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As an iPhone user, it is quite natural to choose Apple-branded devices to fulfil everyday needs. My first Apple Watch was a Series 4, followed by a Series 6. After a few years, I finally moved to the Series 10. This time, for myself at least, I am not looking for any further upgrade come September 2026, to whichever series arrives next.

Twenty years ago, I remember buying ringtones for my mobile phone; whereas now, my current phone is silent most of the time, with certain exceptions for important calls.

I have been a happy user of the Apple Watch for years. I do not have anything against it, apart from one thing. The device itself has become superior due to its medically graded sensors. We always hear stories of how the Apple Watch saved someone’s life by early detection of conditions that could lead to life-threatening situations.

Now that I am in my mid-forties, I look at that aspect much closer. For me, health features have become a major selling point. However, other aspects have slowly started to become annoying.

All measurements are done in the background and nicely synchronised with my device. The communication features, however, have become more of a nuisance, especially during stressful days at work. The constant buzzing has become a distraction rather than a useful feature.

Over recent months, I tried to break ties with my watch-screen addiction. It came to the point where I really wanted something that felt less like a phone on my wrist and more like an ordinary watch—but without losing those vital measuring capabilities.

So, I looked for an alternative.

The AI interaction is becoming more and more common. We are getting a lot of useful information (a lot of crap as well) very quickly through it, saving us time and making us more productive.

I will not be discussing here aspect we all fear now, that AI will be replacing us at work. Thats a total different subject. I will be thinking here from perspective of using the AI, Gemini in this case, to make myself more productive - by embracing it.

We are living in times when AI is becoming a daily tool we use at work and at school.

A lot of students support themselves by using AI to learn new things, quickly find information, and extend their knowledge.

I am from a generation who finish schools and University before AI existed. During my Uni times, it was the Internet boom, and access to information started pushing out the need to visit a library to gain knowledge. Yet, despite all of that, I am proud that all my hard work put towards my education was my own.

In current times, a lot of students want to go the easy route. Same as with the workplace, where it’s hard to find a hard-working employee on very demanding job role for an average salary.

People no longer want to work hard to earn money. Everybody is looking into the easiest route earing tones of money by doing the minimum. It’s not working like that, at least not for the majority of us. If you are the person who thinks that’s how it’s working, if you are not a millionaire right now, then you are delusional.

Same with education. Knowledge that you gain is for you to be a better person in future. You’re learning stuff to use in your future life. If you decide to go the easy route and ask AI to write you a work that you will just copy and paste, then submit to a tutor, there is something significantly wrong here.

You can do this; nobody is stopping you (almost) from doing that, but how much are you learning from that?

Following my post from last year, in which I shared my GitHub stars for 2024, I have now reviewed what I discovered throughout 2025.

I review my stars periodically, and the 31st of December 2025 was no exception.

By the end of 2025, I had accumulated (or rediscovered) the following repositories, all of which are well worth a look.

This is a curated list, and I have selected those most worth knowing for the coming year, 2026. I have avoided repeating anything covered previously. To see my earlier recommendations, you can read my 2024 Stars of GitHub.

Days are passing by, and rolls are rolling. We invested in new paper, but from the very beginning, there was something unusual about it.

After a few days of use, we still actively compare it with the Lidl brand (Floralys Quilted Toilet Tissue), and suddenly, my wife noticed why Who Gives a Crap (WGaC) toilet paper feels different.

I thought it was nostalgia from the late 80s/early 90s, but no!

Although I mentioned that Lidl-branded rolls do not compare with WGaC rolls, due to size, sometimes size doesn’t matter.

We have been aware of the End of Life (EOL) for Windows 10 for some time. If you don’t, and you are still working on it, then you must be living under a rock for some time.

Microsoft already spammed you with full-screen advice to purchase Windows 11, even on hardware that is not suitable for it!

Migration to Windows 11 has caused a lot of headaches, as it often requires users, even with very powerful hardware, to seek an upgrade.

In a business environment, it’s even more difficult, as all changes of this sort require extensive testing, but what’s more challenging, they require users to adapt to changes, which are not always the easiest ones.

Personally, I have been doing migration in a business environment for some time, before even the deadline was on the horizon (like it is now).

One year before the deadline (14th October 2025), all computers in my main place of work will have already been upgraded or replaced, and everybody will have been adjusting to work with Windows 11 for some time.

“Windows 10 end-of-life (EOL) is October 14, 2025. After this date, Microsoft will no longer provide free security updates, bug fixes, or technical support for Windows 10. While your Windows 10 PC will still function, it will become increasingly vulnerable to security risks and less compatible with new software and hardware.”

This post differs slightly from my usual contributions on this website.

For those who might not read to the end, here’s a 15% off referral link for your first order: whogivesacrap.mention-me.com/m/ns/xg6os-dariusz-wieckiewicz

Recently, my wife convinced me to try a company called ‘Who Gives a Crap,’ which offers products like toilet paper, tissues, and kitchen towels. Their products are designed to be either 100% bamboo or 100% recycled, with the following aim:

“50% of profits are donated to help everyone gain access to clean water and a toilet - over £9 million raised to date!”

I’m eager to give it a try, as long as it doesn’t significantly increase our household expenses.

See Favorites Start Page by Jimmy Lye in chrome web store.

There’s been a lot going on recently with Google Chrome (and Microsoft Edge) browser extensions.

Things really heated up when new requirements were introduced, dictating how Chrome extensions are built and what they can do – Manifest V3.

Think of Manifest V3 as a blueprint or set of guidelines for extension developers, with a strong focus on boosting security, privacy, and performance.

While the shift to Manifest V3 is a whole other story, the PayPal Honey scandal prompted Google to take a much closer look at how Chrome extensions behave, especially those involved in affiliate marketing.

I recently upgraded my work computer from i5 8th Generation to i7 11th Generation. In the opposite of installing OS from scratch and setting it all up again, as I haven’t got time, I decided to use Rescuezilla and simply clone my system from the old hard drive to the new computer.

All goes well.

After the first run, some drivers needed to be updated. I needed to detach the Windows 11 license from the old computer and pair it with one that had been delivered (embedded) with it.

All seems to be working really well until I start putting a bit of a stressful task into it.

With very short notice, Microsoft finally made a move to kill Skype altogether and concentrate on something that, by default, is integrated with Windows 11 – Teams.

I personally tried to move a few people out of Skype to Teams years back, but now there are no ifs or buts, as Microsoft is pulling the plug. There is no going back.

As much as I am happy, I quickly started feeling that removing Skype is putting some users back.

If you are not paying anything extra to Microsoft, you will quickly notice that you are missing some crucial features in Teams that have been available in Skype for years.

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