-
Curing My Soul
I’m not sure about the body, but it definitely cures my soul.
-
American Inevitability
It’s weird watching the scary political actions and reactions to the Charlie Kirk shooting in America from a foreign country.
Nothing is surprising.
I hate to say it, but something like this was inevitable. The thing itself, and the reaction so far to it.
Saying other ignores the obvious road we’re on.
I told my wife before we went to bed last night exactly what the reactions I’m seeing this morning would be. They are playing out as scripted. And you need no imagination to expect them to continue and how they will do so.
I wish I could say being abroad changes my perspective. It doesn’t.
You can also 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.
-
EmptyWheel on Artificial Intelligence
I highlighted the excellent 4-part series What We Talk About When We Talk About AI by EmptyWheel in the most recent Sunday Morning Reading column. I’m linking to it again, because it is not only excellent in scope and content, but also depth and context that will be worth referring to as we continue to plunge, or be plunged, into a world increasingly confounded and defined by AI.
As I said, it’s a four part series. Here are links to each piece:
A NORMAL PERSON’S EXPLAINER ON WHAT GENERATIVE AI IS AND DOES
THE OTHER HALF OF THE AI RELATIONSHIP
PROTEINS, FACTORIES, AND WICKED SOLUTIONS
Repeating for my own emphasis something I’m saying lately, the pendulum of opinion about AI is swinging widely of late. The more ubiquitous it becomes the more we seeing opinions shift. Sometimes away from using it, but also seeing some who have been negative about using AI, reevaluating it as well.
That all seems natural to me given where we are with this new technology. Essentially in its infancy. A well funded infancy perhaps, but still teething, and shitting the bed on occasion.
Bookmark this series or save it where you will. I have a feeling it will be essential context in the short and long terms of this era we’re in.
(Image from Peter Herrman on Unsplash.)
You can also 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.
-
Things Apple Won’t Fix In The Next Round of OS 26 Updates
Apple is announcing new iPhones, Apple Watches and possibly other things today. They’ll also announce the release date for the operating systems for all of those new devices and previous generations already in use. All of the focus is going to be on everything new, improved, changed and Liquid Glassed.
I’m sure I’ll write about some of that down the road. For today I’m writing about the things I’m thinking Apple won’t address in any of the new operating systems. These are lingering issues that in some cases have not been corrected over the life of multiple operating systems. As much as I get excited about a new software release I remain frustrated year after year when Apple steps forward while dragging its feet on correcting existing problems.
Believe me, I get that Apple has created such a large ecosystem that it is impossible to pay attention to every detail and correct every mistake. I get it, but I don’t sympathize with it. Introducing new operating systems pumped out on what seems like an impossible to meet annual cycle creates other issues that need to be addressed and it is apparently too easy to just let the older ones go unattended. And from what I’ve seen from developers I follow, there are going to be a host of new issues that are going to need to be resolved over the next year. Or longer. The longer you let an existing issue hang around without attention, the more the “control the whole widget” promises seem not quite in control.
Certainly it’s a question of priorities. How the priorities are set makes me question the priorities of those that set them.
Some of these issues I’ve highlighted before, others I have not. Here are a few that continue my questioning of Apple’s priorities. I’m sure there are some that others experience that fall into the same category of hoping Apple pays attention to them someday.
Syncing
I’ve seen a decrease in syncing issues with iCloud in general. That’s a good thing. But Apple still insists on syncing Photos on its own schedule. Whether it’s battery life optimization or system optimization the delay is never optimized for the user experience.
Shared Reminder Notifications
I’ve written about this before. The fact that this one hasn’t been corrected since Shared Reminders became a thing undercuts all of the very good work Apple has done with the Reminders app in general.
Bluetooth Weirdness
I don’t know how else to describe this other than it’s just weird. There are times when Bluetooth connectivity works as designed with my AirPods and other peripherals. There are times when things just go bonkers especially with AirPods. Things will work as designed for days on end, then they won’t. AirPods switch between devices as designed, but then stop doing so. Adaptive Listening will work well sometimes and sometimes not. Connectivity with my car works well and then it doesn’t. My car isn’t smart by any stretch of the imagination and gets no software updates so it makes sense to me that it’s a Bluetooth issue on the iPhone. Note that it happens at random times unrelated to iOS updates or those mysterious AirPod firmware updates. The Magic Trackpad works 98% of the time. Then not. It’s weird.
Shortcuts
It’s become either a legend or a joke that every time Apple releases a new update (full release or point release) something goes wrong with Shortcuts. Either way it’s a problem for “the future of automation.” I particularly love it when a Shortcut just hangs with no indication that there’s a problem after working well for days on end. This inconsistent problem is consistent.
The App Store
Apple’s biggest retail outlet is the slowest loading and buggiest piece of software it has ever designed. It’s also designed abysmally.
Focus Modes
I use very few Focus Modes. I do not share them between devices. Sometimes they work. Sometimes they don’t. I’ve never set a Sleep Focus on my iMac. Yet one mysteriously appears at random during the day about twice a month. The Focus I’ve set for listening to Podcasts inconsistently fails to kick in.
Mail Rules
I think Apple has just given up on Mail Rules because the ones I’ve built just don’t work anymore.
Apple News
I enjoy that on my Mac I can choose to open an article in Safari or that I can open a webpage in Apple News. I don’t understand why that can’t happen on the iPhone.
Notification Summaries
I long ago turned Notification Summaries off because they were just confusing and caused more work than just dealing with the Notification. I recently turned them back on to check and see if there had been any improvement. There has not.
As I said, I don’t anticipate Apple fixing any of the above with all of the new ’26 releases. I’ve learned to work around them the same way I work around the passenger side backdoor on my car won’t open from the inside and I have to open it from the outside whenever I’ve got a back seat passenger. It’s a walk around workaround. It’s not ideal. And each time I have to do it I’m reminded just how imperfect things are and can be. I’m sure it will diminish the value of the car when I do decide to trade it in, but it’s already reduced the value of it in my mind.
I feel the same way when Apple doesn’t address longstanding issues that I and others have brought to their attention. Here’s hoping Apple addresses some of these issues. Here’s hunching they won’t.
You can also 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.
Apple, Apple News, Apple Watch, Bugs, iOS26, iPad, iPadOS26, iPhone, Mac, Tech, technology, watchOS26, Writing -
An Action Everyone Should Take Against Trump
How about them apples? The Wall Street Journal has printed a copy of Trump’s infamous birthday greeting to Epstein while reporting that the Epstein estate has turned over the naughty birthday book to Congress. I guess Rupert Murdoch is pissed.
The birthday greeting has been in circulation awhile, but there was nothing approaching proof that it was real. Trump of course is already continuing to deny it. Even so, it’s probably going to turn into yet another nothing.
But it doesn’t have to.
My suggestion is that everyone print it out and mail to the occupant at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Better yet, I’d hope someone with some organizing clout would kickstart such a campaign. Don’t stop with Trump, mail a copy to Republican Congress critters. Has to be better than phone calls and emails. Not saying those don’t work, but the campaign itself, organized properly could attract enough attention itself to raise the blood pressure.
Hell, if nothing else it could give the postal service a little revenue boost.
You can also 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
A brief breather at home before travels resume, so there’s a full plate for this week’s Sunday Morning Reading including some nostalgia that shouldn’t be, some very interesting reading on AI, a defiant Chicago, and even a bit on gambling and baseball. Enjoy.
Chicago is under threat from a madman and you can feel the tension in the crisp fall air. Dan Sinker has written an excellent Benediction for Chicago On the Eve of Occupation. You don’t hear thoughts and prayers in the check out lines at the grocery store, just a growing sense of defiant preparation.
The pendulum seems to be swinging wildly in the opinion wars about Artificial Intelligence now that some are actually able to sift through the hype bubbles and see what’s what. EmptyWheel has an excellent 4-part series that is more than worth your time. It begins with A Normal Person’s Explainer On What Generative AI Is And Does and continues with The Other Half Of The AI Relationship, Proteins, Factories, And Wicked Solutions, and concludes with LLMs Are Lead.
Follow that excellent series with The Tech Industry Has a Dirty Secret: The More People Learn About AI, The Less They Trust it by Victor Tangermann. For what it’s worth, I’m also seeing AI naysayers riding the pendulum back the other way as they find ways to make some of the tools of this tool work for them. No AI could ever sort this out with a summary.
The Power We Use and The Power We Give is a brilliant piece by Philip Bump. As he transitions from his former job with The Washington Post he’s talking about where choosing to land next and why making the right choice about where to exercise what power the words you use live. This is a complicated moment in history on so many levels, well illustrated in this one man’s piece.
Also, here’s an excellent piece from Bump on the goings on in Chicago called Trump Wants To Make War On Chicago. He Picked The Wrong Fight.
Speaking of complexity, David Todd McCarty wonders why so many men find themselves alone later in life in Boys Don’t Cry, Men Don’t Bond.
Chris Armitage says It’s Time For Americans To Start Talking About “Soft Secession.” I take the point about the term and the concept. I’m not criticizing either or Armitage’s piece when I say this, but hell, when the president of the country mockingly riles up everyone with a threat to declare war on a city, I’m not sure there’s anything “soft” about anything anymore.
NatashaMH tackles political amnesia is what I think is a timely piece worth revisiting more than once. Our capacity to forget or set aside so much, so often, is astounding. Check out Inside The Fortress, Outside The Fire. Here’s the money quote:
As often as I can, I remind them how history is a reminder of the lives we lost and of how stupid we really are. “Senseless to the core. And once we’re done with the bloodshed, we write poetry.”
To clear the palette a bit, check out Tim Newcomb’s piece about how A Remarkable Discovery of A Document Shatters One of Shakespeare’s Biggest Mysteries.
Fact checking may be a dying art, given that most of the world has decided we can each have our own facts. Zach Helfand as a wonderful long piece on The History Of The New Yorker’s Vaunted Fact-Check Department. Too damn bad we have to file this under nostalgia.
Speaking of nostalgia, check out Bettor Up by J.R. Moehringer about gambling and baseball. Yes, it’s about gambling and baseball, but it’s the closest thing I’ve seen to the good sports writing (especially about baseball) that I grew up with.
(Image from Roman Kraft on Unsplash.)
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. If you’d like more click on the Sunday Morning Reading link in the category column to check out what’s been shared on Sunday’s past. You can also find more of my writings on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome.
-
One of Those Nights
Last night was one of those nights. I have one every now and then, but they’ve been fewer and farther between these last six or seven years or so.
I’m referring to one of those nights when you dream you can’t fall asleep. And you keep waking up, wondering why you can’t fall asleep.
And it repeats.
And repeats.
And repeats.
Endlessly.
You hear yourself speaking to yourself with the same words. Over and over again. If I glance at the clock it feels like time stands still and I’m trying to will time to move forward.
I least I think I would call it a dream, or a nightmare. Perhaps I just couldn’t actually fall asleep. Regardless, it was a long, long night.
(Image from Jr Korpa on Unsplash.)
-
More Mon-arching Around
Caught a few snaps of Monarch Butterflies flitting among plants in the neighborhood yesterday.
-
Context and Chicago History with Troops in the Streets
Chicago is on edge as it prepares for what may (or may not) be Federal troops being sent in by the convicted felon and child rapist Donald Trump. Chicago and Illinois politicians are standing up and speaking strong against what most see as just the next move in his racist retribution reaction. I say next move, because it won’t stop in Chicago. This is what was promised and there’s no reason for Trump to back down or slow down now.
All of that said, troops on American streets is not a new phenomenon. That’s certainly true about Chicago. Neil Steinberg has an excellent piece in the Chicago Sun-Times that provides some context and history of past moments when the Windy City had troops in town. It’s worth your time, and not just for those in Chicago.
We tend to think of the military as a monolithic entity comprised of troops always taking orders and doing what they’re told. For the most part that’s true. But every military unit is no different than any unit of any other organization of individuals. You’ve got soldiers, sailors and airmen who do the right thing and you’ve got trouble makers. One of the problems is that some of the trouble makers have itchy trigger fingers, as do some of the officers.
This country is split down the middle with folks in and out of uniform who have a thirst for harming others and those who abhor violence. That’s not just common American history, that’s common human history. Those war movie clichés didn’t get created out of whole cloth.
Use that for the base of recipe that’s stirred up with demagoguery and it’s a dangerous brew ready to boil over.
I’m reasonably sure troops are going to show up in Chicago. Perhaps soon. Perhaps later. I’m also sure that if there is trouble it will come from the trouble makers, both in the ranks, and those ranking up and down the ladder of command, including the supposed tough guy at the top.
We’re already seeing reports that National Guard troops in L.A. and D.C. are having morale issues as they tire of being paraded around as B-roll fodder. (By the way, it’s lousy B-roll if the purpose is to show toughness.) We’ll see more of that as tensions increase all around the spectrum of this tough-guy wannabe spectacle.
I think this is just getting started.
As I said, go and read, Steinberg’s piece. It’s well worth your time.
You can also 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.
-
Instagram Shows Up Very Late to the iPad Party
The folks at Meta must have something up their sleeve. The reason I say that is they have finally, after all of these years released an iPad version of the app, long after most folks just figured it would never happen. Other than speculating on what might be behind the late to the party move, at this point it begs the question, Who cares?
I’m sure plenty do care. I’m not one of them. Instagram is one of a few apps that I begrudgingly use. Begrudgingly because I hate it. I use it because my family on all sides continues to do so and it’s a way to keep up with grandkids, nieces, nephews, and other family news. But I honestly despise that I have to. Believe me I’ve tried to wean them off onto other apps and services, but it never sticks.
Every time I do open Instagram I have to block somewhere between 5 and 10 spam accounts (too often porn or ridiculous come ons.) And of course the algorithm doesn’t show me what I want to see, but what it wants me to see. There’s even an increased sense of desperation from both Instagram and Facebook sending out notifications telling me someone replied, is waiting for my reply, or commented on something I haven’t seen yet. It’s like begging in the street. Apologies to those who might actually need to do so.
Sure I could turn off the notifications, but sadly, that’s the least worst way to use the app to keep up with family happenings.
I’d say that since it took 15 years for Meta to finally roll this out that perhaps the adolescents in charge finally are growing up. But then, there are those porn accounts that pop up with the frequency like prepubescent zits.
I won’t be putting it on my iPad. It’s troubling enough that I still have it on my iPhone. And as I watch the over excited coverage rolling in, I haven’t seen any image of the iPad version that makes it look the least bit appealing. It’s like Meta didn’t really care based on what I’ve seen so far.
So, Instagram is on the iPad. What’s the point and who cares?
You can also 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.
Skip to content
Life on the Wicked Stage: Act 3
Musings on life, the theatre, technology, culture and the occasional emu sighting
Life on the Wicked Stage: Act 3 