✉️ Ramping Back

COVID on my mind, Safari 14 on my MacBook, iOS 14 not (yet) on my iPhone

Jun 27, 2020

If I’m being honest — and my intent with this newsletter is to be honest — my head isn’t in a great place at the moment as it sure seems like we’re right back into a state of surge with regard to COVID-19. The resurgence isn’t surprising — that was always going to happen as we opened things back up as the lockdown was not a cure, just an attempt to prolong the endgame. But we’re now seemingly ramping back full speed towards that endgame. Let’s just hope we bought the hospitals enough time (and relatedly, expertise) to deal with it in real time. Be safe out there. Wear a mask. 🦠😞😷

In an attempt to divert my mind elsewhere — I am writing this on Safari 14, the latest version of Apple’s browser for macOS. No, I didn’t download Big Sur yet, but you can get a “Technology Preview” of the new Safari here. It’s great and it can run alongside the stable version, just in case you still need it. But from what I can tell so far, you won’t need to. This Safari feels faster even with all the new features — to be fair, the extension porting from Chrome/Firefox hasn’t begun yet, and those could change the equation, one presumes. The favicons everywhere — not just in pinned tabs — is most welcomed. As is the new tab screen. So far, color me impressed. 💻🧭😋

And no, I have not yet installed iOS 14 either. Mainly because I’m on the road away from backup devices, so I’m not quite ballsy enough to make the leap on my main device. That said, all indications are that it’s super stable — maybe the most stable a first beta has ever been, it seems. Anyway, I’m proud of myself for not giving in so far. We’ll check back next week. 🆕📲😉

5ish

🔨 The ARM & Hammer

The first Apple Silicon destined for the high-end Macs?

👓 Apple's AR & VR Power Struggles

Internal politics and literal power issues, it would seem...

🚜 'Farming for Dissent'

Netflix's attempt to catch the next Qwikster mistake…

Asides

As someone who is from Ohio, I’m on board with renaming Columbus to ‘Flavortown’ in honor of Guy Fieri. I should probably disclose that I attended the University of Michigan, and so I actually relish this change. #GoBlue
I’m not sure if it’s more surprising that we’ve now mapped 20% of the ocean’s floor, or that we hadn’t before. “While an area double the size of Australia is now charted, that leaves an area twice the size of Mars left to tackle.” 😳
Michael Keaton may return to play Batman in the Flash movie. If I’m 100% on board with Flavortown above, I am 1000% on board with this.
Christopher Nolan’s Tenet just got pushed back for a second time, which is not surprising — though this is:
Warner Bros. and Christopher Nolan have been at odds over the timing, with the director pushing for an earlier premiere and the studio taking a more cautious approach, according to people with knowledge of the discussions.
Come on. We know how much you love film and the theatrical experience, Nolan, but this is ridiculous. People may be dying to see this movie — myself included — let’s not make it literal.
“People have been trying to make ‘Foundation’ for 50 years … It was the greatest science fiction work of all time.” If that doesn’t make you want to see David Goyer’s attempt to do this for Apple TV+, nothing will.
The main reason I want to upgrade to iOS 14 right now is not the widgets, it’s the new ‘Back Tap’ functionality. Technically an accessibility feature, it will allow you to double (and/or triple) tap the back of your iPhone to invoke an action.
Nintendo is once again waffling on their mobile gaming commitments. This seems easy to do when you launch the Switch. Decidedly hard to do when you launch the Wii U. I’m still a bit worried…
Amazon has bought the naming rights to Seattle’s new arena (home to a new NHL team and the WNBA’s Seattle Storm — but as we all know, the future home to the SuperSonics again one day) and they’re calling it… Climate Pledge Arena. I mean, I like the idea. That name is a dud though. Why not just ‘Climate Change Arena’ if you really want to make a statement?
Facebook is starting to warn you if you’re about to share an old article — which seems fine in the era of disinformation but will only exacerbate the issue of no one wanting to share articles that are more than a few days old.