Krish Shah (via Hacker News):
TrackWeight is a macOS application that transforms your MacBook’s trackpad into an accurate weighing scale by leveraging the Force Touch pressure sensors built into modern MacBook trackpads.
[…]
TrackWeight utilizes the Open Multi-Touch Support library by Takuto Nakamura to gain private access to all mouse and trackpad events on macOS. This library provides detailed touch data including pressure readings that are normally inaccessible to standard applications.
The key insight is that trackpad pressure events are only generated when there’s capacitance detected on the trackpad surface - meaning your finger (or another conductive object) must be in contact with the trackpad. When this condition is met, the trackpad’s Force Touch sensors provide precise pressure readings that can be calibrated and converted into weight measurements.
Justin Miller:
This reminds me of how, twenty years ago, I used the PowerBook’s hard drive vibration sensor to rig up a seismograph to measure construction noise.
Previously:
3D Touch Fun Hack Mac Mac App MacBook macOS 15 Sequoia Open Source Programming Trackpad
Anna Gross, Tim Bradshaw, and Lauren Fedor (Hacker News, MacRumors):
The officials both said the Home Office, which ordered the tech giant in January to grant access to its most secure cloud storage system, would probably have to retreat in the face of pressure from senior leaders in Washington, including Vice President JD Vance.
[…]
In its order in January, the Home Office told Apple to build in a “back door” to allow law enforcement or security services to tap into the cloud storage system that stores user data that even the iPhone maker itself is currently unable to access.
It did so by issuing a “technical capability notice” under the UK Investigatory Powers Act, legislation that critics dub a “snooper’s charter” but that the government maintains is needed by law enforcement to investigate terrorism and child sexual abuse.
[…]
Last month, Meta-owned WhatsApp said it would join Apple’s legal challenge, in a rare collaboration between the Silicon Valley rivals.
Previously:
Apple iCloud iCloud Advanced Data Protection Legal Meta Privacy United Kingdom
Jenny Zeng (via John Gordon):
Several users have reported a bug on macOS Sequoia regarding Spotlight indexing writing a huge amount of data. Consequently, they are experiencing a large System Data on Mac and rapid SSD wear.
She recommends deleting /.Spotlight-V100 and ~/Library/Metadata/CoreSpotlight. I’ve always use mdutil to reset Spotlight, but I’ve now seen several people recommend that deleting the folders works better.
To prevent Spotlight runs wild on indexing again, you can stop it from indexing your internal disk with the following steps.
Previously:
Bug Mac macOS 15 Sequoia Spotlight
Dennis Schubert (2021, via Hacker News):
I have one of those laptops lacking a lot of accessory ports. In fact, I’m writing this on an Apple MacBook Pro, and all I got was four lousy USB-C ports. If I want to connect pretty much anything, I need some sort of adapter or some sort of hub. USB-C hubs are a great idea: not only do they usually offer a power supply pass-through, but they also allow you to plug in some USB devices, an ethernet cable, and maybe even a monitor. Some even have fancy stuff like an SD card reader or a secondary audio output! And all of that over a single USB-C connection, which makes everything super comfortable if you frequently carry your laptop around your home, but you also have a desk with fixed devices set up.
Unfortunately, since 2018, I’ve worked through three USB-C hubs, and they’re all kinda bad.
[…]
It honestly feels like no matter what you buy, you get more or less the same hardware, and you’re most likely getting a heavily overpriced product just because some company printed their logo on it.
[…]
The fact that most USB-C hubs tend to use the same RTL8153 networking stack is also very annoying, especially since this is known to break on macOS, and it looks like Realtek just doesn’t care. That’s not really great if you’re promoting your hub primarily to MacBook owners.
dazzaji:
One of the things that I found most frustrating about USB-C hubs is how hard it is to find one that actually gives you multiple USB-C ports. I have several USB-C devices but most hubs just give you one USB-C port and a bunch of USB-A ports. At most it’s 2 USB-C ports but only with the hub that plugs into both USB-C ports on my MacBook Pro (so I’m never able to get more ports than I started with). The result is I end up having to keep swapping devices. For a connector that was supposed to be the “one universal port,” it’s weird that most hubs assume you only need one USB-C connection. Has anyone found a decent hub with multiple USB-C data outputs?
I’m using an Anker hub with a bunch of USB-A ports, and it’s one of the more reliable ones I’ve owned—certainly better than the Studio Display—but I do have the sense that it’s slowing things down compared with when I connect drives directly to my MacBook Pro. I’m also using an Anker Thunderbolt dock, which is pretty good but doesn’t have enough ports. I still wish for more built into the Mac itself. (Recent MacBook Pros are down from 4 ports to 3.)
Previously:
Hardware Mac MacBook Pro Studio Display Thunderbolt USB USB-C
