Dear Santa, thank you for the dolls and pencils and the fish. It's Easter now, so I hope I didn't wake you but... honest, it is an emergency. There's a crack in my wall. Aunt Sharon says it's just an ordinary crack, but I know its not cause at night there's voices so... please please can you send someone to fix it? Or a policeman, or...
Back in a moment.
Thank you Santa.

Tuesday, February 09

Geek

Daily News Stuff 9 February 2021

Takoyaki Cake Pop Edition

Tech News

  • Need a 28GBps SSD?  Highpoint has you covered, sort of.  (Tom's Hardware)

    It's a PCIe 4.0 x16 card with an NVMe RAID controller - just 0/1/10, no 5/6 here - that takes eight M.2 devices and merges them into one big, very fast, blob.

    Price is around $1300.  You can get much cheaper four-slot adaptors, because those can be done with a passive board and the CPU's own PCIe bifurcation support (simply splitting a x16 link into four x4 links), but if you want this many devices on a single card you need the expensive custom chip.


  • Tesla bought $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin.  (Tom's Hardware)

    And announced it would be accepting payments in BTC.

    Given the timing, they've probably already made over $500 million on this.


  • CD Projekt Red got hacked and is being held to ransom.  (WCCFTech)

    Their official response to their Perforce server getting hacked and all the files deleted was Pfft, we use Perforce, there's nothing worse you can do to us.

    Also, they have backups.


  • Zen 4 could deliver a 25% IPC increase and 40% overall performance boost over Zen 3 or not.  (WCCFTech)

    That's an awful lot for a fourth-gen part, but their track record so far makes this entirely plausible.  Zen 4 won't be out this year, but there may be a Zen 3+ update in between.

    Rumours for Zen 4 are only just starting to appear, but the rumours for Zen 3 were pretty darn accurate.  AMD has spoken publicly about Zen 4 but has given few details so far.  (The Street)


  • 20% of all requests to Wikimedia - the image library for Wikipedia - are for one particular photo of a New York aster.  (Wikimedia)

    As in the flower.  (Wikipedia)

    Nobody knows why.


  • PyPI is awash with spam right now.  (ZDNet)

    This is bad, first because it's full of spam, and second because if the moderators are busy fighting spam they might miss malware.


  • Google's fuckup with Terraria is getting more attention now, though not from Google.

    Ars Technica

    Rock Paper Shotgun

    IGN

    PC Magazine

    Polygon

    The Escapist

    The Verge

    Curiously enough, DuckDuckGo provides much better search results here than Google itself.

    I just wonder how much bad news is required to get Google to respond.  Any competent or honest company would have done something about this already.


  • You can't buy a home donut maker in Australia.  They just don't exist.  Commercial unit that can crank out 1750 donuts an hour, sure.   Amazon AU sells those.  Home unit that makes four or six at a time, no.

    I could order one from Amazon US, but then I'd need a suitable adaptor, which would cost as much as the donut maker itself.



  • Monkeys R Us.




Meanwhile on YouTube Kids Video of the Day



Yes, this video on YouTube Kids is by the same girl who cooked and ate a tarantula, reviewed adult fan art of herself - on four separate occasions, and most recently, um, oh, there's a new one.



It's hard to explain what is happening on her channel right now, except in numbers.  Since she started this weird avant garde performance art kick, she's shot up the charts to be second in subscriber growth behind only Gura, and far and away the top in views for the past week.

Update:



If you aren't up to your eyeballs in Haachamania that thumbnail will look perfectly normal.  I've been following a lot of it and without watching the most recent stream this would have passed without comment except for nice, one of her chill Minecraft building streams.

She's about 30 hours away from the million mark (currently 989,000 subscribers) so she'll probably settle back down to her normal levels of creative insanity soon.  I think she wants to feel like she's earned that million.  She has, of course, but she wants to feel it.

Update update:


Oh, it won't show full size even in an embed.  You'll need to click through.  Or not, if you want to sleep ever again.


Reminded of This By Wonderduck Video of the Day




Disclaimer: Bacon donuts, making bacon donuts...

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 10:28 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
Post contains 695 words, total size 7 kb.

Monday, February 08

Geek

Daily News Stuff 8 February 2021

Chicken With A Chainsaw Edition

Tech News

Mouse Computer Ad Roundup Video of the Day



Ran out of individual videos, so here's a whole bunch of them.  The ones with the little drummer girl start around the two minute mark.


Disclaimer: It's supposed to be pay-to-play.  It's a business.  That's how businesses work.  That's the entire point.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 09:38 PM | Comments (9) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
Post contains 541 words, total size 6 kb.

Sunday, February 07

Geek

Daily News Stuff 7 February 2021

Making Chicken Pancakes Edition

Tech News

  • I have only one source of gluten-free chicken nuggets, they're not particularly cheap, and they're out of stock half the time.

    But I now have a little oven that can cook basically anything and be wiped clean with a handful of paper towels no matter how messy the recipe.  So time to experiment.

    I've ordered a big batch of chicken fillets and gluten-free marinades, flour, breadcrumbs, and pancake mix to try out in various combinations.  Plus some vegetables so I can just do a mini roast dinner.  Won't go hungry this week.


  • Speaking of PCIe 5.0 Silicon Motion expects to be shipping PCIe 5.0 SSD controllers in the second half of 2022.  (Tom's Hardware)

    No technical details yet, but the first PCIe 4.0 controllers could "only" reach 5GB per second so we might see something similar again.


  • Reverse-engineering a one-bit processor.  (Righto)

    This is not even a bit-slice CPU, it is literally a one-bit architecture.


  • You apparently can stop the Signal.  (Bleeping Computer)

    Iran banned Signal.

    Signal suggested users use SSL proxies and provided sample code.

    Security researchers posted information about security issues with this approach to GitHub.

    Signal said please don't use GitHub for this, post the details to our support forums.

    The researchers posted the information to Signal's support forums.

    Signal banned them.


  • Apps in Apple's App Store lie.  (MSN)

    They may say they store no private information, but they do.

    When questioned, Apple said - and I quote - "Whatever."

    Oh, and that article sets 87 cookies even with AdBlock Plus enabled.  Literally.  I counted them.


  • AlmaLinux is a fork of CentOS - specifically CentOS 8.  (AlmaLinux)

    Sponsored by CloudLinux, which is a commercial fork of RHEL.  It's out in beta right now.


  • The internet is full of crazy people.  (New York Times)

    And not all of them work for the New York Times.


  • Though many do.

    They explicitly fired someone for discussing racist language.  Outside of work.  On the other side of the planet.


Twitter Sets Itself On Fire Over Puppets Video of the Day


As I say every day, any country that doesn't ban Twitter is out of its mind.


Disclaimer: All tits and curses, all the time.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 09:07 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
Post contains 375 words, total size 4 kb.

Saturday, February 06

Geek

Daily News Stuff 6 February 2021

Not Complete Idiots Edition

Tech News

  • Myanmar's new military dictatorship has taken the very sensible step of banning Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.  (Tech Crunch)

    Any country that doesn't do this is out of its damn mind.


  • Intel has fired back against Apple's new M1 Arm processor with...  Benchmarks.  (Tom's Hardware)

    The benchmarks showing the M1 far in the lead are selective, but so are the benchmarks here showing the reverse.  Both the M1 and Intel's 11th gen are competent designs, but both are currently limited to four full cores (the M1 also contains four slower cores) and get kerb-stomped by AMD on multithreaded tasks.


  • Fujitsu is working towards 1PB tape cartridges.  (Tom's Hardware)

    Now we just need a station wagon that can move like an SR-71.


  • The mortality of software.  (Six Colors)

    The problem with this argument is that software is inherently immortal.  When it is "killed" it means that people stop using it because of secondary factors.  That doesn't mean those factors are invalid - if your accounting software is no longer being updated and doesn't meet statutory reporting requirements, you need to find something new.

    The apatosaurus in the room is that Apple routinely breaks software compatibility.  In major ways, such as switching CPU architectures or dropping 32-bit support, and in minor ways with every point release.


Hololive Trivia Corner

Haachama is at 970,000 subscribers, Coco at 974,000, and Amelia at 984,000.  They're set to all join the 1 Million Club in the space of a week, which is likely why Haachama has been doing her weird performance art stuff - she was a bit further behind but has been rapidly catching up.

Plus the official Hololive channel - where they air the weird Hololive Graffiti 3D clips - is at 976,000 and will tick over at about the same time.


Meanwhile in Canada Video of the Day



YouTube felt it necessary to add its own Covid links to a video of a Canadian lawyer discussing Canadian legal decisions.  While walking his dogs, which is one of the few permitted reasons for being out at night in Quebec.  And Frei being Frei that in itself is legal debate because the older dog is disabled and can't walk.


Mouse Computer Ad Video of the Day



In one of these ads the actress pretending to play the drums is doing a much better job of it than you'd expect from a mid-budget TV spot, and...  Oh.


That would explain it.


Disclaimer: Mousu mousu persocom mousu...

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 08:57 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
Post contains 421 words, total size 4 kb.

Friday, February 05

Geek

Daily News Stuff 5 February 2021

World's First Edition

Tech News

Mouse Computer Ad Video of the Day



Haachama Chaos Video of the Day



I wondered about this - she's been doing these performance art pieces recently, with video edits and sound effects and fake ad inserts and graphics overlays, timed neatly to exactly an hour, and I assumed they were pre-recorded.

But she's responding to superchats.


Disclaimer: Let me explain... No, there is too much. Let me sum up.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 10:26 PM | No Comments | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
Post contains 424 words, total size 5 kb.

Thursday, February 04

Geek

Daily News Stuff 4 February 2021

When Life Gives You Lemonade Edition

Tech News

Mouse Computer Ad Video of the Day




Disclaimer: I will not download the app.  I will not eat bugs.  I will not live in a pod.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 08:38 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
Post contains 251 words, total size 3 kb.

Wednesday, February 03

Geek

Daily News Stuff 3 February 2021

Dark No Light Edition

Tech News


Mouse Computer Ad Video of the Day



Shrieky Zombie Video of the Day


She's moderated the crazy* aspect of her character and found her niche as a zombie genki girl with no understanding of personal space.  Fair warning, she still hits 110dB at 9kHz when she gets blown up by a creeper.

* She's named Kureiji Ollie.  They know exactly what they are doing.



Disclaimer: I pay the bills, I call the shots
I grease the palms, I buy the yachts

One thing I can guarantee
The best things in life, they sure ain't free.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 08:41 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
Post contains 307 words, total size 3 kb.

Tuesday, February 02

Geek

Daily News Stuff 2 February 2021

Locked Down And On Fire Edition

Tech News

  • Perth is having a bad week.  (Phys.org)

    Having to evacuate from a bushfire during a WBSDP lockdown can't be fun.  Here in Sydney the fires had the decency to stop right when the plague kicked in, and it's been soggy here ever since with the switch to a La Nina cycle.

    I went out to the shops this evening for the first time in a few weeks, having managed to essentially avoid the entire lockdown.


  • Epyc Milan specs and prices have leaked.  (Tom's Hardware)

    Though these are Dell's prices, not AMD's, so the small price increases may or may not reflect the MSRP.


  • Alder Lake-P is on its way with 14 cores and 20 threads unless it's not.  (WCCFTech)

    That weird config is six big cores and eight little cores; the six big core are hyperthreaded, while the little ones are not.


  • Scaleway has MacMini M&Ms.  (Hacker News)

    Or something like that.  At 1/8th the price of Amazon.  People in the thread don't seem to be overly fond of Scaleway as a hosting provider though.

    The price of $85 per month would have you paying for the basic Mac Mini M1 every eight months, which is about average for new hardware at a pay-by-the-month provider.

    Also, Apples home page punches you right in the face with their virtue signalling.


  • Want to build a little custom router thingy?  The ODROID-H2+ may be what you need.  (Serve the Home)

    For $119 it comes with an Atom-based Celeron J4115, dual 2.5GbE ports, one M.2 slot, two SO-DIMM slots supporting 8GB officially and 32GB in reality, HDMI, DisplayPort, two USB 3, two USB 2, three audio jacks, and two SATA ports.

    The optional $47 H2 Net Card option adds four more 2.5GbE ports and makes it into a pretty solid little home network appliance.

    Seems to lack WiFi though.


No Yubi For You Video of the Day


Korone: No.


The K-On / Non Non Biyori / Hololive Crossover We Didn't Know We Needed Video of the Day


Which reminds me that I still haven't watched a stream of two thirds of the Hololive girls, after seven or eight months down the rabbit hole.


Update to the Revision to the Correction Video of the Day


Robinhood lied, their IPO dreams died.


Disclaimer: I will not eat bugs.  I will not live in a pod.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 09:31 PM | No Comments | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
Post contains 403 words, total size 4 kb.

Monday, February 01

Geek

Daily News Stuff 1 February 2021

Time Travelling AI Edition

Tech News

  • The Amazon Telescreen is now available in a choice of colours.  (The Verge)

    Those colours being grey.

    Oh, and it shares your video with 2000 police and fire departments.  Did we forget to mention that part?


  • For any X, build your own X.  (GitHub)

    Disclaimer: Does not actually contain instructions to build your own X, though it does contain instructions to build your own X window manager.


  • Why does my PC consistently find all its memory only when I reboot twice?  Why am I complaining that it seems insufficiently arbitrary?


  • Lint-picking the MIT license.  (KE Mitchell)

    A very close examination of a very short license.  There's nothing really wrong with the license, but if you're planning to use it on a project it wouldn't hurt to read this.


  • The NoxPlayer Android emulator update server was delivering malware for months.  (ZDNet)

    Apparently in a targeted attack, which is why it wasn't spotted sooner.


  • Crystal 0.36 is out.  (Crystal Lang)

    The plan was that the next release after 0.35 would be 1.0, but there were a lot of minor updates to be committed and tested so they've decided on one more point release first.

    Slightly scary is that they changed the associativity of the exponentiation operator - to be fair, they got it wrong and it needed to be fixed - but this only matters if you're chaining exponentiations and you're probably not.  If you are, use Julia.


  • Statler.  His name is Statler.



AI Text Adventure Video of the Day



As usual with modern AI, this is simultaneously impressive and, well, not impressive at all.  AI Dungeon is a GPT-powered text adventure in the classic style, by which I mean it doesn't always make a lot of sense.

But when it does - for example when Amelia tells it she uses time travel to go back one minute and the AI is able to play along - it earned a surprised Pikachu face from me at least.  I wasn't expecting that one to work.


Disclaimer: To be fair, I don't expect anything to work.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 09:40 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
Post contains 354 words, total size 3 kb.

<< Page 3 of 3 >>
114kb generated in CPU 0.0365, elapsed 0.2214 seconds.
57 queries taking 0.1996 seconds, 392 records returned.
Powered by Minx 1.1.6c-pink.
Using http / http://ai.mee.nu / 390