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just me. my current interests and stories for the interwebs.
The benchmarks speak for themselves. Apple is out pacing Intel's x86 architecture with their own in-house ARM A series build out and it’s really impressive. See for yourself.
After a very short conversation with my wife, looks like the iPad Pro might be her next machine while I’m still reserving myself for the SkyLake Retina MacBook Pro for gaming and heavy photography processing. Maybe some video intertwined here and there.
The iPad Pro is without question faster than the new one-port MacBook or the latest MacBook Airs. I’ve looked at several of my favorite benchmarks — Geekbench 3, Mozilla’s Kraken, and Google’s Octane 2 — and the iPad Pro is a race car. It’s only a hair slower than my year-old 13-inch MacBook Pro in single-core measurements. Graphics-wise, testing with GFXBench, it blows my MacBook Pro away. A one-year-old maxed-out MacBook Pro, rivaled by an iPad in performance benchmarks. Just think about that. According to Geekbench’s online results, the iPad Pro is faster in single-core testing than Microsoft’s new Surface Pro 4 with a Core-i5 processor. The Core-i7 version of the Surface Pro 4 isn’t shipping until December — that model will almost certainly test faster than the iPad Pro. But that’s a $1599 machine with an Intel x86 CPU. The iPad Pro starts at $799 and runs an ARM CPU — Apple’s A9X. There is no more trade-off. You don’t have to choose between the performance of x86 and the battery life of ARM.
It's getting to the point that Apple is indeed paving the way for a faster and better experience. If they up the game with iOS X (or whatever they are going to call it) and make it a more viable operating system for the notebook replacement, I can see them conquering the $1200 and lower market segment.
The only thing that sets me back on making this a replacement laptop is that sometimes, Mac OS X has more to offer in terms of shortcuts and various other apps that are NOT for mobile. Jon Gruber also points out a few short comings on using a keyboard without a trackpad. Funny though, I see my daughter (3 years old) try and manipulate my laptop and her little fingerprints are all over my screen. After some frustrations has set, she turns to me confused.
Amusing to say the least.
Crucially, its findings are based on situations where the child’s musical activities were informal and shared, typically with a parent – essentially a playful social experience.
Simple and fun musical activities can have enormous power in developing numeracy and literacy: try improvising a counting song, or making up new rhymes to familiar tunes.
But the true power of musical play lies in the unique blend of creativity, sound and face-to-face interaction; the learning is strengthened by its basis in a positive, empathic emotional relationship.
Let's jam. I'll host. Bring your best kitchen utensils and percussion instruments.
From Independent:
iPhones the include a messaging programme called iMessage which would likely fall under the provisions in the bill banning “strong” end-to-end encryption of messages.
The proposed law, to be published in its full draft from on Wednesday by the Home Secretary Theresa May, will mandate internet and technology companies to hand over communications data on request.
Published in BBC:
In urgent situations, such as when someone's life is in danger or there is a unique opportunity to gather critical intelligence, the home secretary would have the power to approve an interception warrant without immediate judicial approval.
The judges would also be able to refer serious errors to an outside tribunal which could then decide to tell the individual their data has been illegally collected.
The bill also proposes:
Making the Wilson doctrine - preventing surveillance of Parliamentarians' communications - law
Placing a legal duty on British companies to help law enforcement agencies hack devices to acquire information if it is reasonably practical to do so
Edward Snowden has chimmed in and we already know what Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales has said. All in all, I hope this doesn't happen. You'd hope that the government, especially the U.K., who was voted in by the people, would know better. Here's a guide to the U.S.'s CISPA and all the other bills that the US have passed or have tried to pass in the name "security."
I would like to see Apple refuse to sell iPhone in UK if gov't bans end-to-end encryption. Does Parliament dare be that stupid?
— Jimmy Wales (@jimmy_wales) November 3, 2015
Your web records are not like "an itemised phone bill," they're like a list of every book you've ever opened. #SnoopersCharter
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) November 4, 2015
BMW takes aim at Mercedes-Benz S-Class. And misses," MacKenzie concluded. "It's not enjoyable to drive as you'd expect and not as comfortable as BMW wants it to be. This is a 7 Series in a curious no-man's-land."
Just reiterated my feelings of the brand as of late and a comment from my friend Cedric that I should have stayed with Mercedes.
The iPhone 6s in a lot of ways seems like it’s simple enough to review, but it turns out if you dig deep the changes have been significant. Over the course of a review, we’ve found major changes in the SoC, storage solution, camera, touch screen, fingerprint scanner, voice recognition software, cellular architecture, and WiFi chipset.
It's a doozy. Wonderfully technical and the most thorough that I've read. I love how both Joshua Ho and Randy Smith comb over the details on everything that Apple's latest "s" model has to offer. Even if you're not an Apple fan, the extent of technology, craftsmanship and design that Josh and Randy go over proves to be an exemplary read. Don't take my word for it.
The one disappointment here is that the iPhone 6s doesn’t have OIS, which increasingly feels like a pretty significant differentiator.
I completely agree and that's why I went with the iPhone 6s Plus. Check out the Optical Image Stabilization in the video below.
BMW’s flagship sedan seems to have lost its edge in recent years. It’s wrapped in languid styling and just doesn’t feel as sporty as it did in earlier renditions; an odd product lineup includes an expensive and not especially efficient gas-electric hybrid model. Consumer Reports takes the 7 Series to task for being “a ponderous, technology-laden vehicle with ungainly handling,” and is included in the publication’s lists of lowest-scoring cars, worst overall values and most expensive operating costs in its class. Not to pile on, but it also gets a rock-bottom resale value rating from ALG and a below average performance score from J.D. Power.
I'll admit that it was great owning an E66 (2008 BMW 750Li), but damn if I owned it past it's warranty and into the 100k mile range. They don't build them like they use to and never mind the amount of electrical glitches, failures and mishaps that can happen! I love their cars but my 5 series has proved to be too costly to maintain. When is enough enough?
“I think they have all the ingredients for the games,” said Timothy Fok, an ANOC executive and International Olympic Committee member. “Not only the sun and sand, they live the games.”
The event, scheduled for 2017, is expected to feature about 20 sports, including triathlon, skateboarding, surfing, jet skiing, as well beach versions of soccer, track and football.
No better place to host than "America's Finest City!"
The Ludicrous Speed upgrade combined with the "Fast and Furious"-ready Model S P90D makes for some shocking acceleration numbers. With Ludicrous mode engaged and using the new launch control feature, 60 mph in the Tesla comes in a staggeringly quick 2.6 seconds with the driver experiencing a peak of 1.1 g up through 14 mph. Given the Model S P90D hangs with hypercars in acceleration from 0 to 60 mph, the list of cars the P90D beats to 60 mph is a long one, including everything from the vaunted Nissan GT-R to the big, bad Lamborghini Aventador and Bugatti Veyron. Only two cars that we've tested can outright beat the P90D to 60 mph: the Porsche 918 Spyder and Ferrari LaFerrari. As for the "other" hybrid hypercar, the McLaren P1, the Tesla ties it in a race to 60 mph.
Just to summarize a summary, faster than the Nissan GT-R, Lamborghini Aventador and Bugatti Veyron. Ridiculous! (And so is the price at $130,000 but then again, those super cars cost more). If you see an underlined P90D, he/she just might be a tad ludicrous.
Beer snobs are the worst of the bunch. You know the old joke about cheap beer being like having sex in a canoe? I will take a beer that’s "fucking near water" every night of the week over combing out my neck beard while arguing about hop varieties.
For all the debatability of my rant here, let me make one ironclad argument for shitty beer: It pairs really well with food. All food. Think about how well champagne pairs with almost anything. Champagne is not a flavor bomb! It’s bubbly and has a little hint of acid and tannin and is cool and crisp and refreshing. Cheap beer is, no joke, the champagne of beers. And cheap beer and spicy food go together like nothing else. Think about Natty Boh and Old Bay-smothered crabs. Or Asian lagers like Orion and Singha and Tiger, which are all perfect ways to wash down your mapo tofu.
This sums up my feelings perfectly. Just a few months ago during my son's christening reception, Pacifico was flowing and it was fabulous. But to each his own as I snob just a tad on coffee and brew techniques.
It's also evident in the MacBook parts laid out before me. The tiny logic board (aka the motherboard) fits in one of my hands. It's literally packed on both sides with chips of varying sizes and includes everything from memory to storage and even the display drivers. It's also deeply informed by everything Apple learned from building circuit boards for handheld technologies like the iPhone. As I examine it, Ternus tells me the board is 67 percent smaller than the one found in the 11-inch MacBook Air.
Simply amazing. The palm of your hand or in other technology comparisons, smaller than the Raspberry Pi!
Every single unit gets measured on line for force required to open it, and we actually adjust every single unit," Ternus said.
In fact, Apple is apparently taking the time to custom-fit all sorts of pieces in the MacBook through a process it calls "binning." Since there can be minuscule variances that might make, for instance, the Force Touch trackpad not a perfect fit for the body or the super-thin Retina display not exactly a match for the top of the case, Apple finds matching parts from the production line. Even the thickness of the stainless steel Apple Logo, which replaced the backlit logo on previous MacBook models, can vary by a micron or so, meaning Apple needs to find a top with the right cutout depth.
It's all in the details. Simply an amazing read from an engineering perspective even if you're not a fan.
via digitaltrends
So Panay’s team set a different goal: to reinvent the laptop. They spent two years designing, prototyping, and fine-tuning—all to get to the Surface Book that goes on sale today. It’s the product of everything Microsoft has learned from making the first Surface machines, and from watching Apple eat its lunch. It’s a story right out of Cupertino, really: A small group of creatives sits in a room together, passionately slaving over every tiny detail of a product until it’s perfect. To go after Apple, Microsoft learned from Apple—and then found a few places to take right turns toward the future it imagines. It cost Panay much more than one night’s sleep.
This is what sets the course for success. Still at $1,499, makes it a little hard to digest but yes, it's definitely production and hardware plus excitement heading in the right direction.
Just in case you missed the latest shenanigans, PCWorld posted their benchmarks showing it beat the Apple's MacBook Pro 13" laptop not by twice but almost three times in terms of speed. Pretty impressive nonetheless, but 9to5Mac brings to light some of discrepancies. The biggest takeaway points to dedicated graphics cards do help in processing power and frame rate. The Surface Book has one, but the MacBook Pro does not.