The Knowledge...
Thisyear’sCESshowedoffstacksofexciting
foldablePCs,showcasephones,electric
vehiclesandTVsuponTVs.Butoneofthe
mostexcitingandeye-catchingdeviceson
theshowfloorwasAlienware’sConceptUFO,
a workingprototypeofwhatit imagines
couldbetheportablePCofthefuture- compact,cool,madeforgaming,and
borrowinga littlefromtheNintendoSwitch.
Nowordonreleasedate,pricing,orif this
willevenbecomea thing,though.
It’s time to upgrade
your memory
77 ʕʕʕʕʕʖɻɻɻɖɖ OOʝʝQQQɒɒɒ ʋʋQQQɍɍ KKʋʋʋUɍ
A
s wegetolder,thosecognitive
skillswhichgotusthrough
thosebrightearlyyearstend
tofade.Takea lookata kids’
textbooktoday– howmuchlong
divisioncanyoustilldo?Howmanyof
thosetaskscanyoustillpulloff?
Realistically,though,there’snoreason
it hastobethatway.Whilethehard
sciencebehindbraintrainingis fluidat
best,there’snodoubtthatpullingoff
challengingtasks
canhelpyou
rememberhow
they’redone,and
giveyoua logic
boostwhenit
comestousingyourbraininreallife.
Lumosity(www.lumosity.com)is
a greatserviceif you’rejustgetting
startedwithbraintraining,offering
upa fewdailyexercisesforfreeand
allowingyoutopullthemoffeither
onyourdesktoporona mobiledevice;
if youdon’tmindbeingtetheredtoa
phone,it’salsoworthlookingatPeak
(www.peak.net)andElevate(www.elevateapp.com),whichdon’t
haveonlineordesktopcounterparts.
Onepublishedscientificstudyhas
shownthatanexercisecalled‘n-back’
canhelpimproveshorttermmemory
andfluidintelligence.TryBrain
Workshop(https://brainworkshop.
sourceforge.net)totestyourselfonit- it’sa taskwhichseemssimpleatfirst,
butgetsfiendishlydifficultovertime.
If you’rereallylookingtoexpand
yourmemory,
thereare
techniquesthat
canhelpturnyou
intoa veritable
SherlockHolmes.
Visitwww.artofmemory.comtofinda
wholehostofresourcestohelpyouget
betteratremembering,aswellaslists
ofthingstorememberif you’restuck
forinspiration.Thenaturalpathfrom
thereleadstotheMemoryLeague
(www.memoryleague.com)which
challengesyourbrainagainsthundreds
ofothers.Puttheeffortin,andyou’llbe
amazedatwhatyoucando.
We’re not talking PC upgrades here – you can
use your Windows machine to train your brainDynamic wallpaper
Ooh, ‘dynamic’. Sounds exciting.
Well, that depends on your definition of
exciting. Dynamic wallpaper is desktop
wallpaper that changes automatically
based on certain conditions, usually the
time of day. A bright and sunny vista
might grow duskier towards the end of
the day, then light up with a starry sky
when you’re computing at night,
presumably to help your awareness of
the world outside if you have the
blinds closed.Is it a new thing?
Not really. It’s a pretty basic idea, and
time-dependent dynamic wallpaper
has existed on other platforms (notably
the Apple Mac) for a while. But now it
looks set to become part of Windows
10 too. Whether you’ll actually see it
on your desktop, though, is another
matter entirely.Why? What’s the problem?
It’s the specifics. Reports are bubbling
up that Windows 10X will launch with
the feature, which might even see
random clouds bubbling across the
landscape as the day goes on.
Windows 10X isn’t quite the same as
the Windows 10 you’re using now – it’s
a special version of Windows developed
for the next generation of foldable PCs
and tablets.So we might never see it?
Features are always flowing in different
directions between different versions of
Windows. If Microsoft has created the
background code to do it, and if the art
assets are there, we can see no reason for
this not being on the cards for future
Windows updates. But Windows 10X is
its own thing, so different that when it
loads a traditional Windows 10 program
it launches an invisible mini version of
desktop Windows 10 to do so.Can I do anything now?
Of course. Try WinDynamicDesktop, which
you can download from https://github.
com/t1m0thyj/WinDynamicDesktop – it’ll
let you use the Mac dynamic wallpapers,
as well as a host of others, and it’s free.PORTABLE POWER The early Concept UFO packs
enough muscle to run high-end games on the go.IMAGES: TOM’S HARDWARE
PLUG AND PLAY Want to play on the TV or a
monitor? It’s instantly dockable, too.BREAK AWAY Like the Nintendo Switch, the
controllers can be detached from the main unit.ALIEN TECHNOLOGY Concept UFO lands
“There are techniques
that can turn you into
a Sherlock Holmes”
Discover
Misty watercolour memories
March 2020 | |^7