Life
So when I said last week that the kitchen will definitely finish last week I may have been a bit hasty. Floor is now down, painting mostly done but still a few outstanding jobs. Today and tomorrow have been promised. In other news, I’m off work this week. Woo hoo. New car to sort amongst other things.
Media
Still enjoying Star Trek Discovery despite some dickish characters. Still enjoying Destiny 2 despite “The Grind”.
Links
The banning of Rose McGowan shows nothing’s changed at Twitter | Hannah Jane Parkinson | Opinion | The Guardian
The platform ‘sucks’ at dealing with abuse, its ex-CEO said. So you’d think they’d have learned not to silence an actor calling out Weinstein’s alleged sexual abuse, says Guardian columnist Hannah Jane Parkinson Twitter will allegedly announce some new initiatives to help deal with abuse and hate on the platform but, despite their protests, appear to move too slowly with these changes. Protecting user numbers over users will always be the argument while they appear to do so little.
A Pre-History of Slashdot on its 20th Birthday – freeCodeCamp
Jeff chipped in a few bucks for the fees. Kathleen told me the name was stupid. I thought, “That’s kinda the point!” I originally used the name ‘slashdot’ on my desktop a year earlier when I got my… Slashdot is one of those sites that seems to have been about forever. This was a daily visit alongside Blues News.
Life
More frustration as the new flooring was delivered but the fitter was unavailable so the kitchen drags on. It will finish this week, and I’ve delayed my week off so I can focus on getting it all sorted. Dragging now. However, it’s looking braw so shouldn’t complain too much.
Media
Watched Blade Runner 2049 on Friday. Stunning film and a worthy follow up to the original. Caught it on IMAX and it looked and sounded great. Felt it a tad long but that was more my tiredness. The world it depicts is so real but it really is a must see in the cinema to get the size and scale of it. This and Dunkirk are my fav films of the year so far.
Coughing, heckling – what went wrong for May – BBC News
The prime minister’s speech was more eventful that many expected. The combination of events, the lack of preperation…May just looks done as PM…but I’m sure none of the beasts really want the job right now. What a mess.
iPhone 8 Plus vs. Sony A7 — zeiPAD These comparison shots show how little there is between proper camera’s and this years smartphones. Some of the pics are obviously iPhone but many are hard to differentiate.
Life
The kitchen drags on. Mostly all done (and it looks great) but one of the last major tasks was the new floor…and they’ve shipped a mixture of flooring so the fitter had to stop on Saturday afternoon. Instead of finishing today leaving me with painting it will be mid to end of this week. Frustrating. Still, a week off work starting this Friday to get everything done and the house back in order.
Media
Star Trek Discovery off to a strong start. Looked good, story wasn’t a disaster and the opening credits were a triumph. Looking forward to more.
Picked up a SNES Mini this week much to my surprise. Tesco said they wouldn’t deliver on release date but they did. It’s tiny but the pads are the same size as the original and the games included are a fantastic range of titles from the Super Nintendo days. Shame there is no Pilotwings though (hack coming soon hopefully) but it’s the easiest way of reliving some classic games. Can easily swap between games, states can be saved and some screen options to try and polish up the vintage visuals. Well worth a purchase if you had a SNES back in the day
Spanish Riot Police Are Trying To Prevent People From Voting In Catalonia’s Independence Referendum
The north-eastern region in Spain is holding an independence referendum Sunday. Central Spanish government has declared the vote illegal. The actions of the Spanish government and police today have been disgraceful and almost unbelievable. Would never have predicated state violence at such scale.
Life
Kitchen underway and thankfully no major problems found once the old one was ripped out. Will take a bit longer than expected but please with what I’ve seen so far.
Media
Destiny 2 single player complete and enjoying the variety of missions, strikes and multiplayer that it offers. Much more enjoyable than the first one.
Links
iOS 11: The MacStories Review – MacStories
For the second time in three years, the iPad isn’t following in the iPhone’s footsteps. With iOS 11, the iPad is going in its own direction – this time, with no Long but great review of iOS 11. Lot’s of detail but you will learn loads about the new O/S.
Satya Nadella Rewrites Microsoft’s Code
Microsoft’s CEO has stopped infighting, restored morale, and created more than $250 billion in market value. All it took was focusing on what matters most. The change at MS has been staggering…and for the good.
A new kind of map: it’s about time – Points of interest
If you’re like most people, it starts with a ballpark estimate of how long it usually takes. Or maybe several estimates, depending on when you leave for work, how bad traffic is, or whether you’re… A great new take on maps.
Mark Zuckerberg’s Political Awakening – Bloomberg Uber this week and Facebook on the back foot, is this the start of more regulation and oublic awareness of just what some of these tech companies do?
There was a flurry of leaks and confirmations from Apple last week around the future of the iPhone, the Apple Watch and the Apple TV. The plan at the moment is to buy an iPhone X at the end of October…and thats it. Here’s my take on what they announced and why I’m hopefully picking up an X.
iPhone
iPhone 8 was more of a 7S although I liked the introduction of the glass back. The design looks much better than todays model.
iPhone 8 getting wireless charging and the same processor of the X was a surprise..in a good way.
iPhone X looks fantastic. Love the design, the screen is the big plus point, dual camera’s with OIS. Whats not to like? The future of smartphones and the best phone Apple make today. Love it.
The price is of course a headline grabber, but it’s my most used computer and my least used phone and in that context the price isn’t an issue (assuming my kitchen doesn’t bankrupt me).
Face ID in principle looks OK. In practice we’ll need to see just how good it is. Had similar concerns about Touch ID which now feels so robust despite the issues with wet/dirty fingers.
No home button = more screen = the way all phones are moving to. More gesturing looked hit and miss. Swiping along the button to multitask looked great. Swiping down from the top right of the screen to get to control centre looks awkward. It’s one of the things that only extended use will show if it works or not, but 10 years of muscle memory will be awkward to move from.
The notch. The brow. The sensor housing. It’s where we are today with technology. Look at the tech packed into the notch – it’s amazing. I saw it described as a Kinect sensor which is a great way to look at it.
Would I prefer no screen ears either side of the notch? No. I want the whole front of my phone to be a screen. I’m happy with the compromise of the notch. In 3-4 years they will tuck behind the screen but for now it’s a compromise. Look at video playback, what would you prefer?
Video playback with black bars all around to hide the notchDouble tap to go full screen. Compromise with the notch, but prefer that to bars all around.And here’s the current iPhone looking dated.
There’s a direction of travel and all screen, many gesture, no button smartphones are the future. Screens from MKBHD’s hands on video which is well worth a watch.
The camera’s and wireless charging in the X are very interesting. So much packed into a compact design and again surprised in a good way that Apple went with a global standard for charging rather than forge their own direction.
The overall design of the X, metal band on the edges and the glass front and back looks so good that I’ll be going careless assuming it’s not like a bar of soap in the hand. Also means I’ll be picking up AppleCare.
The iPhone has moved to a 24 month purchase at this price point.
Apple Watch
Series 3 is the same design but now comes with cellular.
To pack in a cellular option into that small a case design without impacting on battery boggles my mind. To be able to stream from Apple Music, make calls and texts and track walks and runs all from that little device is great.
Price looks to be OK, and of course you need another monthly contract to use cellular. That means EE in the UK who seem to have exclusivity but not sure for how long. £5 a month on top of your normal mobile phone bill isn’t too bad to be honest although this seems to be an initial deal.
As I’m not running I’ll be giving the Series 3 a miss for the moment. If I get back out and about with running or if there’s a reliable method of listening to podcasts via the Apple Watch and AirPods then I’ll consider purchasing the Series 3.
Apple TV
Finally a 4K version. HDR support is great too.
Finally an Apple TV supports gigabit ethernet.
Why offer 2 sizes – 32GB and 64GB? What does that bring me as a consumer? Apple should offer just one size.
The deal to bring 4k free to iTunes users who have purchased HD films is fantastic. I’ve bought Blade Runner on VHS, DVD, Blu-Ray and will no doubt pick up the 4k remaster. Paying once was a nice surprise at the event.
The TV app comes to the UK but looking at the slide only Channel 5 is playing ball. Pooh.
Fix the fecking remote. It’s not bad, but it’s not great either.
The price still feels high but I’m sorely tempted to pick one up…maybe near Christmas.
More?
Maybe one more event this year to talk about the HomePod and iMac pro? Hope so as it’s not like they haven’t got their own theatre to show it in. Even if there’s not, I’m really looking forward to the iPhone X. New form factor, new screen tech (for Apple), removal of the home button and Face ID. Fascinated to see how it all hangs together coupled with iOS 11, AR and of course Animoji. Now if only Apple could have fixed the Apple TV remote…I guess thats next year?
Life
One week until work on the kitchen starts. Lots to do and not looking forward to the work that week but once it’s done then happy days. Also got some time off coming up – need the break although it will be filled with DIY methinks.
Media
Destiny 2 – I loved the review that said it was Destiny without the bullshit and so far it feels exactly that. No surprise that it reminds me so much of Halo – well done Bungie.
Eveybody’s Golf – Nice golf game for PS4 with a lot of depth underneath the arcade graphics.
Both these games are good but the grinding/microtransaction bullshit that goes hand in hand with almost every game now is getting tiring. One of the reasons that the Switch so far has felt refreshing.
Links
Attacked by Rotten Tomatoes – NYTimes.com Piracy is down…but so have cinema takings so there needs to be a new bad guy. Step forward Rotten Tomatoes. How about the movie studio’s stop with the formulaic superhero films and endless sequels and try something new for a change?
Not so super: why Hollywood’s cinematic universes are on the way out | Film | The Guardian
Marvel’s interlinked superhero movies transformed industry thinking, but now rival studios are increasingly reverting to simpler, old-school storytelling Always thought it was daft for others to try and copy Marvel. The DC films are poor in comparison apart from Wonder Woman. Stop building worlds and just focus on making each movie great.
Leaked iPhone 8 firmware reveals animated emoji, Face ID, and updated AirPods – The Verge The big Apple event is only 2 days away and this year the biggest leaks are from Apple themselves. The first leak looked accidental, via a Homepod firmware. The leak of a GM build on Friday however looks malicious from someone in Apple – they won’t be happy. Still, much to look forward to.
Life
Autumn’s here. Bit cooler, bit wetter and could see some change in the tree’s this morning on my walk. Looking forward to getting out and about with the camera as I love this time of year.
Media
Bake Off is back…and as good as ever. New presenters weren’t Mel and Sue but good enough and nothing has been broken in the move. Yes there are adverts, but record and skip or stop moaning.
36 Hours in Glasgow – The New York Times This story got shared due to it describing Glasgow as remote, but it’s recomendations are good apart from doing it all in 36 hours – thats manic!
Hurricane Harvey devastates southeast Texas – The Boston Globe
Hurricane Harvey made landfall as a Category 4 storm along the southeast coastline of Texas over the weekend, the most powerful storm to hit the United States since 2004. As the storm lingers in the region, rainfall has caused major flooding in the Houston area and south Texas, leading to thousands of people needing rescue and evacuation. Haunting images from Texas.
The Subscription App Paradox – Hacker Noon Good post on subcription app’s and services. I need to review what I’m subscribed too as it add’s up to a fair amount each month.
I Doped Like Maria Sharapova And It Was Actually Pretty Great Drug’s in sport are hard to understand. Fine line between banned substances and looking after yourself but I’m in no doubt that Sharapova is a drug cheat – just listen to her fellow pro’s.
The Most Beautiful Country in the World – As Voted By You | Rough Guides
Planning your next trip? To help spark your imagination, we asked our readers to vote for the most beautiful country in the world. These are the results. Some amazing places in the top 20, can’t disagree with the no 1.
RealTime WWII Twitter account which posts a few times a day in sync with the happenings of World War II. Today saw Britain declare war on Germany. A must follow.
Life
A day later than normal but a busy weekend…Ok…I was dying repeatedly in Battlefield 1 and couldn’t be arsed to post last night. I’ve been busy! Honest!
Media
Finished The Defenders. Well worth a watch if you liked Daredevil.
Also finished Game of Thrones this evening and loved this series. Roll on series 8.
Louis Rossetto – Pi.co I loved the origial US Wired magazien so this interview is a treat. Buying it in the UK meant trips to specialist newsagents or Borders in Glasgow which I still miss. The UK edition, while good, just isn’t the same.
Life
That was a fun week. Nothing much happening in the world, everything postitive…politics taking a summer break. Sigh.
Media
I’ve binged on Defenders over the weekend and really enjoyed it. Liked it more than Iron Fist and Luke Cage but I’ve only a couple of episodes to go. Boo for an 8 episode run.
Game of Thrones this week was double the fun. I got a small spoiler after HBO accidently showed episode 6 so I downloaded and enjoyed it as well. What a series and I can’t wait for the last episode and some of the possible events that could happen.
Links
Alien: Covenant – Art References on Vimeo
This is “Alien: Covenant – Art References” by HERROZZY on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them. I thought the film had a few flaws but one of them wasn’t the looks. This video highlights the references from many many sources throughout the film.
Near mint: A conversation with game collectors • Eurogamer.net
Pride of place in Jason Lindsey’s game room is a stacked shelf of big-box PC games. In the days before Steam homogenised the purchasing process, packaging w… If you have to ask how much this article isn’t for you.
Subscription Software – Matt Gemmell More app’s moving to this model and it’s interesting to see people’s reaction. I’ve got a couple of subscriptions at the moment, but there’s only so many I can grow to – can’t buy them all.
Essential Phone review – The Verge Great review of a really interesting phone. Love the screen, no branding and the design/materials but it looks like a poor (relative) camera and some buggy software. Good luck to them.
