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Jeremy’s Blog | Open SourceLinuxLQ Jeremy’s Blog Open SourceLinuxLQ Search: Home About Archives Posts Comments Main Page Open Source Linux Microsoft LinuxQuestions.org Novell Bad Voltage Red Hat Sun Google Pixel 5 Review November 27, 2020 Leave a comment Wow. It’s been longer than I realized since I’ve posted. I recently reviewed the Pixel 5 for an episode of Bad Voltage , and thought others may be interested in the review. Unrelated, I’d make more of an effort to post my thoughts here more often. In the meantime, here’s the review: Regular listeners will know that I’m a big fan of the Pixel line of phones (and was a Nexus fan before that). The unadulterated bloatware-free Android experience really is top notch. That said, for the first time since the Pixel 1, I decided to skip the Pixel 4 for a variety of reasons. There were just too many things about it I didn’t like. The Pixel 5 got me back on board though, and I’ve had it for a few weeks now. So, what do I think? On paper, the Pixel 5 seems a bit; if not disappointing then underwhelming. It sports a 6-inch OLED display with 90Hz refresh rate and a bezel-less design. It has wireless charging, fingerprint unlock, and is IP68 dust and waterproof. The phone ships with 8G of memory and 128G of storage. All good so far, you may be thinking. But eschewing a flagship SoC for the Snapdragon 765G resulted in Google taking quite a bit of flak. So did including the same main camera as the previous generation Pixel, and shipping with two front facing cameras instead of three. What’s clear to me is that, at $699 Google decided to stop playing the one thousand dollar and up flagship game. They got back to basics; and it’s surprisingly good. While the display is 6 inches vs the 5.5 inches of my previous Pixel 3, the phone is almost identical in size due to the lack of abezel. What isn’t even close to identical in size though is the battery – 2915 mAh vs 4080 mAh. The difference is night and day; and by that I mean come nighttime you’ll actually still have a charge. The phone is aluminum but with a resin coating that I quite like. It’s grippier than glass and isn’t as much of a fingerprint magnet as many newer phones. Gone is the facial unlock and Soli that never quite panned out. As for the supposed slow SoC, for me it’s been more than sufficient. If you’re a very serious gamer or obsessed with benchmarks, you may notice a difference. I’m a pretty heavy users of my phone though, and I don’t. So – what’s the bottom line? There’s nothing groundbreaking or mesmerizing about Pixel 5’s design… or about the Pixel 5 in general. At $699, this should be a phone of trade-offs and compromises. Ars ran a review titled Google spends its bill-of-materials budget unwisely”. But I think they missed the mark. Google managed to add 2GB ram, double the default storage to 128gb, increase battery by 50% and still make the phone $200 cheaper. It’s a near perfect BoM if it wasn’t for mmWave. I’m guessing they made some kind of deal with Verizon, but adding $50-100 to the phone makes very little sense for something almost no one will use. Despite the mid-tier chipset, running an unfettered version of Android means the chip isn’t bogged down and lets the Pixel 5 deliver an Android experience that feels just as fast as it does on phones with much faster chips. The massive battery life is a game changer, and the device just feels right in your hands. While I’ve always had a quote unquote flagship phone and this one really isn’t… It feels like one. A bit to my surprise, it’s a great phone. The Pixel is back. Filed under Bad Voltage , Reviews Jarvis Bamboo Standing Desk Review August 28, 2017 Leave a comment In the most recent episode of Bad Voltage , I reviewed the Jarvis Bamboo Adjustable Height Standing Desk . Tune in to listen to the ensuing discussion and the rest of the show. Between LinuxQuestions, Datadog, consulting, Bad Voltage, Opensource.com, Linux Fund, and the other online activities I partake in, I’m in my office _a lot_. And while I try to be active when I’m not in my office, there’s substantial research coming out that indicates long period of sitting are bad for your body irrespective of how much exercise you otherwise get. Enter a standing desk. Before moving on to the review, I should note: While most studies agree that sitting for long periods of time is bad for you, there is still ongoing research on whether standing undoes that damage. That’s not to say a standing desk isn’t beneficial, but keep in mind there is not enough evidence yet from quality studies to prove exactly how beneficial. On to the desk. While a variety of adjustable standing desks are available, after considerable research I ended selecting the Jarvis Bamboo from Fully. The desk comes in seven sizes with either rectangle and contour tops. I went with the 60″x30″ contour combination. From there you you choose from an assortment of accessories including programmable memory adjustment, wire management , and CPU holders. Once you make your selection, the desk is sent out the next day via ground shipping and will arrive in two boxes. The first box I opened had nothing but the desktop. You immediately notice how high quality the harvested bamboo is. It’s sturdy but not too heavy and has a look I really like. The other box had the frame and all other components. Assembly was straight forward and took roughly thirty minutes, including attaching the optional CPU holder and my existing monitor arms. The wire management option is nice, but not custom built for the desk. I went with the programmable memory and as a $35If it is, do Chromebook successes count as the year of the Linux desktop”? If it isn’t, is it a threat? A rival or a friend? Should we buy a Chromebook? [00:50:07] People are using the GPL less and permissive licenses more; this isn’t just a feeling, it’s confirmed by research . Why is this? Is it a problem? And do we think that anyone should care? Also, Bad Voltage are returning to SCALE in Pasadena in March for a live show! Keep your ears open for more details , and buy your SCALE tickets now! Listen to 2×2: Failed to Capture From the Bad Voltage site: Every two weeks Bad Voltage delivers an amusing take on technology, Open Source, politics, music, and anything else we think is interesting, as well as interviews and reviews. Do note that Bad Voltage is in no way related to LinuxQuestions.org , and unlike LQ it will be decidedly NSFW. That said, head over to the Bad Voltage website, take a listen and let us know what you think. Filed under Bad Voltage Tagged with ChromeOS , GPL , licensing Bad Voltage Episode 80 Has Been Released: The Two-Percenters December 1, 2016 Leave a comment In this episode, we devote the whole show to a different format: a wide-ranging discussion on Linux adoption and market share, following the news that it’s been trending up and over 2% consistently for a while now. Taking in the current state of hardware, Steam gaming, new devices from everyone else, and whether mobile is eating desktop or not, myself, Stuart Langridge, Bryan Lunduke and Jono Bacon dive deep into where Linux is going and whether we want it to get there at all. Listen to 1×80: The Two-Percenters –jeremy From the Bad Voltage site: Every two weeks Bad Voltage delivers an amusing take on technology, Open Source, politics, music, and anything else we think is interesting, as well as interviews and reviews. Do note that Bad Voltage is in no way related to LinuxQuestions.org , and unlike LQ it will be decidedly NSFW. That said, head over to the Bad Voltage website, take a listen and let us know what you think. Filed under Bad Voltage , Linux Bad Voltage Episode 77 Has Been Released: Wax Cylinder Coming Soon October 20, 2016 Leave a comment Stuart Langridge, Jono Bacon, Bryan Lunduke, and myself present Bad Voltage, in which three idiots fail to recognize the glory of having the theme tune from The League Of Gentlemen as one’s ringtone, we create Garcia’s...