Isaac Schrödinger

No cats were harmed

Unfortunately, I can't take any credit for this development.

GLI#@!(_TCH

Those disconnections are so annoying. Also, what a fantastic ending.

Competition is good

Some lucky guys:

Two analysts from BTIG Research went to Kansas City to see what Google's new cable-company killer, Google Fiber, is like.

What's it like?

It's awesome.

Of course!

My current speed? 5 Mbps. Google Fiber? 1000 Mbps. That's 200 times the speed for about twice the price!

Window 8 annoys

Windows 8 and its flaws:

The Windows 8 UI is completely flat in what used to be called the "Metro" style and is now called the "Modern UI." There's no pseudo-3D or lighting model to cast subtle shadows that indicate what's clickable (because it looks raised above the rest) or where you can type (because it looks indented below the page surface).

I haven't used the new OS but I've noticed this glaring flaw of Windows 8 in review videos. When users open a screen, everything looks flat and similar; it's impossible to see what is clickable and what is not.

I usually have to do some of my work at home. I prefer doing that on my desktop PC. The screen real estate is such a nice luxury. Unfortunately, Microsoft redesigned Windows for tablets and sacrificed the advantages inherent with large monitors.

The situation is much worse on regular PCs, particularly for knowledge workers doing productivity tasks in the office. This used to be Microsoft's core audience, and it has now thrown the old customer base under the bus by designing an operating system that removes a powerful PC's benefits in order to work better on smaller devices.

Why did Microsoft even have to subtract the ability to open and view multiple windows at once? They could have given the users the option of using the classic (Windows 7) way of dealing with windows.

Size matters

The part at 1:50 in the video is comical.

Super, ultra, mega, super, ...

The ear pads on my over-the-ear headphones are falling apart. So, I checked online for the proper replacements and they cost $20 or more! Damn, that's some sweet margin on foam. 

Anyway, as I was wasting time trying to save a few bucks, I came across this epic, mammoth, giant, great, did I say epic?, comparison of 56 headphones!

Unfortunately, my relatively modest headphones weren't tested in the comparison. Still, I've bookmarked the E-P-I-C battle for future reference.

I want one!

Carbon fiber arm. Enough said.

WTF Nikon?

Stuck in Customs:

I joined NPS (Nikon Professional Services) a few years ago. It’s easy to join — you just have to be signed up by an existing member. I didn’t really know what NPS did, but I figured it would be handy in case anything ever went wrong with my equipment.

A very sensible decision by a pro.

I’ve had three negative experiences and zero positive experiences with NPS. I’ll go through them here.

Uh oh. Nikon's market share in the camera market has been increasing since they released the D3 and D300 in 2007. Unfortunately, their customer service has become just plain idiotic. What they're doing, likely, saves them money but makes life miserable for their customers.

More on this later.

Faster skynet faster!

The end is near.

DOF ownage

The third photo here is quite something. My eyes bounced around initially to see what I ought to be looking at. Then, I realized that an object or a figure is not the subject matter.

The Sperminator

The Daily Mail via Instapundit:

Chinese hospitals are introducing a new machine which can extract sperm for donors.

OMG.

A website which is selling the machine for $2,800 promoting it stating 'it can give patients very comfortable feeling.'

What exactly was wrong with the previous, er, method?

Processed delight

Excellent use of photoshop at Chromasia. The perspective control and the deep red make the photo go BOOM.

The best ever!

Jimmy Kimmel gets amusing reactions from people after they see the new iPhone.

Little brother of the D800

Nikon has announced the D600, a 24 megapixel full-frame camera. It's the lowest priced FX camera from them; only $2,100. Their previous 24 megapixel beast was priced at $8,000.

Smart infidels

Pro DSLRs can crank out 12 frames per second. The folks at MIT have a camera that can take a trillion frames in one second. One can actually see a pulse of light travel in slow motion with such awesome technology.

Link via Instapundit.

Flavor chaos

Thom Hogan on August 23:

What sticks in your head is the scream you hear from your local dealer as they realize that they have to stock 75 different cameras just to stock what's in Nikon's coop advertising flyers that you'll find in your local paper most weeks. And that's not counting special lens or other kits. As I noted in a story earlier this week, Nikon now has Coolpix cameras priced every US$15. There's gotta be something in there for you, right?

I feel sorry for the retailers. How can they explain the pros and cons of the different cameras to their customers?

Thom is right. This level of headache is not present in the DSLR range but still there's one big issue: sometimes older generation cameras are sold at higher prices than better, newer generation cameras. Example? D3X vs. D800.

Intel has had the same issues. They sell close to a hundred flavors of CPUs in the market. How do average folks decide on a CPU for their new computers?

Uncommon sensors

The D4 has a Nikon-made sensor and Sony provides the 36MP beast for the D800. Sony DSLRs max out at 24MPs. It's a bummer that one of the best sensors in the world is only made for Nikon cameras. Good for Nikon, I guess.

Nick as Neo

The Matrix as you've not seen before. It would have been clever had the animation used a tank from L4D2 to play Tank.

Now, that is a car

A pedal car mod.

I wouldn't be surprised if in the future the kid has his own batmobile tumbler.

Utterly ugly

It looks like the Nikon D4 was dunked in butter chicken curry.

Google Fiber

It sounds like an exotic cereal. In reality, it's lightning fast internet connectivity: 1 Gbps Down and 1 Gbps Up!

It's shockingly not expensive at all given its speed.

"Your reality just changed"

Amazon takes product shipping to a whole new level.

The Amazon support is quite hot, by the way.

All the Gs in the Cloud

Check it out. The capacity part is gold.

Unexpected results

Apple Thunderbolt cable!

Aspire S5 Ultrabad

What I wrote last month:

I have to say that Apple laptops, especially their screens, look very nice. For far too long on the windows side of laptops the screen quality has been utter crap. Of course, windows laptops are also cheaper but often the better quality screens (IPS) are not even presented as a possible option. So, even if one is willing to spend more for the quality, the option doesn't exist.

Acer released a $1,400 laptop with a spectacularly atrocious screen. Fortunately, they're not getting any love in the comments at Anandtech.

No hammer needed

Scientists and engineers at Picatinny Arsenal are busy developing a device that will shoot lightning bolts down laser beams to destroy its target.

Sweet mother of Thor!

Sexy IPS

Anandtech:

The personal computer is getting thinner, lighter, more integrated and more appliance-like. The movement is no longer confined to just Apple either. The traditional PC OEMs are following suit. Even Microsoft has finally entered the PC hardware business, something it threatened to do for years but hadn't until now. Distribution models will change, the lines between different form factors will continue to blur. What was once a mature industry is going through a significant transformation.

More:

The impressively thin display assembly or overall chassis thickness look neat in a photo but it’s not until you actually live with the rMBP that you can appreciate what Apple has done here. I carry around a 15-inch MacBook Pro because it’s my desktop, and as such it’s incredibly useful to have with me when I travel. For my personal usage model, the Retina MacBook Pro is perfect.

I have to say that Apple laptops, especially their screens, look very nice. For far too long on the windows side of laptops the screen quality has been utter crap. Of course, windows laptops are also cheaper but often the better quality screens (IPS) are not even presented as a possible option. So, even if one is willing to spend more for the quality, the option doesn't exist.

Necessary HDR

The magical cave lacks light. That's where camera tech and software come to the rescue.

Supermodel Doris

Bob Vishneski:

The more time I spend in my photography pursuits, the more I appreciate cameras that capture and photos that exploit their maximum dynamic range potential. Digital cameras have undergone dramatic improvements over the last 12+ years, but they still don’t come close to the human eye’s dynamic range capabilities.

True.

Post-processing techniques bring us very close to the perceived image as he shows. The vignette, especially, adds a lot.

Sadly, no cryptography

I usually visit a few tech sites and today for the first time I saw a Neal Stephenson video on one of them.

Monster thunderbolt

I don't know what Intel and Asus are thinking. It's frustrating to see such a high price premium for Thunderbolt on desktop PCs today. One has to buy a new motherboard (~$200) and then buy an add-in card (~$200) to get a working Thunderbolt port.

The Thunderbolt cable is currently going for $50. So, that's $450* if you wish to utilize a thunderbolt device. I know people who spend that much on their entire computer!

* Of course, one has to buy a thunderbolt device separately. Unfortunately, they are not reasonably priced either.

Flying feline

I want one -- preferably in the form of a lion.

What could be cooler than a flying Aslan!?

As they say, here's the rest of the story.

No needle for you!

Magic at MIT:

One of the scariest things about visiting a doctor while you're sick is that you never know when you’ll be given an injection. Sometimes even the smallest of illnesses are met with a hypodermic needle—unfortunately when you least expect it. Luckily for all of us needle-fearing folk out there, MIT researchers have taken the time to engineer the needleless needle.

The most amazing aspect is that they can now inject a drug directly through the eye into the retina! That's scary cool.

The DSLR King

Digital Photography Review forum:

Last night I photographed repairs on a sign I designed for a medical system I worked for. My goal was to preserve the vibrant colors of the sign while also showing the surrounding clinic architecture. I didn't have a tripod along, so multiple frames composited wasn't an option. Instead, I metered the vibrant blue letter faces to avoid clipping and fired away at ISO 200 ...

The result is stunning.

Hard work

This is not the bold I was looking for.

Fish tank fail

The absence of Luigi is outrageous.

So not funny

My real analysis course at university was easier to understand than the motherboard naming scheme of ASUS.

Compressed air FTW

Dang! I'd wear a mask while cleaning that thing.

Thunder is sky high

Hardocp:

Further demonstrating its market leading innovation and technological leadership, ASUS is proud to announce the launch of its P8Z77-V PREMIUM motherboard — the flagship of the P8Z77 Series and the first Intel certified motherboard in the market to offer the latest Thunderbolt connection interface.

All for the low price of $459. That's just for the motherboard.

Those crazy enthusiasts

A most risky move:

Looking for better temps out of your shiny new Core i7-3770k? You could always do what this guy did and pop the top on your processor, apply new thermal compound between the CPU die and the IHS, just to see what happens.

KA-BOOM!

Probably not. Still, why void the warranty?

PC trouble solved

The problem: the SSD would only work for an hour and then crash.

The reason: after approximately 5,000 hours of total usage, the SSD would start to crash ever hour; something was messed up in the core drivers.

So, I updated the firmware last weekend. No issues since then.

Light peeks

Anand tests Thunderbolt on Windows 7. The sheer scale of bandwidth is incredible. One Thunderbolt cable can support a monitor and three external drive setups with bandwidth to spare. This would be fantastic for laptops. One finds many atrocious combinations of ports on portable devices. With Thunderbolt, only one port would be sufficient for many people. That would make laptops lighter and less power-hungry: a win-win! If more ports are needed, then just connect a 4-port hub.

Of course, it's not perfect. It's not market-ready. It's expensive. And almost nobody has thunderbolt devices. So, it'll take a while for it to hit mainstream.

I AM AMUSED

Nikon's ad campaign gets creatively skewered.

The -2EV is clever.

How to survive

What to do when robots go insane?

My solution is simple: ammo. Lots of ammo.

Have a nice day!

Crazy Russian always entertains.

The balloon slayer

How long till the lightsaber?

Fading lithium-ion

That's right:

According to battery-testing firm Cadex Electronics, a fully charged lithium-ion battery will lose about 20 percent of its capacity after a year of typical storage. Increase the temperature to just above 100 degrees Fahrenheit—as in a hot attic, for example—and that number is 35 percent.

I bought a laptop for work two years ago. At the time I got a nice 5 hours of battery life. Last year, the time dropped to 4 hours. This month, the battery is running out of juice in about 3 hours. A software included in the laptop states that the battery has basically degraded to around 60% of its original capacity.

It sucks but that's just the nature of lithium-ion.

Link via Instapundit.

Green is okay?

Some people are complaining about the green hue of the even generation Nikon cameras but Nikon states that the new greenish screen is more accurate. My question: Can't people make that judgement by themselves?

Nikon may well be correct but those who have an issue can surely check and see if Nikon's statement is in the right by simply comparing multiple images on the screen with reality. Perhaps, some like the blueish cool look compared to the greenish warm look.

Nikon D800E is here

It has started to show up with customers in the US and Europe. In fact, one guy sold his Nikon D800 (for a $2,000 profit!) and got a Nikon D800E.

Siri on acid

Do not mess with her.