Technology
- The Frequent Travellers Society, because I like to talk about travel.
- The Celebrant Institute, you wouldn’t believe it but it’s for celebrants.
- The Apple Nation because I follow Apple like a sport, it’s my favourite hobby.
40 years of the Mac and why I can’t use anything else now
By the time I was buying my first Apple Macintosh computer the launch of the Mac in 1984 was already a myth, a story shared from one nerd to another, like in an Aboriginal Australian cave painting.
In grade five there was an Apple IIe at the back of the classroom no-one knew how to use but when I realised that the computer magazines at the library full of computer programs and games written in Basic contained not just ideas and lines of code - yes, actual real code just printed in paper magazines - but code I could type into an Apple computer, execute, and then enjoy, I was hooked.
I kept on reading those computer magazines like APCMag, PC User, PCMag, Macuser, Mac Format, and countless others whose names escape me but the school library stocked so generously.
At one stage I designed on paper my dream computer which would triple-boot Microsoft Windows, OS/2 Warp, and Mac OS System 8. I think a “Mac on a PCI card” product had been released, or the opposite for inserting in a Mac, so I designed my Frankenstein’s monster of a computer and presented it to class imagining that they would a) care, and b) be in awe of my product design and computer engineering. Alas neither Steve Jobs or Bill Gates wrote and congratulated me.
I’m not sure how I wrangled it, but somehow our family acquired a Packard Bell IBM-compatible personal computer with a 486 SX 25/33 processor, 4MB of RAM, no sound card, but it did come with Windows 3.11.
The Radio Rentals rented computer and I quickly became close friends but somehow with its 25MHz CPU and 4MB of RAM the computer ran slower than a slug chasing down an ice cream truck.
Enter, my Uncle Grant.
Uncle Grant was my super uncle from Townsville who sold and serviced Apple computers. We’d not been on friendly talking terms about computers since I used his Apple Macintosh and neglected to save a document he had open, but he was quick to diagnose the problem with my computer’s speed: I had an image as my desktop wallpaper. Also, he was quick to quip that “a Mac wouldn’t have that problem.”
What he neglected to acknowledge is that a Withers didn’t have a spare buck either so we went without a Mac for about a decade more.
As I’m sure is the story for most modern Mac users, having your own personal Macintosh Desktop Experience was a dream for too long.
Years later Apple announced the Intel transition from Power PC chipsets and all of a sudden, thanks to an Intel Inside and Bootcamp, these new Macs can run Windows and Mac OS X which is the perfect justification for a nerd to make for a new Apple MacBook purchase.
All white and plastic, it was beautiful, and that new Apple MacBook never needed to be tainted by Bootcamp and Windows. It turned out that Mac OS is actually quite capable on its own.
Not quite as beautiful as that G3 iMac I acquired years after it was ever useful, but always be beautiful.
And that’s why I can’t use any other OS today. I’ve tried Windows and Linux of late, I’m always open to a change so I know I’m using the best tools for the job, but my taste gravitates to the Mac. It is beautiful, useful, and just plain nice. I’ve even tried the iPad as a main computer, or the phone. But it’ll always be the Mac for me. Happy birthday, and hello, old friend.
Designing the iTunes Music Store: "Refer to the main.psd"
Another chapter in the ever-growing story of how I interact with, and use, social media:
I wrote a little while ago about choosing two social networks.
I kind of have, Mastodon and Threads/Instagram/Facebook. By which I mean that the Meta platforms all blur together with crossposting and attention.
That leaves my remaining accounts from the tier list, Facebook Page, LinkedIn, and Twitter/X.
Rather than delete them, like I’d rather, I’ve trialled throwing them to ChatGPT.
I’m still refining the prompt, but here’s what I’m asking ChatGPT 4 to do in a Zapier zap:
It starts with an instruction, or a set up which looks like this …
You are a content producer for Josh Withers the Australian wedding celebrant, a marriage celebrant famous worldwide for creating epic marriage ceremonies for adventurous people. You believe that the best kind of marriage ceremony and wedding is an intentional one, where everyone invited is invited for a reason and with a purpose, and that everything that happens at the wedding happens with intentionality and purpose. You are not necessarily against wedding traditions but you are against wedding traditions for the sake of wedding traditions. You write and speak in Australian English, and in a classic and timeless nature but with the wit and humour of Australian marriage celebrant Josh Withers. Be funny. When talking about weddings use inclusive language, use bride only if you’re talking about a female person getting married, not as the title of the wedding industry client, and explore a diverse range of topics, cultures, and kinds of people that could get married.
Then I prompt it to write a post like this …
Write another new controversial tweet as Josh Withers, do not enclose it in quotation marks, written in the style of Australian wedding celebrant Josh Withers based off his writing online and on social media, asking a question or posing an thought about Josh Withers’s wedding planning style. The tweet can be a controversial opinion about a modern, inclusive, intentional style of getting married; or an insight into modern wedding planning; or a reflection on wedding traditions of old and how they don’t matter any more. Designed to illicit engagement and a response from people who see it. Take into account all interviews and responses by Josh Withers Australian wedding celebrant, and everything Josh has written on his online. Keep the message to under 280 characters. Do not start with greetings, do not use Australian slang like “G’day”, do not use any hashtags. Be controversial and talk about all kinds of different wedding topics. Make each tweet different and unique.
There’s a 66% chance of the zap running that every hour, and 50% of the time the content goes to Facebook.
My engagement on these existing platforms has been very low for a long time, so let’s see if this moves the needle. If not, it’s a fun experiment into what a LLM can do for social media.
Tess McClure in The Guardian reports on Pak ‘n’ Save’s mealbot:
A New Zealand supermarket experimenting with using AI to generate meal plans has seen its app produce some unusual dishes – recommending customers recipes for deadly chlorine gas, “poison bread sandwiches” and mosquito-repellent roast potatoes.
The app, created by supermarket chain Pak ‘n’ Save, was advertised as a way for customers to creatively use up leftovers during the cost of living crisis. It asks users to enter in various ingredients in their homes, and auto-generates a meal plan or recipe, along with cheery commentary. It initially drew attention on social media for some unappealing recipes, including an “oreo vegetable stir-fry”.
We’re in the beautiful age of quality assurance in large language models. The giveaway is that the supermarket responds with:
(we are) disappointed to see “a small minority have tried to use the tool inappropriately and not for its intended purpose
Instead of owning the issue and revealing that the whole thing is built on a house of cards and we’re all just figuring this crap out.
I, for one, welcome our new British open web overlords
A MacBook with a turntable instead of a keyboard? Shut up and take my money, DJ.
Reed Albergotti in Semafor Technology:
Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, and the navigation company TomTom released a free mapping dataset in a bid to compete with Google Maps and Apple Maps. Developers can use the data, which includes 59 million places of interest, to create their own navigation products.
If a powerfully simple mapping system like What3Words can’t gain traction in a decade, I don’t think TomTom can get a foot up by giving it away.
I am curious where this leaves Bing Maps though.
Imagine being the butt of this line in a news report “The launch of the eye-scanning cryptocurrency project Worldcoin” and you’re also the guy standing behind the main brand name related to a technology the world is shit scared of, and just thinking everything is fine.
Why the rush to 5G?
On a per user basis, a 5G network is cheaper to operate than a 4G one. The technology is easier to maintain and more reliable. It’s not sexy. That’s something that is hard to sell to consumers, but makes a huge difference to telcos. There’s much more to this. The additional capacity may not be a pressing matter in New Zealand right now, but in time there will be more connections and 5G gives carriers headroom to cope with future demand. There may be future apps that can use the speed.
Did you notice the 5G mobile revolution? billbennett.co.nz
Social media tier list - July 6, 2023, update
Threads, a thread
My new Kobo is better than my old Kindle, but barely
Rate my desk (June 2023 edition)
Apple Vision has been 'in development' for 28 years
Does Apple Vision mean 360 content is finally going to have its moment?
Apple Shortcut for recording photography metadata
The genesis story of Apple computers
My first tweet was tweeted 18 months before I even started tweeting
Will, a mate of mine has written and released a guide on working in film and television production, something he’s an expert in.
I thought readers of my blog might appreciate the book if they or people they knew aspired to work in film production (it’s a great and personal read, even for me, an old man without film and TV aspirations), but also, they’d enjoy this excerpt about what technology you should own and be proficient in before you start as a production assistant.
“Seriously, people will look at you like you have three heads as you drag that eighty-pound hunk of plastic with the extended numerical keyboard from your bag and plop it on the desk.”
If you, or someone you know, wants a start in the film and TV production industry Will’s the book is a must-purchase and must-read - and it’s now on Kindle.
My first look at the 400 megapixel mode on the Canon EOS R5
I’m feeling bullish on the new group-messaging app and platform, Wavelength, After reading John Gruber’s review, then using it and joining a group, I think it could replace group chats in other places, but also serve as a platform for new conversations.
If you’re interested, I’ve started a few group chats:
Jump onboard if you’re interested!
Inherent problems in the internet of 2022
Qantas T80 seat selection reminder shortcut for Apple Shortcuts
Introducing the next joshPhone. You can design yours on Neal’s website.
TikTok's talking points are totally cool, nothing to see here, move along now, everything's cool ya see
Instagram is embarrassing itself because it didn't steal, it copied
Stand back, imma fix email
A little demo of Adobe Photoshop 2022’s Neural filter on one of my photos
Steve Jobs’s resume:
“I’m looking for a fixer-upper with a solid foundation. Am willing to tear down walls, build bridges, and light fires. I have great experience, lots of energy, a bit of that ‘vision thing’ and I’m not afraid to start from the beginning.”
Apple Prediction in October 2021: the Apple Music Voice/Siri plan lasts no more than two years.
Going down market never looks good on Apple. “Here’s a cheaper crappier version of our thing if money’s really important to you, whatever, we don’t care”.
Apple Weather in iOS 15 is still wrong in Australia
Four different weather reports in Lilydale, Australia. How is weather reporting still so hard?
Tap your phone at Gold Coast bus stops to access my website
Dear DJI,
I’m two days deep Clubhouse and I’m feeling bullish about its potential.
It’s a powerfully personal medium, with deep accountability (live voice). It’s like the child talkback radio and social networking.
I’ve got one invite left if you’re interested.
Feature request for iMessage, Facebook Messenger, Instagram DMs, and Facebook Page Messenger: FOR THE LOVE OF GOD LET ME SEE UNREAD MESSAGES SO I CAN “READ” THAT ONE UNREAD MESSAGE WHICH I CAN’T FIND ANYWHERE. Maybe a simple “filter by unread” or somethn?
“Tech level determined using Qsin”
The fact that Uber achieved the same growth in 10% of its $150 million as spend is one thing, the story of how they got there, that’s something else entirely!
How to overcome Phone Addiction [Solutions + Research]
With many of us grounded, has anyone had a play of PC Globe to try and scratch that travel itch? You might need to upgrade to a 486 to run it well.
My issue with Spotify and Amazon muscling in on podcasting and how Apple has failed as well
Algorithms are destroying our communities and what can we, or I, do about it?
If you thought everything else that happened this year was scary, 2020 is going out with a bang with delightfully terrifying dancing robots from Boston Dynamics
A new family and travel photo workflow
2014 article on ‘Silicon Valley data’ being the new ‘Wall Street debt’
“Built by geniuses, both products end up being deceptively cheap, morally corrupting, and of questionable long-term economic utility.”
My personal answer to this thought is that I’m barely “on Facebook.” I publish any and all thoughts, opinions, photos, et cetera, to my personal blog which is managed and published here on Micro.Blog, a social network that is beautiful in nature and inherently keeps my data personal. It’s business model isn’t sharing my personal data, it’s business model is to be a social networ, and it costs $5 a month, because if something is free you’re not the customer, you’re the product being sold.
The Damage Has Been Proven, So Why Are We Still on Facebook?
Light and cameras explained in the most technical but easily understood way. If you want to actually understand how a camera works, read this through.
If AirPods Max offend you, that is the correct response ... for you
I’d neglected to mention weight/size in my reMarkable 2 review - so it’s been updated. The reMarkable is 18% smaller than the iPad Pro and weighs 15% less. When you’re talking about gadgets held in hands, that’s a difference.
Can the reMarkable 2 replace my iPad Pro?
The first rule of drone club is don’t take your drone swimming.
Today we find out if my iPad Pro is for sale
What if we banned the comments section of the internet?
Zoom slaughters the Apple Silicon Macs' batteries. Every time I jump off a Zoom call I’m surprised at how much it’s dropped compared to regular usage. The circled part of this screenshot was a 25 minute Zoom call.
Pixelmator made my 11 year whale photo look a little bit better, about 10mb better
Not all iOS apps are terrible on macOS running Apple Silicon
Instagramception #AppleSilicon
Stellar little Black Friday deal from Aussie Broadband: 250mbps down and 25 upstream for the price of 100/40 for a few months.
24 hours with a MacBook Air sporting an M1 Apple Silicon chipset
If you really wanted to take issue with macOS Big Sur you should be protesting on the streets regarding the external drive eject icon #wethepeople
This afternoon I sold my 16” MacBook Pro so I could buy a MacBook with an M1 CPU. I prayed to the ghost of Steve Jobs and said “please don’t let me buy the wrong computer” as I struggled whether to buy an Air or a Pro and now the Apple Store is down, so if that’s not a sign …
As John Gruber said when he linked to this page of vintage Soviet control rooms, these would make for some cool Zoom backgrounds
Privacy and free can’t co-exist online
Apple Photos’ Memories feature is getting a bit desperate when it’s like, “remember that time you crossed the border into NSW?”
Are there any nerd-like people that can point me in the direction of how to upload an image to micro.blog from a macOS automator action, and an iOS Shortcut. I’m nerd smart but not code smart, but figure I can learn. I’d love to be able to right click and upload an image/images.
The Macstories macOS Big Sur long read review
I can confidently tell you that the Apple Leather MagSafe Wallet fits three cards easily, no more, not even three cards and a $20 note folded up.
Apple’s underdogs series is marketing at its best.
April 2019: Apple releases “Apple at Work — The Underdogs”
July 2020: Apple release “The whole working-from-home thing — Apple”
Working on story telling at this height would honestly be so cool!
If you were wondering, I’m a massive advocate for colours and emojis in calendars.
Nothing reminds you how much of a gross and disgusting person you are more than your AirPods case.
US news today via #thesizzle & I thought it was interesting to read that the use of a risk algorithim to determine bail was rejected. This issue was covered in Malcolm Gladwell’s book, Talking To Strangers, and overwhelmingly the algorithim made better decisions than people.
The next Apple Event webpage has an AR Easter egg, tap on the Apple logo in the hero image
Nerding out on putting a MagSafe case on an iPhone 12. It’s a peach case and obviously that’s communicated to the phone so it does this cool animation.
Going through old files and I found a 2009 iPhone 3GS rumour mock-up and I thought it would be interesting to see it next to an iPhone 12 rumour infographic
I wanted to see how much the iPhone camera had changed between the iPhone 6 and iPhone 12, so I took the same nine photos with four different iPhones, and blogged the results
Comparing the cameras on iPhones 6, SE, XS, 11, and 12 Pro
The official Josh Withers iPhone 12 Pro review after using one for eight hours.
Nothing says “you’re a weak little nancy boy" like an Instagram ad for some flippin cool gadget that is algorithmically designed to get me to purchase it. Tonight I might have won the battle, but cool-ass gadgets showed to me through social media ads, you may yet win the war.