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droneseco · 4 years ago

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iGame RTX3060 Ultra W OC Review: Next Gen Graphics at an Affordable Price

iGame RTX3060 Ultra W OC

8.00 / 10

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Read more: What is Ray Tracing?

DLSS stands for Deep Learning Super Sampling, and I can only summarise it as utterly magic. Since the RTX20-series, Nvidia GPUs have also housed Tensor Core AI chips. These contain neural networks that are trained on thousands of rendered sequences of identical scenes; one of a lower resolution and lower quality, and one of a higher resolution with more details. They learn what must be done to upscale the poorer quality sequence into the higher resolution one, and can then apply that knowledge later to games as they're being played. The upshot is that you can run a game internally at a lower resolution, and simply upscale the output to your screen.

It's a bit like seeing a tree in winter, and imagining what it looks like in full bloom because you've seen that kind of tree before.

While the first generation of DLSS needed to be trained for specific games, Nvidia now has a more generalized model that works on novel games, too.

Personally, I find it fascinating that this is the evolutionary step that graphics cards took. Instead of simply throwing on more RAM and faster processors at the job, Nvidia literally created a form of digital imagination.

Read more: How DLSS Can Give Budget PCs High-End Graphics

Performance Benchmarks

I've been struggling along with a GTX1080 for a few years now, so that's my point of comparison for these benchmarks. All other specs remained identical: 16 GB RAM, Intel Core i7-6700K, on an Asus Z170 Pro Gaming motherboard.

3D Mark TimeSpy DX12 Test

Baseline GTX1080: 6562

iGame RTX3060: 7738 (17% better)

iGame RTX3060 Turbo mode: 7771 (18.4% better)

Next, I turned to VR Mark, and it was here that I hit a bug plaguing many RTX30-series cards since last year.

VR Mark Cyan Room

Baseline GTX1080: 6377 / 139fps average

iGame RTX3060 Turbo mode: 2750 / 60fps average (54% worse)

Clearly, there's something very wrong here, with the RTX3060 achieving less than half the framerate of a five-year-old card. Nvidia is aware of the issue, but seemingly unable to fix. The bug doesn't just affect the 3060. Precisely how widespread the bug is on the 3060 specifically isn't clear; at the time of writing this review, there are only a few other VR Mark Cyan Room results in the world from RTX3060 owners. One other result is very similar to mine, while those with a Core i9 CPU seemed to fare significantly better.

VR Mark Blue Room

Baseline GTX1080: 2229

iGame RTX3060 Turbo mode: 2645 (18.6% better)

Results on the Blue room were more in line with expectations (though still didn't meet the target frame rate). The Blue Room is a more demanding test, designed to check readiness for future headsets rather than current models.

Will It Cyberpunk?

Despite criticisms, Cyberpunk 2077 remains one of the most engrossing depictions of a possible dystopian future that humanity is headed for. It's also graphically demanding with beautiful neon cityscapes, which is why I chose it as my main point of testing to see exactly how pretty it could look running on this card.

For consistency, I recorded average frame rates during the same sequence of events; walking the path outside V's apartment to a little beyond the elevator, and back again. You can view some of the recorded footage and comparisons in the full review video; the screenshots below do not do it justice.

Anytime I enabled raytracing, it was at ultra settings; while DLSS was used on the balanced profile. A summary of results is shown below (including the settings I settled on eventually), with frame rate along the X-axis.

1080p Ultra

As a baseline, my GTX1080 achieved around 50 frames-per-second playing at 1080P resolution, with Ultra settings for everything else. For me, that's playable, but not ideal. If you'd consider 50fps to be unplayable, adjust your expectation appropriately when reading my opinions.

Keeping all settings the same and swapping out for the overclocked iGame RTX3060 Ultra W pushed this up to an average of 75fps. That's a great improvement, but of course one of the standout features of the RTX-era cards is the namesake raytracing. Enable RTX on Ultra settings pulled the framerate down to 30fps. DLSS can compensate somewhat though, and enabling this (at Balanced settings) brought the framerate back to around 58fps.

1440p Ultra

As a baseline, the GTX1080 managed a largely paltry 30fps.

The RTX3060 again showed a roughly 50% uplift, to 44fps. With DLSS activated (but no ray tracing), that went up to an impressive 78fps. As expected, with ray tracing enabled at full quality, it dropped back to 44fps.

4K Ultra

Let's be clear: using this card for 4K gaming is not viable for most modern games. You could tweak everything else to lower quality and perhaps get something playable, but you'd be missing out on a lot.

Still, for the sake of comparison, I did it anyway. As a baseline, the GTX1080 coughed and spluttered up a measly 11fps average.

Swapping that out for the RTX3060 nearly doubled that score to 20fps. Enabling DLSS (without raytracing) managed to push this up even more impressively to around 40fps; but RTX dragged it back down to 22fps.

What does this tell us?

Firstly, that raytracing is a lot more computationally demanding than I'd expected. I'd come into this review thinking I could enable raytracing and otherwise keep the roughly the same framerates as before. Not so.

Secondly, that DLSS can largely compensate for this performance loss of enabling raytracing. Alternatively, DLSS without raytracing can make Ultra HD 4K gaming more feasible (but probably not on Cyberpunk 2077).

In the end, I felt that the resolution upgrade to 1440p was the biggest feasible upgrade, so I made that my target. Though it sounds like a small increase, it's actually 78% more detail compared to 1080p, and if you're playing on a smaller monitor, the jump to 4K after that may not be worth it. I also turned on raytracing at medium quality, and dropped some other settings down to medium quality as well. With DLSS set on Performance, this netted me around 60fps average, which I'm more than happy with.

1440p Cyberpunk is definitely playable on the iGame RTX3060 Ultra W OC with a little tweaking.

4K? Not a chance, but this isn't a surprise.

Should You Buy the iGame RTX3060 Ultra W OC?

The GTX1060 remains the most popular graphics card among Steam users, as of the February 2021 hardware survey. It offered the best price to performance ratio of that generation. The value proposition for the lowest powered card of the 30-series generation is less clear than it was for the 10-series, though.

Compared to the already released RTX3060 Ti ($400), you'll find 3584 CUDA cores vs 4864, and a base clock speed of 1320Mhz vs 1410Mhz. That's roughly 25% less computing power for only a 17% lower price. So if you were purely to look at value for money, the Ti Edition comes out on top.

But in reality, you can't buy either at those prices, so any discussion about the price to performance ratio is ultimately pointless. You aren't buying the RTX3060 because it's the cheapest; you're buying it because it may be one of the few 30-series cards you can actually get your hands on.

Also, if you haven't previously considered Colorful and the iGame brand because you've never heard of it, you absolutely should. It's the most popular brand in the Asian market for a good reason, with great quality kit.

But VR users beware. Nvidia still hasn't figured out what's wrong with these cards for VR in some setups. Your ancient 10-series card may outperform this generation until that gets fixed.

Why Should You Trust My Opinion?

Consoles were banned in our house, so I've been a PC gamer since the early days of DOS. I felt the struggle of getting Wing Commander to run in 640K of RAM. The 3DFX Voodoo was my first real graphics card, and I was gaming in glorious Nvidia-powered stereoscopic 3D way back in 2000, before 3DTVs or VR were a thing. Most of my student loan was spent on PC upgrades.

iGame RTX3060 Ultra W OC Review: Next Gen Graphics at an Affordable Price published first on http://droneseco.tumblr.com/

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cos-mind · 7 years ago

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My Top 5 Games of 2017

Oh hey I guess I’m only ever using this tumblr for posting my Top 5 games list, whooops. Also I’m bad and barely played any games that came out in 2017 because I’m a broke bitch since I don’t have a job.

Now before we get to the main event, here are some mentions I’m sure I would’ve put on my list since they seem right up my alley and I really want to play but just either haven’t played/beaten them or I haven’t bought them yet.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

#1. Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus

So I really loved Wolfenstein: The New Order, and this game is a direct sequel to that, taking place only a few months after where the first game left off. Now I’ve played a few hours of this game so far, and I’m enjoying every minute of it. The gameplay is just a little worse than the first game’s gameplay, but I’m enjoying the story and narrative a lot more. This would be on my list but I want to actually beat the game first before I put it on anything. So for now, it shall stay in the mentions pile. Sorry, B.J.

#2. Yakuza 0

The Yakuza series is a series I’ve recently started getting into and that was from the release of this game. In the past, I knew about the Yakuza games, but I didn’t know anything about them and just knew they were games. But when this game released, I heard you could win a live chicken named Nugget in a bowling mini game and hire it as a real estate worker for you, and that’s when my interest just fucking sparked up.

So I’ve played this game a bit. I got to Chapter 3 of the game (out of I have no idea) and I really enjoyed it apart from one garbage thing from the game (coughMr. Shakedownscough) but like Wolfenstein 2, I haven’t beaten it yet and thus it sits here.

#3. Horizon: Zero Dawn

This is a game that has been on my eye for a while. When they first showed gameplay of it during the Sony E3 2016 conference, the fluent combat with the bow, the beautiful environments, and the very unique robot dinosaur enemies made me want the game right there in my hands and playable. And I’ve seen multiple screenshots from the photo mode in the game and it just looks absolutely gorgeous. I recently got it for Christmas so I’ll be getting around to it once I beat Wolfenstein 2, and I’m excited for when that time comes.

AND NOW FOR THE MAIN EVENT

MY TOP 5 GAMES OF 2017

god I’m gonna get so much shit for putting this game on my list

#5. Destiny 2

Yeah yeah yeah, I know, this is a controversial opinion, but fuck you I enjoyed this game a lot.

Destiny 2 is like the first Destiny (note I also really liked Destiny 1) but without the bullshit. Heavy ammo used to be super rare? Oh guess what, you’re basically overflowing with heavy ammo. Barely getting any legendary/exotic gear? Heyy, you get a lot of that now.

Aside from all the fixes of the first game’s problems, Destiny 2 also has surprisingly fun and beautiful environments, over a hundred unique weapons to collect and use at your disposal, and an at first confusing, but fun raid mission to do with all of your friends.

#4. Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment

So yes, I know, this is technically an expansion to Shovel Knight, but it has the heart, soul, and length as it’s own game.

Specter of Torment takes place in the same world as the regular Shovel Knight campaign, but it changes the environments and gameplay up so much to where it feels really unique to play. The gameplay mechanics for Specter Knight are really fun and fluent. Adding the little jump homing attack and wall running feels like you would expect Specter Knight to feel, and it just makes the game even more fun to play.

Plus in the final boss, you’re literally grinding on a rail with your scythe like it’s a skateboard, so that’s pretty dope.

#3. Yakuza Kiwami

Yakuza Kiwami is a remake of the first Yakuza game, originally released on the PS2 back in 2005 (2006 in the West, since it’s a Japanese game). This remake not only remakes the entire game in the Yakuza team’s current engine, it also adds a lot of new content, and a LOT more Majima, which we can all use in our life.

In Kiwami, you play as an Ex-Yakuza member, Kazuma Kiryu, who got framed for murder and put in jail for 10 years. Kiryu is considered the “Dragon of Dojima” because of his reputation of beating the shit out of literally hundreds (possibly thousands) of guys with his bare hands within around 7 years. In the game, you have 4 different fighting styles, each one having unique moves and move sets. One of the game’s best mechanics are heat moves, which are moves you can use in combat once you charge up a meter in the top left corner of the screen. Depending on either what item your holding, if you’re near other enemies, if you’re near something in the environment, etc., and you activate a heat move, Kiryu unleases an insane, ridiculous, and sometimes hilarious attack on the enemy, taking off a nice chunk of the enemy’s health. This mixed in with the absolute charm of the game, the dumb yet great side missions you can do throughout the world, and the amazing, fun loving characters makes this game one of my favorites of this year.

Also one of the heat moves is Kiryu pours salt in someone’s eyes and then slams his fist into their face, and that’s hilarious.

#2. Super Mario Odyssey

I! LOVE! MARIO!

I mean who doesn’t right?

Super Mario Odyssey was such a fun, amazing experience that I want everyone to go through. Seriously, go buy a Switch now with this game and play it.

Mario Odyssey at first just seemed like a regular 3D Mario when they announced it, and I was excited, yes, but not as excited as I was when they revealed the main gimick of the game. POSSESSION. In Mario Odyssey, they introduced Cappy, a little ghost companion that took the form of Mario’s hat, and what he lets you do in the game is that it allows you to throw your hat at things, and depending on what you throw it at, you can possess it. Throw you’re at at the Goomba, you are now the Goomba. You can’t do much as a Goomba, but what you can do is hop on other Goombas and make a large Goomba Stack that allows you to reach high places you couldn’t before. And that’s only just a small example of the hijinx you can do when you possess things.

Instead of Power Stars, you collect Power Moons, and they’re no longer just set levels where you complete the level and you get a moon. Instead, they drop you into large areas called Kingdoms that have dozens and dozens of moons hidden in them, and you have to explore the kingdom to find and collect them. And believe me when I say this, there are a l o t of moons. If I am not mistaken, there are a total of 999 power moons in the game, scattered across 17 kingdoms. I’ve played the game for more than 15 hours and I don’t even have half of the moons.

The Kingdoms in the game are some of the funnest areas I’ve played in a Mario game, with the highlight being the Metro Kingdom, which is just a giant metropolis area filled with so many things to do, you can spend literal hours just exploring it. And the ending of the Metro Kingdom is my second favorite part in the entire game.

My favorite part being the final level and boss. It’s super anime.

And now... my 2017 Game of the Year:

#1. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Now a month ago, I expected that when I wrote this list, that Odyssey would be my GOTY. But when I played Breath of the Wild, I was immediately blown away, more than I thought I would be, and it knocked Odyssey out of the running for my GOTY.

Where do I even begin for this game? The game throws you into this giant world that you can just immediately go explore as much as you want to. When you get introduced to the world, it shows you this absolutely beautiful landscape shot of the entire land, showing you everything you can explore, which is literally everything you can see. You see those mountains? You can go there.

Much like Odyssey, this game rewards you for exploring, a lot of the times with nice and rare treasure, but mainly with even more exploration. No matter where you’re at, something is always gonna catch your eye and you’re gonna want to go explore THAT thing, you get treasure, and then you get stuck in this endless loop of discovering new things throughout this ginormous, dense world filled with hundreds and hundreds of things to discover.

The gameplay and combat is much different than other Zelda games. You can climb basically any surface like it’s Shadow of the Colossus, you can actually jump instead of it being an automatic jump, but the main huge change is the combat and equipment mechanics. The combat is now very fluent and fast, but also can get very difficult at times if you are confronted by multiple very strong enemies, or maybe even one strong enemy. The equipment is the biggest change, with you now being able to pick up monster parts from monsters you’ve slain, materials you can sell for some easy cash, or food you can cook at a cooking pot to heal you. Weapons, shields, and bows you now pick up throughout the world, whether it be from an enemy you killed or from a treasure chest you found. You can hold multiple weapons and shields at a time, while also being able to upgrade how many weapons/bows/shields you can hold. But here’s the kicker: weapons, bows, and shields all have durability. After you use your weapon or bow after a while, or after you block a lot of attacks with your shield, they start to get badly damaged, and very soon after that, they break, and then you have to find something to replace the thing that broke. It may seem bad in theory but generally doesn’t become much of a problem.

The game’s rich story telling and it’s hundreds of unique characters mixed in with the beautiful, very explorable world, gameplay, and fun and unique puzzles is what make this game and absolute joy to play. Nintendo took so many risks with this game and they all payed off. I have so many other things to say about this game, but if I said them all, we’d be here all night. After playing this game nonstop for a week, and 80+ hours put into it, I can now say that this is absolutely my favorite game of 2017, and one of my favorites of all time, and I can definitely see me going back in a few years to experience this wonderful game all over again.

#Wolfenstein #Horizon Zero Dawn #Yakuza #Destiny 2 #Shovel Knight #Specter of Torment #Super Mario Odyssey #Zelda #Breath of the Wild #GOTY #2017

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tech-battery · 5 years ago

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Lenovo Yoga C940 15 review: The rare workhorse convertible

When Lenovo announced its new Yoga C940 at IFA this year, it was a sure winner. It takes the best of last year's Yoga C930 and combines it with the best of this year's S940 clamshell.

It keeps those features that I really loved last year, like the rotating Dolby Atmos soundbar in the hinge, and the built-in pen. And it shares the design language of the IdeaPad S940, packing the reverse notch, which doesn't really serve a purpose anymore other than to provide an easier way of lifting the lid.

This is also the first 15-inch convertible to come out of the Yoga 900 series, and it packs a punch. This machine has a 45W Intel H-series processor, along with an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 GPU. Indeed, it's the rare powerful convertible, something that's also seen in the HP Spectre x360 15, and in very few other places.

It's worth noting that you can actually configure this PC with a Core i9-9880H, which is kind of wild. Even HP's Spectre x360 15 doesn't have that kind of offering, and I'm not sure there are any convertibles that do.

Design

The Lenovo Yoga C940 looks pretty much the same as the C930 did, being built out of aluminum and coming in the Iron Gray color. Of course, the 15-inch model is a bit bigger, a bit thicker, and a bit heavier. This thing weighs 4.41 pounds, and that's what you get with powerful internals like this, which also require better thermals and a bigger battery. Note that the 14-inch model is almost a pound and a half lighter, although it has a 15W quad-core processor and no discrete graphics.

The lid has a black Yoga logo stamped on the top-left, and there isn't anything else, even a Lenovo logo. Not that this matters at all, but I'd rather see at least a silver Yoga logo, something to add a bit of sexy to it. I also really like the design of the ThinkPad X1 Yoga, so Lenovo can do aluminum laptops that look pretty on the outside. I just feel like the design could use a bit more spice.

On the back of the device, you'll see the rotating soundbar on the hinge. The other sides are flat with angled edges.

On the left side, there's a power port, a 3.5mm audio jack, and two Thunderbolt 3 ports. Indeed, it does not come with a USB Type-C charger. Being that this is a powerful machine, it takes a 135W charger, and that's too much for USB Type-C. Dell does make a 130W USB Type-C charger, but it's the only one that does it. Luckily, if you buy that charger from Dell, you can use it to charge the C940.

On the other side, you'll find the power button all the way toward the back, and a single USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A port. It's a bit strange that it uses the 5Gbps USB 3.1 Gen 1, as the 14-inch model has a USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A port, which gets 10Gbps. What's also strange is that Lenovo.com lists this machine as using USB 3.1 Gen 2; however, both the reviewer's guide and the marking on the port itself show it as Gen 1.

Another thing that you'll find on the right side of the PC is the pen garage. Yes, like last year's C930, this year's model has a pen that's built right into the device. There's no worrying about a magnetically attached pen falling off in your bag, or a pen loop getting in your way. It's just there when you need it, and it charges while you're not using it. Naturally, this does mean that the pen will be a bit smaller than a standard one, but you can always pick up a Wacom pen if you need to.

Display and audio

The model that Lenovo sent me includes a 15.6-inch 1080p display, although it's offered at 4K resolution. Other than the resolution, the screens are the same, both supporting Dolby Vision HDR400 at 500 nits.

Dolby Vision is one of those things that you want in a display. In fact, with any screen, HDR, color, and contrast are way more important then the resolution. Dolby Vision decodes the 12-bit PQ signal from a supported video, producing the content in the widest range of color possible, providing the most accurate colors, as long as you're playing supported content.

But while that's all more important than the resolution, I do think that you'll want the 4K model. 1080p just doesn't cut it for me on a 15.6-inch laptop. There's definitely a fair bit of pixelation when using it. Naturally, that means that you'll be sacrificing battery life.

I'm also a bit disappointed that there's no OLED option. 15.6-inch OLED panels are becoming increasingly common, and they've recently been introduced in Lenovo's entire range of 15.6-inch ThinkPads. The main reason I point this out though is because this PC is pretty much the ultimate media machine.

Aside from the Dolby Vision display, it has a Dolby Atmos soundbar. If this isn't the best audio on a laptop, it's easily close. It's a rare combination of a speaker that gets super loud, but it's also crystal clear. If you're streaming media on it, you get a great display and killer speakers, and it makes for a phenomenal experience.

As mentioned above, it follows the same design as the Yoga S940 (IdeaPad S940 in the U.S.), and it has a reverse notch above the screen. What's strange here is that it only seems to serve as a way to more easily open the lid. The Yoga S940 had that area packed with sensors and an IR camera. Those aren't included in this PC. And I don't think that the top bezel is small enough to where that reverse notch is needed to fit it.

Another thing that the C940 doesn't borrow from the S940 is the curved-edge glass. This was a really nice touch on the S940, so I was sad to see it omitted from the C940.

Keyboard and trackpad

Like many 15.6-inch laptops, the Yoga C940 includes a number pad to the right of the alphabetical keys. The keys are shallower than what you'd find on a ThinkPad. Indeed, Lenovo's consumer laptop keyboards are a more modern approach.

I really think that this is the best approach these days. The keyboard feels very comfortable to type on, and it's comfortable to type on. Lenovo is really good at making keyboards, and I've never had a truly bad experience with one as I have with pretty much every other manufacturer.

I've typed a lot of articles on this machine, and I never got tired of it. Aside from the great keyboard, the big screen makes it great for productivity. And of course, it's a convertible with pen support, so there's a wide range of use cases.

The trackpad uses Microsoft Precision drivers, so it's responsive and accurate. It's aligned to the left, rather than in the center. Again, this is common for devices like this. You'll also find a fingerprint sensor to the right of it, and that's your only method for Windows Hello biometric authentication, since there's no IR camera.

Performance and battery life

The performance on the Lenovo Yoga C940 15 is awesome, possibly the best of any consumer convertible. As I noted above, it's the only one I know of that offers a Core i9-9880H, a vPro chip with a 45W TDP, eight cores, and 16 threads.

This one includes a Core i7-9750H, also a 45W chip but with six cores and 12 threads. The H-series is what you'll find in gaming laptops and mobile workstations, so it's pretty powerful. And of course, there's the dedicated GPU, the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650, which is built on the Turing architecture.

You can use the Lenovo Yoga C940 15 for just about anything. You can play games on it, edit video on it, or use it for general productivity tasks. Since it's a convertible, you can use it as a tablet, and use the pen to draw, take handwritten notes, and so on. It's powerful enough to handle Adobe CC, using tablet-centric interfaces in the various apps that support it.

That power affects the battery life, of course, but the battery life on this machine was weirdly good. I got a solid six hours of general use out of it, and in some cases, I could stretch it to eight hours. Lenovo lists the 4K UHD model as getting about three quarters the battery life of this, which is still pretty good. But make no mistake, the higher resolution will affect battery life.

I did have a few strange software issues, which I assume will eventually be fixed with software updates. I was completely unable to install Nvidia GeForce driver updates. Lenovo ended up sending me a new model because I had a touchscreen issue with the first one, and I still couldn't install an Nvidia update on the new one. Windows 10 cumulative updates wouldn't install either, oddly enough.

For benchmarks, I ran PCMark 8, PCMark 10, 3DMark, and VRMark. There's only one VRMark test since it didn't hit the minimum frame rate, so there wasn't much sense in running the more advanced tests.

As I noted above, this is a powerful machine. That's why I ran 3DMark and VRMark, which I don't run on ultrabooks as they always come in at the 1% mark. It's not a VR machine though. If you're serious about gaming, you'll still want a gaming PC. If you're serious about video editing, you should look for more powerful dedicated graphics. This is better for an all-around solution.

Conclusion

The Lenovo Yoga C940 15 is sort of the ultimate PC. It's great for streaming media, with a solid display and amazing speakers. It has the power to do what you need to do, from productivity, to editing video, to gaming. And it's a convertible, meaning that you can use it in a wide range of form factors, such as as a tablet, where you can use the pen to draw, take handwritten notes, mark up photos, and more.

That's not to say that I don't have any issues with it though. Software issues were one thing, but I look at that as a temporary problem. I do find it irritating that a premium PC in 2019 could ship without an IR camera for facial recognition, and of course, I'm disappointed that there's no OLED option in a market where 15.6-inch OLED displays are becoming common and when this is already such an amazing media consumption machine. When something gets to be so good at consuming media, the lack of an OLED option becomes a blemish.

But again, this PC is amazing all-around. Just the sheer versatility of it is fantastic. It has this diversity of things that it's good at that make it a delight to use. It gets the job done, no matter what the job is.

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zaneedith · 7 years ago

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Dubai Frame and Zabeel Park

Not being satisfied with being the home to the tallest skyscraper, the largest shopping centre, and the longest driverless metro system in the world, Dubai has finished its newest man-made wonder of the world. The ‘Dubai frame’ has opened its doors to the public at the beginning of this new year, with the official press release stating it was a “New Year gift to the people.” It has perked the interest of many people, especially those who have never visited the wonderful capital of the United Arab Emirate. It is widely expected to become a global attraction spot for tourists, estimating that it alone will be attracting a further 2 million tourists annually, right in the centre of one of the longest parks in Dubai.

But how did we get here, and how did such an odd creation come into existence?

Following the government’s ideology of creating a superior city that is touristically appealing, the country ran an art competition back in 2008 for “The new face of Dubai.”

What Dubai ended with instead, is a monstrous 150 metre, eye popping gold plated structure. This was on top of the £35 million spent on building the frame.

Facing the north side of the frame, would show visitors the ‘old’ Dubai, whilst looking to the south offers a view into the ‘new ‘Dubai. The idea was to create an illusion of time travel through the frame. A kind of Warp vortex, if you will.

The structure of this frame consists of a couple of towers that are perfectly aligned, with a connecting bridge.

The bridge is 93 metres long, and allows for the frame to be more than a philosophical selfie-friendly landmark. Located near the beautiful (and enormous) Zabeel Park, it invites visitors, who become struck by the sheer amount of gold surrounding the structure. It is surrounded by contrastingly simple, yet beautiful blue dancing watered fountains.

Unfortunately the process of buying tickets isn’t any more splendorous than anywhere else. You queue, you wait, you get your ticket.

But once tickets have been secured and you begin wandering inside, then you really start feeling a difference as you’re greeted by ‘old’ Dubai photographs, along the hallways. They offer a real raw sense of pride in the evolution the city has taken over the past few years. It even features a museum, referencing back to the past.

It even has holographic images and videos. For a city that has come so far, they really don’t seem to try and hide their roots.

Getting inside the elevator and staring out the clear glass panel into palm trees, quickly makes you realise the crazy reality Dubai is creating. A dream-like world of riches, among a very real world. As the elevators begin elevating, taking its visitors to the very top, the views Zabeel Park has to offer become insanely stunning.

The bridge connecting the two towers is more than it appears to be. Visitors can count on multiple shops inside, offering food and drinks, and of course, tourist ornaments, such as mugs, hats, and adorable mini versions of ‘the frame.’

The sky deck offers a 360 degree view of the city, as well as a downward view through the transparent floor glass. Two hundred people can come inside at any one time.

Looking to one side, the view sports many riches, such as tall buildings surrounded by motorways, countless shopping centres separated by fountains and greenery. Among the riches sits the famously tall skyscraper built in 2010, Burj Khalifa. The building that broke countless height records including some of its own, to be named as the tallest tower in the world. It’s a way to really witness the prowess of the vision of those in charge. A metropolis city that looks like it was create in the popular video game, the sims.

Looking the opposite way offers quite a different experience, one we would perhaps be more familiar with somewhere in Europe. It shows ‘old’ Dubai, and its more humble sized buildings. Its grey look, reminiscent of Paris.

One does wonder how the locals living in ‘old’ Dubai, feel about this kind of money and willingness to build gold plated monuments.

Even if the frame is ‘only’ half the size of the famous Eiffel Tower, there’s definitely a different feel to being on the frame, that can perhaps be described as a more ‘modernised’ feeling.

Upon making a way out of the frame and back into the real world, visitors have to walk into ‘the future museum,’ with holographic images showing Dubai’s skyline. Look closely to the floor, and you’ll notice the lasers across shooting from different corners of the room are. Actually forming different shapes. Almost hinting at what’s to come but without giving anything away, really. There s however a short video at the end that demonstrates how the city is committed to solar power. And also, flying cars.

Once the short video that is in constant loop. The video entices people to what Dubai will look like in 2050. There is an a very obvious feeling of pride of what is being achieved in a city that was built on a desert.

The last thing visitors will see before getting into the elevator is a social media wall, which basically highlights photos from the 200 people up at the bridge. Visitors can then purchase their own photos as a souvenir.

As visitors begin descending from the bridge, back down below, they can take another good long look at what Zabeel Park has to offer.

They immediately head there once they touch down.

The park that was created in 2005, in the Al Kifaf area, is divided into numerous sectors connected by pedestrian bridges.

Earlier I made reference to the Zabeel Park being enormous, so let me tell you just how much – 52 hectares. That’s equivalent to more than 50 football grounds. If you forget where you park your car in your local supermarket, you will definitely lost your car here, as there are 2300 spaces.

The three sections consist of various different activities such as a 4.3km jogging track, a cricket ground, BMX track, skateboarding park, barbecue and picnic areas, – which if trip advisor review are to be believed, you get a lot of them, maybe overly so – ice skating, a boating lake with classy lakeside restaurants, and also exhibition galleries.

The park was renowned for being the largest multi-million Dubai Municipality project, – that was over, of course, once the the frame of Dubai was built – carrying a high technology theme.

For example, the Stargate family edutainment centre, that covers over 260.000 square feet of the park’s layout has created an educational place filled with technological advances. Especially considering this was built back in 2006.

The edutainment centre contains various different areas known through as our celestial counterparts. Such as, Saturn, where families can enjoy a 3D (as well as 2D) movie theatre, in a 80×40 square feet screen.

This isn’t just a regular movie theatre though. They have theatres as well as game rooms where – this is going to sound insanely cool – the movies and games are brought to life through laser shows. Some of the 3D games are interactive games, where Half the audience can play against the other half of the audience.

An Area called Mars, contains a play area that is children-friendly, called Zero gravity. No, unfortunately you can’t float in the air, in it, but your kid can still have a blast! There is a roller-skating track, wall climbing activities, and a dedicated colourful room for birthday parties.

Then, of course there’s an area called Earth, that has an electric indoor Go Karting track. This is called No Speed Limit. Sounds very earth-like, especially in comparison to what the Saturn area had to offer. Fortunately, Earth has more to offer, with a futuristic UFO. Zone containing brand new robotic simulated rides as well as sophisticated 4D VR (Virtual reality) rides.

In case you were wondering, there is also an area called Moon. There, you will find a lunar shaped ice-skating rink, with artificial snow falling every 30 minutes.

One of the key offerings in the park, at least for the locals, is in the underground section of all these fun packed activity rooms.

This area is the home of the Stargate Academy. A place dedicated to offering scheduled classes in classic arts, music, technology, along with “a world class” nursery.

This has proven to be a popular destination for after school activity seekers, or for native families to come on holiday to.

Whether Fernando is right, or wrong, in relation to who created the idea, the reality for the rest of us is that this is real.

Dubai is becoming a city that is harder to ignore with each passing monument.

It’s no surprise to see them wanting to build something that is a statement in its own right, such as the frame. It not only capitalises on the magnitude of this park (Zabeel) but it highlights Dubai to the rest of the world once again.

It has proven to be an ever growing centre of the world, where money definitely is no issue, at least when it comes to flashing it to the rest of the world, making us all envious. Whatever your thoughts of Dubai, I would be amazed if you did not feel tempted to visit it just for this little area the article describes.

It’s a fun, energetic place, whose reality completely contrasts ours out in the west.

There’s a sense of everything being grand, and promising. Most people would find it to be an experience like no other.

from Le Dubai http://ift.tt/2tUcpOk

#internet shoots #Le Dubai

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zombietechs · 7 years ago

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Everything you need to know about iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus

iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus

Hello friends, I’m writing to you now because you’re all exhausting me with the same question: “Is it really worth upgrading to the iPhone 8?” You’re all asking me because we’re soon going to be offering iPhone 8 repair in Schaumburg and Des Plaines and we see tons of iPhones that come in for repair on a daily basis so here is the scoop.

The iPhone 8 back is made of glass

This is something we haven’t seen from Apple since they released the iPhone 4 (which was one of the best looking iPhone’s if you ask me). A lot of the design focus with Apple comes down to symmetry and frankly I don’t understand using a glass back because it shatters and we found ourselves replacing these glass backs on the iPhone 4 all of the time. Believe me when I say that I’d love to replace your back glass and get paid for it but my personal recommendation if you don’t want to see me ever couple weeks is to get a custom case for your iPhone 8. You can buy them in our store or at any major retailer that carries the iPhone 8 and you can also order online. I recommend you get a shock proof case like Otterbox because it will prevent a lot of drama in your life. To be fair, the makers of Gorilla glass are making the glass material for the iPhone 8 and every year they seem to be coming up with strong designs. Even so, iPhone cracked glass replacement is our number one repair for iPhones across the spectrum. We order like 30-40 replacement screens every week.

Colors!

If you’re like me, you have had a chance to try out every color of the iPhone and black or gold tend to be the best looking colors. The iPhone 8 is releasing a new gold colored iPhone that looks very sleek and appealing but has a soft shine that looks like butter scotch as opposed to what you might find with a nice watch on your wrist. I think the term I’ve heard most used around the internet is a “caramel” look. That said the phone does change colors slightly depending on the lighting which makes it shiny and oh so cool. If you have a case over it though, nobody will see it anyways.

A11 Bionic Processor

If you’re not in the loop on the iPhone 8 upgrade speed and performance, then you’re really missing out. The A11 processor is seriously powerful and it’s a 6-core unit that’s more powerful than Macbooks from 2008-2010 when you first started getting into Apple products and Steve Jobs was alive. The cool thing about the processor is that it has a built in performance controller that allows it to use all 6 cores simultaneously which makes it freakishly powerful, and I really mean that. By the way, it’s miles ahead of the Galaxy Note 8 an the Galaxy S8+ phones which say they have amazing processors. They’re not lying, but the new A11 processor completely waxes them. If you’re a silly goose and you need to see numbers, feast your eyes on this:

Built-in Apple Designed GPU

GPU stands for Graphics processing unit for those who don’t know.It’s primarily used for rendering images and videos, specifically where 3-D is concerned. In a nutshell, it’s a single-chip processor that creates lighting effects and transforms objects every time a 3D scene is redrawn. The work involved is super complicated from a mathematics and algebra standpoint but this is a technology that we all enjoy when we’re watching Netflix or playing video games. GPU’s are basically essential these days for anything that’s related to video imaging otherwise your CPU (central processor) has to do all the rendering work. If you relied on your CPU your machines would overheat, your graphics would be poor quality, your batteries would run out quickly, and you would basically not your life. Apple knows this and so they’ve ditched the London based company called “Imagination” which you can read about here and they’ve developed their own GPU to launch with the iPhone 8. So far reports are calling it a massive success. The main reason it’s so successful is that iOS 11 is design in such a way that it almost directly takes advantage of the GPU power. This is kind of the moment in history when motorcycles switched from carburetors to direct injectors, only for iPhone concerning image rendering.

Louder Built-in Speakers

Apple says their new iPhone 8 stereo speakers are also 25% louder and deliver deeper bass. You still can’t use the iPhone 8 to throw rave parties in your basement, but you’re a few steps closer. See: strobe light app for iPhone

True Tone Display

Remember Night Shift on the last iOS? It was a feature that deletes the blue lighting that comes from the pixels on your smartphone screen because those blue lights actually screw up your brain and prevent you from sleeping. Business Insider did an article about this confirming that blue light from smartphone screens also destroys your retina and messes around with your brains production of melatonin. Apple is a good company that cares, so they came up with Night Shift to help your poor brains at night. Now with True Tone Display, night shift actually works fully the way it’s supposed to and it also adjusts the colors on your screen to react to the ambient lighting in the room. So if you’re pumping tunes off your iPhone 8 at a basement rave party, at least you won’t fully damage your eyesight and melatonin production due to bright blue pixels on the screen.

Reduced Shutter Lag

This is probably something that many people haven’t paid much attention to in the past because the iPhone 7 was legitimately good for taking photos. However, photos taken during low lighting were often subject to lots of distortion and also delays with the shutter snap which caused additional blurriness in the photos and poor picture quality. If the shutter takes a long time to snap while it’s in your hands, the micromovements you make while holding it will cause pixels to basically blend together and smudge your duck-face bathroom selfie.

4K and 60 frames per second.

Some of the other “cool features” seem more like cool non-sense sometimes but they are legitimate improvements and demonstrate awesome miniaturization of technology. Most of you probably won’t care however until you read what’s next. The iPhone screens for the iPhone 8 and 8 Plus now have 4k displays which means jaw dropping, slow motion recording and play-back while keeping UHD 4k resolution. 60 Frames per second basically looks more like-life because it refreshes 60 frames at second. If you’re reading this article right now from a phone or laptop that has a 60 fps screen you can check the video below to get an idea of what I’m talking about. It’s a massive step-up from traditional monitors that don’t have support for 60fps. Included with the enhance slow motion capture, you’ll be able to scale up to 240 fps on you new iPhone 8 which is double the frame rate of slow motion on the iPhone 7.

Wireless Charging

For the first time ever, Apple is joining the wireless charging club. Some newer cars have this technology built in and the iPhone 8 will be fully compatible with it. This is one of the reasons that Apple has returned to using glass backs on their iPhones but Apple will not ship with a wireless charging pad to help you out with your wireless charging aspirations. But Apple is a good company that cares and so they’ve recommended two wireless charging bases for the iPhone 8: Belkin’s Boost Up Wireless Charging Pad $59.99 , and Mophie’s Wireless Charging Base (not available yet).

Fast Charging

Straight out of the box, Apple is going to give you their standard 5-watt charging block for both versions of the new iPhone 8. You may find yourself dissatisfied with the charging capabilities of this device but if fast charging is important to you, you can use Apple’s 12-watt iPad charging block which cut charging time from 0%-100% by almost half. The company also makes a 29-watt adapter that’s used for Macbooks which you can also use with the iPhone 8 and it’s fully supported. You could charge up your phone from 0 to full in about 14-15 minutes with the high-end Macbook charger and a normal lightning cable (beware cheap knock-offs). As a side-note, if you do need chargers and cables, both of our smartphone repair stores in Schaumburg and Des Plaines carry all original types of charges for everything described above.

Things we don’t like about the iPhone 8.

At the top of the list of things we don’t like about the iPhone 8, is the 5-watt charging block they give you. It’s a tiny little thing that’s fairly reliable but leaves a lot to be desired in terms of how long your iPhone has to sit on the charger to get a full charge. One of the main things my customers complain about when it comes to iPhones is the fact that their iPhones don’t last even a full day on a single charge and have to be recharged constantly throughout the day. Most users notice that after 6 months, their battery capacity also becomes “poor” compared to what it was when they first started using the phone. Not to veer off on a tangent, but there is a LOT that you can do in order to maximize the battery efficiency of your phone. We wrote an article with lots of tips about maximizing the iPhone battery.

Another thing we don’t like about the iPhone 8 is that wireless charging is slow. It’s really slow. Apple says that they’re going to release an update down the line that would allow the iPhone 8 to get 7.5-watt charging for wireless phones which isn’t exactly high-speed but it’s about 7%-8% faster than charging it on the 5-watt charging block that you’ll get with the iPhone 8 out of the box. Sadly, without that technology released yet, you’ll be lucky to charge up to 11% battery life within 15 minutes on the Belkin wireless charger we named above.

The last main grief that we have about the iPhone 8 is that Apple is about to release an iPhone X this year. This is kind of like how Apple released their last generation of iPads, immediately followed by the release of an iPad PRO which has way more power and much larger screen. This is a very big deal when it comes to iPhone’s because they are by far Apple’s most popular product. Users and fanboys alike literally die in anticipation of more powerful Apple iPhones entering the market. Securities expert Ming Kuo said a few weeks ago that Apple is producing iPhone 8 at a rate of about 10,000 units a day and insisted that the demand for these phones is so high that you’ll still find them hard to get even by Christmas time. That means As of the time this article is being written, Christmas is 90 days away. If you assume that they’re going to make 900,000 phones by Christmas for a market of about 120 million users (about half of the population of United States), the iPhone 8 is going to be extremely in demand, even before they start production and shipments of the iPhone X. So just imagine what a riot the iPhone X is going to cause when it enters the market and people realize they won’t be able to get one until like Summer of next year due to laggish production. Why is the iPhone X such a big deal? We’re soon going to write a detailed article once we have the full scoop on this phone with all the juicy details. But for now, check out the video below to see the iPhone X hands on. It’s a little, it’s way more powerful, and it can read your FACE to open up the phone instead of your thumbprint.

For all of your computer and cell phone repair needs in Schaumburg, Des Plaines, and the whole Northwest Suburbs, think of Zombie Techs. We warehouse the best talent in the area for all of your smartphone and computer repair needs. We bring technology back to life!

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Everything you need to know about iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus was originally published on

#computer repair des plaines #computer repair palatine #computer repair schaumburg #iphone 8 #iphone 8 plus #iphone x #cell phone repair schaumburg #apple repair schaumburg #smartphone repair schaumburg

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innermiraclesalad-blog · 8 years ago

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daveywankenobie · 8 years ago

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My last post was deep and reflective. It was an effort to deal with some very deep feelings, and it did.

I felt somehow purged after writing it – and the feedback both publicly and privately was both humbling and heartfelt. I can’t thank those who took the time to reach out enough. Your words (and sometimes tears) meant everything to me.

In a very buoyant frame of mind I’ve taken some time today to look through the photos that I FORCED myself to take and keep – regardless of how they made me feel at the time. Many of them I felt showed me in a poor light and I was intensely embarrassed when I looked at my own image.

However I don’t regret taking a single one because today I’ve been able to look back over the feelings and thoughts that I experienced on my journey and milestones so far and see the progression thats happened over the last year – starting on the 26th January 2016.

However from my blog’s perspective it really started on the 10th February when I began writing and shortly after tried to walk somewhere and use my exercise bike.

The walking distance I was capable of (which at the time tore both my calf muscles and the plantar tendon in the base of my right foot) was roughly the end of my street or just past the beer garden at a local pub (the Saxon Mill). On my bike I managed around 0.4 miles before I was in agony and couldn’t breathe.

However I’d stopped drinking and was beginning to think about improving my health. It took a while though as I’d decided that I needed to be certain that was a thing of the past before I tried to diet.

My brother took a sneaky photo following this in mid March – which (if you take into account the picture above my head) says much about our mutual tendency to take the mickey out of eachother, but even more about how far I’d fallen health wise. My face, arms and stomach are swollen and bloated – just like the rest of me.

However, quietly sitting on my wrist (although I didn’t know at the time) was my new best friend.

On the 14th April I finished an intensive four week recovery programme which used Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and mindfulness to help me explore my relationship with alcohol, food, and the recent death of my mother.

I’d promised myself that As soon as this was complete I’d start a diet plan of some kind – so I did. On the 16th of April I joined Slimming World.

This was a truly terrifying and horrible day – but also the start of something wonderful. I was 34st 8.5lbs when I stepped on the scales, and could hardly fit on the little red chairs in the school hall.

I cried myself to a standstill writing my blog later that evening.

Two weeks after starting I’d lost eight pounds. In many ways I was still a little in denial about the task at hand – but feeling more positive. In early May I tried to walk small distances again – and found that I couldn’t do even 1/3 of a lap of the park near to where I worked (Arrow Valley in Redditch) but persisted and also started trying to walk around St Nicholas Park in Warwick.

This started twin addictions – one for walking in the park, and the other related to a group of cygnets that I spotted. Ultimately only one of them survived – and that day (forgetting what a baby swan was called) I christened it ‘The Swanling‘ – but please don’t ask me which one is which!.

I’d also started collecting certificates and stickers. This too would become something of an addiction…

However I was initially struggling to understand the SW plan. I’d begun to eat things in the wrong quantities and had my first blip quite early on – which knocked my confidence. For the first (and last) time I stomped out of the group without staying for the talk. It was a big mistake.

I spent the week hating myself needlessly.

At this point I started realising that the Apple Watch on my arm might be more than just a toy – and began (hamfistedly) trying to track my walking progress. I still couldn’t walk far – but by the 3rd of June I was able to do a single lap of Arrow Valley or St Nicholas.

The crappy app I used gave continually unreliable stats – but I was (with a LOT of sitting) beginning to gradually improve.

Sometimes I found the whole process really demoralising though and at times was in near constant pain – tearing muscle after muscle as well as still suffering badly with plantar heel and tendon problems.

Slimming World however seemed to know just when I needed picking up, and around this time I quite unexpectedly got an award. On the 18th June I was voted my group’s man of the year – and also picked up my 2 stone award.

At this point I was still taking 5 pills a day for my type 2 diabetes – but for the first time on the 12th of July I had become fit enough to walk down the hill near my house to a diabetic retinopathy screening and back up again.

It was a massive milestone for me, but also an annoying reminder that chairs with arms were still my natural predator.

On the plus side all the extra activity meant the certificates kept rolling in during July and by the end of it I was 3.5 stone lighter. This was a much needed morale boost, because by then I’d also been made redundant…

However, despite no small degree of sadness I tried to see it as an opportunity and a new beginning rather than an end. The weather was good in August and I was loving my walking!

It was around this time that a chance photo with a friend who was exhibiting at the Leamington Art in the Park festival (she’s very talented) made me realise just how far I’d come. All of the extra notches that I’d had to make in my belt suddenly became really apparent when it slipped out of it’s loop.

At the time I realised I’d lost around 8 inches from my waist.

This REALLY spurred me on – and I began to test myself more and more.

In August I returned to Aberystwyth (my university town – and somewhere I love) and climbed constitution hill which was followed by a bath for the first time in around a decade. On the way home the next day I then walked around the medium difficulty trail at Nant Yr Arian’s forestry commission which was something I never thought I’d be able to manage.

Until I did.

I finally rounded off the month by conquering a fear that had been with me for ages. I caught the train to Birmingham and left my car behind. I had to make my way under my own steam – and there was no backup plan.

My trip was enjoyable, but also a mixed bag, and my shirt was embarrassingly soaked with sweat from the heat in the museum that I had wanted to visit. Although I’d done it I still felt like I stood out in a crowd and was very self conscious.

However I did do it – and a friend pointed out to me around this time that I had (in a week) walked the length of the English Channel. Filled with enthusiasm from this I rather whimsically set myself the goal of walking the slightly longer channel tunnel length (31.5 miles) the following week.

August also heralded more certificate successes and by the end of the month I’d lost over four and a half stone…

In September the idea of walking virtual geographical distances mushroomed a little when a lady at Slimming World casually suggested that I expand my horizons and track my progress across the globe on a larger scale.

I decided to run with this idea and plot my walking progress from the moment I joined SW – mapping it onto a virtual walk from Lands end to John o Groats (847 miles). I realised that (thanks to the friend on my wrist tracking everything that I’d done since buying it) that I was already a good way toward my goal and that I now walking around 134 miles a month!!!

I also tried to conquer my (still) nagging negative feelings about travelling to Birmingham under my own steam and not long after made a trip to the Electric cinema (something I’d wanted to do for many years but couldn’t) which was still a squeeze – even with their front row premium seats.

Thanks to around another stone being gone, September heralded a noticeable increase in mobility and I found myself exploring all over the place – often with four legged companions!

Unusually the English summer just kept on going in 2016 and October was also a great month. I spent some time exploring Hay Wood locally, got re-acquainted with canal walking, took home my six and a half stone certificate – and also managed to make it around the whole of Cardiff Bay!

To put a cherry on October’s cake I also managed to get the group’s ‘Mr Sleek’ award (and a fetching tie) as well as a seven stone award – which happens to be THE WEIGHT OF A FRIDGE FREEZER!!!

November started to get a little chillier – and since I’m getting thin on top I embarked upon a new relationship to keep me warm in the cold winter evenings. Me and peaky are still very happy together and have yet to fall out!

Peaky kept my head warm as the leaves fell from the trees and winter drew nearer and (despite a pretty epic episode of shin splints in my left leg which is frikkin painful!!!) I managed to get some more bling, walk across the completely unmanaged and overgrown Ryton Woods (making my leg waaaaay worse like an idiot) play with a cute puppy in group and take a small fortune’s worth of huge clothes to charity.

By the time December arrived I was still motivated – but probably somewhat unsurprisingly given the time of year things slowed down – both mentally and physically. I became obsessed with the idea of reaching a ‘plateau’ and that somehow I would fail.

In reality (looking back) I was always moving forward – and just occasionally admiring the view.

Thanks to my Slimming World group and friends I stayed largely on plan throughout Christmas – even walking six miles to my brother’s house for and back for dinner on Xmas day (with an epic blister all taped up) just to ensure I wasn’t naughty.

Christmas had no bottles of Southern Comfort as was traditional for me for many years past and was powered only by the magic of weaponised caffeine.

And so we come to January.

It’s not over yet – but by the end of it I’m hoping that I’ll have my ten stone certificate.

So far this month has seen me hit my target of walking from Land’s end to John O Groats, have my first (unsuccessful) job interview in a decade and a half, meet more dogs, start to massively increase my cardio based exercise and walk the length of the Stratford Greenway.

To make me even happier, the swanling in St Nicholas park has survived, and is flourishing. It gets a bit more beautiful every day.

So – that’s my year, and you know what? For the very first time in nearly a decade I can look back on the last twelve months of my life and feel a sense of pride.

Furthermore I feel something else to. Hope.

I no longer take medication for my diabetes (which appears to be in full retreat) and I’m far less likely to die a really early death. I’m fitter than I think I’ve ever been at any time I can remember.

I love life at the moment internet – and I can’t wait to see what the next year has in store. I hope you’re here to find out with me!

Davey

Year one retrospective My last post was deep and reflective. It was an effort to deal with some very deep feelings, …

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