@Obsolesce said in What Are You Watching Now:

If only everyone in the world would watch and understand this...

Youtube Video

Reading "The Undercover Economist" is a good add-on to this video.

@JasGot said in 12 yo is learning a bit about Linux and Python.:

@manxam said in 12 yo is learning a bit about Linux and Python.:

That looks fantastic. Do you have a build log or instructions that you followed?

P.S. Why is that deer looking at me?!

We looked at some examples and then followed our noses. https://magicmirror.builders/

Got an $89 24" LED from Walmart, https://www.walmart.com/ip/onn-24-1920x1080-VGA-HDMI-60hz-14ms-LED-Slim-Design-Monitor/144551706

an 18"x24"x2.5" rear load shadow box from Michael's https://www.michaels.com/black-shadow-box-by-studio-decor/10360333.html

A Raspberyy Pi 2 ( the 3 and 4 have built-in WiFi that play havvoc with the motion sensing.) https://smile.amazon.com/Raspberry-Pi-Model-Desktop-Linux/dp/B00T2U7R7I/ref=sr_1_9?dchild=1&keywords=raspberry+pi+2&qid=1593385167&s=electronics&sr=1-9
and case: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MQLB1N6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Radar Motion Sensor https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MTWZDQZ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

and a two way mirror: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01G4MQ966/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

You could play some nice "ghostly" tricks on unsuspecting visitors with that setup.

@Pete-S said in How to Connect Power Disable SATA Drive to Dell Inspiron 5676:

@pmoncho said in How to Connect Power Disable SATA Drive to Dell Inspiron 5676:

@JaredBusch said in How to Connect Power Disable SATA Drive to Dell Inspiron 5676:

@scottalanmiller said in How to Connect Power Disable SATA Drive to Dell Inspiron 5676:

@pmoncho said in How to Connect Power Disable SATA Drive to Dell Inspiron 5676:

@scottalanmiller said in How to Connect Power Disable SATA Drive to Dell Inspiron 5676:

@Pete-S said in How to Connect Power Disable SATA Drive to Dell Inspiron 5676:

@scottalanmiller said in How to Connect Power Disable SATA Drive to Dell Inspiron 5676:

Confirmed, snipping the orange wire (I needed help as I can't see orange) did the job, drive showed up immediately.

Congrats! I wasn't sure you'd be up for the task. A lot of people are afraid to make permanent changes to their equipment.

You can't believe how much pushback I got from @Dominica and @pchiodo about snipping a simple cable on a $2 SATA extension part! For me, it was a no brainer once knowing what it was. But they were up for spending hundreds of dollars to avoid snipping that wire. And it isn't even hard wired to the power supply or anything it's literally just a SATA extension piece! lol Like $2 tops if you don't shop around.

I would have been with @Dominica and @pchiodo on this. Electric scares me. I would think snipping the wire would cause a spark while I wasn't home and come home to a few burning cinders.

That was mentioned as a concern. lol

FFS people need to just STFU if they don’t know how electricity works.

That was exactly my point and why I wouldn't have done it. As for STFU about well, that is where we differ. Those concerns could be alleviated with an explanation of why it would not be an issue.

For electrons to flow you need a circuit. If you cut the wire you don't have a circuit anymore and because of that you don't have any electricity flowing. Since there is no electricity, there can't be any sparks.

If you just cut the wire but don't remove it, then one end can come in contact with the chassis and then you have a circuit and electricity flowing.

Modern switched power supplies (as in your computer) have short-circuit protection. So nothing would happen except that 3.3V will go down to 0V. So if there is anything in your computer that need 3.3V power from the power supply, it will not get it.

If you had something else producing 3.3V (for instance a battery) and you'd short-circuit that, then it can get cause a fire. Just because it's only 3.3V doesn't mean anything.

And sparks is not a problem unless you're in an explosive environment. The problem is that a short-circuit cause increased current running in the wire. That current will turn into heat. That heat causes things to melt and catch fire. And that's how you burn down a house.

Also nice to know is that any electrical circuit inside a computer is low voltage, 12V or below. It can't kill you no matter what you do. It's the same voltage as you have in an ordinary car battery.

The only way to get into trouble with a computer is by disassembling the power supply. There you have lethal voltage.

Thank you for the explanation. Very helpful.

@JaredBusch said in How to Connect Power Disable SATA Drive to Dell Inspiron 5676:

@scottalanmiller said in How to Connect Power Disable SATA Drive to Dell Inspiron 5676:

@pmoncho said in How to Connect Power Disable SATA Drive to Dell Inspiron 5676:

@scottalanmiller said in How to Connect Power Disable SATA Drive to Dell Inspiron 5676:

@Pete-S said in How to Connect Power Disable SATA Drive to Dell Inspiron 5676:

@scottalanmiller said in How to Connect Power Disable SATA Drive to Dell Inspiron 5676:

Confirmed, snipping the orange wire (I needed help as I can't see orange) did the job, drive showed up immediately.

Congrats! I wasn't sure you'd be up for the task. A lot of people are afraid to make permanent changes to their equipment.

You can't believe how much pushback I got from @Dominica and @pchiodo about snipping a simple cable on a $2 SATA extension part! For me, it was a no brainer once knowing what it was. But they were up for spending hundreds of dollars to avoid snipping that wire. And it isn't even hard wired to the power supply or anything it's literally just a SATA extension piece! lol Like $2 tops if you don't shop around.

I would have been with @Dominica and @pchiodo on this. Electric scares me. I would think snipping the wire would cause a spark while I wasn't home and come home to a few burning cinders.

That was mentioned as a concern. lol

FFS people need to just STFU if they don’t know how electricity works.

That was exactly my point and why I wouldn't have done it. As for STFU about well, that is where we differ. Those concerns could be alleviated with an explanation of why it would not be an issue.

@coliver said in Gaming - What's everyone playing / hosting / looking to play:

@pmoncho said in Gaming - What's everyone playing / hosting / looking to play:

@coliver said in Gaming - What's everyone playing / hosting / looking to play:

@pmoncho said in Gaming - What's everyone playing / hosting / looking to play:

@Dashrender said in Gaming - What's everyone playing / hosting / looking to play:

@pmoncho said in Gaming - What's everyone playing / hosting / looking to play:

Currently trying to find a gaming PC for $1200 or less (I will probably go over a little). I'm not a gamer so a little out of my depth.

Based on my past readings through old posts here to get a sense of what is out there, just wondering what order the money should be spent, 1. CPU, 2. GPU, 3. RAM, 4 SSD or SATA or should it be 1. GPU, 2 CPU, 3 SSD, 4 RAM?

When spec'ing a new desktop what do you look at first to spend your money?

Great question, I’m in the same boat right now.
Where does the mobile sit in here? And cooling?

Good point. I see liquid cooling and then trying to envision gaming on a laptop. Ugh, burning jewels is not a good thing. There are cooling pads out there as I recently discovered. My current laptop gets a little to warm with current WFM software and all the other things I am running.

Are you looking to build or buy? PCPartPicker has some decent "pre-built" options available that you'd just have to source the parts for.

https://pcpartpicker.com/guide/gWv6Mp/excellent-amd-gamingstreaming-build.
https://pcpartpicker.com/guide/RPTwrH/great-amd-gaming-build

Thanks @coliver I was looking to buy instead of build. Nephew's in TX. He may need support down there too so I figured Dell or Asus if I can find a good build for decent price. I am even looking at the outlets too. If there are warranties, I will take one off ebay also.

In that case I'd look at Asus RoG kit. It's very high quality and actually fairly inexpensive for what you'd get (not cheap but decent). https://store.asus.com/us/item/202003AM280000010/A50159-ROG-Strix-GA15DH-Gaming-Desktop-PC

Excellent. Thank you.

@dafyre said in Gaming - What's everyone playing / hosting / looking to play:

@pmoncho said in Gaming - What's everyone playing / hosting / looking to play:

@dafyre said in Gaming - What's everyone playing / hosting / looking to play:

@pmoncho said in Gaming - What's everyone playing / hosting / looking to play:

Currently trying to find a gaming PC for $1200 or less (I will probably go over a little). I'm not a gamer so a little out of my depth.

Based on my past readings through old posts here to get a sense of what is out there, just wondering what order the money should be spent, 1. CPU, 2. GPU, 3. RAM, 4 SSD or SATA or should it be 1. GPU, 2 CPU, 3 SSD, 4 RAM?

When spec'ing a new desktop what do you look at first to spend your money?

I like your first order mostly... I go:

• GPU
• RAM
• CPU
• STORAGE

Thanks,. I notice many configs from the big boys offer 256GB SSD and then 1TB SATA. Most with an i5, 16GB RAM and RTX 2080 (high end) and GTX 1660TI on lower end.

Is the extra $2-$300 worth it for the RTX? I have no clue in the GPU segments.

That part, I'm not sure about. The beauty of a desktop build is that if you have a hard budget of $1,200, you can start with one of the GTX line and upgrade to the RTX down the road when you can afford it.

I'm not one of those guys that obsesses over playing everything on Ultra quality. I just want it to look decent and not skip when things get busy in a game. My current laptop plays Jedi Fallen Order on default settings without a hitch, and it both looks great and plays great.

Thanks for a baseline. That helps. I deal with mostly laptops for work so I am way out of my league. He (12 years old - part time gamer) just needs a system that will play games decently with the least amount of "glitches/blips" as possible.

@coliver said in Gaming - What's everyone playing / hosting / looking to play:

@pmoncho said in Gaming - What's everyone playing / hosting / looking to play:

@Dashrender said in Gaming - What's everyone playing / hosting / looking to play:

@pmoncho said in Gaming - What's everyone playing / hosting / looking to play:

Currently trying to find a gaming PC for $1200 or less (I will probably go over a little). I'm not a gamer so a little out of my depth.

Based on my past readings through old posts here to get a sense of what is out there, just wondering what order the money should be spent, 1. CPU, 2. GPU, 3. RAM, 4 SSD or SATA or should it be 1. GPU, 2 CPU, 3 SSD, 4 RAM?

When spec'ing a new desktop what do you look at first to spend your money?

Great question, I’m in the same boat right now.
Where does the mobile sit in here? And cooling?

Good point. I see liquid cooling and then trying to envision gaming on a laptop. Ugh, burning jewels is not a good thing. There are cooling pads out there as I recently discovered. My current laptop gets a little to warm with current WFM software and all the other things I am running.

Are you looking to build or buy? PCPartPicker has some decent "pre-built" options available that you'd just have to source the parts for.

https://pcpartpicker.com/guide/gWv6Mp/excellent-amd-gamingstreaming-build.
https://pcpartpicker.com/guide/RPTwrH/great-amd-gaming-build

Thanks @coliver I was looking to buy instead of build. Nephew's in TX. He may need support down there too so I figured Dell or Asus if I can find a good build for decent price. I am even looking at the outlets too. If there are warranties, I will take one off ebay also.

@dafyre said in Gaming - What's everyone playing / hosting / looking to play:

@pmoncho said in Gaming - What's everyone playing / hosting / looking to play:

Currently trying to find a gaming PC for $1200 or less (I will probably go over a little). I'm not a gamer so a little out of my depth.

Based on my past readings through old posts here to get a sense of what is out there, just wondering what order the money should be spent, 1. CPU, 2. GPU, 3. RAM, 4 SSD or SATA or should it be 1. GPU, 2 CPU, 3 SSD, 4 RAM?

When spec'ing a new desktop what do you look at first to spend your money?

I like your first order mostly... I go:

• GPU
• RAM
• CPU
• STORAGE

Thanks,. I notice many configs from the big boys offer 256GB SSD and then 1TB SATA. Most with an i5, 16GB RAM and RTX 2080 (high end) and GTX 1660TI on lower end.

Is the extra $2-$300 worth it for the RTX? I have no clue in the GPU segments.

@Dashrender said in Gaming - What's everyone playing / hosting / looking to play:

@pmoncho said in Gaming - What's everyone playing / hosting / looking to play:

Currently trying to find a gaming PC for $1200 or less (I will probably go over a little). I'm not a gamer so a little out of my depth.

Based on my past readings through old posts here to get a sense of what is out there, just wondering what order the money should be spent, 1. CPU, 2. GPU, 3. RAM, 4 SSD or SATA or should it be 1. GPU, 2 CPU, 3 SSD, 4 RAM?

When spec'ing a new desktop what do you look at first to spend your money?

Great question, I’m in the same boat right now.
Where does the mobile sit in here? And cooling?

Good point. I see liquid cooling and then trying to envision gaming on a laptop. Ugh, burning jewels is not a good thing. There are cooling pads out there as I recently discovered. My current laptop gets a little to warm with current WFM software and all the other things I am running.

@scottalanmiller said in How to Connect Power Disable SATA Drive to Dell Inspiron 5676:

@Pete-S said in How to Connect Power Disable SATA Drive to Dell Inspiron 5676:

@scottalanmiller said in How to Connect Power Disable SATA Drive to Dell Inspiron 5676:

Confirmed, snipping the orange wire (I needed help as I can't see orange) did the job, drive showed up immediately.

Congrats! I wasn't sure you'd be up for the task. A lot of people are afraid to make permanent changes to their equipment.

You can't believe how much pushback I got from @Dominica and @pchiodo about snipping a simple cable on a $2 SATA extension part! For me, it was a no brainer once knowing what it was. But they were up for spending hundreds of dollars to avoid snipping that wire. And it isn't even hard wired to the power supply or anything it's literally just a SATA extension piece! lol Like $2 tops if you don't shop around.

I would have been with @Dominica and @pchiodo on this. Electric scares me. I would think snipping the wire would cause a spark while I wasn't home and come home to a few burning cinders.

Currently trying to find a gaming PC for $1200 or less (I will probably go over a little). I'm not a gamer so a little out of my depth.

Based on my past readings through old posts here to get a sense of what is out there, just wondering what order the money should be spent, 1. CPU, 2. GPU, 3. RAM, 4 SSD or SATA or should it be 1. GPU, 2 CPU, 3 SSD, 4 RAM?

When spec'ing a new desktop what do you look at first to spend your money?

@Grey said in Non-IT News Thread:

@jmoore said in Non-IT News Thread:

@Grey Yeah I hear ya and don't disagree. They called me an essential worker too, I prefer to call it expendable.

I'm Grey, and thank you for attending my Ted Talk.

I may not agree with everything in your post but this was a great response.

@scottalanmiller said in What Are You Doing Right Now:

With all this COVID stuff going on, does anyone here know of a veterinarian that is out of work?

Not me. Don't know for sure but by the full parking lot, It looks like the vet across the street from work hasn't seen a blip.

@scottalanmiller said in Non-IT News Thread:

@Dashrender said in Non-IT News Thread:

Large gathering - I can't imagine a world where they simply don't exist.

We might have to. Or it might be nothing. We've been through this many times with humanity. But now, for the first time more or less, we understand how to put a death toll on those decisions. So unlike previous times, we understand that we are literally deciding to kill people by having these things. So unlike before where we didn't know any different, now we have to decide, as a species, how many deaths are we willing to have to enjoy large gatherings, and of which types.

Well Hollywood and their followers keep telling us we have world population, food shortage, and climate change problems. Large gatherings with a side of survival of the fittest is a simple solution, no? Maybe not the right solution but it is one.

@hobbit666 said in What Are You Doing Right Now:

Long shot, but worth asking

If you have two servers, each with 2x 10 Core CPU so - 40 Cores overall all.

I someone buys a single Datacenter 2019 Volume License (16Core License), Can we just spin up a few VM's that equal 16 Cores?
Or do you "have" to license all cores even if your only going to run 3-4 VM's? (Even if it was limited to run the VM's only on one host)

(DON'T SHOUT AT ME) - Both servers are connected to a SAN.

Others will chime in with more detail but you WILL need to license for at least 20 CPU's. So you need at least another 2 2-core packs.

@WrCombs said in What Are You Doing Right Now:

@pmoncho said in What Are You Doing Right Now:

@WrCombs said in What Are You Doing Right Now:

a few of my customers use Email on a daily basis to communicate with us , Not a big deal right?
Well One in particular has decided that's the only way he will communicate with us.

I just got an email 30 minutes ago. : ......... "oh and this is an emergency, the entire site is down."

Nope, must not be an emergency. You're emailing me rather than Calling.

Anyone else deal with people like this?

On a daily basis. I've tried to explain 911's require a phone call as I am not constantly in email, at my desk, or have a communication device directly in my hand or driving.

Mostly goes in one ear and out the other, or should I say "eye" for that matter.

Only reason I saw it was because emailed in again.
I called his cell, and got it working. then explained "emails - Not important. Phone call = Important. "
added that to my signature on my email now.. in Quotes.
Ha.

That is one way to get the point across. Works for me!

@WrCombs said in What Are You Doing Right Now:

a few of my customers use Email on a daily basis to communicate with us , Not a big deal right?
Well One in particular has decided that's the only way he will communicate with us.

I just got an email 30 minutes ago. : ......... "oh and this is an emergency, the entire site is down."

Nope, must not be an emergency. You're emailing me rather than Calling.

Anyone else deal with people like this?

On a daily basis. I've tried to explain 911's require a phone call as I am not constantly in email, at my desk, or have a communication device directly in my hand or driving.

Mostly goes in one ear and out the other, or should I say "eye" for that matter.

@scottalanmiller said in What Are You Doing Right Now:

@pmoncho said in What Are You Doing Right Now:

@bnrstnr said in What Are You Doing Right Now:

@scottalanmiller said in What Are You Doing Right Now:

I swear our Amazon deliver rate is down to 50%. A huge portion of what we order gets delivered to other people and Amazon will do absolutely nothing to change the predictable problems. They keep opting to use a service provider (USPS) that they know doesn't know where our house is.

And half the time "out for delivery" never arrives. My package that was "out for delivery" at 8am today is now "expected in a few days". What?

USPS is a hot mess. They are sooooo slow.

Based on many of anecdotal stories I have heard over the past 20 years from many different individuals I know in multiple areas of the USPS, certain workers make sure it stays slow. Power of a Union!

Father-in-law was threaten to stop working so hard and friend was told not to return from their route until specific time or face the consequences. Those are just a couple stories from over the years. If a few people in the office don't want to work, they will make it so you don't either.

Ours here has had so many letters between my family in NY and here never arrive that there is an FBI case about it.

My goodness. That is BS. Time to raid the Postal inspectors home.

When your letters are mailed, are the addresses typed or handwritten? USPS still likes to blame handwriting as the cause for delays.

@bnrstnr said in What Are You Doing Right Now:

@scottalanmiller said in What Are You Doing Right Now:

I swear our Amazon deliver rate is down to 50%. A huge portion of what we order gets delivered to other people and Amazon will do absolutely nothing to change the predictable problems. They keep opting to use a service provider (USPS) that they know doesn't know where our house is.

And half the time "out for delivery" never arrives. My package that was "out for delivery" at 8am today is now "expected in a few days". What?

USPS is a hot mess. They are sooooo slow.

Based on many of anecdotal stories I have heard over the past 20 years from many different individuals I know in multiple areas of the USPS, certain workers make sure it stays slow. Power of a Union!

Father-in-law was threaten to stop working so hard and friend was told not to return from their route until specific time or face the consequences. Those are just a couple stories from over the years. If a few people in the office don't want to work, they will make it so you don't either.

@WrCombs said in What Are You Doing Right Now:

Apparently we need a VGA Splitter Today/Right now for something tomorrow. Just found out, so Now, I'm calling local Hardware companies trying to find one that we can pick up.

It is these situations where I actually miss the nearest Radio Shack. Not the best parts but 99% they had what I needed in a pinch.