Notable

I genuinely love my iPad mini, it's been a fantastic device for me that I use daily. Combined with the 2nd-gen Apple Pencil has made it indispensable for note taking and for creative endeavours.

Today, Apple announced the 7th-generation iPad mini which is marketed as being "built for Apple Intelligence".

I won't be upgrading because there's nothing wrong with mine and to be honest, it was Smart Script that I was most interested and turns out the 6th-gen already got the feature in iPadOS 18.

The Apple Pencil Pro, however, is the best Apple Pencil. I used one once and it was a natural upgrade to the previous generation with its new pinch gestures. I also don't have hover support for the Apple Pencil. MacRumors have a good breakdown of the differences between the new and old and there's not a lot in it.

Posted 15th Oct 2024 @ 14:59

Despite being a big fan of Pharrell, I didn't really get why Piece by Piece was coming out and after watching this interview with Jimmy Fallon, I can't wait to see it.

Posted 14th Oct 2024 @ 09:14

Elon Musk:

It will be an age of abundance

Because that's what we need, more stuff.

The Cybercab itself actually looks pretty good and the minimal interior works better in my opinion for this concept but it looks like a bad take on the Lucid Air.

I find Elon repulsive and his stage manor awful, but he's yet again selling the dream...

Nearly 7 years ago, he promised the Tesla Roadster in 2020 but we're now 4 years beyond that date and still waiting for it to be shipped. Full Self Driving has long been promised and isn't here yet either. Maybe the Cybercab will be the anomaly and make it out in the wild outside of California and Texas but I wouldn't hold my breath.

Posted 11th Oct 2024 @ 13:04

Posted 19th Sep 2024 @ 07:36

I enjoyed reading through John Gruber's thoughts on last week's iPhone event:

My dissatisfaction flying home from last week's event is, ultimately, selfish. I miss having my mind blown. I miss being utterly surprised. I miss occasionally being disappointed by a product design that stretched quirky all the way to wacky. I miss being amazed by something entirely unexpected out of left field.

Personally, I was amazed by Camera Control button this year. I put my phone in a case so the overall shape and design don't make a huge difference. The camera, internals and software combine to make a compelling product. Last year, the Action Button didn't excite me. It was interesting, but not exciting. Camera Control is genuinely exciting to me and I can't wait to play with it. Sadly, this is not an upgrade year for me so I won't be getting a new phone but there's something I'll be really excited to get my hands on for photography in the future.

Overhauling the design of an entire product is not a small task so I appreciate these iterations but still believe they should come every other year instead of annually.

Dynamic Island + Action Button + Camera Control would make a pretty great feature set for an update, but rather than all at once they've rolled out over a 3-year period.

Posted 17th Sep 2024 @ 15:25

Posted 9th Sep 2024 @ 10:35

Apple are bringing Live Activities to their Sports app, so I'm eager to see how it matches up to a third party app like FotMob that has been doing this since Live Activities launched. If there's enough to talk, or gripe, about then I'll post up a comparison here as the season progresses.

Right now it doesn't look like there's any live sports going on so I can't test it until later it seems.

Update: I went back to look to see if the Champions League was included and it's not but further down was the following update:

Additional leagues will become available on Apple Sports over time, including Champions League and Europa League, beginning with the league phase in September.

So to me that reads that it becomes available in September for the mentioned leagues with more to follow.

Posted 30th Aug 2024 @ 08:29

Absolutely love this video and the focus on the practical side of a car.

Power is largely meaningless in a car now, practicality an d efficiency is where it's at!

Posted 9th Aug 2024 @ 09:00

Posted 4th Jul 2024 @ 16:06

If we can't laugh at the last 14 years, what can we do? It's really on the Brexit and pandemic years that are covered and with this much content from them it feels like today's election has been a long time coming.

So go out and vote today, vote tactically if you have to. I hope we see the back of the Conservative party but more worryingly, I hope Nigel Farage fails yet again to become a MP. Please, Clacton, don't fall for his bullshit.

Update:

Clacton fucked it. Not only did they vote for Farage, but the second candidate was a Conservative.

Posted 4th Jul 2024 @ 09:00