Micro.publish for Obsidian
I just installed the Micro.publish plugin for Obsidian. It allows me to continue writing posts in Obsidian, as I prefer to do, and post by just using a quick command from the command palette (⌘-P). This is the first test, I’m curious to see how it handles images, like this screenshot:
!2025-05-16-micro-publish-obsidian-1747436774106.jpeg
UPDATE - the image just posted as text. Sad Trombone. Here’s the image via manual upload. I’ll keep looking into this.
Siri Spills It
Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference is scheduled for June 13-17, as confirmed by multiple sources.
Prepping healthy meals for the week
Prepping healthy meals for the week. Outside, like man! Now, where’s my Gimlet?
Microsoft Sues Over Gag Orders
Microsoft, in a complaint to the Justice Department, says that governments shouldn’t be able to keep cloud providers behind a gag order when they execute a search warrant.
Microsoft brings this case because its customers have a right to know when the government obtains a warrant to read their emails, and because Microsoft has a right to tell them.
Damn straight, Microsoft.
Procedural Failure
Over at MacStories, Graham Spencer wraps up a piece saying:
It is too soon to say, but Apple’s actions today may well be the latest example of policy and procedural failure on App Review.
This seems to be a running theme over the last couple years. The App Store(s) and the review process are both stuck in 2008, while developers and customers are living in 2016.
I’m hoping for big app review and App Store related changes in iOS 10 and macOS come WWDC.
On TextExpander Pricing UPDATED
This post has been UPDATED
First, let me say I LOVE TextExpander. I’ve been using it for years, every day. On my 8 month old laptop, I’ve expanded snippets over 8500 times, saving 34 hours of typing.
Smile Software posted on their blog that they were changing the pricing model for TextExpander. I’m not sure how I feel about it, but I do know that I will have to seriously consider whether I’m going to switch to the new model.
From the Smile Blog:
TextExpander is US $4.95 per month for individuals on the Life Hacker plan. Current TextExpander users receive a 50% loyalty discount for their first year.
History
I searched my email archive and found my receipts for TextExpander. The first version I bought was 1.3 in 2006. I must have gotten a deal, because it was only $20. I upgraded (paid $35) to 3.0 with OS X 10.6. For the big 4.0 update, I bought the new version in the Mac App Store. That was $45. Then a $20 upgrade to 5.0 last year, which took it back out of the Mac App Store.
In total, I’ve spent $120 to use TextExpander for 10 years. That’s a damn good value. Works out to about a buck a month, and that’s certainly worth it.
The new model will cost me $5 per month. In the same 10 years, I would have spent $600 on TextExpander. Is that a good value? I’d say no.
Smile will keep the lights on “through El Capitain and the next version of OS X” for current users, but after that, who knows what will happen…
On the Mac
I don’t need or want all the collaboration features of the forthcoming textexpander.com service. I want to keep my snippets in Dropbox and call it a day. I’d happily pay $20 a year for a TextExpander subscription without all the collaboration features. Without a reasonable option, I will either migrate my snippets to Keyboard Maestro, or check out another expansion utility like TypeIt4Me or Typinator
On iOS
I find myself rarely using TextExpander on my iOS devices anymore. I keep regular snippets in the stock Keyboard settings, because the TextExpander Touch keyboard is virtually unusable. Most apps that I use that sync snippets with TextExpander Touch have their own snippet libraries (Drafts, Editorial), and I’m using Copied to keep longer blocks of text at the ready.
On top of my dwindling use of TextExpander Touch, the iOS app doesn’t seem to background sync, so every time I add a snippet on my Mac, I have to open the iOS app and force a sync. AND, there is still not an iPad Pro-optimized version of the app five months later.
My Future With TextExpander
I will spend the next few months exporing alternatives, and hoping Smile comes up with a more realistic pricing structure. If, by the end of the “next version of OS X”, the pricing structure doesn’t get more realistic, I’ll move away from TextExpander. Photoshop and Microsoft Office are each $10 per month, and I don’t think TextExpander is even close to 50% of the value or complexity of those apps. I’m hoping Smile adjusts this soon.
UPDATE
Today, TextExpander has listened to long time customers, and have adjusted.
We will apply a lifetime discount of 50% off the Life Hacker pricing to customers of any past version of TextExpander. That amounts to just US $20 per year. In our initial rollout, we offered the discount for the first year only, and that was a mistake. We value our long-term customers, and it’s important for us to demonstrate that in our actions. Thanks for bearing with us as we sorted this out.
So, it looks like I’ll be staying on the TE bandwagon. I am so happy about this, because I was not looking forward to moving 600+ snippets to another utility. $20 a year is reasonable and sustainable for both the customers and the developers.
Strong work, Smile.
Apple Turns 40
Steve Jobs:
It’s more fun to be a pirate than to join the Navy.
The Susan Kare-designed Apple pirate flag is flying high today, on Apple’s 40th Anniversary.
Fun fact: despite the troubles Apple had in the ‘90’s, they are the only company to continuously sell personal computers for 40 years.
UPDATE Video has been removed.
On the IFTTT Kerfuffle
There has been a lot of brouhaha lately about IFTTT changing the way apps integrate with it’s service.
Pinboard wrote a blog post listing the reasons why they would stop supporting IFTTT because IFTTT requires changes to the way certain services, like Pinboard, connect with IFTTT. Maciej Cegłowski is taking a “Lazy and Heroic Stand” against doing work for free to benefit IFTTT. And Pinboard isn’t the only one.
On the surface, that sounds admirable, and several people are deleting their IFTTT accounts in protest.
But here’s the rub: Pinboard is a paid service. IFTTT is free.
Shouldn’t the guy with the paid service do the work to integrate with the free service?
Why is it up to IFTTT to tweak their system, for free, for hundreds of integrations? Doesn’t it make much more sense for those hundreds of integrations to each do a little work for their paying customers, rather than the free service doing all the work for their UNPAYING channels?
When an API changes on iOS or Android, app developers don’t throw a shit-fit and threaten to leave (usually). They pony up the work, and keep the app current for their customers. This is no different.
If you (or your company) don’t feel that IFTTT integration is worth the extra work, I totally get it. Stop supporting it, and move on. But don’t blame THEM because YOU feel like the other guy should work for free so you don’t have to.
Draft Notes with Apple Watch
Drafts is an app I use every day. On iOS, it’s where text starts for me.
/899Lately, I’ve been trying out the Apple Watch app. I added the Drafts complication to my Watch face. Now, when something occurs to me, here’s what I do:
- Tap the complication on my watch face
- Drafts loads directly into dictation mode
- Say some stuff
- Hit Done.
That’s it. I have a new text note sitting in my Drafts, and I never touched my phone.
Pretty sweet. Now, if Drafts would just sync with Dropbox…
Fight Another Day
The DOJ has vacated their order for Apple to unlock the San Bernardino iPhone. They were always on shaky legal ground, and were flat out lying about the technicalities of it all. They now say they’ve found a way to unlock the phone without compelling a private business to write software for the government.
This isn’t over by anyone’s estimation, but the conversation can slow down and be reasonable now, at least.
Both Sides of Their Mouth
So let me get this straight… The FBI is in court right now telling the Department of Justice how it may sometimes need access to information, and Apple has made a…
deliberate marketing decision to engineer its products so the government cannot search them, even with a warrant
while at the same time, telling automakers
The FBI and NHTSA are warning the general public and manufacturers – of vehicles, vehicle components, and aftermarket devices – to maintain awareness of potential issues and cybersecurity threats related to connected vehicle technologies in modern vehicles
So, again, the FBI’s argument is “make it secure, but leave opportunities for us to get in.”
You can’t have both, kids. Interesting-er and interesting-er
Richard Clarke Talks Encryption
Richard Clarke, former National Security Council leader and security advisor to Clinton, Bush and Obama, in an [interview with NPR][1]
If I were in the job now, I would have simply told the FBI to call Fort Meade, the headquarters of the National Security Agency, and NSA would have solved this problem for them. They’re not as interested in solving the problem as they are in getting a legal precedent.
and later…
Every expert I know believes that NSA could crack this phone. They want the precedent that the government can compel a computer device manufacturer to allow the government in.
According to the guy who would know, the NSA has the ability to unlock the San Bernardino phone. I’ve always had a suspicion that was the case, but now it’s confirmed.
NPR has the whole transcript on the page, but I encourage listening to it to get some of the nuance.
[1]: http://www.npr.org/2016/03/14/470347719/encryption-and-privacy-are-larger-issues-than-fighting-terrorism-clarke-says title=“interview with NPR”
I feel like I've accomplished something for the day when I can make the bed without waking the dog.
I feel like I’ve accomplished something for the day when I can make the bed without waking the dog.
Amicus, Briefly
SUPPORTING APPLE THROUGH AMICUS BRIEFS:
As listed on a Press Info page on Apple’s site, Amicus Briefs supporting Apple’s stance on this issue.
In no particular order, these companies and groups are in support of Apple’s stance of not creating software to bypass security for government use.
- A group of law professors
- Airbnb
- eBay
- Square
- Atlassian
- Automattic (Wordpress parent company)
- Cloudflare
- GitHub
- Kickstarter
- Mapbox
- Meetup
- Squarespace
- Twilio
- Wickr
- AT&T
- Intel
- Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)
- Consumer Technology Association
- Microsoft
- Oracle
- IBM
- Salesforce
- Autodesk
- Access Now
- The App Association
- American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
And, expected later today (the deadline is 11:59 PM on March 3, 2016)
- Nest Labs
- Evernote
- Snapchat
- Mozilla Foundation
Seems like Apple’s in good company, here.
This, coupled with the FBI’s disastrous (in my opinion) showing in the congressional hearings, make it seem like privacy may actually win this fight.
UPDATE
All of the “expected” entities above have signed on, as well as:
- Box
- Dropbox
- Slack
- Cisco
- Snapchat
- Yahoo
- Center for Democracy & Technology
- Privacy International
- Human Rights Watch
- AVG Technologies
- Data Foundry
- Golden Frog
- Computer & Communications Industry Association
- Internet Infrastructure Coalition
Tidal wave.
Law Is Hard
Orin Kerr, writing for The Washington Post, has a great breakdown of the challenges both sides face in the Apple vs. FBI phone-unlocking saga
This case is like a crazy-hard law school exam hypothetical in which a professor gives students an unanswerable problem just to see how they do.
There are two parts to this post, be sure to read both if you are at all interested. Lots of good info and case law.
Disingenuous, At Best
FBI Director James Comey pleads his case
The San Bernardino litigation isn’t about trying to set a precedent or send any kind of message.
Bullshit.
(emphasis mine)
UPDATE: And as if on cue, the story comes out today (24 hours after this post) that the FBI has a pile of phones awaiting this decision. Bullshit, indeed.
That Wall St Journal link is behind a paywall. Sorry.
Apple’s FAQ on the FBI Request
This page is riddled with corporate-speak and has a bit of hyperbole, but it does try to lay out Apple’s case in the San Bernardino phone unlocking case.
Some hightlights that stand out to me:
Second, the order would set a legal precedent that would expand the powers of the government and we simply don’t know where that would lead us.
and
The digital world is very different from the physical world. In the physical world you can destroy something and it’s gone. But in the digital world, the technique, once created, could be used over and over again, on any number of devices.
Law enforcement agents around the country have already said they have hundreds of iPhones they want Apple to unlock if the FBI wins this case.
and most importantly, emphasis mine:
We feel the best way forward would be for the government to withdraw its demands under the All Writs Act and, as some in Congress have proposed, form a commission or other panel of experts on intelligence, technology, and civil liberties to discuss the implications for law enforcement, national security, privacy, and personal freedoms. Apple would gladly participate in such an effort.
Apple is standing up to the FBI’s effort to use a 227 year old law to unlock a smartphone in 2016. Obviously, technology has advanced a bit in the last couple centuries, so new laws need to be written. I, for one, am happy to see this fight, but it’s not without danger.
The big issues, as I see it:
-
There’s a big part of the population that will say Apple is helping the terrorists. It’s their right to say that, but I believe that the terrorists win when Americans voluntarily give up a part of their liberty, freedom, or privacy.
-
There’s also the possibility that Apple will lose and have to open the phone anyway, which would not only look terrible from a PR perspective, but also set a dangerous precedent for government requests for corporate-sponsored malware. (This is, admittedly, a bit of hyperbole on my part, but I see any software written to bypass security as malware, no matter who writes it.
-
The worst case scenario is Apple will win this battle, but lose the war for all of us. If the government can’t get into this phone, there is a slim possibility that laws could be enacted to outlaw unbreakable encryption, forcing some sort of back door into everything.
This is probably the biggest tech story of the year, and it’ll be interesting to see how it plays out, and the implications of it for decades to come.
Tim Cook: A Dangerous Precedent
In an open letter on the Apple Web site, Tim Cook lays out his case against helping the government unlock an iPhone:
The government suggests this tool could only be used once, on one phone. But that’s simply not true. Once created, the technique could be used over and over again, on any number of devices. In the physical world, it would be the equivalent of a master key, capable of opening hundreds of millions of locks — from restaurants and banks to stores and homes. No reasonable person would find that acceptable.
“No reasonable person would find that acceptable." bears repeating. The thought that any government would have a powerful surveillance tool and never use it is ludicrous. I’m sure the FBI said “just this once, AT&T” when they did the first wire tap also.
The fact is, Apple can’t decrypt the phone. They stopped storing encryption keys on their servers years ago, just for this reason. If they don’t have the key, they can’t unlock the door. The FBI is requesting Apple build an all-new version of iOS that removes the limit on incorrect passcodes so the government can brute-force the phone by trying millions of passcode combinations. Currently, if an incorrect passcode is entered ten times in a row, the data is erased.
Apple is challenging the order, and here’s hoping they win.
We are challenging the FBI’s demands with the deepest respect for American democracy and a love of our country. We believe it would be in the best interest of everyone to step back and consider the implications.