Nik Nak’s Daily Teaser — 16-9-2026 — A Night at the Opera

16th September, 2026: A Night at the Opera.

OK: that’s macOS 27 Golden Gate installed.

Yes: I know I was planning to leave it for a couple of days: to get past the inevitable slow download speeds you get  when a major update’s released.

But … ?

I had an afternoon, free!

There’s pros and cons to the OS, I think.

Visually, it’s gorgeous: window corners are far more consistant, the Liquid Glass language is nice, and the traffic light buttons have a nice, Aqua-style sheen.

On the downside?

On the downside, the system voice settings seem inconsistent, compared to earlier versions of the OS.

I’ve got one voice doing most of them: and one or two others doing the rest.

And can’t figure out how to change them.

There’s also space.

I had some seven hundred and sixty gigabytes of space left on my machine’s main hard drive: under Tahoe.

But now have some six hundred and eighty (~680) gigabytes left.

I’m assuming that space is chewed up by the large language model used by SiriAI.

I’m aware of a couple of things.

First?

I’m not sure what’s going on with the voices: but yes, I have filled out another entry on Apple’s feedback page!

Second?

The Golden Gate update is very big.

It’s going to give those of us with smaller internal drives a headache.

~≈🍎≈~

Nik Nak’s Daily Teaser — 21-9-2024 — Malta

21st September, 2024: Malta.

Right then: it’s Saturday!

And, three days into using macOS Sequoia?

I have to admit, I’m enjoying it.

The new wallpaper’s are fun, the new window tiling features — now I’m figuring them out — are handy, and Quicktime’s new Background* feature are something I’m already taking advantage of.

About the only downside?

Was having to re-sign in to my Blogger account: and, last night?

Reconnect my copy of TV.app to my TV media library: so I could watch something on my AppleTV.

Heigh ho!

~≈📚≈~

Just as a sad bit of news … ?

Voice actor, David Graham, has died.

He’ll be much missed: especially as he was one of the original Dalek voices in the 1960s: and the voice of Parker, in the original Thunderbirds show.

~≈🎙️≈~

Nik Nak’s Daily Teaser — 27-10-2021: The Streets Of Philadelphia

27th October, 2021.

Yes!

I’ve encountered a new thing.

Or, at least, new to me.

I had a dental checkup, yesterday.

As a result … ?

I’ve been given a prescription for six tubes of super-strong toothpaste.

That’s new to me.

~≈🧀≈~

OK: I said, yesterday, that I was going to be upgrading my computer’s operating system.

From macOS 11.6.1 Big Sur, to macOS 12.0.01 Monterey.

At some point in the next few days.

That was my intention, at any rate.

I changed my mind, after getting back from the dentist earlier than expected.

Just to summarise?

Downloading the Monterey installer took about an hour: it’s 12.13gb in size.   Something that would normally be quicker: but yesterday was only the second day of release so there was a lot of traffic on Apple’s servers.

I had to remove several large — but relatively unimportant — items from my machine: because of the thing’s size.

The upgrade process, itself?

Took about an hour and a half.

The new OS … ?

Does seemed to have made some improvements.

It looks like;

• There’s more available space on my main drive as a result.
• Disk Utility seems to be doing some more accurate reporting.
• Accessing my Photos collection from the Media browser seems far more responsive.
• QuickTime* has a couple of extra features that seem useful.
• There’s a funky new wallpaper.
• And a matching screen saver.

Monterey’s Default Wallpaper.

About the only downsides of the process?   Was the size of the installer: but to be fair, Monterey has got Intel and Apple Silicon code in it.

And the fact that my copy of iMovie hung, when opening in the new OS: something that was easily solved — my iMovie library was corrupted, so I had to dump it, and build a new one — but I could’ve done without.

On the whole, though?

I’m fairly pleased with the process And look forward to using Monterey.

~≈🧀≈~

Nik Nak’s Daily Teaser — 9th April, 2020.

9th April, 2020.

You know … 

Stuff occurs … 

It usually does!

Some of the stuff that occurs?

Is yours truly, browsing the ’net.

Late at night.

And managed to find a news piece — from Macworld, no less — telling us that people were having issues with macOS 10.15.4 Catalina.

Something I can believe: I think Catalina’s been having issues ever since it was released.

The last kernel panic I saw, was in February!

So that should tell you something.

At any rate, macOS 10.15.4 has been causing issues, in and of itself.

Enough that Apple’s released a supplemental patch, today.

Am I surprised?

Nope!

~≈¥≈~

The Present's Tale: In Brentwood Library ...

7th March, 2020.

OK ...this is possibly getting to be a habit.   Possibly.

I've started a post, without an introductory video.

Debatably, a good thing: if you're not used to my ugly mug.

At any rate?

I've recently been given a cheap, refurbished, laptop.   A Lenovo Thinkpad T-400, so you know.

One I've installed a version of Ubuntu Mate on: as a replacement for the version of Windows Seven the sellers had installed by default.

The installation, I should add?   Was done on Thursday.

I had intended to do that from a version of the installer I'd managed -- after a lot of coaxing -- onto a US?B stick.

One that this laptop wouldn't recognise.

So I eventually installed from a DVD.

The process was fairly easy, and took a lot less time than I remember earlier installations doing.

Bar the odd quirk -- there's one important password that needs resetting -- it's running well.

~≈¥≈~

El Ministerio del Tiempo/The Ministry of Time — Series 3: Episode 8 — Tiempo de conquista/Time of Conquest — A Review

4th June, 2019.

Hmmm … 

I have to say, I’m a bit of an Apple fanboy, I really am.

So the company’s announcement — at this year’s World Wide Developer’s Conference  — of its new Mac Pro was … 

Well, lets just say it caught my attention shall we?

However good or bad Jonny Ives’ narration is!

The price caught my eye, too.

The baseline model costs some $5, 999: roughly £4,700.

Fully loaded?

Well … the figures I’ve tell me buying a couple of minis would be cheaper.

The cars, I should add.

For my computing needs?   It’s using a fourteen pound sledge hammer to crack a nut.

But I wouldn’t say no to one, if you were offering.

~≈∑≈~

The other thing that DID catch my eye … ?

Was Apple’s announcement … about iTunes.

It looks like Apple are to replace the app on the Mac platform with the release of macOS 10.15 Catalina.

With Podcast, TV and Music apps.

I’m … concerned, to say the least.

I — like many of us — have a large music collection: and could prefer to keep it.

How will it be affected by the planned move?   Will it be wiped?   Unusable?   Work with the planned Music app?   Will I be able to buy music on the Music store, or just stream it?

There’s issues, there.

I’ve got a few movies and TV shows I’ve bought from the store.   Will they still be accessible?   Will I still be able to watch them on the AppleTV?   Will I be able to buy, or rent more?   Will the cash left in my account still be accessible?

More to the point?

My media collection includes a lot of mp4 and m4v files from back-up DVDs and blu-rays.

Will I still be able to play then on my AppleTV, with the replacement software?

Or will I have to use the AppleTV version of VLC?

I don’t know.

That’s why I’m a little concerned.

~≈∑≈~

At any rate … tonight, I’ve been able to able to sae I’ve had a longish day: in Basildon Hospital: returning a bit of kit used for an overnight test.

Got myself back home … 

Had dinner … 

And yes: watched more of El Ministerio del Tiempo/The Ministry of Time’s third season.

Look, it’s not I’m addicted: I’ve just got a dose of ambient train music, right now!

~≈∑≈~

Nik Nak’s Daily Teaser — 4th June, 2019

4th June, 2019.

Yes: it’s official.

I’ve done the test.

Basically?

I had to pick up a piece of kick from Basildon Hospital: a thing called an oximeter, if I’ve got the name right.

You have to wrap the watch like thing around your wrist overnight, whilst wearing the attached thimble on your finger.

The idea is to check your blood oxygen levels, over night.

Hopefully?

I hope I’ve carried it out, correctly.

I’d hate to have to do it again … 

As I’d have to go back to Basildon, twice … 

Again!

~≈§≈~

Oh, just as a QUICK thought?

I’ve just seen the stats for the new MacPro.

Twenty-eight cores?

Wheels?

Ye GODS, I want one!

Anyone got several thousand pounds spare?

~≈§≈~

Star Trek Discovery — Series 2 Episode 2: New Eden — A Review

25th January, 2019.

Yes: I’ve officially had my lower jaws done.

Jaws?

JAW!

Cleaned, if you must know.

What made things … interesting … ?

Was the fact I thought I’d made the appointment for 11AM.

Turns out I was wrong.

Turns out it was for 2PM: which meant going into Brentwood High Street, twice!

Boy, I was embarrassed.

Still … 

I did managed to get to have a natter with one of the hygienists about the shiny new MacBookPro she was using … 

~≈§≈~

As I was able to let her know I’d got a notification, this morning, via MacWorld: turned out there were some quite serious security updates.

You can find the details, here.

Now, while I’m not sure or all the exact details … I’m fairly sure of something.

For starters, the updates have caused issues.

I know I’ve just rendered the intro for this piece: and had to shut down my Mac, a couple of times.

As rendering it in 1080p slowed iMovie down to a crawl, and made using switching between alternative desktops VERY crappy.

On the other hand … ?

I noticed that a number of the security updates listed on that page?

Were aimed at macOS’s kernel.

The underlying code that forms the operating system’s heart.

One was aimed at the hypervisor.   Which, if I’ve understood it correctly?   Is some of the heavyweight hardware control software that’s part of a modern operating system.

It is — if I’ve understood the Wikipedia entry correctly — controls a lot of a computer’s hardware.

On top of that … !

On top of that, Apple’s page thanked workers from Google’s Project Zero a lot of help on the kernel updates.

Project Zero are the Google researchers who find zero-day exploits: previously unknown security flaws.

And that, therefore, need treating rather urgently.

Frankly?



I’m grateful: that means my machine’s better protected.

I’m just going to have to wait for Apple to update iMovie, and Mojave.

I’m grateful for the protection.

But would like the rendering speed back.

~≈§≈~

Now, I have to admit: that’s NOT why I started this post.

Yes, you guessed it: it’s Friday.

And yes: right at the mo, that means it’s time for the new episode of … 

second series … 

~≈§≈~

Nik Nak’s Daily Teaser — 29th September, 2018: Well Met By Midnight.

29th September, 2018.

Yep.

I’ve got Mojave installed on my iMac: as I’m sure you’re possible aware, by now.

And have to admit, the overall speed things is nice: I think that’s a result of more apps having been re-written as 64 bit.

But, me being me … ?

I’m caught by the eye-candy.

I’ve managed to change all the highlights to a subtle shade of green.

I’m easily impressed.

~≈§≈~

Just as a quick thought … ?

Do you use Facebook?

I do: as do many people I know.

It’s helpful, sometimes: especially the messaging app.

However?

It seems there’s been a security breach.

I’m not sure I completely understand the technical side.

But I was one of those who had to log back in, yesterday.

As soon as I’ve time?

I’ll need to change my password … 

~≈§≈~

One LAST thing … ?

Tomorrow’s sees Nik Nak’s Old Peculiar’s tenth birthday.

Yes: there’s a teaser about it.

~≈§≈~

Nik Oak’s Daily Teaser — 26th September, 2018

26th September, 2018.

Hmmm … 

I think I’m having a bad few days.

I’ve found out my shifts, next week: and I’ve got one.

Between you and me?

I’m not happy.

And will probably seeking advice.

I’ve certainly sent my agency a word, I’ve sent round the usual email to see if co workers need Shifts covered*, I’ve had a conversation with serious management … 

And I’m seriously thinking of a word with the Job Centre, the Citizen’s Advise Bureau, and ACAS.

If readers could send encouraging thoughts, I’d be thankful.

~≈§≈~

There’s upsides to the time off.

For starters, I’ve been able to at least talk to people about the work situation.

But have also managed to update my iMac.

It’s now running macOS Mojave: 10.14, if you want the numbers.

So far … ?

I’m not totally convinced by the new Finder layout … 

The side bar on the right hand side’s seems useless, but that’s after one day’s use.

Dark Mode’s a bit odd.

But the speed everything’s operating at … ?

Is noticeably improved.

I think that’s the 64-bit features, I think.

Oh, and the sand dune, dynamic wallpaper?

Slowly switches from a day or night view, depending on the time of day.

I’m actually looking forward to this.

~≈§≈~

Nik Nak’s Daily Teaser — 25th September, 2018

25th September, 2018.

Yep: I’ve got today — and tomorrow — off.

Given the finances?

That’s not something I’m entirely pleased about, as, to keep the weekly wages up, I have to use up my holiday pay.

Annoyed?

Yes.

I’m also STILL aware that next week’s rota has STILL not been posted.

I have alerted my agency, understandable, still convinced it’s a horrible mistake, still waiting to hear from the relevant manager … 

We’ll have to see …

~≈§≈~

Post The Bodyguard?

Post The Bodyguard, the BBC’s News channel — or rather, Lizo Mzimba, the BBC News Entertainment correspondent — is given airtime to the premiere of The Woman Who Fell To Earth’s premiere, yesterday, in Sheffield.

I’d not’ve minded being at that.

At ANY rate, we’re getting coverage … 

We’ve got an airdate … 

But we still have no bloody story time … !

Annoyed … ?

Yes!

~≈§≈~

And FINALLY … ?

Apple have finally released macOS Mojave, the most recent version of its Mac operating system.

Which I managed to download, yesterday.

Download … but not yet install.

As I’ve got a couple of days off, the installation is something I can take my time over.

After I’ve done the usual back-ups, downloading of software, and what have you.

I’ve updated before now, am confident about doing these things …

But, as ever … ?

Am bloody nervous about it.

Wouldn’t you know it … ?

~≈§≈~

Nik Nak’s Daily Teaser — 1st May, 2018.

1st May, 2018.

Yep: it’s definitive … 

I’ve had a … drive by attempt!

I was actually doing some writing, yesterday: doing the basics for an up coming ten question set.

And?

Innocently Googled something: barracks, I seem to recall.

And got the pictured page as a result.

Before you ask … ?   I didn’t click a thing.

I was suspicious.

Partly because the page looked slightly wrong: the colouring, in particular, looked … iffy.

Partly … ?   The good ol’ thing that macOS generally doesn’t have as much malicious software as Windows: or even Linux.   Having a website — even one claiming to be an Apple authored one — saying I had malicious software on my Mac struck me as … odd.

The few remote virus scanning sites I’d used, only do so … when I’ve gone to them.

And partly?   Because of the URL that showed up in the bar at the top of the page.

It looked nothing like an Apple authored web address I’d ever seen.

I navigated away from it, after taking a screen shot.

And looked up what happened.

Apparently?   That little event was an attempt at what’s called a drive by download.   If you click on any links or buttons on there?   You get hit with issues.

If I’d clicked on that scan button?

Well … 

Let’s just say I’m grateful I didn’t … 

~≈§≈~

Nik Nak’s Daily Teaser — 19th February, 2018

19th February, 2018.

Yep: it’s a official.

I owe my family a great big thank you.

They’ve gone and treated me to a new computer.

You can possible guess the brand, can’t you … ?

Right now … ?

Right now, I’ve got to confess I’m still transferring stuff over from my old machine: when setting up this Mac, I made the decision to try and import everything from my Time Machine Backup.

Which didn’t take.

So, instead, I decided to import everything from my old Mac over my local network: rather than directly connect the things.

The slow and fiddly way, in other words.

I’m ALSO still getting used to the interface.

It’a familiar enough that I can start using using it, yesterday.

But different enough to confuse me.

And automatically capitalises the letter ‘I’: which is awkward if you’re trying to write a post with raw HTML tags.

Still … 

I’d possibly only get bored if things stay the same … !

~≈§≈~

The New Toy

18th February, 2018.

No, really … 

Read On … !

Although I suspect I’ve not got much to say.

APART … from thanking my family: they have, bless them, managed to buy me quite a lot of iMac.

Which is taking a lot longer to set up, than I thought.

To be thoroughly honest?

I think I made something of a hash of the initial use of Migration Assistant.

I initially chose to import a lot of my settings and files over my local network: rather than connect the two machines together, via ethernet.

I might just have to get one of those really LONG … !

Hmmm … 

Nik Nak’s Daily Teaser — 29th November, 2017.

Blimey … 

That’s a rarity … 

I’m a Mac fan: noted for it, in fact.

Partly, because it’s got a better reputation for security.

So I was mildly surprised to hear that there’s a security flaw in the latest version of macOS operating system, called High Sierra*.

Apparently, and if you have physical access to the machine, you can go to log in page, type in ‘root’ in to the name field, then hit enter a few times.

It logs you in: and logs you in as a root user: with seriously powerful access to every aspect of the machine.

However, Apple has issued a work-around — here, in the Change the Root Password section — and is working on an update that plugs the flaw.

Hopefully?

That should solve things.

Right now, though?

That’s quite a slip for a company with such a good rep for security.

~≈§≈~