Notable

Posted 24th Mar 2022 @ 14:50

I wanted an iPad Pro for a long time but couldn't stomach the cost, then the iPad Air came along which had Apple Pencil 2 support and seemed like a no brainer to me. Except, by the time I'd factored in improved storage, I was too close to iPad Pro pricing for it to make sense.

My iPad mini almost had the same fate when compared to the iPad Air, but the form factor was too good to ignore. While a larger screen would be more comfortable for drawing with, the iPad mini is just perfectly sized for consumption and for note taking and in a funny way is worth the 'premium' for being so small.

Posted 17th Mar 2022 @ 10:51

Posted 16th Mar 2022 @ 14:12

John Gruber:

First, I had no idea what the hell the “✨” button did before this.

This icon has been there for years, I'm sure. I've used it to toggle away from the awful 'Home' experience and there was a time when it only worked temporarily. After a few days or weeks (felt truly arbitrary), it would switch back to Home. I did try Home for a while but it made following real time events impossible.

I agree that the icon is a poor choice, but it's not the worst... it signifies 'algorithm' fairly well to me, but should toggle to something more appropriate if you're using the algorithmic view.

I was quick to complain about this new 'feature', it introduced so much unnecessary friction to the app. It also broke some workflows for bringing up the side menu, no longer could you swipe right anywhere. With this change it meant swiping right from the edge if you were on the Latest tab, but from anywhere on the Home tab.

As someone who gained access to Fleets on the day they were shuttered, the Home/Latest UI is something I'd have happily missed out on the opportunity to try.

Posted 15th Mar 2022 @ 10:45

Yet again, this looks brilliant and disturbing. The Boys looks like it will continue to disturb and delight.

Posted 15th Mar 2022 @ 08:40

Posted 14th Mar 2022 @ 15:47

Posted 11th Mar 2022 @ 09:01

John Gruber:

The thing that gets me, and will never stop getting me, is that when we first started using computers to watch TV, with TiVo and other DVRs in the late 1990s and early 2000s, we were able to use them to skip, or at least fast-forward, commercials. The computerization of TV, in that early era, worked for us, the viewers.

Today, with streaming, the computerization of viewing leaves us with un-skippable, un-fast-forwardable commercials. I find that endlessly depressing. I'd rather not subscribe to a streaming service at all than subscribe to a tier with un-skippable ads.

He hits the nail on the head here, without thinking to hard it feels like we just have to live with ads as we did before technology gave us some power in being able to skip them.

It's actually worse now, because if you leave during the ad playing process returning will just show you more ads, rather than picking up where you left off. I've even had situations where the streaming services (UKTV and ITV Hub) have shown 7-9 30 second ads. How is this any better than watching regular TV?

Then there's the fact that Disney (and other services) are hitting us twice with a service like this. Not only are they taking money from our wallets, they're also invading our privacy so that they can serve us 'relevant' ads. Disney are not the first with this approach and are unlikely to be the last.

I don't get tiers like this. It's double dipping and greedy. 🤮 The minute a user pays for your service, ads should disappear and you should be excluded from the pool of data. If that's not justifiable at 99¢ then don't bother with that tier.

View on twitter

Twitter Blue does not remove ads either (not available in the UK anyway) and YouTube are doing all they can to serve as many ads as possible. Even though they're skippable, they interrupt shows more than they should. Maybe that's a publisher's choice to maximise revenue, but it's an awful experience for the view as YouTube videos are rarely edited like a regular show where there are clear pauses for a break.

Posted 8th Mar 2022 @ 10:00

Interesting analysis of EVs and how they compare to their claimed range in both hot and cold temperatures. 6 out of 14 models features meet or exceed their claims in warmer temperatures but all fall short in the cold.

I don't think this is ground-breaking news, ICE cars have always been generous with their claimed range, but range anxiety just isn't a thing with them thanks to the existing and comprehensive architecture.

What's most interesting to me is that the worst three (and by some distance), are three American manufacturers and a 9 year German model.

• In Norway — where half of all new cars are plug-ins — tests show that EVs lose about 20% of their driving range and take longer to charge in cold temperatures, according to the Norwegian Automobile Federation.
• ...
• Start the vehicle while it's plugged in to allow the battery to warm up. “The key is warming that battery up," Dickson said. "That pre-conditioning helps so much because it gets it to a temperature level that works efficiently.

I didn't know about the option to start the car when it was plugged in, it had occurred to me recently that that might not be desirable given you don't want to leave with the cord attached, but that's probably an easier conversation for the car to have with itself to make sure that's not an issue.

Posted 4th Mar 2022 @ 14:06

Posted 22nd Feb 2022 @ 13:34