Mark Rolston Mark Rolston

Permissions, Permissions, Permissions!

More than once, I’ve built a Shortcut, tested it, and walked away confident. Only later—much later—I’ll notice it silently failed. Why? Because it tried to do something it didn’t yet have permission for. The irony is painful: I asked it to do something, and then I forgot to approve the very thing I asked it to do.

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Apple HomePod Mini Is Pushing My Buttons
Mark Rolston Mark Rolston

Apple HomePod Mini Is Pushing My Buttons

For the last few months, I’ve been experimenting with using a HomePod mini as a speaker for my Mac Studio. The idea was simple: if it worked well, I’d buy a second one and set up a stereo pair. So—how did the experiment go?

Let’s just say that the HomePod mini has now been replaced by a pair of Creative Pebble Pro speakers.

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The Apple Watch Faces I Can’t Have (But Still Want)
Mark Rolston Mark Rolston

The Apple Watch Faces I Can’t Have (But Still Want)

While scrolling through Instagram, I’m often served ads for apps like Facer and Facet—platforms that promise jaw-dropping Apple Watch faces. Normally, I scroll past them. My logical side usually wins the argument: “They’re not real watch faces, just widgets, and they won’t do what you want.” Case closed.

But the other day, one ad got me. I caved.

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