Writing
Long and short posts of my learnings.
When I have something to say, I send an email. Swift in unexpected places, AI tools that earn their keep, and the long arc of shipping software for twenty-five years. Building in public — in the open, misses included.
2025
- Mar 6Read →
Mozi shows you which friends are in townA hands-on Mozi app review: see which friends will be in the same city, plan meetups, and weigh its contact-sharing and privacy tradeoffs. - Mar 4Show Keyboard Presses on Screen RecordingsRead →Tidbits highlighted the free open source app Keycastr to display the keystrokes and mouse clicks you are typing while you are streaming or recording video.
- Mar 3Read →
My Cool Tools interview with Kevin KellyMy Cool Tools podcast interview with Kevin Kelly covering Rust, AI coding tools, hardware, and productivity essentials. - Mar 2Watch a Working Japanese TypewriterRead →After studying Chinese and now Japanese it is fascinating to watch someone type on this.
- Feb 27Benedict Evans Articulates clearly the deep research problemRead →Deep Research is the new feature that has been added to all the AI company LLM models. Many charging a lot for this capability. Benedict goes through a sampl...
- Feb 21Rare interview with the founder of TSMC Morris ChangRead →The key company that builds most of the processors used in your phones and devices is TSMC. The Acquired podcast flew to Taiwan and interviewed the founder o...
- Feb 20Your data goes through Ciena’s Fiber compression algorithmRead →Ciena figures out ways to increase throughput of fiber channels. The Verge Decoder podcast interviewed the CEO Gary Smith. It is one of those companies that ...
- Feb 13Open Sourced VPN: ObscuraRead →Good find: open sourced VPN Obscura, a secure and privacy-focused solution available on GitHub.
- Feb 10Genmo a good site to make some short AI VideosRead →A hands-on Genmo test combining Hong Kong and Singapore and generating a Scottish Terrier, including where the video model struggled.
- Feb 6New Launcher App Pieoneer forces my hands off the keyboardRead →I tried Pieoneer's radial Mac launcher but returned to Spotlight because selecting an app required moving from the keyboard to the trackpad.
- Feb 5Using Mullvad VPN on Apple TVRead →Learn how to use Mullvad VPN on Apple TV, troubleshoot buffering issues, and set up Tailscale for seamless connectivity.
- Feb 5Parcel Shipments stopped from China and Hong KongRead →USPS suspends inbound parcels from China and Hong Kong, closing a postal loophole that fueled the drop-shipping industry.
2024
- Nov 15Read →
- Sep 11Read →
- Aug 27iPad as a second screen on a work MacBook ProRead →Using a work MacBook Pro with your Personal iPad Pro as a second screen.
- Aug 26Technical deep dive on the new Sonos AppRead →Found a post on a techncial deep dive on the new Sonos App.
- Aug 25Bill Burr’s Philly IncidentRead →Bill Burr's legendary 12-minute unscripted takedown of a hostile Philadelphia crowd, a masterclass in persistence and turning failure into triumph.
- Aug 24Mid Market TrapRead →Why mid-market SaaS customers can require enterprise-length sales cycles while offering smaller budgets, with a lesson from selling in Shenzhen.
- Aug 10Restaurants to go on a Date in Hong KongRead →My quick list of restaurants in Hong Kong friends have recommended to take a date.
- Jul 20Read →
- Mar 30Getting rid of the Google login overlay on websites I browseRead →Google started putting an overlay on sites that use Google Login getting in my way.
- Mar 29How The Apple Watch Ultra GPS Capabilities are betterRead →Apple Watch Ultra achieves more accuracy by combining the GPS L1 and L5 bands.
2023
- Dec 17Trends of 2023 from Benedict Evans: Generative AIRead →Notes on Benedict Evans's 2023 trends presentation and its questions about how generative AI will be bundled or unbundled in future products.
- Oct 30Read →
Exploring the Real-World Impacts of AI with Brent Deverman and PanelDive deep into the world of AI with Brent Deverman, Janelleh Tang, and Richard Lai at the Hong Kong Spartans Spartans’ Spotlight Series on November 15th 2023. - Aug 16I hung up on my Mom while FaceTiming herRead →I just hung up on my mom because the button in the right is green. A red button with a phone icon as used in the Phone app instead of an “X” would have been ...
- Apr 10Bintan Island Weekend Getaway: Nirwana Resort Review, Activities, and Dining OptionsRead →A weekend from Singapore to Bintan: Nirwana Resort, where we ate, and whether I'd go back.
- Mar 19Running Python Scripts in BBEdit with zsh and picking up environment variablesRead →Put exported API keys in .zshenv so Python scripts launched from BBEdit can read them in a non-interactive zsh shell.
- Mar 12Telling my friends what to do in Japan’s Kansai AreaRead →Some of my favorate places to go in Japan Kansai area including Kyoto, Osaka, Arishiyama and Nara.
- Mar 12Read →
What does Optimize video streaming while on battery do?On a Mac, this battery setting plays HDR video in SDR to extend battery life. Learn what changes, without assuming a measured battery-life gain. - Mar 5Sending Flowers in SingaporeRead →Found wholesale flower delivery in Singapore, same day and no delviery fee.
- Feb 15Seagull in motionRead →A photograph of a seagull in motion over the water in Malibu, California.
- Feb 15Read →
- Feb 10Automating a New Macintosh SetupRead →Use command line tools to automate setup a new Apple Macintosh with the terminal.
2022
- Oct 20Battle to take Hong Kong in World War IIRead →Interactive timeline showing the battle of Hong Kong in 1941. Traces in detail how the Japanese troops took Hong Kong from Hong Kong Baptiste University Hist...
- May 1R.E.M. Concert Setlist from 1995Read →Really grateful to the woman in my Michigan State University dorm that gave me her ticket to see an R.E.M concert and cool that I can find a record of the 19...
- Feb 8Making a Bootable macOS Monterey External BackupRead →Research notes on making a bootable macOS Monterey backup, including an unresolved AppleRAID installer limitation and APFS formatting questions.
- Feb 3Buying a Wireless Charging Station in Hong Kong for AirPods Pro, iPhone, Apple WatchRead →Results of trying to find a wireless charging pad for iPhone, Airpods Pro & Apple Watch in Hong Kong.
2021
- Mar 27Kevin Kelly Testing the 1000 True Fans HypothesisRead →I like that the author of the 1000 True Fans article is testing his hypothesis with a his Kickstarter for funding his Vanishing Asia photography book set. I ...
- Mar 23Monitoring for open COVID-19 Vaccine slots in Hong KongRead →How I configured Nathan Hammond's GitHub script on a Mac to monitor open COVID-19 vaccine appointments at selected Hong Kong centers.
- Mar 20Converting your Substack newsletter subscriptions to RSS feedsRead →Move individual Substack newsletters out of your inbox by adding each publication's /feed URL to NetNewsWire or another RSS reader.
- Mar 19Catchup with Crypto through these Fintech PodcastsRead →Notes on Modern Finance, Fintech Insider, and The Defiant for following cryptocurrency, DeFi, banking, payments, and European fintech.
- Mar 10Read →
- Mar 2Explanation on how to use Touch ID on the command lineRead →Configure sudo to authenticate with Touch ID on a Mac, with the practical tradeoff that command-line prompts still require touching the sensor.
- Feb 26Search screenshot text with spotlightRead →A Keyboard Maestro macro runs OCR on Mac screenshots in English and Chinese, then saves the recognized text in Finder comments for Spotlight.
- Feb 20Steve Jobs articulating the NeXT strategy and pain pointsRead →Steve Jobs is great at analyzing the market, explaining the pain points of the customer and key competitive strengths of NeXT.
- Feb 17Importing Word files to UlyssesRead →Was trying to figure out how to import a Word file into Ulysses and found an article that you can just drag and drop the file into the library.
- Feb 12Some Command line hacks to speed up TimeMachine backupsRead →Speed up slow TimeMachine backups on macOS Big Sur using sysctl and renice command line tricks.
- Feb 10Updating Series 3 Apple Watch to WatchOS 7 runs out of spaceRead →Every time there is a new update to WatchOS 7 my series 3 watch does not have enough space to update. Dr. Drang has written a rant and some tips on how to ge...
2020
- Dec 13Syncing Google Drive on M1 MacsRead →A 2020 look at using Transmit to sync Google Drive on an M1 Mac, including DriveFS storage, missing files, and unresolved upload concerns.
- Dec 7Read →
50HKD Lunch #1 until December 31stCasa Pasta by Ermanno Lelli offered every pasta dish for HK$50 during its December 2020 soft opening in Sheung Wan.
