ThePointblank

The problem is that domestic fabs are only capable of 14nm production processes, and only barely so. TSMC has what is in effect, lightyears lead on almost any other fabs out there. It will be many years before domestic Chinese fabs can catch up to TSMC, by which time TSMC would have leapfrogged again.

Problem is that everyone's fabs are made in the US or use US technology, and the Americans can cut off support for those manufacturers. Also, since TSMC is by far the biggest player and one of the most advanced in the semi-conductor chip manufacturing arena. If Huawei is forced to shop elsewhere with companies that are willing to do business with them, or rely on domestic Chinese companies, they will take a big hit regardless because TSMC has some of the most advanced fabs in the world, capable of 5nm and 7nm chip processes. If Huawei is forced to only work with domestic manufacturers that don't have the level of advancement of TSMC, they may be forced to make their chips on much older and less capable 12nm and 14nm processes, with the resulting hit on both performance and thermals, which would make them far less competitive than other companies that have access to the more advanced manufacturing processes.

From the Nikkei Asian Review: https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Huawei-crackdown/TSMC-plans-to-halt-chip-supplies-to-Huawei-in-2-months This would be a big blow to Huawei, as TSMC is the primary manufacturer for Huawei's HiSilicon division. And since TSMC has 50% of the world's semiconductor market, it would be very hard for Huawei to find a new partner with the capacity of of TSMC. Huawei accounts for about 20% of TSMC's revenue, but TSMC expects to easily make up the loss with new business from other companies.

What are you intending to shoot primarily and how? It really depends on your subject, as that will drive your lens choices. For me, I currently run with the Canon RF 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM, the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM, the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM, and the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens for what I shoot with my EOS R. I will probably replace my EOS R with either the R5 or R6, and add probably the RF 600mm or 800mm to my collection down the line because of my subjects, which require a lot of reach but I do need decent portability. Primes in general are sharper and experience less distortion and chromatic aberration than the equivalent zooms but that lead has diminished to the point that unless you are doing something extreme, or pixel peeking extensively, most people won't notice. Zooms are far more versatile and allow you to have a variety of focal lengths at hand without having to change lenses. Sony is a bit tough as the first party lenses for Sony are generally much more expensive than the equivalent lens from other manufacturers, with a slightly smaller lens catalogue as well.

Do you have a relatively recent DSLR camera kicking around your house, with video out capabilities? If you do, get a video capture card; you'll also need a dummy battery for the camera so you can run the camera without worrying about battery life of your camera. Alternatively, if you have a relatively recent Canon camera, you can use Canon's software to use it as a USB webcam. Exact models compatible are listed on Canon's website here: https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/portal/us/home/support/self-help-center/eos-webcam-utility/

So, a quick update on my final decision. I've elected to buy a headset and a mic separately. I'm picking up the Audio-Technica ATH-M40x headphones, coupled to the Antilion ModMic USB attachable microphone. Figured that I would rather have a good headset and a good mic separate in case one of them breaks, so a total replacement isn't going to be always necessary.

Updated the original post with some details from the launch event.

It's a mirrorless replacement for the 5D Mark IV, so it is a Nikon D850 and Sony A7R III and IV competitor. That sort of competition says the camera should be a sub $4000 USD camera.

US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo has indicated that the US government is looking at banning Chinese social media apps, including TikTok, due to concerns about how Chinese social media companies are handling data about their users: From Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-tiktok-china-pompeo/pompeo-says-u-s-looking-at-banning-chinese-social-media-apps-including-tiktok-fox-idUSKBN2480DF The concerns about TikTok's handling of user data stem from the fact that they are owned by a Chinese firm, ByteDance, which was reported to have cooperated with the Chinese government in censoring and surveilling content pertaining to a number of sensitive topics for Beijing, along with the concerns about Chinese law requiring Chinese companies to assist the government in data collection efforts. Due to these concerns, the app is banned from use on all US and Australian government devices, because of the risk of spying. The app, TikTok was also fined last year by the FTC for violating child privacy protection laws in the US as well.

A few new updates: Canon's virtual product launch is on July 9th, with a broadcast time starting at 8:00am EST: https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/portal/us/home/products/virtual-product-launch https://petapixel.com/2020/07/02/its-official-canon-schedules-virtual-product-launch-for-july-9th-at-8am-et/ Expected to be announced is as follows per PetaPixel: Canon EOS R5 Canon EOS R6 Canon RF 85mm f/2 Macro IS STM Canon RF 100-500mm f/4-7.1L IS USM Canon RF 600mm f/11 Canon RF 800mm f/11 Canon RF 1.4x Teleconverter Canon RF 2x Teleconverter RF Battery Grip A slew of relevant accessories Also being reported is that the EOS R5 is a monster at video, with leaked information indicating that the EOS R5 has no crop in 8K or 4K/120p, and the camera doesn’t seem to be limited by overheating issues: https://petapixel.com/2020/07/06/8k-modes-for-canon-eos-r5-leaked-no-crop-no-overheating-issues/ Apparently, per the leaked image, the EOS R5 was able to fill a 512GB CFExpress card with 8K RAW footage, for a total of 21:31 minutes of record time, without overheating. Very impressive. I wonder how Canon is handling the heat output to process and record 8K RAW footage. They must have some trick up their sleeve to make it work without a known recording limit.

They were partnered with Airbus Defence and Space, which are not known for being a cheap satellite designer and manufacturer. They were also intending to use Virgin Galactic for a small number of launches, using Virgin's LauncherOne small sat launcher, and had the option to use Airbus' Ariane 6 launcher as well. Considering their cost structure, it was no surprise that OneWeb ran into financial difficulties so quickly; they got a high cost structure compared to someone like SpaceX, and didn't have the financial capital like some of their competitors, like Amazon.

OneWeb is using Airbus-designed and built satellites, launched from Russian Soyuz rockets, launching from French Guyana and from various Russian spaceports. They were going to get screwed against companies like SpaceX; their partnership with Airbus isn't cheap, and neither are launches with Russian rockets.

Considering that there are effectively two companies that actually make CMOS sensors for cameras, with one taking the lion's share of the market, it is effectively one brand making almost all of the camera's sensors.

Actually four issues: 1. The UK is no longer involved in Galileo because of Brexit. Part of the failure to properly negotiate the exit is the reason behind this. 2. A super-constellation of LEO satellites is the absolutely wrong technology to be using for a GPS analogue system. Every single GPS-type system in existance uses MEO or geostationary orbit satellites. The reason is that they can more easily cover more of the world with less satellites, and they can do with higher precision from the higher orbit as they would have far less potential interference from the earth’s atmosphere. 3. GPS type satellites are huge, and for a good reason; if you want high precision, encrypted, secure geolocation capabilities, a satellite the size of what's being used by OneWeb is far too small to cram in all of the gear necessary. These things have atomic clocks built in them to permit high accuracy, and atomic clocks are not small things. 4. Also, OneWeb is a British company in name only. Their mailing address, head office and business registration papers are in the UK, but most of their assets and facilities are overseas in the US. That's why when they filed for bankruptcy, they filed in an American court, not a British one.

Seriously, this is a big WTF. The British government isn't investing in OneWeb for telecommunications; they are doing it as a replacement for the EU’s Galileo satellite navigation system. The technologies involved are fundamentally wrong for use as a satellite navigation system. OneWeb is working on basically the same idea as Elon Musk’s Starlink: a mega-constellation of satellites in LEO (Low Earth Orbit) which are used to connect people on the ground to the internet. A satellite navigation system, such as GPS, Galileo, GLOSNASS, or BeiDou are MEO (Medium Earth Orbit) or even geostationary orbits. It's clear that lobbyists at OneWeb have convinced the government that they can completely redesign some of the satellites to piggyback a navigation payload on it. They are bolting an unproven technology on to a mega-constellation that’s designed to do something else. It’s a tech and business gamble, and IMHO, it's going to fail, and fail spectacularly.

People still do. I pay for a private cloud for a Microsoft Exchange web mail service, which is private for me, and I get to use my own personal domain name. If you are a small business, it looks far better to have your branding in your e-mail address, like BobSmith@bobsburgers.com rather than having it like BobsBurgers@gmail.com.

I'm going to go with my first instinct, which are the Samsung Galaxy Buds+. They seem like the best fit, so I've placed an order with the local Best Buy for them.

I was rocking a set of Sennheiser CX 1.00's from a few years ago. Old, fairly cheap at the time, but decent.

Looking for a set of decent earbuds at a good price to complement my Samsung Galaxy S20+, as it doesn't have a headphone jack, and my favourite pair of earbuds won't work with them because they are wired. Looking at the following options: Google Pixel Buds (2020 version) - not available yet, but appears to be a good mid-priced option Sony WF-1000MX3 - Most expensive of the bunch, they are supposed to have excellent sound quality, plus, active noise cancellation Samsung Galaxy Buds+ - Another mid-priced ear bud, should be the most compatible with my phone, with wireless power share compatibility with my phone, and out of the box compatibility. Strong battery life as well. Anker SoundCore Liberty Air 2 - cheapest of the bunch. Supposedly significantly better than their price point suggests, with an excellent microphone set as well Which of the options is my best bet? I'm leaning towards the Samsung's, but the Anker's price is compelling. Thanks.

I would say Backblaze would be a better option; their personal cloud backup is $6 per month for unlimited storage.

Canon has now brought Mac compatibility to the EOS Webcam Utility Beta: https://www.dpreview.com/news/9094163024/canon-brings-its-eos-webcam-utility-beta-to-macos The Mac version operates almost identically to the Windows version.

You need a video capture card, and right now, with the current situation, video capture cards are difficult to find at a reasonable price.

You obviously have never heard of the Green Cheese missile, or the Blue Peacock nuclear bomb. And yes, both were real things.

A couple of flaws that I see: No headphone jack. Seriously, Sony, no headphone jack so people recording can monitor audio? Tiny and pathetic battery life. Seriously, this thing has a tiny battery, and the battery life isn't that great. You are going to need to pack a whole bunch of spare batteries for extended recording sessions, and apparently, the USB connection won't provide enough power to keep the camera recording, so it will always be sipping power from the internal battery. No USB-C? What year is this Sony? Seriously Sony? A 5 minute recording limit in 4K? And if you disable the recording limit, the camera becomes uncomfortably hot to the touch? A 24mm wide angle max on the lens for Vlogging? Not wide enough, Sony. Apparently, the screen has an issue with people wearing polarized sunglasses... so if you are wearing polarized sunglasses, you can't see the screen. Oops. The price. $799 USD just for the camera alone, with all of these limitations? Price is dangerously close to something like a Canon EOS M6 Mark II, which can switch lenses to a much wider lens.

Might be able to work around it by converting your RAW files as they come off the camera into Adobe DNG.