TIL about “digital” watch faces from @gruber@mastodon.social
I’ve “downgraded” from an iPhone 16 Pro to an iPhone 16. 🙃 AMA
I just updated my Amazon Affiliate Linker shortcut to version 1.5. It’d been buggy lately, but after streamling a bit, now it’s working like a charm:
- Simplified actions to use a regular expression to match the ASIN, which should also be more accurate.
- Clarified how the starting URL is gotten.
- Cleaned up the final built URL.
- When opening the final URL, it also copies it to the clipboard.
- Tested for macOS Sequoia and iOS 18.
Get it for free from the HeyDingus Shortcuts Library.
Finished reading: States of Adventure: STORIES ABOUT FINDING YOURSELF BY GETTING LOST by Fitz Cahall 📚
👀 A new season of Ted Lasso, you say? I’d love to see those characters together again!
Exclusive: #TedLasso S4 is set to begin pre-production in January. According to our sources, the football drama is now confirmed to return next year with a fourth instalment, with London shoots beginning in early 2025!
— Sigmund Judge, Magic Rays of Light
I’m trying to switch from a left-phone-pocket-guy to a right-phone-pocket-guy and, boy, 17 years of muscle memory is tough to break.
🆕📝 Lynn Hill: Climbing comes down to cleverness and perseverance
Lynn, one of the GOATs, lays it all out on Climbing Gold
Greg Morris doesn’t mince his words:
As Mark’s shirt from Connect proudly claimed it’s Zuck or nothing. He can try to hide the reality in an ancient Latin, or meanness company statements about connecting people. The reality is they only care about advertising revenue, and it has always been about the company before anything else.
What do we think the likelihood is that Apple releases a Product RED iPhone 16 in the spring…?
It’s like Manton Reece peered into my brain before writing his post concerning Meta and their Connect 2024 event today:
I’m not exactly rooting for Meta. I dedicated major sections of my book to the problems with massive, ad-based social networking, with Facebook and Instagram as prominent players. But nevertheless I’m caught up in some of the excitement of new technology at Connect. There’s a refreshing change of pace and tone compared to decades of Apple keynotes.
Just discovered that you can scroll down with the Digital Crown from your watch face to pull down Notification Center. Pretty sure that’s new on watchOS. ⌚️
Do I know any logo designers who might want to work with me on a fun project? 🕵️ (Or anyone who knows a good logo designer who could make a recommendation?)
Another Apple blogging outfit bites the dust.
🔗
At the Meta Connect event on Wednesday, the company announced that it’s testing a new feature that creates AI-generated content for you “based on your interests or current trends” — including some that incorporate your face.
This gets a big “no thanks” from me. Especially if it’s putting my face in there. 👎
8GB of memory on iPhone 16 series is no joke. An app I hadn’t opened in over 24 hours was still loaded up in memory. Dunno what the GBs on my 13 mini was but I can assure you this has never happened before.
It was handy too; I didn’t have to go searching back for the right spot. It was right there.
Just your weekly recommended serving of links.
🆕📝 Crashing Clockwise #572: ‘Fight, Fight, Fight!’
Instagram teen account restrictions, phone charging setups, favorite and least favorite new Apple software features, favorite teachers, and stock app redesign wishes.
Man, I gotta say, the noise cancelation with these AirPods 4 is ✨magic✨.
So I signed up for a certification examination about a month ago, and it cost $500. It was supposed to run at the end of this week, but I guess I was the only one to fully register, so they’re canceling it. I’ll get a refund, but less $20 for “PayPal’s processing fees”.
Am I out of line for thinking it’s a bummer to pass that $20 onto me when I didn’t cancel? I understand a fee or losing my deposit if I canceled on them last-minute, but they’re canceling on me. Now I’ll need to scramble and pay up-front for a new examination while I wait for the (check) refund.
I’m not going to throw a fit because I’m midwestern and I’d rather lose the $20 than be rude. But it will make me think twice about registering with this company for other things in the future.
🆕📝 Six-Sentence Reviews of My New Apple Stuff
If you already read these last night, you're still treated to a little bit of extra waffling / early buyer's remorse.
My several-sentence review of the AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation (after about 60 minutes):
- They seem to fit well and are comfy! 🥳
- Sound is great! 🔊
- Noise Cancellation is quite good! 🔇
- Stem-squeeze controls aren’t so bad. 🤌
- Case is tiny! ◽️
- Contenders for Best AirPods Yet! 🥇
My several-sentence iPhone 16 Pro review (after about 30 minutes):
- Screen is amazing! 🤩
- Device is so big and heavy! 🙁
- Rails are shinier than I expected/wanted. 😕
- But the rounded edges feel great. 🙂
- Action Button & Camera Control quick-access will be nice. 👍
- Undecided on white color. 🤷♂️
We just made our Marco Offset™ donation to St. Jude. That leaves just $185.88 left to reach my campaign’s goal of raising $500! 🙏 (Thanks @rsilvernail!)
“Sick as hell” eh?
Sliding it on for a photoshoot, I feel something wash over me. No longer am I a sleep-deprived tech reviewer hunched over an overpriced coffee. I’m a leather-clad vampire assassin calmly sipping espresso on a cobblestone street. With the new Reflections watchface in black, I immediately level up 1,000 mystery points. When I switch to the Flux watchface, I’ve morphed into a tech-savvy corporate goth. A grown-up former emo gal who, by day, files taxes on time but still spiritually sticks it to the man because, look, I wore my combat boots to work.