archive

Defaults 2025: Another year has passed, and it’s time to update my app defaults. A lot has happened in the world since Andrew, Martin, and Jason of Hemispheric Views listed their defaults for the first time. I’ve tried to ditch big‑tech companies and move my data and services to more open platforms, some of …

PSA macOS and iOS Apps on Sale: PSA: Right now is a good time to buy Indie Software for macOS and iOS. There are lists online with hundreds of discounted apps, e.g. indieappsales.com or github and Lou has a Roundup of his AppAddict Reviews on Sale. But it’s even easier than this. Just buy all the apps you don’t own yet …

Down the Self-Hosting Rabbit Hole: For a couple of years, I’ve had two Raspberry Pis running on my home network. One was for a Magic Mirror 2 server instance with a few self-written Python scripts. A very cheaply acquired Fire Tablet hangs on the fridge and displays its website in Full Kiosk Mode. The other Raspberry run …

Watched: Rushmore 🍿 - enjoyed it

Babo: The Haftbefehl Story (2025)

LM Studio: Run local LLMs like gpt-oss, Qwen3, Gemma3, DeepSeek and many more on your computer, privately and for free. LM Studio is the app I now use for running local LLMs.1 In LM Studio I mainly use gemma‑3‑12b, mostly for alt‑text generation, and the gpt‑oss‑20b model. Both run fine on my Mac equipped with …

Print and Play - Dungeon Pages: In the latest Hiro report, I read about an app called Roll N' Write for iPadOS. I had never heard about these print and play games and was wondering what they were about. I found the idea compelling, although I’m not a big RPG guy. I’ve downloaded the app, which looks decent, but as I am …

TIL that you can’t connect to your Fujifilm camera with your iPhone via its local wifi if you have a VPN service running in the background 🤦‍♂️. So, don’t blame the camera, blame yourself.

Today was a good day to shoot the moon.

Poor Things (2023)

Yesterday, we had a pretty impressive sunrise.

Here We Go!

Finished reading: Männer, die die Welt verbrennen by Christian Stöcker 📚

Berlin

LEGO 72046: I am extremely impressed with the LEGO Game Boy set. The build technique is outstanding. There are only two stickers and it looks absolutely brilliant. I am glad I made an exception to my “no new LEGO sets” rule.

Migration is not a Crime

Finished reading: Auf See by Theresia Enzensberger 📚

Skyscraper (Frankfurt am Main, Germany)

Notebook Navigator: Modern file explorer for Obsidian Full keyboard navigation. Dual-pane layout. Mobile optimized. Notebook Navigator is a truly great plugin for one of my favorite apps, Obsidian. Screenshot Homepage Notebook Navigator (2025-09-20) notebooknavigator.com/

Dieter Rams. Ein Stilraum / Museum Angewandte Kunst

Boat ⛵ Gorch Fock

Trees 🌳

Finished reading: Survival of the Richest by Douglas Rushkoff 📚 Recommended.

Bumblebee 🐝

Printers for my Paper Journal 🤦‍♂️: For several months now, I’ve been keeping a paper journal for my tasks and a few thoughts, using the basic principles of a bullet journal. (However, I hardly like to utter that term, as I love the original, extremely simple idea, but I reject the empire or the almost sect-like movement that …

Flies also like water lilies.

I went on a little photo tour of the natural sciences campus yesterday evening.

My Current iOS Podcast Client: Queue: I have been listening to podcasts regularly for a very long time, actually since the iPod era. Sometimes more, sometimes less. Of course, I’ve tried many apps because of this. I’ve used Pocket Casts, Castro for a long time, Overcast, and then one app or another, going back to Apple’s …

TIL that if your Switch 2 feels hot just sitting in the dock in standby mode, you should check if the following setting is enabled and turn it off: System Settings → Sleep Mode → Keep Wired Connection Active in Sleep Mode

TIL that you can update the firmware of your ASUS ROG Swift OLED PG32UCDM via a USB stick. I always thought I had to find a Windows PC for this, so I never did tried it.

Swift Shift: Manage your macOS windows like a pro "Swift Shift lets you move/resize windows with your mouse without searching for tiny arrows or window titles. It's the fastest way to organize your workspace to your liking." - just press and hold (custom) modifier keys and move your windows around. …

Finished reading: Atomic Habits by James Clear 📚

Leaving the Apple Watch Behind: For about two months, I haven’t been using my Apple Watch anymore, at least only sporadically. Previously, I wore one of my Apple Watches daily for almost ten years (9 years, 9 months, and 2 days). My longest streak for closing the activity rings was two years (735 days), and overall, I closed …

PowerPhotos: The ultimate toolbox for Photos on the Mac If you need to split, combine, merge or somehow manipulate your Apple Photos.app library, PowerPhotos is the way to go. Screenshot PowerPhotos Homepage (08.05.2025) www.fatcatsoftware.com/powerphotos/

Countdown Timer Pro: Create highly customizable countdown timer overlays with ease using Countdown Timer Pro, a completely free macOS app. There are several other apps like Countdown Timer Pro available for macOS, but it is very well executed and free. What more could one wish for? Mac App Store Screenshot Countdown …

Subway Vienna

BookPlayer: A wonderful player for your M4B/M4A/MP3 based audiobooks. In addition to an eBook Reader I was looking for a dedicated audiobook player. I think, I've found it. BookPlayer leaves nothing to be desired. If you want, you can view its source code on GitHub, or support the developer with a Pro …

Yomu: An independent reader for book lovers. I was looking for a third party alternative to Apple's Books.app - found it: Yomu EBook Reader. Single purchase if you want pro features, like iCloud sync, or just support its developer. Screenshot Yomu Homepage (07.05.2025) www.yomu-reader.com

Folder Preview: Quick look extension for folders. Nice, little utility app that lets you preview folders and ZIP files by pressing space bar on your Mac. From the same developer as Anybox and Pinning. Screenshot Folder Preview Homepage (07.05.2025) anybox.ltd/folder-preview

Finished reading: Four Thousand Weeks by Oliver Burkeman 📚

Birds and Frogs Today, the farmers mowed several meadows nearby. About ten storks took the opportunity to look for food, maybe mice. Various birds of prey joined them. Unfortunately, I’m not a wildlife photographer at all, but I still tried to capture them on film. On my way back, I came across …

TIL that you can install the free KOReader on your PocketBook Era and export your highlights via WLAN to e.g. NextCloud Notes and Readwise Reader. What a game changer! 🤩

Car Park

BarCuts: A Surprisingly Useful macOS Shortcuts Launcher. "A macOS menu bar app that surfaces your relevant Shortcuts workflows when you need them. "Tag" workflows to an application, and when that app is in front, BarCuts will show its tagged workflows in a menu, ready for you to access." …

Zero Duplicates: Find and Remove Duplicate Files with Confidence I was looking for an app that can easily remove duplicates from my hard drives. There is a fair number of apps available, but lots of them look shady to me. Not this one. The best thing is that it is free to use and has a very friendly and responsive …

Moving (my Data) to Europe: In recent weeks, like many others, I’ve been contemplating where my digital data and the services I use are actually located. Predominantly, they reside on servers located in the United States, owned by American tech companies. Given the current political climate, I’ve made an effort to …

Vienna

SOOC

Moon

Nitrogen

A Lantern and a Tree

Making your own bread is awesome: Baking bread is really a great thing. Yesterday we had “Wurzelbrot” (similar to baguette) made with sourdough for breakfast. Then in the afternoon, homemade pizza in the Ooni oven with our own yeast dough, and in the evening, lard bread (with vegan lard and soy yogurt), also made with …

Automated Daily Notes in Obsidian - Daily News Integration: For over a year, a draft has been lying in my project folder, in which I wanted to describe all the shortcuts I use to automatically add some information to my Daily Notes in Obsidian at the end of the day. However, the project was far too big, as my setup is quite complex, and so I haven’t …

ShareMyPlugin: All My Enabled Obsidian Plugins: Lou wrote about his Obsidian plugins and mentioned the Share My Plugin List plugin. I’ve previously shared my 10 favorite plugins, but this tool makes it so easy to list all my enabled plugins that I couldn’t resist giving it a try: ⬇️ Readwise Official by Readwise: Official Readwise <-> …

I love how easy it is to vote in Germany: You automatically receive your election documents without having to request them. On election day, you simply walk a few hundred meters to your nearest polling station—ideally in perfect weather—where friendly volunteers are ready to hand you your ballot. There are usually no long lines, no waiting …

Unread: Rediscover the joy of reading your favorite writers and publications with Unread. Unread is a (not exactly cheap, subscription based) classic RSS client for iOS, iPadOS, and macOS with a strong focus on design and typography and a perfectly harmonised feature set. I am thrilled. Unread Homepage …

Finished reading: Die Bullet-Journal-Methode by Ryder Carroll 📚

Oh by the way, Dry January ✅ I’m super happy that it was really easy for me.

These figures are a little out of date, but have only got worse since then. I don’t understand how anyone can really believe that foreigners or LGBTQIA+ people are the core problem in our society.

Media Diet: I wish everyone a good start to the new week. Over the weekend I deliberately didn’t read any news, didn’t consume any RSS articles or social media feeds. My phone felt pleasantly useless. It wasn’t easy for me, of course, but it was a good move. I have just marked 594 unread …

OMG why did nobody tell me that Dataview Publisher (https://github.com/udus122/dataview-publisher) for #Obsidian exists? What a freakin' game changer 🤩.

That sounds easy and fun. I will definitely try it out: There oughta be a Game Boy Slideshow

Why do we have to read all the crap about Trump again. All the headlines, all the newspapers… filled with a big load of bullshit. As if our own countries would not be of any interest. Can‘t we just ignore this fucking clown? I try to escape but there’s no way! I need a content blocker that removes …

TIL if you enable “Offload unused apps” in iOS settings, an app will eventually be deleted, even if you use its functions via a shortcut every day. This will of course break the latter. 🤷‍♂️

SwitchBuddy: The unofficial companion app for Nintendo Switch SwitchBuddy is a companion app specifically for the Nintendo Switch. You can easily transfer captured screenshots to your iPhone, stay informed about new releases, get an overview of the latest news, follow sales, and, of course, track your own game …

Festivitas: Festivitas brings the holiday spirit to your Mac with festive lights for the dock and menu bar 🎄 "Festivitas automatically adds festive lights to your menu bar and dock upon launch and you can tweak their appearance to match your preferences ✨" - nothing to add here. As written on my blog, …

Tech I Don’t Need (But Want): There are a few tech items I’ve been eyeing for a long time1, which I’d love to have, but the rational part of my brain forbids me from buying—at least for now, thankfully. First on the list is a drone. Long before insurance requirements and discussions about drone safety became prevalent, I owned a …

Apps that make me smile: There are those apps that really do nothing productive but just make you smile while using your computer. One I really love is BananaBin a “playful reminder that it’s time to take out the trash”. Today Simon B. Støvring released another one of this kind: Festivitas, which …

State of App and Services Subscriptions 2024 Edition: I use a variety of apps and services across iOS, macOS, and the web. Most operate on subscription models, and although I aim to keep each subscription under € 5 per month, the total monthly cost can quickly become significant. At the end of 2023, I reviewed all the apps and services I was subscribed …

Picsew - Scrollshot & Collage: Make Screenshot Stitching Easy with Picsew! Picsew is IMHO a truly underrated app whose potential is not immediately apparent. Among scrollshot stitching and other things, you can e.g. effortlessly add device frames to screenshots and pay less for its full version than you pay for other apps in a …

My Top 10 Obsidian Plugins: I know there are now over two thousand plugins for Obsidian, and everyone uses a different combination. There are also countless lists suggesting various plugins. But that’s the great thing: The individual combination of plugins makes Obsidian exactly the (power) tool that each user wants it …

OK Video: Tap. Record. Share. The easiest way to record anything, by far. It’s actually just that simple. At first, I wasn’t sure if I needed an app like this or what I’d use it for. However, it turns out to be really handy for capturing a few moments over the course of the day and exporting them as a short …

Discounted macOS / iOS Apps: I think by now everyone has noticed that there’s another Indie App Sale going on. Take a look and see if there are any software bargains you don’t own yet but would like to have. Additionally, the Space/Time sale is also happening, where you can get some really good apps1 at a 50% …

TIL that, in addition to hitting esc - which I already knew and use all the time - you can cancel a drag of a Finder item by dragging it onto the menu bar. Also, you can drag an item to the header of a Finder’s list view and don’t have to find an empty, safe spot to release it.

Mercury Weather: "It's a weather app. How much is there to say?" - Malin from Triple Glazed Studios' crack product marketing team The usefulness of additional weather apps besides the native Apple one is certainly debatable, but in addition to Looks Like Rain I really enjoy using Mercury Weather. Mercury Weather was …

App Defaults - 2024 Edition: It has now been over a year since Andrew, Martin, and Jason of Hemispheric Views listed their app defaults, causing probably the biggest internet movement of 2023, documented with meticulous detail by Robb. Time to update my list. Indicated are unchanged entries (🔒) and updated entries (✨). I still …

Sindre's New App: Supercharge: I purchased Sindre Sorhus' Mac app Supercharge, not because I’ve tested the demo version extensively or think I really need it or will even use it, but because Sindre has released so many different, really great software for free so far. I wanted to take this opportunity to reward him for his …

The first cold days with hoarfrost. Everything silver and gray, only the fallen leaves of a tree added a touch of color to the scene.

Unrealistic Wishes for Switch 2: If I could wish for something completely unrealistic for the Switch 2, it would be Nintendo allowing users to legally digitize old game packs and cartridges on the device, and play them via emulation. Imagine a Switch Online Plus subscription that permits connecting Nintendo-provided cartridge …

MacWhisper: Quickly and easily transcribe audio files into text with OpenAI's state-of-the-art transcription technology Whisper. Whether you're recording a meeting, lecture, or other important audio, MacWhisper quickly and accurately transcribes your audio files into text. MacWhisper is probably one of, if not …

I have recently started collecting again: I’ve recently started collecting something new again. I don’t mean video games, LEGO minifigures, retro handheld consoles, SAKs, or virtual Pokémon trading cards 1. This time it’s crown caps. I did this already as a kid, and at a certain stage, my own kids started doing so too. …

Switching to lire: I was using the new Reeder app for the last couple of months, but today I quit. For my number of subscribed feeds, it simply takes far too long to refresh. There are bugs, there is no support, and there is not even an OPML export feature. So, I purchased lire and set it up with Feedbin, a service I …

Fly

Broken Daily Notes Workflow thanks to iOS 18: As an enthusiastic Obsidian user, over time I’ve built a rather complex system consisting of about 15 different shortcuts that are triggered sequentially by a master shortcut. At the end of each day, these shortcuts collect data from various apps and add them to my daily notes in Obsidian. It was …

PSA: No More macOS 15 Sequoia Monthly Screen Recording Permission Reminders - I haven’t tried it yet because I haven’t updated to macOS Sequoia myself, but I’ll definitely keep that in mind for that day in the future.

TIL that you can open the current macOS Finder window in Terminal by right clicking in the Path Bar in the bottom of the Finder window. So far I only used to drag the proxy icon on the Terminal icon in the dock.

Latest Tech Temptations: In recent days, a lot of new hardware has been introduced, and for all these great new devices and gadgets, I consider myself part of the potential target audience. Apple has presented new iPhones, Apple Watches, and AirPods. Thanks to Apple’s decision to slowly and gradually roll out the …

Finished reading: Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King 📚

What's Up With My Username?: I think we now live in a time where people don’t really wonder about things like usernames anymore. But maybe some of you have wondered about mine? I’ve only been using esamecar for two or three years. Before that, I had a series of others, but for most services, I usually used the same …

The biggest problem with owning multiple gaming platforms is choosing the right one for a particular game. Those are the really tough decisions in life, I guess.

TIL that when Safari on macOS suggests a username for a login and you have a Touch ID enabled Mac you can just directly use the sensor. In the past I always clicked on the popup with the mouse to select it first, and then used my finger on the sensor.

What caught my attention in week thirty-two, 2024: In continuation of week 31, here are a few thoughts and things that caught my attention in the thirty-second week of 2024: 🖥️ If you’re tired of always having to find a tiny free spot on an macOS app window to move or resize it, then this app might help: Swift Shift - Manage your macOS …

Automated Translations in Apps: A Threat to Quality and Credibility: Apps that clearly contain automatically generated translations that no native speaker has reviewed are so disturbing to me that I can’t use them1. I don’t think the developers realize the damage they are doing to their software. Such apps come across as incredibly unprofessional to me, …

macOS Sequoia Permission Madness: 9TO5Mac reports that Apple is apparently planning to present its Mac operating system users with a copy of Microsoft’s Vista disaster: With macOS Sequoia this fall, using apps that need access to screen recording permissions will become a little bit more tedious. Apple is rolling out a change …

What caught my attention in week thirty-one, 2024: In continuation of week 30, here are a few thoughts and things that caught my attention in the thirty-first week of 2024: 🖼️ I’ve mentioned the image viewers Lyn and PicArrange before, but this week Musebox made the rounds. I will take a closer look at it when I get a chance. 🔄 Speaking of …

Finished reading: Der Astronaut by Andy Weir 📚

There are a number of household product categories where it feels like you can only buy junk, even if you were prepared to spend more money. Off the top of my head: kitchen scales, draining racks, kitchen thermometers, and laundry baskets. Which ones can you think of?

Finished reading: Brüssel sehen und sterben by Nico Semsrott 📚

What caught my attention in week thirty, 2024: In continuation of week 29, here are a few thoughts and things that caught my attention in the thirtieth week of 2024: 📝 Might be handy, but not sure if I will actually use it: WeExpire - Create emergency notes that can be read by your trusted contacts only after your death. 🖥️ Apparency for …

What caught my attention in week twenty-nine, 2024: In continuation of week 28, here are a few thoughts and things that caught my attention in the twenty-ninth week of 2024: 📱 Just in time for its tenth anniversary the rewrite of Overcast was released. I had canceled my subscription months ago, but since it hasn’t expired yet, I downloaded …

What caught my attention in week twenty-eight, 2024: In continuation of week 27, here are a few thoughts and things that caught my attention in the twenty-eighth week of 2024: 🆓 DEVONtechnologies released their free Neo Network Utility app for macOS. 🛠️ Another new app from Sindre: Menu Bar Spacing - Customize the gap between menu bar items. 📄 …

IndieAppSales Summer 2024: Indie App Sales! is running again, this time from July 9th to 10th. The last sale wasn’t that long ago, so the list of apps I checked out or bought this time is significantly shorter than my last one. However, this still means that those who didn’t make a purchase last time might find …

What caught my attention in week twenty-seven, 2024: In continuation of week 25, here are a few thoughts and things that caught my attention in the twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh week of 2024: At the end of the 26th week, I suddenly became ill. It started with a sore throat, followed by headaches, cough, runny nose, and total exhaustion. I am still …

TIL that you can scroll the list of Shortcuts in Apple’s Shortcut menu item.

TIL that you can open a copy of a message in Apple Mail to edit and resend it via ⇧⌘D. I never thought about this feature, but it seems quite useful.

What caught my attention in week twenty-five, 2024: In continuation of week 24, here are a few thoughts and things that caught my attention in the twenty-fifth week of 2024: 🌐 The outrage about unethical behavior by big tech companies wanting to make money with AI features continued. See for example: How We’re Trying to Protect MacStories …

What caught my attention in week twenty-four, 2024: In continuation of week 23, here are a few thoughts and things that caught my attention in the 24th week of 2024. My eldest son has a guest student from America visiting, who will be staying with us for the next three weeks. Last week was therefore very much about preparation and, after his arrival, …

I wonder how many people don’t know that in iOS they can access a multiple selection mode in lists with a double tap and hold, e.g. in Apple Mail, with which they can very easily mark many mails as read, for example. That’s only one of so many non-discoverable features in iOS.

macOS apps I wish were better: I am a long-time macOS user and over the decades I’ve tried a lot of different apps. Many I have used only briefly or they were discontinued after some time. However, some grow close to my heart, accompany me for countless years, and make my daily life easier. Nevertheless, sometimes some of …

What caught my attention in week twenty-three, 2024: In continuation of week 22, here are a few thoughts and things that caught my attention in the twenty-third week of 2024: 🔑 As the Safari integration of 1Password is getting worse and worse - at least for me it is so buggy, that I have disabled the Safari extension and moved my passwords to …

Bartender Alternatives: Bartender was acquired and neither the original programmer nor the new owner informed about it. Since the app requires extensive permissions to perform its service, including screen recording, and the communication about the sale apparently went rather catastrophically1, many users are somehow …

TIL that on macOS you can open an image with Quick Look by hitting Space bar and then just select all recognised text (⌘A) and copy it (⌘C) to your clipboard 🤯.

What caught my attention in week twenty-two, 2024: In continuation of week 21, here are a few thoughts and things that caught my attention in the 22. week of 2024: 🚴‍♂️ This week was relatively quiet in terms of tech-related news, partly because my wife had a bicycle accident in the middle of the week. I have borrowed a car, transported her 100 km …

TIL that the number of a CR battery indicates its diameter and thickness. For example, CR2032 is 20 mm wide and 3.2 mm thick.

In the whole Pro discussion about the iPad, I always miss the decisive factor for me: There is no multi-user support. I’m not going to spend €2000 on an ultra-modern device that only one person in the household can use, whereas a Macbook Air is available to the whole family for a very similar …

What caught my attention in week twenty-one, 2024: In continuation of week 20, here are a few thoughts and things that caught my attention in the 21. week of 2024: ⌨️ In week 37 of 2023 I bought a Keychron K1 SE Wireless Mechanical Keyboard and have been trying to learn to type on the keyboard since then. My error rate was extremely high, and I …

Finished reading: Doom Guy by John Romero 📚

What caught my attention in week twenty, 2024: In continuation of week 18, here are a few thoughts and things that caught my attention in the 19. - 20. week of 2024: 🚴‍♂️ I was cycling with my wife for a few days along the former East-West German border. The weather was fantastic, the inclines were not to be underestimated but manageable. A …

What caught my attention in week eighteen, 2024: In continuation of week 17, here are a few thoughts and things that caught my attention in the 18. week of 2024: 🚀 Carlo just released a beta of UI Actions. It follows his awesome Actions for Obsidian, but with this you can script macOS apps that lack native shortcut integration. Definitely an app …

I am so grateful that some clever mind once invented the bicycle 🙏🥰

What caught my attention in week seventeen, 2024: In continuation of week 16, here are a few thoughts and things that caught my attention in the seventeenth week of 2024: 🖱️ Logitech’s Mouse Software Now Includes ChatGPT Support, Adds Janky ‘ai_overlay_tmp’ Directory to Users’ Home Folders: It seems to be a good time to reconsider using …

CASIO fx-4800P: In the latest Clockwise episode Strap In and Forget My Email the question came up, what the oldest tech gadget was that is still being used. For me it’s an old CASIO fx-4800P calculator I got most probably 1990 🤯. I still use it several times a week, whenever I’m not in the mood for …

What caught my attention in week sixteen, 2024: In continuation of week 15, here are a few thoughts and things that caught my attention in the sixteenth week of 2024: 🎮 This week was an exciting one for retro gaming on iOS. After some initial debacle with a ripoff GB emulator, which was pulled after a few days by Apple, another one, Bimmy, was …

What caught my attention in week fifteen, 2024: In continuation of week 14, here are a few thoughts and things that caught my attention in the 15. week of 2024: 🎮 I was briefly excited when I read that the first GBA emulator had landed in the iOS App Store. Unfortunately, it was not a legitimate app, and it was subsequently removed (again too …

What caught my attention in week fourteen, 2024: The week before Easter was once again very quiet in terms of new software and tech-related stuff. This was probably also because there was a lot to do at work before we went on our Easter vacation. For a few years now, we have been traveling more or less regularly during the Easter holidays together …

What caught my attention in week twelve, 2024: In continuation of week 11, here are a few thoughts and things that caught my attention in the 12th week of 2024: 😴 Actually, this week was a very quiet week in terms of tech-related stuff. It was probably because I was very busy at work and in the evenings, I preferred to relax with a game of …

What caught my attention in week eleven, 2024: In continuation of week 10, here are a few thoughts and things that caught my attention in the 11. week of 2024: 👀 Adam is once again working on something new: Neato. 🏦 IndieAppSales 2024 was going on last week and I bought some new apps. 📱 Just like for iA Presenter, there is now also an iOS …

IndieAppSales Spring 2024: Indie App Sales! is running from 12. to 13. March 2024 Here are some Apps I’ve looked into so far: Blur sensitive data with BlurData (macOS) → I don’t really need the app and then it’s a bit too expensive; not bought Bridges Link Formatting (macOS) → bought it and after I found …

What caught my attention in week ten, 2024: Continuing from week 09, here are a few thoughts and things that caught my attention in the 10th week of 2024: 🌸 Michael made incredible paper flowers and you can help him picking the best one: Battle of the Blooms 2024. 🎥 In addition to Office Space, Jason made The Matrix Gifs available as well …

What caught my attention in week nine, 2024: In continuation of week 8, here are a few thoughts and things that caught my attention in the 9. week of 2024: 🎥 Inspired by Jason’s awesome OfficeSpace.gif, we (re)watched Office Space (1999) as a family. We had a lot of fun. 😆 Cool: RSS IS DEAD LOL. 📚 Bookmarked Calibre Sync. It seems …

What caught my attention in week eight, 2024: Continuing from week 07, here are a few thoughts and things that caught my attention in the eighth week of 2024: 📱 Simple Scan • Quick Scanner was teased by Agile Tortoise. Curious to see if this will be a better solution than just opening the Files.app and initiating a scan from there. (Actually, …

What caught my attention in week seven, 2024: Continuing from week 06, here are a few thoughts and things that caught my attention in the seventh week of 2024: 👌 So, I think I’ve read and seen enough about the Apple Vision Pro for now. I hope I’ll stay firm and wait at least for Gen 2 and not want to buy it as soon as the AVP is …

What caught my attention in week six, 2024: Continuing from week 05, here are a few thoughts and things that caught my attention in the sixth week of 2024: 🤦‍♂️ Last week, I failed to configure my Mac as a WIFI Access Point with NordVPN. This week, I tried to do it with a Raspberry Pi 4. Since I no longer have a monitor with an HDMI input, …

Apple Vision Pro - a glimpse of the future?: After reading and watching selected reports about the Apple Vision Pro, the consensus seems to be that the experience is absolutely unique. Although, it seems to be just the beginning of something really big to come due to its many existing shortcomings (weight, battery life, bulkiness, price etc.). …

What caught my attention in week five, 2024: Continuing from week 04, here are a few thoughts and things that caught my attention in the fifth week of 2024: 🎮 This week I had to repeatedly curb my nearly uncontrollable urge to buy gadgets I don’t need - so far quite successfully. I did not order the Ayaneo Next LITE nor pledged the …

A field in winter in the dark. The field is covered in snow, a dog is standing in front, looking away from the viewer and wearing a collar with a light. Night Shot on iOS: 

What caught my attention in week four, 2024: Continuing from week 03, here are a few thoughts and things that caught my attention in the fourth week of 2024: 🌐 I didn’t quite understand the commotion about the DMA this week. Gruber proved himself to be a true patriot once again, and I still don’t understand where exactly the …

What caught my attention in week three, 2024: In continuation of week 02, here are a few thoughts and things that caught my attention in the third week of 2024: 🖨️ Almost 2 years after Anker introduced its V6 Color Engine for the M5 3D printer, it cancelled it. You can either get a $600 discount for an as yet unannounced product, or they will …

Finished reading: Die subtile Kunst des Daraufscheißens by Mark Manson 📚

What caught my attention in week two, 2024: In continuation of week 01, here are a few thoughts and things that caught my attention in the second week of 2024: 🏋️ After my Covid infection in early December, followed by exhaustion, I started with a training program. It includes (indoor) cycling, strength training, and yoga sessions. …

What caught my attention in week one, 2024: In continuation of week 52, 2023, here are a few thoughts and things that caught my attention in the first week of 2024: 🤔 I read some blog posts about One Month Without and I always find it interesting to see what people are willing to give up for a month. I did this spontaneously in the first …

What caught my attention in week fifty-two, 2023: In addition to week 50, here are a few thoughts and things that caught my attention in week 51 and 52, 2023: 🖼 Many new iPhone wallpapers made the rounds: Gameboy style, iPod style. On Reddit, there are some simpler versions available for free (Original, iPod Mini), and moreover, Basic Apple Guy …

I remember times when BMW used to build relatively “reasonable looking” cars.

What caught my attention in week fifty, 2023: Due to my Covid infection, I was only able to publish my Weeknotes for week 49 quite late, so here are just a few more thoughts and things that caught my attention in week 50, 2023: 💶 I published my State of App and Services Subscriptions 2023 and read similar posts from other people with great …

Those were the days …

State of App and Services Subscriptions 2023: I use a variety of different apps and services on iOS and macOS. Most of them are based on subscription models, and even though I try to make sure that each program doesn’t cost more than 5 € / month, a not insignificant monthly amount1 quickly adds up. Here is a table of all the apps and …

What caught my attention in week fourty-nine, 2023: In continuation of week 48, here are a few thoughts and things that caught my attention in week 49, 2023: 🦠 Yes, I had already feared it, and unfortunately, it happened: My wife’s Covid-19 infection did not pass me by. Therefore, my weeknote is regrettably appearing a little too late …

What caught my attention in week fourty-eight, 2023: In continuation to week 47, here are a few thoughts and things that caught my attention in week 48, 2023: 🦠 My wife was plagued at the beginning of the week with severe headaches and especially nausea. The Corona test was negative. However, on Friday it turned out that she did have Corona, for the …

I just realized that I’m slowly getting old and tired. In the past, I knew at least a little bit about every (Apple) thing. Nowadays, I’ve lost track and have no desire to understand whether I can simply integrate Matter devices into my existing Homekit setup or if I need to make some …

Fun stuff with Obsidian and Dataview II - costs per week: You can do so much fun stuff with Obsidian and Dataview. I added notes for all of my electronic gear and based on properties for purchase date and price an inline dataview calculates the costs per week for each item, every time the note is opened 🤩 This is the actual inline calculation for …

Fun stuff with Obsidian and Dataview - pico-8 game launcher: You can do so much fun stuff with Obsidian and Dataview. I added notes for all my pico-8 games, containing the cartridge png itself and added some Templater and Properties magic. With the help of Keyboard Maestro I can now click on the little play button in my Dataview table and the game just …

Winter is coming

What caught my attention in week fourty-seven, 2023: Adam told me to stay on the path, so I’m trying to motivate myself to get back into the habit of writing down what has interested me throughout the week. So, here comes week 47. 🎮 I finished playing Horizon Forbidden West. It was my first computer game in years, and probably the first AAA …

Indie App Sales 2023: It feels like every day for weeks now is a special day and everything is and will be discounted. Oh, wouldn’t life be nice if things were just generally cheaper and my inbox was spared the flood of advertising? Anyway … There’s another Indie App Sale this year and there are now …

App Defaults: Shamelessly stolen from Robb and inspired by Hemispheric Views 097 - Duel of the Defaults! here are all the apps I use in the various categories as written by Andrew: Mail Client: Mail.app Mail Server: iCloud with custom domain and posteo.net Notes: Obsidian and some stuff left in Notes To-Do: …

MS Office Reset: TIL that you can easily uninstall your entire MS Office package under #macOS with Office Reset (https://office-reset.com/), then download only the app(s) you need from the Mac Appstore and use your existing Office 365 subscription. I always thought you had to purchase a new one somehow via Apple …

Here are a few things that caught my attention in week 37. Teaser: and not much again 🤷‍♂️ #weeknotes

Road with car driving towards sunset with bike lane next to it.: 

Here are a few things that caught my attention in week 36: week.esamecar.net/36 Teaser: not so much 🤷‍♂️ #weeknotes

Hot air balloon that just landed on a field.: 

Here are a few things that caught my attention in week 35: week.esamecar.net/35 Teaser: iOS and macOS stuff #weeknotes

Old gas station in Bonn, Germany, no longer operated as such.: 

Here are a few things that caught my attention in week 32 - 34: week.esamecar.net/34 Teaser: Family vacation, lots of RetroGaming, a little Obsidian, iOS and macOS stuff, one movie and a little TV. #weeknotes

A very, very nice old road bike in front of a brick wall.: 

How to use kagi search within Launchbar There is a kagi help document for Alfred and another one for Search Templates in Launchbar I used as a reference. It’s really easy to set up: In your Browser go to kagi.com / Settings / Account copy your Session Link Invoke Launchbar select Menu bar …

Okay, until just now I thought my 3D printer was just such a useless thing. But far from it - look what you can do with it! 🪿😍

Let’s have some fun 😅

VW Bulli T1

Finished reading: Nutzen Sie Ihr zweites Gehirn by Tiago Forte 📚

I finally found the answer 🙂

Our dog relaxes on the train ride towards the holiday.

Field path, a lot of green, on the horizon a castle on a hill: 

I've come to a decision today.: I’ve been using Apple products for almost 18 years now. I adore their hardware and used to be a big fan of their software ecosystem. However, the software quality has plummeted lately, to the point where I’ve decided not to buy any new Apple products for the time being. Because it just …

I would also have liked to have hiked directly to the castle on the horizon, but there was no time for that :-)

I thought before I implement my own blogroll on my omg.lol page, I might as well first compile a list of blogrolls created by people whose blogs I like to follow. So, a blogroll for blogrolls: blogroll.lol It’s still a fairly short list, but maybe it will get longer with time. I really …

Here are a few things that caught my attention in week thirty: week.esamecar.net/30 Teaser: Not so much, as I was a little sickly. 🤒 #weeknotes

Ein Waldweg in der Mitte Richtung Horizont. Rechts und links Bäume. Vorne ein Hund von hinten zu sehen.: 

I am very grateful to be able to be in the forest within a few minutes to walk my dog.

Here are a few things that caught my attention in week twenty-nine: week.esamecar.net/29 Teaser: #Sourdough, Summerfest #macOS App, #Playdate, #Obsidian and some #iOS apps. #weeknotes

Great scenery on today’s bike trip.

Found this one. Those were days!

Here are a few things that caught my attention in week twenty-eight: week.esamecar.net/28 Teaser: #IndieAppSales for #macOS and #iOS, my initial purchases on Apple’s App Store, and some footnote thoughts on collecting, TV, and movies. #weeknotes

In the center a dog on a dirt road, right and left grain fields; in the background a thunderstorm front.: 

The sky is falling down.

Indie Dev Sales: So, the Indie Dev Sales for #macOS and #iOS apps is currently running. Here is what I bought Classifier: Collection Tracker Home Widget for HomeKit Mastowatch Signals For HomeKit, Plus In-App Purchase Subtrack: Track Subscriptions already have Controller for HomeKit HomeCam for HomeKit HomeLog …

Here are a few things that caught my attention in week twenty-seven: week.esamecar.net/27 Teaser: It was hot, the #ACAC is still growing, got a new MacBook, looked into some #iOS Apple Health companion apps and refined my #PKM workflow. #weeknotes

Burning grain field: 

towards the rainbow 🌈

Here are a few things that caught my attention in week twenty-six: week.esamecar.net/26 Teaser: The #ACAC is growing, I went to a Red Hot Chili Peppers concert and to a Wedding party. Therefore, only a few new #macOS apps, no iOS, no TV, no movies. #weeknotes

Stage of Red Hot Chili Peppers concert in Mannheim, Germany: 

Okay, I didn’t expect Iggy Pop 🤘🤯

Here are a few things that caught my attention in week twenty-five: week.esamecar.net/25 Teaser: I started the #ACAC and of course tried a number of #macOS and #iOS programs and experimented with #Obsidian 😎

Here are a few things that caught my attention in week twenty-four: week.esamecar.net/24

Extinguishing water supply

Here are a few things that caught my attention in week twenty-three: week.esamecar.net/23

A small, green, two-person tent on a wooden platform in a wooded area. On the platform you can see a man who is just putting something into the tent, a boy and a dog.: 

Okay, this was insane. Now to bed 🙂

This is the way.

🐕 First >2 h train ride with the dog ✅ Now just the second part of the train ride and then a whole day of hiking through the forest. 🥾🏕️

After all the excitement about the improvements in iPadOS for Stagemanager, I took another look at it on macOS. I need a tutorial or preferably a whole course for this to understand why what happens when. I’m just too stupid for all this stuff and too old. 🤷‍♂️

Here are a few things that caught my attention in week twenty-two: week.esamecar.net/22

Centered, a single, beautiful, red poppy in a field.: 

📺 Finished Season 3 of Ted Lasso - what a great TV show 🥰

I really should read more books, especially by Carl Sagan.

Everyone is so excited about Apple’s new VR glasses. Meanwhile in my kitchen it smells burnt and my Homepod in response to “Hey Siri Status Timer”: “The timer has been cancelledl” WTF? You literally had only one job! 🤯

Where Have I Been by Bike Following on from my post earlier in the day, here are some routes I’ve cycled so far.

Buying an Ooni was such a good idea 🍕🥰

Here are a few things that caught my attention in week twenty-one (teaser: #iOS, #macOS, cycling, #playdate): week.esamecar.net/21

Woman on a gravel bike on a dirt road in the sunshine later in the evening.: 

Where Have I Been: I saw maique posting it and it seems, Manton started it … The idea is very nice and so I thought I would join in. 😎 I haven’t yet been to many different countries. That’s mainly because my wife and I decided two decades ago to avoid cars and planes for traveling. And with just a …

Here are a few things that caught my attention in week twenty (teaser: #iOS, #macOS, cycling a small part of the Iron Curtain Trail 🚴‍♂️🚴): week.esamecar.net/20

An old port crane, about dilapidated and sprayed everywhere with graffiti, in Hamburg Hafen City.: 

Iron Curtain Trail Day Three 🚴‍♂️🚴💨💨

Iron Curtain Trail Day Two 💨💨🚴‍♂️🚴‍♀️🥴😄

Iron Curtain Trail Day One 🚴‍♂️🚴

Here the ride begins 🚴‍♂️🚴 …

Waiting in Hanover for the second train to arrive.

Currently reading: How to Take Smart Notes by Sönke Ahrens 📚

2.5 days of cycling ahead of us 🥰

green landscape (field): 

A field, on the Horizon a Rapps field and a castle. In front, only in sections two racing cyclists.: 

Specialized Diverge Gravel bike: 

A dark hall in an event center with people sitting on chairs in front of a stage on which a woman sits on a bar stool at a small table to give a reading.: 

Two pizzas in a pizza oven with a wood fire burning inside.: 

A tree fungus, probably a Trametes sp., on a tree stump in the forest.: 

Forest landscape in the Palatinate Forest. A dog on a leash is standing a little distance away.: 

A dog looking into the camera.: 

A case snail on a forest path.: 

Gravel bike in front of a former gas station.: 

Insel-Brauerei auf Rügen, Deutschland: 

Lots of fish in an aquarium.: 

Brewery: Brewery I went to a brewery and had

Beer 🍻 lots of: 

Problems connecting Apple Wireless Keyboard (Aluminum) to MacBook: Problems connecting Apple Wireless Keyboard (Aluminum) to MacBook I have an old Apple Wireless Keyboard (model A1314) that has served me very well. Yesterday it suddenly stopped connecting to my MacBook Pro (M1). It was listed, but clicking on connect did nothing. I made macOS Ventura forget the …

What I did in week six, 2023: What I did in week six, 2023 In continuation to week five, here are the things I was interested in week six, 2023: 🐍 A few weeks ago, I had the top case of my MacBook replaced because the battery was defective. I took the opportunity to completely reinstall the system. Most of it is now up and …

🍿 Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) - ★★★☆☆ Too much time for too little story.

What I was interested in during the fifth week of 2023 (teaser: Chagall, LEGO, macOS, iOS, podcasts, tv): What I was interested in during the fifth week of 2023 (teaser: Chagall, LEGO, macOS, iOS, podcasts, tv) In continuation to week four, here are the things I was interested in week five. 📺 I watched the first three episodes of Bad Sisters (2022) and liked the Series so far. I kind of feel sorry for …

Vorsicht Glas

What I was interested in during the fourth week of 2023 (teaser: podcasts, iOS, macOS playdate): I still felt sickly, so I refrained from cycling. Hope that I get the curve then next week. 🍿 Watched Raymond & Ray (2022) - ★★★★☆ and enjoyed it. 🎙️ Listend to a bunch of different Podcasts: Accidental Tech Podcast: 518: Deconstructed iMac, Core Intuition: Episode 545: Lawful Evil, MeTacheles …

What I have done in the third week of 2023 (teaser: podcasts, playdate, no movies): Streak, this is the third time this year I’ve managed to write down what I’ve done during the week. If you’re interested in what it was like before, you can read about the first and second week. I have been very busy at work this week. So there was less to discover. I did a lot of …

🚀 Ah, cool, Gravity Express for playdate has been released! https://ninovanhooff.itch.io/gravity-express #playdate

🥰 Successfully subscribed to Ivory Beta

💡Let's see if I can update my omg.lol status via Drafts.app too.

🧮 Soulver is now on Setapp too.

🎮 Pick Pack Pup (2022) - ★★★☆☆

A little bit too much water to ride my road bike I guess 😨

If I got 1 € for every bug, I would be ...: 2023-02-17 Security Contacts (iOS 16.3.1) I am quite sure, that I did not add my security contact on 01.01.1970. Screen Time and Messages (macOS 13.2.1) Screen Time for children is completely broken. And the feature to receive requests via Messages.app renders the app useless on macOS. 2023-02-08 …

😢 It’s a bit sad that most of the top entries are either completely outdated or 404s: sites with a /now page.

🖼 Ah, nice! Photos Workbench by Houdah Software has been released: Photos Workbench – Organize your Photos.

🤔 I'm curious to see what exactly this will be charms.lol.

What I have done in the second week of 2023 (teaser: playdate, macOS apps, podcasts, movie): What I have done in the second week of 2023 (teaser: playdate, macOS apps, podcasts, movie) After all, this is the second time this year that I've managed to write down a bit what has been keeping me busy during the week. 🥳 😔 So, this was my first week at work and thus, unfortunately, again far too …

🤔 When exactly did IFTTT actually become this unreliable, completely confusing service? I only use it to pipe RSS feeds into DayOne but I think I have to look for alternatives.

What I have done in the second week of 2023 (teaser: playdate, macOS apps, podcasts, movie): After all, this is the second time this year that I’ve managed to write down a bit what has been keeping me busy during the week. 🥳 😔 So, this was my first week at work and thus, unfortunately, again far too little time for things I really enjoy. (I’ll have to think about my work …

🤔 I think I should dig more into this Home Assistant stuff. But I am really afraid going down this rabbit hole. https://www.home-assistant.io/

Even more macOS apps I enjoy using.: Sure, shortly after I’ve published the short list of non-work related macOS apps I really like it came to my mind, that I forgot the most important ones. But hey, I never claimed it was an exhaustive list 😇 So, I’ll just continue and list randomly some more apps, I enjoy using: Mela: …

👀 Reading Some Tricks To Making Mastodon Way More Useful | Techdirt. I totally agree on more or less everything, esp. the List part.

A short list of non-work related macOS apps I really like: Here is a short list of apps I use a lot under macOS privately (so not only work related) or I have recently discovered and think I’ll stick with them. Bunch: Bunch describes itself as “a macOS utility that uses plain text scripts called “Bunches” to automate context switching. It sits …

👀 Okay, I will do this for the rest of my day now LUMON. Thanks a lot @zioibi ;-) #Severance

🤔 Is there a way to get an RSS feed of my Mastodon bookmarks as for my general feed? Or are there apps that allow me to import them to pinboard or similar services?

🤒 Woke up with a cold and headache. Let's see what the day brings.

😄 Yesterday my defective MacBook Pro was picked up for repair, it was repaired today and will be back tomorrow. The repair costs are not cheap 😡, but the turnaround time is of course brilliant. #statuslog

🤔 I don't know, somehow I had hoped that something would get better at work in the new year (e.g. the availability of IT, a reliable network would be nice). How naive! #statuslog

😅 Called back an email via Mail.app for the first time. It's really great when you need it! #macOS #statuslog

🥱 uff

🥱 too tired to go to bed

🤣 Laughing about [RANDOM NSFW COMIC GENERATOR](https://theoatmeal.com/pages/horrible_therapist?q=q_wet&a=a_masturbated_avatar&t=t_me_too): 🤣 Laughing about RANDOM NSFW COMIC GENERATOR

🏢 Finally, closing time!

🧊 My feet feel like blocks of ice.

🤦‍♂ Even if the status must not be blank, the emoji IMHO does tell everything.

🥶 It's freezing cold in my office 😢

💣 The first working day of the new year begins chaotically. Let's see if it can be managed well.

🥴 first day after holiday break; tired as hell

👓 RSS reading before sleeping

📖 Published [What I have done in the first week of 2023 (teaser: mastodon, omg.lol, playdate, ankermake) - esamecar](https://esamecar.de/2023/01/08/what-i-have.html).: 📖 Published What I have done in the first week of 2023 (teaser: mastodon, omg.lol, playdate, ankermake) - esamecar.

What I have done in the first week of 2023 (teaser: mastodon, omg.lol, playdate, ankermake): I was motivated by muhh’s blog entry to write down what was on my mind in the first week of January. I’m not sure yet if this will become something more regular, but I wanted to start putting something online more often anyway - more on that below. I’ve had the last two weeks off. …

⌨ typing a blogpost

What I have done in the first week of 2023 (teaser: mastodon, omg.lol, playdate, ankermake): What I have done in the first week of 2023 (teaser: mastodon, omg.lol, playdate, ankermake) I was motivated by muhh's blog entry to write down what was on my mind in the first week of January. I'm not sure yet if this will become something more regular, but I wanted to start putting something online …

💤 good night

🐕 Another walk with the dog.

😍 Still messing around with all the small little details here on omg.lol.

🤔 Connecting my Statuslog with Day One via [IFTTT](https://ifttt.com).: 🤔 Connecting my Statuslog with Day One via IFTTT.

😅 Configuring my new mastodon account on social.lol.

😰 Moving my mastodon.social account to social.lol - I hope this isn't too stupid an idea.

🐕 walking the dog

🤔 tinkering with the weblog stuff

Hello, World!: Hello, World! Actually, I know I'll never find enough time to blog anything regularly. Nor will anyone but me read it, let alone be interested in it. But today I had a day "off" and now I have three blogs: this one https://www.racemat.de https://blog.esamecar.de I should only keep one of them. …

😍 Konfiguriere seit Stunden vergnüglich [omg.lol](https://home.omg.lol/).: 😍 Konfiguriere seit Stunden vergnüglich omg.lol.

playdate: I’ve been a happy owner of a playdate game console for a week now. I ordered it in July 2021 and finally received it a mere 1.5 years later. Since then I’ve really enjoyed the console. Every animation, every sound somehow expresses the joy and dedication that Cable Sasser and his team at Panic …

Shelly Plug S - Custom firmware integrates adapter plug into Apple HomeKit : I have been using Shelly Plug S plug adapters for some time now and am very happy with them. They are inexpensive, run reliably and can be controlled easily within your own network via REST API. The only thing they are not compatible with is HomeKit. Thanks to appgefahren.de I just stumbled across a …

Chef der Bundesnetzagentur unterstützt Schuko-Stecker: „Alle weiteren Hemmnisse und Hürden beim Ausbau der Solarenergie müssen abgebaut werden. Die Teilnahme an der Energiewende sollte gerade für die privaten Haushalte mehr Freude bereiten!“ Das ist eine sehr schöne Passage im Antwortschreiben des Chefs der Bundesnetzagentur. Es macht mir Hoffnung, …

Sieben nützliche Gadgets aus dem 3D-Drucker - heise online

Mastodon and RSS

Anybox - Manage bookmarks like a pro (iOS / macOS): One app that I’ve been using a lot for a while now is Anybox. Both the Mac app and the iOS app are very functional and the developer is friendly. It has completely replaced pinboard.in as my bookmark manager, although there is also a very nice iOS / macOS third party companion app called Pins, …

Hello, world!