Headworx

It seems all odds are against Nikon. It is not only Sony who was first to realize the mechanical mirror in professional cameras was a thing of the past. This mirror was the "R" (reflex) in DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) and was redirecting the lens image to an optical viewfinder, when composing, and then was lifting up to let the image be captured by a sensor. That was needed in the "film" era. In the digital era, a viewfinder can be fully electronic, coupled with the sensor, so no need for the mirror. Nikon did not have this reflex Sony had (pun intended). So they too moved to the "mirrorless" era, albeit a couple of years late. That lack of reflex costed them a significant loss of the market share. In the market which itself is shrinking heavily due to the invasion of smart phones. So you may say Nikon has been hit by Apple. And surprisingly Apple has got involved again in competing with Nikon indirectly via Intel, one of the key Nikon's customer....

For years ARM has been following x86 systems. It has been leaner, more energy efficient, more flexible to integrate, but always slower. ARM-based systems (ultrabooks, Raspberry Pi, the low-end Microsoft Surface) were always slower. Some quite frustratingly slow. Anyone who wanted proper performance, had to settle for an Intel-based (including AMD) system. Probably the only exception has been the iPad. Especially the Pro line has always been blazing fast. But probably no one expected the M1 MacBook to be such a blast, beating any Intel-based system on the performance ground. And maintaining the usual ARM advantage of energy efficiency. With Apple M1, for the first time ARM means sheer power. And this is the end of the era for Intel. The Intel architecture has always been inferior in the performance-per-Watt category. But it is the M1 which has for the first time beaten Intel on pure performance. And of course it will be only up from here.  It is unlikely Intel has any trick left up ...

As reported last week I continue enjoying my daily physical activity. The Autumn has not been bad at all, actually it is beautiful and magical in the woods. And I continue to spice my trail runs with audiobooks - took advantage of the Amazon Prime day and bought a deeply discounted annual Audible subscription.  The Bose Frames are phenomenal. Although - I admit - they result in some funny situations. One morning before dawn I met a park ranger. He looked at me asking "why do you wear sunglasses walking in the woods in the night?". "I use them to listen to books". He did not look convinced. Books you read, not listen to (in general). And even if you listen, you use headphones, not glasses. And wearing sunglasses in the night appears awkward to say the least. Conventional thinking :) If it is dark, it does not matter if you wear dark glasses or transparent ones :). Generally it is complicated to explain to "ordinary" people. The iPod Nano has been a great B...

It seems it has been not only my original idea. Isaac Fitzgerald reported in The Guardian it changed his life . Mine probably too :) To my defense I can say I started 4 months before Covid, so last week it was my round year. And I clicked over 3500 km. Probably more, as there were days when I did not wear my GPS tracking watch or it simply refused to track (an update on the Garmin story is due). I would not also go to say it's changed my life entirely, but it is a good habit. Back in the pre-Covid months, I enjoyed exploring the cities I visited. Now I've moved to the woods and it has been equally nice experience. Waking everyday at 4.45, going out at 5, coming back at 6.15 (on weekends I do a longer, 3-hour loop), experiencing all seasons with the nature first hand. It is also a great time to listen to books. Or just think. And - surprisingly or not - my thoughts have mostly been about the pandemic, seeking some hope it would change our lives for better. The slowdown has help...

The reality of the pandemic is you are on your own with many things. I experienced this last week when my hot water boiler died. Electric boilers die of age, usually because there is a limescale buildup on the heating element, increasing the thermal insulation. As a result the heating element reaches higher temperatures and finally it burns out. And as I know there is no practical way of descaling a water heater. I ordered a new one online (this part was easy) just to find there was no one willing to come down and install it. The new one has a bit different dimensions and hookup, so the water pipes had to be adjusted to match. So I decided to give it a try myself. After all there was nothing to lose. I started with watching a series of YouTube videos on plumbing using copper pipes. It all looked promising. Then I ordered (online) a starter kit - a butane torch, a pipe cutting tool, soldering wire and metal brushes. The whole set for about $20. I was amazed, after soldering the first jo...