• Dell doesn't skimp on SSDs.  Rally turns out to have a very nice Toshiba XG5 which is not far short of the gold standard of the Samsung 970.  Only problem is it's kind of small for my needs at 256GB.
  
  If Dell refreshes their AMD Inspiron 27 lineup, there's a few things I'd like them to do:
  
  
• Use the new LCD panel (as found in Rally Vincent), which is brighter and has a better colour gamut.  The old panel was good but a bit muted.  (I can't get any more detailed information from the control panel.)
  
  
• Enable full USB 3.1 gen 2 (10Gbit).  Five USB 3.0 ports is nice, but it's a bit disappointing that they are "only" 5.0Gbit.
  
  Or Thunderbolt or USB 3.2, if either is practical.  But at least full speed USB 3.1.
  
  
• Have some build-to-order options, or at least a higher-end model.  8 cores and an 8GB RX 580 is great, but 16GB of RAM, 256GB of SSD, and 1TB disk are all on the small side.  And with only two RAM slots, one M.2 slot, and one drive bay, upgrading means removing the old one.
  
  
• Even better, make room for more internal options.  Four RAM slots would be a huge win, as would a second M.2 slot, even if it's slower bcause you ran out of PCIe lanes.  Consider ditching or shrinking the subwoofer and using the reclaimed space for a second 2.5" drive bay. It's not a very good subwoofer anyway.
  
  
• Move the webcam up top like you've done with the Intel models.
  
  
• While you're at it, 10Gbit ethernet would be great, since it's not something that can be readily upgraded.  (Or can it?  I need to check the service manual.  One reason I got these things is that almost everything is replaceable.)
  
  
• It's all about the octo-onions or something  (via Hacker News)
  
  (Beyond real numbers and complex numbers, there are two more types of number - quaternions and octonions.  Quaternions are the core of computer graphics;  your graphics card is a huge array of quaternion calculators.  And that's it - there are no other generall useful types of number.  While our games are built of quaternions, it seems reality might be constructed of octonions.)
  
  
• Reddit have redisigned their site to increase density.  It's kind of bad.  Density is not a design goal.
  
  
• Apparently HP bought SGI at some point and I missed it.  Should have happened sooner while there was more left of SGI to buy.  Anyway, they have a new supercomputer if you are in the market for brains in a box.  (ServeTheHome)
  
  
• Ceci n'est pas une iPhone.  (Motherboard, via Six Colors)
  
  
• Is data pollution the new air pollution?  Connected cars may generate 1.5 million petabytes of data per year by 2020.  Which isn't far away at all.  F1 cars currently genreate 36TB of data over the course of a single race.  Self-driving cars can generate 1TB per hour.  (SemiEngineering, Barrons)
  
  
• Chuwi has a nice looking toaster that doubles as a Windows PC.  Video (via Fanless Tech)
  
  There's something very similar available from Australian retailer of cheap Chinese-manufactured goodies for A$219 (4GB/32GB).  That includes sales tax, and works out to US$160, which is a lot better than the Chuwi version at $240.  I'm tempted to buy one, throw in a spare 2.5" drive, and leave it to run Linux stuff for me, like tracking the Ethereum and Stellar ledgers.
  
  Update: Looks like the Kogan device is a rebadged ACEPC AK1.  Getting Linux working is possible but fiddly.  I've had that Grub problem on older servers as well, but Ubuntu 18.04 seems to fix it.

Picture of the Day

Posted by: Wonderduck at Sunday, July 29 2018 09:55 AM (0VFKi)

Posted by: Rick C at Sunday, July 29 2018 11:32 AM (ITnFO)

Posted by: Pixy Misa at Sunday, July 29 2018 02:36 PM (PiXy!)

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