CRiSP Weblog

Why does an Apple watch need a passcode to operate and unlock, when you can not type an alphanumeric passcode on the device itself?

For anyone who has their iphone tied to Enterprise Management, you lose control of the watch, and if you ever see that dreaded "Enter passcode" to proceed dialog, then you have to factory reset the device.

I like the Apple Watch (series 5) - it has a "weight" to it that makes it feel like a valued possession. But, shame on the battery life and zero applications to install on it.

Been looking at these devices. Long ago, I purchased an Intel NUC (cant even remember the model number). The device from way-back was a "better raspberry pi" than a raspberry pi - small & cute. I had to give up on it after a bit, because the firmware was rotten and it kept resetting itself. This is the problem of being a first-mover.

Fast forward a number of years, and the new Intel NUC 10's look very attractive - up to 8 cores/16 threads, and with SSD support via SATA or NVMe - I could put lots of TB of storage into one device.

But the devices are expensive - you are paying for the (nice) case and embedded CPU. (You can purchase your own DRAM and SSD from wherever you prefer).

https://simplynuc.co.uk/ is but one place to search and configure devices. The devices are confusing because the ideal machine is the full height machine which has room for an extra SATA device. And the model numbers are equally confusing.

Now that AMD has entered the scene with the wonderful Ryzen CPU family, and the newest Renoir Ryzen 7 4800U device Asus PN50 Mini PC with 8 cores and 16 threads, we are finally able to see how much price gouging Intel has done, over the years.

Intel have drip fed the market with CPUs and minor upgrades, and kept a constant max of 4 cores / 8 threads, for the laptop and low powered devices. AMD have made them rethink their strategy, so this competition can truly help.

Havent written a post in a while, and time to resurface.