My geek thread
05-03-18, 04:48 AM
#1676
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Bitcoin is interesting. When I first heard about it I could have started mining and maybe gotten a few, but they were only worth a dollar or so, so I didn't really care. Now the mining is only effective if you have a huge network of specialized machines, and even then the power costs almost outrun the gain. And yeah, buying right now is a risky buy. The whole thing could collapse in on itself leaving you with nothing. Or it could continue to appreciate at staggering rates. The total number of bitcoins is indeed finite, at 21 million. However, this is just code, and could be changed in the future (unlikely?).
The limit will be reached in 2140 ('cuz math and stuff). If you bought in early, you could've made a fortune. But you could've also lost it all, based on all the other coins you would have bought that have since disappeared. Will the price of a bitcoin go to $100k like some smart people think? I dunno. It's certainly possible if it becomes the defacto standard for the world. That seems unlikely to me for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that you'd have to pay .0000001 bitcoins for a coffee, etc, and the government will never let the printing of physical coins overtake actually US Dollars because it's too valuable and too important.
Should you buy one? I've thought about it, maybe it'll be worth 100 or 1000 times what it is now sometime, but I think it's more likely it will die off, so I'm leaving my money in the stock market (which at least won't go to 0 when it inevitably crashes again).
The limit will be reached in 2140 ('cuz math and stuff). If you bought in early, you could've made a fortune. But you could've also lost it all, based on all the other coins you would have bought that have since disappeared. Will the price of a bitcoin go to $100k like some smart people think? I dunno. It's certainly possible if it becomes the defacto standard for the world. That seems unlikely to me for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that you'd have to pay .0000001 bitcoins for a coffee, etc, and the government will never let the printing of physical coins overtake actually US Dollars because it's too valuable and too important.
Should you buy one? I've thought about it, maybe it'll be worth 100 or 1000 times what it is now sometime, but I think it's more likely it will die off, so I'm leaving my money in the stock market (which at least won't go to 0 when it inevitably crashes again).
Last edited by Mantic0re; 05-04-18 at 04:32 AM.
05-09-18, 07:50 PM
#1677
Cat 2
My company is paying for labview training for me and a fwe others local to Utah next week. Not my favorite language in concpet, but I can't turn down a training like this. Plus we will use labview a lot in the areas I work in. Just the nature of the beast working in a lab environment.
05-15-18, 09:44 PM
#1678
Cat 2
Labview code kills me. Was doing one of the / r/ dailyprogrammmer challenges in labview to pass some time in my class today.. Took way too long. I could have done this in minutes in a "real" language.
08-27-18, 04:27 PM
#1681
Elite Fred
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Kind of the opposite of a geek thread.
I am in the middle of a "half-bath" remodel in my house because I saw a little water damage in the floor near a toilet.
While ripping out old tile is a pain (and it was 1" x 1" tile and I did it by hand ... it was painful and took two and a half days) , I figured that this would be straightforward job once I had done that.
It is not.
The water damage was not from the toilet, but was very extensive as it came from the wall from behind the vanity where it could have been going on for years as it was out of sight. This bathroom is on the first floor on a house up on pilasters with about a two foot gap to the ground so there was no way to see the leaking unless you crawled under the house.
When I figured that out I wasn't bothered so much because I could see that copper was coming out of the wall and sweating a copper joint isn't that hard.
Then I went into the wall and saw that it was only a couple of inches of copper connected to qest. OMG. I can't believe that crap lasted as long as it did since I have owned this house since the mid-80's.
That crap has to go.
And I know that there is some leaking galvanized piping that needs to be replaced under the house. It isn't doing much more than leaking a little to the ground, but it should be replaced as well.
I could do this myself, but I doubt that my wife would want no water for a couple of days. Time to cough up some bucks and bring in the pros.
At least I have opened up the drywall the way I would want to patch it myself instead of having plumbers make a mess of it..
I am in the middle of a "half-bath" remodel in my house because I saw a little water damage in the floor near a toilet.
While ripping out old tile is a pain (and it was 1" x 1" tile and I did it by hand ... it was painful and took two and a half days) , I figured that this would be straightforward job once I had done that.
It is not.
The water damage was not from the toilet, but was very extensive as it came from the wall from behind the vanity where it could have been going on for years as it was out of sight. This bathroom is on the first floor on a house up on pilasters with about a two foot gap to the ground so there was no way to see the leaking unless you crawled under the house.
When I figured that out I wasn't bothered so much because I could see that copper was coming out of the wall and sweating a copper joint isn't that hard.
Then I went into the wall and saw that it was only a couple of inches of copper connected to qest. OMG. I can't believe that crap lasted as long as it did since I have owned this house since the mid-80's.
That crap has to go.
And I know that there is some leaking galvanized piping that needs to be replaced under the house. It isn't doing much more than leaking a little to the ground, but it should be replaced as well.
I could do this myself, but I doubt that my wife would want no water for a couple of days. Time to cough up some bucks and bring in the pros.
At least I have opened up the drywall the way I would want to patch it myself instead of having plumbers make a mess of it..
08-28-18, 04:31 PM
#1682
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What sucks about having a geek job is explaining to your boss that all you did for the last four hours was to add a dash in an xml file.
Granted there was a crap ton of troubleshooting and I had to go through and 15 other files to find the problem, but the layperson (aka my boss) just thinks all administrators do is rewrite base code in the command line while manually blocking IP packets because the firewall isn't as efficient as you are.
Granted there was a crap ton of troubleshooting and I had to go through and 15 other files to find the problem, but the layperson (aka my boss) just thinks all administrators do is rewrite base code in the command line while manually blocking IP packets because the firewall isn't as efficient as you are.
08-28-18, 06:36 PM
#1683
No matches
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What sucks about having a geek job is explaining to your boss that all you did for the last four hours was to add a dash in an xml file.
Granted there was a crap ton of troubleshooting and I had to go through and 15 other files to find the problem, but the layperson (aka my boss) just thinks all administrators do is rewrite base code in the command line while manually blocking IP packets because the firewall isn't as efficient as you are.
Granted there was a crap ton of troubleshooting and I had to go through and 15 other files to find the problem, but the layperson (aka my boss) just thinks all administrators do is rewrite base code in the command line while manually blocking IP packets because the firewall isn't as efficient as you are.
We don't (they don't allow us to when estimating bidding) estimate correctly for site time Literally everything takes forever on a customer site. Today one of my locations was a cart ride and a walk through basement tunnels from another location, probably 20 minutes round trip.
08-28-18, 07:52 PM
#1684
Cat 2
I just don't even try to explain what I work on code wise. I pulled up a text editor once for some co-workers and they're eyes glassed over. I just make it work.
Been playing with PyQt recently so that others can actually use the code I write. Fun fact.. Golden Cheetah was written almost entirely in PyQt!
Been playing with PyQt recently so that others can actually use the code I write. Fun fact.. Golden Cheetah was written almost entirely in PyQt!
09-23-18, 04:43 PM
#1685
Elite Fred
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My wife couldn't believe that I knew how to tape drywall. She thinks that I am this retired egghead engineering professor that mostly did theoretical stuff. She has no idea what skills I picked up in my youth trying to earn some bucks. And when it came to walls all she ever knew were my plaster with lath repair skills in our house and our two rentals and that is a very different skill set. That is much harder, BTW.
I hadn't done a paper tape job since about 1980, but I remembered what to do. I did use slow setting mud because I want the job to last. There are a couple of butt joints that don't have wood behind them, so making the joint as strong as possible is really important. It takes longer, but is much stronger. And paper is way better than mesh for butt joints. Back then we used quick setting mud to get the job done quickly and could often get a job completed in one day. That is OK with new construction where the joints are all perfectly level, but not when the joints are always a little off like they will be in an old house that has settled.
One problem is that the repaired part of the wall looks much better than the rest of the wall, but it will be behind the vanity and toilet so it isn't much of a problem.
I hadn't done a paper tape job since about 1980, but I remembered what to do. I did use slow setting mud because I want the job to last. There are a couple of butt joints that don't have wood behind them, so making the joint as strong as possible is really important. It takes longer, but is much stronger. And paper is way better than mesh for butt joints. Back then we used quick setting mud to get the job done quickly and could often get a job completed in one day. That is OK with new construction where the joints are all perfectly level, but not when the joints are always a little off like they will be in an old house that has settled.
One problem is that the repaired part of the wall looks much better than the rest of the wall, but it will be behind the vanity and toilet so it isn't much of a problem.
10-14-18, 07:29 PM
#1686
Cat 2
Recently got a VR headset solely for the purpose of sim racing (cars). It's incredible for all of those that haven't had the opportunity to play with one yet, I recommend it. I used to think it was a gimmick, but it really is immersive.
10-14-18, 08:08 PM
#1687
No matches
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I have one for my phone, but I can't use it because it makes me nauseated almost immediately. Do you have any issues? I've read it's kind of a person to person thing.
10-15-18, 07:39 PM
#1688
Cat 2
I was getting some motion sickness early on, but with shorter sessions it seems to have subsided. I watched about 1.5 hours of TV in VR last night with no issues besides trying to find a comfortable way to lounge in my desk chair.
10-16-18, 11:40 AM
#1689
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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now that I'm old af - can you hook any headsets up to like a ps4 or are there standalone systems? We have twins who get zero tv time and a small house (one tv) so I'm just looking for something that would allow me to play games in a room without a tv (and have it be cool).
10-16-18, 07:00 PM
#1690
Cat 2
now that I'm old af - can you hook any headsets up to like a ps4 or are there standalone systems? We have twins who get zero tv time and a small house (one tv) so I'm just looking for something that would allow me to play games in a room without a tv (and have it be cool).
Sim racing is amazing in VR, and so is watching tv shows. It was pretty cool to just lay back in my chair and be staring at screen "bigger" than a movie theater to watch south park the other night. I'm sure having screens that close to my eyes is awful for me but...
10-17-18, 06:13 AM
#1691
Newbie racer
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Labview is odd because it's still got some roots in automation controller coding "PLC's, i/o, etc...". Lots of places that utilize that style programming for industrial automation utilize Labview when they need a faster scan time for different sensors and dedicated input specific scan times or operations.
Like if you have a machine with a vibe sensor on it and you want to analyze that at a faster rate with some code. Can't really do that well in Rockwell/Emerson kind of stuff.
Like if you have a machine with a vibe sensor on it and you want to analyze that at a faster rate with some code. Can't really do that well in Rockwell/Emerson kind of stuff.
12-30-18, 12:11 PM
#1692
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Wife got me a telescope for Christmas a nice beginner /low intermediate Orion 130ST with an equatorial mount. Got it all set up except for aligning and focusing the eyepiece and I'm hoping to use it tonight. Anyone else do any backyard astronomy?
I'm hoping to use it to get the kids interested in space and science and stuff too.
I'm hoping to use it to get the kids interested in space and science and stuff too.
12-31-18, 03:19 PM
#1693
**** that
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Wife got me a telescope for Christmas a nice beginner /low intermediate Orion 130ST with an equatorial mount. Got it all set up except for aligning and focusing the eyepiece and I'm hoping to use it tonight. Anyone else do any backyard astronomy?
I'm hoping to use it to get the kids interested in space and science and stuff too.
I'm hoping to use it to get the kids interested in space and science and stuff too.
I had a small Orion reflector that I had to get rid of in a move a few years ago. I miss it! It wasn't super powerful, but enough to see awesome detail of the moon and Orion's belt, etc. Never could really see a galaxy with it.
Anyway I'd like to get back in to astronomy at some point, but the main problem for me is light pollution.
12-31-18, 04:56 PM
#1694
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In college I had dreams of being "an astronomer," until I realized it's basically all math and observational astronomy isn't really a job you can necessarily do.
I had a small Orion reflector that I had to get rid of in a move a few years ago. I miss it! It wasn't super powerful, but enough to see awesome detail of the moon and Orion's belt, etc. Never could really see a galaxy with it.
Anyway I'd like to get back in to astronomy at some point, but the main problem for me is light pollution.
I had a small Orion reflector that I had to get rid of in a move a few years ago. I miss it! It wasn't super powerful, but enough to see awesome detail of the moon and Orion's belt, etc. Never could really see a galaxy with it.
Anyway I'd like to get back in to astronomy at some point, but the main problem for me is light pollution.
01-01-19, 01:26 AM
#1695
Cat 2
I've got a friend that's big into astro photography and chases good conditions for his photos and it's honestly inspiring.
01-01-19, 11:05 AM
#1696
Senior Member
Wife got me a telescope for Christmas a nice beginner /low intermediate Orion 130ST with an equatorial mount. Got it all set up except for aligning and focusing the eyepiece and I'm hoping to use it tonight. Anyone else do any backyard astronomy?
I'm hoping to use it to get the kids interested in space and science and stuff too.
I'm hoping to use it to get the kids interested in space and science and stuff too.
I attempted the Messier marathon, and while never completed it I learned lots just by preparing for it. Would love to get me a 12-16” Starmaster or like telescope. Eq-mounted scopes are great for astrophotography. I’ll probably get back into the hobby at some point. It’s a blast!
01-04-19, 01:33 PM
#1697
Not actually Tmonk
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In college I had dreams of being "an astronomer," until I realized it's basically all math and observational astronomy isn't really a job you can necessarily do.
I had a small Orion reflector that I had to get rid of in a move a few years ago. I miss it! It wasn't super powerful, but enough to see awesome detail of the moon and Orion's belt, etc. Never could really see a galaxy with it.
Anyway I'd like to get back in to astronomy at some point, but the main problem for me is light pollution.
I had a small Orion reflector that I had to get rid of in a move a few years ago. I miss it! It wasn't super powerful, but enough to see awesome detail of the moon and Orion's belt, etc. Never could really see a galaxy with it.
Anyway I'd like to get back in to astronomy at some point, but the main problem for me is light pollution.
__________________
"Your beauty is an aeroplane;
so high, my heart cannot bear the strain." -A.C. Jobim, Triste
"Your beauty is an aeroplane;
so high, my heart cannot bear the strain." -A.C. Jobim, Triste
01-04-19, 01:52 PM
#1698
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I had an Orion XT8 (8” dob reflector). Had to sell it when I moved from Colorado. I still have my laser collimator laying around somewhere.
I attempted the Messier marathon, and while never completed it I learned lots just by preparing for it. Would love to get me a 12-16” Starmaster or like telescope. Eq-mounted scopes are great for astrophotography. I’ll probably get back into the hobby at some point. It’s a blast!
01-05-19, 09:53 PM
#1699
**** that
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Their telescope is an oldschool gigantic refractor, awesome to see in person.
Also San Jose uses weird orange street lights to keep light pollution down, just for the observatory.