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The Apple rumor mill has been churning lately with reports that Apple is readying a new consumer laptop that’s thinner than the MacBook Air, available in various colors, and possibly equipped with the next generation of Apple silicon. Of course, it could very well be an update to the MacBook Air, but it seems to me that Apple is likely taking another crack at replacing its iconic notebook. Apple has tried to replace the MacBook Air before—a disastrous attempt that ended up with the cancellation of both of its potential replacements and the revival of the Air. If Apple is indeed trying again, will this time be different? Will Apple’s customers, who appear to adore the MacBook Air, follow the company’s lead? It all depends on how Apple approaches the transition—and…

When you learn to fly, you are told it is dangerous to launch with the wind beyond 45 degrees off “straight up the slope”. Crosswinds cause turbulence. So why would you launch in a crosswind? In hike-and-fly, you often cannot reach a perfect launch slope. It might have taken hours to get to your chosen peak, and the weather might have changed. The forecast might be wrong. Or you just need to get off the mountain before the rain comes in. If you can do it safely, there’s no reason to restrict yourself to “perfect direction”. But it can be risky to ignore the dangers of the crosswind. So what to do? In this article I’ll show you how to keep yourself safe on a steep slope. Here are 10 steps to help…

Some file optimization and application removal programs on the Mac reach for the stars, trying to perform every possible task of optimization, file cleanup, operating system customization, and malware removal the developers can think of as part of an overarching package. Other apps have been more streamlined, seeking to perform fewer functions and executing them well. DaisyDisk, the brainchild of developers Taras Brizitsky (who programmed the original idea, interaction, and graphic design) and Oleg Krupnov (who now handles the code and technical support), as well as a large group of translators and contributors, belongs to the latter group. The application (version 4.20.3 reviewed here) focuses on locating file clusters, groups them by size, and offers a quick and easy means of dragging them to a delete icon and getting rid of…

Now that Apple’s Mac event has come and gone, we’ve probably seen the last of Apple’s 2021 releases. It’s been a great year, with a redesigned iMac, iPad mini, and MacBook Pro, the launch of AirTag, and a bunch of impressive updates. But 2022 could be even better, with several rumored products ready to launch. Here’s what we’re expecting in the new year. RELEASED IN 2021 > AirTag > Apple TV 4K > iPad Pro (11-inch/12.9-inch) > 24-inch iMac > iPad (ninth-gen) > iPad mini > Apple Watch Series 7 > iPhone 13/iPhone 13 Pro > AirPods (3rd-gen) > MacBook Pro JANUARY–MARCH 2022 Mac mini Like the 13-inch MacBook Pro, the Mac mini was one of the first Macs to get an M1 processor in late 2020, but there’s still an Intel model available for sale. Not for long, though. We’re expecting the higher-end…

In 2021, the iMac got a major refresh with a new design and an M1 processor. At the time, it was a much-needed update to Apple’s iconic line of computers, but now that it’s about a year and a half later, it’s about time for a new model—possibly an even better one. After putting some thought into a new iMac, I concluded that most of the features I’d like to see don’t fit with the current iMac. Instead, I’d like to see a return of the iMac Pro, which was discontinued last year. When it launched in 2017, it was largely seen as a stopgap between Mac Pro models, but it was an important machine that helped separate the iMac into distinct lines—the 21.5-inch model for budget-minded consumers, the 27-inch model…

Is the 2024 Cadillac Celestiq for real? This head-turning, all-electric superluxury sedan is longer than the brand’s Escalade SUV and priced in a stratosphere Cadillac has long only dreamed of returning to. To wit: Pricing will start above the $300,000 threshold, but customers can easily add up to $100,000 more via customization, all but guaranteeing no two owners have the same exact car. The mere fact Cadillac is producing the Celestiq is nearly as surprising as the vehicle itself, which fulfills a longstanding desire to build a proper flagship. An idea became a vision, then a concept car, and now a fabulous final-form four-door that brings to life almost all the gee-whiz features envisioned along the way. The Celestiq has an estimated 600 hp and 640 lb-ft of torque, a 0–60…

The Mac operating system that we use today was introduced 21 years ago. Whether you’ve been using the Mac longer than that or just bought your first M1 MacBook, macOS is a vast operating system and there are tons of tucked-away features that you can take advantage of to help you get stuff done. Here are ten macOS tips and features that you may not know or have forgotten about that can help you get more out of your Mac. Some of these are old, some just arrived in the past year, but all of them are incredibly handy to have in your arsenal. 1. REARRANGE MENU BAR ICONS The menu bar is a good way to quickly access frequently-used settings and other functions. To get the most out of it, you can…

Boasting the looks of an Apple display but at a more affordable price, the Alogic Clarity Monitor scores points on aesthetics and performance. Connected to a Mac mini or Mac Studio, this 27-inch display could recreate the glories of the now discontinued larger iMac. Apple sells two of its own displays, and, as you might expect, neither of them is particularly affordable. The high-end Pro Display XDR starts at $4,999 and the “entry-level” Studio Display starts at $1,599. Read our Apple Studio Display review. There are, of course, plenty of non-Apple displays available. At $650, the Dell 2720Q UltraSharp 27in 4K USB-C Monitor is less than half the price of the Apple monitor. Its 4K screen (3,840 by 2,160 pixels) is not up to the Studio Display’s 5K resolution but will suit…

No matter what Apple product you were lucky enough to get this holiday, you can be assured of three things: It’ll “just work” out of the box. It’ll do exactly what you want it to do. And it’ll last as long as you need it to. That’s the not-so-secret secret to Apple’s success. Apple might sell more devices than ever, but it’s never going to be like Google or Amazon and blanket the landscape with products, so the ones it makes are built to have an instant impact. Instead of cramming as many features as possible into the latest iPhone, for example, Apple chose the features that will matter most, even if it means lagging behind its competitors in terms of features like super zoom and 120Hz displays. It’s all part of…

Bob’s recent book, Earth-Shattering (Little, Brown and Company, 2019), explores the greatest cataclysms that have shaken the universe. For once, let’s not seek out the esoteric but do our exploring in one of the night’s most familiar places: the belt of Orion. Its leftmost star, Alnitak (pronounced ALL-nye-tack), is our focus this month. Alnitak is blue because it’s hotter than most stars. And boy, is it hot, shining at visible wavelengths with the light of 10,000 Suns! Can any of us imagine what 10,000 Suns would be like? Most of its energy isn’t even fiercely hot blue light, but instead deadly ultraviolet (UV), the stuff that punishes our beach vanity with a painful sunburn — except that Alnitak’s UV is largely the intense UVC radiation. The miniature wavelengths from UVC ionize atoms…

Scrolling through your newsfeed lately, you may have seen headlines related to the European Commission’s new proposal to force smartphones and small electronic devices to use USB-C for charging. The headline likely included Apple or iPhone, because a tech-related story is much more interesting when it involves the biggest company in the world. On the surface, it would seem that the EC’s proposal is targeted directly at Apple. Under the terms of the proposal, “USB-C will become the standard port for all smartphones, tablets, cameras, headphones, portable speakers and handheld videogame consoles” in the interest of convenience and e-waste, and the sale of chargers will be “unbundled” from the sale of electronic devices. Apple already complied with half of the proposal when it stopped including chargers with the iPhone 12. At the…

OnePlus used to be a bit like Apple. Regimented, focused, and broadly charismatic, the phone maker revealed its devices bit by bit and always controlled its message. But as we’ve been chronicling in recent months, the company’s communications are now all over the place. Some of OnePlus’ recent attempts to broaden its appeal have worked out well. The low-cost Nord line vastly boosted OnePlus sales in the US. (Our review of the Nord N200 5G determined that it’s pretty good.) With the new Nord 2, which won’t be sold here, OnePlus is experimenting with the Mediatek Dimensity 1200 chipset’s customization package, which may provide better performance than similarly priced Qualcomm processors. But you might not know that OnePlus is developing interesting products, because it’s lost control of its story. After merging some…

MY PRETEEN SON’S laptop had been warning us for months that it was ready to quit forever. The battery had stopped charging properly, the hinge was loose, and, after years of vigorous Minecraft commands, the W key had fallen off. When it finally died on New Year’s Day, West was stricken with panic. His eyes widened as he looked up at me and whispered in horror, “Oh no.” After our schools closed last spring, online gaming became his lifeline, his sole source of peer connection. I tried to convince him the situation wasn’t so bad: He’d been saving money to build a gaming PC for a year. Now that his laptop had died, I’d help him with the cost. But West was not reassured. He explained that he could buy nearly…

The Apple iPhone 13 is a battery-life beast, with far greater longevity than previous midrange smartphones. While we appreciate the greater pocketability of the iPhone 13 mini, unimpressive sales of the iPhone 12 mini taught us that most people prefer long battery life to a petite form factor. So even though other upgrades from the previous generation are nearly unnoticeable here, the battery boost is so profound that it’s definitely worth the $100 premium over a standard-size iPhone 12. And if you’re upgrading from an earlier iPhone, you’ll find a lot of welcome enhancements in power and camera quality. That makes the iPhone 13 the best bet for most buyers, as well as a winner of our Editors’ Choice award. PROS: Long battery life. Fast, smooth performance. Camera makes it easy…

Safari is the default browser on every Mac, and it’s quite good. Apple has optimized it for its own chips and the macOS operating system, so it’s fast and syncs nicely to your iPhone and iPad. But there are plenty of other options out there. You’ve probably heard of them—Chrome, Firefox, Brave, DuckDuckGo—but if you’re a longtime Safari user, you might not think you need to stray. Here are five reasons why you might want to try out another browser on your Mac. YOU MOSTLY USE GOOGLE SERVICES If you tend to use web-based apps and services, you might find the experiences with those better on a different browser. Apple tends to focus on its own ecosystem of apps, and the web experience, even for iCloud, isn’t as good as with other…

The Leonids, arguably history’s most important annual meteor shower, may have a treat in store for us this November. Classically, the shower peaks each year in mid-November. But the 2022 show may captivate those at key locations across the globe with multiple encore performances, one of which could be a dazzler. What’s more, with a waning Moon setting before the best viewing opportunities begin, this year offers observers great opportunities to capture the most of any activity. Meteor showers are curious phenomena. While astronomers are becoming ever more precise in their predictions of when maximum shower activity will occur, the number of meteors one will see with the unaided eyes at any given location is less certain. Researchers are also exploring ways to determine the brightness of expected meteors, but surprises…

There was a time when Apple really cared about Macs having better video chat quality than any other computer you could buy. Almost 20 years ago, it introduced the iSight Firewire webcam, and it was a revelation. For $149 (less than the best webcams today!), it delivered clarity and audio quality far superior to that of all those PC webcams. Fast-forward 20 years, and Apple’s just not keeping pace. The webcams built into Macs these days are fuzzy, grainy, and low-res. Some are still capable of only 720p video, and only the latest models support 1080p. I regularly use a Logitech C920 webcam from 2012 that has the same video resolution, and usually far superior color and clarity. Only now are Mac webcams getting to be on par with the USB…

The Mac’s FaceTime camera sucks—720p or 1080p, it doesn’t matter. But Apple does make great cameras, like those in the iPhone, and with macOS Ventura and iOS 16, Apple is leveraging its iPhone cameras so they can be used as a webcam through a new enhancement to macOS’s Continuity Camera feature. If you’re sick of being embarrassed by your Mac camera’s image quality during videoconferences, or you demand better quality for video recordings of yourself that you want to use, Continuity Camera is a godsend. And fortunately, it’s so easy to set up and use, that you’ll come to rely on it and only use the Mac’s built-in camera in emergencies. Here’s how to set up and use Continuity Camera. But first, here are the requirements: > A Mac running macOS Ventura > An…

The wait for AMD’s Ryzen 7 5800X3D and its exciting new V-Cache technology is over. At long last, this revolutionary processor finally hit retail shelves on April 20. But unlike other Ryzen 5000 series CPUs, this particular chip shines in specific scenarios—and dulls a bit in others. Last week’s drop of independent benchmarks explains the full story, but you don’t have to comb through endless charts to understand the situation. We’ve pulled out the top pieces of information to get you up to speed quickly—and help you decide if the 5800X3D is for you. IT’S FAST IN GAMES… Among its fellow Ryzen 5000 CPUs, the 5800X3D takes the crown as the fastest of the bunch in gaming. At 1080p High or Ultra, it improves upon the standard 5800X’s performance by as much as…

The earliest antivirus products specifically protected against computer viruses, programs that spread by injecting their code into other programs. Those early viruses were predictable and easily detected using simple techniques. Today, though, we’re afflicted with polymorphic malware, pernicious ransomware, and other advanced attacks. Recognizing malware by just looking at files is utterly insufficient. Behavior-based analysis is a must-have in today’s world, and Malwarebytes Premium offers exactly that, along with other layers of protection. The software earned great scores in our hands-on tests, and it has begun to get good ratings from the independent testing labs as well. PROS: Maximum possible score in our hands-on malware-protection test. Excellent scores in phishing and malicious URL–blocking tests. Speedy full scan. Includes exploit protection, ransomware protection, and behavior-based detection. More independent lab test results. CONS: Some…

The ZMI PowerPack No. 20 (Model QB826G) is the closest thing I’ve seen in many years to the kind of outboard laptop battery popular in the days when batteries burned through stored energy as quickly as sparklers. The PowerPack No. 20’s prosaic name hides its massive output: up to 210 watts across three output ports simultaneously! The name also undersells this sleek, surprisingly dense gray and black lithium-ion power pack, which has ports just on one end to access the 90 watt-hour (Wh)/25,000 milliampere-hour (mAh) battery. That’s about 50 percent more than an M1 MacBook Pro’s battery. (ZMI lists 3.63 volts and 90Wh; the MacBook Pro has a spec of 58.2Wh, and we can back out from the battery’s known mAh to get 11.3V as its discharge rate.) You’ll pay a price…

FOR DECADES, THE spreadsheet has been the least sexy form of consumer software. Necessary? Sure. Critical to the drudgery of running a business, doing your banking, or figuring out a financial plan? 100 percent. But exciting, innovative tech? Oh, God no. If you were a hotshot young developer, you flocked to Silicon Valley’s hyper-oxygenated fields, such as AI or crypto or the various legless metaversii. Spreadsheets were gray-flannel-suit territory. This meant that very little effort went into improving this dependable piece of officeware. Yeah, Google put spreadsheets online in 2006 (by buying up a firm that had already done so), and Airtable launched a clever sort of database-and-spreadsheet turducken in 2012. But those were the exceptions. Mostly, startups were content to let Excel and Google Sheets dominate a user base of about…

Welcome to the gorgeous 2023 Block of the Month designed by Natalie Bird. The design features 48, 8in blocks presenting a collection of pieced, appliqué and stitchery blocks —&from sweet little hexagons to Dresden Plates, Coff in Wheel blocks and lots of delightful elements. Each part will include a collection of the diff erent techniques to keep you engaged and challenged! This issue includes the full materials list for the entire project. The fabrics used are from Natalie's most recent fabric collection — Owl & Hare Hollow —and two previous ranges — Blume and Grow and Birdhouse Basics. You can make this quilt from your stash or perhaps some new purchases — whatever pleases you. If you wish to make it in the same fabrics that Natalie has used, including the…

Despite all the intriguing new devices that Apple showed off this week, it’s never too early to start musing on what might be up the company’s sleeves next. As ever, you can glean a lot about the direction Apple is heading in by seeing what kind of things it is focusing on, especially when it’s rolling out new products with new capabilities. Features and technologies that we haven’t seen before can often point to places in which the company has invested significant time and energy—and, in many cases, it’s with an eye to more than just a single device. One of Apple’s great strengths, after all, is a “build once, deploy anywhere” mentality that lets the company bring the same features to many products. With the first event of 2021 behind…

Before we start, I have a confession: It’s been about 10 years since I bought a MacBook. I’ve used plenty of them over the years through work and on loan from Apple, including the latest M1 MacBook Pro, but the last time I actually owned a MacBook was the 15-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display in 2012. So when I saw a recent deal on the entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro at Costco, it was too good to pass up. Even though I had read the reviews, I didn’t expect all that much to be different between the M1 MacBook Pro and the M1 Pro MacBook Pro—a little faster, a little bigger, a little newer. But I was pleasantly surprised. The 14-inch MacBook Pro is a whole new machine that’s far more…

Whenever you fly, wherever you travel, you need to know about active flying – and apply what you know. So let’s cover it here. In smooth air, glider and pilot glide in unison. When you fly through turbulent air though, your wing can become disturbed, causing you to swing in an unbalanced way, which can expose you to greater risk of collapse and rapid height loss. You need to calm the movement so you fly in harmony again. This is active flying. Most wings are designed to recover by themselves, so why do you need to do anything? Paragliders are incredible aircraft, but a little corrective input can greatly improve their recovery time. Developing your active flying skills also allows you to reduce the movements and hugely improve your gliding performance. Watch out!…

Once upon a time, Apple was all over the iMac VESA wall-mounting standard. With the iMac as the world’s premier all-in-one, it made perfect sense to offer buyers a post-purchase option if they wanted to clear space on their desk or use a stand that allowed adjustment of the height and horizontal viewing angle. Apple was a bit mercenary about it, charging a cool $80 for a very simple adapter, but it was a fairly easy operation to switch from a stand to a VESA mount and back again. All that changed with the advent of the thinner-profile iMac that was introduced in 2012. The iMac’s set screws were rotated 90 degrees forward and were no longer accessible without disassembling the entire computer right down to the motherboard. That means that…

In 1955, Canadian pianist Glenn Gould surprised executives at Columbia Masterworks by choosing J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations for his debut recording. His performance was fast and fluid and sparkling and delicious, and it was an astonishingly big seller. In 1981, Gould came full circle and recorded the Goldbergs again. It was his last studio recording. That second attempt could not be more different from the first: relentlessly intellectual, percussive, insistent. Outtakes from the 1955 sessions were released by Sony in 2018. Late last year, to honor what would have been Gould’s 90th birthday, Sony put out a package with a full-color coffee table book and 10 CDs of unreleased outtakes from the 1981 sessions—The Goldberg Variations: The Complete Unreleased 1981 Studio Sessions—with an 11th disc containing the 1981 album. This is…

Steve Jobs’ impact was so significant that it’s difficult to find the words to describe his influence on business, technology, and society, even 10 years after his death. It’s hard to narrow down the products released under his watch to a list of just five. But we tried anyway. Here’s our list of the most memorable products released during Steve Jobs’ tenure with Apple. Also note that Apple has posted a film, Celebrating Steve, to commemorate the tenth anniversary of Jobs’ death. 1. APPLE II Everyone remembers the Mac (see item two on this list), but the Apple II was the first product that really got Apple going as a business. The first mass-produced computer by the company in 1977, the Apple II (pictured) succeeded the Apple I, which was not a…

When I started working for MacUser magazine in 1993, I was assigned to a gray cubicle with an old Mac IIci inside. (The summer intern didn’t get the latest and greatest.) I don’t know how that was nearly 30 years ago, but here we are. Over the last few years, I’ve spent a little time buying a few old Mac models and getting them up to speed. Within five feet of me as I write this are a working G4 Cube, G4 iMac, Mac Plus, PowerBook 170, and even a Power Computing Mac clone. As much as using old computers can be a fun nostalgia trip, it also makes me appreciate what we have today all the more. You remember the good times, but forget the bad! As someone who recently had…

It’s been six years since Microsoft unveiled a new version of Windows. Now Windows 10 users with eligible PCs can upgrade to a brand-new version of Microsoft’s OS called Windows 11. And whether Microsoft wants to admit it or not, the new Windows looks a lot like macOS. Microsoft has changed a lot about the way Windows looks and works, but it’s hard to deny that its “modern, fresh, clean and beautiful” interface borrows heavily from Apple’s style, with rounded corners, subtle transparency, and an overall fluidity that would feel right at home on a MacBook. Along with these familiar interface elements, Windows 11 brings plenty of features that Mac users don’t have. It leverages the touch-friendly nature of many PCs, introduces new ways to type and talk, taps into the power…

Last spring, Apple revived the iPad Air branding after letting it lie dormant for several years. The 2019 iPad Air was a great compromise between the affordability of the standard iPad and the performance and features of the far more expensive iPad Pro. The new 2020 model continues in that tradition. It’s more expensive than the 2019 version, but incorporates more of the Pro’s features and design and offers a substantial leap in performance. With a starting price of $599, it’s not quite the bargain the 2019 Air was at $499, especially when you start tacking on accessories like the Apple Pencil or Magic Keyboard. Still, it’s a better buy than the iPad Pro for most people and a big step up from the standard iPad. TAKING CUES FROM iPAD PRO As with the…

I’ve tried several products to paint natural-metal finishes, including Testors Model Master Metalizer and Alclad II. Both produced finishes that looked like they were painted, so I wasn’t satisfied. In 2016, while visiting a local air show that featured several World War II aircraft, I had a revelation about what makes bare-metal aircraft look so unique. The colors of the individual panels vary, there’s a subtle grain in the aluminum, and rivets are visible. That prompted me to try metal foil as a finishing material. I ordered Bare-Metal Foil (BMF), a thin, self-adhesive foil that is available in several sheens; I use two sheens: Matte Aluminum and Chrome. The foil has subtle grain on the surface. I’ve used it several times and this is how I get the right look. Tools The…

Windows 11 is here. As with every previous mega-update to the desktop operating system of record over the years, the new interface has been met with dissent. It’s no surprise that Twitter is full of outrage over the redesign—and, it must be admitted, some praise, too. The record will show that I’ve never been a hater of new Windows features. I even found things to like in the disastrous Windows 8 release. I was an avid Cortana user, at least while she could still do useful things, such as shut down the PC or control music. But a significant difference is that, at least with Windows 8, Microsoft was creating something original and new. I know that software and all other forms of art borrow from others’ recent work, but the…

Phishing is a cute name for a malicious practice. An attacker sends millions of emails (or even a billion) that try to convince someone they are from a legitimate source. Phishing sometimes relies on the billions of account compromises that have occurred over the last several years to include telling personal details, like your mailing address or an account name associated with a site. The mail convinces you something is wrong with your account, or there’s a great promotion underway, and urges you to click a link that looks correct. Clicking brings you to a website that wants your account credentials. Proceed—and you may have given away the keys to your kingdom. This kind of attack is insidious because most of us receive so much email from companies and organizations we deal…

Since the 1980s, I’ve been asking every speaker designer I meet, “What amplifier do you recommend using with your speakers?” Annoyingly, they always say, “My speakers are easy to drive. Any amp will do.” Whereupon I’d whine, “Aww, come on man, don’t feed me that. What amp did you use when you were designing the speaker?” The closest any manufacturer came to providing a real answer was Wendell Diller of Magnepan, who, when I reviewed his .7 quasi-ribbon speaker, said, “We used an amp of our own design. It’s not for sale. But any amp that doubles its power into 4 ohms will be fine.” Wendell’s answer helped me choose effective amplification and feel more confident about my conclusions. Unlike loudspeaker manufacturers, headphone manufacturers know that which amp a reviewer uses…

The fast and light G-Drive SSD is as attractive and fast as its branding is arcane. It can be purchased from the WD (Western Digital) store under the SanDisk Professional brand, and is part of the G-Drive line. Some might remember that G-Drive was a boutique Mac storage vendor some time ago. WD bought G-Drive as well as SanDisk, which develops nearly all of the parent company’s solid state technology. Hence, it’s the SanDisk Professional G-Drive SSD from WD. Who cares, you say? Just filling you in. The drive is excellent, so let’s get on with it. DESIGN The G-Drive SSD is a USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbps), Type-C solid state drive available in 500GB, 1TB, and 2TB flavors for $150, $250 ($230 on sale), and $360, respectively. That’s actually a tad less…

After more than a decade with the same design, the iMac finally has a brand-new look, and it’s stunning. The 2021 iMac also has Apple’s super-fast M1 processor, a bigger display with even more pixels, a much-needed update to the FaceTime camera, and some pretty awesome audio capabilities. But is this enough, or would you be better off spending your money elsewhere? 1. PERFORMANCE AND PRICE One thing is clear: The M1 chip is far superior to the 8th-generation Intel quad-core and 6-core options in the iMacs it replaces. If you are just seeking a new iMac to replace an older generation of iMac, then you won’t be disappointed in the speed boost. There is little to distinguish the iMac from the other M1 Macs, though. We have tested all the M1 Macs…

Amazon Kindles can put a library in your pocket. Whether you choose the basic Kindle, the pocketable Paperwhite, or a top-of-the-line Oasis, a Kindle holds thousands of books within its sleek black casing, and thousands more can be stored in the cloud. A Kindle betrays very little from the outside (no subway snooping of what you’re reading here), but there’s a lot going on inside. All Kindle models feature adjustable LED lighting so you can see the page while camping under the stars, while the Paperwhite and Oasis are waterproof for blissful beachside reading. And if you want to know how many more hours it will take you to finish a book, they can tell you that, too. Here are some tips that’ll help you get even more out of your Kindle.…

Scale safety first Tim Boyd’s article in the May 2021 FSM, “The Secrets of Extreme-Z” was interesting and informative, but I must point out a serious safety issue: the use of cinder blocks to support the frame or chassis. Cinder blocks, as their name implies, are constructed of coal ash cinders bonded together with Portland cement. While they are lightweight and therefore tempting to use in lieu of jack stands, their bonded construction makes their use extremely dangerous for projects like Tim’s hot rod, where someone may be lying on the ground underneath. Cinder blocks are reasonably strong when the load is distributed evenly across the supporting surface, but a point contact will create extremely high stresses and often, the structure being supported will punch through the supporting cinder block surface.…

Apple and the iPhone are always in the news, but lately it seems like it’s been for all the wrong reasons. Over the past week or so, many stories have painted the iPhone as a security risk and Apple as sneakily throttling charging speeds. None of those things are happening. Here’s the truth. iOS 16 ISN’T SLOWING DOWN CHARGING SPEEDS Apple introduced a new feature in iOS 16.1 called Clean Energy Charging that seeks to limit the impact of your iPhone on the environment by “selectively charging when lower carbon-emission electricity is available.” This feature has been enabled by default on all iOS 16 iPhones since October, but a few people just noticed it last week and made a bunch of noise about it on Twitter. People lost their minds, calling the…

Fundamental forces Q | IF GRAVITY IS THE WEAKEST OF THE FOUR FUNDAMENTAL FORCES, HOW CAN THE SUN’S GRAVITY AFFECT DISTANT AND LOW-MASS OBJECTS SUCH AS THOSE IN THE KUIPER BELT AND OORT CLOUD? Neal Attinson Sonoma, California A | It is true that gravity is weakest among the fundamental forces. However, the effect of gravity can be felt even at arbitrarily large distances for two reasons. The first is a consequence of the inverse square nature of the gravitational interaction, meaning the force of gravity diminishes with 1/R2, where R is the distance between two objects. But we must consider this alongside gravity’s flux, which is defined as the number of force field lines (which relates to its strength) crossing a surface area. Let’s think of an imaginary sphere with the Sun at the…

In September, Apple announced the new A15 processor in a peculiar way: by comparing its new chip to the Android competition, rather than the A14 that powered last year’s generation of iPhones. We were all left to try to infer the speed of the A15 based on Apple’s claims, wondering if the company was obscuring the performance improvements in the A15 because they weren’t particularly impressive. Recently things have gotten a lot clearer with the first reviews of the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro, as well as a look at what the iPad mini has to offer. Now we’ve got the cold, hard facts about the A15—and it’s more complicated and interesting than I guessed last week. The net result? Apple is making one chip but using it in three…

If there’s a single disappointment in the release of Apple’s first wave of M1 Macs, it’s the lackluster launch of iOS apps running inside of macOS. What should be an amazing unification of Apple’s platforms and a massive expansion of the Mac software base is, instead…kind of a non-event. Running iOS apps on the Mac can be a little weird, it’s true. But it can sometimes be good. Unfortunately, a lot of interesting iOS apps just aren’t available at all, because their developers have removed them from the Mac side of the iOS App Store. It’s not a great situation. It needs to get better. Here are some ways that might happen. WHAT DEVELOPERS CAN DO Though iOS app developers with the Apple silicon Developer Transition Kit could build their iOS apps for Mac…

So you’re ready to buy a new laptop. What do you need it for? What do you really need it for? It’s tempting to look at a top-of-the-line model, but most of us aren’t doing complex professional video edits on 4K video, heavy-duty scientific work, or really big coding projects every day. Most of us spend our time with some browser tabs open, a handful of apps for email and messaging, editing photos or maybe some simple videos, watching streaming video, that sort of thing. If you’re a gamer that wants to play the latest games, our sister site, PCWorld, can point you in the direction of a Windows laptop, but for everyone else—everyone who doesn’t use their laptop for very intensive tasks all day long—the MacBook Air is exactly what…

Apple is worth trillions, but that doesn’t mean it gets everything right. Started on the back of a Kickstarter project in 2014, the tiny firm Pebblebee has produced a range of compact tracking products. Its latest, Pebblebee Clip, outshines Apple’s AirTag tracker in most important regards except weight. The Clip works with Apple’s Find My network just like an AirTag, although Pebblebee has put in a larger battery to power a higher-powered Bluetooth transmitter. The battery is rated for six months on a single charge—that’s right, it’s a rechargeable battery, sporting a built-in USB-C jack and including a short USB-C to Type-A cable. It has an attractive matte-black finish on its plastic center and metal frame and keyring, with just a tiny bit of concavity around its center on both sides.…

Like most boat owners, I had long wanted to fit some form of stabilisation to our 2004 Fairline Squadron 58. In the four years I have owned her, we have made extensive improvements: new interior, electric blinds, new exterior upholstery, new teak, new helm seats, helm refurbishments, mood lighting, watermaker and much more. There were not many projects left and I had no real desire to change the boat, so stabilisation was the obvious next step. The snag? Simple: cost. There is no cheap way to stabilise a boat. I’d assumed electric fins would be cheaper than hydraulic ones – just how much can a few motors attached to some flippers cost? Answer: even more than hydraulic fins! How much are hydraulic fins? Even more than a gyro. Oh well, a…

We don’t all have a new iPhone 13 with giant batteries. Many of us are using older iPhones with aging batteries that always seem to be in the red. Fortunately, there are several ways to save battery life, built right into iOS, that take mere seconds to try out. Here are 10 simple ways to help your iPhone last as long as possible. 1. GO AHEAD AND REBOOT The surefire Mac fix works for your iPhone too. Restarting your iPhone periodically can give your battery life a lift by killing background processes that could be draining precious juice. All you need to do is press and hold the volume up button on the left and the power button on the right (or hold the power button if your iPhone has a home…

Like many former users of LastPass, I was miffed when the company delivered an ultimatum to nonpaying customers last year. I’ve since switched to Bitwarden, and haven’t looked back. Without a $36 per year subscription, LastPass now limits users to one device type—mobile or computer—per account. That means free users must choose between accessing their passwords on either a laptop or a phone, which isn’t much of a choice for a lot of people. While I’m not fundamentally opposed to paying for useful services, I don’t like being forced to pay for something when a company can’t make its freemium business model work. With password managers in particular, there are plenty of other options, both free and paid, that work just as well as LastPass did. And so I took my years of…

PROS • Return of the light, fun BMW coupe • Excellent I-4 and I-6 powertrains • Longer wheelbase improves second row CONS • Lacks some standard safety systems • Center console lacks storage space • Occasionally glitchy infotainment system 230i, M240i VEHICLE LAYOUT Front-engine, RWD, 4-pass, 2-door coupe; front-engine, AWD, 4-pass, 2-door coupe ENGINE, TRANSMISSION 2.0L turbo direct-injected DOHC 16-valve I-4; 3.0L turbo direct-injected DOHC 24-valve I-6, 8-speed automatic CURB WEIGHT (F/R DIST) 3,535 lb (50/50%); 3,876 lb (53/47%) WHEELBASE 107.9 in LENGTH x WIDTH x HEIGHT 179.0 x 72.4 x 54.8; 179.4 x 72.4 x 55.3 in ON SALE Now A slow clap for BMW bringing a new 2 Series to the lineup. There isn’t much appetite in this world for compact, playful sport coupes, yet here the 2 sits. It does more than that, though—while the second-generation car has grown, it remains…

There’s no denying that the 12.9-inch iPad Pro is a gorgeous and incredibly powerful piece of hardware. It’s easily one of the nicest pieces of tech I’ve ever held and the fastest iPad ever made, and it’s hard to imagine any tablet released in the next five years doing much to top it. Of course, I could have written the same thing about the 2020 model. The 2021 iPad Pro doesn’t look all that much different than the model it replaces or the 2018 iPad Pro before that. And the upgrades the new model brings—most notably, the Retina XDR display, 5G modem, and M1 processor—won’t be immediately noticeable to anyone using it. Unless you’re comparing it side by side to the 2020 model, in fact, you probably won’t be able to…

Apple during its WWDC keynote took the wraps off macOS 13 Ventura, the next major version of the Mac operating system. A beta test version of Ventura is available to developers now, with a public beta coming in the next few weeks. The official release to the general public will happen this fall. Ventura has a ton of new stuff, but we’re highlighting the top features here. 1. STAGE MANAGER Mac users tend to work in multiple apps and files at once, which leads to dozens of open windows. You can use Mission Control to sort your windows, but it’s still overwhelming to find the one you need. The new Stage Manager helps you get control of those windows. Stage Manager can be activated in Control Center, and it places your active window in…

DATABASE REVEALS OVER 200K PEOPLE INVOLVED IN POSTING FAKE REVIEWS ON AMAZON I actually reported some sellers attempting to buy my good review directly to Amazon. Amazon was extremely slow in actually being able to take down the vendors. The process was so painful, in fact, that I probably would never bother to do it again. I’m sure those same vendors are back up on Amazon as some other name, as Amazon does zero vetting of marketplace vendors. Amazon has serious issues with credibility and many of the Chinese vendors on their platform are very underhanded and don’t follow the Amazon Marketplace rules at all. I stopped reading anything other than the bad reviews, really. I do check the questions from time to time … but I never read the good…

Ship modelers frequently face the dilemma of how to differentiate their model from other builds of the same kit. In real life, hundreds and thousands of planes and tanks were built in multitudes of different variants, markings, and camouflage. In contrast, there was only one Bismarck, for example. There was only one battleship USS Arizona (BB-39), one heavy cruiser USS San Francisco (CA-38), and so on. So what are some ways you can make your ship stand out? Some things come readily to mind, like adding aftermarket photoetched metal (PE) details. Or scratchbuilding additions. Or modifying the base kit so the project can be called a kitbash or conversion. In almost every case, unique painting or finishing further elevates the model. Combining these techniques is what I call strategic detailing. When…

The Home Office has confirmed that a new online reporting system for all sailors leaving and returning to the UK should go live later this year. Called Submit A Pleasure Craft Report, it will be available to fill out via the gov.uk website. There are no plans to make it available as an app. Since the end of the Brexit transition period on 31 December 2020, cruisers have been required to fill out the C1331 customs declaration form with details of their boat, crew, and departure and arrival destinations and dates every time they travel out of or into UK waters. The form can only be sent by post to the Border Force team in Dover. If a voyage is delayed by more than 24 hours then a new form with…

Presentation software and videoconferencing tools mix like oil and water. That’s a particularly unfortunate thing when tens of millions of teachers are forced to use PowerPoint or Keynote to remotely educate kids daily. These apps weren’t designed for interactive remote presentation, and about nine months into the pandemic, the seams aren’t just showing—they’ve ripped out like one of Bruce Banner’s shirts. The fundamental problem is the full-screen presentation mode. It makes perfect sense for in-person presentations. With two screens available—one a laptop and one a projector or a feed into a broadcast or webinar system—presenters can view notes, use tools for markup, run builds and play videos, and see their next slide or even the set of upcoming slides. They don’t need another screen to also see participants, or they’re in…

I’ve never felt the need to choose between the iPad and the Mac. I use and value them both. But over the last few years, it’s started to feel like both the Mac and the iPad are increasingly limited by an artificial barrier that Apple has placed between them. The iPad has slowly become more Mac-like without ever really reaching the promised land. The Mac, meanwhile, has failed to pick up many desirable features from the iPad. I admire the discipline Apple has had in keeping its product lines separate, but it feels like that decision is starting to harm the futures of both products. The Mac and the iPad are on a collision course, and I’m concerned that they’re both about to run into the brick wall Apple has erected between…

Apple has unveiled macOS 12 Monterey, the first major update to macOS since the big shift in macOS 11 Big Sur. There are a bunch of new features, and we’ll cover everything you need to know about the update before it arrives in the fall: the top features, system requirements, availability, and more. Let’s start with the key features. UNIVERSAL CONTROL Apple users often switch between devices, and with Universal Control, you can now use a single mouse and keyboard between your Mac and iPad. If you’re using a MacBook, you can use its keyboard and trackpad with the iPad. You can even drag and drop files between devices and perform gestures on the MacBook trackpad to navigate the iPad. Additionally, Universal Control can do something that Apple’s Craig Federighi said would appeal…

Apple’s at the top of the world—and from this standpoint, it’s hard to see how the company could be anything other than the market leader and taste maker it’s been in recent memories. I’m not about to suggest that its decline and fall are imminent, but those who (like me) remember the dark days of the 1990s know that success is never guaranteed. In any case, it’s unlikely that a company as massive and dominant as Apple would simply vanish into the ether—poof. But as the company’s grown and matured, it’s undeniable that its nature is changing. Those changes aren’t without precedent. Over the last several decades, there’s been a pattern among dominant tech companies. Where once they might have ruled the world by producing the thing that everybody needed to have—whether…

The release of the M1 processor was a milestone. Apple finally migrated the Mac to its fast, low-power mobile processors, and the results were incredible. They were a hard act to follow—and after about a year and a half, the M2 processor arrived with a (not unexpected) set of incremental gains. You can’t reinvent the wheel every time out, and clearly the M2 was a careful follow-on to the M1, designed to keep the ball rolling. But now reports abound that the M3 is on the way—not at the end of the year or in early 2024, as you might expect from the 18-month gap between the M1 and the M2, but very soon, perhaps as soon as late spring or early summer. Surprise! It turns out that Apple may be more…

We live in a wonderful era for Apple laptops. The 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros provide desktop power and stunning HDR displays. The new M2 MacBook Air has now joined the family, with a similar striking design and the Air’s trademark smaller size and weight. After a dark period where Apple struggled with flawed laptop keyboards, a painful transition to USB-C, and an increasingly frustrating relationship with Intel, things haven’t looked this bright in quite some time. That’s why, as Apple looks on proudly at the new line of laptops it has fashioned over the past couple of years, I have only one request: More, please. LAPTOPS ARE THE BEST Let’s start with the facts. For decades, the overall percentage of new Macs sold that are laptops kept going up. The last time…

THERE IS A MUSIC-TECH controversy that rivals Bob Dylan’s choice to plug in his guitar at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965. A year earlier, on April 10, 1964, the pianist Glenn Gould made a radical exit from live concerts. Gould played seven pieces to a packed house at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles, including four fugues. He gave no indication that the program was his swan song. Then he strolled—he never stormed—away from his Steinway CD 318 and out the door of the concert hall, into the mild California air. A year later, he boarded a train for the desolate Northwest Territories of his native Canada. He never played another concert. When Arthur Rubinstein bet him in 1971 that he’d be back, Gould took the bet; when he…

The Stratofortress, Boeing’s strategic bomber whose long career shows no signs of ending, has proven a versatile platform. Among its many roles, one of the most colorful was the NB-52B (No. 52-0008) used to launch the X-15. This early airframe was mostly unpainted during early test flights and with its bright orange trim it belies the B-52’s unflattering sobriquet, BUFF, for big, ugly, fat… uh… fellow. Monogram modified its 1/72 scale B-52D to produce an NB-52 kit, but it is difficult to find. So I converted one of the bomber kits (No. 8292) and dressed it with Cutting Edge decals. For the load, I used an X-15 I built many years ago. 1 As part of the modifications done to the NB-52B, the tail-gun turret was removed. After cutting off the gun…

It has been more three years since Apple last updated its streaming media box. The old Apple TV 4K was too good to need an update, really. With an A10X processor and Apple’s excellent tvOS software, it was already more responsive and performant than nearly all its competitors. There’s a very healthy app ecosystem, and it even supported Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. Its biggest problem was its price: $179 for 32GB or $199 for 64GB. So what changes does Apple make after three years? Not many. The new Apple TV 4K replaces the A10X for an A12, which is a fairly small upgrade. It still costs $179/$199 for 32GB/64GB, and it even looks identical. The biggest upgrade is the new Siri Remote, which is a sweeping overhaul and a massive…

Wondering why you’re hearing a lot about Clubhouse lately? We can partially blame Elon Musk: By popping up in a Clubhouse room in February, the world’s richest man (for now) brought the service a lot of attention. Here’s what you need to know about the exclusive chat app. Okay, so what is it? Here’s the gist: Imagine you have an app on your phone that lets you listen in on other people’s live conversations. But not in a creepy way; these people want to be heard. They may even be interesting or knowledgeable (no guarantee, though). And you may be given the opportunity to join the chat. Think of it as an audio-chat social network. So there are no pictures or video? No, only profile pics for each user. What platforms are supporting the app? Clubhouse…

The truism that good things come in small packages reigns supreme in the case of the Envoy Pro Elektron. It’s small and it’s good–by good I mean it’s rugged, fits easily in a shirt pocket, and delivers 1GBps reads and writes over SuperSpeed USB 10Gbps. (If you’re not up to speed to the latest USB naming conventions, that’s USB 3.X Gen 2.) DESIGN AND SPECS The Envoy Pro Elektron is a small, silvery rectangle measuring 2 inches wide (the site says 2.1), by 3 inches long, by 0.5 inches thick. The bottom is heavily beveled on three sides with two rubberized strips inlaid crosswise to keep it from sliding about. The strips are surprisingly effective. On one end is the Type-C port, which is labeled USB 3.2 10Gbps so you don’t confuse it…

What’s a “demonstrator” locomotive? Q I’m doing research on the Wisconsin Central, Wisconsin & Southern, and the Soo Line. Some photos I’ve found refer to the locomotives as “demonstrators.” What exactly is a demonstrator locomotive? Bob Vysinka, LaValle, Wis. A When a locomotive manufacturer like Electro-Motive Diesel or General Electric comes out with a new model, it will build a few “demonstrator” models. It will then send these locomotives to railroads for them to try out, in hopes the railroad’s managers will see the advantages of the new model and order some for their roster. Since the demonstrator locomotives don’t belong to the railroads, they’re painted in promotional schemes featuring the manufacturer’s name and logo instead of the railroad’s. The demonstrators usually make their tour of several railroads before being sold and repainted…

The metaverse is in the air. Mark Zuckerberg won’t stop talking about turning Facebook into one. Zombie-strewn Fortnite says it’s on the way to becoming one. Microsoft is going to develop an enterprise one, which sounds fun. But what is it? If you’ve been nodding along and hoping that eventually people will stop talking about it, we have good news and bad news. Metaverse news is only going to increase. This is obviously the bad news. In better news, we have a quick primer to help you with the basics. So here are your questions (hopefully) answered. Hi. Hi. This is going to sound weird, but are you really here? Sure. Let’s say yes. I ask because I was just reading about Mark Zuckerberg and this metaverse thing, and it has thrown me into an existential…

The Geminid meteor shower is best known for the reliable show it puts on during the winter holiday season. But the event is also unique because it stems not from a comet but from an asteroid: 3200 Phaethon. Phaethon’s true nature has puzzled astronomers for more than 10 years, ever since they discovered that it brightens dramatically and expels dust when it nears the Sun. That kind of behavior is usually reserved for comets. When a comet’s path brings it through the inner solar system, the Sun warms and vaporizes the ices on its surface, creating a bright tail extending up to millions of miles behind it. Escaping vapor can also dislodge some of the comet’s dust and rock, which is usually the debris that fuels meteor showers. But asteroids like Phaethon…

The most meaningful test of a CD player or transport is of how well it deals with disc errors. I examined the Jay’s Audio CDT3-MK3’s performance with the Pierre Verany Digital Test CD, which has tracks with single or double gaps in the data spiral. It successfully played tracks with gaps up to 1mm in length, but when the gap was 1.5mm or longer, there were audible glitches. The Compact Disc standard requires only that a player cope with gaps of up to 0.2mm. The Jay’s transport copes well with damaged CDs. Next, I examined the amount of timing uncertainty—jitter—in the CDT3-MK3’s AES3 output by looking at the datastream’s “eye pattern.” I overlaid successive snapshots of the CDT3-MK3’s AES3 output, taken over a 60s time window, with my Audio Precision SYS27221…

Ever since Top Gun hit theaters in 1986, I have wanted to model the needlelike enemy fighters in the film: the so-called MiG-28. Of course, the MiG-28 doesn’t exist, and the villains were actually Northrop F-5E Tiger IIs painted jet black with a Soviet-style red star on the tail. But most moviegoers didn’t really notice or care — neither did I. The U.S. Navy still uses F-5s as adversaries for training, and those aircraft were recently upgraded with advanced avionics and radar as F-5Ns. A few of these jets are painted gloss black and kept extremely clean. painted gloss black and kept extremely clean. Kitty Hawk’s 1/32 scale F-5E (No. KH32018) was a welcome release because the only other model of this iconic fighter in that scale is a 25-year-old Hasegawa kit.…

Every time Apple holds an event, we pretty much know exactly what it’s going to release. If you’ve been keeping up with the rumor mill for the weeks and months prior to the big day, the actual keynote is like watching a show you’ve already seen and waiting for your favorite scenes to come along. But that wasn’t the case with the “California Streaming” event. While the rumor mill got many things right, it also whiffed on major predictions, more than with any other recent event. For every correct guess—such as the iPhone 13’s bigger battery and the Apple Watch’s larger screen—there was a big miss. Here’s what the rumormongers got wrong. AIRPODS DIDN’T MAKE AN APPEARANCE Perhaps the biggest miss of the day was the lack of an AirPods announcement. It feels…

At the core of making an inclusive, easy-to-use software experience is recognizing that accessibility is not just code for “people with disabilities.” It’s just a set of tools to match people’s capabilities with the use of a product. We are all situationally disabled, and everyone needs different forms of help to interact with digital products. Apple has made great strides in its accessibility features, and clearly recognizes the importance of making the iPhone or iPad easy for everyone to use, regardless of physical capabilities. But some of the coolest stuff, stuff everyone can and would want to use, is still frustratingly buried in the Accessibility section of the Settings app. BACK TAP Open Settings → Accessibility → Touch and scroll all the way down to find the Back Tap menu. This lets you add…

14:47 MARCH 12, 2034 (GMT+8) SOUTH CHINA SEA It surprised her still, even after twenty-four years, the way from horizon to horizon the vast expanse of ocean could in an instant turn completely calm, taut as a linen pulled across a table. She imagined that if a single needle were dropped from a height, it would slip through all the fathoms of water to the seabed, where, undisturbed by any current, it would rest on its point. How many times over her career had she stood as she did now, on the bridge of a ship, observing this miracle of stillness? A thousand times? Two thousand? On a recent sleepless night, she had studied her logbooks and totaled up all the days she had spent traversing the deep ocean, out of sight…

In April, after sitting on the floor of a Walgreens for three hours, I was finally injected with a tiny amount of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine. It was a triumph for me to have remained healthy to this point, and a much larger triumph of medical science to have created, tested, and distributed vaccines for a completely new disease in such a short time. This is in stark contrast to the tech sector, which failed the world once with contact-tracing apps and seems poised to fail us once again with vaccine passports. AN APP TO KEEP US SAFE? You could be forgiven for having forgotten about contract-tracing apps. The idea was that our phones would silently keep tabs on every other person (with a phone) that came close enough to us to spread…

Apple on Tuesday released new iPads that will give us plenty to talk about for weeks to come. The new 10th-generation iPad is a complete redesign that brings it in line with the Air and mini, and the new iPad Pro is the fastest tablet ever made, with an M2 processor and Wi-Fi 6E. In simple terms, Apple’s new tablets are its strongest ever, bringing more options for consumers at both ends of the spectrum. But buying an iPad is also more confusing than ever. Apple now has five different iPad lines starting at $329 and going all the way up to $2,000-plus. Here’s how the models break down: iPad (9th generation, 64GB): $329 iPad (9th generation, 256GB): $479 iPad (10th generation, 64GB): $479 iPad mini (64GB): $499 iPad (10th generation, 256GB): $599 iPad Air (64GB): $599 iPad…

Email yachtingmonthly@futurenet.com Post Confessions, Yachting Monthly, Future PLC, 161 Marsh Wall, London, E14 9AP Send us your stories in less than 200 words WIN A FLOATING HANDHELD VHF UK residents only The confession of the month wins a Standard Horizon HX210E waterproof VHF radio worth £134.95. It boasts a wateractivated strobe, 6W transmission, largest-in-class screen, an FM radio and more. STANDARD HORIZON www.standardhorizon.co.uk Knot tested Sir Robin Knox-Johnston One of my ways of checking people for the Clipper Round The World Race is to make sure they can tie knots. There are certain ones they have to know as part of their four-week training. I remember going down to a boat and asking a lady who had just joined to do a bowline. She said ‘I haven’t done one for nine months’, and I was absolutely furious. I said ‘Come on, you’re about…

Email can be a killer: Just ask New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who discovered some scandalous messages during a multinational investigation of Intel, the American semiconductor giant. The Intel emails, made public by Cuomo in 2009 when he was New York’s state attorney general, appeared to show that the company was taking a carrot-and-stick approach to ensuring that its customers used Intel processors for all, or nearly all, of the PCs that they sold. This might not rank as one of history’s most revelatory email brouhahas, but it was a vital factor in a billion-dollar settlement that would drastically change the semiconductor industry—and the wider tech world that relies on it. The effect is still felt in courtrooms and boardrooms worldwide and is, without a doubt, in the back of the…

PROS • Slick EV integration • Crushingly normal, unlike most EVs • Channels core BMW traits CONS • Eco-minded tires can be loud • Awkward ingress/egress • Limited center-console storage space eDRIVE40; M50 VEHICLE LAYOUT Rear-motor, RWD, 5-pass, 4-door hatchback; front- and rear-motor, AWD, 5-pass, 4-door hatchback MOTORS, TRANSMISSIONS Brushed synchronous electric, 1-speed automatic CURB WEIGHT (F/R DIST) 4,708 lb (45/55%); 5,012 lb (48/52%) WHEELBASE 112.4 in LENGTH x WIDTH x HEIGHT 188.5 x 72.9 x 57.0 ON SALE Now Look at the BMW i4, then look at a current BMW 4 Series Gran Coupe. The two four-door hatchbacks are virtually identical, their shared platform flexible enough to support both electric and gas-powered models. Cover the i4’s badges, and it’s tough to identify as an EV—save for the lack of exhaust pipes and its blocked-off kidney grilles. Typically, gas cars converted to EVs don’t feel…

Fledging has redesigned its Shell Thunderbolt SSD to excellent effect. With a new larger form factor, an honest-to-goodness fan, plus plenty of venting to circulate the extra air, it no longer feels startlingly hot to the touch after heavy use. Running cool means no thermal throttling and consistent 2GBps-plus speeds. The Shell Thunderbolt is also cheaper than Samsung’s popular X5 once you reach 1TB of capacity. DESIGN The Fledging Shell Thunderbolt is all-metal and colored in approximately the same hue as your average late-model Mac. It measures approximately 3.75 inches long by 2.5 inches wide by just over 0.5 inches thick, and weighs a few ounces. I personally like the feel and heft—if you want something flimsy and plasticy, look elsewhere. You access the motherboard and M.2 NVMe slot by removing four small…

The iMac was long overdue for a change. Its basic design is about 17 years old, and sure, it had some changes happen during that time, but they were incremental and didn’t alter the way we think about the iMac. To its benefit, it was a design that worked for a long while, but over the past couple of years, the iMac was feeling dated. With the new 24-inch iMac, the iMac line gets the new life that it needed, and Apple succeeds in making the iMac exciting again. The redesign starts with the bold use of color on the outside and a new slim and minimalist design, and it ends with Apple’s impressive M1 system on a chip (SoC) inside. It all combines to make a cutting-edge desktop computer that…

Up until now, the mooring basins on the Jones Island section of our HO scale Milwaukee, Racine & Troy layout were looking a little dry. Lake boats and ocean-going vessels would be hard pressed to dock in the plywood in front of the Continental Grain (now COFCO International) elevator or the Port of Milwaukee General Cargo Terminal no. 2 Water features, in part, dictated the removable benchwork design for Jones Island [see the September 2020 Model Railroader for more on that. – Ed.] The mooring basin for COFCO International is located in a corner adjacent to the hallway windows. If we built the layout with fixed benchwork, it would have required a reach of between 2'-11" and 3'-71 ⁄2" to work on the mooring basin. Neither ideal nor comfortable. Further, we needed…

St. Augustine said of time, “If no one asks me, I know what it is. If I wish to explain to him who asks, I don’t know.” Time is an elusive concept: We all experience it, and yet, the challenge of defining it has tested philosophers and scientists for millennia. It wasn’t until Albert Einstein that we developed a more sophisticated mathematical understanding of time and space that allowed physicists to probe deeper into the connections between them. In their endeavors, physicists also discovered that seeking the origin of time forces us to confront the origins of the universe itself. What exactly is time, and how did it come into being? Did the dimension of time exist from the moment of the Big Bang, or did time emerge as the universe evolved?…

This morning has been hell. I am too exhausted to fill in all the details but suffice to say we are now running under bare poles in 50-60 knot winds, making 5-10 knots in giant seas. We get smashed fairly regularly by breaking waves but the boat’s fine and apart from a wave that just forced the main hatch open and drenched everything, we are getting on nicely. This was forecast to be 35 knots and it sure as hell isn’t. I hope it eases off soon,’ noted Mike Delamore in his log. He is one of the few people to have solo circumnavigated New Zealand. This is perhaps not surprising, given the rugged nature of the south-west coast of the South Island off Fiordland, and the south-east coast of the…

Apple’s new AirTag trackers are even smaller in person than they appear in pictures. While it’s roughly the size of a half-dollar coin or a button on an overcoat, the convex design makes it feel smaller than either of those things. And compared to the square Tile tracker, it’s downright puny. Depending on what you want to use AirTag for, however, the size might not matter. Since Apple didn’t include a keychain hole anywhere on the AirTag, you’re going to need a proprietary dongle that could double (or in the case of the Hermes Luggage Tag, quindecuple) the price of the investment and turn it from an inexpensive impulse buy into an overpriced luxury accessory. The market will no doubt be flooded in short order with dirt-cheap tags and key rings,…