Notices by Paul Haddad :tapbots_logo: (paul@tapbots.social)

You call it a “Feature" I call it a nasty surprise.

I haven't looked at Mini PCs in a while, but apparently there's a new N150 generation (apparently just an N100 with slightly higher clocks and higher TDP). The exciting change on these is an internal PSU, as a wall wart hater I highly approve. Unfortunately I haven't found a dual 2.5GbE version, which kills these for me.
https://www.bee-link.com/products/beelink-eq14-n150

If true, this might've been useful, I don't know like 6 months ago.
https://systemli.social/@anneroth/113876930684502448

I went with this storage setup on the M4 Mini. 4" TB cable to TB enclosure with a 1TB drive and some double sided tape. Got the internal storage usage down to about 140GB by disabling Messages in iCloud, TimeMachine, clearing up a bunch of unused simulators and moving Music/Photos to the external drive. Pretty good other than increasing power usage by a couple watts.

Another bit of space saving.

GarageBand: gets installed automatically, easy enough to nuke from /Applications but that still leaves 2GB of left over junk in /Library/Application Support in the GarageBand and Logic folders.

Learned about this option today, helpful on the 256GB machines.

Now how do I nuke this stuff?

And the Oscar for most unlikable character in a live action short film goes to …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0BXZhdDqZM

My M4 (non pro) Mini buying guide:

Storage 256 or 512. 256GB is a pain but doable, 512GB is easy to live with but $$$$. For both get an external 1-2TB SSD for things like Music/Photos.

RAM stay at 16GB, if you need more, upgrade to the Pro.

10GbE upgrade is reasonably priced if you are likely to use that or 2.5GbE. Certainly cleaner than a T3 dongle but not needed.

Who should buy? M1/M2 Mini owners. They are still reasonable machines, but the M4 is a pretty nice bump.

My M4 pro Mini buying guide:

CPU upgrade, dealers choice. It's an OK value but not a huge perf bump CPU wise.

Storage stay at 512GB and get an external.

RAM stay at 24GB, if you know you need more wait for the Studio Max M4. If you don't know, try out 24GB during Apple's extended return period.

10GbE upgrade see M4 Mini.

Who should buy? M1/M2 Studio Max (M2 Pro, did anyone buy those?) owners who care about CPU over GPU and don't have long running workloads (or don't care about fan noise).

What do you do for a living?
"I'm the chief cord holder designer at Apple. I have a master's degree in origami!”
Someone, somewhere, probably.

This can just re-air as is.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHG0ezLiVGc

Is the next few days the end of Apple’s $200/8GB RAM pricing structure? Commodity PC DDR5 is < $200/64GB, even for them an 8x Apple tax multiplier is pretty crazy.

So much for a change in RAM/storage prices…

How does Apple get away with sending these emails without any single, direct unsubscribe link? Also I haven't bought a new Apple device in at least a year, if not two.

I remember when all the CEOs tried to be like Steve Jobs, that some what made sense. I don't get this new wave that shoots themselves to prevent anyone else from making money from their platforms while alienating their employees, customers and users.

Which part of the page is lying? Guessing it’s both.

I'm too lazy to read up on this stuff, but who am I supposed to be rooting for on this WordPress stuff?

Called it.
https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/kaos-canceled-netflix-1236170945/

I enjoyed Kaos but annoyed that they cliffhangered it. Knowing Netflix it was already cancelled before it even aired.