What did you do today?

[BirdofPrey]

Nice case, what is it?
Something seems to be missing, though


So I was browsing Amazon prime stuff for shits and giggles since I don't think I've actually made up for the price tag yet (super disappointed in their music and video catalog), and came upon a deal (steal): refurbished Vitamix 6300 for ONLY $250.

 

[confusis]

In-Win Chopin, review coming soon. It's missing a dGPU (case does not allow for it), but I've been having good luck getting GT740 (and in some areas near GTX 750) performance from the AMD APU iGPU.

 

[Soul_Est]

Yes, Gigabyte FM2A88XN-Wifi, A10-7860K, overclocked to CPU @ 7870K speed, IGP is about 10% above 7870K speeds. 16GB DDR3-1600 OC to 1833, 2x SSDs. The cooler is a NH-L9A, which has been borrowed from the SFFn testing box, to be returned upon me buying another cooler (SFFn Staff rule 2: review samples are not to be used in personal rigs)

Apologies for your loss (uncle), your semi loss (monitor) and your long term loss (helping friends acquire hardware and thus becoming 24/7 tech support for them)

Oh, that promises to be a relatively speedy machine.

Thank you. The monitor was dismantled and will be recycled. As for becoming my friend's tech support, once I teach them what they need to know, they will have a handle on it. The setup will be simple and easy to troubleshoot unlike the setup on my machine.

 

[iFreilicht]

I've been working on a mixed signal PCB with RF (2.4GHz Radio), Digital, and ~70dB Analog signals. Started with 6 layers and now it's at 8 layers. Still a long way to go.

I spy with my little eye... A meander antenna! I'm still completely in the dark as to how you design those things to perform nicely at the frequncies you want to use them for, but it's cool that those work.

 

[hardcore_gamer]

How much of the layout is done by hand?

Pretty much all of it. For small, mixed signal PCBs like these, it's easier to route by hand than spend time with setting constraints and watch the auto-route fail miserably.

I spy with my little eye... A meander antenna! I'm still completely in the dark as to how you design those things to perform nicely at the frequncies you want to use them for, but it's cool that those work.

Yup. Trace antennas are difficult to get working. But they are way cheaper than chip antennas. Fortunately for me, I was able to re-use an existing design already validated by our RF engineers.

 

[SumGhai]

Ok so decision time.

Looking at new phones, Galaxy S7 vs S7 Edge vs Note 7. Thankfully BestBuy has a promo where if I get an S7 or S7 edge I get a $150 best buy gift card. However, I REALLY want the Note 7 because of Type C + S Pen, but then again I might be losing a lot on a free $150 towards computer parts/peripherals from BestBuy.

Also, looking for small-ish computer desks and shelves for the home. Any suggestions?

 

[Soul_Est]

Ok so decision time.

Looking at new phones, Galaxy S7 vs S7 Edge vs Note 7. Thankfully BestBuy has a promo where if I get an S7 or S7 edge I get a $150 best buy gift card. However, I REALLY want the Note 7 because of Type C + S Pen, but then again I might be losing a lot on a free $150 towards computer parts/peripherals from BestBuy.

Also, looking for small-ish computer desks and shelves for the home. Any suggestions?

I say, go for the phone you would be most comfortable with. The 'extra' $150 is great but if Bestbuy doesn't have much in computer parts or peripherals, what's the point?

 

[Phuncz]

I'd hold off on geting a Note 7 for a few months: http://www.theverge.com/2016/9/1/12759912/samsung-galaxy-note-7-recall
At work we had 10 Samsung Galaxy S3 phones with all but a few had a battery "self-inflating" after about a year and a half. I left one in a zip-lock to see how much it would continue to bulge, it was almost twice as thick before I tossed it. But they never recalled those, so I'd be very wary.

 

[SumGhai]

I say, go for the phone you would be most comfortable with. The 'extra' $150 is great but if Bestbuy doesn't have much in computer parts or peripherals, what's the point?

Bestbuy does have a good selection of peripherals and a moderate selection of computer parts. Best part is Pricematch Guarantee though. So for example: Best Buy sells the i7-6700K for about $360-$370. I can price match down to Amazon's ~$330 and use the $150 gift card to pay for a little under half that price. In the end I pay ~$180 for an i7-6700K.

Another friend suggested instead I spend the gift card on a decent monitor, but I"m not too worried about that right now.

I'd hold off on geting a Note 7 for a few months: http://www.theverge.com/2016/9/1/12759912/samsung-galaxy-note-7-recall
At work we had 10 Samsung Galaxy S3 phones with all but a few had a battery "self-inflating" after about a year and a half. I left one in a zip-lock to see how much it would continue to bulge, it was almost twice as thick before I tossed it. But they never recalled those, so I'd be very wary.

After some hard thinking, I've foregone the Note 7 in favor of the Samsung Galaxy S7. The Note 7's S-pen would wear out after a while I think, and I'm not so confident that I can convince my professor that I have all my notes on my phone and not in a notebook.

I still like the shape of the Note 7, but I think I'll like the size of the S7 more since it's more comparable to my broken Moto X. I should get my S7 by Wednesday.

 

[Soul_Est]

Bestbuy does have a good selection of peripherals and a moderate selection of computer parts. Best part is Pricematch Guarantee though. So for example: Best Buy sells the i7-6700K for about $360-$370. I can price match down to Amazon's ~$330 and use the $150 gift card to pay for a little under half that price. In the end I pay ~$180 for an i7-6700K.

Another friend suggested instead I spend the gift card on a decent monitor, but I"m not too worried about that right now.



After some hard thinking, I've foregone the Note 7 in favor of the Samsung Galaxy S7. The Note 7's S-pen would wear out after a while I think, and I'm not so confident that I can convince my professor that I have all my notes on my phone and not in a notebook.

I still like the shape of the Note 7, but I think I'll like the size of the S7 more since it's more comparable to my broken Moto X. I should get my S7 by Wednesday.

Ah, true. Bestbuy in the U.S. is much better than Bestbuy in Canada.

As for the Note 7, there was that recall. You could also get a S7 and a Note 8 to take notes on (I recommend Write by Stylus Labs).

 

[SumGhai]

As for the Note 7, there was that recall. You could also get a S7 and a Note 8 to take notes on (I recommend Write by Stylus Labs).

Yeah I saw that recall notice with the Note 7. It seems to be mostly related to quick-charging the battery which then melts because of some faulty components. I've never bothered with quick-charge before nor have I bothered with Qi wireless charging, both of which can speed up the degredation of the battery.

Yeah I could go with a Note 8 or some other MS Surface clone/alternative. I might actually go that route now since I'm just a mess when it comes to note-taking oh physical paper. Nothing ever gets placed in a notebook and it's all over the place.

I only hope that these screens and stylus's can hold up to the amount of writing I intend to do. In the process of writing one proof for a homework question I cleared like 20-30 pages of 8.5x11" paper just for scrapwork last semester.

 

[Soul_Est]

Yeah I saw that recall notice with the Note 7. It seems to be mostly related to quick-charging the battery which then melts because of some faulty components. I've never bothered with quick-charge before nor have I bothered with Qi wireless charging, both of which can speed up the degredation of the battery.

Yeah I could go with a Note 8 or some other MS Surface clone/alternative. I might actually go that route now since I'm just a mess when it comes to note-taking oh physical paper. Nothing ever gets placed in a notebook and it's all over the place.

I only hope that these screens and stylus's can hold up to the amount of writing I intend to do. In the process of writing one proof for a homework question I cleared like 20-30 pages of 8.5x11" paper just for scrapwork last semester.

I have written a lot on my Note 10.1. As long as you can get used to writing on glass, I know for a fact that the tablet will withstand the writing you will be doing. It uses Wacom technology and is not fragile like Wacom's drawing tablets.

 

[GuilleAcoustic]

Been considering tablet + stylus. I use like 160 pages every 2 weeks to take notes, write algorithms, draw schematics, etc.

Will move task to do to a blackboard + chalks.

Ecology is something important to me, I wish the original 99$ Noteslate could have been real.

 

[hardcore_gamer]

I was pulled back into the Silicon project because of some new issues with our foundry partner. We were planning to use 40nm node as it is now cheap and easily available to small companies because most of the CPU, GPU, FPGA, and high-speed ASIC companies moved to 28 / 16 / 14 nm. Our analysis showed insufficient isolation between analog and digital parts of the device causing noise coupling, and high leakage even with extensive clock gating. Foundry isn't willing to tweak their parameters and add additional trenches for small volume customers. Now we have to solve this issue at circuit level. Getting rail-to-rail analog working at 40nm was difficult enough. Now this adds a lot of work for the small group of engineers working on this project. FML.

 

[ChainedHope]

What did I do today... too damn much...

Computers/Electronics
-Bought a few things online (2x usb monitors, Pi 3, various cables, and some bright white LED strips)
-Started planning a personal build log that should be coming in a month or two (dont worry, I will finish this one lmao)
-Started planning another build for late Q4 (Time sensitive, builds going to CES)

School
-Started work on phase 3 (physical design) of my thesis project (Memory Subsystem)

Personal
-Started up the metal forge to try out the new crucible. Can melt approximately 2L of metal now instead of 0.5L. Should make large lost-foam casting easier
-Had an video call interview for a company in New Mexico. Went well but I probably wont accept their offer

By far the busiest day I've had in a while.

 

[Phuncz]

I tried getting info on HP Care Packs or HPE Service something-something they call it these days. I was put into a phone loop (*) after looking for the information on Google, Reddit, HPE.com and dozens of PDFs. I tried their chat app three times, every time deleting all the information I input before I could chat with anyone. I don't trust my reseller, he tried to invoice us one extra computer out of five. I need a vacation.

(*)
1. Hello this is Marcy, I'm going to connect you to the right person
2. Hi this is Dave, here's the correct phone number
3. Hello this is Marcy...

 

[Soul_Est]

The Nvidia blob has kernel mode support, that said i was unable to make it play nice w/ LightDM last time i tried, YMMV i guess

Been considering tablet + stylus. I use like 160 pages every 2 weeks to take notes, write algorithms, draw schematics, etc.

Will move task to do to a blackboard + chalks.

Ecology is something important to me, I wish the original 99$ Noteslate could have been real.

For a tablet I would have recommended either:

• a Samsung Galaxy Note tablet + a Motion Computing Digitizer Pen for J-Series (I have this and it is good) or a Wacom Bamboo Smart for Samsung Galaxy Note
• an Apple iPad + a Wacom Fineline 2
• a Microsoft Surface or a 2-in-1 laptop + a Wacom Bamboo Smart for Select Tablets and 2-in-1

and either:

• Write for Android
• A Wacom stylus support app for iOS
• Xournal, Inkscape, etc. for Linux

Now with the Noteslate, I am not sure. I have dreamt of having a device like the Noteslate since I purchased my Sony PRS-650 in 2010. Thank you for telling us about it.

I was pulled back into the Silicon project because of some new issues with our foundry partner. We were planning to use 40nm node as it is now cheap and easily available to small companies because most of the CPU, GPU, FPGA, and high-speed ASIC companies moved to 28 / 16 / 14 nm. Our analysis showed insufficient isolation between analog and digital parts of the device causing noise coupling, and high leakage even with extensive clock gating. Foundry isn't willing to tweak their parameters and add additional trenches for small volume customers. Now we have to solve this issue at circuit level. Getting rail-to-rail analog working at 40nm was difficult enough. Now this adds a lot of work for the small group of engineers working on this project. FML.

I am so sorry that that is happening to you and the team. Is there a way to come to a compromise with them, or find a more hospitable foundry and offering your current partner foundry an ultimatum?

What did I do today... too damn much...

Computers/Electronics
-Bought a few things online (2x usb monitors, Pi 3, various cables, and some bright white LED strips)
-Started planning a personal build log that should be coming in a month or two (dont worry, I will finish this one lmao)
-Started planning another build for late Q4 (Time sensitive, builds going to CES)

School
-Started work on phase 3 (physical design) of my thesis project (Memory Subsystem)

Personal
-Started up the metal forge to try out the new crucible. Can melt approximately 2L of metal now instead of 0.5L. Should make large lost-foam casting easier
-Had an video call interview for a company in New Mexico. Went well but I probably wont accept their offer

By far the busiest day I've had in a while.

Glad to see that you're stuff is comping together there under computers and electronics. As for the build log, that's what we usually say (I still have to update RSC). Hope the builds for CES go along boringly.

I tried getting info on HP Care Packs or HPE Service something-something they call it these days. I was put into a phone loop (*) after looking for the information on Google, Reddit, HPE.com and dozens of PDFs. I tried their chat app three times, every time deleting all the information I input before I could chat with anyone. I don't trust my reseller, he tried to invoice us one extra computer out of five. I need a vacation.

(*)
1. Hello this is Marcy, I'm going to connect you to the right person
2. Hi this is Dave, here's the correct phone number
3. Hello this is Marcy...

I am so sorry that you have to deal with HP's lack of support. Definitely sad to see given their acquisitions and renewed focus (much like Lenovo). I do hope you can take a vacation soon.


Today, I am cleaning up my living space, helping a friend get a laptop for college (got a story to go with that), helping other members of my family get computers for school, more design work (and drawing practice), and as always: listening to music.

 

[hardcore_gamer]

I am so sorry that that is happening to you and the team. Is there a way to come to a compromise with them, or find a more hospitable foundry and offering your current partner foundry an ultimatum?

This is (I don't want to name them in this forum) currently the cheapest foundry available at this process node. Moving to a different foundry would cost more $/wafer and the gross margin of this device would take a hit (our marketing team won't be happy with that). Therefore we're redesigning the analog and system resources section that could delay the project for 9 weeks.

 

[jtd871]

Spent the past few days with my family at the in-law's home. Just before we left on Saturday morning, the wife and I scrambled to find the spare set of keys to the SUV to no avail. The minute we arrive home, my wife announces that they were with us the whole time in our pool tote bag. Now we can enjoy the last of the kettle corn (think sweet popcorn) tonight without having to tear the house apart searching for the keys. I hope that everyone here in USA/Canada enjoyed their long holiday weekend.

 

[BirdofPrey]

I work in a restaurant at the moment.
Holidays can die in a fire.