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Suzy McHale’s Journal: 2026

January

Thursday 1/1: No Dad anymore; visited Mum; wishing for the old Apple

This will be my first year without my Dad (4/10/2025 entry). There is an unfillable void where he used to be, both physically and psychologically.

Visited Mum at Camberwell Gables this morning. Being a public holiday, public transport is less frequent (frustratingly!) but I got there and back, though the train journeys (three line changes each way) seemed interminably long. I left at 7:50 a.m. to walk to Patterson Station, got a Frankston line train to Richmond Station, changed platforms as usual for a train bound for Camberwell Station, changed again for an Alamein line train. Spent perhaps ½-hour with Mum; made a phone call to her cousin Dawn Harbour (who turns 99 this July!) then to my sister up in Townsville. Then back home again on the reverse route, arriving around 11:30 a.m.. Quite tired and hungry!

Walked a total of 4.8 km/7,477 steps today, according to my iPhone’s native Health app. I am still feeling fatigued from yesterday’s (31/12/2025 entry) marathon 14.5 km/20,615 steps!

“And Stay Out,” Garrett Murray, 29/12/2025. He posts about his nostalgia for the Apple company of old, and the quirky playfullness of its products from that era (1990s-2000s), referring to a post by Louie Mantia. (ChatGPT short summary: “Louie Mantia argues that under Jony Ive and later Alan Dye, Apple’s design shifted from playful, personality-rich products to luxury-driven minimalism that prioritized thinness, sameness, and aesthetics over character and usability. He praises early Apple hardware and software for their joy and clarity, criticizes iOS 7 for stripping away affordances and damaging UI design across the industry, and sees recent efforts like Liquid Glass as visually flashy but UX-flawed. While acknowledging Apple’s technical excellence and seeing hope in Vision Pro and future leadership changes, he worries Apple may again face years of repair before restoring thoughtful, user-centered design.”)

I also miss that old Apple; I loved the strawberry iMac G3 when Dad bought one (but he sadly moved on to a Windows computer after a year or two). 8/9/2024, 1/11/2024 entries.)

He quotes Louis Mantia in that blog post; Louis is not one of my favored people due to his apparently prickly and easily-offended personality (5/12/2025, 6/12/2025 entries), though he has had some salient comments about Apple’s direction (26/7/2025 entry).

Friday 2/1: Phone chats; tech regression; Mac ad

Rang my aunt – my deceased Dad’s sister – yesterday afternoon for one of our regular chats, then an acquaintance from the church Dad attended rang yesterday evening! John & Sharon had mailed a Christmas card to my parents not knowing of their sad demise and Dad’s passing, so I mailed one back updating them. Had a long chat anyway! They migrated from China a couple of decades ago, I think.

“Woman Announced She’ll Switch to Old Tech in 2026 – Thousands Are Joining Her,” Newsweek, 14/12/2025. (ChatGPT short summary: “Ava, a U.K.-based woman, plans to quit smartphones, social media, and streaming services starting January 1, 2026, and return to older technologies like DVDs, CDs, and flip phones to combat media overconsumption. She has sparked a growing movement through TikTok, arguing that constant connectivity harms social connection, mental health, creativity, and individuality. Ava believes reducing smartphone and social media use can ease stress, limit misinformation, and encourage people to reconnect with real-life activities, relationships, and hobbies.”) Another mention of this stupid trend. I love my iPhone and have no desire to stop using it; it is my portal to the outside world, as has been my experience of using computers and the WWW generally. Born in 1970, I grew up with all this clunky inconvenient analog technology that seems to be a fad amongst the current young generation; I have no desire to return to using it!

In an Apple history book I am reading, The Apple Revolution: Steve Jobs, the counterculture and how the crazy ones took over the world by Luke Dormehl, there is mention of an ad for the Macintosh in Newsweek magazine for December 1984. Someone uploaded it to the Internet Archive, so it can be viewed there!

Saturday 3/1: Power lines > trees; paring down Apple product bloat

Thirteen weeks since Dad’s passing (4/10/2025 entry).

Weather heating up. Forecast for next Wednesday is nearly 40°C.

“Expert slams state’s limited trial for power line tree pruning,” The Age, 2/1. Fallen branches and trees downing overhead power lines are a major contributor to power outages here – and storms and strong winds are frequent – so this push by environmentalist fanatics to “slash the minimum clearance between trees and power lines” is not a welcome proposal! I do not care about providing habitat for native fauna – as I have griped before (23/5/2025, 10/10/2025, 28/12/2025 entries), possums are a major nuisance and plague in urban areas. Large trees should not be planted under power lines in the first place, and the established ones should be felled. Replace them with low-level trees or shrubs.

“What Do You Want to See From Apple in 2026?,” MacRumors, 2/1. As well as pausing operating system releases until the current buggy OS Tahoe is addressed, one of my wishes is to reduce the ridiculous number of products! (Previously: 10/9/2024, 21/4/2025 entries.) What Steve Jobs did on returning to Apple: “The board named Jobs as interim CEO and he immediately reviewed the product lineup. Jobs canceled 70% of models, ending 3,000 jobs and paring to the core of its computer offerings.” (Wikipedia); “Moving forward, Jobs’ strategy was to produce only four products: one desktop and one portable device aimed at both consumers and professionals. For professionals, Apple created the Power Macintosh G3 desktop and the PowerBook G3 portable computer. For consumers, there was the iMac desktop and iBook portable computer.” (Entrepreneur). There are now a ridiculous number of iPhone models: “With the introduction of the iPhone 16e and ‌iPhone Air‌ in 2025, the expected debut of the first foldable ‌iPhone‌ in 2026, and the continued presence of older models like the iPhone 16 and ‌iPhone 16‌ Plus, there could be at least eight distinct ‌iPhone‌ models on sale from Apple by the end of 2026.” (“No iPhone 18 Launch This Year, Reports Suggest.”) If Apple wanted to show real “courage,” iPhones would be reduced to perhaps two versions, both having the mostly the same features (perhaps the Pro version would have more features) and differing in size only. Even reduce color choices to, say, classic silver and dark space gray. Same with the MacBook: one Air version and one Pro version. iPad: similar to iPhone, two iPad versions: basic and Pro. One desktop iMac. (Space grey and silver color choices for all models.) And so on. Focus on the customer and cut all the superflous product and services distractions; return to Apple’s core mission and ethics. Shareholders would not like this, so perhaps Apple could buyback shares so it holds a majority and is not so beholden to maximizing profits for shareholders.

Sunday 4/1: Visited Mum

Decided to visit Mum at Camberwell Gables this morning. Public transport is free on weekends until 1 February so will take advantage of it! I do little on Sunday mornings anyway as nothing opens until later (10 a.m.). As on Thursday (1/1 entry) I had to change trains three times, and they are less frequent so waiting times are longer, but at least the Alamein line is operating.

Cooler today, but Wednesday to Friday are forecast to be in the high 30s, which will be difficult to endure. Any extreme weather – heat, rain, cold – makes walking much more unpleasant. I am trying to get my daily step count up to at least 10,000, so I just have to endure this.

Monday 5/1: A rant against royalty; joyless design; against https

Privileged parasites: “King overtakes Princess Anne as hardest-working member of Royal family,” The Age, 4/1. “The King has overtaken his younger sister to be named the hardest-working member of the Royal family in 2025, despite undergoing weekly cancer treatment. He conducted more engagements last year than the industrious Princess Royal, including traversing the country, hosting three high-profile state visits and travelling to Italy, Canada and Poland.” The phrase “working royals” is an oxymoron! They have never done a day’s real work in their privileged lives. Let them try working in retail, in a factory, as a carer for the elderly or disabled, then get back to me about real work! I have posted many times (previously: 1/5/2023, 14/1/2024, 6/2/2024, 23/12/2025 entries) about my contempt for the institution of royalty, and thatt it should be abolished in this modern age.

“The royal family is edging toward modernity – but in 2026, the public will expect yet more transparency,” Guardian, 30/12/2025. (ChatGPT short summary: “The text argues that while King Charles has had a successful year as a diplomatic figure and has earned public goodwill through openness about his health, the monarchy faces growing challenges over transparency and accountability. Ongoing scandal surrounding Prince Andrew, legal privileges, financial opacity, and exemptions from scrutiny have eroded public trust and contributed to declining support for the monarchy. The author concludes that for the institution to remain relevant and legitimate, Charles must extend the openness shown about his health to broader issues of royal power, finances, and accountability.”) No – a modern society has no place for this archaic institution at all.

The Thailand royal institution is even worse; its harsh Lèse-majesté laws are notorious and execrable.

“Does “Luxury Design for the Rest of Us” Even Make Sense?,” Adam Engst at TidBITS, 3/1. (ChatGPT short summary: “The text argues that Apple’s design philosophy shifted over time from creating approachable, personality-filled products for everyday users to pursuing a minimalist, luxury aesthetic aligned with the tastes of its designers. Drawing on critiques by Louie Mantia, Garrett Murray, and Jason Snell, it suggests that Apple’s focus on refinement, thinness, and uniform aluminum-and-glass designs led to products that feel cold, generic, and detached from real-world texture and warmth. The author resonates with this critique, expressing nostalgia for Apple’s earlier colorful, playful designs and concluding that luxury-focused design risks prioritizing designers’ ideals over users’ diverse preferences.”) A post adding to that mentioned in my 1/1 entry. In my 9/11/2024 entry I also felt that current Apple products are no fun.

Tuesday 6/1: A long walk; manifestation real or not? Keep the Internet on!

Weather heating up from today. The real heatwave begins from tomorrow, with Melbourne forecast to reach 41°C, and high 30s on Thursday and Friday. Don’t know if I will walk to the libary and back tomorrow! I did walk to Southland SC and back this morning, then to the library and back, so my legs feel a bit wobbly! 10 km/14,000+ steps to Southland and back, then about 1.5 km/2,386 steps to the library (same for returning home).

“Does manifesting your dreams work? Well, no – but also, yes,” The Age, 5/1. (ChatGPT short summary: “The text explores the popularity of manifestation, often promoted through celebrity success stories, while questioning whether positive thinking alone leads to achievement. Experts argue that manifestation as a way to ‘will’ outcomes is pseudoscience and can foster unrealistic expectations, overlooking hard work, talent, chance and failure. Research suggests strong belief in manifestation may be linked to risky behaviour and biased success narratives amplified by social media. However, elements often associated with manifestation – such as visualisation, optimism, and compassionate self-talk – are supported by psychology and neuroscience as helpful tools when combined with effort, resilience, and realistic planning.”) In my 23/10/2025 entry I mentioned the concept of manifestation, that if you focus on what you wish for, it will eventually be granted in some form. Skeptics predictably regard it as “magical thinking” or self-deception. But there is nothing wrong with trying some positive thinking – turning negative thoughts into positive ones – though this is challenging when one is depressed or has been afflicted by adverse circumstances. I won’t discount the idea entirely, as I don’t discount there being more to the world than the reality around us.

“Readers reply: should we turn the internet off?,” Guardian, 5/1. A deliberately provocative question – you can probably guess my indignantly negative response! Some (Luddite) readers predictably agree; others defend the Internet: “Honestly, without the internet I would be isolated and alone.” That sums up my feelings too! As I said in my 2/1 entry, my devices – my MacBook Air and my iPhone – are my magical portals into a boundless world.

Wednesday 7/1: Hot; visited Mum; grief attacks

Three – well, two – days of hellish heat: over 40°C today and Friday in Melbourne (with a brief 30°C or so “respite” tomorrow). Much hotter inland. Visited Mum this morning at Camberwell Gables; did not stay long as outside was already heating up. At least the nursing home has good air conditioning for the frail elderly there.

Had a delay for the Frankson line train at Richmond Station on the way home. The hot weather seems to send the public transport system into meltdown, frustratingly!

Too hot to walk anywhere far, so no library today.

“It’s a common but distressing part of grieving. Here’s how to manage a grief attack,” The Age, 7/1. (ChatGPT short summary: “The text describes ‘grief attacks,’ sudden episodes of intense anguish and panic-like symptoms that can occur after losing a loved one. Drawing on personal stories and recent research, it explains how these attacks may involve physical panic symptoms combined with deep yearning or despair, can arise unexpectedly, and range from manageable to debilitating. Experts note that while severe or persistent grief attacks may require concern, milder ones can be a normal and even therapeutic part of grieving. Coping strategies include breathing exercises, grounding techniques, gradual exposure to triggers, and finding ongoing ways to maintain a meaningful connection to the deceased.”) I have experienced these after Dad’s passing on 4/10/2025.

Thursday 8/1: Heat hell; bat bane

A brief respite for Melbourne from the hellish heat of yesterday, but another blast from the furnace is forecast for tomorrow before a late cool change. I managed to resist turning the loungeroom air conditioner on (expensive to run, inadequate house insulation means that cooling effects are shortlived). I have a portable fan, which made trying to sleep a little more bearable, but the old weatherboard house heats up late in the day and the heat lingers overnight. I am still in limbo as regarding my housing future (18/12/2025 entry), and do not have the money to spend on the extensive repairs and maintenance the house increasingly needs (22/12/2025 entry).

“The megabats of Adelaide: SA adjusts to new and growing colonies of flying foxes,” The Guardian, 29/1/2024. Article from two years ago about nuisance fruit bats that should be culled (28/12/2025 entry) but are protected as they are a native species and misguided environmentalists prioritize animals over humans. They can also cause power blackouts: “But while on their hunt, they can cause damage. The young tire more easily and find resting spots along power lines, leading to power outages.” Shoot the damn creatures!

Friday 9/1: Second Hell Day; Apple becomes evil? Steve Jobs not perfect; American innovation can’t be imitated

Hell day №2 is here. Perhaps foolishly, walked to the library to write in my MacBook Air. Not looking forward to the walk back, though it is only around 20 minutes or so! Furnace-hot out there already, though the morning began much cooler. A gusty dry northerly wind, meaning bushfire hazards around the State.

A pertinent-to-Apple quote from Paul Graham’s long-running essays:

But the other reason programmers are fussy, I think, is that evil begets stupidity. An organization that wins by exercising power starts to lose the ability to win by doing better work. And it’s not fun for a smart person to work in a place where the best ideas aren’t the ones that win. I think the reason Google embraced “Don’t be evil” so eagerly was not so much to impress the outside world as to inoculate themselves against arrogance.

That has worked for Google so far. They’ve become more bureaucratic, but otherwise they seem to have held true to their original principles. With Apple that seems less the case. When you look at the famous 1984 ad now, it’s easier to imagine Apple as the dictator on the screen than the woman with the hammer. (“Apple’s Mistake,” November 2009)

Apple is even worse in that regard now, and Google has long since become evil. It’s a sad example of becoming what one once feared/hated. Is it inevitable with corporations? A thought I had: A company founders once it loses its founder. Certainly true in the case of Apple – it is very successful financially and for its stockholders, but has long lost its moral and spiritual focus since Steve Jobs’ too-soon passing.

For some reason, a Hacker News member posted a 2018 article about the memoir of Steve Jobs’ first daughter (“The memoir by Steve Jobs’ daughter makes clear he was a truly rotten person whose bad behavior was repeatedly enabled by those around him”). Don’t know what the purpose of the post was (the OP perhaps dislikes SJ) – “The article made a lot of sense in 2018. If I was Lisa I would want my story to be heard. And so in turn I empathize and want to hear her story. I’m not sure why it is being reposted in 2026, though.” (subjectsigma) and that Steve and his first daughter had a dysfunctional relationship early in their lives is not denied. I have read the book already (22/7/2024 entry).

Another quote from Paul Graham: “Hackers are unruly. That is the essence of hacking. And it is also the essence of Americanness. It is no accident that Silicon Valley is in America, and not France, or Germany, or England, or Japan. In those countries, people color inside the lines.” (“The Word ‘Hacker’, April 2004) He expounds on that in the essay “How to Be Silicon Valley,” May 2006. Quick ChatGPT summary: “The essay discusses the key factors necessary to recreate the success of Silicon Valley elsewhere, arguing that it’s not the geography, buildings, or bureaucratic efforts that define the region, but rather the right mix of people, particularly two groups: nerds (technologists, innovators) and rich people (investors). These two groups, when present in a location, can drive the creation of a tech hub. To create a new Silicon Valley, focus on attracting top universities, a magnetic town with personality, and a combination of young talent and investors. Let the ecosystem grow organically, avoiding over-planning and bureaucratic intervention. Ultimately, a new tech hub needs to become the type of place where founders and investors want to live and work – not just a place for startups to get funded.”

America has a culture of risk-taking and innovation that other countries can’t match. Reading accounts of hackers and similar tech people in the 1970s to the 1990s is fun and fascinating (21/12/2025 entry). There is also personal nostalgia for that period as the culture of then was what I grew up with (though, alas, I did not begin using a computer until 2001, when I was 30).

Saturday 10/1: Survived Hell Day; royal manipulation; expensive cat

Yesterday was brutally hot – Melbourne reached 43°C. I made it back home from the library yesterday; only a 20-minute walk but it felt like walking through a furnace, in a very dry heat. I had to cave in and put the lounge room air conditioner on until the evening; I did keep it at 26°C or so, which uses less power than a lower set temperature. It still felt pleasant compared to outside! There were also gale-force winds. A cooler change blew through after 6 p.m., bringing some thunder and lightning with a little rain overnight. The ash in the sky from the bushfires burning around Victoria got mixed in with the rain, so that cars parked outside were covered with dirty ash. Could smell the smoke in the air this morning. Still a strong wind, but cooler south-westerly, so a relief.

I walked to Southland SC and back – around 45 minutes each way – and was so tired when I got home that I skipped walking to the library today. I covered 10.4 km/15,000 steps anyway!

Privileged parasites (previously: 5/1 entry): “On her 44th birthday, Princess Catherine is quietly reshaping royal life after cancer,” ABC News, 9/1. The article blatantly states the deliberate manipulation of public opinion: “Such heavily curated set pieces are designed to show family life intertwined with royal service and have become a cornerstone in William and Catherine’s media strategy. On Instagram those images translate into hundreds of thousands of likes and millions of followers globally. Prince Harry may be testing the thread of unconditional love that is supposed to connect a parent and child. But in royal life, that thread is stitched into a complicated tapestry, frayed by protocol, duty and terms set by the king. It’s a different, deliberately more contemporary approach to marketing the Windsor brand and in the UK it’s working.” Sadly, the public are so conditioned to regard a monarchy as a normal part of life there, rather than the injustice of overstretched taxpayer funding being spent on those who have not earned their position by merit. And again, the laughable reference to “working” royals with their public engagements. They have never done a day’s real work in their privileged lives.

“Woman who lost home in Koolewong bushfire reunited with cat seriously injured in blaze,” ABC News, 6/1. “Beloved cat Sassy has been reunited with her owner after being badly burnt during bushfires that razed a number of homes on the state’s Central Coast last month. Crowdfunding efforts helped cover the $50,000 vet bill, which included amputations and skin grafts. Her owner Siew Lee Seow’s home was destroyed in the blaze and is beginning the long process of rebuilding.” A feel-good story, but the owner has seriously misplaced priorities – raising $50,000 to save a badly-burned cat? It had its tail amputated, some toes removed, and ears partly burned off. Burn scar tissue will also cause lingering pain.That money could have gone towards funding the woman’s new home.

Sunday 11/1: Visited Mum; Omarchy controversy; no Linux on Apple Silicon

Much cooler today, even cold – but I can walk outside without feeling about to melt! Visited Mum this morning at Camberwell Gables. Had to change train lines four times today due to maintenance works between Caulfield and Parliament stations on the Frankston line. So: Patterson Station (Frankston line)→ Caulfield → Richmond (Pakenham line) → Camberwell (Alamein line) → Riversdale. Reverse to return home. Journey went smoothly, though quite long (over an hour each way). Wanted to ring my sister so she could speak to Mum, but she initially did not answer my messages, so I figured she might have been affected by the copper cable thieving incident affecting phone and internet services in Townsville suburbs (as well as a cyclone – though thankfully, Tropical Cyclone Kagi passed southwards of the city). Fortunately she was not affected, as she messaged me back – she had been out walking and not take her iPhone. I wanted to return home by then, so will try again next visit.

Came across “A Word on Omarchy,” a detailed critique of “the currently trending Arch Linux configuration that is Omarchy.” (Commentary on the post at Hacker News and Lobsters.) Both the post author and the Omarchy creator get very polarized opinions for different reasons. I linked to one of David Heinemeier Hansson’s pro-American posts in my 12/8/2025 entries; he has a similar later entry, “Europe is weak and delusional (but not doomed),” 9/12/2025 – short ChatGPT summary: “The article argues that Europe is facing significant challenges due to economic stagnation, weak tech industry growth, and increasing censorship. While European leaders push for more control over social media and speech, they fail to address the continent’s declining economic and military power. Europe’s GDP is lagging behind the US, and energy costs are high, hurting competitiveness. The article suggests that Europe could avoid a bleak future by reforming energy policies, attracting skilled immigrants, reducing censorship, and creating a more integrated economy. Without urgent changes, Europe risks falling further behind.” (Relevant post: 9/1 entry.) David incites controversy amongst some because of his apparently libertarian views (he does not seem “right-wing”).

I would not mind trying a Linux distro myself, given how onerous MacOS and iOS are becoming (“iOS 26 Shows Unusually Slow Adoption Months After Release,” MacRumors, 8/1). But (ChatGPT summary again): “You can’t install Linux normally on a MacBook Air M3 because: Apple Silicon requires custom Linux support; M3 hardware is too new; drivers and boot support are incomplete; Apple’s boot/security model blocks standard installers.” The Asahi Linux project is an attempt to address this, but it so far only covers the older M1 and M2 versions, and not fully for these, as much as I can understand. I don’t have another laptop or desktop now to try Linux on, and the huge jump in RAM and storage drive prices has made them unaffordable for many: “This surge is primarily driven by high demand from AI and data centers, leading to supply shortages and higher prices for consumers.” (Why everything from your phone to your PC may get pricier in 2026,” BBC News, 2/1)

Monday 12/1: More David Hansson on Apple’s decline; trying out <q> tag

Sunny and cool today. No wind, for a change.

A couple more blog entries – rants against Apple – from David Hansson (11/1 entry): “Apple has no one left who can say no,” 14/9/2025 (ChatGPT summary: “Apple’s Project Titan, which aimed to create a car, was ultimately canceled in 2024 after a decade and $10 billion spent without a finished product. Meanwhile, Tesla succeeded with multiple car launches. The only positive outcome from Project Titan was CarPlay Ultra, but it’s a disaster. A review of the Aston Martin Vantage, featuring CarPlay Ultra, revealed the software to be extremely laggy, buggy, and prone to crashing—making it dangerously unreliable. The core issue is a lack of leadership and accountability at Apple, where managers prioritize meeting deadlines over product quality. This problem extends beyond CarPlay Ultra to issues like the iPhone alarm bug. The company’s decline is attributed to a failure to maintain high standards, with Tim Cook’s leadership criticized for prioritizing profits over quality and innovation. The article argues that Apple needs strong leadership to regain its commitment to excellence.”); “The great falls of Boeing, Intel, and Apple,” 22/9/2025 (ChatGTP summary: “The text argues that Boeing, Intel, and Apple declined after appointing CEOs without engineering or product backgrounds, claiming it takes about a decade for such leadership changes to erode a company’s culture. In each case, cost-focused or operational leadership is blamed for weakened innovation, major strategic failures, and loss of engineering pride. The author concludes that great technology companies require hands-on, product-driven leaders to sustain long-term excellence.”). He began using Linux in 2024 (after a brief foray into Windows).

I am trying out the rather obscure <q> tag for inserting quotation marks around short quotes. Gwern Branwen seems to have had mixed results with using it (“a neat use of an obscure semantic HTML element, but divisive and a maintenance burden”), so I will see how it goes and replace the tag with normal quotes if I change my mind.

Tuesday 13/1: Haircut; cleaned washing machine filter; kei trucks

Walked to Southland SC and back, so rather tired! Had my hair trimmed. Weather is mild but overcast; rain due tomorrow.

Decided to have a go at cleaning the filter of the washing machine as black specks of gunk were being expelled with a rinse, and the filter had not been cleaned since the machine was bought on 15 October 2015 (an LG Inverter Direct Drive 7.5 kg, model WTG7532W). This was a rather laborious task as the machine is placed in a corner, and I had to move a wooden cabinet Dad made out of the way first (photo). Both are quite heavy, so I wriggled the cabinet out first, then partly wriggled the heavy machine so I could access the filter outlet – placed very inconveniently in the far bottom right-hand corner at the back of the machine and thus very difficult to access. I did manage to shift them, pulled the filter out, rinsed some gunk out and slotted it back in. Mission accomplished, so I feel rather good about achieving such a mundane task! (There was also a decade’s worth of dust and cobwebs behind both structures, so I vacuumed these up.) Hopefully I have not dislodged any water hoses. This sort of maintenance is where I really miss Dad; I do not have the physical strength to maneuver such heavy objects.

The clothes dryer is situated over the washing machine; Dad somehow got it up there onto rather fragile-looking supportive fittings years ago. I do not like having it up there as it will be impossible for me to get it down when it eventually needs removing! If the struts give way, the dryer will fall and damage the washing machine and floor.

I have spotted two parked kei trucks while out walking! These are cute mini-trucks, imported from Japan here. One is a Suzuki Carry.

Wednesday 14/1: Wrapped Tesla; Asahi Linux on M3 progress report; Apple’s SAAS creep

Spotted a gorgeous iridescent Tesla while in Bentleigh today. I have seen it in the neighborhood before. The wrap (which I presume the color is, rather than an actual respray) is a two-toned pink/blue that changes depending upon the viewing angle, similar to shot silk.

Regarding my Asahi Linux post on 11/1, an update: “Asahi Linux Has Experimental Code For DisplayPort, Apple M3/M4/M5 Bring-Up Still Ongoing,” 25/12/2025. (ChatGPT summary: “At the 39th Chaos Communication Congress, Asahi Linux developer Sven Peter provided an update on the progress of Linux support for Apple’s M3, M4, and M5 SoCs. While significant advancements have been made for Apple M1/M2 hardware – such as USB3, SMC, and audio support – major challenges remain in integrating the display controller and GPU functionality. DisplayPort support is being worked on with experimental patches, and while Apple M3 support is progressing with new contributions (like running DOOM on M3 hardware), support for the M4 and M5 SoCs faces even more hurdles due to changes in hardware and broken reverse engineering tools. It will likely be some time before these newer devices are fully supported in Asahi Linux and the mainline kernel.”)

The Apple company is gradually becoming more and more – to use a much-overused word – enshittified, with its increasing focus on subscription services. “Apple Introduces New ‘Creator Studio’ Bundle of Apps for USD$129 Per Year, MacRumors, 13/1. “Apple Creator Studio subscribers will also receive access to exclusive AI features and premium content across not only the Final Cut Pro and Pixelmator Pro apps, but also the iWork apps Numbers, Pages, and Keynote, and the Freeform app later this year.” The iWork apps have long been free – included with the operating system – but this move seems like an insidious creep towards subscriptions for anything more than basic features. I hate the “software as a service” model, and both Apple and Microsoft now use it as their main form of revenue. A comment from the article: “‘One more thing‘ has become ‘One more thing to subscribe to‘ under Cook.” (macaddiict)

Thursday 15/1: Rearranging files

Overcast, drizzly and a bit humid today; unsettled weather. Same forecast for the next few days, then warming up again – though no more 40°C days for the near future.

Decided to put my personal files (myself and family) in the personal/ subdirectory, so a tedious morning moving files and images, and doing multiple searches through the HTML tags to correct folder paths (I still may have missed some internal links as I am doing this manually). It’s a mentally exhausting task, so my brain is fried for the rest of the day!

Friday 16/1: Windy walk

A strong, blustery south-east wind blowing all night and day. I walked to Southland SC and back. Used Apple Maps to suggest a route home; it guided me on a different route than what I normally walk, but the time taken was not any longer.

Saturday 17/1: Technological ennui

Still a strong blustery south-east wind blowing through the night and today. Very annoying! Perhaps the wind is partly why I have been feeling irritable the last couple of days.

“My 2025 in review,” Riccardo Mori, 14/1. On his disillusionment with the technology scene generally; a sort of technological ennui. (ChatGTP short summary: “In 2025, the author experienced a gradual but fundamental break with technology, driven by fatigue, lost trust, and disillusionment with Big Tech’s increasingly user-hostile direction. This rupture prompted a broader personal reassessment, revealing how an obsession with tools had displaced creativity, particularly in writing and photography. Rather than sparked by a single event, the shift emerged from years of accumulated discomfort and the realisation that technology had come to dominate life instead of serving it. Seeking alternatives, the author turned to simpler and older technologies, physical reading, Android, Linux, and especially indie gaming communities that felt more respectful and restorative. By year’s end, they felt directionless but certain they no longer identified with where mainstream tech is headed, and hope in 2026 to reduce its grip and reconnect with more humane, offline forms of creativity.”) Akin to what I am feeling as regards Apple (14/1 entry). The stress and grief of the last year with my parents – and, worst of all, Dad’s passing on 4/10/2025 (15 weeks ago, now) – exacerbated this.

Sunday 18/1: Visited Mum; Linux tradeoffs; sour Apple

Sunny today and warming up. The annoyingly strong south-east wind that was blowing constantly the last two days has at last eased.

Visited Mum this morning at Camberwell Gables. Free public transport until 1/2. I rang my sister, then Mum’s cousin Dawn Harbour, so they could chat (separately). Mum turns 88 on 4/2, and Dawn turns 99 on 27/7. I didn’t go to see Mum during the week due to fatigue, but Di Pompilio and her daughter Jan (17/12/2025 entry) visited on Thursday.

The idea of switching to Linux because of the enshittification of the other two major operating systems, Windows and OSX, is having a moment. There are tradeoffs whichever platform is used. “Linux: should I?,” ldstephens, 17/1. (ChatGPT summary: “The author reflects on a growing wave of Linux enthusiasm among people they follow, including longtime Mac users, which has tempted them to consider experimenting with Linux again. Although they have some prior experience with Linux and now have the time and means to explore it, they recognize that switching from macOS would disrupt an ecosystem and lifestyle they value. Concerns about friction with Apple services, less polished software, and the loss of the seamless “just works” experience make the idea less appealing. Ultimately, they decide to resist the temptation, acknowledging that not every available opportunity needs to be pursued.”) On a similar theme, “Linux Is NOT the Developers Paradise You Have Been Told It Is,” Darren Horrocks, 11/12/2024. (ChatGPT: “The article argues that while Linux is powerful and flexible, it’s often overstated as a developer’s paradise. It highlights drawbacks such as hardware and software compatibility issues, time-consuming tinkering, a fragmented ecosystem, a steep learning curve, and limited acceptance in corporate environments. The conclusion is that Linux can be great for certain developers, but it’s not ideal for everyone, and the best operating system depends on individual needs rather than ideology.”)

A great comment at Michael Tsai’s blog: “I fantasize every now and then of macOS or iOS’s source code being fully leaked, thanks to a hacker or a government screw up in a case like this, so that then motivated folk can make an unauthorized hard fork of it.” (Bri)

From last year, “How Tim Cook Sold Out Steve Jobs,” Anil Dash, 9/11/2025. (ChatGPT: “The text argues that Tim Cook betrayed Steve Jobs’ legacy by publicly flattering and appeasing Donald Trump, something the author believes Jobs – an immigrant’s son shaped by counterculture and anti-authoritarian values – would never have done. It contrasts Jobs’ rebellious, anti-institutional ethos with Apple’s current leadership, criticizing Cook’s deference as unnecessary, humiliating, and strategically weak. The author contends Apple had the power to stand up to political pressure by rallying its users and defending open markets, and warns that appeasement undermines Apple’s ethics, credibility, and innovative spirit.”) Tim Cook’s presenting that tacky award to the President soured Apple in the eyes of many of its users.

Monday 19/1: A lot of file renaming

Sunny and mostly calm.

Spent an hour or so at the library renaming and reuploading a lot of website files. A mentally fatiguing task! Hopefully all relevant internal links work.

Tuesday 20/1: Long walk; ashes dilemna; formidable Finnish hacker

Walked to Southland SC and back, so am feeling tired! I took the new route home that Apple Maps suggested on my last visit (16/1 entry). Did not need its guidance this time.

Couple of random articles from the Guardian. “My partner died in 2020, but grief made it impossible to complete this final step,” 20/1. (ChatGPT quick summary: “The author reflects on grief and why she has delayed collecting her partner’s ashes since his death in 2020. Overwhelmed by administrative burdens, uncertainty about final wishes, and the weight of loss, she struggles to complete this last step. After finding comfort in keeping her father’s ashes at home, she realises she is finally ready to collect her partner’s ashes as well.”) This is what we are facing when deciding where to eventually bury or scatter Dad’s ashes (8/11/2025 entry).

“He called himself an ‘untouchable hacker god’. But who was behind the biggest crime Finland has ever known?,” 17/1. Profile of a malevolent Finnish hacker. (ChatGPT quick summary: “The article recounts Finland’s largest data breach, in which the psychotherapy provider Vastaamo was hacked in 2020, exposing the deeply personal therapy records of about 33,000 patients and subjecting them to extortion. Through the experiences of victims such as headteacher Tiina Parikka and patient Meri-Tuuli Auer, it shows the severe psychological harm caused by the leak, including panic, isolation, and suicides. The breach was enabled by shockingly poor security, and the hacker leaked all records even before ransom emails were sent. Finnish authorities eventually identified and convicted Aleksanteri Kivimäki, a notorious hacker with a long history of cybercrime, who showed little remorse for the damage caused. The case raises profound questions about digital privacy, corporate responsibility, and whether intimate personal data can ever truly be safe online.”)

Wednesday 21/1: Website worry stone

Cool and overcast today, with some rain forecast. Almost calm. Weather has been mostly agreeable the last couple of weeks (apart from the heatwave – 7/1, 9/1 entries). Another hot day forecast for this Saturday.

Via a post by Jim Nielsen, “Let a website be a worry stone,” Ethan Marcotte, 25/3/2020. That’s what mine is for me – more precisely, the act of tinkering with its code is! (ChatGPT summary: “The author describes restarting their design practice and deciding to modernize their website, updating its typography, layout, and usability. As they worked, broader personal and global uncertainty made life feel smaller and more anxious, and the redesign gradually became a calming, grounding activity rather than just a technical project. The author likens the process to a ‘worry stone’ — something tactile and soothing to return to during stressful times — drawing on a childhood memory of holding one. Along the way, they introduced improvements like dark mode support, accessibility enhancements, and better performance, while recognizing the work is never truly finished. Ultimately, the site serves as both a professional space and a personal refuge, offering a sense of control and comfort amid uncertainty.”)

Thursday 22/1: Another scorcher forecast; not using HTML5; directory image display PHP script

Another 40°C day forecast for this coming Saturday; had a feeling it would spike up to that.

Decided to remove the <q> tags and just use quotation marks, due to the issues with them (12/1) entry. Have been dithering over whether to convert some tags to their HTML5 equivalents (e.g. <div id="main"> to <main>) but I still find the specification confusing, and the prospect gets me agitated, so perhaps I will remain with the reliable older syntax. An old blog entry by Bruce Lawson: “HTML 5 is a mess,” 16/7/2009 (ChatGPT short summary: “The text argues that HTML5 is “a mess” in several ways: it is constrained by the need for backward compatibility with older HTML versions, leading to design compromises; it is developed through an open but chaotic process involving many competing interests and evolving sub-specifications; and its specification itself contains ambiguities, overlaps, and unclear restrictions. Despite these issues, the author suggests that this messiness is largely unavoidable and preferable to more rigid, impractical alternatives.”) See my Web design page.

Found a PHP script that will display all images within a directory (with a server that supports PHP, so not for a static website – Neocities does not allow server-side scripting for its free site tier).

A Very Simple PHP file that searches the current directory for jpg, png and gif files and puts it in a HTML <img> tag.

<?php
$format = '<img src="[FILE]"> [FILE]<br>';

chdir(dirname(__FILE__));

$files = glob("*.{jpeg,jpg,png,gif}", GLOB_BRACE);

foreach ($files as $file) {
    if (is_file($file)) {
        echo str_replace('[FILE]', htmlspecialchars($file), $format);
    }
}
?>

Nothing fancy, it shows all images after each other. Save it as index.php I saved it as indeximages.php. Your webserver should support PHP and usually shows index.php for directories.

Friday 23/1: Long walk; upcoming heatwave

Walked to Southland SC and back, so a bit tired.

Fine and sunny today. Tomorrow is to reach 40°C, then back to 25°C on Sunday, 30°C Monday, 40°C on Tuesday again, then back to 25°C! A real rollercoaster ride of temperatures – difficult to adjust to.

Saturday 24/1: 40°C day; an unprovoked assault; Jack London article; agrarian delusion

First 40°C today out of two forecast for this week. Tuesday is to reach 43°C! I took the train (last weekend of free train travel) to visit Mum at Camberwell Gables. The day started off rather cool, but was heating up by late morning.

Witnessed a somewhat unpleasant incident on the Frankston line train home: an older grey-haired man began harranguing two teenage boys, one of whom had put his bag on an empty seat near the man. The man got quite aggressive and this escalated to him hitting one of the boys on his way out at a station stop, breaking the boy’s glasses and leaving blood on the bridge of his nose. The nearby passengers were supportive of the boys and urged them to report the incident to police as this was now physical assault. The boys thus alighted at the same station, presumably to do so. Hopefully the man will be caught and charged; his aggressiveness was extremely inappropriate and unnecessary.

Couple of random links I found interesting. Via a Hacker News post, “Gold Fever! Deadly Cold! And the Amazing True Adventures of Jack London in the Wild, Smithsonian magazine, November 2019. (ChatGPT summary: “The text recounts Jack London’s brutal journey to the Yukon during the 1897 Klondike gold rush, where he endured extreme cold, hardship, and failure as a prospector but gained the experiences and characters that inspired his greatest works. Although he found little gold and left sick with scurvy, his time in the Far North became the foundation for stories like The Call of the Wild and To Build a Fire. Returning home, London transformed these experiences into a hugely successful writing career, eventually becoming one of the most famous and influential authors of his time.”) I read TCOTW in my teens and enjoyed it; like true classics it is still a riveting read.

A Hacker News comment by driverdan from a 2024 post about a software developer who took up farming: “Every time this topic comes up I say the same thing. If you’ve never worked on a farm and have some kind of romantic idea about it then you shouldn’t do this. Farming is hard work. Modern farmers have college degrees, millions in equipment, and a vast amount of knowledge and experience you do not have. If you’re thinking of doing this and do not have experience go work on a farm for a year before you buy in.” This “back to the land” delusion of an idyllic close-to-nature lifestyle persists amongst urban dwellers (it was last popular in the USA: “Between the mid-1960s and mid-1970s, the USA had a revived back-to-the-land movement, with substantial numbers of people migrating from cities to rural areas”). The reality is a lot less glamorous, and much more physically demanding – and certainly not for older people.

Sunday 25/1: A cool reprieve; rms’s speech

Much cooler today, but only along the coastal regions of Victoria – inland rural areas will suffer through a days-long 40°C+ heatwave. There was atmospheric smoke from bushfires around Melbourne blanketing the city overnight; I opened a window to see what the temperature was like, and the smoky smell was strong – as r/Melbourne noticed.

Free software advocate Dr. Richard Stallman gave a talk yesterday at Georgia Tech on “Free/Libre Software And Our Freedom: Our shield against many digital injustices” – video recordings have been posted (via TechRights). This was his first talk in a U.S. college since 2018; he had to endure being “cancelled” due to some off-color remarks he made many years ago (the typical hysterical over-reaction to such). He has done a lot of good work and helped provide alternative options to the duopoly of Microsoft and Apple’s locked-down operating systems.

One of the people whom I follow online, Greg Lehey (a former FreeBSD developer – previously: 16/10/2025 entry) met RMS years ago, as described in his 14 September 1998 diary entry: “Tutorial day today: Richard Stallman with two Emacs tutorials. Got in there and met a bloke called John Terpstra, who had a laptop with him. That sounded like a good idea – this was one of my first conferences, and I wasn’t very on the ball – so since rms still hadn’t shown up, went up to my room to get the laptop. Came down to find rms wandering aimlessly in the empty hallway, saying ‘I have no idea where my tutorial is”. Got in there, and he then discovered he had left the power supply for his laptop behind, so I ended up lending him my laptop. It was interesting hearing rms teach, but I didn’t learn much: it was mainly aimed at people who hadn’t already been using Emacs for 18 years.”

Monday 26/1: Another Hell Day forecast

Australia Day 🇦🇺 public holiday. I walked to Southland SC and back this morning; was getting rather tired near the end! A moderately hot 30°C today – but tomorrow the temperature spikes up to an unreal 44°C. I will not be going anywhere from noon onwards if I can avoid it.

Tuesday 27/1: 45°C

Hell Day – 45°C forecast for later this afternoon, even higher in rural areas of Victoria. Has not been this hot since the Black Saturday bushfires in 2009.

Took the 627 bus to Chadstone SC this morning, and decided to walk to the air-conditioned library after all. Really heating up out there now, so the 20-minute-ish walk back home will be … challenging.

Again I am relieved Mum now lives in the climate-controlled environment of Camberwell Gables residential care, rather than suffering at home – the air conditioning here in a poorly-insulated old weatherboard house is expensive to run and inadequate. I will have to turn it on for a few hours when I get home (assuming I don’t melt on the walk back!) but I have only turned it on once previously this summer (9/1 entry).

Wednesday 28/1: Rainbow legacy

Survived yesterday – Melbourne temperature reached 45°C in the late afternoon – but still feeling exhausted today. A wind change blew through Melbourne around 9 p.m. onwards. Those further inland, though, still have to endure 40°C+ temperatures for a few more days.

“With The Rainbow Serpent, Dick Roughsey shared the spirit of our country. His work is a gift to us all,” The Guardian, 28/1. (ChatGPT summary: “The text reflects on the enduring significance of The Rainbow Serpent by Dick Roughsey, an Australian children’s classic first published in 1975. It explains how the book shares a powerful Aboriginal creation story from Roughsey’s Indigenous perspective, conveying deep spiritual beliefs, cultural law, and care for country. The piece also honours Roughsey’s life, generosity, and cultural legacy, highlighting how his storytelling and artwork have helped generations of children imagine and appreciate the sacred traditions of Australia’s First Nations peoples.”) One of my favorite books as a child, and I still love it! (I reviewed it on my Books read page.)

Thursday 29/1: Various irritations

Took the 627 bus to Chadstone SC this morning – the one scheduled after the one I wanted, the latter did not arrive for some reason, frustratingly. At least the bus stop is not far from my parents’ home.

Feeling a bit agitated and irritable. Changed clothes a few times today as I was feeling cold, then overheated.

Apple is getting (intentionally) irritating in its nagging to update to OS 26 Tahoe (the red dot alert over the System Settings icon). I am still holding off as Tahoe is still very buggy according to all accounts. One reason I moved off Windows was its neverending updates, seemingly every few days (Windows as a service) rather than the old system of one big OS version upgrade once a year, or every few years. Apple is, unfortunately, no better now.

My website is a worry stone at the moment (21/1 entry); how to tweak the HTML code is going around in my head – I can’t settle on any one idea.

Friday 30/1: Listing directory files script

Walked to Southland SC and back this morning (around 10 km/15,447 steps), so am quite tired. Warm and a bit humid, but not scorchingly hot like Tuesday (27/1 entry).

Asked ChatGPT to output an Apple Terminal script that would recursively list .html files in a directory and subdirectories (i.e. for my website) as links. Its suggestions were successful – some variations below:

Simple list showing directory paths:


find . -type f -name "*.html" | sort | awk '
BEGIN {
  print "<ul>"
  prev_depth = 0
}
{
  sub(/^\.\//, "", $0)              # remove leading ./
  depth = gsub(/\//, "/", $0)       # count directories

  if (depth > prev_depth) {
    for (i = prev_depth; i < depth; i++)
      print "<ul>"
  } else if (depth < prev_depth) {
    for (i = depth; i < prev_depth; i++)
      print "</ul>"
  }

  print "<li><a href=\"" $0 "\">" $0 "</a></li>"
  prev_depth = depth
}
END {
  for (i = 0; i <= prev_depth; i++)
    print "</ul>"
}'

Filename only as link text:


find . -type f -name "*.html" | sort | awk '
BEGIN {
  print "<ul>"
  prev_depth = 0
}
{
  sub(/^\.\//, "", $0)              # remove leading ./
  depth = gsub(/\//, "/", $0)       # count directories

  if (depth > prev_depth) {
    for (i = prev_depth; i < depth; i++)
      print "<ul>"
  } else if (depth < prev_depth) {
    for (i = depth; i < prev_depth; i++)
      print "</ul>"
  }

  print "<li><a href=\"" $0 "\">" $0 "</a></li>"
  prev_depth = depth
}
END {
  for (i = 0; i <= prev_depth; i++)
    print "</ul>"
}'

Nested list, relative links, filename-only text:


find . -type f -name "*.html" | sort | awk '
BEGIN {
  print "<ul>"
  prev_depth = 0
}
{
  sub(/^\.\//, "", $0)              # remove leading ./
  path = $0

  depth = gsub(/\//, "/", path)     # count directories

  filename = path
  sub(/^.*\//, "", filename)        # strip directory path

  if (depth > prev_depth) {
    for (i = prev_depth; i < depth; i++)
      print "<ul>"
  } else if (depth < prev_depth) {
    for (i = depth; i < prev_depth; i++)
      print "</ul>"
  }

  print "<li><a href=\"" path "\">" filename "</a></li>"
  prev_depth = depth
}
END {
  for (i = 0; i <= prev_depth; i++)
    print "</ul>"
}'

Saturday 31/1: Nudging software; what would Steve Jobs have done?

Day began gloomy and overcast and a bit humid; cleared up by late morning. Rain due later today.

17 weeks passed (4/10/2025 entry).

Good opinion piece by Mike Swanson on the insidious creep of nagging software: “Backseat Software,” 18/1. (ChatGPT summary: “The text argues that modern software has gradually shifted from being a quiet tool users control to an attention-seeking system that interrupts, nudges, and manipulates behavior. This change emerged step by step – from always-online updates and telemetry to analytics, A/B testing, nudges, and push notifications – driven by incentives to optimize engagement metrics rather than user outcomes. While these mechanisms began with legitimate benefits, they now often erode trust, waste attention, and prioritize KPIs over good design. The author calls for software that respects users’ attention: minimizing interruptions, treating data collection as a privilege, using analytics cautiously, and designing tools that get out of the way and let people accomplish their goals.”)

Another article on how Apple has lost its way. “The Crisis, No. 5: On the hollowing of Apple,” Mike Brock, 28/1. (ChatGPT summary: “The essay argues that Steve Jobs, despite his personal flaws, believed money and efficiency were tools in service of vision, moral freedom, and cultural responsibility, while Tim Cook has transformed Apple into a company that prioritizes optimization, scale, and supply-chain efficiency above all else. Under Cook, Apple is portrayed as financially successful but creatively stagnant, morally constrained, and deeply dependent on China, leaving it unable to act with independence or courage in the face of authoritarian power. The author contends that Jobs would have preserved leverage, creative risk, and ethical freedom, whereas Cook’s operational excellence has built a profitable but morally trapped institution, symbolizing a broader failure of modern corporations that choose efficiency over freedom and values.”)

February

Sunday 1/2: Visited Mum

Visited Mum at Camberwell Gables. Her 88th birthday is next Wednesday 4 – sadly, her first birthday without Dad since they married.

Feeling tired and a bit irritable, so will shut down for the day.

Monday 2/2: ChatGPT card greeting help; Apple subscription greed

Rather cold overnight and this morning – put the loungeroom gas heater on early this morning, which I haven’t wanted to do for 3 weeks or so! Walked to Southland SC and back, so am tired as usual.

Bought a birthday card for Mum. Felt uncertain as to what to write inside – this birthday will not be “happy” for her after Dad’s passing (4/10/2025 entry). Occurred to me to ask ChatGPT, and with its help I was able to come up with a message. Below is the conversation I had (with my alterations to formatting for HTML text):

You said: I need to write birthday wishes in a card for my mother. My father recently died, so how do I word the birthday greeting in a sensitive manner?

ChatGPT said: I’m really sorry for your loss. Writing a birthday message in the middle of grief is hard, and the fact that you’re thinking carefully about her feelings already says a lot. A good rule of thumb: acknowledge the difficulty of this year without letting grief eclipse her birthday. Gentle honesty & love & reassurance works better than trying to sound upbeat or avoiding the loss entirely.

A few guiding ideas:

Sample birthday messages (choose what fits your relationship):

  1. Option 1: Gentle acknowledgment: “Happy Birthday, Mom. I know this year looks very different, and I know today may carry a mix of emotions. I just want you to know how deeply loved you are, and how grateful I am for you – today and always.”
  2. Option 2: Love – forward, soft mention of grief: “Happy Birthday to the strongest, most loving mother I know. I know this year has been incredibly hard, and I hope you can feel how much you are surrounded by love – especially mine.”
  3. Option 3: Short and heartfelt: “Happy Birthday, Mom. Holding you close in my heart today. I love you more than words can say.”
  4. Option 4: Honoring both love and resilience: “Happy Birthday, Mom. This year has asked so much of you, and I admire your strength more than ever. I’m so thankful for you, and I’m always here – today and every day.”

If it feels right for your family, you can briefly include your father, but it’s not required: “I know Dad would be celebrating you right alongside us today.”

If you’d like, tell me a bit about your mom’s personality (very emotional vs. private, formal vs. warm), and I can help tailor the wording so it sounds exactly like you.

You said: She is quiet, informal, not given to excessive sentimentality.

ChatGPT said: That helps a lot. For someone quiet and not sentimental, less really is more. You don’t need to explain, soften, or decorate the message – just steady warmth and presence. Here are some understated options that tend to land well with that kind of personality:

If you’re unsure, err on the side of short & sincere. A calm message often feels more respectful than something emotionally expressive, especially for people who process privately. If you want, I can also help you decide what not to say (things that often feel awkward or heavy in cards like this).

You said: Yes, please - is there an alternative word to “happy” (which she certainly is not)?

ChatGPT said: Yes – and you’re right to trust that instinct. “Happy” can feel off when someone is grieving, especially for a quiet person. Here are gentler, more neutral alternatives that work well in birthday cards without forcing a mood:

Soft replacements for “Happy Birthday”:

If you want something very plain and steady:

Examples putting it together:

If you want to avoid even implied cheer entirely, it’s completely okay to skip a greeting phrase altogether and just write the message: “I’m thinking of you today. I love you.” That kind of restraint often feels very right for people who are private and unsentimental. If you’d like, I can help you choose the one line that best matches her voice – or help you decide which option might feel too much for her.

You said: That is fine - thank you for your help!

ChatGPT said: You’re very welcome. I’m glad I could help a little. She’s lucky to have you thinking so carefully about this – those quiet, thoughtful choices matter more than the words themselves. Take care of yourself too ♥

My decided-upon message: “Dear Mum, Wishing you much love on your 88th birthday. I know the last year has been difficult – I hope today brings a bit of calm. I am so grateful for you and I am always here. ♥ Thinking of you, Suzanne.”

“Expect more upsells and subscription bundles from Apple, Creator Studio was just the start,” 9to5Mac, 1/2. (ChatGPT short summary: “Apple is expected to expand paid upgrades and subscription bundles across its software and services, driven partly by AI features and monetization efforts. While some bundles like Apple One are seen as consumer-friendly, newer offerings such as Creator Studio introduce paid features and upsells into apps that were previously free, raising concerns about eroding Apple’s premium experience.”) Am dismayed at Apple’s increasing greed if this will be the case. It is no better than Microsoft in this regard.

Tuesday 3/2: Rotting Apple

Cold again this morning, but heating up to a (relatively) moderate 30°C or so – compared to last Tuesday! (27/1 entry).

Two more Apple disillusionment posts – I will note these type of posts as “Rotting Apple” as there have been quite a few in the last year or so by various users (previously for this year alone: 1/1, 9/1, 12/1, 14/1 18/1, 31/1 entries). I have become disenchanted myself at the direction Apple is taking.

Wednesday 4/2: Mum turns 88

Mum’s 88th birthday today – made melancholy without Dad (4/10/2025 entry). I visited her at Camberwell Gables with cards from myself, my sister and Mum’s cousin Dawn Harbour (also had brief phone calls to my sister and Dawn). The staff made Mum a strawberry-topped cream cake.

Thursday 5/2: God’s waiting room; broken Apple

Fine and sunny with a cool breeze. Took the 627 bus to Chadstone SC and back – frustratingly, the bus going there was late again by 10 minutes.

Still feel sad and guilty about Mum; she is being looked after, but I still feel like I have abandoned her amongst strangers, and she is obviously pining away for Dad. Some of the residents there are in advanced dementia, and being around them is depressing – the phrase “God’s waiting room” has been used to describe nursing homes, not in a complimentary manner. But home is no longer safe or livable for Mum. (I still need to find alternative accommodation for myself – 18/12/2025 entry – but have receded back into my state of passive inertia – taking the path of least resistance until circumstances force me to do otherwise.)

Rotting Apple (previously: 4/2 entry): “If Apple is richer than ever, why does it feel so broke?,” The Macalope at Macworld, 3/2 – his second on the topic within a few days. (ChatGPT short summary: “The article uses satire to criticize Tim Cook and Apple’s leadership, focusing on Cook’s poor judgment in associating with controversial figures and Apple’s perceived hypocrisy around safety and values. While acknowledging Cook’s past success and steady stewardship, it argues that recent ethical issues, App Store policies, design missteps, and product failures have eroded goodwill among Apple’s most loyal fans. Apple remains financially strong, but enthusiasm and trust within its community are fading.”)

Friday 6/2: Obsession adversive reaction; more rotting Apple

Fine, sunny, cool. Walked to Southland SC and back. Tired; I was flagging towards the end of the walk back. Was also hauling a heavy shopping jeep. This, which I bought last year (21/1/2025 entry) has proved invaluable, and carried hundreds of kilograms by now!

A personal insight I had last night is that I develop an intense aversion to past obsessions. This trait is evident in my past Journal writings: the Russia conflict obsession that dominated my Journal entries from 2022 to 2024 are the most recent example. I want nothing to do with any of that now; I can only describe it as a mental aberration. Apple computers were my next obsession, though this has also cooled a bit due to the company’s recent missteps, product quality decline and loss of its original vision (and, of course, its founder). Asking ChatGPT “Is there a phrase that describes when one loses interest in a hobby or obsession, and destroys everything associated with it?” gives an appropriate answer (out of several options):

There isn’t one universally fixed phrase, but there are several that people use depending on tone and why it happens. […]

Psychological/Descriptive:

Rotting Apple (previously: 5/2 entry): “From Apple fan to just a user,” Davey Craney, 31/1. (ChatGPT short summary: “The author describes frustration with Apple after being charged twice when upgrading to Apple Creator Studio, which they see as an anti-consumer move compounded by poor customer support. This sparks a broader critique of Apple’s growing control over users’ digital lives, weak protections for digital ownership, declining software quality, and a loss of the company’s former values and ‘it just works’ magic. Despite deep dissatisfaction, the author feels effectively locked into Apple’s ecosystem and resigned to staying, shifting from being an enthusiastic advocate to a disengaged, critical user.”)

Saturday 7/2: Mourning Dad

A lovely sunny day with a cool morning and a light breeze. Walked to East Bentleigh this morning, and to Bentleigh Library after lunch, where I am now.

18 weeks passed (4/10/2025 entry). As time passes, the memory of how he sounded and felt recedes also, to my dismay. He used to hug me when I visited him and Mum at Camberwell Gables. I miss that desperately.

Rotting Apple (previously: 6/2 entry): “Apple – You either die a hero …,” Andreas at 82MHz, 4/9/2024. (ChatGPT short summary: “The text argues that Apple has shifted from making computers that encouraged tinkering, repair, and upgrades to producing sealed, disposable devices that discourage user control. While acknowledging Steve Jobs’ flaws, the author credits earlier Apple products for being serviceable and thoughtfully designed, unlike today’s glued, soldered, and locked-down hardware. Despite Apple’s massive commercial success and impressive modern performance, the author finds current devices boring and unappealing compared to older, more open machines – especially for people who enjoy repairing and experimenting with technology.”)

Sunday 8/2: A loss of momentum; watched Hackers

Hot today – 30°C or so – and unsettled from the afternoon onwards. I visited Mum at Camberwell Gables. Again I felt sad and guilty; like she has been abandoned.

Another thought related to my situation mentioned in my 5/2 entry: I have lost momentum in my life again.

Prompted by a Hacker News post, I watched the 1995 movie Hackers yesterday while at the library. (ChatGPT short summary: “Hackers follows a group of teen hackers in New York City who bond over their love of computers, anarchic pranks, and outsmarting authority. When two of them – Dade ‘Zero Cool’ Murphy and the sharp-witted hacker Kate ‘Acid Burn’ Libby – uncover evidence of a massive corporate fraud, they’re framed for a dangerous cybercrime by a corrupt security expert. Racing against time and the FBI, the group teams up to expose the real culprit, blending hacker culture, rebellion, and a flashy vision of early internet mythology.”) I enjoyed it! More of a cyber-fantasy, but from a present-day perspective, there is still strong nostalgia for that era, of the cyberpunk and hacker mythology that prevailed then, and the nascent Internet culture that had not yet become cynical and commodified. When computer technology promised to change the future for the better. A commenter linked to a website dedicated to it.

Another linked to Episode 168: The Legion of Doom of the Darknet Diaries (a lengthy transcript on that page). A quote that resonated with me: “I’m telling you, anarchy was in style in the eighties. There was a certain attitude that Steal This Book and The Anarchist Cookbook possessed, and that seemed to carry right on over into what the internet culture was like in the eighties. It was counter-culture, anti-establishment. There was distrust of authority. Smash the system. It wasn’t just a vibe. It was practically the first principles that a lot of people were operating at. The early internet wasn’t slick or sanitized. It was raw, lawless, DIY. Sharing of text files was like sharing of contraband. […] What you were doing was accessing forbidden information that they didn’t want you to see. The internet felt like a digital back alley where SysOps were gatekeepers to secret knowledge. [Music] It was punk rock at its core. It was cyber-anarchy. It was the idea that the system could be subverted, bent, and reprogrammed. It wasn’t just fun. It was freedom.”

Relevant: “A Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace,” “The Conscience of a Hacker,” both written in 1986 (and the 2025 update, “The Hacker’s Renaissance: A Manifesto Reborn”).

Monday 9/2: Users vs. shareholders

A cool, drizzly, overcast and rather humid day. Very still. Took the 627 bus to Chadstone SC this morning.

Rotting Apple: a pertinent comment about the uneasy balance between pleasing users or shareholders from a post at Michael Tsai’s blog: “The prevailing belief among CEOs is that being a public company means your highest responsibility is making your shareholders richer, by making the stock price go up and issuing dividends. What you actually DO isn’t as important as that it makes shareholders money. Jobs’ belief was closer to the original concept of stocks: Here is my company, here is what we are doing. If you think what we’re doing is a good idea, you’re welcome to invest, but your investment won’t change what we’re doing. Jobs succeeded because he had incredible taste – he knew a good thing when he saw it, and his sense of what was ‘good’ was shared by many people – and he had no problem telling you that your work wasn’t in good taste in no uncertain terms. Cook … he doesn’t have that sense of taste. He’s too polite, too invested, or both when it comes to assessing his employees’ work and deciding whether to ship it. Under Cook, Apple products have backslid from ‘insanely great’ to ‘eh, not so much worse than the alternative that it’s worth switching, yet.’ Cook’s priority is shareholder value, not changing the world … and changing the world is expensive.”

Tuesday 10/2: Happily hooked

Another cool, still, overcast day with some light morning drizzle. Feeling a bit colder than I expected to. I walked to Southland SC and back, so tired as usual.

Another silly article about the supposed ills of social media and smartphones, this one focused on usage by older adults: “Why young people say they are not the only ones hooked on screens,” ABC News, 8/2. (ChatGPT short summary: “The article explores how young people push back against the idea that they are uniquely addicted to screens, arguing that older generations are increasingly just as hooked. Through personal stories and survey data, it shows that screen time is rising across all age groups, with games, social media and dopamine-driven apps affecting everyone. Experts say the gap between generations is narrowing and suggest younger ‘digital natives’ may even help older people recognise problematic use, while acknowledging that phones are now deeply embedded in everyday life, making screen reduction difficult for all ages.”) As I have said before (14/3/2025, 3/6/2025, 15/6/2025, 19/6/2025, 2/1, 6/1 for some examples!), I love my iPhone; it is my magic portal to the world and to knowledge.

Wednesday 11/2: Bus frustrations; cloud concerns

Hot – 30°C or so – and unsettled, but walking to the library and back is not too unpleasant (unlike in 40°C+ weather – 27/1 entry). Took the 627 bus to Chadstone SC and back, but was frustrated when the bus going there was late again by 10 minutes or so (5/2 entry), with no apparent reason.

Some Apple services have been down, as sometimes happens. Frustrating, and a sobering reminder of how fragile remotely-hosted cloud services are generally. Constant Internet access to one’s files is not guaranteed.

Thursday 12/2: Driver’s licence renewed

Rain overnight with a cool change; some lingering light showers this morning. Colder than what I expected. Back up to 35°C next Tuesday, though!

Renewed my driver’s licence online, but I still have to have a photo taken before the licence is issued, so that is a task for tomorrow – will go into the city to visit the VicRoads Customer Service Centre, like I did last year (10/2/2025 entry).

Feeling depressed and like a lost and lonely ghost wandering around my parents’ dark and dilapidated house. Missing Dad terribly, and Mum (who is also missing Dad, of course). Difficult to motivate myself to do anything.

Friday 13/2: Driver’s licence photo done

Took the train in to the City this morning to get a new photo taken for my renewed driver’s licence at the VicRoads Customer Service Centre on 113 Exhibition Street. The visit itself was less than 10 minutes – only a couple of other people waiting – but was out 3 hours as most of the time was spent getting there and back! Left at 7:30 a.m. to catch the 7:54 train; nearly 30 minutes to get to Parliament Station, about 20 minutes or so walking to the address – which took longer as I am not familiar with that part of the city. Then more walking to Flinders Street, another half-hour or so train trip to Patterson Station, then a 20-minute walk home, arriving before 10 a.m.. There was an apparently-mentally-ill man in the carriage on the way home; he was rambling on to himself in a way that threatened to erupt into violence at the least provocation.

Missing Dad. I keep calling out to him (“Da …!”). I still can’t comprehend that I will never see him or hear his voice again.

Saturday 14/2: Mum fell; no serious injuries (hopefully); homeless in the city; paid parking push

Valentine’s Day, but none for me, as usual – never had one.

Concerning news via my sister that “Mum fell backwards yesterday when trying to help another resident stand up. She didn’t hit her head but her left knee is swollen today even though she denies it hurts. Her blood pressure’s good and she walked a bit. The Dr will check her out today and otherwise she seems good.” I am planning to visit her tomorrow as usual, so I hope she is OK (if a bit sore). Any head injuries or knocks are a great worry.

One sad observation during my city visit yesterday (13/2 entry) was the homeless people sleeping on the pavement, most tucked up inside sleeping bags. This has always been an issue, but reinforces how homelessness can happen to anyone.

War on cars (previously: 20/11/2025 entry): “Why do some regional councils charge for car parking in country towns, while others don’t?,” ABC News, 13/2. (ChatGPT short summary: “Regional Victorian councils are divided on paid parking. In Horsham and under Ararat Rural City Council, parking meters were removed after proving costly and unpopular, with retailers reporting more customers and improved trade. However, Swan Hill, managed by Swan Hill Rural City Council, retains paid parking to encourage turnover and fund car park maintenance. Meanwhile, Mildura has never introduced paid parking, as it has not been considered necessary.”) Revenue-raising and discouraging car use, in other words. My local council has floated the prospect of paid parking, using such weasel words as “smarter, fairer ways to manage the future of parking.” Unsurprisingly, “One message was clear: most people do not support user-pays parking.” However, “No user-pays parking will be introduced the 12-month review period. We'll keep you informed if any future changes are considered.” Presumably they are going to keep trying to introduce it again.

Sunday 15/2: Visited Mum; technology laments

Pleasantly cool morning and a lovely sunny day, though heating up.

I visited Mum at Camberwell Gables. She appeared mostly OK, though with a developing bruise on her left knee from yesterday’s fall (14/2 entry). The journey there and back was a bit more convoluted than usual, due to replacement buses between Richmond and Burnley stations because of planned rail maintenance works. I left around 7:20 a.m., and was home around 11:30 a.m.! A half-hour or so actually spent with Mum, the rest of the time spent travelling.

Another “Rotting Apple” topical post (previously: 9/2 entry): “Is the Mac having a BMW’s Neue Klasse moment?” Nicholas Magand, 13/2. (ChatGPT short summary: “The text argues that recent criticism of Apple’s software – especially macOS – is widespread and largely justified, alarming long-time Mac enthusiasts who value the platform’s refinement and craftsmanship. While Macs were once seen as clearly superior to Windows in polish and native app quality, users now feel macOS itself is becoming unrefined and losing what made it special. The author worries that Apple may be neglecting the Mac, possibly because it represents a small share of revenue. However, they propose a hopeful analogy to BMW’s “Neue Klasse” reset – suggesting Apple might be quietly reallocating resources toward a major future overhaul of macOS, temporarily accepting decline to prepare for a big comeback. In the end, the author sees three possible futures: the Mac regains its former greatness, it continues deteriorating and alienates loyal users, or operating systems become less relevant altogether in an AI-driven era.”)

“Never Forgive Them,” Ed Zitron, 16/12/2024. A more general rant against the betrayal of the tech industry towards its users, particularly ordinary computer users and enthusiasts. (AI summary: “Edward Zitron argues that most of modern technology feels ‘broken’ because the tech industry’s incentives have shifted away from serving users and toward relentless growth, leading to widespread ‘enshittification’ driven less by a grand plan than by repeated short-term decisions. He describes a ‘Rot Economy’ in which dominant companies use monopolistic power, manipulative design, constant redesigns, intrusive ads, trackers, notifications, microtransactions, and algorithmic feeds to extract time, data, and money, degrading everyday experiences across apps, websites, and devices while making users feel at fault for struggling with tools that keep changing. Zitron illustrates how even basic computing – especially on cheap hardware – has become slow, ad-stuffed, and coercive (e.g., forced accounts, defaults, upsells), and how a poisoned web of scammy advertising and affiliate ‘content’ preys on trust, disproportionately harming less affluent and less tech-savvy people. He contends this omnipresent friction and manipulation produces broad psychological and social harm, pushing people into a few large platforms that feel ‘cleaner’ only by comparison, while generative AI further pollutes information ecosystems irreversibly. Positioning this as an industrial-scale disaster enabled by neoliberal, metrics-obsessed corporate culture, he condemns major tech leaders for knowingly prioritizing profit and power over human wellbeing, insists users are victims rather than failures, and calls for public solidarity and sustained accountability – naming the people and incentives behind the degradation – even if he doesn’t offer a single fix beyond collective awareness and pressure.”)

Monday 16/2: Watched Sneakers; system lock-in

Weather heating up. Took bus to Chadstone SC and back this morning. Only a couple of minutes late this time (11/2 entry).

I watched the 1992 movie Sneakers last week. It was like the grown-up version of Hackers (8/2 entry), with the computer hacker characters here all middle-aged and the focus more on spies and post-Cold War-era politics. The cast included illustrious actors such as Robert Redford, and was reasonably entertaining, though I like the more energetic Hackers better.

Rotting Apple (previously: 15/2 entry): “The Fallen Apple,” Michael Tsai, 3/2. A notable comment there on how locked-down the Mac operating system’s files have become, making the user ever-more dependent upon Apple’s walled garden:

I was actually an Apple certified OSX Server admin back in the Tiger days, and when you compare the tools available then, or if I look at my VM’ed Snow Leopard Server install, what’s very different is the old way of doing things was to provide the most sunlight possible, through UI, to the true nature of the way things worked. Tools exposed what they were adjusting, and why.

Your iPhoto library kept your files with their original names, in human readable year/month/day folders, etc. By looking at the UI, you could understand HOW things were being done behind the scenes.

Now the paradigm is black boxes, and “you don’t need to worry your head about it” paternalism. Everything is abstracted to “intuitive” (to a group of multi-millionaires in a specific suburb of California) UIs that actively hide the true nature of what is happening, and for anything that can’t be made “magical”, tough luck, you have to use the command line.

Your photo library is now a locked directory, with files renamed into giant strings of random characters, as are half the directories in which your data is kept. You can’t keep Podcasts on an external drive now, they’re all on a secret internal folder in your system drive because Apple is putting DRM on them so they can offer paid subscriptions on their own Podcast service, etc.

Tuesday 17/2: Got Covid booster shot; repressive Russia

Hot and windy today; high 30s. I walked to Southland SC and back, so am fatigued. I also had my annual Covid-19 booster shot done at the local chemist on the way home (the annual influenza vaccine is not available yet).

Russia in retrograde (previously: 9/8/2025 entry): “Russia completes block of Western social media and VPNs to push state-backed ‘Max’ super-app,” 9to5Mac, 16/2. The Russian government gets ever-more repressive under Putin in restricting Internet access for its citizens. (ChatGPT short summary: “The text argues that Russia has escalated its censorship by fully blocking major U.S.-based social media platforms and restricting access to services like Telegram, while also removing most reliable VPN apps. This limits citizens’ ability to bypass restrictions and increases government control over online activity. The bans are portrayed as part of a broader strategy to push people onto a state-backed ‘sovereign’ super-app called Max, which combines messaging, payments, digital IDs, and government services. Because the app must integrate with Russia’s surveillance system (SORM), the author warns that centralizing communication and services on one platform gives authorities sweeping access to citizens’ private data. The overall message is that Russia is tightening information control and leaving users with little real privacy or alternative options.”)

Wednesday 18/2: Covid soreness; dislike the devices-to-services trend

I had a somewhat uncomfortable night due to after effects from my Covid booster shot yesterday. I had a sore upper arm and felt a bit off-colour. That is my normal reaction though, and the symptoms eased by the early afternoon. (Previous vax: 6/5/2025.)

Took the 627 bus to Chadstone SC this morning to visit a store, but frustratingly it was closed for stocktake, so try again tomorrow. The bus was 10 minutes late yet again (11/2 entry).

Rotting Apple (previously: 16/2 entry): “Is Apple the new Microsoft?,” Quartz, 18/2 (annoying pop-up modal warning). (ChatGPT short summary: “The article argues that Apple is entering a phase similar to Microsoft during its dominant Windows era: still hugely profitable and entrenched, but no longer clearly shaping the future. The iPhone has shifted from an exciting, must-have upgrade to essential infrastructure — more like Windows than a breakthrough gadget. Growth increasingly comes from premium models and from Apple’s high-margin Services business [subscriptions, App Store, ads, cloud], which functions like Microsoft Office: a recurring revenue layer built on top of a captive installed base. While Apple continues to generate strong revenue and margins, concerns are rising. The smartphone market is maturing, China sales are under pressure, regulators are scrutinizing its platform power, and Services growth may be slowing. Meanwhile, the company’s ‘next engine’ is unclear. AI is the obvious candidate, but Apple’s approach — including partnering with Google — raises questions about whether it is leading the next platform shift or relying on others. The core tension: Apple can remain highly profitable as a stable, default ecosystem company. But without a compelling new growth engine, it risks becoming dependable yet uninspiring — successful, but no longer defining what comes next.”)

A notable quote from the article: “Still, Apple’s financial center of gravity has started to move from ‘sell the box’ to ‘monetize the environment,’ which is exactly how mature platform companies compound. The most consequential Apple products now aren’t always the ones you can hold. They’re policies, defaults, and distribution. The magic shows up in the margins. Now, Apple doesn’t need every customer to feel delighted, it just needs them to feel locked in — and to keep paying. Microsoft did this, too, in its own way. Office wasn’t just software; it was the workflow itself. Once a platform owns your habits, it can sell convenience and call it productivity.”

That is what I dislike about the devices-to-services trend: devices (iPhone, MacBook, etc.) are tangible objects, while services (including the tediously hyped AI) are intangible.

Thursday 19/2: Body pillow bought; watched Steve Jobs movie; obsessive hobbies

Cool and fine; nice weather for walking. Took the 627 bus again to Chadstone SC this morning; the shop I wanted to go in yesterday (18/2 entry) was open. Bus was not late, at least.

Bought a Soft Long Pillow from Muji; something to hug when lying down and that is pleasingly soft and squishy. I have four others of their pillows (three Mini Soft Cushions, one Soft Cushion).

Yesterday I watched Steve Jobs (2015), one of the two post-Jobs’ death movies (the other being 2013’s Jobs – both an example of the Twin films phenomenon). It was quite compelling – Fassbender was very convincing in his portrayal of Jobs: his magnetic personality (reality distortion field) and fraught relationship with his first wife and daughter. Also a poignant reminder of Apple’s early years and products.

“A reasonable amount of overkill,” Kevin Wammer, 16/2 (via Techrights). (ChatGPT short summary: “The author jokes that their company should have been called ‘Overkill Media’ because they tend to dive obsessively into anything that fascinates them. They live by a ‘strong yes or no’ mindset, which helps them focus and build deep, varied knowledge – but also leads them to go all-in on new hobbies, like quickly becoming a Dungeon Master after just two Dungeons & Dragons sessions. While this intensity brings fun, skills, and fulfillment, it can also cause burnout and leave them with unused gear from abandoned interests. Despite this, they don’t see these ‘killed’ hobbies as failures – each one brought joy and learning, and they accept this pattern as simply part of who they are.”) A trait I can relate to, having become obsessed with various interests over the years, then discarding them after burning out. (Previously: 17/5/2025 entry).

Friday 20/2: Watched Jobs movie; no more cheap computers

A cool morning but warming up from midday onwards. Walked to Southland SC and back.

I watched the other Jobs movie yesterday. This was more a series of vignettes about key moments in Steve’s life. Ashton Kutcher was quite charismatic playing Jobs, in a different way to Michael Fassbender in Steve Jobs (19/2 entry); more convincing as a rebellious hippie type. The twin Jobs movies complement each other to some degree.

“Hold on to Your Hardware,” 20/2 (note that the website is rather annoying to visit due to the author trying to be a bit too quirky/cute/clever – using “マリウス.com” as a domain name, for starters!). (ChatGPT short summary: “The text argues that the long era of cheap, upgradeable consumer hardware is ending due to a structural shift in the tech industry. Memory, storage, and other components are becoming more expensive and scarce because data centers and AI companies now dominate demand, outbidding consumers and locking in long-term supply. Major manufacturers are prioritizing enterprise clients, leading to higher prices, fewer choices, and reduced upgradeability for everyday users. This isn’t seen as a temporary shortage but a long-term reallocation of production capacity away from consumer hardware. As a result, PCs, gaming devices, and other electronics are becoming more expensive and less repairable. The author warns that this trend could ultimately push society toward a ‘rented compute’ future, where people rely on cloud services instead of owning powerful local machines. The main advice: maintain and upgrade existing hardware while you can, don’t assume prices will fall again, and treat owned devices as long-term assets rather than disposable products.”)

Saturday 21/2: A son at his mother’s passing; tech hype burnout; Linux vs. macOS user autonomy

A fine cool morning, warming up by the afternoon.

Via a link on The Moonspeaker’s Random sites page, “The inevitable passing,” an account of “feminist, multi-media artist, freethinker, and renowned author” Barbara G. Walker’s death by her son, who was at her side. Some of it is very like my experience of being with Dad as he passed (4/10/2025 entry – 20 weeks ago now), though she had abdominal cancer. “So in the next ten minutes or so, I watched the entire progression of dying. I could normally see a pulse rate in a part of Mom’s carotid artery in her neck; that was now almost invisible, and then started fluttering in a very unusual way. The hand that I wasn’t holding began twitching a bit, and in the next two minutes or so as I watched, the twitching and fluttering died down and stopped. I waited for another couple of minutes to see any signs of activity resume, and they didn’t. So … that was it, she was gone, and I had witnessed the entire process up close and personal. And while she wasn’t really ‘holding’ my hand, I had a finger or two run through hers, so she sort of got her wish of wanting to die holding my hand. It was still a profound moment and I’m glad I was there to witness the entire thing. I waited a bit longer and then wandered down the hall to find the nurse; said ‘Okay, we might as well call it officially 9:00 AM, I think that’s it.’ We went back to the room and she spent about a minute on the stethescope listening for any further signs of heart activity, and declared the official time as 09:03 AM. Thus, my mother, Barbara G. Walker of varied crafts and literary fame, died on the Winter Solstice of 2025 around 9 in the morning. Her light went out with the Sun, but would not return as the celestial cycles eternally would.”

I read her The Woman’s Encyclopedia of Myths and Secrets in the early 1990s when I was interested in such spirituality and mythology; regrettably, I gave away my copy many years ago.

“I’m tired of tech,” Kevin Wammer, 15/2. (I linked to another of his posts in my 19/2 entry). Echoes what I feel to some degree. (ChatGPT short summary: “The author reflects on nearly two decades of following and writing about the tech industry, starting with an early Apple-focused blog that inspired a path into journalism, and later launching a gaming and handheld-focused site. What began as a passionate hobby and form of escapism has, over the past year, turned into frustration and exhaustion. They feel overwhelmed by the dominance of tech in society – especially the hype around crypto, the metaverse, and particularly AI. While they acknowledge that AI has useful applications and don’t reject it outright, they’re deeply put off by the exaggerated claims, constant hype, and inescapable coverage driven by clicks and monetization. This saturation has led them to disengage from social media and question how long they can continue immersing themselves in tech news without burning out. Although they find hope in growing countercultures like Linux and self-hosting communities, they remain uncertain about their future in tech writing and worry about eventual burnout.”)

Via a post by Michael Tsai: “Linux and/or macOS,” Jack Baty, 24/1, highlighting this excerpt: “Surprisingly, I am starting to prefer being in Linux than being in macOS. Linux feels like it’s mine and I like that feeling. Everything in the OS makes me believe it was done with me mind. ‘Me’ being ‘the user’. Even when things are frustrating, I usually understand why. macOS used to feel this way, but has drifted from it. It’s not all Tahoe’s fault, but it certainly hasn’t helped. What I miss most about running macOS is not macOS. It’s the software. The polish.”

Sunday 22/2: Visited Mum; meditative walking

A quiet day. Weather has been humid, overcast, warm and dripping light rain all day – yuck. At least there is little wind.

Took the train(s) to visit Mum at Camberwell Gables. Journey there and back, and the visit went well. Rang and spoke to my sister, then Mum’s cousin Dawn Harbour. Sat with Mum for a while in her bedroom, as I usually do now. I wish I could do more – such as take her for an outing – but as I can’t drive and lack a car anyway, that is not possible, sadly.

Went for a walk after lunch to Centenary Park and back; about an hour’s round trip. A pleasant walk, despite the drippy weather. I take my iPhone with me but only use it to take occasional photos; it otherwise remains in my carrybag. I see people walking around with their phones in their hands, but I am mortally afraid of tripping and falling if I carried mine similarly! I have so many thoughts percolating through my head that I do not seem to need distractions such as music or audiobooks.

“How to Meditate When You Can’t Sit Still,” NYT, 17/8/2022. Being fidgety would certainly describe me! I suppose my walks are a form of meditation – I am consciously trying not to ruminate on negative thoughts, though this can be difficult, depending upon my mood. (ChatGPT short summary: “Meditation can be especially challenging for people who struggle to sit still or stay focused, but distraction is not a sign of failure — it’s a normal and even essential part of the practice. Experts say that noticing your mind wandering and gently returning to your focus is actually a success. For those who feel frustrated, practices like loving-kindness meditation can help build self-compassion. The article emphasizes that mindfulness doesn’t require long, silent sessions. Beginners can start with very short “micro-meditations,” such as taking one mindful breath before answering a phone call or paying close attention while brushing their teeth. Movement-based practices like walking, yoga, or tai chi can also make meditation more accessible. Staying curious — rather than fighting boredom — and seeking support through apps, groups, or trained professionals can help build a sustainable practice over time.”)

Monday 23/2: Long walk; dreams of the dead

Rain overnight, clearing this morning. Cooler and fine, but more rain forecast from tomorrow. Walked to Southland SC and back, then to the library after lunch.

Rang my aunt last night (Dad’s sister) as I am regularly doing now, and had a good talk. I wish she were not living so far away in Tasmania, though!

A poignant and relevant r/Dreams post: “Does anyone have dreams of loved ones who’ve passed?” I have only had brief impressions of Dad so far in dreams (see my Dream Diary), but nothing vivid like some of the answers in that thread recount. My much-loved maternal grandmother has appeared in my dreams over the years – the only grandparent who does this repeatedly. (As she was the grandparent whom I had most contact with, this is logical.)

Tuesday 24/2: Returned body cushion; Japanese website design (again); maddening modals; against snark

Warm, unsettled, humid. The sky clouded over in that peculiarly threatening manner, then heavy rain and a thunderstorm developed from 2 p.m.. Looks like the humid time of the season is upon this region again.

Decided to return the body cushion I bought on 19/2; a bit too big and bulky. Bought another “spicy pillow” (13/1/2025 entry) instead, in charcoal grey!

What has become a recurring Hacker News post on “the peculiar case of japanese web design” (2022) – and the original 2013 blog post. I am one of those who does not mind the dense, text-heavy design; I visit websites to get information, and get to what I want quickly!

One trend that maddens me is bombarding visitors with popups and modals (18/7/2025 entry); I tense in dread when visiting retail sites now as this onslaught seems inevitable. Author websites are offenders also; there will be a modal that blocks the page, imploring the visitor to “sign up to my newsletter!” To which I snarl at furiously and hit the back button. Let me visit your website and do not bother me with these distractions, thank-you! I just want to read it in peace.

“Snark, Ironic Detachment, Authenticity,” Viktor Lofgren at Marginalia, 28/8/2025. A good argument against developing a snarky, cynical attitude towards life and in writing; such an attitude sucks any joy out of life and is personally corrosive. (ChatGPT short summary: “The article argues that a snarky, cynical way of engaging with the world ultimately poisons both your experiences and your relationships. While snark can provide social protection and plausible deniability, it requires emotional detachment and constant guardedness, which over time erodes authenticity and joy. Habitual ironic distance can even reshape your beliefs, leading you to deny your own genuine interests and pleasures. In contrast, the author advocates for sincerity, acceptance, and open enthusiasm. Expressing genuine enjoyment fosters real connection and is a stronger defense against criticism than sarcasm. The key distinction is to filter yourself to avoid harming others – not to avoid social risk or hide who you truly are.”)

I found my website using the Marginalia search engine there, too!

Wednesday 25/2: Steve Jobs would have been 71; poignant TV series; four years of the Russia-Ukraine war

Heavy rain and thunderstorms swept over Melbourne late yesterday afternoon, though thankfully my location seemed to avoid the worst of these.

“Steve Jobs Would Have Celebrated His 71st Birthday Today,” Macrumors, 24/2. And, once again, he is sorely missed and Apple has lost its way without his forceful guidance.

I have been watching on ABC FTA This England, a series about the Covid-19 pandemic in England and then-Prime Minister Boris Johnston’s somewhat bumbling response to it (as portrayed in the series). For me, the most poignant and painful scenes have been those with the vulnerable elderly in care homes, in particular one scene of a nurse comforting a dying old man, speaking to him in a soothing cadence with her accent. Such scenes hurt emotionally given my loss of Dad (4/10/2025 entry) and Mum being in residential care.

I mostly avoid mentioning this conflict now, but four years have passed since Russia’s ill-considered invasion of Ukraine, and both countries now seem mired in an endless conflict. This ABC News article, “Four years of war in Ukraine leaves Russia a ‘spent force’ with diminished influence, analyst says,” gives a detailed overview. (ChatGPT short summary: “After four years of war, analysts say Russia is becoming a ‘spent force,’ suffering heavy troop losses, economic strain, and declining global influence, even though it can still keep fighting. Russia is now losing soldiers faster than it can replace them, but Vladimir Putin continues to rely on highly paid contract fighters and recruits from poorer regions and abroad to sustain a war of attrition. According to analyst Fiona Hill, Russia’s economy has been reshaped for wartime production and can endure for now, but it’s draining reserves and creating long-term problems like demographic decline and social instability. Meanwhile, Ukraine has made some battlefield gains, and Russia’s failure to win quickly has weakened its reputation, with many countries now seeing it as a diminished power rather than a superpower. Overall, the war is likely to continue in the near term, but it is steadily eroding Russia’s strength, influence, and future prospects.”)

Thursday 26/2: An elusive interview

Cool morning, but abruptly warmed up by lunchtime, becoming rather humid. I walked to Southland SC and back.

One of my daily online visits is to Greg Lehey’s long-running site (previously: 25/1 entry). I first saw mention of him in a 2006 issue of Australian Personal Computer (APC) magazine; frustratingly, I cannot find this online archived anywhere! He notes his inteview for it twice in his diary:

  1. 1 August 2006: “In the afternoon, phone call from Tim Gaden of APC magazine, who wanted an interview for their column ‘Extreme Geek.’ Had quite a lively discussion; it’ll be interesting to see which parts he chooses for his column.”
  2. 11 October 2006:

    APC magazine came today, with an article about me as “Australia’s grandad sic of Unix”, a title to which I’m not really entitled. Still, the article (by Tim Gaden) was good, given the format. Reading it through myself, I found a couple of things that could easily be misinterpreted. In particular:

    Greg bought his first Apple a few years ago, hoping to find tighter GUI-OS integration in Macs. He describes Apple as the most successful Unix vendor ever, but was severely disappointed, saying Apple makes the same mistake as Microsoft: making PCs easier and prettier but severing the link between the GUI and the OS).

    This was pretty much what I said to Tim a couple of months ago. In retrospect, though, it’s not what I’m trying to say. The big issues I have with Apple (and Microsoft) are not so much to do with links as structures. In particular, I can’t find any clear organization in either system, and the idea of a path name for a file has all but disappeared – and that when they’re the basis of the concept of a URL. Also, this insistence on putting spaces in file names is evil. It breaks all file name list parsers I know, including all UNIX shells, find and Microsoft’s COMMAND.COM. If there’s one thing that I really hate, it’s that – and it’s avoidable.

That might be the November 2006 issue. The Internet Archive has a few issues from that year online – but, annoyingly, none from the months I want! And the interview is so old that it does not show up in online searches. I have been visiting his site ever since then, though.

Friday 27/2: Apple event imminent; old is not obsolete

A thunderstorm around 4 a.m. this morning; humid and unsettled weather for the next few days.

A bunch of new Apple products are being released next week, the most mildly interesting is the predicted “low-cost” MacBook, even more basic than the MacBook Air. Of course it will still be over $1,000 in Australian dollars, so certainly not low-cost here, and a very gimped laptop if the predicted features are proven correct. The colors are pretty (a green laptop at last!) but it will still be underpowered compared to even the M3 I have.

I wonder if I should have stayed with my Windows PC after all (or gotten a Windows-compatible laptop). I feel rather disenchanted with Apple – more specifically, macOS – as it has its own irritations and restrictions.

Riccardo Mori (previously: 17/1 entry) has a new thoughtful post up, “On software quality (and reliability, and frugality),” 25/2. (ChatGPT short summary: “Riccardo Mori responds to Nick Heer’s critique of modern software quality by arguing that older operating systems can still be reliable. The real issue, he says, isn’t reliability but compatibility — such as outdated browsers and dropped cloud support. He blames Apple’s rapid release cycle and the software-as-a-service model for encouraging unfinished, constantly changing software instead of polished, stable products. Mori now prioritizes stability and ownership over new features, avoids unnecessary upgrades, and is open to switching platforms if usability continues to decline.”)

Saturday 28/2: Missing computer magazines and shops; freeing mobile phones; RAM raiders; line-of-sight

Warm and very humid; rain and storms due later, and tomorrow.

Regarding the 2006 Greg Lehey interview (26/2 entry) I ordered a batch of 2006 APC magazines via eBay, so hopefully it will be in one of these.

That magazine is still being published monthly, but is a shadow of its former self, and is now the only computer magazine published in Australia, in sad contrast to the proliferation of such magazines from the 1980s to the 2000s. I also miss the little computer shops that used to be in many shopping centers, where you could go in and browse and buy all sorts of parts. Most of this has moved online but, as with bookshops, sometimes being able to browse in a physical store is much more satisfying.

“Towards a Sovereign Mobile Stack,” Tobias and Adrian at Modal Collective, 25/2. On the problem of mobile phones being very locked-down by their manufacturers and proprietary operating systems. (ChatGPT short summary: “The text argues that European ‘digital sovereignty’ efforts focus too much on cloud infrastructure while ignoring the key vulnerability: dependence on Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android. As more public services require smartphones, this duopoly poses strategic and political risks. The authors propose building a sovereign, open-source mobile stack based on Linux, the GNOME/GTK ecosystem, Flatpak/Flathub, and local-first networking. Much of the technology already exists, but targeted public funding is needed to make a viable European alternative a reality.”)

“I’m Tired Of These Useless Jackasses Making The Computer Expensive,” Chris Person, 19/2. A justified rant at the current AI madness that is disadvantaging ordinary computer users who want to upgrade their hardware. “RAM, flash memory, and HDDs are unaffordable because of a bunch of greedy idiots that do not love the computer.” (ChatGPT short summary: “The author argues that the current surge in RAM, SSD, HDD, and GPU prices is being driven largely by the AI boom, which has created massive data center demand and redirected manufacturing capacity away from consumers. With only a few major memory manufacturers – like SK Hynix, Micron, and Samsung – dominating the market, consumer hardware buyers are competing with AI companies willing to pay premium prices. As a result, everyday components have skyrocketed in cost, affecting everything from gaming hardware to small computers and DIY projects. The author sees this as an unsustainable speculative bubble that benefits tech investors and AI companies while harming ordinary users and smaller electronics businesses. They express deep frustration that their hobby – building and maintaining personal computers and servers like a NAS – is becoming unaffordable due to what they view as hype-driven, profit-focused AI expansion. Ultimately, the piece is a passionate defense of hands-on computing and a lament that AI speculation is distorting and damaging the broader computer ecosystem.”)

Via Jason Kottke, “The Longest Line Of Sight.” I looked at the calculation for my location:

Distance
89.5km
Bearing
143.0001°
From
−37.9189,145.043
To
−37.4308,144.236

This line-of-sight looks to the Brisbane Ranges, to the north-west of Melbourne – previously noted in my 17/6/2016 entries, and Places page, so my observation is confirmed! A very clear and still day is required to glimpse those mountains.

March

Sunday 1/3: Visited Mum

Warm and humid overnight and today. Felt a bit headachey into this morning. Visited Mum at Camberwell Gables; rang my sister, then Mum’s cousin Dawn Harbour so they could chat. Mum and I happy to see each other, but desperately missing Dad (21 weeks yesterday since his passing on 4/10/2025). A deep pain that will never be relieved.

Myki ticket inspectors passed through on the train going in; I had touched on (and had my Health Care Card for proof of concession fare) so no concerns.

Monday 2/3: Rain

Rain begain late yesterday and continued through today. Not welcome for me – makes using public transport even more onerous.

Not much to say today.

Tuesday 3/3: Apple iPhone and iPad upgrades; salute to a supercomputer

Gloomy clouds are slowly starting to lift. Feeling rather cold. Walked to Southland SC and back. Management there held one of their occasional (and annoying) emergency evacuation drills, so I did not bother staying, but headed homewards. Felt a bit irritable and off during the walk.

Release of two Apple products today: iPhone 17e and iPad Air M4. Neither very interesting, and both are gimped (M4 still has 60Hz screen, as does the 17e). Most vaguely interesting product is the rumored “low-cost” MacBook in various colors that will also be gimped.

“Why Sierra the Supercomputer Had to Die,” Wired, 26/2. Account of the complex decommissioning of a 7-year-old supercomputer. (ChatGPT short summary: “Sierra, a former top-ranked supercomputer at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, was retired after seven years despite still working. Aging hardware, lack of support, and the arrival of her far faster successor, El Capitan, made her obsolete. Because she handled classified nuclear simulations, her components were carefully destroyed or recycled, marking the typical end of a supercomputer’s life cycle.”) There is still something mystical and magical about these massively powerful computers, and the physical design of their architecture and containing racks looks cool, also!

Wednesday 4/3: How to look inside an epub in macOS

Overcast and gloomy; a slight drizzle this morning.

Found out how to unzip and rezip an epub book in the macOS Terminal! Something I could do easily in Windows (right-click on the file → Extract files, or similar – as much as I can recall) to view its contents, but not using right-click in macOS, frustratingly. Found the solution: Unzipping & Zipping ePub from Command Line. Right-click on the folder in which the ebook resides (New Terminal at Folder or New Terminal Tab at Folder).

One reason to wish to do this is that some epubs with images are very large (tens of MB or over 100 MB), so I might make a copy, then go inside the copy and delete the /images folder, and upload this to my iPhone to read.

Thursday 5/3: Article found! MacBook Neo announced

My magazines order arrived yesterday, and the Greg Lehey interview (26/2 entry) is in the November 2006 APC magazine! So I have made a page for it. So good to be able to find old memories like that!

The final release for this week’s Apple product announcements is the much-anticipated low-cost MacBook Neo. In Australia, the basic 8/256 model is $899 and the 8/516 model is $1,099. Despite its limitations, I might be tempted to trade in my M3 for the basic; my computing needs are modest. Unfortunately there is no green color option; only Citrus (yellow), Blush (pink), Indigo (blue) and silver. Indigo would be my color choice.

Friday 6/3: Doctor visit

Took the train (well, two train line changes) to visit Dr. Alison Zhang today in Hampton to renew a medical certificate. 50 minutes or so to get there, and another 50 back.

Saturday 7/3: Romanticizing predators; the right to shoot threats to livestock

A fine mild day. Walked to Southland SC and back, then to the library after lunch.

“Germany moves to legalise wolf hunting in response to livestock ‘bloodlust’,” The Guardian, 6/3. (ChatGPT short summary: “Germany’s lower house passed a bill allowing limited wolf hunting in areas with high populations and livestock attacks. Supporters say it protects farmers, while environmental groups oppose it and call for better livestock protection. The bill still needs approval from the upper house.”) I have grumbled before (7/9/2025) about what I regard as the misguided romanticization of animal predators in modern times, and this controversy is another example. Wolves and other predators such as bears were, in pre-industrial times, an existential threat to human livelihoods, as peasants depended upon their livestock for sustenance, so the predators were culled. There was a more pragmatic attitude towards animals, in contrast to the stupid elevating them to near-human status that is the trend now.

Farmers in Australia have some legal right to shoot stray dogs harassing their livestock; a quick search brought up this ABC News article from 2022: “Owners of dogs allegedly shot during livestock attack on Broome property call for law change.” “WA's Dog Act (1976) states if a dog is attacking livestock, the person in charge of the livestock can ‘lawfully shoot or otherwise destroy’ the dog.” The attitude of the dog owners is cringeworthy: “‘Fur-kids to us are our kids, if you can imagine if you had a child, and you couldn’t say goodbye … that’s how we feel about our animals," Ms Wilson said.” (“Fur-kids” – ugh! Pets are not equivalent to children.) I do remember Dad telling me this a couple of decades ago on a daytrip to the country, when our pet dog of then had been let out of the car for a break near a paddock and was wandering around a bit.