📷 #mbApr Day 04
This foliage is more prickly than pretty. Which speaks to its excessive prickliness because it is still quite pretty.
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As we previously reported, Apple announced WWDC 2024 on June 10-14. Although the event will be streamed online with pre-recorded sessions, developers had the chance to sign up to attend an in-person event at Apple Park. Now Apple is notifying the winners of the WWDC 2024 lottery who will have the chance to watch the opening event right from Apple Park.
I didn’t get an invite. 😔 Of course, I didn’t apply, but that’s a minor detail. 😝
I just updated my ‘📢 Publish Quote’ shortcut to version 2.0:
Now you copy the quote before sharing its URL, meaning the shortcut is far more flexible and can be run from anywhere (like RSS reader apps!), not just Safari
This is a massive update with a bunch of new niceties, like options to include author attribution, saving copies of each post to Drafts, and much more.
Get it from the HeyDingus Shortcuts Library.
I’m kinda bummed that @macstories@macstories.net isn’t doing the Shortcuts competition for Automation April this year. 🙁 I missed the deadline last year, and vowed to get them in on time this round. I had some pretty cool stuff saved up for it too!
So far, my attempt to use my ‘Publish Quote’ shortcut on the Mac has resulted in:
- Two updated shortcuts
- A brand-new shortcut
- A started-then-scraped shortcut
- A purchased domain name
- One published quote
And now I’m inching toward releasing a huge update to ‘Publish Quote’. Stay tuned.
I just released my ‘ℹ️ Get YouTube Video Info (HeyDingus' Version)’ shortcut version 1.0:
This shortcut gets the Channel, Video Title, and URL from a YouTube video and packages them up in a Dictionary action to be used in other shortcuts.
I simplified it from the version shared in MacStories Weekly Issue 304.
Get it from the HeyDingus Shortcuts Library.
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Your Roku TV may one day show ads when you pause video on your Apple TV
Roku is exploring ways to show consumers ads on its TVs even when they are not using its streaming platform: The company has been looking into injecting ads into the video feeds of third-party devices connected to its TVs, according to a recent patent filing.
Ugh, so gross. 🤮
🔗 No Joke, Yahoo Buys Artifact — spyglass.org
Ultimately, what killed Artifact was the fact that the founders just thought there were probably better problems on which to spend their time. […] But Artifact also filled a void left by Twitter. Unfortunately, they probably filled it a bit too much, as the app went from early but compelling to sort of a bloated mismatch of features. A lot of them were compelling on their own, but as a part of one app and vision, they were just too much, too soon. Yahoo, as a large company, is necessarily going to slow that roll. So again, maybe this makes sense.
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It’s been 3 whole years since I made this video where I proposed even smaller widgets than the current small size class. The thumbnail above really says it all, but currently the smallest widget uses a 2x2 grid on your home screen, and I would like to see 2x1 widgets be possible.
This is my favorite idea from Matt’s list. I wanted it three years ago when I first saw his concept, and I still want it now!
🔗 Welcome to the AI gadget era
The promise of AI — and I want to emphasize the word _promise _because nothing we’ve seen so far comes remotely close to accomplishing this — is to abstract all those steps and all that friction out of existence. All you need to do is declare your intentions — play music, navigate home, text Anna, tell me what poison ivy looks like — and let the system figure out how to get it done. Your phone contains multitudes, but it’s not really optimized for anything. An AI-optimized gadget can be easier to reach, quicker to launch, and alert to your input at all times.
I was honored to assist Mike and Jane in finishing up their Saranac Lake 6ers today with summits on Haystack & McKenzie! We were the only folks on the trail…can’t imagine why! 💨 🥾 📷
🔗 Every Failure is an Opportunity — caseyliss.com // Casey Liss
I know this isn’t a new thought, but it struck me so strongly after getting off the phone with Sonos: when a product fails, the company that sold it has an incredible opportunity: they can sour the opinion of a super-fan, or they can absolutely cement it in place.
You’re likely familiar with the Navy SEAL mantra of “Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast.” I propose one more line: “And fast is fun.”
I like being efficient and safe in the mountains, but moving quickly out there is undeniably fun. I think they’re all closely related; not at all mutually exclusive.
Here was my photo library totals as of a few days ago. A very pleasing milestone that I just happened to notice! What are you at?
I just updated my ‘MB Photoblogger’ shortcut to version 1.1:
Added the ability to share a photo to the shortcut via the share sheet in case you already found the perfect image for the day’s prompt
Get it from the HeyDingus Shortcuts Library.
I’m just so happy with the result of my colorful hover effect for links on my site. 🤩 I never tire of sliding my mouse over them to see them burst to life.
Okay, now that is pretty awesome!
Spatial Stephen beat me at Battleship.
More impressions from @ismh@eworld.social here.
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Artifact, the app, will go away once the acquisition is complete. But Artifact’s underlying tech for categorizing, curating, and personalizing content will soon start to show up on Yahoo News — and eventually on other Yahoo platforms, too. “You’ll see that stuff flowing into our products in the coming months,” says Downs Mulder. It sounds like there’s also a good chance that Yahoo’s apps might get a bit of Artifact’s speed and polish over time, too.
I probs won’t use Yahoo News, but better than death.
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I’m accomplishing this by checking the device’s volume at the beginning of the shortcut and then checking it again two seconds after the Global Variable app is launched. […]
The way it works in practice is, I press the Action Button, the most recent game opens. If I’d like to play something else, I have a two second window to press either of the two volume buttons. If I do, I’ll get a menu that lists the other games and emulators on my device and I can choose one to launch.
An ingenious method to get more from the Action Button or Back Tap.
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Reflecting on books made me think about what the web would look like if it was some sort of pay-per-scroll platform. Not a place where virtually everything is free but a place where everything has to be purchased in order to be consumed. Which sites would I be willing to pay for?
An interesting thought experiment.
🆕📝 PenPaling With Valerie: Ramadan Updates, Crampons, Photoblogging, and More on Worldly Travel
It tickles me to chat with people whose day-to-day lives are so different than mine, and yet invariably find how very much we always have in common.