The Tech Random Crap Thread
- Thread starter DarkAudit
- Start date
Lol,I got the same thing.
GasBandit
Staff member
If you are using firefox, patch it right now.
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/06/18/firefox_zero_day_patch/
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/06/18/firefox_zero_day_patch/
The 1TB SSDs I bought for the laptop and new desktop were each around half of what I paid for the 120GB SSD back in 2011.
How much do those go for these days?
And if your mobo supports it, pick up an m.2 ssd. I just upgraded to one and it flies
This one goes for $109 US. It fits in the m.2 slot, but it runs like a typical SATA III SSD.
Before anyone gets too deep into these newfangled M.2 slots, there are some things to know:
-Not all M.2 slots support PCIe/SATA. Some support both, some support only one, make sure you check first.
-Of the ones which support PCIe, you will also need to know whether it supports AHCI (older) or NVMe (newer) (or both).
-Make sure you know whether your board has an "A," "B," "E," or "M" keyed slot (drives generally use B or M).
-PCIe M.2 slots come in x2 and x4 width ("2-lane or 4-lane").
-PCIe M.2 slots also come in v2.0 and v3.0 (with v4.0 coming out soon).
-The faster M.2 cards can get VERY HOT so they usually need some additional way to stay cool.
-M.2 cards come in different lengths, with 2280 being the most common at 80mm in length (22xx/22xxx where the x's are the length in mm).
-It is common for one or more PCIe slots/SATA ports on your board to be shared with an M.2 slot, so you can only use one or the other.
All of that said, most of this matters more to people who do NOT have recent motherboards, as SATA and AHCI (and even x2) are fading in popularity as NVMe gains dominance. Just be sure of what you're getting yourself into before you plunk down your credit card or whatever.
Oh, and also remember that even people who have no M.2 slots or SATA-only M.2 slots or ones that don't have enough room/cooling can still enjoy the benefits of M.2 by mounting it on a relatively inexpensive PCIe adapter card, assuming they have an empty slot.
--Patrick
-Not all M.2 slots support PCIe/SATA. Some support both, some support only one, make sure you check first.
-Of the ones which support PCIe, you will also need to know whether it supports AHCI (older) or NVMe (newer) (or both).
-Make sure you know whether your board has an "A," "B," "E," or "M" keyed slot (drives generally use B or M).
-PCIe M.2 slots come in x2 and x4 width ("2-lane or 4-lane").
-PCIe M.2 slots also come in v2.0 and v3.0 (with v4.0 coming out soon).
-The faster M.2 cards can get VERY HOT so they usually need some additional way to stay cool.
-M.2 cards come in different lengths, with 2280 being the most common at 80mm in length (22xx/22xxx where the x's are the length in mm).
-It is common for one or more PCIe slots/SATA ports on your board to be shared with an M.2 slot, so you can only use one or the other.
All of that said, most of this matters more to people who do NOT have recent motherboards, as SATA and AHCI (and even x2) are fading in popularity as NVMe gains dominance. Just be sure of what you're getting yourself into before you plunk down your credit card or whatever.
Oh, and also remember that even people who have no M.2 slots or SATA-only M.2 slots or ones that don't have enough room/cooling can still enjoy the benefits of M.2 by mounting it on a relatively inexpensive PCIe adapter card, assuming they have an empty slot.
--Patrick
figmentPez
Staff member
Saw an article today about the world's first cassette tape player with built-in Bluetooth...
Not sure what the point is, but at least it's not as bad as vinyl turntables with bluetooth. Yeah, let's listen to the rich, warm sounds of analog audio... sent via a compressed digital wireless signal.
Not sure what the point is, but at least it's not as bad as vinyl turntables with bluetooth. Yeah, let's listen to the rich, warm sounds of analog audio... sent via a compressed digital wireless signal.
And if an "informed" observer can't tell the difference between that and the one connected via a wire (in a blind test of course, with many participants), you know the whole "rich, warm sounds of analog audio" are complete bullshit.
figmentPez
Staff member
Given Bluetooth's limitations when it comes to audio, I'm pretty sure it's not hard to tell the difference between wired and wireless; though that says nothing about digital vs analog. Bluetooth, because of it's crappy compression, is going to change the tonal characteristics of the music. Even taking into account that a digital system can probably be made to replicate the characteristics of a wholly analog vinyl listening experience, sending the signal through Bluetooth is going to screw all that up.
As a parallel, consider all the arguments of 35mm film vs digital cameras. People can argue about the artistic qualities of film grain in movies all they want, but regardless of how you feel about analog vs digital, none of that matters if it's being watched on a Twitch stream.
1. At that point I was talking about vinyl records, so you'd have been better off talking about pop and crackle than hiss.
2.
Though, this is a cheap cassette player, so, theoretical peak performance of the medium aside, it probably has more hiss than a cross-over villain team-up of Cobra (G.I. Joe), Kobra (DC Comics), and the Snake Men (He-Man).
The standard audio cassette does a surprisingly good job of reproducing audio given its limitations, especially if you got the fancy chrome or metal versions (and had a deck capable of taking advantage--oh hey, the video even talks about that). I was also referring to the hiss that would creep into master tapes with each generation of dubbing. So if you had a Dire Straits tape your buddy dubbed for you in his boombox, it would already have as many generations of recording as it did to get the final mix, PLUS the double loss from (1) being copied in your buddy's (2) hi-speed dual-deck boombox.
Ah, memories.
--Patrick
Ah, memories.
--Patrick
figmentPez
Staff member
Building a video card on breadboards:
@figmentPez and anyone else wanting a good laugh tonight. The Walmart "gaming PC", one year later.
"MOTHERF.....!!!"
"MOTHERF.....!!!"
Good. Now someone needs to make sure that Anish Kapoor never gets his hands on the stuff.
No idea. I don't have Procreate. I know people who use it, but don't use it, myself.
Will ask tomorrow, but yes 12.4.1 is currently the most recent (and probably will be since 13 is supposed to be released on Thursday).
--Patrick
Will ask tomorrow, but yes 12.4.1 is currently the most recent (and probably will be since 13 is supposed to be released on Thursday).
--Patrick
GasBandit
Staff member
If you use Lastpass, make sure it is updated.
Asked. This is just one person's opinion, of course, but:
Being able to add text on its own layer is handy, BUT importing new fonts can be a chore. The remainder of Procreate appears for the most part unchanged, so if you don't use text you probably wouldn't notice the difference.
He did not have much opinion on v5 yet, though, as he has not dug into their website's list of upcoming/changed features.
--Patrick
Zappit
Staff member
The text tool might or might not be necessary. I'm planning to make my next comic more traditional comic pages, and will split work between a couple apps. Creating signs, sound effects, etc... will probably be important, and I'd rather not hand-draw them all.
I could always wait and see how iOS 13 turns out. I've heard about a few issues with 12.4.1 that kind of scare me.
I could always wait and see how iOS 13 turns out. I've heard about a few issues with 12.4.1 that kind of scare me.
