There will be no massive crowds, but plenty of music will still be on tap for New Years Eve in Times Square. Using a combination of television and streaming, the show will go on despite the pandemic restrictions against huge gatherings.

Times Square Alliance andCountdown Entertainment, the co-organizers of Times Square New Years Eve, today announced that singer-songwriterAndraDay willheadline the live, commercial-free webcast and TV pool feed.

Day will perform her Grammy Award-nominated single Rise Up, as well as her song Forever Mine. Day will also continue the New Years Eve tradition of singing John Lennons Imagine just before the Ball Drop Celebration to count down the final seconds to the new year.

The co-organizers of the event said the official Times Square New Years Eve event lineup will feature live performances by Gloria Gaynor, Pitbull, Anitta, Jennifer Lopez, Billy Porter, Cyndi Lauper, Jimmie Allen, Machine Gun Kelly, The Waffle Crew,andUSOShow Troupe,as well as an array of special activities and appearances that will happen throughout the evening.

The six-hour, live commercial-free webcast will begin at 6:00 PM ET with the lighting and raising of the New Years Eve Ball atop One Times Square. The webcast will include musical performances by AndraDay, Gloria Gaynor, Anitta, Pitbull, the USO Show Troupe,andThe Waffle Crew.

Jamestown, owner of One Times Square, home of the iconic Ball Drop Celebration, has created a virtual New Years Eve experience.Everyone can start the festivities today and enter a virtual world of Time Square filled with games, music, and art.

Then, on December 31st, viewers can tune in for a live broadcast where they can choose from multiple camera feeds to direct their own New Years Eve show. Plus, viewers will also get a chance to see other celebrations from around the globe, and hear messages from local leaders and people from dozens of cities from around the world.

Visitwww.VNYE.comfor more information and download theNYE appto join thelivecelebration on New Years Eve.

Times Square 2021 LIVE performances on the Planet Fitness and Countdown Stages:

For 116 years, Times Square has been the center of worldwide attention on New Years Eve, ever since the owners of One Times Square began in 1904 to conduct rooftop celebrations to greet the New Year. The first Ball Lowering celebration occurred in 1907, and this tradition is now a universal symbol of welcoming the New Year.

Actor and TV personality Jonathan Bennett, star of the Hallmark Holiday film The Christmas Houseand Mean Girls,and host of the Food Networks Halloween Wars and Holiday Wars,will return to the celebration as Times Square New Years Eve Host.

The 12th annual webcast will cover the action and festivities in Times Square, beginning with the Ball Raising at 6 p.m. ET, plus live musical performances, hourly countdowns, behind-the-scenes stories, and star-studded interviews as anticipation builds towards the midnight countdown and the famous Ball Drop. The custom-designed embeddable video provides viewers with a full Times Square New Years Eve experience.

All participants will remain masked at all times except when performing and will adhere to distancing regulations throughout the production site. Additionally, all Special Guest families, who are included in the capacity limits for the production, will be staged within their personal household safety areas to ensure proper distance from other participants.

How to Watch

The Times Square 2021 Webcast will begin at 6 PM ET on December 31, 2020 and end at 12:15 a.m. ET on January 1, 2021. The show will be streamed live on multiple websites, including TimesSquareNYC.org,NewYearsEve.nyc,Livestream.com/2021,andTimesSquareBall.net.

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New Years Eve Will Still Rock In Times Square, Even Without A Live Audience - Deadline

At Christmas time last year, the only cloud on Boris Johnsons horizon was how he was going to pay for a winter break with Carrie on Mustique. The answer, rather typically, was that someone else would pick up the tab. The opposition later raised a complaint, but few Tories begrudged their leader his getaway in the Caribbean. He had just delivered a stonking election victory, their best since Margaret Thatcher was at her zenith. He was, in the words of one senior Tory, lord of all he surveys. Celebratory Christmas receptions at Number 10 were pungent with the scent of hubris.

Being a student of the classics, the prime minister should have known that the gods will punish arrogance. Nemesis came in the shape of an invisible microbe. The pandemic has tested the mettle of leaders around the planet, but among the mature democracies few were as singularly ill-equipped to handle a crisis of this nature and magnitude as Britains prime minister. He has looked good only when benchmarked against Donald Trump.

The coronavirus crisis could not have been more cunningly engineered to expose Mr Johnsons flaws. He was made prime minister not because anyone thought that he was a cool and decisive head with the leadership skills and moral seriousness required to handle the gravest public health emergency in a century. He was put there because he was a successful representative of the entertainer branch of populist leadership that prospered in the pre-virus era. We elected him to be a good times prime minister, comments one senior Tory. His curse is to be prime minister in bad times.

Few of his strengths as a politician have been of much utility in this emergency. All of his weaknesses have been searingly exposed. A man who spent his career ducking responsibility was suddenly confronted with a challenge that could not be run from, though that didnt stop him vanishing at the outset when he went missing from critical meetings. In the coronavirus, he met an opponent impervious to glib slogans and empty promises. Here was a disease posing hideous and inescapable dilemmas that confounded the have your cake and eat it philosophy by which he had lived his life.

Not that he didnt try to do that anyway. At the time of the first national lockdown, when one of many lives versus livelihoods arguments was boiling within government, I attempted to discover which side the prime minister was taking. One witness to these internal debates told me: Boris being Boris, he wants to end all the restrictions and get the economy fired up again without a single life lost. He cant have that, of course.

The wrong criticism of his performance is to say that he has made mistakes. Confronted with a novel disease for which the country was unprepared, any prime minister would have made errors. The correct criticism is that he has failed to learn from his mistakes and egregiously repeated them. There is a pattern from the prevarication over ordering the first lockdown, to the bout of indecision over the second, to last nights sudden cancellation of Christmas relaxations and imposition of a Yuletide lockdown on London and the southeast.

The pattern is one of resisting taking the necessary steps at the time when they would have been most effective and then being compelled to implement them late and with more damaging effect. Even Tories concede that their governments record is at the bottom end of the international league table. Britain has suffered the double-whammy of having one of the highest death levels per million of population while enduring the most severe hit to the economy among the G7 club of prosperous states. One former Tory cabinet minister remarks: Theres bound to be a public inquiry. We will be held to account for the fact that our deaths are higher and our recession is deeper. This senior Conservative adds the coda: Boris will tell the inquiry that he was chairman of the board and it was his people who failed him.

That sounds right. From supply failures of essential equipment to the summer exams debacle to the care homes scandal, another pattern of the crisis has been attempts to swerve culpability for all the things that have gone wrong by blaming anyone else but ministers. Power without responsibility has been their credo. Six senior civil servants, among them the cabinet secretary, have been sacked or pushed out this year. Not a single minister has resigned. Yet few dispute that Mr Johnson appointed one of the weakest cabinets in modern history. Given his lack of dedication to detail and the hard grind of delivering competent government, he needed a capable cabinet. Feebly fearful of having any substantial figures around the top table who might challenge him, he instead surrounded himself with a cabinet characterised by Tory MPs as lightweight, talentless, loyalist duds and nodding dogs.

The only explanation for the extraordinary survival of the serially blundering Gavin Williamson as education secretary is that he exists so that the rest of them can say: Well, at least no one can call me the most useless member of the cabinet. Another persistent pattern during this plague year has been to over-promise and under-deliver. We were going to have a fantastic this and a world-beating that and a moon-shot the other. We would have settled for a test, trace and isolate programme that worked. This was accompanied by a compulsion to claim the virus was about to be beaten. Way back in mid-March, he breezily proclaimed that we can send coronavirus packing before suggesting we can turn the tide within the next 12 weeks.

Optimism can be a positive trait in a politician, but wishful thinking is a fatal characteristic in an epidemic. So is deceptive messaging to the public. In the summer, Mr Johnson foolishly tied himself to a guarantee that Britain would enjoy a significant return to normality by Christmas, a promise that his scientific advisers conspicuously declined to endorse at the time and which was dramatically proved completely false last night. That misjudgment, like all the other ones, flows from his personality. Just below the surface of his performative face lurks an insecure character who trusts no one and yearns to be loved by everyone. He hates being the bearer of bad news and tough choices. One of the many women in his life, Petronella Wyatt, once excused his mendacity on the grounds that he will do anything to avoid an argument, which leads to a degree of duplicity.

Yet the successful handling of this crisis demanded a capacity to confront people with things they wouldnt want to hear and sufficient reserves of trust to persuade them to act in ways theyd rather not. His most effective personal performance was in the video he released after his own self-described mugging by the virus when he paid tribute to the NHS as the beating heart of the nation. Even then he failed to start a proper conversation with either his party or the country about the tradeoffs involved in getting through this kind of emergency. Though he became prime minister because his party rated him as their best communicator, he has persistently struggled to find the right tone when addressing the nation.

Anyone familiar with his biography knows he is a libertarian Tory who used to earn a living as a columnist by fulminating against the nanny state. In some ways, this has served him well. It has been obvious that he has imposed curbs on behaviour with extreme reluctance. This has not stopped rightwing Tories from railing against restrictions, but it probably meant that he got less pushback from the public than a Labour prime minister might have done. Yet there has been a profound problem with a prime minister who never gives the impression that he fully believes in his guidance to the nation. Even when he has life-preserving advice to dispense, he hasnt been able to shake the habit of trying to disguise grave tidings in comedic gift wrap. Remember squashing the sombrero or Operation Last Gasp? Now, it is the invocation to have yourself a merry little Christmas.

With his party disenchanted and voters disapproving, this Yuletide wont be accompanied by hubristic partying at Number 10. The prime ministers hopes of a revival of his reputation in 2021 now rest on a successful vaccination programme. In the new year, says one senior Tory, we will need bouncy old Boris back to cheer us up that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

The light will have to be exceedingly bright to wipe away all the memories of how long and dark, stumbling and flailing has been the nations journey through the tunnel.

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With his sudden U-turn over Christmas, Boris Johnson caps a year of debacles - The Guardian

If you're new to grilling or ready to upgrade your grill, the abundance of options on the market can makepicking the best onefeel overwhelming. It's hard to know whether to go for a gas grill (fueled by propane or natural gas),kamado grill,charcoal grill,pellet grillor perhaps even aportable model.

Gas grills are a great place to start for new grillers and they make a great upgrade, too. Gas grills are simple to use, easy to control and roomy enough to feed the whole family.

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Read more:The best outdoor tech of 2021|Best kamado grills of 2021: Big Green Egg, Char-Griller, Kamado Joe and more

We put six of the best-selling models you can buy right now through their paces at the CNET Smart Home to help you find the best gas grill. After cooking up 12 racks of ribs, 18 whole chickens and 96 burgers, here's how it all shook out.

Note our original list included the DynaGlo four-burner (DGE486GSP-D) and Dyna-Glo Smart Space Living three-burner (DGB390SNP-D) among our top picks. These models are now discontinued, and we've updated our recommendations accordingly.

If burgers are the mainstay of your cookouts and backyard barbecues, this Weber gas grill is a great choice. In fact, it's a great choice for cooking all around. Weber's 10-year warranty applies to all its grill parts, so you'll be set for years to come, even with heavy use (like, if you let no weekend go by without having a chance to char-broil some burgers). Its consistent performance in our testing delivered burgers with a good char and a slightly pink center.

The Spirit II E-210 is also one of Weber's iGrill compatible models, an additional accessory line that includes Bluetooth temperature probes you can monitor via a companion app. If you'll be preparing dishes that require more time on the grill, the iGrill system will help you keep an eye on things from a distance.

At $379, this gas grill sits in the middle of the affordability spectrum. The cons are that you won't get a side burner or a cabinet to hide your propane tank, though there is a rack to hang it on with a sliding gauge mechanism. Still, I was pleased with the searing and even cooking across this Weber model, and I'd recommend it to anyone who dreams of the perfect Saturday spent grilling.

The name says it all. This $499 gas grill is a good choice if you're looking for large capacity, and it feels like working in a professional outdoor kitchen. Equipped with four burners, two separate fireboxes and a side burner, this grill will easily conquer cooking for the largest crowds.

The Char-Broil Commercial Double Header does an excellent job of preventing flare-ups, no matter how greasy your meat. And it takes a low-and-slow approach to cooking, which means you can relax in a lawn chair without worrying about whether your meat will burn. However, it is expensive. You might luck out with summer sales, but be prepared to spend big for a big gas grill that will serve up patties by the dozen. Read our Char-Broil Commercial Double Header review.

Weber's larger Spirit II model includes three burners. It also comes with a propane tank scale and six hooks for easy tool organization. It performs well and gives you the option of an iGrill accessory, a $100 Bluetooth temperature probe that connects to your mobile Weber app to monitor the temperature of your food.

Priced higher at $479, the Spirit II E-310 looks great, offers smarts and is a good size for most people. If the tank scale and iGrill 3 accessory matter to you, the Spirit II might be worth your money.

The CNET Smart Home editors have been cooking and serving up grill data for a few years now. In addition to the models above, here are the other gas grills we've tested. These do include some models that are currently unavailable.

To determine the best gas grill and get a feel for how these grills perform in a variety of cooking scenarios, we perform three tests. Based on different meats, methods and heat settings, these tests show us how efficiently and evenly a grill does (or doesn't) cook.

Our first test is ribs. It's an anecdotal round, so there isn't a connected thermometer set or software capturing specific data. We preheat each grill on high for 10 minutes before turning it down to low, indirect heat. Depending on the grill size, that means turning one or two burners off completely.

We remove the outer membrane on a rack of St. Louis style short ribs and season it with an all-purpose rub we use for ribs and chicken. Then, the ribs are placed on a piece of aluminum foil and grilled for three hours with the lid closed the entire time.

Rib testing takes three hours on low, indirect heat.

Rib enthusiasts may not agree with this relatively short and smoke-free cooking method, but it allows us to see just how well a regular propane gas grill can cook low and slow. Even with the arguably slim three-hour cook time, ribs at the end of this test can be tender and juicy.

A blind taste test by five selfless and dedicated (definitely not just there for the free food) coworkers results in a ranked list with the lowest scoring grill declared the winner. We repeated this test twice, you know, for science.

To test the grill with a midrange cook time and medium heat settings, we grill a whole chicken. We preheat the grill on high for 10 minutes, then turn the heat down to medium and turn off burners to create an indirect heat environment.

Once we've trimmed and seasoned the bird, we place it in a roasting pan and insert one temperature probe into each chicken breast, for a total of two probes per chicken (this is an important step -- even if the grill has a built in thermometer -- because undercooked chicken is no good for anyone). To keep our results as fair as possibly, all the chickens are as close as possible to 5.5 pounds.

Whole chickens are cooked on indirect, medium heat until both breasts reach 165 degrees.

Those temperature probes are connected to a datalogger and laptop with a software program that records the internal temperature of each chicken breast every two seconds. Each chicken cooks until the temperature in both breasts reaches a food-safe 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

Chicken grilled well should have a crispy skin and meat that is cooked through fully but not dry. This test is performed in three rounds, giving us a solid average cooking time for each grill.

Burgers are our final test for our grill reviews. We measure out 5.3 ounces of 80/20 ground beef and press them into uniform patties. Those patties go into a grill basket and we insert a temperature probe into the center of each patty at a 45-degree angle.

With the grill preheated for 10 minutes on high, the basket goes onto the grill. After six minutes of cooking, we flip the basket and monitor internal temperature. Once the last burger in the basket reaches 145 degrees, the batch is finished. A good burger in this test is one that has both a nice outside char and a slightly pink center.

Burgers go on the grill over direct, high heat.

Burger testing points out any hot spots across the grill's cooking surface if one burger consistently reaches 145 before the others in every round.

An average 15- or 20-degree difference across the quickest and slowest patties in a batch was the norm in our testing. Red flags are raised when we begin to see differences in the 30- to 40-degree range. In this group of grills, only the Royal Gourmet gave us a real hot spot issue across the grates.

Comparing these gas grills isn't all apples to apples. With different grill sizes, cooking grates and BTU levels, a difference in performance is expected in each individual outdoor gas grill. Still, there are some observations to be made.

One thing our test data highlights is how quickly a grill can cook on its own medium or high setting. That doesn't mean each grill is set to the same preheated temperature. It simply means we turned the knobs to what each grill indicated was medium heat.

The chart below compares each grill's average cooking time for chicken and burgers over three identical tests.

If speed isn't your deciding factor, don't fear. There are other characteristics you can compare to choose the grill that's right for you.

Exactly which one is that? It depends on your cooking style. If you're cooking for large groups frequently, you'll need a grill with a large primary cooking surface, a warming rack and a side burner. Some of you might also have strong feelings about the cooking grates -- you need stainless steel, or cast iron grates, or porcelain coated grates, or even porcelain coated cast iron. Look carefully at each description to be sure you get what you're looking for. If you just plan to use your grill for flipping a few burgers occasionally, stick with a smaller or less expensive model. And of course, if you're looking for a portable grill or an indoor grill, these won't be right for you.

Looking for a small propane gas grill with a compact cooking area that gets the job done? KitchenAid'ssize and bold color options make it a solid, stylish choice that also cooks food well. If you want that side burner and plenty of power to go with it, the Char-Broil Commercial Double Header delivers great power and a stylish stainless steel look. Otherwise, I'll point you back to my top pick this year: the Weber Spirit II E-210.

Once you've picked out the best grill for you, don't forget accessories. You'll want to look at grill covers and pick up grilling tools like a grill brush, a thermometer to check for food-safe temperatures and liners for the drip tray.

Take a look at this chart to compare size, power, warranty and more.

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Best gas grills of 2021: Weber, Char-Broil and more - CNET

BOSTON, Dec. 17, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --Perigee, founded by a former NSA mathematician, combines network exploitation and machine learning expertise to stop malicious threats, improve behavior, and extend the life of connected devices in real-time. Today, Perigee announced the closing of their first institutional capital round of $1.5M.

The round was led by Outsiders Fund's Austin McChord and Teddy Seem, with additional investment from Westport, Contour Venture Partners, BBG Ventures, Innospark Ventures, Ray Rothrock, and Corey Thomas. The newly invested capital will be used to hire new talent, further develop the product, and grow the enterprise within environmental controls and beyond.

McChord, founder and former CEO of data backup service Datto, said, "Teddy and I are incredibly excited to work with such a talented team. This space is clamoring for new thinking and we are really excited to be backing Mollie and her vision around how the ever-changing security landscape can be improved."

Perigee's founder and CEO Mollie Breen previously led a team at NSA where she focused on critical infrastructure. With Perigee, she is extending that expertise to critical infrastructure across enterprises with a specific focus on connected devices.

The same brand of connected thermostats installed in the physician lounge and in the NICU will inevitably be a part of a different workflow and have a different risk profile. Perigee isolates threats unique to a specific thermostat, in real-time, in order to minimally impact an enterprise's critical operations.

"Connected devices are used to increase the ROI of certain critical operations by making them faster and automated, and we focus on increasing the ROI of the devices themselves by making them more trustworthy and longer lasting," Breen said.

Perigee is uniquely positioned to bridge IoT security and IoT analytics.

Breen said: "Analytics solutions are often not built with security in mind. We are a security-first solution, that quantifies improvements in a single device's overall behavior and hygiene, for all devices."

The company is focusing initially on devices within HVAC and environmental controls in critical industries like healthcare at a time when these sensors are of the utmost importance.

"HVAC and Environmental Controls play an important part in patient care. If you don't have those, especially now due to COVID-19, you're not taking care of them. These systems are just as important as your Electronic Medical Record. Secure them like it," said Mitch Parker, CISO of Indiana University Health.

The Perigee team sees HVAC and environmental controls as the optimal starting point to expand into the growing footprint of connected devices.

Breen said: "As real estate developers look to healthcare to set future standards for healthier buildings, working with hospitals means we understand the most critical devices today, and in the future too."

About Perigee

Perigee provides protection and enhancement for connected devices' entire life cycle. Perigee was founded in 2019 by former NSA mathematician Mollie Breen, CEO.Learn more at: http://www.getperigee.com

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https://www.getperigee.com

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Perigee Raises Pre-Seed to Bring Security and Performance to HVAC and Environmental Controls - PRNewswire

Apple raised a lot of eyebrows this summer when it announced that it would stop using Intel processors. Its Mac computers would instead migrate to its own processors based on the Arm Instruction Set Architecture (ISA). Intel and AMD have been dominant in the PC laptop and desktop market for decades. For more than 15 years, Intel has been the sole supplier of processors for Apples Mac range. However, Apple has a long history with Arm.

Arm specialized in building energy-efficient processors that only used a few watts of power. This meant they were perfect for smartphones and tablets. From the very first iPhone right up until today, Apple has used Arm-based processors in its mobile devices. With that wealth of experience and expertise, the Cupertino company concluded that it could build processors that were energy-efficient, but also offered competitive performance. It, therefore, decided to expand the reach of its smartphone and tablet processors and move into the PC market.

See also: Want an Apple laptop? Here are the best you can buy right now

And so the Apple M1 processor was born. It is the SoC found in the new MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and Mac Mini. It is also the first of a series of processors that will see Apple completely replace Intel in every Mac model. This transition will take about two years and the three new M1 based devices are just the beginning.

But, is the performance of the M1 competitive, or did Apple make a mistake? Lets find out!

Credit: Gary Sims / Android Authority

The Apple M1 is an SoC. That means it has a CPU, a GPU, a Neural Engine, and I/O (like Thunderbolt). It has 16 billion transistors and is manufactured using a 5nm process.

The M1 has four performance cores, each designed to run a single task as efficiently as possible while maximizing performance. Four efficiency cores handle lighter workloads. There is also an eight-core integrated GPU. According to Apple, the M1 offers up to 3.5x faster CPU performance, compared to 1.2GHz Intel Core i7-1060NG7 found in the previous generation of MacBook Air.

If you want more information on the Apple M1 then you might find my Apple M1 and new Macsvideo useful.

Credit: Gary Sims / Android Authority

To test the performance of the Apple M1, I am using a MacBook Air with the 8-Core CPU/8-Core GPU variant of the processor along with 8GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.

According to the official Geekbench results, the MacBook Air with the M1 scores 1,690 for the Single-Core test. That means that the new MacBook Air has better single-core performance than every Intel Mac that exists. Not just every Intel MacBook Air, but every Intel-based Mac.

The new MacBook Air has better single-core performance than every Intel Mac that exists.

For multi-core, the M1 based MacBook Air scores 7,304. With just eight cores, this isnt going to be earth-shattering. The late 2019 Mac Pro has a 28-core Intel Xeon processor, so the mere eight-core MacBook Air isnt going to beat it. However, it does beat every other Intel-based Mac that isnt a Mac Pro. The only exceptions are the very high-end 27-inch iMacs from 2019 and 2020. Very impressive for Apples first laptop processor!

Cinebench is a real-world test that evaluates a computers processor by running CPU only rendering tasks and measuring the performance. Cinebench R23 gives the M1 based MacBook Air a score of 1,515 for single-core performance. That is higher than the Intel Core i7-7700K, higher than the Intel Core i7-1060NG7, better than AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2990, and just below the 11th generation Intel Core i7-1165G7.

Credit: Gary Sims / Android Authority

As with Geekbench, the multi-core score isnt going to be revolutionary. It scores 7,326, which interestingly beats the Intel Core i7-7700K and the Intel Core i7-1060NG7 (from the previous generation of MacBook Air). But there are plenty of processors with 16, 24, 32, or more cores. These naturally score higher.

Speed Test G is our custom performance testing system that takes the best parts of traditional speed tests and combines them with the benefits of benchmarks. It runs primarily on Android (although there is a version for iOS) and measures performance by launching a series of apps that perform both single-core and multi-core tasks. As in real life, not everything is single-core, but neither is everything multi-core.

Speed Test G PC, a reimagining of Speed Test G this time for desktops and laptops gives the MacBook Air a run time of 56 seconds. That is faster than the 2019 MBP 16-inch with the i9-9980HK and faster than the 2019 MBP 13-inch with the i7-8569U.

The MacBook Air has no fan or active cooling. This makes it a perfect candidate for testing the thermal properties of the M1 chip. Does the processor slow down when it heats up? If so, by how much?

After a night of sitting in my office, the MacBook Air had a surface temperature of around 20C. I then ran several programs to stress the CPU and GPU to the maximum. This included Speed Test G PC and the Unity benchmark from the mobile version of Speed Test G (but built for the M1 on macOS). It was also connected to the mains, generating heating as a side product of charging. As the processor started to heat up, the bottom of the laptop became warm (due to the passive cooling), particularly in the center towards the back. This heat spread slowly outwards from that middle point.

Apple has managed to jump directly into the laptop and the small desktop market at a competitive level.

After an hour of heavy load, the temperature on the underside of the device hit 41C. Additionally, the battery stopped charging (although it wasnt full or even near the smart battery level of 80%). This was due to the heat. There is likely some software that detects the thermal situation and stops the charging to ensure that the device doesnt become too hot. Once the stress on the processor was reduced, the laptop started charging again.

While the laptop was nice and warm, I ran the multi-core test from Cinebench R23 again. The result was a 7,110, down from 7,336 less than 5%.

What this means is that the processor generates heat under heavy loads, as does every processor, but the passive cooling is able to disperse that heat efficiently. The overall impact on performance is minimal.

Credit: Gary Sims / Android Authority

Apple has managed to jump directly into the laptop and the small desktop market at a competitive level. The M1 is fast. Is it the fastest chip on the planet? No, but it isnt designed to be. Is it the fastest processor ever used in a Mac laptop? Absolutely. Will it handle your workloads? Almost certainly.

Opinion: Dont be duped by performance, Apples M1 silicon is all about platform control

It also means that Apple has successfully made the first steps in replacing Intel processors in its Mac range. The next iteration of processors those that will be used by the iMac will be very interesting, as Apple will be trying to loosen Intel and AMDs grip on turf that is traditionally their stronghold. Can Apple do it? If the M1 is a measure of the companys potential then the answer is a resounding yes.

Originally posted here:
Apple M1 tested: Performance benchmarks and thermal throttling - Android Authority

By KC Ifeanyi2 minute Read

Theres a scant history of posthumous Oscar winners, but Chadwick Bosemans performance in Netflixs Ma Raineys Black Bottom is a shoo-in for a nominationand could possibly clinch a win on the power of one scene alone.

Adapted from August Wilsons 1984 play, Ma Raineys Black Bottom stars Boseman as Levee, a hot-tempered trumpet player in legendary blues singer Ma Raineys band. A recording session is fraught with mounting friction as Levees volatility leads to a devastating incident.

Ma Raineys Black Bottom marks Bosemans final onscreen performance since he passed away from colon cancer in August. Watching his frenetic and searing portrait of a deeply troubled musician serves as a heartbreaking reminder of the magnitude of talent cinema lost.

While Boseman is magnetic throughout the film, theres one monologue in particular thats practically gilded with Oscar gold.

After Levee shows an exuberant amount of deference to the white recording studio owner, Levees bandmates playfully rib him on how he talks a big game but is spooked by the white man. As playful as they were with their jokes, Levees temperament rapidly darkens before exploding into a heart-wrenching story explaining his tortured relationship with white men. When he was just eight years old, a gang of white men broke into his home and raped his mother in the kitchen. What followed was a slow-burn revenge plot his father carried out against the perpetrators that brought some justice for the crimes but ultimately ended in his murder.

Boseman masterfully carries the scene with an intensity of barely contained rage, which is only magnified by the fact that its a five-minute monologue with little editing.

But, as screenwriter Ruben Santiago-Hudson explains, that scene almost turned out differently.

I wanted to keep it simple and just deal with Levee and his eyes and the eyes of the other men, Santiago-Hudson says.

However, he received notes to add more elements to the scene to break up the long shots.

They felt that in movies, you dont just sit on one character for three pages, he says.

He tried to incorporate more people in the scene or even just hands performing various actions relating to Levees story as sort of an abstract way to add more beats to the scene. But in the end, Santiago-Hudson pressed for his original idea to keep it as simple as possible, and thats what made the final cut.

I said, Trust it: the actor can do it. Augusts words can do it. [Director George C. Wolfes] direction can do it, Santiago-Hudson says. Im directing when Im writing. I dont tell George, You gotta use this camera or that lens. But Ill say, The camera begins to slowly creep in on Levees eyes. Occasionally well cut back to the other characters. You see how theyre absorbing the story. His rage grows. His eyes intensify.'

The most recent actor to earn an Oscar after his passing was Heath Ledger, who won as best supporting actor in 2008 for The Dark Knight. Boseman, who was undergoing surgeries and/or chemotherapy during filming, is equally deserving of the honor.

There was a transcendence about Chads performance, but there needed to be, said Viola Davis in an interview with The New York Times. This is a man whos raging at God, whos lost even his faith. So [Boseman has] got to sort of go to the edge of hope and death and life in order to make that character work. Of course, you look back on it and see that thats where he was.

KC covers entertainment and pop culture for Fast Company. Previously, KC was part of the Emmy Award-winning team at "Good Morning America," where he was the social media producer.

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Chadwick Boseman should win the Oscar for this scene in Netflix's 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom' - Fast Company

The loan disbursement of below Rs 50,000 ticket size has grown five times in the last two financial years, a report by the CRIF India shows. As per the report, the trend is seen in low-income families and borrowers are opting for personal loans for consumption needs and not for emergency purposes.

As per the CRIF India report, the small-ticket personal loans are primarily driven by non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and fintech startups.

NBFCs and neo-age lenders or fintechs are increasingly targeting young, low-income, digitally-savvy customers who have small-ticket and short-term credit needs, and no or limited credit historycustomers who are generally avoided by the incumbents because of their high perceived risk," the report said.

As of March 2020, the report shows that more than 50 percent of volume share in small loans is of Rs 5000 or less segment which is a strong indication that the concept of checkout finance and payday loan is catching up.

As per the loan disbursal trends by age of the borrower, it is seen that personal loans demand is largely being driven by millennials and young borrowers in the age group 18-30 years with an increase in share from 27 percent to 41 percent in annual originations in the last 2 years.

In FY20, the proportion of loans disbursed to those with income of below Rs 3 lakh has grown over the last three years, reaching 69 percent in new loans in FY20.

In terms of volume, NBFCs continue to grow and have doubled their market share in the last two years, observed at FY2020 end. Their current market share as of August 2020 is 42 percent. Public sector banks and Private banks have lost significant volume share over the last 2 years.

In terms of value market share at the end of FY 2020, there is no significant shift in the last two years for NBFCs.

However, in FY 2020-21, disruptions due to COVID-19 have led to an increase in share of mature borrowers while younger borrowers have demanded lower volume of personal loans.

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Personal loan: Small-ticket disbursements up five times in 2 years - Moneycontrol.com

Microsoft is reportedly designing Arm-based chips for Azure servers and some Surface PCs, signaling the computer giants increasing willingness to lower its reliance on Intel.

Bloomberg reported Friday that the Redmond, Wash.-based company is working on in-house processor designs for its own servers that run Azure, mirroring an effort by Amazon Web Services, which has already began offering cloud instances using its own Arm-based server CPUs, Graviton.

[Related: New Microsoft Security Chip Will Go Inside Intel, AMD CPUs]

The news organization, which cited unnamed sources familiar with the plans, said Microsoft is also exploring its own chip designs for some Surface PCs, which already include models with chips co-designed with Qualcomm and AMD separately.

In a statement to CRN, Frank Shaw, corporate vice president of communications at Microsoft, confirmed that the company is investing in its own chip design capabilities.

Because silicon is a foundational building block for technology, were continuing to invest in our own capabilities in areas like design, manufacturing and tools, while also fostering and strengthening partnerships with a wide range of chip providers, he said.

Intel did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Arm, which licenses chip designs to companies that make their own processors, has been making a bigger push into the data center over the past few years with its Neoverse platform. In September, the company revealed its V1 and N2 core designs, both of which Arm said significantly outperform CPUs made by Intel and AMD while also having high energy efficiency.

The emergence of Arm in the data center is being powered by many factors: customization, efficiency, ecosystem diversity, but all of that builds on top of performance, Chris Bergey, senior vice president and general manager of Arms infrastructure business, said in September. If Neoverse wasnt delivering a significant measurable value proposition you would not see the market adoption and momentum that we are achieving.

But Arm has also been finding more success with client computers in recent times, most notably with Apples Arm-based M1 processor, which is now available in a few Mac models. Apple has said that the M1 can outperform competing processors by up to two times.

Adding to the intrigue is the fact that Nvidia, a semiconductor company that primarily makes GPUs but is also starting to built its own server systems, is in the process of acquiring Arm from its current owner, SoftBank, for $40 billion.

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Microsoft Is Working On Arm-Based Chips For Azure, Surface PCs: Report - CRN

I appreciate the X900H's terrific contrast, its enhanced color reproduction, and its sleek design, but a TV like the Vizio OLED offers better contrast, better color, and an even thinner design. And although the X900H is far more affordable than Samsung's 2020 flagship, the Q90T, you can spend far less on the TCL 6-Series and land yourself a TV that performs just as well as (if not better than) the X900Hand a much better smart platform, to boot.

Still, if you invest in the Sony X900H, you're getting a terrific TV that will look good across all types of content, be it movies, sports, gaming, or streaming. Its price tag is a bit higher than it should be, but it's an expertly engineered TV with a spec list to back up the cost.

Editor's note: Due to COVID-19 complications, this review leans heavily on test results in lieu of hands-on time with the TV.

Credit: Reviewed / Jackson Ruckar

The Sony X900H features an Android-based, built-in smart platform.

There are four sizes in the Sony X900H series ranging from 55 inches all the way up to 85 inches. The variant we've tested is the 65-inch model, which we received on loan. Here's how each of the sizes in the series shake out in terms of pricing:

Different sizes of TVs in a series tend to perform very similarly to one another, so we don't expect there to be major differences between the 55-, 65-, 75-, and 85-inch variants of the X900H. One thing to keep in mind, however, is the difference in local dimming zone count. Generally speaking, more local dimming zones are favorable, as they allow for tighter contrast control. Sony typically doesn't disclose its TVs' zone counts, but it's possible that each size in the series features a different amount of zones, which theoretically could affect contrastthough probably not to the degree that any size in the series performs drastically different than another.

Here's a rundown of key specifications shared by all sizes in the X900H series:

Credit: Reviewed / Jackson Ruckar

The X900H's remote control is pretty basic, but it does include a microphone for voice integration.

In addition to Google Assistant and Chromecast support, the X900H features an Android-based smart platform. It's not our favorite smart platform on the market today (that honor goes to Roku), but it's flexible and supports a ton of apps.

The Sony X900H also supports eARC, Variable Refresh Rate, and Auto Low Latency Mode, but these enhancements require a firmware update. The X900H is also capable of supporting 120 FPS at 4K resolution after the appropriate firmware update.

Before testing each TV, we make sure the panel is on and receiving a continuous signal for at least 24 hours, allowing the pixels plenty of time to warm up. Our 65-inch X900H received this standard warm-up time before any readings were taken.

For SDR tests, we used Sony's "Custom" picture setting. For HDR tests, we also used the TV's "Custom" picture setting. Weve chosen these settings because of their accuracy (Sony reports that its "Custom" picture setting is the best-calibrated mode), but results may vary depending on which picture mode is enabled. For every test we conducted, the X900H's light sensor (which adjusts the TV's backlight setting based on ambient lighting conditions) was disabled.

We use a standard ANSI checkerboard pattern for most of our basic contrast testsincluding the ones reported belowbut we also use white and black windows ranging from 2% to 90% to test how well the contrast holds up while displaying varying degrees of brightness.

I'll expand on our test results throughout the review, but for now, here are some key takeaways:

HDR contrast (brightness/black level): 562.7 nits/0.077 nits (ANSI checkerboard) SDR contrast (brightness/black level): 359.5 nits/0.057 nits (ANSI checkerboard) HDR peak brightness: 771 nits (40% white window) HDR color gamut coverage: 91% (DCI-P3/10-bit) SDR color gamut coverage: 100% (Rec.709)

Credit: Reviewed / Jackson Ruckar

When it comes to upper-mid-range TVs in 2020, the X900H is ahead of most of the pack. It supports HDMI 2.1-adjacent features such as VRR, ALLM, and 4K gaming at 120 FPS, but these enhancements require a firmware update and only two of the TV's four HDMI ports will support them. On one hand, these next-generation features are great to have in your back pocket, especially if you plan on investing in an Xbox Series X or a Playstation 5.

On the other hand, some users might find themselves juggling cables if they want to plug in more than two devices that take advantage of such features.

Take a peek at the back of the Sony X900H's panel and you'll find a cutout with the following connectivity options:

4x HDMI (2x HDMI 2.1) 2x USB (1x USB 2.0, 1x USB 3.0) LAN ethernet port, RF input, optical audio output, 3.5mm audio output

Credit: Reviewed / Jackson Ruckar

The X900H's all-around great performance chops are anchored by the TV's excellent contrast and color reproduction.

From a performance standpoint, the X900H is a well-rounded TV with good-enough grades across the board, but it excels particularly well in the always-important categories of contrast and color. It features Sony's proprietary Triluminos display technology, whichdespite the slippery nature of TV marketing termsoperates similarly to quantum dot technology. For evaluation purposes, here's all you really need to know: The Sony X900H gets considerably bright for its VA-style panel due to its display hardware, which enhances brightness and allows for extra-wide, extra-vivid colors.

In fact, pretty much everything we threw at the X900Hfrom Netflix shows to UHD Blu-rayslooked fantastic. One reason for its impressive performance is the X900H's overall contrast, which pairs bright highlights with steady, consistently low black levels. While sending the X900H a test pattern in HDR, we measured a peak brightness of around 770 nits. And although the TV's average black level range of .05 to .09 nits isn't as deep as some of its OLED-equipped competitors, the X900H does a tremendous job keeping the black levels in that rangedarker picture elements tend to remain dark, even when brighter bits are introduced.

Credit: Reviewed / Jackson Ruckar

The Sony X900H might not be capable of the perfect black levels you'll see on an OLED, but its respectable black levels don't fluctuate depending on content type.

The X900H's well-balanced performance sheet is also anchored by well-saturated, accurate colors. The TV covers 100% of the Rex.709 SDR color standard and bolsters its picture processing with terrific out-of-the-box calibration, so just about everything that airs on TV is sure to look great (just be sure to use the TV's "Custom" picture mode). For newer, HDR-mastered content like big-budget Netflix productions and 4K Blu-rays, the X900H's wide color gamut keeps things looking vivid enough to appreciate, but true color-chasers might be better off investing in a brighter, more-dazzling picture like the one found on the quantum dot-enhanced Samsung Q90T.

Credit: Reviewed / Jackson Ruckar

The TV's design is all about sharp lines and minimal fuss.

The X900H may not feature the razor-thin panel you'll find on an OLED TV, but its svelte design and clean lines are sure to look smashing in any room you happen to grace with its presence.

The panel emphasizes clean lines with minimal textures, and the metal feet that it rests atop are among the slimmest I've seen from TV stands of this particular design class. This, combined with the TV's super-thin bezels, gives the X900H an air of levitation. The negative space underneath the TV is more than enough to accommodate a small armada of soundbars and streaming devices, though should you decide to wall-mount your new TV, the X900H is ready to hang, too.

Credit: Reviewed / Jackson Ruckar

A chunky remote control alongside one of the X900H's razor-thin feet

The included remote control isn't as sophisticated; its blocky form and meat-and-potatoes appearance won't make it the star of your coffee table, but it's familiar enough to navigate easily and Sony seems to be slimming it down with each passing year, which is appreciated. Believe it or not, this remote used to be chunkier!

It would have been a bummer if a TV of this caliber didn't feature finely-tuned motion handling, and thankfully, the X900H doesn't disappoint. Backed by a 120 Hz native refresh rate, the TV is packed with various enhancements that compliment its hardware. The X900H features Sony's X-Motion Clarity software, which essentially tweaks standard black frame insertion functionality by allowing the content itself to determine the size and duration of each black frame. In practice, this makes for improved motion performance that limits the amount of dimming that typically results from black frame insertion software. This feature, along with the more rudimentary motion smoothing options, can be disabled.

All of that is to say that the X900H looks great during fast-paced, motion-heavy content like sports, action movies, and video games. The specific manner in which you wish to see the TV's motion enhanced is entirely up to you, and since Sony is releasing a firmware update that allows for 4K content at 120 FPS, future video game titles that push these boundaries will hopefully look (and feel) stellar on the X900H.

Another promised firmware update will include Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) and Auto Low Latency Mode (ALLM), the former of which eliminates screen tearing during gaming and the latter of which optimizes the TV's settings when it detects a gaming device .

Credit: Reviewed / Jackson Ruckar

The X900H's limited viewing angles make for a subpar experience if you're not sitting in an ideal seat.

Like most VA-style TV panels, the X900H's Achilles' heel is its narrow viewing angles, which prevent the picture from looking its best when you move away from a direct, head-on position. Move just three or four feet off to the side and the picture will take on a washed-out appearance, its colors losing vibrancy as you step away from the center. As a result, the X900H is not a great TV for movie night, as only the folks with direct lines of sight will appreciate the TV at its best. This is a particularly tough pill to swallow when you consider that the smallest size in the series is a not-so-personal 55 inches.

Of course, the tradeoff to a VA panel's typical viewing angle limitations is its propensity for excellent contrast, and as we've discussed, the X900H is no slouch in that department. Interestingly enough, the Sony X800Halso released this yearfeatures an IPS-style panel, which allows for terrific viewing angles at the expense of its contrast.

Credit: Reviewed / Jackson Ruckar

The X900H will treat you right, but you can stretch your dollar further with other options.

If you compare the Sony X900H to some of the most competitive TVs in its price bracket, the results are all over the place, but the takeaway is clear: The X900H is a better pick than more affordable TVs that underperform (relative to their price range) but a not-so-great pick when compared to more affordable TVs that overperform.

A TV like the Hisense H9Gwhich features quantum dot-enhanced brightness, a 120 Hz refresh rate, and an excellent color gamutis a few hundred bucks cheaper than the X900H but doesn't come with the same array of features. Between the two, I'd recommend spending the extra $200-$400 on the X900H, if only for the inclusion of eARC (which is strangely absent in the H9G).

On the other hand, a TV like the TCL 6-Seriesone of our Best of the Year award-winnersis cheaper than both the Sony X900H and the Hisense H9G, but it still manages to perform at their level. Plus, the 6-Series offers nearly all of the X900H's special features, like eARC, VRR, and ALLM.

It's yet to be seen whether or not the TCL 6-Series will prove to be a paradigm-shifting TV that forces companies like Sony and Hisense to offer out-of-the-box support for next-generation features at a fiercely competitive price, but for now, it's hard to deny just how pricey TVs like the X900H look in comparison.

The Sony X900H is a terrific TV with a respectable array of features that will check the boxes on most people's wishlist, even A/V enthusiasts who want a taste of the high-end features of tomorrow. As a TV whose price tag is in the second-highest tier, however, the X900H is sandwiched between top-tier options that offer more than it ever could and third-tier options that are nipping at its heels. When TVs like the TCL 6-Series cost far less than the X900H and still manage to go toe-to-toe with it, it's hard not to eliminate the second-highest price tier from consideration altogether.

For this reason, I'd recommend folks take a hard look at the TCL 6-Series if they're in the market for a TV in the X900H's price range. The TCL's design elements aren't as slick as Sony's, but I'd put the 6-Series' picture up against the X900H's any day of the week, and being a Roku TV, it also comes with our favorite smart platform built right in. That said, while the 6-Series comes with VRR and ALLM right out of the box, it won't display 4K content at 120 FPS.

If you're amenable to spending a bit more, the Vizio OLED is a fantastic way to maximize your dollar. It offers perfect black levels, brightness capabilities that come close to the X900H's, and an eye-poppingly thin panel.

The Sony X900H is a fantastic TV, but there are ways to wring more value out of your money.

Michael Desjardin

Senior Staff Writer

Michael Desjardin graduated from Emerson College after having studied media production and screenwriting. He specializes in tech for Reviewed, but also loves film criticism, weird ambient music, cooking, and food in general.

Julia MacDougall

Senior Scientist

Julia is the Senior Scientist at Reviewed, which means that she oversees (and continually updates) the testing of products in Reviewed's core categories such as televisions, washing machines, refrigerators, and more. She also determines the testing methods and standards for Reviewed's "The Best Right Now" articles.

We use standardized and scientific testing methods to scrutinize every product and provide you with objectively accurate results. If youve found different results in your own research, email us and well compare notes. If it looks substantial, well gladly re-test a product to try and reproduce these results. After all, peer reviews are a critical part of any scientific process.

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Sony X900H 4K LED TV Review: sleek design and a great picture - Reviewed

Calaphon

Calaphon's Performance Cool Touch oven is a countertop oven that uses quartz heating, but keeps the outer surface 75% cooler than ordinary toaster ovens, so you can touch the surface and use the top for storage without burning anything or anyone. Usually $300, the Calphalon Performance Cool Touch Oven is currently selling for $210. Not only is this only the third time it's been on sale in a year, but it's also within $10 of the all-time low price of $200.

This toaster oven is chock-full of cool tech, like a gorgeous high-contrast LCD and touchscreen interface. It has a dozen cooking functions, like toast, bake, roast, broil, pizza, cookies and proofing (for bread). You can also "stack" baking commands for one-step unattended cooking, such as going from bake to broil automatically.

The oven can fit a 12-inch pizza and comes with a baking pan, dehydrator basket, wire rack and pizza pan.

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