New iPad 8 has arrived. I set it up by holding it in close proximity to the old iPad 5. This worked until I got to the part where I have to get a circular pattern on the new one into frame on another circle on the old one using the camera. Essential Tremors prevented me from holding the old one steadily enough to capture the image. So I sat it on the desk with the camera facing the floor & gradually moved the new one into focus. Success!
All that remains to do now is add videos & music to it.
Is 6am too early to start drinking? I’m not managing very well after discovering a lot of gear was stolen from the Men’s Shed group…
Looks like the Men's Shed will be getting a new iMac. That's what the insurance policy says, new for old. The shed is located in the middle of a retirement village & there was a break-in overnight. Most of our cordless power tools were lifted, along with a plastic rubbish bin, emptied to give the arseholes something to carry their haul away. And the 2013-spec iMac purchased 5 years ago.
The iPad Air 3 & iPad Mini 5 were both released in March of 2019, 18 months ago. The Mini had virtually the same internals as the Air 3.
Today’s iPad updated changed nothing with the iPad Mini. But the Air 4 & iPad 8 were announced, the 8th gen now sports the same A12 Bionic as the Mini & supports both the original Apple Pencil & Smart Keyboard.
Perhaps the only advantages the Mini now has over the iPad 8 is that it has a laminated screen and a 7 MP 1080p FaceTime camera, vs 1.2 MP on the bigger iPad. So the Mini is now more logically a smaller version of the 10.2-in iPad 8 rather than a smaller iPad Air 3.
Done. Ordered a Space Grey 128 GB Cellular iPad 8. Delivery expected on Tuesday.
The new 8th gen iPad looks good. My current big iPad is three years old & suffering in the battery life department. Physically it’s in perfect condition, meaning it’s worth A$230 as a trade-in on the new one. Current 5th gen unit is 128 GB cellular, I’d retain that configuration plus it has the same A12 Bionic SoC as the current iPad Mini & iPad Air 3. New device comes with a 20 watt USB-C charger & USB-C to Lightning sync cable.
More bloody expense. 24 volt battery pack in my electric lawn mower has had it. Charge LED shows as OK but it's got no usable capacity.
The battery pack is actually a pair of 12 volt 10 Ah sealed lead-acid batteries strapped together in a plastic box with a handle on top. The replacement pack has doubled in price since I last bought one, about 14 years ago.
I can get one from a local mower shop or buy the batteries separately but that only saves a few dollars and they have to be specially ordered in.
So I'm buying the complete unit.
New iPhone SE can only do Portrait mode pics with the studio lighting effects on human subjects due to the single camera lens. It uses a combination of Machine Learning and inspired guesswork/chicken intestines to create the depth of field effect.
Software to the rescue, an app called Halide Camera extends that capacity to non-human subjects/objects, such as cats.
Here’s an example of such a shot.
Don’t know when my brother plans on celebrating his son’s 21st birthday (the date is Friday Oct 9) but we’ll be in lockdown until at least Oct 11 so physical attendance is out. Ah well, at least I’ve been able to cobble together a gift from various items at an online men’s grooming store. The package is in transit to me, should have it in 3 to 6 days. So there’s going to be enough time to personalise the gift & repost it to the lad.