Matisyahu's Blog

  • One more day then the weekend.

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    Tomorrow is the last day of the week and it couldn’t come sooner. I was going to go for a walk tonight but it has been raining on and off and when it did rain it was a real downpour so I decided to take a night off, watch another episode of Foundation and keep warm in front of my heater. While here I cleared the cookies and cache along with clearing the stuff out of the cloud, sort my phone out etc. I’m still using Google Streamer but I’m leaning heavily towards getting a Samsung 2025 television – I’m going to head down to the local Noel Leemings to check out what they navigation is like given that the only point of reference I have is a television from 2016. To be honest the only thing I use on the television is free to air television and YouTube – something that the Samsung TV could easily do without too much hassle.

    One of the other reasons is if I can get Samsung Pass to work on a generic PC (based on the specs from the Microsoft app store it says it should as long as there is a TPM 2.0 module and Windows Hello) then I’ll move from using Google Password manager to Samsung Pass ince it includes support not only for OTP built into it but also the newest televisions from Samsung include Knox built in which will make using the built in web browser a lot easier as well. Sam Mobile has a good video giving an overview of the changes that are coming with the 2025 Samsung television range:

    Anyway, I’m going to head off to sleep, have a good nights rest and then get to do it all over again.

  • Evolution towards a unified core.

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    Just watching the following video – I have to admit a lot of the information that I’m seeing around the internet is rumours but it is interesting to hear just how bureaucratic Intel is relative to AMD – multiple teams working on multiple architectures ends up sounding very much like a needlessly complex organisational structure.

    Seeing that the efficiency cores are going to become the basis of the unified core reminds me very much of the days back when the P4 had a pipeline to the moon and back with it’s replacement being created by the Israeli team which was based on the Pentium III which evolved into the Core, the Core 2 – if I remember correctly Core 2 had a 14 stage pipeline which balanced efficiency with scalability. While we’re on the topic of taking a basic core design and building from there, it reminds me very much of Sun Microsystems working on the T1 whose basis was the UltraSPARC II that they built up from there to create the multicore monster (link).

    There is also the matter of the nVidia ARM CPU – it’ll be interesting to see whether Windows 11 25H2 brings compatibility for the nVidia ARM CPU and whether Microsoft brings about a nVidia ARM CPU based all in one computer or a mini-pc running Windows 11. There is also the Google event in August where the Pixel 10 and Pixel Watch 4 will be announced – it’ll be interesting to see whether it is made available in more markets or whether instead I’ll grab it through Mighty Ape.

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  • The future of ChromeOS and Android.

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    It appears that there has been confirmation, be it passing a line within an interview, about the future of the coming of two operating systems into a single unified one that’ll span from watch to phone to tablet then to laptop. There is also talk about bringing extensions to Chrome along with making Chrome feature comparable to the Chrome that came with ChromeOS – it’ll be interesting to see whether Android on the laptop with extensions make their way down to the tablet and smartphone.

    It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out for Google’s partners such as Samsung with their OneUI branding – will they allow the sort of customisation on Android on phones and tablets for laptops as well? will they also extend that to Android TV so then it would encourage Samsung to maybe bring them into the fold by allowing them to apple their OneUI magic to Android TV and Android on the laptop so then effectively Samsung, rather than being yet another Windows vendor to create a uniquely Samsung experience where there is the underlying Android operating system but a unique OneUI look and feel that makes their products stand out from the competition.

    On some good news, the Samsung has released the July 2025 update, the kernel has had a minor bump in the patch level but it remains at 6.6.30, along with a baseband update, SE update etc. the size of the download was close to 600MB but because I’m at home on a decent wifi connection to the internet via fibre it downloaded pretty quickly resulting in it updating relatively fast. I haven’t noticed any regressions not noticed any changes which is a good sign that the best update is an update that fly belows the radar and life carries on as usual.

    There are more rumours regarding Intel and the work being done to turn aroujd their fortunes such as this article (link) and (link) with the interesting part being around AVX-10 instruction set, and the APX extension being added which will hopefully translate to better power/performance to maybe closing the gap between x86 and ARM – it doesn’t have to necessarily beat Apple but if the gap closes then add on top the savings of going with Wintel is significant enough then for the average person it’ll be ‘good enough’ to get the job done (one of the reasons I’m looking at a post-Apple future given how i’m slowly falling in love with my Samsung phone). It appears that Intel have realised that approach they’ve taken has made it needlessly more complex and more expensive than it needed to be especially when compared to how AMD have pulled ahead while keeping very much a unified architecture. Keeping in mind that this is all rumours at the moment so it is a matter of seeing what actually ends up transpiring. As for mum, she still needs a new computer so I’m probably just going to order a Beelink SER9 Pro AMD Ryzen™ AI 9 HX 370 which has more than enough grunt for what is required with oodles of space then pair with a better router for her fibre connection I’m hoping I can setup a computer setup that’ll make life easier. As for the old Intel NUC, I’ll probably take that off her hands, load Linux on it and turn it into a server with an external SSD sharing files to the network with it located in my office so it is directly hooked up to the router via ethernet cable.

    Tonight I had a lazy dinner of a couple of sandwiches a small packet of crisps then went for a small walk – didn’t feel like it but I know I feel a whole lot better once I have come back home after getting some fresh air.

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  • I needed that walk after today.

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    One of the things I hate about working in customer services are people who use us as an emotional sound board because god forbid taking responsibility for decisions they made. After dealing with a few of those I went for my usual 11.6km walk tonight to work it out of my system so then I can have a clear head so when I got home I could have a relaxing shower then jumping into bed to relax by watching a few television episodes. The great thing about walking is not just the health benefits (which helps in the weight loss journey) but also the psychological benefits of being able to unwind and deal with stress and other emotions in a productive way rather than trying to eat ones problems away by resorting to binge eating comfort foods.

    Google released a Chrome update today and I would suggest if you haven’t updated to do so pronto – plenty of security fixes for some nasty vulnerabilities (link). Along with that AdGuard 5.2.35 has been released – haven’t noticed any regressions but given the amount of big changes under the hood I have a feeling they’ll be taking their time before they make the big leap to a stable version. Looking forward to comparing the final stable version to uBlock Origin Lite once it is released.

    It truly is amazing how the government, be it local or central, can get in the way of good work being done to deal with the homeless crisis (link), if they’re failing to upgrade pipes to allow greater density housing in central Wellington then they’re blocking the ability to create a stop gap measure for homeless people until a more permanent solution can be found in the form of building more social houses. Personally I liked the idea I saw in the US with the homeless veterans communal housing where they were small houses along with a facility where the tenants could hang out together – almost like a common room with a television food preparation facilities etc.

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  • Back to work on Wednesday.

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    Another day of relaxing and today I went for an 11.6km walk tonight at around 6pm then when I came back, I put my recycling and rubbish wheelie bins out for collection then I headed down to the supermarket to pick up the all important milk and coffee. I was going to grab the bus but by the time I got half way to the bus stop I saw the bus go pass it so in the end I decided to just walk down to ehs supermarket and clock in a few extra km’s walking (thus making it around 15km walked today). While at the supermarket I picked up the milk with extra protein along with the coffee concentrate – I’ve decided to start buying the extra protein milk in future since it allows me to stick to my meal plan by allowing me to feel full for longer and I grabbed some Kombucha on special.

    Tomorrow (Wednesday) Google will release an update for Chrome and in around 2 weeks Chrome 139 will be stable with it being released to the public a week later. I don’t expect anything major but there is gradual progress in the area of ‘Web Platform Test’ in terms of working on areas that the major brower vendors have agreed to work on. There is also at work by the WECG to develop a similar testing system so that browsers can be tested and issues brought to the attention of said developers to that they know where compatibility issues are occuring and priorities can be set in much the same way that the ‘Web Platform Test’ is done.

    Apple is currently working on updates to their current platforms as well as working on the next generation. I am keeping an eye on what is happening with the next release and what I do hope is that they take on board feedback regarding their liquid glass. What I am hoping is that on macOS the ability to use reduced transparency will still result in a good experience because if you take the whole liquid glass out of the equation and look at the other improvements such as Metal 4, the laundry list of fixes and standards compliance bought to Webkit (it’ll be interesting to see what the benchmarks are like), under the hood optimisations, deprecated legacy frameworks etc.

    Things will be pretty quiet for the new few months but in September there will be the big Qualcomm conference where we will see a refresh in their product line up which will hopefully also translate to new ARM based products for not just laptops but also maybe seeing mini-pcs with Qualcomm SoCs making an appearance as well. There is the usual announcement by Apple at their iPhone even towards the end of September where they refresh the iPhone along with announcing when their new platforms will be released – generally they push out iOS first and then the rest follow from there. Towards the end of the year/beginning of next year there is Intel releasing the 300 series – rumours of a refresh of the existing product line up indicates to me that there maybe delays which is why they’re pushing for a stop gap measure to keep the OEMs happy.

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  • Relaxing at home, enjoying day off.

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    The weather has been less that ideal today but I got out of the house so I could pick up some much needed stuff from the store – what I needed were some tins of tuna. I like ensuring that I get a good amount of protein per day which helps not only in keep the metabolism firing all cylinders but also keeping me feeling full for longer which means I won’t snack between meals. I also noticed that there is milk with extra protein, I might start getting that instead of regular low fat milk because it’ll also up my protein consumption that’ll also keep me feeling satisfied during the day. With all that being said, I’m working through the food I have in the freezer and going to have a plan going forward rather than haphazardly shopping then trying to work out a plan from there.

    uBlock Origin Lite 2025.711.1256 is now in the Chrome web extensions store – no regressions, the drop down menu for the extension has been tidied up and more functionality is being added to really fill in the functionality gap when it comes to custom filters along with a ‘point and click’ tool where you can choose a particular element on a page to block it – quite good when something isn’t blocked by the current filters that are made available (I’ve had that happen a few times).

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  • Dealing with misinformation and disinformation.

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    Over the last 15-20 years there has been cottage industry of people and/or organisations spreading disinformation and misinformation which is then amplified not only by a large network of bots but people whose first reaction is ‘like first, ask questions never’ because it happens to tickle lizard brain. Unfortunately such an environment has had catastrophic consequences to society, upending a politics where now it is now ‘he or she who has the loudest and most obnoxious voice spouting the most insane nonsense gets the attention’ and in some cases creating an environment where individuals take it upon themselves with disastrous consequences such as the loss of life. Social media tends to get a lot of the focus because the speed at which such ideas can be spread whereas in the past you may have a right wing shock jock ranting down the microphone on an AM station (insert Simpson’s parody of Rush Limbaugh in the form of Birch Barlow) but their reach was limited – the ability to cut and share a clip with friends was limited to those who you know and even a smaller community online.

    So what is the solution to the spread of disinformation and misinformation particularly when we’ve seen the most extreme manifestations result in the loss of life? the heavy hand of the state in the form of the ‘Communications Legislation Amendment (Combating Misinformation and Disinformation) Bill 2024’ that was proposed in Australia and but has subsequently decided by the government that they won’t be proceeding with it? The use of soft power project by governments in a hope that they can nudge the social networking to do the ‘right thing’ through the use of technology analysing and then alerting for manual review content that falls under misinformation, disinformation, promoting of violence and/or hatred? If that is the avenue taken then who defines the difference between misinformation, disinformation or just a difference of opinion when there is an agreement on the facts but different conclusions are drawn? that is particularly problematic when you think of qualified doctors making legitimate content but just have a difference of opinion when analysing the same data – which side do you fall down on?

    There are three steps that I believe need to be taken to address the issue of misinformation and disinformation:

    1. Ban the use of algorithms for user created content. Algorithms are great for scenarios where you have a defined set of data points for example, you are music subscription business with informaiton such as track name, title, year of release, the genre, beats per minute etc. so then it is possible that if someone is listening to ‘Bob Marley and the Wailers’ and based on the person’s IP address they’re located in New Zealand so the algorithm may suggest ‘Fat Freddy’s Drop’ and ‘The Black Seeds’ then depending on the time of the year might offer an ad for the ‘Raggamuffin Music Festival’. If the algorithm is even more elaborate then it may learn from what other people listen to who also listen to ‘Bob Marley and the Wailers’ and suggest that to the user. In otherwords, a finite set of data points and nothing strange will happen. The moment you start using alogirithms with user created content the problem is that the system doesn’t know the difference between good engagement or bad engagement, it cannot parse the content along with understanding the nuances of language and the context, with the end result being content being flagged that is perfectly innocent while crafty individuals are able to fly below the radar. Then on top of that you add non-state actors (funded via hostile states) using the algorithm by creating bot farms who generate fake engagement which then amplifies which in turn results in that content being suggested to more people. TL;DR ban the use of algorithms on platforms with user created content or at the very least every user should default to a chronological timeline and each user should have its own algorithm that they can tweak and customise (see BlueSky which does a pretty good job).
    2. Make the settings on social media opt in – for example, if you setup an account with Facebook and you add a friend at the moment you’re automatically signed up to their timeline so what I suggest is that when you add someone as a friend you have to opt into following their timeline. If you make it opt in then that (combined with the banning of algorithms for user created content) should break the virality effect and the gaming of the system by bot farms. In other words end users would only be shown the content that they follow and from those whom they have opted into wanting to see their pots rather than those managing the platform automatically assuming that the end use would like a particular feature enabled by default.
    3. Not only in schools but through public education campaigns – media literacy and social media literacy, being able to pick up on something that may excite your lizard brain but having the self awareness to recognise that you may agree with it but it doesn’t necessarily make true. A good example of this is is a recent article from NPR (link) and yes even the left are being fed conspiracy theorys such as “they’re installing incinerators at Alligator Alcatraz,” (as outlined the article) when there is no evidence but many on the left believing it because paints an already horrible president in an even worse light (I’m no fan of Trump but if you’re going to push back against the Trump regime then it needs to be done based on facts not spreading unhinged conspiracy theories). When I went through school we used to have ‘newspapers in classrooms’ where we would look at stories, see how they were written, the headlines being used etc. Being able to dissect stories allowed one to uncover any sort of bias, whether the author was trying to illicit a reaction from the reader, what was missing, what details were left out etc. For example, I like to keep track of what is happening with Kiwirail and the rail developments occurring in Wellington and Auckland (specifically the city rail link) and although the media gives an ok top level overview what you tend to find, if you read the white papers and meeting documents that city councils make available, that there is a lot more detail that are left out – the rationale why certain decisions were made etc.

    Will the above solve every problem? I don’t think it is possible but I believe that taking away the incentives in place for people to spread misinformation and disinformation along with giving ordinary people the tools to spot misinformation and disinformation will do a better job long term than hoping that a system, prone to flagging campaigns and not picking up on truly harmful content or scams using social media advertising network, to step in when ideally it is up to the individual to exercise responsibility for the content they consume and whether they believe it to be true and then share it in conjunction with taking away the very technology that bad actors exploit to expand their reach.

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  • End of the week.

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    Sunday is the end of the week for me and the beginning of my weekend. Tonight I went for a 14.2km walk because it stopped raining so I thought I may as well take advantage of the good weather given that these days the weather is unpredictable resulting in days of raining without any rest so when those moments of fine weather occur you make the most of it. I was able to order some groceries on line – I was really looking forward to some smoked salmon so I got that along with some salad mix which was a nice midday meal. Hopefully spring will up quickly because as much as don’t mind the cold weather I do mind the high power bills associated with keeping my home warm.

    The MAGA online influences are getting high on copium as they try to explain away the decision by the Trump administration not to live up to the promises made regarding during the election and afterwards. At the end of the day either a) Trump and his cabinet are part of the deep state or b) There was no deep state and the Trump campaign used it to convince rubes of something that doesn’t actually exist. It’ll be interesting to see how it develops and what kind of narrative is created to explain what has taken place – will there be a split with the ‘true believers’ insisting that it’s all part of a ‘grand plan’ aka 5D chess by Trump vs those who realise that they were used and are now trying to find a way to repair the damage done to relationships? I think eventually those who threw themselves into the cult are going to realise that Trump only cares about Trump – if you get something out of it then it is by accident rather than by design.

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  • Another day, another pay.

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    Work was uneventful and it has been raining all day so I decided to have tonight off from some exercise and instead chill out watching some tv series while catching up on some blogposts I’ve beem meaning to finally complete.

    An update to the AdGuard beta release has been made available along with the uBlock Origin Lite as mentioned yesterday has appeared in the Chrome store. More features are being added to uBlock Origin and AdGuard beta has been pretty rock solid in my experience – the issue regarding the Cloudflare check (the one that asks if you’re a human) hasn’t come back so it appears that the problem has been well and truly sorted out. Rumours are still circulating regarding extension support being added to Chrome on Android but from what I understand things are pretty buggy so I wouldn’t be surprised if we end up seeing maybe something around the time there is an announcement around the future of ChromeOS given that any sort of move to replace ChromeOS with Android would require support for extensions given how many organisations, both business and education, that rely on extensions as part of their work flow.

    I’m having a look at the Nothing Phone 3 and at the moment there is the Nothing Phone 3a – from what I understand it supports VoLTE on the three carriers but I wonder whether the Nothing Phone 3 will also be the same. The reason why I wonder is because there is a scheduled shut down of the 3G network towards the end of this year and beginning of next year so the 3G fallback for voice calls will disappear thus making VoLTE support a must. The Pixel 9 Pro XL works with VoLTE with all three carriers out of the so assuming no regressions then we’ll see the Pixel 10 Pro XL work out of the box as well. Both the Nothing Phone and Pixel promise 7 years of support so it’ll be interesting to see what is delivered when the Pixel 10 Pro XL is announced. As for my Samsung S25 Ultra, I might give it up mum when I upgrade and as for Google Home, I just use it for controlling the Google Streamer and eventually the Arlo security will be replaced with Ubiquiti which will avoid the whole mess of mucking around with recharging the camera battery.

    On a side note, I did give the Samsung Tizen a try on my television (keeping in mind my television is pretty old) and I much prefer using the Google Streamer – easier to navigate, more responsive, no strange bugs or quirks occuring. It’ll be interesting to see whether Google releases a ‘premium’ streaming box, something that makes use of the Google Tensor SoC, maybe we’ll see that when Android TV 16 is released and there is a move to 64bit Android TV – AV1 hardware acceleration for high definition streaming content would be a nice improvement. At the moment though the Google Streamer does a pretty good job for what it is designed to do although a faster processor would provide a more responsive experience when using Kodi.

    And Ubiquiti has released some beta versions as well and stable previews – the Ubiquiti UniFi Gateway Max is still in development but I’m guessing the version number doesn’t really reflect whether one product line is getting more attention given that the Ubiquiti UniFi Gateway Max lacks the built in UniFi Network Application hence the reason I have a Cloud Key although I am tempted to replace the two with Ubiquiti UniFi Dream Router 7 then setup the Ubiquiti UniFi Gateway Max and Cloud Key at mum’s place so then she can get a better more reliable experience vs the ancient Spark modem that she is currently using. I might make the big switch when I upgrade her computer so then we can setup the office, maybe even look at getting a laser printer and scanner all in one which will free up more space so the office isn’t as crowded.

    Oh while we’re at it, at work I use a Dell laptop running Windows 11 Pro and the experience so far has actually been pretty good. I’ve never been able to understand the mouth foaming hatred that far too many chronically online people have regarding Windows 11. What I am on the look out for is the Snapdragon X Elite Gen 2 that is rumoured to being announced in September this year and hopefully the indication of discounts for current ARM based Surface laptops point to maybe the Surface laptop getting a prompt update. The big attraction for me is the WiFi 7 support not to mention that it’ll work out cheaper than upgrading my existing MacBook Air to a newer version. I’ll compare that to what is announced when it comes to the x86-64 side because if I do go down that road then I’ll want to make sure that it has APX because the extra registers will result in greater efficiency and performance when Windows is recompiled to take advantage of it along with application software.

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  • Sometimes you just need to have a sandwich.

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    I decided to head down to the local store that is open late to pick up some milk and while I was there I picked up a couple of sandwiches on multigrain bread (the health benefits are secondary to the the fact that I like the taste of multigrain bread) along with a slice. It’s an 8km walk to and from the store so it allows me to squeeze in some exercise after work while also getting something sorted out. On a side note, the milk is no more expensive than if I bought it from a normal supermarket so it isn’t as though I’m paying a premium for the convenience of getting it at a store which is open all hours of the night.

    I’ve got a freezer full of food plus a pantry of canned goods so what I’m going to be doing over the next few weeks is basically get to the point where I have an empty cupboard. I’ve taken out some pumpkin soup today from the freeze and I’ll work through that over the next few days then I’ve got some mince, sausages etc. I’ll probably get the mince out first since it is already cooked up and seasoned so all it needs to be is reheated. The sausages I’ll probably grab a few extra ingredients and make deviled sausages with the benefit being that any leftovers I can reheat the next day which is a quick nuke in the microwave (I only get 30 minutes for lunch so every minute counts).

    One thing I just noticed is that the Samsung S25 Ultra that I have is made in Vietnam – I heard that Samsung had moved some of their production out of China but it is interesting to see that at least in the case of the Samsung phones sold in New Zealand that they’re being assembled in Vietnam. The July 2025 update is rolling out gradually but unless it is really, really, really urgent we tend to get the update in around the middle to the end of the month so I wouldn’t be surprised if we end up seeing it close to the end of July/beginning of August (the June 2025 update didn’t appear until the later half of June). The build code they use in NZ is XNZ which is shared between the three major carrier so I wouldn’t be surprised that Samsung wait until they get the go ahead by all three carriers before an update is made available. It’ll be interesting to see when OneUI 8 will be made available – Android 16 is apparently being released in two releases with the first being the API stable and the second release including the user visible features. The latest test release of OneUI 8 has the kernel updated from 6.6.30 to 6.6.77 however that may change in the future given that there have been no firm dates on when it’ll be made available but with that being said I think we’re at ‘peak smartphone’ in terms of features – improvements are always welcome but they’re never going to be on the scale that we saw in the past such as Android making big under the hood changes that resulted in massive leaps forward in performance, power and memory efficiency etc. Google are still working on improvements, they’re noticeable but they’re not on the same scale in the past.

    It is interesting though that with the role of cloud computing coming to the forefront and just how much time is spend now in the web browser, the underlying operating system at least as so far as the desktop is becoming largely irrelevant. I remember back in the days on comp.os.linux.advocacy USENET newsgroups and the arguments between Linux and Windows users, how Linux wasn’t up to the task because it lacked <insert here big name title> but fast forward to today and unless you’re part of a legacy/establish business, most are using Google Workspace with Google Docs with most young employees exposure to that when they were at high school where they would have a Chromebook or a Chromebox, logging in, accessing their documents in the cloud, sharing them with classmates etc. so the idea of running a native application on the desktop is a rather strange experience for many which makes me think that even Microsoft is thinking of a post Windows future where Windows will hang around as a legacy system but eventually it’ll free them up to remove backwards compatibility as those legacy software titles are replaced with cloud based software running in Microsoft Edge (or whatever browser the end user prefers using).

    Side note: uBlock Origin Lite 2025.709.1622 has been made available. At the moment it is available on the Microsoft Edge web extensions store however it is still waiting for approval for the Chrome web extensions store. In the release there is the usual filters update but also support for custom CSS-based cosmetic filters has been added. It appears that gradually uBlock Origin Lite is acquiring many of the features that exist in MV2 uBlock Origin extension found on Firefox but hopefully with the work WECG are doing that eventually MV3 will provide pretty much all the functionality content blocking developers need be it requiring some change in their extensions to get it working vs how it was done with MV2 based API.

    Daily writing prompt
    What do you think gets better with age?
    View all responses

    LIfe gets better with age – what I mean by that is that with maturity you realise what is and isn’t important, what is worth getting worked up about, things that you were really interested in you quickly realised were a distraction. The benefit of getting older is the appreciation that you have a limited amount of time on earth and as a result you start to triage what you spend your limited amount of time on and what can be easily discarded or to quote Marie Kondo “does it spark joy?”.

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Hello,

I’m Matisyahu

An open diary of my life as I navigate the world – the terrifying lows, the dizzying highs, the creamy middles.

“When the people are being beaten with a stick, they are not much happier if it is called ‘the People’s Stick’” – Mikhail Bakunin

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