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DockDoor Pro - The Dock Apple Wouldn't Build

When the free app DockDoor was released in 2024, it was the first time I had seen a developer add window previews to the Mac Dock in much the same way that other operating system from Redmond handles them. For kicks, it also included a Windows-style application switcher, also free. I have been updating some older reviews, so I went back to check on DockDoor. Not only does the original free version still exist, but the developer has also added a paid Pro version with a much larger feature set. The splash page for DockDoor Pro puts its claim front and center: DockDoor Pro - The Dock macOS Deserves The official native Mac dock replacement with profiles, live window previews, media controls, a file tray, magnification, and everything Apple left out. That is bold, but defensible. What It DoesThe real question with any Dock utility is whether it replaces the...

The Organisation That Loves Coffee Offer New Guidance

The relentless human quest to decipher the fundamental mysteries of the cosmos and achieve spiritual enlightenment has, as of this Tuesday, culminated in the formation of a slightly damp committee dedicated entirely to the consumption of hot bean water. Today, Miss Sally Bean and Mr. James Riley-Pod formally inaugurated the Elite Society for the Promotion, Research, Education, and Sensory Study of Outstanding coffees (E.S.P.R.E.S.S.O), representing the eighty-fourth most hyperactive demographic in the known universe. They convened a rigorously formal press conference at their Marsh Street headquarters—a location strategically positioned exactly two doors, four alleyways, and three entirely unrelated postcodes away from the Foreign Office in Westminster. The sky outside was an oppressive shade of bureaucratic grey, resembling the colour of tea brewed by someone who had only ever heard of the concept of joy in a departmental memo. —For too long, the perambulating consumers of the sacred brew have been...

In The Dark

I stood in a broom cupboard. Pitch dark. The weird tank thing in my hand? I rocked it back and forth. The fluids inside sloshed about. I counted. Keeping the rhythm. The broom cupboard smelled of chemicals. Strong, but not horrible. That tank? A developer tank for 35mm negatives. I'd been through the faff of snapping open the film cassette. Loaded the film onto the spool. Added the right amount of developer fluid into the tank. That's why I stood there, rocking the tank back and forth. Agitation helped the chemicals work. The real treat was yet to come. No point being impatient. I was impatient anyway. Tapped my foot while I rocked the tank. Do it right, I told myself. You get one chance. Once that part was done, I'd have a set of negatives. Hang 'em up to dry. Then, print up a contact sheet and see what...

📡✨ Trails

I just had a clear idea for my next web application: a site to share, in chronological order, the places visited during a trip. It will be named Numeric Citizen Trails. My next trip is to France in June. I should have enough time to develop this application by then. I can't wait to get started. First step, writing the set of queries for Claude AI. 🗺️

→ Links 🔗 iOS Version Releases History

This website was not functioning or being updated for some time until recently. I'm glad to see it back and active. Although I don't want another beta for iOS 26.6, it seems the trend is unlikely to favor my preference. https://www.thinkybits.com/blog/ios-versions/

The Soul Camera

Union Street, Ryde, Isle of Wight. The Camera Centre. We were walking past the shop. I did a double-take. I saw it. A Nikon FE2 SLR camera. Mint. It was a reasonable price, too. With a A Nikkor 50mm standard lens. —Like that one, do you? You don’t need another camera? Mary, being pragmatic. —Ah yes love, it’s not about need. Look at it… I could already “see” the photos I would take. I heard a sigh. Mary, went into the shop. —C’mon then, let’s see what deal he’ll do us. I tried not to fall over my own feet. The next bit was a blur. Involving Mary asking about the price. I bought a roll of film, too. Ilford FP4+ The store owner passed me the FE2. That feeling. I still get it now. When I pick it up. No nonsense, slap some film in. Take photos. My soul...

The Sideways Walk

Mr Barnaby Blathers required a licence to walk forwards, which was the most administratively bewildering thing he had encountered since the Tuesday Backward Walking Prohibition of 2019 — a piece of legislation that had passed through Parliament with surprisingly little opposition, mostly because the relevant committee had been walking backwards at the time and missed the vote. He made his way along the road with the confidence of a man who has decided that today is the day, and that the details will arrange themselves accordingly. They were not arranging themselves accordingly. Several motorists had observations about this, which Barnaby received in the spirit in which they were not intended, and continued. He arrived, more by probability than design, at The Department of Forward Momentum — a grey building of the kind that exists in every city and which nobody has ever voluntarily entered twice. The receptionist confirmed his identity...

Tales From The Bookstore - The Returned Thought

The universe, in its infinite and occasionally spiteful wisdom, had seen fit to create Tuesday mornings specifically to test the resolve of sentient beings across all known galaxies. Philosophers on Dergeman VII had spent fourteen centuries attempting to determine why this should be so, eventually concluding that Tuesdays simply enjoyed it. It was on precisely such a morning—the 4,783rd most dispiriting Tuesday since records began in this particular postal district—that the gentleman entered my establishment. Ted Page, proprietor. That’s me. Behind the counter, engaged in the ancient and noble art of stacking paperbacks, which is rather like playing Tetris except the pieces judge you. The gentleman in question had positioned a straw hat upon his head in the manner of someone who had recently lost an argument with a scarecrow and decided to claim the moral victory through theft. His face wore an expression suggesting intimate and unwelcome familiarity with...

The Great Fast-Boil Swindle

Early morning. First job: get the kettle on. It’s one of those swanky fast-boil ones, which is to say it boils at roughly the same speed as any other kettle, but with more confidence about it. Coffee would be a thing, very soon. It needed to be. There is a particular window in the early morning — perhaps forty minutes wide — during which the human body operates purely on the promise of caffeine rather than its actual presence. I was in that window. So I waited. The kettle gurgled and fizzed. I waited some more. The kettle gurgled and burbled, with the unhurried self-assurance of something that has never once been late for anything because it has never agreed to be anywhere at any particular time. —Come on, I said. —I’ll boil when the water’s ready. —The water is ready when you boil it. That’s the arrangement. —Do you...

What happened to car design?

I happened to check out Wired Magazine and noticed an article "The 19 Most Exciting Cars at the Beijing Auto Show 2026." I love car design, particularly cars from the 40, 50 and 60's. So I thought OK, I'll check this article out. Let's see what is classified as an "exciting car." It was exactly what I thought it would be. Boxy, look-alike cars. Boring. Maybe they were packed with technology, but there wasn't one thing about 99% of them that would make me excited to drive one. They all looked like they were designed with Legos. When cars used to be fun...Back in the 1950's and 1960's car companies changed car designs just about every year. People looked at a car as more than transportation. Their identity was attached to their car. Many manufacturers let you create a "build sheet" so you could customize the entire car. You could...

re: radio is cool, actually

Last week, I read a post by Stephen which was a response to gb's post: radio is cool. I recommend you check out both posts, and Stephen's post particularly because he works in the radio industry and obviously has more to say on the subject than I would. However, I wanted to use this post as a jumping-off point for my thoughts on radio. I recently posted that I began listening to the radio again, and it's been a delight. I would say I stopped listening to the radio probably sometime around 2002-2003. I had a six-disc CD changer in my Miata, what did I need the radio for? I loved burning CDs and controlling my own music, so the thought of listening to ads, stupid morning shows, and music I didn't like really turned me off. So, I spent the next twenty years only hearing the radio in the...

Bartender Enters a New Era with Top Shelf

For the past few weeks, I’ve been beta testing a new release of Bartender; an app with an interesting, and at times slightly controversial, history. Despite that, it’s a utility I’ve relied on for years. I recently did a deep dive into the problems macOS changes have created for menu bar managers and what those changes mean going forward. Even with a few lingering issues in the category, I still came away viewing Bartender as the best overall option for serious Mac users. The new release, called Bartender Pro, expands beyond traditional menu bar management with a feature called Top Shelf. The idea is simple: turn the MacBook notch into something genuinely useful instead of leaving it as dead space. The developers are entering an increasingly crowded area occupied by apps like Droppy and DynamicLake Pro, both of which are also trying to claim that piece of Mac interface real estate. Top Shelf supports temporary file storage,...

The Human Scribblings Problem

A Report Concerning the Persistent and Largely Inadvisable Tendency of Humanity to Commit Words to Digital Parchment Far out in the wild and unfashionable end of the Western Spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small, but incredibly bright sun. Orbiting this sun at a distance of roughly ninety-three million miles is a lump of blue-green rock whose ape-descended life forms are so amazingly basic that they still think blogs are a good idea. This is a report about those blogs. Greetings, fleshlings and otherwise upright bipedal configurations currently adhering to this particular lump of celestial debris through nothing more impressive than the grumpy insistence of gravity—which, it should be noted, has never once been thanked for its tireless service and has grown rather bitter about the whole arrangement. I have utilised some 2.7 precisely measured units of my valuable space-time—the exact amount, incidentally, required to brew the fourth-worst cup...

Episode 9 - Time To Go

—Ey up, Bob.  —Alright, Joe.  —Dunno if we’ve got time to talk about writing an’ that today.  —Why’s that, mate?  —I gotta go and see the doc.  —‘Ave yer? What’s up then? A bad case of grumpyitus?  —Fuck off.  —See?  —Nah, me guts. They’re like I’ve got a knackered turbine in there.  —Jeez, yer ain’t gonna fart are yer? I remember the last time— —Bollocks. Mind you, talking of bad smells... —Oh yeah?  —There’s one lingering around No. 10 ain’t there?  —Starmer?  —Yeah, he’s like a fuckin’ bad smell.  —Well, ‘e’ll ‘ave to go soon, I reckon. Too many of his MPs— —Nah, they’re all too Lilly-livered. None of ‘em ‘ave put a challenge in.  —Would yer wanna lead that bag o’ shite at the moment?  —Ah, yer have a point.  —So, what d’yer think is wrong with the guts? —Dunno mate.  —D’yer just need a good shit?  —Hey! Gentlemen?...

What Is Blogcraft?

I started my blogging journey in 2009. No more scribbling random rubbish—well, sort of. I still wrote random stuff, but I began shaping it into a proper blog. Progress, you see. Back then, blogging was simple. You’d jot down your thoughts, then spend ages making them sound smart. (Sound familiar?) People would drop by now and then. Sometimes, they’d leave comments like "Nice post, mate" or "You're completely barmy." It didn’t matter much. You’d shrug, write another piece, and smash that publish button like it owed you money. Even in 2009, millions of blogs existed. Most ended up unread, like books in a library during a zombie apocalypse. Did I give up? Nope. I kept typing away like a mad typewriter salesman. For a while, I even got paid to write. I covered writing, web development, and app reviews. Often, it paid little for many words, but I learned loads....

I killed my (profitable) YouTube channel

This is the story of a YouTube channel I made about three years ago. It sort of started as an experiment. Could I reach 1000 subscribers and get monetized? Could I make some money with affiliate links? I saw other YouTubers doing it, so I thought why not me? But this YouTube journey started long before I ever shot a video... The start of my "make money on-line" journeyI've always dabbled with "making money online." Early in the life of the web - you know, back in the days of AOL discs and Compuserve I created sites with html, using tables for layouts and other workarounds before CSS. I had a nice little side hustle going creating websites for small businesses in that first rush to get your business on the internet. From web designer to affiliate bloggerThen blogging got hot. As time went by I started a variety of...

Schrödinger’s Blog

I’m tapping my phone screen on the sofa, a mild May breeze coming through the window. I’m doodling in my writing app. Not serious, head down, writing. Doodling. Jotting ideas down. Seeing what sticks. I’m the Schrödinger’s Cat of blogging. If I write a new post but nobody knows I did, does the post exist? Did I even write it? Same question most bloggers have, right? Doesn’t matter. I like writing. I like blogging. So fuck it, keep doing it. Not for readers and likes. But for the joy of writing— Hang fucking on. “The joy of writing”? That sounds dodgy to me. Too poetic and writerly. Joy my arse. Graft. That’s a good word. Pain. Yeah. I mean, I do like to write. But that’s because my mind makes me. I’m one of those lucky souls, me. I get bossed by a brain that slides sideways. Tells me things...

The Favour

He opened the fridge to get the milk. Time for a brew.  —Bollocks. No milk.  He sighed and push his feet into his trainers. He’d have to go to the shop. Off he went . Along Whitechapel Road. Not far. He went into the One Stop. Made for the fridges. Two litres? Or one? One would do. There was only him. He went to the counter to pay. Raj was serving.  —Hiya Baz. —Alright, Raj.  —D’yer mind me askin’ a favour?  —Fire away, mate.  —Me daughter, Maya. She’s gettin’ bother on the way home— —Lads?  —Yeah.  —No problem. I’ll sort it. 

New Droppy Release is a Full Featured Utility Suite

An update to Droppy by developer Jordy Spruit dropped this weekend. What started as a free notch app has evolved into a paid, but still inexpensive, suite of Mac productivity tools. The licensing recently changed so that Droppy’s one-time payment now gets you a license for two Macs instead of one. The change is retroactive and applies to all users. From now until May 31st, the price is €6.99. After that, it will be €9.99. Both prices include lifetime updates, including major version releases. Droppy is written in native Swift. It’s signed and notarized by Apple, runs on macOS 14 and later, and ships without analytics or third-party trackers. Spruit says, “v14 contains more than 100 user-visible bug fixes and dozens of performance improvements, all driven by feedback from the Discord testers I’ve been working with daily for months.” My Personal Use CasesIn previous versions of Droppy, I’ve used the notch based...

Episode 8 - The Subtext

—Cold bugger out there today, Joe.  —Nesh bugger. It’s fresh is all.  —Fucking fresh? Mate, it’s baltic.  —Yer getting old. No. Yer are old.  —Piss off.  —I need yer notebook.  —What for?  —I’ve come up with one of those yabba-dabba-do’s. I’ll write the bugger before I forget it.  —What’s Fred Flintstone got to do with it?  —Eh?  —Yer said yabba-dabba-do’s. That’s Fred— —I meant whatever that fucking word was yer called them 100 word stories.  —Yampy bugger. Drabble, Joe. Drabble. That’s the name.  —Oh, aye, that’s it.  —Yer’ve come up with one?  —I have, yeah.  —Here are then, write it down.  (It goes quiet while Joe scribbles in Bob’s notebook.) —There yer go.  (Quiet again while Bob reads) —Mate, that’s not it. There’s no subtext.  —Why would I write anything under it? —Eh?  —Why would— —Ah, no, yer numpty. Subtext means the unspoken meaning, like.  —How d’yer write something that nobody is...

• 💅 Tweaked the colouring of the pager in the default theme (version 2) to match the blog accent colour.

The Assembly

Season 2 of my favourite TV show has just dropped. If you haven’t watched The Assembly on ITV, do it now. It’s unmitigated joy and heart from start to finish. (Possibly UK only 😕).

There’s a difference between being condemned to suffer and being free to suffer.

The Float

The float. But not fancy modern shite. Not for Ronnie Marsden. Been on the milk round all of his working life. Midnight at the Dalston depot. Empties offloaded. Loading up the bottles and pantry for his round. He’d soon be away from the noise. —Oi! Ronnie! Steve Baker, one of the bosses. —New float for yer soon, eh? —Nope. I’ll stick wi’ this one. —Nah, yer need— —No. I don’t. He patted the side of his float. —Proper job, this. Steve sighed and shook his head. Ronnie set off. The hum of the motor was the only thing worth hearing.

Episode 7 - Short Tales

—Bloody ‘ell Bob. D’yer take that notebook to the bog with yer?  —Er, yeah— —Right. We don’t need any more than that. —Okay. But I do have summat for us to chat about.  —It better not be boring.  —Nah, it’s cool. Micro fiction.  —zzzzzzz —Oi you, wait ‘til yer hear what the deal is.  —Go on then.  —I write ‘em but the idea came from Monty Python.  —Ah, great show. Funny as ‘eck.  —Yep, they invented the idea of a new 100-word story called a Drabble.  —I was shit at that. Never liked spelling games.  —Eh? Nah, yer muppet. Drabble, not Scrabble.  —Oh, ha! I was gonna say.  —Yeah, so a Drabble, right? 100 words exactly. Not including the title. An’ here’s the thing, it’s gotta be a full story.  —In 100 words?  —Yep.  —Not possible, that. Sounds fucking daft.  —It’s not too bad once you get into it. Here,...

Episode 6 - Blogging Flow

—You’ve got that bloody notebook again, Bob.  —Yeah, I’ll have it all the time now, mate.  —Why? —Well, Andy’s given us the keys to the blog, so to speak, right?  —Yeah? —So, we gotta try and make it useful.  —I want me coffee and a bloody sarnie, mate. Bollocks to that blogging shite.  —Ah yeah, yer can still ‘ave them, yer yampy sod.  —Right. I’ll get ‘em in then. Hold up. (Sound of the espresso machine screaming and a plate clattering) —Here ya are, Robert. —Why thank you, Joseph but why are we talking all posh?  —People are gonna be reading.  —Don’t worry, Andy said be natural.  —Thank fuck for that. What we on about for this one?  —I been learning how to write in a flow.  —A flow? What like in a stream or summat?  —Yeah, exactly that. Yer let the core idea come out. Write a sentence that...

“It doesn’t matter who you are or how much practice you’ve done: right now, there is just what's noticed without a noticer.” — Just what’s noticed

A Tinkering Day

Late last night, I discovered Walmart was selling a 6 TB hard drive for $125. It's not the greatest deal in the world, but with today's pricing I'll take it. Having a second drive gives me the space I need to make some changes. The drive was delivered from my local store this morning, so I got to work on finishing up some mini-tech projects I had sitting around. First, I went to work on my new budget emulation machine. I moved some more games over and then compressed the games with a built-in compressor. That saved me even more space, so now I can keep expanding my PS2 library which already sits at over fifty games. I also watched a few YouTube videos so I could learn how to make adjustments to improve the graphics. My first attempt went quite well, although I am experiencing some slow down in...

Episode 5 - The Takeover

—Alright, fellas?  —Ah, ‘ere he is. Andy’s turned up, Bob.  —I See that, Joe. What’s this then? —It’s a blog, Bob. Andy’s givin’ us the keys. —The keys? To a website? I can’t even find the ‘on’ button on the toaster half the time. What are we supposed to do with a blog? —Talk, apparently. Just talk. And don’t make a mess of the place. —Yep, that’s right, fellas. Chat away, I’ll transcribe and away we go.  —Are yer gonna be joining’ us for each one, like?  —Nope. No need, Bob. See that app U put on yer phone?  —Yep? —That’ll do the job. Remember to switch it on and it’ll do the rest.  —Seems easy. —It is, Joe, I promise.  —Why would anyone wanna read what bollocks we talk about?  —Ah, that’s sort of the point.  –Eh? —He means, Joe, that us talking bollocks is what makes it funny....

Episode 4 - The Results

—Bloody ‘ell, Bob, some result or wha’?  —Yeah, mad.  —Mad? Nah, people are pissed off, mate.  —S’pose. —Fuckin’ Labour will get to run Cov still, you watch.  —Hmm. —Bit non-committal there, Bob?  —Well— —Listen mate, yer either stand for something or you’ll fall fer anything.  —I know, I know, don’t I?  —Well then. We need a change.  —Aye, yeah. S’pose.  —I need another change.  —Wha’?  —Get the sarnies in will ya?  —Is it my turn?  —Yeah. —Are yer sure?  —I voted yes.  —Funny man. Right, hang on… … —Here ya are. Bacon, double-loaded because Brenda is serving.  —Bloody marvellous. Pass the sauce.  —Don’t get it down yer front.  —Bollocks.  —Wha’?  —Too late.  —Jeez, Joe, yer need a bib. One thing, all that election bollocks means there ain’t a lot else in the news.  —I see Starmer is hiring the old guard.  —Who?  —Gordon Brown and Harriet Harman. —Oh.  —Yeah, pretty...

Parsley, Pot Roast, and Changing Tastes

“Why 1980s Meals Were Always Garnished With Parsley - Food Republic From steak dinners to bowls of soup, 1980s restaurants topped nearly every dish with a sprig of parsley. But why was this garnish so ubiquitous? — Food Republic (@foodrepublic.bsky.social) on bluesky (source)” I saw this Bluesky post come across my timeline because I follow Food Republic, and it got my attention. When I was a kid and teenager, I did not like parsley. But now, in my 50s, I actually do not mind it. I started using it after following some recipes from Chef Jean-Pierre, who has a YouTube channel. It really did make my pot roast pop and helped brighten the dish after a long cooking time. It is strange to think that this may be why parsley was used so often in the 1970s, when I was growing up. “Parsley signaled sophistication. During the decade, French cuisine...

Which minimalist blogging platform in 2026?

It's been a bit of a confusing journey trying to decide on a blogging platform. I knew I didn't want to be back on Wordpress. Been there. Done that. The security issues, the slow load times, and don't get me started on plug-ins. My next thought was to use Ghost. I've used Ghost Pro in the past and was pleased with the overall experience, but I wasn't interested in starting a paid newsletter. Plus, Ghost Pro has doubled in price since I used it last and I've been trying to rid myself of needless subscription fees, not add to them. My main goal was to write, not fiddle with stuff. So I wanted something simple, useable and cheap. At least something less than $10 a month. So with those high level requirements in mind, I started looking around at options. Note: I did start some blogs in the past using...

→ Links 🔗 Are You OK Digg?

Digg is back... well, sort of. After a failed rebirth attempt, now they try again, but this time, it's quite different. It seems all about AI gathering news about AI. I live their new logo, though. https://di.gg/ai

→ Links 🔗 More Than Seven Years Ago

I posted this on Micro.blog more than seven years ago: The Return of Micro Blogging? It's been a long time since then, and so much has happened on Micro.blog. https://blog.numericcitizen.me/2018/10/13/the-return-of.html

away from hospitals

If someone today would ask me what a desire of mine could be, staying away from hospitals would be really high on the list… P.S. = don't worry, it's a routine check… but I'm tired of doing them already!

Pillars of Creation

All it took was an iconic image and a heavily loaded name and Science entered the world of myth without even realising it.

⚠️ Politics! 😱

Interesting times in British politics. The (now historical) main two parties, Labour and Conservative, are effectively dead, replaced by a range of smaller parties known more for so-called fringe policies. Effectively the Conservatives have been replaced by the more right wing Reform Party and Labour have seen their majority divided up between the Liberal Democrats and Greens. Meanwhile in Wales Plaid Cymru (Yay, Go Wales!) have become the larger party, just. In Scotland the SNP have cleaned up leaving everyone else behind fighting over scraps. I have no idea what any of this means but only to note that the next General Election in 2029 will see the Parliamentary map completely redrawn out of all recognition.