zroger73

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zroger73
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  • Review: Button Remote for Apple TV makes entertainment simple again

    zroger73zroger73
    "The remote itself has accelerometers, so the remote can be swung like a bat for a Nintendo Wii-like gaming experience."

    This that true?? I had no idea. Is there a free app I can download to experience this?
    There's at least one free bowling app that utilizes the accelerometers in the remote along with a racing game (rotate the remote to steer) and a golf game.
    dysamoriarandominternetpersonwatto_cobra

  • The Mac startup chime is making a return in macOS Big Sur

    zroger73zroger73
    zroger73 said:
    My late-2014 iMac Retina 27" has never stopped making the startup sound. I have installed every OS X and macOS update that Apple has released. It is currently running macOS 10.15.5. I have never entered any Terminal command to (re)enable the startup sound. I know it still makes the sound because a spontaneous reboot woke me up the night before last. :)
    FTA, the change was introduced in 2016 macs. I had to use terminal to enable it in mine. 
    Ah. I understood from this article that an OS X update in 2016 disabled it.

    "Although a software update in 2016 removed the startup chime, a later update to macOS Catalina actually added them under-the-hood -- though it required a Terminal commandto actually enable them."
    razorpitfastasleepwatto_cobra

  • Apple confirms customers unable to pick up Apple Store repairs until outlets reopen

    zroger73zroger73
    My co-worker has an iPad that got stuck in a boot loop. Apple diagnosed the problem as faulty hardware and said to send the unit in and it would be replaced under warranty. That was two weeks ago. Each time he calls, Apple politely and apologetically tells him that their records show the defective unit was received and that a replacement will be shipped, but they can't tell him when or give any further explanation. :(
    eddyecpowell

  • Netflix cuts video bitrates in Europe due to social distancing demand

    zroger73zroger73
    blastdoor said:
    pjohnt said:
    It's ironic.  Everyone cried when the FCC smartly rescinded the "net neutrality" rules imposed by a former administration.  Now we see the government wanting to do exactly what people feared would happen in the free market but never did.
    No, it is not “exactly what people feared would happen.” 

    The concern was, and continues to be, that ISPs would favor their own content over content provided by other providers. 

    The “free market” (or perhaps “free and fair market) solution to Internet congestion is to adjust the price of every byte sent in order to equalize demand and supply, not to favor one byte over another because of where it originated (a kind of “neutrality”, if you will). Then people could decide whether they really value the difference between 4K and 1080p. My guess is that most people would decide that 1080p is just fine (or even 720p, or even 480p) if they actually had to pay attention to the difference in cost. 

    The European solution isn’t a free market solution but it’s also not an “ISP gets to screw everyone else and make a ton of money” solution, either. 
    Funnily enough, on the popular bittorrent sites for TV shows, 720p offerings are the most popular, I’m guessing due to a very reasonable file size compared to the 1080p and greater. 
    Perhaps that's because most of those TV shows are ripped from OTA/cable/satellite transmissions which are distributed in a maximum of 720p or 1080i and not 1080p? I think you'd have to rip from a Blu-Ray to get 1080p or 4K and that's assuming the show was originally recorded in that high of a resolution, right?

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-definition_television_in_the_United_States

    And, since 720p in progressive, there are instances where it can actually look better then 1080i such as during fast motion, no?

    https://lifehacker.com/why-you-should-watch-and-record-video-in-720p-instead-o-5908969
    spheric

  • Review: VocoLinc L3 SmartGlow Color Bulb packs a ton of features in at a fair price

    zroger73zroger73
    "Vocolinc suggests that the bulb should only cost you $6.30 per year to operate, assuming that you're running it for an average of three hours a day."

    9.5 watts (at full brightness) x 3 hours/day x 365 days/year = 10.4025 kWh/year

    At a national average of 10.53 cents/kWh, that's $1.10 per year.

    In order for this bulb to cost $6.30 per year to operate, it must consuming 5.6 watts even when it's "off". It looks like most of the cost is to keep the bulb connected rather than produce light. A traditional, 60-watt incandescent light bulb that costs less than a dollar will cost $6.91 per year to operate 3 hours per day, but it only produces one color and isn't HomeKit compatible. :)
    dewmeGG1revenantGeorgeBMacwatto_cobra