A pretty normal number of windows for a Shortcuts coding night.

Multiple overlapping windows open on a computer desktop, indicating multitasking or workflow organization, set against a scenic backdrop of a hilly landscape during sunset.

I just released my first new shortcut of 2024, and it’s one I’ve been dreaming of building for months. Here’s version 1.0 of the ‘Generate Alt Text with OpenAI Vision’ shortcut:

This shortcut helps you to generate a quality image description to use as alt text for images you upload to the internet. […]

You can pass an image file or URL as input to this shortcut, and it will send it through OpenAI’s Vision API along with a specific prompt to generate a unique description for the image, including any text found in it.

Get it here from the HeyDingus Shortcuts Library.

📺 Finished rewatching: Trying (seasons 1-3) created by Andy Wilton

Two people sit on swings, smiling at each other, surrounded by greenery and houses. There’s text reviewing the show “Trying Seasons 1-3 — Created by Andy Walton”, rating it “Great” for humor and emotional impact. Text: Contender for my favorite show of all time. It’s hard to imagine a show more heartwarming than this, and it doesn’t skimp on the cheeky British humor, nor the meaningful and relatable stakes. Every season has at least one episode that makes me happy cry from beginning to end as my heart overflows.

📺 Finished watching: Letterkenny (2016-2023) created by Jared Keeso

Two men stand arms crossed in front of a red wall with “LETTERKENNY” written on it. Text: “Letterkenny 2016-2023 — Jared Keeso & Jacob Tierney A wonderfully fast-paced, quick-witted, and surprisingly charming production. Great show that was well-executed and satisfyingly ended. Over and out.” Buttons below read “Poor,” “Okay,” and “Good,” with “Great” selected.

🆕📝 7 Things This Week [#126]

Humans are just so creative and make the coolest tools and things. Oh, and the launch of the 52 Albums Project. 🎵 Enjoy!

I don’t use it, but I continue to think the omg.lol is one of the coolest, most value-laden services on the web. Its ever-growing services (blog, Mastodon instance, photo sharing, pastebin, and much more) cost only $20/year and are created by a single (super nice) guy.

I can’t help but notice good typography. 📷

An add-your-own-text sign that says “jingle bells, gizmo smells, Marley’s up the tree”.

I think that might’ve been nubble’s best performance yet. They bring together the best crowd with the best energy. Perfect end to one of the best days in a while. (And I loved the Avett Brothers cover — can’t wait to hear more!) 📷

A band is performing in a brick-walled bar with guitars on the wall; an audience member watches from the foreground. A man is carefully pulling a wooden block from a large, stacked Jenga tower in a casual indoor setting while a child, eating, watches in the background.

🎙️ Thanks @coreint for the reminder that big goals can start small — even ones that you used to be pretty good at so now it feels silly to start over. I did 5 push-ups this morning and will do at least 5 before I go downstairs each morning. 💪

overcast.fm/+KxFHh5a4…

❄️ Big outdoor day with friends! Woke at the buttcrack of dawn to ski alllll the way up the mountain with Dan & Sarah (who hardly broke a sweat at my slow pace) and then back down on fresh runs. Then climbing adventures with Dan & Dakota on bullet-hard ice. Cherry on top was the hot tub dip after. 📷

Two skiers are taking a selfie on a snowy slope with snow-covered trees in the background. The forefront skier is partly visible, holding the camera. A person in the foreground takes a selfie while another skier stands in the snowy background, both on a misty mountain slope. A lone skier descends a snowy slope amidst trees, with visibility limited by a hazy, blue-tinted atmosphere, implying overcast or snowy weather conditions. A climber ascends a frozen waterfall, secured by ropes, while two others watch. They are equipped with climbing gear in a snowy, icy environment.

🆕📝 24 Apple Predictions for 2024

The cards have been laid and challenge made. Who will be swayed?

The absolute values don’t ultimately matter, but it is very cool to see the trend over time coincide with the effort put in.

Bar graph showing a few large spikes, but generally larger values over time from June 2023 to now.

Man, I thought Drafts made it easy to blast off posts at the speed of thought. But I have to admit that MarsEdit’s micropost window is unrivaled on the Mac.

Hotkeys for launching and posting, and now it even has image support (with alt text!). This is dangerous.

MarsEdit micropost window containing the text of this very post.

I had a set plan for my Internet Playtime tonight, so — naturally — I’m working on something else instead.

I haven’t seen this beauty since at least October! 😮‍💨

Cartoon kayak heading toward a mountain on the horizon with the tagline, “You’ve achieved Inbox zero!”

I flipped my desk setup to put my iPad on the right side. Everything was going great until I realized that my macOS Dock is also on the right. Now I’m dragging through the Dock to get to the iPad and I don’t think I can abide. Even though I like my phone charger and drink coaster on the left better.

Heads up for Kagi users:

Huge yikes.

Kagi is now partnering with Brave to power its search results — and they seem to be dismissing their users’ concerns regarding this partnership with a company that’s notorious for being led by a proud anti gay rights supporter.

Just as I’ve consistently advised against using Brave’s products, I now advise against using Kagi as long as it contributes to a homophobic business.

There can be no neutral politics when it comes to people’s rights and lives.

mspsocial.net/@vkc/11170453152

🆕📝 Please, Own Your RSS Links

You’ve bought your own domain name, so you might as well get the most out of it and make things easy for your audience at the same time.

Not sure if this is useful, but it is at least interesting (to me): You can view the contents of your clipboard on macOS by going to Finder → Edit → Show Clipboard

(Via macmost.com)

Window on macOS with the text of a URL displayed and a status bar indicating the clipboard contents are text.

I’ve got a couple of hours. Do I

  1. write a blog post?
  2. work on the site’s design?
  3. start a new project?
  4. get distracted and complete nothing?

Whoa. The ‘Download Template…’ feature of @danielpunkass’s MarsEdit is wild. Within a few seconds, it made a temporary post to my blog and used it to download the CSS. Now post previews look exactly like they will online. With a MarsEdit for iOS, so many of my blogging nitpicks would be solved. 🤞

I’ve heard a notable number of podcasters say recently that they expect the Vision Pro announcement part deux to be imminent. I’ve been thinking it would be late in January, but perhaps they’re ready to show it off sooner? My spidey-sense is tingling.

I missed this iPhone ad when it came out a few weeks ago:

youtube.com/watch

It’s so good. Very creative. I almost felt bad for the power outlet.

🔗 Chip Wilson, lululemon founder, says company doesn’t want “certain customers coming in” — Connect the Watts // Laura Rosenberg

This is not the first time Wilson has aired his problematic opinions as he has frequently received backlash for fatphobic, anti-Asian, and sexist comments. Famously, when speaking of Japanese people, Wilson said he named lululemon as such because:

It’s a tough pronunciation for them. […] I was playing with Ls and I came up with Lululemon. It’s funny to watch them try to say it.

Sounds like a real piece of work.

🔗 Microsoft’s new Copilot key is the first big change to Windows keyboards in 30 years - The Verge // Tom Warren

Microsoft wants 2024 to be “the year of the AI PC,” and it’s kicking things off with a significant change to the keyboard on new laptops and PCs. A new Copilot key will ship on a variety of new PCs and laptops from Microsoft’s partners, providing quick access to Microsoft’s AI-powered Windows Copilot experience straight from a keyboard button press.

Yeah, I guess this makes sense. Will there still be a Copilot key in 10 years? I’m not sure, but I’d guess at yes.