Reflecting on the year 2019
Reflection on the year 2019, checking progress of the goals, and some numbers.
Journal
2019
113 posts
Merry Christmas
The meaning of Christmas stays vital in adulthood. The birth of Christ marks the start of our salvation.
Christianity
Tesseract
The day-night cycle and the cycle of the seasons have been an important part of human civilization for millennia.
Gems
Useful macOS defaults: Network Browser
Handy defaults write commands for com.apple.NetworkBrowser, controlling how your Mac discovers network devices.
Mac
AVSpeechSynthesizer
The article highlights the role of Swift’s AVSpeechSynthesizer, introduced in iOS 7 and macOS 10.14, in enabling speech synthesis for computer-assisted communication across languages, supporting over 30 languages with voices selected via IETF Language Tags.
Development
Privacy Roundup #0160 • November 2019
November 2019 showed how casually our most intimate records change hands, as health files, DNA profiles, browsing trails and home camera footage all slipped beyond the reach of the people they describe.
Privacy
Monthly update #0355 • November 2019
Monthly update 355 • November 2019 • 2019-11-01 - 2019-11-30
Monthly Updates
Blue Moon by Lee Child
Blue Moon pits Reacher against rival Albanian and Ukrainian gangs in a city turf war after he helps an elderly man robbed for loan shark debts.
Books
What is installcoordinationd?
If you see installcoordinationd running on your Mac, here is what this installation coordination process does.
Mac
Asterix and the Chieftain's Daughter by Jean-Yves Ferri
It is the thirty-eighth book in the Asterix series. A teenage girl named Adrenaline arrives in the village. She is the daughter of a famous Gaulish chief.
Books
Swift Numerics
The Swift Numerics open-source project introduces a modular Swift package for numerical computing, filling gaps in the Standard Library with modules like Real and Complex.
Development
Privacy Roundup #0159 • October 2019
October 2019 saw European courts redraw the limits of consent and content removal while a steady run of exposed databases, smart-speaker tricks and surveillance fights showed how much personal data still leaks by default.
Privacy
Monthly update #0354 • October 2019
Monthly update 354 • October 2019 • 2019-10-01 - 2019-10-31
Monthly Updates
SSWG Annual Update '19
The Swift Server Work Group (SSWG) has made significant progress in its first year, establishing an incubation process for defining high-quality Swift packages through community pitches, reviews, and acceptance.
Development
What is findmydeviced?
If you see findmydeviced running on your Mac, here is what this Find My device tracking process does.
Mac
Earth and Sun
The day-night cycle and the cycle of the seasons have been an important part of human civilization for millennia.
Gems
New Diagnostic Architecture Overview
Swift 5.2 enhances compiler diagnostics through a new infrastructure that uses 'constraint fixes' to pinpoint type errors more accurately, allowing the type checker to continue solving and report multiple issues with actionable guidance, unlike the old system's vague guesses.
Development
What is CoreAuthentication.daemon?
If you see CoreAuthentication.daemon running on your Mac, here is what this authentication process does.
Mac
What is storagekitd?
If you see storagekitd running on your Mac, here is what this storage management process does.
Mac
What is runningboardd?
If you see runningboardd running on your Mac, here is what this process lifecycle manager does.
Mac
Monthly update #0353 • September 2019
Monthly update 353 • September 2019 • 2019-09-01 - 2019-09-30
Monthly Updates
The Spy
The Spy is a French limited series. It aired on Netflix on 6 September 2019. Gideon Raff created it. Sacha Baron Cohen plays Eli Cohen, a real Mossad agent who went undercover in Syria during the early 1960s and rose to the highest levels of its government.
TV Series
Privacy Roundup #0158 • September 2019
September 2019 stacked leaky databases, a record children's privacy fine and two landmark EU and US court rulings into one of the busiest privacy months of the year.
Privacy
Swift 5.2 Release Process
Swift 5.2 focuses on delivering significant improvements in quality and performance.
Development
Swift 5.1 Released!
Swift 5.1 advances Swift 5 by introducing module stability, enabling binary frameworks that work across compiler versions, alongside library evolution support for resilient APIs.
Development