Author Topic: Interesting "stuff" (Read 1310549 times)

IainB · « **Reply #1575 on:** September 30, 2017, 11:33 AM »

@ConstanceJill: Thankyou for the educational and informative video providing a potted history of LED technology, and in particular blue/violet LEDs, and which reduced my level of ignorance somewhat.
For example, because I simply had neither investigated nor thought about it, it had not previously registered in me why the Blu-ray™ technology was an advancement in terms of data throughput, effectively superseding green lasers:

Arizona Hot · « **Reply #1576 on:** October 01, 2017, 11:57 PM »

Galaxy Note 8 Zero Lemon 5500mAh case fixes its biggest flaw.jpg

Interesting "stuff"

Galaxy Note 8 Zero Lemon 5500mAh case fixes its biggest flaw

Apple now sells an iPhone dongle with a headphone jack and charging port.jpg

Interesting "stuff"

Apple now sells an iPhone dongle with a headphone jack and charging port

IainB · « **Reply #1577 on:** October 02, 2017, 10:37 AM »

I hadn't known this - though I guess it could be a logical continuation of the US Govt's. savvy WW2 "Operation Paperclip" philosophy: (emphasis mine)

...The importance of governments in driving a nation’s scientific and technological achievements were outlined most clearly in the 2013 book The Entrepreneurial State by Mariana Mazzucato of Sussex university. In it, Prof Mazzucato traced the role the US government had played in creating Apple’s iPhone.

Without undermining the creative genius of Steve Jobs or the supply chain mastery of his successor Tim Cook, Prof Mazzucato found that almost every piece of technology in the ubiquitous smartphone had its origin in a government programme, dispelling the myth that the success of Silicon Valley was largely the work of eccentric entrepreneurs tinkering in their garages and savvy investments made by venture capitalists.

Apple’s voice-activated personal assistant software Siri, the microprocessor and the micro hard-drive all had their origins in research by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa), run by the Department of Defense; the multi-touch screen was developed by the CIA and Darpa; GPS, found on most smartphones, was a technology originally created by Darpa and the US Navy. It was the patient investment of government that made today’s digital revolution reality. Prof Mazzucato says: “In almost every sector from IT to biotech, nano tech and clean tech, it has been the US government that has led the way investing in key areas across the innovation chain.” ...
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Copied from: UK steps in to plug science funding gap - <https://www.ft.com/content/740f5f8c-f24c-11e6-95ee-f14e55513608>

Arizona Hot · « **Reply #1578 on:** October 02, 2017, 12:31 PM »

Apple releases a fix for LTE connectivity issues with new Apple Watch.jpg

Interesting "stuff"

Apple releases a fix for LTE connectivity issues with new Apple Watch

Watch This Star Tragically Die in a Fart Nebula.jpg

Interesting "stuff"

Watch This Star Tragically Die in a Fart Nebula

tomos · « **Reply #1579 on:** October 02, 2017, 01:51 PM »

I hadn't known this - though I guess it could be a logical continuation of the US Govt's. savvy WW2 "Operation Paperclip" philosophy: (emphasis mine)
Without undermining the creative genius of Steve Jobs or the supply chain mastery of his successor Tim Cook, Prof Mazzucato found that almost every piece of technology in the ubiquitous smartphone had its origin in a government programme, dispelling the myth that the success of Silicon Valley was largely the work of eccentric entrepreneurs tinkering in their garages and savvy investments made by venture capitalists.
-IainB (October 02, 2017, 10:37 AM)

I heard that claimed by Yanis Varoufakis for larger EU countries, but couldn't tell you in which video.
(Wonder did the government/s get patents and get their chunk of the goods that way.)

Arizona Hot · « **Reply #1580 on:** October 05, 2017, 06:40 AM »

Why We'll Eventually Want Our Robots to Deceive Us.jpg

Interesting "stuff"

Why We'll Eventually Want Our Robots to Deceive Us

Everything You Know About Artificial Intelligence is Wrong.jpg

Interesting "stuff"

Everything You Know About Artificial Intelligence is Wrong

Arizona Hot · « **Reply #1581 on:** October 07, 2017, 12:02 AM »

AOL Instant Messenger is shutting down on December 15th.jpg

Interesting "stuff"

AOL Instant Messenger is shutting down on December 15th

Turns out Pixel 2's unlimited photo storage has a limit.jpg

Interesting "stuff"

Turns out Pixel 2's unlimited photo storage has a limit

Arizona Hot · « **Reply #1582 on:** October 08, 2017, 09:59 PM »

The iPhone now has a built-in document scanner — here's how to use it.jpg

Interesting "stuff"

The iPhone now has a built-in document scanner — here's how to use it

Thomas G. Crowned Nintendo World Champ After Beating Super Mario Odyssey Level Nobody Had Ever Seen Before.jpg

Interesting "stuff"

Thomas G. Crowned Nintendo World Champ After Beating Super Mario Odyssey Level Nobody Had Ever Seen Before

Arizona Hot · « **Reply #1583 on:** October 10, 2017, 11:44 PM »

Disneyland Looks Terrifying As Wildfires Tear Through California.jpg

Interesting "stuff"

Disneyland Looks Terrifying As Wildfires Tear Through California

Fortunately the orangeness goes well with the Halloween decorations.

Forget the iPhone 8 and iPhone X — here are 7 reasons you should buy the iPhone 7 instead.jpg

Interesting "stuff"

Forget the iPhone 8 and iPhone X — here are 7 reasons you should buy the iPhone 7 instead

Arizona Hot · « **Reply #1584 on:** October 10, 2017, 11:55 PM »

The strangest things found inside the human body.jpg

Interesting "stuff"

The strangest things found inside the human body

Interesting "stuff"

Interesting "stuff"

Agate

Natural beauty

Arizona Hot · « **Reply #1585 on:** October 13, 2017, 02:22 AM »

What China's nearly cashless society looks like

Coin-operated parking becomes ancient history as apps, sensors take over cities.jpg

Interesting "stuff"

Coin-operated parking becomes ancient history as apps, sensors take over cities

Arizona Hot · « **Reply #1586 on:** October 13, 2017, 02:31 AM »

Top Halloween Candy by State [Interactive Map].jpg

Interesting "stuff"

Top Halloween Candy by State [Interactive Map]

If you want to please the trick-or-treaters, choose the favorite candy in your state. If you want them to leave you alone, choose the least favorite(if you dare).

Oh deer! Arby's to roll out venison sandwiches nationwide.jpg

Interesting "stuff"

Oh deer! Arby's to roll out venison sandwiches nationwide

Something for the gourmets here.

Arizona Hot · « **Reply #1587 on:** October 17, 2017, 03:13 PM »

ZTE Axon M hands-on - A new hope for dual-screen phones.jpg

Interesting "stuff"

ZTE Axon M hands-on - A new hope for dual-screen phones

Interesting "stuff"

Ophelia turns London sky red

Arizona Hot · « **Reply #1588 on:** October 17, 2017, 03:22 PM »

Sore throat - Forget honey and lemon – try some MOSS

Research shows moss could be the solution to soothing sore throats.jpg

Interesting "stuff"

Research shows moss could be the solution to soothing sore throats

Edvard · « **Reply #1589 on:** October 17, 2017, 05:11 PM »

So THAT's why my new computer seems slower... It's the KEYBOARD!

Does Keyboard latency matter?
https://danluu.com/keyboard-latency/

If you look at “gaming” keyboards, a lot of them sell for $100 or more on the promise that they’re fast.
...
Despite all of these claims, I can only find one person who’s publicly benchmarked keyboard latency and they only tested two keyboards. In general, my belief is that if someone makes performance claims without benchmarks, the claims probably aren’t true, just like how code that isn’t tested (or otherwise verified) should be assumed broken.
...
A year ago, if you’d asked me if I was going to build a custom setup to measure keyboard latency, I would have said that’s silly, and yet here I am, measuring keyboard latency with a logic analyzer.

IainB · « **Reply #1590 on:** October 17, 2017, 10:13 PM »

...The iPhone now has a built-in document scanner — here's how to use it ...
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-Arizona Hot (October 08, 2017, 09:59 PM)

Eh? Is that supposedly a new feature? Surely not.

Microsoft had full document and OCR scanning in the Windows phone (and also Android) with the OfficeLens app. - and that was over 2 years ago, from memory. I've been using it for about 18 months and have mentioned it in the discussion thread on MS OneNote experiential tips - for example:

Damn, today OneNote's capability to copy text from pictures saved me hours of typing. Really neat function.
-Attronarch (March 08, 2016, 04:04 PM)
totally agree. i had no idea it was that good.
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-superboyac (March 08, 2016, 08:26 PM)
Yes, when I started to realise its potential, it blew me away. And it's been improved. And now there's Office Lens on Win10 smartphones (I've been using a Nokia Lumia 830). Select document, or photo, or whiteboard [,or business card], and then apply it to your image, and watch what happens. Seriously smart and useful technology. I'm in lurve.
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-IainB (March 09, 2016, 09:39 AM)

The Apple "document scanner" in the video seems relatively very clunky, by comparison with what I have been doing for (seems like) ages with OfficeLens on the Nokia Lumia 830 Windows phone. I didn't know that Apple were that backward. They always seemed to me to be ahead of the curve.