I decided to go for a longer walk than usual tonight after work, 16.2km, and when I came back the hot shower felt so good soothing the muscles in my legs and my sore feet. It is funny how the small things in life such as a hot shower can bring so much joy after a long day at work then followed by a power walk. I’m might watch a video television shows before going to bed although if I am too tired I might just wait until tomorrow or maybe Monday – no urgency to see then, they aren’t going to suddenly disappear.
Monday I’m going to head in to get a routine blood test to see how things are progressing – ensure that my blood sugar is normal (hba1c test) along with any other things that need to be on the lookout for. Although it is annoying it is best to keep up routine checks and catch a problem early when it is treatable vs when it is caught too late resulting in a lower quality of life (and possibly shortened life).
There has been a lot of noise made about the person in charge of Windows speculating about the future of the Windows platform (link) in particular there was a focus by many on the comment regarding the use of keyboard and mice. What I think was lost in translation is the fact that behind the vision of the future there appears to be a renewed focus on Windows as a living and breathing platform rather than a platform in retreat. I say that because ever since shutdown Windows on smartphones the general vibe from Microsoft was a future of Microsoft where their operating system is a legacy system that will be kept around for desktops and laptops but Microsoft had no interest in developing Windows beyond that. Long story short, Microsoft had given up on trying to put Windows on any other device other than the devices it was already running on.
What I thought was interesting, that many people overlooked from the video, when talking about moving beyond keyboard and mouse I think the context that was lost wast the implication that Microsoft was going to start looking at Windows being on form factors beyond the traditional laptop and desktops. The whole vision, to me at least, implied that their retreat from expanding beyond laptops and desktops has stopped and that they see a future where Windows will be in more devices – maybe we’ll even see a return of Windows on the smartphone? there is already work being done to address the much reported situation of handheld games consoles performing worse when running Windows when compared to the exact same hardware is running Linux. The idea of Windows on a the smart phone again isn’t all that far fetched given that a portable games console isn’t too far from a smartphone especially given that many include a web browser, app stores etc.
Maybe this is the way in which Microsoft can see themselves getting back into the smartphone market – through portable gaming consoles then working their way up from there. It’ll be interesting therefore to see what Microsoft will do to slim down Windows to make it more efficient on the same hardware that Linux is being offered on. Many things are happening around the world that are disrupting the old order – at the moment Apple Pay and Google Pay along with Visa and Mastercard are they way people conduct contactless payments but in the European Union there is work being done on the digital Euro and linking it to ones bank account so that it bypasses the Visa and Mastercard system along with not relying on Google Pay or Apple Pay. Large numbers of applications these days are multiplatform and depend on web technologies which put Microsoft at an advantage when they embraced Chromium as the basis of their web browser along with it also WebView2 forming the basis on which applications written using web based technologies can run. Most of the games that exist depend on DirectX which means that many of the legacy win32 components aren’t used by games so even if Microsoft start pruning off parts of the operating system thus requiring minimal changes by developers all for the sake of getting a more efficient operating system then opportunities may open.
The reason why I bring this up is because the issues that lead to Windows Mobile never gaining traction are different this time and if Microsoft positions its platform to take advantage of the changes taking place then the models on which Apple and Google built their mobile business may not longer hold true in the future. In the past these platforms could hold onto customers because they were locked into their ecosystem but as new options open the lock in becomes weaker to the point that the ability to move to a different platform becomes easier. This is the reason why Apple jealously guards it’s iMessage protocol while doing a half assed effort at their RCS implementation because the moment Apple implements RCS or allows iPhone users to make use of the Jibe RCS network Google runs (particularly in countries where carriers don’t offer RCS – see New Zealand as an example) is the moment that one of the lock ins disappear thus making moving between platforms a lot less painful experience.
Came back from my nightly 11.6km walk tonight around an hour ago, I quickly jumped into a hot shower to warm up along with making a mug of instant miso soup to warm me up further. It really is something that is so satisfying and the calories are so miniscule that I think the next time I go shopping I’m going to buy a few more packets of it for good luck. For me, I put two sachets in a cup because the sachets they include are only for 160ml where as my bug is more than 300ml. I can never work out why coffee and soup companis have such bizarre cup sizes given that almost every cup, even the Arcoroc Coffee Fumer Mugs are 250ml so I’m trying to work out who has a 160ml or 187ml cup?
On some good news, uBlock Origin Lite 2025.812.1339 is now available on both the Mac App Store as well as the Google Chrome extensions store. Nothing to report regarding Chrome but what I can report is that the few strange bugs on Safari have been fixed (I’m running Safari 18.6) but it’ll be interesting to see how performs with the Safari included with macOS 26 an whether the fixes related to the subframe issue has been fixed the lingering issues that have cause a world of pain for extension developers wanting to target Safari. I’m looking forward to see what happens when macOS is released because if it turns out that the issues I have experienced with Safari are addressed then I maybe heading back from Google Workspace to iCloud (along with moving back to having an iPhone).
I really need to wait until macOS 26 is released before making any judgement because I could imagine if there are going to be major overhauls in the browser then it is something they’ll hold off for a major release with the current release receiving incremental improvements. It is one of the things that is frustrating about the reviews of the beta releases of macOS 26 is the lack of any coverage regarding Safari and how it performs in regards to extensions, website compatibility, speed particularly on websites that make heavy use of javsscript, web assembly, web workers etc. There also hasn’t been any coverage of Mail and custom domain support etc. so I guess it’ll end up being me writing a multipage dissertation when macOS 26 is released.
Just on a side note, I’m hoping to get a couple of days off when macOS 26 is released so then I can spend all day geeking out, upgrading all my devices and if it works out well I’ll pop down to the store to buy an iPhone 17 Pro Max (I’m going to be saving up over the next couple of months so I can pay cash for it). I’m happy to hold off puchasing because I don’t imagine seeing Snakehive having a product ready on launch day not to mention that if a refreshed Apple TV is launched then I may also have a look into getting one particularly if it ends up having WiFi 7 support which will take advantage of the 6GHz band on my access point.
It was a rather uneventful start to the week – work was the usual and nothing out of the ordinary. I have to admit, I did enjoy having a full fridge rather than the last couple of weeks of working through what I had left in my cupboard. After work I went for my nightly walk, 11.6km, the temperature is pretty chilly out there being 6 degrees celsius but I wrapped up warm with my oversized hoodie and tracksuit pants although I’m sure when the weather warms up I’ll be complaining about how it is too hot and I’m sweating too much.
A Chrome update was released today which upgraded it from Version 139.0.7258.67 to Version 139.0.7258.128 which is a bit of a leap when compared to the previous updates. Plenty of bug fixes and security fixes so it is best to get onto it. I also checked my mobile phone and the upgrade to 139 appeared so I updated to that as well. After coming home from my nightly walk I checked for updates and Samsung had released the August 2025 update which is around 550mb or so:
There were also a few updates from Samsung through the Samsung Store so I got that all updated as wel, a reboot and then I was back online again. I haven’t noticed any changes which is a good sign that the update was uneventful just like any good update should be. The Google Play Services update for August hasn’t been released yet but they tend to come out at random times rather than some sort of schedule (even when I had a Pixel they would come out at random times). uBOLite 2025.812.1339 has been released on Microsoft Edge but not available on Chrome extensions store or the App Store.
macOS 15.7 RC2 was released recently so it’ll probably be released either towards the end of this week, assuming there is a critical update that they need to get out to users, but I’d say the most likely scenario is the release being done on Tuesday or Wednesday NZ Time. Beta 6 of the next platform release by Apple was made available but the release date won’t be known until the iPhone event in September so it’ll be interesting to see how. much of a gap between the iOS release and macOS release is – macOS 26 being released maybe at the same time a 26.0.x release is made available could be a possibility.
The weekend ended up finishing a lot quicker than expected. I went for my big grocery shop today and funny enough the amount I spent was less than expected – not because the prices of food went down (wouldn’t that be nice!) but rather because I first of all had something to eat so I wasn’t buying on an empty stomach and secondly I went in with a plan rather than rather than just randomly purchasing things that I thought I need but there was no plan how I would see how it all worked together to make meals. I bought a few extra items for the freezer although I skipped the lamb – I would have loved to get some but the price is too high so I couldn’t justify to myself purchasing it but I’m sure it’ll come on special at some point at which time I’ll grab a few extra items for the freezer so I can use it at a later date.
I went for an 11.6km walk and I thought I would still be sore after the 20km walk on Monday but I actually felt pretty good after wards. I think that with more frequent walking it has allowed my body to recover from exercise sessions with the benefit of walking over running as a big guy meaning the impact on the joints is a lot lower. When I was slimmer when younger I couldn’t stand running – I looked horribly uncoordinated and it was not enjoyable where as a brisk walk at around 5.8kmph is good enough to burn a few calories and get some fresh air.
On Wednesday there is patch Tuesday for Windows 11 24H2 and Chrome – will be interesting to see what Chrome brings with the update. I also checked over on Github and uBOLite 2025.812.1339 has been released which will appear in the Chrome store and Apple store in the next few days. There are a lot of new features along with bug fixes relating to Safari with many features that impact all the supported platforms. It normally takes 2 days for it to appear on their respective stores – for some reason it appears on the Microsoft store before the other two which makes me wonder whether it is due to the volume of extensions that Microsoft receives is lower or Microsoft has review teams in more locations around the world so that there is never a backlog of things needing review and approval.
It is less of a single word but more the use of hyperbole loaded word(s) when talking about something that is more of a minor inconvenience rather than a major issue – it isn’t a major issue, it is just a slight annoyance. A major issue would be turning on your oven, you walk out of your kitchen, the oven explodes and takes out half of your house, what you experienced not being able to log into your lotto account is a minor inconvenience. There appears to be a section of the population who have convinced themselves that everything that occurs in their life is a ‘major issue’ – main actor syndrome where they believe that everything in the universe is created just for them and by virtue of existing that certain things should or shouldn’t happen to them and if it doesn’t go according to that plan the it is a great travesty of injustice.
I woke up early on Monday to jump on a bus to pick up some odd bits and pieces from the supermarket for the day with the big shop being done on Tuesday. On Tuesday I’ll be popping down but this time I’ve made sure I’ve actually got a list of things I need to purchase and if I have some extra money I’ll pick up a few extra items to have some extra food just in case I can’t get down to the supermarket for whatever particular reason. Tonight I went for a 20km walk – I needed a good work out after having a bit of a treat today, some fresh crusty bread along with a sweet treat on the side.
Samsung is looking at releasing One UI 8.0 (based on Android 16) in around September however they’re gradually rolling out the August 2025 update which will probably arrive in New Zealand around mid August or possibly towards the end the of the month. I’ve been watching videos and it is a sad state of affairs just how bad the Tech YouTube scene has gotten with the clickbait content, the hysterical nonsense where on one hand people complain that Samsung released an upgrade too early and how they should have tested it for longer but the moment that Samsung does take its time to ensure the release is solid then the same people are whining and whinging about how it is being delayed.
It is one of the reasons I’ve become less and less interested in those creating technology orientated content on YouTube because the environment has gotten so toxic and filled with people who have convinced themselves that being negative about everything somehow makes them better than those who cheerlead for companies and products that don’t deserve it. Do such people realise that they’re no better than the cheerleaders, that they’re pretty much doing the same thing but in the opposite direction? It reminds me of reactionaries during the COVID pandemic and how they convinced themselves that because they’re doing the exact opposite of what the experts were advising that it somehow made them ‘independent thinkers’. Being a reactionary doesn’t make you some sort of ‘independent thinker’ because ultimately you position regarding something isn’t based on a case by case basis but rather simply shaped by taking the opposite of whatever is the prevailing orthodoxy even if the prevailing orthodoxy is correct.
It reminds me of a YouTuber whining about how the Samsung S25 Ultra wasn’t a big change over last years offering but such people never explain what they actually want. It’s like when a customer complains about something and you ask them what they would like the organisation you for to do for them – a refund? yet they keep whining and complaining but never getting to the point. We’re at peak smartphones, people are keeping their phones for 3-4 years, maybe longer, the changes being made when it comes to the software and hardware is incremental because the heavy lifting/big changes were done over many years to get to this point. Most people who upgrade to the Samsung S25 Ultra are going to be someone who probably bought the S20 (or possibly Apple customer looking to switch) series and looking to upgrade just as people interested in the iPhone 16 or holding off for the iPhone 17 series probably have an iPhone 11 or 12.
Finally a night without rain which has allowed me to go for a 11.6km walk and when I came back I jumped in to have a hot shower. The weather is a bit cold outside but I can handle the cold with a good jumper and I guess it is a good incentive to walk at a fast pace to keep warm. It always feels good after working all day to get out of the house and get some fresh air, see the sights and sounds even if it is at 10-11pm – the night crew is out doing upgrades on the rail lines which is great to see.
I’ll be popping down to the supermarket on Monday to grab a few items to get me through the day and then on Tuesday I’ll do a bit shop because at the moment my cupboards are more or less empty with only a few tinned goods left. On Tuesday the Snakehive case for my phone will arrive which is a bit annoying because at the moment it is at the Auckland sorting facility so I would have thought it would come down on an overnight track from Auckland to Wellington but for some strange reason they don’t have a truck that does it – either that or the courier service I paid for doesn’t qualify for it.
I’ve been following the development of Windows 11 25H2, specifically regarding the work they’re doing around finding a way that security products can operate in user space after the whole Crowdstrike fiasco. What will be interesting is whether we’ll see maybe a solution to the persistent issues surrounding Easy Anti-Cheat causing kernel panics. In a perfect world gamers would flat out refuse to buy games that include Easy Anti-Cheat which would force the hand of the games companis to come up with a better solution but given how so many gamers are like drug addicts needing their fix – perpetually whining about the price, increasing system specs, buggy releases etc but ultimately caving in when push comes to shove.
As for the whole Intel situation – I think the end goal is to spin off the fabrication side of the business into a joint venture with either Samsung or TSMC then Intel signing an exclusive contract with that new joint venture. At the moment I have heard that they’ve got issues with their 18A technology and the 14A is looking uncertain unless they can secure a big customer such as Apple. I could imagine Apple maybe pushing TSMC into buying half of the spun off Intel chip fabrication business which would ensure that TSMC has Apple, AMD, nVidia and Intel locked which would help the tech giants avoid the significant tariffs that Trump recently announced. The benefit to Intel of selling off half of its fabrication division would bring in enough money to make the big investments to catch up to AMD. It will be interesting to see what happens given that Intel has many challenges ahead of itself but then again this is the end result of being at the top for so long that they took their position in the market for granted and are now realising that being at the top doesn’t last forever – you have to continuously fight to maintain that position.
I’ve been following the development of iOS 26 and macOS 26 to see what ends up happening – I’ve held off from any major criticism because when a product in beta is released the focus is seeing how well an idea works in the real world when normal people use it then make tweaks accordingly. I found a video that really articulates the issue I have with the direction taken by Apple:
For me, I liked Aqua when it was first launched with the ‘lickable’ interface elements, the pinstripe look – then combine that with the fun colours of the iMac, it made the idea of using a computer ‘fun’ rather than some burdensome thing that one wishes to avoid at any cost. What I see with the ‘liquid glass’ is a faux futurism of glass surfaces, the sort of see through touch screens you see in movies like the ‘Minority Report’, a substitute for actual genuinely improving products so instead giving them the thin veneer of progress in much the same way that Trump uses guilding to make an another wise cheap item appear to be luxurious to those who believe money can buy class.
As I come back to what I said about iCloud, Webkit and other key parts of the Apple platform ecosystem, they’re not making the investment in the areas that matter – they may not be something the user know about but they certainly know when something goes wrong. A bit like water pipes and water treatement, no one thinks about it when it is working fine but they certainly are thinking about it when things go pear shaped.
When Apple fails to keep up with web standards in terms of compliance and fixing implementation bugs then it isn’t surprising that Chrome has a massive lead in market share on macOS. It should be a wake up call to Apple that even though Safari is bundled with macOS that people are going out of their way to install Chrome on macOS. Why does that matter? because market dominance dictates how much influence Apple has when it comes to shaping the web standards of today and in the future, whether certain standards gain traction based on if or when they’re implemented – does Apple want to be a follower or a leader? Do they want to have a chair at the big table where the decisions are being made or are they going to let the likes of Microsoft and Google shape the future of the internet?
The other problem is halo effect of the ‘friend who is good with computers’ or the ‘family member who is good with computers’ where Apple may have won them with their hardware and macOS but lost them when they cannot run their favourite extensions on Safari because the implementation of MV3 is half baked at best. Such individuals have a halo effect in that they also influence their friends and family – if you lose them then you lose the normies. This is the big problem that impacted Windows Vista, they lost the ‘friend who is good with computers’ or the ‘family member who is good with computers’ to the point that normies would repeat ‘I heard Windows Vista sucks’ even before giving it a chance (don’t get me wrong, it was far from perfect but after the first service pack many of the issues were resolved – see the ‘Mojave Experiment’).
It reminds me of the customer satisfaction survey term called Net Promoter Score (NPS) where a customer will rate their customer service experience from 1-10 and the score given by the customer that customer is categorised as either a detractor, neutral or a promoter. The best way to visualise a promoter is someone who will talk positively about your company to friends and family, for example, you’re talking about banks and they’ll talk positively about the bank they bank with – they would be considered a promoter. You can spend all you want on marketing but what has the biggest impact are the experiences friends and family relay to each other because they are considered to have come from a trustworthy source whereas the only impact marketing has is to tell people that the product exists but it is very rare to win over the hearts and minds to the same extent as endorsements from those they trust.
I was hoping to get my power bills under control after having to have my heater turned on more often than I ideally wanted but it appears that mother nature must have shares in Meridian Energy which explains the current weather. I went for a walk last night but not tonight because the weather is too unpredictable – raining then not raining then raining again. I’ve been pretty good with my calorie intake today so I’m not to worried along with the fact that I keep reminding myself of the old adage “you cannot outrun a bad diet” – calorie deficits beat exercise given the amount of exercise one has to do to burn 300-400 calories it is best to control calories and any exercise is an icing on the cake rather than controlling weight being dependent on exercise.
I’ve been tracking my Snakehive wallet case shipping from the UK – it always amazes me how common place it is to simply jump online and buy from overseas where as when I was growing up it was a matter of “if it isn’t here then you’re out of luck”. These days if I can’t get it in New Zealand then I jump online and if they don’t ship to New Zealand then I can go through YouShop either in the US or UK then add on top of that Visa/Mastercard debit cards being available the whole process is as easy as purchasing something locally. I really do hope that one day the mobile handset vendors and mobile carriers get their act together and come up with at least some sort of ‘base level’ VoLTE standard that all carriers around the world confirm to so then it is possible not to he limited to what carriers sell in their country
It’s been a few months since I moved from my Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max to Samsung S25 Ultra – I have kind of floated the idea of maybe going to Pixel 10 Pro XL or maybe a Nothing Phone 3 but they come with their own set of challenges. Sure, the Samsung S25 Ultra have many features integrated into Android that I don’t use but features such as Google Home don’t work well with Workspace where as Samsung SmartThings does a good job integrating my Arlo security camera setup, bluetooth headphones and maybe in the future Samsung television running One UI which all integrates into a single ecosystem.
There is also something that may sound silly but it is a feature of Samsung’s file manager that I like – I can link the Samsung file manager to my Google Drive and then just download my music collection I’ve backed up to the cloud down to my mobile phone. Does it take a while? I’m on a 1gbps fibre connection so so the speed is no worse than if I was transferring it directly on my computer. The benefit of having that feature built into the Samsung file manger is the fact that I don’t need to worry about MTP synchronising applications because everything can be done via the cloud. I’ve got 2TB storage in the cloud, I may as well make use of it given that I do pay for it each month with the added benefit of always having an offsite backup of everything that I consider important.
You must be logged in to post a comment.