Andrew Haglund

As the world crumbles into disarray Apple unveils the iPad (A16) for $350 and iPad Air (M3) for $600. The compare page shows minor differences: processor, laminated screen (P3 color), keyboard/pencil support. The base iPad is a steal and is more than enough iPad for 90% of people.

Yesterday it hit mid-50s. In central Illinois this is cause for much celebration. I went on a few walks, got some food, and observed the following:

• A cluster of students leaving a neighbor’s house, all speaking French.
• Two women holding hands, one with an eye patch.
• At lunch at the new H Mart, practically everyone was speaking Korean or Japanese.
• A group of students fundraising on the Quad for the war in Ukraine.

By all counts, a town in the middle of cornfields should be as plain as a slice of Wonder bread. Instead it’s abuzz with people from all over the world. People who came here as students or teachers to better themselves and others.

I love Song Exploder, I love Alvvays, I love Archie, Marry Me. This episode has been in my queue for a while and I finally got around to listening.

Molly Rankin, in the episode:

It was one of my first attempts at really trying to execute writing something that I would listen to. Until then I was writing a lot of stuff I wouldn’t go out of my way to hear. I wanted it to be a classic pop song.

The lyrics remind me so much of my wife and our wedding. We had plans for a larger wedding but then COVID hit and we turned it into an outdoor family party. With the exception of my friends and faraway family not being able to attend, it turned out to be way more our speed.

“Forget the flower arrangements,” indeed.

An absolute crazy thing is that the only time I’ve seen Alvvays play was in the foyer at the Krannert Music Center in Urbana, IL at Pygmalion fest in 2016. After we paid to see Car Seat Headrest, Alvvays were just playing in the atrium for free where local jazz bands play on weeknights. It was unreal. Here was the band I loved just there. It was a really fun time.

I’ve been on a Bowie kick recently (because check notes: Bowie is amazing). Some recent listens: Blackstar ★ (2016), The Next Day (2013), Scary Monsters (1980), “Heroes” (1977), and Ziggy Stardust (1972). It’s unbelievable that his last album (and death) was 9 years ago. From Lazarus:

Look up here, I’m in heaven. I’ve got scars that can’t be seen.

This song absolutely rips. Knowing he was dying when he wrote it rips through you. I remember hearing the album in the day it dropped and again two days later when the world learned he had passed away. It took on an entirely new meaning.

There’s been scuttle online about an asteroid hitting earth in 2032. Matt Webb’s post captures what I found entertaining about the overall sentiment. It reminds me of the great song Five Years whose drumbeat lives in my head rent-free.

Also, who could forget the greatest tribute to Bowie: “This is Bowie to Bowie, do you hear me loud and clear, man?”

When it seems like the world is in disarray, clutch onto art.

Catching up from the Grammys: congrats to Beyoncé for Cowboy Carter winning Album of the Year, which I called back in my Q1 2024 update.

I’ll be flabbergasted if it doesn’t win Album of the Year.

It’s the first time a black woman has won this award in 25 years which is insane. Her performance at the footyball game was sublime too.

I flew today but didn’t learn of last night’s crash until after I landed. I cannot imagine what the families were going through and my hearts go out them.

I could not help but emphatically nod along when I saw this comment on Reddit describing the timeline of events:

• Jan 20: FAA director fired
• Jan 21: Air Traffic Controller hiring frozen
• Jan 22: Aviation Safety Advisory Committee disbanded
• Jan 28: Buyout/retirement demand sent to existing employees
• Jan 29: First American mid-air collision in 16 years
• Jan 30: Whitehouse addresses the nation. Donald Trump blames DEI, Joe Biden, and Barack Obama for the tragic accident.

I don’t want to come across as crass by comparing a real-world tragedy with fiction, but I was immediately reminded of an unforgettable scene in the season 2 finale of Breaking Bad (spoiler warning) when we learn Jane’s father is an air traffic controller. Having just lost his daughter, he is grief-stricken and a plane crash occurs. It shows that despite Walt continuing to justify his misdeeds, our actions have severe, irreversible, and widespread consequences. Far beyond what we can fathom.

There will be an extensive investigation to what happened but I feel like this Reddit user put together the pieces. In the name of “government efficiency” Trump is dismantling the structures that keep us safe. Let’s not mince words: 67 people died because of Trump’s actions. As with everything else, there will be zero consequences for him.

As wrap up week two of Trump’s presidency I urge you to imagine the harm he will cause over the next four years.

(PS Matt Birchler had a great take on Trump’s anti-DEI rhetoric on this, which is again, deflecting from the core issue of not respecting labor in this country. Especially in demanding and serious occupations.)

Zuckerberg, after being extorted by Trump for $25 million, complains about his own privacy in 404’s excellently titled, Everything I Say Leaks, Zuckerberg Says in Leaked Meeting Audio:

…everything I say leaks. And it sucks, right?

And what I’d say is: everything he says sucks.

I’ll probably submit these items as “official” feedback items to Apple but in the meantime here are a few things I noticed tonight while using my beloved Apple TV running tvOS watching Apple TV+ shows. This is a platform I use every night and I want it to be better.

First some praise

You’ve always been able to say “what did they say?” to the remote and it would rewind 10 seconds and turn on the captions for a few seconds. Incredible feature.

Now in tvOS 18 the same thing happens when you click the left button. No need to talk, just click.

It’s an tiny improvement but I know so many people will benefit from this, especially with shows like All Creatures Great and Small. The world would be a much better place if companies focused on sanding off the hard edges and just made things nicer.

(Unrelated but using a pair of HomePods with your TV is incredible. That is until it randomly loses connection. It doesn’t happen too often but it feels impossible to recover from.)

Apple TV Plus

• Stop spoiling massive season 1 mysteries in your season 2 pre-roll promos. What is hell is wrong with you? (Referring to both Silo and Severance.)
• You don’t need to tell me to watch shows I’m already watching.

tvOS

• It’s impossible to see who directed specific episodes of a TV show. (How do I know which episodes Ben Stiller directed of Severance?)
• Cast & Crew should be separate rows to better highlight directors, producers, writers, costume, etc. The list of actors (especially on shows) can be endless and there’s so many other people that come together to make film and TV.
• Rotten Tomatoes scores are shown for movies but not TV. First: it’s a crass way to judge art. Second: you could lose many nights to a bad show but a bad movie is… 2 hours? Third: RT offers distinct Critic and Audience scores, which can be useful.
• This doesn’t happen often but sometimes the Match Frame Rate setting gets stuck: I’ll finish an episode and the tvOS UI will keep running at 24fps instead of buttery 60. Horrendous and hard to fix.

This TikTok ban is complete bullshit. From everything I’ve read this is pure rah-rah anti-China. Yes TikTok is 100% a propaganda factory and its algorithm is dangerous but so is Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

If you care about the problems this ban purports to solve we need genuine algorithm, privacy, and data laws to protect the citizens of the U.S. of A. — which would just so happen to include TikTok. This of course would take down too many U.S.-based morally-bankrupt ad-tech, data broker, and social media companies. So yeah, let’s just turn a blind eye to that and let’s just focus on this one Chinese company in particular.

It’s also a call to action to build alternatives to the giants (projects like loops.video spring to mind). To all of you out there who consider yourself a “content creator”: take your videos and share them on the web. Don’t let your livelihood be subject to a single algorithm that can’t control.

As much as I despise at the term “content creator” (come on, it completely devalues your work) I do feel bad for these people caught in the crosshairs here. These people built an audience on TikTok and they just lost their entire network of followers. Imagine running a bakery and you had to change locations overnight but you have no means of telling your regulars — talk about putting all your breads in one basket.

The internet is vast and wild. Get out of the silos.