Calamander

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Calamander
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  • Twitter Inc. no longer exists, now X Corp.

    CalamanderCalamander
    "Nothing suggests that X Corp. will actually lead to the X app"

    Nothing. 

    Except Elon Musk publicly stating that Twitter will become X, the everything app. Over and over again. 


    docno42williamlondon9secondkox2Japheywatto_cobra

  • Russia forces Apple to remove VPN apps from the App Store

    CalamanderCalamander
    ranson said:
    Situations like this, along with what went on in China during their mass Covid protests, are precisely why Apple needs to give up on its quest to prohibit sideloading. If an app is not being used to harm others, let the people install it.
    Finally a sensible comment. 

    The game dynamics of Apple's app store right now is the worst of all worlds - any government in the world can force Apple into removing apps from the app store, and regimes from China, to Russia, to the USA have all been using that to get apps banned that their people wanted to use. 

    In the USA that is unconstitutional, but it happens anyway - TikTok for example. One can debate the merits of that ban but the same can be said for China banning Google and Facebook - there is no difference. Normal people are worse off for it.. 

    Apple was founded by Steve Jobs on a basic humanitarian principle - to empower humans to be more creative, to have more information, to be free. Steve jobs initially said that the App store controls were in place to protect people's "freedom from porn" - while that was an OK idea at the time, he did not foresee that Apple would then in the future have to kowtow to any government anywhere in the world. 

    The solution is allowing side loading - not because side loading is great, but because fewer governments will even try to remove apps from the app store since there is an alternative that creative people will switch to in no time, and when there's market demand, the side loading services would professionalize instantly and make downloading a VPN app as simple as clicking a link. 

    Apple needs to give up its iron fist control of the app store to make the world a better place. This is 2024. 

    PS: An even better idea I suggested to Tim Cook way back when would be to have a fully decentralzied app store, with decentralized review system and blockchain backing - an unstoppable app store which is still secure, or even more secure from scams than the current app store because of a decentralized review system. 
    williamlondonAlex1Nmuthuk_vanalingamgatorguy

  • Brazil stops iPhone sales until Apple includes an AC charger

    CalamanderCalamander
    Brazil put a price on wokeness, good.

    Apple is so concerned about the environment they don't include a charger or earphones in their $1,000+ devices. 

    At the same time, they make products that can't be repaired and need to be replaced wholesale. Example my XS face ID crystal broke, turns out, that cannot be fixed or replaced. At all. Not by Apple or anyone else. Either you use the phone without, or you throw it away. 

    What @wood said is a simple solution but Apple won't do that because they're hypocrites. Apple used to be a good company under Steve Jobs - at that time, critics were saying the same thing. Back then they were not right. Today they are.

    I also don't think the environment argument has merit - let's say Apple ships 1000x less chargers, OK, fair enough, but people are going to buy 100x more 3rd party chargers, most of which are way more polluting than what Apple is making in its closely monitored factores, and some of these 3rd party chargers will destroy the iPhones, leading to more waste. i think in the end nothing will have been saved. Except the carbon neutral rating, congratulations, hypocrites! 

     wood1208 said:
    Price for Brazil iPhone by default includes charger. If someone don't want it than give deduction/rebate for charger in final price on invoice.

    rrabubyronlmobirdwilliamlondonentropys

  • Controversial Humane Ai Pin is here, costs $700, and requires a subscription

    CalamanderCalamander
    Well, this is interesting. 

    Unless they are too early, this is an obvious winner - productivity wise likely better than iPhone which is amazing. 

    In terms of entertainment, it's clearly worse, you r Tik Tok videos won't look so good rendered by green lasers. But... it's not for that. 

    Computers have become way too complex - AI with voice recognition offers a way out of that morass - the only visible way out. 

    We've already thought of all the clever UI elements we could put on screens, but the complexity keeps growing. I am an engineer and I think the number of options in iPhone settings is ridiculous. There's way too much going on, nobody has time or the mind to learn all that. Add to this blockchain it gets even worse. 

    This device is super impressive in terms of battery and power

    And how it is to be used - the biggest hurdle - has already been shown in like 1000s of episodes of SciFi shows and movies, Star Trek and others. We know how to use this. 

    Apple should be extremely worried, this is exactly the kind of thing that will kill them in the long term. Because Apple makes so much money from iPhone, it won't be easy to jump on this tech. 

    I hope they don't sell out - this startup is epic, and I did not expect to say this after the headline. But that is really cool stuff and the obvious direction computing is going in the future. 
    byronlsflagelwilliamlondon

  • New M3 MacBook Air arrives with faster Wi-Fi and better performance

    CalamanderCalamander
    tenthousandthings said:
    I see they now offer a 16GB version among the standard configurations they keep in stock, instead of having to order it. That wasn’t possible when we walked into the store and bought an M2 Air back when it first came out. We got the 8GB (which has been fine for what it is used for), but I remember thinking Apple had left money on the table, as we would have gotten the 16GB if we could have walked out of the store with it right then and there.
    Same here. Bought a rose gold M1 with basic config for the GF for the simple reason that online ordering didn't work with her visa card (which works for pretty much anything else... weird). So we were unable to get our hands on a 16GB / 512 option - we just couldn't buy it. All good in the end since she's barely used the laptop at all anyway. But Apple left some cash on the table there for sure. 

    Another mistake Apple made was to discontinue Rose Gold - I know a lot of girls with rose gold laptops and they all absolutely love the color. Starlight is not quite the same, appeal-wise. Also the new MacBook Air is a lot fatter, visually - it pretty much looks like a MBP. I can't understand for the life of me what got into them to make it look like that. We all know the volume is same or less than the M1 wedge shape MBA, so this is all just visuals - but the large feet under the laptop make it appear fat when it's on the table. A strange decision - ultrabooks from Huawei and Samsung look smaller (and may actually be smaller). 
    williamlondonwatto_cobra

  • M3 15-inch MacBook Air vs M3 14-inch MacBook Pro -- Ultimate buyer's guide

    CalamanderCalamander
    I think the Air is a much better deal as it is so much smaller - I am still weirded out by the massive size of the Pro models since the M1. That being said, the M1 has been the most reliable Mac Laptop I've had since the 17" MBP - not a glitch, not a hiccup, not a problem since I got it in 2021. That is a new record. 

    So perhaps Apple is using that larger size to make the computer more unbreakable. 

    Air flow is a huge issue for digital nomads - we work outdoors in hot places, and a fan is definitely recommended when doing work - even if the computer doesn't straight up overheat, if it gets hot on a regular basis  then all electronic components have a higher chance for failure. If it's always cool - like the M1 Pro is at basically all times - then it's a lot better. 

    I don't think the XDR display is a big advantage - it seems to use way more power, it gets hot, and yes it's gorgeous but the Air display is also really good - my eyes aren't good enough to really appreciate the difference. 
    Flappo

  • Controversial Humane Ai Pin is here, costs $700, and requires a subscription

    CalamanderCalamander
    comcastsucks said:
    "Any time the microphone or camera is in use, a "trust light" is turned on for people to see"

    How long until someone figures out how to turn that off?

    I doubt anyone will bother. It's baked into the hardware so to turn that off is going to be hard - probably easiest to put a colored sticker over it. 

    There's tons of other devices which can silently record things that are much better suited for the task - because they're designed for it.


    byronlronnwatto_cobrajony0

  • New Mac malware 'FrigidStealer' spreads through fake browser updates

    CalamanderCalamander
    DAalseth said:
    For Mac users, the malware appears as a legitimate Google Chrome or Safari update.

    That they are including Safari is disturbing. 
    No. Safari updates never happen in browser, they go through app store. 

    IDK about Chrome but I doubt Chrome updates through a browser pop up window downloading a dmg file. 

    As always on mac, basically, don't download and run any files, regardless of where they came from, and you're good. 
    lotonesmarcotor949watto_cobra

  • First M4 Max benchmark tears apart the M2 Ultra Mac Studio

    CalamanderCalamander
    Galfan said:
    My god…..I was thinking when I purchased my M1 Max 16 inch I would be fine for 4-5 years but this might consider me upgrading this year….also because I noticed the GPU is hitting the limit sometimes but also that with my new function I need more headroom for bigger projects with the CPU. I do wonder how the thermals will be. M3 max is a powerhouse but pushed even the 16 inch starts to become loud. But since a18 pro and M4 have proven they run cooler and energy efficient, I will wait for the reviews coming out
    There is a significant battery life difference between M4 Pro and M4 Max which tells me M4 Max is going to get a lot hotter than the Pro, too. 

    Enough for me to decide on getting the Pro - while I like the RAM options on the Max, I really love all day battery life. 

    In addition to that, a cooler laptop also lasts longer, heat kills electronics over time & I live in a hot country too. 

    My 16" M1 Pro is running fine but I will upgrade to the M4 in the next few months when it becomes available here in SE Asia. 
    muthuk_vanalingamwatto_cobra

  • Apple Product identifiers have leaked every Mac release through 2026

    CalamanderCalamander

    shadowself said:
    I'm running a maxed out 2019 Mac Pro (no, I don't have 1.5 TB of RAM!, but I have a lot). I run high end simulation software in MacOS, Windows 10, and Windows 11 depending on what the software requires.  

    I've been waiting on a new Mac Pro for some time. The last update effectively was a joke. The most recent Mac Studios were not much better. 

    If the next Mac Pro does not have at least an M4 Ultra (preferably an M5 Ultra) I may have to jump ship from using Mac hardware. As someone who has been using Apple hardware since the late 70s and Macs since 1984, jumping to some other platform will be painful. But if Apple is going to do something as stupid as come out with a Mac Pro with an M3 Ultra within the next six plus months, that means no Mac Pros acceptable to me before late 2027.

    I can't keep using this old 2019 Mac Pro for 2 1/2 more years! Simulation software evolves and gets both CPU and GPU hungrier. Apple needs to keep up with its flagship machine.

    I long for the days when the top of the line G4 Mac Pro was so fast (a lot faster than any Intel or AMD based machine). In fact it was so fast that for a short while the U.S. Government restricted the countries to which Apple could ship it. Apple needs to ship today's equivalent of that machine!
    Apple Silicon are so much faster than these intel machines. It doesn't even compare. 

    My colleagues are using M2 Macbook Air for development - with 8GB of RAM. Almost a joke, but the M chips are so fast, it's still faster than any Intel laptop ever was. 

    I think why it takes them so long to make these Ultra chips is because it's 2 Max chips fused together acting as one - that's a very complex design, and the sales of high end desktop machines are negligible. So they don't make a ton of money with these. 

    That being said, the memory bandwidth of the M class chips is like normal computers graphics cards - it's super high. You basically get up to 700GB of graphics card memory. That used to be a supercomputer not too long ago. 

    Get the Ultra Mac Studio or wait for the next Pro, either way, it's going to fly.
    danox