My first cup of coffee is poured and cooling a bit, our old kitty — Khloe — is in my lap, and I’m sat in my writing spot at the end of the couch nearest the front window. It’s cloudy and raining and the wind is blowing. I’m not sure if it’s remnants of Ian yet or just a regular storm. Guess we’ll find out. 🌧️
CNN: “Ian slammed into southwest Florida as a severe Category 4 hurricane Wednesday, packing sustained winds of 150 mph. Officials believe the death toll of at least 45 people is likely to climb in the coming days as searchers access areas that had been blocked by debris and floodwaters.”
What a tragic week for Floridians. So many folks displaced and damage beyond belief. Homes and businesses wiped completely off the map, land reclaimed by sand. And the there is the human toll. 😢
Take care my Florida friends. ❤️
Travel Radar: “There have been multiple reports of strange noises coming from American Airlines in recent weeks that neither the passengers nor crew members could explain. Some passengers have been airing their confusion across social media.”
It’s the perfect time of the year to have mysterious moaning sounds coming out of the speaker system on a flight.
It doesn’t sound like an equipment failure to me. I’m going with ghosts. 👻
When the big players figure out they can automate a money making machine they have to get involved and screw everything up.
Luckily we still have great Indie Podcasts to listen to.
TechCrunch: “Now, a Spanish startup called Penpot — which is taking a new approach to design collaboration through an open source platform that brings designers and developers into the mix simultaneously — says that it’s been seeing a huge amount of adoption since the Figma deal.”
I happened across Penpot a month or so before the Adobe purchase of Figma. It’s really nice and if you’re looking for a Figma alternative you might want to give it a look.
Bleacher Report: “Odell Beckham Jr. questioned why all NFL stadiums don’t feature grass fields after former New York Giants teammate Sterling Shepard suffered a non-contact knee injury on the MetLife Stadium turf on Monday night.”
This is not the first time turf has become controversial. I remember back in the 70’s or 80’s this being a topic of conversation. That was before this new wave of turf became a thing.
I’ve always been a fan of grass fields. Bring them back to every stadium you possibly can. I want to see some filthy uniforms.
Apple Newsroom: “Amid the tools used by archaeologists for centuries — trowels, buckets, brushes, and pickaxes — there’s a new piece of equipment: iPad Pro.”
I am so here for this. Seeing tools used in ways you never expected is always such a joy for the developer.
Congratulations to Top Hatch, the makers of Concepts, and my friend Marc Palmer who is a developer on the engineering team! 👍🏼
Politico: “A federal judge delivered a blistering rebuke of Republican Party leaders Tuesday for what she said was a cynical attempt to stoke false claims of election fraud of the kind that fueled the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.”
I really wish Republican leaders weren’t so power hungry and had the guts to all come out against TFG.
Here’s hoping one of the many troubles TFG has leads to conviction and elimination from running for public office. 🤞🏼
9to5Mac: “This week, a new Instagram client called “OG App” caught the attention of the internet as it promised a better Instagram experience without advertisements or content suggestions from people you don’t know. The app seemed too good to be true, but it has now been taken down – not by Meta, but by Apple.”
If you’re surprised by this, don’t be. Instagram cut off developers long ago. At one time there were plenty of great Instagram clients, even for iPad!
It’s a closed platform. The best we can hope for is alternate services — like Glass — to catch on and take a big share of Instagrams user base.
Of course the United States, Britain, and Ukraine aren’t the only countries in complete disarray. Iran is having another revolution. Women are coming out in force to demand equal rights and an end to its totalitarian regime.
Yahoo Sports: “Again, if you don’t like the “White Bengal” look with the black stripes — which included the debut of the white helmet with black stripes on Thursday night — then it’ll be a while before you find an NFL uniform you like.”
I loved the white out uniforms worn by the Bengals Thursday night. Being a Bears fan I’m really looking forward to seeing the new orange helmets the Bears will be wearing on special occasions this year.
I kind of wish they’d go orange helmets with their navy blue color rush uniform but they’re not going that direction
Hayseed Blog: “I’m happy to announce a new Stream release. Version 1.3 is a minor release with one new feature and two bug fixes.”
I wish I could turn this little project into my full time gig. Heck, I’d be super happy with a few hundred bucks a month! 🤣
That aside I am proud of my little labor of love and hope you’ll give it a look.
Getting this version out the door has allowed me to get back to the Mac version. It’s slow going since this is my first real Mac app but I do hope to ship it at some point. 😄
Time for my third cup. ☕️
I have plenty of work to do on Stream, plenty. I have a list of features a mile long. Some submitted by the fine folks using Stream — thank you! — some right out of my goofy brain. Yes, I wish I could move faster, yes I’d like to do this full time. Yes, yes, yes!
For the technically minded. This bug is clearly my fault. I have a layout issue my table view cells, there are two types. It would seem that iOS 15.5 has tightened up, or changed, the auto layout engine in UIKit that exposed my bug. I say it’s iOS 15.5 but it could be all 15.x. 🐞
The United States Supreme Court continues to be a complete mess whose only job appears to be dismantling prior rulings and dialing our nation back a century.
