Ableton Live 10 Suite Upgrade USB Packs

This is just my attempt to sort out what is available with Ableton Live 10.0 Suite Upgrade USB and what packs by Ableton are available to downloaded.

A few other things i learned going through this process.

1. You can relocated Packs and User Library directory location to another drive under Options|Preferences|Library.
2. Under places there is a section for Packs that list the installed core Library and other available factory packs by Ableton. Which sort of defeated making this list :>
3. This info is also available online in your account https://www.ableton.com/en/account/

By Ableton Packs

References
Main body of List (https://www.ableton.com/en/packs/by/ableton/)
my Ableton Live 10 Sutie Upgrade USB
Files no listed in Main body but on my USB (https://www.ableton.com/en/live/compare-editions/)
(incl Loopmasters Mixtape, Grand Piano, Guitars and Bass, Retro Synths, Vinyl Classics)

Name	Class	Type	Description	Location	Size
Amp	Core Effect	Instrument	Amp is a physically modeled audio effect that emulates the timeless tones of seven classic guitar amps.	Live 10 Suite Core	???
Analog	Core Effect	Instrument	Analog emulates the unique circuitry and irresistible tweakability of vintage analog synthesizers. Able to produce everything from silky pad sweeps to earth-shaking bass	Live 10 Suite Core	???
Beat Tools		Sounds	With more than 120 Drum and Instrument Racks, over 180 loops for slicing, tweakable effects chains and more, Beat Tools has all the sounds you need for hands-on beatmaking – especially with Push.	On USB or Web	693.2MB
Build and Drop		Sounds	Build and Drop is loaded with ecstatic leads, enveloping bass, slamming drums and a range of rises, sirens and sounds effects. The curated sounds and presets inside are a creative toolbox for creating the irresistible anticipation and release this music uses to keep the party going.	Web	597.8MB
Chop and Swing		Sounds	Ableton’s homage to the style that made sampling an art form and put a new kind of groove on the musical map. Chop and Swing comes loaded with inspired recordings and presets perfect for cutting up and re-combining into fresh new tracks.	Web	510.7MB
Collision	Core Modeled Instrument	Instrument	Collision is a unique physical modeling instrument for authentic mallet sounds and creative percussion.	Live 10 Suite Core	???
Connection Kit		Max4Live	If you’ve been looking to use Live with technologies like Arduino, LEGO® MIND STORMS® EV3 and OSC, this free set of Max for Live devices provides exactly what you need. Now it’s simpler than ever to set up new and experimental ways to interact with and extend Live.	Web	7.2 MB
Convolution Reverb		Max4Live	Convolution Reverb is a creative device for bringing new space to your sounds – a sample-based reverb suite with hundreds of impulse responses from real-world spaces and world-class hardware.	Web	298.9MB
Creative Extensions		Max4Live	Creative Extensions is a free addition to Live 10 Suite created with an experimental approach to sound processing and generative composition.	Web	13.8 MB
Designer Drums	Drums	Sounds	Designer Drums is a set of synthesized drums that demonstrate the versatility of Ableton Live 9's instruments and effects.	Web	30.4 MB
Drive and Glow		Sounds	Drive and Glow combines swirling synth textures, overdriven guitars and basses and pounding drums. Carefully curated by Ableton, this Pack is perfect for creating tracks that radiate with saturated, indie vibes.	Web	580.1MB
Drum Booth	Drums	Sounds	Drum Booth contains carefully curated samples of acoustic kits recorded in a tight, dry room. Perfect on their own or as reinforcement for electronic drums, Drum Booth also offers a selection of unique experimental recordings not heard in standard acoustic libraries.	On USB or Web	948.3MB
Drum essentials	Drums	Sounds	Drum Essentials is a collection of handpicked drum sounds selected to cover a wide range of styles. A flexible, highly-refined Pack to form the rhythmic foundation of any production.	On USB or Web	202.9MB
Drum Machines	Drums	Sounds	Drum Machines offers a choice selection of classic drum machines, meticulously sampled to faithfully reproduce the original sounds.	Web	249.8MB
Electric	Core Modeled Synth	Instrument	Electric offers the sounds of classic electric pianos through physical modeling synthesis, allowing you to dive inside and play with the guts of the instrument.	Live 10 Suite Core	???
Electric Keyboards		Sounds	Electric Keyboards is a new Pack featuring three legendary multisampled instruments: two electro-mechanical pianos and one tonewheel organ. Special attention was given to making this Pack sound as true-to-life and organic as possible. The result is characterful electric keys for any genre.	On USB or Web	2657.6MB
Glitch and Wash		Sounds	Glitch and Wash explores the contrast of organic texture and precise rhythms. This Pack combines precision slices and microscopic snippets of sound with warm ambient pads, textures and soundscapes – ready-to-mix sounds designed for heavy tweaking.	Web	879.2MB
		Sounds ?	GrandPiano_r46599_v9.1.alp The powerful expressiveness of a renowned concert grand in Live. Multiple articulations, sampled from a carefully prepared and programmed piano to capture the virtuosity of the classical grand piano sound.	On USB	640 MB
		Sounds ?	GuitarandBass_r46598_v9.0.alp A set of electric guitars and basses, expertly multisampled to cover different playing styles, velocities and articulations - from funky slap bass to gently strummed guitar chords.	On USB	476 MB
Latin Percussion	Drums	Sounds	Latin Percussion is a  collection of acoustic percussion instruments incl congas, bongos, timbales, claves, shakers, tambourines, bells from the worlds of Brazilian, Afro-Cuban and African music.	On USB or Web	530.7MB
		Sounds ?	LoopmastersMixtape_r46589_v9.0.alp A set of samples/loops from Loopmasters, from synthesized sound design to acoustic drums and founds sounds. Features content from Partners such as Puremagnetik and Soniccouture, and Loopmasters' artist Pack sounds from artists such as Digable Planets, Coldcut, Todd Terry, and more.	On USB	1860 MB
Max for Live Essentials	Effects	Max4Live	Max for Live Essentials is a collection of audio and MIDI effects, synthesizers and control devices made with Max for Live – for use with Live 9.	Web	354.0 MB
Operator	Core Modeled Synth	Instrument	Operator is a versatile, easy-to-use and great-sounding software instrument combining classic analog sound & frequency modulation synthesis, perfectly integrated in Live's award-winning interface.	Live 10 Suite Core	???
Orchestral Brass		Sounds	A thorough set of vivid and colorful brass instruments. Features solo and ensemble French horn, trombone, trumpet and tuba, with a unique set of articulations in multiple section sizes.	On USB or Web	1466.6MB
Orchestral Mallets		Sounds	Captures the true essence of symphonic percussion instruments in pristine quality. Features vibraphone, marimba, xylophone, crotales, glockenspiel, tubular bells, cymbals and timpani with a variety of articulations.	On USB or Web	1262.8MB
Orchestral Strings		Sounds	A comprehensive selection of naturally rich and dynamic stringed instruments. Features solo and ensemble violin, viola, cello and double bass, all recorded in their natural positions within the orchestra, complete with a number of articulations.	On USB or Web	2764.0MB
Orchestral Woodwind		Sounds	Delivers a variety of clear and vibrant wind instruments. Features solo and ensemble flute, clarinet, bassoon, oboe and English horn with a broad selection of articulations.	On USB or Web	4616.8MB
Punch and Tilt		Sounds	Punch and Tilt is a dancefloor-ready collection of sounds focused on machine rhythms, weighty bass and dark, hypnotizing melodies, textures and noises – a rough sonic aesthetic that started with a small group of underground producers and has grown into a worldwide scene.	Web	391.7MB
Sampler	Core Instrument	Instrument	Sampler is a sampling instrument that brings powerful multisample playback and import, as well as profound sound design capabilities to Ableton Live.	Live 10 Suite Core	???
Samplification		Sounds	We're giving away a free audio package with new sounds, presets, Instrument Racks and Construction Kits. This is more than just a few audio files. Samplification will kick-start your sampling skills and demonstrate what Sampler is really capable of	Web	461.9MB
		Sounds ?	RetroSynths_r46529_v9.0.alp More than 4,000 samples from the greatest classic synths of the past three decades, including rich bass from the Minimoog, acid squelch from the Roland TB-303, and the classic digital phase distortion synthesis from the Casio CZ-series.	On USB	2220 MB
Session Drums Club	Drums	Sounds	Session Drums Club is a multisampled library of world-class acoustic drums recorded with plenty of natural room ambience to impart realistic depth and an organic vibe in the rhythm department	Web	2230.3MB
Session Drums Multimic	Drums	Sounds	Session Drums Multimic is a meticulously recorded library of acoustic drums that reproduces the nuances of a recording session and puts you in the engineer's seat. Session Drums gives you full control of the close mics for each drum as well as the overheads and room mics, so you can craft the perfect drum mix.	Web	4497.2MB
Session Drums Studio	Drums	Sounds	Session Drums Studio features clear and vivid studio recordings of world-class acoustic drums, properly mic’ed and ready to play. The included kits cover a wide range of styles and offer deep customization capabilities.	Web	3037.2MB
Singularities		Sounds	Free for Live 10 users, Singularities makes use of single samples and finely tuned, expressive parameters to capture the sound and feel of classic synths and samplers. Included are 40 Instrument Racks, MIDI clips & drum kits – all the parts you need for a complete track.	Web	76.6 MB
Skitter and Step		Sounds	Skitter and Step inhabits the space where growling basses, rinsing pads and jarring melodies collide with jagged, broken percussion. The cavernous spaces, dubby basses and tight drums are ready for production but were designed for deep sound manipulation	On USB or Web	518.4 MB
Spectral Textures		Sounds	One part field recordings and one part additive synthesis, Spectral Textures is a unique instrument that blends together two distinct worlds of sound to create vibrant atmospheres, textures and progressions.	For sale	???
Surround Panner	Effect	Max4Live	Surround Panner is a free Max for Live device that makes mixing for performances, installations and theaters using multi-channel speaker setups possible in Live. Simply load the device into a track in your Live set and use the XY control to place it anywhere in the surround field. Eight presets allow you to choose between four-, six- and eight-channel setups.	Web	0.53 MB
Synth Essentials		Sounds	Synth Essentials expands the Core Library with fresh presets for Ableton synths & samplers. Painstakingly created by top artists and sound designers, Synth Essentials makes it easy to find the sounds you need with no interruption to your creative flow.	On USB or Web	608.6 MB
Tension	Core Modeled Synth	Instrument	Tension is a physical modeling string synthesizer capable of creating incredibly accurate reproductions of real stringed instruments or otherworldly hybrids.	Live 10 Suite Core	???
			VinylClassics_r46590_v9.0.alp Over 400 loops & samples from Zero-G in a wide range of styles, including smooth '70s grooves, gritty hip hop & edgy, abstract weirdness.	On USB	465 MB
Wavetable	Core Instrument	Instrument	Wavetable is a new synth that’s both intuitive to use and vastly capable. Stretch, shape and morph sounds into a broad sound palette using wavetables derived from synths, acoustic instruments, noise and much more. Start playing right away, or go deeper into sound design than you’ve ever been before	Live 10 Suite Core	???

Plus More Free Stuff

I admit it ...I'm a cheap skate so here is there free packages available on Ableton.

Reference
Main List (https://www.ableton.com/en/packs/#?item_type=free)

Name	Class	Type	Description	Location	Size
DM-307A: Free Pack	Drums	Sounds	Heavyocity offer up this free Pack of drum sounds from their flagship DM-307A collection: a production-ready batch of live percussion, drum machines and modular synth drums.	Web	109.1MB
Max 7 Pitch and Time Machines	Effects	Max4Live	Max 7 Pitch and Time Machines is a free collection of devices that make use of new real-time intonation, pitch and time correction capabilities of Max 7.	Web	12.7MB
64 Pad Lab	Drums	Sounds	Five extensive Drum Racks tailored for use with Push’s 64 Pad mode, produced and compiled by finger drummer par excellence Mad Zach.	Web	181.0MB
Break Selection For Live 9	Drums	Sounds	Break Selection is a free pack that includes 175 drum loops recorded by some of the best drummers in the business.	Web	202.5 MB
Gratis Hits		Max4Live	Look what Max for Cats dragged in: five high-quality Max for Live devices for free! Including an exceptional organ/additive synthesizer hybrid and several wonderfully executed audio and MIDI devices, Gratis Hits is a gift that will keep on giving.	Web	37.1 MB
Recording Hybrid Kit	Drums	Sounds	Recording Hybrid Kit is a free Pack consisting of a multi-sampled, multi-velocity Yamaha drumset. Made up of elements of several different drumsets, Hybrid is a great sounding, all-purpose kit from Drumdrops – the makers of A Fistful of Drumkits.	Web	168.2 MB
Beat Selection For Live 9	Drums	Sounds	Discover 500MB of the finest drum loops from Sample Magic's award-winning catalogue, compatible with Live 9.0.1 or higher. Encompassing a huge variety of electronic styles, Sample Magic's Beat Selection has been hand-picked to offer beat-making inspiration.	Web	358.8 MB
DM ARP 2600 Drums	Drums	Sounds	DM ARP 2600 Drums is a free Live Pack consisting of 8 Ableton Drum Racks and 150 original analog percussion sounds sampled from Daniel Miller’s own ARP 2600 modular synthesizer. Extensive controls for real-time sound tweaking and bonus sequence clips.	Web	27.0 MB
Granulator		Max4Live	Sound artist Robert Henke creates the tools that define his sound. Using Max for Live, Robert made the 'Granulator', which can transform any sound into a lush soundscape or a wall of noise. 'Granulator' is a sample-based granular synthesizer.	Web	2.3 MB
Schwarzonator II	Effect	Max4Live	Jazz/soul/electronica legend Henrik Schwarz used Max for Live to create the 'Schwarzonator II', which automatically shifts MIDI notes to a selected musical scale.	Web	0.69 MB
Instant Haus	Drums	Max4Live	Producer Alexkid is a master of house music. He's put that knowledge into his 'Instant Haus' Max for Live device, which instantly generates drum patterns to craft into your own house track.	Web	3.3 MB
Pitch Drop		Max4Live	Electronic music producer Mormo wanted a specific sound. He took matters into his own hands and used Max for Live to make it happen in a day.	Web	0.59 MB
sbx 2049	Drums	Max4Live	Berlin duo Skinnerbox present their custom Max for Live drum machine, the sbx2049.	Web	5.4 MB
Classic Synths		Max4Live	Inspired by classic 80s hardware synths, Japanese musician Katsuhiro Chiba used Max for Live to build three synthesizers that capture the iconic sound of the era. 'Classic Synths' = 3 synthesizers with classic 80s sound.	Web	2.8 MB
APC-Step-Sequencer		Max4Live	A mild-mannered logistics expert by day, Mark Egloff creates Max for Live devices for Live and Akai controllers at night	Web	1.6 MB
Kasio		Max4Live	When Oli Larkin wanted to design a software version of one of his favorite vintage digital synths, Max for Live was the obvious choice. Kasio features Phase Distortion synthesis inspired by classic line of digital synthesizers.	Web	1.8 MB
Solid Sounds		Sounds	Features loops and presets in a variety of musical styles for all Live/Live Intro users.	Web	152.4MB
Mad Beatz		Sounds	A loop library produced exclusively for Ableton by KJ Sawka. Includes drum loops, bass and melodic loops, Ableton groove templates and MIDI grooves recorded by KJ Sawka.	Web	325.3MB
Kapture		Max4Live	For the 2010 reincarnation of Plastikman, Richie Hawtin's grand artistic vision required the masterminds at Liine to design a Max for Live device to help the tour become reality. 'Kapture' saves the state of your Live Set as a preset that can be instantly recalled.	Web	3.0 MB

rtpMIDI & iOS MIDI Controllers

I have been mucking around looking at MIDI controllers and DAW (Digital Audio Workstations). I have lashed out and got myself a Korg nanoKEY Studio and a Zoom R24 USB Recorder.

But it was bugging my mind ... why not get something cool like Ableton Push 2 for some serious creative input and equally serious $$$ or  would Novation Launchpad Pro be a good compromise to get some notation and creative input (velocity, after-touch) without all the bells and whistles ... do I really need notion and expressive input so would a Novation Launchpad Mini Mk2 do???

My conclusion was I really didnt want to break the bank with the Push 2. Even though it will probably be a good investment. I didnt want to pay for a part solution like Launchpad Pro. Which left me with the cheap option of a

With my Hacker hat on .... I thought there must be a way to intercept controller messages and make them do what I want. Step 1 .. see what I can SWIPE (stands for Steal with Integrity and Pride from Everywhere). what I found was some people doing things in python like a hack that allows you to script functions to the Lunchpad 8x8 buttons (using lunchpad.py). Looking around a bit more there are expensive and free MIDI controllers on iOS that seem to use a protocol on OSX called CoreMidi.

Immediate question ... does CoreMidi work on Windows. Well of course not but someone has written a generic server rtpMIDI that just appears like a virtual MIDI device to the rest of windows. It can automatically discover (Peter's Ipad Mini 4) or you can manually add your device (iPadMini4) with its IP and port 5004 if it doesnt show up.

rtpMIDI

Next step i needed to see if a DAW can connect to this. I have mucked around with the Ableton Live Lite (unathorised so no save) and LMMS a free fully functioning open source DAW.

I paired this up with expressionPad (iOS only) on the iPad. This is all over notation as you can choose between key appearance (piano, hex, square), colour (white, rainbow, red, blue) and heaps of custom options about choosing key scales between the columns and tuning between the rows and overall octave base note offset. It also uses multi touch, slide between notes and pitch bending/vibrato.

Expression pad is best for notation as its UI can define layouts by scale (columns) arpeggiated chords (rows) and is more expressive with swiping between notes.

expressionPad (Blues columns & 5 semi rows)

This set up seamlessly sends MIDI notation data to your DAW of choice like LMMS or Ableton Live.  This can be used to fake an Ableton Drumpad control by setting it to an 4 x 4 grid with a C1 base note, columns separated by a semitone and rows by 4 semitones.

I have found Aftertouch • 3D MIDI Controller (iOS only) is probably better direct control as you can save you layouts and switch between pad layouts easily. It is okay for notation as it does aftertouch for controlling pitch bend (X axis), modulation (Y Axis) and velocity (Z Direction) but does not cleanly swipe between notes like expresionPad.

Aftertouch • 3D MIDI Controller (1 semi Columns, 4 semi Rows)

This should be enough to get you started with MIDI controllers and DAW's for free on iOS. No android solutions at this time but I will look into some alternative approaches soon and add it here.

2019 ... Guess im about due for a Post

I just remembered my often neglected personal blog ....

https://justinfromthesandbox.blogspot.com/ 

Sandboxes have been on my mind since 2010!

It sort of organically grew until a peak of 1000 page views per month in 2016 when I last posted but has died away over the last two years ... I think because I stopped posting and stopped getting good referrals from Google. But interestingly enough a recent post I made on Reddit drove 300 page views of a single article.

I guess I better get posting and turn things around :>

Making Equations for the Web (and other stuff)

Introduction

Well it doesn't take much to make me happy in life but equations on the web (or any word processor) generally have driven me up the wall.

Often I have resorted to MathCad as I am familiar with the application and usually gives mostly what I want but the down side is you usually end up with an image to paste.

Well I have come up with a slightly better method if somewhat circuitous but I think actually highlights some pretty good web pages.  The results could easily be applied to web pages or other documents that can handle HTML or as static images if they cannot.

Step 1 - Online LaTeX Editor - Make some LaTeX

This site has a comprehensive editor that can produce code in a number of forms include reproducing itself as embeddable editable code, straight image or LaTeX markup.  Its the LaTex markup we need for the next step.

Step 2 - Math to Web - Convert LaTeX to MathML

This site converts LaTex to MathML which can be embedded into a webpage as selectable text rather then a straight image.

Step 3 - Tryit Editor - Verify that it works as expected!

This site allows you to paste HTML (including the MathML generated above) and see your results rendered in an adjacent pane. MathML can be rendered by most modern browsers with varying degreres of success as per normal I would expect.

I hope you have found this as useful as I have.

By the Power of .... um Elections ? (Or how to monitor battery life performance)

Introduction

This post was triggered by three issues with my mobile devices.

• Unpredictable battery life from my iPhone 4s
• Constant cooler fan operation on my notebook (Samsung NP350U2B) is noisy and annoying
• Lower then expected battery life from my new tablet (Asus VivoTab 8 M80TA)

The basic solution for all of these was to;

• Use battery logging software, 
• Apply a bit more discipline in the daily use cycle
  (eg charge at night, run all day to near shutdown, only top up charge if needed)
• Be more mindful of what apps are being used relative to battery life performance. 

In a bit more detail for each device

iPhone 4s

My phone was purchased in late 2011 so is currently about 4 years old and probably about double the expected life span of any fanboy (or girls) expected utilisation. So I guess this means I have some interesting problems and Apple really doesnt care given their lack of responise to the only support avenue available to me.

I have been a long time user of Battery Life Pro (by Kdan Mobile Software) but I am not sure if it is still available on iTunes. Its a useful little utility which can be used to log your battery percentage over time (little quirk you have to look at the batter graph or it will not log the data!).  This data can be accessed using a tool like CopyTrans to access the Batter Life pro documents sandbox which contains the settings.plist file which store the battery log data in XML.

What this has shown me is how quickly the battery is discharging. What I have noted is that apart from obvious use, it has good and bad days with really no rhyme or reason. I think this is primarily due to two reasons.

• Poor cellular coverage so it is connnected and disconnecting a lot.
• Misbehaving apps that are chewing up more then they should.  This can be monitored using Settings|General|Usage|Battery Usage by comparing the 24h usage to the 7 day usage.
• High motions sensor usage if being moved around a lot while using sensor based apps

I have also recently started to use Battery Doctor (by KS Mobile) which is a useful utility to monitor what days you have part or fully charged your battery. Since I have started doing this I have noticed less crashing from high percentages on my battery.

I realise this is an "old" phone and the problems might not apply to many but the tecquires could be used to trouble shoot other battery problems.  I might go to the local Apple shop and torture them at some stage and will update if I get a better response then just buy a new phone.

Notebook and Tablet

These two devices are operating Windows 7.0 and 8.1  respectively. I have found some useful programs that I have used identify excessive and ensure a more normal level power usage.

Resource Monitor

This app is built into windows and can be accessed via the Search function for "Resource Monitor" or as a button on the Performance tab of Task Manager.  This app gives an over all picture of CPU, network and drive access as well as a list of applications individual utilisation. If you sort these by Average you can get a clear idea of who are the primary hogs.

Open Hardware Monitor

Open hardware monitor is a useful app to monitor depending upon your available hardware sensors things like CPU speeds/temperature/load%/power, hard drive temperature and RAM memory load%/actual used or available.  This can be used to monitor up to the previous 24h and logs to a daily file if so desired.  Things I find useful from this;

• Notice the amount of time the CPU cores go into Turbo mode, or strange cycles or sustained periods of high CPU speed.
• CPU speed features are not always correlated to CPU load.
• CPU temperature is a good indicator of load and the HD temperature is not a bad indicator of ambient temperature.

BatteryMon 

BatteryMon (by Passmark Software) is a great program to monitor your battery discharge rate in real time. It gives you a visual indication of discharge and other stats such as time running, time remaining etc. It can also log to a file.

Powercfg

In windows 8.1 (not 7) powercgf has a -batteryreport option that produces a detail battery report including graphics in HTML.  This is useful as it seems to continue to operate when in Sleep mode so you can monitor drain during this time (eg identify its really asleep, not still on wifi etc).

Just a temporary check to a HTML report file that will be over written use the following batch.

powercfg /batteryreport
"C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe" c:\users\pac\battery-report.html 

As the report only goes back three days, I have also written a batch that can output to a report file with the current date and time.

set hour=%time:~0,2%
if "%hour:~0,1%" == " " set hour=0%hour:~1,1%
;echo hour=%hour%
set min=%time:~3,2%
if "%min:~0,1%" == " " set min=0%min:~1,1%
;echo min=%min%
set secs=%time:~6,2%
if "%secs:~0,1%" == " " set secs=0%secs:~1,1%
;echo secs=%secs%

set year=%date:~-4%
;echo year=%year%
set month=%date:~7,2%
if "%month:~0,1%" == " " set month=0%month:~1,1%
;echo month=%month%
set day=%date:~4,2%
if "%day:~0,1%" == " " set day=0%day:~1,1%
;echo day=%day%
set dayL=%date:~0,3%
;echo dayL:=%dayL%

set datetimef=%year%%month%%day%_%hour%%min%%secs%_%dayL%

echo datetimef=%datetimef%

powercfg /batteryreport /output %1%datetimef%.html
"C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\iexplore.exe" %userprofile%\%1%datetimef%.html 

Battery Bar Pro

Battery Bar Pro is an excellent tool to see the resulting instantaneous usage of your battery in your task bar.  You can set up in Preferences that  click on the battery bar icon you can toggle between current power consumption, time remaining, percent remain (and battery capacity in mAh which is not much use really).

I use this frequently on the power consumption setting like a speedometer for my battery. I know what speed (power discharge rate in watts) I should be going at and make sure its not over by too much.  Being able to quickly toggle to get an estimated time left on battery is useful too.

Feature Based Computing

Continuing on from my earlier discussion on the lack of performance increase of CPU's driving up update cycle, I have found its more feature based reason that are now driving my update cycle.

1. Form Factor - I have a need for wearable hand held, tablet, mobile and desktop.
2. Open Ecosystem
3. All Day Computing
4. Mobile Connection

Form factor	Wearable	HandHeld	Tablet	Mobile	SFF Desktop	Smart Device
Size	1"	4-6"	8-10"	10-13"	15-19"	None
Weight	<50g	<150g	<300-600g	<1500g	<3000g	<300g
Battery Life	7-10 day	1-2 day	5-10h	5-10h	mains	mains
Data	BT/WiFi/ANT+	Mobile/Wifi	Wifi	Wifi/LAN	Wifi/LAN	Wifi/LAN
Current	Fitbit One/ Misfit Flash/ Garmin Forerunner 910XT	iPhone 4s	Asus Vivotab Note 8	Samsung NP350U2B	Dell Optiplex GX520	Raspberry Pi /Pi 2
Geekmark		215/405	765/2573	2010/4174	796/956	294 & 1311
Ram	512KB	1GB	2GB	4GB	8GB	512KB
Storage	1GB	32GB	64GB	750GB	3TB	8GB

The Future Apocalypse is Already Here

Call me cynical but we are already on the brink of the apocalyptic future but its not just one apocalypse like the movies. Its all of them!!!

• Zombie App where everyone has guns and is shooting each  other (aka the United States)
• Corporation Wars where mega corps fight for domination through escalating trade wars (aka Google, Apple, Microsoft, Samsung, etc)
• Skynet where technology and intelligent systems pervade our lives (aka mobile phones, smart things, internet of things, etc)
• The Matrix is where the population is passivated by the dumbing down of life (aka Cloud Computing, web services, etc)
• Global Pandemic where a viscous biological agent threatens the existence of all life (aka the pathogen is the Human Beings!)

About the only one I have missed is Alien Invasion as far as I know that has not happened .... but I live in hope. Please resume wearing your tin foil hats!