Let's Talk Tech
I ran a little tech enthusiast subreddit built around the idea of sharing content that deserved more attention. I held out til the last minute to see if Reddit would reverse course on their API plans.
It breaks my heart to announce we’ll be shuttering this little tech fan sharing space.
GlowingRectangles is going dark too. The relevant info can be found on the sub here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/glowingrectangles/comments/1464xl4/glowingrectangles_will_be_going_dark_on_june_12th/
A quick heads up folks! My yearly update for the photography book took a bit longer than expected, but the update is finally live on Amazon Kindle.
Version 1.2.3 includes a passage on Night Mode photography, updates the section on multi-camera phones, includes a new exercise, and corrects numerous spelling and grammar problems.
If you have a copy, update it in the Kindle app, and please drop me a review on Amazon if you like it!
If you don’t have a copy, the link below will help you fix that!
I don’t think I’d consider myself an internet “star”, but I have had some issues with recent YouTube policy changes.
Joining the news team at CGTN to share some thoughts on living the YouTube life, online content creation, and creator burnout.
The mugs are in, and they look great!
For this first weekend, the mugs will be on sale for $12.99, before raising the price to $14.99 next week.
It’s more than just the MEGAPICKLES! Savory, delicious, MegaPickles… MMMmmm…
My favorite dad joke malapropism! Reviewing phone cameras, megapixels mean very little in the grand scheme of capturing great images. Now YOU can also show your disdain for specs nerds with your very own MegaPickle Mug!Because who really cares how many giggleflips, or meagleblips your phone has? If it gets the gig done, it gets the gig done!
But I digress…
Thank you so much for all the people who helped refine these, weighed in on designs, and offered constructive feedback. I’m super excited to finally put my favorite tech pun on a mug!
MegaPickle Mug BLACK https://tspr.ng/c/megapickle-mug-black-sgg
MegaPickle Mug GREEN https://tspr.ng/c/megapickle-mug-green-sgg
A terrible start for 2018 and Intel. A security flaw was discovered in Intel hardware, and the fix could be VERY costly. Depending on what processor is in your computer, you might see performance losses anywhere from 5% to 30%. Yikes. And yes, even you Mac users will be affected. Here’s the scoop on Intel’s Kernel Security flaw. Pretty sure my next PC build will be an AMD…
Intel press release acknowledging the issue.
Google press release detailing affected products.
AMD press release explaining why AMD CPU’s aren’t affected the same way.
ARM official response to exploit on mobile processors.
Continue reading “Intel Kernel Security Flaw: You might lose up to 30% performance…”
The future of multimedia is becoming more fluid. Consumers seek to stream content to any screen, at any time, anywhere they want.“We are looking at these offerings differently than others in the market. We often hear from customers who want more content from streaming services, or who can’t get or can’t afford a traditional pay-TV service,” said John Stankey, CEO – AT&T Entertainment Group.
Continue reading “DirecTV Introduces BYO Internet Content Streaming Later this Year”
Why Sony? Why do this?
Our on-going saga of scattered support and terrible relationships between Sony, USA carriers, and customers continues. Their new line of Z5 smartphones was announced back in September of 2015. We’re only a couple weeks away from Mobile World Congress, where it’s likely we’ll start hearing about new Samsungs and LGs, but we’re only just now getting word from Sony about them selling their phones unlocked here in the United States.
The Z5 and the Z5 Compact will be shipping unlocked to retailers like Amazon and B&H starting February 7th. The flagship Z5 will sell for $599 and the smaller Z5 Compact will sell for $499. There’s no word about selling the Z5 Premium, which is the first phone to feature a 4K display.
The phones are sleek devices, and feature very good cameras. Lifestyle features like waterproofing are certainly appreciated, but they’re saddled with 2015 tech like Qualcomm’s 810 processor, which has a nasty reputation for running hot and draining battery life. We’re only weeks away from phone announcements featuring a new 820 processor which is performing well enough to get Samsung back on board Qualcomm’s CPU for their next batch of phones. Samsung opted to use their own Exynos processors last year due to performance concerns.
To add insult to injury, we now have confirmation from Sony that because of a “business decision”, USA bound Z5s will not have fingerprint scanners built into the power button like international versions of the phone currently include. This is a terrible feature to remove, as more consumers are starting to embrace biometric security solutions not only for locking their phones, but also for utilizing banking and payment services.
This really isn’t a great strategy for building a fan base here in the USA. Months late to market, denying us the high end 4K version, and withholding features that consumers are starting to embrace. But if you do still decide a Sony is the right fit for you, at least Sony has the decency to charge you full “new phone” price for the privilege.
Companies like Google and Microsoft consider themselves “services” companies, even though they sell hardware like the Nexus and the Surface. Those brands exist to make sure that other hardware partners have the proper “incentive” to continue producing high quality devices to utilize the software that Microsoft and Google produce.
While it’s important that consumers have access to high quality gadgets to run these services, it’s equally important that consumers have access to affordable data networks to utilize services which are becoming increasingly data intensive.
We’re seeing progress in some areas, carriers like AT&T and T-Mobile embracing practices like rollover data, but we’re also backsliding in other areas with Comcast expanding the number of areas where they will be capping data for home broadband even though it won’t have any significant impact on bandwidth or service stability.
For Google and Microsoft, it’s becoming increasingly important to support initiatives which improve coverage, data speeds, and reduce prices for their customers. Where those initiatives don’t exist, it’s up to those two tech giants to create them.
Continue reading “Microsoft Working on Project Fi Competitor?”