Readit News logoReadit News
raggles commented on It's a DE9, not a DB9 (but we know what you mean)   news.sparkfun.com/14298... · Posted by u/jgrahamc
andix · a month ago
If you keep calling it DB9 everybody knows what you're talking about. They don't think you're weird and they also don't waste time talking about terminology.
raggles · a month ago
And this reminds me of the time that my colleague put DB15 on a whole bunch of drawings, and we ended up with DA15 connectors instead of DE15. If I see DB9 on any drawing that comes across my desk, it will be corrected.
raggles commented on It's a DE9, not a DB9 (but we know what you mean)   news.sparkfun.com/14298... · Posted by u/jgrahamc
gchadwick · a month ago
I do wonder why they decided to have have separate shell size and pin designations given there appears to be a 1:1 correlation between shell sizes and pins (i.e. the 'B' shell is always 25 pins, the 'E' shell is always 9 pins). Perhaps there was plan to have fewer pins in the same shell at some point?
raggles · a month ago
I use both DA-15 and DE-15 all the time in my line of work, and I am fastidious about using the correct terminology on all my drawings. Manufacturers are ironically some of the worst at getting this right.
raggles commented on Sleeping beauty Bitcoin wallets wake up after 14 years to the tune of $2B   marketwatch.com/story/sle... · Posted by u/aorloff
diggan · 2 months ago
> That seems a hell of a lot more centralized than the traditional finance system

Most countries/systems have one central bank, even if we assume there are only 2 mining pools and they "control the network", wouldn't a central bank still be more centralized?

Besides, the mining pools don't "own" the network, anyone can participate, which kind of makes the whole "more centralized than a central bank" argument kind of weak.

raggles · 2 months ago
Right, but bitcoin is global, not just for one country. And while anyone can participate in theory, in practice the big mining pools always get their first. And if a quorum of mining pools gets together, they can fork the blockchain or do all sorts of other shit. Without those mining pools confirming transactions you can't even spend your bitcoin. As a functional currency, I just can't see how this is any better, like in any way. Probably why it hasn't actually become a functional currency and is just a traded commodity that everyone is hoping like hell won't crash and burn one day.
raggles commented on Sleeping beauty Bitcoin wallets wake up after 14 years to the tune of $2B   marketwatch.com/story/sle... · Posted by u/aorloff
hx8 · 2 months ago
> What exactly does bitcoin offer the world today?

Aside from perhaps gold, bitcoin is the most successful currency in the world not associated with a central bank and state.

It's the most liquid asset that is not issued by a central bank. At any point you can issue a transaction to anyone else in the world, without the possibility of a third party intervention. I've had issues pulling cash out of banks, or limited sizes available for money orders, or having debt/credit card transactions incorrectly flagged as fraudulent and blocked.

raggles · 2 months ago
I don't really follow bitcoin, but last I checked over 75% of block confirmations came from the top 3-5 mining pools. That seems a hell of a lot more centralized than the traditional finance system.
raggles commented on IronRDP: a Rust implementation of Microsoft's RDP protocol   github.com/Devolutions/Ir... · Posted by u/mikece
vekatimest · 5 months ago
I've had issues with some software & games not being able to get a proper display context and refusing to start.
raggles · 5 months ago
Yes I have seen OpenGL applications refuse to start with AMD cards in some circumstances due to a bug in the AMD drivers, but never had a problem on NVIDIA cards
raggles commented on IronRDP: a Rust implementation of Microsoft's RDP protocol   github.com/Devolutions/Ir... · Posted by u/mikece
SirMaster · 5 months ago
I feel like a more modern approach like whatever RustDesk uses is way better. It has such good performance that I can practically play an FPS video game through it or watch a movie through it.

The big thing I hate about regular Microsoft RDP is you aren't getting to use your remote GPU through it.

raggles · 5 months ago
> you aren't getting to use your remote GPU through it.

Um yes you are? I use AutoCAD and other software using GPU all the time over rdp

raggles commented on State of emergency declared after blackout plunges most of Chile into darkness   cnn.com/2025/02/25/americ... · Posted by u/impish9208
xenadu02 · 6 months ago
Generators must synchronize with the grid. Huge spinning rotor masses that will experience tremendous forces to coerce them into matching an RPM that corresponds to the grid's frequency.

Frequency is also impacted by load: the greater the load on the generator the more torque required at its input shaft to maintain the same RPM. If the generator's input engine is already at max torque then RPM must decrease all else equal. That in turn requires that every other generator on the grid also slow down to match.

When a huge chunk of generating capacity disappears there isn't enough power feeding the remaining generator input shafts (all else equal) to maintain RPM so the grid frequency must drop. That tends to destroy customer equipment among other problems.

Generators are motors and motors are generators. If the capacity disappears too quickly the grid _drives the generator as a motor_ potentially with megawatts of capacity all trying to instantly make that 100 ton rotor change from 3600 RPM to 2800 RPM or whatever. Inertia puts its $0.02 and the net result is a disintegrating rotor slinging molten metal and chunks of itself out while the bearings turn into dust.

Protective equipment sees this happening and trips the generator offline to protect it. Usually the coordinating grid entity keeps spare capacity available at all times to respond to loss of other capacity or demand changes. This is also the point of "load shedding": if spare capacity drops below a set level loads are turned off.

If spare capacity is not maintained or transmission line choke points present problems then capacity trip outs can cause progressive collapse as each generator sees excessive load, trips, and in turn pushes excess load to the next generator. If your grid control systems are well designed they can detect this from a central location and command parts of the grid to "island" into balanced chunks of load/capacity so the entire grid does not fully collapse.

Of course when you want to reconnect the islands it takes careful shifting of frequency to get them aligned before you can do that.

If all generators collapse you end up in a black start situation that requires careful staging lest more load than you expected jumps on the grid (maybe due to control devices being unpowered or stuck somewhere), triggering a secondary collapse.

Caveat: not a grid engineer so I may have gotten some of this wrong but hopefully it helps anyone who wonders why load shedding exists or how a grid can "collapse" and what the consequences are if you don't do those things and just let it ride.

raggles · 6 months ago
Am grid engineer. You nailed it. It can get incredibly complex modelling this stuff, and reading all the armchair observers banging on about 'single points of failure' is amusing.
raggles commented on Sri Lanka scrambles to restore power after monkey causes islandwide outage   reuters.com/world/asia-pa... · Posted by u/abe94
abe94 · 7 months ago
can coming into contact with a single transformer disrupt power to the entire island?
raggles · 6 months ago
I imagine there was some sort of cascading failure involved, as in the transformer tripped, but this then overloaded another circuit which then tripped, or there was a power swing that was unsustainable, then you get over\underfrequency tripping off load and generators... this can get quite complex quite quickly in power systems, especially smaller systems found on islands.
raggles commented on I've acquired a new superpower   danielwirtz.com/blog/spot... · Posted by u/wirtzdan
dlgeek · 8 months ago
Funny. I also have strabismus and I've never, ever been able to see those hidden picture games or these things even once.

I never developed stereoscopic depth perception, which I assume is related.

raggles · 8 months ago
yea same boat. I've always wondered what normal depth perception looks like. On the plus side, it is fun to challenge people to wear an eye patch and play table tennis or some other activity and see how bad they are when they haven't developed monocular depth perception cues.
raggles commented on Kim Dotcom's extradition to the U.S. given green light by New Zealand   torrentfreak.com/kim-dotc... · Posted by u/wut42
tick_tock_tick · a year ago
New Zealand is for all practical purposes a USA protectorate. If you want to break USA law don't do it in a country that is dependent on the USA.
raggles · a year ago
This is just not at all true, and we are hardly dependant on the USA, which makes up only 10% of our trade. The way that Americans think the world revolves around them is embarrassing.

u/raggles

KarmaCake day178July 22, 2018View Original