Saturday, October 17, 2020
Friday, October 16, 2020
Thursday, October 15, 2020
6G - Explained!
I think that 5G is not very practical yet, given that the high frequencies are easily blocked. However, this video is already talking about 6G, to come in 10 to 15 years. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvcAovqG5Kk
Wednesday, October 14, 2020
Tuesday, October 13, 2020
Amazon Tablet
I don't need a new tablet, and I'm not sure that anyone needs tablets these days when we have smartphones, but I was pretty impressed with this $149 Amazon tablet when it was on sale for $99 last Black Friday. However, Amazon is now having a 2-day sale for Prime Members, and the tablet is only $80.
This link claims that you can join Prime for 30 days for free...
Monday, October 12, 2020
Intel lost the game - AMD Ryzen 5000 Reveal
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uWXfoX1x3A
In the old days, Moore's law (as I remember) said that computer power would double every 18 months. This was true for a long time. However, as they made the circuits extremely microscopic, the laws of physics started to get in the way. Over the last ten years, improvements have been more incremental. Now people get excited over a 20% increase.
However, AMD has made some big advancements recently.
Why People Restore Vintage Computers, and How You Can Too
"Do keep in mind that fully repairing and upgrading an old computer can easily cost more than the original purchase price of that machine. Plus, if you ever want to resell your upgraded machine, there's no guarantee you'll be able to recoup your costs."
This seems like the most worthless piece of advice. An inexpensive Raspberry PI most likely can outperform older computers. The only reason to restore an old computer is if you are a collector, or extremely nostalgic for the days when computers were far less powerful.
Sometimes there is older software that doesn't run on modern computers. Fortunately, your modern computer can run emulation software to emulate almost anything, including older computers.
I could see some 8-bit enthusiasts like myself pining for the old days when computers were very simple. From the standpoint of a computer programmer, those days were fun because the computers were far less complicated; you had access to all the hardware and you didn't have to learn an extremely complex operating system to create a program.
Fixed my Wi-Fi problem
When I got my new Internet Service, with advertised speeds up to 1000 Mbps, there was an immediate problem where I was getting only 30 Mbps using Windows 10 on my 2017 iMac. If I boot Mac OS on the same computer then I get up to 660 Mbps, which is more than I expected. You never get the full advertised speed anyway, especially over Wi-Fi.
AT&T customer service couldn't do much more than verify that the service is working. They recommended that I do a Windows Update, which didn't help and took a really long time, and I also tried reinstalling the Bootcamp drivers which helped a little.
Apparently, this is a well-known problem with the Broadcom 802.11ac Wireless Adapter Windows 10 driver on the iMac. I tried to follow the advice on many websites and videos, most of which didn't work. However, I did get the speed up to about 200 Mbps, although it was frequently less. Last night I noticed that the speed was only about 80 Mbps, which I found very disappointing.
So last night I tried a different approach. I used a program called "Driver Easy" which claims that it can update all your drivers for you automatically. People recommend that you shouldn't update your drivers unless you are having a problem because you risk breaking your computer, but I was definitely having a problem. Normally, Windows 10 will update your drives for you when it does a Windows Update, although the driver that Microsoft gives you for the wireless adapter doesn't work very well on the iMac.
The Driver Easy program will download the latest driver software, but it won't install it for you unless you pay for the program. If you don't want to pay, then it gives you clear instructions on how to install the driver yourself, which was easy for me since I already knew how to do this.
So after updating the driver with Driver Easy, I was getting speeds over 400 Mbps, which is quite adequate. If I want higher speeds then I most likely would have to run an ethernet cable from the computer to the router directly and not use Wi-Fi.
--
Best wishes,
John Coffey
http://www.entertainmentjourney.com
AT&T customer service couldn't do much more than verify that the service is working. They recommended that I do a Windows Update, which didn't help and took a really long time, and I also tried reinstalling the Bootcamp drivers which helped a little.
Apparently, this is a well-known problem with the Broadcom 802.11ac Wireless Adapter Windows 10 driver on the iMac. I tried to follow the advice on many websites and videos, most of which didn't work. However, I did get the speed up to about 200 Mbps, although it was frequently less. Last night I noticed that the speed was only about 80 Mbps, which I found very disappointing.
So last night I tried a different approach. I used a program called "Driver Easy" which claims that it can update all your drivers for you automatically. People recommend that you shouldn't update your drivers unless you are having a problem because you risk breaking your computer, but I was definitely having a problem. Normally, Windows 10 will update your drives for you when it does a Windows Update, although the driver that Microsoft gives you for the wireless adapter doesn't work very well on the iMac.
The Driver Easy program will download the latest driver software, but it won't install it for you unless you pay for the program. If you don't want to pay, then it gives you clear instructions on how to install the driver yourself, which was easy for me since I already knew how to do this.
So after updating the driver with Driver Easy, I was getting speeds over 400 Mbps, which is quite adequate. If I want higher speeds then I most likely would have to run an ethernet cable from the computer to the router directly and not use Wi-Fi.
--
Best wishes,
John Coffey
http://www.entertainmentjourney.com
Saturday, October 10, 2020
PlayStation 5 - Official Teardown Video
Many people think that Playstation 5 is ugly, myself included, but its design is to help keep it cool. It has a huge heat sink to cool it down. The much smaller but more powerful XBox Series is reportedly getting very hot according to early reviews.
Why Does Wi-Fi Use the Same Frequency as Microwaves?
The other day I guessed that a router would broadcast at only 0.1 watts, which would make it about the same power as a cheap walkie-talkie. In theory, the 5ghz band allows for higher speed, but shorter range.
Monday, October 5, 2020
Wi-fi problems with new AT&T Internet
I have resolved my Wi-Fi speed problems as best I can. It turns out the latest Broadcom drivers for Windows 10 are not good, at least not for high speed. Initially, I was getting only 30 Mbps. I did much research on the Internet, and I saw a few different websites and videos recommending switching to older drivers, a couple of which I had to download and install. I have switched between 4 versions of the drivers, and the oldest one seems to work the best. My speed tops out at about 200 Mbps, although reality might be a little less. I did a large download to test the speed and I calculated about 120 Mbps, which is at least double the speed of my old internet.
However, the same computer running Mac OS gets up to 660 Mbps with my new AT&T internet. My iPhone gets about 400 Mbps. One option for me is to run an ethernet cable to the router, which would work, although in my current setup that would not be convenient.
The AT&T technical support couldn't do much other than test that the internet is working. They recommended that I do a Windows Update, which took an extraordinarily long time and didn't help. It was also recommended that I reinstall the Bootcamp software, but for some reason, the install crashes and does not finish. I tried manually copying the driver from the Bootcamp software, which helped, but I got better results by downloading and installing an older driver.
However, the same computer running Mac OS gets up to 660 Mbps with my new AT&T internet. My iPhone gets about 400 Mbps. One option for me is to run an ethernet cable to the router, which would work, although in my current setup that would not be convenient.
It was slightly helpful to turn off power saving features on the ethernet and wifi cards by selecting "maximum performance" instead.
The AT&T technical support couldn't do much other than test that the internet is working. They recommended that I do a Windows Update, which took an extraordinarily long time and didn't help. It was also recommended that I reinstall the Bootcamp software, but for some reason, the install crashes and does not finish. I tried manually copying the driver from the Bootcamp software, which helped, but I got better results by downloading and installing an older driver.
It seems odd to me that the Microsoft Windows Update installs the latest Broadcom driver that is apparently defective. This could happen with my next Windows Update and I'll have to fix this again.
--
Best wishes,
John Coffey
http://www.entertainmentjourney.com
--
Best wishes,
John Coffey
http://www.entertainmentjourney.com
Saturday, October 3, 2020
Is the Smartphone Market Ready for This?
Apple has the only 5 nanometer processor available to the public so far. It is no wonder that Apple is dumping Intel and going with their own chips on future computers.
Begin forwarded message:
Best wishes,
John Coffey
Begin forwarded message:
From: John Coffey
Date: October 3, 2020 at 11:29:30 PM EDT
To: Albert Nelms
Subject: Re: Is the Smartphone Market Ready for This?
Date: October 3, 2020 at 11:29:30 PM EDT
To: Albert Nelms
Subject: Re: Is the Smartphone Market Ready for This?
This performance is comparable to my old Core-i7 iMac computer. On an iPad Air.
What is astounding is how many nodes per second Stockfish gets on my five year old iPhone 6s+. Around 2 million. On my 2017 iMac I see 3 to 5 million.
On Oct 3, 2020, at 6:00 AM, Albert Nelms wrote:
Best wishes,
John Coffey
On Oct 3, 2020, at 6:00 AM, Albert Nelms wrote:
Friday, September 25, 2020
RTX 3090 8K Gaming - FIRST in the WORLD
https://youtu.be/JDUnSsx62j8
$1500 graphics card with $30,000 TV.
I still think 8K is unnecessary.
Best wishes,
John Coffey
$1500 graphics card with $30,000 TV.
I still think 8K is unnecessary.
Best wishes,
John Coffey
Fwd: Watch Ring's indoor drone prototype patrol a house - CNN Business
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Albert Nelms
Have you seen the indoor flying security drone? Looks cool. Effective? Maybe.
Watch Ring's indoor drone prototype patrol a house - CNN Business
https://apple.news/AycDSafc8RDeUfgvHtpm1PA
https://apple.news/AycDSafc8RDeUfgvHtpm1PA
Thursday, September 17, 2020
Wednesday, September 16, 2020
Apple details A14 chipset ahead of iPhone 12 lineup announcement - GSMArena.com news
Right now, the only 5-nanometer computer processor in the world is on an Apple iPad Air. However, AMD is not far off. Intel, however, has been struggling to keep up. They only recently introduced 10-nanometer chips.
Monday, September 14, 2020
Friday, September 11, 2020
Saturday, September 5, 2020
Friday, September 4, 2020
Sunday, August 23, 2020
Rock Pi 4C: Dual Display M.2 NVMe SBC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTyIFZPgBT0
I bring this up because it seems like much power for the money. I am impressed with what single board computers can do. The CPU benchmark is about 2/3 of my laptop and about 1/3 of my desktop computer. Of course, you are stuck running Linux.
The Raspberry PI 4 is much more powerful than the Raspberry PI 3 that I have. Still, it benchmarks like a very low-end laptop.
Tuesday, August 18, 2020
Microsoft Just Revealed How INSANELY POWERFUL The Xbox Series X Will Be.
https://youtu.be/3qreWiBtcFY
I've been interested in how powerful the XBox Series X is going to be, because I can't build a computer this powerful for $1000, and maybe not even $1200. I want a computer with this much power.
Well, this video reveals that the custom APU chip, the central processing unit with the GPU built in, is going to cost over $500 by itself. That doesn't include any other parts.
Rumor has it that Microsoft plans to take a $200 loss on the system. The rumored price is $599. They can make that up with subscription services.
I want AMD to sell me the APU. It will never happen. They have revealed plans to release a video card with the same GPU technology.
I've been interested in how powerful the XBox Series X is going to be, because I can't build a computer this powerful for $1000, and maybe not even $1200. I want a computer with this much power.
Well, this video reveals that the custom APU chip, the central processing unit with the GPU built in, is going to cost over $500 by itself. That doesn't include any other parts.
Rumor has it that Microsoft plans to take a $200 loss on the system. The rumored price is $599. They can make that up with subscription services.
I want AMD to sell me the APU. It will never happen. They have revealed plans to release a video card with the same GPU technology.
Sunday, August 16, 2020
How Nebraska elites screw farmers & get away with it.
https://youtu.be/r2AqVfIrjZ0
In theory, if I don't like Apple's repair policies then I don't have to buy Apple products.
However, I feel like Apple has engaged in some monopolistic practices that are pretty questionable, like using the law to throw someone in jail for charging a nominal fee for burning an install disk on software that Apple gives away for free, and using the customs agency to confiscate refurbished Apple parts as "counterfeit", even though the Apple parts were sold as refurbished.
Apple should not try to monopolize repair manuals and repair parts in such a way that only Apple can do the repairs. Most of the time Apple will tell a customer that it is way too expensive to make the repair and that the customer needs to buy a new item. One extreme example of this was when Louis Rossmann was able to repair a loose connection in a couple of minutes that an Apple repair person said would cost $1,000 to fix.
When I buy a product, especially an expensive product, there is an implied contract or at least assumption that if I need it repaired then I can get it repaired and at a reasonable cost. If a company deliberately makes this difficult or monopolizes the repair service, then I feel that I am being denied reasonable choices that I should be allowed to make.
This issue is by no means limited to Apple. This is spreading to other products as they get more high tech.
Government interference in the marketplace often causes more problems than it solves, so I don't necessarily have a good solution.
Thursday, August 13, 2020
Google's Friendliest Smartphone - Pixel 4a
Maybe because of competition, we are entering an era of cheaper mid-range phones that have some really good specs. The new iPhone SE has top-notch internals and camera with a 4.7" screen. However, I prefer my 5.5" screen on my iPhone 6s+.
This low-cost Google phone has a 5.8" screen.
Wednesday, August 12, 2020
Tuesday, August 11, 2020
Sunday, August 9, 2020
Mythbusters Demo GPU versus CPU
I don't know that this has much to do with CPU's or GPU's, but it is typical of Mythbusters taking things to the extreme.
Thursday, August 6, 2020
Commodore History Part 3 - The Commodore 64
This guy is a huge Commodore 64 fan, understandably so. However, in terms of inflation adjusted dollars, it was expensive in 1982, like $1580 in today's dollars. Even more so if you bought any of the many Commodore 64 accessories.
A company called Sinclair came up with a cheap computer called the Spectrum that was enormously popular in England and Europe, and Timex sold an upgraded version of the Spectrum in the United States.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpXFB8ZEH30
So I had to write this:
"In 1983 I got a Timex Sinclair 2068 for $200. It also had a great sound chip and a 3.58 MHZ Z80 and a keyboard that I actually liked. It had many advantages over the Sinclair Spectrum. It was much computer for the money, compared to the $595 for the C64, equal to over $1500 today, which for me was way cost-prohibitive. I temporarily had a healthy business selling software I wrote for the 2068. I loved this machine. I'm sure that I would have loved the C64 more with the better graphics, but the cost was a huge issue."
I am actually very proud of the business that I ran selling 2068 software. This helped me get computer jobs later, and eventually, I worked in the console videogame industry.
Wednesday, August 5, 2020
Get Free Coffee at Panera Bread
I've been getting free coffee for about 3 weeks. I need to cancel the coffee subscription by the end of September in order not to be charged.
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