Messages

1

Tech / Re: Be careful with your Apple credit card...

« on: September 05, 2019, 11:03:59 AM »

Now in my 90th year, I try to avoid all kinds of credit and since the finance sector managed to get taxpayers to pay for its misdeeds in 2008 I don't trust any of them.
Now that Apple has become a mega corporation it has lost the emotional appeal I once felt for it. I'm accustomed to its OS and too lazy to learn a new one, so I stay with the Mac.
Apple's venture into finance - with Goldman Sachs - therefore fills me with despair and disillusionment. Don't tell me about profit and shareholder value, I worked in the commercial sphere for 50 years. Apple is no longer capable of, or interested in, product innovation.

2

Community / Re: We need some Humor!!!

« on: September 05, 2019, 10:27:41 AM »

Newfoundland, Canada declares war on the U.S.A!!!
President Trump was in the Oval Office when his telephone rang. "Hallo, President Trump, " a heavily accented voice said. "This is Archie, up ‘ere at the Harp Seal Pub in Badger's Cove, Newfoundland, Canada, eh? I am callin' to tells ya dat we are officially declaring war on ya!"
"Well Archie," Donald said, "This is indeed important news! How big is your army?"
"Right now," said Archie, after a moments calculation "there is myself, me cousin Harold , me next-door-neighbor Mick, and the whole dart team from the pub. That makes eight!"
Donald paused. "I must tell you Archie that I have one million men in my army waiting to move on my command."
"Wow," said Archie. "I'll have at call ya back!"
Sure enough, the next day, Archie called again. "Mr. Trump, the war is still on! We have managed to acquire some infantry equipment! We have two combines, a bulldozer, and Harry 's farm tractor."
President Trump sighed. "I must tell you Archie, that I have 16,000 tanks and 14,000 armored personnel carriers. Also I've increased my army to one and a half million since we last spoke."
"Lord above," said Archie, "I'll be getting back to ya."
Sure enough, Archie rang again the next day.. "President Trump, the war is still on! We have managed to git ourselves airborne! We up an' modified Harrigan's ultra-light wit a couple of shotguns in the cockpit, and four boys from the Legion have joined us as well!"
Donald was silent for a minute and then cleared his throat. "I must tell you Archie that I have 10,000 bombers and 20,000 fighter planes. My military complex is surrounded by laser-guided, surface-to-air missile sites. And since we last spoke, I've increased my army to TWO MILLION!"
"Jumpins, Lord tunderin! Two million, ye say!!" said Archie, "l'll have at call youse back."
Sure enough, Archie called again the next day. "President Trump! I am sorry to have to tell you dat we have had to call off dis 'ere war."
"I'm sorry to hear that" said Donald. "Why the sudden change of heart?"
“Well, sir," said Archie, "we've all sat ourselves down and had a long chat over a bunch of pints, and come to realize dat dere's no way we can feed two million prisoners."

3

Tech / Ergonomics of screen sizes?

« on: April 16, 2018, 03:49:04 PM »

Bought a 27“ iMac a couple of years ago. At first I could not read text because of impaired eyesight. The few standard screen resolution adjustments failed to enlarge text enough so I reverted to my Mac Mini -
with an Asus PA248Q 24.1’’ Wide Screen IPS (16:10), non-glare monitor.
It is height-adjustable and can swivel, also offers 4 USB ports.

Perhaps a similar model as a second monitor to your iMac would solve your problem?

Disclaimer: I have no connection to Asus.

(BTW, only later I discovered that additional screen resolutions were available on my iMac by using the shift key)

4

Tech / KnockKnock

« on: March 20, 2018, 10:29:59 AM »

In the German language there is an old motto that I like - "Vertrauen ist gut, Kontrolle ist besser".
An exact translation is not easy because "Kontrolle" is subtly different from "control" in English, but a close translation would be,
"Trust is good, deep scrutiny is better".

eric j

5

Tech / Apple Disbands the Wireless Router Division

« on: November 23, 2016, 05:51:24 PM »

Thanks for the welcome, XABD.

As I remember, we have some common past experience in the aircraft industry - in my case at the beginning of my carrier, in jet engine design and production. So it's  nice to keep in touch.

Yes, Apple has changed and octogenarians like me (88 today) sometimes want to hang on to the past.
Also perhaps I'm spending too much time on Apple-skeptic sites like MacInTouch, though I also enjoy the MacBreak Weekly videocast with Leo Laporte.

Apropos Elon Musk, I had in mind his solar roof shingle-battery combination for home electricity generation.

Peace,

eric j

6

Tech / Apple Disbands the Wireless Router Division

« on: November 23, 2016, 10:31:57 AM »

Thanks ABD for the Tidbits link.

In terms of a modern equivalent of someone with vision like Steve Jobs, who can directly impact consumers, I vote for Elon Musk.
(Though I'm not in the league of those who can afford one of his electric autos).

eric j

7

Tech / Nixie Tubes; old school technology rebuilt from scratch!

« on: October 04, 2016, 03:18:38 PM »

Beautiful precision hand work, almost like a ballet.
As a mechanical engineer myself who has spent many hours among production teams, I was lost in admiration for the person who is behind the project.
This kind of dedication to production is found in Switzerland, where I was employed in an engineering firm for 25 years.
Just imagine the years of effort in finding the raw materials, developing the the production process, selecting all the production equipment and training the skilled hand workers.
Having watched the many process steps involved, I suspect that the cost of each tube is going to be high - but they seem to have sufficient customers to support the business.

Many thanks for posting the video.

eric j

8

Tech / Who'll be first?

« on: September 26, 2016, 08:17:58 AM »

For reports about upgrading to Sierra, some folks might find this site helpful:-

https://www.macintouch.com/forums/showthread.php?tid=625

eric j

9

Tech / Apple killed the audio port!

« on: September 10, 2016, 08:28:02 AM »

Some pundits claim that the sound quality from Bluetooth is noticeably inferior to that obtainable with wired headphones.
They add, however, that a new standard for Bluetooth now in preparation will deliver a better sound quality. If true it will be interesting to find out how much better.

eric j

10

Tech / Is anyone doing anything extra with chip in credit cards?

« on: August 08, 2016, 11:30:40 AM »

Watch out.
Negative interest rates are possibly coming into in force in an increasing number of countries.
The bank that holds your money pays out less than you put in.
At present few are affected but a Bank of England official (Haldane) recently said in public that should negative interest rates become larger and more widespread, people will withdraw their money from the banks and keep it in safe boxes or under the mattress etc.
Therefore the authorities will outlaw cash and allow payment by card only. Then those authorities will be able to keep money supply and money flow under state control.
Card payments are convenient but ultimately subject to restriction by others.

11

Tech / Ordered a new iMac!

« on: November 15, 2015, 01:19:13 PM »

What a wonderful set of friends you are! Many thanks for the comprehensive information.

Now all I have to do is try to be patient until the iMac finally arrives.

eric j

12

Tech / Ordered a new iMac!

« on: November 15, 2015, 06:55:44 AM »

There remains for me one nagging question.

Given that RAW preserves the maximum of information and given that there exist apps to manipulate the RAW file to a certain extent:-

why must the file then be transferred to a different app and transformed into a JPEG, entailing a loss of info, in order to undertake the "final" image adjustment?

Why is there, AFAIK, no app to undertake the editing process from beginning to end in RAW?

eric j

13

Tech / Ordered a new iMac!

« on: November 12, 2015, 12:17:57 PM »

I apologize for being so tardy in responding to the many kind words of encouragement and support that ensued from my notice about having ordered a new iMac.
What transpired was the following; I followed a link suggested by beacher and began to examine ON1 Photo 10.
I’m ignorant, but curious, about post-processing so I proceeded to spend hours browsing the Web investigating a myriad of PP apps, each with its own characteristics, not to mention price.
The consequence is well expressed by some words attributed to Omar Khayyam:-

Myself when young did eagerly frequent
Doctor and saint, and heard great argument
About it and about:
But evermore came out
By the same door as in I went.

I encountered new expressions and abbreviations, like “content aware” and DAM.

Until now I have shot in JPEG. It seems that RAW brings benefits along with larger file sizes. Still I’m not entirely clear why a preliminary edit in RAW needs to precede the PP in JPEG.

A new Mac app “Affinity Photo” is receiving a lot of attention.

Techsurvivors is not the venue for long photo editing discussions so I’m not looking here for further advice on the topics raised above – I’m merely trying to justify my delayed response (and I already have PSE 11).

BTW the Olympus M10 has an astounding EVF.

For the iMac, being a CTO, I have to wait about 2 more weeks until delivery.

Thanks again.

eric j

14

Tech / Ordered a new iMac!

« on: November 07, 2015, 01:17:52 PM »

Hi,

Being on the dark side of 86 and with another birthday looming, I’ve decided to treat myself to a new Mac.

The Mini, purchased some 5 years ago, is still working well on Snow Leopard but I have an urge to experience more speed on photo modifying apps, having acquired a nice Olympus OMD M10 Mk 2 recently.

After studying the multitude of options for the iMac Retina (poor eyesight prefers a good monitor) I finally opted for a CTO version rather than one of the standard models.

The sales person was a little surprised that I chose the basic 27” with one exception, namely, instead of the conventional Fusion drive, a 512Gb SSD. It seems that most others (probably business users with more cash and the ability to deduct their purchase from tax liabilities) associate an SSD hard drive with top graphic cards and processors.

All this rambling may be of little interest to fellow Techsurvivors but I’m feeling in a mellow mood and – though my order is now placed and irrevocable – I wonder what others think?

eric j

15

Tech / Latest bit of cleverness from our friends in Phishing Land

« on: September 29, 2015, 03:57:12 PM »

Many thanks, jchuzi and XABD.