Matisyahu's Blog

"When the people are being beaten with a stick, they are not much happier if it is called 'the People's Stick'"

recent posts

  • End of another week, start of a new week.

    Well, hopefully on Monday I’ll be able to pick up my scooter after having it in the repair shop for the week, I haven’t heard anything back but I hope that means its ready to be picked up but with that being said I haven’t received my vehicle licence yet so I’m going to have to follow that up on Monday to find out what is happening (maybe I’ll be lucky and it arrives on that day).

    I bought a Tile bluetooth tracker and got it all setup although I later realised that I bought the one with the non-user replaceable battery but if I do get another one I’ll remember to get the pro version which includes a user replaceable battery. With all that being said, there is still work being done on bluetooth trackers that integrate into Google’s ‘find my’ network but there is no time line other than at the moment Google is working with Apple about dealing with those who are using trackers for nefarious purposes.

    So how is my Firefox experience, on the desktop going great but, on the phone, not so much – I deleted it and tried to reinstall but ended up getting this message:

    Google support has been about as useful as a screen door on a submarine, so I question why I pay for Google Workspace when all Play Store support keep sending me emails with step-by-step instructions to do what I have already attempted. As the error message implies, the issue is with them not me given that I can download and install any number of random applications without problem – the problem only occurs if I try to download and install Firefox from the Play Store, it is the only app that is impacted by the issue. As a result of this glorious experience, I am evaluating whether I should keep paying Google for a Workspace account given that they cannot fix something that should be a matter of flicking a switch on Play Store or whether I should look at alternatives such as Microsoft’s own Office 365 – for half the price I can get the completely web based service for NZ$9.70 per month or pay slightly less than what I am paying today which gives me access to desktop applications as well.

    I’ve installed Microsoft Edge on my computer, and it is amazing how much faster it is, how much better the spell checker is plus it also has grammar checking as well. I have to admit, I’ve been a long time Microsoft basher, but Microsoft have definitively improved over the last few years with the improvement to their online services with copilot showing that they still have some spring in their step. Maybe what I need to do is use my Gmail account for the basics then use Office 365 for all my ‘serious stuff’ that I need to get done. I also wonder how Microsoft has made Microsoft Edge (which is based on Chromium) so much more light weight when compared to Chrome given that they both share the same code base – anyway I guess I’m enjoying the honeymoon period and I’m sure I’ll come across some rough edges but so far, I’m pretty happy with how things are working at the moment. On a side note: my contacts are synchronising to the Microsoft cloud without any issues.

  • Finally got it all sorted out.

    I decided today was the day to get everything sorted out – new shirts, shoes, socks, undies etc. because I have been putting it off for what seems like years but I’ve finally got that sorted out. The shirt I’ve been wearing to work has gradually fallen to pieces and looks pretty shabby so I’m looking forward to heading into the office tomorrow with some flash new duds. Part of this process has also been going through my draws and getting rid of old shoes that have holes in the sole, socks with holes, clothes that might be more suitable for cleaning rags than wearing them.

  • Burnt by jumping in too early.

    As mentioned a few days ago I upgraded my Nothing Phone to Nothing OS 2.5.2 (Android 14) via side loading (downloading the zip from Google then loading it using the dialler method) but what I found is that the more I used it the more buggy I found it to the point that I did a factory reset. After the factory reset it didn’t fix the issue and rather than the Play Store update set at November 2023 it was stuck back in September 2023 so what I did was just stuck with it then out of no where, like manna from heaven, Nothing Tech released a 70MB update for Nothing OS 2.5.2 and Google simultaneously released a Play Store update for January 2024 which appeared to fix all the bugginess.

    Regarding the Play Store update itself, over on Arstechnica they go into greater detail than I can but it appears to have been quite the saga for all concerned (link) but I think the one thing to keep in mind is this – having a limited range of products doesn’t necessarily guarantee that everything will go 100% smoothly because Apple has had experiences in the past where they’ve release an update only for it to be pulled because it has caused issues or didn’t fully address an issue (link). It appears that there hasn’t been a version bump for the kernel however it appears they have rebuilt it so maybe there have been some minor bugs fixed up which didn’t warrant a version bump (19 January 2024 vs 7 February 2024 being the kernel build date).

    That being said I am a bit confused as to why I couldn’t update from September 2023 to November 2023 while waiting for the January 2024 Google Play system update to be released. Just on a side note, I’m back to using Chrome because I’ve found certain websites have issues or the full range of features (for example offline support for Google Workspace) isn’t available.

    I have been contemplating getting an iPhone to replace my Nothing Phone but the problem is that what I want to buy is $2499 and at this point in my life it is rather expensive given that I’m not a heavy smart phone user other than checking Reddit, Mastodon, emailing, texting, listening to music etc. I may look at upgrading but if I do it’ll probably be a Pixel 8 Pro through Mighty Ape (link) but by the time I do that it’ll probably close to the end of this year and the Pixel 9 Pro would be launched by then. There are rumours that there is going to be an updated Chromecast with Google TV 4K released soon, hopefully if the rumours are true it’ll include hardware accelerated AV1 decoding because that is where it appears the industry is heading.

    It’s interesting to see the number of messages Google are putting at the top of various pages about how the interface will be changing in the future, I’m wondering whether the belt tightening has also resulted in a much more laser focus on getting all the various services Google provides integrated in a coherent way. I can’t help but get the feeling that with many of Google services they were designed by separate groups that never had any intention on these services working together with a unified branding along with a consistent look and feel. The work around YouTube bringing movies, music, podcasts, television shows etc. all under the same branding. I wouldn’t be surprised if we end up seeing changes in the future regarding the Play Store – maybe a unified app and hardware store? one can only dream for the momentous day to arrive.

  • The heat, oh the heat.

    The one thing I am always reminded of when living in New Zealand is the fact that although we don’t get high temperatures like they do in Australia what makes it worse in New Zealand is the humidity – no matter how well the air is circulating with the fan on high it is difficult to keep cool. One thing I did do to help the situation was to give myself a haircut with some clippers I have – 25mm all over and I feel a whole lot better, able to get a good night sleep.

    That time of the fortnight tomorrow – pay day! I’m finally getting my scooter back on the road with my rego being paid this week (and most likely arrive next week) then on Monday the motorcycle shop will be picking up my scooter to get a new tyres for the front and back, fully servicing etc. so I can get it back on the road. I can deal with taking public transport but having a scooter does give you a degree of freedom particularly when you finish work late so if I end up getting the bus after 8 that I cannot get a returning bus until after 9 so a shopping trip that would normally take 40 minutes drags on to being more than an hour.

    For dinner tonight I’m having fettuccine with some tomato sauce – nothing particularly fancy although if I had the time I would have loved to do a chicken fettuccine alfredo but that is more of a winter thing. Something I need to do next time I make this dish is to get some fresh cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, capsicum, maybe some fresh basil to add some green. Tomorrow night afterwork I’ll look at picking up some groceries, maybe I’ll an easy dinner at the store which I can heat up – supermarkets these days do a pretty good job at providing ready to eat meals but I guess it’ll be one of those things that I’ll make the decision based on what I feel like at that moment.

  • Nothing OS 2.5.2 has been released

    Rather than waiting for it to eventually arrive in my country I decided to download and manually install the upgrade to Nothing OS 2.5.2 by using the direct download link (link) (I’ll do a factory reset later on so that I can clear off all the old cruft and set it up like a new phone. I do a factory install after a big upgrade because it removes the possibility of any lingering issues impacting the reliability).

    Here are the ‘About Phone’ -> ‘Android Version’ before and after screenshot – both the kernel and baseband version have been updated as well along with the Android security update being bumped up to January 2024.

    So far things have been very stable, no apps are broken, all the functionality of Android is working, no decline in battery life and the performance is ever so slightly better than 2.0.5 (based on Android 13). As for my Android journey going forward, I think I’m going to wait until the Pixel 9 Pro comes out towards the end of this year which will hopefully have Android 15 but at this stage of development I don’t see anything radical happening Android space other than improving its adaptability to different form factors (see Android on tablets). This makes sense as the wider market of phones and tablets operating systems are maturing to the point that the major leaps in the past have been eclipsed by incremental quality of life improvements rather than radical changes and upheavals.

  • Well, it was meant to be posted at the end of last week.

    Another day another dime and this morning Santa came late and dropped off a chest freezer that’ll be put into my office (no room in the kitchen) where I’ll gradually build up a good supply of food so that there is less temptation to buy take outs. It’s been a week of taking this approach and the net result has been two weeks where no takeaways have been purchased which has not only benefited my budgeting my also help my general health overall so I’m going to keep pushing forward, focus on improving my cooking skills to the point that cooking at home is enjoyable rather than a burden.

    I’ve finally filed the leave with my boss where from 27 May to 27 June I’ll be heading over to Europe for a month – flying into France then takin the Eurostar over to spend time in London then offf on a 22 day tour around the United Kingdom. I’m gradually saving up money for spending money while I am over there but something that I am going to do, which I don’t normally do, I’ll be taking photos. Yeah, I have a bit of an aversion to taking photos of myself but I’ll be happy to take plenty of photos of the trip because I’ll see sights worth photographing.

    Am I getting to that point in my life that I am finding myself less and less interested in watching the latest television series – the stories are predictable and with each release I am becoming less and less excited to the point now that what used peak my interest is now a shoulder shrug. I can also see the benefit of traditional television where you just flick it on and watch what ever is scheduled without having to go through the drama of trying fo find something – someone else has made that choice and nine times out of ten it is good enough to pass some time as background noise as I am updating my blog. I’m also feeling that way when it comes to politics and news in general – it’s getting the point that it feels as though I’m stuck in loop like the movie Groundhog Day where it is the same day over and over again.

    Chrome 121 was released recently then there was a update from 121.0.6167.85 to 121.0.6167.139 today and so far things are working well and along with that update Nothing has released Nothing OS 2.5.2 (Android 14) for Nothing Phone (1). At the moment they’re doing a staggered roll out with those who participated in the public beta receiving it first (link) and if past releases are like they’ll roll it out country by country but there will also be the option to download it directly then sideload it (which is what I’ll be doing).

  • Updates aplenty.

    Woke up today and checked email before getting up then checked my software was up to date and to my surprise Apple has released updates for all their platforms as well as Firefox 122 being made available on their server so I updated them both. Looking into a bit of detail for the macOS 14.3 update it appears that Apple is moving more of their drivers into user space particularly those that are making use of USB such as USB to Ethernet adapters. I think long term what we’re going to see is that when Intel based Macs are deprecated that going forward the requirement will be that all drivers will have to be user space drivers.

    As a side note, with the release of the Mac Pro, there is nothing stopping nVidia from providing a CUDA accelerator card for the Mac Pro and create user space drivers but I have a feeling that going forward we’re going to see more work being pushed into the cloud where you ‘rent’ time using hardware rather than having go out to purchase hardware that you may use infrequently (thus making it a difficult purchase to justify). All this makes me wonder whether the Mac Pro is going to be around for the long term or will the eventual future Mac for ‘serious people’ will be the Mac Studio.

    Firefox 122 was released so I updated it – it is amazing how far Firefox has come because now at the point at least for me it is faster than Chrome on both of my Macs (still waiting for Firefox 122 to come through for Android). The only extension I have installed is uBlock Origin which is working great on all my devices and no bugs have appeared when testing out all the websites I use on a regular basis except for the Skype web interface which I’ve reported (apparently if you change the user agent to Safari it works so it definitely isn’t a situation of Firefox 122 missing functionality) because it comes up with a message that functionality is missing when using Firefox and that I should use Microsoft Edge (I’m open to the idea as so long as Microsoft decides not to get rid of MV2 support but so far they’ve announced they’re in lock step with Google).

  • Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2024: My take on the event.

    I was watching the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event – after all the excitement had died down. I may be interested in technology but I’m not going to get up at some ungodly hour of the morning (yeah, I’ve stopped doing it for Apple events as well). Side note, I really do wish that Samsung would create an Android TV set top box with a decent SoC inside it rather than the tyranny of choice between Google selling a woefully underpowered dongle or an nVidia Shield that is practically ancient with no sign that nVidia are going to sort themselves out and update it any time soon. Anyway, getting back to the video in question:

    What I thought was interesting is the much closer relationship that Samsung has with Google these days when compared to a few years ago where they appeared to be getting a lot more chummy with Microsoft (see Samsung preloading Microsoft apps, Microsoft selling Samsung devices through Microsoft stores etc). I’m having a guess that part of rebuilding of the relationship between Google and Samsung has been probably the sharing of revenue when cloud based AI starts to become a paid for service at the end of 2025. Part of Samsung’s goal has been to sell more higher end devices but I think another part their long term strategy is to also have more revenue streams to smooth out the product release cycles which is where the revenue sharing comes in – see Google Play revenue sharing which was recently disclosed (link).

    Another interesting observation has been the downplaying of Bixby which makes me wonder whether in the long term that we’re eventually going to see Bixby is moved to the Google developed AI model for both on device and cloud based processing. AI will become one of those areas of technology where you either have to ‘go big or go home’ because as more people use AI the better the models become which then forces businesses to rationalise whether ‘going it alone’ is a viable business model or whether teaming up with a major player to share the burden of product development which ends up benefiting both parties. I could imagine that Bixby ends up being a Samsung branded frontend to Google’s AI along with gluing the ‘internet of things’ ecosystem that Samsung has developed which will use Bixby as the mediator.

    One of the announcements regarding the use of AI was mentioned in the documentation that after 2025 that certain AI functionality won’t be free of charge. Although I have no evidence for this I am guessing that they will keep the local AI free however charge for cloud based AI (it is mentioned in this article that some AI features will come to older devices (link) but I have an inkling that it’ll be purely cloud based as older devices probably lack the hardware required to do local AI processing) due to the cloud potentially being faster with the latest AI models – I could imagine the AI model on the phone being updated maybe on a quarterly basis but the cloud will always have the latest model being used. It’ll be interesting to see how many people end up signing up for it or whether Google will revamp their Google One subscription product to include AI functionality along side cloud storage, YouTube and YouTube Music subscription etc. etc. but we’ll need to wait until 2025 to see what Samsung and Google have instore. For me, I’m currently paying a subscription for Google Workspace but it’ll be interesting to see whether in the future when AI hardware becomes optimised enough that the cost drops close enough to that of a web search query that Google decides to bundle as part of their Workspace service and bump up the plans a couple of dollars to offset the additional cost.

    I haven’t had any hands on experience with the Samsung S24 series of smartphones but when they make their way to the stores I’ll pop in to see what they’re like but my main concern is the amount of crapware that Samsung seem to be hell bent on ramming down end users throats. What do I mean by crapware? the insistence by Samsung to duplicate functionality even though Google already provides said functionality, for example Samsung insisting on having it’s own bespoke mobile phone app (to make calls with), contacts, calendering etc even though Google themselves already provide such apps which integrate into Google services a lot better. Something Samsung doesn’t seem to realise is that at least for me is this: an Android phone is a means to an end and that end is to access Google services so anything that gets in the way of me achieving that end goal isn’t particularly all good as so far as what I wish to accomplish with my phone.

  • Budgeting and getting better organised.

    I headed down to the local Harvey Norman to look at a small chest freezer but before that mum shouted me brunch at the local cafe/bakery – eggs bene with salmon and wilted spinach on toasted ciabatta. It is a treat that I look forward to because for all my culinary skills I am horrible at poaching an egg so in the end I like to leave it up to ‘the experts’ who can do the job a lot better than I can. I might head down there on Monday/Tuesday to pick up something fresh – assuming that it isn’t raining or otherwise I’ll need to jump on the bus.

    Anyway, getting back to the freezer, the reason for buying it is budgeting. When you have a chest freezer it is possible to bulk up on food that is on special witht he added bonus is that if I have a variety of food at home I can choose from then I’m a whole lot less tempted to get take aways when a great tasting meal is only 30 minutes alway in terms of cooking it myself. I really do wish that Pak ‘n Save would do home deliveries like Countdown but unfortunately at this stage they don’t do pickups. I am tempted, after getting my scooter back on the road, at the idea of getting something like a trailer where I can put my grocery shopping for a fortnight – one shopping trip reduces the need to do smaller shops and the extra things that get picked up in those smaller shopping trips.

    Over on YouTube there is an interesting video from ‘Politics Joe’:

    Although the video is entitled ‘Jon Ronson breaks down why the right are abandoning the culture war’ there are a few topics that were touched on such as how a person on social media start off pretty normal and then start going down the rabbit hole only to end up in the craziest part of the internet. I find it rather concerning isn’t the fact that people go down rabbit holes because at the end of the day we all make stupid decisions in our life but the fact that there is an army of vigilantes online hell bent on moving what has taken place online into the real world by finding out where people work and getting them fired. The problem is with such vigilantism is that it is incredibly difficult for someone who has gone down the rabit hole, had an ‘ah-ha’ moment then tries to back themselves out of what they’ve found themselves in only to find that there is no way to repair relationships and their reputation.

    If we want to get over the sort of divisive culture war conspiracy theory laden nonsense that emanates out of the United States and manifests itself in other countries in a localised format then at the very least we as a society need to accept that people make mistakes but like the prodigal son they return to the fold and realising the mistake that they made. If we as a society are going to keep holding peoples past mistakes over them then how as a society are we ever going to advance forward beyond where we are today?

    As humans we are never static, we’re always changing, evolving, we acquire new information and discard old information that may not be relevant any longer but if we someone makes a mistake but we maintain that once you make a mistake there is no chance of redemption then where is the incentive to admit past wrongs and do better in future? how does society benefit when a system is setup where no one is given an opportunity to get better so people instead will just double down on what they already believe? sorry to be the bearer of bad news but eventually some of Trump (and others that have gone off the rails outside of the United States) supporters are going to eventually leave his cult of personality and realise that they were sucked into the BS vortex – shouldn’t they be allowed to rebuild their life and be welcomed back?

    I have my own theory why there are a number of people who take this ‘you screwed up once, no second chances’ position – their politics isn’t about transformation, isn’t about addressing issues by advancing policies that actually address real world material issues but instead they treat politics as a performative vehicle where by they can engage in moral and virtue posturing about how they’re the enlightened ones who got it right the first time. That being said, occasionally there is justice in this life because many times when those engaging in such posturing online ignore at their peril the oldest rule on the internet – the internet never forgets but eventually your past catches up with you.

  • Firefox a few months later.

    I made my move to Firefox a few months ago as my main browser (I had it sitting in the background while I waited for the outcome of what Google were going to do with MV3) on both my computers, MacBook Air M2 (24GB RAM) and Mac Studio M1 Max (32GB RAM), and the over all experience has been pretty good with only Microsoft Skype giving me a message that features are missing but everything else including Google Workspace apps are working great along with the great experience on Android with the icing on the cake being the ability to run uBlock Origin on it (there was a new version released recently, version 1.55 which is available via the Firefox extensions store).

    As much as I promote the idea that people should remain politically engaged, sometimes one can get overwhelmed by the avalanche of news with much of designed to get you angry rather than being enlightening. It is important to achieve a balance, yes remained informed but it also important that we don’t get overwhelmed that you end up feeling as though everything is doomed. How does one avoid that? limit yourself to only the bare essential news required and avoid click bait commentary whose focus is on ginning up outrage rather than promote a better understanding of the world. Always remember the golden rule of social media and websites in general – their business model is based on ads and the more they dominate your attention the more money they make so why give them that satisfaction?

    I’m going back to work tomorrow, back to a normal 5 day week but thank goodness things have quietened down at work with the whole Christmas and New Years with many families going on holidays over. I’d say that things aren’t really going to get back into full swing until the second half of January when people return from holidays and get ready for the new school year. It’ll be an interesting year with the moving of the office into Wellington along with massive system upgrades, new laptops etc. which will hopefully result in a better customer experience and higher productivity because one is not having to deal with the currency legacy system which is a hodgepodge of systems trying to work together.

    I’m gradually constructing a list of things I need to get sorted out because now that I’m in a better financial situation I can deal with the fact that normal things I would purchase have been put on the back burner while other issues too priority, for example, I need new shoes, shirts for work, undies, socks, along with many other things that need to be sorting out. I guess I can chalk 2024 up as year of rebuilding and focusing on getting ready for the future.