Chris Dunphy

I signed up to run the Baltimore Marathon last night.
Twelve days, counting down! *gulp*

Apple's Cellular Evolution: iPhone 17 and iPhone Air Debut Along With New N1 Wi-Fi an C1X Cellular Connectivity Chips Yesterday,  Apple announced this year's batch of new iPhone models: the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro & Pro Max, and the super-slim iPhone Air. Every other site on the Internet will be talking about the

Every year since the iPhone 6 launch in 2014 I've published an analysis of Apple's newest iPhone models focused exclusively on mobile connectivity.

Here is my take on the iPhone 17 and Air (and the N1 and C1X chips): www.rvmobileinternet.com/apples-cellu...

It was fun writing this - seeing how much (and how little) has changed from last year’s big picture update.

It still boggles my mind just how far and how fast things have advanced over the years since we started MIRC!

Nineteenth Nomadiversary: The Cat Distribution System Strikes Again! | Technomadia Today marks NINETEEN years since I first set off on the road, trading a San Francisco high rise apartment and a Silicon Valley career for a life of adventure and exploration. If I could travel back in...

Today marks NINETEEN years since I first set off on the road, trading a San Francisco high rise apartment and a Silicon Valley career for a life of exploration.

All my latest updates and reminiscing are posted over on the Technomadia blog today: www.technomadia.com/2025/04/nine...

The most frustrating thing - Apple's implementation still today is just a subset of what we were building 20+ years ago. We were set up to support multiple storefronts from the start - with centralized automated app testing, signing, and certification. *sigh*

My project was scuttled 20 years ago - and I knew then that PalmOS was ultimately doomed and that a better more developer friendly platform would inevitably sweep in. Microsoft was trying (poorly), but then Apple came along and changed everything.

I was leading the skunkworks project to build a platform standard on-device and over-the-air purchasing infrastructure that would have made it fun and easy for developers to explore a range of business models, and it even supported and had buy-in from multiple storefronts.

But this gave me deja vu - "The threat, as I’ve long tried to argue, perhaps unsuccessfully, is that market forces will work against it eventually. Developers have long since grown resentful..." - Palm took its developer community for granted, and didn't make it easier for them to make $$$.

@gruber.foo "There were no indie or hobbyist mobile app developers before the App Store. (It’s kind of nutty in hindsight that network carriers were the only distribution channel for apps 17 years ago.)" -- Uhm, PalmOS would like a word. There was a huge thriving app ecosystem long before iOS.

@gruber.foo - It isn't just Apple Intelligence turning on by default. The "Notify When Left Behind" setting in Find My gets turned back on with EVERY SINGLE x.x.1 minor iOS update. It is maddening. I have to manually disable it for every single AirTag and device with every single update. *grrr*

Here is our coverage of last week's Starship explosion...

Is it worthwhile posting Mobile Internet Resource content like this over here on Bluesky?

If you wanted to cut waste, fraud, and abuse, you would empower the inspectors general.

If you wanted more waste, fraud, and abuse, you would fire them.

For now all we can do is shelter in place, work to minimize the damage, take care of those around us….

And wait to build back better once this wildfire burns itself out.

*hugs to all*

Happy President’s Day. 😢

And his own coalition is horribly divided internally around just what it wants to accomplish.

Most of the American people don’t want this - and many of the rest still have no idea just how drastic the damage being done is.

And Trump's is a pretty sad mandates - barely a victory:
Trump (2024) - 49.78% popular vote share, 1.47% margin.

So Trump’s mandate is only historic in the sense that it is historically weak - one of the weakest in ever.

Looking at all the presidential elections of the past century - Trump’s margin of victory was historic indeed.

Historically small.

This is what a huge mandate actually looks like:
FDR (1936) - 60.80% popular vote share, 24.26% margin of victory.

No matter what they try to tell you - Trump didn’t win by a landslide.

He does not have a huge mandate.

He didn’t even get a majority of the votes.

Indeed - more Americans actually voted against him than for him.

For the past month, Trump has been remaking the federal government in a way unrivaled since FDR’s New Deal transformed America and brought the nation out of the Great Depression, paving the way for the past 90 years of (relative) peace and prosperity.
But FDR actually had a mandate - Trump does not.

This is just horrific. 🤮

I really think that this is the sort of thing Apple should require being supported in order for the Netflix app to be distributed in the App Store. *sigh*

The story of running my second marathon - just published on the Technomadia blog. The marathon itself was back in December - it was a pretty epic experience. #running

Do not give him any ideas. 🤮

That is an even more urgent update than changing aeronautical charts to reference the Gulf of America, clearly. This sort of regressive nonsense that no-one ever seriously asked for is pitifully sad. 😢

Welcome Pete! You are one of the leaders I am most looking towards for guidance in the fight ahead. You have always come across as reasoned and honest and not afraid. So... What next?

YouTube video by Mobile Internet Resource Center Starlink Alternatives for RV & Boat Mobile Internet

We've been getting asked a lot about alternatives to Starlink.
We published a video on the topic this morning.
Personally - we've managed to travel with abundant connectivity by boat and RV for over a year without needing to re-activate our Starlink account.
Spread the word!
youtu.be/mG4RIcHn2sc?...

@5calls.org - Is your site overloaded? I keep getting "No reps available" despite having my location set. It was working earlier - and now that I am ready to make some calls, I am stuck. On the other hand - being overloaded in this case is a good thing! I can only imagine the congress switchboards!

A substantial enough minority wanted change badly enough they hired the guy who told them what they wanted to hear.

But burning a house down is NOT the best way to start a remodel.

If you hire a contractor and that is where they start, you haven’t hired a contractor - you have hired an arsonist.

Please allow longer posts. I would rather post here than on FB - but I often have things to share that take more characters than Bluesky allows.

YouTube video by Technomadia Visiting SpaceX Starbase for Starship Launch #7

Our week has been amazing. Here is our video on the experience.

I wish BlueSky allowed longer posts - I would share my write up here too.

Visiting SpaceX Starbase for Starship Launch #7
youtu.be/PyXUWBHjEdA

Standing in front of Starship 33 preparing for stacking.

Standing in front of Starship 33 preparing for stacking.

Standing in front of Starship 33 preparing for stacking. Our van is THAT close to the fuel trucks!

Standing in front of Starship 33 preparing for stacking.

It is absolutely amazing / insane how close you can get to the Starship operations prepping for launch at Starbase. It has a very awesome Burning Man / maker type vibe. Visiting the pad for the first time today - the space geek in me has been squeeing! I can’t wait for launch! #starship #spacex