1 Thing A Week

Week 398: Liquid Glass and the number 26

Liquid Glass

My initial reaction is that I like it.

With a bit more thought, I need to see and use it in Apple's apps before I can give a meaningful take on it. It looks like it should be sprinkled in rather than being used to redefine the entire interface.

I did download the Xcode 26 Beta but I've only had a few minutes to experiment. There's a bit to learn here about modifiers so that I can build up an interface but an app I've been working on was already using .ultraThinMaterial as a modifier that went some of the way but the new Liquid Glass (or .glass modifier) take it up a level. So I'll be looking at that and while I had small plans to launch something in August, maybe I'll push it back to September so that I can take advantage of the new look and feel.

Read the post from week 398

Week 397: Bookmarking Update

Following on from last week's post on how bad bookmarking is on the web, I got my web service into a decent state. The UI at least lets me see what I've bookmarked and it does just enough.

The next job was to integrate and the best way for me was to create a simple Shortcut that I could call on for any URL.

This was not simple.

First, the URL input appears to try to pass the entire page. I wanted to "expand" the URL, which to Shortcuts means to cut out the URL forwarding services (t.co, bit.ly etc...) and to remove common identifiers like utm_source. I then wanted to base64 encode the URL so that there's some obfuscation during transfer. This did not work, the base64 encoding was applied to the entire HTML body of the response. Luckily only to the response, and not the resulting JavaScript nightmare on a lot of social sites now, but it was a task that would lock Shortcuts completely.

I tried assigning the URL to variables or to break the into parts, but then re-assembling was non-trivial. The answer was to put the URL into a Text action which I could then reference later on. It was so much harder than it should have been and ate up way too much of my time. Just let me choose if I want the URL (which is what it says on the tin) or the URL response! I'm happy to configure the inputs and actions but it really isn't obvious what actions will treat the URL as a string of text or as a hint to get fetch the resource.

I have a working Shortcut now, which I'm happy with but it does prompt for permissions way too often. If I go to edit my Shortcut now, the Privacy tab is unscrollable but also unusable because there have just been so many requests for what it can and can't use!

The experience is... fine. I could build something in SwiftUI to reduce the pain from day to day usage, but the use case is too limited when it's a personal project. But maybe that's another reason to open source the back-end?

Read the post from week 397

Week 396: Bookmarking on the web is bad

It's so bad. I began using Pocket years ago but it's been announced that it's being retired. I mostly used it for bookmarking Tweets but when Twitter implemented it's own bookmarks, I relied on Pocket less and less to the point where I don't think I logged in for 3 or more years.

Instagram also has the ability to save posts and YouTube has the Watch Later list. I also use feedly for RSS which has a 'read later' function but apart from YouTube, I don't really want to be using any of these for bookmarking in isolation. It makes re-discovery a pain and when migrating to a service like Bluesky from Twitter, it's a key piece of functionality that is missing for me.

So I decided to fix it for myself. I have built a very basic bookmarking service that takes a link and remembers it. I can prioritise it as high, medium or low or just throw it into the archive.

I need to go through Pocket and decide what I want to keep, I might do the same for Twitter and Instagram too so that I do have a centralised repo.

Yes, browsers have bookmarks but I very rarely look at them and they're used for starting points rather than catching up.

I might share more details, or even open-source the idea. It's a JSON based approach that reads and writes to a single file so it can be hosted on basic hardware that runs PHP and can write to a file.

Read the post from week 396

Week 395: Thank Goodness You're Here!

Panic published a game by Coal Supper called Thank Goodness You're Here! that won a BAFTA this year which was the push I needed to go and play it game.

Made in the UK, it's set in a fictional town and gets British humour perfectly. The main character is free to roam but is guided to complete quests before meeting the mayor. The characters you meet and the interactions are laugh out loud funny.

The game is reminiscent of Simon the Sorcerer, one of my favourite games of all time, and my kids are at the age where they're watching Horrible Histories. If you've not come across the latter, maybe you've seen Ghosts which has some of the same cast.

Outside of gameplay, it was nice to be able to use my controller with my MacBook to navigate the game. I really enjoyed the whole play through and even went back to complete all the achievements. I think I need to try The Good Time Garden next.

Read the post from week 395

Week 394: Apple M4 Pro MacBook Pro – 6 months in

It's been 6 months since I my MacBook Pro was delivered, replacing my 11 year-old MacBook Pro becoming my first Apple Silicon Mac.

The one thing with annual updates and the longevity of Apple hardware is that upgrades don't feel revolutionary. I was a few years out of support for newer OSs but my old MacBook Pro struggled along fine. Even now, my son uses it as his own for homework and while the battery seems close to giving up, it's still functioning pretty well. Good enough for web-based home work apps at least.

In truth, I've spent 5 months with it and I have enjoyed it just working. It's certainly faster, apps open quickly and I have no issues with software compatibility. The fans just do not come on. Well they came on once. Briefly. But it's otherwise silent.

The screen is beautiful. I had been debating an upgrade since the introduction of the M2-series chips but I'm glad I waited as the undocumented changes to the screen seem to have eliminated any blooming. I still tend to edit photos on my iPad with an Apple Pencil but I should spend more time in the Photos app on my Mac now. It flies in comparison to my Intel MacBook.

I didn't opt for the Nano-Texture display and don't regret it. I don't work with any problematic lighting or outside so there was no benefit for me really. I do like matte finishes for screens, but I prefer how sharp the display on this new MacBook Pro looks to me, especially with the additional brightness.

The notch makes no difference to me, I know it can obscure menu items but not a problem I've run into.

Xcode's inability to quickly diagnose a problem is my only real gripe.

Post-Intel battery life is noticeably better and so is the power efficiency.

I think I could have comfortably dropped down to the regular M4 but I didn't want to run into a situation where I might have to give up half my RAM to AI. The M4 Max was a step too far for me to justify. Any of the short videos I put together export more than fast enough for me.

For me, it's a no brainer recommending the M4-series of chips. I think most people would be fine with the MacBook Air. Anyone doing more than web surfing or word processing would benefit from the MacBook Pro form factor for increased thermal ceiling. Anyone doing app or web development might want to go for the M4 Pro but it's an option rather than a necessity.

After so many years with the previous MacBook Pro design, it's nice to have something fresher in my hands. I missed the bad keyboard era and have no real complaints I can make.

Read the post from week 394

Week 393: J.P. Morgan's open letter to third party suppliers

Patrick Opet, the Chief Information Security Officer at J.P. Morgan sent an open letter that outlines the need for a shift in how much companies focus on features over security.

It is not only neccasary, but refreshing.

Everything is connected now, whether we like it or not. Web development is a state of bloat that has persisted into a second decade. There's not enough crafting on the web, it's all about delivery. Often at speed at the cost of security and definitely at the cost of privacy.

• Software providers must prioritize security over rushing features. Comprehensive security should be built in or enabled by default.
• We must modernize security architecture to optimize SaaS integration and minimize risk.
• Security practitioners must work collaboratively to prevent the abuse of interconnected systems.

The second point is probably the hardest to achieve. Keeping ahead of the curve isn't impossible but it eats away at feature development in a significant way. But if this is the new normal, then I am fully on board.

Opet starts his call to arms:

We stand at a critical juncture. Providers must urgently reprioritize security, placing it equal to or above launching new products.

How it should have been from the start. Universities should spent as much time focusing on OPSEC as a concept as much as they would OOP and whatever else they push students towards these days.

Read the post from week 393

Week 392: Liverpool are Premier League Champions again

There's no way I thought we'd win the league this season, there was an outside chance when Jurgen Klopp announced he was stepping down, but it felt impossible without investment in the squad.

That didn't happen and for some reason, Manchester City just fell of a cliff.

The title was Arsenal's for the taking, finished 5 and then 2 points behind Manchester City in the previous two seasons. Surely they were going to step up and take their place at the top. They just didn't.

15 points separate Liverpool and Arsenal with 4 games to go. Intense Champions League games for the former and a guard of honour over the next 4 games of the Reds.

Arne Slot not only inherited a good, but shallow, squad, he has somehow found a way to taken them to the next level. Next season is likely to be harder and I'm not sure we'll see a defence of the title. Rivals will spend big (as usual) and while Liverpool may do the same, it's more likely to be around succession planning than going for big names. No point in upsetting a good squad that's just won the title, but bringing in real competition would be welcome.

Slot has been clear and direct with what he expects and it's worked well. Firstly, the players seem to have appreciated the change after 9 years with one of the Premier League's most influential characters and secondly he has been willing to work with what he has.

Being a data-led club has its frustrations, but overall it has meant there has been a winning culture instilled the club by actually winning things.

I won't list my hopes for the next season just now. There are 4 games to go, a trophy lift, a parade (that I will be missing out on) and a summer off to get through before we need to worry about that.

I will leave you with two outro videos that were put on YouTube after the club mathematically secured their 20th title.

Read the post from week 392

Week 391: How I'd Fix Any City

Inspired by a post titled how I'd fix Atlanta (vai kottke.org), here's how I'd propose beginning to fix any city:

• Invest in education
• Re-introduce libraries
• Invest in public transport
• Invest in the arts
• Prioritise affordable housing
• Walkable towns
• Green spaces for all (walking, sitting, playing)

Education

I shouldn't need to say more, but we just aren't investing enough in our children's education. It's only getting worse. Remains a mystery to me why the people we depend on most (teachers, nurses, doctors, the police and firefighters) aren't the top paid in society.

Read the post from week 391

Week 390: Our favourite card games

Just after lock down, we got into board and card games and I wanted to share a few that we've played a lot over the past couple of years.

UNO & UNO Extreme

Uno is a game that has been around for over 50 years and spawned many, many memes. We really enjoyed it for quite a while, but stuck to the official rules. None of this stacking business... but I'd be open to playing it that way.

But then we upgraded to Uno Extreme which comes with a device that randomly throws out 0-8 cards rather than you picking up from the pile. Highly recommend it as a table top alternative to Uno or just a different way to play the game.

We've seen there are many more versions, but these are the two I've played and we've enjoyed as a family.

Skip Bo

We were introduced to Skip No a couple of years ago and it's a card game for when you have a bit more time.

To make it a bit friendlier for kids, I sometimes play it with the cards openly on display so that they we can see each other's thinking, dilemmas and advantages but it didn't take long before we were keeping our cards to ourselves again.

Monopoly Deal

This is probably the family's favourite at the moment. It's fast paced and everyone is involved and strategising throughout. It's harder to win from a loosing position, but not impossible. It is Monopoly at it's core and yet it's played so differently to the board game.

I'd say Monopoly Deal is tied with Skip Bo as my favourite games but Uno and Uno Extreme are not far behind at all. You can get Uno, SkipBo and Monopoly Deal all on Amazon (affiliate links).

What card games are you playing?

Read the post from week 390

Week 389: Post-X Social Media

I have exactly 1 reason to keep my account active over on X but there's nothing else there for me and overall, my move from X to Bluesky has been pretty good all around. I am using social media less for one and following more visually artistic content.

It is possible that I spend more time on YouTube than other platforms now that I think about it.

I'm not one that struck a chord and amassed a following, I'm fully aware I'm shouting into the void most of the time. So bringing my usage down in any way is great.

Are you still on X? Are using social media less, or maybe differently?

Read the post from week 389