Tuesday, August 11, 2020
Wednesday, August 5, 2020
Get Free Coffee at Panera Bread
I've been getting free coffee for about 3 weeks. I need to cancel the coffee subscription by the end of September in order not to be charged.
Saturday, July 25, 2020
Wednesday, July 8, 2020
Re: iPhone 4: 10 Years Later - 2020 Review
A few years before smartphones came out, I bought a very cheap digital camera. The resolution was like 1/4 megapixel. I think that it was 640x480, but it wasn't that long ago, 20 years, that this was a standard computer monitor resolution. My monitor at home was probably no better.
At that time, 2-megapixel cameras were expensive, like $300. The funny thing is that the cheap camera actually took decent pictures at least compared to what I was used to, which wasn't much.
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At that time, 2-megapixel cameras were expensive, like $300. The funny thing is that the cheap camera actually took decent pictures at least compared to what I was used to, which wasn't much.
On Wed, Jul 8, 2020 at 9:52 PM John Coffey wrote:
I really loved the iPhone 4/5. It is still my favorite design. The bands on the side gave it a sturdiness.
I was in Salt Lake City on a slope near the base of a mountain where I dropped the iPhone 5. It went bouncing on pavement downhill but suffered only very minor scuffs on the corners.Because of the Antennagate on the iPhone 4, there was a problem with the signal not being as strong if your fingers crossed a certain spot on the external antennas, but it wasn't much of a problem for me. As a result, Apple gave everybody a free case, which I got, but I didn't use it much.I was actually pretty happy with the iPhone 4 camera. There was a time when 5 megapixel was considered premium.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3MEnM2XTiE
Thursday, July 2, 2020
Wednesday, May 13, 2020
Thursday, May 7, 2020
Sunday, April 26, 2020
Are Cheap Graphics...GOOD?
https://youtu.be/SR8VrpvDrRI
I want the chip that is going to be in the upcoming XBox Series X console, but they will probably never sell it to the general public. It has almost 3 times the graphics performance of my 2017 iMac, and it has 8 cores with 16 threads. My I5 iMac has 4 cores with 4 threads. Rumor has it that Microsoft is going to take a $200 loss on these consoles in order to sell games and subscription services. (People are saying that this is a problem for Sony with their slightly inferior new console, because Sony doesn't have the deep pockets that Microsoft does, and can't take as much of a loss as Microsoft can. For this reason, Sony is limiting the number of units that will be available this Christmas. In general, Sony has been hurting financially, and has depended on their video game division to support the company.) I assume that over time the cost of parts will go down while the price of the consoles will remain the same.
However, AMD is planning to release a new line of APU's this September. If I can get the equivalent performance of an XBox Series X, I might build a new computer. However, I might wait till 2021 because I think that the prices will be cheaper.
My 2010 iMac isn't even on the map in terms of graphics performance. It is really bad. They use laptop parts in these all-in-one computers, which means that the performance is not the best. The 2017 iMac is much better, but I could have gotten more bang for the buck by building a PC.
Best wishes,
John Coffey
I want the chip that is going to be in the upcoming XBox Series X console, but they will probably never sell it to the general public. It has almost 3 times the graphics performance of my 2017 iMac, and it has 8 cores with 16 threads. My I5 iMac has 4 cores with 4 threads. Rumor has it that Microsoft is going to take a $200 loss on these consoles in order to sell games and subscription services. (People are saying that this is a problem for Sony with their slightly inferior new console, because Sony doesn't have the deep pockets that Microsoft does, and can't take as much of a loss as Microsoft can. For this reason, Sony is limiting the number of units that will be available this Christmas. In general, Sony has been hurting financially, and has depended on their video game division to support the company.) I assume that over time the cost of parts will go down while the price of the consoles will remain the same.
However, AMD is planning to release a new line of APU's this September. If I can get the equivalent performance of an XBox Series X, I might build a new computer. However, I might wait till 2021 because I think that the prices will be cheaper.
My 2010 iMac isn't even on the map in terms of graphics performance. It is really bad. They use laptop parts in these all-in-one computers, which means that the performance is not the best. The 2017 iMac is much better, but I could have gotten more bang for the buck by building a PC.
Best wishes,
John Coffey
Sunday, April 19, 2020
Tuesday, April 7, 2020
Is 5G SAFE?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvhaVjpYm_M
Electromagnetic radiation can warm tissue, but not enough to be noticeable. I found out that microwave ovens don't actually contain 100% of the microwaves. You can put your hand in front of the door and feel a slight warming.
Tuesday, March 10, 2020
Tuesday, March 3, 2020
Walmart's $250 laptop is AWESOME!
Because of new chips, people can get much more power on budget devices. The processor benchmarks at 90% of my 2009 Core-i7 iMac, which is not bad. The graphics are far superior. There are few drawbacks, but just enough that a person might want to wait for next year's model or a cyber Monday sale.
On Walmart's website, this currently lists for $299.
Tuesday, February 11, 2020
Monday, December 30, 2019
Worst Console Launch Ever: Google Stadia -
Almost 30 years ago, one of my coworkers thought that the internet would get so advanced that we would be able to stream videogames, and we wouldn't need consoles. I didn't think that this was realistic. I still don't. There is a huge advantage to having local hardware. For $400 or $500, you can get a pretty good gaming experience from a box in your home. It is going to be significantly better in 2020 with the next generation of consoles which are predicted to have about the same cost.
My 2017 iMac has slightly more powerful graphics than a Sony Playstation 4 Pro. The latest tablets and phones are also powerful enough to make good gaming devices.
AMD has plans to introduce new APUs in 2020 and 2021. This will make building a decent gaming computer cheaper, maybe costing $700 to $800.
Sunday, December 29, 2019
Thursday, December 26, 2019
Tuesday, December 10, 2019
Fast food apps
Best wishes,
John Coffey
Tuesday, December 3, 2019
Tuesday, November 19, 2019
Re: 2017 iMac freezes up
Multicore Benchmark on my laptop: ~3000
This is really good for a refurbished laptop that I paid $89 for.
Multicore Benchmark on my old iMac: ~5000
The latest $150 Amazon tablet also benchmarks at this. It is an amazing world we live in.
I still use this machine to analyze chess games and openings. Because the display tends to quit, I access the machine remotely.
Multicore Benchmark on my new iMac: ~8100
Ideally I would have built a new AMD machine and gotten up to 20000. However, I needed a Mac to do the work that I am now doing.
I am suspicious of the combo drive using an SSD as a buffer to the hard drive. If something went wrong there then it would definitely freeze the computer.
Best wishes,
John Coffey
This is really good for a refurbished laptop that I paid $89 for.
Multicore Benchmark on my old iMac: ~5000
The latest $150 Amazon tablet also benchmarks at this. It is an amazing world we live in.
I still use this machine to analyze chess games and openings. Because the display tends to quit, I access the machine remotely.
Multicore Benchmark on my new iMac: ~8100
Ideally I would have built a new AMD machine and gotten up to 20000. However, I needed a Mac to do the work that I am now doing.
I am suspicious of the combo drive using an SSD as a buffer to the hard drive. If something went wrong there then it would definitely freeze the computer.
Best wishes,
John Coffey
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