Category: Aside

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Aside

2019.9.21

I had plans to publish a short review of the iPhone Pro 11 camera today; I spent the day walking all over Toronto (21km!) and edited up shots on my iPad. It’s a cool and neat and very different iPhone camera system!

But it seems like my iPhone is entirely unable to sync photos with iCloud at the moment. I’ve done all the ‘normal’ things to get sync working but none are working. So I’ll see if syncing resolves overnight and, if not, the continuing failures of iCloud will definitely get their own section in my review.

Camera systems on phones include the cameras, the camera software, and the cloud infrastructure. If one isn’t working, then none of it is truly working.

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Aside

2019.9.20

The new iPhone 11 Pro camera system really different than the camera system on my iPhone 7. It’s particularly novel when taking low light photos: the 11 Pro is going to take a while to get used to, given it creates an entirely novel visual aesthetic. But it’s a journey I’m looking forward to!

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Aside Links RPG

2019.9.8

I’m really looking forward to a particular chase scene in an upcoming Dungeons and Dragons campaign, which I’m going to set entirely to Eric Weissberg & Deliverance’s album, Duelling Banjos!

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Aside Links

2019.8.13

McSweeny’s list, “Critically Acclaimed Horror Film Of The 2010s Or Your Ph.D Program?” strikes eerily close to home.

Number 2, in particular, seems familiar: “You find yourself in an opulent but sinister setting that possesses subtle but undeniable links to antebellum slavery. Everyone who has been there longer than you seems to have completely lost the will to live. You are warned by at least one of them to get out. You try to comply but powerful forces keep pulling you back.”

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Aside Links

2019.8.7

I’m absolutely delighted that Tool’s catalogue is now available through Apple Music; I’ve been listening to it almost non-stop all week.

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Aside Links

2019.7.29

After reading several articles from a special series in Elemental+ on ticks I’m now appropriately concerned about how dangerous ticks can be, and our utter inability to meaningfully address the threat.

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Aside

2019.7.15

It’s great that Apple is asserting the importance of privacy. But if they’re really, really serious they’ll stop enabling the Chinese government direct access to Chinese users’ iCloud data. And they’ll secure data on iCloud so that government agencies can’t just request Apple to hand over our WhatsApp, iCloud, Notes, and other data that Apple holds the keys to unlocking and turning over to whomever comes with a warrant. I’m not holding my breath on the former, nor the latter.

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Aside

2019.7.10

For the past few weeks, my iPhone has been randomly slowing down at different times. Specifically, applications have just stopped responding for 20-45 seconds, and continue to stutter along after recovering somewhat. My suspicion is that the behaviour is linked to either Instagram or the native Podcasts app based on what I’ve read online, but that’s pure supposition. Regardless, I did a total factory refresh of my decide and so far all the stutters are gone. Here’s hoping they stay away in perpetuity…

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Aside

2019.6.26

Unpopular position: the rave reviews of meatless (i.e., plant-based) burgers are largely linked to the fact that most people have been eating low-quality hamburgers. I had some recently and they were tasty…so long as I didn’t consider them in comparison to mediocre homemade burgers, or good restaurant-quality (non-fast food) burgers. Do I think they have a place in the marketplace? Definitely. A perfect replacement? No way.

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Aside

2019.5.23

In the past three days, I’ve removed six or seven bags of books from my home, plus a bunch of clothing and other miscellaneous stuff that’s been taking up space (and for which I don’t have any immediate or near-term uses). While I’m sorta sad to see much of it go, I recognize that this feeling is more tied to a sense of accomplishment linked with having read the books or of history linked to when certain things were acquired. I’m also super excited to feel like there’s less clutter — both physical and emotional — which is surrounding me on a daily basis!