Tech news

[pibbuR]

Linux is now an option for safety-minded software-defined vehicle developers

Increasingly, our cars will be controlled by a small number of powerful computers.

arstechnica.com

Codeproject: "Get ready for a right-hand turn with: 'ti --activen --side:right --tick:3000'"

pibbuR who remembers the Unix scene from Jurassic Park

 

[pibbuR]

A new interface for games:

https://0110.be/posts/Making_a_flute_controlled_mouse

pibbuR who is happy that he no longer has to choose between K+M and contoller (which he either doesn't have, or it's stored somewhere unspecified in his big archive)

 

[notdart]

I think the Z80 is mostly adding some instructions to the 8080 set, with a few incompatibilities. But I agree, preferences can also depends on the assembler's syntax (and the tools!). For example, I can't stand the GNU assembly language because of all the % gibberish and inverted operands vs the official Intel syntax, but it's just a matter of habit.


The fact there were Pascal compilers on CPUs like Z80 and 6502 always amazes me.
My notions of required memory size have been completely biased by what today's executables are using. I think I couldn't get back to the mindset of the 80s and 90s, or estimate what was possible or not.

Turbo Pascal was a life safer when it came out - we've had the turbopascal topic already but It showed all those large moronic companies how to write a compiler. $$$ might make a market but knowledge makes the product.

 

[Redglyph]

Turbo Pascal was a life safer when it came out - we've had the turbopascal topic already but It showed all those large moronic companies how to write a compiler. $$$ might make a market but knowledge makes the product.

It was great, but the code produced by the Borland compilers was poorly optimized.

 

[Couchpotato]

Steam is going to make it harder to get refunds because of Early Access.

Steam will stop issuing refunds if you play two hours of a game before launch day

Closing the early access loophole.

www.theverge.com

 

[pibbuR]

Since I mentioned the new Snapdragons:

Qualcomm responds to benchmark cheating allegations — Snapdragon X Elite/Plus benchmarks claimed to be fraudulent (Updated)

Seriously concerning news for Qualcomm's latest

www.tomshardware.com

pibbuR who fortunately isn't going to by a new CPU any time soon. He hopes.

 

[pibbuR]

pibbuR isn't going to buy a new TV either.

The spam came from inside the house: How a smart TV can choke a Windows PC

The curious case of a living room screen making Windows' Settings app disappear.

arstechnica.com

"User Narayan B wrote in Microsoft's forum that the issue is the Hisense TV generating "random UUIDs for UPNP network discovery every few minutes." Windows, seemingly not knowing why any device would routinely do this, sees and adds those alternate Hisense devices to its Device Association Framework, or DAF. This service being stuffed full of attention-grabbing devices can hang up Task Manager, Bluetooth, the Settings apps, File Explorer, and more."

 

[Alrik Fassbauer]

Turbo Pascal was a life safer when it came out - we've had the turbopascal topic already but It showed all those large moronic companies how to write a compiler. $$$ might make a market but knowledge makes the product.

I learned programming with Turbo Pascal. It was my very first proigramming language - after a week at school where we learned to do a "guss the number" program in BASIC.
I programmed that in almost every programming language i ever learned afterwards - and I very strongly believe that such a "game" is the far best way to learn proigramming right after "Hello World" - mostly, because after finishing it, you'l have something you can have some sort of fun with !
( In a recent "beginner's programming" series of articles, a more serious oriented magazine was showing several different programming languages - and their "beginner's" program was to do a Fibonaccy thing ... I found that absolutely awful, because it has no real relevance in Real Life, imho. i man, who needs a Fibonaccy number sequence in daily life ??? )

 

[pibbuR]

What is Windows 11 'AI Explorer'? Everything you need to know about Microsoft's upcoming defining AI PC feature

Windows 11 will be supercharged with AI designed to enhance productivity and search across the OS.

www.windowscentral.com

"The feature is also said to be exclusive to devices powered by Qualcomm's upcoming Snapdragon X series chips, at least at first"

pibbuR who hopes that this will exclusively stay with said CPU.

 

[pibbuR]

Some news about an admittedly not very useful thing (for most not in space users):

NASA's Psyche sends back engineering data via laser beam

Laser beam comms are fast, so long as the weather cooperates

www.theregister.com

"On December 11, when the spacecraft was ... 31 kilometers ... away, it reached 267 Mbps, which NASA described as "comparable to broadband internet download speeds."

NASA has better broadband than this writer, it would seem."

"At 226 million kilometers, the project's goal was to reach a lofty 1 Mbps. Instead, engineers managed to get 25 Mbps out of the demonstration."

pibbuR who observes Netflix will (occasionally) be available on Mars, thus removing some of the risks involved with going there.

 

[pibbuR]

Windows 10 reaches 70% market share as Windows 11 keeps declining

Statcounter reports that Windows 11 continues to lose its market share for the second month in a row. Windows 10, meanwhile, is gaining more users and is now back above the 70% mark.

www.neowin.net

"It is interesting to see Windows 11 losing quite a significant chunk of users in the middle of its cycle. Even Windows 8 and 8.1, universally considered not great versions of Windows, only went down after the release of their successors. "

pibbuR ver. 69.5

PS.
"True, Statcounter is not 100% accurate in its estimates, but an almost 3-point decline for a product with over 1 billion devices is too big to dismiss."
DS.

 

[pibbuR]

Here’s your chance to own a decommissioned US government supercomputer

145,152-core Cheyenne supercomputer was 20th most powerful in the world in 2016.

arstechnica.com

Bidding started at $2,500, but it's price is currently $27,643 with the reserve not yet met.

pibbuR who won't bid this time due to previously experienced delays for transport from the US to Norway.

PS.
The GSA notes that potential buyers of Cheyenne should be aware that professional movers with appropriate equipment will be required to handle the heavy racks and components. The auction includes seven E-Cell pairs (14 total), each with a cooling distribution unit (CDU). Each E-Cell weighs approximately 1,500 lbs. Additionally, the auction features two air-cooled Cheyenne Management Racks, each weighing 2,500 lbs, that contain servers, switches, and power units.
DS.

PPS.
"fiber optic and CAT5/6 cabling are excluded from the resale package."
DS.

 

[Couchpotato]

Stop children using smartphones until they are 13, says French report

Children should be banned from most social media until 18 amid attempts to ‘monetise’ them, says Macron-commissioned study

www.theguardian.com

 

[Redglyph]

Stop children using smartphones until they are 13, says French report

Children should be banned from most social media until 18 amid attempts to ‘monetise’ them, says Macron-commissioned study

www.theguardian.com

This is ridiculous. Firstly, they won't be able to make that pass. Secondly, it's not a problem with the smartphones but with what's available on the Internet; kids have also access to other computers.

Managing the access or banning stupid sites like TikTok seem the logical response, here, not banning the tool. Following that logic, should we ban the use of TV because there are stupid ads that act on children's subconscious? And magazines? It's not as if that was something new.

I'm not talking about the medical aspects, of course. For the rest, it's a matter of education and regulating what's allowed in public spaces.

 

[notdart]

Windows 10 reaches 70% market share as Windows 11 keeps declining

Statcounter reports that Windows 11 continues to lose its market share for the second month in a row. Windows 10, meanwhile, is gaining more users and is now back above the 70% mark.

www.neowin.net

"It is interesting to see Windows 11 losing quite a significant chunk of users in the middle of its cycle. Even Windows 8 and 8.1, universally considered not great versions of Windows, only went down after the release of their successors. "

pibbuR ver. 69.5

PS.
"True, Statcounter is not 100% accurate in its estimates, but an almost 3-point decline for a product with over 1 billion devices is too big to dismiss."
DS.

Well.... MS obvious answer to this issue will be to discontinue windows 10 faster.

 

[Couchpotato]

They already are as starting next year everyone will have to pay for updates on Win 10. Maybe I'll update but Win 12 is releasing sometime in the next two years as well.

 

[Redglyph]

The end of life support is set to October 2025, and I don't see them changing that. On the contrary, they'll extend its life as they always do.

 

[Couchpotato]

Maybe and maybe not we'll see I guess.