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Copy file name to clipboardExpand all lines: content/blog/album-art/index.md
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Ever since I got an iPod touch back in the late 2000s, a key design standout has been how Album art can provide bias to decide whether or not to listen to a song. It can also at times provide a 'feeling' of the album. The feature i'm referring to of course is Cover flow:
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![](/uploads/index.jpg"iPod Touch Cover flow")
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![](./index.jpg"iPod Touch Cover flow")
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During this lockdown in Melbourne, Victoria, I've decided to do a few pieces of digital art to refine my photoshop skills, and to see it as a way to try to understand the 'feeling' of music.
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I do understand that a lot of my art is unrefined. The challenge I'm undertaking is to spend an hour on a composition based on a song e.g. the title, the feeling listening to it etc. I want to limit the time as a way to make something simple, and achievable.
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My first attempt at creating an album art was for [Last Dinosaurs](https://lastdinosaurs.com/home/"Last Dinosaurs website") when they released their Single; Flying.
Its a tough ask, no matter how you spin it to require your users to be logged in to a service before using it. No matter if a user's actions are anonymised, the [way you use your browser is still logged](#data-being-collected). A scary fact is just like Google's Chrome browser and Google, policies change over time. At this stage data may not be collected or synced, but the convenience of having tabs on your phone, or to remember that website you were searching for earlier on in the day on another device will be the downfall of privacy for Arc.
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![Welcome page](/uploads/arc/01-welcome.png"Welcome after logging in")
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![Welcome page](./01-welcome.png"Welcome after logging in")
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After logging in, you're greeted by a ['personalised' Card](/uploads/arc/02-card.png"Arc downloadable identifier card") with your name/alias.
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After logging in, you're greeted by a ['personalised' Card](./02-card.png"Arc downloadable identifier card") with your name/alias.
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Below is the first tab you'll see using Arc (at V1.0.1). There are tabs open on the side with a Wikipedia page, and two other websites.
These sites are all loaded in the system by the process Arc Helper, which is nice to be seperate from Arc itself, however the pages chosen starts to develop a unique fingerprint.
From the domains Arc loads on first launch, its evident the Arc team is very product-focused. With three major tools collecting user data: Segment, Sentry and Launchdarkly.
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As upfront as their [Privacy Policy](https://thebrowser.company/privacy/) is, they are incredibly vague as to which platform, or how many they use in the browser. As you will see later on, its disappointing that there is a lack of opting out of sharing of any usage.
It was good to see some level above the standard [chrome settings](/uploads/arc/14-chromesettings.png) giving customisation to the browser. On the flip side, for a browser that talks a lot about privacy, mandating that users be signed in, and not providing an option to opt-out of providing device analytics (unless you block them at the DNS level) is disappointing.
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It was good to see some level above the standard [chrome settings](./14-chromesettings.png) giving customisation to the browser. On the flip side, for a browser that talks a lot about privacy, mandating that users be signed in, and not providing an option to opt-out of providing device analytics (unless you block them at the DNS level) is disappointing.
Notice the absence of an option to log out of an account to continue using the browser, or opting out of sending analytics to the browser company.
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@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ Notice the absence of an option to log out of an account to continue using the b
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The following is an extract of a sample being logged and sent to Sentry in accordance with the Browser Company's [personal data collection policy](https://thebrowser.company/privacy/#what-personal-data-do-we-collect-and-how-do-we-collect-it).
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### Captured log - Sentry.io
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![Sample log for sentry](/uploads/arc/16-logsidentifiers.png"Identifiers phoning home")
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![Sample log for sentry](./16-logsidentifiers.png"Identifiers phoning home")
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A few things to note here:
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* Every user has an 'anonymous id' as well as a ['user id'](https://docs.sentry.io/platforms/python/guides/logging/enriching-events/identify-user/) which could be speculated as being linked to your e-mail address to 'provide support' or understand how you prefer to use the browser.
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* IP isn't logged (at this build)
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An example of another event being logged
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![Event sample](/uploads/arc/18-logsactivitypreferences.png"Event sample of action in Arc")
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![Event sample](./18-logsactivitypreferences.png"Event sample of action in Arc")
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Interestingly, there were some interesting bits of data captured. One of which included a variable to check if the user logged in was internal (I wonder what that was for)
Arc browser requests to see files on a few too many areas of you PC. Expect to get prompted if you plan on taking it for a spin.
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![permission request](/uploads/arc/19-unnessesarypermission.png"Arc wants to view files in a lot of folders")
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![permission request](./19-unnessesarypermission.png"Arc wants to view files in a lot of folders")
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## Arc's Privacy Policy, and the problem with trying to 'sell' privacy
@@ -104,15 +104,15 @@ Arc's [Privacy Policy](https://thebrowser.company/privacy/) is upfront, being tr
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As with most products, the most valuable thing to an investor is measuring traction and growth. Having users sign up creates an asset of user details, which makes me wonder how The Browser Company is planning on monetising Arc or their future projects..
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![Newsletter tracking](/uploads/arc/22-email.png"Newsletter sent with Mailchimp tracking stats")
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![Newsletter tracking](./22-email.png"Newsletter sent with Mailchimp tracking stats")
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## Result
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I guess Arc browser isn't a privacy oriented browser. It has a unique take on developing an 'all-in-one' app to extend a web browser, heavily focused on user experience. Although, being Gecko based (Firefox) would have been a nice to see, the hype around Arc and Chromium isn't going away any time soon, and is typically viewed as the more performant on the web.
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It would be nice if Arc, or rather the browser company provided more options to control what data is being logged, or provided a simple opt-out of everything option. Its understandable that they only recently went V1.0 and ditched the invite only system, however to build trust with users, I believe that along with using it without an account are the main barriers to recommend jumping on the Arc wagon.
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![Uninstalling Arc](/uploads/arc/21-removing.png"Arc files left on system")
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![Uninstalling Arc](./21-removing.png"Arc files left on system")
keywords: ["desktopaint mac", "window management improvements for mac", "better touch tool uses", "quality of life improvements for mac", "mac apps"]
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math: false
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slug: "easy-mac-quality-of-life-improvements"
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It's easy to make life easier on your Mac with the aid of a few Mac Apps, as well as hidden features within MacOS. Here's a few suggestions.
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![Quality of LIfe improvements](/uploads/macos-big-sur-apple-layers-fluidic-colorful-wwdc-stock-2020-3840x2160-1455.png"Hero intro")
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## Better Touch Tool
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### Drag windows around effortlessly
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Instead of clicking and dragging the Instead of clicking and dragging the [title bar](https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/macos/windows-and-views/window-anatomy/#title-bar"Apple HID title bar info") to move the window around, a simple trick is to turn on a keyboard shortcut. When your cursor hovers over a window, your press the button and easily move the window around, quickly and effortlessly.
I'd recommend using the fn key on Apple keyboards to move the window, as it's in the bottom left corner of the keyboard and makes it easy to quickly press.
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@@ -33,7 +32,7 @@ On non-Apple keyboards like the one I'm currently using, I'd recommend the combi
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I've been using Apple keyboards, either on the MacBooks themselves, or on my external Bluetooth keyboard for quite a few years, and the habit of wanting to press at the top left to control the volume is something I must be able to do.
These are my screen corner settings. The one I first used from back in 2012 was the top left for notification centre, which just made sense instead of adding an extra click in.
Copy file name to clipboardExpand all lines: content/blog/from-nbn-to-5g:/index.md
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author: "Adam Kostarelas"
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date: 2022-05-05T04:08:00Z
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description: "My initial experience moving from nbn to 5G"
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image: "/uploads/5g-nbn-switch.png"
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image: "./5g-nbn-switch.png"
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keywords: ["nbn 5g telstra switch", "nbn issues switch to 5g", "telstra 5g speeds", "nbn speeds vs 5g"]
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math: false
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slug: "from-nbn-to-5g"
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For example, a nbn plan with 100Mbps download and 20Mbps upload is the standard ['Home fast'](https://www.nbnco.com.au/learn/speed#home-fast) plan. To get 40Mbps upload, most providers would charge an extra $10 often costing around $100 AUD/month.
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### An Australian ISP, Superloop's internet plans as at May 2022 for comparison.
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Ironically how I wish I was eligible for fixed wireless at the promised speeds and prices.
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The second part of wanting to switch to 5G was the flexibility of month to month billing and cheaper monthly costs.
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My only option in my area was Telstra 5G. They promised
[Critical information summary of plan](https://www.telstra.com.au/help/critical-information-summaries/personal/home-internet/5g-home-internet/5G-home-internet-plan)
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### Modem arrived.
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**Time to test.**
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### First tests (Peak) connected directly to Telstra 5G / Wifi 5 (AC) network Router with an iPhone
Copy file name to clipboardExpand all lines: content/blog/hutasker-hugo-x-airtable:/index.md
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@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ title: 'HuTasker, Hugo X Airtable'
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date: 2022-08-15T17:48:23.000+10:00
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slug: hutasker-hugo-x-airtable
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description: Integrating Hugo, a Static Site Generator with Airtable in a sample app, HuTasker. Read my insights on connecting to Airtable's APIs and making the site build on a schedule. Find out how quick and easy you can follow along at home to set up this theme with your data.
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image: "/uploads/hutasker.png"
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image: "./hutasker.png"
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keywords:
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- hugo
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- hutasker
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ Airtable presents a user with a friendly interface - a spreadsheet, or a kanban
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Being very versatile and familiar to users, Airtable presented itself as an appropriate solution that could also act like a relative database with rows linking to each other.
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Designing the structure for the database, along with different 'Views' that can filter, sort, hide and restrict data was a perfect way to create 'server' like functionality without any programming. An example used is the 'open tasks' view which filters tasks
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![Screenshot of Airtable schema](/uploads/hutasker-database-schema.png"Airtable Database Schema")
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![Screenshot of Airtable schema](./hutasker-database-schema.png"Airtable Database Schema")
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Being able to effectively build a case that a free platform can replace most people's need for a server is encouraging.
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Although HuTasker presents itself as an Airtasker clone, it is missing functionality such as user account creation, and purposely omits the ability to post a task to ensure the quality of data of the template. Although it could be argued that the ability should be enabled for a sample data only site. I'd be afraid in terms of what kind of spam could accumulate if left unmoderated, or if a workflow (or Airtable Automation) to delete data on a schedule wasn't set up.
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Moving all that functionality to a front end that most users are familiar with is essential. Managing data in a database is ideal, and Airtable is one of the closest consumer options that is very user friendly.
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### Building the integration
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![Screenshot of Airtable Task sheet](/uploads/hutasker-airtable-screenshot.png"Airtable screenshot")
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![Screenshot of Airtable Task sheet](./hutasker-airtable-screenshot.png"Airtable screenshot")
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Building the integration, I wanted to focus on ensuring everything was available for free.
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That means, free hosting, free 'backend' and of course a free template / data integration available as an open source project.
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Security considerations will revolve around how the user manages their API keys to Airtable. As Airtable's API supports CRUD (Create, Read, Update and Delete) it is important to note as a vulnerability to the system.
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### Theme Features
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![HuTasker screenshot of category paget](/uploads/hutasker-tasks.png"HuTasker screenshot of category page")
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![HuTasker screenshot of category paget](./hutasker-tasks.png"HuTasker screenshot of category page")
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#### Tasks
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The main part of this theme is presenting the tasks. Tasks are things that need to be completed by 'users', where if this were a real site, users would be able to make offers to [complete the tasks](https://hutasker.netlify.app/tasks/#rechQDh0ppM3rVpQA).
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This page is managed with [Javascript](https://github.com/AdamXweb/HuTasker/blob/737cbe013d3f3639903c77f38bb0e72638b5d97c/layouts/partials/task/card-summary.html#L50-L79), showing the pages created and populated by Hugo through the help of CSS classes.
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![HuTasker screenshot of category page](/uploads/hutasker-categories.png"HuTasker screenshot of category page")
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![HuTasker screenshot of category page](./hutasker-categories.png"HuTasker screenshot of category page")
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#### Categories
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Categories was included as a way to add some SEO functionality and extra pages into the template. With the help of a command, anything listed in categories can have their own Hugo pages created that then populate current data from Airtable's API (on the CRON schedule).
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