Posts by Boothy

Re: 5G Facts Summary So Far = Not Much

Troll or for real?

1. The type of radiation being emitted

There is no 'real' type, it's all electromagnetic radiation (EMR). Unless you simply mean things like radio, infrared, visible light, which could be seen as sub-categories of EMR.

specifically its wavelength or frequency

All this changes is the sub-categories the EM radiation falls into, e.g. radio, visible light, x-rays etc. Or if looking specifically at radio, the bands it falls into, but in those cases, that's just an agreed convention (i.e. long wave etc).

The only other major differentiation related to frequency is if the EMR is Ionising or not, i.e. contains enough energy to actually harm biological cells in plants and animals. You need to be at ultraviolet or above for that to be the case, anything from visible light or below, which includes all radio frequencies, just doesn't contain enough energy to do any direct cell damage.

...This is variable with 5G as there is no single standard wavelength used.

Nope, fixed and well defined frequencies that are part of the standard. There are many frequencies in use, but they are all defined and agreed. This has to be the case, as the phones and masts have to be using the same frequencies otherwise they wouldn't work.

2. The amplitude of the radiation, akin to the volume or amount of radiation that reaches the subject of concern.

Which is absolutely tiny for 5G, or any modern phone related radio signals (and just radio in general). Major breakthroughs here over the years has been improving the sensitivity in the receivers, thus allowing signal strengths to be reduced. Plus dynamically changing the strength of the transmissions, to be just enough to work for that connection.

3. The length of time of exposure.

True, but irrelevant for 5G or any radio signals, as there isn't enough energy to cause cell damage in the first place.

4. The sensitifity [sic] of the subject tissue to a specific type of radiation.

All well researched, documented and understood. i.e. Radio/5G is not harmful.

It may turn out that 5G radiation is as innocuous as the radio waves we've had traveling around and through us for over a century

There is no such thing as 5G radiation!

5G is just a new standard covering how we modulate a signal on a radio carrying frequency, and defining what frequencies to use for that standard. The same thing we've been doing since we discovered radio in the first place, just more advanced.

Just to be clear, all radio frequencies already exist, we can't create new ones, all we can do is use the ones nature provided, and use them more efficiently.

Whether that frequency is carrying 5G, 4G or some other radio standard, is irrelevant, it's still the same radio frequency, irrespective of the modulation standard being followed. (For frequency modulation, this would actually be a small band, with an upper and lower frequency limit around a defined central frequency).

Much of the spectrum (i.e. frequency) being used by 5G has been in use for many years, some of it currently in use by 4G for example, some of it was used for old analogue TV transmissions, which were far stronger signals than 5G.

Also 5G has many updates to improve things like power usage, for example 5G can focus the signal on a specific device (think of it like shining a torch from a tower to one spot where the phone is), this can be done for hundreds (or thousands depending on tower size) of devices connected to each cell tower, this means less radio just being blasted out in any direction, reducing overall power needs etc.

If EM sensitivity was a real thing (which it isn't imho) then 5G, and the overall migration to modern more efficient digital transmissions, would most likely help those people, as 5G is much less wasteful than older techs that use some of the same frequencies, like 4G and and analogue TV transmissions, etc.

Re: Kudos to a skilled programmer..

Especially seen as they own it these days.

Perhaps they could add it in as an optional component in the new Power Toys?

Re: Scratch, Scratch-scratch, Scraaaaatch

Replying to my own post here, but just in case anyone reads this now, things have changed (and despite the downvote, what I wrote was true and confirmed by AMD at time of the original posting).

The new news is that AMD have now backed down on the no Zen 3 support for X400 based boards, such as the B450 Max etc. (Although 300 boards are still unsupported).

But they have said this will only be available in a beta BIOS from the board manufacturer, at their (the board manufacturers) discretion. The user has to confirm they have a Zen 3 CPU before they can get or apply the beta BIOS (as this BIOS removes older CPU support for some boards, due to ROM size limitations, and so could effectively brick your board if applied without a Zen 3 chip to put in).

Re: impressive, but how ?

I imagine turning up for a chat with RPI, and explaining that they'd engaged Shearman & Sterling, a near $1B revenue law firm, that's been around since 1873, and who has clients like Sony & Bank of America on their books, likely focused their mind a bit on the prospect of being able to win.

Oh yes, and Shearman & Sterling are doing the work for free, how much is your legal team costing you?

Also seems the patent itself is bogus, looks like a generic method of sorting images based on criteria such as a topic. I suspect the patent is too broad, and should never have been granted in the first place. (Fails the Alice test).

I think RPI here have basically decided they can't risk court, as the patent would likely be revoked, thus automatically loosing the case, and of course risking their portfolio.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation did a write up on the patent side here.

Re: WFH

If this does change the status quo with regards to many more people WFH, and especially if it becomes the new norm, at least in some sectors, then I'd expect landlords will change their offerings to accommodate. e.g. A small office space (i.e. a desk and chair) per person, could become a requirement for many apartments.

Landlords would do this, as they'd assume 'professional' person, therefore we can bump the price up for the same floor space (space for desk, gained by a smaller bed/wardrobe/less other furniture) etc.

Quote: "I guess I wont be updating my phone then"

You don't mention what phone OS you have.

If it's Android, then the update is via Google Play Services, so is automatic on Android 5.0+ (with Googles' stuff installed of course), Google Play Services also does silent auto-updates, so ignores the Play Stores setting for automatic app updates.

You'd have to disable data for Google Play Services (which may well break other things), or never use data or WiFi on that phone again, or do something else to block the silent updates.

Plus of course you'd have to never buy a new Android or Apple phone again, as any new ones will have this new API baked in anyway eventually.

Re: Presumably

Assuming that's the 'SanDisk Extreme PRO 1TB SDXC Memory Card', which are listed as 170 Mb/s, they are £323.99 on Amazon currently.

Still expensive though, you could buy 3 x 1TB M.2 NVMe cards for £330!

Re: In days of yore

@TechnicalBen

Quote: In tests water cooling is not "better" as such.

Granted 'better' is subjective, but a good water cooler will always * beat a good air cooler. Water is just more efficient at moving heat around, and normally you'd mount the water cooler rad on the top of a case, venting heat directly outwards, unlike an aircooler that vent's within the case and so then needs that heat removing via case fans. (You still have case fans in a water cooled system, they just have to do less work as they are only moving GPU and motherboard heat, so tend to run slower, so quieter).

* 'beat' is only by something like 2-4 deg c. Which may not matter to you, and so may not be worthwhile depending on your use case, but could matter to someone else.

* Also a good aircooler will beat a bad, or mediocre water cooler.

Gamers Nexus did a good video on this only a few months ago. Liquid Cooling vs. Air Cooling Benchmark In-Depth

That includes running the coolers at 100% fan speed (so best cooling performance irrespective of noise), and also noise normalised testing (so same db for all coolers).

Quote: Is it more flexible in positioning in cases?

Yes, although that's kind of obvious ;-) An aircooler can only go in one location, whereas a water cooler rad can be (depending on case) mounted on the top, front or bottom of the case. Most modern mid tower cases are designed with water cooling in mind.

Personally, I'd also say overall, an All-In-One is easier to fit, at least compared to a good, i.e. large tower, air-cooler. (Based on experience with both types). Although a simple small aircooler (like the sort AMD provide with their CPU's) is easier still.

Quote: Does it allow for larger radiators?

Yes, the standard sizes (for an All-In-One) are normally 120, 240 or 360, which have 1, 2 or 3 x 120 mm fans respectively, or 140, 280, 420, which have 1, 2 or 3 x 140 mm fans respectively. With the radiators matching the area that the fans cover. So a 280 would have a rad double the size of a 140 etc.

Radiators are usually slightly wider than the width of the fans, and are longer than the posted size.

For example a '280' (one of the more common ones in use), uses 2 x 140mm fans, so the rad would be around 143mm wide, 315mm long (as it needs to accommodate the fans + a small reservoirs at one end, plus the pipe connections at the other end), and around 30mm thick. Although these sizes vary by model and make.

Quote: Yes. Is it "better"? Results may vary. ;)c

Indeed they do vary :-)

Edit. And just to mention, all the above is related to AIO (All-In-One) rather than a custom loop.

Re: And the South Pole?

Yes, they are also not antipodes (they are not exactly opposite each other).

Have a look at this site: https://maps.ngdc.noaa.gov/viewers/historical_declination/

Untick 'Isogonic Lines' for a clearer view, and tick 'Modeled Historical Track of Poles' to see the path the poles have taken.

Re: OK ok so it's fast

Just as a comparison, some current GeForce RTX 2080 Ti cards pull over 300W at full load (reference cards are around 280W).

That's with a Turing card, so on the TSMC 12nm process. Ampere uses 7nm instead, and is still pulling ~33% more power!

Re: How far away is home?

As someone who drove (early January) from Sydney to the north end of the Gold Coast coast, and then a week later flew from there to Melbourne, I concur.

The drive took about 12 hours, including a couple of short breaks. Thank <deity> for automatics and cruise control!

The flight down to Melbourne, which of course passes Sydney about half way down, took a little over 2 hours, and being domestic, you only needed to be at the airport about an hour before the flight.

Re: 1990s banking / No-one was allowed near the IT or comms rooms, even managers

Had a similar thing happen to me in the early 2000s. One of the teams in our building was moved out to head office, about 100 miles away (our office was basically the IT hub).

But they still had gear in the single server room we had, which had a daily backup tape that needed rotating out. I got he job for a short while.

Out of curiosity, did the target organisation not provide an API? Seems odd (to me) that if they were expecting this level of user input, that they'd provide an API instead.

Or if they did provide an API, why ever use RPA in the first place?

My general thought would be always use an API, no API we take our business elsewhere, but of course context is everything!

Re: you could locate the "Ribbon"

On 1600 x 900 here, which is at least marginally better than 768 I used to have, but not by much.

Even when in the office (where was that again, I forget?) the company had bought what must have been the cheapest external 15 inch monitors they could get hold of, not sure what they were, but they were not 1080p I know that for sure.

So glad I'm at home and can use my gaming monitor as an external, 3440 x 1440 makes working on extra wide Excel spreadsheets a breeze, or three A4 Word docs (or 3 pages) open at the same time, at full size. Although sharing a screen in a meeting, not so good! (I just share the laptop screen instead). I just stick Skype (aka Lync) and Outlook on the laptop screen.

Business laptops really aught to be 1080p minimum, 1440p preferable (in a large enough form to matter).

Re: VGA Plug Screws

I wonder if the same person moved to Asrock?

Bought a new X570 motherboard back end of last summer, for a new Ryzen build. Had a new case as well (old one was difficult to keep cool, still had 4 x 5.25 slots!). New case has a USB-C connector on the front panel, and a fancy lead and plug inside to go onto the motherboard.

The motherboard has a matching socket, happy!

Plugs USB-C cable into motherboard, then plugs in GFX card, hmm, won't fit! Can't actually push the card home, something seems to be in the way?!

Yup, card sits on top of the plug!

Basically someone in Asrock decided a good place for the USB-C socket was directly under where the GFX cards back plate would be, and even with a 90deg plug, you still can't actually fit a standard sized GFX card into the first slot!

Did consider removing the plastic on the plug, to see if that would be enough, but in the end I just took the cable out and don't use the socket.

Re: HELP!!!

Define performance? e.g. best frames per second, best performance per watt, best frames per $ spent etc?

e.g. Are you primarily a gamer, do you game and stream, are you focused on productivity etc?

To be honest, atm irrespective of how you define it, AMD win hands-down. Even with Intels new chips and prices cuts.

The only real single exception is if you want the absolute best frames per second, and are using an RTX 2080Ti (and you have no budget limitations), in which case the fastest i9 is arguable 'best'.

But for all other use cases, go for an AMD.

I you want to see comparison benchmarks, I'd recommend looking at Gamers Nexus on Youtube. Although don't expect anything other than an overview of these new chips current, as no benchmarks exist yet, as no one has the hardware yet.

For a more enthusiast level, rather than hardcore techi, have a look at JayzTwoCents instead, he's done a vid on the new Intel chips here.

Note these Intel chips are new, so no benchmarks yet, as reviewers are still waiting for the hardware, and then they will need some time to actually run all the benchmarks, so be a few more days for these to turn up.

Some modern kit still come with PS/2.

Asrock seems to like PS/2 for some of their motherboards, the X570 Taichi launched in July 2019, and has a single PS/2. MSI have a few motherboards as well.

For a while PS/2 keyboards were considered faster (as in less lag) than USB keyboards, especially for competitive gaming. This is still the case for some USB keyboards (as in PS/2 has less lag), but many newer USB keyboards (and anything mid to high end like gaming keyboards) now usually have less lag than PS/2 (sometimes a lot less), as the updates to USB standards and interfaces has allowed for faster polling intervals on modern keyboards.

PS/2 for mice hasn't really been a thing for a long time, as the polling speed for PS/2 mice is capped quite slow (really designed for ball mice, rather than modern optical based ones), so USB mice outperformed PS/2 mice (as in lag) basically as soon as USB mice came out.

Re: How to stop people from having "fun"

They already said* that if you get diagnosed, you get a verification code on the document telling you you've got COVID-19, and you have to enter that into the app, in order to declare "I've got it".

* For example one on BBC News : quote: "To report testing positive, the user would have to enter a verification code, which they would have received alongside their Covid-19 status." : Article here

I've not seen any details yet, so I've no idea if this will be a unique code, one only usable by a single person, time limited, how these are generated etc. Guess we have to wait for the full details yet.

My guess would be they'll release a private companion app, or web site, that has to be used by whoever creates the Covid-19 reports (or add it to an existing Covid-19 reporting solution, assuming there is one), they enter a few of the persons details, and it generates a code, perhaps using the persons details as a seed, to make it unique, so no one else could use it?

Re: Difficult choice

Can't comment on the 'apps' yet for obvious reasons, but the API changes being done are meant to go back to phones at least as old as Android 6 from another article I've read. I've no idea about Apple.

The Android API changes are being pushed via Google Play Services (like a lot of the other Android services these days), rather than as an actual OS OTA update, so it's not dependent on the manufacturers doing anything.

Re: Standard engines + fuel vs fuel + gas turbine + electric?

Quote: "Unfortunately you need the other way around. Big noisy jet engines on maximum power (and afterburner ;-) on take off and minimum engines at cruise altitude."

Not sure I understand? Or perhaps you've misunderstood me?

We already know electric aircraft can take off, even with heavy batteries, as these aircraft already exist, (many still early prototype, but there are flying examples already) so the 'Big noisy jet engines on maximum power...' isn't really relevant.

I'm comparing standard existing aircraft, i.e. The 'Standard engines + fuel' bit. i.e. a normal current commercial aircraft.

against an electric only aircraft, but using a gas turbine to generate the power rather than a battery, i.e. 'fuel + gas turbine + electric'.

Also worth mentioning, this would almost certainly be competing against short to medium haul turbo-prop aircraft, rather than jet aircraft, at least till the tech matured a lot.

The main issue with existing electric aircraft is their lack of range, (heavy batteries + not much actual stored energy as compared with liquid fuel). Plus having to then wait to recharge the batteries after a flight.

Burning fuel* to produce the electricity removes, or at least reduces the need for batteries (might still be useful for take off and landing to keep noise down, and/or give a boost to available power), and you've still got the high potential energy stored in the fuel that drives the turbine, more range needed, just add more fuel.

* Obviously this also need the fuel to be 'clean', i.e. made from crops or something. But that should be easier to do for turbine fuel, than for jet fuel (turbines can be run from almost any fuel, so you'd pick something suitable for the use case in hand).

My question, is basically is this feasible, from a physics/engineering standpoint? i.e. Would having fuel + turbine + generator + electric engine, still be too heavy to be efficient?

Even if this wasn't as efficient as a turbo-prop (or jet), it might still be viable if it wasn't too far off, simply to help keep local noise and emissions in check, as rules around these things are almost certainly going to get stricter over time.

PS: I didn't down vote you.

Did something similar about 30 years ago with a bench drill, for some reason the power-on button was really easy to push, and could be set of by someone just leaning against the thing (waste high controls). Which could be quite dangerous!

We took some heavy cardboard tubing (think toilet roll but about 4mm thick), cut about a 2 inch length, and then gaffer taped it over the on button. Worked like a charm.

Re: It's used because it works

We used to use UltraEdit years ago, when I was in a support and development team (before DevfOps became a thing!), it also had built in FTP and SSH etc.

At peak we were a team of 6, all sat in one bay, all on desktops (early 2000s, no laptops or option to WFH). Change control was basically "Anyone doing anything with file x on box y at the moment?", If none said yes, "okay, I'm deploying change 'z' ,should be live in two mins".

Although I did eventually set up a cron job that automatically took hourly snapshots of all configurable files, only backing up those that changed, and created a diff log, so we could see in one place what changed, where and when.

Was also quite handy being able to have things like log files open in a tab on your local machine, without having to open a terminal.

Loving my home built Ryzen 3800X system running on an NVMe M2 drive. So fast at everything, and running VMs is a breeze! So much better than the old i7 3770k it replaced!

Re: "One thing I did notice that seems to be specifically missing is anything related"

@LDS

I agree. The current proposition seems to mean that someone, somewhere, i.e. the web developer, the server devs, or more likely the browser devs, needs to maintain a list of their browser versions and the capabilities at each version, in a format that can be imported into and parsed by a web server, and this list will need to be maintained.

What are the rules if the web server doesn't recognise the browser? Such as one of the smaller player, with say a high security browser? Do you drop back to a basic web page, with no extras? If that's the case, then as this 'brand' field (i.e. the browser) is free text, then you'll end up with smaller browsers spoofing as 'Chrome' or something else, in order to get the 'real' page.

There may well be valid reasons for asking for the browser name and version at times, but to me those should be in the optional section, with only the basic browser capabilities being in the mandatory section, (i.e. HTML version supported), with other capability checks being optional.