Snapping a series of iconic skyline pictures around Manhattan became more than a photography exercise. It reminded me about my own identity.
When I was a boy growing up in New York City, I remember taking the Circle Line cruise around Manhattan with my mother. I was delighted by the incredible views of the iconic skyline, but it was a blip in my larger experience living in the Big Apple.
Like many New Yorkers, doing touristy activities was usually something left for… tourists.
A Tourist Comes Home
Today I find that ironic and even a bit sad. Even though I live in Connecticut today, I still commute into the city. So, I’ve tried to pay a little more attention to this beautiful metropolis that I permanently identify with and am always connected to.
I’ve recently had a couple opportunities to spend time on the water around Manhattan at dusk. And I was excited to see what photos I could capture from the Hudson and East Rivers as the sun set and the skyline lit up.
The Power of iPhone and Adobe Lightroom
I used my iPhone 15 Pro Max to capture these shots. Even in the dark, its software-driven computational photography was able to capture decent images and brighten up the sky and darker regions. It’s actually quite impressive.
Then, I pushed the limits of these images even further using the power of Adobe Lightroom. While the focus of all these shots is all about the Manhattan skyline and bridges, the river and sky occupy half the frame. So, I made the creative choice to make these portions pop a little more than reality offered me.
My Origin Story
So yes, I’m straddling the line a bit between photographer and digital painter. But I don’t think it’s a problem to enhance the glow of the city I love and often define myself by.
It simply represents how I feel about this complex place. And this little photography exercise warmly reminded me that I am forever part of it.
My father used to say New York City is the greatest city in the world. While I know that’s a bit arrogant and certainly invites discussion, you can’t debate the pride that most New Yorkers feel about their hometown.
It is my origin story, and I continue to circle it.
The show’s title is spelled strangely on-screen. There are lots of questions, a bunch of clues and very few answers. It wants to be difficult to figure out. Welcome to the complexities of ‘Pluribus.’ Here are my initial thoughts…
I’m hooked watching ‘Pluribus’ on Apple TV. That said, this series doesn’t easily fit easily into a particular genre. ‘Pluribus’ or ‘PLUR1BUS’ (which is how the title credits spell it) is technically science fiction but isn’t what you’d expect from a traditional sci-fi series today.
Created by Vince Gilligan, this show plays more like an episode from ‘The Twilight Zone,’ but quite not as ominous. That said, in one sense, it couldn’t be more frightening. It’s about the days (spoiler alert) after the human race is infected by an alien virus.
The first episode is effectively a chilling variant of the famous ‘Invasion of the Body Snatchers.’ The result is a complete ‘Star Trek’ Borg-like psychic takeover where everyone is suddenly connected to a hive mind. The twist here is this alien-mind collective makes everyone happy and is supposedly benevolent.
Is Resistance Futile? Only 13 people in the world aren’t absorbed into this global cult (for some unknown reason) including Carol from Albuquerque, New Mexico, played by Rhea Seehorn.
Carol, a romance writer, is generally a cranky person, and her negative energy later turns out to be something of a superpower for her.
She’s immune to the virus and determined to find a cure. Each episode follows her efforts to figure out how to reverse the takeover.
While this set up might be perfect for a tight sci-fi thriller, ‘Pluribus’ takes its sweet time revealing its clues. It’s actually way more mystery than sci-fi.
I’m five episodes in, and the writers are clearly more interested in exploring Carol’s understandably overwhelmed reactions to this insanity rather than furthering along the main pieces of the plot.
And that’s just fine with me.
Fan Predictions I’ve seen some online reactions where fans are intensely studying every detail of each scene to reveal the plot ahead and even how the series is destined to end. (Who has the time for this radical deconstruction?)
Frankly I’m not buying all these spoiler predictions. I just want to watch this story unfold. No need to rush it.
In one scene from episode 5, Carol is trying to get some sleep, and the camera focuses on her nightstand with a book clearly in focus. It’s Agatha Cristie’s ‘And Then There Were None.’ Okay… so, that’s certainly a clue for rough times ahead.
Happy Zombies Vs Unhappy Person I’m really enjoying ‘Pluribus.’ It’s quirky and offbeat. It’s dark but not without its lighter comedic moments. For now, the plot is clearly simmering. You can tell there are likely twists to come.
We’ve got billions of happy, connected zombies living in harmony. Is that so bad? Will Carol save the world? Does the world even need saving?
The writing throws big questions at us: Is restoring individualism worth the price of returning to our horribly fractured society? Isn’t total harmony the utopia we all thought we wanted? But at what cost?
I think this is what ‘Pluribus’ is about. (Yes, it’s hard to describe succinctly.)
It’s the End of the World as We Know It If I had to put it in one sentence… This series is a mystery about how one average person tries to repair the human race by saving the essence of humanity.
But I know this is too simplistic an answer. It’s just the framework. Who knows what’s really happening here.
The success of any mystery depends on the answers we eventually receive. I’m sure I don’t have to remind you how the mysteries from other famous TV series (‘The X Files,’ ‘Lost’) have not always been as satisfyingly resolved as we wanted.
The answers simply need to be as good as the questions.
Season 2 is already confirmed, and the producers want to make a total of four seasons. Here’s hoping ‘Pluribus’ delivers on the expected payoff.
For now, I’m sitting back and simply enjoying how one woman fights back against the end of the world.
If your iPhone is running silent, you might miss an urgent text when it comes in. Turning on Emergency Bypass in your iPhone’s Settings is the fix, but it can also lead to other problems if you’re not careful. Here’s what happened to me and what I learned.
I’m embarrassed to report that my iPhone almost interrupted a video shoot at work recently. My device inexplicably projected a singular text ping during the recording. I was standing in the back of our studio, but it was loud enough for the video producer ten feet in front of me to notice.
He shot over a slightly concerned glance. (Yes, of all people, I’m supposed to know better.) I rolled my eyes in apology. Fortunately, we were between takes, and nobody else noticed. (We both smiled.)
No real damage was done (other than to my tech ego). But how could I make this 101-tech-mistake that any kid can easily avoid?
Yes, of course, my producer had previously reminded everyone in the studio to silence their phones before we started. But I took no action, because I believed my iPhone was already muted. In fact, I had already taken steps to permanently silence it. So, I proudly thought I was way ahead of this moment.
And yet, I wasn’t.
Do You Really Know How to Silence Your iPhone? So, how did I find myself in the center of this tech embarrassment? How does anyone for that matter? It’s not like it’s hard to mute your phone.
But isn’t there’s always someone in the room who can’t seemingly do that? (present company included)
Well, this kind of mistake is often less about tech failure (I mean… human failure) and more about good intentions.
As I mentioned, I had already set up my iPhone to operate in a totally muted state. I took those steps long ago… I just couldn’t handle all the disruptive sounds my phone projected (however cute or lyrical).
But more recently, I made one other iPhone setting change. I selectively activated the ‘Emergency Bypass’ mode for our teenage son’s texts to me.
What is that exactly?
Text Tone: Emergency Bypass
This setting disables audio restrictions regarding how your phone reacts to certain people in your Contacts app. If you don’t want to miss an incoming text from someone, Emergency Bypass helps to ensure you’ll hear it, even if your iPhone is muted.
Our son doesn’t text us all that much, and when he does reach out, I want him to get through. It’s usually important, requiring a timely ‘parental’ response.
Here’s how to set up Text Tone: Emergency Bypasson your iPhone:
Open the Contacts app
Select your important person
Go to Text Tone
Turn Emergency Bypass to ‘On’
This hack is amazing. I did the same for my wife’s phone number (more on this later). Now, whenever I hear a text come in from my otherwise silenced iPhone, I know it’s either from my wife or our son.
I think you can see where this is going.
Ringtone and Alerts – Change with Buttons
Yes, the Text Tone: Emergency Bypass setting is a powerful setting to help you stay connected to those who matter most. But it can still expose you to an embarrassing moment if you need to entirely lock down your phone’s sounds and forget that you really haven’t.
So, I realized after my little ‘ping-gate’ episode that I needed to adjust one more iPhone setting to quiet my phone further, even when my son or wife reach out.
Here’s the fix to the fix:
Go to Settings
Sounds and Haptics
Ringtone and Alerts
Change with Buttons- Tap to Green
Now, with this ‘Change with Buttons’ setting activated for ‘Ringtone and Alerts,’ you can easily toggle down (and then back up) the volume from your iPhone’s pings and rings with the side buttons.
The manual control enables you to temporarily shut off the sounds from your emergency bypass list.
Only then can you be sure your iPhone will really behave in the quietest of moments. (Just don’t forget to turn up the volume again after your mandatory session of silence!) One Ping Short Yes, despite my advanced solutioning for how my iPhone’s little speakers operate, I had still fallen one ping short. But I’ve learned from my mistake and made the appropriate patch in my iPhone’s Settings.
I later texted my wife about my little audio incident at work. (It was, in fact, her own text to me that had broken through.) She wrote back and asked helpfully if I knew how to silence the notifications on my phone.
I blinked a couple times as I took in the layers of irony surrounding this last chapter of my story.
And then I smiled.
Silence is Golden My cautionary tale is just another reminder that you can’t always set it and forget it when it comes to your tech. And maybe when someone tells you to mute your phone… you simply do that.
Still, with your iPhone running completely silent 24/7, that emergency-bypass sound setting can be essential. I still highly recommend trying it out.
At Home with Tech 