Derek

Threads to be a hostile network. The cancellation hidden under “now now” does nothing.

Love the need for a real debate on real issues and knowing that the right are losing their shit over common sense approach to solve the dire mess of their creation. "The prime minister says he would welcome an “honest discussion” abo... https://www.derekpeden.com/2026/10/25/love-the-need-for-a.html

Helensburgh, Scotland

Mark the date in your calendar. Today will be down in history. Today is literally the first time that anyone has said the words, Donald Trump super intelligence in the one sentence.

Getting a laugh that my Apple TV is showing HSSskip.button.label rather than Skip Intro

Found myself re-interested in RSS via Feedly, just as Feedly goes down.

The Whisper Man

From The Guardian: "a man dressed as Batman chased a suspected thief and recovered a woman’s stolen handbag" You couldn’t make this up.

The new Siri AI is only really going to be useful when it’s everywhere on every device, regardless of its capability. Given how much could be processed on Apple servers, I fail to understand why older devices are not already compatible and leading to greater universal adoption.

Two maybe better than One: https://www.derekpeden.com/2026/09/24/two-maybe-better-than-one.html

Like many before me, my cursor has been hovering over the upgrade icon on macOS. My MacBook Pro has been on macOS 15.7 and never updated to macOS 26. I’m now trying to understand whether I jump in with both feet on macOS 27 or whether I trial a test installation first before I make the leap.

Boarding of flight is announced and I have no words for the lunatics running up to queue for a seat that is already assigned. It’s not like there is any preferential treatment for being first take your seat. Round those people up and you increase the remaining IQ

Roma: https://www.derekpeden.com/2026/09/16/roma.html

Well maybe not jumping to Raycast just yet, with the App requiring macOS 26 despite it’s endless bugs, issues and challenges. A launcher update will have to go on my to-do list once I migrate to macOS 27.

I know I’m late to the party but potentially conceding defeat and downloading Raycast. My muscle memory is with Launchbar which still works back lacks any signs of life.

BBC News "Netherlands moves billions in gold to London in ‘crisis preparedness’ move" What’s Dutch for “FU Mr President”.

Evening of 1st September so naturally the heating has been turned on… for little while anyway

Trying (again) to be more deliberate with use of my time. I manage to do this in the office but less so “when the clock stops”. We’ll see if this even close to sustainable.

I find discussion of AirPods with “cameras” redundant and forgetting basic physics. Cameras work in the visible range and I don’t expect any sensors to do so.

If I owed part of a £34.5M legal bill I might not be keen to move house and emigrate. Just a thought.

Researching some upcoming travel and still in 2026 finding restaurants where there “website” directs to Facebook. In 2026. That’s not merely laziness that’s incompetence.

I have seen price drop for the AirPods Pro 3 and considered the upgrade, but I’m both tempted to wait till September and hold off current set won’t hold a charge.

After an extended absence I’m really going to try and make a conscious effort to be reconnected with the world. The last few weeks have been a heavy mix of work and personal projects, leaving little time for anything else.

World Cup trophy needs a refresh.

Replaced my 2nd display with a Dell 4K which immediately fell off the stand and took multiple attempts to refit. I’m now not entirely convinced it won’t fall off again at any moment. Not at the out-of-box experience I was expecting. I need decide if it’s worth keeping or returning.

No better headline than Scotland fans are donating nearly $30,000 to organizations in Providence. Exemplary behaviour from the “Tartan Army”.

White House Plumbers

In parallel universe the 250th anniversary of the USA is marked internationally by global peace, and in Washington DC in solemn and reflective ceremony. But in our reality…

A hydration break for footballers? I hear the next olympics isn't going to have a 100m sprint but 50m then they get some slippers and massage before running the rest….

Well done to Craig Ferguson for reaching Boston today "The young Glaswegian set out from Los Angeles on Feb. 24, driven by a cause that is deeply personal: raising awareness for men’s mental health and suicide prevention. The... https://www.derekpeden.com/2026/06/12/well-done-to-craig-ferguson.html

I was in my local Apple store today and for a brief moment considered asking for a trial with the white elephant product of Vision Pro. I applaud the R&D and the capability of the result but this is still not a viable product at the price point pitched at consumers.

The food hangover continues. We have eaten too much good food over the last 3 days and I feel completely useless today.

BBC News reports Oscar-winning Star Wars editor Marcia Lucas dies aged 80. Her contribution was immeasurable. Without that edit the final film would have lost its impact.

I feel hungover from lunch. No alcohol but it was a nice meal and the best tiramisu I have ever had.

Is there a use case for touch screen laptops other than scrolling? Cause that seems a high price to pay for higher cost / lower quality displays and fingerprints

Watched a bluetit fly in and out of nesting box for the last 12 hours. That’s some amount of work to feed the chicks on the nest.

Reading about Poppy on 9to5Mac, "link up all of the things you’d like it to understand about you, such as your email, calendar, location, reminders, health data, and more." That is an insane list of private information to just hand over to a 3rd party.

Finally reached the point where it’s warm enough to have the windows open the conservatory. It’s comfortable at the moment, but it’ll be like a furnace this afternoon.

May Need OS26: https://www.derekpeden.com/2026/05/16/may-need-os.html

How many declined calls does it take for Sky to take the hint? We're in contract and not in need of any upsell, cause somehow I doubt they are calling to save me money…

After an increasingly infrequent period of journalling, I’ve managed to capture entries in Day One for the last 97 days. Let’s just see if I can keep it going to 100 days or more.

Another day. Another random overnight reboot. WTF is wrong with Windows11

More on Sir David Attenborough’s 100th Birthday, this time with Blue Planet II with spectacular footage.

My tech podcast queue continues to have LLM topics. However I’ve checked my usage in chatGPT iOS app and found I’ve used it 4 times in 2026. My guess is the biggest barrier to my use is a healthy scepticism over LLM capabilities and lack of imagination over what it’s capable of.

9to5mac reporting iOS 26.5 will add new features to three popular iPhone apps. But is that enough to make it worth the “upgrade”?

Scotland… you have your moments

Aussie reply to Trump rant about “NATO not being there for US”: "Mate. You run a country with 600,000 homeless people sleeping on the street tonight. A country where 40% of adults can’t cover a $400 emergency without borrowing... https://www.derekpeden.com/2026/04/16/aussie-reply-to-trump-rant.html

Back from a 0.5mile walk to buy swim shorts for a ridiculous £25. Even more ridiculous is I walked cause I’m too cheap to pay the £0.50 for 30mins parking.

According to the BBC "US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says a “small bit of economic pain” was worthwhile to eliminate the threat of Iranian nuclear strikes on Western capitals." Oh well that’s all right then. Except of course there is zero evidence for any imminent capability.

Remember the days when politicians didn't interfere with foreign elections? What is Vance up to other than polishing his ego.