James' Audiolog: Indie.am

On September 11, 2001, at 8:00 AM, United Airlines Flight 93 was scheduled to depart from Newark International Airport. However, after just a one-minute delay in departing from the gate, it found itself prioritized behind several other airplanes, experiencing heavy traffic. This resulted in a total delay of 42 minutes, with the flight finally departing at 8:42 AM. This was just six minutes before the first plane struck the World Trade Center.

You have likely heard the stories of what happened that day. You probably know most of the facts, but unless you've heard them presented in a very specific way, the significance might escape you. This certainly escapes the most common narratives. As you might know, at about 9:20 AM, as the plane neared Cleveland, Ohio, terrorists broke into the cockpit and incapacitated the pilot and first officer, taking control of the plane and hijacking it. We know this from an air traffic controller transmission from the cockpit before it breaks into radio silence: "Mayday, hey get out of here, get out of here, get out of here," and then silence. The plane started to fly erratically after that, with its altitude suddenly dropping 700 feet, likely due to a struggle.

Air traffic controllers were now aware that there might be another hijacking. One of the flight attendants telephoned United Airlines to report the hijacking. Just six minutes later, 13 passengers aboard the plane, between the hijacking at 9:28 and the time of the crash at 10:03 AM, were able to make phone calls to their family and friends, their loved ones.

At 9:57 AM, the passengers and crew began their assault on the cockpit, likely only because they knew of what had happened earlier that morning. If they had not known, it was likely their plane would be flown into a building, and their lives were already forfeit. Standard procedures would be to cooperate with the hijackers, as this is typically how you survive a hijacking—not by resisting. However, those 13 phone calls after planes struck the World Trade Center likely changed the outcome of Flight 93 on September 11.

What's the significance of this? Think about the targets from the flight plan and the information of the plot. We have narrowed it down to either two possible targets: the White House or the Capitol Building. Consider the enormous response to 9/11, and now consider if the nation's capital, the symbol of the United States government, had been destroyed. Consider who may have been in that building at the time, such as the Vice President. This is only speculation, but consider the response if the White House had been destroyed, along with the other targets in the September 11 attacks. It doesn't take long to realize that history over the last 20 years would have been wildly different if members of the government and the nation's capital had been destroyed, instead of a plane landing in an unknown part of Pennsylvania at 10:03 AM.

I recently undertook the task of updating my app to rebuild and re-deploy it to TestFlight. Following the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), I downloaded the beta versions of macOS and iOS for my devices. However, I soon realized that Cordova was lagging behind, which meant I couldn't build for the new targets on these machines. This issue persisted until, well, September.

Now that Xcode 12.5 and iOS 6.2 are supported, I can finally rebuild the app, test it, and upload it back to TestFlight using the latest versions of all the build chains. Fingers crossed that everything works smoothly!

Watching the WWDC keynote was quite an experience, especially given the time difference. It started at 1 AM and wrapped up around 3 AM, and it was packed with information. The presentation was essentially two hours of bullet points detailing everything that each team has been working on for iOS.

There were some truly magical and innovative announcements. One standout was the Universal Control feature, which promises seamless interaction across devices. Another exciting development was the text translation capabilities, which have been significantly enhanced.

Apple is also enhancing FaceTime, adding features that aim to position it as a viable alternative to Zoom. This is a welcome update, given the increased reliance on video conferencing tools.

However, not everything in the keynote felt essential. For instance, the introduction of new Apple account recovery methods seemed less impressive. It might be a useful feature, but it didn't feel keynote-worthy, especially at such an early hour.

Perhaps it was the late hour, but some parts of the keynote felt less impactful. Nonetheless, the event was a whirlwind of announcements, showcasing Apple's continuous innovation and expansion in the tech world.

A few weeks ago, Guam launched an intriguing program aimed at promoting vaccine tourism specifically for American expatriates residing in Asia. This initiative seeks to address the limited access to American vaccines that many expats face in the region.

According to Guam's press release, there are approximately 750,000 American expats in Asia. Recognizing the challenges these individuals face in obtaining American vaccines, Guam has developed a program that offers a unique solution.

To further support this initiative, Guam offers free accommodation in a quarantine hotel for the duration of the stay. This added benefit is designed to make the process as seamless and appealing as possible for potential participants.

Guam's vaccine tourism program is a strategic effort to leverage its status as a U.S. territory to provide American expats in Asia with much-needed access to vaccines. By offering free vaccination and accommodation, Guam hopes to attract a significant number of participants and contribute to global vaccination efforts.

Taiwan is currently under a Level 3+ lockdown, particularly affecting Taipei and other major cities. Despite meeting the criteria for a Level 4 lockdown, authorities are hesitant to escalate to this level. Instead, they have opted to add more restrictions to Level 3, hoping that people will voluntarily adhere to guidelines and do the right thing.

The strategy seems to be effective as the city is notably empty, with almost no one outside. Public places are largely deserted, indicating that the measures are being taken seriously by the population.

The government is keen to avoid a full Level 4 lockdown if possible. By enhancing Level 3 restrictions, they aim to maintain control over the situation without resorting to more drastic measures.

The reproductive number (R0) has been reduced to 1.06, indicating a stable situation. Additionally, the number of cases has been flat or slightly declining, suggesting that the current approach is working to some extent.

In summary, Taiwan is navigating its COVID-19 response by strengthening existing measures and relying on public cooperation, all while trying to avoid the need for a full lockdown.

Taiwan recently entered a pre-lockdown phase following a significant increase in Covid-19 cases. On the day before the announcement, 160 new cases were reported, primarily from local transmission. This was a substantial rise compared to the previous record of 29 cases just a few days earlier, and 16 cases a few days before that.

Last year, around March or April, Taiwan established a four-level system for Covid restrictions:

Taiwan's strategic approach to Covid-19 has been to implement these levels progressively, adapting to the situation as needed. The move to Level Three reflects the government's proactive stance in managing the recent surge in cases.

Yesterday, during the Apple event, some significant changes were announced regarding the way podcasts function within the iOS ecosystem and iTunes. Essentially, Apple plans to introduce new features to podcasts that go beyond the capabilities of the traditional RSS feed currently used by podcasts.

Having worked on a social audio app for the past five months, I've frequently encountered the limitations of the current RSS standard for podcasting. It's clear that there are numerous potential directions for social audio that are constrained by this standard.

With Apple's upcoming changes, the landscape of podcasting could be dramatically altered. These enhancements could pave the way for more interactive and dynamic podcast experiences, potentially benefiting both creators and listeners.

While the idea of changing something as established as podcasting might seem daunting, these innovations could lead to exciting new possibilities in the world of audio content.

Today's Covid press conference in Taiwan provided some intriguing insights. The health minister shared updates on the current Covid situation, expressing concerns about the public's apparent disinterest in receiving the vaccine.

The minister highlighted that there are approximately 320,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine that are set to expire on May 31 and June 15. Despite the availability of these doses, there seems to be a lack of enthusiasm among the Taiwanese public to get vaccinated.

The vaccine has been made available to the highest priority groups, which include about 618,000 individuals. However, the uptake has not been as high as expected, raising concerns about vaccine wastage and public health safety.

The press conference underscored the importance of increasing vaccination rates to ensure the safety and health of the population, especially with the looming expiration dates of the current vaccine stock.

In the past couple of weeks, I've had an intriguing experience with Big Cloud. It feels like I've come full circle, from initial challenges to a deeper understanding and excitement about the platform.

A couple of weeks ago, I embarked on the onboarding process with Big Cloud, only to encounter some significant scaling issues. Initially, I faced trouble verifying my phone number. Despite several attempts, the verification process was blocked until I tried using a proxy for my US number. It was then that I realized the issue was with the user USAP verification.

After navigating these initial hiccups, my experience with Big Cloud became incredibly engaging. For a few days, I was completely absorbed in exploring the platform's features and potential.

As I delved deeper, my enthusiasm for Big Cloud grew. I became particularly excited about the Big O dark mode Chrome extension. Initially, I even referred to it as the "designer body Chromatix tension," highlighting my eagerness to integrate new tools and features into my Big Cloud experience.

Despite the rocky start, my journey with Big Cloud has been rewarding. Overcoming the initial onboarding challenges has only fueled my excitement and interest in what the platform has to offer.