Thứ Bảy, 30 tháng 3, 2019


XIAOMI MI 9 SE






LAUNCH


Announced:      2019, February

Status:              Available. Released 2019, March

Price:                 About 300 EUR


NETWORK


Technology:      GSM / CDMA / HSPA / LTE

2G Bands:        GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 - SIM 1 & SIM 2 CDMA 800 & TD-SCDMA

3G Bands:       HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100

4G Bands:      LTE band 1(2100), 3(1800), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 34(2000), 38(2600), 39(1900), 40(2300), 41(2500)

Speed:             HSPA, LTE-A

GPRS:              Yes

EDGE:             Yes

VoLTE:            Yes


BODY


Dimension:        147.5 x 70.5 x 7.5 mm (5.81 x 2.78 x 0.30 in)

Weight:              155 g (5.47 oz)


SIM
   

Dual Sim:         Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by)


DISPLAY


Type:                 Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors

Size:                  5.97 inches, 87.5 cm2 (~84.1% screen-to-body ratio)

Resolution:      1080 x 2340 pixels, 19.5:9 ratio (~432 ppi density)

Multi touch:    Yes

Protection:      Corning Gorilla Glass 5 HDR


PLATFORM


OS:                  Android 9.0 (Pie); 

Chipset:           Qualcomm SDM712 Snapdragon 712 (10 nm)

CPU:                Octa-core 2.3 GHz

GPU:                Adreno 616

UI:                    MIUI 10


STORAGE


Card Slot:      No

Internal:         64/128 GB, 6 GB RAM


CAMERA


Main Camera

Single/Dual/Triple:    Triple 48 MP, f/1.8, 1/2", 0.8µm, PDAF13 MP, f/2.4, (ultrawide), 1.12µm 8 MP, f/2.4, (telephoto), 1.12µm, PDAF

Features:         Dual-LED flash, HDR, panorama

Video:              2160p@30fps, 1080p@30/60/120fps, 720p@960fps

Selfie Camera

Single/Dual:   Single 20 MP, f/2.0, 0.9µm

Features:        HDR

Video:             1080p@30fps


SOUND


Loudspeaker:  Yes

3.5mm jack:    No Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic


CONNECTIVITY


WLAN:           Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, hotspot

Bluetooth:      5.0, A2DP, LE, aptX HD

GPS:               Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, BDS

Radio:             No

USB:               2.0, Type-C 1.0 reversible connector, USB On-The-Go

Infrared:       Yes

NFC:             Yes


FEATURES


Sensor:         Fingerprint (under display), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass


BATTERY


Type:           Non-removable Li-Po

Fast Charging:  Fast battery charging 18W

Capacity:   3070 mAh battery


MISCELLANEOUS


Colors:        Violet, Blue, Gray



Thứ Năm, 28 tháng 3, 2019

Cagri Gecin recently contacted me about his newest game  Cubesc: Dream of Mira. This is the second game in this type. (Read my review of his first game Cubesc here.)
The objective is the same: get Mira, to traverse all of the squares and end at the goal.
Many of the features of the first game are also present in this game.
There are wormholes.
Platforms can materialize and shift.
The artwork and music are very nice.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cubesc-dream-of-mira/id1414794623
http://redelsoft.net/

Thứ Tư, 27 tháng 3, 2019

Hexagon Line comes from xiaolie ren.  The object is to stretch the black lines to create new nodules and match the image above.
It's a fun little game. Not hard.  There are 600 levels and I've done about 50.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/hexagon-line/id1455323245?mt=8




Your phone may have a built-in flashlight, but do you really feel comfortable propping your phone inside of your car's engine bay, or against a precarious surface while you work? Maybe it's time to grab a penlight.

When you think of a penlight, what comes to mind? The mechanic digging under the hood of your car? A poor soul looking for lost jewelry in the carpet? A doctor staring up your nose or down your throat? Well, these are some great uses for a penlight, but they can also be used in some modest situations, like looking under the bed or walking around in the dark.

See, penlights have really come a long way. They're smaller than ever, but they can put out as much light as some full-sized flashlights. And while your phone's flashlight may get you through some basic situations, you'd almost always be better off with a super bright, super small penlight. Plus, you can hold a penlight in your mouth for hands-free illuminated work. You can't do that with a phone (or at least you probably shouldn't).

Whether you're a mechanic, an electrical worker, or an average person with the occasional desire to have a flashlight, there's a penlight out there that's perfect for you. But there are a ton of penlights on the market, and it can be hard to find a penlight that fits your needs (additionally, some penlights are absolutely terrible). Luckily, we've done the hard work of sorting through them for you.



There are a lot of niche penlights on the market, but most people just need a small light that can be used anytime, anywhere. The Streamlight 66118is a 100-lumen penlight that's about the size of a sharpie. It runs on two AA batteries, and it has an IPX4 water-resistance rating, which means that you can use it in the rain.

A small penlight like this can be used for just about anything. Car maintenance? Sure. Jewelry lost in the carpet? This light will help you find it. Kid has a sore throat? You can check it with this light. For $20, you really can't go wrong.


Streamlight 88033 ProTac 250 Lumen Penlight



If you're looking for a super bright penlight that can rival the strength of a larger flashlight, then you should check out the Streamlight 88033. This 250-lumen light is powered by two AA batteries. While it works well for car maintenance and electronics work, it can also be used to get around at night, or to dig for whatever you've lost under your car seat.

The Streamlight company refers to this penlight as a "tactile light," and for good reason. For a 250 lumen light, this thing is surprisingly slim. It also has an IPX7 water-resistance rating, so you can use it in the rain (or dunk it in a meter of water for a half hour, whatever comes first). Plus, the Streamlight 88033 has an 18-lumen low power mode and a strobe mode, so you can use it for quiet bathroom breaks or SOS signals while camping.

Anker Bolder P2 120 Lumen Rechargeable Penlight



Tired of replacing batteries? The Anker Bolder P2 might be your escape from battery hell. It's a micro USB rechargeable 120-lumen penlight, with a durable build and a slim design. The Anker Bolder P2 has an IPX5 water-resistance rating, which means that you can use it during a storm without a worry. While this penlight doesn't have a strobe function (a blessing if you ask me), you can adjust the light to a 40-lumen low-power mode when 120 lumens is a bit too bright.

This is a great, modern penlight that doesn't compromise convenience for usability. It may not be as bright as the Streamlight 88033, or as slim as theStreamlight 66118, but it's definitely worth your time if you're dead set against batteries.


Streamlight 66418 Flexible 90 Lumen Penlight



If you're looking for a penlight that makes car inspections a breeze, then you should check out the Streamlight 66418. It's a 90 lumen penlight with high power, low power, and strobe settings. It's powered by two AA batteries, and it comes with a small magnetic clip that can stick to the inside of your car while you work.

As you've probably noticed, the Streamlight 66418 has a long, flexible head. You can snake this head around the insides of your car to get perfect, hands-free lighting. Or, you can hang the Streamlight's flexible head outside of your shirt pocket, and you can pretend that it's your tiny robot assistant.

Because this penlight has a long neck, there's a chance that it won't feel too cozy in your pocket. If you want a super convenient penlight that can go anywhere, then you might want to grab something smaller, like the Streamlight 66118.


EagleTac D25C 453 Lumen Mini Flashlight



If you want to mix the convenience of a penlight with the illuminating power of a flashlight, then you should check out the EagleTac D25C. It's a tiny (yet powerful) 453-lumen flashlight that runs on CR123A and RCR123A batteries. Like penlights, the EagleTac D25C has a small pen-clip, so it can securely fit in your pocket or bag. Plus, the EagleTac has strobe, SOS, and directional beacon settings.

While penlights have a narrow field of illumination, the EagleTac D25C has a comparably broad range of illumination. Really, this is the perfect light for general use. The EagleTac D25C is great during a power outage, or for rummaging through the corners of your garage at night. And while this light can be used for car maintenance and detailed electronics work, an actual penlight will always be better.


Ausein COB Rechargeable Pocket Floodlight

Ausein

Modern penlights are pretty bright, and they can be used to illuminate the underbelly of a car or to find small jewelry that's fallen on the floor. But, penlights are directional, they can't be used to light up a large space.

If you're looking for a pocket-able light that can illuminate a large space, then you should check out the Ausein COB pocket floodlight. This rechargeable 3 watt light is great for illuminating your whole engine at night, or for getting around the house when the power goes out. It also has a magnetic strip that's good for picking up loose screws, or for sticking to large metal objects, like the hood of your car.

Again, this isn't a penlight. But if you want the form of a penlight and the wide illumination of a floodlight, then the Auesin pocket floodlight is worth 10 bucks.

Guten Tag,
letztes Jahr fand an der LMU in München eine Tagung zum Thema "Kinder mit sekundären Sprachentwicklungsstörungen in Therapie und Unterricht" statt. Einige namhafte Autor*innen haben Beiträge für die Zeitschrift Sprachförderung und Sprachtherapie in Schule und Praxis verfasst, u.a. Daniela Kiening und Dana-Kristin Marks, Hildegard Kaiser-Mantel, Kerstin Nonn, Alisa Maria Rudolph sowie

Thứ Ba, 26 tháng 3, 2019

The first step in building a smarthome is often choosing a hub, and there are many options. Hubitat is a unique cloud-independent hub. It's incredibly powerful, capable, and complicated. But should you use Hubitat in your smarthome?
Hubitat Is a Powerful Hub for Your Smarthome

Hubitat




One thing is still true; there are too many smarthome hubs from which to choose. And while there are hubs you should avoid altogether, Hubitat isn't necessarily one of them: it's complex, perhaps too complex for many people, but has a lot of powerful features.


Hubitat is a true smarthome hub designed to be the center of your automation. It connects to Z-wave and Zigbee, Alexa and Google Home, Lutron and LAN devices. What makes it different from most smarthome hubs is its emphasis on local control and incredibly advanced automations. It boasts a fairly large device integration list, and if you choose wisely, it should be able to control anything you add to your smarthome.


For example, with Hubitat, you could create a set of rules that would dim your lights from 100% to 30% over the period of a half-hour at sunset or 8 PM (whichever is later) and then bring the lights back up slowly at sunrise or 6 AM (whichever is later)—all without any cloud interaction. This will even work if your internet goes down. SmartThings and Wink can't reach that level of complexity, especially while relying only on local control.
Most Hubs Are Cloud-Based, But Hubitat Is Local


Other major smarthome hubs, like Wink and SmartThings, are cloud-first devices with perhaps some local control added afterward. When you tap the button on your phone to turn on the living room light, a signal is sent from your phone to your router and over the internet to the Wink or SmartThings cloud servers. That command is processed and then sent back over the internet to your router and then to your hub. Finally, your hub sends the command to your light. Without some support for local control, this doesn't work when your internet goes down.


Hubitat handles most of the work locally, which offers several benefits. Because your command doesn't have to go over the internet and back, you'll see your lights turn on and off more quickly compared to Wink or Smartthings. If your internet goes down, these locally controlled capabilities will continue to work. And, if privacy is your aim, you'll have more of it since you aren't communicating with a corporation's cloud.


You can, of course, connect some devices that do require the cloud, like Amazon Echo or Google Home, to Hubitat. You'll lose some speed and privacy when you use those devices and anything controlled by them.


One of the other benefits of Hubitat is cost. Once you buy the Hubitat hardware, you're done. Hubitat doesn't force you into ongoing monthly subscriptions to gain functionality; everything it offers is included, even software updates. Hubitat usually sells for $149.95, although right now Hubitat is offering the latest hardware for $99.95.
With Hubitat You Create Complex Automations

Hubitat




Automations are the real smarthome superpower. While we love talking to our homes, Hubitat can make voice control unnecessary. Hubitat allows for advanced triggers and rules. For example, you can set up a rule for the following: Because you walked into the bedroom, and it's after 9 pm, and it's cold tonight, and the heating isn't on, the lights should be activated and dimmed, and the electric blanket should be turned on. If you're usingindividualized presence detectors, you could define that this only occurs if one specific person enters the room.


As another example, with motion sensors in a bathroom and smart bulbs or switches, you could automatically turn the lights on when someone walks in. You could also determine how bright the lights should be depending on the time of day and how long they should stay on before automatically turning off again—and again, the length can depend on the time of day. You can go so far as to add a second motion detector in the shower and have it override the "turn back off" portion of the rule while someone is showering, which means your lights won't turn off when someone is in the shower.


The level of detail and intricacy to these rules and triggers is a reason why the local control is so important. If you step into a room and the light doesn't turn on near-instantaneously, then you'll feel the need to flip a switch manually. At that point, your house doesn't seem so smart anymore. Voice control helps because you won't need to move towards or stumble to find the switch. But fast automations are even better because you don't need to do anything at all. Instead, the house is anticipating your needs.


Simply put, Wink and SmartThings aren't capable of this detailed level of automation. Alexa or Google Assistant routines certainly aren't, either.
Advanced Features Don't Come Easy

Hubitat

Unfortunately, with great power comes great responsibility. In this case, you'll be responsible for making it all happen, and it won't always be easy. When you first set up a Hubitat hub, you'll start by opening up a local webpage. Currently, Hubitat doesn't offer any smartphone apps, they're coming soon, but until then the closest you can get is building a custom dashboard. Once you're viewing the webpage, you'll need to discover your devices, name them, and then start adding apps.

Apps in the Hubitat realm extend its capabilities. You'll need an app for any safety monitor, an app for controlling lights with motion sensors, a rules app to build advanced automations, and so on. The web interface controls all of this. It's like using a router's web interface. You'll spend time clicking menus, choosing dropdowns, and saving changes. That's how it works when everything goes right.

Occasionally, something might not work well, and you'll need to work with code by hand. Hubitat relies on the Groovy programming language for this, and if you're not familiar with coding, then your best bet is to ask help in Hubitat's forums or to reach out for support.


You'll also need to learn how those apps and rules work. Hubitat does have excellent tutorial videos and an active and helpful community. But it's a learning process, and it's a new logic to master. For instance, if you wanted a rule that turned on the porch light when the backdoor is opened but only if the deck lights weren't already on, you'd have to define the rule as "when backdoor open and NOT deck light on." Hubitat's logic is consistent. Once you do learn the ins and outs, you won't spend all your time remastering a new skill. But getting to grips with Hubitat will take time, effort, and the willingness to learn.


And remember, there's no app to quickly access your smarthome devices to turn things off and on with the push of a button—at least right now. The best you can do is build a custom dashboard for your home. The various dashboard options are nice and incredibly intricate, but they do take some more legwork from you. And currently, those dashboards are the only way to enable remote control of your smarthome.
Should You Get Hubitat?

Hubitat




Whether you should choose Hubitat or not comes down to a few basic things: How much effort you want to put in, how much learning you want to do, and how much you like the idea of a truly automated home.


If the idea of accessing your router's settings to make changes to your network intimidates you, then Hubitat—which is even more complicated—may not be for you. If you want something easy, with simple setup and remote control capabilities, you should pass on the Hubitat and consider another option like SmartThings—or Wink, if the company ever gets the Wink Hub back in stock and starts selling it again.


If you are tech-savvy, like to get your hands digitally dirty, and don't mind spending weekends watching tutorials on a new complex skillset, Hubitat is worth considering. And, if you like the idea of a genuinely automated smarthome that anticipates your needs based on your location, the time of day, and other conditional triggers, you should consider bringing Hubitat to your smarthome.  

Thứ Hai, 25 tháng 3, 2019


XIAOMI MI 9






LAUNCH


Announced:      2019, February

Status:              Available. Released 2019, March

Price:                 About 450 EUR


NETWORK


Technology:      GSM / CDMA / HSPA / LTE

2G Bands:        GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 - SIM 1 & SIM 2 CDMA 800 & TD-SCDMA

3G Bands:       HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1700(AWS) / 1900 / 2100

4G Bands:      LTE band 1(2100), 2(1900), 3(1800), 4(1700/2100), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 12(700), 20(800), 28(700), 38(2600), 39(1900), 40(2300) - Global LTE band 1(2100), 2(1900), 3(1800), 4(1700/2100), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 12(700), 17(700), 34(2000), 38(2600), 39(1900), 40(2300), 41(2500) - China

Speed:             HSPA, LTE-A

GPRS:              Yes

EDGE:             Yes

VoLTE:            Yes


BODY


Dimension:        157.5 x 74.7 x 7.6 mm (6.20 x 2.94 x 0.30 in)

Weight:              173 g (6.10 oz)

Build:                 Back glass (Gorilla Glass 5), aluminum frame (7000 series)



SIM
   

Dual Sim:         Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by)


DISPLAY


Type:                 Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors

Size:                  6.39 inches, 100.2 cm2 (~85.2% screen-to-body ratio)

Resolution:      1080 x 2340 pixels, 19.5:9 ratio (~403 ppi density)

Multi touch:    Yes

Protection:      Corning Gorilla Glass 6 HDR10 DCI-P3


PLATFORM


OS:                  Android 9.0 (Pie); MIUI 10

Chipset:           Qualcomm SDM855 Snapdragon 855 (7 nm)

CPU:                Octa-core (1x2.84 GHz Kryo 485 & 3x2.42 GHz Kryo 485 & 4x1.8 GHz Kryo 485)

GPU:                Adreno 640

UI:                    MIUI 10


STORAGE


Card Slot:      No

Internal:         64/128 GB, 6/8 GB RAM


CAMERA


Main Camera

Single/Dual:    Triple 48 MP, f/1.8, 27mm (wide), 1/2", 0.8µm, Laser/PDAF 16 MP, f/2.2, 13mm (ultrawide), 1/3.0", 1.0µm, Laser/PDAF
12 MP, f/2.2, 54mm (telephoto), 1/3.6", 1.0µm, Laser/PDAF, 2x optical zoom

Features:         Dual-LED flash, HDR, panorama

Video:              2160p@30/60fps, 1080p@30/120/240fps, 1080p@960fps

Selfie Camera

Single/Dual:   Single 20 MP, f/2.0, 0.9µm

Features:        HDR

Video:             1080p@30fps


SOUND


Loudspeaker:  Yes

3.5mm jack:    No Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic


CONNECTIVITY


WLAN:           Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, DLNA, hotspot

Bluetooth:      5.0, A2DP, LE, aptX HD

GPS:               Yes, with dual-band A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, GALILEO, QZSS

Radio:             No

USB:              2.0, Type-C 1.0 reversible connector, USB On-The-Go

Infrared:       Yes

NFC:             Yes


FEATURES


Sensor:         Fingerprint (under display), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass


BATTERY


Type:           Non-removable Li-Po

Fast Charging:  Fast battery charging 27W (Quick Charge 4+)

Capacity:   3300 mAh battery

Wireless Charging: Fast wireless charging 20W


MISCELLANEOUS


Colors:        Lavender Violet, Ocean Blue, Piano Black



 Red Ball Out comes from Abdulrahman Alharbi. The object is to slide the red ball until it hits a wall and eventually reach the exit.
There are 132 levels.  I've done 36. Not too hard.  Good for young puzzlers.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/red-ball-out/id1450802799?mt=8

Thứ Năm, 21 tháng 3, 2019

Loop Loop Puzzle comes from Marcelo Pars. The object is to rotate the individual curved pipes to form closed loops.
 The images tell the whole story.
This game is very similar to Marcelo's other game Cage it. But it seems that Loop Loop is more artistic.

There are 200 levels. I'm nowhere close to being done. This is a good game to relax to.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/loop-loop-puzzle/id1450194872?mt=8

Marcelo's other games
Save Planet Cube
Cube Loop
Cubicks Free
Cage It

Thứ Tư, 20 tháng 3, 2019

boul:karé comes from Studio Laganne.  The object is to get the blue circle and blue square to gobble up the diamonds.
 Tap once to activate the blue circle and swipe in any direction.  Tap again to activate the blue square.
There are 55 levels. They're not too hard.  And they go pretty fast.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/boul-kar%C3%A9/id1449012681?mt=8

Thứ Ba, 19 tháng 3, 2019

 Hatch..! comes from Abhishek Malpani. The object is to slide the colored eggs to their nests.  Moving an egg to the wrong color: game over.
I've solved about 80 levels.  Not hard. They go very fast.  Definitely check out the list below if you like this genre.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/hatch/id1453968961?mt=8

Similar games (this list is incomplete):

Movez  Pretty much the same as Block Mania but it has 1680 levels. I've solved 592 of them. That's probably enough.
Frozen Ice Cubes  What's different: there's a point of 'no return'
Escapology, reviewed by Nicola Salmoria. He told me about this game ages ago. I played it and enjoyed it, but never blogged about it.
Block Mania Similar to Movez
Move Puzzle - A Funny Strategy Game, Matching Tiles Within Finite Moves 
Zink - color merging and locked doors.
Vubu What's different: the vubu men have different powers. Very sophisticated, very intelligent. Possibly the very best in this genre.
Move: A Brain Shifting GameUnmind
Puzzle Dots Game
Box Home Love to play Hexagonal grid
Find the Way
Cube Puzzler

Thứ Hai, 18 tháng 3, 2019

 Kube Keeper comes from Jeffrey Supit. It's a sokoban puzzle.  The object is to push the blocks one-at-a-time onto the spots.  Then pick up some stars and get to the exit.
It's been a while since we played a sokoban puzzle.  Kube Keeper has 100 levels.  I solved them all in about 2.5 hours.  These puzzles are in the medium difficulty.  If you've done a lot of sokoban as I have, see list below, this game is really just to pass the time.  Nothing significantly new.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/kube-keeper/id1447768061?mt=8

Other Good Sokoban Puzzles
A Good Snowman is Hard to Build Charming
Go to Gold - superb
Go to Gold 2 - I hope a third version comes out.
Pepe Porcupine
Sokoban Cargo
Push Box Sokoban
Push Around
Boxed In - loved this. First in a series of 4.
Pengu Push
BoxWorld - awesome. I still remember struggling through levels 26 and 35 for days.
Fireman Arcade
Paper & Light
Square Push Square
Professor Max
Puzzling Cubes
DJ Mole
Sokoban Evolution 
Test Chamber - brilliant
Duck Roll surprisingly very good
Color Labyrinth - excellent 
Cuzzle