What's it all about, Alfie?

I got a pair of the AirPods from the first week they were launched. Amazing devices. But the fit wasn't as good as I'd hoped, so I kept using my Apple wired in-ear headphones at the office because they fit better and blocked out a lot more noise. So a few months ago, I got the BeatsX headphones from the Apple Store. Wow... very nice.

The charge is about like my AirPods, and now that I need a Lightening cable around to charge headsets, the AirPods are easier for me to charge as well. Bonus!

They are amazingly easy to use, can be controlled from my iPhone, or Mac - as long as it's logged into iCloud, and the mic/control fob is just as easy to use as the one on my wired headphones. Super simple... super easy... amazingly convenient to ditch the cord.

I have moved into the cordless world, and I have to say, I don't mind it at all. Up next: wireless charging of my iPhone...

I've recently started watching Timeless on Hulu, as I know it has only two seasons, and I saw an interview one of the stars of the show did, and she was surprisingly impressive when talking about the show. Now, this could be like Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure - which was a pretty funny movie, and treated time travel in a very good, funny way, but there have been tons of times when the science gets in the way, and things really don't end up working out so well.

I've been really amazed at the writing in Timeless. First, it doesn't try to explain too much - which is good, and it's got just enough rules - born out, they say, by experimental evidence that didn't go well. In all, I give the science a passing grade. Nicely done.

And then there's the premise... kinda like an evil Carmen SanDiego... which means there is a lot of hidden learning in the episodes. Also, as with the Back to the Future movies, changes in the past, effect the timeline they return to, but don't effect them. It's really a well written show.

It's the team that makes me smile the most... both the bad guys, and the good guys. There are a lot of things happening in the show, and while I'm only up to the sixth episode, they way in which secrets and motivations are handled is a very good story. I really like that.

It'll be interesting to see how the two seasons play out. I'm hoping they keep it up.

It's the big 57 this year, and I honestly don't feel it, but then again, not many probably do. I am glad to have had the last week off work - The Shop has shut down for the week between Christmas and New Year's, and I got lucky with the draw.

I have been really enjoying all the Advent of Code puzzles from past years, and that has really made the time pass nicely. Just keep living in this moment.

It's been a very quiet Christmas this year - and while I don't necessarily think that's the very best way to spend the holiday, it beats some of the alternatives, and that's what I have to remember... some of the alternatives.

There may come a day when I feel differently, but today, I'm happy enough that it's been a quiet day.

It's Day 11 of Advent of Code, and I have to say that I'm having a great time this year. It helps to have a little spare time as they are working on the rearrangement of the groups with the acquisition, so I've got a little spare time most days.

I honestly expected to be using Swift, Clojure, ObjC - all mixed in there. This was the advantage of getting CodeRunner a little bit ago - that I could mix-n-match language to the problem based on the needs of each problem. But I have to say that I'm enjoying using Clojure 100% so far this year. It's just so good at what I need it to do... it's hard to find a need for another language.

I've also really enjoyed the times when the solution for the first part of the day is fine with my original implementation, but then the second part requires that I really re-think the solution and come up with a much more performant solution. Not always easy, but when I get something that really changes the scope of what can be done, it's a lot of fun.

One of the guys at The Shop pointed out that I'm doing the problems like Programming Golf - where the minimal solution is the best. And that's exactly what I enjoy about these - it's about a minimalist approach to the problems. What fun. 🙂

Well... it was a lot of driving, but I'm home, and enjoying the long weekend where I can catch up with work around the house, and rest for the week ahead. It was nice to see my family - all my siblings were there - save my oldest sister, and it was good food... I brought the pies, as usual... but it's also nice to be home.

I find that I'm reaching a point in life that I get about all the company I need with these few trips home at the holidays. I have lots of company at work, and on the train, so it's not like I don't see people. I just find that I can be cheerful and pleasant, but I don't have to have deep conversations at this point in my life.

I'm making the best of the path that I'm on.

I was walking to work from the train this morning, and heard a Christmas song in the Grand Hall at Union Station, and it got me to humming Christmas Songs on the walk into work. Now it's full-tilt Christmas Songs while I work. Good stuff!

It's just one of the wonderful ways of noticing the passage of time. Songs I haven't heard in nearly a year, and always remind me of the very best of what we can all be.

Today I was looking for my favorite mustard - French's Plain Yellow Spicy Mustard - online because I really do like it, and my local Jewel stores have stopped selling it. I'm not a fan of Amazon's treatment of it's employees, so I have not really become an Amazon shopper. Sure, I've bought a few things in the past, but it's not a company I want to support - but I don't judge people that use it all the time, because this is my choice, and not theirs.

So I found that Jet has my mustard, and I was quite excited. It wasn't Amazon, and the web site looked nice, and it seemed like a decent place. So I ordered the mustard, and downloaded the iPhone app, and felt pretty good about myself.

And then a friend told me that Walmart owned Jet.

Shucks.

I'm not a fan of Walmart, either. But I guess in the grand scheme of things, I can tolerate Walmart a little more than Amazon, and so I'll keep my order for the mustard. But I sure wish there were a way to support a non-mega-company, and get the few things I'd like to have. I was happy with Jewel, but they stopped carrying it. So I have to deal with one of these mega-corporations. And if that's the choice I have, I'll stick with Jet because they were once an independent company, and Walmart is a little less distasteful than Amazon.

But I wish there were another option.

I've been using iTerm2 since it was forked from the original, as there were things in Terminal.app that I just didn't like at the time: forced scroll bars, difficult selection of words... lots of little usability and chrome things. Now it's true that since then, Terminal.app has gotten a lot better - and on each new macOS upgrade, I always give it a try for a little bit... just to make sure it's still not the tool I'd like to use. But for quite a while, it's been iTerm2.

So why write about it now? Well... with version 3.2, they have used Metal to make the text rendering amazingly fast and the scrolling super smooth. This makes the overall appearance a real treat. Just amazing, really.

Now I'm going to see what the status is for BBEdit and Sublime Text 3 - because this kind of scrolling and updating is really quite impressive!

UPDATE: Sublime Text 3 seems to be using the GPU for rendering! Great! No need to worry about that. I know that there are new MacBook Pros coming out this month with the new GPUs, and now may be the right time to look at upgrading!

This morning I read that as of February 2019, Flickr's free service will not be 1TB of storage, as it has been - but only 1000 images. The change, they say, is focused to make it more in line with photographers:

First, and most crucially, the free terabyte largely attracted members who were drawn by the free storage, not by engagement with other lovers of photography. This caused a significant tonal shift in our platform, away from the community interaction and exploration of shared interests that makes Flickr the best shared home for photographers in the world. We know those of you who value a vibrant community didn’t like this shift, and with this change we’re re-committing Flickr to focus on fostering this interaction.

Now as someone who uses Flickr for both pictures and for blog posts with screen shots, I can understand that storage isn't free, and 1TB per free user is probably a cost the new company couldn't bear - and they knew it from Day 1. This is how they get back in the black.

The only alternative is Pro, at $49.99/yr and that's unlimited storage. So there's not going to be a low-cost version where the old 1TB limit would be. Nope. It's go big - or not. Maybe 1000 photos is enough, but I'd really like it if we could use iCloud storage to vend pictures out of, but I know why that's not possible. So we'll have to see how things pan out,

It's not like I can't figure something else out for my blog.