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, a lot of social activities. I really hope, he enjoys his stay with us 😅.
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.
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 them eventually lose their shine or fall behind, and I use them just out of habit or nostalgia, even though there are (supposedly) better alternatives.
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 Apple’s Keychain1 - I am looking for alternatives. I actually don’t want to store my passwords only with Apple, either.
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 concerned and are looking for an alternative. Fortunately, there are some, but I have not dealt with them much, as I have been using Bartender since its initial release many years ago.
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 🤯.
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 from one hospital to the local one, she had surgery, and now she is hopefully recovering quickly at home and will soon be back on her feet (and back on the bike).
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 price.
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 found it exhausting to have to lift my fingers significantly higher than I am used to with other keyboards.
Finished reading: Doom Guy by John Romero 📚
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 bit of a shame, but we tried to take it with humour: Once again, we had to realize that the concept of Deutsche Bahn has unfortunately totally failed.
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 to keep an eye on, as an addition or alternative to Keyboard Maestro. 🕹️ It seems like every week a handful of new retro handhelds hit the market.
I am so grateful that some clever mind once invented the bicycle 🙏🥰
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 SteerMouse or BetterMouse – Comprehensive mouse utility for macOS instead. In addition, lots of people seem to like Mac Mouse Fix.
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 PCalc or Soulver on the Mac/iPhone.
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 pulled by its developer just a day after it was approved. But then the well-known Delta emulator developed by Riley Testut, which was previously only available via the AltStore was released worldwide in the App Store, except for Europe.
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 late and why at all approved?) from the store: Apple Removes Game Boy Emulator iGBA From App Store Due to Spam and Copyright Violations - MacRumors.
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 with my wife’s family. She has three siblings, all of whom have partners and children, and our dog joins us as well.
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 Balatro1 instead of surfing the net a lot. 🛠️ This week, many things just broke.