* Posts by Scotthva5

106 publicly visible posts • joined 6 Jun 2014

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AMD’s latest desktop CPUs feature lower prices yet again as Intel readies a fightback

Scotthva5

Re: There are some substantial improvements.

True but to take advantage of these improvements you are forced to override the stock power limits. Every benchmark I've seen shows very little improvement over the previous 7000 series using the stock power profiles, topping out at 4-7% in production benchmarks. Raising the power limit helps but not dramatically enough to upgrade over the existing 7000 series, at least for me. Power efficiency is important but it feels like AMD is standing still performance wise. However it is very early in the life cycle so maybe additional gains are forthcoming.

Engineers fix ESA's Gaia observatory from 1.5M kilometers away

Scotthva5

Re: Sending a crew to fix the spacecraft isn't possible

I nominate Elon for the next mission. He has nothing better to do.

FTC grabs controller as Microsoft jacks up Game Pass price by 81%

Scotthva5

Until your "bought" game has its servers shut down in 3 years because some bright, young MBA says they should.

Amazon puts down its Astro robotic business watchdog

Scotthva5

Re: What is that robodog whining at now?

After wasting 30kwh of electricity ElectroPuppy tries to shag the cat after imagining it's Dua Lipa in a fur suit. Hilarity ensues.

More layoffs at Microsoft: What's really going on here?

Scotthva5

or, in a company I no longer work for, "Mr Doubty Pants", as our CFO used to say to anyone that questioned his numbers.

Endless OS 6: How desktop Linux may look, one day

Scotthva5

Re: Gnome? Friendly?

Same here, Gnome is fine once you've beaten it about the head and shoulders with extensions and tamed some of the Gnome Foundation's worse "innovations". To me it's like an old pair of jeans: rough around the edges and smells a bit but I can't throw it in the bin just yet.

Scotthva5

Re: Wayland?

Brought a tear to my eye that did. However you're missing the "snow and uphill both ways" component.

Cheyenne supercomputer sells at auction for just $480K

Scotthva5

Forget Crysis

Can it play Cities Skylines 2 at 60 fps?

Japan's second-ranked mobile telco to buy convenience store chain from Mitsubishi

Scotthva5

At least they're upfront about the data slurping. "Targeted advertising and location tracking with that soda ma'am?"

Top Linux distros drop fresh beats

Scotthva5

Re: I can customise it to my heart's content but that's not the point

I would argue it's not the point when comparing the out of the box experience for a prospective Windows convert. The bones of MX are rock solid but the interface is crude and amateurish and takes considerable fiddling to bring it anywhere near modern aesthetics. That's a hard sell for a new user wishing for a simple Win10/11 replacement.

Scotthva5

Style is optional

MX Linux is, indeed, the bee's knees when it comes to reliability and low resource usage but I have one major problem with it: it's dogshit ugly. I had no idea XFCE could be made to look so utilitarian and spartan with icon designs right out of the early 90's but there you go. Yes, yes and again yes I realize I can customise it to my heart's content but that's not the point, right out of the box it looks dated and old and not something I would show to someone considering leaving Windows. Before any of you penguin herders get snippy I'm looking at MX with home user desktop googles and not a productivity focused build. I've been running Zorin Pro for years as my main rig at home and I do appreciate the spit and polish that it provides right out of the box. Down votes in 3...2...1...

AI PC hype seems to be making PCs better – in hardware terms, at least

Scotthva5

Re: AI is nearly as big as the discovery of electricity

Will "AI" improve the recipe of the drugs you're on?

PC 'price hike' coming as cost of memory soars – analysts

Scotthva5

Re: Professional crystal ball gazers

Much like IDC's 1998 prediction of IA-64 systems sales reaching $30bn/yr by 2001, they know not of what they speak.

The Hobbes OS/2 Archive logs off permanently in April

Scotthva5

ArcaOS

Perhaps the good folks at ArcaOS could be persuaded to host a mirror, although given the small size of their organization that might be too much for them.

Microsoft issues deadline for end of Windows 10 support – it's pay to play for security

Scotthva5

Re: "we understand..."

That sums it up fairly accurately.

Scotthva5

Re: Need the EU to step up…

...ensure it goes to into a reputable recycling route...

Will not happen. Your 'reputable recycling route' will offload a boatload of used office PCs to some third world country with questionable environmental protocols and a desperate need for cash.

Tech renders iconic rockers Kiss genuinely immortal

Scotthva5

Really?

Isn't "Kiss Meets the Phantom of the Park" punishment enough?

Apple exec defends 8GB $1,599 MacBook Pro, claims it's like 16GB in a PC

Scotthva5

Insult to injury

8gb? Okay, maybe MacOS is more frugal than most. What I find inexcusable is the fruit vendor charging $200 to upgrade to 16gb. And no, you can't add memory at a later date, just from the factory.

Fool, money, etc.

Windows 11: The number you have dialed has been disconnected

Scotthva5

Re: But but...

and highly paid "migration consultants".

IDC: AI is a solution for a PC industry with a sales problem

Scotthva5

This too shall pass

Like every other overly hyped fad IDC jumps on - blockchain, Itanium* - I fear the future will be markedly different than IDC proposes.

*feel free to add your own world-changing technology that went nowhere.

CERN swells storage space beyond 1EB for LHC's latest ion-whacking experiments

Scotthva5

Re: Brand (s) ?

Many, many thanks.

Mixin suspends deposits and withdrawals after $200m cryptocurrency heist

Scotthva5
Pint

Re: Make it so

Why wait 'til Friday? Pints all around!

Beneath Microsoft's Surface event, AI spreads everywhere

Scotthva5

Eco friendly?

How much additional power is the new Clippy going to require and who is going to pay for it? "AI" as it currently stands is not power efficient in the least and producing yet more carbon so I can finish an email 3 fentoseconds faster is not very attractive to me.

ArcaOS 5.1 gives vintage OS/2 a UEFI facelift for the 21st century

Scotthva5

Use case?

I was a rabid OS/2 user back in the mid to late 90s until Linux wooed me and eventually swept me off my feet. It was, indeed, the better DOS and Windows that IBM promised and was a literal godsend for my use case of managing a mid-size Novell network over both ARCnet and TCNS with Windows clients aplenty. I'm aware that many banks and ATMs used OS/2 in its various incarnations until the mid 2000s but is it still being used in a professional capacity today at a volume worthy of keeping alive? Being stuck at 32 bit (which was hailed as a revolution at the time) severely limits its use today except for hobbyists like me that will buy a copy. That said, I'm glad OS/2 is still around and getting the love it deserves.

Judge snuffs man's quest to have AI-created art protected by copyright

Scotthva5

Overheard in the judicial halls

"Someone please get these loons out of my courtroom."

Want to live dangerously? Try running Windows XP in 2023

Scotthva5

Re: Windows XP Pro

I keep an old Mac SE/30 around just so I can play the original Might and Magic for Mac. Laughable "graphics" but hundreds of hours of old fashioned RPG game play. I've yet to find its equal.

Oracle pours fuel all over Red Hat source code drama

Scotthva5

Re: Opensolaris anyone?

Just killing Opensolaris wasn't good enough for Oracle, they had to kill the entire Solaris ecosystem for....reasons? I've never quite understood why they stopped development of Solaris other than some bright young MBAs said they should.

Oh, great. Yet another tech billionaire thinks he can get microblogging right

Scotthva5

Re: Funny

Judging by my two 20-something daughters I'm inclined to agree. Whenever I call them to verify that their vocal cords are in fact functional I receive a disapproving tone of voice that suggests "Jeez Daddy you're so old". My teenage son on the other hand refuses to communicate with anyone unless it's through TikToc or SnapChat.

FTC pulls emergency brake on Microsoft's marriage to Activision Blizzard

Scotthva5

Re: Triple-A gaming is a mess and a ripoff

Agreed, some of my favorite games are produced by independent studios. The last AAA game I bought was Forza Horizon 4 and it took ages to sort out that mess. Benchmarks ran just fine but benchmarks didn't show the horrendous input lag that made it unplayable or Microsoft's cavalier attitude in fixing it. Never again.

Intel says AI is overwhelming CPUs, GPUs, even clouds – so all Meteor Lakes get a VPU

Scotthva5

Chicken or Egg?

I wonder how many devs are willing to add AI to their existing applications and whether Intel is on the right track with this or is it more marketing hoopla? This seems a very narrow use case at least right now.

Nvidia's RTX 4060 and 4060TI are actually priced like mid-tier cards

Scotthva5

A triumph of marketing over substance

The caveat "1.7x faster than its predecessor, when using its frame generated DLSS 3.0" is typical Nvidia marketing behavior and is apples to oranges regarding gen vs gen performance increases. Of course DLSS runs faster when turned on, that's the whole point of if it if the games support it. No mention of 3060ti vs 4060ti non-DLSS performance increase coupled with comparing it to a card 2 generations behind it makes me even more skeptical of their claims. A 10-15% actual gain is much more likely but doesn't sound as sexy in the marketing material.

No more feature updates for Windows 10 – current version is final

Scotthva5

Re: Err

American here, I haven't heard that particular phase used, either professionally or private, in my 60+ years on this planet. "Work toward that end" however is an American idiom much loved by pointy-headed management types and should be outlawed by the Geneva Convention.

Musicians threaten to make Oasis 'Live Forever' with AI

Scotthva5

Re: Gallagher Siblings Conversation [not AI]

Change the names and that's a fair approximation of our latest family reunion.

More ads in Windows 11 Start Menu could be last straw for some

Scotthva5

Re: You don't have to use the native start menu - there are better alternatives

Agreed, Start10(11) has been on my Windows partition for years. Well worth the trivial amount they ask for.

IDC gets even more pessimistic about PC sales

Scotthva5

Re: I, for one...

>> goodbye, nVidia

You might want to explore Intel's Arc 750/770 as the drivers are maturing week by week. The just released 6.2 kernel has Arc support baked in so no need for twiddling or running Ubuntu to make it work properly and the price/performance ratio beats anything nVidia or AMD is offering. Everything I've read is very promising and Arc might do very well indeed on Linux.

Patches to make WINE work on Wayland display server protocol are being merged

Scotthva5

I've found the lighting of ritual candles helps, as does a bit of interpretive dance. Chanting is optional.

Titanic mass grave site to be pillaged for NFTs

Scotthva5

Re: Coming soon

The race to the bottom in three...two...one

Marketing company chases Twitter for $7,000 over 'swag gift box for Elon'

Scotthva5

Re: $800 for a cheese board and cheese?

That's only for whole milk, skim and 2% use hydroponic cows.

Microsoft tells people to prepare for AI search engine that goes Bing!

Scotthva5

Re: Decisions Decisions

Butter BEFORE the jam

You absolute heathen

Fancy a quick tour of DragonFly BSD 6.4?

Scotthva5

Re: Not goading a flamewar...

I worked in a NetBSD shop around the time of the Dragonfly split and through the years I've heard many variations of the argument (sometimes in raised voices) about which approach works best. Consensus seemed to be they both are and since Net and Dragonfly (mostly) peacefully coexist I don't believe there is a "right" or "wrong" approach. As Liam said above, choice is good.

Too big to live, too loved to die: Big Tech's billion dollar curse of the free

Scotthva5

Re: I'm a typical Alexa user

I'm embarrassed to admit it's a matter of pure convenience on our part. It is much easier to say "Alexa play white noise" than it is to muck around with Bluetooth and plugging in yet another device to save the battery. Trust me we have tried myriad ways and this is the easiest and best solution for the both of us. The app has a ton of settings to sculpt the sound to your liking as it's not easy to get two people to agree on what constitutes "white noise" as apposed to just "noise".

Scotthva5

I'm a typical Alexa user

We have a number of Alexa devices in the house and we use them just as the study suggests: music, reminders and the occasional argument settler. The only Alexa service we pay for is the advanced white noise app that we use for sleep and it is worth its weight ($2.99 a month) in gold. I'm willing to bet Amazon will increase the cost of Prime for Alexa devices over and above the cost of regular Prime service to keep the accountants happy. When this happens we will bin the lot and go back to earplugs.

Elon Musk issues ultimatum to Twitter staff: Go hardcore or go home

Scotthva5

Easy choice Elon

In essence you're asking your few remaining employees to work 3 times longer for the same pay or be fired. That's an easy choice to make, for me at least.

Why I love my Chromebook: Reason 1, it's a Linux desktop

Scotthva5

Re: I'll be buying a Chromebook

We are a Red Hat shop at work but at home Zorin Pro is our OS of choice. Works well, easy on the eyes and doesn't get in my way. My wife likes it as well after her brief flirtation with Deepin ended in tears.

Juno offering Linux-powered tablet PC for pre-order

Scotthva5

Re: Kinda pricey...

I was using the iPad as a reference, obviously they are for completely separate markets. What exactly are you going to be filling that larger storage with short of media? It certainly won't be touch native applications. I'm no Apple fanboy (I champion all things Linux and have for years) but the value of Apple's massive ecosystem can't be overstated. Adding a mouse or other input device such as a keyboard would make it far easier to use normal Linux apps but now we are getting away from being a 'tablet' and closer to Microsoft's Surface. At $400+ this is outside the realm of 'nice to have plaything', at least for me. I wish Juno the best of luck but I don't see a compelling market niche for it.

Scotthva5

Kinda pricey...

..for a no-name, non-upgradable Chinese tablet with a slow, low-end processor. I'm all for more Linux based appliances but Apple's base iPad is $100 cheaper, boasts far higher specs, has an OS designed from the ground up to be touch native and a vast ecosystem. Tablets are not flying off the shelves these days and I'm struggling to see what market niche this would fill other than developers working on touch native applications.

This maglev turntable costs more than an average luxury electric car

Scotthva5

Re: Hah. but...

Don't forget the $4000 power cord that "re-aligns the power flow" to provide maximum precision.

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