< Notes...

Really wishing more services on Ubuntu were made in Golang, or good old C/C++. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t dislike Python, and it certainly is widely used, multiplatform, etc., etc. Now having almost everything Python comes across as sheer laziness. That’s it. Ubuntu, and Python </rant>.

Tesla launched its Robotaxi—which isn’t the Robotaxi, but a Tesla with a Robotaxi logo—service in Texas. There are just a few, all operating in a small section of the city, and with “a human safety operator in the passenger seat”. LOL. So, just a taxi.

“As expected, only a handful of vehicles are available right now, they only operate in a small part of the city and there’s a safety driver in the vehicle in case it encounters situations it cannot handle autonomously.”

A real Robotaxi should have no glass windshield, and a blocking divider between the passenger area and the “driver”. After all, it is best not to see what’s coming your way. Surprise! 😅

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I have automated the process that adds a notice and timestamp when I edit a note, when adding more content to it at a later time. It works great, as it uses the git lastmod timestamp. The unfortunate side effect was, all timestamps got reset because I actually modified all notes that had an UPDATE notice. 😩

Why would Microsoft offer releases of their Edit CLI editor for Linux, and compress them using zstd? What’s wrong with tar.gz? Why the added complication? What is there to gain?

This bash code is what I use to count the amount of notes per year, ever since I started babbling in here. I first move to the content/posts/ directory, then run it. It works great under macOS.

for file in *.md; do \
    head -n 5 "$file" | \
    grep 'date:' | \
    sed 's/date.*\([[:digit:]]\{4\}\).*/\1/' >> count; \
done && \
cat count | sort | uniq -c && \
rm count

Well, this is something you don’t see everyday day, from left to right: Mark Russinovich, Bill Gates, Linus Torvalds, and David Cutler. Bill and Linus meeting in person, and making it to the same photo. Yeah, a first?

Around 2002, and for a brief period, I kept a small weblog all handcrafted. Each page was created manually; I copied and pasted quite a bit, and I would make each page have its own uniqueness. I don’t know why I felt nostalgic thinking about it.

I have not mentioned Headscale before, even though I use it every day. I have my iPhone (on demand), my Mac, my Linux laptop (on demand), and my two VPS connected to it. Headscale is an open source, self-hosted implementation of the Tailscale control server. You can use the Tailscale client—which is available for all platforms—to connect to it. It is amazing, and worthy—at the very minimum—of a star on its GitHub repository.

A simple test, using verses—in modified format—from Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer’s poem, “¿Qué es poesía?” I may delete this note, as it is only a test. Yes, like many, many others, I “test in production”. 😅

• Tú:
• ¿Qué es poesía?, dices mientras clavas en mi pupila tu pupila azul.
• Yo:
• ¿Qué es poesía? ¿Y tú me lo preguntas? Poesía… eres tú.

I am trying to implement a workflow, so that I can use a graphical editor for creating new notes while in front of the computer, that is, not over an SSH connection. Let’s see how it goes.

Update: 02 Oct 2025 @ 16:49:20

Yup, it works quite well. I really don’t know why it took me this long to implement something as simple as this (I am using Obsidian now to create and edit notes if not over SSH). I guess I usually create notes on Terminal, on Bash, and didn’t have the need for anything else. Until now!

I couldn’t believe my eyes when an update notification popped up today for Snapseed and, imagine my surprise when I saw the total refresh it received. Snapseed is a unique delightful aberration, a glitch in the matrix. Acquired by Google in 2012, it is the only app I know that Google has kept alive, and standalone (that’s, not incorporated into another), and updated.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that it is an amazing app.

I know it is way early, but in preparation for macOS 26 I have now removed Raycast, and will soon remove Maccy. Who knows what else I will be able to remove when 26 comes. I really can’t help it.

Alphabet felt like they were been left behind, so they had to do something, me thinks.

“This is the earliest Android has launched a major release in the last few years, which ensures you get the latest updates as soon as possible on your devices.”

Hmm, right. I wonder why? 😂

Chrome has gone nuts. Because of this note, which has two sentences in French, Chrome is prompting me whether or not I want to translate the page—not just that note!—to English. Wait until AI makes it in. Oy.

Using URL shortening was never a good idea. I ran my own, and it bit me really bad when I lost its backend database and with is all the shortlinks. Using Google URL shortening service—or anything Google, but I digress—was/is an even worse idea. I know, I used them too.

First they sunseted Goo.gl, while stating that “all existing links will continue to redirect to the intended destination”. Then, they “transitioned” that statement to “we will be turning off Google URL Shortener”, which will finally happen comes 25 August, 2025. Lovely.

I have found myself on Nicholas’ “shoes” in quite a few occasions. Those occasions on which Hugo has changed its codebase around, and things that used to work worked no longer. I have been tempted to switch, but then what? Grass is always greener on the other side, and what brought me to it (the other side, that is) will not be the last. Time and again I ended up going to Hugo’s community, and each time I found the fix I needed.

It is my very personal opinion that nothing beats Hugo when it comes to simplicity. Nothing extra to install, just a single binary. Beyond its simplicity, it’s extremely powerful.

Apple’s Lisa 2 computer. I know it is old, I know it is retro. My old eyes will certainly complain at the screen size and resolution, but damn, such a beautiful machine, and keyboard design! Yup, I am certainly on “boomer’s” mood.

I miss terminal based applications. Old database driven applications that were usually accessed via VT100 terminals, and later on via IBM 3270, or emulated software, like TN3270, to access IBM mainframes. I wonder if they will ever make a return (no mainframes needed this time, of course).

Hmm, is this a sign of crossing—or having crossed—a certain age threshold?

I didn’t know about this one, but I can assure you it will add some genuine je ne sais quoi to the transition between pages within your website. In use here now, and forever. Try it!

@media screen and (prefers-reduced-motion: no-preference) {
        @view-transition {
                navigation: auto;
        }
}

➝ Via Ariel Salminen.

I need to stop procrastinating, and migrate to another VPS. The one I am using now has been upgraded in place since Ubuntu 16.04, and it is full of cruft. I long, need, a newer machine. I will have to dedicate contiguous time to that which, I think, it is holding me back. I am keeping Vultr (referral link), though.

Ariel is so talented! I mean, browse to her website and experience her exquisite taste and design skills. I browse around her website, and get the feeling to be experiencing Japanese aestetics: minimal, yet extremely tasteful.

I can’t pretend; I am a fan! I mean, take a look at this, and you will have but a glimpse of what I am talking about.

John Gruber describes fluidly why the dream of making iPhones in the United States is just sheer fantasy.

“United States doesn’t have anyone with the necessary vocational skills, who would want to work tedious factory jobs at factory-job wages, and China does. That’s part of the fever-dream mad-king fantasy of this entire cockamamie endeavor by Trump: these are difficult, low-paying, long-houred jobs that Americans don’t want. That these jobs are all in China and India is proof that America is far ahead, not that we’ve fallen behind.”

Of course I agree! Asking Apple to make the iPhones in the US is rotten non-sense coming out of a necrotic mind.

These are the replies and interactions of someone who truly loves Golang. I wouldn’t know, I am not a programmer, but about the “simple, minimal syntax—master the core in hours, not months”… hmm, I don’t know mon. 😅

There is no way in hell—figuratively speaking, of course—that I would find myself installing Microsoft Edge on my Mac. I’ll die with Safari. I am a vanillist—that is, I prefer and use the OS default apps.

Similarly, if you ever see me using Google Chrome—or any other browser, but Safari—on my Mac, kindly ask me to give you $1,000 (USD). You have my word.

You will notice that this note’s font is different. Not only is a little bit bigger, it is Ubuntu Sans (not Open Sans, like that rest). Which is more legible? Well, let’s see.

“The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.” Hmm, I need more. I, in capitals, and i. L, in capitals, and l. 1, and l. O and 0. I am growing to like it.

Update: 05 Nov 2025 @ 08:20:50

Well, I liked it so much that I have changed to it, for now. I think that getting tired of fonts, colour themes, cars, etc., is just part of being human. I really like Open Sans, I just feel like using Ubuntu Sans for a while. I think seeing it each day while working (running Ubuntu Linux on work machine, and that’s the default font) has something to do with it.

Nothing announced today at Google I/O dazzles me. I was watching the live stream, and when they demoed the glasses with Gemini, and I saw the stutter, I had to quit, because I felt ashamed. The Verge has “the 15 biggest announcements” at Google I/O 2025, if you dare to be bored.

I think they should instead focus on fixing the mess that’s their Play Store (Google Play?), and the many crappy, missleading, full of malware, applications within it.

HarmonyOS with its microkernel architecture, on the other hand, looks pretty interesting.

Apple has announced their latest Mac mini, and it’s everything I wanted to see. The task ahead is to convince partner that we need one (note that’s a need, not a want), which we do (well, we need a computer, not an Apple computer per se, but I wouldn’t have it any other way). Yet, I need to do the convincing without adding any stress. Let’s see how I can engineer to do so. Certainly with extreme finesse.

I have decided to use Apple’s Journal app more. Towards that aim I have placed it on my mobile device home screen. That will not interfere with any of my public interactions, as Journal will simply be that, a personal journal, and thus not for public comsumption.

My aim is to document the mundane, “what did I eat last night?” kind of thing, to recollect, and preserve, daily happenings and thoughts at day’s end.

And… the first two are here! Took a little over 1 hour to transfer data to mine. Kid’s will have to wait until after pickleball. The 16 Pro’s soooo buttery smooth. Oh my!

Now, this is some promise!

When we launch Private Cloud Compute, we’ll take the extraordinary step of making software images of every production build of PCC publicly available for security research. This promise, too, is an enforceable guarantee: user devices will be willing to send data only to PCC nodes that can cryptographically attest to running publicly listed software. We want to ensure that security and privacy researchers can inspect Private Cloud Compute software, verify its functionality, and help identify issues — just like they can with Apple devices.

About iOS 17 relase on 18 September, make sure to turn off the betas (thanks George!) if you participated. Simply go to “Settings → General → Software Update → Beta Updates”. and turn it off.

iOS 17 is releasing 18 September 2023. That is, merely less than a week from today. I have been using it for a few betas now, and it works great! Now, I just want that Journal, but it still reads “Coming later this year”.

My take aways from the Apple Event:

• Apple works on positively impacting the enviroment. Apple truly is extremely environmentally concious.
• Apple Watch is amazing: from looks, to usability, to saving lives. It has it all!
• iPhone hardware (with A16) keeps getting better (now with USB-C). Together with the best phone OS, iOS, it is a pleasure to use.
• iPhones Pro/Pro Max are build with even more premium materials and hardware (including the A17Pro processor, and much more), and much better cameras (3 vs 2, but this it too simplistic, you must see the video for all the details).
• There wasn’t a “one more thing”. I miss it.

It’s happening! Apple’s event is today at 13:00 EDT and, in preparation, I have snacks ready and handy, and have moved my lunch hour from 12:00-13:00 to 13:00-14:00. I will be able to happily snack while I watch it! Are you ready?

It’s that time of the year again, and I can’t believe I haven’t mentioned Apple’s event. It’s coming! Like, day after tomorrow coming. I will watch it, like I do each year, for sure! If you like Apple, and their products, I recommend you watch it too!

Conduit is the easiest, fastest, leanest way to run a Matrix server. A single binary, and a small configuration file. Can’t beat that!

Update: 30 Nov 2025 @ 11:12:34

Or, as George pointed out, docker compose up.

Upcoming iOS 17 Live Voicemail is as good as advertised. Some might call it magical, even. I do.

“Live Voicemail gives users the ability to see real-time transcription as someone leaves a voicemail, and the opportunity to pick up while the caller is leaving their message. Calls identified as spam by carriers won’t appear as Live Voicemail, and will instead be instantly declined. With the power of the Neural Engine, Live Voicemail transcription is handled on-device and remains entirely private.”

Running iOS 17 public beta now, as temptation got a hold of me yesterday. It has some glitches, and small bugs (mostly visual), but very, very stable, and usable. Buttery smooth as if it were a release.

I am so tempted to install iOS 17 public beta! If anything for that Journal app, because I will use the heck out of it. Also because George told me “this is the only way we can test”. The fact that he already jumped in isn’t helping. 😅

Ugh, need to learn how to read the fine print. On the Journal app, from Apple, “Coming later this year”. Cry, cry, cry! Still, I think I will jump in.

Feature request for iOS: setting to allow all calls from Contacts to ring through, all others go straight to voicemail. In other words, an allowed list (as opposite to disallowed, duh!).