Nerdly News Curated from Interesting Sites
When youve been doing this job long enough, you start to develop strange interests (though some might compellingly argue that strange interests are a prerequisite). Lately for me its been power banks. Quite possibly the least sexy product in all of consumer electronics outside of the ever-ubiquitous dongle. I dont know what to tell you. […]
At WonderCon in Anaheim, California, DC Comics announced that Swamp Thing, its third live-action series its streaming service DC Universe, will premiere on May 31st. The company also provided a first look at its fourth upcoming series, Stargirl, and says that the companys entire digital comics library will be added to the service for users in April.
The streaming service is a one-stop-shop for almost all of DCs content, and includes access to existing DC film and TV adaptations, comic books, and original live action and animated shows. The first such offering was a gritty version of the Teen Titans, Titans, which premiered in October, while its second, Doom Patrol, came out in February. Its first animated offering, a third season of Y…
PSA Press’s $15 Stop Making Sense pin is jointed for moving Big Suit action, just like in the greatest concert movie ever made; I just bought one at Wondercon and it’s superb.
In 1995, Yoshi had his moment. The characters Super Mario World debut was so strong, Nintendo handed the dinosaur sidekick his own sequel. A surprise divergence from the Mario franchise found the character escorting a baby version of the plumber in search of his kidnapped twin. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island was regarded as […]
Apple kicked off this week with its big services event, which included the announcement of Apple TV Plus, its streaming movie and TV service. Its going to be a huge deal, eventually, once it actually launches. But for now, Im more interested in another thing Apple announced: an update to the Apple TV TV app.
With this app, Apples goal is to put all your streaming subscriptions in one place one app to browse and stream everything available to you. Thats the dream, at least, making it so that people dont have to hop between apps. But for now, not every video provider is on board. And for those that are on board, youll have to subscribe to them directly through Apple in order to get all the benefits; otherwise, youll still have…
This week brought a lot of good deals that have come and gone, but a few remain if youre on the hunt for some savings.
The Apple HomePod smart speaker is down to $279.99 at Best Buy this weekend. Its no stranger to this price point, but it has been about a month since weve seen it for this low. The speaker is usually $349.99, and the lowest price recorded for Apples HomePod is $249.99.
The LG G8 ThinQ will hit shelves on April 11th. Most places are taking preorders for the upcoming Android phone starting at $819.99, but B&H Photo has the best deal on the unlocked version by far. For a limited time, its $699.99 for the phone in gray or black.
Apple cancelled its AirPower wireless charging mat on Friday, and fortunately, there are…
Whether you call it the Genesis or the Mega Drive, Segas 16 bit system holds a special place in the hearts of many a gamer who came of age in the 80s and 90s. Like the NES and Super Nintendo before it, the console that gave us a ring-hoarding hedgehog is about to get miniaturized. […]
This weekend, I’m wrapping up the tour for my new book Radicalized at Anaheim’s Wondercon, where I’m giving a keynote appearance on Saturday at 4PM (Even if You’re Paying for the Product, You’re Still the Product, room 211), followed by a panel on Sunday at 11AM (Technology Is Cold; People Are Warm, Room 300B), followed by a signing from 1215PM-1PM (in the Author Signing Area). I hope you can make it! (Image: Brandon Locke)
Whether youre shopping for your first iPad, or upgrading from a previous generation, figuring out which Apple-made tablet is best for you can be confusing. That there are a bunch of models out there make it hard. That most of them look similar makes it even more difficult to shop with confidence.
Lets break it down.
Currently, Apple sells five different models. In order of most affordable to most expensive, theres the 9.7-inch iPad, the new 7.9-inch iPad mini, the new 10.5-inch iPad Air, the 11-inch iPad Pro and the 12.9-inch iPad Pro. Thankfully, your odds at picking a good tablet are greater than 1 in 5. Each of them is a really good tablet in its own way, but its important to find the right tablet for you.
What does the right…
You read about well-publicised security exploits, but they always seem to involve somebody with a deity’s grasp of whatever technology is being employed, as well as a pile of impossibly exotic equipment. Surely a mere mortal could never do that!
Happily, that’s not always the case, and to prove it …read more
For many people, phone and Internet connectivity are omnipresent and always available. It’s possible to upload selfies from a Chinese subway, and search for restaurant reviews in most highway towns, all thanks to modern cellular connectivity. However, in emergencies, we’re not always so lucky. If towers fail or user demand …read more
Creating a game from scratch can be hard work. There are concepts to be designed, coding to be done, and art to be created to make it all happen. However, it doesn’t always have to be quite so difficult. There are a variety of development tools that allow budding game …read more
Valve is ready to sell its own full VR hardware getup. The gaming giant behind some classic titles and the ubiquitous Steam store has revealed a teaser image on its site of a VR headset called the Valve Index. Alongside the photo, text reads “Upgrade your experience. May 2019” suggesting a near-term full announcement or […]
I want to go there.
My favorite pan is a Wagner I got at Goodwill in San Francisco.
I especially like to refinish cast iron waffle irons.
(Thanks, David Wolfberg!) Read the rest
Vacuum fluorescent displays (VFDs) are one of those beautiful pieces of bygone technology that you just don’t see much of anymore. At one time they were a mainstay of consumer electronics, but today they’ve largely been replaced with cheaper and more energy efficient displays such as LEDs and LCDs. While …read more
One of the requirements of using Appium for mobile test automation is to start the Appium server in the background so that it can listen to the requests from the mobile app under test. And there are multiple ways that we can install and start the Appium server in the background.
While running Appium tests from a local machine, we have to launch the Appium server on a specific port and update the desired capabilities to point to the server running locally. But there should be a better way to handle these and avoid extra work on desired capabilities. Fortunately, cloud-based app testing platforms like Bitbar provide the ways to run Appium client-side as well as cloud-side. In this post, we will compare the client-side and cloud-side Appium and see both sides of the coin.
Pure components were introduced in React 15.3. React.Component and React.PureComponent differ in implementing the shouldComponentUpdate() lifecycle method. The shouldComponentUpdate() method decides the re-rendering of the component by returning a boolean. In React.Component, it returns true by default. But in pure components, shouldComponentUpdate() compares if there are any changes in state or props to re-render the component.
Here I am sharing my observations about how unnecessary renders are reduced by the pure component.
Sourdough is not the complicated, finicky bread baking technique some folks might like you to believe. Sourdough baking takes very little effort and is mostly an art of patience.
This loaf is an example of what you can achieve by barely paying attention to your starter. I left mine in the fridge for months, and then forgot it on the kitchen counter.
Here is the dough after its first rise, and before I spread it out for folding.
Here is the loaf in its proofing basket. It was VERY wet and took a lot of the flour of the basket.
Here is the finished second loaf baked from a starter that had been left on my kitchen counter, unfed, for over a week. Previous to ignoring the starter on my counter, I had left it in my fridge for well over 6 months.
Here are some details on preparation of a basic sourdough loaf. Read the rest
As we start April so does a new season of anime begin, with this one slated to have over 40 shows airing in Japan. So to help cut through the information overload, weve culled the new season down to seven series that should appeal both to anime fans and to newcomers. Most of these shows are available for viewing internationally a day after they air in Japan, thanks to streaming services like Crunchyroll, Funimation, Netflix, and Amazon.
Saitama is the most powerful superhero in the world, able to defeat anything or anyone with a single punch, but nobody knows who he is. When hes not being a superhero for fun, he spends most days alone in his apartment, planning for the…
“Works with AirPower mat”. Apparently not. Looks like Apple doesn’t treat customers with the same “high standard” of care it apparently reserves for its hardware quality. 9 days after launching its $199 wireless charging AirPods headphones touting compatibility with the forthcoming Apple AirPower inductive charger mat, Apple has just scrapped AirPower entirely. It’s an uncharacteristically […]