Notable deals across every major tech category, plus some pointers to discourage needless spending.
Published work, shop talk, and stray thoughts.
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The best of 2024, Roku Ultra review (Cord Cutter Weekly)
While it’s easy to be pessimistic about the state of streaming TV, I can always find at least a handful of things to celebrate
The post The best of 2024, Roku Ultra review appeared first on Cord Cutter Weekly.
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Vivaldi’s new “Dashboard” start page is pretty neat! There are some built-in widgets for things like bookmarks and quick notes, but you can also turn any website into a panel.
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I was reminded recently of Warning Forever, a 21-year-old freeware shmup by Hikoza T Ohkubo. You engage in endless boss battles where the enemy evolves based on how you fight it. Still available today and works great in Proton compatibility mode on Steam Deck.
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Beware of carrier iPad and Apple Watch deals (Advisorator)
The holiday shopping season is basically here, which means it’s time for a warning on one of the worst holiday deals you can get.
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The 9 next big things in consumer technology for 2024 (FastCo)
A faster 3D printer, headphones that monitor your brainwaves, the secret of lighter laptops, and more.
If you want to get excited about consumer tech again, look at these innovations. They include breakthroughs in material design and miniaturization to make your gadgets even sleeker; new technologies to improve your health and wellness; and some clever applications of AI and data analysis. The next big thing in consumer tech is really about making life better beyond your phone, not just spending more time using it.
– https://www.fastcompany.com/91207918/consumer-next-big-things-in-tech-2024?partner=rss&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=rss+fastcompany&utm_content=rss
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These 3 large companies innovated in a big way in 2024 (FastCo)
Abbott’s over-the-counter glucose monitor, EA’s realistic hair for video games, and Waymo’s fully-available robotaxi service all benefit from the power of scale.
While innovation can happen at companies of any size, sometimes it takes a certain scale to get things done. In areas such as autonomous driving and the graphics technology required to represent people more accurately, solutions only come by throwing a whole lot of resources at the problem. These companies stood out not just for their tech innovations, but the scale required to make those innovations happen.
– https://www.fastcompany.com/91207926/enterprise-size-1000-employees-next-big-things-in-tech-2024?partner=rss&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=rss+fastcompany&utm_content=rss
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Half-Life 2 is free on Steam for its 20th anniversary if you claim it by Nov. 18!
Time, Dr. Freeman?
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Turns out that AT Protocol and ActivityPub both support hyperlinks. So let’s link to a funny video in this blog post and see what it looks like when syndicated to Bluesky and Mastodon.
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Don’t buy these Roku players, farewell to Freevee (Cord Cutter Weekly)
Roku’s Black Friday streaming players are among the worst devices you can buy.
The post Don’t buy these Roku players, farewell to Freevee appeared first on Cord Cutter Weekly.
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Smash the walls. https://smashthewalls.com
(Clearing out some old bookmarks and figured we could all use this.)
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Dropping X for Bluesky? These tips will make the migration easier (FastCo)
The budding social network has lots of neat ways to get up and running.
“Bluesky has the juice.”
– https://www.fastcompany.com/91228063/dropping-x-for-bluesky-these-tips-will-make-the-migration-easier?partner=rss&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=rss+fastcompany&utm_content=rss
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I feel you should all know about the Cory Wong Middle School Dance Medley. https://youtu.be/-4H3cf8irUo?t=971&si=OUhSs5SAR42XmmSr
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Learning to love Windows Task View (Advisorator)
By rethinking my approach to Task View—and by taking advantage of some new Windows features—I’ve finally made a habit of using it in a way that saves time and helps me focus.
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The extremely hacky way to have a pop-up notepad with a keyboard shortcut in Windows
If you use Raycast for Mac, there’s a neat “Floating Notes” feature (now called Raycast Notes) that summons a little pop-up notepad, and you can have a single keyboard shortcut that both opens and closes it again—helpful for temporarily jotting things down.
I’ve looked around and found nothing similar for Windows, but I did come across a workaround involving a free app called Webcatalog.
Webcatalog bills itself as an “app store for web apps.” Once installed, it allows you to install other websites as freestanding apps on your desktop.
For most things, this isn’t really necessary, because most web browsers can install websites as desktop apps on their own. But when you install a site as a desktop app using Webcatalog, there’s a feature that lets you toggle the app open and closed with a keyboard shortcut. Aha!
So the process looks like this:
- Sign up for a free Webcatalog account.
- Install the Windows app.
- Search for a suitable notepad app from the Webcatalog store. (I suggest Numbr, which is both a notepad and a calculator in one.)
- In the notepad app you’ve selected, head to Menu > File > Settings.
- In the Appearance tab, select “Define a keyboard shortcut to switch to the app window quickly.”
- Enter the keyboard shortcut you want to use and hit “Save.”
It’s not a perfect solution. The keyboard shortcut only works after you’ve launched the app manually, and it stops working if you quit the app with the X button.
So, the field is wide open for someone to create a proper floating notepad app for Windows. Otherwise we’ll have to wait until Raycast makes its way over.
