Obsidian Web Clipper is Amazing

About a month ago kepano, on obsidian.md:

Today, we’re introducing Obsidian Web Clipper a new extension that helps you highlight and capture the web in your favorite browser. Anything you save is stored as durable Markdown files that you can read offline, and preserve for the long term.

Web Clipper is available for all major browsers on desktop and mobile, including Firefox, Safari, Chrome, Brave, Arc, Orion, and many more. It’s also open source under the MIT license.

I started testing the beta a while back, and was intrigued. The release coincided with Omnivore’s demise, which led me to take another serious look.

And then, last week the Interpreter feature was introduced:

Interpreter is a Web Clipper feature that lets you interact with web pages using natural language. Interpreter helps you capture and modify data that you want to save to Obsidian. For example:

• Extract specific text fragments.
• Summarize or explain information.
• Convert text from one format to another.
• Translate text to a different language.

You basically add your OpenAI/Anthropic (and others) keys, and run whatever you selected through the model. This is game-changing. I’m still just playing with this, but now I’m glad my workflow was upended.

The Verge Subscription Launched

<! — Here we go: Nilay Patel –>

Nilay Patel, on theverge.com:

Today we’re launching a Verge subscription that lets you get rid of a bunch of ads, gets you unlimited access to our top-notch reporting and analysis across the site and our killer premium newsletters, and generally lets you support independent tech journalism in a world of sponsored influencer content. It’ll cost $7 / month or $50 / year

I instantly subscribed. There’s no real benefit for now — I don’t see ads and Feedbin already generates a full feed — but they are my preferred source of tech news and I want to support them.

Hopefully they’ll develop some compelling features over the next year.

Tidbits for 2024 Week 52

Omnivore sunsetting ↯ threw my linking workflow for a spin. For now, I’m sending stuff to my personal space on Arc. Below is a sweep of what I had there. You’ll also notice a I’m playing with some characters (⑊, ⍿, ⊢, ♮, ☈) to separate the link description from my comment.

• Swift Shift - Manage your mac’s windows like a pro: move/resize windows with your mouse without searching for tiny arrows or window titles. ⑊ Moom 4 already has this, but this works better if you want to use Window Tiling and Snapping in Sequoia as default.

• Recents - A file launcher designed for Mac: file launcher that gathers all your recent files from across your apps and intelligently sorts them. ⍿ Would like to use more, but not working with my mental model

• Remarkably Organized: Create a custom planner & organizer for the e-ink tablets like the Remarkable 2. ⊢ 2025 is coming, and it’s time for a new Calendar PDF. hyperpaper planner is my default, but looking into this free option.

• Capture Display: selectively share screen content, zoom in for detailed views, auto-save copied text and screenshots into a shareable PDF, and features a prominent cursor for enhanced audience engagement. ♮ Screegle is still my default app screen sharing app, but keeping an eye on this one.

• LIMINAL Spaces Wallpaper: Liminal Spaces, a vibrant and minimal cubist-inspired wallpaper series. ☈ Using this for sure.

• TabTab - Supercharged Windows & Tabs Manager for Mac: window switching and tab management for Chrome, Safari, VS Code and more. ☈ Interesting concept, but tab management will be a bit overwhelming for me.

Satechi Mac Mini M4 Stand and Hub Announced

From satechi.net:

Introducing the new Mac Mini M4 Stand & Hub — the next generation of desktop innovation. Crafted in the USA, this patented design reimagines your Mac Mini setup, combining cutting-edge functionality with Apple-inspired aesthetics.

Product Photo

Mostly marketing content, but features look solid:

• Storage expansion supporting up to 4TB with SSD sizes M.2 /2242/2260/2280.
  • Data transfer speeds up to 10Gbps.
• Inclusion of USB-A ports for peripheral connection.
• Front-facing ports for easy connectivity.
• Aluminum construction with heat-dissipating vents.

Last one is important, be cause the previous product did have some reports of disconnecting/overheating. If they can keep the same prices point of $100, this’ll be very compelling — takes out his calculator - let’s see:

I’ll be pondering over the next few months.

2025-01-14 Update: Andrew Liszewski, on theverge.com:

First announced in late November, Satechi has confirmed that its Mac Mini M4 Stand & Hub will be available in limited quantities starting February 17th, 2025 through its online store for $99.99. A wider release will begin sometime in March, according to an announcement by the company at CES 2025 today.

The hub, made from aluminum with a soft-touch silicone coating, is designed to expand the functionality of the Apple Mac Mini M4 with two front-facing USB-A 3.2 ports, a USB-A 2.0 port, and an SD card reader.

Let’s wait for some real reviews. But this looks like a very tempting combo.

Transit App Can Now Predict Underground Location Without GPS

From blog.transitapp.com:

Thanks to our clever engineering, we can now predict your location in a subway tunnel using your phone’s vibration signature.

Amazing. I don’t get a chance to travel by subway as much a as I like, but will totally download Transit to my next metropolis visit. To try:

Easy: just find yourself an underground train, open Transit, start a trip with GO, and watch the stations tick down, one-by-one! We’ve helped riders detect 1.5 million underground stations across ~400,000 trips during our initial tests.

MrMobile New Kindle's Review

MrMobile (Michael Fisher), on YouTube:

[…] I’ve got to believe that Amazon didn’t poach Panos just so he could preside over conservative iterations on what’s come before. I like these new Kindles, but I think the next chapter is the one that’ll really wow us.

Absolutely agree with Michael Fisher on this. I expect we’re getting some fun Kindle’s in the next couple of years with Panos Panay leadership. In fact, I’d be surprised if in a year or two we don’t have a phone sized Kindle¹

Good time to recommend MrMobile Channel. I enjoy his humor and his smart takes on tech topics. He also seem to have conceded the influencer rat-race and goes his own way on what gets reviewed.

On Arc Browser Becoming Boring

Josh Miller, CEO of The Browser Company, on youtube.com:

Got two things to share with you today: Arc is not going anywhere. The product you love is staying put, and we’re building a brand new product. To be honest, we’re not even sure it’s a web browser.

This created some drama within the Arc users community. The following two comments on the video sums it well:

@gurupanguji on a comment:

Have a feeling this is the goodbye message for the arc browser. Whenever a company says they are building a diff product for a larger audience against a product for a small set of users that’s free, one just needs to do the math.

@joshmiller973 (Arc’s CEO) reply:

Arc isn’t going anywhere. The number of people using Arc every day has grown ~4x this year. It’d be silly for us not to continue making it more stable, secure and performant. Our team poured their hearts into Arc. We’re just not going to keep cramming new features into it to try to make it something it’s not meant to be. I’ve personally been burned by software that becomes a Frankenstein product. I know future actions will speak louder than words but this is about building a second browser for the people that Arc doesn’t resonate with. There’s a reason we called it The Browser Company (not Arc). We’re inspired by Apple to have different product lines for different types of people and use cases.

Amazingly, a few weeks back Chris Messina nailed it on his newsletter article:

Now, I have no idea if this is an idea that Arc will carry forward in v2.0, but considering the relative lack of enthusiasm and stalled development of Easels and Boosts, and the commoditization of Arc Max features (see Sparkle and Fabric) I’m guessing that Arc is going to pivot hard towards agentive-style workflows that result in tasks being completed by and in the browser — and that are, to the right customers, worth paying for.

The whole post is worth a read. But the gist of Chris Messina article and Josh Miller’s announcement is that any app that wishes to provide a solution for 1 Billion users — should not hide behind a browser. It needs to be a floating orb on your desktop, providing answers, writing, transforming and combining whatever information/data it has access to.

At some point in the future, the orb will do its magic, not only within the constrains of your laptop desktop, or mobile home-screen. But with the context of what you’re actually seeing — the promised augmented reality paradigm.

Still, I’m happy that Arc will become boring and survive — at least for a while. It’s features are likely become standard UX language like Opera’s tabs, and level’s up the browser category for everyone.

Pixelmator Acquired by Apple

Pixelmator Team, on Pixelmator Blog:

Pixelmator has signed an agreement to be acquired by Apple, subject to regulatory approval. There will be no material changes to the Pixelmator Pro, Pixelmator for iOS, and Photomator apps at this time. Stay tuned for exciting updates to come.

Congrats to the team. My guess is that this is a happy outcome for them. Pixelmator will likely become the a new Pro Apple app, which is great. But Photomator is a gonner in my opinion. Which saddens me as an user.

Dropbox Lays Off 20% of Company

Drew Houston, on blog.dropbox.com:

I’m writing to let you all know that after careful consideration, we’ve decided to reduce our global workforce by approximately 20% or 528 Dropboxers. As CEO, I take full responsibility for this decision and the circumstances that led to it, and I’m truly sorry to those impacted by this change.

The post has too much corporate mumbo jumbo for my liking:

As we’ve shared over the last year, we’re in a transitional period as a company. Our FSS business has matured, and we’ve been working to build our next phase of growth with products like Dash. However, navigating this transition while maintaining our current structure and investment levels is no longer sustainable.

We continue to see softening demand and macro headwinds in our core business. But external factors are only part of the story. We’ve heard from many of you that our organizational structure has become overly complex, with excess layers of management slowing us down.

WTH? However, severance packages appear respectable — for US standards — which I respect. Sadly, Dropbox stopped being interesting for me long time go. And I’m sure that the free plan which hosts this blog will be affected sooner or later.

Omnivore is Shutting Down and Team Joining ElevenLabs

Omnivore, on Omnivore Blog:

We’re excited to share that Omnivore is joining forces with ElevenLabs, the leading AI audio research and technology company. Our team is joining ElevenLabs to help drive the future of accessible reading and listening with their new ElevenReader app.

Oh interesting. I’ve tried their appand it wasn’t bad. Text to speech was great. There’s just an uncanny valley with these AI readers than I can’t get over yet. Maybe in a blind test I wouldn’t even notice, but it throws me off when I do know.

Next, all Omnivore users will be able to export their information from the service through November 15 2024, after which all information will be deleted.

Oh crap. This is throws a huge wrench into my snippet workflow. I used Omnivore — over Readwise Reader — for this blog’s snippets because of its amazing Obisidian plugin. It allowed for very powerful customization in settings (folder location, naming, YAML, custom queries, etc), and file template. In combination with its web parse, it allowed me to easily include authors in my draft notes using this template:

I landed on this workflow after a very long road that included Apple Shortcuts, Drafts and many more. Which is why this two week notice stings. I’m revisiting my tests with Instapaper, Raindrop.io and Readwise Reader, but none of their updates allow for a drop-in replacement yet.

Fantastical 4 Includes Windows Version

Chrissie, on flexibits.com:

We’ve spent the last 4 years making Fantastical better than ever across Apple devices, and with version 4.0 we decided to go even bigger by finally bringing the world’s best calendar app to a Windows PC near you. […] Fantastical for Windows includes the entire lineup of calendar views (Day, Week, Month, Quarter, Year, Task) in the main app, and in its own famous Mini Window that you can access directly from your system tray.

Wow. They went all-in. Which is great.

Until last year, Fantastical was part of my default stack. However, this might be the first time I don’t renew. My experiment with Vimcal over the last two years has been successful. Using it is far less delightful than Fantastical on the Mac and iOS, but an corporate environment — it works considerably better for my use-case¹

Debating My Mac Lifestyle

The stage is set, some Mac announcements next week are imminent. No reason to doubt the revamped Mac mini as one of the upgrades. I’ve been back-and-forward with this Mac as my personal device since it was originally rumored.

The main debate is between notebook and desktop. I already have my work 13in MacBook Air — which is amazing. But the separation of work and personal is something I struggle with. Over the past few weeks I’ve had some luck using Bunch to set cleaner boundaries between areas. But in the end, nothing will approach the separation of devices.

Assuming that a separate computer is the way to go, does a dedicated desktop device work’s better than a separate notebook? If Apple was about to announce an updated MacBook 12in with M-something, it would be mute point for me. That’s the personal Mac I want: and iPad sized laptop that is easy to carry and I can connect to my Studio Display at home. Sadly, modern Apple needs to sell at such a scale, that small market niche devices have no place to delight.

Back to reality. There’s costs. I foresee a week of spreadsheet absurdity in which I find most permutations between the newer M4 devices, and used M2/M3 options. I’ll start with a $1500 budget, but expect that the $2000 will be the sweet spot between a new version, and a discounted loaded M2 device. The depreciation curve for older devices should be more aggressive this year — since based M4 devices are rumored to start at 16gb of memory.

I’m not getting too greedy though. Unlike the big eye-roll that Mac accessories represent, the Mac lineup itself is doing great. As I wrote almost two years ago:

But for someone who watched in horror as every release after the 2015 MacBook Pro’s one, made the Pro laptop’s aspiration vanish, and just hold tight to my current model. This, just an update, is the most wonderful news.

There’s a slim to none chance that this week of Mac’s announcement would make me feel otherwise. In fact, just having a week of Mac’s announcement is enough to bring a smile to my face.

Multiple Languages on iOS18 Reminders Grocery Categorization

From support.apple.com:

When you enable another language in Reminders for your grocery lists, Reminders can better sort products and ingredients automatically.

Today I learned. Useful if your errands list are written in spanglish as yours truly. To setup:

• In Settings, tap Apps.
• Tap Reminders.
• Tap Add Language under Grocery Categorization.

Astropad Bookcase Launched

Andrew Liszewski, on The Verge:

Astropad’s new Bookcase is a smartphone accessory designed to make reading on a smartphone feel more like reading on an e-reader. No, it doesn’t give your phone an easy-on-the-eyes screen, longer battery life, or any other features that have made devices like the Kindle popular. Instead, for $50 the Bookcase is really just designed to make a smartphone easier to hold like a book, while making your favorite reading app more accessible.

Just to make the editorial line of this blog as bipolar as posible, here’s the oposite of the BOOX Palma 2. I’ll confess I was very intrigued when I saw the photo, but after looking at the feature list in their product page, I was disappointed.

For me it was a given it would offer: battery bank functionality (at list to maintain batter level), and buttons to turn pages. Lacking either of this, I really don’t see the point. I’ll save my irrational accessory purchase for a Clicks Keyboard.

Postbox Email Client Acquired and Likely Dead

Postbox, on postbox-inc.com:

If you love using Postbox, you can continue using it. However, Postbox will no longer be sold or developed. Rest assured that we’ll continue to provide support until December 22nd, 2024, and the Postbox Help Center will remain available until December 22nd, 2025, to help with any lingering questions.

Sad but understandable. Long time ago, Postbox was my email client of choice. I tried it over the years, but never came back. With the recent excitement over the return of Thunderbird, I’d think that there was space for a similar app.

BOOX New Palma 2 eReader

Brendon Bigley, on Wavelengths:

The BOOX Palma — which I reviewed back in March, loved, and still use constantly — is billed as an e-reader in the shape of a smartphone, but has grown into a device I use for reading links collected in Readwise Reader and listening to Spotify.

Here’s his thoughts on the new Palma 2 as someone who likes the original:

The BOOX Palma 2, announced this morning, features a lot of the same specs as the original release¹. It uses the same screen and comes at the same $279.99 price point, it has the same amount of RAM and internal storage, and the same waterproofing and bizarrely included camera module. The two main upgrades come in the form of a “faster” processer and a jump from Android 11 to Android 13, the former of which will probably go unnoticed by most people and the latter of which will ensure your apps still continue to receive updates. (It’s worth noting that Google is on Android 15 at this point.) BOOX has also included a fingerprint sensor to the side of the device so people can’t see what you’ve downloaded off A03².

After my whining about the iPad mini’s meh update, I can’t be excited about this one. Although, since the original Palma is still available with a lower price, things get interesting.

Now is a good time to revisit Jason Snell’s original Palma review on Six Colors

And to be fair, I was less comfortable while reading on the Palma, since I needed to grip the device more tightly with my whole hand and stretch my grip to reach the volume buttons (repurposed as page-turn buttons) on the device’s side. But on the other hand, this was a supremely portable reader, like a beat-up paperback you can take just about anywhere.

Wait, of course. This e-ink Android iTouch is can use the side buttons as page turns. Very interesting. I sense a rabbit hole — and in the meantime — I’m tracking the original Palma price just in case™.

New Mac USB-C Accessories Will Break My Heart

Mark Gurman on X (formerly Twitter), on x.com:

In line with what I’ve been reporting for a while, Apple will very soon launch its new Macs. There should be some hands-ons outside of Cupertino and online video. I expect the M4 iMac, MacBook Pro, revamped Mac mini and USB-C accessories.

My dreams are about to be shattered. For years I’d hopped that the Apple Silicon related update of the Magic Mouse, Trackpad and Keyboard would re-think some of the minimalist choices from the past. Why not? MacBook Pro’s are now thicker, have SD-Card reader and their keyboards (gasps!) have key travel.

Curent Magic Lineup

While I’m an eternal optimist — the recent AirPods Max USB-C has brought doubt to my soul: could it be that the only update input devices will get would be a new port? I know the answer in my heart… and it’s yes.

I still dare to dream of an ergonomic mouse that is not painful to hold, or an asymmetrical Magic Keyboard with sane arrow keys. Or just laugh at my aesthetics preference and just put Touch ID to the same designs — I mean, they do already have Touch in the name. But none of this shall happen. The rule of Ive is strong, and the Cook doctrine doesn’t recognize accessories as products in their line-up.

But wait! What about a simple Touch ID mini-pad ? That surely make sense as delightful one-more-thing alongside the Mac mini revamp announcement? But Steve Jobs is dead my friends, and with him these sort of product mischief.

Castro Podcast Backend Optimization

Dustin Bluck, on castro.fm:

The biggest thing I’ve learned working on performance is that 80% of the gain is going to come from <20% of the effort.

Great post. Seeing how Dustin works through the debugging is fascinating for a wanna-be SRE person like me. Even better, Castro lives!

New Kindles Not Showing Download and Transfer Option

Nathan, on The eBook Reader Blog:

As people are getting the new Kindles that were released last week, they are finding out that the new models are mysteriously missing the download and transfer via USB option for purchased ebooks from the content page at Amazon. | […]
Granted, this isn’t going to affect that vast majority of Kindle users, but there’s a subset of people that like to download their purchased ebooks to make backups and to remove the DRM to read the ebooks on other non-Kindle devices.

A non-issue for most Kindle users, but count me out of returning to a new Kindle device s any time soon.

My plan is to keep my old Kindle Voyage around, and try to hold Amazon accountable for their support of these devices as much as possible.

Pok Pok Comes to Android

From playpokpok.com:

We want to thank each and every one of you for your patience as we worked hard to bring Pok Pok to the Play Store. For us, this went far beyond just “copying” Pok Pok onto Android devices. We wanted to take our time in making this the best possible experience for your little ones—that’s on par with our experience on iOS.

Amazing news for Android users with kids. Pok Pok is one of the few subscriptions for games that I pay. My seven-year-old loves it, and I have no trouble paying for it because of the great quality and knowing that there’s no in-app purchasing or other weird stuff.

We know so many families use Amazon Fire tablets so we’ll be bringing Pok Pok to these devices in the coming weeks as well!

I think this app alone justifies a cheap Android Table or Amazon Fire device for kids.

On Apple Passwords Strong Password Format

Ricky Mondello, on rmondello.com:

So yes, the passwords that Apple Passwords generates do contain gibberish two-syllable “words”. The syllables help them to be memorable briefly, but still not memorizable

I’m still on 1Password, but very aware that Apple Passwords is there. I may even consider moving the Family Shared side of my passwords over at some point in the near future.

I’ve always liked Apple generated passwords better, they just felt smother. Now we know why.

Did Janet Jackson’s Nipple Create YouTube?

Alex Cranz, on The Verge:

How Janet Jackson’s ‘wardrobe malfunction’ changed TV forever.
[…]
Jawed Karim, a PayPal employee at the time, missed the halftime show and thus missed the only thing anyone wanted to talk about. He couldn’t find it online, either. He’d been kicking around startup ideas with his friends Steve Chen and Chad Hurley, and the three decided that moments like this one would need a place to be cataloged and searchable on the internet. A few days later, they started working on an online video platform called YouTube.

I hadn’t heard this story before. But more than the factoid, the article it’s a fun read.

In fact, The Verge’s whole 2004 was the first year of the future special edition is delightful. From the website itself to the articles topics and writing. Of course, since I was 23 on that year, I agree totally with the premise.

New Kindle Day 2024

Scott McNulty, on Blankbaby:

Amazon has announced a stack of new Kindles today, and that’s always fun for me!
[…]
And there’s a new family on the Kindle block today. Which means I’m not just going to buy them all. But will I be buying any of them?

Great fresh overview from Scott on the new Kindle’s released today. I’m happy he’s excited. Although for me, it seems like a very boring update. There’s no model with buttons — the old Kindle Oasis was completely discontinued.

If I had to choose, I’d probably go with the plain Kindle. Although for the life of me, I don’t understand why they don’t have a flush screen for it.

The Kindle Paperwhite gets a slightly bigger screen and it’s a bit thinner, which is a welcome addition. However, I still feel that it’s too thick and a bit on the heavy side.

The color version has one of the worst names I can think of — Colorsoft? Really?. And in reality, since I don’t read much comics (and when I do, I prefer the iPad mini) I don’t see the benefit of the color screen other than having prettier book covers.

The Kindle Scribe update is nice, especially because it signals that they’re not abandoning it. However, unless you are a heavy Kindle user, I’d look at other options — it’s just too thick.

I’m happy with my Boox Leaf2 for now¹ — but sure would have loved an updated Kindle Voyage² in the lineup alongside the Paperwhite. That would have me thinking twice. For now, I’m looking forward to that phone-sized category of ereaders will bring.

Apple Updates iPad mini

From Apple Newsroom:

Apple today introduced the new iPad mini, supercharged by the A17 Pro chip and Apple Intelligence, the easy-to-use personal intelligence system that understands personal context to deliver intelligence that is helpful and relevant while protecting user privacy. With a beloved ultraportable design, the new iPad mini is available in four gorgeous finishes, including a new blue and purple, and features the brilliant 8.3-inch Liquid Retina display.

No doubt, better than nothing. But not much thought. I classify these sort of updates: if current one breaks, replacement hurts less. As an iPad mini Gen 6th owner, I don’t see any reason to update. This is fine for yearly updates, but for a product that is updated every 3 years, I’d expect to want to upgrade every cycle.

As usual, Michael Tsai’s aggregation of comments paints the best picture of public reactions. That said, with the increase to 128GB for the base $499 model, I still recommend the iPad mini for all us mini tablets fans.

Update to GitHub Issues Public Beta

From The GitHub Blog:

Today we are excited to unveil a major evolution of issues and projects, featuring a range of highly requested enhancements including sub-issues, issue types and advanced search for issues. Together, these additions make it easier than ever to break down work, visualize progress, categorize and find just the right issue in GitHub.

I love GitHub issues, but it lost to Jira in the Agile New World Order at my corporate job. Not sure it’s a loss for GitHub though — I’m actually happy that burndown charts and velocity reports is not on its roadmap. But having these new features would have given me at least a chance to argue for it.

Panic Transmit Ending Support for Google Drive

Michael, on blog.panic.com:

At some unknown point in the future, Google will revoke Transmit’s access to Google Drive. Sometime after that, we’ll be releasing updates to Transmit and Nova that remove the ability to create Google Drive connections.

My guess is that something similar is happening to Blot’s Google Drive support. Happy I didn’t went with moving from Dropbox to Google Drive a while back for my blogging back-end.

There’s always a tension between security and features. So I get the need for control over Google Drive access. However, when the features you want out of a service, disappear in the name of security. Then the whole reason to use the tool itself goes away.

John Naughton on Dave Winer and the Blogosphere

John Naughton, on The Guardian:

So Dave was present at the creation of some cool stuff, but it was blogging that brought him to a wider public. “Some people were born to play country music,” he wrote at one stage. “I was born to blog. At the beginning of blogging I thought everyone would be a blogger. I was wrong. Most people don’t have the impulse to say what they think.”

This got to me. The possibilities of sharing long-form text content that exists an equal link away from anyone as any established publications has always been part of the promise of the web. But most with internet access do not take advantage of it.

Dave was the exact opposite. He was (and remains) articulate and forthright. His formidable record as a tech innovator meant that he couldn’t be written off as a crank. The fact that he was financially secure meant that he didn’t have to suck up to anyone: he could speak his mind.

What Dave Winer says, I listen.

ChatGPT Canvas UX Introduced

From openai.com:

We’re introducing canvas, a new interface for working with ChatGPT on writing and coding projects that go beyond simple chat. Canvas opens in a separate window, allowing you and ChatGPT to collaborate on a project. This early beta introduces a new way of working together—not just through conversation, but by creating and refining ideas side by side.

AI related apps are the new playground of UI/UX interactions. My AI stack remains fairly stable, but I expect them to change and merge considerably over the next few years.

My hope is that these interfaces can be replicated by third-party apps, but it’s not likely.

Option and Shift Modifiers Not Available Anymore in macOS Sequoia

Matthias Gansrigler, on developer.apple.com:

In my app, I use RegisterEventHotkey to implement global keyboard shortcuts to trigger actions.
Up until macOS Sequoia, I was able to use a keyboard shortcut with option and shift as the modifiers, like option shift 2 (⌥ ⇧ 2).
Now, on macOS Sequoia, using RegisterEventHotkey to register a hotkey with those exact modifiers (option and shift), regardless of the key, fails with the error -9868 (eventInternalErr).

Apple’s Frameworks Engineer reply:

This was an intentional change in macOS Sequoia to limit the ability of key-logging malware to observe keys in other applications. The issue of concern was that shift+option can be used to generate alternate characters in passwords, such as Ø (shift-option-O). There is no workaround; macOS Sequoia now requires that a hotkey registration use at least one modifier that is not shift or option.

Say goodbye to option-shift (⌥ ⇧) keyboard shortcuts. If you’re pro enough to use these sort of shortcuts, you should really consider adopting a hyperkey. Hat tip to this Shottr KB article.

Dave Winer On Markdown and ActivityPub

Dave Winer, on Scripting News:

And finally, if I were the czar of ActivityPub, I’d add Markdown support to the spec because it ain’t the web if you can’t link in your writing. Maybe even invent some new kinds of links, after all it’s been 35 years since the first web was invented.

Here, here. Markdown everywhere or… let’s take on Dave’s challenge and figure new type of link.

Also, loved this:

it ain’t the web if you can’t link in your writing

So true.

Castro Developer on Shipping New Features

Posted by Dustin Bluck on Sep 25, 2024, on castro.fm:

Castro isn’t a museum. We have to ship new features. The product has been stagnant for too long, and we can hardly say it’s the best app for listening to podcasts on iOS when it still lacks basic features like device sync. We also can’t sit in a room and rewrite the app from scratch for 6-12 months while the product remains stagnant. Even if we could, that’s not a good way to ship software. Full rewrites rarely turn out to be a good idea.

I rather live in a world in which Castro iterates features — and I risk some affecting my workflow — than one in which my favorite podcast player just slowly goes away.

MacStories First Look of Logitech's MX Creative Console

John Voorhees, on macstories.net:

[…] the MX Creative Console comes in two parts. The first is a wireless dialpad with a big knob, a scroll wheel, and four programmable buttons; the dialpad is wireless because it has no screens, allowing it to run on AAA batteries. The second part is a keypad with nine customizable buttons plus two buttons for paging among multiple sets of the nine buttons. The two devices can work together, allowing, for example, a press of something like a brightness button on the keypad to control brightness via the dialpad’s knob.

I recently got a 16 key Megalodon Triple Knob Macro Pad for my birthday. And I’m loving it. It’s extremely geeky, but it has convinced my about the power of specialized keys for apps.

The Logitech’s MX Creative Console, as well as the Elgato’s Stream Deck, are way more user friendly. I’m still happy with my Macro Pad, but a cheaper and simpler version of the Logitech, similar to the Stream Deck Neo will be something to keep in the radar.

Ratta Supernote A5 X2 Key Features Teased

From Ratta Supernote:

• What are the key features of Supernote A5 X2?
  • Slimmer - 18% thinner
  • Lighter - about 15% relief
  • Clearer - 33% higher PPI
  • More Sustainable

All of above vs their original A5 X. With reMarkable going into a more premium direction with their latest Pro, my eink tablet browser-window shopping is open for business. Supernote user always have nice things to say about their device, and Ratta’s support. In fact, if the Viwoods AiPaper had come from Ratta — I wouldn’t had hesitated with one the devices.

Will keep an eye on this upcoming version,

Omega-3 on Anxiety and Depression (in Mice)

Vladimir Hedrih, on PsyPost:

A study on mice found that adding omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids to their diets effectively counteracts depressive and anxiety-like behaviors induced by stress. Not only did the supplementation reduce these stress-induced symptoms, but it also lowered anxiety levels in mice that were not exposed to stress. These findings, published in Neurobiology of Stress, suggest that omega-3 fatty acids may have protective mental health benefits.

During my first year in Norway — the lead-in to winter really affected my mood. Someone at work strongly suggested daily fish-oil. It worked wonders. I’ve always suspected it wasn’t a placebo effect, but it’s good to know.

Arc Browser Vulnerability CVE-2024-45489

Eva, on kibty.town:

this would be the final attack chain: obtain the user id of the victim via one of the mentioned methods create a malicious boost with whatever payload you want on your own account update the boost creatorID field to the targets whenever the victim visits the targeted website, they will get compromised

Make no mistake. This was bad. Still, I think The Browser Company response was quick and sincere:

Hursh here, CTO and Cofounder of The Browser Company. We want to let all Arc users know that a security vulnerability existed in Arc prior to 8/25/24. We were made aware of a vulnerability on 8/25, it was fixed on 8/26. This issue allowed the possibility of remote code execution on users’ computers. We’ve patched the vulnerability immediately, already rolled out the fix, and verified that no one outside of the security researcher who discovered the bug has exploited it. This means no members were affected by this vulnerability, and you do not need to take any action to be protected.

Back to Eva’s post:

the browser company normally does not do bug bounties (update: see at the end of post), but for this catastrophic of a vuln, they decided to award me with $2,000 USD

Overall, while the incident was scary, no one was affected. I trust Arc’s team response and attitude will make the most of this as a learning opportunity, and it will make the browser (and related services) better in the end. Still my default browser.

Windows App Replaces Microsoft Remote Desktop

Andrew Cunningham, on Ars Technica:

Microsoft announced today that it’s releasing a new app called Windows App as an app for Windows that allows users to run Windows and also Windows apps (it’s also coming to macOS, iOS, web browsers, and is in public preview for Android).

I just had to link to the month’s best article title: Microsoft releases a new Windows app called Windows App for running Windows apps.

Apple A16 SOC is Made in America

Tim Culpan, on Tim Culpan’s Position:

This is a BFD. TSMC Arizona is the marquee project of the US government’s $39 billion CHIPS for America Fund under the CHIPS Act. Six months ago, I thought Apple might tap Arizona for a less-consequential chip like the H-series used in AirPods. I was surprised when I heard it was the A16. The fact that they went for the most-advanced chip they could manage on US soil, in terms of both technology and volume, shows Apple and TSMC want to start big.

Agree that — if/when confirmed — this is a big freaking deal. Sentiment was that these US foundries were going to be building very low volume, or lower performance chips. If true that the iPhone 15 (last year’s model), will have be using a US produced SKU, then things are going a lot better than expected.

Python in Excel Announced by Third Party on Windows

PR from Anaconda:

Excel users can now use Python’s advanced capabilities for data manipulation, statistical analysis, and data visualization without leaving their familiar spreadsheet environment. This opens up new possibilities for complex analyses and sophisticated visualizations.  

Wow, this is interesting. You have my attentions, but how would it work?

Using Python in Excel is as easy as typing “=PY(” followed by Python code in an Excel cell. The results of the Python calculations or visualizations appear directly in the Excel worksheet.

Ok, I’m up. I see the potential. How can I try it?

Python in Excel is available now to Excel users on Windows.

I’m going back to bed.

Neato CMS Development Updates

Adam, on notes.neatnik.net:

I’ve been working on a new thing called Neato for the past six months. My natural inclination is to start my work in a code editor, but for the first five months I worked exclusively in a paper notebook. With a pencil.

I’m excited about this. I’m ready for a change on my blogging setup — if only just to come back crawling to blot and figure out an updated theme.

Alan Adler Profile – AeroPress Inventor

David Friedman, on Ironic Sans:

I figured that if the coffee maker had so many fans, a video about the man behind the coffee maker would surely be a hit. When I looked into its inventor and discovered that he also invented the Aerobie toy that I played with when I was a kid, I was delighted to discover a broader story than I originally anticipated.

I had this realization years ago. It was fun to know that the AeroPress wasn’t the first product invented by Adler I owned. Many years ago, I used to play non-stop with Aerobie in a golf course — after closing time.

I’ve read about he AeroPress invention many teams, but this article is a good summary. Still enjoy seeing prototypes and recipes:

And I went out in my shop and I made what was a prototype of the AeroPress. And I was just wowed at how good the coffee tasted. It was much sweeter, less bitter. Later on I measured it with instruments and found it had only 1/5 the acid level of ordinary drip coffee.

Jason Snell macOS Sequoia 15 review

Jason Snell, on Six Colors:

What I’m saying is, macOS 15.0 Sequoia is here, but all anyone wants to know about is version 15.1. As with iOS and iPadOS, this fall’s release is the one that will begin to deeply integrate machine-learning models, dubbed Apple Intelligence, throughout the operating system. But the point-oh versions entirely lack those anticipated features, which won’t arrive until point-one.

This is not to say that there aren’t a bunch of new Mac features in macOS Sequoia 15.0.

If you only have time for one short post macOS 15 review. I recommend this one.

Tidbits for 2024 Week 38

A silence of ten weeks, cannot be forgiven. My apologies dear reader, for absence of links. Testing something new then, hope it’s as fun to click on as it’s to save. Stay safe!

• Rosemary Orchard announced Menubox, which seems to be Alex Hay’s last app. Insta-download and support from me. As usual, it brings an elegant way to replace shortcuts.

• I replaced Draft’s floating window with Scratchpad this week — which replaced Scrap Paper after less than a week. It’s a bit cleaner — and forces me to sort whatever I write. In reality, all 3 apps works fine.

• Robata for macOS is a really cool take on on window switching — still too beta for me, but there’s something there to revisit. However, with Sequoia window tilling, I’m going default for a while. One thing I’ll miss is Moom’s resizing superpower. Free Swift Shift might be a good alternative.

• Now that I didn’t renew Kagi, I might revisit Lucky Safari plugin to cleanup Google Search results.

• After his Talk Show appearance, I downloaded VegasMate. Now I’m daydreaming of a WWDC friends reunion in Las Vegas for 2025.

• I usually end up in Deckset when I need to do slides in a hurry. But ‎Showdown lets you also create a quick markdown-based presentation, and it’s free.