Wonders Untold

A blog about life, arts and culture

Of life, arts and culture.

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Len Deighton

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Len Deighton passed away a few days ago, in Guernsey, at the age of 97.

Reading his obituary took me back to my late teens and early 20s, when I first discovered his books. I recall what joy his writing brought me.

I loved his Cold War spy novels. He wrote his characters so beautifully, and his scenes so evocatively.

My first Deighton books? The Game, Set, and Match trilogy. I later discovered the second trilogy – Hook, Line, and Sinker. All six are very captivating books.

As for the third trilogy – Faith, Hope, and Charity – somehow I didn’t get round to reading these books. However, that’s going to change in the coming months.

Deighton was an excellent storyteller. I want to revisit the beauty of his writing, and so I’ve decided to complete his “trilogy of trilogies”.

I’ve read the first two trilogies, so it’s only the third left for me to complete. However, I am filled with nostalgia for the first two trilogies, and I would like to read them again.

Although the books can be read in any order, and each book is complete in itself, here is how I plan to approach this: I will start by re-reading the first two trilogies. Then, after that, I will read the third trilogy (Faith, Hope, and Charity) for the first time.

Tonight I started my re-read of the first trilogy (Game, Set, and Match). I am now reading Berlin Game. Next up, Mexico Set, and then London Match.

These are now being added to my March reading list. I’d even say they’re right at the top of that list.

Truly grateful for the good gifts Len Deighton left us. Looking forward to getting reacquainted with his work.

Reflections

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Proverbs‬ ‭15‬.‭23‬:

“A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth: And a word spoken in due season, how good is it!”

Received some lovely comments from a friend today, and this verse came to mind. Grateful for such moments and such days.

The MacBook Neo

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Apple has done an amazing thing with the MacBook Neo.

The MacBook Neo is an Apple laptop aimed at the ordinary laptop user. That is, someone who uses a laptop for normal daily work, and not for stuff like heavy video editing or coding, etc.

This laptop will appeal to writers, students, and people who just want a family laptop to do normal things like homework, paying bills, video calls, and browsing the internet. It can also do a good level of gaming.

The specs are superb. Great hardware – certainly much better than anything you’d see in a Windows laptop at this price point. As for software, the Neo runs on the Apple A18 Pro chip, which is used to power the iPhone 16. Truly, we are living in incredible times – a laptop being run (and being run superbly) on an iPhone chip.

At €699, the Neo is supremely affordable. Features-wise, it stands head and shoulders above the Windows laptops in the same price range. And it certainly beats any and every Chromebook in that price range.

There are, of course, compromises. Compared to its bigger brothers, the MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro, there are some things the Neo does not have.

For example, it does not have Thunderbolt ports; it has two USB ports instead – USB 2 and USB 3. But this does not matter. The typical person using a Neo will not care about this. (Thunderbolt ports ensure faster data transfer speeds, but if you’re not doing anything requiring such features (e.g. heavy video editing), you won’t care much about this.)

Also, unlike the Air and the Pro, the Neo can power only one external display. But this is also OK. I don’t see the typical Neo user having a need to connect their laptop to two monitors at the same time.

Like the Air and the Pro, the Neo has the Apple Magic Keyboard. However, unlike those two laptops, the Neo’s keyboard is not backlit. Again, I don’t think this is too much of an issue. Yes, it would be nice to have a backlit keyboard, but, when you consider the price of the Neo, this compromise is well worth it.

The speakers are also not as great as those in the other two MacBooks, but they do a decent job.

The Neo does not have True Tone – that feature that adjusts the lighting depending on the background. But, really, given its price point, you wouldn’t expect it to contain such a premium feature. And, another point: the Neo has 500 nits of maximum brightness.  This is a bit of a step down from the Air and the Pro, but it’s generally OK – with 500 nits of brightness, the screen still has good visual quality in direct sunlight or under harsh lighting.

There’s been a lot of comment about the Neo having only 8GB Unified Memory, with no option for upgrade. However, this is actually enough GB for the intended use case of the Neo. Various tests have shown that the Neo performs more than capably with normal tasks, only beginning to lag when pushed to take on tasks for which it is not intended, for example, editing heavy 4K videos or handling serious coding projects.

As for SSD storage, there are two options – 256GB and 512GB. The latter comes with an additional price tag of €100. The 256GB option also comes with Touch ID – that feature that lets you use your fingerprint to unlock your laptop, authorise App Store purchases, and pay with Apple Pay. Personally, I’d go for the 512GB, also for the benefit of having Touch ID. And yes, 256GB is a bit on the low side in this day and age, but if you’re already using iCloud, that really shouldn’t matter.

So, should you get the Neo?

  • If you already have a MacBook Air, I’d say don’t bother. The Air is a superior laptop, and just as light and portable. So, no need to get the Neo.
  • If you already have a MacBook Pro, also don’t bother. The Pro is a far superior product. However, it is quite heavy, compared to the Neo. So, if you want a second laptop, something lighter you can take on the road with you, then yes, get the Neo. The MacBook Pro can then stay home and be used for more complex tasks, and you can take the Neo when out and about.
  • If you’ve never had a MacBook before, and you’re in the market for a new laptop, then this is an extremely affordable entry into the high-quality world of MacBooks. Get the Neo; you’ll be glad you did. 

The Neo also comes in some wonderful colours. I love the citrus one. It’s sharp and eye catching, a fitting way to announce this new product.

Expect to see and hear a lot more about the Neo in the days ahead. Apple has created a truly great product.

Notes on focus

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Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about focus.

Thanks to modern technology and the way we live, focus has become a scarce commodity. Our attention spans are shot, our focus is fragmented, and we are all the poorer for it.

You see the signs of this everywhere – for one thing, everywhere we look (for example, news reports, books, videos, articles), we are met with poor quality and rushed, superficial content. With divided attention spans, people often no longer have the wherewithal to stay focused on tough and complex issues. (As soon as something feels difficult, we pivot away and reach for the comfort of our smartphones.) And, of course, with AI providing handy shortcuts, we are all living in an era of bite-sized, content-light, knowledge acquisition.

But there are certain rewards for those who choose not to walk this path. For the few who make the intentional choice to safeguard their attention spans, and to harness their focus in productive ways, the rewards are massive.

Thanks to advances in modern technology, there is no shortage of opportunity for those who want to create beautiful things, build successful businesses, and make wonderful art. Take, for example, the opportunities presented by no-code software, or the amazing things that Claude Code enables us to do these days. (Yesterday, I watched a video on how to create a website using natural language prompts in Claude Code; and then how to upload the HTML and CSS files via GitHub into the backend of the hosting provider. Such a thing would have taken hours (if not days!) a mere 15 years ago. I speak from hard experience.)

Thanks to the wonders of AI and other digital marvels, we can do so much these days to add beauty to the world, and even more meaning to our lives. And we can do all these through little more than the smartphone we have in our hands right now.

And yet, these same smartphones can also distract us from these wonderful promises. Through countless social media apps, they can take us down unending and unrewarding paths of banal entertainment. They can sap our inspiration, cut off our drive at its source, and substitute it with an unslakable thirst for even more banality. In this way, we lose our focus, our motivation, and our creative energy.

And so we lose the opportunity to be creative, and the deep satisfaction that comes from contemplating the works of our hands.

I have therefore decided to be intentional about where I put my focus. I am also being intentional about keeping my focus undivided. Given the intense bombardment we face from the online world, it is a Herculean task.

But it is worth it, and I recommend it to everyone.

There are beautiful things yet unmade – poems to be written, music to be made. The world is worth all this, for sure. Who else, but we, can get it done?

Becoming a photographer

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Last year, I decided to learn photography.

It’s going nicely.

I have an awesome camera – the Fujifilm X100VI. It’s a great camera for a beginner. You get the classic photography feel, but in an ultra-modern, state-of-the-art camera.

The one downside that the seller – and all the YouTube reviewers – warned me about, turns out not to bother me at all. I’m referring here to the fixed lens. For now, it’s perfectly fine with me. I’m sure that, over time, as I become more proficient, I’ll want a camera with an interchangeable lens – perhaps something like the Sony A7 IV, or the Canon EOS R6 Mark II.

Right now, having a fixed-lens camera works for me. I don’t have to make any decisions about which lens to use. I have just the one, and that cuts down on unnecessary thinking. (Heaven knows, there’s already more than enough buttons and settings to get to grips with.) A fixed lens camera just makes it easier for me to get on with taking great pictures.

Another thing I like about the Fujifilm X100VI – its compact form. I can take it virtually anywhere. Plus it’s such a beauty – truly a well designed camera.

I’m looking forward to becoming a good photographer, with this lovely camera by my side. Photos may appear here in due course, so stay tuned.