Technology

These are the websites that probe your virgin Windows 10 booty hole with gusto

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For transparency purposes Microsoft recently released a list of websites your fresh Windows 10 install connects to… should go without saying I have all of this shit turned off, and I’m not just saying that because I’m using Linux at the moment. :trollface:

But yeah, that’s quite the fucking list. The sad part is I know people that are perfectly content with everything Windows 10 wants to do… with their only complaint being that Microsoft’s assistant Cortana being named Cortana. :zorak: He dares call himself a fucking nerd too…

Because there aren’t enough miniature replicas of classic hardware

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You’ve heard of the NES Classic, the SNES Classic, and SEGA has their own variants… but what about the Commadore 64 mini? Yes, it’s going to be a thing.

The C64 Mini comes with a number of notable C64 titles, like School Daze, Monty Mole, Rubicon, and more. It also has a USB port with USB keyboard support to plug in and operate it as a computer just like the Commodore 64 when it released 36 years ago.

It will release on October 9th. I have to admit this does look pretty cool all the way from aesthetic to the trailer. :happy:

11% of Americans don’t use the internet.

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Most of us depend on the internet in one form or another. It could be something as simple as shopping, paying bills, checking your bank account, gaming, :trollface: the list goes on. This makes articles like these all the more interesting, even in 2018 there are still quite a few people who not only don’t use the internet, but continue to have no desire in doing so.

“Everyone’s on phones,” she bemoans. “The kids get out of the cars without looking up, no goodbyes. Their eyes are just glued on the phones, watching internet videos — and the parents don’t notice because they’re online too. They’re all plugged in…” It’s a world Simpson doesn’t understand, and never will: she’s among America’s fading genus of internet non-users.

These people remind me of quite a few customers that I have do deal with at work everyday. People want to buy specific devices or cables from us that we just plain don’t sell, and since we live in such a small town there aren’t really any other places to recommend to these people other than going straight online to Amazon or Ebay. Every other day it seems like I meet someone who has a fear of the internet, or just flat out has no desire to take part in it. It’s almost tempting to start a business that caters to people who are too chicken shit to go online. :v:

I know that sounds harsh, and there are actually some valid points these people make in the article; such as people being absorbed in their smartphones and not knowing how to balance their real life and digital life. I’ll admit I do spend a good chunk of time around computers everyday, but I don’t always do the exact same thing day in and day out. I’m usually reading up on numerous interests, shopping on occasion, video editing, gaming, and chatting with international friends that don’t drive me insane. While I do also have a tablet I try not to shut the rest of the world out… in fact when I’m doing public outings I tend to leave all of my electronics at home (unless of course something calls for me to bring a camera or two). Sometimes it’s nice to give yourself a break from technology and remind yourself that there was a time before we had all of these gadgets.

At the same time with the way things are going people will have to eventually adapt and learn to at least make purchases online, especially if they live in rural areas that don’t offer much in the way of consumer needs. That said if I had more money I wouldn’t mind opening up a business that would cater to people who are afraid of the internet. Around where I live I’d make a pretty penny. :v:

xfce doesn’t like forced shutdowns

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Ran into a problem earlier under Mint; when I turned my monitors off and turned them back on I found the system didn’t really like that. I’m not sure if this is related to the mesa drivers or if it just doesn’t like monitors on Displayport being turned off, but this left me no choice but to do a forced shutdown, and when I returned to my xfce desktop environment I found that my panels were not wanting to show up unless I went under the xfce panel settings. I did a quick search for the problem and found someone had a similar issue under Xubuntu. So I’m going to post the command I used just in case someone else has this issue in the future (or if I forget and want a quick reference).

Right click on your desktop and open up a terminal, then type or paste the following command:

sudo dpkg-reconfigure xfce4-panel

Log off and log back in, if your panels are still acting up you can try the other commands they suggest in the link I provided. This is kind of a weird bug, don’t remember this under CentOS 7 or any of the Fedora distros I’ve used in the past. Then again I’ve had quite a dramatic change in hardware as well as graphics drivers since then (Open Source vs Proprietary), hence why I’ve had to go with Mint 18.3 instead of CentOS… I’m not going back to Fedora unless some serious changes are made.

You can expect to see more Linux related postings again, in fact it’s been about three days since I last went into Windows 10. I’ve been having fun. :v: I might even make some Linux related videos. I’m not abandoning Windows 10 completely, but if I can get by on Linux with most of the programs I use under Windows everyday I figure why not? Even when I had other distros on my machines I always considered it a fun challenge to see how long I could go before booting back into Windows. My current game count under Linux at the moment is 162, and I haven’t even gotten started on DOSBox games and sourceports yet. :v:

Feel the love for Linux

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What happens when you’re moving a bunch of files and Windows Update decides it’s waaaaay more important than what you’re doing at the moment? This guy kissed off Windows 10 and went straight to Linux.

I realize there are workarounds to all of these issues, and that most of Microsoft’s very intrusive privacy defaults can be disabled. But something just put me over the edge recently, and I craved an operating system that was lightweight, distraction-free, devoid of bloat and stayed out of my way.

If I were to wager a guess he’s running on a basic version of Windows 10, or if he’s running Windows 10 Professional he doesn’t have it configured accordingly. Despite that though he does have a valid point; Linux distros for the most part are pretty easy to setup compared to Windows. Many programs that we use under Windows can be used under Linux as well, and finding them can be pretty easy if you stick with simplistic debian flavored varieties if you’re not the type to tinker. There are even nice alternatives to Windows and Mac only programs such as Krita and Shotcut instead of Adobe’s Photoshop and Premiere.

Oh, and unlike Windows 10 you can update your OS at your leisure, in fact under Linux it’s best to not run updates instantly. Of course under Windows it’s a good idea to not run updates instantly, but… you know. :trollface: Both OS’s will of course have their pluses and minuses, but at this point Linux only seems to get better while Microsoft keeps finding newer and better ways to piss off their captive audience as a whole.

That said, I now have Mint 18.3 installed, for whenever I have that not so fresh Windows 10 feeling. :v:

Is YouTube running slow for you? This might be why.

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I’ve been noticing lately that YouTube loads slower than it used to… this article shines some light on possibly why.

In a thread on Twitter, Mozilla’s Technical Program Manager has stated that YouTube’s Polymer redesign relies heavily on the deprecated Shadow DOM v0 API, which is only available in Chrome. This in turn makes the site around five times slower on competing browsers such as Microsoft Edge and Mozila Firefox. He went on to say that:

I use Waterfox and have no interest in migrating over to Chrome… do no evil my :assy:

My brain continues to somehow make me money

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I took the liberty of doing a factory reset of a Samsung Galaxy tablet this afternoon for one of my Dad’s computer customers, my Dad doesn’t play with Android and with my $1 experience with an Amazon Fire 7 I figured I could use some extra pocket change. The hardest part was gaining access to the interface after doing a factory reset as per his request, though in about an hour I had it up and running again with him and his daughter’s help (thankfully she remembered the password for her Samsung account). Reconfigured and installed some apps for him, now it just needs a good polish to get the finger prints off and he’ll be ready for his business trip come Monday. This could be the start of another type of service I could offer, website building, computers and now Android service. :v: The funny thing is this will actually cover a good chunk of what I bought during the Steam Sale. :trollface:

x58 and Vega64 don’t play well on Windows 10

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As I mentioned in a small blurb on Friday; I had issues plugging in my graphics card into my current motherboard. At first I thought Windows 10 was installing a bad driver, but after some messing around and reading teh interwebz it became clear this is a widespread issue for people who are still running on an x58 chipset. There are two ways to get around it though: I can either go back to Windows 7 where this problem doesn’t exist, or upgrade my hardware. My choice is a pretty obvious one.

As I’ve previously mentioned a few posts ago, I already planned to upgrade anyway. Fortunately I have enough money set aside and have already ordered the parts needed to get myself situated. I have a Ryzen 7 2700X, ASRock X470 Taichi and 16GB of G-SKILL Flare X series memory on the way. This will be my first all AMD build since the 90’s. it should go without saying that overall I’m pretty stoked. :meeseeks: In some ways I’m kinda bummed, my audio setup is going to have to change. I run a Sound Blaster XFi Titanium Edition with an external breakout box, and I’ll be giving up two SATA slots (I’ll have 8 instead of the 10). For now I can use my Shure X2U DAC (digital analog converter) to run my microphone into the system until I decide what sound card solution to go with, or if I should just get a larger USB DAC, or if the onboard audio is well enough to plug my speakers into.

Overall this will be a great learning curve. I look forward to playing and rendering, the 2700X is an absolute beast when it comes to games and even moreso when it comes to rendering. Since I do a lot of video rendering every little bit helps. :happy:

Nothing wants to work today.

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If you’re getting an SSL error when trying to view this site, or any of the others running through this domain it seems my certificates haven’t auto updated yet. I’ve been messing with my new graphics card today (which sadly doesn’t want to run with my current motherboard) and haven’t had a chance to look too deeply into it. I’ve purchased the parts I need to build my new system, so much for taking it slowly. Within the next week or so I should have a new setup to drool over.

This is just a heads up: The website itself is safe still, just hasn’t updated the certificate yet for whatever reason. :zorak:

Look what arrived!

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It has arrived! I’m too tired to put it on right now, but if things go well I might see some more HBM graphic goodness during my weekend. I can even color it to match my keyboard and mouse! I’m going to have bling out the arse. :happy:

I may also start collecting parts to get my Ryzen setup started. All I really need is a new motherboard, processor, and RAM to go that route. Maybe within three months I can get started? :happy: