In the latest episode of Free Agents, Psychiatrist, writer, musician, and free agent Kourosh Dini joins us to discuss his long journey to being an independent worker, mixing his various jobs, dealing with the stress of being on your own, and much more.
Today I celebrate my 50th birthday. I know this is a big one. Right?
For a long time now I’ve known this day was coming, and at the appointed day I’d leave my 40s behind me. At the same time, I felt ambivalent about it. It’s not that I don’t like celebrating my birthday. I love cake as much as any other guy. We even have traditions in my house on my birthday. It’s all fun for me and who doesn’t like being special every once in a while?
The thing I’ve felt ambivalent about is the gravity of the integer. If turning 50 was supposed to be a big turning point, I don’t feel it. Indeed I woke up today feeling a lot like I felt last night, back when I was in my 40s. I don’t feel older. I don’t feel suddenly smart or senile. I definitely don’t feel wiser.
Instead, my root feeling is the same that it has been for the past several years … satisfaction.
I had a great run in my 40s. My MacSparky thing got pretty big. I wrote some books. I started some podcasts. I quit my law firm and started my own legal practice. And I did all of that on my own terms. Looking back at the last decade, I made a pretty good showing. Best of all, where I did fall on my face, and that happened plenty, I was able to stand back up and keep marching.
I think it is that underlying satisfaction that explains why I’m not too worked up about turning fifty today. I also think that’s why I’ve never experienced a midlife crisis. In my head, at least, I’m just getting started. I’ve got more plans and optimism at this point in my life than I’ve ever had.
There isn’t really a point to this post. It started out as a diary entry, but as I read it, I realized that the reason for my very happy 50th birthday is that people just like you care enough to read my blog, my books, and listen to my podcasts and I wanted to share and say thanks.
Thank you … for everything.
The wheels at Bare Bones Software just keep turning. Today they released BBEdit 12.1. My favorite new feature is the ability to open files over 1.5GB. That’s right. BBEdit, largely used for development text files can now open 1.5GB files because for some people, a 1.5GB cap on text files was a problem. That is just how extreme some BBEdit users are. Additionally, BBEdit is now fully 64-bit and includes Touch Bar support for the MacBook Pros.
This week at the Mac Power Users, we explained our workflows for consuming digital (and some analog) content. We discuss keeping up with blogs, magazines, books, spoken word, movies, television, news, and more. It’s pretty remarkable how much the technology behind content consumption has changed in the last few years.
There are a lot of time zone apps out there but there are very few that go beyond the basics. What if I want to know a time difference for some time other than now? What if my friend doesn’t live in a major city so the app can’t figure out their time zone? I’ve always wondered what it would be like if someone really sunk their teeth into making a time zone application. I got my answer with this week’s sponsor, World Clock Pro (website)(Mac App Store) (iOS App Store). World Clock Pro converts times throughout the world within seconds. It doesn’t just show you time conversion. It also helps you plan meetings, travel, and coordinate with other people. One of the things I like is the ability to drag an indicator inside the application to change the start time for your time zone calculation. If I’m trying to set a conference call with someone in Manila or Luxembourg Tuesday afternoon, World Clock Pro makes the task trivial. You can even add events to your calendar directly from the application. World Clock Pro supports 142,000+ locations.
World Clock Pro is not for everyone. It’s sold on a subscription model but for professionals, who deal with time differences on a regular basis, there is no better tool. There are versions for both iOS and Mac. The application even gives you the weather for every time zone you’re looking at.
Also, World Clock Pro’s developer was kind enough to give me a few promotional codes for the application. If you’d like to enter the contest, send me an email with the subject “World Clock Pro Contest”, and you’ll be entered in the random drawing. Please note the winners will be awarded by February 9.
The Omni Group has been hard at work on OmniFocus, version 3, for some time now. The new version is going to include a lot of new features, including tags, manual sorting, better notifications, and more. It’s a big update, along with visual changes, and a bunch more.
I’m already setting up the OmniFocus Video Field Guide, version 3. It’s going to release with (or shortly after) OmniFocus, version 3. It’s a big project and it is going to be a new purchase. Anyone who buys the current version of the OmniFocus VFG in 2018 will get a free version of the new edition. Now let me get back to work on this outline …
John Siracusa returns to the Mac Power Users this week to talk about his favorite workflows and apps. We also spend some time getting John’s opinion about where the Mac is and where it is heading. I particularly enjoyed John’s thoughts about how there is plenty of room for macOS to get better.
Apple has updated the HomePod Tech Specs Page with Audio Sources
A lot of people were questioning whether or not it would play iTunes Music Purchases and the iTunes Match music library. I’m glad it does. I suspect the reference to “Podcasts” will just be those through Apple’s native Podcasts app. If I’m going to want to stream Overcast or Thunderscape to the HomePod, I’ll need AirPlay.
The biggest question remaining in my mind is exactly how good the audio quality is for this new computer controlled speaker. I’ll find out in a week.
SetApp, the Netflix for Mac Apps service, is celebrating its first year. In doing so, they posted a remarkable amount of data about the service, which now has 107 apps available. The $9.99/month service gives users unlimited access to all 107 apps along with updates. I’ve been using the service since the beginning and have discovered several useful apps in the process along with easing the upgrade process for a few old favorites.
As the numbers increase, SetApp is earning $1.5M in annual recurring revenue. I’m betting this recurring revenue explains why they’ve been able to bring so many app developers on board. It’s giving them another way to monetize their work.
They’ve made the whole thing pretty easy to use, and I’d recommend giving SetApp a spin for a month or two if you like to check out new Mac Apps. There are some real gems in the SetApp library.
Phil Schiller did an extended interview over at Sound and Vision. That choice of publication for the interview speaks loads about Apple’s point on the HomePod. It’s not a smart speaker to them as much as it is a good speaker. I like the way Apple appears to be sweating the details. From the interview, Schiller explains how the HomePod uses the motion sensor to recalibrate itself.
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“We wanted to make a speaker that sounds great no matter where you put it in your home. From the moment you plug in HomePod and start listening to music, it automatically and instantly senses its location in the room to take full advantage of the environment it’s in. The microphone array in HomePod listens to the reflection of the music off neighboring surfaces, senses where the bookshelf is, or if it’s in the corner of a room or against a wall, and then uses machine learning to understand what it’s hearing, interpret the sound, and adjust the audio. Using advanced software and the A8 chip, HomePod intelligently beams center vocals and direct energy away from the wall while reflecting the ambient reverb and back-up vocals against the wall for dispersion into the room. The end result is a wide soundstage with a feeling of spaciousness and depth. This entire process takes just seconds and it doesn’t stop with the initial setup. Every time you move HomePod, it uses the built-in accelerometer to detect a change in its location and continues to make sure the music sounds great and is consistent, wherever it’s placed. We’ve also done some great things to help minimize the audible side effects of compression artifacts by developing studio level dynamic processing to optimize for rich, clean bass even at loud volumes.”
I’ve always felt there is a degree of snake oil salesmanship involved when talking about advanced technology in speakers. The question is, will normal listeners be able to tell a difference with all of this at work. We’ll find out soon enough with the HomePod shipping next week. I hope the HomePod is as good as Apple and some of the early access press are reporting.
