Probstisms

Tim Probst
Tim Probst
@Tim@www.timprobst.com

Early adopting super geek, musician, father, resident tech guru.

1,106 posts
9 followers

  • The Long Game

    It’s hard to predict the future. This is why it is so important to study history and pay attention in the present.

    When you see articles like this from Grist about changes in education curriculum for the sciences, it’s easy to blow past it in a news aggregator or social media timeline , but these are the stories and events for which we all need to be present because we won’t see the impacts on our citizenry for 20 to 30 years when today’s children are teaching the next generation about what’s important.

    Let’s look back at the impacts of the decline of civics education in our schools years ago. At the time, adults (who had already had civics education!) decided for one reason or another that students at the time did not need to spend time learning about how a government works or the expectations of a citizen in our uniquely American form of government. And look at us now 20+ years removed from those decisions. We have exceptionally misinformed, under-educated, media illiterate parents and leaders deciding what is best for today’s kids. I think it is obvious to most that those decisions turned out to be quite poor when viewed through the lens of history.

    My point here is pay attention now. Every single one of us is playing what is hopefully a very long game of Life. Gain perspective through history, and be engaged and informed in the present. Those are the keys to success.

    How Florida quietly removed climate change content from textbooks

  • You can tell a lot about a company by the characteristics of the people they put in leadership positions. Let’s all be honest with ourselves. No one in their right mind wants to work with or for a person with a toxic personality. At first, talented employees start to leave. Then customers start to decide to not renew their contracts. Then new sales dry up because no one wants to buy anything from a person they do not trust or feel comfortable with. By the time executive management realizes what is happening, it’s too late. The company has already failed its people and customers and is beyond the point of redemption.

    Seriously, how many times have we seen this happen in business? Why do we make things so hard?

    The equation is simple:

    Happy employees = Happy customers = Happy bottom line

    Let’s all stop making things so complicated and get back to good business.

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  • Sounds like the have a lot of work to do tonight. I turn on the game, Pat barely gets through his uniform descriptions, and it’s already 3-0 Dodgers.

  • Jed, teams with enough pitching talent don’t lose after a dramatic 2-run home run in the top of the tenth.

    Please, please, please bring in some great pitchers to make a run.

    https://www.mlb.com/gameday/823022/video/luis-gastelum-in-play-run-s-to-pete-crow-armstrong

  • Quotation of the day from Chip Caray discussing the last couple days here in St. Louis:

    . . . it’s felt like breathing through a wet washcloth.

  • Now would be a great time for Congress to flex its war powers muscles granted to it in the Constitution.

    U.S. Surges Forces Toward Middle East, Giving Trump Options to Expand Iran War – WSJ

  • If I knew that all I had to do was write a blog post about Apple Music’s absence from AAOS to actually get Apple Music on AAOS, I would have done it a year ago!

    Seriously, folks. The same day I wrote this post, Apple Music app was sitting there waiting for me when I hopped in the car.

    I’ve only used it a couple days, but it is already clear that Apple Music is the best software I have used on AAOS so far. It embraces all of the AAOS standards (Material Design), and actually has the features I would expect in a music app in a car.

    Lesson for the young folks out there. Details and humane interface designs matter.

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  • Will a classic St Louis summer thunderstorm interrupt our World Cup final viewing? Only time will tell.

  • Google Built-in Is Out of Tune

    It’s been about a year since we purchased a car with Google Built-in, and I have done my best to embrace the capabilities of Android Automotive OS (AAOS) and the apps available in Google Play. Note that my mobile phone is an iPhone, and I have used CarPlay for many years.

    There are several features in AAOS that have impressed me very much. I am very impressed with the Google Maps integration and the ability to send trips from my phone before we leave for our destination. The layout of the dashboard incorporating the map and directions is efficient and effective (and beautiful). The ability to access other apps while still seeing the map on the dashboard is a great user experience. I also find it very helpful to adjust comfort settings using Gemini without ever having to reach away from the steering wheel.

    As a software product professional, what has shocked me is how consistently horrible 3rd party apps are from a user experience perspective. Most music apps are borderline unusable which makes zero sense to me. Music is one of the main use cases for a great driving experience. You need to know the status of your car, you need to know where you’re going, and you need great tunes. It all seems pretty simple to me. Music services need to invest in their AAOS experiences significantly and thoroughly embrace the capabilities of the operating system. Drivers deserve a great music experience, and it really shouldn’t take much effort to make this happen. And for crying out loud, where is the Apple Music app?

    Honestly, I don’t want to have to use CarPlay, but until the user experience of music apps on AAOS are exponentially better, I’ll be connecting my phone and using well-designed apps.

  • Any logical person in public life would conclude that they had lost the country’s trust when most major news outlets decided to not broadcast their speech. This really isn’t all that hard to understand, folks.

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