Technology Random Access Thoughts

[vdeane]

The Security Now picture of the week seems really appropriate for this thread.

[kkt]

The Security Now picture of the week seems really appropriate for this thread.

 

16 GB on my main computer.  If I was replacing it today I'd get at least double, obviously.

(Yelling at clouds:  "48 KB on my first computer!  And glad to get it!")

[ZLoth]

(Yelling at clouds:  "48 KB on my first computer!  And glad to get it!")

My first computer was a TRS-80 Model III... with 16KB of memory.

[Beltway]

And darn it, despite having loads of camera gear, I was mighty disappointed by my near-eclipse photos. I'll chalk that up to operator error, even though I've had my latest camera for over a year now. With so many more features and the camera over-thinking for you, sometimes there's moments you have to override several settings just to get exactly what you want out of it. Again, there's the humbling moment when I know others could probably get their desired results, because they practiced and learned for that moment and knew what to do, and I just winged it, and winged it some more. The best camera is the one in your hand, and the better camera is knowing to use it in that situation.

Don't feel badly about that -- one of my lifetime hobbies is amateur astronomy, and while I don't do astrophotography myself I know a lot of people who do, and it takes some well-developed skills and telescope to take good photos of the Sun or any heavenly body.

To that grade school/junior high/high school teacher who insisted that calculators be banned and that we had to figure it out manually, with the reasoning that you would never carry a calculator around with you... how many scientific calculator apps are available for download now? Of course, because of cheating and such, there are only certain calculators that are approved for major exams, and they better have no WiFi connectivity.

No handheld calculators existed when I was in high school and early college years.

I got one in 1980 when I worked in road design, and it was a programmable TI-59C, cost about $100 and had trig functions which are necessary in roadway design.

People used to do trig manually. I saw the trig books in the office with tables of values for each minute of an arc for 0 to 360 degrees, for each of the six trig functions. Then you would take the two numbers on either side of your angle and interpolate to get the value for your angle down to the second of an arc. Before my time.

To be honest, I didn't have all that much programming experience in my career.  But I was proficient in the myriad of differences between FORTRAN3, FORTRAN4, FORTRAN77, IBM Fortran, VAX Fortran, MS Fortran, and Microsoft VisualFortran.  Including the fact that Microsoft couldn't get their function calls for matrix multiplication to work with imaginary numbers (which are indeed required in calculating the power flow when trains are in motion).  And yes, I still have my old JCL Programmers Card around here somewhere.

I was a mainframe COBOL programmer and systems designer for 16 years, and also worked in SAS and NATURAL/ADABAS.

Y2K conversion -- I was on a mainframe conversion project to update over 300 programs and over 50 files, to handle the 4-digit year in the date. There would have been major problems if the conversion did not happen. Smart businesses everywhere did the same thing and that is why it was a non-event.

The first Apple Macintosh computer I used in the newspaper business in 1987 was a Mac Plus. It had 1 MB of RAM and a 20 MB external hard drive. The souped-up computer we used for ad composition had 2 MB of RAM and a 40 MB external hard drive. We connected to our Apple LaserWriter printer with PhoneNet connectors. The hard drivers were SCSI and the mouse and keyboard used Apple Desktop Bus (ADB) connectors.

First for me at work was a 486 desktop in 1992, and a Pentium laptop in 1994. Pretty advanced machines at the time.

First home computer (well later that many IT folks in my office at work) was a Pentium 200 desktop in 1997. Used that to start my first website.

[ZLoth]

[kphoger]

First for me at work was a 486 desktop in 1992, and a Pentium laptop in 1994. Pretty advanced machines at the time.

The first time I had a Pentium was in 1999, although I think it may have been a P3.

[kkt]

Happy DEC-20th day!  The DEC-20 was a very common timesharing system in the 1970s, the most common single model on the Arpanet. 

[kurumi]

Happy DEC-20th day!  The DEC-20 was a very common timesharing system in the 1970s, the most common single model on the Arpanet. 

Nerds can also celebrate this on OCT 24

[Beltway]

First for me at work was a 486 desktop in 1992, and a Pentium laptop in 1994. Pretty advanced machines at the time.

The first time I had a Pentium was in 1999, although I think it may have been a P3.

My first home computer in 1997 was a Pentium desktop with a 200 MHz processor.

My second was in 2002 and a Pentium 4 desktop with a 2.4 GHz processor.

[TheCatalyst31]

Happy DEC-20th day!  The DEC-20 was a very common timesharing system in the 1970s, the most common single model on the Arpanet. 

Nerds can also celebrate this on OCT 24

Reminds me of the old joke that nerds confuse Halloween and Christmas because OCT 31 == DEC 25.

[ZLoth]

From Ars Technica:

RAM shortage chaos expands to GPUs, high-capacity SSDs, and even hard drives
GPU makers may prioritize more profitable models; large SSDs are harder to find.
FULL ARTICLE HERE

Even the 1TB NVMe drives that I purchased for $90 and $100 pre-Thanksgiving are now going for $190... if you can find them. At least I'm able to ride this out. My primary systems and my TrueNAS server have 64 GB of memory while my secondary systems have 32GB of memory. No system upgrades planned until 2028. However, my NAS drives are 4 years old which is a worry spot.

[mgk920]

I'm starting to see YT video clips of AI-generated people speaking in very deadpan monotonous manners.  Welcome to the future of news presentation and debate . . . 

Mike

[formulanone]

I'm starting to see YT video clips of AI-generated people speaking in very deadpan monotonous manners.  Welcome to the future of news presentation and debate . . . 

Mike

My company has begun doing this for short how-to technical videos, but the follow-along pacing is terrible, and the accenting is erratic.

It's for intracompany stuff, mostly how to find something within our portal or a quick new addition/option on our customer-facing software.

[Scott5114]

I'm starting to see YT video clips of AI-generated people speaking in very deadpan monotonous manners.  Welcome to the future of news presentation and debate . . . 

Mike

My company has begun doing this for short how-to technical videos, but the follow-along pacing is terrible, and the accenting is erratic.

It's for intracompany stuff, mostly how to find something within our portal or a quick new addition/option on our customer-facing software.

I will never understand why some people will make everyone else go through hoops simply because they don't want to read text.

[mgk920]

am I not the only one who can no longer make commentary on YT smartphone app video clips?

 

Mike

It looks like YT just turned that back on.   

Mike

[mgk920]

I'm starting to see YT video clips of AI-generated people speaking in very deadpan monotonous manners.  Welcome to the future of news presentation and debate . . . 

Mike

My company has begun doing this for short how-to technical videos, but the follow-along pacing is terrible, and the accenting is erratic.

It's for intracompany stuff, mostly how to find something within our portal or a quick new addition/option on our customer-facing software.

I will never understand why some people will make everyone else go through hoops simply because they don't want to read text.

Some people (including me) actually sometimes like the 'passive' nature of having stuff like that audibly read to them.  See (or hear): 'Audio books' and 'Old Time Radio' shows.

Mike

[1995hoo]

I thought about starting a new thread to ask this, but it seems to fit here overall. Has anyone ever switched from PC to Mac? If so, any thoughts?

The reason I ask is that my wife's laptop is showing its age. She doesn't want a desktop. She works part-time and doesn't use her laptop much for that purpose beyond accessing various contact information for certain people and remote access to e-mail. Aside from that, she uses it primarily for personal e-mail and managing/printing photos.

The photo thing is what made me start wondering whether a MacBook might make sense because we both have iPhones/iPads and the idea of her photos, e-mail, and text messages all syncing automatically is appealing. On the flip side, I'm her tech support. I've been a PC user since the days of DOS 3.3 and I won't be changing because my work system runs on Windows 11. What I'm wondering is, how much of a learning curve is there if you switch from PC to Mac? My wife is not the most patient person and is quite vocal about making her displeasure known. So I'm wondering whether I would set myself up for constant harangues and other verbal abuse if I get her a MacBook to replace her current Dell laptop.

[Scott5114]

I'm starting to see YT video clips of AI-generated people speaking in very deadpan monotonous manners.  Welcome to the future of news presentation and debate . . . 

Mike

My company has begun doing this for short how-to technical videos, but the follow-along pacing is terrible, and the accenting is erratic.

It's for intracompany stuff, mostly how to find something within our portal or a quick new addition/option on our customer-facing software.

I will never understand why some people will make everyone else go through hoops simply because they don't want to read text.

Some people (including me) actually sometimes like the 'passive' nature of having stuff like that audibly read to them.  See (or hear): 'Audio books' and 'Old Time Radio' shows.

Mike

Congrats. You're not everyone.

[ZLoth]

I thought about starting a new thread to ask this, but it seems to fit here overall. Has anyone ever switched from PC to Mac? If so, any thoughts?

The reason I ask is that my wife's laptop is showing its age. She doesn't want a desktop. She works part-time and doesn't use her laptop much for that purpose beyond accessing various contact information for certain people and remote access to e-mail. Aside from that, she uses it primarily for personal e-mail and managing/printing photos.

I'm a Windows person with some Linux. However, in my not-so-humble opinion, it is a lousy time to get a new computer simply because the prices of computer memory, solid state drives, hard drives, and even processors are at sky-high levels. This is passed down to even pre-built computers. Right now, some manufacturers have dropped the memory from 16GB to 8GB just to keep it affordable.

Also, beware of computers with soldered-in memory.

[Rothman]

I thought about starting a new thread to ask this, but it seems to fit here overall. Has anyone ever switched from PC to Mac? If so, any thoughts?

The reason I ask is that my wife's laptop is showing its age. She doesn't want a desktop. She works part-time and doesn't use her laptop much for that purpose beyond accessing various contact information for certain people and remote access to e-mail. Aside from that, she uses it primarily for personal e-mail and managing/printing photos.

I'm a Windows person with some Linux. However, in my not-so-humble opinion, it is a lousy time to get a new computer simply because the prices of computer memory, solid state drives, hard drives, and even processors are at sky-high levels. This is passed down to even pre-built computers. Right now, some manufacturers have dropped the memory from 16GB to 8GB just to keep it affordable.

Also, beware of computers with soldered-in memory.

Prices have been high for a long, long time.  Waiting for cheaper prices would mean possibly never buying a new computer.

[The_Ginger]

I thought about starting a new thread to ask this, but it seems to fit here overall. Has anyone ever switched from PC to Mac? If so, any thoughts?

The reason I ask is that my wife's laptop is showing its age. She doesn't want a desktop. She works part-time and doesn't use her laptop much for that purpose beyond accessing various contact information for certain people and remote access to e-mail. Aside from that, she uses it primarily for personal e-mail and managing/printing photos.

The photo thing is what made me start wondering whether a MacBook might make sense because we both have iPhones/iPads and the idea of her photos, e-mail, and text messages all syncing automatically is appealing. On the flip side, I'm her tech support. I've been a PC user since the days of DOS 3.3 and I won't be changing because my work system runs on Windows 11. What I'm wondering is, how much of a learning curve is there if you switch from PC to Mac? My wife is not the most patient person and is quite vocal about making her displeasure known. So I'm wondering whether I would set myself up for constant harangues and other verbal abuse if I get her a MacBook to replace her current Dell laptop.

Prices have been high for a long, long time.  Waiting for cheaper prices would mean possibly never buying a new computer.

If that's the case, then consider the MacBook Neo. I don't know how hard it is to switch as I've never done it, but if it's price that you have a concern about, then it's only $500 and more power than most similarly priced Chromebook or Windows devices.

[1995hoo]

If that's the case, then consider the MacBook Neo. I don't know how hard it is to switch as I've never done it, but if it's price that you have a concern about, then it's only $500 and more power than most similarly priced Chromebook or Windows devices.

Price isn't really a controlling factor, but I found that particular device interesting in part because it sounded like a bit of a bargain and it got good reviews. The base model is $599, but I would probably go for the $699 version to get the increased storage and the Touch ID feature.

[ZLoth]

I'm a Windows person with some Linux. However, in my not-so-humble opinion, it is a lousy time to get a new computer simply because the prices of computer memory, solid state drives, hard drives, and even processors are at sky-high levels. This is passed down to even pre-built computers. Right now, some manufacturers have dropped the memory from 16GB to 8GB just to keep it affordable.

Prices have been high for a long, long time.  Waiting for cheaper prices would mean possibly never buying a new computer.

Define a "long, long time". From my perspective, they have been rising since last Fall.

[hotdogPi]

Prices will go down as soon as the AI bubble bursts.

[The_Ginger]

If that's the case, then consider the MacBook Neo. I don't know how hard it is to switch as I've never done it, but if it's price that you have a concern about, then it's only $500 and more power than most similarly priced Chromebook or Windows devices.

Price isn't really a controlling factor, but I found that particular device interesting in part because it sounded like a bit of a bargain and it got good reviews. The base model is $599, but I would probably go for the $699 version to get the increased storage and the Touch ID feature.

It's actually an awesome deal, because not only is it affordable, but it's quite repairable if something were to happen to it.