Headworx

Push notifications are now everywhere and apart from being super annoying, they have really become useless. By default every app (and most web pages too!) try enabling all forms of notifications by default and it takes a lot of fluency in handling phones and computers to set them up properly. Which mostly means "disable". I think the time has come to really reverse the defaults. They should be "do not notify me about anything". And then users would be able to select the small set of really important things they want to be actively poked about. The problem has gotten even worse as most apps / services are multi-modal - they live on PCs, phones, watches, even in earbuds. And a single event gets multiplied by being pushed to all the devices. Then some services, apart from sending a notification send an email. Which sends a notification f its own. Shopping and payment apps are the worst. "we have received your order" - "we have started processing your pay...

The wireless CarPlay was working great. Until it stopped. Did not stop completely, but started losing the connection, freezing, or not connecting at all. Interestingly, I installed the Ottocast wireless adapter exactly to solve similar problems with the wired USB connection. The hypothesis (never firmly verified) was that there was too high temperature-related clock oscillator drift in my Pioneer head unit : a cold iPhone would not connect to a sunbaked in-dash radio. So the Ottocast solved the problem (perhaps by being equally "baked" with Summer sun rays and thus drifting the oscillator in the same direction, or simply by being less strict on USB timing, compared to the iPhone). That was Summer 2024. Come Autumn and Winter, and the stable configuration started behaving less stable. Freezing screen, erratic updates, not connecting at all, or disconnecting and reconnecting in a loop). Of course the iPhone was the last suspect on the list. I was checking connectors, software ...

It is still winter(ish) here and there but some of the Spring days are really really nice in April. Perfect time to try some new activities.  Actually I learned the packrafting idea during the 2024 New Zealand trip. A packraft is like a pontoon, but smaller, better shaped, and can be quite light. You put it in a backpack, go for a mountain hike and then raft down a river. Can be quite extreme, but it is all a choice. Packrafts are perfect for slow rivers, lakes and fiords too. The one I bought (seen on the photo) is a tad above 2 kilograms. On top of that you need a paddle (a carbon one while expensive, is super light). It folds down to a size of a bear canister so can be strapped to any backpack. You can save on weight by not carrying a sleeping mat - turn the raft upside down and lie on it. Also a simple tarp is sufficient instead of a tent. A pyramid-shaped tarp can be set up on the paddle. There are a bit bigger rafts which allow carrying a bike. And then you call the think bik...

Tesla discussions have always brought very polarized opinion. Either trash and going bankrupt or the absolute leader in AI about to deliver autonomous driving (Full Self Driving - FSD) through a simple software update. My point today is really not about Tesla but about the value of FSD in general. I wrote about this many times, with the Tyranny of Convenience being the most popular post. Today the theme is similar. It is about the concept of "enough" which is one of the key enemies of capitalism. Prospering capitalist economies (the USA being the prime example here) absolutely depend on creating and expanding consumers' desires. People must want more for the wheels to spin. And the vision of consumers even remotely calling "we have enough" is the most feared. "Enough" must be eliminated. In many ways I am a person who has enough of many things. Sometimes I even feel that my level of "enough" is definitely too high. I try not to chase new car...

I am a bit paranoid about backups. That includes planning for a backup gear when going on a multi-day remote hikes. On one hand it is really prudent to take as little gear as possible to travel light and thus reduce the risk of orthopedic injuries. Unfortunately there is no way to take backup ankles and knees... Smartphones - even if out of network range - are great in combining multiple functions in one device - a camera, a map, a satellite locator, a notepad, a book reader, a chess board, a music player etc. But no matter how good they are protected, there is still the elevated risk of damaging the phone on a trek. A simple screen crack may render the touch function inoperable and the whole device suddenly becomes useless. There is one other aspect to phones - they run out of batteries and are not ideal to use in full daylight. Displays get better, but for true daylight use like reading books, we still use Kindles. But then Kindles are limited in function - no maps, no GPS, cannot be...

iPhone photography is great and it is clearly now my main camera. As the old saying goes - the best camera is the one you have with you. And it also makes very good photos. Purists will argue that a large aperture prime lens cannot be matched (and I agree) but a large aperture prime typically weighs 1 kilogram or more (and requires an equally heavy camera). So it is impossible to have a lens like that at hand all the time. One thing the iPhone (and most smartphones in general) lack is a long telephoto. Yes they have an equivalent of 70mm or even 120mm but there are certain "telephoto moments" when there is no substitute for a really long lens. I have been on a quest to find a lightest and most pocketable long lens setup for a long time. And we are talking about focal lengths of 400mm or more. Have tried different setups, such as the Ribcage - modified Sony DSC-RX0 , but nothing has worked well so far. Playing with the DSC-RX0 I realized I really needed a viewfinder to properl...

I was running Windows 10 for, well, close to 10 years. Since it's original release in 2015 almost till the end of 2024 when I had the motherboard in the 2018 MacBook replaced. It was the original install which then survived two Lenovo laptops and was then cloned to the MacBook. Unlike the older Windows releases (the unfamous Vista and earlier), Windows 10 has never suffered from the problem of getting slower with use. And it was super stable. The motherboard replacement triggered me however to perform a clean install of Windows 11 , prompted mostly by the Windows 10 line nearing its end of life, meaning mostly the end of support and security patches. There was the initial disappointment of not being able to move the taskbar to a vertical position (most monitors today are wide, so it really really makes sense to have the taskbar on the side), but other hat that Windows 11 runs just fine. Overall cleaner here and there but generally the experience has been as great as can be. There a...

I have finally decided to pull the trigger and get myself a pair of Apple Airpods (Pro 2). The key motivation has been to get a set that is comfortable for daily runs while providing decent sound isolation. It the past I praised the virtues of the non-isolating headphones. I still use the Bose Frames on my trail runs at home. But these runs are in nature's sanctuary: it is just me and the woods and some wildlife. I also absolutely love the bone-conducting Shokz with a boom mike for teleconferencing. They sound fabulous (on both ends of a teleconference). And I also have Bose Earbuds which I use when flying - still nothing comes close to Bose when noise canceling is concerned. But they don't feel quite right when running. One reason that had prevented me from buying the Airpods in the past was the white color. They just look like you have cigarettes sticked in your ears. And per the Apple / Ford rule you can have them in any color as long as it is white. But there is a soluti...

I blogged in the past about my love-hate relationships with Bluetooth products and Logitech was brought as the example of a company that maintained technical excellence while losing on the support / delivery side . I was still bringing the excellent product aspects of the KEYS-TO-GO 2. That opinion was based on my initial product experience. After several months of using the keyboard on a daily basis, I must unfortunately admit the product is not so great after all. As a matter of fact it can be quite annoying (but there are workarounds). The key problem (pun intended!) with KEYS-TO-GO 2 is it is powered by coin-cell batteries. And the batteries die quickly and without any warning. The power consumption is not as bad as the other Kickstarter keyboard I had in the past . But still since purchasing the keyboard 9 months ago, I had to replace the batteries 3 times. That means batteries last for 3 months on average. That is a far cry from the advertised 3-year lifespan . Although, to be fa...

There is no doubt the leading social media platforms influence and shape peoples' opinions globally. Elon Musk was criticized for overpaying for Twitter yet this gamble clearly played out as he is now able singlehandedly command millions across the world, making him probably the most influential person on Earth. But Twitter is of course not the only game in town. There are the well established Facebook and LinkedIn, and for those hoping for more neutrality there is BlueSky and Substack. I'm a member of both platforms, but mostly passive. I have been circling around Substack trying to understand what it is and if I should become more active there. It seems many notable people I respect have found their home there. But the key question is how the social media landscape looks like in 5, 10, or 20 years from now. This blog has been around for 20 years and despite not being promoted, difficult to find, and not very interesting, has had a steady stream of followers. People who are mo...

5G (cellular data) generally beats WiFi. That is my conclusion after the recent travels in Asia and North America. Public WiFi has aged. In most places it has probably stayed at the 802.11g (50Mbps) while 5G is typically 5-10x faster. On top of that the WiFi backhaul in many places is slow too. And very often has many restrictions. Of course 5G costs (some) money and WiFi is theoretically free. But then you probably remember that meme where "no internet" and "fast internet" are smiley while "slow internet" is the angry face. Which is very true. Speaking of WiFi restrictions - some are well known and kind of obvious (like Google services being blocked in China), so for a westerner entirely reliant on GMail, Google Maps, etc., a roaming eSIM data plan is probably a must. Also WiFi is probably the only technology thing in China which is universally bad. Budget hotels, premium hotels, factories, offices - all are slow (and restricted). 5G on the other hand is ...

I generally stay away from loyalty programs. It simply feels like having more freedom of choice when you are not by default confined to just one brand. But there is one exception - the frequent flyer program run by United Airlines, who are a member of the Star Alliance. The reason is I do fly a lot, and most of the connections from/to my home town are served by Star Alliance airlines: LOT, Turkish, Austrian and Lufthansa. That is - of course - when you do not count the European low cost behemoths: Ryanair and Wizz. Intra-Europe destinations are typically best served by the two. Yes I know people complain a lot, but this is a typical whining to get more clicks. Because - to be honest - the low cost airlines deliver just awesome value for money when you fly point-to-point. There are no transfers and the flights are typically very short so the tight legroom does not matter. Things are different when there are no direct flights, which typically is the case for any intercontinental trip. Th...

My recent China trip , which was super fruitful from the company's business perspective, also inspired me to make some more general observations. One area, in particular, is the development of the Chinese automotive industry. Which has clearly been accelerating to claim the global pole position, dethroning Germany, Japan and America. The Chinese cars, in short, are just amazing. From both the design, technology, and - of course - price level perspective. The cars become increasingly popular in Europe, where some re-branding is in place. For example when you rent a car in Spain, chances are it will be a DR, which simply is an Italian sticker on the Chinese Chery . But actually in China the dominating brands are completely alien to a Western visitor. But then there are also the well known Western and Japanese brands present (albeit the vehicles are not that prominent, not really standing out). On the other hand, Chinese love premium brands. Louis Vuitton (Europe's 2nd largest co...

Delivering power over wired data lines has been one of the most obvious extension to many legacy protocols. It is hard to comprehend why many of these protocols did not have the power option from the beginning, requiring the connected devices to be fed power over a separate line (and a separate cable). Less cables is always good. My own journey with cutting power cables started about 40 years ago when I designed my first commercial product - a software protection dongle. The dongle was using the PC printer port for communication. Unfortunately the printer port never had power lines in it, but I managed to harvest sufficient energy from the data lines.  Next in line was USB , and the inclusion of power was a very significant (if not the most significant) contributor to the success of the standard. Now with the Power Delivery (USB-PD)  capable of carrying up to 240W of power, the PD is the king of power-over-data standards. HDMI is the one that really failed to do this properly....

I have just returned from a trip to China. It's been a blast. And quite an experience too. I was to China several times before, but the trips were always fully organized by business partners and we always had a Chinese host with us. This time it was slightly different, as me and my friend, we did some parts of travel on our own. Nothing really unusual, but without any knowledge of Chinese, things can sometimes be difficult. Such as discussing something with a taxi driver. Or buying medicines at a pharmacy.  One very useful tip I took from some travelers' forum was to note down the Chinese addresses of hotels, to be able to show them to taxi drivers. This was really helpful and worked. But some other times we felt really hopeless when a person was trying to tell us something and the language barrier was just impossible to cross. And then we used language translation apps.  In my case it was Google Translate, with the relevant dictionaries loaded for offline use. Google is gener...

Some people are dinosaurs. Or at least behave like them. It is 2025 and promoting a wired lighting control system feels like you are from a deep past. Makes me wonder how you can still be alive at all? Bluetooth mesh has been around since 2017 - 8 years and counting. Millions of devices shipped, tens of thousands of commercial buildings deployed, happy customers and users, zero issues. And you still pitch cables? Arguing one cable system is better than another cable system because it uses less miles of cables drilled in the walls and laid in the plenum? That is definitely the feeling I had listening to otherwise great Lighting Controls podcast  episode 83 on DALI . And don't get me wrong - I LOVE DALI (it stands for Digital Addressable Lighting Interface). Actually I have been very actively participating in development of DALI, particularly working on the DALI-341 specification which links DALI and Bluetooth NLC based on the industry - approved architecture . For the uninitiated: D...

I've been "using" Apple Intelligence for a couple of weeks now, thanks to the iOS update on the iPhone 15 Pro. Actually "using" is an exaggeration. It simply started showing up AI-abbreviated notifications. Notifications that turned out to be completely useless. Phone notifications have clearly got out of control. Every app wants to send them. They beep and flash and bubble on everything, including phones, desktops and watches. And are super tedious to manage. I remember Android handling them a bit better than iOS, but still far from perfect. It seems to be a good idea to task an AI LLM model to "do something" about the notifications. Figure out the context, figure out the incoming stream of notifications and aggregate / postpone / mute - whatever is needed to make them usable. But clearly the bar is too high for the current state of the art AI systems. This simple cases demonstrates how far from reality the AI hype is. Afterall handling notifications...

Measured by the raw number of steps, my 2024 was definitely below expectations. The February decline was due to the New Zealand trip where the terrain (mostly West Coast) was making it difficult to cover more than 10 kilometers per day (as typically parts of that were hanging with hands on tree branches or crawling below fallen tree logs or crossing rivers). Not complaining, just explaining :) Then out of nowhere I had a knee injury that kept me sitting on a sofa for a couple of weeks. Things started looking good in Autumn, but then I foolishly twisted my left ankle and as it almost healed, I repeated something similar to the right foot. I'm almost ready to restart now, but the result (raw steps) is 1000km less than in 2023. When healthy you rarely think how lucky you are. Only when things go wrong the other perspective opens and you suddenly start appreciating being able to just walk :) Also shows how almost impossible it is to maintain an uninterrupted streak. Still, since start...