The Ephemeral Scrapbook — Edition 2025-52

👤 Personal {#recognition}

1️⃣ If you’ve been following me for a while, you probably know that I'm a big fan and power user of Craft. They recently ran a challenge in their Slack community to have people build different workflows that leverage Craft APIs or MCP functionality. I’ve submitted my workflow called “The Year in Review Writing Assistant“ and won a 500 $US prize! That wasn't expected, really. Yet, I'm glad that the Craft team recognized my work.

🗺️ Discoveries {#internet #yearinreview #retro #tech}

1️⃣ Here's a massive recap from Cloudflare Radar for 2025. There are so many stats and graphs in this visual summary. From emails, device usages, protocols, security, and so much more, many different things are covered in this review. 2️⃣ If you are a fan of retro-computing and the heyday of the personal computer era, don't miss Stone Tools website. VisiCalc, HyperCard, Superbase, or Aldus PageMaker, do you remember these? I do remember mostly Hypercard and PageMaker because I was a big fan of them. This website is focused on work-related computer software. It's so fun to go back in time when reading intricate details about a computer program and its surrounding context at launch and in use.

"Standards that enable direct publisher–reader relationships are inconvenient for companies whose business depends on sitting in the middle." — Ben Werdmuller

👨🏻‍💻 Writing {#rss}

1️⃣ If you are a writer, a blogger or any content creator on the web, please, do yourself and your audience a favor, enable RSS feeds on your little corner of the internet. 2️⃣ Speaking of RSS feeds, it seems there isn't enough RSS feed feaders already and the founder of Ghost, a well-known publishing platform on which this newsletter is running, is building a new one named Alcove. I don’t want to set my expectations too high, even if I like what this guy is doing in general. How many new RSS readers came to the light while pretending to be the new way of consuming content? Reeder Next is one of them. It's nicely designed, but it's very limited, and my gut feeling is that it's not doing really well. 3️⃣ There is a little controversy about the Alcove announcement. People, including me, were surprised to see its author, a proponent of open source and open web, use the infamous X network to post a teaser. When it comes to discoverability, principles seem easy to forget, I guess. 4️⃣ Why am I talking about RSS in this writing section? Because RSS is the conduit for sharing your writings with the world without any engagement tricks.

"Most people have never lived outside the mind’s theater. They experience life almost entirely as commentary…as stories about what’s happening, what might happen, what should be happening, and who’s to blame that it isn’t. Inside that theater, constant agitation feels like virtue. Outrage feels like responsibility. Anxiety feels like engagement. And calm is interpreted as indifference. "— Damien Echols, Fighting Shadows

🌄 Photography {#ipad #art}

1️⃣ If you got a new iPad for Christmas to replace an older one, you might want to consider transforming the old one into a photo frame using this app. You will need to use Apple's iCloud Photo Library, though. It's a good way to extend the life of your electronics. 2️⃣ Showing dedication to Mount Fuji in photography—really spectacular images of this legendary mountain. 3️⃣ A concise reflection on building a daily photography habit by abandoning self-imposed labels, noticing beauty everywhere, and treating every photograph as practice rather than a special occasion. I should take note. 🤦🏻‍♂️ 4️⃣ I'm a fan of old illustrations, especially in the early 1830s. 🤩

🍎 Apple & Tech {#digitalservices #ads}

1️⃣ This story is about having an Apple Account (previously known as an Apple ID) locked down because of a failed attempt to redeem an Apple Gift Card. This can be devastating because a locked-down account means no more access to Apple services, Apple devices and Apple purchases or subscriptions. Thankfully, the story ends well, thanks to intense media buzz. Apple doesn't like bad press. The last time I tried redeeming an Apple Gift Card, it went well (I had five of them). But now, I'll think again. If my Apple Account ever gets locked down, I don't have the required influence to get the attention from the Apple executive team. Read some people’s reactions as documented by Michael Tsai. Scary. 2️⃣ Speaking of Apple executives, why this turnover of executives and high-ranking personnel when the iPhone seems invincible and keeps breaking sales records? 3️⃣ More ads are coming to the Apple App Store. Yep. More ads when you search for something. With all the junk already filling this digital space, making it hard to find something, it looks less and less Apple-like, more like today's Google. 4️⃣ While more ads are coming to Apple's platforms, Maps loses Flyovers! It was cool when it was introduced in iOS 8 but keeping them updated might cost Apple a price they no longer want to pay.

“There’s a lot of hate for Alan Dye right now, but keep in mind that the dude did not magically promote himself to a leadership position, at either Apple or Meta. That was the choice of the people above him.” — lapcatsoftware@mastodon.social

📱 Apps & Services {#techhistory #rss}

1️⃣ Can you imagine that Adobe made the Photoshop 1.0 source code available to the Computer History Museum! I remember testing Photoshop back in the day on the Mac (I can't remember exactly which one it was, though). I remember thinking at the time that the app wasn't obvious to use. Of course, we all had MacPaint as a reference, but Photoshop was quite up there. It never really clicked with me. 2️⃣ I'm sorry, but the current Mac desktop under Tahoe is already too hard to comprehend for putting holiday lights everywhere. Nice try, Festivitas, I’ll pass. I admire this developer's creativity and guts, though. 3️⃣ I know, I already mentioned RSS reader apps, but here’s another one: Today—an RSS feed for the modern age. It apparently uses some on-device AI (from the developer himself: “if you’re curious about the technical details, I built Today using SwiftUI and SwiftData, with Apple’s NaturalLanguage framework powering the local AI features. The whole project is a love letter to both RSS and native iOS development.” I installed it and played with it a bit, but it's not a game-changer—oh, and that app icon, soooo 1999. I'll pass. 🙈 4️⃣ I agree with most of Manuel Moreale’s thoughts on MCP servers. There is a big chance for new gatekeepers, new middlemen. Here's a quick definition of MCP servers and their purpose: MCP (Model Context Protocol) servers are standardized interfaces that enable AI assistants like Claude to securely connect to external tools, data sources, and services. Instead of requiring custom integrations for each application, MCP provides a common protocol that acts as a bridge, enabling AI to access databases, interact with APIs, retrieve information from your existing systems, and perform actions such as creating tasks or updating records.

🚧 Special projects {#learningexperience #n8n #automation}

1️⃣ I'm officially an n8n user! I've been learning this automation platform recently, and boy, I'm excited about it. So far, I have two working workflows, but I have tested quite a few other integration tidbits with services like RSS, Inoreader, Discord, Telegram, Claude AI, etc. I find the learning curve to be quite steep, but I'll make it. I have a ton of workflows that I'm thinking of putting together. I expect 2026 to be the year of automation projects. If you don't know what n8n means: it's like visual programming or low-code-no-code programming.

📺 YouTube {#apple #uidesign #tech #techhistory}

1️⃣ People are getting older and Apple’s executives are no exception. This video reassured me about what is going on at Apple recently. 2️⃣ Are we stuck with the same desktop interface that we have been facing since the early days of the Mac? In this video, this experienced designer thinks we are in a status quo era. 3️⃣ Segway will soon sell an eBike. From this teaser video, I'm not impressed. Looks like a normal bike to me. More on January 5th. 4️⃣ Did you know that Expo 67 is still the most attended universal exposition of all time? Yep! This documentary recounts many things that I wasn't aware of. What a marvellous era. I'm not sure if we could do this type of project today. Could we? 5️⃣ Get a peek at the iPhone Ultra, the first foldable smartphone from Apple. It's not the real thing, only a mockup.

“Expo 67 was a World’s Fair held in Montreal in 1967 to celebrate Canada’s centennial, themed “Man and His World.” It showcased global innovation, architecture, culture, and technology through bold national pavilions and futuristic ideas, emphasizing human progress, cooperation, and optimism about the future. Widely regarded as one of the most successful world expos ever, Expo 67 had a lasting impact on Montreal’s international profile, urban development, and cultural identity.”

🔮 Looking forward {#foodforthoughts}

1️⃣ This is the last edition of the ephemeral scrapbook newsletter for 2025. What a ride! I'm eagerly looking forward to next year, but with moderation. A dear friend of mine once told me, “The man who always looks ahead with enthusiasm has passed away.” Or something like it. You get the idea. I will gently savor the last few days of the year, I promise. 2️⃣ Is Microsoft too forward-looking? Maybe. See below for yourself.

🌟 Miscellaneous {#ai }

1️⃣ About this edition's header image: the result of a prompt to ChatGPT to create an image of a retro-style seventies look of a 2025 calendar. If you pay attention, you'll see many issues with the results. To me, this funny image perfectly summarizes the state of AI in 2025. 😂 2️⃣ Since macOS Tahoe, I’ve been experiencing screen flickering on my Apple Studio Display and my MacBook Air. When I first encountered it on the Studio Display, I thought it was a hardware issue. But when it started to occur on my MacBook Air, it couldn't be a hardware fault. I began to think about possible Liquid Glass rendering issues. A reboot will fix the problem for a while, but it will come back. Thankfully, I'm not alone; many people are reporting the same problem, as Michael Tsai noted in this post.

"RSS offers a simple, durable way for publishers to keep control of their distribution and for readers to keep control of their attention." — Ben Werdmuller

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