Dear lord, it’s such a pleasure to the eyes when I come across websites using Open Sans fonts! So easy to read, such a genuine pleasant experience.
Small pet peeve. People sending emails from their mobile devices, and having a signature that reads, more or less, “Sent from phone, please excuse typos and brevity”. If you are going to send, or reply to, an email, do it right. A mobile device isn’t an excuse for not paying a little bit of attention to what you are doing.
This, from the Punkist, summarises how we—humankind—are no different at all, in the various stages of what’s considered, more or less, modern times. I slightly formatted it for legibility.
humans thoughtsWe are definitely different from the bad people in history.
The immoral fools tricked by Hitler into saluting the iron cross and casting their votes in favour of genocide, the spiritually corrupt slave traders of the colonies in Africa, the Europeans pillaging and raping (culturally and literally) the indigenous people of the “new worlds” of America, Australia, etc; the brilliant geniuses talked into developing the atom bomb, the monsters who then dropped those bombs over Japan in the name of peace.
We are definitely different from them.
The most efficient systematic slaughter of sentient beings the planet has ever seen, the complete indifference to the ecocide required for our day-to-day lives, the endless belief in infinite growth on a finite planet, the quantification of all that is sacred into mere resources and business opportunities, the utter carelessness toward the world our children will inherit. All this we manage to stand for in the name of progress and humankind’s superiority over all others.
No, we are definitely different.
We are worse.
Dieter Rams’ good design principles are so on-point, so beautiful, so simple, so everlasting. According to Rams, good design:
How many of those Apple follows? It isn’t a trick question, think about it.
Wow, Autumn has given us a nice surprise on its first day! This morning we woke up with 19°C, which is a drastic change from previous days. I know that later today is going to be hot, but it was great biking this morning, and not breaking a sweat.
Sponsoring a child is investing in humankind’s future. It can mean saving a child from abuse, neglect, or worse. For less than a tank of petrol per month one can make a big difference in a child’s life!
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help humans
Seven hours from now will get us to the beginning of Autumn. In Florida that doesn’t mean much. Hopefully, hopefully, temperatures will tone down a degree, or two, if we are lucky. One can only wish, and hope, right? Happy Autumnal Equinox!
The amount of people in this city driving while using their phones is simply staggering. Went out to grab some food to bring home, and almost got hit three times. Driving defensively these days isn’t a fad, it is a must.
Apple new devices (iPhones 15, and Watches 9) worldwide arrival news announcement makes me happy. Beautiful people from around the world, smiles, and feelings of overall happiness make me happy.
If this weren’t enough, then you will be surprised—or maybe not—to read about Clarence’s latest escapades and misdeeds.
Thomas has attended at least two Koch donor summits, putting him in the extraordinary position of having helped a political network that has brought multiple cases before the Supreme Court.
Found myself questioning, smiling, chuckling, and nodding in agreement to Joshua’s list of 100 opinions that he holds.
As a sign that I wasn’t kidding when I said I would move from 1Password to iOS Passwords, I have now done so. This weekend I will dedicate some time, and clean my list, making sure all important stuff works and, once that’s achived, I will get rid of 1Password, and cancel my subscription.
I have added so many little things to “Notes” over time, that I am feeling a bit guilty. Can it be, still, considered minimalistic? I hope so!
Last month’s utility (water) bill was over $200. It was $222.13, to be exact. It went up because rains had stopped, and we had to turn on the schedule for the sprinklers.
If it continues this way the decision will be whether the lawn survives, or we do. We will have to make a choice then. Poor lawn, we barely knew you!
So, everything “accomplished” since 8 September 2023 until today, 21 September 2023, was scratched. We are back to square one now. Lovely.
“Your NFT are actually—finally—totally worthless”, RollingStone. Don’t you say! Just one more to add to the Human Stupidity museum, right?
Just as I am in love with the Japanese woodblock prints, I also love the simplicity and beauty of Japanese (and Chinese, and Korean) Sumi-e (ink wash painting).
This one above is a relatively big mural. If you look at a bigger, fuller, version (really big image!) you will see the strokes, made with a—probably huge—straw brush.
art japan“What’s going on with the WiFi? I can’t connect the iPad to it.” — “Nothing that I know off. Do you think the boy would be so happy playing a video game with friends, if there was a problem?” — “It isn’t working!” A minute later, “never mind”.
If at first you don’t succeed, you mustn’t quit! LOL.
Daylight “Savings” Time sucks, and it should be abolished. For the last five days I have noticed my mornings getting darker, to the point of having to turn on the light to start the working day. It hasn’t been an easy in at all but, I would say, rather dramatic. Then early November, bam! Back one hour. Ugh!
Just LEAVE THE CLOCK ALONE!
Thank you, George, for spoiling a few shows and movies for me. This is something I hadn’t correlated, but now cannot miss. Ha!
apple friendss interestingFilm director Rian Johnson has lifted the lid on a secret in the world of product placement – Apple will not allow its kit to be used by a villainous character on screen.
“Apple, they let you use iPhones in movies, but – and this is very pivotal – if you’re ever watching a mystery movie, bad guys cannot have iPhones on camera,” Johnson, whose credits include Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Looper and Knives Out, revealed in a video recorded for Vanity Fair.
The old… err more mature I get, the less interest I have for social media. I kid you not. Kim, on the other hand… she consumes (doesn’t create) it all the time.
In my experience, the easiest and most difficult people to work with are those on a short countdown to retirement. Easiest because they become really agreeable, or disagreeable—but they don’t masquerade it. Difficult because they become almost impossible to get a hold of—they stop giving a duck about things.
It is past 22:00, and I am still awake. For reasons I can’t explain, I don’t feel sleepy at all—which is odd for a weekday. I am going to pay for this tomorrow, I am sure.
Meanwhile I have been following links up and down at wonger.dev, especially these. Lots of interesting stuff there!
Kid and I watched “Jujutsu Kaisen” (★★★★★), the series (and the movie), and this song from the series’ last episode stuck.
Catchy, ain’t it? If you haven’t watched the series, even if you are not into manga, I highly recommend it!
movies series youtubeI was having a weird issue in which blue heart next to the timestamp would appear off place, and quickly jump into place on page load/refresh. Took the problem over IRC (Libera.Chat) #css channel and, sure enough, hassoon and DPA found the issue, and provided a solution, in no time.
Suffice it to say, very, very grateful.
I have decided to move from 1Password (for which I pay a yearly subscription) to iOS native Passwords before the year is over. The ability to share passwords with family tilted me over. I will not wait for Passwords to become an app of its own—though I am sure that’s coming—because I don’t think that should hold me back now.
apple cryptographyI might be getting old and, as such, be “old school” now, but a company like Unity shouldn’t be apologising on X. They have a company’s website, they should put their apology there.
Update: 24 Jun 2025 @ 17:14:13
Ah, crap, as soon as I hit send I found their blog with an “Editor’s note (Sept. 17, 2023)”, that is a verbatim of what they posted on X.
We have heard you. We apologize for the confusion and angst the runtime fee policy we announced on Tuesday caused. We are listening, talking to our team members, community, customers, and partners, and will be making changes to the policy. We will share an update in a couple of days. Thank you for your honest and critical feedback.
I don’t know why news outlets did not link there instead of referring to the X “xeet” (how do they call those things these days?).
Another update, this time from Marc Whitten, lead of Unity Create:
I want to start with this: I am sorry.
And he goes on, yet, it seems to me it’s too little, too late. I think this was a costly mistake for Unity. Talk about a backfire!
Moscow said last year it planned to spend almost $30 billion by 2035 on developing the northern sea route, which has become more viable as climate change has reduced sea ice in the Arctic.
Emphasis mine. Russia is benefiting from global warming, and now more pollution is on its way. Well, (s)that’s great(/s)!
Sending the true spam to “Junk Email” at work has gotten so bad, that it is, precisely, “Junk Email” the first folder I check each morning, and the last at the end of the day. Granted, it is a relatively quick glimpse, but nevertheless a task that most be done. False positives are aplenty.
It is truly incredible that I can find my iPhone with ease, yet the United States military can’t find an F-35 (yes, that very expensive plane), and it’s asking for help. I guess it is truly stealth, after all. 😂
The mishaps of X triggered the spawn of new services like Threads, Bluesky. It also exacerbated the adoption of the Fediverse (often simply called Mastodon). Now there is Pebble, but this one has a problem of it’s own. To sign up you need to connect with X/Twitter, “to confirm you’re a good fit for Pebble”. Oh dear god!
So many iOS apps debuting their iOS 17 versions today! I find it amazing how rich, and responsive, the iOS community is—not sure community is the right term, but I hope you get the idea. Need I to point out that, at the time I am writing this, iOS 17 is not out yet.
Today’s News Minimalist email reads, and I am not paraphrasing:
Today ChatGPT read 1003 top news stories. After removing previously covered events, there are 2 articles with a significance score over 7.
That is, according to ChatGPT, there are only two significant news today. We are beating yesterday, thought. Yesterday there were none.
Kim loves to buy plants, or she will gladly take them from people giving them away for various reasons. That’s the extent of her “green thumb”. Plants commonly perish under her “care”. She tries, though, but often is not to be. It’s rather sad.
Then she makes me feel guilty when she asks, “Have you watered my plants?” Like, really?! 😅
I have a strong dislike for Crocs—the plastic shoes, that is. I believe it is based solely on their shape/form. Do that makes me a bad person?
This weekend I mowed the backyard twice, yesterday and today. Between biking, and mowing, I surpased 10,000 steps each day. That equates to over 8 kilometres per day. I am tired, but feel good. Kind of weird, but true.
With so many disasters around the globe, so many conflicts, every little bit helps to bring sustainment to those in need. Anyone can do that, through Red Cross, for as little as $10.
The American Red Cross shelters, feeds and provides comfort to victims of disasters; supplies about 40% of the nation’s blood; teaches skills that save lives; distributes international humanitarian aid; and supports veterans, military members and their families. The Red Cross is a nonprofit organization that depends on volunteers and the generosity of the American public to deliver its mission.
Please, considering donating to the Red Cross, and/or the International Committee of the Red Cross.
I am totally in love with Japanese woodblock prints. If it weren’t because my taste and Kim’s collide, I would have them framed around the house, and I would collect them.
art japan woodblock