Friday sermon 7/24/26 - how children systematically leave Islam.
A transcript of the Friday Khutbah I gave yesterday after tweaking the Arabic anomalies from my iPhone’s Voice Memos. I did buy a DJI Mic Mini, but I couldn’t get it to work on the spot, so the audio came straight out of the iPhone Air. I was impressed my hand didn’t muffle the sound and was glad it was usable Alhumdulilah.
YouTube link.
Khutbah transcript 7/24/26
Allah , says in Surah Ali Imran, verse 100.
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ إِن تُطِيعُوا۟ فَرِيقًۭا مِّنَ ٱلَّذِينَ أُوتُوا۟ ٱلْكِتَـٰبَ يَرُدُّوكُم بَعْدَ إِيمَـٰنِكُمْ كَـٰفِرِينَ ١٠٠
Oh, you who have believed, if you obey, a party of those who were given the scripture, they would surely turn you back after your belief into disbelievers.
So now, brothers and sisters, brothers and sisters, I want to give you a scenario.
A scenario where a woman, she comes home, or she calls her family, and she tells her family, mom, dad, I found someone.
I'm in love, and we're gonna get married. And he is a Muslim. So what's the 1st reaction from these parents?
What if I told you that reaction was, Alhamdulillah? Right? All praises to Allah, because she found she found somebody and he's a Muslim.
Now, you might be wondering why I'm saying this thing, right? Doesn't even make any sense. But let me give you the story.
So that was the end of the movie, quote unquote. I'm going to tell you how this happens. First and foremost, we have to realize what the Prophet ﷺ, he said, you will surely follow the path of those before you, step by step, inch by inch, and if they enter the hole of a lizard, you would follow them as well.
And then the Sahaba said, ya Rasulullah, do you mean the Jews and the Christians? And then the Prophet ﷺ responded, who else? Yes, of course the Jews and the Christians.
So now let's go all the way back. Let's go all the way back to the birth of the child. Okay?
The child is born. And because there's a dual income family, both parents are working, within a few weeks, the child enters what's known as the daycare system. They go in the daycare system, and what happens is, it actually causes psychological damage to the child over the course of several years.
And this is proven with studies, and you can look this up yourself. And even some of the most liberal scholars out there of Islam who basically have allowed everything to be okay, even they say that putting your child in the daycare system is like a jail. And why is that because when a child is born, within the 1st 3 years, we think they're just a baby and they're just sitting around doing nothing, but there's a lot going on in their brains.
They're developing, they're learning literally everything from scratch. They don't know anything. They're learning how to speak, who is who, what everything is that they see, how to react, all of these things, they're learning from scratch.
They have no basis at this point. And by the time they're 3 years old, they have, and I look this up, and I double checked it, they have over 1,000 trillion neuron connections in their brain. So that's Subhan Allah a lot, and that's almost double, or more than double, that of an, adult.
And then what happens after that phase, when they're three years old, then is the pruning phase. So what is the pruning phase? That's when, if you know what a bonsai tree is, those fancy little trees, and every once in a while, you have to cut off the branches. to make it look okay.
So now the child, what they do is they strengthen the connections in their brain of what they are familiar with, and those connections in their brain that are weak, they cut those off, and they focus on strengthening those connections that are stronger.
Now when a child is in daycare, they don't know who their parent is. From a psychological perspective, from their point of view, they don't know who their parent is, because they know who their parent is, but they're not there.
So there's a lot of stress on the baby in these daycares, and there's a lot of crying, because the person who they thought was their mother is not there.
And every day, there's a new person trying to take care of them. So they think this person is their mother, they try to bond with them, but then the next day it's somebody else.
And then the next day, it's somebody else, and then the next day, and so on and so forth. And this goes on for, this could go on for several years before the kid enters what? preschool and so on and so forth.
So now this child's brain never really got a strong connection with their parents from the very beginning, and we can't see that, we can't feel that, but it's there. Right? It's starting to, um, fester.
So then what happens when the kid gets older? And also just remember, the parents themselves are also used to not being with the kid all the time, and they're only used to being with them for several hours in the day while they're awake. Maybe three or four hours.
The rest of the time, the kids either asleep, or once again at the daycare system. So then what happens when the child becomes two or four or five years old? What ends up happening is the child has behavioral issues, because they have trouble processing situations, and they end up having to keep things simple, they have behavioral issues, and what do the parents do at this point?
Because they don't know what to do. So what do they do? Here, take this, take this.
Right? Here, take the phone, and just scroll and watch whatever you want to watch, because I don't know what's wrong. I can't I can't, you know, deal with this.
So now the kid is given a cell phone, and once again, if you look at the news and the studies, the way the brain reacts to a screen and is constantly on it, it's like a drug addiction. And then when you take the phone away from that person, they become violent.
And this is a common scenario, unfortunately, with a lot of kids, where the parents are, they get anxious when it's time to stop the screen, because the kids quite literally lose their minds.
So you can see the disconnect is already there, and it's growing. And as the kid goes into school, What are they, they hang out more with their peers.
They hang out more with people that are their age. And maybe some of those kids are going through the same cycle as your kid, may protect our kids, are going through.
And then what happens is, their influence becomes their peers, meaning they don't care what the parents think anymore.
And they start to care more about what their peers think, because they're always hanging around with their friends. And that is what matters. And then, at the same time, they're in a public school system, where they don't teach about Allah subhana wata’aalah and how He's created everything.
It's mother nature. Right? It's mother nature that has created all the mountains and the beautiful nature that we see.
That's what they learn. And also, it's not that Allah created humans in the best of creation as the best of creation. No, you evolved from giant apes, right?
We evolved from giant apes. That's what they're taught. And then, once again, if some child, if Allah is trying to give these children a signal, right?
A sign, like Allah says, we have given you so many signs. If you just look at nature and you look at everything,
And now what's the new trend? Oh, the universe spoke to me!
Right? The universe spoke to me, and said, you know, I should do this, or I should do that. It's not Allah subhana wata’aalah, it's the universe. Everything that they can find that isn't Allah or God, they will try to put in there instead as a filler. And then, of course, there's all the other things, right?
There's going to the prom, there's going to dances, there's going to, there's music, and there's, there's drugs in school as well now. Now, you can get vapes that look like markers or AirPods, and you can just, you know, quickly grab it… Put it away, and nobody knows.
The teacher might be like, Oh look at him, he's thinking hard, you know? He's got his pen to his mouth. like, thinking about the problem. No, he's smoking.
That's what he's doing. He's not thinking. All right, so now, if it wasn't bad enough, now the children go to high school.
And they're old enough to be mature, quote unquote, right? They're old enough to be mature, and the kids want a cell phone. If they already haven't gotten a cell phone, maybe now they're getting a cell phone.
And now they're going into that black hole. What's that black hole?
Social media.
Social media.
The scrolling doesn't end, and the entertainment is constant. And not only that, and once again, if you look at the news today, Europe and France even, France, right?
“The most moral country” that we can think of, even they want to ban social media for 15 and under. They want to ban it for only 15 and under because it causes anxiety and depression and this and that. But, of course, from our perspective, it's anxiety and depression, and much worse, right?
It's causing children to basically leave Islam. And the anxiety and the depression caused by social media hits our girls the most because and once again, the statistics are there. Who ends up in the hospital more often due to suicide, risk, and all of that?
It's women, because, on social media, they're expected to perform. They're expected to have a presence and do things. And this is where if there is decency left inside of our children, inside of the Muslim children.
Once again, step by step, inch by inch, right? The Prophet ﷺ all of them didn't say that we're gonna follow them in giant leaps. Because if we do a giant leap, We're gonna be like, wait, something's wrong here.
We can't this is a huge jump. How do we get from here or there? No, it's inch by inch.
So you're moving just a little bit, right? And you don't notice it. You don't notice it.
And we see this in common trends today. And I'm sorry to pick on the sisters, but I will pick on their brothers one day. Don’t worry.
So, the attire of a woman, right, is fully loose clothing and covering the head and so on and so forth, right? Now, okay, you know what? And this is part of the nature of a woman.
She likes to show, as Allah says in the Quran, that's why Allah told the woman to cover themselves, not because men are looking, but because they like to show, so they need to cover themselves. That's their test. Our test is, yeah, we do like to look.
Men do like to look. So Allah did tell us to lower our gaze, but he didn't say sisters cover up because men are looking at you. No, he said, cover up because I know you like to show yourselves, but this is your test.
So now we have the full proper hijab. What's the next step? The next step is, oh, you know, let me just put a little bit of a waistband around my waist, just a little bit of, you know, silhouette is there.
It's fine. You know, I'm still wearing a job and this and that, no big deal. And then the next step is, uh, pants and shirts that are that are tight fitting.
Oh, you know, it's okay. I still have one that has scarf, you know, I have the hijabs, you know, everything's fine. And then what happens then?
Then the hijab tutorials come online, right? The hijabi tutorials and all this stuff, and the makeup, and just to remember, the point of hijab is to conceal your beauty, and now they're telling you how to accentuate your booty, with hijab on, complete opposite.
“Oh, okay, I can show a little bit of hair in this style, But I'm still wearing the hijab. You know, everything's fine. No big deal.”
“Oh, you know, I'm still wearing the hijab, but so what if I have earrings on? It's okay. I'll wear this new turban hijab.”
I got the earrings. I got some hair. It's fine, all good, you know.
And then eventually, it's all gone. It's gone. And I was born and raised here, so, and in my 40 plus years, I've seen the cycle multiple times, and it doesn't matter how practicing a Muslim family might be.
This can happen to anybody. May Allah protect us. And now, remember the cycle:
We left our kids to others to take care of them. We told them, We're told, don't sleep next to your baby. Put them in a separate bedroom, right?
Even in the house, they want you to separate, right?
All of these little things, if you study, psychology and sociology, you learn that actually the Islamic way is what people are actually going back to. But that's not gonna be on the news, you know?
What they're going to show on the news is, they will show you proper hijab, but it'll be under the headline of, this woman is being oppressed. Right?
Maybe she's 15 years old and she was forced into marriage.
And that is true oppression, right? If someone is forced into marriage, we know in Islam that's not correct. But why throw the lady with hijab with that headline?
Because they want that people they want people to see that as oppression.
And then what's freedom, freedom is when you see the 1st Muslim, uh, pro athlete weightlifter, right? She's got tight shorts on and tight sleeves, but she's got a head scarf that's super tight and she's like squatting and doing all of this, but you can see everything.
But that's freedom. That is, that is what our kids are seeing. And then these things are on social media, too.
And they're constantly getting this message back and forth, back and forth.
And to compound the distancing between children and parents, schools now offer therapy, right? Because you give them the problem, the social media, and now you also got to give them, and now you have to sell them the solution too, which is therapy.
And do you think this therapy is gonna be based on Islamic principles? No. What happens is, and a lot of the times in these therapy sessions, in schools, without your knowledge even, they have patient confidentiality, right?
They can't even tell you what they discuss, because it's their right, as a child or whatever, that they don't have to tell you about these things. And even in some cases, believe this or not, if you are, and this is considered therapy, right? If you're an immigrant, child, and you go to school and you learn English pretty good, right?
And then your parents, they came from another country to provide you with a better life. They might need help with some paperwork or going to the doctor and translating something. That, believe it or not, is considered trauma.
Your parents have traumatized you, and they have wronged you because you have to help them and do all these extra things, and actually maybe struggle a little bit, and, but in reality, you're doing khayr for your family. You're learning skills, you're learning life, but that's trauma. So now, all of this is going into our kids.
And then when it's time to go to college, they're not going to want to stay local. They're gonna want to go away because everyone else is going away, right? Remember, they care about what their friends think more than what they what you think, unfortunately.
So, their friends are going away, and you can't just stay here. You also got to travel. You gotta go on those long trips, this and that, have fun.
And what kind of fun are we having, unfortunately? It's not Halal. I'll tell you that much.
They're not going to a cafe and drinking chai, and then going back home. No, they're doing, and this is not just girls, but this is also for boys. But I'm just... trying to, I will in sha Allah, I'll tell you why I'm saying what I'm saying in a few minutes.
And I've seen it, brothers and sisters, this isn't, this isn't shocking to me anymore. This might be shocking to some of you, but this isn't shocking to me, because I've seen it over and over again, where people have families of boys and girls, and they all go off. It's almost like a science experiment.
They all go off to college. The boys are able to stay on their religion.
But the girls, for some reason or another, they fall off the path big time, big time.
And this is not something that is against women. This is just the normal way Allah created man and woman. He created us differently, and there's a reason why men are the leaders, and they're supposed to go out and hunt, right?
Hunt, make for the family and provide, and the women should, to their best of their ability, stay in their homes and raise the family. And the Prophet ﷺ, he said, when the Dajjal will come, which is the biggest trial, when the Dajjal will come, the Prophet ﷺ, he said, most of those who go out to the Dajjal will be women, to the extent that a man goes back to his wife, his mother, his daughter, his sister, and his aunt, to shackle them tightly, fearing they would go out to him.
Now, if we heard, if we heard that somebody, for example, tied up their family at home, that would be abuse, right?
And that, if you just heard those words, oh, this guy, he tied his family into the tree or whatever, and his woman can't leave. If it was the time of the Dajjal, right? And someone did that, because it's real.
What's gonna happen?
Are the people going to agree with him, or are they going to say, this guy's crazy? What are you doing?
So now, the story continues, right? So now, this woman, she's out. She's getting her education.
She's living alone, she's having fun, she's getting more education, having more fun. And then she's used to this. She's got a routine now, right?
Every day, I gotta do this thing, I gotta do that thing. Everything is timed perfectly. And she's perfectly fine living by herself.
And then, when the time eventually comes to get married, because the fitra of a human being will always come out at some point or another. And the fitra of a woman is that they will have this phenomenon. Once again, you can look this up yourselves.
It's where a woman longs to have a child, right? Because her time is running out. Now she's in her 30s.
Her time is running out, and she wants a child. So now she's trying to find somebody. She ends up finding, you know, now, does she want to marry a decent Muslim guy?
I mean, well, if the guy is even half decent and he wants certain standards from her where, you know, she wants to stay home, she wants to provide, she wants to maintain the house, right? Take care of the home. She probably wouldn't want to marry such a man, because she's so used to being out and about, and she doesn't want anyone to, quote unquote, have any authority over her.
So then what does she do? She, she decides to marry, or basically, be in a relationship with a man who's not a Muslim. Right?
And because that man doesn't care what she does, let's be real, right? He doesn't care what she does. He might even encourage it.
Right? Audhubillah.
So what happens to her? Her lineage ends with her.
Her Islam and her family tree ends right there.
And now we get back to the story and the end of the story.
And now, the parents are at home, it's been years, you know, they talk over the phone.
It's a long distance relationship with the parents, right?
And what happens is eventually she calls home, and she's a mom, dad, you know, I found somebody, and he's a Muslim. Now the parent says, Alhamdulillah, remember?
That's how it started. And this is how it ends. You can see why the parents said, Alhamdulillah, because if we look at the hierarchy of, if we were to have categories of Muslims, right, just at a basic level, you have practicing Muslims, you have Friday Muslims, you have Eid Muslims, you have cultural Muslims who just say Islam is in my heart.
You know, I love Allah in His Messenger, but, you know, you know, this salat thing, you know, it's okay. I love a lot. You know, that's all that matters.
And so that guy, by the scholarly definition, wouldn't even be considered a Muslim? That's not what I'm saying. That's what the scholars would say.
So you have Practicing, Friday Muslim, Eid Muslim, cultural Muslim, where Islam is in the heart, and then you have the non-Muslim. at that point. So now this girl is at what? She's probably in that cultural stage.
And she married someone. He's a token Muslim, by the way, meaning he doesn't know anything about Islam, but he fits the criteria so that everything can be okay. Because it all, it all, it's all about what the people think, man.
We have to make sure the people know that everything is good. He Muslim, he's Muslim, okay, let's do the marriage. Everyone's happy, because we just got to make sure everyone, because what will the people think if she's, if she's not a Muslim?
Right? We're so concerned about what other people think that we're willing to follow this whole path. And now, he is a cultural Muslim.
She's a cultural Muslim. Is there some hope? Yes, there's always hope, right?
And may, Allah rectify our affairs, every single one of us, right? May Allah rectify our affairs, our families affairs, and the affairs of the Ummah. And this can keep, so, two cultural Muslims, there's a chance, right, that they can go back up the hill.
They can go back up the tree. They can be Eid Muslims, Friday Muslims, come regularly (to the masjid), and then 2 other categories that I didn't mention are, there's the scholars, and then there's the Prophet ﷺ. And he's the gold standard.
That's where that is our goal for everyone, is to get to this level, even though we might not achieve it, we need to go up that hill. And unfortunately, the trend is going downhill.
أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ وَلِسَائِرِ الْمُسْلِمِينَ ، فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهُ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ.
(I say these words of mine and I seek forgiveness from Allah for myself and for you and for all the Muslims for every sin. So seek His forgiveness; indeed, He is the Oft-Forgiving, the Most Merciful.)
Now, this movie, brothers and sisters has a part two. The credits roll, the credits roll, and after the credits, what happens is usually a little teaser for the next movie, right?
So now this girl gets married, she's a cultural Muslim.
She's married to a cultural man. Same cycle, right? The same cycle.
Two-income household, and that same cycle that I just went over, right? Exactly the same thing happens. And now the teaser scene shows.
Now, she is the mother now. With her kid somewhere, right? Her daughter calls her.
Hi mom. I just found somebody, and we're gonna get married. But don't worry.
She's a Muslim.
Now, you might be wondering why I'm focusing on sister so much, right? It's not just me that focuses on the sisters.
This is exactly what the people who colonize our lands, they focused on. I did a little bit of research into the French and how they conquered Algeria, or how they tried to conquer Algeria. And this was some of the things that they would say.
And I'm going to quote you this.
“If we wish to strike at Algerian society in its structure and its capacity for resistance, we must, first of all, conquer the women. We must go and seek them out, hidden behind the veil, and in the houses where the men conceal them.
To convert women, to win them over to foreign values, and to tear them away from their personal status is to gain a real power over the men, and at the same time, to possess the practical and effective means to dismantle Algerian culture.”
Now take that same phrase, and instead of Algerian culture, make it Islam. And it's the same idea.
And then they continue:
“The Muslim woman loves children. As the guardian of moral values.
As the guardian of moral values, she raises them in the ancestral traditions. The legends and myths. What are these legends and myths?
Allah said that that's what they will call the Quran in the Quran:
The Defrauding (83:13)
إِذَا تُتْلَىٰ عَلَيْهِ ءَايَـٰتُنَا قَالَ أَسَـٰطِيرُ ٱلْأَوَّلِينَ ١٣
When Our verses are recited to him, he says, "Legends of the former peoples."
Allah said when they are heard, if they hear the verses of the Quran, they will say, oh, these are the ancient tales. And that's exactly what they were saying. “She constitutes the bedrock of the family cell, the dynamic element of tribal life.”
So once again, brothers and sisters, you will sure, the Prophet ﷺ, he said, you will surely follow the path of those before you, step by step, inch by inch. If they entered a lizard hole, you would follow.
And once again, I've seen this same scenario, 20 years or 15 years ago or so, when I was working with somebody, Christian guy, devout Christian.
And I swear by Allah, he said something along these lines, very close. I don’t have the exact words, but the concept is the same.
He said, “Look, I told my daughter I don't care what she does, but as long as she doesn't get pregnant, that's fine. Because, because we have morals in our family.”
Subhan Allah.
I'm sorry I'm laughing, but that's what it's become. And unfortunately, we're also going down that exact same rabbit hole. Now, it's very hard to have control over every single second of our child's life.
That's for sure. But and as we put our child into these institutions, what we must realize is that our institution, we all have an institution, and that is our homes. Our homes are an institution, and it should be an institution of peace and tranquility.
And the way to establish that in the best way possible is to have compatibility between the husband and the wife. And compatibility doesn't mean that you like the same things. No, compatibility means, once again, this is the research.
Compatibility means that one person is able to cover the faults of the other person. So if one person is strong and these qualities, as a provider, as one who goes out there and who earns, and he's strong and he can protect and provide the family and be in charge, then the other person needs to reciprocate that and maintain what the household is. And this is what Islam tells us to do.
If both people are, continuing the soccer references, if both people are trying to score goals, the net is left empty, and everyone can kick goals right in without any problem.
And those goals are attacking your children and our children, and the Ummah at large.
A transcript of the Friday Khutbah I gave yesterday after tweaking the Arabic anomalies from my iPhone’s Voice Memos. I did buy a DJI Mic Mini, but I couldn’t get it to work on the spot, so the audio came straight out of the iPhone Air. I was impressed my hand didn’t muffle the sound and was glad it was usable Alhumdulilah.
YouTube link.
Khutbah transcript 7/24/26
Allah , says in Surah Ali Imran, verse 100.
يَـٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ إِن تُطِيعُوا۟ فَرِيقًۭا مِّنَ ٱلَّذِينَ أُوتُوا۟ ٱلْكِتَـٰبَ يَرُدُّوكُم بَعْدَ إِيمَـٰنِكُمْ كَـٰفِرِينَ ١٠٠
Oh, you who have believed, if you obey, a party of those who were given the scripture, they would surely turn you back after your belief into disbelievers.
So now, brothers and sisters, brothers and sisters, I want to give you a scenario.
A scenario where a woman, she comes home, or she calls her family, and she tells her family, mom, dad, I found someone.
I'm in love, and we're gonna get married. And he is a Muslim. So what's the 1st reaction from these parents?
What if I told you that reaction was, Alhamdulillah? Right? All praises to Allah, because she found she found somebody and he's a Muslim.
Now, you might be wondering why I'm saying this thing, right? Doesn't even make any sense. But let me give you the story.
So that was the end of the movie, quote unquote. I'm going to tell you how this happens. First and foremost, we have to realize what the Prophet ﷺ, he said, you will surely follow the path of those before you, step by step, inch by inch, and if they enter the hole of a lizard, you would follow them as well.
And then the Sahaba said, ya Rasulullah, do you mean the Jews and the Christians? And then the Prophet ﷺ responded, who else? Yes, of course the Jews and the Christians.
So now let's go all the way back. Let's go all the way back to the birth of the child. Okay?
The child is born. And because there's a dual income family, both parents are working, within a few weeks, the child enters what's known as the daycare system. They go in the daycare system, and what happens is, it actually causes psychological damage to the child over the course of several years.
And this is proven with studies, and you can look this up yourself. And even some of the most liberal scholars out there of Islam who basically have allowed everything to be okay, even they say that putting your child in the daycare system is like a jail. And why is that because when a child is born, within the 1st 3 years, we think they're just a baby and they're just sitting around doing nothing, but there's a lot going on in their brains.
They're developing, they're learning literally everything from scratch. They don't know anything. They're learning how to speak, who is who, what everything is that they see, how to react, all of these things, they're learning from scratch.
They have no basis at this point. And by the time they're 3 years old, they have, and I look this up, and I double checked it, they have over 1,000 trillion neuron connections in their brain. So that's Subhan Allah a lot, and that's almost double, or more than double, that of an, adult.
And then what happens after that phase, when they're three years old, then is the pruning phase. So what is the pruning phase? That's when, if you know what a bonsai tree is, those fancy little trees, and every once in a while, you have to cut off the branches. to make it look okay.
So now the child, what they do is they strengthen the connections in their brain of what they are familiar with, and those connections in their brain that are weak, they cut those off, and they focus on strengthening those connections that are stronger.
Now when a child is in daycare, they don't know who their parent is. From a psychological perspective, from their point of view, they don't know who their parent is, because they know who their parent is, but they're not there.
So there's a lot of stress on the baby in these daycares, and there's a lot of crying, because the person who they thought was their mother is not there.
And every day, there's a new person trying to take care of them. So they think this person is their mother, they try to bond with them, but then the next day it's somebody else.
And then the next day, it's somebody else, and then the next day, and so on and so forth. And this goes on for, this could go on for several years before the kid enters what? preschool and so on and so forth.
So now this child's brain never really got a strong connection with their parents from the very beginning, and we can't see that, we can't feel that, but it's there. Right? It's starting to, um, fester.
So then what happens when the kid gets older? And also just remember, the parents themselves are also used to not being with the kid all the time, and they're only used to being with them for several hours in the day while they're awake. Maybe three or four hours.
The rest of the time, the kids either asleep, or once again at the daycare system. So then what happens when the child becomes two or four or five years old? What ends up happening is the child has behavioral issues, because they have trouble processing situations, and they end up having to keep things simple, they have behavioral issues, and what do the parents do at this point?
Because they don't know what to do. So what do they do? Here, take this, take this.
Right? Here, take the phone, and just scroll and watch whatever you want to watch, because I don't know what's wrong. I can't I can't, you know, deal with this.
So now the kid is given a cell phone, and once again, if you look at the news and the studies, the way the brain reacts to a screen and is constantly on it, it's like a drug addiction. And then when you take the phone away from that person, they become violent.
And this is a common scenario, unfortunately, with a lot of kids, where the parents are, they get anxious when it's time to stop the screen, because the kids quite literally lose their minds.
So you can see the disconnect is already there, and it's growing. And as the kid goes into school, What are they, they hang out more with their peers.
They hang out more with people that are their age. And maybe some of those kids are going through the same cycle as your kid, may protect our kids, are going through.
And then what happens is, their influence becomes their peers, meaning they don't care what the parents think anymore.
And they start to care more about what their peers think, because they're always hanging around with their friends. And that is what matters. And then, at the same time, they're in a public school system, where they don't teach about Allah subhana wata’aalah and how He's created everything.
It's mother nature. Right? It's mother nature that has created all the mountains and the beautiful nature that we see.
That's what they learn. And also, it's not that Allah created humans in the best of creation as the best of creation. No, you evolved from giant apes, right?
We evolved from giant apes. That's what they're taught. And then, once again, if some child, if Allah is trying to give these children a signal, right?
A sign, like Allah says, we have given you so many signs. If you just look at nature and you look at everything,
And now what's the new trend? Oh, the universe spoke to me!
Right? The universe spoke to me, and said, you know, I should do this, or I should do that. It's not Allah subhana wata’aalah, it's the universe. Everything that they can find that isn't Allah or God, they will try to put in there instead as a filler. And then, of course, there's all the other things, right?
There's going to the prom, there's going to dances, there's going to, there's music, and there's, there's drugs in school as well now. Now, you can get vapes that look like markers or AirPods, and you can just, you know, quickly grab it… Put it away, and nobody knows.
The teacher might be like, Oh look at him, he's thinking hard, you know? He's got his pen to his mouth. like, thinking about the problem. No, he's smoking.
That's what he's doing. He's not thinking. All right, so now, if it wasn't bad enough, now the children go to high school.
And they're old enough to be mature, quote unquote, right? They're old enough to be mature, and the kids want a cell phone. If they already haven't gotten a cell phone, maybe now they're getting a cell phone.
And now they're going into that black hole. What's that black hole?
Social media.
Social media.
The scrolling doesn't end, and the entertainment is constant. And not only that, and once again, if you look at the news today, Europe and France even, France, right?
“The most moral country” that we can think of, even they want to ban social media for 15 and under. They want to ban it for only 15 and under because it causes anxiety and depression and this and that. But, of course, from our perspective, it's anxiety and depression, and much worse, right?
It's causing children to basically leave Islam. And the anxiety and the depression caused by social media hits our girls the most because and once again, the statistics are there. Who ends up in the hospital more often due to suicide, risk, and all of that?
It's women, because, on social media, they're expected to perform. They're expected to have a presence and do things. And this is where if there is decency left inside of our children, inside of the Muslim children.
Once again, step by step, inch by inch, right? The Prophet ﷺ all of them didn't say that we're gonna follow them in giant leaps. Because if we do a giant leap, We're gonna be like, wait, something's wrong here.
We can't this is a huge jump. How do we get from here or there? No, it's inch by inch.
So you're moving just a little bit, right? And you don't notice it. You don't notice it.
And we see this in common trends today. And I'm sorry to pick on the sisters, but I will pick on their brothers one day. Don’t worry.
So, the attire of a woman, right, is fully loose clothing and covering the head and so on and so forth, right? Now, okay, you know what? And this is part of the nature of a woman.
She likes to show, as Allah says in the Quran, that's why Allah told the woman to cover themselves, not because men are looking, but because they like to show, so they need to cover themselves. That's their test. Our test is, yeah, we do like to look.
Men do like to look. So Allah did tell us to lower our gaze, but he didn't say sisters cover up because men are looking at you. No, he said, cover up because I know you like to show yourselves, but this is your test.
So now we have the full proper hijab. What's the next step? The next step is, oh, you know, let me just put a little bit of a waistband around my waist, just a little bit of, you know, silhouette is there.
It's fine. You know, I'm still wearing a job and this and that, no big deal. And then the next step is, uh, pants and shirts that are that are tight fitting.
Oh, you know, it's okay. I still have one that has scarf, you know, I have the hijabs, you know, everything's fine. And then what happens then?
Then the hijab tutorials come online, right? The hijabi tutorials and all this stuff, and the makeup, and just to remember, the point of hijab is to conceal your beauty, and now they're telling you how to accentuate your booty, with hijab on, complete opposite.
“Oh, okay, I can show a little bit of hair in this style, But I'm still wearing the hijab. You know, everything's fine. No big deal.”
“Oh, you know, I'm still wearing the hijab, but so what if I have earrings on? It's okay. I'll wear this new turban hijab.”
I got the earrings. I got some hair. It's fine, all good, you know.
And then eventually, it's all gone. It's gone. And I was born and raised here, so, and in my 40 plus years, I've seen the cycle multiple times, and it doesn't matter how practicing a Muslim family might be.
This can happen to anybody. May Allah protect us. And now, remember the cycle:
We left our kids to others to take care of them. We told them, We're told, don't sleep next to your baby. Put them in a separate bedroom, right?
Even in the house, they want you to separate, right?
All of these little things, if you study, psychology and sociology, you learn that actually the Islamic way is what people are actually going back to. But that's not gonna be on the news, you know?
What they're going to show on the news is, they will show you proper hijab, but it'll be under the headline of, this woman is being oppressed. Right?
Maybe she's 15 years old and she was forced into marriage.
And that is true oppression, right? If someone is forced into marriage, we know in Islam that's not correct. But why throw the lady with hijab with that headline?
Because they want that people they want people to see that as oppression.
And then what's freedom, freedom is when you see the 1st Muslim, uh, pro athlete weightlifter, right? She's got tight shorts on and tight sleeves, but she's got a head scarf that's super tight and she's like squatting and doing all of this, but you can see everything.
But that's freedom. That is, that is what our kids are seeing. And then these things are on social media, too.
And they're constantly getting this message back and forth, back and forth.
And to compound the distancing between children and parents, schools now offer therapy, right? Because you give them the problem, the social media, and now you also got to give them, and now you have to sell them the solution too, which is therapy.
And do you think this therapy is gonna be based on Islamic principles? No. What happens is, and a lot of the times in these therapy sessions, in schools, without your knowledge even, they have patient confidentiality, right?
They can't even tell you what they discuss, because it's their right, as a child or whatever, that they don't have to tell you about these things. And even in some cases, believe this or not, if you are, and this is considered therapy, right? If you're an immigrant, child, and you go to school and you learn English pretty good, right?
And then your parents, they came from another country to provide you with a better life. They might need help with some paperwork or going to the doctor and translating something. That, believe it or not, is considered trauma.
Your parents have traumatized you, and they have wronged you because you have to help them and do all these extra things, and actually maybe struggle a little bit, and, but in reality, you're doing khayr for your family. You're learning skills, you're learning life, but that's trauma. So now, all of this is going into our kids.
And then when it's time to go to college, they're not going to want to stay local. They're gonna want to go away because everyone else is going away, right? Remember, they care about what their friends think more than what they what you think, unfortunately.
So, their friends are going away, and you can't just stay here. You also got to travel. You gotta go on those long trips, this and that, have fun.
And what kind of fun are we having, unfortunately? It's not Halal. I'll tell you that much.
They're not going to a cafe and drinking chai, and then going back home. No, they're doing, and this is not just girls, but this is also for boys. But I'm just... trying to, I will in sha Allah, I'll tell you why I'm saying what I'm saying in a few minutes.
And I've seen it, brothers and sisters, this isn't, this isn't shocking to me anymore. This might be shocking to some of you, but this isn't shocking to me, because I've seen it over and over again, where people have families of boys and girls, and they all go off. It's almost like a science experiment.
They all go off to college. The boys are able to stay on their religion.
But the girls, for some reason or another, they fall off the path big time, big time.
And this is not something that is against women. This is just the normal way Allah created man and woman. He created us differently, and there's a reason why men are the leaders, and they're supposed to go out and hunt, right?
Hunt, make for the family and provide, and the women should, to their best of their ability, stay in their homes and raise the family. And the Prophet ﷺ, he said, when the Dajjal will come, which is the biggest trial, when the Dajjal will come, the Prophet ﷺ, he said, most of those who go out to the Dajjal will be women, to the extent that a man goes back to his wife, his mother, his daughter, his sister, and his aunt, to shackle them tightly, fearing they would go out to him.
Now, if we heard, if we heard that somebody, for example, tied up their family at home, that would be abuse, right?
And that, if you just heard those words, oh, this guy, he tied his family into the tree or whatever, and his woman can't leave. If it was the time of the Dajjal, right? And someone did that, because it's real.
What's gonna happen?
Are the people going to agree with him, or are they going to say, this guy's crazy? What are you doing?
So now, the story continues, right? So now, this woman, she's out. She's getting her education.
She's living alone, she's having fun, she's getting more education, having more fun. And then she's used to this. She's got a routine now, right?
Every day, I gotta do this thing, I gotta do that thing. Everything is timed perfectly. And she's perfectly fine living by herself.
And then, when the time eventually comes to get married, because the fitra of a human being will always come out at some point or another. And the fitra of a woman is that they will have this phenomenon. Once again, you can look this up yourselves.
It's where a woman longs to have a child, right? Because her time is running out. Now she's in her 30s.
Her time is running out, and she wants a child. So now she's trying to find somebody. She ends up finding, you know, now, does she want to marry a decent Muslim guy?
I mean, well, if the guy is even half decent and he wants certain standards from her where, you know, she wants to stay home, she wants to provide, she wants to maintain the house, right? Take care of the home. She probably wouldn't want to marry such a man, because she's so used to being out and about, and she doesn't want anyone to, quote unquote, have any authority over her.
So then what does she do? She, she decides to marry, or basically, be in a relationship with a man who's not a Muslim. Right?
And because that man doesn't care what she does, let's be real, right? He doesn't care what she does. He might even encourage it.
Right? Audhubillah.
So what happens to her? Her lineage ends with her.
Her Islam and her family tree ends right there.
And now we get back to the story and the end of the story.
And now, the parents are at home, it's been years, you know, they talk over the phone.
It's a long distance relationship with the parents, right?
And what happens is eventually she calls home, and she's a mom, dad, you know, I found somebody, and he's a Muslim. Now the parent says, Alhamdulillah, remember?
That's how it started. And this is how it ends. You can see why the parents said, Alhamdulillah, because if we look at the hierarchy of, if we were to have categories of Muslims, right, just at a basic level, you have practicing Muslims, you have Friday Muslims, you have Eid Muslims, you have cultural Muslims who just say Islam is in my heart.
You know, I love Allah in His Messenger, but, you know, you know, this salat thing, you know, it's okay. I love a lot. You know, that's all that matters.
And so that guy, by the scholarly definition, wouldn't even be considered a Muslim? That's not what I'm saying. That's what the scholars would say.
So you have Practicing, Friday Muslim, Eid Muslim, cultural Muslim, where Islam is in the heart, and then you have the non-Muslim. at that point. So now this girl is at what? She's probably in that cultural stage.
And she married someone. He's a token Muslim, by the way, meaning he doesn't know anything about Islam, but he fits the criteria so that everything can be okay. Because it all, it all, it's all about what the people think, man.
We have to make sure the people know that everything is good. He Muslim, he's Muslim, okay, let's do the marriage. Everyone's happy, because we just got to make sure everyone, because what will the people think if she's, if she's not a Muslim?
Right? We're so concerned about what other people think that we're willing to follow this whole path. And now, he is a cultural Muslim.
She's a cultural Muslim. Is there some hope? Yes, there's always hope, right?
And may, Allah rectify our affairs, every single one of us, right? May Allah rectify our affairs, our families affairs, and the affairs of the Ummah. And this can keep, so, two cultural Muslims, there's a chance, right, that they can go back up the hill.
They can go back up the tree. They can be Eid Muslims, Friday Muslims, come regularly (to the masjid), and then 2 other categories that I didn't mention are, there's the scholars, and then there's the Prophet ﷺ. And he's the gold standard.
That's where that is our goal for everyone, is to get to this level, even though we might not achieve it, we need to go up that hill. And unfortunately, the trend is going downhill.
أَقُولُ قَوْلِي هَذَا وَأَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ لِي وَلَكُمْ وَلِسَائِرِ الْمُسْلِمِينَ ، فَاسْتَغْفِرُوهُ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ.
(I say these words of mine and I seek forgiveness from Allah for myself and for you and for all the Muslims for every sin. So seek His forgiveness; indeed, He is the Oft-Forgiving, the Most Merciful.)
Now, this movie, brothers and sisters has a part two. The credits roll, the credits roll, and after the credits, what happens is usually a little teaser for the next movie, right?
So now this girl gets married, she's a cultural Muslim.
She's married to a cultural man. Same cycle, right? The same cycle.
Two-income household, and that same cycle that I just went over, right? Exactly the same thing happens. And now the teaser scene shows.
Now, she is the mother now. With her kid somewhere, right? Her daughter calls her.
Hi mom. I just found somebody, and we're gonna get married. But don't worry.
She's a Muslim.
Now, you might be wondering why I'm focusing on sister so much, right? It's not just me that focuses on the sisters.
This is exactly what the people who colonize our lands, they focused on. I did a little bit of research into the French and how they conquered Algeria, or how they tried to conquer Algeria. And this was some of the things that they would say.
And I'm going to quote you this.
“If we wish to strike at Algerian society in its structure and its capacity for resistance, we must, first of all, conquer the women. We must go and seek them out, hidden behind the veil, and in the houses where the men conceal them.
To convert women, to win them over to foreign values, and to tear them away from their personal status is to gain a real power over the men, and at the same time, to possess the practical and effective means to dismantle Algerian culture.”
Now take that same phrase, and instead of Algerian culture, make it Islam. And it's the same idea.
And then they continue:
“The Muslim woman loves children. As the guardian of moral values.
As the guardian of moral values, she raises them in the ancestral traditions. The legends and myths. What are these legends and myths?
Allah said that that's what they will call the Quran in the Quran:
The Defrauding (83:13)
إِذَا تُتْلَىٰ عَلَيْهِ ءَايَـٰتُنَا قَالَ أَسَـٰطِيرُ ٱلْأَوَّلِينَ ١٣
When Our verses are recited to him, he says, "Legends of the former peoples."
Allah said when they are heard, if they hear the verses of the Quran, they will say, oh, these are the ancient tales. And that's exactly what they were saying. “She constitutes the bedrock of the family cell, the dynamic element of tribal life.”
So once again, brothers and sisters, you will sure, the Prophet ﷺ, he said, you will surely follow the path of those before you, step by step, inch by inch. If they entered a lizard hole, you would follow.
And once again, I've seen this same scenario, 20 years or 15 years ago or so, when I was working with somebody, Christian guy, devout Christian.
And I swear by Allah, he said something along these lines, very close. I don’t have the exact words, but the concept is the same.
He said, “Look, I told my daughter I don't care what she does, but as long as she doesn't get pregnant, that's fine. Because, because we have morals in our family.”
Subhan Allah.
I'm sorry I'm laughing, but that's what it's become. And unfortunately, we're also going down that exact same rabbit hole. Now, it's very hard to have control over every single second of our child's life.
That's for sure. But and as we put our child into these institutions, what we must realize is that our institution, we all have an institution, and that is our homes. Our homes are an institution, and it should be an institution of peace and tranquility.
And the way to establish that in the best way possible is to have compatibility between the husband and the wife. And compatibility doesn't mean that you like the same things. No, compatibility means, once again, this is the research.
Compatibility means that one person is able to cover the faults of the other person. So if one person is strong and these qualities, as a provider, as one who goes out there and who earns, and he's strong and he can protect and provide the family and be in charge, then the other person needs to reciprocate that and maintain what the household is. And this is what Islam tells us to do.
If both people are, continuing the soccer references, if both people are trying to score goals, the net is left empty, and everyone can kick goals right in without any problem.
And those goals are attacking your children and our children, and the Ummah at large.
People are sleeping with your wife.
Wired (full PDF here):
The report from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), an anti-extremism organization, analyzes the online ecosystem that enables the proliferation of so-called “nudify” apps and websites, which allow users to digitally undress people without their consent.
The study, which was published on Monday, looked at the top 10 apps and websites used to make nonconsensual explicit deepfakes, as well as how people are finding them. It found that a surprising amount of referral traffic comes not from small, poorly regulated online communities like 4chan but from mainstream social media platforms.
According to the ISD report, social networks drove more than 5.7 million visits to nudify sites between December 2025 and March 2026. The top driver of this traffic was YouTube, which was responsible for 1.82 million site visits, more than 30 percent of the referrals.
Such videos, which resulted from searches for keywords like “undress app” or “nudify app,” ranged from reviewing and promoting specific apps to linking to promo codes to provide free credits. X was the second most prominent source of traffic to the sites, accounting for over 1.3 million visits, according to the study.
“The study’s authors wrote that these findings appear to be in “direct conflict” with YouTube’s policies, which prohibit sexually explicit content. “This should logically include nudify websites or tools that generate nonconsensual explicit imagery,” the report reads. “However, content violating these policies was easily discoverable and accessible on the platform, effectively turning it into a gateway to nudify websites.”
“It wasn’t just that YouTube was a passive source” of referral traffic, Melanie Smith, the senior director of research and policy for ISD, tells WIRED. “In a lot of these cases, it was facilitating the use of these tools as well.”
This kind of problem only adds to the Muslim marriage crisis (and all marriages in general), where anybody can flirt with a digital version of your wife, your daughter, your sister, etc. Who needs the real deal when you can get whatever woman you want, and why restrict it to just 4 wives?
Upload some of her public photos and videos, use apps to turn them into 3D holograms, dial in the personality traits you would like her to have, and voila!, now you have your own digital wife that can do whatever you want.
The morally corrupt woman will even get turned on by this, but then become angry only because their likeness hasn’t been patented and they’re missing out on monetizing their “ass…ets.”
Wired (full PDF here):
The report from the Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), an anti-extremism organization, analyzes the online ecosystem that enables the proliferation of so-called “nudify” apps and websites, which allow users to digitally undress people without their consent.
The study, which was published on Monday, looked at the top 10 apps and websites used to make nonconsensual explicit deepfakes, as well as how people are finding them. It found that a surprising amount of referral traffic comes not from small, poorly regulated online communities like 4chan but from mainstream social media platforms.
According to the ISD report, social networks drove more than 5.7 million visits to nudify sites between December 2025 and March 2026. The top driver of this traffic was YouTube, which was responsible for 1.82 million site visits, more than 30 percent of the referrals.
Such videos, which resulted from searches for keywords like “undress app” or “nudify app,” ranged from reviewing and promoting specific apps to linking to promo codes to provide free credits. X was the second most prominent source of traffic to the sites, accounting for over 1.3 million visits, according to the study.
“The study’s authors wrote that these findings appear to be in “direct conflict” with YouTube’s policies, which prohibit sexually explicit content. “This should logically include nudify websites or tools that generate nonconsensual explicit imagery,” the report reads. “However, content violating these policies was easily discoverable and accessible on the platform, effectively turning it into a gateway to nudify websites.”
“It wasn’t just that YouTube was a passive source” of referral traffic, Melanie Smith, the senior director of research and policy for ISD, tells WIRED. “In a lot of these cases, it was facilitating the use of these tools as well.”
This kind of problem only adds to the Muslim marriage crisis (and all marriages in general), where anybody can flirt with a digital version of your wife, your daughter, your sister, etc. Who needs the real deal when you can get whatever woman you want, and why restrict it to just 4 wives?
Upload some of her public photos and videos, use apps to turn them into 3D holograms, dial in the personality traits you would like her to have, and voila!, now you have your own digital wife that can do whatever you want.
The morally corrupt woman will even get turned on by this, but then become angry only because their likeness hasn’t been patented and they’re missing out on monetizing their “ass…ets.”
The iPhone’s Action Button needs more action.
The Power Button on iPhone current has 5 different actions:
Press and hold - activates Siri
Press once - locks the device
Press twice - activates Apple Pay
Press three times - activates your accessibility shortcut options
Press five times - activates the emergency SOS screen
The Action Button…currently has 1 action:
Press and hold - perform one action from the list provided
For a button called the Action Button, it really isn’t getting much action. I’m not asking for 5 functions because that would be a bit much, but at least give me a double and triple-press option. Ideally, I would set a double press as my “Shake” button because shaking the actual phone feels like I’m going to fling it across the room. I could use Back Tap and make a double tap or a triple tap turn ON the “shake” option, but I feel Back Tap gets activated too often unintentionally.
I like me some physical, reliable controls, and apparently so does Apple.
My ideal setup for the Action Button:
Press and hold - flashlight
Press twice - “shake” or undo function
Press three times - turn ON or OFF a home kit accessory
Just for reference, Apple Watch Ultra also has an Action Button, and it has 3 functions:
Press once - perform one action from the list provided
Press and hold for 2 seconds - select action from the list provided
Press and hold for 5 seconds - starts the countdown for the Siren.
The Power Button on iPhone current has 5 different actions:
Press and hold - activates Siri
Press once - locks the device
Press twice - activates Apple Pay
Press three times - activates your accessibility shortcut options
Press five times - activates the emergency SOS screen
The Action Button…currently has 1 action:
Press and hold - perform one action from the list provided
For a button called the Action Button, it really isn’t getting much action. I’m not asking for 5 functions because that would be a bit much, but at least give me a double and triple-press option. Ideally, I would set a double press as my “Shake” button because shaking the actual phone feels like I’m going to fling it across the room. I could use Back Tap and make a double tap or a triple tap turn ON the “shake” option, but I feel Back Tap gets activated too often unintentionally.
I like me some physical, reliable controls, and apparently so does Apple.
My ideal setup for the Action Button:
Press and hold - flashlight
Press twice - “shake” or undo function
Press three times - turn ON or OFF a home kit accessory
Just for reference, Apple Watch Ultra also has an Action Button, and it has 3 functions:
Press once - perform one action from the list provided
Press and hold for 2 seconds - select action from the list provided
Press and hold for 5 seconds - starts the countdown for the Siren.
Another take on Pragmata with more reasons why fathers are crucial in a child’s life.
Some highlights from Life is a Game Magazine about Pragmata:
1 in 4 children in America right now are growing up without a biological, step or adoptive father in the home. That’s 18 million kids, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau as of 2022-2023. Hold that number in your head and let it sit there, because I think Capcom may have made the most important argument about fatherhood that gaming has ever produced; and looking at the discourse online right now, nobody is connecting the dots. […]
Because fatherhood; real fatherhood has never strictly been about the biology. It’s about the choice to stay. The opposite of an absent father isn’t just a “present” one; it’s choosing presence when absence would be infinitely easier. We see it all too often, the man panics at the thought of another life he brings into the world; runs away from the “problem” and decades later comes to the realization. The realization of regret…[…]
Every narrative thread, every upgraded weapon, every complicated firefight, and every quiet moment building sand castles builds meticulously to the game’s breathtaking climax. I’m not going to spoil the final act for you. I think everyone should experience this for themselves and get a sense of what the ending means to you…
But this is where the game crashes violently back down into the reality of those 18 million kids we talked about at the beginning. The research says that fatherless families are four times more likely to live in poverty. We know that 63% of youth suicides come from fatherless homes, according to the Department of Health and Human Services AND the Bureau of thee Census. The devastating cost of a man choosing his own preservation over his responsibilities. […]
One day, I want to have kids myself and when that time comes I won’t hesitate to take on the mantle of fatherhood. Because I know what it was like growing up with one. One that was tough on me, told me to dream, helped build a strong work ethic in me, and told me I could accomplish anything I worked my ass off for. And if I failed, he would be there to lift me up so I can go at it again. That’s what made me the man I am today. And that’s what I want to instill in my kids for tomorrow.
I read the ending to the game, and if you’re a dedicated father, it won’t surprise you.
Some highlights from Life is a Game Magazine about Pragmata:
1 in 4 children in America right now are growing up without a biological, step or adoptive father in the home. That’s 18 million kids, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau as of 2022-2023. Hold that number in your head and let it sit there, because I think Capcom may have made the most important argument about fatherhood that gaming has ever produced; and looking at the discourse online right now, nobody is connecting the dots. […]
Because fatherhood; real fatherhood has never strictly been about the biology. It’s about the choice to stay. The opposite of an absent father isn’t just a “present” one; it’s choosing presence when absence would be infinitely easier. We see it all too often, the man panics at the thought of another life he brings into the world; runs away from the “problem” and decades later comes to the realization. The realization of regret…[…]
Every narrative thread, every upgraded weapon, every complicated firefight, and every quiet moment building sand castles builds meticulously to the game’s breathtaking climax. I’m not going to spoil the final act for you. I think everyone should experience this for themselves and get a sense of what the ending means to you…
But this is where the game crashes violently back down into the reality of those 18 million kids we talked about at the beginning. The research says that fatherless families are four times more likely to live in poverty. We know that 63% of youth suicides come from fatherless homes, according to the Department of Health and Human Services AND the Bureau of thee Census. The devastating cost of a man choosing his own preservation over his responsibilities. […]
One day, I want to have kids myself and when that time comes I won’t hesitate to take on the mantle of fatherhood. Because I know what it was like growing up with one. One that was tough on me, told me to dream, helped build a strong work ethic in me, and told me I could accomplish anything I worked my ass off for. And if I failed, he would be there to lift me up so I can go at it again. That’s what made me the man I am today. And that’s what I want to instill in my kids for tomorrow.
I read the ending to the game, and if you’re a dedicated father, it won’t surprise you.
A videogame about Fatherhood that has the internet by storm.
Pragmata was a new release by Capcom a few months ago, and it started gaining traction as a game about - fatherhood?
You have a companion, a robot girl named Diana, whom you fight alongside and protect throughout the game. As the story progresses, Hugh and Diana develop a sort of father-daughter bond − and that's the part of the game hitting players right in the feels and sparking massive discussion online.
"What... what is this feeling inside me? It can't be... It's like... I wanna protect... it's like... I want to be a... a... DAD..." one X user wrote. "I will burn anyone and anything that tries to harm her," wrote another. One Reddit user described playing the game as "therapeutic for my soul," following the death of his own daughter at the age of 8 in 2009.
Turns out, psychologists say, the instinct to nurture isn't something that just belongs to women, though much of popular culture may indicate otherwise. Men do by and large have an innate, paternal instinct as well, and it's something that can get activated whether or not they have children of their own.
Fatherhood is not perfect by any stretch of the means and life does have its challenges, but it’s one of those, “If you know, you know” moments. Even then, many parents, dare I say, “grow out of love” for their children because children’s values are now based on what their peers believe instead of what their parents believe. Peer influence is outpacing parental influence and most importantly, guidance, and that’s why my wife and I are blessed to be able to homeschool our children. As our kids hit their teenage years, we feel the independence our kids need and desire, but we don’t feel we are “growing out of love” for our children. We still enjoy our time together.
Of course the algorithm is part of peer influence, and beating the algorithm is an uphill battle, which is why kids shouldn’t be on social media platforms - and quite frankly many adults shouldn’t be either. The beauty is I can still send them videos from social media via screen recordings, mimicking email chains of the past.
I read this amazing book called The Boy Crisis a few years ago, and even though I don’t agree with everything the author says, it really does shed light on the importance of having a fatherly presence in children’s lives, with objective evidence stating that children perform better in every metric of life (financial, emotional, social, health, etc.), when fathers are present.
Whether I play Pragmata is up for debate, but odds are I won’t because I simply don’t have the time. You can say I’m living the game firsthand in a more visceral way as a father of 3 daughters at different stages of their lives, and there’s never a dull moment.
Pragmata was a new release by Capcom a few months ago, and it started gaining traction as a game about - fatherhood?
You have a companion, a robot girl named Diana, whom you fight alongside and protect throughout the game. As the story progresses, Hugh and Diana develop a sort of father-daughter bond − and that's the part of the game hitting players right in the feels and sparking massive discussion online.
"What... what is this feeling inside me? It can't be... It's like... I wanna protect... it's like... I want to be a... a... DAD..." one X user wrote. "I will burn anyone and anything that tries to harm her," wrote another. One Reddit user described playing the game as "therapeutic for my soul," following the death of his own daughter at the age of 8 in 2009.
Turns out, psychologists say, the instinct to nurture isn't something that just belongs to women, though much of popular culture may indicate otherwise. Men do by and large have an innate, paternal instinct as well, and it's something that can get activated whether or not they have children of their own.
Fatherhood is not perfect by any stretch of the means and life does have its challenges, but it’s one of those, “If you know, you know” moments. Even then, many parents, dare I say, “grow out of love” for their children because children’s values are now based on what their peers believe instead of what their parents believe. Peer influence is outpacing parental influence and most importantly, guidance, and that’s why my wife and I are blessed to be able to homeschool our children. As our kids hit their teenage years, we feel the independence our kids need and desire, but we don’t feel we are “growing out of love” for our children. We still enjoy our time together.
Of course the algorithm is part of peer influence, and beating the algorithm is an uphill battle, which is why kids shouldn’t be on social media platforms - and quite frankly many adults shouldn’t be either. The beauty is I can still send them videos from social media via screen recordings, mimicking email chains of the past.
I read this amazing book called The Boy Crisis a few years ago, and even though I don’t agree with everything the author says, it really does shed light on the importance of having a fatherly presence in children’s lives, with objective evidence stating that children perform better in every metric of life (financial, emotional, social, health, etc.), when fathers are present.
Whether I play Pragmata is up for debate, but odds are I won’t because I simply don’t have the time. You can say I’m living the game firsthand in a more visceral way as a father of 3 daughters at different stages of their lives, and there’s never a dull moment.
A thinner Apple Watch Ultra 4 would be a regression.
With the alleged release of an Apple Watch Ultra 4 this Fall, it begs the question:
Should we expect a full redesign or just a more optimized watch like the 3 generations before it? No one knows, but if Apple does go the thinner route, that would be a huge step backwards in my opinion.
Everyone wants more battery life out of their Apple Watch, and people have even higher expectations with Apple Watch Ultra. The Ultra is branded and marketed as the ultimate sports and fitness tracker, and nothing matters more to athletes than great performance and better battery life. It’s already huge and bulky, so why try to make it a sleeker device when the regular Apple Watch does that very well?
Apple already trifurcated the Apple Watch lineup (SE, Series, Ultra), and have made each distinct from one another just like with iPhone 17, iPhone Air, and iPhone 17 Pro. The value-packed, budget Apple Watch SE is the iPhone 17, the thinner, sexier Apple Watch Series 11 is the iPhone Air, and Apple Watch Ultra is the iPhone 17 Pro - beefy, powerful, feature-rich, no holds barred.
I’m not asking for a thicker watch - just keep it the same thickness, and give us more battery life. Chips will inevitably get smaller, more powerful, and more efficient, leaving more space for battery. And for the love of God Apple, please fix the software experience. My Ultra 3 should not be more sluggish than my Series 10.
With the alleged release of an Apple Watch Ultra 4 this Fall, it begs the question:
Should we expect a full redesign or just a more optimized watch like the 3 generations before it? No one knows, but if Apple does go the thinner route, that would be a huge step backwards in my opinion.
Everyone wants more battery life out of their Apple Watch, and people have even higher expectations with Apple Watch Ultra. The Ultra is branded and marketed as the ultimate sports and fitness tracker, and nothing matters more to athletes than great performance and better battery life. It’s already huge and bulky, so why try to make it a sleeker device when the regular Apple Watch does that very well?
Apple already trifurcated the Apple Watch lineup (SE, Series, Ultra), and have made each distinct from one another just like with iPhone 17, iPhone Air, and iPhone 17 Pro. The value-packed, budget Apple Watch SE is the iPhone 17, the thinner, sexier Apple Watch Series 11 is the iPhone Air, and Apple Watch Ultra is the iPhone 17 Pro - beefy, powerful, feature-rich, no holds barred.
I’m not asking for a thicker watch - just keep it the same thickness, and give us more battery life. Chips will inevitably get smaller, more powerful, and more efficient, leaving more space for battery. And for the love of God Apple, please fix the software experience. My Ultra 3 should not be more sluggish than my Series 10.
Apple increases prices on iPads, Macs, MacBooks, but iPhones and Apple Watches are shielded for now.
In a statement from Apple acquired by MacRumors:
The consumer electronics industry is facing an unprecedented challenge. The rapid expansion of AI data centers has created an extraordinary surge in demand for memory and storage. We have never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly. We have shielded our customers from these increases so far, but we have now reached a point where we need to begin raising prices on a number of products, including today's increases for iPad and Mac. We know this is not welcome news, and we are working tirelessly to find solutions.
Every single Mac, iPad, MacBook, along with HomePod, Apple TV, and Vision Pro got an increase. I’m sure iPhones and Apple Watches will get an increase come this Fall.
At least Tim gave us a heads up a week ago.
Prime Day is still in effect, so grab the deals while they’re hot.
In a statement from Apple acquired by MacRumors:
The consumer electronics industry is facing an unprecedented challenge. The rapid expansion of AI data centers has created an extraordinary surge in demand for memory and storage. We have never seen a component price increase this much, this quickly. We have shielded our customers from these increases so far, but we have now reached a point where we need to begin raising prices on a number of products, including today's increases for iPad and Mac. We know this is not welcome news, and we are working tirelessly to find solutions.
Every single Mac, iPad, MacBook, along with HomePod, Apple TV, and Vision Pro got an increase. I’m sure iPhones and Apple Watches will get an increase come this Fall.
At least Tim gave us a heads up a week ago.
Prime Day is still in effect, so grab the deals while they’re hot.
Apple guidelines on what you should do if your iPhone or iPad is stolen.
Apple has a support page explaining what to do if your iPhone is stolen, and it has now updated this page with more detailed advice.
This includes a new section warning of potential scams and advising against entering contact details to display on the stolen device…
The key information that stands out - don’t display your contact information if your device was stolen:
While you might see an option to enter a phone number or message about how to contact you, this information is helpful if you've lost your device and want to make it easier for someone who finds your device to get it back to you. If your device was stolen, the thief might use your contact information for social engineering schemes.
Great document that deserves a full read and one you should have on hand - saved on all your devices. Follow the steps in order, but hopefully this never happens to you or any loved ones.
Apple has a support page explaining what to do if your iPhone is stolen, and it has now updated this page with more detailed advice.
This includes a new section warning of potential scams and advising against entering contact details to display on the stolen device…
The key information that stands out - don’t display your contact information if your device was stolen:
While you might see an option to enter a phone number or message about how to contact you, this information is helpful if you've lost your device and want to make it easier for someone who finds your device to get it back to you. If your device was stolen, the thief might use your contact information for social engineering schemes.
Great document that deserves a full read and one you should have on hand - saved on all your devices. Follow the steps in order, but hopefully this never happens to you or any loved ones.
Prime Day deals on Apple Watches, including sleeper deals on Titanium Series 10 models.
To be completely honest, the best Apple Watch version to get will be the Series 12 which will be released in 3 months, but if you must get an Apple Watch right now, you can’t go wrong with the Series 11 watches that are 25-30% off.
You can also get several Titanium Series 10 watches for $300 off which is insane considering they are the same as a Series 11, with the exception of no 5G connectivity. Upgrading to Titanium does get you increased durability and a luxurious experience as I mentioned previously.
Skip the Ultra 3 since there might be a redesigned and more powerful Ultra 4 in September.
Affiliate links:
Apple Watch Series 10 42mm Slate Titanium with Milanese Loop
To be completely honest, the best Apple Watch version to get will be the Series 12 which will be released in 3 months, but if you must get an Apple Watch right now, you can’t go wrong with the Series 11 watches that are 25-30% off.
You can also get several Titanium Series 10 watches for $300 off which is insane considering they are the same as a Series 11, with the exception of no 5G connectivity. Upgrading to Titanium does get you increased durability and a luxurious experience as I mentioned previously.
Skip the Ultra 3 since there might be a redesigned and more powerful Ultra 4 in September.
Affiliate links:
Apple Watch Series 10 42mm Slate Titanium with Milanese Loop
The 1st-generation Apple Watch Ultra was on the chopping block the day it was released because of its processor.
Although people are frustrated with the lack of support for watchOS 27 on older watches, you have to realize how Apple cycles its Apple Watch processor upgrades. Matt Popovich sums it up quite well:
Apple watch’s main upgrade happens every ~3 years whenever the processor (SiP = System in Package) gets upgraded:
~S4 SiP = Series 4, 5, SE
~S6 SiP = Series 6, 7, 8, SE2, Ultra
~S9 SiP = Series 9, 10, 11, SE3, Ultra 2, Ultra 3
Even though Apple has an S6, S7, and S8 SiP, each one of those have the same CPU and are thus basically the same chip, just renamed. So you won’t see much (if any) performance difference between them.
The takeaway from this is if you’re going to get, for example, a series 5, you’re better off getting a series 6. If you’re going to get a series 8, you’re better off getting a 9. It’s only a one year jump in watch but a ~3 year jump in processor. The processor will be faster and the watch will be supported with software updates for a few years longer.
Knowing these facts, the 1st-generation Ultra debuted with an S8 chip alongside the Series 8 and SE2, and doesn’t meet Apple’s performance standards for running watchOS 27 because it is an S6 chip at the end of the day. Think of it from this perspective - Apple Watch Ultra will be 4 years old this Fall, but its processor will be 6 years old.
The other thing to note is a new chip is released a year before Apple redesigns its mainstream Series numbered watch, starting with the S6 chip:
Faster S6 chip with Series 6 in 2020 - redesigned Series 7 watch in 2021
Faster S9 chip with Series 9 in 2023 - redesigned Series 10 watch in 2024
Faster S12 chip with Series 12 in 2026 - redesigned Series 13 watch in 2027
I like this pattern because each design of the Apple Watch ends its design cycle with the best possible processor at the time. Also note that the S10 chip in the Series 10 was followed by…an S10 chip in the Series 11 and Ultra 3. Apple didn’t even bother to rename the chip because it’s literally the same chip.
The S12 chip is only a prediction, but it makes perfect sense because Siri AI is going to be processor intensive, and Apple Watch needs an upgraded processor designed around Siri AI to sustain the next 3+ years of updates. The S9 and S10 chips are going to support Siri AI, but remember - Apple hasn’t shipped Siri AI for Apple Watch yet, nor demoed it, and currently Apple says it will be ready “later this year.”
I fully expect Apple to ship Siri AI on Apple Watch as promised since they don’t want to go through another Siri debacle, but if you want the best possible version of Siri AI, it will be on the next generation of watches.
Although people are frustrated with the lack of support for watchOS 27 on older watches, you have to realize how Apple cycles its Apple Watch processor upgrades. Matt Popovich sums it up quite well:
Apple watch’s main upgrade happens every ~3 years whenever the processor (SiP = System in Package) gets upgraded:
~S4 SiP = Series 4, 5, SE
~S6 SiP = Series 6, 7, 8, SE2, Ultra
~S9 SiP = Series 9, 10, 11, SE3, Ultra 2, Ultra 3
Even though Apple has an S6, S7, and S8 SiP, each one of those have the same CPU and are thus basically the same chip, just renamed. So you won’t see much (if any) performance difference between them.
The takeaway from this is if you’re going to get, for example, a series 5, you’re better off getting a series 6. If you’re going to get a series 8, you’re better off getting a 9. It’s only a one year jump in watch but a ~3 year jump in processor. The processor will be faster and the watch will be supported with software updates for a few years longer.
Knowing these facts, the 1st-generation Ultra debuted with an S8 chip alongside the Series 8 and SE2, and doesn’t meet Apple’s performance standards for running watchOS 27 because it is an S6 chip at the end of the day. Think of it from this perspective - Apple Watch Ultra will be 4 years old this Fall, but its processor will be 6 years old.
The other thing to note is a new chip is released a year before Apple redesigns its mainstream Series numbered watch, starting with the S6 chip:
Faster S6 chip with Series 6 in 2020 - redesigned Series 7 watch in 2021
Faster S9 chip with Series 9 in 2023 - redesigned Series 10 watch in 2024
Faster S12 chip with Series 12 in 2026 - redesigned Series 13 watch in 2027
I like this pattern because each design of the Apple Watch ends its design cycle with the best possible processor at the time. Also note that the S10 chip in the Series 10 was followed by…an S10 chip in the Series 11 and Ultra 3. Apple didn’t even bother to rename the chip because it’s literally the same chip.
The S12 chip is only a prediction, but it makes perfect sense because Siri AI is going to be processor intensive, and Apple Watch needs an upgraded processor designed around Siri AI to sustain the next 3+ years of updates. The S9 and S10 chips are going to support Siri AI, but remember - Apple hasn’t shipped Siri AI for Apple Watch yet, nor demoed it, and currently Apple says it will be ready “later this year.”
I fully expect Apple to ship Siri AI on Apple Watch as promised since they don’t want to go through another Siri debacle, but if you want the best possible version of Siri AI, it will be on the next generation of watches.
Apple Watch ultimate comparison chart.
Apple only allows you to compare 3 watches side-by-side, but if you really want to compare more watches together with more detail, check out this extremely detailed spreadsheet by Matt Popovich.
I was wondering how on line 40 he got those numbers for estimated processor performance, but what he did was take Apple’s typical statement from each keynote where the new processor is up to whatever percent faster than the previous generation, and just did the math.
One correction though - the S1P and S2 chip had the same processor speed, so the math leading to the current S10 chip would make the S10 chip up to 8x faster than the original Apple Watch, not 12x.
Apple only allows you to compare 3 watches side-by-side, but if you really want to compare more watches together with more detail, check out this extremely detailed spreadsheet by Matt Popovich.
I was wondering how on line 40 he got those numbers for estimated processor performance, but what he did was take Apple’s typical statement from each keynote where the new processor is up to whatever percent faster than the previous generation, and just did the math.
One correction though - the S1P and S2 chip had the same processor speed, so the math leading to the current S10 chip would make the S10 chip up to 8x faster than the original Apple Watch, not 12x.
How well does iOS 27 and Siri AI work on iPhone Air?
I made the bold move of putting iOS 27 on my main phone right before a 3-day weekend to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, VA. Not only was it my main phone, but it was an iPhone Air, which already has less than ideal battery life.
What can I say except, “I like to live on the edge.”
I was confident that even the first iOS 27 beta would be fine considering iOS 27 was focused on stability and performance in every conceivable category.
My worries were quelled from the get go since I didn’t have any battery issues once my phone was done indexing, and the only time battery life would take a hit was during extended time with Siri or while using Extend, Reframe, and Clean Up in Photos. Ditto with Image Playground. The phone would heat up, the screen would dim, and Pro Motion turned into slow motion. Once I stopped using those features, things went back to normal, including battery life.
More recently, I’ve been rarely using the imaging processing tools and that honeymoon period is over, but my honeymoon with Siri AI is still ongoing. I’m liking her more, and she’s also getting better at battery life. If you live to talk to your AI chatbot though, be prepared to carry a battery pack with you.
Overall, things are looking real good considering we’re only on the first of many betas.
Siri AI
Siri AI isn’t perfect, but no AI assistant is. That being said, it does perform well and does use your personalized context in ways that surprised me. Here are some examples:
It was able to tell me the weather near my vacation destination without having to spell out to Siri where I was going. It pulled up my calendar and email with hotel reservation information to figure out where I was going.
Asking Siri about my kids’ summer camp and for more details pulled up the email my wife forwarded me regarding their summer camp.
I asked Siri for any Halal restaurants in Williamsburg, and it did provide me with the only restaurant nearby and some that were out of our driving range. I wasn’t surprised considering we were in Williamsburg.
Siri correctly was able to tell me which one of my other 3 kids is in the most photos with our 1 year old baby.
I needed to reset an AirTag from scratch, and Siri was able to locate the instructions on how to do that. It’s not as simple as removing the AirTag in Find My.
On the famous Escape from Pompeii ride where you get soaked, I remember getting my shoes and socks wet 8 years ago since I sat in the front row and the first dip causes a gush of water to engorge your shoes. I asked Siri if there was a spot to put your shoes before you get on the ride, and she correctly told me there is no place to put your shoes and you have to wear them.
Most rides in Busch Gardens allow you to put your items in cubbies or baskets right before you board your seat (including shoes or slide sandals), but in the Pompeii ride, you are specifically told to hold onto all your belongings and the staff doesn’t make any exceptions. I’m glad I wore sandals.
I needed to remove a fuse in my minivan since one of my rear windows was falling off the regulator, and I didn’t want anyone to press the switch to roll the window down. Siri AI was able to point me in the right direction and I was successful in deactivating the proper window switch. I triple-checked with Gemini and YouTube since the window would be stuck in the rolled down position.
I was trying to remember the name of a movie I saw decades ago and gave Siri this prompt:
“What's that movie where the people were messing around with a truck radio thing and then they accidentally murdered somebody by accident?”
She correctly responded:
“The movie you are thinking of is likely Joy Ride (2001). The plot follows two brothers (played by Paul Walker and Steve Zahn) who use a CB radio to prank a lonely truck driver known as "Rusty Nail". The seemingly harmless joke quickly spirals out of control, leading to a deadly game of cat and mouse.”
My Costco membership was going to expire in 41 days per the app, and I asked Siri what date my membership would expire based on the information on-screen, and she gave me the exact date.
Siri is actually usable, for real for real.
I made the bold move of putting iOS 27 on my main phone right before a 3-day weekend to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, VA. Not only was it my main phone, but it was an iPhone Air, which already has less than ideal battery life.
What can I say except, “I like to live on the edge.”
I was confident that even the first iOS 27 beta would be fine considering iOS 27 was focused on stability and performance in every conceivable category.
My worries were quelled from the get go since I didn’t have any battery issues once my phone was done indexing, and the only time battery life would take a hit was during extended time with Siri or while using Extend, Reframe, and Clean Up in Photos. Ditto with Image Playground. The phone would heat up, the screen would dim, and Pro Motion turned into slow motion. Once I stopped using those features, things went back to normal, including battery life.
More recently, I’ve been rarely using the imaging processing tools and that honeymoon period is over, but my honeymoon with Siri AI is still ongoing. I’m liking her more, and she’s also getting better at battery life. If you live to talk to your AI chatbot though, be prepared to carry a battery pack with you.
Overall, things are looking real good considering we’re only on the first of many betas.
Siri AI
Siri AI isn’t perfect, but no AI assistant is. That being said, it does perform well and does use your personalized context in ways that surprised me. Here are some examples:
It was able to tell me the weather near my vacation destination without having to spell out to Siri where I was going. It pulled up my calendar and email with hotel reservation information to figure out where I was going.
Asking Siri about my kids’ summer camp and for more details pulled up the email my wife forwarded me regarding their summer camp.
I asked Siri for any Halal restaurants in Williamsburg, and it did provide me with the only restaurant nearby and some that were out of our driving range. I wasn’t surprised considering we were in Williamsburg.
Siri correctly was able to tell me which one of my other 3 kids is in the most photos with our 1 year old baby.
I needed to reset an AirTag from scratch, and Siri was able to locate the instructions on how to do that. It’s not as simple as removing the AirTag in Find My.
On the famous Escape from Pompeii ride where you get soaked, I remember getting my shoes and socks wet 8 years ago since I sat in the front row and the first dip causes a gush of water to engorge your shoes. I asked Siri if there was a spot to put your shoes before you get on the ride, and she correctly told me there is no place to put your shoes and you have to wear them.
Most rides in Busch Gardens allow you to put your items in cubbies or baskets right before you board your seat (including shoes or slide sandals), but in the Pompeii ride, you are specifically told to hold onto all your belongings and the staff doesn’t make any exceptions. I’m glad I wore sandals.
I needed to remove a fuse in my minivan since one of my rear windows was falling off the regulator, and I didn’t want anyone to press the switch to roll the window down. Siri AI was able to point me in the right direction and I was successful in deactivating the proper window switch. I triple-checked with Gemini and YouTube since the window would be stuck in the rolled down position.
I was trying to remember the name of a movie I saw decades ago and gave Siri this prompt:
“What's that movie where the people were messing around with a truck radio thing and then they accidentally murdered somebody by accident?”
She correctly responded:
“The movie you are thinking of is likely Joy Ride (2001). The plot follows two brothers (played by Paul Walker and Steve Zahn) who use a CB radio to prank a lonely truck driver known as "Rusty Nail". The seemingly harmless joke quickly spirals out of control, leading to a deadly game of cat and mouse.”
My Costco membership was going to expire in 41 days per the app, and I asked Siri what date my membership would expire based on the information on-screen, and she gave me the exact date.
Siri is actually usable, for real for real.
Apple Watch shows you the disconnected, “red iPhone of death” in more places in watchOS 27.
I only saw it once, but I got receipts. When I went inside of my Messages app, I noticed the disconnected iPhone logo (aka the red iPhone of death). I opened multiple apps, and I saw the same logo next to the time. Looks like Apple did make it more prominent than before. Previously, the only way to see your iPhone connection status was in Control Center. In ancient times, it was on the watch face itself which is what I want, but this is a step in the right direction.
I couldn’t replicate this experience no matter what I did, and now it only shows the “red iPhone of death” in Control Center. Weird, but we’re still in Developer Beta 1 so I’m optimistic (my previous rant can be read here).
I only saw it once, but I got receipts. When I went inside of my Messages app, I noticed the disconnected iPhone logo (aka the red iPhone of death). I opened multiple apps, and I saw the same logo next to the time. Looks like Apple did make it more prominent than before. Previously, the only way to see your iPhone connection status was in Control Center. In ancient times, it was on the watch face itself which is what I want, but this is a step in the right direction.
I couldn’t replicate this experience no matter what I did, and now it only shows the “red iPhone of death” in Control Center. Weird, but we’re still in Developer Beta 1 so I’m optimistic (my previous rant can be read here).
CVS unveils new unibody aluminum bottles for their over-the-counter medications.
The pharmacy’s aluminum bottles are being rolled out first with value-sized CVS brand allergy and pain relief products. Shiny and silver, the bottles are designed not just to be environmentally friendly, but also to look more premium, although the price itself is unchanged.
Brightly colored tops are paired with color-corresponding sticker labels that show actual size images of the pills inside, as well as callouts for product comparisons and the text “Infinitely Recyclable Aluminum.”
At CVS, we strive for excellence, and we realize that design doesn’t have to be boring.
Design is…a form of expression. A yearning to be heard without speech, but with materials.
Even though our stores look dreary with grotesque midnight gray carpeting that repel anyone with even a smidge of sophistication, we think people that still choose to walk into our stores will appreciate our new hardware.
Featuring an aerospace-grade aluminum unibody design, our bottles can dissipate heat up to 50% more than plastic bottles to improve medication longevity.
It’s also great for the environment, as aluminum is infinitely recyclable.
Our allergy pills will be available in mid-2026, just in time to counteract any allergies caused by breathing in our carpet particulate.
The pharmacy’s aluminum bottles are being rolled out first with value-sized CVS brand allergy and pain relief products. Shiny and silver, the bottles are designed not just to be environmentally friendly, but also to look more premium, although the price itself is unchanged.
Brightly colored tops are paired with color-corresponding sticker labels that show actual size images of the pills inside, as well as callouts for product comparisons and the text “Infinitely Recyclable Aluminum.”
At CVS, we strive for excellence, and we realize that design doesn’t have to be boring.
Design is…a form of expression. A yearning to be heard without speech, but with materials.
Even though our stores look dreary with grotesque midnight gray carpeting that repel anyone with even a smidge of sophistication, we think people that still choose to walk into our stores will appreciate our new hardware.
Featuring an aerospace-grade aluminum unibody design, our bottles can dissipate heat up to 50% more than plastic bottles to improve medication longevity.
It’s also great for the environment, as aluminum is infinitely recyclable.
Our allergy pills will be available in mid-2026, just in time to counteract any allergies caused by breathing in our carpet particulate.
The best take on Apple’s new AI tools in the Photos app.
Tyler Stalman on X:
When does a photo stop being a photo? Apple has been slow to adopt Al editing tools but at WWDC26 they dove in head first. They've always said that to them a photo is representation of a moment that really happened and these new tools built into the Photos app take a step away from that.
CLEANUP: It works great! Just like Photoshop's Generative Fill it's powerful, useful and leaves minimal digital artifacts, I love it. But as users become better able to seamlessly make major edits to personal photos, some kind of verification standard (like C2PA) becomes more important for Apple to support.
EXTEND: It works very well but this is a tool best left to third party apps. It completely invents huge areas of a scene, switching pants into shorts or adding people that don't exist. There are dozens of professional uses for that, like adding negative space for a design, but most of what we keep in the Photos app are memories and I believe Apple should always resist the temptation to allow casual users to meaningfully alter those memories without jumping through one or two hoops.
That said, it's incredibly useful for better fitting wallpaper images, or building out the corners of an image to straighten the horizon. I suggest Apple limit use in its non-pro apps to those features, and hand the powerful version of Extend over to the Photomator team.
REFRAME: It's a cool party trick, but I think it is a mistake to add it to the Photos app. It's like the end of The Prestige, or the Star Trek teleporter paradox. Even a small perspective adjustment means that the image is handed off to Private Cloud Compute, a new photo is generated that might look JUST LIKE your photo, but ultimately is now an Al generated image. Apple is great about protecting your data, so your original image is always preserved but I can just imagine a casual user excitedly going through and tweaking every image in their favourites album, only to regret it later (don't worry, you can always undo it).
And although the feature generally works well, a big camera move can significantly distort the subject.
Overall, I think Apple is withdrawing from the bank of trust that iPhone photo is always a true representation of what happened for relatively niche features. If I were on the Photos team, I would want to position the iPhone as the camera you can always trust. Google and Samsung can chase the wizbang features but I want iPhone photos to be the most trusted in the world, and we're gradually moving away from that.
That last paragraph is how I feel about AI photo editing for years; I didn’t think Apple would follow Google and Samsung and start tinkering with reality. Apple’s algorithms in Extend, Cleanup, and Reframe all work really well after having tested them myself, but there isn’t a single photo that I want to save because I know it’s not real.
The goal of photography was always to capture what the eye can see, not what the mind wants.
Tyler Stalman on X:
When does a photo stop being a photo? Apple has been slow to adopt Al editing tools but at WWDC26 they dove in head first. They've always said that to them a photo is representation of a moment that really happened and these new tools built into the Photos app take a step away from that.
CLEANUP: It works great! Just like Photoshop's Generative Fill it's powerful, useful and leaves minimal digital artifacts, I love it. But as users become better able to seamlessly make major edits to personal photos, some kind of verification standard (like C2PA) becomes more important for Apple to support.
EXTEND: It works very well but this is a tool best left to third party apps. It completely invents huge areas of a scene, switching pants into shorts or adding people that don't exist. There are dozens of professional uses for that, like adding negative space for a design, but most of what we keep in the Photos app are memories and I believe Apple should always resist the temptation to allow casual users to meaningfully alter those memories without jumping through one or two hoops.
That said, it's incredibly useful for better fitting wallpaper images, or building out the corners of an image to straighten the horizon. I suggest Apple limit use in its non-pro apps to those features, and hand the powerful version of Extend over to the Photomator team.
REFRAME: It's a cool party trick, but I think it is a mistake to add it to the Photos app. It's like the end of The Prestige, or the Star Trek teleporter paradox. Even a small perspective adjustment means that the image is handed off to Private Cloud Compute, a new photo is generated that might look JUST LIKE your photo, but ultimately is now an Al generated image. Apple is great about protecting your data, so your original image is always preserved but I can just imagine a casual user excitedly going through and tweaking every image in their favourites album, only to regret it later (don't worry, you can always undo it).
And although the feature generally works well, a big camera move can significantly distort the subject.
Overall, I think Apple is withdrawing from the bank of trust that iPhone photo is always a true representation of what happened for relatively niche features. If I were on the Photos team, I would want to position the iPhone as the camera you can always trust. Google and Samsung can chase the wizbang features but I want iPhone photos to be the most trusted in the world, and we're gradually moving away from that.
That last paragraph is how I feel about AI photo editing for years; I didn’t think Apple would follow Google and Samsung and start tinkering with reality. Apple’s algorithms in Extend, Cleanup, and Reframe all work really well after having tested them myself, but there isn’t a single photo that I want to save because I know it’s not real.
The goal of photography was always to capture what the eye can see, not what the mind wants.
Wall Street Journal does some math on iPhone 18 Pro pricing, and everyone else is using clickbaity headlines to get more traffic.
Interesting analysis and visuals from WSJ (gift link) that says the iPhone 18 Pro could start at $1,299, but what would make a better headline? How about an iPhone 18 Pro that starts at $1,399 instead because that gets more clicks.
Interesting analysis and visuals from WSJ (gift link) that says the iPhone 18 Pro could start at $1,299, but what would make a better headline? How about an iPhone 18 Pro that starts at $1,399 instead because that gets more clicks.
Tim Cook: Apple will increase prices due to overwhelming demand for memory chips.
Tim Cook in an interview with the Wall Street Journal (gift link):
“Unfortunately, price increases are unavoidable,” he said. “We’re doing our best to mitigate the huge increases that are being passed to us, and we’ve been trying to shield our customers from the increases, but the situation has become unsustainable.”
Cook declined to offer details on the timing or scale of the planned price increases, nor which products would be affected. Apple’s next major product launch is likely to be in September when it releases the iPhone 18 lineup, expected to include a new foldable iPhone.
Price increases, especially for Macs and iPads, could come sooner. Apple raised the starting price of the Mac Mini last month in between launch events.
Skyrocketing demand for memory and storage chips from artificial-intelligence companies has pushed up their cost so much that Apple would have to raise device prices substantially to maintain its profit margins. Passing the higher cost on to consumers while maintaining its profit margin would add about $270 to the price of the next iPhone Pro model, estimates research firm TechInsights. […]
Cook said during his time working in the electronics supply chain, from IBM to Compaq to Apple, he had never seen a commodity price swing like the one from the past six months. “This is a hundred-year flood,” said Cook. “I’ve never seen anything like it in any area in over 40 years.”
Wow.
Wow, not because prices are going to go up, but this is the first time Apple has explicitly mentioned price increases to my recollection.
Apple has discontinued the base models of certain products such as the Mac mini and iPhone 17 Pro in order to raise the base price of these devices, but they have also changed their AppleCare+ structure by mandating the Theft and Loss option and getting rid of the two-year option, raising the price of the service across the board for most products.
You can call it a passive aggressive approach to price increases, or a “tell me you’re going to increase prices without telling me you’re going to increase prices” moment, except now Apple is telling us they’re going to increase prices.
My assumption is Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 will also get increased pricing because of increased RAM requirements for the new Siri AI. Apple’s goal is to raise prices across the board from hardware to services to ease consumer burden, but this isn’t looking good for iPhone Ultra pricing.
Tim Cook in an interview with the Wall Street Journal (gift link):
“Unfortunately, price increases are unavoidable,” he said. “We’re doing our best to mitigate the huge increases that are being passed to us, and we’ve been trying to shield our customers from the increases, but the situation has become unsustainable.”
Cook declined to offer details on the timing or scale of the planned price increases, nor which products would be affected. Apple’s next major product launch is likely to be in September when it releases the iPhone 18 lineup, expected to include a new foldable iPhone.
Price increases, especially for Macs and iPads, could come sooner. Apple raised the starting price of the Mac Mini last month in between launch events.
Skyrocketing demand for memory and storage chips from artificial-intelligence companies has pushed up their cost so much that Apple would have to raise device prices substantially to maintain its profit margins. Passing the higher cost on to consumers while maintaining its profit margin would add about $270 to the price of the next iPhone Pro model, estimates research firm TechInsights. […]
Cook said during his time working in the electronics supply chain, from IBM to Compaq to Apple, he had never seen a commodity price swing like the one from the past six months. “This is a hundred-year flood,” said Cook. “I’ve never seen anything like it in any area in over 40 years.”
Wow.
Wow, not because prices are going to go up, but this is the first time Apple has explicitly mentioned price increases to my recollection.
Apple has discontinued the base models of certain products such as the Mac mini and iPhone 17 Pro in order to raise the base price of these devices, but they have also changed their AppleCare+ structure by mandating the Theft and Loss option and getting rid of the two-year option, raising the price of the service across the board for most products.
You can call it a passive aggressive approach to price increases, or a “tell me you’re going to increase prices without telling me you’re going to increase prices” moment, except now Apple is telling us they’re going to increase prices.
My assumption is Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 will also get increased pricing because of increased RAM requirements for the new Siri AI. Apple’s goal is to raise prices across the board from hardware to services to ease consumer burden, but this isn’t looking good for iPhone Ultra pricing.
Squarespace finally lets you double quote in blog posts.
I’ve been using Squarespace for my blog, and it was frustrating to not get the right format when double quoting. No quote bars for a double quote, just an indent which wasn’t what I wanted.
I noticed right before WWDC when I made a request for a fully customizable homescreen where the double quote feature worked all of a sudden.
I’m happy.
I’ve been using Squarespace for my blog, and it was frustrating to not get the right format when double quoting. No quote bars for a double quote, just an indent which wasn’t what I wanted.
I noticed right before WWDC when I made a request for a fully customizable homescreen where the double quote feature worked all of a sudden.
I’m happy.
Slate Titanium vs Jet Black Aluminum Apple Watch - which one should you buy?
The answer might be obvious from a budget perspective since the Jet Black is $300 cheaper than the Slate Titanium, but you have to consider the following 5 factors:
Durability
Luxury appeal
Screen quality
Pricing
Durability
There’s no question both finishes can get scratched and show the natural aluminum or titanium color, but Jet Black will definitely show the aluminum more prominently due to its darker “Jet Blackness.” Slate Titanium is lighter, making it more likely to mask any scratches. Aluminum is also softer, so it will dent with hard impacts. Neither finish can be buffed or polished since it will remove the coating, leaving bare metal.
Luxury Appeal
Both have a nice, unique sheen to them and even though Jet Black is a great piece that can do both sport and luxury, the Slate Titanium really takes the win with matching luxury bands that don’t disrupt the flow of the lighter Titanium sheen. The Jet Black reminds me a lot of Space Black - very stealth, but the coating is so dark that it can quickly look dull from skin oils, requiring frequent wiping.
Screen Quality
It’s a double-edged sword, but the Titanium Apple Watches have a sapphire display, making them 100% scratch-proof unless you happen to rub your watch against diamonds. The caveat here is sapphire displays are more likely to crack on impact. For the Jet Black Aluminum (and all aluminum Apple Watches), Apple uses an Ion-X glass display, which is less likely to shatter on impact, but much more likely to get scratched.
I have been wearing Apple watches daily since 2015, and from my personal experience of owning over a dozen watches, every single Apple Watch with an Ion-X glass has gotten scratched, and not a single Apple Watch with a Sapphire display ever got a scratch or a crack. The Ion-X glass is objectively inferior and can easily go from pristine to a scratched mess if you’re not careful.
Pricing
You can get a Slate Titanium Series 10 at deep discounts since it's almost two years old while having the same processing power as the Series 11. The only difference is the Series 11 has 5G instead of LTE. More importantly, both will support the new Siri AI.
I sold my Jet Black aluminum because I was able to snag a Series 10 in Slate Titanium with Milanese Loop for $449 vs a Series 11 at $749, saving $300. Once again, the only real difference being LTE vs 5G. I don't even use a cellular plan on my Apple Watch so this was a non-factor.
If you plan on keeping your watch for years on end and don’t want to worry about a scratched display, the Titanium models are the way to go. The premium is worth it for the look, feel, and durability.
Photos
Here’s some side-by-side shots of the Jet Black vs the Slate Titanium. I also have a regular Stainless Steel model Series 9 just for comparison since Slate compared to Jet Black might look like Silver. 📸
The answer might be obvious from a budget perspective since the Jet Black is $300 cheaper than the Slate Titanium, but you have to consider the following 5 factors:
Durability
Luxury appeal
Screen quality
Pricing
Durability
There’s no question both finishes can get scratched and show the natural aluminum or titanium color, but Jet Black will definitely show the aluminum more prominently due to its darker “Jet Blackness.” Slate Titanium is lighter, making it more likely to mask any scratches. Aluminum is also softer, so it will dent with hard impacts. Neither finish can be buffed or polished since it will remove the coating, leaving bare metal.
Luxury Appeal
Both have a nice, unique sheen to them and even though Jet Black is a great piece that can do both sport and luxury, the Slate Titanium really takes the win with matching luxury bands that don’t disrupt the flow of the lighter Titanium sheen. The Jet Black reminds me a lot of Space Black - very stealth, but the coating is so dark that it can quickly look dull from skin oils, requiring frequent wiping.
Screen Quality
It’s a double-edged sword, but the Titanium Apple Watches have a sapphire display, making them 100% scratch-proof unless you happen to rub your watch against diamonds. The caveat here is sapphire displays are more likely to crack on impact. For the Jet Black Aluminum (and all aluminum Apple Watches), Apple uses an Ion-X glass display, which is less likely to shatter on impact, but much more likely to get scratched.
I have been wearing Apple watches daily since 2015, and from my personal experience of owning over a dozen watches, every single Apple Watch with an Ion-X glass has gotten scratched, and not a single Apple Watch with a Sapphire display ever got a scratch or a crack. The Ion-X glass is objectively inferior and can easily go from pristine to a scratched mess if you’re not careful.
Pricing
You can get a Slate Titanium Series 10 at deep discounts since it's almost two years old while having the same processing power as the Series 11. The only difference is the Series 11 has 5G instead of LTE. More importantly, both will support the new Siri AI.
I sold my Jet Black aluminum because I was able to snag a Series 10 in Slate Titanium with Milanese Loop for $449 vs a Series 11 at $749, saving $300. Once again, the only real difference being LTE vs 5G. I don't even use a cellular plan on my Apple Watch so this was a non-factor.
If you plan on keeping your watch for years on end and don’t want to worry about a scratched display, the Titanium models are the way to go. The premium is worth it for the look, feel, and durability.
Photos
Here’s some side-by-side shots of the Jet Black vs the Slate Titanium. I also have a regular Stainless Steel model Series 9 just for comparison since Slate compared to Jet Black might look like Silver.
From left to right: Jet Black Aluminum, Slate Titanium, Stainless Steel. All 3 look gorgeous in their own way.
Jet Black almost disappears in darker lighting, even though it is the same size as the Slate Titanium.
Speaker side angle - notice how Slate almost looks Silver with bright lighting.
Once again the screen disappears into the Jet Black chassis (left) compared to Slate (middle).
Closer detail between screen and chassis.
Digital Crown up close. Notice the difference in the knurling with the Stainless Steel Series 9 vs the other two Series 10 watches.
How kids can bypass social media based age-verification.
Another uncomfortable truth? Kids don’t need to figure this out on their own. A quick search on TikTok, YouTube, Reddit, or Discord surfaces tutorials explaining:
How to change birth dates without triggering account flags
How to use a VPN to bypass regional restrictions
How to pass facial age estimation checks
How to borrow or photograph an adult ID “safely”
How to avoid behavioral detection systems
Some videos frame it as a “life hack.” Others position it as pushing back against “unfair” restrictions. Either way, the information spreads fast.
And when one bypass method stops working, new ones circulate just as quickly.
Getting around social media bans…by using tricks from social media. Call these “lifehacks” if you want, but you have to appreciate the ingenuity.
Another uncomfortable truth? Kids don’t need to figure this out on their own. A quick search on TikTok, YouTube, Reddit, or Discord surfaces tutorials explaining:
How to change birth dates without triggering account flags
How to use a VPN to bypass regional restrictions
How to pass facial age estimation checks
How to borrow or photograph an adult ID “safely”
How to avoid behavioral detection systems
Some videos frame it as a “life hack.” Others position it as pushing back against “unfair” restrictions. Either way, the information spreads fast.
And when one bypass method stops working, new ones circulate just as quickly.
Getting around social media bans…by using tricks from social media. Call these “lifehacks” if you want, but you have to appreciate the ingenuity.