Tag: facebook

Just visiting

After many years of experience with iOS, I caution those considering switching from Android.

1) iOS itself unloads apps when it thinks they are not needed. That is, you watch YouTube, switch to the browser to Google something, come back to YouTube, and there you are greeted by the homepage instead of the video. Ideally, Google should have thought about this and restored the app in the same state, but this doesn’t happen. It’s a common issue with many apps. It’s easy to lose unfinished text.

2) iOS has an utterly idiotic text editing interface, especially when the text exceeds the input field width. For example, try copying a long URL fragment (say 700 characters) of about 40-50 characters in size.

3) The operating system interfaces have become complex and mysterious. For example, if notifications come loudly at night, turning the volume down to zero doesn’t help at all. Because notifications have their own volume settings!

4) Notifications! They lack a state that is shared between different devices. For instance, dismissed on one, should be dismissed on all. To disable notifications from application X, you may need to go into settings and turn them off there. At least there is now grouping.

There are countless advantages, too many to list. But the issues mentioned above—annoying.

By the way, they could have implemented automatic screen rotation based not only and not so much on the gyroscope indicators but also according to the face of the person looking at the phone. Really, it’s strange to turn the screen 90 degrees when you are reading something lying down, just because—oh, surprise—the phone is turned horizontally.

What a strange fox, thought the deer

An interesting lecture about Rembrandt. I’m not thrilled with Solodnikov’s interview style (still far from Pozner), but the guest, Roman Grigoryev, is simply magical, as are many on his channel.

I see it’s not just us having a president’s day…

How interesting indeed. I’m studying the Ghent Altarpiece. On the left (the yellow one) — prophet Zechariah Sickle-Seer as depicted by the Russian Orthodox Church, 18th century. On the right, in a fur hat and furs, the same figure as represented by the Roman Catholic Church in the artwork by Jan van Eyck, 1420-1432 (15th century) — precisely a fragment of the altar.

It seems it should be the other way around. Well, just like that

(By the way, it suddenly turned out that tomorrow is his “memorial day” according to the Orthodox calendar)

Here’s another from the same series of missed masterpieces – the same Mikoyan, the 1930s. Madonna Alba. A copy by Bruni from 1837 hangs in the Russian museum – I will post it in the comments. Together with “Venus with a Mirror” by Titian sold for $1,700,000.

And this is Jan van Eyck. The Annunciation. 1434. It hung in the Hermitage until 1929. Originally painted on a wooden panel, when it was in Russia, it was transferred to canvas (“for preservation”). Preservation was not achieved, as Comrade Mikoyan sold it in 1929 for $502,000.

Almost the coat of arms of Moscow. On the right – Saint George the Victorious, presumably by Rogier Van Der Weyden, 1433. Or Van Eyck, there’s a debate. On the left – by Raphael Santi. 1506. This painting was sold by Mikoyan in the 1930s among other masterpieces, otherwise, it would have been hanging in the Hermitage.

“Hello! And who are you?”