Excursions

I wonder what are the simpler ways to pull the data out from Mastodon? I do not think it supports Webmentions yet. Are there any feeds? I mainly want to pull likes and reposts and replies. Display them with original posts if possible. In short,

Twitter:Bridgy :: Mastodon: ?

Boy, Google’s Night Sight mode looks totally bonkers — if the image comparison by Vlad Savov is anything to go by, his comment “play around with it as I have and lose your shit at the unreal results it produces” is apt. Want to know how the hell is Google doing that?

With a very different demographic than West, India has an efficient way of solutioning a tech that focuses on local problems first. Mobile-first. Low-data Lite apps. And now with electric vehicles - “with more rides possible in a day, the e-rickshaws are proving more lucrative”.

This is not a post where I be a tech pundit, read tea leaves scattered all over the internet and predict what Apple is going to launch on the upcoming October Apple event. Nope. These are the things I wish Apple launches. Some because I need them now. Some because I would eventually need them.

1. Non-TouchBar Macbook Pro: I need this, my old MBP is crying out loud at this point. It needs to be replaced. I wish Apple updates this version with new keyboards.
2. Macbook Air: If my first wish is not granted or is granted, but does not solve the keyboard problem, I will go with an Air. Current Air is a mockery with that dated screen and processor and the tiny storage. Just update those, keep everything the same. Don’t touch that keyboard (no pun intended). And don’t make Macbook One the new Air in its current form — one port is not enough.
3. Non-Pro iMac: If you can give me a laptop, give me the updated iMac. Again, change nothing big. Just update the processor and if possible, get rid of that 5400rpm hard drive. Just make Fusion drive the default.
4. Mac Mini: You know there is that tiny device being sold on that tiny corner of your website right? Yeah that, update that. I would love to have it run some side projects.
5. iOS changes for iPad: I know you will refresh iPad Pros. But in the current form, the iOS platform seems underwhelming on these loaded iPad devices. Make it do more. To start with, get rid of that static-grid springboard.

I wish Apple goes crazy a bit. It is ok to be doing the stuff thoughtfully, making things that work well. That sell well. But at times, it is also important to stop being “boring” and do more stuff that you don’t know how people will react to. Things like Pencil. Or AirPods. Or even Surface Studio from Microsoft.

At times, you can’t understand why something triggers a positive vibe in your mind. And you don’t need to, always.

These look like such simple questions, but am sure one can’t get all right. Even when you employ the internet. Is that’s the case, how can complex claims made during election period?

This election season before you share, decide, vote, double-check.

An investigation reveals many apps were used to dupe brands; revelation, they say, shows “just how deeply fraud is embedded in the digital advertising ecosystem”. Why are we surprised? When was the last time you clicked an ad? Am trained by now to ignore all ads. I do not think any humans click an ad intentionally.

In addition, the whole online ad business is built on duping users to click on ads and force the brands to pay for these useless click-through. I won’t be surprised if the automated ad clicks are way more common.

It’s time for Apple product launches. And so is the time for all the talks of -gates and sheeples and reality distortion. There’s so much noise this time with iPhone XR screens. Typical comments from most folks.

• “..just 326 ppl in 2018? WTF?”
• “..not even 1080p screen? How will it play 1080p videos?”

I get it, both are facts. iPhone XR is not a full-HD screen and has a pixel density way lower than it’s better sibling XS. But does it deserve all the brickbats? Am not sure about that. This is the screen configurations of all the lowest configuration iPhones over the year (since Retina displays were introduced).

I hope one can get the trend with this. Since the time retina screens were launched, pixel density of lowest configuration iPhone has always been 326ppi. And iPhone XR is that device this year. So it gets that screen. Sure, Apple always has a Plus size device with a better resolution screens. That need is addressed by XS this year.

So am not sure why there is such a huge pushback on XR devices. If reviews are anything to go by, these screens are just as good as Apple’s LCD screens have ever been. Are there cheaper Android devices that have screens with better resolutions? Of course. There will always exists cheaper devices with better configuration on paper than iPhone. But I think one thing tech nerds should have learnt by now, Apple never plays the configuration game.

I don’t get the enmity for Bluetooth headphones. For normal usage, these are very convinient. Are they without any issues? Of course, not. But they never evolved because there wasn’t any demand. And hence no incentive. Now there is, and am already seeing these become common.

There was a time when I used to visit the Wikipedia main page as a routine, every morning. It’s one trove of fascinating information. As I grew, not sure why I decided to be less smarter and abandoned this routine. That page is still brilliant.