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? New 16" MacBook! This looks like a better value for money, with a new keyboard, speakers, mics, display (notice that they do not mention HDR), GPUs, up to 64GB RAM, larger 11-hour battery, and up to 8TB storage – also, it still has a headphone jack: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2019/11/apple-announces-16-inch-macbook-pro-with-new-keyboard-design/ I always thought the previous Vega 20 graphic processor (an expensive option in the 15" MacBook Pro and 21.5" iMac) was a low-midrange product, and the new AMD Radeon Pro 5500M (8GB GDDR6) looks like a huge improvement. Apple has discontinued the 15" MacBook Pros on the website, but they are still available in the refurb store (and probably for a little while longer in the brick and mortar stores). The 16" MBP is about the same price (at the base levels) as the Early 2019 15" MacBook Pros, so it's going to make them look really bad from a value standpoint unless you can get one for a steep discount – they are still expensive. It's interesting to see that they stuck with 802.11ac wi-fi – a lot of current high-end Windows laptops are shipping with Wi-Fi 6 now. 10 Gigabit Ethernet is an option on the Late 2018 Mac Mini and it may become standard on desktop Macs next year. It may also become available on Thunderbolt 3 adapters at some point. Apple doesn't call attention to this, but the 16" MBP uses the same CPUs as in the previous 15" MBP. They are wedded, like everyone else, to Intel's technology roadmap. This means that it will be a while before PCIe 4.0 or 5.0 comes out (current leaks about Intel's 10th-Gen desktop processors indicate they are sticking with PCIe 3.0) and we can expect to see 10-core/20-thread i9 processors in the next iMacs. Intel's mainstream rollout of 10nm processors has been pushed back into 2020 and 2021 so there may still be more products manufactured on their 14nm+++ process or a confusing hybrid lineup like their current mobile offerings with Ice Lake at 10nm, Comet Lake at 14nm, and both named 10th Gen. An update on newly-disclosed vulnerabilities in Intel's processors: https://www.tomshardware.com/news/intel-reveals-taa-vulnerabilities-in-cascade-lake-chips-and-a-new-jcc-bug This is an evolutionary upgrade that fixes some of the old design's problems and increases the MacBook Pro's capabilities, at the cost of larger size and increased weight (with a larger power supply to match). Microsoft's new Surface X has been getting poor reviews because of it's ARM processor performance – Apple has had much more success implementing ARM designs on iOS. Ironically, the clever lid-opening scrolling on the new MacBook Pro's features page is crashing in my Safari browser but it runs just fine in Firefox. P.S. Performance tests from Barefeats validate the 16" MacBook Pro's performance potential and thermal headroom – TL;DR get more RAM, more VRAM for heavy processing: https://barefeats.com/16-inch-macbook-pro-shootout.html https://barefeats.com/16-inch-macbook-pro-adobe.html

https://img-9gag-fun.9cache.com/photo/a1oEy3G_460sv.mp4

After eight years of drought in Southern California I ask "what is moss"?

fun with wendy

Meanwhile ... Get some headphones you weren't thinking of getting, for less, with Tidal. https://try.tidal.com/sennheiser-hifi or more HC / Pro https://try.tidal.com/sennheiser-premium Via: https://slickdeals.net/f/13517794-purchase-tidal-annual-plan-and-get-a-free-pair-of-sennheiser-hd-4-40bt-headphones-120 Brent must be slacking ...

Jeeze. That is a shit load of bad luck with work on your house Knucks. Bricks and mortar is a real money pit though. We've just had our roof de-mossed. I could hardly lift a sack of the stuff - and there were 20-30 sacks came off. There was a lot of moss! Took two guys two days to do it - manually scraping it off each roof tile.

It is with improved feelings that I again type about my Caran D'ache 849 pen. To start, after about 3 years of regular use the Goliath refill did acquire an increased measure of smoothness and "flow." Its still not as smooth as a Fischer, but its also been the only pen I have really used for close to 5 years (Maybe 4.5yr if you count experiments with other cartridges.) Last night while out to dinner and doodling mindlessly on the place-mat they gave me because they know I'm basically a large child, the pen stopped working. This has happened a few times over the past years, and my short lived joy at getting to FINALLY use a Fischer refill in the pen was quickly silenced by my memory of the other times the pen has died and promptly come back to life. The pen came back to life approximately 6" of scribbles after pooping out. The finish on the pen is not really any worse off than it was 4 years ago, aside from ALL of the paint being chipped off of the very tip of the pen-hole, due to being dropped... Despite this embarrassingly regular abuse the pen-hole is still quite circular and the pen opens and closes as smoothly as one would expect from a sub $20 pen. The finish on the rest of the pen has a few superficial scratches but doesn't show bare metal anywhere but the tip. The pocket clip has seen regular use for the past 4+ years holding the pen securely in my man-satchels and shirt pockets, because I often wear button down shirts like an adult now. The "Swiss made" paint (between the clip and clicker) has faded slightly, but the "Caran D'ache 849" text (UNDER the beautifully sculpted pocket-clip) shows no wear. To be fair I often rub the pen between the clip and clicker as an idle habit which probably didn't help the "Swiss Made" text.

I didn’t realize he wrote that! Unrelated: best episode ever!

Not to be melodramatic but does anyone else remember a couple of years ago when Tyll was still running the late, lamented Inner Fidelity and wrote that, someday, the really big game changer would be wireless, fuss-free, DSP headphones that were "good enough" for anyone but the most hardcore enthusiasts. Well we're there Hertsens, you magnificent bastard.

California and Western Australia and in long term drought and burn, and here in Britain there are major floods in the midlands (a whole month's rain in 24 hours, in a county that is no stranger to rain)

Scheduled a boiler cleaning after I had to cancel the previous one last month. The company is now booking for January of next year. I'm on schedule for the 29th. I also called an outfit that cleans chimneys to do a cleaning and inspection of my mine. It's got a stupid cap on it that is so clogged with creosote that I can't burn at all. Fortunately, the chimney outfit is booking much sooner ...Dec 4th. UNfortunately, it's dropping to 10º tonight. Lastly, I called the guy who replaced my well pump last fall. I don't know if I mentioned this, but a pipe he worked on had a cap that blew off a month ago and flooded my basement, taking out some of the electrical wiring. I'd be more upset about this, but the entire house is a teardown at this point. Home ownership is a lesson in constant expense. I'd bitch more about it, but I see what people pay in rent for a shitty two bedroom apartment and I conclude that I get off "easy."

I thought I would post this here because it seems appropriate. Cassius Winston is the All American point guard for the MSU Spartans. His brother Zachary stepped in front of a train (intentionally) on Saturday night. I am deeply moved by Cassius's instagram post. This young man gets it. Every day we talk to someone who is hurting, fighting for life, facing demons. Treat others well. You may be all that stand between them and death. Cassius Winston pens emotional message to brother Updated 1:28 PM;Today 11:39 AM AP Michigan State's Cassius Winston, center, stands with teammates during a moment of silence in honor of Winston's younger brother, Zachary, before the team's NCAA college basketball game against Binghamton, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2019, in East Lansing, Mich. Michigan State won 100-47. (AP Photo/Al Goldis) 15 236 shares By Kyle Austin | [email protected] Cassius Winston stayed silent on Sunday night as he played for Michigan State less than 24 hours after the death of his younger brother. In the hours after the game, he took to Instagram to post an emotional message to his brother, Zachary, who was struck and killed by a train in Albion on Saturday. Police say they believe he intentionally walked in front of the train. Here's Winston's message to his brother in full, marking his first public comments on the situation: Ima put this on here cause I need you to read it, and I feel like this the best way for it to get to you. I love you bro, w everything I have in my entire body. I love you so much, if I could carry yo pain I would wear it on my shoulders just to see you happy and wouldn’t think twice. I understand it was to much, I understand I really do and yo story won’t end here. I can promise you that, the next time I run into someone in your situation ima save them, cause that’s wha you would want me to do. I wish it was a term that goes deeper then brother, cause that’s what’s you are to me, 1/3 of my heart. And I’m struggling because there is nothing that can replace that Smoothie. I need you, I miss you. But I’m so proud of you, bro you fought every demon w everything you had in you. You went to war w yourself every single day not knowing if you could win that battle. And you won time after time. You stood tall and you let your family love you, you gave me everything I asked for, just one day you didn’t have enough strength. And that’s ok man, that’s really ok, ppl can’t go through wha you went through, you are the strongest, wisest, kindest, most caring person. The best brother/ gang member I could ever ask for. And I wouldn’t replace you or change any single thing about you. Not one. I don’t like doing these cause I feel like they for show, but I need to you to read this Smoothie and I need you to know, that I love you and I care for you. And the only reason I can sit here and still stand is because I know you not in no more pain. The only reason I’m still standing. After that bro we really got beef, and when I see you again I’m beating yo ass. Cause it’s no way you got me out here trying to adjust to life w out you bro. This shit so deep bro we suppose to see all this out together. But we’ll have that convo the next time I see you Smoothie Bean. Rest up my baby and keep watching over us, save me a seat. And when it’s all said and done ima have so much to tell you. You gone already know but ima tell you anyway. Love you Gang member? wish your story coulda had a diff ending, it’s ok tho enjoy it up there. Ima see you soon enough #LuvSmoothie?