The Techno-Bleg Thread

[dhex]

Some stuff is a lot cheaper like the nvme or most of the Intel chips. Gpu costs are through the roof.

[Highway]

Is that good or bad? I honestly have no idea, my mental model for computer purchases is still stuck in the 1995-2005 timeframe (and evolution within that time)

It's about 250 dollars more than a very similar computer I built in February. A little more processor, a little more RAM (but lower speed RAM), but no case, which is going to be about 100 dollars. So yeah, it's about a 25% increase in prices from February to now for very similar parts.

[Warren]

This is really getting to be a pain in the ass.
The Twitter Tweets won't load for me on Firefox. All I get is a blank space with the birdie icon.
With Chrome there's a few seconds where it says "loading tweet" and then it loads.
On Hugh's advice I purged the cache, no change.
And here's an interesting development. If I'm browsing in a private window. I get "loading tweet" which is a link that will take me to the tweet. But the tweet never loads.

Anyone have any ideas?
Anyone? Anyone?
Bueller?

[Highway]

Which version of Firefox are you on? I'm on Windows Firefox 84.0.2 (64-bit) and tweets are working fine for me. I think you're on a Mac?

[Warren]

Which version of Firefox are you on? I'm on Windows Firefox 84.0.2 (64-bit) and tweets are working fine for me. I think you're on a Mac?

Yes Mac, also 84.0.2 (64-bit)
Shit just started happening a few days ago, but before the latest FF update I think.

[Warren]

BINGO!
Problem was a browser add on. In this case Duck Duck Go Privacy Essentials.

Twitter, along with Google and Amazon are "Top Tracking Offenders".

[thoreau]

Microsoft has decided to make importing text files into Excel difficult. The Text Import Wizard is still there, but it's now a "Legacy feature" so they make it harder to find. I did find it, I can use it, but I'd also like to understand how things now work in the new defaults.

If I go to Data>From Text/CSV, my text file is automatically imported as a "Connection" to the text file. Yes, I understand the advantages of being linked to the original file. Great. There's just one problem: I can't do things like compute an average of the data in a column. If I go to another cell and type =AVERAGE(B2:B101) then instead of getting the average of all those numbers I get a division by zero error. If I type =SUM(B2:B101) I get zero. (No, the sum is most definitely NOT supposed to be zero.)

Excel doesn't seem to be recognizing any values. It's treating the contents of those cells as something other than a number that can be summed with other numbers.

Any ideas? Microsoft's help pages aren't showing much that's relevant.

EDIT: Never mind, I figured it out. Excel isn't recognizing the numbers in my .txt file as numbers. The outdated and clearly inferior Text Import Wizard did it just fine, but the new Connection Wizard isn't so sharp. You have to select a non-obvious option so you can go to an editor with a crowded menu and find the right option to recognize numbers. This is exactly what we want from a spreadsheet.

[dhex]

There needs to be a better shush emoji. Or emoji sequence. Pac man doesn't cut it.

[dhex]

Nonstick skillet - recommendations?

[Highway]

Nonstick skillet - recommendations?

We have a Swiss Diamond XD+ 3.8qt Induction saute pan that I really like. Looking on Swiss Diamond's website, I don't know if they actually have anything at all in stock, but the quality of this pan is good. I have not tried it in the oven, given the plastic handle and nonstick coating. But it's a nice heavy pan, heats well, and the handle is comfortable, unlike All-Clad, which uses a handle that you need some ultra-supinated grip for, but then makes their pans weigh a ton, so you can't actually pick anything up with that grip.