DigitalOutbox Episode 223

DigitalOutbox Episode 223
DigitalOutbox Episode 223 – Does it bend?

Playback
Listen via iTunes
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Listen via MP3

Shownotes
0:50 – Larry Ellison Will Step Down as CEO of Oracle, Will Remain as CTO
4:01 – Cracking the problem of online identification
7:52 – Unix/Linux Bash: Critical security hole uncovered – ShellShock
10:38 – The Blackberry Passport is the most unusual smartphone on the market
19:09 – Apples New Flexible iPhone 6 Plus?
22:44 – Apple Pulls iOS 8.0.1 Update Amid Reports of Problems
27:47 – Amazon launches Kindle Unlimited – a Netflix-for-books – in the UK
29:45 – Crescent Bay is Oculus’ newest version of the Rift hardware, and one step closer to retail
31:39 – Steam Is Getting A Massive Overhaul
33:17 – Microsoft drops the price of the Xbox One to £329.99 in the UK

f.lux

F.lux is an app for Windows, Mac and Linux that does a simple but important task – it help’s your eyes. Many modern displays are bright but you don’t really notice how bright they are during the day partly as they’ve been designed to operate well in those brighter conditions. At night it’s a different story and the brightness can really strain your eye’s if your not careful.

The shot above is from my current Mac desktop. It’s fine during the day but the whites at night even with lights on are bright. This is where f.lux helps. It sits quietly in the background and will set the colour temperature of your screen to match your lights. It detects your location and will automatically switch to the new colour temperature at the right time.

At first it feels strange when you see the colour temperature changing but I find it really eases the strain on my eyes although I will admit it does look odd when you see the screenshot above of f.lux in aciton. You can easily switch to different temperatures to match your environment and I also set f.lux to dim gradually over an hour. Makes a big difference to the effectiveness in my opinion. Finally there is an option to temporarily disable f.lux to allow you to work on any graphics or photography too.

A handy free utility that isn’t new but will be a must install on any future computers I own.