Linked List: November 8, 2015

Sunday, 8 November 2015

AnandTech’s Review of the iPhones 6S ★

To call this review “thorough” is an understatement. Truly a deep dive. I particularly enjoyed the analysis of the A9 SoC and the new cameras. A snippet from the conclusion:

This year, more than ever it feels like Android smartphones at the high end have stood still, as if smartphone improvements have become a zero sum game. To make the best phone this year is therefore a pretty low bar to clear. However, the iPhone 6s, even when compared to iPhones alone, is especially noteworthy for the improvements to overall user experience.

Vintage 1998 Hiawatha Bray Claim Chowder ★

1998 Hiawatha Bray column, lamenting the lack of a floppy drive in the original iMac:

The iMac doesn’t include a floppy disk drive for doing file backups or sharing of data. It’s an astonishing lapse for Jobs, who should have learned better. […]

There’s still time for Apple to wise up, before the iMac goes into full production.

Just in case you’ve ever doubted whether critics really did think the iMac’s lack of a floppy drive was a dealbreaker. (Thanks to Dan Morris.)

The Economist Delivered Malware ★

The Economist:

On Oct. 31, 2015, one of economist.com’s vendors, PageFair, was hacked. If you visited economist.com at any time between Oct. 31, 23:52 GMT and Nov. 1, 01:15 GMT, using Windows OS and you do not have trusted anti-virus software installed, it is possible that malware, disguised as an Adobe update, was downloaded onto your PC.

Appalling. PageFair is an anti-ad-blocking company — they give websites tools to circumvent ad-blocking plugins. Make no bones about it: PageFair was the company that got hacked, but The Economist is responsible for what it serves. People are furious at The Economist for this, and rightly so.