Edward Price6 said:That comparison is a total miss, don't you think? Honestly, it's pretty obvious.
If the shot was missed, then the whole premise was off from the start. I was just playing with the idea to see where it would go...
Look, unless we're talking about documentaries, every movie is basically fiction by definition, right? We're specifically diving into the world of science fiction here.
That’s exactly my point. Most people who hate on sci-fi start with the same tired argument: "It's just fiction, so why bother?" I honestly don't get it. Like, what's the issue with it being "unrealistic"? In a broader sense, isn't every single movie—aside from a documentary—just pure fiction? At the end of the day, every script is just an idea born in someone's head and brought to life on screen. So why pick on one genre specifically?
Especially when it comes to Mars. There’s still so much guesswork involved, right? We’re probably looking at a dozen variables that nobody even saw coming. Who knows what else is hiding out there? They’ve gotta keep learning constantly. Why stop now?Not too long ago, they weren't even sure if there was water out there. Like, at all. Was there water? Were there bacteria? They were just guessing. Total uncertainty, right?
So, this guy seriously just sits there with a straight face and tells us that things nobody saw coming "have to be learned through experience"? Like, really? Is he for real? So, let's be real: landing on Mars feels like total science fiction right now because nobody has actually pulled it off yet. But here’s the kicker—to get there, you basically have to learn through trial and error, right? How do you even solve that logic loop? You’d need to go to Mars just to test things out and gain experience, but then technically, that doesn't count as the "real" mission. So, do we just fly there once for practice, take all that data, and then call the next trip the "first time for real"? Makes sense, doesn't it? I was actually just typing away about that exact thing. I tried breaking the whole trip down into bite-sized pieces—you know, like segments? If you tackle them one by one, everyone can find their own rhythm and get through it. It’s pretty straightforward once you follow the sequence. Honestly, though? The biggest hurdle is just finding an investor to back the play. It’s a super grounded, real-world scenario... what do you think?
So, we're talking about fiction that’s built on actual scientific premises. It’s a bit of a spectrum, isn't it? Sometimes it leans heavily into the hard science, and other times... well, it's a little more "creative" with the facts. You’re talking about the whole production process, right? If I wanted to make a point, I guess I could say: *The Martian* wasn't actually filmed on Mars, so obviously it's fiction.
Nah, you said:
Have we actually sent anyone to Mars yet? Nope. So, it’s still just sci-fi. Nuf said.
I told them straight up: it’s fiction. But honestly? It’s about as fictional as any other movie out there. The difference here is they're actually playing around with tech that already exists and is sitting right in front of us. They aren't just pulling random magic out of thin air to bypass plot holes like they do in those Star Trek series. You know, where they just invent some nonsense on the fly to skip over parts they haven't figured out? Even when those shows try to call in scientists for help, they still struggle to come up with a theory that actually holds water. Everything here is just bottled water and commercial interests. Is it even real? Honestly, the only thing that feels like fiction is how we blow all our resources on wars instead of actually investing in deep-space research. Why aren't we looking up?
But honestly, we’re just spinning our wheels here. It’s all just semantics, really...
Edward Price6 said:Have we actually sent someone to Mars yet? Nope. So, it's fiction. Nuf said.
It's the same deal with Gravity. That whole "frogger" jumping from station to station thing? Totally impossible as shown, hence, fiction.
Since I haven't personally met anyone who's been to Mars, I can only conclude that Mars itself is pure fiction.🤦
1. We've had tons of human launches into orbit, and even a few trips beyond it. 2. Humans already know how to live in Space for over a year at a time. 3. We understand the laws of physics and the requirements for interplanetary travel.
1+2+3 = a one-way ticket to Mars.
So, what's the actual issue here? People have descended into the Mariana Trench; people have climbed Mount Everest. Is it "fiction" that you could go from the deepest point in the ocean to the highest peak on Earth? It's not fiction; it's just that nobody has done it all in one shot. Why? Because there's no need, no economic reason, and honestly, it doesn't make much sense. It's like saying going to Mars is possible today, but just isn't practical right now. Sending a crew to Mars is totally doable with current tech, but it would cost an absolute fortune—like, crazy expensive—and then what? What do you even do once you get there? Or you could take a different route: pool every single resource on Earth for one massive mission (which is its own kind of fiction, let's be real), launch a crew along with a mountain of rockets filled with supplies for some Mars habitat, and boom... you've got The Martian. But why? Just to prove it wasn't fiction?
By that logic, Casablanca is also fiction: Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman definitely weren't living in Casablanca during WWII, and the movie wasn't even filmed in Morocco, so clearly, it's all fake...
Honestly, it feels like you’re poking around at stuff you don't quite grasp yet, just based on how you asked that.. A database can bloat for all sorts of reasons: where the backups are sitting, the logs, those snapshots—basically everything that isn't directly under the engine itself. That’s more of an admin's headache.. If we're talking about a corporate environment, you really want someone who knows their way around touching those files. But if this is just some home setup you threw together for fun, why even bother?
Adam Moore3 said:There’s some truth to what Larry Ortiz5 is saying—if you’re going through the trouble of an upgrade, you might as well go all out on the latest tech. It’s definitely the best way to stay future-proof. On the flip side, whether it’s actually worth those extra $167... I honestly don't know. That’s really your call to make. As for the power supply, the new build will pull slightly more juice. If that CX is still holding up, you might be able to get away with keeping it; it won't be underpowered, per se, but it is a seven-year-old unit, so there's always that risk. Again, it's up to you. 🙂
I can't help but feel like all this hype surrounding the new Skylake platform and DDR4... is mostly because Intel scheduled these big releases to hit their roadmap targets. They're checking boxes because it was planned, not necessarily because they have something revolutionary to show us...
A new design using the exact same manufacturing process doesn't really feel like a leap forward. Plus, they seem to be stumbling through the solutions—like moving voltage regulation off the chip, only to announce they'll bring it back soon. And that logic of shoving high-end graphics into high-end CPUs instead of the other way around? It feels off. From what I can see, the jump from DDR3 to DDR4 looks like a rounding error in synthetic benchmarks. All this is happening while Haswell is still a beast and Braswell is basically a toy... sorry, but there just isn't enough of an improvement here to justify paying $167 more for three different components. Even the memory itself is about $50 more per 8GB module for the same series. They seem so "confident" in their progress that they're even releasing boards with strictly DDR3 slots—not even hybrid DDR3/DDR4 ones. The market is flooded with DDR3, and it's not going anywhere overnight. For years now, the jumps between platforms have been so tiny they feel like mere tweaks. Platforms are getting more stable and longer-lasting, so people just don't feel the need to swap them out as often.
The only way we'll see a mass migration to Skylake and DDR4 is if they force our hands—either by killing off support for older tech entirely or by making the new stuff so cheap it's impossible to pass up. Just look at the used market: it's crawling with ancient setups, mostly just Pentiums and Core2Duos, or maybe the very first gen i3s and i5s. People aren't exactly lining up to buy things just because the box says "new"...
Anonymous said:The post didn't actually mention AT&T or Verizon, it was talking about Comcast.
Even if it is Comcast, they aren't some untouchable gods. I don't know all the specifics—like your contract length or how badly you want to stick with them—but let's be real, it's all just one big negotiation. You can play the game, hint at switching to a competitor, maybe even score some free or dirt-cheap equipment if you push enough. It’s honestly wild that you'd pay for hardware out of pocket just because of a lightning strike. That shouldn't be on you. If their infrastructure isn't protected, that's their headache, not yours. At the end of the day, they're selling you a service that includes the modem and router as part of the package, right?
... exactly like that, specifically for one certain scenario, and just that one... Honestly, even that Spira unit is better than the MS one when we're talking about picking up a single stray hair (I mean, come on, we're splitting hairs over three little strands here 😬), but really, it's just a battle of egos between power supplies straight out of the ninth circle of hell... though like you said, none of this is gonna last forever, and honestly, neither is this rig, so let them all go down in flames together. If only I could track down that MS-400 FSP—you know, the one that was basically a rebranded Fortron—but man, that thing was pricey...
Jason Allen3 said:Don't go buying anything more expensive than $67 (honestly, 400W is plenty), there's really no point. It's not like you're building a high-end gaming rig for pro streaming right now. I'm saying stay under $67 because you won't need all those extra cables and little extras on the power supply.
Well, now you've gone and messed things up for both your boss and the workstation... Buying a power supply just because it's "cheap" is exactly why so many PCs die out of nowhere. At $67 retail prices, you just can't manufacture a decent unit for nothing, period. And that price gap isn't just "extra gear"—it's not like adding rims or a better stereo to a car... the difference is actually baked into the high-quality components and the internal build of the PSU itself...
Look, whatever they did, it’s on them to hand it back to you in working order. Whether it’s a brand new Samsung SSD, a fresh motherboard, or just some tiny mistake during assembly... who knows? It doesn't matter. What really bugs you—and honestly, it shouldn't even be their concern while they're working—is your data. At the end of the day, the user is responsible for their own files and making sure they have a solid backup. If you actually have a separate SSD and a separate HDD, and you kept all your stuff on that HDD, then your data should stay right where it is as long as that drive is healthy. They shouldn't even touch it. But if the SSD itself fails, or whatever system drive you're using, you're looking at a clean installation of Windows, which means all your installed programs are gone... And if things are different and you're actually running an SSHD, well, that’s a whole different story from what you described...
Man, after seeing stuff like this, I am officially done with ASUS. I bet their GPUs aren't any better either.
But what's the actual takeaway here? Look, because ASUS has such a huge slice of the market, they’re obviously going to have more "lemon" units than some tiny boutique brand. They basically own the mainstream segment and honestly, they do a solid job. Personally, my ASUS boards have never let me down—they work fine, the manuals actually make sense, and you don't deal with those weird, over-complicated settings you used to find with MSI. Every single manufacturer hits a dead end with a bad model eventually. Plus, part of the issue is on the user side—you've gotta pick components that actually fit your needs. If you're planning on overclocking, don't just look at the chipset; buy a high-end board with the right power delivery.
Nathan Thomas2 said:So, I'm looking to pick up a PC or a tower for about $1833 that's mainly intended for gaming. I was given an offer, but I have my doubts. Since I don't know much about hardware components myself, my question is: is this a decent deal, or can I find something better for roughly the same amount of money?
Are you sticking strictly to a budget of $1.75, or just using this offer as a baseline? Honestly, you can find way better deals than this almost anywhere for that kind of cash. It looks like those individual component prices don't include sales tax, which is already baked into the total. Every single one of them is overpriced by about the amount of the sales tax, because if you check any online retailer, those are the standard prices *after* tax. For example, over at Best Buy (they don't carry Patriot Memory, so I used Kingston), your setup would cost around $1.50, which means this offer is about 20% more expensive.
Lately, people feel forced into these kinds of deals because they're stuck with specific payment terms, certain credit cards, or monthly installment plans. That’s why, if you have the cash ready to go, @crimsonstag84 has a solution for you. If things are different for you, just let us know what your payment options look like...
coastalowl58 said:No, right as I was setting up my account, some girl was lecturing me about how I lacked basic manners... and that's how 🙂 was born. The can was just ordered, should be here in a few days..
Ejebiga, now the girls will have an excuse to help preserve (better) musical legacies... there's really no other way than following her lead, in the style of Azrin, and chasing that "satisfaction"*
darkowl72 said:BTW, is your handle just random, or are you actually a fan of coastalowl58 and ska?
Man, he’s probably already dancing the Can-Can around a new trash can... It is a little weird, though. If someone remembers Bad Manners alongside Madness or The Specials (assuming that's the case), those guys were total chaos. Like how Gustafi puts it, they were just there for the party...
darkowl72 said:Kimberly Gomez34, NHF, seriously? How? Where?? Paper claims whatever you want, but the disk cage is non-removable since it's all one solid piece, and the case itself is only about 17 inches. How on earth are they supposed to cram a 410 mm GPU in there??? Unless they're using some different units of measurement... There are no vents on the top or bottom, just the side. If you want to swap the cooler, you have to pull the whole motherboard out because there's no clearance under the board. Cable management is zero—absolute nothing, zilch, zero.
On top of that, it only has one fan, the front panel is inaccessible, the PSU is mounted at the top, and there isn't even USB 3.0...
It doesn't cost that much for no reason $57, it's not like they're superheroes who can engineer a high-quality, cheap case out of thin air... A decent 120mm fan alone costs this much 😬
And some are even more expensive...
It's not about $67, it's about the difference, Libra = $83, Z1 = $100...
You hit the nail on the head: I’ve messed around with the MS dragon, which they call a "gaming" case, roughly $83. Man, what a joke: the metal is thinner than a Coca-Cola can. The internal frame basically has to be bolted down tight, because if it wasn't, the whole thing would just "collapse" under its own weight—it's the frame alone keeping it upright. On top of that, you get these plastic trays for your HDDs and SSDs. The problem? The cage looks like it fits 8 drives, but you only get two of those plastic trays. So, you get one SSD, one HDD, and boom—you're out of luck. If you want to add a second HDD later, you'll have to perform some kind of miracle since the cage setup is meant for 5.25-inch drives.. To be fair, it is pretty "loaded." The plastic front panel has that tacky, kid-friendly "gamer" look, but it’s actually a chunky, solid piece of plastic. There’s even this cutout on top that I realized later is a handle, and honestly, it feels sturdy enough that it won't snap. The power button feels a little wobbly, but it seems okay and has a nice click. It’s got USB 3.0 and even a built-in card reader on top. Even the feet aren't just rubber caps; they're plastic pieces covered in rubber and screwed in. A lot of the case uses mesh, but it's part of the fixed "shell" and the metal mesh is pretty coarse. It even has a "mesh" over the bottom PSU intake, though I wish it didn't. That mesh is just a perforated metal sheet held on by a few tiny tabs (if you grab it from the bottom, your finger might just poke right through unless it falls off first). Both sides have those trendy "kidney" cutouts, which are great for cable management, but you really need a power supply with long cables to make it work. When you have louder components (are all "gaming" parts like that?), the case acts like a cheap speaker box: hollow and full of holes everywhere, just missing a bass-reflex port. Don't worry about dust in the house: within two months, every speck of dust in the house will be living inside it.
Bottom line: "low-cost gaming case" is an oxymoron. Aside from the looks, it's made for kids.
BTW, Fractal makes really smart cases, but their metalwork is super thin... even the Define R4 feels pretty flimsy given how big it is...
Honestly, I’m a Firefox guy through and through. It’s what I know best, and I’ve been using it forever because I actually know how to tweak the settings to make it work exactly how I want. Doesn't mean the others suck, though. The real issue here is how various software houses and big institutions view Java. If you try working with government agencies that build all their digital services on Java, you’ll quickly see why it’s such a headache. Firefox usually isn't supported because they just don't want the hassle of configuring it. There are still some things I can't wrap my head around, even if they supposedly "work." Chrome and that piece of junk Internet Explorer are hit or miss—it basically depends on whether you've consulted a tech guru or a psychic. Usually, it boils down to some Java update, then an Internet Explorer update, then rumors that Chrome will stop supporting Java as a platform soon... or maybe it won't, but it'll be a workaround... then suddenly Windows XP is too old, or Windows 8.1 is outdated... But hey, they don't really care, right? Companies like Oracle hold a monopoly and just do whatever they feel like. They build services on a platform that bombs you with patches and updates every single day without warning. This is supposed to be a stable service available to everyone that helps boost the economy. It feels like a construction worker having to reinvent cement, mortar, and trowels every single morning before he can start his job. What a joke! These services should run on the simplest, most secure, and least demanding platform possible. A tool should stay consistent for at least a year, not exist just to serve its own purpose.... For example, everything works perfectly on Friday, everything is updated. Monday, it's fine. Tuesday? Nothing works, and nobody tells you why. So I start digging, and apparently, there's a bug in Java, which is supposedly up-to-date. Three days after an update, everything just breaks for no reason on a brand-new computer with a totally fresh installation—fully protected, completely legal and licensed.
Hint: In the end, I fixed it by completely nuking Java and everything related to it from my system, then reinstalling it from scratch. I had to re-enable NPAPI in Chrome. Internet Explorer works, but Firefox just can't seem to swallow the certificates (or maybe I'm just missing something).
Carl Fowler said:I followed all your steps, but when I check Google Chrome://plugins, I see Flash listed, but there’s absolutely no sign of Java anywhere. check out this screenshot
It's not under plugins, you gotta look in flags
In your URL bar, enter: chrome://flags/#enable-npapi Click the Enable link for the Enable NPAPI configuration option. Click The Relaunch button that now appears at the bottom of the configuration page.
Back in 2014, they were already trying to ditch Java via NPAPI, and now they’re saying it'll happen "later in 2015." Who knows what that actually means? It's all pretty vague how things will work moving forward. As of right now, in Google Chrome version 42 and up, NPAPI is disabled by default, so you have to manually turn it on using this method
I tried watching this movie... I really gave it a shot... but it just wasn't happening. Once the electrons (or bits, whatever?) started "racing" through the chips for the third time, you're just sitting there waiting for them to hit the next gate so the plot can actually move... toward what, exactly?? It felt like a total drag—all technical jargon and zero momentum. This was basically a "pseudo-IT" flick consisting of nothing but tech-babble and waiting for something to happen. Maybe they're trying to carve out a whole new niche for IT movies? We've had the "computer geek" comedies and the gamer thrillers, so now we get... IT action? So, here's the setup: a hacker gets locked up for a few years, totally cut off from any kind of computer access. Life goes on, and the tech world moves about three times faster than real life. Then, boom—he's released as a consultant because, by some freak coincidence, the bad guys decide to use his teenage hack as the ultimate platform to screw over the entire planet. Of course that’s how it works, right? Otherwise, he’d be irrelevant, just playing Super Mario while everyone else does the real work. Sure, the protocols haven't changed much in years, and the tools are just as effective (and well-known to those people), but hey, they've got this untapped network genius who confidently claims the signal is being rerouted through multiple nodes 🤦
Seriously, looking back at these 15 posts, there are at least 10 different reasons why this movie sucks...
jadeseal7 said:So if Mercedes wants to match Ferrari when it comes to tire wear, they’ve gotta cook those brakes. Definitely interesting stuff to watch for the upcoming races.
Honestly, the statement doesn't make much sense. They claim the brake-by-wire switched from "active to passive"—what is this, did they switch over to Windows XP safe mode? And what exactly does switching a potentiometer to "passive mode" even mean? Does passive braking just mean you hit the pedal and the car slows down via rolling resistance? Did he burn the brakes, or did he not...
The whole overheating issue was blamed on "driving behind slower cars and overtaking them," as if nobody else dealt with that. Then, in the end, he failed while trying to pull away from Kimi—ironic, since he had clean air right when things fell apart...
The best part of the race was Kimi's drama with the pit wall. He actually asked if they even had a strategy for the second stop, because his harder tires were feeling great... And then there's the excuse that Sebastian Vettel couldn't get past Bottas because the car exits corners so well. Like, has anyone even tried the basic tactic everyone else used? Just open the DRS, floor it, and dive into the inside of the corner... What "bad exit" are we talking about when Vettel didn't even attempt an overtake once?
stormybadger8 said:Honestly, I don't even think Lewis Hamilton was pushing his absolute limit there. It felt more like he was just driving at Nico Rosberg's maximum level. Makes you wonder, doesn't it? 😉 I mean, Rosberg was basically breathing down Hamilton's neck the entire time, right? But that's one thing—it’s a whole different story when he starts playing puppet master like Vettel did to Massa. How much faster can Hamilton actually go? Honestly, there's no way to tell from this alone, but one thing is for sure: Rosberg definitely isn't going any faster than him. 😁 So, you gotta expect that if nothing else happens, Ferrari is gonna bump Rosberg down from Second Place pretty soon...
Honestly, looking at those lap times, Nico Rosberg doesn't even need to push any harder to keep Sebastian Vettel at bay. He was consistently under 1:33 during the first half of the race, then dropped below 1:32 in the second half. Easy work, right? So, we can pretty much say he was cruising at the same pace Vettel used to hit back when he was actually showing everyone what he was capable of.
I wouldn't be so quick to judge when it comes to anyone's limits. Who really knows what would've happened if Hamilton needed to push harder or if Rosberg had just been given a bit more breathing room? Look, we all know a great driver can pull a rabbit out of a hat and make up for a subpar car, but you can't run that strategy forever. It’s basically Achilles versus a tortoise at this point. Ferrari will find it way easier to close the gap right now because they're hitting those low-hanging technological gains, but once they do, they're going to hit that wall where every tiny improvement requires massive effort. Meanwhile, Mercedes isn't just sitting around twiddling their thumbs; they still have plenty of headroom to make jumps in performance. We might end up with a tighter field—if we're lucky—but it doesn't mean the hierarchy just flips overnight. Both Ferrari and everyone else need to save some development potential for later, otherwise, they'll just end up stuck in a dead zone. Well, I’ll be damned... just wait until you see this!
stormybadger8 said:So the gap between Hamilton and Vettel from lap 21 to 57 is only 15 seconds, which isn't even that crazy, especially since Vettel had zero reason to go on a tear after lap 30... therefore he actually blew it more during those first twenty laps than he did from lap 21 until the finish line.... And those 36 laps where Vettel didn't have to stay glued to Massa's bumper average out to about a 0.4 second gap per lap behind Hamilton... So when Toto Wolff says Ferrari could catch them over the course of the season, it doesn't sound totally insane. Vettel wasn't really as far off as it looks at first glance 🤔
Bravo for the analysis, however you want to slice it... Only one variable just flew into your equation, and it's pretty arbitrary: You say "Vettel had zero reason to go on a tear after lap 30..." and based on that, you conclude that Hamilton isn't actually untouchable. OK, sure, some random thing might happen during the season, but what reason would Mercedes or Hamilton have to push for fast laps while they're totally controlling the race? According to this logic, it makes it look like Hamilton was driving right at the limit, while Vettel just, I don't know, didn't feel like it because he was already down so much, so he just showed he could be faster if he wanted to.
Between this ridiculous grid and how Red Bull is basically spinning their wheels, if they don't change the rules to actually level the playing field, I honestly think we're looking at the twilight of the F1 I used to love. I don't watch F1 just to spend days crunching data from car computers, obsessing over tactics and "what if" scenarios, or running imaginary simulations of how every car would perform under "perfect conditions" just to find the "real" winners. Look, I get it—the younger crowd loves staring at tablets and laptops, running "what if" models, waiting for some software patch for the main sensor or the right-side mirror, or checking for new steering wheel drivers... but for me, this isn't racing anymore. It’s not about the best cars, the best drivers, or even the coolest sponsors. It feels more like a college engineering competition to see who picked a faulty processor or whose battery specs are slightly off. Throw in these tire strategies programmed to fail at a specific lap—which feels like a relic from an era where it actually served a purpose—plus those mindless video game tracks? The soul is gone. For the first time ever, I couldn't even finish watching a race. After a few laps, there were just enough cars left for everyone to grab some points, and half of them were names I'd never even heard of. Honestly, I feel old.
The old school is dead. You used to watch high-octane teams risking everything in basically equal machinery (especially back when most of the grid was running the same Cosworth engines). The order changed because of overtakes, not because someone pressed a button on a remote in the pits. Nobody drove just to aim for tenth place; the big stars were the ones pulling off the most daring passes, and they didn't give a damn about a 2% margin in the pits. I miss simply watching the cars, the drivers, and their pure skill. When they cross the line, you know the result and that's it. No post-race corrections, no penalties, no engine count drama, no tire complaints, no bullshit. You watch the race and you're done.
In a desperate attempt to create drama and kill off dominance, they've scrambled the rules so much that nobody even knows if they'll reach the finish line. Meanwhile, the least bad team is almost guaranteed to lead, cruising around the track at a strictly programmed rhythm. It's pathetic. They actually had a cheap and reliable way to kill the monotony back when the cars were still relatively classic. It was a trick borrowed from the old DTM days: a weight handicap for the leaders. So, go ahead, take first or second place... then in the next race, if you're actually good, try fighting through the field with a heavier car. You might finish high, but you won't dominate.
Instead, modern F1 is just a hybrid mess, practically one step away from becoming Formula E. In almost every other type of racing, if one manufacturer dominates, everyone else eventually stops showing up. Everything has become either too predictable or too chaotic, and driver skill is the least important factor. Their drive, their ambition? It's all pre-programmed. These drivers are just neutered robots being activated by remote control. With this season, I'm officially out. I can't follow something that claims to be the evolution of a legendary sport—the kind of sport where you'd put up posters and collect cards. Personally, I don't know a single teenager who is obsessed with F1 and has actually sat through a full race.