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rickdgray rickdgray @lemmy.world

I like computers

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Comments 12
Self-hosted email rest API
  • I highly recommend not wasting time on this and using something like sendgrid. The cost is so little and you'll save an inordinate amount of time

  • What would 128 bits computing look like?
  • They would look the same really. The word size being 128 instead of 64 doesn't really change anything about the architecture. It just means the proc's registers are 128 bits in size, the system bus is 128, each RAM address and data is 128, etc. The only difference would be significantly more expensive to crunch ridiculously large numbers. So really not much benefit. I expect 64 to be the standard for quite a long time, maybe forever, because we have much bigger bottlenecks to worry about.

  • Why do SSDs have a more limited number of times data can be written to them, but RAM memory can handle loads of re-writes?
  • Dynamic RAM tracks bits by using a capacitor for each bit. Caps' charge bleeds out so you have to top it off again every so often. The way you do that is to just write the same data back again. So it reads and writes the same data to itself every refresh. The opposition to this is static RAM which does not use a capacitor and is just a clever arrangement of transistors. No refresh needed. It's not typically used commercially except under special requirements, though as transisters are significantly more expensive. So the refresh strategy is the better choice for consumer hardware. DRAM has been dominant for decades.

  • How does freelancing work these days?
  • Big money through a contracting company? They take a cut, I'm sure. Still worth it?

  • Is it possible to eat in such a way that you'll never have to fart?
  • Gut ecology is complex and everyone's is different and it changes over time and with age and when you have to take antibiotics, etc. There's no one sure-fire way to just eliminate it.

  • Why sometimes my car slows down going downhill?
  • Sounds like engine braking

  • What do you use to document your home lab?
  • I use obsidian too. It supports mermaid too so you can make your network diagram with it.

  • Isn't technically everything open-source?
  • Imagine getting a can of purple paint and trying to figure out exactly how much red and blue dye was used to make that exact purple. Now imagine doing that every few lines of code in a code base of say 10k lines. That's basically how decompilation goes. It's extremely hard and even if you're able to figure it all out, it's still impossible to ever know what was actually originally written.

    What you're describing though does have done truth to it. There was a time when you could get a program from a magazine, type it all in to your commodore 64, and then it would run a pacman clone. These, line python today, are not compiled. So to have the program means to have the code too.

  • What are some things that you can’t do in a small town that you wish you could?
  • Austin is having a little comedy hit right now, interestingly. But yeah, NY is top

  • What are some quality YouTube channels that you recommend?
  • I love Vox, but I would call it more than slightly left leaning.

  • Why do most gaming laptops have vents on the bottom?
  • This is the real answer. Laptop is a misnomer. I had to explain this to many people when I worked in repair.

  • What are some examples of your tastes changing as you got older?
  • Mac and cheese?? Fam, that shit is delicious at all ages