Life on the Wicked Stage: Act 3

WWDC 2024: Apple Needs To Do Some Serious Work With iCloud

iCloud OS: Apple’s Unnamed Operating System. The second in a series heading into Apple’s WWDC 2024.

WWDC is designed to highlight future directions for Apple’s increasing number of operating systems and how they work together. The OS list is long and getting longer, but there’s actually one that Apple has never mentioned as an operating system, yet it’s the one that glues every other piece of the ecosystem together. I call it iCloudOS. Like any glue it can fasten and bind, but apply it without care and you can end up with a sticky mess. iCloudOS is a bit of both.

If you use multiple Apple devices iCloud ties them all together creating a supposedly fluid connection between devices and services. That’s the attraction of the ecosystem. When it works as designed it can feel magical. Copy and paste between devices, universal control, handoff, shared Notes and Reminders and others all make Apple computing life more productive and often more fun.

When things don’t work it reminds every parent of raising a child. There are moments of sheer wonder and joy, but you know at some point the kid is going to shit the bed. There’s too much of the latter to ignore.

I’ve written extensively about my iCloud woes (here, here, here, here, and here). I’ve had numerous conversations with Apple tech support personnel. What I’ve discovered is that there are ongoing iCloud backend issues that Apple hasn’t been able to solve. They keep trying, but they keep getting put on the back burner once Apple gears up to roll out its next big new thing, as is the case with this year’s now well predicted AI announcement. Things reach a point when a “wait until next year” mandate takes hold that would test even a Chicago Cubs fan’s patience.

In my most recent adventures into the backend of iCloudOS it has been acknowledged that all of the work we were doing to pin down the issues I and others have been seeing has been put on hold until after whatever is coming next in the various operating systems due to be announced next week. All well and good, I suppose, but here’s the problem with that. That approach essentially makes all users of the ecosystem beta testers. I do not run betas on my devices but I’ll suffer through the numerous summer releases and whatever changes Apple makes on the backend during the summer beta season. That will continue with each point release throughout the year. Keep in mind, we’re all, always at the mercy of the backend.

I’ve already seen this begin to happen and the betas don’t roll out for a week or so yet. One of the early warning signs(and there are quite a few) that things are happening in iCloudOS is when notifications for Apple’s Reminders app get out of sync between my macOS devices and iOS devices.

WWDC 2024: iCloudy Forecasts Ahead Amidst Dampening Expectations

iCloudy Forecast Ahead for Apple at WWDC

Here it comes. Apple is heading into its annual World Wide Developer’s Conference (WWDC) with announcements of its next big things beginning June 10th. By all accounts, this year those next big things will center on AI which is short for Artificial Intelligence. There won’t be any shortage of AI in a tech world that has grown both AI crazy and AI fearful, putting Apple is in the unusual position of playing follow the leader in more obvious ways than in the past.

There will be other new features announced for iPhones, Macs, Apple Watches, perhaps even the Vision Pro, but as always the focus will be on what’s new. Even though a goodly portion of what’s new and exciting each year often ends up being a bit “meh” in the end. Either “meh” or rolled out and forgotten as Apple shifts its attention to what next year’s next big things will be. That seems to be what’s happening this year as Apple has turned most of its focus to AI.

Apple is also unfortunately positioned to have to work harder in making its splashy announcements splashy and dodging seemingly already diminished expectations on a number of fronts. Most anticipate Apple’s AI announcements to be less than sexy and the iPad faithful/hopeful seemed to be poised to continue piling on the criticism (some necessary, some not) that greeted newer iPads less than a month ago.

So, on two big fronts, AI and iPadOS, Apple has some tougher challenges ahead than it usually does this time of year. And bad timing is at the root of both.

The iPad Issue Is Touchy

On the iPad front, for whatever reason Apple went more than a year before releasing new iPads. When they did debut them last month they surprised everyone by including new M4 chips in the new Pro lineup, upsetting every pundit’s attempts at trying to assign a predictable timetable to the continued Apple Silicon evolution. Coming just weeks ahead of WWDC, and without any new operating system software to accompany it, Apple opened up a slew of doors for the salivating pundit class to rush through, cranking up the complaints about iPadOS not taking advantage of very powerful and much loved hardware. And, as always, the married at the hip debates about being able to run macOS on an iPad or adding a touch screen to the Mac tagged along as noisy bridesmaids.

It’s a bit frustrating for a regular and religious iPad user. While the issues are genuine, they negatively dominate the conversation given that they come from the influential voices that helped turn the iPad into a success in the first place. I know the issues are long simmering, well intentioned, and come from the heart of those who love the device, but the recent sudden crescendo was deafening enough to fire up a Loud Environment warning on an Apple Watch. With WWDC just around the corner everyone knew the new devices alone were not going to offer anything remotely close to a new and different iPad experience. It just seemed premature to me. If they were meant as a warning to Apple, then I would call it not only premature, but a misfire given the timing.

Those debates and complaints probably aren’t going to end in the foreseeable future as entertaining and exhausting as they can be. Between manifestos, and well thought through lists of what some desire on iPads, there was some general vitriolic piling on. It heralds a tough year ahead for Apple and its iPad lineup.

My prediction is that no one is going to be remotely satisfied with this year’s iPadOS release. Most rumors say not much of consequence will be announced. It’s certainly going to be interesting to follow the commentariat class as they wrestle with how many different ways they can say the iPads are great devices but Apple keeps holding them back for another year.

Perhaps this year changes things, but typically big OS changes come to the iPhone first with iPads and Macs bringing up the rear in the year or years that follow. Given Apple’s push into AI as this year’s big iPhone tent pole, if the iPad doesn’t get included it will add even more to those complaints and increase the volume.

The Alito Supreme Court Is Setting Up For A Dobbsian Replay

The Alito Court may be about to repeat the mistakes of 2022.

History may be about to repeat itself. Hopefully it rhymes. Donald Trump is a convicted felon and he and his fluffers are doubling down on their attempts to manufacture a fantasy world that bears no resemblance to the one most people live in. Yet we’re still waiting a decision from the Supreme Court on whether or not U.S. presidents have immunity and thus are kings who can round up and possibly kill political rivals, deport anyone they desire, and generally turn the U.S into a autocracy staffed by criminals.

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While that immunity case has no bearing on the New York case that added 34 convictions to the decaying orange turd’s résumé, it is all tied together because there’s this thing called an election in a few months wherein we’ll decide if America still exists as a democracy.

The Supreme Court hasn’t issued an opinion yet, which in and of itself is an opinion. In delaying action they’ve effectively sided with Trump, allowing any real chance of a trial to be pushed off until after the election. But unfortunately they have to make a decision before they can head off to their yachts for the summer.

What’s intriguing to me is I think the Alito Court is about to make the same political mistake they made in 2022 with their decision removing women’s rights to an abortion in Dobbs vs. Jackson. It was a victory for abortion foes, but energized the electorate enough to wash away any Red Wave in the 2022 elections and others that have followed since. My suspicion is if the Alito Court grants anything resembling immunity to Trump, we’ll see the same sort of rage-fueled energy at the polls in November. There’s enough of that energy already bubbling, but this might (should) blow the lid off the pot.

It’s June, SCOTUS is heading to the end of this term, and an announcement could come any day as the court traditionally rolls out decisions from the current term. The hen-pecked Alito is under fire for flying insurrectionist adjacent flags while blaming his wife, further degrading any sense of integrity the Supreme Court had remaining. I’m thinking (and hints suggest) the decision will be in Trump’s favor thus completely erasing what few bits of integrity still remain on the white board. If they do, it will hopefully ignite the electorate again to finally cancel this unreality show we’ve all been living through.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome.

Sunday Morning Reading

Secret octopi, culture wars, convictions, and reading between the letters. In this week’s Sunday Morning Reading.

Life is beginning to settle in after the big move, although there’s parts of it we still can’t figure out which box we packed some of it in. Perhaps we need some sort of A.I. bot to help us figure that out. But we’ll get there. In the meantime here’s some Sunday Morning Reading to share.

Speaking of AI, WTF is AI? That’s the question posed with some attempted answers by Devin Coldeway. It’s a decent primer on the topic. Watch out for secret ocotopi.

A couple of pieces on AI from Nico Grant at the NY Times shows just how unknown and perhaps reliably unreliable this fast evolving tech territory is. First up is Google’s A.I. Search Leaves Publishers Scrambling. Follow that up with Google Rolls Back A.I. Search Feature After Flubs and Flaws. I wonder how AI will spit all of this back at us once articles like these are trained in. I also wonder when publishers will start to standardize whether or not we’ll write it as AI or A.I.

Some think The AI Revolution Is Already Losing Steam. I happened to agree with Christopher Mims, the author of this piece.

Even in the midst of moving it’s been tough to ignore the political comings, goings and convictions in the news. Check out David Todd MCCarty on Bedtime for Bonzo, Or Nothing To See Here. Even after 34 convictions for the orange dude, this piece holds up.

This piece from July of 2021 by John Pavlovitz resurfaced in my feeds in the last week. The Sadness of Sharing A Country With Trump Supporters is worth a re-read in the wake of this week’s news. Somehow I think it will remain relevant for quite some time.

With all that is going on in the political world, it’s a good idea to always remember there is so much more going on behind the scenes than we ever want to realize. Check out Ken Silverstein’s look behind the curtain in Off Leash: Inside The Secret, Global, Far-Right Group Chat. You might be sorry you did.

I hope The Wonkette is writing you visit often. There’s an excellent serial novel there called The Split by Ellis Weiner and Steve Radlauer. It’s up to Chapter 30. It’s terrific and worth your time.

There’s a new book worth highlighting and highlighted by Laura Colliins-Hughes in the NY Times. James Shapiro’s The Playbook chronicles the history of The Federal Theatre Project. The subtitle teases well: A Story of Theatre, Democracy and The Making Of A Culture War. A great story from back in the day when live theatre was actually something folks believed was dangerous enough that it could change minds.

And to close out this week’s edition check out Natasha MH’s Writing The Unpretentious Prose. Don’t just read the words. Look between the letters.

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.

The iPad Pro Ad Apple Should Have Released In The First Place

Less Crushing. More Creative Fun.

Just before this year’s World Wide Developer Conference debuts Apple has released a new ad for the iPad Pro. It’s probably the one it should have released in the first place, instead of the now infamous Crushed ad. It’s better than the previous ad in a lot of respects. Certainly it better shows off the iPad Pro’s capabilities, but I’m not sure it’ll ever erase the crushing response from that first ad. CleanShot 2024-06-01 at 07.53.37@2x.

You’ll remember that furor visited on Apple after releasing Crushed featuring all sorts of musical instruments and other creative tools being crushed by a hydraulic press into an iPad Pro. I for one wasn’t that upset about the ad, but quite a few folks thought Apple misread all sorts of rooms and moments. Given how the creative classes are a bit squeamish about AI possibly replacing artists and crushing the human element out of the act of creation it lit a spark that eventually led to a rare Apple apology.

This new ad shows off what the new iPad Pro’s can do featuring three different artists creating three different backgrounds while actress Sofia Wylie dances around in front of a green screen. Even the Apple Pencil gets some screen time.

Here’s the new ad called Worlds Made on iPad. Better to make than crush.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome.

Trump Guilty: Everything Changes Everything Remains The Same

A stench that will never fade.

Yesterday’s unanimous jury verdicts convicting former President, rapist, and con artist Donald Trump changed everything and changed nothing. Beyond the damage to the decaying orange turd’s branding (he should now always be introduced and referred to as “Convicted Felon”) the MAGA political world is still living in their own warped reality. It’s historic and full of histrionics.

We shouldn’t really be surprised. Some say it’s a fear of Trump’s wrath. For the compromised I’m sure that’s true. What’s more dangerous is the larger group who want to use Trump as a bludgeon to beat back and down what they definitiely fear more. They don’t like him, they just want to take advantage of his blustering bumbling to hang on to their plantation mindset. They fear their idea of an America is under threat by too many anyones who don’t look, act and think like them. Make no mistake. That fear is tangible.

It’s led to abandonment on some sort of cosmic political level and defies the laws of political gravity. They’ve abandoned any sense of the virtue that this country’s founders believed was the key ingredient to the idea of America. They’ve abandoned any sense of shame. They’ve abandoned any sense of good sense, common or calculating. They’ve twisted and turned themselves into enough knots that there’s no way to untangle the mess they’ve put us in without cutting off some piece of anatomy they might need later. I’d argue they need thoughts and prayers, but they’ve abandoned and defiled thinking and praying.

The verdict wasn’t predictable. They never are. The MAGA reaction to it was. It’s a script written for bad characters that that have crossed beyond the borders of caricature and cliché into some other definition that the human experience and literature hasn’t been able to label yet.

The bottom line in all of this is that on May 30, 2024 in a courtroom in New York City an asshole got his ass handed to him in a court of law and the reaction to that proves his ass wipers obviously enjoy the smell so much they will still stand in line and fall over themselves to be the first to wade deeper into his offal. It’s a stench that will never fade.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome.

The GOP Nominee for President Donald Trump Guilty On 34 Counts.

Donald Trump, the GOP nominee for the office of President of the United States is guilty on all 34 counts in his New York trial. He is now a convicted felon. Certainly he will appeal. Certainly he will wail. But he is now a convicted felon, that under Florida law can’t vote for himself as President.

CleanShot 2024-05-30 at 16.40.41@2x.

This isn’t over. Sentencing will be July 11th. But this is a big day in American hisotry and the history of bunkum artists and conmen. May they all rot in hell.

The image is from the front page of The Drudge Report.

Jamie Raskin Offers Some Hope For SCOTUS Failings But He’ll Have To Check With The Wives First

SCOTUS wives rule the roost while their hen-pecked husbands stumble instead of strutting like the cocks of the walk they pretend to be.

I appreciate and admire Jamie Raskin. I really do. In a NY Times guest essay he offers a glimmer of hope for those of us who think Sam Alito and Clarence Thomas should recuse themselves from decision making over whether or not Trump (or any president) should have any sort of immunity for his/her actions. What he offfers makes sense in a world of honor, in which the rule of law is adhered to, and in most corners of the world not inhabited by MAGA conmen, rapists, and thieves.

Here’s an excerpt:

Of course, Justices Alito and Thomas could choose to recuse themselves — wouldn’t that be nice? But begging them to do the right thing misses a far more effective course of action.

The U.S. Department of Justice — including the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, an appointed U.S. special counsel and the solicitor general, all of whom were involved in different ways in the criminal prosecutions underlying these cases and are opposing Mr. Trump’s constitutional and statutory claims — can petition the other seven justices to require Justices Alito and Thomas to recuse themselves not as a matter of grace but as a matter of law.

The Justice Department and Attorney General Merrick Garland can invoke two powerful textual authorities for this motion: the Constitution of the United States, specifically the due process clause, and the federal statute mandating judicial disqualification for questionable impartiality, 28 U.S.C. Section 455.

It’s a good, principled, and rational proposal. But even if the levers of government can be oiled up enough to work the way he’s proposing, these two guys aren’t going anywhere until Ginny Thomas and Martha-Ann Alito give their obviously hen-pecked spouses the go ahead.

Again, much respect to Mr. Raskin, he deserves it. But we’re well past laws, rules, honor, and traditions on this matter. Unless you count the tradition of wives ruling the roost, while their husbands strut about pretending they do.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome.

A Must Watch: Ken Burns’ Keynote Address to Brandeis University

Words have meaning. Whether we use them well or not. Here they’re used very well.

Words are being spilled in torrents these days from those who see what’s happening to America as they try to wrestle against the peril we face in our current moment. As acute as the danger is, they often blend together to make noise more than sentences with meaning. That’s not the case here.

Famed documentarian Ken Burns delivered the commencement address to the 2024 graduating class of Brandeis University and, like the work in many of his documentaries, his words cut to the bone with a surgical precision.

There’s lots of talk from the talking heads trying to make the news that Burns’ admitted departure from his position of neutraility is the news here, but I personally don’t find it much of a departure from the stories he’s gifted us with previously. I mean that as high praise.

It’s a terrific address. It’s a serious summation of the moment. It’s worth your time to watch and listen. It’s worth more to heed them.

If you prefer to read it you can find the transcript here.

You can find more of my writings on a variety of topics on Medium at this link, including in the publications Ellemeno and Rome.

Sunday Morning Reading

Sunday Morning Reading is back while we continue to unpack. The environs are different, but everything remains the same.

Everything changes and everything remains the same. We’ve completed the Big Move and are now in our new abode. Heads sleep on the same pillows, coffee is sipped from the same mugs, but we’re still living out of boxes and unpack others. That’ll be the state of things for a bit still. That’s life on the home front as everything has changed but remains the same. That seems to be the case in the world in this week’s Sunday Morning Reading.

Kicking things off is an excellent series of articles from The New Republic. What American Fascism Would Look LIke is a collection of essays by a collection of writers, each one worth your time. Start with Ruth Ben-Ghiat’s The Permanent Counterrevolution, but check them each out.

The Roberts Supreme Court continues to show its true colors witih all sorts of flag flyiing controversy from Samuel Alito. Blaming your wife is becoming a thing also. Check out Alitio and Thomas Aren’t Really Jurists. They’re Theocratic Leninists by Michael Tomasky.

There was lots of big news on the Artificial Intelliegence front. There was also not much new in much of that news. LLMs still bung things up. Microsoft, Google, and OpenAI pushed their newest in a race that feels very much like the runners keep tripping over themselves. Nico Grant in the New York Times points to the ongoing snafu in Google’s A.I. Search Errors Cause a Furor Online. At some point this is all going to end up like the streaming entertainment wars. Once all the players are on the field there will be consolidation. There will still be problems. Those new subscription prices will rise. And everyone will complain.

Even so, Steven Levy says It’s Time to Believe The AI Hype.

Naveen Kumar takes a quick look at how AI might be worming its way into live performance in AI Is Getting Theatrical.

David Todd McCarty takes on the contradictions of believing that more than one thing can be true at the same time in An Angel With An Incredible Capacity for Beer.

NatashaMH pens a nifty piece about how the act of writing gives a teacher a window into the mind of her student in Writing The Unpretentious Prose.

And while we were busy moving, Apple released new iPads. Not surprisingly everything changed and everything remained the same. The new software that may or may not yield potential changes is due to roll out in a few weeks, but until it does, those iPads remain behind the software curve while setting the hardware pace. Or at least that’s the accepted line in Apple circles. Federico Viticci penned an excellent summary of what he feels iPads are still missing in Not an iPad Review: Why iPadOS Still Doesn’t Get the Basics Right and Steve Troughton-Smith also put out The iPad Pro Manifesto (2024 Edition ).

Closing things out this weekend as I try to get these old bones moving again to unpack some more boxes, check out Margaret Dean’s A Mutiny of Bones about recalcitrant bones and aging and how it’s not just the joints that stop bending. The one constant as everything changes around and within you, some things just don’t work the same as they once did.