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captainmalewriter · 2 years

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Stranded Finale

Check out part four to this series here!

Weeks had gone by since Coal had been stopped by Grey and Drew. Now Coal was living inside an old fish tank Drew had laying around his garage. They had sealed the glass tank several times to ensure Coal couldn't escape. While Grey and Drew continued living their daily lives, Coal had essentially been reduced to the role of a house pet. But no matter how hard Coal protested, he had no choice but to accept it.

As for Grey and Drew, the two men had plenty of spare time to work on their own projects since the big fight. Grey used the time to properly heal Jessie's wounds from all the fighting. Grey refused to go into a hospital in fear of getting found out. So he took the role of medical expert himself. It was a slow process, but Grey had successfully healed Jessie's body. He had to, after all, he felt bad for letting Drew's best friend come into harm's way. Once Jessie was fully healed, Grey was back to all smiles with his human host.

Drew, on the other hand, had his hands full with figuring out a proper rocket design to get the aliens back home. It was winter already, and they still couldn't figure out just right the formula for space flight yet. Drew had mixed feelings about the whole mess. Between the frustration of making progress and the sorrow of helping Grey leave, Drew just couldn't find the inspiration to put his best effort forward.

So instead of forcing himself to work on spacecraft science, Drew decided to take another jab at figuring out alien technology. They had brought home the salvaged parts from the shipwreck along with the two USB drives Coal had on him. Drew was too freaked out to dissect the technology when there was a murderous man twice his size pressuring him, but now that Coal was locked up, Drew felt much more at ease.

It still took Drew a long time to figure out regardless. Grey tried to pitch in wherever he could, but social sciences were his specialty, not computer programming. But with enough time and effort, Drew was able to crack one of Coal's USB drives. It had an encrypted message stored on it. Drew gave it to Grey to translate it. The message read:

To my friends Date, Nickel, Aero, and Bin: I'm writing to you all from the planet Earth in the Milky Way galaxy. Remember our dear acquaintance Grey? He rented out a spaceship and took a joy ride to the tiny water planet. I hitched a ride with Grey and I've successfully landed on Earth on star date 070.040.XXX. While I was away from home, I've been busy preparing for my master plan to take over Earth. I've already taken over a human male to use a host and I have prepared a virus that'll allow us to take as much human currency as we desire. Once you all arrive on Earth, feel free to take your pick at whichever human you want. I personally recommend a strong male, as we'll be needing the strength to overpower the humans. Their technology is inferior, but with our intellect, we'll be able to easily overpower them. I request your assistance in taking over Earth, we will live luxuriously as the supreme overlords of the human race. I patiently await your arrival. Signed, Coal.

Grey and Drew stared at each other in utter horror. They both needed a minute to process what they had just read. Grey realized that it was his old childhood bully, Clay Fired Coal, who had followed him to Earth. Drew had to cope with how dangerously close Coal had gotten to sending off the message. Had Grey not arrived when he did... there was no telling what would happened if that transmission got sent off.

Grey pocketed the two USB drives to take back home with him. After unlocking the contents of one of them, Drew was too scared to find out what the other one contained. He'd rather live in ignorance.

With Coal's USB drives out of mind, Drew had returned his attention back to the drawing board. Grey was able to help out more now that Jessie's body was healed too. They used Grey's original spacecraft as a base for the new one. That was the easy part, the hard part was finding human machinery that could replicate the horsepower of alien machinery. They had to find a way to do that without burdening the spacecraft with excessive weight.

The design and manufacturing process was slow. Although it was a complex design that needed delicate, step by step building, both Grey and Drew were deliberately taking their time with it. Each day meant one step towards completing the spaceship, even if that step was as small as finding the right screws they'd need. The next day would then consist of buying those screws.

This was their building process for the next month and a half. Their working speed had slowed to a crawl. Both Grey and Drew knew why they were acting that way, but neither wanted to admit it. They both wanted to spend as much time together as possible before Grey left. They spent Thanksgiving together, they went snowboarding together, they cuddled during the long winter nights together; anything a couple would do, Grey and Drew did.

But unfortunately no matter how slow they were going, the spacecraft did eventually get built. The test launch was a success, and now Grey had everything he needed to return home the next day, December 31st.

The two spent well over an hour fucking the night before Grey's departure. Even the sex they shared, they took it nice and slow to avoid it coming to end. But even that too, after a certain number of kisses, hip thrusts, and moans, had to come to end. Grey and Drew laid in bed in each other's arms, covered in each other's cum. Neither of them slept that night either, instead opting to enjoy the little time they had remaining in each other's warm embrace.

Then, the morning sun had come and filled the room with light. Drew felt himself get teary eyed, for he knew the time to say goodbye was coming soon.

The two men rolled out of bed and got dressed in their winter gear. Then with both the spacecraft and Coal on hand, the two left for the mountains. Grey needed a high altitude launching point to ensure he'd have enough power to get home. It had taken them most of the day to get there after deliberately stalling yet again, but they got there. They had driven most of the way up, but the last piece had to be done by foot. Drew parked the car and hopped out. Grey did too, but he let out a sigh as he did so.

"You ready to go home?" Drew asked.

"No."

The two men then hiked the rest of the way up the mountain range. Neither man could look at the other in the eyes. They weren't ready to say their farewells, but it was what had to be done.

They made it to the top of the mountain, the highest point they could go. Drew set up the spacecraft while Grey secured Coal inside. Once all the preparations were complete, the two men found themselves staring at each other with a tender gaze.

"I guess... this is goodbye..." Drew started.

"Yeah..." Grey sniffled. He was visibly fighting back tears. "I'm gonna miss this planet... I'm gonna miss this body... And I'm gonna miss you, Drew..."

The two men gazed into each other eyes, then they both went in for a long kiss on the lips. The kiss lasted seconds before Drew pulled away. He held Grey's face in his hands. He then wiped away the tears in his eyes.

"C'mon my love, give me a smile, I want my last memory of you to be a happy one,"

Grey obliged, and smiled from ear to ear. Drew couldn't help but smile too, Grey's goofy grin always brought out the joy in him even on his darkest days.

The two had delayed the inevitable long enough. Drew stood close to Grey as he slithered out of Jessie's body. He caught Jessie as he fell forward unconscious, while Grey skittered down into the driver's seat of the spaceship. Grey wasted no time in powering up the engine for flight. The spaceship hovered off the ground slowly at first, but once it got a foot off the ground, the turbo blasters kicked in. The spaceship then took off into the night sky.

Tears rolled down Drew's cheeks as he watched Grey fly further and further away. Then, just before Grey had disappeared into the atmosphere, the clock had struck midnight. It was the new year, and the townsfolk below were celebrating. They were launching fireworks into the sky, and Drew cried happy tears at the sight of it. Grey got to leave seeing the one thing he came down to Earth to see, and he did so in the most glorious way possible.

"I'LL ALWAYS REMEMBER YOU, GREY HOWLING GREY!!" Drew shouted out at the top of his lungs. Grey had disappeared into the sky to go back home, never to be seen again.

...Meanwhile, Drew drove back home with a disgruntled Jessie in the passenger seat.

"Fuck man... my head's killing me..." Jessie said in a low voice.

"There's some ibuprofen and water in the glove box," Drew said in a stoic voice. Jessie noticed it and turned to him.

"Man, you're in a bad mood today. What's up with you?"

Drew hesitated before answering. He then just shrugged and said it was nothing.

"If you say so... Hey, Drew, is it New Year's already? I could've sworn it was the 4th of July yesterday... What happened to me?"

Drew took his eyes off the road for a moment to look at Jessie. Drew's heart fluttered at the sight of him. It was the same handsome face and toned body Drew had long loved since his teen years. But without Grey inside of him, Drew felt at odds with his emotions. Jessie, his best friend, was back to normal. Yet, Drew longed to see Grey again, even if it was just for one more minute. Drew got teary eyed again just thinking about him.

"It's a long story... I'll tell you all about it once we get home," Drew refocused his attention back on the road. He wiped away the tears with his sleeve before the waterworks started again. Drew then took a deep breath before speaking again.

"You believe in aliens, Jess? Cuz boyyy are you not gonna believe me when I tell you this one..."

#male possession #body possession #male takeover #male body theft #alien possession #aliens #strandedseries #multi part fic

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gamesception · 10 months

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another new toy

I've been planning to get a number of accessories for my new computer. A new monitor, microphone, maybe one of those vr headsets. But after having it for a few weeks, one thing jumped out as needing an upgrade more urgently than anything else - the stock full size keyboard that came with it was just too large and awkward for my little keyboard shelf. I was tempted to go back to the Microsoft Compact Bluetooth keyboard that I was using with the Steam Deck... but I haven't had a "real" computer, like a proper desktop computer in decades, I wanted a "real" keyboard to go with it. Like a proper mechanical keyboard with switches and buttons and such. And so I typed "mechanical keyboard reviews" into a youtube search, blissfully unaware of the rabbit hole I was about to fall down.

If you know then you already know, but it came as a surprise to me that membrane keyboards are so cheap and so easy to mass produce that they've taken over the casual market altogether, forcing mechanical keyboards into the domain of the ⋆ ˚｡⋆˚enthusiast⋆ ˚｡⋆˚

Yes, it seems proper keyboards are a hobby now, not a very cheap one either, and the very last thing I need is another expensive hobby. But every hobby has its more affordable and approachable on ramps, and there are a number of pre-built budget boards occupying this space in world of mechanical keyboards. After watching a few dozen hours of youtube videos and reading a bunch of reviews and tutorials, I eventually settled on the RK84 'limited edition' from Royal Kludge for us$80. Which is like twice what I expected to pay when I in my naive innocence began shopping for keyboards, but I've come to understand that eighty bucks absolutely counts as "budget" in this hobby.

Pricing aside, I really do love my new keyboard. The 75% form factor is ideal, better centering the typing keys and saving a bunch of extra space on my little shelf while maintaining all the functionality of a full size board save only for the number pad. While I do like to use a number pad, I don't mind taking one out when I need it, and the keyboard even has a couple usb ports to easily plug a mouse and separate number pad into, which is super convenient and such an obvious idea that I really have to wonder why all keyboards aren't doubling as USB multi-dongles at this point, with additional usb ports, sd card ports, and so on.

For $10 more than the regular RK84 wireless, the 'limited edition' version has better keycaps, factory-lubed switches, some filler foam in the housing to reduce the hollow sound, an additional layer of sound dampening foam sandwiched between the top plate and the pcb, and a snazzy color scheme, the version I chose combining a black body and mostly black keys with a white top plate that better reflects the swirly rainbow rgb backlighting. The sound is decent, at least to my untrained ear, right out of the box. Which is ideal, as I'd like to avoid the temptation to start modding it.

Because I've gone about as far down this particular rabbit hole as I want to go.

Though I suppose it is tempting to open it up, as some basic tape & band aid mods would be cheap and easy and might improve the sound a bit...

And as much as the pre-lubed yellow linear switches are nice, I did make sure to get a hot-swappable board so it's easy to change them out later if I want to try alternatives, and I do think I might prefer tactile switches for typing...

And the rgb lighting is nice enough that it really is a shame these caps aren't shine though. Yeah, yeah, shine-through is tacky, but Cringe is Dead, and some black top pudding caps might really make the lighting pop. Or maybe a mix of black, white and some accent color to match the color layout that the board came with?

The abyss, it tempts me so...

#mechanical keyboard #keyboards #computers #I really can't be starting any expensive new hobbies #student loan payments start back up in September

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trainsinanime · 3 years

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Let’s talk about railway electrification systems; not so much because any of you care but because I want to talk about it (and because I talked with some people about it on Twitter recently and had a lot of fun with that).

There are four main voltages that overhead lines for european railroads can have (and most of this translates to other countries as well):

1500 V DC

3000 V DC

15000 V AC at 16.7 Hz frequency

25000 V AC at 50 Hz (aka normal) frequency

These are generally divided along country lines; every country has one (or somtimes two) of these that it uses, usually chosen without any regard for what their neighbours used. Why?

Well, because back at the start of the 20th century, everyone had different ideas and different trade-offs and different decisions, and those choices made sense to them at the time. Many of these factors have changed since; for example, after World War 1, France explicitly decided on 1500 V DC so that german locomotives (running on 15 kV AC) could not run into the country. It made sense then, it’s a pain in the butt now.

But why those values in particular, and what were the tradeoffs?

The Motor

The key for that is the “Universal Motor” (for my german-speaking followers: Einphasen-Reihenschlussmotor), a type of electric motor that was the standard for electric railways and many other applications from the first electric locomotives until 1980.

I’m not going to go into details; the important part is that this motor is essentially a DC motor, but due to its wiring, it can also run on AC. There’s a bit of an issue, though: Powerful universal motors don’t really run well at industrial frequencies (50-60 Hz); they prefer lower ones. Other than that, the motor is bulletproof and powerful and easily the best thing that doesn’t require computer control.

Your standard railway spec motor, small enough to fit comfortably into the running gears of a train, will take somewhere between 600 V and 750 V (with quite a wide margin at either end). To this day, most streetcar systems, subways, and some odd commuter rail lines (in particular most of the south of England) use just those 600-750 V directly, as DC current, because the motor runs better that way.

More Power

But low voltage means low power. Power is voltage times current, and more current means generating more heat in the overhead power lines. For a given level of power, having more volts means needing less current, which is better for the power lines. And any design of power line will have a hard limit of how many amps of current you can send through it before it’ll melt. You can build lines for more current, but that’s expensive.

The low power does not only mean that each individual train gets a low amount of power, but also that the number of trains in a given section has to be low. So you need a lot of power supply stations (substations).

So the first idea was to connect two universal motors in series. That takes 1500 V, and you get either twice the power at the same current, or need half the current for the same power. That is what is used for example in the Netherlands, France and Japan.

1500 V is still fairly low, though, so why not double that? For 3000 V DC, you connect all four motors in your typical four-axle train car in series. Again, more power, less current. That system is used in Belgium, Spain, Italy, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, former Soviet Union and a couple of others.

You can’t really go beyond that, though, at least with 1920s tech. Your modern USB charger is actually an incredible feat of engineering; it took decades to reach that level. At the time, if the DC voltage you got out of the power station didn’t match your needs, then there was no easy solution.

Transformation Sequence

This was not true for AC power, where you can use a transformer, an incredibly simple piece of technology. With AC, you can essentially use as high a voltage as you want. The limit here is insulation: The higher the voltage, the more space you need to have between the roof of the locomotive and the wires, and between wires and bridges and so on. The European countries that went that route settled on 15000 Volts as a good compromise.

The problem with that is that the universal motor doesn’t like 50 Hz (or 60 Hz) frequency that you get from the normal grid. The solution is to run the whole thing with less frequency. That’s why the frequency in the line is 16.7 Hz (originally 16 2/3rds Hz). This system, 15000 V AC at 16.7 Hz, is used in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Norway and Sweden (but notably not Denmark), and it has stood the test of time well. For the Americans reading this, the 12 kV at 25 Hz used in the north-east by the Pennsylvania and Reading railroads is essentially the same thing, just slightly different values.

The problem with this thing is that you absolutely need that transformer. And, for reasons that I don’t quite understand, the lower your frequency, the larger your transformer has to be. 16.7 Hz is fairly low, so you need a very heavy transformer. Compared to a low-voltage DC system, you need fewer substations and a less expensive overhead line, but you need more expensive and heavier locomotives. That is a very real trade-off: Many of the DC countries have a long history of small, quick EMUs, while it took much longer for AC systems to develop those; they required heavy locomotives or much heavier EMUs.

Trade-offs

In the 1920s and 1930s, when the foundations of modern electric networks were laid, these were the systems and considerations available, and given the train performances at the time, it’s hard to argue that anyone really choose wrongly. I keep saying that 1500 V means low power, but the french reached a world record for high speed trains at 331 km/h (a bit over 200 mph) in 1955 with that system.

High Frequency

In the 1930s, hungarian engineer Kálmán Kandó, already an incredibly important figure in the development of modern electric trains, developed phase converters for railway use, which changed the game completely. These things were at the time heavy mechanical devices that combined a motor and a generator, and could transform any sort of electricity into any other. This means you can use the normal 50 or 60 Hz power that comes from the national grid, and then transform them into something else in the locomotive, instead of using some weird 16.7 Hz thing. This means cheaper lineside equipment and smaller transformers. You need the converter, but that pays off almost immediately.

(I'm over-simplifying here; there is a number of technologies and types of motors that allow using 50 Hz; the phase converter was the first, but is far from the only.)

Railways at the time were very interested in that, but then there was a whole second world war, which put everything on hold for a while. After the war, engineers in various countries perfected it, and along bumped up the voltage to 25000 V for more power with not that much more insulation required (the one exception to this is Japan, which went for 20000 V instead). This 25 kV at 50 Hz (or 60 Hz where applicable) is nowadays generally considered the best system if you can choose freely.

All countries that have 1500 V or 3000 V also have more or less extensive networks with 25 kV 50 Hz; sometimes just for high-speed lines, often for about half the country. A number of countries that started electrification comparatively late only have 25 kV 50 Hz. The countries that already have 15 kV 16.7 Hz have stuck with it, though; 25 kV 50 Hz is better, but not so much better that it justified all the expense of adding a new system.

(Exceptions exist but are very rare; feel free to ask me about the Rübelandbahn.)

Modern Locomotives

On the locomotive side, things have drastically changed starting in the late 1970s. Thanks to modern microelectronics and modern power electronics (sadly nobody calls them macroelectronics), phase and voltage converters have become small, lightweight and incredibly versatile; they’ll convert anything to anything else and back if you design them properly. That makes it relatively simple to build a locomotive or EMU that can use all of these different voltages, something that used to be quite a major engineering feat.

The default approach as of right now is that you have a big transformer (no way around that, for now) for AC voltages, with different output settings for 15 and 25 kV (this was always easy). It has to be the 16.7 Hz size, sadly. The output voltage in the 1500-3000 V range gets turned to DC. If you’re running under DC, you just use that DC directly. No matter how you got that DC, you’re now putting it into another converter (typically one per wheel set or one per bogie), which turns it into three-phase AC, at a frequency that corresponds to the speed you want to go. This sounds complicated, but works well in practice, to the point that all new locomotives nowadays support either both 1500 V DC and 3000 V DC, or both 15 kV AC and 25 kV AC, or all four. You can’t get a new e.g. 15 kV AC locomotive anymore. Even ones that are designed just for one country and advertised as doing only 15 kV will actually be able to run with 25 kV, just because nobody thought it worth the effort to design a 15 kV only transformer.

(This is not true for EMUs, since those are designed to run mostly locally instead of through the entire continent. You can get them in multiple voltage, but most are designed for just one.)

Where do we go from here?

The current system is a mess that is interesting to me, but a bit of a problem for railroads. In the olden days, you’d just change the locomotive at the border anyway, so it didn’t matter much; but nowadays you want to run your freight train from Rotterdam to Genua non-stop if you can. While multi-system locomotives have become a lot cheaper than they used to be, the whole thing is still very annoying for cross-border traffic. It's not the only annoying thing about european cross-border rail traffic, but it's a factor.

Also, train sizes, speeds and power requirements have increased drastically (air conditioning in passenger trains is actually a big deal in terms of power use). AC systems have been able to cope; DC systems less so. Both Belgium and the Netherlands have quite a lot of diesel locomotives pulling freight trains on electric lines, because they can simply produce more power. One manufacturer offers electric locomotives (the Stadler Euro9000) that have a diesel motor to boost the power under DC (and for shunting on tracks that have no overhead lines). Clearly, the old DC system needs to go.

But that’s easier said than done. Converting a line to 25 kV is quite expensive. You need new insulators at every single overhead line mast, but even more importantly, you need to check for safety clearance at every bridge over the railway, and, if necessary, raise bridges or lower tracks accordingly. Tunnels get even more fun. And, of course, all line side power equipment needs to be swapped out. This isn't impossible, but it is very expensive, and while it has happened in some places, it hasn’t happened a lot.

The Netherlands, for example, are currently running on 1.5 kV DC and did consider switching to 25 kV AC. All modern equipment there actually has a bit of empty space where you can fit a transformer. But the cost of upgrading the lines was judged too high. Right now ProRail, the company in charge of the network, is proposing upgrading from 1.5 kV to… 3 kV DC, of all things. It seems like a minor deal, but it still allows doubling the power output, for much less cost. Will it happen? No clue.

Meanwhile, in France, there is research going to make use of the new electronics. Researchers there figure that 9 kV DC is something you can do very well; modern electronics should allow stepping that down even more efficiently than a big 50 Hz transformer could. This seems to be mainly because the government does not want to pay to change the 1500 Volt lines there to 25 kV.

On the other end of the spectrum, the topic of 50 kV AC keeps popping up every now and then. A few lines like that already exist, most notably a large one in South Africa. In the US, the Black Mesa and Lake Powell railway used this system and ran coal trains from a mine to a power station; it's closed since 2019, because the power plant closed, because shale gas and renewables are just plain cheaper than coal. It's an interesting bit of railway history lost, but definitely a net win for the planet.

From a technical point of view, there's nothing particularly difficult about this. The Black Mesa and Lake Powell actually used a number of locomotives built for 25 kV and just changed the windings in the main transformer. The big problem is safety distances, which are much bigger than for 25 kV. There is no mainstream push for 50 kV at the moment, but it keeps coming up in discussions about "should US railroads electrify their lines" as a possibility.

Finally, in the 15 kV countries, there is some thought about 15 kV at 50 Hz. In Germany, the idea is to use this for short recharging sections for electric trains with batteries. Using 50 Hz saves the expense of a frequency converter. Personally, I don't see why those sections couldn't be 25 kV, but I guess it makes things a bit cheaper (EMUs, unlike locomotives, still come in 15 kV only versions).

In the US, this is actually already a thing; some lines in the North-East (I think primarily for New Jersey Transit) were changed from 12 kV 25 Hz to 12.5 kV 60 Hz when the 1920s era line-side equipment needed replacing. For the newer trains there, this requires at most a software update.

So… that’s the current situation. It’s not likely to get better any time soon, and if the french 9kV DC plans go through, it may actually get a bit worse, but modern locomotive technology has evolved to cope. There’s no point to this post, I just think it’s fun.

#railroads #trains #rail electrification #voltage #overhead line #locomotives

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whosxafraid · 4 years

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[ x ] @brooklynislandgirl

The box addressed to Luka during mail call is small. Smaller still the one inside it. It can be fitted to a computer usb but includes an adaptor for his phone. Because she thinks of everything. It’s a strange gift. The drive is filled with one video. It starts with her in the morning, sans make up, still in her pyjamas and holding up a cup of coffee. She smiles sleepily into the camera. “Mornin’ Lulu. If ya watchin’ dis, means ya got my Christmas present. I know bein’ ovah-seas can be really hard, especially when ya feel cut off an’ alone from da people ya considah family. So…wi’ dat in mind, dis video gonna be me takin’ ya t'rough a day in da life. One ya can hold onto, one ya can watch whenevah ya missin’ us. Missin’ me.” And she does just that. It cuts off just before she slips into the shower. Resumes when she’s dressed again. They go to morning mass, then she helps serve breakfast to Father Vinnie’s homeless congregation, before passing out blankets and hats, gloves and other winter survival gear. She holds one little girl against her hip ~born to motherhood was Beth~ and the rest of the kids sing carols and thank Luka and his unit for their donations, and helping Santa find them, even though it isn’t Christmas yet.

Lunch at her favourite vegan cafe and she chats about how impressed she was that he even got some of the ship’s crew to pitch in for her church’s children’s programs and that thanks to them all of the kids and most of the adults will have hot meals for weeks. Not to mention a roof over their heads until after the new year. She has never looked so radiantly happy, and promises to show him when he gets home just what it all means to her. The it’s normal errands, picking up Andy’s dry-cleaning, dropping off lunch and donuts for Baz. It’s having a coffee in Central Park, and a stolen moment or two from Jay wishing him the best of holidays and Happy Hanukkah. Closer to sunset and its video of lights and displays and the snow drifting down in multi-coloured showers that melt into her hair.

Eventually she even takes clips and things from the ER, no patients though. She wouldn’t endanger them, or violate patients rights but there’s some quiet moments while working on her charting, and the nurses also send their greetings. She takes pictures of the doctors who no longer treat her like chattel.

The video ends nearly a full 24 hours later as she is exhaustedly dropping into her brother’s chair, and her eyes can barely stay open. “So, dat’s it. A day back at home because ya no can be here. I hope it makes ya feel less lonely. Love you, Lulu. Come home safe to us. Mele Kalikimaka!!!”

Mail call and...he doesn’t really realize the way his head snaps up from his book when his name cuts across the room. Or for that matter how more falls out of his bunk than climbs. His feet struggling to shift him across the space as quickly as possible, while his dips and dodges around the low hanging pipes in the ceiling. All he knows is once his fingers are wrapped around the rather small box, it only takes a second for smile to start forming on his lips. A little less deftly working his way back to his bunk, as he tears into the package.

A small sound of amusement at the shark that ends up in his palm, a check of the box to make sure he hadn’t overlooked everything. But then it all becomes a bit..confused. Brows knitting together. She sent him a usb? That was...odd. Then again his mind almost instantly starts buzzing with all the things that could be on, verses what mostly would be on it, verses what actually was on it. Because Beth? She isn’t your typical...well anyone. She’s her. But just to be safe...he’ll be using that adapter. Doesn’t need any of the lads possibly seeing or hearing something they don’t need to.

So the shark is tucked away in his bunk for safe keeping until a few hours later when the lot of his squad are sleeping off a few contraband food parcels that no body asked where House got them from.

And it’s a bit like single player twister, when he finally hears House kick against the bunk beneath him, their particular not so complicated ‘all clear’ signal. Turning around in a way he can reach where he’d hidden his treasure. Another angle managed that wasn’t natural for his phone and earbuds. And then its simply turning the damn thing on, letting it boot. Getting everything plugged in and opening the file. And...

“Good mornin’, beautiful.”

Mouthed more than said, a warm little grin on his face. One that grows by fractions when she explains what this whole home movie is about. A documentary of Beth’s life when he’s not there? He’ll take it and with lots of than---Okay extra lots of thanks, because damn that view. He wasn’t expecting that. And he’ll never admit to the fact that he rewound it once...okay twice before letting the video play on unhindered. World can judge him if it likes but he’s been gone pushing 19 months now. He misses much more than just her bright personality.

The camera cuts in a slightly shaky manner and then its off to the proverbial races. Mass that makes him feel...alot guilty he lets that slip so much when he’s not home. And he makes a mental note to do better, while simultaneously knowing...he really won’t. Then breakfast for the homeless and handing out much needed supplies.Caroling and the cutest wee lass on Beth’s hip that makes long for other things, but swallows it down because that’s not really his decision. The thanks from the children has him all teeth smiling nose inches away from the screen as he is.

That only grows wider when it all changes up to Beth out to eat at her favorite cafe. (He recognizes the signage in the window.) Chattering on about how grateful she is everyone helped. How far that help is going to get those kids and most of the adults food in their stomachs and somewhere warm to sleep. And even though its only video he can see it can’t he? How happy she is. How she seems to glow with it. And between that and the way she’s framed by the snow lined window behind her--he maybe misses home just a little bit more than he did moments before.

He’ll have to find a way to share this bit with the lads, though artfully removing the last few seconds because they don’t need to be privy to just how Beth might choose to fulfill that promise. Because he knows they’ll be just as happy the ‘chitlins’, as Mason called them, got all the things they needed. And at least some of the things they wanted, because Gorilla had insisted and his kids had jumped all over the quest. Drug their school mates into it. Shown up at Beth’s church per Gorilla’s wife’s email with a Santa sized stash of toys for all the programs kids. Without a dime of the donated funds spent.

Then its a flurry of every day ordinary things. Dry cleaning, dropping off food for the engine gremlin. Coffee in the park with Jay. Where he reads far more into the wink she gives the camera than Beth ever would think too. Things like : Everything is set for Christmas morning. Everyone’s got their jobs. It’ll be perfect or I’ll kill them all. We got you, Jamba.

And from there it’s more...subdued. Clips of her filling out charts. Small breaks with coffee he can taste the Styrofoam cups from here. And maybe now and then a thumb subconsciously traces the lines of her face. Trying to wipe away the exhaustion. Forgetting his own in the wake of it. A small awkward sense in his stomach as a few of the nurses from that first Thanksgiving that had all but attempt to climb him like a tree, offered hellos and happy holidays.

Next came a few paused photos of some of the doctors. A few of which he can tell are smiling for the sake of well...a lot of things. Because he’s far more perceptive than Beth sometimes gives him credit for. So he’d flexed just enough to make it clear, she wasn’t up for dibs. Especially for slime bags like that. And that if they didn’t keep their hands to themselves he’d ruin their medical careers. Which had nothing to do with lawsuits.

A few more sped up clips of her making rounds. Talking with the other nurses. Coffee with one of the janitors that had missed their bus, and Beth had taken it upon her self to spend her break making sure they weren’t standing out in the cold alone. Something that again makes him miss home, miss her more than he had before he’d started this whole thing. So by the time the video is crawling towards its end, Beth curled up in her brother’s chair---there’s an aching want to be there. A need to pick her up and tuck her into bed. Settle up beside her and sleep until who cared in the afternoon. But he can’t. An---

Everything stop. The video. His breathing. His heart for a certifiable few beats. Why? Because had she just? No. No way that couldn’t have been what she said. And he’s backing the video up. Turning up the volume in his ear buds and Sweet Holy Mary...she did. She’d....said........it. And perhaps irrationally his ears burn as he backs it up and plays it again over and over. The blood in his veins heating to levels that might be embarrassing if anyone could notice. The glass like quality his gaze suddenly has and---

That. That right there was the best Christmas present she could have ever given him. The best...anything she could have given him. And he knows right then, middle of no where South which ever ocean sea they’re in now...he’ll never forget what it sounds like, or what it felt like to hear it. Second hand through a video or not. She’d said it and he wasn’t ever going to give it away. Except maybe to return it. But that would have to wait until Sunday. Radio silence as they were for the next few days. And there’s a heavy sigh in the quiet of the bunk space.

Sometimes...he really---disliked the hindrances that came with the responsibility.

#[post via mobile]#tw: holidays #tw: christmas #brooklynislandgirl #He Doesnt Know How Heaven Could Be Better Than Her || Beth and Luka #Traveling Soldier || Military AU [ Closed ]

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loadfinger140 · 3 years

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The Photo Stick On Amazon

1 December 2019 | Paul Butler

Lightning fast, one click software on a USB stick that finds and saves 3,500 average size photos and videos. Works on both Mac and Windows. ThePhotoStick 8 is a USB stick that contains the amazing software and storage that makes it easy to find all your photos and videos on your Mac or PC and easily save them to the USB stick. If your photos are already present on your pc or mac computer, this stick is the quickest and most efficient way to store some of your valuable photos for safekeeping. Apple MFi Certified 128GB Photo-Stick-for-iPhone-Storage iPhone-Memory iPhone USB for Photos iPhone USB Flash Drive Memory for iPad External iPhone Storage iPhone Thumb Drive for. The stick worked very well transfering the photos from my phone. But later putting the stick in my computer to check to make sure the photos were on the stick.

Summary: MemorySafeX is a small USB drive that instantly backs up all your video & photo files on your Computer, Smartphone or Tablet! It’s easy to use, and does all the hard, time-consuming work for you! External storage of MemorySafeX gives you 100% secure storage. You don’t have to pay a regular subscription as with most cloud storage plans. MemorySafeX works automatically, it connects directly to your device and backups all of your files.

People are storing more and more data of ever increasing importance on their smartphones. As the processing and storage capabilities of these devices increase, so does the need to protect that information. Do you need a solution to safeguard the photos, videos, and important documents you store on your device? Not convinced by cloud storage? There is a more simple and effective solution.

What Are We Talking About?

It’s a small flash drive called MemorySafeX. It automatically backups all of your photos and videos as soon as you plug it in your device. It has three different ports makingitcompatible with almost all devices PCs, Mac PCs, Android phones, Tablets, Iphones and Ipads.

How Does it Work?

Every person can use it easily and no technical skill required to backup your data in seconds. It doesn’t need any software or anything like that, it just connects and starts working. Instantly declutter photos, videos, screenshots, and documents with an automatic artificial intelligence system.

Just Plug your MemorySafeX device into your computer, smartphone or tablet.

Click “START BACKUP” and you are done.

Your important information and memories are protected and safe forever in this tiny device.

MemorySafeX uses advanced technology to scan all of your device valuable data (even hidden folders and files) and automatically backups all of your videos, photos, screenshots etc. When it finds a duplicate file it automatically keeps one copy of the duplucate to help you avoid scrolling the same exact photos over and over and also to save you space.

Watch this short video to see MemorySafeX in Action:

What Are the Main Benefits of MemorySafeX?

The easiest to use device for storing and organising multimedia files that connects directly to your device.

Compatible with numerous devices: iPhone 5, 5 S, 5 C, 6, 6 plus, 6 S, 6 S plus, 7, 7 Plus, 8, X. For iPad 4, Air, Mini, Mini 2.For Android: S3, Samsung, 4 and 5.For Note 2, 3 and 4. PCs and Mac PCs also supported.

Takes care of your and your family’s memories. Securely store the work files and documents you have on your phone.

The most simple and cheapest digital organising system on the market with huge 64GB storage capacity enough to store 65000 photos.

Our Conclusion – Buy It While it’s Still Available

We recommend ordering MemorySafeX while it is still available. It is the only safe solution available on the market to backup all of your precious photos and videos and keep these memories safe forever. After testing MemorySafeX with many devices (Macbooks, PCs, iPhones, iPads, Android phones and tablets) here are the Pros and Cons of this device:

Pros:

Easy to use – All backup process is automatic

Takes care of yours and your family’s memories and keeps them safe

64GB of Storage enough to store thousands of photos and videos

Compatible with most Devices: Android, iOS, Windows, macOS

Automatically detects and removes duplicates

How do I get MemorySafeX:

That’s easy, at the moment you can buy MemorySafeX 50% cheaper at the introductory price:

Order MemorySafeX from theofficial website.

Plug it in your device.

Click “START BACKUP”… and let the app do its magic – done!

ONE click does the trick! It doesn’t get any easier than that!

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Haxtun, 206 N. Colorado Ave, Colorado June 17 2020 (Wiredrelease), The Giddyup Group LLC, The Photo Stick Unbiased Review, Thephotostick Instantly Backup Your Photos Videos In One Click, PhotoStick offers a brilliant and convenient way of backing up photos and videos, quickly and efficiently. This Photostick Review will go over all the important facts about Thephotostick helping you to make a wise decision if this back device will be a good fit for your needs.

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What is The Photo Stick?

It wasnt long ago when we required a camera with us all the time to capture the precious moments in our life. Today, many of us have replaced traditional cameras with digital cameras or mobile phones. With films and reels to digitally photons, it is safe to say that cameras have come a long way. But there is one problem that we as consumers still face, misplacing, and losing our precious photos. So, isn’t it about time we change that? Photo Stick is a revolutionary device that helps you backup your photos, videos, and files with just a simple click. It is a small USB drive that you insert into your PC.

Photo Stick will protect your data from all the drive failures, PC Failures, Power outage and other unfortunate events. You don’t need to be tech-savvy to use Photo Stick. All you need to do is connect the device to your computer and then automatically Photo Stick will send the data into the cloud for backup.

Photo Stick is popular nowadays due to its compact size and fast backup speed, but it should be noted here that this review mentions the PC version. There is another one for the smartphone ones.

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How does The Photo Stick work?

Photo Stick is a really simple device, all you need to do is connect the device to your PC, and then it will automatically save all the data for backup. Photo Stick is programmed to immediately backup the images, videos and files as soon it is saved on the PC.

Photo Stick Pros Cons

Photo Stick is just like any other device that has its advantages and disadvantages. So lets see some pros and cons of the renowned device.

Pros

Compact and Handy The Photo Stick is a really small and handy tool, with a size of regular USB pen drive, you can use the device with your laptop while travelling.

Super fast Back-up Just plug the device to your laptop, and it will take the same amount of time for Photo Stick to back up your photos as it took you for reading this sentence.

Thousands of files that you can back-up Photo Stick comes in various variants of 8 GB, 64 GB and 128 GB where you can store more than 60,000 files.

Runs automatically Photo Stick doesnt ask for much attention, it’s a one time thing where it asks for setup and then it automatically does its job without any need of cross checking

Files just a click away In the sea of photos, videos and documents you can easily search for any file with just a click, thanks to the search option!

No twinning If by any mistake you back up the same file twice, Photo Stick will automatically delete one of the duplicated files.

User- Friendly Anyone can use the device as it is that easy to maneuver.

The Eclipse Foundation - home to a global community, the Eclipse IDE, Jakarta EE and over 375 open source projects, including runtimes, tools and frameworks. All downloads are provided under the terms and conditions of the Eclipse Foundation Software User Agreement unless otherwise specified. Eclipse Foundation About Us. Eclipse java 6. The part that needs to work in the the Java 6 version of your codebase, and; the other code that is specific to the Java 7 version. (This is likely to involve creating some Java interfaces with Java 6 and Java 7 specific implementation classes.) Put the Java 6 and Java 7 code into separate Eclipse Java projects. Java SE 6 Downloads Go to the Oracle Java Archive page. Thank you for downloading this release of the Java TM Platform, Standard Edition Development Kit (JDK TM). The JDK is a development environment for building applications, applets, and components using the Java programming language.

Worth the price If there is one thing that Photo Stick does absolute justice with is the price of it.

The Photo Stick On Amazon Tv

Click Here Get The Photo Stick For PC Mac At 40% Off From Official Site

Cons

With great features comes some bad reviews. Photo Stick is not a device like a perfect device like the wheel, but its still revolutionary. Here are some downfalls of the device

Difficult to get hands on Photo Stick is only available on the online platforms, and due to this reason it gets out of stock within a short period of time. Though the company is trying to increase production but this step will take a lot of time as the set up of factories and all other factors pitch in to hinder the production. At this moment getting a Photo Stick is a game of luck.

No 32 GB variant Photo Stick comes in three variants of 8 GB, 64 GB and 128 GB. These three variants are good but 16 GB variants are often the choice for many customers.

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The Benefits Photo Stick Offers

Photo Stick installation only requires inserting the drive into the computer, everything after that Photo Stick will handle. The whole process will take around 10-20 minutes, it actually depends on the amount of the files you have to transfer. There is no need of manually selecting the flies and saving it to the cloud, it will be done automatically by the device. With Photo Stick you can forget the command “ctrl+c” “ctrl+v”.

Photo Stick will also get rid of the duplicate files, so you dont have to search for the twin one and delete it manually. Once the file has been backed up, you can look into the file anywhere with any other PC.

Technical Specifications of The Photo Stick

The Photo Stick is compatible with all computer operating software systems. Photo Stick works in Windows 7, XP, as well as Windows ten and eight. Photo Stick will work in all these operative systems that feature a USB port.

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Reviews for the Photo Stick

The Photo Stick Mobile may be a tiny thumb drive that instantly backs up all of your videos images files from iPhone and most iOS devices. Its easy to use, and it will do all the lengthy and challenging work for you. After I connected the Photo Stick for my iPhone, all the photos automatically were picked and secured.

How To Use The Photo Stick

If you assume that Photo Stick works sort of like a regular flash drive would, you are mostly right. You will have to create positive that your pc is on and running before you inject the tool into one in all those pc ports. Itll mostly take many seconds before a window starts. This window can have a button within the centre with Go. Then it provides the tool permission to access your Winchester drive.

Photo Stick will take anyplace a moment or over 1 / 4 of the associate hour, and it will support whatever quantity of video and photos files youve on your pc, and therefore overall speed and power of your pc devices are standard as well.

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How Much will The Photo Stick Cost?

The best place to get a Photo Stick on the net is either from the official manufacturer or on the Amazon platform. Each site has some benefits for shoppers nowadays. Youll be able to read all about the market products and compare them. You will find a link to the official website within the Resources and, therefore, the more Reading section below—free choices area unit all on the market from this website. Youll realize some particular rating on the market too. The location typically runs deals that permit you to urge product for fewer or get an agreement after you furnish bulk.

Click Here to VISIT The Photo Stick Official Website for the BEST Price

Buying on Amazon is a beautiful alternative for people who need to save lots of cash. Once we checked out The Photo Stick in Dec of 2018, it sold-out on Amazon for $24.99 and had a $39.99 price. The official website listed this retail worth, however, had the merchandise on sale for $34.99. Despite that website you get this product from, youll have to be required to pay further for shipping, too, particularly if you would like it by a selected date. Photo Stick may be a comprehensive vacation gift plan and might sell out on-line round the holidays. You would probably realize that you simply can purchase one, but you will not compass until Jan or later. The Photo Stick comes in 3 variants. The value of the Photo Stick depends on memory. Current costs on Amazon units are given below

Photo Stick 8 GB $34.99

Photo Stick 64 GB $49.99

Photo Stick 128 GB $79.99

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Conclusion

If you are looking for that convenient and keen backup device, this is it. There are already plenty of Photo Stick reviews out there; however, I felt like I had to present my very own opinion and write my Photo Stick reviews. It provides it with a try; several the Photo Stick reviews are positive.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE PHOTO STICK AT 40% OFF From The Official Site =

FAQ

What Files will The Photo Stick we tend to find?

Have you ever uploaded photos from your phone to your pc and forgot to alter the file names before saving them? Most systems can assign a name to those photos that grasp numbers if you want to seek out a selected image later and cannot keep in mind the name connected or might have a tough time finding that image. Photo Stick reviews usually signify; however, well, this widget works on each picture and alternative styles of files. It completely works quickly. However, it will find any photos saved on your Winchester drive and make backups of these pictures.

The Photo Stick works best on JPEG files. As long as the pc saves those files during this format, youll be able to realize them. Itll work on data collected in MOV and MPEG4 formats. Youll be able to adapt the tool and appearance for alternative file varieties like PNG photos too. Many of the pictures you transfer from the net or those you take and edit might use this format. It will do an excellent job of memorizing those photos, too, that keeps it from making new backups of identical files.

How Many Photos are you able to Save?

The Photo Stick On Amazon Store

Many shoppers have a standard question concerning what number photos and alternative documents theyll keep a copy with the assistance of this device. The solution is that it depends on the model we tend to obtain. Amazon offers a very cheap model, which is a Photo Stick 8. This model provides 8 GB of storage that stores up to five hundred pictures. The Photo Stick 64 model has 64 GB of storage and should delay to 30,000 photos. We will know Photo Stick 128, which is the largest model on the market. It will hold 60,000 pictures and offers 128 GB of memory for storing.

= CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE PHOTO STICK OFFICIAL WEBSITE GET 40% OFF =

How to operate a Photo Stick?

The chances are good that even when reading regarding this coding tool that you simply still arent quite sure what to try to do with it. Once you take away the Stick from its packaging, youll see that its a tiny low cap on the highest. You would like to open this cover to reveal the USB stick that extends out from the tool. When finding a free port on your pc, merely insert the Stick into that port. Most computers can mechanically acknowledge the device and issue a window that allows you to run it.

If you do not see this window, you should open My pc and there you can use the USB icon. It ought to show that theres one thing within that port. Once you double-click thereon, the pc can authorize the Photo Stick code to run. If youve got a waterproof that wont run the Stick, youll seek for the USB possibility on your pc. You furthermore might have the choice of gaping your file manager and writing the extension name of the Stick into the box, which can force it to run. Once it finishes running, you can remove the Stick or transfer it prevented into you.

Why must you Get a PhotoStick?

Hard Drives mostly fails to identify. Mobile Phones fail all the time, one drop and youll lose all of your files. This tool doesnt need web affiliation further. It doesnt have something to try and do with the cloud, which makes it safe.

Money-Back Guarantee

The developers behind The Photo Stick know that some shoppers wont adore it as much as others do. If the product fails to satisfy your expectations, youll be able to request a refund from the corporate that produces it. If you provide a smart reason, then Photostick will grant refunds.

= Click here to visit THE PHOTO STICK Official Site Get 40% Discount =

Other Photostick Products

While Photo Stick 8 and other tools are excellent for users today, the company also makes some other gadgets and tools that you can use. One option is The Photo Stick mobile app. This is an app that works for your phone and with the associated gadget. Though this gadget looks similar to the classic Photostick, it does not come with the same USB end. The manufacturer knows that newer phones do not have space for a USB port and offers tools that will fit in the port that your phone has. It can backup thousands of pictures and gives you a safe place to store your files. You can download the Photo Stick for Android and iPhones.

The Photo Stick mobile reviews are quite positive and point out that it does an excellent job of backing up files found on most phones. You can pick from different sizes that include up to 64 GB of storage. All the Photo Stick mobile models are compatible with Android and Apple phones. There is also a device called The Photo Stick Plus, which looks like an external hard drive and comes with a USB plug. It has one terabyte of storage and can hold up to 100,000 photos or a great combination of videos and other files. The Plus model is more expensive than the standard model though and may have more space than you need.

Click Here To Get 40% Discount Available Only At ThePhotoStick Official Site

Alternatives for Photo Stick

If for a few reasons, you opt that either of that merchandise wont meet your desires, there are some excellent options out there. Whereas their square measure masses to decide on from, we tend to compile an inventory of the highest three, that well mention a lot of below. Youll even be ready to see a comparison chart that will allow you to see the options quickly and while not an excessive amount of reading.

SanDisk Cruzer 256GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive

The second variation is the SanDisk Cruzer 256GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive. This 256GB flash drive will hinder 14,400 photos, 640 minutes of video, 16,000 songs, and 64GB of files or documents. Its sufficiently small to hold anyplace, while not being therefore little that you simply act.

Its also encrypted with a 128-bit AES software system, that helps make sure that your files square measure safe. The coding conjointly comes with an additional layer of security, that could be a needed watchword to access data. SanDisk contains a two-year limited assurance that provides you lots of time to exchange if need be.

SanDisk iXpand Flash Drive 128GB

Alternative variety three is that the SanDisk iXpand Flash Drive 128GB. This USB flash drive could be a bit different than others as a result of its created specifically for iPhone and iPad devices. This implies you cant use it with golem phones or devices sort of a portable computer or PC. Additionally, the adapter contains a versatile half that produces it doable to figure with the bulk of iPhone cases. Best nation in war thunder.

With 128GB of cupboard space, youll expect to get 7,200 photos, 320 minutes of video, 8,000 songs, and 32GB of file area. If youve got an iPhone or iPad and want to transfer some files, this is often a fantastic choice

= VISIT PHOTOSTICK OFFICIAL WEBSITE GET 40% Discount With Free Shipping =

This content has been published by I. G Marketing company. The WiredRelease News Department was not involved in the creation of this content. For press release service enquiry, please reach us at [email protected].

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flightscopemevogolf · 3 years

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FlightScope Mevo+ Retractable Golf Simulator

The flightscope Mevo+, just like the SkyTrak offers a complete golf simulation experience. You can practice your game and play real courses. All of their radar technology will provide you with key information about your game, such as carry distance, key clubs data, and data points like angle of attack and club head speed. There are many similarities when comparing the SkyTrak launch track monitor to the Mevo Plus.

Because of the size and configuration required to operate their systems, they are best for indoor use. You can also purchase a bundle to get the digital projector, turf mat, and hitting net you need to create your home golf simulator.

The Flightscope Mevo, a beginner product with good features, may be worth considering. Although it is less advanced than the Mevo, this product can be used to provide golfers with valuable information about their game and flight data on the move at a fraction the cost.

It is important to note that the Skytrak and Mevo Plus launch monitors have similar features. These systems are very well built and have realistic golf courses. They also provide precise game improvement ball data to help improve your golf scores.

What is Mevo plus?

Mevo Plus provides accurate ball flight data. It shows you the path of your ball as well as a variety of parameters you can improve. Mevo Plus measures the ball speed, clubhead speed and smash factor. It also calculates carry distance, roll, total distance, and other parameters.

About HomeCourse Retractable screen:

The Homecourse pro retractable screen golf simulator screen makes an indoor driving range, or enclosure for golf simulators, with just a click. Your room then returns to its original state.

Retractable screens have a cleaner appearance and better image than any other options we could find. Your stealth elite retractable screen can be transformed into a complete golf simulator studio.

Pro-screen is a ballistic-grade projection screen that can withstand the impact from a real golfball. It is also surrounded by skynetting and pro-arm enclosures for safety.

You can pair it with or without simulator software, and it is a fraction of what you would pay for typical in-home golf simulator enclosures.

This product is a revolutionary tool that allows golfers of all abilities to practice, learn, and perfect their game in any indoor or outdoor space.

Golfers can transform any space into a practice area or simulator, then return it to its original state with a click of a button.

You will be so nervous about getting hit by the ball with uncontrolled bounceback that you will lose your ability to control it. Unique retractable screen enclosure for the golf simulator. The forum for golf simulators is where you can discuss brands, manufacturers, launch monitors, and retractable screens. Anyone else prefer a retractable net?

You can also buy static screens or complete golf simulator enclosures. You can purchase a golf simulator screen you can take to the field in style and enhance your game.

Although there are many cheap projectors on the market, we recommend this one. This screen is made from a ballistic-grade material and can withstand drives by the most serious hitters, using real golf balls every time. For protection against mishits, the unit is enclosed with pro-arm or skynetting enclosures.

This product is a revolutionary tool that allows golfers of all abilities to practice, learn, and perfect their game whenever they wish. Polyester is a commercial screen that can withstand a lot of use.

How accurate is FlightScope Mevo Plus?

Mevo Plus can be used to practice short games. It is accurate, and fun. My short game and practice should be fun. If it is, I will stick with it longer. If you make the practice fun and competitive with yourself, it's a good thing. Also, track your progress.

What is the cost of FlightScope?

Newsflash: FlightScope's Doppler radar tracking device, the Xi, is now available for as low as $2500

How long does the Mevo Plus battery last?

Yes. Yes. The battery lasts up to 2 hours with a full charge and 1.5 hours when playing simulator.

How do you charge FlightScope for Mevo?

To charge your Mevo, use the provided cable. Connect your Mevo to a USB socket or charger. Avoid noise interference. As far as possible, move electronic devices behind Mevo.

What size room is needed for Mevo plus?

For indoor use, we recommend that Mevo Plus users have a minimum of 16ft (4.9m), length x 10ft (3.05m), width x 10ft (3.05m), height. Although smaller rooms might allow you to swing and get shot information, you may have problems.

Is it worth purchasing a launch monitor?

You can improve your game by receiving a lot of feedback when you practice or play. You can also add a golf simulator setup on most launch monitors to help you practice all year round!

How can I connect my Mevo with WIFI?

Connecting Mevo with a local Wi-Fi Network 1. Make sure that both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are enabled on your mobile device.

2. Tap the Configure Mevo button at the bottom of the card.

3. Once you have successfully logged into Mevo Network Settings, you can choose your preferred Wi-Fi Network.

Is Mevo Plus compatible with E6 Connect?

For the ultimate gaming and entertainment, the versatile Mevo+ includes 5 E6 Connect golf courses as well as 17 Practice Ranges.

Is it possible to record Mevo without the Internet?

Although streaming is a Mevo feature, you can record even if you are not going live. A recording of a live stream will be saved to your microSD card. You can choose to delete it or keep it.

What's the difference between Mevo and Mevo Plus?

Both can provide great data and are reliable. However, they each have their own uses. Although the Mevo is small and mobile, it has limited data and video capabilities. The Mevo Plus is able to do everything, with twice the data, video and simulation. It also acts as a Wifi hotspot.

What software is included with Mevo Plus?

The FlightScope Mevo Golf App can be used to access the Mevo+. The FlightScope Golf app and FlightScope Skills apps can be used to access the Mevo+, as well as E6 Connect simulation software.

Is FlightScope Mevo compatible with Android?

The Mevo Golf app automatically captures video from your iPhone or Android phone and clips it between 1-5 seconds and 1-5 second after impact. This gives you the visual feedback that you want.

How can you use the Mevo App?

To enable webcam mode, connect your Mevo to a computer using USB. 1. 1.Log in to your preferred video conference platform.

2. Select Mevo Webcam to connect video.

3. Select Mevo Webcam Audio to connect audio.

4. Video chat.

#flightscopemevo #"flightscope mevo plus review

0 notes

flightscopemevoplus · 3 years

Text

FlightScope Mevo+ (Mevo plus) Retractable Golf Simulator Package

Just like the SkyTrak, the Mevo Plus offers a full golf simulation experience with the ability to practice on game improvement and the ability to play real golf courses. You will get all of the key information from their radar technology about your game such as carry distance, key club data and data points such as angle of attack, club head speed and ball speed. When comparing the SkyTrak launch monitor with the Mevo plus you will see many similarities between the two.

Due to the size and setup required for their systems they are intended more for indoor use than outdoor use. Not only that but if you choose to purchase a bundle then you can get the required digital projector, turf mat and hitting net which is needed to complete your own home golf simulator setup.

You may also want to consider the beginner product the Flightscope Mevo which has less features. This is more basic than the Mevo plus but can provide a solid platform for golfers to get key game improvement ball flight data about their game on the go at a fraction of the price.

When comparing the Skytrak vs Mevo Plus it is worth notice that both the Skytrak launch monitor and Mevo Plus launch monitor have very similar features. Both of these systems have good build quality, very realistic golf courses and provide accurate game improvement ball data for those looking to improve their golf scores.

What does Mevo plus measure?

Mevo Plus gives accurate ball flight data that shows you the flight path of your ball and a range of data parameters that you can use to improve. Mevo Plus measures ball speed, clubhead speed, smash factor, carry distance, roll and total distance.

Homecourse pro retractable golf simulator screen creates an indoor driving range or golf simulator enclosure at the click of a button, and when you're done, your room returns to its original.

The retractable screen gives a much cleaner look and image than other options that we saw in the marketplace. Turn your stealth elite retractable impact screen into a full golf simulator studio!

The pro-screen offers a ballistic grade projection screen designed to withstand the impact of a real golf ball and is surrounded by pro-arm and sky netting enclosures for safety.

It can be paired with or without simulator software and is available for a fraction of the cost of typical in-home golf simulator enclosures.

This revolutionary product offers golfers of all levels of play the ability to learn, train, practice or perfect their game anytime, in almost any space indoors or outdoors.

Within seconds golfers can turn virtually any space into a practice range or golf simulator environment, and then with the click of a button, return the area back to its original setting.

Uncontrolled bounceback will make you so wary of getting hit by the ball after impact that it will detriment your swing. A unique retractable golf simulator screen enclosure for home or office. Golf simulator forum is the center point for discussion on golf simulator products, brands, manufacturers, launch monitors and retractable screens, anyone use a retractable net instead?

Static screens and full golf simulator enclosures are also available. Purchase golf simulator screen that you can carry to the field with style and enhance your game.

There are a ton of cheap projectors around, but we would recommend. Made with a ballistic-grade material, this screen can handle drives from the heaviest hitters using real golf balls time and time again. The unit is surrounded by pro-arm and sky netting enclosures for protection from mishits.

This innovative product offers golfers of all levels the ability to learn, train, practice, or perfect their game anytime they want. If you want a commercial screen that can take a lot of play, go with the Polyester.

How accurate is FlightScope Mevo plus?

The Mevo Plus is capable of accurate and most importantly, fun short game practice. I always need to make my short game and putting practice fun because then I'll do it for longer. More practice is usually a good thing provided you take steps to make it competitive against yourself and track your progress.

How much does FlightScope cost?

Newsflash: FlightScope now offers a version of it's Doppler radar tracking system called the Xi that sells for just $2500!

How long does Mevo plus battery last?

Yes. The battery life is up to 2 hours on a full charge, and up to 1.5 hours in simulator play.

How do you charge FlightScope on Mevo?

Use the cable provided to charge your Mevo. Connect to a suitable USB socket or charger. Keep area clear of possible noise interference. Make sure to move electronic devices behind Mevo as far as practical.

How much room do I need for Mevo plus?

We recommend Mevo Plus users set up with an absolute minimum space of 16ft (4.9m) long x 10ft (3.05m) wide x 10 ft (3.05m) high for indoor use. Smaller and shorter rooms may allow you to swing and achieve shot information but you will encounter problems.

Is it worth buying a launch monitor?

Yes, the game improvement opportunities are endless with the amount of feedback that you will receive when practicing or playing. Plus the ability to add a golf simulator setup to most launch monitors helps you expand your seasons and practice 365 days a year!

How do I connect my Mevo to WIFI?

Connecting Mevo to a Local Wi-Fi Network or Router 1. First, make sure both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on your mobile device are enabled.

2. On the bottom right of the card, tap the Configure Mevo button.

3. Now that your in Mevo Network Settings you can select your desired Wi-Fi Network.

Does Mevo Plus come with E6 connect?

The versatile Mevo+ comes with 5 E6 Connect golf courses and 17 Practice Ranges for the ultimate gaming and entertainment experience.

Can you record Mevo without Internet?

Yes, while streaming is a feature of Mevo, it can also record without going live. If you decide to go live, a recording will automatically save to the microSD card, which you will have the option to keep or erase when your stream has ended.

What is the difference between Mevo and Mevo plus?

They can both give you great data, are very accurate, and reliable, they have different overall uses. The Mevo is awesome for it's size and mobility, but it's limited to data and video. The Mevo Plus can do it all, twice the data, video, simulation, acts as a Wifi hotspot, it's really the entire package.

What software comes with Mevo plus?

The Mevo is available with the FlightScope Mevo Golf app. The Mevo+ is available with the FlightScope Golf app, FlightScope Skills app, and E6 Connect simulation software.

Does FlightScope Mevo work with Android?

Via your iPhone or Android phone, the Mevo Golf app automatically captures video and clips it 1-5 seconds before impact and 1-5 seconds after, giving you just the right amount of visual feedback you need.

How do you use the Mevo app?

Connect your Mevo to a computer via USB and use the mobile Mevo Camera App to enable Webcam Mode. 1. Log into your preferred video conferencing platform.

2. Connect video by selecting Mevo Webcam.

3. Connect audio by selecting Mevo Webcam Audio.

4. Start your video chat.

#flightscope mevo

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aaron-rutten · 4 years

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Top 9 Best Drawing Tablets 2020

#1. Cintiq 27QHD Touch

#2. Cintiq Pro 24 & 32

#3. MobileStudio Pro 13 & 16 (2nd Gen.)

#4. Cintiq Pro 13 & 16

#5. Cintiq 16 & 22

#6. Wacom One 13

#7. Intuos Pro (Medium or Large) (2nd Gen.)

#8. Intuos (Medium)

#9. One by Wacom (Medium)

Affiliate links in this review earn revenue that allows me to continue creating content for digital artists. This review is not sponsored, but Wacom did send me some of these tablets unconditionally to review. All opinions in this review are my own.

Top 9 Best Drawing Tablets 2020

There are a lot of drawing tablets out there, but which one is right for you? I've made that decision as easy as possible by creating a list of the top 9 drawing tablets to buy in 2020. OK, so I know we are not very far into 2020, but a lot of these tablets were released in 2018 and 2019, so we may not see another version of these in 2020.

#9. One by Wacom (Medium Version) - $97.59

The One is about as basic as it gets for drawing tablets. It lacks many of the advanced features of the other tablets in this list, but it includes all of the essentials you need to make digital art. There's a pressure sensitive pen with over 2,000 pressure levels that you can use to draw on the tablet. The tablet surface has an active drawing area of 8.5 x 5.3 inches.

There is a smaller version of the One by Wacom, but I don't recommend purchasing a small tablet if you are going to be using it primarily for drawing or painting. A small tablet is OK for small gestures like you would use for photo editing or annotation, but it's much more comfortable to draw on a larger surface with larger gestures if you can.

Even though the One by Wacom is one of Wacom's most affordable tablets, it still offers the same top-notch drawing experience as the more expensive tablets that we'll look at in a bit. The One By Wacom does not offer a display that you can draw onto. Instead, you have to draw on the tablet which connects via USB to your computer and then you look at what you're drawing on your computer monitor.

#8. Wacom Intuos 2019 (Medium Version) - $199.93

The Intuos has an identical active drawing area to the One By Wacom, but it offers a few additional features such as 4,000 pen pressure levels, 4 handy express keys which can be programmed to perform shortcuts, and there is an option for connecting the tablet to your computer wirelessly with Bluetooth.

You can even connect the Intuos to select Android devices to draw on your phone using a portion of your drawing tablet surface. It also comes with bundled software that you can use for making art and editing photos. The Intuos is twice as expensive as the One by Wacom, so you'll have to weigh whether the express keys and additional pressure levels are worth it. I'll share my opinion on that near the end of this review.

#7. Wacom Intuos Pro 2nd Gen (Medium $301.99 or Large Version $499.93)

This is the Pro version of the Intuos with top-of-the-line features and specs. At 8.7 x 5.8 inches, the Medium Intuos Pro is only slightly larger than the regular Intuos Medium, but the Large Intuos Pro has a whopping active drawing area of 12.1 x 8.4 inches.

Because it's Pro, it's obviously more professional. It supports Wacom's best pen, the Pro Pen 2 which has over 8,000 pressure levels and can support pen tilt which gives you more control over the shape of your brush. If you're drawing with a pencil, you can use tilt to angle your pencil to shade with the side of it. The Intuos Pro also supports other types of pro pens like the Wacom Art Pen which can sense barrel rotation. Pen tilt and rotation make a huge difference if you're a pro illustrator. It just feels so much more natural to draw and paint with these features. The Intuos Pro has a rougher surface compared to the smoother surface of the Intuos and One by Wacom. I personally prefer a surface with a bit of friction because it feels closer to drawing on paper, but it's not for everyone. Fortunately, you can also change the feel of the pen and the surface with optional nibs and surface textures.

The Intuos Pro also offers 8 express keys and a touch wheel. Plus it supports touch gestures which can be used to pan and rotate your page, and zoom in and out. The Intuos Pro can be connected with USB or Bluetooth.

This is the end of the line for tablets without a display. From here on out, these tablets will all have built-in displays that you can draw directly onto.

#6. Wacom One - $399

One? Wait, didn't we already do this? OK, so Wacom likes to reuse names. This is the Wacom One, not to be confused with the One by Wacom. The Wacom One was released in 2020 and it's a tablet with a built-in display you can draw directly onto. While there are advantages to drawing on a display, it's not essential. To be honest, you can make the same quality art on the One By Wacom which doesn't have a screen. So don't feel like you need the most expensive tablet to be successful at digital art.

Now, I ranked the Wacom One a bit higher than the Intuos Pro because I believe most artists are going to feel more comfortable drawing directly on a screen. Although in many ways, the Wacom One is a downgrade from the Intuos Pro with only 4,000 pen pressure levels and a pen that more closely resembles the basic pen that comes with the non-Pro Intuos. And oddly enough, the Wacom One's pen only has one shortcut button while the entry-level One By Wacom's pen has two buttons. It is actually useful to have two buttons on your pen, so that might be reason enough to go with the Intuos Pro. At least the Wacom One's pen supports pen tilt which makes it stand out from the pens included with the Intuos and One By Wacom.

The Wacom One has an active drawing area of 11.6 x 6.5 in which is considerably larger than the Intuos Pro Medium, but only a bit narrower than the Intuos Pro Large and not as tall. Because of this taller aspect ratio, the Large Intuos Pro lends itself better to large gesture drawing. Another notable difference is that because the Wacom One is a display tablet, you will need to connect it to your device with a video cable in addition to the USB cable needed to transmit data. In contrast, the Intuos Pro can be connected wirelessly with Bluetooth.

Much like the Intuos Pro, the Wacom One supports additional pens, but only specific EMR pens and unfortunately not any of Wacom's Pro Pens. One feature that sets the Wacom One apart from the other tablets in this list is its ability to seamlessly connect to select Android devices to allow you to draw and paint with your phone instead of a desktop or laptop. Now I know I said the Intuos can connect to Android as well, but it doesn't do it nearly as well as the Wacom One does. While the Intuos only maps a portion of the tablet to your device's screen, the Wacom One can open your phone full-screen in desktop mode.

While you can do basic digital painting and drawing, making art on Android is not quite as robust as the experience you'd get by drawing on a Windows or Mac computer. That's not to mention that the Wacom One does not support touch while most Android art apps are built for touch devices. But I do believe that mobile apps are soon going to adapt to accommodate display tablets. And despite those drawbacks, drawing with the Wacom One is light years away from drawing with stylus or a finger. So it might be worth it to choose the Wacom One over the Intuos Pro depending on your needs.

I think if you lean toward pro, you probably want the Intuos Pro since it offers a better pen, a larger gesture space and multi-touch. But if you're more of a beginner or hobbyist, then get the display tablet, it's going to feel so much more natural to draw on.

#5. Wacom Cintiq 16 ($649.95) & Cintiq 22 ($1,199.93)

These are essentially the same tablet, just in different sizes. Aside from the difference in size, the most notable distinction is that the Cintiq 22 comes with a stand, whereas the Cintiq 16 has fold-out legs with an optional stand that must be purchased separately. Both sizes of this tablet are great, but as you know I prefer a larger drawing surface, so clearly I think you should choose the 22 if you can afford it.

If you're trying to choose between the Cintiq 16 or the Wacom One, then if you lean pro, go with the Cintiq 16 because it comes with the more comfortable Pro Pen 2 with twice as many pressure levels, two pen buttons and an eraser; it supports Wacom's other pro pens and it has an optional adjustable stand which I definitely recommend if you want to work at a more vertical angle. As with the Wacom One, the Cintiqs require an HDMI video connection to a Mac or Windows computer.

If you're more of a beginner or hobbyist and the pro-level features don't matter to you, choose the Wacom One. And if portability is a concern, the Wacom One does have an advantage by being more low-profile than the Cintiqs which are much bulkier.

Now here's where we start to transition to tablets that are more for professional use. These tablets offer features that are probably only going to matter to artists who make art for a living. -- Features like screen resolution and color accuracy. Even if these models are out of your price range, I think it's still helpful to see what they offer to get a better idea of what you should expect from a more affordable tablet. I'll be sharing some advice on how many pressure levels you need, and you might be surprised at my number one choice so read on.

#4. Wacom Cintiq Pro 13 ($699.99) & Cintiq Pro 16 ($1,499.93)

As with the Pro and non-Pro models of the Intuos, we have a full-featured model and its stripped-down counterpart. The Cintiq Pro 13 is only a bit more expensive than the non-pro Cintiq 16. Both devices have a screen resolution of 1920 x 1080 and both support the Wacom Pro Pen 2 along with other types of pens. But the Cintiq Pro 13 supports multi-touch, and it has better color accuracy at 87% of Adobe RGB compared to the Cintiq 16 and 22 which only support about 70% of Adobe RGB.

The Pro models of the Cintiq also offer 3 USB-C ports on the side which can be used to connect the display to other devices. There's also a headphone jack and security lock slot. And the Pro Cintiqs offer more video connections such as USB-C, Mini Display Port, or HDMI. Gone are the express keys on the exterior of the device. And instead there is an optional Express Key Remote you can purchase which gives you a touch wheel and 17 programmable keys. But you can also pop up on-screen keys with any of the tablets on this list, so you might not need express keys. Personally, I just prefer to use my keyboard, so I can live without them.

As with the Wacom One, there are legs that fold out to provide a 20 degree angle to draw on. But you have the option of purchasing the optional stand that can be adjusted to provide more angles. The stand can make a difference in terms of comfort if you are working on your tablet for long periods of time. The stand is more sturdy on the Cintiq 16 and 22 and attaches more securely, but that also makes the device less portable and more bulky. The Cintiq Pro feels more like a tablet computer while the regular Cintiq is built more like a TV.

The Cintiq Pro 16 is slightly better equipped than the Cintiq Pro 13 with even more accurate color at 94% of Adobe RGB. It also supports Ultra-HD screen resolution which means you can see more detail when you are drawing. If you do a lot of fine line work and you want to be able to see maximum detail when zooming out on your canvas, then having a high-resolution screen is nice. However, 1920x1080 is adequate for digital illustration and anything above that is more of a luxury than a necessity. So basically unless you care about color accuracy and the other Pro features, you could get by just fine with one of the non-Pro Cintiqs.

#3. Wacom MobileStudio Pro 13 ($2,599.95) & 16 ($3,400.95) 2nd Gen.

The MobileStudio Pro is essentially a Cintiq Pro that is squished down into a tablet computer. Unlike the other display tablets in my list, the MobileStudio Pro is the only model that does not require a connection to a separate device like a laptop, desktop or Android device. The MobileStudio 13 & 16 run Windows 10 and that means they can run any application that is supported by Windows. Not light versions of desktop apps, not mobile apps -- we're talking the full version of Photoshop here. The MobileStudio Pro is also battery-powered, which makes it perfect for artists who like to work outside the studio. I absolutely love it for painting outdoors or while traveling.

The MSP13 has a WQHD screen resolution which is better than the 1920x1080 supported by the Wacom One, Cintiq 16 & 22 and Cintiq Pro 13, but not as crisp as the UHD resolution supported by the Cintiq Pro 16. The MobileStudio Pro 16 does support UHD resolution, but it offers less accurate color at 85% Adobe RGB compared to the Cintiq Pro 16 which provides 94% of Adobe RGB. The MSP13 offers even less color accuracy with only 82% Adobe RGB coverage.

Just like the Pro Cintiqs, the MobileStudio Pro is equipped with USB-C ports and can also be connected as a regular Cintiq to a Windows or Mac computer. And look, the express keys are back. Similar in design to the Intuos Pro, the MobileStudio Pro has either 6 or 8 express keys and a touch wheel. One feature that sets the MobileStudio Pro apart from other tablets is that it can sense screen rotation. You can use this to change the angle of dripping paint on your canvas.

While the convenience and portability of the MobileStudio Pro is nice, its hardware will eventually become outdated. You can upgrade the RAM and SSD on the MobileStudio Pro , but that won't delay it's obsolescence very long. Another downside is that the MobileStudio Pro uses mobile processors which prefer power saving over performance. A powerful desktop is going to provide the snappiest performance and if that's what you're used to, then the MobileStudio Pro might feel a little sluggish in comparison. You're trading performance for portability, so if you don't need to make your studio mobile, then save some money and get the Cintiq Pro 16 and a nice computer or check out what's coming up next...

#2. Wacom Cintiq Pro 24 ($1,999.99) & Cintiq Pro 32 ($3,299.95)

Given its ability to harness the power of your desktop, the Cintiq Pros offer the best tablet experience money can buy. The extra-large active drawing areas of the Cintiq Pro 24 and Cintiq Pro 32 give you plenty of room for your application interface while keeping your canvas large enough so that you can make very large gestures while drawing or painting. If you are a pro illustrator then this is what you want if money is no object. It feels great to be able to work on a large image on a large screen and see every detail without having to zoom in. And if you do need to zoom, pan or rotate, the Cintiq Pro 24 and 32 supports multi-touch. Both devices also support the Pro Pen 2 and UHD screen resolution. The color gamut accuracy on the Cintiq Pro 24 is 99% Adobe RGB which is very accurate color. The Cintiq Pro 32 offers 98% Adobe RGB coverage, but 1% is not a significant difference. In either case, these are the largest and most accurate display tablets that Wacom has to offer.

The Cintiq Pro 24 & 32 have the added bonus of an included Express Key Remote which magnetically attaches to the bezel. They also have folding legs like the smaller Cintiq Pros with only one angle. However, you can buy a couple of different stands. There is the official Wacom Ergo Stand and then there's the Wacom-branded Ergo Flex Ergortron arm. I prefer the arm, but both stands are great. I'd say a stand is essential for either of these tablets because they are so large.

In terms of portability, these are some pretty beefy devices. They require a lot of desk space and they aren't easy or convenient to lug around. Technically, these are portable in the sense that there is an optional computer module you can add to the Cintiq Pro 24 and 32 called the Cintiq Pro Engine which will allow you to turn your Cintiq Pro into a fully functional computer. But it's not as portable as the self-powered MobileStudio Pro would be because you'd have to lug around a large Cintiq, plus find outlets to power the devices.

These tablets are overkill for a beginner or hobbyist. If you just want a big screen to draw on, you might be comfortable with a Cintiq 22 since it includes the stand and does basically the same thing as the Cintiq Pro. The Cintiq Pro 24 and 32 are the pinnacle of digital art tools. Or are they? Well we are still at #2, so I guess not...

My main gripes about the Cintiq Pro 24 and 32 are the size and the fan noise. Now, I know you're saying: "But, Aaron, you just told me that a larger tablet was better." I'll come back to the size issue.

Fan noise many not be much of an issue for you, but I record audio and video of my drawings, so I don't need any unnecessary noise ruining my magnificent voice overs. The Cintiq 24 and 32 have external fans that come on intermittently and aren't super loud, but are loud enough to bother me. If that's just how it had to be then I would accept the fan noise, but because I've used other devices that aren't as noisy, I know that's not the case.

Now to be fair, Wacom did put out a firmware patch that allows you to lower the fan speed, but it's not recommended. And, according to Wacom, it can create "a temperature increase on the surface of the tablet" I don't know whether or not this warning is meant to prevent sweaty palms, or if it's to stop users from unnecessarily decreasing the lifespan of their device, but I do know there's a reason why the Cintiq Pros need to cool off and it's probably best not to mess with that.

#1. Wacom Cintiq 27 QHD Touch

This is probably a surprise to some of you, but I actually like the Cintiq 27 QHD slightly better than the newer Cintiq Pro 24 or 32. Sure I like that the Cintiq Pro has a better screen with a higher resolution and is compatible with USB-C, but I'm frickin' Goldilocks and I just think the 24 feels too small and the 32 is too massive. Yes, there is such a thing as too big.

27 feels right to me, and I can live with QHD resolution and only 2,000 pressure levels. I created a lot of my early work with only 1,000 pressure levels, so I know it's not a factor that is going to hold anyone back. Some goes for screen resolution, as I mentioned earlier, 1080 HD is an adequate screen resolution and you can make great art with just that. Remember the One By Wacom that came in at #9? -- That has the same pressure levels as my high-end Cintiq 27 QHD. So higher pressure levels can be an advantage in some cases, but for the most part, it's just a number.

I do wish I had USB-C ports on my Cintiq 27 QHD, but at least it has 4 USB-A ports I can use to connect peripherals. The Cintiq 27 QHD includes the Express Key Remote which can magnetically dock to the bezel. And it requires one USB-A connection for data and a video connection through either HDMI or DisplayPort, so it's not as elegant of a connection as the single USB-C cable you can use to connect the Cintiq Pros, but that's OK with me.

In terms of color accuracy, the Cintiq 27 QHD supports 97% of Adobe RGB which is only a hair less than the Cintiq Pro 24 & 32. And best of all, there are no noisy fans on the Cintiq 27 QHD like you'll find on the Cintiq 24 & 32. Just like the Cintiq Pros, an optional stand is not only available, but I'm also insisting that you need the stand in order to work comfortably. There is a similar official Wacom Ergo Stand, but without support for screen rotation. Or you can purchase an inexpensive VESA adapter and connect an Ergotron Arm which does support screen rotation.

I'd say if you can find a used Cintiq 27 QHD Touch in working condition, snatch it up. Even the non-touch version would be great if you don't think you need touch. I'd love to see Wacom release a 27 inch Cintiq Pro, but until that happens, the Cintiq 27 QHD is my top pick for drawing tablets in 2020.

CONCLUSION

So that's my list of the Top 9 Drawing Tablets to buy in 2020. If you'd to see in-depth reviews of these tablets, subscribe to my YouTube channel and check out my review playlists. And for a list of my recommended tablets and accessories, visit my store at kit.co/aaronrutten

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#drawing tablet #best drawing tablets #drawing tablet review #top drawing tablets #digital art #digital painting

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magzoso-tech · 4 years

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New Post has been published on https://magzoso.com/tech/macbook-pro-16-inch-review-the-ultimate-apple-laptop/

MacBook Pro 16-Inch Review: The Ultimate Apple Laptop

It’s built for power, and it shows.

December 18, 2019 9 min read

This story originally appeared on Engadget

Talk to any true Apple fan and they’ll tell you the last great MacBook Pro was the 15-inch model from mid-2015. It had a wide array of ports, a great keyboard and an SD card slot. There was no butterfly keyboard or Touch Bar to deal with. As the former Tumblr developer Marco Arment put it, “It’s designed for us, rather than asking us to adapt ourselves to it.”

Pros

Powerful Intel CPU and AMD GPU

Excellent new keyboard

Gorgeous 16-inch Retina Display

Best-in-class speakers and mic

Relatively low starting price

Cons

Still only four USB-C ports

No SD card reader

Upgrades can get expensive quickly

Summary

Apple’s 16-inch MacBook Pro is basically every creative’s dream machine, with a ton of power and a vastly improved keyboard. The larger screen makes it more useful than the 15-inch model it replaces, and it even has decent battery life for a workstation.

The 16-inch MacBook Pro is the closest Apple has come to recreating the glory of that machine. It’s incredibly powerful, and the company finally listened to complaints about its shallow butterfly keyboards and equipped this model with more-traditional scissor-switch keys. While it doesn’t address every pro-user issue — you’re still limited to four USB-C ports and there are no card slots — it’s hands down the best MacBook Pro available today for creatives.

Let’s get the obvious differences out of the way first: Its 16-inch screen is noticeably larger. Like many PC makers, Apple managed to fit a larger display into a similarly sized case by shaving down the bezels around the sides and top. The result is a gloriously immersive, 500-nit Retina Display that can finally compete with Dell’s Infinity Edge screens. It’s a legitimate step up from the previous model, and a reminder of the glory days of Apple’s 17-inch notebooks.

Look at those taller keys.

Image credit: Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

Then there’s the new Magic Keyboard — which feels more like a miracle keyboard. Mac users have been complaining about the flat Butterfly keyboards ever since they debuted. While Apple eventually fixed some sound and reliability issues, they never felt great to type on. It always felt like pretend typing on a pane of glass — it’s not satisfying and barely functional. The Magic Keyboard fixes that issue by going back to the scissor mechanism Apple has been using in its desktop keyboards for years. There’s a millimeter of key travel now, and they aren’t wobbly like they used to be on older MacBook Pros. In comparison, the Butterfly keyboards had a mere half millimeter of travel, and Dell’s XPS 15 offers a slightly deeper 1.3 millimeters.

I’ve almost forgotten what it was like to enjoy typing on a MacBook Pro, but this new keyboard brought me back to my early days of writing on a second-gen MacBook Air. There’s a responsiveness that makes the keyboard feel inviting, like it’s a world-class instrument waiting to be played. That millimeter of feedback practically makes the notebook feel like an extension of my body instead of a tool that annoys me every time I touch it. Even butterfly keyboard defenders will have a hard time denying that the Magic Keyboard simply feels better, and it can’t reach other MacBooks soon enough.

Apple even compromised a bit with the Touch Bar: The physical Escape key is back! And there’s a separate TouchID and power button, which makes it easier to find without looking. I’m still not completely sold on the Touch Bar’s usefulness, but at least it feels like less of a hindrance to my workflow.

The 16-inch MacBook Pro is a bit taller and wider than the 15-inch model by a few millimeters, and it’s marginally thicker at .64 inches instead of 0.61. It’s heftier too at 4.3 pounds instead of around four. It definitely weighed down my backpack more, and its slightly larger dimensions make it a bit of a chore to fit on cramped coffee shop tables. But I think the trade-offs are worth it for the sheer power Apple managed to stuff into this machine. It would have been nice to see more of a design refresh, but Apple’s unibody aluminum case looks as sleek as ever, so I can’t complain much.

Under the hood, you have Intel’s latest six- and eight-core i7 and i9 processors, the latter of which can reach boost speeds up to 5GHz. You can also choose between AMD’s Radeon Pro 5300M and 5500M GPUs with 4GB of VRAM. That more-powerful GPU can even be configured with eight gigabytes of VRAM for heavy-duty 3D-rendering work. Apple claims the 5,300M graphics are 2.1 times faster than the 15-inch MacBook Pro’s, and that makes sense since it’s powered by AMD’s new rDNA architecture.

Apple is breaking new ground for memory and storage in the MacBook Pro as well, with support for up to 64GB of DDR4 RAM and eight terabytes of fast SSD storage. Notably, Apple says this is the largest SSD ever in a notebook, and we haven’t found any evidence out there to prove otherwise. These are fantastic high-end specs for programmers and artists alike. It used to be that you had to settle with a small SSD in a modern laptop and carry around a portable drive for larger files. The 16-inch MacBook Pro gives you the sort of storage flexibility you’d expect from a desktop workstation.

Of course, you’ll pay dearly for maxing out those specs. Bumping up to 64GB of RAM is an additional $800 while the 8TB of storage is an eye-watering $2,200 extra. These aren’t upgrades meant for average users, but I’d bet huge VFX firms wouldn’t think twice about spending $5,899 for a decked-out MacBook Pro to speed up their workflows.

Our review unit, which featured an eight-core i9 CPU and AMD Radeon Pro 5500M graphics, tore through whatever I put in front of it. It’s clearly more than I needed for my typical workflow, which mostly involves juggling a ton of browsers, light image editing, Evernote, Slack and Spotify. When I gave it a serious job, like transcoding a 4K movie clip, it leaped into action. HandBrake handled a two-minute clip in just 52 seconds, whereas it took the new 15-inch Surface Laptop 3 a full minute longer. In the Geekbench 4 Compute benchmark, the new Radeon Pro GPU also scored twice as much as the last-gen AMD hardware. Simply put, this thing screams.

As I was benchmarking the 16-inch MacBook Pro, it never felt hot to the touch, and while the fans were noticeable when they spun it, they weren’t annoyingly loud. As part of the notebook’s revamped cooling setup, the fans can now push out 28 percent more air than before, and the heat sink covers 35 percent more internal space. All of those improvements and the slightly larger case mean the new MacBook Pro should be able to withstand heat better than any of Apple’s previous notebooks.

Apple also made a slew of other compelling upgrades to the 16-inch MacBook Pro. A new six-speaker setup makes music and movies sound great. It’s no replacement for dedicated speakers, but it’s impressive for something coming out of a very thin laptop. There’s also a three-microphone array that Apple is putting against standalone mics like the Blue Yeti. That’s definitely going a bit too far, but recordings I’ve made sound good… for a laptop mic at least. And there’s very little background hiss. It’s more useful for video chats and shouting at Siri, since pro users tend to be pretty religious about their preferred mics.

Unfortunately, you’re still stuck with four Thunderbolt 3 USB-C ports for connectivity. It’d be nice to see Apple bring back an SD card reader, but unlike the keyboard, that’s one area where the company is refusing to back down. At least USB-C dongles and accessories are cheaper and better these days, but I’ve talked to plenty of pro Apple users who still pine for the flexibility of that 2015 MacBook pro.

The new 100-watt-per-hour battery also lived up to Apple’s marketing hype. The company claims it’ll last up to 11 hours — during our battery test it survived for 11 hours and 20 minutes. Of course, we were just looping an HD video, so you can expect it to drain faster under heavy-duty workloads. Apple includes a new 96-watt USB-C power adapter in the box — the beefiest we’ve ever seen on a MacBook Pro. It’s only a bit larger than the 15-inch notebook’s adapter.

Surprisingly, Apple is keeping the 16-inch MacBook Pro at the same $2,399 starting price. That’s a pretty great deal for all the upgrades you get. Shell out $2,799 and you can step up to the Core i9 model with the best Radeon Pro graphics. That’s not too pricey for this category, though you can get that same processor and decent NVIDIA graphics on the XPS 15 for $2,350. It’s no surprise that a Windows PC is cheaper — what’s important is that Apple once again has a compelling high-end notebook to keep frustrated Mac users from jumping over to Windows.

The 16-inch MacBook Pro is the closest Apple has come to crafting the ultimate notebook. It’s exactly the upgrade Mac fans have been waiting for, even though it might not have all the ports they want. It’s so fast that I don’t think the Mac faithful will mind carrying around an SD card reader.

#Miscellaneous

0 notes

satelitebox-blog · 4 years

Text

MacBook Pro 16-inch review: The ultimate Apple laptop

Pros Powerful Intel CPU and AMD GPU Excellent new keyboard Gorgeous 16-inch Retina Display Best-in-class speakers and mic Relatively low starting price Cons Still only four USB-C ports No SD card reader Upgrades can get expensive quickly Summary Apple’s 16-inch MacBook Pro is basically every creative’s dream machine, with a ton of power and a vastly improved keyboard. The larger screen makes it more useful than the 15-inch model it replaces, and it even has decent battery life for a workstation. The 16-inch MacBook Pro is the closest Apple has come to recreating the glory of that machine. It's incredibly powerful, and the company finally listened to complaints about its shallow butterfly keyboards and equipped this model with more traditional scissor switch keys. While it doesn't address every pro-user issue -- you're still limited to four USB-C ports and there are no card slots -- it's hands down the best MacBook Pro available today for creatives.

Let's get the obvious differences out of the way first: its 16 inch screen is noticeably larger. Like many PC makers, Apple managed to fit a larger display into a similarly sized case by shaving down the bezels around the side and top. The result is a gloriously immersive, 500-nit Retina Display that can finally compete with Dell's Infinity Edge screens. It's a legitimate step up from the previous model, and a reminder of the glory days of Apple's 17-inch notebooks. And then there's the new Magic Keyboard -- which feels more like a miracle keyboard. Mac users have been complaining about the flat Butterfly keyboards ever since they debuted. And, while Apple eventually fixed some sound and reliability issues, they never felt great to type on. It always felt like pretend typing on a pane of glass -- it's not satisfying, and barely functional. The Magic Keyboard fixes that issue by going back to the scissor mechanism Apple has been using in its desktop keyboards for years. There's a millimeter of key travel now, and they aren't wobbly like they used to be on older MacBook Pros. In comparison, the Butterfly keyboards had a mere half-millimeter of travel, and Dell's XPS 15 offer a slightly deeper 1.3 millimeters.

I've almost forgotten what it was like to enjoy typing on a MacBook Pro, but this new keyboard brought me right back to my early days of writing on a second-gen MacBook Air. There's a responsiveness that makes the keyboard feel inviting, like it's a world-class instrument waiting to be played. That millimeter of feedback practically makes the notebook feel like an extension of my body, instead of a tool that annoys me every time I touch it. Even butterfly keyboard defenders will have a hard time denying that the Magic Keyboard simply feels better, and it can't reach other MacBooks soon enough. Apple even compromised a bit with the Touch Bar: the physical Escape key is back! And there's a separate TouchID and power button, which makes it easier to find without looking. I'm still not completely sold on the Touch Bar's usefulness, but at least it feels like less of a hindrance to my workflow.

The 16-inch MacBook Pro is a bit taller and wider than the 15-inch model by a few millimeters, and it's marginally thicker at .64-inches, instead of 0.61. It's heftier too at 4.3 pounds, instead of around 4. It definitely weighed down my backpack more, and it's slightly larger dimensions make it a bit of a chore to fit on cramped coffee shop tables. But I think the trade offs are worth it for the sheer power Apple managed to stuff into this machine. It would have been nice to see more of a design refresh, but Apple's unibody aluminum case looks as sleek as ever, so I can't really complain much. Under the hood, you've got Intel's latest six and eight core i7 and i9 processors, the latter of which can reach boost speeds up to 5GHz. You can also choose between AMD's Radeon Pro 5300M and 5500M GPUs with 4GB of VRAM. That more powerful GPU can even be configured with 8GB of VRAM for heavy-duty 3D rendering work. Apple claims the 5300M graphics are 2.1 times faster than the 15-inch MacBook Pro, and that makes sense since it's powered by AMD's new rDNA architecture.

Apple is breaking new ground for memory and storage in the MacBook Pro as well, with support for up to 64GB of DDR4 RAM and 8 terabytes of fast SSD storage. Notably, Apple says this is the largest SSD ever in a notebook, and we haven't found any evidence out there to prove otherwise. These are fantastic high-end specs for programmers and artists alike. It used to be that you had to settle with a small SSD in a modern laptop and carry around a portable drive for larger files. The 16-inch MacBook Pro gives you the sort of storage flexibility you'd expect from a desktop workstation. Of course, you'll pay dearly for maxing out those specs. Bumping up to 64GB of RAM is an additional $800, while the 8TB of storage is an eye-watering $2,200 extra. These aren't really upgrades meant for average users, but I'd bet huge VFX firms wouldn't think twice about spending $5,899 for a decked out MacBook Pro to speed up their workflows.

Our review unit, which featured an eight-core i9 CPU and AMD Radeon Pro 5500M graphics, tore through whatever I put in front of it. It's clearly more than I needed for my typical workflow, which mostly involves juggling a ton of browsers, light image editing, Evernote, Slack and Spotify. When I gave it a serious job, like transcoding a 4K movie clip, it leaped into action. Handbrake handled a two minute clip in just 52 seconds, whereas it took the new 15-inch Surface Laptop 3 a full minute longer. In the Geekbench 4 Compute benchmark, the new Radeon Pro GPU also scored twice as much as the last-gen AMD hardware. Simply put, this thing screams. As I was benchmarking the 16 inch MacBook Pro, it never felt hot to the touch, and while the fans were noticeable when they spun it, they weren't annoyingly loud. As part of the notebook's revamped cooling setup, the fans can now push out 28 percent more air than before, and the heatsink covers 35 percent more internal space. All of those improvements, and the slightly larger case, means the new MacBook Pro should be able to withstand heat better than any of Apple's previous notebooks. Apple also made a slew of other compelling upgrades to the 16-inch MacBook Pro. A new six speaker setup makes music and movies sound great. It's no replacement for dedicated speakers, but it's impressive for something coming out of a very thin laptop. There's also a 3-microphone array that Apple is putting against standalone mics like the Blue Yeti. That's definitely going a bit too far, but recordings I've made sound good... for a laptop mic at least. And there's very little background hiss. It's more useful for video chats and shouting at Siri, since pro users tend to be pretty religious about their preferred mics.

Unfortunately, you're still stuck with 4 Thunderbolt 3 USB-C ports for connectivity. It'd be nice to see Apple bring back an SD card reader, but unlike the keyboard, that's one area where the company is refusing to back down. At least USB-C dongles and accessories are cheaper and better these days, but I've talked to plenty of pro Apple users who still pine for the flexibility of that 2015 MacBook pro. The new 100 watt per hour battery also lived up to Apple's marketing hype. The company claims it'll last up to 11 hours -- during our battery test it survived for 11 hours and 20 minutes. Of course, we were just looping an HD video, you can certainly expect it to drain faster under heavy duty workloads. Apple includes a new 96-watt USB-C power adapter in the box -- the beefiest we've ever seen on a MacBook Pro. It's only a bit larger than the 15-inch notebook's adapter.

Surprisingly, Apple is keeping the 16-inch MacBook Pro at the same $2,399 starting price. That's a pretty great deal for all the upgrades you get. Shell out $2,799 and you can step up to the Core i9 model with the best Radeon Pro graphics. That's not too pricey for this category, though you can get that same processor and decent NVIDIA graphics on the XPS 15 for $2,350. It's no surprise that a Windows PC is cheaper -- what's important is that Apple once again has a compelling high-end notebook to keep frustrated Mac users from jumping over to Windows. The 16-inch MacBook Pro is the closest Apple has come to crafting the ultimate notebook. It's exactly the upgrade Mac fans have been waiting for, even though it might not have all the ports they want. It's so fast, I don't think the Mac faithful will mind carrying around an SD card reader. Read the full article

#i9CPU #MacBookPro #USB-C

0 notes

daily-castaway · 5 years

Text

dealing with superblock error on linux

I switched on my computer running manjaro linux and encoutered a black screen with the following message:

mount: /new_root: wrong fs type, bad option, bad superblock on /dev/sda2, missing codepage or helper program, or other error. You are now being dropped into an emergency shell. sh: can't access tty; job control turned off [rootfs ]#

Then I burned ISO file onto a USB (the same system and desktop that i had on the laptop) opened command prompt and typed fsck /dev/sda2. fsck is a program that checks filesystem for errors.

How to use fsck to repair filesystem errors in Linux

You cannot run fsck on a disk that is mounted. To check what is mounted, you can use the file manager and go to the /mnt/ folder to see if your disk is there. Or you can run the command mount that shows what devices are mounted. Or you can run lsblk which shows information about block devices, including the mountpoint if there is any. (block device is a computer data storage device, so disk, usb, etc).

Unfortunately fsck did not work and it showed me this message

fsck.ext4: Attempt to read block from filesystem resulted in short read while trying to open /dev/sda2 Could this be a zero-length partition?

Variants of fsck you can try are fsck.ext4 (ext4 is the linux filesystem). I googled a bit and found this resource:

fsck does nothing

So running it with the -f flag (force to check clean) did help. I figured I should get into the sda2 storage, and just take out my files I wanted to save and reinstall Manjaro from scratch. So I tried searching on options how to do that. The sda2 was not mounted so it could not be seen in the file manager from the live USB. So I looked for guidances on how to mount it Unfortunately mount failed and showed the same error as fsck did before.

Looking further I found How to recover from a bad superblock which links to Surviving linux filesystem failures This page tells you to run fsck, well this failed for me, so it says you should try it with some number that says where the superblock is … i guess? like for example e2fsck -f -b 8193 /dev/sda2

If you don’t know what number to use, you should run

mke2fs -n /dev/sda2

now ATTENTION mke2fs is a command that creates a filesystem, wiping out that disk. But! the -n flag means that mke2fs does not actually create a filesystem, but displays what it would do if it were to create a filesystem.

source

It output a bunch of numbers “Superblock backups stored on blocks: 32768, 98304, 163840, 229376, 294912, 819200, 884736, 1605632, 2654208, 4096000, 7962624, 11239424, 20480000, 23887872” So following one of the posts from above I tried running the command with the 1st number e2fsck -f -b 32768 /dev/sda2

It started at about 10 AM, it wrote Pass 1 bla bla.. At about 3pm it got to pass 5 then I went away and at about 4:30pm when i came back i saw a prompt asking me if i want to fix something and before that a wall of number codes. I pressed yes a couple times (it said free inodes count wrong for group xxxxx) and then it offered to press a to say yes to all. At the end it said /dev/sda2 **** FILE SYSTEM WAS MODIFIED ****

yes bitch!

So I am in the live session USB, i make a directory called storage2 in /mnt folder. and type mount /dev/sda2 /mnt/storage2 into the terminal. Now I can open this in the file explorer and see basically all the directories like bin, boot, dev, etc, home, lib, lib64, mnt, opt etc etc. Home is where my super precious files are. Like 1GB of pictures of some boy and a couple rare movies i illegally downloaded.

I inserted a sd card stuck in a usb sd card reader into the laptop, after doing lsblk it was listed there as sdc partitioned to sdc1 and sdc2. So i mounted it with mount /dev/sdc2 (the bigger one ) onto /mnt/temp. For some reason I couldnt create a copy files in the file manager there, so i had to be logged in as root in the terminal this whole time and do mkdir /mnt/temp and copy the files with cp -vr /mnt/storage2 /mnt/temp where /mnt/storage2 is the mountpoint of dev/sda2. After being done with backing up my files, I unmounted the sd card with umount /dev/sdc2 and the sda2 disk, opened GParted to do the partitions….. and snap. sda2 has the same error I started with, eg the short read error. So I ran e2fsck -f -b 32768 /dev/sda2 all over again. This time it goes by a little faster, 10 minutes elapsed and I am at Pass 5 and there was 1 error on Pass 1.

Now let’s learn something about partitioning.

You generally want to create 3 parittions when installing a Linux system:

Root: this is where the filesystem goes, and it is required to boot a Linux system.

Home: holds user and configuration files separate from the operating system files.

Swap: when the system runs out of RAM, the operating system moves inactive pages from RAM into this partition. It is also useful if you want to use functions like hibernate or suspend which is something like sleep in windows. It should be twice the size of RAM if RAM is less than 2GB, or the same size as RAM.

All partitions must be unmounted in order to be modified (this means you cannot resize a partition on a working system (since it is obviously mounted)). To create a new partition, you must have some unallocated space.

Manjaro installer manual partitioning. – all partitions that have a mount point specified will be used during the installation of Manjaro. !!! swap should have a linuxswap filesystem all others that you wish to access from linux can have ext4. Also, specifically for Manjaro, EFI system partition is necessary to start Manjaro. So you need to create a partition with the FAT32 filesystem, mount point /boot/efi and esp flag enabled.

The resulting partitions I did can be seen on this image:

I had some of the backup files on sda4 that is NOT mounted so that it was not touched during the re-installation of Manjaro.

In the Manjaro wiki They talk about primary and Extended partitions and that there can only be 4 primary partitions. The GParted gui talked about primary partitions on my drive, and my drive is GPT. But, GPT does not have a concept of primary partitions, it has only partitions and it can have about 128 of them. Extended partitions are only available on an MBR disk.

some useful commands

sudo su to get to root mode

exit to exit root mode

cp -rv foo bar copy directory foo and its contents to directory bar and print output on screen

rm -rf foo remove directory foo and its contents

lsblk to list disk and partitions plus some info

#linux #manjaro #superblock #filesystem

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retiredguy1000 · 5 years

Photo

So, your Windows computer is running sluggish. What do you do?

Many computer repair services offer “tune ups” of your computer. But do these tune up services work? Let’s look at what a tune up of your PC should look like so you can see what’s involved.

At this point, assume the PC is infected with malware and use proper precautions so you do not infect other computers. If you know for sure that you are infected with Malware, then my next article will deal with that specifically. For now, lets assume we are simply experiencing sluggishness or a slow computer that may be caused by Malware or it may be caused by a few other things.

The first step in a tune up is to inspect the inside of the machine. That will usually mean to “Blow out the dust” in addition to inspecting all fans, intake grills, outgo grills, and heatsink fins. All should be cleaned as necessary. Ditto for the heatsink on the graphics processing unit or GPU.

Will the PC Boot? Time for a Boot Test. Once booted up successfully(hopefully), a system assessment can be made. The technician will have diagnostic software to load at this time which will show all the various aspects of a running computer, including the hard drive capacities, the overall hard drive health, detailed software, hardware, network and security configurations.

We want to see if there are memory issues at the hardware level. Thus, memory tests will be run at this time. Bad RAM memory modules are possible although rare.

Before anything is changed, a Full image backup of your hard drive(s) is done. We don’t want to lose any files if serious problems occur so we back everything up.

Other visual inspections may be made where the battery on the motherboard, the motherboard itself, the temperature is checked, and for laptops we want to inspect the keyboard itself. Making sure the “Fn” key works. The units time and date are verified.

Then we might turn towards the software and look at the User Account Control (UAC) and make sure it is turned on and set properly. Power settings are looked at. Screensaver timeout changed back to NONE. System protection is looked at and changed to ON. These are your critically important system restore points. Make sure there is only one running restore program and only one drive C drive! Windows lets us “create” a restore point whenever we wish.

More software tools can be implemented to clean up the file system, to remove temp files, cookies, etc. All files are deleted in the downloads folder as well. And if there is a WINDOWS.OLD folder, it has got to go. That’s doing nothing but taking up space and slowing things down.

Let’s now connect to the internet and let’s make sure Windows Firewall settings are on. Third-party firewalls may be present which is unfortunate but ok. Its just not recommended since Windows has a firewall built right in Windows.

Usually this is a good time to perform Malware scans. Its not simply as easy as running a software program. Usually I will run 5 different programs because no one program can do it all.

A BIOS upgrade is next. Your BIOS is that dark screen right before Windows boots. It resides on your motherboard and is very important to not just performance but to whether your PC boots up or not. These computer files get updated and new BIOS configurations become available. Its not the easiest upgrade as a ‘flash install’ is needed. These are tricky maneuvers because they are done outside of a Windowed environment, however, a current BIOS is usually recommended.

Supposing we tossed the old BIOS in favor of the new one, why don’t we continue this organizing and look to delete other software programs? Old Adobe reader programs, Flash, Java, and other programs litter our hard drives and slow our system down. This include any Anti-Malware “suites” other than Windows Defender (Windows’ excellent built-in antivirus/malware program).

So, scans are complete. How about the internet connection and speed? And let’s run Windows Update to make sure all the updates are done. We keep re-running windows update until there are no more updates. Plus, I would check in Windows settings or run a program called WINVER to confirm the version of Windows is at least 1709 or higher. Microsoft updates Windows about twice a year and 1709 was a big one.

Device conflicts are inspected and fixed if any are found. These are those pesky Red X’s or Question Marks on top of these devices. They need to be fixed, all of them, before continuing.

Hard disk inspections using different scanning software will be used to see if any large file blocks or defragmentation shows up. Windows 10 shouldn’t have any defrag problems, but it needs to be checked anyway. Warning: Never defrag a solid-state drive (SSD) drive!

Optimizing the Folder View Options can be next. These are found in control panel and there is a half dozen or so checkboxes that should be checked (not all of them) to help achieve a smoother running machine. Similarly, visiting System Properties, Computer name, Startup and Recovery, and Virtual Memory will help to make sure various settings are either ‘checked’ or ‘unchecked’ properly.

Disable Autoplay. Thanks to bad design decisions, Autoplay, also known as AutoRun, was once a huge security problem on Windows. Autoplay helpfully allowed malicious software to launch as soon as you inserted discs and USB drives into your computer. Windows 10 largely fixed the issue, but it is still a good idea to disable it.

You can also optimize your mouse and touchpad controls as well. Turning off a lot of the eye candy will help your performance.

You can apply these optimization activities over to your display and to the Desktop to achieve similar gains. For example, turning off ‘transparency effect’ will help. And the desktop should be no more than 500MB (not GB) in size.

There are lots of places where Microsoft is selling you something. You can remove these too. As an example, under settings>System>Notifications&Actions you can turn OFF “Get Tips, Tricks, and Suggestions as you use Windows”. You don’t need this.

There are a lot of optimizations you can do to Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Chrome too. Mostly these deal with getting rid of all the cache, how to deal with cookies, and whether you are clearing browsing history when you exit.

If you don’t have an email program like Outlook, we can install Thunderbird and usually do. Its free and is an impressive program. Ditto for an Office Suite. LIBRE Office is free and a worthy competitor to Microsoft Office. If you want these programs installed, just remember to change the default Office program (control panel>default programs).

Clear all the event logs and system logs in Event viewer. Rerun file and disk utilities. Run Anti-Malware updates and scans again. Run “Six-Shooter” which is a collection of six utilities to further weed out any malware in the system.

The system can now be tested to make sure all parts are working as designed and any problems fixed. Browsers can be tested. File Types (.doc, .docx, .ppsx, .ppt, & .pptx) can be opened and closed to see if the file associations work. Play a video file. Make sure the CD player works. Things like that. Check the sounds.

A final run of system diagnostic software will close this up. This will provide a snapshot of what your system looks like now, post optimization.

This has also been a hardware inspection. Thus, your technician can share thoughts or give advice on the sun-setting of certain hardware and the need to, perhaps, upgrade something if for nothing else than to achieve better security. For example, perhaps they are running Windows 10 version 1709 when version 1809 is available. Or maybe their CPU is so old, you can only play black and white media on it. Seriously though, computer hardware is a depreciating asset. It comes into favor and then it goes out of favor. You cannot simply buy one piece of hardware and stick with it for 30 years.

Now, having said this, I just extended the life of my TEN YR OLD MacBook Pro by adding an SSD drive and reinstalling the operating system. For a ten-year-old, she sure acts like a newborn! I may have extended the life a little bit, but I am still running about four versions of operating system behind the current version(not to mention the ancient CPU). That’s because Apple doesn’t support my aging hardware anymore. Microsoft is no different.

From a security standpoint, this becomes untenable and I better get to the store to replace my MacBook soon. Luckily, however, I just purchased a brand new Razer Blade 15 Windows Laptop! In my line of work i need to have both a Mac and a Windows computer at all times.

Andrew C. Orr is President of Retired Guy Computer Repair located in downtown St. Petersburg, FL. His company provides individuals and businesses quality and competent technology solutions. Andrew lives downtown with his wife Angela, his son Andrew Jr., and two dogs Georgia and William. www.RetiredGuy.repair.

0 notes

masterofmunson · 7 years

Text

Old Habits Die Hard

Bucky x Reader

REQUEST: Bucky with number’s 85. What’s wrong with me missing you?, 95. Tell me you need me., and 110. I’m sorry if I don’t want you to die!

Summary: In her eyes Bucky’s moved on, and she slowly is too, but when a mission goes haywire, he realizes just how much he misses her.

Warnings: pure angst, swearing, brief violence. (you’re going to hate me, yikes) I strongly suggest that you listen to Another Sad Love Song by Khalid, it’s loosely based on the song as well. Also, please read the comment and you’ll understand why I ended it the way I did. Hope y’all understand xx

Word Count: 2.8k+

It wasn’t suppose to go down this way. The breakup was amicable. It wasn’t worth the angry tears and screaming matches in the middle of the night whenever Bucky came home late. She missed the old Bucky. The Bucky that would come home every day and shower her with love and affection, but then he disappeared. The good morning kisses halted and tight goodbye hugs became loose. She tried talking to him about it, but he just brushed it off and went to bed.

On one particular day she had enough. She thankfully had the day off and packed up all her things in their once shared apartment. Bucky had come home early that day and just let her pack without protesting. It hurt, but she did it. She deserved better. She deserved someone that would treat her right instead of brushing her off. She gave and gave and gave before she started to run on empty. She moved back into her room at the Compound and already felt better. She has her own space without having sadness plague her heart.

Months went by and she started to heal the scars that Bucky gave her. She went out more with Nat and Wanda and she felt happy. She didn’t have to worry anymore. That’s for whoever Bucky decides to be with next. It doesn’t hurt that much anymore whenever she sees him. They still worked pretty well together with very little small talk during missions, but outside of work, they no longer spoke. The little ache in her chest would grow ten fold the longer she remained in his presence. This was especially the case whenever he had a new girl with him at Tony’s parties and galas, but as time went on, the ache went away and she smiled whenever he smiled at his girl. She thinks her name is Chelsea. She’s sweet and has beautiful bright red hair and stunning green eyes. She works at one of the local coffee shops in the summer time and is a second grade teacher at the elementary school nearby during the year. He looks happy and that’s all she’s ever wanted for him.

“You doing okay, Y/n?” Sam asks her over the loud music in the club. It was one of those typical celebratory mission club-dates the teams went on every few weeks when all of them went on missions together. Y/n blinks out of her daze and looks over at her teammate and closest friend. She smiles softly at him and nods, sipping on the glass of wine she’s been nursing as she watches Bucky and Chelsea dance together.

“Yeah. I’m happy for him. That’s all I’ve ever wanted for him, to be happy, that is. Despite how we ended things, I think it’s for the better. He found someone, even if that’s not me. I think it’s better this way. I’m good,” she smiles at Sam.

Tony skips over to the pair and wraps his arm around her torso. She laughs and wraps her arm around his waist to distribute his weight evenly. With his free hand, Tony takes a sip of his beer.

“What’re you doing?” Tony slurs, “This is a party! Go dance! If you don’t dance, I’ll make you sing!”

Y/n rolls her eyes as the music changes to a more upbeat song by Beyonce. She grins and downs the rest of her wine and she searches the room for Wanda and Natasha and she pulls them with her to the dance floor. The alcohol is pumping through her veins and her head’s pounding against her skull as she dances and sings along to each song that blasts in the speakers. She hasn’t felt this light on her feet and in her heart in a long time and it feels good.

After another handful of songs, her feet ache and she’s ready to pass out from exhaustion. She excuses herself from her friends and grabs a cup of water and exits the room to step onto the balcony. The door hits something and she looks up, swallowing hard. Her eyes widen and it feels like she can’t breathe. Although she’s nearly over Bucky, seeing him kissing someone other than her left an ache in her chest. Bucky and Chelsea separate and both their cheeks flush a bright red as they get caught by his ex-girlfriend.

“Oh–God, I’m sorry,” she stutters embarrassingly, feeling the back of her neck get hot. “I just came to get some air, I’ll–I’ll go somewhere else.”

Before she gets to hear what Bucky has to say to her, she scurries out of the balcony and back into the party.

Days pass before Y/n and Bucky interact again. They’re on their way to a mission at some HYDRA base deep in Africa. Every time Bucky glanced at her she smiled at him like nothing happened between them. He wants so badly to talk to her about it, to explain himself, but he doesn’t need to. He doesn’t owe her an explanation because they’re not together anymore. In her eyes, he’s the happiest he’s ever been, but in his eyes, he’s the loneliest he’s ever felt.

Sure, he cares for Chelsea, but she doesn’t understand him. She doesn’t understand how terrible his nightmares could truly be. She doesn’t understand that being away days and weeks at a time is part of the job description. She doesn’t understand that the smallest things could trigger his PTSD. She doesn’t understand him like Y/n does—or did.

The jet touches down on the ground softly and Y/n gets up, prepping the rest of her equipment. Steve climbs back from the front of the jet and fixes his equipment. “Barnes, Y/L/N, you two will pair up and go retrieve the necessary files needed and you’ll meet Nat and I at the rendezvous point. She’ll disable security and once the mission’s complete, we rain down on the building like a bat outta hell, got it?” Steve instructs and they nod.

The back of the jet opens and Y/n and Bucky jog towards the building. They make quick work of the guards outside and use one of the security guards key’s to get inside. “We got inside. Do you know of the position of the computer system, Widow?” Y/n asks into the comm under her breath as they round each corner.

“Copy that, Sweet Tart,” Nat replies, making Y/n laugh under her breath. Her code name comes from the fact that she loves to eat the particularly tart candy and she’s often the sweetest to everyone she meets–outside of missions, that is. That’s what made Bucky fall in love with her. “Turn left.”

They round the corner and the computer center is standing right in front of them. Bucky wordlessly gives her her orders and she creeps to the door, placing her hand gently on the door knob. Bucky counts down with his fingers and she throws the door open, ducking when Bucky’s gun goes off, killing the HYDRA agents in the room. She moves quickly to a computer monitor and plugs in a USB port and Bucky watches her fingers move effortlessly along the keyboard, hey eyes scan the screen and she taps a few buttons, muttering tunes under her breath.

“Hey, Nat, are we still on our Beauty and the Beast date night when we get back? The movie came out today and I know you and I talk about seeing it together,” Y/n states into the comm.

Bucky rolls his eyes and bites back a scoff. She could never take missions seriously, and it always terrified him that she’d do something stupid. Now he doesn’t necessarily need to worry about as much as he did before when they were together.

“You betcha,” Nat replies. “Luke Evans is hot as hell. I can’t wait to see him.”

“God, I know!” Y/n agrees and he grits his teeth. “He’s definitely my type. He’s on my life of famous people I’d go to bed wi–”

“Would you shut up, Y/n!” Bucky growls angrily, cutting her off. His blood is boiling. He’s so goddamn angry at her. She’s talking to Nat like he’s not even there, as if they weren’t once dating and in love. God, he’s such a fucking fool. He took her for granted and she left in the end. She made him so damn happy and he just… let her go. What kind of person would do that? Him apparently. She turns towards him, shock clearly evident on her face as she processes his harsh tone.

Before she gets the chance to respond, her eyes widen to the size of saucers and she pulls the data into her pocket and shoves Bucky to the ground. A gunshot rings through their ears and a startled cry leaves her lips as the bullet digs into her shoulder. Bucky’s mouth widens and she glares at him. “Are you going to help us get out of here or what, Barnes?” she hisses, shooting the agent straight in the forehead as she knocks down a table and takes cover behind it as agents shoot at them.

Bucky blinks twice before coming back onto the ground and taking the remaining agents out. Y/n pants and peeks out of their hiding spot. “Nat, we got what we needed, what’s your status?” she pants, wincing at the bullet digging in her shoulder.

“Almost done, get back to the jet,” Nat replies.

Y/n stands up and Bucky follows suit as they make their way towards where they entered. She’s breathing hard and her steps are noticeably slower the more she walks. It worries Bucky. It makes him nervous. She doesn’t look good.

HYDRA agents swarm them and Bucky takes his group out with ease while Y/n struggles with one arm fully functioning. She cries out when an agent digs his filthy fingers into her gunshot wound. She can see stars and the pain is overwhelming her. She feels her legs give out underneath her and she desperately claws at her leg for a knife. She grabs the hilt and jabs the knife straight into his gut. He howls in pain and she kicks him off of her, pulling herself back up onto her feet. She’s panting hard and she shoots the remaining guards around her without thinking twice. Bucky stares at her and she turns on her heels, opening the door to the Compound, stomping towards the jet.

“What the hell was that?” Bucky snaps at her, throwing his gun onto the jet floor. She looks at him with a bored expression and shrugs off her tactical gear. “Do you know how reckless you were being, Y/n?!”

“Oh, I don’t know Barnes, why don’t you tell me?” she hisses back, grabbing the medical kit from one of the drawers as Natasha and Steve jog back onto the jet.

“Oh, I’m sorry that I don’t want you to die!” he howls.

“I don’t even get a ‘thank you’ from you! I saved your sorry ass so you could go home to your girl in one fucking piece without a bullet drilled into the back of your brain! God, you’re insufferable!” she shouts, sitting on the counter in the middle as Natasha helps her pull her battered t-shirt off and she hands her a belt to bite down on as she lies down. Natasha puts on gloves before grabbing the necessary tools to pull the bullet out of her shoulder.

“This may hurt a little, Y/n,” Natasha warns her as she puts a tool into her shoulder. Y/n cries into the belt, squeezing her fingers into tight fists and her back arches in pain. Tears blur her vision and it hurts for her to breathe, but she’d do it again and again if it meant that Bucky was safe–even if it meant that he didn’t appreciate it. “Got it!” Nat exclaims, pulling the bullet out of her shoulder and into a pan. “You were amazing, good job,” she praises her, helping her sit up as she grabs the necessary tools to stitch her up. Y/n nods lazily at her and keeps her eyes trained onto the ground as the needle pulls her skin together.

Weeks go by before she utters a single word to Bucky again. They were still so angry at each other. Her for him not thanking her for saving his goddamn life for the umpteenth time and him worrying about all that what-if’s if it wasn’t her shoulder. In that time frame, he broke up with Chelsea and spent most of his time training or out with Tony drinking until Tony couldn’t stand.

She was in therapy most of the time rehabilitating her arm and it hurt like a bitch most of the time, but it was worth it. She just wanted him to thank her for once in his life.

One night, she wakes up dripping in sweat from another nightmare. She sighs, kicking her feet out off her bed and she tugs her arm into the sling Bruce is forcing her to wear and she quietly makes her way to the gym.

Whenever she couldn’t sleep, she’d make her way towards the gym and run until she grew tired. It was good therapy for her. She was the only one up at this hour and she would be the only one occupying the gym, so she could run for as long as she wanted and listen to her music as loud as she could.

She turns her music on and steps onto the treadmill, beginning her workout. Her arm feels awkward in the sling, so she slows to a jog and takes it off, tossing it onto the empty treadmill next to her. She’s breathing hard, but it feels good. The endorphins run through her body and she feels a tug on her arm from running too fast and she winces with a loud whine, stumbling off the treadmill and onto her knees.

“Jesus, sugar, are you okay?” his voice rings through her ears as he hurries over to her and helping her to her feet. He looks at her with pure worry and she swallows hard.

“I’m fine, thanks,” she replies, gently pulling herself out of his embrace. She bends down to grab her sling before turning on her heels, walking towards the large glass double doors.

“Wait! Why are you up so late?” he asks her, grabbing at her arm again.

“Just another nightmare. It’s fine. I’ll leave you alone, g’night–”

“Why are you in such a hurry? I’m not going to do anything,” he asks, hurt laced in his words.

“I–I,” she stutters, feeling her face flush. There’s so much that she wants to say to him, but she doesn’t know how. She’s not suppose to feel anything towards him, yet she is, and it terrifies her. “I’m just really tired, that’s all,” she answers dumbly, rubbing her eyes, turning towards the door.

“Y/n, wait. I miss you,” he confesses quietly, causing her to freeze in her spot.

“What?” she asks shocked.

“I miss you,” he repeats, stepping closer towards her but she steps back.

“Don’t,” she commands softly, swallowing hard.

“What’s wrong with me missing you?” he asks.

“Everything!” she exclaims, feeling her skin get hot. “You treated me like shit when we were together and we always fought. You never appreciated the things I did for you. I took a goddamn bullet for you and you don’t even thank me, plus you have a girlfriend. You don’t get to miss me.”

“I broke up with her right when we got back from the mission,” he blurts. “She doesn’t understand me like you do.”

It feels like she can’t breathe and she blinks hard. “Oh.”

“God, I’m such an idiot for letting you go. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me and I just let you slip through my fingers.”

“You’re right. You are an idiot for letting me go, but that doesn’t change the fact that our relationship wasn’t healthy. We fought all the time until I had the guts to get up and leave. I admit, it was hard at first. You were my addiction and I loved you. You filled up my senses and then I just quit you like cold turkey. I think there will always be a part of me that will always love you, but I think it’s better this way. I think you should go to Chelsea and apologize. She needs you,” Y/n sighs, running her uninjured hand through her hair.

“Why would I go back to someone that I don’t love when the woman that I do love is standing right in front of me?” he croaks.

“Bucky, don’t. This is harder than it looks, but I need to do this.”

“Tell me you need me,” he pleads. “Tell me you need me just as much as I need you.”

“I’m sorry, Bucky. I can’t,” she sighs, leaving the room and his life.

A/N: Before you yell at me, let me explain. The way I wrote Bucky in this particular story makes him exhibit traits of a manipulative partner. He was attempting to guilt trip the reader into coming back to him by dropping the l-bomb and the ‘I need you’ phrase. Fighting, of course happens in relationships, but in this particular situation was NOT healthy, so I decided to keep the two a part because the reader aka YOU! deserve better. Hope you guys enjoyed this very angsty oneshot lol.

PERMA TAGS: @queen–valeskaxx @jessevans @gingerbatchwife @ria132love @aenna-4 @bubblyanarocks3

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gravitylink-blog · 4 years

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Who’s Better: Google Coral USB Accelerator and Intel 2nd Generation Neural Compute Stick?

As artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) gradually move from science fiction to real life, we now need a fast and convenient way to prototype this type of system. Although desktop computers can also be sufficient to meet the operating requirements of AI/ML, even single-board computers such as Raspberry Pi can meet these requirements. But what if you just want a simple plug-in device to make your system run faster and more powerful?

Don't worry, you actually have a variety of choices, including Google Coral Edge TPU series hardware USB Accelerator (Coral USB accelerator, hereinafter referred to as CUA) and Intel's Neural Compute Stick 2 (NCS2). Both devices are computing devices plugged into the host via USB. NCS2 uses a visual processing unit (VPU), while Coral USB Accelerator uses a tensor processing unit (TPU), both of which are dedicated processing devices for machine learning. Today I will give you a test and comparison: What is the difference between the two? As a developer, should you choose Coral or NCS2? Please check below.

Coral USB Accelerator

-ML accelerator: Edge TPU ASIC (application specific integrated circuit) chip designed by Google. It provides high-performance ML inference for TensorFlow Lite models (MobileNet V2 400 + fps, from the latest official updated data).

-Support USB 3.1 port and cable (SuperSpeed, 5GB/s transfer speed)

-Dimensions: 30 x 65 x 8 mm

-Official price: $74.99

Intel Neural Compute Stick 2

-Processor: Intel Movidius Myriad X Visual Processing Unit (VPU)

-USB 3.0 Type-A

-Size: 72.5 x 27 x 14mm

-Official price: $87.99

1. Comparison of processor and acceleration performance

Unlike the way you compare traditional computer CPUs, the details of comparing each processor/accelerator are more subtle, depending on how you plan to use them. Although the output format is slightly different (every inference time and the number of frames per second), we can still compare the two devices in some overall performance modes.

When evaluating AI models and hardware platforms for real-time deployment, the first thing to look at is their speed. In computer vision tasks, benchmarks are usually measured in frames per second (FPS). Higher numbers indicate better performance. For real-time video streaming, at least about 10 fps is required to make the video appear smooth.

Operational performance: First, when CUA is added to the desktop CPU, the performance can be increased by about 10 times, and the operation performance is relatively good. (Depending on the selected CPU model, the 10x performance fluctuates slightly) NCS2 "cooperates" with the older Atom processor, which can increase the processing speed by nearly 7 times. However, when paired with a more powerful processor, the results presented by NCS2 are not surprising.

NCS2 can theoretically perform inference at a speed of 4 TOPS. Curiously, CUA also has the exact same rate, although both use different operations to perform ML. In addition, Intel claims that the performance of NCS2 is 8 times that of the original neural computing stick. (If you like, you can choose NCS2 instead of the original neural computing stick, although the price is lower.)

NCS2 can use MobileNet-v2 to run the 30 FPS classification model, which is not bad. However, object detection at 11 FPS is a bit difficult. A frame rate of about 10 FPS may not be sufficient for real-time object tracking, especially for high-speed motion, and many objects may be lost, and developers need very good tracking algorithms to make up for this "hole". (Of course, the official benchmark results are not completely credible. Often, these companies compare their manually optimized software with competitors’ out-of-the-box models.)

User evaluation

Power consumption: NCS2 has lower power consumption. As far as CUA is concerned, the official does list 0.5 watts for each TOPS. Users can also set CUA to the default speed or maximum (2 times the default value) as needed.

It is worth noting that Google’s official documents do clearly remind: the power transmission when the device is running at maximum speed and the maximum ambient temperature may burn your skin. So personally, unless you really need additional processing power, it is best to run it in normal mode.

It is also important to remember that Python is not the first choice for good performance on devices. Both of these devices support the C++ API, which is also my "trick to get the best performance from the device in my tests."

2. Software support

NCS2 can be used with Ubuntu, CentOS, Windows 10 and other operating systems. It can support TensorFlow, Caffe, ApacheMXNet, and PyTorch and PaddlePadle through open neural network conversion.

CUA does not support Windows, but it can run under Debian 6.0 or higher (or any derivative version, such as Ubuntu 10.0+). It is worth mentioning that CUA can only officially run TensorFlow Lite models.

3. Comparison of size, prototype design and other details

After covering the software support, computing power and power consumption, what is the specific situation of the two in the actual construction of product prototypes?

Frankly speaking, both devices look very cool. The CUA is a slightly silver-white checkered body with a partially transparent body and what appears to be a heat sink. The NCS2 is a sleek blue design, and the blue body and integrated radiator look more fashionable.

Of course, appearance is only secondary. The important thing is that NCS2 does, like CUA, will become hot during operation. However, its radiator design allows you to hold it on a cooler integrated heat sink without having to hold it with your fingers in the middle, which is very clever.

The design of NCS2 allows users to use multiple computing sticks together to enhance its processing capabilities. You can arrange them neatly in a vertical USB docking station. Similarly, a host can run multiple CUAs, but you may need to find another way to save each CUA. It is worth mentioning that although both have similar dimensions, the thickness of NCS2 (14 mm) is almost twice that of CUA. In addition, it is inserted through a USB plug (such as an extra large thumb drive) instead of a flexible cable like CUA, which means that in some operating scenarios, NCS2 will make you very difficult to deal with space issues. difficult. You have to use data cables and docking stations extensively. This is something you need to consider before you make a choice.

Finally, NCS2 and CUA seem to be dedicated devices designed for edge computing applications. If you need to run on a Windows system or need to run outside of the Tensorflow Lite framework, then NCS2 has obvious advantages. For its part, Coral USB Accelerator's peripheral supporting hardware, there are more simple and rude development board Dev Board, PCI accelerator designed with Coral Edge TPU as the core, and SoM module similar to the development board, etc. If your need is to quickly bring product prototyping to the market, then Coral is your best choice, and it is more attractive to developers.

Coral USB Accelerator development environment requirements: a Linux computer with a USB port; support Debian 6.0 or higher, or its derivative systems (such as Ubuntu 10.0+); x86_64 or ARM64 system architecture with ARMv8 instruction set.

Therefore, from the above requirements, Coral USB accelerator supports Raspberry Pi. However, it must be Raspberry Pi 2/3 Model B/B+ and run Raspbian system (or other Debian derivative systems).

At this point, the functions between the two are very similar. If you want to add AI/ML to Raspberry Pi or similar projects, both devices can work normally.

Many pre-compiled network models allow you to get better results easily and quickly. Nevertheless, fully quantifying your network is still an advanced task. Conversion requires an in-depth understanding of the network and how it operates. In addition, when I upgraded from FP_32 to FP_16 and from FP_16 to UINT, the loss of accuracy was also great. Interestingly, Myriad can handle half of its floating point, and CUA can only handle 8-bit floating point. This means that Myriad can obtain higher accuracy.

Intel and Google obviously adopted two completely different "routines. Google's advantage is that products can help developers easily build prototypes and promote a complete set of solutions from Google Cloud Platform to edge-tpu. I personally like how all the components are Work together. On the other hand, Intel provides Openvino plug-ins, developers can use them to optimize their network, so that it can run on a variety of hardware. OpenVINO currently supports Intel CPU, GPU, FPGA and VPU. At Intel The challenge ahead is that these "combined punches" are always difficult to use the optimal function of each component.

Google Coral USB Accelerator can train network models online, which is essential for migration learning. Obviously, Google believes that their pre-training network and migration learning provide developers with an efficient combination. In addition, Intel NCS2 has three pairs of built-in stereo depth hardware, which are valuable in many use cases (such as obstacle avoidance).

Application scenario:

Intel NCS2 also provides prototype, verification and deployment of DNN. For driverless and driverless vehicles and IoT devices, low power consumption is essential. For those who wish to develop deep learning inference applications, NCS2 is one of the most energy-efficient and lowest-cost USB sticks.

For example, the upcoming Titanium AIX also has built-in Intel Movidius Myraid X computing acceleration chip, which lowers the threshold of AI learning and development, and helps AI enthusiasts and developers quickly build AI applications and solutions that can listen, talk, and watch.

Google Coral is more than just hardware. It easily combines the functions of custom hardware, open software and advanced AI algorithms and provides high-quality AI solutions. Coral has many application cases in helping industrial development, including predictive maintenance, anomaly detection, robotics, machine vision, and voice recognition. It has great application value in manufacturing, healthcare, retail, smart space, internal monitoring and transportation sectors.

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chipotle · 4 years

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Signs of the old Apple

For a long time, there’s been two competing narratives about Apple’s pricing:

They’re “premium”: sure, they’re expensive, and yes, you pay for the brand name. But when you compare them with products of equal quality, counting not just feature specs but design, materials, and build quality—so an iPhone with a Galaxy S, a MacBook with a Dell XPS—they’re rarely unreasonably higher, and the user experience of macOS and iOS is arguably1 worth it.

They’re “luxury”: there’s nothing about a Mac, an iPhone, or an iPad that truly makes it better than its competition; the only reason anyone buys Apple products is for the supposed status of owning them and showing them off.

For most of my Apple-using life, I’ve unsurprisingly been in the first camp. But for the past, oh, let’s call it five years, Apple has been making this…difficult.

Phone prices have climbed faster than their sizes, especially at the high end;

Their vaunted hardware engineering and design teams have become tethered to form over function, leading most infamously to the “butterfly” keyboard that prioritized thinness at the expense of not only typing feel but reliability;2

Laptop prices have also climbed fast, possibly because prioritizing form over function turns out to be expensive;

While iOS 7 made significant UX changes, those changes sometimes came at the expense of clarity (e.g., little to no visual cues as to where tap targets are), and later development seems fairly stagnant, other than a few changes for the iPad;3

While Apple has always had a “we know what’s best for our users” attitude and has never been super chatty about their decisions, they’ve just made themselves look arrogant and unresponsive a few times, most infamously over battery management.4

But the two products announced this week show off two old-school Apple moves we haven’t seen in, well, a while.

First, the new MacBook Air. They’re bringing the Magic Keyboard to it, as we all assumed (hoped?) they would, fixing the biggest problem with their laptops of the last few years. They’ve upped the starting SSD from 128G to a more respectable 256G, and upgraded to a modern Intel processor that can turboboost up to twice as fast as last year’s Air—and that’s just the base processor: you can get up to a quad-core i7.

And they lowered the price.

For the last few years Apple’s been far more likely (especially with Macs but arguably with the iPhone, too) to improve a product some ways while making it worse in others and raising the price, playing right into that “luxury” narrative. But this wasn’t always Apple’s modus operandi. For many years, their classic move was upgrading a product while keeping the same price point: you still paid $1499, but now the CPU was faster, you had more RAM, you had a bigger hard drive, and so on. But the new Air is back down to the semi-magic $999 point (and Apple loudly trumpets that it’s $899 with the education discount). To be fair, we’ve been seeing more of this from Apple in the last couple of years—there was a modest price drop moving from the iPhone 8 to the XR, and while high-end iPads climb to nosebleed pricing territory, the low-end model has gained power while dropping in price—but there was a multiyear stretch when “get more for the same money” became “get mildly aggrieved for another couple hundred.”

Second, the new iPad Pro—but especially the new iPad Magic Keyboard, which has a trackpad, a USB pass-through port, an amazing cantilever design like no other tablet keyboard case I’ve ever seen, and a wheeze-inducing price point of $299–349 depending on size. This is also a classic Apple move: the damn thing is so expensive you can’t help but think of it as overpriced, but there’s literally no competition for it. You are not going to be able to get a keyboard case that nice from anyone else. (Amazon will fill up with knockoff versions for $99 or less, and they will all be pretty bad by comparison, because that’s the way of things.)

Personally, I’ve grown frustrated with the iPad’s software limitations at both the OS and app level. I wrote about that in “The iPad needs more focus on the little things” last August, which concluded with,

Don’t get me wrong: I’m not giving up my iPad. Who knows what iPadOS 14 will bring? But in the meantime, I confess I’m watching what happens with the next MacBook Air revision pretty closely.

Well, that update is here, and frankly, they knocked it out of the park. It’s pretty much everything I was waiting for.

And yet, if the iPad Magic Keyboard lives up to its promise, it’s the keyboard case for the iPad that I’ve always wanted. I still do love the iPad, and the Magic Keyboard might make it the best portable computing device for me ever—in terms of hardware. Unfortunately, hardware won’t fix the frustrations I have with the platform. So now, I suppose I’m watching what happens with the next major iPadOS revision pretty closely.

For the time being, though? The portable computer for me—and, I think, for anyone who wants the best laptop—sure seems like it’s the new Air.

I’m using the term literally here: many of the Linux-using folks that I know don’t like the macOS user experience at all, and long-time Windows users often find the small differences frustrating, just like I do when trying to use Windows (or a Linux desktop environment). [return]

Other things I’d put in that camp are the Touch Bar, a clever idea that, five years on, remains a solution in search of a problem; the change to make the bottom row of the keyboard the same size as the other rows and the left and right arrow keys full-height, just so everything is perfectly symmetrical; the spartan set of ports on modern Mac laptops, even the biggest ones that could surely spare space for a micro SD card slot; the now discontinued 12″ MacBook. [return]

I know that undersells some of the changes for the iPad, and I’m not throwing in with the “iPad multitasking is a fiasco that ruined everything” camp. The biggest problem isn’t features being unintuitive—as many people point out, little about any modern GUI is intuitive, strictly speaking—but being undiscoverable. For a quick example, you can display folder contents in both macOS Finder and iOS Files by icon, list view, or column view. Finder controls those through little buttons; you can find that feature for yourself. In Files, though, you swipe down to reveal the iOS equivalents, and there is no visual indicator or other affordance that suggests swiping down is a meaningful action. There are more of these hidden gestures in iPadOS with each major release, and even the ones I know about get frustrating. (Swipe up from the bottom edge to pull up the dock or go back to the home screen or pull up the multitasking space navigator? This is bad UX design, okay? It’s bad.) [return]

The narrative to this day is still “Apple secretly slowed down your old phone to get you to buy a new one.” That’s wrong on multiple levels, but the secretly part isn’t. If Apple had treated battery management like a public-facing feature from the start, they’d have saved themselves a massive PR fiasco and multiple lawsuits. [return]

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