Computers
Tuesday, April 1, 2025
Magnetic Core Memory
The REAL TechDweeb
Computer Failures
This is my second computer to fail recently. It can have similar issues as far as heat. I wasn't doing anything major on it. I was only streaming video.
One possibility is the power supply died. This happened to my 2009 iMac and I got it repaired for reasonable cost. Twice. Eventually the 2009 iMac had multiple failures and I had to get a different computer.
I tend to leave my main computer running all the time. I was in the habit of leaving my iMac on too, but I started using the sleep mode.
It is probably a mistake to leave the computers running all the time. Some people claim it is better to do that, because the spike in power can wear electronics, but I just had two computers fail.
This means my only working computer is my slow laptop I got used, hooked up to a 1440P monitor.
Good thing I have three computers.
I paid $1050 for the iMac, which was reasonable at the time. I've seen the same model for sale on Facebook Marketplace for about $400-$450. I have also seen discounted Mac Minis.
Took my iMac to the repair shop. I would have to factor repair cost with getting a replacement computer.
Monday, March 31, 2025
Update on Mini Comptuer
Fortunately, the seller agreed to honor the warranty, provided I sent the computer to them. I paid $83 for USPS shipping, and the package took 41 days to reach China. This was unusual, as I typically receive packages from China in three weeks or less. USPS tracking showed the package arriving in Chicago, departing, and then inexplicably returning to Chicago about a month later. At that point, I suspected there was an issue with shipping it to China and thought it was being returned to me. However, a few days later, it finally showed up in China.
After another week, the seller informed me that they would repair the computer. A week later, when I asked for an update, they said the repair would take one to two months.
Surprisingly, just a week after that, they said the computer was fixed and would be shipped back to me. I suspect that they had to replace the entire motherboard.
Assuming I receive it and it works properly, I want to prevent the overheating issue I experienced before when running the CPU at 100%. I originally bought this computer for its high performance, and the manufacturer had claimed that its cooling system could handle the heat.
One option is to lower the TDP from 55 watts to 45 watts, which the BIOS allows. This would reduce performance slightly but also decrease heat output. I could take a more extreme approach and reduce it further to 35 watts.
I should point out that some people on YouTube report boosting the TDP to 65 watts for better performance. A competing manufacturer does this by default with the same processor.
Apple is good at running its processors at about half the wattage. However, the M2 chip only gets half the performance.
Thursday, March 27, 2025
How smart is AI really?
Google's AI came back with this response:
John Coffey, a retired software engineer and chess expert, has an Expert standard Over-The-Board (OTB) rating and has given chess lessons for 37 years.
Here's a summary of what's known about John Coffey's chess background:
Occupation: Retired Software Engineer
Chess Expertise: Expert standard OTB rating
Chess Teaching: Has given lessons at chess clubs for 37 years
Online Presence: You can find his free lessons on http://www.entertainmentjourney.com
At first, I wondered how Google's AI knew so much about me, but then I realized that this response echoes my Profile on chess.com, which reads...
"Hello. My name is John Coffey. I am a retired Software Engineer. I have an Expert standard OTB rating and have given lessons at chess clubs for 37 years. You can find my free lessons on http://www.entertainmentjourney.com, along with other interesting stuff."
Saturday, March 22, 2025
The Path to AGI is Coming Into View
0 seconds ago
It seems like the wrong approach. LLMs excel at language but are not well-suited for other tasks. The top chess programs, for example, are exponentially stronger than the best human players. A general-purpose AI would likely need to be a collection of specialized tools, each designed for a specific task. By developing enough of these tools, you could create a highly intelligent system.
Sunday, March 16, 2025
The OLDEST websites EVER
0 seconds ago
Was there a website in 1986? I used the text-only Internet from around 1989 to 1995. I didn't download Netscape until around 1995, and the Internet was so sparse that I didn't know what to do with it.
BTW, I was a programmer on the Space Jam video game.
Wednesday, March 12, 2025
The Problem with Laptops and Heat - and the problem with Apple computers
@john2001plus
0 seconds ago
0:34 It is ironic that the video features the Minisforum UM790 Pro. Mine overheated and died after 14 months of heavy use. I argued with the manufacturer about the warranty, but they told me that the seller on AliExpress was responsible for warranty service. The seller agreed to inspect it if I shipped it to China. It took six weeks to arrive, and now the seller is examining the dead computer to determine whether they will provide warranty service. Mini computers use mobile components, making them similar to laptops. I now realize that a mini-computer is unlikely to have adequate cooling.
Sunday, March 9, 2025
Why The Hell Are We Already Talking About The Next Xbox?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91iJQN2bbuI
The current console generation is way better than all my computers.
Monday, March 3, 2025
Wednesday, February 19, 2025
What does a yellow USB port mean?
elo score AI meaning
- Origin:The Elo rating system was originally developed by Arpad Elo to rank chess players, but has been adapted to evaluate AI models due to its ability to compare performance through pairwise comparisons.
- How it works:
- Head-to-head competition: Two AI models are pitted against each other on the same task, and a human evaluator or automated system judges which model produced the better output.
- Rating adjustment: Based on the outcome, the winning model gains Elo points, while the losing model loses points.
- Relative ranking: This system creates a relative ranking, meaning a model's Elo score indicates how well it performs compared to other models in the benchmark.
- Head-to-head competition: Two AI models are pitted against each other on the same task, and a human evaluator or automated system judges which model produced the better output.
- Applications:Elo scores are commonly used to compare the performance of large language models (LLMs) where different models can be evaluated against each other on tasks like text generation, question answering, or translation.
Saturday, February 1, 2025
Thursday, January 30, 2025
Duck Duck Trump
ChatGPT said:
Look, folks, quantum physics—it's tremendous, really tremendous. People say it's complicated, but let me tell you, I understand it better than anybody. You've got these tiny little particles—very small, some say the best particles—that don't behave like normal things. They can be in two places at once! Can you believe it? Some people call it "superposition." I call it winning—being in two places at once, very efficient.
And then you have "entanglement"—it's incredible. Two particles, miles apart, maybe billions of miles apart, but they're connected. Some people say it's like magic, but it's just very, very smart physics. Scientists are amazed, they can't explain it, but I could explain it, believe me. They call it "spooky action at a distance." Spooky! But let me tell you, it's not spooky if you're the best at it.
Now, quantum mechanics, it's got waves, probabilities, all sorts of things moving around—very unpredictable, just like the fake news media. One moment a particle is here, the next, it's over there, just like votes in certain elections—very suspicious. But it's science, and we love science when it's done right, don't we?
And quantum computers? Very powerful, folks. Some say they will change everything, just like I did. They can do calculations so fast, so big, regular computers look like sleepy Joe next to them. Very slow. Very sad.
So, in conclusion, quantum physics—it's big league, it's amazing, it's the future. Some say it's the best physics, and I tend to agree. Tremendous!
Re: Duck Duck Trump
ChatGPT said:
Alright, here's a Mike Tyson-style duck joke:
"Man, so I see this duck walking down the street, right? And I'm like, 'Yo, you lookin' kinda lost, little fella!' And the duck goes, 'Nah, I'm just trying to find a good spot to swim.' I'm like, 'Bro, you don't gotta find nothin'. The best place is right here. Just dive in and keep your head straight, 'cause you never know when someone's gonna throw a punch... or a breadcrumb!"
Duck Duck Trump
ChatGPT said:
Sure! Here's a Trump-style joke about a duck:
"Listen, I know ducks. They're great, okay? The best ducks, people are saying it. So this duck, he walks into a pond—very classy pond, folks. It's huge, it's beautiful, the best pond you've ever seen. And the duck looks around and says, 'This is nice, but I hear there's a much bigger, much better pond down the street.' And I tell him, 'That's fake news, okay? This pond is the greatest, and I built it. Believe me!'"
Tuesday, January 28, 2025
Comparison of mini desktop processors
The N100 is widely used in many affordable mini-PCs, some costing as little as $100, making it a great value. However, a couple of Christmases ago, I gave my stepdad an outdated desktop computer that I bought for only $30—and it's almost as powerful.
My 2017 iMac with the i5-7500 chip isn't much better. I was dissatisfied with its speed and wanted something significantly more powerful.
Apple has focused on promoting mini and mobile computers, as well as tablets, with their M-chip series.
In early 2023, AMD claimed its Ryzen 7940HS was an "M-chip killer." Technically, it's also a mobile chip, similar to Apple's M-series, and it first appeared in some very expensive laptops.
I decided to buy this chip because it's an APU, like the ones used in modern game consoles, with the graphics card integrated into the main processor.
In August 2023, I purchased the Minisforum UM790 Pro. Unfortunately, it overheated and shorted out recently. The manufacturer informed me that I need to go through the seller for warranty service, and the seller—who is also based in China—has offered to inspect it. I'm shipping the unit to China today.
Minisform is now making a newer model, ironically with a larger case and better cooling, so the computer I bought is being discounted and possibly closed out...
FreeFileSync: Open Source File Synchronization & Backup Software
Wednesday, January 22, 2025
Don't Make These 3 Mistakes in C! Can YOU spot the bug?
Friday, January 17, 2025
Wednesday, January 8, 2025
Fwd: Failure of Minisforum UM790 Pro
From: John Coffey <john2001plus@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Jan 8, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Subject: Failure of Minisforum UM790 Pro
To: <support@minisforum.com>
Friday, December 20, 2024
Introducing the credit card sized Cardputer!!
Our phones could be powerful computers. We just need easier ways to wirelessly access peripherals and cast to a screen. Or to another computer. Then your computer could be portable.
Monday, December 9, 2024
Saturday, December 7, 2024
Computer Intelligence
"Given current trends, it would seem pretty likely that within 10 years we could have robots that could perform just about any task you would want them to. They might not be affordable to the average person, but businesses could use them for things like mining, construction, etc. 10 years ago I was predicting that eventually robots would be able to build houses.
The technology is so close already. There have been some great advances in android type robots especially by the Japanese. They are already using robots to care for old people in nursing homes. (Something to look forward to?)
When this will happen is mostly a question of cost effectiveness. We all know that the cost of technology goes down over time.
Within 10 years it is likely that they could hold a conversation with you. Already there are robots have full facial expression.
This is probably true of your PC as well. Imagine a "conversation wizard" on your computer that asks "Where would you like to go today?" (Microsoft's old slogan.) What affect will this have on human interaction?
If you were to call up your bank, you might not know if you are talking to a real person.
Computer driven cars seem likely to me. There are already have cars that can parallel park themselves. I want one of those. :-)
We already have computer controlled airplanes that require no human intervention such as the Global Hawk. Newer commercial planes have an autopilot that if needed can completely take over and land the plane. Compared to driving a car, landing a plane is pretty mundane.
Consider the following: As computers get smarter, we will be gradually relinquishing more control to them. It will happen so slowly that we won't notice it. For example, maybe a computer would do all your investing. That seems realistic as computer controlled investing has happened on Wall Street for at least a decade.. I hope that somewhere along the way that we don't lose complete control. :-)"