Random thoughts.... [Tech Edition]

Crosspost from the positivity thread.

...and my PC is done. :) Went without a hitch, even switching from an Intel to an AMD CPU with corresponding chipsets doesn't phase Windows 10. It just shrugs and says "well, I'll install some new devices, what's the big deal?"...

While it's much more forgiving, I still feel like it's a gamble. This afternoon I was tackling the problem at work with two brand new laptops that are identical apart from different brands of PCI Express SSDs. One accepts our corporate image without an issue, the other goes around in an infinite sad face BSOD loop. Swap the SSDs over and the 'bad' laptop is fine.

Both have all drivers from Dell's driver package for that model installed during the build but clearly neither it or Windows 10 has suitable drivers for this particular Hynix SSD. My brain hurts.
 
So, lately I've been contemplating what'd be the best option for me to get a computer for uni work, and out of curisoity, I went to an authorised Apple reseller asking whether they offered a back-to-school discount on 27" iMacs. The seller told me that they don't, but he offered me a 2017 top-spec (non-BTO, so i5-7600K, Radeon 580, 2TB fusion drive model) for 2100€. The catch is that it's an open-box model. Other than that, everything seems to be as if you were to grab the top-end non-BTO model from an Apple store until earlier this year.

I do know 2100€ seems a lot from the American perspective, but in Europe the prices for Apple products (and computers in general) are significantly higher than in the US. I'd be using it mainly for uni work, which comprises web development, 3D modelling, photo and video editing and some other stuff. It's a bit of an overkill for that alone, I know, but I do intend to have a computer that will be usable even once I finish the uni and start working.
Should I wait until next year when they might have a similar deal for the top-end 2019 models? Or should I just look elsewhere, i.e. look for deals on used iMacs, building a PC or even a used workstation?

It does sound a bit unreasonable to spend that much money on a computer in this part of Europe, but then, if I were to build a PC with similar specs, I'd spend almost a third of that on a monitor alone. Not to mention it'd use much more space. And as far as I've heard, iMac offers the best value in the Mac world (not counting Hackintoshes). I'm gonna sleep on it, as I don't want to make a rash decision, but this seems like quite an opportunity, as far as Apple products go. I think the discount accounts from some 23% off the original price, so it's not an insignificant discount. Any thoughts?

EDIT: I completely forgot about this situation:
You have to have a bit of fantasy reading these kinds of instructions.

Connect 1 to your phone.
Connect 2 to the power supply
Connect 3 to the TV

Than you should get the the phone screen shown on the TV via the HDMI. You might need to do some settings on the phone.

If you instead connect a computer to 4 you should also be able to use the HDMI output 3 to the TV.

But you can't use 4 to get an output from the phone connected to 1.

This is my understanding of this at least, maybe someone else has other ideas.

Nah, the problem was my phone. There was dust and debris in the USB-C connector. Fixed that now, so everything works as it's supposed to.
 
Last edited:
Who are you stalking?
 
More likely that they don't know to turn updates on in the first place.

Or maybe they're just not so into you that they would turn updates on. :p

------

I was at a client's place about a week ago and found that someone in the industrial park had Office Space'd a printer. Definitely not me.


IMG_6062



IMG_6064
 
GMaps location sharing - how do I get the location to update more frequently? I don't care where the person was 5hrs ago, I want to know where they are now!
In my experience, Google's location sharing is quite useless if you want regular updates, it just updates whenever it wants to, which is basically never when you need it, and every second when people are standing still. The one in Telegram is way better, and actually useful, it's what we use for Ringmeet and other meetups. WhatsApp also has live location sharing, but I've never used that one, so cannot comment on that one.
 
In my experience, Google's location sharing is quite useless if you want regular updates, it just updates whenever it wants to, which is basically never when you need it, and every second when people are standing still. The one in Telegram is way better, and actually useful, it's what we use for Ringmeet and other meetups. WhatsApp also has live location sharing, but I've never used that one, so cannot comment on that one.
Good info, thanks Adu!
 
Good info, thanks Adu!
Adu is right, and I'd also like to say that you can manually update someone's location on GMaps. At least on the version I am using, there is such a button.
 
Adu is right, and I'd also like to say that you can manually update someone's location on GMaps. At least on the version I am using, there is such a button.
I have that button too but it doesn't do anything!
 
A friend of mine does that with Telegram, it's incredibly annoying. You write something, it takes a day or so until he opens up the app and actually receives the message, and then you have about a 10 second window to actually have a conversation before he's closed it again. Some apps (or at least some features) should plain not work without background data enabled, and inform the user correspondingly.
 
Top