Clarke's First Law: Impossible Things

by Ernest Lilley

USB 4 Faster, Stronger, and Now With Thunderbolt!
USB 4 Announced by USB Promoter Group
by Ernest Lilley

If you're still wringing your hands over having to give up USB Micro connectors for Type C, you probably won't be thrilled to know that the current versions, 3.2/3.1 are about to be upgraded to version 4. Actually, that has nothing to do with connectors, because connector type and USB specification are separate, and there's no suggestion that the type C has had its day.  The changes from 3 to 4 are all good, taking data transfer rates up to meet internet download speeds at 40 GBPS, the power and protocols to run multiple displays, and most interestingly, an end to the Apple Thunderbolt v USB debate, with Thunderbolt added into USB.

In Your Face Neil Armstrong! China Colonizes the Moon.
The Life and Death of China's Lunar Crop
by Ernest Lilley

China's Chang'e-4 probe carried a plant growing experiment, and its cottonseeds have sprouted the first plants on the moon before night fell and froze them. Seems like we saw that in a movie not too long ago...

Science Fiction Reads to Start 2019 With
SF Picks for January 2019
by Ernest Lilley

January is a tough month for new releases after the buying binges of the last two months, but there are still a number of books coming out that look like a good way to start off the year. 

How Do You Like Your iPhone X? Not Extra Crispy We Hope!
Apple Responds to Report of iPhone X Exploding
by Charles Mohapel

Ever since Apple introduced the first iPhone, they have been one of Apple's hottest selling products and once again this has proven to be literally the case.  The culprit this time was an iPhone X purchased in January 2018.  Apparently people need to watch their iPhones carefully when updating to iOS 12.1. 

This reusable notebook might just get you to love writing again.
Rocketbook Everlast
by Ernest Lilley

The Rocketbook Everlast is one of the best examples of simple tech I've seen. It's a reusable notebook, or pad if you get the smaller one, which uses the Pilot Frixion pen on waterproof pages that you wipe or erase clean. There's an app that works with it to send pages to your phone, tablet, or cloud accounts, but I used it for weeks before even downloading the app.

They had me at erasable ink pad with a Pilot gel pen.

Is It A Camera Or A Telescope? With A 24-3000mm Zoom It's Both
Coolpix P1000
by Ernest Lilley

It's a camera, it's a telescope, it's super, whatever it is. Nikon has put ain insanely wide zoom (24-3000 mm equiv) on their latest Coolpix with an eye towards amateur astrophotographers and people who just don't like getting too close to their subjects. As much as I like my Sony RX10 with its 600 mm zoom, I wish I'd had one of these when I shot the eclipse last year. 

Capclave 2018 - Nancy Kress, Alyssa Wong, And A Flock Of Dodos Agree: Reading Isn't Dead Yet
Capclave 2018
by Ernest Lilley

I was only able to spend one day at Capclave, the Washington Science Fiction Association's annual convention, held in Rockville MD, but I had a great time. I only wish I'd actually gotten to any of the panels they had lined up, but that's often the way of SF cons where you're liable to run into old friends and make new ones over spirited discussions of the past, present, and future of your favorite genre.

US Intelligence Community Warns Against Buying Huawei Phones
Why You Shouldn't Buy Huawei Phones If You Care About Privacy
by Charles Mohapel

Most of us have suspected for some time now that Apple, Google, and the US intelligence community have been spying on us, something they have more or less admitted to, but when it comes to suspecting Chinese intelligence of doing the same, it becomes a matter of National Security.  When the US intelligence community believes Huawei's close association with the Communist Chinese Government is a genuine threat, we believe them more readily than media persons who are very doubtful.  Given Russian and Chinese meddling in the 2016 and 2018 elections, as well as the sources available to the intelligence community that the media doesn't have access to, we believe the intelligence community.  In addition, the U.K.'s National Cyber Security Centre advised telecommunication companies in the U.K. to avoid technology offered by Chinese state-owned firm ZTE which they say presents a "risk to U.K. national security that could not be mitigated effectively or practicably."

Pepcom Holiday Spectacular 2018 NYC

by Daniel P. Dern

Pepcom's Thursday, September 20, 2018 Holiday Spectacular held in NYC's Metropolitan Pavi...cont

Board the Intrepid in NYC for the Space & Science Festival
Defying Gravity: Women in Space
by Eleanor Lang

I needed a moment when I finished experiencing Defying Gravity, the new mix...cont

Sennheiser Opens New Canadian Headquarters In Montreal
Sennheiser Opens New Office In Montreal
by Charles Mohapel

On Monday, September 10th, 2018, Sennheiser held a press event to promote the opening of their ne...cont

Evolution Meets Revolution as Canon Announces The All-New EOS R System
Canon Announces The All-New EOS R System
by Charles Mohapel

On September 5, 2018, Canon U.S.A joined Sony, Panasonic, and Fujuifilm, plus fellow newcomer Nik...cont

Small Number of Apple iPhone 8 Contain Defective Logic Boards
iPhone 8 Logic Board Replacement Program
by Charles Mohapel

If you purchased an Apple iPhone 8 between September 2017 and March 2018 in Australia, China, Hon...cont

Yet Another Major Data Breach Exposed At Sprint
Sprint, Boost, and Virgin Mobile Data Breach: Change Your Account Passwords Now
by Charles Mohapel

Although Sprint insists “that customer security is among the carrier’s top priorities...cont

If Your Company Works With, Or Is Considering SharePoint, OneDrive, and Office 365, A Good Event To Attend
SPTechCon Boston 2018
by Daniel P. Dern

While I don't write often directly about Microsoft SharePoint, I do write about topics and pr...cont

The New Leica M10-P Separates Itself From Other Digital Cameras With Its Almost Inaudible Shutter Release And Omission Of The Classic Red-Dot Logo
The New Leica M10-P Separates Itself From Other Digital Cameras With Its Subtlety
by Charles Mohapel

We love what Leica has done with the introduction of their groundbreaking Leica M10-P digital cam...cont

Dear Sony A7 - Nikon is Coming For You
Nikon Releases Mirrorless Z Series Cameras
by Ernest Lilley

With the introduction of two mirrorless full frame cameras, Nikon is making a clear challenge to ...cont

Android 9 Pie: Powered By AI For A Smarter, Simpler Experience That Adapts To You
Android 9 Pie: Powered By AI For A Smarter, Simpler Experience
by Charles Mohapel

Today (August 6, 2018) Google officially introduced Android 9 Pie, the latest version of the Andr...cont

Bose Go Anywhere SoundLink is Just Plain Awesome. Mostly.
SoundLink Color Bluetooth speaker II
by TR Staff

The upgraded Bose SoundLink Color Bluetooth speaker offers even better sound, a choice of colors,...cont

Apple's 2016 MacBook Keyboard Redesign Is Fraught With Problems
Keyboard Service Program for MacBook and MacBook Pro
by Charles Mohapel

It comes as no surprise to a significant number of owners of MacBook and MacBook Pro laptops manu...cont

Achieving Escape Velocity at the The Museum of Science Fiction's Annual Event
Escape Velocity 2018
by Ernest Lilley

Escape Velocity 2018 took place May 25-27 at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center....cont

NASA / SpaceX Launch Destroys Official Photographer's Camera
What Really Happened To That Melted NASA Camera?
by Charles Mohapel

On May 22, 2018, NASA photographer Bill Ingalls had 6 remote cameras set up to photograph the NAS...cont

The Fourth Man To Walk On The Moon Has Passed Into History
Astronaut Alan Bean Dies In Houston At 86
by Charles Mohapel

Though not one of the famed Mercury 7 astronauts, Astronaut Alan Bean was part of NASA's thir...cont

Was Semi-Autonomous Autopilot Feature Involved In Fatal Tesla Crash?
Police Probe Whether Autopilot Feature Was On In Tesla Crash
by Charles Mohapel

This week has not been a good week for Tesla automobiles as two of the electric cars were involve...cont

SpaceX Takes Major Step Forward With Launch Of Block 5 Falcon 9 Heavy Rocket
Block 5 Rocket Launch Marks The End Of The Beginning For SpaceX
by Charles Mohapel

The "Block 5" variant of the SpaceX Falcon 9 Heavy Rocket is the most powerful and sophisticated ...cont

Your iPhone Security Is Now Next To Useless
Security Experts Warn iPhone Users to Change Their Passwords Now
by Charles Mohapel

If you own an iPhone, your security is extremely vulnerable to brute-force attacks like those fro...cont

Apple Offers Free Replacement Batteries For Certain MacBook Pro Models
13-inch MacBook Pro (non Touch Bar) Battery Replacement Program
by Charles Mohapel

If you have a 13-inch MacBook Pro (non Touch Bar) manufactured between October 2016 and October 2...cont

Danger Will Robinson! Lost in Space is back and better than ever
Lost in Space (Netflix Original Series)
by Ernest Lilley

Relax, the computer will land us just fine. That's what it's there forcont