Perhaps the most famously bad Marvel movie in history is now available to watch in its entirety online. In 1994, a low-budget The Fantastic Four movie was completed, but never released and has existed in infamy ever since. In an era long before the creation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and even a few years before Blade would help establish Marvel as a brand that could do business at the box office, this cheap monstrosity happened. And now, those brave enough can view it for themselves.
This is the last (hopefully) in a long string of awful Fantastic Four movies.
SmugMug, trying to strengthen its Flickr site as a community for photo enthusiasts, will limit free members to 1,000 photos and scrap the old policy of a terabyte of storage in an attempt to move toward subscriptions.
The move, accompanied by a 30 percent discount on the $50 annual Flickr pro membership through Nov. 30, is the first big business shift at the photo-sharing site since SmugMug’s acquisition of Flickr from Verizon’s Yahoo earlier this year. And while it’ll mean some members have to decide whether to spend some money or save their photos, it also means Flickr’s interests are directly aligned with those of its members, not those of advertisers, Flickr vice president of product Andrew Stadlen said in a blog post Thursday.
This is a controversial decision but, if it works out the way SmugMug wants it to, it will fundamentally change the kind of site Flickr is and how it is used.
This is just impossibly cute. And I’m thinking she learned this from watching Wayne’s World. Why? Cause of the bit at about 1:20 in, in which young Holly Lee proceeds to head-bang, like a boss.
Buried in Apple’s latest range of MacBooks — including the MacBook Pro out earlier this year and the just-announced MacBook Air — is the new T2 security chip, which helps protect the device’s encryption keys, storage, fingerprint data and secure boot features.
Little was known about the chip until today. According to its newest published security guide, the chip comes with a hardware microphone disconnect feature that physically cuts the device’s microphone from the rest of the hardware whenever the lid is closed.
All Mac portables with the Apple T2 Security Chip feature a hardware disconnect that ensures that the microphone is disabled whenever the lid is closed. This disconnect is implemented in hardware alone, and therefore prevents any software, even with root or kernel privileges in macOS, and even the software on the T2 chip, from engaging the microphone when the lid is closed. (The camera is not disconnected in hardware because its field of view is completely obstructed with the lid closed.)
If you watched Apple’s event last week, you’ll know Tom Boger as the person who introduced the new Mac mini.
This is a subset of a longer interview (here’s a link to the longer version, a podcast) that focuses on Apple’s Mac product grid (Steve Jobs famously introduced the Desktop/Portable vs Consumer/Pro grid back in the day) and the MacBook Air’s place in the product line, as well as how Apple decides which parts to make user serviceable.
This is absolutely worth a watch/listen. I found Tom’s explanation of where the MacBook Air fits to be interesting, but it still doesn’t click for me. Listen for yourself. Nice work, Rene.
If you recently bought a new flagship phone, chances are its battery life is actually worse than an older model.
For the last few weeks, I’ve been performing the same battery test over and over again on 13 phones. With a few notable exceptions, this year’s top models underperformed last year’s. The new iPhone XS died 21 minutes earlier than last year’s iPhone X. Google’s Pixel 3 lasted nearly an hour and a half less than its Pixel 2.
Phone makers tout all sorts of tricks to boost battery life, including more-efficient processors, low-power modes and artificial intelligence to manage app drain. Yet my results, and tests by other reviewers I spoke with, reveal an open secret in the industry: the lithium-ion batteries in smartphones are hitting an inflection point where they simply can’t keep up.
In a nutshell, the case being made here is that battery efficiency is growing very slowly, while screen technology (and other) power draw is growing somewhat faster than that.
Lil Peep died of an accidental drug overdose last November at 21. Afterward, attention turned to his computer. First, it went to London, where the files were backed up by First Access Entertainment, the company that helped guide his career.
Then it went to his mother, Liza Womack. In an interview in her cozy Long Island home, sitting on a nondescript couch that belonged to Peep and was shipped cross-country after his death, she calmly recalled walking into an Apple store, handing the laptop to a clerk, and saying: “My son died. This is him. Take this and put it on a new one.”
Sometime after that, in London, the producer George Astasio and Peep’s longtime musical collaborator Smokeasac finally set out to catalog its contents. What they found were Lil Peep’s complete recordings — some finished, some in fragments; some heard and familiar, many not.
This is an interesting story. Lil Peep was just starting to break out. With his death, what would, and should, become of all his songs and song snippets?
> Google and iRobot have announced they’re working together to improve smart home technology using mapping data collected by iRobot’s robot vacuums. This collaboration aims to make smart homes “more thoughtful” by leveraging the unique dataset collected by iRobot: maps of customers’ homes. As smart technology evolves, it’s worth noting that tools like Big Clean backpack vacuums also contribute to modern cleaning efficiency, offering practical solutions for keeping homes spotless while integrating seamlessly with tech-savvy lifestyles.
And:
> “Much like assigning smart lights or other smart devices to rooms in the home, the Assistant only learns what names people have given to areas of their homes, so that it can then deploy the iRobot i7+ to that area,” said Google in a statement. “We do not receive any information on the layout of the home or where the areas are, respectively.”
Very interesting read. AI continues its creep inside your home. Though Google says they do not receive the mapping info, I am skeptical that that info won’t eventually find its way outside, even if it’s via the work of hackers.
And if you find yourself asking, who cares about room data? It’s an avenue, a path to a future where all your data is visible to outside agencies, a pinprick in the balloon of privacy.
“I think your responsibility actually goes further back than that,” he says. “It starts with the determination not to fall into the trap of just making things different. Because when a product has been highly regarded there is often a desire from people to see it redesigned. I think one of the most important things is that you change something not to make it different but to make it better.”
Justin O’Beirne did a fascinating post on the differences between Apple’s old map and the increased detail of the new map. He also compares Apple and Google side-by-side and does a comparison of the included detail.
Apple on Thursday posted its fourth quarter earnings, posting revenue of $62.9 billion. Apple CFO, Luca Maestri, said it’s was Apple’s best September quarter ever.
“We’re thrilled to report another record-breaking quarter that caps a tremendous fiscal 2018, the year in which we shipped our 2 billionth iOS device, celebrated the 10th anniversary of the App Store and achieved the strongest revenue and earnings in Apple’s history,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “Over the past two months, we’ve delivered huge advancements for our customers through new versions of iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad and Mac as well as our four operating systems, and we enter the holiday season with our strongest lineup of products and services ever.”
International sales accounted for 61 percent of the quarter’s revenue.
According to the financial statements, Apple sold 46.8 million iPhones in the quarter, up from the 41.3 sold in the year ago quarter. Apple also sold 9.7 million iPads, down from the 11.5 sold a year ago, and 5.3 million Macs, up from the 3.7 million a year ago.
Services also increased 27 percent in the fourth quarter of 2018, rising from 7.9 $billion in 2017 to $10 billion in this year’s fourth quarter.
Persons resident in Canada (individuals, businesses and governmental entities) can receive a payment from the settlements if they purchased any of the following products, regardless of the manufacturer or brand, in Canada between March 1, 1995 and November 25, 2007:
CRT televisions
CRT computer monitors
CRTs for inclusion in televisions or computer monitors
You must complete and file a claim form by March 1, 2019.
A lot of my fellow Canadians qualify for this class action. You’re not likely to get a lot of money out of it but every little bit helps. Thanks to Greg for the heads up.
The Three Rules of Callsigns: 1) If you don’t already have one, you will be assigned one by your “buddies”. 2) You probably won’t like it. 3) If you complain and moan too much about 1. and 2., you’ll get a new nickname you’ll like even less!
So, how do you get a callsign?
Do something stupid or have it fit with your last name. Obvious examples, ‘Crash’ or LT ‘Cheese’ Kraft. Sometimes it’s based on a physical appearance thing like ‘Carrot’. After you’ve earned the respect of your buddies, you’ll get a more ‘heroic’ callsign.
Unless you were involved in the military, I bet the first time most of us heard about callsigns was from the movie Top Gun. We just called them nicknames. I’m lucky – with the last name I have, the only possible nickname/callsign I could have is Kong. Thanks to Scott Jordan for the link.
This was a bit tough for me to watch. Chris Cornell was an immense talent who took his life last year. This is a chance to see him up close, talking about and playing his signature song.
Take a look at the FlexPai folding phone product page. This is the first folding phone concept I’ve seen that made me see a path to the future.
If you scroll about 3/4 of the way down the page, you’ll see the phone folded in half (sort of), showing three displays, with an interior and exterior display as well as one for the spine.
The design feels clunky to me, the folded phone too bulky for my pocket, but I can absolutely see the value of a phone thin enough to fit in my pocket that unfolds into a full size tablet. Best of both worlds.
I can’t help but imagine such a device from Apple. Someday.
Granted, these comparisons are not apples-to-apples, but still, these iPad Pro results seem impressive. They are both top of their respective line machines and, obviously, the iPad Pro is much less expensive.
If my math is right, the MacBook Pro single-core score is about 6.5% faster than the iPad Pro. That’s not much.
I started watching this again, just to see those cool animations at the beginning. I do hope Apple continues down this creative path, even if there’s no direct payoff in the presentation itself.
Whether you hate tootsie rolls or licorice, the truth is we’ve all received Halloween candy we don’t like. But this year, Reese’s is coming to the rescue with their very own candy exchange machine.
“Reese’s Halloween Candy Converter Machine” was first released to the public on Sunday, October 28, during a Halloween parade in Tarrytown, New York.
From the new 13-inch MacBook Air and super-light 12-inch MacBook to the 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pros with the Touch Bar, Apple’s laptop lineup has never had more variety. But as a shopper, it can be tough to decide which notebook to get.
That’s where we come in. We’ll help you decide which MacBook is worth your money by comparing price, features, performance, battery life and more. Here’s the pros and cons of each model.
There’s a very helpful graphic attached to this post to really give you a good sense of the specs and offerings.
In crafting its most compelling iPad and MacBook Air to date, Apple also created a major headache for people like me. I’m a member of that classic Intel ultrabook demographic whose computing needs are light but constant. You won’t catch me doing 3D modeling or 4K video production on my laptop, but I do a litany of small tasks online, in a word processor, or in Adobe’s Lightroom. I’ve been using a MacBook Pro for two years that does most of what I want, but it really doesn’t last long enough. Now, Apple is offering me the much better battery life I need with the high-quality display I desire, but it’s fragmented the choice. Both the new MacBook Air and new iPad Pro could be the ideal computer for me.
This will be an interesting problem for many of us. I’m in the market for a new device and am torn between these two new offerings. What would push me over the edge to the iPad Pro would be for Adobe to (soon!) announce the full version of Lightroom is available for the iPad Pro, as they announced for Photoshop.
This is the kind of tale that you don’t hear every day. Erik Wooldridge is a Systems Specialist at Morris Hospital near Chicago. During the installation of a new GE Healthcare MRI machine, he started getting calls that cell phones weren’t working. Then, some Apple Watches started glitching.
This is just an incredible read. Don’t want to give anything away, just dig in. Great story, well told.
Terrific, densely detailed, hands-literally-on look at the new iPad Pro from Rene Ritchie, part of his excellent Vector series. Lots to absorb here, 5 minutes well spent.
A professor of surgery says students have spent so much time in front of screens and so little time using their hands that they have lost the dexterity for stitching or sewing up patients.
Roger Kneebone, professor of surgical education at Imperial College, London, says young people have so little experience of craft skills that they struggle with anything practical.
Fascinating. My kids all grew up as makers, crafters. They grew up sewing, soldering, painting and, in one case, learning how to sew a proper medical stitch.
I believe in teaching these sorts of skills. I wonder if future surgeons will have to take basic craft classes to qualify for medical school.
The baseline MacBook costs more than the MacBook Air and is a downgrade in literally every way. Smaller screen, older generation keyboard, 480p camera, no thunderbolt 3, only 1 port, worse CPUs that are from last generation, no Touch ID.
The MacBook no longer makes sense, and it didn’t even make sense compared to the baseline MacBook Pro.
Jim and I spent some time discussing this on yesterday’s Dalrymple Report. I do find the relationship between the MacBook Air and the MacBook a bit confusing.
Two comments from the linked Reddit thread:
I always thought that the Macbook was replacing the Macbook air, similar to what they did with the iPad
And:
You thought correctly. This new laptop is just a bigger MacBook (Retina). It’s not an Air. Apple is just calling it an Air for marketing purposes. It has the same screen type and Y-series CPU as the Retina, not the U-series as the Air uses.
Instead calling the product lineup the MacBook 12″ and MacBook 13″, they’re calling it the MacBook and the New MacBook Air.
One possible motivation for this move, aside from giving the (MacBook Air) people what they want, is addressed in this thoughtful Op-Ed piece from Ben Lovejoy:
When Apple launched the iPhone X, it did more than just change the design language of the iPhone: it also offered a whole new pricing level. Not just for iPhones, but for any smartphone. It was a move that has significantly boosted the average selling price (ASP) of the iPhone range as a whole.
This is a trick Apple is now repeating with the 2018 MacBook Air
Interesting. Is this ASP ladder-climbing, an effort to raise the price of the entry level Mac? Though I do find the branding a bit confusing between the MacBook and MacBook Air, there’s no doubt that Apple is genius when it comes to product pricing.
Apple CEO Tim Cook announced during the company’s “More in the Making” event in New York City that Apple has hit a new milestone: 100 million active Mac users. He added that 51 percent of Mac buyers are “new to Mac” and noted that in China that figure is 76 percent, highlighting growth in the world’s most populous country.
And:
By comparison, there are about 1.5 billion active Windows PCs.
I wonder if you ignored the first 10 years of Mac purchases, if that 40% number would drop, even to 39%. To me, this says a ton about the impact the success of the iPhone and the evolution of the Apple ecosystem has had on the Mac.
Apple introduced a new Mac mini, MacBook Air and two new iPad Pros earlier today in New York. Dave and I talk about all the new products and the event.
Given all of the changes introduced in the Apple Pencil 2, it only works with the new 11 and 12.9-inch iPad Pro models and it is not compatible with older iPad Pros or the sixth-generation iPad.
Likewise, the current Apple Pencil will not work with the new iPad Pro models and is limited to older iPad Pro models and the sixth-generation iPad.
This should come as no surprise to anyone who watched today’s video and no, this is not Apple being “greedy”.
