Category: Apple

Springboard Cleaning

So micro.blog has a new icon (apologies for the Twitter link), which looks good if rather pumpkin-spicey on the Mac desktop. But then on iOS they put it on a sterile IVE-1138 white background which is eye-searing gold/white or maybe blue/black. I can't tolerate more of that, and Manton won't listen to reason.

Well, I was living in filth anyway with a Springboard full of random crap, so I cleaned up with Launch Center Pro and a few folders for tools I use all the time, everything else is still in folders on pages 2-3. The custom icons are still a work in progress, I'm just using the cheesy prefab icons in LCP, but at least they're consistent.

So now I have this:

Springboard

Launch Center Pro

Music app is still ugly, but I need it. The "Safari+" icon is just an about:blank page saved to Springboard, so when I tap that I get a new browser page; I don't think it can be recolored easily. Again, ugly but it's the only one of its kind. Mail's upside-down gradient is embarrassing, how does Apple not see that and FIX IT?! Light should be coming from the top left in all UIs, that was decided on NeXTstep 30 years ago!

If we could have transparent icons, or place icons freely, I could move the chat apps to the bottom, but currently you need a single-color opaque background for icons. Why does Tim Cook's Apple so hate fun and beauty, and let "Sir Jony Ive" (I didn't vote for his tragically un-beheaded "Queen", and a man who would bow to a monarch is no man) inflict his anti-aesthetic on everyone? Why do people follow along with this?

… I'd say "I'm moving to Android!" but that's an even worse shit-show.

Status: Boy, that Billie Holiday can sing.

So AIM is shutting down on Dec 15: And read that FAQ. "Why?" "We know there are loyal fans". That's not an answer, AOL/Oath!

But fine. I have iMessage and a .Mac @mac.com address, right? I'm a blue bubble, I'm somebody.

Huh. Well, I can send and receive messages, but can't set my status anymore. No IM, no status. My very specific but subtle mood messaging is gone! Why isn't this in iMessage?

IM status

  • Boy, that Billie Holiday can sing.: From WHY I HATE SATURN, by Kyle Baker, which expresses like 75% of my moods.
  • Fuck Xcode: I'm working in Xcode.
  • GL_ANGER_MANAGEMENT: Look, I made a triangle appear! No, wait, it's the wrong side of the triangle and now everything is broken and the GPU is on fire.
  • Hates the Cloud: Networks are shit, databases are shit, so let's put our databases on the network!
  • is a Pepper: Last and only time I joined a movement.
  • Jon Postel Has a Posse: Postel's Law and Andre the Giant Has a Posse, but also in the sense that I am a semi-qualified angry mob who will string you up for breaking the Internet.
  • Pretentious Mac Bastard: Been called this so many time by jealous Windorks I ain't even mad.
  • [REDACTED]: I could tell you about [REDACTED], but then Apple would kill you.
  • Turns coffee into code: Working
  • Will Xcode for food: Wants to work
  • Wielder of the black sword: And even more so the books. If you know what happened at Quarzhasaat, that's what I mean by this.
  • Where are my pants?: I just got up. Don't look at me.
  • Bananaphone5: This I don't recall. Was there a song from the '60s about a bananaphone?

Anyway, my point is someone at Apple needs to add statuses to iMessage.

iMac Pro first review

Very nice! For all that I'm not the biggest fan of Apple's software choices these days, Mac continues to be the only UNIX® workstation worth buying.

The specs on this are actually top of the line, it has sufficient max RAM (128GB!), the AMD Vega card is a great choice. We'd have to wait to see benchmarks between the 10-core, 14-core, and 18-core models for ideal multi-core vs single-core performance.

That said, this isn't the machine I want. Non-expandability is a massive problem for these machines. Wrapping a high-end CPU inside a tight thermal enclosure like the iMac is not great, no matter how much ventilation you put out back; and fans running right behind your screen and speakers is awful, it needs to be on the floor or far end of a desk. When I'm doing anything with audio, I have to use the headphones not just because they're better than speakers, but to isolate the fans.

So I'm still waiting for the Mac Pro next year, and will limp along in my old iMac 5K Amateur, with its ridiculous "little" 3TB fusion drive I can't easily replace, 16GB RAM (which is replaceable, but it hasn't been a priority this year).

The Twelve South HiRise Pro is amusing/insane, it's $150 for a different paint job and reversible door from the $80 HiRise, of which there are plenty of $30 equivalents, and spray paint costs $1. That's, like, half a RAM doubling for an aluminum box. #ZerothWorldProblems.

Photos "Just Works"

"Just works", my shiny metal ass. I have a bunch of photos on my iPhone, go into Photos, select, action, wait… Airdrop doesn't show up. Aggravating, where's Dropbox action? Missing. Have to switch over to Dropbox app. At this point I'm shocked that works.