Posts by Dave 126 10667 publicly visible posts • joined 21 Jul 2010
Re proofreading:
"What ya mean? I said mouse! Is your hearing damaged from too much loud mouse?!"
I knew damned well I'd written mouse, but mouse cancelling amused me. If someone here was unable to get the meaning because I substituted one word for another they must be hard of thinking.
However, of I ever use if instead if of, that'll be a typo on my part and yeah, I shoulda proofread my post!
Even without active mouse cancelling, passive mouse blocking earbuds (professionally fitted, or try different sized tips or Comply foam tips) will still reduce the ambient mouse so that music doesn't need to be played so loudly. As for closed-back over-the-ear headphones, try some til you find a good comfortable fit that reduces mouse.
Most music venues these days are better at having PA systems that don't damage hearing as easily - medical science and PA design has advanced since the eighties - but I wouldn't go to a festival without some cheap earplugs. More expensive earplugs (made for gigs) attenuate all frequencies equally, but that doesn't matter for all genres of music.
For a long time the Bose QC have been reviewed as the best at cancelling noise, but recently the wired/wireless Sony MDR 1000X have been compared to them. For a similar price the Sonys have more features, and will still function as wired headphones with a flat battery. They also have a mic for calls, and can use LDAC - a high resolution Bluetooth audio codec that Sony has donated to the AOSP and is included in Oreo.
Earplugs - unless sold specifically for music gigs - don't attenuate all frequencies equally. That said, I've used them with some big Sennheisers over the top when sleeping on busses - the music sounded a bit murky and distant, but was fine to fall asleep to.
The above link is good, but I'm not sure I'd paraphrase as the OP above did. A lot of reviews are hailing the Sony MDR 1000X noise-cancelling headphones as the supplanting Bose as the new king.
https://www.whathifi.com/sony/mdr-1000x/review
> Could this possibly mean "year of Linux on desktop"? This question is really missing the point. It does not have to - it is already dominating in the pocket, and in datacentres
Respectfully, you are missing the point. It matters not how many other people are using any OS, as long as the applications you need are available for it. Obviously a healthy install base attracts application developers, but it is not a sheer numbers game (EG some powerful polished CAD application suites not on Linux, some handy niche scientific applications written by scientists for their own needs only available on Linux. People in some sectors will find themselves dual-booting).
An OS is only that thing I use to run applications and manage the files they create.
> Now if there's something I can download onto a USB which I can then boot from and install Linux with only a few mouse clicks/keystrokes,
You can!
Years ago installing or just running a Linux distribution could be a headache, especially if you had weird hardware which many laptops had. These days you can run it on most machines without touching a Command Line Interface (CLI)
If your computer allows booting from USB (I can't remember when that became common, but some still very usable PCs don't have it, most modern ones do) then just download a 'live CD' image (.ISO) of a popular distribution (commenters above suggest Mint has nice forums, Ubuntu is common too), stick it on a stick, restart your computer, enter BIOS to adjust boot order, and restart again with the USB stick plugged in. If your computer doesn't allow booting from USB, you need to burn the ISO to a CD or DVD using an Image Writer such as imgburn.com.
Here's the thing: this won't install Linux, Linux will run from the USB stick / CD. Obviously this is slower than running from HDD/SSD, especially CD. Consider it a 'dry run' - if everything is working, you can think about installing. Even if you don't install, you now have the means to boot your computer and use some repair tools should anything ever happen to your Windows installation.
If you like it, are curious, or like the idea of an alternative desktop environment (either to use as a recovery environment or for some esoteric application) you think about installing it. This will involve partitioning your HDD. Partitioning is pretty civilised these days, but there's no excuse for not backing up beforehand. (In Windows, search for Full Disk Image Backup, and heck, create a Recovery CD whilst your at it - this way you could set fire to your HDD, swap in a new one, restore your Image and your computer is just as it was in every way. )
One little thing: should you create a Linux partition, install Linux and set up a 'GRUB'(weird names in Linux land, get used to it) boot manager (basically sets up a menu when you boot so you can choose which Operating System to use), don't delete the Linux partition or you won't be able to start Windows (fix is quite straight forward - you remember where you put that Recovery CD, right? )
A few pointers: you are a User, so the machine won't let you make important system changes unless you become a SuperUser - SUDO. Doing so involves entering your password. If you've used OSX, you'll be kinda familiar with this.
You install new software with a Package Manager - much like an App Store on Android or iOS.
Stuff has weird names.
The best advert for the new Safari is the outraged letter a group of advertising associations have written complaining about Apple's cookie-killing system: "how dare Apple stop us from tracking users across websites". The poor dears.
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/09/ad-industry-deeply-concerned-about-safaris-new-ad-tracking-restrictions/
@David Nash
Yep, the [Chromecast] and [Chromecast Audio] are two different devices, though they are similarly sized and shaped. The latter's output is a 3.5mm analogue port which doubles as a digital optical output. To my mind it has a few advantages over a Bluetooth audio receiver, but it does require the presence of a WiFi network so isn't always suitable for portable speakers.
A pseudo holographic display (some kind of light field tech - think the display equivalent to a Lytro camera) is coming on the Red Hydrogen phone. That's Red who make digital movie cameras, an outfit that initially garnered some sceptism since it was founded by the bloke behind Oakley sunglasses.
> Obviously only needed for people that can't manage the apple connector (how many kinds since iPhone 4?)
One. Just one. It's called the Lightning connector. Some of its concepts (such as it being agnostic about which way round it is plugged in) were incorporated into USB Type C, which was developed by a forum of which Apple has been a member since 1995. What's your point?
Actually, a screen larger than the phone is what Samsung is promising us next year. Seriously, no joke.
We know that OLED panels can be made flexible, so Sammy is touting some concepts based around that. One is a phone that opens like a book, another is a screen that unfurls like a scroll. What we don't know - and what I assume Samsung is busy finding out - are factors such as minimum bend radii, fatigue and other mechanical considerations.
Anyhows, a fancy feature is one thing (and the Galaxy range used to be associated with throwing everything in whether it was useful or not), but providing real utility is often a game of integrating said feature carefully.
> Also many iPhones are used in Hifi or speaker docks
They *were* used widely in speaker docks. These days a Chromecast Audio can be had for twenty quid and, like the ubiquitous television IR controller does for TVs, allows you to control the music from anywhere in the room, and from whatever device you have to hand - Android, iOS, Windows, Mac. If someone rings you, you can just nip outside without the faff of unplugging the phone, or interupting the music for others.
More expensive solutions are also available from Sonos and others.
People still have speaker docks of course, but tend to use them with their contemporary device, the iPod.
I saw criticism of Apple's marketing in the article (Company employs hyperbole is selling product shocker, in other news ursine creatures defecate in wooded areas, consider me stunned*), but no mocking of Apple users... perhaps I share Mr Dabbs daft assumption that people write what they mean!
* Yeah, I write what I mean but may use irony as a rhetorical device. Irony signposted by well-known conventions.
It would be great to choose which phone (on the same number) to pick up on the way out of the house, just as one does one's shoes. Drunken night out? £20 Nokia. Train journey? 7" screened model with movies. Walk in the woods? Waterproofed model with extra long battery.
From a recycling perspective (as opposed to a repair perspective) glues are better than screws. Screens (where the nasties are often found) and SoCs (where the valuables live) can be more easily separated en masse for a batch of gadgets by use of an oven. The bulk metals and plastics in the cases and chassis can be separated after shredding.
> There is an open goal here for a solution that is hardware vendor agnostic (exit Apple, stage left)
Apple HomeKit does work with 3rd party stuff but, from what I've read, the issue is that Apple take a while to certify 3rd party hardware, charge the vendor for the privilege, and haven't done much on the UI front. Oh, there's something about needing an Apple TV in addition to an iOS device, too. On the plus side though, HomeKit-certified stuff is said to be pretty secure.
Watch an LG OLED TV in a dark room and you will know what that means - you literally cannot see any peripheral parts of the TV (device) such such as faint grey bars above the picture... you can see the video (experience) and that's it. Whether or not this phone achieved this aim is another question.
> Just for the record, you know you can disable fingerprint unlock in config, don't you ? ;-)
For sure, but Apple also provide a quick way of disabling it discreetly, should you suddenly see some flashing blue lights, or are about to walk up to a US border officer.
There's corporations that use iPhones... A MOD friend of mine was issued with an iPhone running some Blackberry security software.
As for 'restricted', that depends upon what you mean, and what you're wanting to do. There are applications, especially in areas such as music production and liaising with Leica surveying kit and Nikon cameras that are still better supported / available on iOS.
The stylus of the Note is it's killer feature, but if Apple were that threatened by it they would easily be able to implement it on iPhone.
> The best password is a mixed case random alphanumerisymbolic mashup of at least a dozen characters, and a validation process that will not allow more than one entry attempt per second by any means.
For sure, but that's not really practical for a device that might be unlocked a dozen times an hour. At present, the requirement to enter a passcode can be forced on an iPhone by quickly tapping the home button five times (disabling the fingerprint unlock). Attempts at entering the passcode are limited. As of the latest iOS update, even an unlocked iPhone will insist on a passcode before connecting to a computer.
The FBI weren't happy. There's an Israeli company who can get into that past model of iPhone, possibly by dissembling the phone and cloning the NAND, and it's not impossible that the NSA et al are sitting on some other exploit.
> 1972 Omega Seamaster Cosmic
Nice. I wish there were more cushion-shaped watches today - the market is flooded with circles-with-lugs.
A smooth sweep quartz movement, sapphire crystal and 38 mm stainless steel case would suit me nicely. Basically, if Seiko were to make a '68 Chronostop. Lije, if Skagen made sensibly sized watches. Oh well. I'll have to commission a titanium printer to make me one!
> I'm beginning to wonder if Apple have pursued the X as showroom tinsel to get the punters to their store/stand/website, where you sell them your volume device
Exactly. The X is a place holder (like the 1st gen iPod, 1st gen iPhone, 1st gen iPad, 1st gen iWatch... Notice the pattern? :)). In time the yields on the cut-out OLED screens will improve (and thus price will fall and availability will grow), and either an under-screen fingerprint sensor will be perfected or people will get on with the face ID system. HDR video content will become more common, too - Netflicks, Apple and YouTube already offer it (my mate has a daftly expensive OLED LG TV, and it is lovely).
The issues with screen manufacturing mean that the X isn't destined to be a volume seller, so as such it's a better testbed for this Face ID system than a normal iPhone. And the high price tag doesn't matter too much, either.
It's all a distraction from the under the bonnet stuff - the first Apple-designed mobile GPU, plus ISPs and other silicon to make the phones better able to interpret the world around it, combined will calibrated cameras and more sensitive gyros. To what use these abilities are eventually put will depend on 3rd party developers - my guess includes fashion retail, games, surveying and product and interior design. This tech is coming to other platforms too - from Qualcomm, Google and Intel amongst others - but Apple will have it across a lot of devices quickly, which bodies well for 3rd party dev support.
There's been a couple of cases of stage actors being seriously injured because a rubber prop knife has been substituted for a real knife.
The product design solution would be for all rubber prop knives to have a clear textured coating on the handle so that they can be identified by touch.
If you see IoT as an unwelcome inevitability - because it has so many existing applications - then surely it's more productive to steer it than to condemn it? Do you try in vain to dam a river, or do you channel it?
It seems that rather than saying 'I don't want insecure, data-leaking IoT' which is a reasonable position, you're saying 'No IoT for anyone, even if it might help them do their job'.
Market forces will lead to more IoT devices across a large range of sectors such as farming, industry, and healthcare. It is therefore sensible to discuss how to mitigate the downsides - insisting on better security, legislation about user data hoarding, insist that devices only communicate on your local network unless you explicitly give informed permission etc
> And does the soil type affect things?
Soil gave John Deere his start. As farming moved West from the East coast, farmers encountered a thicker soil that clogged the iron ploughs that were commonly used. Deere developed a self-scouring steel plough, allowing more continuous ploughing.
Fast forward a century and a half to find controversy over DRM in John Deere tractors.
You missed the hint in the article that they are looking at agricultural applications. Technologies related to IoT have been in industry and farming for years - they save people time and money. If you're not aware of this, perhaps you should learn more before commenting?
More generally, weren't you ever taught to be wary of dogma?
There once was a Welshman who wrote a popular book. He was in the import business. He describes wrapping his product in plastic, washing it in diesel, then wrapping it again and washing one more time.
It reminds me of a story of when Lego made wooden building blocks. The founder insisted on three coats of paint. His son suggested they could save money by using only two costs of the paint. The son received a bollocking.
The Welshman, whose memory had been degraded by his line work, was asked how his autobiography was so clear on dates and events. Well, he just put in an FOI request to the FBI who had been watching him for years.
On OpSec: [Policeman]: If we fuck up we get early retirement. If they [gang members] fuck up, they get beats [beaten up, not headphones obviously].
I actually use a Nexus 5 and whatever PC is best suited to my needs - my use of CAD dictates Windows over Linux or OSX.
CAD has exposed me to some UI conventions that I still can't believe aren't more widely adopted such as Pie Menus. I have an interest in 'pervasive computing' only because I've uses for a 3D scanner.
I'm sanguine about swappable batteries, learnt the hard way that SD cards on phones are a sub optimal experience. I'm dubious that a completely modular phone is useful, but feel that a bottom edge-mounted USB port is not ideal for expanding a phones capabilities for a whole range of niche devices.
Yeah, the phone during the keynote had been either power cycled or left too long - both of which disable biometric unlocking by design.
The passcode is also required from the user for done other operations too, so someone with a facial accident (or an accident with some super glue and a Halloween mask) can still access their phone.
> Cops in the US can force you to unlock your phone without a warrant if it can be unlocked using biometrics. But Apple has now made it so they can just hold it up to your face, alive or dead (with eyes open). Great...
Biometric ID is disabled if you tap a button five times, on the latest iOS. Biometric unlocking is also also disabled if the phone hasn't been unlocked for a period of time, or has been power cycled. Additionally, even an unlocked phone won't talk to a computer it's plugged into without the passcode.
It's strange, but it's almost as if Apple have put some thought into this...
Getting rid of the fingerprint reader is just a stop-gap solution until an under-screen sensor is perfected. Samsung had a similar issue on the Galaxy 8, and so clumsily placed the fingerprint reader next to the rear camera.
The X is just to take some money off the people who want exotica - like the Mii Mix. And hey, why not? Samsung are struggling to get yields up on the iPhone X's screen, so supplies are limited... Apple don't have that many to sell.
Others can choose other models.
> I wonder how the face-scanning will play out in "police demand you unlock your phone for them" situations.
Same as for fingerprint unlocking: if you tap the hone button (or with the X, the power button) five times, the phone will require a passcode instead of a fingerprint.
And no, the phone won't unlock unless you are looking at it, so won't work on sleeping people.
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