What are your most contrary MPU opinions?

107

Stephenson has a problem that I observed previously with David Brin’s “The Practice Effect:” Hard science fiction writer decides he needs a high fantasy setting for a story, and fails to interestingly portray a medieval society.

I can only think of one author who could move skillfully between medieval high fantasy and hard science fiction: Poul Anderson.

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108

Just my opinions, and respect that others will disagree :slight_smile:

  • I have iMessage turned off.
    • I don’t choose my friends/colleagues based on their ecosystem, so iMessage only further increases the fragmentation problem. I already have other messaging apps through cross-platform necessity.
    • The uncontrollable integration with SMS is problematic when I have limited access to data (rare, but sometimes when I’m on international travel). The only time I actually need SMS, and it doesn’t work reliably.
  • I don’t mind losing ports on laptops. I like the simplicity, and a USB C dongle works well for my legacy stuff.
  • I’ve always hated the proprietary lightning connector. It benefits Apple shareholders, not me.
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109

Can’t forgive you that, since it’s painfully obvious that Star Trek is best and Star Wars is most silly and only for children and David Sparks.

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110

Here in Norway (wich is part of Europe), everyone uses iMessage and Whats App is almost unheard of…

111

You are most insane, Tolkien is clearly the best (and the only excellent, really) Fantasy writer out there.

112

Well, well, well…

I have a movie tip for you! ST plays a supporting role. :wink: I give this movie a 9/10 rating. But those Trekkies keep voting it down. :wink: :laughing:

Disclaimer: I am a Star Wars fan who watches Star Trek, too. :slight_smile:

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113

I love both ST and SW and both franchises were almost destroyed by recent reboots. That’s the real tragedy …

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114

I actually like the 2016 Macbook Pro keyboard. I’ve never had one problem with it. Neither has my wife with her 13".

I agree Textexpander isn’t worth the money. I use the built in text replacement.

Fantastical is great on the Mac and lacks on iOS (Travel Time)

I love the HomePod, Siri, & HomeKit. It works for me 99.9% of the time. I couldn’t get Alexa work with my August Door Lock to save my life. Never tried Google because you can’t trust them.

117

and… USB-C is way better than any other previous iteration of the standard… :slight_smile:

If they could only sort out the naming… :stuck_out_tongue:

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118

Naming is hard. I never got what’s so magic about the Magic Keyboard. It’s a fine keyboard, but magic? Nah…

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119

Well, when it was released I did not get it, either. But then Apple started releasing their Macbooks with keyboards that stopped working eventually. And today I know that “Magic” is the new: “It just works.” So, “magic” is the opposite of “malfunctioning”. So, they designed the new MB Pro 16 keyboard with the Magic Keyboard in mind that should work in the long run. Isn’t that magical? :wink:

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120

Interesting. :thinking:How high is the market penetration of Apple devices compared to Windows and Android for both PCs and phones over there?

PS: I forgot to mention that Carrot apps are overrated. :sweat_smile:

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121

Always felt like Apple VP’s and Tim Cook should be required to do jazz hands whenever they say “magic.”

I don’t have a problem with the keyboard on the 2018 MacBook Pro. But I baby it to prevent bugs from coming up, and mostly I use an external keyboard.

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122

I have a hard time actually listening to the podcasts; often times they feel like semi ads (come on smile software sucks, we all know it!) or the topics are drawn out way too long or are repetitive (how many times do se have to here about drafts, omnifocus, etc)

So i stopped listening to the podcasts and just come here, less time and more informative.

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123

You definitely can do this using Folder Actions, which is very easy to use.

125

there are european countries where whatsapp is so “dominant” that even iPhone users default to that. Italy is one, for instance.

most of my (non apple geek) iPhone user friends use only whatsapp because it’s simpler to have just one platform

edit: typos

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126

It’s a killer iOS feature. It’s always funny to see Android users say Apple ‘needs’ to offer it for free on Android. The blue-bubble network effect helps explain why in the USA half of teens use some iPhone model, and why 86% of them want their next smartphone to be from Apple.

OTOH, WhatsApp is probably the de facto messaging app in the world right now, and in some countries, like Brazil, the majority of messages pass through it.

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127

Oh that’s another good one! I have a 2015 12" MacBook and a 2019 MacBook Air and I really like the keyboards on both of them, much more than previous Apple notebook keyboards (and zero problems with either).

(BUT I also have a 2017 MacBook Pro and that generation of the butterfly keyboard feels worse and has a “special” key)

128

I talk to my family in Wales all the time on iMessage from her in Philadelphia. I never knew there were any issues.

130

Nice thread!

  • I use Emacs all the time :slight_smile:
  • Use Emacs directory explorer (Dired) instead of Finder.
  • Hammerspoon is way more capable than KM or BTT (or them combined).
    • use it as window manager, for opening apps, controlling speakers, jabra, spotify, etc.
  • Never got into Automator, too gui driven for me. I write an Applescript if I really need to.
  • Atext (for $5) does everything you need in a text expansion facility, so no TE.
  • 1Password is over-rated. KeepassXC is cross-OS, free, open-source, and works well.
  • And, last but not the least, I still use and like Quicksilver :slight_smile:
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