Year in books for 2024

There may not have been many, but each were quite good!

Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage Make Something Wonderful: Steve Jobs in his own words States of Adventure: STORIES ABOUT FINDING YOURSELF BY GETTING LOST Project Hail Mary Down Rock Climbing: The AMGA Single Pitch Manual The Mountain in the Sea Alone on the Wall (Expanded Edition)

🍿 Just watched: Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)

Poster with three serious faces and text “Killers of the Flower Moon, 2023, Martin Scorsese. Review: I struggle with this one because on one hand, I loved the actors and think they all did a marvelous job with their roles. It’s also an important story that I’m glad was given a prominent spotlight. And there’s no denying that it was beautifully shot, with no expense spared. On the other hand, it was so damn long. And yet, with all that time, I still didn’t always follow what was going on. I’m giving it a thumbs up, but I don’t think I’m going to watch it again. Rating: one thumb up.

It’s been 0 days since an app that I rarely open but use almost every single day via its share sheet extension or Shortcuts actions was offloaded from my device. 🙄

Congrats to @manton for shipping Micro.one! It turned out to be more full-featured than I expected, which is to say it’s most of Micro.blog at just $1/month. With most blogging platforms starting at around $4/month and offering much less, Micro.one is quite the deal.

It’s a very good app, but I just canceled my subscription to Day One. I haven’t written in it quite a while. My IFTTT actions for saving blog posts there got turned off for some reason, so I don’t even have a full history there now. But I do like having that automation… I may change my mind.

In case you (somehow) hadn’t heard, you should definitely uninstall Honey, the coupon-finding app that’s been scamming both you and creators. youtube.com/watch

Tablet screen prompts user to delete the “Honey” app, showing the options “Cancel” or “Delete.” Background is a blue gradient. Status bar displays time, date, and battery percentage.

🆕📝 Overcast Podcast Listening Stats for 2024

I waited till the end of the year to share my total stats. It's...a lot of hours. 😳 🎙️

I’ve been impressed with the Meta Ray-Bans' new adaptive volume — it’s perfect for biking as it adjusts with speed and ambient noise. Meanwhile, the AirPods 4’s version? Not so much. It’s so finicky and distracting that I turned it off yesterday.

Jason Becker: ‘What hardens and what falls away– experiencing tech as we age’

As we get older, some ideas become things we cannot let go of, whereas other ideas become less and less important. That’s not to say this is good or bad– I’m not saying someone like Riccardo isn’t keeping up with the times or any such nonsense. I’m saying that each of us, uniquely, has a set of ideas, principles, routines, and desires that become hardened while others wither away. Depending on the mix of things you care about, you can end up deeply satisfied or unsatisfied as the world continues on its own path.

🔗 The Back Page: Getting the carbon out (Dan Moren / sixcolors.com 🔒)

Regardless, we’ve made great strides in the last year, introducing a carbon-neutral version of the Apple Watch Series 10; releasing our first carbon-neutral Mac, the new Mac mini; and eliminating spaghetti carbonara at Caffe Macs. We’re not sure if it had carbon in it, but better safe than sorry.

😆 Well done, Dan.

🆕📝 2024 Apple Product Tier List

Thanks to Basic Apple Guy for inspiring and enabling this ranking!

🆕📝 7 Things This Week [#164]

Usually I'd like to theme the final *7 Things* of the year in some way, but I'm feeling pretty under the weather, so I'm keeping it casual to close out 2024. I hope you're all feeling better than me and have a happy new year! 🎊

🆕📝 Grading my 24 Apple predictions for 2024

Did I make good bets? Bad bets? You bet I did! 🛎️

🍿 Just watched: Carry-On (2024)

A serious man in a blue uniform looks over his shoulder in an airport setting. Review: Carry-On, 2024 - Jaume Collet-Serra. Jason Bateman was a great villain. He nailed the dead eyes and flat-yet-menacing tone. I absolutely did not recognize Taron Egerton, even though I loved him in Rocketman and Tetris. He made another good performance here. The story… well… While the premise was good and hooked me in the beginning, it kind of fell apart fairly quickly. How on earth would no one intercept this TSA guy constantly leaving his post and acting super strange on Christmas Eve? Also, just don’t put in (or break, you choose) the earpiece! Once I accepted that the film was full of plot holes and just wanted to be an exciting thrill ride, I enjoyed it for what it was. Rated one thumb up.

🆕📝 PSA: Best Buy’s Upgrade+ program didn’t even last long enough for users to get a single upgrade, but Upgraded is another option

Best Buy is out before upgrading anyone's laptop (LOL), Apple isn't offering their own MacBook Upgrade Program, but maybe Upgraded is good?

John Gruber:

Not only is using Apple Intelligence for automation more accessible (in every sense) than writing a programming script or creating a Shortcut, it’s also something we’re all much more likely to do for a one-time task. I often create scripts, shortcuts, and macros to automate tasks that recur with some frequency; I seldom do for tasks that I’m only going to do once. But why not use Apple Intelligence and ChatGPT to save a few minutes of tedium?

I do often make shortcuts for one-off tasks—either for accuracy or cause it’s the only way I can connect the dots. AI could disrupt this.

Lou Plummer:

Since Jimmy Carter left the white house, his basic goodness and humanity has never, ever wavered. He has represented the US admirably and performed with unmatched wisdom in advocating for world health improvements that have saved millions of lives. The pictures of him volunteering for Habitat for Humanity into his 90s are famous.

I’m sad tonight to know that I’m going to be on a planet without Jimmy Carter on it for the first time ever.

📺 Restarted Severance tonight, too, in anticipation of its second season. S1E1 is such good television! Mystery after mystery. So compelling.

📺 Just finished: Shrinking (Season 2)

Two men stand together; one holds the other’s face into a smile. Review of Shrinking (Season 2) on Apple TV+: Goodness, they’ve really made something special here. I liked the first season a lot. I loved the second season. The characters are dynamic and singular. Their chemistry is unmatched. (Well done breakout Dereks!) The writing is quick, witty, and cuts to the core when it needs to. The story is heart-wrenching and heart-warming. I laugh every few minutes in every episode. I tear up in most of them too. It’d be worth getting Apple TV+ just for this show. Rating: Two thumbs up.

Waiting till Christmas morning to put up the ornaments wasn’t necessarily the plan, but it might be a fun new tradition! The day was too beautiful not to get out for a little ski on the rail trail. Happy Holidays from us to you!

A decorated Christmas tree stands illuminated with colorful lights and ornaments in a living room. Presents are underneath. Nearby, a gray couch with a red snowflake pillow completes the festive decor. A person cross-country skiing on a snowy path flanked by wooden fences under a clear blue sky with a forest in the distance. A person skis along a snowy, fenced pathway surrounded by a vast, snow-covered landscape with distant trees under a clear blue sky. Two people smiling while skiing against a snowy landscape and clear blue sky wearing sunglasses and winter clothing. One holds ski poles and the other wears a beanie.

Calling all ADK ice (and ice-curious) climbers! Thursday night ice climbing is back in session. Meet the crew at Pitchoff Quarry at 6pm for a couple of hours of fun and fellowship. Some extra climbing boots (select sizes), crampons, and ice tools will be available (free of charge) courtesy of @onwardguides. Bring your own harness, helmet, and warm beverage. See you there!

(Note this is not a guided experience. Climb at your own risk.)

Icy cliff stands still surrounded by leafless trees in a snowy landscape. Text reads Thursday Nights 6pm Pitchoff Quarry.

A new Very Good Tweet™ has landed:

A social media post from Pratik reads, “Merry Christmas, Joseph Christmas, and a baby Jesus Christmas to all” with Christmas tree and gift emojis.

The great and terrible thing about humankind is simply this: we will always do what we are capable of.
— Ray Nayler, The Mountain in the Sea

Jason Koebler: ‘I Went to the Premiere of the First Commercially Streaming AI-Generated Movies’

“The Best Day of My Life” is a mountaineering documentary in which a real man talks about an avalanche that nearly killed him and led to his leg being amputated, with his narrated story being animated with AI.

This example is the only one that feels okay to me.

Gosh, I wish my screen reader could use the excellent digital voices that Apple already offers to authors to create audiobooks out of their works.