Love this! 🤣

I love my local vidya-games store 😅

🫣 Feeling a bit called out by Annie Mueller in her post, ‘Encourage Meaningful Friction’:

For example, having a frictionless to-do app means I end up with too many fucking tasks. Some things need to be unsaved, neglected, forgotten, ignored, left undone so better things can be done. Or so I can spend more delightful moments at ease, not doing but being.

Manu Moreale: ‘My issue with the two sides’

The problem I see with this, though, is that the internet is a weird place. A lot of people aren’t vocal. Most of them are just lurking around, absorbing content and forming ideas in their head and maybe discussing things in person with close friends and family. And amongst them, there probably are a lot of people who would be more than happy to support and join the good one of the two sides, but are probably kept at a distance because of the insanity they see unfolding.

Been noodling on this. What we see of each other online is not our whole selves.

“Relationships, like plants, need fresh water to grow.”

— Oak Jones in Family Ties, The Dirtbag Diaries

I’m learning about too many bad things on the internet. Three strikes and you’re out. I should take a break.

Yours truly, back in December 2023: ‘I Made a Bookmarklet That Runs a Shortcut on a URL’

Holy smokes, I can’t believe I never thought about doing this before. Probably because I never thought I would know how to write a bookmarklet. To be fair, I still don’t, but ChatGPT does!

🤣 I totally bought a janky app on the App Store recently to run a specific shortcut on the active webpage, and I wasted a ton of time trying to get it to work right. It never did. I just rediscovered this post that I wrote, and it works perfectly. Brains are funny.

Something in my house just made a powering down noise, and I’ve no idea what it was. I fear I never will.

Yay!! Launched podcast by @charliemchapman@mastodon.social is coming back!

So… some personal news

(watch till the end)

Yup, it’s time that Apple no longer be the sole gatekeeper for apps on iOS. Consider me in the pro sideloading camp.

Okay, this trailer for Pluribus on Apple TV+ has peaked my interest. Looks like a real ride. Oh, and you can call this number for some unconventional marketing for the show: 202-808-3981 🤪

Finished reading: The Sharp End of Life by Dierdre Wolownick 📚

Y’all know Alex Honnold of Free Solo fame. His mom’s book recounts her life — difficult marriage, self-doubt, and her incredible tenacity through it all. In pursing her own outdoor adventures later in life, she found clarity and purpose.

This is exactly how I’ve been thinking about the new iPhone 17 Pro design, that it shares so much in common with the Apple silicon-era MacBook Pro — right down to their rounded edges. And yes, the iPhone Air as the dazzling jewel made room for the Pro phones to go hard on functionality over flashiness.

Rounded out a superb Rocktober weekend of climbing by leading Cure Cottage (5.8) at Baker Mtn with my wife (got her climbing too, but no pics unfortunately!), and then an evening ascent of Chapel Pond Slab with Brian, lit by the full moon! Checked out the Lil Sebastian finish, ‘twas awesome!

Helping others to build up their skills has always been one of my favorite parts of climbing. Our climbing community is at its best when we share our knowledge, opening up opportunities for more folks to explore new heights with confidence and support.

It was pretty awesome to get back on The El (5.8) today with my buddy Shane. I linked the first two pitches via The Lonely (5.6) variation, and then took the plum line up P3. What an exhilarating route! 🤩

Today was awesome! I volunteered with the Adirondack Mountain Club, Adirondack Climbers’ Coalition, Skylight Mountain Guides, and other guides for The Mountaineer’s Mountainfest to get the ski trails at Heart Lake ready for winter. Trails are clear and beautiful! ⛷️

I’ve been climbing with Alex for a while now, and it’s infectious the enthusiasm he’s got for scaling rocks! We enjoyed a perfect fall day and hit up some classic 5.7 routes on his tick list: Pete’s Farewell on Pitchoff, Tilman’s Arete at Chapel Pond, and Rum Doodle at The Aquarium.

Kudos to Taylor Swift for getting me to purchase an album of music for the first time in about a decade. Pricing it at $5 and having a 24 hour availability window was genius marketing. Cheap enough to make it an easy rash decision.

Finished reading: Hangdog Days by Jeff Smoot 📚

These true stories of early climbers, their feats, and their feuds read like fiction. But people are incredible!

Yesterday was a perfect day to visit the top of New York State! Andrew visited from Toronto on his east coast tour, and, despite having never been up a mountain before (let alone one in the ADK) made a blistering hike up to the summit of NY’s tallest peak in under 4 hours. And that was with dodging ice that’s now on the trail near the top. We rested on top, enjoying the splendidly clear and sunny view, and chatted with fine folk also out for a hike — including a couple working on their 50 state high points, of which Mt. Marcy was their 47th! They’ll finish up in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine in the next few days.

Big thanks to Andrew for the delightful conversation and joy of just being in the mountains. Hope to see you back in the winter!

The new dropdown text editing menu in iOS 26 is getting even better in 26.1, according to Ryan Christoffel at 9to5Mac:

As discovered by X user Beta Profiles, you can now swipe left to make the dropdown menu appear even faster.

I like the dropdown, but the abrupt change to my swiping muscle memory was a bummer. This is the right solution!

Started reading: Hangdog Days by Jeff Smoot 📚

Nick Heer: ‘On Liquid Glass’

Apple justifies these decisions by saying its redesigned interfaces are “bringing greater focus to content”. I do not accept that explanation. Instead of placing tools in a distinct and separated area, they bleed into your document, thus gaining a similar level of importance as the document itself. […] But, in my experience, the more the interface blends with what I am looking at, the less capable I am of ignoring it. Clarity and structure are sacrificed for the illusion of simplicity offered by a monochromatic haze of an interface.

A fair and cogent review.

Ryan Christoffel brought the iPhone Air to Disney World — with its harsh environment for smartphones — and came away thoroughly impressed:

Battery life was similarly a champ. I brought the Air’s new MagSafe battery with me, fully expecting to use it every day.

I didn’t use the MagSafe battery once.

He also didn’t miss the telephoto lens. Your mileage may vary, but I think Apple may have finally made a good mid-tier iPhone that will actually appeal to folks.

Amazon’s new Search Party feature sounds very cute and helpful… until they update it to track down anything (anyone) other than pets. Aren’t they already well-known for being super police-friendly? I’m not thrilled with regular citizens contributing to a CCTV-like situation.