The e*thirteen XCX Plus 9–39 11-speed cassette has been on my gravel bike for over a month now and I’ve ridden over 250 km with it so far. It replaced a Shimano XT CS-M8000 11–40 cassette that I’ve ridden for over a year and countless of kilometres. These are my first impressions of the cassette.

• Shifting is crisper but a bit more fiddly to set up. I don’t know if it’s the higher number of shift gates or the tooth profile but it took me a while to get shifting right on the bike stand. The cassette would react more quickly to less than optimal indexing. Once tuned properly, I found that it shifts quicker, even under load, and the shift action feels more positive.
• It’s louder. Not to the point where it annoys me but it took a bit of getting used to. I assume the lightweight construction with the large hollow space amplifies chain noise and shifting sounds.
• The cassette feels solid and it has yet to show any signs of wear.
• Chain wrap on the 9-tooth cog doesn’t seem to be an issue. I had read this in a couple of places and was worried that going with such a small cog for the highest gear could cause chain skipping but I’ve not had a problem. Mind you, I’m using a Ultegra RD-RX800 rear derailleur and a Shimano 105 11-speed chain (didn’t want to put on a fresh Ultegra chain, just yet) and I’ve properly adjusted the B-screw tension. Even going full-bore on a flat section, putting as much power as I can into it, hasn’t caused any problems (more on that further down).
• With the chain on the smallest cog and depending on the chainring used up front (32-tooth and 36-tooth for my bicycles), the chain will be very close to the rear end of the chain stay. Depending on the bike, this may not fit at all. On my Litespeed T5G, I’ve noticed some chain slap going down fast and bumpy descents in the 9-tooth cog, even with a clutch rear derailleur. This is something I’ve never experienced with the 11-tooth cog on the XT cassette and it may be a deal breaker for some.
• Lastly, and this is not something I’d ever see myself write: it’s noticeably lighter than the cassette it replaced. Sure, ~ 100 g might not sound like much to a less experienced cyclist such as myself but the back wheel seems just a bit more nimble, riding across bumpy gravel tracks.

All in all I’m happy with the cassette so far. It’s done exactly what I had hoped it would when converting my bike from a 2× 11 to a 1×11 system. With a 32-tooth chainring up front, the 9–39 spread in the back gives me an ample gear range, an easy 0.82 gear ratio in the lowest gear, a reasonably fast 3.55 gear ratio in the highest gear, and fairly tight and even gear spacing, particularly in the higher gears.

In fact, I’ve been so happy with this piece of kit that I bought an e*thirteen cassette for my city/commuter/road bike that has, up until recently, sported a full SRAM NX Eagle group with a 11–50 cassette and a 32-tooth chainring. I replaced the NX Eagle cassette with the 2nd generation TRS Plus 12-speed 9–46 cassette and the front chainring with a 36-tooth (soon 38-tooth).

Based on my initial experiences with the 9–39 on my gravel bike, what drew me to the 9–46 12-speed was a) the lower weight, b) the greater range of 511% on the e*thirteen compared to 455% on the NX Eagle, while at the same time offering c) a much tighter and, in my eyes, more sensible gear spacing in the higher gears. The first six gears on the TRS Plus cassette are 9, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18 where on the NX Eagle the jumps are 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 22. My first road ride with the new cassette was a 45 km trip mostly on the road up a local mountain and then down again and I very quickly appreciated the choices made by e*thirteen.
Finally, chain wrap on the 9-tooth cog is perfectly fine with a SRAM Eagle rear derailleur and a GX Eagle chain. I tried a couple of times to produce any kind of skipping, riding at 80 rpm, on a slight incline, pushing 42 km/h (yes, I was very much winded after) and I experienced no issues whatsoever.

I’m looking forward to many more kilometres with these cassettes and I’ll write a long term review at a later point.

By internet time this story is ages old, I know, but I was reminded again that Apple cares about audio quality and why Neil Young is so.very.wrong. 😉
He made a few waves in the tech sphere in late January by stating something to the effect of the Apple’s MacBook Pro having a shit DAC (Digital Analogue Converter) and Apple generally caring more about consumerism than creating high quality audio equipment for professionals.

Jim Dalrymple thoroughly debunked any of the claims made by Young on The Loop weeks ago but I wanted to offer a different example:
The Apple Lightning/USB-C to 3.5 mm Headphone Jack Adapter

Many people make fun of these little dongles and I get it. Apple removed the headphone jack from its iPhone and iPads and replaced it with an easy-to-lose USD 9.— dongle and they called it courage. My feelings about the dongle went from a solid meh (#donglelyfe) to loving these little things, seriously loving them. The reason is simple: they have amazing sound quality.

In more technical terms (source 1, source 2):

• The output source impedance measures > 1Ω.
• Frequency response is close to perfectly flat.
• Harmonic distortion is almost nonexistent across various resistances (Ω).
• Dynamic range is on par with previous iPhone headphone jacks, which had great audio quality

In less technical terms it means that these little dongles can drive extremely sensitive earphones with no to absolutely minimal changes to the frequency response (their sound signature) on the one hand and can also power full-size headphones on the other hand. To get this kind of flexibility and sound quality, you’d typically have to buy and lug around a dedicated portable DAC.

My earphones of choice are the Campfire Audio Andromeda, great sounding earphones that are very hard to drive properly. Sources with an output resistance of larger than 1Ω will quickly and negatively impact the sound signature, starting with reducing the bass response dramatically.

Using Apple’s dongles, they sound brilliant, same as they do on my MacBook Pro. I even use the USB-C dongle to listen to music on the Microsoft Surface Pro 2 that I use for work a lot. Its 3.5 mm audio jack is … not good, to be polite. With a USB-A to USB-C adapter and the USB-C audio dongle (again #donglelyfe), I get perfect audio quality listening to losslessly compressed music.

So no, Mr. Young, Apple does care about audio quality even on a consumer level. And what I use for proof are these tiny, easy-to-lose, beautifully sounding, flexible dongles.

No no no, hear me out…

It’s crazy how many things I can get done on this little super computer that is my smartphone but sometimes when writing longer texts, particularly email responses, or blog post, or telling someone on the internet how they’re so wrong about something (kidding), having a physical keyboard is a blessing.

So when this video popped up in my youtube recommendations, I thought, yeah no, not something like this because that’s stupid and unusable unless you have very thin fingers.

I’ve found this little old ThinkOutside foldable bluetooth keyboard for Pocket PCs over a year ago for € 30.— and take it with me as a redundancy if my laptop or iPad doesn’t work on a trip. They keys assignments are obviously made for Pocket PCs/Windows CE and the keys are not big but it’s still a huge productivity boost if you really need to write a lot.

The Psion 5mx was maybe my favourite PDAs back in the day. The keyboard was big enough for some semblance of multi-finger typing and it was a pleasure to type on. If someone where to make a keyboard case for smartphones with a versatile insert system for different smartphones (read: future proofing) and a wired connection (think: adapters for USB-C, Lightning, Micro-USB), I’d be all …

I could live with a bluetooth connection too and in that case, add a big battery into the bottom to give it some heft and long battery life.

Alternatively, just make the Palm Foldable Keyboard again (at some point Targus had the rights to it), lest I might seriously consider making an adapter for it.

Yesterday Fujifilm announced a few new things at their “X Summit” in London. The most consequential one for me was the announcement of the X100V. It’s the fifth generation of the X100 series and it’s going to be my next camera.

I’ve been in love with the concept of the X100 series since shortly after I started shooting with Fujifilm APS-C cameras but it always had too many crucial drawbacks for me to consider actually buying one.

The lens

The first lens I bought for my X-E1 way back when, was the XF23mmF1.4 R. I purchased it because after inspecting the photos I had taken with the XF18-55mmF2.8-4 R LM kit lens, I saw that most of my shots were in the 22–24 mm range and I wanted something with a wider aperture to play around with. The 23/1.4 is still the lens I shoot with the most. I absolutely love it.

The lens in the X100 series, while decent, simply didn’t have the same versatility. Corner sharpness wasn’t very good at f/2 and shooting at close focus distances wide open resulted in very soft pictures. Coming from the XF23mmF1.4 R, that’s simply not something I would be able to accept.

(As a side note, the same drawbacks of the X100 lens also apply to the XF23mmF2 R WR lens, albeit not in the severity as found in the X100 series lenses up until now. It’s the reason why I sold the lens again after having used it for a few months.)

Weather sealing

I can’t begin to say how much I appreciate this on my Fujifilm cameras. I have it on the X-Pro2, on the X-T3, and I had it on the X-T1. I take a camera with me almost everywhere I go in any weather. Be it for a trip downtown or going hiking with my dogs. The cameras and weather sealed lenses have handled everything I’ve thrown at them so far and I had hoped Fujifilm would’ve added this to the X100F already, but no.

Now, the new X100V is properly weather sealed once you put a protective filter on the lens and that gives you an extremely compact package that you can take anywhere.

Flippy screen

Maybe you like it maybe you don’t, I like having it and dislike not having it on the X-Pro2. To get this in a camera as small as the X100V is just a nice bonus that only increases the camera’s usefulness.

After the announcement, I read the excellent preview written by Jonas Rask and immediately knew that it would be very hard to pass up on the X100V.

Then the first review by Chris and Jordan of DPReview TV was published and that completely sealed the deal. It’s worth a watch.

An observation regarding Fujifilm’s product policy

Chris Nichols and Jordan Drake mentioned something interesting in the video. Fujifilm has put almost all features found in the very recently released X-Pro3 into the X100V. More than you’d typically expect for what is essentially a compact large-sensor camera. Even the video features are solid for the most part.
This really made me happy because it shows that Fujifilm is essentially following Apple’s (and particularly Steve Jobs’s playbook) for positioning and releasing products:
Instead of artificially separating their product lines to prevent cannibalisation, by limiting the feature sets compared to the flagship products, they let their products cannibalise themselves instead of letting products by other manufacturers do so. This creates true choice for customers and—to me—is a sign of respect for the customers by the company.

Fujifilm continues to give me reasons to like them.

I started the video expecting to see Chris Nichols report on significant differences in optical performance between the € 199,— XC35mmF2 and the € 399,— XF35mmF2 just because capitalism. Sometimes it’s nice to be wrong and particularly in this case.

Fujifilm is taking the guts of this lens and making it available in an even more affordable package. That is such a great move because it gives a customer the option to decide if they want to spend money on weather sealing and a full metal build without having to compromise on optical quality or autofocus speed.

I have the XF35mmF2 R WR. After failing to take to it in the beginning, I warmed to it when I realised how fast this lens was and how nicely it renders high contrast scenes. It’s become my go-to lens for taking pictures when out for walks or hiking with the dog, because I can rely on it focusing quickly on moving subjects and capturing what I see. Then there’s the focal length that, while a bit tighter than I typically like, lends itself well for the types of outdoor portraits that I like to shoot. It really is Fujifilm’s Nifty Fifty and such good value for money. I’ve shot some of my favourite photos of my furry friends and some great portraits of friends and family with it.

I absolutely love David Lanham’s art; he has such a distinctive and captivating style. I’ve gotten to know his work through wallpapers and icons made for macOS for The Iconfactory years ago (hey, remember CandyBar?) and I’ve been following him ever since.

No matter if you like cute or strange animals, otherworldly sceneries, or sometimes downright grotesque imagery, I’m sure you’ll find something you like.

These are two of his recent sketches that I couldn’t take my eyes off of.

Lanham also recently published another one of his wallpaper packs that contain lots of amazing paintings and exclusive art that you won’t find anywhere else, all in wallpaper sizes. It’s a steal for the price he’s asking.

Diese Meldung sah ich heute in meinem Twitter-Stream:

Umstellung auf Elektromobilität: VDA verlangt Milliardenhilfen für Autohersteller und Zulieferer.

Ich empfinde das als Frechheit und es macht mich traurig. Ich bin Opelanerkind. Teile meiner Familie arbeiten oder arbeiteten in der Automobilindustrie. Trotzdem sage ich, die deutsche Autoindustrie verdient es zu sterben, statt Milliardenhilfen zu erhalten.

Diese Industrie entwickelt seit so vielen Jahren völlig am Markt, an den Realitäten des Klimawandels und den Veränderungen bei Transport und Mobilität vorbei, betrügt, drückt sich vor den Konsequenzen des eigenen kriminellen Handelns, lässt sich an allen Ecken und Enden vom Staat subventionieren und übertreibt die eigene Wichtigkeit für den langfristigen wirtschaftlichen Wohlstand dieses Landes.
Und jetzt traut sie es sich nach weiterer Unterstützung zu fragen, obwohl die Fehlentscheidungen und die Jahrzehnte an Missmanagement der Altherrenriege dazu führte, dass die Kacke nun am dampfen ist und dieser gewaltige Haufen Scheiße sich nicht mehr hinter einem Berg an SUVs verstecken lässt.

Es reicht.

Diese Firmen, VW, Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Porsche, undwiesiealleheißen, sollen entweder radikale Änderungen durchführen und ernsthafte, realistische und innovative Produkte anbieten, oder sie verdienen es durch andere Firmen ersetzt zu werden und zu Grunde zu gehen.

Ich habe keine Lust, dass meine Steuergelder dafür verschwendet werden Firmen am Leben zu erhalten, deren einziges Ziel es ist Shareholder Value zu generieren und den eigenen Top-Managern Millionengehälter zu zahlen.

Diese Firmen sind für mich als Betriebswirtschaftler der Inbegriff von Versagen: der Ruf nach Subventionen und offenen wie indirekten Drohungen, das Land würde wirtschaftlichen Schaden nehmen, zeugt nicht nur von fehlendem Geschäftssinn und Ideenlosigkeit, sondern auch von purer Feigheit und dem Eingeständnis, dass sie zur Teilnahme an einem tatsächlichen Wettbewerb im Kapitalismus weder fähig noch willens sind.

CES 2020 is in full swing and two things Dell announced—or rather teased—have me intrigued:

The Concept Duet with its two 13.4 inch full HD touch displays and a traditional keyboard that you can put on one of the sides when you don’t want to type on glass absolutely looks like something is would use. I think it’s a great idea to have two screens that allow for adaptive interaction with content and controls and the option to read on it like a big book when I want to. This entire class of devices that Microsoft has been attempting to generate hype for since their last developer conference could become a really interesting computing experience.

Alienware’s Concept UFO is a gaming PC shrunk down and put into a device that looks and works like a Nintendo Switch. This is certainly a more ambitious project and less likely to ever become a viable product compared to the dual screen laptop Concept Duet. After reading and watching the coverage of this early stage concept, I can’t help but hope that it won’t stay just a concept but become a real thing. I’ve been playing Star Wars – Jedi: Fallen Order on a loaned PS4 and the thought of having this type of game on a handheld console that I can also attach to my TV if I want to is more than a little exciting.

Adobe updated Lightroom for iPad yesterday and added a few very welcome features, chief among them direct photo import from SD cards and other storage devices. Many people, myself included, have been waiting for this since Apple announced at WWDC that it was opening up external storage devices natively to third party applications in iOS and iPadOS.

The other big feature that I really appreciate having in Lightroom on my iPad now, is the ability to export data to external devices in different formats, including the RAW files and with predefined settings.

If you’re using Lightroom on your iPad, this application has just become a lot more useful and powerful.

Over the past week three upcoming movies had their trailers released that I just cannot wait to see in the cinema.

James Bond — No Time To Die

This is, once again, supposed to be the last Bond movie starring Daniel Craig in the leading role as James Bond. I may have grown up with Pierce Brosnan’s Bond but I still consider Craig to be “my Bond”. His portrayal of the character and the movies as a whole have brought a new grittyness, realism, and emotional component to the franchise that I find very enjoyable.
Still, I think the Bond movies need a bit of a shake-up and for that reason, I’m very excited to see a female 00 agent in the next film. I really hope we’ll be treated to the mantle of James Bond being handed to someone who’s not a white male actor.

Black Widow

It’s sad that this wasn’t released before the character of Black Widow has been sacrificed in “Avengers: Endgame” but I’m glad that it’s coming nonetheless. My secret hope is that they’re not going to hold back on the character and explore some of Romanoff’s past misdeeds and her quest to clear the red in her ledger.

Wonder Woman 1984

This came out yesterday and I was squealing like a little girl. I’m not entirely sure about the fact they’re bringing back her love interest and I’m also not sure if I need another look back, I think I’d rather see Diana Prince/Wonder Woman kick ass in the present after the events of “Justice League”.