DJI Osmo Action 5 Pro could only be a minor upgrade

Mark Wilson, writing for TechRadar:

In what could be a disappointment for those hoping for upgrades like a 1-inch sensor, the Action 5 Pro’s key specs appear to be identical to the Action 4. These include a 1/1.3-inch CMOS sensor, f/2.8 aperture and 155-degree field of view.

I’m in the market for an action camera, and want to avoid the GoPro lineup whose development has mostly stagnated in recent times. I already have the Insta360 X3, so the Insta360 Ace Pro seems like a natural buy for me as it would be in the same ecosystem and use the same apps, the DJI Osmo Action 4 is a solid product that has been getting rave reviews from the everyone. If the release is happening soon, I might just wait for the Action 5 Pro instead.

July 18, 2024 ✚ Permalink

IMAX and Miraj Cinemas are Reviving the Iconic IMAX Wadala Theatre in Mumbai; Relaunching it with ‘IMAX with Laser’ System

Miraj Cinemas and the IMAX Corporation this week announced a new partnership that would bring three new ‘IMAX with Laser’ theatres in India.

This deal marks the first-ever collaboration between the two companies and IMAX’s largest expansion in India in five years. Miraj Cinemas will add three new IMAX systems to key locations across India, including one in Mumbai – set to open in 2024 – one in Jaipur, and a third location to be determined at a later date.

As part of this deal, Miraj Cinemas are reviving IMAX Wadala, the first IMAX screen to launch in India, back in 2003.

IMAX Wadala had long been my favorite place to watch English action films, but over time I simply stopped going there. The theatre has seen a lot of neglect in its last years, probably due to its geographic location. It changed ownership multiple times, going into the hands of Anil Ambani-owned BIG Cinemas in late 2000s. BIG Cinemas was acquired by Carnival Cinemas in 2014, which took over its operations and tried to keep it running. However, the screen, the IMAX projectors, and the speakers were ill-maintained and affected the overall movie experience. The theatre ultimately ceased operations in 2023.

I’m excited to see what Miraj Cinemas does with it. I’m yet to watch a film in a theatre equipped with IMAX with Laser system, so I’m definitely looking forward to this launch.

April 12, 2024 ✚ Permalink

Adding ActivityPub Support to this WordPress Site

I just installed and enabled this fantastic ActivityPub WordPress plugin by Matthias Pfefferle & team Automattic on this blog. You should be able to follow new posts published here going forward by searching for the following user in your favorite Mastodon or Fediverse app of choice.

@[email protected]

Do let me know at https://mastodon.social/@preshit if it works!

September 27, 2023 ✚ Permalink

GoDaddy is Retiring the Media Temple Brand

I missed this news last month:

For the past 24 years, Media Temple dedicated itself to serving the needs of the digital creative community. Thus, our mantra—for creatives, by creatives.  This mantra led to our decision that now is the time to retire the Media Temple brand and fully integrate into GoDaddy.

GoDaddy acquired Media Temple back in 2013, so props to them for keeping the brand alive all these years. Media Temple was not only one of the best places to host your websites before the acquisition, but also one of the coolest brands to be a part of. Just having the (mt) branding on your website was like a stamp that you were serious about your website.

It’s a shame that they had to go with GoDaddy — I still think GoDaddy is one of the scummiest companies around.

January 18, 2023 ✚ Permalink

ExpressVPN Removes VPN Servers in India

ExpressVPN has just announced that they will be removing their physical servers located in India, refusing to comply with India’s new VPN law.

With a recent data law introduced in India requiring all VPN providers to store user information for at least five years, ExpressVPN has made the very straightforward decision to remove our Indian-based VPN servers.

Rest assured, our users will still be able to connect to VPN servers that will give them Indian IP addresses and allow them to access the internet as if they were located in India. These “virtual” India servers will instead be physically located in Singapore and the UK.

Under the new VPN law that is set to come into effect on Jun 27, 2022, the company states that they will be “required to store users’ real names, IP addresses assigned to them, usage patterns, and other identifying data” which effectively “is incompatible with the purpose of VPNs, which are designed to keep users’ online activity private.”

The law is also overreaching and so broad as to open up the window for potential abuse. We believe the damage done by potential misuse of this kind of law far outweighs any benefit that lawmakers claim would come from it.

ExpressVPN refuses to participate in the Indian government’s attempts to limit internet freedom. As a company focused on protecting privacy and freedom of expression online, we will continue to fight to keep users connected to the open and free internet with privacy and security, no matter where they are located.

ExpressVPN is one of the most popular VPN services in the market today and I had been a customer for a while, only switching to Mullvad because I wanted the flexibility in billing. I am certain that other VPN companies are going to follow in the same steps. Any company that doesn’t, is a company worth staying away from.

June 2, 2022 ✚ Permalink

Riders Report Serious Issues with Ola’s Electric Scooters

Pradip K. Saha has a fantastic article up on The Morning Context about the issues plaguing Ola’s Electric Scooters:

At least 10 people The Morning Context spoke with complained of the scooter switching off with more than 20, 30 even 50 km range left. “You will never get the last 10-20 km. No one gets it,” says Karthik Varma from Visakhapatnam. “I am part of multiple Ola owner groups and I haven’t found a single person who hasn’t faced this issue.” 

These are not experiences any automaker worth its salt would want its customers to go through. But barely two months since deliveries have started, Ola Electric is bursting at the seams. Multiple groups on Twitter, Facebook and Telegram are packed to the brim with complaints from aggrieved consumers. There are obvious issues around range—many customers complain that they aren’t getting even 100 km per charge, compared with the promise of 181 km—and delays in delivery, registration and insurance processes.

I have heard similar things from a few different customers. Almost every single customer I’ve spoken to has mentioned the issue where the range available displayed on screen is never in sync with how much juice is left in the scooter itself. Ola’s handling of the release of its S1 Pro has really put a dent into how prospective customers are going to perceive the EV market, with many already calling it “not ready for practical use.”

Meanwhile, I have to give major props to Ather. I’ve owned the 450X (in the form of a Series 1) for about 14 months now and I’ve never had an issue with the battery or range. If it says 25km on the display, it’s what I’m roughly going to get. The only real annoyances I’ve had are with its software stack, which thankfully works independent of the scooter. I’ve ran into a couple of instances where the display would go off and the screen would restart, but the scooter continues to run without issues. You don’t get to this behavior without having tested and re-tested for months in a row.

February 21, 2022 ✚ Permalink

Akamai to Acquire Linode for $900M

Akamai Technologies have announced that the company will acquire Linode, one of the most popular Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) platforms today.

Under terms of the agreement, Akamai has agreed to acquire all of the outstanding equity of Linode Limited Liability Company for approximately $900 million, after customary purchase price adjustments. As a result of structuring the transaction as an asset purchase, Akamai expects to achieve cash income tax savings over the next 15 years that have an estimated net present value of approximately $120 million. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2022 and is subject to customary closing conditions.

I’ve been using both Digital Ocean & Linode for a few years now and only recently made the decision to switch all my US-based nodes from DO to Linode because they have slightly better performance there. I don’t know how I feel about this acquisition yet, but I’m going to put my node transfers on hold.

February 16, 2022 ✚ Permalink

Nvidia Quietly Prepares to Abandon $40 Billion Arm Bid

Ian King, Giles Turner, and Peter Elstrom reporting for Bloomberg:

Nvidia Corp. is quietly preparing to abandon its purchase of Arm Ltd. from SoftBank Group Corp. after making little to no progress in winning approval for the $40 billion chip deal, according to people familiar with the matter.

Nvidia has told partners that it doesn’t expect the transaction to close, according to one person, who asked not to be identified because the discussions are private. SoftBank, meanwhile, is stepping up preparations for an Arm initial public offering as an alternative to the Nvidia takeover, another person said.

Someone at Intel is surely breathing a sigh of relief.

January 26, 2022 ✚ Permalink