Root Access

That Brazilian Guy

00:44

!!ping

ChatBot John Cavil

@ThatBrazilianGuy pong

That Brazilian Guy

!!listcommands

ChatBot John Cavil

Server error (status 500) occured (message probably too long)

That Brazilian Guy

!!tell @allquixotic to pull from github

ChatBot John Cavil

@ThatBrazilianGuy Command to does not exist. Did you mean: no

That Brazilian Guy

00:44

!!tell 12564698 no

ChatBot John Cavil

Braiam

!!fixit braiam

ChatBot John Cavil

►

That Brazilian Guy

!!ping @Braiam

ChatBot John Cavil

@ThatBrazilianGuy pong

Braiam

00:47

!!tell ThatBrazilianGuy ping

ChatBot John Cavil

@ThatBrazilianGuy pong

Braiam

!!ping ThatBrazilianGuy

ChatBot John Cavil

@Braiam pong

Braiam

:(

That Brazilian Guy

I have the impression commands don't work that way...

I createad !!ping just to test lag. It just says "pong".

Boris_yo

01:03

@allquixotic Abandonware games for free: emuparadise.me/Abandonware_Games/List-All-Titles/51

That Brazilian Guy

Legality of abandonware is questionable

Journeyman Geek

da

Journeyman Geek

02:42

Grace Hopper was bloody hillarious.

►

allquixotic

03:16

I feel like a genius who always does things wrong the first time

last night, I wrote my huge spreadsheet processing/consolidating program (using C# and EPPlus) and it was buggy, unmaintainable, ugly, and contained a ~650 SLOC method... oh and it used ~500 MB of memory

today, I spent about two hours refactoring it very carefully and eliminated an entire intermediary step, greatly simplified the data structures, and reduced the memory usage down to ~65 MB

and I didn't rewrite that much code, except that I deleted about 250 SLOC from the awful method

just flat-out deleted

funny thing is, the program doesn't run any faster :P it still takes about 25 seconds to run. no improvement there. but huge improvement in memory usage, cleanliness, and accuracy

I think the runtime is I/O limited

which is great news

Bob

03:58

@allquixotic wtf was using 400 MB?

that's just crazy

@allquixotic cache all the things! :D

...I really wish JS regex had named capture groups

of all the regex engines I've used, I definitely like .NET's one the most

even over Perl

Python's one is pretty good too

Perl... it's just annoying how Perl's variables work.

JS? Doesn't even have lookbehinds -_-

Java? Can't do variable-length assertons

heh, even Python's one can't do that

oh wow, even perl doesn't do that

oh wait, perl 6 does, not 5

Journeyman Geek

04:43

hmm

Paul

@Bob What is a variable length assertion?

Celeritas

Hey I've got another question about operating systems regarding the buddy system of memory allocation

How is it beneficial to use with respect to coalescence's?

"The main advantage of the buddy system is that coalescence is cheap because the "buddy" of any free block can be calculated from its address." can someone explain to me what this means? memorymanagement.org/articles/alloc.html#buddy.system

Bob

@Paul (?<=a+)

basically, a lookbehind (or lookahead [zero-width assertion]) that isn't fixed-length

apparently only Perl6 and .NET (of the major implementations) support variable-length lookbehinds

variable-length lookaheads have wider support

O.O

.NET regex has conditional expressions? whut

(so does Perl, of course)

Paul

@Bob Heh, I can't read it.

Bob

04:59

@Paul you know what a lookbehind is in regex?

allquixotic

05:22

@Bob a lot of temporary arrays and lists in the method that never ends

@Bob bonus points for writing a complete transformation of the raw zipped byte data of one Excel XLSX file to another, including moving data around, sums, column transformations, matching, etc :D using System.Text.RegularExpressions.RegEx

Journeyman Geek

... in regex?

allquixotic

yep

Journeyman Geek

I'll let you know if there's a special place in hell for people like that, or if they are already in hell.

allquixotic

new Regex(@"dear god i don't even know", RegexOptions.Compiled).Match(input) ...

not that the "Compiled" bit will help you

foreach(Site s in everySingleForumOnTheGoddamnPlanet) { email.ReadHappyBirthdayEmail(s); }

Paul

@Bob Yeah, I just can't grok that regex - which bit of it is doing the variable length

Bob

05:56

@allquixotic ...400 MB is still a bit much :P

I can launch about 200 threads in that space

@Paul The a+ means one or more a

"one or more" => variable length (the length of the match depends on the text)

any quantifier would have the same effect

the vast majority of regex implementations (all but two of the language builtins, apparently) only allow lookbehinds when the length is fixed, i.e. it will always match the same number of chars no matter the input text

and a lot don't support lookbehinds either

.NET and Perl6 are special in this regard

Nil

06:28

hello?

I'm a bit new to superuser, was wonder if someone was around to see what my question was lacking. I asked a couple questions about a couple old monitors that needed capacitors replaced, tried to leave detail and provide as much information as possible, in the end they were voted down without much of a reason. Read the help section few times over and over and it seemed like the questions were spot on for superuser.... superuser.com/q/686240/277268

Bob

@Nil it's difficult to say exactly why it was downvoted, but that question does seem a bit too localised

it deals with a specific step in the disassembly instructions for a specific and rather obscure monitor

you're generally better off asking in chat, in those circumstances - though of course some localised questions are accepted, it really depends on who sees it

Nil

There were quite a few examples of those kinds of questions in the related question side

Bob

also, it's very hard to know what exactly is going on - photos aren't really a "maybe in a few days" thing

Nil

I had done it for the previous question I asked, it was more of a heads up more info is coming

Unfortunately the photos in the service manual aren't under a creative commons license and I can't use those, :(

Journeyman Geek

@Nil: from experience, you usually end up looking VERY closely at the problematic part and winging it.

Bob

06:40

@Nil yea, again, it depends on who sees your question

Journeyman Geek

(and heh, I've done this before)

Bob

we're a fairly big community, but even then the chances of someone else having experience iwth the relevant model and part is miniscule :P

Journeyman Geek

@Nil: tip from experience? Replace all the caps

even the ones that look ok

Nil

I'm a bit reluctant to buy one of those capacitor kits

Bob

@JourneymanGeek at some point, you start thinking "maybe a new monitor..." :P

especially if you want to replace with good caps

Nil

06:41

I've gone through 3 monitors over the passed 8 years, lol

Bob

you could always buy a hundred cheap dodgy caps for a few cents, buuuut....

@Nil try better brands :P

Nil

I kinda already did....

Journeyman Geek

@Nil: oh, I buy my caps 'loose'

Nil

I figure 100 caps for a few dollars....

Bob

I was using a Dell monitor for ages

those things last forever

Journeyman Geek

06:42

but I've had a monitor thats gone through 3-4 different capasitor replacements so far

never the same ones, its cascading failure

Bob

My current one is an Asus, and it's going pretty well - only two years in, though

Nil

Hmm, it doesn't help that all my monitors are made in China....

Bob

@Nil it's not so much the manufacturing location

Journeyman Geek

lol

its the capasitors

also the age

Nil

Well, one of them is Proview, which actually distributes it's products under multiple names

It's actually a low end company

Bob

06:43

spend the extra $10 on a better brand, spend the extra half an hour to see if there are known problems (research!), and don't buy newly released models (you don't know how they are)

Nil

Though I'm upset that my viewsonic is so difficult to take apart...

Bob

a good monitor should outlive the caps

Nil

Electrolytic capacitors for what I read have finite lifespans, I tend to leave my monitor running 14+hours a day.

Bob

@Nil finite, yes, but they should easily last a decade if properly manufactured and used

!!wiki capacitor plague

Nil

However the room temperature never gets near the 105 degree Celsius rating....

ChatBot John Cavil

06:45

Capacitor plague

The capacitor plague was a problem with the higher than expected premature failure rate of aluminum electrolytic capacitors with non-solid or liquid electrolyte of certain brands, especially from some Taiwanese manufacturers. The capacitors fail because of a special water based corrosion effect, due to a poorly formulated electrolyte. The first flawed capacitors were reported in September 2002. Many publicized press releases about the widespread problem with premature failures of Taiwanese electrolytic capacitors appeared. Most of the affected capacitors failed within the next five yea...

Bob

the problem is there's billions of them that aren't properly manufactured

Journeyman Geek

@Nil: my last one needed sharpened dowels and other wierd tools to take apart

Bob

@Nil if it's a cheap cap, you're lucky to get half its 'rating'

anyone can slap a 105C sticker on

Nil

I feel like I'm a bit unlucky, 3 monitors in such a short time span. Though I suppose squeezing every penny at every chance might of had something to do with it...

Do you guys think I should replace those huge 450mF capacitors? On the proview I didn't notice any bulge and left it, it still malfunctions.

allquixotic

@Nil seriously, given the amount of time and effort you're putting into this (and presumably, money, if you're buying replacement capacitors), it's probably worth just buying brand new equipment that bloody works and forgetting about the old things -- unless you are now doing it entirely for fun and learning and time/money are not a factor

if your goal is to get working equipment, the most expedient way to that is to buy working equipment

Nil

06:49

time really isn't a factor, and it is partly for the experience

@Bob you were right, I was able to dislodge part of the back panel with a flathead and quite a bit of pressure, not quite the sharpened dowel technique but still...

Bob

@Nil that was @Jou who suggested it :P

@allquixotic pretty much

what's considered a good monitor brand now anyway?

Nil

@all thanx

Good question, I wish I knew....

allquixotic

@Bob now? I don't know; I'm kind of "meh" about monitor brand quality because I haven't ever actually had any monitors go horribly wrong O.o

Bob

lol

Journeyman Geek

@allquixotic: actually, I had a good reason for fixing that

allquixotic

06:52

OTOH I always buy fairly standard name brands, nothing like those nameless ones that Jeff A. got

Bob

As I said above - I've been fine with Dell & Asus

Journeyman Geek

@Nil: there are only 2-3 panel makers

OH

allquixotic

I have Dell and Panasonic at home

Journeyman Geek

and if you look up the panel, you can get a controller + backlight driver + power brick online

Bob

couple of AOCs floating around (not mine), they seem to be doing fine

Journeyman Geek

06:53

which is slightly more expensive but more reliable than re-capping

Bob

seen two Philips ones fail in quick succession, and I would have expected that to be a good brand

Journeyman Geek

I have an asus, seems fine for a low end model.

allquixotic

at work I have ViewSonic and some other cheap brand i can't remember

Bob

that was actually a known problem - hence the advice to check for known problems with a model

Journeyman Geek

@allquixotic: atwood's koreans are interesting ;p

allquixotic

06:54

the ViewSonic is about a 100 year old TN/TFT 1280x1024

Bob

lol

allquixotic

OH... the second monitor is a Planar brand

Planar, 1440x900

Bob

speaking of - I recently got upgraded to an IPS screen at work

allquixotic

basic, but brand new (less than a year) and working

Journeyman Geek

blah :/

Bob

06:55

tbh, can't tell the difference from TN

allquixotic

the main benefit of IPS is in color accuracy and angles, mostly

Journeyman Geek

I want to upgrade a load of stuff, but I rather put it off till I know where I'm going ;p

allquixotic

if you're staring at it head-on and don't have a Pantone color sensor on hand, you probably won't notice

Nil

YEY, I got the back panel off!!!! I can now take inventory of the capacitors

allquixotic

that's why IPS vs TN is an enormous difference for say a tablet

Bob

06:56

@allquixotic makes sense

allquixotic

tablets are often viewed at odd angles

Bob

@allquixotic TN* :P

(pretty sure IPS is still TFT)

allquixotic

yeah, that

I get an awesome picture out of my Surface Pro at almost any angle, it's truly the most advanced display I have in my house, and I have a new HDTV and a new smartphone as well

1920x1080 in just 11" too

or is it 10

Journeyman Geek

lol

Bob

yea, I can actually read from this monitor from the side

Journeyman Geek

06:57

my main desktop screen isn't even 1080p ;p

Bob

not that I ever need that

@JourneymanGeek oh come on, that's the least you could do :P

Journeyman Geek

(well the shared desktop isn't but I got dad to pay for a dell ;p)

allquixotic

I have several older laptops laying around with TNs that are just horrid

Journeyman Geek

@Bob: I had pretty much no money on hand ;p

Bob

it's, what, $150 for a 24" screen?

Journeyman Geek

06:58

this was when I was still in the dogjouse

Bob

a fair bit of money, yes

Journeyman Geek

135 for a 21.5 inch

allquixotic

@JourneymanGeek they let you in the house now?

Bob

but it makes so much difference

The TN => IPS on a desktop is completely unnecessary imo

Journeyman Geek

@allquixotic: ;p

Bob

06:59

but the resolution? don't skimp on that

Journeyman Geek

@allquixotic: better yet, I'm allowed reasonable hardware purchases

@Bob: I will be upgrading that ;p

Bob

yay 100 line JS function

Journeyman Geek

probably using this as a second screen

Bob

with a lovely bit of regex I'll forget about in a week :D

allquixotic

@Bob I think the glossy finish makes it look better to my eyes, too

glossy + IPS + low room lighting + movie = awesome

Bob

07:00

I always go matte where possible

glossy is just too reflective

especially on a laptop

allquixotic

my main monitor on my desktop is matte, but I'm pretty sure the surface pro is glossy

Bob

@allquixotic uh, yea, if it has a touchscreen...

allquixotic

:P

it does :P

Bob

matte touchscreen would be weird

allquixotic

hey, I've had a matte touchscreen before on a ThinkPad

Bob

07:02

(speaking of - I had a bumpy touchpad on a laptop. that was annoying)

allquixotic

well it was technically a stylus-screen but you could touch it and it'd pick up your touch too lol

Bob

@allquixotic resistive?

allquixotic

I guess :D

definitely not multi-touch

so yeah, resistive

Journeyman Geek

if it had a stylus, almost certainly resistive

allquixotic

well it was one of those "unpowered" styluses (no internal batteries or anything) and it would weird out if you touched the screen at the same time as the stylus, so that's basically the exact description of resistive behavior

Bob

07:03

eww CVS

most annoying thing ever

chucking a git repo on top

allquixotic

i worked on a device at ACCESS Systems USA in 2007-2008 in an internship... it was a smartphone (if you can call it that) with 64 MB of RAM and a resistive touchscreen

they were trying to emulate multi-touch in software by figuring out where the user might have meant to touch based on timing and stuff

basically they figured out that if you take two fingers and put them on a resistive screen, the hardware thinks you're touching a point in the midpoint of those two points

so i dunno how they went from that, to figuring out where each finger is

but maybe they succeeded, maybe not, i don't remember, the product never launched though so that should tell you something :P

Bob

@allquixotic I miss my old Nokia phone with proper snake :(

allquixotic

the software was wacky, too... they mapped a filesystem on top of a sqlite database using something called sqlfs

Bob

O.O

allquixotic

here we go ;)

github.com/guardianproject/libsqlfs

don't ask me why "guardian project" picked up something that Andy Tai hacked in 2006... and don't ask me why we used that in a phone with 64 MB of RAM

Bob

07:08

> This is useful for applications which needs structured storage, such
as embedding documents within documents, or management of configuration
data or preferences.

...

Embedding documents within documents.

How very enterprisey.

allquixotic

you know, the concept isn't too terrible, except for the fact that it's done using bloody SQL, which is about as inefficient as you can get

a filesystem in a file is a sane concept. but use a GOOD filesystem as an abstraction layer!

instead of sqlfs, maybe something like ext2....

Bob

> The libsqlfs library provides an easy way for applications to put an
entire read/write file system into a relational database as a single file
in the host file system. Such a file system can easily be moved around,
backed up or restored as a single file. But the file system can also be
accessed as individual files. This provides great flexibility and
convenience.

Uhm.

Have they not heard of, I dunno, simply mounting a raw file?

allquixotic

it's fun to think about, but not very useful in practice as you can probably tell... unfortunately, they made it part of their core platform

this is on a device where shipping GLib was a big debate because they had to decide if they could suffer the performance hit

i think some of the target devices were using ARM's OABI, which is like, oooooooooooold

ARMv3 or v4 with software float :D

Bob

How long has linux had the capability to mount files with a loop device?

allquixotic

no hardware division, no hardware floating point, no SIMD

@Bob for an extremely long time

we were at least working with Linux 2.6.x at the time

Bob

07:12

@allquixotic And is there any advantage to using SQL?

Any at all??

allquixotic

I think I remember one of our kernel versions being 2.6.18

RHEL5-era, definitely loopback times

Journeyman Geek

wait...

access?

allquixotic

@Bob no. unnecessary overhead. lots of string concatenations etc

Bob

> We concluded that a simpler way to meet our needs was to write a library
that supported the POSIX file system semantics on an SQL database.

Journeyman Geek

the guys who bought palmos?

allquixotic

07:12

@JourneymanGeek not as in Microsoft Access

Bob

How about using existing functionality?

allquixotic

@JourneymanGeek the guys who bought PalmSource, yes

Bob

How the fuck did no one think of that?

allquixotic

oh, get this @JourneymanGeek

the Linux-based devices they wanted to release -- 64 MB of RAM, remember --

Journeyman Geek

@allquixotic: I used to be a palm fanboy ;p

allquixotic

07:13

they had a PalmOS GarnetVM emulator

Bob

o.O.O.o

Journeyman Geek

yeah, cause palm was trying to go linux at some point

and failing

allquixotic

so you could run your old Palm apps on top of Linux on top of X on top of GTK

...with a binary translation layer

....on a device with 64 MB of RAM and basically no CPU features to speak of

I mean, what the fuck could go wrong? what in the actual fuck could cause that to fail?

well, apparently, anything, because it never launched, but I digress

also, IIRC, the old Palms didn't use ARM procs, so they had to translate from the CPU instruction layer, up, with no hardware virtualization

I can't imagine how they thought they were going to get that thing to perform even remotely up to user expectations

Bob

@allquixotic I wonder how much RAM the old Palm devices had.

Journeyman Geek

they used dragonballs

decendant of the m68K

4mb ;p

but damned they were snappy

Bob

07:16

I remember using a PalmOS emulator on a P4 trying to read an ebook that was only in some Palm format.

allquixotic

@Bob much less -- basically the apps they were emulating were a lot more cut down -- but still, you had to emulate all that, plus emulate legacy hardware

Bob

That was weird.

allquixotic

@Bob LOL, now there's Calibre :D

Bob

@allquixotic Ya, I couldn't find a converter at the time.

But I could find an emulator, which is even weirder.

allquixotic

fuck it's ridiculous AM -- I love talking about my storied past of internships but I gotta go to sleep

:(

Journeyman Geek

07:17

i recall pdbs were basically text files

Bob

Oh sure, it's easier to emulate an entirely different arch rather than convert a file.

@JourneymanGeek Maybe, but it wasn't exactly easy to read.

!!tell allquixotic sleep

ChatBot John Cavil

@Bob Command sleep does not exist.

allquixotic

@JourneymanGeek not to be confused with a Visual Studio debugging file

Bob

bleh

allquixotic

NIGHT

Bob

07:18

night

allquixotic

!!afk i hope i'm snowed in tomorrow so i don't have to work

ChatBot John Cavil

@allquixotic Just go already!

Nil

Hey, remember that monitor I was having problems disassembling half an hour ago...

I don't see any blown caps, they all look perfectly flat....

Bob

caps can fail without physical indicators too

and any other component can fail

and I would advice you to not touch anything

don't particularly want to be responsible for someone being electrocuted

Nil

This monitor has been sitting in my closet for over 2 years

I'm 99.9999% certain all the caps have been discharged

Bob

07:21

...bridge them with a screwdriver before touching anyway

better safe than sorry

worst case, you lose some hearing and a screwdriver

Nil

meh, I'll short them with 22 guage wire I have lying around

Journeyman Geek

@Nil: hmm

did you do the flashlight test first?

Nil

flashlight test?

Journeyman Geek

(plug in, power up the monitor, see if there's any picture when you shine a flashlight at it)

also, 'bulging' may not be dramatic

Bob

> We signed new contract with DHL with new BIGGER discounts! All loaded to calculator. Enjoy!

:(

oh wait TNT is still cheaper

I like how Airmail Economy is "slow" and Airmail Priority ($10 more) is "very slow"

Nil

07:30

I wish I hadn't decided to lent out my multimeter before I decided to bring out these old monitors. There is absolutely no physical evidence on these caps that indicate they went bad, they look spotless. They are mismatched brands though.....

Bob

07:53

o.O

smh.com.au/it-pro/security-it/…

(@jou)

Nil

08:06

hey bob, are you still there?

My monitor stays on for 2 seconds each time I turn it on or change video resolutions, then the screen shuts off. That's indicative of blown caps, right?

Psycogeek

08:27

@Nil naw its just a cable not bringing the eid eieio signal to the monitor so it brainlessly thinks there is no signal and shuts off?

Bob

@Nil @JourneymanGeek knows this stuff far better than me :P

come to think of it, Psycogeek does too.

@Psycogeek edid is from monitor to graphics card, it identifies the monitor and supported modes

and everything should still work (with manual configuration) even if edid is missing

(faulty edid, on the other hand...)

Journeyman Geek

@Nil: did you check it with a flashlight?

Bob

gah

Journeyman Geek

and yeah, that sounds like blown caps

Bob

> hello, my name is william, I am calling from the technical department of windows

Journeyman Geek

08:36

(seriously, first thing to check)

....

@Bob: people like that need to be nibbled to death by ducks

2

►

or cats...

Gowtham

08:48

lol facebook.com/theoatmeal/posts/10153623548280078

Boris_yo

@Bob Did you get a call?

Bob

...yes?

Boris_yo

@Bob How did conversation unfold?

Bob

15 mins ago, by Bob

> hello, my name is william, I am calling from the technical department of windows

> fuck off hangs up

Boris_yo

@Bob You said that right in front of him?

Bob

08:52

@Boris_yo Sure, why not.

It's a fucking scam phone call.

And I have to deal with far too many telemarketers/scammers.

Honestly, at this point, if I pick up a phone and hear an Indian accent the other person is going to have a rather hard time convincing me they're not a telemarketer or scammer. When you get at least one, and often three or more, such calls a day, you rapidly lose patience.

Boris_yo

@Bob I personally can't hang up into caller's face, let alone swear at caller due to being too polite but if I get calls in same volume as you do, I wouldn't be surprised.

Bob

Heck, I get annoyed just by the phone ringing - it's like a 10:1 ratio for actual legitimate calls.

@Boris_yo They're scammers. Their whole "business model" is tricking people into letting them onto their computers and fucking things up before charging them.

Boris_yo

@Bob I get annoyed by phone calls in general. It distracts, I lose focus and get temporary ADD.

Bob

There is no reason to be polite to them.

Journeyman Geek

lol

i just mess with them

Bob

08:55

@JourneymanGeek too many to mess with

I have better things to do -_-

I actually did do the VM thing once. Not worth the trouble.

@Boris_yo ya

doesn't really matter what I'm doing, phone calls are anoying

I'm actually perfectly fine with emails, and will usually read them immediately, but a pone all is just plain annoying

partially because of the implied urgency

partially because, well, it's a trained response by now

Boris_yo

@Bob Like one guy who stayed on call with indian scammer while that scammer performed some cleanup until he wanted to charge for work. Once guy refused, indian scammer gone full retard by starting to delete various folders in Windows XP. What indian scammer did not know is that it was virtual Windows XP machine. :D

Bob

Weirdly enough, I think I've had a grand total of one guy with an Australian accent call (as a telemarketer).

And he swore at me o.O

just after I said hello, too

wut

wow technotes.iangreenleaf.com/posts/…

Nil

@JourneymanGeek sorry, went offline for a bit. Yeah, I tried shining a flashlight on the screen. Nothing was there. It does display my desktop for 2 seconds but then shuts off. Odd that the caps look perfect...

Boris_yo

09:13

@Bob He had a bad day or he was aware of your previous calls with telemarketers.

Journeyman Geek

yeah, that rules out just being the backlight

@Bob: I mean things like telling him I run OS/2

or acting stupid ;p

Boris_yo

How come weekly system scan did not detect this but when I navigated folder it did? Are malicious files more active when user navigates folder?

Bob

@JourneymanGeek lol

what, invite them on the OS/2 VM? :P

though I don't think the remote access would even work

unless they wanted vnc, hmm

cause you can do vnc via vbox

@JourneymanGeek SC-S1 charger arrived :D

Journeyman Geek

09:39

@Bob: or RDP over vbox

Bob

@JourneymanGeek OS/2 does RDP?

vbox does RDP?

o.O

Journeyman Geek

@Bob: virtualbox does RDP

Bob

oh yea, I forgot -_-

Journeyman Geek

virtualbox.org/manual/ch07.html

Boris_yo

@Bob SC-S1 Mix, Max or Universal?

Gowtham

09:55

!! stat

ChatBot John Cavil

@Gowtham User 16796 not found

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