There are many microphones to choose from, and you will read conflicting opinions and reviews on all of them. Let me save you some time if you’re starting in streaming or YouTube and don’t have a $300-$500 budget to drop on a microphone you might not use in six months if you give up. Some opt for the Shure SM7B, but I believe this isn’t meant for streaming and is a waste of money.
If you want to get into streaming, make yourself look better on Zoom or Microsoft Team calls or perhaps add some better lighting to your office, you need good lighting. I am no lighting or videography expert but ask any photographer/videographer how important lighting is, and you will get your answer: light is everything. I have been using lights for a while now, and before I purchased the Elgato Key Light Air, I was using these affordable Absestudio Softbox lights from Amazon. If you are on a budget, softbox lights like these can make a world of difference.
There are numerous software applications you can use for reaction & tutorial videos and even streaming. Today, we will learn how you can record videos (and efficiently stream) using Streamlabs OBS. Streamlabs OBS is synonymous with streaming live video, but many forget that it is a very capable application that can record video. A lot of these tips will extend to better recordings and streams with Streamlabs OBS, not just specifically for recording videos.
Recently while working on a large-scale WordPress site, I encountered a tricky situation. I had quite a lot of locality data for Australian states, suburbs and LGA’s (Local Government Areas). We are talking about tens of thousands of items in the database. At first, I made all of these custom taxonomies hierarchical. Part of the reasoning was that users could visually select values from the meta boxes (hierarchical taxonomies look better). Initially, it wasn’t a problem, but as more data was added, saving posts took forever, I was getting timeouts, and queries were slow.
It’s official. Thrice have announced their new album titled Horizons/East is dropping digitally on September 17, 2021. The physical version isn’t releasing until October 8, 2021. It’s a 10 song record that the band produced and recorded themselves. If you are a fan of their older stuff from Major/Minor or Alchemy Index, you would know the band produce some of their best work when they do it themselves. What makes the LP release more interesting is the LP releases come with chromadepth glasses offering a 3D viewing experience including assets the band say they’ll provide on social media.
When people think of big names in gaming, they will often cite companies like Nintendo, Microsoft or Sony, followed by a select handful of gaming studios like Electronic Arts or CD Projekt Red. Do you want to know who one of the biggest names in gaming is that you rarely hear of? Valve. If anything, I would argue, given just how much of the gaming market Valve controls through Steam alone, it’s one of the biggest gaming companies around, probably second to only Nintendo.
Ask anyone that knows me who my favourite band is, and they’ll tell you Thrice. The song my wife and I danced to at our wedding was a Dustin Kensrue song (not a Thrice song, but still). This band has significant meaning in the lives of my wife and me. My closet is a Thrice shrine (minus the candles and creepy statues). I have bought every single release they’ve put out throughout the years, even the expensive, limited vinyl releases, merch. For the hard to get items, I have even paid way above what they were at retail to complete my collection. I own one of the only copies I am aware of, The Artist In The Ambulance (instrumental).
The popularity of React is undeniable. When bright-eyed developers think about creating a new app, React is usually the first thing that crosses their minds. React has all become the defacto front-end library of choice. React is comfortable. React is familiar. React is used by almost everyone. React is the library you learn if you want to make yourself an employable front-end developer. The truth is, front-end developers have painted themselves into a corner with React. To understand why React became so popular, we have to go back to 2013, when React first made its grand debut. AngularJS was the dominant and most popular option for web applications at the time, and boy did AngularJS suck.
It’s no surprise that Electron is a slow, poor performing memory hog. However, the value proposition here is that it allows you to distribute Web-based applications as native desktop apps without writing programming code or anything else non-web. For some reason, all of these work chat/productivity apps decided to use Electron. Perhaps the most notable is Slack which continues to be a steaming pile of garbage in itself. When Electron first arrived, it was actually a game-changer for desktop app development. Despite its flaws, companies including Microsoft flocked to it. However, over the years, it has started to show its age. This is why it is not surprising that Microsoft Teams is ditching Electron for Edge Webview2 in its 2.0 release due out soon.
In what has been the worst kept secret in the world, Microsoft finally lifted the lid on the soon to be released Windows 11 after leaks and teasers before the official announcement. Funnily enough, the leaked build (which I did download) revealed most of what Microsoft had in store for Windows 11, and they still had some tricks up their sleeves. Admittedly, this is the nicest Windows I have seen. From the corners to the newly centred start button, redesigned and simplified logo and use of translucency: Windows 11 looks beautiful. It’s very much inspired by macOS and ChromeOS and I am all for it.