iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

John Harrold @abumirchi.com · 30/09/2026

Yes. I found scans of all the old manuals on libgen a while back.

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John Harrold @abumirchi.com · 15/09/2026

The highlighted part is pretty wild to include in the story. I mean it's kind of implied the drivers accusations are BS given she was arrested for making them.

She was arrested on September 10th and booked into the Santa Clara County Main Jail on charges of stalking, hate crimes, among other charges. The investigation is still ongoing. The police department has not said whether the investigation proved her accusations against the father.

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John Harrold @abumirchi.com · 11/09/2026

I think it's important to note that Silicon Valley here refers to the billionaires who control it and not the people that live there. If you see below the democrats have consistently wont the elections in that congressional district.

Table from this wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California%27s_17th_congressional_district

Showing that democrats pretty decisively win every election in the congressional district that contains silicon valley.

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John Harrold @abumirchi.com · 10/09/2026

It me! I was making the biologicals! The weapons! Truthfully, I use AI to develop tools to help with drug discovery. When I tried to use Fable it kept telling me "something something biological something reverting back to Opus" so I'm assuming that I represent one or more of these efforts.

In a report describing misuses of its A.I. models, Anthropic said it could not determine whether the research served a legitimate or nefarious purpose because valid biological inquiry — the kind that can lead to breakthroughs like vaccines — can also help engineer dangerous pathogens. In the face of that uncertainty, Anthropic said it erred on the side of caution because the consequences of missing malicious activity could be severe.

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John Harrold @abumirchi.com · 30/08/2026

Ok I do find the subtitle (Smallest of the 5 Great Lakes) pretty funny.

Screenshot of label from google maps that reads: Lake America Smallest of the 5 Great Lakes.

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John Harrold @abumirchi.com · 30/08/2026

Is this a real thing that actually happened to people? Ok I live in a very liberal place and I think I work in/around pretty liberal people. I've never felt obligated to change my avatars on social media, buy and display books, or even state my pronouns. We people ever fired for something like this?

Bouie: I mean, listen, you may have felt that way. You’ve got to understand, part of my skepticism here is that people use this language, “Well, everyone had to do this thing.” No, you didn’t. No one forced you to do anything. I didn’t put a black square on my Instagram. I didn’t go out and buy a bunch of books. I think I wrote a column in 2020 that was like, “’White Fragility’ is a bad book,” right? Part of my frustration is that there’s this language of compulsion, and it’s like, I don’t know, you know?

Cottle: Well no, but like, the compulsion was there. If you didn’t want to take a beat-down, if you didn’t want to get fired in certain places. It’s not like somebody was going to come shoot me if I didn’t do certain things, or certain politicians didn’t ——

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John Harrold @abumirchi.com · 29/08/2026

Hey @reckless.bsky.social there was a discussion on the vergecast about the best machine for running local LLMs. You seemed to doubt that a Mac Studio was the best. Of course it depends on how you define it. I was asking claude this explicitly recently and this was the result:

If I were starting from scratch and getting a new machine to run local LLMs and I wanted to run large models what would I want?

Thought for 9s
Thought for 9s
This really depends on two things: your budget and what "large" means to you. Let me lay out the landscape honestly.

The Core Tradeoff
There are two philosophies, and they're genuinely different beasts:

Path 1 — Apple Silicon (unified memory)
Best for running massive models at all, with great efficiency. You trade raw speed for the ability to fit enormous models entirely in memory.

Path 2 — Multi-GPU NVIDIA
Best for raw token generation speed on models that fit across your combined VRAM. More complex to set up, more power hungry, but faster if the model fits.

If Budget Is No Object: M3 Ultra Mac Studio
The current king for single-machine large model inference is the M3 Ultra Mac Studio maxed out. The M3 Ultra offers up to 512GB of unified memory and 819 GB/s of memory bandwidth. That means you can run 405B parameter models (like Llama 3.1 405B at Q4, ~230GB) entirely on-chip — something no consumer GPU setup can do without extreme multi-GPU configurations.
Apple Support

The catch: fully maxing out the M3 Ultra with 512GB of unified memory and a 16TB SSD brings the grand total to $14,099. The more realistic sweet spot — 256GB RAM, 1TB SSD — runs around $5,500–6,000.
Tom's Hardware

Best Value for Large Models: Multi-GPU RTX 3090 Setup
If you want to run 70B models fast and cheaply, a dual RTX 3090 setup allows you to run 70B models at a reasonable speed and costs only around $1,500 for second-hand cards. Three used RTX 3090s (~$2,400 total) gives you 72GB of VRAM — enough for 70B at Q4 comfortably.
Hardware Corner

The downsides: power draw is brutal (~900W under load for three cards), you need a beefy desktop with PCIe lanes for multiple GPUs, and setup is more involved than plugging in a Mac.

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John Harrold @abumirchi.com · 22/08/2026

But after that exchange I got a message ostensibly from the Hernandez campaign. Nothing I saw from or about the Hernandez campaign told me what she was for.

Response to the original comment from Hernandez campaign saying she has no control. When the images suggest this is actually from the Hernandez campaign.

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John Harrold @abumirchi.com · 20/08/2026

I'm kind of wondering if how you wear them matters. Like I saw this guy from the washington post pod cast earlier and my first thought was: Does he have strangely shaped ear canals?

Weirdo from the washtingon post podcast wearing airpods that point straight forward.

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John Harrold @abumirchi.com · 17/08/2026

@reckless.bsky.social I was listening to the latest decoder podcast with Ben Smith. You basically said that Semafors audience is what @karlbode.com would call the brunchlord class of folks. And he didn't really disagree with you. Then later on he said this which I thought was telling:

What you saw in that Pentagon press room was that their audiences were nervous about the war and did not like it. So suddenly Pete Hegseth is being grilled by these pet outlets that he’d put in there to avoid dealing with real questions. There was some sense that journalism isn’t a trade that you learned at journalism school. It is actually a service to your audience that anybody can figure out if you are paying attention.

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John Harrold @abumirchi.com · 16/08/2026

I sometimes reply to them and get a response. In general, if I find them a bit off, it actually moves me toward voting for their opponent. While she cannot control who sends out things, the fact that she's attracting these folks makes me want to vote against her.

John, this is Melissa Hernandez. I'm the daughter of migrant farmworkers, put myself through college as a single mom, and served as Mayor of Dublin. I've been raising my family here for more than 30 years.

I'm running to represent you in Congress to tackle the rising costs we face - from healthcare to housing to groceries.

I'm proud to be backed by our local firefighters and public safety officers, and every single Mayor and County Supervisor in our district.

This Tuesday, Aug 18, is the last day to vote. Send back your mail ballot, or vote in person today at a vote center here: https://alamedacountyca.gov/rov_app/vcalist. Text stop to quit, and thank you for your support!

- 𝑀𝑒𝓁𝒾𝓈𝓈𝒶

Melissa I've gotten some crazy mailers supporting you and I have to say they are making me vote against you.

I don't have control over most of the negative ads, they're run by 3rd party groups, who I can't work with. However, there are clear differences between Senator Wahab and me that I hope you'll consider before you vote.

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John Harrold @abumirchi.com · 07/08/2026

She can fit all the spices she needs in a single cupboard? I just went to the kitchen and took this picture of the current state of our spice cupboard only. What a flavorless and sad life that poor person must live.

My cupboard with about 80% of the spices I need. Three shelves with a noticeable bow in the top two because they cannot handle the flavor!

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John Harrold @abumirchi.com · 02/08/2026

My theory on: "Why are people in power such easy converts to this religious mania?" is much more banal. This comes from the C-Suite. These are people who travel in each others circles and basically are on a group chat that folks outside of the C-Suite don't really have access to.

Rather than summarize that advice, I want to reflect a little on two questions that Suresh's essay raises but doesn't answer. The first is why? Why are people in power such easy converts to this religious mania?

I have my own theory. The most important discomfort that powerful people experience is having ego-shattering conflicts with subordinates who know how to do things they do not know how to do. The fact that you're "in charge" is hard to reconcile with the fact that the people you're nominally in charge of tell you that all your ideas are impossible, illegal, immoral, or lethal

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John Harrold @abumirchi.com · 31/07/2026

I got this mailer today targeting Aisha Wahab. She's running to finish off Swalwell's term and also to replace him representing CD-14. At this point my first reaction is: I should probably vote _for_ this person. It did make me read more and I think she's the better candidate.

Front of mailer targeting Aisha Wahab. Not really sure what it's trying to say but it's dark.

Back of mailer:
THE DOORS
AISHA WAHAB CLOSED
HAD REAL FAMILIES
BEHIND THEM.
Behind every public safety bill is a family hoping that another child will be protected, another deadly dose of fentanyl will be stopped, and another parent wilk be spared unimaginable grief.

But Aisha Wahab:
• Weakened a bill that would make paying for sex with a minor a felony.'
• Refused to vote for Alexandra's Law, a bipartisan fentanyl prevention bill that would have warned convicted dealers they could face murder charges if someone died from their drugs.?
• Walked out of a hearing before testimony from a grieving mother who asked lawmakers to protect other families.3

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John Harrold @abumirchi.com · 08/07/2026

Ninja shoes. I like ninja shoes. www.yamatobudogu.com/cdn/shop/pro...

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John Harrold @abumirchi.com · 04/07/2026

Looking through this reminds me of one of my favoriate illustrations I made for one on my papers.

Fig. 1. Common subclasses of therapeutic proteins for treatment of autoimmune and other inflammatory conditions based on points of intervention and mode of action. 1 cytokine/cytokine receptor antagonists; 2 lymphocyte-depleting agents; 3 agents that interfere with T cell– receptor (TCR) complex-mediated signal transduction and costimulatory signaling in T cell activation, including tolerance-inducing agents; 4 agents that interfere with cell trafficking or adhesion of T cells to APCs (such as dendritic cells, macrophages, B cells) and/or endothelium (including integrin antagonists); 5 agents that target components of the innate immune system, including anti-complement (5a), anti-chemokine drugs (5b), or drugs targeting cellular components of the innate immune system (5c). Agents in subclasses 1, 3, 4, and 5c may exert their function by blocking the ligand–receptor interactions and/or by downmodulation of the expression of cell surface molecules. Some agents have multiple modes of actions and thus may be included in more than one subclass. Additional therapeutic proteins that do not directly fall in the above subclasses, as described in the text. TCR-associated complex includes TCR, CD3, CD8, or CD4 on T cells and MHC presenting an antigenic peptide on APCs. Costimulatory factors include CD28 and lymphocyte function-associated antigen-1 (LFA) on T cells, CD80, CD86, and intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM1) on APCs. Phagocytes=dendritic cells, macrophages, and/or neutrophils

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John Harrold @abumirchi.com · 23/06/2026

I'm doing the post your most recent cooking picture if you’re a straight man. This was breakfast for my kid a couple days ago.

Breakfast oriented like a face. Eyes: two poached eggs, Nose: bread slideced in quarters, and a banana for the mouth.

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John Harrold @abumirchi.com · 29/05/2026

I went to start filling out my ballot today and I found this mailer in the pile of stuff. And my first thought was: Wow law enforcement supports Becerra. Then I looked into it and this is a voter guide where you pay to be in it, it has nothing to do with cops, and it's expensive to get in it.

COPS VOTER GUIDE mailer supporting Becerra.

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John Harrold @abumirchi.com · 12/05/2026

So I went to claude design and told it create a web UI for this mine craft server admin service I created. It ground a way and made something that looked pretty cool. So I told it to package it up. I downloaded the zip file and a told claude code to apply that to the current ui.

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John Harrold @abumirchi.com · 09/05/2026

My kid wanted to play Java Minecraft and was asking for a PC. I asked Claude about using our Steamdeck because I didn't want to buy a new computer for this. I could have done this with @kagi.com but this got me where I wanted to be pretty quickly. This is a pretty common experience for me w/Claude.

Claud output for: Can you play it on a steam deck?

Yes, you can play Minecraft Java Edition on a Steam Deck! It takes a bit of setup since it's not natively on Steam, but it works well. Here's how:
Method 1: Using the Desktop Mode (Most Common)

Switch to Desktop Mode (hold Power button → Switch to Desktop)
Open the Discover Software Center
Search for and install PrismLauncher (a free, open-source Minecraft launcher — works great on Steam Deck)
Log in with your Microsoft account and install Java Edition
Launch and play!

Method 2: Add to Steam (for Game Mode)
After installing via PrismLauncher, you can add it to Steam so you can launch it from Gaming Mode:

In Desktop Mode, open Steam → Add a Non-Steam Game
Browse and select the PrismLauncher executable
Now it'll appear in your Steam library and can be launched from Game Mode

Controls

Java Edition is designed for keyboard & mouse, so you'll want to either:

Use a Bluetooth keyboard/mouse
Or configure the Steam Deck's trackpads and gyro as mouse input (works surprisingly well)
Install a mod like Controllable for full controller support

Performance

Minecraft Java runs well on the Steam Deck
You can get solid 60+ FPS with default/medium settings
Adding OptiFine or Sodium (performance mods) can boost it further

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John Harrold @abumirchi.com · 09/05/2026

It costs like $9 a month but @kagi.com is like google used to be and they don't sell your data.

Screenshot of kagi search for "police in spanish" with automated translation below it.

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John Harrold @abumirchi.com · 07/05/2026

Most of them are just out there. Here is a PDF where you can read their statements: vig.cdn.sos.ca.gov/2026/primary... There are some good ones like this guy:

LivingForGod AndCountry DeMott | NO PARTY PREFERENCE
My Legal Name LivingForGod Means: Living A Life Refecting The Good Character of
Jesus Christ; it is my foundation, my operating system, and compass. As a chaplain it is
my opinion that any success built on the foundation of deceit and corruption is like
building a castle on the sand. So when the storm screams against the windshield, I will
not finch! When it comes to the kind of turbulence that brings planes down, I will be
the pilot who punches through the storm so the passengers (You the People) can
breathe again. As a successful business man I built Big Time Pest Control from the
ground up, then sold it trading upper management to serve as a chaplain, in the
trenches, kneeling hand-in-hand, with the forgotten, and the broken. My heritage is a
map of U.S. American grit, stretching from Samuel Fuller, the Doctor of the Mayfower
to the lightning rod of Ben Franklin. But I’m not looking back—I’m looking forward to all
of California, where people are feeling abandoned and betrayed! I have a plan to STOP illegal ICE operations; and
a chaplain’s heart to remember who the system serves. I’m 100% against the miles-driven tax. To Make California
Great Again, PROTECT THE PEOPLE! As the old parties are debating the heat over who bought the matches,
while the dumpster fre burns; I’m handing you a fre extinguisher! That’s why I am the best choice for Governor of
California. • www.DeMottForGovernor.com

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John Harrold @abumirchi.com · 05/05/2026

I'm pretty sure that @kagi.com supports it. You have to pay, but at least you're not the product. kagi.com/search?q=%22...

Kagi search results for "Affinity optimization of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) is essential for developing drug candidates"

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John Harrold @abumirchi.com · 04/05/2026

Claude draw me a picture of econmaett.

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John Harrold @abumirchi.com · 02/05/2026

This was three hours ago.

Screenshot of Will Stancil feeding his trolls.

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John Harrold @abumirchi.com · 28/04/2026

This is an example (I also have translation built in, and I was testing it with this). You can see how the meme has text, but there is also text in the background, the persons shirt, etc. The summary is kind of funny.

Example showing a clipping tool with automated AI analysis built in. Also automated translation.

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John Harrold @abumirchi.com · 21/04/2026

We're getting these in California as well.

Original messge:

State of California Department of Vehicles(DMV) Final Notice: Enforcement Penalties Begin on March 3.
Our records show that as of today, you still have an outstanding traffic ticket. In accordance with State of California Administrative Code 15C-16.003, If you do not complete payment by March 2, 2026, we will take the following actions:

1. Report to the DMV violation database
2. Suspend your vehicle registration starting March 3
3. Suspend driving privileges for 30 days
4. Transfer to a toll booth and charge a 35% service fee
5. You may be prosecuted and your credit score will be affected
Pay Now:

https://ca.org-gtavv.bond/dmv

Please pay immediately before enforcement to avoid license suspension and further legal disputes.
(Reply Y and re-open this message to click the link, or copy it to your browser.)

Response:
Oh dear. And it appears the DMV is now working out of the Philippines and using .bond instead of .ca.gov domains. What has befallen my fair state?

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John Harrold @abumirchi.com · 18/04/2026

Here's an example. This is a service I created to sort of bookmark or clip things for me. If I clip a youtube video it creates a local archive and you can see the automated AI analysis below it in purple. I have it save the full transcript as well (there is a tab for it).

Galaxy brain card for Dread Zepplin A Song of Hope showing automated AI processing results.

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John Harrold @abumirchi.com · 14/04/2026

Killtopia Phantoms #1 just showed up on my porch from @davecook.bsky.social

Picture of two killtopia comics: Phantoms #1 and Anthology 001

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John Harrold @abumirchi.com · 11/04/2026

Is this what you're looking for?

Jay Campbell is a prominent figure in the field of hormonal optimization and therapeutic peptides. He is a five-time international bestselling author and co-founder of BioLongevity Labs. Through his books, website, and media appearances, Campbell provides research and guidance on using peptides to enhance health, longevity, and physical performance.Key Books and Resources"30 Days 2 Shredz": A guide focused on rapid fat loss and body transformation."Optimize Your Health with Therapeutic Peptides": Often cited as a primary resource for those looking to understand the specific protocols for various peptides.JayCampbell.com: His official website contains deeply researched articles on hormone optimization, fitness, and spirituality.Core Concepts in Campbell's WorkHormonal Optimization: Advocates for a holistic approach to maintaining hormonal health, which often involves the discussion of peptides alongside other therapeutic interventions.Health and Longevity: Focuses on the use of various substances and lifestyle changes intended to improve physical performance and recovery.Integrated Wellness: Emphasizes that physical health optimization should be paired with mental and spiritual development.Safety and Medical ConsiderationsThe use of therapeutic peptides is a complex medical field. It is important to consider the following:Professional Consultation: Before starting any peptide regimen or hormone therapy, consulting with a qualified healthcare professional is essential. Self-administering these substances without a prescription and medical oversight can lead to serious health complications.Regulatory Status: Many peptides discussed in fitness and longevity circles are not approved by regulatory bodies like the FDA or Health Canada for the purposes of fat loss or muscle building.Unauthorized Products: Buying peptides online from unauthorized sources poses significant risks, as these products may be contaminated, incorrectly labeled, or unsafe for human use.

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John Harrold @abumirchi.com · 07/04/2026

This person needs some "Horn OK, Please" flair.

Back of truck in India painted with a lotus flanked by peacocks over the words HORN OK PLEASE written in all caps.

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John Harrold @abumirchi.com · 29/03/2026

I've been testing this theory. I used to pay $250/year for Adobe Acrobat Pro. I only used a handful of features. So I asked Claude Code to build me a native macOS app in Swift to replace it. I'd never written Swift before.

Spindrift splash page with a wave on the left based on traditional Japanese art crashing onto a tree covered with buds and some flowers and the name spindrift below the tree.

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John Harrold @abumirchi.com · 18/03/2026

I somehow have this. I don't remember where I got it though:

Screenshot of After the Astronaut from the Butthole Surfers in iTunes.

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John Harrold @abumirchi.com · 17/03/2026

Just to add onto this point. The dynamic update above the headline says: Saudi Arabia says it has intercepted over a dozen drones today.

The headline says: The US-Israeli strategy against Iran is working. Here is why
Every aspect of Iran’s ability to project regional power is being successfully degraded.

Dynamic update says: Saudi Arabia says it has intercepted over a dozen drones today

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John Harrold @abumirchi.com · 16/03/2026

I'll have to wait to read it, but it looks great.

Pillfreak advertisement with a woman in a bikini holding brains in the palm of her hands. This is set over a person sitting in a chair throwing pills in his mouth with an ephemeral woman standing behind him caressing his brain.

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John Harrold @abumirchi.com · 11/03/2026

This shows that the CPAP machine is working what other data do I have? Here you can see the effects on O2 saturation. All figures done in #rstats and #shiny. Dataset and Shiny app were built with Claude Code.

O2 saturation with dashed line horizontal guides at greater than 95% (normal) and less than 90% (low). You can see the data dip below normal until January when I started using the CPAP and it goes up above 96%.

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John Harrold @abumirchi.com · 11/03/2026

The data overlap pretty well. We can plot the common data together to see how they relate to each other. What you can see here is that the apple watch data consistently over predicts by about 2 events per hour but the slope is about 1.

Events/hr data wit Apple Watch measurements on the y-axis and CPAP measurements on the x-axis. The line of identity is there for a reference. A linear fit shows the correlation is consistently about 2 events/hr higher.

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John Harrold @abumirchi.com · 11/03/2026

I put it off but managed to go to a sleep doctor at the end of last year and took an at home sleep test. I was diagnosed with sleep apnea and I got a CPAP. I've been using it for about 5 weeks now and it works pretty well. I exported the data from that and merged it with my Apple Health data.

Breathing disturbances over time (December 2025 to present) showing the decrease in breathing disturbances starting on January 25th. Yellow data from Apple Watch and the blue data are from the CPAP machine.

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John Harrold @abumirchi.com · 11/03/2026

Is there anyone out there getting #sleepapnea messages from their Apple Watch and wondering if it means anything? I've always snored, and my wife thought I was stopping breathing while sleeping. I was also getting those messages from Apple Health (I wear the watch while I sleep).

Breathing disturbances over time (Jan 2025-Jan 2026) showing values greater than normal (less than 5/hr) and often elevated (greater than 15/hr)

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John Harrold @abumirchi.com · 09/03/2026

By the way, this was the prompt I used:

I want to create a pdf reading and creation tool that has a subset of features
that I need from Adobe Acrobat. I want this to run as a native Mac
application. Here are the features I want are the ability to:

- Read in transparent png file and stamp them on to the pdf
with the ability to resize and move the stamps. I want to be able to resize
and move them even after I close and reopen the file.
- Fill in form variables
- Combine multiple files of different file type (pdf, image
files, etc) into a single pdf file with bookmarks for the file.
- Add comments to the file.
- Run OCR on text in document, and if the document is scanned pages overlay
that text on the pdf to make it selectable.
- The ability to edit the file including: add text boxes with controls for
font, color, size, etc; edit the text to highlight, underline, and strike
through.

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John Harrold @abumirchi.com · 04/03/2026

You can see the errors that were generated below in the first tab. You can see the ticket that was generated and the container for the shiny_server was restarted and the problem fixed. All this happened before I even noticed there was an issue.

Notifications showing several services are unhealthy or unreachable.

When you click on a notification it will take you to the ticket created to address it. Here you can see that the Shiny Server was down and that it had to restart docker to address it.

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John Harrold @abumirchi.com · 28/02/2026

Each user can adjust how this works by specifying reccomendation preferences in their settings. Here you can see I added Britis Crime Drama and Bollywood movies. You can also add keywords and specify languages you prefer movies to be in.

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John Harrold @abumirchi.com · 28/02/2026

And I had it embed Youtube trailers for the movies as well. Everything I'm showing you here is on my own network at home. And I've consolidated everything into one place I control.

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John Harrold @abumirchi.com · 28/02/2026

I can control what is shown in popups. Here I have it show me the year, how many stars, the primary language and the genres. I have it show above or below the title so if I want I can add/remove the playlists it's in. I can also rate it myself.

Still of pane view. It shows the mouse over for the show Somebody Somewhere and the pulldown showing its currently in the Watch Later list and none of the others.

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John Harrold @abumirchi.com · 28/02/2026

Next I tell Claude: Hey I want you to dump everything into a default playlist. And then give me the ability to create new playlists. When I view playlists I want to be able to filter them by type/ratings. I want to be able to sort them by genre: I can now find something appropriate in the moment.

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John Harrold @abumirchi.com · 28/02/2026

You can see the import dialog below. It took a few shots with each service to get it right for me.

Import dialog for service to merge streaming service details. It shows Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ as options with instructions on what to do.

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John Harrold @abumirchi.com · 27/02/2026

This is the functionality that I generated with about an hour of my time (thats me prompting and testing back and forth). This actually works much better than Acrobat. It allows for fully automatic detection with manual modifications.

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John Harrold @abumirchi.com · 13/02/2026

Yes yes, chelation therapy, amniotic fluid, adrenochrome.

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