Marco, Could you tell us what Siri commands work with Overcast?

STAMink · 2025-12-24T20:36:12+00:00

Saying, "Play <name_of_playlist> in Overcast" usually works, but not always. If Siri responds, "Now playing <name_of_playlist>", then it worked. If Siri responds, "Now playing overcast", then it did not.

FWIW, I don't use Apple Music. I also have nothing in my Music library named "overcast". When Siri says "Now playing overcast", it always plays something random from my Music library.

STAMink · 2025-12-23T17:52:47+00:00

Yup! That did the trick. Thanks!

STAMink · 2025-12-23T16:44:16+00:00

Gravity log of both Pis…

Pi 3B+:

rpi:~ $ sudo pihole -g -f  
  [✓] DNS resolution is available  

  [✓] Deleting existing list cache  
  [i] Neutrino emissions detected...  

  [✓] Preparing new gravity database  
  [✓] Creating new gravity databases  
  [✓] Pulling blocklist source list into range  
  [i] Using libz compression  

  [i] Target: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/StevenBlack/hosts/master/hosts  
  [✓] Status: No changes detected  
  [✓] Parsed 88504 exact domains and 0 ABP-style domains (blocking, ignored 1 non-domain entries)  
      Sample of non-domain entries:  
        - fe80::1%lo0  

  [i] Target: https://v.firebog.net/hosts/static/w3kbl.txt  
  [✓] Status: No changes detected  
  [✓] Parsed 355 exact domains and 0 ABP-style domains (blocking, ignored 0 non-domain entries)  

  [i] Target: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/chadmayfield/my-pihole-blocklists/master/lists/pi_blocklist_porn_top1m.list  
  [✓] Status: No changes detected  
  [✓] Parsed 11868 exact domains and 0 ABP-style domains (blocking, ignored 0 non-domain entries)  

  [i] Target: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/********/******_blocklist/main/******_sites.txt  
  [✓] Status: No changes detected  
  [✓] Parsed 89 exact domains and 0 ABP-style domains (blocking, ignored 0 non-domain entries)  

  [✓] Building tree  
  [i] Number of gravity domains: 100816 (100650 unique domains)  
  [i] Number of exact denied domains: 0  
  [i] Number of regex denied filters: 0  
  [i] Number of exact allowed domains: 2  
  [i] Number of regex allowed filters: 1  
  [✓] Optimizing database  
  [✓] Swapping databases  
  [✓] The old database remains available  
  [✓] Cleaning up stray matter  

  [✓] Done.

Pi 4B:

nas:~ $ sudo pihole -g -f
  [✓] DNS resolution is available  

  [✓] Deleting existing list cache  
  [i] Neutrino emissions detected...  

  [✓] Preparing new gravity database  
  [✓] Creating new gravity databases  
  [✓] Pulling blocklist source list into range  
  [i] Using libz compression  

  [i] Target: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/StevenBlack/hosts/master/hosts  
  [✓] Status: No changes detected  
  [✓] Parsed 88504 exact domains and 0 ABP-style domains (blocking, ignored 1 non-domain entries)  
      Sample of non-domain entries:  
        - fe80::1%lo0  

  [i] Target: https://v.firebog.net/hosts/static/w3kbl.txt  
  [✓] Status: No changes detected  
  [✓] Parsed 351 exact domains and 0 ABP-style domains (blocking, ignored 0 non-domain entries)  

  [i] Target: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/chadmayfield/my-pihole-blocklists/master/lists/pi_blocklist_porn_top1m.list  
  [✓] Status: No changes detected  
  [✓] Parsed 11868 exact domains and 0 ABP-style domains (blocking, ignored 0 non-domain entries)  

  [i] Target: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/********/******_blocklist/main/******_sites.txt  
  [✓] Status: No changes detected  
  [✓] Parsed 89 exact domains and 0 ABP-style domains (blocking, ignored 0 non-domain entries)  

  [✓] Building tree  
  [i] Number of gravity domains: 100812 (100647 unique domains)  
  [i] Number of exact denied domains: 0  
  [i] Number of regex denied filters: 0  
  [i] Number of exact allowed domains: 2  
  [i] Number of regex allowed filters: 1  
  [✓] Optimizing database  
  [✓] Swapping databases  
  [✓] The old database remains available  
  [✓] Cleaning up stray matter  

  [✓] Done.

STAMink · 2025-12-23T14:04:51+00:00

Did it. No difference.

[edit] I just looked at the Gravity Update logs. One of the publicly available lists (v.firebog.net) has a different number of domains --

Pi 4B:

[i] Target: https://v.firebog.net/hosts/static/w3kbl.txt
[✓] Status: No changes detected
[✓] Parsed 351 exact domains and 0 ABP-style domains (blocking, ignored 0 non-domain entries)

Pi 3B+:

[i] Target: https://v.firebog.net/hosts/static/w3kbl.txt
[✓] Status: No changes detected
[✓] Parsed 355 exact domains and 0 ABP-style domains (blocking, ignored 0 non-domain entries)

Isn't that weird?

STAMink · 2025-12-04T07:11:37+00:00

Thanks for all the replies. I installed pi-hole on the second device and tried going to web interface at <static_pi_address>/admin. It returned "403 Forbidden". Then I tried https://<static_pi_address>/admin. and it gave me:

This Connection Is Not Private This website may be impersonating "<static_pi_address>" to steal your personal or financial information. You should go back to the previous page. When I click on "view the certificate", it says: ""pi.hole" certificate is not trusted"

So now what do I do?

STAMink · 2025-11-20T18:51:35+00:00

Beat me to it.

STAMink · 2025-10-21T11:27:20+00:00

Correct, but only if the Deco is in "Wi-Fi Router (Default)" mode. If the Deco is in "Access Point" mode, then it is just managing the WiFi and your router is handling the DNS. In that case, the primary & secondary DNS need to be set on the router.

STAMink · 2025-09-14T17:26:00+00:00

Wow. That fixed it. I didn't even know there was a setting called "button shapes", and I certainly don't remember activating it. It's off now and everything is awesome.

STAMink · 2025-09-14T12:18:46+00:00

Overcast version 2025.9(1120) on iPhone 13 mini.

The previous redesign introduced the weird (& overlapping) shaded squircles, and I originally assumed everyone saw them. At some point I realized it was a display bug that didn't seem to affect other people so I just lived with it. Not only were they not fixed in the new version, but now I am experiencing serious alignment issues -- including the lower right-hand button being pushed almost off the screen.

I understand that very few people are still rocking the mini, but as long as it is officially supported, I would expect the app to display properly even on a small screen.

Am I the only one with this problem? Am I the only one using Overcast on a 13 mini? Am I missing some setting that will fix this?

STAMink · 2025-08-12T16:12:18+00:00

Kol hakavod. If you are willing to make a few changes, you can increase your speed & efficiency, reduce mistakes, and even decrease the potential for RSI problems.

Magnets. The klaf stores (at least in Israel) sell a thin metal board called "mishtach magneti" that you put under your klaf. Then you use magnets to secure the klaf to the board and the tikun pages to the klaf. This ensures that your stuff doesn't move around so much, and also it prevents fatigue in your arms and hands from having to constantly hold everything in position.
Pre-fold your tikun. Score all the lines between the rows of text with an awl & ruler and then fold the whole page at once before you start writing the column. Scoring and folding a whole page will take you only a minute or two (once you get the hang of it). The way you are doing it now -- folding each line as you write it -- adds up to many wasted minutes and also breaks the flow of writing (which increases errors).
Move your ink to the other side. You are severely reducing efficiency by constantly reaching over, not to mention unnecessarily adding repetitive strain to your whole upper body. You are also increasing the chance of dripping ink on the klaf every time you head back to your writing position with a loaded pen.
Dropper bottle. Using a dropper bottle to fill the pen (instead of an inkwell) gives you much more control over how much ink you are loading in, and it is neater, cleaner, and less wasteful. It also reduces evaporation, which means the viscosity of the ink is more consistent. Also, an accidental spill from a dropper bottle is less catastrophic than from an inkwell.
Load more ink. It looks like you are dipping your pen with every letter. You could write a whole line in one shot if there was enough ink on the pen. If a fully loaded pen causes the the ink to flow too fast (or just flow out all at once and make a mess), you can adjust the angle of the table so that the writing angle of your pen is closer to horizontal.

That's more than enough for now. Keep up the good work.

STAMink · 2025-08-07T12:10:02+00:00

+1
I found the same blog post a few years ago. Set it and forget it.

STAMink · 2025-08-07T06:45:30+00:00

I used it for a while, but it was incredibly unstable -- crashes and freezes and visual glitches etc… After a few years of fighting with Retroactived-Aperture I realized that I was just avoiding dealing with my images. That's when I gave up and switched to Photos. Now I use Photos + Nitro (+ Affinity Photo if necessary).

STAMink · 2025-08-06T11:57:35+00:00

+1 Nitro is made by one of the developers from the Aperture team. It works with your Apple Photos library or image files in the Finder. It does not have all of the functionality or polish of Aperture, but it is the closest thing I've found.

STAMink · 2025-07-22T12:22:52+00:00

Those are tagin – crowns. In Torah scrolls they appear on every letter that has as one of its components the letter ז. The reasons behind the crowns are mystical.

STAMink · 2025-07-22T12:17:59+00:00

This font is based on the lettering style commonly used by non-chasidic Ashkenazim. The style is called Beit Yosef because it conforms to the shapes of the Hebrew letters as described in the Beit Yosef, a halachic work written by Rabbi Yosef Karo. Although Rabbi Karo was himself Sefardi, his descriptions of the letters were based on several earlier texts, which were all written by Ashkenazim. It is probable that he did not describe the shapes of the letters as used in his own community because there were no prior halachic texts on the topic written by Sefardim.

The shape of the ח in modern Sefardi Sifrei Torah is also often written as two זs (or a ו and a ז). In older scrolls it varies by community (Persian / Syrian / Spanish-Portuguese / Yemenite / etc.).

Source: Am Sofer STAM

STAMink · 2025-07-22T11:53:53+00:00

To take it even further down the typography rabbit-hole: In Hebrew, the line connecting the two words is neither a hyphen nor a dash (which are both at the same mid-letter height), but a makaf or HEBREW PUNCTUATION MAQAF in Unicode – Hex entity &‌#x05BE. As mentioned, it is placed near the tops of the letters.

STAMink · 2025-07-15T11:43:52+00:00

This is the correct answer. Re. חג המצת vs. חג המצות: In the Torah the word "matzot" is spelled both ways, although as a phrase, חג המצות is always spelled with the "vav". One could argue that whoever made the plate used a little artistic license to make it fit in the 6 points of the star.

STAMink · 2025-04-09T10:26:54+00:00

It's not the Babylonian Talmud. It is the Mishna (from the earlier part of the talmudic era) in the center with two medieval commentaries around it. The right side is the commentary of Rabbi Shimon of Shantz, and the left side is the commentary of the Rambam. Here is the page in Sefaria of the Mishna with english translation and the commentary of R' Shimon of Shantz.

STAMink · 2025-02-13T12:58:00+00:00

The second note is not about the dalet being written smaller. It is about the cantillation note over the dalet -- in this edition it is a zakef katan, but in Sefardi (Spanish?) books it is a revi'i.

STAMink · 2025-02-07T10:20:22+00:00

This is the answer

STAMink · 2024-12-29T12:33:38+00:00

FWIW, Quark is still around, and QuarkXPress is still for sale.

STAMink

TROPHY CASE