ldstephens

Welcome to Web Finds, where I curate a collection of the most interesting and useful web links that I've come across. In this post, I'll be sharing some exciting finds that cover a range of topics, from technology and culture to lifestyle and more.

• Criticising is the easy part
• Rapidly forming El Niño to boost global warming, lead to widespread extreme events
• RIP, BuzzFeed News. Who’s next?
• Twitter descends into chaos as news outlets and brands lose verification
• How to Try Bluesky, the Decentralized Twitter Clone
• Apple will launch a journaling app in iOS 17, but that’s bad news for some devs
• When Congress is more Christian and religious than the rest of America

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You can now follow this blog on Mastodon. Just search for @blog@ldstephens.me to start getting my posts.

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Welcome to Web Finds, where I curate a collection of the most interesting and useful web links that I've come across.

First up, we've got TidBITS downsizing. Meanwhile, Manu hates internal linking – can you blame him? On the tech front, Apple is launching a new savings account for their Apple Card users, and responding to reports of iPhone lockouts caused by thieves. In other news, NPR bids farewell to Twitter, SpaceX has a mixed success with its Starship test flight, and Microsoft is throwing some serious shade at Twitter. And finally, if you're curious about how the major phone carriers are stacking up against each other, we've got a handy performance test comparison for you.

• 33 Years of TidBITS: Handcrafted Content from Humans – TidBITS
• Moving from Jekyll to Blot – Kev Quirk
• I hate internal linking – Manu
• The Savings Account Is Half Empty – Daring Fireball
• Apple Card Savings Account Launches
• Apple Responds to Report About Thieves Permanently Locking Out iPhone Users
• NPR no longer active on Twitter
• SpaceX Starship soars, then crashes in major test flight
• Microsoft kicks Twitter in the teeth
• Here’s how T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T compare in the latest performance test

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Jack Wellborn

Personal automation doesn’t need to involve expensive third party hardware, or require scripting. It can be something as as simple as customizing keyboard shortcuts or defining text replacement macros. Apple’s Shortcuts app is completely drag-and-drop, and makes building personal automation easy enough for even basic users. On top of the many automation apps and features included with Apple’s platforms, there are also a slew of great third party apps that unlock even more possibilities.

Personal computers have become easier and more accessible, to the point where they and their apps are necessarily built for everyone. That’s truly great, but being easy and more accessible doesn’t make them personal. It makes them general purpose. Personal automation gives individuals the power to make their general purpose computer that was built for everyone actually personal.

Using apps such as Drafts, Raycast, Keyboard Maestro, PopClip, and Hazel, I have customized my Mac with a significant amount of automation. As a result, using another person’s Mac feels unfamiliar to me. That’s how feel when my wife asks me to help her out with something on her Mac.

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Today marks the ninth anniversary of our dog Nemo’s passing. Nemo was an amazing dog who enriched our lives in so many ways. When we first adopted him, we were told that he had been at the shelter for about a year and had been adopted a few times and returned. It was clear that Nemo was meant to be with us, and I’m so grateful that I got to be his human.

In October 2013, I noticed that Nemo was having trouble with his balance when he lifted his leg to pee. He eventually lost his balance and would fall over, so I took him to the vet. He was diagnosed with degenerative myelopathy, a terrible disease that slowly degenerates the spinal cord. Nemo’s condition worsened over time, and it was heartbreaking to see him lose his muscle strength, stumble, and eventually become incontinent.

In April 2014, we made the difficult decision to let Nemo go. It was a painful decision, but we knew that it was the right thing to do for our beloved dog. With vet assistance, Nemo passed away on Saturday, April 19th, 2014. I still fucking miss him every day, but we take comfort in knowing that he is in a better place now, running and playing with Tonka and Lola.

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Bloomberg

And iOS 17 will cause some noise beyond WWDC itself. Apple is working to overhaul the software to open up the iPhone to sideloading  — the downloading of apps outside of its official store

It’s looking like Apple is going to cave in and allow the sideloading of apps with iOS 17. If this comes to pass it’s sure to cause some grief for the inexperienced users who fuck up their iPhone or iPad by sideloading an app with malware or worse.

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Bear 2.0 is finally close.

Bear Blog: “In the next month or two, we hope to ship Bear 2 with over 20 great new features including tables, Markdown hiding, Backlinks, an all-new sketching tool, document scanning, folding sections, footnotes, RTL language support, and more.”

As you might have guessed, it's coming with a price increase for new users: $2.99 per month or $29.99 per year. The price will remain the same for existing users: $1.49 per month or $14.99 per year.

I used to be a big fan of Bear, but I moved to Apple Notes a few years ago. Now, I have a dilemma. Should I subscribe to protect the old price, even though I'm not currently using the app?

I subscribed monthly at $1.49, which is $2.89 more than if I had done the annual payment but this way I cancel anytime if I choose to. Now, I'm protected at the old price if I want to use Bear in the future.

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Welcome to Web Finds, where I curate a collection of the most interesting and useful web links that I've come across. In this post, I'll be sharing some of the most exciting finds that cover a range of topics, from technology and culture to lifestyle and more.

• Touchability, Productivity, and Portability — Pick Two
• The Next Great Impasse
• Users complain about bug causing Apple devices to constantly ask for Apple ID password
• Oh, for the love of pets! Why people won't budge on pet spending despite inflation.
• In what could be a 'big shift' for cancer treatment, mRNA vaccine shows promise against melanoma
• New Twitter settings could hinder timely storm warnings: National Weather Service
• Montana becomes 1st state to approve a full ban of TikTok

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Make Something Wonderful

Steve Jobs in his own words

A curated collection of Steve’s speeches, interviews and correspondence, Make Something Wonderful offers an unparalleled window into how one of the world’s most creative entrepreneurs approached his life and work. In these pages, Steve shares his perspective on his childhood, on launching and being pushed out of Apple, on his time with Pixar and NeXT, and on his ultimate return to the company that started it all.

Featuring an introduction by Laurene Powell Jobs and edited by Leslie Berlin, this beautiful handbook is designed to inspire readers to make their own “wonderful somethings” that move the world forward.

Read now

Also available on Apple Books, from participating libraries via the Libby app, or by downloading the file for your e-reader.

I downloaded the book yesterday, imported it to my Kindle and started reading it last night.

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I've had a Kindle Paperwhite 11 for a few months, and it's where I do all my book reading. I bought the ad-supported version.

Today, I was watching a couple of “how-to” and tips and tricks videos to learn more about how to use my Paperwhite. One by Dylan Johns, titled Top 10 Kindle Tips and Tricks You NEED to Know on YouTube, had a tip on how to remove ads from your ad-supported version of the Paperwhite for FREE.

I tried it out, and it worked. The chat eventually directed me to this page, Remove Ads from Your Lockscreen, to remove ads, but I told the chat person that I was hoping to get it done for free. After a few minutes, I received a notification on my Kindle that the ads had been removed.

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