LJPUK

Of course Apple is considering a more expensive iPhone

February 6th, 2023

If there’s one thing Apple likes under Tim Cook it’s money. Their profit margins are massive and they are making more money than ever. So when I read this I was like of course Apple is going to do this.

I do get concerned they have lost their way, chasing money over user experience. Too many models in the iPad line up and now the iPhone looks to be going the same way. Personally I think they should sort out their software and stick to a more simple iPhone line up, but who am I.

This has zero appeal to me as an iPhone Mini fan.
A week creating YouTube content

February 5th, 2023

As you know I’m focusing more on video and for the last week I’ve been doing mostly shorts. What I’ve observed is very random. Although I’ve more than doubled my subscribers there’s no pattern for which content gets views. My least effort content seems to get more views than ones I spend more time on.

I think it’s at the whim of when YouTube puts you in the feed. Not even time of day seems to matter.

I’m at the point I don’t overthink I just share what and when I’m feeling like it.

If you’d like to support me please subscribe, it’s a free way to help.
Does Apple even care about display zoom?

February 5th, 2023

I’m trying to be positive on this blog but I’m writing this because I’m getting nowhere with Apple.

I use display zoom mode on my iPhone and I’ve been reporting the same bugs for years. Apple does generally do a great job for accessibility settings but display zoom isn’t one of them.

Broken widgets are common

Text gets cut off all over the place

When you want to markup a screenshot, you can’t even tap the button

Above is just an example of the type of problems that I encounter when using display zoom.

I’ve no idea what to do next.
How to turn your YouTube videos into shorts

February 4th, 2023

Link.
Moving to a paper to do list

February 4th, 2023

Over the last week or so I dropped all of my to do apps. I’ve realised it makes no difference to the way my mind works if it’s on paper or on an app. So, I took everything out of my apps and put them into a paper note book. This is my running list of things I want to get done.

For things that I have to remember to do I’ve been relying on my iPhone calendar but this is few and far between, I don’t have a lot to go in there.

I’ve felt a little more relaxed about it and my iPhone feels a little less important. I’ve gotten so caught up in apps over the years it’s also nice to not care about the app’s shortcomings too.

How do you manage your to do list?
Do YouTube shorts increase your subscriber count?

February 3rd, 2023

I’ve been sharing a lot of shorts on YouTube and in the last week I’ve more than doubled my subscriber numbers, so yes sharing shorts does result in more subscribers.
Don’t overthink YouTube shorts

February 3rd, 2023

I’ve been playing with a mix of shorts and longer form videos on my channel, what I’ve found is with shorts I’m not thinking about audio quality really at all. I’m just posting things I think my subscribers would be interested in. I’m not writing scripts or anything I’m just recording on the fly. Give it a go, share more of the off the cuff or behind the scenes stuff.
No news

February 2nd, 2023

I realised this morning that I’ve kept away from the news (main news, not tech) for over a month now. I’m avoiding all news sources at the moment. I can’t do anything about the stories so don’t want to add to my overwhelm.

It’s not made me that much more relaxed now I think of it, which I thought it would but I do have a bit more space to think.
Shades of grey

February 2nd, 2023

One thing I’m not missing about being so close to tech right now and doing some guitar stuff is the need to put others down, be it a platform or a writer.

Especially on the Apple side there seems to be a need for some to defend this trillion dollar company and stoke the flame wars, I don’t see the need. We have enough going on in the world right now so why do some feel this need to incite bad feelings towards others? I just don’t get it.

I do see this on YouTube “why brand X sucks” videos are there for almost any topic but I’m trying to be more positive this year.

Not everything is black or white, most things are shades of grey.
I’ve reached capacity on my creative projects

February 1st, 2023

I’m starting to realise that with me picking up a little more focus on growing my YouTube channel again that this blog, sharing photos, time on social media, gaming and my actual guitar playing falls by the wayside. With my commitments at home and a full time job I’m realising I don’t have capacity for it all.

I’ve needed to focus on just one or two things over the last week. YouTube and guitar are my focus right now but I’m going to check in here more than social media. Twitter has made me realise that my content is better here than on any social media platform.

How do you find time to fit everything in?
How to connect a blue yeti microphone to an iPhone

January 30th, 2023

I figured this out and it works really well.
M-Audio BX4

January 28th, 2023

So far so good. These sub £100 pair are working well with music and guitar.
If you want to grow your YouTube channel try uploading shorts

January 27th, 2023

I’m fascinated about the YouTube algorithm and shorts right now. I’m probably overanalysing things but as someone growing a channel I’ve noticed a massive difference in the number of views on a short vs normal video. Some of my longer videos have less than 10 views but my less production effort shorts get almost 2000. I’ve also noticed that shorts are driving subscriptions more than people viewing my longer format videos.

I’m still learning all of this but it does seem that uploading shorts certainly helps grow a channel like mine, where I’m starting off small.
IK Multimedia Releases iRig Stream Mic Pro

January 26th, 2023

IK Multimedia are a great company and this release could be good timing for me looking at different ways to record for YouTube.

Check out the release here.
Another reminder not to trade your devices into Apple

January 26th, 2023

Trading devices with Apple just got a bit worse but it’s not a surprise. Apple used to be ok a few years ago but since this time their value for trade in has been terrible. I’ve recommended using Music Magpie and in all the trades I’ve done their value and process is the most straightforward. (Not a sponsored post, I just like their process 😀).