a while back i asked if any other Mac devs were using the (MS rebranded) Hockey crash reporter -- because Microsoft says they're shutting it down soonish.
i'm back to report that i made the switch and it's going OK so far.
it's really an all-around data collection deal for a zillion platforms -- very flexible i think -- but the Cocoa setup is (relatively) painless and the framework is open source.
my kid just sent me images of his first real circuit he built on an fpga doing serious logic design…
…and now i have something in my eye… 😭
i never encouraged either of them to go into tech, and definitely not logic design. jonas doesn’t even remember when that was my job. they just gravitated to it naturally.
but it makes me pretty happy when i get to see them be good at this one weird thing i’m also good at.
every time i read an article about AI/LLMs it inevitably says something like, "AI's don't really understand _____" (fill in the blank with just about anything.
i really feel like some folks need to take a few philosophy courses before writing these think-pieces. not because they're wrong per se, but because it's the wrong framing.
even my tiny bit of philosophy coursework made it abundantly clear that humans don't possess the level understanding that we believe we do.
i'm not saying AI's do understand. or that their abilities are near ours.
just that framing this as a contest of understanding is… problematic.
humans are wired up to believe our perception of reality is crystal clear and our understanding nearly infallible. it's why it's so difficult to change someone's mind -- even when they themselves are fully aware they're in the wrong.
when we're hard-wired to measure "understanding" badly, it's probably a poor metric to choose.
@jenni the one i got has a secondary small door to access water.
it also has a 1/2 of the freezer that you can switch to fridge mode. we have a tub-style freezer in our laundry room — i don’t need any more freezer space. so this way i basically get a tiny freezer and a huge fridge.
there are a few fridges now that have some “flex space”.
also it makes two kinds of ice. which is just silly and unnecessary — so i absolutely had to have that. lol.
@agiletortoise i’m not an ice fanatic (tho my in-laws are) but it gets solid use.
the circuit board has a bad solder point on some sensor so it would spontaneously open the ice chute door sometimes leading to melting and one giant ice cube in the bin. i resoldered it a few times but something about the housing puts pressure on it and breaks over and over.
i had a really amazing eclipse experience. out in the middle of nowhere texas, over about an hour, the tiny little turnoff that wasn’t even marked except with a sign that said “cemetery” slowly filled with people from all over the world.
it was party atmosphere and everyone broke out their picnics, champagne, and some fancy photo gear.
mostly it was just a beautiful spot to watch celestial bodies align. we had over four minutes of complete nighttime darkness.
@gedeonm we had a couple from mexico city, a family with a six year old from southern india, a few from texas of course, and lots from all around the states. some people had been driving 10+ hours.
but totally worth it, it was really amazing.
the crickets came out, the birds got quiet, and a hot muggy day was suddenly chilly and cool.
prepping a little release
practicing a talk for friday
making slides for saturday talk
i did not need to add any more to the list.
but…
our fridge just died 😩
or something. it seems to be blowing frosty air — but everything in the freezer is lukewarm — all food for the neighborhood trash pandas now.
do people even try to repair refrigerators anymore? seems an awful waste to trash it. i’m guessing the lightning on monday fried a thermistor. probably a cheap fix for someone with the know how.
@ottaross our second kid moved out last fall. it's just my wife and I now. We went from multiple real meals of real cooking everyday to maybe twice a week.
It meant the freezer was nearly devoid of expensive things. A few some chicken thighs, some very nice pork sausage that I will miss, and about half a package of IKEA veggie meatballs. Apparently we don’t eat very much meat anymore.
The rest was mostly leftovers that, let's face it, I was probably going to toss… someday.
in sad news i found that my uncle is losing the unwinnable war with alzheimer’s.
he’s Turkish but grew up in Naples. he worked as an eye surgeon in a MASH unit in Korea, but drove me around Hollywood at 100mph in his Lancia. sharp, fun, and always impeccably dressed.
i was the ring bearer at his wedding and he is 100% the reason i love cappuccino so much.
he’s left an indelible mark of positivity on my whole life, so raise your glass and enjoy an espresso today and think of uncle Hasan.
@isaiah Alzheimer sucks :( One of my grandpas had it - the last few years from his life, he was mostly just physically there, with his mind practically shut down… it sucks to mostly remember someone in a state like that. I really fucking hope my dad doesn't inherit it :(
"Today, developers compete on a level playing field on the App Store”
LOL 🙃
It’s difficult to tell whether this is marketing spin, legal CYA, or if there are executives at apple who actually believe this obvious laughable disinformation nonsense.
I used to wonder the same thing when they made statements about the cursed butterfly keyboard.