Perry Sun

Blog

Hello there.

I enjoy writing about content creation, personal development, technology, or just about anything that sparks my interest. Feedback or questions? Get in touch: hello@perrysun.com.

  • AI will affect my spending habits

    Right now, I am not subscribed to any of the frontier AI labs. But that could change soon.

    It’s not that I don’t have AI subscriptions or don’t use AI. I’m paying yearly for Microsoft 365 and monthly for Adobe Creative Cloud, both which offer their own AI services.

    Both have their own LLMs as well as limited access to third party models. But to really benefit from what the frontier AI labs can offer, you should have a direct subscription to them.

    Between ChatGPT and Claude AI, I find the latter more appealing with its creative design-relevant capabilities, Claude Code’s ability to work with Adobe apps and Blender, and a number of third-party apps built into Claude (including those from Adobe).

    However, I’ve personally drawn the line when it comes to taking on yet another subscription, especially when I’m already paying for two services with AI features.

    To compensate, I’ve decided something has to give. That for me would be upgrading my iPhone 15 Pro to the latest iPhone 18 Pro. The 15 Pro is about to be paid off which will free up $20 extra monthly, which could go right into a Claude AI subscription instead of stepping up to the 18 Pro.

    There is a very good offer to get the iPhone 18 Pro for $0 by trading in my device. But I would still need to pay the sales tax plus a $35 upgrade fee. Not a bad deal, but not worth it right now.

    I think I can hold off for at least a year, to see what the 20th anniversary iPhone will have to offer.

  • Traveling without a laptop

    In recent years, I’ve avoided bringing my laptop on personal trips.

    While it’s convenient to have one on the road, so I can do all sorts of things and stay connected, I also feel the liberation of not having the extra weight in my backpack, or the concern about it possibly getting lost or stolen.

    Instead, I’ve been bringing along this combination: an iPad and an Apple Magic Keyboard (plus a mouse). Together, they’re way lighter in my backpack than my MacBook Pro.

    I use my iPad exclusively for consumption purposes like watching videos, keeping up with the news, catching up on email, and researching. That makes it perfect for vacations, because I never really do any production-related activity for which a laptop would be more ideal.

    My only hesitation with the iPad has been that for a long time, it’s never quite delivered the familiar desktop-class experience. This is mostly the case for web browsing. The main reason is that website developers have done a poor job with accommodating tablet-centric screen resolutions.

    Fortunately, this has changed for the better over the years with advancements in web technology and smarter responsive website design. I believe Apple has made a lot of improvements to their WebKit rendering engine, which has also benefited the cause.

    The only thing I may do for productivity on my iPad would be blogging on my website. The WordPress user interface is nicely responsive on tablet screens.

    Looking forward to lighter, worry-less travel while staying connected.

  • The monotony of today’s tech news

    I closely follow tech developments on a daily basis through Techmeme, a great resource that curates tech-related news as they break out over the airwaves. It’s been my go-to since 2013 for learning about technology. Through Techmeme, I’ve been able to notice many tech trends come and go over the past 13 years.

    In the last two years or so, what’s undeniably clear is that AI is absolutely dominating anything and everything having to do with tech. It’s all anyone talks about these days. To be a successfully funded startup, you have offer something based on, or related to AI in some way. Beyond that, enterprises and established organizations are under constant pressure to adopt AI aggressively, partly for the optics of relevancy and being “technologically advanced.”

    This is all reflected in the general theme of what’s reported each and every day in tech blogs and media, which is anything and everything to do with AI – dedicated processing chips, data center buildouts, DRAM (or the scarcity thereof), LLM advancements, fearmongering from the frontier AI labs, the breakneck evolution of agents, and so much more.

    Put another way, AI sucked the air out of the room, and it’s all you’re going to get if you’re interested in reading about technology.

  • Rethinking iPhone upgrades

    I currently have an iPhone 15 Pro. After 35 of 36 monthly installments, I’m just one payment away from fully paying it off.

    Normally, I’d be thinking about upgrading to the latest and greatest, which would be the iPhone 18 Pro. But now, I’m seriously considering keeping my phone for longer.

    One reason is because my phone is still more than plenty fast for my very casual needs which are messaging, shooting photos, managing to-do lists, and paying for groceries.

    The other reason to forego the upgrade is that my mobile bill will be reduced by $23 monthly. That will come in handy, should I decide it’s worth paying for a subscription to Claude or ChatGPT to take on AI-related projects or enhance my upskilling.

    As I’ve previously noted, I’m annoyed at the prospect of tacking on a monthly subscription just for AI services, especially when I’m already paying for Microsoft 365 and Adobe Creative Cloud.

    At least the extra monthly cash will make it easier. My mobile phone carrier has been dangling a trade-in deal to get the iPhone 18 Pro for $0. It’s kind of tempting, but I think I’ll hold off for at least one year. I’m curious to see what is going to be available with the 20th anniversary iPhone in 2027.

  • Please, let’s tone down the FUD around AI

    For the past week, there’s something I’ve been thinking a lot about that no one mentions in the media.

    Ultimately, all this fear, uncertainty, and doubt around AI and our careers prospects really need to settle down.

    The real concern isn’t about the possible loss of jobs or opportunities for new college graduates. It’s the lingering sense of uncertainty and a tinge of worry in our minds as we constantly think about AI, the peer and political pressures to adopt it wholeheartedly – or face the risks otherwise.

    As the uncertainty continues, there could be broader economic implications, as anxiety and pessimism give way to consumers spending more conservatively, and saving more instead to protect their futures. For the US economy, consumer spending is absolutely critical, accounting for two-thirds of economic activity.

    Therefore, simply worrying about AI could, in itself, spark widespread worries about an economic recession. That would undoubtedly be an unintended consequence of AI.

  • An AI subscription dilemma

    Having a personal subscription to an AI service is all the rage these days. So many of us these days are experimenting with, or relying heavily on AI for our everyday needs.

    I feel the slight urgency to join the bandwagon and sign up for paid access to ChatGPT or Claude, so that I can get a lot more over what’s available with their free accounts. It’s an opportunity to learn more of how to use AI, and potentially gain valuable upskilling.

    But here’s the problem. I’m already paying for several tech-related services, so the thought of tacking on another monthly expense is bothersome. Here are my ongoing subscriptions.

    • Microsoft 365 Family, which already includes AI services through M365 Copilot.
    • Adobe Creative Cloud, with Adobe Firefly for AI generation of graphics, images, videos, and audio.
    • Cloudways for hosting my websites, and private email service through Rackspace.

    Together, I’m paying a little over $60, including an awesome grandfathered deal with Adobe. That is not too bad. But tacking on an AI subscription would add close to an extra $20. That’s also not counting other tech-relevant subscriptions such as YouTube Premium, which I frequently use as a tech learning resource.

    Between ChatGPT and Claude, I’m more interested in the latter, because Claude Design and Claude Code seem rather intriguing to explore further. I also get the impression that Claude is better with hooking into MCPs for third-party platforms such as WordPress and Adobe Creative Cloud. I’m not sure about MCP access, but Claude Design and Claude Code definitely require the paid subscription.

    My iPhone is approaching its final monthly installment, which should free up about $13 monthly. That would make it a lot easier to cover the $17 per month for Claude (on a yearly basis).

  • Until rather recently, one thing I had not realized is that with the modern WordPress platform, you can easily publish posts without a title. This is useful whenever you want to issue a quick announcement or update to your audience, or you just feel the desire to express some thoughts in brief without the exhaustive effort of writing a full article – or coming up with the ideal headline.

    While untitled posts have always been available in WordPress, the traditional approach had been to create a special post format known as an aside with user-specific formatting. Thie would require some web development skills or installing a third-party plugin. But now, it’s available right here with no extra effort!

    Of course, many users will want to have customized styling for their asides or quick posts, such as italicized text or custom margins. That is easily possible within the modern WordPress environment. All you need to do is create a new template for blog posts, with no coding necessary. It’s just an example of the wonderful quality-of-life improvements added over the years by the WordPress community.

  • Hang on to your Macs!

    We are all aware of the recent price increases on new Macs, thanks to the AI craze leading to shortages in memory chips. As a result, Apple has raised prices about 15% across the board, with notice that further hikes may be necessary.

    As a result, I believe many current Mac users have opted to hang on to their machines and hold off on upgrades, knowing what they have is still great for their essential needs. I also expect the secondhand market to heat up, as people look for cost-effective alternatives to the new Macs.

    I have an early 2023 MacBook Pro that runs perfectly fine, with more than plenty of power and no foreseeable need to upgrade. I’m among the legions who value our Macs more now than ever, because of the considerable price jump to replace a lost or badly damaged machine.

  • A yearly personal branding refresh

    Every year, around mid-July is when I devote some time to update aspects of my personal brand.

    This year, that happened a bit later, at the beginning of August, due to distractions from the FIFA World Cup which dominated much of July. Nonetheless, I always make this a yearly ritual to make sure my online presence is up to date.

    Here are the things I did to keep up visual appearances, at least from a professional perspective.

    • First, I reviewed my online resumé / CV, making any and all tweaks or updates I deem worthy. For 2026, a significant expansion was necessary, due to the fact that I had started a new job nearly a year ago and hadn’t yet documented it.
    • Then, I modified the PDF version of the resumé. The PDF is available on my website as a download for printing or whatever.
    • Finally, I applied all the same CV updates to my LinkedIn profile.
    • As a “bonus,” I fully refreshed my Indeed profile, after not visiting it for several years. Actually, I had forgotten I even had an Indeed profile, until they recently contacted me out of the blue.

    Sometimes I’ll go even further than a CV update, reviewing my website in general, and looking over my portfolio to see if there’s anything new worth adding, or even removing if I no longer find it valuable to showcase.

    Regardless of whether you have an professional online presence, there are several important reasons to keep your resumé or CV up to date. First, it’s a great opportunity to take stock in what you’ve accomplished, as well as skills and capabilities you’ve gained, and have those properly documented. And then, should anything major happen with your career, like a job separation, you’re ready to take the necessary steps right away.

    Finally, having a resumé refreshed and current also puts you in prime position to respond immediately, should someone contact you about a career opportunity that seems exciting.

  • Adopting better speaking habits

    Good interpersonal communication is always very important, especially in business or professional-relevant situations. As someone who constantly strives to improve, I’ve thought a lot of about the ways I can do better when speaking to others in a non-casual setting.

    Here are some things on my mind along these lines.

    “A bit” or “a little”

    Despite wanting to express our true sentiments, we often inject “a bit” or “a little” because of the concern of being too abrupt or impactful with what we’re saying. I’ve decided now that unless there’s an important reason otherwise, I should be able to just express sentiments without the need to minimize them. For example, if I truly believe a draft of an article is really rough, I should be able to state as such, without saying “it’s a bit rough” to soften the blow.

    “Leaning into”

    The phrase “leaning into” something is used so often, to the point that it can be vague in its true underlying meaning. I would prefer to be more exact with what I want to say. For example, instead of saying that I should “lean more into” Claude Code, I’d prefer something like “engage more actively with.”

    “That’s a very good question.”

    A phrase used so excessively as to lose its effectiveness and intention. You should only use it to acknowledge someone’s astuteness in asking you a very specific question. And never, ever, say this in a job interview unless you really mean it. Don’t use it to try and make yourself look good.

    Making the same point repeatedly

    Admittedly, this is on me. Sometime I’ll say something emphatically, to make a point, then reflexively repeat it over and over again in the course of a conversation. Recently, I’ve wondered if I have ever annoyed anyone by doing so. As a result, I’ve become more conscientious and now try to avoid needlessly repeating what I say.