My brother and his fiancée took the “Intro to Climbing” class at Central Rock Gym this evening and then joined Zeba and I for some climbing after! It was a great time! My brother even made it to the top of a route I had been working on for a few sessions!

Manton Reece, founder of Micro.blog and creator of new RSS reader app Inkwell, announced the release of a native Inkwell app for the Mac earlier today. If you’re interested in checking it out, the app is available for download directly from the link in his blog post.

While I haven’t yet tried the Inkwell app for macOS, I did check out the web version and enjoyed using it! One of the features that sets Inkwell apart from other RSS readers is the ability to highlight text from within a post and then use that to create a new post on your own Micro.blog account.

Additionally, the “Fading” tab, which collects posts older than a few days and automatically archives them afer a week, is a nice way to ensure you don’t end up with too many unread posts to catch up on.

Apple announced the AirPods Max 2 earlier today via a press release on their “Newsroom” website:

CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA - Apple today announced AirPods Max 2, bringing even better Active Noise Cancellation (ANC), elevated sound quality, and intelligent features to the iconic over-ear design. Powered by H2, features like Adaptive Audio, Conversation Awareness, Voice Isolation, and Live Translation come to AirPods Max for the first time. The new AirPods Max also unlock creative possibilities for podcasters, musicians, and content creators, with useful features like studio-quality audio recording and camera remote.

AirPods Max 2 will be available to order starting March 25 in midnight, starlight, orange, purple, and blue, with availability beginning early next month.

“With the incredible performance of H2, AirPods Max are upgraded with up to 1.5x more effective ANC for the ultimate all-day listening experience,” said Eric Treski, Apple’s director of Audio Product Marketing. “The sound quality is remarkably clean, rich, and acoustically detailed — and when combined with capabilities like Personalized Spatial Audio, AirPods Max 2 deliver a profoundly immersive experience.”

It looks like the AirPods Max are getting a pretty nice upgrade. I have a pair of the original AirPods Max (with the Lightning port), but would be interested in comparing audio quality as well as checking out out some of the “Intelligent Features” that have been added to the AirPods Max 2.

Zeba and I joined a local rock climbing gym today! We took both an “Intro to Climbing” and an “Intro to Ropes” class last week, did some climbing a couple of days later (after buying a day-pass), and then signed up for a membership today. There’s definitely a lot to learn, but we’ve been enjoying the challenge!

Checked out the MacBook Neo in two separate Apple Stores that I happened to be near over the past several days. Though I only used it briefly, it seems well-built and not unlike the other MacBooks in the lineup. I definitely think this could be a great option for those who are looking for a good, reasonably priced, general-purpose laptop.

Said goodbye to our family’s chihuahua, Jessie, on Tuesday.

He recently fainted and, after a trip to the emergency vet and then a follow-up appointment with the primary care vet, we learned that he had a large mass in his chest - almost certainly cancer - that was likely the cause of the health issues he was experiencing.

He eventually developed some issues with breathing and stopped eating as much as he usually did. As a result, he was no longer his usual, active, self.

We got him when I was in college and still living at home (where he stayed, with my parents, after I moved out).

He will be missed very much.

Our family's pet chihuahua, Jessie - a brown and white chihuahua. In this photo, he's standing in the kitchen with his mouth open, possibly ready to play fetch with a ball.

Just watched a few minutes of “Shrinking”, which Zeba was watching on Apple TV. It stars Jason Segal, Harrison Ford, Jessica Williams, and others and, while I didn’t watch all that much, it seems like a pretty good show!

Interesting NYT Connections puzzle (#972) today! Took me a few tries, but I got through it!

Connections Puzzle #972
🟩🟩🟩🟪
🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟦🟨🟨🟨
🟨🟨🟨🟨
🟪🟪🟪🟪
🟦🟦🟦🟦

Realized today that, as of iOS 26.2, users can set alarms for reminders in Apple’s stock “Reminders” app. Not sure if I heard about this before and forgot, but it’s definitely good to know as someone who regularly uses the stock “Reminders” app across my Apple devices.

Apple Announces Updated AirTag

On Monday, January 26th, Apple announced a new version of the AirTag, which is the first update that the tracker has received since its launch in 2021.

According to a press release on the Apple Newsroom website, the new AirTag features Apple’s second-generation Ultra Wideband chip, which is the same chip that is included in Apple’s latest iPhones, including the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, and the iPhone Air, as well as the Apple Watch Ultra 3 and Apple Watch Series 11. The AirTag also includes an updated Bluetooth chip.

As a result, users will now be able to locate their AirTags using Precision Finding on their iPhones and Apple Watches (so long as you have an Apple Watch Ultra 2 or newer or an Apple Watch Series 9 or newer) from distances up to 50% farther away than with the first-generation AirTag.

The updated AirTag retains the same look and feel as the first-generation model, though it now features a 50% louder speaker which, according to Apple, will enable users to hear it from twice as far away.

The AirTag works with Apple’s “Find My” network, including the “Share Item Location” feature, which is “an iOS feature designed to help users recover a misplaced item by temporarily and securely sharing its location with trusted third parties, such as airlines, so they can assist in recovering delayed luggage or other lost items.” Apple states that they have partnered with more than 50 airlines on this feature, enabling them to “privately and securely accept Share Item Location links”.

Pricing for the updated AirTag remains the same as it was for the first-generation - $29 for a single AirTag or $99 for a four-pack.

I know I’m a bit late on posting about this, but we got quite a bit of snow over the weekend - around 17 inches or so! Definitely thankful that we have a snowblower, that’s for sure!