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16 Feb 14:52
The 20 Most Amazing Things Only Rich Jerks Can Afford
By CRACKED Readers Published: February 16th, 2015
Maria Zara likes this
16 Feb 14:50
Another awkward esports moment (Legends of Legends)
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youtube.com – posted by Marcus_Aurelius72
16 Feb 00:52
[Poetry] There is a white man standing in the street
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youtube.com – posted by Nosen
15 Feb 16:20
This guy made a 3d representation of his wifi signal strength. Really cool to watch.
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youtube.com – posted by Jacobmorganian
14 Feb 16:18
Didn't see this till now - The Matrix Revolutions has a reference to what Mouse said in The Matrix.
12 Feb 22:04
Life of robot-dog is very sad and full of pain...
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youtu.be – posted by warchief_bob
12 Feb 20:46
Major security alert as 40,000 MongoDB databases left unsecured on the internet
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news.hitb.org – posted by mipadi
12 Feb 20:46
Brütal Doom v20 test - Dead bodies destroyable again.
poopyscottI spent last night getting together a server for this, and a zip file for anyone who wants to play with everything we need in it. We're doing it. It's happening.
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youtube.com – posted by JohnDio
12 Feb 04:38
TEDx speaker brags about going to Harvard, getting an award and looking young for her age all within 15 seconds.
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youtube.com – posted by MIBPJ
10 Feb 14:08
Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition specs:
(direct video link; for more videos, subscribe to our YouTube channel)
Ubuntu Phone Review (BQ Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition): Great OS, Average Hardware
by noreply@blogger.com (Andrew)
After years of development, the first Ubuntu phone is finally here (Europe only) and while the hardware is average at best, the OS is a breath of fresh air, bringing innovations like scopes and "magic edges", designed not just to be different, but in many ways, better than the current trends.
Before proceeding, note that the phone targets early adopters and if you just want WhatsApp or Skype, Ubuntu phone isn't for you just yet, as these services aren’t yet available.
Hardware
Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition is the first Ubuntu phone and it was made in partnership with BQ, a Spanish producer of smartphones, tablets, electronic readers, and 3d printers.
- Screen: 4.5”, 540x960 resolution
- Dimensions: 137 x 67 x 9 mm / 123 g weight
- CPU: Quad Core Cortex A7 up to 1.3 GHz MediaTek
- GPU: Mali 400 up to 500 MHz
- Camera: 8 Mpx rear interpolated (Dual-flash and autofocus), 5 Mpx front
- Internal memory: 8 GB
- RAM: 1 GB
- Battery: LiPo 2150 mAh
- Dual micro-SIM
- MicroSD slot, up to 32 GB
- Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
- Bluetooth® 4.0
- 2G GSM (850/900/1800/1900)
- 3G HSPA+ (900/2100)
- GPS and A-GPS
- LED notification, Dolby® sound technology, FM radio, microphone, noise canceller
Hardware-wise, the phone doesn't come with anything special: from the plastic case and average screen (4.5'' 540x960 resolution) to the CPU (1.3 GHz MediaTek Quad Core Cortex A7), internal memory (8 GB) and battery (2150 mAh), everything's basically unremarkable however, at €169.90, it's a pretty good deal.
For someone who cares more about the OS / Ubuntu, like me, the mid-range hardware is not a deal-breaker, not even close, but what does frustrate me hardware-related is the camera: the pictures are decent but could be better and furthermore, pictures taken with the flash are too bright and basically unusable (here’s an example), which is kind of a major inconvenience. And that's a bit weird, considering the phone has an 8 Mpx rear interpolated (Dual-flash and autofocus) camera, so I'm not sure if this is hardware or software-related.
The plastic case and the ~2cm bezel underneath the display (Aquaris E4.5 was initially an Android phone and this space served for Android's home/back buttons) are more reasons why the phone itself is a bit disappointing. But Canonical had to start somewhere and while not perfect, Aquaris E4.5 is a decent phone overall - it doesn't lag, comes with dual sim, the speakers are good and it's the perfect size, at least for me.
Scopes
What makes the Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition special is of course the OS, which can run HTML5 web apps as well as native QML apps.
You'll find apps in any mobile OS but Canonical also implemented scopes, an innovative (and this is to be appreciated, because innovations nowadays are Android copying iOS, iOS copying Windows Phone and so on - well, more or less anyway) feature thanks to which the content from multiple sources can be displayed in one place - you basically have the content that interests you in one place, when you need it.
For instance, the main screen consists of Today's scope which includes the date with the sunrise and sunset information, weather, upcoming holidays, upcoming events, recent calls, messages, headlines from various sources and more. Each of these can be enabled or disabled, so Today's scope will only display the information you need, which is pretty cool.
The same goes for other scopes - for instance, the Music scope includes sources such as 7digital, Grooveshark, SoundCloud, YouTube and Songkick, but if you only use YouTube, you can disable the others. Or, you can completely disable the Music scope if you don't plan on using it.
I must confess that the scopes are actually my favorite Ubuntu Phone feature, even though I wasn't a fan of it on the desktop, at first because it was slow and then because some pretty important sources like YouTube were missing. But that's not the case with the phone and on top of that, the scopes are actually more customizable on the phone than on the desktop.
However, while the whole scopes idea is great, the implementation is not ideal because they are pretty limited in functionality and what's most important, the content is mostly not displayed in the scope itself and must be opened in the web browser. For instance, you can listen to single tracks from say SoundCloud, but you can't add songs to the queue or anything like that and furthermore, YouTube clips or Grooveshark songs must be opened in the browser. Pretty much the same goes for news articles: you can read an excerpt but to read the whole article, you must open it in the web browser.
However, while the whole scopes idea is great, the implementation is not ideal because they are pretty limited in functionality and what's most important, the content is mostly not displayed in the scope itself and must be opened in the web browser. For instance, you can listen to single tracks from say SoundCloud, but you can't add songs to the queue or anything like that and furthermore, YouTube clips or Grooveshark songs must be opened in the browser. Pretty much the same goes for news articles: you can read an excerpt but to read the whole article, you must open it in the web browser.
Apps
While the phone is scope-centric, it does run apps as well and by default, it ships with native browser, music, camera, gallery, media player and calculator apps (along with phone/messaging/contacts apps of course) with more available via Ubuntu Store (which can be used to install both scopes and apps):
For services like Facebook, Twitter, Google+ or Google Maps, Ubuntu Phone uses web apps, which even though integrate with the OS, are not as nice as the official applications for Android or iOS (for instance, in my opinion, the Facebook mobile website is not exactly pretty).
Of course, the apps are as beautiful and featureful as those services' mobile website and until Facebook, Google, etc. build their own applications for Ubuntu Phone, that's not going to change. That's why I'm not a big fan of web apps and while I understand their utility, I really hope they will be replaced by real apps at some point.
Unfortunately, there are also some services that are missing from the Ubuntu Store, like Whatsapp (but Telegram, a nice alternative to Whatsapp, is available), Skype, Instagram (there is an Instagram scope that displays the Instagram feed though) and that's going to be a major downside for some, but then again, right now, Ubuntu Phone isn't targeted at the masses, but at early adopters / Ubuntu enthusiasts and I don't know about you, but I can live without them (well, I don't have Whatsapp, Skype and Instagram installed on my Android phone either). For now.
”Magic edges”
Unlike Android or iOS for example, Ubuntu Phone doesn’t make use of any hardware buttons and instead, it uses all four screen edges for navigation, app switching, settings and indicators, this being yet another feature which feels natural and most importantly, very useful.
Using the left Ubuntu desktop-like launcher, you can easily launch your favorite applications, pin and unpin apps and see what’s running. With a swipe to the right, you can see a preview of all running apps, switch or close them:
The bottom edge holds the settings: when you’re in the the scopes for instance, a swipe from the bottom allows configuring which scopes to display, or in Contacts, swipe to add a new contact.
Quick access indicators are at the top and if you don’t fully open the drawer, you can navigate between the Time & Date, Battery, Sound, Network, Notifications and so on, with a left or right swipe, this being yet another feature which I really like and if I were to guess, I’d say we’re likely to see it in other mobile operating systems at some point.
Conclusions and how to get your own Ubuntu Phone
There's much more to say about this very first Ubuntu phone and especially about the OS, like click packages and the fast, secure transactional updates, the cool default browser and other default apps and so on, but I don't want to bore you with all the details.
Overall, Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition is a decent phone with a very interesting and innovative OS which I really hope will succeed. Not with this device of course, it’s too rough and not for the average consumer, but the potential is there and while it’s risky, in a market dominated by giants like Apple and Google, if Canonical does everything right, this could be the beginning of something big.
To get a better idea on what I’m talking about in this article, I’ve recorded a video showing some of the phone’s features:
(direct video link; for more videos, subscribe to our YouTube channel)
Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition will be available in the coming days on BQ.com, through a series of “flash sales” and it will cost 169.90 Euros (~ $193 / £127). The exact date, time and URL of the flash sales will be announced on the Ubuntu and BQ Twitter accounts as well as the Ubuntu Facebook and Google+ pages starting this week, so keep an eye on them if you want to be among the first to get an Ubuntu phone.
09 Feb 17:12
(Spoilers All) Game Of Thrones Season 4 deleted scenes Bronn And Shae
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youtube.com – posted by alertoverlord
09 Feb 00:47
[Poetry] IT'S MY MONEY, AND I NEED IT NOW!
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youtube.com – posted by AhrmiintheUnseen
08 Feb 14:25
[Poetry] My Neighbor TotoraaaaaAAAAAAAAAAA
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youtube.com – posted by BiBoJuFru
07 Feb 00:07
(direct video link)
Courtesy of Canonical, I was one of the lucky few "insiders" who received an Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition phone and I'll be reviewing it soon. Update: you can find the review HERE.
The First Ubuntu Phone Is Going On Sale In Europe Next Week
by noreply@blogger.com (Andrew)
poopyscottThought this died.
Canonical announced today that the first Ubuntu phone, made in partnership with BQ, called Aquaris E4.5 Ubuntu Edition, will go on sale in Europe starting next week on BQ.com, through a series of "flash sales", and it will cost 169.90 Euros (~ $193 / £127).
Below you can watch a quick Ubuntu phone walkthrough video:
(direct video link)
Aquaris E4.5 is a completely unlocked dual micro-SIM phone which comes with a 4.5 inch, 540x960 resolution display, a 1.3 GHz MediaTek Quad Core Cortex A7 CPU, 1GB of RAM, 8GB internal memory, an 8 Mpx rear camera and a 5 Mpx front camera. For the complete Aquaris E4.5 specs, see THIS page.
It's important to mention that the phone targets early adopters and if you just want WhatsApp or Skype, Ubuntu phone isn't for you just yet, as these services won't be available at launch.
The exact date, time and URL of the flash sales will be announced on the Ubuntu and BQ Twitter accounts as well as the Ubuntu Facebook and Google+ pages next week, so keep an eye on them if you want to be among the first to get an Ubuntu phone.
06 Feb 20:06
Angry Metal-Fi: MP3 Is Not a Four Letter Word
by Steel Druhm
Written by: Alex-Fi
Angry Metal-Fi is a series of articles that are cross posted on Angry Metal Guy and Metal-Fi as a collaborative effort to evangelize dynamics in metal.
Well, it’s not. It’s actually two letters and a number, technically speaking. However most audiophiles, or at least most who purport that their never-ending quest for fidelity is a holy one, curse the MP3 and blame it for single-handily destroying modern music. Why? Well the usual line of thinking goes as follows: Since MP3s are lossy they can never sound as good as the original; yet because the format and its ilk are so ubiquitous, fans have gotten used to its substandard fidelity and thus, don’t understand the plight of the budding audiophile. As a result, audiophiles around the world have taken up arms (Say hello to my little friend… – Dave) to raise the bar on fidelity and publicly denounce the evil that is the MP3.
There is certainly some truth to the above, but the whole story is a lot more complicated, and certainly a lot less black and white than audiophiles would like you to believe. As I stated above, MP3 mainly gets a bad rep because it’s a form of lossy compression, but what exactly does that mean? Well first off, it’s certainly not the same thing as dynamic range compression, which audiophiles seem to constantly confuse with lossy compression. So in order to truly understand how MP3s work, we need to first tackle the “compression” part, which is really short for data compression, or the process of conveying information using fewer bits, and then work our way back to the “lossy” part.
Data compression has its roots in information theory, a discipline that was practically created overnight when Claude Shannon published his seminal 1948 paper, “A Mathematical Theory of Communication,” which formalized the concept of information entropy, or how much duplication of information is contained within a message, and also introduced Shannon’s theorem, which stated that for any given noise contained in a medium of communication, it’s still possible to deliver error free information through it up to a maximum rate. If this theorem sounds vaguely familiar that’s because the Nyquist sampling rate is based on this concept as well.
Data compression can be further classified as either lossy or lossless. Lossless encoding schemes preserve every single bit of information that was conveyed in the original message. It does this by exploiting a message’s intrinsic information entropy, and then re-encodes these redundant bits more efficiently. However, when the message is decoded, all the bits, including the redundant ones, are restored intact. A great example is when you buy music off of Bandcamp, which is delivered to you as a downloadable zip archive. And since zip archives compress the files contained within them losslessly, you can rest assured when you uncompress those files every single brutal bit will be accurately accounted for.
But MP3 is lossy, which means it analyzes the music and throws out information that it deems “unnecessary.” But wait a minute, aren’t all samples created equally? How can it possibly know what bits of brutality are necessary versus ones that are necessary? And I’m not talking about Sunn O))) here either. Well my friends, that leads us to the subject of psychoacoustics. Psycho-who-stics? Stay with me.
Pyschoacoustics is the study of how we perceive and respond to sound. If you really think about it, the sensation of hearing death metal is not just waves hitting our ears, but actually our ears collecting those waves and creating electrochemical signals for our brains to interpret. And guess what? Our hearing is not always perfect. In fact, it’s actually far from it.
Depending on the frequency, intensity (loudness), and location (phase) of the sound in question, our ears may or may not perceive all the spectral content present. In fact, our ability to distinguish two different frequencies when played simultaneously is defined as our ear’s frequency resolution, and in humans, it’s about 2Hz give or take. Psychoacousticians classify this inability to perceive frequencies as a form of auditory masking, and it’s not the only one. Not only does our hearing have several types of auditory masking in the frequency domain, but we also have what is called temporal masking, which is our inability to hear distinct sounds in the time domain. For example, a really loud sound may mask a softer one if both are played simultaneously, but if those sounds are played with a small delay between them, oh say 5ms of each other, you’ll then be able to hear both of them.
So armed with the above in mind, you now have a feel for how the MP3 encoder may deem some samples as “unnecessary.” I’ve over simplified a lot for brevity’s sake, but in essence, when you feed a file to the MP3 encoder it will analyze the metal in question, determine how we will perceive the music using its built-in psychoacoustic model, and then start removing samples that it claims we can’t possibly hear anyway. Believe it or not, the MP3 encoder also employs a form of lossless data compression on top of its initial lossy pass in order to reduce the file’s size even further. Amazing.
Yet if the MP3 is such a marvelous engineering accomplishment, why, oh why are audiophiles always berating it? Simple. It takes all the ego out of critical listening. The MP3 encoder doesn’t care about the listener’s pedigree or how expensive the gear is in which it is being played on. It has its model that has been scientifically vetted and ruthlessly employs it as it sees fit. And that model knows that audiophile or not, our hearing is inherently flawed, and it takes great advantage of that simple fact. In fact, the MP3’s psychoacoustic model is so good that tests have shown that we can’t really hear the difference between high bit-rate
MP3s and CDs.
Now don’t get me wrong, even though MP3’s pyschoacoustic model is not configurable, the number of bits you allow for encoding is. And if you don’t give the encoder enough bits to store information, then depending on the spectral content of the metal at hand, it will cause audible artifacts that were not part of the original recording. Case in point, a lot of MP3 encoded promos I receive sound terrible because there are no industry wide standards and labels purposely sacrifice fidelity as a poor man’s way to combat piracy. But the fact is, high bit-rate MP3s sound glorious, and I’d much rather have a dynamic recording in MP3 than a smashed version of its lossless counterpart.
So should you rip everything to MP3 as your primary archival format? Absolutely not. The MP3 was never designed for that purpose. If you are selecting the MP3 option every time you buy music off of Bandcamp then you are making a grave mistake. For example, perceptual codecs such as MP3 and its better sounding successor, AAC, were not designed to be transcoded. So even though converting say a FLAC file to an MP3 can yield an equivalent headbanging experience, the reverse does not hold true. That’s why it is absolutely imperative that you always have a bit-perfect copy of the original source material in case you need to convert it. Finally, given the fact that storage and network bandwidth are orders of magnitude more abundant than when the MP3 was first invented, it seems superfluous now to try to compress megabytes into smaller megabytes when affordable storage is now measured in terabytes and high-speed Internet is fairly ubiquitous.
Here is something to think about before I leave you: The MP3 has helped fans discover more new music than any single piece of high-end audiophile gear ever invented. And last I checked, it’s the music, not the gear which we should be most passionate about. If audiophiles really want to improve the way modern music sounds, start with how it’s recorded and processed before waging war with the format in which it is distributed. Put simply, petition artists, labels, and fans to stop the Loudness War. Until then, and only then, can we have a serious discussion about fidelity.
The post Angry Metal-Fi: MP3 Is Not a Four Letter Word appeared first on Angry Metal Guy.
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