Masterclass is really a scam in my opinion. Who needs them to teach about generic stuff, when what we need is how to be good like them, that’s why we pay for the course
This. Intro to X courses are better left to the manifold resources available on YouTube. Experts are for expert topics. As Liszt reportedly said when asked why he eventually accepted only advanced pupils: “Wash your dirty linen at home.”
Pretty much. This idea that you can never have done something and get something from a Masterworks is a bit silly. Inside the Actors Studio was great but essentially entertainment. As something that's likely to give any real insight into things you're missing, you probably need to have some experience first.
I'll tell you what's not hot: cochlear implants. I wore hearing aids since the late '80s. I wear CIs as of about 5 years ago, and while my hearing is much better and stable than it used to be, I've found that UX for CIs is pretty bad.
For one, unless you use Med-El's Rondo processeor, you're going to have a thin cable connecting your processor to the coil. Taking off your CIs and putting them back on (as one does every day) is going to put stress on the cable. Sometimes the cable frays and you find that out with sound cutting in and out. There's nothing you can do until the manufacturer sends you a replacement cable in exchange for your frayed one. If you want a backup, be ready to shell out $250 for each cable.
Another UX issue is that processors depend on gravity to stay on your ears. Since there's no earmold to anchor to, processors can easily be jostled off and left hanging precariously. Wearing hearing aids, I never had to worry that my hearing devices would fall off if I rode my bike on a bumpy road. Also with cochlear implants, high-intensity interval training requires some kind of hat or bandana to make sure that the processors don't fly out.
Battery life is another disappointment. Rechargeable batteries don't last a full day. If I put them in at 6:30a, they'll last until about 4:30p. With disposable zinc air batteries, I can squeeze out about a day and a half, but then I'm having to dispose batteries. And while I can track processor battery levels with the rechargeable batteries on my phone, disposable batteries are opaque to the app.
One new thing that would be useful in terms of UX would be an configurable indicator, e.g., a blinking LED, signaling that audio streaming is occurring. It's awkward to find oneself in a conversation that already started and having to excuse oneself to turn off the stream.
Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I have my cochlear implants, but they're way behind hearing aids in terms of UX.
I know one person at work with CIs and yea, I imagine it's a challenge.
UX for a lot of assistive technology is iffy at best. Repeating some of the comments others have made, I'd love it if Apple would make a full on hearing aid that "just worked". Or someone would do a good AI integration that could notify you of things you probably should focus on - like someone trying to get your attention, or emergency vehicle sirens, etc.
Marketing too. But it's nice to see some vendors starting to actually make their devices visible and fun. HAs are a bit like glasses ages ago, when it was kind of this shame thing to get teased about when you were 8 years old. Selling them as "discrete" and with colors designed to match your skin or your hair is just continuing that perception of them being something you should hide.
My daughter has the Cochlear N8 and the rechargeable battery lasts 20 hours
> Sometimes the cable frays and you find that out with sound cutting in and out
Is there any way you can know about this, e.g. from the app? I'm asking because my daughter is 1 and if this was happening she'd currently have no way of communicating that to us
I have an Advanced Bionics Naida. Battery life has consistently been around 8h for a few years. Then recently, my batteries decided they wanted to work part-time.
> Is there any way you can know about this, e.g. from the app?
As far as I know, there isn't a way to verify sound connection issues within the app. They happen too quickly, but usually the giveaway is that the part of the cable that connects to the coil feels like it's about to fall off. It's at the ends, usually, that most of the failures occur.
I had a Naida, now have a Marvel. The difference is night and day. The Marvel is hands-down the best hearing setup I have ever had (I am mid 50's, have worn aids of one type or another since I was 3 yo). Bluetooth is a game changer. The Roger On is fabulous in meetings and with computers (it appears as a USB sound device, it's far more reliable than BT for that). Battery life is fantastic, it lasts more than a day, and there's a fall back to disposable cells if required. Mobile app is a bit 'meh', but the rest is so good I can't complain!
Two things that we use for my son's CI are a cable wrap, which gives the cable a bit of reinforcement, and what we call the "eagle claw" - a little plastic hook that goes on the bottom and hooks around the ear lobe to give it a bit more stability.
Have you tried the non-over-the-ear cochlear devices? The kind that have everything built into the part that sticks magnetically to your implant — I don’t know what the term is; I don’t use them myself.
I know somebody who really dislikes the over-the-ear type devices and swears by the all-in-one kind.
She seems to get a full day of battery out of hers, but I don’t know what kind they are and I imagine usage patterns make a big difference.
> Have you tried the non-over-the-ear cochlear devices?
No, I have not, but from what I've heard, the sound processing isn't as strong because with the BTE (Behind the ear) models, the microphone is unobstructed and can pick up sound coming from the front. With the all-in-one devices, the microphone sits slightly behind the head and has a horizon (and hair) obstructing the audio.
If I'm wrong and the sound processing is actually decent, I'll be willing to give it a shot provided my insurer decides to carry Med-El.
Yeah, I’ve wondered about that. Apparently it works for her, but… everybody’s different.
I actually know a number of people with CIs, but everyone else is at ASL club, so we’re not doing a lot of speaking. I’ll have to ask folks what they’ve tried, if only for my own curiosity.
that's the Med-El's Rondo processor they referenced (there's also the Cochlear Kansu), so presumably they know of them and have tried them
For what it's worth in the UK the NHS no longer provides the off the ear models (at least for children) as they say they have too many problems with them
For Cochlear brand your kit should include backup coils, and replacement is overnight. If you turn on lights (child mode) the processor lights indicate streaming with blue. I love my cochlear implants even though the integration UI and reliability is not perfect yet.
Advanced Bionics used to provide backups, but appear to have scrapped that program in favor of an exchange.
And don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for the technology. For example, I can now hear hummingbirds and squirrels chirping. Speech in noise also makes it a lot easier to hear in noisy environments.
My understanding with Common Projects, is that if you are looking to spend $400 on a blank sneaker, they set the standard and have the most brand awareness, but now there are plenty of smaller brands making virtually identical sneakers with better materials and/or construction for the same price or less.
Like with anything else, buying Common Projects you are paying for the brand (the subtle gold lettering on the side of their shoes).
I got a pair of Common Projects Chelsea boots maybe 10 years ago now. I still have them, they're good shoes. I wore them all the time for the first year I got them. They don't make it into my rotation much now these days though. My most worn shoes now are: Guidi PL2, 11 by BBSxSalomon Bamba 2 high, Rick Owens "Vans", Rick Owens "Dunks", CCP Prosthetic Tornados, and Visvim Christo slides. Everything except the Bamba 2 highs is a replica and cost under $400.
As a reader, the overuse of "not this, but that" in this article was particularly painful. Which is ironic in an article about a designer who deeply cared about aesthetics.
This still happen at daycare. If you have sent your kid to daycare/preschool, you'll know that kids become friends wit nother kids there, and parents can become friends withnother parents. A community forms because playdates are necessary when daycare/preschool is out.
> parents
Sometimes economic realities are such that both parents have to work to make ends meet. There are single-family households that also exist. Childcare is a necessity in these and other situations.
It looks like it's 1:6 until kids are 27 months, at which point the ratio becomes 1:10. When kids are 3-4 the ratio is 1:12, and when they're 5 and up, the ratio is 1:15. These are numbers from 2011, so not sure how that's changed over time.
No, I recall once being surprised at seeing it in XP back in the day, on a particularly old PC that had had its OS upgraded from 9x.
Older AT power supplies were entirely mechanically controlled using the power button. ATX power supplies added the ability to turn on or off via software. That screen was shown on PCs using an AT PSU because Windows couldn't shut it down itself, it had to ask the user to do it.
MasterClass already is like this, but the content doesn't go as deep as it could to really teach learners.
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