Apple M1 Review


Last summer during the World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC), Apple announced the introduction of a new processor and architecture for the Mac. I cannot overstate the significance of this change. It’s a big deal. In November Apple started shipping Mac laptops and the Mac mini with this new processor named the M1. The reviews were shocking because almost everyone loved the new processor. Even the most ardent critics of Apple, like The Verge, gushed over this new Mac. I was left scratching my head… could it be that good? Well, the answer is yes.



Sanctus.org is a hobby project of mine. It started when I was in college at Concordia University, River Forest. My dorm floor started praying Matins in the morning before classes together. This was before the Lutheran Service Book had been published. We relied upon a set of Word documents to pick daily readings. I thought it would be neat to have a webpage that did this for us. My dorm mates helped type data and shortly thereafter I released the first version of the site.



I’d like to think I have a modest yet informed smart home game. We are an Apple HomeKit house. I love Apple’s position on security, especially when it comes to technology for my home. While HomeKit is great it can make it challenging to find affordable devices. I’ve used smart plugs for a long time and recently decided I wanted to try bulbs. Each of my master bedroom lamps plugged into a smart plug. I use HomeKit automation to turn them on in the morning. The problem is they come on at full brightness and make waking up a bit jarring. What I wanted was for them to increase brightness over a half-hour. So I decided to look for dimmable smart bulbs.


Super Bowl 2021


After 10 months I'm ready for the Super Bowl. I'm not as excited about it as I thought I would be, though. Despite not having pre-season games, this season felt a lot longer than normal. Perhaps it's because games got moved around each week. Or maybe it's because I never knew who was actually going to play for my team.

Nonetheless here we are at Super Bowl Sunday.


The Return of MagSafe


There is a rumor that MagSafe is returning to the Mac. Even Mark Gurman buys into this rumor. I hope it’s not true.

In the early 2000’s Apple released improvements to their products that seemed minor, but often had dramatic improvements in day to day use. It was this attention to detail that set Apple apart and helped to create a new generation of Apple fanboys. MagSafe was one of those features. Almost everyone has, at some point, snagged a laptop charging cable and put their device at peril. Apple’s idea of using a magnet in the charging connector to avoid accidentally tossing your device off of its perch was brilliant and it won over tons of fans. It’s hard to remember just how crazy this idea was, but back then you weren’t supposed to put a magnet anywhere near your devices. Magnets were the enemy, often responsible for data loss and hardware failure. It’s easy to forget this and take for granted how astounding this seemed at the time because, since MagSafe, we’ve had lots of devices with magnet integrations, like the iPad Smart Covers, the Apple Watch and now iPhone cases.