Posts by bombastic bob

Re: hate it

In Mate, pluma does this too (indicates file name). Firefox also lets me know if I am running it as a different user (I do this a lot for sandboxing). This may be a feature of the desktop, though, to add the text "(as username)" to the title bar text. Still helpful.

Yes, the title bar HAS a use, and it should be LEFT THAT WAY.

Re: Choice, anybody?

your suggestion makes too much sense. Tailoring the application's UI based on display size and (my addition) touch-ness would mean that developers had to actually THINK about the USER (aka 'the customer') instead of "Muh New/Shiny Interface W0W LOL LULZ {emoticons}".

Re: Who cares?

Mate and Cinnamon. Yep, same here.

The thing is, the latest GTK can still be used by applications running on Mate, Cinnamon, etc.

From the article: "contemporary design practice."

I have to wonder what they meant by this... are they thinking "new shiny" or "2D FLATSO": or "hamburger menu" or ??? because (to me) THAT would be WRONG THINKING.

And apparently Firefox and Libre Office are sticking with a slightly more traditional look (i.e. no menu in the title bar).

I have considered a COMPLETE rebellion, writing a library that decorates windows to look like XP, and then FORCING IT (for my applications at least) on ALL windows platforms.

(For Linux and BSD, you can just choose the right desktop theme, one that's not 2D FLATSO)

If there's one design practice that MUST be followed, it's USER CHOICE

Re: About time too

Most of the time, the third party library will be better written than anything you can write yourself.

think of the readership of El Reg. Then say that again, imagining who it is you are saying it to.

why spend all your time re-inventing the wheel

car makers "re-invent the wheel" every year. There's always a better way (though the cost may not be worth doing it - that's to be determined as a part of the process).

you young whippersnappers, when I was your age computers used punch cards and either every bit of debug info was on a printout in binary, or you'd have to be really good at reading das blinkenlights.

nothing builds code analysis skills better than having to repeatedly wait hours for the printout after submitting the stack of cards, and then having to deal with the aftermath.

Re: About time too

the semi-traditional way of dealing with this in the microcontroller and embedded world appears to be simple: write it in C (or even C++) anyway, then hand-tweek the things that make the biggest difference, like inner loops and ISRs.

it's what _I_ do. Just check the assembly output and then embed tweeked assembler into your C code (as an example)

then you can go ahead and use the cheaper 8-bit CPU instead of an ARM Cortex-M (let's say) for the simpler things, at any rate. Last I checked these 8-bit CPUs are super-cheap in bulk, and come in packages (like TQFP) that are hand-solderable [VERY good for prototypes].

Sometimes, a careful application of hand-tweeked C code, one simple/basic operation per line, can get you almost the same results without any embedded assembly.

So you do something like:

var1 = var2 + 5;

var1 &= 7;

the_array[var1] = something;

and so on. That kind of thing results in some very predictable assembly language sequences. Then you dump out the disassembly after building it to see if it can be tweeked even more, etc. (I have a script that does "objdump -D -t -z -x $@ | less" for that very purpose).

Re: About time too

This may have an effect on how software's written, too

not as long as Micros~1 has any say in it

Re: Transistor physics

quantum state transistors, multiple devices per atom, using large atoms with lots of electron orbital shells. Hmmm... sounds science-fictiony

Re: Transistor physics

I have to wonder if carbon could be electrostatically deposited onto wafers as a diamond layer...

kinda like a TV picture tube that 'scans' the picture but using carbon atoms instead of electrons. Or an electron microscope that uses carbon atoms instead of electrons. Same basic idea (this is not a new tech, it's decades old).

Re: Transistor physics

I would say the OS bloat is an unintended consequence of the faster processors...

* refusal to build off of existing (efficient) code rather than re-re-re-inventing the language and the run-time libraries it uses (i.e. .NET vs Win32, MFC becoming exceedingly bloated, C-pound using P-code rather than native code, Javascript being at the core of major applications, etc. and don't even get me started on that UWP crap)

* a "we have faster CPUs now" excuse for adding inefficiencies so that coders no longer have to think about efficiency - just go ahead and write crap-code like there's no tomorrow

* a focus on monolithic "objects" that do every possible thing, WAY too often unnecessarily, in lieu of efficient "unix principle" thinking in the basic design (example listing files in a directory must take 10 times longer because EVERY! SINGLE! FILE! "needs" a full analysis while adding it to the list, making a 'file open' box take a MINUTE to load 100 file names, because, "object oriented" now)

* a focus on "rapid development" so that bloaty crapware fills the entire userland and makes processors take twice as many cycles to do the same task

* a perception of what is acceptable for performance that never seems to improve (in fact, gets slower with new releases of the OS in spite of hardware improvements)

anyway that's a small list of gripes that has been buiiding in my head since Windows 2003 Server...

Re: Oopsie daisy

recently had this problem with a simple IC sold by TI, which has no direct substitutes, but price+features made it an excellent fit for the design. At the time it went into the design it had plenty of worldwide supply. Now it doesn't.

So I re-designed the firmware so it could use another one with the same footprint on the board (but with negative logic) so it could be built without having to spin a new board. Otherwise, the ONE supplier (in Hong Kong) wanted $23 EACH for something that normally costs less than 1/100th of that... and lead times for normal distribution channels are well out into 2022.

(yes - fixed it in firmware - works great now, using new design in system testing)

Next time I do a design (even the simple ones like that) the parts will have MANY possible substitutes, and not just be cheap and available at the time. Some things like CPUs and FTDI USB aren't possible to do that with, but those aren't the problem. It's that ten cent part that's readily available from a major manufacturer who happens to have their foundry behind the "Great Wall" and suddenly this popular component is short for the next YEAR.

I suggested to 'the boss' that this distribution company (that was gouging prices) purchase some ketchup to go with their "chips".

Re: Extinguishers...

The fire triangle has 3 legs: heat, fuel, oxidizer

you break one of them to put it out. Liquid N2 would probably help a LOT in that regard.

Another thing you could use is a dry chemical that interrupts the ionic exchange at the boundary of the flame, such as PKP which is supposed to work on class D fires (like ordinance and pyrotechnics). I believe that halon can ALSO help in this way.

So maybe what is needed is an easily ionized gas that literally steals the fire and cools the fuel. This would be a good product as these surge-handling batteries become more popular.

As I recall, LiIon and LiPo usually catch fire because they were discharged too much, though charging them too fast can also cause this. It puts them in an unstable state when over-discharged. They'll 'pillow' as chemicals break down, forming (I think) hydrogen gas, or something equally bad at any rate. And of course they're made from one of the MOST reactive chemicals in the universe.

(Maybe it would be a better idea to use a safer aluminum-based battery for this kind of high power capacity application)

Re: This is just the opening salvo

that's a LOT of nickels and dimes

Re: the Cloud PC resumed in precisely the state we left it

I can pause a VirtualBox VM, save the state, and resume it later. Same effect.

That's probably what Micros~1 is doing inside the black box, simply running a similar kind of VM with an RDP interface... and assuming I have enough RAM, I can do the same thing on my LAN. Wheee.

Re: New Idea! Network Computer!

this periodic "circle back" to the big iron light client model is dizzying...

Re: "complaint by [..] a French privacy group"

too quickly threw the 'R' word (accusation) against those who disagree with you politically.

-100 points.

Re: System Integration is Hard. In Space it is Harder.

I also don't know if Cargo Dragon can carry and transfer Russian fuel

thrusters often use hydrazine, which acts like a liquid explosive under the right conditions.

One resource that flashed by in a search said there aren't any thrusters on the US side of the ISS and that they're on the Russia side. So if that is the case, fuel is probably compatible.

with the caveat that when Stuff Happens, usually it's only people who were really closely involved who know all the facts

Back in the 80's I was a Navy nuclear reactor operator. The 3 Mile Island incident report was required reading. Details were in the report NOT in the public sphere of info, of course, which may or may not have been classified. However, it painted a different picture since the design of the control room clearly played a significant part, and not just "operator incompetence".

I also read the classified version of the SL-1 accident. Classified details in that report shed a lot of light onto the actual cause. I had read the unclassified version years before in college. Conclusions between the reports are likely to differ by quite a LOT, in particular any blame and/or corrective actions to prevent such a thing from ever happening again. (and there may still be reasons to keep the classified version classified, so use FOIA if you wanna see it, you might get lucky)

Anyway if those involved did their jobs, the details will be in the classified version of the report. What the public sees may be heavily redacted, or simply have missing details. Amazingly NASA still has (need for?) classified info. No surprise, really.

Re: Update from a news conference

hindsight: once docked to the station, all vehicles and modules need a 100% way of disabling their thrusters to avoid this kind of thing in the future. De-fueling would be one way. If it needs to move, re-fuel it using station supplies after verifying that you have positive navi-guess-ion control.

Oh come on, now, Russians are smart. They can muck their own plans up just as good as anyone else can. Right Boeing?

(under-budgeted and over-promised might be something they are not accustomed to dealing with though)

Re: Next fast-track mission

and no possibility fixing this problem with duck tape or a DAP-like caulking compound like the last one ("There's a hole in the hull of the Soyuz. There's a hole in the hull of the Soyuz. There's a hole, there's a hole (etc.)")

Someone needs to seriously re-think QA at the payload spacecraft manufacturing facility in Russia...

Re: LAMP

Mine's more of a LAPP

Re: Dignity

labour market fixing

I believe there was actual collusion in Silly Valley a few years ago, "non-recruiting" agreements between several large corporations. As I recall, it was uncovered and rectified in some kind or lawsuit and federal investigation...

there are many other fingers in many other pies on this topic. It's like several hornets' nests glued together with africanized honeybee combs with ready-to-hatch baby bees in them, floating out in the middle of the La Brea tar pit.

Re: My greatest weakness...

BOFH answer: Weakness? Here, let me show you. You know, over here. By the window...

we need to get to a point where everything has enforced limits on power consumption.

NO. Why would a FREE person say such a thing? And WHO has the kind of rights / authority to make THAT kind of "one size fits all" determination? You need to think through ALL of the implications before you go off making blanket statements like this. No 2 people's needs are the same, nor are their wants, or their ability to pay for the necessary power consumption.

I hear there's a war on pickup trucks in Canada. Only a CITY DWELLER who does not live 20 miles from the nearest store (or place to dump your trash) would try to ban one of the most USEFUL utility vehicles in the world, particularly for farmers, ranchers, contractors, or anyone living in a rural area.

And that's just ONE example. No doubt, there are MANY. And NOT being able to mail order a high end computer that consumes LOTS of power because that's what the fastest machines do... is ANOTHER.

The last thing ANY of us need is for a nameless activist bureaucrat to determine FOR us what we CAN and CAN NOT HAVE.

Re: As a Californian, all I can sat is "Who cares?".

building your system from scratch

Exactly. So much for Cali-Forn-You's "RULES" and their "REGULATIONS" and their "UN-FREEDOM". (I'm about ready to LEAVE this state, but if I stick around long enough maybe I can help it return to sanity...)

Gamers are often hardware hackers too. Overclocks, etc.. Right? So a custom system is TOTALLY expected for a hard-core gamer (and NOW a requirement, THANKS Sacramento! What a bunch of MAROONS they are in Sacramento!!!)

Re: Still not there...

probably costs more (it's CloudFlare as far as I can tell)

Re: possible?

all home residents will be able to have the same fixed ip address/addresses from the ISP, additionally, individual devices will not have to be placed behind a NAT.

Right. I've also pointed out before (and was even DOWN voted for doing so - nobody likes the truth I guess) that this (for windows machines, at any rate) is a MAJOR security issue, probably at the core of why "not China" still hesitates to get IPv6 fully supported. The fact that phone networks are generally doing IPv6 suggests that phones (running iOS and Android) are inherenty MORE secure than your average windows machine...

NAT inherently provides the basic firewalling that open (and otherwise exploitable) ports need to have so that your computers and devices are NOT exploited.

China forcing this is (maybe) a good move. But they are a totalitarian dictatorship under Communism. It's like "Comply or Die" and "don't you DARE complain!". In the FREE world, people need to WANT it.

correct - unless you use a tunnel (where the tunnel provider does the routing), the IPv6 would be a function of the ISP that assigns it, just as it is with IPv4. But you'd have a fixed IPv6 so that automatic assignment (based on things like randomness and your network adapter's MAC address) could sort of randomize the actual IPv6 if you really want it to do that. But most likely it'd be assigned by DHCPv6 or whatever that intrinsic method is that I cant remember (but my network supports). What's funny is that apple devices support one of those methods, and Android the other. SO to support both you need your network to support "whatever other method it is" as well as DHCPv6. Then there's the auto-generated address using the MAC and random numbers, as I recall. But it's in the same subnet so there ya go. Yeah it can be a little confusing until you have toyed with it for a while.