: Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson 📚

Cabin season is the best season.

Finished reading: The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson 📚

MacUpdater

MacUpdater has become an essential part of my digital toolkit – a rare utility that solves a genuine problem without creating new ones. It scans your Mac for outdated applications (tracking over 100,000 apps) and updates them with a single click, eliminating the fragmented update experience across different apps. What impresses me most is its thoughtful design: a clean interface that clearly highlights outdated apps, a privacy-first approach that requires no account creation, and a refreshingly straightforward one-time purchase ($12.59 for Pro Edition) licensing model.

Platform Investigation: Eleventy vs. Micro.blog vs. Weblog.lol

I have been interested in sharing more online, and decided to finally do a true deep-dive into the options out there to host a blog. Background and Evaluation I have been a happy Micro.blog subscriber but never really used it to the fullest for “blogging”. I am not a big writer by any means, but enjoy sharing interesting things I come across. Maybe it’s a link to an article, or an attempt to share a take on the latest tech thing in my life.

Continue reading →

The Future of Search isn’t Google

From David Pierce at The Verge:

I’m still using Kagi, and it’s hard to imagine switching back. It’s now _Google _that looks bizarre and unfamiliar every time I open it. As Google has become more visual, more chaotic, and consistently less good at simply finding the things I’m looking for, Kagi has stayed simple and straightforward. It is a page full of links, and they’re usually the right ones.

This has been my exact experience since switching to Kagi around a year ago, I’ve already made Kagi my go-to search engine on all of my devices.

App Defaults 2024

Below is my updated list of apps I use in various categories updated from 2024. I have excluded my strict work-usage-only applications. Main Apps • 📨 Mail Client: Mimestream (macOS) / Mail.app (macOS/iOS), Mail.app, and Gmail (search only) (iOS) • 📮 Mail Server: Gmail, Fastmail, and some iCloud hosting with a custom domain • 📝 Notes: Notes.app (ad-hoc/personal), NotePlan, and a late shift back to Obsidian (work). I still bounce between these apps but lately enjoy using Obsidian more for most notes.

Continue reading →

App Defaults 2023

I was inspired by Hemispheric Views 097 - Duel of the Defaults! and this post by Robb Knight. Below is the list I use in the various categories mentioned. I have excluded my strict work usage only applications. 📨 Mail Client: Mimestream (macOS) / Mail.app (macOS/iOS), Gmail (search only) (iOS) 📮 Mail Server: Gmail, Fastmail 📝 Notes: Notes.app (ad-hoc), NotePlan. I do still occasionally dabble with Bear and Obsidian. ✅ To-Do: Reminders, Things 3

Continue reading →

iPhone 15 Pro Max - Thoughts

The 15 Pro Max seems (as of iOS 17.2 Beta)to run more warm then my previous iPhones. Definitely more noticeable to me than I ever remember with the 14 Pro Max. Titanium finish is fantastic. In fact, the feel of the device was so good, I decided to go case-less for a bit, and ended up dropping my phone on cement almost immediately after making this decision.1 The 15 Pro Max weight differences (and re-balancing of the device) are significant.

Continue reading →

iOS 17 Apple Podcast App

I have been testing out the new iOS 17 Podcasts app, and for the most part it gets me 90% of what I want in a Podcast app. Biggest drawbacks: Missing trim silence/smart speed feature. I did not realize how many of my podcasts I regularly listen to had so much dead air. Additional incremental / custom per podcast speed settings People speak at different speeds, and it is really helpful to have custom settings per podcast Quick access to show notes The iOS 17 Podcast app has the show notes available, but they require multiple taps to access, which is an added frustration.

Continue reading →

Tried a spray painter for the first time today, and I am officially a believer. Worked perfectly for tackling a cabinetry paint job.

Only downside is the lengthy (and messy) cleanup process.

Working on getting iOS Focus modes properly configured this weekend.

I am feeling fairly confident that iOS 17 dev beta 2 has broken Focus modes a bit though, as Do Not Disturb keeps getting enabled without any intervention on my side.

Checking out micro.blog and downloading the macOS Sonoma beta after returning from our camping trip early (due to thunderstorms), as one does.

testing out micro.blog