iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

New post: “Two Weeks with the Fitbit Air” It's a different experience than the Apple Watch, but is it better? coyotetracks.org/blog/two-weeks-fit…

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Watts Martin @coyotetracks.org · 8h

Somewhat more seriously, I'm trying to build back my blogging muscles enough to get some kind of newsletter going—although I'm not sure who'd be interested, or how I'd set it up technically.

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Watts Martin @coyotetracks.org · 9h

I'm feeling curiously mixed emotions at getting a contact from a recruiter about a position that sounds potentially interesting, because so much of me just wants to stop working for other people at this point. Unrelatedly, let me remind you my blog has a tip jar.

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Watts Martin @coyotetracks.org · 05/10/2026

How many people use desktop widgets on macOS? I started out ignoring them, then added one or two, and now probably have too many. (Well, four, but one of them is really big.)

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Reposted by Watts Martin

tante @tante.cc · 02/10/2026

There was this consensus of not going to X after Elon Musk turned it into a right-wing hellhole but I see more and more especially journalists going back "because the AI people are there".

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Watts Martin @coyotetracks.org · 30/09/2026

Lately the ads LinkedIn shows me have tilted strongly toward "own your own franchise of [X]". I don't think that's what I want to do, but it's…curious.

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Watts Martin @coyotetracks.org · 28/09/2026

New post: “Why They're Building Muse” After reading Alexandr Wang's mission statement for Meta's new AI assistant, I have some modest improvements to suggest. coyotetracks.org/blog/why-building-…

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Watts Martin @coyotetracks.org · 22/09/2026

After just two days of MacSparky-style hyperscheduling, I'm not sure I *am* more productive but it certainly *feels* like I am. #FakeItTillYouMakeIt

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Watts Martin @coyotetracks.org · 21/09/2026

After over a year on Emacs, I am starting to finally use Org mode's agenda system for daily planning, sort of a take on @macsparky.bsky.social's "hyperscheduling" (which I'd also been resisting even as I started to follow more of the Productivity Field Guide's advice).

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Watts Martin @coyotetracks.org · 18/09/2026

New post: “Org Mode, Marked, and Workflows” Writing prose in Org Mode is just as nice as doing it in Markdown…except when you want to do anything with it outside of Emacs. Pandoc, though, can ride to the rescue. coyotetracks.org/blog/org-mode-and-…

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Watts Martin @coyotetracks.org · 17/09/2026

It seems like the Fitbit doesn't record as many steps as the Apple Watch, and maybe not as much in general? Bevel, another health app I'm trying, was happy with me the last few days but today it thinks I'm a complete slacker.

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Watts Martin @coyotetracks.org · 17/09/2026

Knowing that today will be the first day I don't close all my Apple Watch rings in years is surprisingly anxiety-inducing! It's going to take me a bit to figure out the Way of the FitBit.

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Watts Martin @coyotetracks.org · 17/09/2026

I have the FitBit Air, and now have to figure out how to coordinate between three different health tracking apps that all want to be in charge. And I don't think Pedometer++ works gracefully with the FitBit, which will be kind of annoying, but, well.

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Watts Martin @coyotetracks.org · 17/09/2026

The irony of continuing to try to de-Google in places—I just unsubscribed to two Buttondown newsletters that were on my Gmail account and resubscribed with another account—while also preparing to switch to the FitBit Air has struck me yet again just now. Oh well.

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Watts Martin @coyotetracks.org · 14/09/2026

New post: “Reconsidering the Apple Watch” After wearing an Apple Watch for nearly a decade, Apple's weird choices with the Series 12 may finally kick me back into the normal watch world. coyotetracks.org/blog/reconsidering…

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Watts Martin @coyotetracks.org · 13/09/2026

My Apple Watch's battery is fading, and for the first time in years I'm considering going back to my long-ignored mechanical watch and a $99 FitBit Air.

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Reposted by Watts Martin

Steve Horton 🚀 The Comic Book Story of Space Exploration @mst3k.fan · 11/09/2026

Conceding ground on trans folks does not defuse the issue. It does not placate or appease Republicans. It just gives them license to take more rights away from more poeple. And it pisses off the base. This is a losing strategy and Talarico and others need to get their minds right.

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Watts Martin @coyotetracks.org · 10/09/2026

I don't doubt Apple has made the new Apple Watch's "rewind" feature as privacy-minded as it could possibly be, but "let's make the Watch compete with the Humane AI pin" is a bogglingly monumental failure to read the room.

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Watts Martin @coyotetracks.org · 09/09/2026

I tried LinkedIn Premium's free trial, on the off chance that it would surprise me by not being essentially useless. It did not surprise me.

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Watts Martin @coyotetracks.org · 09/09/2026

Is there a progressive version of the EFF whose mission is less "don't regulate us, bro" than "tech can fight fascism rather than supporting it"? I'd rather join it than have to start it.

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Watts Martin @coyotetracks.org · 08/09/2026

I think tomorrow will be the first Apple livestream I've missed in years (due to travel). This may be a good thing, really.

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Watts Martin @coyotetracks.org · 07/09/2026

Baltimore has much to recommend it.

A billboard in Baltimore, handpainted, reading ABOLISH ICE.

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Watts Martin @coyotetracks.org · 01/09/2026

@monteiro.bsky.social Recalling your post on how to brew coffee (you are the only other Technivorm owner I know of!), have you tried Bird and Bear's Night Owl blend? A very dark roast (and a good one) roasted in a garage in Cole Valley.

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Watts Martin @coyotetracks.org · 01/09/2026

New post: “I Don't Think I Can Stay in Tech” It's becoming harder and harder to find tech employers that aren't making everything worse. coyotetracks.org/blog/stay-in-tech

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Watts Martin @coyotetracks.org · 20/08/2026

Wondering if this week's Connected podcast will address the Tesla in the room or not. (From the description, it doesn't look like it.)

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Watts Martin @coyotetracks.org · 20/08/2026

Now that I'm getting close to retirement age, it seems like a good time to go through "What Color Is Your Parachute" and figure out what I want to be when I grow up.

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Watts Martin @coyotetracks.org · 19/08/2026

I feel like I am burning bridges with people who almost certainly don't know I exist. Well, it's not like I make money at blogging anyway!

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Watts Martin @coyotetracks.org · 19/08/2026

New post: “If Your New People Are on X, Maybe Your New People Suck” If you return to Twitter/X after leaving it out of principle, do you really still have those principles? coyotetracks.org/blog/new-people-on…

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Watts Martin @coyotetracks.org · 18/08/2026

New post: “Lake Minneola to Lake Wobegon and Back” Musing about one last big trip with a parent, and the crossroads I face afterward. coyotetracks.org/blog/minneola-to-w…

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Watts Martin @coyotetracks.org · 13/08/2026

New post: “The Case of the Robot Web Thief” If you ask an AI agent to build you an application, can you be sure it's not helping itself to somebody else's code? coyotetracks.org/blog/case-of-robot…

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Watts Martin @coyotetracks.org · 12/08/2026

With Echofeed shutting down, I revived an old Ruby script I half-assed a while ago and improved it to be three-quarters-assed. Bonus: it posts to Bluesky and Mastodon near-instantly, since it runs as part of deployment.

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Watts Martin @coyotetracks.org · 07/08/2026

New post: "AI's chicken sandwich problem" coyotetracks.org/blog/ai-chicken-sa… Generative AI may have more uses than its critics allow, but the ethical quagmire isn't merely how you use it.

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Watts Martin @coyotetracks.org · 01/08/2026

I have had Detroit-style pizza in several cities now, none of which are Detroit, so I know which ones are *good* but I have no real idea which ones are authentic.

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Watts Martin @coyotetracks.org · 28/07/2026

Looking for tech jobs right now is soul-deadening in a way that I don't remember from the past ~30 years. My jokes about starting a tiki bar instead seem like more of a real Plan B (except that I can't leave Florida for the time being, and don't think I want to start one here).

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Watts Martin @coyotetracks.org · 23/07/2026

I tried Current, the very unusual RSS reader by @terrygodier.com, a while ago, but it didn't stick. I'm giving it another go now, though, as I think what I want from RSS is changing. Maybe. We'll see. (Current's also a bit more refined since my last go.)

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Watts Martin @coyotetracks.org · 23/07/2026

I've known people who've bought used cars for less than this body shop quoted to fix a dented front wheel side panel and do some paint blending.

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Watts Martin @coyotetracks.org · 22/07/2026

It feels very odd to have just placed an order for a new iPhone two months before the next models get announced, but I expect the iPhone 18 line to be extra expensive, and AT&T has a great deal running right now. So.

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Watts Martin @coyotetracks.org · 20/07/2026

All right, I suppose I'll allow it.

“Challenge Question 5” from one of those web forms that makes you add security questions: “What is your favorite security question?”

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Watts Martin @coyotetracks.org · 20/07/2026

I don't think I had the same level of ennui looking at LinkedIn and job posting sites even two years ago as I do now. I am sure there is a tech writing position out there I'll genuinely enjoy, but it's a small needle in an AI-generated haystack.

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Watts Martin @coyotetracks.org · 18/07/2026

Who would a new iPad mini be for? Me, quite possibly. Slightly bigger screen, OLED, better pencil support, check check check.

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Watts Martin @coyotetracks.org · 15/07/2026

The desktop widgets on macOS Golden Gate still have Tahoe-esque super-rounded corners. I wonder if Apple forgot desktop widgets were a thing…

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Watts Martin @coyotetracks.org · 14/07/2026

I have upgraded my phone to the iOS 27 Public Beta and am now upgrading my Mac to Golden Gate Public Beta. Hopefully nothing catches on fire.

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Watts Martin @coyotetracks.org · 07/07/2026

New post: "Bring back the Insert key on Emacs" coyotetracks.org/blog/emacs-overwri… Are you old and/or weird enough to want the [Insert] key to actually toggle between insert and overwrite modes on Emacs? I have a function for you.

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Watts Martin @coyotetracks.org · 30/06/2026

It's sort of odd to say goodbye, on Slack, to coworkers you've been working with for over a year but never met once in person.

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Watts Martin @coyotetracks.org · 25/06/2026

I'm particularly glad today that I didn't wait for the rumored touch screen/OLED updates to buy my M5 MacBook Pro, although I am nervous about how much the rumored OLED iPad mini I'd planned to buy will be now.

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Watts Martin @coyotetracks.org · 25/06/2026

Submitting my next-to-last timesheet, which is just burning through vacation time. The last one will be the last two days of June. It is very weird to have my job end while I am on vacation, but life is often very weird.

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Watts Martin @coyotetracks.org · 25/06/2026

Runza isn't healthy and I'm not entirely sure they're even good, but by god, they are sure Midwestern.

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Watts Martin @coyotetracks.org · 23/06/2026

I'm not sure how many people realize macOS has simple file-level version control if you turn on Time Machine: you can just select a file and click "Browse Time Machine Backups", and you'll get a list of all the versions of that file still stored. You can restore versions side-by-side.

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