mechanism
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DJI’s next smartphone gimbal might have a magnetic quick mount system
Leaked images show DJI's Osmo Mobile 4 smartphone gimbal with a new magnetic mount system.
Apple's rumored 16-inch MacBook Pro may ditch the flaky keyboard
Apple may ditch the butterfly mechanism keyboard on its laptops sooner than expected. The rumored 16-inch MacBook Pro -- predicted to ship this year -- may arrive with a scissor mechanism instead of the long-troubled butterfly design. According to MacRumors, historically accurate Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo shared his prediction for this change with investors today.
Latest City of Steam dev journal highlights the Ostenians
Although the people of Ostenia aren't getting much attention from City of Steam's alpha players at the moment, developers have shined a spotlight on the fun-loving, romantic Ostenians in the game's latest dev journal. So what sets these folks apart from other people on the Mechanism? Perhaps most notably, the Holy Kingdom of Ostenia is strongly influenced by the Church. The people are seen by outsiders as zealous and preachy, but not just about their religion. In fact, Ostenians are highly opinionated and considered preachy on any subject, even mundane topics like cooking. But the religious distinction is just one part of Ostenia. The kingdom is home to one of the richest and most diverse cultures on the Mechanism due to the fact that the nation is actually created from the uneasy alliance of two distinctly different lands: Ancien Royaume, an inland feudal kingdom, and Nuovo Regno, sacred church-run lands on the coast. If our summary piques your interest in the people, be sure to check them out during City of Steam's alpha weekends.
Apple engineer uses Lego to rebuild ancient Greek mechanism, will surely try to patent it (video)
The Antikythera Mechanism is what you call truly old school technology. Argued to be the world's oldest known computer, this ancient Greek invention was used some time circa 100BC to calculate and "predict celestial events and eclipses with unprecedented accuracy." Skipping past the two millennia in which it lay lost on a sea floor somewhere, the Mechanism has now been recreated by an Apple software engineer by the name of Andrew Carol, who has lovingly pieced 1,500 Lego Technic blocks together, creating 110 gears and four gearboxes in total. Each box is responsible for performing one piece of arithmetic, and when the resulting machine is fed with appropriate calendar data, it spits out a (hopefully accurate) prediction for the next time a solar eclipse should occur. All well and good, but we're really just amazed by the beauty of those gears working. Check them out after the break.
