Showing posts with label are. Show all posts
Showing posts with label are. Show all posts
Saturday, 9 September 2017
Xperia Z5 smartphone worth buying only if you are a Sony fan
Xperia Z5 smartphone worth buying only if you are a Sony fan
The Xperia Z5 Dual is Sony�s attempt to make a premium smartphone on the cheap. To that end, it falls flat. Upgrades like a beefed-up camera and a fingerprint scanner can�t disguise the limitations of what�s supposed to be a flagship device.
And when that device comes with a Dh2,699 price tag, that�s a real problem.
The Z5�s design is virtually identical to that of its predecessor (in the Middle East at least) the Z3+. That�s a problem, given that the Z3+�s design was virtually identical to the Z3, which in turn offered only minor updates to the now 18-month-old Z2.
Even worse, the Z5 retains the uneven joins of the Z3+, its sharp edges giving its design a distinctly mid-range feel.
Also unchanged is the 5.2- inch full HD display, which is also starting to show its age in comparison with the likes of the iPhone 6S and Galaxy S6 range, but also with far cheaper competitors like the Huawei P8.
Those looking for a better viewing experience are advised to turn their attention to the 4K display of the Z5 Premium, retailing for Dh300 more.
One welcome innovation over the Z3+ is that the power button on the right-hand side of the phone now doubles as a fingerprint reader, allowing for easy unlocking of the handset without entering a PIN or swipe code.
The other major upgrade is the camera, with the Z5 offering a 23 MP rear camera, while retaining the 5.1 MP selfie snapper.
While the Z5 captures images with plenty of detail and nice bright colours, they aren�t significantly different to those taken with other devices to make the camera a key selling feature.
At the end of the day, the Z5 is only worth buying if, for some reason, Sony�s handset designs still appeal to you. Despite the camera upgrade, it doesn�t have the design or specifications to compete with the likes of Samsung and Apple, and at Dh2,699 it�s a far more expensive offering than excellent alternatives from Huawei and LG. For fans only.
q&a no more underwater selfies
John Everington expands on Sony�s new Xperia Z5 Dual:
I was just getting used to the Z3+. What about the Z4? I�m confused.
It is a bit complicated. The Z3+ was indeed the last handset launched here in the UAE, but the same device was branded as the Z4 in Japan. Perhaps the Z5 will bring things back together again, or perhaps Sony�s next flagship will take a leaf out of Microsoft�s book and be called the Z8. We�ll keep you posted.
Back to the Z5. What happens if I want a smaller phone or a sharper display?
Well, you�re in luck. In addition to the Z5 Dual, there�s also the Z5 Compact, which sports a 4.6-inch display and is available now for Dh2,299. More intriguing perhaps is the Z5 Premium, the first smartphone in the world with a 4K display, which will go on sale this month for Dh2,899.
Can I still use the Z5 to take underwater selfies?
Unfortunately not. After touting the Xperia�s underwater capabilities for ages, Sony has performed a volte face, and now recommends not using the camera in the pool. It�s apparently still waterproof enough to survive having a cup of coffee spilt on it, though I thought it best not to test this.
And how about battery life?
Sony reckons you can get two days of use off a single charge. While this is a tad optimistic, it gets through an entire day of standard usage comfortably enough.
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Monday, 21 August 2017
MEN ARE FROM MARS WOMEN ARE FROM VENUS
MEN ARE FROM MARS WOMEN ARE FROM VENUS
Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus is a book written by American author, and relationship counselor, John Gray. The book has sold more than 7 million copies and according to CNN it was the "highest ranked work of nonfiction" of the 1990s and spent 121 weeks on the bestseller list. The book and its central metaphor have become a part of popular culture and the foundation for the authors subsequent books, recordings, seminars, theme vacations, one-man Broadway show and TV sitcom.
Most of common relationship problems between men and women are a result of fundamental differences between the genders, which the author exemplifies by means of the books eponymous metaphor: that men and women are from distinct planets � men from Mars and women from Venus � and that each gender is acclimated to its own planets society and customs, but not those of the other. One example from this paradigm is the books assertion that men complain that if they try to offer solutions to problems that women want to talk about, women do not necessarily want to find solutions but only want to talk about these problems. The book asserts that each gender can be understood in terms of distinct ways they respond to stress and stressful situations.
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Average U S Internet Access Speeds are Highly Dynamic
Average U S Internet Access Speeds are Highly Dynamic
If in the second quarter of 2016, average connection speeds in U.S. cities ranged from 17 Mbps to 24 Mbps, while Internet service providers are selling gigabit access, as well as services in the 100 Mbps to 300 Mbps range, it is obvious that most consumers are not buying either gigabit or hundreds-of-megabits services.
On the other hand, speeds are increasing rapidly. In fact, according to Okla, fixed network customers in the first half of 2016 got an average of over 50 Mbps for the first time ever.
That represents a speed improvement of more than a 40 percent since July 2015.
Similarly, mobile Internet access customers saw speeds improve by more than 30 percent since last year, with an average download speed of 19.27 Mbps in the first six months of 2016.
In other words, by some measures, mobile Internet access download speeds are as fast, or nearly as fast, as the �average� U.S. fixed network connection in at least some cities.
Just as important are http://liveeconcerts.blogspot.com /2016/08/over-15-years-average-internet-speed.html" style="text-decoration: none;">speed differences between various ISPs. Where Google Fiber might offer an average speed in excess of 300 Mbps, Comcast and other cable TV ISPs might average about 50 Mbps to 45 Mbps. Telcos tend to deliver slower speeds than that, with the exception of Verizon FiOS, which has an average speed of about 50 Mbps.
source: Ookla
source: Ookla
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Thursday, 17 August 2017
Part 47 The Occupants Are Goblins
Part 47 The Occupants Are Goblins
Part 47 of a comparison of Holmes manuscript with the published Basic Set rulebook. Turn to page 41 of your Blue Book (page 40 for the 1st edition) and follow along...
The next page of the manuscript is filled with Holmes hand-drawn map of the Sample Dungeon, which I previewed in the first post of this series. This page was inserted after the other pages were typed, with a handwritten "119-A" in the upper right corner. Here is the original map side-by-side with the published map:
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| Sample Dungeon - original map (left) vs published map (right). Click for a larger view |
The published map is simply a more professional rendering of the original, with all of Holmes essential features preserved. There are a few changes, which I will mention below. TSRs cartographer for the published map is unknown, possibly David C Sutherland III.
The original has no clear grid, although there are some repeating horizontal lines faintly visible. Holmes supplies sizes in some room descriptions, which the cartographer accurately followed in the published version.
The original is more compact. The published map has a few extra E (Empty) rooms, and more small (10) corridors between rooms (possibly for clarity and/or to avoid paper-thin walls). The rat corridors interact with the northern corridors differently as published. Some of these changes may have occurred when fitting the stated sizes for the rooms onto the map.
The compass point is missing from the published map, although the second edition of the rulebook adds a small "North" arrow at the bottom of the map.
Holmes Map is titled "Dungeon Masters Map", whereas the published version is "Illustration of Sample Floor Plan". Despite this change, the map is still referred to as the "Dungeon Masters Map" in two locations in the text (at the start and in the description of Room E).
On to the room descriptions! For each room, Ill end with a list of the supplementary DM guidance provided by Holmes.
Room A: This room is currently home to a band of goblins, which may be the first encounter if the adventurers travel straight ahead from the entrance. The manuscript describes this room as "120 ft x 100 ft" (fairly gigantic for old school dungeons) and this is accurately portrayed in the published map. This large room has a fairly central location, but Holmes doesnt supply any clues as to what Zenopus (or earlier inhabitants) used it for. The introduction to the Sample Dungeon mentioned "goblin figures" dancing on the roof in the moonlight before the tower was destroyed, which could possibly be these goblins.
The description of the room is the same in the manuscript and the published versions, except for changes related to the goblins numbers, hit dice and treasure.
Here is the end of the first paragraph, with annotations to indicate changes to goblins #s:
"There are at least 2 [? three] goblins. The Dungeon Master should increase the number of goblins if the party of adventurers is a large one - i.e., if more than three are in the party, have three [? five] goblins, more than five, 4 [? seven or eight] goblins etc."
So Holmes thought that 1-3 PCs should encounter two goblins, 4-5 should encounter three, 6 or more should encounter four goblins, whereas Gygax/TSR thought these numbers were too low and upped them.
In the second paragraph, Holmes indicates that the goblins "wear leather armor and carry swords and daggers", which would give them AC7, but in the Monster List goblins have AC6 (although its unclear whether this is natural AC or due to leather+shield). This is unchanged as published.
Next, Holmes indicates that "they can each take one six-sided die of hits, minus one point, i.e., roll a regular hit die, subtract one..." As expected, the published version changes "six-sided" to "8-sided" reflecting the change from Holmes original intention (d6 hit dice) to the published version (d8 hit dice).
In the third paragraph, Holmes originally had much more treasure for the goblins - 500 gold pieces in each of two sacks, and 2000 gold pieces in a treasure chest. The published version changes this to 500 silver pieces per sack, and 2000 copper pieces in the chest. Holmes probably stuck with gold pieces for simplicity (he mentions silver only once in manuscript, and copper not at all) but this is a drastic change: a 3000 gold piece treasure reduce to 140 gold piece value as published. Gygax clearly had different ideas about appropriate encounter strength and rewards.
DM guidance:
-Monster strength can be adjusted to the strength of the adventuring party. This idea was originally put forth in OD&D, Vol 3, page 11: "A party of 1-3 would drawn the basic number of monsters, 4-6 would bring twice as many, and so on."
-How to roll a monsters hit points.
-Guidance on monster actions in combat (e.g. goblins will flee/surrender). This is as close as Holmes gets to covering morale in Basic.
-Example of a trap that inconveniences rather than kills (sleeping gas), as mentioned earlier in "Dungeon Mastering as a Fine Art".
-Stealth Ability Score Bonus. On a failed save, the sleeping gas puts a character to sleep for d6 turns, "subtracting 1 if the character has a high constitution". The section on Constitution mentioned that it would "influence how a character can withstand being paralyzed or killed and raised from the dead, etc.", a statement that goes back to OD&D Vol 1, but no other specifics were given. So here we see one implementation of this by Holmes. D&D typically make ability score bonuses evident to the players; having bonuses that are only known to the DM is an interesting area for further discussion.
Room B:
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| Sample Dungeon Room B - original map (left) vs published map (right) |
This room has four hidden skeletons and is very dusty, so it hasnt been disturbed in a while. Were these guards placed by Zenopus? This is another room that is potentially the first encounter of a party.
The original map shows doors at the north (closed) and south (open) ends, and this is mentioned in the text, but the published map is missing the northern door, and moves the southern door to the end of a 10 corridor. The original also has both sets of niches across from each other but the published version moves one niche 10 further south for unknown reasons, and has the north passage enter slightly to the west rather than the center.
The text describes the room as 50 ft x 50 ft, and again this is accurately mapped.
The only change here was to correct the score for a cleric to turn; the original said "must roll a 6 or more", but 7 is correct.
DM guidance:
-Example of hidden monsters attacking.
-Reminder of how to determine success in turning.
-How to handle skeleton behavior when turned.
Room C - Holmes uses "C" to mean "Corridor". On the original map the "C" is near the steps marked "START", described in the introduction as leading 25-feet down from the surface. The published map follows this convention.
The original text for this read, "Room C is always an empty corridor. All corridors in this dungeon are 10 feet wide and 10 feet high. The magic users secret corridor is 5 feet by 5 feet. Remember that at the end of 3 turns a wandering monster might appear - corridors are likely places for this to happen." The published version removes the word "always" from the first sentence, places the third sentence in parenthesis and adds that it is "(S to F)".
DM guidance:
Reminder of Wandering Monster checks. The difficulty and XP/treasure for this dungeon are be significantly increased if this adhered to.
Room D - Most of this room is given over to a description of the elaborate statue/door-locking mechanism. Holmes doesnt give the dimensions of this room in the text, so the published map interprets it as a 50 ft by 70 ft room. No changes as published.
DM guidance:
Another "trap" that inconveniences rather than damages.
Room E - Holmes uses this code for all of the "Empty" rooms on the map. This is a handy shortcut for labeling all of these rooms, and is easy to remember. Most of these rooms have doors, which will slow the party down, forcing more wandering monster checks.
Holmes original map has five empty rooms.The published version has eight. Two small rooms were added in the corridor east of Room D, and a new room was added south of Room J, where the south door led nowhere.
DM Guidance:
Earlier in "Dungeon Mastering as a Fine Art", Holmes stated that "Many rooms should be empty", and in the Sample Dungeon he shows this. This echoes OD&D, Vol 3, page 6: "As a general rule there will be far more uninhabited space on a level than there will be space occupied by monsters, human or otherwise".
Go Back to Part 46: "Zenopus Built A Tower"
or Go Back to Start: The Holmes Manuscript
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Monday, 14 August 2017
Are Webscale App Providers Shaping Core Telecom Platform Trends
Are Webscale App Providers Shaping Core Telecom Platform Trends
Webscale Internet companies (Google, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon) now are exerting a �markedly increased influence� on markets for communications service. Analysts at Heavy Reading now think the webscale players also increasingly are shaping the market for networking hardware, software and services.
That will be a contentious point of view, even if many telecom industry execs and others think that is true, to some extent.
Google and Facebook are developing new backhaul and access platforms. Google Fiber does buy industry-standard optical access networks as well.
But Facebook mostly is looking at open source platforms that can be manufactured by supplied by industry suppliers.
Clearly, there is impact in terms of buying behavior in the case of Google Fiber, and development potential in the open source efforts by Facebook.
At least some telecom industry professionals believe the webscale providers are "leading in networking innovation"; are "increasingly calling the shots"; increasingly "building out their own telecom infrastructure" and that "its a matter of time before one of these guys buys one of the big CSPs (communications service providers).�
A Heavy Reading analyst team interviewed more than a dozen leading network infrastructure professionals at leading CSPs at the CTO, VP and director level, as well as more than 25 senior individuals in network equipment vendors at CTO, VP and director level; plus several leaders in key telecom industry associations, standards bodies and other specialist consultancies; and some of the WICs themselves.
The primary and secondary research was complemented by a Heavy Reading online survey, generating responses from 82 qualified respondents in network equipment vendors and 57 from qualified respondents in CSPs.
Keep in mind that about half the 82 vendor respondents came from individuals from one vendor company.
Around half came from vendors from whom two or more (but no more than four) respondents supplied responses. Those companies from which two or more respondents participated include ADVA, Broadsoft, Casa Systems, Cisco Systems, Ericsson, F5, Huawei, HP, IBM, Infinera, Juniper Networks, Nokia, NetScout, Vasona Networks and Radisys.
As you might expect, the online respondents identified Google as the webscale player posing the greatest threat to communications service providers.
Source: Heavy Reading
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Thursday, 10 August 2017
And the winners of the Google Play Indie Games Contest in Europe are
And the winners of the Google Play Indie Games Contest in Europe are
Posted by Matteo Vallone, Google Play Games Business Development
Today, at Saatchi Gallery in London, we hosted the final event of the first Google Play Indie Games Contest in Europe. The 20 finalists, selected from nearly 1000 submissions, came from 12 countries to showcase their games to an excited room of gamers, industry experts and press. Selected based on the votes of the attendees and the Google Play team, the Top 10 pitched in front of a jury of industry experts who chose the top winners.
Stay tuned for more pictures and a video of the event.
Without further ado, join us in congratulating the winners!
Winner & Unity prize winner:
 | Reigns, by Nerial, from the United Kingdom You are the King. For each decision, you only have two choices. Survive the exercise of power and the craziness of your advisors... as long as you can. |
Runners up:
 | The Battle of Polytopia, by Midjiwan AB, from Sweden A turn based strategic adventure. Its a game about ruling the world, fighting evil AI tribes, discovering new lands and mastering new technologies. |
 | Causality, by Loju, from the United Kingdom A puzzle about manipulating time, altering the sequence of events and changing the outcome of each level to help a group of astronauts find a route to safety. |
The other top games selected by the event attendees and the Google Play team are:
 | Blind Drive, by Lo-Fi People, from Israel Youre driving blindfolded as a mysterious voice gives you suicidal commands on the phone. Survive on-rushing vehicles using only your hearing to guide you. |
 | Gladiabots, by GFX47, from France A competitive tactical game in which you design the AI of your robot squad. Use your own strategy, refine it online and fight for the top of the leaderboard. |
 | Happy Hop: Kawaii Jump, by Platonic Games, from Spain This isnt just an original one-tap endless hopper, its also the cutest one. Ever wondered whats in the end of the rainbow? That would be Happy Hop. |
 | Lost in Harmony, by Digixart Entertainment, from France Experience music in a new way with the combination of rhythmic tapping and choreographic runner to go through two memorable journeys with Kaito and M.I.R.A.I. |
 | Paper Wings, by Fil Games, from Turkey A fast-paced arcade game which puts you in control of an origami bird. Avoid the hazards and collect the falling coins to keep your paper bird alive. |
 | Pinout, by Mediocre, from Sweden A breathtaking pinball arcade experience: race against time in a continuous journey through this canyon of pulsating lights and throbbing retro wave beats. |
 | Rusty Lake: Roots, by Rusty Lake, from Netherlands James Vanderbooms life drastically changes when he plants a special seed in the garden. Expand your bloodline by unlocking portraits in the tree of life. |
Check out the prizes
The prizes of this contest were designed to help the winners showcase their art and grow their business on Android and Google Play, including:
YouTube influencer campaigns worth up to 100,000 EUR
Premium placements on Google Play- Read more »
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Saturday, 5 August 2017
ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK
ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK
Are You Afraid of the Dark? is a 2004 novel and the last novel by bestselling thriller writer Sidney Sheldon.
In Berlin, a woman vanishes from the city streets. In Paris, a man plunges from the Eiffel Tower. In Denver, a small plane crashes into the mountains. In Manhattan, a body washes ashore along the East River. At first these seem to be random incidents, but the police soon discover that all four of the victims are connected to Kingsley International Group (KIG), the largest think tank in the world.
Kelly Harris and Diane Stevens young widows of two of the victims encounter each other in New York, where they have been asked to meet with Tanner Kingsley, the head of KIG. He assures them that he is using all available resources to find out who is behind the mysterious deaths of their husbands. But he may be too late. Someone is intent on murdering both women, and they suffer a harrowing series of near escapes. Who is trying to kill them and why?
Forced together for protection, suspicious of each other and everyone around them, and trying to find answers for themselves, the two widows embark on a terrifying game of cat and mouse against the unknown forces out to destroy them.
Taut with suspense and vivid characterization, full of shocking twists, and with an unnervingly realistic premise that could alter all of our lives, the long-awaited Are You Afraid of the Dark? is Sidney Sheldon at the top of his game.
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