Notable

I'd love an Apple Pencil for my iPhone. Sometimes I don't have my iPad to hand and being able to sketch something out on the device I do have with me would be great.

Posted 24th Nov 2022 @ 11:54

This looks like a great little board for prototyping IoT projects that use a Raspberry Pi Zero. My Pi Zero stopped functioning at some point so I reset it and got it going again as a Homebridge hub but seeing this has got me wanting to put something more complicated together and do a few experiments with the kids.

Posted 8th Nov 2022 @ 15:00

Excellent review on the new camera module on the iPhone 14 Pro (and Pro Max). Worth reading in full for some great example shots and good explanations around various bits of the camera systems.

MacRumors also have a camera comparison video up at the moment pitting the iPhone Pro 14 against the Pixel 7 which is worth a watch if you're undecided.

Posted 4th Nov 2022 @ 09:18

A very interesting car, although it doesn't look particularly sexy on the outside, the interior is pretty good (generic air vents aside).

What's new: Germany's Sono Motors, which went public on the Nasdaq last year, may have cracked the code with a $25,000 electric SUV called the Sion that's covered pretty much bumper to bumper in solar cells.

• Instead of a solar glass roof, the Sion's 456 cells are integrated seamlessly into its plastic hood, fenders, sides, roof and rear panels.
• Together, they provide enough energy to extend the car's 190-mile battery range by an average of 70 miles a week — or up to 150 miles per week in perfect conditions.
• For people with short commutes in sunny locales, that could mean never plugging in again.

This kind of range would work well for us in a second car. Might be a bit tight for the primary one but with an outdoor plug or charging point those concerns go away.

The one thing I don't get is the inconsistency of what the car looks like. If you head over to Sono's website, you'll see some pretty nice LED headlights in the hero image at the top. Scroll down, or look at their brochure, and they will headlights that look like they might have been lifted from a Jaguar XE.

The Sion actually looks like it is the direct competitor to a BMW 2-Series Active Tourer.

Posted 2nd Nov 2022 @ 13:30

Posted 31st Oct 2022 @ 12:55

Elon Musk:

Low relevancy ads are spam, but highly relevant ads are actually content! Fundamentally, Twitter aspires to be the most respected advertising platform in the world that strengthens your brand and grows your enterprise.

This is bullshit. Ads are ads. They are always there to sell something. Becoming a 'respected advertising platform' is an admirable goal but are the advertisers themselves well respected? Not given the ads I see online everyday. On Twitter I am bombarded by gambling ads (and I mute accounts instantly as an opt out). Around the web I am shown items I have already bought and so much other nonsense that I basically don't notice what they really are only that they're in my way.

For ads to be specific enough, I need to be tracked and profiled. I am not OK with this. I certainly don't tweet about everything in my life and I don't follow the same brands across Twitter, Instagram and YouTube so ads are unlikely to be very useful on my Twitter profile alone. We don't need another Meta ad network in our lives.

As a 'respected advertising platform', hold advertisers to a higher standard. Don't take every dollar on offer. Make your platform respectable.

If not everyone can get a blue tick, why should everyone be able to place an ad?

John Gruber's commentary:

That's a good North Star. Ads as desirable content has been my mantra at Daring Fireball ever since I turned on the revenue spigot.

That might be true of a site like Daring Fireball, of which I am a great fan. Ads really don't get in the way over there, they're easy to skip and ignore. But I'd much rather pay for a place on Twitter than be a part cog in its ad network.

Posted 27th Oct 2022 @ 15:25

Posted 25th Oct 2022 @ 14:36

I was really excited for iOS 16.1 and more functionality around the Dynamic Island but not so much now that it looks like live Premier League scores are limited to the US and Canada. Insane to me that the nation in which these games occur cannot benefit from an OS feature like this (although it's also rumoured to be delayed).

Still, excited to see which apps that I have will support Live Activities in a meaningful way.

Posted 20th Oct 2022 @ 14:50

Posted 20th Oct 2022 @ 08:25

Mark Zuckerberg:

We're going to build the best hardware in the space and we're going to basically sell it at a break-even point and in some cases, maybe even slightly at a loss in order to basically help grow the ecosystem with the business model of basically having the revenue come through software and services

And advertising. Unless that's being lumped in with 'services', which to me is disingenuous. Being advertised to is not a service. While Zuckerberg might see this as a way to disrupt the hardware space, don't forget that we are the product to Meta unless they decide to give up the creepier sides to their business.

It may well be true that Apple charges as much as it can, but doesn't any business? Meta obviously don't sell ad space at a loss so why would Apple sell their hardware that way?

It's not even a decade since Apple stopped charging for Mac OS upgrades, don't forget. I would much rather pay

I am not comfortable with Apple selling ads in any space given we are not supposed to be the product. Maybe ads around Apple TV+ makes some sense if it's not highly targeted. Entertaining ads are always more interesting and engaging than targeted ads, which come across as creepy.

In any other space though, Apple should steer clear of ads, in my opinion.

Posted 15th Oct 2022 @ 22:35