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Tech

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Alex SinclairMod

Tech

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Introduce yourself to Just About Tech!

Well hello there! Whether you’re working on the cutting edge of technological innovation or just an interested hobbyist, Just About Tech is for you. Right now, we’re a small community, so let’s break the ice and get to know each other better.

Say hello and share something about yourself, maybe why you’re interested in tech, your background, or why you love your favourite gadgets. If you’re a content creator, feel free to use this as an opportunity to plug your channels and projects too!

I’ll start…

Created at 6:34pm, 14th February, 2024. Page last updated at 2:43pm, 16th May, 2024.

This post has been edited by the author for the following reason: Additional Content

Alex SinclairMod2/15/2024, 11:34:46 AM

I’m Alex. I’m a Content Manager at Just About, and my focus is on our Tech, EVE Online, and Film & TV communities. I’ll be setting bounties and making sure things run smoothly here in Just About Tech. Feel free to ask me anything at any time. You can tag me using Alex Sinclair.

My hobbies are travel, photography, creative writing, and gaming. It’s in this last passion - gaming - where my interest in tech currently lies. I’ve worked as a games journalist for many years, and I’m fascinated by the potential of technologies like VR and Unreal Engine 5 to disrupt the games industry in exciting ways. I also used to work as a freelance copywriter, which has given me entry-level knowledge in aspects of tech that I never expected to know about, like computational chemistry or the use of bluetooth in theme parks.

I consider myself to be somewhere between a technological optimist and technological pessimist. Our futures are inextricably woven with and dependent on new tech, and I believe technological advancement alone has the power to save us from some of the world’s most pressing issues. However, I also have my doubts over the direction that some tech is headed in.

I’m not all doom and gloom though, I promise. I love tech’s ability to make life that little bit easier. Case in point: my favourite piece of tech is sitting on my bedside table. It’s an alarm clock that wakes me up with a freshly brewed coffee. It’s a real gamechanger, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Lanah Tyra 2/15/2024, 11:33:35 PM

Alex Sinclair

You got me at coffee. Does that alarm clock make espresso or filter coffee?

Mine is an older model and it looks like the alarm goes off, then I make sad noises and my lovely partner goes downstairs to make coffee for me XD

Alex SinclairMod2/16/2024, 10:09:36 AM

Lanah Tyra

Ah yes, that model has been around for a while I reckon 😂 It sounds like you have it finely tuned though.

Mine is this one. It works via boiling plate induction, and it even comes with "the world's smallest mini fridge for your milk". Now admittedly, it doesn't make the world's most delicious coffee, I had to get a replacement after it broke down, and it was rather pricey. And yet despite all of that, I love it. I've never been a morning person but being woken up by the smell of fresh coffee is a real gamechanger.

Now I just need to work out how to get it to make me breakfast.

Mine is this one: https://joyresolve.com/products/barisieur-black-coffee-alarm-brewer

MURRRAAAAY 2/16/2024, 5:39:12 PM

Alex Sinclair

This hit me in the feels, I couldn't come up with a better statement to describe my feelings on tech if i tried - "I consider myself to be somewhere between a technological optimist and technological pessimist. "

Great intro BTW Alex!

Also that alarm clock sounds far superior to my iphone lol

Lanah Tyra 2/15/2024, 11:32:16 PM

Hey I'm Lanah and my first paid job was as IT support at the biggest ISP in Hungary. Ever since I went to study Multimedia Development and had to build my own PC for it as the ready ones were not the right specs for my video editing needs, I always built my own PCs or had a high-end gaming laptop I didn't have to touch for a few years.

Since moving to the UK I've been doing everything from retail to being a tour guide but now I'm back to the roots and doing IT support again.

I'm on the same boat as Alex regarding some of the newest tech (cough.... AI... cough) which have huge potential but are not necessarily going in the right direction at the moment. So really looking forward to engage in the discussions here.

Alex SinclairMod2/16/2024, 10:15:24 AM

Lanah Tyra

Thanks for the intro, Lanah! We've got plenty of bounties lined up on PC building and generative AI for you to get stuck into. And if you happen to have a good gaming laptop to recommend, I plan to upgrade sometime this year. I bought a lightweight Razer Blade Stealth 13 because I was moving around a lot at the time, but I have to say, I've been very disappointed with it. Within the first six months, I had charger issues, webcam issues, and keyboard issues.

Lanah Tyra 2/16/2024, 10:32:34 AM

Alex Sinclair

That's quite sad to hear about Razer, good that I didn't get one then.

I have an Asus TUF A15 2023 edition at the moment, cost £1000 and I'm very happy with it so far. It actually has better specs than my PC 😅My PC can still handle FFXIV but needs an upgrade soonish, so at the moment I play from the PC and setup the laptop to handle the streaming with a capture card. My PS5 is downstairs so can't have the PC do the streaming, had to use the laptop for mobility.

I take it with me all the time when traveling and been playing at the airport when my flight was delayed.

Alex SinclairMod2/16/2024, 11:31:26 AM

Lanah Tyra

Thanks for the recommendation! I'm going to see how my laptop performs with Nightingale, and if it's not up to the job, I may be on a TUF A15 before long. Since buying mine, I've learned that Razer have a great reputation for accessories and a bad one for laptops.

Dave 2/16/2024, 11:45:01 PM

Lanah Tyra

I'm really interested in all the AI stuff but the jury is still out on what real world practical impact it's actually going to have outside of the enterprise/business environment.

I get the feeling right now it's a mix of the dot-com boom and the wild west of Napster and music sharing services back in the day.

Dot-com boom because of the stock market boom in all ai related shares and the unproven assumptions about massive impact to business efficiency improvements and commercial opportunities.

Napster because the AI we have today, it's admitted has been trained without regard to copyright and cannot perform to the level they do without having this content available. Over time I see rights to training content being required to be negotiated for different datasets (Reddit, justabout, newspapers) and the quality of the ai taking a downturn when the later models only use these limited datasets. In the extreme it's not impossible to think these models today have to be shut down because of the legal issues when the day eventually comes when the legalities are tested.

MURRRAAAAY 2/16/2024, 5:47:34 PM

Aloha! I'm Murray, I'm a gaming YouTuber, but the lines are blurred all the time with tech as I love all the hardware in this sphere! Which is why I have a load of gaming consoles and handhelds, can never have enough, and I am on a near constant quest to save up to acquire the next one!

I have always been massively into all things tech and gadgets so I'm excited to get involved in the convos here! In a previously life I was an Innovation Project Manager working on some cool projects in the IT/financial services world before I bailed out to chase my dream of being a full time content creator so Just About Tech is right up my street!

My favourite gadget of late is my robot vacuum, because we are always going in and out the house with the dog, out walks and stuff bits end up all over the woden floors, not anymore as Robovac is here to save the day! Had one years ago that used to just smash into things, now with LiDar tech it is phenomenal watching it go about cleaning every inch of the house!

My next BIG gadget im saving up for, (saving them bounty coins for) is a new MacBook laptop, as My old MacBook Pro recently just died after years of hard work, which I will use daily for scripting, writing articles and posting on Just About! So its a must have as my old chromebook im using right now instead is as slow as a week in jail lol But I am grateful i have something to work remotely on even if it is a bit slow! :)

Alex SinclairMod2/19/2024, 6:06:22 PM

MURRRAAAAY

Thanks for the intro Murray! I'm very glad you've joined us over here in Just About Tech. I'm also very envious of your Robovac. I've wanted one since I was a child. They're so adorable.

Dave 2/17/2024, 10:02:46 AM

Hi I'm Dave, ever since a very early age I have always been interested in technology and computing. Borrowing the few books about computers at the local library in the 80s, computer magazines from the newsagents. Watching anything tech related on open university very late at night on BBC2 through the 90s. Then half asleep at school the next day for lessons about farm crop rotation and the history of road surfaces...

Today despite working long hours in IT/fintech, I still haven't lost the interest in all things tech.

Alex SinclairMod2/19/2024, 6:08:44 PM

Dave

Thanks for the introduction Dave - great to have you here! Your talk of computer magazines in local newsagents just gave me a tech-related flashback to the build-a-robot magazines where you'd get a different part each week. I don't think I ever saw one through to completion, but they sure were cool.