Let's Talk Tech
A Blank YouTube Home Page is annoying, but Google might be giving you a gift! Here’s a recommendation for leaving it blank. DON’T change your watch history settings until you see this first! Continue reading “Blank YouTube Homepage? DON’T Change Your Watch History Until You See This FIRST!”
No? Not really? I dunno?
I’m spending a bit more time right now putting the Pixel Fold through its paces, but at the same time, trying to play with this pretty new tablet! An early stream of conscious impression, there’s ONE critical question that itches my brain.
A little personal background, my Wife and I are not super fond of “always listening” products in our home.
We chose Playstation over XBox because Marie didn’t like the idea of the voice actions and cameras on the XBox. We’re probably a little reactionary in that regard, but we’ve never really jumped on the smart speaker train either.
Considering the assistant integration on modern phones and tablets, it’s something we’ve been considering a bit more, and Marie has found some situations where she thinks she would have appreciated a mini-screen displaying relevant info on request. Continue reading “Can the Pixel Tablet change my mind about smart displays?”
This has been a tough couple of weeks for some of my favorite social media sites, and now I’m sitting in my kitchen getting weepy over one of my favorite podcasts signing off for the last time.
You can always get a feel for when a show you enjoy might be on its way out, but it still hits hard when they finally pull the plug.
After 635 episodes, All About Android is ending its run on the TWiT network of podcasts.
AAA was one of my most consistently listened to podcasts. It was one of my favorite talk shows to have on in my car, sitting in LA traffic. The hosts’ voices (especially Jason, Ron, and Flo) will be burned into my brain for the rest of my life. Continue reading “All About Android Ends… Saying Goodbye to One of My Favorite Geek Podcasts…”
Apple Vision Pro reaction.
I’m disappointed. There are FEW products which have been hyped as hard (for as long) as Apple’s VR/AR headset. What Apple revealed at WWDC was underwhelming…
Let’s chat… Continue reading “Apple Vision Pro: Years of Hype for an Expensive Dev Kit…”
I’m not fond of defending Samsung on this blog, and shortly after I publish this, I’ll go back to criticizing their anti-consumer business strategies. However, this yearly trend of judging phone “value” by looking at a parts list is a ludicrously stupid exercise that primes consumers for horrifically unrealistic expectations.
My editorial here holds true for iPhones, Motos, OnePluses, Sonys, Xiaomis, Vivos, and every other brand under the sun, but we’re going to focus on the Galaxy Note 23, as the most recent addition to this moronic trend.
The Galaxy does NOT “cost $469 to make”. Continue reading “The Galaxy S23 Ultra Does NOT cost $469 to Make. Stop Lying to Your Readers and Viewers…”
Writing this in the heat of the moment, I was incorrect with my understanding of one part of this story. Nintendo did not file a DMCA take down request. Nintendo sent a cease and desist, where they mentioned their rights under the DMCA. This is an important distinction that I missed.
As to the numerous comments on this editorial claiming the Dolphin emulator uses Nintendo intellectual property, I am not a lawyer, but we’ll have to watch and see if a court case establishes that an encryption key can be considered IP. In much the same way that if someone were to “hack” your laptop because your password was “12345”, would we consider that password intellectual property?
This is an ongoing legal battle, and akin to the fight over DVD encryption, the idea of an encryption key being protected IP doesn’t seem to have been tested directly in any recent court cases. Considering the complexity of code required to run a computer or game console, I stand by my statement that the Dolphin emulator does not include any proprietary Nintendo IP, even for it including an encryption key. Many will disagree with me, but I believe including Nintendo’s “password” is not the same as including more complex code.
I’m leaving the letter as originally written, to maintain the emotional tone of the editorial. I always welcome debate, but rude or insulting comments will of course be scrubbed.
Dear Nintendo,
This emulator stuff? I think you’re doing it wrong.
I have a LOT of fondness for your games. My family has been into gaming since the earliest days of arcades and Atari home consoles. I was so fortunate to grow up in the early 80’s with nerd parents who were ahead of the curve on video gaming.
We rode the wave of your classic consoles through the 8-bit, 16-bit, and 64-bit eras. To this day, my younger siblings still sport Switches as their primary gaming solutions.
I still have a lot of classic Nintendo gear, mostly in storage, but I got off the console gaming train around the Wii and PS3 hardware generation.
I’m also a PC nerd. Software licensing was changing back then. In the early 2000’s, PC gaming started experimenting with online stores and digital distribution. There was a lot of anxious editorializing of online stores, copy protection, verification, and “ownership”.
Years later, we still face some challenges with titles in online shops. We might not really “own” that content when it’s licensed to web stores, but the generational convenience has kept me far more invested in PC gaming than in recent console gaming.
The idea of buying a box, then buying content for a box, and only being able to consume that content on one box, is sorely antiquated. My Wife and I ran into that limitation hard with Playstations. Continue reading “An open letter to Nintendo about Emulators: You’re doing it wrong… “
Xiaomi 13 Ultra camera samples! Getting a little more familiar with this ULTRA phone, and I have some thoughts on why these cameras are so special. This phone is doing something different, and we need to pay attention to what’s working here!
Continue reading “Xiaomi 13 Ultra: Why these cameras are so fresh…”
Xiaomi 13 Ultra First Impressions!
Less than 20 hours into owning this monster, and it’s already one of my favorite phones of the year. Here are some REALLY early thoughts about using it, and some of the topics we’ll cover in future videos! Continue reading “Xiaomi 13 Ultra: My First Magical Day!”