The WPCC Lounge

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, CypherHoof said:

And yet they are underpowered compared to the market; Given pixar write their own software, I would expect them to be doing so for render farms on a massively fault-tolerant array of commodity hardware. Google and amazon are looking at undersea datacenters now because cosmic rays, and Microsoft already has them.

Don't believe what you read.

Specs are often misleading. A computer will list its specs to have like a 4GHz Quad-core CPU, 16GB of RAM and whatnot, but it could perform worse in real-world use than a computer with significantly less specs.

In my experience... Macs generally for a lot of tasks perform pretty well in real-world use. Naturally, you get to stuff like games and the scores change. However, I have found that to match with Windows, you often need to do a lot of tinkering to make Windows as lightweight as you possibly can and be running software optimized for Windows, etc. All kinds of little things like that.

I've learned that spec bragging is basically how companies confuse consumers into thinking the end user experience will always be "better" but it does not always translate to such. Some configurations suck because the parts don't meld well together, etc.

Apple is far from perfect, but there is a reason they have kept a following. A lot of the time when the DO get it right, they get a very nice stable system. The times they get it wrong? They get faulty hardware that cooks itself. It's a delicate balance. I sort of wish Apple would stop choosing form over function for some things, because we've had too many faulty products in the last 3 years. Would love to see a return to form where Apple products become known once again for surviving atomic bombs.

[Ganaram Inukshuk 3,680]

Think about the Fight Club rule being applied anywhere else; I'm also a programmer but if someone has a problem that I figured out a solution for, I'll be reluctant to share it. I'll also never be able to remember a Unix terminal command for the life of me.

One of my biggest criticisms about my art style is that you can't express emotions using only eyes. Also, achieving colour coordination was a near-fruitless effort that only led to contradictory answers: the answers were "use RYB because that's the only way to be a true artist" (exaggerated), "use whatever you want", and "learn how HSV works (and maybe learn the difference between HSL and HSV)". Did I mention I hate RYB?

I also want to someday get a 16-core CPU but I refuse to explain what or why. I'm currently at an 8-core CPU and it only cost me 330 USD.

I'm also a gamer who's turned into a power user, so custom computer no matter what. I also draw and game at the same time, but problems happen when I also run a neural network at the same time.

[CypherHoof 26,479]

4 minutes ago, Key Sharkz said:

Don't believe what you read.

Specs are often misleading. A computer will list its specs to have like a 4GHz Quad-core CPU, 16GB of RAM and whatnot, but it could perform worse in real-world use than a computer with significantly less specs.

I don't have to - I work with this stuff all day.  Macs are great, especially given they are really a variant of BSD under the hood, not that microsoft knockoff. But when it comes to the devops workflow (recompile/unit-test/stage/stress-test/deploy) or data analysis, they simply don't have the same power as a "gamer" laptop 30% cheaper.

4 minutes ago, Key Sharkz said:

In my experience... Macs generally for a lot of tasks perform pretty well in real-world use. Naturally, you get to stuff like games and the scores change. However, I have found that to match with Windows, you often need to do a lot of tinkering to make Windows as lightweight as you possibly can and be running software optimized for Windows, etc. All kinds of little things like that.

Yeah, windows sucks even more. but in that case, its the software at fault, not the hardware.

 

4 minutes ago, Key Sharkz said:

I've learned that spec bragging is basically how companies confuse consumers into thinking the end user experience will always be "better" but it does not always translate to such. Some configurations suck because the parts don't meld well together, etc.

Apple is far from perfect, but there is a reason they have kept a following. A lot of the time when the DO get it right, they get a very nice stable system. The times they get it wrong? They get faulty hardware that cooks itself. It's a delicate balance. I sort of wish Apple would stop choosing form over function for some things, because we've had too many faulty products in the last 3 years. Would love to see a return to form where Apple products become known once again for surviving atomic bombs.

The creatives screamed when Apple dropped their rackmount range, rather than compete with the skyrocketing intel-based market.  They got a little better when they moved their own platform over to intel, but not much - they are still underpowered, if pretty. Which is why I am surprised that pixel etc are sticking with them for render, given I know how much heavy math is needed for that and the mac just doesn't have it. Amazon have some REALLY nice offerings in the cloud though - want an instance with eight GPU cores on-bus? sure, here's one...

Just now, Ganaram Inukshuk said:

Think about the Fight Club rule being applied anywhere else; I'm also a programmer but if someone has a problem that I figured out a solution for, I'll be reluctant to share it. I'll also never be able to remember a Unix terminal command for the life of me.

Ah well, I am from a different era I guess - we share heavily fixes for any problems we found, because we rely on others sharing THEIR fixes for the sort of crap vendors mark as "couldn't reproduce".

Just now, Ganaram Inukshuk said:

One of my biggest criticisms about my art style is that you can't express emotions using only eyes. Also, achieving colour coordination was a near-fruitless effort that only led to contradictory answers: the answers were "use RYB because that's the only way to be a true artist" (exaggerated), "use whatever you want", and "learn how HSV works (and maybe learn the difference between HSL and HSV)". Did I mention I hate RYB?

been plenty of cartoon characters that expressed emotion purely via eye shape - marvin the martian, for example.

Just now, Ganaram Inukshuk said:

I also want to someday get a 16-core CPU but I refuse to explain what or why. I'm currently at an 8-core CPU and it only cost me 330 USD.

I'm also a gamer who's turned into a power user, so custom computer no matter what. I also draw and game at the same time, but problems happen when I also run a neural network at the same time.

my beige case units are all custom of course, but I mostly use laptops these days, and customizing those things is near-impossible. All you can really do is stuff them with faster ram and backing store, and if you want anything else, buy a better one.

[Guest]

Just now, CypherHoof said:

I don't have to - I work with this stuff all day.  Macs are great, especially given they are really a variant of BSD under the hood, not that microsoft knockoff. But when it comes to the devops workflow (recompile/unit-test/stage/stress-test/deploy) or data analysis, they simply don't have the same power as a "gamer" laptop 30% cheaper.

2

Yeah, like one of my main issues is... Dual monitoring with Macs... Not so simple. I prefer my dual monitors to be about the same if not similar... Any secondary monitor I get... Will obviously be hard to find in 5K and on top of that... It'll look different than my iMac display, so that does put a dent on my workspace, since most of us computer people love dual monitoring.

Apple was better about this when they had the theater monitors, but they haven't had one in years now. Apple, please make a duplicate iMac display so we can get a proper dual monitor experience!

2 minutes ago, CypherHoof said:

Yeah, windows sucks even more. but in that case, its the software at fault, not the hardware.

 

A lot of the time designing stuff to work on Windows means sacrificing optimization since windows has so many configurations.

2 minutes ago, CypherHoof said:

The creatives screamed when Apple dropped their rackmount range, rather than compete with the skyrocketing intel-based market.  They got a little better when they moved their own platform over to intel, but not much - they are still underpowered, if pretty. Which is why I am surprised that pixel etc are sticking with them for render, given I know how much heavy math is needed for that and the mac just doesn't have it. Amazon have some REALLY nice offerings in the cloud though - want an instance with eight GPU cores on-bus? sure, here's one...

Yeah but I think companies like Pixar don't like the idea of having to let Amazon in on what they have. Remember, Disney is VERY VERY VERY secretive. The drawback to Amazon's solution is that they will gain access to Pixar's content, whereas doing stuff in house with Macs means they can keep things secret. That's really the drawback when it comes to cloud, you have to risk your security with another company and you're only as safe as they are. The only way to ensure your safety is to do it yourself, etc.

Disney I doubt will move to cloud unless it's a cloud they 100% own and even then they'd want that locked down.

[Ganaram Inukshuk 3,680]

Umm... quad monitor...

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, Ganaram Inukshuk said:

Umm... quad monitor...

I had gone to triple once, but never to Quad. I know Apple supports a few monitors, but I get really "eeeeeehhh" when all my monitors are not the same resolution and have the same color depth, etc. Usually, when I go multi-monitor I buy a ton of the same monitors.

[CypherHoof 26,479]

8 minutes ago, Key Sharkz said:

Yeah but I think companies like Pixar don't like the idea of having to let Amazon in on what they have. Remember, Disney is VERY VERY VERY secretive. The drawback to Amazon's solution is that they will gain access to Pixar's content, whereas doing stuff in house with Macs means they can keep things secret. That's really the drawback when it comes to cloud, you have to risk your security with another company and you're only as safe as they are. The only way to ensure your safety is to do it yourself, etc.

Disney I doubt will move to cloud unless it's a cloud they 100% own and even then they'd want that locked down.

Yup. we are a "cloud first" company now (which apparently means "we believe that azure is magically going to be cheaper than our own datacenter, because microsoft are going to keep selling at a loss forever")

From a security POV, if you go into someone else's datacenter, you are trusting every employee of that company, down to the cleaning staff, to not steal your data; with a physical datacenter, you can at least put decent locks on the cages, add a webcam to your hot and cold isles, and so forth. if you go Cloud, then you won't even know where the servers are physically located and want your actual hardware to be dedicated and not shared with your biggest competitor? that'll cost extra.

Cloud is Someone Else's Computer in Their Backyard.

[Guest]

1 minute ago, CypherHoof said:

Yup. we are a "cloud first" company now (which apparently means "we believe that azure is magically going to be cheaper than our own datacenter, because microsoft are going to keep selling at a loss forever")

From a security POV, if you go into someone else's datacenter, you are trusting every employee of that company, down to the cleaning staff, to not steal your data; with a physical datacenter, you can at least put decent locks on the cages, add a webcam to your hot and cold isles, and so forth. if you go Cloud, then you won't even know where the servers are physically located and want your actual hardware to be dedicated and not shared with your biggest competitor? that'll cost extra.

Cloud is Someone Else's Computer in Their Backyard.

Reminds me of this "all digital" future we keep hearing about with gaming and such and how "convenient" it is. Yeah, so convenient that when the company decides to take the storefront down you now need to rely on piracy to keep the content you paid for or buy it again if they re-release it. Really convenient that I can't loan a game to a friend too. Insanely convenient that digital storefronts seldom lower the price because they know they don't have to because it's not like used copies are floating around to reduce the value.

[CypherHoof 26,479]

15 minutes ago, Key Sharkz said:

Reminds me of this "all digital" future we keep hearing about with gaming and such and how "convenient" it is. Yeah, so convenient that when the company decides to take the storefront down you now need to rely on piracy to keep the content you paid for or buy it again if they re-release it. Really convenient that I can't loan a game to a friend too. Insanely convenient that digital storefronts seldom lower the price because they know they don't have to because it's not like used copies are floating around to reduce the value.

Yup. why I have physical media for all my switch games (and while I do have some steam games, only if there isn't a physical media option)

[Guest]

2 hours ago, CypherHoof said:

Yup. why I have physical media for all my switch games (and while I do have some steam games, only if there isn't a physical media option)

I try and go physical whenever I can.

[CypherHoof 26,479]

1 hour ago, Key Sharkz said:

I try and go physical whenever I can.

Physical for Starlink is a weird gimmick though

[Guest]

42 minutes ago, CypherHoof said:

Physical for Starlink is a weird gimmick though

Yeeeeeeeah...

[CypherHoof 26,479]

7 minutes ago, Key Sharkz said:

Yeeeeeeeah...

But fun. And expensive. I now have 10 pilots, six ships, a bucketload of weapons, and no money for the forseeable future

[Ganaram Inukshuk 3,680]

2 hours ago, CypherHoof said:

But fun. And expensive. I now have 10 pilots, six ships, a bucketload of weapons, and no money for the forseeable future

What...?

[Guest]

2 hours ago, CypherHoof said:

But fun. And expensive. I now have 10 pilots, six ships, a bucketload of weapons, and no money for the forseeable future

Personally I passed on Starlink.

[Olly 1,008]

12 hours ago, CypherHoof said:

Pinapple is one of those holy war things really - some people point out that pinapple and gammon is a classic pairing for meals, so ham and pinapple should work on a pizza. The problem there is that normally you have a small amount of pinapple to a large amount of gammon, and the almost equal balance on a pizza means it is far, far too sweet - its like putting a sugar cube on there. Things like cherry tomatoes (which are still sweet, but not AS sweet) work better, and then there is the effect pinapple juice has on things like cheese and other common toppings.

I guess if I didn't eat it I can see how imagining it would make a person think of it as being "too sweet" but when I do have it it's a different story. It just adds something extra that I like. Sure there are things people like that I don't personally like but it doesn't really matter to me unless they're making me eat it 

 

9 hours ago, Key Sharkz said:

I think because they don't "look" like they should go together, you know?

I mean, you could say that about any topping depending on what you think "looks" good on/with what. I freak out when people soak their pizza in BBQ sauce 

[Ganaram Inukshuk 3,680]

4 minutes ago, Olly said:

I guess if I didn't eat it I can see how imagining it would make a person think of it as being "too sweet" but when I do have it it's a different story. It just adds something extra that I like. Sure there are things people like that I don't personally like but it doesn't really matter to me unless they're making me eat it 

 

I mean, you could say that about any topping depending on what you think "looks" good on/with what. I freak out when people soak their pizza in BBQ sauce 

This is why boringness is a virtue to me; you can't start a war when there's nothing to fight over.

[Olly 1,008]

51 minutes ago, Ganaram Inukshuk said:

This is why boringness is a virtue to me; you can't start a war when there's nothing to fight over.

*Hugs you gently*

[CypherHoof 26,479]

4 hours ago, Ganaram Inukshuk said:

What...?

<re-reads what he wrote>
Looks clear enough?

[Longhaul 6,470]

*gets a cup of coffee and sits down*

[Ganaram Inukshuk 3,680]

Thoughts on this song I found: 

 

[Twilight Luna 30,952]

7 minutes ago, Longhaul said:

*gets a cup of coffee and sits down*

Hey Longhaul. How are you doing?

[Longhaul 6,470]

2 minutes ago, Ganaram Inukshuk said:

Thoughts on this song I found: 

 

I like it, sounds very relaxing and mellow.

Just now, Twilight Luna said:

Hey Longhaul. How are you doing?

Doing all right.  Just had a long week, nice to be able to relax a bit.

 

[Twilight Luna 30,952]

21 minutes ago, Longhaul said:

I like it, sounds very relaxing and mellow.

Doing all right.  Just had a long week, nice to be able to relax a bit.

 

That's good to hear. Mine was pretty long as well. Even after sleeping in, I still felt exhausted.

[Longhaul 6,470]

Just now, Twilight Luna said:

That's good to hear. Mine was pretty long as well. Even after sleeping in, I still felt exhausted.

I feel about the same.  On the up side, I got all of my errands done today so I can spend tomorrow being lazy.