Latest Posts (20 found)
HeyDingus 2 weeks ago

2025 & 2026 Fitness Goals

I’m on a flight to Vegas for New Year’s with only about 30 minutes left before touchdown, so let’s quick recap a few fitness-related goals I set out to achieve in 2025. I have a friend who, a few years ago, set out to do 360,000 feet of elevation gain in a year. That seemed a big bite to chew, so I settled for 500 feet per day — or 182,500 feet in 2025. Well, I crushed it. I did a ton of hiking this year for work, plus a bunch of uphill ski touring last winter. They contributed to 319,914 feet of elevation gain tracked this year. I only counted ascents during workouts like hikes, skiing, and running, so my overall number with rock and ice climbing, and day-to-day life is likely much higher. Maybe I could have gone for 365,000 after all! (I love that the little tracker I built for my self tells me that I’m 275 days ahead of schedule on this goal. 😆 ) I aimed to run a total of 365 miles this year. One mile per day seemed pretty reasonable, but this goal was a real challenge. I love to run, but going through motions of getting ready and out the door are sometimes a challenge to push myself to do. And momentum plays a huge role. If I miss one run, I’m more likely to miss the next. Suddenly, I haven’t gone out in weeks and the mileage needed to catch up starts looking daunting. By the end of November I still needed to run over 100 miles — almost a full third of the total mileage for the year. I needed to decide if I was going to commit to it or not. Thanksgiving’s Turkey Trot was the clincher. I had a great time, and was all in. But it meant I needed to average four miles of running every day until the end of the year. I started putting in the miles, trying to go more than four miles any opportunity I got in an effort to get ahead. Six miles turned out to be my sweet spot, but I managed to eek in a few eight, 10, and even 13.1 (half-marathon) runs. Even so, getting runs in around the holidays and my work days that are often 10+ hours was a big challenge. I ran on treadmills (yuck), in the 0°F or colder temps, and when I was sick. But, in the end, I got it done. 114 miles over 17 run in December. Next year, I won’t leave it so late in the year. 😅 Though I’ve guided most of the Adirondack high peaks multiple times, there were still a few that I hadn’t yet summited. This had to be the year I got them done! I hiked the last of the 4,000+ foot tall peaks, Big Slide, on July 30th of this year. It was my 132nd high peak summit. Feels great to have that off my back! These number-based goals seem to do well to motivate me, especially when I can break them down to daily or weekly totals. With that I mind, I’m aiming for three 365-based objectives. I’m not setting an elevation goal because I think that just comes with my profession now, and I often have to defer to the mountains that my clients want to hike. But I’ll keep an eye on the total, and if I get close to 365,000 feet, you know I’ll be gunning for it! Mostly these goals are intended as motivation to continue to get outside and do what I love. The added bonus of getting to tick off a few more miles or pitches on the chart is sometimes just enough to get me off the couch. 2026, bring it on! HeyDingus is a blog by Jarrod Blundy about technology, the great outdoors, and other musings. If you like what you see — the blog posts , shortcuts , wallpapers , scripts , or anything — please consider leaving a tip , checking out my store , or just sharing my work. Your support is much appreciated! I’m always happy to hear from you on social , or by good ol' email . A repeat of my 365 miles of running. (I’m going to think of it as seven miles a week this time. I know I can bust out six miles pretty easily at this point, so one of those and one more run a week would keep me on or ahead of schedule.) 365 miles of biking. (I didn’t hardly touch my bike this year, and I want to change that!) And 365 pitches of rock and ice climbing. (I haven’t even checked how many pitches I climbed this year… It could be a reasonable number, or might turn out to be a massive undertaking. We’ll see!)

sports Sports
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HeyDingus 1 months ago

I’m not a ring guy, but…

I’m not a ring guy. My parents had to cajole me into getting a class ring back in high school, telling me that it would be something that I would later regret if I didn’t get one. So I got one, tried wearing it, and ended up hating the feeling of it always spinning ’ round my finger. And then I lost it in my bowling ball bag for like a year. I’ve got no idea where it is today. My next ring was my wedding band. Again, following customary traditions, I spent so much of my savings on an engagement and wedding ring combo for my wife. But for my own ring, I wasn’t particular. I looked around online for design ideas, liked the look of a tungsten one, found one for like $15 on Amazon, and clicked ‘ Buy Now’. It still looks good as new over seven years later. And while I liked the feel of it better than my old class ring since it was symmetrical and didn’t tend to fall to one side of my finger or the other, I still prefer my fingers unornamented. In fact, since becoming a mountain guide, I’ve worn my wedding band on a piece of cord around my neck, lest it get wedged in a rock somewhere while I’m climbing, which could be disastrous. I’d like to get a tattooed ring on my finger someday. 1 Likewise, I’ve tended to be skeptical of the fitness rings, such as the Oura , partly because I figure I’d dislike wearing it at least as much as any other ring. But also because my Apple Watch already handles all my fitness tracking, and I wouldn’t want another thing to remember to charge. All that being said, I’m as surprised as anyone that the Index 01 , Pebble’s latest gadget, caught my interest. It’s a ring, but instead of packing in more features than its competition, the Index is designed to do less . Its primary role is to be an ever-present way to record short notes-to-self. It’s got a tiny LED and a little microphone that’s activated by pressing a physical button. That’s it. Eric Migicovsky, Pebble’s founder, is selling the Index as “ external memory for your brain”. It doesn’t have any fitness tracking sensors. It doesn’t record everything around you, 24/7, like other AI gadgets , to make a perfect transcript of your life. It’s basically a dedicated personal note taker, and that’s what makes it so interesting to me. In fact, I’ve been trying to solve this ‘ take a quick note’ problem on my own for years. My brain comes up with its best ideas when I’m out for a hike, but that’s also when I least want to pull out my phone to type it out. So, I rigged up a solution with Apple Shortcuts to trigger voice-to-text with my iPhone’s Action button so that I can easily save my ideas and to-dos to Drafts without breaking stride. But it’s an imperfect solution as I look a little goofy in front of my clients when I mutter into my phone in the backcountry. Plus, I have to have my phone with me, and the audio isn’t saved, just the transcript. The Index remedies a lot of that rigmarole by virtue of being a dedicated device that’s always with you, that saves the audio recording, and that’s less intrusive and distracting than pulling out a smartphone. The physical button. You have to hold it down to make a recording. No wondering if it’s working. Migicovsky insists it has a great click-feel, and I’m inclined to believe him. It’s designed to be worn on your index finger, putting the button always in reach of your thumb to start a recording. That’s so smart, as it means it can be used discreetly with one hand. My Apple Watch often needs to be operated with the other hand, and its raise-to-speak to Siri feature is somewhat unreliable. Adding the button was a great idea. You can’t charge it. This one’s a bit controversial, I know. Just read the comments on the announcement video — it’s basically the only thing people are talking about. The non-replaceable battery is a bummer, but I get it. I’d want a ring to be as unobtrusive as possible, and leaving out the charging bits and accessible battery cuts down on a lot of bulk. It’s definitely more svelte than an Oura. Furthermore, I have enough gadgets that I need to remember to charge every day. If it can just stay on my finger, it has a way higher chance of becoming an ingrained workflow. While I don’t want to contribute to e-waste, Pebble says they’ll recycle it when the battery dies, supposedly in two or so years with typical use. The price. If this thing cost $300+, like most smart rings , I certainly wouldn’t be psyched to replace it every two years. But at $99 ($75 for pre-orders), I think they priced it well to be a reasonable curiosity purchase. And it’s a one-time payment — there’s no ongoing subscription cost! Additional actions. While its primary purpose — and my main interest in it — rests with its always-ready note-taking, it sounds like the Index can do a little processing and take action on some commands. From the announcement post : Actions: While the primary task is remembering things for you, you can also ask it to do things like ‘ Send a Beeper message to my wife - running late’ or answer simple questions that could be answered by searching the web. You can configure button clicks to control your music - I love using this to play/pause or skip tracks. You can also configure where to save your notes and reminders (I have it set to add to Notion). Customizable and hackable: Configure single/double button clicks to control whatever you want (take a photo, turn on lights, Tasker, etc). Add your own voice actions via MCP . Or route the audio recordings directly to your own app or server! Supposedly, you’ll be able to hook it up to MCP to do more AI stuff with the recordings. I don’t know enough about MCP , so that’s not of huge interest to me. But if it can send quick messages, make reminders and calendar events, and control audio playback — and do so reliably — that’d be pretty great. Works offline. It doesn’t have or need an internet connection to work. Transferring the audio file goes directly to your phone, and the transcription is done there, on-device. If you set those additional actions that need the internet, that’s another story, but the Index will serve its primary purpose offline, without sending your (potentially very personal) recordings to anyone’s servers. Less-than-stellar water-resistance. Pebble’s billed the Index as something that you never have to take off, but then notes it’s water-resistant only to 1 meter. They note, “ You can wash your hands, do dishes, and shower with it on, but we don’t recommend swimming with it.” That’s not a deal-breaker, but I’ve grown so used to not worrying about swimming with my watch that I’d be a little grumpy about having to remember to take off my ring before jumping in a pool or lake. Short answer, yes. I’m intrigued enough that I placed a pre-order this morning. But I’m still a little iffy on whether I’ll keep it. As I mentioned, I wear my wedding band as a necklace so that it doesn’t put my finger at risk when I’m climbing. That would still be a factor with the Index. But I’m willing to give it a shot. My wife insists that I put my wedding ring back on my finger for date night, or culturally significant events like weddings and such. I don’t mind. ↩︎ HeyDingus is a blog by Jarrod Blundy about technology, the great outdoors, and other musings. If you like what you see — the blog posts , shortcuts , wallpapers , scripts , or anything — please consider leaving a tip , checking out my store , or just sharing my work. Your support is much appreciated! I’m always happy to hear from you on social , or by good ol' email . Actions: While the primary task is remembering things for you, you can also ask it to do things like ‘ Send a Beeper message to my wife - running late’ or answer simple questions that could be answered by searching the web. You can configure button clicks to control your music - I love using this to play/pause or skip tracks. You can also configure where to save your notes and reminders (I have it set to add to Notion). Customizable and hackable: Configure single/double button clicks to control whatever you want (take a photo, turn on lights, Tasker, etc). Add your own voice actions via MCP . Or route the audio recordings directly to your own app or server! My wife insists that I put my wedding ring back on my finger for date night, or culturally significant events like weddings and such. I don’t mind. ↩︎

Electronics hardware Hardware culture Culture
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HeyDingus 1 months ago

Grandma Beck

My maternal grandmother, Laureen Ann Beck, passed away recently. We had a memorial service for her yesterday, filled with family and friends. Here are the reflections of her that I shared at the service. Grandma Beck was a wonderful woman. Whenever I think of her, the first thing that comes to mind is her warmth. The fullness of her laugh. The tightness of her hugs. The fondness in her eyes as she looked at her husband, her daughters, and her grandkids. The second thing that comes to mind is her ruthlessness when it came to beating the pants off all of us when playing family board games. She had a wit sharp as anything — you had to in order to keep up with Grandpa — and deployed it masterfully. Once we knew the rules, Grandma didn’t give an inch whether we were playing Sorry , UNO , or Parcheesi . Parcheesi is still my favorite board game to this day, precisely because it still brings a smile to my face thinking back on the many evenings spent at the kitchen table at the Lake House — and how we used to beg Grandma to take it easy on us, and how we’d then laugh and laugh when she wouldn’t. To be fair, we never went easy on her, either. Heading down to Colon to see Grandma and Grandpa was always a treat growing up. Partly because it meant getting out of the normal routine and spending time with family that we didn’t see all that often. Partly because I loved getting out on the water, speeding along in the boat, on skis, or getting jetted out of the water tube when my Dad, Aunt Bobbi, or Grandpa were driving. But it was also a favorite time because of the food. Grandma always made a point of cooking our favorite meals when we were visiting. For me, of course, that was spaghetti. Her recipe is still the one that I love most in the world. I remember back when I was 8 or 9 years old and was spending some time with Grandma and Grandpa by myself for a few days, I was a little nervous to be that far from home on my own. But as soon as I walked in the front door and smelled the spaghetti simmering on the stove, I knew it was going to be a great time. She had remembered, and that meant so much to me. Now, I’ve never been one to love cooking, but when we were at the Lake House as a family, all the grandkids helped in the kitchen — and Grandma made it fun learning how to cook new dishes. Whether it was a grand Thanksgiving feast stretched across the dining room table, or simple sandwiches in the kitchen after getting off the water, mealtimes brought all of us together, which you could tell was always Grandma’s favorite time. She sure loved us, and made sure we felt it. But what I especially enjoyed was learning how to make pies from scratch with her and my mom. Pressing, kneading, and stretching the fresh dough took patience and skill. Two things that I didn’t have right away, which was frustrating, but still okay because Grandma never made us feel bad about not getting it quite right, and we got to eat the scraps of dough that didn’t make the cut for the crust. And then I could practice the next time — make it a little faster, a little tastier, with a little fancier weave on top. When I think about slowly getting better at a skill over a long period of time — something that I teach frequently in my career — I think about baking pies in that kitchen. Still, I never got the hang of crimping the edge quite as well as Grandma could. In her later years, the thing I enjoyed most when talking with Grandma was about the books she was reading. Grandma’s always been a voracious reader, but when she started listening to more audiobooks, it felt more like a shared activity. I’ve always adored listening to stories, and stayed up waaaaay too late listening to tape after tape of Harry Potter at the lowest volume possible on my bedroom boombox growing up. Talking to Grandma about all the different books she picked up from the library gave me a better appreciation for the breadth of her personal interests — and I was always tickled when a book she enjoyed overlapped with one that I liked too. It’s how I’ve enjoyed picturing her these last few years as mobility became more challenging — comfortable in her chair, eyes closed, but face obviously intent, listening to the next story. It’s what she’s probably doing now. Spending long-awaited quality time with Grandpa — telling and listening to stories of her family. I loved her, and I’ll miss her. As I know we all will. But we’ll remember her, each in our own way. For me, it’ll be when I eat spaghetti or bake a pie, when I start a new audiobook, or when I break out Parcheesi — which I brought with me in case anyone is up for a round later. I won’t go easy on you, because Grandma sure wouldn’t. HeyDingus is a blog by Jarrod Blundy about technology, the great outdoors, and other musings. If you like what you see — the blog posts , shortcuts , wallpapers , scripts , or anything — please consider leaving a tip , checking out my store , or just sharing my work. Your support is much appreciated! I’m always happy to hear from you on social , or by good ol' email .

writing Writing culture Culture
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HeyDingus 2 months ago

Micro.blog offers an indie alternative to YouTube with its ‘Studio’ video hosting plan

The core of Micro.blog’s mission is to make it easy for people to own their presence on the web. At first, it was a simple blog host that also incorporated a Twitter-like social timeline that put short (title-less) and long (titled) posts on equal footing. In the years since its 2017 launch, Manton Reece — Micro.blog’s founder — has added a plethora of features that expand upon that mission. Here’s a list off the top of my head: All of this is hosted on your own website, (optionally, but strongly encouraged) at your own domain name. I’ve never seen anything else like it. There are plans ranging from $1/month to $15/month that include subsets of these features, depending on how much a blogging “ power user” you are. Reece’s next 1 big foray with Micro.blog: video hosting, which launched yesterday . Micro.blog Studio adds longer video hosting for your blog, with uploads up to 20 minutes. You can read  some of the technical bits here . It can automatically copy videos to PeerTube and Bluesky too. That’s a quaint description for what promises to be a significant challenge. 2 Because if hosting videos were easy, YouTube wouldn’t be the only 3 game in town. And that’s exactly why Reece has pursued it . It’s not good for the open web for so much of its video content to live centralized at one host. John Gruber lamented this following Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension: The big problem is YouTube. With YouTube, Google has a centralized chokehold on video. We need a way that’s as easy and scalable to host video content, independently, as it is for written content. I don’t know what the answer to that is, technically, but we ought to start working on it with urgency. Just like Micro.blog encourages people to own their text, reading lists, podcasts, photos, and social network interactions at their own domain, that ethos now extends to videos too. One of the great things about Micro.blog is how it enables the Publish to Own Site, Syndicate Elsewhere ( POSSE ) framework. That’s manifested in features like its automatic crossposting to Bluesky, Flickr, LinkedIn, Mastodon, Medium, Nostr, Pixelfed, Threads, and Tumblr. And manual crossposting elsewhere. This allows the “ source of truth” to be at your own website that you control, but you won’t miss out on conversations and audiences in other places. With expanded video hosting, Reece has added PeerTube as another automatic crossposting destination, and hopes to also enable YouTube if and when Google approves his application. It’s not about only posting to your website, but instead centralizing your website as the first and primary place you post and then getting your text, images, audio, and now video out to other networks from there. As you can probably tell, I’m pretty excited about Micro.blog taking on the challenge of being that ’ indie-focused, YouTube alternative” that Reece envisioned . I haven’t upgraded my plan yet, but only because I mainly post shorter videos (covered by my current ‘ Premium’ plan), but I’m very glad it now exists as an option. There’s never been a better time to own your spot on the web. If you haven’t checked out Micro.blog before, I think it’s a compelling place to look. Update 2025-11-11: I was in a hurry when I posted this earlier, and it slipped my mind to include some wants and wishes that I have for Micro.blog’s video hosting capabilities. It’s a short list, due to both Reece’s solid offering from the outset, and my lack of imagination. 😆 Scale time limits across the tiers. I really think video hosting would be a stronger offering if it were available more consistently across Micro.blog’s tiers. For example, 1-minute videos at $5/month, 5-minute videos at $10/month, 10-minute videos at $15/month, and 20-minute videos at $20/month. All with the same capabilities, but limited by length. This was something that I know Reece considered, but ultimately decided against in the name of simplicity. He didn’t want to muck up the existing plans, and (rightly) considers them a tremendous value with their current features. He obviously hopes that people will upgrade to the higher-priced Studio plan specifically for the new video stuff. But I think tying some video features (multiple resolutions and fast playback on your blog) to the 20-minute time limit and $20 plan creates more confusion, a feature gap, and missed opportunity. Take me for example. I think I could reasonably say that I’m a Micro.blog power user. But even I’m not sure if I’m correct in saying that those unique features are limited to the Studio plan. I know everyone gets video uploads up to 1 minute in length. (Maybe not everyone, though. Does Micro.one users at $1/month get the “ new” video features? I’m not sure. Historically, most of the videos I post are around 90 seconds in length. I’m far more likely to shave 30 seconds off my videos to fit a 1-minute time limit than I am to double my monthly cost to show those extra 30 seconds. There’s too big a gap between 1-minute videos and 20-minute videos to make it seem worthwhile. In my mind, I’d be “ wasting” the extra $10/month ($120/year) by not posting 20-minute videos. But I’d be more likely to pay a little extra money for a little extra time. And then if I started hitting that new limit, I’d feel incentivized and validated graduating up to the next tier. I worry that Reece will see more infrastructure cost with a bunch of 1-minute videos being uploaded and served, but won’t see an accompanying bump in revenue, since we’re all getting the 1-minute videos for “ free, and I don’t see a significant portion of Micro.blog users needing the 20-minutes. Said one more way, I think giving people a little headroom to grow into hosting their videos on Micro.blog will make them more likely to upgrade over time. Once that habit has solidified, and users are comfortable with it, paying $5 more for the next jump in time limit isn’t a big ask. But jumping right into the Studio plan for $10-$15 extra is kind of off-putting. The gap between 1 minute and 20 is just too big. Support 4K resolution. A pie-in-the-sky request, I know. 4K videos are huge. But I can nearly always see the difference, and choose higher quality playback every time. I’d love for my videos to appear at full-quality if they’re uploaded that way. To be clear, Micro.blog has had the ability to host videos — or nearly any other kind of file upload — and show them on your blog for years. But it’s been limited by file size, not an optimized part of the offering. The Studio tier makes it a first-rate feature, with smooth playback, automatic conversion to multiple resolutions, and ups the limit to a healthy 20 minutes no matter the file size. And the old file size-limited video uploads should still work for folks who rely on that workflow. 👌 ↩︎ Here’s a little more on the what and the why from Reece. ↩︎ Sure, Vimeo exists, but it’s expensive and limited, and it’s future is uncertain . Plus, you’re still posting to a domain. And, of course, many people post videos to Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, X, and other social networks. But I’d argue that videos there serve the algorithm first and users second. Micro.blog’s Studio tier flips that. It’s meant to serve the user first, and there is no algorithm at all. ↩︎ HeyDingus is a blog by Jarrod Blundy about technology, the great outdoors, and other musings. If you like what you see — the blog posts , shortcuts , wallpapers , scripts , or anything — please consider leaving a tip , checking out my store , or just sharing my work. Your support is much appreciated! I’m always happy to hear from you on social , or by good ol' email . Hosting podcasts Bookmarking/archiving webpages Fediverse compatibility with native replies to Mastodon and novel reply gathering from Bluesky Crossposting to other social networks Photo blogging Custom domain name registration Private notes Book/Movie/TV Show blogging Reading tracking Automatic newsletters Open APIs to manage your content To be clear, Micro.blog has had the ability to host videos — or nearly any other kind of file upload — and show them on your blog for years. But it’s been limited by file size, not an optimized part of the offering. The Studio tier makes it a first-rate feature, with smooth playback, automatic conversion to multiple resolutions, and ups the limit to a healthy 20 minutes no matter the file size. And the old file size-limited video uploads should still work for folks who rely on that workflow. 👌 ↩︎ Here’s a little more on the what and the why from Reece. ↩︎ Sure, Vimeo exists, but it’s expensive and limited, and it’s future is uncertain . Plus, you’re still posting to a domain. And, of course, many people post videos to Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, X, and other social networks. But I’d argue that videos there serve the algorithm first and users second. Micro.blog’s Studio tier flips that. It’s meant to serve the user first, and there is no algorithm at all. ↩︎

web-development Web Development
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HeyDingus 2 months ago

7 Things This Week [#181]

A weekly-ish list of interesting things I found on the internet. Sometimes themed, often not. 1️⃣ Greg Morris points out some minor oddities in the recent Apple Event. I noticed a few of them myself, but not all. [ 🔗 gregmorris.co.uk ] 2️⃣ Dr. Drang points out how the fitness trend suggestions in Apple’s fitness app aren’t so smart. I agree, they’re either too vague or too specific and I hardly look at them anymore. Needs a rethink. [ 🔗 leancrew.com ] 3️⃣ Matt Birchler’s got some good thoughts on LLM costs regarding token usage and cutting edge models. I think he’s spot on. [ 🔗 birchtree.me ] 4️⃣ The visual and production work in this iPhone review is absolutely incredible. I can’t imagine how it was made in just a few days. ( Via Matt Birchler ) [ ▶️ youtube.com ] 5️⃣ If you’ve ever used the CARROT Weather, you’ll be used to getting the unexpected out of this app. But I admit, I was surprised by an impressive musical number featuring its developer, Brian Mueller. [ ▶️ youtube.com ] 6️⃣ Stephen Hackett was right, this blog post evaluating macOS versions, but in reverse, is required reading. [ 🔗 rakhim.exotext.com ] 7️⃣ “ AI art might eventually have the right number of fingers, but it’ll never have a heart.” The Oatmeal gets you right in the feels. [ 🔗 theoatmeal.com ] Thanks for reading 7 Things . If you enjoyed these links or have something neat to share, please let me know . And remember that you can get more links to internet nuggets that I’m finding every day by following me @jarrod on the social web. HeyDingus is a blog by Jarrod Blundy about technology, the great outdoors, and other musings. If you like what you see — the blog posts , shortcuts , wallpapers , scripts , or anything — please consider leaving a tip , checking out my store , or just sharing my work. Your support is much appreciated! I’m always happy to hear from you on social , or by good ol' email .

Technology entertainment Entertainment ios iOS
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HeyDingus 3 months ago

It’s on Apple TV

The madness just got madder. ‘ Apple TV+’ is now just ‘ Apple TV ’ . I noticed something was off right away when I saw Apple’s streaming date announcement for F1 : The Movie . They said the movie “ will make its global streaming debut on Apple TV on Friday, December 12.” I caught the lack of the “ +” immediately, and, knowing Apple doesn’t often make those kind of copyrighting mistakes, I wondered what it meant. Were they going to license the movie out to other streaming services that can be watched on the Apple TV box or in the Apple TV app in addition to their own Apple TV+ service? The answer is found at the bottom of the announcement (on their blog that’s still called ‘ Apple TV+ Press’ at the moment): Apple TV+ is now simply Apple TV , with a vibrant new identity. Ahead of its global streaming debut on Apple TV , the film continues to be available for purchase on participating digital platforms, including the Apple TV app, Amazon Prime Video, Fandango at Home and more. It’s an app . A streaming service . An entertainment box . A storefront . Are you getting it? These are not four separate products. Oh, wait — yes, they are — but we’re still calling them all Apple TV . You watch Apple TV shows in the Apple TV app on the Apple TV box. But you can also get Apple TV on Fire TV . And you can get Apple TV from the Apple Store. Or Apple Store app. Or the App Store. It’s Apple TV all the way down. Or, I guess, simply, it’s on Apple TV . Putting my cynical hat aside for a moment, I kind of get it. It seems clear to me that a major part of reason to drop the “ Plus” branding is that celebrities with titles on the service and normal folks alike simply didn’t remember it. I’ve heard more promotions for shows and movies that could be found “ on Apple” or “ on Apple TV ” than I ever have for “ Apple TV Plus”. I’ve done it myself when recommending shows to friends — it felt kind of nerdy to say, “ There’s this great show I love called Trying . It’s on Apple TV Plus.” (It totally is a great show.) I, the Apple nerd and TV+ fanatic, would shorten it down to “ it’s on Apple TV .” So, yeah, I get it even if I don’t love it. I am curious, though, about that “ vibrant new identity” they mentioned. I was just thinking the other day that while other streaming services has gone through change after change to their branding and visual/auditory design, I appreciate how Apple TV+ has stayed consistent since day one . Their network ident , that black and white fade in of the logo with the spotlight shining through the “ +”, along with the deep thrum sound signature — a play on the beautiful Mac startup chime — it really felt timeless. Something that could last. I liked it. And it worked so well alongside their (also great) Apple Original Films introduction reel . I wonder how much of that identity will stick around. Can’t wait to watch Apple TV on Apple TV in Apple TV I too have a vibrant new identity # AppleTV Genuinely excited to see what this means for the service in terms of growth and potential tiers, as well as the app, storefront and hardware. Is there room for an Apple TV+ tier that includes rental access, lossy audio, and more? Is there room for an Apple TV Pro? Unpopular reality check: Most people in real life just call it Apple TV . They know what they mean. “ The Apple one”. Renaming the service to Apple TV is cleaner, and totally a non-issue. Only nerds obsess about naming these things. Nobody in real life will ever say the sentence “ The TV app for Apple TV on Apple TV ” . Only people here do. Apple TV+ Apple TV Apple TV GO Apple TV Now Apple TV Max Max Suggested name revisions: Apple TV (hardware) ➡️ Apple HDMI box thingy Apple TV (app) ➡️ iTunes Apple TV (service) ➡️ Not Netflix, the Other One If the new Apple TV 4K is somehow named “ Apple Home Hub Max” I’ll flip a table Imagine if the hardware was called iPhone and it contained an app called iPhone, which was also available on Android, full of lots but not all of your content and you could buy an optional subscription with extra content …called iPhone I have acquired a + from an undisclosed seller and am now known as Matt+ HeyDingus is a blog by Jarrod Blundy about technology, the great outdoors, and other musings. If you like what you see — the blog posts , shortcuts , wallpapers , scripts , or anything — please consider leaving a tip , checking out my store , or just sharing my work. Your support is much appreciated! I’m always happy to hear from you on social , or by good ol' email .

entertainment Entertainment media Media
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HeyDingus 4 months ago

Post-Apple Event Gadget Waffling

I enjoyed writing gut reactions to the product announcements live during the event, but here’s how things are shaping up for my apple.com shopping cart plans, given a little more time and consideration. Shocker, they’re fairly in line with my pre-event predictions . While the iPhone Air certainly has the thin/light/new appeal, the more I compare , the more I’m leaning toward the Pro for a few reasons: ​ I’ll wait for reviews to come out next week to make my final decision, but that’s what I’m thinking at the moment. I could sway either way because damn that iPhone Air looks so good . I already locked down the Apple Watch Ultra 3 with a pre-order this afternoon. Had to do some quick wrist measurements for the Titanium Milanese Loop (I’m right between a small and medium, so I went with the medium-sized band), but getting an Ultra 3 was an easy decision with how much I liked the original. I waffled a bit on doing a trade-in of my Ultra 1, but ultimately went for it. I’ll keep using an old Series 5 as a night watch/alarm clock, or maybe I can get back into the one-watch lifestyle with improved battery life and charging speed. I’m pretty excited for it to arrive on the 19th. While the AirPods Pro 3 look really like quite an update, I’m not ready to pull the trigger on them — yet. The Pros have never fit my ears very well, and while I may give them a try at some point, I’m perfectly happy with my AirPods 4 with ANC . Touting the new Pros as the “ best-fitting AirPods ever” has me curious, but consider me still skeptical that they’d stay in my ears. No AirPods purchase for me today. HeyDingus is a blog by Jarrod Blundy about technology, the great outdoors, and other musings. If you like what you see — the blog posts , shortcuts , wallpapers , scripts , or anything — please consider leaving a tip , checking out my store , or just sharing my work. Your support is much appreciated! I’m always happy to hear from you on social , or by good ol' email . ​ Camera system. I use the camera so much these days for work, and the .5x ultrawide lens is pretty important for the mountain photography I take. Having a better telephoto lens would be great, too. Screen size. I’m not thrilled about the even bigger screen of the Air. I already struggle somewhat with one-handed usage with the regular-sized 16. ​Battery life. I’m tired of worrying about it. The Air actually has better battery life than my 16, but not by much, and it’s not uncommon for me to need to charge up during the day as it is. Orange. Need I say more? (The iPhone Air’s colors, while illustrious with their high polish finish, are lackluster to me​.) Future Fold. I’m mega tempted by the rumors of the iPhone Fold. It’s bound to be even heavier, so getting used to an incremental bump up in weight this year might prepare me for that hefty boy.

Electronics
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HeyDingus 4 months ago

Live Thoughts on Apple’s September Event

Always good when the keynote stream starts with me doing a spit take. “Design is how it works. That’s why we made half the interface illegible” why does the apple keynote keep cutting to some old white trump stan Apple loves to talk about how many ears they’ve looked at An illegible new watch face is an appropriate way to “ celebrate” Liquid Glass. If your blood pressure spikes while listening to the US president speak, let Tim know Can’t wait for my Apple Watch to tell me how shitty my sleep is. I’ve never seen my timeline so negative during an # AppleEvent and honestly I’m so proud. Fuck Tim Cook for ruining what used to be such an exciting day for us Apple nerds idk 42 hours of battery life definitely sounds bigger than the 10 hours my apple watch ultra 1 now lasts It’s 90% faster at gaming but checking Slack is still slow. looks the iphone started working with my trainer Going to start referring to my forehead as an iconic plateau “All-day battery life” proceeds to present a battery pack accessory # AppleEvent THE BUMPER IS BACK BABY What if Jony Ive voice but female Only British people can talk about materials. ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE ORANGE We also drink every time they say “ vapor chamber”. Cheers! I’d be pretty thin too if you ignore the bulky bits that stick out of me “Fuck it, we’re doing seven layers”. Nothing says Pro like “ We offer ProRes RAW video support, but you cannot adjust the gain level on an external mic.” Is there really no black Pro phone? Somebody check on @ gruber HeyDingus is a blog by Jarrod Blundy about technology, the great outdoors, and other musings. If you like what you see — the blog posts , shortcuts , wallpapers , scripts , or anything — please consider leaving a tip , checking out my store , or just sharing my work. Your support is much appreciated! I’m always happy to hear from you on social , or by good ol' email . Did they say foam tips for the new AirPods? Moving away from silicone tips? In-person live translation looks amazing. But you’ll need a newer iPhone for it to work, I’m sure. “ Best-fitting AirPods ever” huh? Maybe they’re worth another shot . Finally, you can start workouts with just your iPhone! I wonder if it’ll work with other heart-rate monitors, or just Apple’s headphones. Looks like a great update! Here comes the tear-jerker video… No more Jeff Williams to head off Apple Watch, and we’ll see if Jay Blahnik ’ s a no-show as well. Update: Was not seen. Yay, 5G ! No snark, I was fighting the watch’s cellular connection just this morning. Hopefully this will help. Whoa, they’re going after high blood pressure! Didn’t think we’d see anything about this for a few more years. That’s (potentially) huge. Sleep Score is nice, I guess. I’ve used third-party apps in the past, but never found the data very actionable. I’ll try it out. Damn, 24-hours of battery life on the Series 11. They’ve hit the full-day milestore. Huh, Space Gray is back! Welcome back, old buddy. “ The most powerful watch chip, S10 .” That doesn’t bode well for a faster watch chip coming today. But maybe it’ll come in the Ultra. JK , the S10 is a new chip! Double turns out, the S10 chip debuted last year in the Series 10 Watch. Which I guess makes sense. So now the whole lineup has caught up and has the S10 , but they didn’t make a new watch chip this year. 😕 Lots of great improvements for the SE — it’s much easier to recommend now, particiularly with the always-on display. Stephen Hackett will be happy, even though it didn’t get the price drop it deserves. Awesome, bigger display without a bigger case size. Also getting 5G , unsurprisingly. Woot woot! Sattellite connectivity not just for SOS , but the full messaging and location experience that’s on iPhone 42 hours of battery life. Yay! The case is 3D-printed. Wild! No mention of GPS improvements. I’m really hoping that perhaps the issue is just with my particular watch and that this new one will be better anyway. No mention of any on-device Apple Intelligence, like for workout buddy. That’s a miss in my books, I won’t run with my iPhone. Probably needs a new chip, which it also didn’t get. Oof, I’d forgotten the Ultra is $800. But available to order today! That’ll be happening here at HeyDingus central momentarily… Four new models, as expected… Probably the device I’m least interested in today. Hmm… wit that reveal video, it doesn’t look like anything is different than the 16. It was all software features they were showing off. Ahh, it does have a slightly bigger display. And with ProMotion — the first in a non-Pro device. Better scratch resistance on that new screen — but they always say that. Will it actually be any better? 50% charge in 20 minutes sounds quite good. 500 billion selfies last year. Wow. Anything they can do to improve selfies is good in my book. Ooh, a square sensor with easy switching of framing options. That’s nice! I’ll be glad to not feel like I’m going to fumble my phone trying to get a landscape selfie. Starts at 256GB storage! That bump would have been nice last year. I wonder if that comes with a similar bump in price… Keeps the titanium. And glass on both sides. Didn’t see that coming. “ Iconic Plateau” “ With the power of Pro inside”. This is gonna be pricy. The edges look a little more rounded, giving it an even thinner look. Ahh… they’ve packed way more of the guts into that camera bar, including the silicon. Cool. Will probably keep the hottest parts away from your hand. Tim Millet got out of the lab. AI accelleration via the GPU . Interesting… they usually refer the AI talk to their neural cores. I wonder what they’ll do with that extra power. N1 (for Networking) and C1X (for Cellular) chips. They sound great! I wonder if C1X will have the faster version of 5G (the C1 didn’t). Not a big deal either way. Single camera. This may be it’s downfall for me. I’ll have to wait for reviews to know if it can hang. Dual-capture video is going to be huge for content creators. They’re talking about eSIM. Interesting. They’ve had it forever, so what’s new here? Ah, it’s eSIM-only worldwide. Some countries still had physical SIM version. “ All-day battery life.” But they didn’t quote time or compare to other iPhones. 40 hours of battery life for video playback with the new MagSafe battery. Hmm. That’s not super convincing. This is pretty tempting. Starting from scratch, huh? Ah, they’re justifying the move away from titanium to alumium (first in a Pro phone) with a sexy industrial manufacturing video. Biggest battery. Looks pretty thick. Hopefully lighter though? And there’s the orange! Like the color, wish it came to the Air. Lots of presenters in Apple Stores around the world. I like it. They have beautiful architecture. They’re talking a lot about thermal management today. They must have gotten the feedback that their last few phones were too warm to the touch too often. Seems like the Pro ate the Air’s extra battery with how much they keep mentioning it. 39 hours of video playback without a battery pack. 48 MP cameras across the board on the back is pretty awesome. Fusion cameras across the board too. I like that the zoom levels are .5x, 1x, 2x, 4x, 8x. They double at every jump, which makes my brain happy. Really pretty photos taken by professional photographers. But that’s always been the case. It’d be more fun if they put it in the hands of camera normies like me and let them try their best. Joz says, “ How cool is that?” It’s really cool how much pro video stuff they pack into these iPhones. It’s way over my head, but I love that it puts so much power in creatives’ hands. TechWoven cases that offer great “ scratch and stain resistance”. That’s some FineWoven trauma right there. You can bet people will be putting that claim to the test. The Apple logo placement looks good in the center of the two-tone “ glass” panel on the white and orange, but looks goofily low on the blue where the contrast is less. iPhone Air takes the Pro’s old spot at $999, which the Pros get a $100 bump up starting at $1099. They try to spin away that bump by saying its the same price as last year’s 256GB model. I think maybe they just discontinued the iPhone 16 and previous models altogether? Usually they show the whole lineup, but now it’s all iPhones that were introduced this year. 16e, 17, Air, and 17 Pro/Max. That’s a curious break from a longheld tradition in Tim Cook’s Apple. (But which actually started back during Steve Jobs’ time.) Nope, the 16 and 16 Plus are still in the lineup.

ios iOS hardware Hardware culture Culture
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HeyDingus 4 months ago

Rapid-Fire Pre-iPhone Event Thoughts

Can I publish this in the 4 minutes before the keynote starts?? 1 Apple Watch Alright, here comes Tim Cook “ on stage”. Let’s go. It turns out no, I couldn’t. Published at 1:02pm. ↩︎ HeyDingus is a blog by Jarrod Blundy about technology, the great outdoors, and other musings. If you like what you see — the blog posts , shortcuts , wallpapers , scripts , or anything — please consider leaving a tip , checking out my store , or just sharing my work. Your support is much appreciated! I’m always happy to hear from you on social , or by good ol' email . I went way too low on device storage space last year, so I’m definitely buying a new phone this year I’m using my camera for work more than ever, so I’m probably going to go with an iPhone Pro, but I’m not psyched about a bigger screen or heavier device. Hopefully, they’ve gone back to aluminum, as rumored. We’ll see what it actually looks like, but the iPhone Pro’s rumored camera bar that retains the tripod of camera lenses on one side looks goofy to me. I expect it’s retaining that design so it can continue to do Spatial Videos. I’ll be tempted by the iPhone Air, I’m sure, but battery life and camera performance are huge deals for me. And I’m more interested in a thin folding phone — next year? Come on, Orange!! Please be a new Ultra 3! My Ultra 1’s battery life is not so good, and I’m also hoping for improvements in GPS sensitivity and cellular connection. A better chip would be great too — the Ultra 1 is a little sluggish these days. Could we see more happening with Double Tap? The more I can operate my watch without using the other hand would be great. AirPods Pro 3 are due, but they’re not for me. I can’t do the soft tips. Still really happy with my AirPods 4 with ANC . It turns out no, I couldn’t. Published at 1:02pm. ↩︎

ios iOS hardware Hardware
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HeyDingus 4 months ago

On Tim Cook, Cowardice, and Leadership

In these, the minutes before the September 2025 Apple Event, in which I — and many others — will fawn over the company’s latest gadgets, I felt I had to get this one out. Nick Heer wrote decisively and emphatically about how the transformation outlined in Apple in China that Tim Cook oversaw, led him straight toward kissing the ring in the White House. You should absolutely read the whole thing, but here’s an observation that I’ve been contemplating for a while now: Cook has previously advocated for expressing social values as a corporate principle. In 2017,  he said , perhaps paraphrasing his  heroes Martin Luther King Jr.  and  John Lewis , “ if you see something going on that’s not right, the most powerful form of consent is to say nothing”. But how does Cook stand firmly for those values while depending on an authoritarian country for Apple’s hardware, and trying to appease a wanna-be dictator for the good standing of his business? In short, he does not. Heer’s article followed shortly after this post in which John Gruber took a slightly longer and broader view of Cook’s actions in the Trump 2.0 administration, and gives him more benefit of the doubt regarding when he chooses to play ball with Trump: Did Cook’s Oval Office display of fealty and his grotesque golden gift make you feel something? Did it engender an emotional response? Grossed out, perhaps? A little sick? Angry? Offended? Me too. But did you feel good — reassured? proud? — when Cook skipped that Middle East Trump tour in May? You know, the one that ranged from Trump singing the praises of the murderous Mohammed bin Salman (“I like you too much”) to accepting as a gift (that he claims will wind up in the possession of his post-presidential “ library”) a 747 luxury jet from Qatar. If you choose to believe that Tim Cook is weak, unethical, greedy, or even — despite his long-professed heroes  — secretly a MAGA supporter, there’s likely nothing I can say to disabuse you of the notion. You can’t prove a negative. But I would argue that that line of cynicism is the easy way out. That you’re taking comfort in directing your ire at Cook, and the notion that if Cook had more backbone he’d refuse to play this game. It’s comforting to believe it’s him and his ilk, greedy selfish billionaires, not us as a collective whole. If you didn’t read Gruber’s piece when it was published in August, I highly encourage you to do so now . It’s compelling and quite different from his usual writing, taking a timeline-of-events — dare I say investigative? — approach to understanding Cook’s actions. I’ll admit that I had completely forgotten that Cook had snubbed the Middle East trip, and that I was completely ignorant about the overall implications of that trip regarding the Saudi regime. And yet, after reflecting on these two pieces for a while, I still come away disappointed and sickened by Cook’s compliance and reverence toward Trump’s agenda. Yes, as Gruber points out , the lion’s share of our collective ire should be pointed at Trump, his administration, and his voters . But we also look to those in leadership roles to, well, lead the way . To use their voice and actions, their stature and influence, and, yes, sometimes their money to usher us toward a better future. For if they throw their values to the wind when the going gets tough, what does that mean for the rest of us who lack the protections that their prominence affords them? We’re taught not to judge people by what they say, but by what they do. I won’t go so far as to guess at what Cook feels in his heart toward this administration — only he knows — but his words and actions of late paint a cowardly story. I can commend Cook for having the conviction not to participate in the Middle East trip. But I can also be supremely disappointed in his lack of leadership — sitting, as he does, in the seat as the most powerful man in one of the biggest and most successful American companies — in standing and speaking against the rot in the foundational Democracy of the country he claims to love. And those pictures of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy — true leaders who used their voices and actions to advocate for the very civil rights that Trump now openly threatens — that he has on his desk? Well, I’d have lain them down in shame. HeyDingus is a blog by Jarrod Blundy about technology, the great outdoors, and other musings. If you like what you see — the blog posts , shortcuts , wallpapers , scripts , or anything — please consider leaving a tip , checking out my store , or just sharing my work. Your support is much appreciated! I’m always happy to hear from you on social , or by good ol' email .

business Business culture Culture
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HeyDingus 4 months ago

7 Things This Week [#180]

A weekly list of interesting things I found on the internet, posted on Sundays. Sometimes themed, often not. 1️⃣ Jamie Thingelstad got a Messages-like style going on his website for chat-like blog posts and I love it. thingelstad.com 2️⃣ You don’t have to know anything about the Cortex Podcast to enjoy this hilarious animated short of their homescreen walkthrough. youtube.com 3️⃣ Passkeys are about to get even better with less lock-in when iOS 26 ships. They’re introducing a new way for credential managers to securely transfer the data for passkeys back and forth without the opportunity for man-in-the-middle attacks. Good stuff. hachyderm.io 4️⃣ Apple is milking Severance for all it’s worth and I love it. They’ve got Natalie in for a Fitness+ workout with Coach Kym P. and this promo video is spot on. instagram.com 5️⃣ Greg Morris has found enjoyment, success, and speed in running slow. gregmorris.co.uk 6️⃣ Manuel Moreale speaks emphatically about why blogs continue to matter in his marking of the 100th issue of his People & Blogs series. manuelmoreale.com 7️⃣ Seeing this tire roll down a sand dune for minutes is one of my favorite things I’ve watched in a while. It’s weirdly beautiful. youtube.com Thanks for reading 7 Things . If you enjoyed these links or have something neat to share, please let me know . And remember that you can get more links to internet nuggets that I’m finding every day by following me @jarrod on the social web. HeyDingus is a blog by Jarrod Blundy about technology, the great outdoors, and other musings. If you like what you see — the blog posts , shortcuts , wallpapers , scripts , or anything — please consider leaving a tip , checking out my store , or just sharing my work. Your support is much appreciated! I’m always happy to hear from you on social , or by good ol' email .

web-development Web Development
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HeyDingus 4 months ago

7 Things This Week [#179]

A weekly list of interesting things I found on the internet. Sometimes themed, often not. 1️⃣ Remember that wild painting in the final episode of Severance season 2? Well, now it’s an amazing real-life (and massive mural) in L.A.). [ 🔗 9to5mac.com ] 2️⃣ This neat project by Avi Bagla keeps track of when every word in the dictionary has been used in a Bluesky post. [ 🔗 avibagla.com ] 3️⃣ Robert Birming responded to my post about not posting with his thoughts on different motivations for blogging. [ 🔗 birming.com ] 4️⃣ Herman’s got some really good, human tips for dealing with email. [ 🔗 herman.bearblog.dev ] 5️⃣ McSweeney’s does it again, nailing these AI-assisted wedding vows with satire that I fear will become only too true. [ 🔗 mcsweeneys.net ] 6️⃣ A throwback to a throwback. A couple of years ago, Parker Ortolani made a concept of modern apple.com showing off pre-iPhone products. Honestly, still looks great. I’m curious if their website will soon get a Liquid Glass makeover. [ 🔗 x.com ] 7️⃣ Pratik gets it when it comes to taxes. [ 🔗 writing.desipundit.com ] Thanks for reading 7 Things . If you enjoyed these links or have something neat to share, please let me know . And remember that you can get more links to internet nuggets that I’m finding every day by following me @jarrod on the social web. HeyDingus is a blog by Jarrod Blundy about technology, the great outdoors, and other musings. If you like what you see — the blog posts , shortcuts , wallpapers , scripts , or anything — please consider leaving a tip , checking out my store , or just sharing my work. Your support is much appreciated! I’m always happy to hear from you on social , or by good ol' email .

c# C# design Design
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HeyDingus 5 months ago

I just don’t feel like blogging today

So I’m simply not going to do it, and you can’t make me. 😜 This is post #9/31 for Blaugust 2025 . HeyDingus is a blog by Jarrod Blundy about technology, the great outdoors, and other musings. If you like what you see — the blog posts , shortcuts , wallpapers , scripts , or anything — please consider leaving a tip , checking out my store , or just sharing my work. Your support is much appreciated! I’m always happy to hear from you on social , or by good ol' email .

writing Writing culture Culture
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HeyDingus 5 months ago

One Small Improvement

So I just typed into ChatGPT, “ I need an easy prompt for a Blaugust post.” Here’s what I got: What’s one small habit or tool that’s made your life noticeably better in the past year? Alright, I’ll take it and turn it. When contemplating a Yearly Theme for 2025, I decided to follow CGP Grey’s lead from 2024 and go with the Year of Small Improvements . The idea being that instead of letting small annoyances stack up and continuously bother me, I’d make an effort to deploy small fixes and reap the stacked up benefits instead. At first, I kept a list of these small improvements, but I kind of fell of that habit. But I’ll share one of my favorites that I truly appreciate every day. The problem: Our silverware holder slid all over the drawer. Every time we’d open the silverware/utensils drawer, it would slide around the drawer. For someone who likes things to be in the right place, and also to not push the cooking utensils around so that they block the drawer opening correctly, this was pretty annoying. Attempted fixes: The final fix: It took quite a few attempts, but we got there in the end. And every time I open the drawer now, the drawer stays firmly in place and I’m a little happier. 😮‍💨 This is post #8/31 for Blaugust 2025 . HeyDingus is a blog by Jarrod Blundy about technology, the great outdoors, and other musings. If you like what you see — the blog posts , shortcuts , wallpapers , scripts , or anything — please consider leaving a tip , checking out my store , or just sharing my work. Your support is much appreciated! I’m always happy to hear from you on social , or by good ol' email . One Command strip holding it in place Two Command strips holding it in place A screw installed behind the drawer to block it from scooting back A screw in the back and on the side to block it from moving out of place

Diy Productivity Home Improvement
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HeyDingus 5 months ago

Your Time, Our Time, All Time

The extreme preciousness of time is the point of this video by the To Scale: channel, but I hope you’ll spend 10 minutes of yours to watch it and marvel at the vast scale of the history of the universe, and our fleeting portion of it. Amazing vision, effort, production, and payoff on this project. This is post #7/31 for Blaugust 2025 . HeyDingus is a blog by Jarrod Blundy about technology, the great outdoors, and other musings. If you like what you see — the blog posts , shortcuts , wallpapers , scripts , or anything — please consider leaving a tip , checking out my store , or just sharing my work. Your support is much appreciated! I’m always happy to hear from you on social , or by good ol' email .

writing Writing Science
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HeyDingus 5 months ago

Burning the Candle

Here I am, again, blogging past 11pm to try to keep up with my Blaugust goal. Although I am typically a night owl, this week I’ve been both night owl and early bird and it’s catching up with me. Tomorrow, I have to wake up at 4:30am (in just five and half hours — yikes!) to be at a local trailhead ready to start hiking at 6am. It’ll be a long day of hiking and climbing up the Trap Dike — a very distinctive slot and slab that rises from the lake a the bottom of the Mt. Colden to its summit — with I think about 12 miles round-trip with several thousand feet of elevation gain, guiding clients on a rope system up through the steep and exposed terrain. This is after a long day of personal climbing today, in which I was out from 10:30am until 9pm climbing at various crags in the area, culminating in a challenging route that I put up for ADK Climb Club . Which was after a big day of guiding climbing yesterday from 8:30am till 4pm, and then a 5+ mile trail run up a mountain after work for ADK Run Club . Which was after a big day on Monday of guiding climbing in the morning, and then doing personal climbing until after dark. Which was after a day of canoeing with my wife in which we checked out a route that spits us out into the lake near our house. And then on Friday I’ll have a big day of guiding a long hike (13 miles) up Gothics mountain with some clients that I took rock climbing on Monday. Which will be followed by three days of canoe camping with my wife over the weekend. Which will be followed by an afternoon of guiding rock climbing. Which will be followed by — hopefully! — a rest day. 😮‍💨 To be clear, this is in no way a complaint. I love doing all these activities. I feel so fortunate to live and work in a place with such access to my favorite outdoor activities, and a great community of friends (and clients) to share it all with. It’s just that I feel, sometimes, lately, a bit worn thin. I know I need to take more time to recover so that I can perform at my best. But. There’s so much that I want to do, and any day of good weather feels like a gift that I shouldn’t squander. These lyrics from Hamilton ’ s “ Non-Stop” come to mind: How do you write like you’re running out of time? Write day and night like you’re running out of time? Every day you fight like you’re running out of time Like you’re running out of time Are you running out of time? This is post #6/31 for Blaugust 2025 . HeyDingus is a blog by Jarrod Blundy about technology, the great outdoors, and other musings. If you like what you see — the blog posts , shortcuts , wallpapers , scripts , or anything — please consider leaving a tip , checking out my store , or just sharing my work. Your support is much appreciated! I’m always happy to hear from you on social , or by good ol' email .

career Career sports Sports writing Writing
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HeyDingus 5 months ago

Oasis Is No Longer So

My wonderful wife approached me in a tizzy yesterday. She had that look in her eye that told me she had a technology rant built up and me — the tech guy — was going to hear about it. Sure enough, she needed to inform me that she was not happy with the lineup of Kindles that Amazon sells today. She’s been a longtime user of the original Kindle Oasis . In fact, when she smashed the screen of her first one, she bought a used version of the same model to replace it instead of purchasing a new ( bigger, aluminum, 2nd-gen ) one. She would have been well-reasoned to do so; her Kindle is her most-used device and it’s not even close. What does she love about that original Oasis? All the same things I did . Namely, its ultra-portable size and weight, its flip cover with extra battery built in, its physical page-turn buttons, and its waterproofing. All those features are missing from today’s Kindle lineup. The Oasis is no more . The plain Kindle and the Paperwhite don’t have physical page-turn buttons, and are therefore non-starters. There are two Colorsoft versions — an adult and kid model — which also don’t have the buttons, and are feature inferior screens. The Scribe is too big and bulky for her read everywhere lifestyle. She looked alternatives like the Kobo and Boox devices. The Kobo would be a pain to manage with her massive Kindle library and Kindle Unlimited subscription. The Boox Page almost ticks all the boxes for physical buttons and Kindle app…but it doesn’t have waterproofing and she’s a beachside and in-pool reader. “ When did Amazon stop caring about power readers when it came to making Kindles?” she demanded of me. I didn’t have an answer. In the meantime, she’s bought another used Kindle Oasis on eBay in hopes that it’ll last long enough for either Amazon to get their Kindle house back in order, or for Boox to add waterproofing to their eReaders. My money’s on the latter happening first. This is post #5/31 for Blaugust 2025 . HeyDingus is a blog by Jarrod Blundy about technology, the great outdoors, and other musings. If you like what you see — the blog posts , shortcuts , wallpapers , scripts , or anything — please consider leaving a tip , checking out my store , or just sharing my work. Your support is much appreciated! I’m always happy to hear from you on social , or by good ol' email .

hardware Hardware
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HeyDingus 5 months ago

7 Things This Week [#178]

A weekly list of interesting things I found on the internet, posted on Sundays (or sometimes Mondays). Sometimes themed, often not. 1️⃣ Getting the Pebble trademark back from Google is a spot of feel-good news regarding a tech giant that I just never expected. [ 🔗 theverge.com ] 2️⃣ A follow up from a few weeks ago, Becca Farsace rode an eBike over 400 miles on nothing but solar power. Cool project, and I expect it’s an early preview of tech that will emerge in the next few years. She had to rig a bunch of stuff together custom, but I imagine that solar kits will become available over time for cyclists. [ ▶️ youtube.com ] 3️⃣ Another video. This one I can’t quite describe, but it captured my attention from beginning to end. [ ▶️ youtube.com ] 4️⃣ 24-year-old Adam Aaronson drank every one of the 102 IBA cocktails (not in one go!) and blogged about it. It’s a fun retrospective. [ 🔗 aaronson.org ] 5️⃣ Numeric Citizen is cataloging with screenshots and screencasts the many places where Apple’s Liquid Glass design falls down. It’s a great resource to link to in your Feedback reports, and will make a good archive to see how the design progresses through the rest of the beta and beyond. [ 🔗 crafted.numericcitizen.me ] 6️⃣ Nick Heer shares his distaste for the design goal of getting the UI out of the way for your content . [ 🔗 pxlnv.com ] 7️⃣ For you camping/climbing gearheads, this (long) interview with the renowned alpinist Colin Haley is a must-watch. He goes deep on how he thinks about what gear to carry, and how he modified nearly all of it to meet his precise needs. [ ▶️ youtube.com ] Thanks for reading 7 Things . If you enjoyed these links or have something neat to share, please let me know . And remember that you can get more links to internet nuggets that I’m finding every day by following me @jarrod on the social web. This is post #4/31 for Blaugust 2025 . HeyDingus is a blog by Jarrod Blundy about technology, the great outdoors, and other musings. If you like what you see — the blog posts , shortcuts , wallpapers , scripts , or anything — please consider leaving a tip , checking out my store , or just sharing my work. Your support is much appreciated! I’m always happy to hear from you on social , or by good ol' email .

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HeyDingus 5 months ago

Keep Calm and Carry a Towel

Sorry for the clickbait title, but I haven’t read the book . The phrase just occurred to me as I was driving back from a short canoe paddle with my wife today. I saw my quick-dry towel hanging on the passenger seat and I realized how much carrying a towel in my car has really paid off this summer. I’ve slowly been turning into someone who just carries a bunch of extra stuff in the car at all times. It’s frustrating when you get somewhere and need something — like a towel — and even though you have dozens of them at home, you don’t have one right now . So I stuck a little microfiber, quick-dry towel that packs down super small into its flexible zippered case into one of the seat-back pockets. And since I have a towel, I might as well throw a pair of swimsuit/running shorts in the pocket as well. Now, I can go for a swim at the drop of a hat! Which, in this decidedly hot summer, has proved entirely worthwhile. Some other things that I just always carry in my car now: This is post #3/31 for Blaugust 2025 . HeyDingus is a blog by Jarrod Blundy about technology, the great outdoors, and other musings. If you like what you see — the blog posts , shortcuts , wallpapers , scripts , or anything — please consider leaving a tip , checking out my store , or just sharing my work. Your support is much appreciated! I’m always happy to hear from you on social , or by good ol' email . An Apple Watch charger (you’d be surprised how much it can charge up in a 20-minute car ride) A beefy battery that doubles as a car jumper A sleeping mask for nights spent sleeping in back of my Subaru A rain tarp (more for professional purposes since I kept forgetting to pack it on rainy days and it’s a figurative life-saver for clients when rock climbing on dreary days, can can be a literal life-saver on hiking trips in the backcountry) Canoe straps and other lengths of tie-down rope An ultralight headlamp (another item that often gets forgotten, and I’ve lent it to plenty of friends) A small pillow and puffy blanket (the pillow gets used most often on flights, but it’s nice for long car rides too; the blanket is equally perfect for laying out on the ground for a picnic or napping in the car) A portable hangboard (it doesn’t get a lot of use, but can be strung up to keep working on finger strength no matter where I am) Extra sunglasses A multitool

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HeyDingus 5 months ago

Some Sounds From My Backyard

I went outside with my MacBook today to answer some emails and work on upcoming trip logistics for my guiding service . My wife is sitting next to me, reading her book. She commented about how our backyard is full of such good sounds. So, here’s a non-exhaustive list of everything I can hear right now. This is post #2/31 for Blaugust 2025 . HeyDingus is a blog by Jarrod Blundy about technology, the great outdoors, and other musings. If you like what you see — the blog posts , shortcuts , wallpapers , scripts , or anything — please consider leaving a tip , checking out my store , or just sharing my work. Your support is much appreciated! I’m always happy to hear from you on social , or by good ol' email . The soft chirp of a bird high up in a nearby tree. The tap tap tap of a tiny bird as it tests the bark of a tree for tasty insect treats. The whine of a distant boat cruising the lake — or is it a leaf blower? The rub and scrape of paws on wood and my dog gets more comfortable in his position in the sun. The whoosh of a healthy breeze through the tops of the trees, although I can hardly feel it. The creeeeeeeak of those same trees and the bend to the wind’s will. Occasionally, the angry chatter of the local squirrel population chastises us and our dog for being in their space. And, briefly, the “ And Iiiiiii will allllwaaays looooooove youuuuuuuuu ” croning of Whitney Houston as someone far away blasted it for all to hear.

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