Read Dead Ain't for Everyone [ NoLife Gaming: Ep. 61a ]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXtKlsylNn4
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Red Dead Ain't for the Masses
In this episode, we talk a ton about Wayne's feelings on Red Dead Redemption, as well as Soul Caliber VI, and then dive into some gaming news.
Red Dead Fever; iPad Pro Coming Soon; BeautyGate NOT a Bug [ NO LIFE DIGITAL: Ep. 60 ]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TYol75x15k
BEZELLESS
In this episode we merge the Gaming and Tech together to talk about Red Dead, VR becoming a viable market, Apple's new iPad Pro event, how Apple claims BeautyGate is bug, and not bad software design, and why there isn't any cool tech/lifestyle/fashion stores.
Photoshop for iPad is Finally Coming [ NoLife Tech: Ep. 59 ]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgrA4NsOjmE
New iPads and New Photoshops?
In this episode of NoLife Tech Podcast, we talk about TV streaming services and which one Wayne recommends, we talk about the new iPad rumors, and we look at Adobe's new Keynote where they announced the Photoshop for iPad app - something we've all been waiting for.
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RED DEAD CRUNCH TIME [ NoLife Gaming: Ep. 59 ]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEKY98hIeis&feature=youtu.be
Crunch Time
In this episode we talk about Call of Duty Black Ops 4 and its new Blackout Mode. Kate comes on to review the new Mario Party. And we discuss the ethics and morals of Developer crunch and the controversy around Red Dead Redemption 2 and Rockstar Games.
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Glass Phones Have NO Durability...Stop This Nonsense
Change the Standard
I see tech YouTubers, reviewers, and journalists these days speaking on build quality and durability of phones and it got me thinking. Why are they giving leniency to glass phones; phones with both front and glass backs? One of the biggest issues with the modern smartphone is its durability. These little fuckers are just way too delicate, and unless us consumers start to speak up, Corning will keep trying to tell us they "created the worlds most durable glass yet" year after year. They might as well say they created this years wettest water yet, because that's the sort of equivalency we're dealing with. We're on the SIXTH iteration of Gorilla Glass, yet still, one fall the wrong way, and you're hundreds of dollars poorer. I've seen phones that have come out this year, fall from waist height, under its own weight and no other external forces, hit the ground, and completely shatter. For a product that is in our hands 99.9% of our day, you'd think we'd want them a bit more tough.
Why Glass
So why glass? Why are we so hung up on fused, transparent sand? Now I'm no engineer, and I'm fairly certain the the problem is much more difficult and nuanced than I'm making it out to be. But why are we relying on such a delicate structure to be the main interface we interact with in our daily lives? And now a days, we've went from just resorting to glass on only the screen area, to completely enveloping our phones in it. I'm very curious as to why we haven't found an alternative. In fact, I think Corning's Gorilla Glass is the only provider of glass interfaces. This article here explains how a new company with their "Diamond Glass" might make an appearance in the future, but not any time soon.
The Durability Lie
Lastly, I just want to point out that I don't really have a goal with this article. I'm really just fed up with babying my products. I want to use my phone, in aggressive situations, and never have to worry about it. Know that, no matter what scenario I may find myself in, worrying about the health of my phone is the least of my issues. And I think the only way we get there is to force the market to find an alternative. The free open market always finds a way. We need to stop lying to ourselves in thinking that glass is durable in anyway. Any phone that has both its front and back covered in glass, well it gets a ZERO in the durability score. It's not relative, and unless Corning figures out how to make glass that doesn't break, ever, on any impact, then its not durable. Push these companies to step the fuck up. Apple just became a trillion dollar company, let's get them to figure this out. We gotta do something. And next time you break your phone, I guarantee you'll remember this article.
The Pixel 3 Failure [ No Life Tech: Ep. 58 ]
Why, God, Why?!
In this episode we take a look at the recent MadeByGoogle Keynote as well as the Microsoft Products Keynote and judge whether Google or Microsoft came to the table or not. Spoiler...they didn't.
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New Consoles or New Consignments? [ NoLife Gaming: Ep. 58 ]
Dat New New
In this episode we talk about the new PS5 Rumors that are circling about the gaming world, and Doobie tries to give us a rundown on the entire Kingdom Hearts story timeline....tries being the keyword.
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Canon EOS R is Pretty Lame (For the Price) 📷
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=in4QcKn2eh4&feature=youtu.be
Too Little, Too Late
So finally, the two big camera giants, Nikon and Canon, have entered the battleground of mirrorless cameras, with the reigning champs Fuji and Sony as the formidable opponents. Sony's Alpha line has dominated the hybrid market, jam packing awesome image quality and excellent video & photo features, in a package that's a bit too small with bad usability. Where Fuji holds strong with an amazing form factor, usability, and color, but lacking the bleeding edge technology. Both Fuji and Sony though, winning the hearts of the pro-sumer market in its entirety. So the entire pro photo/video world was waiting on Canon and Nikon to jump into the ring to show them how it's done. But...unfortunately...the entire world of content creation let out a great sigh of disappointment.
So Close
Here's what the new Canon EOS R does right
- Full Frame 30.3MP Sensor
- Dual Pixel AF
- Flip Out Screen
- 4K 30fps 480Mbps- with 10bit 4:2:2 HDMI output
- No longer using MJPEG, now with ALL-I
- -6 EV Auto Focus capabilities
- USB-C 3.1
- Great Viewfinder/LCD Screen
- Good ergonomics, form factor
- Mic/Headphone Jack & Micro HDMI
This looks like its the perfect vlogging camera! Well, that's only on paper. Now, it's still a good camera. And I think many who will never leave Canon, will be (kinda) happy with this. But there are a few dealbreakers for hardcore prosumers.
Here's the Negatives
- 1.67x Crop on 4k
- Must adapt EF-S lenses (which results in crop on both 1080p & 4k modes)
- Bloated Bitrates (Still need to see professional samples)
- No IBIS
- 120fps ONLY at 720p, no FullHD Slow-mo
- ONE SD CARD SLOT!
- Expensive ($2,299 Body Only)
"For me this camera isn’t a revolution at all. Canon are playing catch up and with these specs they are far behind the competition, as in Sony and even the new Nikons" - Philip Bloom
So here is where you start to see this camera, and its value, fall apart. For one, you're not getting your 4k output at full-frame. This means, as a vlogging camera, if you're using a 24mm lens, you'll be around 48mm, which is not ideal for vlogging. Then you see that Canon STILL hasn't changed their video codecs, which in my opinion, aren't that good. Especially at 1080p. If you're an EF-S user, then you get cropped automatically, but also, you'll need to purchase a new adapter to even use. Then there's the slow-mo only at 720p, which is a no go for any action / b-roll shooters. Finally, the kicker, there's only one SD card slot. This makes it a complete deal breaker for any pro. All at the high price of $2,300 (for now).
So in conclusion. Canon has started something worth looking at. I want to see their next EOS R mkII with Full-Frame 4K 60fps, uncropped, some new, more manageable codecs, 120fps at 1080p, keep that flip out screen, keep those great colors, keep those great ergonomics, and for fucks sake, give us two SD card slots. That's something that's competitive. That's something worth talking about. But right now, this would be a great camera if it was released in 2015, or was literally, half the price.
Is This the New Pixel 3?
Russian site rozetked.me has released a few images on the latest Pixel 3 XL from Google. One of the interesting points of the article, which give the most amount of credibility to these leaks, is where Rozetked states (roughly translated)
"Google made a big mistake and two months before the release of the smartphone missed a batch of finished devices. This is probably the biggest leak since the publication of the iPhone 6 video review a week before the presentation of Apple (from us of course)."
From this article as well, they state that they were able to test the Pixel 3 XL's camera, in which some of the images were posted to their Instagram accounts which you can view here.
What do you think about these leaks? Do you think this is what the Pixel 3 XL is going to look like? Personally, the combination of the almost comically large notch and chin is something that I can't get on board with. But I will say, the images from the camera do look quite nice. I just don't know if those images are nice enough to warrant looking at that ugly thing. Hey, at least they kept the colored power button!