technology

Typing this on thumbs sorry for lack of details.

Partner kicked power plug out while cleaning and the whole computer shit itself. Doesn't boot into windows at all. Shows mobo thing but I can't access boot order or bios stuff at all. Computer eventually gets mad and tells me to use a recovery cd. That ofc doesn't work (which specifically could be issue with my DVD drive, it has been wonky burning things lately). Recovery USB looks mad glitchy and when I try recovery it just gets mad that I didn't select a windows installation. I can see all my drives if I try to install windows from it.

All this is out of my wheelhouse and I really don't want to take it in anywhere. What should I check next?

[EDIT: IGNORE THIS. I FIXED IT BY CHANGING THE BOOT MODE TO AHCI AND THEN UNINSTALLING THE OFFENDING UPDATES IN THE SAFE MENU]

I have an external 1.5TB USB HDD on this Odroid N2+. It is always somewhat busy since I have a torrent client running as a daemon. I noticed recently that the HDD gets super hot.

Is there some other stoage medium I can use to prevent this? I know nerds like to use NAS or something like that but it seems super expensive and overkill as I don't really need that much space since I am not a compulsive hoarder.

The SBC does not have anything like SATA ports or whatever they are called so my only two options are eMMC and something that works over USB. eMMCs are hard to come by where I live. So I am thinking something like a USB SSD could work here? Thoughts?

Thank you.

https://www.thedrum.com/news/2023/07/24/appalling-instinct-branding-designers-react-twitters-x-rebrand

Here's one example (and this is just one example). My workplace makes heavy use of linters and static analyzers. The CI is configured so that if the linter outputs any errors or warnings, the pipelines fail. Often that occurs because an empty code block or type definition contains a space, and the linter really wants to see '{}' instead of '{ }'. I simply cannot imagine the consequences to humanity at large if this excess whitespace ever made it to production. The kicker here is that the default VS Code autofmt wants that singular space to be there, and inserts them itself, and the default Angular linter thinks they really do not belong. I'm not sure which of these two organizations (Microsoft and Google) are right, as both normally emit good practice the way Moses emits commandments, and they are now in direct contradiction with one another.

I have approached colleagues about the idea of maybe turning off some or all of these rules, and was promptly told that I should have my editor configured to run the linter and apply its fixes whenever I save, and given instructions on how to do so. This is a Good Argument, in that it solves my problem effortlessly, but I just can't resign myself to do it, and still find myself embarrassingly pushing commits to apply linter recommendations after opening merge requests. To put it as simply as I can, I have identified The Problem. Please address it. I do not care if your solution is easy and low impact. It does not solve The Problem, it just sticks a layer of paint over it. It's also not just the failing builds that piss me off, it's also that the linter is garbage and overly opinionated and actively makes our code look worse by (for instance) removing line breaks in lengthy call chains or array literals making them longer than 100 characters. Motherfucker I broke that up for a reason.

As far as dysfunction and cargo cult nonsense goes, I have seen a hundred times worse in my time. This is a complete non-issue. But fuck me, I can't do it. I can't be slippery like that anymore. I just can't tolerate all this fucking process that never touches the fundamental problem of engineering nondiscipline. I can't jump on the latest fads that promise to solve every factoring problem and just make code bases wordier and ten times more opaque. I don't want copilot to be fucking turned on by default. It sucks and will always sucks no matter how many teraflops you throw at the LLM and how strongly you believe that AGI is among us. I just want to choke a bitch. I want to punch some poindexters in the face and break their +1.50 glasses.

Maybe I should quit software development? Should I flip burgers? Become an Agile coach? Go fight for the YPG?

I've used Ubuntu in the past so that's what I'm thinking of using, but if anyone has another suggestion I'm open to ideas. I'm looking for something user-friendly and lightweight when it comes to hardware requirements. The laptop will mostly be used for web browsing and streaming video, if I can get that to work.

Hello, Windows 10 user of about a year now. I would like to switch to Linux (Ubuntu or Debian), but have a couple of questions.

1. Is there a way to play steam games designed for Windows on Linux?/What are the drawbacks of doing this?
2. Is there a way to transfer files from my old OS to the new one without using external drives (i dont have one ;-;)
3. Is there a distro more suited to a Windows user going into linux rehab?
4. Is there anything else I should be aware of?

TIA as always comrades and good day.

I can get some logitech z333 for 70 dollars (still quite expensive imo) and I was close to buying but I live in a small apartment and I think the sub is going to cause some issues with my neighbor below me. I think a good pair of sattelites will do me well but I am also intrigued by having a sub which will make games and music sound better.

I've only really browsed logitech speakers because of capitalism but I would be open to any other suggestions. Max I am spending on is 100 but that's max. Ideally looking for something in the range of 10-80. Also if you have any suggestions for a headset and a seperate mic I can get in this price range that would help too. Thanks

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/08/01/guillermo-shnlein-oceangate-co-founder-venus-colony-vision/70509578007/

Thought it would be a case of removing the CMOS battery. Apparently these shits don't have that. Any ideas?

I wasn’t sure if everyone else was aware of this, so I thought it might be a good thing to post. The only other post I saw was 2 years ago. It’s a pretty cool and useful add on for seeing who is or isn’t a transphobe and you all should try it out.

If I were to never touch GMail again and use Thunderbird for the rest of my life, would I need to change my adress to free myself from the deathgrip of google?

https://mashable.com/article/x-twitter-letting-paid-users-hide-blue-ticks

Since I've been Covid conscious and stuck indoors more than most people now, I thought that I'd get a new mini PC slash media center. I was tired af from seeing ads from the YouTube app on my smart TV, and I kinda wanted to stream from other places not supported by the WebOS that's part of my smart TV. If I could play a few games on it, great.

My problem is that I'm a pretty cheap person. It's not that I don't want to spend a few grand, it's just that expensive shit ends up stressing me out. I'd rather buy something a bit cheaper if the thought of it breaking won't ruin my day. Like if a child of my friend is playing around my computer, I'm mentally cursing that kid out because I can't imaging dropping another 3 weeks worth of salary. I always have an older generation phone with me. I've definitely dropped a phone or jumped in the pool with my mobile in my pocket and it's always just been a shrug "well I need a new phone anyhow". My partner just bought the newest iPhone she's pretty nervous about the thing.

I'm definitely not a hardware guy, so likely I'm gonna get chewed out here. Anyhow, one thing that I noticed was that shops charge a pretty decent premium compared to the internet. It felt like it was 20% or so. The other thing that I found frustrating was that it was damn near impossible to buy a computer WITHOUT buying Windows as well. Stuff online like this had (what looks to me) like crappy graphics and quite a premium for RAM and and SSD storage.

Again, I'm not great with hardware. Gamers, please be nice.

When comparing prices on AliExpress and Amazon, omg Ali Express is way lower. OK, I tried one from a brand that had good reviews on the site, no one really complaining, you definitely never heard of the brand. Reading the description, you definitely get the vibe that they're putting a cracked copy of Windows 10 on the machine, which is fine as I want to run Linux. It was 700 USD, they shipped it from Guangzhou and it got here in maybe 5 days.

Thing got here and just didn't work. In hindsight, the video output was broken. The customer service guy was nice enough. I used my Hexbear don't be Western chauvinistic asshole to the Chinese worker powers. The guy was cool. I mailed it back (maybe $50 shipping), and got a full refund. It was fine. A week later, the customer service guy messaged me saying they'd give me the wholesale price on a upgraded machine. Basically something that's listed for $1200 on Amazon, or $1000 on Ali Express, they'd sell me for $700. I'm like.... "hmmmm".... but my greed won out. The thing had a much better processor and graphics card.

So I have Linux Mint installed. It's been a few months and the thing works perfectly fine now. I play Atomic Heart or Cyberpunk on medium graphics quality and the thing runs perfectly fine. I don't fucking need ultra quality and frankly this thing is enough. The best thing is watching YouTube without fecking ads, or just streaming shit. I am NOT subscribing to another service like Disney or Apple.

tldr: AliExpress can be a wonderful thing if you're willing to risk mailing the thing back to China for fixes.

Shoutout to a real one. You lasted for 7 years.

My gaming PC
2016 - 2023

https://www.businessinsider.com/student-uses-playrgound-ai-for-professional-headshot-turned-white-2023-8

It is still too early to celebrate, but this would be such a huge deal, holy fuck.