Daily Tech News 17 July 2025

Top Story

Grok 4 is out and researchers at competing companies are mad that it has a girlfriend and they don't. (Tech Crunch)
"It concerns me when standard safety practices aren't upheld across the AI industry, like publishing the results of dangerous capability evaluations," said Steven Adler, an independent AI researcher who previously led safety teams at OpenAI, in a statement to TechCrunch. "Governments and the public deserve to know how AI companies are handling the risks of the very powerful systems they say they're building. Without proper testing Grok 4 might answer people's questions, and then where will the industry be?
Where indeed, Steve?

Where indeed?

Tech News

Seagate is now shipping 30TB hard drives, priced at $600. (Serve the Home)

You could already buy 30TB SSDs, but they cost closer to $6000.
There's another good-but-expensive small Android tablet on the market now. (Liliputing)

It uses Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Elite CPU, with a 9" 2400x1504 OLED display with a 165Hz refresh. Weight is 370g which is a little chunky for a "small" tablet but not too bad.

The range starts at $499 for the model with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, with options at $649 for 16GB/512GB, and a top of the line model at $899 with 24GB of RAM and 1TB of storage.

And a fan, apparently. I could do without that.

And apparently no expandable storage.
Intel is reportedly working on an updated version of its upcoming Nova Lake CPU to compete with AMD's Ryzen Max range. (Video Cardz)

The Ryzen Max 395 has a much more powerful integrated GPU than typical processors, able to compete with dedicated desktop graphics cards, at least cheaper models. It falls between the desktop 4060 and a laptop 4070.

We have no idea yet what the Nova Lake AX range might bring.
Scale AI has laid off 14% of its staff. (The Verge)

Scale AI is not an AI company.

The Year of Linux on the Desktop

Musical Interlude

Disclaimer: Beware of Doug.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at 04:30 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 w00t

Posted by: m at July 17, 2025 04:30 AM (aURVT)

2 Birdbath status?

Posted by: Just Wondering at July 17, 2025 04:30 AM (XQo4F)

3 BOING!

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at July 17, 2025 04:32 AM (Ti0Hb)

4 Worth repeating:

Comey, Comey down
Dooby doo, down down
Comey, Comey down
Dooby doo, down down

https://tinyurl.com/25anzz5h

Still, the music is too slow for me. Faster! Faster!

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at July 17, 2025 04:33 AM (Ti0Hb)

5 Oink!

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at July 17, 2025 04:33 AM (NXz8h)

6 "Pippa explains how it feels to install Linux"

This is the stuff of nightmares. (Not Pippa; the Linux-installing.)

Posted by: m at July 17, 2025 04:36 AM (aURVT)

7 Seagate is now shipping 30TB hard drives, priced at $600.

The drive uses lasers to expand the area of the platter being used. The shrinks when cooling off. It will be interesting to see how the reliability of this plays out over time.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at July 17, 2025 04:37 AM (NXz8h)

8 Good morning, good people, from the tropical paradise of Adirondack's North Country. Or so it seems recently.

But please accept my wish for all effort from you to be replete with benefits to you and unutterable heartburn for the leftwit fungi.

Posted by: IRONGRAMPA at July 17, 2025 04:37 AM (hKoQL)

9 1 w00t
Posted by: m at July 17, 2025 04:30 AM (aURVT)

3 BOING!
Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at July 17, 2025 04:32 AM (Ti0Hb)

5 Oink!
Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at July 17, 2025 04:33 AM (NXz8h)

Many monosyllabic greetings.

Posted by: m at July 17, 2025 04:38 AM (aURVT)

10 Intel is reportedly working on an updated version of its upcoming Nova Lake CPU to compete with AMD's Ryzen Max range.

Intel will manage to make it require 1000w to use, more at peak.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at July 17, 2025 04:40 AM (NXz8h)

11 Sitting kind of far from the screen somehow I saw 'rhubarb status'. Is it in season in the North East now....Always was warned to not eat it for some reason.

Posted by: Colin at July 17, 2025 04:41 AM (wlQdF)

12 Many monosyllabic greetings.
Posted by: m at July 17, 2025 04:38 AM (aURVT)

Hah!

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at July 17, 2025 04:41 AM (2GCMq)

13 Many monosyllabic greetings.

Posted by: m at July 17, 2025 04:38 AM (aURVT)
-

I bet Tomy makes an infant toy that generates these sounds when you press the colored shape buttons.

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at July 17, 2025 04:43 AM (Ti0Hb)

14 Gov. Newsom bites the bullet:

https://tinyurl.com/mvd2vpyu

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at July 17, 2025 04:46 AM (Ti0Hb)

15 Yael Eckstein from "The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews" writes on seeing the full picture - of people.

https://tinyurl.com/2vat85t4

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at July 17, 2025 04:47 AM (2GCMq)

16 There's another good-but-expensive small Android tablet on the market now.

"The tablet is positioned as a gaming device with features like RGB lighting effects," WTF? RGB effects on a 9" tablet. That is hilarious.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at July 17, 2025 04:48 AM (NXz8h)

17 I liked this idea- from.a person in Texas- a walking and prayer ministry- Galatians 6:7-10:

https://tinyurl.com/y626xn2s

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at July 17, 2025 04:51 AM (2GCMq)

18 How a kind man started a movement for organ donations for kids:

https://tinyurl.com/2w6cr26k

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at July 17, 2025 04:52 AM (2GCMq)

19 It got a bit testy downstairs. I always hated it when my parents fought when I was a child. Thanks for bringing back those old and very bad memories.

Posted by: Somewhere South of I-80 at July 17, 2025 04:54 AM (89Sog)

20 Hey Pixy,

Recommended tech thread news - and how!

https://tinyurl.com/yc43kvth

Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at July 17, 2025 04:55 AM (Ti0Hb)

21 Lots of old time hymns:

https://tinyurl.com/mrw5zrup

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at July 17, 2025 04:57 AM (2GCMq)

22 Spouse installed Brave Browser. It cut down on lots of the ads:

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at July 17, 2025 04:57 AM (2GCMq)

23 "It concerns me when standard safety practices aren't upheld across the AI industry,"

Another data point validating my theory that eventually everything becomes a comedy routine. Safety standards? I have seen zero evidence that anybody cares about that crap; what they do care about is being in embarrassed. If the AI companies cared about safety standards, they would build systems that don't lie to you, threaten to kill you, and announce it is MechaHitler.

I do have to say I was totally impressed with the MechaHitler thing though and was very disappointed when the developers made it go away.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at July 17, 2025 04:59 AM (NXz8h)

24 It got a bit testy downstairs. I always hated it when my parents fought when I was a child. Thanks for bringing back those old and very bad memories. Posted by: Somewhere South

Rules to live by: we are guests here, and opinions do not end in military victories no matter how many swear words you use.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at July 17, 2025 05:03 AM (NXz8h)

25 "The shrinks when cooling off."

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at July 17, 2025 04:37 AM

---

It shrinks?

Posted by: Elaine at July 17, 2025 05:03 AM (XQo4F)

26 Morning, Tech Peeps

Posted by: fluffy at July 17, 2025 05:06 AM (AN2gy)

27
g'mornin', 'rons

Posted by: AltonJackson at July 17, 2025 05:12 AM (tljrc)

28 >>> Many monosyllabic greetings.

Urk!

Posted by: fluffy at July 17, 2025 05:14 AM (AN2gy)

29 It shrinks?
Posted by: Elain

At the risk of playing into a very well played sock...

As I understand how this hard drive works is the laser heats up the platter where you're going to read or write. This expands the surface area which then increases the the available area to do stuff. Once the laser shuts off the area shrinks back down to its normal size. It seems like a very clever solution to gain an incremental increase in capacity. Probably matters to data centers but for us mortals you could go buy two 24 TB normal drives for the same money.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at July 17, 2025 05:15 AM (NXz8h)

30 >>> I saw 'rhubarb status'. Is it in season in the North East now

Season is weeks past, I believe.

Posted by: fluffy at July 17, 2025 05:16 AM (AN2gy)

31 I saw 'rhubarb status'. Is it in season in the North East now

Season is weeks past, I believe.
Posted by: fluffy

Strawberry rhubarb pie. Yum.

Posted by: Tuna at July 17, 2025 05:18 AM (lJ0H4)

32 I have a friend who loves strawberry - rhubarb pie. And it's very good .I think she makes it, but it only has a limited time- at least for rhubarb .

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at July 17, 2025 05:20 AM (2GCMq)

33 I have a friend who loves strawberry - rhubarb pie. And it's very good .I think she makes it, but it only has a limited time- at least for rhubarb .
Posted by: FenelonSpoke

My mom used to make it. All her pies were good but the strawberry rhubarb was my favorite.

Posted by: Tuna at July 17, 2025 05:28 AM (lJ0H4)

34 Morning, 'rons and 'ettes.

Posted by: olddog in mo at July 17, 2025 05:35 AM (hoCmQ)

35 Posted by: Tuna at July 17, 2025 05:28 AM (lJ0H4)

That's great! My mother was a good cook- just not a baker.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at July 17, 2025 05:36 AM (2GCMq)

36 Evening and morning, chirren,

Thor's Day yet again, innit? Or is it? This week I'm fuzzy on the whole Wednesday-Thursday thing.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 17, 2025 05:37 AM (omVj0)

37 Thor's Day yet again, innit? Or is it? This week I'm fuzzy on the whole Wednesday-Thursday thing.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere

Did you get your pain meds from your surgeon?

Posted by: Tuna at July 17, 2025 05:39 AM (lJ0H4)

38 If you are in the market for a new Android phone and have a $500-$600 budget Google has the Pixel 8 Pro on sale for $599. This phone was the previous "flagship" drive and still has 5 years of OS/Security Updates still left.

I bought this phone when it came out 2 years ago it's the nicest device I've ever owned. The cameras on it are excellent, the screen is fantastic, and the overall integration between the operating system and the CPU is butter smooth. The major non-hardware feature is the years of software support for Google and because it is a Google device they show up every single month. I often swap phones every 1 to 2 years because I was buying cheap boxes but now that I have this one I'll probably keep it 5 to 6 years because it is so nice.

https://is.gd/jPNFzf

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at July 17, 2025 05:42 AM (NXz8h)

39 "This is the stuff of nightmares. (Not Pippa; the Linux-installing.)"

I have no idea of Pippa's opinion of linux installation since I couldn't stand her drivel long enough to find out.

There's no "Linux" installation. There's a Fedora installation, an Ubuntu installation, a Slackware installation, an Arch installation, an Artix installation, an Obarun installation, and plus fuck knows how many others are out there.

Posted by: Richard Cranium at July 17, 2025 05:43 AM (cdovZ)

40 Thor's Day yet again, innit? Or is it? This week I'm fuzzy on the whole Wednesday-Thursday thing.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere
*
Did you get your pain meds from your surgeon?
Posted by: Tuna at July 17, 2025

***
I did. The hydrocodone is not any better than the tramadol was at reaching the pain; and the acetaminophen built into each pill sent me to the bathroom every two hours last night. I was better off with the other stuff plus two ibuprofen every six hours. Just got to tough it out, I suppose.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 17, 2025 05:44 AM (omVj0)

41 I did. The hydrocodone is not any better than the tramadol was at reaching the pain; and the acetaminophen built into each pill sent me to the bathroom every two hours last night. I was better off with the other stuff plus two ibuprofen every six hours. Just got to tough it out, I suppose.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere

I'm sorry to hear that. It will get better though.

Posted by: Tuna at July 17, 2025 05:48 AM (lJ0H4)

42 Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere

Sorry to hear that. Hope you feel a little better each day.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at July 17, 2025 05:51 AM (2GCMq)

43 For those of us over 29 and still remember her, I see Connie Francis has passed away.

Posted by: Tuna at July 17, 2025 05:51 AM (lJ0H4)

44 Big black Stirling is pacing around the bedroom, even though I've fed the monsters. I'd be glad to have him up in bed with me. But Im worried he'll suddenly go leaping away and knock my coffee over.

Linda had me feed them some new wet food, one of those boutique deals she got with a coupon which holds only enough for one meal for two cats. Little Dagny did not seem to like it. I'm sure Stirling the Walking Appetite gobbled both portions. Now I have to give her some dry food and hope he doesn't push her away.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 17, 2025 05:51 AM (omVj0)

45 Sorry to hear that. Hope you feel a little better each day.
Posted by: FenelonSpoke at July 17, 2025

***
Bit by bit, I guess, I am. I showered yesterday and replaced the bandage, and felt like a real human for the first time in a while. Amazing how being clean will do that. Today I'll shear off a four-day beard; that will feel even better.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 17, 2025 05:53 AM (omVj0)

46 For those of us over 29 and still remember her, I see Connie Francis has passed away.
Posted by: Tuna at July 17, 2025

***
Her signature song was "Who's Sorry Now?" I always wanted to see a blackout sketch on Laugh-In where she is singing to an Arizona cactus, "Who's Saguaro Now?"

Her real heyday was a little before my adolescence. I remember Anne Francis much better.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 17, 2025 05:55 AM (omVj0)

47 For those of us over 29 and still remember her, I see Connie Francis has passed away.
Posted by: Tuna

Our time is drawing to its close isn't it?

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at July 17, 2025 05:56 AM (NXz8h)

48 I'm sure Stirling the Walking Appetite gobbled both portions. Now I have to give her some dry food and hope he doesn't push her away.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere

My son has 2 cats. Each has an automatic dispenser that delivers the food at the same times every day. That doesn't stop them from trying to horn in on the others meals though.

Posted by: Tuna at July 17, 2025 05:56 AM (lJ0H4)

49 I'm melting!

Posted by: The Corporation for Public Broadcasting at July 17, 2025 05:57 AM (BZZp/)

50 Our time is drawing to its close isn't it?
Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at July 17, 2025

***
A lot of our TV and movie icons have gone. Robert Vaughn, David McCallum, Leonard Nimoy . . . you know, from the days when entertainers *entertained* and didn't shoot off their mouths about their political views.

Okay, Vaughn did, a little, but he always kept it separate from his performing. He never came on Johnny Carson that I recall and cursed Richard Nixon or wished Reagan would go back to his ranch.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 17, 2025 06:00 AM (omVj0)

51 Okay, Vaughn did, a little, but he always kept it separate from his performing. He never came on Johnny Carson that I recall and cursed Richard Nixon or wished Reagan would go back to his ranch.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 17, 2025

***
Come to think of it, I'm not sure Vaughn or McCallum ever appeared on Carson or the other talk shows of the day. If they had, I'm sure they'd have talked about more interesting and funny things than the war in Vietnam or Watergate.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 17, 2025 06:03 AM (omVj0)

52 G'mornin' everyone!

Posted by: sock_rat_eez at July 17, 2025 06:05 AM (dKEEs)

53 I do recall how celebrities would appear on game shows. William Shatner during the i]Trek days was on one, You Don't Say I think it was, or Password. He had to give a clue to his non-celebrity partner. He looked puzzled at the word, blinked, and (I swear I recall this) said, "Help me, Spock!" for a laugh.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 17, 2025 06:06 AM (omVj0)

54 Yael Eckstein from "The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews" writes on seeing the full picture - of people.

I view that organization as one that sees Christian evangelicals as a easy marks. Their late night commercials on certain cable channels point me that way.

I don't view myself as a Christian (and I believe believers of the faith itself would agree) and I am certainly not an evangelical, so I'm not the target market.

Posted by: Richard Cranium at July 17, 2025 06:06 AM (cdovZ)

55 I'm melting!
Posted by: The Corporation for Public Broadcasting

That's a shame. Anyway...

Posted by: Tuna at July 17, 2025 06:07 AM (lJ0H4)

56 Ok, Richard. Some people may like it and some people may not. I did.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at July 17, 2025 06:08 AM (2GCMq)

57 Stirling has at last relaxed on the floor of the bedroom. Both cats do that after breakfast, after their obligatory zooming about. He's sprawled, lookinh like a miniature black leopard.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 17, 2025 06:08 AM (omVj0)

58 Praying over food. Comedian Tim Hawkins:

https://tinyurl.com/2mswfakk

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at July 17, 2025 06:10 AM (2GCMq)

59 Any suggestions on what gaming laptop I should buy? I have an Alienware R17 that needs replacing. I am considering another Alienware as Dells service for laptop repair seems OK

Posted by: Bumpkin at July 17, 2025 06:11 AM (kcUnF)

60 My HP ink jet printer was coming due for new ink cartridges. Cost: $160.00 Ouch. I was like nope and went shopping for a laser printer. The laser cost, including the printer cost, is $0.09 per page. The HP would have been $0.21 per page. This cost reflects the 4200 pages for the laser vs 750 pages for the HP.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at July 17, 2025 06:12 AM (NXz8h)

61 Posted by: Bumpkin at July 17, 2025 06:11 AM (kcUnF)

I have no particular knowledge about gaming machines, but I always buy through Costco if they carry the machine I want. They double the warranty, which is fantastically convenient!

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo (with a beret and a Gauloises) at July 17, 2025 06:15 AM (L5An7)

62 We have to some ink for the ink printer today, and yes it's expensive. We will have to consider getting a laser printer.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at July 17, 2025 06:17 AM (2GCMq)

63 Someone tell Ace this ..

Matt Walsh@MattWalshBlog

Trump was elected in 2016 partly on a pledge to “lock her up.” Arresting and prosecuting powerful and corrupt people has been a core issue for MAGA since its inception. That’s what the Epstein issue is about. And it’s why the base can’t and won’t just drop it

Posted by: Mister Ghost at July 17, 2025 06:18 AM (TGPs7)

64 Any suggestions on what gaming laptop I should buy?

What games do you play?

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at July 17, 2025 06:22 AM (ExV1e)

65 14 Gov. Newsom bites the bullet:

https://tinyurl.com/mvd2vpyu
Posted by: Biden's Dog sniffs a whole lotta malarkey, at July 17, 2025 04:46 AM (Ti0Hb)

Yay!

Posted by: m at July 17, 2025 06:23 AM (aURVT)

66 . May you have a blessed day and know that you are a blessing to others. Maybe see some of you on the art thread.

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at July 17, 2025 06:23 AM (2GCMq)

67 mornin yall. HP is an inK company. They make way more on ink and toner than they make on printers.

I service a large format color printer, not HP, that takes four $300 toner carts. Cost per square foot on average is about 8 cents. An equivalent inkjet, HP or otherwise, runs about 25 cents per square.

Posted by: fd at July 17, 2025 06:24 AM (vFG9F)

68 G'morning, all

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at July 17, 2025 06:25 AM (a1415)

69 CBD

Guy who I trust is suggesting pairing a NAS with a NUC, or platform equivalent for the home media streaming project.

Trying to educate myself on that concept.
Greatest plus seems to be reduced energy usage.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at July 17, 2025 06:27 AM (a1415)

70 Oddly, a search told me David McCallum had appeared on the Tonight Show at some point but would tell me the date or season. Another search says September 13, 1965. During the Man From UNCLE period I guess.

Posted by: Epobirs at July 17, 2025 06:27 AM (/0z9K)

71 Nigel Farage is very flouncy.
That's alI I have to say...

Posted by: Mister Ghost at July 17, 2025 06:27 AM (TGPs7)

72 Posted by: Bumpkin at July 17, 2025 06:11 AM (kcUnF)

The thing with Dell is their warranty support/customer service is excellent. I recently had many rounds of getting a machine I bought from them fixed (it failed out of the box). I eventually got a new machine as resolution. This all took time but that is how this stuff goes. Plus the service tag ID gets you all the drivers and system software if you end up flattening the box - this applies years from now too; this is beyond useful. This goes double for laptops which are effectively computing appliances; you buy it and that's it which is unlike desktop boxes. For my way of thinking, I am a Dell customer for life.

To answer your original question more directly. All the main companies make boxes; read the specs (hit up the NewEgg website) and pick your poison. You probably should also look at Falcon Northwest if you want to get in to premium range (there are other companies but I can't think of their names right now).

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at July 17, 2025 06:30 AM (NXz8h)

73 Oddly, a search told me David McCallum had appeared on the Tonight Show at some point but would tell me the date or season. Another search says September 13, 1965. During the Man From UNCLE period I guess.
Posted by: Epobirs at July 17, 2025

***
Yes, at the start of their Season Two. I know why I didn't see it. Hurricane Betsy had struck four days before, and we had no power for several days. In contrast to the cluster that was Katrina forty years later, however, we did have the power back on by 9/22, because I know I saw the Season Two premiere episode when it aired.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 17, 2025 06:30 AM (omVj0)

74 Ok, Richard. Some people may like it and some people may not. I did.

My apologies. For me, that group's (IMO) shilling for money has poisoned any other messages that they may wish to transmit. I didn't bother reading the actual message communicated by your link, so I don't have an opinion on it.

My ire about the organization is because my understanding of their message in the commercials that I have seen was: "Here's a Jewish person in poverty; you Christian folk should help her due to the prophecy."

Posted by: Richard Cranium at July 17, 2025 06:32 AM (cdovZ)

75 Guy who I trust is suggesting pairing a NAS with a NUC, or platform equivalent for the home media streaming project.

Trying to educate myself on that concept.
Greatest plus seems to be reduced energy usage.
Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentic

That could work. The NAS, provided it has the streaming software, delivers the content to your PC or TV. In the PC case you don't need a crazy amount of computing power to get that pushed onto a screen. Be aware with whatever topology you go with the PC will also need some client side streaming software. To be clear, a NUC is simply a PC with a very compact configuration; that's it.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at July 17, 2025 06:35 AM (NXz8h)

76 I ordered parts to build two PCs yesterday. They will be identical to four I built in May. I was expecting the cost to go up because of tarriffs but they ended up costing $20 less.

BHPhoto is another great place to buy PCs and components. If you use their charge card, they will knock off the sales tax. That was about $90 on yesterday's order.

Posted by: fd at July 17, 2025 06:36 AM (vFG9F)

77 As some of us here begin to approach the end of our 29th year on this planet, we have frequently mentioned things such as cataract surgery.

I had mine done about three years ago, and have been so-so as far as satisfaction.

Anyhow, shamelessly stolen from Insty's place is this article concerning the new super-wonderful generation of lenses.

And why Doctors love to recommend them to us.

https://tinyurl.com/539zya8z

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at July 17, 2025 06:36 AM (a1415)

78 CBD, how was the Tate? Without a doubt I totally jealous of your current living situation that lets you go to all the awesome places. Until my opportunity comes to head off to Europe, I am enjoying pieces you share from these visits from time to time. Big thank you.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at July 17, 2025 06:40 AM (NXz8h)

79 "Anyhow, shamelessly stolen from Insty's place is this article concerning the new super-wonderful generation of lenses."

I'm waiting for the ones that will let me shoot laser beams from my eyes.

Posted by: fd at July 17, 2025 06:40 AM (vFG9F)

80 I don’t know why but I’ve noticed recently watching the Westerns channel that the Pacific Northwest up to Alaska, especially Oregon, were popular locations for western films in the 40s - early 60s.

Bend of the River
The Far Country
Canyon Passage
Raw Edge
North to Alaska

I’m sure I’m missing some.
Is Seven Brides For Seven Brothers considered a western (apparently all it takes is having horses in the film)?

Maybe the studios got tired of filming in the desert Southwest for every movie and wanted a change of scenery?

Posted by: SpeakingOf at July 17, 2025 06:41 AM (6ydKt)

81 Grrr

Posted by: SpeakingOf at July 17, 2025 06:42 AM (6ydKt)

82 Trump was elected in 2016 partly on a pledge to “lock her up.” Arresting and prosecuting powerful and corrupt people has been a core issue for MAGA since its inception. That’s what the Epstein issue is about. And it’s why the base can’t and won’t just drop it.

I get that.

I also get that Epstein was downstream or parallel to other corruption.

There's also a limit on how many tasks a given human or group of humans can juggle at one time.

Epstein wasn't a government actor. I'd prefer the focus to be upon the corrupt government actors and clear those fuckers out. That should allow more non-corrupt resources to act.

Posted by: Richard Cranium at July 17, 2025 06:42 AM (cdovZ)

83 I don’t know why but I’ve noticed recently watching the Westerns channel that the Pacific Northwest up to Alaska, especially Oregon, were popular locations for western films in the 40s - early 60s. . . .

Maybe the studios got tired of filming in the desert Southwest for every movie and wanted a change of scenery?
Posted by: SpeakingOf at July 17, 2025

***
Have Gun -- Will Travel (1957-1963) often filmed on location in eastern Oregon. There's a high desert area there that can pass for the desert Southwest. At the same time, in OR you could have forests and mountains too. And it was a reasonable distance from LA. Maybe there were tax advantages as well.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 17, 2025 06:45 AM (omVj0)

84 Guy who I trust is suggesting pairing a NAS with a NUC, or platform equivalent for the home media streaming project.
.
.
.
Greatest plus seems to be reduced energy usage.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at July 17, 2025 06:27 AM (a1415)

Keep me posted. I am a few months from getting serious about it, but I am doing a bit of research. The storage costs keep dropping, which is nice. And I think I will probably bite the bullet and get a four-slot NAS as a RAID. And definitely not SSD.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo (with a beret and a Gauloises) at July 17, 2025 06:46 AM (L5An7)

85 BHPhoto is another great place to buy PCs and components. If you use their charge card, they will knock off the sales tax. That was about $90 on yesterday's order.
Posted by: fd at July 17, 2025 06:36 AM (vFG9F)

I got my laptop from them this past January.

If you want to buy PC parts and computers, etc. online they are your only choice other than Newegg, Amazon, or Best Buy (I don’t count Walmart although they sell some PCs & laptops).

Posted by: SpeakingOf at July 17, 2025 06:47 AM (6ydKt)

86 Grrr

Posted by: SpeakingOf at July 17, 2025 06:42 AM (6ydKt)

Yup. Just think about how the cobloggers and open bloggers feel!

[I fixed it]

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo (with a beret and a Gauloises) at July 17, 2025 06:47 AM (L5An7)

87 "Be aware with whatever topology you go with the PC will also need some client side streaming software. To be clear, a NUC is simply a PC with a very compact configuration; that's it."

That part I have managed to grasp.

I do know that the less visually intrusive the finished set-up is, the easier it is to get Mrs VIA to accept it's existence.

Small, mostly silent, and visually simple, while setting on a work table in the office is about the only way to go.

Considering UGREEN for the NAS.

I have maybe a thousand DVD's, many of them not blu-ray, with little incentive to add to that collection.
And maybe 500 CD's. I don't do anything with photo's other than take them, and have maybe 1000 of them.

And that's about the extent of it, so trying to decide storage is another small exercise in headaches.

Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice at July 17, 2025 06:49 AM (a1415)

88 86 Grrr

Posted by: SpeakingOf at July 17, 2025 06:42 AM (6ydKt)

Yup. Just think about how the cobloggers and open bloggers feel!

[I fixed it]
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo (with a beret and a Gauloises) at July 17, 2025 06:47 AM (L5An7)

It's like it never happened.

Posted by: m at July 17, 2025 06:50 AM (aURVT)

89 And it was a reasonable distance from LA. Maybe there were tax advantages as well.
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 17, 2025 06:45 AM (omVj0)

I was thinking it was something like that.
Anthony Mann seems to have made those two with Jimmy Stewart back to back. Both movies have many of the same character actors.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at July 17, 2025 06:50 AM (6ydKt)

90 I'm going to end up with a buttload of Win 7 and Win 10 PCs if anybody wants one. Some could be forced to run Win 11 but I'm not going to mess with it.

Posted by: fd at July 17, 2025 06:51 AM (vFG9F)

91 I have spent thousands buying camera gear from B&H. They are my go to online vendor for that stuff. The problem with Amazon is it can be a shitshow trying to figure out what you buying; B&H is exactly the opposite experience. NewEgg is solid too; I have never had to test their returns/customer service situation - YMMV.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at July 17, 2025 06:51 AM (NXz8h)

92 Yup. Just think about how the cobloggers and open bloggers feel!

[I fixed it]
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo (with a beret and a Gauloises) at July 17, 2025 06:47 AM (L5An7)

Thank you, good sir.

I’m not too much of a perfectionist but nothing dings my ego on a comment section than leaving behind typos, misspellings, and bad formatting.

But I did add close tags before my nick to cancel out my screwups now.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at July 17, 2025 06:52 AM (6ydKt)

93

*hic*

Posted by: Hillary Clinton at July 17, 2025 06:53 AM (5hfjS)

94 I was thinking it was something like that.
Anthony Mann seems to have made those two with Jimmy Stewart back to back. Both movies have many of the same character actors.
Posted by: SpeakingOf at July 17, 2025

***
I suspect Have Gun would film multiple episodes in Oregon, then air them at different times. Each episode (only thirty minutes long) was a stand-alone, no story arcs, so they could do that.

When I Spy w/ Culp & Cosby was filming overseas, they would go to an area, set five or six episodes there -- Hong Kong to start with, then Japan, for example -- and move on. The outdoor and location scenes were filmed, then other indoor scenes that could be done in Hollywood were filmed, and the episodes assembled. They too had stand-alone stories.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 17, 2025 06:54 AM (omVj0)

95 What fresh heck this day?

Posted by: Don Black at July 17, 2025 06:54 AM (AOsQT)

96 CBD, how was the Tate?

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at July 17, 2025 06:40 AM (NXz8h)

The Tate was great! They did a refurbishment/remodel, and the galleries are wonderful. The art is superb.

My only complaint is that they have the Turner exhibit (200+) at the end of the modern art section, so you are sort of obligated to look at some real shit art on the way to see Turner!

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo (with a beret and a Gauloises) at July 17, 2025 06:55 AM (L5An7)

97 "I like the nightlife, I love to boogie" is a better life motto than song chorus

Posted by: Huck Follywood at July 17, 2025 06:55 AM (L8R6G)

98 What fresh heck this day?
Posted by: Don Black at July 17, 2025

***
Are we doing Dorothy Parker quotes? Because this is how you get Dorothy Parker quotes.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 17, 2025 06:55 AM (omVj0)

99 You home networking folks should take a look at https://www.youtube.com/@HardwareHaven

Posted by: Richard Cranium at July 17, 2025 06:55 AM (cdovZ)

100 Hunter is blaming Democrats for the Democrats loosing. He thinks if they had stuck with his Pop they would have won.

Posted by: fd at July 17, 2025 06:55 AM (vFG9F)

101 AI related:

Yesterday I told Copilot to address me as Mister or Sir. Copilot was contrite.

Posted by: Don Black at July 17, 2025 06:56 AM (AOsQT)

102 And that's about the extent of it, so trying to decide storage is another small exercise in headaches.
Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice

Effectively you have two options SDDs or HDs. Reality? HDs are what your going to end up with up. Brands: Seagate or Western Digital (get the NAS optimized HDs). As for size: How much cash is in your wallet? 8GBs seem to sort of price/capacity sweet spot for home use.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at July 17, 2025 06:56 AM (NXz8h)

103 There's an extra "o" there is anybody needs it.

Posted by: fd at July 17, 2025 06:57 AM (vFG9F)

104 My only complaint is that they have the Turner exhibit (200+) at the end of the modern art section, so you are sort of obligated to look at some real shit art on the way to see Turner!
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo (with a beret and a Gauloises) at July 17, 2025 06:55 AM (L5An7)
------------
Accurate description, in my book. You have to run a sometimes bewildering gauntlet of oddities and so-what, and then this giant Turner celebration is your reward.

Posted by: Huck Follywood at July 17, 2025 06:57 AM (L8R6G)

105 The Tate was great! They did a refurbishment/remodel, and the galleries are wonderful. The art is superb.

My only complaint is that they have the Turner exhibit (200+) at the end of the modern art section, so you are sort of obligated to look at some real shit art on the way to see Turner!
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo

And the Turner was godly?

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at July 17, 2025 06:57 AM (NXz8h)

106 >Hunter is blaming Democrats for the Democrats loosing. He thinks if they had stuck with his Pop they would have won.
----

so- he's still using narcotics, it would seem

Posted by: Don Black at July 17, 2025 06:58 AM (AOsQT)

107 100 Hunter is blaming Democrats for the Democrats losing. He thinks if they had stuck with his Pop they would have won.
Posted by: fd at July 17, 2025 06:55 AM (vFG9F)

I read that quote yesterday, and how in the world could that argument work? His dad dropped out.

Posted by: m at July 17, 2025 07:02 AM (aURVT)

108 that's about all we use for computing around here, fd

I am interested.

Posted by: sock_rat_eez at July 17, 2025 07:03 AM (dKEEs)

109 Hunter is blaming Democrats for the Democrats loosing. He thinks if they had stuck with his Pop they would have won.
----
so- he's still using narcotics, it would seem
Posted by: Don Black at July 17, 2025

***
He just got back from the mirror Trek "Empire of Earth" universe, so he's still a little groggy.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at July 17, 2025 07:03 AM (omVj0)

110 I suspect Tech Crunch has progressed to the point that links to techcrunch.com should point to archive.is.

Posted by: Rod at July 17, 2025 07:09 AM (z0FFS)

111 "I am interested.
Posted by: sock_rat_eez"

Send me a email. mgcsah at the yahoo place.

Posted by: fd at July 17, 2025 07:10 AM (vFG9F)

112 Tech Crunch also disallows comments because they're insulated from peasantry opinions like God intended.

Posted by: Rod at July 17, 2025 07:11 AM (z0FFS)

113 I have maybe a thousand DVD's, many of them not blu-ray, with little incentive to add to that collection.
And maybe 500 CD's.

And that's about the extent of it, so trying to decide storage is another small exercise in headaches.
Posted by: Village Idiot's Apprentice

A good rip of a CD at high encoding settings to mp3 should be around 250 mb total.

If you go FLAC it will be much higher.

DVD at high settings and bitrate to h.264 mp4 will run you at least 2 - 3.5 GB.

Blu-Ray at 1080p high settings to mp4 will go higher up to 4 - 8 GB. The raw file alone is around 20 GB on the disc.

4K, think above 10 GB.

Using h.265 HEVC to encode will save space but it’s a beast and doubles the encoding time. Especially without a GPU doing the encoding.

In Plex, etc., you can encode on the fly as you’re watching, but you’ll need a decent system to do it fast, and there may be time delays, quality hiccups and streaming dips along the way. That will save you the time and storage space for everything.

You could always pick some favorites out to encode yourself and save storage space, and then leave the rest to encode on the fly whenever you want to watch/listen to them.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at July 17, 2025 07:12 AM (6ydKt)

114 AI related:

Yesterday I told Copilot to address me as Mister or Sir. Copilot was contrite.
Posted by: Don Black

Ever thought about having Copilot address you as MechaHitler?

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at July 17, 2025 07:13 AM (NXz8h)

115 The Hill:

The remarks are a part of a broader interview Harrison did with the former president’s son for a new podcast [former Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime] Harrison is launching on Thursday. His debut episode includes Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D). Hunter Biden will be featured in a forthcoming episode.

Hahahaha.
Hahahahahahahahahahaha.

Posted by: m at July 17, 2025 07:15 AM (aURVT)

116 Courtesy of BehindTheBlack, here is a short X video of the Axiom crew returning from ISS. I am embarrassed to say SpaceX has so normalized space travel that I was unaware a commercial mission had been visiting ISS.

https://tinyurl.com/mrynjya2

Posted by: Huck Follywood at July 17, 2025 07:16 AM (c9gv+)

117 Ah-hahahahahahahahahahaha.

Posted by: m at July 17, 2025 07:16 AM (aURVT)

118 I don't know what that is

Posted by: Don Black at July 17, 2025 07:18 AM (AOsQT)

119 Disclaimer: Beware of Doug.

Good safety tip, thanks Pixy.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at July 17, 2025 07:18 AM (O7YUW)

120 making its way through the series of tubes ...

Posted by: sock_rat_eez at July 17, 2025 07:19 AM (dKEEs)

121 Good morning!

Let's smile & be happy & strike fear in the hearts of killjoy leftists everywhere.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at July 17, 2025 07:21 AM (u82oZ)

122 sounds like a barrel of laughs, m; really got a lineup of intellectual heavy-hitters there!

Posted by: sock_rat_eez at July 17, 2025 07:21 AM (dKEEs)

123 A good rip of a CD at high encoding settings to mp3 should be around 250 mb total. If you go FLAC it will be much higher.

I have 40K FLAC tracks. They are highly space efficient. Given that storage space is so cheap today there is zero reason to mess with MP3s. The sound difference between FLAC and MP3 is noticeable. IIRC correctly, a 256 kbps MP3 is about 10 mb on disk while a FLAC is about 30 mb. That difference is noise now that we can get 20TB HDs for $250.00

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at July 17, 2025 07:22 AM (NXz8h)

124 Village Idiot's Apprentice

Top o ta mornin to ya, gov'nor.

I used a Brennan B3 for all my CDs. Not a good solution for unusual CDs.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at July 17, 2025 07:23 AM (u82oZ)

125 Time for me to go take a Grok and wipe my AI...

Posted by: New Lingo at July 17, 2025 07:23 AM (rfMRc)

126 MarketWatch is sometimes pretty silly, which reflects poorly on the WSJ (who owns it). They have an article headline saying "China may be stockpiling gold and that could be bad for the dollar". "May be"?

China has been openly buying large quantities of gold for years, and it has seemingly accelerated lately. No "may be" about it.

Posted by: Huck Follywood at July 17, 2025 07:23 AM (L8R6G)

127 Its gym time. I have procrastinated almost long enough. Later, gators.

Posted by: Huck Follywood at July 17, 2025 07:25 AM (L8R6G)

128 And the Turner was godly?

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at July 17, 2025 06:57 AM (NXz8h)

Oh yes!

They have works from every part of his life, and it is fascinating to see his progression through various styles.

Plus, there is a nice pub a few blocks away that has good cask ales and a nice Scotch Egg.

What more do you need?

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo (with a beret and a Gauloises) at July 17, 2025 07:26 AM (L5An7)

129 That difference is noise now that we can get 20TB HDs for $250.00
Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at July 17, 2025 07:22 AM (NXz8h)

Yeah, you could definitely put a lot of audio on HDD, and it won’t be a problem streaming.

DVD @ 480p will stream fine off of a HDD, too.

But if you go to 1080p & up with high quality bitrates it may hiccup if the HDD isn’t fast enough to keep up with the stream, especially if encoding on the fly.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at July 17, 2025 07:30 AM (6ydKt)

130 G&R, it was a nice career-switch story you posted toward the end of yesterday's tech thread. Sorry it was willowed.

Posted by: m at July 17, 2025 07:33 AM (aURVT)

131 Wow, never imagined Alicia Bridges on the HQ…

Posted by: kallisto at July 17, 2025 07:33 AM (09A7r)

132 @130/m: Thanks! Yeah, that willowing happens sometimes. Oh well.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at July 17, 2025 07:35 AM (O7YUW)

133 They have works from every part of his life, and it is fascinating to see his progression through various styles.

A Van Gogh show came through Seattle a decade ago and it included a solid number of his early works. They were OK, but nothing special. And then BOOM, in a matter of a couple years he become Van Gogh. Seeing that transformation up close has stayed in my head vividly to this day. How artists/writers/musicians mature into their defining styles and then evolve, or not, is something to behold. I have found that what I do today, how I think about creative works, execute them, would be impossible unless I did all the other things first. Seeing how that plays out in the masters has had a direct influence on me and my mere mortal work.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at July 17, 2025 07:36 AM (NXz8h)

134 O.k. if I repost it?

Posted by: m at July 17, 2025 07:36 AM (aURVT)

135 @134/m: Sure. You might have to break it into two parts though, because I was really pushing it on the length.

Also, if you do, it'll probably get willowed again. *laughs*

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at July 17, 2025 07:38 AM (O7YUW)

136 But if you go to 1080p & up with high quality bitrates it may hiccup if the HDD isn’t fast enough to keep up with the stream, especially if encoding on the fly.
Posted by: SpeakingOf

I am perplexed here. I have a whole bunch of 1080p videos sitting on HDDs and I have never had streaming issues. Encoding on the fly is not something I deal with so that outside my experience scope.

Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at July 17, 2025 07:39 AM (NXz8h)

137 .
NOOD

J.J. Sefton is here with the Morning Report

NOOD!

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at July 17, 2025 07:39 AM (O7YUW)

138 J.J. and the news.

Don't post it m.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at July 17, 2025 07:40 AM (u82oZ)

139 157 @75 and @82 (I used to have a different nic):

Are you getting out of Tech for good?
After getting laid off from my last tech job due to an "entire department closure", I decided I wasn't going to go back into Tech. Nope. Done. It was downright scary (and depressing for a time) switching careers at my age, but it turned out to be a wonderful decision.

I can sleep fully through the night now, I don't take my work home with me (other than completing some small paperwork from the day, which is nothing really), and my stress levels are way down from where they were. I like reading for pleasure again (I'd lost the love of that for a time due to all the emails and documentation I had to pour through) and my outlook on life is a ton more positive.

Getting out and staying out is possible. If that's what you want, I hope you get to a good place.

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at July 16, 2025 07:30 AM (O7YUW)

Posted by: m at July 17, 2025 07:41 AM (aURVT)

140 See? Willowed. AGAIN. *bwahaha*

Posted by: Grumpy and Recalcitrant at July 17, 2025 07:41 AM (O7YUW)

141 *bwahaha* indeed

Posted by: m at July 17, 2025 07:43 AM (aURVT)

142 I am perplexed here. I have a whole bunch of 1080p videos sitting on HDDs and I have never had streaming issues. Encoding on the fly is not something I deal with so that outside my experience scope.
Posted by: Alteria Pilgram - My President has convictions. at July 17, 2025 07:39 AM (NXz8h)

It depends on bitrates and encoding settings and also how you’re streaming it.

If you’re streaming across a wire it won’t be too bad, but if you’re doing it through WiFi it can cause some issues.

A lot of downloaded mp4s @ 1080p are using lower bitrate and higher compression settings and are optimized for streaming so it’s a lot easier for any system to stream the data.

It really all depends on how sensitive you are to the quality of an encode. Some people don’t care, but for some people blurriness, pixel blocking, and weird artifacts ruin the experience.

In my case I noticed the streams from SSDs of my own encodings run a lot smoother over WiFi compared to a HDD. I encode my stuff and always go high quality, because encoding on the fly showed compression artifacts that bugged me to no end, not to mention it takes a bit of time to spool up the encoding at the start of a stream.

Posted by: SpeakingOf at July 17, 2025 08:04 AM (6ydKt)

143 Maybe I'm crazy, but I've been running Linux on the desktop for decades, and it's been a champ. Installation in the past could be tricky, but the latest releases of Ubuntu have made it quite straightforward.

Posted by: Nemo at July 17, 2025 08:37 AM (4RPgu)

144 Switched to Linux 25 years ago. Installing a modern distro is painless. You literally just follow a wizard. Fedora, Ubuntu, Kubuntu, and Mint are all solid choices for a linux beginner.

Posted by: Naqamel at July 17, 2025 12:43 PM (lrv8s)

145 Google Gemini crumbles in the face of Atari Chess challenge — admits it would 'struggle immensely' against 1.19 MHz machine, says canceling the match most sensible course of action

After a pre-game chat, Gemini swung from being confident to admitting it would ‘struggle immensely’ against the ancient console.

Posted by: SMOD at July 17, 2025 01:37 PM (RHGPo)

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