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Apple launched HomeKit in 2014, and for many users it remains a bit of a mystery—an outlier in the smart home space that is wound up with the iPhone, Siri, and an unintuitive corner of the smart home universe. What is HomeKit, and is it appropriate for your home? Let’s dig in and break down what it is and how it works today. WHAT IS HOMEKIT? While HomeKit is exclusive to Apple and its licensees, it is really just a communications protocol, a framework of technologies that lets your iOS device work with any number of smart home products. Apple currently claims that more than 100 brands of products are now included in the HomeKit universe, including all the usual smart home suspects, such as smart plugs and switches, light bulbs, thermostats,…

Apple might not always be first to the party, but there’s no denying the company goes above and beyond with hardware and software to deliver cutting-edge consumer experiences. But Apple’s slow and steady approach needs to change. With Siri lagging behind rivals and AI changing everything, WWDC 2023 will determine the future success of the company. SIRI IS LAGGING BEHIND Apple’s digital assistant Siri was once the market leader in voice-based AI assistants, but in recent years, it has fallen behind the competition, particularly Amazon’s Alexa and Google Assistant. However, with the rise of large language models that drive groundbreaking AI tools like ChatGPT, Apple is struggling to keep up with AI innovation. In a new behind-the-scenes report in The Information, Apple’s efforts to catch up with competitors are explored, as well…

I’ll admit, I was pretty skeptical before unboxing the first smartwatch from OnePlus, aptly named the OnePlus Watch. At $159, it’s less than half the price of our Editors’ Choice winner, the Apple Watch Series 6 (which starts at $399). And while it doesn’t work with iPhones, it offers many of the same features as Apple’s market-leading wearable. So far, my skepticism appears to have been unfounded. The OnePlus Watch offers a large color touch screen, built-in GPS, 2GB of storage, a 402mAh battery that promises two weeks of power, and the ability to make and receive calls. It also has plenty of health and fitness features, including support for more than 110 workout types, automatic workout detection for jogging and running, rapid-heart-rate alerts, guided breathing exercises, stress detection, and the…

Apple’s latest smart device is the AirTag, a small, puck-shaped tracker that can help you locate misplaced or stolen items with the Find My app. AirTags costs $29 for one or $99 for a pack of four and can be engraved with letters or an image of your choosing for free. Accessories such as keychains, luggage tags, and loops, which hold the device, are sold separately. AirTags use ultra-wideband technology (UWB) and take advantage of Apple’s existing network of devices, which work as crowdsourced beacons to ping one another and determine a missing item’s location. Here’s what to know before you slap an AirTag on everything you own. WHICH iPHONES AND OSeS WORK WITH AIRTAGS? Compatible iPhones and iPads can use the Find My app to identify the approximate location of a missing…

The Apple Watch Series 8 looks exactly like its predecessor, but it offers some notable health and safety improvements that weren’t available on last year’s model. Its biggest upgrade is the ability to measure and track changes in your body temperature while you sleep, with a dual-sensor design for more accurate readings. If you have a menstrual cycle, the Series 8 can use your body-temperature data to estimate the date of your last ovulation. And on the safety front, the watch can detect whether you’ve been in a car crash and automatically call for help. With these upgrades, plus an already unrivaled user experience and app selection that’s further enhanced by watchOS 9, the Apple Watch Series 8 is still the best iPhone-compatible smartwatch for most buyers and remains our…

Stephen is a globetrotting observer who is always looking for the next great celestial event. In 1643, Antonius Maria Schyrleus de Rheita, an astronomer and friar of the Catholic Church’s Capuchin Order, detected through his binocular telescope a stellar grouping resembling the sacred Sudarium Veronicae, or the Veil of St. Veronica. According to the Christian Stations of the Cross, when Veronica used this cloth to wipe the face of Jesus on his way to Calvary, it took on the impression of his face. But the knowledge of which stars formed this asterism has been lost to time. Since de Rheita’s original observation, there have been no other recorded sightings — until, perhaps, now. A problematic portrait Before we share the solution, let’s look first at the problem. To search for the Veil, many…

When the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) blasted off from French Guiana Dec. 25, 2021, astronomers anticipated it would deliver breathtaking images of distant galaxies and star-forming regions, as well as analyze the chemical makeups of exoplanet atmospheres. And NASA’s flagship space telescope has not disappointed. JWST has already captured images of galaxies so far from Earth that cosmic expansion has shifted their light well into the infrared part of the spectrum, which the telescope is built to detect. And the observatory’s Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) has even discovered carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of exoplanet WASP-39 b — the first definitive detection of this gas in a world beyond our solar system. But JWST has set its sights closer to home, too. On July 27, astronomers targeted Jupiter with the telescope’s powerful…

IT ISN’T A SECRET THAT humanity and everything around us is made of star stuff. But not all stars create elements equally. Sure, regular stars can create the basic elements: helium, carbon, neon, oxygen, silicon, and iron. But it takes the collision of two neutron stars — incredibly dense stellar corpses — to create the heavier elements like silver, gold, and platinum. Neutron stars aren’t just notable for the valuable elements they create, though. They’re also a dream come true for physicists. From their crushing gravity to the universe’s strongest magnetic fields, extremes of physics are the norm for neutron stars. And, unlike black holes, these exotic objects are observable. “It’s hard to study black holes,” says Samar Safi-Harb, the Canada research chair in supernova remanent astrophysics at the University of…

With 3D printing, you can easily design, produce, and tweak custom-made parts, producing as many exact copies as you need. I wanted to depict an obsolete armored fighting suit from the Maschinen Krieger (Ma.K) universe modified and repurposed to work in a nuclear waste-disposal facility. In Ma.K, the combatants are fighting over an Earth recovering from the devastation of a nuclear war, so I figured war-weary equipment would be redeployed for cleanup duty. As the basis of my conversion, I used Nitto’s 1/20 scale Panzer Kampf Anzug Ausf H1 Heinrich kit from the mid-1980s. The basics of 3D printing CONSTANTLY BEING REFINED, 3D printers reproduce complex shapes quickly and accurately. They vary widely in size from small tabletop machines to industrial models and use several materials, including resin, plastic, and metal to…

Italy’s C1 Ariete tank has been in service for more than 20 years and has seen peace-keeping operations in Kosovo along with deployment to Iraq. But only one 1/35 scale injection-molded plastic kit of the Ariete (Italian for ram) has been produced. Trumpeter has released two versions of the tank: one in standard configuration, the other up-armored with explosive reactive armor on the hull and turret. Looking to build something unusual, I picked up the up-armored version (No. 00394). To improve on the basic kit, I grabbed Friulmodel metal tracks (No. ATL-152), an RB Models turned-metal gun barrel (No. 35B117), and Voyager’s photo-etched metal (PE) details (No. 35566). FINAL THOUGHTS TO REPRESENT A TANK IN SERVICE, I added chains front and rear and placed several boxes in the turret bustle basket. Trumpeter’s Ariete…

For modelers, the Soviet designed BMP infantry fighting vehicles are attractive subjects. They look aggressive and cool, and, given how widely they have been used, can be finished in an endless variety of camouflage and markings. Plus, they are often fitted with weird, improvised armor and non-standard armament. Several years ago, I considered building a BMP in overall white United Nations markings. Then I found a profile by Ukrainian artist Volodymyr Booth — his work has graced model box tops from MiniArt, Ammo by Mig Jimenez, Rye Field, and ICM — of a Ukrainian BMP-2 from the fighting in the Donbas region in 2014. Based on photos, it showed a vehicle emblazoned with patriotic slogans and the road wheels painted in Ukrainian colors. Unable to get a BMP-2 quickly, I opted…

One meeting with Ken Grier is enough to tell you that he’s not the kind of guy who sits on an idea. Exuding a restless energy, he speaks with such a degree of knowledge and conviction that one can’t help but pay attention. Ken has a seemingly insatiable appetite for data, opinion, art, side projects and risk-taking. In the course of our short interview, he mentions attending two conferences in as many months (one on how AI will disrupt retail and another focussed on how to pitch luxury to millennials); how he casually read a copy of Annie Leibovitz’s 247-page Women, gifted to him by the author, in one night so he could talk to her about it the next morning; and how the Macallan M decanter was the result…

Recently, I started to attend a Spiritualist church and it brought me great comfort and made me curious to find out more about the spirit realm. I joined a circle being run by the church and began training to be a medium. I believe everyone has psychic abilities, it’s just a question of learning how to nurture them. Between my circle and reading Spirit & Destiny, I’ve learnt so many new things and my connection to Spirit is growing stronger. I’m also training to be a bus driver and had a sense of a Spirit on the bus. I thought it was my instructor’s attachment, but a few days later, one of the other trainees explained that the instructor’s daughter had passed away under tragic circumstances. That opened a conversation between us, and…

In this series, I will be interviewing leading figures from three generations of electronic music: people who have shaped, are shaping and will shape the future of these genres. My aim was not just to find out about their studio and music-making techniques, but to dig a little deeper and work out what makes them tick creatively. For this first instalment, I elected to interview John Foxx. Many will know John as part of Ultravox, but on leaving that band, he embarked on a very long solo career that is still going some 40 years and 40 albums later. A leading figure in electronic music since the late ’70s, John’s influence on the early UK techno scene is hard to overstate — simply put, John was a catalyst for many of…

Back in May 2012, Paul Nagle asked in his SOS review of Analogue Solutions’ Leipzig-S if it was the British company’s best synth yet. The twin oscillator mono synth reminded him, he said, of a Moog Rogue, “but a Rogue force-fed on burgers and lard before being squeezed into a rack.” Tasty. Now Analogue Solutions return with a third synth in the Leipzig dynasty, the V3. Gone are the rack ears, new features have been added and a few modifications have been made under the hood to improve reliability and performance. Conspicuous additions since the Leipzig-S include a headphone output and a line of 3.5mm inputs and outputs down the left-hand side, for integration with a modular system or external audio sources. Longtime Leipziggers will be pleased to know that…

Service bay It’s not certain yet whether there will be a Norton dealer network in the UK: ‘With a premium modern luxury product you have to avoid having too many levels between customers and manufacturer because it dilutes the brand,’ says CEO Dr Robert Hentschel. In the meantime bikes will be serviced here, in a dedicated service bay inside the factory. Customers can watch from a viewing area. The factory This is on an industrial estate just off the M42 near Solihull in the Midlands. It’s a big old unit with enough space to produce 8000 961s a year, plus a design and R&D centre, showroom, service workshops and offices for all the staff. It’s not all high tech Reassuringly not everything is controlled by AI and measured by lasers. This drywipe board keeps operatives…

This 1964 Alfa Romeo 2600 Spider was recently rescued from a garage on a property in rural Aberdeenshire after its owner became concerned by the damp floor, and the harm it might be doing to ageing Italian steel. The lady owner has had the car since new and used it for a trip to the south of France as a newlywed – surely the perfect role for a car like this. Nowadays, her daughter is keen for the car to be preserved and made roadworthy again, so a restoration will begin in the New Year. It’s now in the care of Andrew Doney of Edinburgh Sports Cars, who was present at the exhumation. Once the black polythene covering and an old bedspread had been removed, Doney was able to examine the extent…

EXPLAINED Ceramic coatings, such as the EXOv4 we used, are liquid polymers that are applied to a vehicle’s bodywork to protect it from external paint damage. The coating chemically bonds with the paint, creating a tough, water- and dust-repellent layer. Ceramic-coating your paint also means dirt can’t stick, making washing the vehicle a breeze, and it gives a long-lasting and high-gloss finish. After collecting my Range Rover from the bodyshop after its full respray, I was even more keen than usual to keep it in pristine condition. On the advice of Carl Gardner, the maestro behind said respray, I looked into ceramic-coating specialists in my local Bristol area. I found out that Revolution Detailing is highly praised by local owners of high-end luxury cars, so I paid boss Adam Wookey a visit. There’s…

DEFENDER DRAWER £1020.35 RRP • Britpart stockists This new ARB Outback Solutions modular roller drawer is designed to fit snugly between the wheelarches of Defender 90 and 110 station wagons from 2002-on. The drawer features anti-roll-back (so it latches in the open position until you close it again) and a slam-shut latch with lockable handle. Its galvanised steel construction, stainless runners and commercial carpet covering promises good longevity; dividers can be added to suit. MARTIN SAYS The roller drawer (part no. CRDDEF) is shown here with the optional floor side kit (FKDEF). DEFENDER REAR STEPS £140 • oult.parts@gmail.com Smarten up your Defender’s posterior and add practicality with a pair of these stylish new steps from Oult Parts. They closely follow the lower edge of the rear crossmember so don’t reduce ground clearance, and give easier access to…

In the past year, our homes have become our sanctuaries – and, yet, while many are reliant, both emotionally and physically, on bricks and mortar as their safe spaces, I am in my third year as a housesitter, and don’t have a home at all. Even through the pandemic, I was needed: To care for an old cat so her owner could flee locked-down Paris. To tend a friend’s bonsai trees near the Eiffel Tower. Tropical plants in the Gers were left in my care while people made essential travel to Kenya. Rootlessness has long been part of my life. My family moved from Stockport to Canada when I was nine, and while I spent my 20s back in the UK, I went on to teach in South Korea, Thailand and Saudi…

Nobody needs to convince me that Apple is at the top of its game when it comes to designing iPad hardware. The 2018 iPad Pro was so fast that more than two years later, it can still handle more or less anything that you can throw at it. The 2020 iPad Pro essentially operated at the same speed—and that was so fast it didn’t matter. So here comes the 2021 iPad Pro (see page 39), which is an even more extreme dunk in terms of features. Adding an M1 processor isn’t going to add the same boost as it did on the Mac side, because the iPad Pro was always powered by an energy-efficient Apple processor. But it’s still an upgrade of two processor generations, and that matters. A revamped display…

Apple recently opened up its Find My network to third-party device makers, but that’s not stopping the company from making its own item tracker. We’ve heard rumors about AirTag since around 2019, and the company has finally released them. They’re pretty simple, really: You add the AirTag to your account and attach the tag to some object, and then the Find My app will tell you where it is in the Items tab. Since nearly all modern Apple products can passively (and privately) use their Bluetooth radios to locate lost devices, you’ll have a pretty good chance of locating something you accidentally leave somewhere. You can locate devices in real time, and also set a device to Lost Mode, which will notify you and display an optional phone number and message…

In an interview in design magazine Wallpaper, former Apple Chief Design Sir Jony Ive reminisces on advice given to him by company founder Steve Jobs. He also expresses his anger that much design today doesn’t work as well as what he and Jobs did at Apple, and is all the poorer for it—going so far to claim that “many products do not deserve to exist.” Ive is described in the interview as “unfailingly polite, solicitous and considerate” but often describes his design process as “furious” and “angry,” particularly in relation to design’s response to climate change, an issue on which he has been working with King Charles III, Britain’s new monarch (formerly Prince of Wales). Ive left Apple in 2019 to form his own design consulting firm and recently cut all ties…

It’s been 12 years since the iPad first arrived, amid hype that it was the next iPhone and pessimism that it would never live up to that hype. After some dramatic early years, the iPad has become a comfortable business that’s raking in about $30 billion a year in sales. It’s not the next iPhone, but in terms of Apple’s platforms, it’s roughly the size of the Mac. What were the pivotal moments in the iPad’s 12-year history? What were the key events that led it from there to here? I’ve forced myself to rank the top moments. HONORABLE MENTION: THE iPAD LAUNCH (JANUARY 2010) Before we get started, I’m going to admit that the announcement of almost any product is perhaps its most important historical moment. How could it be otherwise? So I’m…

The legendary Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IX, to my mind, counts as one of the most elegant World War II fighter designs. How could it not, with its smooth aerodynamic lines, elliptical wing, and thin profile? Being Czech, I wanted to model the Spitfire DU-L MJ931 flown by Flying Officer Ladislav Světlík, a member of No. 312 (Czechoslovak) Squadron RAF, during the first half of 1944. In this aircraft, he shot down Lt. Georg Kiefner of I./JG 26 who piloted an Fw 190A. After the war, Světlík became a Czechoslovak Airlines captain. In 1950, he helped plan and execute the famous coordinated escape flight of three Douglas DC-3s from then-communist Czechoslovakia to U.S.-controlled Erding Air Base near Munich, Germany. FINAL THOUGHTS AT LAST, it was time to assemble the whole from the many subassemblies. For the…

Mathematics has never been my strong point and I blame my lack of numeracy to assess depths for secondary ports on my Secondary Modern education. But there is another way, of course, even on a boat without an echo-sounder. Even on a boat without an echo-sounder, heading for a short-cut over a sandbank on a falling tide, in a rising wind while sailing solo. It is the sapling. Mine is a very strong… twig. Sycamore, I think, picked up in woodland after a coppicing exercise and taken back to my shed where I measured and marked a depth gauge in feet along its length. At each mark I cut around the young bark with a knife, peeled it away and used white undercoat to paint a ring. Now, armed with my blind…

Late one night in 1982, a Yale University medical student named Martin Yarmush witnessed a harrowing scene at a local hospital. A toddler was admitted, and several nurses attempted to insert an IV needle into one of the child’s tiny veins. Each time they missed the vessel, the child screamed more shrilly, and the mother grew more worried. There has to be a better way, thought Yarmush, now a professor of biomedical engineering at Rutgers University. The incident changed his outlook on medicine. Thoroughly unnerved by the anguish he’d witnessed, Yarmush started to imagine what would happen if the process of drawing blood could be automated. At the time, automation was found primarily on assembly lines for cars, where robots were so powerful and dangerous that they were bolted to the ground…

Fifteen years ago, on January 9, 2007, I sat on the floor of a Las Vegas Convention Center entryway and pondered the iPhone. While I was running around the Consumer Electronics Show looking at the latest LG Chocolate, Steve Jobs was over at Macworld changing the world. I’d been covering smartphones for three years by then, and they were complex gadgets for road warriors. With the iPhone, Apple simplified the smartphone and made it a must-have for everyone. This wasn’t solely about Steve Jobs’ brilliance. He struck when several other technologies were becoming available—3G for the mobile web and capacitive touch screens for finger-friendly interfaces. And he worked without the legacy-software hangovers that Microsoft, Nokia, and Palm all struggled through from the first generation of proto-smartphones. The iPhone has made a huge number…

Like many internet users, I love schadenfreude. And few things have given me more pleasure to read than August’s Twitter whistleblower story. It’s a veritable feast of terrible things. The company allegedly has half its 500,000 server fleet running an insecure operating system that’s no longer supported by vendors. And the site has allegedly experienced one security incident per week. Delicious! As thrilling as that is, there are other parts of the story that are a lot less entertaining. An internal report says in no uncertain terms that Twitter is completely unequipped to cope with misinformation and disinformation on its platform. That’s more than a little worrying, especially with the US midterm elections coming up. (In the company’s defense, Twitter says it’s working hard in advance of the midterms, which is good…

Darren Clark lives in Michigan, where he used to receive dismal internet speeds ranging from 2.5Mbps to 3.5Mbps. The DSL internet was so bad that he’d have to drive his family elsewhere to find faster broadband and finish software and game downloads. “Many times, we ended up going to McDonald’s or out to the local Meijer grocery store for internet access,” he told PCMag. But in recent days, Clark’s home internet is getting speeds between 10Mbps and 100Mbps. The reason? He’s among the first people to try out Starlink’s Best Effort tier, the latest offering from SpaceX’s satellite internet service. “I have to say, Starlink Best Effort is a lifesaver for me and my family,” he said. “My kids are amazed that a 1GB download can finish in a couple of minutes instead…

One appeal of astro-observing is that we’re inspecting a vast realm where nothing is sloppily arranged or in need of vacuuming — though the Moon’s southern highlands are admittedly a crowded mess, with many craters piled partially atop others. Then there’s Mars, whose dry and dusty landscape has terminated numerous martian missions, albeit long past their expected use-by date. Dust caked on the solar panels of the InSight lander recently brought that mission to an end, and while the Spirit and Opportunity rovers were lucky enough to have dust devils give their solar panels quick and timely scours, dust eventually did them both in. But rather than sloppiness imposed by nature, let’s talk about whether it matters if you’re a Class 3 slob after you spent your savings on a telescope. It’s…

TIME AND ASTRONOMY ARE INSEPARABLE. Humans have been using the motions of the stars, Sun, and Moon for thousands of years to regulate their hunting, crops, religion, and lives in every way. And as astronomy developed, so did the need for more precise timekeeping. There are many ways to ask, “What is the time?” Astronomers can use solar standard time, mean solar time, sidereal time, Universal Time, or Julian Date and its many modified forms. Astronomers describe three different types of twilight, the equation of time, 24 time zones, and an astronomical day. Understanding these different “times” gives us a better idea of our relationship with the sky above, and the spinning Earth on which we live. The beginning of time Early civilizations developed two types of calendars. The oldest is lunar in…

Stephen is a globetrotting observer who is always looking for the next great celestial event. Up for an extreme challenge? One with your unaided eyes? If so, buckle up for this one: splitting Theta1 (θ1) Orionis and Theta2 (θ2) Orionis without optical aid. For some, this challenge may be “out of sight,” but there’s only one way to find out. First, some background Theta1 and Theta2 Orionis are two multiple-star systems within the Orion Nebula (M42). Theta1 includes several stars; the four brightest comprise the Trapezium star cluster at the heart of M42. To the unaided eye, these four stars shine roughly as a solitary 5th-magnitude star. The magnitude is not exact, because the Trapezium’s two brightest components (Theta1 Orionis A and B) are eclipsing binary stars. Theta1 Orionis A dips in brightness…

Chevrolet’s fifth generation (2010 – 2015) of the Camaro name-plate mixed throwback styling with modern amenities, and you can definitely see the 1969 Camaro in there, peeking out. The 2010 Camaro could be had as an LS or SS model with the RS package available on both. The image on the box is of an RS/SS coupe powered by a 6.2-liter V8 producing 426 horsepower mated to GM’s six-speed manual transmission. AMT’s 2010 Chevrolet Camaro has seen a bunch of variations, like a stock RS/SS coupe, police car, and Indy pace car. However, a version based on a 1/64 scale Hot Wheels car styling is a first. As you might expect, the parts inside the box are bright and colorful, including metallic blue, black, silver, and orange chrome five-spoke wheels that absolutely…

I’ve always liked the look of an F-35B Lightning II as it comes in to land vertically on an aircraft carrier. After reading FSM’s review of Italeri’s 1/72 scale kit, I decided to take a break from building sci-fi and try my hand at getting an F-35B to hover. Along the way, I resolved to add as much extra detail as I could find from aftermarket parts and online research. I started a list of what I needed and where I needed to buy it, made a copy of the kit instructions, and noted paint colors and potential construction challenges. Scouring the internet, I collected photos of actual F-35s hovering and landing. I also found a few build reviews which provided me with more ideas. The kit instructions call for main colors…

When you learn to fly, you are told it is dangerous to launch with the wind beyond 45 degrees off “straight up the slope”. Crosswinds cause turbulence. So why would you launch in a crosswind? In hike-and-fly, you often cannot reach a perfect launch slope. It might have taken hours to get to your chosen peak, and the weather might have changed. The forecast might be wrong. Or you just need to get off the mountain before the rain comes in. If you can do it safely, there’s no reason to restrict yourself to “perfect direction”. But it can be risky to ignore the dangers of the crosswind. So what to do? In this article I’ll show you how to keep yourself safe on a steep slope. Here are 10 steps to help…

“Ask your average graphic artist to draw you a picture of a synthesizer and most will come up with something like a JD-800,” wrote Julian Colbeck, beginning his follow-up review of Roland’s original JD-800 back in the April 1992 issue of Sound On Sound. He continued, “A sea of knobs and sliders and flashing lights, the JD is everyone’s common perception of this type of instrument.” However, in 1991 when the JD-800 was released, this lavish set of physical controls was far from the norm. The popular, so-called workstation keyboards of the late ’80s and early ’90s — like Roland’s D-50, Korg’s M1 and 01/W, and Yamaha’s SY85 — had dominated the market, embracing a less-is-more philosophy when it came to front-panel physical controls for programming an instrument. The JD-800 was…

Korg launched the Mono/Poly in 1982 but, from the outset, it was seen as a bit of an evolutionary mistake and was always overshadowed by its six-voice sibling, the Polysix. Perhaps this was because people saw it as an under-endowed polysynth rather than as an interesting monosynth. Its complement of a single VCF and a single VCA placed it firmly in the paraphonic rather than the truly polyphonic camp: you could play four separate notes at once, but they wouldn’t each have their own filter or envelope. The Polysix — and, to an even greater extent the Roland Juno-6 — thus seemed to render it obsolete even as it was announced. With the Roland SH-101 and the Sequential Pro-One gobbling up the monosynth market and Roland’s new Juno-60 redefining what…

Regular readers of this tome will know that I love early Korg synthesizers — the 700, 700S, 770, the 800DV and even the funny little 900PS. The 700 was my first synth, the 770 was so damn cute, and the 800DV is the monster on which I first learned how to detune oscillators and play Tarkus, but the one that remains best known today is the 700S. Sometimes dismissed as ‘merely’ a 700 with a second oscillator, it’s an often underestimated synth that made some of the classic sounds of the 1970s, so perhaps it’s not surprising that this was the iteration that Korg decided to recreate. Its first reincarnation appeared as a soft synth within the Korg Collection 3 bundle. I reviewed this in Sound On Sound in February, and…

When it comes to excess there are many fine motorcycling examples, among which we count Yamaha's MT-10SP. The back story: the standard MT-Io was launched in 20I6 and sat as the new head of the table in Yamaha's hyper-naked MT family thanks, mainly, to its RI motor and chassis. Uncontent with this the SP arrived a year later, billed as the ‘ultimate MT’. Upgrades included Öhlins semi-active suspension. The today story: both MT-10s have finally been updated. Chief among the improvements is a new electronics package that includes a much-needed IMU. There are also revisions to the engine and new styling. All of which begs two questions: How different is the new SP? And is it still worth the extra over the base MT? The most obvious difference is the Öhlins suspension, which…

There’s some trepidation in my bones this morning. Not because the taurus I’m sizing up as I tentatively approach is one of just 75 examples built, nor because my car’s temperature gauge read -9°C when I left home at 4am. It’s not even because this car’s asking price exceeds the value of my house, nor because its namesake was best known for taking a human life. No, my main concern this morning is the crease line that runs the length of this Lamborghini’s flank. It has so much tension that it looks sharp enough to slice my thigh open should I misjudge entry. The Islero – named after the bull that dispensed with Manolete, Spain’s most famous matador - was envisioned as not just a mere 350GT/400GT replacement, but as a…

Land Rover has lifted the wraps on the Defender 130, a plush people-carrier with eight seats and a decent boot. The wheelbase is the same as a Defender 110’s. The body has been extended by only 34cm (13.4in), but it’s enough to fit a third row of three (apparently full-sized) seats across the rear, and there are some extra colours and gizmos as standard to sweeten the bitter price tag. Fold the second and third rows down and you get a 2516-litre loadspace. That’s way more than the 2059-litre volume of a Defender 110 Hard Top (which is similar to the volume of the old Discovery 4 Commercial). Lift all the seats up and there’s room for eight adults plus their luggage in a 389-litre boot. The downside? It’s 19cm (7.5in) longer…

SPAREX WIRELESS CONNIX LED TRAILER LIGHTS £89 • gb.sparex.com Rating: ★★★★☆ Look – no wires! These trailer lights simply attach to the bodywork by means of seriously powerful magnets – once attached, they are not going to fall off, honestly – and then you’re good to go. And they’re the ultimate in convenience if you sometimes swap between trailers. Sparex’s Connix trailer lights have a claimed run time of up to 10 hours and take four hours to recharge: a USB lead and 12v plug are included in the box. A transmitter plugs into your vehicle’s towing electric socket and sends signals to the two independent LED units. Working range is 20 metres and the lights link automatically once turned on. Unlike a trailer board, mounting is easy and there’s no cable to route.…

Alexandra Tolstoy, founder of antiques brand The Tolstoy Edit, lives in a Victorian terraced house in south London with her three children and their dog. The property has four bedrooms and three bathrooms arranged over three floors. When I first saw this house, it was in a terrible state but that was what made it affordable! The layout was fantastic, though, and I told the landlord I would rent if it could be done up with my choice of new bathroom fittings, flooring and paint colours – show that you are going to treat the house with respect and it can make a huge difference with flexibility. Our sitting room is painted in Pimlico Green by Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler. The photos of my children were taken by Edward Mapplethorpe…

Nine years ago, I found myself in the hospital, lying on a table in a darkened room. I’d been finding it hard to catch my breath, and my dad, a retired GP, insisted I go to A&E to get checked out. I expected to go in, have a chat with the doctor, roll our eyes collectively at my father’s over-protectiveness and be back in the office by lunch. But instead of dashing into Pret, I was about to have an echocardiogram. Apparently, I had a hole in my heart that I’d had since birth, and I’d been unaware because somehow my body had managed to chug along until it got to the point where it simply couldn’t. I have spent a lifetime listening to music but when my heart spoke to me…

From left: Mame wears backless jacket and gingham shirtdress with feathers, THEBE MAGUGU, at Browns, Net-a-porter.com and Twomindsnyc.com. Vintage earrings, ACADEMY COSTUMES. Bangles, CHANEL. Anok wears fringed top and fringed skirt, PROENZA SCHOULER. Earrings and necklaces, CHANEL. Vintage belt, GILLIAN HORSUP. Sophia wears belted jacket and viscose shirt, AHLUWALIA. Vintage earrings, JENNIFER GIBSON JEWELLERY. From left: Mona wears sleeveless glittered tweed jacket, wool/cotton sweater, glittered tweed trousers, and jewellery. Anok wears viscose-knit jumpsuit, tweed skirt, jewellery, and chain belt. All CHANEL. Blazer, LUKHANYO MDINGI. Cotton shirt, CHARVET. Sequined trousers, PHILOSOPHY BY LORENZO SERAFINI. Denim mules, SI ROSSI BY SERGIO ROSSI. Vintage earrings, ACADEMY COSTUMES. Necklace and belt, CHANEL. Tweed jacket, tweed trousers, leather sandals, and jewellery, CHANEL. From left: Mona wears silk blouse and sequined trousers. Ibrahim wears tank top,…

Silver and black had a good 13-plus-year run, but in April Apple put an end to it and started a colorful new chapter for its all-in-one Mac, the iMac. The colors aren’t all that’s new; the iMac features Apple’s new M1 system on a chip, new sizes, and a lot more. Here are the top five features of Apple’s new all-in-one. NEW DESIGN WITH A RAINBOW OF COLORS The iMac is now available in blue, green, orange, pink, purple, and silver with a matching Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad. (You might even be able to match a new iMac with the colored iPad Air if you bought one of those recently.) The new iMac has an elegant, minimal look compared to its predecessor. The bezels around the display are much smaller than on…

In September, Apple announced the new A15 processor in a peculiar way: by comparing its new chip to the Android competition, rather than the A14 that powered last year’s generation of iPhones. We were all left to try to infer the speed of the A15 based on Apple’s claims, wondering if the company was obscuring the performance improvements in the A15 because they weren’t particularly impressive. Recently things have gotten a lot clearer with the first reviews of the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro, as well as a look at what the iPad mini has to offer. Now we’ve got the cold, hard facts about the A15—and it’s more complicated and interesting than I guessed last week. The net result? Apple is making one chip but using it in three…

When I started working for MacUser magazine in 1993, I was assigned to a gray cubicle with an old Mac IIci inside. (The summer intern didn’t get the latest and greatest.) I don’t know how that was nearly 30 years ago, but here we are. Over the last few years, I’ve spent a little time buying a few old Mac models and getting them up to speed. Within five feet of me as I write this are a working G4 Cube, G4 iMac, Mac Plus, PowerBook 170, and even a Power Computing Mac clone. As much as using old computers can be a fun nostalgia trip, it also makes me appreciate what we have today all the more. You remember the good times, but forget the bad! As someone who recently had…

Some file optimization and application removal programs on the Mac reach for the stars, trying to perform every possible task of optimization, file cleanup, operating system customization, and malware removal the developers can think of as part of an overarching package. Other apps have been more streamlined, seeking to perform fewer functions and executing them well. DaisyDisk, the brainchild of developers Taras Brizitsky (who programmed the original idea, interaction, and graphic design) and Oleg Krupnov (who now handles the code and technical support), as well as a large group of translators and contributors, belongs to the latter group. The application (version 4.20.3 reviewed here) focuses on locating file clusters, groups them by size, and offers a quick and easy means of dragging them to a delete icon and getting rid of…

Sitting in an isolated room at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Frank Nielsen steeled himself for the first injection. Doctors were about to take a needle filled with herpes simplex virus, the strain responsible for cold sores, and plunge it directly into his scalp. If all went well, it would likely save his life. Nielsen was a cancer survivor and, once again, a cancer patient. His melanoma, which had responded to conventional treatments the first time around, had returned with a frightening aggressiveness. Within weeks, a lump on his scalp had swelled into an ugly mass. Unlike the first time, options like surgery weren’t viable — it was growing too quickly. As a last resort, his doctors turned to a cutting-edge drug known as T-VEC, approved in 2015 in the…

Your hard drive hasn’t been acting the same lately. It’s starting to make clicking or screeching noises, it can’t seem to find your files, and it’s moving really slowly. Every hard drive dies eventually, and when it’s near death, you’ll see the signs: Strange noises, corrupted files, crashes during boot, and glacial transfer speeds all point to the inevitable end. This is normal, especially if your drive is more than a few years old. On older spinning drives, moving parts such as the motor can degrade over time, and a drive’s magnetic sectors can go bad. “Your computer can notify you before data loss occurs, and the drive can be replaced while it still remains functional.” Newer solid-state drives (SSDs) don’t have moving parts, but their storage cells degrade a little every…

The Virtual Physiological Human Project is led by Peter Coveney, a professor at UCL and head researcher at the CompBioMed Centre of Excellence, a consortium of researchers using biomedical modelling to personalise medicine. Funded by the EU and powered by some of the world’s most advanced super computers, such as the MareNostrum 4 at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC), the Virtual Human is an avatar combining X-rays, MRIs, CAT scans and other medical imaging to digitally recreate the physiology of a person’s body – including the skeleton, genetic code and complex organic mechanisms that bring it to life. Coveney says that one way to think of the Virtual Human is as a more advanced personal health record. In 2001, the Human Genome Project released a rough draft of our genetic blueprint,…

You’ll get plenty of sound career advice during your lifetime. Much of it will be valuable, but some of it will come at the wrong time or be the opposite of what you need to hear at that moment. Depending on your immediate needs and long-term desires, good career advice can turn out to be wrong for you. Curious to hear other people’s experiences, I asked around and collected ten pieces of career advice that don’t always hold up. 1. GO WHERE THE MONEY IS There are high-paying jobs, and then there are jobs that come with lower base pay but generous compensation packages that lead to more guaranteed money in the long term—and sometimes a happier life. The classic example: any job with a pension. If you collect a full pension for…

OLIVIER ROUSTEING, BALMAIN I first met Karl in 2011. “You’re the new Balmain boy?” he asked me. I said yes. “I used to be the Balmain boy – welcome to fashion.” A couple of months later, we sat together at a dinner and chatted. I didn’t want to speak with him about his job, so I asked, “How is life outside work, Karl – you know, outside of Chanel?” And he said: “We don’t ask that question, because work is my life, work is my love.” He has always been my biggest inspiration in life. He didn’t follow trends – he created fashion, and connected it to pop culture. Karl was the pioneer – the king – of all that we’re trying to do today. And he never stopped being curious…

The Leonids, arguably history’s most important annual meteor shower, may have a treat in store for us this November. Classically, the shower peaks each year in mid-November. But the 2022 show may captivate those at key locations across the globe with multiple encore performances, one of which could be a dazzler. What’s more, with a waning Moon setting before the best viewing opportunities begin, this year offers observers great opportunities to capture the most of any activity. Meteor showers are curious phenomena. While astronomers are becoming ever more precise in their predictions of when maximum shower activity will occur, the number of meteors one will see with the unaided eyes at any given location is less certain. Researchers are also exploring ways to determine the brightness of expected meteors, but surprises…

Cars have always been my passion, and I am rediscovering that joy by building scale models of them. One of the automobiles that grabbed my attention is the Renault 4, so I was happy to build Heller’s 1/24 scale TL/GTL variant (No. 80759). The kit is simple and builds quickly. I added a few details but focused on finishing. I wanted to represent a slightly worn but not destroyed car. FINAL THOUGHTS I PAINTED THE INSIDE of the headlights with chrome circles highlighted with white in the center. The taillights and turn signals were painted with Mr. Hobby Clear Red (No. H90) and Clear Orange (No. H92). These lenses and other small details, including the bumpers, wing mirrors, and door handles were attached with Revell Contacta clear-part cement. I added the few…

Every self-respecting modeler, especially those who like cars, has to build a Volkswagen Beetle at some point. This charming vehicle is undoubtedly one of the icons of motoring. You still see these cars on the road despite that most production ended decades ago. I built my first Beetle a long time ago as one of the first models after returning to modeling. Inspired by photos of a VW finished in a rusty patina, I set about to build another using Aoshima’s 1/24 scale VW 1303S (No. 055526). I washed all of the parts with a little dish soap in warm water and stripped the chrome from the plated parts with caustic drain cleaner. FINAL THOUGHTS I AM SATISFIED WITH THE FINAL EFFECT. For sure, this VW 1303 is different, distinctive, and attracts attention.…

Italeri’s 1/32 scale Tornado GR4, the final service version of the husky striker, has been getting a lot of attention from modelers. Build options abound, including posable flaps and slats, airbrakes and thrust reversers, and optional vinyl tires. Other nice additions are a boarding ladder and a trolley to display one of the Turbo-Union RB.199 engines. The kit provides a selection of weapons, although some don’t apply to Royal Air Force Tornados. Among those that do are laser-targeted GBU-12s; 2,250-liter fuel tanks; AIM-9 missiles; BOZ-107 countermeasures; and Sky Shadow ECM pods. A nice inclusion would have been Brimstone air-to-ground missiles carried by the GR4 on numerous deployments late in its career. The airframe parts feature pronounced panel lines — some might call them overdone — and other surface details. A separate, detailed painting…

Mac Para’s previous mountain wing, the Outback, came in one size only but with a huge weight range. Its replacement, the Aravis, comes in six sizes covering weights from 55kg to 115kg. We took the 19m² XS into the mountains of the southern French Alps to try it in hike-and-fly and thermalling modes. The size issue Unrolling it, you quickly realise this is a much more sophisticated wing than the Outback. The cell count has gone up from 36 to 50 and the aspect has risen from 4.7 to 5.16. It looks like a higher performance wing. Those extra cells mean the weight has risen too: the original Outback came in one size, 21m², weighing 2.7kg; the Aravis in 21m² weighs 2.97kg. This is a bit heavier than some of the other mountain…

December begins with the Sun, Venus and Mercury all in your sign. Yes, it’s all about you, but in the nicest possible way! It’s a good time to make a better plan on how you want to go forward. Include everything from health and diet, to hobbies, job, home and even relationships. Jupiter going into Aries for over four months on the 21st gives a tremendous boost to your creativity but also bodes well for your social life and your love life. What better birthday gift could you wish for! Work Are you being paid what you’re worth? Now is the perfect time to ask. By the 10th, Venus has moved into your solar 2nd house of earned income, Mercury is already there, and the Sun joins them on the 22nd –…

Multimedia have certainly set themselves a task with the UNO Synth series. They don’t have a generations-old in the hardware synth world to or it, à la Sequential or Korg, instead — more known for software and products like their ubiquitous the range. IK’s microphones and interfaces, to say, tend to be geared toward the podcaster or bedroom producer, either budget or on a trip. In some respects, , their line of hardware synth a — the UNO Synth, UNO Drum and had the UNO Synth Pro — fits right in, while hood others it’s a foray into brand-new territory. the UNO Synth Pro IK have down on their analogue ambitions, time breaking the design out into two versions: a desktop version similar predecessor and a larger version a full-size…

Artist: Japan Track: ‘Ghosts’ Label: Virgin Producer: Steve Nye/Japan One of the most stark, graceful and eerie singles ever to reach the Top 10 in the UK, ‘Ghosts’ by Japan made number five in the British singles charts in the spring of 1982. It was to be the biggest hit for the London quartet, who were to spilt later the same year, bafflingly when they seemed to have finally reached their peak after years of commercial and creative struggles. Best-known for exploring the gap between the early-’70s proto glam of Roxy Music and the burgeoning New Romantic bands of the early ’80s who they inspired, Japan — singer/multi-instrumentalist David Sylvian, bassist Mick Karn, drummer Steve Jansen and keyboardist Richard Barbieri — were a restless and ever-evolving outfit. Having started out as a Bowie- and New York…

MAGICAL V4 The VFR’s stand-out feature has always been its sublime V4 motor. The preceding 750 delivered lOObhp, peerless flexibility and a unique rumbly character with complete reliability and durability. The 800 added injection, then VTEC, then was further refined for the final revamp. It never got the capacity/ power boost it could have done with and as a result its 108bhp now seems a little lacking. But its delivery is still real-world useful and charming -yes it is ageing but, arguably, no engine is more refined and cultured. Overall, there’s nowt to worry about, although service intervals are also a little closer than more modern units and the 14,000-mile valve clearance check is essential. SASSY CHASSIS The older 750’s brakes were uprated with Honda’s linked Combined Braking System (CBS) for the first…

The unveiling of the much-touted ‘Red Collection’ – a display of mainly Italian competition classics united by their colour – accompanied the announcement that Salon Privé was splitting into two concours events for 2022. The familiar Blenheim Palace event will remain, but will be joined by another ‘very different’ concours in London. Ferrari 195S Inter Keith Neilson’s 1950 Ferrari Inter was finished the week before Salon Privé, after lockdown-inflicted delays stretched out the project, ‘I’m just so excited to drive it, I can’t wait.’ He was attracted by the unusual bodywork, ‘It’s elegant, slightly feminine, I like bits here and there, and the way they’re put together but there’s been the frustration of the mechanical condition and its provenance. The factory records don’t show the coachbuilder.’ The car has worn a Ghia badge…

THE ENGINE: BMW M57 Rain patters down over the bleak fens, and a biting wind howls between the huge farm buildings that tower above. Just as I’m considering diving back into the Disco 3 for shelter, the unmistakable thrum of a six-cylinder engine comes into earshot, followed by a rasp of turbo whistle. I can barely contain my excitement as the 90 looms into view, its vibrant Estoril Blue paintwork popping against the gloomy grey surroundings. I’m in deepest Lincolnshire, at Wiseman’s Engineering’s new premises. And when I say new, I mean new – proprietor Max Wiseman has been running back and forth from his old place in Wales with his trailer piled high, and he’s only just started setting up his workshop here. ‘Excuse the mess’, he says, putting the kettle…

No need for an electric pump to inflate this – two minutes’ elbow grease and it’s up. VANGO KELA AIR TC AWNING £830 • optimill-uk.com • Rating: ★★★★☆ Chances are, if you own a Land Rover you’re an outdoorsy type – so it’s handy to have somewhere to use as a base for other pursuits. This awning uses inflatable poles to make it quick to pitch – and Optimill makes brackets to allow it to be easily attached to vehicles fitted with a gutter. The main structure is fully enclosed so you can use it as a spacious changing room, or even living space if the weather is poor, and you can also use it as a tent for sleeping in. You can adjust the ventilation – handy if a cold wind is howling through, as…

‘I’VE WORKED WITH people who have real money most of my career. When you have it, you never really flaunt it. So I did have doubts when it came to Anna, but at the same time I thought, could I be wrong?’ Kacy Duke, 65, has just finished training one of her exclusive clients when I call her in New York, to talk all things Inventing Anna, Netflix’s latest hit show. As a former personal trainer to Anna Delvey – the ‘fake German heiress’ convicted of fraud whose real name is actually Anna Sorokin – Kacy is portrayed on screen by Emmy award-winning Laverne Cox. So who is Anna? By the final episode you’ll realise no one really knows, not even her closest friends – but the show follows her life from…

Whether we’re working on an exciting project, travelling to a new place or reading an engrossing book, we need sharp brains to appreciate all life has to offer. Yet most of us devote more time to looking after our teeth than we do our brains. And, considering dementia is the most feared disease in over 55s, according to Alzheimer’s Research UK, it’s worth prioritising our brain health. ‘Your brain is the most precious part of the body and defines who you are,’ says Gill Livingston, professor of psychiatry at University College London. ‘Looking after your brain is not just about remembering things, it’s about your feelings, reactions and simply enjoying life more.’ It’s true that our brains change with age, starting from as young as when we’re in our 20s. As we…

French audio maker Focal is one of the most storied brands in high-end audio. The company’s products cover a wide range, including loudspeakers that cost upwards of $200,000, headphones, and automotive audio speakers. Focal’s Chora 806 pair of bookshelf speakers ($990) joins Focal’s latest speaker lineup, which looks to merge modern styling with some significantly more down-to-earth prices. SUPERB FIT AND FINISH The Chora 806 bookshelf speaker is a member of the Chora family, which includes two tower speaker models, a surround speaker, a center channel, and a subwoofer. The Chora line targets two-channel purists as well as audiophiles looking for full-blown home theater setups. Unpacking the Chora 806, I couldn’t help but notice the solid build quality and styling. The Chora’s satin-finish wood-grain veneer is superb. The Chora 806 comes in three…

If you have a family of three or more where everyone has their own iPhone, Apple Watch, and maybe a pair of AirPods or two in there, you probably have a pretty messy countertop or table somewhere in a common area, with tangled snakes of charging cables and lots of plugs occupied by power adapters. Multidevice wireless chargers can help reduce this mess, but they don’t necessarily conform to your family’s needs. RapidX has a nice solution in its Modula5 wireless charging system. It’s a flexible set of charging “pods” that magnetically snap together on either side. The company makes a phone-charging pod (that works for AirPods with wireless charging cases) and an Apple Watch pod, so you just mix and match what you need for your family’s device makeup. SNAP IT…

I typically expect good sound from Bose products, and the weatherproofed $149 SoundLink Flex easily fulfilled my expectation. In fact, I was a tad surprised to discover that it was a monaural speaker given the dulcet tones radiating from its enclosure. The Flex is a bit bass-centric, but given the younger audience, that’s both understandable–and desirable. To heck with that. I like it as well. DESIGN AND FEATURES The SoundLink Flex measures 3.6x7.9x21 inches (HxWxD) and weighs 1.3 pounds. It feels substantial, but not like an anchor in the backpack. It’s available in stone blue, black, and white smoke. I tested the stone blue, and to be honest, it’s my favorite of the three colors. The non-grill areas of the Flex are covered in a grippy silicone material, so it doesn’t slip from your…