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Started by ZLoth, April 14, 2024, 09:04:38 PM

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ZLoth

What has me scratching my head is this from my TrueNAS Scale server:



Okay, eno1 and eno2 (hey, what happened to 0) are my server motherboard's ethernet ports, but both are limited to 1 Gigabit which is what was available in my price range in mid-2016. enp1s0 is a 2.5 gigabit network card which I installed as part of a home network upgrade, as I replaced the switch with a 2.5 gigabit switch, while all three of the computers on the network support 2.5 gigabit LAN connections. I'm still scratching my head on the naming. enoX is short for ethernnet onboard. I'm guessing that enp1s0 is short for Ethernet Port 1 PCI Slot 0.
Don't Drive Distrac... SQUIRREL!


ZLoth

#26
I just decommissioned my mother's old laptop after it was replaced with a mini-PC a few months ago and ensuring that there was no further need. (A backup is on my server "just in case"). A few years ago, I replaced the hard drive with a Samsung 500GB 840 EVO SSD drive. Just for fun, I decided to check online for the price, and was shocked. Amazon lists the SSD drive for $160 while NewEgg lists the drive for $198. :-o

The funny part is that you can get a more modern drive for much cheaper. Amazon lists the 870 EVO 500GB for $75. NewEgg lists multiple 500GB SSDs (various specs) from $40 to $90.

Shrug. Into the "recycled for future use" box it goes. On the other hand, that box also had a 1 TB 2½" HDD that I pulled a year ago from my old laptop. I have no idea why I was saving it since, beyond my TrueNAS file server, I've banished hard drives from my life. I previously removed the partitions, and am performing a secure wipe now before it goes into the recycle bin.
Don't Drive Distrac... SQUIRREL!

ZLoth

From Smithsonian Magazine:

Cleaning Crew Discovers One of the World's Oldest Surviving Desktop Computers
The 1972 Q1 microcomputer could fetch $60,000 at auction
QuoteLast December, employees at Just Clear, a London-based house clearance company, were emptying a property when they stumbled across two decades-old computers.

At first, the workers were unsure what they had uncovered. They didn't recognize the items and couldn't find any relevant information online, Just Clear's founder, Brendan O'Shea, tells Live Science's Keumars Afifi-Sabet. After speaking with an expert, however, O'Shea learned that his team had found rare pieces of technology history: a 1972 Q1 desktop microcomputer with an internal printer and a 1976 Q1 Lite with an external companion printer.
FULL ARTICLE HERE
Don't Drive Distrac... SQUIRREL!

ZLoth

From Engadget:

Spotify's Car Thing will soon transform into Spotify's Car Brick
The company said it will stop working on December 9.
QuoteSpotify's Car Thing, a limited hardware "test" the company began shipping only three years ago, is about to bite the dust. The company wrote on Thursday that the device, which brought Spotify to automobiles without Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, will "no longer be operational" as of December 9.

Car Thing was aimed at drivers who want to listen to Spotify in their cars but don't have modern systems with built-in streaming apps. The $90 device let you control the service with voice recognition and preset buttons, and it had a four-inch color touchscreen. However, Spotify had already discontinued it by mid-2022.
FULL ARTICLE HERE
Don't Drive Distrac... SQUIRREL!

kkt

Quote from: vdeane on April 22, 2024, 08:56:08 PM
Quote from: Scott5114 on April 22, 2024, 03:31:23 AM(when I got to the end of K&R, I was like...wait, that's it? that's the whole language?)
When I was in college, that book was (only half) jokingly referred to as "the Bible".  I still have it after all these years, even though at this point the odds of me doing anything in C are slim to none.  The C language does have a certain elegance that many other languages lack.

I've still got my copy of K&R, which Kernighan and Ritchie were nice enough to sign for me.

C is very much like an assembly language with more modern syntax and control structures added. 

Scott5114

Quote from: kkt on May 25, 2024, 10:11:22 PMI've still got my copy of K&R, which Kernighan and Ritchie were nice enough to sign for me.

That's probably worth some bucks.
uncontrollable freak sardine salad chef

Scott5114

Has anyone here been getting the ridiculous "AI Overviews" at the top of their Google search results pages? I haven't, but I've seen some screenshots of some real doozies, including some where the primary source appears to be The Onion.
uncontrollable freak sardine salad chef

ZLoth

Quote from: Scott5114 on May 26, 2024, 06:35:48 PMHas anyone here been getting the ridiculous "AI Overviews" at the top of their Google search results pages? I haven't, but I've seen some screenshots of some real doozies, including some where the primary source appears to be The Onion.

On occasion, yes.
Don't Drive Distrac... SQUIRREL!

kkt

Quote from: Scott5114 on May 26, 2024, 02:54:45 PM
Quote from: kkt on May 25, 2024, 10:11:22 PMI've still got my copy of K&R, which Kernighan and Ritchie were nice enough to sign for me.

That's probably worth some bucks.

Perhaps, there probably weren't that many fans who got them signed.  However, my copy is not a pristine condition or anything.  I'm not selling anyway, anyone who wants it will have to negotiate with my heir.

Dirt Roads

Quote from: Scott5114 on April 22, 2024, 03:31:23 AM(when I got to the end of K&R, I was like...wait, that's it? that's the whole language?)

Quote from: vdeane on April 22, 2024, 08:56:08 PMWhen I was in college, that book was (only half) jokingly referred to as "the Bible".  I still have it after all these years, even though at this point the odds of me doing anything in C are slim to none.  The C language does have a certain elegance that many other languages lack.

Quote from: kkt on May 25, 2024, 10:11:22 PMI've still got my copy of K&R, which Kernighan and Ritchie were nice enough to sign for me.

C is very much like an assembly language with more modern syntax and control structures added.

I've still got my old copy of K&R also.  I had one project group class where the focus was an EMAIL prototype.  My part of the assignment looked pretty intense, but turned out to be only 91 lines of code when using C.  The professor loved it, and I couldn't get any additional assignments.  So that is the entirety of my experience with what was the defacto programming language used in my world of data communications (railroading and rail transit).  Fortunately, decent skills in FORTRAN [somehow] ended up saving me in this career.

ZLoth

From How-To Geek:

After 60 Years the 4-Pin Molex Connector Is Finally (Almost) Dead
QuoteFor the entirety of my PC building career, the 4-pin Molex power connector has been there. At one point it felt like everything on my computer used it, but my love-hate relationship with this common connector is almost at an end, it seems. So it's time to prepare the eulogy.
FULL ARTICLE HERE

Thank goodness. Lord knows how many times I got frustrated because the pins were very loose in the connector.
Don't Drive Distrac... SQUIRREL!

mgk920

Quote from: ZLoth on May 30, 2024, 12:43:35 PMFrom How-To Geek:

After 60 Years the 4-Pin Molex Connector Is Finally (Almost) Dead
QuoteFor the entirety of my PC building career, the 4-pin Molex power connector has been there. At one point it felt like everything on my computer used it, but my love-hate relationship with this common connector is almost at an end, it seems. So it's time to prepare the eulogy.
FULL ARTICLE HERE

Thank goodness. Lord knows how many times I got frustrated because the pins were very loose in the connector.

Now, for for someone to come up with a reliable and easy to use 12v power outlet plug connector for the car.   :banghead:

Mike

ZLoth

Quote from: mgk920 on May 31, 2024, 11:52:34 AMNow, for for someone to come up with a reliable and easy to use 12v power outlet plug connector for the car.

Like... uh.... USB?
Don't Drive Distrac... SQUIRREL!

mgk920

#38
Quote from: ZLoth on May 31, 2024, 01:47:34 PM
Quote from: mgk920 on May 31, 2024, 11:52:34 AMNow, for for someone to come up with a reliable and easy to use 12v power outlet plug connector for the car.

Like... uh.... USB?

A*five volt* USB plug won't have the energy capacity to feed a 65 watt 120 VAC power inverter.

Mike

mgk920

An über-annoying tech thought (such as in this and other forvms) - getting ready to click on an icon to see a deeper discussion page of interest and as you start pressing the button, an ad loads causing the icon to 'jump', resulting in a sometimes unknowable page opeming.   :banghead:

Mike

formulanone

#40
Quote from: mgk920 on May 31, 2024, 11:52:34 AM
Quote from: ZLoth on May 30, 2024, 12:43:35 PMFrom How-To Geek:

After 60 Years the 4-Pin Molex Connector Is Finally (Almost) Dead
QuoteFor the entirety of my PC building career, the 4-pin Molex power connector has been there. At one point it felt like everything on my computer used it, but my love-hate relationship with this common connector is almost at an end, it seems. So it's time to prepare the eulogy.
FULL ARTICLE HERE

Thank goodness. Lord knows how many times I got frustrated because the pins were very loose in the connector.

Now, for for someone to come up with a reliable and easy to use 12v power outlet plug connector for the car.   :banghead:

Mike

https://www.google.com/search?q=12v+to+110v+inverter+for+car

Avoid going over 300-400 watts in most cars and light trucks unless your alternator and battery can spare it (medium-duty vehicle applications).

I use a small 150W one for my car and a larger 400W inverter for long trips with the kids. No problems over 10-15 of use, though they're not used every day, either.

Scott5114

#41
I love Linux, and I am never ever going back to Windows as a daily driver for any reason. It doesn't try to steal my data, there's no AI shit, and it is designed according to what theoretically benefits the user instead of what makes some shithead CEO more money. But the tradeoff means that every once in a while I have to deal with a hideous bug of some kind.

With the most recent Inkscape update, it will fail to start if a drawing tablet is connected. Like, just straight up instant crash and barf out a stack trace on startup. It's choking when trying to query the input devices, I guess. So the obvious thing to do is just disconnect the tablet when I need to start Inkscape. This would be mildly annoying with my old tablet, which just had a simple USB plug. But my new tablet pairs to the computer through Bluetooth. But I can't bypass the bug just by turning the tablet off, oh no. To get Inkscape to start, I have to completely unpair and purge the tablet from the system. Then it will start. And after that, I can re-pair the tablet and use it, even in Inkscape, just fine. Inkscape just can't be allowed to know while starting up that there is a drawing tablet, of any kind, anywhere in the Las Vegas Valley.

Of course, since unpairing/forgetting a device is probably a thing most people do once over the course of the device's lifetime, if that, the interface for this is kind of clunky and annoying to get to. So I'm trying to keep an empty Inkscape window open at all times, just so that any time I try to get some work done I don't have to play Bluetooth hokey pokey. But of course, periodically Inkscape will crash for other, unrelated reasons, so then I still get to take my tablet out, and put my tablet in, and shake it all about.
uncontrollable freak sardine salad chef

ZLoth

Quote from: Scott5114 on June 08, 2024, 05:24:20 AMWith the most recent Inkscape update, it will fail to start if a drawing tablet is connected. Like, just straight up instant crash and barf out a stack trace on startup. It's choking when trying to query the input devices, I guess.

Have you checked the Inkscape forums to see if it is a known issue?
Don't Drive Distrac... SQUIRREL!

Scott5114

#43
Quote from: ZLoth on June 08, 2024, 10:29:14 AM
Quote from: Scott5114 on June 08, 2024, 05:24:20 AMWith the most recent Inkscape update, it will fail to start if a drawing tablet is connected. Like, just straight up instant crash and barf out a stack trace on startup. It's choking when trying to query the input devices, I guess.

Have you checked the Inkscape forums to see if it is a known issue?

Yes, that's how I found out that it was the tablet doing it. (The nice thing about having a stack trace is you can usually just paste it into Google and, if your issue is known, it will be the first thing that comes up.)

https://gitlab.com/inkscape/inkscape/-/issues/4649

Fixed in the development version (apparently it was an upstream issue that was fixed when they migrated library versions). But they haven't released a version with the fix included yet; it looks like the devs were waffling on whether they want to do an unplanned bugfix release to 1.3 or just wait for 1.4, which is in beta now. Given that the last comment here was about a week before the beta was released, I'm guessing they're just waiting for 1.4. Which, fair enough, but that does mean I basically have to wait in line while all of the 1.4 bugs are fixed.

At least there's all this transparency with open-source software, so I at least know the devs care about the problem and a fix is coming. If this happened with Adobe Illustrator, not only would I be giving Adobe all my money and data constantly, but I'd have no way of knowing if the company intended on actually fixing its product or not.
uncontrollable freak sardine salad chef

ZLoth

From Ars Technica:

Retired engineer discovers 55-year-old bug in Lunar Lander computer game code
A physics simulation flaw in text-based 1969 computer game went unnoticed until today.
QuoteOn Friday, a retired software engineer named Martin C. Martin announced that he recently discovered a bug in the original Lunar Lander computer game's physics code while tinkering with the software. Created by a 17-year-old high school student named Jim Storer in 1969, this primordial game rendered the action only as text status updates on a teletype, but it set the stage for future versions to come.

The legendary game—which Storer developed on a PDP-8 minicomputer in a programming language called FOCAL just months after Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin made their historic moonwalks—allows players to control a lunar module's descent onto the Moon's surface. Players must carefully manage their fuel usage to achieve a gentle landing, making critical decisions every ten seconds to burn the right amount of fuel.
FULL ARTICLE HERE
Don't Drive Distrac... SQUIRREL!

ZLoth

From Reuters:

Japan declares victory in effort to end government use of floppy disks
QuoteJapan's government has finally eliminated the use of floppy disks in all its systems, two decades since their heyday, reaching a long-awaited milestone in a campaign to modernise the bureaucracy.
By the middle of last month, the Digital Agency had scrapped all 1,034 regulations governing their use, except for one environmental stricture related to vehicle recycling.
"We have won the war on floppy disks on June 28!" Digital Minister Taro Kono, who has been vocal about wiping out fax machines and other analogue technology in government, told Reuters in a statement on Wednesday.
FULL ARTICLE HERE

From Tom's Hardware:

Japanese gov celebrates demise of the floppy disk — 1,000+ regulations requiring their use have been scrapped
QuoteJapan's Digital Minister, Taro Kono, is celebrating the demise of the floppy disk. "We have won the war on floppy disks on June 28," Kono told Reuters earlier today. The milestone, decades after the storage medium's heyday, was reached as the scrapping of 1,034 official regulations that required the filing of floppy disks was enacted.

Back in January, we reported on the Japanese government's planned abolition of the floppy disk as it sought to modernize. Thus, these last few months have been the final hurrah for the iconic magnetic media format in Japan. As of June 28, only one official regulation requires a floppy to be filed—an environmental stricture related to vehicle recycling.
FULL ARTICLE HERE

From Japan Today:

Japan declares victory in effort to end government use of floppy disks
QuoteJapan's government has finally eliminated the use of floppy disks in all its systems, two decades since their heyday, reaching a long-awaited milestone in a campaign to modernize the bureaucracy.

By the middle of last month, the Digital Agency had scrapped all 1,034 regulations governing their use, except for one environmental stricture related to vehicle recycling.
FULL ARTICLE HERE
Don't Drive Distrac... SQUIRREL!

mgk920

I haven't used a mechanical external drive disk, including 'burnable' CDs, for data storage in nearly two decades.   I do have a 'flash' thumb drive on my keychain as a backup.

Mike

Scott5114

Quote from: Scott5114 on June 08, 2024, 05:24:20 AMWith the most recent Inkscape update, it will fail to start if a drawing tablet is connected. Like, just straight up instant crash and barf out a stack trace on startup. It's choking when trying to query the input devices, I guess. So the obvious thing to do is just disconnect the tablet when I need to start Inkscape. This would be mildly annoying with my old tablet, which just had a simple USB plug. But my new tablet pairs to the computer through Bluetooth. But I can't bypass the bug just by turning the tablet off, oh no. To get Inkscape to start, I have to completely unpair and purge the tablet from the system. Then it will start. And after that, I can re-pair the tablet and use it, even in Inkscape, just fine. Inkscape just can't be allowed to know while starting up that there is a drawing tablet, of any kind, anywhere in the Las Vegas Valley.

I have come up with the stupidest workaround to this bug.

The least ludicrous part is that I downloaded the 1.4 beta, in which the bug is fixed. I have it as an AppImage, which is basically a self contained package that contains the executable and all of the dependencies, so that it will always run on every Linux system, regardless of what libraries it has installed and where. But anyway, it starts regardless of whether my tablet is around or not.

Now, the problem here is that I absolutely loathe the file selector Inkscape uses. I am used to being able to jump deep into a folder hierarchy by just typing the absolute path in a box, hitting enter, and then selecting the file I want. Inkscape uses the GTK file selector, which implements this in a way that's awkward enough that I would much rather just cruise around the file system in my file manager and click SVGs in that to open them. (This works better for my workflow anyway because I normally have to check the SVG into Git or run a script on it after I edit it, and the Dolphin file manager has a shell window that will automatically cd to wherever the graphical file manager is.)

Downloading an AppImage, however, does not update file associations. There's probably a way to update the file association to point at the AppImage, but I'd just have to undo that whenever 1.4 is officially released, so I don't feel like looking up how to do it. So anytime I click an SVG, an Inkscape 1.3 window opens and immediately crashes. But before it does...it apparently writes the file it opened into the recent files list...which is shared between the installed 1.3 and the 1.4 AppImage somehow.

So my stupid workaround is to open the file in 1.3, let it crash, then snag it from the recent files list in 1.4.

Discover the excellence!
uncontrollable freak sardine salad chef

formulanone

#48
My daughter has a car without an MP3 player nor AUX port, just a CD player and radio. She asked me to copy a few CDs from my collection, so the originals aren't lost. I dug around in some boxes, and found about two dozen unused CD-ROMs. She also had an old CD player in her room that was unused since she was about 4-5, but it still works.

I honestly forgot if it was called "ripping" or "burning" a CD, and I had to quickly look up how to do it on Windows Media Player; I hadn't made a copy (legal or otherwise) in almost 20 years, since acquiring an MP3 player in late-2004.

ZLoth

Quote from: formulanone on July 08, 2024, 10:49:04 AMMy daughter has a car without an MP3 player nor AUX port, just a CD player and radio. She asked me to copy a few CDs from my collection, so the originals aren't lost. I dug around in some boxes, and found about two dozen unused CD-ROMs. She also had an old CD player in her room that was unused since she was about 4-5, but it still works.

I honestly forgot if it was called "ripping" or "burning" a CD, and I had to quickly look up how to do it on Windows Media Player; I hadn't made a copy (legal or otherwise) in almost 20 years, since acquiring an MP3 player in late-2004.

"Ripping" is the term of pulling the audio from a CD to a MP3 file. Also, there were programs that would duplicate a CD to a burnable CD.

Without knowing the make and model, there are FM transmitters available that can rebroadcast the Bluetooth to a unused FM frequency, but the power is limited and is subject to interference. There are afternmarket solutions as well to add Bluetooth capability.
Don't Drive Distrac... SQUIRREL!



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