In The Atlantic magazine funny articlehow Generation Z laughs at millennials on TikTok.
The object of ridicule was the way millennials record videos. It is obvious to all of us that, including video recording, you cannot speak right away, but you need to make a mini-pause so that the first phrase is not cut off. This phenomenon is called the “millennial pause”.
Modern social networks, it turns out, can record video right away. And for Generation Z TikTokers, accustomed to this, the behavior of millennials, who are silent for a split second, staring at the cameras, seems “grandfather”. It also turned out that millennials incorrectly take selfies with their arms up, while representatives of Gen Z take selfies with their arms parallel to the ground.
It seemed like historians of the future would be sorting through numerous video archives: this is a video of 2022, since there is no pause before recording a video, and this selfie is dated 2010-2015, when it was fashionable to raise your hand high.
But nothing! Gen Z is followed by the alpha generation, which will also find something funny in the behavior of Gen Z.
However, be that as it may, the material is interesting. I always thought that it was possible to isolate a conditionally elderly person who pokes at the screen, cannot see the font and, in general, behaves awkwardly with a smartphone. But I never thought that in the eyes of young people (under 25), the way I use a smartphone looks ridiculous.
Table of Contents
The return of supersonic aircraft
It seems that for so many years we have been living in a futuristic future with flexible smartphones and robotic butlers, and next year it will be exactly 20 years since the last flight of the Concordus supersonic aircraft. Although it is obvious that mobility, as well as the economic well-being of the population of the Earth, has only grown over the past years. Obviously, for the opportunity to travel from New York to London in 3 hours, many would gladly pay with a minted coin.
However, none of the aircraft manufacturers wanted to take risks. In the 2000s, they began to count money, then there was the crisis of 2008, and it was not at all up to that. And then the perception changed. “Concorde” has always been considered entertainment for wealthy ladies and gentlemen. But in recent years, conspicuous consumption amid problems with the environment and climate has somewhat gone out of fashion: they have begun to be ashamed of it in social networks. Now the media regularly publish materials regarding celebrities and regarding how many tons of CO2 were emitted into the atmosphere by their business jets.
Plus, you need to understand that supersonic flights are only allowed over the ocean, since an aircraft that constantly “pierces” the sound barrier makes a loud sound. For a layman, over whose head a supersonic plane flies, the sound volume will be 110 dB.
But the idea of flying at maximum speeds has not gone away. And startups like to play with it. At the moment, 3 such startups are known. But the most successful of these is Boom, from which American Airlines purchases as many as 20 Overture supersonic aircraft. Plus, the contract includes an option that allows you to buy another 35 aircraft.
Aircraft are not yet available. They should be presented only in 2025, test flights will begin in 2026, and the first passengers will sit in their seats only in 2029.
The classic route from New York to London will take just 3.5 hours. Even faster than on the “Sapsan” to St. Petersburg from Moscow. However, the Overture, with a maximum speed of Mach 1.7, will fly slower than the Concorde, which developed a speed of Mach 2. And, of course, this is much slower than the flights of Tom Cruise in the new “Top Gun”, flying to the cinema at a speed of more than 10 Machs (by the way, this whole scene is very ridiculous).
Understanding the Boom Supersonic Overture in terms of speed is quite simple: the aircraft will fly twice as fast as modern airliners. Thus, a conditional flight to Bali, on which Aeroflot spends 11 hours, can be completed in just 5.5 hours.
The Overture aircraft is designed for 80 passengers. On the one hand, they promise that the aircraft will be environmentally friendly and economical in terms of fuel consumption. Plus, they say that Overture will not pollute the atmosphere at all. Honestly, this is one of the most incomprehensible moments. So, company representatives say that they will use a special fuel that Prometheus creates. Prometheus collects CO2 from the atmosphere and turns it into liquid fuel for cars and aircraft. A side effect of the combustion of such fuel is the release of oxygen. Website companies is some kind of cartoon, divided into chapters.
I would say that they are crooks, but if American Airlines buys aircraft from Boom that are equipped with Rolls Royce engines that are optimized to run on this particular fuel, then apparently everything works.
Although the story, of course, sounds so far very fabulous. So, they plan to make planes not from aluminum, but from carbon fiber. In this case, the cost of the aircraft will be only 200 million dollars. By comparison, a Boeing 747 costs $369 million.
But if this is true, then tickets for supersonic aircraft will be available in the future. After all, the plane is cheaper, and fuel is made from air. However, at the first stage, you should definitely not count on cheap tickets. After all, the company has existed since 2003, so investors will need to recoup their investments. Boom herself says that the price of tickets at the start will be from $5,000.
Sneaky and vile car subscriptions
Not so long ago, we all read with a shudder the news regarding the horrors perpetrated by BMW.
BMW’s approach epitomizes all the worst features of world history. It is well known that at one time BMW, using its proximity to the Third Reich, carried out raider seizures of Jewish factories and factories necessary for the auto business. But Jews were not sent to concentration camps, but were left to work in factories. And, let’s just say, all this was mixed up, infused and in 2022 resulted in a subscription to a heated seat for 18 euros per month, the sound of a sports exhaust will cost 99 euros, and for cruise control they ask from 35 euros.
I was sure that this behavior is typical of BMW – a company of unique destiny, which mixed different races and ideologies. However, it turned out that this was only the beginning.
Japanese Toyota, Volkswagen, Porsche, Audi – do you know what these companies have in common? Two facts. First, all companies require payment for services that used to be free. For example, Toyota is asking $8 for remote ignition. Secondly, during the years of the Third Reich, all of the listed brands were Nazi collaborators. Coincidence? I don’t think! This is dehumanization for the sake of “lebensraum”, which in the modern world is expressed through market share.
Another example is from across the ocean. General Motors has ordered buyers of the Buick, GMC and Cadillac Escalade brands to buy a mandatory 3-year subscription to the so-called OnStar service, which includes voice control and the ability to open the car from a smartphone.
And, according to representatives of General Motors, this is only the beginning. By 2030, the company plans to earn $30 billion a year from subscriptions.
Fiat Chrysler is a little more modest in its aspirations: by 2030, it plans to earn $23 billion annually from subscriptions.
With such a speed, they will reach the point that for a purchased car it will also be necessary to pay for car sharing.
The founders of both corporations lived at the same time as Henry Ford, Walt Disney, whose views, by the way, are well known, and Adolf Hitler. So no one will argue – the connection is obvious.
It is obvious that the world is on the verge of a climate and humanitarian catastrophe. Against this background, Russia is becoming the last stronghold of real living values.
So, AvtoVAZ opposes all subscriptions! Last week, the production of Lada Niva Travel (former Niva Chevrolet) resumed production, which will never have any subscriptions. This vehicle comes in a “simplified” configuration, that is, without airbags and anti-lock braking system. And soon all Europeans and Americans will crawl to Russia on their knees, praying that they would be allowed to buy not some German or Japanese car, but a normal working vehicle where you can beat your head on the steering wheel for free, without fear of “shooting off the pillow.”
Smartphones with flexible screen
Gradually, test results of new smartphones with a flexible screen penetrate the market. Judging by them, each user must make a choice what he wants more – a screen or good performance.
Smartphones with a flexible screen when folded seem quite thick. Thus, the thickness of the Galaxy Fold Z 4 is 1.5 cm. However, unfortunately, the thickness of each of the halves is insufficient to provide a proper cooling system for modern hot chipsets.
For example, the performance of the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 smartphone in the hourly CPU Throtlling test is reduced by 60%. And there is nothing strange here: the smartphone is tiny, there is physically no room for a cooling system in it.
Data on the latest Motorola Moto Razr 5G 2022 is not yet available, as the smartphone was only introduced in China. But some sensations can hardly be expected. For example, the Razr 5G model, introduced in 2020 and powered by the Snapdragon 765G chipset, even in a 15-minute test showed a performance drop of up to 38% of the maximum. And the Snapdragon 765G is, by definition, much colder than the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1.
Unfortunately, the new Galaxy Fold Z4 has not escaped throttling either. The smartphone is big, but each half is thin, so you can’t fit a proper cooling system there. However, Samsung has done a great job, and the situation is far better than the Galaxy Z Flip and Motorola Razr. Fold Z4 performance under load is reduced to 72% of maximum. Jokes aside, this is a great achievement.
There are no data on Xiaomi MIX Fold2 yet. And it’s unlikely to be. Chinese tech bloggers and journalists make all reviews exclusively in a complimentary style. Never any criticism. Such a Chinese custom.
And I would like to see, as Xiaomi tried to make the smartphone as thin as possible.
However, there are AnTuTu test results on the net. We are offered to admire the fact that the smartphone knocks out more than 1 million AnTuTu points.
However, I propose to pay attention to the temperature graph that got into the screenshot. The smartphone warms up to 43.2 degrees. For comparison, the temperature of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 in a similar test rises to 37 degrees. The flexible smartphone from Xiaomi is 6.2 degrees hotter. Obviously, in this case, throttling should be higher.
Finally, I would like to say that following all, these are synthetic tests and you need to look at the real performance. The fact is that at the moment there are no such games and applications that would “squeeze” the system to 100%, so often a performance drop of 30-50% in flagship chipsets does not affect the overall user experience.
Conclusion
Breathing in Moscow last week was strange. The air seems to smell like burning. For me, such aromas are closely associated with winter Beijing. Weather apps strongly recommend staying at home and using air purifiers. Might be worth listening to. Have a good week everyone!
