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…
How to Add Custom Text Around WordPress Comments
After the 30 days decision, the first change I wanted to make immediately to the site was letting readers know that comments will be closed after certain period. I didn’t get into details before, WordPress simply doesn’t load comments section if the post in question doesn’t have any comments and the submission is closed. In other words, there is “around the comments” control for the site admin or the site builder. Any actions would need to be hooked to the body of the contents or beginning of the footer.
How to Change Comments Closed Message on WordPress
On WordPress, the default behavior for comments section has an oddly hidden notification message. It is only shown when a post already has some comments, and the comment section must be closed for future submission. It simply reads: “Comments are closed”. It sounds obvious and communicates to the fact why the comment field is not visible, but the site moderator or designer is not given control over the text message itself — which is, again, weird.
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:
How to Calculate Next Day of the Week on Shortcuts
It’s yet another calendar series for Shortcuts. As I have written before, as powerful the Shortcuts is, it could use some handy functions surrounding general date managements — particularly days and weeks department. It is never hard to make a subroutine if you need one, however.
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.
Apple Intelligence, Google Gemini, and AI Models
Bloomberg reported Apple is in talk with Google to use custom version of Gemini in the Apple’s servers, named “Private Cloud Compute”. If the deal goes through, Apple would have a default AI model for Apple Intelligence as a service. In all likelihood, it also means Apple would keep many of the AI related features on iOS and macOS to be replaceable by other models or services, much akin to how App Store is reshaping now.
How to Calculate Nth Day of the Week in Month on Shortcuts
Shortcuts app on iOS and macOS is one of the most powerful tool available to the platform. I strongly recommend anyone who owns an Apple device to give Shortcuts a try; it is equivalent of BASIC in our time. But not every functions a user would want is in the Shortcuts. Thankfully, what Shortcuts doesn’t provide can be made by a user.
Logitech Harmony and HDMI-CEC
Logitech discontinued production for Harmony in 2021. There were some signs Logitech needed to put in heavy investment towards the Harmony platform, otherwise it will be unsustainable: losing Mac support was one; introduction of HDMI-CEC in 2005 was the other; and most importantly, Smart TV and cord cutting made a universal remote such a niche market.
App to Add Subtitles to iTunes Store Purchased Movies
We moved past purchasing or renting digital media like we did with iTunes, but there are some movies I still own from iTunes era. The movies and TV shows are still available on the TV app for macOS and iTunes app on Windows. As a general rule, once purchased, purchased contents are often not updated with the new subtitles. While understandable, it is ironic buying a movie somehow has worse consequences than pirating a movie.