exceptionhandler

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exceptionhandler
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  • Compared: New Apple TV 4K versus 2021 Apple TV 4K

    exceptionhandlerexceptionhandler
    We recommend that prospective buyers of the Apple TV 4K should buy the Wi-Fi + Ethernet model.


    I’d also recommend the one with the Ethernet port for an additional reason.  I had a 3rd gen Apple TV that lost its wifi capability and was out of its support period, but it still served us years because I just used an Ethernet cable to connect it to the network.

    muthuk_vanalingamretrogustowatto_cobrawilliamlondonpulseimages

  • macOS Sonoma beta review: Few major updates, but very welcome

    exceptionhandlerexceptionhandler
    I’ve never understood the desire for widgets.  I’ve tried using some form of them since the old dashboard back in snow leopard to ones currently in iOS (I’d rather have more room for apps on my screen than have a widget take up that space). The utility they add just seems too cumbersome, and at which point why not just open the app? Just my personal experience/opinion; I’m sure there are many who swear by them. 

    I guess somewhat related are the “complications” on Apple Watch.  I do use some of those on my watch faces.

    id be curious to hear about people’s use cases and workflows around widgets.
    appleinsideruserwilliamlondonAlex1Ndarkvader

  • These are the most popular emoji characters of 2021

    exceptionhandlerexceptionhandler
    How accurate is this data?  I wouldn’t imagine they would have access to usage of these images in e2e encrypted systems like iMessage (at least I’d hope not).  So which data sources being used? Was this limited to unencrypted communications such as social media posts?
    williamlondonDogperson

  • Two years after Apple Silicon, Intel still wants Apple to buy chips

    exceptionhandlerexceptionhandler
    They’ve got a 1 in a million chance…
    pulseimagesdewmeh2pnetroxbloggerblogravnorodomargonautwatto_cobrajony0

  • Tim Cook confirms that Apple has been working on generative AI for years

    exceptionhandlerexceptionhandler
    My primary problem with Siri is it doesn't remember context. So if I ask about where someone lives or the address of a company and it gives me the answer, I can't request, "Take me there" because it doesn't know what "there" means. I'm afraid I've gotten spoiled by GPTchat engines with which I can make backward references.
    I thought I remembered Siri was supposed to remember context, and had used that feature on occasion.  I think over time Siri has changed or at least I don’t use the scripted version in the 2011 keynote when Siri was introduced:

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=agzItTz35QQ

    I remembered Siri being a lot better then than now, but still prefer it over others, or not having one at all.
    forgot usernamejas99byronlwatto_cobra

  • On-device Apple Intelligence training seems to be based on controversial technology

    exceptionhandlerexceptionhandler
    The CSAM detection system preserved user privacy, data encryption, and more

    I suppose this isn’t technically wrong. The data will be encrypted, but when a threshold was met, it would allow the data to be decrypted and reviewed and potentially then sent to authorities.  I had post several comments on this topic.

    Apples CSAM detection is not end to end encrypted, which requires asymmetric keys to ensure that the Sender, and then the Receiver are the only ones privy to the contents.  Introduce any other mechanism to enable review by a Man In The Middle, is essentially a backdoor into the algorithm.

    but as some may say, the scanning was on device, what’s the issue with that?  On device scanning is a very useful tool; it makes finding things easier on your device.  What I do have issue with is the reporting part.  It’s a form surveillance. Of what’s on your device.  Something that should be private.

    Yes, it only scanned when a photo was sent via iCloud and reported when a threshold was met, but that’s written in software, and software can change. So when that reporting gets triggered can change.  Let’s say the government did like the results, and required Apple to be more strict to help find more positive matches?

    The only correct way to think of iCloud with CSAM on device scanning was to view your photos as being in a semi public (eg public) space.

    On device should be private, communication through Apple should be considered semi public (the data would still be encrypted in transit to Apple, but Apple would technically have full access), unless otherwise specified by Apple as being end to end encrypted and verified by a third party (true E2E, not wish it were E2E).

    gatorguyrandominternetpersonwatto_cobra

  • Samsung leaks that Apple is still working on an all-screen foldable MacBook Pro

    exceptionhandlerexceptionhandler
    9secondkox2 said:
    exceptionhandler said:
    radarthekat said:
    geekmee said:
    And what problem does the foldable screen solve again?

    Keyboard mapping for any language.  Apple wouldn't have to make unique hardware keyboards for different markets.
    Easy, just make each individual key a screen.  Still have a physical key that can actuate, and have the dynamic nature of a display to change languages, show functions/hot keys depending on the focused program, etc. There have already been keyboards like this for over a decade.
    Like the Optimus keyboard? I don’t think that would be practical or cost effective. It would be an aesthetic nightmare as well. Apple is about simplifying the complex, not complicating the simple. 

    Besides. If Apple couldn’t even get the butterfly keyboard right…

    kidding! Just kidding. 

    Sheesh. Calm down people. 
    Lol no kidding needed.  Disliked that keyboard very much.  Not enough key travel, not to mention the key failures and repair cost.  I’ve gone mechanical and it’s been hard to go back to anything else.  As far as laptop keyboards go, their current design isn’t bad, but going to a completely flat, single pane of glass (even with haptic feedback) would be a step back for a laptop.

    I had not considered repair costs of a keyboard with screens on each key.  I bet that would be way more than the price to repair the butterfly keyboard.
    williamlondonradarthekat

  • If you're using a Magic Keyboard, you've opened up an attack vector

    exceptionhandlerexceptionhandler
    chasm said:
    Yes, Bluetooth is flawed and should be fixed.

    BUT

    It’s worth pointing out that this alleged “attack” can only work if the attacker is within 30 feet of you — so at home this is probably a complete non-issue, and even in public you’d probably only be a real risk if you were attended a black-hat hacker convention, or a Starbucks in Silicon Valley.

    I concur with AppleZulu about the risk factor on this. Good to be aware of the vulnerability, very VERY low odds of it being a practical thread in the real world.
    Not necessarily.  One could conceive of a device such as a raspberry pi running off solar/battery that has both a Bluetooth and cellular radio that could be planted somewhere close to the house.  But regardless, this would be an attack that targets a specific person, not the general public, meaning, it wouldn’t be chance or happenstance. I’d think journalists, state officials, or other high value targets would have something to worry about.
    williamlondon

  • Magnetic cables were a sleeper hit at CES 2024

    exceptionhandlerexceptionhandler
    It's comical watching the reactions of the passersby at CES when they're entirely unimpressed with AI-powered grills, but they stop and stare at a USB-C cable with hidden magnets.
    This. It’s such a good idea (magnetic cables) and solves a common immediate problem.  AI (eg ML) on the other hand, while improving, is more of a solution looking for a problem. Don’t get me wrong, ML is really cool and can be useful sometimes, but we are kind of in the same stage with GPT as IoT was/is (let’s slap a wifi and a cpu on everything to do “smart” things without thinking about does it solve a problem for people). An AI powered grill sounds gimmicky and kinda falls into this category.

    Im buying some magnetic cables next time I need a cable.
    entropysmagman1979watto_cobraravnorodom

  • After years of work, Microsoft is still trying to make its own Apple Silicon-like chip

    exceptionhandlerexceptionhandler
    TeslaDomination said:
    techconc said:
    I hope that was meant as sarcasm because you have that exactly backwards.  The value of Apple’s chips comes from their custom design far more than the manufacturing process they are on.  With enough money, anyone can contract and negotiate to manufacture on the best process.
    No sarcasm. Designing chips is easy. It’s just an economics problem rather than a technical one. Chip design is a commodity skill set with a low skill ceiling compared to developing a bleeding-edge node.

    Notice that M2’s performance gain from M1 is exactly the same percent as TSMC’s transistor density increase. It’s all fab process. Design has little to do with it.

    I view both sides as equally difficult and important.  It’s hard to come up with a process that can further miniaturize a chip, but equally so is generating an algorithm that is solved by a circuit.  A given algorithm could perform poorly no matter how good the node process is (in either efficiency or power).  A solution that uses 50 transistors to solve a problem would be better than one that uses 100 to do the same thing.

    Both sides actually have the same problem: design.  It takes time, effort, intelligence, talent to do both.
    muthuk_vanalingamFileMakerFellerwatto_cobra