Menu Bars, Dwarfs, and Podcasts
Photography History, The Bartender App Event, BenQ Monitors Fix, Multilanguage Podcast Highlighting
Hey guys, here’s some things that stood out from my previous week:
On Photography
I watched THIS VIDEO, which explores the topic of dwarfs in the history of photography. Like other videos by Stephen Leslie, this one provided valuable insights into a lesser-known aspect of photographic history. The video showcases photographs by renowned artists like Bruce Davidson, Mary Ellen Mark, and Dianne Arbus. While some may find the topic sensitive due to concerns about privacy rights in documentary and street photography, particularly when photographing people with dwarfism or disability, I believe that documenting the human condition is important for preserving our understanding of history and society. I think every subject deserves respect and equal treatment, whether in everyday life or—specifically talking about photography—when it comes to capturing life's moments on camera. Stephen Leslie's humor and objective perspective makes this 40-minute video an easy watch. This is currently one of my favorite channels on Youtube about photography.
On Bartender
For years, I've used Bartender to manage apps on my Macbook's menu bar. It's a fantastic app, the best of its kind. However, someone noticed an owner change last week, causing concern in the Mac Apps community. There's also this reddit thread that started the discussion. This issue, for me highlights the importance of communicating major decisions transparently to users. The main worries seem to be speculation about privacy or permissions granted to an app outside the App Store, where malicious code could theoretically exist. The previous owner published a statement, but for many, trust is broken. I'm not a developer and as a user that doesn’t really care too much about privacy I think the concerns are overblown. There’s no proof of anything malicious, after all. Still, I went ahead and used this as an opportunity to explore alternative. I tested ICE, Barbee, iBar, HiddenBar, and even BetterTouchTool for hiding and managing apps on my menubar. None work as well as Bartender, so I'll stick with it. Feel free to try those any of those alternatives. Oh, and one thing that Bartender does that is not found in some other apps is fixing the spacing of menu items. You can fix that in terminal.
On BenQ Monitors
My current monitor setup, a BenQ PD2700u is great, but has a random flickering issue. I've had it over a year and researched the problem extensively. Warranty replacements are a big hassle here in Mexico, so I didn't consider that option since the flickering happens very sporadically and I’ve seen many users report this issue. BenQ has a dedicated support page where they mention it, claiming it affects all Apple Silicon laptops using non-Apple displays - not sure if that's true. This past week, I found that displaying a full black screen for a minute often stops the flickering. If not, trying white or other colors seem to fix it. It's a silly fix for an otherwise fantastic monitor, but at least it solves the problem for me. Hope this is useful to some others.
On Podcasts
Snipd, the app that I use for listening to podcasts with transcription, summaries, chapters, and with the ability to highlight finally supports other languages. It’s about almost a year that Snipd adopted a subscription model and all this time I’d wondered if it was worth it or not for me, given that I also listen to some Spanish content that I had to use workarounds for highlighting. Well, this update (which includes Spanish, French, and several other languages), plus an announcement on their discord that they will soon allow Youtube videos finally adds enough value.
Aside from the big news from Snipd, this past week I discovered PodQueue. PodQueue is similar to Huffduffer, a webapp I have been using to create an RSS feed from YouTube videos to listen in Snipd. Recently, Snipd has given me trouble accessing Huffduffer's RSS feeds, so I was happy to find PodQueue as a new alternative. From my testing so far PodQueue is better and more convenient than Huffduffer or even Fourble (another similar option), but its free version is more limited.
On Cinema
The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed (2024). A very awkward, dark, and unusually humorous film that I discovered thanks to Sean Baker being its producer. It get five stars from me. I really liked it and reminded me of some of Jim Jarmusch films. Synopsis: An emotionally detached young Brooklynite drifts through unremarkable days and nights. Neither her on-again-off-again BDSM relationship with a mildly disinterested older dom, nor her nondescript corporate job, appear to bring her any satisfaction, and her relationship with her unpleasable New Yorker parents only compounds the tiresome cycle of her routine.
Nine Queens (2000). A film that kept me guessing all the time. I am watching it 24 years after its release and I can see how it paved the way for many others. Synopsis: Two con artists try to swindle a stamp collector by selling him a sheet of counterfeit rare stamps (the "nine queens").
If you liked this you may also enjoy some content I have up on my YT Channel! I don’t hang around social media a lot, but when I do I’m on IG or Twitter. You can also check out some of my online classes, listen to my music, or in case you haven’t already, subscribe to my weekly newsletter. Thank you for reading!