I don’t think there could be more disinformation about anything in home hobbyist x86 computer world than there is about the red washer. Almost as much disinformation as the metal washer and different length metal stand-offs. Yes, motherboard and case designs have gotten better since the 1980s, but that is not an excuse to throw the red washers away. Keep in mind, I’ve been building computers since the AST Premium 286 came out. I went … The Much Maligned Red WasherRead more
Information Technology
Posts relating to the IT industry
Intel Graphics Screen Jitter
I first noticed Intel graphics screen jitter under OpenSuSE. Previously I had an NVIDIA graphics card in this ThinkCentre but it died. Only been using the on-board Intel chipset for a little while now. Screen jitter was really annoying, especially when using a browser. Thankfully I had many other machines in the office and put off using this one for a project until now. You will find oceans of supposed fixes for this when you … Intel Graphics Screen JitterRead more
Changing Default Compiler on OpenSuSE
Every Linux distro seems to include a default compiler that is horribly out of date. Many times this is because academics on standards committees don’t have a clue about the real world. In particular how academics decided without seeking real industry input to force C/C++ compilers to store all integers as 2’s complement. Obviously they’ve never done device interface programming or worked on a Unisys mainframe. Yes, I’ve written about academics and their butchering of … Changing Default Compiler on OpenSuSERead more
Are You Tired of Thunderbird’s Incessant Begging?
You’ve all seen it, unless you have been enduring Evolution. Thunderbird’s incessant begging for money. Sometimes it seems like Thunderbird pushes out an “update” that only nags for money. Adding insult to injury Thunderbird has been dropping features while adding bugs. Gee, where do I sign up to pay for that? One of the reasons I tried out Evolution is the fact I wanted something that didn’t incessantly beg for money. Betterbird Just plain nice. … Are You Tired of Thunderbird’s Incessant Begging?Read more
New Emacs Book
Yes, I’ve finally written an Emacs book. I spent the first two decades of my career on DEC platforms using EDT and have always been offended by PC editors forcing me to use mice or memorize draconian keystroke combinations. Off and on I used Emacs over the years. Once I found it had an EDT emulation mode I used it a lot more. What has offended me, both morally and professionally is the relentless stream … New Emacs BookRead more