The new settings interface is beautiful but untouched by any thought for how you might use it.
Like many people I have some bluetooth headphones that have an affinity for the last device they were connected to. Sometimes my laptop and sometimes my phone. I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm not unique in needing to switch the connection when needed.
On Android this involves a swipe, a long press and a short press. Not my favorite chore but not the end of the word.
With Windows 11 it's an adventure. I need to click the little up arrow to expand my collection of notification icons (yes, I could change that, but even that has got more tedious) and then double click the bluetooth icon. And then there is my device, with a pretty little icon and the last known (almost certainly wrong) battery level. Other than a random historical battery level there doesn't seem to be much to do. It turns out that you can click the tiny three dots at the far right of the device card and then finally there is a context menu that allows you to connect. The context menu has two items. This panel could have been 5% less attractive and 500% more usable with a couple of buttons. Also, would it be possible maybe to have this on the context menu for the taskbar icon?
Random googling suggests this might get better...
Don’t Let Layoffs Undermine Your DEI Efforts
I find it very hard to take a tweet that contains 'Cameo Fameo' seriously as the only example of approaching layoffs with empathy.
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The Guardian profiles the "Tyre Extinguishers" – an international group that deflates tires of SUVs parked on streets
Move to West Virginia and evict Joe Manchin maybe?
Super slow motion video of the One O'clock Gun firing at Edinburgh Castle. This is a 105mm field gun fired startlingly over Edinburgh every day except Sundays, Good Friday and Christmas Day.
I could build this in about the same amount of time it's going to take to describe it (love you Google Apps Script) but I'm not quite evil enough.
A good chunk of my work day is deleting endless B2B spam from aggressive salespeople who are certain that I should check out their SAAS whatever and pay $25/user/month for something I could do with a wiki page. Outlook for some reason doesn't recognize this stuff as spam even if you block it. LinkedIn is built to distribute this. It would be great to make it more expensive, painful and humiliating for these people to spray and pray.
My idea: it's Calendly only evil.
You reply saying how excited you are and provide a link to schedule an appointment. This allows them to book a slot and sends them a meeting request and a Zoom link. When they join they're just connected to some number of other salespeople who booked that slot.
Extra credit: record the meetings and auto-post to YouTube and use the ad revenue to pay for hosting costs.
As usual any of my billionaire readers who want to back this should get in touch.
Updated 2023-11-08 00:28:
It's like someone at Google read this post because they're rolling out a Meet API that would solve for the extra credit part of this idea. I'm having a hard time not rolling up my sleeves and building it.
A Boy And His Atom is the world's smallest movie
Testing Twitter API integration, but also this is pretty cool.
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A Death Row Inmate Asked SCOTUS If He Can Die by Firing Squad, and It Said Yes
Also for those not on death row, we can all die by firing squad now too. Thanks SCOTUS.
Catfood WebCamSaver 3.28 is available for download. More webcams!
Timelapse: stars over Casini Ranch, Bangalore Sunsets, and time lapses of the week #6 and #7.
Instructions and code for building a long term Arduino powered timelapse camera.
I really don't like BBC My Sounds.
Previously:
Save America’s Patent System
Good problem to solve, wrong solution. Examine patents on use rather than before issuing.
I just want to listen to Friday Night Comedy on Radio 4.
It used to be the case that this was safely subscribed in my podcast app (I use Podkicker Pro) and so each new episode would download to my feed when released.
The BBC has decided to fix the problem of me getting the program I want to listen to automatically and conveniently. If I want my comedy I have to install My Sounds. When Spotify tried this with Science Vs I just stopped listening. I have plenty of other science podcasts but The Now Show and the News Quiz are irreplaceable. So maybe I could cope with one walled garden.
My Sounds says it will notify you when new episodes are available. It does not.
My Sounds has a My Sounds tab which lists Latest programs. I'm writing this on April 2 and the most recent episode of Friday Night Comedy is from March 25.
Only if I go into Subscribed, and then the program page for Friday Night Comedy does it finally admit that there is an episode from April 1.
So I'm forced to install an app that not only fails to notify me of new episodes of subscribed programs but actively hides them in the basement behind a beware of the leopard sign. BBC, maybe get the app working before forcing me into it? I would rather pay to subscribe to an RSS feed than deal with My Sounds.
I'd take the time to leave a one star review, but in its infinite wisdom Google doesn't allow paying customers to leave app reviews.
Updated 2022-05-06 11:32:
Having been forced into the excreable BBC My Sounds at least it supports downloading an episode to listen to on the plane right?
Updated 2022-05-06 11:33:
Does it fuck. BBC, please fix this and then try asking nicely?
Exclusive transcript of the speech that Biden should have delivered: Build Back Betterer.
What is the San Francisco Rent Board Fee?
Catfood WebCamSaver 3.27 is out. This has a big increase in the list of working webcams and so definitely worth upgrading (or trying for the first time).
Code: I fix a pet peeve with Todoist so the Alexa Integration sets a due date. Also, here's how to use the new Google Search Console API to monitor the index status of your pages. Both in Google Apps Script.
Timelapse: San Francisco Shoreline. Sunsets 8 (Nice Pacific view from my roof) and 9 (the March 27 storm in San Francisco). Both sides of the Golden Gate.
Hikes: I don't recommend the perimeter of Treasure Island (at least not trying the whole of it). I absolutely do endorse Mount Davidson. And San Bruno Mountain.
Previously: