So, a brutal sinus infection has thrown off my posting schedule. My sinus is so inflamed that it’s put massive pressure on the nerves in my gums so that it feels like I have toothache in about ten teeth. And it’s lasting a long time with nothing I can do to speed up the healing process. It sucks. But, as one doctor said, all I can do is take a big dose of Vitamin P (Patience).
Normally, I like to obsess about software for a couple of months before we head into the summer tech detox. And even though I missed the end-of-month deadline, May was a good month. In past years, I’ve written an entire post dedicated to Google I/O. But this year, we were treated to three major tech events in May: Apple’s “Let Loose” iPad event, OpenAI’s introduction to GPT-4o, and of course, the 2024 Google I/O keynote.
I’ll be using my traditional thumbs-up-and-thumbs-down format for this post because all three of these events threw down some unexpected highs and lows. It was wild.
Let’s get into it.
It’s been a hot minute since I’ve done a grab-bag post about nothing important. The last time was exactly one year ago last April. So, let’s make it a tradition, as making things a tradition is a tradition around here, after all.
No real narrative thread here, folks. I’m going to talk about music, games, tv shows, and books. To wrap up, I’ll check in with the AI scene. Given that it was so hyped up last year, what’s the status quo in AI these days?
And, needless to say, this bespoke post has been lovingly and meticulously handcrafted for you - the discerning reader, without the assistance of generative AI.
Winter is over. Spring is upon us. And on this beautiful Easter Sunday, I’d like to wish anyone who’s reading this rejuvenation, light, and inspiration.
That’s all.
So, after working as a Technical Writer for more than fifteen years, I decided it was time to change my job title. I pitched my case to Management, and they agreed. And thus, I am now an Information Developer. Some may claim that these two job titles are synonymous. But I don’t believe they are.
According to the surprisingly great Wikipedia entry on technical writing (although I shouldn’t be surprised it’s well written, given who is probably editing it), “technical writer” became an official job title during World War II.
It is no surprise that the profession of technical writing was established in the military and aerospace industries. When you marry a monolithic bureaucracy with products that are highly likely to kill you if you use them wrong, technical writing is the perfect love child.
But it’s been a while since World War II, where a Technical Writer furiously clacking away on her typewriter in some dark, locked-down war office would lose sleep at night because unclear instructions could mean the difference between life and death for soldiers on the battlefield.
And so we embark upon a shiny, fresh New Year!
Most years can be summed up thusly: similar to last year, but different from next year. But we are rarely propelled into the future by a sea change. The typical - and boring - emergence into the future is through all the tiny, iterative changes that add up over time. The answer to that classic riddle - What is always coming, but never arrives? - is “the future” (actually, the answer is “tomorrow”, but you get my drift).
Just a year ago, we were all worried about generative AI stealing our jobs. Now we are all walking around chatting with AI like it was our best friend and casually using it to do incredible things. Rather than being laid off by ChatGPT, we’re simply integrating it into our workflows as we would any new technology.
A toaster, after all, was only mind-blowing for a few weeks after we learned how much more convenient it was to make toast. Now it is another appliance. Another tool in our extensive Homo Sapiens toolkit.
In the original 1960s Star Trek series, baby-boomer Trekkies had the suave Captain Kirk to aspire to. But Gen Xers were even more fortunate to have the genteel Captain Picard gracing the small screen in Star Trek: the Next Generation (TNG).
TNG was my Star Trek. I eagerly awaited every new episode that aired Friday nights. Watching it was a family affair. There was no better science-fiction show on television (albeit the choices were slim back then). TNG not only had terrific writers, but also a cast that gelled like no other.
When we moved to Canada, we lived out of a hotel room for a few months. I was amazed to discover there were cable channels that played non-stop reruns of TNG. We sat in our hotel room watching episode after episode (this constant exposure is how we converted my sister into a Trekkie).
After TNG aired, a few more live-action Star Trek shows came out over the intervening years, including Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Enterprise, Discovery, and Strange New Worlds. But, even though these shows had some fantastic Captains at the helm (Captain Janeway was marvelous), Captain Jean-Luc Picard is still widely regarded as the best Star Trek Captain of all time. In 2020, when Star Trek: Picard came out, it was an absolute gift to the fans.
And, although the writing could never hope to equal TNG levels, it was just grand to see Picard back in action. Of course, without the camaraderie of the original TNG crew, Picard’s solo adventures were lacking that nostalgic spark. Until the old crew got back together in Season Three.
The first eight episodes of Season Three were terrific - sharp writing, great characters, and an intriguing plot. But, disappointingly, it all fell apart in the final episodes.
(Needless to say, this post contains major spoilers for Start Trek: Picard, so continue at your own discretion.)
At the end of 2021, I decided to ditch my iPhone 6S and pick up a refurbished iPhone XS for around $500. Better for the environment, better for the pocketbook, and guaranteed to keep me going for at least two years - my XS served me well.
But now, two years is up, and it’s time to move on. Yes, the XS will be supported until the end of next year. But, similar to what happened two years ago, the XS is starting to feel a bit outdated.
It’s still a great phone and will continue to be used by the next family member in the hand-me-down line. Honestly, it’s amazing how consistent the basic iOS experience is, even in really old iPhones.
But, for “my next”, I’m going with the iPhone 12 Pro.
With the latest and greatest iPhone 15 Pro starting at over $1600 CAD after tax, you’d have to really want in on titanium and USB C to drop that kind of hard cash without flinching.
But, at around $500 for an eBay Refurbished model, the 12 Pro win the price-to-performance-ratio game when comparing it to the 15 Pro - especially if you’re coming from a XS or older.
Here are ten reasons why.
I’m not really into Halloween, largely because it was never part of my childhood. In South Africa, we celebrated Guy Fawkes Day, where we burned an effigy and set off fireworks. Celebrating the failed attempt of a group of Catholics to blow up the Protestant King of England is a far cry from celebrating the pagan ritual of wearing costumes to ward off ghosts.
To be honest, it’s hard to identify with either of these celebrations.
Of course, I would have loved to go trick-or-treating as a child. But in South Africa, it would be unthinkable to go door to door around your neighbourhood. Even if you could somehow circumvent the barbed-wire fences and guard dogs, you would likely be shot before reaching the front door.
When I came to Canada as a young adult, I attended a few Halloween parties over the years. But, every single one of them was absolutely awful. Some of these parties even started off as disappointing and ended up as traumatizing. I won’t get into it.
Fortunately, as a parent, I’ve greatly enjoyed seeing the wild delight on my kids’ faces as they dress up and stuff their pumpkin-shaped buckets with candy. Experiencing Halloween vicariously through them has saved this North American tradition for me.
However, the fact that I’m writing a Halloween Special is evidence that I’ve completely run out of other ideas for this month’s post. So, I’ll just go with it -
To mark the occasion where ghosts and ghouls rule the night, here are some scary things…
I’m a big fan of titanium. It’s much stronger than aluminum and is far more resistant to corrosion. It is heavier than aluminum, but, as you need less of it to achieve comparable strength, titanium parts actually end up being much lighter. For this reason, it’s used in aircraft jet engines, spaceships, and subsea equipment. Basically, titanium is perfect for extreme environments.
Titanium is also one of the only visible changes to the flagship iPhone 15 pro when compared to last year’s iPhone 14 pro. It would be a mistake, however, to claim that the iPhone 15 pro has a titanium body. Only the rails around the edge are titanium. The back is still glass, and will instantly break when dropped onto concrete at waist level.
The only benefit of using titanium, therefore, is weight reduction. Considering how heavy the stainless-steel bands of previous Pro iPhones are, this isn’t a bad thing. It’s just that it’s the only thing I can think of to talk about, and even I’ll admit that a discussion on the physical properties of metals isn’t exactly riveting reading material.
Without poring over the spec sheet, I’d be hard-pressed to come up with any other outrageous differences between this year and last year’s flagship iPhones. Besides from the usual - a faster CPU and better cameras, which Apple introduces every year like clockwork.
…
Okay, fine. I guess this will be a very short post if I don’t look into it some more.
(pores over spec sheet)
It seems that there is some sort of natural disaster every year now, which makes it really hard to write an upbeat August post. BC is currently going through a brutal wildfire season, especially in the interior. Even far up in the Northwest Territories, where you’d think it would be chilly all year round, a large wildfire caused the entire city of Yellowknife to be evacuated. Unbelievable.
With family on the verge of being evacuated, it’s been stressful on a personal level. But fortunately, besides from suffering through terrible air quality, no family has lost their homes yet. And with the cooler temperatures and rains of fall approaching, the end is in sight.
What is disappointing and disheartening isn’t even the actual natural disasters - it is the societal response to it. While there are plenty who pitch in to help, there are always bad apples that bob to the surface.
I recently watched the mini-series Five Days at Memorial on Apple TV about what happened at a hospital during the Hurricane Katrina disaster. Wow, talk about a fetid mix of corporate mismanagement, zero quality control, looting, racism, wild rumours, miscommunication, no evacuation plan, euthanasia without consent, finger pointing, lawsuits, and total lack of action or accountability from the Bush administration.
It’s a hard watch, but I recommend it, if only as a great real-world example that nothing is black and white - it’s shades of grey all the way down.