At Apple’s “Special Event” today (October 27th 2016) they coyly announced new monitors from LG which mark the end of the Thunderbolt Display and open the floodgates for 3rd parties to create monitors with a single-cable for video, data, and power compatible with Apple’s latest crop of USB-C enabled laptops.

Two new monitors from LG

21.5″ LG UltraFine 4K Display ($699.95) – Available to ship in 5-6 weeks. (Model: 22MD4KA-B.AUSA   UPC: 719192606982)

27″ LG UltraFine 5K Display ($1299.95) – Available December. (Model: 27MD5KA-B.AUSA  UPC: 719192606975)

These two monitors are very different (As you can see in the comparison graphic at the top of this page) and they are targeted towards to very different users.  The 4K model supports 60W of charging power and USB 2.0 speeds which points it straight towards the consumer/student market and those with the latest MacBook’s and upcoming 13-inch MacBook Pro’s.  The 5K model not only has some additional screen real estate, it supports 85W of charging power, USB 3.1 speeds, and even throws in a Webcam for good measure.  This puts the 27″ display squarely in the professional/prosumer space and for those looking to upgrade to the upcoming 15-inch MacBook Pro’s with the dedicated graphics that can support the 5K resolution.

Opening Up The Ecosystem

What is most interesting to me about this (un)announcement is that by embracing USB-C, it seems like apple is easing its grip on the accessory market.  This could encourage 3rd parties go to town making compatible devices without the licensing fees apple usually gouges out from those who want to play in its ecosystem.  The result of this will only be seen with time, will cheap Chinese manufactures flood the market with sub-par parts or will it encourage top players to try their hand?  All I can say definitively is that USB-C is clearly the future and we all may as well jump on board!

4K Video Editing Gets Easier

The latest 2016 MacBook Pro (15″) + LG 5K Display might be the video editing setup to beat in 2017!  (Make sure you shop using my Amazon.com link to help me get a little bit closer to that dream!)  Add a Sit-Stand Desk Mount, Aeron Chair and a Drobo 5C with 18TB worth of redundant storage (5x5TB HDDs) and your 4K editing workflow should be as smooth as butter (mmmm butter…).

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I use the Chrome Developer Tools daily. Something I noticed today when finally upgrading my production browser is that the “Resources” tab I use so often was GONE!!!  AHHH… Fortunately a quick search revealed that they had made some changes and the same resources can be found on the “Application” tab.  Phew!  (Tip: Install Chrome Canary if you want to test new features NOT the chrome beta).

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Drone footage of the summers weekly wooden boat parade on Lake Wawasee in Syracuse, Indiana. Beautiful Chris Crafts, Rivas, and More!

Shot on DJI Phantom 3 Pro w/ND16 Filter – 4k30p

Watch this video on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jb4Myhu2DI

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360 Footage from the Palio Di Siena July 2016 Shot on Kodak PIXPRO SP360 4K Dual Camera Setup. Race Starts at 7:20. Not the best format for a sporting event but it gives you a sense of what its like to be in the middle of the race track. Make sure to select 4K in the video quality settings!

Watch this video on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3i_V16-5cw

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ORACLE TEAM USA Capsized their AC45 durring the practice day for the America’s Cup World Series in Chicago. We finally have the America’s Cup in Chicago!!! @ACSWChicago @ACWS

Watch this video on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUJPWe61nGc

The post ORACLE TEAM USA Foiling + Capsize & Recovery | America’s Cup World Series CHICAGO | June 10th 2016 appeared first on WillCoffin.com.

I was intrigued enough by this article in the WSJ that I thought I would publicly examine my feelings about the implications.

The story is about a recent Cincinnati-based federal appeals court decision in which they deemed that federal agents can obtain cellphone records that reveal a caller’s location without a warrant.

“Cell-site data—like mailing addresses, phone numbers, and IP addresses—are information that facilitate personal communications, rather than part of the content of those communications themselves,” wrote Judge Raymond Kethledge. “The government’s collection of business records containing these data therefore is not a search.”

While accessing a public data network (such as a cell tower or public WiFi) anyone can poke around and see who else is on that specific node. This is just the way the network communications protocol works,  every device that connects to a network broadcasts its presence looking for a host that will assign it an IP address which will allow it to communicate with other devices that have access to that same network and most commonly providing access to the public internet.   If you have an iPhone you can download the iNet app and scan your current network to see what devices are connected (on android I use Fing).  While a devices IP address is ephemeral, its MAC address is theoretically unique and traceable. If you can look at the connection history for geographically relevant cell phone towers and you find a MAC address moving between them you could presume that that device was in that specific area at a specific time. I would consider this public information as it doesn’t require the defeating of any security measures.   The difference between the data the average geek has access to and the cell phone operator is significant.  The cell tower owner knows the device ID of the user, the signal strength, and ultimately the name, phone number and home address of the person accessing that tower. That data leads to the very specific and usually accurate specification of that users location at any given time.

iNet scan of my local network and MAC address of my router.

Cell phone operators are private businesses that we trust with our privacy and personal information and as a private citizen I have no grounds to request cell phone tower data records from AT&T or Verizon.   Some of this assurance of privacy comes with the terms and conditions we agree to when we sign up with our provider.   These typically state that they will share your information to “comply with court orders and other legal process”.  While “other legal processes” is quite vague, it is in the company and public’s best interest that they keep this as narrow as possible to prevent a disgruntled law enforcement officer from using this provision to stalk their ex-wife or harass someone with personal intentions.

I am not a lawyer nor particularly well versed in case-law specific to the telecommunications industry so my analysis has far more to do with my “gut” than with legal critique.   This gizmodo article has some interesting references to what law enforcement can and can’t access with various levels of effort.  In this case, the defendant attempted to protect certain information by claiming it was covered under the 4th amendment.

“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

The way this is applied to electronic communications falls under the “papers” designation and it then comes down to whether this particular form of electronic communication was “written on the envelope, or on the letter inside”.   Basically, is this type of communication public or private.  In this case they determined that this information was “written on the envelope” so its not considered a search or seizure.

I think my “gut” reaction to this was a recoil to the thought of more big brother constant surveillance, but after really digging into the meat of the issue I think that this is a necessary decision that should eventually provide greater security to the general public.   In my personal view,  if you have a legitimate reason to fear being tracked by law enforcement officials, you probably should be tracked by law enforcement officials.

Feel free to send me comments on twitter to @WillCoffin

Credit: Post Image Via Safari

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Google released a new feature for Docs yesterday (2/24/2016) that allows you to use your voice to type. This is not a new concept and we have been able to do this on our phones for quite some time now, but bringing this functionality to the desktop makes it a really interesting productivity tool.   The biggest challenge when using voice dictation on any platform is going back to edit your content, this is especially difficult on mobile devices and for me has kept the functional use case limited to dictating text messages while driving or making quick notes while out and about. Having a mouse and keyboard at the ready when using voice dictation means that you can very quickly clean up any mistakes and keep going forward, useful when you are capturing stream of consciousness or just trying to have a creative writing session.  Definitely worth playing with if you are a google docs user.

Links from video:

Voice Typing Commands

Feature Announcement

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I just went through the process of adding follow buttons for my social media accounts to my website (WillCoffin.com) and thought it would be useful to compile a list of all of the resources I used.  They are not the prettiest all lined up next to each other, but it works for now until I have more time to mess around with the CSS or create my own versions.

Spotify: Spotify Follow Button Generator

Follow @WillCoffin

Twitter: Twitter Button Generator

Linkedin: Linkedin Member Profile Plugin Generator

Facebook: Facebook Follow Button Generator

Follow Will Coffin

Pinterest: Pinterest Widget Builder

These are really the only ones I care about right now, if something else pops up I will do my best to update this list.

Good luck!

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Today I cancelled my Tidal HIFI subscription, it was a decision rooted mostly in frugality and simplicity.  I still have a Spotify and my recently added Apple Music subscription between which I am currently struggling to find a clear winner.  There was nothing “bad” or “wrong” with Tidal,  their premium “HIFI” option sounds great and is what drew me to them in the first place.  I have what I would consider to be an audiophile grade sound system in my office consisting of a pair of beautiful Dynaudio Contour SE 1.3’s that I inherited from my father and a NAD D 7050 amplifier (which I love).  This is the type of system where the difference between a high quality MP3 and a lossless FLAC file is immediately apparent.  Honestly, on any half-decent sound system you can tell there is a huge difference in the soundstage between streaming MP3 and FLAC and I swear I can even tell the difference on my MacBook Pro’s internal speakers.    Unfortunately though, the amount of time that I actually spend sitting still in the “sweet spot” intently listening to music these days would be exaggerated at once a month, hardly enough to justify throwing $20 a month Tidal’s way.  The process of writing this post and revisiting the service did make me question this decision repeatedly as the quality of the HIFI subscription is best in class, something I value greatly. I may come back to Tidal one day, especially if they come out with a decent OSX desktop app.

Current Music Service Status (8/2015)  – I am currently attempting to use Apple Music as my main service and I am finding the deep integration with my iPhone to be a real bonus although I still miss my Spotify playlists and the app interface needs a few more iterations.

Notes from my experience with Tidal

Tidal with Sonos:  I used Tidal with my sonos system several times and I would like to believe that it was taking advantage of the “HIFI” level of my subscription but there is nothing in the settings that reassures me. Tidals site states that “As long as you have a valid TIDAL HiFi subscription it will automatically stream HiFi” but I struggled to hear the difference between Spotify and Tidal when listening to my default reference track “Hotel California (Remastered)”.  The biggest difference seems to be the “loudness” applied to each track, Spotify tracks play louder than Tidal tracks, and at top volume the spotify tracks did seem to clip in the mid/bass range where the Tidal tracks remained clean (my second reference track was “Bass Down Low” by DEV to test the low end).  As a general note on Sonos, I am continuously impressed by the quality of their speakers.

Tidal Desktop App: Tidal did realease a native OSX desktop app back in October of 2014 but it was discontinued.  The app interface was awful and looks terrible on retina MacBook’s, but it does work. If nothing elsea dedicated desktop app gives me a little more confidence in the FLAC streaming than playing from the browser. You can download the app from links in this forum:  http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f11-software/tidal-desktop-app-mac-24012/

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This will be a brief post, one that was inspired by this Entrepreneur article and mostly just to encourage myself to get back to work.  I had a great 4th of July weekend, lots of great time with friends and family and now it is monday and time to GET BACK TO WORK!    Its not always easy to jump back into the fast pace of internet-based employment after lounging and indulging yourself all weekend but this is not a choice, it’s a requirement. Buck up, brew a fresh pot of coffee and start doing WORK.  Real work, not reading emails or catching up on instagram, do something that will genuinely contribute to your bottom line.  I will check back in later to see how you did.

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