I will say it again: I wish I could update AppleTVs via the Home app in the same way that I can update my HomePods.

But I will add: Quite honestly, it seems like the Home app would be a great place to start with personal/family device management

Saturday: Living room re-arranged
Sunday: Tree selected and placed
Monday: Cranberry and popcorn garlands strung
Tuesday: Garlands, lights and ornaments hung

Soundtrack: Mannheim Steamroller

Deployed a new MacBook Air at work and asked my client to stay On 10.15.7 until 11.1 is released. I was hoping to avoid not-yet-known compatibility risks. I had only used a test machine for 90 minutes at work by that point.

Another client wanting to stay on top of security updates demonstrated the thing I feared. Printing to a Canon workgroup printer from Big Sur did not work well. Canon’s American web site did not have macOS 15 drivers, which was not shocking. Big Sur did not want packages built for earlier versions of the OS, which was not helpful and quickly closed an avenue of inquiry.

Strangely, yet fortunately, Google lead me to Canon’s Singapore Web presence. Their support pages recognized Big Sur and provided working drivers. This was very unexpected but very helpful. I was really glad because suggesting the black-and-white-only Generic PCL drivers as a work-around would not have worked well for me in that specific case.

My company has a tiny number of Macs. Given our embrace of the Office365 stack, I can’t imagine there will be too many difficulties. I did not run the Big Sur beta on work equipment because in the past that prevented me from accessing my Parallels VM. Last night I was able to update my work MacBook Pro and 24-hours later I have no regrets

I’m a long-time fan of Randall Carlson which I owe to the Joe Rogan podcast. Anyway, outside of liking and subscribing to YouTube channels and videos, here is another way I can start to support his work.

So, yay! The iridescent Gnosis sticker is cooler than I hoped it would be!

Spent some time this morning watching shows about politics and shows about the consequences of political conflict.

Any time we think of groups of people that include friends, neighbors and family as an enemy, I wonder if we aren’t then the problem. I’m including myself, here.

I do hereby disavow political parties. I will continue to study and learn. I will be performing my civic duty this fall to the best of my ability.

I’m neither happy nor hopeful.

The whole wide world
An endless universe
Yet we keep looking through
The eyeglass in reverse
Don’t feed the people
But we feed the machines
Can’t really feel
What international means
In different circles
We keep holding our ground
Indifferent circles
We keep spinning round and round

—Lyric by Rush

“The Greeks had no original sin and no eschatology because they saw nothing inherently wrong with the world in the first place.”

Things you find reading papers from Academia for the joy of it

For all of the talk of ecosystems, it was easier to share from my Apple Photos library to Micro.blog and to Instagram from my iPhone. Not my iPad, for which there is no native Instagram app, and for which the work-alikes did not allow multiple selections. So, while my iPhone was charging, I downloaded the iPhone app to my iPad, did the pixel doubling so I could type, and did the work that way.

There are probably more ways to do this, and really I wanted to do it elegantly from my MacBook Air, however I didn’t perceive a faster method than exporting and uploading, and I chose not to do that.

I feel that this might be a driver behind Catayst apps and unifying the underlying silicon.

Made it all the way through. It seems like this iteration is less “white” or “bright” than the first public beta. UI still feels fresh but more familiar.

Made it! #BigSur #PublicBeta

Here we go! #BigSur #PublicBeta

My progress bar has stopped moving but my Mac has continued to download additional data #beta #BigSur #macOS

Status

Having dietary concerns is a minefield. I dangerously assumed a special order I made for home delivery was correct. But the worst part is that I didn’t confirm and I ate it.

#celiac

Just dumped out a bunch of water at my desk. It doesn’t happen often, but every time it does I’m frustrated that I’m not more cautious, that I’m not using lids.

Water bottles are kinda tippy.

Lids are frustrating.

And around we go.

It’s here! Got myself a birthday present from @schoolstoic

Is it just me with the disappointment that now even our TV screens must be rebooted?

Rainbow and thunder

Just was emailed directly about the Cyph service. Does anyone have experience with it? It was proposed to me as an alternative to Keybase, which is now under new ownership.

First sticker! #microblog #thankyou

Deeply grateful for the series of events that helped the human race to discover that menthol stops the coughing. Also grateful to the candy makers who experimented with flavors like menthol. The art of the lemon drop is the art of the cough drop. I can sleep and so can my family.

Poring over blood test results this afternoon. I got the raw data and terse summary in today’s mail.

I found that Lab Tests Online has a Tests Index that is a great tool for translating acronyms or medical terms into terms I understand.

My latest gadget. I have work to do.

Is Memorial Listening a thing?

I think a bunch of old guys like me are thinking about Tom Sawyer, Red Barchetta, The Spirit of the Radio and similar topics whilst playing giant drum kits in our heads.

#permanentwaves

I have been using Foursquare (now Swarm) for location check-ins for 10 years, now. I’m not consistent with lots of technology tools, but this one has stuck.

It’s fun to look back at where I have been. When I look at a sequence of check-ins, remembering where and why, it helps me to reconstruct a day. It’s a fun tool that has helped me personally and professionally.