- Packed week, too many back to back meetings and too little thinking time. Also full of admiration for our comms team as in the last 3 weeks we’ve had the future King and Queen and the current PM visit Glasgow. Milestone events.
- WWDC tomorrow. Usually look forward to it but not so much this year. Apple Intelligence has failed, Apple fighting to protect their App Store control and $$$ and considering it’s a developer conference they’ve got a tough audience. I’m also done with the 2 hour videos and wish they’d go back to a live show. Rumours reveal much of what’s coming now including a redesign across all operating systems. Ahead of the reveal Sebastiaan de With posted a great read on what could be next. Fascinated to see how close he is to reality.
- Sad news yesterday that Bill Atkinson, one of the original pioneers at Apple, had died. I hope Apple acknowledge his work tomorrow. You can see some of his impact in this video of Jobs introducing the Macintosh, round about the 29 minute mark.
- Fed up of all the AI bollocks posts? My AI skeptics Friends are all Nuts is for you.
- Inside the life of a 24/7 streamer. Black mirror in real life. Grim.
- Finished Split Fiction today. Class game full of clever puzzles and never punished you by making you replay levels or getting stuck. Impressed they kept up the originality through to the last level. Great coop game.
Blog
Nintendo Switch 2 – First Impressions
So I picked up a Nintendo Switch 2 on launch day and I’ve been delving into Mario Kart World plus a couple of other games since Thursday. Here’s a few early thoughts.
Hardware
The Switch 2 is much bigger than the original, but feels very familiar, like it swallowed a mushroom. That bigger size feels natural pretty quick and the joy cons are more comfortable for my hands now, although the right thumbstick still feels awkward to reach. The Steamdeck is still the best for comfort. I’ve no doubt there will be some great third party joy cons like this from Mobapad in due course – it’s only day 4. A real positive is the joy cons now magnetically attach – much nicer than the original Switch with its slide mechanism.
The screen itself is clear and vibrant. It’s 1080p so higher resolution than the Steamdeck and thats welcome. However it’s LCD and it’s a real shame, but no surprise, that Nintendo didn’t ship an OLED option. There’s a noticeable difference in vibrancy between the Steamdeck and the Switch 2. We’ll look forward to 2028 and the Switch 2 OLED edition 😬
Sound from the Switch 2 is really good. Much better separation in Mario Kart World – maybe the bigger size? Whatever the reason, I was impressed. The kick stand is also well integrated and I’ve found myself using it more when I’m at the desk with the joy cons detached – much more comfortable. Not so good was the included dock. Not sure how but Nintendo have managed to make this feel cheaper and more plastically than the previous version. Good job.
I also picked up the Pro Controller and the GameCube Controller. The Pro Controller is fantastic. In total contrast to the dock, it feels solid and if you’re used the previous Pro Controller it looks familiar – but the sticks are such a step up. So smooth, I love playing Mario Kart with the controller. There’s now a couple of back buttons that don’t get in the way but are easy to use. About the only ding is the lack of analogue triggers which are standard everywhere else.
As for the GameCube controller, I couldn’t resist. USB C charging, wireless support and also has gyro controls which weren’t pre-announced. Only really works with Switch 2 GameCube games which are limited but nice to have.
Games
Launch games are pretty light but Mario Kart World makes up for that. It’s been so long since we’ve had an actual new Mario Kart game. Big change in this version is open world – the tracks are part of a wider world. I’ve mostly stuck to Grand Prix racing, solo and online. I much prefer the actual tracks vs racing point to point as some of them are a bit dull…probably because I don’t know them well enough. What is obvious is the amount of shortcut potential in this game…and you can see it during multiplayer as those that know the best routes are miles ahead. Also – turn off steer assist which is on by default 😡. I picked up the Switch 2 Mario Kart bundle. It was disappointing to get a small bit of paper with a code to type in to get the game. Gone are the days of manuals but would it have been so hard to include an actual game card?
I also picked up Fast Fusion which is WipeOut without the weapons. Plays really well for the price of £15. I’ve not mentioned game pricing yet. Nintendo have said first party games will now cost £80, and Xbox have followed their lead. I don’t have too big a problem with that as every generation has tended to increase by £10 or so which is less than inflation over the years.
Both of the recent Zelda games, Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom have Switch 2 upgrades for £7.99…or free if you buy Switch Online + Expansion pack. Considering the upgrades in each game that seems fair, and I’m looking forward to playing both games through.
Closing Thoughts
The Switch 2 is evolution, not revolution. Nintendo have played safe and given the sales of the Switch you can’t blame them. Apart from the lack of OLED, this meets expectations of a new console but if you didn’t pick up on launch day you aren’t missing much. Mario Kart World is a great game but the rest of the launch titles are so so. If you have any sort of back catalogue though the Switch 2 is by far the better platform to play through…just do yourself a favour and pick up the Pro Controller as its much better than the joy cons.
Weeknote, Sunday 1st June
- Full on week at work, diverse and challenging. Week ahead has some major events too which is always fun…if they go well…which I’m sure they will. We’re also in June so its mid year check in time.
- I mentioned Zen and CityFibre outage last week. Well, turns out it’s not Zen or CityFibre but my internal network. Bugger. Let myself down not investigating properly and assuming it wasn’t me. I reckon my bonded network connection from the Synology was causing issues on the LAN. Since removing the bond its been rock solid.
- We’re just over a week out from WWDC. An event I always look forward to – it’s the start of Apple’s year and it hints at the hardware and direction of Apple. However…Apple Intelligence failures, dev relationship worries, legal challenges everywhere…I’m more intrigued in how Apple is going to pitch WWDC this year. One sign of change is Grubers The Talk Show Live won’t have any Apple exec’s attending for the first time since 2015. I wonder why?
- Apple also seem to be moving to tying software releases to year, no doubt as this year is seeing a major rebrand. Not overly convinced – iOS 26 on iPhone 17? Doesn’t trip off the tongue.
- The Future is Colurful and Dimensional – great post and hopefully a return to some character and texture that iOS 7 pushed many in the opposite direction.
- The Who Cares Era – AI and LLM’s can be a fantastically useful tool…and also turn off individual thought. Where’s the care when people shit out a post that’s generated in ChatGPT? LinkedIn is full of AI generated slop. How long before work meetings are dominated with colleagues using copilot to make their arguments. Depressing.
- Said goodbye to Netflix this week. Been a subscriber for years but a look at price per play meant head ruled heart and it had to be cancelled. I don’t have the time to watch all the TV from each of the streaming channels. TV is in a real glory phase vs movies.
- The Last of Us season 2 finished this week. Overall enjoyable but not as strong as season 1. At least there’s only 1, maybe 2 more so there’s an end point unlike The Walking Dead.
- As for Doctor Who – what a mess. Needs a reset…maybe even a rest.
- Upcoming – Nintendo Switch 2 and Mario Kart World. And hopefully it really is a new Mario Kart – its been a while!
Weeknote, Sunday 25th May
- Milestone at work as HMS Glasgow was officially named. Lots of work to get to this point and lots of pressure on the comms team to get this event right. Well done all.
- Week one with Zen has been fantastic although tonight – not so good. Outage for last hour with large pings and horrendous speeds. Zen or Cityfibre issue? No idea but not happy.
- Sam and Jony sitting in a tree. Intrigued to see what Jony Ive will build with OpenAI although his last few years at Apple weren’t exactly great. Still a great mind and like others have said, phones can’t last forever as our primary computer interface.
- Meanwhile, over at Microsoft, it’s all agents and AI. To be fair there are lots of others saying the same but some of Nadella’s statements sound like bullshit. Idiotic even.
- Finally on AI, Claude will blackmail you if you threaten it. This is all fine though, yes?
- Stack Overflow has been an amazing resource for the last couple of decades however its usage is dropping…scarily so. Down to surge in AI? Or people tired of the arrogance?
- Farewell Pocket. I loved Pocket for so long but moved off it as I tried other services that offered a little bit more – it had turned into another sinkhole of articles that I had to read. I wonder if Mozilla will sell it on to Kevin Rose?
- I’ve been tempted for a while to pick up a Stream Deck but never quite got there. Elgato have now launched a Virtual Stream Deck so I’ll be giving it a go to see if it helps from a productivity perspective. They are also doing some interesting hardware for third parties – I could see some kickstarters adding in Stream Deck support.
- The Thick of It is one of my favourite series – this interview of Armando Iannucci, Peter Capaldi and others is great. Can relate to the swearing coming naturally for Glaswegians.
Weeknote, Sunday 18th May
- There’s a few things that aren’t really clicking at work. Probably a sign that the team overall are juggling too much and not focussing on the must do’s with the results that some plates are dropping. I need to carve out more think and do time and less back to back meetings.
- The last week has felt like the height of summer. Long warm days and still light late into the evening. In fact most of May has felt like it and April was pretty dry and warm too. Nothing better than an ice cream on a hot afternoon – La Gelatessa on the South Side of Glasgow does amazing small batch ice creams. Saturday was no exception but the queue was huge…and the sun was fierce. So the ice cream was top notch as always but came with a slightly burnt neck. Toasty.
- Finally moved broadband provider, from Virgin to Zen via CityFibre. Plumped for their Full Fibre Max package which promised 2300Mbps up and down. Wasn’t expecting to get that kind of speed but really wanted a much better upload than Virgin have ever offered. After a bit of faffing and some moving of cables the speeds on the Mac Studio are really impressive.
- The install itself did take 2-3 hours as the team had to dig a channel through the garden into the house. CityFibre can’t reuse any existing infrastructure – Thatcher strikes again – but shows the lack of smart thinking around our city and town infrastructure that passes on so much waste throughout the system. Alongside the impressive speeds, ping times have been rock solid and an improvement on Virgin too. We’ll see how reliable the service is over the coming months but I’ve been impressed so far…but it’s only day 3!
- Antinote is a beautiful little note taking App for the Mac. $5, lots of options…love it.
- Really enjoyed this post from Gordon on his accidental career. I look back at mine and it’s definitely been one with no real plan…and there’s nothing wrong with that.
- Andor Season 2 is setting a real high bar. Half way through and loving it.
- Favourite bit of media this week was from ATP – a Top Four Game Consoles episode. You need to be a member to get this episode but it was class. Will need to write up my top four soon.
Weeknote, Sunday 11th May
- Shorter work week thanks to May bank holiday but the tasks are never ending at the moment. A real positive was a visit from colleagues to understand more of our business and what we do.
- Apple Turnover – one of my favourite pastries but this is about one of my favourite tech companies. Many have called for Apple to change direction, this one from John Siracusa nails some of my feelings about the Apple of today. I’m not sure though a change at the top would be enough – feels a number of the exec team need replaced.
- A brief history of the all-in-one Mac – post looking back at happier times. I first used a Mac at Glasgow Uni in the early 90’s and it was glorious. Something so elegant compared to Windows 3.1 and the standard beige PC’s that were the norm at the time.
- 21 Observations from People Watching – some sharp writing from a wedding painter.
- What we talk about when we talk about AI – thoughtful piece on what we mean by AI. Need to seed this around some of my colleagues.
- This CIty Is Ours – enjoyable but drawn out and could have been a much better 6 part series.
- Andor is so so good. Best Star Wars TV series by a distance. Last of Us has kept pace after episode 2.
Weeknote, Sunday 4th May
- I despair at the state of politics in the UK. Seeing Reform and Farage being so successful in the last week and being given no real challenge from much of the media is a kick in the balls. What is clear is the two party system in the UK is finished. With it should also go first past the post. Labour also need to wake up. Tacking to the right, trying to match Reform, is not what the majority of Labour voters want or expect and mistakes like Winter Fuel need to be reversed.
- Apple lost another court case which should see the App Store open up. Always been ridiculous that a developer can’t even put a link in a description to a website, often argued that it would be too dangerous to allow. I like my Apple devices but seeing the company making arguments to retain control and extract coin from everyone has went on too long.
- Ordered Zen Full Fibre which should deliver 2Gbps up and down. Install in a couple of weeks time…and now looking at what other bits of the home network I’ll need to upgrade to make full use of the speed.
- Miami Grand Prix was excellent. Season so far has been fantastic with a real closing of the field, exactly what many thought would happen in the last year of the current regs. Impressed with Piastri. And great to see Williams back in the top 10.
- No surprise that GTA VI is delayed until May 26. The last few were all delayed 6-12 months from original release date. Get it right – we’ll be playing it for years anyway.
- Split Fiction still impressing – highly recommend playing with a friend as the gameplay has kept fresh throughout.
- Finished Daredevil Born Again – really good, set up nicely for another season
- Watched the first three episodes of Andor season 2. Great to be be back in a more adult Star Wars universe. Looking forward to a rewatch of Rogue One at the end of the season.
Fortnightnote, Sunday 27th April
- Holidays and work got in the way of last weeks update. Spent most of the last week off work and it was a much needed break. Rest and reset with some jobs tackled around the house.
- Oh Synology. I’ve had my NAS for just under 10 years and was plotting moving to an 8 bay Synology – easy upgrade, wait for this years hardware refresh, Synology do make managing the device pretty straightforward. Then Synology announced that they were bringing in hard drive restrictions to their devices. They say it’s to reduce risk of hard drive failure, it’s really to make a little more coin as Synology drives are just rebranded third party as they don’t make their own drives. Coupled with the 8 bay refreshes this year using the same hardware as 2021 means I’m done. Going down build my own NAS route – more interesting, more bang for buck, Unraid has interested me for a few years and this news is enough to put me over the edge. Hope to have it done and migrated to by end of May.
- Another itch I’ve had for a while is moving this site from WordPress onto…something else. It’s more than I need to run the site, I’ve been looking for something much simpler and over the last 6 months the politics around WordPress has made for grim reading. In the last week employees have found hidden watermarks to catch leakers. Sounds pretty toxic. So I’m looking at ditching WordPress and moving to something like Hugo or Eleventy. Or is it 11ty? Anyway…bit longer in the year for this one but it will be happening.
- One thing I won’t be doing is moving my hosting to a Wii.
- Took a lot from this breakdown on what psychological safety is and isn’t.
- How many British dialects are there? Nice map of them all – far more than I expected.
3000
In 2019 I hit the small milestone of 1000 consecutive days of completing my Apple Fitness rings. Despite covid x 2, migraines, flu, bad weather and totally not being in the mood today I hit 3000.
Overall it’s been really beneficial to keep this going. Improves my mental health, has kept the weight gain (mostly) in check and gets me out from behind a keyboard/screen/joypad. It’s a bit obsessive though and agreed with many when Apple finally allowed you to take a short break without breaking your streak…although I try to resist finding an excuse because once I step away from it it will be easy to ignore.
Here’s to the next milestone and a full 10 years?
Weeknote, Sunday 13th April
- Long and tough week. Virtually no think time, too many meetings and I need a break – so Easter week and a few days off work can’t come soon enough. Was great to see our Training Academy officially opened and have the weather to match it. Not so great was another migraine and subsequent headaches for a few days after. I asked ChatGPT to sketch my migraine and it did a pretty good job.
- Trumps tariffs have caused havoc over the last few weeks. So much harm and for what gain especially as expected he’s backtracked on so many of them. Well it’s clear somebody with insider information has benefited. He’s such a crook.
- Getting pretty frustrated with Apple’s software quality. Latest update to MacOS 15.4 has been so buggy. Safari tabs not displaying properly, desktop widgets randomly being deleted after a wake from sleep, Photo’s failing after a few hours requiring restart of the app. Tried multiple restarts and its not helped. FFS.
- Dropped Ivory for Mastodon updates and moved to Tapestry instead. I’d backed the kickstarter and enjoyed it but Ivory felt more solid. However the latest update which removes timeline duplicates from Mastodon and Bluesky was enough for me to jump.
- Loved these photographs from Old Japan. So much history.
- Also from Japan, Middle-Aged Man Trading cards are a thing.
- A new Dreamcast game? In 2025? And it’s WipEout? Count me in.
- Finished The Pitt. Got better and better throughout the season. Great cast, stories that maintained the pace and looking forward to season 2 next year. Can’t quite believe it never got picked up to show in the UK.
- Alongside the Switch 2 pre-order, got a pad and memory card incoming too. Fired up the Switch for first time in ages and jumped on F-Zero 99. What a cracking game. Should have been playing this sooner.
- And of course I had to jump on the ChatGPT doll trend. A bit of fun, although of course the BBC has to highlight energy and privacy concerns.
