Personal computing discussed

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by UberGerbil
Sun Aug 04, 2019 2:09 pm
Forum: The Back Porch
Topic: Amazon Ordering Processing
Replies: 33
Views: 6669

Re: Amazon Ordering Processing

The "last mile" folks that Amazon uses for delivery instead of UPS/FedEx/DHL seem... uneven at best. I'm talking about "random dude in his unmarked personal vehicle with the backseat full of packages" that seem to be doing deliveries (often quite late into the night). We've had s...
by UberGerbil
Thu Jul 25, 2019 1:35 pm
Forum: Developer's Den
Topic: Weird bug and weirder solution...
Replies: 6
Views: 7433

Re: Weird bug and weirder solution...

It's been a long time since I've thought about the internals of VB, but it's possible the Try...Catch construct itself is fixing the problem as a side effect (there's a bunch more work done to set up and tear down the error handling and there's probably some serialization happening inside of it as w...
by UberGerbil
Sat Jul 06, 2019 3:27 pm
Forum: Storage
Topic: When did this happen? DropBox "free" limits to 3 devices!
Replies: 18
Views: 5113

Re: When did this happen? DropBox "free" limits to 3 devices!

The reason I have the paid tier of Dropbox is because I volunteer for a non-profit and they use it. Sharing files between a couple of dozen people on three continents requires some kind of solution, and that's the one they chose. (I've been mildly lobbying to look at alternatives for a while now and...
by UberGerbil
Fri Jul 05, 2019 12:22 pm
Forum: General Hardware
Topic: USB 3.0 Performance on AMD x370
Replies: 7
Views: 3864

Re: USB 3.0 Performance on AMD x370

Generally, you are expected to use the Windows 10 xHCI inbox driver, which you are doing. What camera is it? And is the camera exactly the same as it was when you tested with your previous system -- ie, does it have the same storage (eg SD card) in it? The port can only take data as fast as the sou...
by UberGerbil
Thu Jul 04, 2019 1:54 pm
Forum: Storage
Topic: When did this happen? DropBox "free" limits to 3 devices!
Replies: 18
Views: 5113

Re: When did this happen? DropBox "free" limits to 3 devices!

Dropbox also changed their paid plans. I recently got a notification that the Dropbox Plus tier has gone from $9.99/month for 1TB to $11.99/month for 2TB (though there's a discount if you pay annually rather than monthly). If you actually need 2TB, that's a "deal" (twice the storage for 20...
by UberGerbil
Wed Apr 17, 2019 12:46 pm
Forum: The Back Porch
Topic: Maybe the coolest digital clock ever
Replies: 9
Views: 2260

Re: Maybe the coolest digital clock ever

That's really cool. Too bad that it can only hit clock speeds of 60khz, because it would look really cool as a display, mounted on the wall with a completely broken-out Apple IIe or NES; blinking away as it processes data. ...while playing Choplifter or Mario. On the other hand, if it was running a...
by UberGerbil
Mon Apr 15, 2019 1:53 pm
Forum: Windows
Topic: Is Microsoft bad at math?
Replies: 21
Views: 4982

Re: Is Microsoft bad at math?

On the other hand, writing with multiple threads to a destination is a great way to end up with a lot of fragmented files. I do serial copies to avoid that. Which don't matter on SSDs. But if you're writing to hard drives, sure -- in that case you're likely limited by the HD throughput rather than ...
by UberGerbil
Mon Apr 15, 2019 1:49 pm
Forum: Windows
Topic: Is Microsoft bad at math?
Replies: 21
Views: 4982

Re: Is Microsoft bad at math?

Due to the nature of how data is written onto HDDs and how each file system works. Getting an accurate ETC on massive file/directory transfers is like trying to seer a 5-day weather forecast. And yet 5-day forecasts are exponentially better than they used to be. "A modern 5-day forecast is as ...
by UberGerbil
Mon Apr 15, 2019 1:19 pm
Forum: The Back Porch
Topic: Maybe the coolest digital clock ever
Replies: 9
Views: 2260

Re: Maybe the coolest digital clock ever

In a sort-of similar vein: https://monster6502.com/ Holy crap, that's equal parts amazing and hilarious. 60 kHz! 10W power draw! (Granted, most of that is the LEDs -- and that harkens back to the legitimate use-case for LEDs on your gear). More hilarity How big would the MOnSter 6502 be if it were ...
by UberGerbil
Mon Apr 15, 2019 1:02 pm
Forum: Windows
Topic: Is Microsoft bad at math?
Replies: 21
Views: 4982

Re: Is Microsoft bad at math?

If you're actually doing a lot of large copies, you really shouldn't be using Explorer anyway (if you care about performance). From this TechNet blog post : Most file copy tools like the EXPLORER.EXE GUI, the COPY command in the shell, the XCOPY.EXE tool and the PowerShell Copy-Item cmdlet not optim...
by UberGerbil
Thu Apr 11, 2019 12:31 pm
Forum: The Back Porch
Topic: TR Blocked on Base
Replies: 8
Views: 2896

Re: TR Blocked on Base

DragonDaddyBear wrote:
BlueCoat practically has a monopoly on the US government proxies.


All your base are belong...

Sorry. I hadn't thought of that meme in years.
by UberGerbil
Fri Mar 15, 2019 1:51 pm
Forum: The Back Porch
Topic: Theranos
Replies: 238
Views: 58560

Re: Theranos

Ars has a review (well more of a summary really) of the doc. But the promoted comment at the end is really the kicker for me. Theranos as the Facebook of personal medical data (you freely give it to them, they do... whatever they want with it) is chilling. And even though this first attempt flamed ...
by UberGerbil
Fri Mar 15, 2019 11:53 am
Forum: The Back Porch
Topic: Theranos
Replies: 238
Views: 58560

Re: Theranos

This story is just so nuts. It's really hard to believe it is real life at times. That could be said of many aspects of the world today. Sometimes I feel like I'm watching a movie about some bizarre alternate reality. This is the darkest timeline. Well, not the dark est (at least until Skynet gets ...
by UberGerbil
Mon Feb 25, 2019 2:26 pm
Forum: The Back Porch
Topic: Winter weather
Replies: 1521
Views: 200456

Re: Winter weather

-36C here this morning. The weather dudes are saying the coldest February since the 30s.. this is getting really old. https://i.imgur.com/MSdSsvq.png (My mother was born in North Battleford in the 1930s, so I'll have to pass that along -- she'll be even more pleased than usual she's warm and happy ...
by UberGerbil
Fri Feb 15, 2019 7:52 pm
Forum: Windows
Topic: New Protected file & folder showing up...?
Replies: 7
Views: 3249

Re: New Protected file & folder showing up...?

For future reference, you really should disconnect all other drives when you are attempting clean installs. I second this. PITA but its the only way to get a clean install when windows scans the drives for old installs of windows. Agreed. It's been my SOP forever (ie pre-XP)... and the odd time I f...
by UberGerbil
Fri Feb 15, 2019 7:46 pm
Forum: General Software
Topic: Disk Cloning software recommendation
Replies: 34
Views: 8089

Re: Disk Cloning software recommendation

Another thumbs-up for Macrium Reflect (though I probably haven't used the most recent version, I have used several previous versions over the years).
by UberGerbil
Fri Feb 08, 2019 5:12 pm
Forum: The Back Porch
Topic: Winter weather
Replies: 1521
Views: 200456

Re: Winter weather

Welp, Seattle was overdue for a patch of real winter (we get about two a decade) and it looks like our latest has just started. It may be the biggest in a decade, and a decade ago this happened: https://i.imgur.com/Cbv43Xb.jpg https://i.imgur.com/V5HKtq2.jpg (Explanation posted at the time on page 1...
by UberGerbil
Thu Jan 31, 2019 1:36 pm
Forum: Graphics
Topic: Who else is excited about Intel's Xe?
Replies: 62
Views: 18170

Re: Who else is excited about Intel's Xe?

I assume most of us remember how well Larrabee worked out... And some of us are old enough to remember how the i860 worked out before that (though arguably it had more success as a "GPU" than as a general purpose CPU, it still wasn't great). Intel's track record of doing anything non-x86 ...
by UberGerbil
Thu Jan 24, 2019 5:16 pm
Forum: Processors
Topic: Intel declares bankruptcy (RIP 1968-2019)
Replies: 68
Views: 12186

Re: Intel declares bankruptcy (RIP 1968-2019)

As JBI notes, stock prices are always forward-looking. This isn't about what they did in Q4 and 2018, this is about what they said they expect for Q1 and 2019. A 7% stock price drop for a 1.6% shortcoming. Yeah, tell me again how Wall Street's a rational actor. Actually, I'd say Wall Street's reacti...
by UberGerbil
Thu Jan 24, 2019 1:58 pm
Forum: Graphics
Topic: Supercomputer GPU rendering
Replies: 7
Views: 4060

Re: Supercomputer GPU rendering

Back when "Cars" was the latest thing from Pixar (over a decade ago now), they engineers released a paper describing their techniques; towards the end (section 8 ) they mention a single ray-traced scene taking 414MB. Techniques have improved, but so has scene complexity and effects.
by UberGerbil
Wed Jan 23, 2019 2:33 pm
Forum: Windows
Topic: Windows 10 DPC_Watchdog_Violation BSOD
Replies: 44
Views: 11190

Re: Windows 10 DPC_Watchdog_Violation BSOD

I think you need garlic, silver bullets, and a stake. It's clearly possessed.
by UberGerbil
Sat Jan 12, 2019 12:39 pm
Forum: The Back Porch
Topic: AARGH!
Replies: 13
Views: 2562

Re: AARGH!

just brew it! wrote:
At the office we call days like this "going down the rabbit hole". By the time the dust settles you've learned a bunch of stuff you didn't know you needed to know! :lol:
An iconic version of this immortalized by a young Walter White.
by UberGerbil
Fri Jan 11, 2019 2:45 am
Forum: General Hardware
Topic: Won't Get Past BIOS Screen
Replies: 6
Views: 4030

Re: Won't Get Past BIOS Screen

Thank you guys for help! Ludi, it looks like resetting the BIOS by pulling the battery (mobo still uses jumpers) did the trick! :D Great! Keep an eye on it though. Sometimes a problem like this is an early indicator of deeper trouble beginning to appear in the PC. And sometimes, at the very least, ...
by UberGerbil
Fri Jan 04, 2019 4:45 pm
Forum: General Hardware
Topic: why monitors have better picture than tvs?
Replies: 25
Views: 10986

Re: why monitors have better picture than tvs?

BTW, as far as I recall, Sony 2013 and 2014 models didn't need any tweaks for overscan, and HDMI input range is by default "auto". I don't know how others are, but I sort of expect nowadays most/all TVs have a global "PC" or "Game" picture mode with decent defaults for...
by UberGerbil
Fri Jan 04, 2019 2:01 pm
Forum: The Back Porch
Topic: Space Thread
Replies: 181
Views: 43881

Re: Space Thread

SpaceX's DM1 is vertical on the pad. I can't wait to see this take off. IT was supposed to be the 17th-ish, but I'm not sure that's going to happen. More likely at the end of the month. It's a milestone for sure, but the actual launch isn't going to be as fun as the first Falcon Heavy launch (and l...
by UberGerbil
Fri Jan 04, 2019 1:52 pm
Forum: The Back Porch
Topic: Space Thread
Replies: 181
Views: 43881

Re: Space Thread

(link is broken and I don't understand why "2014 MU69" should get you there) 2014 MU69 is the official name of the object. https://www.space.com/42878-ultima-thule-new-horizons-first-color-photo.html I assumed Dagwood left out a question mark that should have come after "why" --...
by UberGerbil
Fri Jan 04, 2019 12:07 am
Forum: The Back Porch
Topic: Fractals revisited
Replies: 41
Views: 5383

Re: Fractals revisited

FWIW I was puzzled by the pauses initially. For a moment I thought it was a hang during some extensive CPU-grind and then went "No, duh, this isn't a real-time render: the pauses are a choice " but it was only after a couple that I realized they marked a direction change. I doubt many othe...
by UberGerbil
Thu Jan 03, 2019 11:56 pm
Forum: General Hardware
Topic: why monitors have better picture than tvs?
Replies: 25
Views: 10986

Re: why monitors have better picture than tvs?

I recall a few years back hooking a PC up to an HD TV using the various connection options and being stunned when the quality using the VGA connector was better than the HDMI connection. Yes, analog was better than digital. I quickly realized that the TV wasn't messing with the signal that came in v...
by UberGerbil
Thu Jan 03, 2019 9:19 pm
Forum: General Hardware
Topic: CES 2019
Replies: 26
Views: 4901

Re: CES 2019

VESA's VRR spec is part of the HDMI 2.1 spec, so if LG is claiming VRR and HDMI 2.1 compliance, they're pretty certain to be implementing the open standard. That said, I don't know how much of a game-changer it will be; it's part of the slow burn towards the open standard rather than a sudden world-...
by UberGerbil
Thu Jan 03, 2019 2:00 pm
Forum: TR Sports
Topic: NFL 2018
Replies: 291
Views: 58985

Re: NFL 2018

idchafee wrote:
I hope Houston wins the Super Bowl. It really bothers me that JJ Watt might have the career hes had with no rings

You could say exactly the same thing about Larry Fitzgerald.
GZIP: On