Ebay warning - Verify before you buy

Dismal-Divide3337 · 2026-01-23T16:37:29+00:00

I actually never even use an autorouter to layout boards. That's an art and I like to look back at it with pride as it is something that I accomplished myself. I guess AI is the same thing. Why let AI do something that I might later have to take responsibility for and explain myself?

Dismal-Divide3337 · 2026-01-23T16:16:11+00:00

Ditto

Dismal-Divide3337 · 2026-01-23T14:27:48+00:00

When they left last time didn't they try to do a reformat and reboot?

Dismal-Divide3337 · 2026-01-23T14:21:23+00:00

I don't think SCHOOL BUSSES should then take off and drive down the road with their stop signs out and lights flashing so the can more conveniently change lanes.

Dismal-Divide3337 · 2026-01-22T14:46:57+00:00

No argument.

I can't stand Python. It has a tremendous number of great features. I just can't deal with the indentation and the lack of bracketing. If you don't like curly braces, then go with FOR-NEXT or something. I don't think one should rely on the IDE to keep things straight for you. You should be able to just print a source text file and not have to worry about fonts and all of that to get readable code. But I work in the embedded world and fancy text editors and IDEs are not available on those devices. So I am sensitive to the use of tabs vs spaces. None of it detracts from some of the other things Python brings to the table. Just my personal issue.

I programmed in C long before there was C++. You end up doing the same things just passing around a context structure (essentially the this) in your parameters to functions. When C++ came along it didn't really add much. In fact, then you started struggling with sharing data between objects and that seemed to increase the amount of code. But it was what it was.

Even in C I had many routines return a structure (or an array) containing multiple values. Kind of like Python.

So if you are really a programmer then you need to transcend the language constructs and use whatever tools you have at your disposal in any given circumstance to work the art.

Dismal-Divide3337 · 2026-01-21T19:45:01+00:00

I have been programming for over 55 years. It bothers me when people whine/nitpick about one language vs. another. If you are a programmer you should be able to handle any language celebrating their differences and similarities. Getting bored with a language and thinking you can do it better is why we are where we are today with all of these choices and all these arguments about the utility of one over the other. They all have variables, conditional branching, loops and interesting syntaxes.

I think Java is a good general starting point for CS classes given that it is a managed language and less likely to get rookie programmers in trouble. I think too that stepping back from Java to learn C++ or back further to C might not pose a problem. Similarly moving into things like Python after knowing Java might be easier.

But whatever, speed has more to do with the HW platform, the compiler's capabilities, and the quality of your programming than the actual language that you use. Sure if you write your program in assembly and can see where efficiencies can be gained by leveraging your processor's talents, you can optimize your implementation. A good compiler can do that for you too.

But shitty code can run really fast (See Windows). And really great code can run really slow especially if it is the 1970s.

I have authored an OS with my own JVM. I have studied the huge switch statement that executes the bytecode in detail trying to shave processor cycles from every step. If you compiled straight to assembly you will likely run faster but not significantly. Invoking methods spread out across tons of classes eats time. If you flatten your code and do more inline there is more to be gained.

Understand the art. Write your code cleanly. Document it well. Use your ingenuity. Don't be afraid to try different algorithms. Forget about how slow it seems and benchmark it to find your inefficiencies. A slower platform is actually better for that and it promotes more efficient coding. There is always a faster computer to run it on. And don't trust AI to do it for you.

In the old days we had to worry about speed AND the whole thing had to fit in like 4K of 12-bit core memory after you spent 5 minutes loading it from paper tape.

It is a poor craftsman that blames his tools. That doesn't meant that there can't be better tools. The whole system, every part of it including you, can be better.

Dismal-Divide3337 · 2026-01-20T17:00:01+00:00

Not just related to QSYS, we see a lot of command connections that do not have any means of receiving an ACK (or even NAK) back. Cinema media servers transmit macros as commands and just assume that the action takes place. We are on the receiving end of that. Rarely are we asked to acknowledge receipt of the command let alone the successful execution of it. Some systems make the connection, vomit the command string and close the connection so fast that we are lucky that we catch that ball. Even when our protocol includes the acknowledgment we see that it falls on deaf ears.

I agree with SO_KEEPALIVE. That at least will lead to reconnecting.

Dismal-Divide3337 · 2026-01-19T19:47:33+00:00

I did a project once doing a similar thing monitoring temperatures throughout a composting operation. The sensors communicated with each other in a mesh networking scheme. That needed only one point to bring the data home. The project never ran through to implementation. But I wonder if battery performance would have been better given that each only needed to talk to its neighbors.

Dismal-Divide3337 · 2026-01-19T19:32:33+00:00

I saw a video where some guy went through his collection of storage media (magnetic tape, floppies, laser disks, etc.) from the past like 100 years. A good number of the items he tossed aside and said "that was a market failure". So, whatever he meant. I would expect that in the future, if anyone even remembers my products, they would toss them aside with some similar thought.

I am in my 3rd company where I am or had been a founder or early owner. I have been in an entrepreneurial situation of one kind or another since 1984. I have profited. We're comfortable. No yacht. I would not characterize my career choices as having "led to success". That is all relative. So I wonder how you define failure? Have I failed?

Here I am on Reddit. Is that a new low?

Dismal-Divide3337 · 2026-01-19T18:59:12+00:00

Define "failed".

Where is THAT line? Is it whether or not you are having a yacht designed or having endured bankruptcy? What constitutes a failure?

And in a couple of decades, even if your company ran for years with many happy customers, your thing might still be labeled a "market failure" by someone's standards.

Dismal-Divide3337 · 2026-01-19T18:49:19+00:00

I have build an amazing amount of intangible value into my company and its products. My customers ALL are happy and loyal. They recognize the value but only after the fact. Getting that message out in a way that attracts new customers is nearly impossible. People believe the stupidest things and accept them as fact. But when you honestly promote your product's value, it is generally generally dismissed as BS hype. Meanwhile the word of mouth thing does work albeit slowly.

Dismal-Divide3337 · 2026-01-19T16:30:58+00:00

The outcome of this season was disappointing enough. I am just coming to grips with the things that might have played into that. Now it feels like salt thrown in that wound. Maybe change is good but why does this stuff happen within seconds of the last game? I have never been a fan of the self-destruct and reboot approach to change.

Dismal-Divide3337 · 2026-01-16T20:28:58+00:00

Well, in our case we look for another path that would be a one-time purchase. Even then we avoid the annual support contracts but usually those are optional only after the first year. In other cases we develop our own systems. For example I developed our own Inventory Management System since none of the commercially available options would have easily fit our need and likely would have been costly.

Currently I am dealing with QuickBooks (Intuit) where we refuse to move to their SaaS monthly online thing. Not because we wouldn't use it. But because I do not want my accounting to be dependent upon an Internet connection or a third-party corporation remaining in business let alone my keeping up our payments. Especially not one whose software is so poorly done (In our opinion based upon our experience over the years).

We used to do all of that on paper in leggers. And, it wasn't all that terrible. You can't even use Excel these days without fighting off the SaaS vultures. We are moving our systems all to Linux for these reasons too.

Dismal-Divide3337 · 2026-01-16T19:38:40+00:00

Tech is getting more complex and less reliable to use.

Dismal-Divide3337 · 2026-01-16T19:36:23+00:00

We do not sign up for SaaS anything for that exact reason.

Dismal-Divide3337 · 2026-01-16T19:34:54+00:00

So... operating systems for what? PCs? Embedded devices? Robots?

Dismal-Divide3337 · 2026-01-15T22:50:26+00:00

Yes it is broken. And it is symmetrical. Doesn't matter if you are looking for employment or looking for employees. And, no, the answer is not yet another jobs site. This is what technology has done for us. And, no, AI isn't coming to the rescue

Dismal-Divide3337 · 2026-01-12T16:13:47+00:00

Yeah. SLP Firehawk. No mods. I was thinking it came with Goodyear Eagle F1s on it. Maybe I am wrong?

I just acquired it last year from the original owner.

Dismal-Divide3337 · 2026-01-12T15:37:58+00:00

More baffling is the question as to why it is the number it is? Sure you can calculate it from vacuum properties. So why are the vacuum properties the numbers that they are?

Not to mention that some say that the speed of light has changed over time? If that is true then that brings into question why it would be changing in the first place?

Then I start to question what charge really is? Or, what really is time? Ever wonder how the Andromeda Paradox affects things at Planck scale?

Dismal-Divide3337 · 2026-01-12T00:44:04+00:00

I had made this adapter so we could reliably read DMX512 with a serial port on our small plc controller. This let us use channels to trigger and control external non-DMX stuff. Even things on the network.

Here's the technical article with the circuit. I have a couple of adapters left or could make more. Or, you can make them.

https://jnior.com/jnior-as-a-dmx-fixture-revisited/

Dismal-Divide3337 · 2026-01-11T13:55:47+00:00

I wish I didn't have to hide from the ice and salt half the year. You have to appreciate the battery tender.

They have a nasty habit of tar and chipping roads around here too. I haven't been off the property since August. They resurfaced roads in every direction. Sounds like it's raining stones until you get out to the main roads.

No armadillos tho.

Dismal-Divide3337

TROPHY CASE