AI, Mobile, and Eveything Around the Cloud

AI chats and I are inseparable now. I use it quite often on a daily basis for work. I seek quick answers when there is no need for me to fact check (sports data, basic history, summarizing important ports of an article or video, etc).  What I need to get before the store shelves start to empty - I don’t know if this is going to happen but I do not need to get caught without essentials. Help me craft a 30-day to learn the basics of Japanese. I really want to see how much I can do done under intense schedule. I played with my dog and read to her at night. I know she doesn’t know what’s going on or understand what I am doing but it makes her less anxious and really puts her to bed quickly. I started recording it and posting on YouTube. I asked ChatGPT for a business plan. I made my own stories. I am interested in turning these adventures into a line of stories for children. Reading a couple of books. I used Gemini to help me explain concepts I did not fully grasp. I did have to fact-c...

I have more than one iCloud accounts where I keep personal data separate from other more public facing data (blogs and other writings, coding, and business endevours). To my knowledge, there is no way to have more than one iCloud Drive.  As many of you know, you can add accounts from Google, Outlook, and even other iCloud accounts onto your iPHone or iPad but you are really limited to just one main iCloud account. You should be able to access mail and calendar. Well, what about notes and iCloud Drive? Then you are out of luck. I have come across users, though not many, would want to be able to address more iCloud features from multiple accounts to an iPhone or iPad. Even more have asked for the iPad to support mutliple users. Me? I just want to be able to access different iCloud drives on the iPhone or iPad.  So, I decided to see if I can log into iCloud through the browser. And guess what? It works. I can access emails and notes. Pretty much all the iCloud features though the...

I have been using AI for more than a year. Like most, I did not touch ChatGPT for the first six months or so and I only tired it because I was bored at the time. I still remember what I was doing that day and decided to give it a try while at work.  It took a few more weeks for me to give it another go. And then the days between uses became shorter and shorter until now when I use it daily.  The most exciting thing I did this week was to create an app via Claude AI - it was a simple Swift app that I wanted to work - a list generator. Then I used Gemini to help me get started with Pandas and create a simple neuron (I know there is a bias) looks like and what it does. For a few hours of prompting and learning to run these codes, I would say I knew about ten times more about data analysis and AI than when I first started. Which means nothing really because I knew nothing about this from at the start of it all. Here are other uses this week: I asked about what my credit score mean...

For too long, Apple has played it safe in the AI arena. While competitors are pushing boundaries through models like ChatGPT and Google’s latest AI initiatives, Apple seems paralyzed by a need for perfection. Its current route—delaying meaningful AI integrations until mid-2026 and rolling out a supposedly innocuous, underwhelming version of Siri—risks becoming another case of missed opportunity. Apple’s customers have come to expect more—more innovation, more seamless integration, and more leadership in technology. The lawsuit over Siri’s alleged false advertising is just the tip of the iceberg. We are witnessing a stagnation, a collective yawn towards Apple’s future AI offerings. It’s time for Apple to reclaim its legacy. What if Apple released its own large language model—an AI crafted with its renowned commitment to privacy and user experience? Imagine a smart, agentic digital assistant that not only answers queries but integrates deeply with Apple’s ecosystem. Instead of outsourcin...

I have heard that apps like Signal and Keybase are among the most secured messaging apps annually on the Android and iPhones. With privacy along Apple’s top selling points for users to pick its platforms over the Androids and Windows computers, why is it that its own messaging app Messages the most secured? To date, neither messaging apps have had their encryption protocols breached. At least that is what Gemini have told me and what research I conducted on my own. This is good. However, as many of you already know, a few top Trump officials were caught using Signal discussing top secret war plans. From what I can gather, it should not have been shared with anyone and was likely safe if it was not for the fact a journalist was accidentally added to the chat that was supposed to be between the Vice-President of the United States and other top national security and state officials. Included by accident was an Atlantic journalist. So, that is not so good. The question I have is that with ...

AI agents are poised to revolutionize how we interact with technology. Imagine AI as a helpful assistant, integrated into apps and features, that proactively aids us in work, school, and daily life. These "agentic AI" are designed to be autonomous, making decisions to achieve specific goals without constant human input. Apple users with devices supporting Apple Intelligence will get a taste of this with the iOS 18.4 update, which promises a significantly enhanced Siri. This updated Siri will represent an early step towards agentic AI.

Last Week was a busy week in terms of AI news due to Deepseek. Since last Monday, January 27th,  the AI landscape has changed quite a lot. Still life goes on and I do what I have to, including the use of AI chats. Before I get into that below, I am concerned with the interaction between the new administration and tech companies which could result in AI models and services that do a disservice to users. Let me just leave it at that for now.  I used ChatGPT to see what answers it has about Deepseek. I away very interested in trying to see if OpenAI’s true thoughts about it somehow came across. I even pointed out that Deepseek distilled using ChatGPT. I got nothing new. I basically suggest to ChatGPT that is should be upset. It was not - it did have concerns but then it also praised Deepseek on its overall achievements.  I also asked Gemini what it thought about Deepseek and the possibility that it used ChatGPT for distillations and not Gemini. Gemini said it was a matter of...

I am in the market for a new iPad but I have not quite gotten myself to pull the trigger on a new one because I simply have not decided what my workflow will be like. Simply put, I am still fine with my 2019 iPad mini though I do need something bigger when I eventually upgrade. So, I have been thinking long and hard about my workflow and, naturally, became a bit nostalgic to the day when I first got my original iPad.  If you compare the original iPad to today’s iPads, it is natural to note how far we have come since 2010. In many ways, too many to mention here, we have come a long way. I definitely could not have used the original iPad as a laptop replacement as many have done today. One thing that the original iPad had that many of today’s iPads do not have is its simplicity - its ability to offer a distraction free environment.  Personally, this is an important element of all of my workflows. In the early days, it was easy to stay focused on what you were doing on the iPad b...

I am very comfortable with using ChatGPT, Gemini, and other AI now. I still use search engines through my work day - DucDuckGo is my go-to search engine with Google coming in next if I do not find what I want o DuckDuckGo. There is a difference between what I use AI for and what search engines for.  While both AI and search can provide answers I want, they each serve a role that is more suited for one than the other. AI chats can provide most answers, which do require that I fact-check it. For queries that require fact-checking, I go straight to to the search engines. For others, AI chats are fine. This is especially true when I am looking for basic understanding of things like “which is the first book of the Pdergast series” or how do I find a consultant in Asia who is familiar with Oracle for customization. So, this is what I have used AI chats for this week: I got a composter for my kitchen. I came across a video on the Internet of someone making cotton candy. So I use Gemini to...

I like my Apple Watch but I am waiting for Apple to go beyond health and one area where the Apple Watch can be of great benefit to users is to help us keep track of habits and routines. And this is one area where I believe Apple Intellgience can really shine because I do not know if another AI or AI-powered app already help users develop habits and become more productive and healthy but it would be great if one is natively developed by Apple. The watch’s sensors such as the one that monitors heart rate is terrific and has helped countless millions. It is especially useful during workouts and professional athletes. But I'm not an athlete. I do jog and workout. I monitor the number of steps I take through the day. I occasionally use the Breath app. I want to be more engaged with my Apple Watch for other purposes. And this is where a streaks and habits app would come into play. As for "play", gamifying streaks and habit development could be fun element to the app without bei...