Monday, June 15, 2020
Saturday, June 13, 2020
Sunday, June 7, 2020
This Robot Vacuum Has a GPU?!
When vacuum cleaners are smarter than a cheap budget laptop...
Saturday, June 6, 2020
This Laptop Changes Everything! - Lenovo Ideapad Flex 5
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjZVMCBF45c
AMD's latest Rizen chips have fantastic performance. This laptop is 37% faster than my 2017 I5 iMac.
Wednesday, June 3, 2020
Elite Dangerous: Odyssey - Official Cinematic Trailer
Videogames are becoming increasingly cinematic.
Saturday, May 30, 2020
Thursday, May 28, 2020
Monday, May 25, 2020
Ryzen 7 4700G Reportedly Pushes AMD APUs To Eight Cores
There have been several stories about the leaked upcoming AMD 4700G APU processor. I was hoping that this would be an Xbox Series X equivalent. Although the processor has 8 cores, it only has 8 graphics compute units. The upcoming Xbox Series X (AMD made) chip has 52 graphics compute units on the processor. On a single chip, they have a powerful processor and the equivalent of a top of the line graphics card.
So it looks like if I want Xbox Series X graphics power on a computer that I will only be able to get it by purchasing a separate graphics card. I thought that the point of an AMD APU was so that you don't have to buy a separate graphics card, but this might be a deliberate strategy by AMD to sell graphics cards.
But if AMD is going to make a powerful all in one chip for the upcoming Xbox Series X, why won't they release that to everyone else?
Wednesday, May 20, 2020
Sunday, May 17, 2020
Friday, May 15, 2020
Wednesday, May 13, 2020
Thursday, May 7, 2020
Tuesday, May 5, 2020
Monday, May 4, 2020
Computer programs
Computer programs are made up of a series of instructions that computers understand. This is no problem when your computer program is ten lines long, but some modern programs, like operating systems, might have millions of lines of code. Since it only takes one bad line of code to really mess things up, the length of computer programs becomes a problem due to increased complexity.
So the biggest problem that software development has faced has been one of organization. People have had to invent ways to keep computer programs more organized. When I was going to school in the 1980s, the buzzword was "structured programming", which doesn't really do that much. This was later replaced by "Object-Oriented" programming, which was a breakthrough in organizing computer code.
However, I keep thinking that there has to be a better way. I don't know what that better way is, but I'm sure that eventually someone will invent a new method.
Sunday, April 26, 2020
Are Cheap Graphics...GOOD?
https://youtu.be/SR8VrpvDrRI
I want the chip that is going to be in the upcoming XBox Series X console, but they will probably never sell it to the general public. It has almost 3 times the graphics performance of my 2017 iMac, and it has 8 cores with 16 threads. My I5 iMac has 4 cores with 4 threads. Rumor has it that Microsoft is going to take a $200 loss on these consoles in order to sell games and subscription services. (People are saying that this is a problem for Sony with their slightly inferior new console, because Sony doesn't have the deep pockets that Microsoft does, and can't take as much of a loss as Microsoft can. For this reason, Sony is limiting the number of units that will be available this Christmas. In general, Sony has been hurting financially, and has depended on their video game division to support the company.) I assume that over time the cost of parts will go down while the price of the consoles will remain the same.
However, AMD is planning to release a new line of APU's this September. If I can get the equivalent performance of an XBox Series X, I might build a new computer. However, I might wait till 2021 because I think that the prices will be cheaper.
My 2010 iMac isn't even on the map in terms of graphics performance. It is really bad. They use laptop parts in these all-in-one computers, which means that the performance is not the best. The 2017 iMac is much better, but I could have gotten more bang for the buck by building a PC.
Best wishes,
John Coffey
I want the chip that is going to be in the upcoming XBox Series X console, but they will probably never sell it to the general public. It has almost 3 times the graphics performance of my 2017 iMac, and it has 8 cores with 16 threads. My I5 iMac has 4 cores with 4 threads. Rumor has it that Microsoft is going to take a $200 loss on these consoles in order to sell games and subscription services. (People are saying that this is a problem for Sony with their slightly inferior new console, because Sony doesn't have the deep pockets that Microsoft does, and can't take as much of a loss as Microsoft can. For this reason, Sony is limiting the number of units that will be available this Christmas. In general, Sony has been hurting financially, and has depended on their video game division to support the company.) I assume that over time the cost of parts will go down while the price of the consoles will remain the same.
However, AMD is planning to release a new line of APU's this September. If I can get the equivalent performance of an XBox Series X, I might build a new computer. However, I might wait till 2021 because I think that the prices will be cheaper.
My 2010 iMac isn't even on the map in terms of graphics performance. It is really bad. They use laptop parts in these all-in-one computers, which means that the performance is not the best. The 2017 iMac is much better, but I could have gotten more bang for the buck by building a PC.
Best wishes,
John Coffey
Saturday, April 25, 2020
Fwd: One day, a computer will fit on a desk (1974) | RetroFocus
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Albert Nelms
Obviously, this guy doesn't know what he's talking about. Lol
Sunday, April 19, 2020
Monday, April 13, 2020
Wednesday, April 8, 2020
Tuesday, April 7, 2020
Is 5G SAFE?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvhaVjpYm_M
Electromagnetic radiation can warm tissue, but not enough to be noticeable. I found out that microwave ovens don't actually contain 100% of the microwaves. You can put your hand in front of the door and feel a slight warming.
Friday, March 27, 2020
2K versus 4K and 8K
When 4K TV's first came out, some people pointed out that your eyes can't see in 4K. (I know mine can't.) I bought a 4K TV anyway on a Walmart Black Friday sale at a great price.
The 4K designation is a bit deceptive because the 4K refers to the number of horizontal pixels. In the past, video resolutions were designated by the number of vertical lines. Therefore, just so we are clear, 4K is 2160P, and 1080P is 2K.
Old tube TV's broadcast in 480i, which means the video was only 480 lines, and the TV takes two 1/60th of a second cycles to draw the entire screen.
The most you can get out of broadcast TV right now is 1080i. The old TV shows that dominate broadcast TV were recorded on videotape, which is 480i, so that how they are broadcast today. Blu-ray disks are typically 1080P, and DVD's can be as low as 480p. There is a special Blu-ray format that is 4K, but you need a Blu-ray player that supports it.
When movie theaters started using digital projection, the format they used was 2K, and some later movies were shown in 4K. I am one who sits on the front row of a theater when everybody else sits 2/3 of the way back. (That's kind of nice for me actually.) Even with a giant screen in front of me, I can't notice any lack of resolution with a 2K or 4K projection.
My favorite computer resolution is 1440P, which is technically 2.5K, and this is what I use now. This is an ideal resolution for playing games. The Apple iMac that I own is capable of 5K, which is overkill on Apple's part because it doesn't make sense to have that much detail on a 27-inch monitor.
On my computer, I routinely watch videos that are 720P and I never notice any lack of clarity.
So now the industry is developing 8K TV's, which is insane. Your eyes will not see the difference, and there's not going to be any content available in 8K. The new videogame systems that are coming out this year are also going to support 8K, but likely just for content and not for games which will be in 4K instead. Right now you can buy a 98 inch Samsung 8K TV for $79,000. This is insane.
--
Best wishes,
John Coffey
http://www.entertainmentjourney.com
The 4K designation is a bit deceptive because the 4K refers to the number of horizontal pixels. In the past, video resolutions were designated by the number of vertical lines. Therefore, just so we are clear, 4K is 2160P, and 1080P is 2K.
Old tube TV's broadcast in 480i, which means the video was only 480 lines, and the TV takes two 1/60th of a second cycles to draw the entire screen.
The most you can get out of broadcast TV right now is 1080i. The old TV shows that dominate broadcast TV were recorded on videotape, which is 480i, so that how they are broadcast today. Blu-ray disks are typically 1080P, and DVD's can be as low as 480p. There is a special Blu-ray format that is 4K, but you need a Blu-ray player that supports it.
When movie theaters started using digital projection, the format they used was 2K, and some later movies were shown in 4K. I am one who sits on the front row of a theater when everybody else sits 2/3 of the way back. (That's kind of nice for me actually.) Even with a giant screen in front of me, I can't notice any lack of resolution with a 2K or 4K projection.
My favorite computer resolution is 1440P, which is technically 2.5K, and this is what I use now. This is an ideal resolution for playing games. The Apple iMac that I own is capable of 5K, which is overkill on Apple's part because it doesn't make sense to have that much detail on a 27-inch monitor.
On my computer, I routinely watch videos that are 720P and I never notice any lack of clarity.
So now the industry is developing 8K TV's, which is insane. Your eyes will not see the difference, and there's not going to be any content available in 8K. The new videogame systems that are coming out this year are also going to support 8K, but likely just for content and not for games which will be in 4K instead. Right now you can buy a 98 inch Samsung 8K TV for $79,000. This is insane.
--
Best wishes,
John Coffey
http://www.entertainmentjourney.com
Thursday, March 19, 2020
Tuesday, March 10, 2020
Thursday, March 5, 2020
CPU? GPU? This new ARM chip is BOTH
It makes sense that the future of processors would have more integration on individual chips.
Tuesday, March 3, 2020
Walmart's $250 laptop is AWESOME!
Because of new chips, people can get much more power on budget devices. The processor benchmarks at 90% of my 2009 Core-i7 iMac, which is not bad. The graphics are far superior. There are few drawbacks, but just enough that a person might want to wait for next year's model or a cyber Monday sale.
On Walmart's website, this currently lists for $299.
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