Matisyahu's Blog

A rainy start to the day.

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Matisyahu

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4 September 2026

Woke up before my alarm to the sound of heavy rain – I checked the weather before heading off to sleep last night but I wasn’t expecting the wind and the rain. I’m happy I’m staying at home and keeping warm because having to go into town would be an unpleasent experience. I opened up Chrome to check for updates and Google has released another update for Chrome which bumps the version from 152.0.7977.76 to 152.0.7977.83 (link). An early release of Chrome 153 has been made avaiable to a small group of testers however I wouldn’t be surprised if we don’t end up seeing it maybe until next week at the earliest.

I’ve been catching up on the news and the discussion regarding the United States bond market in regards to the interest rates going up and attempts by the administration to push the rates back down. I’m not one to speculate on what could happen in the future but I do think that 50 years of reckless spending and borrowing by the United States will eventually catch up. There will eventually be a day of reckoning when the market will say ‘no more’ and the American people will be forced to have a serious conversation about taxes, spending and the distribution of power in their system.

Right now the United States government is spending 20% of their revenue servicing the interest on their debt when compared to 9% for New Zealand. I don’t know about you but maybe the credit ratings agencies and commentators in the media should focus on the bigger train wreck to the tune of $40 trillion and a budget deficit of 6% of GDP which should be of a greater concern than than the piddly 2.1% of GDP that the New Zealand government is currently running at the moment. There is a much higher likelihood of things going bad in the United States whose economy is based on the average American carrying a mountain of consumer debt (that is total debt minus their mortgage) than what is happening down at the bottom of the world. The capacity for the United States to behave recklessly is contingent on the rest of the world being willing to bankroll that reckless behaviour.

Getting back to more positive news – Google is working on moving more devices over to Android with the announcement that Google Meet devices will be moved over to it (link). The announcement is in line with the move to replace ChromeOS on laptops and mini-pcs to Android with the eventual goal being a single operating system that spans their entire product portfolio from top to bottom which should result in more frequent updates as well as better integration into the Google ecosystem as well as the devices integrating with each other.

Personal, Politics, Social Commentary, Technology
End of another day.

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Matisyahu

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3 September 2026

The night finished pretty easily – no major issues apart from the usual customers who have been using our service for years if not decades yet still cannot wrap their head around the policies of what we offer. On a good side, I was able to clear out the emails and other office stuff which should make life easier for the team tomorrow. For lunch today I had some salmon, tuna, banana and a protein bar. The salmon I bought was the Diplomats Salmon Fillets in Brine with Lemon which were the last two but I prefer to get the teriyaki version but unfortunately that wasn’t available. I’ve had a search online to see if it is available but there are no stockists with the only ones available for purchase being the brine with lemon.

Out of curiosity I download and installed Safari 27 for macOS Tahoe and Safari 27 for macOS Sequoia beta 5 to see what things are like with the latest beta of Safari when compared to the Technology Preview. The Technology Preview release is the most bleeding edge of releases which means there is almost a guarantee that something will be broken or buggy because that is where all the action is in much the same way the OpenSolaris used to have a release which was more stable than the more frequent builds that would come out more often but many times something broken. I have to note that when you install the beta of Safari 27 it does replace the existing Safari installation rather than it being a slide by side installation like how the Technology Preview is done.

What has been the experience so far? fairly reliable but the issue with NZ Post YouShop area remains however the error with Microsoft Teams hasn’t appeared although I’ve had false hope in the past only for the issue to reappear. I’ve got uBlock Origin Lite enabled on it and I haven’t noticed any regressions but it has only been around an hour or so since installing it but I’ll keep testing it out. It gives a good overview of what to expect when version 27 of Apple’s platforms are released hopefully within the next month or so. Next week is the ‘Surprise and shine’ on 10 September at 5:00 am which will hopefully be the event they announce the release date of their platforms – I wouldn’t be surprised if we end up seeing a release candidate next week and then it being released the following week – assuming there aren’t any show stopper bugs that suddenly appear.

Getting Healthy, Personal, Technology
A tasty dinner, almost finish the shift.

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Matisyahu

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3 September 2026

I got up today at 9:00 am and went for a 9km walk because I had some extra energy and time up my sleeve. Before heading off on my walk I put the clothes I had ordered into the washing machine and set it to wash while I was alway on my walk. When I came back the walk I hung the washing out on the line and opened up all the windows in the house to get some fresh air into the place – something that I can enjoy doing now that spring is here and summer isn’t too far away either.

I logged into work and I had talk to my boss about seeing whether I can get Christmas off – no guarantee but I may as well give it a try. I’ve been working through the usual drama during the day – plenty of emails and other office work but because the team I’m on are always keeping up paper work the net result is that we haven’t gotten overwhelmed. Towards the end of the year things start to pick up but I think with the improved system in place it should result in a smoother experience for employees as well as the customer.

Personal
A good first day back at work.

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Matisyahu

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2 September 2026

I went for my walk today and felt great when I came back home however I had a look at my work email and unfortunately due to a muck up on my part I haven’t been able to get time off over Christmas but I guess all is not lost because I’ve still got that time off in November when I travel to Australia where I’ll have a week off. Long story short, we have two systems, one for the work schedule and one for payroll – I put it through the payroll rather than the work schedule and it was only picked up around 2-3 weeks after I had submitted it incorrectly.

I mentioned about writing a post about liberalism but it kind of links up with a link I saved of a video regarding the building of suburbs in New Zealand and how society became more atomised as we become disconnected from each other. There is a lot of talk regarding how society is is fractured, that the third spaces that would bring together people from different walks of life such as religious institutions, unions, community centres etc. have disappeared. When you have a society that is already fractured then it is easier to sew distrust because the usual mechanism of picking up on nonsense because you have first hand experience seeing people from different walks of life has disappeared.

I’m looking forward to the final episode of Silo Season 3 and season 4 will be the final season – personally I like where there is a definitive season length so then the show doesn’t feel like it is being dragged out simply to keep it on air. I’m lookig forward to the return of ‘The last of us’, ‘Foundation’, ‘Severance’ and many other although I am tempted to have a look at a few series that didn’t catch my eye when they were initially launched.

Personal, Social Commentary
Back to work.

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Matisyahu

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2 September 2026

Woke up this morning at 9:00 am – a really good night sleep and the weather is great outside but I’m in no hurry to head out for a walk. I checked Chrome for updates and Google has updated it from 152.0.7977.65 to 152.0.7977.76 – even though it is a small increase in the version number there are 26 security bugs that have been fixed in this release (link). After updating I noticed that uBlock Origin Lite 2026.901.1442 has been released – just a simple filter update which probably explains why it was approved and updated so quickly. Regarding my ‘testing’ profile on Chrome, AdGuard has released an update and that is working well although it does still occasionally let through popups due to dishonest web developers doing dodgy things with their website – uBlock Origin Lite appears to do a better job at blocking those.

It is currently 15°C where I am at the moment so I’m getting ready to go for walk – nothing too strenuous but just wanting to get out of the house for a walk before work so I can get some fresh air. At the moment I’m working on a post that inspired me from a video I watched recently as well as a podcast I was listening to which was in regards to how liberalism started off as a radical liberating philosophical force that challenged the status quo, privileges obtained through inheritance but over time it has become a force now for the maintaining of the status quo. The podcast went into a discussion about whether the spirit of liberalism can revived or has its co-opting by the power structure made necessary to create a whole new movement that clearly disguises itself from what people associate with liberalism.

Personal, Social Commentary
Back to work on Wednesday.

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Matisyahu

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1 September 2026
Mum came over tonight and we had the soft shell tacos with the chilli I cooked earlier on today. There was a good amount of the chilli left over so when I went shopping tonight I picked up some containers so I can freezer the left over chilli in manageable single serving containers that I can take out of the freezer one meal at a time. The new microwave worked perfect although it is a little different than my old one I did find that it heated up the chilli quicker than my old one. When heating up the soft tacos shells I used the cast iron pan which did a really good job conducting the heat which made them crispy.

I forgot to mention that Ubiquit has released an update the U7 Pro Max access point which updated it from 8.6.11 to 8.7.11 to fix a bug relating to WiFi 4 based on what they mentioned in the release notes however I’m unsure whether any other issues have been fixed up. I checked on the Ubiquiti community forum what the story was regarding it but I didn’t see any post on the website – I checked I was on the release channel because I thought I may have put myself on the early access channel but accident but that wasn’t the case. I installed the update and everything is going well so far – I haven’t got an UniFi 4 devices in my house so I guess it is a nonissue but I haven’t noticed any regressions.

Tomorrow will be the regular update for Chrome 152 and next week will probably be when Chrome 153 will be released. In the Chrome 153 release (link) you’ll see quite a few references to removing the work related to Google’s attempt to remove third party cookies but then changed their mind given the resistance within the developer community. I don’t blame Google doing what they did because ultimately if you don’t have the support of web developers then you’re going to go nowhere quickly – anyone who has tried using Safari with websites that rely on third party cookies can tell you how it completely breaks websites.

A good example of breaking websites would be WordPress.com which I’ve outlined in the past – the only way to get around the issue is by disabling the ‘Prevent cross-site tracking’ feature within Safari settings and then you find that WordPress.com works well. The same issue also occurs on Safari and Microsoft Teams and I’ve noticed a few other websites such as Salesforce too. Long story short, you can have noble goals but if you don’t have the support of the wider online community the it’ll end up with brown websites and angry users of Chrome – something I assume Google would like to avoid.

I’ve received confirmation of the clothes order I made from an Auckland based store (Checks Downtown) and hopefully that’ll arrive maybe on Wednesday or Thursday because as at the time of this blog post the parcel has had a tracking number allocated but not picked up yet. This is the thing I love about the internet – the ability to have so much more variety and options available rather than being limited to what one has within travelling distance of where one lives.

Daily writing prompt
What are your favorite 5 apps on your phone?
View all responses
1. Reddit
2. Apple Music (to listen to music stored on my device)
3. Metservice
4. Sony Connect (for my wireless headphones)
5. Apple Podcast
Personal, Technology
That was unexpected.

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Matisyahu

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1 September 2026

Woke up at 9:00 am and had some breakfast at home – I caught up with chatting with a few friends online (due to the time difference the best time to chat is in the morning New Zealand time). I sliced up the onions and mushrooms the cooked up the mince, added the tomatoes, seasoning and chilli mixes – low and slow which took a couple of hours. For lunch I had some toast and a protein bar however I found on the hard way that my microwave died when I tried to soften the butter – a loud bang, the light stayed on and the rotating plate stopped moving. I guess it has had a good life given that it lasted over 10 years.

I took the bus down to Noel Leeming to buy a new microwave – found one for $349 on special but I had to be careful to ensure that it fit on my bench so I decided to go for the 27L model.

I haven’t given it a try yet but the lack of a rotating plate should provide more as well as it being easier to keep clean. When mum comes over I’ll use it to heat up the chilli for the soft shell tacos.

Personal
A productive day at home.

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Matisyahu

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1 September 2026

I went for a walk down to my local bakery and had eggs bene for brunch and tonight at 8:00 pm I walked down to the supermarket to pick up some food for Tuesday night dinner – the walk to the bakery was 3km there and back, and the walk to the supermarket was 10.71 km so in total today I walked 13 km which is rougly around 959 calories (I base it on 70 calories per kilometre). I was going to cook up the chilli tonight but I’m not i the mood nor am I in a rush given that I can easily get up tomorrow and cook it during the day then reheat it when mum comes over at 5:30 pm after she has finished work.

When I was walking home tonight there was some drizzle however the drizzle hasn’t become rain at the time of typing out my blog post. The weather is so crazy these days that the Metservice put out a forecast but you never know how thins can change within a space of 12-24 hours. I’m going to get up tomorrow at my normal time and play it by ear but if all is well then i’ll go for a 9-10 km walk – maybe even longer if I feel in the mood.

Personal
Feeling great.

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Matisyahu

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31 August 2026

I had a wonderful night sleep last night and I woke up at around 8:00 am this morning, before my alarm went off, and it feels like my body has finally got the message that this is my new routine. I got out of bed and had a quick snack then checked out some videos then got ready to go down to the local bakery for some eggs bene with a cappuccino however I didn’t buy any thing else. In the past I was kind of cavalier with counting my calories on my day off and the problem is that although I stuck to a good routine during the week I ended up going off the rails on my day off thus undoing all my hard work during the week.

It isn’t about depriving oneself of enjoying but instead about maintaining moderation – enjoyment but within the limits of moderation. I think that is something that I need to work on, focusing on moderation – have the occasional treat rather than depriving myself of something then going on a binge only to then feel crappy because all the hard work done by getting up early, going for a walk, sticking to a diet plan during the week has all been for nothing (or at least next to nothing). It’ll be interesting to see what the results are within 3 months when I go to Australia for my trip – I’m hoping to get my weight down to maybe below 100kg (my height is 188cm) which will make dealing with summer in Australia a whole lot easier along with clothes being a lot more comfortable.

The weather is wonderful today – spring officially starts 1 September so hopefully the good experience today will continue for the rest of the year. I walked down and back from the local cafe which is around 3km however I’m going to walk down to the supermarket tonight to pick up some coleslaw, mushrooms etc. so then I can cook up the chilli for the soft shell tacos for dinner on Tuesday night. I’ll be cooking the chilli tonight because I cook it ‘low and slow’ so I reduce the amount of liquid in it so then it is thick and rich perfect for use in tacos, nachos, spaghetti bolognese etc.

Btw, when I am on Reddit is always funny the number of people who hide the posts they have made when you click on their profile. For me, it says a lot when you’re not willing to stand by what you post – by allowing the community to see what you’ve said on the past and how it lines up with what you’re saying today. It reminds me of the comments on websites that use Disqus – the biggest trolls are the ones that hide their comment history. Maybe Reddit should offer the ability to automatically block people who don’t show their comment history – I know I’d enable such an option because my comment history is an open book and your comment history should be as well or otherwise you shouldn’t be allowed to reply to my post or comment.

Personal, Social Commentary
Thank god that week is over

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Matisyahu

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31 August 2026

Well, end of the week and I was hoping to start my weekend on a good end to the day then some idiot comes through and refuses to listen to an explaination so I ended the call. Sorry, my mental health isn’t going to suffer because you cannot rub two brain cells together to understand something incredibly basic given you’ve used our service for almost a decade. Oh well, at least I was able to get that off my checst – the perks of having a blog and using it as a constructive way to vent my frustration into the cavernous void known as the internet.

I got the mince out of the freezer and it is sitting on the bench to defrost overnight and tomorrow I’m going to cook it up on low and slow so then on Tuesday when mum comes over it is all good to go. When it comes to cooking the mince I am tempted to go down to the supermarket to pick up some mushrooms and onions then pair that up with the charlgrilled capsicum and a few other bits and pieces. As for what the mince will be used for, on Tuesday I’ll be having soft tacos which will include the mince, cheese, coleslaw, and some other toppings including guacamole.

I was watching a video today regarding the long term interest rates for 30 year and 10 year bonds in the United States increasing:

If one were to speculate then the purchasing of short dated bonds by the United States Treasury is a bet that in the future those interest rats will decrease. That decrease being caused by the whole AI bubble popping and there being a sudden increase in demand for government bonds which will drive down the interesr rats on long dated bonds. It is a pretty risky game to play given the old saying “the market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent” and it is also assuming that the situation in Iran can be resolved and Trump won’t do something stupid like picking a fight with another country alongside the one they’re having with Canada. I don’t envy the position that Scott Bessent is in when you have no control over the decision making of the president and yet you’re expect to continuously clean up the best off the president’s dumb decisions.

Personally, I think it is time for the rest of the world to get its act together and stop holding out hope that something magical is goign to happy when it comes to the United States. In my lifetime we’ve had eight years of George W Bush and by the end of Trump’s term it’ll be eight years of him – at the end of the day the politicians a country chooses are a reflection of that society and the priorities that society has. This is the time that the world should be working on institutions to work around the United States – expand the CPTPP by inviting China and India to join then negotiating trade between the CPTPP then developing relationships with the merging markets in Africa along with Central and South America.

As well as trade there also needs to be new institutions that are set up such as a replacement for Visa and MasterCard – an interoperable network that each country runs and operates with other countries. Maybe UnionPay would be a good model as an alternative – a federated system where each country runs a UnionPay system and can work in each others countries. It’ll be a tricky path but eventually the differences will have to be put aside for the bigger picture of not being dependent on a country that is behaving like a rogue nation.

On a side note, I’ve been giving UniFi Verify a try when it comes to 2FA code generation when compared to the Google Authenticator. It would be nice if Google provided a solution that intgrated 2FA into their password manager like how Apple does with their password manager. I have tried third party password managers but I’ve found that the integration isn’t as good as the password manager that is natively built into the browser or when using password manager on an Android or iOS phone particularly when it comes to saving usernames and passwords for apps on the phone.

Personal, Politics