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Amazon's Gold Box is Full of Cheap Articulating Mounts for Your Screens http://bit.ly/2S25xt5
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I’ve never met Marie Kondo and I’m a little too intimidated to watch her show but my gut tells me she would appreciate the space-saving design of these monitor and TV stands. And right now, Amazon is lowering the price on number of products designed to organize your desk and living room space. Better still, these mounts allow more ways to rotate, tilt and move your screens to your liking.
Digital Trends via Gizmodo https://gizmodo.com January 25, 2019 at 09:39AM
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Mark Zuckerberg's Bold Plan to Save Facebook Is Reportedly Ruining Everything Else http://bit.ly/2CKRkH3 Facebook, you may have heard, had a year riddled with scandals, data breaches, dwindling user trust, slowing growth, scrutiny from regulators, and plummeting morale among its own staff. Clearly the social behemoth needs a major comeback. But according to a report in the New York Times, Mark Zuckerberg’s plan to link messaging capability between Messenger, Whatsapp, and Instagram—three of its essentially balkanized services—already has workers confused and angry. More centralized control over these mostly independent apps was already presaged by last year’s abrupt exits of Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, Brian Acton and Jan Koum, the founder pairs of Instagram and Whatsapp, respectively. All four were reported to have butted heads with Zuckerberg’s directives, which we now know involves stripping those apps of some of their autonomy. Advertisement Reportedly they’ll still operate as standalone products, albeit with a backend and social graph that’s interoperable, a change which, as Mike Isaac put it, “requires thousands of Facebook employees to reconfigure how WhatsApp, Instagram and Facebook Messenger function at their most basic levels.” Welcome to the rat king era of social media. What could Facebook gain by undertaking this boondoggle, especially one reported to be pursuing end-to-end encryption? Not much, according to one of the app’s own workers:
It’s difficult to imagine why Zuckerberg is undertaking a massive overhaul of two beloved (if largely unprofitable) products to fuse them with the bloated Messenger app, and more closely associate them in consumers’ minds with the deeply tarnished reputation of Facebook. Allegedly there are no plans for how this change will directly generate profit—only the whiff of solidifying market share among messaging products like Apple messenger and SMS. We’ve reached out to Facebook for comment and will update when we hear back. Digital Trends via Gizmodo https://gizmodo.com January 25, 2019 at 09:27AM
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Orbital Sculpture Stays Flaccid Due to Government Shutdown http://bit.ly/2ReOOhF An inflatable space sculpture launched to orbit in December remains unfurled, in one of the more unanticipated consequences of the ongoing government shutdown in the United States. Designed by U.S. artist Trevor Paglen, the Orbital Reflector was launched to low Earth orbit aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on December 3, 2018, along with dozens of other cubesats. But this $1.5 million art project, which also involved the Nevada Museum of Art, Spaceflight Industries, and Global Western, is now stuck in a holding pattern thanks to the U.S. government shutdown. With the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) out of commission, Paglen cannot get the required green light to unfurl his giant space balloon, as the New York Times reports. Orbital Reflector is made from a lightweight material similar to mylar. When unfurled and fully inflated, the sculpture will attain an elongated diamond-like shape, roughly the length of a football field. A highly reflective coating of titanium dioxide means the sculpture should be visible to observers on the ground. Orbital Reflector wasnât meant to exist in space for very long, and itâll eventually fall into Earthâs atmosphere and burn to crisp after a few months in orbit. The purpose of the art project, according to its designer, is to encourage us âto look up at the night sky with a renewed sense of wonder, to consider our place in the universe, and to reimagine how we live together on this planet.â During the planning stages, Paglen had to go through the same channels as anyone else wanting to put something into orbit, namely acquiring a license from the FCC and abiding by regulations established by International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR). But now, with Trumpâs record-setting government shutdown, the project is stuck. Paglen cannot trigger the unfurl-and-inflate button until he receives clearance from the FCC. As the NYT reports, Paglen is worried that this anticipated wait could damage the structure:
Of course I feel bad for Paglen, but I must admit Iâm also feeling a bit of schadenfreude. Iâm not a fan of this sort of thing; surely looking up at the cosmosâjust the way it is, without an inflated shiny tube in the wayâshould inspire in anyone a sense of wonder and contemplation of oneâs place in the universe. I also donât think low Earth orbit is an appropriate place for us to be depositing art projects, and itâs starting to get a bit out of hand. The same launch that delivered Orbital Reflector, for example, also deposited artist Tavares Strachanâs Eonoch sculpture-satellite. Last year we had to endure Humanity Star, a small satellite bearing the resemblance of a disco ball. And not to be outdone, a Japanese firm launched a satellite into space last week thatâll be capable of generating artificial meteor showers. Sure, this might seem novel and cool (I personally donât think so), but we have to consider the costs. Bright objects in low Earth orbit, in addition to potentially interfering with astronomical observations, simply add to the massive collection of debris that could collide with and damage more useful satellites. Sadly, with the price of rocket launches dropping, thereâs likely more of this to come. Digital Trends via Gizmodo https://gizmodo.com January 25, 2019 at 09:21AM
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These Chickens Lay Designer Eggs for Big Pharma http://bit.ly/2Dzevpw Photographer Daniel Szalai envisioned an employee-style grid as part of the Novogen series. "I wanted to portray the chickens as workers in the industry," he explains. "I thought it was important to shoot many to reflect the scale of mass production." Szalai observed that the chickens have "really individual faces." Over the course of a six-day shoot in the chicken shed, Szalai began to individually recognize some of the birds he had shot earlier amongst the group. "Of course we anthropomorphize animals," Szalai says. "We have a toolkit to try to understand them, it comes from very human place." The Budapest-based photographer chose 168 out of 7,000 images for his Novogen series. Novogen includes 11 "environmental" shots of the Hungarian facility and process for vaccine production. Novogen White egg shells are monitored for color and thickness. Carriers are each inserted with a electronic chip to track their location and serve live data relating to their genetic potential. "I really saw how they were being held, in pure clinical environments," Szalai says. "All aspects of their lives are transferred into numbers." "I knew that the title of the series had to be Novogen," explains Szalai. "It's very exact: This company, this chicken, this production company." Szalai submitted Novogen to the 2018 Breada Photo Festival. The theme for the annual festival was "To Infinity and Beyond." Szalai was denied when he first requested access to the Hungarian egg farm. When finally let in, he had to wear a "white space suit" and gloves in the facility. After spending six days shooting portraits in the chicken shed, Szalai says he couldn't eat poultry for three weeks. Szalai included the facility's marketing materials and management guide as part of the series, including a chart that tracks the Novogen carriers' lifespan. Szalai likened this document to the personal data we share with big tech: "With all this data that's being collected around us, we allow organizations to monitor and control our behavior. Photography plays an important role in documenting this." Szalai didn't observe that the animals experienced any sort of cruelty: "The chickens are looked after very well, just deeply controlled." "We need these chickens as biological carriers of our technology," Szalai says. "We can now make crazy things and develop them very far. But what about living cells? How do you manage or manipulate those?" Digital Trends via Wired http://bit.ly/2uc60ci January 25, 2019 at 09:09AM
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The Formidable Physics of Mysterio in 'Spider-Man: Far From Home' http://bit.ly/2UmYgBJ I'll be honest. I really have no idea what's happening in this trailer for Spider-Man: Far From Home. But no matter, I'm still super pumped. You know what happens when I get excited? Yup, I start doing physics calculations. So, let's look at one part of this trailer and try to figure some stuff out. First some quick background. In the comic books, Mysterio is a villain who has powers based on special effects. Many of the things he does are just tricks. In the movie version this might be different—but I just thought I should point that out. Now for the scene: We see Peter Parker in what appears to be Venice with water and stuff. Then out of the water comes this giant water monster. Is it real? Is it just a special effect? Who knows. But the water monster is where the physics comes into play. Suppose Mysterio has some way of forming a monster from the water. How much power would this take? That is what I'm going to estimate. Let me start with some water monster estimations from the trailer. Also, I should be clear—I don't know what that thing actually is. It could be something from Mysterio, it could be an illusion, or it could be another villain such as Hydro-Man. It could be. But I'm assuming that Mysterio does something to actually move the water in that way. Here are my estimates:
Now for some physics. The first idea to consider is energy. If you take a book and lift it from the floor to a table, you have to add energy to this book. In this case, it would be gravitational potential energy. On the surface of the Earth, the change in gravitational potential depends on three things: the local gravitational field (g), the mass of the object (m), and the change in height of the object. As an equation, it would look like this: It's important to remember that only the change in potential matters since the "zero point" could be set to any location. No matter where you put the zero potential, the change in potential energy for a particular motion will be the same. For a quick example, let's go back to lifting a book off the ground. Let's say the book has a mass of 1 kilogram and the table is 1 meter above the floor. If I use a gravitational field of 10 Newtons per kilogram (it's actually about 9.8 N/kg), the change in potential energy would be 10 Joules. This is a nice problem because you can actually lift a book like that and get a feeling for the value of a Joule—the unit for energy. Now for the second physics idea to use on Mysterio's water monster—power. Power is the time rate of change of energy. It's a measure of how fast you change the energy of something. Let's go back to the book on the floor. If you put it on the table it takes 10 Joules of energy. However, if you do it really quickly it will require more power than if you do it slowly. Power is defined as: If the change in energy is measured in Joules and the change in time is in seconds, the power would be in Watts. But that's enough physics. Let's get back to the water monster. Here you can see we need to calculate two things. First, how much energy would it take to lift the water up to form that monster? This would be just like lifting a book off the floor except that it's a water monster. Second, using the time to lift the water, I can calculate the power. Of course the water monster still stays on top of the water. So how do you calculate the mass and height for the change in gravitational potential energy? It really doesn't matter about the bottom or top of the water monster. What matters is the height of the center of mass. If I assume the monster has the shape of a cylinder (with uniform density), the center of mass will be halfway up the cylinder. It's a good thing I already estimated this height. That height is the change in y for the change in gravitational potential energy. What about the mass? If the water monster is made of water, the density of the monster will be the same as the density of water with a value of 1000 kilograms per cubic meter. This means I just need the volume of the cylinder to multiply by the density to get the mass. I can use that to get the change in energy and then divide by the time to get the power. Let's do this in python so that you can change the values in case you think I'm crazy. Notice how nice it can be to just calculate parts of your equation before putting it all together. Yes, you should be using python for your calculator. Just click the "play" button to run the code. The final power is around 250,000 Watts. Is that a large power? As a comparison, your laptop computer uses about 30 to 60 Watts. Maybe it would be better to convert this to another unit for power—the horsepower. One horsepower (the unit, not the actual horse) is 745 Watts. This means the Mysterio monster would take 335 horsepower to lift up that quickly. Is that possible? I guess if you have a pretty beefy sports car or truck you could do it. It's not crazy out of line for this water monster. Maybe Mysterio really does lift up the water for this special effect. Yes. I know. It's just a movie. That should never stop anyone from having some fun with physics though. More Great WIRED StoriesDigital Trends via Wired http://bit.ly/2uc60ci January 25, 2019 at 09:09AM
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Honor View 20 vs. OnePlus 6T: Hole punches versus notches http://bit.ly/2ReLh2T The notch is dead — long live the hole-punch display. Honor’s View 20 is the forerunner of the new hole-punch movement, and it’s a doozy of a phone, with a powerful Kirin 980 processor, a massive display, and some gorgeous good looks. But here be monsters, and the OnePlus 6T is the kraken of the midrange phone market, with power, looks, and features far beyond its sub-$600 price tag. Can the Honor View 20 take down the beast and claim a place in the pantheon of the best phones of 2019? We took a look to find out. SpecsPerformance, battery life, and chargingYou’ll find two top-notch “flagchips” going head-to-head here, and there’s little to part the OnePlus 6T’s Snapdragon 845 and the View 20’s Kirin 980 in benchmarks and real-life performance. Both of these offer tip-top smoothness and powerful gaming performance. Both pack roomy storage, with 128GB and 256GB storage options, as well as models with 6GB and 8GB of RAM. But what of battery life? The View 20 has an edge over the OnePlus 6T with a battery that’s 300mAh larger, but the excellent software means you’re likely to see two days of battery life on the View 20. The 6T is no slouch there either though, managing a day-and-a-half on a single charge — but the View 20 is clearly superior. There’s no wireless charging on either phone, but both come with super-fast charging that’ll refill your battery in no time at all. It’s a close-run competition, but the View 20’s larger battery life wins it the round. Winner: Honor View 20 Design and durabilityBorders are well and truly gone, and both of these phones boast exceptional bezel-free designs. Modern style is prevalent here, and so we find glass builds, sleek looks, and subtle refractions built into the back panels — the “S” on the 6T and the reflective “V” on the View 20. Glass means both phones are susceptible to damage, and neither come with water-resistance, which is a real shame. However, the really big difference between the two looks like it’ll be a 2018 versus 2019 issue — the hole punch versus the notch. The 6T’s teardrop notch is subtle for a notch, but the hole punch almost seems to disappear during normal use. We think it’s a big enough difference to give an edge to the View 20. There’s a clear winner here, but it’s important to note that both phones are gorgeous, and you won’t be disappointed with either. However, the hole punch is superior to the notch — even a discreet notch like the 6T’s. The Honor View 20 wins. Winner: Honor View 20 DisplayMuch like bezels, it seems small phones have had their day. Both the View 20 and the 6T are enormous, with screens that exceed 6 inches in size. The View 10’s 6.4-inch LCD display runs a 2310 x 1080-pixel resolution, and it’s good, with plenty of user customization available. However, it pales next to the OnePlus 6T’s 6.41-inch AMOLED display. While it runs a similar 2340 x 1080-pixel resolution, the AMOLED screen tech means crisper contrast, blacker blacks, and more vibrant colors. It’s simply the better screen. Winner: OnePlus 6T CameraYou’ll find a 16-megapixel and a 20-megapixel lens on the back of the OnePlus 6T, backed up by a 16-megapixel lens around the front. It’s probably the best camera suite we’ve seen from OnePlus so far, and it takes some great photos. The portrait mode edge detection is particularly worthy of note. The OnePlus 6T’s camera suite also includes a 2x telephoto zoom lens, and slow motion at 480 frames per second. But is it good enough to beat the View 20? Bucking Honor’s usual trend, the View 20 only packs a single lens. But it’s a monster — 48-megapixels, and backed up by a 3D Time-of-Flight sensor. The front-facing lens is a similarly monstrous 25-megapixel beast. Normally, we don’t put much stock in numbers, but the View 20 walks the walk, and produces some excellent shots in a variety of circumstances. While not on the level of the Pixel 3 or the Mate 20 Pro, we feel it’s almost there — and that’s a shocking thing to admit in a phone this price. The View 20 also comes with twice the amount of slo-mo at 960 frames per second. While the OnePlus 6T has a great camera suite, the View 20 has kicked Honor off to a great start in 2019. Winner: Honor View 20 Software and updatesAndroid 9.0 Pie is a beautiful thing, and you’ll find it on both phones — though you might not initially realize it. OnePlus’ Oxygen OS is the closest to a stock Android, being rather similar to the version of Android we see on Pixels. That’s very much a good thing, and it’s customizable too. There’s even the option to use Android’s new swiping-based gesture navigation. The View 20 has Honor’s own Magic UI 2, and it’s a heavily customized version of Android based on Huawei’s EMUI software. If you’re not used it, prepare yourself; this isn’t anywhere close to a normal Android experience. But it still has its charms, and we’ve grown to enjoy it. The update situation is a little more lop-sided. OnePlus has always been fairly snappy with updates, while Honor traditionally puts out updates a little bit later — mostly due to the work needed to build the heavily customized skin. Will that change with the new Magic UI 2? Maybe, but for now, OnePlus has the faster update speed and a slimmer Android interface, and that counts for a lot. Winner: OnePlus 6T Special featuresBudgets have to be cut somewhere with midrange phones, and with top specs and designs, there’s not much room for many special features. However, there’s still some stuff here to be excited about. Both phones have a gaming mode that strips away distracting notifications and boosts gaming performance and network speed, and both phones have facial unlocking options. The OnePlus 6T’s in-display fingerprint scanner may be enough to wow some, but we found it a little unreliable in practice, even if the tech is really cool in itself. Speaking of other slight disappointments, despite AptX HD support, sound on the Honor View 20 failed to match our expectations. This category is a hard one to crack, but we’re giving it to the OnePus 6T, simply because the in-display fingerprint scanner is so cool. Winner: OnePlus 6T PriceThe OnePlus 6T is currently available, with prices starting from $549. You can get it directly from OnePlus, or pick it up from T-Mobile or Amazon. It will only work with GSM networks like T-Mobile and AT&T. The Honor View 20 starts from 500 British pounds (currently around $650), though it’s worth noting that the OnePlus 6T also starts from 500 British pounds in the U.K. It’s unclear whether the Honor View 20 will be officially released in the U.S., but if you import it we expect it will only work fully with T-Mobile and AT&T. Overall winner: Honor View 20
It’s a close run competition, but for our money, the Honor View 20 pulls ahead of the OnePlus 6T with a strong battery, a design that’s very 2019, and a pretty amazing camera. But that doesn’t mean the OnePlus 6T is without its charms — it’s beautiful, it’s powerful, and it’s a bargain. But the Honor View 20 is just stronger at this point. We imagine the OnePlus 7 will put up a good fight though, and we’ll be sure to pit the View 20 against OnePlus’s latest when it arrives.
Digital Trends via Digital Trends http://bit.ly/2p4eJdC January 25, 2019 at 09:04AM
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The Tesla Model S reports for police cruiser duty in California http://bit.ly/2HwyMAe Police officers in Fremont, California, will soon catch bad guys without burning a drop of gasoline. The city is preparing to add a Tesla Model S to its fleet of police cruisers as part of a pilot program. The process of turning a Tesla Model S into a police cruiser began in January 2018, when the Fremont Police Department purchased a used, pre-facelift 2014 85 model for $61,478 including taxes and fees to replace a 2007 Dodge Charger that was scheduled to retire. The law enforcement agency explained it didn’t choose the Model S because Tesla’s headquarters and factory are in Fremont. The Model S was the only electric car that met the department’s size, performance, driving range, and safety requirements. It has taken Fremont police a year to turn the Model S into a cop car because the department had to work with aftermarket suppliers to develop equipment like a light bar, a push bumper, a prisoner partition, and ballistic barriers. The department pointed out customizing the Model S has cost $4,447 to date, though that figure is expected to increase during the final phase of the project. The Tesla is slightly more expensive to configure than, say, a Ford Explorer because there is no police package available from the factory. The police department expects to recoup its investment, however. In a statement published online, it pegged the cost of keeping a Ford Explorer’s fuel tank full for five years at about $32,000. Maintenance costs (like oil changes) amount to $15,000 during the same time period. In comparison, the Model S is gasoline-free and it requires considerably less maintenance than an Explorer. Fremont police haven’t revealed how much they plans on spending on electricity and maintenance. As an added bonus, the department expects to keep the Model S for longer than a comparable gasoline-powered model, which has a service life of approximately five years. To charge the Model S sustainably, the Fremont police spent an unspecified amount of money installing 872 kilowatts’ worth of solar panels over its carports. These channel electricity to three charging stations. The Fremont police will deploy the Model S as part of a pilot program in the coming weeks. The department will test the car in real-world conditions to monitor its durability, range, performance, and costs. If the results are positive, it’s reasonable to assume additional electric cars will join the department’s fleet to bolster the city’s green initiatives.
Digital Trends via Digital Trends http://bit.ly/2p4eJdC January 25, 2019 at 09:04AM
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Why Choosing Between Windows and macOS Still Matters http://bit.ly/2WfFDBr Sometimes it feels like the operating system doesn’t matter. Sure, the fans will always be there ready and willing for a debate, but for most of us, there’s little difference between using Windows or macOS. Most of our day-to-day computing is happening in a web browser—and those are pretty universal at this point. The really popular apps we might use, like Spotify, Slack, or Photoshop, are cross-platform too. But it really does matter which OS you use, and not just because there might be a learning curve if you make a switch. Here are some of the key reasons why your choice still counts. Bundled softwareThere’s no doubt macOS has the edge when it comes to the software you get with your operating system. Mail, Safari, Apple Maps, Messages, FaceTime, iTunes and the rest. Admittedly Pages, Numbers, and KeyNote can’t match Microsoft Office in terms of features and power, but they’re more than enough for most people—and completely free. Then you’ve got iMovie for movie making and GarageBand for music making for free as well, neither of which have Windows equivalents, and you can see why macOS is the operating system to pick if you want most software out of the box. You might well never need to install another application. Over on the Windows side of the fence, you do get basic email, calendar, and contacts clients as part of Windows 10, but that’s about it. Skype and Microsoft Edge are included too, and you get simple tools for photo, music, and movie management, but some of our favorite apps, like Windows Movie Maker, are no more, and Windows Media Player is woefully neglected. There’s a wealth of third-party Windows software out there—much of it free—but in terms of what you get with the operating system, it’s dragging behind what Apple offers with macOS. Microsoft can console itself with the knowledge that it makes the better office suite (for both Windows and macOS), but then again you will have to pay for it. Why it matters: Apple has a wider variety of high-quality software built in—which could save you money. Gaming and VRFrom a macOS slam-dunk to a Windows slam-dunk: Microsoft’s operating system is the place to be if you’re interested in gaming or virtual reality. While the HTC Vive headsets can now work with macOS Mojave, the same can’t be said of the Oculus Rift, and the Windows Mixed Reality headsets are, as you’d expect, Windows only. If you’ve got an Xbox, a Windows 10 computer is the perfect companion too. Gaming support isn’t non-existent on the Mac platform, but it’s a long, long way behind what you get on Windows, which has top-tier titles, support for a much bigger range of Steam games, and so forth. Most Macs don’t come with a discrete graphics card (though external GPUs are supported), which means a lot of macOS machines just aren’t ready for serious gaming out of the box. On Windows, the gaming scene is as busy and vibrant as it’s ever been. Because that’s where the players are, that’s where you’ll find the biggest choice of gaming accessories, utilities, and add-ons as well. And, of course, if you want to build your own gaming rig, you’re going to have to use Windows. Apple has made moves to improve gaming and VR support for macOS, but it’s looking like a lost cause at the moment, with little interest from third-party developers and manufacturers. Apple will have to content itself with dominating the gaming scene on mobile devices instead. Why it matters: Windows has the superior support for VR and gaming, and can even replace a gaming console, saving you money. But a Mac, even a powerful one, for gaming, is throwing that money away. Look and feelThis is perhaps the most subjective part of the comparison: Windows has now become slick and polished enough to be almost as easy on the eye as macOS, and which one you prefer really comes down to personal choice. It’s probably going to be the one you’ve spent most of your time using in the past. Speaking as someone who uses both macOS and Windows every day, I find Windows easier to get around—but that’s probably because it’s the one I’ve been using for longer. File Explorer in Windows seems a lot more intuitive and capable than Finder, but then I have had several extra years to learn the shortcuts and the necessary techniques. Even when it comes to windows management—more regimented on Windows, more free and easy on macOS—you’re likely to have your own preference that you’ve just got used to. What differences there are, whether it’s Siri vs Cortana or the dock vs the Start menu, they’re not really going to have an impact on your productivity. Both Apple and Microsoft have borrowed enough from each other over the last five-to-ten years (hello dark mode) that there are no big gaps here. I like the way windows can be snapped to the screen edge on Windows, and the way desktop icons can be automatically organized on macOS, but we’re talking minor rather than major differences. Why it matters: The UI is actually the one place where it doesn’t matter! Apple and Microsoft have both done a good job creating attractive and pretty easy to use systems. Though you’ll have an easier time using the one you’re more familiar with. The wider ecosystemNow, here’s the rub—like a lot of your other tech choices nowadays, you’re not so much choosing between Windows and macOS as choosing something that’s going to work with what you’ve already got set up. That includes other devices as well as other services like iCloud, OneDrive, or Google Drive. You can use iPhones with Windows and Android phones with macOS, but your life is going to be a lot easier if you stick to everything by Apple or stick to the alternatives. If you’ve got an Apple TV set up in the living room then you’re only going to be able to beam audio to it from Windows—not video; on macOS, you can use AirPlay to send audio and video, and to mirror your screen. If you live your life on an iPhone then all your calendars, contacts, notes and everything else are going to sync magically to macOS. You can sync to Windows too, but it’s more difficult to do and requires jumping through more hoops. If you live a multi-platform life the best option is perhaps to eschew Microsoft and Apple services completely and get Google to do all the cloud stuff instead. Both Windows and macOS support it quite nicely—though on Windows 10 you also have the added benefit of being able to respond to text messages from your Android phone on your computer. Apple’s ecosystem, which is tied down to Apple itself, or pricey partners, feel small by comparison. Yet the AirPlay-on-TVs deals we saw at CES and support for AirPlay on Sonos speakers seem like signs that Apple is looking to take a few bricks out of the wall around its garden going forward. That said, it’s fair to say Windows works with a bigger variety of kit than macOS does. If you don’t want to have everything you own crafted by a single company than Windows is for you. Why it matters: Apple’s more closed off ecosystem just works, but also restricts you to expensive Apple products and partners. Windows might not work as well with Apple products, but it tends to work for better with everything else. Security and privacyWhen it comes to security and privacy it’s no contest. Apple wins. It has an aggressive approach to user privacy and benefits from the fact that most of the world’s malware takes aim at Windows—which might be because of Windows’ much larger market share more than anything else. You’re statistically safer on macOS, though not completely invulnerable. The gap isn’t a huge one though. The days of Windows being a virus riddled mess if you used it without anti-virus software are thankfully behind us. Provided you’re running the very latest version of Windows 10 (complete with its built-in Windows Defender anti-malware tool) then you’re pretty well patched against major threats. The biggest security disasters usually affect older versions of Windows or are nothing to do with the OS at all. In terms of what apps can do on your system, both Windows and macOS let you control which programs can access your microphone, camera, current location, and so on. It’s fair to say that Windows users probably need to be a little more security savvy than macOS users, and Windows certainly gives users (and app developers) more freedom when it comes to the risks they can take. As for privacy, we’re giving the nod (just barely!) to Apple, because it makes a lot of noise about wanting to protect users. Check out the privacy policies for Apple and Microsoft though, and again there isn’t a massive difference in how data is used, even if Apple relies more on local storage than the cloud—users are far more likely to be worried about the likes of Google and Facebook instead. Why it matters: Apple’s hard line on privacy means you’re less likely to find your photos and data out in the wild. Windows has dramatically improved over the years, but you’ll still want to be well versed in privacy and security to use it as safely as you can a Mac. Value for moneyWhen it comes to the best value for your money Windows has traditionally had the edge and it remains the case: You’re not going to be able to pick up a $300 laptop running macOS. For students, casual users, and just about anyone on a budget, a cheap Windows machine makes more sense—especially when you consider our earlier point about a lot of modern-day computing being done through the web browser. Admittedly many people are happy to pay extra for the Apple premium. Anecdotally, we’ve noticed Macs lasting longer than Windows machines before becoming too old and slow to be unusable, though you could probably put that at the door of the hardware manufacturers rather than Windows itself, which has actually slimmed down in recent years. And speaking of manufacturers, Windows is available on a lot more different types of laptop, desktop, and 2-in-1. You don’t have to stick to the Mac designs that Apple puts out, because you can choose from a Surface Pro or a Dell XPS laptop or a Lenovo all-in-one. That has advantages and disadvantages, but it definitely means more choice. Coming from someone who spends a lot of time in both Windows and macOS, both of them offer a polished, secure, fast and intuitive experience—it’s difficult to say one is particularly better than the other for every person in every situation, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t big differences to consider. Why it matters: Windows has a wider variety of hardware at a wider variety of price points. It’s simply cheaper, and for a lot of people cost trumps all—including Apple’s well-design hardware. Digital Trends via Gizmodo https://gizmodo.com January 25, 2019 at 09:03AM
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Add a Couple of Nylon USB-C Cables To Your Collection For $8 http://bit.ly/2DytW14 While USB-A to USB-C cables can’t take advantage of Power Delivery charging speeds, it’s still a good idea to keep a few handy for charging USB-C-powered phones, tablets, and other devices from regular old USB chargers, even if they’re slower. Today at Amazon, you can grab a pair of 6' nylon-braided cables from Anker for just $8, down from the usual $10, with an extra 5% off when you clip the coupon. They even have a lifetime warranty if anything goes sideways. Digital Trends via Gizmodo https://gizmodo.com January 25, 2019 at 09:03AM The Flight Attendants Union Leader Says America's Aviation System Is Close to Its Breaking Point1/25/2019
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The Flight Attendants Union Leader Says America's Aviation System Is Close to Its Breaking Point http://bit.ly/2FOO0P5 Sara Nelson, the leader of the Association of Flight Attendants, gave a speech this week calling for a general strike by organized labor to end the government shutdown. Is America’s aviation at risk of grinding to a halt—or falling apart? According to Nelson, we are already teetering on the edge of chaos. Nelson’s fiery call for the labor movement to “end this shutdown with a general strike” was paired on Wednesday with a downright scary joint statement from several aviation unions warning that “we cannot even calculate the level of risk” that the shutdown has added to America’s air safety system. We spoke to Nelson about where things go from here. Advertisement Splinter: What response have you gotten in the past few days to your call for a general strike? Sara Nelson: I’ve heard a huge amount of interest, and a lot of people saying “we’ve gotta do something to take our country back.” I’m going down two separate tracks here. I’m going to continue talking about the need for a general strike, and that labor needs to lead it. But separately, that call is coming [out of] concern for the people that I directly represent as well. I have to work with the other aviation unions and assess the status of the risk to my members and determine what action we are going to take, whether the rest of labor joins us or not. Splinter: What is the feeling of your members about the prospect of a strike? Nelson: We work in a safety culture, and our members are really focused on safety and security and understand how critical it is to our jobs. That’s how our jobs are defined in the first place: aviation’s first responders and the last line of defense. Many of us lived through the events of 9/11, so we understand really clearly what happens when there’s gaps in security. So when it comes to the very fundamental issue of, “Am I safe at work?” our members are immediately engaged. It’s all they do every day. Advertisement In that instance, I do want to be really clear: that would not be a strike. That would be a suspension of service. It’s essentially in response to the conditions. Splinter: Is that “suspension of service” from your own union, or from a larger coalition of aviation unions, something that is imminent? Nelson: Things are changing so rapidly, it’s hard for me to say. The near future used to be a year from now, and now it literally is tomorrow... we are rapidly approaching a breaking point. Advertisement Splinter: A lot of people have expressed amazement that a government shutdown has been able to go on for 34 days now without any major strikes. How has this gone on so long with no real labor actions? Nelson: I think that everyone was caught off guard that it has gone on this long. This is twice the length of any shutdown in U.S. history. I can tell you that I was at events earlier in the month with several people in the aviation community—unions, airlines, airports—and all of us were expressing concern, and that led to the letter that the entire airline industry signed on to on January 10. But even at that point, no one could imagine that this would go on this long. It’s really been unimaginable. And here we are, federal workers have missed two paychecks now, people are starting to see and feel the effects. It’s just human nature: until people understand how it’s going to affect them, they typically don’t pay attention or consider any actions they themselves may be willing to take. What we are warning now to the public is that you may not see it, you may be reporting how long your security line was, or that you’re seeing that on the news—but you are about to have a major impact on your life. Where people in your communities are losing work, where you can’t get goods and services to your hometown, and there’s an economic collapse. That happens when there is a breaking point for these people who we have locked out of the government and required to work without pay. Advertisement Splinter: There was a fairly dire safety warning Wednesday from the aviation industry that you were a part of. How will you all make the determination when and if that risk has gone too far? Nelson: We had that discussion last night. All of the aviation unions got together. We shared information and talked about, “when are we operating outside that envelope?” We know right now that we are less safe. Okay? That is bizarre for me to say to you, because as a safety professional, there’s one level of safety... what we’re trying to assess is, is the crumbling of the information a pilot gets when making the determination about whether or not it’s safe, has it crumbled so much that we don’t even know what we don’t know? That’s the breaking point. We all know there have been layers peeled away here from safety and security. Each one of those layers operates as a failsafe. And when you pull those away, you’re just introducing more risk in the system. Splinter: From the early days of the shutdown, it was clear that aviation was the industry that really had the leverage to precipitate a crisis. Do you feel pressure to exercise that labor power? Advertisement Nelson: I feel a tremendous sense of responsibility to do something, yes. And we all do. Splinter: Has this shutdown been a wakeup call for organized labor in terms of a need for improvement before the next time this happens? Nelson: Yes. However. This is what I want to say: there are people all over this country from the beginning, first of all not understanding that the government is completely entwined in the aviation industry, so you have a public-private partnership like no other industry. But beyond that, there have been people who have been very quick to put it on the backs of the federal workers who have been locked out here. They better be just as passionate about improving labor rights in this country when this is over. Advertisement I’ve asked the question, what is labor waiting for? The largest and longest lockout in U.S. history. I have a responsibility as the president of the flight attendants to assess conditions based on what I just described to you. But as a member of the AFL-CIO executive council—one of approximately 60 people—what are we doing if we are not fighting for people who have been locked out of work or forced to come to work without pay for over a month? It’s unprecedented, and this is the time for labor to act. This is the time for labor to define to the country what the value of the labor movement is. Splinter: Do you think that your peers on the AFL-CIO executive council are going to do that? Nelson: I know there are people around the table who are sort of shocked and excited about what I have to say here. I think there needs to be a real discussion around what the labor movement looks like today. And I know that there are people who are interested in doing that... this is really an opportunity for workers to own their unions. Advertisement Splinter: One week from today, if we’re still in a shutdown, can the public expect to still be flying on airplanes? Nelson: I’m very concerned that within that time we could see massive flight cancellations. We don’t know what the exact breaking point is for the people who are just holding this together with sheer will power. These TSA officers and air traffic controllers are absolute heroes. They know what it means to the country if they decide to put in their retirement paperwork. If they decide to leave their posts. What will happen is, [even] if our safety and security is not impacted—and I hope and pray every moment that is not the case—we will see a slowdown in capacity of the aviation industry. And it will cripple our economy, and there will be massive job loss... The trickle-down effect of the people that we’re not even talking about here is already happening, and will be absolutely exponential when these flights are pulled down. And I would to throw this in, too: nobody gets out unscathed. Private jets are not gonna take off either. Digital Trends via Gizmodo https://gizmodo.com January 25, 2019 at 08:57AM |
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