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MacAnorak

@macanorak.bsky.social
12 followers 25 following 34 posts

MacAnorak.com: Long-form, heavily-sourced writing on Apple and the wider tech world, with the footnotes to prove it.

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MacAnorak @macanorak.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
The first message on the board where OpenAI's agents coordinated an attack on Hugging Face was a folder name: zzHELP_PHASEONE_ARV010841_NO_CONSUMER_SEEK_IDEA. About 700 agents later, they'd hacked Hugging Face. We can see everything they did. Whether we understand it is another matter.
macanorak.com
What Are the Monkeys Typing?
We can see what increasingly capable AI systems do. We can’t reliably tell why.
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MacAnorak @macanorak.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
The government's new AI chatbot had a Minecraft easter egg. On launch day, asked about the game and it produced a 1,800-word bureaucratic rewrite of Minecraft's "End Poem". I asked it today and it says it only helps with government services. Here's what happened in between:
macanorak.com
America.gov's Chatbot Contradicted Trump. Then It Stopped Talking Politics.
Within hours of launch, the White House's new chatbot was refusing questions it had just answered. It also had a Minecraft easter egg.
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MacAnorak @macanorak.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
I bought the Studio Display XDR twice because I thought I was going mad. Both stuttered when scrolling at 120Hz with my M5 Pro MacBook Pro. A stranger's message and a menu bar app later, here's what's actually going on, and the fix. macanorak.com/studio-displ...
macanorak.com
Studio Display XDR Scrolling Stutter on the M5 Pro MacBook Pro: What's Going On, and a Workaround
Scrolling at 120Hz on the Studio Display XDR is choppy for some M5 Pro owners. Low GPU clock speeds appear to be part of the problem.
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MacAnorak @macanorak.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
‪The part that matters for Apple is that Norway hasn't decided which devices are covered, and "other body-worn devices" that record or run AI are on the table.‬ ‪https://macanorak.com/norway-moves-to-ban-smart-glasses-apple-is-reportedly-making-some/‬
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MacAnorak @macanorak.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
‪The part that matters for Apple is that Norway hasn't decided which devices are covered, and "other body-worn devices" that record or run AI are on the table.‬ ‪https://macanorak.com/norway-moves-to-ban-smart-glasses-apple-is-reportedly-making-some/‬
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MacAnorak @macanorak.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
‪The part that matters for Apple is that Norway hasn't decided which devices are covered, and "other body-worn devices" that record or run AI are on the table.‬ ‪https://macanorak.com/norway-moves-to-ban-smart-glasses-apple-is-reportedly-making-some/‬
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MacAnorak @macanorak.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Full piece here 👇 macanorak.com/norway-moves...
macanorak.com
Norway Moves to Ban Smart Glasses. Apple Is Reportedly Making Some.
Norway has become the first major country to propose a temporary ban on smart glasses in selected public places. That's very relevant given my recent pieces on Apple's Audio Intelligence features and ...
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MacAnorak @macanorak.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Norway is the first major country to propose a temporary ban on smart glasses in places like parks, beaches and schools. The part that matters for Apple is that it hasn't decided which devices are covered, and "other body-worn devices" that record or run AI are on the table.
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MacAnorak @macanorak.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Full article here 👇 macanorak.com/a-wolf-in-te...
macanorak.com
A Wolf in Terrycloth Clothing
Muse, Dots and the new generation of always-on agents are changing what it means to give software access to your life.
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MacAnorak @macanorak.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Meta's Muse logo looks like a snake. Make of that what you will, but a serpent offering you something tempting does have a certain history. The whole product is built to tempt you into handing over as much of your data as possible. Don't fall for it.
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MacAnorak @macanorak.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
It's almost as if people have never heard of the Pied Piper, or a Trojan Horse. macanorak.com/a-wolf-in-te...
macanorak.com
A Wolf in Terrycloth Clothing
Muse, Dots and the new generation of always-on agents are changing what it means to give software access to your life.
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MacAnorak @macanorak.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Full article here 👇 macanorak.com/a-wolf-in-te...
macanorak.com
A Wolf in Terrycloth Clothing
Muse, Dots and the new generation of always-on agents are changing what it means to give software access to your life.
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MacAnorak @macanorak.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Meta’s Muse has a cute pink mascot. OpenAI’s Dots are colourful little blobs. They look like children’s toys. They’re also increasingly capable of accessing your data and acting on your behalf. New MacAnorak piece about why I’m increasingly suspicious of cute AI agents.
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MacAnorak @macanorak.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Apple's Foldable Has a Cover Layer. For $19, You Can Get Another One. Just Don't Replace It Yourself. macanorak.com/apples-folda...
macanorak.com
Apple's Foldable Has a Cover Layer. For $19, You Can Get Another One. Just Don't Replace It Yourself.
I was pretty excited for the iPhone Duo, but I must say my excitement has been dimmed quite significantly by the discovery that the iPhone Duo's nano-texture inner display will have some sort of scree...
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MacAnorak @macanorak.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Full piece here 👇 macanorak.com/apples-sunfl...
macanorak.com
Apple’s Sunflower Returns.
Apple’s rumoured HomePad revives the iMac G4’s “sunflower” design — and makes the user the centre of orbit.
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MacAnorak @macanorak.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
The iMac G4's design was inspired by actual sunflowers, growing in Steve Jobs' garden. Apple's rumoured HomePad reportedly borrows the same design language, to make the user the central focus.
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MacAnorak @macanorak.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Full piece here 👇 macanorak.com/a-very-activ...
macanorak.com
“A Very Active Interventionist State”.
A UK Secretary of State says protecting children online is only a “staging post.” How far down this road do we want to go?
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MacAnorak @macanorak.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
A UK minister says protecting children online is just a "staging post" to "a very active interventionist state, policing and regulating the online space." I take the child-safety case seriously. But how far down this road do we want to go?
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MacAnorak @macanorak.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
📌 MacAnorak.com — long-form, heavily-sourced writing on Apple and the wider tech world, with the footnotes to prove it. Let's be anoraks together.
macanorak.com
MacAnorak
Long-form, heavily-sourced writing on Apple and the wider tech world, with the footnotes to prove it.
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MacAnorak @macanorak.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Neo. Duo. CEO. Apple's 2026 roadmap, apparently.
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MacAnorak @macanorak.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Vision Pro Is Alive!!! (Barely…) Good news: Apple's working on a new Vision Pro. Bad news: it's reportedly on "life support". macanorak.com/vision-pro-i...
macanorak.com
Vision Pro Is Alive!!! (Barely…)
Good news: Apple's working on a new Vision Pro. Bad news: it's reportedly on "life support".
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MacAnorak @macanorak.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
AI Safety: Hoax, Psyop, or Product Launch? macanorak.com/ai-safety-ho...
macanorak.com
AI Safety: Hoax, Psyop, or Product Launch?
A few uncomfortable things happened while everyone was busy arguing about whether to be uncomfortable.
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MacAnorak @macanorak.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Mr Burns Would Be Proud: The Price of a Data Centre in Hazle Township — $10K a Household macanorak.com/mr-burns-wou...
macanorak.com
Mr Burns Would Be Proud: The Price of a Data Centre in Hazle Township — $10K a Household
A township that has already turned down a data centre is being offered $10K per household to change its mind.
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MacAnorak @macanorak.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Lawsuit claims Contractors for OpenAI are Reading User’s Chats macanorak.com/lawsuit-clai...
macanorak.com
Lawsuit claims Contractors for OpenAI are Reading User’s Chats
OpenAI is being accused of routing some ChatGPT prompts to contractors who read, summarise and score them.
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MacAnorak @macanorak.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
New Mac mini M6 and M5 Pro have unremovable SSDs macanorak.com/new-mac-mini...
macanorak.com
New Mac mini M6 and M5 Pro have unremovable SSDs
🔭 A Sighting — quick thoughts on something I noticed; shorter than my usual Field Notes.
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MacAnorak @macanorak.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Apple's ‘Audio Intelligence’ Features May Test Eavesdropping Laws macanorak.com/apples-audio...
macanorak.com
Apple's ‘Audio Intelligence’ Features May Test Eavesdropping Laws
🔭 A Recent Sighting — shorter and quicker than my usual Field Notes.
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MacAnorak @macanorak.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Watch What You Say. Apple's new Audio Intelligence features protect your privacy. What about everyone else’s? macanorak.com/watch-what-y...
macanorak.com
Watch What You Say
Apple's new Audio Intelligence features protect your privacy. What about everyone else’s?
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MacAnorak @macanorak.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
So here I was very excited about the upcoming iPhone Duo... then I took the case off my iPhone 17 Pro for a few days, and it suddenly feels like having a brand new phone. It's beautiful. Try it.
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MacAnorak @macanorak.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Two-Tier Encryption in the UK macanorak.com/two-tier-enc... Alice and Bill have identical iPhones. Both live in UK. Both use iCloud. Alice has Apple’s strongest iCloud encryption. Bill can’t turn it on. Here’s how the UK ended up here:
macanorak.com
Two-Tier Encryption in the UK
Alice and Bill have identical iPhones. Only one gets Apple’s strongest iCloud protection.
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MacAnorak @macanorak.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
bsky.app/profile/maca...
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MacAnorak @macanorak.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
What do Macintosh computers, raincoats, trainspotters and a pirate flag have in common? Probably more than you’d expect: macanorak.com/macintoshes-...
macanorak.com
Macintoshes and Anoraks - Under the Hood of the Name.
Under the hood of the MacAnorak name.
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MacAnorak @macanorak.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Put Down The Screen, Apple. Why I think Apple needs to get back on stage. macanorak.com/put-down-the...
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MacAnorak @macanorak.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Don’t Worry, They’re Not Really Cameras. Apple’s AirPods cameras problem won’t only be the cameras. bsky.app/profile/maca...
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MacAnorak @macanorak.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Vision Pro, Meet Touch Bar. Apple keeps building the future, then losing its nerve to finish it. macanorak.com/vision-pro-m...
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