Uncategorized – Page 2 – Life on the Wicked Stage: Act 3

The Stranger In The Room: The Zelenskyy Ambush

Don’t we at least deserve competent evil doers?

In most meetings when big decisions are going to be made or deals are poised for closing all of the hashing out of details is done ahead of time, before the principals show up to make a show of it. But when one side doesn’t want the deal to close or has nefarious designs on tricking the other there’s an age old tactic used to help derail things. It’s called “The Stranger in the Room.”

The “Stranger in Room” during the Zelenskyy visit to the White House was J.D. Vance.

Here’s how the game is played.

“The Stranger” is present in the meeting, often as a second, third, or even lower functionary. Often as innocuous decoration. But “The Stranger” is brought in with the purpose of blowing things up, so that the principal doesn’t have to get his/her hands dirty.

Often it’s with an innocuous comment. Sometimes it’s with a serious question. Occasionally, though rarely, it’s with a completely defiant statement. I’m sure you’re familiar with the variant of having an assistant call someone out of a meeting for an important call at just the right time.

Vance’s role was to derail the meeting once things looked like they weren’t going The White House’s way, perhaps even scotch things from the beginning. He succeeded, but the masquerade was shorn of its cover when his principal, Trump, decided to open his mouth, and escalate things further, letting his ego take over revealing not only the game, but how ineffectual Vance was at playing his role.

It’s now quite obvious that Trump and his cadre of criminals thought they could snooker Zelenskyy. But they snookered themselves, endangering the future of Ukraine, Europe, and the world order in the process. Zelenskyy was right that they aren’t playing cards. Which is a good things, because the idiots he’s dealing with can’t even cut a deck, much less deal it.

Look, I know these are evil assholes intent on horrible things. It’s just a damn shame we don’t even have competent evil assholes. But then again, when damage is done it doesn’t matter if it was brought about by ignorance or malice.

(apologies for the weird formatting. WordPress is doing odd things today.)

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.

The Farce of Ritual

The ritual games cowards play.

We’re a bunch of cowards. Mostly. And we take cover behind rituals, ceremonies, and traditions.

I’m sure at some point in your life you’ve attended or participated in a wedding which you knew was doomed. Yet, when the officiant asked if you were willing to support this union you went along and agreed. I’m guessing you never spoke up when given the opportunity to do so either. You later danced with the bride or the groom, wished them well, went back to your beverage and whispered into the ear of your plus one that there was no way the marriage would last.

Their choice. Their life. Their bad.

Perhaps at some point you’ve participated in a meeting of the PTA, or some other local body, or a social organization with an elected structure. Or perhaps you’ve been both lucky or unlucky enough to perform public service in a government organization of some sort.

Regardless of the situation, the mission, or the efforts of those involved, if you’ve done any of the above or similar, you know just how much of a farce the rituals we hide behind in these circumstances don’t really offer much cover, because if those you’re working with don’t see through the thin veneer of the farce and the roles they play, eventually someone watching catches on.

Yet we perpetuate them. We don’t rock the boat out of some misguided quest for comity, community, or conviviality.

We’re doing that on a national and global scale these days as the U.S prepares to descend into a maelstrom that everyone sees coming, and like that moment in a wedding ceremony when the rolling waves make us a bit queasy, there’s no stomach for stopping the proceedings.

Certainly there are folks sounding the alarms about what’s to come politically, socially, and economically in the coming days. Those voices unfortunately are drowned out by a chorus of congratulations, traditions, and a fear of sticking necks out.

When a marriage ends in the failure you knew would happen and did nothing to try and stop it’s easy to take comfort in the knowledge you were right all along. Smug self-righteousness and reliance on traditions isn’t going to be worth much when this shotgun wedding comes to an end.

Watching the ritual confirmation hearings that accompany the change of administrations confirm my view that we prefer farce even when it presages a tragedy we can all see coming. Better to just surf along with the current and not make waves large enough to capsize the ship of state. Eventually those waves crash home and nature’s rituals wash away those we’ve built.

For the record, nobody ever says bad things in public about the deceased at a funeral either.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.

My Year With Apple: A Mixed Fruit Basket

It’s been quite a year toiling in Apple’s orchard.

For those who know me, they are familiar with my use of Apple products. Typically when I pick up a new piece of Apple gear I’ll write a review after using it for a few weeks. I didn’t do that this year. Part of the reason for that is Apple’s possibly panicky piecemeal rollout of iOS and macOS, which in many ways also changes the game for some of the new hardware releases. So to lay out my thinking I’ll post my thoughts here on the new Apple hardware I picked up along the way this year, as well as the still unfinished operating system releases.

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The Hardware

I’ll tackle the hardware first as that’s the least complicated. This year I acquired an 11 inch iPad Pro M4, and iPad mini, and iPhone 16 Pro and an Apple Watch series 10. Unlike many in the tech and gadget geek community I’m personally in a place where the lack of significant form factor changes to each new hardware version isn’t a detriment, it’s a bonus.

Essentially, each of those devices I acquired required no new learning curve. Set them up out of the box and I was back and operating the way I was before trading in the previous versions.

Yes, each is snappier, but that’s always expected. The iPads sport newer M-series chips, but with an exception or two they are essentially the same as the previous models. Some find that boring. I do not. Quite honestly, I actually prefer it this way. I “upgrade” my hardware when there is a new release and I move on. In the case of the two iPads that cycle isn’t an annual one, so it works for me and my budget.

Here’s a rundown on what is actually new that I do and don’t appreciate. (Notice I’m leaving the iPhone 16 Pro until the end.)

iPad Pro M4 (11 inch)

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The upgrade to the display to what Apple calls Ultra Retina XDR is a clear improvement that I notice daily and very much appreciate. Beyond that marketing moniker, Apple says the “groundbreaking tandem OLED technology” is, well, groundbreaking. In my use, I will say it’s simply gorgeous to look at.

The other big change is the iPad Pro is thinner. It’s noticeable, but when I’m using the device for work it’s in a case for protection so the benefit there is often negligible for me. I do notice it when I use it with the Magic Keyboard and lift it off of that accessory to read or watch while relaxing on the sofa or in bed.

Speaking of the Magic Keyboard, I will say the newer version feels like a more significant upgrade physically than does the iPad Pro it is meant as an accessory for. It is sleeker and lighter, and I much prefer the stability of the aluminum construction to the previous model.

iPad mini

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The iPad mini is my travel device on short trips and reading device at home. While I occasionally alternate it with the iPad Pro there is no discernible difference in how I use either device, other than viewing entertainment on the iPad Pro’s screen.

The newer version brings the M-series to the iPad mini for the first time with the A17 Pro chip, and the difference in performance is notable but not overwhelmingly so. Beyond that, there’s not much else new in the hardware to speak of. Apple updates the iPad mini lineup less frequently than its other iPads, so I’m sure this one will more than suffice until the next update a few years down the road.

Apple Watch Series 10

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The most significant upgrade to the Apple Watch hardware here is a slight increase in the size of the device that allows for an even slightly larger display, alongside of a size reduction in the depth of the body of the watch itself. Both are notable, but not really significant in how the series 10 feels on my wrist as compared to the Series 9.

I’m veering into software a bit here to say that upon release, the Series 10 had much less battery life than the Series 9. We’re now currently on watchOS 11.2 and the battery life seems to have improved, getting closer to expectations. But there are still mornings when I’m puzzled as battery life will drop significantly in the first few hours after I wake up.

I’m puzzled because when I’d see the battery life drop quickly in the morning, I’ll slap the Apple Watch on its charger for a bit and then I will see expected battery life throughout the day.

I don’t take advantage of the overnight sleep and health tracking features and my watch normally sits on a charger overnight, so I don’t know what effect that might or might not have. I do run a couple of third party apps that track medical data during daylight hours and that may be a part of the battery life discrepancies and my comparison to the previous version.

iPhone 16 Pro

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Apple’s cash cow, the iPhone, is also the prime example of the paradox Apple finds itself in. You can argue, and I have, that we reached peak smartphone design a while ago. That’s evident not only with Apple but also with other companies continuing to search for something, anything to make their smartphones appear new and fresh, in parallel with the search for the next big thing that might eventually replace the smartphone. Searches that have so far been fruitless.

With the exception of the annual chip evolution and newer camera technology nothing much of substance has changed in smartphone hardware recently. Yes, there have been attempts with folding smartphones and new buttons but the core value of the hardware remains the same.

I get it. Apple has to serve multiple masters: customers, the easily distracted tech press, shareholders and the markets. Sales numbers always go up when there is a major hardware change. The siren song for something new in hardware is real, loud, and I think ultimately somewhat defeating.

The perfect example is the big new thing on the iPhone 16 Pro: the Camera Control button.

This looked enticing (shiny new things always do), but I just don’t find it useful. It’s too finicky and fiddly to be of use. I’ve worked hard to use it, but I find it distracting when the act of taking a photo should be instinctive. Beyond that fiiddliness, anything the functions of the camera control button offer I can do later with software and not miss the shot I’m trying to take.

Perhaps there are features to come for the Camera Control function. Apple actually added one with iOS 18.2, allowing users to press and hold on an object and then search for info on what the camera captures. But again, we’ve been able to do this through other software for some time now.

AirPods Pro 2

I didn’t purchase new AirPods this year, but the new Head Gestures feature of nodding or shaking your head to dismiss or respond to a notification is a winner. The rolling, gurgling, burbling sounds are a bit much at times, but I find I really like this feature.

Software

As I was writing most of the above about hardware I noticed myself veering into talking about software changes that impact the hardware. The obvious reason for that is that Apple makes the entire widget and functionally it’s becoming harder and harder to distinguish where success reigns and failure begins.

This year’s software releases of iOS and macOS do contain new features, but the big tent pole is Apple Intelligence. That’s a tent that is far from being fully erected and, in my opinion, not ready for the paying public.

Apple Intelligence

97686290 157a 4cf4 a2d1 e7c87303c1bc_1920x1080. In my use, Apple Intelligence so far is nothing more than a curiosity. On the one hand, advertised as the next big thing, on the other still labeled a beta. Yes, it’s well known Apple is playing catch up, but given how fast anything in the AI market evolves (or doesn’t), I’m not sure there will ever be a race with a destination, much less a finish line. That’s not just true for Apple, but for all the players in this game.

If I had to rate Apple Intelligence at this point I’d say it’s not worth all of the mis-placed marketing dollars Apple is spending. In fact, it is precariously close to feeling like a shell game. I’ve tried all of the currently offered features and don’t really see any at the moment that will be of continued use for me going forward.

Notification Summaries are sometimes worth a laugh, but currently not worth the candle when I try to decipher the mixed messages. I’ve stopped taking screenshots of them, because they are too numerous to collect. If I have to click a second time for understanding, what’s the point?

Summaries of web pages at the moment seems to be a feature not well implemented. I rarely see anything beyond the title when I do look.

Genmoji and Image Playground have no value to me whatsoever. (I’ve never been that big on the whole Emoji thing as I prefer language to hieroglyphics. That used to be a distinction demonstrating society was advancing.) If I want some generative AI to create an image there are much better tools around. Apple’s Writing Tools don’t have any real value for me either.

As for the changes with Siri, there’s no way to judge currently, because what’s there is not what I think we might see someday either in a galaxy far, far away or in a Kubrick film of the last century.

If the point of the Apple Intelligence rollout was to please the markets and shareholders, their “meh” reactions after this piecemeal rollout demonstrate they are even dumber than I thought, or care less than Apple thought they would. Apple seems to have successfully silenced the “Can Apple do AI?” doubters with its smoke and mirror show, but smoke eventually fades and just stinks up your clothes.

I can only base my thoughts on its usefulness on my own experiences, but I’d rate Apple Intelligence as less than “meh.”. If this is “AI For The Rest of Us,” it doesn’t feel much like Apple understands us or AI.

I guess the question becomes if we’re always on the cusp of something new and promising, then why not slow things down and focus on getting it accomplished instead of being slave to an annual release cycle? Certainly it seems that it is proving more and more burdensome. Rumors that iOS 19 might have problems meeting deadlines while Apple continues hammering on Apple Intelligence features for iOS 18 might just be rumors, but I would bet there are more than a few sparks smoldering under that smoke.

iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia Other Features

That said there are some other improvements in iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia worth mentioning. I’m going to talk about those in combination, because new features increasingly blend across device platforms via Continuity. Speaking of, I’m glad I finally got my Continuity headaches solved in 2024. Though it took an intervention from Craig Federighi.

iPhone Mirroring

The new iOS and macOS feature I remain most pleased with is iPhone Mirroring. This looked cool when it was revealed. It has proven both cool and more useful than I ever thought it would be. It’s great not to always have to pick up my iPhone when I’m heads down working but need to check a notification.

macOS Notifications

In my column of new features I like and tied with iPhone Mirroring is the ability to see iPhone notifications on a Mac. Again, this is more useful than I thought it would be, even though I think Apple still has work to do with this on a consistency level, I rate this a winner.

That rating is also bolstered because along with it finally comes the ability to dismiss all notifications on a Mac. This has been too long in coming, so I’m glad it’s here.

I am puzzled why it is a two step process though.

When you view notifications you have three options at the bottom of the list, one being an X. Clicking on that X reveals only a single option to Clear All Notifications. That seems like an unnecessary step to me, unless there’s something else planned for the X in the future.

Photos

Lots of noise was made about the changes in Photos, but frankly I don’t think it was a big deal. I base that on my own usage and from the bevy of family and friends who I support, none of who complained.

What would be a big deal is if Apple would allow users more control to reliably sync photos. Apple actually made things a bit worse with iOS 18 by further hiding where you can see if photos are syncing behind your avatar instead of at the bottom of your Photo library.

Searching for photos is also much better in both iOS and macOS Sequoia. If that’s an Apple Intelligence feature, then it’s one of the few pluses. It isn’t perfect, but it is much better. I do wish I could delete a photo when I’m viewing search results. Currently I can only remove it from the album it creates with those results, even though I’m not saving the search as an album. This would be a great way to help delete duplicates and declutter.

Control Center

The changes here almost feel like a bad April Fools prank in that you can make changes, but playing the game to move icons around on a screen or between the new screens is nigh on near impossible and ultimately user unfriendly for a theoretically user friendly UI experience. If you think chasing Apps around a screen is fun, this will cure you of that.

Math Notes

More useful on an iPad than I find it on an iPhone or Mac, Math Notes is a significant new feature, especially when used with the Apple Pencil. Speaking of the Apple Pencil, I’m glad that both the new iPad Pro and iPad mini can use the same Apple Pencil interchangeably.

Handwriting Smoothing

This might work for some, but it is a marginal and almost negligible benefit to me as my handwriting is so awful. That said, searching notes that include my handwriting has yielded surprisingly good results even with my lousy handwriting.

Bluetooth

There seems to be something good under the hood added with Bluetooth. I base this on connectivity with my car. My car isn’t equipped with CarPlay but I do connect my iPhone via Bluetooth. Previous issues I had with connectivity seem to have vanished with iOS 18. I have to give credit to Apple, because nothing in my car has changed.

There was some early jankiness using Bluetooth on my Mac with peripherals, but that seems to have disappeared in later point releases of macOS Sequoia.

Safari and Distraction Control

I like the new Distraction Control feature in Safari and hope Apple continues improving it. It’s a bit clunky to use at times, but it does help quite a bit with the continued enshittifcation of the web.

RCS Messaging

This is a notable improvement in my case, because it does improve messaging back and forth with some family, friend, and work threads when images are shared.

Smart Stack on Apple Watch

I find myself blowing hot and cold on the Smart Stack feature. At times it does approach the magic it promises. At other times it’s just an annoyance. I’ve tied turning it off and that can solve the annoyance factor, but I find myself wanting this to work and be smarter.

There are plenty of other new features across Apple’s platforms, but these are the ones that I find myself using the most, outside of Apple Intelligence.

Summing Up

To sum all of this up, without using any Artificial Intelligence, Apple or otherwise, I’d say this year’s hardware and software releases from Apple are one of those years we’ll look back on as a transitional one. Note that the only M4 series device I acquired this year was an iPad Pro, so I can’t speak beyond that on that new M-series evolution. Given how I use my iPad Pro, I’d say it was a winner, but not a life-changing one.

And quite frankly, AI marketing and money grubbing pitches aside, I am extremely comfortable upgrading my hardware as new generations of mobile devices roll out, and equally comfortable sitting on my computer purchases for as long as they hold out.

I am becoming increasingly uncomfortable though with the pace of operating system releases that seem to keep us all in a perpetual beta state whether or not we opt-in to the actual betas themselves. I don’t have a problem with Apple rolling out features over a period of time. I’d rather they do that than release something unfinished and full of bugs. But, I do have a problem with the heavy marketing push that trumpets what’s to come, long before the music is even ready to be played.

I’m able to keep up with what’s real and what’s not or not yet in the hype cycle, but the family and friends I support feel confused, and then become uninterested. If the goal is for folks to actually want to buy new hardware and to use new features, that’s ultimately a self-defeating strategy.

The Vision

Further summing things up, I think Apple’s release of the Vision Pro encapsulates the challenges within Apple’s vision. No, I didn’t buy one of those devices, but I did do the demo several times. I do buy the long term vision behind Spatial Computing, but I think Apple overreached with its hardware and design ambitions. Apple was able to recover from a similar overreach with the original Apple Watch, but the ante wasn’t so high for the consumer. The Vision Pro comes with a steep price to get in on the ground floor, and as of this writing it feels like it was so steep that it will actually change the floor itself.

I think a similar thing is going to take place with Artificial Intelligence, Apple’s version, and that of others. So many have ambitiously bet so much on that being the next big driver in tech, but I’m guessing in the long run it’s going to just be another passenger, perhaps in a side-car, along for the ride in an increasingly slower pace in the smartphone and mobile device race.

I feel almost Luddite-like saying this, but I wish Apple and others would focus on making what we have better than trying to make it new.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.

Sunday Morning Reading

Tough reading for tough times in today’s Sunday Morning Reading.

It’s a Sunday. I’ve been reading. As usual I’ll share some of that with you in today’s Sunday Morning Reading.

I started out the week thinking I’d try to avoid politics. That didn’t work. Sort of like getting a cancer diagnosis and not wanting to know anything about the disease taking over your body. So, apologies if there isn’t much “light” reading today.

I’ll start of with an anonymous piece published in The Guardian. We all knew misogyny was a feature of the incoming frat party that will be the new administration. I don’t think anyone thought it would filter down so quickly to high schools. The Boys In Our Liberal School Are Different Now That Trump Has Won, tells that story. Woe be onto us and our children.

David Todd McCarty is working out how to get through the day these days. Check out We’re All Just Killing Time.

Sherrilyn Ifill calls her piece The Truth. It is. And it’s hard.

Joan Westenberg says the way to destroy a generation is to make them think the word runs on feelings and then use those feelings against them. Check out How To Destroy a Generation.

David French thinks Donald Trump Is Already Starting to Fail. Great. Too bad he’s going to take the rest of us down with him.

Norman Solomon is optimistic about Hope In A Time of Fascism.

Margaret Sullivan tries to debunk some of the lies rolling around this history changing moment in As Trump Plans Become Clearer, Reject These Four Dangerous Lies.

Life may feel too short to worry about some things. But it’s all a matter of perspective. Check out Natasha MH in Life’s Too Short for Matching Socks.

And to close things out, BlueSky is the latest social network to experience a burst of new users. This time the the burst is due largely in reaction against Musk’s rape of Twitter/X, and dissatisfaction with Zuckerberg’s Threads, which had been the darling for awhile. Mike Issac takes a look in Bluesky Is Growing Up. Maybe Too Fast.

If you’re interested in just what the heck Sunday Morning Reading is all about you can read more about the origins of Sunday Morning Reading here. You can also find more of my writings on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. You can also find me on social networks, including Bluesky, under my own name.

Sunday Morning Reading

Looking ahead, looking back, yet always looking in this week’s Sunday Morning Reading.

It’s Sunday. It’s the Sunday after the U.S. election that will change everything. In my opinion those changes will make life worse not better. The one thing that won’t change is my curiosity and sharing that in Sunday Morning Reading.

I cranked out a Thursday edition of Sunday Morning Reading this week to share some terrific writing in the aftermath of the election. I’m going to once again share a couple of those titles here, for the record, but also because they are worth re-reading now, and perhaps also later.

John Gruber’s thoughts post election are special, as is his piece How It Went.

Ken White of PopeHat fame’s piece And Yet It Moves is also worth re-reading and re-sharing. Excellent.

David Todd McCarty’s So, That Happened is also worth re-visiting.

Now on to some new stuff to share.

A series I had been sharing links to for awhile never really escaped my radar, but for some reason didn’t get mentioned as much here. Ellis Weiner and Steve Radlauer’s excellent serial The Split has come to an end. Conceived as a meditation “about what a country modeled entirely on red state ‘values’ would be like,” it has been a fantastic journey through 52 chapters. I’m sorry to see it come to an end. You can find the final chapter here and all of The Split here.

Over at Beardy Guy Musings, Denny Henke advises that we Remain Calm. But Prepare. Good advice.

Rachel Maddow reminds us that America has had its share of bad guys in the past in Dead Last.

Jeff Jarvis asks and answers Why Are Liberals So Infuriated with the Media?

Matteo Wong ponders The Death of Search in a world racing to embrace AI harder and harder.

Finally Frank Landymore tells us that a Physicist Says There’s Another Universe Hiding Behind the Big Bang. You can read the original essay Landymore refers to by Neil Turok here. Intriguingly not only does it exist in this theory but it is moving back in time. I’m sure not alone in wishing somehow we could do that either here or there.

America Decides If It Still America Today

Election Day. Decision Day.

Finally.

America decides its future today. Fingers crossed we make the right choice.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.

Anne Applebaum’s Advice “These are not normal times. Be Prepared.”

Time to get prepared for what comes after the election.

Scary times. Halloween is approaching and so is the election. The scary energy heading into November 5 is more palpable and nerve wracking than whatever might come our way on the traditional fright night.

Contrary to the “undecided voter” narrative the media loves so well, it sure seems like the battle lines are well drawn. Early voting is kicking in, along with the final push to the polls and the legal and extra-legal moves to disrupt the vote.

At some point there will be a result, but that’s the catch in most throats. As decided as most voters are, they also seem to be resolved that what happens in the days, weeks, and months after the election is going to be when things become the most scary and frightful, keeping us awake at night.

Anne Applebaum has put together a guide of sorts for those who feel like spectators in this high stakes drama, offering advice for ways you can get off the sidelines and into the game.

Appropriately titled The Danger Is Greater Than in 2020. Be Prepared, it’s not only worth reading it’s worth noting how you can choose to get involved, because like it or not, we all will be.

Yes, the article might further exacerbate some anxiety, but frankly we all need to be on point and as Ms. Applebaum says “be prepared.”

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.

More Adventures with iPhone 16 Pro Photography (and Hairy Balls)

Aliens Haven’t Landed, but these “Hairy Balls” Sure Look Out of This World.

Stumbled across these alien looking pods this weekend on a walk around the neighborhood. They are called Balloon or Puffball Milkweed, and also according to the neighbor who tends the corner garden “Hairy Balls.”

A close-up of a green, spiky seed pod hanging from a plant, surrounded by leaves and other vegetation. Some blurred background elements include a road and parked cars. Called Balloon or Puffball Milkweed and nicknamed Hairy Balls.

She had an open pod and showed what the seeds inside look like.

There’s a gallery of more shots after the Read More link below.

There’s more iPhone 16 Pro Photography and quite a few pumpkins in this post also.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.

At Last: A Cure for Apple iCloud Migraines Thanks to Craig Federighi

Finally, a solution to those Apple iCloud Migraines thanks to Craig Federighi

Relief. At last. All it took was the right doctor.

We’ve all been there with health situations. You lay out your symptoms and whatever checklist your medical professional follows leads to a course of treatment that might or might not work. Perhaps after repeated tests and possible cures you might finally get the attention of someone who actually listens, goes beyond the symptom check list, and you get treatment that works to solve your problem.

If your situation and symptoms don’t fit those of the majority of patients it can be an exhausting, frustrating, and dehumanizing experience.

The same is sadly true with technical support. You have a problem. You call or chat (hopefully with a human). Lay out your symptoms and you get served up solutions from a playbook that don’t solve your problem. Striking out on your own you search the Internet for solutions, (increasingly a frustrating and useless experience), only to discover others facing the same issues.

At least you find comfort in knowing you’re not alone. Even so, there’s not enough strength in numbers if you and your compatriots fall into that ever popular yet corporately dismissed category of a “small minority of users.”

Like with your medical condition, if your technical issue falls outside of the range that most experience, then you better hope that you are talking to someone who actually listens and isn’t just a part of a solution mill that rewards quick dispensing of the call the way restaurants hope for quick table turnovers.

The Diagnosis

Perhaps you’ve read my previous chronicles discussing the Apple iCloud Migraines. I’ve been suffering with these headaches for a number of years and through a tourist guide map of California named macOS operating systems. I won’t go into detail, but you can find links to them here, here, here, here, and here. I will offer a brief summary (non AI generated) of the problem :

At each point that Apple released an operating system update, whether beta or final release, my Macs would mysteriously lose all Continuity based or related features. Continuity is the system Apple uses to connect its devices allowing users to copy and paste between them, sign in to Macs with an Apple Watch, display iPhone widgets on a Mac Screen, and connect Macs and iPads together via Universal Control. Your iCloud account is a key to Continuity.

Note that I haven’t been on a beta since owning any of my current devices. So, in theory, none of these beta updates should have affected me. However, I might as well have been downloading betas like a beta junkie, given the return of these migraines with each beta release and subsequent full releases.

Communications over the years with Apple Support yielded nothing that would help until Dan Moren of Six Colors posted about a similar issue he was facing and the responses he got from Apple Support.

That second agent proved quite capable, not only agreeing that the situation was strange, but also looking into issues on Apple’s side. Which led to the somewhat bizarre conclusion of this story: after perhaps 20 minutes on the phone, he seemed to hit on something. I heard him laugh and say something along the lines of “that explains it” and then, with my consent, put me on hold. When he came back, he said—and I’m not exactly quoting, but close enough: “I’m sorry, I can’t tell you any more than this, but all your services should be back up pretty much exactly 12 hours after they went down.”

Now, in my initial forays on social media, I had gotten a reply from someone on Mastodon mentioning that Apple’s iCloud servers were sometimes put in maintenance mode for 12 hours—but upon going back and looking for that specific reply, it was nowhere to be found.

It did, however, support the theory that something had gone wrong with the particular iCloud server on which my account was located.

There was, according to this support agent, nothing to do but sit back and wait, then call back if service hadn’t returned by the 12-hour mark and reference my case number. He was again apologetic for not being able to give me any more information, but reiterated his confidence that everything would be resolved.

After Dan’s post turned the heat up a bit on the issue my calls with Apple Support changed in tone and substance. I got moved a couple of rungs up the ladder to an advanced support level. (Draw your own conclusions). Initially that seemed promising. I also got the “just wait it out” response as Dan.

Suffice it to say that eventually yielded no real solution and there were two periods of time when things just seemed to stall. The first being prior to the Apple Vision Pro release and the second in the run-up to WWDC 2024. I chalked those up to resource allocations.

Reaching the Right Doctor

Following WWDC I decided on one frustrating evening to drop an email to Craig Federighi, Apple’s honcho on all things software. I didn’t expect any response. My previous emails to Tim Cook were met with a brush off.

In the context of my email I appealed to Craig quite explicitly that I was very interested in the new iPhone Mirroring feature coming in Sequoia that relied on Continuity and how he had discussed Continuity during the WWDC presentation. I also expressed that I imagined this feature would be at best a hit and miss for me given the ongoing migraines.

Lo and behold, I got a response from Federighi requesting I share diagnostic files with him. Note I don’t know if I was actually communicating with him directly or one of his staff, but after submitting another round of diagnostic files I received the emails below:

And then I received the following:

Once macOS Sonoma 14.6 and iOS 17.6 were released the problem did indeed appear to be solved, but I knew I would have to wait through the next few beta releases and also the release of Sequoia to determine if the fix would indeed hold.

The good news is that I can report the fix did indeed hold through the remainder of the beta cycle and also through the final releases of macOS Sequoia 15 and iOS 18. As of today it has held through developer betas and also public release of the betas for 15.1 and 18.1 since installing the final versions of macOS 15 and iOS 18 the day of their release. It has also held through upgrading my iPhone and Apple Watch.

I’m glad this seems to be resolved but I’m going to remain skeptical until we see the .ox and .x releases of Sequoia and iOS 18 roll out. To be honest, it feels like I’m waiting for any sign of a possible reoccurrence of a medical symptom.

Wrapping Up

I’ve always tied my migraines to problems somehow related to my iCloud account and it appears those suspicions were by and large correct. I don’t have a definitive answer but given that only a “small percentage of users” experienced this issue combined with comments from support personnel and a few clues from Dan Moren’s post, that is what logically makes the most sense to me and a few others I’ve consulted, social network buddy Dwight Silverman among them. By the way Dwight led me to a workaround involving signing out and back in to Messages in iCloud.

I’m certainly appreciative of Craig Federighi or his office pushing this forward to a resolution. I’m reasonably convinced it helped that iPhone Mirroring, which relies on Continuity, is one of the sexy tent pole features of this year’s new releases finally probably brought quicker attention to the issue. That and a stroke of good luck with my timing.

Unfortunately, for whatever reason, users in situations that don’t have a large podcast or online audience and can’t stir up a major hullabaloo in the tech press are left to piece these clues together. Unless on a rare occasion they catch the attention of a higher up at Apple to find a resolution. That shouldn’t be the case.

Certainly the bigger a company becomes it’s easier for all sorts of issues for a “small minority of users” to fall through the cracks and for priorities to shift. That’s just a reality. And it shouldn’t take the luck of good timing in sending an email to a top executive, certainly busy with many other tasks, to suss out an issue.

As I’ve said all along, Apple needs to find a way to come clean with both users and its front line support personnel when these issue present themselves. Listening should be the key because sometimes the patient/user has all the clues you need to help them.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome. I can also be found on social media under my name as above.

Sunday Morning Reading

There’s no crying in baseball or politics, but there’s always reading on a Sunday Morning.

Time for a little Sunday Morning Reading from a week that was wacky. Politics continues to resemble anything other than politics, new iPhones and Apple software were released, the Chicago Cubs finally quit teasing their fans and dropped out of contention for the playoffs, and everything we associate with this weird world just seems to keep getting weirder.

Things may be weird, and it may feel like It’s enough to make you wish for winter and to curl into a cocoon and isolate yourself. Instead check out Jessica Stillman’s piece This Is What 8 Hours of Social Isolation Does to Your Brain and Body (It’s Not Pretty.)

While we’re talking health, Dave Winer penned this piece, Health Is Nothing To Screw With. Damn straight.

David Todd McCarty looks at how the insignificant details of life can add up to big answers in All Things Great And Small.

Turning the page, (oh, how I want to turn so many pages) to politics check out Jay Willis on how Political Betting Could Soon Be Legal — and It’s the Last Thing This Election Needs. Bet on it.

If you’re like me you might believe that the only thing more troubling than our politics is how our media covers it, check out Jeff Jarvis on How They Have Failed Us.

One of this week’s horror stories in politics was the Mark Robinson story. No one should be surprised by his actions or the rush to resuscitate what should be a dead campaign. David French says MAGA Wants Transgression. Mark Robinson Is The Result.

95% of what this political moment is all about is race and racism. We’re never going to learn the right lessons in my lifetime. Dustin Arand in Ellemeno learned one. Read What Two Racist Jokes Taught Me About The Nature of Bigotry.

Bots are everywhere. Some are taking your reservation for dinner. As Dwight Silverman asks (he gets the h/t for this piece) what happens when a bot working for you gets a bot on the other end of the line? Check out When You Call A Restaurant, You Might Be Chatting with an AI Host by Flora Tsapovsky.

As has become predictable one of the best places to read about Apple’s new software each year is MacStories. Their reviews are excellent. Check out Federico Viticci’s iOS and iPadOS 18: The MacStories Review. Check out their other reviews as well.

Closing out with baseball, Paul Sullivan looks at the fitting end to the Chicago Cubs season. Why fitting? Because the Cubs started their hero of yesteryear who turned into essentially a guaranteed loss each time he took the mound this season. There’s no crying in baseball. There shouldn’t be this much sentimentality either. Check out A Day In The Life of Wrigley Field At The End Of A Lost Summer for the Chicago Cubs.