Good morning everyone. This is the fourth installment of the Sunday Edition since I restarted. Four whole issues is basically three issues more than I made it last time. I’ll work hard to keep the train on a roll.

The good news: We are through the 10 shortest weeks — daylight-wise — of the year here in the Northern Hemisphere. The speed the days shorten always catches me off guard. But blink and you’re eating supper in sunlight.

Carrot Weather

Each year, I get the notification for my subscription renewal for Carrot Weather and each year I let the subscription lapse with the hopes of using the built-in Weather app instead. But each time, just a few weeks after, I realize I miss Carrot too much to go without.

My key love for Carrot are its widgets. Carrot’s insides are great — the smirky bot firing off weather quips, or the highly customizable card-based UI, or the sheer volume of weather data points you can track. Yet where Carrot shines better than any other weather app on the App Store are its home screen widgets. The radar widgets — though perhaps a little less useful during the snowy time of the year — are wonderfully designed and instantly informative. The graphical widgets aren’t bad, either.

A close second: Carrot for the Apple Watch. Carrot’s middle complication for the Modular Ultra Watch face, in particular, is particularly great. You can view 5-hour, 5-day, and more weather forecasts, complete with precipitation amounts and chances, all in one visually appealing complication. The built-in Watch has the same sort of complication, but it doesn’t match the depth of information garnered from one glance.

All in all, Carrot consistently comes back from the dead on my iPhone and Apple Watch. It’s quickly becoming one of those core apps I feel is a problem solved. Ulysses, Day One, Things, 1Password, Superhuman, and Carrot. I don’t think there are any apps usurping these at this point.

I am rich and have no idea what to do with my life

Vinay Hiremath:

Life has been a haze this last year. After selling my company, I find myself in the totally un-relatable position of never having to work again. Everything feels like a side quest, but not in an inspiring way. I don't have the same base desires driving me to make money or gain status. I have infinite freedom, yet I don't know what to do with it, and, honestly, I'm not the most optimistic about life.

I remember one of my early human history lessons from a college course way, way back. The discussion was about the importance of the Agricultural Revolution, and how food security — and, effectively, passive food growth — allowed human beings to stare at the sky, imagine wonderful things, and build out organizational structures for society. My professor at the time insisted the Agricultural Revolution aligned with the beginning of organized world religion. A logical, rational conclusion for a mortal human being to come to, I suppose.

What’s fascinating though is how much purpose we find in our work. And I believe for good reason. We were put on this planet to serve, and serving is work. If you subscribe to the notion of the serpent in the Garden of Eden, then you know mankind is destined to a lifetime of hard work and toil (Genesis 3:17-19). If you don’t, it doesn’t take much rational thought to conclude the only path forward is to persevere and build. Mother Nature isn’t exactly a giving being.

I love Jeff Bezos’s thoughts on the matter:

"This work-life harmony thing is what I try to teach young employees and actually senior executives at Amazon too. But especially the people coming in," said Bezos. "I get asked about work-life balance all the time. And my view is, that's a debilitating phrase because it implies there's a strict trade-off."
"If I am happy at home, I come into the office with tremendous energy," Bezos said, according to Business Insider. "And if I am happy at work, I come home with tremendous energy. You never want to be that guy — and we all have a coworker who's that person — who, as soon as they come into a meeting, they drain all the energy out of the room ... You want to come into the office and give everyone a kick in their step."

Work is important. It’s fundamental. Find something to do. Do it well. Do it for as long as you can — right up to your last breath if required.

Siri Is Super Dumb and Getting Dumber

John Gruber’s quick and haphazard look at Siri’s current ability to answer questions is hysterical.

We use Siri all the time in our home. But we only use Siri for very specific things: setting timers and alarms, turning on and off the TV, and playing music. Even playing music is a tremendous thorn most times. Our girls will ask Siri to play a song from a Gabby’s Dollhouse soundtrack, and Siri will play the Spanish version of the song. The English version is readily available, of course. When this happens, all I have to do is:

  • Search for the English song on my iPhone.
  • Send it to the HomePods in the house via Airplay.
  • Struggle to have the phone and HomePods connect.
  • Have the music pause and start a different song that was previously playing on my iPhone.
  • Hold back every cuss word that comes through my head.
  • Decide to just turn up the volume on the iPhone for the girls to listen to rather than the HomePods.

Perhaps not exactly a Siri issue, but if Siri just played the English song at the start, we wouldn’t constantly run into the problem. (I’m sure there’s a “You’re holding it wrong” comment in here, somewhere.)

When reading the Daring Fireball piece, ensure you don’t miss the last footnote in the entire article. It’s perhaps the most important part of the article.

The Second Cup

  • Nominations for Obsidian Gems of the Year for 2024 — (AppAddict)
    – I still look for ways to utilize Obsidian in my daily work, but to no avail. Nevertheless, there are some great themes, utilities, and plug-ins in this link that every Obsidian user should check out.
  • Photography-Inspired Keycap Set — (Akuko Labs)
    – The legends are, well, legendary. I’m also particularly fond of the profile here. I wonder how they feel.
  • The Cleanest Mac/PC Hybrid Desk Setup You've Seen — (Luda)
    – As my pal Thomas noted, Luda feels more like a filmmaker than a Youtuber.
  • I explain the gospel to Julian Dorey — (Wes Huff)
    – Now that Huff is on my radar, I can’t get enough. His commentary about the gospel message of mercy, justice, and grace — the ultimate trifecta — is masterclass. I hope everyone hears this message.
  • Bowers & Wilkins Px8 vs. AirPods Max: redefining luxury headphones — (Marius Masalar)
    – My second Marius link in four weeks! Either way, here’s a great look at one of the ultimate sets of headphones from Bowers & Wilkins compared directly to the AirPods Max. I’m so glad Marius has finally found a worthy replacement for his bummer AirPods Max.

Happy Sunday. I hope you have a wonderful week ahead.