A massive ice disk that first appeared in Maine in 2019, spinning slowly and ominously on the Presumpscot River in the town of Westbrook, is back. Personally, I welcome the return of our icy disk overlord and urge all my fellow mortals to rejoice in its dark return. The ice disk cometh once more!
Earlier this week, Turkmenistan President Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov said the country will renew its efforts to close the Gateway to Hell, a massive natural gas fire that’s been burning since 1971 in the middle of the desert.
“The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” reimagined the hit shows a la “Bel-Air.”
Microsoft has hired a third -party law firm to review its policies on sexual harassment and gender discrimination policies, The Verge has reported. As part of that, the final report will summarize the results of sexual harassment investigations against the company’s senior leadership and board of directors, including former CEO Bill Gates.
The report will “lead to the public release of a transparency report assessing the effectiveness of the company’s workplace sexual harassment and gender discrimination policies, training, and related policies,” Microsoft said in a press release. It will also “assess the steps that have been taken to hold employees, including executives, accountable for sexual harassment or gender discrimination,” and include the number of sexual harassment cases investigated and their resolution.
[The report] will lead to the public release of a transparency report assessing the effectiveness of the company’s workplace sexual harassment and gender discrimination policies, training, and related policies. This will include a review of concerns raised by employees in 2019 in the “In Need of Assistance” email thread, steps the company has taken to respond to these concerns, and additional steps that could further strengthen these safeguards. The review will also include an analysis of policies, practices, and commitments to create a safe, inclusive work environment.
Microsoft had been planning to disclose how it implements sexual harassment and gender discrimination policies, with a key request being the disclosure of executive-level investigations. However, late last year, Microsoft shareholders forced the company to write up an annual report detailing how it handles sexual harassment cases within the company.
The review will be conducted by the law firm Arent Fox and will look at allegations of discrimination and harassment arising from an internal Microsoft email chain back in 2019. In over 90 pages of emails, female employees alleged that they were harassed and denied promotions and pay raises, among other issues. They further complained that managers and the company’s HR department took no action in many cases. Microsoft was also accused of 238 cases of gender discrimination or sexual harassment in 2018.
While the board will assess the previous investigation against Gates, it won’t reinvestigate the affair that happened in 2000. Gates resigned from Microsoft’s board in early March of 2020, reportedly before the investigation was complete.
“We’re committed not just to reviewing the report but learning from the assessment so we can continue to improve the experiences of our employees,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in a statement. “I embrace this comprehensive review as an opportunity to continue to get better.”
I review a lot of true wireless earbuds, so I’m always curious what the next trends will be when companies offer their annual refresh for new products. Over the last few years, smaller sizes, better battery life and hands-free features have become the norm, but there’s only so much you can do on such a tiny device.
In 2021, Jabra set the new standard for affordable wireless earbuds with the Elite 3. At $80, it covers most of the basics quite well.Now the company is improving its mid-range option with the Elite 4 Active. It’s a more workout-focused model, complete with active noise cancellation (ANC) and enough moisture protection for the sweatiest of sessions. Like it did last year, Jabra is seeking to not only make its true wireless lineup compelling in terms of features and performance, but to also make the price more competitive. This $120 model delivers a lot of options that we typically see on earbuds that go for $150-$180.
The Elite 4 Active carries Jabra’s new design that debuted on the Elite 3, Elite 7 Active and Elite 7 Pro last year. Instead of a mostly circular earbud with an elbow that holds the microphones, the company switched to a rounded triangle shape that offers a cleaner look. Most importantly, all of Jabra’s latest earbuds are significantly smaller than their predecessors and the Elite 4 Active continues that trend. The smaller size not only means these buds don’t stick out from your ears as much, but they’re also lighter and more comfy.
I wouldn’t blame you for mistaking the Elite 4 Active for the Elite 3. Aesthetically, the main difference is the outer panel on the 3 is one big button, while that area on the 4 Active is seamless. The button is there, but it’s sealed off. Jabra increased the water resistance to IP57 for this model, and the onboard controls are one area where it had to increase protection. Of course, Jabra has always designed its earbuds with the Active label for workouts. Better sweat protection is usually part of that formula.
The lack of a defined panel or button proved to be an issue for me when accessing the controls. I had to train myself to remember to press in the middle of the earbud as getting too far to the top or bottom wouldn’t register my actions. The outer surface of the Elite 4 Active is completely smooth, without so much as a raised dot to indicate you’re in the right place. Over time I might get used to this, but after a couple weeks of testing, I’m still not nailing it consistently.
Like every other Jabra model, you can tailor the Elite 4 Active to your needs via the company’s Sound+ app. Since this set is Jabra’s mid-range option, you get more features than the entry-level Elite 3, but not quite as much as the Elite 7 Pro or Elite 7 Active. First, there’s ANC and it’s customizable. Notice I didn’t say adjustable. Specifically, the app lets you set a level of noise cancellation during initial setup. You can also tweak the balance if you need more on one side than the other. Jabra will allow you to repeat this process if you need to, but there’s no easily accessible slider like the Elite 7 models.
The company’s transparency mode, HearThrough, can be controlled in the app via a slider. In fact, you can even set what the on-board control for sound mode does (single press on the left side). You can have it cycle through HearThrough and ANC, HearThrough and off or HearThrough, ANC and off. The app also allows you to turn on and off Sidetone, which lets you hear your voice when you’re on a call. Unlike some Jabra models, it isn’t adjustable – just all or nothing. Still, being able to hear yourself so you’re a bit less shouty over Zoom is better for everyone. The company’s own Find My feature returns as well, helping you locate a misplaced earbud if you’re willing to give it the proper permissions. And on Android, you can opt for one-touch access to Spotify if that’s your preferred streaming service.
For a $120 set of earbuds, I wouldn’t blame you for not expecting too much in the sound department. However, Jabra has a track record of solid audio across its true wireless lineup. With the Elite 4 Active, the company maintains its reputation for buds that sound good, but not great. There’s decent clarity and nice detail, but they lack the wider soundstage and depth pricier models from the likes of Sony and Sennheiser offer.
The Elite 4 Active has pretty good sonic range, but big bombastic tracks like Run The Jewels “Mean Demeanor” and Gojira’s “Another World” sound overly compressed. The bass is solid and not muddy, so keeping the energy up during workouts with hip hop, EDM, or isn’t a problem. It’s just that on the whole, songs lack the dimensional punch you can find with a bigger investment. For $120 though, the Elite 4 Active gets the job done in most cases.
If you find yourself yearning to tweak the EQ, you can do that in the Sound+ app via a set of sliders. If one-tap audio changes are more your style, Jabra also offers a collection of presets for quick customization. It’s not the most robust set of options for dialing in the sound, but it’s more than you get on the ultra affordable Elite 3.
One advantage the Elite 4 Active has over the Elite 3 is active noise cancellation. As I mentioned, you can customize the feature to a degree, but it’s not as powerful as what’s on Jabra’s pricer earbuds. Still, the ANC here will help block out some distractions, just don’t expect it to do a lot of heavy lifting.
The Elite 4 Active has four microphones for calls. Jabra says they’re covered with a “special mesh” to reduce wind noise when you’re outdoors. Typically, mileage varies greatly on call quality with true wireless earbuds. Most of the time you just end up sounding like you’re on speakerphone. With the Elite 4 Active, the call quality is slightly better, but still not as good as if you had a microphone closer to your mouth – or even pointed more towards your face. Background noise is reduced when you’re talking, but any environmental roar is distracting when you’re not.
Jabra says you can expect up to seven hours of battery life on the Elite 4 Active, with three additional charges in the case for a total of 28 hours. The company doesn’t specify whether or not that’s with ANC on, but in my tests I managed seven and a half hours with noise canceling active. It’s by no means the best battery life you’ll find in true wireless earbuds, but it’s certainly enough to get you through a workday if you take a break or two. If you run out of juice before you head out the door, a quick charge feature gives you an hour of use in 10 minutes.
At $120, Jabra is offering solid mid-range specs at the same price as some companies’ budget models. What’s more, most of those don’t offer ANC, let alone a transparency mode or customizable sound. Samsung put noise canceling inside of its cheapest true wireless model with the Galaxy Buds 2. These earbuds are tiny and comfy and wireless charging is included, but the ANC performance is just okay. Plus, the Galaxy Buds 2 are only IPX2 rated, so you’ll want to be careful about how wet you get them. Full price they’re $150, but we’ve seen them as low as $100.
If you’re looking to maximize your dollars, I’d suggest looking into Anker’s Soundcore line. You can find a lot of value, and features, for well under $100 there. Plus, the company’s top-of-the-line flagship ANC model, the Liberty 3 Pro, is only $170. And if you’re good with passive noise isolation, Jabra’s own Elite 3 can get the job done for $60.
If Jabra’s new mission is to deliver the same overall quality as its previous earbuds at more affordable prices, I’m here for it. With the Elite 4 Active, as it did with the Elite 3, the company has managed to offer a compelling set of features at a great price. It hasn’t cut corners to do so, improving details like design and fit while maintaining its standard for sound quality. There are some omissions, but all the basics are covered and for the most part done well. Once again, we have more evidence that you don’t need to spend over $150 in order to get a set of good true wireless earbuds.
As more music streaming services introduce lossless or high-definition audio to their offerings, interest in DACs (digital-to-analog converters, or “headphone amplifiers”) has picked up pace — so much so we created this guide. What was once the reserve of audiophiles is slowly becoming a go-to gadget for those who want more than what their phone and AirPods can deliver. But they’re not without caveats. For one, they’re often expensive, and sometimes they aren’t much smaller than the phone you’re attaching them to. Enter the Tea DAC by Khadas.
Khadas started out making media-friendly single board computers (SBC – think… media-specific Raspberry Pi type things) before moving on to desktop DACs. Tea is the company’s first mobile DAC and it appears to be primarily targeted at iPhone users – though it’s also compatible with Android. The reason I suggest it’s more apt for Apple’s phones is that it’s MagSafe compatible. Combine that with the slim, iPhone-esque all-metal design and it solves one of the main problems with mobile DACs: Having something heavy hanging out the back of your phone.
With the Tea, it sticks to the back of your phone and the low profile makes it only a little more noticeable than Apple’s own MagSafe wallets. You can, of course, find MagSafe capable cases for Android, but your phone and budget will be a factor.
Beyond the slick form factor, the Tea doesn’t scrimp on its codec support. Over USB/Lightning, the Tea can handle audio right up to 32bit/384kHz. Given that most mainstream music services don’t offer anything above 192kHz, streamers will be more than covered. Similarly, the Tea can decode MQA (Tidal) along with DSD, AAC, FLAC, APE, OGG and all the standard formats (WAV/MP3 etc.). If you prefer to go wireless, the Tea also supports LDAC and AptX HD over Bluetooth.
Here I should mention that, for all its iPhone friendliness, Apple doesn’t offer either LDAC or AptX HD support in its flagship phones. You can still use the Bluetooth functionality in Tea, but you won’t be able to enjoy the higher-quality formats. Though it does at least mean you can charge your phone while still using the DAC or you can wander around with the smaller Tea connected to your headphones rather than your mobile. There are plenty of Android phones that do support LDAC/AptX HD, but you’ll need to check the manufacturer website to confirm (most Pixels, Samsung flagships and OnePlus phones offer LDAC/AptX HD decoding).
There are a few things you won’t find here, but most of those fall into the higher end of audio. For example, there’s only a regular 3.5mm headphone jack – no option for 2.5 or 4.4mm balanced cans at this point (though rumor has it that a “Pro” version with that might be on the way). There’s also limited feedback about what codec/audio quality you’re currently receiving, with just a simple color-changing LED indicating the format, which you can’t see unless the phone is face down. Inputs are limited to USB-C, so it’ll work with your phone and PC, but no line in.
This puts the Tea in an interesting category. It’s perfectly capable for people that want the most out of their streaming service and even should appeal to audiophiles looking for a discreet option that covers most bases. But at $199 it’s a reasonable spend. Perhaps its most obvious competitor is the BTR5 from Fiio. That’s also a portable DAC with high-res Bluetooth support along with a similar selection of cabled formats (also up to 32bit/384kHz with MQA support). Oh, and the Fiio offers a balanced headphone option, too (2.5mm). When you factor in that the BTR5 also typically retails for $159, you have to really want that slim, MagSafe design.
That’s not to undersell it though. I tested the BTR5 and the Tea side by side, and the sheer convenience of the Tea was obvious. With the Fiio, your phone feels tethered, almost weighed down by the DAC. With the Tea, it’s similar to using one of those iPhone cases with a battery in it – a little more thickness, but you can still operate the phone as you normally would.
The Tea also has a much bigger battery capacity – 1,160 mAh compared to the Fiio’s 550 mAh. This obviously isn’t an audio benefit, but it soon becomes one if you plan on listening for extended periods or being away from a charging option for more than a few hours. Which, given the mobile nature of these devices feels like a reasonable possibility.
I am, however, not a huge fan of the user interface. The Tea has three buttons: One on the left and two on the right. The single button works as a power switch or to summon your virtual assistant. The two buttons on the other side will either control volume or skip tracks. You toggle between volume and skip mode with a dual press of the power button and the top button on the other side. It works… fine, but it’s not very elegant. Also, if you leave it in track skip mode and go to adjust the volume, you’re going to be on the next track before you know it. A minor, but frustrating thing.
In wired mode, the Tea pumps out robust, loud, clear audio. It’s maybe not quite as loud as some other DACs. Even the diminutive Firefly gives the Tea a run for its money there. But, the sound you do get is clean and full of gain, and that’s the goal here: Take a good signal and let it be heard without colorization.
Beyond its primary function as a DAC, it also won’t get in the way of taking calls. A pair of mics on the base of the Tea allow you to talk without having to fall back to the mic on your phone. What’s more, the mics on the Tea are several leagues better than the one on the iPhone, especially when speaking to it while it’s resting on the desk. You can also set the Tea to charge via your phone if you’re running low on juice, or disable this feature to not tax the battery on your handset if you prefer.
All in all, the Tea is a welcome addition to a growing category. At $199 it’s not the cheapest for the feature set, but its well-thought-out design and aesthetic also make it pretty convenient and discreet. Unfortunately, if this all sounds up your alley, then you’ll have to wait a little longer. While Khadas clearly is production-ready, the company is choosing to go the Indiegogo route, with the campaign slated to go live in the coming weeks.
“I’ve been accused of pushing my ‘homosexual agenda’ onto kids through my writing. So, I will confess: They got me. I’m guilty. I do have an agenda.”
New players will be able to purchase digital copies of Final Fantasy XIV again starting on January 25th, the game’s director and producer Naoki Yoshida has announced in a lengthy post. Square Enix suspended the game’s physical and digital sales in mid-December last year, because it was doing too well for what the company could handle at the time. People have had to wait hours to get in when they try to play at peak times, because the “dense concentration of play hours… far exceed [the game’s] server capacity.” Unfortunately, the developer wasn’t able to add more servers before the Endwalker expansion was released due to the global semiconductor shortage.
In his post, Yoshida explained the steps the company is taking to address the game’s high levels of congestion. To start with, Square Enix is bringing its Oceanian Data Center online also on January 25th and opening five new Worlds from the start so that everyone in Oceania can transfer over for a better experience. The world transfer service is currently suspended, but it will resume on January 26th — further, those transferring to the new Oceanian Worlds will be able to do so for free.
Yoshida has also revealed that Square Enix has been working on expanding its Japanese, European and North American data centers. The company explained that due to the global semiconductor shortage, it took some time to procure the needed components to be able to bring them online. In fact, it has to establish the new data centers in phases, because it’s still having a tough time securing the necessary server equipment.
For North America, the first phase of the expansion will happen sometime in August 2022, and it will see four new Worlds go online. The second phase will be implemented in the summer of 2023 and will open four more Worlds. For Japan, the developer plans to add one more logical data center to the current three in order to lower the number of Worlds for each of them. The European expansion will also happen in two phases, the first of which is scheduled for July 2022 and will bring four new Worlds online. In the summer of 2023, Square Enix will establish one new logical data center with eight new Worlds in Europe.
“Once again, I wish to apologize for the delays to server expansion caused by the global semiconductor shortage,” Yoshida wrote. He also asked for players’ understanding in resuming sales of the game, even though some may consider the decision to be premature. Square Enix will monitor server stability following the resumption of sales and could restart free trials if everything goes well. However, in case servers “continue to experience extreme levels of congestion” despite all the steps it’s taking, the developer may consider suspending digital sales once again.
You probably use your web browser of choice for a variety of tasks: using the internet, obviously, but also watching videos, collaborating in docs, building spreadsheets, and more. That means your browser can very quickly start taking up a significant amount of your system’s resources, especially if your open tabs…
The next day, the widowed queen sat alone in church for her husband’s funeral service to adhere to social distancing rules that barred indoor mixing.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
