Todd Sizemore

With more ads added to the App Store and now ads in Apple Maps I have to wonder what the point is of paying premiums for Apple hardware? I already give Apple money each month for iCloud storage and Apple Music, could I not get a break from the ads with that? Granted these two are minor in comparison to other services like Google’s but it still rubs me the wrong way. Plus there is no indication that it will stop in the future, ads for Apple Music? Ads in Photos?

Subscription creep is another thing that’s been driving me up the wall recently. My wife is a prodigious photo and video taker and we are quickly approaching the 2TB limit on our iCloud storage. To move to the next tier would take our costs from $12.99 CAD a month to $39.99 CAD a month. There are no options in between! In comparison Google has new storage plans available that will give you 5TB of storage for $26.99 CAD a month. I am working to clear out duplicates and low-quality photos (she for some reason takes a ton of pictures of the inside of her pockets) but at some point I will run out of chaff while the wheat keeps growing. Then I am kind of stuck.

We are suffering through the 4th(?) cold snap since it started to get warmer here in the Soo. The spring was already pretty cold but with all these regressions it’s been impossible to get anything planted. It will be June before we can solidly get the garden going, which isn’t too far out of the norm but it’s still disheartening.

Last winter was one of the worst on records, it actually broke the snowfall record. Yeah you move to northern Ontario you got to expect that but with climate change it’s getting worse. There is also talk that this summer is going to be a real hot one. For once I’m ready for the warmth.

Listening to the latest Windows Central podcast, I’m struck by how dismissive the commentators are about the backlash Microsoft receives for improvements they are making to Windows. They say, “it’s cool to hate Windows” as a way of summing up their feelings towards people who complain about changes Microsoft is making.

Imagine this: you have a friend that has taken your stuff without returning it for years, hits you in the balls at random times, and just generally makes themselves a nuisance. One day, they start doing little things to be better. They haven’t apologized for years of bad behaviour, mind you. They just start changing for the better slowly.

Should you just instantly give them the benefit of the doubt? Start appreciating them for not hitting you in the balls? Congratulate them when they return your leaf blower? No, they earned your ire over years. That takes time to repair and without an actual apology it seems hollow.

Yes, I’m complaining about a Windows podcast being fans of Windows. But if they truly cared, I would think they would want to fully address the behaviour Microsoft has exhibited to make Windows hated by regular users.

After getting our first quote, we decided to get a second one at the behest of our neighbour. Well, that quote was $5k over the first one, so you can guess what we did. At long last, the fence project is starting in earnest. The first load of wood was delivered yesterday.

www.selfonomics.com/p/on-pseu…

I am living the down channel effects of this one everyday in my job. People who get to make decisions that they don’t have to live with is one of the defining features of the modern corporate/government culture.

Sometimes I wish I had an organized method for what chores I end up doing each Saturday. It tends to be a hodgepodge of whatever I think needs doing. Rake leaves? Clean the utility room? Bathrooms? Change a light fixture? It’s all lopped in there together.

I guess it works for my brain because I need a change of scenery more often than others. If I were to clean all the hardwood floors in the house, I would get bored of it after a half hour and rush through the rest. But if I say I’m only going to clean the hardwood floors in the living room, then my brain accepts that and I get a little hit of dopamine when I finish.

It’s a weird way to operate but it works well for me and my wife. I tend to clean more often and do smaller jobs while she can dedicate a whole day to doing one large chore. What that means is that the floors get swept multiple times a week and the shower also gets a nice deep clean. I am glad we can complement each other in such a way.

You can say a lot about Signal and its mission to provide secure and private chat to the world. They have earned all the goodwill given to them through hard work and maintaining their values. The problem is, “The Tyranny of the Default”. I use an iPhone, and most of my friends do as well. Hence, they tend to use Messages for their communications.

I have tried over time to get friends to hop on Signal with limited success. Those who do join tend to not use it for long because I might be the only person they have in their chat list. So I really don’t blame them when they just start texting me through Messages again. The same has happened to me. I only have two people left on my Signal list, and it makes me wonder if I should just give in and move them back to Messages.

So this summer Kate and I are having a fence built around our home. We had been thinking of this since last year but with the theft of my bikes it became a higher priority. Plus with a fence, Moon can run around in the backyard unleashed.

Phase 1 happened today. We had the cedars betwen my property and our neighbours removed. To be honest, while I hate to cut down a tree, these weren’t in the best condition. None of the trees along this property line are. With that said, all but one are going to come down as apart of this fence build. That last one will get some TLC from us to see if we can save it.

Granted, this is like the 4th or 5th post I have ever done on this blog so it is a bit early to expound on AI but here we are….

I’ve been experimenting with AI (Gemini and Claude) for awhile, trying to do little things with it that mostly revolve around helping me reduce the amount of searching I might do to find the right product for me. For that it’s been pretty decent, I can give it a set of requirements and it pops out some pretty good options.

Another thing I tried was with Claude specifically. I installed the Filesystem connector and let it loose on my car service folder asking on what dates I got my snow tires installed and removed. For that it did really well and even made a nice table so I could see the history of my tire changes. To date, I haven’t asked it to make any changes to the files as I am still a bit concerned about what might happen.

In both cases I am essentially using these AI tools like I saw Commander Data do on Star Trek TNG, asking AI to search and collate data for me. This is a useful thing for my life. What I am having trouble with is finding other things to do with it. I don’t code, I don’t have a hyper busy schedule that needs organization, hell I don’t go any many vacations. So what am I missing that AI could help with? Am I that unimaginative?

Right now the return on investment isn’t there. The things I do with AI right now are shortcuts to work I can do myself. It’s all donkey work as MacSparky would say. That’s great and all but it’s not enough for me to spend any serious money. I’m certainly not going to spending $24 CAD for Claude or $27 CAD for Gemini a month for the limited use cases I’ve found so far. If the free tiers go away or become really constrained then I will go back to the old ways rather than plunge into paying unless I can find something truly game changing for a regular user like me.

Last Friday I went to the garage and found the side door open, not unusual since that latch sometimes doesn’t catch but when I walked to the car I noticed something looked off. It only took a second to realize my commuter bike and my gravel bike were gone. I could talk about my feelings about the violation of my space and the heartbreak of losing that commute bike which I had for 19 years but I won’t. Its life, it happens, it sucks.

After that I did all the things that one would expect. I called the cops to submit a report and fixed the door (even added a padlock!). I then bought some security cameras. Kate and I were also talking about building a fence and that idea went from a possibility to a definite. It won’t happen again as long as I keep up my security posture, not because I am making some sort of fortress but because the opportunity costs won’t be there. Cameras, fence, and locks mean more chances to get caught and there are easier targets around.

I am trying not judge everyone by this incident. I live close to a poorer neighbourhood and I don’t want to start thinking of the people I see trying to live their lives as wanton criminals and drug addicts. It’s easy to do after an incident like this but I am trying not to make my hurt turn into hate.