lorin schultz
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Apple's T2 chip makes a giant difference in video encoding for most users
The article seems to confirm what I've been suspecting -- that hardware acceleration only works if one accepts having certain parameter settings fixed.
Years ago I did a mountain of tests with Handbrake, adjusting various parameters to evaluate their impact on the compressed result. I eventually settled on a combination of settings that yield the best (for my purposes) balance between file size and compression artifacts. After all the effort that went into that, I'd be reluctant to surrender any of that control to a chip that may prioritize differently than I would. I'll have to wait until I can compare myself, but I suspect I may choose to live with longer encode times to get a better end result.
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Sonos & Ikea AirPlay 2-compatible Symfonisk speakers will cost as little as $99
You got the result right but the reason wrong. Being able to get away with a single bass speaker has nothing to do with our hearing. Humans can localize the source of a low frequency sound just as well as a high frequency one. The reason single woofers work is room dimensions.foregoneconclusion said
[...] the human ear isn't nearly as good at hearing separation in the low frequencies as it is in higher frequencies
Bass waves are long. When the length of the wave exceeds the shortest dimension of the room, it becomes impossible to trace its origin. High frequencies produce much shorter waves so the room dimensions don't affect them the same way. The smaller the room, the higher the frequency at which the signal becomes essentially omnidirectional. Of course, that means the opposite is also true -- the larger the space, the LOWER the frequency at which the source disappears. People with large listening spaces should probably stick with traditional full-range stereo.
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Apple Card: Best and worst features of Apple's credit solution
Banks don't need to charge transaction fees for international transactions because they make a killing on the exchange rate.anantksundaram said:
I own more than a few credit cards, three of which I actively use: Amex, and two Visas. Not one charges FX transaction fees. It has become more uncommon than common.apple ][ said:I like the no foreign transaction fees for this card.
I don't think that any of my other no annual fee cards has that feature. They all charge foreign transaction fees.
I wouldn't care if the interest rate for this card is 100%, because my rate is always 0%.
As for the rewards, if I'm purchasing something, I will just use whichever card that I have that has the best rewards for the thing that I am purchasing, which is what I currently do with my cards. That's why people have multiple cards. Nobody has to use the Apple Card for 100% of their purchases.
The titanium card is a cool item to have in my wallet, and as an Apple fan, I will be getting one. It will be the best looking credit card on the market.
And who's to say that there won't be any future promotions or extra rewards for this card, like for certain holidays, and there will be increased bonus points or cash back.
I recently ordered an item from an American supplier (I'm in Canada) worth USD$800. I wound up cancelling the order hours later. When I got my statement I discovered the process cost me almost CAD$60, because the bank used exchange rates that favoured them on both the purchase and the refund.
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Apple cancels AirPower wireless charging mat, citing quality issues
The power levels Marvin mentioned mean you don't have to worry. Your phone's transmitter is three times as powerful as what he's describing. Plus the risk depends as much on the frequency at which the signal is transmitted as the power.hentaiboy said:
Not sure I’m keen on the idea of actual power passing through my brain along with all those radio waves...Marvin said:I'd still prefer to see a low power (<1W) wireless solution like wifi. AirPods only have a 1.5Wh battery. Have a wifi-like router transmit something like 0.5W per device through directed waves and AirPod cases and Watches can charge while sitting around anywhere.
Plus, and this is the big one, your body is able to tolerate all kinds of invisible radiation thanks to evolving on a planet that's inundated with it. If you removed every single human-made source of RF and EM, there would still be a ton of it emanating from the sun, other sources in space, and the Earth itself. -
Apple's apology for small amount of 2018 MacBook Pro keyboard failures still isn't enough
Me too. I keep “beating” debris out of the keys rather than taking it in, so mine doesn’t show up in Apple’s failure data either. Some keys are starting to wear out though, so it won’t be long before I’m forced to take it in.tokyojimu said:I've been having keyboard problems on my 2017 MacBook. But the repair means doing without your computer for a week as they send it out for repair, and so I haven't reported my problems yet. I wonder how many others might be in my position, artificially deflating the number of users affected.
