'No Stupid Questions' (NSQ) Internet & Technology Edition

[TurdFondler]

So my mom has an 8-year-old Dell laptop and it's acting up on her. She is not tech-savvy, but not "old and senile" either. I was wondering what is the best brand insofar as reliability and ease of use. I love my HP but I wanted to get more up to date information from the people who know best!
Perhaps an all-in-one? She just orders things and uses her Email, not a heavy user at all. Thanks in advance I appreciate any advice.

Chromebooks are best bang for your buck but if you need a windows machine I always go for refurb lenovos. If you want a desktop, refurb HP celeron and upgrade the ram and gpu with bottom tier models. Surprisingly capable machines.

Back to the spergout:
Block chain is dumb, especially if SSB will make you pull down the whole chain.

For a distributed message board architecture I'm thinking a fluid peer to peer network with nodes going on and off throughout the day, as users log on. The client would determine your nearest peers and ask for updates. The clients would be synchronized on UTC.

For now I'm imagining each post as its own distinct unit but it doesn't have to be implemented that way. So, for example:

Your client would ask the network for newest 10 posts. The other clients would check the timestamp of the request and flag the appropriate post(s). Your nearest peer would send the checksum, which would be verified against other nodes. If the checksum matches something like 80% of the network, the data is transferred.

 

[Kosher Dill]

Your client would ask the network for newest 10 posts. The other clients would check the timestamp of the request and flag the appropriate post(s). Your nearest peer would send the checksum, which would be verified against other nodes. If the checksum matches something like 80% of the network, the data is transferred.

Distributing the data itself isn't the hard part, it's everything else.

Anyway, we should probably just fork this off to a new thread.

 

[Dr. Geronimo]

Can I trust this windows 10 key seller if I'm getting a code for a new build?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/DIGITAL-KEY-Microsoft-Windows-10-Pro-NO-UPG-INSTANT-32-64-bit-Download/154233111377?epid=10024215405&hash=item23e9028351:g:iPYAAOSw5FVe8aGZ

 

[Least Concern]

Can I trust this windows 10 key seller if I'm getting a code for a new build?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/DIGITAL-KEY-Microsoft-Windows-10-Pro-NO-UPG-INSTANT-32-64-bit-Download/154233111377?epid=10024215405&hash=item23e9028351:g:iPYAAOSw5FVe8aGZ

That's a 404 now, so you might have dodged a bullet.

 

[Kosher Dill]

Can I trust this windows 10 key seller if I'm getting a code for a new build?

Just go find an old Windows 7 computer and use its key code, that's what they're probably doing.

 

[Never Scored]

Can I trust this windows 10 key seller if I'm getting a code for a new build?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/DIGITAL-KEY-Microsoft-Windows-10-Pro-NO-UPG-INSTANT-32-64-bit-Download/154233111377?epid=10024215405&hash=item23e9028351:g:iPYAAOSw5FVe8aGZ

I've used this site for Office and Windows 10 Pro keys multiple times. Never had an issue.

 

[Kartoshki]

What does the sticker mean?

 

[Kosher Dill]

What does the sticker mean?

"I'll drink to that!"
Or whatever else you like.

 

[Overly Serious]

Can I trust this windows 10 key seller if I'm getting a code for a new build?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/DIGITAL-KEY-Microsoft-Windows-10-Pro-NO-UPG-INSTANT-32-64-bit-Download/154233111377?epid=10024215405&hash=item23e9028351:g:iPYAAOSw5FVe8aGZ

A little late but this site sells Windows 10 keys cheap. They're recommended by Coreteks and whilst anywhere you see Windows 10 Pro keys for $13 there's obviously something going on they seem to actually work and not be outright illegal.

https://www.ubuycard.com/microsoft-windows-10-pro-1-license-key-global.html

Okay - my question. I want to run four monitors in parallel - all one big mouse goes off the edge of one appears on the other shared desktop. The monitors I already have - one has a HDMI input or that old one with pins, the other two have display ports and one of them has a display port out as well. What do I need in terms of graphics card to run this well and what's the configuration with the cables? None of the monitors are 4K but I thought maybe getting a 4K one for the new one.

 

[Prophetic Spirit]

I'm using a 5-years Lenovo laptop and nothing special about the hardware has happened more than a overuse of the keyboard (replaced by a USB one) and the 3.5mm got fucked.

My CPU temperature fluctues between the 45º and 70º (when i play games, sharing with a dedicated NVIDIA GPU). Cleaned the fan 1 week ago and i use a cooler below the laptop.

My question is... it's time to use thermal paste? Or i can wait for a bit longer?

 

[Least Concern]

Okay - my question. I want to run four monitors in parallel - all one big mouse goes off the edge of one appears on the other shared desktop. The monitors I already have - one has a HDMI input or that old one with pins, the other two have display ports and one of them has a display port out as well. What do I need in terms of graphics card to run this well and what's the configuration with the cables? None of the monitors are 4K but I thought maybe getting a 4K one for the new one.

For what it's worth, I'm driving two 1080p external monitors plus the laptop screen off of a potato laptop about half a decade old with the Intel integrated graphics. If you don't need 4K, then you don't need beefy hardware to pull this trick off.

I'm using a 5-years Lenovo laptop and nothing special about the hardware has happened more than a overuse of the keyboard (replaced by a USB one) and the 3.5mm got fucked.

My CPU temperature fluctues between the 45º and 70º (when i play games, sharing with a dedicated NVIDIA GPU). Cleaned the fan 1 week ago and i use a cooler below the laptop.

My question is... it's time to use dermal paste? Or i can wait for a bit longer?

That'd be thermal paste. If your laptop is easy to open up and you know how to apply the paste properly, it couldn't hurt, but I don't think those temperatures are that bad for a laptop - though I'm sure hardcore case modders would disagree.

 

[Jones McCann]

I have a Logitech mouse where the software has to be open 24/7 or else the settings will revert back to normal. This isn't normal right? I remember being able to close this shit before and not have spyware running 24/7 on my computer. Any suggestions on a new mouse?

 

[Smaug's Smokey Hole]

Okay - my question. I want to run four monitors in parallel - all one big mouse goes off the edge of one appears on the other shared desktop. The monitors I already have - one has a HDMI input or that old one with pins, the other two have display ports and one of them has a display port out as well. What do I need in terms of graphics card to run this well and what's the configuration with the cables? None of the monitors are 4K but I thought maybe getting a 4K one for the new one.

You can buy the cheapest card you can find if you're just going to run windows/linux on it. The only thing you have to be concerned about is making sure that the graphics card have the outputs you need or you will have to start messing with adapters. These days you probably won't find any cards with VGA or even DVI, it will likely have a single HDMI port and the rest will be DisplayPort.

If you're looking for something cheap that can run four screens then go to eBay and pick up a cheap Quadro(Nvidias professional line). You can probably get something like the K1200 or P600 for $70 and they both have four mini-DP outputs that can run 4K displays.

 

[Kosher Dill]

Any suggestions on a new mouse?

I've always been satisfied with good old Microsoft for mice. There really aren't that many choices out there besides MS, Logitech, and 5-cent China junk.

 

[Never Scored]

I have a Logitech mouse where the software has to be open 24/7 or else the settings will revert back to normal. This isn't normal right?

Burn this mouse in a fucking fire.

 

[Overly Serious]

Burn this mouse in a fucking fire.

And then get a trackball like this. 2 days in you'll never want to use a mouse again. So much precision. Much easy.

For what it's worth, I'm driving two 1080p external monitors plus the laptop screen off of a potato laptop about half a decade old with the Intel integrated graphics. If you don't need 4K, then you don't need beefy hardware to pull this trick off.



That'd be thermal paste. If your laptop is easy to open up and you know how to apply the paste properly, it couldn't hurt, but I don't think those temperatures are that bad for a laptop - though I'm sure hardcore case modders would disagree.

You can buy the cheapest card you can find if you're just going to run windows/linux on it. The only thing you have to be concerned about is making sure that the graphics card have the outputs you need or you will have to start messing with adapters. These days you probably won't find any cards with VGA or even DVI, it will likely have a single HDMI port and the rest will be DisplayPort.

If you're looking for something cheap that can run four screens then go to eBay and pick up a cheap Quadro(Nvidias professional line). You can probably get something like the K1200 or P600 for $70 and they both have four mini-DP outputs that can run 4K displays.

Thanks both. All helpful. But once I started trying to pick out a monitor I came across this:

and even this:

Those are a LG 38" and 49" ultrawide monitor respectively. Their resolutions are 3840x1600 and 5120x1440.

Now let me be clear, if I did any gaming on them at all it would almost certainly be old-fashioned strategy and RPGs with minimal or even 2D gaming. My goal is productivity. Both appeal to me but I lean towards the 38" one because it has the extra height (good for coding), tighter resolution and the higher refresh rate. I have a monitor with 144Hz right now and I can actually tell the difference between how smoothly this one scrolls compared to the older 60-75Hz one so the 38" one appeals.

If I can get just a little more insight from you guys, what level of GPU do I need to drive this, assuming it's just for MS Office etc. (but that I want it to look really crisp)? Secondly, I've never used a curved monitor before and don't know anyone who has one I can take a look at. So I have this idea in my head that I'll be looking at a spreadsheet and it will look like some weird curved distortion. How are curved monitors for things other than gaming?

 

[Least Concern]

Do it. Do it, motherfucker. Get one of those fucking gimmick monitors and then be one of my clients who complains that the really complex site layout they wanted falls apart when the browser window is over 3000 pixels wide. Do you know how much fun it is debugging that shit on a 1080p?

That aside, even if I could afford one of those things, I'd still prefer separate monitors for two reasons. One, if one breaks, I'm out one affordable monitor (and have replacements to fall back on) rather than one expensive one. Two, the separation of monitors allows me to "separate concerns." I can keep my code editor and browser preview window on the middle one, have IRC and Slack and email open on one side screen, then have another browser window open on the other screen for looking up reference stuff, or just having YouTube or iTunes or whatever open. There are defined "boundaries" to each of these groups of windows/apps that I wouldn't have on just a single massive screen.

 

[Boris Blank's glass eye]

If I can get just a little more insight from you guys, what level of GPU do I need to drive this, assuming it's just for MS Office etc. (but that I want it to look really crisp)?

Get a used Quadro or maybe a GTX 1060 since those are getting cheaper. I'd go for a corporate write-off Quadro for productivity and light gaming.

 

[Smaug's Smokey Hole]

And then get a trackball like this. 2 days in you'll never want to use a mouse again. So much precision. Much easy.

View attachment 1803668




Thanks both. All helpful. But once I started trying to pick out a monitor I came across this:
View attachment 1803669
and even this:
View attachment 1803671

Those are a LG 38" and 49" ultrawide monitor respectively. Their resolutions are 3840x1600 and 5120x1440.

Now let me be clear, if I did any gaming on them at all it would almost certainly be old-fashioned strategy and RPGs with minimal or even 2D gaming. My goal is productivity. Both appeal to me but I lean towards the 38" one because it has the extra height (good for coding), tighter resolution and the higher refresh rate. I have a monitor with 144Hz right now and I can actually tell the difference between how smoothly this one scrolls compared to the older 60-75Hz one so the 38" one appeals.

If I can get just a little more insight from you guys, what level of GPU do I need to drive this, assuming it's just for MS Office etc. (but that I want it to look really crisp)? Secondly, I've never used a curved monitor before and don't know anyone who has one I can take a look at. So I have this idea in my head that I'll be looking at a spreadsheet and it will look like some weird curved distortion. How are curved monitors for things other than gaming?

Running windows at an insane resolution is no problem, even shitty Intel GPUs found in sub-$500 laptops can do 4k@60hz.

The P600 or K1200 is again a good choice if bought used and cheap, they have lots of ports and can drive insane resolutions. I think the consumer cards(GeForce) is kneecapped by software/firmware to force people into the Quadro line if they want to go nuts with the displays. The way it is measured on the consumer cards is a COMBINED max resolution and on the 10 , 20 and 30 series that is 7680x4320 or 4x1080p. There's no hardware reason for why it can't go higher. The K1200 I mentioned support 4x4k for a combined resolution of a lot and the P600 goes up to 4x5k according to Nvidia and that's insane, that's a combined resolution of coked up stock trader.
Don't know about the maximum refresh rate, the P600 uses DP 1.4 ports and they can run 4k at 120hz or higher and I don't see why the driver wouldn't let you. The k1200 is 4k@75hz and 1440p@120hz I think, yet again it's the driver. Never tried it.

They're not the fastest cards, both roughly equivalent to the 1030(p600 is actually a 1030, the K1200 is a GTX 750, they differ in the amount of VRAM, 2GB vs 4GB for the latter). Playing old/indie/simpler games even if they're 3D won't be a problem and relatively modern games can usually be played, DOTA/LOL at 1080p/medium should be possible, Rocket League at 900p/medium-low should work at 60fps. I played Resident Evil 7 at low(custom low, some things could be bumped) at 90% resolution scaling of 900p@30fps I think and while the shadows where chunky it looked nice and I played with no problem up to the boat. Look up Geforce 1030 benchmarks on youtube to get an idea how games look and play. The Quadro drivers might be a bit slower because they aim for stability and not speed but I think the GeForce drivers can be forcibly installed.

Old games, no problem, if a game was multiplatform and released before the PS4 it should be fine at medium or even high, 1080p is stretching it though, it usually tops out at 900p/30fps unless it's a game that can be found in Chinese internet cafes(LOL, Overwatch etc. but not PUBG because it's PUBG and runs like ass)

Emulation of Gamecube and PS2 is fine but resolution dependent(720p is almost guaranteed on a lot of games).

They come from offices and not gaming computers so they're probably clean and in good condition, plus you might be able to buy them cheaper($60-80) than the equivalent and hobbled consumer card with no outport ports and potentially shitty VRAM(DDR4 vs GDDR5).

 

[Overly Serious]

Do it. Do it, motherfucker. Get one of those fucking gimmick monitors and then be one of my clients who complains that the really complex site layout they wanted falls apart when the browser window is over 3000 pixels wide. Do you know how much fun it is debugging that shit on a 1080p?

Well that's what happens when shitty frameworks have 1200px as their largest breakpoint size. Client should pay-up and be grateful you haven't given them one of those now-everywhere layouts that is just a vertical strip of solid colour with an obnoxiously wide-spaced font and left everything either side of it to just be infinitely expanding void. God, mobile phones have wrecked web-design!

That aside, even if I could afford one of those things, I'd still prefer separate monitors for two reasons. One, if one breaks, I'm out one affordable monitor (and have replacements to fall back on) rather than one expensive one. Two, the separation of monitors allows me to "separate concerns." I can keep my code editor and browser preview window on the middle one, have IRC and Slack and email open on one side screen, then have another browser window open on the other screen for looking up reference stuff, or just having YouTube or iTunes or whatever open. There are defined "boundaries" to each of these groups of windows/apps that I wouldn't have on just a single massive screen.

These are good points. One thing I liked about the LG ultrawides is that LG make some neat software that let you snap windows not to the edges but to virtual columns within the screen. So you can have three "columns" of windows if you want. Having a separate monitor for email and messaging, probably in portrait mode, is appealing. I've been reading a lot about curved monitors. I'm trying to decide between going for the ultra-wide or getting a flat 32" 4K monitor. The extra height of it might be nice.

Running windows at an insane resolution is no problem, even shitty Intel GPUs found in sub-$500 laptops can do 4k@60hz.

The P600 or K1200 is again a good choice if bought used and cheap, they have lots of ports and can drive insane resolutions. I think the consumer cards(GeForce) is kneecapped by software/firmware to force people into the Quadro line if they want to go nuts with the displays. The way it is measured on the consumer cards is a COMBINED max resolution and on the 10 , 20 and 30 series that is 7680x4320 or 4x1080p. There's no hardware reason for why it can't go higher. The K1200 I mentioned support 4x4k for a combined resolution of a lot and the P600 goes up to 4x5k according to Nvidia and that's insane, that's a combined resolution of coked up stock trader.
Don't know about the maximum refresh rate, the P600 uses DP 1.4 ports and they can run 4k at 120hz or higher and I don't see why the driver wouldn't let you. The k1200 is 4k@75hz and 1440p@120hz I think, yet again it's the driver. Never tried it.

They're not the fastest cards, both roughly equivalent to the 1030(p600 is actually a 1030, the K1200 is a GTX 750, they differ in the amount of VRAM, 2GB vs 4GB for the latter). Playing old/indie/simpler games even if they're 3D won't be a problem and relatively modern games can usually be played, DOTA/LOL at 1080p/medium should be possible, Rocket League at 900p/medium-low should work at 60fps. I played Resident Evil 7 at low(custom low, some things could be bumped) at 90% resolution scaling of 900p@30fps I think and while the shadows where chunky it looked nice and I played with no problem up to the boat. Look up Geforce 1030 benchmarks on youtube to get an idea how games look and play. The Quadro drivers might be a bit slower because they aim for stability and not speed but I think the GeForce drivers can be forcibly installed.

Old games, no problem, if a game was multiplatform and released before the PS4 it should be fine at medium or even high, 1080p is stretching it though, it usually tops out at 900p/30fps unless it's a game that can be found in Chinese internet cafes(LOL, Overwatch etc. but not PUBG because it's PUBG and runs like ass)

Emulation of Gamecube and PS2 is fine but resolution dependent(720p is almost guaranteed on a lot of games).

They come from offices and not gaming computers so they're probably clean and in good condition, plus you might be able to buy them cheaper($60-80) than the equivalent and hobbled consumer card with no outport ports and potentially shitty VRAM(DDR4 vs GDDR5).

I was able to find a Quadro P600 for under £100. They seem to be easy to obtain in that price range so that's great. Pretty low power as well so that's an added bonus. Thanks a lot!