Finn, what the cabbage?
Thursday, April 17
Musical Interlude
Posted by: Pixy Misa at
05:35 PM
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Wednesday, April 09
Dodging Bullets
First Apple's SSL library had a serious security flaw, but that's okay because I don't use Apple's SSL. (I have an iPad, but it mostly just sits there.)
First Apple's SSL library had a serious security flaw, but that's okay because I don't use Apple's SSL. (I have an iPad, but it mostly just sits there.)
Then GnuTLS had a worse security flaw, but that's okay because I use OpenSSL.
Then OpenSSL had the worst security flaw of them all... But that's okay because the version of OpenSSL we're using here is older than the bug.
I will wipe and reinstall a couple of virtual machines that don't have user data on them yet, just in case.
Of course, while mee.nu was secure* Amazon, Google, and any number of other providers have been exposed to this bug to varying degrees for two years.** And the nature of the bug is such that attacks would not show up in normal server logs; it's a silent, pseudo-random data leak.
* Entirely because I've been too busy to migrate to a newer version of Linux and install proper certificates, not because of any specific virtue.
** It's been a busy two years. Seriously. I don't want to talk about it.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at
02:50 PM
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Sunday, April 06
Get With The Program!
I mentioned recently how iiNet have been periodically upgrading my internet plan for free for eight years.
I mentioned recently how iiNet have been periodically upgrading my internet plan for free for eight years.
This leaves me with this "problem":
daily usage trendsanytime:8,325MB
suggested daily usageanytime:125,024MB
I'm not sure that my connection is actually fast enough to download 125GB per day. Never mind finding that much content that I want. I just downloaded every current version of Linux Mint because it was there and I might want to try it some day. There's only so many Linux distros and podcasts out there...
Posted by: Pixy Misa at
07:27 PM
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Friday, April 04
April
Three public holidays and I get an extra hour of sleep this Sunday.
Three public holidays and I get an extra hour of sleep this Sunday.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at
08:16 PM
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Thursday, April 03
U28D590D
I almost bought a new monitor (or two) last year. I have a Dell U2711, and while it's adequate, it's not a perfect monitor (and mine has a few flaws that have developed over the past couple of years).
I almost bought a new monitor (or two) last year. I have a Dell U2711, and while it's adequate, it's not a perfect monitor (and mine has a few flaws that have developed over the past couple of years).
So I've been looking closely at Dell's 4K monitors. The 32" model at around $3000 is simply too expensive; I might be able to afford it, but I have better things to do with the money. The 28" model is a lot cheaper ($829), but it's a TN panel rather than IPS, and it's limited to 30Hz.
The 24" model falls in between - it's IPS and a full 60Hz, but half the price of the 32" model ($1449). But it's not all that big, smaller than my current screen. Also, it doesn't have a scaler - the only resolution it accepts is 3840x2160. I have a Radeon 7950, which isn't a bad graphics card, but it's not up to playing the latest games at 4K resolution. I don't really care about playing games at 4K - I played Mass Effect 1 and 2 on my current monitor at 720p, and that was just fine - but if I have a monitor that only accepts 4K, I'm kind of stuck.
So, none of the Dells are ideal. But Samsung just announced their catchily titled U28D590D, a 28" display most likely using the identical TN panel as the Dell model, but with different electronics. Samsung provide 4k@60Hz via DisplayPort, and dual HDMI inputs for 4K@30Hz - or 1080p@60Hz. Or, for that matter, two side-by-side displays of 1920x2160, if for some strange reason you wish to do that. It can also do scalable picture-in-picture with the alternate inputs.
It has a fairly nice, minimalist industrial design.
And it costs $749. Australian. Including sales tax.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at
07:01 PM
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Sunday, March 30
Irony Alert
Terra-Medica, a company I'd not heard of before that apparently sells overpriced placebos, has been instructed by the US FDA to recall several batches of their pills because they may actually work - due to accidental contamination with penicillin.
Terra-Medica, a company I'd not heard of before that apparently sells overpriced placebos, has been instructed by the US FDA to recall several batches of their pills because they may actually work - due to accidental contamination with penicillin.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at
12:05 AM
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Saturday, March 29
Pixy's Houshold Hints
Don't leave an Australian two dollar coin in your pocket when washing your clothes in... Whichever model fancy Samsung combination washer/dryer it is that I have.
Don't leave an Australian two dollar coin in your pocket when washing your clothes in... Whichever model fancy Samsung combination washer/dryer it is that I have.
Because it's exactly the right size to lodge in the drain and block it completely.
And if the thing can't drain, it won't do anything at all.* Which means no washer. And also no dryer. Combination washer-dryers are wonderful things until they break, and then you lose two critical appliances at once.**
So now I have a working washer, a working dryer, and two dollars.*** A good day all round.
Update: Well, I have a washing machine and $20 anyway. Found some $5 notes in a pocket when I was carefully checking my first load in my restored washing machine, which was good. Then it singularly failed to dry the load of washing, which was not so good. Still an improvement.
* Because (a) the first thing it does on any wash cycle is drain any leftover water, and (b) the dryer has a condenser unit, and won't start unless it can run cold water through the condenser.
** It's been raining here in Sydney for about a month. I can hand-wash my clothes when I have to, since it's just me, but hand-drying is not so easy.
*** Actually, $5. There was another $2 and a $1 in the emergency water release thingy.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at
08:16 PM
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Why PC Sales Are Declining
You can get a decent Windows laptop for $500.
You can get a decent Windows laptop for $500.
You can get a horrible piece of crap for $500.
And there is no way to know which you are getting unless you verify the specifications of every single component and memorise Intel, AMD, and Nvidia's entire product ranges.
How is the average customer supposed to know that a 1.5GHz Celeron 1007U is nearly twice as fast as a 2GHz Celeron N2810?
Can you imagine if the 2015 Ford F-250 came with a 4-cylinder engine, when the cheaper F-150 came standard with a V8, and the manufacturer only listed max RPM on the brochure? Because that's what laptop makers do every single day.
And don't get me started on the continued existence of 1366x768 displays. Quad-core CPU, 1TB disk, 16GB RAM, 4GB dedicated graphics, wireless-ac, USB 3.0... And a screen from the flipping dark ages.
There's one major PC laptop maker who still provides build-to-order options in Australia, and that's Lenovo. Most of their low-end models have crappy screens, but you can upgrade them. The price to go from an outdated 1366x768 to a more reasonable 1920x1080? $55. Their W540 laptop comes with 1920x1080 as standard, but can be upgraded to 2880x1620. Price? $132.
If the price differential is so small, why does every laptop between $500 and $1500 have the same crappy screen?
Answer: Because the manufacturers are dickheads.
The weird thing is that this is the exact inverse of the mobile phone market. Recent mobile phones are mostly 1920x1080 - twice as many pixels on a 5" screen as an average laptop has on a 15" screen. But most phones ship with a pathetic 16GB of flash, half of which is already used by the operating system. Doubling that would add about $10 to the price of a device costing several hundred dollars, but noooo....
Posted by: Pixy Misa at
06:29 PM
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Wednesday, March 26
Littlewood's Law
Littlewood's Law states, effectively, that every human being will experience a miracle about once a month.
Littlewood's Law states, effectively, that every human being will experience a miracle about once a month.
Where "miracle" is defined not as something necessarily supernatural, but an event with odds of a million-to-one. So it could just as well be bad, or simply weird, as wonderful.
For example, being late to work on two successive Mondays because the train you missed (because you were already late) hit someone and the railway line was closed.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at
11:52 PM
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Monday, March 24
The Difference Between Science And Engineering
In both science and engineering, it is not uncommon to spend considerable time and resources calibrating equipment to make and verify a single measurement, only to find oneself saying, what the hell, that can't be right.
In both science and engineering, it is not uncommon to spend considerable time and resources calibrating equipment to make and verify a single measurement, only to find oneself saying, what the hell, that can't be right.
In both science and engineering, this event can lead to an unexpected change in the trajectory of one's career.
In science, however, it's a good thing.
Posted by: Pixy Misa at
09:12 PM
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