The Computer And General Tech Thread - Software, Hardware, Questions, etc.

[MacAnDàil]

Raphaël: You seem more reasonable than many, not just going after novelty for the sake of it. We've gone back to watching dvds ourselves when we watch videos.

[Raphael]

Raphaël: You seem more reasonable than many, not just going after novelty for the sake of it. We've gone back to watching dvds ourselves when we watch videos.

Thank you! I wonder about attitudes among people who are young enough that the things I listed aren't novelties for them, though.

[Ares Land]

Raphaël: You seem more reasonable than many, not just going after novelty for the sake of it. We've gone back to watching dvds ourselves when we watch videos.

Thank you! I wonder about attitudes among people who are young enough that the things I listed aren't novelties for them, though.

I work in IT and while a lot of it is pretty positive... a solid share of what we do (as an industry) feels like bullshit. The latest thing is something called Industry 4.0 and, I mean, do we even need that sort of thing? Does it even mean anything?

[Raphael]

Interesting Mastodon post from Charlie Stross:

https://wandering.shop/@cstross/111137152003879315

What I want in my next computer:

* The design values of Apple
* The modularity and repairability of Framework
* The openness of GNU/Linux
* The legacy support of Microsoft

[...]

[Raphael]

A belated afterthought on this:

a solid share of what we do (as an industry) feels like bullshit. The latest thing is something called Industry 4.0 and, I mean, do we even need that sort of thing? Does it even mean anything?

It's kinda funny how an industry that was, to a large extent, built by people who, back in school, would roll their eyes at how the more popular kids around them were always enthralled to the latest fads, no matter how stupid, is now completely obsessed with always following the latest internal industry fads, no matter how stupid.

[Man in Space]

Swapping out RAM on an Alienware (Dell motherboard). Computer refuses to boot. Mobo recognizes the RAM (DDR4, it’s compatible). Tried flashing the BIOS, tried mounting a Win10 ISO downloaded from Microsoft via USB, nothing. Diagnostics report some indeterminate problem but the QR code it gives me doesn’t work. It sees the USB, the SSD, and the RAM, but when I try to boot from the USB it does nothing. Tried flushing the capacitors, no success. Any ideas?

Swapping in the old RAM doesn’t work either.

[Travis B.]

A belated afterthought on this:

a solid share of what we do (as an industry) feels like bullshit. The latest thing is something called Industry 4.0 and, I mean, do we even need that sort of thing? Does it even mean anything?

It's kinda funny how an industry that was, to a large extent, built by people who, back in school, would roll their eyes at how the more popular kids around them were always enthralled to the latest fads, no matter how stupid, is now completely obsessed with always following the latest internal industry fads, no matter how stupid.

I roll my eyes when people talk about crap like "web3" and such. It's meaningless bullshit meant to sell us on ideas that we don't need and don't want.

[Torco]

A belated afterthought on this:

a solid share of what we do (as an industry) feels like bullshit. The latest thing is something called Industry 4.0 and, I mean, do we even need that sort of thing? Does it even mean anything?

It's kinda funny how an industry that was, to a large extent, built by people who, back in school, would roll their eyes at how the more popular kids around them were always enthralled to the latest fads, no matter how stupid, is now completely obsessed with always following the latest internal industry fads, no matter how stupid.

I blame managers. it's MBA guys who are hiring the consultants, filling up tasks in sprints and even often deciding on infrastructures. we're using Rust, cause (insert unicorn) did. what? technically we could run this thing on python? doesn't matter, (insert buzzword)

[bradrn]

A belated afterthought on this:

a solid share of what we do (as an industry) feels like bullshit. The latest thing is something called Industry 4.0 and, I mean, do we even need that sort of thing? Does it even mean anything?

It's kinda funny how an industry that was, to a large extent, built by people who, back in school, would roll their eyes at how the more popular kids around them were always enthralled to the latest fads, no matter how stupid, is now completely obsessed with always following the latest internal industry fads, no matter how stupid.

I blame managers. it's MBA guys who are hiring the consultants, filling up tasks in sprints and even often deciding on infrastructures. we're using Rust, cause (insert unicorn) did. what? technically we could run this thing on python? doesn't matter, (insert buzzword)

I actually like Rust, far more than Python. Outside data science, using Python for a big project feels like madness to me.

[Travis B.]

I actually like Rust, far more than Python. Outside data science, using Python for a big project feels like madness to me.

My view of Rust is that it is the language C++ should be but isn't. That said, there are plenty of use cases where using C++ (or Rust) is pure insanity - they are just too complex and give you few benefits for very many things. Of course I think that there are better high-level languages than Python, such as Haskell, Scheme, and Julia, as much as I liberally use Python at my day job.

Edit: Corrected "Juiia" to "Julia". BTW, to anyone reading, you should look at this language, because it appears to me to be one of the best high-level languages out there (even though I haven't really gotten the opportunity to really try it out), as it appears to be in many ways like Common Lisp but better (better-designed type/object system for starters) and, for all those afraid of the parens, with Algol-style syntax.

[bradrn]

I actually like Rust, far more than Python. Outside data science, using Python for a big project feels like madness to me.

My view of Rust is that it is the language C++ should be but isn't. That said, there are plenty of use cases where using C++ (or Rust) is pure insanity - they are just too complex and give you few benefits for very many things. Of course I think that there are better high-level languages than Python, such as Haskell, Scheme, and Juiia, as much as I liberally use Python at my day job.

Completely agreed with you on this.

[Travis B.]

I actually like Rust, far more than Python. Outside data science, using Python for a big project feels like madness to me.

My view of Rust is that it is the language C++ should be but isn't. That said, there are plenty of use cases where using C++ (or Rust) is pure insanity - they are just too complex and give you few benefits for very many things. Of course I think that there are better high-level languages than Python, such as Haskell, Scheme, and Juiia, as much as I liberally use Python at my day job.

Completely agreed with you on this.

In my view the best data science, as they call it, language out there today is Julia. You get all the benefits of a high-level language with the sheer performance of a low-level language, with a design meant specifically to cater to the people using Matlab today (and who used Fortran in the past) while not making any sacrifices design-wise (aside from the IMO unfortunate choice of one-indexed arrays, which of course is specifically because Matlab and Fortran used one-indexed arrays).

[Ares Land]

I blame managers. it's MBA guys who are hiring the consultants, filling up tasks in sprints and even often deciding on infrastructures. we're using Rust, cause (insert unicorn) did. what? technically we could run this thing on python? doesn't matter, (insert buzzword)

I haven't seen the particular case of Rust vs. Python but I have seen similarly,um, surprising language choices.
(As in, I actually like Rust a lot and have mixed views on Python... But the use cases are different, using Rust where Python would do is a poor choice... and I have seen that sort of thing happen.)
In any case, yeah, middle management is generally to blame. Managers that used to be coders are probably the most dangerous though; they still think they understand the stuff.

[Torco]

I actually like Rust, far more than Python. Outside data science, using Python for a big project feels like madness to me.

I mean, i don't know a lot abot rust but what I know suggests it's pretty neat, for sure. But what Ares said: if all you need is, say, a script that checks an API every 12 hours and prints something to console using rust is probably overkill.

the inverse nightmare, i suppose, would be getting hired to build a new and exciting ERP (those things are complicated af) and on the first meeting hearing "and we're using nocode"

[Travis B.]

the inverse nightmare, i suppose, would be getting hired to build a new and exciting ERP (those things are complicated af) and on the first meeting hearing "and we're using nocode"

"Nocode" can die in a fire ASAP.

[Torco]

whew, this could be its own thread tbh.

I know the feeling. actually existing nocode is... bad. but, in principle, there's nothing magical about linear sequences of characters in a text file full of symbols, right? if we want (do we want? i think i want) programming to be more like writing in the 20th century as opposed to writing in ancient egypt, i.e. the arcane skillset of a priest of Lettero, the god of glyphs, i think we really should be making friendlier ways to program than "fuck you unless you type everything exactly right, you missed a semicolon in line 162. oh, also, KNOW BY MEMORY (or look up) EVERY KEYWORD EVER. and EVERY LINE ENDS IN SEMICOLON OR ELSE. ah, and don't forget 'inconsistent indentation"... like, I like python, but indentation? realy? ew. you get my drift, there's in principle no reason why a drag-and-drop, dropdown-menu based dealio couldn't be a cool way to build scrips: just look at MSExcel : I know people who get pretty complicated coding done in it, except they don't *know* they're doing coding, and so don't get scared by it. it's all complicated ways to express assembly, it could be done with textures and smells, in principle. (not that we'd want to ofc).

I think it would be cool. i know plenty of non-coder normies... hell, i've *been* a non-coder normie, I only learned programming properly in my thirties, and they end up wasting SOOOOO much time doing stuff over and over again for lack of a convenient and understandable way to tell the computer to do things.

[Travis B.]

whew, this could be its own thread tbh.

I know the feeling. actually existing nocode is... bad. but, in principle, there's nothing magical about linear sequences of characters in a text file full of symbols, right? if we want (do we want? i think i want) programming to be more like writing in the 20th century as opposed to writing in ancient egypt, i.e. the arcane skillset of a priest of Lettero, the god of glyphs, i think we really should be making friendlier ways to program than "fuck you unless you type everything exactly right, you missed a semicolon in line 162. oh, also, KNOW BY MEMORY (or look up) EVERY KEYWORD EVER. and EVERY LINE ENDS IN SEMICOLON OR ELSE. ah, and don't forget 'inconsistent indentation"... like, I like python, but indentation? realy? ew. you get my drift, there's in principle no reason why a drag-and-drop, dropdown-menu based dealio couldn't be a cool way to build scrips: just look at MSExcel : I know people who get pretty complicated coding done in it, except they don't *know* they're doing coding, and so don't get scared by it. it's all complicated ways to express assembly, it could be done with textures and smells, in principle. (not that we'd want to ofc).

I think it would be cool. i know plenty of non-coder normies... hell, i've *been* a non-coder normie, I only learned programming properly in my thirties, and they end up wasting SOOOOO much time doing stuff over and over again for lack of a convenient and understandable way to tell the computer to do things.

The thing about "nocode" is it seems like trying to program using Blockly... Do not want.

[Torco]

yeah, and i think that's because they're trying to do two things at once: make an edulang a la LOGO, and make a whole new paradigm in programming. either of those is pretty hard.

[Raphael]

I have a question about the point or pointlessness of getting an ssd for an older computer. It is generally known that ssds are faster than hdds. But, of course, they can't be faster than their connection to the motherboard. So, if the best hard drive connection my motherboard has is an old SATA 2 connection, would an ssd connected to it still be noticeably faster than an hdd?

[Travis B.]

I have a question about the point or pointlessness of getting an ssd for an older computer. It is generally known that ssds are faster than hdds. But, of course, they can't be faster than their connection to the motherboard. So, if the best hard drive connection my motherboard has is an old SATA 2 connection, would an ssd connected to it still be noticeably faster than an hdd?

HDD's are going to be slower one way or another - the only case I'd recommend to get an HDD is if the partition is going to be written to very frequently, as SSD's do wear out in a way that HDD's do not (HDD's definitely fail, but generally don't have a fixed lifetime, and oftentimes they give you warning, e.g. through suddenly becoming much slower than before, before they finally fail).