Author Topic: FUNCTION RANDOM - All Things Technological On Your Mind (Read 119241 times)

Camazotz · « **on:** August 17, 2012, 05:04:35 AM »

For commenting on anything of technological interest in the news or on your mind if you do not wish to start a unique thread about it.

Software, electronics, engineering, automobiles, spaceships, planes, trains, submarines, power tools, cool gadgets, ~~building pyramids~~, Selectric typewriters, inventions, bio-tech, military weaponry/black projects, etc.

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ziznak · « **Reply #1 on:** August 17, 2012, 05:17:23 AM »

I'm curious to know exactly how far along "they" actually are with this wi-fi as radar tech? Very cool technology and supposedly totally undetectable since the device only sniffs wi-fi waves and doesn't transmit anything you can't even tell swats about too pop through the door and double tap yer ass like Osama. I have a great little program for sniffing wifi traffic called Comm View for wifi. Although I'm not using it to triangulate my neighbors position next door I'm sure it's the predecessor of this new wi-spy stuff.

Camazotz · « **Reply #2 on:** August 23, 2012, 04:49:04 PM »

Waiting to see what Apple's next big thing is.

(looking at watch)

(I'm not anti-Apple. Just pro-cynicism. If I were Apple, I would seriously consider purchasing Sprint and upgrade the network and then completely destroy dish and cable by rendering them obsolete. This would cost 4 to 7 billion total, but they can afford it. They make, what, a billion a week?)

(as if I am really comfortable speaking in terms of billions of dollars)

In other news, my website provider said they will officially be migrating away from Flash and eventually to an all HTML 5 platform, though currently, they are heavily invested in Flash.

Sort of made my day just knowing they are even planning it.

Damnable Flash.

Camazotz · « **Reply #3 on:** August 25, 2012, 03:50:55 PM »

Wow. This is huge.

"The case, which has centered over a panoply of patents relating to both hardware and software design, should settle one major argument once and for all: did Samsung rip off Apple's design when it started churning out touch devices of its own? Does Apple own the right to tech features that've become completely ubiquitous, like icon grids and black rectangles? The repercussions here are mammoth—this decision could literally and profoundly change the way our gadgets look for years and years to come."

The whole article:

http://gizmodo.com/5937762/samsung-vs-apple-apple-winning-big-updating

BobGrau · « **Reply #4 on:** August 25, 2012, 07:01:34 PM »

Apple truly sucks. They put a stupid shitty circular interface (that I'm too clumsy to use) on ipods, simply to make some fucking pointless distinction between their products and the rational up-down-left-right-enter world the rest of us live in. Their aversion to any sort of cross-product compatibility is counterproductive, bad capitalism, and I daresay unAmerican.

Oh, ok - it's just that my fingers are too big. Hmph.

mv · « **Reply #5 on:** August 25, 2012, 07:41:16 PM »

xbox live hasn't been working very well for me lately. lots of random disconnects and glitches and other problems as i try to play left 4 dead. i'm paying $45 per year for this shit?

onan · « **Reply #6 on:** August 25, 2012, 07:47:52 PM »

Quote from: MV on August 25, 2012, 07:41:16 PM

xbox live hasn't been working very well for me lately. lots of random disconnects and glitches and other problems as i try to play left 4 dead. i'm paying $45 per year for this shit?

I can't stand Xbox live, Games for Windows, Steam, and any other "have to be connected to play" platforms. It is the reason I have lost interest in playing most video games. Well most of them suck... so there is that as well.

Camazotz · « **Reply #7 on:** August 25, 2012, 08:28:17 PM »

Quote from: BobGrau on August 25, 2012, 07:01:34 PM

Their aversion to any sort of cross-product compatibility is counterproductive, bad capitalism, and I daresay unAmerican.

Dare you say it.

-

As for video games, everyone is light years ahead of me. I still think Darkseed and Darkseed 2 are "cool" and irrationally hold onto a thin sliver of hope for a Darkseed 3.

Are you hearing me, Les B_____? I know we last spoke when I bought the Baphomet Giger Tarot deck through you, and it's been years now and you don't remember me, but could you tell Giger I need Darkseed 3? Even if they have to call it Prometheus Unbound to tie into the movie to guarantee X amount of sales? It would actually give me a reason to buy a game system.

Come on, Les.

Just apologize to him for me for that time I called him "Hans."

I feel bad enough as it is.

(putting gun to head)

RealCool Daddio · « **Reply #8 on:** August 25, 2012, 08:53:59 PM »

Quote from: MV on August 25, 2012, 07:41:16 PM

xbox live hasn't been working very well for me lately. lots of random disconnects and glitches and other problems as i try to play left 4 dead. i'm paying $45 per year for this shit?

Same here. Lots of lag, disconnects, etc.

McPhallus · « **Reply #9 on:** August 25, 2012, 09:25:38 PM »

Quote from: onan on August 25, 2012, 07:47:52 PM

I can't stand Xbox live, Games for Windows, Steam, and any other "have to be connected to play" platforms. It is the reason I have lost interest in playing most video games. Well most of them suck... so there is that as well.

It is interesting, this notion of gaming as a social event. When I was growing up in the 1980s, the whole point of gaming was to escape from other humans, who were just too fucking hard to deal with. I still remember those summers in high school where I'd spend a good 8 hours a day playing Pool of Radiance, Curse of the Azure Bonds, and other such silliness not involving a single interaction with another human being (except maybe talking about them with friends, but that was another matter).

And now all these socially-connected games. They don't seem to realize that people in my age group (over 35) aren't that excited about playing games against 12 year-old ego-driven fucktards.

RealCool Daddio · « **Reply #10 on:** August 25, 2012, 09:34:57 PM »

Dungeon Master on the Amiga 2000 - best game ever.

Mind Flayer Monk · « **Reply #11 on:** August 25, 2012, 10:10:29 PM »

Google Fiber...
1 gb up/down
$70 per month

https://fiber.google.com/about/

I was seriously thinking of moving to Kansas City and working from home.

ziznak · « **Reply #12 on:** August 26, 2012, 12:04:28 AM »

1gb up/down? <drool>
My fav wifi connect went down and my backups are horrible lately...
I spent half the day hooking up drivers that support packet injection for this archaic wifi card. It'll be worth it though.

PB the Deplorable · « **Reply #13 on:** August 28, 2012, 07:22:48 PM »

Check out these nano-satellites

http://www.mobilenapps.com/articles/3923/20120826/android-smartphones-power-nasa-future-nano-satellites.htm

b_dubb · « **Reply #14 on:** August 28, 2012, 08:43:25 PM »

i'm a Mac user but increasingly beginning to think i should switch to Linux

Juan · « **Reply #15 on:** August 29, 2012, 07:44:11 PM »

Try PC-BSD - real unix.

analog kid · « **Reply #16 on:** August 29, 2012, 08:43:09 PM »

Quote from: b_dubb on August 28, 2012, 08:43:25 PM

i'm a Mac user but increasingly beginning to think i should switch to Linux

Good discussion going on about OSX vs the Linux desktop here, and the linked article makes some good points on Linux's failings. Still love me some Linux though.

mv · « **Reply #17 on:** September 05, 2012, 02:18:48 PM »

belkin routers are shit. i've NEVER EVERRRRRRR had luck with one of these fucking horrible products.

ziznak · « **Reply #18 on:** September 05, 2012, 02:44:11 PM »

lol I hate belkin... aren't they the idiots with the weird mac address code for their default wep keys??? or is that Westell? another horrible company when it comes to secure products.

b_dubb · « **Reply #19 on:** September 15, 2012, 02:27:40 PM »

this also belongs under "Things That Annoy You" thread but since it's tech related i'll leave it here. i'm sick to death of all the cute little bullshit Apple insists on putting in their software. all the dumb little animations that don't add ANY real benefit or utility. and these come at the benefit of performance. and their email client is borderline useless

linux recommendations people?

Juan · « **Reply #20 on:** September 16, 2012, 05:00:27 PM »

I like PC-BSD, not Linux but actual BSD Unix.

b_dubb · « **Reply #21 on:** October 26, 2012, 11:34:33 AM »

iPad mini will be a massive dud

mv · « **Reply #22 on:** October 26, 2012, 03:29:25 PM »

asus laptops are just amazing. i think they are by far the best deal in laptops today. in addition to their great build quality at all price points, they give you ACCIDENTAL DAMAGE coverage in addition to the standard 1 year parts/labor warranty. you can't beat it. i only recommend asus laptops to my clients. anything else... i won't hear of it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834230240

mv · « **Reply #23 on:** November 05, 2012, 06:05:57 PM »

i'm standing here working on a windows vista machine that shipped with 512MB of ram. are you fucking kidding me?

Morgus · « **Reply #24 on:** November 05, 2012, 07:13:43 PM »

Yep, I find Asus products to be reliable and a good value.
I have an Asus 24" LCD 1080p video monitor for a desktop PC and an Asus Win7 netbook that has been running with no issues for almost 3 years now.

mv · « **Reply #25 on:** November 21, 2012, 11:33:44 AM »

my soldering iron is shit. i think i'm going to buy this.

Unquenchable Angst · « **Reply #26 on:** November 28, 2012, 06:04:52 AM »

When my desktop died I got an Asus W53 Laptop.Been happy with it. Good price at the time.Has an AMD A6. Was about $450 now you get an A8 or 10 for the same relative price.
I have read Asus builds most of everybody elses Laptop motherboards.Do not know which ones.
My last desktop had a MSI MB and that was a good one.If I build again it will be either Asus or MSI motherboard.I don't do games except some Mahjong .Just never appealed to me since my Amiga days.Had 2 -2000's,2-1000's 1-600 .Belonged to a club that had space center people in it.One of my 1000's was an original that was used and modified at the space center I won in a monthly raffle.One of the 2000's had a GV 040 board,Emplant,80486 bridgecard in it .few other upgrades.Able to run Amiga,Mac 7.1,OS2 on that one.Lockheed used to use Amiga's to monitor the unmanned space flight program as it was the first multitasking computer.They had 4 4000's 3 on one backup. went from 1000.2000.3000 to 4000's as those became available. Neat club.Somebody was always showing up with floppy's to hand out with some amusing utility on it.Got one one time that would unlock the premium cable chanels at the time.The local cable used an Amiga to scramble the premium channels. At that time they switched two lines of the 'scan' near top and bottom of the screen.

b_dubb · « **Reply #27 on:** November 28, 2012, 04:43:06 PM »

can you still run Windows XP on newer hardware? my church needs to replace their pc and i don't think they should be saddled with Win Vista/7/8. although Win 7 isn't complete horseshit

analog kid · « **Reply #28 on:** November 28, 2012, 05:22:16 PM »

I'm pretty sure the last service pack for XP included multi-core processor support, but not sure how well it's supported anymore. It doesn't support large hard drives and there's RAM limitations as well. 7 would run much smoother on modern hardware. It has some nice themes as well.

mv · « **Reply #29 on:** November 28, 2012, 06:16:09 PM »

Quote from: b_dubb on November 28, 2012, 04:43:06 PM

can you still run Windows XP on newer hardware? my church needs to replace their pc and i don't think they should be saddled with Win Vista/7/8. although Win 7 isn't complete horseshit

i think MS will end mainstream support for XP in april 2014. i think.