Posted on in Technology

Keeping track of all the changes.

The deprecation of MV2 has been scheduled for June 2024 and enterprise in 2025 (link). One thing to keep in mind is the deprecation doesn’t mean removal straight away because if you have a look at the past roadmap is anything to go by they’ll stop accepting new MV2 based extensions in the store help developers gradually migrate to MV3. The other thing to keep in mind is that MV3 is still very much ‘work in progress’ if you have a look at the latest meeting minutes (link). As noted in the first link there is the section title ‘June 2024 + 1-X months’ which tells me that there is still features missing from MV3 that developers are depending on and to suddenly remove support could cause a user backlash as a result.

Some of the features missing include CSS support in the userScripts API, implementing a high precise timer particularly when it comes to questions such as a timer, the user puts the computer to sleep, does the timer pause? does it keep counting so when the computer is woken up it counts the time asleep as part of the timer process? I hope that they take their time because many of the features in discussion are either critical to the functioning of content blockers or will make content blockers a lot more powerful. There is also the issue of the number of static and dynamic rules, the number of rulesets etc (link) that appear to be open to being changed when more telemetry data comes in. As long as DNR (Declarative Net Request) works as reliably as the Safari implementation which if I remember correctly sits on top of the native content blocking API (link) that existed prior to the standardisation of declarative network request.

It is interesting to see hear the rumours regarding Apple and how they’re going to make use of AI technology in their products (link) and from what it looks like the focus by Apple isn’t about the novelty of generating images or a chatbot but rather integrating into their products to improve the user experience. It’ll be interesting to see whether the rumoured Web Eraser will result in the Declarative Net Request become more powerful so that one could theoretically create an AI model that is built based on the existing filters and rules where it can adapt quicker to address websites that try to work around content blocking rules and filters – imagine an evolving AI model. I don’t see Google every adopting it as part of Chrome given it is against their business interests but I could imagine Firefox maybe learning from it.

Posted on in Technology

Giving Firefox another go.

Ever since moving back to iOS for my Phone I’ve been sticking with Safari but I’ve been getting annoyed with AdGuard Safari Extension lack of forward momentum when it comes to development – it feels as AdGuard for Safari is considered an afterthought when it comes to addressing content blocking not always working consistently. For a while I was able to get it to work a but better than before by putting allowed/blocked websites into the ‘User Rules’ area and that worked for a while but the websites I frequent I find are letting through annoying pops and ads where as in the past they were blocked – I updated my filters then ran an adblock tester (link) and it appears that under ‘Cosmetic Filter’ the option ‘Dynamic Ad’ isn’t being blocked but when I run it on Firefox running uBlock Origin it provides 100% blocking in the test.

I’ve installed Firefox 125.0.3 (it isn’t available through the website but it is available through their direct download on ftp.mozilla.org) on my Mac and it is incredibly fast – memory usage is down, CPU utilisation is down, JavaScript and Web Assembly is a lot faster too. Reddit uses a lot of JavaScript so you should find that is a lot more responsive particularly if you like to open up posts in separate tabs rather the current website layers way in which posts are loaded. I haven’t experienced any other issues a the moment so it appears that maybe I’m going to be using Firefox for the long term.

There was an announcement this month that Google was finally launch their competitor to Apple’s ‘Find My’ network (link) (link) which has resulted in the the release date being announced for a Bluetooth tracker compatible with it (link). It’ll be interesting to see how it all works out in the end given that there has been much procrastination by all concerned about finally getting it out the door for the masses to be able to purchase. Sure, one could purchase the Bluetooth tracker that used the OEMs custom application but like many I prefer to make use of the ecosystem that is already being provided by Google and Apple.

Posted on in Technology

When corrections and migrations occur.

I find it funny when the hype cycle eventually goes through the steps of 1) New product launched 2) Ram it into every product regardless of whether or not it makes sense then hype up to the ceiling and beyond 3) People wake up, realise it isn’t God’s gift to humanity and only use it in products where it makes sense.

This is why I think that Apple is taking the right approach particularly when you remember some of the embarrasing generative AI stories that have come out recently. I think you’ll see generative AI being used for art in games which will reduce the amount of work required to be done by the artists, helping improve productivity by learning from your style of writing and offer suggestions based on what you’ve already written etc. In other words it is a move from novelty and hype to delivering functionality that actually benefits end users rather than simply wowing shareholders.

In the short term I can see Microsoft and Google charging for ‘AI Functionality’ but what I think in the long term will be that both Microsoft and Google will invest in dedicated hardware that’ll make LLM cheap enough that it they’ll make available a model that is available to every but then maybe keep a pro version specifically for those who are happy to pay. In the case of Google they may even have a three tier offering (link) with Nano being for everyone, Pro being for Workspace customers and Ultra being something you pay extra for on top of your existing Workspace subscription.

On the topic of Google Podcasts, as of 2 April 2024 the service is no longer available in the United States according to this article (link) however for the rest of the world the migration is occurring later on this year. Having used the YouTube Music, there is still a lot of work that needs to be done because when I was using an Android phone I bought Poweramp Music Player because it is the only one that can handle a large sized music library – in my case my library is 35GB in size. It’ll be interesting to see how they will develop and encourage content producers to leverage the YouTube platform to distribute their podcast content.

Posted on in Politics

Promises of better outcomes from fewer staff, Right wing media falls off the edge of a cliff.

There is a meme that the right wing have created about how they’re focus on having less ‘back office’ workers so then they can spend more money on the front line:

But here is the problem, there is a reason why such back office staff exist in the first place and if they’re not doing the paper work that the government demands when who does that paper work? is it the front line staff who now have to not only do their own work but also dedicate time that would have otherwise spend doing front line to work now spend that on doing what the back office staff would have done. Ok, let’s assume that won’t happy – then is the government going to change processes? front load investment into technology to make some of the reporting that the back office staff do obsolete?

The size of the public service comes as a consequence of the sort of policies that the government chooses to pursue – if the government insists on having a complex convoluted tax code then that requires an army of staff ranging from call centre to lawyers to compliance, auditing, dealing with people who owe money, prosecuting those who owe but money but refuse to come to some sort of payment plan etc. when compared to maybe a system where large numbers of tax credits/deductions are replaced in favour of a tax free threshold and a reduction in the number of brackets. I’ll be waiting to see what ends up happening.

Then there is the right wing media experiencing a decline in the number of visitors and viewers:

Although Kyle laments the fact that Facebook is deprioritising news and politics on the Meta platforms, personally I think it is the best thing that could happen – there are plenty of other places that people can hang out and discuss politics without Meta platforms being added to the mix. I think long term what Meta are trying to do is get back to their roots of being a social media platform and that in part means distancing the platform from being a hub for news and politics in favour of a place where people can hang out, share funny memes, photos, chat with friends and family, not to mention the fact that it means Meta isn’t having to spend large amounts of resources playing Whac-A-Mole with bad faith actors and overseas nongovernment actors wanting to use the Meta algorithm to spread misinformation nd disinformation.

If you want to see what the Meta vision for their platform is then look no further than Threads, the development of the Threads API and the work being done with third parties, NBA scores through Threads etc. Basically it is trying to be the opposite of what Twitter has turned into – a place where people want to hang out and chill rather than screaming and yelling at each other.

Posted on in Personal

Another weekend…getting closer to my trip.

Enjoying another weekend but did some overtime to earn a few extra dollars but things are going well particular with some cleaning around the home. I want to get the house cleaned from top to bottom, get some fresh air through the house before Autumn then Winter comes – I’m going room to room, get one room sorted out then move to the next one rathe than trying to do the whole house and feeling burnt out half way through.

This Wednesday I’ve organised 2 x monitors and a docking station – looking forward to getting those back home, I might even ask my boss if I can work from home on Thursday so I can bask in the awesomeness of my new setup. Once that is all setup it’ll make my life a whole lot easier. The desk itself is at a perfect heigh, there is oodles of room whereas I was worried it maybe cramped. The bit benefit of moving it in the office is during winter it is a lot easier to keep warm – I’ll have the heater in the hall way so that both my bedroom and office are kept warm.

Safari Technology Preview 192 was released on 10 April (link) and there was an interesting note under Web Extensions: “Updated to use the web extension architecture in open-source WebKit code. Web extension authors are encouraged to test your extensions and report issues. (123908710)”. It’ll be interesting to see how much of a difference what was publicly in the GitHub and what Apple was maintaining internally – unfortunately there isn’t a link to a more comprehensive bug report explaining the differences. What I hope is that using the Web Extensions API in the GitHub will result in the development of the Web Extensions API being developed at a faster pace as third parties merge their contributions back into GitHub and Apple making use of those contributions.

Posted on in Personal, Technology

Random thoughts on my day off.

As I have gotten older I’ve found that things that I thought were important aren’t actually all that important. A good example of this was the frustration I would have using Windows and the UI inconsistencies that existed, they would be the bane of my existence and ultimately what drove me into the arms of having getting Apple devices. Long story short, the few weeks I have been using a Dell laptop running Windows 11 has really started to grow on me but that being said I don’t think I’ll ever leave the Apple ecosystem but it has allowed me to have a whole new respect for Microsoft and how far they have come.

The rise of BYD has been interesting. I don’t want to get too political but if you force employers to pay for their healthcare of their employees (rather than having a single payer healthcare system where it is funded through taxes – everyone chips in a bit of money to the kitty) and have a strong dollar policy then don’t be surprised that it makes your industry uncompetitive. It has been years since I’ve seen a GM or Ford car in New Zealand but there are plenty of cars coming from Japan, Korea, Europe and Chinese vehicles have made their way such as ‘Great Wall’ 4WD utes for example.

As most of you know, I went back to an iPhone however the iCloud leaves a lot to be desired, for example there is a limit of 3 aliases for custom domains however I don’t want to use Google having had negative experiences using their software on iOS is kind of half assed and half baked when compared to the Google software running on Android. The one strange thing is the lack of being able to send from aliases however if you create a group mailbox then add yourself to the group mailbox then you’ll find that you can send using that mailbox alias. Apparently they are working on being able to send from aliases however it is still work in progress (link). I thought it may have been an old article but it appears that it is the case:

Posted on in Personal, Technology

A new round of betas and more.

Just having a read through the Webkit website to see what the latest Safari Technology Preview has in store (link) and what peaked my interest was this:

The support is present on M3 as well as A17 SoC – I’m holding off for the M4 or M5 because I’m interesting in seeing Apple move to ARMv9 which includes SVE2 and hopefully AV1 decoding and encoding. I’m hoping that maybe once the software based AV1 decoder becomes more efficient that it becomes an option for those Macs that don’t have the necessary hardware capability for hardware accelerated decoding.

It’s interesting because work at the moment we have moved from having Chromebook and Google services to now I have a Dell laptop running Windows 10 (looking an upgrading to Windows 11 soon) and Microsoft Office 365. Maybe it is just me but Windows has come a really long way since I last used it as my main driver so it’ll be interesting to see what Windows 11 is like when compared to Windows 10. It appears that Microsoft have been putting a lot of effort into making Windows ‘not suck’.

Part of that has been the work that Microsoft have been doing with the Windows App SDK (link) – gradually migrating their software over in a piecemeal piece by piece process, for example, Microsoft is moving their Photo app to the Windows SDK platform (link). I could see in the long term the apps bundled with Windows eventually becoming 100% sitting on top of the Windows App SDK with what is traditionally known as Win32 will become a legacy framework that’ll hang around for backwards compatibility.

Posted on in Personal, Politics

Back to work.

Went into Noel Leemings to pick up the keyboard and mouse combo on special (link) – I opted for the wired one so then I’m not having to deal with batteries and odd behaviour due to it being wireless. I’ve got it all setup however on my way back from work tomorrow I’m going to pick up a mouse pad from The Warehouse because using the mouse on my desk the cursor on the screen doesn’t move in a consistent way. The big thing I am looking at is a new chair, I’m wondering whether I should look at getting a cheap chair for my office or whether I move my current chair into the office then get a replacement chair.

This goes into my larger focus which is look at replacing my current sofa setup because at the moment it is a leather one I got from my brother before he moved to Australia however it requires constant attention in terms of putting leather conditioner on. I’m going o get some leather condition to see if I can bring my turn chair and sofa set back to its former glory but I guess I’ll see how it goes. My current desk is looking a bit worse for wear so I’m tempted to replace it but the is part of the much larger long term project of replacing my bed frame and bedside tables.

The National led government is talking about their 36 point plan and part of that is the exclusion of agriculture from the ETS (Emissions Trading Scheme) however in their policy announcement (link) notes the following: “Keep agriculture out of the ETS but implement a fair and sustainable pricing system for on-farm agricultural emissions by 2030 at the latest. An independent board – with a power of veto retained by the Ministers of Climate Change and Agriculture – will be established to implement the pricing system.” The question is whether that policy is compatible with the free trade agreement that New Zealand has signed with the European Union. Lets hope that the legal advice National have received is a bit more more robust than the ‘pretty legal’ position taken when it came to the riff that was used in the John Key era of National election ads and the court case that followed.

Posted on in Personal, Technology

Almost the end of another week

One more day to go and it’ll be the end of another week. Wheels are in motion to get a new desk setup in my soon to be office where I will be working from home thus having a dedicated room where I work – it also means I’m not having to use my own monitor in favour of getting two monitors from work. With that being said, next week I’m going to head into Noel Leeming to pick up a USB mouse and keyboard, I might even get a docking station which has two HDMI ports. Long term I need to look for a dedicated seat but I’m looking forward to just getting it setup.

Posted on in Personal

Speak of the devil.

I made a blog post last night before going to bet hoping that Apple would release an update to macOS 14.4 and funny enough when I woke up I find an update waiting for me to install. It is a pretty hefty update weighing in at around 1.15GB. It would be nice if Apple could explain what took place and whether lessons can be learnt by third parties about regressions where in the process of fixing one bug a new bug that cause compatibility issues to emerge.

Today I went into Noel Leemings to pick up some USB-C earbuds, a four pack of AirTags and AirTag keychain. I’ve set them all up, one for my scooter, one for my work laptop and headset, and one for my keys. I’ve got that all setup and so far everything is going well and as for the earbuds the quality is better than my old Samsung ones mainly because they sit in my ears better. I’ve never gotten into this whole wireless thing – it’s one more thing to recharge, more ewaste from the batteries are non-user-replaceable so even if the ear buds are perfectly usable you have to replace the whole thing which is a bit wasteful if you ask me.