Newsletter: week of Nov. 11th

Hey Bud! Happy Friday. I spend half of the week in the very sunny and beautiful Palm Springs, California. Canon flew some very badass photographers (I was way out of my league!) out for some time with the company's latest flagship camera, the Canon R1. And what a camera it is! The autofocus is fast, the body feels large and in charge, and the system produces impressive results even though it only has a 24-megapixel sensor. To be clear, I don't think every camera needs loads of megapixels, but I was surprised that Canon's flagship camera didn't have the most megapixels in the R lineup. I asked a few Canon reps about this, and they responded that 24-megapixels was the chosen sweet spot for this camera to optimize speed and performance. 🤷‍♂️

We had one day to test this system out, so the company took us out to the desert for some rally car racing and then to a surf club for a surf photography class. Here are two photos that sum up the trip well:

Canon EOS R1 w/ Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 + 2x extender

Canon EOS R1 w/ Canon 50mm f/1.2

In other news, MKBHD is in the hot seat again. I am swapping my video pub schedule to discuss this and my ethics statement, so stay tuned for more in the coming days. What are you thinking and feeling about this latest bit of drama? Let me know below or in the chat.

With that, let's move on to what I have been consuming all week!

Things I read:

• Google’s Next AI Just Leaked, and It Can Take Over Your Computer

A Chrome extension leak hints that Google is working on a “computer-using (AI) agent” named Jarvis. This early leak suggests that it "could enable users to simply ask an AI agent to buy concert tickets, make restaurant reservations as soon as new slots open, or search through folders to find specific files". And with that, I am again advocating for in-person concert ticking buying to make a comeback. 😅

• The U.S. is running secret UAP programs

I have a pretty healthy fear of UFOs. And I'm now giggling after writing that sentence. But that is exactly what a few folks who were at this hearing were trying to prove--the US Government is not taking UFOs, also known as UAPs, seriously enough by withholding the truth about them from the public. The hearing aimed to pressure the government to be more forthcoming with information and protect those who come forward with information about them. And I agree! Give us some alien evidence, please!

• The Macintosh Garden

Who knew about this archive of old Mac software and didn't tell me?! Rude.

Things I watched:

• The Manhattan Alien Abduction

In other alien-related news, I can't stop thinking about this documentary that my partner Hannah and I watched this week. It's well-shot and edited, with loads of archival footage. But more importantly, it introduces so many questions and answers none of them. A perfect documentary, ahah!

• MASK IS OFF: CHROMAKOPIA

This is a peek into Tyler, The Creator's creative process. Because I am who I am, I was most interested in seeing his desk setups, which include a Mac Studio, Studio Display, and some LaCie hard drives. Not too shabby!

• New Light Phone teaser

I am so excited about this device. I'll probably place my pre-order this week, as the pre-order page has been a tab in my browser all week. I just gotta bite the bullet!

• She left The Verge, now what ...?

If you're not yet sick of hearing my story, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Valentin of Orbit for Creators to discuss my solo journey so far. If you don't know Orbit for Creators, tune in! It's a great channel that delves into the lives of creators.

Things I listened to:

• Mythara

This is my lofi playlist pick of the week.

• Zedd - Lucky (feat. Remi Wolf)

Catch me racing between connections at the Barclays stop this weekend, jamming to this.

• Vulfmon & Evangeline - It Might Have To Be You

Vulfmon is a side project of the band Vulfpeck. And almost every track they have put out is a bop, including this one.

Alright, that's all I got. Hope this week has been treating you well, bud!

-becca