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-   -   Chit-Chat turn it off and on again (https://www.pokecommunity.com/showthread.php?t=347659)

Tsutarja August 7th, 2015 6:32 PM

*sigh*

I think my laptop's hdd may be failing. Ever since I upgraded it to Windows 10, it's been crawling slowly. If it is indeed failing, then I'm going to most definitely invest in an SSD.

Legendary Silke August 7th, 2015 7:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tsutarja (Post 8881310)
*sigh*

I think my laptop's hdd may be failing. Ever since I upgraded it to Windows 10, it's been crawling slowly. If it is indeed failing, then I'm going to most definitely invest in an SSD.

Check if you're able to get any useful information out of the HDD's state with a monitoring tool. (May I suggest Speccy or CrystalDiskInfo, if you're unable to use your HDD manufacturer's own diagnostic tool?)

Alexander Nicholi August 7th, 2015 8:03 PM

Speaking of old hard drives, I just got 1 2.5" PATA HDD and 1 2.5" SATA HDD out of two laptops my aunt just scrapped. And 3GiB of DDR3 SODIMM, plus 1GiB of DDR SODIMM RAM... huh. Wonder if I'll ever use those. They're good to have just in case. :3

I've decided that I'm going to try to buy all of the parts for Henen-nesw before Christmas, and do the assembly of the PC during the celebrations after gifts. :3
It'll seem like I'm having a big Christmas when really most of those expensive items I'll have gotten myself. Maybe it'll make it feel more fulfilling :P

Legendary Silke August 8th, 2015 7:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick (Post 8881375)
Speaking of old hard drives, I just got 1 2.5" PATA HDD and 1 2.5" SATA HDD out of two laptops my aunt just scrapped. And 3GiB of DDR3 SODIMM, plus 1GiB of DDR SODIMM RAM... huh. Wonder if I'll ever use those. They're good to have just in case. :3

I've decided that I'm going to try to buy all of the parts for Henen-nesw before Christmas, and do the assembly of the PC during the celebrations after gifts. :3
It'll seem like I'm having a big Christmas when really most of those expensive items I'll have gotten myself. Maybe it'll make it feel more fulfilling :P

Seems like everyone's going to get a competent computer! And all that storage. :D

Also, just saying, but JEDEC (you know, RAM standards?) uses binary GBs. I treat the *iB units as a storage and Wikipedia things, as per xkcd. :P

Now to wait for a good time to purchase my parts. The part list has been updated again, seeing as the i5-4590 is, like, slightly less than $3 more. Heh. Or a Corsair RM550, for the warranty, full modularity, semi-passive mode, and, well, Haswell compatibility. And I'm pretty much left with Cooler Master if I didn't pick a Corsair, too.

People on the Internet seem to have an...enthusiastic attachment to Seasonic and EVGA right now, and I don't get it. They are also parroting that all the Corsairs are junk, too, and...I also don't get it, if proper PSU review sites are of any indication. Even the worst of the Corsairs are still not exploding junk - they should be able to operate in spec on the whole range and not take out anything since they have the proper protections.

The Cooler Master Hyper TX3 looks nice enough given my case, since I can't fit a 212 EVO in there. The stock cooler is mostly enough for stock speeds of a non-overclockable CPU, but why not just drop in a little bit of extra cash for much better cooling? :)

(This does sound weird, but I'd rather avoid double-posting...)

Megan August 10th, 2015 4:01 AM

I'm nervous right now, because I decided to disassemble and clean my laptop, which also happens to be the first time, I've ever done that. Right now it's still running, except for my touchpad, which probably isn't connected properly, but since I'm not reliant on it, anyway, I'll probably hold on for a while before I fix that.

Also, I've still one screw left, which I don't feel comfortable about. <_<

Legendary Silke August 10th, 2015 5:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by R.F. (Post 8884596)
I'm nervous right now, because I decided to disassemble and clean my laptop, which also happens to be the first time, I've ever done that. Right now it's still running, except for my touchpad, which probably isn't connected properly, but since I'm not reliant on it, anyway, I'll probably hold on for a while before I fix that.

Also, I've still one screw left, which I don't feel comfortable about. <_<

Were you following a disassembly guide? Try following its steps again.

Tsutarja August 10th, 2015 11:40 AM

I'm always careful whenever I disassemble electronics, and I make sure to follow directions carefully. Sometimes, having a video guide is best in these situations just to make sure as well. :)

And on an unrelated note, happy two years of DCC here at C&T! Woo! :P

Legendary Silke August 10th, 2015 9:51 PM

Wait, what? So fast!

I don't remember it being here for that long. Right?

Tsutarja August 11th, 2015 7:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Twiggy (Post 8885823)
Wait, what? So fast!

I don't remember it being here for that long. Right?

Dates don't lie! :P

Quote:

Originally Posted by Team Fail (Post 8885826)
I was once following a disassembly of my laptop so I could open it enough to get the dust out. Except when one part didn't want to come out nicely and it almost broke the hinge, so I just stopped there, fixed it, and just used air at that point and closed it. I didn't want to continue disassembling it in case I damaged it irreversibly.

Wow, I've never had that happen to me before! And if it were to happen, then yeah I'd stop altogether because it does seem dangerous.

Now please tell me there isn't anyone here that disassembles their electronics under warranty. :|

Leviathan August 12th, 2015 5:22 AM

Nosir, I only go under the hood after the warranty has elapsed and it's a problem that needs major addressing. Still haven't worked up the nerve to take apart a computer proper, yet. :( Did have some succession disassembling VCRs and a PS3 console once, and that was quite fun to do. :)

Legendary Silke August 12th, 2015 5:24 AM

Installing Windows 10 for the third time now. Hmm...funnily enough, with every reinstall, it gets better.

Sometimes I'm still torn between a desktop and a Surface 3.

Tsutarja August 12th, 2015 6:34 AM

So yesterday I switched to using a wireless mouse, and unlike my older one from 2009 (which I still have, btw) it turns off automatically after a set amount of time, without me having to switch it off. :)

Legendary Silke August 12th, 2015 7:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tsutarja (Post 8887422)
So yesterday I switched to using a wireless mouse, and unlike my older one from 2009 (which I still have, btw) it turns off automatically after a set amount of time, without me having to switch it off. :)

I prefer the kind of wireless keyboard and mice where you never turn them off because you don't have to. Wireless input devices whose standby battery life are measured in months, if not years, exist now. You'll have to deal with a USB dongle, though. Bluetooth doesn't go that low.

Tsutarja August 12th, 2015 3:04 PM

WiFi authorization pages are such a pain to deal with if you have to reauthorize every time after a device wake-up. :|

Legendary Silke August 12th, 2015 3:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tsutarja (Post 8888057)
WiFi authorization pages are such a pain to deal with if you have to reauthorize every time after a device wake-up. :|

I hate captive networks and wish everyone would just use enterprise-style WPA2 authentication.

Though, I suspect it's untenable in some situations.

Legendary Silke August 12th, 2015 9:36 PM

Windows 10 seems to have a telemetry bug that causes it to be chattier than usual even when all options are set to minimal. I've updated my last post on the Windows 10 thread here with the link and thoughts.

It does ask the question of why did it take two weeks for someone to dig it up, and why does it happen in the first place. No actual personal identification information or files are being sent, but this is bad form. I'm suspecting settings either aren't being respected properly, or it's an Insider Preview feature that didn't get properly excised. Thoughts?

For now, I remain cautiously optimistic. The sky isn't falling yet, :)

Alexander Nicholi August 13th, 2015 1:09 AM

So I compiled Linux a couple times, for the first time. It was a lot of fun getting to go through all of those optimization and support options :D

Speaking of compiling things, I've written a rather large (nearly 1K-line) command-line interface for Lapis, in two days time.

It features totally modular argument parsing with Linux users benefiting from stackable single-letter args plus double-dashed verbose args, and proper error output through an ErrorHandler class I have going for the whole program (and it doesn't quit on the first error). The next thing I need to do is build a bridge between that CLI and the assembler :P

Legendary Silke August 13th, 2015 4:03 AM

Sometimes I wish I was highly competent in anything Unix. :)

Tsutarja August 13th, 2015 6:11 AM

So I was working with KiwiIRC this morning (y'know, the same providers of the web chat here on PC? :P) to set up a widget on my IRC network. Wow I must say they are quite easy to work with, and I've already got my server verified through them as well.

Oh, and said wifi network from last night doesn't allow connectivity through IRC clients either. :|

Legendary Silke August 13th, 2015 9:03 PM

The best Internet connection when you're out and about tends to be the one tied to your phone. Too bad it's usually metered.

Tsutarja August 14th, 2015 5:27 PM

So it took me an entire router settings reset just to make TightVNC work across my network. I have no idea what caused the glitch, but no TightVNC clients were working prior to the reset.

Oh, and upon the reset, it went back to WEP security. Of course, that's been changed back. :)

Legendary Silke August 14th, 2015 7:05 PM

Sometimes I think electronics just want to be reset every once in a while. ;)

It's like eventually something will go wrong.

Tsutarja August 16th, 2015 7:43 AM

Whipped out my dad's netbook to do some basics on it like Windows updates and scan for viruses. I asked about him letting me use it for school purposes, then I realized at how much I'd dislike Windows 7 Starter. :|

I wonder if I could at least put Windows 7 Home Premium on it :P

Dter ic August 16th, 2015 10:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tsutarja (Post 8892652)
Whipped out my dad's netbook to do some basics on it like Windows updates and scan for viruses. I asked about him letting me use it for school purposes, then I realized at how much I'd dislike Windows 7 Starter. :|

I wonder if I could at least put Windows 7 Home Premium on it :P

We had a Acer Aspire One that came with Windows starter. The only diference I noticed from home premium and starters was the lack of Aero. Besides that, performances was roughly the same between the two editions (and you'd think starter would be 'optimized' for netbooks) - slow, can barely run one program at a time etc.

You're better off installing a Linux distro with Xface to make it usable.

Legendary Silke August 16th, 2015 3:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tsutarja (Post 8892652)
Whipped out my dad's netbook to do some basics on it like Windows updates and scan for viruses. I asked about him letting me use it for school purposes, then I realized at how much I'd dislike Windows 7 Starter. :|

I wonder if I could at least put Windows 7 Home Premium on it :P

Does Windows 10 count? At least that should make it nicer.

Tsutarja August 17th, 2015 3:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Twiggy (Post 8893084)
Does Windows 10 count? At least that should make it nicer.

Even if the netbook can run Windows 10, I'm not real sure. I was already barely cutting it with a 1024x600 screen anyways. :P

Legendary Silke August 17th, 2015 3:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tsutarja (Post 8893605)
Even if the netbook can run Windows 10, I'm not real sure. I was already barely cutting it with a 1024x600 screen anyways. :P

Well, Windows 8.1 and 10 are supposedly lighter than Windows 7, so why not? At least it's not Vista.

Alexander Nicholi August 17th, 2015 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dter ic (Post 8892766)
We had a Acer Aspire One that came with Windows starter. The only diference I noticed from home premium and starters was the lack of Aero. Besides that, performances was roughly the same between the two editions (and you'd think starter would be 'optimized' for netbooks) - slow, can barely run one program at a time etc.

You're better off installing a Linux distro with Xface to make it usable.

don't you mean Xfce? And yeah, the only Windows that worked on the two netbooks I had was XP. Sad how bloated the OS has become.

Legendary Silke August 17th, 2015 3:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick (Post 8894235)
don't you mean Xfce? And yeah, the only Windows that worked on the two netbooks I had was XP. Sad how bloated the OS has become.

I'd argue that Windows is less bloated since the release of Vista, or has gotten stuck at the same level of "bloat", whichever way you put it.

Going from Windows 7 Starter to Windows 10 Home would also mean gaining a lot of features that were missing in Starter, and most importantly, enabling Desktop Window Manager, whether you have a video card that can actually process it or not. That alone should make the CPU work much less when on the normal desktop (it's counter-intuitive, but, yes, DWM makes your computer faster) The system requirements has also pretty much got frozen in place while the baseline hardware keeps on improving, and there's also work being done to optimize it out on low-storage, low-memory devices.

xfce is a fine choice is 10 doesn't quite work out, anyway.

Tsutarja August 17th, 2015 5:50 PM

I did a clean install of Windows 7 Home Premium on this netbook I have. It originally came with Windows 7 Starter, which has got to be the shittiest OS ever, IMO.

Oh, and checking for Windows updates on a clean install is quite fun too.

Alexander Nicholi August 17th, 2015 6:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Twiggy (Post 8894421)
I'd argue that Windows is less bloated since the release of Vista, or has gotten stuck at the same level of "bloat", whichever way you put it.

Going from Windows 7 Starter to Windows 10 Home would also mean gaining a lot of features that were missing in Starter, and most importantly, enabling Desktop Window Manager, whether you have a video card that can actually process it or not. That alone should make the CPU work much less when on the normal desktop (it's counter-intuitive, but, yes, DWM makes your computer faster) The system requirements has also pretty much got frozen in place while the baseline hardware keeps on improving, and there's also work being done to optimize it out on low-storage, low-memory devices.

Yeah yeah, but my 650MB XP ISO is no doubt smaller than my 4GB 10 ISO. And the proof is in the pudding: XP works better on a netbook than Vista or 7 or 8 or 8.1 or even 10. :P

Also, Windows is complaining that “[I] may be a victim of software counterfeiting,” since my non-genuine Windows on this VM can't connect to the Internet and do what it pleases “validating it as genuine.” Sorry, but I like using my product key more than once with VMs, MS. And no, you cannot have Internet access.

Legendary Silke August 18th, 2015 12:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick (Post 8894625)
Yeah yeah, but my 650MB XP ISO is no doubt smaller than my 4GB 10 ISO. And the proof is in the pudding: XP works better on a netbook than Vista or 7 or 8 or 8.1 or even 10. :P

Also, Windows is complaining that “[I] may be a victim of software counterfeiting,” since my non-genuine Windows on this VM can't connect to the Internet and do what it pleases “validating it as genuine.” Sorry, but I like using my product key more than once with VMs, MS. And no, you cannot have Internet access.

It sure does, though WIndows 8.1 and 10 aren't slouches, and do also bring in compatibility with modern software and hardware combinations, so yeah. That said, storage usage is definitely in Windows XP's favour, hands down. They're still trying to improve the storage situation post-Vista, though.

At least it's working as intended. :) (You know how to deal with it.)

Speaking of Windows Updates, I sometimes like doing a check manually if I feel like doing that. Sometimes, well, things happen.

wakachamo August 18th, 2015 4:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick (Post 8894625)
Yeah yeah, but my 650MB XP ISO is no doubt smaller than my 4GB 10 ISO. And the proof is in the pudding: XP works better on a netbook than Vista or 7 or 8 or 8.1 or even 10. :P

I really don't see your point. Should consumer software stop evolving just so we can keep it at 650MB and running on 10 year-old hardware just as it did when it was released? What's the gain in that?

Alexander Nicholi August 18th, 2015 6:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wakachamo (Post 8895027)
I really don't see your point. Should consumer software stop evolving just so we can keep it at 650MB and running on 10 year-old hardware just as it did when it was released? What's the gain in that?

Linux has been around 500MiB for quite some time. And binary size doesn’t equate to “evolution,” whatever you mean by that. lol

wakachamo August 18th, 2015 6:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick (Post 8895103)
Linux has been around 500MiB for quite some time.

'Linux' is not a particular OS distribution, nor is it by any means a widely used consumer OS. Moot point.

Quote:

And binary size doesn’t equate to “evolution,” whatever you mean by that. lol
Yes it does. Consumer OS evolution is largely measured by functionality – the more you add, the more your binary grows. You're with me so far, right? If not I guess we should all just go back to Windows 3.1?

Alexander Nicholi August 18th, 2015 6:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wakachamo (Post 8895105)
'Linux' is not a particular OS distribution, nor is it by any means a widely used consumer OS. Moot point.

The Linux kernel is around 500MiB. Instead of playing denialist for your own benefit you can look at Arch Linux (657MiB), Debian Linux (627MB), CentOS (637 MB), or for more Windows-like “out-of-the-box” distributions you can look at #! Linux (739MB), ^! Linux (523MB), or Lubuntu (639MB). Just like XP they all run great on older hardware but without the limitations of being old, and aren't well over a gigabyte in ISO size unlike Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, and 10.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wakachamo (Post 8895105)
Yes it does. Consumer OS evolution is largely measured by functionality – the more you add, the more your binary grows.

Growing != evolution. Regardless, things can change without addition. And as far as an OS is concerned, it can most certainly evolve (or change, since you wish to synonymize those words) without gaining weight – that can be observed in any life form. :p

Quote:

Originally Posted by wakachamo (Post 8895105)
You're with me so far, right? If not I guess we should all just go back to Windows 3.1?

lol k

wakachamo August 18th, 2015 6:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick (Post 8895126)
The Linux kernel is around 500MiB. Instead of playing denialist for your own benefit you can look at Arch Linux (657MiB), Debian Linux (627MB), CentOS (637 MB), or for more Windows-like “out-of-the-box” distributions you can look at #! Linux (739MB), ^! Linux (523MB), or Lubuntu (639MB). Just like XP they all run great on older hardware but without the limitations of being old, and aren't well over a gigabyte in ISO size unlike Vista, 7, 8, 8.1, and 10.

Right now you're comparing Linux to Windows. I'm not gonna start an 'OS war' (ugh lol), but here's why this comparison has issues:

- Linux is not driven by market share, and therefore
- Is also not driven by competition, and thus the need for constant feature development.

You're comparing an 'OS' that is naturally stagnant compared to one whose goal is to grow and keep itself marketable. Like you said – just like XP they run great on older hardware because there have been no significant advancements in Linux. Linux is never at the forefront of consumer app development. Linux is not the source of major architectural revisions or usability improvements. Linux also does not have one central organization driving it in a particular direction. There is no combined effort to push the envelope not only because it's not a widely used consumer OS (again – note how I've been referring to consumer software throughout this thread), but simply because it varies in nature compared to commercially sold software.

Quote:

Growing != evolution. Regardless, things can change without addition. And as far as an OS is concerned, it can most certainly evolve (or change, since you wish to synonymize those words) without gaining weight – that can be observed in any life form. :p
I disagree – like I said before, growth is necessary for consumer software to survive. Feature stagnation renders it irrelevant in the long run.

Alexander Nicholi August 18th, 2015 7:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wakachamo (Post 8895141)
Right now you're comparing Linux to Windows. I'm not gonna start an 'OS war' (ugh lol), but here's why this comparison has issues:

Quote:

Originally Posted by wakachamo (Post 8895141)
- Linux is not driven by market share, and therefore

- Is also not driven by competition, and thus the need for constant feature development.

Despite this, it is heavily driven by user interests which makes the whole concept of competition moot in regard to features development.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wakachamo (Post 8895141)
You're comparing an 'OS' that is naturally stagnant compared to one whose goal is to grow and keep itself marketable.

Okay?

Quote:

Originally Posted by wakachamo (Post 8895141)
Like you said – just like XP they run great on older hardware because there have been no significant advancements in Linux.

That’s a very bold statement to make, and a false one at that. I really don’t need to waste my time talking about the long list of modern standards and concepts the kernel alone makes an effort to support, let alone what the distros can handle... compared to XP of all things.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wakachamo (Post 8895141)
Linux is never at the forefront of consumer app development.

SteamOS much?

Quote:

Originally Posted by wakachamo (Post 8895141)
Linux is not the source of major architectural revisions or usability improvements.

Oh wow... have you never heard of Unix philosophy? Linux is bringing that very thing to consumers and is the only system doing so.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wakachamo (Post 8895141)
Linux also does not have one central organization driving it in a particular direction.

Does it need one? Regardless, the GNU exists and so does the FSF. GNU tends to Linux – after all, it’s called GNU/Linux.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wakachamo (Post 8895141)
There is no combined effort to push the envelope not only because it's not a widely used consumer OS (again – note how I've been referring to consumer software throughout this thread), but simply because it varies in nature compared to commercially sold software.

You have a point on that second part. The thing is, how is it so difficult for countless for-profit institutions to handle “consumer-grade” OSes when they handle enterprise-grade RHEL and CentOS fine? We’re talking about the companies here.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wakachamo (Post 8895141)
I disagree – like I said before, growth is necessary for consumer software to survive. Feature stagnation renders it irrelevant in the long run.

Quote:

Growing != evolution. Regardless, things can change without addition. And as far as an OS is concerned, it can most certainly evolve (or change, since you wish to synonymize those words) without gaining weight – that can be observed in any life form. :p

wakachamo August 18th, 2015 7:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick (Post 8895169)
Despite this, it is heavily driven by user interests which makes the whole concept of competition moot in regard to features development.

Not nearly in the same magnitude as for-profit software.

Quote:

Okay?
Yes. :p

Quote:

That’s a very bold statement to make, and a false one at that. I really don’t need to waste my time talking about the long list of modern standards and concepts the kernel alone makes an effort to support, let alone what the distros can handle... compared to XP of all things.
The kernel ≠ the OS. And yeah I don't want to get into specifics here, but like you said, the kernel makes an effort to support, not innovate. Low-level innovations are largely backed by consumer software motivations, and aren't necessarily tied to Linux distro improvements. And no, I'm not comparing it to XP... that's my whole point. You brought XP into this discussion and I'm trying to tell you why it's irrelevant today. :p


Quote:

SteamOS much?
You're right; point taken. But to say that Linux is at the 'forefront' is also pushing it a little – the forefront in this case is Valve, who is adding a bunch of closed-source components.

Quote:

Oh wow... have you never heard of Unix philosophy? Linux is bringing that very thing to consumers and is the only system doing so.
Linux is not the only system based off of Unix principles. Unix philosophy is also not gospel, and I have reservations regarding some of its 'Rules', like the Rule of Economy.

Quote:

Does it need one? Regardless, the GNU exists and so does the FSF. GNU tends to Linux – after all, it’s called GNU/Linux.
If Linux has 'market share' as a goal (which once again, it doesn't), yes it does. The FSF also doesn't dictate the requirements for a modern-day OS in terms of functionality nor does it remotely have any influence on the particular direction of any distro.

Quote:

You have a point on that second part. The thing is, how is it so difficult for countless for-profit institutions to handle “consumer-grade” OSes when they handle enterprise-grade RHEL and CentOS fine? We’re talking about the companies here.
That's what I'm getting at – consumer-grade and enterprise-grade are entirely different beasts, and you were comparing consumer-grade with something that's mostly associated with enterprise-grade.

Alexander Nicholi August 18th, 2015 9:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wakachamo (Post 8895183)
Not nearly in the same magnitude as for-profit software.

Point taken.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wakachamo (Post 8895183)
The kernel ≠ the OS.

Reading about it, Reference.com kernel and OS are essentially synonymous. So that's kinda the end of that train. The way I see it, Linux is an operating system (since it alone satisfies that definition) and a “distro” is that operating system with a collection of software for it packaged alongside. If you put it in terms of Windows, Microsoft simply forces shipping and running those two things together while Linux takes a more modular UNIX-like approach by separating the two. Linux retains its ability to forego the need for the software a distro provides, too.
Quote:

the collection of software that directs a computer's operations, controlling and scheduling the execution of other programs, and managing storage, input/output, and communication resources.
Quote:

Originally Posted by wakachamo (Post 8895183)
And no, I'm not comparing it to XP... that's my whole point. You brought XP into this discussion and I'm trying to tell you why it's irrelevant today. :p

Okay...

Quote:

Originally Posted by wakachamo (Post 8895183)
You're right; point taken. But to say that Linux is at the 'forefront' is also pushing it a little – the forefront in this case is Valve, who is adding a bunch of closed-source components.

It still utilizes the Linux kernel regardless. So, it is Linux. Granted Linux with a big closed-source crap taken on it, but still Linux.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wakachamo (Post 8895183)
Linux is not the only system based off of Unix principles.

What other system has as significant a presence using those philosophies than Linux, then? I find Linux to be the only relevant one that follows the Unix philosophy.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wakachamo (Post 8895183)
Unix philosophy is also not gospel, and I have reservations with some of its 'Rules', like the Rule of Economy.

I wasn’t insinuating that it was, sorry if it came off that way.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wakachamo (Post 8895183)
If Linux has 'market share' as a goal (which once again, it doesn't), yes it does. The FSF also doesn't dictate the requirements for a modern-day OS in terms of functionality nor does it remotely have any influence on the particular direction of any distro.

Acknowledged.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wakachamo (Post 8895183)
That's what I'm getting at – consumer-grade and enterprise-grade are entirely different beasts, and you were comparing consumer-grade with something that's mostly associated with enterprise-grade.

That's what out-of-the-box Linux distros are meant for. They’re something your average tech-literate person (i.e. can do a Google search and has basic problem-solving skills) can work through.

My main point is, Linux and most any distro are undoubtedly more efficient than Windows. XP comes close but is ancient so doesn’t really count. The whole thing about Microsoft’s market share amounts to the fact that they snagged de facto status for all the companies and big whigs who know nothing about computers and got a foothold in, because the only reason anyone needs Windows at the moment is for software compatibility. Besides that there is support, but even Linux distros provide that – see RHEL. If Microsoft didn’t get that foothold they’d be good as gone for average Joe, and who knows what would’ve taken their place? My guess is OS X and Linux personally. It’s more than likely Linux would have a larger userbase because for everything except X video game and Y old piece of legacy junk program, they don’t need Windows and would probably switch simply for hearing that it “works better.” Which it does in most ways. And if that happened Linux would get the de facto “market share” Windows has simply by virtue of Windows not being there, and so on and so forth. I don’t think consumers really care too much if a business backs an operating system or if a mission in the name of free software does and no person is in charge. Only enterprises care about having an authority that answers to them when something doesn’t work right, and even then the approach Red Hat takes to providing just that is also a thing. And if they do – say you’re right and every OS with market share needs an owner of some kind – there is the hypothetical OS X. Which I imagine would be a lot more lenient towards developers working between it and Linux than Windows is, judging from how much more similar the two are in reality compared to either one and Windows.

But all that never happened. Point of that is, Windows is just here now and there’s not a whole lot we can do about it. It’s jammed the door open for itself, so to speak. Which kind of sucks because it’s not the most efficient or modular thing ever, and is largely a one-size-fits-all shoe figuratively speaking.

wakachamo August 18th, 2015 11:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick (Post 8895305)
Reading about it, Reference.com kernel and OS are essentially synonymous. So that's kinda the end of that train. The way I see it, Linux is an operating system (since it alone satisfies that definition) and a “distro” is that operating system with a collection of software for it packaged alongside. If you put it in terms of Windows, Microsoft simply forces shipping and running those two things together while Linux takes a more modular UNIX-like approach by separating the two. Linux retains its ability to forego the need for the software a distro provides, too.

An OS is the kernel plus the several layers that use it — e.g. apps, background processes, etc.

Quote:

It still utilizes the Linux kernel regardless. So, it is Linux. Granted Linux with a big closed-source crap taken on it, but still Linux.
Sure.

Quote:

What other system has as significant a presence using those philosophies than Linux, then? I find Linux to be the only relevant one that follows the Unix philosophy.
OS X is Unix-based.

Quote:

That's what out-of-the-box Linux distros are meant for. They’re something your average tech-literate person (i.e. can do a Google search and has basic problem-solving skills) can work through.

My main point is, Linux and most any distro are undoubtedly more efficient than Windows. XP comes close but is ancient so doesn’t really count. The whole thing about Microsoft’s market share amounts to the fact that they snagged de facto status for all the companies and big whigs who know nothing about computers and got a foothold in, because the only reason anyone needs Windows at the moment is for software compatibility. Besides that there is support, but even Linux distros provide that – see RHEL. If Microsoft didn’t get that foothold they’d be good as gone for average Joe, and who knows what would’ve taken their place? My guess is OS X and Linux personally. It’s more than likely Linux would have a larger userbase because for everything except X video game and Y old piece of legacy junk program, they don’t need Windows and would probably switch simply for hearing that it “works better.” Which it does in most ways. And if that happened Linux would get the de facto “market share” Windows has simply by virtue of Windows not being there, and so on and so forth. I don’t think consumers really care too much if a business backs an operating system or if a mission in the name of free software does and no person is in charge. Only enterprises care about having an authority that answers to them when something doesn’t work right, and even then the approach Red Hat takes to providing just that is also a thing. And if they do – say you’re right and every OS with market share needs an owner of some kind – there is the hypothetical OS X. Which I imagine would be a lot more lenient towards developers working between it and Linux than Windows is, judging from how much more similar the two are in reality compared to either one and Windows.

But all that never happened. Point of that is, Windows is just here now and there’s not a whole lot we can do about it. It’s jammed the door open for itself, so to speak. Which kind of sucks because it’s not the most efficient or modular thing ever, and is largely a one-size-fits-all shoe figuratively speaking.
Yeah I see your point. Linux might be more lightweight now, but that's because of the direction it's taken, and I think we both agree on that. The reason why I yammer on so much about large companies is because they have the resources to keep something marketable. Windows isn't just the most popular OS right now just because it's been that way for years; you can't ignore their other efforts. Microsoft prioritises feature development over modularity or binary size, and that's also what's kept them afloat.

And with that, I think we've managed to completely derail this thread... yay! :p

Tsutarja August 19th, 2015 2:54 PM

Is anybody still running a Windows 7 install? Could y'all verify if checking for updates is just downright not working (as in, hanging), or is it just me? My netbook still won't download any available updates and it's just a clean install from a Windows 7 Home Premium disc.

Tsutarja August 20th, 2015 5:25 AM

Well, I installed Windows 10 onto the netbook now although it's probably not faring well with the atom processor :P

Legendary Silke August 20th, 2015 7:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tsutarja (Post 8897504)
Well, I installed Windows 10 onto the netbook now although it's probably not faring well with the atom processor :P

Just give it some time while it does things. Run a few updates or something. Once it's done everything it needs to do, try taking it out for a spin.

Megan August 20th, 2015 10:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick (Post 8888583)
So I compiled Linux a couple times, for the first time. It was a lot of fun getting to go through all of those optimization and support options :D

I installed Gentoo a couple times in a VM, but I've never actually used it. Just like my Arch Linux system too much. The only downside is that I haven't managed to get NVIDIA Optimus working on it, ever since my Bumblebee setup broke a couple years ago.

Tsutarja August 20th, 2015 7:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Team Fail (Post 8897936)
My crap tablet has an Intel Atom and it's taking Windows 10 fairly decently. It does lock up from time to time when web browsing, but it's mostly because Chrome is a memory whore. Edge actually runs better on it.

Browsing on Edge is actually a bit laggy for me.

Alexander Nicholi August 20th, 2015 7:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Team Fail (Post 8897936)
My crap tablet has an Intel Atom and it's taking Windows 10 fairly decently. It does lock up from time to time when web browsing, but it's mostly because Chrome is a memory whore. Edge actually runs better on it.

http://i.imgur.com/k0L9ps4.png

The worse part is that has to be on Windows (as my numbers are not that high on GNU/Linux), and is probably counting the system. I just watched my RAM metre drop from closing 47 tabs (a heavy coding session) in Firefox down a mere 300MiB in Linux, so the numbers for FF make sense to me when skewed for OS bloat. Take what you will of that – MS is likely taking advantage of parts of their system in a way that no one else would know how or care to do. It's their OS, after all.

Then again, trading RAM for speed kind of makes sense. It’s what Chrome does, Edge just took it a step further. The more you store in memory the (theoretically) less you have to compute. Nothing too special other than holding a niche really.

Meister G. Rool August 20th, 2015 10:55 PM

This is a question you probably don't get often but since my problem originated on the Pokecommunity forums I'd thought I'd ask it here;

Does anyone know how to successfully download things from Mediafire? Every time I hit the download button the page refreshes. I've tried deleting my Mediafire cookies but it hasn't worked.

I apologize in advance if this question isn't appropriate for this thread, but I have no where else to turn.

Touched August 20th, 2015 11:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick (Post 8898358)
The worse part is that has to be on Windows (as my numbers are not that high on GNU/Linux), and is probably counting the system. I just watched my RAM metre drop from closing 47 tabs (a heavy coding session) in Firefox down a mere 300MiB in Linux, so the numbers for FF make sense to me when skewed for OS bloat.

Can confirm. Closing Firefox after a normal session (20+ tabs) only frees about 500mb of RAM on my system. I've never encountered an issue with RAM or slowing down due to Firefox unless it was some particularly Javascript intensive webapp, which is why I can never understand complaints about its supposed "bloat".

Legendary Silke August 21st, 2015 12:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Touched (Post 8898523)
Can confirm. Closing Firefox after a normal session (20+ tabs) only frees about 500mb of RAM on my system. I've never encountered an issue with RAM or slowing down due to Firefox unless it was some particularly Javascript intensive webapp, which is why I can never understand complaints about its supposed "bloat".

Mmm hmm. I also don't get about Firefox being "bloated" since it appears to be not that.

Though, not having working multi-process is both a good and bad thing. Good since RAM usage is lower, bad since anything that goes wrong will take everything else down with it.

Come to think about it, I think most apps will be smart and use less system memory if it finds itself in a low-memory situation. Usually.

Tsutarja August 21st, 2015 3:34 PM

I bought a new mouse tonight (since my old one was giving in), and lo and behold...it has a blue laser to it! I didn't even realize they made mice with that color laser.

Alexander Nicholi August 21st, 2015 3:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tsutarja (Post 8899479)
I bought a new mouse tonight (since my old one was giving in), and lo and behold...it has a blue laser to it! I didn't even realize they made mice with that color laser.

Oh a laser! Cool!

True laser mice (such as mine here) are totally invisible. Neat blue optics though.

Now that a paying job is on the platter in addition to my volunteer job... I'm going to be buying a lot of things, mostly tech. Hopefully I won't get too bored out of my mind at work and the money'll be worth it enough, because... computer builds!

I had the initial thought to just straight up buy my Skylake build before Christmas, but then I decided that'd be really spoiling... so I may put together the old build I originally wanted with the Core i3-4370 and 750 Ti. I also had the side thought of maxing out the hardware in Tyre here (my C2Q slim tower) with a GT 740, 530 Series SSD, USB 3 card, and possibly even a Blu-Ray drive... not that I'd ever use it, but it does add a good amount of resale value plus it's destined to be our living room entertainment PC once I have a desktop besides it.

I have this really strange desire to collect an inventory of PC parts for no valid reason whatsoever. I tell myself it'd make startup for a business easier, but when the heck am I going to be doing that? Years from now at least.

Tsutarja August 21st, 2015 3:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick (Post 8899504)
Oh a laser! Cool!

You knew what I meant.

Alexander Nicholi August 21st, 2015 3:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tsutarja (Post 8899519)
You knew what I meant.

Don't be so sour, I didn't mean it like that. :P

Anyone here use Git or GitHub? I'm finally managing a real-deal project on there.

Tsutarja August 21st, 2015 3:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick (Post 8899529)
Don't be so sour, I didn't mean it like that. :P

Anyone here use Git or GitHub? I'm finally managing a real-deal project on there.

Exhausting, week sorry. XD

I like github! I don't have an account there or any projects but the way that libraries are organized is very neat and the fact that they have an algorithm to compress libraries into a zip file is neat, too.

Alexander Nicholi August 21st, 2015 4:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tsutarja (Post 8899532)
Exhausting, week sorry. XD

I like github! I don't have an account there or any projects but the way that libraries are organized is very neat and the fact that they have an algorithm to compress libraries into a zip file is neat, too.

You should at least register there so you can fork stuff! It's always neat to be able to fool around with the source code for big-time software.

There's a few projects I'm working on. The biggest is Sapphire, a PokéScript editor, but besides that there's also vPatch (formerly Violet UPS) that's going to be a universal cross-platform ROM patcher, and Sevenstone, a cross-platform ROM picture data editor.

Legendary Silke August 21st, 2015 9:08 PM

Mmm!

I'm now on my desktop now. Managed to squeeze in a GTX 970 (ASUS Strix GTX 970), 16 GB of overclocked RAM (Kingston HyperX Savage DDR3-1866 CL9), and a Z97 chipset motherboard (ASUS Z97-PRO GAMER -mostly for the other features and the aesthetics) to the original build. Quite a bit more expensive, but, hey, it's also really snappy.

Also, the 2 TB WD Black sure makes SSDs make no sense. Just saying.

Tsutarja August 22nd, 2015 7:27 AM

I still wish I had a desktop to use. ;-;

Starry Windy August 23rd, 2015 1:43 AM

I still have my desktop, but it's rarely used anymore since my laptop's specs are far more advanced than my PC, even my first laptop that I'm currently using is faster.

Btw, my dad has been considering for me to get a new PC someday that will be purposed for a video editing powerhouse, so I hope that I'm able to get one for months. I'm still not sure which processor should I go with, though, given the prices and performances...

Palkia August 23rd, 2015 2:12 AM

Just got a GTX 960 4GB (Gigabyte G1 Gaming). I would've scraped the money for a GTX 970 but the power consumption seemed to be too much of a ask for my stock PSU and the reported issues with the VRAM seem concerning. Haven't installed it yet, waiting for pin adapters as the current GPU only uses one 6-pin, and my model of the 960 I own requires one 6-pin and one 8-pin.

CPU (i7 870) was also having some thermal problems (would reach 80c easily when playing modern games) so removed the cooler and cleaned it thoroughly. Now I get about 10-15c temperature difference. Might consider disabling hypertherading or outright replacing the cooler. Still better than building a new computer, the i7 870 is plenty fast.

Alexander Nicholi August 23rd, 2015 2:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Twiggy (Post 8899823)
Also, the 2 TB WD Black sure makes SSDs make no sense. Just saying.

I'd rather have all my terminals run $60 SSDs and invest in a NAS that I can tunnel to from anywhere, honestly. That makes more sense than having more storage than I need isolated in one place.

Legendary Silke August 23rd, 2015 7:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick (Post 8901957)
I'd rather have all my terminals run $60 SSDs and invest in a NAS that I can tunnel to from anywhere, honestly. That makes more sense than having more storage than I need isolated in one place.

The only problem is that it's a gaming rig, and video games are huge these days. :)

That, and I'll take acceptable performance as a boot drive, especially with 8.1. Not installing 10 right now, at least until it gets a few more CUs.

Personally, when it comes to storage on desktops, there doesn't seem to be "one true combination" as far as I'm concerned. If the drive is decent enough, it will work. An SSD is faster, but there's also pricing concerns, especially when you're at somewhere where SSDs carry a further premium than what you'd expect in the US. Normally, a good 250 GB SSD should be cheaper than the WD Black 1 TB. It isn't here, and it still isn't when compared to the 2 TB model.

So long as you avoid 5400 RPM HDDs... now that's painful. Even a "performance" 7200 RPM HDD like the WD Blacks should provide around 2.1x the performance in everything, despite how the 33% increase in spindle speed might indicate that it's much less than that. It's also about the actuators, motors, cache, and controller, too. Even among 7200 RPM drives you can still find different characteristics. Even in terms of random access times.

The first doubling is also the most obvious when it comes to performance too. Imagine if the times spent on waiting is cut in half. :)

Leviathan August 24th, 2015 1:36 PM

Late to the partayyy but I'm starting to use GitHub now. I had an account for a while and got access to some private depositories thanks to college, so I'm hoping to use it a lot this year for team projects. I already prefer it to the Team Foundation server that I used like maybe twice in the past year? I just wish I knew how to use GitHub more, and more importantly sync the online repositories with the latest version of projects in my IDE. At the moment I'm setting myself up a lil' static subdomain hosted on the site (which I didn't know was a thing until about three days ago). Ofc the design is gonna be horrid since I'm a programmer, and not a graphic artist, but hey, if I can use it as a lil' thing to share some code and write about my current projects, it'll be a nice pet project for me.

Also; trackpads are realllyyyy starting to annoy me. I stg the one on this laptop is like hypersensitive. The right'mouse' button gets clicked when I'm merely moving the mouse, and the touchpad gestures always activate at inopportune times. I'm this much away from disabling the pinch zoom gesture...but I kinda like scrolling with two fingers.

Touched August 25th, 2015 1:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LeviathanX (Post 8903250)
Late to the partayyy but I'm starting to use GitHub now. I had an account for a while and got access to some private depositories thanks to college, so I'm hoping to use it a lot this year for team projects. I already prefer it to the Team Foundation server that I used like maybe twice in the past year? I just wish I knew how to use GitHub more, and more importantly sync the online repositories with the latest version of projects in my IDE. At the moment I'm setting myself up a lil' static subdomain hosted on the site (which I didn't know was a thing until about three days ago). Ofc the design is gonna be horrid since I'm a programmer, and not a graphic artist, but hey, if I can use it as a lil' thing to share some code and write about my current projects, it'll be a nice pet project for me.

If you need more private repos you should use BitBucket. I use it for all my work that I do for clients. The only thing is that it doesn't come with GitHub's extra features like an issue tracker or wiki. So if you can, you might want to set up a GitLab server if you need that extra functionality. As for learning git, Atlassian (BitBucket) has some great training guides. Reading the official git manual doesn't hurt. You should learn the command line interface instead of the IDE interface, because the CLI is more flexible and transferable (you could switch IDE without relearning, use it on the server via ssh for staging and deployment, etc.).

Leviathan August 25th, 2015 2:58 AM

Yeah I was using the terminal for a bit to commit some files. Tried doing it with powershell but got told that something was missing, so I went and got another CLI to commuicate with Git. Thanks for the info, I'll certainly look into it. I'm so not a fan of trying to commit suff through my IDE.

Tsutarja August 25th, 2015 6:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LeviathanX (Post 8903250)
Also; trackpads are realllyyyy starting to annoy me. I stg the one on this laptop is like hypersensitive. The right'mouse' button gets clicked when I'm merely moving the mouse, and the touchpad gestures always activate at inopportune times. I'm this much away from disabling the pinch zoom gesture...but I kinda like scrolling with two fingers.

How long have you been using said touchpad for? If it hasn't been long, then honestly I'd say it'd just take time to getting used to, and that's all.

If you want the pinch-zoom feature enabled, then I'd probably disable the two-finger scrolling at the same time that way they don't conflict. However, in the end, it's all up to you on what you want to do. :P

Leviathan August 25th, 2015 8:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tsutarja (Post 8903905)
How long have you been using said touchpad for? If it hasn't been long, then honestly I'd say it'd just take time to getting used to, and that's all.

If you want the pinch-zoom feature enabled, then I'd probably disable the two-finger scrolling at the same time that way they don't conflict. However, in the end, it's all up to you on what you want to do. :P

Mmm, it's only been a few months. I guess I've always unknowingly placed two fingers on a touchpad at the same time, inadvertently activating the gestures which come off as jarring to me as a result. I had gestures fully disabled on my previous laptop.

It's the other way around, actually. Ahah. I like the scrolling feature but the pinch zoom has become more annoying than helpful. I could be casually browsing a webpage when bam! The browser zooms in 200% due to my clumsy fingers. xD

Legendary Silke August 26th, 2015 3:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LeviathanX (Post 8904034)
Mmm, it's only been a few months. I guess I've always unknowingly placed two fingers on a touchpad at the same time, inadvertently activating the gestures which come off as jarring to me as a result. I had gestures fully disabled on my previous laptop.

It's the other way around, actually. Ahah. I like the scrolling feature but the pinch zoom has become more annoying than helpful. I could be casually browsing a webpage when bam! The browser zooms in 200% due to my clumsy fingers. xD

Sounds like an overly sensitive implementation of pinch zooming! Personally, if activating both two-finger scrolling and pinch zooming causes issues, I'd turn off pinch zooming first. Two-finger scrolling is way too useful to give up today.

Leviathan August 26th, 2015 4:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Twiggy (Post 8904984)
Sounds like an overly sensitive implementation of pinch zooming! Personally, if activating both two-finger scrolling and pinch zooming causes issues, I'd turn off pinch zooming first. Two-finger scrolling is way too useful to give up today.

Aye, I'm gonna poke around in the settings to sort this out. And it truly is! Like woah, soon as I discovered it, I questioned what exactly was I doing for the last few years, haha. As for pinch zooming, I noticed too that when I willingly want to use it, it's not entirely....'accurate' (probs wrong word to use, but w/e). Like, I'd motion to zoom in, slowly, but rather have the zoom level rise or fall by increments of 10%, it'd suddenly jump around by 20% or more, making zooming back to 100% tricky. :(

Starry Windy August 27th, 2015 12:09 AM

I used to not pretty fond of trackpad as well, since I've been getting used to using mouse for long, and in my old laptop's case, sometimes it's not working after some period of time. However, I'm starting to get along with it nowadays, even though I'll still using mouse more often.

Touched August 27th, 2015 1:06 AM

I hate track pads. I have a shortcut key to disable the thing entirely, because the palm detection is really crappy and will sometimes click if I touch it with the base of my thumb or something. The only time I use it is when a website decides to force me to use a mouse. I find using a mouse to be slow so I use only the keyboard for most tasks.

Legendary Silke August 27th, 2015 2:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LeviathanX (Post 8905853)
Aye, I'm gonna poke around in the settings to sort this out. And it truly is! Like woah, soon as I discovered it, I questioned what exactly was I doing for the last few years, haha. As for pinch zooming, I noticed too that when I willingly want to use it, it's not entirely....'accurate' (probs wrong word to use, but w/e). Like, I'd motion to zoom in, slowly, but rather have the zoom level rise or fall by increments of 10%, it'd suddenly jump around by 20% or more, making zooming back to 100% tricky. :(

Ouch! Sometimes I still find certain trackpads to be dreadful, all things considered. It's like there's a huge gap between the worst and the best. Take pinch-zooming, for example. The worst pads just simulate CTRL + mouse wheel, while the best actually initiate the built-in procedure for pinch-zooming if in something that does support touch input properly. The latter is much more nicer than the former.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Team Fail (Post 8906016)
Ever since I've gotten my mouse I've realized just how much I hate trackpads. I don't think I'll be using it anytime soon now. I do like the gestures that it has though. If I initiate the scrolling on the right-hand side, I can continue the scroll if I start drawing circles without lifting my finger from the initial scroll. Then, I can go up or down the page by swirling circles in a clockwise or counterclockwise direction. It's really cool.

It indeed is, though I personally prefer content-scroll two-finger scrolling. Mostly because it feels just right when you're used to doing it (albeit with a single finger) on touchscreen devices.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Starry Windy (Post 8906202)
I used to not pretty fond of trackpad as well, since I've been getting used to using mouse for long, and in my old laptop's case, sometimes it's not working after some period of time. However, I'm starting to get along with it nowadays, even though I'll still using mouse more often.

Mmm hmm. A mouse is still much more comfortable to use for longer periods of time, so long as its shape is satisfactory. Personally even I can find myself wanting for a mouse when I have to spend extended amounts of time on a laptop, even with a good trackpad implementation.

Tsutarja August 27th, 2015 4:12 AM

I guess I'm the only one that thinks a touchpad is pretty comfortable, but maybe it's my laptop. :P

Leviathan August 27th, 2015 5:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Touched (Post 8906222)
I hate track pads. I have a shortcut key to disable the thing entirely, because the palm detection is really crappy and will sometimes click if I touch it with the base of my thumb or something. The only time I use it is when a website decides to force me to use a mouse. I find using a mouse to be slow so I use only the keyboard for most tasks.

This exact thing happens with me on this laptop. I really am starting to consider buying an external mouse, or at least get better at moving around using just the keyboard.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Twiggy (Post 8906270)
Ouch! Sometimes I still find certain trackpads to be dreadful, all things considered. It's like there's a huge gap between the worst and the best. Take pinch-zooming, for example. The worst pads just simulate CTRL + mouse wheel, while the best actually initiate the built-in procedure for pinch-zooming if in something that does support touch input properly. The latter is much more nicer than the former.

If only there was a common middle-man version of that built into every new laptop going forward. </3

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tsutarja (Post 8906383)
I guess I'm the only one that thinks a touchpad is pretty comfortable, but maybe it's my laptop. :P

I'd have to agree with this, as much as the current touchpad annoys me. xD I don't have much of a desk or a proper table to place my laptop on here, so using an external mouse would be tricky, whereas the touchpad is more convenient.

Touched August 27th, 2015 8:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tsutarja (Post 8906383)
I guess I'm the only one that thinks a touchpad is pretty comfortable, but maybe it's my laptop. :P

Objectively, mine isn't that bad. I have a Dell XPS 13, which is pretty nice as far as trackpads are concerned. I just hate pointer devices because they're so slow. Keyboards enable you to get to a level of speed that is simple unattainable with a mouse/trackpad/touchscreen (all three of which are in the XPS 13).

Alexander Nicholi August 27th, 2015 10:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LeviathanX (Post 8903740)
Yeah I was using the terminal for a bit to commit some files. Tried doing it with powershell but got told that something was missing, so I went and got another CLI to commuicate with Git. Thanks for the info, I'll certainly look into it. I'm so not a fan of trying to commit suff through my IDE.

You should download Console2 and use it to skin the Git terminal and also PowerShell. It’s a bit tricky, the solution I found to work on 7 was on Stack Overflow and involved fiddling with some command-line arguments and shortcuts with Console2, but... it’s worth it. Both CMD and PowerShell are uuuuugly.


I’ve found a clean Windows 7 install to take up a massive 14GiB of space. On its 20GiB drive that is certainly not enough for my 11GiB install of VS 2015 C++.

This is honestly just pathetic. After cleaning up unused files my entire Linux install, an install containing 932 packages including CUDA, WINE, LibreOffice, MariaDB, Mono, and GCC... takes up 16GiB altogether. I should remove CUDA lol, I have integrated graphics on this laptop <_<

Legendary Silke August 28th, 2015 1:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick (Post 8906733)
You should download Console2 and use it to skin the Git terminal and also PowerShell. It’s a bit tricky, the solution I found to work on 7 was on Stack Overflow and involved fiddling with some command-line arguments and shortcuts with Console2, but... it’s worth it. Both CMD and PowerShell are uuuuugly.


I’ve found a clean Windows 7 install to take up a massive 14GiB of space. On its 20GiB drive that is certainly not enough for my 11GiB install of VS 2015 C++.

This is honestly just pathetic. After cleaning up unused files my entire Linux install, an install containing 932 packages including CUDA, WINE, LibreOffice, MariaDB, Mono, and GCC... takes up 16GiB altogether. I should remove CUDA lol, I have integrated graphics on this laptop <_<

It indeed is, but one should also compare what you'd actually be getting :)

Either way, 20 GB? Ouch! That sounds awfully small for a system drive these days. (It's kind of fun to work with that, though.)

Leviathan August 28th, 2015 3:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick (Post 8906733)
You should download Console2 and use it to skin the Git terminal and also PowerShell. It’s a bit tricky, the solution I found to work on 7 was on Stack Overflow and involved fiddling with some command-line arguments and shortcuts with Console2, but... it’s worth it. Both CMD and PowerShell are uuuuugly.

I think I've heard someone mention that to me before. I'll definitely check it out! Working with the CMD isn't so bad for me, but PowerShell? What even is the point of it!

Alexander Nicholi August 28th, 2015 4:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LeviathanX (Post 8907469)
I think I've heard someone mention that to me before. I'll definitely check it out! Working with the CMD isn't so bad for me, but PowerShell? What even is the point of it!

It’s generally a more powerful console for Windows. Advantages it has over CMD are that it can access any drive letter pretty much (and probably network locations), behaves more like Bash in that it doesn't let you run execs in the current directory without .\... it really should be the default for anyone considering console work.



Earlier last night I got my project, Sapphire, to compile for x64 in Visual Studio 2015 as well as GCC 5.2! It’s really rewarding seeing the same exact code work on two vastly different OSes, not to mention a good bit interesting seeing compiler quirks with what they complain about and what they don’t. I also learned that unlike ARM7, x86 bit shifts do not wrap. xD

Quote:

Originally Posted by Twiggy (Post 8907372)
Either way, 20 GB? Ouch! That sounds awfully small for a system drive these days. (It's kind of fun to work with that, though.)

I’m rather limited when it comes to space on my SSD, and don’t want to use the last 30 GiB or so of my 160GB external drive because I need that space and it’s over USB 2. My laptop does not have USB 3, but my mother says she may be able to drop $50 + change to get me a 1TB 2.5” HDD and a case for it anyway. (I want to run multiple Windows VMs.)

Tsutarja August 29th, 2015 6:21 AM

I plugged in my Dell Venue 8 Pro to charge early this morning and it had no battery. 8 hours later, and it only went to 87%, and this was while it was shut down too. Jeez.

Also, for some reason, when I opened it, this tiny keyboard appeared on the screen while it was charging, and it was shut down, too.


Alexander Nicholi August 29th, 2015 10:39 AM

I’m spending some time here fixing up a C++ INI/Config parser library I found on CodeProject. I’m removing all of the uses of raw pointers, and adding in exceptions to replace sloppy error code holder references (passing a variable by reference to be set in the event something goes wrong, this isn’t C). I think I’m even going to add in some new little functionality, too.

If you take it as-is, the thing supports hashpound-based comments (#), agnosticism to the spaces surrounding the equals sign of a declaration, and nesting! starting with the line name = ( and ending with a ) on its own line, you can nest up to an arbitrary length. This is what I found to be most cool about the library.

Since I’m such a nut for compiled code, I’m going to have it set up as a shared library (a DLL on Windows) and reference it to both save compile time and modularize my application.

It’s such a relief to not have to write this sort of stuff from scratch. ^^‛;

Flubbles August 29th, 2015 11:34 AM

Just to let everyone know. I found out about this last night. You should turn off p2p updates. You can do it under settings-updates and security-advanced options (under windows update tab)-Choose how updates are delivered once here click the circle for "PCs on Local Network". This will keep people from wasting data.

Touched August 29th, 2015 12:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tsutarja (Post 8908904)
I plugged in my Dell Venue 8 Pro to charge early this morning and it had no battery. 8 hours later, and it only went to 87%, and this was while it was shut down too. Jeez.

Also, for some reason, when I opened it, this tiny keyboard appeared on the screen while it was charging, and it was shut down, too.


You may want to microwave your RAM and drill holes in your disk platters.

Alexander Nicholi August 29th, 2015 12:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Touched (Post 8909222)
You may want to microwave your RAM and drill holes in your disk platters.

I don’t even wanna know how you know to do that...

Anyway, you should get on IRC. I have a good few questions :)

Tsutarja August 29th, 2015 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Team Fail (Post 8909056)
That's creepy. You may need a young priest and an old priest.

https://media4.giphy.com/media/jeXiz1RAvzX44/200_s.gif

Alexander Nicholi August 29th, 2015 5:45 PM

tfw you accidentally invent an assembly language trying to come up with ways to improve C++

god my head hurts. and I need to rethink what I’m improving upon, because evidently one doesn’t simply “improve” C++.

Legendary Silke August 29th, 2015 9:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick (Post 8909519)
tfw you accidentally invent an assembly language trying to come up with ways to improve C++

god my head hurts. and I need to rethink what I’m improving upon, because evidently one doesn’t simply “improve” C++.

One either loves or hates it. :)

Me? Well... I'm kinda torn.

In the meantime, I guess I'll be doing computer-y things for now.

Alexander Nicholi August 30th, 2015 12:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Twiggy (Post 8909753)
One either loves or hates it. :)

Me? Well... I'm kinda torn.

The thing about C++ for me is, I absolutely adore the power, control, and precision it gives me over every aspect of my program. I know exactly what it’s up to, or enough to be happy. There is a massive developer base with libraries for anything worth using, but... despite that, I start to get overwhelmed at how monotonous it can get writing C++ sometimes. So I want to change that.

If you’re interested, you could take a look at this collection of outlines I wrote up about what exactly I want out of my own “acceptable language.” So you’re aware, that thing is just notes – I left out a lot. :P Do note the lack of void and null.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Twiggy (Post 8909753)
In the meantime, I guess I'll be doing computer-y things for now.

Like what? :)

Legendary Silke August 30th, 2015 12:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick (Post 8909851)
The thing about C++ for me is, I absolutely adore the power, control, and precision it gives me over every aspect of my program. I know exactly what it’s up to, or enough to be happy. There is a massive developer base with libraries for anything worth using, but... despite that, I start to get overwhelmed at how monotonous it can get writing C++ sometimes. So I want to change that.

If you’re interested, you could take a look at this collection of outlines I wrote up about what exactly I want out of my own “acceptable language.” So you’re aware, that thing is just notes – I left out a lot. :P Do note the lack of void and null.

Mmm hmm! C++ is a nice tool when you want things to be exactly how you like it.

Me, sometimes, I want that, too, but I do also use C# when I don't need that much power. Usually makes for faster coding in my experience once you get used to it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick (Post 8909851)
Like what? :)

Does running stability tests on my desktop computer count? :)

Tsutarja September 2nd, 2015 3:55 AM

Like the new prefixes guys? :P

So I tried Pale Moon on my netbook (and they have a version branded as Atom/XP), and it's still quite resource-intensive. :|

Palkia September 2nd, 2015 4:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tsutarja (Post 8913667)
Like the new prefixes guys? :P

So I tried Pale Moon on my netbook (and they have a version branded as Atom/XP), and it's still quite resource-intensive. :|

What specs are your laptop btw? I think running something even lighter would be better (if there is something like that).

Tsutarja September 2nd, 2015 4:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Actor (Post 8913675)
What specs are your laptop btw? I think running something even lighter would be better (if there is something like that).

I'm not sure off the top of my head, but I'll get back to you when I'm at my netbook tonight. :)

Eat Me September 2nd, 2015 5:22 PM

A netbook sounds like the worst thing to be using

Legendary Silke September 2nd, 2015 9:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eat Me (Post 8914447)
A netbook sounds like the worst thing to be using

Especially when the CPU has to do everything. :)

(Hmm, something about this post looks weird. Guests?)

Palkia September 3rd, 2015 9:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Twiggy (Post 8914617)
Especially when the CPU has to do everything. :)

(Hmm, something about this post looks weird. Guests?)

If it's a older netbook, the cpu would probably be complete trash and probably won't be able to do anything more than word processing and web browsing without video streaming. Then again, netbooks were designed to just do these two things and really nothing more. That being said, the bay trail and upcoming cherry trail atom netbooks can defiantly hold there own as a laptop replacement so long as you don't mind using cloud/external storage and have a 3DS handy.

Legendary Silke September 4th, 2015 1:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Actor (Post 8915035)
If it's a older netbook, the cpu would probably be complete trash and probably won't be able to do anything more than word processing and web browsing without video streaming. Then again, netbooks were designed to just do these two things and really nothing more. That being said, the bay trail and upcoming cherry trail atom netbooks can defiantly hold there own as a laptop replacement so long as you don't mind using cloud/external storage and have a 3DS handy.

Sometimes I think it's less of a problem with their CPUs alone, and more of a problem with their CPU + the GPU going to waste on the desktop. Netbooks back then that shipped with Windows 7 Starter couldn't make use of Desktop Window Manager, which offloads most desktop graphics processing to, well, the GPU.

The experience is quite a bit nicer when it's running something that isn't Starter, let alone 8.x or 10.

Megan September 4th, 2015 8:41 AM

Finally got Bumblebee and with that NVIDIA Optimus back running again. Still not quite sure, why exactly it broke in the first place, though, let alone why it took me so long to fix.

Legendary Silke September 4th, 2015 9:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by R.F. (Post 8915949)
Finally got Bumblebee and with that NVIDIA Optimus back running again. Still not quite sure, why exactly it broke in the first place, though, let alone why it took me so long to fix.

Things that can go wrong seems to just do when it comes to device drivers...

Palkia September 6th, 2015 1:33 PM

I remember trying to get Bumblebee running on linux on a old alienware computer. Those weren't good times. So happy my current laptop has no discrete graphics; I find playing games on a laptop impractical in the situations i'm in with it anyway.

Tsutarja September 6th, 2015 7:43 PM

I remember playing Team Fortress 2 on my current laptop at lower settings and it was smooth. Although I'm not sure how it'd be now considering I haven't done that in a while. Maybe I should install a game or two from Steam onto my laptop to find out.. hmm.


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