What caught my attention in week twenty, 2023
In continuation to week nineteen, here are a few thoughts and things that caught my attention in week twenty, 2023:
- π΄ββοΈ I've been biking a lot this week. My wife and I took the train to Wolfsburg (Germany) and from there we cycled a small section of the Iron Curtain Trail with our gravel bikes. On the first afternoon it was 59 km to the accommodation and we were very happy to have found on a public holiday ("Himmelfahrt") in the nevertheless very sparsely populated region of Germany still the one pub that could serve us something to eat, currywurst with fries ππ . The next day we initially cycled 100 km against the wind, which blew not only a little π¬οΈπ΄ββοΈ. But when we got close to the Elbe and the path made a bend, we had tailwind for the remaining 30 km, which we then enjoyed very much. The landscape is characterized by a lot of farmland and a little forest. The villages are all quite small and some of them are getting on in years. We spent the night in DΓΆmitz and then cycled another 134 km along the Elbe to Hamburg on the third day. Having the river by our side was very nice. We also had tailwind most of the time and the only piece of clothing I didn't need was my rain jacket π Ultimately, of course, not an unstrenuous but also very nice bike ride, and we have now driven about 3% of the total distance - so still have something ahead of us the next few years π.
- π I was very surprised and even happier that the Deutsche Bahn transported us and our bikes to the starting point and back from Hamburg without any problems. This is unfortunately the last few years no longer really taken for granted.
- π¦ Habib was kind enough to get me a Bluesky invite. (Thanks again at this point!) In order to post there a little bit, I reactivated my Micro.blog account and use its crossposting feature. Now my occasional small posts, including photos (like from the bike tour, here, here and here), appear there, on Mastodon and on Bluesky. If that makes sense somehow, I have to think about it again. π€¦ββοΈ
- π Horzono seems like a nice alternative for those, who don't like or want to buy Dato.
- π Signals for HomeKit: the best way to communicate in the home, without all the shouting. I did not touch my HomeKit installation for ages. Right now it's more or less running frictionless but the next time, I feel like tinkering around with it, Signals will be includes I guess.
- π I am not that deep into photography but Skylight Forecast looks nice.
- π± DuoCycle: DuoCycle is a novel fitness app that tracks your rides with Apple Watch and shows all of your workout data live on iPhone. When I go cycling for sport, I usually use my Hammerhead Karoo 2, but for people who don't want to use a dedicated bike computer and own an Apple Watch, DuoCycle might be a nice alternative.
- π¨ New, great mosaic iPhone wallpapers by BasicAppleGuy.
- π Draftodon was updated to version 1.3.
- π WorldWideWeb, a web server for iOS and macOS was updated and βPhotomator as well. The latter gained macOS support.
- π The 2023 Automation April Shortcuts Contest Winners were announced.
- πΊ Cought up with Ted Lasso together with my family.
- πI spent over 9 hours on trains this week and actually wanted to listen to a lot of podcasts, however I had forgotten my Airpods at home π€¦ββοΈ. Therefore, there were only a few in the days before while walking with our dog: Accidental Tech Podcast: 535: My Computer Supports Math, Besenwagen - der Radsport Podcast: Giro β23 speciale numero uno, Launched: 62: Pok Pok - Melissa Cash, MIT Technology Review β Der Podcast: Unscripted: Katja Diehl, warum ist MobilitΓ€t ohne Auto in Deutschland so schwer vorstellbar?, Really Specific Stories: Shelly Brisbin,