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Friday, April 18

Geek

Choices...

The contenders to replace my old Dell 27" monitor:

Samsung 28" 3840x2160 TN display for $749.
Dell 24" 3840x2160 IPS display for $1199.*
LG 34" 3440x1440 IPS display for $1299.

The Samsung is cheapest by a good margin, but it's a TN panel, and I've been using IPS screens on my desktop since I first moved away from CRTs.

The Dell is a very high-quality screen, but it's the smallest, and runs exclusively at 3840x2160.  So it's not great for gaming unless you have something like the new Radeon 295X2, a $1500 500W liquid-cooled monster.

The LG is actually lower resolution than the others, but it's huge and wide enough for three workable documents side-by-side.

I think there's no bad choice here; they all look like excellent monitors.  Unfortunately, I don't really have the money or space to buy one of each.

* It was A$1699 at the start of the year.  That price is coming down fast.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 03:09 PM | Comments (10) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
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Wednesday, April 09

Geek

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.)

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 | Comments (13) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
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Sunday, April 06

Geek

Get With The Program!

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 trends
anytime:8,325MB

suggested daily usage
anytime: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 | Comments (3) | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
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Thursday, April 03

Geek

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).

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.

/images/U28something.jpg?size=720x&q=95

And it costs $749.  Australian.  Including sales tax.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 07:01 PM | No Comments | Add Comment | Trackbacks (Suck)
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