Resonance

Mon, 11 May 2026 11:23:21 -0500

I don’t know if it’s an oversight, but in my current research I cannot find a way in iPadOS to center text in the Notes app. The keyboard command that works in MacOS doesn’t work. Not from the Keyboard case and not from a connected Apple Keyboard. One suggestion I found online was to use a table. Alternately, I can copy centered text from another note in a specific way to capture the formatting in iPad Notes.

I really like what Notes can do so far, but there are still things that can get better. At the same time I’m looking at other options that might not have the same concerns, but would require a good amount of re-work.

Mon, 11 May 2026 11:03:11 -0500

Was going to keep an old MacBook Air around as a potential additional way to work on my Forever✱Notes scheme. But I forgot that note linking as currently implemented doesn’t work in Monterrey. Clicking links to other notes kept making the Notes app ask for the correct external application. The Web UI for notes behaves better, and if I’m going to have to authenticate to the web site anyway, I can do that without keeping a 9-year-old device alive, as much as it pains me. I will release it to an upcycling program and someone who needs it more than me can take it from here.

Crucial Track for April 20, 2026

Mon, 20 Apr 2026 09:46:36 -0500

"Lonely Avenue (Live)" by Merl Saunders

Listen on Apple Music

Your browser does not support the audio element.

This was the last song Shuffle Play hit me with as I closed the last few minutes of my drive to work. It’s a different feel than the usual anxiety and low-key terror that I start my day with.

View Hjalmer Duenow's Crucial Tracks profile

Mon, 13 Apr 2026 08:59:02 -0500

I checked out a book yesterday, from my local library branch. Dan Brown’s The Secret of Secrets was up front on the “Lucky Day” display. It was on my short list and I figured that beat the price of a Kindle ebook new-release. Also, I read it cover to cover.

The author is reminding me of Alan Moore, in the sense that there is a significant of discussion of a topic, in addition to the language that moves the plot forward. This works well for me, as the Robert Langdon books dovetail with my own interests, but I can see how this could get tedious if you’re waiting around for what happens next.

I was entertained. — Finished reading: The Secret of Secrets (Robert Langdon, #6) by Dan Brown 📚

Sun, 12 Apr 2026 15:03:06 -0500

I look forward to Explorator News every week.

Among other special interests, I also am interested in archeology and anthropology

Sat, 11 Apr 2026 13:37:47 -0500

Thinking a lot about data portability again.

Worried about the future.

Worried about businesses deciding I don’t need affordable electronics any longer.

Worried I may not be able to keep using the brand of my choice.

Sat, 11 Apr 2026 13:31:44 -0500

I have an old MacBook Pro that has a failing battery. Or something. It’s failing in such a way that the battery discharges while operating and connected to power. No matter which charger, no matter which port the charger is connected to. When the battery goes to 2% it shuts down—again while connected to mains power and the OS indicating the charger is connected.

I had hoped I might be able to repurpose this machine as an “iTunes” server, replacing a MacBook Air that ended a few OS versions sooner. That one is still chugging.

Battery replacement on one of these has about 38 steps to get the battery out. The battery itself is in six parts. And there is a lot of heating and prying because of adhesive—which has to be replaced on the return journey. I saw a video on YouTube with the process that was an hour and 15 minutes long.

I’m not doing that. My suspicion is that the battery might be failing, but something else has failed, too. If it was a matter of a few different screw types after pulling of the bottom cover, and a knock-off battery from Amazon for 40 bucks, I’d have placed the order already.

Because of the way this is designed, I’m not going to chance it. It breaks my heart. But this one will probably be handed back to Apple for recycling.

I would estimate the amount of money it would cost to have it repaired by Apple would put me pretty close to the price of a NEO.

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 10:13:14 -0500

Even at my standing desk, my watch tells me it’s time to stand

Wed, 08 Apr 2026 20:10:48 -0500

Well, I did it again. Killed an Ubuntu install through experimentation. Re-installing.

Wed, 08 Apr 2026 14:02:25 -0500

A lesson I have to keep re-learning is when to allow notifications, or when to supply my email address. As a person whose attention can easily be re-directed, I have to help myself.

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 09:01:23 -0500

When you Google information and find another sub-Reddit to join

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 19:31:32 -0500

That’s maybe the most important thing. Is to shake off this erroneous notion that life is there and you’re just gonna live in it, versus embrace it, change it, improve it, make your mark upon it. I think that’s very important and however you learn that, once you learn it, you’ll want to change life and make it better, cause it’s kind of messed up, in a lot of ways. Once you learn that you’ll never be the same again.

-Steve Jobs

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 15:24:42 -0500

I love any article claiming x or y or z product is a MacBook killer, while being about a device that doesn’t run MacOS.

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 14:34:20 -0500

I’m not fried, but today I’m supercalifragicrispy around the edges.

Mon, 23 Mar 2026 10:55:53 -0500

Ah, “Progress”

I’m in IT. This is a metaphor and all metaphors fail.

Progress bars or status messages introduce a wierd alternate time, feels like travel when you have never been at this particular departure gate before and have never been to the destination, before.

There are some landmarks on your installation/update/removal journey. Someone has decided these landmarks are percentages, but of what? We would like to assume it’s the amount of time elapsed relative to the time remaining, but folks who have been around the block a few times know this is typically not the correct reckoning.

And so we wait and hope that the train doesn’t go off the rails. We bought the ticket and took our seat, but we are not driving.

Sometimes we arrive at our destination before we expected.

Sometimes we are told we are already at our destination, but nothing has changed.

Sometimes we stop the train and go back to the station because we aren’t sure if everything was in order before we left.

Sometimes we find there is a bridge out. No matter how many times we restart the journey, the path to the destination is blocked. We don’t know how badly the track is damaged beyond the point where we keep stopping.

Sometimes, nothing happens. You never leave the station. Or maybe you can’t even get on the train.

Sometimes, you are in a dark tunnel. You can’t even tell if the train is moving.

Long moments of boredom punctuated with moments of terror.

May all your progress bars complete. Successfully.

Sun, 22 Mar 2026 14:44:04 -0500

I don’t know why but every now and then I get fair to partly obsessed with some part of linux. For a while my Lenovo laptop of choice wouldn’t update to the Ubuntu 26.4 beta release from 25.10. I’m that guy. Today I used a daily build ISO and got it running. Feels like a victory.

Sun, 08 Mar 2026 17:41:01 -0500

And then revisiting the topic of the half-century, Apple incorporated 50 years ago on April 1st.

Sun, 08 Mar 2026 17:00:17 -0500

A weird thing I have noted, post OS 26.2, is that Shortcut automations for pulling up a note (with the day and date in the title) no longer works. The same automation still works as it always has on older Macs that don’t support OS26.

It seems to have been reported, but wasn’t addressed in 26.3 or in the betas for 26.4

The automation is important in the Forever✱Notes scheme and the frustration is enough to make me consider alternatives. Though, the scripting part would a concern if I do something more along the roll-my-own methodology.

Sun, 08 Mar 2026 12:40:18 -0500

I remember when Valley Fair first opened. And this year will be their 50th. And that makes me feel… not very young at all

Sat, 28 Feb 2026 12:34:37 -0500

I really enjoy experimenting with Linux, and it feels amazing when I get into a stable situation that works well—especially giving life to machines that other operating systems have left behind.

But then I keep experimenting and get to a place where I hit a problem I can’t resolve on my own.

In those days and times, it’s a relief to come back to MacOS. I realize it’s the OS I hate least.

Wed, 18 Feb 2026 14:33:26 -0500

I’m gathering, based on results, that a note’s Title in Apple Notes, and it’s Name (with respect to Shortcuts and automation) may not be the same data points.

Suddenly an automation that has worked well for more than a year is returning surprises. The automation seems simple enough, but no.

Wed, 18 Feb 2026 13:23:25 -0500

Getting really odd returns on iPadOS 26.4 from an automation designed to retrieve Notes with the current day and month in the title.

This is different from iPadOS 26.3 where Notes simply crashed while the automation was running.

Up through 26.2, I didn’t have issues with the exact same tool.

Wed, 11 Feb 2026 12:55:22 -0500

Since the advent of the internet, section 230 has been a target for people that want to control your speech and infringe on your First Amendment rights.

/TechDirt

Wed, 11 Feb 2026 11:23:10 -0500

Sun goes up. Sun goes down. Weather happens. Seasons change. My emotions are mine.

Mon, 09 Feb 2026 04:09:56 -0500

Lost the last of three sweet little dogs I had the privilege of loving, this morning. A Cairn Terrier named Luci. Poor thing just could not breathe. So we sent her home. Grateful for the doctors who helped us.