Mike Rockwell

Writer of @initialcharge and Happiness Engineer for Pocket Casts and Tumblr at Automattic.

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Last Notes

2026-06-30 03:40:31 UTC

Michael Tsai - Blog - Apple Hardware Price Hikes https://mjtsai.com/blog/2026/06/25/apple-hardware-price-hikes/#apple-hardware-price-hikes-update-2026-06-29
https://libertynode.net/system/media_attachments/files/116/836/979/903/148/317/original/440ac0d8788df689.png

2026-06-14 22:42:45 UTC

Why isn’t caller ID a thing on cell phones?
You can see the number calling you, but you only see a name if that number is in your contacts.
Why is it only a thing with landline phones?

2026-05-19 00:27:34 UTC

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I’ve migrated all of my IFTTT applets to n8n except for two. Those two are for a service that doesn’t offer a public API — IFTTT is the only option available.
But luckily, IFTTT allows up to two applets on their free plan, so I will be canceling my paid plan.

2026-05-18 16:46:59 UTC

Testing out n8n as a replacement for IFTTT.
For some of what I was using IFTTT for, I’ll need Twitter API access with n8n. As far as I can tell, there is no longer a free option for this, but I’m pretty sure I’ll still save money with Twitter’s pay per use pricing compared to what I’m currently paying for IFTTT’s pro plan.

2026-05-05 21:48:00 UTC

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@nprofile…jcp5 my web browser randomly stopped launching under Wayland last fall and, despite my best efforts, I still can’t figure out why. Nothing I do solves the issue — including completely removing the browser and reinstalling. So I’m using Xorg. It works great.

2026-05-03 00:23:37 UTC

Went out to the in-laws house today and found that their Time Capsule was showing a yellow light. Checked AirPort Utility and it told me it was overheating.
I suspect the fan it went.
Luckily, I have an old AirPort Extreme that I could swap it out with, but that means I need to figure out another drive for them to use Time Machine with.

2026-04-25 23:31:14 UTC

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@nprofile…g5vw that’s awesome! I also recently dropped caffeine, so I know the struggle.

2026-04-22 15:20:05 UTC

I didn’t know I was thinking about leaving Apple.
https://www.macrumors.com/2026/04/22/vision-pro-creator-considered-leaving-apple/

2026-04-17 21:13:48 UTC

Why do we use the term “micro plastics” instead of just calling them “plastics”?

2026-04-02 17:35:52 UTC

What’s the point where, as a dad, you start telling the same joke to someone within ear shot of the last person you told the joke to?

2026-04-01 18:53:24 UTC

Wow, it’s actually real. And available for devices that support iOS 26. At least, it’s available for my iPhone 15 Pro.
https://libertynode.net/system/media_attachments/files/116/330/961/568/996/020/original/b28ec7189a6ec3a6.png

2026-03-30 15:21:49 UTC

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@nprofile…3stl it’s a shame they’re too prideful to have admitted their thermal corner mistake sooner. I honestly think they could have just released a new Mac Pro with the old 2012 Mac Pro case before 2019 and everyone would have been fine with it.

2026-03-26 23:12:53 UTC

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If you want a Mac with *a lot* of storage now, there’s no way to do that without external enclosures and messy cables or a NAS.

2026-03-26 23:09:28 UTC

I remember seeing people like Shawn Blanc and Glenn Wolsey with a Mac Pro when I just graduated from high school. It was the coolest computer in the world to me at that point.
But Apple seemingly stopped caring about it shortly after the trash can released in 2013.
They released the 2019 model, but it was so unbelievably half-hearted and the massive price tag made its fate seem inevitable.
https://www.macrumors.com/2026/03/26/apple-discontinues-mac-pro/

2026-03-25 13:42:59 UTC

Why are macOS update downloads so unbelievably slow?
https://libertynode.net/system/media_attachments/files/116/290/104/402/657/308/original/493644eb37995e07.png

2026-03-24 19:34:06 UTC

People who don’t customize the macOS dock fascinate me.
I know you’re not using half of the apps in there, why don’t you just remove them?

2026-03-24 16:37:57 UTC

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@nprofile…peg3
> make sure it has a new UUID before installing onto it.
Could you elaborate on that? Is that something I’d check in the bios or from the command line?

2026-03-24 15:56:21 UTC

What’s the best way to clone a Linux boot drive? Is it Clonezilla?
I want to move my existing Ubuntu install to an external drive and then start fresh with a new distro using the internal drive.
On a MacBook, I’d just use SuperDuper! will Clonezilla accomplish the same thing or is there a better tool for the job?

2026-03-22 18:24:45 UTC

“You can get a better deal than the MacBook Neo if you buy used or refurbished.”
Isn’t that the case for literally every Apple laptop ever made?
You can always get a better deal buying used or refurbished. That’s not a revelatory point.

2026-03-21 16:20:13 UTC

Me: “Hi, Caleb”
Caleb: “Hi, Dad”
Me: “How are you?”
Caleb: “I’m Caleb”

2026-03-21 14:34:11 UTC

In Supermarket Sweep, why doesn’t anyone just go to the medicine aisle and start clearing the shelves into their cart?
It has to be the section of the store with the highest dollar density items, right?
There must be some rule about how many items you can get from a single aisle or something.

2026-03-21 00:24:32 UTC

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@nprofile…xszp yes, you are.

2026-03-20 15:38:12 UTC

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@nprofile…p4yq white keycaps are better because they hide dust and debris better, but they discolor more over time.
I still think I prefer them, though.

2026-03-05 03:17:51 UTC

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@nprofile…684n @nprofile…sh3l Todoist, Things, and Due? I’m curious how you’re using all three.

2026-03-05 00:24:44 UTC

I got my Moondrop Old Fashioned headphones in the mail today. They sound fantastic and are very comfortable.
I think I’ll swap out the ear pads and cables to something that looks cooler, though.

2026-03-04 22:36:10 UTC

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@nprofile…qlm8 the white keyboard on the silver model looks dope.

2026-03-04 17:34:28 UTC

8GB would be sufficient if it could run Linux.

2026-02-28 02:30:01 UTC

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@nprofile…7epg “join the Patreon for a bonus, ad-free episode each week”.

2026-02-27 00:21:50 UTC

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@nprofile…rt6q how much of the rise of AI’s use as a search engine is a direct result of Google’s search results page becoming absolute trash?

2026-02-27 00:20:11 UTC

The Night Life by The Starting Line
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pl7-_VqSVhw
#music

2026-02-26 15:31:54 UTC

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@nprofile…7ypj stuff like this makes me want to shutdown my Pixelfed instance. And it’s literally only used by me.

2026-02-25 23:46:19 UTC

I understand why people were annoyed about phones losing the headphone jack.
At the time, I didn’t get it. I get it now, though.

2026-02-25 12:35:32 UTC

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@nprofile…td70 we’ve been contacted by a podcast creator that specifically wanted a different feed in Pocket Casts than what was used in Apple Podcasts. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

2026-02-20 21:45:04 UTC

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@nprofile…e4t5 there’s ripping CD, buying from iTunes or other online music stores, or sailing the high seas.
I suppose you could technically record music from web radio or something, but I’m not aware of anyone that really does that.

2026-02-20 20:39:50 UTC

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@nprofile…e4t5 there’s an import preset option in the menus somewhere — I can’t remember exactly where.
But once you have the preset imported, you can just select your source file, choose where you want the output file saved and let it run.
Because the video is converting at such a low resolution for the iPod, it doesn’t really take too long. I converted a bunch of movies and each one took my computer between 5-15 minutes to complete.

2026-02-20 19:02:43 UTC

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@nprofile…e4t5 I downloaded this json file and imported it into Handbrake:
https://gist.github.com/exurd/260f7ef48e3735009f3171e471ceac7d
I did modify it, though. I believe I changed the maximum width of the preset to 576. That will accommodate almost all movie aspect ratios while still being 240px tall. That will let you play the video in full screen without sacrificing video quality on the iPod’s display.

2026-02-20 18:56:35 UTC

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@nprofile…e4t5 you wouldn’t be able to take the existing MP3s and make them sound better, unless you’re using bad headphones/speakers. In that case you could improve those.
But if the audio file itself is of lesser quality, you’d need to get a higher quality version of the song. By re-ripping the CD at a higher bitrate/better format or just acquiring a higher quality encoding of the song by some other means.

2026-02-20 16:25:37 UTC

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@nprofile…62fc I have music in a bunch of different formats, including some MP3s still.
Above a certain threshold, I can’t tell the difference, but err on the side of higher fidelity when I can.
In terms of the deep dive, I’ve been looking at Android-based DAPs that I can use as a minimal device instead of always carrying my phone with me. And some interest in headphones. Apple doesn’t sell the 2nd gen AirPods anymore and the newer ones don’t fit my ears well. So I’m looking for alternatives.

2026-02-20 15:57:31 UTC

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@nprofile…62fc it doesn’t seem like that would actually matter, though.
“introducing the materials into the circuit is just like adding a resistor in series, and they’re unlikely to distort the audio too much”
It’s worth noting, I haven’t seen any of the audiophile dudes that I’m reading/watching talk about them either. When they discuss cables it’s all about the connectors on the end, whether the cable untangles easily, and whether the cable straightens out when unfurled.

2026-02-20 15:39:47 UTC

After setting up my iPod again, I’ve been spending a bunch of time deep-diving into audio stuff. Digital audio players, headphones, DACs, etc.
An observation: mainstream tech/gadget enthusiasts don’t even know about the companies that these audiophiles are talking about. It feels like an entirely different, unexplored world.

2026-02-19 17:29:36 UTC

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@nprofile…f8g9 I really enjoy Ulysses a lot and there are some annoyances for me in iA Writer, but I’m not sure if sticking with Ulysses is worth the $30 a year that I’m paying for it now.
And I’ve already purchased iA Writer years ago, so it’s not like I have to factor in the upfront cost for it or anything.

2026-02-18 16:01:33 UTC

I might be switching from Ulysses to iA Writer.
I still love Ulysses, but I’m not in love with the yearly subscription.

2026-02-10 14:53:44 UTC

I started tinkering with my modded fifth generation iPod again. I’ve added some movies, TV shows, and the click wheel games to iPod OS, but I’m using Rockbox for everything else.
I’m digging it so far.

2026-02-08 20:40:35 UTC

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@nprofile…m44l the term Gerrymandering originated from Elbridge Gerry, who was governor of Massachusetts. In1812 he signed a redistricting bill that favored his Democratic-Republican Party — the predecessor of the modern Democratic Party. One of the newly drawn districts was shaped like a salamander. Hence: Gerry-mander.

2026-02-05 15:35:11 UTC

I don’t think I like watching things in HDR.

2026-01-29 20:08:58 UTC

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@nprofile…w4wg Bro’s spent the past 26 years on Law & Order.
He’s earned about 6 times as much money pretending to be a cop than he has from his music career.

2026-01-27 15:49:51 UTC

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@nprofile…ecf2 drive safe.

2026-01-25 17:41:28 UTC

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For anyone curious, I’ve settled on the 55-inch TCL QM6K. It runs Google TV, but you can set it up in “basic” mode without all the Google TV features. I believe it shows a banner suggesting you enable it when navigating the menus, but the other TV I was looking at runs Fire TV and I don’t believe it offers a similar feature.

2026-01-25 03:19:24 UTC

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@nprofile…7ypj snow is a myth perpetuated by corporations in order to sell more snow globes.

2026-01-24 00:24:16 UTC

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And there’s *a lot* of specs that matter now that basically didn’t exist the last time I bought a TV — Quantum dots, mini LED, high refresh rates, HDR support, etc.
And that’s just talking about the panel itself, not to mention the differences between each TV OS.
It would be helpful if the store offered some information to help customers make a decision. And access to a remote so they can tinker around with each OS.

2026-01-24 00:21:00 UTC

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They don’t even have the box for the display TV on the shelf underneath it.
Are you expected to just talk to an employee or do all of your research elsewhere? There’s no other way to find out info about the models available in store?

2026-01-24 00:20:45 UTC

I don’t know how people buy TVs now.
You go into Best Buy, they have 50 TVs on the wall. None of them have any signs that would tell you what model it is, what specs it has, how much it costs, or anything.
None of the TVs have buttons on them that could be used to navigate the interface and there’s not a remote to be seen.

2026-01-21 18:22:24 UTC

Every YouTube thumbnail is a dude making a funny face pointing at a thing.

2026-01-21 17:08:01 UTC

if you install Batocera on a 2011 iMac, PCSX2 can use the built-in webcam as an EyeToy camera.

2026-01-20 17:07:14 UTC

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@nprofile…3k79 internet culture used to be so cool.

2026-01-19 21:53:33 UTC

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@nprofile…lsen “ma’am, this is a gas station.”

2026-01-19 03:25:21 UTC

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@nprofile…pat4 I’m only scratching the surface but I’ve seen a few people mention that TCL has great quantum dot and mini LED tech, which is probably what I’d look to get. There is probably another company that offers similar picture quality for the same or less money, though.

2026-01-18 23:26:29 UTC

Our youngest threw a toy at the TV and broke it today.
I liked that TV. It was a 51-inch Samsung plasma from 2014.
The picture quality was excellent and the resolution was low — just 720p. Which was nice because about half of what we watch is still in SD.
We had a crappy LCD in the basement that wasn’t being used. So we’ve just dropped that in as a replacement for now. But we’ll have to meander through the awful TV options of today to figure out which one is the least bad.

2026-01-18 19:37:47 UTC

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@nprofile…peg3 I only enable it when I need to access a service on my home network though it. The rest of the time it’s disabled.

2026-01-17 23:43:24 UTC

Plex has an America’s Funniest Home Videos channel through their live TV feature that’s airing old Bob Saget era episodes.

2026-01-17 15:26:05 UTC

Kodi is under appreciated

2026-01-16 13:26:28 UTC

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@nprofile…peg3 @nprofile…vfcp @nprofile…7epg “lossy decompression” is such a perfect phrase for this.

2026-01-11 18:56:46 UTC

It’s hard to justify Tahoe icons https://tonsky.me/blog/tahoe-icons

2026-01-07 04:50:00 UTC

Brave overhauls adblock engine, cutting its memory consumption by 75% | Brave https://brave.com/privacy-updates/36-adblock-memory-reduction/

2026-01-04 16:33:07 UTC

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@nprofile…p4yq we didn’t know how well we had it.

2026-01-03 20:57:14 UTC

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@nprofile…xszp do it.

2025-12-28 05:14:01 UTC

Shoutout to the dude doing subtitles for Family Feud who insists on including “.00” every single time they mention an amount of money.

2025-12-26 18:44:20 UTC

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@nprofile…mtdu didn’t they change how likes worked so that they were only shown to you and the person whose post you liked? I don’t think anyone else can see your likes anymore.
Unless I’m misunderstanding.

2025-12-22 18:24:37 UTC

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@nprofile…dmsw it looks like a fancy kerosene heater.

2025-12-12 02:54:06 UTC

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@nprofile…qyay I still listen, but tend to jump around to the chapters that sound most interesting to me.

2025-12-11 21:44:05 UTC

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@nprofile…hmnx I always dreamed of being as cool as the kid in the pale orange shirt.

2025-12-10 16:16:12 UTC

iPhone Users Can Now AirDrop Files to Android Devices https://www.macrumors.com/2025/11/20/iphone-android-airdrop-quickshare/

2025-12-09 22:00:27 UTC

Michael Tsai - Blog - What Happened to Apple’s Legendary Attention to Detail? https://mjtsai.com/blog/2025/10/24/what-happened-to-apples-legendary-attention-to-detail/

2025-12-06 23:45:02 UTC

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@nprofile…wn4v it’s a reference to a meeting that Trump had during his first term. Tim Cook was in attendance and Trump referred to him as “Tim Apple”. I’ve heard people use it ever since then — even outside of NA circles.

2025-12-06 23:15:38 UTC

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@nprofile…esv8 there’s a few floating around like that. I actually have the Food Channel installed, but haven’t set it up to enable ordering yet.

2025-12-06 17:46:51 UTC

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@nprofile…na0f I’d put the year we peaked closer to 2012, but that’s mostly because of how poorly tech has advanced since then.

2025-12-06 14:53:21 UTC

Apparently you can download a version of the YouTube app through WiiMart that actually still works on the Wii. At least with the couple of videos I tested.

2025-12-05 05:06:51 UTC

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@nprofile…9m44 ah, my apologies. 👍

2025-12-03 16:55:11 UTC

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@nprofile…9m44 yes.
People should be able to say what they want. If you’re talking with someone who doesn’t like the phrase and is personally offended by it, it’s generally better to avoid it out of respect. But that shouldn’t preclude them from speaking freely with others who aren’t as sensitive about it.

2025-12-01 17:55:29 UTC

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@nprofile…dfpj I believe Mastodon has scheduling support built-in, but it’s not surfaced in the web app and is not commonly supported in clients.

2025-12-01 05:46:02 UTC

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@nprofile…rpra i completely agree — I bet he’s never even driven a van.

2025-11-30 15:30:27 UTC

Sure, Dawn is good at leaning up ducks, but does it work on dishes?

2025-11-30 00:17:47 UTC

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@nprofile…wn4v “Newo Politics”?

2025-11-29 04:15:29 UTC

It’s wild how much of a pain PS2 homebrew/softmodding feels compared to the other consoles I’ve tinkered with.

2025-11-27 16:40:08 UTC

My Apple TV finally auto updated to tvOS 26.
My favorite part of the update is that I can’t read the clock on the Home Screen anymore. It’s actually really cool.

2025-11-26 17:56:06 UTC

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I hope I filled those out correctly.

2025-11-26 17:33:21 UTC

Why’d they have to go and change the tax withholding forms?
I didn’t know what I was doing before, but now it’s even worse.

2025-11-22 16:28:54 UTC

Discord stinks.

2025-11-17 15:36:12 UTC

Some people have stopped using em dashes in their writing because they don’t want people thinking that they’re using AI tools to write.
But if AI tools are so great, why would there be any embarrassment about people thinking that you’re making use of them?

2025-11-16 01:41:16 UTC

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@nprofile…pldv the kids are only half paying attention, but my wife and I are pointing out all the funny parts to our oldest.

2025-11-16 01:36:47 UTC

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Now we’re all sitting on the floor watching Home Alone.

2025-11-15 23:14:12 UTC

Setup an old CRT TV in our playroom with a DVD player.
We have Frosty the Snowman playing on it now.
It probably won’t be permanent, but will be an interesting change of pace for a few days.

2025-11-12 20:11:31 UTC

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@nprofile…g59e words to live by.

2025-11-12 15:42:47 UTC

https://github.com/Automattic/pocket-casts-ios/releases/tag/8.0.0.0

2025-11-11 17:58:09 UTC

Apple should partner with Sheath next to make a bag with two pouches. One for your iPhone and another for your baubles.

2025-11-09 23:28:24 UTC

Caleb is currently sitting in his high chair, counting from 1-10 over and over again, as loud as he possibly can.

2025-11-09 19:18:38 UTC

Anyone else notice that stores and restaurants are unexpectedly busy recently? Or maybe it’s just in my area?

2025-11-09 03:44:21 UTC

Remember when eggs were like $6 a dozen?

2025-11-08 14:42:25 UTC

Me watching classic Familly Feud: “This dude looks like Magnum TA.”

2025-11-08 02:54:37 UTC

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@nprofile…x5fh I’m planning to hold on to Sequoia for as long as I can.