Ambient Irony

Then, if you'll excuse me, but I'm in the middle of 15 things, all of them annoying.

Tuesday, April 23

And While We're At It I Want Aliens

And werewolves too and I wanna be a beta tester!

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Sasami

Apart from the Windows 8 stuff - you shouldn't have to fight your operating system, much less your user interface - Sasami is pretty good for the price. Definitely needs more memory - it ships with 2GB, and it has integrated graphics which eats a good chunk of that right away, about 400MB by default, and I'm running Chrome (which can easily eat over 1GB), PyCharm (which can use several hundred MB on even modest projects), and Xshell (which can also use several hundred MB if you have lots of sessions with lots of history). So right away I'm using all the memory and then some.

So I'm thinking I'll add another 4GB, and give it the old SSD out of Lina (my Linux box; it has a 300GB Intel 320, but I have a new Samsung 840 Pro to replace that).

That should do for starters.

Also, according to the manual it does have USB 3, which is great news. My experience with USB 3 thus far consists of plugging drives in and having them work perfectly at speeds well over 100MB/s. That's not something you want to give up.

Also also, the GPU apparently delivers 80GFLOPS, not 48. Still a long way short of any decent desktop card, though - my faithful passively-cooled 4850 is my benchmark card, at exactly 1TFLOP, and my 7950 is nearly triple that. It should be just fine for playing Terraria or Starbound, but forget KSP - that runs slow even on the 4850 when I launch a complex rocket.

Battery life looks to be in the 5 hour+ range for normal active use (neither leaving it idle nor pounding on it constantly), which is fine for such a cheap notebook. The only essential upgrade then is the memory, which right now is kind of expensive - the DRAM spot market is going through one of its seasonal conniption fits, with prices up about 60% since the start of the year. 4GB of RAM will cost me nearly $40! (I can remember paying $500 for 4MB of RAM, for my Amiga 3000.)

Oh, and it comes with a trial version of Norton Anti-virus. I downloaded Start8 to give me back my start menu. Norton deleted it. I deleted Norton. Problem solved.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 08:29 PM | No Comments | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
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Windows 8 Sucks

There are some good bits. The Task Manager is a solid improvement. And the file copy activity dialog is what it always should have been. Those are a couple of minor items, though. Overall, it sucks.

Needlessly, because there's a perfectly functional operating system underneath; they've simply layered a whole bunch of crapware and crippling and blatantly idiotic configuration choices on top and broken it.

I give it zero out of ten, as in, there is zero reason to use it. If you want to run Windows, stick with 7; if you want a touch-enabled device, use Android.

It might be redeemable with something like Classic Shell; I'll find out. Of course, again, there is no reason why you should need to do that, but if you're stuck with a Windows 8 laptop (like me) and (unlike me) no spare Windows 7 keys, there's potentially a way to fix the most egregious of Microsoft's fuckups.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 08:14 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
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Conents May Settle During Shipping

Your mileage may vary. Barooina brand Puppy Chow may not contain actual puppies. Do not taunt happy fun Kerbal.

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Sunday, April 21

Age Of Miracles And Wonders And Budget Notebooks

I bought a Windows 8 computer today - an HP Pavilion DM1-4306AU.

Looks like this.

One the one hand, it's woefully underpowered - a mere dual-core 1.4GHz, only 80 graphics shaders delivering a pathetic 48GFLOPS, just 2GB of RAM, and only 320GB of disk. The screen is a tiny 11.6" at a lowly 1366x768.

On the other hand, I haven't bought a new notebook in more than three years, haven't tried Windows 8 at all, and it cost $298 at the local hi-fi store.

And for a little perspective, it has four times the memory and four times the clock speed of the amazing Digital AlphaServer 8400 TurboLaser that I ran an entire phone company on back in 1995. It's not so long ago that this would have been a dream machine; it has 8 times the memory, 4 times the bandwidth, and 16 times the CPU performance of my SGI O2 - and that cost $25,000.

I don't think it has USB 3, or even gigabit ethernet (Update: Looks like it has gigabit ethernet but not USB 3; the higher-spec but more expensive US version has both.) but it's small, light, has a decent screen (if rather sensitive to viewing angle), is surprisingly responsive (I played with it in the store), and supports up to 8GB of RAM and a full-size notebook drive.

Now all it needs is a name. (Interim name is Sasami.)

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:07 PM | Comments (11) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
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1 So we'll be expecting a report on Win 8 real soon now.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at Sunday, April 21 2013 10:54 PM (+rSRq)

2 If you're hankering for a start menu, my favorite so far is ViStart (http://lee-soft.com/vistart/).

Posted by: Kayle at Tuesday, April 23 2013 04:14 AM (M7tH0)

3 The Start Menu was crippled in Vista anyway, when they removed the expanding capability and constrained it to a small, scrolling rectangle. I assert that the new Start Screen is a net improvement over the Vista/7 menu.
You can reorder things, make them appear or hide by default, and so on, and the hit box is MUCH larger than on the old menu. Plus, if you don't like it you can mostly ignore it by pinning shortcuts to the taskbar or desktop.

Posted by: RickC at Tuesday, April 23 2013 08:32 AM (WQ6Vb)

4 The touchscreen-oriented not-Start screen has proven to be much less useful to me than any previous iteration, in part because I upgraded, which meant that 90% of my existing applications had to be found again and pinned, and also that the not-Start screen was cluttered with everything that it managed to find in folders that had applications, including dozens of Readme files and uninstallers. It was a very poor upgrade experience, especially when combined with the number of incompatible apps and drivers that made the machine unstable. It took me a week to get back to more-or-less where I was, and it's still a pain to try to fit everything onto the not-Start screen without having to scroll horizontally using the mouse or touchpad. (why upgrade from Win7 at all? To test the OS before too many people started using it at the office)

I have the same "meh" response to the OSX Dock, which has gotten progressively gaudier and less useful over the years. Long ago I bought a license for Overflow and have never regretted it.

-j

Posted by: J Greely at Tuesday, April 23 2013 09:11 AM (fpXGN)

5 Yeah, the shortcomings of Windows 8 for desktop use are why I haven't upgraded, but for a tiny notebook like this, it looks like it might be more palatable (even without a touch screen).

We'll soon see. I still have my eye on that Toshiba Kirabook, but better to spend $300 now to test the waters (and worst case, reinstall with Linux) thnt to drop $2000 on a shiny toy I never use. (Looking at you, iPad.)

Posted by: Pixy Misa at Tuesday, April 23 2013 11:30 AM (PiXy!)

6 "The shortcomings of Windows 8 for desktop use," as far as I can tell, consist almost entirely of "I don't like the fact that it's different."
See also Vista, XP, 95. I don't know if anyone complained about Windows 3 looking different, but I bet it did.
FWIW I haven't tried doing an upgrade, only clean installs, and I admit I did have to re-pin a handful of shortcuts but after that I am in the desktop all day long and other than the theme changing, it's just not that different.

Posted by: RickC at Tuesday, April 23 2013 12:33 PM (WQ6Vb)

RickC: The loss of the Start Menu is a pretty big annoyance (a start menu replacement fixes that, fortunately), but otherwise I mostly agree, but there are a lot of new annoyances.

I'm probably rare in that every laptop I've owned had touch and stylus support; Windows 8 is better at touch than Windows 7, but it's still a pretty lousy touch platform.

Posted by: Kayle at Tuesday, April 23 2013 04:05 PM (M7tH0)

8 RickC - the problem is, for a normal desktop (non-touch) with a good sized screen, the whole Metro/Modern interface is a distraction, an annoyance. It serves no purpose. I always want to be on the desktop doing desktop things; anything that takes me out of the desktop needs to die. From 95 through to 7, Microsoft never broke the normal workflow they way they have with 8.

Once you've slapped the Start Screen down, it does seem relatively functional, albeit a cheap downmarket clone of Windows 7. But then, why bother with Windows 8 at all?

Now, if you have a touch-enabled device, everything changes. Windows 7 is not touch-friendly. Half of Windows 8 is. Which is better... Maybe?

Posted by: Pixy Misa at Tuesday, April 23 2013 04:26 PM (PiXy!)

Windows 8 does have Hyper-V (if your hardware has EPT) and also makes a dandy network Hyper-V administration system--a lot cheaper than a Windows Server 2012 license.

Touch is improved outside of the Metro box but Windows 8 is still not a good touch UI. I don't believe anyone has yet built a UI good for keyboard, mouse, pen, and touch all at the same time; Microsoft's schizophrenic solution isn't a good solution.

Posted by: Kayle at Wednesday, April 24 2013 11:42 AM (5q4P3)

10 Wow that was strange. I just wrote an extremely long comment but after I clicked submit my comment didn't show up. Grrrr... well I'm not writing all that over again. Regardless, just wanted to say great blog!

Posted by: Nolan at Saturday, April 27 2013 12:32 AM (tuLJl)

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Saturday, April 20

Shiny Things Weekly

Toshiba's Kirabook: It's a 13.3" Windows 8 (but let's not hold that against it) ultrabook, with a Core i5 or i7 processor, 8GB of RAM, 256GB SSD, a 2560x1440 display, and weighs 2.6lbs (or 2.9lbs with the touch screen option). That makes it a Macbook Pro competitor that's lighter than the Macbook Air. It's not cheap - starting at $1599 for the i5 model without touchscreen - but if you're sick of bargain-bin 1366x768 displays, it may be quite literally a sight for sore eyes.
Australia's NBN to roll out gigabit speeds. The NBN rollout has been pathetically, miserably slow; they don't even have a plan to deploy it where I live yet. But at least the speeds where it has been deployed are good. And if it actually rolls out at 1Gbps on schedule, I will move to it rather than waiting for it to come to me. (I work from home most of the time now, so fast and reliable internet access matters more than location.)

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Thursday, April 18

Mega Phone Or Micro Tablet?

Samsung recently announced a couple of new additions to their Galaxy of Android phones (a statement that can be safely made without details because it will be as true next month or next year as it is today): The Galaxy Mega 5.8 and 6.3.

The 5.8 is of only moderate interest; it's a cheap(-ish) phone with a large (5.8") but low-resolution screen ("qHD", or 960x540), good for media consumption or people with poor eyesight (a huge market, that, not to be underestimated).

The 6.3, though, offers a 1280x720 6.3" display, 90% of the resolution of my Nexus 7 at 90% of the size. The phone itself, though, is markedly smaller than the Nexus 7 - 168x88x8mm and 199g vs. 199x120x10.5mm and 340g. - so 25% narrower and 40% lighter. It has almost no bezel (the Nexus 7 has quite a wide bezel on all sides), but is small enough to hold by the edges, so that shouldn't matter. (Actually, the Nexus 7 is too, barely, at least for my hands.)

A quick mockup I made of the relative sizes of the Samsung Galaxy Mega 6.3 and the Asus/Google Nexus 7. It only approximate, but it should be pretty close.

That image is Photoshopped - well, actually, Fireworksed, as I do most of my image work in that instead - using cropped and rescaled images of the two devices. It should be fairly accurate; the screen on the Mega has a slightly higher pixel density so it's a little smaller vertically, plus noticeably narrower as it has 720 pixels vs. 800. The really dramatic difference comes from the near-elimination of the surrounding bezel.

Other hardware includes a 1.7GHz Exynos 5250 CPU (a dual-core A15), the exact same chip that powers the Nexus 10, which is much zippier in everyday use than the quad-core 1.2GHz A9 in the Nexus 7; 1.5GB RAM vs. 1GB in the 7; 8MP rear and 1.9MP front cameras vs. none and 1.2MP; but only 8GB or 16GB storage vs. 16GB or 32GB for the current Nexus 7. It also has a microSD slot supporting cards up to 64GB, which helps make up for the disappointing shortage of on-board space.

So while it's maybe an inch too far for a phone, as a small, take-anywhere tablet that has 3G/4G phone capability as a bonus, it's rather intriguing.

I'd like it even more if it had a 1080p screen and a bit more storage - even 32GB - but as it is, I'm already interested. Samsung haven't announced pricing or distribution details yet, so I'll be watching for that.

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Sunday, April 14

Good News, Side-Scrolling 2D Science Fiction Multiplayer Sandbox Platformer Fans Edition

Starbound has opened up pre-orders! That's usually not that big a deal, but in this case (a) it's a successor to the much-loved Terraria, being put together on a tight budget by a tiny studio, and extra money now could really help make the game better, and (b) they're running with Kickstarter-style stretch goals - when they reach $500,000, for example, they'll add a new alien race. At the time of writing, they've been going for a little over a day - on a weekend, too - and have reached $370,000, so it's looking good. Update: $500,000 reached, new race - Novakids - are in, next goal is alien fossils at $750,000.
Darkout. It's on Desura, GamersGate and Steam Greenlight. It's not pixel-art (the style of Terraria and Starbound), but it's still a little cartoonish; I think the art style works well for a slightly more serious game. Take a look at the trailer and see what you think.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 05:46 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
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Monday, April 08

Kerbal Space Program

Sorry little green dude, I haven't worked out how to attach parachutes yet. But your epic journey 440km above the surface of planet Kerbin will not be forgotten, even if we never find your scattered remains.

Update: My improved Up Goer 2B reached 680km and is equipped with a parachute. I just need to remember to open it around 23km of altitude....

Kerbal Space Program.

Update: Patience and practice and lots of solid-fuel boosters, and I can now make a stable orbit fairly reliably even if my primary stage goes flaky on me. Right now I have a Munar flyby lined up - my orbit will take me close enough that I'll be pulled to within 500km of the Munar surface, before being slingshotted back into a Kerbin orbit. From there I should even have enough fuel left to deorbit and land. Here I go!

Update: A little careful nudging and I'll be coming to within 50km 5km of the Munar surface... As long as nothing goes wrong. If something does go wrong, Cmdr. Dudsen Kerman will be the first Kerbal on the Mun. Or bits of him, anyway.

Update: Success! Munar flyby and return landing accomplished! I guess the next step will be to make Munar orbit, then break orbit and return. I want to refine my vehicle first, though, so its a bit less fally-aparty.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 10:07 PM | Comments (9) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
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Sunday, April 07

Free To Good Home

Would anyone like a copy of Civilization V, Torchlight, or Trine on Steam? I just noticed that I acquired free bonus copies somehow. Also Serious Sam HD, Frozen Synapse, Cthulhu Saves the World, and Breath of Death VII.

Update: Civ V goes to GreyDuck, Trine to Wonderduck.

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Saturday, April 06

Good News, Everyone

Terraria looks set to get a new update after a year in the doldrums - and it has turtles!
Torment: Tides of Numenera is closing in on becoming the best-funded computer game on Kickstarter, ever.
GOG are selling the whole suite of recent D&D computer games - Baldur's Gate 1 & 2, Icewind Dale 1 & 2, Planescape Torment, Neverwinter Nights 1 & 2, Dragon Shard, that Temple of Elemental Evil thing and Demon Stone, plus all expansion packs - for up to 80% off. $21.10 gets you the complete bundle, over 200 hours of top-notch adventuring... And 100 hours of so-so adventuring (the original campaigns of both Neverwinter Nights games are a bit stodgy, but the expansions pick up dramatically).

There's also bad news, but you can get that anywhere.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 02:39 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
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Tuesday, April 02

Night And Day And The Doctor

I just found nine separate Doctor Who "minisodes" that I hadn't seen before. There are five that make up a sequence called Night And The Doctor, plus two two-part specials, for Red Nose Day 2011 (with Amys and Rorys) and Children in Need 2012 (with Madame Vastra, Jenny, and Strax - a prequel to the Christmas Special).

You'll need to hunt around for Night and the Doctor - or just take the easy way and buy the DVD set, which includes it as a bonus - but the charity benefit specials are on the BBC's Youtube channel. And so:

Also:

Which might be a spoiler if you haven't seen the 2012 Christmas special.

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Saturday, March 30

Where Is The Update?

Gotcher update right here.

more...

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Thursday, March 28

Spoilers!

No, seriously, if you haven't watched through at least the end of Series 6 of Doctor Who (2011), this will spoiler everything.

If you have watched through the end of Series 6, well, allons-y!

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Wednesday, March 27

Slow Release

The current XKCD amounts to the world's slowest animated GIF.* It's a seaside scene that's been playing out for more than a day.

Now the sandcastle has a little bridge.

Update: There's a new XKCD up now, but the previous one is still going at the link above.

Update: Still going! That is one fancy sand castle!

* It's actually handled server-side, and with a 256-bit hash for the filename so you can't look ahead, but...

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Tuesday, April 23

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