Improbable Insights

Digital Ephemera and Tangible Longing Meaning We live in a world where everything is going digital. Music, games, movies, photography, and even virtual hats. As the world becomes more digital, we see a longing for more tangible goods emerging. It’s not a return to the past, but a reflection of the modern world. As music goes digital, vinyl makes a comeback. As the photography turns to Instagram, Lomography becomes the analog alternative. As humans, we seem to have an innate desire to own tangible goods and even tangible experiences. In an increasingly digital world, we seek other ways to have things we can hold and cherish. Tools Loyd's Surface Pro 4 has arrived, and it seems even cooler than he originally thought. But only time will tell. He's also acquired a Cateye Volt 300 to use as a bike headlight. Eric gets an 1TB SSD for his new generation Macbook, which is more difficult than it sounds.  Fun  Loyd continues his journey into Star Wars: the Old Republic. His level 39 Jedi Shadow continue

Why Music Player Software Sucks Meaning Digital music is everywhere: on our phones, laptops, desktops, and in the cloud. Apple's iTunes rules the roost, with Amazon Music Player and Google Play Music nipping at Apple's heels. Microsoft's re-released Xbox Music as Groove. They are universally terrible. It wasn't always that way. The problem is how music software evolved to be all-encompassing media players, apps stores, and sales tools. iTunes went from bloat to mega-bloat. The ideal of simple, easy music playback and playlist management is lost in the shuffle. Eric and I review the history of digital music playback, briefly discuss briefly streaming services. We also talk a bit about vinyl and alternatives to the big three music players. Tools Loyd rants about his overheating Radeon Fury Nano and the Nvidia Shield tablet recall. On the other hand, he seems to love his new car -- for the time being, anyway. Eric is dipping his toes in video, and running up against the limitations and cruft of iMovie.  Fun

The Road to Self-Driving Cars Meaning We're joined this week by Will Smith, of Tested.com and Maximum PC fame. Eric, Will, and I riff on the topic of driving automation. Eric can't wait for the day when he has his autonomous vehicle, which he plans to turn into a rolling man-cave. We've seen tons of virtual ink spilled about autonomous vehicles, but fully autonomous cars cruising our highways and byways on a large scale is still years away.  Today, however, you'll find lots of partial automation in even mainstream cars. These features are collectively known as ADAS -- advanced driver assistance systems. Adaptive cruise control, automated lane-keeping, blind-spot detection, traffic sign detection, and more, are already available in many car models. Soon, we'll have pedestrian detection, vehicle-to-vehicle communication, and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication. What's the impact of these partial automation tools? Will driving habits change? Will we have safer highways, even before the robot overlords t

Theme, Mechanics, and Story Meaning It's time to revisit Geek culture! What kind of video gamer are you? Do you like a deep story, with gameplay elements secondary? Or are you someone who values gameplay above any kind of story in a game? If you like board games, do you prefer theme over mechanics, or do the mechanics trump the theme? When it comes to TV or movie watching, do you care more about the story or the cinematic style? And there are the themes and stories we won't touch. Loyd will not play a farming game, nor does he like gangster games. He does love a good heroic epic, though. There's no correct answer; each case represents a spectrum, but raging arguments result between people on different parts of the spectrum. Loyd tends towards liking story and theme than mechanics and craft. Eric moves around on the spectrum, depending on what the designer or producer is attempting. What floats your boat? Tools Loyd successfully builds his small form factor PC. It's a powerful beast, no bigger than an Xbo

Chip Materials Meaning Eric is travleling, but Loyd is joined this week by Jeff Anthis, a materials scientist for a company making the equipment used to make the chips that go in your phone, PC, TV, and more.  We think of semiconductors as being made from silicon, but there's much more to making a chip work than bare silicon. Jeff gives us a high level overview of the types of exotic materials that makes today's chips work. Tools Loyd has ten PCs in his basement lab, and not a single one of them has a standard CPU cooling fan. Instead, he uses sealed liquid coolers. They're quiet, cool, and take up less internal space than bulky, high end heat sink/fan combos. Fun  Want to get the most bang for your buck? Wait for Steam sales. Our Friday Night Follies LAN party group have been eyeing the zombie survival game "Dying Light", but the $60 pricetag seemed excessive. Along comes a Steam sale, and we scoop up a pair of four-packs. Net cost per player: $22.50. And all those games that go on sale for under $

Not-So-Smartwatches Meaning Special guest and watch guru John Cook joins the gang for a lively discussion about wearables -- particularly watches. We talk a bit about the history of the watch, the wrist as affordance, and the state of smartwatches. Eric notes the wrist is an ideal location for displaying small amounts of information, but it's not clear anyone knows how to exploit that. John discusses watches as fashion statements, which seems to be something Apple and Android Wear makers are reaching for, but falling a bit short. We wrap up with some debate about what the future might hold. Tools   Loyd wants to build a really small gaming box, one with few compromises. We talk about cases, power supplies, and related items. One key ingredient: AMD's Radeon Fury Nano, the most powerful short graphics card you can get today.  Loyd also discusses his UPS, an APC Back-UPS 1300G, which evolves into a general discussion of UPS's and smart surge suppressors. Loyd's particularly fond of the Back-UPS 1300G'

Upgrade Everything! Meaning Our modern economy creates incentives for people to buy stuff. So when a new phone comes out, new PC technology ship, a new automobile model year begins, people are encouraged to buy! BUY! BUY! Replacing is not always the answer. Sometimes a judicious upgrade or repair can give new life to trusted products. Are you a PC gamer? Upgrading the graphics card can add new life to that seemingly old PC. Your mobile phone battery starting to lose its oomph? You can have the battery replaced for a nominal cost, saving big bucks on a new phone. New wheels can make an old bicycle seem speedy and light.  Eric and Loyd also talk about the right time to buy, because sometimes you can't avoid it. But respect the old, even as you adopt the new. Tools Loyd talks up his Drobo 5N NAS box. He's mentioned it before, but goes into more detail. Along the way, Eric and Loyd talk about what makes a good NAS, and other potentially good products. What drives to use in your NAS or home server? Both Eric

Implications of Streaming Everything Meaning Content providers seem to want to stream all content these days. It began, of course, with music. Now we're streaming TV shows, movies, custom content (Youtube, Twitch.tv), games, and even applications. Large backbone companies like AT&T, Comcast, and Google are laying fiber at a feverish rate so users can eventually have gigabit connections to the home. But what about the home? Consumer routers are poorly designed for a streaming environment requiring dozens of connections. Homes are poorly designed to handle high capacity wireless connections. The requirements inside homes increasingly resemble small server farms. And what are the implications for ownership? Will all content be ephemeral in the future? Will we all become subscribers and renters? The challenges of the feverish march by the industry to stream everything creates problems and implications we're still grappling with. Tools MePhoto makes the C1360, a cool little carbon fiber tripod that weighs unde

The State of 3D Today Meaning. David Bryant and Loyd Case conduct an overview of how modern consumer 3D graphics started and where it's going. They take side trips down API lane, discuss mobile 3D, touch on VR, and even 3D in your web browser, all in an attempt to visualize the impact of ubiquitous 3D. What does 3D everywhere mean for users today? Tools. Loyd replaces his bulky, toe-crushing, Park Tool bicycle repair stand with a much lighter one from Feedback Sports. He also talks about living with Photoshop and Lightroom CC, the subscription versions of Adobe's photographic tools. David finds what he believes might just be the perfect suitcase. Fun. Loyd's been spending time with the new Shadowrun release, Shadowrun: Hong Kong, in all it's old-school, turn-based, tactical RPG glory. He's also recently acquired Carl Chudyk's Mottainai, a very cool, chaotic card game where you try to compete with other priests in your temple. He also discusses a 1 versus many tactical board game which the desig

Benchmarketing Meaning. Benchmarks. We love them, we hate them. Benchmarks supposedly help us choose the best CPU, graphics card, SSD, or other piece of hardware. By the same token, the flood of benchmark charts, tables, and walls of text make it hard for normal users to figure out what's going on. Eric and Loyd discuss where benchmarks are today, their complexity, and the search for the elusive (and probably mythical) single metric of performance. Tools. Loyd grinds coffee. Loyd makes coffee. Loyd drinks coffee. Eric looks on in bemusement, since he's not a coffee drinker. Loyd talks about his coffee tools, and it's not complicated. Loyd just wants a good cup of joe, but is no coffee junkie. We also talk about Google's new OnHub router. Fun. Loyd gives Eric an update on his request for relatively portable card and board games to take when he travels with his family. Games like Love Letter, Flip City, and similar games can give you a complete gaming experience in small packages that take little

A Cornucopia of Bits Meaning. Welcome to our 25th episode! For our 25th podcast foray, we have a cornucopia of small bits. Intel announces its new Skylake processor, which we call Intel's "tick-and-a-half" release, since it's still based on Haswell. The platform is more significant, as DDR4 memory is going mainstream, USB 3.1 is now on PC platforms and the USB type C connector will make everyone's life easier. Intel and Micron also recently announced 3D Xpoint. If what Intel and Micron tell us is real, 3D Xpoint is fast enough to use as system memory in some cases, but persistent like flash. Unlike flash, it will retain data for long periods. If all this is true, 3D Xpoint could signifcantly alter systems design at all levels, as well as reshape archival storage. Loyd talks about his Windows 10 upgrade experiences upgrading ten systems: what worked, what didn't, and weird bugs he encountered. Tools. Lots of tools this week, including a 1080p portable flat screen you can carry along with your laptop, Loyd

Cycle for Science Meaning. Two physics grads from UCLA, Elizabeth Case and Rachel-Woods bicycle across the continental US. But it's not just an adventure. The two women decide to teach a little physics along the way, using solar-powered, 3D-printed, miniature bicycles as learning tools. Along the way, they encounter generous people, wonderful students, lots of rain, and a grizzly bear.  Elizabeth talks about how the idea for Cycle for Science came about, how they planned and what gear they used. It's an amazing and heartwarming story of a USA many people never see or experience. Tools. Elizabeth shares information on the gear they used: what worked, what didn't. The bikes, the panniers, the camping gear, and more, all contributed to the success of Cycle for Science. She also discusses crowdfunding, social media, and other online tools.  Fun. Eric and his son just can't get enough of Diablo III, while Loyd wraps up Mass Effect 3 for maybe the last time. Loyd also talks about The Three

The State of Mobile Software Meaning. Apple rakes in all the profits while Android sells far more phones. But more than two software platforms exist -- do the others have a prayer for success? We talk about the two primary mobile OSes, Android and iOS, plus alternatives, including Windows Phone, FireFox OS and others.  David Bryant and Eric Klein join in on the fun. This is part two of two. In part one, we looed at the state of mobile hardware, in case you'd like to go back and check that one out. Tools. Loyd absolutely loves his induction stove. What is it about cooking with magnets, anyway? David begins digging into Windows 10, and how it might interface with IoT processors, in his neverending search for the perfect dev platform for IoT. Eric and Loyd discuss their hatred for the latest iteration of Apple's music software. Fun. The second Star Wars RPG, Knights of the Old Republic II, just got an update after a gazillion years. New features include high resolution support, Stea

The State of Mobile Hardware Meaning. Smartphones now outsell all other types of mobile devices. But they also all look the same. Eric Klein, David Bryant, and Loyd Case discuss the ramifications of today's mobile hardware. Why is battery life so bad? What do we lose in the race to ultimate thinness? Do we really need 10 CPU cores in our phones? Can the creativity of designers once again be unless, or are we forever stuck with what Eric likes to call the "slabphone"? This is part one of two. In part two, we'll look into the state of mobile software. Tools. Loyd waxes lyrical about the new high performance telephoto zoom for his OM-D EM-1. Eric talks about his photoframe... but it's no ordinary photo frame. All three of us talk rechargeable batteries and the chargers that make them work best. Fun. Loyd manages a board game meetup... for fun? Well, the meetups are fun! But what does it take to run a meetup? Are there other tools? What do you need in your venue to make a board game meetup successf

The Once and Future PC Meaning. Forty years ago, two companies arrived on the tech scene: Apple and Microsoft. In 2015, Microsoft readies Windows 10 and struggles for relevance, while Apple is now the most profitable supplier of mobile phones in the world. Both still have huge impacts on the PC, however, with Windows and MacOS.  It's clear the old tower PC of yore no longer claims the prime spot for personal computing. But the PC has exploded into many forms, from fire-breathing gaming rigs to tiny devices barely larger than a USB stick. And while PC sales are declining, that still means nearly 300 million PCs will ship this year.  What's the relevance of the PC today? And what does the future hold in store? Eric and Loyd discuss the PC, as it once was, and what it may become. Tools. Loyd gets new arms -- for his monitors. The new Ergotron LX arms free up much needed desk space, and allow one monitor to float off the edge of the desk. Eric is eying Loyd's 34-inch Dell UltraSharp 3415, but

Our Connected World Meaning. Our electronic connections increase almost every day. We know of the obvious connections: phone, PC, tablet. But what about the not-so-obvious? Your DVR, your streaming content player, your home security system, are all connected to the outside world. Our connections with people aren't so obvious either. Beyond Facebook, Twitter, and other social media, connections through sharing services like Goodreads give people access to our likes and desires. Good, bad, or indifferent, it's happening whether you like it or not. Eric and I try to parse the landscape of virtual connections to give you a little understanding of what's to come. Tools. Loyd and Eric talk about the pitfalls and joys of the Amazon Echo. Eric also discusses Palette, a suite of Bluetooth controllers designed to connect to Bluetooth-enabled PCs. The idea is to give analog controls to software, whether photo editing, video editing, or other software. Loyd waxes lyrical about the Shimano Dura Ace 9000 C24 carb

Friday Night Follies Welcome to this week's Improbable Insights Podcast. This weeks show uses a different format.  We call our weekly LAN party gaming nights Friday Night Follies. Friday Night Follies, or FnF as we call it, is now over 20 years running, though the regular weekly sessions began in roughly 2000. At that time, my basement lab was used for product testing and reviews. I thought that LAN gaming would be a great way to exercise both networking products and systems. Over the years, FnF evolved to focus on the gaming. I no longer need the lab for testing and reviewing products, so we now gather as a celebration of friendship. The joys of gaming together in one room keeps us coming every week; it's much more entertaining than simply playing online. The cast of characters is diverse, too. We have an Apple employee, a professional graphics artist, a mobile operating system engineering manager, an early-stage venture capitalist and more. These are all smart, funny, and thoughtful people. Put them in

Windows 10 is Coming Meaning. Ready or not, another Microsoft OS is about to launch. Windows 10 is much different than past releases, however. The OS itself is evolutionary, as has been most versions of Windows. There are some neat new technologies, like DirectX 12. However, Microsoft is changing its approach to OS releases with Windows 10, moving to a more incremental release model. It's also moving to make Windows 10 more ubiquitous, with free upgrades for Windows 7 (SP1) and Windows 8.1 users. Are you ready? We examine what it takes. Tools. David talks up his favorite desk lamp (yes, you head that right), the . TaoTronics Elume. He also gives a shout out to Teensyduino, Evernote, and Tessel 2. Loyd replaces his favorite gaming mouse with his... favorite gaming mouse, the Logitech G602. He also chats about LED tactical lights and Brooks bicycle saddles. Fun. David continues his addiction to the mobile game by PlayDots, and confesses to becoming something of a whale. Meanwhile, after hearing all ab