My Korean phone number is quite old. The number is as old as it could get, as South Korea began numbering 010 for all mobile numbers. Same goes with my American, still alive, number. I don’t think the American numbering scheme is easily accessible, but some websites do decline my number over it being an internet-based — Korean counterpart would start with 070.
From Op-ed
Ads on ChatGPT
As a home baker, one of the most frequent accusations thrown at content creators I see — gadget reviewers, recipe authors, or just plainly writing about baking experiences — is their transparency: ties to the manufacturer, ties to the brands, ties to the producers, and so on. It boils down to a simple question — whether or not the content was sponsored behind the scenes. Those were the problems we had with human content creators with legal liability, not AI giants with an army of lawyers.
E-Ink Tablet and eBook Reader
Recently I was asked what e-ink tablet I use for all my ebooks. Short answer: I don’t. I prefer to carry one device, and OLED on the smartphone has gotten better to the point where I can read comfortably outside. In fact, I think it has come to the point where e-ink displays now have backlights for more comfortable indoor reading experience, as the competition was never about reading outdoors — this is not a camping gear.
Stock Image, Wallpaper, and AI Slop
MKBHD’s rather unpopular side gig, Panels app is shutting down on coming this December 31. The app has been receiving incendiary receptions to say the least; it charged $50 per year for wallpapers. I have no interest on making arguments for or against the app — I was obviously not in the target demographic. I pay roughly the same amount for Parallels subscription and still call it too expensive. Whether or not wallpapers are worth $50 is a pricing decision I don’t need to comment on.
IoT, Bluetooth, and WiFi
Few months ago, I wrote a spiel on a new Dyson PencilVac vacuum cleaner. It didn’t merit to be called a full-scale review, as I wasn’t testing the product against any other vacuums in the market, and quite frankly my research was limited to what fits into my needs and routines. Regardless, at the time, I knew the vacuum had Bluetooth capability and an app that were lackluster overall. The modern expectation of IoT apps would be somewhere near or above entry level robot vacuums.
Early Access and Narrative Work
Of all things Valve is pushing, I find Early Access program to be easily abused because it demerits the narrative element of a game. Any games that are heavily based on its narrative or storytelling have limited shelf life; the moment it is released it will slowly sip through any and all social medias. But developers can choose not to use Early Access. The fault truly lies on the games that use Early Access and laser focus on the system’s weakness for its advantage.
Positioning Foldable iPhone
The new onslaught of foldable iPhone rumors have been released: a. it will feature under-display camera for innards, b. it will feature Touch ID instead of Face ID, c. it will feature a larger battery, d. the foldable display will be crease-less, and finally e. it will be priced at $2,399. The prudence dictates we don’t jump to conclusions, but the rumors are suggesting the Californian company wishes to sell one iPhone at the price of two, possibly by bundling the two in one.
Mac Pro, Mac Studio, and Mac Clusters
macOS 26.2 is expected to release a new Mac Cluster feature that runs on full Thunderbolt 5 bandwidth (80Gbps) compared to what is available now at 10Gbps. The coverages surrounding the end of Mac Pro line, which I happen to agree with, suspect Mac cluster update will be the final nail in the coffin for Mac Pro.
Valve Reboots Steam Machine
As many have undoubtedly have seen, Valve announced yet another hardware product. This time it is called Steam Machine, not to be confused with Steam Machine (2015) from the same company. The first Steam Machine was announced DOA by reviewers soon after, even though some had previously expected Valve is finally making a landing in the living room against the console giants. From pure sales figures, the first Steam Machine sold around half a million units. That might mean something in gaming PC arena, but for consoles, where day one sales figure alone goes upward of a million unit, it…
AI Spams and Comment Moderation
Many websites have some common unwritten rules on comment moderation — most common of which is locking or closing comments after certain duration. I believe Reddit has it at 6 months, under some of the news articles they have it at 14 days, and some chatting-like discussions, they keep it tight at 48 hours. The Mad Tea Party is now closing comments (Trackbacks and others still work) after 30 days.
App Review Guidelines, AI Apps, and App Spamming
It has been nearly a year since I wrote about app spamming, in particular, ChatGPT-like apps. Many of them simply used ChatGPT and charged extra to the end users who didn’t know it wasn’t from the official developer. Their icons were often nearly identical to OpenAI’s, and dare I say, deliberately designed to be confused with the original.
How American Media Misshaped K-Pop
There is a running joke in South Korea that not even native Koreans would dare to traverse into the mystic land of Peju, depicted in Hawaii Five-0. Aired in 2010, the show was a remake of the original from 1960s. It had some incendiary scenes for Korean audience. In a decrepit bar in a jungle, a bartender serves literal Bloody Mary with makgeolli and snake blood. Mind you, there is no city named Peju, as far as I know. The show clearly used Pohang as-is, I wouldn’t think they deliberately made a decision to avoid the name of a real…
Apple Intelligence, AI Subscriptions, and AI Store
After the whole debacle I had with Zadok the Priest on the previous post, I received some spams suggesting I should subscribe to their pro or plus models. I take it my search had used up most of free queries I had for the day. As far as I know, neither Google nor OpenAI openly publish the limit of their respective free tiers. From the literature I could find, it appears both companies have no fixed plan for free tier. For those of us who wish to cut subscriptions, having one less pricing info makes it untenable to plan a…
Finding “Zadok” of Handel
Handel’s Zadok the Priest (HWV 258) is such a popular classical piece, I suspect most people would not even notice it is entirely written in English. At the very least, I was bamboozled to learn all the English lessons I’ve had growing up failed to mention it. If it doesn’t ring a bell, here is a version from Westminster Abbey Choir on YouTube. The text is biblical and it is easy to read. The verse that matters today is following:
M5, Mac Mini, and MacBook Air
It has been 5 years since the release of first M1 Macs. M5 MacBook Pro just hit the shelves, and likely MacBook Air and Mac Mini, two popular and highly praised models from M4 will be renewed with m5 in the following year. The benchmark for M5 indicates M5 is roughly twice as fast compared to that of M1’s. It is said average consumers upgrade their computer every 3 to 5 years, so it is likely going to be the first year of major upgrade cycle on Apple Silicon.